Banterings

Star Spangled Banners

2006-08-04T13:42:00.000-05:00

I've never been a big fan of the Star Spangled Banner, thinking that God Bless America would be better. But the song is our National Anthem, and so we love it.

Having said that, here is perhaps the greatest peformance of the song ever: Marvin Gaye

And this is perhaps the sweetest, most heartfelt version you'll ever see. Mo Cheeks is a true gentleman.

And I'll offer up "O, Canada" as the best national anthem in the whole world.

2006-06-24T13:45:00.000-05:00

I'll have you know that I have reached the coveted milestone of "Addict" on Yahoo! Launchcast, now having rated over 5000 songs, albums, and artists.

I'll note, too, that my radio station plays almost nothing but songs I like now, even new ones that it finds for me. It's pretty cool.

Sweet

2006-06-08T22:35:00.000-05:00

Sweet

God Bless the United States Marine Corps

2006-06-01T10:58:00.000-05:00

God Bless the United States Marine Corps

Prediction

2006-05-26T15:19:00.000-05:00

Prediction: Barry Bonds will hit 715, and then retire, or at least get put on the Disabled List for the rest of the season.

Dr. Death is "depressed"

2006-05-26T13:02:00.000-05:00

Yeah, I'm crying myself to sleep every night for poor old Jack.

Michelle Wie

2006-05-16T10:03:00.000-05:00

She hits from the men's tees, right?

Exactly

2006-05-12T13:05:00.000-05:00

Exactly

Question for Mitt Romney

2006-05-11T14:07:00.000-05:00

Lots of folks want Mitt Romney to be the Republican nominee for President in 2008. Naturally, his Mormonism is an issue, and there is a question as to whether us Evangelical types will support him.

Well, if I had the chance to ask ol' Mitt one question, this would be the question:

"Gov. Romney -- you profess Mormon beliefs. Since Mormon doctrine holds that all Mormon men who are found worthy will get to be the god of their own planet (just as the god of our planet was found to be worthy to rule over us), do you aspire to be found worthy and someday be made the god of your own planet?

Gas Prices

2006-04-30T20:08:00.000-05:00

William F. Buckley takes up the subject.

And indignation at oil prices is not intelligently exercised by legislative action. Factors here to be considered are varied.

In the past 20 years, profits from oil and gas investment have been lower than the profits from many alternative economic enterprises. Ten percent profit is normal (and normative). Oil and gas investments have tended to run two or three points lower than that ten percent.
To effect an increase in supply requires a lot of investment and a lot of patience. Five to ten years, significantly to increase supply.
The stranglehold of OPEC is not easily dealt with by normal economic responses, given that it is a politically controlled oligopoly.
The causes of significant shortfalls in oil production are often political. Mexico is off on another nationalistic excess. Nigeria is in turmoil, reducing production. Iraq is almost one million barrels a day under what it used to produce. Iran is a day-by-day disrupter. The Saudis, who in the past, have with their huge reserves acted as a kind of federal bank, are needing to do more development.

There isn't anything the U.S. can do - except keep its legislative fingers out of the stew. And open its blinded eyes to the possibilities of nuclear energy.

110th Boston Marathon

2006-04-19T22:20:00.000-05:00

In case you hadn't heard, Robert Cheruiyot won Monday's race, setting a course record with his time of 2:07:14. Mr. Cheruiyot is from Kenya. The Americans made a strong showing placing 3-4-5.

Thus begins the World Marathon Majors competition, a 2-year series including Boston, London, New York, Berlin and Chicago.

Don't Hire This Man

2006-04-14T19:39:00.000-05:00

It looks like this youth minister might be out of a job soon - apparently he takes dodgeball a little too seriously.

David M. Boudreaux, 27, was charged Wednesday with one count of third-degree assault. According to court documents, the incident happened in February at Crescent Lake Christian Academy.

Authorities said the teen missed Boudreaux with one throw but then knocked the youth minister's glasses off with the next.

The boy apologized, authorities said, but Boudreaux pushed him backward, and when the teen got up again Boudreaux kicked him in the groin and left.

Laughing Babies - Google Video

2006-03-15T23:39:00.000-06:00

This may be the greatest video ever recorded.

A Message to All Record Executives

2006-03-14T22:02:00.000-06:00

Just a quick note to any and all record executives out there: No matter what happens on American Idol, I will buy any album recorded by Chris Daughtry.

20 Points

2006-03-04T07:55:00.000-06:00

20 of the most touching basketball points you'll ever see.

The Blog | Walter Cronkite: Telling the Truth About the War on Drugs | The Huffington Post

2006-03-03T11:15:00.000-06:00

Wow, it's a strange day indeed when I agree with Walter Cronkite.

Clay Dyer

2006-02-28T19:17:00.000-06:00

This guy's amazing. Clay Dyer was born with no legs and only half of one arm.

"I knew early that competition was something I would love to be able to do for the rest of my life," Clay said. "That's when I started getting into fishing. I realized it was something I could do, no matter if I was 6'5" and weighed 250 pounds or if I was 40 inches tall and weighed 85 pounds. And I thought it was a sport I could take up on a national level, versus trying to play in the NBA or NFL!"

Clay was right. He can do it - in fact, is doing it - on the national level.

"He's a giant among fisherman," said John E. Phillips, sportsman and outdoors writer. "In my opinion, Clay Dyer is the greatest bass fisherman with whom I have ever fished."

Jay Yelas, 2003 Bass Master Angler of the Year, said, "Clay drives his boat, runs his trolling motor, casts with precision, unhooks his own fish, even ties knots. Yelas lists Clay among his short list of heroes. "Few things move me as much as hearing Clay quote Philippians 4:13: 'I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,'" he said.

Curling Bronze

2006-02-24T23:12:00.000-06:00

The United States' first Olympic medal in curling was earned today by the boys from Bemidji when they defeated the British team 8-6. The team's skip (I think that's what you call the guy who sends the stone down toward the big target), Pete Fenson, is the owner of Dave's Pizza in Bemidji, Minnesota. Every student, past or present, of Bemidji State University has enjoyed a pie at Dave's. I had more than a few in the late 70's - early 80's. Congrats to Team Fenson!

But did you know ... ?

Britain was shut out of a medal one Olympics after Scottish housewife Rhona Martin threw the "Stone of Destiny" to win the gold medal in Salt Lake City. David Murdoch's team is also from Scotland, which is considered the birthplace of curling.

The "Stone of Destiny"? Did you know about this? I guess if you lived in Scotland you did. Here's more. (Obviously, this is not the "stone of density", with which we're all familiar.)

Debunked

2006-02-16T14:28:00.000-06:00

Debunked

re: Super Bowl

2006-02-07T11:53:00.000-06:00

Gary -- I totally agree. The refs did a job on the Seahawks, without question. On the Rothlisbergereiesligbergerwhatever "touchdown", you could see the ref running up, thinking "Okay, hmmm, spot this on about the one inch line.... oh, wait, that's right, we got that memo from Tagliabue.... TOUCHDOWN!".

Hines Ward was given the MVP award, but I think the Refs should have gotten it. Without them, Pittsburgh wouldn't have won. As far as I'm concerned, Pittsburgh's "victory" is completely tainted. It was almost like an NBA playoff game out there.

My favorite commercial was the one where the guy kept throwing the phone at the other dude. I want one of those theft prevention phones. My other favorite commercial was the little colt who pulled the Budweiser wagon. That was cool.

As for the Holmgren family, God bless 'em.

Super Bowl

2006-02-06T19:39:00.000-06:00

The Seahawks were robbed. It seems the NFL wanted a Steelers victory and a Jerome Bettis "retiring as a champion" story line (what is this, figure skating?). The memo went down to the zebras and they did their part - quite unconvincingly. We saw phantom pass interference, holding to negate any big play, and blocking below the waist - on a tackler! They tried to give the Steelers the ball on a non-fumble but the video evidence was too strong. The Seahawks didn't help their cause much - too many dropped passes and poor clock management. But even in spite of those mistakes, they should have won. Had the crowd not been 90% Steelers fans, we would have (and should have) heard the time-honored chant, "These refs suck! These refs suck!"

Some related stories:

Joe Montana didn't appear with the other Super Bowl MVPs at the beginning of the game because he wanted a $100,000 appearance fee. It is reported that Terry Bradshaw also had a problem with the money and stayed home.
Coach Holmgren's wife and daughter were also not in attendance - but for much better reasons. They were on a medical mission in the Congo. I'm sure they enjoyed their day more than Mike.
My favorite commercial: "The Magic Fridge."

Hero

2006-02-03T17:22:00.000-06:00

Hero

Happy Groundhog Day!

2006-02-02T11:14:00.000-06:00

How much better can it get? Jonah Goldberg writing about the movie Groundhog Day.

Sick

2006-02-01T23:42:00.000-06:00

Sick

Math Will Rock Your World

2006-02-01T18:56:00.000-06:00

Business Week explains how math is being applied to new problems.

The world is moving into a new age of numbers. Partnerships between mathematicians and computer scientists are bulling into whole new domains of business and imposing the efficiencies of math. .. They're helping to map out advertising campaigns, they're changing the nature of research in newsrooms and in biology labs, and they're enabling marketers to forge new one-on-one relationships with customers. As this occurs, more of the economy falls into the realm of numbers. Says James R. Schatz, chief of the mathematics research group at the National Security Agency: "There has never been a better time to be a mathematician."

Very interesting article.