Lights, Camera, Movies!

I was reminded by another blog of my goal to watch all of AFI’s top 100 movies of the past 100 years.  I have made some progress, but after I acquired a late fee charge at Blockbuster I haven’t rented anything lately.  I don’t particularly have a time line for this goal, but sooner rather than later. 

Now there was two list created, one in 1998 and again in 2007.  I think it’s important to watch all of the movies on both list, 1998 & 2007.  Now a couple of these I have seen before but if I can’t really remember the story or if I assume I watched it too young to really understand it I am not qualifying it as read.

I recently watched Citizen Kane and can tell why it’s been given the #1 spot.  An incredible movie.   Below are the two list.  The movies in red are the ones I have seen.

1998

1	Citizen Kane
2	Casablanca
3	The Godfather
4	Gone with the Wind
5	Lawrence of Arabia
6	The Wizard of Oz
7	The Graduate
8	On the Waterfront
9	Schindler's List
10	Singin' in the Rain
11	It's a Wonderful Life
12	Sunset Boulevard
13	The Bridge on the River Kwai
14	Some Like It Hot
15	Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
16	All About Eve
17	The African Queen
18	Psycho
19	Chinatown
20	One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
21	The Grapes of Wrath
22	2001: A Space Odyssey
23	The Maltese Falcon
24	Raging Bull
25	E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
26	Dr. Strangelove
27	Bonnie and Clyde
28	Apocalypse Now
29	Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
30	The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
31	Annie Hall
32	The Godfather Part II
33	High Noon
34	To Kill a Mockingbird
35	It Happened One Night
36	Midnight Cowboy
37	The Best Years of Our Lives
38	Double Indemnity
39	Doctor Zhivago
40	North by Northwest
41	West Side Story
42	Rear Window
43	King Kong
44	The Birth of a Nation
45	A Streetcar Named Desire
46	A Clockwork Orange
47	Taxi Driver
48	Jaws
49	Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
50	Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
51	The Philadelphia Story
52	From Here to Eternity
53	Amadeus
54	All Quiet on the Western Front
55	The Sound of Music
56	MASH
57	The Third Man
58	Fantasia
59	Rebel Without a Cause
60	Raiders of the Lost Ark
61	Vertigo
62	Tootsie
63	Stagecoach
64	Close Encounters of the Third Kind
65	The Silence of the Lambs
66	Network
67	The Manchurian Candidate
68	An American in Paris
69	Shane
70	The French Connection
71	Forrest Gump
72	Ben-Hur
73	Wuthering Heights
74	The Gold Rush
75	Dances with Wolves
76	City Lights
77	American Graffiti
78	Rocky
79	The Deer Hunter
80	The Wild Bunch
81	Modern Times
82	Giant
83	Platoon
84	Fargo
85	Duck Soup
86	Mutiny on the Bounty
87	Frankenstein
88	Easy Rider
89	Patton
90	The Jazz Singer
91	My Fair Lady
92	A Place in the Sun
93	The Apartment
94	Goodfellas
95	Pulp Fiction
96	The Searchers
97	Bringing Up Baby
98	Unforgiven
99	Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
100	Yankee Doodle Dandy

2007

1.	Citizen Kane
2.	The Godfather
3.	Casablanca
4.	Raging Bull
5.	Singin' in the Rain
6.	Gone with the Wind
7.	Lawrence of Arabia
8.	Schindler's List
9.	Vertigo
10.	The Wizard of Oz
11.	City Lights
12.	The Searchers
13.	Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
14.	Psycho
15.	2001: A Space Odyssey
16.	Sunset Boulevard
17.	The Graduate
18.	The General
19.	On the Waterfront
20.	It's a Wonderful Life
21.	Chinatown
22.	Some Like It Hot
23.	The Grapes of Wrath
24.	E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
25.	To Kill a Mockingbird
26.	Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
27.	High Noon
28.	All About Eve
29.	Double Indemnity
30.	Apocalypse Now
31.	The Maltese Falcon
32.	The Godfather Part II
33.	One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
34.	Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
35.	Annie Hall
36.	The Bridge on the River Kwai
37.	The Best Years of Our Lives
38.	The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
39.	Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
40.	The Sound of Music
41.	King Kong
42.	Bonnie and Clyde
43.	Midnight Cowboy
44.	The Philadelphia Story
45.	Shane
46.	It Happened One Night
47.	A Streetcar Named Desire
48.	Rear Window
49.	Intolerance
50.	The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
51.	West Side Story
52.	Taxi Driver
53.	The Deer Hunter
54.	MASH
55.	North by Northwest
56.	Jaws
57.	Rocky
58.	The Gold Rush
59.	Nashville
60.	Duck Soup
61.	Sullivan's Travels
62.	American Graffiti
63.	Cabaret
64.	Network
65.	The African Queen
66.	Raiders of the Lost Ark
67.	Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
68.	Unforgiven
69.	Tootsie
70.	A Clockwork Orange
71.	Saving Private Ryan
72.	The Shawshank Redemption
73.	Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
74.	The Silence of the Lambs
75.	In the Heat of the Night
76.	Forrest Gump
77.	All the President's Men
78.	Modern Times
79.	The Wild Bunch
80.	The Apartment
81.	Spartacus
82.	Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
83.	Titanic
84.	Easy Rider
85.	A Night at the Opera
86.	Platoon
87.	12 Angry Men
88.	Bringing Up Baby
89.	The Sixth Sense
90.	Swing Time
91.	Sophie's Choice
92.	GoodFellas
93.	The French Connection
94.	Pulp Fiction
95.	The Last Picture Show
96.	Do the Right Thing
97.	Blade Runner
98.	Yankee Doodle Dandy
99.	Toy Story
100.	Ben-Hur

 

Dinner

I don't think I do much in life very well. I'm middle row average on most things I pursue.
But there is at least one thing I excel in; I make an amazing sandwich!
It would be wrong to say I JUST make a sadwich. You wouldn't say DaVinci JUST painted and you wouldn't say Mozart JUST played the piano.
So please never suggest I JUST had a sandwich for dinner.
I had a masterpiece for dinner.

The Whole Encillada

Why do people say the phrase “the whole enchilada”? 

I get that a enchilada has lots of parts, but what does that phrase even mean? 

And why did the enchilada get chosen for this phrase? 

Why not the burrito? 

“The whole burrito!”

Sure it sounds funny when you say it, but no more so than enchilada.

Why not the taco?

Or the whole double-decker taco?

 

And now that I think about it, isn’t there a phrase that goes “the whole kit and caboodle”.  

What’s that?  And what’s a caboodle?

Is that the American version of “the whole enchilada”?

 

In German: the whole bratwurst

In Italy: the whole pizza pie

In China: the whole General Tao’s Chicken

 

These are my afternoon thoughts.  Sorry.

WrestleMania 25 Diary

I read this diary of the WrestleMania 25 weekend on the MSN site this morning and thought it was hilarious.  While I haven’t seriously watched wrestling since I was in middle school I won’t lie and say I haven’t on occasion sat in front of the TV and been consumed by the soap-operatic drama. 

Well that’s not true.  In college, because we were not allowed TVs in our dorm rooms and our lobbies didn’t have cable, I was able to use wrestling as an excuse to hang out at this very cute girls place.  She was a student at the state school in our town and I knew her through a guy who lived on the same floor as me.  He had a crush on her too, that is until he met the girl who would become his wife, so she was .  She would sit at her desk and do her homework and occasionally ask questions about wrestling.  I would answer her questions and watch a little wrestling and watch her study, all the while trying to build by courage up to ask her out.  She played tennis for her school too.  Don’t know why I mention that, but did I met that she was cute.  I can’t remember her name.  But I’m sure it was something melodic.  Oh yeah she also very talented on the piano.  I remember sitting and listening to her practice her pieces for me and attending a couple of her recitals.  Apparently I spent a decent amount of time with her, you think I would remember her name.  But I do remember she was very cute.  My friend, who I knew her through, wrote this song about her that was incredible, you should visit his site and buy some of his music. 

Wow.  Talk a tangent.  What was this post about?  Oh yeah, WrestleMania.

I saw Shawn Michaels, The Heartbreak Kid, at a Red Robin here in San Antonio once.  He looks bigger on TV.  He was with, I presume, his wife and two young daughters.  I had heard that he lived here in San Antonio and I think he attends Cornerstone Church (John Hagee), but I don’t know that for certain.  I was with the Deuce at the time and we were both suddenly 13 again.  As the Deuce and I left we joked about how we should just go off and put him in a choke hold and attempt the figure-four leg lock.  But somehow we were able to access the mature side of ourselves and avoid from running up to him and asking for his autograph and posing with him.  But I won’t lie, if I ever see him again without his wife and kids you better believe I’m doing just that. 

So back to this article.  It had some great lines.  Here are a few:

-          2 p.m.: I check into my hotel. Reliant Stadium, the site of WrestleMania 25, is right outside of my window. I am in the belly of the beast.

-          12:30-2 a.m.: Never try to outdrink two Irish wrestling fans that have just flown across the Atlantic to see their first WrestleMania. It's a lesson I learned the hard way.

-          5:45 p.m.: I meet a group of folks from Syracuse as I enter the Toyota Arena for the hall of fame ceremony. One says to me, "You know, people say wrestling is fake. My response is to ask them what their favorite show is. They say something like 'Seinfeld.' I say, 'You think that's real?'"

-          6-10 p.m.: -- Brothers Jeff and Matt Hardy throw their bodies around in an aerial-centric match that sees the [spoiler] brother [spoiler] defeats [spoiler] in a surprise finish (one that features the former smashing the latter in-between a steel chair, hardly brotherly).

At one point in the article he refers to the tag team duo The Colon brothers and uses the words double bummer in the next sentence.  Am I the only one who saw that and thought it was funny.

I makes me want to watch some wrestling.

MLB 2009: Opening Day Wrap Up

-          I’m wrapping up my 2009 MLB predictions and should have them up soon.  I’m not sure why I’m taking so long.  I read a lot and then just make guesses.   While there are some front runners I’m stoked about the number of teams that seem to be able to contend.  There are few teams that seem to obvious contenders (i.e. Red Sox, Cubs, Angels, Rays, etc.), some teams that should be competitive (i.e. Yankees, Mets, Dodgers, etc.), some teams that won’t necessarily be a surprise if they have an exception season (i.e. my Rangers, A’s, Royals, Braves, etc.) and then some teams that are certain to be horrible (i.e. Mariners, Padres, etc.).

-          Emilio Bonifacio hit the first Opening Day in-the-park home run since Carl Yastrzemski, in 1968.  When asked about the feat Emilio respond by saying he never heard of who the Yaz was.  What?    Sure Yastrzemski retired two years before Emilio was born, but that is just no excuse.

-          Two players on the Arizona Diamondbacks, Felipe Lopez and Tony Clark, each hit two home runs, from both sides of the play.

-          Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 8^th Opening Day home run tying Frank Robinson for the most. 

-          My Rangers won. 

-          My Astros lost.

"Play Ball"

What a great day it is. 

There is a slight chill in the air.  The breezy wind only intensifies that chill.  The skies are gray.  I’m at work. 

But despite all that Baseball season is here.  Joy has returned to Mudville.

You can hear the sounds of baseball.

Crack of the bats as the ball smacks into the sweet spot.

Baseballs snapping into leather and the little puff of dirt that explodes.

The sudden break of the lull-of-the-action when a sharply hit ball cause the forces the crowd to its feet with their gasps and ohs and ahs.

“Hey batta’ batta’.  Hey batta’ batta’.  Swing!”

You can smell the game.

The checkered outfield grass.

The fresh straight chalked foul lines.

The Big League Chew.

The potential for your favorite team to win it all.

 

I love opening day.

I love baseball.

 

Grammar Farts

I've been reading back thru some recent blog post and am feeling stupid. Aparently I can not writing well as of late.
Maybe I never have written well. I might be in constant need of an editor. I have always thought that I was slightly dyslexic which certainly could be a good excuse.
It might also be that I am just not proof-reading. Because that is about half true. Half true in the sense that I struggle to read what I wrote because me mind just reads what it meant to type anyways. Again I need a full time editor.
At church this evening I had typed up some powerpoints and completely wrote a poorly articulated thought. I mean it was awful stupid.
If there is anything stupified in this post I apologize.

Video: Amnesty

A powerful video?
Do you have any thoughts on it?
I struggle to reconcile our call to humility and peace with our call to stand up for the poor, the oppressed and the disadvantaged.
How much to I trust God when he instructs us to "turn the other cheek" with our a righteous vengeance against injustice and oppression.
Have any you come to terms with that dilemma?

Find more videos like this on AdGabber

Video: Where The Wild Things Are

This looks absolutely beautiful.
I'll be there to see this.

Movie: I Love You, Man

I watched I Love You, Man tonight. Pretty funny moment. I saw it with some ladies and throughout the whole movie all I could think was that that I just might be that dude.
The premise is that Paul Rudd's character is engaged and his fiance and her lady friends are worried about how he has no guy friends. Also Paul can't seem to decide who his best man should be.
I started counting how many guy friends I hang with on a regular basis and, honestly, I was a little worried that that number might be on the low end.
Then I started to get worried because of all my dude friends I not sure who I would ever consider my best man. Of all the men I hangout with I don't know if any are best man material.
Crap.
Does this mean I have to start going on more man dates?
If things resort to that I definitely want to stick to the man date rules. No dinners with these dudes. If I was a drinker I'd met them for a happy hour after work beverage, but I don't really drink.
Crap.
This could be harder than I thought.
Please don't try and set me up on any man dates either. That just seems like it could be incredibly awkward.
Also I wish I knew Lou Ferrigno. Wouldn't that be awesome!

Video: Stihl Chainsaw

Here is a great video if you have working on some lesson where you are speaking about "blessings". Maybe your talking about Isaac blessing Jacob over Esau. Or how God has blessed us, yet we often abuse this blessing.
I don't know. I'm sure you'll figure it out.

Renewed

And there was great rejoicing.

Friday Night Lights has been renewed for two additional seasons!

Each season will be filmed back to back, and the season will first be aired on the DirectTV channel before NBC.  I suppose I can live with that. 

Now the interesting news will have to be which characters will be returning, as many of them should be graduating and heading off to college.  What I don’t want to see is a Saved By The Bell situation.  I don’t want one of these seasons to be the team working at the beach resort during the off season.

Financial Rock, Paper, Sissors

“If a person gets his attitude toward money straight, it will help him straighten out almost every other area of his life.” – Billy Graham

 

If I could sit at the feet of one preacher today it wouldn’t be Mark Driscoll, Rob Bell, Rick Warren or Bill Hybels.  Not that I don’t listen to all their podcast on a weekly basis.  However, if I could sit under one man’s weekly teaching it would be Jon Weece.  Jon is the preaching pastor at Southland Christian Church in Lexington, KY. 

Jon graduated from Ozark Christian College, and I first heard him my second year there.  At the time he was serving at an orphanage in Haiti.  I thought four years at Ozark would transform me into a preacher like Jon (or like Kyle Idleman, preaching pastor at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, KY, who graduated my freshman year), I was wrong.  Some people were born to preach and teach and lead.  Jon is one of them.

 

I say all that to share this resource by Jon and his team.  Unfortunately I couldn’t embed it here for you, but if you have about 30 minutes, Jon has an excellent presentation accompanied with easy to use curriculum concerning your finances.  Especially you finances in this current economy.

 

In my own life my finances have been a struggle.  I’m no financial wiz.  And despite math being a strong subject for me in high school, I wasn’t required one math or finance class for my Bible education, and now financial numbers just make my head spin.  I often tell people I want to marry a woman who’s rich or a financial planner.

 

Anyways.  Check out Jon and his presentation.  Well worth it. 

Quote - Trueblood

"At the profoundest depths of life, men talk not about God but with Him." - Elton Trueblood

Wow. In light of this quote, I have to confess to having a shallow life on most days. Maybe someday I just might learn to include You in my every conversation.

Thanks

In The News..

Now this is hard hitting journalism, tough on crime law enforcement and an all around better education system.

Student suspended for passing gas on bus

Hilarious…because it’s sad…and because I’ve wanted to send kids home from church for the same reason.

I Read Vanity Fair (but only for the pictures)

Sometimes I'll puruse through a Vanity Fair issue.

I suppose occasionaly there might be an article or interview that catches my attention. But I really like the photography that is in it. Not to be careful, sometimes they have some pictures that would definitely be innappropriate, but for the a large part there is some really interesting work done by some very talent photographers.

I say all that to share the photos below. I think it's in the current issue that photographer Mark Seliger gathered numerous young Hollywood talent together and recreated some scenes from the movie/play West Side Story.

I remember I had to watch the movie several years in a row during my middle school days. It was standard in every music class offered, of which we required to take at least once a year.

I think they are great and thought you should see them. Here are a few but you should go see all of them by CLICKing HERE

That's Jennifer Lopez portraying Anita and Camilla Belle (from 10,000 B.C., who I remember thinking throughout the movie had gorgeous eyes and really white teeth for a cave woman).

Notice all the talent that was involved in these photos. Surprisingly, and especially for how young many of them still are, several of them were able to put aside ego and able to be involved in this project even as a "lesser role".

Here is who is in the above photo. Camilla Belle, Ben Barnes (Prince Caspian), J.Lo., Rodrigo Santoro (Behind the Sun), Chris Evans (Fantastic Four), Ashley Tisdale (HSM), Minka Kelly (Friday Night Lights), Jay Hernandez (lots of stuff), Natalie Martinez (Death Race), Brandon Jackson (Tropic Thunder), Melonie Diaz (A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints), Sean Faris (Never Back Down), Shane Lynch (an up and comer), Robert Patterson (Twilight), Cam Gigandet (Twilight), Trilby Glover (88 Minutes), Brittany Snow (Hairspray), Drake Bell (Drake & Josh)

Mac is Back

Quick!  Give him your hair clip, shoe laces and a stick of gum.  MacGyver is coming to the big screen. 

 

Does anyone remember his first name?  I think they told us in an episode once.  But to be honest with you I haven’t seen an episode since it’s gone off the air.

 

Still I think I’m excited about this.  I’m somewhat hesitant in that it could really bad too.  Mission Impossible-s have been done well.  Miami Vice, no so much.

 

Friday Night LIghts

I caught up on some Friday Night Lights tonight.

Such a pretty show. And not just because of the cast, although there is no doubt the ladies are gorgeous, and I hear the guys are too. But just how they film the show is beautiful. It captures why Texas can be such a beautiful place sometimes.

And while the show does suffer some poor scripting sometimes (Principal Taylor has gone, in just three seasons, from full time home maker, to school counselor, to principal?), it still has the ability to draw you into the characters lives forgetting it's shortcomings.

I've been watching it since it first came on, and hope this isn't it's last season.

Do you watch this show?

What do you think about it?

Bambi Lives

Tonight I almost killed Bambi as she tried to cross the road. (Was Bambi a she?)

The deer sat in the road staring at me like...um...well...a deer in the headlights.

I used my ridiculously quick reflexes and slowed down time to Matrix levels to avoid the deer.

I first week left, but so did the deer. So I began to turn the vehicle right, up until the deer swung his head that direction. Finally, with inches to spare, I maneuvered left barely circling the young doe.

I think the car behind me avoid her too, but I can't be certain of that.

Sport of the Arts

Tonight I ventured into a world I have never encountered before. Well let me try and not be so dramatic. Tonight I ventured into a world, that outside of a high school football game's half time entertainment, I have never encountered before.
One of my students asked me to attend her colorguard competition.
It was like a the world of illegal street racing before the movie The Fast and The Furious.
Or the world of competitive video gaming before the movie Fist Full of Quarters.
Or Canada.
You've heard of these places, and you kinda want to believe they're real, but honestly...how could they be?
The first thing that took me by surprise was that it cost money to get in. People actually pay to watch young ladies (and occasionally young men) twirl flags around and prance around.
But now that I think about it maybe that's not such a big shocker. Our society being what it is, I suppose this makes sense. But no social commentary tonight.
The next thing I notice was that there is, to my astonishment, a lot of people who watch these colorguard competitions. The stands were full.
And they don't preform on the football field, but the compete in the gym. It was so out of place. It was if the basketball team decided to host their games on the fenced in, black surfaced courts in the middle of the park. Yeah it works, but it ain't right.
I don't remember colorguard at my high school. But then again I wasn't the most involved with school social events. I attended some football games, but to my credit, I spent half time trying to impress the ladies...a lady...okay, okay...any lady.
But these young gals tonight took this stuff seriously. And there was all sorts of colorguard audience etiquette that I was just not aware of; there needs me be a helpful handout.
And I feel I must point out how awkward that lone guy on the squad must feel, or how the squad feels, or at least the crowd watching feels. Not that I think a young man shouldn't follow his passion of dancing before large crowds with wooden guns and flags; and I'm certainly not going to assume a sexual stereotype just because of his extracurricular activities. But I do see how that might become a distraction on some level. Like when a young lady joins the wrestling team.
There was however a team this evening with at least half it's squad being males (10 out of 2o dancers). This did not have the awkwardness of the the team with the lone male. What was unfortunate was this team choose a urban image that often allows for suggestive labeling. Where was the coach in that decision making process?
Or worse, there was the squad that was dressing in black leather pants, and fish net tops (over red a red shirt). This outfit definitely suggested that these young ladies would have a future in the dancing industry; unfortunately the football field wouldn't be their stage.
The announcer, before each team would start, would ask the judges if they were ready (and the judges were a trip too), then ask the team's captain if they were ready, and finally he would give permission for the team to "take the floor in competition". It for some reason reminded me of the big karate meet in the Karate Kid. But instead of people actually kicking each other it was the even more painful world of teenage mean girls.
Finally it was time for the trophies to be handed out. The hosting school's music director played the National Anthem on his saxophone and completely hit a wrong note at the end of the song. He tried to play it off as if he meant to by dragging out the wrong note in a way that saxophonist can do, only he didn't do it well.
Nevertheless I rooted on my student and cheered even when the came in second (They so totally should have won. The team that was horrible.)

The Neverending Story

I heard some awesome news today.
Apparently Leonardo DiCaprio's production company is planning a remake of this '80s classic.
This means a new look, but hopefully they can recapture that same old Falcor, The Luckdragon, magic.

A Distant Love Story

Check out this Flickr account.

This couple, he in America - she in England, take a photo and photoshop themselves into a single photo together.

That's how love conquer distant in our world today.
Ain't it sweet?

Social Claustrophobia

Friday I had a uncomfortable reunion with family I was meeting for the first time.

It was an awkward evening.  Not the reunions, but the circumstance around the reunion.  I have a cousin who was married on Saturday, which was the cause for the gathering on Friday evening.  And several out of town guest had all gathered at one home.

Which leads me to my confession.

I have social claustrophobia.

I don't enjoy large parties.  Especially large parties in small rooms.  For some reason I don't function well.  I don't open up completely.  Even if it's in a group of people that I've known for years.  My elbows seem to always be floating up, and I feel like my personal space is being more crowded (why is that?).

I end up hovering to the edges of the room and watching people.  I don't quite break out into cold sweats, but my palms do get clammy.  

Being surrounded frustrates me.  

I don't care for crowded restaurants, amusement parks, theaters, clothing stores, grocery stores, house parties, cars, airplanes, caves....you get the picture.

There is something very physical to my social claustrophobia, but there is also something else.  I don't even act myself.  

I lose my self-confidence.  

I lose my sense of humor.  

My personality crawls into a shell.  

I'm not sure why.

But I have also noticed a couple of exceptions to those.  

First: I love being in the crowd root, root, rooting for the home team.  Getting caught up in a baseball game with a crowd is an exhilarating experience.

Second: A large church gathering.  I may still try to push myself to the edges, but there is joy in worshipping with others, and it is worth the uncomfortableness.  

Any other social claustrophobiacs (sp? claustrophobians?) out there?

"Hello, I'm Trevor"

This past Friday I met several relatives that I have never met before or had not seen in over 25 years, included my biological father.  

I spent much of the evening saying "Hello, I'm Trevor" to wide-eyed faces of relatives, shocked to see me after so many years.

I'm still trying to work through my thoughts on the whole event.  I don't process well.  Maybe some day I'll be able to articulate it all clearer.  

Aunts and uncles and cousins and of course my father...er...dad...um...I don't know how to quickly reference him.  Maybe just Mondo.  That's his name.

Severaly close people to me have felt that I needed this reunion and that I have deep seeded emotional issues because of the lack of this relationship.  

I don't know about that.

I do know I went to this reunion, not necessarily for myself.  I don't have that deep longing inside of me to know these relationships.  I can understand my older brothers though who sought these family members out.  I just honestly don't.  And maybe that's a problem.  

I might someday grow to love them.  

Several times throughout the night I was told, "Trevor this is your family."

I might someday grow to believe that.

I went to this reunion, because ultimately I felt that I would have been holding something back that others needed.  These people needed to see me and have a chance to know me.   

I went so I didn't feel guilty for failing to serve someone, when all that would be requied is a simple "showing up".

I'll try to share more as I think about it.

Also there are pictures out there.  If I find them I'll post them too.

GDrive

Have you heard about the nex step in the ever increasing dominion of Google?

Soon to be released is Google's GDrive.

Here is what is being said about it:

Google Drive, or Gdrive as it is better known, has to be the most anticipated Google product so far. When it arrives, Gdrive will likely cause a major paradigm shift in how we use computers and bring Google one step closer to dethroning Windows on your desktop. The service has the potential to eclipse even Gmail, Google's second best-known product after their google.com search engine.

I'm looking forward to this.

If Google had a flag I'd salute it.

The New Yankee Stadium

Check out these photos of the new Yankee Stadium. Click HERE for more. I'm not a Yankee fan (although I'm in awe of their legend) but even I can appreciate this beautiful building.

Vintage Modern

I'm appreciate Vintage Modern. What's your personal style. Find out HERE.

The Rest of the Story

Sad news today.

Legendary radio host Paul Harvey has passed away.

I suppose he now knows "the rest of the story."

Students Designing Help

I found this following video on another blog.  He was impressed with the office design work.  I am impressed with the students who discovered a need and designed a solution.  It's simple things like this that inspire me to work with students.  Their potential is unbelievable.  

Check it out.

New Office Workspace (NOW) from CommackHighSchool on Vimeo.

Unbelievable Beliefs (aka Believing the Unbelievable)

These days I’m getting over my rights and attempting a higher standard. 

I believe that God gives you and me the freedom to make choices.  To choice myself and my desires or to choice Him and His will.  Sometimes those match.  Sometimes their similar.  Sometimes His go much beyond my ideals.  Sometimes I go far short of His ideal.

I sincerely desire to find myself in that place where my pursuit of Him just might be considered reckless. 

Could I possibly have a reckless trust in Christ Jesus, that I begin to live out a reckless faith.

I think at one point in my life I was there.  

These days I don’t. 

I miss those days.

I have been trying to live Jeremiah 12:5 out the past couple of weeks.  It says this:

"If you have raced with men on foot
       and they have worn you out,
       how can you compete with horses?

 If you stumble in safe country,

       how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?”

I’m getting fed up with living a normal faith in a safe world. 

I have friends who are challenging me in my reckless pursuit of Jesus.  Calling me out. 

I am praying that I might have the boldness to pursue.

My prayer this week went something like this: “I believe, help me in my unbelief.”

 

 

Teenager to be Proud of...

I love reading stories about teenagers who do extraordinary things.  Here is one I read today that I really enjoy and am convicted by.  McKay Hatch started a No Cussing club in his junior high school and has since gone on to challenge numerous others to participate in his campaign to clean up our language. 

You can visit his website HERE and read more about him.

Sure when McKay starts making songs and videos to promoting his cause I cringe, because it’s typically not up to my usually musical standards.  But how could we not be proud of this young man?

And I can hear it already.  That talk that Christians always seem to have when it comes to the issue of curse words.  I cannot tell you how many late night dorm room theology sessions were held on our right to use any words we so choose.  College students are idiots, and I was chief in these respects.  

Cussing may seem like a small trivial thing.  But I want to believe that if I’m faithful with the little He just might (just maybe), trust me with more.

Thanks McKay.