poll results 2: return of the answers

Once again in an effort to de-clutter my blog i will post the results of the last several polls here so you can see where you stand in relation to my other readers. [and yes, de-cluttering my blog takes priority over de-cluttering my desk:)]

If you could win an oscar in one category, what would you want it be?
Director 1
Lead Actor 3
Supporting Actor 1
Special Effects 0
Music/Score 1
Documentary 0
Cinematography 0

What is the gender of our 3rd child?
Male 6
Female 11

Have you ever voted for a reality tv show?
yes, American Idol 1
yes, Dancing with the Stars 1
yes, other 1
no 1

What was the best part of your Christmas vacation?
the gifts, duh 1
the people 3
the food 0
the time off 3

What time is it now?
8am-12pm 2
12pm-4pm 2
4pm-8pm 2
8pm-12am 1
12am-8am 1

movie madness

Becky and I subscribe to the Sunday edition of the Detroit Free Press. It's a good paper, but we really only get it for the coupons. However, I was browsing through it when I came across a really good article by Mitch Albom. He reflected on the current trend in the awards ceremonies (and in the media) to celebrate movies that are dark. Not in the sense that Saw IV is getting nominated for an oscar, but that it seems that you have to be "edgy" to be considered good. You have to push the envelope somehow or you just aren't relevant. You can read his article here.

I agree not only that it happening, but that it is an unfortunate trend. I think that it's even more evident in Television. It seems that the only series' which are regularly nominated each push the boundaries of language, sexuality, and morality.

I'm not against this content in film or television. The world is a messed up place filled with messed up people and media should have the freedom to reflect that. However, it doesn't mean that programming that does not push those boundaries are of lesser quality. You don't have to be dirty to be real. A film can be uplifting and oscar-worthy.

Let's hope that in 2008 we can get more quality movies and tv shows made and nominated.

jammin' tunes

I just purchased the new Passion CD and just like MickyDeez "i'm lovin' it" (i should apologize for the poor quality of that joke, but it's too late... it's already on the internet).

Anyway, the songs that immediately stand out to me are "God of this City", "Sing, Sing, Sing", and "We Shine". I really recommend this CD to any fan of the Passion worship movement.



What music are you listening to?

A few 'sippi highlights

I mentioned a few posts ago that i'd try to put up some pictures of our mission trip, so without further ado...

Our Team

(Paul, Josh, Angela, Katrina, Michael, Marty, J.D., Nitin)
(Alex, Janet, Joy, L.J., Evan, Sarah, Melanie, Nick, Kellie, Liz)

Sunset over N'Orleans

9th Ward, New Orleans

9th Ward, New Orleans

Workin' Hard

Sunset on the Gulf

It's a Girl!!!

The result of my poll was 11 votes girl to 6 votes boy, but the the doctors visit was decidedly conclusive... we are having a girl. We are very excited and very scared. I think I'm scared because I feel like we know how to raise boys, how do you raise a girl? At least we've got a little bit of time to figure that out.

Now we've got to think about baby names. Evan's suggestions so far are "h" and "baby jesus". I'm leaning towards "h", but there's just something about that other name.

loving mississippi

i am currently sitting in pass christian, mississippi 10 feet from 2 amish ladies playing a killer game of ping- pong. seriously, they are good. and seriously, i'm in mississippi.

i'm leading our youth group on a missions trip to help the rebuilding effort following hurricane katrina (2 1/2 years later and there's still so much to do).

We made the trip down here in just under 18 hours (amazing travel time for 2 vans full o' teens). Yesterday we went to new orleans and walked the french quarter in beautiful 70 degree weather. Then we drove through the devastated 9th ward... it was a really powerful experience.

Today we have our first full work day and it was tiring, but great. I'm really excited about what God has in store for our team this week. i'll try to add some pictures next time.

What's it gonna be???

On February 18 (just over 2 weeks away) Becky and I have an ultrasound appointment and will be finding out the gender of our unborn child!

I've opened up a new poll for you to guess what it's going to be (or actually, already is). You can only vote once so make it count!

Chewbacca gets Tazed

The title says it all.

Tomorrow Night!

I am soooo pumped right now!

Tomorrow night is the season premier of the show we've all been waiting for... ELI STONE.

Ha ha ha. Fooled you! You thought i was looking forward to some stupid show with the guy from Hackers. No, i'm really looking forward LOST. I'm watching the season 3 finale right now on ABC, and i'm still blown away by what an amazing episode it is.

If this new season is able to continue the storytelling of the last episode we may just be in store for the greatest season of television EVER!!


p.s. if you call me during the hours of 8pm and 10pm tomorrow, i will not answer the phone for any reason.

Sasquatch is Real... and he lives on Mars!!!

No wonder we can't find him on earth anywhere. This photo was taken by the NASA rover on Mars 4 years ago. I blew up the image in the photo so you can see it, but i have not altered it in any way. This is for real!!!! You can find the original photo at http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/207495main_Spirit.jpg



It matches the grainy 1967 footage taken by Roger Patterson at Bluff Creek, CA.




I think we should give this guy a new name. Here's a few suggestions:

Spacefoot
y.E.T.i
Marsquatch

I just got back from our Senior High winter retreat at SpringHill camp in Evart, MI. It was a great weekend and i came back really tired (the ravages of old age). It was really, really cold... during the day it hovered around a brisk -12 degrees F. i had flashbacks to walking through lakeview park on my way to school as a kid in Saskatoon, SK.

In addition to the weather, another highlight was the speaker for the weekend. Ben Glenn is a really funny guy and he does some amazing drawings using chalk to illustrate his themes.

Here's a couple clips of his stuff from youtube:





hope you had a good weekend too...

Maybe Australia isn't that different after all...

This interview is hilarious. Here's the set-up:
A teen in Melbourne, Australia throws a party while his parents are gone on vacation. But this party gets out of hand when around 500 people show up and start causing trouble. So the police have fined the kid nearly $20,000 to fix the damage done by his friends.

The reactions of both the teen and the newswoman interviewing him are priceless.

Top anticipated albums of 2008

I've been doing some research to read up on which bands are releasing new music in 2008 and I've had a new idea. In the previous lists i've laid out the top titles that i am looking forward to in the next year. This time, i'd like your advice. Any suggestions are welcome... What music should i look for in the new year??

Top Ten New Video Games to play in '08

Another day, another top ten list. This time around I'm ranking the top ten video games that will be released in 2008 that i am waiting to play. I might not buy them all (or any due to "new baby budgeting"), but I'm excited to play them. This list does contain a couple games which currently don't have release dates, but they're supposed to release this year (also a game which hasn't been announced yet). I'm also limiting myself to games for systems that i currently own, which means they'll strictly be games for the Nintendo Wii (with one exception). Here we go:

1. Starcraft 2 (this is an easy choice for the top spot, but it might not be released until '09)
2. Wii Fit (the balance board seems like a really fun peripheral)
3. Mario Kart Wii
4. MX vs. ATV Untamed
5. Smash Brothers Brawl
6. Guitar Hero IV (not yet announced, but there have been strong hints from inside the company)
7. We Love Golf!
8. Samuri Warriors Katana
9. Star Wars: the Force Unleashed
10. Ghostbusters

What games do you want to play?

Top Ten TV Shows to see in '08

This is a much tougher list to compile than the movie list due to the ongoing writers strike. There aren't alot of options for the spring season and there is no way to tell what's going to happen in the fall. Therefore my criteria is that i can only choose a show which i know will be airing new episodes (either from a current running season or new season). It was easy to pick the top 5, the others aren't must watch, just the shows i think will be most interesting:

1. LOST (easy choice)
2. American Gladiators
3. Amazing Race
4. Daily Show with Jon Stewart
5. Colbert Report
6. Survivor 16 (1 tribe all-stars, 1 tribe newbies sounds cool to me)
7. Terminator: Sarah Conner Chronicles
8. Mythbusters
9. BattleStarGalactica (i've never watched it, but i keep hearing really good things about it)
10. American Idol ( i hate to admit it, but there's nothing else on)

what do you want to watch?

Top Ten Movies to see in '08

Happy New Year!

I had a great holiday season (i hope you did too) and I'm looking forward to great things in 2008. I've been considering how to start off the old blog for the new year and i've decided to generate a series of lists of the things that i am most looking forward to in the new year. Here is my list of the top 10 movies which are being released this year that i'm excited to see:

1. The Dark Knight
2. Prince Caspian
3. Iron Man
4. Cloverfield
5. 007
6. Be Kind Rewind
7. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
8. Star Trek 12
9. The Incredible Hulk
10. Jumper

Honorable Mention:
- Wall*e
- Get Smart

What new releases are you looking forward to?

The countdown to December 2010 begins...

New Line Cinema has just announced that Peter Jackson will oversee the production of J.R.R. Tolkein's "The Hobbit" as producer. This is great news for Lord of the Rings fans everywhere. This is actually quite a surprise because P.J. and New Line have spent the last few years in a legal battle over the revenues from the Lord of the Rings trilogy. In fact, the head of New Line said (not too long ago) that he would never allow Mr. Jackson to be a part of "The Hobbit" (New Line owns the rights to the film).

I am excited about this news, but I don't think that Producer is enough of a role for Peter and Fran (his wife and production partner). Producer is an important role and it won't be the same film without him, but it's the director that creates a vision for the film and translates it into the frame. Here's my non-negotiable MUST list to make "The Hobbit" films (they're making 2) as good [or better] as the Lord of the Rings trilogy:

-Peter Jackson as Director
-Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh adapt the screenplay/write the script
-WETA does the special effects
-Ian Holm as Bilbo Baggins
-Andy Serkis as Gollum

and Ian McKellan as Gandalf

anything i'm forgetting???

bad boy, bad boy, whachha gonna do..

You've gotsta check this story out. A wallet thief in Lewiston, Idaho was quickly apprehended with the accidental help of a local newspaper.

On Tuesday morning a woman absent-mindedly forgot her wallet at the counter of a local convenience store. Surveillance video captured the image of a man taking the wallet and the Lewiston Tribune included the photo on the front page of it's Thursday paper. Immediately above the surveillance photo there is another picture inserted as a "local man prepares for the holidays" picture. Now here's the best part...

...the two pictures are of the same guy in the same clothes!!! [see the newspaper here]

Not only are the pictures of the same guy, but the top photo includes his name. Someone from the police noticed it and they went to his house and arrested him. [read a full explanation of the story here]

If only the Mitchell Report had the same editors...

mo lies

Here we go again! How far the mighty have fallen.

Just a few days ago Michael Vick was sentenced to 23 months in prison (but of course, you already knew that if you watch t.v., listen to the radio, or read a newspaper... or go on the internet... or talk with people). It's so sad to think about how much he has messed up his life and the lives of the people around him. Once again we find that lies are at the heart of the issue.

The judge who sentenced Michael doubled his prison term because he felt that Michael was not honest with him or the police. The Atlanta Falcons organization is furious over the lies that they were told. And I'm sure that Vick was even deceived by the lies he told himself (no one will find out, it's not a big deal, etc.).

I believe that he absolutely deserves the punishment that he deserves and i hope that he can use this situation to turn his life around and get rid of the negative influences and habits in his life.

Alot of the sports talk is not so much about his personal life, but about his future in football. My prediction for his professional future: after serving his sentence he is suspended from the NFL for one year (let's not forget that he lied to the face of Roger Goodell AKA the commish). He then spends the next year or two playing in an arena league or the CFL (they did take ricky williams). At that point he'll have performed well enough that some NFL team will hire him as a backup QB. [just look at the league now, how many teams are desperate for any success in the QB role? all of them. How many have played more than one QB? most of them.]

I hope Michael learns that the truth, while not releasing him from prison, will set his soul free and give him a start at a new life.

Poll ReCap

some of you have noticed that i have been posting polls in the sidebar from time to time.

I'll try to keep them fresh and interesting, but there seems to be no way to archive them so they just take up alot of space. Here's a summary of the poll results thus far:

How many turkey-based meals did you eat in the past week? (the week after thanksgiving)
One 1
Two 1
Three 0
Four 0
Five+ 0

Why do you Blog?
I don't 1
I like to share my ideas and opinions 2
I like to get responses and comments back 0
Everyone else is doing it 0

Do you have a fantasy football team?
Yes, I live for it! 0
Yeah, but i don't track it much 0
No 5
What's fantasy football? 0

What is your favourite online social networking site?
Blogger 0
MySpace 0
Facebook 4
Flickr 0
Other 0