Don't Forget Your Sunscreen

Tear Down This Wall!

2009-11-09T09:15:00.002-07:00

It began on the 12th of June, 1987 when President Ronald Reagan stood at the foot of the Brandenburg Gate and called for the Soviet Union to end the Cold War. President called for Mr. Gorvchev to take down the Berlin Wall that had for so long separated the oppressed people of East Germany from the freedom and democracy of the west.

President Reagan had an unwavering belief in freedom and an ideal that freedom truly did matter to all people around the world. And because of President Reagan's unwavering belief in freedom, 20 years ago today on November 9th, 1989, the Berlin Wall, a symbol of Communist oppression, was torn down by the citizens it had enslaved for nearly half a century.

Before calling on Mr. Gorbechev to "Open gate! Mr Gorbechev Tear down this wall!" President Reagan spoke of a duty to freedom that American Presidents have. "We come to Berlin, we American Presidents, because it's our duty to speak in this place of freedom."

Freedom Matters. So on this, the 20th Anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall and the unification of Germany followed by the fall of communism in the Soviet Union, I wonder why our current American President doesn't feel compelled to speak of freedom at the foot of the Brandenburg Gate. I just hope it isn't a harbinger of this Presidents view on freedom around the world.

You see like President Reagan I believe that big government oppresses free people around the world. And it is our inherent right to fight the oppressive forces of big government and ending the hostile take over of our liberties and freedoms.

As we go about our lives on this historic day let us keep the lessons of the Berlin Wall close at hand.

2009 Election, Health Care Vote and the GOP "civil war" in New York

2009-11-08T11:19:00.002-07:00

Its been a little over a week since I last had the time to post, but it seems a lot happened during the week I was campaigning in Virginia for Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell. So here is a recap of what has changed on the political landscape over the last week and a half and the implications it has going forward, especially into the 2010 midterms.

In Virginia, Bob McDonnell, the Republican ticket (Bill Bolling Lt. Gov, and Ken Cucinnelli Att. Gen) and Republicans candidates for the Virginia State House of Delegates won so overwhelmingly on November 3rd that the election was called less than an hour after the polls closed. Now Virginia is a state that Obama won in 2008 and a state that Obama must win in 2012 if he wants to be re-elected. Virginia is also a bellwether state. And in this particular election democrats didn't get beat. They put their ideas and policies on the local and national level on the table. The American public has seen what the Administration and democrat leadership on Capitol Hill want to do. And in Virginia they not only said NO, they said it to the tune of a 20 point win by Republicans in Virginia.

A great example from where I was working. Loudoun County Virginia, in the DC suburbs, bordering Fairfax county, home to Dulles International Airport, hasn't been won by a Republican since George W Bush in 2000. Thats nine years of democrats running the House of Delegates in Loudoun and statewide and presidential candidates winning the voters of Loudoun. In this election Loudoun County voted 65% for Bob McDonnell and the Republican ticket. Even when democrats won Loudoun they never received more than 55% of the vote. This is a huge swing away from the "mandate" of Obama just a year ago.

Now switch to New Jersey. Where Chris Christie the republican candidate for governor campaign against Obama and democrats in New Jersey. New Jersey is just about as solidly blue as a state comes. Unions control the elections. In fact so much so that people usually joke that even though GOP turnout operations give Republicans a 4% boost on Election Day, in New Jersey it doesn't matter because Voter Fraud and stuffing ballot boxes gives democrats a 5% boost on Election Day.

This year even the powerful unions couldn't rig the election enough for Jon Corzine to win. The voters spoke in droves against the policies of the White House.

You would think that democrats would have heeded this message and started to move away from Health Care which voters who had a say on Nov 3rd, said they were against it. But no, Nancy Pelosi and Obama want to socialize America. So last night they hid under the idea that a win in the New York 23rd was a great example of the people wanting reform, Obama style.

So after a long day of debate, the House passed a bill that received 220 votes for and 215 against.

The baffling thing about all of this is the democrats total disregard for their own skin. Passing this legislation will spell the end of their leadership in Congress. Republicans will easily win back 40+ of the required 57 needed to get control of the House. And the senate will be even easier, especially if Sen. Lieberman (I-CONN) officially switches to and R.

Now it is very clear that Harry Reid and democrats in the Senate are keenly aware of the ramifications of re-election. There are several members who want to vote YES on health care but know they would lose any bid for re-election. And Harry Reid needs every single democrat to vote yes or he doesn't have the 60 votes needed for Cloture.

So for now we can hope that a capitalist American is safe. Reid wont hold a vote for quite some time, and when he does it probably wont pass. Even if it does pass the senate, the Senate version is so different from the House version that a conference committee will never agree. So for now we can sit back and let the senate once again be the saucer that cools the cup of the house.

But if something does go wrong and this bill gets to the Oval office, rest assured democrats will find themselves very quickly back in the minority in Washington come the midterm elections in 2010.

iPhone Politics

2009-10-29T22:20:00.002-06:00

Daniel Henninger, deputy editor of the Wall Street Journal's Editorial Page, has a great, non-partisan, editorial in today's Wall Street Journal that is absolutely worth a read.

In his analysis of Obamacare and the politics we have seen under the current Democratic congress and Obama administration he points out a few reasons the democrats are failing on a much larger level than the details of why Obamacare is a horrible piece of legislation.

If you don't have the time to read it here is my quick summary of his article:

In 2008 the droves of younger voters (18-40) that turned out in record numbers to vote for "change" wanted a President and a Congress that would move beyond old school politics. A system based on Windows 95, one-size fits all to a system with 100,00 apps tested and improved to cater to the individual.

Democrats and specifically Obama have 100% failed to attempt, let alone achieve this goal. Today's voters and the most of America outside the far-left live in a world where you can personalize your entire life with 100,000 different iPhone apps that fit their lives. Yet in the single largest piece of legislation every proposed Obama is trying grow a one-size fits all health care system that simply will not change health care so much as make it government run.

He argues we need to move into a system where every individual has the opportunity to choose what makes the most sense to them not someone else. Let the health care industry provide apps that can fail, change and move in a direction that suits more people.

He says "We define the past 25 years in terms of entrepreneurs and visionaries in places like Silicon Valley who took a small idea and ran with it. Congress does the opposite. It takes something already big . . . and makes it bigger." and "There was a time when contributing to the common good meant joining something relatively small like the Peace Corps or Teach for America. Now it means being willing to just fall into line behind some huge piece of legislation."

Now this is not to say that currently Republicans have moved out of big box, Windows 95 politics yet either. Until politicians catch up to the real world of fast paced, individualized options for life, they will always fail or create legislation that will eventually fail.

As for me I agree completely with Mr. Henninger. Government cannot continue to grow failed programs like Medicare and Medicaid. California is proof that an unchecked continually growing medicaid system will collapse an entire economy. If we have this proof we must change it not just throw more money at it. In today's modern technology we have trial and error. If through beta testing a software program doesn't work you don't just throw it on the shelves, you fix it first then sell it.

Nothing in Obamacare has ever worked when run by the government but big box unions control this White House and they want "free" health care, so they will get it through trickery and misdirection of the American people. We need to recognize the errors of government and get rid of them not prop them up with billions more.

Let Censorship Begin! (or not...)

2009-10-23T10:25:00.002-06:00

In case you have missed any of the thrilling saga of the White House trying to burn the 1st Amendment of the constitution he is a quick recap of Obama's foray into press censorship via the White House War on Fox News:

The war began when White House Communications Director Anita Dunn said that Fox News is "opinion journalism masquerading as news." And “Fox News often operates almost as either the research arm or the communications arm of the Republican Party, We’re going to treat them the way we would treat an opponent. As they are undertaking a war against Barack Obama and the White House, we don't need to pretend that this is the way that legitimate news organizations behave.'' Now this is the same Anita Dunn that just a few weeks ago admitted that during the campaign the Obama team "controlled" the press. And it is the same Anita Dunn who recently told a gymnasium of high schoolers that her most admired political philosopher is none other than Chairman Mao.

And not to outdone by his coworker, on THIS WEEK with George Stephenopoulos (an ABC show) White House Senior Advisor David Axelrod said "Fox is not really a news organization."

Following the rather shocking declaration by two very senior administration officials, ABC wanted to get a clear answer from the mouthpiece of the white house, and what happened was this exchange between Robert Gibbs, the White House Press Secretary and ABC reporter Jake Tapper

Tapper: It’s escaped none of our notice that the White House has decided in the last few weeks to declare one of our sister organizations “not a news organization” and to tell the rest of us not to treat them like a news organization. Can you explain why it’s appropriate for the White House to decide that a news organization is not one –

(Crosstalk)

Gibbs: Jake, we render, we render an opinion based on some of their coverage and the fairness that, the fairness of that coverage.

Tapper: But that’s a pretty sweeping declaration that they are “not a news organization.” How are they any different from, say –

Gibbs: ABC -

Tapper: ABC. MSNBC. Univision. I mean how are they any different?

Gibbs: You and I should watch sometime around 9 o’clock tonight. Or 5 o’clock this afternoon.

Tapper: I’m not talking about their opinion programming or issues you have with certain reports. I’m talking about saying thousands of individuals who work for a media organization, do not work for a “news organization” -- why is that appropriate for the White House to say?

Gibbs: That’s our opinion.

Then to cap all of this off, yesterday the White House offered interviews to the White House pool (ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN and FOX) of the new White House 'pay czar'. Except that when they offered that interview they said FOX couldn't participate.

Now I am assuming that the Obama team made a calculated decision that this was their shot to finally knock Fox News out of the White House Reporting pool. What they didn't anticipate was the backlash from the other four members of the pool. Upon hearing that the interview of the new 'pay czar' would not be allowed to Fox News, the DC bureau chiefs of ABC, NBC, CBS and CNN said they would not participate in any pool activities that the entire pool wasn't invited too participate in.

What has transpired over the last few weeks has been an all out war not just on Fox News, but on the opposition to political ideas. And it hasn't been going very well. The simple fact of the matter is that Fox News, like CNN and MSNBC has opinion programming as well as News. Shepard Smith reports facts and happenings, Glenn Beck offers his opinion on those facts.

If the White House gets a clean pass to censor who gets to report the news, it wont be very long until the White House censor's what news is reported by the select group they allow into the briefing room. And good for the other four members of the pool for taking a stand against the administration.

If the American public and the American FREE press doesn't keep vigilante on this issue, it won't be just Fox News that is kicked out of the White House. Next CNN will say something disagreeable to Obama and get the boot, then CBS, ABC or NBC and eventually they could all be replaced by Pravda.

So don't just look at this "war against Fox News" as an attack on Glenn Beck or Rush Limbaugh, it has much graver consequences than talk radio hosts.

Amazing Pop-Up Diorama Made of Legos!

2009-10-20T06:13:00.002-06:00

From Alex on Neatorama: "a pop-up diorama of the Kinkaku-ji Zen Buddhist temple in Kyoto, Japan, made entirely out of LEGO blocks! YouTube user talapz created this out of 4,500 bricks."

As Global Warming Continues, Montanans Prepare for Frostbite

2009-10-12T06:31:00.002-06:00

Currently, the top two headlines on the Drudge Report read as follows...

BBC:What Happened to Global Warming...
Montana Cold Breaks Record...

Now, I have to point out that I was pretty excited to click on a link on the Drudge Report and be re-directed to "Montana's News Station," but I was more excited when I realized that, whereas I could be hunkered down trying to keep warm back at home in the States, I currently live in a city that posted almost 80 degree weather today! Now, 80 degrees in October is not out of the question in Montana, but to be able to count on warm days all week, midway through October, is something that I'm not quite used to yet. I'm working on being comfortable with this...

Which, in some random way, leads me to my next point. The article from the BBC begs the question that I've been asking myself for a few months now; "What happened to global warming?" We haven't heard much about it in the news recently, which either reflects poorly on the media for neglecting such a global problem, or reflects poorly on the scientists who purport the truth of this apocalyptic trend.

One segment of the story, in particular, stood out to me...

In addition, say Met Office scientists, temperatures have never increased in a straight line, and there will always be periods of slower warming, or even temporary cooling.
What is crucial, they say, is the long-term trend in global temperatures. And that, according to the Met office data, is clearly up.
To confuse the issue even further, last month Mojib Latif, a member of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) says that we may indeed be in a period of cooling worldwide temperatures that could last another 10-20 years.
Professor Latif is based at the Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences at Kiel University in Germany and is one of the world's top climate modellers.
But he makes it clear that he has not become a sceptic; he believes that this cooling will be temporary, before the overwhelming force of man-made global warming reasserts itself.
So what can we expect in the next few years?

Quite frankly, this seems like the typical scientific ploy - if the numbers don't add up, just change them...or say that "there will be periods of cooling before things begin to heat up again..."

I would recommend reading the whole article, there is some interesting discussion on the effect of Ocean warming and cooling on global temperatures.

Batman: The Musical?

2009-10-12T02:57:00.002-06:00

So, what's a guy to do when he lives in Turkey and doesn't have to go to work until 6 PM. Spend his days surfing the internet finding fun and exciting new things, of course! Which brings me to this little gem from The Zeray Gazette by way of Neatorama.

It seems Cartoon Network is currently airing a new Batman animate series called "Batman: The Brave and the Bold." More information on the new series, currently airing it's first season, can be found here. One particular episode, which apparently hasn't aired in the States yet, guest stars Neil Patrick Harris as "The Music Meister," a villain with the ability to hypnotize people with his beautiful singing voice. The episode is currently available through YouTube - but may not be up for long as it is set to air on October 22, so watch it while it's still there! I'll make it easy and give you the first part...

Go here for Part Two
and here for Part Three

Even Jimmy Carter did more

2009-10-09T03:34:00.002-06:00

In an astounding move to further discredit the reputation of the Nobel Peace Prize, the Nobel Committee today voted to give the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize to none other than President Obama.

They gave it to him for "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples."

Seriously? Even Jimmy Carter didn't get his until the Camp David Accords. That at least involved sitting two men around a table who hated each other. Other than a black professor and a white police officer Obama hasn't even come close to a sham peace in the middle east like Carter did.

In fact Obama's international diplomacy is so bad he couldn't even convince the International Olympic Committee to send the 2016 games to Chicago. Thats how much clout he has on the international stage.

And lets talk further about peace. The war in Afghanistan has only become deadlier than ever under his watch, remember this from a few posts back? "So far this month, 38 American troops have been killed in Afghanistan. For all of 2009, the number is 220 -- more than any other single year and more than died in 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004 combined."

Furthermore, under his Administration Iran has come closer than ever to building a nuclear bomb, if they haven't already, Russia and Syria keep talking as if Iran has done nothing wrong, basically calling Obama and our Country liars, North Korea pulled out of the 6 way peace talks in the Far East and here at home riots are brewing in Chicago, millions of Americans are marching against his domestic agenda, Darfur is still in the midst of a genocide and all the while war still rages in Iraq.

So again what peace has Obama brought in 2009? What international diplomacy has he accomplished so outstandingly well that it has brought cooperations between peoples? In fact what peoples are cooperating better now than they did in 2008? And not just better, but so much better that Obama should be credited with a prize won by Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela, Norman Borlaug, the Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu, Martin Luther King Jr., and Teddy Roosevelt?

When history looks at the list of men and women who were awarded the Nobel Peace prize, it will surely be divided into two sections, those who accomplished something great that lead to a better life for the people around them. Then there will be the list of recipients of whom didn't help secure peace in their time or any time. Those who were given this award for no other reason than the high egotistical halls of academia could think of no better way to pat themselves on the back for theorizing about peace when action could have helped people around the globe.

This will be a list with Jimmy Carter, Al Gore, Barack Obama, Anwar Sadat, the IAEA, the UN, and Yasser Arafat. These are men who went to great lengths to discuss the importance of peace, pat themselves on the back, all the while letting the world slip closer and closer to oblivion. And while they pat themselves and have high minded discussions about theories and fantasy, when people actually step up and try to help do something to give just a little more freedom to people around the world they step up and condemn that action as warmongering and hateful.

So for now let President Obama put that Nobel Prize on the mantle in the Oval Office. Let him look at it every day. Maybe one day he may look up and realize that he hasn't actually produced results that have led our world closer to peace and maybe, just maybe he will take action. And if that day comes we will be better off than we were the day before. I just hope that somewhere in the back of his mind he doesn't think or believe he has actually already done something to deserve the Nobel Peace Prize.

More in the Health Care Saga

2009-10-09T03:06:00.002-06:00

In an interesting and potentially damaging letter to Congress, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops takes the time to point out 3 main reasons they will currently not support the democrats health care legislation.

1. It currently doesn't stop mandated abortions,

2. It doesn't include measures that protect and improve health care and

3. It doesn't provide for legal immigrant access.

Now on the first point, the Catholic church, in my opinion, should accept the fact that their past, present and continued support of the Democrat party, it's members and its elected officials, has landed itself with a government that supports abortion. The DNC platform and all 50 state democrat parties have a platform that supports abortion. That they would now be so shocked to find abortion language in a national health care package should not be a shock to them at all. What should be a shock to the millions of Catholics around the nation is that their church has chosen over the years to support a party that supports abortion whether government funded or not. Now I am not saying that all Catholics support democrats and the national democratic party, but since the days of FDR and JFK the catholic church has in general been a very large voting bloc for democrats at all levels of government. They helped elect this administration, they get to deal with abortion language in the bill. I may disagree just as much as the USCCB, but hey thats why I support a political party that doesn't support abortion.

But what is truly shocking in this letter is that the USCCB, like myself, believes that there is a lack of actual health care reform in the current legislation in Congress. So much so that the USCCB is taking a very strong step and telling members of Congress that their HEALTH CARE bill doesn't currently have measures that actually improve health care cost or access to American citizens.

Democrats in Congress take the USCCB very seriously, as they are a powerful and large lobby that represents millions of democratic donors and voters, and it will be to their peril if they don't heed some of what the USCCB is saying. Dems in congress can ignore Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck and republicans in congress and the millions of "right-wing conspirators" all they want, but those democrats should really start to wonder what their bill stands for if even the American catholic church doesn't think their bill improves health care in this country.

Touche Verizon

2009-10-08T05:41:00.001-06:00

I think this video speaks for itself, so I'm not going to say anything else about it...

Potentially Bad News for Health Care

2009-10-07T17:57:00.001-06:00

It is being reported over at Red State that some Republican senators are talking about folding on health care and voting for a government sponsored system.

Stunning, funny and storied photos

2009-10-01T10:46:00.002-06:00

Found this over at Neatorama:

The San Diego Lyceum Theatre Gallery has held a modern photography competition every year for the past five years, titled the Art of Photography Show. With submissions from 56 countries and over 16,000 photos submitted there are some really neat photos to take a look at. Here are the links for the different categories as well as some of my favorites from the galleries.

10 Stunning Photos

The Humorous Side of Everyday Life

12 Masters of Visual Storytelling

Bush the Warmonger or Obama the Warmonger

2009-09-29T16:54:00.002-06:00

In a recent article discussing the press coverage of caskets arriving at Dover Air Force Base in the Washington Examiner an interesting fact stuck out to me that wasn't even the main point of the story.

"So far this month, 38 American troops have been killed in Afghanistan. For all of 2009, the number is 220 -- more than any other single year and more than died in 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004 combined."

For all of the talk about President Bush being such a warmonger and sending our troops to die for nothing, since President Obama has taken office more soldiers have died in the War in Afghanistan than during the war fought under the leadership of President Bush for the first FOUR years.

This begs the questions of what exactly our new President is doing to lead our troops in that theater of operations. For a man promising so strongly to end all war in the middle east he sure has a bad record of doing so, and it has been to the peril of our armed service men and women.

The Further Stupidity of Mr. Obama

2009-09-22T15:13:00.003-06:00

Overshadowed by his appearance on every single Sunday morning show and Late Night with David Letterman, Obama gave an interview last week with Bloomberg News that reveals a very startling position that his administration may be taking regarding the continuing economic crisis.

“Why is it,” [Obama] asked, “that we’re going to cap executive compensation for Wall Street bankers but not Silicon Valley entrepreneurs or N.F.L. football players?”

Now at first this may seem like a rather innocuous statement made on the topic of capping executive pay compensation, and that is most likely why this received such little play in the MSM. But here is what I believe this statements means for further discussions and policies regarding our economy.

Obama was asked why he was being so tepid on demanding executive pay compensation and he replied with that statement. Which to me means one of two things:

A. Fixing our economic crisis is a black and white issue, to Obama it is either everyone's fault or no one's fault. Why blame the people who caused the problem (the bankers). You can't just punish the execs, so he wont punish anyone or fix any specific industry that may or may not have caused the collapse.

B. On the flip side of this is to actually blame everyone and begin down a path of mandating by law a cap on the salary of leaders of every industry in America, hence his comment about NFL players and Silicon Valley businessmen.

Now where this goes from a scary slope towards punishing business across the country to a remark of sheer stupidity is who he chose to single out in his comment. Silicon Valley Entrepreneurs helped invent the technology that runs our world today. They have created millions of jobs and an economic sector that generally speaking has been nothing short of outstanding since the industry began a few decades ago. How could you even think that Silicon Valley had anything to do with our current economic slump?

Furthermore he targets the NFL, how dare we cap bankers pay if we don't cap the pay of professional American Football players. The stupidity here is the simple fact that we do cap the pay of NFL players. In fact the NFL, NBA and NHL all have salary caps for players and teams. So on this remark Obama has just once more proven that he actually knows less about professional sports in America than he does about a global economy and how to fix it.

YES!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-09-19T22:36:00.004-06:00

see more Funny Graphs
Truthfully, as an adult, you don't need to have kids to play with Legos...but it helps.

From GraphJam on FAILblog.

Thank You Mr. (Former) President

2009-09-16T22:57:00.003-06:00

Thank you Jimmy Carter for this gem...

"When a radical fringe element of demonstrators and others begin to attack the president of the United States as an animal or as a reincarnation of Adolf Hitler or when they wave signs in the air that said we should have buried Obama with Kennedy, those kinds of things are beyond the bounds," the Democrat who served from 1977-1981 told students at Emory University.

But, just for my own edification - was this ok?

What about this...

This one?

Oh wait, I forgot...those are all just satire.

Read the rest of the former President's statements here...

A Truly Iconic Film Series

2009-09-16T10:25:00.002-06:00

What if some of the iconic films of the later 20th century were made during the golden era of the industry?

YouTube user whoiseyevan answers that very question with a wonderful series of three (so far) re-worked movie trailers; Ghostbusters 1954, Raiders of the Lost Ark 1951 and Forrest Gump 1949. Utilizing black and white material from the period he turns Charlton Heston into Indiana Jones and Jimmy Stewart becomes Forrest Gump. Enjoy.

Via Neatorama.

This post is rated SPF 50.

1984 anyone?

2009-09-16T01:18:00.003-06:00

Ever wondered how to insult the President of the United States by the book? Well Dem Congresswoman Louise Slaughter of New York has a handy rule book of what is allowed and what is not allowed to be said by your representative in Congress. From Politico:

House Rules Committee Chairwoman Louise Slaughter (D-NY) has released a helpful, updated primer for members regarding their conduct on the floor and in committees.

Especially useful: The section on how to properly insult the executive branch in the in the chamber.

"Disgrace" and "nitwits" -- okay.

"Liar" or "sexual misconduct" -- ixnay.

Under section 370 of the House Rules and Manual it has been held that a Member could:
• refer to the government as “something hated, something oppressive.”
• refer to the President as “using legislative or judicial pork.”
• refer to a Presidential message as a “disgrace to the country.”
• refer to unnamed officials as “our half-baked nitwits handling foreign affairs.”
Likewise, it has been held that a member could not:
• call the President a “liar.”
• call the President a “hypocrite.”
• describe the President’s veto of a bill as “cowardly.”
• charge that the President has been “intellectually dishonest.”
• refer to the President as “giving aid and comfort to the enemy.”
• refer to alleged “sexual misconduct on the President’s part.”

Now you may be thinking along the same lines as I was before I read this: Isn't O.K. via the 1st Amendment to the Constitution to say whatever you like about the President (as long as you don't make a threat against his life)? Hasn't the opposition party throughout the course of history said very nasty things about the President? If you go back to the W administration, democrats not only booed W during a joint session of congress they called him a liar, compared him to Hitler and repeatedly made extremely derogatory statements about him personally and about his policies. Republicans did the same against Clinton with the sex scandal, Democrats against Reagan during Iran-Contra, Republicans against Jimmy Carter during the hostage crisis, Democrats against Nixon during Watergate and the list goes on.

So I beg the question why is it now so important that our representatives to congress be muzzled when they speak out against President Obama?

Now if you missed it, during a suspect and unusually timed address to a joint session of Congress about Obama's health care plan, South Carolina Congressman Joe Wilson shouted "You Liar" at the President regarding, well quite frankly a lie, or misrepresentation of the truth about Obama's plan.

On Tuesday the House formally reprimanded Congressman Wilson for his outburst. And following this reprimand Slaughter issued her updated rule sheet about what is and is not allowed in the oh so hallowed halls of Congress.

I will be the first to say that in floor debate and while listening to the President speak our representatives should maintain a sense of decorum to facilitate open and honest debate concerning the issues of the day. And Joe Wilson immediately agreed to this as he instantly apologized for his inappropriately timed outburst.

But to muzzle our congressman by telling them what they are allowed to say and not allowed to say is essentially muzzling you and I. Joe Wilson was elected in November of 2008 to represent the people of his district in Congress. Obama chose to address Congress he chose to go before a body representing the people of South Carolina and the United States. A number of whom I suspect agree that Obama was misrepresenting the truth when he spoke about health care. Therefore Joe Wilson was expressing that outrage directly to the President.

Our founding fathers put in place a system whereby our elected representatives in Congress have as much say as our President and a system where our president is not the sole voice of authority. They wanted us to question the government and question the president in whatever manner deemed necessary to maintain the union.

If any Congressman believes that the actions of the President are "intellectually dishonest" I want my representative to 'call him out.' And not be afraid of censure for doing so.

Now I understand that these House Rules for our representatives are not law and therefore not illegal under the 1st Amendment. But I for one believe this is a slippery slope towards banning what you and I can say about our elected leaders. And a slippery slope toward undermining our rights as Americans. (And yes I use the term Americans referring to people of the US not people of north, south and central America as the language police would like me to refer).

On a day-to-day basis it may not seem like our democracy is being eroded, but once you begin attacking our basic rights like speech, we shall soon all find ourselves in a state where we enjoy very few of the freedoms we once took for granted, and as President Ronald Reagan once said, "Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction. Those who have known freedom and then lost it, have never known it again."

So keep a keen eye out in the future because though it may seem trivial to the average American, once it becomes O.K. to ban criticism of the executive branch, more and more freedoms will be banned for one reason or another.

You Won't Need Glasses

2009-09-14T22:31:00.002-06:00

You won't need special glasses to enjoy this 3-dimensional scan of the Northeast Church at Hippos. The scan was conducted this dig-season and the following video shows a "fly-through" of the church. This technology is pretty incredible, I'm curious to see if they do anything else with this information!

This post is rated SPF 0 because the scanning was all done at night!

Stove Repair with Dad

2009-09-11T16:15:00.003-06:00

And now it's time for another thrilling episode of "Stove Repair with Dad." Enjoy.

This post is rated SPF 450 - If you can't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen...especially when dad's in there.

That was Innocuous Enough

2009-09-08T10:37:00.003-06:00

A few thoughts on the President's Speech to America's school-children...oh wait, let me rephrase that. According to the "Language Police" America is "banned because it suggests geographical chauvinism unless it refers to all people in North America, South America, and Central America; refer instead to people of the United States."

So, let's try this again...

A few thought's on the President's Speech to the school-children of the United States...

1. The speech was incredibly innocuous, and frankly, not overly inspiring.
2. I was never worried THAT the President was giving a speech. More so, I was worried WHAT the speech would be about. I had been afraid, based on the original lesson plan that was released, that the speech would be much more political and more agenda-driven. With that said, I am curious if the speech we saw today would have been the same if there had not been any controversy over the lesson plan mentioned above.
3. To me, as an educator and someone who has worked with children on a daily basis, the biggest issue here is the level of hubris that it takes for someone, even the President, to think that he can give a 15-minute speech and somehow accomplish something (namely encouraging and inspiring school-children)that a group of professionals has trouble doing over the course of a 180-day school year.
4. At it's core, the speech today encouraged students to "work hard" and "stay in school." However, I find it ironic that the National Government, and indeed this administration has made it so incredibly easy to NOT do these things. I'm talking here about food stamps, nationalized/free healthcare, cash for clunkers, loan forgiveness after the housing crisis, etc, etc, etc...
5. Finally, if this speech is somehow connected to a larger agenda (I know, now we are delving into the world of conspiracy theory), then it has occurred to me that the President really didn't have to say anything about this agenda because there are many out there who will spread this message for him...like the teacher in the video below or the little girl who was interviewed shortly after the speech who said that the President's message was "if you fail yourself, you fail your country." A startlingly nationalistic statement which seems to come straight from Orwell's 1984.

This video is from before the election last November, as you will see. The thing that is startling about it is that the teacher professes to allow her students to have whatever opinion that they want. She also says that she supports those opinions. However, as the video progresses and students begin to say that they support John McCain she appears obviously disappointed. Then she tells one girl, whose father was deployed in Iraq at the time, that if John McCain is elected he will keep the troops there as long as it takes, even if it takes 100 years. She basically implies to this girl that if John McCain is elected her dad will never come home from the war, but if Barack Obama is elected he will end the war (a campaign promise he has yet to make good on) and will, therefore, bring her dad home...

The President didn't HAVE To give a rousing speech today...The "bipartisanship" that he promised during his campaign has already so polarized the country that he doesn't have to do much to get his agenda discussed in the news, on the web or in the classroom...

This post is rated SPF 11,816,652,059,366. Find out why here...

Mike Tyson..er... Democrat activist strikes in Southern California

2009-09-03T21:35:00.002-06:00

In what can only be described as a Mike Tyson style attack, according to reports out of Ventura, California today, during a protest over Obamacare, a pro-Obamacare supporter from a MoveOn.org supported rally bit off the pinky finger of 65 year-old William Rice.

According to Rice, during the course of his protest a member of Code Pink engaged him in a debate on the street. After a bit a man from the MoveOn.org rally came over and began to argue with the right leaning protest. What ensued was a street fight between the two men in which Rice had his finger bitten off. The man who did the biting took off down the road and his identity is still unknown.

After a quick trip to the hospital doctors could not reattach the severed finger.

Now I understand this is a heated issue, but seriously why would a grown man think it was ok to bite off another mans finger. You can't resort to violence like that just because someone disagrees with you.

I think as Obama goes before congress on Sept. 9th to "reset" his health care plan, he better come up with a way to tell his activists to stop biting off people's appendages, we don't have free health care yet, Rice had to pay for that doctors visit to find out his finger wasn't salvageable.

Happy, Healthy and Completely Unawares...

2009-09-02T23:18:00.004-06:00

Ok, I'm convinced - I don't want Swine Flu...I don't want any flu. The flu's no fun, but seriously; why are my tax-dollars paying for this ad as well as www.flu.gov; which, apparently, provides "One Stop Access to U.S. Government H1N1, avian and pandemic flu information."

Last I checked, the flu is the flu, and, according to this report from May -

Swine flu is not hyper-virulent. While it spreads relatively easily it does not appear to be any more virulent that the strains we have circulating every year around the world....

Currently [remember - May] in the US it appears that for every 1000 people who get infected, about 40 people need admission to hospital and about one person dies. This is a still an aggressive virus, but no more so than the Flu viruses that change slightly every year or so, and then circulate around the world, mainly causing problems in winter....

Given this Swine Flu strain is H1, we would expect many in the population to have some immunity because variations of H1 strains have been recirculating in people since 1918. This appears to be the case and is reflected in the relatively small numbers of people over the age of 30 who have been infected.

So, don't forget to use those rudimentary hygiene skills that Elmo and Obama reminded us of and I'm pretty sure you won't die...

This post is rated SPF Death because swine flu is going to kill us all...and then the pigs will rule the world...kind of like Animal Farm.

If you liked the image above, visit the Neatorama store. I personally won that shirt for having the best swine flu related pun - "Chicken's cry fowl as swine flu hogs world spotlight."

The Longest Amendment

2009-09-01T04:30:00.002-06:00

This past evening I was helping out my younger brother as he was working on a 'getting to know the constitution' worksheet for his American Government class. As we went through the sheet it became very apparent that he was not exactly appreciating the 'historical' context that I was adding to his work, he just wanted to fill in the bubbles and move on to other things.

It may seem like the constitution is a dusty old piece of parchment written by men who wore wigs and make-up, sitting in a non-air-conditioned brick building in the late 18th Century, but I was reminded tonight that there are some very interesting stories of how our constitution was written and why it has stood the test of time to uphold our republic. With that said here is a story you may or may not know about the US Constitution, and hopefully it will be slightly more appreciated than Monday night at my house.

At 24 words, the 27th Amendment of the Constitution may not be the longest Amendment in word count (the longest being Amendment 14 at 432 words and the shortest the 8th at 16 words) but after ratification on May 5, 1992 it became the longest a proposed amendment had been sent to the states for ratification after a resounding 202 years. (Not a typo, years, not days).

In September of 1789 during the First Congress in New York City, James Madison proposed the "Congressional Pay Amendment" and it was approved by two-thirds of both the House of Representatives and the Senate. It was then sent to the states where 7 states (Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Delaware, Vermont, Virginia and Kentucky) ratified. Unfortunately for James Madison and what would have been the 12th Amendment, 10 states were needed at the time to place it into the Constitution.

Now fast forward 192 years to Austin, Texas. Where an undergrad student at the University of Texas Gregory Watson happened upon this 'lost amendment' while doing a research paper on the Equal Rights Amendment effort of the 1970's. His paper focused on the idea that Article 5 of the Constitution didn't set a timeline or deadline for ratification of Constitutional Amendments that passed Congress. He received a C on the paper for not convincing his teacher his interpretation of Article 5 was correct.

Upon deciding that the "Congressional Pay Amendment" was something that could be used to stop corruption of elected officials in Congress, Watson set out to get the remaining 25 states needed (32 overall) to finally ratify Madison's proposal. He tackled the issue state by state beginning first in Maine, then Colorado and down the list until he convinced two-thirds of the states that the "Congressional Pay Amendment" was the right thing to do.

After several lawsuits challenging the timeliness of the Amendment, none of which were even taken up by the judiciary, on May 5, 1992 when Alabama ratified, the "Congressional Pay Amendment" became the 27th and newest member of the US Constitution. It wouldn't be officially added until May 18th, 1992 when official certification was completed by the Archivist of the United States. (And interestingly enough Don Wilson, Archivist at the time, did not request Congressional Approval of the ratification before placing the Amendment into the Constitution, due to ambiguous language in Article 5. Wilson was reprimanded for his actions and the House and Senate both passed questionably unnecessary resolutions accepting the ratification of the Amendment on May 20th, 1992, two days after it had already been placed into law.)

Now you may be thinking along the lines of my brother earlier, "if it's not in my textbook, I do not need to know it" but I would say that Gregory Watson worked for 10 years to prove that just because it happened in 1789 doesn't mean it's irrelevant today. Sometimes just knowing that a mere undergrad at UT helped to ratify the Constitution of the United States is enough to make you realize that the halls of power aren't among the marbled columns of Washington, but everywhere else.

As Paul Harvey would say, AND NOW YOU KNOW THE REST OF THE STORY.

This post is rated SPF 202, thats in years, not days.

The Author's Quiet Birthday

2009-08-26T21:48:00.003-06:00

Ray Bradbury turned 89 last week. His iconic work, Fahrenheit 451 - first published in it's entirety in 1953, turned 56 this year.

"So what?" you're probably thinking, and you wouldn't be wrong in thinking that this post seems somewhat random. Unless, of course, you knew that I just finished reading this book, for the first time actually. It was never part of the required reading as I was moving through school (and, even if it had been, there is a good probability that I would have only skimmed). I am surprised that I had not read the book, but glad that I waited until now because I do not think that I would have understood it or seen its poignancy had I read it previously. How did Bradbury do it? How did he foresee an era where electronic media would foreshadow the written word in ink (yes, I understand the irony of writing this electronically)? How did he foresee a time when snippets of information, for example knowing Napoleon's Birthday, would become more valuable than actually knowing who Napoleon was?

For those who haven't read the book it follows Guy Montag, a fireman in a futuristic society. However, he is not the kind of fireman that we think of today. Instead Guy, and all of the others in his profession, move around the city starting fires. Specifically, they burn books.

The reason for this is explained by the Fire-Chief on pages 58-60 of the book:
"We must all be alike. Not everyone born free and equal, as the constitution says, but everyone made equal. Each man the image of every other; then all are happy, for then there are no mountains to make them cower, to judge themselves against. So! A book is a loaded gun in the house next door. Burn it. Take the shot from the weapon. Breach man's mind"..."Colored people don't like Little Black Sambo. Burn it. White people don't feel good about Uncle Tom's Cabin. Burn it. Someone's written a book on tobacco and cancer of the lungs? The cigarette people are weeping? Burn the book. Serenity, Montag. Peace, Montag. Take your fight outside. Better yet into the incinerator."

At its core the book is about censorship, and the author's absolute love of books. A secondary theme is the encroachment of technology, and it's overshadowing of literature and the written word. Finally, the book also discusses the concept of the police state and the inability of it's people to think for themselves. Ironically, the book was itself censored in the mid-1960s. The publishing company removed all of the "damns" and "hells" in order to make the book more appropriate for the classroom. Another ironic outcome of the book comes from more recently. Various people have been trying to bring Fahrenheit 451 back to the screen for 15 years. The process began in 1994 when Mel Gibson signed on to play the role of Guy Montag. Eventually, after a few scripts were worked up and turned down, Gibson moved into the role of producer. Eventually, Tom Hanks signed on to play Montag, but he has also moved on. The irony is outlined in a 2001 article from Variety magazine which says: "Gibson said he couldn't find a "451" script that worked. Adding to his reluctance: the realization that, in the age of computers, the crucial plot element -- burning books in a futuristic society to permanently erase their existence -- might no longer play." Source. How ironic - a book about book burning...about technology overtaking page and ink...a book warning of the perils of conformity and a lack of free-thinking individuals has been deemed obsolete because of the technology that seems to have overtaken our lives.

Ray Bradbury turned 89 last week...did anyone notice?

Oh, since I'm sure you're wondering, Napoleon's Birthday is August 15, 1769.

This post is rated SPF 451, I hope for obvious reasons.

Sportscenter and Brett Favre

2009-08-26T14:52:00.004-06:00

Well I hate to put two posts up in one day but I just saw this Sportscenter commercial on ESPN today and couldn't resist.

A Few Words on Term Limits

2009-08-26T08:51:00.002-06:00

According to Politico, with the passing of Sen. Kennedy, the state of Massachusetts will have its first opening in the Senate since John Kerry was elected in 1984. Which means that throughout the course of my life I have literally never seen anyone but Kennedy and Kerry representing the state of Massachusetts in the US Senate.

The question is whether or not this is a good or a bad thing for our country. Do the people have a right as President Reagan always said to "vote for someone as often as they want to do."

Or should we be placing into law restrictions on the number of terms someone can serve to fulfill the wishes of Thomas Jefferson and are term limits our nations modern way of ensuring that "the tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time."

Term limits began in 1951 with the passage of the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, limiting the number of terms a President can serve to two. Since then 21 states, beginning with California, Colorado and Oklahoma in 1990, have enacted term limits legislation on their State Legislative bodies and executive branches of government. And further down in elected bodies, across this country we have term limits on city Council seats, school board seats, public service commissions and just about every elected body of government out there.

Now as a disclaimer, as someone who makes a living based on the frequency, not the infrequency of elections, it is better for the political consultants out there to hold elections as often as legally possible. And the best way to have contested open primaries and open general elections is of course through term limits. A great example of this is the State of Louisiana. In 2007 their term limit legislation went into effect and of the 105 seats in the state house 67 of these seats were open in 2007. And across the state you had 5 or 10 candidates vying for a seat they would never have had an opportunity to hold before term limits (based on skill, qualifications or resources). And now every 12 years in Louisiana far more than half the state house and state senate will be up for election in what will be open seats with good and bad politicians forced into retirement.

In my experience term limits are a double-edged sword. The power of incumbency can protect seemingly horrendous politicians from the hands of electoral defeat where no term limits exists, but on the other side great statesmen and thoughtful political stalwarts get replaced by inexperience and opportunistic pols with little idea of what they are getting into when term limits force the good guy out of office early.

For all its worth Massachusetts have had the opportunity to replace both Ted Kennedy and John Kerry in my lifetime. Once in 1994 when Ted Kennedy ran in a heated general election against future Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. Truth be told since 1962 I would put money on the fact that Ted Kennedy has most likely represented the State of Massachusetts exactly how they wanted to be represented. And if a representative is not doing to right thing the people generally do a good job of voting them out of office.

Another Louisiana example: It may have taken an election or two longer than it would have elsewhere, but in the end "Dollar" Bill Jefferson (D-New Orleans) was voted out of office by his constituents after being indicted on 16 counts of federal crimes. And to some it may be laughable he held the seat in the first place, but he had one of the most powerful political machines that power, money and corruption could buy and in a city more than 70% African-American and more than 80% democrat a Vietnamese Republican named Joe Cao beat him in 2008.

So for me I take Ronald Reagan's side in this debate. Let the people decide. Vote for someone as much as you want. Term limits should not be preventing genuinely great politicians from representing us based on some random number, thats the decision given to the voting electorate by our Constitution.

R.I.P. Sen. Kennedy

2009-08-26T02:13:00.005-06:00

It has been reported late Tuesday night that Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) has passed away after having battled brain cancer and ill health for some time now. He was 77 years old and the third longest serving member in the history of the United States Senate.

One of only two brothers in the Kennedy household to live long enough to see old age Ted Kennedy led, in my opinion, one of the most storied political careers of all time.

I had the privilege of meeting Ted Kennedy at a leadership conference in 2005. And hearing him speak and watching the way he interacted with members of the audience was astonishing. In spite of his sometimes radical and left leaning policies and agendas Ted Kennedy was truly one of the very few members of congress over the last hundred years who was not a politician, but a statesmen.

While I rarely agreed with his policies, and he rarely agreed with the policies of the Republican party he was always listening to the other side of the argument looking for any gem of wisdom that could help our country. And he became one of the few members of congress who was genuinely bipartisan and would cross party lines to do the right thing.

For all of his faults and what seemed to be the Kennedy curse, The Senate has lost it's 'Lion of the Senate' and the country has lost a political giant this evening.

It aint Over 'til it's Over

2009-08-25T01:19:00.002-06:00

As the great and profound Yogi Berra once said of his 1973 Mets division run against the Cubs, on Monday night the Colorado Rockies truly proved that 'It aint over 'til its over'

Game 4 in a 4 game series against the San Francisco Giants, had an early 6:40 PM start. Holding a 3 game lead against San Francisco in the National League Wildcard race, and being only 3.5 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Rockies desperately needed a win to close out the series with 3 wins and send the Giants packing.

I have been waiting all season for an opportunity to go down to Denver and watch Jason Marquis pitch, so despite the rain, overcast sky and chilly August temperatures, my Dad, brother and I all went down and sat in the left field bleachers to watch the game.

The game started out rough with Marquis giving up a hit and a run to the Giants in the first inning. Going into the 5th still down 1-0, the Giants started to get sloppy, off a fielding error and a couple walks the Rockies finally got on the board to tie the game at 1-1. And thats where the score would stay for another 8 innings.

Pitch after pitch the Rockies or Giants just couldn't get the go-ahead run across the plate. In both the 8th, 9th and 10th innings the Rockies had runners in scoring position with 1 out. And each time they did what they seem to do best and hit into a double play or struck out.

Jason Marquis had been great through 8 innings. Giving up only 6 hits and 1 run, he had thrown 121 pitches, far above the red line for a pitcher these days, but having gone a fill 8 innings he would not get his 15th win for the season.

So Manager Jim Tracy had to go to the bullpen in the 9th. He pulled out Rafael Betancourt, Frankling Morales, Huston Street, Matt daley, Jason Beimel, and at the beginning of the 13th inning, in came Adam Eaton to relieve Beimel. With few or no remaining pitchers in the bullpen we all knew Eaton would be in for the win or loss.

As each extra inning went by and midnight approached the crowd of 27,000 dwindled to 15,000, then 10,000 and by the time the 14th inning had begun a crowd of about 5,000 people sat across the ballpark as we waited to see if Adam Eaton could continue his outstanding 13th inning performance. Eaton began strong, striking out batter 1. But the night was late and his pitch count was climbing. After all he is a bullpen pitcher he shouldn't be throwing 40 pitches. After that strike out he gave up a triple. It was still ok though, it was a tie ballgame, then Eaton walked the second batter. With runners on the corners and one out, we all began yelling for Eaton to get the next out. Unfortunately his curveball didn't curve enough and he gave up another triple scoring two runs in the top of the 14th for the Giants.

With a runner on third, down 3-1 hoping to force a double play, Jim Tracy calls for Eaton to intentionally walk the next batter for the Giants. The pitch came and the hit went straight to Barmes at second base. The base runner seemingly ran out of the base path (which is illegal) to dodge a tag from Barmes as the runner on third ran home giving the Giants a 4-1 lead going into the bottom of the 14th inning.

With the crowd still booing and hissing at the bad call half an inning earlier Dexter Fowler stepped to the plate and on a 3-2 pitch fouled the ball of of his foot. But knowing the only player left on the bench was needed as a pinch hitter for the injured Gonzales later in the inning Fowler stood up and continued to bat. As he limped toward 1st base after being walked, the team stood on their feet in the dugout to join the already standing crowd. With one runner on Clint Barmes flied out to center field and the crowd began to lose hope. And down by 3 runs with one out the back-up catcher, Chris Iannetta stepped up to pinch hit for Carlos Gonzales, who should have been sitting on the bench due to a steak knife injury two nights earlier. (He was doing the dishes, tried to catch the steak knife as he dropped it out of the sink, sliced open his throwing hand). Iannetta and his .221 batting average drove a single into right field that put Gonzales to second.

Next up was the star of the team. Troy Tulowitzki. Representing the tying run, if there was anyone on the team to have at the plate in that moment it was Tulo. But the Giants had other plans, so Tulo walked. Next up was our pitcher Adam Eaton. Since becoming a Rockies player he hasn't held a bat in a game. And here he was with one out, the bases loaded down three runs in the 14th inning. And the bullpen for San Francisco walked him to drive in a run. It was now 4-2, bases still loaded, one out on the board.

The Giants manager made his walk to the mound and made the call to bring in a new pitcher. The crowd of 5,000 at Coors Field began cheering louder than a sell-out crowd. Ryan Spilborghs stepped to the plate. Sporting a .250 batting average and only 6 home runs on the season, Spilborghs is not necessarily the guy you would pick in this situation, but someone needed to be the hero and make this a game for the books.

As the first strike went by, Spilly wanted to get a feel for the new pitcher. He remembered grounding into a double play with runners in scoring position in the 10th inning, and he knew he was lucky to be getting a chance a redemption. So he tapped his bat to the plate, looked at pitcher Justin Miller as the ball was thrown toward him.

And on the second pitch of the night from Miller, down by 2 runs at the four hour, fifty-seven minute mark in the 14th inning of play, Ryan Spilborghs hit the baseball over the head of the center fielder and deep into the Rockies bullpen for a walk-off Grand Slam and a 6-4 Rockies win.

Now other than this being above and beyond the most exciting come from behind win I have ever seen, I had the chance to actually be there and watch that ball go over the fence in deep center field. This game gave the Rockies a 4 game lead over the Giants in the Wildcard race and gained half a game on the Dodgers in the divisional race.

If the Rockies end up winning the NL West Division Title this year, which I believe they will do, when people ask when it was that the team decided they were going to beat the Dodgers this year, I think you can go back to 11:37 PM on a cold Monday night in August when Ryan Spilborghs hit a Walk-Off Grand Slam to win 6-4 in the bottom of the 14th inning against the Giants.

For those that want to see a great clip of this exhilarating grand slam from Spilborghs here is a great clip of it from ESPN.

The Un-Assist

2009-08-23T23:02:00.002-06:00

It's only been officially recorded 15 times in MLB history; which is saying something because, depending on who you ask, Major League Baseball has been around either - since the Cincinatti Red Stockings were established in 1869 or since 1903 when the National Agreement was signed. Either way you figure it that's over 100 years and a lot of games to consider...So, what is this amazing feat that has only happened a few times? The unassisted triple-play.

And in case you missed it, the most recent unassisted triple play happened on August 23, 2009.

Now, upon doing some research, one will find that this has actually happened one time in each of the past three seasons, so maybe it's not THAT special. However, what makes Eric Bruntlett's unassisted triple-play that much more exciting is the fact that it was a game-ender...and it's only the second time in MLB history that that has happened.

This post is rated SPF 95 because the Mets just got burned (what else is new).

Now That's Dedication

2009-08-21T11:42:00.002-06:00

I don't know much about this clip - all I know is it's incredible and you should watch it.

Link via Neatorama.

This video is rated SPF 85 for brilliance and contorsionism.

Would you survive a zombie attack?

2009-08-20T01:54:00.003-06:00

I don't want to speak for all men out there, but generally speaking I think it is safe to assume that if you are a male between the age of 15 and 35, not only have you pondered if you would survive a zombie attack but thought out detailed plans of how you would go about surviving said attack.

Well for those out there that have always guessed as to whether or not you would survive a zombie attack, Philip Munz, Ioan Hudea, Jow Imad, and Robert J. Smith, mathematicians at Carleton University and the University of Ottawa have taken the guesswork out of this question and spent the time determining the statistical probability you or I would survive such an attack.

In this scientific article published in the book Infectious Disease Modelling Research Progress these mathematicians, with a keen zombie survival instinct, pose this abstract and conclusion:

"Zombies are a popular ﬁgure in pop culture/entertainment and they are usually portrayed as being brought about through an outbreak or epidemic. Consequently, we model a zombie attack, using biological assumptions based on popular zombie movies. We introduce a basic model for zombie infection, determine equilibria and their stability, and illustrate the outcome with numerical solutions. We then reﬁne the model to introduce a latent period of zombiﬁcation, whereby humans are infected, but not infectious, before becoming undead. We then modify the model to include the effects of possible quarantine or a cure. Finally, we examine the impact of regular, impulsive reductions in the number of zombies and derive conditions under which eradication can occur. We show that only quick, aggressive attacks can stave off the doomsday scenario: the collapse of society as zombies overtake us all."

Now before you start wondering why a seemingly top rate Canadian University is spending student and taxpayer dollars to study the outbreak probabilities of a Zombie invasion, I just want to clarify that I think these fine gentlemen have done the heavy lifting and forward thinking that we will all need someday to survive an inevitable zombie attack. We have the mathematical proof that complete eradication is the only option. So grab your baseball bats and lets go zombie hunting.

I rate this post SPF 75 because we must have all the facts to be prepared.

Ham Fighters Contract Swine Flu

2009-08-19T09:48:00.002-06:00

At least nine players from Japan's Nippon Ham Fighters Baseball Team have begun complaining of high-fever and three of those players have been confirmed to have the H1N1 virus. The entire team, including coaches, has been put into quarantine at a Sapporo Hospital, but no games have been postponed or canceled as yet.

FULL STORY:

TOKYO (Reuters) - The entire squad of Japan's Nippon Ham Fighters baseball team is being quarantined and tested for H1N1 influenza after three players contracted the virus.

Team officials said Wednesday they had ordered all players and coaching staff to check in to a Sapporo hospital for screening after six more players complained of high fever.

The Fighters have so far ruled out cancelling games as a precaution.

Six sumo wrestlers and officials and a member of Japan's under-19 women's soccer team have also picked up the H1N1 flu over the past week.

Japan confirmed its third fatality from the disease on Wednesday in Nagoya. The country has confirmed over 5,000 cases of the flu.

This post is rated SPF 75 for irony.

Three Things We Can Thank Prohibition For.

2009-08-16T21:48:00.006-06:00

As Barack Obama announced yesterday that his camp appears ready, and willing, to drop the controversial "public option" portion of the Health Care Reform bill I was, again, reminded of some of the "great" ideas that have come from our national government. Let's take a look at three things that we can thank Prohibition for...

As a quick reminder - Prohibition, or The Noble Experiment, is the period in United States history spanning from 1920-1933 when the manufacture, transport and sale of alcohol for consumption were banned, as mandated by the 18th Amendment to the Constitution.

Number one on our list, and in our hearts, is NASCAR. That's right, without Prohibition we most likely wouldn't be able to enjoy ten whole months of watching cars race around a track. The sport was born out of the necessity, during Prohibition, for fast cars to drive bootlegged alcohol from one place to another. These cars needed to be small, light and fast in order to evade police. As most things go, things took off from there. Egos got bigger, and cars got faster. Bootleggers started racing each other, and eventually they began racing on sanctioned race tracks with rules, etc. In 1936 the first major race was held at Daytona Beach. It was a 250 mile event in which 27 cars were entered. At the end of the day the race was halted 10 miles short of the advertised distance and only 10 cars remained. Twelve years later in 1947-48 William France, who finished fifth in that inaugural race at Daytona, founded the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (a bit redundant in my opinion). (Source)

Our second item is the bane of college students everywhere, that's right, the Legal Drinking Age. Prior to Prohibition there was only one State in the Union that had a legal drinking age - Wisconsin. After Prohibition was overturned by the 21st Amendment every state, but one - Colorado, had a legal drinking age. At this point in time most States adopted 21 as the legal purchase age. However, over the course of the next 40 or 50 years most States would change that age to 18 or 19, and now, as we know, the legal age is 21 in all 50 states. Contrary to popular belief, however, since the National Minimum Drinking Age Act was passed in 1984, most States do not have specific laws prohibiting minors from consuming alcohol in PRIVATE SETTINGS (I feel that needs to be stressed). In fact, only 14 states and the District of Columbia ban underage consumption outright. In addition, 19 states do not specifically ban underage consumption and 17 states have laws that make exceptions for family member's or specific locations. (Source One; Source Two)

Finally, what would a story about Prohibition be without some mention of La Cosa Nostra ( aka: The American Mafia) Cosa Nostra was an offshoot of the Sicilian mafia in the United States. The organization was present in the US as early as the 1880s, and Mafia activities were restricted until 1920, when they exploded because of the introduction of Prohibition. Cities across the nation, most notably Chicago, exploded in violence as bosses fought for control over smuggling routes and territory. Alcohol flowing in from Canada and elsewhere ended up in speakeasies all over, and men like Al Capone gained national recognition for the wealth and power they commanded. From this period until the present the Italian mafia has been the staple crime syndicate in America. However, with the increasing drug trade from South America and Mexico even more violent gangs in the Southern United States are quickly taking their place at the top of the crime world. (Source)

There you have it, three things we can thank prohibition for...

This post is rated SPF 65 - because I said so.

An Evening at Horsetooth...

2009-08-15T22:37:00.003-06:00

...Complete with cameras.

We've been away from home for nearly seven weeks, not long when you consider that in a few more short weeks we will be moving to Turkey for an even longer period of time. However, because this "vacation" has a definite end I have found myself missing home... and ready to return. We will spend one more day in Fort Collins and then finally head north to Big Sky Country! After that, we will await our work visas and make final preparations for Turkey.

As this is our second to last night in Fort Collins we decided to take a random trip to Horsetooth Reservoir which is just west of town, in the foothills. As an aside, this is the place where I proposed to Andrea, and I can't believe that was already two years ago...

The sky tonight was full of clouds. I snapped a photo of this one as we drove up to the reservoir - I think it looks like a pirate ship.

In this photo you can see the perfect anvil created by a thunderstorm that passed through town this evening.

You can see the same storm, as it moved eastward, in this photo.

In other new, Scottie has recently (read as this week) purchased a Canon EOS which has made me incredibly jealous. He has also joined flickr, and I must say, he's got some skills behind the camera. You can see his flickr page here. I highly recommend this one which I assisted with...

This post is rated SPF 1 because of a complete lack of sunlight...

This Post is Rated SPF 10

2009-08-14T11:45:00.002-06:00

A change is coming. Well, not entirely. As the blog moves in a new direction (with more political commentary from Scottie) and digresses back to it's roots (with more random news from myself) we've decided to give each post an SPF rating from 1-100 based on how much protection the person (or people) in question might need.

For example, in my previous post on the Winnie the Pooh Bandit I may have rated it an SPF 75 simply based on the amount of "heat" he'll be feeling from the police and others.

In addition I would rate Scottie's recent post as an SPF 99.

Is this blog American or Un-American? You decide, Nancy Pelosi and Barrack Obama sure can't make up their minds

2009-08-14T09:36:00.011-06:00

Earlier this week Speaker Nancy Pelosi wrote a USA Today Op-Ed telling American's that they are Un-American for "disrupting" and "drowning out the truth" at town hall meetings across the country.

Now when I set out during my day to exercise my right to free speech I am always glad to have Nancy Pelosi there to tell me whether or not my "free speech" is American or Un-American. Surely none of us want the Speaker of the House, third in line to the Presidency, to think we are Un-American. The problem though is which Nancy Pelosi am I supposed to listen too? After her USA Today article I thought I understood, that is until I watched this video:

There is a simply reality in America right now, if you agree with Democrats in Congress and with the President you are a patriotic American. If you disagree with health care reform, not only should you not be able to speak out, but if you do you are Un-American and if you spoke out about it on the internet you will be tracked by the White House.

I find myself asking everyday where all of the love and bi-partisanship that Obama promised went. Watch this video at about the 1 minute mark

So Obama said in 2008 we need bi-partisan support to find solutions to our countries biggest problem. Now in 2009 he is saying this:

Does he really think that telling people to sit down and shut up or Nancy Pelosi calling dissenters "Un-American" is the path to bi-partisanship? We are very quickly travelling down a slippery slope where anything Obama says goes. And on a regular basis what he says one day is not the same as what he says the next.

Which leads me to believe that while the people who have been putting up the Obama Joker posters are funny, to be more accurate they should be posters of Two Face.

Let's Hope She's Got the Right Insurance.

2009-08-13T14:38:00.003-06:00

A woman in Ohio had a rough day driving as her car was struck first by a bird and then by a fish. The latter shattered her windshield after being dropped from some height by an eagle...

MARBLEHEAD, Ohio – A woman in Ohio is telling a fish story about one that got away — from a bird, and damaged her car. Authorities in northwest Ohio say the fish — a Lake Erie freshwater drum, known as a sheepshead — smashed a car windshield Tuesday when an eagle dropped its catch from a height of about 40 feet.

Leighann Niles says the impact felt like a brick hitting her Toyota's windshield. The woman from the Cleveland suburb of South Euclid was vacationing along the lake in Marblehead.

Niles says she had thought herself lucky to escape damage in another animal encounter shortly before the fishy one. She says a truck hit a small bird, which struck her back passenger door and startled her 5-year-old daughter.

Via: Yahoo Odd News

In other news, a man wearing a "Winnie the Pooh" sweatshirt was caught on camera as he waved a gun and robbed a bank in suburban Chicago.

Officials have released the following information regarding the so-called "Winnie the Pooh Bandit" A white male around 6 ft. tall and 225 lbs. He smelled of fresh honey and was followed by a rather depressed looking donkey.
Via.

Your Fact-Checker-In-Chief

2009-08-12T10:44:00.002-06:00

Greetings to all. Over the past few years I have very much enjoyed reading DFYS and as the illustrious authors of this blog move to Turkey and begin The Stuffing, I hope to keep you entertained and enthralled with my return to the blogosphere. As Cameron helps to bring DFYS back to its roots, I shall be paving a new path for the blog that will be stretching more into politics, other bizarre news items and miscellaneous topics that I think you should take a look at. At this point I would also like to clarify that the political opinions that will be expressed are my own opinions and do not reflect or imply the endorsement of DFYS and its corporate policies.

So to begin my debut here is a look into the man America voted for in 2008, Barrack Obama: Fact-Check-in-Chief.

As Congress has been debating a series of different health care bills over the last few months tempers across the nation have begun to flare. So Barrack Obama:Fact-Checker-In-Chief is out there going town hall to town hall in New Hampshire, Montana and Colorado, telling all Americans to do their patriotic duty and report any 'fishy' emails or 'casual conversations' that may not have the facts straight on health care.

Unfortunately for the President, in a town hall yesterday in Portsmouth, New Hampshire he forgot to fact-check himself.

Obama was quoted as saying "We have the AARP onboard because they know this is a good deal for our seniors. AARP would not be endorsing a bill if it was undermining Medicare."

And like I said he probably should have fact-checked himself. Because today, Tom Nelson, AARP's Chief Operating Officer responded to the "fact" that AARP had endorsed Obamacare. "Indications that we (AARP) have endorsed any of the major health care reform bills currently under consideration in Congress are inaccurate."

So now that we can't even trust Obama to fact-check himself, should we really let him collect information on other Americans who are simply using their first amendment right to speak openly about their concerns regarding Obamacare?

And furthermore if Obama is out there spreading false information about the health care debate, does he fall into House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's category of being 'Un-American'?

Saving the Blog...and Saving a Life

2009-08-11T10:47:00.002-06:00

A couple of months ago I posted that I would be retiring this blog upon our return from Israel and we would be moving to The Stuffing (our new Turkey-themed blog). However, upon further consideration I realized that leaving this blog, which I have kept for almost three years now, is something that I just can't bring myself to do.

Not only will I continue to post on this blog, periodically, I will be going back to "the roots" of the blog and posting interesting videos, news stories and photos that I find while searching the internet. In addition I have invited our friend Scott Yeldell to join as an author - I am looking forward to hearing his take on politics and see what kinds of things he finds along the way.

So, now that I have decided to save the blog I want to share with you a story from today's Billings Gazette about two people who saved a life...

Just-Wedded Medical Students Attend to Accident Victim

COLUMBUS - Barely an hour after exchanging their wedding vows, two medical students were upholding an entirely different vow - the Hippocratic oath.

Erica Dobbs Rinker and Jake Rinker were on their way from their wedding in Columbus to their reception south of Fishtail when they came across an accident on Highway 78.

Without hesitation, Jake pulled over.

The Mad Dash

2009-07-31T02:04:00.002-06:00

Our mad dash toward coming home began yesterday (Thursday) morning at 4 AM. We headed up for our last day of the dig. I got to work in ZZ99 helping to uncover the remainder of the floor. We uncovered it, rinsed it with water, covered the hole with a board and then covered the floor with door (in order to preserve it). Then we headed down the hill and had our "Last Supper" at the Fish Restaurant connected to the kibbutz.

Andrea and I are now working on packing. We've already gotten rid of most of our dig clothes, and are trying to figure out how to come home with one less bag (Andrea's big bag lost a wheel on the way over here...) Should be an eventful, thoughtful, memorable, sad day. I uploaded a lot of pictures to our flickr page - http://www.flickr.com/photos/lenscap46/

Take a look at how we started, and ended, our day yesterday...

"I Don't Trust the Alarm Clock"

2009-07-29T09:18:00.001-06:00

That's what Andrea said last night...she was sleep-talking, but even in her sleepy state she was not wrong about the alarm clock. In fact, nothing is quite as invigorating as waking up to your wife saying, "Cameron, it's 4:30..." and realizing that you are supposed to be up in the parking lot and ready to head up the mountain by 4:40...and it's the second to last day of the dig and it's laundry day so all of your laundry needs to be dropped off at the womens' quarters which is slightly out of the way...

That was our early morning wake up call, but we made it to the parking lot before the bus arrived, and were up on the hill "dark and early" just like the 17 days of digging prior to this one.

My day started in the Southwest corner of square ZZ99 looking for the opening of the drain that we had found in ZZ0, and which I worked on yesterday. I poked around for a while looking for drainage channel, found some rocks, plaster on the walls, more rocks and some dirt. Then, upon close inspection, realized that I was a few centimeters too close to the wall and began to poke around further. However, there was a rock sitting adjacent to the wall that was covered in plaster...and the plaster was attached to the wall. With permission I carefully removed the stone in order to look for the opening - no luck. Then I decided, since I was so close to the other side yesterday, that I would try and poke a piece of rebar through just one more time. I fiddled around with the rebar and began hitting the other side. I heard someone say from the other side of the wall "Look at the plaster - Cameron keep doing that." And then the rebar passed through the other side...

You can see, below and to the right, where I was initially looking for the channel and drainage hole. The hole had been completely covered which further suggests that the room in ZZ99 had been used for something other than it's initial purpose somewhere during the history of the city. After Dr. Schuler documented the plastered over hole he asked me to expose the drain the rest of the way...I removed the plaster from the wall, loosened the stones that had been placed to block the hole and reinforce the plaster and...voila!

Having finally completed my drain I moved on to helping the rest of the crew in ZZ99 to uncover the stairs that they had found, and try to (hopefully) find the floor.

Again, this was a mission accomplished - and what fantastic results!

Our first find of the day came while Anna was using the turreah to move some loose dirt. Suddenly she yelled "I found a hole." We all came over to look and sure enough there was a hole large enough for a turreah handle to fit in. Dr. Schuler came over and measured the hole with a tape measure and initially thought it was approximately 3.5 meters deep, and we thought we had found a cistern - which made sense considering the drain that I had just uncovered. As we continued to clear away stones, however, things got strange as we discovered that the hole had a square corner...

Then Arny mentioned that some of the stones seemed to have different "textures." He grabbed a brush and began to sweep, and we found...

A tiled floor! The hole appears to be a cave of some kind (there is a definite draft that can be felt when you put your hand or face close to the opening) that may have collapsed during the earthquake or at some point in the last 1400 years.

Rachel and Anna have been working off and on in this square since the first day nearly four weeks ago, and finally they have a floor to show for it - and what a floor it is.

Anna was so excited to find the floor that she kissed it...

Darryl, however, was a fan of the hole...

Welcome back, dear Dinosaur!

2009-07-28T12:45:00.005-06:00

As Cameron already mentioned, today was cistern diving day, and I was excited! There's not that much to get excited about - it's just a big hole in the ground, with air that is even warmer and more humid than what we are surviving everyday on the top of the mountain, but for some reason it is fun. I am pretty sure it has something to do with the fact that I have a dinosaur headlamp (it actually roars when turned on) that I used 3 years ago and have been trying to convince Dr. Schuler to use ever since. It's a game: I get excited about the cistern and announce that I have my lamp if he needs it, and he rolls his eyes, shakes his head and says, "I am not wearing that." So I wear it, make it into a bigger deal than it needs to be and we giggle about it a little. Really, it has sentimental value to the first cistern I went down and the first reaction I got from Dr. Schuler when I finally unveiled the Jurassic headgear - it is the dinosaur's second trip to Israel, and although I know I will never win the "wear this, Sir" game - it doesn't mean I won't play.

I'd like to continue by telling you how absolutely amazing a cistern is and that there was actually a tunnel and caves and bones and gold and all kinds of other amazing finds, but it really is just a hole with a lot of dirt in the bottom. It is dark, the plaster is falling off the walls, and the walls are very lumpy. It is just fun to go down a hole using a rope ladder on an archaeological site.

This is one of the fun parts - things being lowered down via rope. In this case, my drawing board is coming down so I can take measurements and draw a floor plan and a profile of what the cistern looks like. It is one of the "perks" of being the illustrator - I was the second one who got to go down because I had to in order to draw it!

HELLO!!!

Awwww - isn't it cute?! Cameron and me in a cistern together all sweaty and dirty! Sweet!

Only 2 days left, and seeing as how digging and drawing are both slowing down, I will only be going up the mountain for the first part of the morning tomorrow so that I can come back and have time to finish my final drawings. I will be putting up pictures of the oil lamps I am drawing (and explaining more about them) and will show you a picture of a finished drawing so that you can see what I do here, so stay tuned!

Lying Down on the Job

2009-07-28T09:02:00.003-06:00

Remember that drain I told you about yesterday? I think I failed to mention that after Dr. Schuler said "Yeah, it's a drain" he finished by saying "and you know what we find in drains?!" He was referring to coins. Over the past years there have been a few drains excavated and they have found coins which have washed down the street, into the gutter and then gotten stuck in the drain...So, today was my day to see what I could find in our drain...I didn't find coins. In fact, I didn't find much. I didn't even find the other side! That will come tomorrow however as we continue to work in ZZ99 (what a cool name, right?!)

I spent most of my morning lying on my stomach in the channel between the two drains. After digging some dirt out I scooped it into buckets which were then sifted by Hannah.

Having been thoroughly disappointed by the drain I moved on to helping heave rocks out of ZZ99, and then got to go cistern diving (they found a cistern in ZZ4 - I would recommend Brennan's blog for more information on that).

And, speaking of lying down on the job, I'm not quite sure how Brennan found the time for this (or who took this photo...seriously, Andrea didn't take it and neither did I but it was on our camera), but kudos for ingenuity...

My Own Worst Critic

2009-07-27T06:35:00.004-06:00

My family has a tradition of watching Jeopardy during dinner. There is a long standing joke between my dad and I concerning my mom's tendency to say "I was going to say that" after the correct answer had been revealed. Suffice it to say that I had an "I was going to say that" moment today.

We started work clearing the stairs and floor that we initially uncovered yesterday.

The top step that you see in this picture is actually a stylobate, or a straight row of stones on which columns would generally be placed. So, as you can see, we have two real steps and then the floor - which is at a slight slant (more on why it's slanted later...)

In this picture you can see the stairs and our "bucket-lifting platform" - the stack of six rocks on the left-hand side of the frame - resting on the stylobate.

After we cleared much of what needed to be cleared from this area we moved to the west in our square. There was a clear delineation between the eastern part of this area and the western part made by a row of limestone rocks. As we cleared the dirt we again found floor, but of a different kind. It seemed to almost be one piece of stone, and for a time we thought we had something really interesting. As we dug further and further, however, we realized that there are a few seams in the stone. Most of these seams have been filled with plaster, and in fact we found A LOT of plaster today. Moving more and more toward the western wall of the square there was an edge on the stone. I dug down further and found more plaster. As I was digging in a small crevasse that was perhaps 20 centimeters, just less than one foot, wide I realized that it was beginning to look like a drain and gutter. This is where I made my big mistake...I didn't say anything! However, I knew Dr. Schuler would be around in just a few moments to take end of the day photos.

We moved on to different work removing all of the stones from our "bucket filling station." Dr. Schuler came by to take photos, and as we were preparing the next rock I pointed out that I had found plaster on the floor in this area. His immediate response was, "Yeah, it's a drain." And I thought to myself..."Why didn't you say something!? You were right!" Now, I will leave it to you, dear reader, to decide whether or not to believe me, but I thought it and I was right...there may be a future for me in this business yet.

That pretty much wraps up the day for me. In other news, work on the dig went for nearly 30 hours between yesterday and this morning. Two surveyors came in to take an electronic scan of the site which will be used to construct a digital record of what has been uncovered at the North-East Church. Not only did they work through the heat of the day (yesterday afternoon), they pulled an all-nighter last night in order to get the scanning finished before they leave tomorrow (there are rumors floating around about Dr. Schuler sleeping in a wheel-barrow, and I am hoping for pictures soon). I will be very interested to see the results of their work.

Because of this work, the mosaic floors in the church have been uncovered. They are heavily damaged, but still impressive. Especially this one from the skeuophylakion (yes, I looked that up), the room where the clergy would prepare - if I remember correctly.

The Beginning of the End

2009-07-26T11:41:00.002-06:00

Dig Week Four has begun! Incredible. I won't say I'm ready to leave this place, but I'm ready to be heading home in a few days. Bacon cheeseburgers, pepperoni pizza, Dr. Pepper, cable TV - here I come!

The weekend was relaxing, but made for a difficult time waking up this morning. Once on site I was awake and ready for some digging - which I did...a lot of...in a short amount of time. If I had to estimate, I would say that I filled somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 buckets today, and at 25 to 30 lbs. each...well, you can do the math. We moved a lot of dirt today. Why did we move so much dirt out of hole that we should be nearly done with? I'm glad you asked!

Unfortunately our square was...not...quite...square...So, with picks in hand we straightened the wall the best that we could. The fill dirt that fell in was easy to scoop, but really put in crimp in us making real progress on the square.

As you can see, bringing down the balk (which here means the dirt surrounding the square) created quite a cloud of dust.

Continuing the trend from last week we were called away rather consistently to help move rocks out of the two other squares that are currently being worked on. Even with all of this we were still able to expose a part of what looks like a wide staircase heading downward out of our square (pictures forthcoming tomorrow).

As things begin to wind down on the dig, I can't help but wonder about the possibility of returning to this place...one can hope, right?

Archaeology is a dirty business, at least the digging part.

POPSICLES!

2009-07-24T01:20:00.005-06:00

Three weeks of digging down, and one to go. On Sunday a group arrives who will be doing a 3-D scan of the entire site, so we're not even sure how much digging we will be able to do next week.

I can't believe this is our last weekend in Israel. Time has absolutely flown by.

There were really no new developments on site yesterday...So, I will share one of the perks that we have enjoyed this year - POPSICLES!

Everyday at 11 AM we have a "fruitbreak" usually consisting of plums or apples, but over the past weeks we've also had popsicle breaks at least once a week (we actually had two popsicle breaks this week!). Nothing tastes as good as a frozen treat when you're hot and dirty and sweaty. I don't know how he gets them up on the hill still completely frozen, but my kudos to Edmond (the kibbutz representative to the dig who helps with logistical things like breakfast, etc).

In other news, Arny somehow managed to get an ostrich egg for Kristina...none of us can quite figure out how he managed to do it, but there has been some speculation about crazy contraptions and ninjas being involved.

THE FLOOR!

2009-07-22T04:25:00.004-06:00

Archeology inspired poetry...

the floor...The Floor...THE Floor...THE FLOOR
We dug today, and found the floor!
We dug four days to find the floor!
We dug through dirt and rocks galore.
And then today we found the floor.
We heaved out stones and heaved some more.
And finally, FINALLY, found the floor!
We cleaned and scraped and swept the floor.
Yes, finding it was quite a chore
But at least we found the floor.
Now, if only we could find a door...

"Things taste better with sound effects."

2009-07-21T11:39:00.002-06:00

After 17 days in Israel, most of which have been spent outside...in the heat...digging through dirt and rocks...it's really no wonder that some of us are starting to lose our minds. Although, it could be argued that we all were a few fries short to begin with. This statement about our sanity explains why this morning at breakfast four men had their pictures taken with bowls full of dirt (if it's not explained elsewhere, I promise to follow up on True Grit Cereal for Archaeologists at a later date) and why Andrea was quoted saying the statement above (albeit after we had stopped work and were enjoying a relaxing afternoon).

We started the day the same way we started yesterday, moving out the slough from two squares that were uncovered last year. We should be finished with that cleaning project tomorrow.

After that we moved back to ZZ-0 and swiftly got to work moving rocks out of ZZ-1...However, after this initial push we spent the rest of the day in our square, and my what a day it was!

Remember that Corinthian capital I showed you yesterday - well, it's not longer in our square. AND, I found my own capital. However, it was only an Ionic capital so Darryl wasn't nearly as excited...Both capitals and two column drums were removed by the tractor, which made for quite a show. The tractor driver is incredible, as evidenced by the photos you're about to see.

My Ionic capital.

On it's way out.

Getting Ready for the Corinthian.

Barely hit the shade on the way out. As an update on the Corinthian capital - Dr. Arthur Segal, who heads the dig, explained that it was most likely constructed around 220 or 250 AD and said that it was one of the best examples of a Roman Corinthian column that he has seen on the site!

Column drum number one, on it's way out. This is the drum with a hole in it - It was possibly used as some sort of weight or counter balance for an olive press.

Column drum number two on it's way out.

Finally, remember what I said about our relaxing afternoon. Well, we found out (at lunch today) that there was another special trip planned for this afternoon to some natural springs in the area of Bet She'an. The springs were amazing...and cold...and the afternoon was wonderful. Only six of us from our team ended up going, and unfortunately we missed Darryl's second devotion! Guess I will have to ask him about it tomorrow. Anyways, the quote came at one point when Andrea was passing out some pieces of fruit leather to people...Don't remember exactly what the context was, but it was entertaining nonetheless.

"Don't give this kid any sugar today!"

2009-07-20T07:18:00.003-06:00

"Don't give this kid any sugar today," said Dr. Schuler to Kristina late this afternoon, concerning (you guessed it) - me! Why would he be making such random statements about sugar? Could it be he's concerned about my diet? Or could it be he believes I am still hyper from finding an inscription on a stone early this morning?! I believe it has to do with the latter. Here is how it all went down:

I was sent to draw square F8 - the square excavated by Arnie's Army the first two weeks which had been "abandoned" after being swept (to expose the lovely paving stones) and photographed yesterday. F8 is on the western side of the church complex, and all digging has now been moved to the eastern side of the church. It should be noted that F8 is a very deep square. (Eric is pictured below to show you how much we dug out - the original dirt level was about where his hand is!)

The level of this floor is much lower and farther away than the other areas which are now being dug, so I was very much isolated from the group with the drawing task ahead of me. My job when an area is completed is to do a top plan, including stones in all the walls, and ALL the paving stones on the floor. I literally draw every rock.

I set up my lines to measure from, made it through part of my drawing (a wall and set of stairs that seem to lead to nowhere) and as I started to look at the stones trying to decide where to start, I noticed that one of the stones seemed to have very neat dirt lines. I thought I could see the shape of what looked like an "X" and "H" in the stone, so I took my finger and pressed into the rock to see if I could feel anything. For a while I was convinced it was nothing, because the room had been swept and photographed, and I hadn't heard anyone talking about writing on the floor, but just to be sure I decided to go over to Kristina. I asked her if she could stop by before breakfast just to look at something, that was probably nothing but I wanted to be sure and thought she should look at it before I got Dr. Schuler all worked up. She came right away, and said, "Uh, this is writing!" At which point I lost all control, jumped up and ran back to yell at the boss to bring his camera, ran back to Kristina, then back to meet Dr. Schuler to tell him I found an inscription. Every year, he asks for an inscription. In four years, I've never found anything (because I'm always drawing). He said I saved the best for last. He also said he's seen me bouncy, but never quite so bouncy as this.

The stone seems to be in secondary use - taken from somewhere else and used as part of this floor. It is written in Greek, and although much of it is pretty worn, the first line (translated) says "Good fortune..."

Please visit the "Dig It" blog on the dig website ( virtualdig.org ) - Dr. Rhoda Schuler has posted other pictures, and a video of me making faces while Arthur Segal (the dig director), Dr. Schuler and Kristina are trying to translate.

And in other news... I have an apprentice! Hannah Applebaum - going into her senior year of high school - accompanied her dad this trip, who is on his 3rd dig this year. She likes to draw, so Dr. Schuler figured it was time to train her in the ways of rock drawing, and put me "in charge." Seems risky on his part, entrusting me with the training of another dig illustrator... but I won't complain! Anyhoo, today her job was to draw a chunk of mosaic found in one of the squares finished last week, so here we are, down in a hole with all our fancy drawing toys as I attempt to instruct her how to get started. For the record, she is off to a good start.

Home Sweet (New) Home...Kind Of.

2009-07-20T05:54:00.004-06:00

As I mentioned yesterday I was moved to a new square; ZZ-Zero. However, today we spent a lot of time working in other squares it seemed...

Our first task right away this morning was to move some of the dirt and rocks out of squares C and D-6. The squares were excavated last season, but over the past year a lot of junk had fallen in. It needs to be clean when they come to do the new survey of the site next week. So, after working there for just about an hour, and after the excitement of finding one of the biggest scorpions I've ever seen, we headed back to our own square...not so fast...ZZ-1, the square next to ours needed some help moving a few big rocks...another chunk of time not spent on our square, but they found the floor (and two column capitals) and might even have that square mostly cleared by the end of the day tomorrow.

Finally, just a little bit before breakfast we got to move back to our square and really begin work for the day...

Then, breakfast was called...

Finally, back at it...

ZZ-1 has more stones that need moved...

Toward the end of the morning we did have a good chunk of time where we were able to focus primarily on the task at hand, ZZ-0. We moved a lot of dirt in a short amount of time, and made a couple more significant finds. First, we believe we've found a column "in situ." Which means it is sitting where it would have been sitting when the city was thriving and when people could have actually seen it sitting there! Unfortunately, it is directly underneath the east wall of our square, and we only have five or six centimeters visible - if it truly is in situ we will have to move the square out in order to fully expose it.

Our other find came as we were dismantling what looked like (and maybe used to be) a wall. Darryl was clearing some dirt and rocks away when he came upon this...

It's a beautiful Corinthian capital. At some point we'll have to have the tractor come over to take it out, but we need to clear more around it first. All-in-all, it turned out to be a pretty good day in ZZ-0...now if we could just get those rowdy neighbors to stop digging up so many rocks!

Move Along

2009-07-19T10:57:00.003-06:00

The departure of the Irvine group means our team is much smaller, and it felt that way today. Not a bad feeling when pottery washing came around - we seemed to have hardly any. However, on site, things seemed much different. Lot's of work...less people. We've gone from five squares open down to three, and, since we were essentially done in F8 on Thursday I was moved to square ZZ-0.

ZZ-0 is completely on the opposite side of the complex in comparison to where I was working prior, so getting my bearings took a few minutes. We didn't have many big finds today, but we moved about a half-meter worth of dirt out.

The two things we did find were a column with a "fluted" end and a hole drilled through it and a piece of marble squared off on three sides and rounded on the last. Concerning the column, we're not talking a small hole, it's wide enough to put your hand through. We will have it dug further tomorrow and maybe then we will have more answers about what it could be. The marble piece is somewhat perplexing - it looks like a piece of a banister from a staircase. There was some speculation from Darryl (a retired officer) that it could be a night-stick.

Thanks to all for continuing to read this - we're glad you're enjoying this adventure with us!

"There's a leg attached to the shower squeegee"

2009-07-18T12:20:00.003-06:00

Kristina killed a cockroach on the floor just outside our room.

Andrea and I are staying in Dr. Schuler's old room which is attached to the lab area. The area which we use as a lab (which means the place where all the small finds and pottery are sorted, numbered, counted, stored and sometimes photographed) used to be the dressing room of a music hall here on the kibbutz. The music hall has pretty much been moth-balled, so on occasion we have a cockroach that sneaks in. Thus far Andrea and I haven't seen any in our room...knock-on-wood.

Kristina was here working on some pottery stuff when she came out, knocked on our door, said goodnight and started heading for the exit... then came a scream and some noise and she burst into our room. A few seconds later she and Andrea went back out into the entryway and the cockroach was nowhere to be found. That is, until Andrea lifted up Kristina's backpack...another scream and they were yelling for me to come kill it. I got up and grabbed my boot, but before I even got the chance Kristina had the shower squeegee. The squeegee smacked the hard concrete floor once, twice, three times and then finally met its mark. The cockroach was dead, antennae still twitching.

So if anyone asks, it was Kristina, in the lab with the squeegee.

To Our Friends from Concordia Irvine

2009-07-18T05:23:00.002-06:00

The group from Concordia Irvine left this morning. This video, while it has nothing to do with the dig, is dedicated to them and all of their hard work and random musical talent - especially those who were at dinner last night and started their own "Stomp" group over at the other table. I posted this video a couple of years ago, but I think it deserves to be watched again. And remember...all God's creatures got a place in the choir...

A (Not Quite) Three Hour Tour.

2009-07-18T00:48:00.002-06:00

Andrea stole my thunder and preempted the post that I was going to write today about our boat tour on the Sea of Galilee! So, here are just a few more pictures...

One more day to rest and relax, then it's back up early tomorrow for another week of digging.

Thursday's Boat Tour

2009-07-17T23:17:00.004-06:00

I have a new appreciation and understanding for the story about Peter walking on water. Being on a boat in the middle of the Sea of Galilee, in the midst of wind and waves, watching the sun go down and the water turn black may have something to do with it. We spent 2 hours on a boat, beginning before sunset and returning in the dark. Darryl led devotions, choosing to use the story of Peter walking to Jesus on the water. First of all, it was windy and there were some big waves when we were out there on a calm night in a big boat; I can't imagine what it would feel like to be in a small fishing boat with more violent weather conditions. Secondly, it would be really scary to see someone walking out to you over that pitch black water. And because of these two things, way to go, Peter, for stepping out of the boat at all! I think my perspective on this story is changed for good.

And now, some more pictures from the boat.

Here is the mountain that we climb every day to dig... Hippos!

Kristina...

Kristina, Hannah, Anna, Liz and me...

It was just a little windy...

A beautiful sunset.

Just for Fun.

2009-07-17T14:03:00.003-06:00

My most sincere apologies to anyone who may not want this photo posted...it just had to be done. It's still not the "silly-face" picture that Andrea has been hoping for, but we're getting closer.

I will post more in depth about our Thursday night boat trip and devotions on the Sea of Galilee tomorrow.

Late to Bed and Early to Rise...

2009-07-16T07:00:00.005-06:00

...Makes a man Crabby and Sleepy and...Zzzzzz

Last night we had what sounded, on paper, like an amazing opportunity; visit the ancient city of Scythopolis at Bet She'an. Scythopolis is another city of the Decapolis, so a sort of "sister-city" of Hippos. The city was destroyed in 749 AD by the same earthquake that destroyed Hippos. A grand total of 46 acres of the site has been uncovered including the main street, Roman Bathhouses and Theatre (just to name a few) For a Biblical context of the site see 1 Samuel 31, and the story of the death of Saul, specifically verses 8-13.

The plan, as we heard it, was to leave the kibbutz around 8:00 (sundown) and arrive at Bet She'an sometime between 8:45 and 9:00. Part A - Check.
After arriving at Bet She'an we would have a chance to take part in their new nighttime tours. Part B - Check
We would have around 45 minutes to one hour and be back for bed around 11:00. This is where we got off track.

Staying up until 11:00 PM when you have to be up at 4:00 AM is already crazy enough, so we debated about whether we wanted to go or not. Ultimately, we decided that, since I had never seen it and the idea of a nighttime tour was intriguing (and it was free) we couldn't pass the opportunity up! However, after arriving at the site we were greeted by a tour guide...a long winded tour guide...

To make a long story short. I'm still glad we went. The site is amazing, and the short introductory video (which they cleverly projected on the back of the theater complex) was really cool. However, not getting back to the kibbutz until nearly midnight made for a short, short night of sleep.

Surprisingly, I was OK for most of the day, and didn't really feel the effects of how tired my body was until later in the morning when I was in the sun running the wheel-barrow.

Today was the last day for the group from Concordia University Irvine which means our team will be drastically different come Sunday morning. Eric and Will, the two other members of Arny's Army (along with Andrea and I) are leaving, but we can be proud of what we accomplished on our square. I am not sure where I will be placed next week, but I am hopeful of finding something worth winning a beer from Kristina...(I thought I had it in the bag with the perplexing piece of painted marble that I found early in the week, but Darryl's square won with a cache of 6 nails all sitting nicely on a door jam...)

Arny's Army

The Whole Group at it's largest point.

Eric is 6'2" - we took a lot of dirt (AND ROCKS) out of this square!

And, for good measure, here's the sunrise we enjoyed today.

Just a Little Early Morning Stroll

2009-07-15T10:17:00.002-06:00

Every morning we wake up at 4:00 AM, get ready...tighten the crusty laces (and I mean crusty...hard and caked with dirt) on our boots and head to the Kibbutz parking lot to meet the bus by 4:40. The bus takes us three-quarters of the way up the hill, and then we're on our own.

The trail is steep, and full of rocks which jut up and out, reminders of the road that once led the way up to the ancient city of Hippos. It is vital to lift your feet while walking. Along the way their are even more reminders of this mountain's history. These come in the form of "Warning: Mine Field" signs and small bunkers that denote it as a former outpost of the Israeli Military. Most, if not all, of the mines are now gone...but I have no desire to be the person who finds the remnants of that not-so-distant past.

I have never been intimidated by the mountain, or the trail, and Andrea and I are generally some of the first ones up the hill. Living at higher elevation and having a love for the outdoors have prepared us well for making this daily trek. Although, at 5:00 AM there's not much to enjoy about it...

F8 Update!
The past two days we have had some amazing fortune! Darryl, Sam and Drew came over from their square (which is mostly finished) and helped us get closer to finishing our square. Just a little bit of work tomorrow, and (crossing fingers) no more big rocks. We've found the floor of what Dr. Schuler believes is a plaza area. This afternoon someone called it "Plaza De Arny." We also have the possible beginning of a staircase heading to the west. We will have that uncovered by tomorrow, I am confident.

I'm a Rock Drawing Machine!

2009-07-15T10:14:00.003-06:00

Ok, maybe not "machine" ... not yet, at least. In previous trips, I have started my drawing assignments about halfway into the first week and that was all I did the rest of the dig time. This was partly due to having to draw things that just hadn't been drawn in previous years. This season, however, there is no "catch up" work to do, so most of my time has been spent working in square F8 as part of Arny's Army. My service with them is coming to an end, though, as squares have finished their work and new walls are revealed which long to be recorded on paper. My metric graph paper, to be more specific. Today I did very little digging and spent my first full day drawing. For those of you who don't know what I do, allow me to explain (I will keep it short so as to ensure your complete attention). Dr. Schuler says, "Andrea, I need you to draw this wall." This can be either a top plan or profile or both. I say, "Yes, Sir," and skip away (literally). I prepare my tools: drawing board, metric graph paper, metric tape measure (which, would you believe, was hard to find in Billings, MT and got me a funny look from the guy when I asked if they had them?!), pencils, ruler, string and chaining pins and my water bottle (you remember we must stay hydrated). I approach assigned wall (or column, of floor, or bench, whatever) and take a good long look at it. This serves two purposes: 1) I have to decide where to start and how to go about the drawing, and this helps me make a plan, and 2) I like to think it makes me look professional walking around examining the wall for a few minutes with my tape measure in hand and pencil in my mouth or tucked in my hat before I begin, and of course it is important to always look professional when one is drawing rocks. Next, I set up a straight line (or two) using the chaining pins and bright pink string - this is the place from which all my measurements come, so it is obviously an important step. At this point, I am ready to draw, so I use the tape measure to see how far rocks are away from my string and from each other, mark the points on my paper (in proportion to the scale I've decided) and then ... I draw the rocks! Intriguing, yes? It doesn't sound like much, it may not even look like much on paper (funny, it just looks like a bunch of rocks), but I can assure you that much time and effort is put into these drawings, and they are to scale and measured. I never knew I would be a skilled rock-artist, but I actually kind of enjoy it more than I thought I would. And, as crazy as it sounds, I have spent so much time looking at the rocks in these walls, that I can actually remember specific rocks - even ones that I drew my first time here 4 years ago - which is either kinda cool or crazy, but it's the truth!

Highlights

2009-07-14T11:54:00.004-06:00

As advertised, some highlights from tonight's sunset over the Sea of Galilee. Unlike other nights where we generally sit right outside our temporary home; tonight we walked down to the edge of the water, let the waves hit our feet and enjoyed the beauty of God's Creation...

A History Lesson

2009-07-14T07:17:00.004-06:00

Listen up class! Today we are going to learn a little bit more about Hippos-Sussita!

Last night Andrea and I attended a lecture given by one of the head archaeologists here and it reminded me that I haven't actually told you much about the city we are excavating. So, for all you know we could be excavating any old place...literally.

Hippos is a city of the Decapolis, a group of Ten cities located in Roman Palestine that were more culturally connected to Greece and Rome than to other Middle Eastern cultures. The city was inhabited from around the 3rd Century BC and was abandoned after a major earthquake in 749 AD.

The city is located just to the east of the Sea of Galilee near the Golan Heights. In fact, as we learned last night, the city's water source was a spring in the Golan. An aqueduct 24 kilometers long carried water to the city. It is located high atop a hill (as you have seen in our pictures) and was easily defended; on the north their is a steep cliff face meaning that the only way to reach the city was the main road to the south and east.

Christianity came to Hippos around the 4th Century AD, and eventually the city became the seat of a Bishop, according to historical records. As of the excavation there have been three churches and a cathedral unearthed (we are excavating the north east church - you can see an aerial shot of the church complex here)

I hope this brief history lesson has been informative and not too boring.

In other news - we had A LOT of help on our square today...but many, many more rocks to be moved. We hope to find the floor by the end of the week. I am confident that we can make it after this morning.

Another sunset post may be forthcoming as today was just as, if not more, clear than yesterday.

I Almost Stepped on a Hedgehog!

2009-07-14T06:02:00.004-06:00

Here are five reasons why today was one of the best dig days:

A) Cloud cover - The clouds kept appearing and blocking out the sun until sometime after breakfast... big deal when you're working outside!

B) Breeze - A nice breeze all day long helped keep the work site just a little cooler, although it did get a little irritating towards the end when it was blowing so hard it was almost impossible to keep the dust out of your eyes.

C) Chocolate milk - They had chocolate milk (in a bag) at breakfast today. Yum!

D) Popsicles - Everyday we get fruit on the site and have our "fruit break" at 11 am. Today (like last Tuesday) popsicles were brought in addition to the fruit, and they have never tasted so good as they do under the hot sun, while working hard and sweating and being so close to quitting time.

and 5) "Arny's Army" expanded. After breakfast, our square gained some help. Our original Arny's Army included Arny (duh!), Cameron, Eric, Will, and me, and we gained Darryl, Drew, and Sam - which was AWESOME! The boys moved a LOT of gigantic rocks away and we were able to steadily haul away bucket after bucket of dirt like a well oiled machine. Thanks guys!

Good day of work today.

Also, this morning it was very dark and I heard a small sound as Cameron and I walked to the bus and he said, "Andrea! Look!" And to the left of my foot was a small dark blob, that started moving. It was a hedgehog. I almost stepped on it.

This Place

2009-07-13T12:14:00.002-06:00

Three posts in one day (if you count the one I wrote last night and posted this morning before leaving for the site)! I hope I don't overwhelm you! I just wanted to quickly share tonight's sunset. At least the latter part of it. We did not get to enjoy the full sunset tonight as we were attending a lecture about the last ten years of work here. I am positive, had we been here, it would have been spectacular. It was so clear all day today.

It's a Tough Job...

2009-07-13T07:13:00.002-06:00

...but somebodies got to do it.

Today was one of the clearest we've had on the dig. The sun came up, early, and the moon stayed visible late into the morning.

As we continued to excavate our square (translated: we found more...and more...and more...and more rocks) the day became warm, and then hot. But their is beauty in that heat. From the top of the mountain where Hippos is located you get a fantastic view of the Galilee. Perhaps this is the "city on a hill" which "cannot be hidden." To imagine the forum square in all of it's glory, the churches we are uncovering...people walking down the Decumanus Maximus (main East/West Road), it's absolutely amazing. People lived here...and we are uncovering their lives. We can only imagine what the city would have looked like when they walked the streets, and if it's anything like I imagine it would have been amazing.

Main Cistern in the Forum with Tiberias in the background.

The South side of the Sea of Galilee.

Galilee with Mount Tabor (I believe) in the background. Mount Tabor is the traditional site of the Transfiguration.

Dig Day Six

2009-07-12T11:31:00.009-06:00

Cameron's Log: Day Six...

Found more big rocks today. At one point counted 21 awaiting removal.

Uncovered some large stones, looked like the makings of a wall. Unfortunately there was little evidence to support this and Dr. Schuler suspected it was a "floating" wall, meaning it was built later by squatters or had fallen rather suspiciously...

Upon removing some stones discovered there were, indeed, more underneath! A wall...put back the stones...

Found an interesting piece of marble tile toward the end of the day. Seems to have some kind of paint on it. During pottery washing we discovered another piece that fits like a puzzle and has the same red on it...

It has been fun to work in the same square as Andrea. Too bad she gets called away to draw, and will do this even more in the coming two weeks I am sure.

For those who claim she "doesn't get dirty," here she is working hard.

It should be mentioned, this post was written on Sunday July 12th after the dig day ended. However, since we had just posted commentary on our trip to Jerusalem I did not want to overwhelm you, the reader, with so many posts in such a short time...

Jerusalem: Part One

2009-07-12T11:02:00.006-06:00

Cameron and I have divided up the Jerusalem trip into two sections... so you should be reading mine first (if you desire chronological order). And here is how it all went down:

We left the kibbutz Thursday at 2:30 in the afternoon, allowing time for lunch and showering and getting things together. An approximately 2 hour drive south and through the Judean wilderness and we made it to Jerusalem, walked through the Jaffa Gate into the old city,

and a couple turns later buzzed the door at the Lutheran Guest House in the Armenian Quarter.

Dr. Schuler took the time to orient us a little as to our whereabouts and our first step was the church which some believe to be the place of the "upper room," where Jesus had the last supper with his disciples before going to trial. There is also a depiction on the wall which revisits the story from Acts chapter 12 when Peter escapes from prison, comes and knocks on the door, and the servant girl Rhoda is so excited she doesn't open the door for him but goes back and tells the other disciples he is there without even letting him inside. So... because of the upper room being in Mark's home, and the connection of the servant girl Rhoda... the Drs. Schuler call this place, the 'Mark and Rhoda' church!

We walked up and down some more narrow Jerusalem streets, past many shops, ignoring many "come look!" invitations (they get very creative in how they try to get your attention), until we made our way to the outside of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the place where Christians remember the crucifixion and burial of Jesus. A group of us returned later Thursday evening to watch the locking of the door at 9 pm. There are six different Christian groups that have rights to the church, and because they can not agree who has the "power" to lock the door, the key is under the care of a Muslim family who comes every night to lock the door. Several people gathered outside, the door was banged loudly to get people out from inside, something was thrown at a bird to chase it away, the door was closed, a man climbed a ladder, latched the lock, and it was done. The best part was being there at that time of night when it was quiet and still.

This brings us to Friday. The day started with the archaeologists' "Via Delarosa," the walk of Christ from trial to cross. While not the same route as the many steps acknowledged in the Catholic tradition, it is a route believed by some to be more likely the path taken by Jesus. Of course both end in the same place - the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,

and ultimately it doesn't really matter because whichever street he took, Jesus made that amazing and painful journey, but it is powerful to be in a real place and know that Jesus existed here so long ago. The Holy Sepulchre is beautiful; full of so many different sights and smells and sounds, so many people from everywhere crowding (sometimes not very, er, "Chrisitan-like") to touch the rock where the cross was and get inside the eticule which hosts (perhaps) the real burial place of Jesus. It is overwhelming at times, but a strange kind of wonderful.

After this visit, we were off to the Western Wall and the Archaeological Park, but first stopped for lunch, where we had the shwerma (shaved lamb inside pita with various mix-ins) we've been craving for so long. Cameron was a happy guy...

(This picture of Cam was taken in Bethlehem the next day, but you get the point - he ate shwerma as much as he could!)

And now I'll leave you with him and the rest of our trip.

Jerusalem: Part Two

2009-07-12T09:18:00.004-06:00

Andrea and I made the decision to each post about a different portion of our trip to Jerusalem. Andrea got the first half, so I will be handling part two. As I am writing this before she has even begun, I hope to pick up almost at the exact point where she will have left off...

Having indulged our craving for shwarma we made our way into the Jewish Quarter of the City and headed for the area surrounding the Western (Wailing) Wall. When we arrived at the wailing wall we entered a large archaeological park where one can see the ruins of the many structures that once surrounded the temple area in Jerusalem. The most foreboding structure is, of course, the temple platform itself which has gone through many facelifts over the years. As you can see, the stones from the period when Herod extended the platform are quite daunting...

Considering that Andrea is 5'2" you can see that the stones are nearly a meter tall.

And, according to the person at the end of this line, she wasn't even touching the end of the stone! Rest assured, if we found any of these on Hippos they would stay where they were...

As you walk to the Eastern part of the park you enter an area where one can be assured Jesus walked. The stairs leading up to the Temple. Unfortunately, we were not able to visit this area because it borders Al Aqsa Mosque, and it was closed so that the Muslim Holy Day was not disturbed.

We left the archaeological park, and the Old City for a time and walked up the Mount of Olives. This walk is incredible, for many reasons. First and foremost, the Mount of Olives is a remarkably, and surprisingly, steep hill (video will soon be posted on You Tube). There is, however, a reward for the labor of walking up the hill - the view.

Once on top of the Mount of Olives we stopped at the Church of the Ascension where Jesus' Ascension into Heaven is commemorated. The church is now a mosque, however, the Muslims who control it allow Christians to come in and see the place. After leaving from there we made our way back down the Mount of Olives and walked the traditional path of the Via Delarosa, the path which commemorates Jesus on His way to the Cross and, ultimately, to His death. Along the way there are many markers denoting the traditional stations of the Cross - the ending point is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

After this we had the rest of the evening free to shop or go back to the guest house. The next day would bring even more sights.

We got up early on Saturday, met our bus, and headed for Bethlehem to see the Church of the Nativity.

This Church is one of three built by Saint Helena (Constantine's Mother) and commemorates the Birthplace of Christ. Over the years it has changed hands many times. As you can see from this picture the door has gotten smaller and smaller over the years. This change came because the church was being stripped of all its marble for use in other areas.

The inside is spotted with incredibly ornate decorations. In the front of the church there is an area called the grotto where one can go down and, supposedly, touch the spot where Jesus was born and where he was laid in the manger.

After finishing up at the Church of the Nativity we had time for shopping at the various Olive Wood stores and for lunch...we had more shwarma...

Having thoroughly stuffed ourselves (literally - I had two shwarma), we met the bus and headed for the Herodion (or Herodium...or Herodyon...depending on which sign you read). This was honestly one of my favorite sites...the sheer magnitude of the fortress is remarkable and the magnitude of what Herod accomplished can be seen on a grand scale. The site is one of Herod's many wilderness fortresses which he built to help protect his kingdom. It is also in the Judean Wilderness...where the shepherds would have been "keeping watch over their flocks," as Dr. Schuler pointed out...

The wilderness surrounding Bethlehem and Jerusalem.

The main tower of the Herodion.

Top plan of the Herodion.

Herod's Tomb?

The Palace at the Herodion, complete with swimming pool.

As Andrea always points out we were "running where Jesus walked," and what a great run it was. Now we are back at the Kibbutz. As I write this we have already finished a full day of work and are getting ready for another...

The Attention Getter

2009-07-11T11:16:00.003-06:00

I know Andrea just posted to say we'd be back tomorrow with pictures and posts, but I felt the urge to post at least one photo to pique your interest...

This is the FIRST picture I took on the camera when we got to the Old City in Jerusalem. It is Saint Mark's Road - the guest house where we stayed was just down the street.

Tomorrow we start again...dark and early...until then. Enjoy.

Home Sweet Kibbutz

2009-07-11T10:55:00.002-06:00

Jerusalem was GREAT! After I go through pictures and videos tomorrow, you'll hear more from me, in the mean time, I just wanted to "check in" because I'm sure you missed me, and now you know we're back safe and ready to dig another week! Come back for pictures and stories tomorrow!

Blog-worthy

2009-07-08T10:56:00.004-06:00

What a treat! Two posts in one day! I guess I'm back "on" with my blogging... I knew inspiration would come sooner or later.

This afternoon we walked across the road from the kibbutz to a new restaurant - Arny went last year (the first year it was open) and sad we needed dessert. So, Arny, Cameron, Kristina, Rachael and I had an AMAZING dessert experience. Our server brought out a tray of plastic desserts to show us the choices, and we ordered. Cameron and I shared some apple pie and some crazy delicious chocolate mousse/cake thing with frozen creme broule inside... I think we'll be going back. After we started eating, the server came back and said, "You are quiet, that is a good sign, I think?!" He was not wrong!

The pictures in order are:

Our desserts, Cameron looking amazed at what was laid before us, Rachael enjoying hers, and Arny and Kristina enjoying theirs (I love this picture of Arny!)...

Feats of Strength

2009-07-08T10:34:00.003-06:00

There's an episode of Seinfeld that revolves around the Costanza Family's holiday tradition called "Festivus." Essentially it is Frank Costanza's invented holiday which the family celebrates around Christmas time. Some traditions include the "festivus pole," the "airing of grievances" (I GOT A LOT OF PROBLEMS WITH YOU PEOPLE) and the "feats of strength," which means someone has to wrestle Frank... Today we weren't wrestling any geriatric veterans, but what we were wrestling were gigantic basalt and limestone rocks.

Inside the square...many of these await our arrival tomorrow morning and have to be removed before we can do more digging...

Using the "Arny Net" to remove a large basalt stone...

Andrea, who is pulling double duty as a blogger on this (our personal blog) and the "official" dig blog (Dig It) posted a great You Tube video today of what it truly takes to get these monsters out of the square - they aren't light, although the limestone is much more manageable than the basalt.

Thus far I have been incredibly happy with our square, and with our team in F8. We've gotten a lot of work done, especially when you consider the fact that when we started to dig in our square we had to work through at least a half meter of debris that was dumped on the site last year. Now we are nearly a meter down from the original ground level, we've found (fingers crossed) a wall and a door frame and we are only about a half meter above the street level. All-in-all it has been a quite eventful week.

Tomorrow is our last day for the workweek. When we get done on the mountain we will come down, eat a quick lunch, finish packing for Jerusalem and then leave the Kibbutz by 2:30. We will be touring on Friday and Saturday, and will head back on Saturday night just in time to eat a picnic dinner (Saturday is Shabbat and the dining hall is closed) and then to bed to get ready for more digging on Sunday! We will not have our computers with us in Jerusalem, and even if we did we would not have time (or internet access) to do any posting of anything. So, we will have to get you up to speed when we get back...Fear not - we will return to our regularly scheduled programming shortly (and there may be a short post tomorrow before we leave, but I make no promises).

I'll leave you with this...this morning we saw the moon set and the sun rise while we were on the dig and both were quite spectacular.

Andrea's camera ended up underneath her ice-cold water bottle and when we took it out of the pack it was a little foggy...it created a neat effect on this photo however.

The sun rise...thankful for the cloud cover (it did not last until breakfast today, we were not nearly as spoiled.

Cam's Mom Should be Proud

2009-07-08T10:29:00.004-06:00

There are only 5 people working in our square - Arny (our fearless leader, whose first year here was also my first year, so we go way back), Cameron (you know who he is), Eric and Will (here with the Concordia Irvine group) and me. The disadvantage our group has is that Arny gets called away occasionally to do survey work (mostly at the end of the day), and I get called away to do drawings (which has thus far been mostly at the end of the day, as well, but as more is revealed, I will spend less and less time digging and more and more time measuring and drawing). However, even with this "handicap" of being left sometimes with only three workers in the square, much dirt has been moved these past 4 days, as you have probably learned from Cameron's posts. What is more impressive is how many big rocks have been moved by these boys, and how far they have to move them (especially up) as the dirt gets lower and lower. And so, as I said, I believe Cameron's mom would be proud of how hard he is working and how many big rocks he can move (and his dad can use this information to get any yard work done at home, perhaps) - and I'm sure that while Cameron is proud of his "rolling-stones" skills, he is probably even more proud of the fact that he got a college degree and doesn't have to do this for a living.

Enjoy the videos. The first is the general "this is how big, heavy rocks are moved," and the second is Cameron and Eric rolling a stone through a doorway, then showing off their "manliness."

Blogger's Block

2009-07-07T10:50:00.000-06:00

I haven't quite gotten into my groove yet. My posts are sparse and uninteresting thus far, and I keep hoping to make them better. Maybe I haven't adjusted to being here quite yet, maybe I am trusting that Cameron will take care of life on the blog-front, maybe I've been here too many times to be inspired by everyday things that we do here anymore? ... Nah! I think it's just a temporary "out-of-order" and I will be back on track soon. In the mean time... I'd like to leave you with the most important rule on the dig site: STAY HYDRATED!!!

First is the worst...

2009-07-07T08:17:00.005-06:00

Before we left we took our nephews and niece to the park and the zoo. At one point we were "racing" and my youngest nephew kept singing "First is the worst, second is the best, third is the one with the treasure chest." Now, I remember this rhyme from when I was young, however we used to say "third is the one with the hairy chest." In the context of the dig so far I have to say I like his version better, and it seems much more appropriate as we made some neat finds today in our square. It should also be noted that the first day was not necessarily "the worst" and the second was not necessarily "the best," so all that really needs to be taken into account is the fact that, in respect to the first week, today was somewhat of a "treasure chest." Did you get all that?

The day started just like the first two days...cloudy, and somewhat comfortable for working in. The sun stayed away until breakfast, so we waited until then to put up our sunshade. Even before this we made a cool find - a piece of braided glass, probably some sort of ornamental piece, we will have to wait and see if we hear anything more about it.

After breakfast we made two more finds; a (formerly) round stone flattened on both sides. One of the sides had a groove cut into it. At some point it had been broken as one of the sides that should have been round was flat. There are still some questions as to what it is, or was used for, but the thought is that it might have been some kind of mortar stone. The other find, which came right at the end of the day, was a piece of a grinding stone. The stone was smooth and had been worked into a round shape. There was also a "foot" attached to it. At one point it probably would have had four feet to stand on...

The "wonderful" thing about all of these finds is the break from work that generally comes along with them. In some cases, most specifically with the important items, Kristina (the Assistant Director and Small Finds Registrar for the dig) has to come over and take field notes about positioning, etc. At the same time Dr. Schuler comes over to way in on what it may be and to photograph the item where it was.

In other news, we have been working this week with Arny (a dig veteran) and two guys from Concordia University Irvine, Eric and Will. Eric and Will have been a lot of fun to get to know and to work with. The have dubbed our group "Arny's Army" and come in every day humming the theme from The A-Team...

This post has gotten rather long, but I wanted to address a couple of comments from the past days. First, I changed the permissions on Flickr so that you should be able to look at all sizes of any given picture. Second, I will do my best to post photos, but I can't make any promises. It will depend on whether or not I remember to take some while we are up on the site, it's not always the easiest thing to do...

It's Windy...

2009-07-06T10:33:00.002-06:00

I remember when we were here three years ago...the clouds in the morning were fleeting and the air at the dig site was generally calm. Thus far on the dig we have had rather mild weather in comparison. The clouds hung around and kept things nice and "cool" until nearly breakfast time, meaning we had nearly 3 good hours of work in the morning with almost comfortable conditions!

After breakfast the sun came out and it was torture, apart from the wind. The wind, which I never remember feeling much of on the dig. However, some could argue that I spent much of my time in a cistern and have no business commenting on the windiness of the dig. So, I will leave it up to you, the reader, to decide whether or not I am a trusted source.

In addition to the wind on the site there has been a constant wind moving east across the Sea of Galilee which I can say with some certainty was not "the norm" when we were here before. It makes life easier on the Kibbutz...and makes the Sea of Galilee, which is MUCH lower than three years ago, quite choppy.

In other news, my square, F8, was covered with debris from previous years when we first opened it yesterday. Throughout the day today we worked toward removing this fill in order to get down to the previous ground level. By the end of the day I would estimate we had about a quarter of a meter (everything is metric here, you will just have to get used to it) left to remove. We also found what looks like a doorway on the south side of the square - we should begin true excavation of the square tomorrow, so an update on the doorway (and possible room attached) could be forthcoming before the end of this week.

Food For Thought: How crazy do you have to be to pay (good) money to "volunteer" to work hard for 7 hours a day? (I was going to say "all day" but since we work from 5 - 12 it didn't seem quite right)

"Israel Romance"

2009-07-05T12:04:00.002-06:00

It's amazing how very "at home" I feel at this kibbutz - coming on this trip 3 previous years will do that to a person, I guess. The best part, though, is within the first few days of returning, actually being recognized by people here. Ephrat is the woman who works to provide all volunteer diggers/"archaeologists" housing, food, laundry services, etc. for the month of the dig. If there is a problem, question or concern, she is the lady with all the answers. This afternoon at lunch, she came over and welcomed me back and congratulated Cameron and me on getting married. At dinner, she came over again and said it was a wonderful thing and stated, "I feel like we have played a part in your romance here." Although she thought we met on the dig (when we were both here 3 years ago), after we told her we were already dating by that time, she still insisted that this place has a history in us and she was glad to be a part of it and that it is a "wonderful thing." Well... she's not wrong! I suppose this place is pretty important to us, and I am very happy to be back here now sharing the whole experience with Cameron.

And... I just think it's cool that people remember me here!

In other, random news: one of the wheels broke off my big suitcase, so my goal is to get rid of enough stuff before we have to leave that I just don't have to try to cart a one-wheeled, lopsided heavy suitcase back home... hopefully I'll be able to condense and get creative with my packing!

Day One Done

2009-07-05T11:53:00.003-06:00

Day one has come...and gone.

I awoke...early...at 3:00 AM, and was unable to get back to sleep before we met the bus at 4:45 AM. Similar to the first day of the dig three years ago, we spent much of the time before breakfast clearing the sight of loose rubble and vegetation that has grown over the past year. We also plotted out the squares (typically 5 meter by 5 meter areas) where teams will be working. There are so many people on site in these first two weeks that Dr. Schuler has opened up five squares to begin. As for Andrea and I, we will be in Square F-8. Although, very soon Andrea will be called upon to draw all kinds of rocks. I'm still impressed by the way she is able to focus all of her energy into her hand...

It is nearly 9 PM here, past bedtime for archaeologists...

So, here's my food for thought:

I would recommend going HERE to get a bigger and better view...

Hello from the Airport.

2009-07-04T07:18:00.002-06:00

We are at Ben Gurion Airport. We've made it to Israel. We will be on the dig site in close to 12 hours...

Food For Thought: Please explain why an airplane with "No Smoking" signs everywhere, including the lavatory, and a smoke alarm in the same lavatory also has a small ash tray (like the ones you used to see in car doors)...in the lavatory. Inquiring minds (as in Andrea and I) want to know.

We're Off to See the...

2009-07-03T06:52:00.003-06:00

Somehow wizard seems a bit of an odd word to use to describe the trip we are about to take. So, perhaps, we're off to see the Schuler?

Our final preparations are done. We re-packed last night to ensure everything is underweight, and I still think we are cutting it close with Andrea's bag. Luckily, when we return home we will have less to bring as some of the weight comes from tools that will be broken or left, food that will be eaten and clothes that will be ruined. I find it hard to believe that my first dig experience was three years ago already, and my bags were most definitely lighter on that return trip. I left much of what I had brought specifically for the dig at the kibbutz in the hopes that we would be able to return to the site. Unfortunately, we were sent home...Hippos and I have some unfinished business. I look forward to what we might find this year!

The next time you hear from me may be in a few hours (if I send a brief message from the airport in Tel Aviv), or it may be in a couple of days (as the internet may not be immediately available at the Kibbutz).

For some additional reading - since tomorrow is the Fourth please take a look at "4 More Forgotten Founding Fathers" on mental_floss.

Food for thought: I'm trying to decide if I should end posts that same way I did three years ago with a "food for thought" question. Any thoughts?

TRAVEL UPDATE; 5:51 PM Eastern: It pays to have connections. Andrea's sister and our nephew came to visit us at the Philadelphia Airport. Unfortunately, the airport doesn't offer much outside of security, so, using her sister's military status, we were able to come back through security into the USO area where we had some food, time to play and internet to use!

I wanted to update the luggage situation - Andrea's bag came in at exactly 50 pounds! What a sigh of relief that was, any heavier and we would've had to unpack something, or pay a $50 fee.

We need to be at our gate by 7:15, so we have a bit more time to hang out with family.

More updates will come when we reach Tel Aviv.

Being the Story of an Uneventful Drive.

2009-06-28T20:41:00.002-06:00

Our drive from Billings to the Twin Cities by the numbers...

0 - Number of flat tires we suffered. Not that one should have assumed we would get a flat tire.
1 - Number of Kitchen Sinks we saw on the side of the road.
4 - Number of Road Construction False Alarms. Twice we saw an "End Road Construction" sign when there had been no Road Construction. AND the other two times there were signs warning about impending Road Construction that never came.
6 - AM that is, the time we got out on the road. Just as we planned!
8 - Central Time, when we arrived in the Cities.
11 - Number of hours my right ear was plugged today.
13 - Number of hours we drove.
47 - Number of miles we were actually in road construction. Very surprised it was so little.
852 - Number of miles driven today.

You're Not Wrong.

2009-06-14T22:14:00.003-06:00

According to the world of science the earth is BILLIONS of years old. Also, according to scientific study, data from the past century and a half shows that man has had a direct impact on earth's climate. Now, frankly, I'm no rocket surgeon (to quote one of my favorite shirts on mentalfloss.com), but those numbers just don't seem to add up.

I've heard illustrations which state; "if the timeline of the earth were the length of your arm, man would have only been around for the tip of your fingernail." It would seem that it is scientifically irresponsible to "conjecture" that data collected only within the past two hundred years really has anything to say about how the earth has cooled, or warmed, over the course of a few billion years.

Now, a new report from NASA suggests that the problem of global warming is not as sinister as we might think...unless, of course, you're heliophobic.

For further reading:

NASA Study Acknowledges Solar Cycle, Not Man, Responsible for Past Warming

NASA Study Shows Sun Responsible for Planet Warming

My favorite quote from the latter article:

About 1,000 years ago, Greenland was warm enough for the Vikings to colonize and grow vineyards. Today Greenland is almost entirely covered in ice. Tell me: is the earth warmer today than it was 1,000 years ago? Did they have SUVs and coal power plants in the days of the Vikings? This isn’t tough to figure out, people.

The End is Near

2009-06-03T18:53:00.002-06:00

This blog has served me well for almost three years. However, I find that as time moves on I am, more and more, neglecting it for long periods of time. Add to this the fact that Andrea and I are currently preparing for working overseas and have made plans to create a "Turkey-specific" blog and you should see the necessity for the retirement of this blog.

As such, this blog will continue to function through our trip to Israel, and upon our return our blogging priorities will move to The Stuffing: Two Years in Turkey.

The Illustrated Me

2009-05-08T21:45:00.003-06:00

Andrea drew this one. It's quite fantastic, in my opinion - from a photo taken near Harriet Island in St. Paul.

And I drew this one...ummm, Andrea's a much better artist than me...

Police: Man Tries to Sell Stolen Items

2009-04-22T13:45:00.003-06:00

The headline of this story seems inoccuous enough until you actually read the story itself:

GREAT FALLS - An employee at the Wal-Mart in Great Falls faces felony theft
charges for allegedly taking electronics from the store and posting the items
for sale on an employee bulletin board.
Remo Spencer was arrested Saturday at Wal-Mart.Spencer had posted an ad on an employee bulletin board indicating that he had several iPods and computers for
sale.
A manager became suspicious and reviewed surveillance footage, discovering
the thefts, police said.Police said Remo returned eight laptop computers and seven iPods valued at nearly $7,000.
Police said Remo returned eight laptop computers and seven iPods valued at nearly $7,000.

This reminds me of the part in Office Space where the guys have just discovered that they have stolen A LOT more money from the company than they meant to and Michael Bolton says,

"You know what I can't figure out? How is it that all these stupid neanderthal
mafia guys can be so good at crime, and smart guys like us can suck so badly at
it."

Although, I'm not sure which criterion fits the perpetrator of the above crime...

Thanks Riley (and Debbie)

2009-04-11T18:17:00.003-06:00

My birthday was on Monday (April 6). I got a package in the mail today from my sister-in-law. It was, essentially, a birthday party in a box complete with cake, frosting, silly-string, balloons and other party favors...here are my two favorite things from the box...

First, these little "Sticky Wall Walkers" were apparently picked out by my nephew, Riley. Who, by the way, shares my birthday! Happy Fourth Birthday Riley (again)!!

Second, no party is complete without paper "blowouts!!" Thanks to Andrea for helping demonstrate how they work...

Oh, and also, thanks to Andrea for my new Flip Video Mino on which these videos were shot - I have a feeling this thing is going to come in handy when we get to Israel and Turkey...

For the Love of Obama

2009-04-01T11:28:00.002-06:00

Well, this is an incredibly awkward-looking exchange between President Obama and British Conservative Party Leader David Cameron. Anyone else think it looks like Obama is going in for a kiss and Cameron is about to reluctantly accept?

Photo by Paul Rogers via msnbc.com/Getty Images

In the Interest of Something

2009-03-25T21:58:00.003-06:00

I have been contemplating for days something worth posting; trying to delve something of meaning from the mundane tasks of my everyday life. So far, nothing... In the interest of bringing something from nothing I would like to call your attention to the theory of evolution.

(see what I did there?)

The Science of Sifting

2009-03-04T20:22:00.002-07:00

Someday these will be a great tool for educators and parents...

Via Mental_Floss

The Hum of Conversation, or Why Does My Brain Hurt

2009-03-03T21:29:00.004-07:00

Right now we are at Off the Leaf, a great new coffee shop in Billings. Actually, not so new, it's been open since late this summer. It has quickly become one of our favorite spots.

Andrea spent most of the time that we were here grading papers while I was reading about all kinds of different things. While I was sitting here, overwhelmed by the hum of conversation around us, I was trying to write (or finish writing) a post that I started a few days ago. The inspiration just wasn't there.

I've been reading a book recently called The Trouble With Boys by Peg Tyre. It is a fantastic and informative read for anyone who is interested in the modern education system.

- Note: The above was written at the coffee shop, everything that follows was written while sitting on my couch.

Before we left the coffee shop I typed and deleted text from this post multiple times, at one point I deleted an entire paragraph. I was asking myself on the way home why it was so hard to actually write, and think about publishing, what I was thinking about the book. The only answer I can come up with is that I don't want to come off as insensitive. The book has gotten me thinking about how different kids are treated today, how different schools are... Actually, how different everything is if you're a kid.

It really seems like kids are no longer allowed to just be kids. Parents expect their kids to bring home worksheets and homework in Kindergarten and first grade, sometimes even in preschool. They are expected to know their ABCs, be able to count to ten, tie their shoes and spell their name BEFORE Kindergarten. Whereas, I had a note sent home in First Grade reminding my parents to teach me how to tie my shoes. Kids in third and fourth grade, and probably younger, are carrying around cell phones, texting, instant messaging, joining online communities, etc, etc. I didn't use a cell phone until I was in high-school, and I didn't have my own cell phone until I started college! In an era marked by violence and war a boy's imagination has, by many, been deemed inappropriate. The game of tag has been "outlawed" on many playgrounds because the physical contact is inappropriate or has the potential to become too violent. Instead of simply focusing on inane and harmless topics, like numbers and letters, kid's shows now discuss politics as well (my sister-in-law brought this one to our attention).

Schooling in the United States is less about becoming well-rounded and educated and more about defeating your opponents; ie - other students. Students are expected to sit still, pay attention and "fly right," and there is no outlet. Art, creative writing, Music, PE and Recess are all being taken away and replaced by rote memorization and test preparation. If you cannot sit still or have trouble focusing on something then you must have an attention disorder - after all, it's not like kids learn differently or anything. It is no wonder our (public) schools are failing boys... it is no wonder our (public) schools are failing...

In the end, I believe it comes down to a simple solution: Let boys be boys, let girls be girls and let kids just be kids.

February 27; The Top Ten

2009-02-27T11:02:00.004-07:00

Top Ten things that have happened in the past 365 Days.

1. February 29, 2008 - Andrea and I were married in the Chapel at Concordia University, St. Paul. We had discussed April 1, but I thought that was too close to my birthday. Then we realized that February 29 was on a Friday! Perfect! Only our immediate families and two friends were invited. The Drs. Schuler also played a big part.
2. March 6, 2008 - Having only been employed by the Boys and Girls Club for just over one month, I assumed the role of "interim Unit Director" while my boss went on maternity leave. I soon realized I did not want her job yet.
3. April 6, 2008 - I turned 23 and got a Wii (that rhymed)
4. Late April 2008 - Travelled back to Minnesota for the Jones' wedding. Hit a blizard around the North Dakota/Minnesota border. At one point, we spun around 720 degrees. Thankfully we ended up on the "authorized vehicles" access road. We were even facing the right direction.
5. Early May 2008 - My boss came back. I reassumed my original role as Program Manager.
6. June 10, 2008 - Summer Program at Castle Rock Clubhouse begins.
7. Mid June 2008 - Having taken, and passed, all required Praxis II exams (and doling out an extra $400 total) I, finally, recieved my diploma from CSP. I still think it's ridiculous that "taking the test" is a requirement for recieving your diploma. I understand the concept of taking the test, but you don't even have to pass it... I had better not get started on this... On to number 8.
8. August 8, 2008 - Summer Program at Castle Rock Clubhouse ends - THANK GOODNESS!!
9. December 2008 - Andrea and I interviewed for and were offered the position of TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) educator at TAA (Turkish American Association) in Ankara Turkey.
10. January/February 2009 - Andrea and I accepted the position in Turkey and also committed to volunteering on the last year of the Archaeological Dig at Hippos, Israel. Concerning the latter, our decision making was made all the easier when Dr. Schuler said that he could pay Andrea's way if she would draw for him.

My Latest Post Ever

2009-02-26T21:06:00.004-07:00

Andrea was wondering this evening about the origins of the terms "to boot" and "cold feet." It turns out "to boot" has absolutely nothing to do with your feet. In fact, it's actually an Old English term derived from the word "bat" which meant "good or useful." The Old English bat is also a root of the modern word "better."
In addition, according to the source below, there is no legitimate explanation for the term "cold feet."

For this and more phrase origins visit here.

A Weekend Away

2009-02-24T22:05:00.004-07:00

As promised on Friday, here are some of the highlights from our weekend trip to Yellowstone.

Our first stop was at the Boiling River. The Gardiner river, near Mammoth Hot Springs, is heated by a hot springs flowing into it.

As you can see in the above photos - the steam from the hot springs has frozen. It's amazing to the see the juxtaposition of heat and cold.

Mammoth Upper Terrace in Three Seasons - July, October, February

Just a couple of pictures of us - less than halfway through our FIVE MILE snowshoe excursion.

Coming Soon

2009-02-21T00:16:00.005-07:00

Have no fear - new blog entry coming later this weekend complete with pictures... pictures that have not been taken yet, but will have been taken by the time we return from our overnight trip to Yellowstone/Gardiner, MT.

Snowshoeing in the park tomorrow - relaxing by the pool at the motel tomorrow night.

See you on Sunday!

And yes, I did just take that picture with the MacBook - this thing rocks.

Countdown Begins

2009-02-20T09:14:00.003-07:00

Groan Worthy

2009-02-18T19:52:00.003-07:00

The amazing thing is that, even though I know the real words, all I hear is what is written on the screen.

I hope you enjoyed this, it's going to be stuck in your head all day.

Painting With Light

2009-02-17T20:31:00.004-07:00

This, to me, is absolutely incredible.

Welsh artist Michael Bosanko creates the amazing light graffiti effect using only five coloured torches and by leaving his digital Canon camera on a long exposure.

The 39-year-old has spent the past five years perfecting his art which is created in a similar way to how people write their names with sparklers on Bonfire Night

For more of his artwork, and to read the full story - click here.

Found on the Upcoming Queue on Neatorama

I need a DSLR that can take long exposures - my camera thinks 60 seconds is long enough...

Happy Presidents' Day

2009-02-16T13:43:00.004-07:00

It's the Third Monday in February and you know what that means...PRESIDENTS' DAY! Hooray!

I am a big fan of Presidential Trivia and, therefore, I really enjoyed this recent post on Mental Floss - The Quick Ten: 10 Weird Facts About Presidents

According to a recent poll conducted by C-SPAN James Buchanan was the worst President ever... In fact, there were three presidents who were ranked worse than William Henry Harrison. A fact that I find rather odd considering the fact that Harrison was only President for 32 days before he died of pneumonia. Ouch. The other two Presidents ranked below Harrison are, Franklin Pierce at number 40 and Andrew Johnson* at 41.

Not surprisingly, Abraham Lincoln was ranked number one.

Rounding out the top five were: George Washington, FDR, Teddy Roosevelt and Harry Truman.

Other notable rankings:

JFK was ranked sixth. Does he really deserve this?

John Adams was voted number 17. I find it interesting that Adams' Presidency was probably the "low point" of his political career.

And, George W. Bush was 36. Apparently, not "the worst ever."

See the complete list here.

*If they ever make a movie about Andrew Johnson, I nominate Tommy Lee Jones for the lead role.

Sunny Sunday

2009-02-15T18:39:00.003-07:00

What a great day! Andrea and I went to Pioneer Park and played some Disc Golf.

Definitely a little bit rusty - my disc was caught in a tree twice. The first time it was within my reach, the second time I had to throw another disc at it to dislodge it.

My least favorite hole on the course - a straight shot down a relatively steep hill directly into the creek that runs through the park. My first shot, from the top of the hill, sailed high and was the second of two to get stuck in a tree. It took me a few minutes to get the disc out. Luckily the course wasn't very busy.

Andrea hit me with the frisbee on this one... to be fair I was standing behind the basket.

Pretty sure that Andrea made this putt.

Blank

2009-02-13T12:33:00.002-07:00

My brain is tired.

According to Wikipedia: February 13 is the 44th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 321 days remaining until the end of the year (322 in Leap Years).