11 Year Old with NBA Skills

One of my favorite things to do when I feel not-so-good about myself and my declining athletic skills is to imagine how great I would be if I was playing against a bunch of little kids. I'm pretty sure I'd be the best player in the local Little League. I'm also pretty sure that most Pee Wee football players would have a hard time tackling me and that I'd lead the league in TDs if I were allowed to play.

Until yesterday, I also thought that I was better than every 5th grader in the country in hoops. This video has altered that perception and sent my ego into a tailspin. This kid is unbelievable. And - in addition to being good at basketball, he also is the world record holder in his age group for running a mile. Great - now I can't even beat up on little kids anymore. I'm depressed.

Coolest Guest Speaker EVER!

I've already confessed my rock and roll dreams to the readers of this blog, so today's confession just takes things one step further. I'll confess that the guys in the picture were and still are my all time favorite band. Make fun of me if you like - but Stryper holds a place in my heart that no other artist will ever touch. I realize that the outfits are a bit ridiculous in hind sight and that a couple of these guys look like girls - but that's beside the point. This band represented everything I ever wanted to be when I was 16 AND they were Christians too. Somebody says that Christians don't have long hair or listen to heavy metal - BOOM - I pull the Stryper out on them and the argument ends right there. Don't think I haven't had that conversation about 30 times in my life. My friend David Yougblood even caught one of the Bibles they threw out at a show once. It was totally awesome.

So...imagine how excited I would've been if the following clip had occured at MY high school. The best speaker we ever got was the guy that played Cooter on 'The Dukes of Hazard'. That was lame. This, however, would have been unbelievable:




Ladies and Gentlemen - may I present Stryper guitarist Oz Fox LIVE from the Home Economics room!

Zeitgeist - Fact or Fiction?

This may be old news to some of you. Apparently there was a movie released straight to YouTube back in July called 'Zeitgeist'. It's a 2 hour movie that makes a number of claims debunking Christianity, calling the events of 9/11 a conspiracy, and claiming that the international banking community will form the basis of a New World Order. I hadn't heard about it until my sister-in-law sent me a link to a 9 minute snippet of the film. This is that snippet:



When I got the email, I was asked my opinion on it - whether it was valid or not. My initial reaction after watching it is that this type of film is really not that much different than the type of stuff presented in 'The Davinci Code' or 'Angels & Demons'. Essentially the point (as I interpreted it) was to convince the viewer that Christianity is simply a derivation of other religions (nothing new in that claim - it's been around for years - and many of our traditions may well be just that) and that there is an international conspiracy going on to create a new world order/police state. I find that highly unlikely. This, to me, is repackaged garbage that's been floating around in different formats forever. Keep this fact in mind - this is a MOVIE - it's designed to cause stir/buzz/reaction. It certainly does that. But that does not mean it's factual. Call me a skeptic, but I think this is manipulation and fear mongering. That's just me - you judge for yourself!

Leave a comment and let me know what you think.

Show Your Support for Autism Speaks

Having a baby has definitely forced me to get informed about a lot of potential problems that children can have. One of the scariest and most significant problems children commonly face is autism.

Autism is a complex neurobiological disorder that typically lasts throughout a person's lifetime. It is part of a group of disorders known as autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Today, 1 in 150 individuals is diagnosed with autism, making it more common than pediatric cancer, diabetes, and AIDS combined. It occurs in all racial, ethnic, and social groups and is four times more likely to strike boys than girls. Autism impairs a person's ability to communicate and relate to others. It is also associated with rigid routines and repetitive behaviors, such as obsessively arranging objects or following very specific routines. Symptoms can range from very mild to quite severe.

There is something that each of us can do to help support autism. It's really easy, takes about 3 minutes and won't cost you a dime. John Ondrasik, lead singer of the pop group 'Five for Fighting', has pledged his support for autism by agreeing to give $0.49 cents each time a video is viewed at the AutismSpeaks.org site. This is a legitimate pledge. You can read about his pledge here and view the video HERE.

Do it today and help show your support for autism. Watch the video!

Bailey's First Birthday

We enjoyed celebrating Bailey's first birthday with family and a few friends over the weekend. Britney did a great job putting the party together and Bailey enjoyed all of the presents and attention. If you weren't in attendance, I offer the following short video clip for your enjoyment!

Fight the Addiction

I don't know exactly what's going on with my lips these days but I'm having the hardest time keeping them from peeling/cracking/etc. Winter is usually bad but this winter has been worse than any other for me. I've already gone through about 5 tubes of lip balm since the end of November but, after watching this video from CBS News, I think I may be making the problem worse.

If you don't want to watch the video, here's the synopsis. Lip balm can be completely addicting. People get addicted to the sensation of having something on their lips, to the tingling sensation that some balms give, etc. The doctor in the clip recommends avoiding any lip balm that contains camphor, menthol, phenol, salicylic acid, or flavorings. Anything that makes your lips tingle is going to eventually serve as a drying agent rather than a moisturizer (I did not know that!). I put Mentholatum on my lips every night before bed - that might be part of my problem.

If you feel like you need to moisturize your lips, the doctor recommends using Vasoline (petroleum jelly), wax, aloe, vitamin E, or lanolin. We recently bought some petroleum jelly/lanolin ointment for Bailey so maybe I'll try that. Nevertheless, it's time to break the addiction!

This is What I'm Afraid Of...

As the parent of an increasingly mobile, very inquisitive toddler, this is what I foresee in my not-too-distant future:

I Guess It's a Cultural Thing?!

In the USA, we get this:



In Japan, they get this:


Weird.

One Less Item for My Christmas List

I am in the process of finalizing my Christmas list and was thinking of adding a carpet cleaner to it. We have a dog and a baby and between the two of them - what with all the spills, accidents, etc. - our carpet looks pretty bad at times. I was just about to add it to the list when I stumbled across this video. Now - the real question - does this really work?

Real Life Superheroes!

If you grew up as a "child of the 80's", it's pretty much a guarantee that the Superfriends were on your weekly "must watch" list. I was a huge fan. I especially liked Zan & Jayna and their space monkey Gleek.

I recently came across a site listing 10 real life superheroes. One of these guys can actually fly and another one has Aquaman's ability to summon fish telepathically. OK - I made that part up - but their talents are cool all the same. Video clips included!

Do It Yourself

I've got a confession to make. It's painful and embarassing but it's true and I want to get it off my chest. Here goes. I'm not handy. There - I said it. I don't know how to do things that most guys know how to do. I don't know how it got to this point or why I never learned to change my own oil or fix a blown fuse. I just didn't. I can install a hard drive and I can set up a new TV or stereo but I can't do anything cool if it requires sawing/hammering/etc. and I especially can't do anything if it requires looking under a car hood.

Now that this is out in the open, I must also tell you that in the last two weeks, Britney and I have replaced our kitchen faucent and installed TWO over-the-counter microwave ovens (The first one was completely installed before we realized it was messed up. Anger ensued). Fortunately, my wife is handy and her step-dad, Bill, is uber-handy. Between the two of them, we can usually figure out how to do things that need to get done.

But - what do you do if you don't have Bill on your speed dial like we do and you find yourself needing some help? Fortunately, there are websites available for people like us who weren't born with the handy gene.

eHow.com has been around for a long while and has instructions on how to do almost anything. People post instructions on how to do all kinds of things and then users get to rate how good the instructions were. Lots of tips & categories here - but still a lot of text based instructions which may or may not appeal to you.

Now that they've finally figured out how to make video over the internet watchable (it used to be really bad), sites like ExpertVillage are popping up and thriving. This is a site chocked full of good how-to videos. For those of us that struggle with instructions like "insert carriage bolt and attach to 8/32" hex nut", video instructions and demonstrations are helpful. This site has a ton of them.

Maybe the most useful site of all is Sutree.com. Why? Because this is a site that aggregates video from all over the web and allows you to search multiple sites. If there's video available on YouTube or eHow or a TV network site, you can find it using the search at Sutree.com. Very helpful if you can't find what you want going to eHow.com or ExpertVillage.

One thing I forgot to mention when I started recommending these sites - they're not just for tips and videos on fixing stuff. There are instructions and videos on how to teach your dog tricks, how to do sign language, how to untangle Christmas lights - you name it. So - if you need some help with do-it-yourself like me or you just want to learn a new skill, check out one of these sites and you'll be on your way!!

Baylor Football - A Sad State of Affairs

Most of you know that I'm from a family full of Baylor Bears - my mom & dad, my wife, my sister, my brother, one of my aunts, and one of my uncles all went to Baylor (as did Willie Nelson incidentally). You may also know that Baylor is terrible at football. That wasn't always the case. Believe it or not, I was in attendance when Baylor pummelled Clemson in the 1979 Peach Bowl and was also at the 1981 Cotton Bowl when Baylor got smacked 30-2 by Alabama (but hey - there were in the Cotton Bowl!). After another losing year, they fired their coach recently and were, by most accounts, ready to bring back Mike Singletary, one of their all-time greats, to serve as the new head coach. Strangely, however, he recently removed his name from consideration. Rumor has it, however, that Baylor AD Ian McCaw might've removed Singletary because he wasn't willing to just be a yes-man and fund raiser. That's pretty pathetic. If the guy in the video below isn't the right guy for a school like Baylor, I'm not sure there's much hope for a return to glory on the gridiron.

Money Saving Tip: Never Buy a Watch Battery Again

This is just cool. So - you know those watch batteries that you buy periodically that are flat and round and cost like $5.00 for one battery? You'll never buy one again after watching this video:


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Turns out that some batteries are composed of other batteries and if you buy one (the cheap one), you can get the other (the expensive one). Just watch it and you'll understand what I mean.

I Love the Internet - Part 2

I'll admit it - I watched a lot of TV as a kid. Either that or I just have a good memory because I seem to have all these random shows floating around in my head and nobody else seems to remember them (at least nobody that I've asked about them). Again, the Internet comes to the rescue and proves that, while I may have watched a lot of bad TV as a child, I am not hallucinating when I describe these shows to people.

Shazam


Come on - you don't remember this show about this teenage boy and this creepy old man (his "mentor" whose name, incidentally, was Mentor!?) that traveled around together in a Winnebago? All he had to do was yell out 'Shazam' and he'd turn into a middle aged guy in a tight superhero suit. You don't remember that?! HERE is a much clearer video. I feel sure you'll remember when you see the awesome special effects.

The Space Giants

I remember when we first got cable and WTBS was just getting going. Ted Turner must've gotten this show cheap because it was flat out terrible. I watched a lot of it though. Who doesn't love badly dubbed Japanese shows about a 50 foot robot and his electronic space family? The special effects on this show made the special effects on Shazam look like they would've won an Academy Award for special effects.

In the News

Now I know you remember this. You're sitting in front of the TV with a big bowl of Frankenberry and watching Superfriends and all of the sudden this thing comes on. I probably would have never watched one of these segments except the enormous remote control we had could only turn the gigantic wood paneled tv on and off. I think they figured out that kids hated these because it seems like they were replaced by the Schoolhouse Rock segments.

I love you Internet.

I Love the Internet

I often ask Britney what life was like before the Internet. I honestly have a hard time remembering what I used to do to find information. I guess I sort of remember spending a lot of time in the library looking at reference books. Not good times. On that same subject, what did people do at work before computers? I guess you filled out a lot of forms by hand and typed a bunch of stuff on typewriters?! I digress...

One of the things I like most about the Internet is its ability to confirm things that I think I know but am not sure about. Today, I confirmed the existence of two movies that I thought I remembered seeing when I was a kid but was not absolutely positive that I hadn't just made them up (I saw them both when I was sick and home from school so I thought maybe I'd had some kind of fever-induced dream).

Bad Ronald (1974)

You can't blame me for not knowing if this was real or not because this movie was just flat out weird. This kid accidentally kills another kid and his mom ends up hiding him in the house by walling him into a pantry closet. The mom goes to the doctor for some routine procedure and ends up dying, leaving this kid living in this house to spy on the family that moves in next. Trust me - it was weird. But I did actually see it!

Bless the Beasts and the Children (1971)

I've heard the theme song enough times to know that this was a real movie. What I couldn't be sure on was whether or not I remembered the plotline correctly (I did!). It was about these misfit kids (some of them teenagers?!) that did stuff like wet the bed, so they get sent away to summer camp to be around other weird kids and they end up going on some crusade to free a bunch of corralled buffalo. I tell you, they don't make 'em like this anymore. Thank God.

The Baseball Bunch

This was just my favorite show to watch on Saturday mornings. I'd watch this show and then go put on my baseball uniform - even if the game was at like 4PM and the show went off the air at 8:30AM. Then I'd go outside and throw tennis balls against the house and wake everyone up so I could practice catching fly balls. Good times!

Getting Started

I finally figured out how to upload video to YouTube and got some good response from friends and family. This blog will be my attempt to do more of the same - share with you what's going on in our life, what's happening with Bailey, funny things that TJ does (as well as not-so-funny things), etc. I may try to link out to some of the cool stuff that I find on the web, sites I like to visit (not those sites), and really anything else that comes to mind and can be shared on a blog. Consider this a test run to see how it goes.

If you're interested in seeing the YouTube posting, see below:


Let me know what you think!!