From the mouth of Babes...

Sam: "your head looks like a hot dog"




Thanks for the encouragement, Sam. It looks that way because I"m bigger than everyone else, and thus, in charge.

The NBA scandal

( If you don't care about the NBA, than scroll down and listen to Matt Chandler's sermon from Monday's post. :) Its more important)


The NBA is in the middle of a pretty serious officiating scandal. A former referee, Tim Donaghy is alleging that the NBA was basically fixing games to make certain series extend to 7 games,. . . make certain players get calls, . . . and that competition was not "fair".

There are a few thoughts I have on this.

1) Tim Donaghy is a convicted felon who is awaiting sentencing for gambling on games he officiated, . .these allegations are an attempt by him to get a shorter sentence.

That doesn't dis-credit everything, but that should always be noted as we discuss this.

2) There has long been a theory that the NBA favors large market teams (LA, Boston, Miami) over small-market teams (Golden State, Sacremento, Atlanta). Donaghy adds fuel to the fire by suggesting that LA was given preferential treatment in 2002 over Sacremento, specifically.

There are a few flaws here: a) San Antonio, Texas is the 3rd smallest television market out of all the NBA cities. (sacremento is the 10th smallest) The spurs have won 4 titles in recent years. If the league was trying to favor large market teams, the Spurs would be out of the playoffs every year.
b) The New York Knicks (huge t.v. market) are terrible, have been for years, and it isn't looking good in the future :)

3) If the league was mandating that certain games have certain outcomes, it would've come out long before this, and the appropriate people would have been prosecuted.


4) One of Donaghy's allegations is that the league office, after receiving a complaint from a team owner, told the officials to "watch this player, what he was doing". etc. . . .during a game.

I don't think this is corruption. . . .for the league to see something that was brought up, and instruct it's officials to adjust the way they're calling the game(s) based on their tape review of the situation. I don't think that's a big deal.

-----------------------------

Bottom line, the NBA has a credibility problem because it's rules are the most nebulous and "up for interpretation" as any league there is. Also, the refs are more influenced by the crowd/players/coaches in the NBA, than any other sport because of how close the crowd is to the action on the court. Its a different sport than Football, and the rules are interpreted in a different way than other sports.

All of those things lead to constant bickering about the officiating. Its par for the course, and its not going away. I will stop short of believing the league is conspiring to make these things happen until I see some evidence/names/smoking gun, etc. . . . . . . .

ok, so I know no-one cares. . . back to life.

Aaron

From the mouth of Babes...

I said this would be a regular feature. . . . . sorry about that.



Eden: "Dad, you're in charge of the whole family because you're bigger than everyone else"




I'm glad we're clear on things, Eden :)

Dude, where's my Indiana Jones?

Ok,

So, my wife and I had a great date last night (yeaheeee) that was, unfortunately, capped off by seeing "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull".

I don't hesitate to say that this was the worst movie I've seen in years. In fact, I couldn't think of a worse movie, off the top of my head,. . .
----------------
(a few come to mind like, "Magnolia (sorry, didn't get it), Mr. Deeds, umm Jesus' son (don't ask), the one where Robin Williams works at the photo place, the remake of "Prince of Egypt" called "The Ten Commandments" (in Veggie-style CGI) )

---------------
But, I digress, . . that's another post.

This movie was TERRIBLE. And, George Lucas/Steven Spielberg/Kathleen Kennedy owe me $20.

Its amazing to see myself type this, because I was a HUGE Indiana Jones fan as a kid. I think that "The Last Crusade" is one of the top 10 movies, all time. I was absolutely looking forward to the new one.

Now, this movie did not just dissapoint in the "It was so much cooler when I was a kid" way. . . . like "Star Wars" (which, I think episode 1, is actually a fair movie). I understand the temptation there. . . .and we all had "Episode 4" on a pedestal for years, so the new "Star Wars" was destined to dissapoint. If you go back and watch "Star Wars, episode 4" there are some really bad/slow parts in that movie. What I'm trying to say is,. . it wasn't as good as we thought it was. This movie, (crystal skull), however, dissapointed in every way possible. Its a bad movie,. . . in any time period.

I challenge anyone to pop in the VHS (yes, VHS) of "The Last Crusade" and make a case that "Crystal Skull" is in the same universe, movie-wise.

My complaints. . . in no particular order (again. . . . randomness)

1. Aliens. . . are you serious? Aliens. that's all I have to say about that.

2. Trying to re-create iconic scenes from the old movies when we're not into the story yet (like Harrison Ford picking the Fedora up, 2 minutes into the movie)

3. Cate Blanchett, acting like that lady on "Rocky and Bullwinkle"

4. Harrison Ford forgetting how to act like "Indiana Jones".

5. freaking Aliens

6. The Russians missing Indiana with a Machine gun at a distance of 5 feet. (I know the old movies had some of this. . . . but they were like 20 feet away in the original movies. . . not point blank)

7. Cate Blanchett, supposedly being a terrifying mind-reader: the number of times she reads a mind in the movie. . . .zero.

8. Bringing back Karen Allen (which was good) and not
1) Sean Connery (I guess he would've been dead. . . . still makes more sense than aliens)
2) John Rhys-Davies (wait, did he die in "the last Crusade"? . . . still makes more sense than aliens)


See, the irony here, is that the original Indiana Jones movies have been getting ripped off for years (national treasure; laura croft; XXX, The Mummy. . .etc) and now it was like Spielberg was ripping off THOSE movies for "Crystal Skull".

In the original trilogy, there were, at least. . . . PLAUSIBLE scenarios in the movies. Supernatural suspension of disbelief,. . . yes. . . . but you were always thinking, "in this situation, this could happen". This movie was beyond "Action/Adventure" and was 100% "Fantasy".

Next time, why not have Darth Vader walk out and have a light sabre duel with Shia LaBeouf, interrupted by Captian Kirk phasering Chewbacca in the back!!!!!

makes more sense than aliens. . . . .

Aaron

Chandler brings it again

Hi everyone,

Check out an awesome sermon on childishness vs. childlikeness from Matt Chandler here

It really convicted me in some areas. . . . . I really appreciate the way he preaches. Its great stuff.

random processing

So, I"m back in town from Florida, and its been quite the whirlwind of a week. I have many, random thoughts (thus the title of this blog :) ) on alot of different things. . . so . . buckle up.

--very sad times in Florida at my cousin's service. It just is "out of order" when kids die before their parents (or older cousins). My uncle was a mess, as I would be, my aunt was amazing and gave a 15 minute tribute at the service without losing composure at all. unbelievable. . . I would've been like my uncle, whom my aunt and her son had to, literally, hold up to the podium while he spoke. I made it through my song, . . .started a little shaky because it came at the end of the service, after all the tributes. . . but once I got my wind, it went ok.

--though very sad,. . . it was great and healthy to consider "heavy" things for a season. Its always good for us to do that, since we spend so much time with t.v., video games, news, movies, etc. . . . we need to think about the important things from time to time, and this was good for that(it's also good to use t.v./movies/etc. . to think about and bring up the heavier things). I was with Providence, my daughter, the whole time we were in Florida, and it was just a good gut check for me. . "how would I react if something like this happens".

--If God allowed, permitted, and planned the death of his own Son, we can't ever say "this or that experience is beyond his rule. . there's no way God can have any plan or purpose in this, its meaningless". It is so tempting to do that, because things are so painful, and we don't understand them. But, if God was there on Good Friday, he's there when our "tragedies" happen as well.

--Florida is really, really, hot. I used to idolize this state as a child,( we would go there for vacations frequently), but I think it would be really hard for me to live there now. :)

--Sometimes, . . . . . anger, frustrations, conflict and sin are not a result of a) spiritual warfare b) others sins against me c) the world/government out to get me, etc. . . :) but because of unrepentant sin in my own life. That changes your mood/temper and leads to more sin. So, keep a short account, with others, and with God. God already knows that you sinned, and he's already forgiven you for it. But, you won't have complete healing until you humble yourself and admit that you're wrong, and change your mind (repent) about it.


--The Gospel is amazing and unthinkable. When we realize what we've been saved from and forgiven of. . . .it leads to gratitude and better living (thank you, Joel Osteen!!!!! :) ) . It makes others' sins against us easier to forgive.

-- Barack Obama should not pick Hillary. She has all the same problems he has with controversy/crediblity/etc. . . . Obama needs to pick a boring, old, white, guy for his running mate, . . that would be a smart move.

--The Lakers are winning the title.

--If you read my wife's blog, you know some of the struggles we've had with our adoption agency. Its a hard balance between "God is doing all things in His time" and "I think they could do a better job running their business". This works for adoption agencies/post offices/police departments/Wal-Marts/etc. . . Just remember, that "God is in the heavens, and He does what pleases Him" (Psalm 115). That being said. . pray for us, . .its tough waiting, and its tough not getting angry at other folks (see above).

--Come to our garage sale tomorrow and Saturday! All proceeds to go the adoption and we have 25 famililes donating materials. It is a garage sale of epic proportions.

That's all for now. . . .

Aaron

incredible.