Last night I went to Willow Creek Church, which I do once in a while, and Harvey Carey was the guest speaker. About three years ago, this guy started a multi-racial church called Citadel of Faith in central Detroit after years at working at a black church in downtown Chicago. That church is now the fastest growing church in Detroit. Now in South Barrington, it's a middle class to upper class white area. In other words, when they acknowledge something in church, they don't raise their voices above a certain decibel. Not after last night though! This guy was very animated, but more than that, he gave a great speech. He discussed the body of Christ and referenced Ecclesiastes 4: 9-12.
"Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work. If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken."
He opened by mentioning superheroes (appropriate with the Superman craze), especially Wonder Twins, those comic book guys who when they come together have all these crazy powers and capabilities. But by themselves, they could barely do anything. They would come together by saying "Wonderpowers: Activate!" They needed each other. And it's the same way with the church.
He talked about the necessity of the city and suburbs coming together for God and some of the things his church is doing to make a difference in Detroit. One was urban camping. Over the summer, 55 men are going to pitch tents in front of crackhouses throughout Detroit, even the roughest sections. They're doing tents, because you can always move it around. And as he put it, it's a lot harder for a person to buy drugs when they hear God's praises being shouted with genuineness. But there are too many divides as far as people groups go in the church. And that is one of the enemy's best tactics to quiet or damage the voice of the church in the world.
One of the things we're hearing over and over in the church world is how we need to get out of our comfort zone. You can't grow as a human being if you don't get uncomfortable. And I know that and I think more and more Christians are figuring that out as well. The question is what are we doing? Well my trip to Mississippi was a great start. But once I come back here to suburban Chicago, where life is relatively safe and predictable, how do I grow? How do I stretch? How can I encourage others to do the same?
There are plenty of problems in the world and I know I can't change everything. But I don't want to become a person who reads the newspaper every morning, get frustrated at the bad news, and wonder "Who will do something about it?"
So what I pray for, not just for me, but for others, is courage to not give in to fear. And the boldness to get out in the world and give hope where hope is needed.
http://ww.citadeloffaith.org/main.htm
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Monday, June 26, 2006
Ring of Honor recap
First of all, I picked all seven matches correctly! No prizes or anything, but I am a broadcast journalist! A few thoughts on the evening.
The crowd was around 800-900. They were not as into it as the November show I was at or the two shows from Wrestlemania weekend. I was in the fourth row of section C, the loud section! I'll give a few thoughts on the crowd and my own feelings with each match.
Josh Abercrombie defeats Rhett Titus at 4:14. Solid match. Abercrombie has a mustache, and he rubs it often, and he's the heel. He wore teal trunks and is kind of like Carlito. Titus is an ROH trainee in green trunks, and he's fairly muscular. JA jumped off the rope and nailed RT with a backcracker.
Boz defeats Alex "Sugarfoot"" Payne at 2:37. Boz was good, but a couple of guys behind me started chanting Sugarfoot! Sugarfoot! And then for the rest of the night, Payne was sitting at a lighting scaffold next to our section. We kept chanting for him, but he didn't respond. I'm sure he has be quiet as a new guy. But he was like the cult hero of the night.
Venom Mike Walker defeats CJ Otis and Bobby Dempsey at 4:33. Nothing much here except Dempsey looks like a cross between Dusty Rhodes and Adrian Adonis.
Main show:
Jake & Dave Crist defeat Shane Hagadorn & Trik Davis at 7:23. Big chants for the Crists. Hagadorn is really hated and Davis is a young guy. Jake held Trik across his back, and Dave jumped off the top rope, hitting a kick on Trik's head. Jake immediately hit a Death Valley Driver on Trik, across Dave's knees, and Jake covered Trik for the pin. Good opener.
Roderick Strong defeats Jimmy Jacobs (w/Lacey) at 15:03. Excellent match. Strong is one of the best young guys around with his chops and backbreakers. Jacobs comes out to this R&B music and the crowd held up their open cell phones (so the lights would show) and swayed them as Jimmy came to ringside. Strong locked in the Stronghold/Vertical Boston Crab, and Jacobs tapped out. Unfortunately, one a-hole grabbed at Lacey
Jay & Mark Briscoe defeat Jimmy Rave & Conrad Kennedy III (w/Prince Nana, Alex Shelley and Daizee Haze) at 12:55. Good match. The latter team is a faction known as the Embassy. Nana, who is from Africa, got on the mic and talked about how Ghana was number one (Soccer reference). When this group hits their pose (arms clapped overhead like a safety call in football), fans throw toilet paper. I had mine in hand. But we threw enough TP to fill every Sears Tower stall for the rest of the year. The throwing went a good five minutes. It was hysterical. When Kennedy was in the ring, a few of us went "Misteeeeeeeeeer Kennedy!" Mark nailed a Death Valley Driver on CK3 for the pin.
Samoa Joe defeats Delirious at 10:57. I'm a huge Joe fan and Delirious is basically a masked fan fave with an Ultimate Warrior look who acts like he's nuts. He's in the mid-card working his way up. It was fun, but not great. The crowd taunted Delirious with "Joe's gonna kill you!" Delirious hit 26 short-arm clotheslines in a row in the corner. In the end, Joe nailed the Musclebuster for the pin. Delirious and two fans (boyfriend, girlfriend) got into a fight after the match. Not a fistfight, but Delrious did shove the guy, though I heard he deserved it. I don't know what was said, but wrestlers should not touch fans in anger or vice versa.
Anyway, Necro Butcher of CZW ran to ringside to confront Samoa Joe. This allowed CZW turncoat Claudio Castognoli to sneak up and clip Joe's knee. Suddenly, we have six guys at ringside, and the bunkhouse match between Ring of Honor and CZW is underway!
Necro Butcher & Claudio Castagnoli & Nate Webb defeat B.J. Whitmer & Adam Pearce & Ace Steel at 8:30. Chaotic hardcore wrestling and some of it was out of my view. Webb, who I'd never heard of, nailed a guillotine legdrop, from the top turnbuckle, onto Ace, who was on a table on the floor, at 6:30! Whitmer had a crown of thorns placed on his head and got drilled with a chair and got busted open.
Pure Title match: Nigel McGuinness defeats Homicide via countout at 17:45. This was pretty disappointing to me, thought some people liked it. Referee Todd Sinclair read the rules. 3 rope breaks on a pinfall or submission, after that the ropes are in play. No closed fist punches and there is a countout of 20. McGuiness is from England and Cide is a Puerto Rican from Bed-Stuy in Brooklyn. I'd never seen an ROH pure wrestling match, so maybe that was why it was so different for me. Nigel gave Homicide a suplex through a table at ringside and Homicide was almost counted out, as he BARELY got back in the ring at the 19-count at 13:30. They went to the floor again. Nigel ran in the ring. Homicide nearly got in the ring, when Sinclair counted to 20, and Homicide was counted out. The crowd not only booed, but threw garbage into the ring. It was classless.
KENTA defeats Austin Aries at 20:49. STIFF, STIFF match, and one of the best I've ever seen live. The crowd booed Sinclair like crazy when he was introduced. I thought John Cena was in the house! KENTA wore his brown & gold trunks, and the crowd threw those colored streamers at him. Before they even touched each other, the crowd was chanting back and forth, "Let's go KENTA," "Austin Aries!" It lasted 6 or 7 minutes which is a long time. When KENTA had a chance to win and was covering Aries for the pinfall, we counted "Ichi, Ni, San!" There was plenty of attitude, great ring psychology, and plenty of athleticism. The end came when KENTA hit a running dropkick, and hit the Go 2 Sleep knee shot for the pin. Basically, he lays the guy across his shoulders like for an f5 or an airplane spin. Then he drops him to the side as if he's putting them on their feet, and as they're coming down, knees them in the face. Devastating. We chanted "Please come back" and "Ari Gato" (Thank you) to KENTA after the match.
Unfortunately, and I didn't hear this, there were some real jackasses taunting KENTA with Japanese chants. "Where's my fried race" "Wax on wax off" "Slanty eyes" I hope you're not expecting me to say anything here, because I think that says plenty.
American Dragon Bryan Danielson defeats Colt Cabana at 29:39 to retain the ROH world heavyweight title. I was one of maybe 20 people rooting for BD. Cabana, the Chicago guy, came out to Copacabana by Barry Manilow. BD came out to "The Final Countdown." Cabana hit a top-rope moonsault for a nearfall at 26:30. Dragon came back with a top-rope Saito Suplex for a nearfall. Dragon locked in the Cattle Mutilation, as shown.
The crowd begged for Cabana to not tap. Dragon went for the Crossface Chickenwing, but Cabana blocked that Cabana applied a reverse Boston Crab, pulling Dragon's feet toward his head. Cabana then applied his own cattle mutilation and the crowd went crazy! Dragon reached the ropes. Cabana put Dragon on his shoulders and he hit the Colt 45 slam (Tiger bomb, Pearl River Plunge)! However, Dragon, in one swift motion, rolled through the Colt 45, rolled up Cabana, and got the pin. More garbage gets hurled into the ring. Unnecessary and pathetic.
Cabana grabbed the mike and complained about losing on a cheap rollup. Dragon told him that "my small package is inescapable. Sometimes they call me Mr. Small Package!" We were in stitches laughing! Cabana challenged Dragon to a best-of-three-falls match on Aug. 26. Dragon agreed, saying that the stipulation is this is Cabana's last title shot against him.
Some more notes
I have my ticket already, 3rd row, same section. And the main camera zooms right in on this section, so I'll be easy to see when the DVD of this show comes out.
The show started at 6:15 and ended around 11:20.
Before the show, I got to Rosa's around 4:30 and met a couple of guys from Wisconsin. We told each other wrestling stories and ate some good pizza. The doors opened at 6:15 and I went to the merchandise stand. Samoa Joe came out to see everyone. I didn't get near him, but I saw him. It was very cool. I may have seen another wrestler or two, but I wouldn't have recognized them.
I sat next to a family from Arkansas who had never seen ROH live. The kid was 14 and knew more about wrestling than I ever will. He even knew the Japanese stuff. His parents weren't big fans, but they drove him 8 hours and they all went. That's very good of them. When I told the family I had been in MS working, the dad came back and he had brought me a bottle of water. That was really nice of him.
A group of 5 about 2 rows behind me was really loud and sometimes really annoying. They just would not stop chanting and I think they got on a few people's nerves. The crowd just seemed restless for whatever reason. On the message boards, this is being called one of the worst crowds in ROH in a while. Between the garbage, the chants, and the Delirious and Lacey incidents. At least nobody got violent, that I know of anyway.
I did have one really good moment. During one of the first matches, a guy hit a running face back kick in the corner like Umaga does in WWE. So I chanted "It's Umaga." Then I pretended to lift the cigar over my head and break it. And of course I then said "My name is Armandooooo...Alejandrooooo..." That got a pretty big laugh.
The drive home took about 50 minutes and 30 of them was getting off from 355 to home. I'm a 20-25 minutes from 3 major highways. It's kind of annoying after a late night. I was out from 8 am to 12:15 the following morning.
The crowd was around 800-900. They were not as into it as the November show I was at or the two shows from Wrestlemania weekend. I was in the fourth row of section C, the loud section! I'll give a few thoughts on the crowd and my own feelings with each match.
Josh Abercrombie defeats Rhett Titus at 4:14. Solid match. Abercrombie has a mustache, and he rubs it often, and he's the heel. He wore teal trunks and is kind of like Carlito. Titus is an ROH trainee in green trunks, and he's fairly muscular. JA jumped off the rope and nailed RT with a backcracker.
Boz defeats Alex "Sugarfoot"" Payne at 2:37. Boz was good, but a couple of guys behind me started chanting Sugarfoot! Sugarfoot! And then for the rest of the night, Payne was sitting at a lighting scaffold next to our section. We kept chanting for him, but he didn't respond. I'm sure he has be quiet as a new guy. But he was like the cult hero of the night.
Venom Mike Walker defeats CJ Otis and Bobby Dempsey at 4:33. Nothing much here except Dempsey looks like a cross between Dusty Rhodes and Adrian Adonis.
Main show:
Jake & Dave Crist defeat Shane Hagadorn & Trik Davis at 7:23. Big chants for the Crists. Hagadorn is really hated and Davis is a young guy. Jake held Trik across his back, and Dave jumped off the top rope, hitting a kick on Trik's head. Jake immediately hit a Death Valley Driver on Trik, across Dave's knees, and Jake covered Trik for the pin. Good opener.
Roderick Strong defeats Jimmy Jacobs (w/Lacey) at 15:03. Excellent match. Strong is one of the best young guys around with his chops and backbreakers. Jacobs comes out to this R&B music and the crowd held up their open cell phones (so the lights would show) and swayed them as Jimmy came to ringside. Strong locked in the Stronghold/Vertical Boston Crab, and Jacobs tapped out. Unfortunately, one a-hole grabbed at Lacey
Jay & Mark Briscoe defeat Jimmy Rave & Conrad Kennedy III (w/Prince Nana, Alex Shelley and Daizee Haze) at 12:55. Good match. The latter team is a faction known as the Embassy. Nana, who is from Africa, got on the mic and talked about how Ghana was number one (Soccer reference). When this group hits their pose (arms clapped overhead like a safety call in football), fans throw toilet paper. I had mine in hand. But we threw enough TP to fill every Sears Tower stall for the rest of the year. The throwing went a good five minutes. It was hysterical. When Kennedy was in the ring, a few of us went "Misteeeeeeeeeer Kennedy!" Mark nailed a Death Valley Driver on CK3 for the pin.
Samoa Joe defeats Delirious at 10:57. I'm a huge Joe fan and Delirious is basically a masked fan fave with an Ultimate Warrior look who acts like he's nuts. He's in the mid-card working his way up. It was fun, but not great. The crowd taunted Delirious with "Joe's gonna kill you!" Delirious hit 26 short-arm clotheslines in a row in the corner. In the end, Joe nailed the Musclebuster for the pin. Delirious and two fans (boyfriend, girlfriend) got into a fight after the match. Not a fistfight, but Delrious did shove the guy, though I heard he deserved it. I don't know what was said, but wrestlers should not touch fans in anger or vice versa.
Anyway, Necro Butcher of CZW ran to ringside to confront Samoa Joe. This allowed CZW turncoat Claudio Castognoli to sneak up and clip Joe's knee. Suddenly, we have six guys at ringside, and the bunkhouse match between Ring of Honor and CZW is underway!
Necro Butcher & Claudio Castagnoli & Nate Webb defeat B.J. Whitmer & Adam Pearce & Ace Steel at 8:30. Chaotic hardcore wrestling and some of it was out of my view. Webb, who I'd never heard of, nailed a guillotine legdrop, from the top turnbuckle, onto Ace, who was on a table on the floor, at 6:30! Whitmer had a crown of thorns placed on his head and got drilled with a chair and got busted open.
Pure Title match: Nigel McGuinness defeats Homicide via countout at 17:45. This was pretty disappointing to me, thought some people liked it. Referee Todd Sinclair read the rules. 3 rope breaks on a pinfall or submission, after that the ropes are in play. No closed fist punches and there is a countout of 20. McGuiness is from England and Cide is a Puerto Rican from Bed-Stuy in Brooklyn. I'd never seen an ROH pure wrestling match, so maybe that was why it was so different for me. Nigel gave Homicide a suplex through a table at ringside and Homicide was almost counted out, as he BARELY got back in the ring at the 19-count at 13:30. They went to the floor again. Nigel ran in the ring. Homicide nearly got in the ring, when Sinclair counted to 20, and Homicide was counted out. The crowd not only booed, but threw garbage into the ring. It was classless.
KENTA defeats Austin Aries at 20:49. STIFF, STIFF match, and one of the best I've ever seen live. The crowd booed Sinclair like crazy when he was introduced. I thought John Cena was in the house! KENTA wore his brown & gold trunks, and the crowd threw those colored streamers at him. Before they even touched each other, the crowd was chanting back and forth, "Let's go KENTA," "Austin Aries!" It lasted 6 or 7 minutes which is a long time. When KENTA had a chance to win and was covering Aries for the pinfall, we counted "Ichi, Ni, San!" There was plenty of attitude, great ring psychology, and plenty of athleticism. The end came when KENTA hit a running dropkick, and hit the Go 2 Sleep knee shot for the pin. Basically, he lays the guy across his shoulders like for an f5 or an airplane spin. Then he drops him to the side as if he's putting them on their feet, and as they're coming down, knees them in the face. Devastating. We chanted "Please come back" and "Ari Gato" (Thank you) to KENTA after the match.
Unfortunately, and I didn't hear this, there were some real jackasses taunting KENTA with Japanese chants. "Where's my fried race" "Wax on wax off" "Slanty eyes" I hope you're not expecting me to say anything here, because I think that says plenty.
American Dragon Bryan Danielson defeats Colt Cabana at 29:39 to retain the ROH world heavyweight title. I was one of maybe 20 people rooting for BD. Cabana, the Chicago guy, came out to Copacabana by Barry Manilow. BD came out to "The Final Countdown." Cabana hit a top-rope moonsault for a nearfall at 26:30. Dragon came back with a top-rope Saito Suplex for a nearfall. Dragon locked in the Cattle Mutilation, as shown.
The crowd begged for Cabana to not tap. Dragon went for the Crossface Chickenwing, but Cabana blocked that Cabana applied a reverse Boston Crab, pulling Dragon's feet toward his head. Cabana then applied his own cattle mutilation and the crowd went crazy! Dragon reached the ropes. Cabana put Dragon on his shoulders and he hit the Colt 45 slam (Tiger bomb, Pearl River Plunge)! However, Dragon, in one swift motion, rolled through the Colt 45, rolled up Cabana, and got the pin. More garbage gets hurled into the ring. Unnecessary and pathetic.Cabana grabbed the mike and complained about losing on a cheap rollup. Dragon told him that "my small package is inescapable. Sometimes they call me Mr. Small Package!" We were in stitches laughing! Cabana challenged Dragon to a best-of-three-falls match on Aug. 26. Dragon agreed, saying that the stipulation is this is Cabana's last title shot against him.
Some more notes
I have my ticket already, 3rd row, same section. And the main camera zooms right in on this section, so I'll be easy to see when the DVD of this show comes out.
The show started at 6:15 and ended around 11:20.
Before the show, I got to Rosa's around 4:30 and met a couple of guys from Wisconsin. We told each other wrestling stories and ate some good pizza. The doors opened at 6:15 and I went to the merchandise stand. Samoa Joe came out to see everyone. I didn't get near him, but I saw him. It was very cool. I may have seen another wrestler or two, but I wouldn't have recognized them.
I sat next to a family from Arkansas who had never seen ROH live. The kid was 14 and knew more about wrestling than I ever will. He even knew the Japanese stuff. His parents weren't big fans, but they drove him 8 hours and they all went. That's very good of them. When I told the family I had been in MS working, the dad came back and he had brought me a bottle of water. That was really nice of him.
A group of 5 about 2 rows behind me was really loud and sometimes really annoying. They just would not stop chanting and I think they got on a few people's nerves. The crowd just seemed restless for whatever reason. On the message boards, this is being called one of the worst crowds in ROH in a while. Between the garbage, the chants, and the Delirious and Lacey incidents. At least nobody got violent, that I know of anyway.
I did have one really good moment. During one of the first matches, a guy hit a running face back kick in the corner like Umaga does in WWE. So I chanted "It's Umaga." Then I pretended to lift the cigar over my head and break it. And of course I then said "My name is Armandooooo...Alejandrooooo..." That got a pretty big laugh.
The drive home took about 50 minutes and 30 of them was getting off from 355 to home. I'm a 20-25 minutes from 3 major highways. It's kind of annoying after a late night. I was out from 8 am to 12:15 the following morning.
World Cup all the way through
Let's review my picks of who I predicted would advance to the Round of 16.
Group A: Germany and Ecuador- 2 for 2
Group B: England and Sweden- 2 for 2
Group C: Netherlands and Argentina- 2 for 2
Group D: Portugal and Mexico- 2 for 2
Group E: Italy and Czech Republic- 1 for 2
Group F: Brazil and Japan- 1 for 2
Group G: France and Switzerland- 2 for 2
Group H: Spaine and Ukraine- 2 for 2
14 out of 16 which is pretty good. I thought the US would miss the second round, but I didn't think they would play as badly as they did. You only score one goal on your own, it's not the officials' fault. Now we come to the Round of 16. Let's check out the brackets.
Germany-Sweden
Argentina-Mexico
England-Ecuador
Portugal-Netherlands
Italy-Australia
Switzerland-Ukraine
Brazil-Ghana
Spain-France
Games 1, 3, and 8 figure to be the most competitive.
Quarterfinals
Germany
Argentina
England
Netherlands
Italy
Ukraine
Brazil
Spain
Semifinals
Germany
England
Italy
Brazil
Third place
England over Italy
Final
Germany over Brazil
If france wins at home in 1998, then I think Germany wins at home in 2006.
Group A: Germany and Ecuador- 2 for 2
Group B: England and Sweden- 2 for 2
Group C: Netherlands and Argentina- 2 for 2
Group D: Portugal and Mexico- 2 for 2
Group E: Italy and Czech Republic- 1 for 2
Group F: Brazil and Japan- 1 for 2
Group G: France and Switzerland- 2 for 2
Group H: Spaine and Ukraine- 2 for 2
14 out of 16 which is pretty good. I thought the US would miss the second round, but I didn't think they would play as badly as they did. You only score one goal on your own, it's not the officials' fault. Now we come to the Round of 16. Let's check out the brackets.
Germany-Sweden
Argentina-Mexico
England-Ecuador
Portugal-Netherlands
Italy-Australia
Switzerland-Ukraine
Brazil-Ghana
Spain-France
Games 1, 3, and 8 figure to be the most competitive.
Quarterfinals
Germany
Argentina
England
Netherlands
Italy
Ukraine
Brazil
Spain
Semifinals
Germany
England
Italy
Brazil
Third place
England over Italy
Final
Germany over Brazil
If france wins at home in 1998, then I think Germany wins at home in 2006.
Friday, June 23, 2006
Ring of Honor tomorrow night
20 bucks scored me a 4th row seat (27 if you count the handling charges from Ticketmaster!). This should be a very good wrestling card and knowing how good I am at predicting other sports and awards, here are my picks for tomorrow's matches.
ROH World Title Match
Bryan Danielson vs. Colt Cabana
Danielson has been champ since September. Cabana is from Chicago and the crowd would love to see the hometown guy win his first title in this company. Plus his entrance music is Copacabana by Barry Manilow! That takes some guts! I like Danielson to keep his reign going.
Austin Aries vs. KENTA
Aries is an excellent high flyer who has spent some time in TNA. KENTA is a young Japanese sensation who is here for 3 shows. I don't know much about his style, but I hear it's a combo of high flying and shoot (legitimate) fighting. I like KENTA. And he spells his name in all caps for the record, I'm not shouting here.
ROH Pure Title Match
Nigel McGuinness vs. Homicide
McGuiness is from Great Britain and has been champ since he beat Samoa Joe last August. That's one thing I like about ROH, titles don't change that often. It makes them more prestigious, in my opinion. Homicide is from New York, becoming immensely popular, and has promised to leave the company if he doesn't win a title by the end of the year. It's barely summer, I like Nigel to retain, but probably this will be a no-contest or there will be interference.
Jay & Mark Briscoe vs. Jimmy Rave & Alex Shelley
Toughest call. The Briscoes have never wrestled in Chicago so I'll see what they can do. Shelley is becoming a big name in TNA and he and Rave are both part of a heel (bad guy) faction called the Embassy. I'll take the Briscoes as the Embassy seems to be going through some changes.
Bunkhouse Match
Adam Pearce & BJ Whitmer vs. Claudio Castagnoli & Necro Butcher
There is a huge independent promotion feud going between ROH, which is more pure wrestling based and CZW, which is more hardcore, and both are based out of Philly. Claudio was with ROH until he betrayed them 2 months ago and rejoined his old friend Chris Hero in CZW. The CZW has gotten the better of the feud this far and I think they win this no holds barred match.
Samoa Joe vs. Delirious
You know I love Samoa Joe. As the TNA chant goes, Joe's gonna kill you. Delirious is entertaining enough, but Joe is the man. Joe wins this one.
Roderick Strong vs. Jimmy Jacobs
Strong put on one of the best matches I've ever seen against Danielson last year. And his chops are the best I've ever seen and the loudest I've ever heard. Jacobs is on a losing streak, and I thin Strong is too good for him right now.
So that's seven matches in all. I'll have a recap by Monday.
ROH World Title Match
Bryan Danielson vs. Colt Cabana
Danielson has been champ since September. Cabana is from Chicago and the crowd would love to see the hometown guy win his first title in this company. Plus his entrance music is Copacabana by Barry Manilow! That takes some guts! I like Danielson to keep his reign going.
Austin Aries vs. KENTA
Aries is an excellent high flyer who has spent some time in TNA. KENTA is a young Japanese sensation who is here for 3 shows. I don't know much about his style, but I hear it's a combo of high flying and shoot (legitimate) fighting. I like KENTA. And he spells his name in all caps for the record, I'm not shouting here.
ROH Pure Title Match
Nigel McGuinness vs. Homicide
McGuiness is from Great Britain and has been champ since he beat Samoa Joe last August. That's one thing I like about ROH, titles don't change that often. It makes them more prestigious, in my opinion. Homicide is from New York, becoming immensely popular, and has promised to leave the company if he doesn't win a title by the end of the year. It's barely summer, I like Nigel to retain, but probably this will be a no-contest or there will be interference.
Jay & Mark Briscoe vs. Jimmy Rave & Alex Shelley
Toughest call. The Briscoes have never wrestled in Chicago so I'll see what they can do. Shelley is becoming a big name in TNA and he and Rave are both part of a heel (bad guy) faction called the Embassy. I'll take the Briscoes as the Embassy seems to be going through some changes.
Bunkhouse Match
Adam Pearce & BJ Whitmer vs. Claudio Castagnoli & Necro Butcher
There is a huge independent promotion feud going between ROH, which is more pure wrestling based and CZW, which is more hardcore, and both are based out of Philly. Claudio was with ROH until he betrayed them 2 months ago and rejoined his old friend Chris Hero in CZW. The CZW has gotten the better of the feud this far and I think they win this no holds barred match.
Samoa Joe vs. Delirious
You know I love Samoa Joe. As the TNA chant goes, Joe's gonna kill you. Delirious is entertaining enough, but Joe is the man. Joe wins this one.
Roderick Strong vs. Jimmy Jacobs
Strong put on one of the best matches I've ever seen against Danielson last year. And his chops are the best I've ever seen and the loudest I've ever heard. Jacobs is on a losing streak, and I thin Strong is too good for him right now.
So that's seven matches in all. I'll have a recap by Monday.
Something about cars
This one is hard to explain. I was hanging out in Geneva last night at Swedish Days. And then I felt like getting a CD or two so I drove up to St. Charles to the library. About halfway to St. Charles, or about 6 minutes into the drive, I heard some grinding coming from underneath my car. It sounded like metal of some type scraping across the road. And someone had told me several weeks prior that something was hanging down under my car, but since I never noticed a problem, I didn't do much about it. And then driving from St. Charles to Wheaton (about 30 minutes), the scraping really started to sound bad. I could barely drive without that annoying sound. So I pulled into a gas station to take a look at what was going on. I pulled in, got out of the car, and bent down underneath to see what was causing the scraping. There was nothing even close. I got back in the car and drove 20 minutes to Wheaton and 35 minutes home without another scraping sound.
How do you explain it? Lord knows it has nothing to do with my knowledge of cars. I know almost nothing about fixing cars. If you ever see my legs sticking out from underneath a car, please call 911 beause something terrible has happened.
And the scraping continued my whole ride into the station and then it stopped once I looked underneath. Maybe I needed to turn the car off, but I can't believe that was a problem.
Strange isn't it...
How do you explain it? Lord knows it has nothing to do with my knowledge of cars. I know almost nothing about fixing cars. If you ever see my legs sticking out from underneath a car, please call 911 beause something terrible has happened.
And the scraping continued my whole ride into the station and then it stopped once I looked underneath. Maybe I needed to turn the car off, but I can't believe that was a problem.
Strange isn't it...
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Tossup
I really don't know what is the most embarrassing right now.
1) I am a Met fan and watched the entire game last night where we blow the game in the 9th after getting the first two outs.
2) An American fan after watching the World Cup soccer team lose to Ghana. Ghana! Anyone know how to find that country on the map?
3) A Knicks fan after they fired coach Larry Brown today and replaced him with general manager Isiah Thomas.
I'm going to focus on the Knicks. After so many good, very good years where we made the Finals twice and the playoffs 15 years in a row, I never thought I'd see the day when this storied franchise would become the joke of sports.
Before last season, MSG president Jim Dolan signed Brown to a five year, 50 million dollar contract. They went 23-59, tied for the most losses this franchise has had in its 59-year history. Now the franchise claims they owe Brown none of the remaining $40 million on his contract because he violated some club policy. They believe he acted beyond the parameters of his coaching position in attempting to make trades and also violated media policy by talking to reporters outside the presence of a team public relations person. Now the Knicks are calling commissioner David Stern to settle the dispute. Chances are they will still owe him a pretty nice amount of green.
The roster is a mess with 5 or 6 shoot-first guards (Marbury, Richardson, Francis, Robinson, Crawford, and maybe Jalen Rose), next to no defensive ability, no true point guard, no first round pick next season (which of course goes to Chicago of all teams), and a 125 million dollar payroll.
Now Brown did a bad job, no doubt. He had over 40 different starting lineups this season. He initially endorsed the trades for Jalen Rose and Steve Francis only to sour on both players soon after they arrived in New York, which I'm sure didn't sit well with Thomas and Dolan. Brown was also critical of many players on the roster, namely Nate Robinson, Trevor Ariza, and Stephon Marbury.
By the way, the future of two assistant coaches Brown hired from Detroit is also unclear. Phil Ford and Dave Hanners are both under contract for three more years, which is unprecedented for assistant coaches. We may have to fire them, and pay them the rest of the money on their contracts!
I have never been embarrassed to be a Knicks fan until this season. And it's going to last a long time.
1) I am a Met fan and watched the entire game last night where we blow the game in the 9th after getting the first two outs.
2) An American fan after watching the World Cup soccer team lose to Ghana. Ghana! Anyone know how to find that country on the map?
3) A Knicks fan after they fired coach Larry Brown today and replaced him with general manager Isiah Thomas.
I'm going to focus on the Knicks. After so many good, very good years where we made the Finals twice and the playoffs 15 years in a row, I never thought I'd see the day when this storied franchise would become the joke of sports.
Before last season, MSG president Jim Dolan signed Brown to a five year, 50 million dollar contract. They went 23-59, tied for the most losses this franchise has had in its 59-year history. Now the franchise claims they owe Brown none of the remaining $40 million on his contract because he violated some club policy. They believe he acted beyond the parameters of his coaching position in attempting to make trades and also violated media policy by talking to reporters outside the presence of a team public relations person. Now the Knicks are calling commissioner David Stern to settle the dispute. Chances are they will still owe him a pretty nice amount of green.
The roster is a mess with 5 or 6 shoot-first guards (Marbury, Richardson, Francis, Robinson, Crawford, and maybe Jalen Rose), next to no defensive ability, no true point guard, no first round pick next season (which of course goes to Chicago of all teams), and a 125 million dollar payroll.
Now Brown did a bad job, no doubt. He had over 40 different starting lineups this season. He initially endorsed the trades for Jalen Rose and Steve Francis only to sour on both players soon after they arrived in New York, which I'm sure didn't sit well with Thomas and Dolan. Brown was also critical of many players on the roster, namely Nate Robinson, Trevor Ariza, and Stephon Marbury.
By the way, the future of two assistant coaches Brown hired from Detroit is also unclear. Phil Ford and Dave Hanners are both under contract for three more years, which is unprecedented for assistant coaches. We may have to fire them, and pay them the rest of the money on their contracts!
I have never been embarrassed to be a Knicks fan until this season. And it's going to last a long time.
Monday, June 19, 2006
The PS to the journal
You cannot make this kind of stuff up.
Sunday night for Ecclesia, we had a small crowd and I think it was because there was a concert in the main church. About 40 people showed up and that was the lowest turnout I've seen since Easter. We talked about reflections and after my time down south, I felt the spirit even moreso than usual.
There were four of us involved, me John DePue, who's becoming a good friend of mine, Ryan from Bradley University, who's kind of a quiet big guy. He always seems to find his way into conversations with me, Geddes, John, Denise, and whoever else in that group. Number four was also Ryan. He's a teacher who hasn't lived in this area all that long. And he and I have talked a little bit about being single and not having dated much. He seems more bothered by it than I do. So we decide to go out afterwards and we wanted to go to Red Robin, but as we pulled in, we realized they closed at 9 on Sunday. Not cool. We settle on Chili's. After we ordered drinks, Ryan asked me where I was last week. I explained I was in Mississippi doing some mission work. He asked if it was through Wheaton Bible and I told him it was through Willow Creek. His eyes bulged out and stared me straight down. And then the conversation went like this.
"You got back this week?"
"Yeah."
"Who was your leader?"
"Allison Hosack."
"I'm going out with her tomorrow night!"
Needless to say I had to wipe up the water I had been drinking. I guess they met on eharmony and this is their second date, I asked Ryan not to tell her I knew her. So tomorrow morning I'm going to call her and ask how her date went. Should be good...
Sunday night for Ecclesia, we had a small crowd and I think it was because there was a concert in the main church. About 40 people showed up and that was the lowest turnout I've seen since Easter. We talked about reflections and after my time down south, I felt the spirit even moreso than usual.
There were four of us involved, me John DePue, who's becoming a good friend of mine, Ryan from Bradley University, who's kind of a quiet big guy. He always seems to find his way into conversations with me, Geddes, John, Denise, and whoever else in that group. Number four was also Ryan. He's a teacher who hasn't lived in this area all that long. And he and I have talked a little bit about being single and not having dated much. He seems more bothered by it than I do. So we decide to go out afterwards and we wanted to go to Red Robin, but as we pulled in, we realized they closed at 9 on Sunday. Not cool. We settle on Chili's. After we ordered drinks, Ryan asked me where I was last week. I explained I was in Mississippi doing some mission work. He asked if it was through Wheaton Bible and I told him it was through Willow Creek. His eyes bulged out and stared me straight down. And then the conversation went like this.
"You got back this week?"
"Yeah."
"Who was your leader?"
"Allison Hosack."
"I'm going out with her tomorrow night!"
Needless to say I had to wipe up the water I had been drinking. I guess they met on eharmony and this is their second date, I asked Ryan not to tell her I knew her. So tomorrow morning I'm going to call her and ask how her date went. Should be good...
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Katrina relief journal Part 8
Thursday 10 p.m.- This is the last night of the trip and I knew it was going to go by fast. And it has. I have to say this has been one good team. We had our final dinner at Rickey's in Bay St. Louis. Miss Louise actually came with us so that made the evening even more special. This was a pretty impressive restaurant. They actually moved into a location in a strip mall from their old location which was forced by the hurricane. The walls are paintings of sea life, especially blue marlin and as you might expect there was plenty of seafood on the menu. All those cool appetizers like fried alligator, crab fingers, and New Orleans BBQ shrimp. I had pasta with gulf shrimp (and they gave me plenty of it for 3 bucks extra) artichokes, sun dried tomatoes, roasted peppers, and parmesan. Excellent, but really filling. I wish I could have seen that dessert menu! We hurried home to get some sleep for the long drive ahead.
Friday 11 a.m.- On the road north of Jackson, MS a little west of Tupelo. We actually drove through Star, which is where Faith Hill came from. But let me tell you a story from last night. We had 8 guys sleeping in the cabin but two more came in last night without us knowing. They are down here because they are leading groups that will be coming into Camp Coastal next week and they wanted to get a feel for the place and the projects. We didn't know they would be staying in our cabin. So four of us were leaving that morning which meant we did as much packing as we could so we could get out of there as quickly as possible. So we're all sleeping and I hear this two loud beeps. I smelled some heat and I figured it was a smoke detector. Then I guessed it was the alarm clock going off. A few of us started getting our things together when I hear Eric's voice saying "Guys, it's only 1 a.m."
To make matters worse, those beeps stunned me so much I sprang up in my bottom bunk and hit my head right the bottom of the top bunk. Solid wood. No blood came out, but I have a nice big red scar on the top of my forehead. If I shaved the top of my head, I would look like Gorbechav.
The beeps were from this guy's laptop computer which he brought with him and didn't turn off. Another thing I didn't know was he slept in the bunk right above mine which had been empty all week. I had my clothes towel, bathroom bag and everything for the next morning all organized. So when I woke up, I started feeling around on the bed for myself. You can see where this is going. Instead of my t-shirt, cutoffs, I felt a food and then an arm. So we finally just turned the lights on, loaded the van, and left Camp Coastal at 5:02 a.m. And we got into South Barrington at 10:16 p.m.
Now I'm back home and I'll just say a few more things. It wasn't always an easy trip. I wrestled with what my contribution to my own team was. I was scared I would say or do something really wrong and I would just be forgotten about. It's happened before. I think they think pretty well of me, at least I hope they do. I hope some friendships come out of this.
And I was scared to talk to some of the locals because I didn't know what to say. I just didn't want to say the wrong thing.
The week was certainly worth it. I've got a few scratches and scrapes and nearly got fried, but that doesn't matter. It was good to get away and do something different. It is true that humbling yourself and serving others can make you feel better about yourself. And helping these people was a good thing to do. I'm glad I contributed. But I hope I can carry this with me as I go to Ecclesia tonight and then tackle work this week.
That's all folks. Hope you enjoyed the ride.
Friday 11 a.m.- On the road north of Jackson, MS a little west of Tupelo. We actually drove through Star, which is where Faith Hill came from. But let me tell you a story from last night. We had 8 guys sleeping in the cabin but two more came in last night without us knowing. They are down here because they are leading groups that will be coming into Camp Coastal next week and they wanted to get a feel for the place and the projects. We didn't know they would be staying in our cabin. So four of us were leaving that morning which meant we did as much packing as we could so we could get out of there as quickly as possible. So we're all sleeping and I hear this two loud beeps. I smelled some heat and I figured it was a smoke detector. Then I guessed it was the alarm clock going off. A few of us started getting our things together when I hear Eric's voice saying "Guys, it's only 1 a.m."
To make matters worse, those beeps stunned me so much I sprang up in my bottom bunk and hit my head right the bottom of the top bunk. Solid wood. No blood came out, but I have a nice big red scar on the top of my forehead. If I shaved the top of my head, I would look like Gorbechav.
The beeps were from this guy's laptop computer which he brought with him and didn't turn off. Another thing I didn't know was he slept in the bunk right above mine which had been empty all week. I had my clothes towel, bathroom bag and everything for the next morning all organized. So when I woke up, I started feeling around on the bed for myself. You can see where this is going. Instead of my t-shirt, cutoffs, I felt a food and then an arm. So we finally just turned the lights on, loaded the van, and left Camp Coastal at 5:02 a.m. And we got into South Barrington at 10:16 p.m.
Now I'm back home and I'll just say a few more things. It wasn't always an easy trip. I wrestled with what my contribution to my own team was. I was scared I would say or do something really wrong and I would just be forgotten about. It's happened before. I think they think pretty well of me, at least I hope they do. I hope some friendships come out of this.
And I was scared to talk to some of the locals because I didn't know what to say. I just didn't want to say the wrong thing.
The week was certainly worth it. I've got a few scratches and scrapes and nearly got fried, but that doesn't matter. It was good to get away and do something different. It is true that humbling yourself and serving others can make you feel better about yourself. And helping these people was a good thing to do. I'm glad I contributed. But I hope I can carry this with me as I go to Ecclesia tonight and then tackle work this week.
That's all folks. Hope you enjoyed the ride.
Saturday, June 17, 2006
Katrina relief journal Part 7
Wednesday 1 p.m.- Right now, I'm in the van on my way to New Orleans to watch the handing over of the keys. We already worked at the distribution center where supplies are handed out. For the most part, I unloaded flatbed trucks and stuffed carboard boxes with supplies like zip bags and pasta. But some of these boxes of supplies had been sitting in the sun for several weeks and maggots were getting to some of them. So we had to sift through this stuff to check if it was still usable. Jim told me something I didn't know. A lot of times when people donate items, there's no methods of distribution. So this stuff sits out in the sun and over time, it rots.
A few thoughts right now.
When I get home, how can I still have these types of experiences? I'm talking about interactions with people, meaningful work, feeling like you're making a difference in the world, and feeling like I'm really following God? It's so easy to revert back to old habits when you return home to the life you're used to.
How do neighbors react to seeing groups like ours revive and refurbish one house down the street (maybe even their next door neighbor's) yet their house gets left alone. If you were that neighbor, would you feel happy there's a sign of revival? Would you be jealous? Maybe a little bit of both?
Wednesday night 8 p.m. There must have been 75 people in this little garbage covered two way street in Violet Louisiana to greet the family as they returned to their "new" home. And I would say 50 or 60 had cameras or videocameras going. It was a mom dad and three or four year old daughter. We had them stop their car a few houses down and we put paper bags over their heads and walked them to right down in front. There was still a huge moving truck parked in front. So we did the whole HGTV Extreme Makeover thing where we all shouted "Move the truck!" The family nearly fainted. I soon followed inside and though I had been working there not 48 hours ago, I seriously could not believe it was the same house. Dust, loose tools, bare wires, and empty floors were replaced by floors, carpet, beds, appliances, and furniture. Flat screen TV's, custom kitchen cabinets, a new playground in the backyard, lawn furniture, and on and on. It's good to know we played even a small role in completing that project.
Thursday night 10 p.m.- Today was our final full work day. It started off slow as I worked at the campsite. I worked with Ellen, Bob, Mary R, Madeline, and Susan. We started off taking out nails from wooden planks and then we built a bridge. We designed it for this seven or eight foot gap from the camp's property to the post office property. We took the plywood and designed side railings, diagonal frontpieces, and some cross rails underneath the top rail. The bridge took about 3 hours and it's still sitting on the grass as of Friday morning. We had one more house to work on, so we left.
Miss Louise is one of the singers in the Little Zion church choir. She has lived in her house for 36 years and it was wiped clean from the hurricane as it is only 8 or 9 blocks from the Gulf. Ellen, Bob, Mary, Susan, and I went to her house to assist a group from our team that had been prepping priming and painting for a day and a half already. We got a couple of rooms painted including the living room and two bedrooms. Meanwhile, Debbie was playing her Ipod with 60's and 70's songs on it. Yes, I knew all the words to practically every song.
Speaking of which, after dinner and our final team meeting, a bunch of us walked over to a local bar. On the way, we passed a dead armadillo that nearly made me gag the smell was so putrid. Putrid as in Chris Reitsma's pitching ability. Anyway, there was a country rock band playing and this was a southern redneck bar. Pool tables, bikers, fussball, the whole nine yards. Fortunately, it was hard to notice much cigarette smoke because they had a couple of fans blowing full speed to keep the place cool but I liked it more that I couldn't smell smoke.
We all ordered beers except Ellen, who got a Coke. When we all toasted it was funny seeing this one styrofoam cup rise against 11 glass bottles. But the waitress kind of kept finding her way to my part of the table more times than not. She was cute, her name was Alicia, but there's just something about a pierced tongue that doesn't sit well with me. Anyway, the band played and I knew every song from Amarillo by Morning to Neon Moon to Wonderful Tonight to If Bubba Can Dance I Can Too. If you can name who sang the last song without looking it up, I'll be impressed.
And you should have seen these girls line dance. Four or five of them were up on most of the songs and they made dancing look like a stroll in the park on a Sunday afternoon. Man here's my thing. Mom likes black culture. She identifies with it well. When I was born, couldn't she have handed me a hint of dancing ability? There was also a lady walking around with a basket of flowers. They were 2 for 5 bucks. Evan brought one for Mary and one for me to give out. Now see I had 2 options. I could have given it to someone in the group and risk doing it in front of the group and create a very awkward situation. Ellen was next to me for the record. Or I could have given it to a girl in the bar. But knowing me I would have given it to a girl whose boyfriend was nearby and he would have hurled me through the window. So I didn't give it out. And the best part of the night? As I walked in, ESPN was on the TV. They were showing highlights of the Mets' 9-3 triumph in Philly!
A few thoughts right now.
When I get home, how can I still have these types of experiences? I'm talking about interactions with people, meaningful work, feeling like you're making a difference in the world, and feeling like I'm really following God? It's so easy to revert back to old habits when you return home to the life you're used to.
How do neighbors react to seeing groups like ours revive and refurbish one house down the street (maybe even their next door neighbor's) yet their house gets left alone. If you were that neighbor, would you feel happy there's a sign of revival? Would you be jealous? Maybe a little bit of both?
Wednesday night 8 p.m. There must have been 75 people in this little garbage covered two way street in Violet Louisiana to greet the family as they returned to their "new" home. And I would say 50 or 60 had cameras or videocameras going. It was a mom dad and three or four year old daughter. We had them stop their car a few houses down and we put paper bags over their heads and walked them to right down in front. There was still a huge moving truck parked in front. So we did the whole HGTV Extreme Makeover thing where we all shouted "Move the truck!" The family nearly fainted. I soon followed inside and though I had been working there not 48 hours ago, I seriously could not believe it was the same house. Dust, loose tools, bare wires, and empty floors were replaced by floors, carpet, beds, appliances, and furniture. Flat screen TV's, custom kitchen cabinets, a new playground in the backyard, lawn furniture, and on and on. It's good to know we played even a small role in completing that project.
Thursday night 10 p.m.- Today was our final full work day. It started off slow as I worked at the campsite. I worked with Ellen, Bob, Mary R, Madeline, and Susan. We started off taking out nails from wooden planks and then we built a bridge. We designed it for this seven or eight foot gap from the camp's property to the post office property. We took the plywood and designed side railings, diagonal frontpieces, and some cross rails underneath the top rail. The bridge took about 3 hours and it's still sitting on the grass as of Friday morning. We had one more house to work on, so we left.
Miss Louise is one of the singers in the Little Zion church choir. She has lived in her house for 36 years and it was wiped clean from the hurricane as it is only 8 or 9 blocks from the Gulf. Ellen, Bob, Mary, Susan, and I went to her house to assist a group from our team that had been prepping priming and painting for a day and a half already. We got a couple of rooms painted including the living room and two bedrooms. Meanwhile, Debbie was playing her Ipod with 60's and 70's songs on it. Yes, I knew all the words to practically every song.
Speaking of which, after dinner and our final team meeting, a bunch of us walked over to a local bar. On the way, we passed a dead armadillo that nearly made me gag the smell was so putrid. Putrid as in Chris Reitsma's pitching ability. Anyway, there was a country rock band playing and this was a southern redneck bar. Pool tables, bikers, fussball, the whole nine yards. Fortunately, it was hard to notice much cigarette smoke because they had a couple of fans blowing full speed to keep the place cool but I liked it more that I couldn't smell smoke.
We all ordered beers except Ellen, who got a Coke. When we all toasted it was funny seeing this one styrofoam cup rise against 11 glass bottles. But the waitress kind of kept finding her way to my part of the table more times than not. She was cute, her name was Alicia, but there's just something about a pierced tongue that doesn't sit well with me. Anyway, the band played and I knew every song from Amarillo by Morning to Neon Moon to Wonderful Tonight to If Bubba Can Dance I Can Too. If you can name who sang the last song without looking it up, I'll be impressed.
And you should have seen these girls line dance. Four or five of them were up on most of the songs and they made dancing look like a stroll in the park on a Sunday afternoon. Man here's my thing. Mom likes black culture. She identifies with it well. When I was born, couldn't she have handed me a hint of dancing ability? There was also a lady walking around with a basket of flowers. They were 2 for 5 bucks. Evan brought one for Mary and one for me to give out. Now see I had 2 options. I could have given it to someone in the group and risk doing it in front of the group and create a very awkward situation. Ellen was next to me for the record. Or I could have given it to a girl in the bar. But knowing me I would have given it to a girl whose boyfriend was nearby and he would have hurled me through the window. So I didn't give it out. And the best part of the night? As I walked in, ESPN was on the TV. They were showing highlights of the Mets' 9-3 triumph in Philly!
Katrina relief journal Part 6
So we stopped at a gas station to get some chow and then we went to the Waveland hospital. We spent some time reorganizing their storage area and working in the kitchen. I worked out on the docks and cleaned up all kinds od trash from soda bottles to scrap pieces of metal to old steel tanks.
The hospital staff had a big meeting that day so they were getting a special dinner along with the patients. By the way there are about two dozen patients in the clinic. There used to be about 125. Stuffed shrimp, scallops, blackberry cobbler, salad, sweet tea. Oh we went into the kitchen where I grilled about 60 ribeye steaks. I hope they turned out well and I think they did. The cook, Bonnie, let me go at it, which was really cool. Another thing about Bonnie. You may have heard stories about her boyfriend, whose name I don't know. When the hurricane hit, he fastened himself with a belt to a tree above his house and watched his whole neighborhood deteriorate. A boat floated by him and he grabbed onto it and rescued four more people. The boat was recently returned to the owner and spraypainted on it are the words, "Sorry about your boat it saved five people's lives." And he got interviewed by a bunch of major news channels.
Then there are stories like this one. One woman employee at the clinic, Deanna, lives with her 17 month-old daughter and her husband. A woman offered them her house for 8,000 dollars. They took it and started building on it. Then the insurance company and real owner got involved. Turns out this person was the renter of the property. She took their money and ran. FEMA won't help them either because their damage or living conditions weren't bad enough. All they really have now is each other and God. I mean what do you say after hearing a story like that? How do you react? What do you do?
After we left the hospital we drove to the beach again wand walked around in Bay St. Louis and Waveland. One year ago, there was bumper to bumper traffic here. Now, barely a car drives by unless it's for work. The only other people on the beach was this high school church group. They couldn't go in the water so they used a hose and some plastic and made a water slide. That was the best they could do. And they were from a beachside Episcopal church, which now meets inside a tent.
Dinner was pot ropast, veggies, rice, and salad. The group that went to Louisian stayed later like we did. So Jim, Todd, Susan, Evan, Mary, and I walked across to the 2-lane street from camp to this coffee shop in this 8 or 9 store building. There was one car in the whole parking lot and only 2 or 3 of the businesses are open. Not being a fan of coffee, I got a peach/pina colada smoothie with ice cream and whipped cream for 3.50. It was incredible after a long day like that.
By the way, is a black cow a root beer float or a Coke/Pepsi with vanilla ice cream? Believe it or not, this became a major debate tonight.
The hospital staff had a big meeting that day so they were getting a special dinner along with the patients. By the way there are about two dozen patients in the clinic. There used to be about 125. Stuffed shrimp, scallops, blackberry cobbler, salad, sweet tea. Oh we went into the kitchen where I grilled about 60 ribeye steaks. I hope they turned out well and I think they did. The cook, Bonnie, let me go at it, which was really cool. Another thing about Bonnie. You may have heard stories about her boyfriend, whose name I don't know. When the hurricane hit, he fastened himself with a belt to a tree above his house and watched his whole neighborhood deteriorate. A boat floated by him and he grabbed onto it and rescued four more people. The boat was recently returned to the owner and spraypainted on it are the words, "Sorry about your boat it saved five people's lives." And he got interviewed by a bunch of major news channels.
Then there are stories like this one. One woman employee at the clinic, Deanna, lives with her 17 month-old daughter and her husband. A woman offered them her house for 8,000 dollars. They took it and started building on it. Then the insurance company and real owner got involved. Turns out this person was the renter of the property. She took their money and ran. FEMA won't help them either because their damage or living conditions weren't bad enough. All they really have now is each other and God. I mean what do you say after hearing a story like that? How do you react? What do you do?
After we left the hospital we drove to the beach again wand walked around in Bay St. Louis and Waveland. One year ago, there was bumper to bumper traffic here. Now, barely a car drives by unless it's for work. The only other people on the beach was this high school church group. They couldn't go in the water so they used a hose and some plastic and made a water slide. That was the best they could do. And they were from a beachside Episcopal church, which now meets inside a tent.
Dinner was pot ropast, veggies, rice, and salad. The group that went to Louisian stayed later like we did. So Jim, Todd, Susan, Evan, Mary, and I walked across to the 2-lane street from camp to this coffee shop in this 8 or 9 store building. There was one car in the whole parking lot and only 2 or 3 of the businesses are open. Not being a fan of coffee, I got a peach/pina colada smoothie with ice cream and whipped cream for 3.50. It was incredible after a long day like that.
By the way, is a black cow a root beer float or a Coke/Pepsi with vanilla ice cream? Believe it or not, this became a major debate tonight.
Katrina relief journal Part 5
Tuesday 9 a.m.- Two more guys from Willow Creek moved into our bunkhouse last night, Jim and Todd. We've gone from having 4 guys on Sunday to 6 to 8.
A different group of five is going to the house that we worked in yesterday. The rest of us have some kind of mystery project. We'll have to see what happens there.
All in all, the work has been tough but the crew is good and the time here has been worth it. Three work days are left to go. I do look forward to getting home so I don't have to wait on line for the bathroom anymore!
I thought I would actually be tanner by now!
Nothing like hearing Creedence Clearwater Revival play Born on the Bayou when you're deep in Mississippi and Louisiana!
Tuesday 6:30 p.m.- This day has been hard to describe. One thing I can say for sure, it's never boring. Our assignment was to travel to this church in Waveland and take down a pair of tents that Camp Coastal was going to use to house volunteers. And these were army-style tents, really big. It took us an hour to get the first one down and we had just started to get the second down. All of a sudden, the bishop of the church comes outside. He and Jill had apparently been talking earlier. He asked in a friendly manner why we were taking the tents down. So we stopped and explained we were asked to. He said he was going to make a few phone calls. We wondered what we were going to do. So we prayed. About 3 or 4 minutes into the prayer, this truck pulls up and a woman named Joann wearing a shirt from some Christian organization in Roanoke steps out and begins pacing towards us. She explained the tents were for volunteers to sleep in and we were on private property. She also explained a guy named Joe Williams owned the tents and we had no authority to take them down. We asked if they were using them why they were empty. The bishop said the volunteers put their stuff in the main building in the daytime and bring it out at night. Makes sense doesn't it? So Joann explained the tents had been removed before and she needed them. She wasn't mad at us but at the situation. Except she repeated that last line four or five times. By the third time, I was getting skeptical. So she stepped away for a bit and we resumed praying. Two minutes in, Allison and Gene came in. Gene and Joann argued over who controlled the tents and whether they were being used. This was all about politics, power, and the right hand not talking to the left. When Allison and Gene got into the van, she walked up to them and threatened to call the police if we tried to leave. We hightailed it out of there. The most I know right now is the tents are now going to Camp Coastal.
A different group of five is going to the house that we worked in yesterday. The rest of us have some kind of mystery project. We'll have to see what happens there.
All in all, the work has been tough but the crew is good and the time here has been worth it. Three work days are left to go. I do look forward to getting home so I don't have to wait on line for the bathroom anymore!
I thought I would actually be tanner by now!
Nothing like hearing Creedence Clearwater Revival play Born on the Bayou when you're deep in Mississippi and Louisiana!
Tuesday 6:30 p.m.- This day has been hard to describe. One thing I can say for sure, it's never boring. Our assignment was to travel to this church in Waveland and take down a pair of tents that Camp Coastal was going to use to house volunteers. And these were army-style tents, really big. It took us an hour to get the first one down and we had just started to get the second down. All of a sudden, the bishop of the church comes outside. He and Jill had apparently been talking earlier. He asked in a friendly manner why we were taking the tents down. So we stopped and explained we were asked to. He said he was going to make a few phone calls. We wondered what we were going to do. So we prayed. About 3 or 4 minutes into the prayer, this truck pulls up and a woman named Joann wearing a shirt from some Christian organization in Roanoke steps out and begins pacing towards us. She explained the tents were for volunteers to sleep in and we were on private property. She also explained a guy named Joe Williams owned the tents and we had no authority to take them down. We asked if they were using them why they were empty. The bishop said the volunteers put their stuff in the main building in the daytime and bring it out at night. Makes sense doesn't it? So Joann explained the tents had been removed before and she needed them. She wasn't mad at us but at the situation. Except she repeated that last line four or five times. By the third time, I was getting skeptical. So she stepped away for a bit and we resumed praying. Two minutes in, Allison and Gene came in. Gene and Joann argued over who controlled the tents and whether they were being used. This was all about politics, power, and the right hand not talking to the left. When Allison and Gene got into the van, she walked up to them and threatened to call the police if we tried to leave. We hightailed it out of there. The most I know right now is the tents are now going to Camp Coastal.
Katrina relief journal Part 4
And into the 4 full days of work we go. When you travel and work for 9 hours and spend 3 more driving and walking through New Orleans, you have a lot to write about. You also wish you could compress the whole thing and keep it in a time capsule. So here goes.
We divided the 14 of us among 3 groups. 3 stayed back at camp do work and fix meals. Six of us went to a site that escapes me at the moment. I along with 4 other people traveled to a house in Violet, Louisiana which is about 15 miles outside of the Big Easy.
The drive took 1 hour and 10 minutes and we drove straight over Lake Ponchartrain and looked at the damage in Louisiana. I'm going to take a quick shift here. There are a few differences between the situations in Louisiana and Mississippi. A lot of the Mississippi coast was obliterated. The houses and buildings just aren't there. The Waveland City Hall is now 4 trailers. In southeast Louisiana, you can still see a lot of remnants of damage. I saw several cars and boats floating in the gulf nine months after the fact!
But back to the house. Another group had been working on it for 2 weeks and their goal was to have it finished by Wednesday morning, because they were scheduled to return to Atlanta that afternoon. They experienced a number of setbacks along the way. For example they did as much work as they could do without electric and waited two full days for the electric guys to show up and inspect. So they needed a boost in morale.
And according to them, that's exactly what we were. We were the answer to their prayer. All I was thinking about was going to a house working hard so a family could live in it. You know, helping those who needed help. I didn't think that might possibly include fellow workers.
For the most part, I painted a couple of bedrooms, which I have a lot of experience with. I also loaded and unloaded some mulch, assembled an outdoor bench, and worked with some sheet rock. Ah the sheet rock. Time for a story. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I worked on this with Jill. We were in this tiny room that's being used for laundry. There's room for a washer, dryer, and about 4 people. In other words, it's small. So Jill was applying the mud to the top corner of this room. I basically came in and held the pail for her. So she decided to take a break and she asked me if I wanted to scrape the mud. I said okay and she left. So I climbed the stepladder and started scraping the gray, wet mixture on this bare white wall. Now there were some bare wires hanging from the ceiling right by me that were going to be used for lights. All of a sudden I hear two loud pops right behind my head. It was like being in a microwave oven and hearing popcorn popping. I spun around and saw two spits of yellow fireworks shoot out of the wires. I jumped three steps down off the ladder and ran towards the door. I was almost out of the room when another succession of loud pops went off. More fireworks shot out. Not knowing what in God's name was going on, I screamed and ran out of the room. It turns out some electricians were in the backyard working on the circuit breakers. Well evidently, they started working because I nearly got shocked. From what I heard, that was a light switch that carried 220 volts.
Now I wondered what this would have done to me so I did some research. Here's what I found. "A 44-year-old male plumber/construction worker (victim) died when a lag-bolt he was screwing into a wooden house foundation made contact with one side of an indoor 220V clothes dryer line (110VAC) and he was electrocuted." I don't know what that would have done to me. There was no water involved, which helped the situation. But since it was a sudden burst of energy, I don't know if it would have been quite enough to kill me. But I'm alive. My team later joked about it with me since I'm the guy who almost got cooked. It was funny, but kind of not funny at the same time, you know?
Anyway, we all had lunch together. They brought out some burgers which we were really good. I also tried Tropicana orangeade for the first time and really liked it. Contains 3 percent juice. Actually it was cold and that was all I really cared about with the 96 degree heat. Remember I talked about Alison not being used to an outgoing spiritual event? Well, one of their pastors, in her words, "busted out a guitar" and we sang a few songs and prayed. It was a good way to re-focus and keep us going hard in the afternoon.
I worked so hard and aggressively that by 4:30 or 5, sweat was filling my eyes. My white t-shirt was covered in caulk, paint, mud, sweat, and mulch. And there was zero air conditioning.
We finished a little after 5 and decided to drive to New Orleans and I got to take the wheel. So I'm driving a 10 or 12 seat van in a state I'd never been in before during rush hour! It was a little challenging getting a feel for the van and traffic patterns, I actually passed four traffic lights in a row that did not work. And there was no rush hour traffic to talk about. Most of the streets I drove on in New Orleans, I had no cars following me. I nearly had to parallel park, which I did not want to do. Luckily, I found two open spots next to each other on Royal Street.
We drove through the French Quarter and strolled down Bourbon Street. And all five of us: Jill, Evan, Mary, Alison, and me, stunk. Our plan was to look around town, grab some dinner, and go. We found this place called Verti Mart that some locals recommended. It's a tiny city-style grocery store. Think a quarter the size of a 7-11 with a deli counter in the back. And they serve po' boys too! We thought for five people, food would take 10-15 minutes or so. It took 35 or 40 and we were not pleased. And we had to stand on our feet trying not to fall over. But I did get too see a copy of the New York Times. I opened up to the sports section and saw the headline "Mets can do no wrong as they finish sweep of Diamondbacks 15-2." I was very quiet about it. Bull! I went nuts!
Oh, I'm sorry, back to the food. I got a combo of fried shrimp and oysters dressed, which means with lettuce, tomato, and pickle. Actually, that usually includes mayo as well. Even though I specifically asked for no mayo, the idiot behind the counter put it on anyway. But I was the last one to get my food and I couldn't wait. So I got some extra napkins and took off. The owner was nice enough to take a dollar off. The sandwich was nothing short of amazing, even the bread was excellent. And I drank a bottle of cherry Coke, which I had not had in 7 or 8 years.
As for the city itself, not much has re-opened. It's very quiet and not much traffic even at 6 or 7 p.m. I saw a couple of buildings that were standing, but visibly leaning to one side like the Tower of Pisa. This will be a lengthy recovery for this city and the surrounding neighborhoods.
And one more story. We drove back east towards Kiln, and we could see flashes of lighning. I'm talking the kind that's bright white and looks like a running electrical current. I just said "thunderbolt of lightning." And Jill comes right back with "very very frightening." And together we went, "Galileo, Galileo, Galileo Galileo figaro magnifico. I'm just a poor boy nobody loves me. He's just a poor boy from a poor family. Spare him his life from this monstrosity." And then we all sang the rest of Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. It was one of those spontaneous funny moments that you can't plan, it just happens.
I know this was a long entry, but it was a long day!
We divided the 14 of us among 3 groups. 3 stayed back at camp do work and fix meals. Six of us went to a site that escapes me at the moment. I along with 4 other people traveled to a house in Violet, Louisiana which is about 15 miles outside of the Big Easy.
The drive took 1 hour and 10 minutes and we drove straight over Lake Ponchartrain and looked at the damage in Louisiana. I'm going to take a quick shift here. There are a few differences between the situations in Louisiana and Mississippi. A lot of the Mississippi coast was obliterated. The houses and buildings just aren't there. The Waveland City Hall is now 4 trailers. In southeast Louisiana, you can still see a lot of remnants of damage. I saw several cars and boats floating in the gulf nine months after the fact!
But back to the house. Another group had been working on it for 2 weeks and their goal was to have it finished by Wednesday morning, because they were scheduled to return to Atlanta that afternoon. They experienced a number of setbacks along the way. For example they did as much work as they could do without electric and waited two full days for the electric guys to show up and inspect. So they needed a boost in morale.
And according to them, that's exactly what we were. We were the answer to their prayer. All I was thinking about was going to a house working hard so a family could live in it. You know, helping those who needed help. I didn't think that might possibly include fellow workers.
For the most part, I painted a couple of bedrooms, which I have a lot of experience with. I also loaded and unloaded some mulch, assembled an outdoor bench, and worked with some sheet rock. Ah the sheet rock. Time for a story. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I worked on this with Jill. We were in this tiny room that's being used for laundry. There's room for a washer, dryer, and about 4 people. In other words, it's small. So Jill was applying the mud to the top corner of this room. I basically came in and held the pail for her. So she decided to take a break and she asked me if I wanted to scrape the mud. I said okay and she left. So I climbed the stepladder and started scraping the gray, wet mixture on this bare white wall. Now there were some bare wires hanging from the ceiling right by me that were going to be used for lights. All of a sudden I hear two loud pops right behind my head. It was like being in a microwave oven and hearing popcorn popping. I spun around and saw two spits of yellow fireworks shoot out of the wires. I jumped three steps down off the ladder and ran towards the door. I was almost out of the room when another succession of loud pops went off. More fireworks shot out. Not knowing what in God's name was going on, I screamed and ran out of the room. It turns out some electricians were in the backyard working on the circuit breakers. Well evidently, they started working because I nearly got shocked. From what I heard, that was a light switch that carried 220 volts.
Now I wondered what this would have done to me so I did some research. Here's what I found. "A 44-year-old male plumber/construction worker (victim) died when a lag-bolt he was screwing into a wooden house foundation made contact with one side of an indoor 220V clothes dryer line (110VAC) and he was electrocuted." I don't know what that would have done to me. There was no water involved, which helped the situation. But since it was a sudden burst of energy, I don't know if it would have been quite enough to kill me. But I'm alive. My team later joked about it with me since I'm the guy who almost got cooked. It was funny, but kind of not funny at the same time, you know?Anyway, we all had lunch together. They brought out some burgers which we were really good. I also tried Tropicana orangeade for the first time and really liked it. Contains 3 percent juice. Actually it was cold and that was all I really cared about with the 96 degree heat. Remember I talked about Alison not being used to an outgoing spiritual event? Well, one of their pastors, in her words, "busted out a guitar" and we sang a few songs and prayed. It was a good way to re-focus and keep us going hard in the afternoon.
I worked so hard and aggressively that by 4:30 or 5, sweat was filling my eyes. My white t-shirt was covered in caulk, paint, mud, sweat, and mulch. And there was zero air conditioning.
We finished a little after 5 and decided to drive to New Orleans and I got to take the wheel. So I'm driving a 10 or 12 seat van in a state I'd never been in before during rush hour! It was a little challenging getting a feel for the van and traffic patterns, I actually passed four traffic lights in a row that did not work. And there was no rush hour traffic to talk about. Most of the streets I drove on in New Orleans, I had no cars following me. I nearly had to parallel park, which I did not want to do. Luckily, I found two open spots next to each other on Royal Street.
We drove through the French Quarter and strolled down Bourbon Street. And all five of us: Jill, Evan, Mary, Alison, and me, stunk. Our plan was to look around town, grab some dinner, and go. We found this place called Verti Mart that some locals recommended. It's a tiny city-style grocery store. Think a quarter the size of a 7-11 with a deli counter in the back. And they serve po' boys too! We thought for five people, food would take 10-15 minutes or so. It took 35 or 40 and we were not pleased. And we had to stand on our feet trying not to fall over. But I did get too see a copy of the New York Times. I opened up to the sports section and saw the headline "Mets can do no wrong as they finish sweep of Diamondbacks 15-2." I was very quiet about it. Bull! I went nuts!
Oh, I'm sorry, back to the food. I got a combo of fried shrimp and oysters dressed, which means with lettuce, tomato, and pickle. Actually, that usually includes mayo as well. Even though I specifically asked for no mayo, the idiot behind the counter put it on anyway. But I was the last one to get my food and I couldn't wait. So I got some extra napkins and took off. The owner was nice enough to take a dollar off. The sandwich was nothing short of amazing, even the bread was excellent. And I drank a bottle of cherry Coke, which I had not had in 7 or 8 years.
As for the city itself, not much has re-opened. It's very quiet and not much traffic even at 6 or 7 p.m. I saw a couple of buildings that were standing, but visibly leaning to one side like the Tower of Pisa. This will be a lengthy recovery for this city and the surrounding neighborhoods.
And one more story. We drove back east towards Kiln, and we could see flashes of lighning. I'm talking the kind that's bright white and looks like a running electrical current. I just said "thunderbolt of lightning." And Jill comes right back with "very very frightening." And together we went, "Galileo, Galileo, Galileo Galileo figaro magnifico. I'm just a poor boy nobody loves me. He's just a poor boy from a poor family. Spare him his life from this monstrosity." And then we all sang the rest of Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. It was one of those spontaneous funny moments that you can't plan, it just happens.
I know this was a long entry, but it was a long day!
Katrina relief journal Part 3
After church, we took a drive through the Gulf and into Waveland and right on the Gulf of Mexico. My perception: nine months after the fact, you still can't understand it without being there. I have seen worse poverty in different places I've visited, notably Tijuana and Pawley's Island, SC. And I've never been in this part of the country before so I can't really picture what it looked like one year ago. But I can say I have never seen a place wiped out so quickly and left with so little. Near the beach, there used to sit mansions. Just by looking at the way the driveways are designed, you can tell these homes cost a million dollars or more. Now what's there? In many cases, nothing. Nothing. There are just holes in the ground.
One woman said to me "It's like we've become a third-world country overnight." Dead trees blown over, white FEMA trailers all over. Where there are homes rebuilt or still somewhat standing, there is bare wood where coats of paint used to be. Tarps covering garage doors. Piles of garbage left on the streets waiting to be taken away to somewhere. Spraypainted symbols on the door counting deaths and people missing.
But there were sins of hope for the future. In front of several homes I saw lawn signs, kind of like what you would see from a real estate broker. They said "Waveland, we're staying." And so many of these people have lived in the same home or the same neighborhood all their lives and they don't know anything else. Some of these people stay almost out of necessity.
A few other notes: It's 95 degrees and scorching hot.
The coordinator of Camp Coastal, the camp we're staying at, Gene has a dog named Fred. I'm not good at identifying breeds, but this is for sure. He loves belly rubs. I gave him one for about 15 or 20 minutes. One of the first things we were told when we got to camp was not to feed him. Other wise he might whine and get fat and spoiled. And heaven forbid I make another dog as spoiled as the one I already have.
Reading is way better when you can do it on a warm day while laying in a hammock. Just don't fall asleep like I did.
After we got back, we did some work around the camp. They have a wood-burning stove that supplies the hot water into the camp. We built a plywood box to better organize the wood pieces that go into the stove. There was also a three or four foot hole that I filled with dirt and I used a pick axe and a shovel.
And let me say, I took a shower that afternoon. I had not wanted a shower that badly in 6 or 7 years. I had gone 38 hours without one because of the ride down and heavy Sunday schedule. I was just grateful there was a shower at camp at all.
Right now, it's cooling down to around 75 degrees.
We have 2 more guys in the bunk with us. There's a family from the Holland, MI area and they came down. It's a father, mother, and 16 year old son. We also made a run to Wal-Mart. Around 15 percent of the store was still closed or roped off. Then we went to Sonic, known as America's drive thru. It doesn't make much sense to have one in the North because the place is basically all outside. I had a cherry limeade, which Ellen recommended to me. She's a fine girl, but after I tasted it, I don't think we share the same feel for drinks.
Later.
One woman said to me "It's like we've become a third-world country overnight." Dead trees blown over, white FEMA trailers all over. Where there are homes rebuilt or still somewhat standing, there is bare wood where coats of paint used to be. Tarps covering garage doors. Piles of garbage left on the streets waiting to be taken away to somewhere. Spraypainted symbols on the door counting deaths and people missing.
But there were sins of hope for the future. In front of several homes I saw lawn signs, kind of like what you would see from a real estate broker. They said "Waveland, we're staying." And so many of these people have lived in the same home or the same neighborhood all their lives and they don't know anything else. Some of these people stay almost out of necessity.
A few other notes: It's 95 degrees and scorching hot.
The coordinator of Camp Coastal, the camp we're staying at, Gene has a dog named Fred. I'm not good at identifying breeds, but this is for sure. He loves belly rubs. I gave him one for about 15 or 20 minutes. One of the first things we were told when we got to camp was not to feed him. Other wise he might whine and get fat and spoiled. And heaven forbid I make another dog as spoiled as the one I already have.
Reading is way better when you can do it on a warm day while laying in a hammock. Just don't fall asleep like I did.
After we got back, we did some work around the camp. They have a wood-burning stove that supplies the hot water into the camp. We built a plywood box to better organize the wood pieces that go into the stove. There was also a three or four foot hole that I filled with dirt and I used a pick axe and a shovel.
And let me say, I took a shower that afternoon. I had not wanted a shower that badly in 6 or 7 years. I had gone 38 hours without one because of the ride down and heavy Sunday schedule. I was just grateful there was a shower at camp at all.
Right now, it's cooling down to around 75 degrees.
We have 2 more guys in the bunk with us. There's a family from the Holland, MI area and they came down. It's a father, mother, and 16 year old son. We also made a run to Wal-Mart. Around 15 percent of the store was still closed or roped off. Then we went to Sonic, known as America's drive thru. It doesn't make much sense to have one in the North because the place is basically all outside. I had a cherry limeade, which Ellen recommended to me. She's a fine girl, but after I tasted it, I don't think we share the same feel for drinks.
Later.
Katrina relief journal Part 2
Sunday-1:30 p.m. When I woke up, it smelled like sawdust. And my allergies didn't exactly handle that well. By the way, I got to drive about 3 hours in the van including through Jackson. And I'd never driven a vehicle like that. There were a number of cars in Jackson, but not really any traffic.
I should stop and say I have a good feeling about this group. As I was driving I had a very relaxed feeling and I don't relax too easily, because I'm pretty intense. Maybe it was the warm weather, a new place, or getting away from Illinois for a bit. But there are a lot of unique personalities in this group and I mean that in a good way. Because I've been in a number of groups, including mission trips where the blend did not work.
Sunday-7 p.m. So this morning we went to Little Zion Baptist Church. This is a tiny African-American church near some railroad tracks. Let me specify what I mean by tiny. The 15 of us nearly doubled the congregation. I'd say there were 7 people in the choir and 15-20 in the pew. It was a very spiritual meeting. During the giving of the peace, we all hugged and that is a radical change from most white churches in the midwest. At some churches I've been two, they don't even give you time to shake hands which I think is a terrible idea. Church is not a gas station. You can't just go in, get you fill for the week, and come back next Sunday. You have to give to it as well and by that I mean giving your gifts, your talents, your lessons learned, and so on. And a big part of that is interacting with other people.
When it was time to pray, we all made a big circle and held hands, You could really see how genuine these people had love for Jesus. The pastor was a visitor from what I understand. You know, the kind who was always asking for an Amen! He talked from Mark 6 and how Jesus was not welcome in his home when he returned there. The preacher reminded us to endure with what we believe even if there are people in our homes who don't know Christ. And we sang Amazing Grace the way I think John Newton intended it to be sung when he first wrote the words down in 1773. We belted it out and believe me, it was loud in that building. That was a church service truly filled with the Holy Spirit. We also talked with some of the staff people and they shared a some of their hurricane experiences. The church building in particular needed a lot of dry wall work and there are still piles of lumber and unassembled furniture scattered in the back of the building. But I was reminded of a pastor who spoke in his first sermon to his congregation after the hurricane hit.
"Once we said Jesus was all we need. Now Jesus is all we've got."
I should stop and say I have a good feeling about this group. As I was driving I had a very relaxed feeling and I don't relax too easily, because I'm pretty intense. Maybe it was the warm weather, a new place, or getting away from Illinois for a bit. But there are a lot of unique personalities in this group and I mean that in a good way. Because I've been in a number of groups, including mission trips where the blend did not work.
Sunday-7 p.m. So this morning we went to Little Zion Baptist Church. This is a tiny African-American church near some railroad tracks. Let me specify what I mean by tiny. The 15 of us nearly doubled the congregation. I'd say there were 7 people in the choir and 15-20 in the pew. It was a very spiritual meeting. During the giving of the peace, we all hugged and that is a radical change from most white churches in the midwest. At some churches I've been two, they don't even give you time to shake hands which I think is a terrible idea. Church is not a gas station. You can't just go in, get you fill for the week, and come back next Sunday. You have to give to it as well and by that I mean giving your gifts, your talents, your lessons learned, and so on. And a big part of that is interacting with other people.
When it was time to pray, we all made a big circle and held hands, You could really see how genuine these people had love for Jesus. The pastor was a visitor from what I understand. You know, the kind who was always asking for an Amen! He talked from Mark 6 and how Jesus was not welcome in his home when he returned there. The preacher reminded us to endure with what we believe even if there are people in our homes who don't know Christ. And we sang Amazing Grace the way I think John Newton intended it to be sung when he first wrote the words down in 1773. We belted it out and believe me, it was loud in that building. That was a church service truly filled with the Holy Spirit. We also talked with some of the staff people and they shared a some of their hurricane experiences. The church building in particular needed a lot of dry wall work and there are still piles of lumber and unassembled furniture scattered in the back of the building. But I was reminded of a pastor who spoke in his first sermon to his congregation after the hurricane hit.
"Once we said Jesus was all we need. Now Jesus is all we've got."
Katrina relief journal Part 1
5:15 p.m. (In the car) As we woke up in Chicago this morning to a rain that was hard and relentless, we knew the opening part of the drive would be slick. So we met in front of Willow Creek Church around 5:45 am and left around 6:15 with 15 people in a pair of white 10-seat vans. Our on-site coordinator, Allison Hosack, has a very outgoing personality. She says the words "Hello (as in Hello, are you alive?!) and dude. She's an intern in extension ministries at Willow, a few months older than me, and from Ohio. She's also lived in countries like Hawaii, France and Switzerland. She basically kept the conversation going.
We drove down Highway 57 through Illinois, Missouri, and into the west side of Memphis. From a distance, across the Mississippi River, I could see the Memphis Pyramid, where big events and concerts are held in that city. We had a weird experience as we approached Elvis Presley Blvd where Graceland is. We had jokes about going there even though we all knew we were never going there. So I'm in the second van. Just as we're getting to the exit, Evan, one of four guys on the trip, says into the walkie-talkie to the other van, "So are we going?" We look in front of us, and whoever was driving the van started to pull over to the right before making this Dale Earnhardt left swerve back onto the main road. We could not stop laughing.
And the weather was unexplainable. Our first rest stop was in Champaign. It was cold (around 55), the sky was gray, and a steady wind was whipping through. It reminded me of the Urbana mission conference I attended in December 2001, and that was the coldest I have ever been. It was warmer on this day, but I was reminded how cold Champaign, IL can be. Our next stop was somewhere in northern Missouri. Someone must have painted the sky blue and jacked the temperature up to 85 or 90 degrees. Anyone who had been wearing a jacket hurled it into the back of their van. We wouldn't need them the rest of the trip. At least I wouldn't. We then switched over to Highway 55 which took us through Arkansas and down into Mississippi. The roads are basically lined with trees, very quiet, without much traffic. And no tolls either, which are always nice to avoid. I must have seen 11 or 12 Illinois state troopers too. I mean, unless there's a fugitive on the run, let us drive already!
Sunday 1 a.m. (In bed) We took 55 down through Louisiana and then turned in east to get to Waveland, Bay St. Louis, and Kiln, MS. I have visited Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana for the first time on this trip. That brings my state count to 41 that I've visited.
We stopped in a little town about 2 hours north of Jackson to have dinner in a real bayou and seafood restaurant. I mean there were alligator heads on the table, the women had way too much makeup on, kind of like Tammy Faye. But the food was awesome. I ordered a fried crawfish po' boy. A Po boy is a New Orleans version of a sub or hero sandwich. A few people at my table had fried catfish and it was the best catfish I've ever eaten. Had sweet tea to drink and as much iced tea as I go through, that should be no surprise. I admit I kind of wanted to order some fried cheesecake with the cinnamon sugar and strawberries, but figured I should hold up.
I'm in a very small cabin. 12 bunk beds, a broom, an a/c, and a fan. No to mention a few mosquitoes. No bathroom, no windows, and no garbage can. The women have a bathroom in their cabin and we have to walk about 5 minutes which is not bad. The bathroom is very tight, like swimming in a sardine can. 2 showers, 2 sinks, 2 toilets. We have church tomorrow morning but right now I need some sleep.
We drove down Highway 57 through Illinois, Missouri, and into the west side of Memphis. From a distance, across the Mississippi River, I could see the Memphis Pyramid, where big events and concerts are held in that city. We had a weird experience as we approached Elvis Presley Blvd where Graceland is. We had jokes about going there even though we all knew we were never going there. So I'm in the second van. Just as we're getting to the exit, Evan, one of four guys on the trip, says into the walkie-talkie to the other van, "So are we going?" We look in front of us, and whoever was driving the van started to pull over to the right before making this Dale Earnhardt left swerve back onto the main road. We could not stop laughing.
And the weather was unexplainable. Our first rest stop was in Champaign. It was cold (around 55), the sky was gray, and a steady wind was whipping through. It reminded me of the Urbana mission conference I attended in December 2001, and that was the coldest I have ever been. It was warmer on this day, but I was reminded how cold Champaign, IL can be. Our next stop was somewhere in northern Missouri. Someone must have painted the sky blue and jacked the temperature up to 85 or 90 degrees. Anyone who had been wearing a jacket hurled it into the back of their van. We wouldn't need them the rest of the trip. At least I wouldn't. We then switched over to Highway 55 which took us through Arkansas and down into Mississippi. The roads are basically lined with trees, very quiet, without much traffic. And no tolls either, which are always nice to avoid. I must have seen 11 or 12 Illinois state troopers too. I mean, unless there's a fugitive on the run, let us drive already!
Sunday 1 a.m. (In bed) We took 55 down through Louisiana and then turned in east to get to Waveland, Bay St. Louis, and Kiln, MS. I have visited Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana for the first time on this trip. That brings my state count to 41 that I've visited.
We stopped in a little town about 2 hours north of Jackson to have dinner in a real bayou and seafood restaurant. I mean there were alligator heads on the table, the women had way too much makeup on, kind of like Tammy Faye. But the food was awesome. I ordered a fried crawfish po' boy. A Po boy is a New Orleans version of a sub or hero sandwich. A few people at my table had fried catfish and it was the best catfish I've ever eaten. Had sweet tea to drink and as much iced tea as I go through, that should be no surprise. I admit I kind of wanted to order some fried cheesecake with the cinnamon sugar and strawberries, but figured I should hold up.
I'm in a very small cabin. 12 bunk beds, a broom, an a/c, and a fan. No to mention a few mosquitoes. No bathroom, no windows, and no garbage can. The women have a bathroom in their cabin and we have to walk about 5 minutes which is not bad. The bathroom is very tight, like swimming in a sardine can. 2 showers, 2 sinks, 2 toilets. We have church tomorrow morning but right now I need some sleep.
Katrina trip characters
I'm going to take some space to tell you a little about the cast in our story. We had a group of 15 people and I want to point out a few of the people I'll be mentioning along the way and give a quick rundown on my teammates.
Allison (on-site coordinator): She's quite a character and I'll talk more about her later. She certainly loves seeing projects come to fruition and hanging with our group. Unfortunately, she had to leave one day early to fly back to Chicago for work. The nearest airport was in Gulfport, MS. I guess she flew out of the Gulfport International Airport.
Evan: I probably spent the most time with him. He jokes a lot, moreso than I do. But I have to say he has an ability to talk to anybody. Whenever we worked together, he would just talk to people and ask them about their experiences with the hurricane, how they were coping, etc. That takes some real courage. He's 41, spent some time in the military, and lives in Villa Park.
Eric: He was the technical brains of the group. He's been down here before and I think that was in March. He oversaw a lot of the projects we did like buying supplies, organizing painting, and building the plywood box. He spent a lot of time working around camp doing projects for them as well. He also oversaw the handling of the vans and routed the trips.
Bob: Speak softly and carry a big stick? That would describe Bob Birch pretty well. My mom as I found out after the trip worked with him on a Blitz Build. He's around 65, just retired from teaching science at an elementary school in Batavia. He was always on his own schedule it seemed. At the end of most nights, he would leave our team meeting and just head back to the cabin and get some extra sleep. Maybe his body just needs that at this point. I got to know him a little bit, but he tended to like remaining in the background.
Madeline: She's a physicist and there was no project she would not do. Using huge circular saws, painting on rooves, she was just fearless.
Mary, wife of Evan: Mary was quiet, which makes sense considering Evan tended to do most of the talking for them. I worked with her most days and she always did things without you knowing. She would never talk about what was going on, she would just work and do things well. Since Evan wasn't allowed to drive the vans, she did a lot of the site driving as well.
Mary, Premonition: I'll get to the premonition part soon enough. Mary was a mother-type for me. She was never in a bad mood that I can remember. She was always sharing something on her mind. She was probably in her 50's. We worked together on the bridge over the last day. And she told me on Thursday she had a premonition about me. Now I don't know what it's about, although I have an idea what it could be about. She said she would e-mail me in one month. Why one month? Your guess is as good as mine. I guess I'll find out soon.
Debbie: I didn't spend too much time with her. We were always doing different work projects until the last day. I remember she had big earrings and controlled the walkie talkie radio in the vans. She always came back with quick one-liners that were really funny. And she brought an Ipod with 60's and 70 music. That always helped work go by a little faster. I bet being in her van would have been good beause I heard they were playing most of the ride.
Jill: Simply as compassionate a person as I've ever met. She's a PE teacher and driver's ed teacher in Algonquin and I think she's around 45 or so. She wouldn't tell me exactly. It's hard for me to figure out how she's never married. She spent most of the van ride organizing her photo albums. By the end of the trip, she got through 1993 and 1994. If I organized my whole photo album, I'd be done in 30 minutes. We did some drywall together at the house in Louisiana. And for a PE teacher who's in good shape, she eats more like a shop teacher. Whenever we went out to eat it was Cokes, "Coney Island" hot dogs, BBQ ribs, ham and cheese sandwiches, potato chips. I asked her how she did it. She said when she eats junk food, she doesn't eat much of it. My thought was well if you eat junk food 20 times a day but only eat a little each time, it still adds up. That's the first thing I thought, not the first thing I said. And on one ride to Sonic, she told a story or two about getting massages in Russia and China which thanks to a few other people, quickly turned into a "conversation on acid" as Allison put it. I was laughing at it so hard, I can't even remember the details. Have you ever laughed so hard your ears hurt? That happened to me. But I was glad Jill came. She's a special woman.
Ellen: She's a doll, as my father's side of the family might say. She's 30, although she looks younger, which may me because she's small in stature. She lives an hour from me in Lake Villa, a town around the Illinois-Wisconsin border near the North Shore. Several times I saw her take this HUGE black and yellow locust (the picture will be here soon) and rest it on her forearm. She had to be out of her mind. But she was always working hard, she was a great listener, and had a nice wit about her.
Lee Ann and Alison: I had to group these two together because they are crazy and spent so much time together. Anytime they were together, crazy things could happen, as I've mentioned in the Sonic story above. Alison was in her late 20's and I think the youngest person on the team besides me. Good to note she is Italian, Catholic, and married. She said she was a little taken aback at the church service we went to. She's used to spirituality being more personal and reserved. So it was a little different for her as it would be for any Catholic. Now during our first dinner in Mississippi, I sat at a table with Evan, Mary, and Lee Ann. She's in social work and very eccentric. Every big group has that one loud goofy person who breaks up the tension. She was it. The last day of painting, she was covering a few people's clothes with it. Fortunately, I came a little later in the day.
Susan: Well, she lost her voice after about the second day. But we enjoyed being around each other. Put it this way. I never went away from a conversation with her feeling worse than I had before.
Other notable people:
Jim: From Willow Creek. A United Airlines pilot in his 60's or 70's who flew down to work with us. He was a good man to have around. We talked about a number of things including the airline industry since I have the obvious connection with my mother working for American.
Todd: Also from Willow Creek. He lives in Mundelein and works in finance. His wife is freaked out by bugs and he saw the big black locust. So when I told him about the photo of the locust and Ellen, he begged me to send him a picture so he could show his wife. Apparently, she gets freaked out by a spider. The last thing I said to him before I left was you'll get the photo as soon as I get the film developed. He was all pumped up.
Bob and Megan: They were both on staff at camp. Bob's in college in Ohio and Megan is in high school in Ponchotula, Louisiana, which is the hometown of American Idol's Lindsey Cardinale, who was way better than Carrie Underwood, for the record.
Lou Ann and Jeff: One of several married couples involved in the house we built in Louisiana. They came back to Camp Coastal afterwards and hung around our camp to see what we were doing there. From Georgia and Lou Ann is the epitome of a Southern belle between her hospitality, her accent, and her grace.
Allison (on-site coordinator): She's quite a character and I'll talk more about her later. She certainly loves seeing projects come to fruition and hanging with our group. Unfortunately, she had to leave one day early to fly back to Chicago for work. The nearest airport was in Gulfport, MS. I guess she flew out of the Gulfport International Airport.
Evan: I probably spent the most time with him. He jokes a lot, moreso than I do. But I have to say he has an ability to talk to anybody. Whenever we worked together, he would just talk to people and ask them about their experiences with the hurricane, how they were coping, etc. That takes some real courage. He's 41, spent some time in the military, and lives in Villa Park.
Eric: He was the technical brains of the group. He's been down here before and I think that was in March. He oversaw a lot of the projects we did like buying supplies, organizing painting, and building the plywood box. He spent a lot of time working around camp doing projects for them as well. He also oversaw the handling of the vans and routed the trips.
Bob: Speak softly and carry a big stick? That would describe Bob Birch pretty well. My mom as I found out after the trip worked with him on a Blitz Build. He's around 65, just retired from teaching science at an elementary school in Batavia. He was always on his own schedule it seemed. At the end of most nights, he would leave our team meeting and just head back to the cabin and get some extra sleep. Maybe his body just needs that at this point. I got to know him a little bit, but he tended to like remaining in the background.
Madeline: She's a physicist and there was no project she would not do. Using huge circular saws, painting on rooves, she was just fearless.
Mary, wife of Evan: Mary was quiet, which makes sense considering Evan tended to do most of the talking for them. I worked with her most days and she always did things without you knowing. She would never talk about what was going on, she would just work and do things well. Since Evan wasn't allowed to drive the vans, she did a lot of the site driving as well.
Mary, Premonition: I'll get to the premonition part soon enough. Mary was a mother-type for me. She was never in a bad mood that I can remember. She was always sharing something on her mind. She was probably in her 50's. We worked together on the bridge over the last day. And she told me on Thursday she had a premonition about me. Now I don't know what it's about, although I have an idea what it could be about. She said she would e-mail me in one month. Why one month? Your guess is as good as mine. I guess I'll find out soon.
Debbie: I didn't spend too much time with her. We were always doing different work projects until the last day. I remember she had big earrings and controlled the walkie talkie radio in the vans. She always came back with quick one-liners that were really funny. And she brought an Ipod with 60's and 70 music. That always helped work go by a little faster. I bet being in her van would have been good beause I heard they were playing most of the ride.
Jill: Simply as compassionate a person as I've ever met. She's a PE teacher and driver's ed teacher in Algonquin and I think she's around 45 or so. She wouldn't tell me exactly. It's hard for me to figure out how she's never married. She spent most of the van ride organizing her photo albums. By the end of the trip, she got through 1993 and 1994. If I organized my whole photo album, I'd be done in 30 minutes. We did some drywall together at the house in Louisiana. And for a PE teacher who's in good shape, she eats more like a shop teacher. Whenever we went out to eat it was Cokes, "Coney Island" hot dogs, BBQ ribs, ham and cheese sandwiches, potato chips. I asked her how she did it. She said when she eats junk food, she doesn't eat much of it. My thought was well if you eat junk food 20 times a day but only eat a little each time, it still adds up. That's the first thing I thought, not the first thing I said. And on one ride to Sonic, she told a story or two about getting massages in Russia and China which thanks to a few other people, quickly turned into a "conversation on acid" as Allison put it. I was laughing at it so hard, I can't even remember the details. Have you ever laughed so hard your ears hurt? That happened to me. But I was glad Jill came. She's a special woman.
Ellen: She's a doll, as my father's side of the family might say. She's 30, although she looks younger, which may me because she's small in stature. She lives an hour from me in Lake Villa, a town around the Illinois-Wisconsin border near the North Shore. Several times I saw her take this HUGE black and yellow locust (the picture will be here soon) and rest it on her forearm. She had to be out of her mind. But she was always working hard, she was a great listener, and had a nice wit about her.
Lee Ann and Alison: I had to group these two together because they are crazy and spent so much time together. Anytime they were together, crazy things could happen, as I've mentioned in the Sonic story above. Alison was in her late 20's and I think the youngest person on the team besides me. Good to note she is Italian, Catholic, and married. She said she was a little taken aback at the church service we went to. She's used to spirituality being more personal and reserved. So it was a little different for her as it would be for any Catholic. Now during our first dinner in Mississippi, I sat at a table with Evan, Mary, and Lee Ann. She's in social work and very eccentric. Every big group has that one loud goofy person who breaks up the tension. She was it. The last day of painting, she was covering a few people's clothes with it. Fortunately, I came a little later in the day.
Susan: Well, she lost her voice after about the second day. But we enjoyed being around each other. Put it this way. I never went away from a conversation with her feeling worse than I had before.
Other notable people:
Jim: From Willow Creek. A United Airlines pilot in his 60's or 70's who flew down to work with us. He was a good man to have around. We talked about a number of things including the airline industry since I have the obvious connection with my mother working for American.
Todd: Also from Willow Creek. He lives in Mundelein and works in finance. His wife is freaked out by bugs and he saw the big black locust. So when I told him about the photo of the locust and Ellen, he begged me to send him a picture so he could show his wife. Apparently, she gets freaked out by a spider. The last thing I said to him before I left was you'll get the photo as soon as I get the film developed. He was all pumped up.
Bob and Megan: They were both on staff at camp. Bob's in college in Ohio and Megan is in high school in Ponchotula, Louisiana, which is the hometown of American Idol's Lindsey Cardinale, who was way better than Carrie Underwood, for the record.
Lou Ann and Jeff: One of several married couples involved in the house we built in Louisiana. They came back to Camp Coastal afterwards and hung around our camp to see what we were doing there. From Georgia and Lou Ann is the epitome of a Southern belle between her hospitality, her accent, and her grace.
FINALLY!!!
The Bar has come back to his blog!
Indeed I am back from Hancock County MS and for those of you who kept me in your thoughts and prayers, thank you. The experience was well worth it. I will spend several posts re-writing the journal that I kept over my 6-day journey. In a few days from now, I hope to have photos to go with the journal.
So let's start out at the 18-hour ride from South Barrington IL to Kiln MS.
And RVD is World Champion! Yes!
Indeed I am back from Hancock County MS and for those of you who kept me in your thoughts and prayers, thank you. The experience was well worth it. I will spend several posts re-writing the journal that I kept over my 6-day journey. In a few days from now, I hope to have photos to go with the journal.
So let's start out at the 18-hour ride from South Barrington IL to Kiln MS.
And RVD is World Champion! Yes!
Friday, June 09, 2006
Uh, just one more thing
I know I said I was done, but I found this on the Internet at Metstradamus and had to share it. Fortunately, I don't have the kind of life where I have nothing to do but think about this kind of stuff. This is about 6-6-06 and baseball.
Why else would the schedule maker pit the Angels and the Devil Rays against each other on 06/06/06? Thankfully for the future of mankind, the Angels were victorious by a score of 12-2, so a defeated Satan had to search for his consolation prize, and find another recipient for his venom and his sick, demented sense of humor.
Enter, as usual, the New York Mets.
Who else but the prince of darkness could come up with a six run sixth inning against a future hall of famer who was running on a streak of six straight starts without a victory?
And I'm mildly sure that Kenny Lofton, who wears number six, was mildly involved in all of this somewhere.
And that's not even mentioning Jose Reyes' wrist problem from out of nowhere, which kept him out of the game tonight...or how about Cliff Floyd turning his ankle on level ground in the second forcing him to leave the game...or Carlos Beltran angering Satan by making an unreal diving catch, to which Satan replied by tweaking Beltran's back...although Carlos stayed in the game.
Ah, but Lucifer wasn't done there. He turned Jose Valentin, hero of the month past, back into a pumpkin as he made two errors in that sixth inning, and two more sloppy plays in the eighth inning further reminding us that if Kaz Matsui even hit a little bit, he would still be providing a wee bit of mobility at a middle infield position. This of course means that Kaz Matsui is a minion of Satan.
Of course the end of the game featured Eric Gagne...who's entrance music is "Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns 'N Roses. And we all know that GNR music was written and co-produced by Satan...at least according to Tipper Gore.
Why else would the schedule maker pit the Angels and the Devil Rays against each other on 06/06/06? Thankfully for the future of mankind, the Angels were victorious by a score of 12-2, so a defeated Satan had to search for his consolation prize, and find another recipient for his venom and his sick, demented sense of humor.
Enter, as usual, the New York Mets.
Who else but the prince of darkness could come up with a six run sixth inning against a future hall of famer who was running on a streak of six straight starts without a victory?
And I'm mildly sure that Kenny Lofton, who wears number six, was mildly involved in all of this somewhere.
And that's not even mentioning Jose Reyes' wrist problem from out of nowhere, which kept him out of the game tonight...or how about Cliff Floyd turning his ankle on level ground in the second forcing him to leave the game...or Carlos Beltran angering Satan by making an unreal diving catch, to which Satan replied by tweaking Beltran's back...although Carlos stayed in the game.
Ah, but Lucifer wasn't done there. He turned Jose Valentin, hero of the month past, back into a pumpkin as he made two errors in that sixth inning, and two more sloppy plays in the eighth inning further reminding us that if Kaz Matsui even hit a little bit, he would still be providing a wee bit of mobility at a middle infield position. This of course means that Kaz Matsui is a minion of Satan.
Of course the end of the game featured Eric Gagne...who's entrance music is "Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns 'N Roses. And we all know that GNR music was written and co-produced by Satan...at least according to Tipper Gore.
Final post for a week
Though I have taken breaks from here before, this will be a little bit longer. On Saturday morning at 5:30, I will depart with about 10 or 15 people I don't even to know and head down to Waveland and Hancock County, Mississippi to do mission work in the area where Hurricane Katrina hit.
I'm going through Willow Creek Church, and they have been sending teams since March. I am on the last group they are sending down and I really don't know what to expect at this point. I am excited, not too nervous, just hopeful this is a meaningful experience. It certainly doesn't seem like I'm leaving in 39 hours. These types of things just seem to sneak up on me, I'm not one to try to look forward much. If you look ahead too much, you might miss out on the day you're actually living.
Gee whiz, I sounded like a fortune cookie there, didn't I?
When I get back next weekend, I will give you a report and hopefully within another week, I'll have a photo or two on here as well.
So in conclusion, till I type to you again next week, laugh a little, think a little, do something different today. Make your own life exciting.
Oh and for Sunday night, ECW! ECW! ECW! ECW!
I'm going through Willow Creek Church, and they have been sending teams since March. I am on the last group they are sending down and I really don't know what to expect at this point. I am excited, not too nervous, just hopeful this is a meaningful experience. It certainly doesn't seem like I'm leaving in 39 hours. These types of things just seem to sneak up on me, I'm not one to try to look forward much. If you look ahead too much, you might miss out on the day you're actually living.
Gee whiz, I sounded like a fortune cookie there, didn't I?
When I get back next weekend, I will give you a report and hopefully within another week, I'll have a photo or two on here as well.
So in conclusion, till I type to you again next week, laugh a little, think a little, do something different today. Make your own life exciting.
Oh and for Sunday night, ECW! ECW! ECW! ECW!
World Cup Time!
GOOOOOOOOOOLL!!
Time for the World Cup of Soccer. 32 teams, 8 groups with 4 countries each. 2 advance form each group. Let's do a quick breakdown. My 3 personal favorites have to be the US, Italy, and Ecuador.
First I'll take Group A. Makes sense right? Germany, Ecuador, Costa Rica, and Poland. Germany, as the host, is all but guaranteed one of the top two spots. I don't like Costa Rica and I think whoever wins the Ecuador-Poland game will take second. Obviously, I hope it is Ecuador since I have done mission work down there and played soccer against people from Ecuador. I still love I was the only American in the game and I scored the first goal of the game!
I'll speed through some of these. Group B: England and Sweden advance past Trinidad and Paraguay. Group C: Netherlands and Argentina make it. Group D: Portugal and Mexico make it past Iran and Angola in the weakest group in the field.
Group E: The Group of Death. The Czechs, Italy, the US, and Ghana. The first three teams are all ranked in the top 6 in the world. Ghana is a youg hungry team from Africa. The Czechs have some injury problems, including their superstar Pavel Nedved, who should be playing hockey. The US plays their first game against them and I think that will go a long way in determining who makes it out. I think Italy will get a spot, though I don'know if they will win. This will likely come down to tiebreakers and goal differential. I pick the Czechs and Italians. I don't know if the US can handle the hostility they will encounter. And you need to finish first here because whoever comes in second likely plays Brazil in the round of 16.
Group F: Brazil and Japan advance over Croatia and Australia. Group G: A hungry France team has an easy draw. They advance with Switzerland past Togo (wherever that is) and South Korea. Group H: Spain and Ukraine get past Saudi Arabia and Tunisia.
I'll get back when the round of 16 is set up and see how many teams I picked right and predict the tournament from there on out.
Time for the World Cup of Soccer. 32 teams, 8 groups with 4 countries each. 2 advance form each group. Let's do a quick breakdown. My 3 personal favorites have to be the US, Italy, and Ecuador.
First I'll take Group A. Makes sense right? Germany, Ecuador, Costa Rica, and Poland. Germany, as the host, is all but guaranteed one of the top two spots. I don't like Costa Rica and I think whoever wins the Ecuador-Poland game will take second. Obviously, I hope it is Ecuador since I have done mission work down there and played soccer against people from Ecuador. I still love I was the only American in the game and I scored the first goal of the game!
I'll speed through some of these. Group B: England and Sweden advance past Trinidad and Paraguay. Group C: Netherlands and Argentina make it. Group D: Portugal and Mexico make it past Iran and Angola in the weakest group in the field.
Group E: The Group of Death. The Czechs, Italy, the US, and Ghana. The first three teams are all ranked in the top 6 in the world. Ghana is a youg hungry team from Africa. The Czechs have some injury problems, including their superstar Pavel Nedved, who should be playing hockey. The US plays their first game against them and I think that will go a long way in determining who makes it out. I think Italy will get a spot, though I don'know if they will win. This will likely come down to tiebreakers and goal differential. I pick the Czechs and Italians. I don't know if the US can handle the hostility they will encounter. And you need to finish first here because whoever comes in second likely plays Brazil in the round of 16.
Group F: Brazil and Japan advance over Croatia and Australia. Group G: A hungry France team has an easy draw. They advance with Switzerland past Togo (wherever that is) and South Korea. Group H: Spain and Ukraine get past Saudi Arabia and Tunisia.
I'll get back when the round of 16 is set up and see how many teams I picked right and predict the tournament from there on out.
Monday, June 05, 2006
Taz (with one z) is back!!!!
I never thought I would see this happen. And I literally mean never. You know how people say never say never. I'm saying never.
I never thought I would see the old-school, intense, no-nonsense Taz again. But it happened on Friday night. And I want to thank my small group leader Chris McElwee for cancelling my group so I could see it. So Chris if you're reading this (and quite frankly, who isn't?) Thanks.
Tazz was all emotion and anger on SmackDown. This attitude has not been seen from him since 2000 when Taz ruled ECW as its World Champion. Sources close to Tazz say he has been increasingly agitated in recent weeks since Raw analyst and wrestling icon Jerry the King Lawler began his barrage of attacks on ECW, calling it “extremely crappy wrestling” and disrespecting its legacy. It got personal this past Monday on RAW when Lawler focused his attacks to Tazz, saying “Tazz used to be tough, but now he’s just a joke-cracking King wannabe.”
Staring square into the camera, his eyes bulging, his top lip turned up in anger, Tazz removed his sunglasses and told Lawler, “This is very simple. You want to go out on Raw. You want to talk junk about me. You want to talk about me not being tough no more. You want to talk about me being washed up and trying to imitate you. Here's the deal my friend. This is simple. One Night Stand, you and I one on one. You show up, you get choked out! I guarantee it. As God as my witness I guarantee you. I got one left in me Lawler! I will choke your ass out at One Night Stand! Because I am Tazz. Beat me if you can old man! Survive if I let you!”
Let me tell you something. Every time Taz said "Beat me if you can! Survive if I let you!” in ECW you knew someone was about to get the hell beaten out of them. I remember from 1996-1999 when he was giving a promo, he could make your whole body shiver. He was that intense, that focused, and that capable of punishing you. He came out to the ring with a torn black towel draped over his head, adding a little darkness and mystery. Then he got in the ring. As he was being introduced he ripped the towel off his head and then the bell rang to start the match. He was a methodical wrestling machine with a full arsenal of suplexes and the choke out sleeper, the Tazmission. Oh and he's Italian and he's from Brooklyn!
Let's jump ahead. In the fall of 2001, about 7-8 months after Taz came to WWE, he came back from an arm injury, turned heel, and I knew at that some point something was different. No more torn towel over his head, no singlet, replaced by sunglasses, black pants, and a collared sleeveless work shirt. He was quickly pushed into a feud with the announcer Lawler, who then at Summer Slam, thanks to interference from announcer Jim Ross (yes that is correct), beat Tazz, essentially killing any hope for a successful WWE career.
He won the hardcore title a few times (this is when the title was changing literelly three or four times on each show) and the tag titles with Spike Dudley but shortly after they lost them, (about 2 1/2 years after he came in to WWE), Tazz' chronic neck problems forced him to retire. He swore he just would not wrestle again because he didn't know if he could go full speed, which makes total sense. For him to be wrestle at One Night Stand is a shock and is huge. Because nobody saw this happening. And that the match is against Lawler is perfect.
So I won't be able to watch it live as I'll be in Mississippi. But to Peter Senerchia (his real name). Choke Lawler out!
I never thought I would see the old-school, intense, no-nonsense Taz again. But it happened on Friday night. And I want to thank my small group leader Chris McElwee for cancelling my group so I could see it. So Chris if you're reading this (and quite frankly, who isn't?) Thanks.
Tazz was all emotion and anger on SmackDown. This attitude has not been seen from him since 2000 when Taz ruled ECW as its World Champion. Sources close to Tazz say he has been increasingly agitated in recent weeks since Raw analyst and wrestling icon Jerry the King Lawler began his barrage of attacks on ECW, calling it “extremely crappy wrestling” and disrespecting its legacy. It got personal this past Monday on RAW when Lawler focused his attacks to Tazz, saying “Tazz used to be tough, but now he’s just a joke-cracking King wannabe.”
Staring square into the camera, his eyes bulging, his top lip turned up in anger, Tazz removed his sunglasses and told Lawler, “This is very simple. You want to go out on Raw. You want to talk junk about me. You want to talk about me not being tough no more. You want to talk about me being washed up and trying to imitate you. Here's the deal my friend. This is simple. One Night Stand, you and I one on one. You show up, you get choked out! I guarantee it. As God as my witness I guarantee you. I got one left in me Lawler! I will choke your ass out at One Night Stand! Because I am Tazz. Beat me if you can old man! Survive if I let you!”
Let me tell you something. Every time Taz said "Beat me if you can! Survive if I let you!” in ECW you knew someone was about to get the hell beaten out of them. I remember from 1996-1999 when he was giving a promo, he could make your whole body shiver. He was that intense, that focused, and that capable of punishing you. He came out to the ring with a torn black towel draped over his head, adding a little darkness and mystery. Then he got in the ring. As he was being introduced he ripped the towel off his head and then the bell rang to start the match. He was a methodical wrestling machine with a full arsenal of suplexes and the choke out sleeper, the Tazmission. Oh and he's Italian and he's from Brooklyn!
Let's jump ahead. In the fall of 2001, about 7-8 months after Taz came to WWE, he came back from an arm injury, turned heel, and I knew at that some point something was different. No more torn towel over his head, no singlet, replaced by sunglasses, black pants, and a collared sleeveless work shirt. He was quickly pushed into a feud with the announcer Lawler, who then at Summer Slam, thanks to interference from announcer Jim Ross (yes that is correct), beat Tazz, essentially killing any hope for a successful WWE career.
He won the hardcore title a few times (this is when the title was changing literelly three or four times on each show) and the tag titles with Spike Dudley but shortly after they lost them, (about 2 1/2 years after he came in to WWE), Tazz' chronic neck problems forced him to retire. He swore he just would not wrestle again because he didn't know if he could go full speed, which makes total sense. For him to be wrestle at One Night Stand is a shock and is huge. Because nobody saw this happening. And that the match is against Lawler is perfect.
So I won't be able to watch it live as I'll be in Mississippi. But to Peter Senerchia (his real name). Choke Lawler out!
A change in plans
I feel as though my posts have been getting a little repetitive in terms of their topics. So I am going to try to add a little bit more variety in what I talk about on here from now on. As I allude into in my profile, I want this to be a good read for anyone who comes here. Whether I make you laugh, think, or maybe even ruffle your feathers, it's still all good, right?
But that'll have to happen later on. I have to work on the account for Coppin State University in Baltimore, and that will take most of the day.
But that'll have to happen later on. I have to work on the account for Coppin State University in Baltimore, and that will take most of the day.
Saturday, June 03, 2006
The disaster known as the NY Knicks becomes a comedy
The Knicks' train wreck almost became a literal car wreck yesterday between lame-duck head coach Larry Brown and his heir apparent, GM, Isiah Thomas.
I warn you that you can't make this stuff up.
In a pouring rainstorm, Brown gave another brief roadside interview after working out draft-eligible players, then tried pulling his gray Audi back onto a busy Westchester road. Brown slammed on the brakes as Thomas' silver Road Ranger came flying by. Thomas swerved left on the wet pavement out of the way. The vehicles missed each other by a wide margin but the symbolism was incredulous.
Thomas waved and flashed his brights to acknowledge the rain-soaked media throng. Thomas has not spoken since The Brown Watch began three weeks ago in which owner James Dolan is plotting Brown's ouster.
This franchise is so bad from the top down it's ridiculous.
I warn you that you can't make this stuff up.
In a pouring rainstorm, Brown gave another brief roadside interview after working out draft-eligible players, then tried pulling his gray Audi back onto a busy Westchester road. Brown slammed on the brakes as Thomas' silver Road Ranger came flying by. Thomas swerved left on the wet pavement out of the way. The vehicles missed each other by a wide margin but the symbolism was incredulous.
Thomas waved and flashed his brights to acknowledge the rain-soaked media throng. Thomas has not spoken since The Brown Watch began three weeks ago in which owner James Dolan is plotting Brown's ouster.
This franchise is so bad from the top down it's ridiculous.
Friday, June 02, 2006
He is coming back
My old homie from high school in New Jersey, Jason (Jay) Williams may finally be ready to return to the NBA. This is from ESPN.com.
Williams thinks he's ready to return to the NBA after sitting out three years while recovering from a motorcycle crash.
Williams, the former No. 2 NBA draft pick, is in Toronto working out for the Raptors, and likes what he sees in the young team and new general manager Bryan Colangelo.
"The thing I like about Toronto is the winning atmosphere," said Williams. "Guys want to win, guys want to be great players, and you can't say that about every franchise (Personal note: No sh** Sherlock!). They're definitely on the right path there to getting better.
"I love the style [Colangelo] brings to the team," he added. "We worked a lot pushing the ball, he wants to play that kind of fast tempo. And you've got guys like Chris Bosh on your wing and Mo Pete can stretch out the defense, and [Charlie] Villanueva can shoot the ball, the possibilities are exciting."
In June 2003, Williams crashed his new motorcycle into a light pole, fracturing his pelvis, tearing knee ligaments and damaging nerves in his left leg. He hasn't played in the NBA since.
The Chicago Bulls, who drafted Williams, honored one year of his contract even though he violated a standard clause. They waived him in February of 2004 after reaching a settlement on the remaining two years. The buyout was reportedly worth about $3 million.
Jim Kelly, the Raptors' director of player personnel, said while Williams is "very fit," it remains to be seen whether he's ready to return to the NBA.
"He's pressing for that, but to be honest, we haven't seen him in a full-court game," said Kelly.
Williams insists he's good to go.
"I actually think I'm ready to play now."
I really hope he is. He was one of the few good guys I knew at that school, my first two years of high school out east. I went to an all-white Catholic school in an all black and Indian neighborhood called Our Lady of the Courageous Caucasians. Anyway, Jay and I had English and History classes together. Besides it's not often I meet another person whose mom's name is Althea.
I actually had a chance to play basketball against him, though this was before freshman year and before I knew how good he was. We played in a summer league and our teams faced off for the title. There were 3 levels of play and somehow I snuck onto the top A league. I don't know how in the world it happened. The only things I remember doing well that week was playing hard and passing well. Although my squad won the regular season title, they beat us in the championship game. I think I guarded Jay on one play and though he didn't score on me, he did this fake move on me that was so ridiculous all I can remeber from it now is a blur.
I actually didn't do much for that team. I think in 5 games I touched the ball twice and that was only in the next to last game. But that wasn't as bad as another team. There was an all-black team with one white guy. They nicknamed him "Spot." No one ever passed him the ball. They claimed they couldn't see him in the daytime.
Williams thinks he's ready to return to the NBA after sitting out three years while recovering from a motorcycle crash.
Williams, the former No. 2 NBA draft pick, is in Toronto working out for the Raptors, and likes what he sees in the young team and new general manager Bryan Colangelo.
"The thing I like about Toronto is the winning atmosphere," said Williams. "Guys want to win, guys want to be great players, and you can't say that about every franchise (Personal note: No sh** Sherlock!). They're definitely on the right path there to getting better.
"I love the style [Colangelo] brings to the team," he added. "We worked a lot pushing the ball, he wants to play that kind of fast tempo. And you've got guys like Chris Bosh on your wing and Mo Pete can stretch out the defense, and [Charlie] Villanueva can shoot the ball, the possibilities are exciting."
In June 2003, Williams crashed his new motorcycle into a light pole, fracturing his pelvis, tearing knee ligaments and damaging nerves in his left leg. He hasn't played in the NBA since.
The Chicago Bulls, who drafted Williams, honored one year of his contract even though he violated a standard clause. They waived him in February of 2004 after reaching a settlement on the remaining two years. The buyout was reportedly worth about $3 million.
Jim Kelly, the Raptors' director of player personnel, said while Williams is "very fit," it remains to be seen whether he's ready to return to the NBA.
"He's pressing for that, but to be honest, we haven't seen him in a full-court game," said Kelly.
Williams insists he's good to go.
"I actually think I'm ready to play now."
I really hope he is. He was one of the few good guys I knew at that school, my first two years of high school out east. I went to an all-white Catholic school in an all black and Indian neighborhood called Our Lady of the Courageous Caucasians. Anyway, Jay and I had English and History classes together. Besides it's not often I meet another person whose mom's name is Althea.
I actually had a chance to play basketball against him, though this was before freshman year and before I knew how good he was. We played in a summer league and our teams faced off for the title. There were 3 levels of play and somehow I snuck onto the top A league. I don't know how in the world it happened. The only things I remember doing well that week was playing hard and passing well. Although my squad won the regular season title, they beat us in the championship game. I think I guarded Jay on one play and though he didn't score on me, he did this fake move on me that was so ridiculous all I can remeber from it now is a blur.
I actually didn't do much for that team. I think in 5 games I touched the ball twice and that was only in the next to last game. But that wasn't as bad as another team. There was an all-black team with one white guy. They nicknamed him "Spot." No one ever passed him the ball. They claimed they couldn't see him in the daytime.
Thursday, June 01, 2006
Check your spelling
The 79th National Spelling Bee is off and running in Washington, D.C. So here's ESPN's Sports Nation spelling bee. Below you will find 10 names or words from the sports world that would be considered challenging to spell. Following that are 10 more words among the list of possible words the actual Spelling Bee contestants may be asked to spell. These won't be nearly as recognizable. See how many of the 20 words you get right.
Now I've always been pretty good at spelling. I got 9 out of 20, 6 in the sports and 3 of the last 10. I answered 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 13, 14, and 18 right. The answers are listed below the questions.
1) Site of Stephen F. Austin State University in Texas...
Nacodoches
Nacodogches
Nacogdogches
Nacogdoches
2) Calgary Flames goaltender...
Mikka Kipprusoff
Miikka Kiprusoff
Miikka Kiprussoff
Mikka Kiprusoff
(I missed this one!)
3) Muscle-building anabolic steroid that Rafael Palmeiro tested positive for...
Stanzolol
Stanozolol
Stanozozol
Stanzozol
4) New York Jets wide receiver...
Lavernues Coles
Laverneus Coles
Laveranues Coles
Laveraneus Coles
(Only 16 percent got that one right!)
5) Boston Celtics center...
Michael Olowakandi
Michael Olawokandi
Michael Olowokandi
Michael Olawakandi
6) Center court at the French Open...
Court Philippe Chatrier
Court Phillippe Chartrier
Court Philippe Chartrier
Court Phillippe Chatrier
7) Broken bone above Barbaro's ankle...
Matatarsus
Metatarsus
Metatarsas
Metatarsis
8) Broken bone below Barbaro's ankle...
Falanxe
Phaylanx
Phalanxe
Phalanx
9) Oakland Athletics pitcher...
Justin Duchsherer
Justin Duchscherer
Justin Duchshearer
Justin Duchschearer
(The one good thing from having him on my fantasy team for 1 month!)
10) Professional golfer...
Carl Pettersson
Carl Petterson
Carl Petersson
Carl Peterson
11) A disorder of the arterioles of the exposed parts of the hands and feet intensified by exposure to cold and resulting in bluish mottled skin...
acrocynosis
acrosynosis
acrocyanosis
acrosyanosis
12) Having numerous or conspicuous modified leaves from which a flower rises...
bracteose
brachtiose
brachteose
bractiose
13) Photographs produced on a silver plate or silver-covered copper plate...
dauguerrotypes
daguerreotypes
daugerrotypes
daguerrotypes
(I admit this was a lucky guess)
14) Of, relating to, or resembling any of the numerous erect perennial leafy-stemmed bulbous herbs...
lileacious
lilliaceous
liliacious
liliaceous
15) The branch of medicine that deals with the anatomy, functions, pathology, and treatment of the eye...
opthamology
opthalmalogy
ophthalmology
ophthamology
16) Build a nest...
nodificate
nedificate
nudificate
nidificate
17) A powerful important personage; mogul...
paditia
padisia
padishah
podisia
18) Lawgiver; legislator...
thesmothete
thesmathete
thesthmathete
thesmatheit
19) Not guided or controlled by an internal sense of right or wrong; unscrupulous...
unconscientable
uncontionable
unconscionable
unconscienable
20) Financial resources; money
werewithal
werewhithal
wherewithal
wherewhithal
Answers:
If you got 10, well done in my book.
1 A 2 B 3 B 4 C 5 C 6 A 7 B 8D 9 B 10 A 11 C 12 A 13 B 14 D 15 C 16 D 17 C 18 A 19 C 20 C
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