Number of the Week

273,272 - my final ranking in the ESPN NCAA Basketball Tournament Challenge

Before the Final Four I was ranked in the millions, but fortunately I had three of the four final four teams in the FF, and I had Kansas winning the whole thing... though I had them beating UCLA in the final, not North Carolina.

Baseball's Unique Spectacle: Opening Day

SEAMS, BABY!

SEAMS!!!

RAMBO

Stallone revisits another of his iconic action heroes, ultimately to bring John Rambo full-circle and bid him good day... but not before he completely annihilates the Burmese army with a .50 caliber machine gun and a machete.
Motivated by the tug on hi...(read more)s last heart string by a sweet Christian missionary that he escorted into Burma with her team, Rambo is forced to accept himself for who he really is - the world's most perfect killing machine - as he returns upriver to rescue what remains of the missionary team after they are brutally captured and held prisoner.
After saving the day (there's really not much more to the story), Rambo returns to his home in Arizona, reminiscent of his initial stroll into the peaceful Oregon town in First Blood. As he approaches a beat-up, old, rusty mailbox the name on the side reads, R. Rambo - Rocky Rambo? Rambo Rambo? Who knows? We are left with the image of our noble, savage, battle-worn warrior returning to his roots as the peaceful theme of First Blood invites the credits to roll.
Bottom line: a LOT of killing; a LOT of blowing $#!+ up; and Stallone looks pretty stinkin' good for a senior citizen.
There is an underlying disturbing aspect to the film, however, and that's that the atrocities depicted in the film were not fabricated to develop the villain's character. Burma is one of the most war-torn, brutal environments on the planet, and nothing short of mass genocide is taking place there now. It gives this film (as opposed to the others' "Russians bad - Rambo Good; Vietnamese Bad - Killing Good) a sense of realistic relevance... something we haven't really engaged in the First Blood series until now.
If you have the stomach for it... meaning lots of exploding clouds of bloody red dust, and severed limbs, and innocent villagers being callously slaughtered... ok, if you have the stomach for that there is something wrong with you. The violence and one-sided domination of Rambo is actually almost humorous, bordering on the absurd... but what better way to say good-bye to our favorite ex-green beret-war vet-turned stick-fighting buddhist monk-repair man-rescuer?

LIVE FOR NOTHING or DIE FOR SOMETHING!

Immortalized on Canvas

About 10 months ago I met a great guy named David. He's a semi-pro skater and full-time missionary. David was part of the skate church here in Glasgow (Deeper), and is involved in planting other skate churches all over the world.

Two other friends (Dan & Carter) came over here to shoot some video footage of David's ministry, and we all got to spend some time together while they were here. Dan is a bit of an artist, and he painted this cool portrait of David and I sitting in Tinderbox enjoying some coffee and chat.

Isn't this cool? That's me on the right... I recognize the white cap and maroon sweatshirt. I don't think I've ever been the subject of painting before. I'm stoked! If it wasn't hanging in Carter's house right now I'd have Dan send it to me.