Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Knock yourselves out...
I stumbled across this embeddable version of Guitar Hero III, and I decided to throw it on my blog.
So far I haven't been able to hit any notes. But maybe that's just me. If it's absolutely impossible, I'll take it back down. That would just annoy everyone who tried to actually play it. As funny as that might sound, I won't do that to you.
Have fun.
EDIT: I found out later that you have to hit ENTER while you hit the appropriate number key. Without hitting ENTER, you'll never hit a note. I played twice and my high score is 9500 on the first song. Now my fingers are tired, so I'm going to take a break.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Growling Tiger
Think of one thing that you're really good at. One thing.
Let's pretend that one thing is staring contests. You're the master of staring contests. Now let's say that all the best starers in the world get together for staring competitions. You have to stare over and over again for 4 day tournaments. And you're so good at staring that you beat all these other professional starers. And you do this regularly. And everyone expects you to win. Always.
Well, I'm realizing that staring contests was a horrible example. So hopefully you thought of something better that you're good at. Whatever that may be, the scenario above is what it would be like to be Tiger Woods.
PGA Tournaments pit all the best golfers in the world against each other, and they
play 4 rounds, or four days, of golf. And, obviously, in keeping with how golf is played, the lowest score at the end of the tournament wins. Everyone else doesn't lose; they place. The golfer with the second-lowest score finishes second. (And he still gets a lot of money.) And for many golfers, a top 5 finish would be the highlight of their career.
But when Tiger Woods finishes anything other than first, you'll notice sports gurus referring to it as a loss for Tiger Woods (I'm sure, as competitive as he is, Tiger sees it the same way). But I think the suggestion that a second-place finish be considered a loss, in a field of all the best players in the world, in a sport where strokes can be determined by fractions of an inch, is just absolutely absurd.
In golf, not winning is not the same thing as losing.
If Ernie Els finishes 9th, Vijay Singh winds up 5th, Mickelson shoots 3 under on the final day and heads to the clubhouse in 8th... none of those pros "lose." Yet Tiger Woods finished 5th last weekend, and all week people have been talking about Tiger Woods "losing."
Here's why:
Tiger Woods is the best athlete ever. Ever.
Yes, better than Michael Jordan. I said it.
No one has ever been as dominant in their sport as Tiger Woods is on a golf course.
Here's a few numbers for ya:
-Heading into last weekend's PGA tournament, Tiger had won the last 5 tournaments in which he played (including every one thus far in 2008).
-Tiger had finished first in 7 of his last 8 tournaments, with the one exception being a second place finish on September 3, 2007 (a "loss," clearly).
And remember, he is playing against the whole field. Of professionals. All it should take is for one player to play great golf, and Tiger would get edged out. But this rarely happens. It's truly remarkable. Woods is just that dominant.
Last weekend, when he didn't win...when he was edged out by fellow professionals...did Tiger tip his hat to them and say "nicely done, chaps"? (I think that's how golfers talk, right?)
No, Tiger, the greatest athlete ever, decided to blame his loss on the photographers.
Come again?
That's right, those photographers, believe it or not, were taking pictures of him. And he heard their cameras click when he was in the middle of his backswing on an approach shot. Apparently this made Tiger flinch, pulling him off the shot a little...and instead of landing on the green his ball nearly went in the water.
Immediately after this, Tiger turned to the crowd and yelled at the photographers:
"The next time anyone takes a ****ing picture, I'll break his ****ing neck!"
You might want to read that quote again.
Right now you're thinking, "Tiger Woods said that?"
Yeah, Tiger Woods said that.

When asked on Monday about his outburst, he said that it's happened 3 or 4 times this year (can you believe that? People have been taking pictures of him...), and he's made a bogey on three of those holes. Apparently after we learn that photographers have made him bogey 3 holes this year we're supposed to think, "Well it's a wonder he didn't threaten to break their necks before!"
I should pause to point out that one of the reasons Tiger is so good is that he is a fierce competitor. As a competitive person myself, I can think of times (too many times, actually) when I have been frustrated or annoyed in the middle of a competition, and I have done things and said things that were inappropriate. In fact, I'm not proud of this, and I hesitate to post it, but during a competition I once told a girl, "If you weren't a girl, I'd punch you in the face."
Yeah, I said that (and I was 21 years old at the time).
I'm pretty sure though, if I had been asked about it the next day, I wouldn't have tried to provide background information that would justify a desire to punch that girl in the face. I would have been able to say, with my head down, "Yeah, I shouldn't have said that."
Tiger, on the other hand, smiled his patented smile and justified his outburst by saying that it's now happened 3 or 4 times (surely that warrants breaking a cameraman's neck, right?). When the interviewer pushed harder to get Tiger to address the severity of his response, Tiger smiled (of course) and said, "You have no idea what's said out there all the time on the golf course."
Then he repeated:
"That one shot took momentum away."
So again he is justifying his outburst.
From where I'm sitting, I don't even care if he's right. If I had been playing that hole and a photographer's clicking camera made me flinch, stripping me of my momentum and costing me the tournament...I'd be hacked off, too.
But the next day, I could still say, "I shouldn't have responded that way." ("Why don't I just eat some hay. I can lie by the bay. I think I may. What do you say?")
Like it or not, cameramen will be there. For that matter, so will birds. And heaven forbid that one of those creatures of flight might coo or chirp at the wrong time in the upcoming Master's tournament...
As much as I love Michael Jordan, I now firmly believe that Tiger is the most dominant athlete I've ever seen. And his competitive nature is the thing that makes him great.
But instead of pointing to photographers for costing him the win, Tiger should still be able to tip his hat to the competition on those rare Sunday afternoons when someone else is receiving the over-sized check.
And he should definitely have enough class to admit that there is really no excuse for threatening to break necks on a golf course. Golf, after all, is a gentleman's sport. And as the greatest ever, Tiger should be able to win (and lose) like a gentleman.
--Thanks for reading
P.S. I eventually did apologize to the girl who I would have punched in the face if she hadn't been a girl. And for the record, we were playing a sport and she was cheating. And it destroyed my momentum. And it had happened 3 or 4 times. And...uh...she was asking for it...
Let's pretend that one thing is staring contests. You're the master of staring contests. Now let's say that all the best starers in the world get together for staring competitions. You have to stare over and over again for 4 day tournaments. And you're so good at staring that you beat all these other professional starers. And you do this regularly. And everyone expects you to win. Always.
Well, I'm realizing that staring contests was a horrible example. So hopefully you thought of something better that you're good at. Whatever that may be, the scenario above is what it would be like to be Tiger Woods.
PGA Tournaments pit all the best golfers in the world against each other, and they
play 4 rounds, or four days, of golf. And, obviously, in keeping with how golf is played, the lowest score at the end of the tournament wins. Everyone else doesn't lose; they place. The golfer with the second-lowest score finishes second. (And he still gets a lot of money.) And for many golfers, a top 5 finish would be the highlight of their career.But when Tiger Woods finishes anything other than first, you'll notice sports gurus referring to it as a loss for Tiger Woods (I'm sure, as competitive as he is, Tiger sees it the same way). But I think the suggestion that a second-place finish be considered a loss, in a field of all the best players in the world, in a sport where strokes can be determined by fractions of an inch, is just absolutely absurd.
In golf, not winning is not the same thing as losing.
If Ernie Els finishes 9th, Vijay Singh winds up 5th, Mickelson shoots 3 under on the final day and heads to the clubhouse in 8th... none of those pros "lose." Yet Tiger Woods finished 5th last weekend, and all week people have been talking about Tiger Woods "losing."
Here's why:
Tiger Woods is the best athlete ever. Ever.
Yes, better than Michael Jordan. I said it.
No one has ever been as dominant in their sport as Tiger Woods is on a golf course.
Here's a few numbers for ya:
-Heading into last weekend's PGA tournament, Tiger had won the last 5 tournaments in which he played (including every one thus far in 2008).
-Tiger had finished first in 7 of his last 8 tournaments, with the one exception being a second place finish on September 3, 2007 (a "loss," clearly).
And remember, he is playing against the whole field. Of professionals. All it should take is for one player to play great golf, and Tiger would get edged out. But this rarely happens. It's truly remarkable. Woods is just that dominant.
Last weekend, when he didn't win...when he was edged out by fellow professionals...did Tiger tip his hat to them and say "nicely done, chaps"? (I think that's how golfers talk, right?)
No, Tiger, the greatest athlete ever, decided to blame his loss on the photographers.
Come again?
That's right, those photographers, believe it or not, were taking pictures of him. And he heard their cameras click when he was in the middle of his backswing on an approach shot. Apparently this made Tiger flinch, pulling him off the shot a little...and instead of landing on the green his ball nearly went in the water.
Immediately after this, Tiger turned to the crowd and yelled at the photographers:

"The next time anyone takes a ****ing picture, I'll break his ****ing neck!"
You might want to read that quote again.
Right now you're thinking, "Tiger Woods said that?"
Yeah, Tiger Woods said that.

When asked on Monday about his outburst, he said that it's happened 3 or 4 times this year (can you believe that? People have been taking pictures of him...), and he's made a bogey on three of those holes. Apparently after we learn that photographers have made him bogey 3 holes this year we're supposed to think, "Well it's a wonder he didn't threaten to break their necks before!"
I should pause to point out that one of the reasons Tiger is so good is that he is a fierce competitor. As a competitive person myself, I can think of times (too many times, actually) when I have been frustrated or annoyed in the middle of a competition, and I have done things and said things that were inappropriate. In fact, I'm not proud of this, and I hesitate to post it, but during a competition I once told a girl, "If you weren't a girl, I'd punch you in the face."
Yeah, I said that (and I was 21 years old at the time).
I'm pretty sure though, if I had been asked about it the next day, I wouldn't have tried to provide background information that would justify a desire to punch that girl in the face. I would have been able to say, with my head down, "Yeah, I shouldn't have said that."
Tiger, on the other hand, smiled his patented smile and justified his outburst by saying that it's now happened 3 or 4 times (surely that warrants breaking a cameraman's neck, right?). When the interviewer pushed harder to get Tiger to address the severity of his response, Tiger smiled (of course) and said, "You have no idea what's said out there all the time on the golf course."
Then he repeated:
"That one shot took momentum away."
So again he is justifying his outburst.
From where I'm sitting, I don't even care if he's right. If I had been playing that hole and a photographer's clicking camera made me flinch, stripping me of my momentum and costing me the tournament...I'd be hacked off, too.
But the next day, I could still say, "I shouldn't have responded that way." ("Why don't I just eat some hay. I can lie by the bay. I think I may. What do you say?")
Like it or not, cameramen will be there. For that matter, so will birds. And heaven forbid that one of those creatures of flight might coo or chirp at the wrong time in the upcoming Master's tournament...
As much as I love Michael Jordan, I now firmly believe that Tiger is the most dominant athlete I've ever seen. And his competitive nature is the thing that makes him great.
But instead of pointing to photographers for costing him the win, Tiger should still be able to tip his hat to the competition on those rare Sunday afternoons when someone else is receiving the over-sized check.
And he should definitely have enough class to admit that there is really no excuse for threatening to break necks on a golf course. Golf, after all, is a gentleman's sport. And as the greatest ever, Tiger should be able to win (and lose) like a gentleman.
--Thanks for reading
P.S. I eventually did apologize to the girl who I would have punched in the face if she hadn't been a girl. And for the record, we were playing a sport and she was cheating. And it destroyed my momentum. And it had happened 3 or 4 times. And...uh...she was asking for it...
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
March Madness, Easter, and a Killer Robot
Warning: This is a hodgepodge. (On second thought, it's not really. But I'm not going to edit that out, because "hodgepodge" is a fun term.)
Looks like somebody at the calendar company should be losing their job. Easter in March? That's madness. Or "March Madness," more like it. (Picture me slapping my knee and making the I-think-I'm-so-funny face.)
I'm not thrilled about this new March/Easter arrangement. First of all, here in the suburbs of Chicago, they're predicting 6 inches of snow tomorrow. Easter eggs are not supposed to be hidden in snowdrifts. Unless you're from Canada. But Canadians don't celebrate Easter, so that's irrelevant. (What's that? They do?) Moving on...

The real reason I'm unhappy about Easter in March is that it conflicts with the NCAA tourney. Those who know me know that I love March Madness. Well, I also love spending Easter with my family. That's why I'll be driving to Ohio tonight...while the games are on TV. And that's why I'll be driving back to Illinois on Sunday...while the games are on TV. And then Saturday is my mom's birthday (while it always falls in the middle of March Madness, it usually lands a safe distance away from Easter festivities). So we'll be going out to eat to celebrate her birthday on Saturday night...while the games are on TV.
In short, due to this new March/Easter arrangement, I'll miss about three quarters of the first 2 rounds of March Madness. That's just plain sad. But, there is one thing that will make up for it:
Cadbury Mini-Eggs. The best candy ever made. (They recently introduced a Christmas version of these eggs--although the Christmas treats are not eggs, but balls--but somehow, even though they're the same candy, they don't taste as good as these eggs. But I digress...)
Even though I won't get to see much March Madness this weekend, I will have the chance to eat many Cadbury Mini Eggs. Or, I guess you could say I will be eating "Many-Eggs." (Picture me being disgusted by that terrible joke.)
Madness and Mini-Eggs aside, I'm really looking forward to going home to Ohio and spending time with family--mine and Barbie's.
Completely unrelated... a co-worker/friend/arch-nemesis of mine shared a link with me yesterday, and I feel compelled to pass it on.
As I read it yesterday, my emotions went through this progression: interested, incredulous, scared, impressed, and then very sad. Perhaps your experience will be similar:
Deadly Robot

On that note, I will wrap this up.
I hope you all have a happy Easter, and I hope you enjoy some (more than me) March Madness and some (less than me, I'm sure) Cadbury Mini-Eggs. And take a moment or two to think about just how unthinkable the Easter story was and is.
--Thanks for reading.
Looks like somebody at the calendar company should be losing their job. Easter in March? That's madness. Or "March Madness," more like it. (Picture me slapping my knee and making the I-think-I'm-so-funny face.)
I'm not thrilled about this new March/Easter arrangement. First of all, here in the suburbs of Chicago, they're predicting 6 inches of snow tomorrow. Easter eggs are not supposed to be hidden in snowdrifts. Unless you're from Canada. But Canadians don't celebrate Easter, so that's irrelevant. (What's that? They do?) Moving on...

The real reason I'm unhappy about Easter in March is that it conflicts with the NCAA tourney. Those who know me know that I love March Madness. Well, I also love spending Easter with my family. That's why I'll be driving to Ohio tonight...while the games are on TV. And that's why I'll be driving back to Illinois on Sunday...while the games are on TV. And then Saturday is my mom's birthday (while it always falls in the middle of March Madness, it usually lands a safe distance away from Easter festivities). So we'll be going out to eat to celebrate her birthday on Saturday night...while the games are on TV.
In short, due to this new March/Easter arrangement, I'll miss about three quarters of the first 2 rounds of March Madness. That's just plain sad. But, there is one thing that will make up for it:

Cadbury Mini-Eggs. The best candy ever made. (They recently introduced a Christmas version of these eggs--although the Christmas treats are not eggs, but balls--but somehow, even though they're the same candy, they don't taste as good as these eggs. But I digress...)
Even though I won't get to see much March Madness this weekend, I will have the chance to eat many Cadbury Mini Eggs. Or, I guess you could say I will be eating "Many-Eggs." (Picture me being disgusted by that terrible joke.)
Madness and Mini-Eggs aside, I'm really looking forward to going home to Ohio and spending time with family--mine and Barbie's.
Completely unrelated... a co-worker/friend/arch-nemesis of mine shared a link with me yesterday, and I feel compelled to pass it on.
As I read it yesterday, my emotions went through this progression: interested, incredulous, scared, impressed, and then very sad. Perhaps your experience will be similar:
Deadly Robot

On that note, I will wrap this up.
I hope you all have a happy Easter, and I hope you enjoy some (more than me) March Madness and some (less than me, I'm sure) Cadbury Mini-Eggs. And take a moment or two to think about just how unthinkable the Easter story was and is.
--Thanks for reading.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
In Cozumel...
Now that it's been nearly 6 months since Barbie and I got married, and over 5 months since we got back from our honeymoon in Cozumel, I decided it is finally time to post our pictures from the honeymoon.
I first tried to post these about 4 months ago, and about 3 times since, but I kept encountering formatting problems, and the pictures were overlapping... and it was frustrating.
I finally got motivated enough to sort it all out (I think). Here goes:

(Above: Pretty self-explanatory)

(Right: This is the bridge between the two pools at our resort. Under the bridge, there were dozens of turtles. Barbie liked to pretend to throw food to them so that they would open their mouths and flap their front feet out of the water, jockeying for a better position to snatch the food that she wasn't really providing.)
(Above: This picture isn't all that clear, but I'm not strangling her, if that's what you're thinking. I forget what this place was called, but this photo was taken at the beachfront restaurant at our resort. We ate lunch here almost every day.)
(Above: Relaxation Pool)

(Above: Out of something like 300 hold-the-camera-myself attempts, this was one of the few that turned out fairly well.)
(Left: I think we just got done eating a lot, although that could be true for most of our pictures.)
We spent one day at Xcaret (pronounced Sh-care-ette, because in Mayan, x's are pronounced "sh"), a hybrid park that is historical, zoo-like, and a natural waterpark. The park contains quite a few Mayan ruins, it is located alongside the ocean, and it is absolutely beautiful. We walked through caves, floated down underground rivers (that also went through caves), admired the Mayan ruins, and relaxed on the oceanfront beach. I highly recommend Xcaret to anyone who goes to Cozumel, Cancun, or anywhere else close to Playa del Carmen.
(Left: This is a picture of the underground river that Barbie and I floated down. We didn't actually take a picture of this, so I found this one online. Sorry it's not a great shot.)
(Above: Some of the Mayan ruins within Xcaret.)
(Above: Us standing by some of the Mayan Ruins at Xcaret.)
(Above: One of the many iguanas we saw while in Mexico. This was the best picture we took of one of them, probably because this was one of the few times I let Barbie have the camera.)
(Above: Another picture with the same iguana. This shows how big some of them were.)

(Above: This is where the underground rivers at Xcaret end. Just looking at this picture makes me want to go back right now.)
(Above: I think this picture was taken after dinner, and judgding by the reddish tint to our skin, I think it was our final night in Cozumel.)
(Above: One of the days we rented a jeep and drove all the way around the island. You can see a little bit of the lingering hurricane damage that Cozumel sustained.)
(Above: Barbie looking beautiful.)

(Above: I tried every night to get a good picture of the sunset. But clouds always seemed to appear at just the wrong time. This was the best I could manage.)
So those are the pics that I planned to post months ago. Now that I've finally overcome my formatting difficulties, I hope to get back to actually writing blogs again. We'll see.
--As always, thanks for reading.
I first tried to post these about 4 months ago, and about 3 times since, but I kept encountering formatting problems, and the pictures were overlapping... and it was frustrating.
I finally got motivated enough to sort it all out (I think). Here goes:
(Above: Pretty self-explanatory)
(Right: This is the bridge between the two pools at our resort. Under the bridge, there were dozens of turtles. Barbie liked to pretend to throw food to them so that they would open their mouths and flap their front feet out of the water, jockeying for a better position to snatch the food that she wasn't really providing.)
(Above: Out of something like 300 hold-the-camera-myself attempts, this was one of the few that turned out fairly well.)
We spent one day at Xcaret (pronounced Sh-care-ette, because in Mayan, x's are pronounced "sh"), a hybrid park that is historical, zoo-like, and a natural waterpark. The park contains quite a few Mayan ruins, it is located alongside the ocean, and it is absolutely beautiful. We walked through caves, floated down underground rivers (that also went through caves), admired the Mayan ruins, and relaxed on the oceanfront beach. I highly recommend Xcaret to anyone who goes to Cozumel, Cancun, or anywhere else close to Playa del Carmen.
(Left: This is a picture of the underground river that Barbie and I floated down. We didn't actually take a picture of this, so I found this one online. Sorry it's not a great shot.)(Above: This is where the underground rivers at Xcaret end. Just looking at this picture makes me want to go back right now.)
(Above: I tried every night to get a good picture of the sunset. But clouds always seemed to appear at just the wrong time. This was the best I could manage.)
So those are the pics that I planned to post months ago. Now that I've finally overcome my formatting difficulties, I hope to get back to actually writing blogs again. We'll see.
--As always, thanks for reading.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
What Really Dragged Dumbledore Out of the Closet?

If you've seen the news recently, you know the truth: legendary wizard and Hogwarts Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, is gay.
Yes, the war in Iraq is still going on. The entire Middle East continues to be on the verge of even more chaos. A couple days ago a child was shot in Chicago. He was ten years old and had gone to the store for candy. His friend heard the shots, then watched him hit the ground just as blood started running out of a hole in his neck. The gunmen got away and the police were left with no answers about why anyone would open fire on an innocent child.
Important as these things might sound, they clearly pale in comparison next to today's most important story:

Read all about it! J.K. Rowling reveals Dumbledore is gay!

Read all about it! J.K. Rowling reveals Dumbledore is gay!
I am a devoted fan of the Harry Potter series. The books are exceptional (the movies are pretty good, too), and J.K. Rowling is a great storyteller. Which is why this is so absurd.
J.K. knows how to tell a story; she knows how to captivate her readers. But her masterpiece was already complete, right down to the last period on the last page of her epilogue. So why thrust Dumbledore out of the closet now?
I have a theory...
As strange as I think it is that J.K. decided to "out" Dumbledore at this moment, I'll begin by saying that I'm glad she didn't try to work it into her series sooner. Doing so would have been a distraction from the story. (Anyone who says otherwise must be oblivious to the current response this simple statement has received. If it were announced in, oh let's say, book 3 that Dumbledore were gay, suddenly it would have been the main focus in that particular book.) It may not be fair or right that somebody's sexual preference provides such a distraction, but the truth is, it does. J.K. Rowling would know this. And that might be why she didn't include it earlier. But I don't think that's the real reason...Upon her completion of book 7, Rowling supposedly encountered criticism for the "heteronormativity" of her bestselling series (or so Alan Jacobs claimed in his review for the September/October issue of Books and Culture). When critics were unhappy that no gay couples were even briefly alluded to anywhere in the HP series, you'd think J.K. would either:
1) Immediately silence those critics by acknowledging that one of her most prominent characters is a homosexual
or
2) Never mention it and let the reader assume whatever he/she chooses
Why stay silent until this moment?
Like I said, I have a theory. But first I want to say that Rowling's outing of Dumbledore changes nothing for me. Sure, it might make some readers wonder about the kids who eagerly joined "Dumbledore's Army," perhaps attracting some pied piper allusions. And it will certainly evoke some ill-humor regarding Dumbledore's role as "Headmaster." Not to mention the inferences some might make regarding Dumbledore's brother and his infatuation with goats. But as distracting as these sentiments might be, the story itself is hardly altered.
But do I think Rowling has altered her role as the storyteller? Definitely. And for the worse.
If Dumbledore were a real person, I would not have a problem respecting him for his many admirable characteristics. Even though I am not a supporter of gay rights, I don't think we should paste a large "Homosexual!" label on someone as soon as they step out of the closet. Individuals are complex and ever-changing, and affixing labels (of any kind) will only hinder interaction with others.
But the rules are different for fictional characters. Labels work. Characters can't change drastically on a whim or the reader won't accept them. We expect our fictional characters to be true to the mold in which they were cast.
But Dumbledore's character was changed after the story was completed. And for this reason (not because he is a homosexual), I cringed when I heard this news. Dumbledore, fictional character that he is, is not a real man struggling with same-sex attraction. Nor is his homosexuality part of a writer revealing her story.
No, this is an epic story being hijacked by an agenda. Or an author pandering to one.
Because I have acquired so much respect for J.K. Rowling, I almost feel bad accusing her of this. But I must.
After completing her magnum opus, book sales (record-breaking as they were) were bound to decline. Fans' intense interest in Harry Potter, though it would renew a little bit with the release of the next two movies, was bound to dissipate. Unless...
Unless Rowling could say something to spark a new and profound interest...something that would make people want to read her novels again... something that would send readers searching for hidden meaning, shadowed themes, undertones... something that would keep Harry Potter in the forefront a little longer... and something that will sell a few more books (I'm sure her publisher wouldn't discourage this).
But what could she say that would elicit such a response?
Well, she could reveal that one of her characters is gay.
Perhaps J.K. planned this all along. Who knows? Initially I said that this last-ditch admission changed nothing for me. But maybe it does change things a bit. I loved it when Rowling surprised me while I was reading her books. But that was supposed to end with her epilogue, not with her rewriting her work from a podium in Carnegie Hall.
The epilogue was supposed to provide closure for her readers. But how much closure can readers feel when the author continues to reveal things about her characters that were never included in the books?
What next?
Is Hagrid Harry's real father?
What about Hermione? Where did her powers really come from?
Maybe Dobby was phony.
Was Snape secretly married? Did he endure a messy divorce?
Maybe Neville is in love with Hermione.
Maybe Lily and James Potter were potheads.
One thing I do know: If any of these were true, it wouldn't have merited a leading story on CNN. Maybe months ago when the Harry-hype was still in full swing, but not now.
But proclaim that one prominent character is gay and America will take notice.
I think Rowling knew that. And I think that's why she did it.
And I also think it's sad that we are so interested. With all the news stories of significantly greater importance, America is captivated by an old fictional wizard slinking out of the closet.
But then again, what news story am I writing about? What news story am I focusing on for this post?
When it comes to misplaced priorities, I'm just as guilty as the next American.
But shame on you, J.K. Rowling, for taking advantage of that. And even more so, for besmirching the beauty of your story in exchange for a little extra press coverage.
And some additional book sales. As if you need it.
As a fellow writer and a fan, I was proud that you planned to refrain from writing a Harry Potter follow-up set years after the end of book 7. I was glad that you knew when to close the book. When to let the story speak for itself. When to let the characters speak for themselves.
...and then you stepped to the microphone at Carnegie Hall and changed all of that.
I hope it was worth it.
--Thanks for Reading
Labels:
Dumbledore,
Harry Potter,
Homosexuality,
J.K. Rowling
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Strange Newness

I haven't posted in awhile, but I won't apologize for that. Getting married, going on a honeymoon, and then moving to a new apartment are pretty good reasons for being "too busy."
As I was sorting through my numerous blog ideas (in my head; I'm not organized enough to store ideas anywhere else), I decided I didn't want to address any of those yet. Since getting married and moving, I've found that I live in a very different world than I did 2 months ago when I last posted. I'm still getting accustomed to sharing life with someone else. We (Barbie and I) are still furnishing our first apartment together, and we're still unpacking. So every day our surroundings look just a little bit different.
With so much changing in my life, I've noticed myself taking a weird inventory: likes, dislikes, concerns, and interesting observations. Maybe it's because I'm trying to nail down my identity, the intricacies of my individuality, now that I'm united as "one" with someone else for the rest of my life. Or maybe not. Whatever the reason, these are some things I've recently noticed:
My commute used to be 2 minutes. Now that I drive a full 10 minutes every morning, I enjoy spending that time with my new friends on ESPN radio: Mike and Mike.
I don't like those credit card, phone plan, and perfume peddlers who harass me in shopping malls.
I miss being more actively involved in a ministry.
I like Kirk Herbstreit a lot.
How I Met Your Mother is a really good show--one of the funniest sitcoms I've seen in awhile.
I want to take more classes, preferably relating to psychology.
Waking up when the alarm goes off in the morning is a lot easier when there's someone in bed to prod me with a finger, elbow, or knee.
Fall smells better than any other season.
These guys make me nervous:

(AP Image)
Craig's List is a very helpful site. One that almost provided a free houseboat for Steve and me. But no dice. Not yet.
Speaking of lists, I think this one is long enough. After Barbie and I get settled in, I'll upload a few of our honeymoon pictures from Cozumel.
I know this was a pretty weak post, but thanks for reading it anyway.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Another Serious Post
I am busy this week working on 4 articles which all happen to be due on Friday. So I don't have time to tackle any of the more serious topics I hope to address in the near future.
But I wanted to give you something to check out in the meantime. I know I've posted a lot of videos lately, but this one is by far the best.
If you've ever played minesweeper, you need to check it out. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1770138
--Thanks for reading and watching
But I wanted to give you something to check out in the meantime. I know I've posted a lot of videos lately, but this one is by far the best.
If you've ever played minesweeper, you need to check it out. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1770138
--Thanks for reading and watching
Friday, August 17, 2007
More YouTubing
As promised, here is the latest YouTube video from Steve and me. This one is for a Best Buy contest in which the videos are supposed to show why we need them to "tech out" our dorm room. I hope you like it.
I'm including the link here so you can check out the competition, post comments, or rate our video. If we make the top 20, the rating starts on August 22. Here's the link:
Steve n' Tyler's Best Buy video
-Thanks for reading and watching
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Showing grace at the Border...
Judging by my title, some of you probably thought this post would be about immigration laws. But don't worry, I wouldn't waste your time with a petty political post; I'm nowhere near interested enough in politics to write one of those.
Instead I'm writing about a vital issue I am interested in, a matter of the utmost importance to me. That's right, I'm writing about food.
Here's the scene:
Sometime around 7:30 tonight I was about to walk into my apartment when I was seized by a sudden Taco Bell craving (of a magnitude I haven't experienced since college). So off I went.
I ordered an assortment of tacos and burritos that I was told amounted to $6.09. Let me deviate from my story for a moment to say there's one thing I hate about going through a drive-thru: trying to pull my wallet out of my back pocket. Especially when my seatbelt is fastened and I have to keep the clutch depressed and I know Chicago drivers will honk for no reason at all so I'm expecting a cacophony of car horns to erupt at any moment...
but, getting back to the story, tonight I didn't have to worry about any of that. Because I drove to Taco Bell without my wallet. Without the necessary $6.09.
I realized this sometime in that curve between ordering and arriving at the window. So I started digging feverishly through my change, extracting quarters and dimes, pushing pennies aside, hoping for some hidden Sacagawea dollars.
"That'll be $6.09," I heard the lady say when I, still hunched over the change in my center console, rolled slowly up to the window.
I looked over at her, my hands full of coins, and I said, "I'm sorry. I didn't realize I had forgotten my wallet. I can give you change, but you'll probably need to take some things off my order."
"How much do you have?"
"I don't know. Three, maybe four dollars." And I started counting again. I felt pathetic, by the way. But what else could I do? (There was a car or two behind me, but miraculously no one was honking yet.)
I was scraping bottom when I finally amassed an even $5.
"I have $5."
She held out her hand, took my mound of change, and then gave me my food. All of it.
I felt like I should at least give her everything I had left. "Do you want all my pennies?"
She laughed and said, "Don't worry about it."
So I drove away. And I did so with a prevailing sense of gratitude. (I still felt somewhat pathetic too.) I don't know if she had to contribute the $1.09 out of her own pockets (I hope not). I don't know if her boss would care, or if her boss will even know.
But it's not just about the money. Not only did she extend grace to me when she cancelled my debt (so to speak), but she also did it without reluctance. She didn't let out a massive sigh of displeasure, didn't frown at me, didn't start muttering about idiots who try to buy things without money.
She was patient. She accepted the best I had to offer. And concerning the rest of what I owed her, she simply said, "Don't worry about it."
And at the risk of sounding feminine, I want to stay that I was touched by her kindness. I felt the way I always do when strangers are unexpectedly generous. Or when they extend grace to me in times when I least expect it...like in the Taco Bell Drive-Thru.
I know I could turn this into a spiritual message, focusing on the cancellation of debts idea or another aspect of grace. But I don't think I need to be that direct. I think the message is already there. And you're smart enough to take something from it without me preaching at you.
Besides I just wanted to briefly share this story so you could 1) laugh at me for being an imbecile (or as Brian Regan might say, an "imbecilen") and 2) so you might be encouraged like I was, reminded that there are a lot of kind-hearted people in our world.
I'm am also challenged to be one of those kind-hearted people when I have a frustrating experience with a stranger. I should strive to be someone who can shrug off an inconvenience, someone who can smile at the other person and say without a hint of resentment, "Don't worry about it."
--Thanks for Reading
Instead I'm writing about a vital issue I am interested in, a matter of the utmost importance to me. That's right, I'm writing about food.
Here's the scene:
Sometime around 7:30 tonight I was about to walk into my apartment when I was seized by a sudden Taco Bell craving (of a magnitude I haven't experienced since college). So off I went.
I ordered an assortment of tacos and burritos that I was told amounted to $6.09. Let me deviate from my story for a moment to say there's one thing I hate about going through a drive-thru: trying to pull my wallet out of my back pocket. Especially when my seatbelt is fastened and I have to keep the clutch depressed and I know Chicago drivers will honk for no reason at all so I'm expecting a cacophony of car horns to erupt at any moment...
but, getting back to the story, tonight I didn't have to worry about any of that. Because I drove to Taco Bell without my wallet. Without the necessary $6.09.
I realized this sometime in that curve between ordering and arriving at the window. So I started digging feverishly through my change, extracting quarters and dimes, pushing pennies aside, hoping for some hidden Sacagawea dollars."That'll be $6.09," I heard the lady say when I, still hunched over the change in my center console, rolled slowly up to the window.
I looked over at her, my hands full of coins, and I said, "I'm sorry. I didn't realize I had forgotten my wallet. I can give you change, but you'll probably need to take some things off my order."
"How much do you have?"
"I don't know. Three, maybe four dollars." And I started counting again. I felt pathetic, by the way. But what else could I do? (There was a car or two behind me, but miraculously no one was honking yet.)
I was scraping bottom when I finally amassed an even $5.
"I have $5."
She held out her hand, took my mound of change, and then gave me my food. All of it.
I felt like I should at least give her everything I had left. "Do you want all my pennies?"
She laughed and said, "Don't worry about it."
So I drove away. And I did so with a prevailing sense of gratitude. (I still felt somewhat pathetic too.) I don't know if she had to contribute the $1.09 out of her own pockets (I hope not). I don't know if her boss would care, or if her boss will even know.
But it's not just about the money. Not only did she extend grace to me when she cancelled my debt (so to speak), but she also did it without reluctance. She didn't let out a massive sigh of displeasure, didn't frown at me, didn't start muttering about idiots who try to buy things without money.
She was patient. She accepted the best I had to offer. And concerning the rest of what I owed her, she simply said, "Don't worry about it."
And at the risk of sounding feminine, I want to stay that I was touched by her kindness. I felt the way I always do when strangers are unexpectedly generous. Or when they extend grace to me in times when I least expect it...like in the Taco Bell Drive-Thru.
I know I could turn this into a spiritual message, focusing on the cancellation of debts idea or another aspect of grace. But I don't think I need to be that direct. I think the message is already there. And you're smart enough to take something from it without me preaching at you.
Besides I just wanted to briefly share this story so you could 1) laugh at me for being an imbecile (or as Brian Regan might say, an "imbecilen") and 2) so you might be encouraged like I was, reminded that there are a lot of kind-hearted people in our world.
I'm am also challenged to be one of those kind-hearted people when I have a frustrating experience with a stranger. I should strive to be someone who can shrug off an inconvenience, someone who can smile at the other person and say without a hint of resentment, "Don't worry about it."
--Thanks for Reading
Monday, August 13, 2007
Current and Future Things

I'm going to begin with a little shameless self-promotion (I feel like I've been doing a lot of that lately).
Today, I had a book review featured on The Burnside Writer's Collective. In this article, I reviewed Anne Lamott's Grace (Eventually). For those interested, I've attached a link right here:
Review of Grace (Eventually)
I'd also like to apologize to anyone who reads my blog even somewhat regularly. I haven't been posting as routinely as I would like. And my content has been pretty shallow as of late. I plan to remedy this posthaste.
In the near future, I will be blogging on these topics:
1) How Old-Age Intersects the Eternal
2) How to Make Enemies, and Why We Should
3) Death and Two-Year-Olds
...and somewhere down the line, I will address homosexuality and the church's response.
Note: I reserve the right to post these in any order I choose, thereby rendering the above number system meaningless.
For those of you who prefer my shallow posts: Steve and I are set to film our second commercial tomorrow. (Sorry, no ketchup in this one.) When it's complete, I'll link to that too.
--Thanks for Reading
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Underwear, Youtube, and Michael Jordan
Sometimes I try to write things that are intellectually stimulating. Whether it's a book review, an examination of scripture, or a mildly profound pondering, I like to think, examine, and learn.
But I also like to laugh...
And the new Hanes' commercials featuring Cuba Gooding Jr. and Michael Jordan make me laugh.
If you know me, you are probably aware of my appreciation (okay, fine: my love) for Michael Jordan. That appreciation/love is part of the reason I think these commercials are so funny. But even if Michael Jordan
hasn't been your hero for 16 years, I think you'll still enjoy them.
I've only seen one of these aired on television...but that could be because I don't watch TV all that often.
Anyway, I hope you like them:
(Disclaimer: I'm linking to these commercials on YouTube, and YouTube videos become unavailable if they are removed for any reason. So if the links stop working, it was beyond my control.)
Commercial 1
Commercial 2
Commercial 3
And while I'm talking about commercials and youtube videos, I would be remiss not to mention that my friend Steve and I created our own commercial for part of a Heinz ketchup commercial contest.
The contest hasn't officially begun yet, but over 1700 entries are already viewable on YouTube (where else?).
Of course Steve and I would love to win the $57,000 first prize, or even the $5700 given to second through fifth place. But if we don't even make the top 15 (which is selected by a panel of judges before the two-week voting period can begin), we still had fun making the video.
It's not as good as the Hanes' spots featuring Michael Jordan, but hey, no one compares to MJ.
Anyway, I hope you like it.
Steve n' Tyler's Heinz Commercial
--Thanks for reading...and watching
But I also like to laugh...
And the new Hanes' commercials featuring Cuba Gooding Jr. and Michael Jordan make me laugh.
If you know me, you are probably aware of my appreciation (okay, fine: my love) for Michael Jordan. That appreciation/love is part of the reason I think these commercials are so funny. But even if Michael Jordan
hasn't been your hero for 16 years, I think you'll still enjoy them.I've only seen one of these aired on television...but that could be because I don't watch TV all that often.
Anyway, I hope you like them:
(Disclaimer: I'm linking to these commercials on YouTube, and YouTube videos become unavailable if they are removed for any reason. So if the links stop working, it was beyond my control.)
Commercial 1
Commercial 2
Commercial 3
And while I'm talking about commercials and youtube videos, I would be remiss not to mention that my friend Steve and I created our own commercial for part of a Heinz ketchup commercial contest.
The contest hasn't officially begun yet, but over 1700 entries are already viewable on YouTube (where else?).
Of course Steve and I would love to win the $57,000 first prize, or even the $5700 given to second through fifth place. But if we don't even make the top 15 (which is selected by a panel of judges before the two-week voting period can begin), we still had fun making the video.
It's not as good as the Hanes' spots featuring Michael Jordan, but hey, no one compares to MJ.
Anyway, I hope you like it.
Steve n' Tyler's Heinz Commercial
--Thanks for reading...and watching
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