Sunday, May 31, 2009

Pentecost Pronunciations

See, no sooner had I declared there should be a pronunciation bee to help us know how to pronounce words correctly, we had the perfect example of why on Pentecost Sunday.

The second scripture reading in church today was from the second chapter of Acts, naturally. In our church we read responsively verse by verse for this reading.

The pastor read verse 9, leaving the congregation to recite verse 10.

"
9Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome"

The problem, of course, is that no one was confident enough in their pronunciation abilities, meaning that as soon as pastor finished the word Asia there was a pause. Followed by a few muffled utterances that sounded like "ffrgia and pmmflia".

Until we got to Egypt. Everyone got that one right. Everyone blared that word out like nobody's business, like a collective thought of "I'll make up for it here". I found the whole situation quite comical.

Either teach us how to say uncommon words or don't make us speak them!

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Weekend Reading

Song of Solomon.


Kobe made it in.
Will Lebron make it also?
David Stern can't watch.

Friday, May 29, 2009

Friday Reading

Ecclesiastes 9-12.


Laodicean was the winning spelling word last night. I could have gotten that one. What they need to start doing at the same time as the spelling bee is having a "pronunciation bee". There are hundreds of Biblical words I'd like to know how to pronounce.

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Thursday Reading

Ecclesiastes 5-8.


I'm glad to be out of the Proverbs in a fleshly sense. They are difficult to read sometimes. I may have to read the same thing 2 or 3 times to make sure I understand what is being communicated.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Tuesday Reading

Proverbs 29-31.


I've seen enough of this team that it is clear the success of the Cardinals depends squarely on whether Chris Carpenter pitches the rest of the season. If he does we'll win. If he doesn't we won't.

Monday, May 25, 2009

How To Make The NHL Product A Major Sport Again

The past few years has seen a decline in the NHL as the "official" fourth major professional sports league. In fact, some people would now put the PGA and NASCAR ahead of it.

I usually hear someone blame the strike (or lockout or whatever it was) a few years ago. Or the fact that, outside of a select few times, you can't find games broadcast on major networks. Or that it is hard to follow on TV. All true.

But it seems to me the major problem is with the game's name- hockey. What is that? What does it mean? Does anyone know?

There is a simple solution. We have football as the #1 sport. Baseball is #2. Basketball #3. So shouldn't it follow that #4 should be another "ball" sport?

I propose changing the name of the sport to "hockeyball". Before you protest that hockey is played with a puck and not a ball, I would disagree. The puck is nothing more than a ball in disc form.

Does anyone really believe that a football is technically a ball in the strictest sense of the word? It, like the puck, is not a perfect sphere, either. So if that oddly shaped thing they play football with can be called a ball, then so can a puck be called a ball.

Easy fix. It's a good game. So change the name, and in a few years hockeyball will overtake basketball as sport #3.

Monday Reading

Proverbs 25-28.


The traditional Memorial Day Weekend rains have come. I thought this might be the year we don't get them, but no dice.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Around The First Turn

Traditionally, the 40 game mark in the baseball season is a good time to sit back and see what you've got this year. Injuries can still throw off projections, but by now teams have usually had winning streaks, losing streaks and a few DL visits here and there.

There are exceptions, but by now you can begin to believe that what you see is what you get. So who can be disappointed in the Cardinals' season so far?

If someone would have told me at the end of March that by Memorial Day we would have a record of 25-17, I'd have been ecstatic. And the reason is that, although I like our team, I have had serious doubts about it.

This is because of two facts:
- This is not a consistent team. Which is a product of our youthfulness most likely.
- We play in a pretty good division.

Here are reasons to think we'll get even better:
- We've done this with Chris Carpenter starting only 3 games so far this year.
- In addition to Carpenter, Troy Glaus has not played a single inning, and two of our starting outfielders, Ludwick and Ankiel, have missed considerable time.
- We have Albert Pujols.

We're projecting a 90+ win season right now. I honestly don't think we'll make it, but it should be an interesting summer once again.

Stoner Sport



They already gave us the X-games. Now they're invading traditional competition.

Here's a very funny Jim Rome take I saw on JRIB Thursday. Hat tip to Burn Monkey Burn for posting the video.


Weekend Reading

Proverbs 17-24.


It would be wild if the NBA finals ended up as an Orlando-Denver match up. The whole LeBron-Kobe thing may never happen.

Friday, May 22, 2009

Friday Reading

Proverbs 13-16.


It's always nice to sweep the Cubs. I think I heard it was the first time since 2006. Which was an interesting year. Let's hope we can get some injured people back and stay healthy.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Thursday Reading

Proverbs 9-12.


I'll pose the thought again. It's good to have Chris Carpenter back again. But for how long? I'm still not excited. He's too fragile.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Wednesday Reading

Proverbs 5-8.


Why do most pitchers wind up with a runner on third instead of the set position? Just a question I had with all the steals of home this year.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Tuesday Reading

Proverbs 1-4.


And now we've reached the down side to starting so many rookies- you start losing a few games. Looks like Carpenter is coming back tomorrow.

Monday, May 18, 2009

Monday Reading

Psalms 141-150.


These much longer days came up on us fast, or so it seems. It won't be long before the days will start getting shorter again.

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Weekend Reading

Psalms 120-140.


I heard on the abbreviated broadcast last night that 11 rookies have made their MLB debut this year on the Cardinals' roster, which leads the majors. Although injuries have something to do with it, I'm pretty impressed by that number. After years of having nothing but older players, this is a good sign.

Friday, May 15, 2009

Friday Reading

Psalm 119.


I'm definitely surprised about the triumph of Danny last night, although I'm not disappointed. I'm actually glad he did win.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Yes, Chef!

It's Fight Night.

Or "Go Time".

Or whatever other cliche you can think of that fits.

It's Danny v. Paula.

Poor Paula has all of Lacey's dead weight on her team. But I do expect she'll pull it out in the end. Danny is so young, and although an apparently talented chef, he's too "every man". I can't picture him running an upscale restaurant.

Tonight. 8 PM CDT. Fox.

Who's coming through the door? Be there to find out.

This Is Art

At least I think so. Another installment of our continuing series, with thanks to Art And The Bible.

It's funny how certain pictures grab one's eye, whereas it might not someone else's. But how can you not find this particular use of light spectacular?




I Know I Miss Out On A Lot

I used to use Bloglines to simplify my internet reading. Now I use Google Reader. Due to this, I usually just read posts because the comments aren't offered as part of the deal. Part of it is laziness, part of it forgetfulness, and part of it a lack of time, but I really don't check out the comments like I should.

And if your blog doesn't feed the entire post, I probably just skip over it unless the first few words grab my attention.

When I visit the actual blogs, sometimes I am fascinated by the number of comments I had no idea existed on a post.

Is there some way to fix this problem without having to physically visit each and every blog I read (which isn't going to happen)?

Thursday Reading

Psalms 111-118.


Ya gotta love Psalm 117.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Wednesday Reading

Psalms 106-110.


When did we arrive in the Twilight Zone? Because this ain't the United States I remember in the days of Ronnie.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Tuesday Reading

Psalms 101-105.


Conspiracy theorists, start working on this one- there have been several other uniform incidents this year for the Washington "Natinals". We're at 5 and counting. Who's the culprit? I know Bush is no longer in office, but will someone try to pin it on him?

Monday, May 11, 2009

Saturday, May 09, 2009

Weekend Reading

Psalms 71-90.


Plenty of sunshine. Have fun outdoors.

Friday, May 08, 2009

Friday Reading

Psalms 61-70.



Today is the annual "Smack Off" on Jim Rome's radio show. I've got my money on Iafrate or Silk for the win, but I have a feeling it might be the year for Joe in the OC. Anybody got Jay Mohr?

Thursday, May 07, 2009

Thursday Reading

Psalms 51-60.


Uni Watch is a gold mine of information. I learn so much from that site. Like the fact you can look at old Baseball Digests online.

Wednesday, May 06, 2009

Wednesday Reading

Psalms 41-50.


Happy Sexto de Mayo! Viva El Birdos! Errrrr...Viva Los Cardenales! Hat tip Uni Watch.

Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Tuesday Reading

Psalms 31-40.


Haikus are absent
from my blog so far this year.
Maybe I'll write more?

Monday, May 04, 2009

Monday Reading

Psalms 21-30.


Let's see if all that rain brings May flowers. And dandelions don't count.

Sunday, May 03, 2009

Friday, May 01, 2009

2009 Goals

The year is definitely in full swing.

We're flying through the Old Testament. I'm far ahead of where I thought I'd be at this time.

Right on schedule with my exercise goals. I'm at 8,290 push ups and 8,550 squats.

My posting is behind. Right now I'm at 138 through the end of April. I should be at 150.

I've got a lot of outdoor work to catch up on. Hopefully I can start some landscaping soon, but I've got to get all my new plants in the ground first.

So far so good this year. I'm going to catch up where I've fallen short and keep up where I'm on track, D.V.

Friday Reading

Job 37-40.


Anybody seen the sun?