Thursday, June 30, 2011

Thursday Reading

Jeremiah 45-48.


I had forgotten that yours and my favorite announcer was once on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

Yes, I'm sure SI would have preferred a solo shot of the Moon Man, but somehow Maris, McCarver, Gibson and Brock horned their way into the photo.

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Wednesday Reading

Jeremiah 41-44.


I called this a bad move a couple of months ago. Now the Cardinals have made a move. I knew this was coming last April, I just didn't think it would happen this soon.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Tuesday Reading

Jeremiah 37-40.


Sorry to hear about Lorenzo Charles. We were born the same year. I was a sophomore in college on his famous night, and still remember where I was sitting at the moment it all went down.

I must admit I didn't watch much of the game initially because I gave NC State no chance. After Houston-Louisville two nights earlier, which was what I thought at the time an epic clash for the title, I thought this game would be a rout.

Fortunately I saw most of the second half of what I think is the greatest college basketball game ever.

What makes the final scene even more incredible is the TV angle. Whittenburg's launch of a desperation shot is clearly off the mark. It makes one reasonably conclude this game is going to OT.

The camera follows the flight of the ball, which obviously has no chance to go in. Then, out of nowhere, Lorenzo Charles shockingly jumps up into the picture and finishes off the heavily favored Cougars.

After that, of course, there is the famous cut to coach Jim Valvano running on the court, another fortunate shot for the CBS crew that will live forever.

RIP. Both of you.


Monday, June 27, 2011

Monday Reading

Jeremiah 33-36.


This year's The Next Food Network Star is better because they've weeded out the people who have no chance pretty early. There is no clear cut favorite.

And what was up with that psycho Justin and his "I'm a cockroach" and "You can't kill me" comments? That's pretty creepy. I'm sure the Food Network is proud this guy was on one of their shows.

Anyway, there's only 10 contestants left on this show. And it won't be long before Hell's Kitchen and Design Star are back. Summer TV's heating up quickly.

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Weekend Reading

Jeremiah 25-32.


- Things are getting really ugly really fast with Pujols being gone for a week now. Of course, why do I act really surprised?

- There's a great post on the Augsburg Confession at Ask The Pastor. If you don't subscribe to his blog, you're missing a lot.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Friday Reading

Jeremiah 21-24.


I found out what injured Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright is doing with his summer. He is enjoying his time barbecuing.

He appeared on "Waino's World" (not to be confused with "Wayne's World") on the Cardinals Pregame radio show last night. And during his "show", he proceeded to smoke some ribs.

If you've never heard anyone cooking on the radio, you needn't worry. It's basically a guy talking and describing what he is going to do, then a cut to a couple hours later, where he describes what the food looks like and how tasty it is.

His food could have looked like crap, smelled like crap and tasted like crap and we'd never know.
At least on the Food Network you can see what's going on.

In fact, how do we know he was even cooking, because "cooking" on the radio is just a guy talking into the mike?

He could have done the whole show from his bathroom for all we know.

Heck, I could do that on this blog. For all you know.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Thursday Reading

Jeremiah 17-20.


Uhh...yes, this person is a world class athlete and used to play baseball!



But is it worse than this?


Or this?


Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Tuesday Reading

Jeremiah 13-16.


Well, this is it, summer is now here as is the longest day of the year. The days are going to be getting shorter again, which means in a couple of weeks it'll be dark again at 4:30 p.m.

Yep, winter is just around the corner.

It was nice while it lasted.


Monday, June 20, 2011

Monday Reading

Since I missed yesterday, better start out with Sunday's reading, which was Jeremiah 5-8. That means today is Jeremiah 9-12.


I don't ever remember the Cardinals being without Albert Pujols for more than a couple of weeks. He's been remarkably durable. Too bad Tony didn't have him at third in the 6th inning.

What little playoffs hope I had at the beginning of the season after Wainwright went down now seems pretty much lost. This is going to be like "the lost season".

That sounds pretty ridiculous, considering we're tied for first place. But whereas Wainwright only played once or twice a week, there's no hope to replace Pujols for 4-6 weeks and not miss him. This is going to hurt.

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Saturday Reading

Jeremiah 1-4.


Hadn't been to the St. Louis Zoo since 2004 until Thursday. It was the best weather I ever remember there. It was cool enough that the animals were actually active instead of sleeping in the shade like they have been on hotter days.

Anyway, got a lot of good pictures. The penguins were a hoot.

I missed the best shot of the day however. One of the tigers was approaching the other as I snapped this photo.



Unfortunately, I decided to change to video mode just as they took a swipe at one another and let out a nice roar. I thought I might have caught it, but alas I did not, so the video starts just afterward.



"Missed it by that much."


And, yes, they let me out of the zoo. Haha. Very funny.

Friday, June 17, 2011

Friday Reading

Isaiah 61-66.


Looks like some of my Asiatic lilies are ready to bloom. Seems like it gets earlier and earlier every year, though.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Wednesday Reading

Isaiah 57-60.


I need to get my reading and posting dates back in sync. Just been busy and tired.

Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals with Vancouver reminded me of 1994, when the Rangers finally won one after suffering through a "curse" for 54 years. It's funny, I've been a Rangers fan since I can remember, but after they won that year my interest in hockey went down. Not sure why.




Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Tuesday Reading

Isaiah 53-56.


If we have a Catholic channel, as well as all kinds of Evangelical/Pentecostal weirdness channels, why is there no Lutheran channel?

Monday, June 13, 2011

Monday Reading

Isaiah 49-52.


What a difference a couple of days makes. Either the cicadas are sleeping through the cooler weather, we're getting ready for wave #2...or the little critters are dying out. It's been much quieter the past 2 days.

Sunday Reading

Isaiah 45-48.


Like the almost everyone else, I am glad to see Miami lose. Maybe it can happen not just once, not twice, not just three times or four times or five times, not just six times or seven times.

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Saturday Reading

Isaiah 41-44.


I'm beginning to fear for the small trees and bushes in my yard. Cicadas are everywhere. There are several airborne each minute. I don't know how many of these are new ones and how many are just flying from place to place, but judging from the sound there are thousands of them out there.

There are definitely some wilting leaves on some branches in my yard. I'm blaming it on the cicadas.

Anybody know any good wasps?

Friday, June 10, 2011

Friday Reading

Isaiah 37-40.


Yet again, one thing led to another on YouTube tonight.

So I ended up with this. My two favorite songs off arguably the greatest soundtrack in movie history.





And to make it even better, this links to the last scenes of this movie, where both songs live in context.

Of course, Bill Conti must be credited for his wonderful creations.

Thursday, June 09, 2011

Thursday Reading

Isaiah 33-36.


Finally caught a lightning bug last night. I have to catch at least one every summer.

And I have a new favorite TV show. Renovation Realities on DIY. I love seeing
other folks get in way over their heads on a home improvement project. Although I've never tackled some of the things these people try to do on their own.

Like electrical work without cutting the power off. Or repeatedly cutting studs while framing a wall either too short or too long, until they've gone through the whole supply.

The meltdowns are pretty funny, too.

Wednesday, June 08, 2011

Wednesday Reading

Isaiah 29-32.


St. Louis-born former Cardinals pitcher Jerry Reuss has an interesting collection of photos on Flickr. He has a lot of uniform pictures that have been featured on Uni Watch. Now they've linked to Reuss's collection of old baseball score cards. It's definitely worth a look. I love the artwork.

Makes me wish I'd saved a lot more stuff when I was young.

Tuesday Reading

Isaiah 25-28.


Having a hard time finding lightning bugs this year. Usually by this time they are really out in large numbers.

Monday, June 06, 2011

Monday Reading

Isaiah 21-24.


Finally, Pujols is warming up. Last weekend was sure fun.

Sunday, June 05, 2011

Sunday Reading

Isaiah 17-20.


Woke up this morning and realized it was June 5th. I knew that date was associated with someone or something, and after I woke up a little more, realized I graduated from high school 30 years ago tonight.

Little did I know that 30 years later, on this same night, I'd be facing a huge decision in my life...NBA Finals or The Next Food Network Star?

Saturday, June 04, 2011

Saturday Reading

Isaiah 13-16.


The roar of the cicadas this afternoon was incredible. I could still hear them sitting inside with the air-conditioner going. The roar seemed to come in waves, the intensity waxing and waning every 5-10 seconds. I was going to record it but my camera was not working. It seems to have calmed down some tonight.

Despite my thinking this would be over soon, I heard tonight this could go on for a few weeks.

Friday Reading

Isaiah 9-12.


I'm a little psyched about this NFL lockout. If we have more free time this fall, we can turn our attention to Australian Rules Football. I really haven't been following in recent years.

Of course, if you're going to join me in following ARF, you have to root for Collingwood. Go Magpies!

Thursday, June 02, 2011

Thursday Reading

Isaiah 5-8.


I couldn't believe my eyes on tonight's episode of Illinois Gardener. They ate cicadas! Evidently you fry them in olive oil and season with garlic pepper and sea salt. They described them as both crispy and chewy.

At least I didn't hear anyone say they tasted like chicken. But they did seem to enjoy them.

Wednesday, June 01, 2011

Wednesday Reading

Isaiah 1-4.


This year a lot of things bloomed at the same time, such as the iris and peonies.

And I got white peonies this year. Since transplanting them around 4 years ago (due to poor location and no blooms at all), I had gotten only pink. So I was surprised by the white blooms this year.