13 Best Cd's of 2008

13. Anberlin--New Surrender
12. Various Artists--Juno Soundtrack
11. Children 18:3--Children 18:3
10. Family Force 5--Dance or Die
9. Capital Lights--This is an Outrage
8. The Briggs--Come all You Madmen
7. This Beautiful Republic--Perceptions
6. Jack's Mannequin--The Glass Passenger
5. Search The City--A Fire so Big the Heavens Can See It
4. Sum 41--Underclass Hero
3. Flogging Molly--Float
2. Weezer--The Red Album
1. E for Explosion--Reinventing the Heartbeat

Top 13 Movies of 2008

I'm going to do a "Best of 2008" series over the next couple of days. I'll do the best movies, best cd's, and best books of 2008. Some of the movies may have been released in 2007, but I didn't see them until 2008. This is only my preferences.

13. Burn After Reading. I only put this one on there because it was one of the only movies that I saw in a theater. Brad Pitt did a great job, and the last 5 minutes were awesome. Other than that it was a disappointment. I usually like the Cohen Brothers movies. But this one had a lot of possibility, because it was a great idea, but it just didn't deliver.

12. Fireproof. Come on, it's got Kirk Cameron. Actually it was a pretty good movie. It was a feel good movie. It also made me want to be a fireman.

11. Tropic Thunder. It could have just been Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr., and it would have been worth it. They were hilarious. I just wish it hadn't been rated R.

10. Lars and The Real Woman. This was an awesome movie. It was so funny, and so happy. It was very weird though.

9. The Pirates who Don't Do Anything. We like the Veggie Tales and Parker loves them. It was a good story and had some good songs.

8. Juno. I liked this movie a lot. Jason Bateman is becoming one of my favorite actors, even though he was kinda jerky in this one. The slang from the kids got annoying in the beginning but it evened out after a while. But the story and the characters were great.

7. Kung Fu Panda. I think this was hilarious. Jack Black is funny even when you can't see his face. Plus it was a great story.

6. Iron Man. I know most people would make this number 1 or 2, and it was great, but there were a few I liked better. But it doesn't take away that I liked this movie a lot.

5. Cloverfield. I liked this movie a lot. I thought it was cool how it told the story. It was incomplete because it was from one guy's point of view, mostly. It had a lot of holes in it and it left a lot for conversation afterwards.

4. 21. This made me want to play Blackjack and go to MIT. I read the book first, which was way, way, way better than the movie. But, it was still a pretty cool movie.

3. Hancock. I thought this movie was awesome. Most super hero movies focus on the powers. This one focused more on his personality and the powers were a secondary component. Again, Jason Bateman was in it and had a cool role.

2. Dark Knight. I was skeptical of this movie at first with Heath Ledger being the Joker, but after watching it I became like everyone else who thinks he did an awesome job. This would have been a mediocre movie without him and his character.

1. My favorite movie of 2008 came out in 2007, but I didn't see it until January. It was "I am Legend." I loved this movie and could watch it over and over. I just like the idea of what would I do if I was the last person in a city and had to kill some zombies.



Runners Up: Dan in Real Life, Step-brothers
Movie I didn't like at all: Semi-Pro
Movies of 2008 that I hope I will never see: Mama Mia, Sex in the City

Parker...2 years later

We celebrated Parker's 2 year birthday on Monday. I can't believe he's already 2. Here are the my Top 13 favorite Parker moments.

1. One day I was getting him some breakfast and he came in and closed the refrigerator and started hopping around saying "woo hoo!" It was the first time I heard him say "woo hoo." It was hilarious.

2. One day I was playing with him, and I started jumping, and he would laugh and laugh. Then he started trying to jump. Now he just jumps around all the time. Anytime he's happy he jumps around.

3. Parker was in a school program and he was supposed to stand on a step, but he got bored and started walking around the stage and dancing and smiling at everybody.

4. One day he was jumping in his little jumper, and I was putting his car seat together. He was crying a little bit, and then I looked over at him, and he had pooped down his leg and was jumping up and down in it. I had to clean the poop out of his toenails.

5. When he started learning animals sounds. It's hilarious to see him roar like a bear or a dinosaur. Parker making a sound like a horse is hysterical.

6. At his birthday party, he figured out that he could jump into the pool and his floaties would keep him up. He must have climbed out and jumped into the pool 20 times, and every time he would yell, "YEA."

7. When he was a little baby, he would crawl over to me and fart in my face and crawl away laughing.

8. When he started talking back to the t.v. He mostly does in on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Veggie Tales. And anytime the credits start coming he says, "Bye bye" and "see ya later."

9. At his first birthday party we gave him a cake. He hadn't eaten any sugar really before that. At first he wasn't sure if he was going to like it and he put just a little bit in his hand and took a bite. And it was as if he discovered some kind of extraordinary greatness. He devoured that cake.

10. The first time he said "da da." At the time he was just making sounds so I'm still not sure if it was directed towards me, but I tell Suzy that he said "da da" first.

11. Every morning he wakes up, and I say "I love you" and he tries to say it back and gives me a hug.

12. The first time he held my finger the day he was born.

13. When I first got to hold him after they cleaned him on the day he was born. He was so little, and I felt like I could have tossed him through the ceiling when I lifted him because I wasn't expecting him to be so lite.

We really do have an awesome kid, and I know that we are blessed to have Parker in our lives. I just hope we don't screw him up.

13 Best College Team Nicknames

Here is my list of the best team names for colleges. Some have great names, others have common names that are just like everybody else's. Did you know there were 74 different colleges with the nickname Eagles. There are 47 tigers. So, these are unique, funny, or just interesting team names.

13. Tulsa Golden Hurricanes. The reason this team made the list is because there hasn't been a hurricane within 1500 miles of Tulsa. But it all seems to be o.k. because they added "golden" at the front that people forget Tulsa is no where near an ocean. By the way, it's interesting how many schools will add "golden" in front of their team name to make it a little bit better. "We're the Golden Toads." Yeah that makes it a lot better than just being The Toads. ("toads" is another fun word to say)

12. New England Noreasterns. They were going for the regional name. They even used the regional dialect to come up with this team. I think it would be fun to come up with cheers for this team.

11. Presbyterian Blue Hose. I don't know what this means, but I like it.

10. Amherst Lord Jeffs. It was named after some Lord Jeffrey. I wonder what the mascot looks like. The cheers for this school's team must be great too.

9. Lincoln Memorial Railsplitters. This is a unique name, and at the same time kinda strikes the fear into the heart of the opponent. They seem mean.

8. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Stags. I think "stags" is a good name for a team. It's a fun word to say and the ideas for cheers are infinite.

7. Kent State Golden Flashes. Again with the golden. There are 2 things I think of when I think of flash. One involves a camera. The other involves something else. What are they teaching these kids over there at Kent State.

6. St. Bonaventure Bonnies. You'd have to be tough to play for a team called the Bonnies. You'd have to be pretty tough to even suggest the name Bonnies to the group who was coming up with team's name. I would have loved to have seen the football coach's face when he found out that his team's name was the Bonnies.

5. Scottsdale Artichokes. Hey, our team name is something that you put on pizza.

4. Rhode Island School of Design Nads. "Nads" was a word we used for a specific part of our bodies when I was a kid, and these design kids decided to use that as their team name...and they got away with it. Somebody is out there chuckling every time they see the logo.

3. Campbell Fighting Camels. One, this college is named after me. Second, they became the camels because it almost sounds like Campbell. Camels aren't tough, so they added "fighting" in front of it to make them sound vicious.

2. Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys. OK, any team called the Wonder Boys is ok with me. I think it's hilarious.

1. Oklahoma Sooners. This is the best team name, because they are my favorite team. You may disagree with me on this one, but I don't care, you can make up your own list on your own blog.

Runners Up: Bluefield State Big Blues, Brooklyn Bridges, Central Missouri Mules, Delaware Fighting Blue Hens, Gustavus Adolphus Golden Gusties, Lebanon Valley Flying Dutchmen, MIT Engineers,

13 Best Rock-n-Roll Band Names

I really like music. There are a million bands out there and I think it's interesting to see how bands come up with their names. Some bands have boring names, like Dave Matthews Band (they're a great band, just a boring name). But others have super creative names, and here is my list of the Top 13.

13. Mark Needs a Chick. This was a punk band out of Dallas. I think the whole idea was to get this Mark guy a girl friend. They were Christians, and actually had a pretty cool sound. But you'd be super lucky to find any music from these guys anymore. They were around about 10 years ago.

12. Stunt Monkey. This is a punk band out of San Jose. Really, I like this name because it has "monkey" in it. They are a good band and have some great songs on their album. (The Arctic Monkeys could go here as well).

11. The Ataris. This name goes great with this band. They sing a lot about nostalgia things from when they were kids, from hooking up at the skating rink to watching Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. So naming themselves after an 80's gaming system goes along with these guys perfectly.

10. ...and they will know us by the trail of dead. I think this is a creative name, because usually you only have 2 or 3 words in a band's name, and this one has 1o. I'm not sure how they came up with it, but I think it's cool.

9. Big Head Todd. Every time I hear this band's name I get a little chuckle. I imagine a guy with an inflated head walking around saying, "Hi, I'm Todd." Todd's a funny name.

8. Weezer. Great name for a great band. These guys are the epitome of nerd rock. Rivers is the biggest nerd in rock-n-roll which makes him one of the coolest guys at the same time.

7. Me First and the Gimmie Gimmes. This is a band that only plays cover songs. All of the members are in other bands and this is their side project. I just think the name is awesome.

6. G Love and the Special Sauce. Doesn't just the name of this band make you want to go and download their album. These guys are a lot of fun, and they have a super fun name.

5. Big D and The Kids Table. Again, they just have a fun name. They have so much fun on stage too. It fits them.

4. Rage Against the Machine. Good name and it fits the band. These guys were always mad about something and tried to make music that helped make change. I didn't agree with them much of the time, but they did have a great band name. If these guys were called Bologna, I don't think anybody would have given them a chance.

3. Hoobastank. I think this is a fun word to say. They're never going to be taken as seriously as bands like U2 or even Green Day because of they're name, but still they chose a super-creative name that kinda actually fits them.

2. Scary Kids Scaring Kids. Another fun name. They're music is pretty similar to most other screamo bands out there, but their name is so great that they're doing pretty good. It makes you want to listen to them.

1. Sloppy Meateaters. This is a very forgettable band with an unforgettable name. I bought their cd just because I liked the name so much. I think this is the most creative name and that's why they get number 1.


Honorable Mentions: Guns-n-Roses, Five Iron Frenzy, Fourth Grade Nothing, Ghoti Hook, Save Ferris, Mad Caddies, Streetlight Manifesto, Nada Surf
I would like to hear from you guys who you think should be on this list. I know some of these bands are local bands many of you haven't heard of, so you can use local bands if you want.

13 Dumbest Professional Sport Team Names

I was watching Sportscenter the other day and I started thinking about how dumb some of the team names were. So I decided to compile a list of the worst names in professional sports. I chose from NFL, NBA, NHL, Major League Baseball and Major League Soccer. Here is what I came up with

13. Toronto Raptors. when I was a kid and they were teaching us about dinosaurs, we never learned about the raptors. We learned about brontosaurus, stegosaurus, triceratops, and tyrannosaurus rex, but never about raptors. Then Jurassic Park came out and suddenly everybody think the Raptor is the scariest dinosaur ever. Anyways, Toronto is not scary and they could have chosen a better name that wasn't so...Jurassic Park.

12. Nashville Predators. This is a group of animals that eat other animals. It's not specific. I think they were trying to think of something dangerous and came up with this. As far as dangerous things from Nashville, they could have come up with a better name, like the Nashville Dixie Chicks.

11. New Orleans Saints. I've been to New Orleans, and it seems to me that they took pride on being anything but saintly. Maybe they were going for ironic.

10. Philadelphia Phillies. Lets take the first few letters of our city's name and see if we can find another word that matches. If we did that with more cities, we could have the New York Newlyweds. We could have the Chicago Chinks. We could have the Seattle Searchers. I'm sure this could go on and on.

9. Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Reds. Let's just name our team after a color. I think these are the 2 least creative names in sports. "Ok, we gotta come up with a team name. What do you think we should name them?"
"Uh, uh, uh...how about Brown."
"Brilliant!"
(same conversation for Red)
Interesting that both of these teams are in Ohio.

8. LA Clippers. I don't know what a Clipper is. This team is always going to be overshadowed by the Lakers because of their name. They should come out with something like the LA Paparazzi. That's scary, and there will always be pictures.

7. Utah Jazz. What? When I think of Utah I don't think of Jazz. I think of Mormons and salt. I only know of one band that ever came out of Utah (The Used) and they weren't jazz. This would be like calling a team in Oklahoma City the Dolphins. The only dolphins in Oklahoma are made of plastic.

6. Houston Dynamo. This sounds like people were getting around and put in some words into a thesaurus and typed in power and found this word. I just think it sounds dumb. Let's just call them the Wonderboys instead.

5. Columbus Blue Jackets. This is a hockey team, and I'm not quite sure what they were going for. Well, it's hockey and it's cold out there on the ice, so people have to wear jackets. Bill has a blue one on, so let's go with Blue Jackets.

4. Ottawa Senators. This doesn't make sense to me at all. Maybe it's a Canadian thing. But why would there be senators in Ottawa. And even if that is where the government stuff happens, why would you name your team after elected officials. I just think it's a dumb name.

3. Anaheim Mighty Ducks. Why name your team after a kids movie. I know Disney owns the team and they made the movie, but I just think... "wow that's a sell-out name."

2. New York Red Bulls. It's bad enough that all the stadiums are named after corporations now, but now teams are starting to do that. I'm afraid this is going to be a rising trend. Next we'll have the Albuquerque Ex lax.

1. Houston Texans. I mean come on. This is a ridiculous name. If it was a high school team, maybe, but this is the NFL. Come up with a creative, vicious name. Especially when most of your team aren't even Texans. I like the Oilers better. Plus they had cool helmets. If this catches on, think of some of the other team names that will begin to happen. The Little Rock Arkansans. The Montgomery Alabamans. The Atlanta Georgians. The Providence Rhode Islanders. The Helena Montanans (or if Disney owns this team then it'll be the Hannah Montanans).

Runners Up: Green Bay Packers, Washington Nationals, San Antonio Spurs, Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, Boston Bruins.

Camp Tejas

I've been super busy the last couple of weeks, and haven't been able to keep up with the blog. I'll catch up over the next couple of days. I'm going to start with Camp Tejas. I went to the Kidz camp from August 5-9 as a counselor for some of the 5th grade boys. I only had a few of them. I do this every year to get to know some of the kids who are coming up to the 6th grade with us.
Here are my top 13 things that happened at Camp Tejas.

1. Silent Football. We played Silent Football almost every night. We had another church in our cabin who learned it with us, and it was super fun playing it with them.

2. Zack and Aaron were in my cabin. These were 2 of the youth who were helpers in my cabin. They both did a great job and were a ton of fun throughout the week.

3. The 5th Grade boys. These guys were pretty crazy, and I'm excited about them coming up. I had Logan, Josh, Jacob, Chris, Isaac, and Dusty in our cabin.

4. Logan winning the Robot competition. We had a robot dance competition, and Logan was the winner.

5. The Water Zip-Line. It was super-fun, and I made it all the way to the end, which made me pretty happy.

6. The Slide. They had an inflatable slide that went into the lake. Besides cutting my arm and hurting my knee (dang, I'm getting old) I had a great time on this slide. I was also the fastest in the cabin when we had a sliding tournament.

7. The Pool. The pool is awesome. It has a huge slide. It has a lazy river. It has a diving board. I think it's awesome when a fat guy can do a back flip, so I did those a lot. Plus I did many, many belly flops.

8. Black Light Night. One of the activities was a black light night where we played a bunch of games under some black lights. I put some sound to one of the videos, so I was glad to see that even though I wasn't super happy about the outcome. We had dancing competitions. It was a lot of fun.

9. Brian's Messages. Our Children's Pastor was the Camp Pastor and he does a great job communicating to the kids. He's a great story-teller and can put God's truth into the kids' heads by telling stories. Throughout the week, many kids accepted Christ.

10. Worship. Pastor Tim led worship, but he used Gideon and Emilio from the youth. It was awesome seeing those guys up there. Gideon even got to lead on a few songs.

11. Gideon shaved his head. He always had kinda shaggy hair. But one day something happened and he decided to shave it to the skin. It actually looks pretty good on him. His head did get sunburned though.

(While I'm writing this, Parker is pooping, and I guess he's struggling with it because his face is turning red and he's grunting. It's hilarious)

12. Canoeing and Kayaking. Aaron and Zack flipped their kayak. Chris and I went around the whole lake and it was just super fun.

13. Mud Night. This was my favorite part of the week. They have a huge dirt pit that they turned into mud. We played all kinds of games in the mud, like Simon Says. In one game I got buried. I was covered from hair to toe in mud. I love getting dirty, and this was so much fun.

Camp Tejas was a great week. We had so much fun and got to hang out with some great kids. We saw God do some great things in the kids' lives.

13 Best Things about my trip to North Carolina

This past weekend, I went to Boone, North Carolina for my friend's, Jay, wedding. Here are the 13 things that I liked best about it.

13. I got to eat a lot of cake. I got there on Thursday, which was Jay's birthday, and we had cake from then until after the wedding.

12. I read the entire book, "21: Bringing Down the House" on my way up there. I felt like I was getting away with something, because that was what the book was about. I kept an eye out for "the man" who was trying to catch me, even though I didn't do anything but read.

11. I met some cool people. Jimmy's girlfriend was super-cool. Jay's wife was super cool, and so was her family. One of Jay's friends from Denver, Josh was super-cool. He told us some stories about when he was in the war in Iraq. Crazy stuff.

10. Rock Band. One night a bunch of us played rock band until about 2 in the morning.

9. Messing up Jay's car. We wrote a bunch of stuff all over his windows and covered it with toilet paper and seran wrap. Because Jay and his wife are missionaries, I wrote "Missionary Position, here I come." And then I covered it with toilet paper. I thought Jay would read it later after he left and started to clean the car. Instead, he pulled off all the toilet paper and seran wrap before he left, which uncovered that window with the writing on it. Jay's dad is an old Southern Baptist preacher. He saw missionary and started reading it out loud, and then he kinda trailed off after he saw that position came after missionary. It was super-funny, but I was embarrassed a little bit too.

8. The food was great. I had some prime rib at the wedding. I had a steak at the rehearsal dinner. I had ribs the night before that.

7. Paintball. We played on Friday morning. I got a lot of kills, and only one welt. Jay and Josh had some big welts, which cracked me up.

6. The farts. Jimmy, Jay, and Josh ate something on Friday night that gave them gas all weekend. Josh had the second smelliest fart that has ever entered my nose. It was awful, but at the same time, very entertaining.

5. Listening to Jim Gaffigan. He's freakin' funny, and it's funnier listening to him with people who have never heard him.

4. We watched "The Best of Chris Farley" and it was awesome. I love the Japanese Game Show.

3. Hanging out with Jimmy. We don't get to see each other very often, but I have a great time talking with him and telling funny stories with him.

2. Hanging out with Jay. I never get to see this guy since he lives half-way around the world. He's hilarious. He's also the most passionate person I have ever met about building the Kingdom of God.

1. Jay's wedding. Jay has wanted to get married more than any other person I have ever met. He finally found the right girl. It was awesome being a part of it, and getting to hear the preacher say, "I now present to you Mr. and Mrs. Jay Pratt." And the crowd went wild.

13 People who should take Paula Abdul's place on American Idol

Last night I sat with Suzy as she watched American Idol. I hate this show. I actually hate almost all reality t.v. Suzy loves it, all of it. I end up seeing some of it because Suzy doesn't miss an episode. I think one thing I don't like about it is that Paula Abdul is an idiot. I get embarrassed for her when she gets up and starts dancing behind her chair. Everything she says is stupid. She tries hard and it comes out dumb. Paula Abdul didn't say anything helpful or intelligent. She sounds like a crazy homeless person. So, here are some other "has-beens" that I think could take her place and do a better job.

1. Brittney Spears--She's not going to say anything intelligent (because you have to have some intelligence) but at least we might get to see her get mad and pull out an umbrella and beat up Randy. "If you say 'dawg' one more time, I'm going to shave my head again!"

2. Debbie Gibson--I think she's going by Deborah now. I saw her in an interview the other day, and she didn't seem quite as drunk as Paula.

3. Tiffany--Then the contestants can start singing "I think we're Alone Now"

4. Tina Yothers--The little girl from Family Ties. She tried to sing in a band, so she knows a little bit about music. Plus she's kinda scary looking, so it could be like a car wreck, where you just can't look away. That could be good for ratings.

5. Peppa--From Salt n Peppa. I think it would be fun to hear Simon say "Peppa, what do you think?" and try to be serious when saying it.

6. Baby Spice--We can always use another English accent.

7. Belinda Carlisle--From the Go Go's.

8. Christina Aguilera--She's been performing since she was little, so we know she can't think for herself. So the American Idol people can tell her what to think, and then she can say it. She'll always be under their control.

9. Whitney Houston--I know some people don't think she's a has-been, but she definitely is. She hasn't come out with anything in years except for a cocaine addiction. This will add some drama to the show, because Bobby will try out in every city trying to rekindle his "singing" career.

10. Brody Armstrong--She's the wife of Tim Armstrong of Rancid. She was in the Distillers. She never got that big, but she's tattooed all over and has the punk rock attitude. She'll speak her mind, and I think she's as funny as anything.

11. Courtney Love--If they really want some melt-downs, she's the one that could do it. She'll never say anything intelligent because the drugs ate up 97% of her brain years ago. I'm surprised she can function at all. But she could definitely give Simon some heartburn by having to sit next to her and listen to her dribble all day. This would be funny just to see how Simon handles her.

12. Gloria Estephan--She's got that Latin attitude. Every interview I've seen her in, she seems to be intelligent, and she's actually had a career that lasted more than 1 album. Unlike the first 11, she would actually add something to the show besides drama and more stupid talk.

13. Jessica Simpson--She still won't say anything good, but at least she's prettier than Paula.


Here's a video of Paula at a time when I was embarrassed for her because of how stupid she looked and sounded.

13 Things I would do if I won the lottery

I don't even play the lottery, so for me to win, I would have to find a ticket, or maybe Suzy would buy one on a whim. But right now it's up over 100 million dollars, and it's fun to think about what to do if you had that kind of money.

1. Build a Library for my college. I went to a small college in Arkansas and the library was awful. It didn't have anything, and the books it did have were super-old. I would love to give them a state of the art library. I would also build them a big fountain in front of it because I think every college should have a fountain somewhere on the premises.

2. Build a school in Thailand for former girls who were in slavery. I don't know how much this would be, but I think it would be worth it. I would love to give some these girls a chance to come out of that life and break some family cycles.

3. Travel. I would go to Ireland and Australia. I still don't think I could stay in a $500 a night hotel, even with that kind of money. I think I would still feel funny about it.

4. Buy a house in Marin County, California. I think this is where I would love to retire if I could. It's beautiful there. Sure, there's a lot of weird stuff there, but that makes it interesting.

5. Help Suzy's sister start her own bakery. She's a pastry chef, a mighty good one at that, and it would be cool to help her with that. Plus I'd let her make me carrot cake a lot. Mmmm. Carrot Cake.

6. Help my brother and his kids out a little bit. He jumped in to a family head first getting 2 kids almost immediately after getting married, which is great, but I think they could use a little bit of a buffer in their bank account. As long as he doesn't spend it all on chimichangas.

7. Adopt a few kids. I would love to have a ton of kids, especially ones from third world countries. I think it's cool to be able give somebody a totally different direction in life by giving them a family who cares as well as a family who could provide education and resources they couldn't get. Hopefully, it would protect them from a hard life, and then they can go on and make a deeper impact in their community as adults. Did you know the guitarist from Korn became a Christian and this is something he did. He adopted a lot of kids to give them a better life.

8. I would like to buy a VW bus from 1967-1976. I would restore it and make it awesome. This would be the only car I would buy. I like my Expedition, and I don't need to get any super expensive car for the name of it. Plus I get so mad at people who drive BMW's and super expensive cars because they drive like they own the road. They cut people off more than anybody.

9. I'd help support some of my friends who are missionaries. I know they have a hard time raising money for specific projects they want to do. It would be cool to help them spread the love of God throughout the world.

10. I would adopt a village in Africa. For $10,000 you can adopt a village in Africa through World Vision. This helps them get animals for farming, clean water, medicine, clothing, and education.

11. I'd send Suzy's parents on a trip. They help us a lot, and I don't think they get back to Korea or Japan as much as they would like to see their family. It would be fun to help them out with that.

12. I'd pay off all of our debts. This would be a relief off of Suzy.

13. I'd have a big ol' party, and have Flatfoot 56 come and play at it and have In & Out cater it.

Hopefully, if I ever won the lottery, I wouldn't change that much. I don't think I would need to buy super-expensive things. I don't think I would move into a super-big house. I would like to live life normally, and give a lot of it away to things that Suzy and I believe in and would like to support.

13 Reasons I hate Driving in San Antonio

I just got back from lunch, and I had to drive all the way to the East side. I got by some of the worst drivers ever. I read an article a few months ago that said San Antonio had the worst drivers in the city...and I believe it. This is why I decided to do this post...while my road rage is still fresh.



1. The highway system is stupid. A lot of the interstates and major highways don't connect. Instead you have to exit and stay on access roads to get from one highway to the other. Somebody wasn't thinking or they were just too lazy to do anything about it.

2. Access Roads. Anytime you get off a highway there is an access road. They only go one way. So if you're not exactly sure where you are going, you miss what you are looking for. Then you have to drive 2 miles, do a turn-a-round, and come back to do it again. I think oil companies own most of San Antonio, because people are burning thousands of gallons of gas doing turn-a-rounds for missing their exit.

3. People don't use their blinker. I've never experienced anything like it. Nobody in San Antonio ever uses a blinker. I guess they assume people will just make space for them.

4. Drivers don't know how to enter a highway. When you are entering a highway, they give you an entrance ramp to get up to speed. Usually, the highway speed limit is 65 or 70 mph. People go 40 mph on the entrance ramp and then try to jump over onto the highway. This makes me want to shove something into their muffler if you know what I mean (actually, I don't even know what I mean).

5. Drivers who don't know how to exit a highway. The same as above, but opposite. People begin slowing down a half a mile before the exit comes up...with no blinker. Pretty soon the whole lane is doing 50 because some moron isn't sure how to slow down on the exit ramp.

6. People cut other drivers off. I know this happens everywhere, but I've never seen it so bad as in San Antonio. People don't even look, they just come over. If there is half a car length space in another lane, they come over. No blinker, no look, they just steer into your lane like an idiot. Then flip you the finger for being on their bumper. I'll give you a finger...right in your eye socket.

7. Drivers who wait till the last second to jump in front of you at a turn only lane. This happens all the time. There will be a long line of cars waiting to turn right onto another access road. Some moron, usually in a BMW, comes up and jumps right in front of somebody at the last minute. To me this should be punished by death.

8. Drivers who get in the fast lane and drive slower than the other lane. If you're getting passed by the inside lane, then move over. I think you should be going 5 mph over the limit in the fast lane. If you want to go slower, stay on the access road. (My road rage is increasing as I write this blog).

9. Drivers who don't know the difference between a Yield sign and a Merge sign. Because of the one way access roads all over this freakin' city, there are a million yield sign. I think I'm the only person in this city who abides by them. I'll be coming off the highway at 70 mph, and somebody going 32 misses the yield sign and jumps in front of me. I slam on my brakes and they look at me as if I just ate a baby. I want to say, "You're the one who ate the baby, dill weed!"

10. Drivers who see that you are trying to pull out from a parking lot, and then they change lanes into the inside lane right in front of you so you can't pull out. This is infuriating. They see me trying to pull out, and then they change lanes right in front of me, instead of waiting 2 and a half seconds until they have passed me, which would give me ample amounts of time to get out.

11. Trucks. Trucks are the reason that traffic gets backed up. They do all of the bad things that everybody else does, but they do it slowly. They will block up all the lanes and never pass each other. I think it should be illegal to drive a truck on the highway in the city.

12. Every time it rains, it's as if it's the first time anybody has ever seen water come from the sky. "Oh my, water from the sky. What should we do. Let's drive 40 mph under the speed limit. Oh, these things on my windshield are to pull the rain away. I always wondered what that stick was for by my steering wheel." It really doesn't rain here that often, but come on, it's never raining hard, you can still drive normal.

13. Rednecks. Let's just blame rednecks for all the problems of our world...especially driving.

13 Things I want to do before I die

1. Skydive. I know this will probably be the thing that kills me. Even thinking about it kinda makes me anxious. My luck, the parachute won't open, and I'll be one of those people who bounce twice and live to tell about it...from a wheelchair that I have to move with my mouth

2. Build a tree house. I would have to definitely get some help on this because I'm about as handy as a donkey. But it would be fun to build a super cool tree house, like the one in the movie "Jack" or "The Sandlot."

3. Hunt a Grizzly bear. I'm going to go to Alaska and hunt a Grizzly. I'm not going after deer, ducks or squirrels...I want something that, if I miss, will kill me. If it does attack me, then I'm going to try to stab it in the eye with a stick and kill it with my bare hands (get it...bare hands. Hilarious).

4. Run a marathon. Just kidding. I think I can make it through my life without ever putting myself through that. A marathon seems more like torture than fun to me. Plus, it would take me a week and a half to run 26 miles. I don't think I can get that much time off work.

5. Be on David Letterman. I don't know why he would ask me, but I think it would be fun to be a guest on his show. Maybe if I kill a bear with my bare hands he'll ask me to be on his show.

6. Go into outer space. Maybe in the future, trips to outer space will be a lot cheaper and I could afford to go. "Forget about Italy, I'm going to the moon," I'll say.

7. Write a book. I get ideas, but I never follow-through. I started a book called, "Don't eat the Meatballs." I've been thinking about another book called "Replaceable." I just don't ever finish them, so I don't know how they turn out.

8. Be on the news for witnessing something historical. I don't want to be on the news for doing it, unless it's good (but usually the news can care less about the good stuff and only focus on horrible tragedies). Maybe I'll get to see a lion escape from a zoo and kill some penguins on something. ( I realize that's not historical, so maybe the lion can attack Hilary Clinton...she doesn't have to die or anything, maybe the lion will just lick her and tickle her, and I'll get to laugh because the lion is tickling her so hard...but deep down, I'd be concerned).

9. Go on a safari. I want to see monkeys and hippos in the wild.

10. Go to as many MLB stadiums and watch a game as possible. So far, I've got 3. I think I have 29 to go.

11. Learn to play the guitar well. I know the chords, but getting my fingers to go where I tell them to is another thing altogether. My fingers are all toddlers when it comes to the guitar. They go wherever they want with no rhyme or reason, just like Parker. This morning the kid was trying to climb into the dishwasher. I kept telling him to get out of there. He doesn't listen, just like when I tell my fingers to go somewhere on the guitar.

12. Adopt a kid. I want to adopt a bunch of kids, preferably after they have been potty-trained. I'd like to get a kid from Africa, a girl from Asia (to protect her from what a lot of girls without families have to go through there) and some foster kids from the US who nobody really wants. My heart dies when I think about kids who are unwanted. I wish I could take care of them all.

13. Learn to surf. Of course we'd have to move back to the West Coast near the ocean. It was a lot of fun, and I think if I worked at it, I could do it. Plus it's a workout and a half. I was so tired after it was all over from paddling out and trying to get over the waves. Some people make it look so easy. I make it look as hard as it really is. Also, I make getting in and out of wetsuit look as hard as it really is too. I struggle at it.

13 Days I Wish I could relive over again

This is going to be a list of days that I wish I could experience one more time. Some of them are going to be because they were so great that I just would love that experience again. Some of them are because there is something that I would like to change about that day.

1. The day we finally beat the Stingers in soccer. The Stingers were my arch enemies when I was a kid playing soccer. I played against them every year from when I was 6 to 12. When I was 11, on Halloween, we finally beat them 2-1. Then I went trick-o-treating with some friends off my team. It was the best day ever (at least to that point).

2-4. The days I graduated. This includes high school, college, and seminary. They were just such fun days. I liked walking across the stage. It was fun to have the cap and gown. It was cool to have a ceremony for all the hard work and studying that I did (even though I didn't do hardly any work or studying in high school).

5. The day I sprained my ankle on the snowmobile accident. I would relive this day to prevent me from flipping the snowmobile. I was showing off to some friends and almost ran into a tree. Instead of letting off the gas, I just jumped off the snowmobile. I'm an idiot. It was fun day with a couple of my best friends, Jay and Jimmy, and then I had to go and hurt myself super bad.

6. Parker's Birthday. It was a fun and exciting day. I mean the delivery was pretty disgusting, and I almost passed out, but after that, getting to hold Parker and seeing him for the first time, was amazing. I can't explain it. I had a lot of friends there too, who just happened to be visiting us. Suzy had a bunch of friends that came out. It was a fun day. Plus I would be able to tell the doctor to do a better job, and hopefully Suzy wouldn't have gotten sick and been in ICU for the next 2 weeks.

7. One day Suzy and I had nothing to do. We were sitting there in her apartment one Saturday, and we couldn't come up with anything that would be fun. So I suggested we drive up to Oregon. So, we borrowed her roommate's convertible, and drove up to Oregon. It took us about 6 hours to get there, then we ate dinner, and drove back. It was fun driving through some of the most beautiful parts of the country, right along the California Coast. Suzy and I had a great time that day.

8. The day I decided to get my hair styled curly. I didn't have much money, so I went to the beauty college. The guy butchered my hair and gave me a Jerri-curl (not sure how to spell it). I told him I didn't want old woman little curls. I want a white boy fro like the guitarist of Incubus. Instead I got old lady curls and it was bleach blond. I just saw a picture of it last week, and there are a lot of times in my life when I thought I looked bad...This one takes the cake, with a brownie on the side. It was awful. Then instead of shaving my head, I kept it until my hair grew out enough for me to cut it and it look somewhat ok.

9. In college I went to see a couple of bands: Chevelle, Fold Zandura, and The Insyderz. Chevelle was great, and this was their 2nd show outside of Michigan. Nobody knew who they were yet. Fold Zandura was awesome, and I met some random girl and danced with her. Then The Insyderz were freakin' amazing, and during my favorite song, "Sacrifice," they pulled me up onto stage to sing with them. It was a good day.

10. The day I drove into San Francisco. It was raining. I saw the ocean. Everything was so cool. My first impression of San Francisco was beauty. I felt at home.

11. My brother's wedding. I married them, but I called his wife the wrong name. I would go back and call her the right name. But in my defense...I had only met her one time, the day before. But I feel real bad about that.

12. The day Ryan and I went surfing in San Diego. We had just flown into town and went and ate at the In & Out. Ryan is so much fun, and we were just joking around and having a good time. I looked ridiculous in the wet suit. It was exhausting, but it was still a super fun day. Then we went and ate at some place right on the ocean.

13. Suzy and my wedding day. I was upset with Suzy for most of the morning, but when I saw her, it all pretty much went away. She was beautiful. All of our friends were there. We ate a lot of Korean BBQ (even though it wasn't the good stuff). It was a fun day.

13 Last Meals

If it came to the place where I knew that I only had a few days to live, and I only had 13 meals left to eat, here would be what I would order. I'm going to count down on this one from my 13th meal to my final meal.

13. Vegetarian Quesadilla from Taqueria El Castillo. -->

12. Pepperoni Pizza from Zachary's Pizza.

11. Fajitas

10. Lasagna

9. Chili Dogs and tater tots.

8. Kalbi and Bulgogi--no rice, just meat

7. Ribs, w/ potato salad and baked beans

6. My Special Chili

5. Hawaiian BBQ from L&L's.

4. Chicken Fried Steak Sandwich from The Chuck House, w/ tater tots

3. Spaghetti

2. Vegetarian Quesadilla from Taqueria El Castilla

1. Macaroni and Cheese w/ Chicken Strips.

13 Places I want to Visit

I love traveling and seeing new places. Here are my Top 13 places that I would love to visit.

1. Ireland--I think it would be fun to go to a pub and watch a soccer game. I hear they get pretty intense. I'll drink some water and sing songs with the drunk Irish people as we yell for whatever soccer team is playing. I'm sure they'll be invested in the outcome of the game way more than I will be.

2. Australia--A few years ago I had a guy come and stay with me from Perth. His mom had e-mailed me if I knew of any cheap places he could stay, and I said he could stay on my couch, and so he did. He was so cool and we hit it off quickly. I'd like to go and see Australia and visit him. And maybe we could catch a kangaroo.



3. Brazil--I just think South America would be cool to visit, and it'd be fun to see the Amazon. I like monkeys.






4. Italy--I want to see all the ancient Roman stuff. I want to eat good spaghetti.








5. England--I want to see if I can get those guards who can't move to move and recognize that I am there. I think I'll see if I can back as close to them with my butt without touching them...and see if that'll do it. If not, maybe I could fart real loud. I think even British people would think a fart is funny.


6. Amsterdam--Not to smoke pot or go to the Red light District, it just seems like a cool place to go. I also like windmills and wooden shoes.





7. Turkey--2 things. I have a friend, Mudd, who lives there and it would be fun to see him and his family that I have never met. Second, it's where a lot of early church history took place and it would be cool to see all of that.


8. Israel--Just to see where Jesus walked and talked would be cool.





9. Greece--I know some Greek, but Greece just seems like it would be beautiful.




10. Costa Rica--I have always heard that it was beautiful down there, and they have beautiful beaches.





11. Alaska--I want to do the Alaskan cruise. My parents did it last summer, and they said it was nice. I want to see a grizzly bear eat a fish.




12. Korea--It would be good to see Suzy's heritage a little bit. I will eat my weight in Kalbi.



13. San Francisco--I miss it there. I'm reading a book right now, Tweak, and it's set in San Francisco and a lot of the places it talks about I know, so it's making me miss it. I also have a lot of friends that I would like to visit and see. I have a hankering for a Vegetarian Quesadilla from Taqueria El Castillo on Church St. (If you look in the lower right hand corner, you will see a red neon light, right off of Market St. That's Safeway. My old church is about 2 blocks up Market, but there is a building blocking it from this view) It's beautiful isn't it.

13 People in History I would like to Have Dinner With

This is the people who have died that I would have like to have met and had a conversation with over dinner. Also, we can all speak the same language, because some of the people don't necessarily speak English. I'm not going to put any Biblical characters because there would be way more than 13.

1. Chris Farley--I really went through the stages of grief when I heard that he was found dead.







2. Mother Teresea--She seems like such a great lady, and the world is a better place because she was here. I hope the same can be said about me at the end of my life.










3. Benjamin Franklin--He seems like a likable fellow.








4. Mark Twain--I think he's witty, and I'm sure he would be great to listen and talk to.

5. Babe Ruth






6. St. Francis of Assisi--The guy San Francisco was named after. This guy really did a lot of good, and had a fascinating theology. Plus, I think he ran around naked a lot (but when we eat together, he would be wearing clothes)




7. Martin Luther--Again, this guy had so much to do with the way we approach God today





8. Socrates--Things we take for granted as far as philosophy goes, he came up with it. I would need him to dumb down his conversation for me a few steps, I'm sure.






9. Al Capone--I really like 40's gangster stuff. I think it would be fun to listen to his stories about his mafia stuff and his days in Alcatraz.






10. Constantine--The Roman emperor who made it the Holy Roman Empire. This guy made Christianity the religion of the Roman Empire after seeing a symbol in a cloud.





11. Joey Ramone--It would be cool to talk with the inventor of American punk rock. Plus it would be fun to talk to a guy who looks so much like a bird.





12. Bruce Lee--I wonder if he could teach me to punch as hard as he can




13. Martin Luther King--Good man. Another person that made the world a better place.







Interestingly (to me anyways), I would mainly want to sit and listen to all of these people's stories. With the alive people I would rather dialogue a little bit. Maybe it's because with the alive people, I feel that we can impact each other to make a small difference in each other's life. Every conversation and contact we have has the potential to bring some change or knowledge to us. But with people who are already dead, there would be no need to change their lives. I won't have any impact on them, so it would be more fun for them to have an impact on me and just for me to sit and learn and listen to their stories.

13 People I would like to have Dinner With at Some Point in my Life

This is a list of people that I think are interesting and I would love to have a conversation over dinner with them. Some of them believe totally different than I do, but I would still like to have a conversation with them.

1. Fat Mike--singer of NoFX

2. Marilyn Manson--singer

3. Eric Byrnes--Outfielder for Arizona Diamondbacks. He's my favorite player and he seems like a super fun guy

4. Garth Brooks--Singer, Seems like a Good ol' boy

5. Barack Obama--politician, presidential candidate. I just like how he talks about hope. It doesn't mean I'm going to vote for him, but I would like to have a real conversation with him (as opposed to a political conversation).

6. Dave Grohl--drummer for Nirvana and singer of Foo Fighters

7. Francis Chan--preacher at Cornerstone in Simi Valley, CA

8. Bob Stoops--Coach of the OU Sooners

9. Charles Manson--Criminal, I'm just fascinated with this guy and how he thinks. Not in a way that I want to be like him, but that he's so off the wall, that I think he's interesting.

10. Jack Black--actor, comedian, singer, I think I would laugh and laugh and laugh. He's flippin' hilarious

11. Mia Hamm--Best woman's soccer player in the world (I was having a hard time thinking of a girl, but I figured one should be on here. I was thinking Brittany Spears, so I could talk some sense into her, but I feel I would end up hating that meal, and I would rather distance myself as far as I can from her...4 states away is still too close).

12. Greg Graffin--singer of Bad Religion--I've read a book by him about a conversation between him and a Christian professor. I think he's very intelligent, and I would love to talk to him about his beliefs and his music.

13. Robin Williams--actor

Who would you like to have dinner and conversation with? They must be living. I'll do throughout history another time.

13 More of the Greatest Movie Characters of All-Time

The other day when I did the list of the most memorable movie characters of all time, I just went off the tip of my head. I didn't really think it through, and I forgot some amazing characters that should have made the list. So, here are 13 more, some that should have made the first list, but I let them skip by me.

1. Buddy the Elf--Will Ferrell--Elf

2. Forrest Gump--Tom Hanks--Forrest Gump

3. Ferris Bueller--Matthew Broderick--Ferris Bueller's Day Off

4. Keyser Soze/Verbal Kent--Kevin Spacey--The Usual Suspects

5. Garth--Dana Carvey--Wayne's World

6. Orderly in Nursing Home--Ben Stiller--Happy Gilmore

7. Link--Brendon Fraiser--Encino Man

8. Jack Torrance--Jack Nicholson--The Shining

9. Steve-O--Matthew Lillard--SLC Punk

10. Brick--Steve Carell--Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgandy

11. William Wallace--Mel Gibson--Braveheart

12. Arnie Grape--Leonardo DiCaprio--What's Eating Gilbert Grape

13. Jack Sparrow--Johnny Depp--Pirates of the Carribean

13 Best Movie Characters of All-Time

This is my opinion of the best movie characters ever.

1. John Bender--Judd Nelson--The Breakfast Club

2. Sam--Johnny Depp--Benny and Joon

3. Doc Holiday--Val Kilmer--Tombstone

4. Goose--Anthony Edwards--Top Gun

5. Truman Burbank--Jim Carey--The Truman Show

6. Slater--Rory Cochrane--Dazed and Confused

7. Lucas--Rory Cochrane--Empire Records

8. Brodie Bruce--Jason Lee--Mallrats

9. Derek Vinyard--Edward Norton--American History X

10. Floyd--Brad Pitt--True Romance

11. The Dude--Jeff Bridges--The Big Lebowski

12. Walter--John Goodman--The Big Lebowski

13. Silent Bob and Jay--Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes--Clerks, Clerks 2, Dogma, Mallrats, Chasing Amy

13 Albums That Changed My Life

These really didn't change my life, but they're great albums that have had a big influence on me.

1. Emotion is Dead-The Juliana Theory

2. Life in General--MxPx

3. Blue Sky and Broken Hearts, Next 12 Exits--The Ataris (This is by far the best album if you have ever been dumped or are going through some kind of heartbreak because of a girl. Believe me, I know.)

4. Sleepwalker--Jamison Parker

5. Swiss Army Romance--Dashboard Confessional

6. Your Favorite Weapon--Brand New

7. Core--Stone Temple Pilots

8. Nevermind--Nirvana

9. The Color and The Shape--Foo Fighters (February's Gone is one of the best songs that you've never heard)

10. Hopeless Romantic--Bouncing Souls

11. Thriller--Michael Jackson (Sure, I was 6, but I loved it when I was a kid, especially the laugh at the end of Thriller. Plus, he was still cool back then)

12. Liscense to Ill--Beastie Booys

13. Drunken Lullabies--Flogging Molly