Expanding on Aforementioned Topics

Just adding some thoughts about some of the issues from yesterday. None of the writing except for the first paragraph and the last two paragraphs were my own, it was all copying and pasting from the quiz site. So, those stances weren't my writing, but the explanations given on the website about how to select whether you strongly oppose, oppose, agree, or strongly agree with a particular issue.

As I said yesterday, I haven't been into politics for a majority of my life. I have only voted once, and that in a presidential election back in 2000. I lost. So, if I am wrong in any of the things I portray democrats, republicans, liberals, conservatives, tradionalists, secular-progessives, etc, as believing, then forgive me, I'm new to this.

First off, let's discuss the right to life. As I showed yesterday, I believe in the right to life in all cases. I think that republicans generally support capital punishment, but oppose abortion, whereas democrats generally support a woman's reproductive rights, but oppose capital punishment. This seems strange to me. It seems like life is life, is it not? Why say in one case that ending life is appropriate but not the other? At least the republicans have it halfway correct, in my opinion. They give the innocent child an opportunity at life, but take away the life of the convicted rapist/murderer. The democrats deem it acceptable to extinguish the life of the child, but give full rights to life to the one who has taken it from another. As I said, I am for the presevation of life in both instances.

Now what about the woman's right to choose, you say? I say, what about the father's right to choose? Both man and woman are equally responsible for creating the life, so both should have a say in what happens. Some say that carrying a baby to full-term is inconvenient for the mother who is say, in some sort of professional workplace or in school. Well, there are lots of aspects of life that aren't very convenient, aren't there? Take some resposibility for the actions you have freely chosen to do and accept the consequences that come with them. What if the mother can't afford the child or to have the burden of an extra mouth to feed? They have this thing called adoption, where another family does have the resources to care for the child. What about the extreme cases of rape or incest? This is a difficult situation, but I must say that I still believe in the right to life.

Last paragraph on abortion, I promise. Some say that the child, before the actual birth is "unborn". So, at what time is the child born? At birth? Why not allow abortion up until the umbilical cord is cut? So is the child legally born at the end of the second trimister? This is strictly a legal definition, not a biological one. I believe human life begins at conception and anything that takes away that life by forceful means is murder. The end result of all pregnancies is a child, plain and simple, so the moment that the path to human life is begun, the child can be considered "born". Some say that if the fetus can't survive outside of the womb, abortion should be allowed. Seriously? It is okay to murder something that can't survive on it's own? What about infants, elderly, severly mentally handicapped, paralyzed, and other such individuals? Is it okay to end their life without asking them? Why would couples who suffer a miscarriage decry the loss of life if the "thing" dead wasn't their child? Why can people be tried and convicted of murder when they kill a fetus inside of a mother if the "thing" wasn't actually alive? Why is it then acceptable for a doctor to kill the fetus? Well, as I said, this whole post isn't only about abortion.

It's about homosexuals too! I wrote long ago on this blog that I was going to comment about my feelings on homosexuality, it never happened. The stance I copied off of the website, sums it up to an extent. I think that homosexuality is a sin, but I don't hold a Phelpsian point of view. I try to view the issue as Jesus would. What is the evidence? Would Jesus agree that "God hates fags"? Not at all. God hates sin, and we have all sinned. Does God hate sinners? Well, he sent his one and only son, Jesus, to die for them to forgive them of their sins if they but repent and believe in his name. So, does that mean that Jesus condones sinning and homosexuality? Not at all, Jesus condones no sin, but repentence. So does that mean Jesus would shun homosexuals? I doubt it, Jesus was known for continually conversing with the "tax collecters and sinners", and with prostitutes, much to the chagrin of the so-called religious elite of that time. So, no person is to be shunned for their choices, but that does not make all choices "good". Then, what part of homosexuality is sin? The actual act of physical sexuality or simply being homosexual? While not biblically based, I believe that only the physical act of homosexuality is sin, not simply being homosexual. But, these are topics that could be theorized elsewhere. I do not think that homosexuals should be able to marry in the traditional sense of the word and I would be suspect of any church that allows gay marriage, but if the government allows homosexuals to have civil unions, then I would be in support of them. It would have to be voted upon by the general populace and thus far, even the liberal states have repeatedly struck down gay marriage referendums. How would I vote? Not sure, I would probably abstain.

Wow, there is 3 of the 20 topics covered.

Gun rights. I believe that gun rights are fine just the way they are, no more restrictions are necessary, although I must say that I don't know what restrictions there are right now. The major scare is that criminals can buy guns. More gun restrictions will simply keep honest people from buying guns, not criminals. Do you think a criminal who wanted a gun would only look through legal channels? They are going to get firearms, usually illegally, so why punish law-abiding citizens because others have broken the law? Hmm, I'm not entirely happen with what I wrote here, but I'm leaving it anyway.

Equal taxation of all citizens seems to be the way to go. A flat tax seems to be the fairest way to tax people. Each person is taxed 10%-20% of their earnings or whatever the number is and everybody pays the same rate. I used to think that the rich should have to pay more taxes than the poor, but no longer. Both the rich man and the poor man earned their money through hard work, so why should one man be punished and the other given leeway? This is going to transition into the role of social programs, too. Why have such things as the death tax, taking even more money away from the rich, who have been paying all sorts of other taxes during their lifetime? Just an extra penalty for outstanding achievement. Okay, so not everybody gains their fortunes through honest means, but those who do should not be unjustly punished.

What about the poorest people, they deserve happiness, too, don't they? Of course, but it is not the government's job to provide it for them. I believe that in this country the governement should cut back on social programs and leave charity to the church and to other secular organizations. The church you say, but that's not separation of church and state!!! Well, you know what, all the denominations of any religion can extend a helping hand. Just because America is predominately "Christian", doesn't mean that other religions can't help out. Also, what is the tragedy in meeting a person's monetary needs as well as potential spiritual needs? If a person has ill feelings towards religion in general, there are many secular charities out there as well. So, instead of being forced to contribute money to government programs they don't agree with, people could decide for themselves who to contribute money to or if they want to contribute at all, this is America after all.

This whole topic reminds me of the book Atlas Shrugged. In it, many countries have developed into "People's States" such as "The People's State of Argentia", and there is clear globalization and international coalescing going on. The people in America have grand ideas of feeding the poor and helping those who can't help themselves. How do they pay for it? By robbing the rich, the creative, the hard-working, and the honest. Through the 8 or 9 hundred pages of the book, American society crumbles as the government takes it's "give to the poor" mantra to the extreme. Each man and woman with a job no longer works as hard as they can, for if they do what they earn will be given to the next man or woman who needs it more. Each person who stands out through hard-work is singled out to take a cut in pay. Well, this isn't a book report.

I've worked with a number of people in the painting business who have changed my feelings towards social programs. They are receiving government checks for their kids, or for their housing, or for their general welfare and then come to work. Only, they don't want to work full-time. Why, you ask? If they worked full-time and received an honest salary, then they wouldn't get the government check anymore. Here, my boss was offering them a chance to earn a living and get off of government support and they turn it down. Why, simple laziness, they want the government to provide them with happiness in the form of money. The unalienable right in the Declaration of Independence is the right to the PURSUIT of happiness. We are free to pursue happiness is ways unheard of throughout the world, but it is not the government's job to PROVIDE us with happiness. Well, you say, those people represent a small but unfortunate amount of people who take advantage of the government, we shouldn't take away welfare from those who truly need it. I say, correct, but the church and other non-secular parties can take care of those people.

Along these same lines, I don't believe that the government should be as involved with social security or health care, either. It's a small amount of money in social security that I pay, but why can't I invest my money where I want to?

Hmm. Last is the war and role of the military, suppose. I don't think that Iraq is the best place for us to be right now. Are we so vain to believe that we can solve the world's problems? There has been political and religious fighting going on in the Middle East for thousands of years. I don't know what to think of the "War on Terror"? Are we really in that much danger? I don't know. I don't ever feel like I am in danger, but I live in Ames, Iowa. I support quickly pulling out the troops from a financial standpoint, this war is just too costly. The last day I was at work last Thursday, my boss went through how our current timeframe mirrors the end of the Vietnam War timeframe. We will arbitrarily pull out of the war, have incredible deficits, our economy severely weakened, and then head into a decade long recession. Great, and I don't have a high paying job to prepare for this recession. I hope I can count on the government.

Hate away if you wish! I'm a little surprised myself to know that I'll be registering as a Republican to vote for Ron Paul. I wasn't always a conservative person, but have become more conservative over the past couple of years. I'd say I've always been more of a traditionalist, so that hasn't really changed. As I said yesterday, I don't think I'd support any of the front-running Republicans, or Democrats for that matter, so maybe the 2008 election will be another abstention for me. I know these republican/conservative views aren't exactly the norm among my age group, but now that I've been thinking about these issues, they are my current feelings. To mangle a Mark Twain quote "If you are young and conservative then you have no heart, if you are old and liberal then you have no brain." So, I have no heart, Samuel? If you say so.

Politik

I normally don't care much for politics, but just as with football and baseball, I've been more interested in them than ever this year. There are so many candidates among both the democrat and republican parties, that it is hard to keep up with who is saying what. I took a quiz on the internet, not sure if it is a completely unbiased quiz with regards to political affiliations, but here is the way I answered the twenty questions, and the results I received. I was going to list some comments by each of them, but then erased them because I didn't like them. By the way, the quiz can be found at: http://www.speakout.com/VoteMatch/senate2006.asp?quiz=2008.

1. Abortion is a woman's right.

Strongly Oppose means you believe: Abortion is immoral because it kills a human being, and should never be tolerated. `Roe v. Wade' should be overturned and we should protest abortion clinics as other forms of injustice are protested.

2. Require companies to hire more women & minorities.

Oppose means you believe: Affirmative Action is a noble idea, but should not be enforced by government. Government should enforce an end to racial prejudice, period.

3. Sexual orientation protected by civil rights laws.

Support means you believe: Homosexuals should be treated with equal respect as other members of society, not treated as criminals. You acknowledge the diversity of our society by including same-sex partners in most or all benefits of heterosexual marriage partners, but civil unions are preferable to using the term 'marriage.'

4. Teach family values in public schools.

Support means you believe: We need to teach values in our schools. The more our children are exposed to prayer, the Ten Commandments, and other traditional values, the better off they are.


5. Death penalty.

Strongly Oppose means you believe: State-sanctioned killing is wrong. Capital punishment should be abolished as a form of 'cruel and unusual punishment.'


6. Mandatory Three Strikes sentencing laws.

Support means you believe: Keep 'Three Strikes' laws on the books because they seem to be effective, but consider ways to deal with special circumstances so we can avoid horror stories of inappropriate imprisonment.

7. Absolute right to gun ownership.

Strongly Support means you believe: The right to bear arms is a basic Constitutional right and expresses the democratic principle of self-defense against tyrannical government. Leave gun rights as they are.

8.More federal funding for health coverage.

Strongly Oppose means you believe: Nationalized health care would entail a government takeover of a large portion of the economy and undue intrusions into our personal medical histories. Remove the federal government from the health care industry.

9. Privatize Social Security.

Strongly Support means you believe: Our retirement funds should not be entrusted to the government. The entire Social Security system should be run instead as we currently run IRAs, Keogh plans, 401(k)'s, and other private pension plans.

10. Parents choose schools via vouchers.

Support means you believe: School choice helps the poor who would otherwise be stuck in failing schools. Why should only the elite be able to afford private school? Subsidize parents' school choices to foster equality, as long as the school respects separation of church and state, and meets basic state standards. Charter schools are a good compromise.

11. Replace coal & oil with alternatives.

Support means you believe: We should establish a market-based solution for excess carbon emissions, and the problem will be solved. The Kyoto Protocol should require developing countries' participation to make the solution work.

12. Drug use is immoral: enforce laws against it.

Oppose means you believe: We should have regulated decriminalization. Medical marijuana might be legalized, for example, as might clean hypodermic needles. Our drug policy should be reformed, with less criminal penalties and more drug abuse clinics.

13. Allow churches to provide welfare services.

Strongly Support means you believe: Replace the federal welfare system with services provided by churches and other faith-based organizations. Supply block grants to those organizations instead of funding welfare agencies.

14. Decrease overall taxation of the wealthy.

Strongly Support means you believe: Ideally, the income tax and the IRS should be abolished. Perhaps a national sales tax is a good replacement. Lower and flatter taxes are a good first step.

15. Illegal immigrants earn citizenship.

Oppose means you believe: Maintain legal immigration while enforcing against illegal immigration. Tighten our borders - decrease substantially or stop all immigration so we can address domestic problems.

16. Support & expand free trade.

Oppose means you believe: Free Trade should be replaced by Fair Trade. Free trade is not in our national interest when it poses a risk to job security, causes humanitarian problems overseas, or results in environmental damage. Globalization should focus on benefiting people instead of benefiting multinational corporations.

17. More spending on armed forces.

Oppose means you believe: Build smart, not necessarily big. Money is often better spent on issues other than defense. We should cut back on troops stationed abroad and focus on quality of our troops instead of quantity.

18. Stricter limits on political campaign funds.

Oppose means you believe: Politicians will always find loopholes in any campaign finance reform, so the best approach is just to monitor campaigns for lawbreaking and leave the rest to the press. Better reporting of donations would be useful.

19. The Patriot Act harms civil liberties.

Strongly Support means you believe: The Patriot Act is unpatriotic. The terrorists are winning because they have forced us to limit our Constitutional civil rights. We should not give up our liberties in exchange for security, because if we do we will end up with neither.

20. Replace US troops with UN in Iraq.

Oppose means you believe: Phase out foreign aid - people who want to contribute to foreign countries should do so privately. And phase out involvement in foreign wars - as recommended by the Founding Fathers, we should not become entangled in foreign affairs.

Results: I had the best percentage match with Ron Paul at 60%. Others at the top were Tom Tancredo (52%), Duncan Hunter (50%), and John McCain (45%) Highest ranking democrat candidate is Bill Richardson at 33%. Most of the front-runners from both parties are ranked low, including Romney (40%), Hillary Clinton (30%), Rudy Giuliani (28%), and Barack Obama (23%). Joe Biden is last at 13%, which is interesting, because he was ranked first for Lana when she took the quiz. Another note of interest: I heard last night that Dennis Kucinich would consider picking up Ron Paul as his running mate if he won the Democratic nomination. Ron Paul had that 60% match mentioned, whereas Dennis Kucinich was down at 23%.

So, if I had to give support to any nominee, which by the way, I don't have to, this is America!, it would be Ron Paul. I have never attended a caucus before, but am considering registering as a Republican to attend the Republican caucus and show support for Ron Paul. If (an when) he didn't/doesn't get the nomination, I don't know if I would simply support the winning Republican, or simply abstain from voting. I suppose it would depend on who wins each of the respective nominations. We'll wait and see.

The Egotist

I'm showing off a little here, but I normally hate Scrabble, then had a great day today. I was playing with Lana and her parents and was able to play 3 different 7-letter words.

First, I tried 'phoners' on my first play, but that was challenged and it wasn't in the Scrabble dictionary. So, I had to keep all the letters. On my next turn, I was able to play 'shoppers', using a 'p' that was already out on the board.

Second, there was 'not' on the board, which I turned into 'snot' to play 'shadier'.

Later, I had the letters to play 'betwixt', which I never looked up in the Scrabble dictionary to see if it was a legel word, but that would have been sweet to play but there was no opening on the board.

Third, to end the game, I took a 'y' on the board to make 'ye', which allowed me to play 'egotist' to end the game.

Final score: Kevin 305, Ann Meyer 87, Lana Meyer 82, Mark Meyer 57. So, I got to kick my father-in-law's butt. He threatened a blanket party, whatever that is.

While I was typing this entry, I heard Lana say from the other room, "He's probably got that big grin on his face while he's typing." Just like Belichick.

10 Things List Revisited

It's been months since I've posted a 10 things list. I don't have anything significant to post about, but have thought about a lot of little things.

1. Lana and I will be coaching a 3rd and 4th grade women's basketball team this winter. Practices start in December and games are played until March. It is a league based out of the church called Upward basketball. All players get equal playing time and everybody is considered a winner, regardless of their skills. No full-court press or zone defense. They also aren't sure if we'll be keeping score and regardless of that decision, standings are not kept. They don't want kids to have the pressure of having to win games. I have some problems with some of these philosophies, but am also excited to coach the kids.

2. When Lana and I were out to dinner today, I told her I was a steak purist. I don't like anything on my steak except salt. No sauces or creams or onions or anything. Also, former Iowa State 4-time All-American wrestler Cael Sanderson was at the restaurant, I challenged him to a wrestling match. I told him I beat Ross Cram a couple of times and he backed down.

3. I worked today for the first time in about a month. I painted some bleachers at a new basketball facility in Ames. It was gravy train stuff on my first day back. Former Iowa State all-conference player Jake Sullivan showed up and I challenged him to a free-throw shooting contest. I told him I once made 0 of 25 in the Elk's National Free Throw Shooting contest. He backed down.

4. I'm reading 1421 right now, a book that puts forth evidence that China may have actually "discovered" the New World and much of the earth, including Australia, Antarctica, and South America. I was really interested in the book, until I checked it out on Wikipedia and found out that a lot of the evidence is not very solid, but it may be refuted by historians who don't want to be proved wrong. It seems like even if this book were true, it would never get accepted as truth. We already believe that Columbus "discovered" the Americas and Magellen was the first around the world. This whole thing reminds me of some Rage lyrics "The present curriculums? I put my fist in 'em. Eurocentric every last one of them. See right through the red, white, and blue disguise. Through lecture I punture the structure of lies."

5. Thinking of those Rage lyrics made me think of the concerts I've been too. That made me think of the bands I wish I had seen live. Coldplay and Sigur Ros would have been great. That's about it. I was able to see Phish, Radiohead, The Shins, and MC Hammer, so I'm doing good.

6. I won $700 at the casino the other day. That is much different than the $100 or so I usually lose when I go.

7. I found out that Anchorage, Alaska needs police officers and are having testing done in April. They pay exceptionally well, although the standard of living costs in Alaska are much higher than they are here. Base pay starts at $60K and after 10 years, the average salary nears $100K. I could be a traffic cop, write a few parking tickets, and take home a lot of money.

8. Have you noticed how dads are portrayed as complete idiots in television commercials? Watch for it, it's true.

9. Patriots are going undefeated. Their division is not tough, but they have some hard games on their schedule. They have been the only team to beat the Colts and the Cowboys and both those games were on the road, well I forgot Indy lost again yesterday. They crushed San Diego, Washington, and Cleveland, all potential playoff teams. When they beat the Steelers and the Giants, they will have beaten all of the best teams in the NFL except Green Bay, who they don't play this year, but would surely pick apart. I'm not necessarily a fan of their team, but I'd like to see them go undefeated.

10. I've had a cough now for about two weeks. It wakes me up multiple times during the night and is generally annoying during the day. My family practice doctor doesn't really have a clue about anything, so I'm still coughing.

The Commies

This is a blog that I've been thinking about doing for months now, but finally put it into action.

Although my own enjoyment in my blog is paramount, I am also glad that others take enjoyment in my blog. The easiest way to know that I have readers who enjoy, or at least regularly read what I post, is by the comments I receieve.

The comments posted on my blog range from funny
Shawn: "This is your blog. I'm pregnant." (from We Need to Talk)

to philosophical
Brendan: "These ultimate conversations are really just an extended metaphor for the unabating monotony of existence." (from Call and Response)

to nostalgic. Who could forget George Cooke's trip down memory lane?
gcooke: "I saw Journey warm-up for the Stones in 1981. The crowd gave them the finder for the whole show." (from I Have A Problem)

I've written 88 entries to the blog and have received 208 total comments, for an average of 2.36 comments per blog. Of the 88 posts, 24 have received no comments. If you take out those blogs, then I have 64 posts with comments. So when I do receive comments on a given post, the average is 3.25. The longest dry spell is 5 posts. The longest streak of posts that receive comments is 14. Eleven entries garnered five or more comments, with the record number being twelve, for the Baseball post. Well, I didn't start this to bore you with statistics.

Statistically, the most frequent commenter is Shawn Walding with 30 comments. A distant second is Seth Bartel at 19, who once claimed to be in the running for most prolific poster (see: Top 25-A Review). A close third is Gibbs (18 comments) who has used such phrases as "mature language", "amusing anecdotes", and "boy sport blabber" to describe my blog. Becknasty and myself have 17 comments each to our name, although Becky mostly commented on my blog not to say something about my posts, but to correspond with me. Such things as, hey can I play, hey I can't play I hurt myself, and quit talking about how you foot-blocked me. Brendan (13 comments) and Rachel (11) round out those who are in the double-digits club. What an exclusive club! My wife isn't even a member of the club even though she has used three different pseudonymns to comment with (Lana, pnusjmevm, and the clever NotLana). Seven people have commented between 5 and 9 times, one person 4 times, 1 person 3 times, 8 people 2 times, and 14 people have commented once.

There have been some great comments, such as Brendan's comment in the Baseball post. When I wasn't sure how to respond to people who thought baseball was boring, Brendan stepped up to the plate and hit the proverbial home-run. There was some good discussion following the Big Problem post about fat people. I never commented again about it but it seems to be a good talking point and I was glad other voiced their opinions. Finally, there was Shawn's hypothetical Gatorade talk of a Gumbo Gatorade flavored with Andouille sausage, okra, and gravy.

Some people ask questions.

Gibbs: "Is there karaoke in Australia?" (from Captain's Log: 100906)

The answer is yes, there is karaoke. You were upset that you missed it at central regionals in Chicago, so upset, it seems, that you skipped karaoke in Perth.

Others just make hasty but potentially true exclamations.

NotLana: "Kevin Seiler is hot!" (from Captain's Log: 80706)

Yet others commit to a season of ultimate frisbee.

Wes: "OK." (from The van Buren Boys)

So, I decided to make an awards list for those commentors or comments that have stood out from the rest. I call these awards The Commies.

So folks, without further ado,

THE COMMIES:

Pioneer Award (first poster): Mike Lun, congratualtions Mike, you went were nobody else dared to go. You talked about how you touched the disc once at 2004 Nationals (see: The Top 10 Continued). Oh how far you've come.

Least secretive pseudonymn: Lana Meyer for pnusjmevm. She offered a dollar for whoever figured out what her name meant. Jake had it figured out less than an hour later (see: Awkward). Want a hint? Think mnemonic devices used in Saved by the Bell.

Runner up: Lana Meyer for NotLana (see: Captain's Log: 80706). Oh, by the way, she is Lana Seiler now, but before she was Lana Meyer.

Best use of the comments section for you own personal vendetta: Steph Miller (my sister). Congratulations Steph! When I forgot your birthday back in 2006, you let me and all my adoring fans know what a terrible brother I was (see: On Sleeping). Hey, remember when I then forgot it in 2007, too? I'm such a stitch! Love you Steph.

Best Zing: Shawn Walding. Brendan had just got done commenting on how he is so awake in the morning and full of energy and that he is unintentionally annoying to people in the early hours. Shawn writes "Right Brendan, just in the early hours of the morning, right. No other time." I'm no linguist, but I think he was implying that Brendan can be annoying at other times.

Runner Up: Tim Murray. I had just thrown in a zinger in my Movin' On post and he commented thusly: "Zing. It could be worse like living in Iowa, being on the 3rd place team from the central, and not winning a game in FLA." Now, it was evident that I don't want to live in Iowa much longer, but I wasn't feeling too bad about the last place finish, after all great men sometimes finish last. Timmy, don't you know a little something about last place finishes? (see: SubZero 2003 nationals).

Most awkward exchange: Shawn Walding and Kevin Seiler. Who could forget the drama that ensued shortly after Sellouts? was published. Just as the visible portion of the iceberg is but 10% of the beast, so the visible portion of jersey debacle but 10% of the beast. Shawn and I resorted to fisticuffs on that one. Fisticuffs is when you email each other privately instead of post publically.

Most homophobic post: Mike Lun. "Gaayyyyy!!!" (from Has Anybody Seen My Fiance?) Sure Mike, I'm the gay one. I only use 1 "a" and 1 "y" when I write "gay". You use 2 "a's", 5 "y's", and 3 exclamation points. Interesting.

Most intimidating responder: Rachel Derscheid. She made Shawn write: "I am scared to blog for fear that you may find faults in my deeds and actions." (from Captain's Log: 73106)

Best comment from a family member: Ryan Seiler (my brother). "Score o matic, more like bore o matic." (from Don't Forget Heirrison Island) It may not seem funny to you, but it was great for me to be so far from home and get a message from my brother who I didn't even know was reading my blog.

Most sci-fi comment: Shawn Walding. When scoffing at what a theoretical Carleton coed 2004 vs. Carleton coed 2005 match-up would be like he later said, "It's so easy insulting teams that don't exist in the same plane of space-time existence!" (from Fantasy Pool Play Results)

Prolific Poster: You already know it is Shawn Walding. He really cleaned up here. If there was a Most Awards award, he would win that one, too. Well, thanks Shawn.

That wraps up the awards ceremony and this post. Thanks for commenting, but if you never comment, that's fine, too. Thanks for reading.

Sports Rambling

Listen: New England blew it. But they won! you say. Indeed, I watched the game and I am aware of the final score. Did you see how they took a knee late in the game? They blew it. Amid all of the "running up the score" grumblings from analysts, coaches, and players, they missed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to prove their toughness. The game was dubbed Super Bowl 41-and-a-half, and The Biggest Regular Season Game of All Time. Sure, New England could have lost the ball and given Indianapolis a chance to score, but they also could have stepped up, scored another touchdown and proved their machismo proudly stating "we ain't scurred". I wonder what they would have done if they had been up by 15 or so.

My baseball predictions back in October went okay. I was able to correctly predict the outcome of the National League series, unlike any other ESPN baseball analyst, but the Yankees downfall messed up the rest of it. Oh well. Now to sit back and see where Alex Rodriguez ends up.

The only interesting story line in the NBA for me is how the Boston Celtics do. I don't really care about the NBA and usually don't even check the standings until February or so, but I'm eager to see if Boston can complete a tri-sport championship season. The Red Sox have already taken baseball, New England isn't a certainty for the championship, but they only have to beat Indianapolis at home to earn it, so it is up to the Celtics to seal the tri-sport trifecta. I kind of hope it happens.

Ultimate is a sport too, right? Maybe. I was thinking about nationals and how that one tournament was so different than any I have ever played in. Even club coed nationals and worlds could not compare to it. The reason it was different was from the "team" experience, not a personal experience. As an individual, I wasn't as effective as usual, but didn't get to play a lot of offense, which is what I feel I am best at. One-on-one, though, it didn't seem any different than the best of coed players. The "team" experience I mention is this: In coed and college it seemed like you matched up your strengths against the strengths of the other team. There was little exploitation of weaknesses. It was "here's our best, there's your best, let's see who's best is better." In this highest-level open tournament it seemed like our individual and team-wide weaknesses were shining brighter than our strengths. It was kind of like, we are both good teams that have excellent players, so what will determine who wins is not "who's strengths are stronger", but "who's weaknesses make them weaker?" The Van Buren Boys certainly had team weaknesses and individual weaknesses that weren't really expoited until nationals and a handful of games in the regular season.

Too much space devoted to ultimate. What about hockey and soccer? That's enough.

I don't know a lot about the BCS system, but it seems too flawed. A four-team or six-team playoff seems more appropriate, especially when there is so much controversy each year. This year, there could be three undefeated teams and some six or seven or eight teams that might have one loss. How do you sort it out? Well, there is a system in place to sort it out, but it is not perfect. With a four or six-team playoff, you would include the fringe teams that might have deserved to play for the championship, but were excluded because of computer ratings. You could say, "well than teams that don't get included into the playoff would complain, much as the third team left out of the championship complains." True, but it is easier to say a fifth ranked team or a seventh ranked team is not worthy of the championship when compared to a third ranked team when there is little evidence to distinguish the second and third spots. Agree?

Where did Kansas come from this year? I hope they go undefeated, but they still have to play Oklahoma State on the road, Iowa State at home, Missouri in Kansas City, and if still undefeated, Oklahoma in the Big 12 championship game. They still have two games against top-10 teams at neutral sites and a tough game against OKState, but the Iowa State game should be a cakewalk, sorry to say. Good luck Jayhawks.

On Monday night football they are wearing throwback jersies. I'm trying to think of jersies that I like. The old Astros and Padres jersies were pretty sweet with their oranges and browns. I like the Penny-Shaq black Orlando Magic jersies, too. Back in grade school, Lana thought she was cool in her Charlotte Hornets Starter jacket. I've only bought one jersey in my life, it was at a Minneapolis second-hand store and was from a Yokohama Japanese baseball team that said Kazu on the back.

I'm a little bummed out that soon it will be that time of the year when only NBA basketball and hockey are on, with some college basketball thrown in. Hopefully there are some poker episodes I haven't seen yet, but that craze seems to have already run its' course, hasn't it?

I got to keep movin'....movin' on....

While traveling to Florida, I spent a lot of time searching through the atlas and made a list of possible towns to move to in the future. I had a small number of slightly breakable rules:

1. Population roughly that of Ames (50,000)
2. College town preferred
3. Near national parks, forests, mountains, ocean, etc.
4. Nothing in the south

Having those rules in mind, I perused the atlas state by state and made up the following list:

1. Anchorage, Alaska--This one breaks the population rule at roughly 275,000 people, but those people are spread out over an area larger than Rhode Island, so population density-wise, it is a fine city. Potential drawbacks include 20 hours of sunlight in summer/darkness in winter, high rates of physical violence against women, 100+ inches of snow, and isolated location. Positives include impressive scenery, many national parks, and many recreational opportunities.

2. Flagstaff, Arizona--Lana and I drove through Flagstaff once on our way home from my sister's place in Phoenix. Though in Arizona, Flagstaff is located at about 5,000 in elevation, so it is cooler than the side of the pillow that your head hasn't been resting upon. We played disc golf there and the course was incredible. In 2005 Men's Journal called it the #2 place to live in America. They have great observatories, the highest point in Arizona at 12,000+ feet, many disc golf courses, and a vibrant town culture. Drawbacks include large number of meth-heads and a rate of theft that laughs at the national average, probably because of meth-heads.

3. Santa Cruz, California--Never been here, but it is on the Pacific Ocean and not part of a greater metropolitan area. There would be a higher potential here for ultimate frisbee.

4. Santa Barbara, California--A larger population than I would like at 85,000+, and maybe the people would just be too laid back, but it is here on the list. Hopefully, property values aren't too high, even if most of the population is.

5. Eureka, California--Home of Humboldt State. I did some research on Wikipedia that was disturbing. Violent crime rates aren't high, but methamphetamines are popular here (surprise!) and the police have itchy trigger fingers. In a town of 40,000, there were 6 police-caused fatalities in 2006. I can't remember the last time a cop in Ames, Iowa shot a suspect. The good news, though, is that I don't do drugs and shouldn't have to worry. The town is nestled against the Pacific Ocean and is right in Redwood territory. Redwoods National Park was without a doubt my favorite national park, so to live in that area, and upon the ocean would be great. I guess the town is clouded in fog much of the year, though.

6. Truckee, California--No college in this town, but it is situated next to Lake Tahoe. This is where the infamous Donner Party was supposed stranded. Like many of the other sites on this list, there are ample skiing opportunities in winter and hiking/biking opportunities in the summer. Given the location, this place could be too expensive for Lana and I to live in.

7. Golden, Colorado--Never been here, but Jake said it was picturesque. When I looked it up, I didn't like how close it was to Denver, like it was just the last suburb. If it is up in the mountains, at least it would be separated from the metro area, but even then, looking down upon Denver from the mountains wouldn't be the ideal vista. Then again, A-Rod is rumored to potentially play for the Rockies, and there would be free Coors on Fridays.

8. Durango, Colorado--When Lana and I did our 2005 national park trip, we went through Durango. We didn't stop or anything, but just driving through the town I felt like it was the place I was meant to see and live in. Situated in the southwest corner of Colorado it is a hub for many mountain bikers, and a outdoor sports lovers dreamtown. The population is very small at 15,501, but it does include ex-Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Steve Carleton. This one is high on the list.

9. Dover, Delaware--East Coast! Not many of these on the list. It has a small population and Delaware is near the Atlantic Ocean and New Jersey, double-bonus! It has a college, Delaware State, and has a small population at 34,000+, and it is near the ocean and many state parks, so it is on the list.

10. Hilo, Hawaii--A small city on the big island. Living in Hawaii would be incredible. You can bike around the island in an ambitious day, climb the mountains, go to the beach, and hike. I certainly wouldn't be a slave to television anymore, unless it rains. Does it rain on Pacific Islands?

11. Pocatello, Idaho--Did you know it is against the law to look sad in this city? Seems kind of ridiculous, maybe I could get a job as a smile-cop. Idaho State is located in this city, as are endless forests and mountains and rivers, and over 50 Mormon churches! The population is 53, 372 and they have 50 Mormon churches!

12. Lewiston, Idaho--Lewis and Clark college is the one for this city. I don't know much about Idaho, and I've only travelled through the vertical panhandle once on the way home from Seattle, but I was impressed with both Idaho and Montana, so they have some representation on this list.

13. Couer d'Alene, Idaho--Had this one on the list, then took it off, then put it back on. A town of about 40,000, no college, but a glacier lake up in the mountains, like a baby Lake Tahoe.

14. Bangor, Maine--No college here, I've never been to Maine, but for some reason I put it on the list. It is close to Acadia National Park on the Atlantic Ocean and Stephen King does live here, but I have no idea what else is big about Maine. Ross and Lorien, could you clue me in?

15. Missoula, Montana--Another town with a college and many outdoor recreational opportunities. Maybe I would be taken hostage by some sort of townie militia, but it could be really great while it lasts. Is there a coed ultimate team here, or one located near here? I don't know, as an open player, I don't recognize the legitimacy of coed ultimate, especially those teams that don't finish in the top 8 in the country.

16. Bozeman, Montana--More centrally located in Montana, but maybe that isn't such a great thing. They do host an ultimate tournament each summer, if they indeed still host it.

17. Ithaca, New York--A little more east coast. Cornell University is here in upstate New York, what else, I don't know, I've never been there, but I do know two graduates.

18. Asheville, North Carolina--Not sure how this one made it on the list, but it did. Too close to "the south". To close to "North Carolina ultimate". Umm, it looked good at the time, now I'm not so sure. Okay, okay, I don't really have a thing against North Carolina ultimate.

19. Ashland, Oregon--What would I have to look forward to here? The Oregon Shakespeare Festival held at the U of Southern Oregon each year. "Two houses, both alike in dignity in fair Verona where we lay our scene" or something like that. Alas, poor Ashland, I don't yet know thee, but maybe one day.

20. Corvallis, Oregon--Another small Oregon town off of the interstate. A girl from Corvallis dated my roomate and her parent's were good friends with the Wigginses, yes, those Wigginses. That's got to count for something.

21. Moab, Utah--As the list gets longer the write-ups are getting shorter. Did you notice that? A small town of only 4, 807 people, but it is on the doorstep of Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park. Many mountain biking and rafting outfitters operate out of Moab, so I could get a job in the sports entertainment industry.

22. Logan, Utah--A smaller town, the site of Utah State University, away from the Salt Lake City metro area. Utah is an incredible state, though. Once when I was down and out I thought I would just leave Ames and all my stuff behind and just go bike around Utah until I gained my wits about me again. Sometimes I wish I would have gone. Oh well, I could still go live there.

23. Burlington, Vermont--The birthplace of Ben&Jerry's Ice Cream, Van Bruegger's Bagels, and Page McConnell of Phish. That trifecta should pay off bigtime. They would be a lot of snow in the wintertime, but it would be nice to have some winters in the woods.

24. Olympia, Washington--Located down at the crotch of the Seattle Sound of Bay or whatever, I don't think they have a large college, but this town has a small population and is near Mt. Rainer. They have good cherries there.

25. Eau Claire, Wisconsin--This is the one that turns everybody's heads. Eau Claire??? So, have I been there to justify putting it on the list? No. I just think Wisconsin is a decent state, plus there is Lake Superior to the north, a places like the Apostle Islands, Isle Royale National Park, and others. So maybe it is a weak choice, but I needed 25 for a more square list!

So, that's the list, it certainly has a west-coast bias, but what doesn't these days? Lana seems to be okay with moving to any of these places, or anywhere in the world, or anywhere that is outside of Ames, Iowa.