Well, The Amazing Race, Season 15 started last night - woohoo! I think the best option for this first column is for me to go over the teams for this season, and if there's something to say in relation to the actual racing, I'll say it in regard to specific teams.
Meghan and Cheyne - Not really much to say yet on these two, except what's up with the stupid spelling of Cheyne's name? Why do people think that naming your child is a creativity contest?
Maria and Tiffany - Let's be honest. These two are beeyotches. When you lie to people first thing by telling them you work with at-risk kids when you literally make your living playing poker, you can confidently look in the mirror and know you have no integrity. You make your living playing poker? Cool. I personally have no problem with that. But you obviously do deep down or you wouldn't feel the need to lie about it. And your theory that if people don't know you play a game for a living, it'll give you an advantage? What did that last - about 10 minutes? And now everyone knows you're liars.
Marcy and Ron - these two seem nice, but I think Marcy is gonna get on my nerves, and I don't think I'd want her for a teammate. She's a little too "vibrant" to be joined to 24 hours a day for weeks and weeks.
Lance and Keri. One word: douchebag. Lance is my guy to hate already. I was hoping he'd be knocked out with that first license-plate challenge. No such luck. And, of course, he blamed Keri for the two of them not seeing the symbol they needed on their clue. That's about right for some Yankee muscle-head lawyer - blame someone else for your mistakes. I sure as hell wouldn't hire that guy as my lawyer. He can't even manage a clue in a game, but you'd expect him to be thorough enough for your legal matters? No thanks. When he blew your case, he'd blame you somehow.
Herbert and Nathanial - Harlmen Globetrotters! Love these guys already and are rooting for them. Nice guys will out!
Gary and Matt - I think these guys, too. As an Austinite, the pink hair barely makes my notice, but I'll make note of it this one time since we're on introductions. So here goes: Matt has pink hair. There. I mentioned it. I think these guys are going to have common sense and work well together as a team, and it'll be cool if the experience brings them closer as father and son. Rooting for you guys to do well!
Garrett and Jessica - the first team eliminated. These two should just break up now and get it over with. In the course of one show, Garrett went from talking about how great Jessica was and wanting to marry her to talking about how he wasn't sure they were a good match for marriage because she doesn't handle stress well. From the TAR Web site, I found out that Garrett proposed to her after they were eliminated. I doubt they'll make it to the alter, but if they do, I think it's a safe bet that they won't make it two years - maybe not even a year. Off and on for seven years, mostly off, and proposing "to lift her spirits" (he said that) while on some extended vacation at a resort, not in the real world, is not a recipe for lifelong marital bliss. Start your office pools now on when these two will split up.
Brian and Ericka - no really strong feelings about these two. It's hard to look away from her because she's so pretty (as she should be since was Miss America 2004). She's intense, though. But I think as a couple they're solid and they'll do fine.
Eric and Lisa - the yoga couple, eliminated before the race began. I don't think I like that new feature. I like to see more action than that before someone gets booted.
Same and Dan - the gay brothers. They'll be a strong team, but no real strong feeling about them yet.
Zev and Justin - I was prepared to be annoyed by Zev since he's got Asberger's, but I'm not. I like these two, and I loved when Zev *owned* the duck challenge.
Mika and Canaan - Southern, "sexually pure" singer and songwriter (okay he says he's pure, but she didn't actually say, as J pointed out). Nothing to say on these two yet, and I won't share J's thoughts on them since this a family blog. Oh wait, it's not really a family blog. But I still won't share his thoughts. Sometimes, it's best to just let him share them for himself, lest someone think they're mine.
So, those are our teams! Next week, I'll do more dissecting of the actual action. TAR fans, comment away!!
Monday, September 28, 2009
Friday, September 25, 2009
Hope for the future
It seems like I'm always hearing negative stories about today's youth (and I'm sure people have been saying that for forever, Grandma - can I get you your shawl?). There's a real epidemic of people not taking responsibility for their actions, feeling a sense of entitlement and not having any compassion for others, and it seems like this decline is worse among young people.
I'd like to blame it on immaturity, but too often, I think it's a function of how the kids were raised and a culture that does nothing to reward or encourage doing the right thing.
That's why Thamail Morgan gives me hope. Read the whole story here. Please - especially if you have kids. Because kids need actual role models from their own peer group on how to behave. And that doesn't mean "how to be perfect." It means how to make the right decisions, even if you've made the wrong ones in the past; how to get back on track; how to do the right thing, even if it means you won't benefit as much.
Did you read the story? Okay, then here are the rest of my comments.
Thamail got off track. He is human, and he is young, and as young people start making decisions, they don't always make the right ones. But he was held accountable. He was made to suffer consequences for his bad choices. For that, I applaud his former school. They could've left him on the football team - he's a great player, and I'm sure their team suffered for his loss. But by doing the right thing and holding him accountable, Thamail had the opportunity to learn a valuable life lesson about choices and consequences and to do so at an age where the lesson could benefit him the most.
And Thamail didn't get sullen, cry foul, blame others, play the victim. No, he took the opportunity that was offered him by his old school, by his community - he took responsibility for his actions, accepted the consequences, and looked for a way to learn from it, to get back up and move forward in a better way. He learned the lesson and made new and better choices. For that I applaud Thamail! That is *exactly* the way to succeed in life.
And his behavior during that difficult game in the story shows just how much Thamail has embraced a life of class, responsibility and integrity. Thamail wants to get a football scholarship. In order to get the attention of scouts, he needs impressive statistics. But at a personal cost to himself (fewer points in his stats), he did the right thing and took a knee at the end of that game, rather than beat up on a team that had already had a beating that week. He did the honorable thing. And now, he has gotten more attention than he ever would've gotten for those extra 6 points. He has been rewarded for his honorability.
Not to be lost in this is credit to his coach for giving him a chance, but with strings attached, to make sure that Thamail understood that he wasn't being given a free pass for his talent and to try and help him grow as a person and a man. Props must also go out to his teammates, who together decided that running up the score on the damaged opponent would be unacceptable (Bob Stoops could use a lesson from these guys), and also to the opponent, who in the face of adversity showed up and did their best, and accepted the class that was extended to them as an honorable gesture and not an insult.
Everyone in this scenario has set an example that we could all stand to follow. The people of that whole area can be very proud of the community they have created. And I hope very much that a university out there will give Thamail Morgan a chance to play at their school. He deserves it, and I think he is likely to be a real leader in his life, on and off the field.
I'd like to blame it on immaturity, but too often, I think it's a function of how the kids were raised and a culture that does nothing to reward or encourage doing the right thing.
That's why Thamail Morgan gives me hope. Read the whole story here. Please - especially if you have kids. Because kids need actual role models from their own peer group on how to behave. And that doesn't mean "how to be perfect." It means how to make the right decisions, even if you've made the wrong ones in the past; how to get back on track; how to do the right thing, even if it means you won't benefit as much.
Did you read the story? Okay, then here are the rest of my comments.
Thamail got off track. He is human, and he is young, and as young people start making decisions, they don't always make the right ones. But he was held accountable. He was made to suffer consequences for his bad choices. For that, I applaud his former school. They could've left him on the football team - he's a great player, and I'm sure their team suffered for his loss. But by doing the right thing and holding him accountable, Thamail had the opportunity to learn a valuable life lesson about choices and consequences and to do so at an age where the lesson could benefit him the most.
And Thamail didn't get sullen, cry foul, blame others, play the victim. No, he took the opportunity that was offered him by his old school, by his community - he took responsibility for his actions, accepted the consequences, and looked for a way to learn from it, to get back up and move forward in a better way. He learned the lesson and made new and better choices. For that I applaud Thamail! That is *exactly* the way to succeed in life.
And his behavior during that difficult game in the story shows just how much Thamail has embraced a life of class, responsibility and integrity. Thamail wants to get a football scholarship. In order to get the attention of scouts, he needs impressive statistics. But at a personal cost to himself (fewer points in his stats), he did the right thing and took a knee at the end of that game, rather than beat up on a team that had already had a beating that week. He did the honorable thing. And now, he has gotten more attention than he ever would've gotten for those extra 6 points. He has been rewarded for his honorability.
Not to be lost in this is credit to his coach for giving him a chance, but with strings attached, to make sure that Thamail understood that he wasn't being given a free pass for his talent and to try and help him grow as a person and a man. Props must also go out to his teammates, who together decided that running up the score on the damaged opponent would be unacceptable (Bob Stoops could use a lesson from these guys), and also to the opponent, who in the face of adversity showed up and did their best, and accepted the class that was extended to them as an honorable gesture and not an insult.
Everyone in this scenario has set an example that we could all stand to follow. The people of that whole area can be very proud of the community they have created. And I hope very much that a university out there will give Thamail Morgan a chance to play at their school. He deserves it, and I think he is likely to be a real leader in his life, on and off the field.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Modern Family
Sometimes I think I should just start a TV blog. I love it, after all, and maybe I'd be motivated to post more regularly. But I already have regular gigs that require my time, so I probably don't actually need yet another commitment. With this blog, I just post when the mood strikes.
That said, I just have to post a little shout out to the new ABC show Modern Family. It premiered last night, and let me just pronounce it hilarious.
I've been watching the promos for it for weeks, and I couldn't wait for it to start, and it didn't disappoint. All three of the individual families that come together to create the larger family are just so freakin' funny. I liked them all.
And I could so relate to the mom of the family that's comprised of the 30-something couple with three kids. The oldest daughter is 15, and the mom is paranoid that her daughter is going to be a wild child like she was, so she's on the alert for every little thing. It just cracks me up, because I know I would be the same way! I'd be like, "Oh you want to do X? Uh, no, you're not doing that because I know what that really means you're going to be doing." My kids wouldn't get away with anything, and it would probably drive them crazy!
Anyway, it's a great show. It's just a half-hour, so give it a shot next Wednesday. Please. Because I really want this show to make it and be around to make me laugh for more than just one season like Pushing Daisies.
That said, I just have to post a little shout out to the new ABC show Modern Family. It premiered last night, and let me just pronounce it hilarious.
I've been watching the promos for it for weeks, and I couldn't wait for it to start, and it didn't disappoint. All three of the individual families that come together to create the larger family are just so freakin' funny. I liked them all.
And I could so relate to the mom of the family that's comprised of the 30-something couple with three kids. The oldest daughter is 15, and the mom is paranoid that her daughter is going to be a wild child like she was, so she's on the alert for every little thing. It just cracks me up, because I know I would be the same way! I'd be like, "Oh you want to do X? Uh, no, you're not doing that because I know what that really means you're going to be doing." My kids wouldn't get away with anything, and it would probably drive them crazy!
Anyway, it's a great show. It's just a half-hour, so give it a shot next Wednesday. Please. Because I really want this show to make it and be around to make me laugh for more than just one season like Pushing Daisies.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
I wanna hold your hand...
One of the things that makes me happy is seeing an older couple walking down the street holding hands.
The act of holding hands is an expression both of affection and connection - maybe even possession, though not in the scary, abusive sense of the word that implies, "I own this person," but rather, "I choose this person."
When I see an older couple holding hands - when I know that they've been together for decades and they still want to express that affection - that they still want to purposely act to show the world and the other person, "I choose THIS man/woman, among all the men and women that there are" - that they don't take the other person and their presence for granted, well, it puts a lump in my throat. The good kind.
The act of holding hands is an expression both of affection and connection - maybe even possession, though not in the scary, abusive sense of the word that implies, "I own this person," but rather, "I choose this person."
When I see an older couple holding hands - when I know that they've been together for decades and they still want to express that affection - that they still want to purposely act to show the world and the other person, "I choose THIS man/woman, among all the men and women that there are" - that they don't take the other person and their presence for granted, well, it puts a lump in my throat. The good kind.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Good grief, Jimmy.
Someone should put a muzzle on Jimmy Carter. I mean, REALLY. If the man isn't singing the praises of some dictator somewhere, he's making ridiculous and inflammatory statements like the one yesterday - where he said that the reason Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) interrupted President Obama's speech last week was because OBAMA IS BLACK.
Are you friggin' serious, Carter? You're *really* going to play that card?
Wilson didn't shout out "Liar!" during the speech because Obama is black and, by gum, that South Carolina hayseed don't go a-likin it! He yelled "Liar!" because he doesn't believe that if we institute universal healthcare, we won't end up paying not only for Americans' healthcare, but also that of illegal aliens. That's the claim Obama was making, and that's what Wilson was responding to.
Wilson's protest was out of order, but it had *nothing* to do with the president's skin color. Nor has there been any indication that it did. It has to do with Wilson being a Republican, and Obama being a Democrat. For Carter to say what he did is profoundly incindiary, and he should be ashamed of himself.
Is the rule now that you aren't allowed to disagree with the president's policies (or anyone's stance on an issue at this point), if his skin color is darker than yours? Is that the rule? And if you dare to disagree with that policy, you're a racist - not based on the content of your disagreement, but on the simple fact that the person you disagree with happens to be of another ethnicity?
We went through the drama of attempted healthcare reform with Clinton, and people were just as divided then as they are now. And newsflash: Clinton is white. It's not the color of the person speaking. It's the issue. And THAT is what we're all *supposed* to be focusing on and debating - issues.
If someone like Carter is going to play the race card everytime we disagree on an important issue, we're going to stay mired in a culture of racism and impotence. We have to be able to debate and disagree on issues based on their content and merit, strengths and weaknesses, without unfounded accusations being hurled at people, derailing the real discussion and undermining our ability to work together.
This kind of crap moves us backward, not forward, as a nation and as a people.
Are you friggin' serious, Carter? You're *really* going to play that card?
Wilson didn't shout out "Liar!" during the speech because Obama is black and, by gum, that South Carolina hayseed don't go a-likin it! He yelled "Liar!" because he doesn't believe that if we institute universal healthcare, we won't end up paying not only for Americans' healthcare, but also that of illegal aliens. That's the claim Obama was making, and that's what Wilson was responding to.
Wilson's protest was out of order, but it had *nothing* to do with the president's skin color. Nor has there been any indication that it did. It has to do with Wilson being a Republican, and Obama being a Democrat. For Carter to say what he did is profoundly incindiary, and he should be ashamed of himself.
Is the rule now that you aren't allowed to disagree with the president's policies (or anyone's stance on an issue at this point), if his skin color is darker than yours? Is that the rule? And if you dare to disagree with that policy, you're a racist - not based on the content of your disagreement, but on the simple fact that the person you disagree with happens to be of another ethnicity?
We went through the drama of attempted healthcare reform with Clinton, and people were just as divided then as they are now. And newsflash: Clinton is white. It's not the color of the person speaking. It's the issue. And THAT is what we're all *supposed* to be focusing on and debating - issues.
If someone like Carter is going to play the race card everytime we disagree on an important issue, we're going to stay mired in a culture of racism and impotence. We have to be able to debate and disagree on issues based on their content and merit, strengths and weaknesses, without unfounded accusations being hurled at people, derailing the real discussion and undermining our ability to work together.
This kind of crap moves us backward, not forward, as a nation and as a people.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Put down the phone, ma'am.
Why, oh why, do some people insist on making me actually speak to them?
I emailed someone to ask if I could interview them for something. I gave them a general timeframe - "Is there a day/time in the next couple of weeks I could interview you?" kinda thing. Does this person respond with, "Absolutely. How about Tuesday at 1pm?" Of course not.
I get back, "Yes, I'd be happy to help. Call and arrange a date and time, preferably in the late afternoon and not at the end of the month or on the 1st."
Um...first of all, I gave you the next two weeks as my timeframe. So, that kinda sorta means the end of the month or the 1st isn't on the table.
Secondly, why do I have to call you? We're corresponding on email, and I've already said I'd work around you, so just tell me now - on email, in a correspondence that we're already having - the day and time you want to do it. That's all. Phone calls and actual conversations that will unquestionably take longer than a quick email are *unnecessary* and annoying.
If there's explanation that's necessary or confusion about something, etc., that makes a conversation more efficient than email, then fine. Let's talk. But if I'm just setting a simple appointment, utilize the technology, people. Email is more efficient...and I don't have to actually talk to anyone. Everybody wins.
I emailed someone to ask if I could interview them for something. I gave them a general timeframe - "Is there a day/time in the next couple of weeks I could interview you?" kinda thing. Does this person respond with, "Absolutely. How about Tuesday at 1pm?" Of course not.
I get back, "Yes, I'd be happy to help. Call and arrange a date and time, preferably in the late afternoon and not at the end of the month or on the 1st."
Um...first of all, I gave you the next two weeks as my timeframe. So, that kinda sorta means the end of the month or the 1st isn't on the table.
Secondly, why do I have to call you? We're corresponding on email, and I've already said I'd work around you, so just tell me now - on email, in a correspondence that we're already having - the day and time you want to do it. That's all. Phone calls and actual conversations that will unquestionably take longer than a quick email are *unnecessary* and annoying.
If there's explanation that's necessary or confusion about something, etc., that makes a conversation more efficient than email, then fine. Let's talk. But if I'm just setting a simple appointment, utilize the technology, people. Email is more efficient...and I don't have to actually talk to anyone. Everybody wins.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Amazing Race is coming back!
I saw today that Amazing Race will have a new season starting on September 27! Woo-hoo! Maybe now I'll have something that will push me to blog again - at least on a weekly basis. About that: sorry for hardly ever being here anymore, but I've taken on some new projects that eat up a lot of my blog time. But I'll try to get back in the saddle with Amazing Race.
ANYWAY, here are the new teams.
I promise to try and blog about the episodes, and I'll do my best not to put any spoilers in the headlines for those who DVR and watch later. In fact, I DVR most things these days and watch later, so I can't *promise* I'll watch live each week, but I will watch.
ANYWAY, here are the new teams.
I promise to try and blog about the episodes, and I'll do my best not to put any spoilers in the headlines for those who DVR and watch later. In fact, I DVR most things these days and watch later, so I can't *promise* I'll watch live each week, but I will watch.
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