Rob Williams - Orangejack

Bloggers have been reporting about it all day. Tonight I finally found a cnn.com article that explains it. Publisher: 'Blog' No. 1 word of the year - Nov 30, 2004. I had to go to the Merriam-Webster website though to find out how they got this list.

We've sorted through thousands of user hits from Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary, Online Thesaurus, and Merriam-Webster Collegiate.com to find the ten words that have most consistently piqued your curiosity this past year.

So what are the top 10 words? Here ya go:

TOP 10 WORDS OF 2004
The top 10 words of the year based on searches of Merriam-Webster Web sites.

1. blog
2. incumbent
3. electoral
4. insurgent
5. hurricane
6. cicada
7. peloton
8. partisan
9. sovereignty
10. defenestration

Source: Merriam-Webster

This also means 'blog' will be in the 2005 Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary. Aren't you glad you're "in the know" now?

Beal Bank Provides $100,000,000 Loan to Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts, Inc.

DALLAS, Nov. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Beal Bank (the 'Bank') announced today that it has provided $100 million in interim financing to Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts, Inc. as part of that company's recapitalization plan. In announcing the transaction, Beal Bank's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Andy Beal, said, 'Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts, Inc. is run by one of America's leading entrepreneurs, Donald J. Trump. We appreciate the opportunity to work with a businessman of his stature on this transaction, and we look forward to future transactions.'

I dunno. I just found it interesting. Plus I wanted to be alliterative.

Thanks to the Search Engine Lowdown for the tip.

Seriously? Otto? And after I just wrote about this being the end of the hurricane season too! Yup, Tropical Storm Otto is now on the map.

Finally. Today is the official last day of the hurricane season. Man, I'm glad it's over. It was a rough one for Florida:

Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne killed more than 100 people and did more than $20 billion in damage, leaving virtually no portion of the state unscathed.

On this blog, with this simple post, the mayhem began. I blogged through Charley and Frances (and Ivan some). To read them, you'll need to check the August and September Archive(scroll to the bottom and then move up to catch them in order).

I'm just glad they are finally over.

I've been a big fan of Dan Aykroyd for a long time. Loved him on the "Classic" SNL, Ghostbusters is one of my all-time favorite Comedies, of course the Blues Brothers, etc... But today I read an interview from his new movie, Christmas with the Kranks. I haven't seen it yet but a friend said it was great and I'm looking forward to renting it next Christmas ;-)

Anyway, Aykroyd has some great quotes in the interview:

[Christmas is] a big, fat commercial hoax -- until that morning, when you’ve got that fire lit in the log cabin, the snowcats gurgling outside. Then my cardigan comes on, I put on Frank Sinatra Christmas music, and I get in the spirit at the last minute like everybody else...We’'re only nice to each other, it seems -- formally -- in this society on Valentine’s Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas. We should be nice to each other all year. We should be espousing Judeo-Christian values of '‘Treat others like you’d wish to be treated',’ and '‘To those much has been given, much will be required'.’ You know, these are the words of the Christ, and they should be embraced throughout the year, not only at Christmas, Thanksgiving and Valentine’s Day.

Very nice. Dan's gone up another notch on my respect meter.

Ironically, I'm not sure what to think about this.

What are you? Take the quiz and leave a comment below.

Hat tip to theMUSCtiger for the quiz.

LOL! (oops) The new Banished Words List :: 2004 has been released. Makes me wonder what other words and terms should be banished that they missed. But this is a good list! Or check out the cumulative list since 1976. You may be shocked and awed.

I was doing okay with not having a traditional Thanksgiving yesterday until I read this from the Google Blog

Well, it's Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, when every patriotic American must either watch football or go shopping.

Sigh. Guess I'm not a true patriot. I'm at work...in Canada. Oh well.

Since Thanksgiving is identified with family, football, and food, I'll tell you, I was able to participate relatively well. I was able to talk to most of my family yesterday. I got to watch the two NFL games. And for food, well, I had Thanksgiving Nachos for lunch and Thanksgiving Salmon for dinner. It was the best we could do. Maybe though for Christmas I'll get the full spread again. My favorite meal is the traditional Thanksgiving meal. My second favorite meal is the traditional Thanksgiving meal leftovers.

But I will say that the salmon last night was great. We went to a place called Horizons Restaurant on Burnaby Mountain. It was great food and there was a beautiful view of Vancouver all lit up, sparkling on the horizons. It was a good evening...just a different Thanksgiving than what I've ever had.

So, family, football, and food, right? It was great. Just having my wife near me is perfect enough for family. Football was decently boring, but football nonetheless. And the food, though not what I'm used to, was still good.

Yeah, I'm thankful. I really am.

You know, since being in Canada for the past few months, going through a heated election, and not being able to celebrate Thanksgiving today in the traditional ways I'm used to, hearing the National Anthem again for the pre-game NFL game today just sounded different to me. It sounded better. It sounded like home.

Don't get me wrong, I like it here and it'll be sad to leave in a few weeks. But there's something about hearing that anthem again. It represents a special place.

Today, among other things, I'm thankful to be an American...warts and all.

A bizarre, but nice story.

BELLEVIEW, Fla. - It's hard to forget a birthday in the Dover family: Mom, dad and soon-to-be 1-year-old twins were all born on Nov. 26.

On Friday, Kimberly Dover will turn 31, her husband Billy will be 35 and their twins, Angelica and Derrick will celebrate their first birthday.

The central Florida parents said they were surprised to have any children, let alone on their birthday. After years of infertility, they were about to give up. Instead they tried one more treatment, a series of shots that proved effective.

The babies were due Dec. 17, 2003. But Kimberly was hospitalized a month earlier with complications, and a doctor decided to deliver the babies by Cesarian section — on the same day the expectant parents were born.

I'm going to keep this short, but just wanted to wish you all a very happy and warm Thanksgiving! We're going to take the day off but then back to work on Friday.

A couple of sites I wanted to pass along also. One is Dave Barry's Thanksgiving article for a little humor.

The other is a neat Thanksgiving Quiz that covers some questions like:

• What group began the tradition of Thanksgiving?
• Why did they celebrate Thanksgiving?
• When did Thanksgiving become a national holiday?
• Why did the Pilgrims leave Europe?
• Why didn't the pilgrims sail to the original destination in Virginia?
• What role did the lone surviving Indian play in the lives of the Pilgrims?
• What was William Bradford's proclamation for Thanksgiving?

Enjoy your Thanksgiving!

You may remember I told you when Ricky Williams retired. Okay, sure, you probably heard about it from other sources, but still, I told you about it also! But then I told you that he wanted to come back to the Dolphins.

Today the NFL announced Rick Williams can return after a 4 game suspension stating in week 13. So I guess he could technically suit up for the Dolphins last game against Baltimore Jan 2.

Yeah. We'll see.

Perfectly horrible that is. They lost again tonight taking their overall record to 0-11 on the season. That's also thier 15th straight loss, the worst in Div-1A football. No other team lost all their games this year. Poor Knights. I feel bad for them.

Maybe George O'leary should contact Lou Holtz. Lou is moving back to Orlando and he knows what it's like to go 0-11.

The following email went out for our eNewsletter list from orangejack.com. You can recieve these updates yourslef if you're interested.

Patricia and I feel bad that we have not sent much communication to you since we’ve arrived in Canada. Please accept our apologizes! It’s been a really busy time for us.

However, it’s a real privilege to be a part of this ministry here in Canada. Rob's job is to, through creative marketing and website design, try and increase the number of people who trust Christ or rededicate their life to Chirst. You won't believe the numbers we've seen in the last 5 months!

Read the rest of our latest update.

Rob & Patricia

Disappointing

Clemson University officials announced Monday that the school will not accept a bid for its football team to play in a postseason bowl after several student-athletes were involved in a fight during Saturday's game against the University of South Carolina.

Fanblogs will have a running update.

Reactions: I'm really bummed about this. Although I said that I wanted appropriate discipline, I'm undecided what that should be. Everyone has an opinion about it and it seems that many people outside of Clemson think it's a class move. Many people inside Clemson (at least on theTigerNet seem to think it's a horrible move. I can see punishing the main players involved in the fight, but the entire team? But then again, sometimes that's what is appropriate. I'm glad though Clemson made the decesion and not the ACC or NCAA banning us. I do know this, I'm bummed about it that they recovered from a 1-4 start to finish 5-1, dominate our rival, and this stupid brawl is keeping them from going. Oh well. I'm still a Clemson fan. I still love my school.

Morgan Quinto released it's list of the safest and most dangerous cities to live in. Here's the link, but here's the top 10 in each (I'm calling them the cities most likely to have locked doors and the cities that are most likely to have unlocked doors):

Top 10 Cities with Unlocked Doors
1. Newton, MA
2. Brick Township, NJ
3. Amherst, NY
4. Mission Viejo, CA
5. Clarkstown, NY
6. Lake Forest, CA
7. Thousand Oaks, CA
8. Colonie, NY
9. Cary, NC
10. Dover Township, NJ

Top 10 Cities with Locked Doors
1. Camden, NJ
2. Detroit, MI
3. Atlanta, GA
4. St. Louis, MO
5. Gary, IN
6. Washington, DC
7. Hartford, CT
8. New Orleans, LA
9. Richmond, VA
10. Birmingham, AL

So what does it say about me that I've only been to 1 of the 10 unlocked door cities but I've been to 8 of the 10 locked door cities?

We got a dose of more Canadian culture tonight. The Toronto Argonauts defeated the British Columbia Lions 27-19 in the 92nd CFL Grey Cup. It was a good game, but everyone around here was bummed BC lost. They play here in Vancouver. So it was fun to follow them some this year.

One really interesting note from the game was who was named the MVP of the game. Damon Allen is the QB for the Argos. He's 41 years old and the younger brother of NFL Hall of Famer Marcus. So that's a cool story.

But a bummer the Lions lost. Oh well. There's always next year....and the NFL!

Normally I'm not excited about Christmas before Thanksgiving. But this year it's different. I'm ready now...and that feels weird.

I think though it's because of a number of reasons:

1. It's cold. Today it's about 41 and back home it's 80.
2. Lights and decorations are out. That's typical back home too, but it makes more sense now because, well, see #1.
3. No Thanksgiving. Well, in Canada anyway. They already had it last month. So that's not a huge thing to be looking forward to like I would back home.
4. I'm ready for Christmas movies. I haven't seen Elf yet, and can't wait.

The Tigers do it again. We beat our rival today in a dominating way that unfortunately was darkened by a brawl in the 4th quarter that embarrasses both teams. Here's some quotes from the Yahoo! Sports recap

[South Carolina coach Lou] Holtz had pointed to this game since last November when the Gamecocks were run out of Williams-Brice Stadium, 63-17. He said it was the most embarrassed he'd ever been and vowed it would not happen again.

Instead, he lost to the Gamecocks' in-state rival for the fifth time in six seasons.

While the final margin wasn't as bad as a year ago, the Gamecocks (6-5) were dominated again.

Holtz, in a black South Carolina windshirt and garnet ball cap, paced the Death Valley sidelines. Nothing he thought of worked against the Tigers.

Holtz stands eighth in career victories with 249. He's 33-37 at South Carolina.

The Gamecocks didn't get a first down until 10:37 was left in the second quarter. They punted nine times, five of those after going three-and-out.

About the only good thing for the Gamecocks came on Syvelle Newton's desperation heave for a touchdown. With South Carolina facing 3-and-14 and the prospect of giving the ball up again, Newton scrambled away from two Clemson pass rushers and launched the ball nearly 60 yards in the air. Boyd turned to the right to catch the ball, held off defensive backs Tye Hill and Jamaal Fudge, and fell into the end zone to make it 14-7.

It was a dominating game by the Tigers and now we can go to a bowl game. What a turnaround from a 1-4 start and a horrible loss to Duke last week.

As for the fight, I don't know who started it. I don't know what happened. But it was bad for everyone. Both benches cleared. There was a 10 minute delay. No ejections though because they said that 3/4 of both teams would have been ejected. That's just bad all the way around. Ultimately this rests on the shoulders of the players. They swung the fists. But it was also a result of poor discipline from both coaches. And on top of that, it was on the refs because they didn't take control of the game early. Emotions were flying all day...and it started when some Carolina players came over and started taunting Clemson players as they ran down the hill (Clemson's traditional entrance). Ugly. Just ugly. I hope appropriate players from both teams will get the discipline they deserve.

More on the brawl from Fanblogs and the MUSC Tiger.

But the Tigers pull it out...and that makes me proud. We've now beaten Carolina 62 times out of the 102 times we've played them...and 7 of the last 8.

Go Tigers!

The TallSkinnyKiwi tells us today that Google plans to have a new blogging tool available for businesses. From a MacWorld article they say that blogs within a firewall have been used by Google employees for a while and have has been very useful for them.

I agree. I think this would be cool for Google to offer BiG (Bloggers in Google). Cool.

SportsIllustrated.com has ranked their top 10 college football helmet logos (no letters). Although I disagree with a few, I agree with some. It's all in fun.

Of course if you really like helmets logos, you should check out The Helmet Project.

This week the two blogs I run each passed a significant milestone. My Orangejack Blog passed the 5,000 visitor mark officially (I started keeping stats about a month after my first post...bummer). If you'd like to read the first entry, look no further than this entry about red trucks from July 6, 2004.

My Effective Web Ministry Notes blog passed the 1,000 visitor mark officially today. If you'd like to read the first entry, look no further than this entry that serves as the introduction from September 21, 2004.

Thank you one and all for visiting. I hope I can continue to be of useful service to you. If you'd like to get the word out and link back to either of these blogs I'd be greatful. I know many of you are already. Here are some graphics you can use if you so chose: orangejack blog and eMinistryNotes.

Here's to happy blogging (and visiting)!

There once was a man named Trump. He lived in the biggest penthouses in the biggest buildings in the biggest cities.

Trump had a boardroom where he would come and shoot arrows of accuastion at others. He liked to do this becuase it kept him in charge and left others feeling uncomfortable and in their place.

One day, Trump sat across a young man named Andy. Andy was young, smart, and a champion of champions in debate. There was none in the land like him. (He would have had more girls around him but a jester named Raj runied it all for young Andy)

Trump, in his cusomary quip launched yet another arrow in his quiver at young Andy.

"Why are so so quiet, boy?!? Aren't you a debate champoin?"

Andy caught that arrow and snapped it in half. "There was too much talking...I listened," Andy fired back. "I'm quiet becuase I'm working with morons. They yap and fight and it's just silly. I'm above all of that. If they are going to fall, let them fall. So Trump, put that in your pipe and smoke it!"

And smoke it Trump did.

The End.

Inspired by my love of the show The Apprentice.

I don't think MSN's spam prevention tools are working.

"Bill literally receives 4 million pieces of e-mail per day, most of it spam"...Microsoft has special technology that just filters spam intended for Gates. In addition, several Microsoft employees are dedicated to ensuring that nothing unwanted gets into his inbox.

Not the longest article, but you can read it here anyway.

Looks like ol' Lou Holtz might just finally step down after this season and allow Steve Spurrier to take over at the University of South Carolina.

It's moved from "rumor" to "reporting" now. I'm not concerned. Spurrier is a good coach. But then again, this is South Carolina football.

"You've seen the original comedy, now live the misadventure for real! That's right, The Real Gilligan's Island is coming to TBS!" so says the TBS website for The Real Gilligan's Island. This could be interesting. I'm not sure yet, but it certainly seems kind of fun. Today TBS revealed the identities of cast.

It starts Tuesday, Nov 30. Check your local listings.

Patricia keeps asking me what I want for Christmas. My nerdy, geeky side just figured it out. I want a weather bug backyard monitoring system. It's a new sensor you can get for your my house.

The sensors can track inside and outside temperatures, wind speed and direction, wind chill and 12 other weather variables in real-time. Each model comes with a desktop console that shows live backyard weather data and a desktop software tool, WeatherBug Plus.

They come in three different ranges--Basic, Advanced and Ultimate. While Basic, priced at $349, transmits weather data from outdoor sensors to a desktop through cables, the two higher-end models are wireless and solar powered, a WeatherBug spokesperson said.

So basically I could get the weather conditions at my house from anywhere in the world...and so could you!

Either that or a TiVo.

I gotta find cheaper toys.

Thanks to Steve for letting me know how to bust my Christmas buget.

I've been a fan of a website called The Holy Observer for a while. It's Christian satire.

Today they published this article (bring your sense of humor)...

Local Man Gives Thanks in Most Circumstances
Sunday School Teacher Fails to Give Thanks for Stubbed Toe, Canadian Change

CHARLOTTE, NC – Darryl Gowin had high hopes for his Thanksgiving Sunday school lesson this year. But Gowin, who teaches 3rd grade Sunday school at Charlotte Church of the Nazarene, had his hopes dashed by a stubbed toe and an overlooked Canadian quarter.

"I've always had a real hard time with 1 Thessalonians 5:18," Gowan told THO. "I told myself I wouldn't teach that lesson to my 3rd graders until I could go a whole year, giving thanks in all circumstances. That was 15 years ago."

Gowin says he almost reached his goal this year, until October 3rd at around 3 AM.

Finish the article here.

US retailers Kmart, Sears to merge in 11-billion-dollar deal

Saturday will be the 102nd meeting of the Clemson-South Carolina state rivalry. It's not much of a rivalry in some ways though. Clemson leads the all-time series with 62 wins, 35 wins for Carolina, and 4 ties.

Thanks to some posts over on TheTigerNet, here's some perspective on this.

Since 1990, Clemson is 10-4 vs. South Carolina.

The Gamecocks have not won 2 consecutive games vs Clemson since they won 3 in a row in 1968-70. Since then Carolina has not won in back to back years. Obviously they have to win more than even every other year to even the series.

If the Gamecocks should win 2 of every 3 (67% of all upcoming games), it'd take them 78 years to take the lead.

If the Gamecocks should win 3 of every 4 (75% of all upcoming games), it would take them 52 years to take the lead.

If the Gamecocks should win 9 of every 10 (90% of all upcoming games), it'd still take them over 30 years to take the lead.

Keep in mind, only 22 of 101 games have been played in Clemson.

I'll be listening to the game on Yahoo! sports as the Tigers and Gamecocks go at it again. History has no bearing on who will win though. They always say "you have to throw out the record books when these two teams play". It's just that 62% of the time you throw out the record book, Clemson wins.

Hopefully history will repeat itself.

More from TigerPundit on the matchup.

Go Tigers!

Did anyone see Monday Night Football last night? One of the strangest and most risqué intro's I've seen. So risqué that ABC ended up apologizing for the steamy intro to the game. Watching that at 9:00 EST would be one thing. Seeing it at 6:00 PST is another.

But it's not just the stupid intros. They now have this stupid half-time segment that is about one player pulling a practical joke on another. It's a rip-off of Punk'd which is a rip-off of Candid Camera (and probably other shows I don't feel like racking my brain to remember). And this just doesn't work.

For a production that has been one of the best, it's a shame. I mean, I like Hank and the now trademark "Are you ready for some football?" line. I also like how they customize each game's intro song so it's about the specific teams. They've put in the sky-cam (that ESPN also has) and some cool graphics. I like the "Mic-ed Up" part also where they put a microphone on a player and let us listen in.

But this silly stuff is overreaching. Get back to the great camera angles, the decent commentary, and show us the game.

Ironically they ask me if I'm ready for some football and they show me fluff instead.

One of my favorite reality TV shows starts again tonight. CBS's The Amazing Race has proven over and over to be one of the better and well done shows on TV. If you've never seen it, why not start tonight?

The show, if you haven't seen it, has teams of two who are given clues and money to take a trip. They literally fly all around the world. The last team to arrive at the final checkpoint for each leg is eliminated. It's a great show for entertainment, geography, and culture, among other reasons to watch.

Enjoy the show!

Leave a comment for your best quip for this:
Hardee's introduces 1,420-calorie burger.

Munch!

Thanks to Seth for the tip.

Congrats to one of my favorite blogs. Fanblogs.com: Coming to a Google news near you.

Staying home sick isn't always the most fun.

It's good because I can rest and hopefully get better. I barely eat (some crackers and a banana so far today) so maybe I'll lose some weight I don't want! Ha! It's also nice because I have a real excuse to be lazy, sleep in longer, watch TV, etc.

It's bad because I'm bored.

But I think I'm feeling better. Thanks to some Patricia TLC and some Seinfeld re-fun comedy.

And yes, I said "re-fun"

Good grief. What is going on with Clemson? I just don't get it. We lost to Duke? Duke?!!? In football?!?!?! Ugh. This headline is perfect: STUNNER!. The say:

After one of the biggest wins in school history, Clemson followed it with one of the worst losses when placekicker Matt Brooks booted a career-long 53-yard field goal as time expired to give Duke an amazing and extremely improbable 16-13 victory Saturday in front of 24,714, nearly half of which were dressed in orange, at Wallace Wade Stadium.

Good grief.

Guess it works everywhere.

Should bloggers be TIME Magazine's "Person of the Year"? Steve thinks so...and you know, that's not such a bad idea.

Creating a new Moral Majority of course.

Jerry Falwell will resurrect his Morality Majority with a new name in order to turn conservative momentum from the recent national elections into an "evangelical revolution."

ABC News: Newborn Twins Named Yasser and Arafat.

Really? Weird. Wonder what she would have done if Butros Butros Gali died and she was having triplets?

Thanks to Amanda for the tip.

Well how 'bout that? Looks like ol' Jeeves from askjeeves.com is Canadian. See that red flower on his lapel today? It's not because it's Veteran's Day, it's because it's Remembrance Day. At least, I've never know any Americans to wear the red poppy for Veteran's Day.

Today is both Veteran's Day and Remembrance Day. I won't go much into either because both Patricia and Amanda have written about Remembrance Day in Canada meanwhile Jenks has written about Veteran's Day.

But I will take this opportunity to thank all the veterans who have fought and put their life on the line in order to help make my life better. I'm free to travel (most places anyway), free to stay home, free to vote. Thank you, men and women of the armed services.

Thanks to the Search Engine Roundtable for the graphic of AJ.

MSN has now launched a new official blog and beta version of it's new search engine.

UPDATE: Wild Bill's Hiccup

Watching a Seattle TV station tonight. They showed a commercial advertising what would be on the 11:00 news. They show this guy in a flannel shirt and beard talking into a microphone in an auditorium. He says in a, believe it or not, a southern accent, "I know a little somethin' about NASCAR...".

I can't wait to see the entire story.

Ugh.

Palestinian Leader Arafat Dies at 75

UPDATE: Rauhi Fattouh now in control

Clemson's latest campaign

Wow.

Maybe you remember last year the Jones Soda Company sold out of their Turkey & Gravy Soda. Well, if you didn't get a chance to sample it (I didn't either), you can now order The Jones Soda Co. Holiday Pack! That's right. It is one short of a 6-pack, but you can have the entire meal all in soda. The flavors are now

• Turkey & Gravy Soda
• Cranberry Soda
• Mashed Potato & Butter
• Green Bean Casserole
• Fruitcake Soda

You'd think they'd throw in a Coke or something to wash it all down with and round out the 6-pack.

Cool new way to find out the top news stories in the world: 10x10 / 100 Words and Pictures that Define the Time. How do they do it?

Every hour, 10x10 scans the RSS feeds of several leading international news sources, and performs an elaborate process of weighted linguistic analysis on the text contained in their top news stories. After this process, conclusions are automatically drawn about the hour's most important words. The top 100 words are chosen, along with 100 corresponding images, culled from the source news stories. At the end of each day, month, and year, 10x10 looks back through its archives to conclude the top 100 words for the given time period. In this way, a constantly evolving record of our world is formed, based on prominent world events, without any human input.

Pretty cool.

I was on Instant Messanger the other night. I told the person I was writing that I'd be glad to talk about something longer, but not on IM or on a blog. I told him, "Let's do it the old fashioned way...by email!"

If you haven't seen the Star Wars: Episode III Teaser Trailer, then you should.

Because it's Star Wars, that's why!

I've added this graphic in the right column of this site. If you feel like this site is a valuable resource for you, would you please use this graphic to link to it? Just right-click the graphic and either copy it or point to it on your site.

Thank you for your support.

Thanks to The MUSC Tiger, I can now map to where in the world I've been. I decided to post the maps on my website though instead of here. I don't know why.

Anyway, here's where I've been.

Here's the US cities I want to go to.

And if everything goes according to plan, this spring I'll be able to add at least Hungry Hungary to my list of countries. Stay tuned...

We went to go see The Incredibles last night. It was a great movie. My favorite for the year. Of course I don't see a lot of movies, but of the ones I've gone to go see, this was the best so far. It was just well done. Well animated. Well told. Action. Comedy. Good clean fun. Nothing short of what I expected from Pixar. These guys really know how to produce a great movie.

CNN has a good review of the movie.

But that villain. He's pictured up there in this post. The dude reminds me of one of those characters from the old Christmas stories they had on TV in the 70s I guess. Man he reminds me of one of those guys but I can't place it...one of the villains trying to keep Kris Kringle down. It'll come to me...

Maybe the coolest was that they showed the trailer to Star Wars Episode III. Really it's a teaser, not a trailer. But it's good. The movie looks darker, but that's to be expected. I can't wait for it to come out and complete the story.

UPDATE: I figured it out! It is Mr. Heat Miser from Year Without A Santa Claus. What a great series of cheesy Christmas specials. I own a couple on DVD and still watch them. I think I have Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus Is Commin' To Town, and Frosty the Snowman. How cool would it be to have all of these on DVD? Very cool. You might say, Mr. Snow Miser cool!

Me: I'm upset with you, God.
God: I'm sorry. But the feeling is mutual.
Me: What? Don't turn this around on me!
God: Okay. Why are you upset with me?
Me: You don't listen to me anymore.
God: No, I listen.
Me: Then acknowledge it.
God: I am now.
Me: Lame.
God: What?
Me: You heard me. Right?
God: Yeah. And it's not lame.
Me: Yeah. Sorry.
God: It's okay. I know you're upset.
Me: Thanks.
God: You know, I'm upset too.
Me: Why?
God: You don't listen to me anymore.
Me: No, I listen.
God: Then acknowledge it.
Me: I am now.
God: Lame.
Me: Okay, so we're not listening to each other.
God: Actually, I'm always listening.
Me: That's what I hear.
God: You know that it's true.
Me: Yeah, I know. But you still seem distant sometimes.
God: So do you.
Me: So what do we do now?
God: I'm going to keep loving you. What are you going to do?
Me: I guess I'll keep believing.
God: And so will I.

24-17. We took Miami to overtime and WE BEAT THEM...at Miami too!

I wish I had seen it. We don't have ESPN here but I'm able to listen to it online. I was only able to listen to overtime though. Whew! After starting 1-4 and now we're 5-4. What a turnaround.

Love the title of this article: INCREDIBLE!

Oh yeah! This is Clemson's 600th all-time win. Congrats Tigers! We're now 600-411-45 (0.589).

Go Tigers!

There has been a document floating around Clemson circles called "This is South Carolina Football". I've decided to post it here. However, I've taken out any statements that I could not verify online. If you have others to add, please leave a comment and the URL proof. I don't want to slander them. I just want to present the facts.

So, going into the 2004 football season...

History
The University of South Carolina began playing football in 1892. Since then, they have had an all-time winning percentage under .500, which ranks 92nd all-time in D-1A football...only 25 programs have been worse. A few of the notable football programs who have been better than the Gamecocks include such powerhouses as: Duke, Western Michigan, Tulsa, Toledo, Navy, UAB, Central Florida, Ball St., North Texas, Nevada, East Carolina, Houston, Northern Illinois, Utah St., San Jose St., Vanderbilt, Akron, Baylor, UNLV, Kansas, and Rutgers just to name a few. This is South Carolina Gamecock football.

Since the Associated Press began ranking football teams in 1936, the Gamecocks have finished in the top 20 of the rankings only five times. Carolina has never finished in the Top 10 of a major recognized poll. South Carolina won its first bowl game 103 years after they started playing football. In over 100 seasons of football, Carolina has yet to participate in one of the "Big 5" Bowls (Rose, Sugar, Orange, Fiesta, Cotton). As Carolina is set to begin this season of collegiate football, they have won 10 or more games in a single season once. Since 1892, South Carolina has had only 42 winning seasons and 52 losing seasons. This is South Carolina Gamecock football.

South Carolina has had 32 different head coaches in its storied tradition...only five of them stayed longer than 5 seasons, 21 of them have losing records. Of the 56 programs which have played more than 1000 games all-time, only four have scored fewer points than South Carolina in their schools history. This is the tradition of South Carolina Gamecock football.

Conference Play
In the 50+ seasons Carolina has been affiliated with a conference, they have won that conference once...the ACC in 1969, with a 7-4 record. Since joining the SEC in 1992, Carolina has had a winning record in the conference twice (2000 and 2001). In the twelve seasons as a member of the SEC, Carolina boasts a conference record of 35-68-1...only two teams have been worse: Kentucky has 27 wins, Vanderbilt 12. Although Carolina has yet to finish in the top two of the Eastern division, they have finished last twice (1998 and 1999). Carolina has yet to win six conference games in a season. And no one should forget the fact that Carolina went two consecutive seasons without winning one conference game, not one (1998 and 1999). Carolina had an impressive string of 21 consecutive games with a loss snapped in 2000 by beating New Mexico State (then let the rest of the country know what Carolina football was all about by tearing down the goal-posts). Since 1992, only three times has any non-probation member of the conference failed to win two or more games overall in a season...South Carolina has accomplished this feat twice, Kentucky once. Since 1992, only once has a conference member failed to win a game overall in a single season...you guessed it, South Carolina. South Carolina’s all-time record versus other current conference members is even more impressive: 2-9 vs Alabama, 4-8 vs Arkansas, 1-4-1 vs Auburn, 3-18-3 vs Florida, 13-41-2 vs Georgia, 8-6-1 vs Kentucky, 2-14-1 vs LSU, 5-7 vs Ole Miss, 5-6 vs Mississippi St., 2-18-2 vs Tennessee, and 11-2 vs Vanderbilt. That’s correct, Carolina leads the all-time series against 2 SEC teams...Kentucky and Vanderbilt. This is South Carolina Gamecock football.

South Carolina vs. Others
The comparison of only 12 seasons in one conference does no justice to the tradition of South Carolina football. So lets compare the Gamecocks record versus D-1A schools they have played 30 or more times: 35-62-4 vs Clemson, 13-41-2 vs Georgia, 33-21-2 vs Wake Forest, 24-27-4 vs NC State, 16-34-4 vs North Carolina, 17-24-3 vs Duke, and 20-13-1 vs Virginia. That’s correct, Carolina leads the all-time series against 2 of these 11 teams...Virginia and Wake Forest. This is South Carolina Gamecock football.

Last 10 Years
But all this tradition and past records are meaningless. What is more important is the recent history. Only losers live in the past. We are in the best years of Carolina Gamecock football, and the future has never been brighter...or has it? For perspective, let's look at the last ten years...Carolina is coming off another losing season, the 6th in the last 10 seasons. Overall record since Lou Holtz became Head Coach is 27-32 (.458). Since 1994 they are 50-64. Remarkably, Carolina has finished in the Top 25 twice in the last 10 seasons and been won all three bowl games in that span. But before you get too excited, remember these are the only 3 bowl games they've EVER won. The three seasons they've allowed the most points all came within the last 10 years. This is South Carolina Gamecock football.

The 2002 season marked a significant time in South Carolina Gamecock football history. On November 9, South Carolina was defeated by Arkansas giving South Carolina their 500th loss in history. Currently there are 16 members of the elite "500 Club", five of them with better win percentages than the Gamecocks (Virginia, Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Kansas, and Rutgers). In the middle of the season, the Gamecocks were within 1 game of reaching .500 winning percentage at 489-490-44. What would they do? Could USC reach the elusive benchmark of minimal mediocrity? No. They lost five straight to close the season at 5-7 and miss the post season by one game. This is South Carolina Gamecock football.

The Gamecocks fell to 0-9 the last two years in games that could've gained them a bowl bid. The final defeat was a humiliating trouncing at home to their arch-rival Clemson 63-17. Many records were set or tied in the "rivalry" game including most points scored by a team. Coach Holtz said afterwards that he's "embarrassed like I've never been before"...

This is South Carolina Gamecock Football.

Sigh. Another political post. Sorry. I think I've finally been able to capture what I have seen in this election that is really bugging me. Steve pointed me to an article that I am very impressed with. Before I get there, you should read this from Jeremy Jenks:

The tone of the opposition to the President was brutal and unyielding. I must tell my friends on the left how much I appreciated having the President called evil and malicious or stupid and dishonest...I especially enjoyed having these qualities thrust on to me for my support. There is nothing like having your character questioned while at the same time seeing things you believe in attacked cruelly and hatefully...So thanks, you wonderful haters of George W. Bush, you gave us a clear choice between your fanatical demeanor and quiet confidence. You gave us an opportunity to see inside the heart of the opposition...You gave us an image of hatred and malice and an image for us to stand up and reject.

Now onto Clinton. This guy understands what happened this week. He understands what Jeremy Jenks felt. I just hope others will listen. It's going to take a lot of work on both sides to bring the US back together. Clinton is off to a great start:

This election presents a great opportunity for President Bush and a great opportunity for Democrats, and the two are not necessarily in conflict...If we let people believe that our party doesn't believe in faith and family, doesn't believe in work and freedom, that's our fault...[Democrats] need a clear national message and they have to do this without one big advantage the Republicans have, which is they won't have a theological message that basically paints the other guy as evil...The Republicans had a clear message, a good messenger, great organization and great strategy.

But it's going to take more than this. This is only the beginning. And I hope this doesn't sound too cheesy, but I really feel we've GOT to begin focusing more on the word "United" in our country's name.

Ummmm.....Chocolate.

Wanted to pass along a few election maps I found interesting. Thanks to Jollyblogger for providing them all (and more), commentary, and stats.

First is the county-by-county map of how each county voted in the 2004 election.



Next is a funny joke map. Seriously, it's a joke!



And another one from Not A Doller Short via Mike Todd:



One reason I find these quite funny is because being in Canada right now, all I hear is Bush bashing in the press. The sad thing is this is exactly how many people see it. They only interview Kerry supporters and the broadcasters don't hold back. Really it's not funny...and not all Canadians feel this way. One told me that she was embarrassed right now because of it all.

What I'm really tired of is both sides. The Republicans are gloating. The Democrats are still calling Bush supporters "ignorant". I'm tired of it all. I don't want to post on politics anymore. I try not to, and in fact have been fair each time I have. I've never said who I support and why. Don't feel like I need to. I voted for the man I thought best lined up with what I believe...and I'm happy about how I voted. I'm neither an "idiot" nor a "not a true Christian" as some would say if I voted for Kerry (I've heard both comments made from each side).

I'm a follower of Jesus Christ who is an American and takes part in the political process. I voted.

But you probably already knew that by now. Here's a good breakdown of how each state voted from Yahoo! CNN also has great, easy to read election results.

I'm also upset at my.yahoo tonight. At some point during the election, when I tried to go to my.yahoo.com (my homepage), I got a page that told me:

We're sorry, but the new version of My Yahoo! is not yet available in any language other than English. You can return to your current page by following these steps:

1. Select 'My Account' to go to the Account Preferences page
   
2. Select the 'Edit' button in the Member Information section
   
3. Under General Preferences, select the link next to 'Language & Content'
   
4. Choose 'Yahoo! US' and then select the 'Finished' button

We apologize for the inconvenience. The new version of My Yahoo! will be available in multiple languages soon.
The My Yahoo! Team

I made the changes they asked and it's still not working. I don't know what language they thought I was using. Looked like English to me!

Well, sort of. Another Presidential election and once again I'm going to bed not knowing who will be my President when I wake up (and don't give me the "Bush is still President until sometime in January" bit...work with me, okay?)

I had hoped being in the Pacific Time Zone would allow me to know who won. We've been watching CNN all night and skipping around the internet. Here's the scorecard as I go to bed:

CNN: 249-211 Bush (HI, NV, NM, MN, IA, WI, MI, & OH still in play)
FOX: 269-221 Bush (HI, NV, IA, WI, & MI still in play)
NBC: 269-207 Bush (HI, NV, MN, IA, WI, & MI still in play)
CBS: 249-238 Bush (HI, NV, NM, IA, WI, & OH still in play)
ABC: 249-221 Bush (HI, NV, NM, IA, WI, MI, & OH still in play)
PBS: 249-221 Bush (HI, NV, NM, IA, WI, MI, & OH still in play)

CNN tells us that provisional ballots in Ohio will probably decide Ohio...and those won't be counted for days. So it seems the question mark is Ohio because it's worth 20 (need 270 to win).

One map I've enjoyed looking at was on the Yahoo homepage. They marked states in how they lean. So they are saying it's 249-225 Bush with NV, NM, IA, and OH leaning to Bush and WI & MI leaning to Kerry. If that worked out, it'd be 286-252 Bush.

Yahoo also says as I go to bed that 89% of the precincts are reporting that it's 51-48[%] Bush (or 53M-49.5M).

And now...enter the lawyers to Ohio, Iowa, and New Mexico.

Can someone wake me when it's all over?

Good night.

A co-worker here in Canadia (Canadians are from Canadia, right?) asked today, "Why do you vote on Tuesday"? I had to be honest. "I dunno. 'Cause Congress said so".

Not good enough, eh?

Well, here's more.

Did you? We mailed in our absentee ballots several weeks ago since we knew we wouldn't be in Orlando. It is a real privilege to be a part of a system that allows my voice to be heard...to vote and choose our leaders.

I encourage you that if you haven't voted already, please do so before the polls close on Tuesday.

May God bless America.

I also found a great tool to keep up with different races across the country and it's offered to us from CNN.com. They'll have the typical updated results, but you can also customize it to keep up with at least 20 different races around the country. Nice!

(PS...I created this "I Voted" graphic...feel free to take it and post it on your blog if you voted also)

When the 2004 football schedule came out for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers earlier this year, they probably had no idea how big this week would be for them. They had a BYE week. And they are very lucky they didn't play because no major football team from the state of Florida won this weekend.

In Florida, there are 3 major universities. They all lost. First time since 1978 that happened. The University of Florida lost to Georgia. Florida State lost to Maryland. The University of Miami lost to North Carolina (with these ACC losses, have the rest of the ACC arrived?) Heck, even the University of Central Florida lost to Marshall (not much of a surprise...they are still the worst team in Division I-A football)!

In Florida, there are also 3 professional football teams. The two that played both lost. Jacksonville lost to Houston. Miami lost to the NY Jets.

Like I said, Tampa Bay is very lucky they didn't play this weekend.

Here's some blog ideas.

So, they suggested I write about "the perfect pizza". It has to be the one I got in Pittsburgh. My father-in-law took me to some place outside Pittsburgh (wish I could remember the name). It was awesome. The pepperoni was cut about 1/4 inch thick, the crust was perfect bread, the oil was olive, the three or four cheeses were thick. I can't remember what else was on it. It was huge and delicious!

I was actually thinking about that pizza yesterday. I need to get back to Pittsburgh.