Recovering from the tournament...

Well, we went 3-3 at the tournament, not counting the bye. Megan was sick, but it turned out ok. It was tough debating varsity, but a little more interesting than novice. I was in the final round for my Biographical speech...ultimately 4th place, I think. And Impromptu...well...no surprises there. ;)

Good news! The Cavs beat the Pistons (who were #1 in the Central Division) 89-73 last night. 'Twas a great game and an excellent day. I was so stinkin' happy when I saw the final quarter last night. This proved to the Pistons that we are STILL the Eastern Conference Champs...Booyah!

I watched We Were Soldiers on Saturday night. Mel Gibson was in it, so that made it naturally good. But the story was really sobering and yet intriguing. I definitely have a renewed respect for all of the servicemen and women of the United States...not that I ever didn't respect them, but now it is more relevant. And I learned the truth that the Vietnam War was really terrible even though it was necessary to challenge Communism.

Well, I suppose I should pick a picture of the week. Just one, I promise.

This is my favorite Aragorn picture! (and that is saying something)

tourney prep

Leaving for the tournament in a few hours. I still need to finish this Disadvantage and pack! Wow...better stop blogging. I haven't posted a real post in a while, and just wanted everyone to know that I did not die. Ha Ha.

I will leave you with a cool pic(s) for the weekend. *Browses 'cool pictures' file*

hmmm...ok, here they are...

John McClane and Braveheart-can it get any better than this?

Pictures of THIS week...

This week definitely has a theme. Christian Bale is one of my favorite actors.
1) Batman Begins-my first Christian Bale movie, here shows Bruce Wayne working on the bat-suit
2) The Prestige- Here Alfred Borden shows a magic trick to his future wife's nephew
3) 3:10 to Yuma- Dan Evans prepares to bring Ben Wade to the train station
4) The Dark Knight- unfortunately, I have no idea what is going on here. I will July 18, however.

I recommend all of these movies. They all have a thinking aspect to them.

The Cavs are 3-2 with the new team! Yeah!

Concert and Legends of the Fall...

I had an extraordinary weekend. First off, I went to my debate partner's house to watch Legends of the Fall and Rocketman. Rocketman was stupid, but kind of funny. I can see my younger siblings laughing at it. Legends of the Fall was a good movie, I'll give it that. Brad Pitt is in it, so that makes the movie go down in value in my eyes. My debate partner likes the character Tristan, but he has no sense of decency and is a total wild person giving no thought to what the consequences of his actions might be. My mom saw the movie and said that he reminded her of her dad, he leaves and doesn't take responsibility. Being a worldview student, I of course analyzed the movie in every aspect. I am not sure what the rating is, but if you skip the bad scenes, and set out to think deeply, the movie can be beneficial. Beware of language (wow!) and innapropriate scenes.

Now...the Toby Mac concert...AMAZING!!! This was one of the best concerts ever! Toby's set was really sweet...he had tons of dance moves. If you didn't know, I am a sucker for hip-hop dancing. He played all of my favorite songs, except he left off Extreme Days, which angered me a bit. Oh well. Jeremy Camp also played a magnificent set, with some of my favorite songs. Matthew West was good, but we all know that I was really there for Jeremy and Toby.

Maybe I will get to go see Sanctus Real in April!

Pictures of the week!!!

Ok, so here are my favorite pictures this week.

1. Hugh Laurie... a.k.a. Dr. Gregory House...self explanatory. Hugh/House is hilarious.
2. LeBron's layup past former teammate Carlos Boozer. LeBron can do anything. He is invincible. Bet that made Boozer pretty upset.
3. LeBron's dunk and simultaneous face bash of Dork-whoops, I mean Dirk- Nowitzki. I hate the Dork of the NBA, and so this was really amazing.
4. LeBron *casually* holding his MVP trophy. This guy is just so amazing at basketball, which is why he is 3 out of 4 of my pictures.

So, that is all for now. Enjoy the new House episode, and the Cavs game, as they play shorthanded against the Washington Wizards.

Oh and Daniel Gibson has a high ankle sprain. Oh darn.

Mental percolation (weird, I know)

Hmm...

I have been thinking a lot the past few hours. Many topics and thoughts have randomly passed through my brain.

I passed my driving test on Tuesday. So I guess that has had me thinking about the significant implications of my pass-age.

I went to youth group, and we discussed the parable of the shrewd manager in Luke 14. I think that it is chapter 14, actually chapter 16...I just looked it up. It was interesting to see Matt's (my youth pastor) view of it. The "new take" on this parable reminded me of Amazing Grace. Do you remember the scene where William Wilberforce's friend James suggests, "We cheat!"? And then, the abolitionists take out the slave trade with a rather uninteresting bill. This ended up allowing the final vote to abolish the slave trade! Matt did not mention this in his talk tonight, but he did say that we need to be fresh and "shrewd," if you will, in our Christian life. We can't sit around and be mediocre Christians. We must act, and be creative in our presentation to the world. I honestly think that this is amazingly profound.

Ok, next thing. The Cavs!!! What the heck just happened? I am in shock if you haven't noticed. So LeBron gets MVP and the East wins the All-Star game. Great. Daniel 'Boobie' Gibson gets MVP of rookies vs. sophmores game. Woohoo. Boobie also gets 2nd place in 3 point competition. Awesome dude! So overall, a great week (minus the loss to the Rockets on Tuesday) But then...today. Dun, Dun, Dun!?!?!? We give away Drew Gooden, Larry Hughes, Donyell Marshall, Ira Newble, Shannon Brown, AND Cedric Simmons. That is 6 players people! I don't care whether they were all-stars or not, this means Danny Ferry must have acquired some GOOD players. These new guys must be AMAZING. Unfortunately, I am not quite convinced Mr. Ferry. Mr. Gilbert, what is your issue? Well, due to salary cap issues, lack of a proper point guard, and some defensive disatisfaction, we now have...DRUM ROLL...Ben Wallace, Wally Szczerbiak, Delonte West, and Joe Smith. (Wallace and Smith of the Chicago Bulls, and Wally and Delonte from the Seattle SuperSonics) Larry Hughes, Drew Gooden, Shannon Brown, and Cedric Simmons are now Chicago Bulls, and Ira Newble and Donyell Marshall will now wear the uniforms of the SuperSonics. We also have acquired a 2nd Round Draft pick in 2009. Good deal? You tell me, I have no clue. All I know is that we have a significantly better chance of winning the Eastern Conference and tearing down those dreaded Celtics. Maybe people are wondering when I got interested or even informed about NBA basketball and the procedures involved. Well, you can thank LeBron and crew, my beloved Cavaliers. Unfortunately, I get attatched to my players. Thankfully, Danny Ferry did not lose enough brain cells to trade Anderson Varejao- Wild Thing, Aleksander Pavlovic-Sasha, or Zydrunas Ilgauskas- Big Z or the Large Lithuanian. If that would have happened, well, we won't discuss the negative effects equivalent to nuclear war and destruction here on this little blog.

If you skipped that last paragraph, I don't blame you. It might sound like a bunch of gibberish. But be on your guard, my Cavaliers fanaticism is only starting. You must know that the NBA playoffs are very close at hand and I will reference my players often. I will want to see some production from the new additions to the Cavs' crew.

And if you haven't bought the new Sanctus Real cd, go buy it now. I beg of you! You will not be disappointed my friends.

And I have a new interest in the show House M.D. Hugh Laurie is hilarious and amazing at acting. The show has some cautions-some inappropriate content, but the show is downright laughter-inducing. Tomorrow marks a new episode, but also is a Cavs game...which to watch, which to watch. I know! I will watch the first half of the game, and then House will come on and I will watch it. If any of the game is left, I will then watch that after the show. Yay!

hmmm...any other news to speak of? Right now, I think not.

"Just remember, that your old man, walked Ben Wade to that station-when no one else would."
-Dan Evans
What an example of honor and courage. 3:10 to Yuma is an amazing movie.

On the road...

I passed my driver's lisence test yesterday. I didn't have any points removed. I actually made it through the maneuverability course without demolishing any cones. I also drove by myself for the first time today. I drove my brother and sisters to AWANA and then drove home.



LeBron won MVP for the All-Star game, and the Cavs sailed past the Pacers today, so all is well with me.