Words of Wisdom

You can read parts 1 and 2 of our series here.

In addition to the three bands previously mentioned, there was another that helped the Seattle music scene burst forth from its cloud-enshrouded home – Soundgarden. Chris Cornell’s band had existed since the mid-80’s, churning out heavy Sabbath-like riffs underneath his octave-stretching vocals. Though they seemed to lose their focus towards the end of their years together, 1991’s “Badmotorfinger” is a classic album from the grunge era.

There were several other bands that reached some level of popularity in the early 90’s as well, though none reached the same heights of commercial success as the four bands we have looked at over the past two weeks. Another favorite song of mine from that time is this one by the Screaming Trees, a band that never came to be a household name, but who put out this great tune from the Singles soundtrack.

But, unfortunately, it is. Former Razorback Matt Jones, one of the most exhilirating players to don the red and white in my lifetime, was arrested on felony drug charges early this morning….

But we remember the good times…

On Saturday we had the first Harvest Day for our church’s community garden and, all in all, it was a success. Things grew and ripened faster than any of us had imagined, so we actually moved the first harvest up a week, but some people were still able to come, despite it being a holiday weekend. We picked several things during the week and then hit it hard again Saturday morning around 9:00. A few people from the community came by, visited with us, and took home some fresh vegetables, but by 10:30 a storm moved in and drenched our plans for the day. We took the remaining fruit of our labor and handed it out after worship the next day with instructions to members to either take it for themselves or give it to someone who may need it. We are hoping for more visitors this weekend, but, even if there aren’t many of our neighbors who make it by, the whole project has been a major success for our congregation.

As of Saturday, we had picked a multitude of yellow squash and zucchini, some peppers and some green beans. This picture will give you an idea of how much we harvested last week
:

This evening I spent about 2.5 hours at our garden spot with a few helpers trying to pick what had ripened over the past three days and we have already outdone all of last week’s yield. When I return on Thursday there will be even more. The amount of green beans that have suddenly become ready is nearly overwhelming and the squash and cucumbers are also producing at an alarming rate. The tomatoes are not quite ready, but there are seemingly hundreds of green ones that will be ripe and ready in the next two weeks.

I have to say that everything is going very, very well.

Being both a numbers nerd and a football fan, fantasy football has been an attention holder of mine for the past ten years or so. I am one of those strange sorts of persons who enjoys looking at page after page of statistical calculations and who actually uses some of the math that they sat through during their school years.

For the past two years, at no charge whatsoever, I have also been giving my own fantasy picks for the various positions utilized in a league of that sort. So, without further ado, below are my top ten picks for quarterback heading into the 2008 season. Enjoy.

Honorable Mention:
David Garrard, Jax: In 12 games last season, Garrard proved himself to be one of the more efficient QBs in the league, with 18 touchdowns against only 3 interceptions. This season, he will tossing to an upgraded receiver corp, anchored by Jerry Porter and Troy Williamson, two players who have underperformed so far in their promising careers. Coupled with a great pass-catching back in Maurice Jones-Drew, this could be a big year for Garrard and the Jags.

10. Aaron Rodgers, GB: While filling the shoes of the supposedly retired Brett Favre is a bohemoth of a task and even though Rodgers will most likely face an incredible amount of scrutiny following the future Hall-of-Famer, all of the pieces are in place for him to excel. Having spent three years under the tutelage of the aforementioned Favre and with the tools in place around him, this could be a great year in cheesehead-land. The Packers have one of the best offensive lines around and two excellent receivers in Donald Driver and Greg Jennings to accompany the first-year QB. As long as Favre remains retired, Rodgers could have a breakout year.

9. Matt Hasselbeck, Sea: Hasselbeck has been one of the most consistently good signal callers in the league, but has never proven to be one of the elite. Now, at the age of 32, he has most likely already hit his peak, but there is no reason to believe he won’t put up good numbers once again. Veteran receivers Deion Branch, Nate Burleson, and Bobby Engram will again be at his service and should be enough for him to put up 3,600 yards and 25 touchdowns.

8. Jay Cutler, Den: There are few young quarterbacks in a better position going into this season than Cutler. WR Brandon Marshall had an incredible year in 2007, amassing over 1,300 yards, and this year the Broncos have added two more former 1,000 yard receivers in Darrell Jackson and Brandon Stokely. An excellent line and a promising back in Selvin Young, could push Cutler along farther in his development. Expect him to improve over last year’s performance with around 3,800 yards and 26 touchdowns.

7. Ben Roethlisberger, Pit: Look, I know Big Ben had one of the best seasons of any QB in the league in 2007, but, given his past statistical mediocrity, I’m not ready to move him to the upper echelon just yet. As the career of the once-great Hines Ward continues to wind down, WR Santonio Holmes is set for another big year, which should be a great boom to Roethlisberger’s stats. Expect him to garner 3,200 yards and 28 touchdowns, as well as run for a couple of TDs.

6. Derek Anderson, Cle: The surprise of 2007’s quarterback field, Anderson burst onto the scene in, of all places, Cleveland, throwing for nearly 3,800 yards and 29 TDs. On the other hand, he also showed a propensity for throwing interceptions, recording 19 of them last season. With one year as a full time starter under his belt, all eyes will be on Anderson in 2008 to see whether he ascends the NFL hierarchy or regresses into a sophomore slump. WR Braylon Edwards and TE Kellen Winslow give him two excellent weapons and the Browns’ offensive line is an impenetrable wall. Expect similar numbers to last year, with around 3,800 yards and touchdowns in the high 20’s.

5. Carson Palmer, Cin: Palmer looked the part of a phenom in 2005, but since then he has struggled at times, especially in his 20 interception outing last season. The Bengals are still in possession of a passing offense that has the potential to be elite, with two 1,000+ yard receivers in Chad Johnson and TJ Houshmandzadeh, but Johnson’s unhappy offseason complaining may bode poorly for the season. If the pieces fall into place, though, and RB Rudi Johnson returns strong in the running game, Palmer should again throw for around 4,100 yards and 27-28 TDs.

4. Drew Brees, NO: At 29, Brees is still in the prime of his career in an excellent place (New Orleans) and again has great weapons in WR Marques Colston and the dual RB attack of Deuce McAllister and Reggie Bush. Though his interceptions crept up in 2007 with 18, his high yardage helped make up for the mistakes. In this strong offense, he should again put up excellent numbers - I would expect around 4,400 yards and 27 TDs.

3. Tony Romo, Dal: After elevating to an elite level in 2007 (4,211 yards and 36 TDs), Romo returns this season for an encore performance that may well be another big one. WRs Terrell Owens and Terry Glenn will both be 34 when the season begins and they be a bit slower than they were a few years ago, but their hands are still great and should help the ‘Boys to excel again. TE Jason Witten is one of the best in the business as well and his presence will also help Romo in his quest for another outstanding season. I would expect him to have similar, but perhaps slightly lower, numbers as last year: 4,000 yards passing and around 32 TDs.

2. Peyton Manning, Ind: With his consistently elite play, Manning has solidified himself as one of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game. At the age of 32, he should again be one of the greatest around, but will inevitably start showing the wear of his years in the NFL. WR Marvin Harrison is slowing down with age, but he and his receiving counterpart, Reggie Wayne, are still a force to be reckoned with and should help Manning to put up excellent numbers in 2008. Expect 4,100 yards and 30 TDs this season.

1. Tom Brady, NE: Despite his nearly handful of Super Bowl rings, Brady had never before been an elite fantasy quarterback. Sure, he could consistently put up yardage in the mid-high 3,000s and touchdowns in the mid-20’s, but his stats were never to level of Manning and others. Last season, though, with the addition of Randy Moss and the emergence of Wes Welker, his game was transformed and the usual descriptors applied to his name: consistent, reliable, were suddenly replaced by another word: incredible. His 4,806 yards and 50 TDs (vs. only 8 interceptions) in 2007 set a new milestone for greatness, blowing everyone else in the league out of the proverbial water. Though they fell short of a Super Bowl win last season, their offensive power rampaged through the regular season and they should again be one of the best around in 2008. Brady will most likely not hit the same milestones as he did in ‘07, but should again be good for 4,500 yards and 40 TDs.

What do you think? Did I leave somebody off? Who do you think may surprise people this season?

First of all, I recognize that the Memphis Flyer is not exactly a beacon of journalistic objectivity, but an article posted today is particularly damning of John McCain and the Republican party in general. Let me know what you think of it:
Should John McCain Sport a Scarlet Letter?

So, how would you describe our current presidential candidates, John McCain and Barack Obama? Another new poll (imagine that!) was just recently released that lists the top 10 words/phrases used to describe each one of them. The results:

John McCain
10. (tie) Moral/Good and Dishonest (4%)
9. Republican (5%)
8. Honest (5%)
7. Iraq/Terrorism (6%)
6. Insider/Politician (7%)
5. Strength (7%)
4. Bush (7%)
3. Record/Qualifications (8%)
2. Military Service (9%)
1. Old (19%)

Barack Obama
10. Muslim (3%)
9. Intelligent (4%)
8. Not likable (5%)
7,6. (tie) Race, Young (6%)
5. Liberal (6%)
4. Inspiring (8%)
3. Dishonest (9%)
2. Lack of Experience (13%)
1. Outsider/Change (20%)

So what do you think? Pause for a moment and think of whatever word pops into your mind when one of these two names is mentioned. Is this accurate?

By the way, the only thing I think this poll proves is that 3% of Americans are morons.

“May your first child be a masculine child.” - Luca Brasi, from “The Godfather”

Following Diana’s ultrasound last Thursday and the increased probability that our forthcoming family addition will be a boy, I’ve found myself becoming increasingly, and sometimes unduly, frustrated with the reactions of those around us.

Six years ago, when Rachel was still a developing fetus, the pressure from some of our family (not you mom and dad) began to build and, with the discovery that our first child was female, their clearly seen disappointment began to fester. A few years later with Bekah, their hopes were again dashed and the malignant discontent again bubbled to the service.

All the while, we were and are just as happy as we can be with our precious little girls and we love them more than anything in this life, but the dark, ominous clouds remain.

With the announcement last week that our forthcoming (and final) child was likely a boy, their joy was unrestrained and obvious, which bothers us to no end. As our cynicism grew over the last few days, every comment from others came under some degree of scrutiny, from the innocuous (“Great, that will balance things out.”) to the nearly offensive (“It’s about time!”).

So, all of this caused me to ponder a bit – what is this obsession with having boys? I realize that we live in a society in which many are desperately clinging to their outdated patriarchical ideal where a woman’s existence hinges on procreation and cooking dinner, but that doesn’t make their antiquitous opinions any easier to swallow. Perhaps we are too sensitive to things, but it makes us wonder what people think of our two little girls. Are our beloved children devalued in some people’s eyes because of their gender?

But, whatever transpires in our future – whether the child is male or female, we will be just fine with it. Yesterday I was speaking to Beverly Johnson, a wise African-American lady who is around my parents’ age and whose son is a friend of mine, after church and told her about the ultrasound and the discovery that it was likely a boy. She looked me in the eye and said, “It doesn’t matter what it is. As long as we have a healthy baby, it doesn’t matter. We’ll love it just the same, no matter what.”

Like I said, she is a wise woman.

One of the really cool things about blogging on WordPress is the ability to see the search terms that lead other people to my blog - some of them tend to be rather strange. Here are just a few of them from the last week

Who is the antichrist?

Girls wedgie

Office Space movie organizational structure

Alabama traffic lights

Hillary Clinton praises the beast

Stop clapping Obama

See part 1 of the series here.

With the ascension of Nirvana in the early 1990’s, Seattle was suddenly thrust into the spotlight as a sort of musical Mecca, with the youth of America suddenly turning to the Pacific Northwest for some sense of direction in their aimless walk through life. Soon, the airwaves were inundated with Seattle bands, many of whom had been toiling in obscurity for years in the dismally overcast city. The sound itself was something far from that which had dominated for the last several years, with loud, crunching guitars tuned so low it sounded as though they were being beaten in a mud pit.

It was a dirty-sounding, depressing sort of tone that soon rose to the forefront of generation - one that encapsulated the feel of a generation struggling for some sense of identity. The songs of bands like Alice In Chains were slow, dirge-like and very, very heavy - bearing a great similarity in sound to earlier groups like Black Sabbath and others. They combed the depths, searching for some sense of purpose in a life of despair, but seemingly coming up empty

Around the same time, another group of young men suddenly broke through into the mainstream with a classic-rock sound, reminiscent of bands like The Doors (without the overbearing, cheesy keyboard) or The Who. From seemingly out of nowhere, Pearl Jam quickly became an internationally famous band, with Eddie Vedder’s Morrison-like singing and penchant for crowd-surfing atop his legions of adoring fans. Here’s a clip of them doing the unreleased track “Porch” from their incredible debut album.

Diana has reached the 12 week mark of her pregnancy, so today we were able to again see an ultrasound of our developing child. We could see the baby’s little face and arms and legs, which were all amazing to look at - especially considering that it is only about 2.5 inches long at this time. Near the end of our time with the ultrasound tech, she looked and felt pretty sure that it was a boy - which, while we are very happy, also leaves us a bit disconcerted.

She is still fairly early into her preganancy, so we may have a different report at the 20 week ultrasound, but, for now at least, it is most likely a boy. In my nearly 6 years of fatherhood, I’ve only dealt with princesses and dress-up and all of those other girly things. So, I’m a bit ill at ease - what do you do with a boy?

But, besides the shoulder shrugging activity conundrum and despite the fact that all of our baby clothes are pink and frilly, we are very excited. I picked out a boy name years ago when Rachel was just a developing fetus in her mama’s tummy and, though I still really like the name, I’m not sure it is the best choice. When I came up with a boy’s name some six years ago, I had just recently finished reading Jack Kerouac’s great book, On the Road, and it reflected that reading - Jackson Dean, or J.D. Wisdom. It has a great ring to it, but, at the same time, it seems like there are an awful lot of Jacksons now and I’m not one to go with a trendy pick. Though we are leaning heavily toward J.D., the book has yet to be closed on this issue. What boys’ names do you like?

P.S. I wanted to include the video of the ultrasound, but I have yet to figure out how to rip it from the DVD and then convert it into a usable format. Any suggestions?