Today's Media Demands

I found myself sucked in again this afternoon. I happened to check cnn.com for news and there was some. "Plane Hits Manhattan High-Rise" caught my attention fairly quickly. My immediate thought was "Oh crap, hope there aren't more on the way." I figured that they had found a way through with small planes or something.

I then fell into an all too familiar habit of alt-tabbing over and refreshing the page every 30 seconds and expecting new information each time. The story changed several times. Sometimes it was a helicopter, other times airplane, and other times the safer aircraft. So once I saw that it was contained, I switched over and assumed that any second now the name and motive of the pilot would emerge. It didn't for quite a while and the first sign that I saw was an announcement by Yankees skipper Joe Torre. That seemed quite odd to me.

I finally found out the details and that Cory Lidle had passed away. I guess it was engine trouble, we will find out soon enough.

I have since thought about my actions today and wondered what is wrong with me. I am addicted to knowing everything the second it happens. And not only that, I demand accuracy in the reporting and complain to no end when the media jumps the gun. I think I can see why they jump the gun now. It is to get my attention because I am demanding something... anything. I have the sneaking suspicion that too many Americans are this way. We demand to be informed correctly for no other reason than to be informed. It doesn't move us to action or anything, we just want to know. I at least need to stop jumping on the hype train as often as I do.

So the only appropriate response of mine today is to offer my deepest condolences to those who knew the people killed tragically today.

The Glory Road

. : Politics : .

I watched a pretty good movie the other night and it got me thinking on a lot of things. I saw Glory Road by Disney. It is a story about the first NCAA basketball team that actively used African-American players in the 60s. One of the things that seemed very foreign to me was the racial hatred portrayed in the movie. The bad looks, the vicious words, the beatings, the KKK blood threats. It all seemed like something out of a horror movie to me. I couldn't help but think how far we have come since that time. I am sure that there are racial problems today, and I see them. But the widespread hate and violence just is not there anymore.

Now several of you are wondering where I am going with this and so here I go...

Let me first apologize in advance to anyone offended by these statements. I am not in any of these situations, but I can see parallels.

The recent struggle in the Middle East between Hezbollah and Israel have really brought to the surface deep rooted hatred. I see people cheering death, I see countrywide struggles over seemingly small things, and I see many many people blinded by their prejudice on both sides of the argument. Many people ask today for Peace in the Middle East, but almost every single one asks with a sly grin of sarcasm. When I was watching Glory Road, I saw an ugly past, but I also saw a better present. I saw a bad situation that I don't think anyone thought would change, but that has changed for the better. So I offer this positive trend as an example of hope to those who think that there will always be constant bickering and war in Holy Land.

Let me know if you don't see these as slight parallels and I will reconsider, but the situations have many of the same undertones.

Round Up

. : Sports : .


It's time for the Cowboys to kick it in to high gear. It is once again football season and the spirit around town is that it is about time. Saturday night kicked off a new season that is already full of controversial water cooler topics. The Tony Romo debate is in full swing and I for one am on his side. I am ready for a new franchise quarterback, but I am not sure how ready Jerry Jones is.


Baseball has been dragging on, and with a team constantly doing its best not to be in first place, most people have given up on the season. The Rangers are only about 5 games out, but I would be surprised to see them make that up. They have had several good signs of late and I think that the team looks promising for next year.

The PGA Championship starts on Thursday and should be pretty good. The fact that Tiger is back on his game makes it even more appealing to watch. I am going to be one of the < 1% of America that thinks a guy not named Tiger or Phil will win it... we will see how that pans out.

When I Look To The Stars

. : Religion : .

... is a great song by Switchfoot.

It seems to capture my sentiments about the natural universe around me. I am constantly in awe of what God has built around me. This picture today inspired even more wonder on my part. It is a picture of a solar flare using Earth's size as a scale.

Movie Review

. : Special : .

The Greatest Game Ever Played - 4.5/5

I can't even begin to describe how much I enjoyed this film. And for all of you non-golfers out there, my wife enjoyed it too. This is the story of a non-elite normal boy being given the opportunity of a lifetime and proving his worth. As much as this is a movie about golf, it is equally a movie about class status or a caste system that I frankly take for granted these days. For instance, I am going to play golf in two days and pay about 20 dollars for green fees and a cart. This simple public course was non existent in the early 1900s and portrayed as even forbidden.

The movie did an excellent job of displaying the mental side of golf, which non golfers rarely see and which haunts pros and amateurs alike. The old style clubs were fun to see. I am sure that the courses were easier back then and shorter as well, but with the equipment that they had, it was certainly a challenge.

This movie really showcased sportsmanship in several of the players and the opposite in many others. I was very impressed with the main character, Francis Ouimet, and even more impressed that they didn't 'fluff' up his character too much for the movie. The opponent, if you could call him that, was Harry Vardon. I loved his non-flamboyant style combined with his competitive tactics.

I would highly recommend this movie to anyone.