Random Thoughts

Is Y.E. Yang the Real-Life Rocky?

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Yang wins PGAWho doesn’t love a storybook ending?  Tonight, in the PGA Championship, The Korean-born Y.E. Yang defeated that juggernaut of golf, Tiger Woods.  And it got me thinking …

Did you ever see Rocky IV?  I know – everyone has, of course.  There’s a fiece nationalistic, almost jingoistic fervor over Ivan Drago, the intimidating boxer from the Soviet Union.  The entire nation is enamored by their athlete, and cheer him like a national hero.  He is set to crush the smaller Rocky Balboa in a hugely built-up fight in the Soviet Union.

Then – half way through the final fight in Moscow, Rocky gives an uppercut and actually cuts the Soviet fighter.  And the crowd is shocked.  He’s actually human.  They go on and trade shots, until one of the scary Soviet premiers goes down to the ring to yell at Drago.  And Drago picks him up and says something like “Yah schmmee NAH!  Yah schmee NAH!!”  Or at least that’s how I remember it.  The subtitles say, “I fight for me.  I fight for me!”.

The crowd realizes that their guy isn’t the hero they thought he was.  And kinda selfish.  And then they actually start to cheer for Rocky. Read more »

Here’s to Originality

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OK – everyone has seen it. I know.  But it’s so fun to watch.   The young couple seemingly on every show on the planet now who kicked off tradition and shocked the wedding guests with some pretty good and a whole lotta horrendous dancing. JK Wedding Entrance Seriously.  I’m starting to think I’m not that bad.

But – watch it again for the other stories.  There’s the woman in the yellow shirt in the third row from the back on the groom’s side.  She’s truly shocked and repeatedly looks over to her neighbor with a, “Can you believe this is happening, Meryl?” look.    Then there’s the guy on the brides side just in front of the camera in the light grey suit.  At about 1:58, he reaches into his coat pocket and puts his sunglasses on.   Just getting in the spirit.  Then there’s the gasp when the groom comes rolling in.  Finally, there’s the groom’s grandmother who looks surprisingly into the entrance, and his grandfather who is surely muttering under his breath, “&!#$ kids!”.  Or – when the bride comes in, without the usual obvious queue, people don’t immediately stand up until they remember the protocol.

But – the best part is a bride and groom who seem to be very in love (at least as best as I can tell from their 8 seconds of interaction), and how have the story of their lifetimes.

Well, keeping with the wedding them, and since you’ve come this far, you’ve got to watch the second one as well… Read more »

We Have Enough Fathers – Man-up and be a Dad.

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There’s two stories I’ve heard many years ago that I think of every Father’s Day. The first a story about a group of volunteers who visited a prison. They set up a table inside so the inmates could send complementary Mother’s Day cards to their mothers. The response was overwhelming. So many prisoners asked for cards that they had to go out and buy more to keep up with the demand. The volunteers were delighted with the Mother’s Day response and decided to set up the table again for Father’s Day.

But on Father’s Day, not one inmate asked for a card. Read more »

Who Are You and What Are you Doing Here?

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I heard a story today from the book, Doing Church as a Team by Wayne Corderio.  It’s about a rabbi living in a Russian city a century ago.

Disappointed by his lack of direction and life purpose, he wandered in the chilly evening.  With his hands thrust deep in his pockets, he aimlessly walked through the empty streets questioning his faith in God, and his purpose.  The only thing colder than the Russian winter air was the chill within his soul.  He felt so enshrouded by his own despair that he mistakenly wandered into a Russian military compound off limits to civilians.

The bark of a Russian soldier shattered the silence of the evening chill.  ”Who are you?  And what are you doing here?”

“Excuse me?” replied the rabbi.

The soldier shouted back, “I said, ‘Who are you and what are you doing here?”

After a brief moment in a gracious tone so as to not provoke to soldier, the rabbi said, “How much do you get paid every day?”

“What does that have to do with you?” the soldier retorted.

With the delight of someone making a new discovery, the rabbi said, “I will pay you the equal sum if you will ask me those same two questions every day: ‘Who are you?’ and ‘What are you doing here?”.

RT @ We Need a Social Media Czar

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twitter-cartoon1

A couple months ago, a friend called me very concerned to let me know that a co-worker’s travel itinerary was inadvertently being broadcast over the public Internet. Turns out that he was simply Twittering the happenings of his vacation. It wasn’t that long ago that there was public outcry over our loss of privacy. Now – we’re broadcasting it.

Social Media is more than the latest fad.  It’s changing the way the world communicates.   Soon virtually every person on the planet can communicate with every other one.   But then again, do we have anything interesting to say?  I know I certainly don’t, exemplified by this most current social media I’m writing now.

Where’s this all going?  No one is in charge; it’s just sort of happening.  And we’re going happily along for the ride.  Take the latest craze on Twitter.  My friend, Liz, was tutoring me this week on how Twitter works.  Something about RT (for Re-tweeting) and an @ symbol (still don’t know what that’s about). Read more »

The Second Most Beautiful Girl I’ve Ever Seen

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I can remember it like it was yesterday. There before me, amid the chaos and a room full of people, was the second most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen. She had beautiful skin. She had gorgeous blue eyes. She had ten fingers and ten toes.

Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me start from the beginning. You see, it all started with a little pink stick.

Well, the stick itself wasn’t that special, but a small cross on the stick and what it represented. My wife sat on the cream-colored love seat in the family room, looked at the stick and said hesitantly, “I think it’s positive ”. That was followed by disbelief, and then elation. We hugged each other, and ran to the grocery store to get three more kits each of different brands. Just in case, you know. And one after another, each elicited the same jubilation. Read more »

Fireproof Trailer – Never Leave Your Partner Behind

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Should be mandatory viewing for every married couple, people who may be married or those who know someone who’s married. Read more »

Don’t Quit: The Death Crawl on Facing the Giants

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The next time you’re on the treadmill and are about to quit, think of this scene. It’s from one of the best family movies you’ll see about a dysfunctional high school football team. Read more »

Seriously, American Idol?

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What do Sanjaya, Kevin Covais and Megan Joy have in common?  No – get past that I knew all their names.  Yes, they’re all people that made no sense on how they made it to the top 12 of American Idol.    Seriously Simon, Randy, Paula and that other one?  Is that the best you could come up with from the 120 gazillion of people who tried out?

american-idol-season8-top13-2009 Read more »

Team Hoyt – Truly an Inspiration

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Rick was born in 1962 as a spastic quadriplegic, cerebral palsy, non-speaking person. The ability of his mind and person have always been strong, and his family have been hearty supporters of his quest for independence and inclusion in community activities, sports, school and the workplace. Rick is a graduate of Boston University.

Dick has recently retired as a lieutenant colonel in the air nation guard. He has served his country for over thirty-five years. Dick is a friend of the “Presidents Council on Fitness”.

The following is their story, written by David Tereshchuk. Read more »