Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Happy Thanksgiving everybody. Don’t eat too much. Be sure to play that post Thanksgiving dinner football game to work off all that food.

It’s Funny How People Find Me

It’s funny how people are finding my blog. Since I added “Telekinetic Psychology For Your Mind” to my page title my page hits have gone through the roof. Relatively speaking that is in comparison to the hits I was getting before. The vast majority of my hits other than you regulars (Kenny, Rachel, Aaron) are coming from Google searches. Most of them include the word telekinetic. It’s funny how a variation on my favorite Linkin Park lyric can generate so much random traffic. I couldn’t put the full lyric phrase in there due to some silly Blogger Template limitations. It was several characters too long. The searches appear to be legitimate searches by people looking for information on telekinesis. I didn’t know so many people were interested in that stuff. Another word that’s popping up a lot in searches is Eminem. I’ve had a couple of posts recently mentioning him. That’s bringing in several more hits a week due to people searching for information on Em or 8 mile. Prior to the whole telekinetic phenomenon the most frequent word found in searches that turned up my blog was and. Yes the word and. I find it hilarious that when people typed in a search topic with the word and in it my blog came up as like the 4th or 5th site in the search results. But alas and has been dethroned by telekinetic and it doesn’t appear that it will ever catch back up. Telekinetic has taken the ball and run with it.

It’s fun looking at my web statistics. With the new surge in traffic, I find myself checking my stats every morning now as opposed to every couple of weeks. The visitors don’t appear to be sticking (once again excluding my regulars) but it’s nice to know that I’m getting more hits. Even if they’re just random one time hits, hits are hits. It’s nice to know that people are taking a few moments out their day to look over my random musings before moving on to other destinations on the Information Superhighway. I’m just a random out-of-the-way rest stop or gas station on the infinitely laned superhighway. I gotta figure out how to get more people to make return visits though. I’ve got it!! I promise the next time you come by I’ll have coffee and donuts for you. Coffee and donuts for everybody. Free of charge. How’s that sound?

(Note To Self: Must figure out how to transmit objects that only exist in the physical world {i.e. Donuts and coffee} to visitors in the digital world {where nothing really exists and everything is a 1 or a zero} and then have them rematerialize in the physical world. Hmmm… I’ll probably need a special server, a server with a built in oven and coffee maker. I wonder if IBM makes those… (:End Note to Self)

My Skull

Ever wonder what your skull looks like? I do. Sometimes I sit here feeling my skull through my face and wonder what it looks like. This may seem morbid but I think it’s a valid question. This post was inspired by a post I discovered on a new blog, Que Sera Sera recommended by Ismat of The Text Obscured fame. (How’s that for a run-on sentence?) Just thought I’d throw that out there. When some anthropologist discovers your bones hundreds of years in the future, what will your skull look like? Things that make you go hmmmm….

My Name is D and I Am An ESPN Junky

Is there a 12-step program for ESPN addiction? If there isn’t there should be. I am a total ESPN junky. It’s usually the last channel lighting up my TV screen before I go to bed. It’s the first channel I turn to when I get home from work, church, whatever. My subscription to ESPN The Magazine is about to expire. I’ll need to be sure to renew that. I got the cheaper 19 issues for $9.95 a year ago. Note to Self: Must remember to upgrade to the full blown 26 issues for $26 bucks next month when my sub expires. Oh the joy! If I do that, I’ll get one of those cool Fleece pullovers. I hope I can get a black one though the gray ones are nice too. End Note to Self

I’ve got my favorite channels programmed into the remote for my Digital Cable box. The first 2 Channels are ESPN, and ESPN2. They are followed by the lowly Fox Sports Net, which comes in a very, very distant 3rd on my list of sports channel priorities. A few channels down the favorite line I’ve got Fox Sports World, which I hold in much higher esteem than Fox Sports Net because it brings me soccer from all over the world. It’s nice to have such a sophisticated channel in my arsenal. All the other sports channels are so backwards when it comes to soccer. They even call it by its proper name on occasion, Futbol. Alas the Fox Sports channel tandem is but a cheap knock-off of the mighty ESPN empire. They’re not contenders they’re merely pretenders. Next you guessed it, ESPNEWS. I tune in there when Sportscenter isn’t on to catch up the latest news. They say it’s the latest news but really it’s the same stuff repeated over and over and over. It’s like Sportscenter but 24/7 instead of in 1 to 1 1/2 hours chunks. Moving on you come to the Speed Channel. What guy doesn’t like speed? Cars, cars, cars. Fast cars. All day everyday. And wrapping up the sports channel arsenal on my favorites list is…. ESPN Classic. There you have it. 7 sports channels on my favorite list. 4 of them are ESPN. I failed to mention that I hit espn.com at least 4 or 5 times a day. I must admit that I have been spending a lot of time at cbs.sportsline.com lately because that’s where my fantasy football league is. I’m sorry ESPN. And last but not least I listen to ESPN radio every morning on the way into work. Yep, I’m an ESPN junky. I’m the ultimate consumer of what they like to network cinergy. I’m a card-carrying member of the now defunct Go Network for Pete’s sake.

Somebody please help me. I’ve got to stop. I’m turning into one of those guys. You know one of those fat, slob-like, sports fanatics that do nothing but sit around and watch sports that they can no longer play anymore all day everyday. All I need to do now is start drinking beer, develop a beer gut (it’s a slow process but I’m getting there), let my facial hair stay in perpetual 5 o’clock shadow mode, and belch a lot (I enjoy belching but I need to work on my volume). Well I’ve got to head home. Gotta catch the last hour of Sportscenter before tonight’s Thursday Night Football matchup. Which Sportscenter Do I Watch? All of them of course.

Just Call Me The Man On The Scene

An email of mine currently appears on a nationally read (actually world-wide) website, Slamonline. It will only be up there this week so view it while it’s there. I don’t believe they archive this part of the site so it will be gone soon. Finally my words will actually be read on a major site!! My 15 milliseconds of fame start now.

Yes I Was Scared

I’ve lived through typhoons. (Okinawa has several typhoons pass through every year). I’ve lived through earthquakes (Okinawa along with the rest of Japan sits on the edge of the Ring of Fire one of the most sismically active regions in the world. Okinawa experiences numerous “mini” quakes a day ranging from tremors to 2.0 or so on the richter scale.) I’ve spent more time on airplanes than the average American will spend in two lifetimes which means I’ve seen my fair share of turbulence. (One time a plane I was on hit an especially nasty air pocket that caused the plane to fall a hundred feet or so. Not descend a hundred feet to avoid the pocket, I’m talking drop a hundred feet because of the pocket). But… I’ve never been as scared in a weather condition as I was this past Sunday night.

I was driving home from the local watering hole after finishing up our last soccer game of the season. The weather conditions for the game were almost perfect. The temperature was terrific but the wind was well past breezy. The sun was out and there was barely a cloud in the sky. While we were in the Bar and Grill though, the weather went south fast. Very fast. Things went from bright and sunny to cloudy to overcast to nearly pitch black and a matter of roughly 30 minutes. Then it started to rain. I figure it was a light shower until the rain started coming down harder and harder. When it became evident that the rain was getting worse not better we decided to leave. I live less than 5 minutes away from the place so it should have been a pretty easy drive. Boy was I wrong. The rain was coming down hard but visibility was fine when I got into my car. About a minute away from my house the hard rain turned into a wall of rain. I couldn’t see anything. Then there was a lightening hit nearby. The sky lit up and then everything went dark. Everything. All the street lights went out. The lights in the apartments of my complex that border the street went out. The only light was from my headlights and that was swallowed up by the rain deluge. I stopped and turned on my emergency flashers. I couldn’t tell if I was driving straight and didn’t want to risk running up on the curb or hitting a tree or worse hitting another car. Even at the measly 5 mph I was doing at the time. Once I stopped the car the wind whipped up, it started hailing, and my windows fogged up immediately. They went from completely clear to completely fogged up in a matter of seconds. That meant a sudden temperature change. My little brain started churning. Let’s see sudden temperature change, hail, strong sustained winds, very bad thunderstorm = Tornado. Which equals Daryl being very scared. I don’t how long the squall lasted but I remember feeling that any second the twister was going to roll past and suck my tiny little car up into the air. Thankfully that didn’t happen. After a little while the rain let up slightly and the hail stopped. I proceeded to drive the roughly 500 feet or so to the entrance of my apartment complex. From there I drove to my apartment, parked and sprinted across the parking lot as fast as I could to get inside. I got soaked especially my feet thanks to the large stream running down the middle of the parking lot. I felt much safer when I got inside but for about 2 or 3 minutes there I thought I was a goner for sure.

I found out yesterday that the storm that passed through did spawn quite a few tornadoes. All the buildings in the town square of a town roughly 12 miles from Memphis were completely destroyed. A town in Middle Tennessee right outside of Nashville is completely gone. No people found yet. No structures left standing. I guess Sunday night was not the Lord’s appointed time for me to leave the earth but for a little while there I think I came very close.

More Boondocks

I just found another article about the man, the myth, the legend, Aaron McGruder, creator of The Boondocks. The article is old. I can’t seem to find any recent information on the man or the comic. But there is plenty of old stuff (1999 and 2000 which is ancient in Internet years) to dig through. Enjoy.

I Love Rediscovering Music

After watching 8-Mile I was all hyped up. I was in the mood for some good hip-hop. So I jetted over to the K-Mart across the street from the theater to see what they had. Eminem wrote all the original music for the movie so I wanted to check out the soundtrack. The film was set in the mid-90′s so they had a lot of music from that timeframe interspersed throughout the movie as well. That really took me back to my middle and high school days. As I figured though, the soundtrack had a Parental advisory sticker on it. I’m not averse to buying albums with that on it but that sticker always gives me pause. The album has to be really good for me to look past that. Generally the only soundtracks I buy are original instrumental scores or soundtracks that have all dance music. If the cover says music inspired by I keep on going. I’ve been burned too many times by those types of soundtracks. They have one song that actually appeared in the movie. The rest are throwaway tunes the records labels toss on there trying to get their new acts some exposure. So needless to say I didn’t buy the 8-Mile Soundtrack. (I may still buy it though. I found the edited version at Sam’s Club this past Saturday). I really like hip-hop. I just don’t buy much of it anymore because the vast majority of the albums are all bling, bling, four letter words, I’m gonna bust a cap in your butt filth.

(Stepping off soap box) Anyway, after putting the 8-Mile soundtrack down I was walking around looking to see what else was available. As usual there was nothing worth buying and I turned to leave. Something told me to take a look at the Christian Music section. I’ve been in a burnout phase on the Christian Contemporary Music front for a while now. Perusing the section I came across the latest CD from a group called Priesthood. My brother has mentioned this group to me before so I figured what the heck. I’m in a hip-hop mood. This is a hip-hop group. And I know I won’t have to worry about the lyrics because these dudes are Christians. So I picked up the CD along with the latest Out Of Eden CD. It’s been a long time since I’ve been this pleased with a CD purchase from a hip-hop standpoint. Priesthood hails from the West Coast. That’s very evident in their sound. It’s smoooved out. (Yes smoooved, not smoothed) I don’t like comparing Christian artists to secular artists but the tracks (not the lyrics but the music behind the lyrics) were very reminiscent of Snoop Dogg songs of old. The lyrics aren’t really complex but West Coast rap is like that in general. It’s just laid back, chill out, have a good time music. This was very refreshing. The production quality is very, very good. That was a bit of a surprise. Production quality is an issue I’ve always had especially with Christian hip-hop but also with Christian Contemporary music as a whole. (I know I’m using labels that I don’t like to use but they’re just easier) This pet peeve sort of contributed to my Christian music burn out. It’s nice to see that the production quality gulf is all but gone now. The whole album as a whole is good. There are even a couple of songs that could be strong singles if ever released to radio. Secular radio at that. It’s a crime they’re not getting play on Christian radio.

This was a cool weekend. I saw a good movie, rediscovered some music that I had moved away from for a while, and got plenty of sleep. To top it off, the weather was perfect, except for last night and I got to play some soccer. I can’t ask for anything better than that.

I liked 8-Mile

I went to see 8-Mile on Friday night. It was pretty good. The acting was fine. The story/plotline was good. The rap/hip-hop elements (which is what I went to see) were excellent. There just weren’t enough of them. The director and producers made it a point to focus on the story and I must say they did an admirable job. This wasn’t your typical hip-hop movie with no story/plot and all music/lyrics. They tried to do the exact opposite of that here in my opinion. Eminem is a pretty good actor but that’s really not a surprise. You can tell that by watching his videos. He’s intelligent, talented, and witty. Those are some of the elements that make up a good actor. He could turn into a good one with some training and some more experience. I won’t go overboard though. They asked him to act out his life story for Pete’s sake. He’s not getting nominated for any Oscars anytime soon. Maybe down the line though. Can you say Will Smith? The scenes where Eminem is allowed to be Eminem are incredible. He’s definitely one of the best pure rappers out there right now. His word association, vocabulary, and lyrical range are miles ahead of most of the other MCs on the hip-hop scene at the moment. I’m not comparing him to Rakim (because they’re two totally different rappers) but from a lyrical complexity standpoint his name comes to mind when I here some of Em’s lyrics. Those skills are perfect for the type of in-your-face freestyle rap battles showcased in this movie. The stuff he came up with (I know it was scripted but he wrote all the lyrics in the movie somewhere along the line) in the freestyle sessions was just incredible. Hats off to him. I’d give his acting debut an A+ on the rap/hip-hop elements (which there should have been more of) and a B on his actual acting.

I’m the master of compartmentalization though. So let’s store all the good stuff I just said about the movie in it’s own compartment and move on. Some of the language used throughout the movie was really bad. I’m talking stuff that would make a sailor embarrassed. The third word out of Em’s mouth, actually the third word spoken period in the movie, was a curse word. I mentally thought Oh Boy, at which point I tried to focus on the good points of the movie and not be distracted by the foul language. I’m not a prude. I know that this is how some people talk. Make that a lot of people. From a personal standpoint, it kind of takes away from the experience when people are cursing all over the place. That goes for when I’m talking to a person, listening to music, watching a movie, whatever. I just think you can usually find a way to get your point across forcefully if need be without resorting to vulgarity. Maybe I’m naive but that’s the way I feel.

Anyway, I liked the movie. I may even see it a second time. (I only do that for movies I really, really like) It’s not for everybody though. If you like hip-hop or just want to see if Eminem can act, check it out. If not you still might like the movie. Everybody has different tastes. Maybe you’ll find some other redeeming qualities in the movie that I never even thought of.

Evangelism Aid

Hurry, hurry, hurry!!! Step right up and bid on this gen-u-ine Evangelism Aid. Sure to reap you many converts for many years to come. Guaranteed effective as long as the shirt remains wearable. Don’t miss this opportunity of a lifetime to enhance your evangelism efforts. Bid now. This offer won’t last forever.

One of my co-workers found this shirt for auction on Ebay. I couldn’t stop laughing. On the one hand it is completely and utterly silly. The dog looks so pitiful. On the other hand this is basically the approach that some people have chosen to use to evangelize other people with throughout history. The Crusades, the colonization of Africa, North and South America all come to mind. Just to name a few. Food for thought at the very least.