Musings

Why I Won’t Get An iPad

admin — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 22:17:04 +0000

A couple of weekends ago I got to spend some semi-quality time with an iPad, about 30 minutes total. It took me some time to digest my feelings on the device and where I think it lands, it has both good and bad sides to it and before I get into my reasons why I’ll never own one, I’d like to talk about it’s strengths.

Apple hit it out of the park on the interface, within 20 seconds I was ripping through programs, zooming on pictures, playing games, tinkering with video’s. I explored every section I could find, it’s incredibly intuitive and it will eventually change the way we interface with all devices someday. Everything was fast, fluid and incredibly satisfying, Apple should be proud of what they have accomplished.

On the other hand though it felt in many ways like a giant iPod, I was skeptical when people who have held neither made those claims. But I have an iPod touch (have since they came out) and I’ll be honest, there’s not a whole lot of difference. In fact I would not be surprised to see the iPad features ported over, it’s a form factor issue around how the UI is laid out. Apple mis-calculated a bit by re-using the same look and feel, if the iPad was a serious device there should have been more distinction between the two. I realize why they kept it the same, but I never lost the feeling that my iPod could do all the same things.

To compound this feeling, Apple has decided to lock down the system, making the system reliant on iTunes just like the iPhone and iPod. There’s no USB, no flash memory slots, nothing other than the ubiquitous Apple connector, again making me feel like I was not holding an evolution but simply a bigger version of what I already have. If I take pictures with my camera using a flash card, why do I have to go to my computer, load them there, tell iTunes where they, and synch my device?, why can’t I just plug it and have the iPad pull them onto it’s system?. I predict the next version will do something like this, and until Apple does, sorry but it’s just a giant iPod.

While I understand where Apple is going as far as the non-computer crowd, I think they took the easy road by locking down the system with an iron fist. It made the device feel more like just another MP3/Game system than an actual computer, since I already have an iPod I see no reason to upgrade.

Before any Apple fans knock me, let me toss out something else. I just upgraded to an HTC Incredible running Android 2.1, and I am more than impressed. Google is about 1 major release away from knocking Apple off it’s little tower, Android does %90 of everything I need it to do. The only exception that I’ve not explored is loading music from my library onto it, once that is solved I’ll have no need of anything else.

Certainly I see little need right now for another device to lug around, and I want one that’s not totally dependent on my home computer. Not that I mind doing a synch, but there should be more options to get updates and other things. I’m looking for a standalone computer that fits in my pocket, can act as a phone, an mp3 player and run a myriad of apps. Certainly an iPhone can do all those things, but only the ones that Apple approves of and only through their limited methods (don’t get me started on flash support), but honestly I think Google has actually done a better job than Apple. They may not have the polish *yet*, but when they do they will take over and put Apple on the defensive. And from where I sit it’s about time.

One more little note, Steve Jobs has lost all credibility with his anti-flash/Adobe rant. I’ve never seen a more infantile display from a company than this. Honestly, if I was on the Apple BOD, I would be after Jobs to at least try to appear professional and not act like a total horses read end every time he opens his mouth. I was going to buy a Mac Book pro for school, but given where Apple’s going with this flash thing, I’m not certain that’s going to be a good idea. I just love the irony of Jobs spouting about open standards while he locks down his own OS, pot meet kettle. They make great products, they just need to get over themselves first…

-Paul-

In Defense Of Atheism

admin — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 04:43:36 +0000

Given my faith, this may seem like an odd statement, certainly it’s not one you will hear in most churches.

But stick with me here and I’ll explain, in my years of moving through the various types of christian belief, I have rarely run into christians who really understand their faith. Most that I have run across can quote various pieces of scripture and repeat what they have been taught, but few if *any* have the depth to question what they actually believe. This type of sheep like mentality leads to believers who will fall for anything, question nothing and do far more damage than good.

Want some examples?, I’ve heard believers tell teenagers they should host a book burning for Harry Potter (when they themselves never read the books), read only the King James Version of the bible, follow con artists who come in the name of God (whose radical beliefs are swept under the rug). Tell others how to live their lives, spend their money and have no problem prying into the private areas of a family’s life, I’ve heard things that have caused me to groan in embarrassment only to have others accept it with nary a question. This is especially true when you get into areas like creation and Genesis, there is a whole movement of people who read Genesis as a scientific text and condemn *any* belief that does not match their interpretation.

Today Scientists, *real* scientists are learning more and more about molecular biology, the big bang and other theory’s that make young earthers go crazy. Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort have made an entire ministry trying to defeat the evils of Darwin, but neither are scientists nor are they theologins and as you can imagine they make quite a spectacle. And so many in the modern evangelical church follow them without asking a single question, not a single concern, they buy into whatever looks christian and never look back.

So now imagine this, your sitting on the outside and science has answered a good number of questions, (not all of them mind you). Now we can find evidence for various forms of evolution, we know a good deal about the original big bang theory and how the universe came to be. We have been able to empirically prove some of Einstein’s theories as our technology advances, and yet, with all this evidence there are prominent and loud christians who simply deny any attempt at a reasonable conversation. Instead falling back on name calling, and using the bible as a type of blunt instrument to defend their position. Ray Comfort has even stated that ‘You can lead an atheists to the truth, but you can’t make him think!’, nice answer, well thought out and well reasoned.

No wonder those who don’t believe think we are nuts, well I’m here to say that not all of us are that gullible. I will never claim to have all the answers, but I don’t think either side has all the answers either. Intelligent Design is an interesting concept that has some merit, it’s a good discussion point. But as a believer I’ve changed over the last year and I now understand why Atheists think we are nuts… It’s because most of us ARE!

The modern evangelical church is full of people who are running on blind faith, with no depth, no understanding and a wicked judgmental attitude. Most atheists I know can give you a reasonable answer as to why they don’t believe, it doesn’t mean they are right, but at least *they* can explain why they believe what they do. I cringe every time someone says ‘I believe because the bible says it’, I’m sorry to be the one to say this, but if someone doesn’t believe the Bible then WHY EVEN MENTION IT in your conversation. It’s not that I don’t believe the bible, it’s just that despite all that you hear the Bible DOES NOT have all the answers.

Shocking, I know. But the Bible is made of historical books, allegorical stories, poetry, prophecy and epistles. The youngest book is still over 2000 years old, there are culture gaps, language gaps, understanding gaps and let’s be honest, while I believe it was divinely inspired. It’s been written by the hand of man, so it’s not perfect. But that does not mean we can’t learn from it, but to learn from it you have to understand it first.

So when I hear people make stupid statements like that, I cringe because I understand why so many Atheists are former believers. And I share their skepticism, it’s good to be skeptical, it’s good to question. I would differ with my Atheist friends in that I think God gave us those skills to be wary of idiots (sorry had to say it). It’s sad when I see good honest people fall right into the trap of something that looks good, and it’s at those times I really feel like we need more atheists to keep us on track.

So next time you meet and Atheist, shake their hand and learn to listen a bit, you might just learn something about your faith that you’ve been missing…

-Paul-

Why I Love My Car

admin — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 20:47:02 +0000

In 2004 I took a long deserved sabbatical, I basically took two full months off of work and just worked on Guitars, projects, went to Disneyland and basically had a ball. At the end of that time I achieved my personal dream, I purchased a 2003 BMW 330i. The car was a fleet car and had 4k miles on it, was practically brand new. In fact the engine bay was spotless, I drove it around the block once hard and bought it on the spot.

I love that car, every now and then I get people who don’t understand what it cost me to buy it, and they always assume we are rich. Far from that, but I saved for a long time and used some of my retirement to fulfill that dream. I’ve driven it to 4 states, all over the western side of the country and now after 6 years it’s starting to finally show it’s age. And it’s got some problems:

While parking Michelle pulled part of the bumper loose, it happens on cars that are low to the ground.
Last year a woman glanced off the back bumper in traffic, it’s not very visible but it needs to be fixed
The sunroof came off it’s tracks and needs to be fixed
The GPS antenna died for some reason, sometimes it works, most times it can’t get signal
Because of it’s age some of the engine parts need to be replaced (belts, pulley’s etc)
A rock chipped the window and before I could get it fixed, the below freezing temperatures made sure it turned into a crack (this one is fixable through insurance)

For a time I was looking at replacing the it with something newer, maybe a Honda Accord, Mercedes 3 Class, but that would mean more car payments and this one is just about paid for. I was very frustrated by all the things that broke and how much it was going to cost to fix them.

Last night I hit a high point of frustration, work, family, bills, everything came to a boil. It was stormy outside which matched my mood, so I dumped my cell on the counter and went out for a drive. We live in the country and there are a lot of good quiet roads to just drive and think on, it’s good therapy at times.

About halfway out, I hit a deserted section of road with fields on both sides and just hammered the pedal. The car quickly ramped up to 100mph (hope no cops are reading this), and suddenly I realized that this isn’t a car, it’s a low slung rocket ship that handles like it’s on rails. I crested a ridge and brought it back down to a sane speed and at each stop rocketed out to see what the car felt like, for most of it’s life I’ve drive the car in a commuting mode, a few times I’ve done mountain roads (with a huge smile on my face) but it’s mostly been point a to point b.

I discovered last night that I really love my car, a shallow statement I know. But I can’t help it, I bought the car because I love the precision and practicality of the car and the fact that it can rocket when needed too. It seems that my love affair is not over, everything is fixable and now I can imagine selling it. Last night not only renewed my love for the car, but lightened my mood considerably, at least *something* in my life performs as expected (or better)

So if you don’t mind, I’m going to go out and break a commandment and spend some time lavishing attention on my car

-Paul-

A Republic Gone Awry

admin — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 20:33:38 +0000

Early this year we paid off our F150 truck, it was a good investment and has proven to be ultra-reliable. It was good to have the title and not have to worry about it, so imagine our shock when this morning a repo company showed up to take it away for failure to pay the loan!!

Unfortunately neither Michelle or I were home and so the truck was surrendered without much of a fight, we immediately started calling the lending company, only to find that their systems are down. When we finally got through to someone, they showed out account as fully off and the loan closed out, it seems that they where sold to another company who somehow botched the process and marked us as being behind in payments.

We are now in the process of getting the truck back, the company has stated that no fees will need to paid on our part. Fine and good, they can apologize all they want. But there’s a deeper issue here that concerns, and it’s this: Have we lost so much of our rights as citizens that others can lawfully take my property and hold it without my consent?

You see even though we PHYSICALLY have the title, that we have all the papers that show the loan and being paid off, the repo company was able to take our truck AND more importantly refuses to give it back until the lender clears the issue. EVEN IF WE HAVE FULL OWNERSHIP AND PROOF OF IT!!!

Think about that for a minute, what if you owned your house and a bank took it back without proper evidence? what rights would you have?. I can understand a mistake, but the part that angers me is that even with the proper proof we are being held hostage by a company we have NEVER even talked too. That my friends is a scary thought, for those of you who think Obama care is a good idea, stop and think about the amount of control we are handing over to faceless and let’s be honest. Fully clueless bureaucrats, they soon will have the power to say how and where you get your health care, just something to think about.

Regardless, we have remained calm and have tried to deal with the situation with some grace, it’s hard because technically they stole my property. We are now in contact with the Police to see what they can do, I don’t trust a nameless organization to do the right thing. I as a tax paying citizen want my rights and my property protected, it’s time for me to consider running for city council. I’ve had enough of this type of nonsense…

I’ll update as drama unfolds, it looks like we will get it back soon but it still concerns me…

-Paul-

Everything Old, Is New Again

admin — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 18:39:05 +0000

When I was young I served as an alter boy in a small church, it was an honor to be able to just serve and participate in the ceremony to worship God. It left a huge impression on me, later in my life I moved into a more western version of an evangelical faith. Through those years the form of worship seemed to be whatever felt right, most churches in this vein follow a fairly similar pattern, there are some variances but not by much. And to be honest Catholicism was always viewed as nothing more than a bunch of empty ceremonies, with too much focus on the virgin Mary.

So imagine my surprise that I’m now attending an Anglican church and in many ways am following some of the same Roman Catholic ceremonies, and here’s the kicker: I’m finding that they are FABULOUS!!!

I had never even heard of the term ‘Stations’, but have been reading them over at Michael Spencers site and I’ve found them to be moving, full of impact and causing me to really reflect on what this holiday really stands for. As well I’m learning about the tradition of Baptism in the Anglican church and I’m impressed, everything that’s done has a purpose, everything has a well thought out reason. There’s no reason to go into a diatribe about Easter and it’s true meaning, but a little reflection at the least would do all of us some good.

For so many years I heard talk of freedom of worship, but I think we got the message wrong. You have the freedom to worship any way you want, but there is *so* much we can learn from the ancient church, it’s arrogant and to be honest: fully unwise to simply ignore their traditions!. You can have a modern service and still follow the liturgical traditions that have been passed down since the time of the church in the first century. Too often we forget that the early church was filled with Jew’s who came from a culture that has incredibly deep worship traditions, we would do well to pay attention to how they approached worship. After all we are 2000 years removed from the time of Christ, many of the traditions held today in some of the Ancient churches have been around since the first century church.

This doesn’t mean that I support every tradition, we need to have discernment. But we should also have an open heart and not be afraid to ask questions, if you do I think you’ll find that some of the ancient traditions are incredibly powerful and help keep us humble in our worship of Christ.

Peace to you this holiday season.

-Paul-

My Hiding Place

admin — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 16:25:12 +0000

In 1999 we moved to the SF bay area so I could take a dream job, that lasted until the end of 2006 by which time we had moved to Kuna, Idaho. The more we moved away from Michelle’s family the better our relationship got, but at the same time I pulled away from everyone else in my life. I think it was an attempt to avoid the messy parts of life, I was struggling with my faith at the time (and still am to some extent). In fact while being so successful in my job, internally I was coming apart. It didn’t happen overnight but took a long time, I had some deep and serious questions about life, faith, God and everything. And I couldn’t find an answer, as I continued to pull away, all around me a whole generation was moving away from the evangelical church for the same reasons. But being isolated and trapped by religion I never knew to even look, I could have ended my isolation had I known where to reach out too.

I’ve known people all throughout my life who have hidden from the world, my family is a good example. We own or owned a ranch in Nevada way way off the beaten path, I was always told that one L.A. went into the abyss we would all move out the ranch and live some kind of wilderness frontier existence. Unknowingly it fed my psyche and implanted a isolationist attitude in me, it was a defense mechanism to avoid the struggle and pain I was working through. The only people I could not hide from was my family, but I even attempted that by immersing myself in my work and closing up my feelings.

But it’s had it’s consequences, it strained my marriage, my relationship with my kids and I basically broke off all ties with my family. It’s a dark place to be, and it has it’s own kind of pain. In the last year I’ve started to struggle with even admitting what I was doing, like everything else in my life, it’s all part of a bigger process. God is changing me, the potter has his hands in my life and while I now have deep regret for the path I’ve taken, there is also hope. I’m starting to reach out, my hearts coming back to life, I can cry again, love guardedly (I’m not ready for a fully open love yet) again.

It’s a big change…

And it’s still a little scary…

But it’s happening, God is calling me out of my hiding place. I’m starting to trust again, I know that I can rely on him, even if others let me down he never will. That’s enormous, it’s life changing, and it gives me hope for where I can go with the Potter’s help.

I’m working out the regrets at the moment, they hurt, more than the messy parts of life. But I can’t ignore them, and my hiding place is slowly being opened to the light of day, so I’m coming to grips with who and what I am, a bit of holy narcissism is *not* a bad thing. To work on what I can become, I have to know who I am and where I’ve been. But this is only possible by learning to lean on God, his mercy and grace and being open to his gentle push for change.

I’m writing this with tears in my eyes, it’s painful to feel so alone, even when surrounded by people who love you. And I’m so sorry for what I’ve done, I can only ask for forgiveness and move on. It’s all I know at the moment, in so many ways I’m starting over. This is the most painful one, the sin, the past are all there, but this one is deep and it’s going to take time to heal.

I’ve been through a hard winter, the trees have been barren for a long time, but I feel spring coming. And as it approaches my heart is starting to flower and bloom….

Thank God for his Mercy and Grace to see us for what we truly are and still love us unconditionally,
We can never forget that despite everything we are he still paid a price that NONE of us can even start to come to grips with.

It’s killing my hiding place, and that’s a good thing…

Blessings

-Paul-

Rethinking faith

admin — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 15:43:24 +0000

For years while a member of the modern evangelical movement, I was caught in a trap of both works and trying to rely on my goodness to live my christian faith. It was a vicious cycle, because you can *never* be good enough, which then would lead to guilt, which would then lead to a re-committing of myself to God. But not long after this cycle was complete I would screw up and it would start over again, try living like this for years and you may start to understand the depth of my issues with the Evangelical church as it stands today.

I can’t tell you how many guilt ridden alter calls I had to endure, and when your already in a position where you question your faith it feeds the cycle of despair (should I go down?, am I good enough to stay in my seat). My wife and I knew a friend who would go down every time, no matter what was being called out, down she went. Eventually I ran headfirst into fundamentalism that finally choked my faith and I turned my back on the church and walked away, I spent 4 years in the post Evangelical Wasteland (as termed by Michael Spencer). I still believed in God, but no longer in church. I couldn’t stand the hypocrisy, the overbearing nature, the non-thinking attitude. I was tired of being told which translation to read, what not to drink, what not to read, I was tired of Christians who made it a point to become the sin police for their pet concerns, and none of these things and I mean NOT ONE could be found in the bible I was reading!!.

But I’m back at God’s calling (another message for another time), and this time around I’ve approached all this with the idea that I’m no longer going to let any man *tell* me what I believe. I’m going to figure it out myself, not that I won’t listen to or take direction (proverbs makes it very clear that a wise man listens to direction). But *never* again will I allow someone to define my belief and set another trap for me without my first discerning the truth of what is being said, this by the way is a strong biblical position. Paul in the book of Acts praises the bereans for dissecting every word he would say (acts 17:11…), we are also encouraged to handle God’s word correctly (2 Timothy 2:15).

So through all this I’ve been changing, it’s been what a Episcopalian friend called a ‘process’ referring to the constant change believers go through. It’s not been easy at times, more than once I’ve yelled at God in frustration and anger. It all peaked a few months ago when I hit the bottom while looking for a church. I destroyed a macarthur study bible that I’d had for years, I yelled and screamed at God about how painful going through this process of finding a church only to find out they had no depth, no real doctrine, had charismatic leanings and any number of other things. I almost gave up again, then a friend pointed me to Michael Spencers site and I realized that I was not alone in this fight. It changed EVERYTHING, I stopped and started re-thinking the way I was approaching my life, my family and finding a church to worship in. It led me to a little Anglican church which is within a short driving distance, I’m not much for miracles. But in Idaho there are only TWO Anglican churches and the newest plant just happens to be within a short drive, I would call that providence pure and simple.

So I’m now starting to put it all together, the more I learn about my theology (and theology in general) and start to read different voices in the christian community (gasp I know, I do read things outside the bible!!!). I’m realizing that the guilt I was living under was a trap, mentally I understood but it’s only recently that it’s taken root. Once I learned what Grace *really* means (that I am by nature a sinner, but God’s gift covers my sins if I will accept and that Grace covers the things I struggle with) I stopped getting caught up in coming down on myself. It’s not that I don’t sin, I do, everyday. *BUT* I’m covered, and I lean on God to give me the strength and wisdom to overcome my sins and change my ways, it’s a ‘process’ as Father Michael so aptly put it. I’ve also come to finally understand what Romans 8:1 really means, it’s not that people can’t ‘condemn’ me, but that because of what Christ has done I now no longer live in condemnation. That’s like a 500 pound weight off my back and it allows me to be free, finally free.

And that gets to the heart of my message here, I like beer, in fact I like to brew beer. Luther drank beer, almost all the great church fathers drank beer and spent time in pubs (did you know that most songs in the hymnal where re-used pub songs!). So it is without shame that I will tell you that I’m brewing beer again, I’m also making meade again (honey wine), and I enjoy a good beer after a hard days work. I have my secret vices on T.V. (warehouse 13, Fringe, Burn Notice, Sanctuary), I still listen to rock music. I drive my car like a maniac at times, I’ve stopped worrying about what others think. And I’m working on getting a degree in theology, it all makes for a much happier me. This doesn’t mean I get to do any sin I want, that’s not the point of grace. But it does mean that I’m not ‘Majoring in the Minors’ any longer, the more I read scripture the more I realize that God’s aware that we are human to the core, with all our faults and issues. He just loves us anyway, so many people get caught up in being pious that they miss the blessing that grace and freedom under Christ can give them, they want to play church and live a life that would offend a trappist monk!.

And my faith is expanding, the more I learn the more it grows. I have a stack of reading material that will keep me busy for years, all of it centered around God and the Bible. I still have bad days, we all do, it’s part of being human, but God’s love and more importantly his forgiveness and Grace are there too cover me. I don’t get caught up in beating myself up, but I’m also open to changing and I growth in new areas. I’ve learned to lean on him when things are tough and to praise him and be thankful through both the good and bad times, that’s a key point. Not a day goes by that I don’t thank him for what he’s done for us, no matter what happens he paid a price for me that I will always be thankful for.

Now if I can just figure out all the technical terms for a liturgical service, I can stop worrying about the service and if I’m doing something wrong

Blessings

-Paul-

I Can Only Shed Tears At This Point…

admin — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:00:01 +0000

For those of you who don’t know Michael Spencer (aka the Internet Monk), he speaks for an entire generation who have gone into what he termed the ‘Evangelical Wasteland’. His writings have had the most impact of anyone I can remember, his words and his transparency in struggling with the Evangelical Church as it exists today have let many of us know we are not alone.

Michael for the last few months has been battling cancer, his wife posted an update yesterday and you can read it here:

Internet Monk

Words cannot express the sorrow I feel at this news, I only just discovered Michael and his writings. The best I can come up with is that he set me free, he showed me that it’s OK to have serious questions and doubts about the Evangelical Church today. It was his blog that led me to the Anglican Church, which bridged the gap of having a rich history and tradition in liturgical services, and the ability to adapt to a modernist and postmodern world without compromising it’s core scriptural beliefs. For those of you who don’t know, that’s almost impossible to find in any church today in America, I know because I’ve been looking for a very long time.

Please include Michael and his family in your prayers during this trying time.

-Paul-

When Schools Attack!

admin — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 23:53:28 +0000

I’ve been reading with some interest the story about a student suing LowerMerionSchool District in Philadelphia, the story goes something like this:

The school handed out macbooks to all their students for their classwork, installed in each is a program that allows the school to turn on the embedded camera if the laptop is stolen. The idea is that school can take a picture of the criminal and track them down (why they just don’t use GPS is beyond me).

So a student was supposedly in his room eating some Mike and Ike’s hard candy’s, an administrator enabled the tracking software and captured images of said student. The candy’s look like little pills which would set any nosy school official into a self righteous tailspin…

Imagine the students surprise when he gets called the principles office and suspended for illegal activity, I’m sure the student protested at which point the administrator pulled out a picture of the student take from the laptop.

There is so much wrong here I’m not sure where to start, but before I do it gets even better…

The school district admitted that the laptops had this ability, but that it was *only* used when a laptop was reported stolen and that only two employees in the whole district had access. The Super of the district tried to calm the situation down by saying it was blown out of proportion first, and then later after more bad press (because frankly his message seemed out of touch with the technology) that the option had been turned off.

Now the FBI’s involved to see if wiretapping and privacy laws have been violated by the school…

Now your up to speed, and here’s why I’m so concerned about all this…

As parents my wife and I have had run ins with the gestapo style mindset that pervades our schools today, we have run into administrators lacking the common sense to apply rules fairly or justly, there are countless newspaper stories of kids expelled for all kinds of ridiculous reasons. But with the current administration in the white house and socialism starting to rise in this country, many of these left leaning halfwits see no danger in violating privacy in the name of the better good.

And because the schools are run by unions that put the Car Workers Union to shame, little if anything will come out of this. We have trained generations now to be sheep, so most will simply shrug their shoulders. But this is an opening salvo in a much greater war, these people only care about ‘their’ rights, if your not one of them then your simply not smart enough to understand that they are trying to help.

This is the liberal mindset in action, it’s why Obama and the democrats keeping trying to push healthcare, they know better and we just don’t get it. These school officials are all telling themselves this is not a big deal, but it is a big deal. They violated the privacy of a family without any permission, they used the evidence they illegally acquired to prosecute a student and worst of all it looks like he wasn’t even doing anything wrong.

People should be fired, and the school district should come under heavy review and some drastic changes made, but alas this is a government run office with corrupt union backing and nothing will happen and more importantly nothing will change. This is what happens when we allow idealists to infiltrate our systems and it’s just a taste of what capitol hill will do given half the chance.

-Paul-

NBC Olympic Coverage (Nothing But Commentary)

admin — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 20:10:07 +0000

I’m an Olympic junkie, I love the sport, the spectacle and the competition. Watching Shawn White dominate the half pipe took me back to my skateboarding roots (before even Tony Hawk was skating), I love the precision of speed skating and the reckless danger of downhill.

I haven’t quite figured out Curling just yet, but I can see why it normally goes so well with beer

But what has marred almost every Olympic experience is a new slogan I’ve come up with for NBC, originally it stood for the ‘National Broadcasting Company’, but times change and now it should stand for ‘Nothing But Commentary’.

I challenge any normal thinking person to watch any downhill skiing and not have to finally either fast forward or turn the volume down, let me give you a taste of what I hear every time:

Rick Moranis As Luis Tully

Every time I watch downhill, I could swear that Luis Tully is the second announcer, and I’m, pretty certain they are getting paid by the word. Look if you have something interesting to add then do it and SHUT UP, so I can enjoy watching the sport. I dream of a day when I can have a seperate remote that will turn off the announcers and their vapid prattling about technical details I simply don’t care about. I want to watch the games, not listen to a commentary by the Rain Man…

-Paul-