Saturday, March 31, 2007

one more link

This just makes me want to go through the McDonald's drive thru and do this. I wonder if there have been any copycats.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgpxiY3hQiY

paul's post week of March 26, 2007

Hello friends & loved ones,

Better late than never or so they say. It's the beginning of another week and it was in the mid 70's today. This is definitely the beginning of shorts weather. I like shorts and have no qualms about showing off my hairy legs. And boy are they hairy.

I've been thinking a lot about gifts; gifts that we are blessed with. Some people spend their entire lives trying to figure out what they are good at. They don't need to; all they have to do is look inside themselves, experiment, tweak, and have some confidence. Let's face it without confidence a gift can't shine through. I had the pleasure of singing special music at church on Sunday and with each song I sing solo, I try to stretch myself. I try to go further and the song I did was right near the top of my range in some spots and I was a little nervous but I practiced and practiced and tweaked and changed it up to fit my voice and went out there with guns (or I should say vocal chords) blazing. Everyone is good at at least one thing. If you stop and examine your life and examine yourself you will find that one thing and maybe even more. It's something we're born with but we have to continue to sharpen it and play with it to keep showing it off. It's like a foreign language; if you don't use it you may lose it. In my case I lost my Spanish a long time ago (even after 6 years of it) but, thankfully, I have other things I'm decent at. I also know what I'm not so good at. I'd make a terrible sexton for my church because instead of going through the checklist of things that need to be done I would be chatting with other people, catching up with them, finding out what's going on in their lives and neglecting what I was supposed to be doing.

So find out what you are good at this week when you are out and about or enjoying the sun. Really examine yourself, find out what you like to do and what you know you can do. Surprise yourself. Experiment, tweak yourself, make yourself shine.

Until next week: Stay safe, stay happy, and stay healthy.

peace,

paul

another link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Omk-zKi4YOg Maybe you'll want to eat in after seeing this.

more links

Check out these cute otters in Vancouver.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epUk3T2Kfno


This one is funny and just a bit creepy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_enYxIftwE


paul

stupid stunts

Angel station in North London has a 300ft tube escalator, the longest in Europe. Now imagine a man with a head cam and skis on his feet climbing up the escalator and then skiing down. That's exactly what happened this past week. Luckily no one was hurt because the guy's friends warned people to stay out of the way. This was all over the news and police have not yet caught the guy; they probably don't even know who he is since his face is never shown. If you'd like to see the whole crazy stunt then click on the link below. Slalom!

paul

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sx4pNAEg7jQ

Video pick of the week

Misery of Men: I missed this one in the theaters but was able to catch it on video. It's just out this week. The movie is Children Of Men, starring Clive Owen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Caine, and Julianne Moore. Adapted from the book by P.D. James, the story is set in the U.K. in the year 2027. There have been no births for almost two decades and that has led to a collapse of society. Environmental problems, rampant terrorism, and millions upon millions of refugees paint a bleak picture of the world. The Human Project, a covert group, is the one thing that could save the human race.

The dreamy Owen plays Theo and Moore plays Julian. When Julian asks for Theo's help to transport a refugee to the Human Project, he agrees to help his estranged wife with the refugee. The clincher: The refugee is pregnant. They must get her to safety while outrunning the government and double crossers. This movie is well directed, well acted, and has some surprises that are very believable. I was quite impressed and have no doubt in my mind that this movie just missed being one of the best picture nominees of last year. Sadly, it got lost in the other releases during the holiday but should definitely be caught on video.

Children Of Men is directed by Alfonso Cuaron, who also directed Harry Potter & The Prisoner Of Azkaban, Y Tu Mama Tambien, and A Little Princess.

paul

Saturday bits and bites

Pet Pride: Man's best friend: You can walk with them, play with them, cuddle with them and even have your life saved by them. Yes, good ole dogs, can actually save you when you are choking. So it was the case with Toby, a 2-year-old Golden Retriever in Calvert, Maryland. The dog's owner, Debbie Parkhurst was eating a piece of apple when she started choking and when she was unable to give herself the Heimlich maneuver Toby, quicker than Lassie, pushed Debbie to the ground and began jumping on Debbie's chest with his front paws. Toby must have been quite tenacious because according to Debbie, "I literally have paw print-shaped bruises on my chest." Let's hope Debbie's lover doesn't get the wrong idea about those bruises. Toby no doubt ate the piece of apple once it was dislodged. And coming up next week: The cat who gives mouth to mouth (ok, I made that last part up).

paul

Sunday, March 25, 2007



This is a picture of me in the lorikeet bird cage at the Bird Kingdom in Niagara Falls. I have a small cup of some sort of nectar that the birds immediately flocked to as soon as the worker poured it. Those things are heavy and they kept trying to climb my arm and would slip a little on the way up. We weren't allowed to take any pictures ourselves but, thankfully, the worker took a few and got one of one of the birds on my shoulder. This was definitely the highlight of the day; for me anyway.

paul

Friday, March 23, 2007



Some pics from the Bird Kingdom in Niagara Falls. Jim and I (Jim, my spouse, is pictured here) spent the day there and enjoyed poison dart frogs, bats, scorpions and, of course, birds. It was quite a relaxing day and something I had been wanting to do for a while. Jim is in rare horsing around mood with a fake serpent. I don't know the names of all of the birds so I won't try to act intelligent. Just enjoy the pics.

paul
















Thursday, March 22, 2007

weekly post from March 18, 2007

Hello friends & loved ones,

It's been a weird few weeks. This is the first email I've written in a while because I've been so depressed. I had noticed myself getting sadder and sadder for a few weeks and then finally I was crying all the time, took no pleasure in anything and just wanted to sleep all of the time. I don't know if it was the weather, my job, other stresses or everything but I was in a real funk. I knew something was seriously wrong when I barely got excited while watching the Academy Awards. I went to the doctor and was put on medication and taken out of work for a couple of weeks and, hopefully, I'll be on the upswing soon.

I discovered something about myself today that I wasn't even aware of. Someone at church asked me how I was and I told them I had not been in a good place and I just wanted to blurt everything out; I didn't. I left it at that and I don't even know why I didn't blurt everything out. Maybe I didn't want to burden that person; maybe I think that, as the pastor's spouse, I have to be this tower of strength. I'm not exactly sure what that was about but I think it's something worth examining and working on. I want to thank those of you who mentioned that they missed my weekly email, especially you Sherri.

Want more proof: If you still aren't convinced that the GLBT community is everywhere; here's one for you. I was watching some of Valerie Plame Wilson's testimony to the Committee Of Oversight And Government Reform this past week and saw something surprising. (Valerie Plame Wilson was the covert CIA operative who whose cover was blown almost four years ago; Scooter Libby was recently convicted of lying about his knowledge of her role as an operative.) During the testimony there was a man in drag with a pink hat, pink vest coat and a pink shirt with the words Impeach Bush. At one point, the woman/man ducked down and then popped back up with a pink crown on her head. Now if that doesn't scream queen then I don't know what does. It was very funny. Both Jim and I got a kick out of it. The woman was a transvestite Code Pink protester and she also made several signals (no clue what they were supposed to mean) with her hands.

Well, the sun is finally starting to come out more often and hopefully we've had our last snowstorm. I wish you each peace and blessings. Pray for each other as I pray for you.

Until next week: Stay safe, stay happy, and stay healthy.

paul

Sunday, March 04, 2007

I don't know if this is true but it's certainly funny.

KILLER BISCUITS WANTED FOR ATTEMPTED MURDER (the actual AP headline)

Linda Burnett, 23, a resident of San Diego, was visiting her in-laws and while there went to a nearby supermarket to pick up some groceries. Later, several people noticed her sitting in her car with the windows rolled up and with her eyes closed, with both hands behind the back of her head. One customer who had been at the store for a while became concerned and walked over to the car. He noticed that Linda's eyes were now open, and she looked very strange. He asked her if she was okay, and Linda replied that she'd been shot in the back of the head, and had been holding her brains in for over an hour. The man called the paramedics, who broke into the car because the doors were locked and Linda refused to remove her hands from her head. When they finally got in, they found that Linda had a wad of bread dough on the back of her head. A Pillsbury biscuit canister had exploded from the heat, making a loud noise that sounded like a gunshot, and the wad of dough hit her in the back of her head. When she reached back to find out what it was, she felt the dough and thought it was her brains. She initially passed out, but quickly recovered and tried to hold her brains in for over an hour until someone noticed and came to her aid.
Linda is a blonde, but I'm certain that's irrelevant.

paul

movie minute

Wild Ride: Wild Hogs wasn't my first choice of films to see; that would have been Amazing Grace. However, after buying the tickets, the party I was with suddenly decided instead to see the movie starring Tim Allen, Martin Lawrence, William H. Macy and John Travolta. Four middle-aged guys decide they've been henpecked, overworked, and underappreciated long enough. The four of them have a "gang" they call the Wild Hogs and they ride once a week. When Woody (played by Travolta) comes up with the idea of a road trip the other guys aren't so sure. Soon, however, as in typical predicatable Hollywood fare, the guys are all suited up and ready for just the open road. No cell phones, no pdas, just the bikes and the four of them. Tim Allen as Doug the dentist is playing a variation on his Christmas With The Kranks character. Martin Lawrence, as out-of-work Bobby, is henpecked by his wife and doesn't even tell her he's going on the trip. William H. Macy is cowardly Dudley; a man so afraid he can't even talk to a woman.

As the four of them set out they realize just how meaningless and banal their lives were. Along the way the find romance, encounter a real biker gang, evade a cruising cop (an actual cop who's cruising), blow up a bar, and save a town. The standouts in the movie are by far Travolta and Macy. Anyone who is a Macy fan knows how funny he is and Travolta, whom I've never been a big fan of, shows some real comedic talent. He just seems so comfortable and real in the film that I was quite surprised.

The movie does offer a few laughs and doesn't require any intellect but what I really had a problem with in the film is the subject of most of the jokes. Yes, four guys are hanging out and doing a road trip together so, naturally, there are going to be gay jokes. The problem is that the jokes are mined for laughs and there is an undertone of meanness; disrespect. The jokes imply that it's bad or wrong and I wasn't wild about that at all.

Bags of popcorn (out of 5): 2

paul