My life as a Christian Conservative on a College Campus

9:59pm: Blog Retired
This Blog is hereby retired!

This is a good thing casue I have my own website now. Visit it at

www.NicShayko.com

You got it, it has my blog, movie review, books reviews and much more. Stop by it early and often!!!!

10:31pm: Hit on a 16?
No, I aint talking about an underage girl. I am talking about a classic blackjack question. It is the number one mistake by blackjack players. Players will stay on 16 when the dealer is showing a 7 or better, which is a huge mistake. Nevertheless, I seen so many hard 16 vs a dealer 10 while in Vegas last week that I could have been sickened. I got schallacked in Sin City last week, losing over $500 in Blackjack. Only for my gains in Craps was I able to leave Vegas down lesss than 500 down.

On Craps, I shot 6 points in a row in Craps at Binions, which is amazing. This is something that happenes about .4% of the time when you shoot. I made $115 in one time with the dice, which is amazing with a $3 Min craps game. Don't worry though, quickly I lost it back with some bad luck at the blackjack table.

Despite my losses, Vegas round two was a great time. It was alot colder, with tempertatures in the 40s. I stayed on the strip at the Stratosphere, which was very nice for the $37 we paid a night. The flight was nice. Since we stayed at the hotel, we got to go to the top of the Strat for free, which was an amazing view. Ben won free tickets to see the Amazing Johnthan, which was a great show. It is a comedy magic show and had a great feel to it.

We ate at the Paris buffet, which was the best buffet I ever had, hands down.

I have now been to every casino on the strip except New Frontier and Casino Royale. Downtown I have now just missed the El Cortez, Gold Spike and Lady Luck.

Vegas was fun, but next time it is a trip to somewhere else.

11:13pm: Mayhem at Marketplace
Imagine getting your hands on a playstation 3. Well, Johhny, Lance and I were on a mission to get the most sought out item this holiday season on Thursday. For what reason? To sell it on eBay, of course. Worst case scenario, we make about $500 if we get one of these things. Best case, we are talk $3,000 or more.

We had all the things to camp out, we had tents, sleeping bags and things to keep occupied. We went out at 5:30 PM, and it was far too late. Every place had many more people that systems. Some people had been camping for as long as a week. There was two places with no people though, Best Buy and Target at Marketplace. Both places are seperated by a Babies R' Us in a plaza.

This strip was owned by the mall and thus, mall security was in control of the gorups around the store. The mall secuirty said they would not allow camp outs, and, people would not be able to form a line until 3 AM. We formed a plan of attack and went to bed, ready to come back at about 2 AM.

We arrived at 2, and security had done a good job in keeping people out. There were constantly making sure no one was on the grounds. They had codes and tape coveirng up all the entrence ways by car. Thus, people and cars were set up just outside the area. There were 3 attack points. The one we were at was the most southern point, near target. The other two were to the East and the North. Best Buy was near the North end, and had more systems. By 2:30, there were at least 500 people in the surrounding area ready for the go.

At 2:40, everything broke loose. A group of people from the East end started running toward best buy. Seconds later, people started running from all the gatherings. Cars knocked over cones and went through to the entrance, going at least 30 in the parking lot. there of course was no line rather a mob of people on the doors near the Target and Best buy entrances. The security was able to peel people off with this premature attempt. After everyone got back at about 2:45, people were getting jittery.

At 2:50, the exact same thing happened again. This time the people were there for good. There was again no line, and push 1000 people looking for 30 systems. We had no chance, as we were no one near the mob. We called the news station and left for Denny's. Here is the story after that came, after all the action really happened.

http://www.13wham.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=41274283-14A8-4F29-89B9-CF922CB086DE

3:43pm:

7:42pm: No Votes?
Keeping with the election theme, it seems we have some more election problems. In Walderburgh, Arkansas, a town of 80 people. A Canidate gets no votes for major even though he voted for himself.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/11/11/zero.votes.ap/index.html

7:32am: Democrats pay tribute to all those dead voters
In North Carolina, a dead guy was voted into office. I am gussing that will all of the dead vote, the dead just had to elect their own canidate.

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/11/11/D8LAR1HO0.html

2:40pm: Counter

12:59am: They are who we think they are
After the Arizona Cardinas lost to the Chicago Bears, Arizona coach Dennis Green has this to say.

"The Bears are who we thought they where. You want to crown em then crown there *sses"

After the election, I have similar thoughts. The Democrats are who we thought they were. If you want to crown em, go ahead. I find how similar elections cycles are to be amazing.

Look at the following

In 2002: The Democrats lost seats in both the house and the Senate. The Democrats said that they did not connect with their base, and that they need to connect with their base in order to win elections. Meanwhile, Republicans just laughed among themselves. They believed that then Democrats were too libral already, and going more to the base would just hurt them more.

In 2004: The Democrats lose again, and the exact same thing happens that happed in 2002

In 2006: The Republicans lose control of the house and the senate. The Republicans claim that the Democrats did not win, rather that the Republicans lost. They claim that they need to get back to basics, and get back to their base. At the same time, the Democrats are in the corner laughing because they thing the Republicans are Conservative nut jobs and going farther to the right will just hurt them more.

It is funny, Democrats think Republicans are nuts, and Republicans think Democrats are nuts, and when it is all said and done, they think the same thing.

12:09am: Election Day
Virgina, Montanta, New Jersey, Missouri, Rhode Island, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland. What do these states have in common? They are the races that will determine who wins the US Senate for the 2007-08 term. The Stakes are huge. Right now, there are 55 Republicans, 44 Democrats and 1 Independant (with democrats, in Caucuses). The Democrats must take 6 seats from the republicans in order to to takeover the Senate.

There is also the House, which the Democrats need 15 seats to take over. The looks like it will happen, and I would be very suprised if it does not.

Don't forget the govenors races, where US President canidates often come from.

Election day is one of the most exciting days of the year. After 4 months of going over these poll numbers and following the races, the day is here. All the chips are in the pot, and the bug question is, will Republicans be able to hold onto the Senate despite problems in Iraq and a disgrunteled base.

In 24 hours, we will know the fate of the country in this regard, and I can't wait!

10:45am: Be Thou My Vision
I love this hymn, pray it for me and youselves

Be Thou My Vision

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;
Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tower:
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

High King of Heaven, my victory won,
May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

11:13am: Fueling the Flame
Christanity is a battle. Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying, or they have not expirenced it yet. Jesus calls us to a higher standard than anyone else, even ourselves. Thank God that he forgives us when we don't live up to that standard.

We are called to so much, yet so many Christians treat Christanity as a thing on the side. It ought to be the biggest influence on your life. I really hit this home with John Piper's book "Don't Waste Your Life" last year. It was driven home to me again at the BCNY Fall retreat last week. The retreat was titled "A Consuming Fire." The 4 messages were on Prayer, Purity, Poor and Proclamation.

It really all starts with prayer, we called to pray early, and th pray often. Pray for the little things, pray for the big things. Pray for forgiveness, and thank him for all the good things he has given us. James says that the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. The question is then why do we do so little of it. I think it is really a pride issue. We feel like we can handle our problems ourselves, and we only need to bring God into the picture if we can't handle it. This is the wrong attitude, as all good things come from him, so we can do nothing without him. God loves us so much an he wants to have a conversation, so we ought to be.

The call for Purity to me is really a call to not be of the world. We are meant to be pure, but the truth is, we often fall from that calling. The first thig we need to be doing is praying, it really is that simple. After than, we can't have a me-first attitude. This is what makes lack of purity thrive.

The call to help the poor is evident through the bible. Nevertheless, the average modern evangelical christian today cares little about the poor. Being a Christian is more than reading your bible and going to church once or twice a week. It is about helping people who are in need. I honeslty, do nothing to help the poor, and I am ashamed of that. I have decided on a small measure to help with that. I am not driking Pop on campus on Tuesday, Thursday and friday. I will then take that money any give it to the poor. It is only $4 a week, but will be $200 over the year and I am losing something I rely on, but really don't need. It is a baby step process, and I ask God to help me with it.

We need to proclame the gospel where ever we go. The Jesus told us to in the great commission. It is my job as a Christian to work for Christ. I would write more, but I have to go, mabye I will edit it later.

1:43pm: Gathering the Base
Election Day is less than one month away. Democrats are getting ready for their victory day. Victory is, exactly, what it looks like they are going to have. A party of no ideas, is going to takeover both the house and the senate because the Republican leadership has lost touch with its conservative voters.I have labeled the 3 types of conservatives that have put the GOP into power, and they are fiscal conservatives, social conservatives and neo conservatives (forign policy). The republican party has left 2 of those in the dust, and the other one aint enough.

Fiscal conservatives: The biggest failure of the republicans on this front is not privitizating social security. Bush made this a platform issue, and people bought it. When push came to shove with the republicans mandate, they did not get this through. The whole idea was not radical, yet it was defeated. It showed the inablility of Bush and the leadership to do their job. The Bush adminstration has never been conservative in spending, with plans like the perscription drug benefit.

Social Conservatives: Social conservatives had had some wins basically from the grassroots level. The biggest one was in the 2 new Supreme court nominations. When Bush nominated Harriet Myers, the social conservatives went nuts. They have supported republicans with the intention of abortion being a key issue. With the horrible Myers nomination, Bush again showed he did not want to pick a side. Only after the outrage, was she removed and a good choice, Samuel Alito was selected. The newesy problem, the Foley scandal, has distressed social conservatives. They have no reason to really trust republicans, as they seem to throw aside moral s for political gain. Thus, the social conservatives are not gun-ho about helping the Reuplicans win in 06

Neoconservatives: Bush has, all things considered, done a good job with the war on terror. The problem with that is that there is a catch-22, when no terrorist attacks occur, people devalue the importance of the war on terror. By doing their job, they are eliminating need. So instead of keep trying to pound in ppl heads that no terror attacks have occured, they need to be sucessful on many fronts. A big one that they are neglecting is immigration. People see this as a security threat and Bush seems to believe that we need illegal immigration. The party that takes the position of the people on this issue will gain alot of support.

Overall, Republicans have not shown their sucesses enough, and they have made many critical mistakes. Also, people are just sick of republicnas in general, they have been in power for 6 years, and people think it is time for a change.

Nic's Predictions- GOP loses 6 Senate seats and 20 House seats

12:38am: Wake-Up Call
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."- Matthew 5:8

I guess I don't quote the bible enough. When I did the other day, the person could not believe that I would do such a thing. I was suprised, what do you mean I don't quote the bible, I read the thing basically everyday, and I try to live by it. We were talking of all things, Gambling, and I quote that verse and he can't believe it.

James talks about what our tounges ought to say. While I think I do good on the "bad" end, ie. not swearing ect. I need to work on the good end, people should not be suprised when I quote Jesus, it is that simple.

Pray that I include the bible more in daily conversations.

2:12pm: Nicolas Shayko Awards: Q3 nominations
The Q3 nominations are 15 days over due so here they are. The Q3 nominations are first, followed by the Q2 and Q1 nominations.

Year Of: Gambling, Disappointment, Thought

Person (Personal): John McIntyre (Friend), Matthew Campbell (Friend) , Lance Bradstreet

Person (Celeb): George W Bush, LeBron James, Matt Drudge

Hobby: Movies, Reading, Poker

Club/Group: Photo City Browns Backers, College Republicans, Baptist Campus Ministries

Book: "Squat" by Taylor Field, "Mere Christanity" by CS Lewis, "What Women Really Want" by Celinda Lake and Kellyanne Conway

Event: Trip to Las Vegas, "Champions On Ice" May 2nd, Puerto Rico Missions Trip

Song: "Twilight Zone" by Golden Earring, "Bad Day" by Daniel Powder, "Cat's In the Cradle" by Harry Chapin

Christian Song: "Knockin' on Heavens Door" by Avalon, "Stars" by Switchfoot, "In Christ Alone" by Geoff Moore

Sports Team: USA Soccer, Cleveland Indians, Cleveland Cavs

Sports Game: World Soccer: USA 1 Italy 1, Cleveland Cavs 114 Washington Wizards 113 (Cavs win 1st playoff series since 1993), College Football: Ohio State 34 Notre Dame 20

Musician/Band: Johnny Cash, Mark Schultz, Switchfoot

Game: Blackjack, MLB Showdown 2005, Monopoly

Video Game: NCAA Football 2006, Jeporady!, MVP Bassball 06

TV Show: The Twilight Zone, Jeporady!, Wife Swap

Album: "American IV" by Johnny Cash, "Nothing is Sound" by Switchfoot, Walk to Remember Soundtrack

Embarassing Moment: Binon's Baccrat Mishap, Garbage Can Killing, Twice Baked Carrot Cake

Movie: A Beautiful Mind, American Dreamz, Proof

9:53am: Steroids: The new McCarthyism
You know what they say about history, "Those who don't learn from history are bound to repeat it" This is clearly the case with Steroids and other performance enhansing drugs. Joe McCarthy was a good Senator from Wisconsin (Yes, I believe that). He was worried the state of the country, worried that it was being taken over by the Soviets. He took it upon himself to rid these people from the government, and the country. He went on false leads, misguided leads, and good leads. He got so far over his head that he was accusing people of being a communist who were really not. When McCarthy accused them, their careers were over, they were discredited. It was very hard, if not impossible to recoved from such as accusation. It was a sad time in our country, one we are glad to get over.

Now, in 2006, McCarthy is back. He is back in the form of Steroids. The pure though of Steroids in sports has send the sports world on a witch hunt. Find everyone who has illegally used these druge, and get them. In this media age, there is alot of money in this witchhunt. Guys like Jose Cancesco and Jason Grimsley are making money off of their accusations. I am sure they know something, but they don't know everything. It has started this cycle where in people have a spike in their hitting number, people think they are taking drugs. We hear a great Story in Floyd Landis at the TOur de France, all to go for nothing because he has alot of Testitrone.

The real loser is the sports themselves, we need to get off this witchhunt, and focus on the now. Make it this simple, random testing, anytime. 1st offence, 1 year ban. 2nd offence, gone for life. This will stop people from taking them real quick.

3:53pm: Gaming @ RIT
This one is for all of the nerds out there. If you like LAN parties, RIT is the place to go. RIT was named the #3 gaming college in the country by the Global Gaming League. It might not be a suprise to RIT ppl, but I do find RIT out of place on a list of the top 10 gaming schools. Why you ask, cause RIT is the only non division 1 mega state school on the list. Look here at the list

#1: University of Texas
2: Penn St
3: RIT
4: UCLA
5: Digipen Institute of Technology
6: USC
7: Georgia Tech
8: University of Minnesota
9: University of Michigan (boo)
10: Full Sail Real World Education

Other than Digipen and Full sail, you are talking about a bunch of schools with big Division 1 sports, and alot more ppl. Digipen is like games mecca, it has no dorms, but it is like a game design school only. Full sail is odd in that, all you need is a GED to get it. It is based on ablity rather than grades. You got RIT on that list, as as the article quotes "In upstate New York, 15,000 students congregate for a better gaming experience than most universities could ever hope to offer. Maybe it's just that there's nothing to do in Rochester, but RIT has great LAN parties."


Geez, thanks for the LAN parties.

GGL article on top 10

http://www.ggl.com/news.php?NewsId=3931

RIT Press Release

http://www.rit.edu/~930www/webnews/viewstory.php3?id=2034

10:50pm: Las Vegas: Sin City, Glitter City or Both
As many of you know, I just got back from a week trip to Vegas 1 week ago. It was a great time, one I enjoyed much. Vegas is a place I like overall, but there are some very disturbing things. I visited 28 Casino's, where I gambled at 23 of them. These vary from the Strip Casino (Treasure Island, Sahara, Stratspohere, ect.), Downtown Casinos (Binon's, Golden Nugget, Main Street Station, ect) off strip locals casinos (Sunset Station, Club Fortune), Casino's near the Hoover Dam (Hacienda, Railroad Pass) and Casino's in Laughlin, NV about 1 hour south of Vegas (Harrah's Laughlin, Edgewater, Golden Nugget Laughlin). I seen the Hoover Dam, which is amazing in itself.

Funny observations: The weatherman in vegas have a real easy job, every day it was 102 degrees and sunny with a low of 78.

Slot machines are everywhere, not just the casino. Come off of the airplane, you got slot machines, walk into the local Seven 11, there are video poker machines.

Dealers are usually nice people, but a few are real cold.

The horrible lack of understanding statistics when playing blackjack. These people just dont get the whole independent trial thing, cause they aint counting cards. Even worse is Roulette, where people think they can look at past numbers are predict future ones. Also slot players who think machies run "hot" then "cold" it is just funny

Nice observations:
The casinos themselves, most are very nice, very cool, and a fun place to be at. At night, it is sweet, flashing lights like you have never seen.

Room's are cheap, I mean very cheap. It is cheaper to take a trip to Vegas than Atlantic City, or anywhere in Flordia. There are so many rooms, that you can get a room on the strip for $40 a night if you go at the right times. Downtown $20 for a room, now that is a deal.

Food is cheap, since everyone wants you to walk into their place, there are alot of deals to be had in terms of food. I got the sweetest buffet ever for $10, and Prime Rib for $6. With a little searching, you can spend a week in vegas for $500 a person, if you bring a friend.

Sad Observations: Smut, everywhere you turn in some places. The worst was the Northern Strip, up by the Stratspohere and the Sarhra, just think free home ads advertisment boxes, and then fill them up with strip clubs and whatever naught things you can think of. The worst thing is, they arn't contained to boxes, the city is dirty, and you will see that smut littered in the streets. They are trying to pass a law getting rid of those boxes, and they ought to, they make a bad mark on the town.

Expensive roller coasters, sorry, I aint gonna pay $15 to take one ride on a coaster.

Notable Casinos I went to:

Hard Rock Casino: This has to be one of, if not the coolest casino. It has an odd feel to it, with all the pits in the center of the casino. Good rock music playing, friendly dealers, and a good time.

Hooters Casino: Noted for their "Hooters girl" dealers. You can sit at a table with a good looking dealer, but you only get paid 6:5 on a blackjack, instead of the 3:2 if you were sitting at a "normal" table

Tropicana: This is the dump on the south end of the strip, but I made some good money there

Main Street Station: This is a very nice casino downtown. Actually my favorite of the downtown casino, very nice atsphomere, and I seen a guy sit down next to me and lost $700 in 3 min, no joke. This was at a $5 table, insane

Las Vegas Hilton: There are two things to note about this place. One, it has the best sports book in Vegas. The thing is amazing, check out my photo on the facebook. I made my first sports bet ever, betting on the indians, they won, and I made $10. The other thing to note is that they have an iPod vending machine, insane I tell you.

Sunset Station: This is one of those local casinos, actually the nicest one I vistited, beating alot of the more known casino's in my mind. It is where I had the sweet buffet, which included clams, prime rib and cheesecake.

Binion's: This is the place where poker became famous. It also the only place I got yelled at by a pit boss. I was playing Baccaratt for my first time, and I made the Banker bet, if you win the banker bet, you pay 5% comission on your winnings, they total it at the end. I did not know that, and left the table. 5 seconds later the pit boss is tracking me down, making me pay the quarter I owed the house.

Sahara: This was the 1st casino I went to, one where you could play blackjack for $3 a hand, which is odd on the strip. It was old, but nice.

Riverside: This is a Laughlin casino. Before walking in here, I was up $70 though the first 5 days, anfter here, I would lose almost $300. This place is big, all to say about that.

Harrah's Laughlin: This is where I lost more money than anywhere else, the only place I lost triple digits. We stayed there, which I why I played so much there. I liked the place, except for the fact I lost all that money.

Club Fortune Casino: This is a little dumpy joint right by my Uncle's house. It is more like an old folks home where you can gamble, still I liked the place.

Stratspohere: I liked this place, it is the one with the biggest tower in vegas. It was the second casino that I visited.

Golden Nugget Downtown: Of all the places I played blackjack, this place offered the best rules for the player, allowing something called a surrender. It is rare now a days, but I still lost money here.

Golden Nugget Laughlin: No surrender here, and this was a place where I kept getting torched in Laughlin.

Barbary Coast: This is a small casino on the strip. A real nice plce, but I did not stay long since dad was board by that time

Aladdin (Planet Hollywood): This is where I played Texas Hold'em. It is a nice place, but alot of it is close off cause they are turing into the planet hollywood.

Treasure Island: They had a cool pirate show, nice hip place

Other Places I went and gambeled: Hacienda, Railroad Pass, 4 Queens, Edgewater, Excalibur

Places I went but did not gamble-

Mandalay Bay: Nice pool, ritzy place

MGM Grand: Big place, big lion

Mirage: The Volcano is overratted

New York, New York: It looks like NYC, just smaller


Games I played in Veags

Blackjack- I played this more than anything else, but far. I probably logged over 20 hours on blackjack. I lost about $100 over the whole trip

Texas Hold'em- I played 2 tournies at the Aladdin. I played well, it just did not work out

Craps- Probably played at a half dozen place, made a small sum of money

Baccratt- Played at Binons made $10

roulette- Played mostly at Binon's made like $35

Let It Ride- Played at the Hard Rock and Harrah's, lost about $60

Video Poker- lost like $5

Slots- Mostly played from free promotions. Places will give you free slot play where you join their players club.

Sports Betting- Bet on the Indians to beat KC @ the Las Vegas Hilton. They were down 10-1 after the 1st inning, but they came back and won me 10 bucks. CLE was favored, so I had to bet $14 to make $10

It was fun, bet smart, stay within your limits, and it can be a good time. I set aside $300 to lose over the trip gambling. I was doing good on Tuesday-Sunday, actually up $70 at one point. The I went on a bad run, lost like $230 on the whole trip

1:21am: Check out frightfan.com
My great friend Gary Meacher has a web site, it is all about horror movie reviews, you should check it out.






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4:13pm: Traveling Man
These have been some fun times, going on trips with Yifan Zhang. 3 weeks ago, we went to Toronto , which was a sweet time. We went to the Hockey Hall of Fame, 2 blue Jays game, the CN Tower (but not up it), Niagra Fallsview Casino. Last weekend we went to Cooperstown, NY, where we went to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Cooperstown was a typical small American town in the middle of no where. It is very fitting that baseball was invented in Cooperstown. Cooperstown is American in its feel, and baseball is America's pasttime. While football may be the #1 sport to watch in America today, Baseball is the sport that has the biggest effect on society in America. It is held to a higher standard, and is the torchbearer for sport in America. The hall of fame showed home baseball was threaded into the fabric of America itself.

In about an hour we are going to Buffalo to watch the Buffalo Bisons play the Norfolk Tides. We have been the Red Wings games like 3 times this year, and we hit up an indians game at the beginning of the summer.

Coming up I have a trip to the Adirondacks, a week from Tuesday with the BCM leadership. Shortly after that, I will be back in Cleveland for like 3 days, and then it is off to Las Vegas, NV!

This summer I will have been in the mountains, in the desert, in the swamp (RIT), north of the border, 4 baseball stadiums, 2 hall of fames, many casinos, hoover dam, colorado river 2 movie theaters.

Finally I have done some of the traveling I have wanted to do.

1:08am: Prayer Works!
Call it luck, fate, or whatever, I call it prayer and God. Michelle Jacobs asked me a couple weeks ago about my financial situation. People in my inner circle know that it has been real rough for my family. So rough, in fact, that they could not come get a PLUS Loan to cover what I needed for College after all my scholarships/grants/loans go through. Thus, I was just over $1,500 short of what I needed for college this next year.

I was thinking it may have to come out of my pocket, but that would have made it very hard. Michelle has been praying ago this, and so have I, at least on occasion. Today I found out that I was given another grant from the federal governemnt, one worth $4,000. This is well over the $1,500 I needed, enough to even lower some of my personal loans (Unsubsidized gov't loan).

I thank Michelle, and even more, I thank God himself. God is good, and I need to be more focused on doing his work.

11:25pm: Eating in the Twilight Zone
Today was a Sunday in the twilight zone. The church service was odd, with an odd sermon that had me shaking my head. I don't know if I agree with the unbiblical basis of critizism that Pastor Cliff has. Slander, yes, evil speech, yes, but I just can't come around to say critizism is a bad thing for sure. Wore reasearch to be done. After church, we had a divisive business meeting. It was on, of all things, Guide Dogs in Training in the sancutary during service. I find it sad what can divide our church in this age.

I thought of Eph 4: 4-6 while in the meeting

"(4)We are all one body, we have the same Spirit, and we have all been called to the same glorious future. (5) There is only one Lord, one faith, one baptism, (6) and there is only one God and Father, who is over us all and in us all and living through us all." (NLT)

This church is divided over a dog, and we are called to be unified. I was telling Nate & Nate, the problem is the framing of the issue. In general, the younger people dont see this guide dog as an issue. While the people who are on the other side of the issue see it vital to their relationship with God. Like, if they dont stop this, they are defacing God's house, and thus, insulting God himself.

I just hope that the church aint hurt anymore from this guide dog issue than it already is.

Also, had a good time today hangaing out after church. Had like 5 people over from church, made some chicken marsela, which was good stuff. Played some Guilloteen afterward, which is a real sweet game. Also watched some Twilight Zone, which was a good time. Watched the classic, "stopover in a quiet town" along with "The Howling Man" and a few other with less people later.

Nate H and Dave stayed the latest, as I played some Who Wants to be a Millionare? with Nate, and then he left. Later made a burger for Dave and I watched some Big Brother 7, and played Jeopardy! I would imagine that this is the way Sunday should be spent, minus the fighting over guide dogs.

10:08am: Blue Jays, Maple Leafs and everything else Toronto
Last night I got back from a two day trip to Toronto, Ontario. We went for two reasons, mostly. One was to see the Toronto Blue Jays play at Skydome, now called the Rogers Centre. The other reason was to see the Hockey Hall of Fame.

This was my first time out of the country in well over 10 years. And the first time I left the country in so far that I could still not see US soil while on the ground. (I guess I could not see the US soil at some during the Puerto Rico flight, but that dont count, I was in the air) Lance, who claims he is always right (or just about), said I need not have my birth certificate, but I brought it anyway, and I needed it for sure, as Canidian customs wanted to see it and was drilling us for like 2 min.

We got into Toronto about 10 AM, and got into the hockey hall of fame at about 10:15. It cost $13, and was a real good time. They have tons of jerseys, pucks, skates and other hockey stuff. They even had an old Cleveland Barons jersey, the NHL team in Cleveland in the 1970s. They had a few interactive things, which was nice, but I thought that they would have more. The coolest thing about the Hockey Hall of Fame is the Stanley Cup. It is, probably, the most reverened piece of metal in North America, if not the world. While other championships are big, the Stanley Cup has an enigima all of its own. For example, who knows the name of the baseball World Series trophy, I am a huge baseball fan and I dont even know that. Even football, the Vince Lombardi trophy, comes nowhere close to the Stanley Cup. That is why I was so amazed that I actually got to touch the cup itself. It is open, no glass case, out for the people to touch and view. The cup was smaller than I thought, and it is amazing how they are able to fit every player name onto that cup.

The hockey hall of fame was smaller than I expected, we did the whole thing in just about 3 hours. After that, we grabbed some fast food lunch (Subway), and we tried to figure out what to do the reast of the day. We were going to the baseball game tommorow, and then we remembered that the baseball game on Saturday started at 4 PM, so we decided to go to that. We did not want to pay $25 for the good seats, so we got the cheap seats for $9. Got in the skydome at like 2:15, early enough to catch most of batting practice. Yifan got a ball, and if I was paying attention then I could have had one too.

The game went long, 14 innings to be exact. The Blue Jays won on a walk off single. We then found a place to eat called Jack Astors, where I had some amazing cream soda and a good glorified turkey sandwitch. After that we headed to our hotel, about 12 miles away. we got to the hotel at 10:45 PM, and the pool was supposed to close at 11. I wanted to get in the hot tub, so I went down there expecting to only be in 10 min. I was there for about an hour and a half, as they just did not close the place. I talked to 3 nice girls from Mexico. It was intresting to hear about such a culture differance, they want to visit the USA, but we will not let them cause we think that they will illegally stay. It is sad that Mexicans who really just want to visit can't.

On then went to bed on my select confort bed, which was sweet. Got up the next morning, went in the pool for another 1/2 hr or so, and then we left the hotel. We stopped at Tim horton's for breakfast, and then went to the game early. We were expecting batting practice, but there was none, so we just sat around for two hours. We again decided to buy the cheap seats, with the intention of just sitting in better ones. We trying sitting on the 3rd base side, but an usher asked us if we had tickets there. The we went to the 2nd deck, and we sat there the whole game. So basically we sat in the $25 seats anyway the whole game. Got a free hat, as it was hat day at the ballpark. This game also went extra inning, but we decided to leave after 10 cause it was already 4:30 and we wanted to stop at the falls and the casino. The Blue Jays ended up winning in the bottom of the 11th on yet another walk of hit.

We got to niagra falls at about 6, and went to the casino, which was a very nice place. I lost just over 50 CDN there, but it was still a nice place. Yifan and I sat at a $15 min blackjack table, which was higher than I wanted, but was the lowest there, since the place was so busy. After that went down to see that falls, which was cool, since the last time I was there I was like 7.

After that we drove the reast of the way home, got back just before 10, at some pasta at my place, and the trip to Toronto with Yifan was over.

It was a good time, and I was glad to plan a spur of the moment trip like this (we decided on Thurdsay afternoon to go)

11:43pm: World Cup thoughts
I have watched more soccer in the last month than the rest of my life combined. The reason for this is twofold. One is, frankly, that I have had more time to watch the cup than ever before. Second is, that I have found a new found love with the sport. I watched 2 of the 3 USA games, tons of other group games, (at least 10 other games), many of the sweet 16 matches and the quarterfinal matches, the semifinal matches and the final early today, Italy vs. France. I still hold my bias for my kid if he wants to be a soccer player, but now to a lesser extent. I have said before that soccer players in the US are usually snotty losers. Like I never met a soccer player in high school who was a nice guy. It was too feel good, too random worst of all, not American.

Now, I find soccer to be beauty in motion. I find soccer to be the most relaxing of all the sports, as they do not stop the clock at anytime, no ads of the TV while watching it. I now want to go to a soccer match.

Let me give some highlights and lowlights of the World Cup this year

Highlights

National Pride- Soccer fans are some of the most passionate fans on the globe

Amazing Goals- So many of the shots were just beauty in motion, I think of the Argintina goal off the chest into the corner right away

Constant Play- They go 45 min, no breaks

3 Substitutions- Only allowing 3 subs makes the game a true test of staminia

USA v. Italy- They took a tie vs the team that won the cup, impressive game

Dempsey- The MLS rookie of the year was always moving on the field for team USA

Ghana- Nice to see and African team make the final rounds

Trindad & Tobago- After watching them tie Sweeden, I was hooked to the world cup

Ukraine- My Dad's side of the family did well, making the quarterfinals

The British guy who gives analysis on the ESPN show- this guy is amazing, best quote of the whole thing, about the US "The US could not win the baseball, they could not win the hockey, what makes you think that they will win the soccer"

McBride- After getting a bow to the face, he came off the field real quick to get his face clean, and then he was back out there


Lowlights

Bruce Arena- Team USA, other than the Italy game, did not play up to their billing

Every person on ESPN except the British Guy- These guys give no insight on the game of soccer, know nothing, and suck. Brent Muskerburger is a great College Football guy, but stop using the same people who analyze football to analyze soccer, they know nothing! My roomate gave much better analysis than these guys most of the time.

Zidane- In a classless act, he ends his career giveing out a headbutt

The Refs- Some games were just called horribly, espically the USA/Italy game, if the refs were not card crazy, the US may have won that game. Need another example, look no farther than the Porugal v. Dutch game.

Penalty Kicks/ diving in the box- Too many games were decided by refs give a penalty kick to a acting job.

The fake injuries- If I seen another Italian fake an injury, I would have thrown something at my TV set.

The commentators talk of sportsmanship- The world cup had little sportsmanship, lets face it, these guys were brutal. Bows to the face, kicks in the groin (Rooney), Headbutts (Zidane) were the lowest lowlights, but foul play was around often.

Offsides- It is so annoying to see someone score, and then they are offsides. They need to open the game up somehow

President Clinton- He was at the final, nuff said.

There you go!

(Just Kidding about Clinton)

3:34pm: Baby Names
Board here at work, I have been looking at Baby Names, here is where some my friends rank in terms of their name, this Year, and top rank within the last 100 years

Name/Ranks/Highest Rank


Boys

Nicolas (Shayko)- 136/134/2003
Lance (Bradstreet)- 263/76/1970
Gary (Meacher)- 338/9/1954
John (McIntyire)- 18/1/1906-1923
Nathan (Haseley/Prosser) - 20/20/2005
Henry (Chen) - 103/10/ 1910,1907
Matthew (Campbell/DiFrancisco) - 4/2/ 1995, 1996
David (Skeldon) - 14/1/1960
Brian (Grinell) - 63/8/1970, 1972-1977
Heath (Williams) - 796/191/ 1974
Timothy (Dobransky) - 84/11/ 1960,1966-1967
Richard (Dirmyer) - 93/5/ 1930-1947

Girls

Rebecca (Nelson) - 82/10/1973-74
Camille (Davis)- 289/243/1990
Sarah (Nolan)- 15/3/1993
Michelle (Jacobs) - 74/2/1968-69, 1971-72

I know I did not get everyone, so if you want to know yours, or someone else, go to

http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/

1:20pm: The Fifth Dimension
For those of you who missed it, I feel sorry for you. There was a Twilight Zone marathon for the last 3 days, which enede at about 4AM thins morning. Not to worry, I taped practiaclly the whole thing, as I have 99 epsidoes now on tape, 54 hrs worth. I taped The Twilight Zone cause it is one of, if not the best show ever on television. It is a science fiction show from the 1960s, known for Rod Serling, the theme song and best of all, its great plotlines that just about always made you think.

On Sunday I was taking to Nate P & Nate H. about realistic fiction vs. nonrealistic fiction (sci-fi, whatever). Nate Haseley said that "In order to understand this world better, we must step outside of this world." It was something I put alot of thought to, but he is 100% right. This is the value of Science fiction. That is why the twilight zone is the fifth dimension, it is outside of the 4 dimensions that we know. This 5th dimension helps us understand the other 4.

For example, I watched this epsidode last night, "The Number 12 looks just like you": here is a brief plot summary

Marilyn Cuberle doesn't want to submit to the Transformation, a supposedly voluntary operation that makes them identical to everyone else. Her family and friends try and convince her to go ahead with the Transformation. She tries to escape from a hospital, and ends up in a room with a doctor and nurse. She emerges from the hospital looking and thinking just like everyone else.

This epsiode really had me thinking about what we do to change our bodies. Serling had no clue about Botox in 1963, but how far away are we from the point where these transformations are required. This girl does not want the transformation, cause she understands how evil it really is. The State claims that they are making everyone beautiful, but in essance they are making everyone the same. All the people act the same, are always happy and everything. The sad thing is that when she is forced into the transformation, she recalls nothing about her violent dissent. It is a tragic ending, yet no one, even Marilyn now herself, thinks it is so.


So basically the Twilight Zone is one of the sweetest shows ever, and gives us a long hard look at life. I have 2/3rd of all the epsidodes made, so come over and watch a few!