McCain's VP Pick

I had begun to suspect McCain would go with a woman and sure enough, he did. No one knows much about Sarah Palin right now, but they will before long. I watched her speech after McCain introduced her. She is quite likeable and maybe not quite the lightweight I first envisioned. Very interesting woman.

I've heard a few commentators say this is very much a very bold, but very risky move. I think that's quite accurate. McCain is supposed to lose anyway, so maybe it won't make a difference, who knows. But it definitely shakes things up. It definitely draws attention away from Obama's speech last night. But if Quayle had a rough go of it when he was announced, I think Palin is going to really get put through the ringer. Then again, Quayle still became Vice President after Dukakis left the Democratic convention with a big lead. So, who knows. Palin is called the "barracuda" which must be for a reason.

Quite the mirror image. On one side, you have an inexperienced minority candidate for president and an experienced white guy for vice president. On the other side, it's the opposite. This election just got a little more interesting.

What is Up With Wolf?

Wolf Blitzer, dude, you are losing it. I watched CNN's coverage last night, and when Biden was through with his speech, the coverage shifted back to the post-speech commentary. But before saying anything about the speech, Wolf went on and on about the band that was playing and how much he enjoyed them all week. It was really weird. Anderson Cooper made jokes about Wolf and his obsession with the band, but I could tell he was really thinking, "Uh, Wolf, we have a major convention going on here, who cares about the band?"

I thought Biden's speech was rather weak, and the response from the crowd was very lackluster. It seemed at the most he would just get a little applause here and there. Biden's a good guy with a good story, but he just didn't electrify like Hillary the night before. I didn't get to see Bill, but it sounds like he did okay. I'm sure the Obama's now are thinking, "Okay, Bill and Hillary, thank you, now BUH BYE!:

It will be interesting to watch Obama's speech tonight, especially being in a large outdoor stadium as opposed to a smaller indoor arena where it can be much more noisy. I'm sure he'll do a bang-up job.

Hillary's Speech

Well, the commentators are all going gaga over Hillary's speech. I'll admit, she did a good job. What did people expect? That she would come out and say "Up Yours Obama! I should be the nominee!" Sheesh, calm down everyone, it was a convention speech. Of course the crowd would go crazy.

I watched the speech on CNN and their commentators were all saying what a great job she did. Carville said it was a Sandy Koufax fastball (note to Carville, you need to update your references, no one in Obama's target demographic know who Sandy Koufax is). But an interesting thing took place. On the floor, CNN had a lengthy interview with a black female Clinton delegate who wasn't exactly embracing Obama yet. She went on and on how "presidential" Clinton looked, and said while she definitely won't vote for McCain, she may not vote at all.

I've never liked that approach, because I always say, vote for somebody, because you have the right to do so. But when they talk about party unity last night, I'm wondering if the Hillary supporters will indeed move on and give their support to Obama. Or, will they still want to hold out, if for the simple reason that the Obama group will be basically telling them that they need to get over it.

This will still be an interesting election. It's all up to the Democrats what happens. Republicans know the odds are very much stacked against them. But if the Dems botch this one, it will surely have to go down as the most botched election of all time.

So, who will McCain choose as his running mate? Think how it would mix things up if he chose a woman. Would he do that? Probably not, but boy would that sure be an attention getter and an obvious ploy at snatching up the Hillary supporters.

VP Biden

Joe Biden was a good choice for Obama. He has a lot of experience in the Senate and is well respected on both sides. He also has the much needed experience in foreign policy and is a little more moderate. And, of course, he's also very articulate (chuckle chuckle).

Actually, his articulateness (did I just make that up?) has gotten him in trouble before. He'll keep things interesting. Much more exciting than Bayh, who really is quite bland and I didn't think the Democrats wanted a somewhat lightweight Hoosier senator after what they put Quayle through.

Volleyballers Win Gold. . .Lose some Endorsements

I stayed up late to watch our volleyballers take home the Gold against China. The matches were close (21-18 in both games) but I didn't think they were ever in danger of losing. They are just too good. When they had to spike it hard, they did so, but they also did very well with the "dink" shot.

I imagine that Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor could have some endorsements coming their way, although I think there are two groups that they won't be hearing from anytime soon. First of all, they thanked President Bush for his inspiration, so I imagine an appearance at next week's Democratic convention in Denver is out of the question. Secondly, they said the most important thing in their life right now was to have a baby. So, probably no calls coming anytime soon from the feminist groups.

Detached from the Political Scene

I had a very hectic week at work, followed by a busy church weekend with the Pulse Festival. I totally blanked out on remembering the Rick Warren forum that took place Sunday night. From the commentaries I've listened to, Obama did okay, but not great. Certainly no home run as might have been thought. As for McCain, he did much better than people might have expected.

I think the upcoming debates are going to be very, very interesting to watch. Next week is the Democratic show in Denver. That should be interesting too, especially finding out who the VP is. I wonder what thoughts will be running through John Edwards' mind as he now knows his political career is over and yet 4 years ago he was oh so close to being Vice President.

Roasting at the Pulse Fest

This weekend was the annual World Pulse Festival, which has become a HUGE Christian music festival in South Bend, topping out last year at 40,000 and probably had a lot more this year. Also, it was very, very hot. The festival itself was on Saturday, but the night before our church hosted a Pre-Pulse party for some churches from Michigan and for a couple in Ohio. The Ohio churches being those lead by Benjamin and Tom and Paula, so it was nice having them up here again this year.

We fed everyone pizza then had a road rally/scavenger hunt around town (Paula's team was the only one that got lost). This was followed by a concert by a group from northern Michigan called Outshined. The lead singer is the brother-in-law of our pastor's wife. This group is pretty good and everyone seemed to really enjoy it. At some point (I think) everyone actually went to bed. We housed everyone at the church and our youth building.

After breakfast Saturday morning, we headed over to the festival site. I had to work Saturday morning, so I couldn't go right away. By the time I got there, Mandisa was performing (the one from American Idol). She was pretty good, although I'm not crazy about the Gospel style she does, but she's a good performer. A group called C3 had already performed, although no one I talked to was all that crazy about them.

Mandisa was followed by Skillet. I like some of their stuff and they did a good job, I just wasn't overwhelmed. Kutless performed last year and has a similar style, but I liked them much better. The crowd wasn't all that much into it either.

What I was waiting for was the next act, Toby Mac. I'd never seemed him solo, but saw him twice when he was lead singer of DC Talk. That group was one of the best live acts I ever saw. As a solo artist, he didn't disappoint. Backed by the "Diverse City" band, they put on a wonderful show. Full of energy and a wide variety of rap, hip-hop and funk. The crowd was really energized by his performance and I'd love to see him again.

After that was Casting Crowns. Yeah right, like we're going to listen to this group after Toby Mac. We left before they even came on. I'm sure they did just fine.

Olympics off to a Good Start

I have been impressed by the coverage thus far with the Olympics. Everytime I tuned in over the weekend, I saw a lot of actual competition, and not a bunch of filler. NBC is doing really well and I hope they keep it up.

There have already been a few exciting moments.

• The women's sweep of the fencing event, which featured a local Notre Dame student getting the gold medal;
• Last night the mens 4 x 100 swim relay team shutting down (and shutting up) the French team, keeping Michael Phelps 8-gold quest alive;
• The "Redeem Team" taking it to Yao Ming and the Chinese basketball team, which it is said was the most watched sporting event in history;
• The women's gymnastics team qualifying for the team final, even though they were short one gymnast, which left no room for major error.

Then there were the opening ceremonies, which I was both impressed with and somewhat not. They did some spectacular things, but after a while, it started to get a little old. I thought it somewhat humorous when it was said that the Chinese plan to put a man on the moon by 2024. Note to the Chinese: Back in the 1960's, when you were having that little Cultural Revolution and killing millions of your own people, we were going to the moon ourselves. China is a peculiar nation to figure out. Because while they are still communist, they have made incredible strides over the last 20 years and millions have come out of poverty and are having a much better standard of living. Not sure what to make of all that's happening there.

Despite all the technical bravado in lighting the torch, I still found it much more memorable when Janet Evans handed off to Muhammad Ali back in 1996.

Meanwhile, in the Rest of the World

I heard reports mid-morning today about the growing conflict in Georgia, with Russian tanks moving in. Far away on the other side of the world, seemingly no connection for me.

Except, that one of the international students that works for me, named Giorgi, is from there. He was working for me today doing entrance exams for incoming students. I walked over to the testing room to see if he was hearing any news. Sure enough, he was on the computer trying to find something out. The area of conflict, South Ossetia, is not far from his family. He said simply, "This is not good."

Okay, China, Game On!

Alright, time for this repressive regime to show us what they got. I think the high ranking government officials will be glad when it's all over, because a lot of warts are going to be exposed. Although, you do have to give them credit. They said they would allow protests, as long as said protesters formally applied for a "permit" and would agree to a location far removed from the action. Uh huh, real open government here.

I don't think the pictures you see on t.v. of the pollution does it justice. From what I read, it is really, really (really) bad. The government says they have a back-up plan if the pollution gets too bad. Uh, what would that be? Just move everything down to Australia?

I can see one of the hot selling souvenier items being some sort of oxygen mask with the Beijing Olympic logo on it. Hmm, would it be "Made in China?" Look for the late night talk show hosts to be ruthless on this.

A Return to Church Camp

A couple weeks ago, Dorene and the kids went to family camp at the Wesleyan campground in Fairmount, Indiana (James Dean territory). I couldn't go because of a busy week at work. However, I was able to go down on Friday evening and stay until the camp concluded on Sunday. This was my first church camp venture in about 25 years, which was a staple growing up.

My very first camp experience would have been in Pennsylvania, but I remember nothing about it. When we lived in Arizona, I vaguely remember going to some place called Watsonville, and not really enjoying it all that much. Maybe we also went somewhere else? I can't really remember.

But in California, I remember it well. We spent a few years of family camp at a place called Canyon Meadows, which at the time was a brand new campground, complete with 4-hole golf course, huge cloverleaf-shaped pool, and motel room accommodations. I enjoyed this place a lot. The junior camp accommodations were literally covered wagons with bunk beds, they were pretty cool . . .except I never stayed there. I always stayed in the air conditioned comfort with mom and dad (by choice). I remember for two years a husband and wife team led the junior camp. I think the Caruthers or something like that? They were great and they may have visited our home church at Pixley a time or two.

When I got into the 7th grade, I got to go to teen camp, which took place at a camp called Quaker Meadow. Very rustic, very old accommodations, but as a teen, who cares? These were some very fun times at this camp, which was nestled up high in the mountains in California. One year, the speaker for the week was Marvin Price, our former pastor in Arizona. For a couple years, we had this wild and crazy youth pastor from central California named John Calcote, who was a huge hit. Dad, who was always the camp director, always found it humorous to blast "The Chipmunks" from the loudspeaker to wake everyone up in the morning. During these years, I was always the reigning ping-pong champion. We played on old warped tables with balls probably obtained from the dollar store. I could never lower myself to playing in such conditions now, since I reguarly play on $2,000 Butterfly tables.

But as for family camp this year, it was very enjoyable the couple days I was there. The kids absolutely loved it and we'll definitely be going back now. I imagine for the next several years, this will be our family vacation, which is fine with me.

Ping Pong Diplomacy

Sports Illustrated had a recent article on the so-called "ping pong diplomacy" that took place between China and the US in the early 1970's. A chance meeting between a Chinese and American player set the groundwork for relations between the two countries to change dramatically. It's an interesting article.

I asked Dan Seemiller from the South Bend Table Tennis club if he was a part of this, but he indicated he was on the U.S. junior team and this all took place just before his time on the world stage. Although he said he played Glenn Cowan once and beat him (Cowan is the American player featured in the article).

I read that the arena being used at the Beijing Olympics was designed "specifically with table tennis in mind." Kinda shows you that the Chinese take this sport seriously.

Rethinking Future Plans

A couple nights ago as I was tucking him in, Cameron said he knew what he wanted to be when he grew up. He said he wanted to be one of those "war people" that fights battles. He wanted to lead the way and be up front.

Anna told him, "Uh, you will die. Who do you think gets shot first? The person up front...DUH." Cameron thought about this for a minute then said, "Well, I guess I don't know what I want to do when I grow up."

A Movie That Lives Up to the Hype

I went into "The Dark Knight" with fairly high expectations. I really enjoyed "Batman Begins" and how the whole franchise was basically rebooted. Christian Bale made a great Batman and helped put the George Clooney fiasco behind us.

The new one didn't disappoint. In fact, maybe it was even better than I expected. It's long, but it doesn't feel like it as it zips along. There was lots of action, but it didn't override the story, which presents some interesting moral dilemmas and clearly suggests real world parallels. And what a great cast. Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Maggie Gyllenhall, Aaron Eckart, and, of course, Heath Ledger.

His last performance has certainly gotten a lot of the hype, and I gotta hand it to him, he pulled it off. I haven't seen much of Ledger's movies. He was in "A Knight's Tale" and "The Patriot." But neither of those movies would remotely suggest he was up to this role. Sad that a role that would have launched him into the stratosphere of Hollywood turned out to be his last. I wouldn't have guessed it would be very easy to forget Jack Nicholson's take on the Joker in the Michael Keaton version, but Ledger made you do just that, although his performance is a much darker version of the Joker. There's already talk of him winning a supporting actor Oscar posthumously, and I don't see why not.

Sports Story of the Year? I Hope.

Wow, this Dara Torres is amazing. 41 years old and she qualifies for the Olympics two years after having a baby. She qualified by beating out other women half her age. I read that she has been undergoing voluntary drug testing very often, to dispel any rumors that at that age, she must be taking something.

It's a great story, and I hope she medals in Beijing and that she is clean. We don't need another Marion Jones, Floyd Landis, etc. giving multiple denials only to recant when the evidence proves otherwise. This will be one story to watch in what promises to be an exciting Olympics (if one can wade through all the gymnastics coverage and individual profiles of each gymnast and their pets).

It's the Principle

I was running really low on gas this morning. There's a gas station on the edge of town that I've never stopped at before, so I pulled in since the needle was deep into the red zone and touching the "e."

However, upon pulling in, I notice to my horror that I would have to go inside and pay first before pumping the gas. There was no pay at the pump. This is 2008 and there are still gas stations that haven't joined the rest of humanity in this endeavor.

So, I got back in my car and went up the road a little further, not totally convinced how much further I could really go. But I made it and filled up . . . using the comfort of my debit card and not having to go inside and use the long forgotten phrase, "give me $$ on pump 4."

Wesley for VP? Probably not.

I'm thinking that Wesley Clark is no longer on any short list for Obama's VP. His comments on McCain probably did him in. He said that being in that fighter plane and being shot down does not qualify one to be president. Now, actually, that is true. Being a prisoner for 5+ years doesn't qualify you either. Nor does refusing early release so you don't leave any other fellow Americans behind. None of that indeed is an automatic qualifier to be president.

But, do you think Obama wants Clark out there saying that stuff? Nope. I don't think Clark will be welcome campaigning on behalf of Obama anymore. In fact, I'm sure at some point Obama will say, "That is not the Wesley Clark I knew."

A Long Week (but worth it)

This past week, our church hosted Vacation Bible School. We're a church with an average of about 60, so this is a rather large undertaking and basically required everyone to get involved. For the most part, everyone was involved one way or another.

Throughout the week, we had 30 kids, the best part being that 15 of those were unchurched kids from the community. The Bible school itself was a rather traditional program, thrown together by a lot of people not entirely experienced in this area. Each night we had separate sessions for crafts, music, games and Bible stories. The kids had a blast. We ended on Thursday night with a carnival in our parking lot, in which all the parents were also invited. This gave all of us and our pastor a great opportunity to connect with the parents. We even had some people just stop by to see what all was happening (the live pony rides may have had something to do with it).

It was a tiring week, and we are all glad it's done. But we made some great connections in the community. Will we see any of these kids again until next summer? Maybe, maybe not. But once that seed is planted, you never know.

When Hillary Came to South Bend (the rest of the story)

Back in April, during her "Last Gasp Tour" for the presidency, I went to see Hillary Clinton when she came to town. I was able to get up real close and at the end, get her autograph as she was making her way out. There was more to how I was able to get real close, and as Paul Harvey would have said, " . . .and now, the rest of the story."

While I stood in line for Hillary, some of her campaign workers were making their way down the line and asking for volunteers to step out of line and have a chance for a "red ticket." This red ticket would get you on the field and closer to Hillary, instead of just being in the stands (but no, it wouldn't get me in to see Willie Wonka).

But to get a red ticket, you had to stand there with a small group of Hillary supporters and yell out "HILLARY" while the other group yelled out "CLINTON" and back and forth. After watching a group of people do this, I'm thinking, no way, not gonna happen. So, the volunteers continued their way down the line.

Meanwhile, I kept waiting for the gates to open. A bit later, the campaign volunteers came back again asking for more people wanting a chance to get on the field. So this time, I'm thinking, what the heck, when will I ever get this chance again? So, I walk over with a group to get my coveted red ticket.

Here then, is the scenario: Rick Dennie, lifelong Republican, is standing with a group of Democrats yelling out the name of one of the more despised people to ever cross paths with the GOP. Just so I could get a closer look at this person with a last name that drives conservatives crazy.

It's just about now that mom and dad are probably rewriting their will.

College World Series

I hadn't exactly been paying attention to this event, but headlines today caught my eye. The finals are between two bulldogs. Those from the University of Georgia and those from Fresno State University. The Fresno State team has been unranked all year long and beat the #2 team in the nation, North Carolina. The pitcher that sealed the win to get into the series was a transfer student from the College of the Sequoias, located in Visalia, California. When I'm reading this stuff, it's like, hey, I know where that's at!

I may have to check in on these bulldogs and see how they do.