hello goodbye hello goodbye

(via Chris Willis - protest at Augusta) Look at the guy with the orange sign.

For no other reason, it's fun to jack with MTV. Of course for some of you, every week is "turn off your tv" week. When I was a kid, my parents gave me a book called "Things to do besides watching TV." It was an incredible (life changing?) book during my childhood.

Students say the funniest things:
"Mr. Hopkins, if you keep drinking Cokes your uterus will fall out!"

"If you're eighty years old with a history of respiratory problems, I wouldn't go around licking door handles."
-- Stephen Colbert on Sars in Toronto

From an actual instant messenger conversation this morning:

-OH NO! i washed my car yesterday afternoon, and looking out the window, i see that a bird left a present on the hood!
-It happens. It's good to keep a rag and a spray bottle in the trunk of your car for such occasions.
-*pulls out pellet gun* lets see if that bird tries that again! *cocks pellet gun* *opens window*
-There's always more birds.
-there's always more pellets
-Sounds like U.S. foreign policy...

Come celebrate MY 26th BIRTHDAY!!! on Thursday, May 1st ~ 7pm
@ Cosmo's ~ 1212 Skillman (corner of Live Oak and Skillman) in Dallas
"My best year ever!"

It will be one heck of a gathering: the Legion of Doom, Melissa's photo friends, Wim's allies, and THE FRENCH!
We will pack the place!

Before I completely lose my mind... I would like to post this...

"I did my best, it wasn't much
I couldn't feel, so I tried to touch
I've told the truth, I didn't come to fool you
And even though
It all went wrong
I'll stand before the Lord of Song
With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah"

-Leonard Cohen

(yes, still thinking...)

Melissa posted the Jingleheimer Junction on her blog-- my all-time favorite SNL skit.
"F is for friendship!"
"I'm not sure this is such a good idea."

By the way, still thinking... I'll be back soon.

One year ago today, I posted my first blog.

"The great writers of this generation will be the ones who can say a lot with very few words-- magnified language, like poetry. As Marshall McLuhan suggested, "The blurb will replace the book." Writers will become blurb-experts. Like Jesus, teaching will be done with aphorisms." +

Maybe to honor this second year of blogging, I need a hip new template?

Some Topics on the Youth Specialties Messageboards:
Christian Music Videos? Where can I find them/buy them?
Games -who has got the best
Ordering T-Shirts -Cheap, fast, and just a few please
Locked Doors -Church doors - open or locked?
Youth Group Names -A list of names for youth groups

I think I'm going to be sick.
What a waste.
(comments by Mark Riddle)

Found this photo (via jonny baker):



I imagine an older brother
put the boy up to this.

Does the United States Need the UN? ~ Timothy E. Wirth ~ Thursday, April 10, 2003 ~ The Globalist

Clearly, there will be a tremendous amount to do in the aftermath of the war. We will need to mend relations with much of the world. But the United States will also have to stop declaring the United Nations irrelevant. Otherwise, it is incoherent to subsequently call on the organization’s institutional capabilities to help with post-conflict relief, reconstruction and governance in Iraq.

From Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mohandas Gandhi (taken from introduction to 411)-

"While the world has suffered acts of terrorism for many decades, we discovered the evils of terrorism on September 11, 2001. And now we are so incensed by this act of arrogance that we are willing to destroy all those who oppose us. Grandfather said anger is like electricity-- very useful if treated with respect, but very devastating when abused. Imagine if the rest of the world reacted to terrorism the way we have; this world would have been destroyed centuries ago.

"How then should we deal with terrorism? After September 11, we should have done some honest soul-searching to find out why so many people in the world hate us so much. Waging a war on terrorism and threatening the world with dire consequences if they did not support us is a reaction that is fraught with arrogance and designed to make more enemies than friends. We may not care what the world thinks right now but imagine what life would be like if we were far too scared to travel. Then try to imagine where we would be if half the world was destroyed.

"Life is not simply about how many millions of dollars one has accumulated or how rich a nation is. It is about friends and relations. Are we loved by people or despised? Do we have true friends or only those who want to bleed us? Does the world respect us for the love, respect and compassion that we project or because we are a super power with the capacity to blow the earth to pieces? The difference between the two is obvious. No one likes a bully."

Being a teacher sometimes means...
doing stuff the students do not want to do, and they must do it, they look at you with such hate in their hearts, they want to break you with their stare of righteous indignation, and you know you cannot break, you must not break, because you know it's the best thing for them. And sometimes, it hurts so bad to see them hate you. But you're not always going to be liked, you're not always going to be their friend. But you care for them, and so you teach.

The official Christian news source for the LEGION OF DOOM.
www.larknews.com

LOCAL: Worship leader closes eyes, forgets where he is

SAN ANTONIO — Jim Taylor, 35, the worship leader at Full Gospel Tabernacle closed his eyes during worship Sunday morning and forgot where he was. The result, witnesses say, was twenty minutes of same-chord strumming that left the audience baffled.
"He kind of faded out, but he had this big smile on his face, so we thought he was enjoying the presence of the Lord," said one witness. "I never dreamed he'd forget where he was."
Taylor said afterward that during the worship service he began to think he was in his bedroom playing his guitar.
"During the week I sit on my bed and play guitar for hours," he says. "I'm just glad I opened my eyes after twenty minutes and realized I was in church, and not in my bedroom."
Some people began to leave after ten minutes. Even more left after Jim transitioned from playing one chord to jamming on the Beatles' "Day Tripper," during which he sang alternately harmony and melody. His eyes were still closed at that point.
"I left him alone," said the senior pastor when asked why he didn't intervene. "I hire people and trust them to do their job. I'm surprised he forgot where he was, but some people were blessed by it."

This upcoming weekend is DANIEL MILLER weekend. He's coming to Dallas to visit. Woo-hoo!

Dan may be too hard on himself, but it sure is fun to read! (Sorry.)
I followed all the ideas. More importantly, there were ideas to follow. I enjoyed it. And it's been awhile since I've heard someone intelligent speak to a congregation.
Of course, leading the Legion of Doom in the wave was fun.

Everybody really is picking on me!
Quote from one of my students today: "Mr. Hopkins, you are a dork!"

Axis of Other Evil Wannabes
by John Cleese

Bitter after being snubbed for membership in the "Axis of Evil", Libya, China and Syria today announced that they had formed the "Axis of Just as Evil", which they said would be more evil than that stupid Iran-Iraq-North Korea axis President Bush warned of in his State of the Union address. Axis of Evil members, however, immediately dismissed the new Axis as having, for starters, a really dumb name. "Right. They are just as evil.. . in their dreams!" declared North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. "Everybody knows we're the best evils . . . best at being evil ...we're the best." Diplomats from Syria denied they were jealous over being excluded, although they conceded they did ask if they could join the Axis of Evil. "They told us it was full," said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. "An axis can't have more than three countries", explained Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. "This is not my rule, it's tradition. In World War II you had Germany, Italy, and Japan in the evil Axis. So, you can only have three, and a secret handshake. Ours is wickedly cool." International reaction to Bush's Axis of Evil declaration was swift, as within minutes, France surrendered.

Elsewhere, peer-conscious nations rushed to gain triumvirate status in what has become a game of geopolitical chairs. Cuba, Sudan and Serbia announced that they had formed the "Axis of Somewhat Evil", forcing Somalia to join with Uganda and Myanmar in the "Axis of Occasionally Evil", while Bulgaria, Indonesia and Russia established the "Axis of Not So Much Evil Really as Just Generally Disagreeable".

With the criteria suddenly expanded and all the desirable clubs filling up, Sierra Leone, El Salvador, and Rwanda applied to be called the "Axis of Countries That Aren't the Worst But Certainly Won't Be Asked to Host the Olympics". Canada, Mexico and Australia formed the "Axis of Nations That Are Actually Quite Nice But Secretly Have Some Nasty Thoughts About America", while Scotland, New Zealand and Spain established the "Axis of Countries That Want Sheep to Wear Lipstick". "That's not a threat, really, just something we like to do", said Scottish First Minister Jack McConnell.

While wondering if the other nations of the world weren't perhaps making fun of him, a cautious Bush granted approval for most axises, although he rejected the establishment of the "Axis of Countries Whose Names End in 'Guay", accusing one of its members of filing a false application.

Officials from Paraguay, Uruguay, and Chadguay denied the charges. Israel, meanwhile, insisted it didn't want to join any Axis, but privately world leaders said that's only because no one asked them.

Come on, Chris! Give Wim a break. It's an honest mistake!

The school's fire alarm went off. We had to clear the building, but there was a lightning storm outside (!!!). Needless to say, all 3,000 students and 300+ faculty at this school (including me) are all soaking wet now. It was a false alarm. It was an WONDERFUL way to begin my Friday. Seriously. I thought it was great.

**UPDATE 4/4/03 ~ I was able to get access to the website**

Is anyone able to access english.aljazeera.net? I thought I lived in a country that believed in "free press." (thank you andre)

From keynote.com:
The second exception is Al Jazeera. Both the Arabic site, www.aljazeera.net/ and the new English-language site, english.aljazeera.net/ , are having massive problems and are almost inaccessible from browsers in the U.S. Over the past 24 hours, fewer than 1% of Keynote's attempts to reach english.aljazeera.net have succeeded, and only 5% of Keynote's attempts to reach www.aljazeera.net have succeeded.

...in the case of Al Jazeera's particular Web server system, can be explained by massive external loads as would be seen in a hacker attack. Attacks with these characteristics have been seen over the past few years at other Web sites.

From newsfactor.com:
Read here

"No normal hacker can do this. No way," says Salah Alseddiqi, Al-Jazeera's technology manager. "We can't prove it, but we think for sure it's a big organization."

:)

An even better holiday

On this day, thirty years ago the first cellular phone call was made. In honor of this moment in history, I am suggesting you should call your friends (or give me a call) from your cell phone and sing your favorite song on their voice mail. Summer has already given me a verse of the "Humpty Dance." If this catches on, we could make a holiday out of it, National Sing to Your Friend's Voice Mail Day. Here's my attempt at Ice Ice Baby:

audblog audio post

21st century pop culture is developing its own religious iconography.
The new transfiguration:



also see the new crucifixion

I have a friend who lives in France. He sent me an e-mail today:
"I couldn't imagine what it must be like living there... my prayers are with you and your wife."

guess who said it :: more legion of doom memories from wabi sabi

Let's say some global super power makes a mistake and we have GLOBAL THERMAL NUCLEAR WAR. (Hypothetically speaking, of course, just for discussion's sake.) The majority of all organic life on earth is destroyed. What's left? What will not die? Here's my list so far:

* Cockroaches (sort of a given)
* Small microbes and bacteria (another given)
* Deep sea plant and animal life (given)
* Basic plant forms like moss and algae (given)
* Fidel Castro
* The Irish
* Axxess Messageboard
* Monty Python movie references
* Twinkies

...more to follow...

The greatest use of the Internet might be for the purpose of forming global friendships. Summer's livejournal reminded me of this today. Over the past few years, I've made contacts with so many people from different countries. Imagine. We could change the world through an international network of friendships.

We've come into an era where every war is a civil war.