Aug 28

Call Me a Xhristian: On Mohler and Evolution

Author: More teens becoming 'fake' Christians

Aug 27

Martin Luther King III - Still striving for MLK's dream in the 21st century

RT @daveweigel: Idea for Democrats: Start calling tax cuts "billionaire bailouts." (Inspired by Phillips calling jobs bill "union bailout.")

Guest Voices: Mother Teresa at 100: Catholic irony and the Empire State Building squabble - On Faith at washingtonpost.com

Eugene Robinson - Even Beck can't mar King's legacy

Aug 25

A Glimpse at the Mind-Boggling Special Effects Behind HBO’s John Adams

Make and receive calls in Gmail: Google Voice lets you manage all your phone communications and seamlessly

Aug 24

Liberal Defenders of “Mosque” Get it Wrong

Water Before Meal Means Fewer Calories Consumed

home from Elliot's first football practice of the season

Here is video of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s full "I Have a Dream" speech from 47 years ago today on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom:

Amazing.

Contemporary commentary from Doug Hagler:

Not cynical fear-mongering, not knowingly spreading ignorance, not vapid scribblings on a chalk-board, not comparing everyone to a Nazi, not hypocrisy married to self-righteousness, not infantile partisan one-upmanship, not snarling jingoist xenophobia. Masterful rhetoric from a heart moved by love even for those who would destroy him, telling us who we are called to be.

Aug 21

On Political Debate and Deck Chair Arrangement

Swell Season Fans Witness Man Leap To Death

Today in Journalism

Aug 19

If only Obama had ...

Please forgive me for the actions of extremists I have never met who commit acts of violence that I have never advocated

Race Relations, Opinions of Islam: Is Obama Making Things Worse?

Midland County Fair

Aug 18

More U.S. teens are experiencing hearing loss - chicagotribune.com

Please forgive me for the actions of extremists I have never met who commit acts of violence that I have never advocated

FOXNews.com - Main Jailed Over Facebook "Friend" Requests

“Hallowed Ground”

Religious tolerance, then and now

Green machine: Fighting the efficiency fallacies

Aug 16

RT @ThePlumLineGS: Breaking: Reid comes out against “Ground Zero mosque.”: Read his statement here: http://bit.ly/a7s2Pn

Aug 15

Mosque gets all the press, but area near Ground Zero full of bars, porn, liquor stores, salons

Aug 14

impromptu geek meet-up as stranger in C.J. Barrymore’s lobby pronounces “A Game of Swords” that is lying on my lap “a good book!”

Aug 13

Exclusive: ‘Friday Night Lights’ return date set

Aug 12

RT @CitizenCohn: Bush Administration tied to radical Islamists http://bit.ly/9jCWO3

Comparing Democratic and Republican tax plans

Our Daughter Isn't a Selfish Brat; Your Son Just Hasn't Read "Atlas Shrugged" (8/12/10)

Aug 11

The benefits of a college degree in one graph

Aug 10

RT @TheSwellSeason: The Swell Season cover Neutral Milk Hotel’s “Two-Headed Boy”. http://tinyurl.com/32duths

Facebook Letting Users Unsubscribe From Feed Story Notifications

Aug 09

Creationism Lives

Confessions of a Tea Party Casualty

Aug 08

Finn jogged a mile without stopping today. He was quite excited and proud of his accomplishment.

On the drive home from CT we stopped off at the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA.  I’d been before during a previous trip to CT (~25 years ago?), but it seemed to have changed a lot from what I vaguely remembered.

As we were about to leave, there was an announcement that the basketball courts were being closed to set up for a “Legends of the Game” presentation by Felipe López.  I’d never heard of him, so we decided not to wait for the presentation.  However, as we were leaving, Lopez and his kid were just being dropped off by their driver, and we said “hi” as he walked into the building.  Our curiosity was piqued…so we ended up deciding to go back inside for the presentation.

Felipe was interviewed by one the Hall’s staff for ~ 20 minutes and then was slated to do some instruction for the kids.  The staff suggested some dribbling tips, but Felipe quickly turned it into a game of Knockout.  Finn was struggling to get the ball up to the rim on his turn, so Felipe picked him up to dunk (see the 0:25 mark in the video below).  Elliot had a decent shot of actually winning Knockout, but we convinced him to drop out and get in the autograph line when it started to form.  As the boys were posing with Felipe for a photo after the autographs, Felipe joked: “Do you know the difference between these two [pointing to Finn and Elliot]? This one can dunk [pointing to Finn]!”  We all got a chuckle out of that one.  Elliot had caught the attention of the Hall staff member too who complimented him on his shooting skills and asked if he played much.  Lisa thanked Felipe for giving a shout-out to his school teachers during the presentation.

Felipe (originally from the Dominican Republic) was a big high school and college star (see a summary of honors and accomplishments on the autograph paper below) but not so much in the NBA.  He played in NYC and the Big East (instead of one of the college conferences that get more of my attention: ACC and SEC), so maybe that explains why I’d never heard of him (or maybe those mid- to late-90’s years were ones where I paid less attention to basketball).  Anywho, he ended up being a charming guy and quite interesting to hear speak…so we were very glad to have stayed around to see/hear him.  Here are photos of the boys with Felipe and of the autograph, some video of Knockout, and a few more photos:

A few more pictures:

The boys know who Larry Bird and Magic Johnson because we’ve watched part of a documentary about them on HBO.