neil young's newest album is...

interesting.

it's an anti-war, anti-Bush album from one of the granddaddies of protest songs.

i need to listen to it again before giving in-depth comment.

right now, you're going to face JUSTICE!!

the season finale of 24 dropped tonight and it did several things for me:

made me angry - when president logan hit his wife in the airplane hangar, i wanted to kill him! we all knew something fishy was going on, but oooOOOoooooh - i hate that guy!!

confirmed my fears - 24 is going down the toilet. lise and i are in agreement: season one and season four - excellent. seasons two and three: ehhh. season five: bleah!

made me feel warm inside - when president logan finally got what was coming to him and the look on his wife's face? hahaa - PRICELESS!!! oh, that was a good shot!

intrigued me - sad as it is for me to admit: the ending of the show tonight makes me wonder where season six is gonna start from. china? will aaron pierce be the new jack bauer?

oh, and further proof of the shows impossible premises: chloe showed an emotion other than disdain for a fellow human being. c'mon - get real!

trees glorious trees

my great-aunt nettie died last weekend. she was in her 90's and had suffered from alzheimer's for a short while. she died peacefully in her sleep. she was a strong and powerful (forceful?) woman who was much ahead of her time when it came to independence. the stories my mom and my aunts and uncles tell of her are incredible.

i found out earlier this week that my aunt diane wanted to honor nettie by planting a tree. all in favor said "aye" and the motion was passed. the tree (a kwanzan cherry tree - same as the ones in washington DC) was purchased and then it was decided that it would be best to plant it in our yard. how this decision was made eludes me, but it's beside the point. i found out wednesday that we were having a tree-planting ceremony at our house on saturday. haha.

a small crowd of folks came over to plant the tree, take some pictures, write short memories of nettie on playing cards (her favorite pasttime), hang them on the tree, then go inside and talk and eat the night away. it was a good time.

one highlight of the night was sitting on the front porch with my uncle glen. we talked about a lot of things while we were out there. at some point glen looked at me and asked seriously:

"scott, did you hear that cincinnati is building a new zoo?"

"no," i said. "i've not heard anything about that."

"yeah, they're putting a fence up around kentucky."

and for the next five minutes, glen and i sat on the porch laughing our heads off.

well, the tree is really a nice tree. lise and i are looking forward to seeing it grow and getting to see these gorgeous double blossoms it's supposed to have in the spring!

by the way: the memories i have most of aunt nettie are when she and her husband, my uncle tony (from whom i got my middle name), would come into town in their green camper. i remember several times them driving from LA to cincinnati and staying with my grandma. all the stories and the card-playing and the cartoon characters she used to knit into signs for the back window of the camper - good memories.

someone shoot me

this article falls under the category of

OH MY GOD WHO THE HECK CARES?!?!?!?!?!?!?

random collection of mismatched thoughts

1. the new red hot chili peppers CD is most awesome. you ought to get it. it's got an eclectic blend of different styles and sounds. some folks think it sounds like their old stuff, some think it sounds more like their more recent stuff. i think it sounds GOOD. i'm gonna go out on a limb and say that this double CD is the best album they've put out yet. funky. polished. rock!

2. the da vinci code movie is out this week. the book is incredible - it's no literary masterpiece but it IS gripping and i read it in a day or two. i couldn't put it down. all the commotion from christians about this movie has really been amusing to me. i like what ron howard (the director) said today in the washington post: if you think it'll make you upset, DON'T SEE IT! good heavens, and can't we just enjoy a book or movie nowadays without making it some kind of crusade? certainly the "facts" presented by dan brown are not "facts" at all but can't we pull the stick out of our collective butt and just relax a little bit and watch a movie for entertainment? bigger things and people have attempted to shut down the message of Jesus (and intentionally at that) and have failed.

it's JUST A MOVIE!

3. tye von allmen

4. lise's been crazy busy with 2 online classes the past month. she's got 2 more weeks. it's been lonely in the evenings while she's online doing her work. i've tried. i've tried hard to sit and watch TV while she's busy. but i've gotta tell you: THERE'S NOTHING ON!!! and i keep meeting folks who pay money for cable tv and i just can't do it. there's nothing on the regular channels and what i've seen of cable over the years - i'd get stuck watching CNN or MTV all the stinkin time. what i'm able to watch is already too mind numbing for me. but this won't stop the local cable company from knocking on my door, offering free installation and 2 months free and then looking at me like i'm crazy when i refuse. has no one ever refused the cable company before? ought i get a bar code tattooed on my forehead so i can blend in better?

5. i ordered an invisible fence system for the backyard for dolby. it came a couple weeks ago. i guess i ought to go out and install it now?

6. tomorrow is jean day at school. pay $5 (for a good cause - i think tomorrows is cancer research) and you get to wear jeans to school. this deal makes me feel strangely warm inside. now, if it were shorts and birkenstocks day, i'd pay much more for the opportunity.

7. neil young has a new CD out. it's an anti-war-president-bush-is-a-dumbass album. the reviews from customers at amazon.com are somewhat amusing. one guy suggested that neil needs to give up the protest song writing and leave it to the younger crowd. haha. HAHAHAA. gosh. must be some 18 year old. isn't neil one of the granddaddies of protest song writing? at any rate, i've not bought it yet. stay tuned.

8. i'm tired. goodnight.

i suppose this is it.

i'm officially educated.

at least, that's what i'm told.

the graduation ceremony was long. looong. i was wishing for a pellet gun to start picking off some of the speakers after about an hour. isn't that horrible?

the truth is, everyone said it was a very nice ceremony and i didn't hear any complaining (haha - except from myself). i suppose the problem for me was that all the graduates were behind the speakers instead of in front of them on the floor. i couldn't hear a thing that was going on. being up on stage was kinda cool - getting to see everyone in the audience.

Lise's family came in from Toledo. Mom picked up my Uncle Glen and navigated the city without directions. Dad and Karen cut their month-long trek through the southwest short by a day or so to get back in time. my Grandma was there. my brother was there, too! zow! several good friends like adrienne, eric, ema, rick, denise - they came as well!

these pictures, in order:

jon weatherly and i - he's been a big supporter (not to mention a stellar professor and dean). i was trying to do rabbit ears on him but it ends up looking like horns. hmm. so many directions i could take that, but i won't.

dan dyke and i flashing the sign he flashed at me just before i got my diploma. unfortunately, with this being a family blog, i'm not at liberty to explain what it means. i can't say enough about dan as a professor and a friend. of all the good things i can say about my time at CCU, the relationships i've built with people there are probably at the top of the list. dan's been a phone call away many times. he's also in the top three of the finest professors at CCU.

me, my mom and my uncle glen. they're twins (no, i'm serious). they rock. they've been encouraging and supportive through the whole thing.

my dad, myself, and karen. they've been HUGE supporters over the last five years. they took us in for a year when we moved back from maryland, they've supported us financially for a spell when we were going through lise's cancer and lise's position had been cut at the school. they've been encouraging and always available. it's definitely true that if it wasn't for them (and especially karen), i wouldn't have graduated yesterday from CCU.

and most importantly: me and lise. she's the greatest wife on the planet. i can't imagine being anywhere else than with her, wherever that might be. over the last five years we've faced the biggest challenges of our sixteen year marriage with multiple life-altering illnesses, college for me, buying a house, etc. but we've come through it all in one piece. she is the coolest, most gorgeous and awesomely supportive chick i know. she is another huge reason i made it through the last five years of school.

it's been a wild five years getting to this point. feels good to be here.

i've still got it.

whatever "it" is.

last night i taught up at travis' youth group at his church in middletown.

and it was a strange feeling. it's the first time i've taught or hung out at a youth group since leaving impact back in december.

i rarely get nervous teaching or speaking. big groups, small groups, youth group, church, retreats, camp, etc. but last night i was concerned. i was thinking, "oh my gosh - what if i've lost "it" and i can't do this?"

and then i went in and taught and hung out with the group. and it rocked.

whatever it is - apparently it's still there. and i'm reminded that it's not about me - and that helps keep perspective.

calling all stalkers, lurkers and other shady characters

my graduation is this coming saturday - may 13th. 10am at cincinnati christian university's worship center / multipurpose building.

all friends and stalkers are invited.

a map can be found here.

i'll be looking for you.

come walken with me

some folks might feel it's too early to be thinking about the 2008 presidential election.

not me.

christopher walken is running and i'm jumping on his platform now!

you really ought to join me.

http://walken2008.com/

the 24 drinking, er, Oreo game

this season of 24 has hit a new low for lise and i. it's taken me beyond what is logically acceptable and pushed me out of the plane. there's NO WAY that the current situation could even remotely have played out this way.

now, please: don't tell me, "it's just a TV show" - like, DUH!! but come on! this whole president logan in conspiracy with the terrorists and his poor wife, aaron pierce lasting as long as he did, kim coming on the show again without doing something totally stupid, non-satellite phone reception in airplanes, bauer's knowledge of plane anatomy, and the list goes on and on and on and on....

the sad thing is: sutherland has signed on to do three more seasons! NOT a time for rejoicing.

now, all this might be driving me to drink, except that i'm not a big fan of drinking. i'm not a fan at all of drinking games. this drinking game, compiled from a couple different ones located online, has been modified to accomodate Oreo Cookies instead of drinks or shots. and of course, eating is something i do with great proficiency and skill. you ought to try it.

24 Oreo (drinking) Game

Every time...
Jack says "You have got to trust me", take 1 Oreo
-- if the emphasis is on "got", i.e. "You have GOT to trust me", take an extra Oreo
Jack says "DAMN it!" take 1 Oreo
Jack doesn't have time to explain, take 1 Oreo
Jack doesn't have time for this, take 1 Oreo
Jack says "You've got to do it", take 1 Oreo
-- if this is followed by "and you've got to do it now," take 2 more
Anyone points out something that is "against regulations", take 1 Oreo
Anyone has got to understand what is at stake here, take 1 Oreo
Anyone gets tortured, take 1 Oreo
-- if they aren't a terrorist or criminal, take another Oreo
a perimeter is set up, take 1 Oreo
-- if the perimeter is supposed to be held until someone arrives, take another Oreo
-- if the agents manning the perimeter are redeployed, take yet another Oreo
Jack takes a civilian hostage, take 1 Oreo
Jack steals a car, take 1 Oreo
Jack blows his own cover, take 1 Oreo
Jack dies, take 1 Oreo
-- if he's resuscitated, take another Oreo
- Every time somebody says "protocol," take 1 Oreo.
If Jack is able to infiltrate a building or perimeter:1 Oreo.
Take another Oreo if he makes it out alive.

*Special technical section* Every time...
Satellite coordinates are requested, take 1 Oreo
-- if they can't get the coordinates, take another
there's a problem with the database, take 1 Oreo
a file is in the wrong format, take 1 Oreo
something needs to be rerouted, take 1 Oreo
someone uses another person's computer, take 1 Oreo

1) The time is displayed. (1 Oreo)
2) There is an explosion, a bomb going off, or a plane/helicopter crash. (1 Oreo)
3) A tender or sentimental moment is interrupted by a ringing cell phone. (2 Oreos)
4) There is a major plot twist that renders a significant amount of work done by CTU/Jack Bauer useless. (1 Oreo)
5) Someone you thought was with the "good guys" is revealed to be in with the "bad guys." (2 Oreos)
6) Someone is held at gunpoint. (1 Oreo)
7) A defibrulator is used (1 Oreo).
If it actually saves the persons life. (2 Oreos)
8) Someone dies. (1 Oreo)
If they're a A CTU / Governmental executive or other major plot character. (2 Oreos)
If the person is killed just before they reveal important information, discover something crucial, or solve some puzzle. (3 Oreos)
9) Jack Bauer miraculously recovers from an injury or very narrowly escapes certain death. (2 Oreos)
10) Jack Bauer does something that is against protocol. (1 Oreo)
If he gets caught. (2 Oreos)
11) Jack Bauer asks to speak to the president. (1 Oreo)
If he says "It's important." (2 Oreos)
12) Jack Bauer yells, "Drop your weapon!" (1 Oreo)
13) Jack Bauer says, "You just have to trust me" (1 Oreo)
14) Jack Bauer interrogates someone. (1 Oreo)
If Jack gets pissed off and yells, throws things (or them) around. (2 Oreos)
If Jack kills them afterward. (3 Oreos)
15) Some computer whiz at CTU decodes, analyzes, decrypts, or hacks something. (1 Oreo)
16) Kim Bauer says or does something extraordinarily stupid. (gets kidnapped, lies to the authorites, etc) (2 Oreos)
17) An old character who you thought was dead, fired, or gone forever comes back to surprise everyone (2 Oreos).
18) Someone is being a complete asshole, or a total moron and is preventing CTU, Jack, or the "good guys" from saving the day. (1 Oreo)
If the above someone is Kim or Sherry (2 Oreos)
19) Sherry Palmer says "I'm doing this for you, David", or "This is for the good of your Presidency".(2 Oreos)
20) Someone on Palmer?s staff advises him not to do something. (1 Oreo)
If he does it anyway. (2 Oreos)
21) Someone on Palmer's staff does something sneaky behind his back. (1 Oreo)
If Palmer fires them for it. (2 Oreos)
22) Information is leaked to the press. (1 Oreo)
If the leak was unintentional (2 Oreos)
23) Someone without government clearance is told a secret they aren?t supposed to tell anyone. (1 Oreo)
They tell someone anyway. (2 Oreos)
If Someone is Kim. (3 Oreos)
24) Something bad happens three seconds before the episode ends. (Finish your Oreo)

woe to you who try to play the 24 oreo game while watching the show on DVD!