+ Work's been easy as of late. Easy to the point that I think I'm getting spoiled. After I finish my assignment for Monday, I will have gone the entire month of April without working a single day where a) I and I alone was in charge of b) one classroom full of students for c) an entire day. The next day all three of these conditions are satisfied by one assignment I may very well crumble to the floor in a moment of overwhelmedness and assume the fetal position.
+ On Tuesday, I contacted the University of Denver/Iliff School of Theology to confirm officially that I will be joining their program in the fall. Now I need to start making arrangements for where in the Denver area I'm going to live. The phone conversation I had with an admissions rep on Tuesday made me aware of the fact that Iliff has its own equivalent to Turner Village- the apartment complex for seminary students at Emory (which, sadly, is about to be torn down [cue single tear]).
I'm thinking I'll adopt the strategy that worked out for me in Atlanta- be placed with a roommate in a student apartment for the first year and find superior living arrangments for the subsequent years once I make new friends and better acquaint myself with other possible living situations. I wonder if the roommate I may have in the campus apartment will clear his throat or giggle his balls as often as the one I had in Atlanta. (My Candler friends had to know that joke was coming.)
+I'm absolutely loving my new stereo. This mini-HiFi system is far and away the best quality sound system I've ever owned.
Jesus once said to his disciples, "Behold, I make all things new." What I think he meant by that was not that he was regenerating everything and everyone around him (not at that point in history anyway) but rather that the revelation he ushered in causes its recipients to see the already existing world in a new, and ostensibly improved, way.
To draw a secular parallel on a more mundane level, my stereo has made all the music I own seem new. For the last two weeks, I've been rediscovering the beauty and craftsmanship present with scores of albums covering numerous genres and styles. This situation became especially wonderful after I bought the cable necessary to hook my laptop up to my stereo. Now I can conveniently access any song from 9.5 days worth of music and play it through some top notch speakers. Sounding especially good on my system are the albums
Chrome by Catherine Wheel, Thirteenth Step by A Perfect Circle, and The Proposition soundtrack I recently purchased.
+ One of the staff writers for the UFC's webpage wrote an impressively concise yet comprehensive meditation on who the greatest UFC fighter of all time may be. It's definitely worth a read.
http://www.ufc.com/index.cfm?fa=news.detail&gid=5628
+ Perhaps this last bit will be T.M.I. for some of you but the idea amuses me too much not to mention:
On Sunday, April 29th (which is tomorrow), it will have been 12 months since the last day I had any "intimate time" with a ladyfriend. That fact inspires me to ask the question...After a full calendar year of such inactivy, will I automatically revert back to being asexual?
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Upsets Galore! (a short recap)
Three high profile UFC events, three major upsets. Two champions lost their titles and the lofty expectations for one high profile free agent were violently shattered.
Even those of you who simply skim my lengthy reports on the increasingly popular sport of Mixed Martial Arts are likely to have noticed a common theme recurring. And that theme, my friends, is the major upset. Because MMA is such a multi-faceted sport, victory can come to a competitor in any number of ways and no one competitor can be perfectly trained in all the many disciplines this hybrid sport encompasses. Thus even the fighter who seems most well-rounded, most invincible can be defeated by a far less reputed fighter if the latter man (or woman) happens to be more "on" in just one area of the game than he (or she) is that night.
But these most recent underdogs have been defying the odds in such peculiar and astounding ways that the term "unexpected" is growing bulbously pregnant with new meaning. The fact each upset has come in such rapid succession makes them all the more flabbergasting.
Here's a succinct report of these upsets and why they were especially astounding:
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UFC 68: 43 year-old Randy Couture comes out of retirement to challenge UFC Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia who, on paper, is a nightmare matchup for Couture. Sylvia is physically huge, possesses a good sprawl, and is a potent striker. Even many of Randy's most ardent supporters expect that Sylvia will use his size and skill to neutralize Couture's potent wrestling attack and then brutally KO their hero.
RESULT: Couture outstrikes, outmuscles, and altogether dominates his younger foe on the way to capturing his third heavyweight title.
UFC 69: Reality show winner Matt Serra receives a title shot in the 170-lb division against the extremely athletic and well-rounded champion George St. Pierre. He is smaller, older, and boasts a much less impressive resume than the champ. Objective critics generously concede that Serra has a respectable chance of submitting St. Pierre if the challenger can take the fight to the floor. Most likely, however, Matt Serra will die in battle.
RESULT: Serra wins the UFC Welterweight Championship belt by battering St. Pierre with heavy punches on the feet, and secures a technical knockout in the opening round by continuing to pummel his dazed opponent on the ground until the referee pushes him away.
UFC 70: In a Number One Contender's match, prized acquisition Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic faces Gabriel Gonzage, the winner getting a shot at newly crowned heavyweight kingpin Randy Couture. Cro Cop enters the UFC as the #2-ranked heavyweight in the entire sport. Countless world-class fighters have been put to sleep by his powerful punches and vicious high kicks. Little is known about Gonzaga but he is mostly regarded as a token stepping stone for Mirko as the Croation marches his way toward UFC gold. Much as they said about Serra, honest insiders and spectators concede that Gonzaga might actualize his slim chances for success by utilizing his superior ground skills. Unfortunately for him, Mirko Cro Cop has aruably the greatest takedown defense in all of MMA.
RESULT: Gonzaga knocks Cro Cop out with a right high kick at the end of the first round. Mirko is not simply given a dose of his own medicine. Gonzaga's single stirke is so brutal that the unconscious Cro Cop is folded over on himself.
It's still to early to identify what the fallout will be from all this upheaval. Whatever the final consequences, what is clear is that the UFC's plans for the rest of the year are severely wrecked. Hardcore and casual fans alike are befuddled by the colossal unpredictability of MMA. To all this I say: What a beautiful sport!
More in-depth personal commentary shall follow once I've had more time to digest all of these crazy events. The purpose of this post was simply to catch all interested parties up to speed.
Even those of you who simply skim my lengthy reports on the increasingly popular sport of Mixed Martial Arts are likely to have noticed a common theme recurring. And that theme, my friends, is the major upset. Because MMA is such a multi-faceted sport, victory can come to a competitor in any number of ways and no one competitor can be perfectly trained in all the many disciplines this hybrid sport encompasses. Thus even the fighter who seems most well-rounded, most invincible can be defeated by a far less reputed fighter if the latter man (or woman) happens to be more "on" in just one area of the game than he (or she) is that night.
But these most recent underdogs have been defying the odds in such peculiar and astounding ways that the term "unexpected" is growing bulbously pregnant with new meaning. The fact each upset has come in such rapid succession makes them all the more flabbergasting.
Here's a succinct report of these upsets and why they were especially astounding:
UFC 68: 43 year-old Randy Couture comes out of retirement to challenge UFC Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia who, on paper, is a nightmare matchup for Couture. Sylvia is physically huge, possesses a good sprawl, and is a potent striker. Even many of Randy's most ardent supporters expect that Sylvia will use his size and skill to neutralize Couture's potent wrestling attack and then brutally KO their hero.
RESULT: Couture outstrikes, outmuscles, and altogether dominates his younger foe on the way to capturing his third heavyweight title.
UFC 69: Reality show winner Matt Serra receives a title shot in the 170-lb division against the extremely athletic and well-rounded champion George St. Pierre. He is smaller, older, and boasts a much less impressive resume than the champ. Objective critics generously concede that Serra has a respectable chance of submitting St. Pierre if the challenger can take the fight to the floor. Most likely, however, Matt Serra will die in battle.
RESULT: Serra wins the UFC Welterweight Championship belt by battering St. Pierre with heavy punches on the feet, and secures a technical knockout in the opening round by continuing to pummel his dazed opponent on the ground until the referee pushes him away.
UFC 70: In a Number One Contender's match, prized acquisition Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic faces Gabriel Gonzage, the winner getting a shot at newly crowned heavyweight kingpin Randy Couture. Cro Cop enters the UFC as the #2-ranked heavyweight in the entire sport. Countless world-class fighters have been put to sleep by his powerful punches and vicious high kicks. Little is known about Gonzaga but he is mostly regarded as a token stepping stone for Mirko as the Croation marches his way toward UFC gold. Much as they said about Serra, honest insiders and spectators concede that Gonzaga might actualize his slim chances for success by utilizing his superior ground skills. Unfortunately for him, Mirko Cro Cop has aruably the greatest takedown defense in all of MMA.
RESULT: Gonzaga knocks Cro Cop out with a right high kick at the end of the first round. Mirko is not simply given a dose of his own medicine. Gonzaga's single stirke is so brutal that the unconscious Cro Cop is folded over on himself.
It's still to early to identify what the fallout will be from all this upheaval. Whatever the final consequences, what is clear is that the UFC's plans for the rest of the year are severely wrecked. Hardcore and casual fans alike are befuddled by the colossal unpredictability of MMA. To all this I say: What a beautiful sport!
More in-depth personal commentary shall follow once I've had more time to digest all of these crazy events. The purpose of this post was simply to catch all interested parties up to speed.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Apathy and Indecision
That tag team makes for an increasingly dormant corner of the blogosphere. For those of you who make a habit of checking in on the Kingdom of the Madness, I apologize for my recent lack of material. I'm trying to put at least one worthwhile thing up a week. Perchance I should live up to a more admirable goal...say there posts a week.
Until just recently, I was far from alone in my infrequent posting. If you had been tracing the links from my blog, you would have seen that the friends who command those other pages were at least equally reserved in their offerings. Now I don't know if these folks were also suffering from the twin maladies I named above or if their finest efforts are going into MySpace and Facebook. Whatever the causes, the effect had been a measley, collective level of creative output from myself and my blogging compatriots.
Now I use the verb phrase "had been" because both Erin (author of Resonance) and Dana (auther of Authenticity) have been posting some high quality and significant thoughts the past several days. So if you've come here looking for meaningful human exchange, I recommend you direct your attentions toward their more attention-worthy pages.
As for what I've been doing as of late, here's a quick laundry list of noteworthy things that I've done or experienced in the past couple of weeks:
1) I bought a $200 dollar home stereo system today. I don't usually make entertainment purchases over twenty bucks so it's out of character for me to splurge like this. It's a purchase I'd been meaning to make for (no joke) almost 5 years now. Thank the Lord for roommates with great audio set-ups. :)
2) This self-indulgant spending was made possible by my car insurance company's payback program. Since I've been with them for five years and never made a single claim, they've generously decided to give me half my first year's payments back. Thus they cut me a check for $1,018.
3) Last week, I filled in for a fourth grade teacher whose student made a particularly unwise purchase. She was showing off a leprechan coin she acquired from her brother at recess. However, even a superficial inspection of the coin revealed that it was, in fact, a game token from Chuck E. Cheese. (It's got his damn picture on it for Pete's sake.) The student informed me that she had bought it off her brother for $5. Upon hearing this fact, my exact words to her were, "You got hosed." I then playfully rubbed salt in her wounds by explaining that here "leprechan coin" was only worth 25 cents at Chuck E. Cheese and worth diddly-poo anywhere else.
4) The Joint Ph.D. Program at the University of Denver/Iliff School of Theology sent me a letter which stated that, should I accept their invitation for admission, 100% of my tuition would be waved for the first year. It looks like the trajectory of my future in now pointed decidedly in the direction of the Rocky Mountains.
5) I subbed in a preschool classroom today. It was a lot of fun. I'll be back in that room Thursday and Friday as well. It's gonna be a good week, bitches.
6) I've made a few cosmetic alterations to the appearance and content of my blog. I encourage you to browse.
Until just recently, I was far from alone in my infrequent posting. If you had been tracing the links from my blog, you would have seen that the friends who command those other pages were at least equally reserved in their offerings. Now I don't know if these folks were also suffering from the twin maladies I named above or if their finest efforts are going into MySpace and Facebook. Whatever the causes, the effect had been a measley, collective level of creative output from myself and my blogging compatriots.
Now I use the verb phrase "had been" because both Erin (author of Resonance) and Dana (auther of Authenticity) have been posting some high quality and significant thoughts the past several days. So if you've come here looking for meaningful human exchange, I recommend you direct your attentions toward their more attention-worthy pages.
As for what I've been doing as of late, here's a quick laundry list of noteworthy things that I've done or experienced in the past couple of weeks:
1) I bought a $200 dollar home stereo system today. I don't usually make entertainment purchases over twenty bucks so it's out of character for me to splurge like this. It's a purchase I'd been meaning to make for (no joke) almost 5 years now. Thank the Lord for roommates with great audio set-ups. :)
2) This self-indulgant spending was made possible by my car insurance company's payback program. Since I've been with them for five years and never made a single claim, they've generously decided to give me half my first year's payments back. Thus they cut me a check for $1,018.
3) Last week, I filled in for a fourth grade teacher whose student made a particularly unwise purchase. She was showing off a leprechan coin she acquired from her brother at recess. However, even a superficial inspection of the coin revealed that it was, in fact, a game token from Chuck E. Cheese. (It's got his damn picture on it for Pete's sake.) The student informed me that she had bought it off her brother for $5. Upon hearing this fact, my exact words to her were, "You got hosed." I then playfully rubbed salt in her wounds by explaining that here "leprechan coin" was only worth 25 cents at Chuck E. Cheese and worth diddly-poo anywhere else.
4) The Joint Ph.D. Program at the University of Denver/Iliff School of Theology sent me a letter which stated that, should I accept their invitation for admission, 100% of my tuition would be waved for the first year. It looks like the trajectory of my future in now pointed decidedly in the direction of the Rocky Mountains.
5) I subbed in a preschool classroom today. It was a lot of fun. I'll be back in that room Thursday and Friday as well. It's gonna be a good week, bitches.
6) I've made a few cosmetic alterations to the appearance and content of my blog. I encourage you to browse.
Monday, April 09, 2007
Crazy Happenings in MMA
1) Saturday night at UFC 59, Georges St. Pierre took to the Octogon for his first title defense. Riding a 5 fight win streak over top shelf competition, with the fifth victory being a demolition of long-time champ Matt Hughes, Georges put his welterweight title on the line against Matt Serra. Georges came into this match up as the overwhelming favorite. After handling established veterans like Hughes, Frank Trigg, and Sean Sherk, fans began speculating whether or not St. Pierre might be the best pound-for-pound mixed martial artist on the planet.
Serra, on the other hand, secured his title shot by winning the UFC's reality show The Ultimate Fighter 4: The Comeback. Serra was brought onto the show because he, like the other contestants, had a mediocre UFC record and had never established a championship caliber career. Already in his later 30's, Serra had his best performances fighting in the 155-lb lightweight class rather than in the 170-lb class over which St. Pierre was king. Serra hadn't even won his division on The Comeback convincingly, having only eeked out an unconvincing split decision over Indy's own Chris Lytle.
Literally no one in the MMA press was picking picking Serra to take the gold away from the younger, more athletic, and much larger champion. The fact that Serra was even fighting for a title was considered by many (including me) to be an unfortunate consequence of the UFC's decision to promise title shots to a reality show's contestants. The welterweight division is the deepest in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and Saturday night's main event was a largely an unwelcome diversion from more interesting championship possibilities, such as a trilogy making rematch with Matt Hughes. Even though I think Serra is a likeable guy, I was personally rooting for GSP to squash his challenger as quickly as possible so that the UFC would do everything in its power to prevent such a mismatch of a title fight from ever happening again.
The final result? MATT SERRA IS THE NEW UFC WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPION OF THE WORLD! Not only did Serra win, he won by Technical Knock Out in the first freaking round.
It still blows my mind that a prototypical warrior like St. Pierre got put down so easily and, on top of it, lost his title without one successful defense. The silver lining here for me is that my boy Hughes is next in line for a title shot. I'm praying that Matt Serra has already used up all the lighting he had in his bottle. If he indeed has, Hughes will become only the second 3-time champion in UFC history (a record just set by Randy Couture last month).
2) About 30 minutes ago, I saw a 3-second clip of Serra knocking down St. Pierre on Sports Center's "Ultimate Highlight Reel" right alongside clips of the NBA, the PGA, and MLB. I think we can now officially say that the UFC has infiltrated the mainstream. If Jim Lampley saw this same program, he probably shit himself in a moment of surprise and disgust. Let's just hope he didn't get so mad he hit another woman.
3) Tito Ortiz tried to start some crap at ringside with his next opponent Rashad Evans. Evans is currently undefeated and one of the UFC's top rising talents. Here's a video and some commentary about the altercation.
http://www.sherdog.net/forums/showthread.php?threadid=547170
Serra, on the other hand, secured his title shot by winning the UFC's reality show The Ultimate Fighter 4: The Comeback. Serra was brought onto the show because he, like the other contestants, had a mediocre UFC record and had never established a championship caliber career. Already in his later 30's, Serra had his best performances fighting in the 155-lb lightweight class rather than in the 170-lb class over which St. Pierre was king. Serra hadn't even won his division on The Comeback convincingly, having only eeked out an unconvincing split decision over Indy's own Chris Lytle.
Literally no one in the MMA press was picking picking Serra to take the gold away from the younger, more athletic, and much larger champion. The fact that Serra was even fighting for a title was considered by many (including me) to be an unfortunate consequence of the UFC's decision to promise title shots to a reality show's contestants. The welterweight division is the deepest in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and Saturday night's main event was a largely an unwelcome diversion from more interesting championship possibilities, such as a trilogy making rematch with Matt Hughes. Even though I think Serra is a likeable guy, I was personally rooting for GSP to squash his challenger as quickly as possible so that the UFC would do everything in its power to prevent such a mismatch of a title fight from ever happening again.
The final result? MATT SERRA IS THE NEW UFC WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPION OF THE WORLD! Not only did Serra win, he won by Technical Knock Out in the first freaking round.
It still blows my mind that a prototypical warrior like St. Pierre got put down so easily and, on top of it, lost his title without one successful defense. The silver lining here for me is that my boy Hughes is next in line for a title shot. I'm praying that Matt Serra has already used up all the lighting he had in his bottle. If he indeed has, Hughes will become only the second 3-time champion in UFC history (a record just set by Randy Couture last month).
2) About 30 minutes ago, I saw a 3-second clip of Serra knocking down St. Pierre on Sports Center's "Ultimate Highlight Reel" right alongside clips of the NBA, the PGA, and MLB. I think we can now officially say that the UFC has infiltrated the mainstream. If Jim Lampley saw this same program, he probably shit himself in a moment of surprise and disgust. Let's just hope he didn't get so mad he hit another woman.
3) Tito Ortiz tried to start some crap at ringside with his next opponent Rashad Evans. Evans is currently undefeated and one of the UFC's top rising talents. Here's a video and some commentary about the altercation.
http://www.sherdog.net/forums/showthread.php?threadid=547170
Friday, April 06, 2007
I'm on Break
Hey Friends,
I apologize for the recent silence. Since Saturday morning, I've been traveling and engaging in activities I deem worthy of doing on Spring Break.
Last weekend was a college reunion of sorts as Dave Winters and I traveled down to Lexington, KY to visit Mr. and Mrs. Doost. Unfortunatley, my plans to visit Erin Miller in western Kentucky fell through, but the silver lining in being home a couple days earlier than planned was that I was in town to help Nick "Mr. T" Tranbarger celebrate his 26th birthday.
After laying low at home for half a day, I made the relatively short jaunt down to the town of my birth to visit my grandparents and my middle brother Jarrod, as well as other extended family. Returning from Bloomington on Thursday afternoon, I once again met up with the Tranbarger clan to watch a free UFC card on TV. My high school chum Emily Reichart and her family were also present for the fights, a chili dinner, and plenty of fun with children two and under.
Today was a day for cinephilia. This afternoon I attended a 12:30 showing of the glorious Grindhouse double feature (which I give a combined four thumbs up), and this evening I will watch Babel at home with Susan.
My plans for tomorrow are thus far sparse and simplistic: laundry during the day, UFC 69 at night. In an interesting turn of events, my friends and I will not be ordering this particular UFC Pay-Per-View but opting to watch it a local watering hole instead. After making a few calls to inquire which establishments planned to carry it, it look like Nick and I will be completing our social hat trick for the week by heading to Hooters.
[Now what really makes this turn of events interesting to me is that this will be the first time I will have patronized a Hooters in my homestate. I've been to Hooters in Georgia (to see UFCs 58 and 59), North Carolina (UFC 60), and Kentucky (an afternoon pit stop for wings on the way to Dustin's last July), but never a local chapter.]
The last day of my break, Sunday, is of course Easter. This day will hold many reasons for celebration. First, there's the fact of Jesus Christ's resurrection...you know, that event that broke death's stranglehold over fallen humanity. Second, my immediate family shall partake of pizza from Union Jack's, which is a pricey yet scrumptuous delicacy. And, finally, Sunday morning marks the end of Lent and hence all my Lenten commitments to abstain from ice cream, chocolate, cookies, and various restaurant chains. I'm looking forward to having some ice cream most of all.
So that's what I've been up to. I hope Holy Week has been enjoyable for all of you as well.
I apologize for the recent silence. Since Saturday morning, I've been traveling and engaging in activities I deem worthy of doing on Spring Break.
Last weekend was a college reunion of sorts as Dave Winters and I traveled down to Lexington, KY to visit Mr. and Mrs. Doost. Unfortunatley, my plans to visit Erin Miller in western Kentucky fell through, but the silver lining in being home a couple days earlier than planned was that I was in town to help Nick "Mr. T" Tranbarger celebrate his 26th birthday.
After laying low at home for half a day, I made the relatively short jaunt down to the town of my birth to visit my grandparents and my middle brother Jarrod, as well as other extended family. Returning from Bloomington on Thursday afternoon, I once again met up with the Tranbarger clan to watch a free UFC card on TV. My high school chum Emily Reichart and her family were also present for the fights, a chili dinner, and plenty of fun with children two and under.
Today was a day for cinephilia. This afternoon I attended a 12:30 showing of the glorious Grindhouse double feature (which I give a combined four thumbs up), and this evening I will watch Babel at home with Susan.
My plans for tomorrow are thus far sparse and simplistic: laundry during the day, UFC 69 at night. In an interesting turn of events, my friends and I will not be ordering this particular UFC Pay-Per-View but opting to watch it a local watering hole instead. After making a few calls to inquire which establishments planned to carry it, it look like Nick and I will be completing our social hat trick for the week by heading to Hooters.
[Now what really makes this turn of events interesting to me is that this will be the first time I will have patronized a Hooters in my homestate. I've been to Hooters in Georgia (to see UFCs 58 and 59), North Carolina (UFC 60), and Kentucky (an afternoon pit stop for wings on the way to Dustin's last July), but never a local chapter.]
The last day of my break, Sunday, is of course Easter. This day will hold many reasons for celebration. First, there's the fact of Jesus Christ's resurrection...you know, that event that broke death's stranglehold over fallen humanity. Second, my immediate family shall partake of pizza from Union Jack's, which is a pricey yet scrumptuous delicacy. And, finally, Sunday morning marks the end of Lent and hence all my Lenten commitments to abstain from ice cream, chocolate, cookies, and various restaurant chains. I'm looking forward to having some ice cream most of all.
So that's what I've been up to. I hope Holy Week has been enjoyable for all of you as well.
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