Things To Think About Vol 5 1st Edition

"This is the first day of your new life". How many times have I heard that quote? Many find it brilliant, I find it to be a load of crap. The point of this quote in my opinion is to get people to find hope and joy in waking up every and thinking of having a fresh start. However, Life is not merely a day-by-day process where you can start over each day. Choices have consequences and life is all connected together through many choices, situations, and developments.

I'm trying to think of a situation that you could actually apply this quote to, and I can't think of any.
People that are homeless and in poverty are usually in these situations because they were born into them and made poor choices in their life. I have spoken with homeless people and they all regret the choices they have made in their past that have led them to the life that they have now. If they could just wake up one day, get a solid job, find a home and have a family, they would in a heartbeat. However, its not that simple. No employer wants them, and if someone does its a very low-paying job. They didn't go to college, and most of them probably dropped out of high school. And college takes a ton of money. So tell me, how are they one day just going to wake up and say "today is the first day of my new life"? They can't. Its unfortunate, but all choices have consequences, and some are life-long consequences.

People in the work world I really can't see them applying this either. You either love what you do, you think it could be better, or you hate it. People that hate it and think it could be better would want to wake up and say "today is the first day of my new life", but guess what, they can't change it. They have a certain education in a certain field and if they don't like it, well thats what you chose so you are stuck with it. Also, the longer you work with a company, the more benefits you get. So exactly why would you wanna start over again with another company and lose everything you gained? Thats the reality of choices

You can apply the quote in a spiritual sense such as if you become a Christian you can start your life over, but I almost never hear this quote used in that sense.

If I made up a quote, I guess it would just be this- "choose wisely"

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Things To Think About Vol 4 1st Edition

I hate how the church gets all involved in media and politics, it really irritates me.
First of all, you really notice this during primary season and election season like we are in now where many politicians are concerned about appealing to evangelical Christians and church-goers etc...yes, that bothers me because I think candidates are just using the church to get themselves votes. But what really gets me is so called "Christian leaders" who are backing a certain candidate. It really concerns me, not so much the leader itself, but the people who will follow that leader's choice in candidates even if they know nothing about that certain candidate.
If a religious leader (lets say an important catholic leader) supports Mike Huckabee for example, it seems to me that everyone catholic (hypothetical) is almost bound to vote for and support Huckabee. I know this happened in our church way back when Bush was running. Everyone supported Bush and they were excited to back a "Christian" president and I remember even during church after 9/11 happened how happy they were to have a "Christian" president and us even talking about this during a service or two. I'm sure everyone can tell by reading this, that I do not support Bush very much, but still I believe that people should be able to make their own decisions based on what they believe in, not what someone else does. If you are waiting for your church leader to make a decision on who they are voting for so you can vote for the same person, I'm sorry, but you shouldn't be voting. Look into the candidates for yourself and make a decision.


On to the other part of my rant, which is getting the media out of the church. Many churches nation-wide were promoting the heck out of "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe". Why? Because it was written by a Christian author and it had some Religious undertones in it. Was this really a life-changing movie that the church really needed to go hoop-la over? No. It was basically a Harry Potter movie. But the church hates and despises "Harry Potter" because it uses witchcraft. But the church loves "Narnia" because it uses witchcraft along with a supposed "christian message". What is this "christian message"? It goes like this-in Narnia, the lion sacrifices his life to save another and comes back to life just like Jesus did. Ok yes, that is a religious parallel. However, how many other gazillions of movies can you also make religious parallels if you are looking for them? I talked to some people who had seen this movie and they weren't even aware that this was supposed to be a Christian movie. If you ask me, Disney knows that if they put out a movie that has a Christian theme to it, but make the theme as unnoticeable as possible, then sell it to the church, they know they will make millions even if it is a crappy movie. Disney knows that the church is a very easy target and they will make huge money.

So is church a place where we worship God, or is it a political machine and a media target?

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Stokes' Sports Report Vol 4 1st Edition

I had the unfortunate privilege of watching the IU/Minnesota game last Thursday at the Barn in Minnesota. It literally should have been played in a barn, it was one of the ugliest games I've ever seen in my life. Indiana's offense looked like a middle school girls team for a majority of the game, turning the ball over a rediculous 25 times in the first 30 some odd minutes in the game. Freshman Eric Gordon looked very uncomfortable handling the ball as he turned the ball over seemingly every time he touched it. However, as hard as IU tried to give the game to the Gophers, IU still ended up winning. The Golden Gophers just do not have the talent to be a force on the national stage.

In other college basketball, the Texas Longhorns fast start with wins against Tennessee and UCLA seems like long ago, as they have really struggled lately and barely squeaked out a 2 point home win against Colorado. They have lost 3 of their last 6 and it very easily could have been 4.

UNC finally lost, and since I'm a Duke fan I love it. North Carolina does not play good defense and it caught up with them against Maryland.
Duke looked very good against a very good Clemson team on Saturday night and is going pretty much un-noticed because UCLA, Memphis, UNC, and Kansas are getting the spotlight as the top teams.

Ben's Guide To Music/Movies Vol 3 1st Edition

Its not often that I will watch comedy movies 3 times in a row, but for some reason recently, it happened. Anyway, I save my 9 and 10 ratings for my favorite movies ever and the best movies ever made, and I have never seen a comedy movie yet that I have ever given a 9 or 10, the highest comedy movie rating I've ever given is an 8 to Monty Python's Life Of Brian. So basically, any comedy movie that is around the 7 range is pretty good for me.

Blues Brothers- 7/10 (B-)
You gotta love this movie. Though I could do without some of the musical numbers, its a fun movie. It combines music, comedy, and action brilliantly and makes this movie very enjoyable. Dan Akroyd and John Belushi make a great pair and this movie has some memorable scenes and lines.

Hot Fuzz- 5/10 (C-)
This is the 2nd very highly acclaimed comedy movie that Edgar Wright directed (Shaun of the Dead was the other). First of all, I will say that the writing for this comedy movie is very good. There are alot of original ideas and some great lines. However, I enjoyed this movie in bits and pieces but all together I was semi-entertained. The problem I had with this movie as well as Shaun of the dead is that it pokes fun at the horror/gore/action genre very well, however I don't particularly like gore/blood/horror stuff mixed in with comedy movies. I know some of the gory stuff is supposed to be done in a funny type way, but I didn't really find a dude slipping on a toy car then landing his throat straight through a metal stake all that amusing, more gross. Anyway, enjoyed some, and didn't enjoy some.

Clerks-7/10 (B-)
This is one pretty funny movie. I have to say that I knocked it down a bit because I do have morals and a couple things went a bit too far. Overall though, the writing appealed to my sense of humor and I thought the character of "Randall" was absoltely hysterical. Definetly deserves to be called a classic comedy

Things To Think About Vol 3 1st Edition

I want to bring up a controversial topic that is very touchy in the U.S. Its the issue of Americans vs. the Islam. After 9/11 happened, many Americans displayed anti-Islamic attitudes, which really bothered me. The attitude towards Islams and any person from the Middle East seemed to be that they are violent, they smash planes in to buildings, and that their Muslim religion encourages them to do it.

Many people have pointed out Surah 9:5, a verse in the Quran (Islamic Bible) that reads this: "Fight and slay the non-believers wherever you may find them". But you cannot read that verse alone and make the conclusion that every Muslim is a terrorist. Instead, here are some verses that describe what the Muslim religion does believe in:
"God does not forbid you respecting those who have not made war against you on account of your religion, and have not driven you forth from your homes, that you show them kindness and deal with them justly; surely God loves the doers of justice. God only forbids you respecting and loving those who made war upon you on account of your religion, and drove you forth from your homes and backed up others in your expulsion, that you make friends with them, and whoever makes friends with them, these are the unjust. fight in the cause of God those who fight against you, and do not commit aggression. Indeed God does not love those who are aggressors".
-Now lets examine verse 9:5, which says "But when the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay the Pagans wherever ye find them, an seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem (of war); but if they repent, and establish regular prayers and practise regular charity, then open the way for them: for Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful."

-So what does this mean? In the religion of Islam, they believe in showing compassion to their enemies. But, they do not show compassion for people who make war with them. It says in the beginning of verse 9:5-"But when the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay Pagans", this means that Muslims are required to give a 4 month grace period when war is upon them. The Quran tells them to turn the other cheek while being killed for 4 months, then, If they continue with war, then you are allowed to fight back and kill.

While I am a Bible believing Christian, if you take one verse from the Bible, a person might think that all Christians are terrorists, such as :
"Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man intimately. But all the girls who have not known man intimately, spare for yourselves." (Numbers 31:17-18)

"Do not think that I have come to send peace on earth. I did not come to send peace, but a sword. I am sent to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law" (Matthew 10:34-35)

And this verse which is very similar to the Quran verses which I previously posted:

“When you approach a city to fight against it, you shall offer it terms of peace. If it agrees to make peace with you and opens to you, then all the people who are found in it shall become your forced labor and shall serve you. However, if it does not make peace with you, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it. When the LORD your God gives it into your hand, you shall strike all the men in it with the edge of the sword. Only the women and the children and the animals and all that is in the city, all its spoil, you shall take as booty for yourself; and you shall use the spoil of your enemies which the LORD your God has given you… Only in the cities of these peoples that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, you shall not leave alive anything that breathes (Deuteronomy 20:10-17)

My point about the Quran and the Bible is that you have to look at what context the verse is in. You can't just take out one verse or two and make a statement like "All Muslims want to do is kill". All I'm saying is be open to people and be informed before you start making accusations. Nothing makes me more upset than people making accusations and claims when they have no idea what they are talking about. Almost all Muslims aren't extremists, actually like 99 point something percent of them aren't, just like 99 point something percent of Christians aren't killers/murderers.
There have been groups that call themselves "Christians" that have "killed in the name of God" (KKK, religious cults etc...) so do not think that this is just a one-sided affair.

Anyway, I guess it all comes down to being open

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Stokes' Sports Report Vol 3 1st Edition

Ahh...Down to the final 4 in the NFL Playoffs. Who's gonna take home that Lombardi trophy? Thats an issue I'm gonna try to tackle

AFC-San Diego/New England
San Diego has been the turn-around team this season. They got off to a horrifying start but have come back with vengeance and last week beat the Indianapolis Colts for the 2nd time this season. Will They have enough to beat the undefeated Patriots? I don't think so. First of all, QB Phil Rivers is banged up from last week and is questionable to play. Mr. All-World running back Ladanian Tomlinson was also nicked up last week as well. Given that the game is also in Foxboro Massachusetts, You gotta give the Patriots the benefit of the doubt here, though I think just about everyone wants them to lose.

NFC-Green Bay/ Giants
Honestly, I don't think this one will be close. I think Green Bay will beat them pretty handedly. The Pack Attack really got it goin' on with Ryan Grant now in the backfield, plus this game is at Lambeau and I just don't see them losing to the "other Manning".

Ben's Guide To Music/Movies Vol 2 1st Edition

I watch a lot of movies and I love to analyze and critique them. I will admit, I'm a pretty tough critic. Here is my scale for ratings: 1-2=F 3-4=D 5-6=C 7-8=B 9-10=A. Any thing that is in between will get a plus or minus. Here are some movies that I've watched recently and my reviews:

No Country For Old Men- 8.5/10 (B+)
This movie is not meant for everyone. Its a thriller movie, but it is done in a very unorthodox way that your 'popcorn movie go-ers' probably won't like all that much. Its about a man who finds money on a drug bust, and then is chased down by a crazed killer (I absolutely loved this character) who is in pursuit of the money. The plot sounds simple enough that you while you watch, you are teased that this is a man-hunt movie where the bad guy will die in the end. (spoiler, sorry!) The movie actually has a lot of themes and symbolism throughout the movie and takes a bit of analyzing to understand it. While it is a bit slowly paced in a couple spots, the dialogue was excellent, the acting was solid, and there were some pretty cool action scenes.

2001: A Space Odyssey-9/10 (A-)
Here's an golden oldie from 1968 that is directed by the legendary Stanley Kubrick. This was actually my first time ever seeing this film, and by the end, I was overwhelmed and confused. The movie is actually split up into 4 parts, the first is set in prehistoric times, then it jumps to a space scene, then goes to a Jupiter mission (which features the legendary Hal 9000 computer story line), and finally ends in a room that is in the 4th dimension. On its most basic level, the movie is about how man's technology nearly destroys him, but there is really so much more you can take in here. At the end of the movie, I didn't quite understand everything but I was very intrigued by the movie and wanted to learn more. I ended up reading an explanation for it on the internet, and the more I thought about this movie, the more I liked it. Yes, its another movie that the regular popcorn movie goers probably won't enjoy, but I really liked it. Some may complain of the length or the pacing of the movie, but I really didn't have too much of a problem with it. The movie was incredibly groundbreaking for its time, its original, and it makes you think. It is a classic


Live Free Or Die Hard-6.5/10 (C+)
Well, here's one that people who see movies purely to be entertained will enjoy. Its pretty much a straight-up action movie with car chases, gun shootouts, and crazy stunts. Bruce Willis is of course "McClaine" and obviously just demolishes people. The story line isn't too bad here, and there are some cool scenes, but I swear people never die in this movie and there is some pretty far-fetched action stuff that you know would never happen in real life. If you are big time into action movies, this will be a movie for you.

Blade Runner- 9/10 (A-)
I got the final cut of this sci-fi classic for Christmas. If you are wondering what the difference is between the final cut and the other versions of this movie are, well, I'm not exactly sure. Maybe there was a scene or two that was extended from the other versions and maybe the picture is a bit better, but I couldn't really tell the difference, so I'm just grading this purely based on the goodness of the movie. This movie is set for the future and is about a group of replicants (robots that are like humans, but they are mostly used as servants and slaves) that rebel against society because they find out that the replicants are only made to live for 4 years. Harrison Ford plays Deckard who is a Blade Runner (cop that hunts down replicants that are a harm to society) who tries to track down this group. The last 20 minutes of this film is just simply awesome and is one of the better ending to any movie I've seen. The setting and atmosphere to this movie pretty much started a revolution (this movie came out in 1982). It also started a debate on whether or not Harrison Ford's character was indeed a replicant or a human (people still argue over this). It has a great setting and atmosphere, good action, good story, and has some real interesting dialogue at towards the end of the movie. There is a scene or two that I could do without, but this is one of my favorite movies and is another classic

Stokes' Sports Report Vol 2 1st Edition

Watch out Big Ten, Tubby's in town. Tubby Smith's arrival at Minnesota has been a welcoming one, as he has taken one of the worst teams in the country to being a Big 10 contender in a matter of months. Tubby in my opinion is one of the best coaches in the nation, but was treated like dirt in Kentucky and was forced out. Now, I don't expect Minny to win the Big 10, but they should at least be able to finish around 5th. Minnesota coming into this season had pretty much the worst recruits and least talent of anyone in the country, but Tubby has made them respectable.

Now, I'm not saying Minny is going to set the world on fire this year, but they do have a decent shot of making the tournament with a weak Big 10. Right now they are sitting at a 12-3 record after a big win today on the road versus Penn St. Two of their losses were by 14 and 17 points to Florida St. and UNLV which are both decent teams. Their other loss was by 6 points at Michigan St. (tough place to play). Minnesota plays 2 huge home games this week versus Indiana, then Michigan St. I really think they have a good shot to beat IU, IU is not that good this year and they have also played one of the weakest schedules that I've seen in recent memory. Don't be surprised if The Golden Gophers come out on top.

The Big 10 we all know is a 2 team school in basketball this year, and I expect MSU to win it and IU to come in second. Wisconsin will probably be 3rd, but beyond that, I think its a 3-way race for spots 4-6 between Purdue, Minnesota, and Ohio St. Usually those 4-6 schools in a power conference have a pretty good shot at getting in the tourney.

Kudos to Tubby. You have taken a program that was in the dumps and brought them to respectability. Watch out for the Gophers in the future, players will want to come play for a coach like Tubby Smith. Once he gets the players coming in I have no doubt that Minnesota will be a top 25 team annually

Things To Think About Vol 2 1st Edition

I'm sure everyone has heard the conspiracy theories on UFO's, Area 51, Life on other planets, Aliens, and what not. But when you look at the facts about the galaxy and the universe, you cannot deny that anything is possible, so lets take a look at the facts.

We obviously live in the Milky Way Galaxy, but there are in fact millions of galaxies. In fact any astrologer will tell you that there are over 100 billion galaxies. Each galaxy has about 100-200 billion stars in it. If you multiply those two numbers together, that is a crapload of stars in the universe. I don't even think my mind can comprehend that number. Actually, There are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on the earth (yes, thats a fact, and its nuts). Now in the Milky Way there are 8 planets that everyone knows about (9 if you include Pluto), but astrologers with new technology and more powerful telescopes have claimed to have found more planets. So there is a bunch of planets on our galaxy alone, but with 100+ billion other galaxies in the universe, who knows how many planets are out there? All I know is with over 100 billion galaxies with gazillions of stars, there are definitely other planets out there. Actually some estimates have been like hundreds of billions of planets, but I'm no expert so I can't tell you for sure.

Am I saying there are little green guys out there? I don't know, but it is something that is a possibility (ok, maybe they aren't green). Somewhere in this vast universe there may be other life forms wondering the same thing that we are. The movie "Contact" had an interesting quote from it that said-"If there isn't life anywhere else out there, then its a pretty big waste of space".

Think about it

Ben's Guide To Music/Movies Vol 1 1st Edition

If you are like me, you are absolutely disgusted by a lot of the rap on the radio. The majority of it is mindless lyrics backed by computerized beat and it shows no musical creativity at all. However, there is a group out today that I respect. That group would be Jurassic 5. They bring a fresh sound to the hip/hop genre. They have a bit of an old school sound while having meaningful lyrics and using some cool sounds and rhythms.

My favorite album by them is Power in The Numbers, which is great. I'd also recommend their Quality Control album which is their debut and is also a very good album.

Check em out

Things To Think About Vol 1 1st Edition

Awhile ago in church, in an effort to get us to have more compassion for those that are less fortunate than us, our pastor told us that "we didn't choose to be born into the situation that we were born into". The whole idea of that is pretty cool, and I wanted to think about that more and expand upon that idea.

1st of all, think about kids in inner cities, children with AIDS, people born into poverty, and children born with disabilities. They didn't choose to be the way they are. Most of you that are reading this (and hopefully someone does) probably came from at least a better situation than those that I just mentioned. When you think about this and realize that any of us could have been born into these terrible situations, it humbles you. It also makes you feel bad for the people that are born into that, because they obviously didn't want it.

I also wanted to flip the coin a bit and look at the other side. Think of people that are blessed with tremendous talents. Michael Jordan didn't choose to be blessed as one of the most amazing basketball players ever. Paris Hilton didn't choose to be rich. Dave Matthews didn't choose to have a natural ability for music. Jessica Alba didn't choose to be beautiful person. It bugs me when celebrities flaunt everything they have, because they should be incredibly grateful for where they are.

Think about it

Stokes' Sports Report Vol 1 1st Edition

For the second straight year, Ohio St. gets killed by an SEC team. Did this really surprise anyone that the #1 team in the nation with the #1 defense got beat that easily? To me it wasn't. To me, Georgia or USC would have been a better matchup than OSU. Look, the big 10 just isn't up to par with some of the other teams, sure you can make an argument that Michigan beat Florida. I'm not totally dismissing the win, because I thought that Florida would win, but I knew it would be close. All the intangibles were definitely in Michigan's favor. UM was playing for Lloyd Carr in his last game, Hart and Henne wanted to go out as winners, and it always seems that Heisman winners don't do well in bowl games because there is a ton of pressure on them.

Basically this comes down to begging for a playoff system, instead of watching Ohio St. breeze through the big 10 again and then get killed by a team in the championship.

A little introduction for what is about to hit you in the face....

Well, I'm gonna try and do the blogger thing and keep her goin. I'm hoping to have 3 categories of writings:

1 Sports
2 Music/Movies
3 Things To Think About

and I guess I could throw a miscellaneous section in there to make an even 4. Anyway, I'll get this train rollin