Dancing With The Athletes

Not that I ever closely watched or become emotionally invested in the show, but I think Dancing With The Stars is crap. This is solely based on the fact that they allow professional athletes to compete. (Feel free to point out that technically Shawn is a "amateur" and I'll point out that she probably doesn't just do a little gymnastics in her free time.)

How in the heck are people like Penn Jillette and Cliff Clavin supposed to compete against people who not only have athletic intelligence, but also many of whom are "stars" precisely because they can learn choreography?

Here are the winners by season. I submit that only 1 and 7 should have been allowed in the competition. 5 is borderline, since I'll grant that he doesn't move a lot in his sport. But 2, 6, and 8 are just ridiculous.

1.) Kelly Monaco - actress
2.) Drew Lachey - boy band member (aka singing dancer)
3.) Emmitt Smith - football player
4.) Apolo Anton Ohno - speed skater
5.) Hélio Castroneves - auto racer
6.) Kristi Yamaguchi - figure skater (aka ice dancer)
7.) Brooke Burke - actress
8.) Shawn Johnson - gymnast (aka athletic dancer)

Breaking the Cycle

The message of the book I just read, "The People of Sparks," was that you can stop a cycle of hate and violence through acts of kindness and love. I am continually surprised as how well this works. Responding to hate with love usually a) makes the hater reconsider their attitude and/or b) really really upsets the hater. Either outcome is pretty nice.

The alternative, responding with more violence, solidifies and justifies the hater's attitude, while encouraging the development of more hate within you. As backwards as it sounds, acting with love or hate towards someone tends to promote the corresponding attitude in both of you. We embrace the role we find ourselves playing.

I also see this as one of Jesus' central messages, and one it seems Christians are often prone to forget, especially once they acquire political power. What would have happened if we had used the money spent on the Mid-East wars to instead build hundreds of schools and hospitals around the world? Would we be safer than we are now? I'm not sure, but it's an idea that catches my imagination...

"Who Would Jesus Bomb?"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zU3aQ43YkwU&feature=related

Books v. Movies

Movies that are better than the books on which they are based:

Fight Club
Forest Gump
City of Ember
Watchmen
Shawshank Redemption

More to come...