Again, there is no new episode of the Office tonight. Again.

But good news! New episodes resume on April 5th. Here is a recap and quick preview of the love rectangle between Jim, Pam, Karen, and Roy.

BTW= be sure to watch next week because I know one secret about the episode. It involves Dwight, pepper spray, nun-chucks, and Chinese throwing stars. I’m not even kidding.

(click to enbiggen)

Yes, I just referenced the newly revealed cover for the latest Harry Potter book with the Bible.

That should drive the ole blog counter up a notch I think.

I am not saying that Harry is Stephen or anything close to that. Don’t accuse me of being blasphemous. I am just drawing a parallel between the art work and the scene described in Acts. It was the first thing that popped into my head.

Many Potter fans believe that Harry will be martyred in this final installment. If that is the case, than maybe I’m not too far off.

What do you think?

Yeah so, we went and saw TMNT over the weekend. Sandy was just as excited as I was.

It was pretty good.

The little boy next to me asked his dad who the Shredder was and the dad replied, “That’s who the Turtles fought when I was a kid.”

No Shedder in this one only a slight mention. Instead there are some stone warriors and crazy monsters. It was fun, the battle scenes were fast and furious, and the story line had a good message about being a family that loves each other unconditionally.

Also, the movie revolved around my two favorite Turtles, Raphael and Leonardo. Can’t beat that with a stick.

As a kid I had all the Turtles figues but I loved playing with my Raphael figure the most. One day I was out in the front yard playing and I decided to tie a string around Raph’s arm so that he could “repel” from our tree. As the afternoon went on I tried to see how high Raph could go in the tree top. I began to swing him around like a grappling hook. Faster and faster I whipped him around. Suddenly the rope went limp.

I never found my Raphael figure. It isn’t easy finding a green action figure outside in the green grass of a neighborhood. Oh how I looked for that figure. As I grew up, I always wondered if I would run him over with my lawnmower. If I did at least I would have found him again. No such luck though.

Anyway, it was nice being a 12 year old again for an hour and half on Saturday. The best part is I only had to be twelve for 90 minutes. Then it was back to being an adult.

I just got back from my evening run.

For my money Texas nights in the spring time are the best.

Out of everywhere I’ve lived- TX, AR, AL- I enjoy the cool, windy Texas nights the most.

It’s good to be home.

As repeated polls have revealed, when asked what they spend most time talking about with their child, her As, Cs, or Fs, more than 70 percent of parents say the Fs.
-Marcus Buckingham

Was that your experience because it was mine? Everytime I brought home a report card or a progress report hardly two words were spoken to me about my good grades. The conversations always revolved around how bad one grade was and what I must do to turn it around.

Usually that wayward grade would be in some math class. My English grades were always high and I did very well in Science and in History because it is in those subjects that my strengths lie. I knew deep within my heart that I would never excel at math. I could only get a little better.

However, that isn’t what the world believes. Maybe it isn’t what you believe.

According to Marcus Buckingham, formerly of the Gallup Organization, 61% of people believe that you will grow the most in your areas of weakness. Really? I will grow the most in my areas where I’m weakest?

It has been my experience that simply cannot be true. My weaknesses shouldn’t be ignored (I would have failed if I had completely ignored those math grades) but they cannot be my focus. According to Buckingham, a far better use of my time would have been spent working on my strengths. That what I kept yelling whispering to my parents all those years ago.

Maybe that is why Buckingham’s work has really connected with me. Last October, I heard him ask the grades question. Twelve years of arguments and frustrations all came flooding back to me in that instant. It all made sense to me. Instead of being encouraged to focus on my strengths I have been told my entire life that I need to focus on the areas where I’m lacking. While the motivation behind this belief is all well and good it is merely a wild goose chase.

According to Buckingham, to learn about success you must study success not failure. Studying failure will teach you more about, well, failure.

I’m more interested in success anyway.

Check out Marcus Buckingham’s Go Put Your Strengths to Work. Click on the link to watch a preview video.

Also check out Trombone Player Wanted. A great video resource to supplement this great material.

I will be attending another seminar with Buckingham on Wednesday. I am absolutely stoked about this event. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Until then- focus on your strengths not your weaknesses!

This is about the 4th or 5th week in a row where I haven’t had a new episode of The Office.

The last episode ended with Roy finding out about Pam and Jim’s kiss at the end of season 2. He didn’t get upset- he freaked out. “I am going to kill Jim Halpert,” he said in the closing seconds of the show.

Come on NBC, I need a new episode.

This this the date for my first official “I’m a real runner” race. I had planned on running a half marathon last year but I didn’t grasp the significance of such a feat. I got spooked and decided to get some good miles under my belt before I tried a big nasty race like a half or even a full marathon. (besides, the race I wanted to run was on a Sunday which is somewhat of big day for ministers. Just sayin’)

However, without a goal I have started to feel like I am merely running aimlessly.

“No more,” I said. I found a small but significant race coming up this June that looked fun and challenging. This race is only a 5k so I am not satisfied with merely “wogging.” In the words of my favorite Irish theologian, “I want to run!”

So, I am training for the The Best Dam Race in Texas, a 5k across the Lake Waco Dam. Waco is fairly close and the race is on a Saturday so I think it is a go!!! Plus, because it will only be June 2nd the temperature should be below 8,000 F which is always a good thing.

Anyone in the DFW area interested in joining me?

Link

Stupid me forgot to renew my domain name. I was afraid that it had been lost forever but thankfully I was able to renew.

I’m not in the mood to post right now because I am still worn out from the last 2 weeks but I’ll get back to my regular schedule in the next few days.

Also, just a great big thank you to everyone who stops by the blog. You are appreciated!!!

Have a great day.

What you don’t want see when you pull off at a road side rest stop.

West Texas is scary!!!

In a matter of hours I will be hitting the slopes of Monarch with this rockin’ playlist. I love the cool mountain air and the hot tunes. Hope you have a great spring break.

All These Things That I’ve Done // The Killers
Xanax and Wine // U2
Snow (Hey Oh) // Red Hot Chili Peppers
Make This Go On Forever // Snow Patrol
Yahweh (Alternative Version) // U2
Fully Alive // Flyleaf
Move Along // The All-American Rejects
Read My Mind // The Killers
Flathead // The Fratellis
World On Fire // Sarah McLachlan
Love Comes and Goes // Stillwater
Show Me How To Live // Audioslave
The Dolphin’s Cry // Live
Always (Value Added Title) // U2
Crush // Dave Matthews Band
Louisiana Bayou (6.26.05) // Dave Matthews Band
Soul Meets Body // Death Cab For Cutie

A few people (my wife included) think that I am out of mind when I say that we should clone dinosaurs. I’ll say it again:

I think that we should clone dinosaurs.

“Haven’t you seen Jurassic Park?” you scream at your monitor.

And that is fair question. Yes, I have read the report and seen the documentary of what happened on Isla Nublar back in the nineties but I am still undeterred. I don’t believe in chaos theory and I am not suggesting that we build a theme park with motorized Ford Explorers.

I just think that we should clone some dinosaurs for coolness sake.

At the very least I would like to see a mastadon or two at my local zoo. My clone-lust could be satisfied by a mastadon.

All of this to say, I don’t fear giant lizards because of what I saw in a movie but I do fear killer robots.

BBC news posted an article about a group of scientists who are begining to work on robot ethics and codes that will help ensure that humans do not abuse robots and that robots don’t tear us limb from limb as the seek to free themsleves from our oppressive hands. At least that what’s what I’ve been led to believe.

Here is an excerpt:

This week, experts in South Korea said they were drawing up an ethical code to prevent humans abusing robots, and vice versa. And, a group of leading roboticists called the European Robotics Network (Euron) has even started lobbying governments for legislation.

At the top of their list of concerns is safety. Robots were once confined to specialist applications in industry and the military, where users received extensive training on their use, but they are increasingly being used by ordinary people.

Robot vacuum cleaners and lawn mowers are already in many homes, and robotic toys are increasingly popular with children.

As these robots become more intelligent, it will become harder to decide who is responsible if they injure someone. Is the designer to blame, or the user, or the robot itself?

saac Asimov was already thinking about these problems back in the 1940s, when he developed his famous “three laws of robotics”.

He argued that intelligent robots should all be programmed to obey the following three laws:

A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm

A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law

A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law

Asimov’s three laws only address the problem of making robots safe, so even if we could find a way to program robots to follow them, other problems could arise if robots became sentient.

If robots can feel pain, should they be granted certain rights? If robots develop emotions, as some experts think they will, should they be allowed to marry humans? Should they be allowed to own property?

So, folks this is it. This is the end. Begin preparing to be conqured by our new metal overlords. For more information, here is a short list of film documentation of what the end of the world will look like:

Westworld
Terminator
Transformers (The Decepticons)
I, Robot
Every episode or Futurama
A.I.
Itchy and Scratchy Land
2001 A Space Oddessy

Good luck.

link

Even though I don’t work at a school anymore I still get a few of the school year perks.

Today is Spring Break!!!

Tomorrow we are heading out to Monarch Ski Resort in Colorado. It has been far too long since I have hit the slopes and I am more than ready. While helping to lead a ski trip isn’t exactly a break I’ll take what I can get.

For all of you working stiffs out there, take comfort in knowing that even though I’m on the slopes my muscles will be pretty stiff and sore, that while you are working at your desk I’m keeping up with teenagers, and as you’re stuck in traffic I’m driving a van across Texas.

Have a great week everyone.

Head over to the iTunes store and download “Love, Reign O’er Me” by Pearl Jam. This is a haunting, near-perfect cover of the Who’s classic from the movie Reign Over Me.

You won’t be sorry.