ONLY ROAD NORTH - REVIEW

When I first heard this story was being published for a book, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. Now after finishing this 300-page book I am totally enamored to find out more about this guy's journey.

The book, written by Erik Mirandette, is the story of four guys who travel 9,000 miles on dirt bikes starting in South Africa and finally make their way to their destination in Cairo, Egypt.

Through out the entire read it is filled with absolutely captivating stories of the beauty that Africa has to offer as well as the harsh reality that comes with living in one of the toughest regions in the world.

One day they are playing with children in a remote village then only a few days later they are dealing with soldiers carrying AK-47's through a market place. Seriously, some of their stories are unbelievable. There are a few pages here and there that are kind of "dry" but overall the stories keep this book flowing at a good pace.

The ending of the story is sad in many ways when the group becomes a victim of a terrorist nail bomb in Cairo. Erik's brother, Alex, dies in the bombing and the ensuing struggles that Erik details in the book is so real and so raw it captivated me at a level that few stories have.

This book inspires too. As I was reading the stories about the families in some of these villages they were staying in; well, words can't describe how I felt. I just wanted to do something for these people who are living in sub-human conditions.

Without a doubt this book is a must read. It is for those who struggle with their faith as well as for people who have a heart to help those living in extreme poverty.

"THE" 4 PERCENT

So the other night at the ballpark a silly question came up. I have no clue how on earth this question was brought to the discussion but it pretty much dominated the discussion the rest of the evening. (names will not be revealed to protect the innocent - HA!)

Questions: How many people do you see on a daily basis are attractive?

Like I said, I have no clue were this question came from but there it was so the discussion began. Someone said about 35-45 percent of the people seen on a daily basis are attractive, someone said 90 percent, another person went with 60 percent.

Then the ultimate kicker in the conversation ... An unnamed individual was quoted as saying four percent! FOUR PERCENT! That's crazy nuts! To think that only 1 in every 25 people you see as attractive. Man, talk about a low view of humanity!

Please understand it was a "fun" conversation and in no way was meant to be hurtful to anyone in anyway. Waiting for another random, silly and strange question ...

ANOMALIES OF NOTE

* The Guardian, a publication out of the U.K., recently released the top 1,000 films a person should see before they die. Listed Alphabetically - here.

I was glad to see some of my favorite - Field of Dreams, American Beauty, Braveheart and Gladiator listed. However, I was hurt that A Beautiful Mind and Crash didn't make the cut.

* TV Guide listed the top Top 30 cult TV shows of all-time - here. No Gilmore Girls?!? No 24?!?

* Apparently organized religion is boring - here.

KIDS BOOK = MOVIE

The other day Corey posted about how Spike Jonze is making a movie about the book Where the Wild Things Are - here. So that got me thinking for moment, what childhood book would I want and who play a role in the movie?

There's no doubt that I would love to see a movie version of "Oh, the Places You'll Go" by Dr. Seuss.

I'm not sure who I would want to direct this movie but I know that I would like to see someone like Alexis Bledel or Johnny Deep or maybe even Dakota Fanning. The choice of actor or actress I guess depends on the the director.

You could have a lot of creative fun with a movie like this. Maybe I'm just hoping but I did enjoy this book (and still enjoy).

ONLY IN THE MINORS

Matt Elliott, a former relief pitcher for the 2005 Midwest League Champion Silver Hawks, found himself in a rather awkward spot after the 8th inning the other night.

It seems that after he gave up the game-tying homerun in the bottom of the inning, he got stuck in the bathroom and couldn't come out to pitch the 9th inning! He was stuck in the bathroom for over 45 minutes!

From the Montgomery Advertiser ...

Mobile pitcher Matt Elliott -- after giving up an eighth-inning run to tie it -- went to the bathroom just behind the visitor's dugout and slammed the door with such force that he broke it.

Uh-oh ... Read More

OBAMA

I'm not totally sure how I feel about good old Barack Obama yet. From what I can tell, he's got great character and amazing charisma but I'm not sure he can be the next President yet.

Regardless of all that, he gave this great quote the other day at a campaign rally in Hartford. Brilliant and, unfortunately, accurate quote:

" ... somehow, somewhere along the way, faith stopped being used to bring us together and faith started being used to drive us apart. Faith got hijacked, partly because of the so-called leaders of the Christian Right, all too eager to exploit what divides us.”

Entire Story

THAT'S RUNNING!

For those in the South Bend area, did you see about this guy in the South Bend Tribune who ran 69.88 miles during a 12 hour period?

Just something of the highlights of the article:

- Dr. Rob Hruskovich ran 69.88 from 7 a.m. - 7 p.m. on Saturday, June 16
- Essentially 2 1/2 marathons in 12 hours
- 10.3 minute mile pace for 12 hours!

Absolutely Amazing!

ANBERLIN

I'm pretty sure that I am late at joining the Anberlin bandwagon but at least I am now officially on the bandwagon.

They sound something like Nickelback only much better. Maybe a little bit like the Foo Fighters. Well, honestly, it doesn't matter who they compare to because these guys can rock!

Official Site

RUNNING AND STRESS

So I was watching TV the other day and saw this commercial - here.

That commercial pretty much summed up a lot of the reasons that I enjoy running.

Cell phone issues ... not while running!
Alarm clock bugging you ... nope!
Feel like dumping your boss ... No problem!
Parking Cop harassing you ... who cares?!?
Strapped to your desk ... not anymore!

It was a brilliant spot. Not to mention very creative with a great song. I feel like I should go drink some Propel Fitness Water now.

INDIA PREPARATION

As the group of us get ready for our trip to India at the end of July, we had some pretty important tasks to complete this week.

On Monday, we went to the Star of India restaurant in Mishawaka. The food was really quite good and not nearly as spicy and hot as I expected (although some other members of the group would say the food was quite hot as evidence of the sweat coming off their foreheads).

There were some "tricks" to eating the Indian food. There was no silverware and you had to scoop it up with your right hand (because using your left hand is offensive), you couldn't drink water during your meal because water may not be provided during our trip and you couldn't use your napkin. Basically by the end of dinner my right hand spelled of some funk that consisted of chicken, curry, rice and an whole other assortment of spices and flavorings.

The downside of the evening was our "dessert" that was suppose to be a sweet coconut tasting drink type thing. It ended up being something that tasted like a ranch or cucumber salad dressing and my first taste (and only taste!) of this stuff was bad since I was expecting one thing and got another. Oh well, just part of the fun of this adventure!

On Thursday evening the first round of shots happened and it went rather quickly and pretty much pain free during the injection. When all was said and done I got my four shots in less than three minutes. I'm not one to watch the neddle actually get injected into my arm.

The real downside to these shots is my left arm got fairly sore and I woke up each time I tried to roll over on it during the night. Once again, just part of the adventure. I have to get my final two shots in about a month.

THE FRAY

For the second time in less than a year I went and saw the Fray. The first show was outstanding and the second show didn't disappoint and was probably even better (especially when you consider the entire atmosphere). This band, without a doubt, is one of my favorite new acts to come out in the last three or so year.

This is my best shot at remembering the setlist. It should be fair accurate. The order maybe a little off but I know they played all these songs.

All At Once
She Is
Dead Wrong
Heaven Forbid
Dixie (New Song)
Fall Away
Hundred
Absolute (New Song)
Vienna
Hundred
How to Save a Life
Happiness (New Song)
Hips Don’t Lie (Shakria Cover)
Trust Me
Little House
= = =
Over My Head (Cable Car)
Look After You w/ Wonderwall

The setting for the show was outside in downtown Indianapolis at White River State Park with a sold out show of over 6,000-plus people. Great venue until the sun went down and all the natsy blood sucking bugs came out and put an all out attack on the crowd and the band. Seriously, I have never seen anything like. There were so many bugs it looked like it was snowing when you looked at the lights around the stage and in the crowd. However, by the end of the show it made for quite a memory.

These guys just have fun on stage and it is very evident. It was a great show and an amazing time but there were two main highlights of the show.

"Hips Don't Lie" -- For a band like The Fray to cover Shakria's song was something I may never ever forget. Not only did they did a decent cover they did it in a enjoyable way. You could definitely tell they enjoyed themselves while playing it. (Video)

"Look After You w/ Wonderwall" -- An absolutely great way to end the evening. It's probably my favorite song on the CD and to finish the show with it and then sing the chorus of Oasis' Wonderwall was fantastic.

AFRICA

PRAYER

A famous theologian once, essentially, said that "if someone is really prideful about their walk with God ask them how their prayer life is and that will make them humble again."

A few weeks ago I finished Philip Yancey's "Prayer" and I was so enamored with this book I decided to transcript every portion of the book that I highlighted. Thus far I have 16 pages of notes and I'm almost done with my "cliff notes" from this book.

It's a heavier read at times but it is such a brilliantly written book. Certainly there is no shock that Yancey would write something so good but for some reason I felt myself resonating with this book over-and-over during its 331 pages of content. Because like most my "prayer life" is like a rollar coaster and the passengers on the ride are getting quite sick.

Over and over the book continues to emphasis that the point of prayer isn't about getting requests answered but rather building a relationship with God. Like any good relationship, you can improve on it unless you communicate and prayer is how an individual can build their relationship with God.

Not mind blowing I know but just a reminder because so often we pray about our needs, desires and wants rather than asking, "God, how can I help advance your kingdom?" To often we hear things like "please fix my broken car" or "find me a better job" or "why can't I find a special someone." While these prayers aren't necesarilly bad the selfish focus is bad and will probably hinder your relationships with God.

I would highly recommend this book (or maybe even my cliff notes version) even if you think you already have a good prayer life. Because, quite frankly, it can always get better.

CLASS OF 2011

Well, it is all coming to a crashing halt. I have officially entered "the realm" of the old. I am already older than a quarter of a century and this year I will have my final birthday in my 20's and today was the final straw ... the college Class of 2011 arrived on campus!

I'm walking around campus going to my Monday meetings and I realized that orientation for the in coming freshman class was today and then it hit me - these students at orientation will graduate from college during my 10-year college reunion!

Fortunately, like cheese and wine, I think I am aging nicely (aside from my stiff back, sore neck, some gray hair, etc. ...) - HA!

INFLUANCE

I have been thinking about influence a lot lately for some reason. I'm not sure why or how this thought has popped into my head but it's there and it's been lingering around for a while now. I feel like this could be the first a few posts I have about this word.

There is something about this word that has meant a lot to me since my internship at Mosaic late summer. Most of which comes from our final small group time together - here.

So for now I began thinking about the most influential people in the world. In no particular order, here's what I have come up with thus far:

- Chad Hurley & Steve Chen
- George Bush
- Jim Collins
- Nelson Mandela
- The Pope
- Oprah
- Steve Jobs
- Osama Bin Laden
- Bono
- Billy Graham

Are there some people missing from this list? Most certainly but I just came up with 10 people off of the top of my head. However, I would venture to believe that most of these people would make many list of top influential people.

RUTH GRAHAM

It's always sad when someone passes away and that feeling is no different after the death of Ruth Graham just four days after her 87th birthday.

While I know very little about her as a person, I can only imagine what it must have be like to be married to Billy Graham for 62 years but I believe his quote on their marriage is absolutely beautiful and just wanted to share. (emphasis is mine)

"I am so grateful to the Lord that He gave me Ruth, and especially for these last few years we've had in the mountains together. We've rekindled the romance of our youth, and my love for her continued to grow deeper every day. I will miss her terribly, and look forward even more to the day I can join her in Heaven."

Entire Story

SPELLING BEE CHAMP ON CNN

This is one of the most painful yet funny videos I have ever seen. I'm not sure whether to feel sorry for the CNN Interviewer or the kid. Maybe both, shoot, maybe neither!!

BLOOD DONATION

On Tuesday afternoon I went to give blood for the second time in my life. (Yeah, I'm a little slow at catching onto doing generous "social things")

Without a doubt the best part of giving blood is the cookies you get afterwards. The free cookies alone are worth the time investment to give blood; not to mention the fact you get to help people.

So I'm eating my packet of oreos and this guy is in the room with me was getting to ready to give his 33rd gallon of blood! That's so freakin' amazing ... 33 gallons! Each time you give blood, you are only allowed to give 1 pint (or .125 of a gallon) and you can only give blood once every two months.

So if you do the match, at minimum, this guy has been giving blood for at least 44 years! That is some serious consistent generosity!

TOILET PAPER

Take this from the stupid crimes file ...

So, did anyone have to do the "Royal Papers" skit? You know that quick skit that you did as a kid in a elementary school comedy skit or during kids church camp?

If not then, well, it doesn't matter because it's not the point of the post. This lady in Iowa decided to take the "Royal Papers" from a the local courthouse. Talk about not being able to "hold it" when all your "resources" aren't available!

Story

BATMAN REMEMBERED

I've been kind of "blah" in the blogging world the past few days and today, I'm still in that rut. So just for the fun of it, a repost of what happened to me one year ago.

A moment in my life I will probably never forget. Probably because I got through the entire incidence without getting hurt.

Batman Attacks!

QUOTABLE MANDELA

For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.

- Nelson Mandela

VANITY FAIR

(Bono is serving as the first ever guest Editor of Vanity Fair this month)

Let me explain what I'm doing here, and there. By "there," I don't mean my day job as singer with Irish postpunk combo U2.

By "there," I mean data—the organization which campaigns on debt, aids, and trade in Africa.

By "there," I mean the One Campaign—which is becoming like the National Rifle Association in its firepower, but acts in the interests of the world's poor.

By "there," I mean (Product) Red—which piggybacks the excitement and energy of the commercial world to buy lifesaving aids drugs for Africans who cannot afford them.

And by "there," I mean Edun—the missus's clothing line that wants to inject some dignity through doing business with the continent where every street corner boasts an entrepreneur.
These all relate to the same place and the same idea: that Africa is the proving ground for whether or not we really believe in equality.

Read More ...

BIFF & "THE BOSS"

Remember Biff from Back to the Future? Well, he is doing stand-up comedy now and wrote a "song" for all those fans who keep asking the same questions and it's rather funny - here.

Bruce Springsteen does an amazing cover of "This Little Light of Mine" in Dublin, Ireland with the Seegar Session band - here.

APPETITE

Time Magazine recently did this interesting cover story on the Science of Appetite. Being the health nut that I am, it was fairly intriguing to read some of the science beyond why, when and how people eat.

Check out the link below on the photo essay of what families all over the globe are eating on a daily basis and, maybe more importantly, how much they spend on food. It's absolutely fascinating to see how humanity has such a diverse menu of foods.

What the World Eats

SUNBURST, RACEDAY

(This post just got kind of long because I had a lot to say)

Surprisingly enough I was fairly awake at 6:00 a.m. but I think most of that was nerves for my first ever race of any type. Most of the nervous-ness that I was feeling was placed on by myself. I really wanted to do well and hit my goals because finishing the 5K was never going to be an issue but to do it with about 2500 other runners and with people watching is quite a different feeling than running by yourself during a weekday.

At the start line I placed myself with other runners looking to run an eight-minute mile pace. My stomach was treating me fairly well although there were some knots of nervous-ness interwoven in there. However, once the ran began at 7:15 those nerves were gone because I was "just running" (as Forest Gump would say).

Fortunately for me I was able to get a good path away from most of the runners about three blocks into the race and I felt like I was running at nice pace. I was told that the first mile I'll run faster than I probably wanted to. The fasted mile than I know that I've ever run was exactly seven minutes when I did it on a treadmill. At the first mile I was at 7:04! Yeah, I little too quick for my liking and I knew I couldn't keep that up for another 2.1 miles.

Considering I was shooting for an eight-minute mile pace I was trying to slow down my pace but it's really hard to do that once you've started. Somewhere around the second mile mark, I knew I was running fast but catching my breath was a bit difficult. I had no clue how fast I ran the first two miles because the clock at second mile was set for the marathon! The final turn toward ND stadium was a rough final mile but a nice "gut-check" as well.

My legs felt fine. Maybe a little ache in the knees but nothing bad. The hardest problem I had was breathing correctly. I just started making small goals (like one block at a time!) during the run up to the stadium. Seeing the stadium was great and the final run down the tunnel was very cool.

When I looked at the clock the first number I saw was 22. I couldn't believe that I was at 22 minutes and for a brief moment I thought I saw the clock wrong because of the sweat in my eyes. I crossed the finish line at 22:48.6 and I was freakin' thrilled beyond words. Once I caught my breath and dumped some water on my face and was able to fully "take-in" the moment it was one of the best feelings in the world. I knew that I had a shot to run the race in the less than 23 minutes but to actually do it was a great feeling.

I finished 19th (out of 96) in the 25-29 age bracket and finished 221st out of 1285 runners in the men's field. Among the 2482 total runners in the 5K, I was 247th. All my goals were met and, actually, were far surpassed. Results Page

The entire morning was great. I saw a whole lot of people that ran or walked a variety of the events that were offered during the event. It was borderline perfect. This running thing is a lot of fun and I'll probably run the 10K in 2008. For now, I am just enjoying my efforts in my first race ever.

BEST MANAGER EJECTION!

This might be the best ever "arguement" I have ever seen from a manager. The best has to be when he throws the rossen bag from the pitcher's mound at the home plate umpire. Hand grenade anyone?!?

SUNBURST - FRIDAY

Less than 24 hours till the excitement of Sunburst 2007 begins!

I just picked up my pre-race packet from the College Football Hall of Fame so in case you want to see how I did, I am bib #4507. If you look up my time on the website Saturday afternoon and you see a chip-time worse than 25:00 minutes, well, please don't ask me how I did. My race begins at 7:15 a.m.

My goal remains to finish in the top quarter of the field AND do it in less than 25:00 minutes. It should happen if I keep the pace that normally run at.

It should be a fun day all the way around. There are a whole bunch of friends and colleagues that are running one of the races on Saturday morning plus it will be great to finish on the 50-yard line at Notre Dame Stadium.