Spring again

Well, it’s after my birthday (last Friday, I’m still accepting gifts) which means it’s spring again. I really hate Minnesota winters. They take so long and just make me crazy waiting for the weather to get nice and the snow to melt and above all to feel warm again – sometimes I get the idea that I’m never going to reach a comfortable body temperature ever again. And I live for summers and camping and canoeing and fishing and having fun. Which reminds me, it’s time to start paying attention to the lakes and when they ice out, as that defines the beginning of the season. The UMN ice out monitor is such a great site (see also the historic averages, for planning purposes), and I’ve posted it now for three or four straight years. A must, if you NEED to get on a lake as soon as possible. Maggie and I have gone camping within a week of ice out in April for a few years in a row. The weather is cold usually, the wind howls, and the water is frigid, but we have a great time and so does the dog.

Maggie and I went to see “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” starring Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet. I really liked it, but what I really liked above all else is the fact that I had heard nothing about it, read no reviews, and had no idea about the premise of the plot. After seeing it, I went home and read the review in the paper, and was really dismayed about how much of the plot it gave away. Reviews and worse, previews (trailers, sic) just can ruin much of the enjoyment of a clever plot if they don’t allow the storyteller to control the exposition of important themes and events. I won’t even talk about ESSM, as saying anything would screw it up. If you have heard about what happens, I guess you might still like the movie, but if you haven’t definitely go see it before some asshole ruins it for you. I saw “The Crying Game” when I was a senior in high school, before any of the hoopla hit ( I developed a close friendship in high school with one of my main rivals in the state in speech and debate, and on his suggestion we went to see that movie. He later turned out to be gay, and I wonder in retrospect if he was trying to pick me up. [Jerry Seinfeld] Not that there’s anything wrong with that! [/Jerry Seinfeld]) I was SHOCKED at the big twist, having heard nothing, and it made the movie a lot more interesting and fun than for the people who had loudmouth jerks spoil the movie for them prior to seeing it. So, uh, go see it or something.

BLOGGIN’ FOR JESUS

People actually listen to the twelve year old preacher?

How compatible of marriage partners are religion and sports? (The silly Kurt Warner accusations that he was benched because he was pro-Jesus are discussed)

Read The Da Vinci Code? Read the Opus Dei response.