Wooohooo! Home again!!!

It's true, it's true, fair citizens of Hutchinson. I have returned.
I flew back from Kansas City today. Except for the stupid check in lady dropping my driver's license in a tiny crack between the luggage scale and the counter, (she never apologized, but I did retrieve it.) and the flight being a half-hour late, everything went swimmingly. I got back here and me and my mom went to Famous Dave's at the Mall of America for lunch. Yummy yummy yummy....i haven't had good barbecue in far too long. Anyway, got back to Hutch around 4...hung out, ate dinner, and then went to Narnia with Kayla.
First off, being with Kayla again is great.
Now onto the movie. It was pretty darn close! I enjoyed it immensely. Lucy was the exact thing i imagined. She was so darn cute! The rest of the kids were dead-on, too. Edmund was the snarling brat at the beginning, and good at it. Susan was the logical one, and Peter was the reluctant hero. He looked pretty awkward when he threatened the head wolf with his sword the first time. The visuals were of course, amazing. With three major effects companies working on this film, it was expected to be amazing. The White Witch was incredibly chilling. Her eyes, her hair, everything about her was just freaky. I found myself really not liking her by the time the Stone Table rolled around.
Overall, i thought the minor changes were good for the story. The Professor's role was bigger in the movie, i think. I'm not 100% sure on that though. The movie was great. Plain and simple. They really nailed this one.
I'll have a few rants the next few days.

There is something rotten in the state of Kansas...

As you all know, either from the news or from my previous posts, Paul Mirecki (on the left) is under a lot of fire. After private emails were discovered revealing his true intentions for teaching an anti-creationism/intelligent design class (seriously, what other motive could you have), he has withdrawn the class. Earlier this week, Mirecki was attacked by two unnamed men south of Lawrence. He said that they referred to the debate during the beating, which involved fists and a metal object.
So he says.
In the article in the UDK (click here for the full story), it says that he was taking a early morning long drive in the middle of nowhere when the attack happened. First of all, who does that? Whoe really takes a long drive early in the morning to nowhere? Moving on, he said that a pickup was tailgating him, so he pulled over. Sure. Sounds reasonable, right? I would pull over if a car was tailing me. But then, he gets out of the car. When a truck that was tailing you pulls over at the same time, you get the heck out of there fast. You don't stick around to see what the angry men want. The two men, described as two white men between the ages of 30 and 40, then proceeded to beat him, referring to the debate over the anti-creationism/intelligent design class during the attack.
This just seems fishy to me. Why would you pull over and then get out of your car? Of course, he has refused any comment. I just don't get why he would go through all the controversy and then refuse to explain yourself.
Anyways, that brings me to the latest update. If you read my mom's comment on my last post, Mirecki has resigned as the head of the religious studies department. (Click here for the full Kansan article.) First off, thank God. We do not need an atheist running the religious studies department. Also, it seems kinda like he just quit early. He has been with the University since 1989 and then suddenly resigns after two weeks of albeit, pretty harsh, controversy? Presidents have stayed in office for longer than that after controversy 10 times as bad. He also stated that faculty recommended he step down. Did they know something we didn't? Here's another interesting tidbit from the Kansan article:

"Andrew Stangl, president of the Society of Open-Minded Atheists and Agnostics, the 121-person student group for which Mirecki serves as faculty adviser, said Mirecki told him on Tuesday that he would step down as department chairman."

Hmmm......I leave the floor open now to any rebuttels my readers (ha) have. I'm just saying, there's something very fishy about all this.

Thankful.

Given the somewhat downtrodden nature of my last few posts, i decided to put an upbeat one in here.
Church was especially good today. It always has been. I'm very thankful to God for allowing me to find this Church (Christ Community Church) so early on. I've said this before in previous posts, but I find it necessary to reiterate, given the past few weeks there. The college bible study is pretty good. I guess it's not fully up to my standard because my standards are unfairly biased. I'm used to a close-knit group in Hutch that i've known for a while. Having all new people, save a few guys from Navs, is a little awkward for me, i guess. But i'm getting better. The sermons are great. Pastor Bill Hurlbutt (I know...strange last name. But he's great!), or PB as he is called, is not afraid to preach on issues other preachers step around. He preaches on sin, on hell (yes, he actually says the word "hell"!), on everything the congregation needs to hear. Not wants to hear, but needs to hear. I enjoy his analysis on already well-known passages a lot.
I am very thankful that God has allowed me to find a good church so quickly. The sermons are good, the pastor is good, the bible study is good, and I can even get regular rides there! And....the bible study has donuts. But that's beside the point. I really do enjoy the college life here in Lawrence, despite the impressions I have given in previous posts. There just are a few things that bug me.
That's all for now.
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11 Days!!!!!

Musings on Various Issues...

Yeah, I know. Weird title. But that's really what this entry is about! Let's start out with the events of the week.
Classes are slowly rolling to a halt here. Finals are coming up after this next week of class, so the "new" material is slowing down. My finals range from 4 to 7 in the afternoon to 7 to 10 in the morning, so they're all over the place. Thankfully though, they're spread out over four days. People seem really stressed out, and there are signs everywhere about not getting stressed, getting advice, and all that kind of stuff. I'm not really getting stressed out yet, but i'm not ruling that reaction out yet. Hopefully it will not occur.
It's really cooling off weather wise here. It's been low 30s pretty much every day this week, so the winter coats and goofy boots that somehow became stylish with the females are out in force. I'm serious about these boots. They look warm and all, but bright pink ones with fuzz (and matching snowpants and ski coat) and the pant leg rolled up to just above it? That's cool? Guess I just don't understand women.
On to the musings.
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I've started figuring out iTunes and the many features built in. I haven't used the music store yet, because i really don't have the money. Or i'm cheap. Either one. Anyway, it has a lot of other cool features. At the risk of sounding like a payed-for ad, I think it's great. First of all, I'm listening to guy (who lives down the hall)'s Christmas music right now. Shared Music Folders, a feature of iTunes, works like this. When I'm plugged into Templin, or for that matter, any other network, I can access the music they put in the Folder. Now, it's not illegal, mind you. Only 5 users per day can access any one person's folder, and they can just listen to it. They can't copy/burn/manipulate the files in any other way. Nifty! Also, I'm subscribed to a few podcasts now. I don't own an iPod, and probably never will. The battery isn't rechargable after a few years, and it costs waaaaayyy too much to replace it. I just listen to the podcasts on my computer. Anyway, most of them are free, and I'm subscribed to 3: NPR morning news, some human interest NPR feature, and TheForce.net's podcast. All of them are very interesting, and I think it's a interesting new way to get information across. Could be a new mass media? Who knows? I just think it's a lot of fun.

Next muse:
There was a big argument here over the last few weeks. There was going to be a course (in the religious studies department, no less) about "the myth of creationism." The actual title of the course, after they took that tag off the end, is as follows: “Special Topics in Religion: Intelligent Design and Creationism.” Orginally, there was a tag implying creationism was a myth. That got the department in a little bit of trouble, so after a story in the Kansan, they dropped the tag. Now, in an article in the Kansan today, they revealed the course had been canceled. People probably glanced at the headline, said "those stupid Christians" and went about their business. In fact, the reason it was canceled was entirely different. Paul Mirecki, the head of the religious studies department and also strangly and paradoxically enough, an atheist, sent a variety of emails over the past few years and posted them onto a yahoo.com listserve. They had things of this nature: calling Christians "fundies" (fundalmentalists) and saying that the course would be “a nice slap in their big fat face.” He got in huge trouble for this, and the class was dropped. (All this info is from the Kansan story, available here.) People immediatly thought that the class was dropped for it's content, and think that they can use this as another excuse to rail against "fundies." This shows the nature of our society. They are willing to either read waaay too much into an event (such as Kanye West's reading into Katrina) or waaay too little (in this instance.)
But such is life. Hopefully I can do something to counter all this crap when I get in the J-school. Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps.
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Whew! Long one...hope you all didn't mind. See you all soon!
If you care: 14 days until Christmas Break!

Back in KS/Weekend Summary

It was a fun weekend, but alas, I had to return to Kansas for another three weeks to finish out this semester.I had a lot of fun this weekend!      Thursday was fun.  It was a bunch of cooking and cleaning and last-minute set up things for the meal at 2.  We had 16 people over, so it was a full house.  The Burrs, the Smiths, and (I can't remember her name!) came over for dinner and random talk and a very lively game of Pit later on with the kids.  The turkey was delicous as always, as was the cranberries and pie and stuffing and anything else i forget to mention here.  I can only hope that there will be leftover cranberry sauce when i get home in 3 weeks...just kidding.  But you'll make more, right Mom?  Hehe!    On friday we went to "West Side Story" at the Chanhassen Dinner Theater.  I thought they did a very good job.   The script they used was exactly like the one we had for the high school two years ago.  The set was very imaginative.  It consisted of a bunch of metal ladders and platforms through which cast members seemed to just appear out of nowhere.  I thought they did a great job.  Even the gunshot worked!  We got home and prepared for another party.  A bunch of people from school and church came over to our house to just hang out.  We played Cranium and Catchphrase and whatever else was going on in that crazy house.  It was fun to see everyone again and hear Jeremy never stop talking.    Saturday was lazy day.  I started my speech which isn't due until Friday, so that tells you how bored i was.  I really can't remember what else I did on Saturday...my dad and I tried to go see the new Zorro film at the revamped State Theater in Hutch, but their equipment wasn't working or something.    Sunday we went to church.  I went early to set up with dad.  It was fun to see everyone and how much the little ones have grown.  Moose's sermon was good as always.  Then we headed for the airport to send me home.  I got to the gate fine, but they wanted to charge me 7 bucks to use the stupid wireless internet.  Scalpers.  Then the pilots were 3o minutes or so late to the plane, then there was some issue with fuel, and then once we actually got to KC, we had to circle the airport for a long time because of the stupid weather.Well, there's my weekend in a nutshell.  A very large nutshell...i hope it wasn't too boring for all of you. 
---------------------------------------------------------18 Days till I'm home again! 

HOME AT LAST

Hello all, I am now writing from my basement in Hutchinson!
Finally home.
So far, it's been fun. I got home about 12:30 last night, but didn't get to bed till around one. My mom and sister wanted to talk to me or something. Psssh. (just kidding!) I went to jazz band and regular band this morning with Jeremy, and then we went around talking to various teachers. It was fun to catch up. At ten i went to the ever-fun dentist, then back to AP English class to apparntly be living proof of all the things Dex says about college. But i got to have a donut and get applause (and see Kayla--WOOOO!!!!!), so it's all good. Then i sat at the lunch table with Kayla and Megan and a bunch of other peoples, and then went to eat good ol' Coffee Co. food with my mom.
Good times all around! It's so good to be home. It was a little weird at first, but i'm happy to be home. Looking forward to the weekend ahead. That's all for now!

Home Soon.

In about three days, I finally get to go home. Yay! It will only be for about a week or so...but it will still be good to go home.
In other matters...you all need to pray for the student (high school and college) pastor here at Christ Community Church. He was supposed to give the message today and teach our sunday school, but he never showed up. It turns out that his sister, who was also 8 months pregnant, died suddenly late last night or early this morning. They lost the baby, too. It is very sad news, and he needs all our prayers.
The Navs hosted a Barn Bash (hoedown thing) last night, and that was a lot of fun. I didn't have any cowboy items to wear, but they extra stuff there for people like me. I got to square dance, eat yummy chili, and get dragged along the floor in the wheelbarrow race. Woohooo! I sure dusted that floor.
Well, that's about it for the excitement here in Lawrence...see you all in Hutch soon!

Cold Weather at Last!

It's finally cooled down here in Lawrence. About two days ago, the temp dropped to around the mid 30s, and has remained there or lower ever since.
Just like home!
We got a little bit of snow from the massive storm that reached all the way up to Minnesota, but nothing substantial. It will be awhile before the ground freezes here, considering it was around 80 not 2 weeks ago. Oh well. I still get to wear my big winter coat and my nice leather gloves from Colorado! Thanks again, Mom and Dad.
Well...not a whole lot more to report on here in Kansas. The debate still goes on with Evolution vs. Intelligent design. Can't say i've been following it very closely, since i never had to go to high school here. Apparently Lawrence is right in the middle of the debate. I really don't see what the debate is. Why should teachers be forced to teach a theory that has many holes in it and not allowed to teach the truth? Most "intellectuals" (read as: "people far too smart for their own good") say that intelligent design is just a crutch, and then they go back to leaning on the splintered, rotting, and on-fire "crutch" that is evolution. They choose to ignore certain evidences against them and for intelligent design.
The only thing more I can say is: They've obviously never been to Colorado.
Or New Zealand.
Or Australia.
Or--the list goes on.
Well, that's my 2 cents on that issue...if anything more exciting happens here in Kansas, whether it be a acutal important event or just something in my life, you know where to turn!
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http://calebsommerville.blogspot.com: Your window into a world that quite possibly could be pretty darn boring.

Ah, Coms130.

Venting. Such is the nature of blogs.
For the past few days in Coms130, my speech class, we have been giving persuavsive speeches. This one incredibly intelligent girl decided to try and persuade us that the drinking age should be 18. NOWHERE in her speech did she mention that it was 18 in the 70s, or that many horrible things happened because of that. Convienant. Her main points were that "Everyone will already do it, so why not just make it legal?" and "18 year olds are already mature enough." Both of which, of course, are complete and total bull. First of all, "Everyone" doesn't drink. There's even a facebook.com group for those smart ones of us who don't. Second of all, it's illegal. Her "out-with-a-bang" ending was "So next time you all (unproven generality) have a shot or a beer in your hand, think about how much easier it would be if it was legal." So basically, she was admitting it was illegal, but still condoning it. Along those lines, here's my closing line for my speech about why murder should be legal. "So next time you all have a knife or gun in your hand about to kill someone, think about how much easier it would be if it was legal." Same argument, right? Yet now it sounds ridiculous. Hmm....does drinking cause anything like this? Of course YES! Drunk driving, impeded judgment, etc.
Mature enough? Is that why my roommate comes home wasted and calls all his friends to tell them he's "drunk as F---?" Is that why he orders a sandwich at 3 in the morning and then forgets about it? Is that why people at the football game were mumbling and shouting the Rock Chalk chant well after the game? Interesting concept of maturity.
Well, i'm done with that.
I get to enroll in classes today after 6pm, and already one is full. So, instead of Introduction to Political Theory (which actually sounds interesting to me despite the boring title), i'm taking either a art history of Japan or a history of China and Japan.
Well, that's about it...more later!

Oops...Rock Chalk Jayhawk!!!

Yeah, kinda forgot about this blog thing. Sorry to all who keep up with me!
I went to the KU/Nebraska game this past Saturday, and it was AWESOME. We broke the 36 year losing streak 40-15 to Big Red we had, and we set a stadium attendence record with 51,000 something people, and we tore down the goalposts two weeks in a row. This was the first, and probably the only, KU football game I went to this year, so I guess i picked the right one! It was crazy...near the end, the number of security guards probably quadrupled. People were tying their shoes tighter and linking arms with each other when there was about 5 minutes left. It wasn't that bad on the field, but i stayed a good distance away from the posts, cuz i didn't wanna get bashed with that thing when it snapped. And boy, did it snap. I went and looked at the hole it was in, and two bolts were already gone, and the remaining two were pretty much bent in half. 1inch thick bolts were bent. IN HALF. It was a pretty crazy celebration. After we hearded out of the stadium, I went home. I didn't wanna stick around for fights to break out and stuff like that.
Hmm....anything else goin on...I play for the church worship band on the 20th! Woo hoo! My first time playing my guitar in front of people since last time i played for church in Hutch. I hope i remember how!
My lovely and very nice mother sent me a very strange package the other day....it's contents:
-bubble-wrapped sunglasses
-Calvin and Hobbes comics (scattered loose throughout)
-Bank statements
-CCM magazine
-other mail
-two screws
But it was mostly:
-Cheap Halloween candy from Target!! WOOHOO!
Thanks mom. Yummy non-healthy candy!
Well that's about it.


Oh, in case you care:
16 days till Thanksgiving break, and 39 till Christmas break! "I'll be home for christmas..." Hehe!