Pat Forde, a columnist at ESPN.com, recently ran down the best & worst NCAA basketball courts (aesthetically speaking).
Texas A&M wound up being the worst court! His reasons:
The Aggies just had to have a bigger state-of-Texas outline than the Longhorns, so theirs stretches very nearly from key to shining key. Combine that with parquet and a too-large logo on top of the state outline and you have The Minutes’ vote for the ugliest floor in America.
C’mon! How can you not love this court?!
I know that I haven’t written in a while, and I apololgize! I have been busy working, sleeping and growing my belly!
As you know we are expecting a boy, and the little guy has not stopped moving. He kicks especially when I am resting and trying to fall asleep. I am now 28 weeks along, so more pictures and updates will come as I have more to say!
Also a “Best Wishes” to all my friends who are having babies this month and next! Best of luck!
This is a little late in coming…
We made a surprise trip to Texas last weekend. The back story to how this all came about is too long to report here, but we can say this: thanks to the generosity of a few people, and thanks to a little saving by us (but mostly thanks to others’ generosity), we were able to afford two relatively inexpensive flights from Detroit to Dallas. Our friends, Matt and Amy, live in Dallas, so we stayed with them on Friday night. On Saturday, Amy, Barb and I made the drive down to College Station (3 hours) to surprise Chris and Angela for their baby shower! The surprising part was fun. (Chris was actually in on this, so it was really only a surprise to Ang.) Amy arranged to meet Chris and Angela at Freebirds for lunch. (A trip to Freebirds was a big incentive for me to go…) When Ang walked in and surveyed the seating situation, there Barb and I were, sitting at one of the tables! Needless to say, she didn’t expect to see us there!
Saturday night, we went to the shower, saw some other friends, etc. Sunday, we went and visited Jason and Kristen Devore for a bit, then went out for lunch with the Wilke clan. Sunday afternooon it was back on the road to Dallas, where we spent the evening checking out parts of the downtown area, including some of the project sites that Matt’s architecture firm is involved with. And, of course, we made sure to have some barbecue for dinner!
We were back on a plane to Detroit early Monday morning, in time for me to make it to my 2.30 class!
…but they’re not all there is to promoting social justice. Equally important is avoiding compliance with an unjust system. You’ll remember that I recently posted a link to this article, which makes a case for philanthropic giving, hailing the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as a shining example of such charity. This article exposes the dark side of the Gates’ philanthopy, serving to make the point above. Here’s an excerpt to entice you to read the rest:
Using the most recent data available, a Times tally showed that hundreds of Gates Foundation investments — totaling at least $8.7 billion, or 41% of its assets, not including U.S. and foreign government securities — have been in companies that countered the foundation’s charitable goals or socially concerned philosophy.
This is “the dirty secret” of many large philanthropies, said Paul Hawken, an expert on socially beneficial investing who directs the Natural Capital Institute, an investment research group. “Foundations donate to groups trying to heal the future,” Hawken said in an interview, “but with their investments, they steal from the future.”
This is one of the craziest hockey moments I’ve ever seen. You might have to watch it a couple times to believe it.
In the end, Dallas still beat Edmonton in a shootout, but it should never have come to that.
Awhile back, we posted an audio clip of this sermon slip-up. Here’s the video:
Definitely worth a watch. Check out his eyes once he realizes what he’s said.
Via Shona Q., we recently found out that a tornado touched down right in our old College Station neighbourhood. Here’s Shona’s report of the damage:
Tornado was on Longmire/2818 area. Doux Chenes apartment buildings lost their roof completely (4 of the buildings now have no roof, and they said 168 people were displaced). Also TX ave at Southwest Pkwy (right by your old place!) was pretty bad too. McDonalds lost their arches, Firestone lost two bay windows, China King buffet had damage at the front and rear (including a trash bin thrown into the restaurant), and the mall with Play it Again sports was pretty bad too.Exciting times, but no deaths, or severe injuries.
Here’s a map of the area to give you some point of reference.
Our apartment location is the green arrow. Actually, our apartment was a little closer to Texas Ave. (to the right). The McDonalds Shona speaks of is right at the corner of Texas Ave. and Southwest Pkwy (a little southeast of our old place). The Firestone and China King are little closer, along Brentwood Dr., and the Play It Again plaza was to the immediate right of our apt. Literally, there was one building between us and the plaza!
UPDATE: In case you didn’t catch it (or bother to look), Shona added a link to a website documenting the damage in the comments section. You can get the site by clicking here. Here are two pictures of the damage done to the plaza beside our apartment. (Keep in mind: our old apartment is literally 40-50 feet to the left of this wall!)
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