Christmas Break 2008

The Christmas Holidays are a fun time for me. Sure there is time off work. More time with the family and friends. Great food. Gifts. And if you are a follower of Christ, a wonderful spiritual time of worship and reflection. But there is so much more. Like sports. For those of you who don't know the difference between a Sooner and a Gator, this is known as the College Bowl Season. It is the time of the year when college football teams are rewarded for anything resembling a successful season. The opening of this years cornucopia of football was the Las Vegas Bowl on December 20th between BYU and Arizona. In true Las Vegas fashion, we had an odd mix of images. The grit of football. Scantily clad showgirls at the coin toss. A football field sized flag. David Hassellhoff singing the National Anthem. And an Air Force flyover that probably caused some Southwest passengers to wet their pants when the F 15's hit their after burners in the night time sky. In a game I was lucky enough to attend, Arizona won a hard fought battle. But what stood out for me was that I live in a western state and the organizers had to shovel snow off of the aluminum seats before the game. Yes, it was very cold. A nice Las Vegas Sun Photo of Arizona defending against the BYU offense in the 2008 Las Vegas Bowl. Tuesday the 30th, my son is taking the family to the Holiday Bowl in San Diego. The Oregon Ducks are taking on the Cowboys of Oklahoma State. As a big PAC 10 Conference fan, and having many amigos from Oregon, you can guess who I will be rooting for. Then it'll be on to the 2009 Tournament of Roses Parade. The in-laws are taking a whole group of us, and this year we've scored the best seats in the house, or in this case, on the street. Right below the television cameras on Colorado Blvd., across from the Norton Simon Museum. While a significant part of the good old U.S. of A. will be in a deep freeze, we'll be basking in wonderful dry sunshine watching the best parade in the country. I'll post some pictures after the event but here is a great preview. The 2008 Sweepstakes Winner for the Most Beautiful Float in the parade, from Rainbird Industries. After the game, we'll head back to their house to watch our favorite college team, USC, demolish Penn State in the Rose Bowl. Then we'll share together the traditional New Year's meal of cajun gumbo, sourdough toast, black eyes peas, and with luck, sweet potato pie. Life is good. Have a happy New Year and see you all in 2009!

Christmas 2008

As you rush around today hoping to finish your preparations for the big day, take a few moments and reflect upon him whose birth we are celebrating at this time each year And if you are living one of those White Christmas areas, where I know I have a lot of friends, please be careful on the roads. Feliz Navidad Amigos!

A Vegas Winter Wonderland

It is 6:00pm Wednesday evening and it has been snowing in Las Vegas for almost 6 hours. This is incredible. Our entire city only has one snowplow and it is working overtime at McCarren Airport to keep the place open. All highways heading south to California are closed due to heavy snowfall. Oh yeah, and a little road widening just past the California/Nevada border where they are blasting. Yep, you read that right. Good old TNT. Anyways, here's a few more pictures from my neighborhood. These are my neighbor's palm trees. My truck, yard, and snow covered trees. Check out the small purple flowers on this desert sage. Mondell pines and desert sage in our Vegas winter wonderland.

The Great Las Vegas Blizzard of 2008

Can you believe it? Yesterday it snowed in Las Vegas and tomorrow we are expecting more! That's right, the folks who know about weather stuff are saying we can expect another 3 - 4 inches of the white stuff overnight and into tomorrow. Our valley looks amazing right now. For more on the story, and a good slide show, visit the Las Vegas Sun. Now I know some of you are of the global warming schmarming crowd and will look to portray this in that light, but let's just take a day or so and enjoy the incredible beauty God has given us. Here are a few more surprising pictures, from today's Las Vegas Review Journal. Twins Winter Cactus Snow in the Desert

The Irony Files, Pt. II

I couldn't resist this one. Last week it was a DHS official caught using undocumented help. Then later the same week, we hear that DHS Cabinet Secretary, Michael Chertoff has had undocumented workers cleaning his house. Presumably because he cannot afford to pay enough to attract legal workers. Today I came across this little gem from the Washington Post entitled "Kidnap Consultant Taken in Mexico" by William Booth. MEXICO CITY, Dec. 15 -- An American anti-kidnapping negotiator, whose company says he has resolved almost 100 kidnapping cases in Latin America, was abducted by gunmen last week -- while meeting with Mexican business executives and their bodyguards to discuss ways to thwart such crimes. Get the rest of the story here. No word on who is negotiating the negotiator's release.

Is This The Church?

[Club Christ kids playing during a break from their studies] Many people I know are critical of the Christian Church, and a lot of times, rightly so. We have not done a real good job lately connecting to people in our communities, being what Tony Campolo calls agents for change in a hurting world. For whatever reason, and frankly, there are many, there is the impression that the church is only interested in people for her own selfish interests. In many churches it is impossible for those with an entrepreneurial spirit to start new ministries that reach into communities and address the problems people face in everyday life. Sometimes because those ministries are not 100% focused on the spiritual life of the individual. I have often struggled with this and the resultant lack of presence, us bible folk call it salt, in the communities and neighborhoods around our churches. This reality has forced those entrepreneurs, sadly, to go outside the church to do the work of the Gospel. One of those ministries here in Las Vegas is Club Christ. This ministry, started by my friend Evan Hartsell, is the church in the community. It is people being Christ in a hurting world instead of just talking about it. Today the Las Vegas Sun, a traditional liberal newspaper in our city, ran a great story on the ministry of Club Christ on their front page. Check it out here. And then, if you are a church goer, ask yourself this question. Why does someone have to work outside the church to do, or start a ministry like this? The answer might help explain why statistics show little or no church growth over the last few years.

Just Desserts

I am blessed with opportunities to frequently travel. Often I am in the Pacific Northwest and when I am, one of my favorite places to meet someone for dinner is Papa Haydn's in Portland. It started out as just a dessert place many years ago. A few years back they decided to add a small dinner menu. But the desserts remain the main attraction. And why I return time after time. Today I received my Christmas letter from Papa Haydn. Okay, it really wasn't from Papa himself, and if I am being totally honest, it was more of an advertisement, but it did come in the mail. Alright, it came in my e-mail. But you get the point. In it, they featured that great looking Pumpkin Maple Mascarpone Cake I have pictured above. It is layered with pumpkin spice cake & maple/mascarpone mousse and covered with a cream cheese frosting. About the only thing I can think of to improve this wonderful looking cake, apart from having it on my dinner table on the 25th, is a nice steaming hot coffee latte. Provecho!

On The First Day of Christmas...

I was watching NCIS tonight. While the show is just basically background noise for me, I was stunned by a newly minted commercial. CBS, the network airing NCIS, had a commercial telling us that a Prostate Exam makes a wonderful Christmas gift. I can think of a whole lot of things I would like for Christmas, not the least of which is a personal financial bailout, but an exam of the prostatal regions is not among them. Besides, mine was already checked when I went to the doctor for an ear infection!

The Irony Files

From the Irony Files comes this little Associated Press tidbit. Enjoy. US Homeland Security Official Charged BOSTON - A top Homeland Security official in Boston was accused Friday of repeatedly hiring illegal immigrants to clean her home, even warning one not to leave the country "'cause once you leave, you will never be back." Get the whole story here. Any thoughts? Quick Update... it seems Department of Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff also has an issue with undocumented workers. Read more here...

Nationalize GM?

The Chevy Corvette ZR1 ~ In the words of Dan Neil, "Amazing!" As congress thinks about how to handle the auto makers crisis in Detroit, many have taken to trying to come up with a solution that might work. Remember what I said before. Congress is going to do something. So let's get the best deal we can for the majority of US taxpayers. Los Angeles Times Pulitzer prize winning automobile writer Dan Neil has another idea. Nationalize General Motors. That's right. Nationalize General Motors. Now before you assign the Times and their writers to some sort of left leaning conspiracy, check out what he says. Here is part of it. To be clear, I mean that the federal government should buy GM; forget rathole loans or nonvoting equity shares. The company's stockholder value has been essentially wiped out. The company's enterprise value -- the lock, stock and forklift price -- is about $32 billion; its total debt is $45 billion. Let's make GM an offer. If you feel the gall of free-market ideology rising, consider that the measures being bruited about as preconditions for a bailout -- firing GM's top management; forcing a bankruptcy-like renegotiation of contracts with the UAW, suppliers and dealers (it has too many); and creating a czar of product development to force the building of green cars -- are nationalization in all but name. I say embrace it. GM-USA. Click here to to read the entire article.