A List Of Things About Me

I received a request to try and create list of things about myself. I don't have any real direction so I am going to just throw it out there and we'll see if it is remotely interesting. (originally posted here.)

1. I have a problem with brevity, I am naturally long winded.
2. Although I can be gregarious I can be exceptionally quiet.
3. I can be the life of the party or the shyest guy in the room.
4. I am a hopeless romantic.
5. I love movies that have a character that has loved and lost- Casablanca and Unforgiven come to mind.
6. I am exceptionally stubborn. I can maintain my position against the world, even at the expense of cutting off my nose to spite my face. I am working on that.
7. I can bark like a dog. It sounds like a very large dog and I have used it on many occasions for many purposes.
8. When I was 12 I called the police on the FBI.
9. I was evacuated from a Forest Fire when I was 16 and have been through several major earthquakes.
10. I used to be able to curl 150 pounds and benchpress more than 300. Now I find putting up 200 to be challenging.
11. I am a Peace Corps baby. My parents met in Ecuador but I was born in Los Angeles.
12. My first car was a 1969 Dodge Dart Swinger. That was followed by a 1977 Cheverolet Impala Station Wagon. Then I had a 1977 Camaro, it was Blue. That was followed by a 1990 Toyota Camry Station Wagon. That was followed by a 1996 Honda Accord and a 2000 Honda CRV.
13. I took my Dart offroading, did donuts in the quad at my high school, drove through trash cans, shopping carts and endless other barriers that we would assemble.
14. In high school I helped an underclassman sneak out by allowing him to hide in the trunk of the Dart. I didn't want to do it but he begged me for a month and I finally gave in. I drove for about 3 miles before I let him out, but not before I hit every speed bump and dip I could find. When he got out of the car he was covered in a ton of muck, not to mention some oil I kept in the trunk.
15. I went to Israel for the first time in 1985. Before I left I made sure to get a haircut because I had heard that the barbers there were terrible. While in the chair I kept encouraging my barber to cut my hair really short. By the time he was done my head was shaved. My mother was furious.
16. One of the guys in my group started calling me Rambo. When we met the other kids on the trip they wanted to know why that was my nickname. It didn't take long for us to make up all sorts of stupid stories about how I was in the army, or had saved a family at the airport from being robbed. None of them were true, but I thought that they were pretty cool. I was 16, what did I know.
17. I am afraid of the dark and have been for as long as I can remember. I once tried to overcome my fear by walking alone at night through the woods for a couple of miles. It helped a little, but sometimes I still feel like that scared little boy.
18. I have Irritable Bowel Syndrome. My biggest fear is that one day I won't make it to the bathroom in time. I have used all sorts of places and have some pretty good stories about my bathroom escapades.
19. One morning when I was having trouble I pulled into the parking lot of a diner. The men's room was locked so I ran into the womens. Fortunately it was empty. While I was in the middle of my business two women walked in and spent a ridiculous amount of time primping and talking at the mirror. When they finally finished and left I ran out, washed my hands and ducked out of there. A policeman saw me walk out and stopped me. I didn't know how to respond to his questions so I answered him in Hebrew. He finally decided that I must not have spoken English and let me go.
20. I could eat pizza every day and never get tired of it.
21. In college I tore the doors off of a pick up truck at my fraternity house. It was an old truck that had been sitting out in the rain for about 5 years. It didn't work and no one wanted to take responsibility for getting rid of it. One day after having had my heart torn out by an ex-girlfriend I took out my frustration on the truck. It took me about an hour to kill the first door. I was surprised when the door came off and of course had to see if I could do the same to the other door. It only took 45 minutes to tear that one off.
22. I love watching The Worlds Strongest Man Contests on ESPN. They are goofy, ridiculous, but oh so much fun.
23. I loved Gladiator. One of my favorite movie lines is "Unleash Hell"
24. Speaking of favorite quotes here are a few from Casablanca " "Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine." "Rick: How long was it we had, honey?Ilsa: I didn't count the days.Rick: Well, I did. Every one of them. Mostly, I remember the last one, the wild finish. A guy standing on a station platform in the rain, with a comical look on his face, because his insides have been kicked out."
25. I was in the pilot episode of a game show called "The Grudge Match." The show consisted of three rounds in which you fought an opponent. I was reluctantly matched up against a woman.The first round we had kind of a pillow fight. They gave us "pillow swords." I let her smack me with it a few times and then took it out of her and started to popping her with her sword and mine. Continued
    
26. The next round we were given big sticks that had pillows on the ends, they looked like giant cue tips. She kept trying to hit me in the crotch with her stick and I kept shaking my head at her. Eventually I swept her legs out from under her and that ended the round.The final round was boxing. They gave her regulation 16 ounce gloves to use. I was given oversized 32 ounce gloves. Continued again
    
27. They were monstrous and if i held them up I couldn't see her. I spent a large part of that round trying to avoid having to hit her, but she had no compunction about hitting me, especially below the belt. I finally got fed up with it and hit her back. I didn't hit her hard, but I would be lying if I said that I didn't get a little satisfaction out watchin her hit the canvas. There is only so many times that you can let someone do something like that before you react.
    
28. In my life I have considered working as a sports writer, rabbi, lawyer and teacher.
29. I once took out a singles ad. I got 24 responses and went out with 17 of the women who responded to my ad. For a brief time I dated 3 of them. It was cool because since they all had found me through the ad they knew that there were other women and no one gave me any grief about the others. Eventually I narrowed it down to one and had a girlfriend for about 8 months or so.
30. If I was single again I would not use an ad. It was a ton of fun, but it was an incredible amount of work to date that many people. Too hard to get to know anyone seriously when there are so many others, but it was fun while it lasted.
31. In college I lost a "push-up" contest. The goal was to do more consecutive push-ups then the others in the competition. I did a little more than 700. The winner did close to 850.
32. I love to read anything and everything. My profile lists a very small selection of the authors I enjoy.
33. I love history, it fascinates me.
34. I wore glasses or contacts for 20 years. I had the lasik surgery four years ago and never looked back. It is amazing.
35. I wish that I had James Earl Jones voice. I like mine, but his is on a different level.
36. I have worked as a writer, editor, teacher, youth director, cross country coach, P.E. coach, sold copiers, ad space (online and print), run a marketing department and sold lemonade.
37. Many years ago I was told that a great way to relieve stress was to just go outside and scream. I have never done this outside, but I admit to having done so in my car. And I admit to being scared at the outpouring of emotion. I always feel a little more vulnerable afterwards. FWIW, I don't think that I have done this more than three times and never while actually driving.
38. I have been accused of being too intense. I have also been accused of not taking anything seriously. The answer lies in between.
39. I have a body that was built for demolition, grace is not something that is used to describe me. I am not a klutz, I play many sports, some of them well, but I am just kind of big.
40. I am a daydreamer. I love to spend time lost in thought about things, people, places and all sorts of stuff.
41. I once believed that I would never be married. I have a bad case of wanderlust and I didn't think that I could be in one place with one person for any length of time.
42. When I was younger sometimes I would get in my car and just drive until something caught my eye.
43. I am a storyteller. I am good at coming up with stories off the cuff and just running with them.
44. Everything in this list is true, but I have had to work hard at making sure I didn't include anything that was fabricated. I really wanted to and I may still do it yet.
45. The best thing I have ever done in my life is become a parent. It is the hardest and the scariest, but still the best.
46. I used to say that I wanted six children. I still do, but I am not sure that it is a reasonable goal.
47. In college I told one of my girlfriends that I wanted to have six children. She told me that I was selfish and crazy, that it was unfair to ask one woman to bear that many children for me. I told her thatI told her that was very spiritual and that I would do as my forefathers did. I said that I would spare her the full load and offered to marry her and her two sisters. Not only did I offer my hand in marriage but health, retirement and vacation benefits.She didn't think that was funny. I still smile about it.
48. The scariest thing about being a parent is my own memory of the things that I did. I cringe sometimes at the thought of my children doing as I did.
49. I sometimes think that G-d gave me a daughter to punish/teach me a lesson. I love her dearly, but again when I think about boys/men and girls it makes me crazy. I work out harder so that when I am 50 those boys who come looking for my daughter will think twice about it. I don't really think that it will work, I never was intimidated by fathers, but maybe it will work for me. Who knows.
50. I almost never proofread my posts. I don't spell check them and unless someone points out a mistake it sits there, a siren notifying the world of my silly error.
51. I always wanted to be able to speak with an Irish accent. I don't know why, but I do. I can do a pretty good Southern accent. If I am speaking with someone with a drawl it just sneaks out of me. It can be strong enough to fool people into thinking that I am from Dixie. Of course they get a little irate when they hear me speak in my normal voice, but that is a story for a different day.
52. I love Didi Reese Cookies.
53. When I was about seven we had an Old English Sheepdog named Fluffy. She was wild. She ate shoes, the door, and assorted odds and ends. She used to go tearing through the house at top speed. I remember her knocking my sisters over like bowling pins. Eventually my parents gave her away and I cried.
54. When I was 24 we had to put our dog to sleep. I took her to the vet by myself and I held her paw as they injected her. I watched the lights go out in her eyes. It was terrible. Her kidneys were failing, she could barely see and she many other problems, but it was still hard. I stayed in the room with her and held her dead body. I cried then too. It was rough.
    
55. I could extend this silly list of nonsense, but I am not sure that it is even worth posting so I'll cut it off here for now.
    

Teaching Children To Hate

This is just so very wrong. Indoctrinating children with such hate.

Hollywood Takes a Stand Against Terror

I was glad to read about this.

NICOLE Kidman has made a public stand against terrorism.

"The actress, joined by 84 other high-profile Hollywood stars, directors, studio bosses and media moguls, has taken out a powerfully-worded full page advertisement in today's Los Angeles Times newspaper.

It specifically targets "terrorist organisations" such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Palestine.

"We the undersigned are pained and devastated by the civilian casualties in Israel and Lebanon caused by terrorist actions initiated by terrorist organisations such as Hezbollah and Hamas," the ad reads.

"If we do not succeed in stopping terrorism around the world, chaos will rule and innocent people will continue to die.

"We need to support democratic societies and stop terrorism at all costs."

A who's who of Hollywood heavyweights joined Kidman on the ad.

The actors listed included: Michael Douglas, Dennis Hopper, Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Danny De Vito, Don Johnson, James Woods, Kelly Preston, Patricia Heaton and William Hurt.

Directors Ridley Scott, Tony Scott, Michael Mann, Dick Donner and Sam Raimi also signed their names."

From YNET:

"Actor Adam Sandler was present at one of the many briefings the consul general gave this week. At the end of the briefing, Sandler announced that he would personally donate USD 100,000 to the children of the north and south, and about 400 Playstation games purchased by the actor are expected to be transferred to the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem in the coming days."

Some Cool Sound Clips

Here are a few sound clips. Some may be more risque so consider yourself forewarned. Some of these come from some of my favorite movies.

Bogart
Stella
Land War In Asia
Mr Wolfe.
Mutants
Women
Trying to Pick Up Women
Dodgeball
Scarface
Three Up and Three Down
White Man In Dire Need
Kansas

Always
Close
Good Leads
Top Man
Mr. Hand
Dr. Evil
I could Have Been A Contender

JonBenet Ramsey Continued

Here is some additional information regarding the post below. This still leaves a few questions to be answered.

BOULDER, Colorado (CNN) -- John Mark Karr, a 41-year-old schoolteacher, has been charged with murder in the 1996 killing of 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey, authorities said at a news conference in Boulder, Colorado, on Thursday.

Boulder County District Attorney Mary Lacy wouldn't comment on nature of investigation or the timing of the arrest.

"There is much more work to be done" on the case, Lacy said.

"Let us do our job thoroughly and carefully," Lacy asked the media.

Karr had begun working as second-grade teacher in Bangkok international school system on Tuesday, Lacy said.

Karr said in Bangkok he was with the child beauty queen when she died in 1996 and called her death "an accident."

"I was with JonBenet when she died," he told reporters in Bangkok. "I loved JonBenet."

Asked by a reporter if he was an innocent man, Karr replied, "No."

And here is another section to review.

Abduction gone awry?

Suwat quoted Karr as saying that he tried to kidnap JonBenet for $118,000 ransom but that the plan went awry and he strangled her, according to an AP report.

Karr told questioners he drugged and then had sex with JonBenet before accidentally killing her, Thamrongrisakul told The Associated Press on Thursday.

Thamrongrisakul said he was not present for the questioning, which was conducted by U.S. law enforcement officials, according to the AP report, but was told of the interrogation.

Karr had been a suspect for a while, Hurst said, adding that her office and the Thai police worked closely for two months before a judge believed probable cause existed for an arrest.

Karr's arrest was the culmination of an investigation that began after a University of Colorado professor, Michael Tracey, contacted authorities in Boulder.

Tracey, who produced a documentary about the JonBenet murder, had been in touch with Karr for at least two years, according to university spokesman Barrie Hartman.

Karr's ex-wife, Lara Karr, told KGO-TV in California that she does not believe her former husband killed JonBenet because he was with her in Alabama at the time."

A Lebanese Perspective

The Lebanese Political Journal offers a post about where things stand now.

"No maybe political statements have been made from the 14 March camp, but Druze leader and regular Lebanese rhetorical firestarter Walid Jumblatt announced that he will hold a press conference on Thursday entitled, "We will not surrender to Assad and Nasrallah's conditions."

The tone in Lebanon has already changed. According to friends in Beirut, not even the Shia were happy with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah's post-ceasefire speech.

The Shia community is the most vulnerable right now. Hezbollah is using fierce rhetoric, most likely, to intimidate other Lebanese politicians and sects from criticizing them and to delay any talk of their disarmament. This rhetorical move is sending shivers down the spines of most Shia because now is precisely the time to talk about Hezbollah's weapons. We were talking about them before in an effort to prevent something happening like what just occurred. Now, the urgency to talk is even greater.

Hezbollah's rhetoric is frightening many Shia because they are without homes, food, electricity, medication, money, roads, utilities, and other necessities. They could take the fight against Israel. They can't take much more. And they definitely can't take arms against the people who most recently supported them when they were in need; the very people who currently in a much better state than those who lost their homes.

Many Shia claim that if Hezbollah doesn't provide them with support very soon, they will no longer be able to support the organization. Many Shia were willing to support Hezbollah through thick and thin because Hezbollah took care of them. In Dahieh Jounoubieh (the southern suburbs of Beirut which is primiarly Shia and where Hezbollah's headquarters are located), Hezbollah was referred to as chebab (guys) who took care of all sorts of mundane problems.

Now that they have truly suffered for Hezbollah, the Shia want something in return. Their houses are gone. Their furniture is gone. Their loved ones are gone. And they want to know if Hezbollah will help offset their losses. In his speech, Nasrallah claimed he would. But most likely that support will be too little, too late."

We shall have to see what this all means.

Updated to include:

The war Hezbollah couldn't lose - and might

(Thanks Snoopy)

So how could Hezbollah lose?

They still might. And not only because its gunners have yet to make good on Nasrallah's probably ill-advised (and reminiscent of Israeli blunders) vow to send missiles crashing into Tel Aviv.

The answer lies in the nature of the cease-fire now under debate at the United Nations and across the Arab world. The answer lies, no less, in the one phenomenon that Israelis planners could not have foreseen, and which they are still at a loss to explain:

The world's silence.

For all the name-calling and hand-wringing - much of it perfectly valid, others drearily, predictably one-sided - Israel has been for a solid month operating under no real international pressure.

The reason this time may have little to do with Israel, and everything to do with Iran.

The world is scared of Hezbollah. Because the whole world is scared of Iran. Especially large swaths of the Arab world.

If, for the first time, Hezbollah is forced by international pressure to pull back its fighters in favor of the Lebanese army and a multi-national force, even at the cost of a large prisoner exchange.

Arrest made in JonBenet Ramsey case

I truly hope that they have the right person. I hope that there is a special place in hell for those who hurt children. I can't believe that it has already been ten years.

"(CNN) -- Authorities have arrested a "possible suspect" in the decade-old JonBenet Ramsey murder investigation, law enforcement sources told CNN on Wednesday.

An investigator with the Boulder County, Colorado, District Attorney's office traveled to Bangkok, Thailand, and is bringing a suspect back to the United States, CNN Denver affiliate KUSA reported.

The suspect was arrested Wednesday morning and has confessed to certain elements of the crime that are unknown to the general public, KUSA reported.

The man already was already held in Bangkok on unrelated sex charges, sources told The Associated Press.

Prosecutors have not confirmed the identity of the suspect, but expect to hold a press conference later today.

JonBenet's beaten and strangled body was found in the basement of the family home in Boulder, Colorado, the day after Christmas in 1996. She was 6."