The Dalai Lama

Well, I've seen Mother Teresa, and now we're going to see the Dalai Lama. He's coming in September to the University of Buffalo to give a lecture on promoting peace across the borders and performing an interfaith service with religious leaders around the area. Barb's friend, Marina, has a son that attends UB and he was able to get us advance tickets before they go on sale to the general public. (and they are expected to go quickly...) If you'd like to join us, tickets are available through UB's website and go on sale Tuesday.

Buffalo News...

I made the Buffalo News today with the posting about the Da Vinci Code. (See Below) You can access what they actually printed from the Buffalo News Online Link by scrolling down the page and looking on the left side. Once there, click on "Opinion," then "Everybody's Column." If you go today, I think mine is the first one there, if you go after today, look for the date (5/28) as you scroll through and look for the entry about the Da Vinci Code.

$316.81

Oh, Happy Day.

8:30 AM - Wake up refreshed.

9:00 AM - Scrounge for food. Find some fruit to eat for breakfast. (Maraschino Cherries in a jar...I poured the juice off, though.) I also had two pickles.

9:15 AM - Watch the three hour TV presentation of Stephen King's "Desperation" in 45 minutes. Fast forwarded through it because it stank, but I wanted to see the ending.

10:00 AM - Called the cable company about how much they overcharge us. Argued with them for about 1/2 an hour with no results.

10:30 AM - Went outside in the back yard to sweep off the back porch and straighten up.

11:30 AM - Hear Liz inside yelling for me to come inside quickly. I walk through the back door, hear my toilet gurgle, then watch is it begins to fill up. I notice my shower is full of a brownish water, and still am heading toward Liz.

11:31 AM - Walk into Liz's bathroom to see her toilet overflowed and her bathtub full of dark water.

11:35 AM - Call Barb and Doug to relay the tragedy and cancel our plans for X-Men 3. (The most tragic part of our day!)

11:45 AM - Talk to the good people at Roto-Rooter, who tell us someone will be there in three hours or so.

3:45 PM - The Roto-Rooter guy extracts what looks like gray, hairy glue from our pipes and comments on how this probably hasn't been done in years. (He also said there were no roots in the pipeline...thank goodness!)

4:45 PM - Everything is flowing normally except the bathroom sink, which the Roto-Rooter guy also has to snake. (For an additional fee of course...)

5:10 PM - I sign my name to a check to the Roto-Rooter man for $316.81, which includes $182 for the outside snake, and the rest for the inside snake.

5:11 PM - Decide to move back home to live with parents. Being an adult is too expensive.

Michael McCocker

We've decided that Taylor Hicks from American Idol is the perfect combination of Michael McDonald and Joe Cocker, thus his new name: Michael McCocker.

Last night's performances were ho hum, but we're hoping he wins tonight. We'll be watching "Lost" and flipping back to American Idol during the commercials. We're taking the phone off the hook, though, because last year we did the same thing and a certain someone called and ruined our moment. That certain someone should remember that Father's Day is just around the corner!

Also, the posting about "The Da Vinci Code" will be appearing in the Buffalo News this week. You can access the Buffalo News from the link in the menus on the left side of this web page. I don't know which day it's expected, but you can check it out for yourself. When you get on their webpage, click on "Opinion," then "Everybody's Column." Look for the one about "The Da Vinci Code." They said they were going to edit it because it was too long. I'm interested to see which parts they keep.

So Dark The Con of Man...

Well, we saw "The Da Vinci Code" last night.

If you've read the book, you'll like the movie, emphasis on like, not love. Most of the main plot points were there, but a few of them were somewhat diminished. If I had not read the book, the movie would have been a little hard to follow. The new twist at the end was well done and I was pretty satisfied.

The best part, though, was the folks demonstrating out at the street where you turn into the movie theater. (I'll post a picture later...) For some reason, people are having a lot of trouble distinguishing between reality and fiction. If one's faith is so easily undermined by a modern novel and movie, how strong is that faith? Zealots don't give the regular folks a whole lot of credit. I'm guessing the assumption (emphasis on "ass") is that unless you are against the whole thing, then you must be letting it infiltrate your beliefs. Two and a half hours of entertainment will hardly undo a lifetime of influence, but I guess weakness is an expectation. I would think the more passionate Christians would embrace this movie as a new way to dialogue with others about religion and its place in society, rather than reverting to the same oppressions and judgements that have started wars in the past. Fortunately, I live in a country where I can still make the decision to see movies like The Da Vinci Code if I want to. Unfortunately, those same freedoms extend to those who sit in judgement about my decision to do so. "Judge not, lest ye be judged," seems to have been overlooked by those that think their opinions are greater than my choices. You know what they say about opinions, though, don't you?

From The Internet Anagram Server...

Funny Anagrams of my name…

A CHESHIRE FILM
A FISH RIM LEECH
A CHISEL HE FIRM
HIM FISH CEREAL
HI LIFE MARCHES
HE FILMS I REACH
HIM FRESH ALICE
HE FISH MIRACLE
HIRE FISH CAMEL
I CLAMFISH HERE
FLASHIER CHIME
HE IS CHILE FARM
CHIEF LIME RASH

I Won The Kentucky Derby!

Well, the horse I bet on, Barbaro, won. Ironically, I won a very lucky $13. How do you like them apples?

Our family picture that we had made the day before Easter. 

Maureen cut Siobhan's hair, can you tell? We couldn't either. It's just as curly and poofy as ever! 

A little smile... 

Siobhan making a face. 

Siobhan giving a high five. See the partial biscuit in her hand? The rest is in our house as a trail to find her way back to the living room. The Grimm Brothers are thinking of rewriting their classic Hansel and Gretel to include Siobhan, as the biscuit dropping / trail making cousin. 

A better picture of our "Easter Bunny." Note the progeny in the next picture... 

We've got baby bunnies in our yard now, too. 

The teacher that teaches across from Liz appeared on our TV a couple of weeks ago coming out of the triple overtime Sabres Hockey Game. Luckily, we Tivo-ed the event and were able to rewind, pause, and photograph!