Stupid Bird & Stupid Movie

This weekend i went to the tip of Louisiana at Grand Isle. We caught some
crabs, catfish, bonfired, it was great. The best part was just as we arrived
I had to run straight to the ocean to grab a bird. Joe's fishing line had
wrapped around a seagull midair and I had to carry it back to shore while it
tried to peck my fingers off all the while my dog Dixie and Megan's dog Quincy were taking bites at it. It was hilarious. When we finally let it shake its
feathers and tossed it into the air, it flew for about 15 feet and then sank
back into the water from exhaustion. never saw it again after that.

Sunday, saw Friday Night Lights. Is that really how hardcore high school
football is in Tehas? Do they really put "For Sale" signs on your coaches lawn
when you'd lose? After a loss, did your daddy kick out the windows of your car to get fresh air because he was sick to the stomach like the times his daddy beat him with a bullwhip? Go Mojo Panthers. WHAT?!? overrated.

JPII Goin Home

Today Pope John Paul II, previously named Karol Wojtyla, died.

As a primarily non-practicing Catholic I still felt a connection and sorrow to this news. I disagree with the Church on many issues and am not a good Catholic, so I wonder tonight why this news still hits home. I suppose partly because my family members are all devout Irish and German Catholics, my brother's studying to be a priest, and I was raised within such a culture.

Regardless, I realize a great man of peace has died, aside from religion and the institutional position he held. Here are the reasons you should care:

• A man who tried to break the factions of millions of Muslims, Jews, and Christians, focusing much of his career on the simple idea of peace. He has fought for peace between Palestine and Israel, both calling Jews "older brothers" and meeting with Yasser Arafat to stop civil war. B'nai B'rith and other Jewish organizations testify that he helped Jews find refuge from the Nazis.

•John Paul was intent on improving relations with Muslims. On a trip to Damascus, Syria, in May 2001, he became the first pope to step into a mosque.

• As Victor Simpson writes, "(He was) a man who had lived under both the Nazis and the Soviets, (loathing) totalitarianism, which he called 'substitute religion.'" He influenced Eastern Europe away from a faulty communism, while also condemning capitalist callousness.

"The Holy Father was a beacon of light not just for Catholics, but for all people."
- Former President Bill Clinton