"I'm what the world considers to be a phenomenally successful man. And I've failed much more than I've succeeded. And each time I fail, I get my people together, and I say, "Where are we going?" And it starts to get better." - Calvin Trager
I was growing up in Tucson, AZ when those Americans were being held hostage in the U.S. Embassy in Tehran for 444 days in the late 70s/early 80s. For us, the local angle was Sgt. Rudy Lopez, USMC, who was from Globe. They covered his family pretty constantly -- though because it was before the era of 24-hour cable crap, it was nowhere near the insanity it would be today.
Then they all came home and he disappeared into oblivion.
But I do remember they all got lifetime Major League Baseball passes...
Speaking of baseball, spring training is here, which always makes me wish I was in Arizona. As big a baseball town as St. Louis is, it amazes me that they don't broadcast all the spring games on the radio.
So, before the first exhibition game is even played, here are my predictions for the season:
National League West - Los Angeles Central - St. Louis East - Atlanta Wild Card -- Chicago
American League West - Los Angeles Central - Chicago East - New York Wild Card -- Minnesota
NLCS - St. Louis over Atlanta ALCS - Minnesota over Chicago
World Series -- Minnesota over St. Louis
...Just finished watching the second season of 24 (loaned to me, as was the first, by my brother). Gotta admit that I'm hooked on it, though I'm definitely not a fan of the torture scenes. Also, had the same thing happen with season 2 that happened to me with season 1, which was there was a while in the 13th through 18th hours that it all seemed so ridiculous (kind of the ER-syndrome where everyone is just being so stupid getting into everyone else's business, going behind people's backs and having helicopters fall on them). Also, I realize there is a certain amount of suspending disbelief, but are we really supposed to buy that these people are driving all over Los Angeles in "real time" and spending almost no time in traffic?...
Radio talk show host this morning kept referring to Arizona senator John McClain. That would be cool. Bruce Willis' character from die hard in the U.S. Senate. Want to cut funding for the Global Fund? Yipee Kay-ya M*#&^@ F(#$*($#!...
Got a new computer. A Toshiba Satellite that is really fantastic. The Dell Inspiron I had before turned out to be a real piece of junk. My father-in-law has one, too -- as does a friend of his. All three of us have had to have batteries replaced as well as the mother board. The last straw was when keys started falling off the thing and I'd get the blue screen every other time it would shut down. This one is great. 120GB hard drive, 15"" widescreen with amazing clarity. 2GB RAM. Completely supercharged .... and I don't have to wait 5 minutes for it to boot up....
Lent starts tomorrow. Haven't figured out what my Lenten discipline is going to be (and, as the left hand is not supposed to know what the right is doing, I won't be posting it here!). Any ideas?...
Also, watch this space tomorrow for a very important reader poll.
EGR resources and connects the church to embrace what one person, one congregation, one diocese and one church can do to make this mission of global reconciliation happen.
Want to find out more ... check our our website at www.e4gr.org.
"Christ's example is being
demeaned by the church if they ignore the new leprosy,
which is AIDS. The church is the sleeping giant here.
If it wakes up to what's really going on in the rest
of the world, it has a real role to play. If it doesn't,
it will be irrelevant."
- Bono
Episcopalians for 
