George Foreman

No, this post isn't about his famous grill (I do love mine, though), it's about George finding Jesus. Mr. Foreman's conversion experience is remarkable:

Nowadays, the beloved bruiser-turned-minister sells grills and preaches the Word in his own church. Once upon a time, though, he was the meanest, most lethal cat around. His about-face began in 1977, after a tough split-decision loss in Puerto Rico.



"I started thinking, 'I could go home and retire. I got money. I could retire right now to my ranch and die,' " he told Beliefnet.com. "And before I knew it, that had taken over my whole conversation -- you're gonna die. I realized I was going to die in that dressing room from a boxing match. ... It was like someone dropped me off in the deep sea -- no help. There was no way I could get out of this."



"I saw blood coming down my forehead, and I hadn't been hit in the boxing match. And I told my masseur, 'You move your hand because He's bleeding and they crucified Him.' And I started screaming words I never screamed before, that Jesus Christ was coming alive in me. And I jumped in the shower, started screaming, 'Hallelujah! I'm clean, I'm born again, I'm going out to save the world!' And they said, 'You better put on some clothes first.' "

Other celebrity spirituality stories from the same article can be found here.

The Vampire that Can't Be Killed

Mark Steyn is at it again, this time he's on to the laggards at the New York Times, etc., who seem flummoxed by the "partisan politics" that have shockingly appeared during, of all things, an election season (from the Jerusalem Post):

So both groups are "politically motivated." Good for them. That's what multi-party democracy is all about. The New York Times and CBS News are also "politically motivated." So is this column. It's a political column, and it's "politically motivated." One day I'll start a ballet column, and that will be politically motivated.



So now that we've got all the preening patrician media snobbery out of the way, would it be too much to expect so-called political journalists to investigate Kerry's Cambodian stories? You know, the way they did when the comparatively minor question arose of whether Bush was AWOL from his National Guard base three decades ago. Boy, The New York Times loved that one:

February 4: "Military Service Becomes Issue in Bush-Kerry Race"



February 11: "The President's Guard Service"



February 13: "Seeking Memories of Bush at an Alabama Air Base"



February 15: "Still the Question: What Did You Do in the War?"

As the Times put it, "Mr. Bush himself also made the issue of military service fair game by posturing as a swashbuckling pilot when welcoming a carrier home from Iraq."



Well, the other feller made his military service fair game by posturing as a swashbuckling Swift Boat lieutenant to the exclusion of the other 59 years and eight months of his life. The story now is not John Kerry's weird secret-agent fantasies but the media's willingness to act as elite guardians of them. They're his real "band of brothers," happy to fish him out of their water, even if their credibility sinks in the process.

You can read the entire article here.



MORE: Is this all Douglas Brinkley's fault? Some say yes.

Trip to Austin - Texas Capitol Dome Interior

An impressive edifice, the Texas State Capitol features an amazing dome. Click the image to navigate to a larger version. You should be able to make out the "Texas" letters surrounding the gold Lone Star. The Texas capitol is, naturally, the largest capitol building in the United States. The complete set of pics can be found here.

Texas Capitol Dome Interior Originally uploaded by whatnext.

Trip to Austin - Enterin' Texas

Naturally, Texas has three different signs welcoming visits to the state. This one is self-explanatory. There is also a decorate state-shaped sign, and a huge "Welcome to Texas!" sign. The complete set of pics can be found here.

Enterin' Texas Originally uploaded by whatnext.

Trip to Austin - The Guadalupe Mountains

Yet another unexpected, beautiful sight. The Guadalupe mountain range is part of the National Park system. El Capitan rose slowly into view as we traveled easy on Interstate 10. At 8,749 feet, it's the highest point in Texas. The range is actually a huge, Permian-era limestone reef - anywhere from 230 to 290 million years ago.

The Guadalupe Mountains Originally uploaded by whatnext.

The complete set of pics can be found here.

Trip to Austin - Texas Canyon

Texas Canyon isn't in Texas, it's about 55 miles east of Tucson, Arizona. We were happily driving along when we came across this unexpected, stunning landscape. I insisted over the two-way that we stop at a nearby rest area to take in the sight of these huge boulders strewn about the Arizona wilderness.

The Drews at Texas Canyon Originally uploaded by whatnext.

The complete set of pics can be found here.

Trip to Austin - Truck Stress

There is no real way to tell you how stressed out I was about the truck. A week before, I examined out a "sample" Budget truck and was quite confident that all of my stuff would fit inside the box. By moving day, however, I was in a big panic -- the movers thought the truck was too small.

Posing with The Truck Originally uploaded by whatnext.

As the truck was being loaded, mom and dad arrived from the Oakland airport. The first words out of my father's mouth were "I don't think you'll be able to fit everything into that truck." Fortunately, we were all wrong and discovered, to my immense relief, that the truck had room to spare. Kudos to Budget!



The complete set of pics can be found here.

Still Waiting...

...on high-speed internet access. Time Warner, the local Austin cable provider, won't be able to install my high-speed line or cable until August 30th becuase of the crushing influx of UT students. Posting will be limited until I'm fully wired up.

Great Housewarming Gift