It's been a while

I wondered how long I would keep up with this thing, lol. Obviously I have not done so in over a month. Maybe I'll get some time to do it periodically, who knows.

First Televised Major League Baseball Game

On this day in 1939, the first televised Major League baseball game is broadcast on station W2XBS, the station that was to become WNBC-TV. Announcer Red Barber called the game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York.

At the time, television was still in its infancy. Regular programming did not yet exist, and very few people owned television sets--there were only about 400 in the New York area. Not until 1946 did regular network broadcasting catch on in the United States, and only in the mid-1950s did television sets become more common in the American household.

In 1939, the World's Fair--which was being held in New York--became the catalyst for the historic broadcast. The television was one of fair’s prize exhibits, and organizers believed that the Dodgers-Reds doubleheader on August 26 was the perfect event to showcase America's grasp on the new technology.

Read More Here

Ralph Waldo Emerson meets Thomas Carlyle

On this day in 1838, Ralph Waldo Emerson met influential British writer Thomas Carlyle, with whom he would correspond for 38 years. Carlyle and the English romantic poets would have an important effect on Emerson's work.

Ralph Waldo Emerson came from a long line of American ministers. He enjoyed a sheltered childhood in Boston, and attended Harvard Divinity School. Although Emerson accepted a position as pastor of a Boston Church in 1829, the death of his wife in 1831 deepened his existing religious doubts. He resigned two years later, explaining to his congregation that he had started to doubt the sacraments.

Read the story Here.

Quote for the Day

“Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens.”

~ Kahlil Gibran

Brett Favre Is Dead To Me

I was willing to let this Favre thing go. In a way, I was happy he exposed the Vikings for what they were—desperate and willing to put one man before the team.

Then I heard him utter these words: "Real Packers fans understand."

Really, Brett? Because I have been a real Packers fan my whole life, before you even knew who we were, and let me tell you what I understand:

1. I understand you jerked us around every year and were not committed enough in the team to stay within the game plan all those years, or maybe you would have won more than one Super Bowl.
2. I understand that you are now playing for the division rival you promised to hold your breath until you got to last season.
3. I understand that you are spitting in the face of the greatest franchise in the history of sports....

Read the whole story Here.

Quote for the Day

"[W]ith respect to future debt; would it not be wise and just for that nation to declare in the constitution they are forming that neither the legislature, nor the nation itself can validly contract more debt, than they may pay within their own age..."

--Thomas Jefferson

Quote for the Day

"We are, heart and soul, friends to the freedom of the press. It is however, the prostituted companion of liberty, and somehow or other, we know not how, its efficient auxiliary. It follows the substance like its shade; but while a man walks erect, he may observe that his shadow is almost always in the dirt. It corrupts, it deceives, it inflames. It strips virtue of her honors, and lends to faction its wildfire and its poisoned arms, and in the end is its own enemy and the usurper's ally, It would be easy to enlarge on its evils. They are in England, they are here, they are everywhere. It is a precious pest, and a necessary mischief, and there would be no liberty without it."

--Fisher Ames, Review of the Pamphlet on the State of the British Constitution, 1807

Christopher Robin's Birthday

On this day in 1920, Daphne Milne, wife of writer A.A. Milne, gives birth to a son, who the couple name Christopher Robin Milne. Christopher Robin will be immortalized in A.A. Milne's books Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner.

A.A. Milne was born in London in 1882, the youngest of three sons. His parents were both schoolteachers; his father was headmaster at a school where H.G. Wells taught. His family claimed Milne taught himself to read at age two. He began writing humorous pieces as a schoolboy and continued at Cambridge, where he edited the undergraduate paper. In 1903, he left Cambridge and went to London to write. Although he was broke by the end of his first year, he persevered and supported himself until 1906 with his writing. That year, he joined humor magazine Punch as an editor and wrote humorous verse and essays for the magazine for eight years, until World War I broke out. While atPunch, he wrote his first book-for adults, not children.

See more Here.

Theft of the Mona Lisa

August 21st 1911

An amateur painter sets up his easel near Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa at the Louvre in Paris, only to discover that the masterpiece is missing. The day before, in perhaps the most brazen art theft of all time, Vincenzo Perugia had walked into the Louvre, removed the famed painting from the wall, hid it beneath his clothes, and escaped. While the entire nation of France was stunned, theories abounded as to what could have happened to the invaluable artwork. Most believed that professional thieves could not have been involved because they would have realized that it would be too dangerous to try to sell the world's most famous painting. A popular rumor in Paris was that the Germans had stolen it to humiliate the French.

Investigators and detectives searched for the painting for more than two years without finding any decent leads. Then, in November 1913, Italian art dealer Alfredo Geri received a letter from a man calling himself Leonardo. It indicated that the Mona Lisa was in Florence and would be returned for a hefty ransom. When Perugia attempted to receive the ransom, he was captured. The painting was unharmed.

Perugia, a former employee of the Louvre, claimed that he had acted out of a patriotic duty to avenge Italy on behalf of Napoleon. But prior robbery convictions and a diary with a list of art collectors led most to think that he had acted solely out of greed. Perugia served seven months of a one-year sentence and later served in the Italian army during the First World War. The Mona Lisais back in the Louvre, where improved security measures are now in place to protect it.

Source

Quote for the Day

"The pyramid of government-and a republican government may well receive that beautiful and solid form-should be raised to a dignified altitude: but its foundations must, of consequence, be broad, and strong, and deep. The authority, the interests, and the affections of the people at large are the only foundation, on which a superstructure proposed to be at once durable and magnificent, can be rationally erected."

--James Wilson, Legislative Department, 1804

Professional Football is Born

On this day in 1920, seven men, including legendary all-around athlete and football star Jim Thorpe, meet to organize a professional football league at the Jordan and Hupmobile Auto Showroom in Canton, Ohio. The meeting led to the creation of the American Professional Football Conference (APFC), the forerunner to the hugely successful National Football League.

Professional football developed in the 1890s in Pennsylvania, as local athletic clubs engaged in increasingly intense competition. Former Yale football star William "Pudge" Heffelfinger became the first-ever professional football player when he was hired by the Allegheny Athletic Association to play in a game against their rival the Pittsburgh Athletic Club in November 1892. By 1896, the Allegheny Athletic Association was made up entirely of paid players, making it the sport’s first-ever professional team. As football became more and more popular, local semi-pro and pro teams were organized across the country.

Read More Here

Quote for the Day

"Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."

--Declaration of Independence

Today in History

On this day in 1909, the first race is held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, now the home of the world's most famous motor racing competition, the Indianapolis 500.

Built on 328 acres of farmland five miles northwest of Indianapolis, Indiana, the speedway was started by local businessmen as a testing facility for Indiana's growing automobile industry. The idea was that occasional races at the track would pit cars from different manufacturers against each other. After seeing what these cars could do, spectators would presumably head down to the showroom of their choice to get a closer look.

The rectangular two-and-a-half-mile track linked four turns, each exactly 440 yards from start to finish, by two long and two short straight sections. In that first five-mile race on August 19, 1909, 12,000 spectators watched Austrian engineer Louis Schwitzer win with an average speed of 57.4 miles per hour. The track's surface of crushed rock and tar proved a disaster, breaking up in a number of places and causing the deaths of two drivers, two mechanics and two spectators.

Read more Here.

Quote for the Day

"It is an unquestionable truth, that the body of the people in every country desire sincerely its prosperity. But it is equally unquestionable that they do not possess the discernment and stability necessary for systematic government. To deny that they are frequently led into the grossest of errors, by misinformation and passion, would be a flattery which their own good sense must despise."

--Alexander Hamilton, speech to the Ratifying Convention of New York, 1788

Falling Out of a Plane....No Problem

Not for these men at least.

Alan Magee Falls 22,000 feet and lives: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1071076/posts

Michael Homes Falls 14,000 feet and lives: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17113222/

James Boole ....6,000 Feet : http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/5342032/Skydiver-survives-6000ft-fall-without-parachute.html

And I thought falling out of a tree was bad...

Quote for the Day

"I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education. This is the true corrective of abuses of constitutional power."

--Thomas Jefferson, letter to William Charles Jarvis, 1820

Skydiver Survives 10,000-Foot Fall

A British skydiver has remarkably survived after a 10,000-foot plunge to the ground when his parachute failed to open, according to the Daily Mail.

Paul Lewis, 40, jumped from a plane on Friday like he had hundreds of other times, but something went terribly wrong as he was free-falling toward the ground.

His main parachute failed to open, and then his reserve parachute failed to work properly and Lewis plummeted through the air before crashing onto the roof of a hangar at Tilstock Airfield in Whitchurch, Shropshire.

Lewis, a freelance cameraman, was filming tandem jumps for the Parachute Center, a skydiving firm based at the airfield. Luckily, the roof of the hangar broke his fall and he escaped with only some head and neck injuries. Lewis is expected to make a full recovery.....

More here:http://www.myfoxla.com/dpp/news/dpgo_Skydiver_Survives_10000_Foot_Fall_mb_08162009_2979733

Pray for Larry Pruit

Please pray for Larry Pruit.

He is a college student here at Golden State Baptist College. He was in a bad car accident early Saturday morning, and was in surgery most of that day.

Please pray for him as he goes through recovery; he may be in the hospital for another week or so.

Quote for the Day

Sorry, I missed a couple days last week.

"No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand, which conducts the Affairs of men more than the People of the United States. Every step, by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation, seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency."

--George Washington, First Inaugural Address, April 30, 1789

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet....

[32] But I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system, and expound the actual teachings of the great explorer of the truth, the master-builder of human happiness. No one rejects, dislikes, or avoids pleasure itself, because it is pleasure, but because those who do not know how to pursue pleasure rationally encounter consequences that are extremely painful. Nor again is there anyone who loves or pursues or desires to obtain pain of itself, because it is pain, but occasionally circumstances occur in which toil and pain can procure him some great pleasure. To take a trivial example, which of us ever undertakes laborious physical exercise, except to obtain some advantage from it? But who has any right to find fault with a man who chooses to enjoy a pleasure that has no annoying consequences, or one who avoids a pain that produces no resultant pleasure?

[33] On the other hand, we denounce with righteous indignation and dislike men who are so beguiled and demoralized by the charms of pleasure of the moment, so blinded by desire, that they cannot foresee the pain and trouble that are bound to ensue; and equal blame belongs to those who fail in their duty through weakness of will, which is the same as saying through shrinking from toil and pain. These cases are perfectly simple and easy to distinguish. In a free hour, when our power of choice is untrammelled and when nothing prevents our being able to do what we like best, every pleasure is to be welcomed and every pain avoided. But in certain circumstances and owing to the claims of duty or the obligations of business it will frequently occur that pleasures have to be repudiated and annoyances accepted. The wise man therefore always holds in these matters to this principle of selection: he rejects pleasures to secure other greater pleasures, or else he endures pains to avoid worse pains.

Quote for the Day

"Honor, justice, and humanity, forbid us tamely to surrender that freedom which we received from our gallant ancestors, and which our innocent posterity have a right to receive from us. We cannot endure the infamy and guilt of resigning succeeding generations to that wretchedness which inevitably awaits them if we basely entail hereditary bondage on them."

--Thomas Jefferson

Thoughts From the Church Service

Had a great service at church tonight. Pastor Trieber preached what the Bible says about government, and how our Government and country was founded on Christianity.

I always think it is great to take the historical documents of this country and look at how much the men who founded this country believed that God had to be the center of our government. It is also nice to read different quotes or letters that these men said/wrote and also see that they were Christian men who not only believed in the One true God, but also tried to live by his statutes and principals put forth in the Bible.

"Repeal that [welfare] law, and you will soon see a change in their manners. St. Monday and St. Tuesday, will soon cease to be holidays. Six days shalt thou labor, though one of the old commandments long treated as out of date, will again be looked upon as a respectable precept; industry will increase, and with it plenty among the lower people; their circumstances will mend, and more will be done for their happiness by inuring them to provide for themselves, than could be done by dividing all your estates among them."

--Benjamin Franklin, letter to Collinson, 1753

Quote for the Day

"Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are stiffened."

Billy Graham

Quote for the Day

"You have been used to take notice of the sayings of dying men. This is mine: that a life spent in the service of God, and communion with Him, is the most comfortable and pleasant life that anyone can live in this world."

Matthew Henry

It's been a while.

It is great to be back at College and back on Bus 23. Campus is like a ghost town; I think there are less than 50 students currently on campus.

The bus has been great!! I was so excited to see the kids on the bus. Right now it is just me and Larry Pruit on the bus...and of course Bro. Marczac. Numbers are a little low, but I'm hoping to get them up to around 40 by the time all the students are back on campus.

Really nervous about being a bus captain to be honest, but I have some really good workers coming back from last year so I should be fine thanks to them. :)

50 Things Girls Should Know About Guys!!!

1. Guys hate sluts.

2. “Hey, are you busy?” or “Are you doing something?” ~ two phrases guys open with to stop from stammering on the phone.

3. Guys may be flirting around all day but before they go to sleep, they always think about the girl they truly care about.

4. Before they call, guys try to plan out a little about what they’re gonna say so there aren’t awkward pauses, but once he’s on the phone he forgets it all and makes it up as he goes.

5. Guys go crazy over a girl’s smile.

6. Guys will do anything just to get you to notice him.

7. Guys hate it when you talk about your ex-boyfriend or ex love-interest. Unless they are going for the “let her complain to you and then have her realize how wonderful and nice you are” method.

8. A guy who likes you wants to be the only guy you talk to.

9. Boyfriends need to be reassured often that they’re still loved.

10. Don’t talk about your guy friends to your boyfriend.

11. Guys get jealous easily.

12. Guys are more emotional than they’d like people to think.

13. Giving a guy a hanging message like “You know what?!..uh…never mind..” would make him jump to a conclusion that is far from what you are thinking. And he’ll assume he did something wrong and he’ll
obsess about it trying to figure it out.

14. Guys are good flatterers when courting but they usually stammer when they talk to a girl they really like.

15. Guys hate asking parents for money to buy girls presents. So they come up with ideas like saving their lunch money for a week. But it never works because guys are always hungry so they end up asking the parents for money anyway.

16. Girls are guys’ weaknesses.

17. Guys are very open about themselves.

18. It’s good to test a guy first before you trust him. But don’t let him wait too long.

19. Your best friend, whom your boyfriend seeks help from about his problems with you may end up being admired by your boyfriend.

20. If a guy tells you about his problems, he just needs someone to listen to him. You don’t need to give advice.

21. A usual act that proves that the guy likes you is when he teases you.

22. Guys love you more than you love them if they are serious in your relationships.

23. Guys will brag about anything.

24. Guys use words like hot or cute to describe girls. We rarely use beautiful. If a guy uses that, he likes you.

25. Guys think WAY too much. One small thing a girl does, even if she doesn’t notice it can make the guy think about it for hours, trying to figure out what it meant.

26. Guys seek for advice from girls not other guys. Because most guys think alike, so if one guy’s confused, then we’re all confused.

27. Any guy could write out a rulebook or advice book for flirting, but no guy can write out a book about relationships.

28. Try to be as straightforward as possible.

29. A guy has to experience rejection, because if he’s too-good-never-been-busted, never been in love and hurt, he won’t be mature and grown up.

30. If the guy does something stupid in front of the girl, he will think about it for the next couple days or until the next time he spends time with the girl.

31. No matter how much guys talk about "other things", personality is key.

32. Guys learn from experience not from the romance books that girls read and take as their basis of experience.

33. Guys worry about the thin line between being compassionate and being whipped.

34. If a guy looks unusually calm and laid back, he’s probably faking it and is spazzing inside.

35. When a guy says he is going crazy about the girl, he really is. Guys rarely say that.

36. When a guy asks you to leave him alone, he’s just actually saying, “Please come and listen to me.”

37. Guys don’t really have final decisions.

38. If a guy starts to talk seriously, listen to him. It doesn’t happen that often, so when it does, you know somethings up.

39. If your best guy friend seems to avoid you or is never around when you’re with your boyfriend, he’s probably jealous and likes you.

40. When a guy looks at you for longer than a second, he’s definitely thinking something.

41. Guys like femininity not feebleness.

42. Guys don’t like girls who punch harder than they do.

43. A guy has more problems than you can see with your naked eyes.

44. Don’t be a snob. Guys can be intimidated and give up easily.

45. Everything in moderation. Put on makeup, wear perfume. Just not too much.

46. Guys talk about girls more than girls talk about guys.

47. Guys hate rejection, but they hate being led on even more.

48. Guys really think that girls are strange and have unpredictable decisions and are MAD confusing but somehow are drawn even more to them.

49. A guy would give anything to be able to read a girl’s mind for a day.

50. No guy can handle all his problems by his own. He’s just too stubborn to admit it

51. Not all guys are jerks. Just because ONE is a idiot doesn’t mean he represents ALL of them

Oregon

I flew into Oregon last Thursday, and to my surprise, it is a very beautiful state. I saw a mountain that was snowcapped in the summer for the first time as well.

If you did not know, I flew in for my friend Daniel Hyde's wedding. He was married this past Saturday to Lori Preston. It was a nice wedding, and it was good to see some friends from school that came to the wedding.

I've been staying at a friends house, and it has been great. I'm looking forward to being back at college tomorrow. It's gonna be nice being back with my bus route.

SURPRISE!!!!!

I had a great 4th of July weekend in the Georgia mountains. We rented a boat for 8 hours and went fishing all day one day. I also went to a waterfall called Ana-Ruby falls, it was very beautiful.

When we got home on Monday night, I found out that my mom was moving to Villa Rica....that's only 15 minutes from my house. Man was I surprised to find that out. I went from not spending any time with her in several years to her living near me in a months time. Hopefully everything works out well. It's too bad that I'm heading back to the West Coast on the 16th, oh well...

I hope to make the best of the rest of my summer.

Things to bring on a "Road Trip"

I finally got a haircut yesterday, and today I'm heading up to Cleveland. Cleveland, GA is a small town near Helen, GA. My family and I are going up there for the Forth of July weekend. I'll be sure to post pictures on here of the trip.

We're renting a boat while we're there....I havn't been fishing in ages, it should be interesting. :)

1. (If you're not the one driving) A good book.... Depending on how long you will be in the car, a good book can make the time go by quickly.

2. Snacks/Drinks.... Now this could be the most important of all. Who wants to stop every 20 minutes because someone gets thirsty, or hungry? I know I don't.

3. Portable DVD player.... This will always come in handy, especially if you have kids in the vehicle, and is always a good alternative if you get bored with your book.

4. Games.... Games are a good way to pass time on a road trip. You can bring stuff for a game, or like me and my family have done countless times, play either the ABC game, or the 50 States game.

ABC Game: You try and find A-Z on signs, liscense plates, cars, etc.... The letter must be outside your vehicle.

50 States: I would have to say this one is more fun. You try to find a liscense plate from every state. This is also a lot harder than the ABC game. If anyone finds Alaska or Hawaii let me know...I think those are the only two I have never found.... :(

5. Last but not least...Money.... This is an obvious one, do I even need to explain?

Good thing this road trip is not going to be a long one, actually it's quite short compared to what I'm used to. Have fun....

Another Braves Game...

So I went to another Braves game....I know, why would I put myself through another one. Well I went with my family is why, and what do you know, it was actually a good game. Martin Prado had a walk-off single, or maybe double, whatever it was it won the game in the bottom of the 10th inning. This game was not near as long as the one last week either.

Tonight should be a good night at church. I've enjoyed being home this summer.

I leave for Oregon on the 16th of July for Daniel Hyde and Lori Preston's wedding, it should be a nice one. I find it hard to believe Dan is getting married, I mean....I went to high school with that guy. Oh well.

Until next time,

~JV

Home again...

Well, I came home this past monday, and it is good to be home. I had a great time visiting my mom and family though.

We got a brand new 1080p HDTV on wednesday!!! It is great, now we just need to get a blu-ray player and we'll be set. :)

I went to an Atlana Braves game last night.... It only takes one game for me to remember why I don't follow baseball. I have always been a Braves fan, but man they stunk it up last night. Hope they do better the rest of the season....

And before I forget...... YANKEES STINK!!!!!!!

Pictures of me and Family...

Trip to NW Georgia....

Took a nice trip to northwest GA, and got to visit Athens, GA. We drove around the campus of UGA and ate at Raising Canes for lunch.

Now I'm at my moms house in Crawford, GA; it has been forever since I saw my mom and family. My neice and nephew are so cute!!! I'll have to post a picture of them on here in the morning.

So far, So good....

Well, It's day two of my blog, so far I guess I'm keeping up with it.

Had a good service at church tonight, my pastor preached from Job 1 and 2. It was good, it was about how we should praise God IN everything not because of or for some particular thing.

Tomorrow is going to be an exciting day....I'm going to my moms....first time I'll get to spend time with her in several years, and the first time I'll have seen her in almost two years.

Family Fun

Had a great time tonight with my family. We went to "Stars and Strikes", it's a bowling alley that has an arcade like Dave and Busters and it has laser tag and bumper cars.

We bowled and played laser tag...and we definitely played some games... I won a pink bear out of a giant claw machine and gave it to my six year old cousin, she loved it. :)

First Post...

Well, I finally did it...I made my own blog...Hopefully I'll keep it updated.