Nav Ski Trip 2007

Leading Off - I’m in charge! You do what I say! Okay, so that’s not exactly the way things are. In all honesty, I have no authority whatsoever. But my boss and a lot of my coworkers are in Orlando for the next few days and, in terms of housekeeping, I’m in charge. So it’s not much more than taking calls for people and making sure the folks still in the office are all here. But I’ve got to take encouragement where I can get it at work sometimes and the fact that my boss trusts me enough to do this is pretty encouraging.

Ski Trip - It turns out there was enough snow in North Carolina to make the Nav ski trip a real ski trip. (Now, I wasn’t going to ski either way so it really didn’t matter to me.) I’m pretty sure my favorite part was the car ride there and back. Ten hours each way in the man van. Anytime you put Joe and Rob in an enclosed area that they can’t leave incredible things will be said and done (and by incredible I mean a plethora of things, not all of which should be put in print). I ended up not doing much of anything on Saturday, mostly because I woke up as everyone was leaving to go do their thing. So I sat around the church and read for a few hours. That was fine by me. In fact, my one real worry about going on this trip was that I wouldn’t have some down time that I felt I desperately needed. Sunday was spent hiking, hanging out on a giant rock with a great view, going to a Chinese buffet for dinner, and praying for ASU on their football field. Lots of fun, all around. I even have a few photos up on Facebook.

Something a little different about this ski trip when compared to the ones from the past two years is that there was teaching for the Bible on Saturday night and Sunday night. Saturday we heard from Jennie O’Keefe and Dave Wirgau, Sunday from Andy Larkin and Josh Davis. With no disrespect intended to Dave, Andy or Josh, I was most impressed by Jennie’s testimony. Let me underscore that while what she said resonated with me, what caught my attention was her presentation. Now, I really don’t know Jennie at all; I know of her, and before this trip even that was a stretch. All that to say that I didn’t know what to expect when she got up front that Saturday night. As a person who has been up in front of a large group many times before, it has become a major concern for me to not be “the guy up front” whenever I’m in front of a large group. In other words, it’s important to me to put the listeners at easy and not make them feel inferior due to their status as audience member. I’m no better than they are just because I’m the one talking and I certainly don’t have everything figured out. Jennie’s body language, tone, and obvious preparation conveyed all this better than I’ve ever seen. She sat up front, her body a little slouched in the chair, her feet up on another. She was kicked back and ready to tell a story. All the unspoken communication was saying, “Hey, you know me. I’m the same Jennie I was a second ago. I’m not here to show off, I’ve just got a little something to tell you.” People were paying attention, too, and not just believers. And that’s where all this attention to detail pays off (or maybe it’s not attention at all and it’s just a gift): when the people you hope really hear you are the ones who are really listening.

NFL Postseason - I’m glad I didn’t make predictions about these NFL playoffs because I would have been dead wrong. I think my Super Bowl would have been Chargers vs Saints. Whoops. This Super Bowl should be pretty entertaining. I’ll forecast the game when we get a little closer and we know all there is to know about everything and everyone involved in the Colts and Bears organizations.

The Bauer Power Hour - Please don’t read any of the rest of this post if you’ve missed any of the first five episodes of 24’s sixth season. This will spoil things for you. Consider yourself warned. (There are not, however, any spoilers for future episodes.)

First of all, I’m happy that the United States is losing the war on terror this season. It seems like they’ve only had minor problems in past seasons, but this year they’ve been getting bombed for eleven weeks and just had a suitcase nuke go off in Valencia, CA. I’m not rooting for the bad guy, but after a while if you want to top the work you’ve brought to the table you have to have tragic things happen for the heros to overcome.

We have to take a look at the character choices this season. I’m glad they made Wayne Palmer president even though I think he’s kind of a wimp. You can tell that his party (which we actually don’t know, but can assume is Democrat if it’s the same as his brother) really pushed him into the role, knowing he’d win the office on name recognition alone. He looks and sounds lost most of the time, second-guesses himself and doesn’t strike me as the guy who’s going to be able to make the big decision. I do like that his plotline is taking place in D.C. rather than L.A. It just makes more sense.

Looking at CTU, I can’t stand Milo in his new role. I liked him better when he was low on the totem pole rather than a boss of anyone. Morris is pretty cool, but they really haven’t done much with his character yet. I’m sad they chose to kill off Curtis. I wonder if Roger Cross wanted off the show or if it was the producers who just chose to kill him. I like Nadia and I can’t stand how people on the internet think she’s a mole just because she can speak Arabic.

With those two plotlines in mind, I’m not sure if I like Bill and Karen being married. If it were just their characters in question I’d say no problem. But when you look at the body of work that is 24 it just looks so much like Tony and Michelle. At least they’re on opposite sides of the country, so that’s something new for the writers to explore.

I really like Hamri Al-Assad, the terrorist turned statesman. Alexander Siddig is the man. He was a stud in Syriana and he’s a stud now. He has a very convincing accent. I’m so used to hearing him speak with an English RP accent on Deep Space Nine. (Nerd. Nerd!) I imagine he’s going to get killed off this season and that makes me sad.

I’m not liking Sandra Palmer at all. I’ll get in trouble with the political left for saying this, but she’s such a buzz kill. And I know she has a point and that she needs to be the voice of reason on a show that tortures people and detains innocents just because of their faith. But they didn’t just make her vocal, they made her loud and obnoxious. I like Walid al-Rezani, the guy she represents. I know they manufactured a character who was an honorable civilian Muslim to offset all the dishonorable terrorist Muslims but, that being said, they did a very good job.

I have mixed emotions about the new plotline with Jack’s family. Many people are saying that Graham, one of the villains from season five, turning out to be Jack’s brother is evidence that 24 has jumped the shark. But I am on the side that wants to wait and see. I think this could be good, even if it is a little far fetched. Sutherland reads scripts before he goes into production. I’d like to give him a little more credit before I crucify this development. It’ll be interesting to see how Jack’s dad factors in. And I’m telling you right now: Jack’s nephew is not his nephew. That boy is Jack’s son. No doubt about it. I haven’t read any spoiler to confirm it or anything; this is my own prediction. Why would they introduce you to the fact that Graham’s wife once had the hots of Jack so early on in her character’s development? And why cast a boy who looks a lot of Elisha Cutherbert? That’s Jack’s son, and I’m pretty sure Jack also has a sneaking suspicion.

The only truly loose string left: what did the U.S. give to the Chinese to get back Jack? I’m guessing Hawaii. Stupid islands.