Monthly Archives: March 2013

Deeper than “Thank You”

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“Thank you Jesus for sacrificing yourself on the cross for us. Thank you for allowing us to celebrate Easter on Sunday.” We were in the midst of a time of corporate prayer towards the end of the Good Friday service at my church. People were giving thanks for the pain and suffering Jesus endured on our behalf and I couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming sense of frustration. I felt like saying “thank you” just wasn’t enough to convey the amount of gratitude we should feel towards Jesus. I didn’t want to be frustrated with the prayers of people who I didn’t even know. I struggle with pride at times so my frustration only grew as I beat myself up over my arrogance. I know that am in no place to judge others, especially considering the context. I couldn’t put my finger on why I was frustrated though. It wasn’t until the next morning that I came to fully understand why I was frustrated. It was probably pretty obvious, but I was projecting the frustrations I was feeling towards myself onto those around me. Continue reading →

Spring Training 2013, Bullpen Report

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This is the final entry in my Spring Training report series. I’ve already covered the starting rotation, the infield, and the outfield. This week I’ll cover the bullpen. The bullpen has to be seen as a strength on this team, it’s balanced and cheap. There are also a few up and coming young guns who should provide a ton of value to the team for the next few years.

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Death of the (Bat)Family

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A few months ago, I wrote a post examining the mythology of Batman and his relationship to the villains he faces. Through the duality of Batman and his villains, we are able to clearly see the noble, heroic virtues of Batman twisted and taken to the extreme. I examined all of the villains portrayed in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy in that post. This last month, writer Scott Snyder wrapped up his Batman/Joker story, “Death of the Family,” in the pages of the current Batman comic book (issues #13-17). This story was one of the best examinations of the relationship between the Joker and Batman ever and evolved their rivalry into unknown and exciting territory. With this redefinition, I’d like to focus directly on the Joker/Batman relationship and examine identity through the lens of that relationship. Obviously, if you haven’t read “Death of the Family,” spoiler alert.

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Hillcrest FC: Game 2 Recap (2013)

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Hillcrest FC 13 – 4 Jesus Maneuver

Goals:
‘7 Matt Meyer
’10 Lucas Ward
’15 Evan Otterholt
’18 Lucas Ward
’22 Evan Otterholt
’29 Even Otterholt
’30 Riley
’33 Tim Knipp
’37 Evan Otterholt
’38Carlo Furlan
’40 Peter Duane
’42 Evan Otterholt
’46 Evan Otterholt Continue reading →

Spring Training 2013, Infield Report

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Welcome to the next entry in my Spring Training report series. I’ve covered the starting rotation already. This week we’ll take a look at the Mariners infield which is chalk full of youth and a few new faces. Overall, this group was not very strong last year with poor showings from Justin Smoak, Dustin Ackley, and Jesus Montero. The good news is these three players are very young and still have a lot of room to grow. The most interesting thing about the infield is there are no real position battles this Spring but there are prospects who are very close to the Majors right behind the established starters. Let’s take a look at what the Mariners are working with, position by position. Continue reading →

Hillcrest FC 2013 Season Preview

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The inaugural season of Hillcrest FC kicks-off tonight. Established this year, Hillcrest FC will be playing in the top division of the Bellingham Sportsplex Soccer Association, Mens 1. They come into this season with a great amount of hype surrounding them. Led by Coach Tim Knipp, this team is poised to make a deep run in the playoffs and has a real shot at winning the league cup this year. When asked about his confidence in his team Coach Knipp said, “There are four teams in the league and four spots in the playoffs. You know, I like our chances to make the postseason.” That high level of confidence will serve the team well early in the season, but do they have the resolve and the depth to maintain that confidence through the season? Continue reading →

Star Wars: X-Wing: Scout Squadron

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The following is a dramatization of a game of the Star Wars X-Wing Miniatures Game by Fantasy Flight Games.

            The swirling, blue miasma of hyperspace was particularly entrancing today. I couldn’t even remember the time of day. With all of these scouting missions, I had hardly slept a wink in the past few weeks. “Put the Rebellion before yourself, Aden,” Commander Narra had told me, “Put the Rebellion before yourself and you’ll do alright.” Not the most encouraging advice I’d ever received but it had served me well over the past few weeks.
            We were on our fifth scouting mission in four days. I was piloting my X-Wing and was accompanied by my wingman, Matthias Tallon in his own X-Wing and Dash Logoth piloting a Y-Wing equipped with survey equipment. We were on our way to another uncharted system, searching for a location for the Rebel Base that had been displaced from the Yavin system after the destruction of the Death Star. The leaders of the Rebellion were looking for a system that was near a major shipping lane but unknown enough to escape drawing any attention.

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