There are plenty of stories abounding out in the media about how Lovie Smith and Tony Dungy are black! Why is that news? They are in the Super Bowl and all that you hear is that two black coaches are facing each other. In other news...Black athletes face each other in the Super Bowl, black college players are recruited to NBA, black man hired for mid-level manager in mid sized firm. What about the game? What about Payton Manning. Admittedly I'm not a huge NFL fan but I find this issue incredibly obnoxious. Oh guess what...last year two white coaches faced each other (at least I think they did) let's make headlines of that too.

I recently was watching late night cable TV and a talk show with 5 black men and while two of them seemed well grounded the host was making everything a racial issue. Essentially he felt that more black men and women should get upper management jobs simply because...well there black. I disagree with this and posit that it shouldn't be made a racial issue. If somebody is more qualified they should get the job. While recently applying for law school one of my biggest frustrations was the fact that I am a straight white male. Apparently law schools want more diversity than I can offer so slots are given to candidates because they are a certain race, gender or homosexual. Well if you look at dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/discriminate, discriminate is defined as:

"to make a distinction in favor of or against a person or thing on the basis of the group, class, or category to which the person or thing belongs rather than according to actual merit"

Does not that apply to white males as well? I just wish that we lived in a society that Martin Luther King envisioned when he so eloquently put in his speech "I Have a Dream" http://www.usconstitution.net/dream.html:

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

So do I Mr. King, so do I! I don't care who you are, what you look like, or what your sexual preference; if you are qualified and the best candidate I will hire you. I hope for a world where everything isn't made into an issue of race or gender.

Please read this for what it is: Not racist in anyway, rather it's the opposite.

I found this on my friend Chris' blog and it's quite interesting so I thought I'd use it too. Essentially you are setting your life as if it were a movie to your songs. I'm going to do this twice. The first is from my large playlist, there are many songs that I don't really listen to often, if ever and so their not as identifibly me as the second playlist. The second playlist is composed of songs that I listen to more often.

Here's how it works:
1. open your library (iTunes)
2. put it on shuffle
3. press play
4. for every question, type the song that's playing
5. when you go to a new question, press the next button
6. don't lie


Opening Credits: Israelites by Desmond Dekker
Waking Up: You are Everything by REM
First Day of High School : To Cut a Long Story Short by Spandau Ballet
Falling in Love: Younger Girl by The Lovin' Spoonful
Fight Song: Psychotic for your Love by The Sons of Guns (a local band of my friends)
Breaking Up: Dirty Back Road by B-52's
Prom: Money by Michael Jackson
Life: Holding Out for a Hero by Frou Frou (Shrek 2 soundtrack)
Mental Breakdown: Never Tear us Apart by INXS
Driving: In This World by Moby
Flashback: Speeding up to Slow Down by Better Than Ezra
Getting Back Together: After the Gold Rush by Neil Young
Wedding: Estoy Aqui by Shakira
Birth of a Child: Rude Boy Train by Desmond Dekker
Final Battle: The Fog by Kate Bush
Death Scene: Get Carter by Human League
Funeral: Moving Pictures by Fall Out Boy
End Credits: Standard Lines by


Opening Credits: Of All the Gin Joints in the World by Fall Out Boy
Waking Up: Super Rad by The Aquabats
First Day of High School : The Cutter by Echo and the Bunnymen
Falling in Love: Psycho Killer by Talking Heads
Fight Song: Numb by Linkin Park
Breaking Up: 7 Minutes in Heaven (Atavan Halen) by Fall Out Boy
Prom: Dissident by Pearl Jam
Life: All Down Hill From Here by New Found Glory
Mental Breakdown: Spoonman by Soundgarden
Driving: Hands Down by Dashboard Confessional
Flashback: Intergalatic by Beastie Boys
Getting Back Together: Concrete Jungle by The Specials
Wedding: 33 by Coheed and Cambria
Birth of a Child: Fire by Jimi Hendrix
Final Battle: Walking Away by Information Society
Death Scene: The Jet Set by Alphaville
Funeral: The Dark Side of the Matinee by Franz Ferdinand
End Credits: House of Fun by Madness

This was interesting. Some lines fit the songs so well and others don't but all in all a good time.

I recently finished reading Elantris by Brandon Sanderson www.brandonsanderson.com/book.php?id=1 and I think it is an excellent book. It takes place in a world that up until recently was more or less ruled by the Elantrians, a race of people mysteriously taken from the general populace to become the god-like people of Elantris. They established peace and utopia in the land. Nobody went hungry because the Elantrians could simply make trash into food.

Something happens and Elantris and its magic failed. Now to become and Elantrian is a curse. You are thrown into the city and conveniently forgotten. The merchant who became king is an incompetent money monger and is driving his country into the ground.

The Fjordell Empire, an empire set up on a fanatical religion, is intent on conquering the two remaining countries not under their banner. A high ranking church official comes and has three months to convert this people or they will all perish by an invasion of Fjordell.

I don't want to give away any other details about the book but it is is full of political and religious intrigue with many wonderful twists and turns. It keeps you guessing and thinking and while there were many 'secrets' that I had figured out many of my theories were proven incorrect and I was pleasantly surprised. For a first book this is excellent. It's not pure fantasy nor is it pure science fiction but has elements of both. It isn't as good as Tolkien which is, for me, the benchmark of greatness but it would be a bit behind Eragon and Eldest by Christopher Paolini. Probably a 78 out of 100. Worth reading and following the author as I believe he just released another book, which I haven't read yet.