Sunday, September 11, 2005

NFL Style Rankings

http://3martini.typepad.com/3martini/2004/12/the_10_ugliest__1.html

Great article... great idea for an article.... great big problem.

Most men don't "get" style. Some do, but most don't. Even if you watch that Queer Plan For The Straight Man dress-up show... the people usually look quite silly when they're finished with them. Again, this might be one of those French things, I'll admit that up front... although I'll also admit that I'm wearing a hockey shirt and sweatpants at the moment. If that article was in Cosmopolitan...or even GQ with the right author.... we'd be looking at a Pulitzer Prize, at worst.

This is one of those seemingly non-essential stats that have a tremendous bearing on how the game ends up working out. "Best thighs on the pro tennis tour" might seem goofy, but Serena can bang out 120 mph serves (a strong Category 3 storm). The guy who wrote "Real Men Wear Black" never saw The Cure, but imagine how intimidating it would be to look up from the line of scrimmage in a tight game against the pink/pastel blue jerseys of the Oakland Raiders. While we're at it, imagine Ted Washington in a pink/white jersey.... he'd look like someone shot Hyper-Andro into a Good and Plenty.

This is why, along with some good psychology and bad stereotyping, we see the games the way we do. My friend Tammy doesn't root for local teams, nor does she root for teams with particularly compelling players... she roots for whoever has the better jersey. In her own way, I suppose she has as much fun watching a game as I do...

Either way... I'm interested to see what girls think on this subject, and I plan to place this link in the right spots to find out. feel free to comment on who you like or don't like. I've been a sports fan too long.. I can't offer an impartial opinion without thinking of players on the team I like, or times they beat on the Patriots. Aside from the skirt, the cooking skills, the hairstyle and the husband, I'm almost one of Them.

Other sports, briefly:

Amazingly, I think that the Boston Celtics' white uniform is the best in the NBA... AND the all green one is the worst.

There are no cool baseball uniforms. They look silly. They have no functionality. Only the cap, which is a splendid American institution, saves the look. Everyone should own at least one baseball hat, and most people should have several.

From the waist up, hockey players have the coolest uniforms. From the waist down, they look like they're going sledding. Who's idea was it to put SHORTS on people who will work on ICE?? No wonder they fight so much....

Here's the NFL teams, jersey by jersey...except for New Jersey, which doesn't have a new jersey, let alone a New Jersey jersey)

^ New England Patriots (I liked the other two Looks better, but they still rock...if you don't like them, you're a longhaired commie-type pinko )

 

Oakland Raiders

 

New York Giants

Pittsburgh Steelers

Indianapolis Colts

Cincinnati Bengals

New Orleans Saints (no sentimental votes, though I personally always liked their Look)

 

Miami Dolphins

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Minnesota Vikings

Kansas City Chiefs

New York Jets

Dallas Cowboys

 

Cleveland Browns (only kept from the bottom because someone prolly was gonna change it, but they kept it around for tradition)

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Atlanta Falcons

 

Baltimore Ravens

Philadelphia Eagles

Green Bay Packers

 

San Francisco 49ers

Arizona Cardinals

Chicago Bears

St. Louis Rams

Jacksonville Jaguars

Carolina Panthers

San Diego Chargers (cool old school unis, though)

Seattle Seahwaks

 

Buffalo Bills (they had a cool look when they were losing 4 straight, but this new look is Offensive To God)

Washington Redskins (get that racial slur off the helmet, and then we can talk color scheme)

Tennessee Titans (I'd give him a cat bath just to get him out of that goofy uniform.... well, maybe not JUST)

Denver Broncos (I wouldn't wear this uniform to a s**t fight)

Friday, September 9, 2005

Step One: Get Married

 

http://www.trinitychurchonline.net/

 

nponsett:  i may give the monitor to a school, or Shea, if she ever gets a PC
Suzil:  good idea
Monponsett: 
20"
Suzi: 
nice
Monponsett: 
fatter than a 1970s TV, but the screen is huge
Suzil: 
mine is 17" and its huge, I can imagine
Monponsett: 
the new one is 17" and flat, which is nice
Monponsett: 
i plan on stacking books bejind it once i unpack
Suziw: 
I want a laptop...I can use David's when he's home
Suziw: 
Its nice being able to move around the house with it
Monponsett: 
i've had two
Monponsett: 
one was lit on fire by a student
Suziw: 
nice
Monponsett: 
my husband bought me a new one after, but it's small
Suziw 
crack pipe problem?
Monponsett: 
no... my class was sort of isolated... 
Monponsett: 
just a good place to light a fire
Monponsett: 
he was like "that was yours? I thought they'd buy you a new one or something. My bad"
Suziwr 
I want one with a 16" screen...thats big enough
Monponsett: 
that would rock
Monponsett: 
mine has this huge console thing it plugsinto
Monponsett: 
<FONTLANG=0 PTSIZE="10" FAMILY="SCRIPT" size="2" face="Comic Sans MS">but i can go on batteries for awhile
Suziw:  Sitting out back and doing this rules
Monponsett: 
handy.. but i can't enter blogs on it
Monponsett: 
i have to write emails to blog... I have like AOL 1.0 on it
Suziw: 
David's is nice
Monponsett: 
newer, i gather
Suziw: 
You can do everything on it you can with a pc
Monponsett: 
laptops will be key when you're actually chasing the kids
Suziw: 
IBM Powerbook
Monponsett: 
like you said... type out on the deck.... while they chase Jr around
Monponsett: 
nice
Suziw: 
Damn thing is indestructable
Suziw: 
Yup...thats why I want it
Suziw: 
I'm thinking Christmas
Monponsett: 
Christmas is coming
Monponsett: 
Hint Season has already begun
Suziw: 
yup
Suziw: 
I keep telling him how much I like his
Monponsett: 
addon "I could use one of these"
Monponsett: 
and there's always appropriation(?) 
Monponsett: 
where you just take it ... "nationalize" it
Suziw: 
He's pretty bright picking up on things...most guys you have to club with a bat
Suziw: 
I would but he uses it for work...they bought it
Monponsett: 
hide it... when he asks where his computer is, say "Staples"
Suziw: 
you're evil...hehehehe
Monponsett: 
he prolly needs a new one anywho....lol..... there's like $250,000 in college education going to waste here... may have to blog this.....

Lamp's in the window, burnin' bright...

Picture from Hometown

The American South -- particularly Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama -- were hit hard by Hurricane Katrina. But the American South has also responded to the tragedy with strength and generosity as well, opening cities and homes to those displaced in Katrina's wake. So this week's Weekend Assignment travels below the Mason-Dixon line for its topic:

Weekend Assignment #76: Tell us something you love about or from the American South. From sweet tea to Lynyrd Skynyrd, William Faulkner to the French Quarter, whatever makes you heart long for southern skies belongs right here.

   Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Allman Brothers band, The Charlie Daniels band and Hank Williams Jr. have long been the only country music I can tolerate. There's probably a few more- every now and then, I "discover" that some old song I like is considered "Southern Rock," like Tom Petty or Joe Walsh.

   I'm French, and I often fail to pick up on regional dialects. For instance, The Grateful Dead and Neil Young sound like southern bands to me, and Limp Bizkit and REM don't. Dinosaur Jr, who are from nearby Amherst, sound Southern to me.

   I just got in trouble on a message board for impersonating /lampooning a Southern dialect: "Lawdy, I be uplifted since Kobe Bryant done visited my ruined bungalow." Sounded southern to me... sounded over-the-top black to the other 280 million Americans. My bad.

   Regardless, I'm not here to talk music. We have bigger fish to fry. Basically, I have a town in Louisiana that needs chainsaws, non-perishable food, and blankets. They could also use a bulldozer or 4, and someone to drive them.

   I'll give a shot out to a distinct Southerner, and try to tie it into both sports AND relief aid to Covington. I really haven't figured out how, yet... I'm sort of counting on God (or whoever is truly in charge) to sort of take my fingers over once I commit myself to rambling a bit.

   I've been South a  lot. My family used to own something in South Carolina, and I did a school vacation or two there. I've been to Disneyland/world... whichever one is in Florida. I went in August, which I wouldn't recommend. My time at Epcot was spent like this: Coca-Cola exhibit on the history of cold drinks(which was kept at 32 degrees), the Viking ride, back through the sweltering heat to the Coke exhibit, then the Indian ride, then the Coke exhibit, then the gift shop, then the coke exhibit, then I said the hell with it, and we went off to the bar.

   Personally, I don't know how Southerners take that heat. I asked a Houston IHOP employee how she does it. She replied, "How do you handle the earth being covered by a 3 foot blanket of frozen water for 6 months of 25 degree weather?" I didn't have the heart to tell her that 25 degrees was a warm day in February where I'm from.

   That's why I love America. The cold people in Europe can't relate to the warm people, and vice versa. You know how the French get all snobby on Americans? We do it to everyone else, too: illiterate Russians, boorish Englishmen, crude Italians, the detestable Boche....

   Ever hear of Andorra? Not only have I heard of it, I have a bad opinion of it- even though I have never been there or met anyone from there.... but I've heard "backward mountain peasants" used by family members to describe them.

   In America, the South has a warm beach in February for the pale, frozen Yankee, and there are plenty of people saying "Y'all's s'posed to ride these har skee thangs down yonder cliff?" at Killington. Our collective favorite musical is about a Kansas girl, and it was made in California. We're all in it together.

   Also, whatever my faults are.... an immigrant French Bostonian is the only non-Mississippi type who is able to pronounce "Brett Favre" not only correctly, but instinctively. It's sort of like "five," meets "carve" with a silent R....but not really.

*** I'd love to find out the name of the PoPo from Pastor Sprague's Texas story that I try to wedge into every post I make here. For the arrivistes, the pastor told me a cute story about a guy- who had just lost EVERYTHING, and didn't have a penny to his name- who got popped by a Texas Ranger while doing 75 in a 40, or whatever.

   Some things are too much for even a storm victim to take, and the guy started sobbing in front of the Bear. He had no $$$, nowhere to go, and nowhere to return to. The cop- who probably has his own family to worry about- put the ticket book away, took out his own wallet, and gave all his money to  this poor refugee.

   This will be urban legend in a month or two, and I'd like to be able to trace it to the particular officer- who I have no doubt would not allow his name to be used.

   If anyone can get me the name of that Texas Ranger, they'd share a spot with him in the HAC Ring Of Honor. If someone deserves to have his name Googled in the future only to see "You Kickass MFer, we love you!" written next to it, it's this guy.

   This is no pro Law and Order speech, either. I'm a lot like that big brother in the Emilio garbageman movie... "I ain't got nothin' against cops... I just like it better when they aren't around."

 

http://www.trinitychurchonline.net/

Thursday, September 8, 2005

Calling Out A Very Large Man

(from Pastor Sprague)

Dear Pastors

These are crazy times in New Orleans.  Yet we know God will be sufficient.  We know that EFCA is organizing teams and supplies through Jim Snyder but we have desperate immediate needs now.  We need to take the next few weeks into our own hands and ask you for help.  If you can help within the next 4 weeks please contact us at 985-893-0218.  We are in desperate need of 4 forklifts and 3 bobcats for unloading tractor trailer trucks of supplies as well as bulldozers, Cranes and backhoes as well as operators if available for debris removal.

If you can send a truckload of supplies, please call the church office to coordinate.  Please DO NOT SEND CLOTHES.    Items needed:

Hygiene products
Chain saws and accessories
Debris clearing equipment and tools.  (Rakes, Gloves, saws, etc.)
Cleaning supplies
Non perishable food items
TONS OF TOWELS
Cots
Blankets and pillows
Water (1 gallon bottles if possible)
Toiletry items
Baby items NO CLOTHS (diapers, bottles, baby food, formula etc.)


Pastors, could you get this word out to our fellow pastors in the EFCA, seeing that our communications are severely limited at this time.  I only have a few email addresses for EFCA churches and I'm trusting you to help me communicate our desperate needs.  Mail is now operational in our area and any funds can be directly sent to us at:

Trinity Church
19380 N 10th Street
Covington, LA 70433

Or see our website at
http://www.trinitychurchonline.net
for information and updates as well.

Could you also help us get the word out to our fellow churches to check the website for daily updates and news.  We are trying to get organized but our church family has been crushed and are scattered so we are currently working with a skeleton crew.


Thank you so much for all your compassion and support. You and your efforts in the name of Christ are greatly appreciated.

Pastor Michael Sprague

 

8888888888888888888888888888888888


- There's a basketball charity game about to happen. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2151490

   I was happy to see Kobe Bryant- who just dropped $100,000, btw- playing in the game. Notable by his absence was big Shaq, who first came to prominence while playing at LSU.

   I'm sure Shaq has done more than his share, so don't take this as me picking on him- the fewer 7'1" guys who are angry with me, the better.... but we the fan have missed a tremendous opportunity.

   If the right people were in charge of a Katrina victim relief  game, it would be held on some desolate ruin of a ghetto court in New Orleans. There would be flood waters on all sides of the court- the players will actually be dropped down from Apache copters to keep their Fila dry. The court will be surrounded on all sides by huge US Marines (preferably froma base in the Gulf Coast), each with a menacing recoiless tank rifle. Warehouses fires will burn unchecked in the background.

   No suckers, either... none of that Richard Jefferson/Carlos Boozer Olympic nonsense. This game would operate on a No Chump Rule. We're talking KG, Lebron, Monponsett.... all the top talent. If any good Euros want in, we'll make a tournament out of it. They can take on the winner of the Globetrotter/And One qualifying game.

   PPV Gold. Live (6 foot) 8.

   The best part? The two captains would be Shaq and Kobe. They could openly wager a million dollar donation to the Red Cross, and snipe at each other on ESPN as things get closer to hand.

   They'd help the Gulf Coast, and if the feud wasn't done after all this.... well, in the WWE, they'd start lowering the steel cage.

The Million Chainsaw March

 

   I was just shooting the breeze with the Pastor, and he wants me to thank everyone at AOL- especially the mighty-friggin cool Jamie Mottram, John Scalzi, everyone who posed for the photo essay, Beth/Eddie/Mo's save-my-ass camera work, the good people at the Bourne (MA) police department, and the whole SBL Posse (not his exact words)- for the help they've given to this desperate small town.

   The relief apparatus is slowly swinging into place. People are getting fed. Power is slowly coming back (As of the last time I checked, 7,000 of 70,000 were re-lit). While it will take years to recover from this, the ball is rolling.

   The Trinity Church will be the staging area for relief efforts in the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain area. They are going to need a lot of assistance. I asked Pastor Sprague what the relief workers themselves were citing as their greatest need, and the answer came back so fast that I thought God himself had spoken.

   They need chain saws. Lots of chainsaws. Whether it's one or two words for chainsaw, they need them. They also need chainsaw oil, chainsaw parts, chainsaw chains, and chainsaw gloves for the people working- you guessed it- with chain saws.

   While he wouldn't come right out and say it (Pastors are more of the giving  than asking  type), he could probably use a few Real Men to come down and chop some trees up. 1 in 8 trees in Covington were knocked over by the storm. As we say in Boston, that's a lotta lumba!

   So... I'm calling a few people out.

   Lumberjacks. Tobe Hooper fans. Bret Easton Ellis readers. The guy from Jackyl. That Cuban enforcer dude from Scarface who sort of helped title the movie. Get your chainsaws and get down to Covington, Louisiana. There are trees blocking almost half the roads, and they most likely have a 3 man DPW.

   Ford vs Chevy? You can bet the people of Covington will be looking at the transom (I grew up on a harbor, and I don't know truck stuff, sorry) of your pickup truck to see who truly drives America's ass kicking machine.

   Crips and Bloods? See who can do more good in a week. ...great time to case out places for 2008 robberies, once the insurance settlement money gets spent, too.

   Hell's Angels vs. the Outlaws? After a few decades of putting the "Hell" on your jacket... why not earn the Angel? And as for you Outlaws... will you let those HAs be better men than you?

   Arab/Israeli? Why not fight it out on neutral ground? See who can cut more trees in half.

   Anarchists? This is your chance to run wild with a chainsaw.

   If I wielded a little more power, I'd find an all-black town and a town with heavy KKK sympathies... and make 100 of their strongest residents go tree-for-tree to see who gets the $1 million in federal aid that would be posted as a bet.

   Either way... wherever your sympathies may lie, try to help out. Pastor Sprague can be reached at www.Trinitychurchonline.net

 

   Likewise... there are ways that pro athletes could do more... and do so without really driving down to Louisiana and cutting a tree off someone's 1986 Ford F-150. (Editor's Note... when I worked at the factory, i knew a guy who's wife threw him out... so he lived in his truck. He was also doing his taxes, and they like an address with your 10W40... so he wrote, "F-150 Ford Lane, Wherever, MA")

   So... anyhow.... here's how our heroes can help:

-  The NBA announces a new Exposed Tattoo Tax, with the proceeds going to the Red Cross.

-   TO  and Moss should secretly bet a quarter-million dollar donation to Covington (maybe Nike could kick in) on who can upset Joe Buck more this season. Moss and TO could then each up the ante and raise the bar with worse and worse remarks made to the press as the season progresses: 

"I smoke weed."

"I have 8 children I don't pay support for."

"I'm so hard-core militant, I dropped my slave name.... then I ended up dropping my Muslim name, too."

"I eat kittens."

"I murdered a girl in college."

"I just joined the Taliban."

 

-   The WWE should contact the Trinity Church, and have an event called "Bikini Fights, Spilling Blood In Torrents, And Guys On Steroids Hitting People Over The Head With A Steel Chair... For God."

-   They should put a big jar in the Portland Trailblazer locker room, and every time someone swears, they should have to throw in a $20. This penalty would increase when, say, someone is arrested, calls the black coach the N bomb despite being black himself, gets caught with endo, loses one of his damaged pitbulls, breaks a teammate's right orbital socket, or any event which involves someone sleeping over Dale Davis' house because they fear for their life.

-   After Day 20 of his 2006 holdout, Matt Leinhart can say something in the press like, "For every HOUR they don't give me what I deserve, I will demand an additional $10,000 be donated to the Trinity Church in Covington, Louisiana."

   If God is truly merciful, someone is already forwarding that idea to a Mr. Carl Poston in Detroit.

(for an idea of how it is to deal with me on the phone when i'm working for God...View the clip... )

-  MLB and the NFL announce a retroactive (dating to 1986) $1,000,000 fine for steroid use, to be paid to the Red Cross. Those unable to pay their fine will be sent to Covington and put under the watch of a really angry Louisiana widow with a mop, a shovel and a barn to clean. 

-   Maria Sharapova agrees to french-kiss anyone with a reciept for a $50,000 or greater donation from the Red Crizzy.

  

 

 

Tuesday, September 6, 2005

Wishing Them Safe Harbors

ButtermilkBay006.jpg

Free plug for http://www.trinitychurchonline.net/, as the good people of AOL do their part to help out by giving some of SBL to a good cause in Louisiana.

One good plug deserves another....

http://sports.channel.aol.com/bloggerslive (also at top of screen)

 

 

http://www.familylinks.icrc.org/katrina/locate  (find lost family members)

If anyone knows the location of these people, feel free to contact me at this address or at the link above for more information. I thank everyone who tries to help......S

Danny Cargil & family and Kenny & Katie, Tiny and other friends of Doug Benson's

My heart goes out to you all. I am driving down there On Thursday 9/15 to deliver goods that were collected here in the state of MD. If anyone can tell me were I can drop of a truck load of good please let me know, I can be reached directly toll free 1-800-255-7770

Chuck Bolger
Tuesday, Sep 06, 2005 (10:09:38 am CDT)

HARRY MELMAN, he lives in Covington, rather Tchfuncte

Zenor family Covington

I'm looking for Joseph GLenn Cleary that lives in slidell- we danced 12 yrs ago at the vfw in magee when he was visiting cousins in mize ms & we lost contact & we had made plans to go out on a date butlost contact please help > Joseph you still owe me a dance !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


 

Looking for Dan and Sue Stone of Covington. I last heard from them a week ago.

Joe Bosley


Looking for Tammy, Tim & Amy Duncan. Last heard from on Friday whey they attempted to leave area Friday..no more word. Kristi is coming back between now and Friday. If anyone sees this that knows my Sister and her family please get word to them if possible. Our prayers are with everyone there

Looking for info on JUDY HAHN from Covington

NEED INFORMATION ABOUT SCHMITT/GONZALEZ, Amanda (Mandy)/Roxanne in Covington: Reportedly went to shelter at United Methodist before storm.

SOLAR family, Mr. Rocky, Ms. Sandy, Rocky Jr., Tina and Richie!

I just wanted to take this opportunity to say hello to all and to inform you that FORT HOOD,TX is praying for you all. We(army familes in my area) are getting supplies together to send directly to washington parish. My dad Terry Adams is busy working in Washington Parish through St. Tammany and into the hammond area)

Good evening, I am working with the Red Cross, at our location we are unable to access our online database as of yet and I'm trying to be creative in locating loved ones. We had a young man come in today trying to get information on his relative, Chief of Police Charles Biggers from Madisonville. For the family privacy I do not want to post anything more but please email me at vsalter1@yahoo.com if you can be of assistance. Thank you and our thoughts are with you!

Editor's Note:    "Chuck Bolger pretty much kicks ass. "

I just wanted that to be first thing to come up if anyone ever Google Searched that man's name.

Monday, September 5, 2005

God Shall Provide...

http://www.trinitychurchonline.net/

  Dear Pastor Sprague,

   I have an AOL Sports Journal (see the link at the bottom). I may have emailed your administrative assisstant. I'm assuming you didn't get all deaded on in the storm, as the church website has updated....

The reason I'm writing you is to get some links to help y'all out down there. I can't do much, but I can do this: This page has "adopted" the town of Covington.

   We're trying to find a link or a mailing address to an aid organization for Covington's storm victims. If you can come across one, please send it up here to Cape Cod, and we'll give it national exposure. We have a fairly powerful voice here(like 10-15 people read my page semi-regularly), and we only need something to shout about.

   God Bless...and let me know if there's anything I can do personally.

   Stacey      

PS.... Could you put in a good word for me with the Big Guy? I may or may not have threatened a newspaper editor if he tried to line his own pockets by giving my charity-helping friends a link to his bank account. I wasn't totally serious when I did it, but charities can't afford to mess around. Some people you beg, some people you bully, you know?  

Either way... I was trying to do God's work, and I'm hoping you can explain it to Him better than I can. Much obliged...    ************************************************************************

Friend,

Call me at 9****94 at home. We need all the help we can get in Covington.

Betting the farm on God ,
Pastor Michael
  **********************************************************************  

       Dear Pastor Sprague,

       I will call you on Sunday at some time. It's 11:30 PM here in Massachusetts, and you should get some rest. Those people need a perky, butt-kicking man of God...not one with baggy eyes who is nodding off when they try talk to him.

   Don't argue with me on this one- you may be a Pastor, but I'm a Mom.... and Mothers outrank Pastors when matters of physical well being are on the table. I'd tell God himself to take a bowl of chicken soup if he looked peaked, and I'd stare at him til He finished it.

       If you know Cynthia *******, tell her we'll come down and help her out personally if she needs it. She is also welcome to stay with us, if she can tolerate New England winters.She can reach Stephen or myself by calling collect at 508-*****. She can call 24-7. I'll swim through Pontchartrain myself to hand her $10000 if she's in any sort of trouble, and I'll fly her whole family to Massachusetts, as well.

       Covington, Kentucky- which has adopted Covington, Louisiana as a sister city- is sending food, firefighters, medicine, and clothing. Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts has also adopted you, and is sending help. We are also trying to put the squeeze on the tourists (Buzzards Bay is on Cape Cod in Massachusetts). I'll put links to your site (semi-legally) all over AOL, and like seventy billion people will be exposed to the chance to help Covington personally.

       I'm just a writer, and not that many people read my page.... but we can make something happen. I have a good feeling about this. I'll be honest- my Saturday nights are usually spent drinking, gambling, etc... but tonight, I'm writing a letter to a Pastor to help storm victims that I'll never meet. If the Bible doesn't have a part where someone Wicked gets a heart of gold and does something nice, it should. Maybe they can dig around harder in Israel, or something.

       We can kick that one around later.  I can't handle anymoney personally, though I will do everything in my power to get a Covington charity all over the bloody Internet. I have my Ways.

      What I need from you (as if you don't have enough to do, huh?) is for you to put some kind of address on your church's website where people can send money. While I hate to put a deadline on a Man of God, it'd be better for us all if you could get this done for me by... say... yesterday.

       I have a keen sense of what's  important, Pastor... and I have no aversion to taking the Low Road, if need be. God and I can discuss Ends and Means later, after we make sure all the babies are fed. In His infinite wisdom, I think he's already sort of pointed me in the right direction and turned me loose to do what I do well. Get an address up, and let me start helping you.

        So, again....go out right now and:  

A) Get an address on your website where I can have people send money. Even the mailing address of your church will be good, as long as you know what to do with incoming funds. I don't know anything legal about fundraising, but I'll get you the money first, and worry about getting sued later.A good lawsuit now and then is fashionable  in Massachusetts.  

B) Tell Cynthia M******* that we love her, and that we're here if she needs us.  

C) Avoid New Orleans like the Whore of Babylon herself. People are shooting at the Red Cross, which should tell you all you need to know. That whole pastor act won't get you 4 blocks in the Big Easy these days.  

D) Do all that other stuff you're already doing. God bless you all.  

E) Remember that as hard as it must be right now....people are counting on you. You need to be visible, my man...  

F) Send me an email when the address is up on your site.  

G) Nothing. There is no 7th thing.       

Contact me immediately if I can do  anything for you, no matter how large or how small. I'm not wealthy... but I'm utterly ruthless, I won't take no for an answer, and I don't really mess around at all when a job needs doing. I plan on helping so much, you'll forget that whole losing-the-Civil-War thing. I'll go out on Covington's behalf and kick so much butt that it really won't be safe to turn your back on me.

       Katrina is a sea breeze in Portugal, now. You guys are still standing, you're getting stronger every minute, and it's always darkest before the dawn.     

   Feel free to just read this letter to your crowd if all the flood stuff prevents you from sitting down and writing a truly Time of Crisis kind of sermon. It's not really an inspiring speech I wrote here, but they might get a laugh or two.... and they could use it. At least they'll know that Massachusetts loves them.

       Get the power back on, and I'll fly down there and buy you a fat steak this time next year. You can keep that jambalya stuff, though... I ty to avoid eating meat that I can't immediately identify. I expect you guys to have that town spotless  for my arrival.       

Love,       

Stacey      

*******************************************************

Friend, Stacey;

What a good day.  I met with Jim Snyder who is the head of Compassion Ministries for 1400 plus churches with the Evangelical Free Church.  Trinity Church will be used as a staging area for relief efforts throughout the North shore and New Orleans region.  Several staff with the Evangelical Free Church will join our staff over the next 6 to 9 months to coordinate these efforts.  Specific information is available on our website, www.trinitychurchonline.net on how people from across the country can get involved giving, sending supplies and manpower.

  - Last night I had dinner with a man whose brother-in-law fled to Houston with his family. On
the way they realized all their money was gone. Imagine no money, not knowing what's next for
their family. Of course, this puts a little stress on marital communication and in the midst
of an argument the man hits 75 in a 45 mph zone and sees flashing lights. The family pulls
over. The wife looks out of the back window and sees her husband sobbing and the policeman
patting him on the shoulder.
Shortly after her husband walks up the car carrying a wad of cash. The officer had emptied his
wallet into this man's life. Wow! My guess is that they didn't report this on television.



Work is progressing.  Most of the staff is back and we are getting mobilized.  One of the guys brought a team into a local town to clean up peoples homes. 

 The mayor was astounded at the generosity.  He said, “I used to think all Christians were hypocrites, but now I’m thinking otherwise.”  That’s what happens when work is done in the name of Jesus.
 
Pastor Michael

P.S.   A possible answer to prayer.  Since writing this letter God may have provided a 20,000 square foot warehouse.  Pray for the 8 am meeting tomorrow morning.  Prayer for a compassionate, generous CEO.

Also pray for the 12 police officers who are coming in momentarily to help wit relief efforts from Indiana
      

PPS. You need to get to church, young lady.

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 Dear Pastor,  

I've posted those links all over the Internet. Next to Jesus, the new Pope, and Moses, you are now the fourth most well-known person in Christianity. Hail Mary may pass you once football season gets rolling, but you have John The Baptist pretty much boxed out.

  I also gave your address to some Hell's Angels people I know, if you need someone to collect relief funds among the tighter-fisted people in your community. "K-Dog" is the one you'll have the best chance of communicating with. They tend to live off the land when they travel, so you may need to have some food ready by, say, Sunday or so.

   If that CEO guy is at all cheap with you tomorrow morning, give me his phone number- or better yet, his physical address- and I will go down there and give him a verbal beating that George Patton would be impressed by. I can also have K-Dog bust up his office, but I'd rather not have you implicated in what I guess would end up being an armed assault.... at best.

   Some things are better handled by Pastors, and some things are better handled by somone who has no problem at all with splashing this dude's name on the Internet with the term "Cheap SOB" written next to it... or with sending a huge biker over to put him through a wall.  I will also call his office personally, and I will call  the local papers wherever he lives until I find someone who despises him as much as I do. I think we each know our role in this particular equation.

   If not, I'll spell it out for you. I'll grab him by his figurative feet, turn him upside down,and shake him until money pours out of his ears in a torrent of $100 bills.....and you pray for him afterwards.

 God forgives... I give God stuff to  forgive.

   Call me the moment this guy hesitates, and I'll rip his liver out... in a figurative sense, of course. God works in many a strange and wondrous way... 

  Love,

   Stacey