just some bible verses that have been on my mind lately:

Ephesians 4:17-19 and Ephesians 4:26-27

i've felt that these verses have taught me something about the way i should react to nonbelievers who just shut God out...

take it from Jesus' example himself; he did not become angry who mocked him and heaped insults upon him, but instead looked up to heaven and said "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they're doing."

'k, i just felt it on my mind to post top 4 of each conference in the nba and random ish:

-top 4 teams in the west:

1.san antonio
2.seattle
3.phoenix
4.sacramento

san antonio's a no-brainer... IMHO, they ARE the best team this year... no sufficient weaknesses with them... basically their defense has always been there, their bench has always been deep, they have always played team ball... but this year, they got scary offensively real fast; i don't even think you can label the spurs as being "boring" on offense anymore; duncan seems to only need to put in 30 mins or so these days; they build leads that greatly, and then their bench can just keep the lead. everybody talks about great rookies and their successes, but tony parker(who usually doesn't get mentioned for young talent) is only 22... scary huh? he's like nash, but can actually play defense. how many times have you seen the spurs win by at least 20 pts?

seattle and phoenix are both big entertaining surprises... i'm giving the nod to seattle though because they are better AS A TEAM... they are deeper, they play team defense quite well, and they have found ways to cover their main weakness(lack of an interior); danny fortson has been superb. i would consider them the biggest threat to san antonio's road to the finals(not to mention they've actually WON against the spurs, unlike phoenix, even when they had nash); phoenix has been great, but i'm putting them at 3 because of their sheer lack of depth; look at how they're doing w/o nash. they also don't use their bench too often. they can't play defense, and they lack so much in depth(i personally hate nash too, because he can't play d). yes, they're doing great so far. but i like to look at the "completeness" package and ability to cover weaknesses, and so far, suns look great, but not superb.

i was stuck w/4; i really doubt sacramento is really no 4. but no other team in the west seems good enough to take the 4. and sac HAS been on a 6-win streak. so i'll give it to them by default. maybe cuttino mobley added something to this team. however, his d is not that great; above-average at best, moderate usually.

-which team impressed me most in the west?

well, for me, it was sorta hard to decide between j-rich's recent huge upstart, showing that he could finally lead the warriors, or seattle continuing to be in TOP playoff contention. honestly. i'll go w/warriors though. i think everybody thought they were done this year. and the win record says that. to see j-rich suddenly come out gives me hope... (chris mullin, you're forgiven) if golden state could just get a good rebounding center and shot blocker, we might actually have a chance of making the playoffs next year.

-which team disappointed me the most in the west?

ugh... hmm... i'm giving the nod to minnesota. i kinda already knew houston gave up too much depth in getting t-mac to be an immediate threat, and it annoys the hell outta me seeing anybody chink/taiwanese rooting for houston. DEPTH, chinks. DEPTH. denver could have made the list, since there were high hopes @the beginning of the season w/the aquiring of kmart. but it's minnesota. think about it; last year they ended at no 1 in the west. they were like no 4 in defense. they were deep. this year, they have pretty much the same cast. but where are they? out of playoff range(just barely); they show a lackidasical effort. they don't lockdown on d no more. kg's still kg, but apparently, the rest of the cast aint 2k4 calibur material. i would even say they disappoint me more than detroit this year.

-top 4 team in the east:

(man i'm loving this year; i hate the fact that detroit isn't as monstrous as last year, but i love the rise of the east; annoyed the hell outta me seeing how everyone treated the east like it was the "leasten conference"; now you've got at least 5 new east teams that are looking good on top of the tried and true, and if pacers weren't involved in the scuffle, you'd have to add them to the list as well this year)

1.miami
2.detroit
3.cleveland
4.washington(who knew? :D)

miami's a no brainer; they lack depth, but they have been able to cover it quite well; i love dwayne wade's mentality towards the game, and shaq has been serious about giving miami something they don't have(i might add, he's also appeared less cocky on tv)

detroit's up there, but even i have to admit, they're not the monster they are last year. they get the nod above the cavs though because they're deeper than cleveland. they have been winning games though, but they haven't been DOMINATING GAMES... they're still a good team, but not a GREAT team this year. of course, this may have something to do with the way they raped la, as well as most of the eastern conference on the way to the finals and won a championship last year... ppl have high expectations for those who are proven winners.

cleveland... lebron james DOT COM... nuff said. he's overexceeeded the hype, and though it annoys me w/the bandwagon fans(i like lebron a bit myself, just that the fans annoy me), facts are facts; he's for real. just wait 4 more years, and see if he isn't like kobe 2.0 or something equivalent. the team though, isn't that great, but it has some good spots, so it's not a lbj-only team: "z", drew gooden...

washington... WARRIORS :D i love how they're doing good this year(they should get more airtime; i wanna watch them more); hughes has been great; areans has been great... jamaison has been great... they're getting the nod above orlando because though i like orlando, they don't play d yet... they have the athletic talent to though...

-which team impressed me the most in the east?

wow, this one's gonna be hard... you've got washington, orlando(dwight howard WILL be good), cleveland, miami... but i'll say: CHICAGO! :D when's the last time you heard them being in playoff contention? that's right: the last time mj took up house there. then after that, they sorta disappeared; they were a joke team; you were either a loser or a faithful loser for loving the post-jordan chicago bulls. but suddenly, this year, they look good. kirk hindrich's been a sorta john stockton/jeff horny-sack(yes, i spelt it wrong on purpose) hybrid, being great on d and offense. eddy curry, lou deng, ben gordon... all these guys are good. and for the life of me, they play hard on both ends... i would love to see them get some national airtime real soon...

-which team disappointed me the most in the east?

i have to swallow my pride and say detroit. yes, they're still winning games. but what were their main strengths? their depth and their lockdown d. their offensive capabilities are above-average AT BEST. so they have to win it on the defensive end. but they don't seem to be locking down compared to last year when they seemed to just under-70'd teams at will, or won by 10 pts or more. and you could argue how much depth they lost; the pick w/mcdyess seems good, but menmet okur seems like a really special player they lost. i could say the same w/colliss williamson(they didn't even use derek coleman). and unless if darko and delfino suddenly get better real soon this year, you can give up on them DOMINATING games this year. they might reemerge in a couple of years if and when darko and delfino get real nasty, but for now, they're good, not GREAT.

(the consolation is that scottie pippen, a great player, has said that he still thinks detroit will repeat this year)

there you go... i think in the future i'll write something about team usa bball and building a team that can compete, as well as long... overdue... thoughts about the team that DID go to greece.

fyi, alice kim is nicholas cages' wife, if you didn't know already... i think he's just weird and messed up. don't believe me? he's talking like he's been korean all his life: "kimchee's good for my soul... etc..." i think he's just trying to suck up to his wife.

futurama and family guy are hilarious. that and chappelle's show. i honestly believe no 3 other tv shows can make me laugh as hard as these 3. and fyi, futurama is not a sci-fi only type of cartoon. it's more adult-referenced than the simpsons. last night on adult swim, futurama made fun of star trek. they had the 3 crew members of futurama fight to the death against the actors of star trek. william shattner w/the "hey! maybe i can throw my boot at them, like in episode 14!"

-"why do you act like i know karate? just cause i look japanese?"
-"we never asked you"
-"i wish you had" (looks downcast)

wow... warriors actually got non-bay-area fsn airtime yesterday! on tnt! impressive! actually got to watch the game yesterday night! i wonder why... what's the reason? tnt couldn't fill the time w/law n order? :D

but what was more impressive...

j-rich: career high 42 pts, 3 rebounds, tied season high 8 assists, 3 steals, and one EMPHATIC block on kenyon martin(attention k-mart shoppers... get out!)

troy murphy also posted 17 rebounds... and got 22 pts...

it's funny... i used to think mike dunleavy was gsw's best player, gsw was done when they got rid of dampier, and that j-rich was only for show, and i also used to think troy murphy wasn't that good... thought chris mullin was crazy for keeping these 3... now... it appears that j-rich is probably gsw's best player... he can create his own shot(something he has until this season, apparently not been able to do quite well), create shots for others, and play d... and troy's starting to improve... mike's slipped a bit, but he's still a good compliment... so... i think we just need to get a better center... somebody who can crash and rebound very consistently, and provide good low post offense and defense... foyle's not that good...

now go to la and beat the living snot outta those hollywood bandwagon fans!

(i'm writing here because my.ucdavis.edu is crapping out on me and won't let me access my email or account... damnit...)

(lemme know if you want the bible notes i wrote out on gracy and mercy)

ok, so, i know martin luther king jr's a great christian leader, so i'd thought i'd do a great honor to him and what good he's done in the name of jesus, by fasting 24 hrs(or more), starting tomorrow morning... i dunno whether i'll start the fast right when i wake up, or after eating a hearty breakfast, but i think this is a good idea... i dunno what i'll be doing during the fast, except maybe studying for my science classes, but i'll try to put aside some time to spend in quiet w/god. maybe i'll also look online for some examples of what martin luther king jr's done...

this guy is one of the greatest close-to-modern day christians ever... when everyone else around him was simply trying to get back at the white man, he saw past each and every single white man's hate of him, saw the white man for who he was, not for the things he's done... this is what jesus would have done himself. he hated the sin, not the person. and in great respect to the white man, he disobeyed peacefully laws that he thought were wrong. but refused to resort to violence or sin. he turned the other cheek. and continued to do so, even when he knew it might bring death. i've heard about him getting up to just pray for 3 hrs before he started any type of work... wow...

martin luther king jr, i salute you... for being more than just another "pioneer black person..." this is for the christians that live and breathe today... for showing us christ's love personified through actions... for faith w/o deeds is not faith at all. we all could take a moment to really think about what you've REALLY done, as well as what you did NOT do, instead of using the extra 24 hrs of free time we get to do whatever we want...

again...

martin luther king jr., i salute you...

edit: i remember hearing something on air1 from "groundwire:" those that often see past your ugliness are those with the power to change you

jerm: youre so cool!
me: eh?
jerm: nm
me: haha
jerm: dont mind the computer
me: ok, so i'm not cool :-(
jerm: nonono
jerm: you are so cool
...
jerm: hi
me: do you still know where your nerf crossbow is?
jerm: huh?
me: check this out: http://www.nerfhq.com/
jerm: oh
jerm: ok
me: go to the articles section, there should be an article on how to mod your crossobw
me: to shoot farther
jerm: you're so sweet
me: haha... thanks, i try

http://www.nerfworld.com/modsdir.htm

btw, that "double forward toss" that philly did vs vikings was l33t...
teddy bruschi was awesome vs the colts...

the nfl playoffs are shaping up to be very fun to watch... i think we're gonna be seeing eagles vs patriots this year... and i like both teams... both are just well built; both play incredible defense(philly's known for blitzing anything down, and pats have an incredible coach leading their defense), and no one's gonna argue against brady's no-mistake, just-solid play, or donovan's incredible abilities...

but just to note, even if either, or both of these teams don't make it to the super bowl, the other two are equally great to watch; steelers are really something this year and countered both the eagles and pats this year, and atlanta, well... michael vick experience(although their d needs some work, so i'll give the upper hand to philly, but pats and steelers are really a toss up)...