DeStratis.com

Stars & Stripes Forever!

2009-07-04T11:34:00.000-04:00

What Do We Consider Important

2009-02-25T11:33:00.006-05:00

If religion is not as important to people in New England as it is in other parts of the country, then what do we consider most important?

Honestly, I would need Gallup to produce another poll or reveal more information than what was in the report I mentioned in my last post to really get to the answer. But, since I've lived in Worcester, MA for 85% of my life and... since this city is perfectly situated within a 1 hour drive to all of the major cities in NE except for Portland, ME (2+ hours) - I'm going to make some assumptions and take a guess at what we consider important.

We consider community to be important. You might be saying to yourself, "that's a no brain-er" or "that's true in other regions of the country as well". So, that brings me to the type of questions I would like Gallup to study.

For example,

"How are you involved your community?"
"To which organizations do you give your time and money?"
"How much time in your week do you dedicate to community involvement?"
"How much money do you give each year to community organizations?"

I believe we would rank very high in a national poll about community involvement. People here are highly ambitious and sometimes involved in several community organizations at once. My next post will discuss some of these organizations.

State of the States by Gallup

2009-02-24T07:00:00.001-05:00

I have to point out a recent report issued by Gallup. A recent poll they did puts a little color in the discussion that I hope my blog can help to facilitate. As it turns out, we are correct in assuming that church growth is much harder to come by in New England. The entire 6 state region ranks in the bottom 10 states when considering the importance of religion.

I'm not as concerned with the fact that people here in New England are naturally less religious, that fact has a lot to do with historical trends.

I'm concerned when I hear about highly visible church organizations poring their resources into Nashville.
I get frustrated when I hear about "hot shot" seminary grads getting out and planting a new church in Charlotte.
I'm confused when I hear about really well known church leaders starting a new worship experience in Atlanta.
I'm jealous when read about all of the ministry training being made available in Dallas.

Are these organizations are smart enough to know that you can't run a "successful' ministry in New England, or are they settling for the 'low hanging fruit'?

I'm sure there are many good reasons to start a church in Birmingham, but I can't wait to see someone look at Boston and say... "why not!" Let's bring in some seminary hot shots and nationally recognized leaders and start something there. If God (and not geography) is the reason for their success, then let's buck the trend.

Click Here for a closer look at the trends.

Youth Pastor Gathering

2009-02-19T16:48:00.004-05:00

You are invited to attend a gathering of youth pastors on Sunday, February 22nd at 6pm in Marlborough, MA at Metro Church. My long time friend, Scott Long and Chad Braswell are looking forward to networking and sharing with others in youth ministry here in Central Massachusetts. If you have any question please contact Chad Braswell: cbraswell@metro-church.net or Scott Long: missione4@yahoo.com

Landon Cosmo DeStratis

2009-02-15T20:56:00.002-05:00

Many of you have already seen the news on Facebook... but in case you haven't heard, Landon Cosmo DeStratis arrived at 2:53am on Sunday, February 15, 2009. He weighed in at 7lbs 6oz and 21 inches long. Erin and Landon are healthy and happy... and so is Mitchell!

Room 237 (update)

2009-02-12T08:37:00.002-05:00

Room 237 Update!

I just listened to my very own copy of "Room 237" by the Black Raspberries and it's great! I wanted to update everyone and let you know that if you'd rather have your own copy of the CD rather than the download, it is now available! You can get in touch with Giuliano via email: giulianodoraz@gmail.com and let him know that you want a copy of the CD. This is a full length album for only $5.00. If you need to have the album shipped out to you, add on shipping and handling costs.

Enjoy!

Room 237

2009-02-11T08:00:00.001-05:00

It's been a long time in the waiting, but The Black Raspberries have hit the streets with their new full length album, Room 237. I couldn't be more proud of these guys as they wrote, recorded and produced the entire album on their own. These high school students have crafted some amazingly creative tracks and impressive riffs on this album. Don't miss this great rock CD!

Click Here to download the entire album for only $4.99!

Firefox

2009-02-10T08:00:00.000-05:00

Ok... I confess: I've been using Internet Explore way too long. Back in the summer months of '08 I downloaded Google Chrome, but only because the computer IKON issues to me wouldn't allow me to update past IE6.

I recently rebuilt an old PC to act primarily as a print server and back up computer. I decided that since I had a clean slate with this PC, I might as well try heading over to Mozilla. It didn't take long for me to fall in love with Firefox and all of it's 'add-ons'. Once web browsing became a social interaction, thanks to Twitter and Facebook, the old model of browsing just won't suffice. The two ad-on features that I am loving the most: Twitter and Delicious.

I've been experimenting with a couple of twitter apps. Right now I'm running Twitbin. I've also used TwitterFox. I'm not sure which one I'll go with... any sugguestion?

Delicious is the real reason that I'm converting all of my browsing to Firefox. How many times have you been on one computer, saved a site to "favorites" only to later be at another computer and not be able to access your favorites. Delicious solves that problem by creating a web based bookmark that can be accessed from any computer. The Delicious add-on for Firefox makes it as easy to add, view and change bookmarks as if they were built into your browser. All this plus the ability to create feeds and share your favorite sites.

Anyway, I'd like to conclude by appologizing to my many fellow nerdy friends... I was wrong to use IE for so long, but I now see the error of my ways. I pledge to use Firefox and all of it's cool extentions from this day forward.

Churched

2009-02-04T12:12:00.004-05:00

I thought I would share a link to the book I just started reading - Churched

I'll probably post more thoughts on it later... but so far, for a guy who grew up going to church with a lot of rules, this book is really speaking to me... and making me laugh. I grew up in a Pentecostal / Charismatic church, which is very different from the Independent Baptist church that the author attended, yet from a kid's perspective, there were many similarities.

I'm only 3 chapters in... so I'll get back to you with more thoughts later.

Read more from Matthew Paul Turner at:
http://www.jesusneedsnewpr.blogspot.com/

Doppleganger

2009-01-26T14:52:00.005-05:00

I like to consider myself a person who is up to date on my vocabulary words. But one day last week as I was speaking with Claudio ( www.jackdogg.com ) a word came up that I had never heard before... "Doppleganger". Claudio used it so casually that I almost let it go... but I realized that I had to stop him and say... "Dopple...wha wha what?". Claudio proceeded to give me a text book description of the term, stating that it was of German origin. Wiki Definition Here. I realized that I have clearly missed out on this word for 30 years. With this new insight I vowed to learn more. It turns out doppleganger is being used in pop culture all the time... and with that I present another SNL masterpeice by Andy Samberg. (thank you to Steve Bramlett for the link)

Mitchell, Remy and the Tennis Ball

2009-01-24T15:00:00.003-05:00

Mitchell really enjoys playing, "ball" with Remy.

SoulFest RePost: Fictional Family

2009-01-23T14:49:00.002-05:00

This story first appeared at: http://thesoulfestblog.blogspot.com/

This past Wednesday I became part of a fictional family along with 200 others gathered at the Paradise Rock Club in Boston. Fiction Family, featuring Jon Foreman of Switchfoot and Sean Watkins of Nickle Creek played to this intimate crowd anxious to hear the new side project from the two artists.

When I read the story on how these two established singer/songwriters came together, my original thought was that this project is the first "Web 2.0" album. Read the entire story here. The basic concept is that Jon and Sean were rarely able to be in the same place at the same time, so they traded musical ideas and tracks online, adding new elements until they had a song that worked. They colaborated over a period of three years while maintaining a busy schedule with their respective bands.

This concert was an extremely refreshing experience for me. It is rare to be so familiar with a musician (Jon) but not be familiar with most of the music being performed. Fiction Family's self titled debut had only been released to the stores one day before the show, so the only song that I was familiar was their lead single, "When She's Near". Some of the most memorable songs on Wednesday night showcased Jon's reflective and inspiring lyrics ("Mostly Prove Me Wrong") and Sean's incredible "blue grass" guitar skills ("War In My Blood").

Both artists come from different musical pedigrees which makes their colaboration truly unique. And even though a part of me was hoping to hear a couple of Switchfoot tracks mixed into the show, I really came to appreciate their dedication to the music of this project, as they performed almost every track on the album. I wasn't able to meet all the 200 or so members of my new fictional family on Wednesday night, but we all walked away a fresh take on the rock/folk genre.

The Future

2009-01-05T18:58:00.006-05:00

I've been thinking a lot about the purpose of this blog. As you may have noticed, I bought a domain... www.destratis.com I've left the subtitle, "Jason Found This Interesting". For a while now I've been feeling like that is far too broad for this blog. But before I continue with the future of this blog, I'd like to take a quick look back at last year.

I learned a lot about blogging in 2008 - most of it from my friend Marty Holman. Marty really pushed me to consider blogging and twitter. Marty also had very kind words for me today at his site.

My most successful blog was: My Vote For President

I enjoy politics. I enjoy debate. This post worked, but I'm not sure that I'm a political blogger. And I guess that's my point. I need to stick to my niche.

So the question is: Should I narrow the focus of destratis.com to "Strategy for Churches in the Northeast" and leave some room for personal stuff of our growing family? Or should I create a new blog for Strategy and leave destratis.com for family updates only? I'm leaning toward the first option, but Erin reminded me that my faithful readers may not be interested in the Strategy content. So let me know what you think.

An Awkward New Year's Eve Moment

2008-12-31T22:53:00.003-05:00

Just traveling down memory lane. This "Awkward Moment" was recorded on New Year's Eve in 2004 in Princeton, MA. Claudio at his best!

Mitchell and Remy

2008-12-28T00:39:00.001-05:00

A Christmas Greeting from Mitchell

2008-12-24T10:52:00.001-05:00

Concert Calendar

2008-12-23T10:18:00.007-05:00

I thought I would round up some of the concerts I will be a part of this coming week.

First up, Rachel Macy at Fellowship Church - Holden on Friday, December 26th. Rachel has been writing, singing and performing in Virginia and Massachusetts for over 6 years now. Before that she was a major contributor to Holden Chapel's youth group band. It's going to be a great night with coffee and many friends. Let me know if you need directions to the venue.

Also, this is a big week for The Black Raspberries. The guys have been invited back to a couple of their favorite venues... and great places to see them perform their brand of high energy rock!

Sunday, December 28th 4:30pm at Tammany Hall in Worcester.
Wednesday, December 31st First Night Worcester - Teen Showcase - Alden Hall at WPI. (Time around 9:00pm)

5 Ways to Avoid a Wireless Data Plan

2008-12-16T10:31:00.004-05:00

Is your wireless data plan really worth the money? With money being tight for so many of us, you may be wondering if your wireless plan is really justified. iPhone users may be the exception to this phenomena thanks to a great browsing experience and plenty of 'apps' to pull down content that is useful. The rest of us are stuck with 'smart phones' that have a mediocre browsing experience. Is it worth the extra $30 to $50 per month in data charges? For me, the answer is "No".

Here are 5 ways that I avoid a wireless data plan.

1) Use a mobile phone with a cross platform operating system.

Over the years I've had plenty of phones that relied on some sort of proprietary operating system built by the manufacturer or the carrier. Unfortunately that means that all content also comes from or is licensed by the manufacturer or the carrier. The biggest problem for the end user is that it squeezes out a lot of innovative apps and cool games that are out there. Right now I'm using a Windows Mobile phone. While not a completely open platform, it is more flexible than a straight-up Verizon phone. Google's Android has some promise to be the most flexible OS for a phone, but will need to gain some market momentum before I'm really interested.

2) Microsoft ActiveSync.

In selecting my most recent phone (Motorola Q9m) one of the most important features was being able to sync with my Outlook Calendar at work. By simply connecting my phone via USB, I let ActiveSync do all the work of updating changes I've made via the phone, in Outlook itself, or even via my Google calendar (also synced via Google Calendar Sync). Another huge bonus is that I also have all of my contacts and phone numbers backed up on a regular basis. Throw in the ability to have recent emails, tasks or Audio/Video files synced and it becomes a powerfull way to keep your phone up to date. I do have plug my phone in about once a day, but it usually while I'm sitting at my computer anyway - any easy price to pay for avoiding wireless sync costs.

3) SMS Alerts

I do have to confess that my strategy is not entirely free. I pay $10 a month for a large amount of text messanging. Verizon throws in the free V to V texting and it gives me more than enough value to cover these communications. SMS Alerts are available from just about every service you can imagine.

Here is a list of alerts I get on regular basis:

Yahoo Sports Alerts with scores from my favorite teams (Boston - thank you very much).
News alerts from Boston's WBZ.
Stock Market Updates at the end of the business day.
Email alerts from my work's email server (available via Rules and Alerts... in Outlook).
Updates from Facebook and Twitter.
Traffic alerts (for whatever area you select).

The reality is... you can create an alert out of just about any content available on the web. Just utilize RSS feeds and push them through Yahoo or Google. I never feel like I need to get on the mobile web because the information I want to see just comes to me in real time.

4) AvantGo.com

AvantGo is a great application you can download for your 'smart phone'. Just think of it as a 'Google Reader' for you phone. Go to their website, set up an account, select content they suggest (MSNBC headlines or CNET), create your own channel with just about any RSS feed, then sync your phone while your connected via USB. It even captures images and gives you a pretty decent browsing experience for the money (free). I use it to catch up on news and blogs that I didn't get a chance to read while I'm at my computer.

Suggestions: It would be great to be able to sync this type of application with Google Reader so the stories you've already read online are removed (and vice versa).

5) WiFi

This option is kind of cheating... but is on my wishlist. I don't have a WiFi enabled phone, but if I did I would use my broswer for that mediocre browsing experience I was talking about at the begining.

Ultimately, I wish I had an iPhone, but I'm somewhat locked into Verizon because of the better coverage in my area and the fact that so many friends and family are on Verizon as well (big savings on minutes and texting). So for now, I'm getting by without the wireless data charges.

Do you use a wireless data plan or sneak by with other means?

Festivus

2008-12-15T08:45:00.004-05:00

Just when the stress of the holidays gets to a breaking point it sometimes helps to remember why we celebrate this imporant family tradition. With credit to Wikipedia here is the story of Festivus:

The Begining -
Frank Costanza: Many Christmases ago, I went to buy a doll for my son. I reached for the last one they had, but so did another man. As I rained blows upon him, I realized there had to be another way.
Cosmo Kramer: What happened to the doll?
Frank Costanza: It was destroyed. But out of that a new holiday was born: a Festivus for the rest of us!

The Festivus Pole -

Cosmo Kramer: Is there a tree?
Frank Costanza: No, instead, there's a pole. It requires no decoration. I find tinsel distracting.
Frank Costanza: It's made from aluminium. Very high strength-to-weight ratio.
Mr. Kruger: I find your belief system fascinating.

Airing of Grievances -
Frank Costanza: And at the Festivus dinner, you gather your family around, and tell them all the ways they have disappointed you over the past year!
Frank Costanza: I got a lot of problems with you people! And now, you're gonna hear about it. You, Kruger. My son tells me your company STINKS!
George Costanza: Oh, God.

Feats of Strength -

Jerry Seinfeld: And wasn't there a Feats of Strength that always ended up with you crying?
George Costanza: I can't take it anymore! I'm going to work! Are you happy now?!
Frank Costanza: I've brought one of the cassette tapes.
Frank Costanza (on a tape recorder): Read that poem.
George Costanza (on a tape recorder): I can't read it, I need my glasses.
Frank Costanza (on a tape recorder): You don't need glasses! You're just weak, weak!
Estelle Costanza (on a tape recorder): Leave him alone!
Frank Costanza (on a tape recorder): All right, George. It's time for the Festivus Feats of Strength!
George Costanza: No! No! Turn it off! No feats of strength! I hate Festivus!
Frank Costanza: We had some good times.

Worcester Ice Storm '08

2008-12-13T08:35:00.002-05:00

On Thursday, December 11th we sat in the house watching the ice build on the trees around the house. At 12:30am on Dec. 12 we lost power. As I lied in bed I listened to the sounds of trees cracking and crashing down. We all woke up around 7:30 am to a very cold house. Little did we know how bad things were on our side of Worcester... including Holden, Paxton, Spencer.

From December 2008

WBZ Ch. 4 on Brighton St. (off of Burncoat) in Worcester.

From December 2008

Looking down Brighton St.

From December 2008

Tree down accross Hope Ave in Worcester

From December 2008

Trees leaning on powerlines on Rt 9 in Worcester.

It may be a couple of days before electricity is restored. In the mean time, we are at Chris and Kelly's house in Sturbridge.

Reunited

2008-12-08T07:50:00.004-05:00

I haven't posted on this blog in almost a month. Why? I've been working on building a new blog for The SoulFest. I'm really excited for the opportunity to represent the SoulFest in the blogosphere and I hope you'll subscribe. It's been a couple of years since I've followed the Christian music scene... in fact we had a bit of a break up. About a year ago I posted a blog on my frustrations with Christian music and said that I was 'moving on'. My feeling was that there was a lack of creativity in the industry.

I'm here to announce that Christian music and I are reunited! What caused the change of heart? Two factors come to mind: Me and the music industry as a whole.

Music Industry: There is less and less money available in the music industry. You've probably already heard that selling songs on iTunes & AmazonMP3 generates less revenue than selling CDs. Full album sales are down dramatically. Moving forward, record companies will have less and less incentive to release full albums that contain lousy or re-tread music. In fact, more and more artists will have to figure out how to release their own music and rely on the Internet and touring to make a living. This has already to begun to force more creative material to the top of this newly shaped environment in the music industry.

Me: The years from 2006 through parts of 2008 had brought me to a place of increasing cynicism. My attitude toward any Christian organization was basic disapproval. I'm not totally sure why at this point, but I felt like it was impossible to be a sincere follower of Christ and also sincerely run an organization that directly or indirectly promotes Christ. I'm still struggling with how to shape that concept... perhaps it will be the basis of a thesis someday... but for now... it is a little window into how I have been thinking.

In the late summer and fall months I had the opportunity to reconnect with a person whom I consider a role model in my life. His name is Dan and it's not a formal mentor relationship, in fact, I sometimes feel like I'm drinking from a fire hose when he's talking, but I did catch something that I needed to hear. "Jason, you need to reconnect with your soul!" On my ride home that afternoon, I turned off the radio and focused on what that meant for me.

The number one thing I had to do was to change my attitude. I felt beat down by life in 2008. It's been a bad year financially and I lost my grandfather. Perhaps it was understandable, but my poor attitude was building on itself... to the point where it even affected my relationship with Erin. She let me know that I needed to cheer up, but I wasn't ready to hear it until I heard the words, 'reconnect with your soul'. Later that week we coined a corny phrase for our relationship that Erin and I repeat to ourselves when we feel down... "Neeeew Attituuuude!" It's cheesy, but it's helped.

Back to the point of Christian music.... I'm back with a "Neeeew Attituuuude!" I'm so grateful to have gone through a bit of a pruning process in my affection for the Christian music scene. I won't be as much of a 'Yes Man' for the industry and perhaps I can be a voice (in the chorus) that promotes the most creative parts of the music industry as it forges forward.

Response to Racism

2008-11-09T22:16:00.004-05:00

Thanks again for the many comments on my last post. I would like to make a couple of remarks in response.

The comparison I made of myself attending Liberty University and Obama attending Jeremiah Wright's church was only meant to serve as an example of how the conservative media was not using sound logic when accusing Obama of being a racist or supporting racist causes. I do not think that Jerry Falwell and Jeremiah Wright are in the same category of preacher. I also do not think that Dr. Falwell was homophobic. My point was that the media and popular commentators accused Dr. Falwell of being homophobic despite the fact that he did preach love the sinner and hate the sin. Once the media had the soundbite, they didn't want to hear the real context of what Jerry Falwell was saying. In fact, my real complaint is that the conservative media has made the the same type of accusations about Barack Obama that the liberal media was making of Jerry Falwell in 1999. Our conservative base has become too comfortable repeating these uninformed accusations and that hypocrisy is part of the proof (in my humble opinion) that we conservatives have lost our direction.

Speaking of proof. The evidence that Barack Obama has sat in the pews and not been influenced by some outlandish racial preacher was made available to us during the Presidential primary season. Anyone who is truly scared that President Elect Obama doesn't have a sound and strong stance on racial equality in this country needs to listen to the speech he wrote and delivered on March 18th, 2008. On that day as I heard this speech, it was clear to me that Barack Obama has clear judgment despite the fact that he attended Rev. Wright's church. If you don't have a full half hour to burn... then spend at least 5 minutes beginning at minute 6.

P.S. I've promised posts on issues with which I disagree with Barack Obama and I intend on writing those soon. Erin and I are moving across Worcester to my Dad's condo, which is available for us, and is much cheaper than our place off of Grafton St. We've been packing and chasing Mitchell around and it has kept me from forming my thoughts on these important issues. Anyway... continue to challenge me with your comments... I enjoy the debate.

Obama as a Threat

2008-11-02T20:20:00.004-05:00

Last Wednesday night I posted my vote for President: Barack Obama. As a Republican (with a lot of Republican friends and family members) I expected to hear some heated responses. Actually, I big reason why I posted my opinion was to stir up some controversy and conversation... it looks like that mission was accomplished.

Site Visitors Stats - Wed 6 (normal day); Thurs 86 (all time high); Fri 20; Sat 20 and Sun 11.

Comments - Blogger 16; Facebook 5

Comments - For 4; Against 11; and Undetermined 6

I know many of my friends and family were disappointed to see me make such a public claim for Barack Obama. As I mentioned in my blog, there are a lot of issue with which I disagree with the Jr. Senator from Illinois, however I have come to respect the leadership qualities he has displayed so far.

There were 2 major themes to those who disagreed with me: "How can I support Obama's policies" and "Obama presents a threat to this country as we know it". In this post I'll make comments on the latter category and then focus on Democratic policies in subsequent posts.

Attacking Obama as a radical socialist, a supporter of terrorism or as a disingenuous 'wolf in sheep's clothing' all sounds like desperate attempts to scare voters into supporting McCain. I think the one claim that upsets me the most is that Barack Obama is a racist (or supports racists) because he attended Jeremiah Wright's church.

Here is a quick example of how this logic breaks down: I went to Liberty University. Liberty is founded by Dr. Jerry Falwell. He was very active and vocal during my years there including comments about how the "Teletubbies" were promoting a homosexual agenda to children. Many legitimate voices in America accused Dr. Falwell of being homophobic. Therefore, Jason DeStratis is also homophobic.

If I were running for President reporters may ask me, "Jason, how can you support the fair treatment of same sex couples via civil unions even though you attended Jerry Falwell's school?" My response would probably be similar to Barack Obama's response about his connection to Jeremiah Wright, "There were many things that Dr. Falwell said that I cannot and did not support, however I do respect the inspiration he was to many people in the Christian community."

Spending energy claiming that Barack Obama is planning on promoting Jeremiah Wright's "Black Libertarian" agenda is a clear sign that Republicans are gasping for air. We've lost our way. By voting for Obama I am saying, "Ok Democrats, tell us some of your ideas... we are clearly out of fresh ideas over here."

In my next post I'll begin to discuss some Democrat ideas with which I struggle the most.

My Vote for President

2008-10-29T19:55:00.004-04:00

In this post, I'm going to reveal my vote for President. I can't remember discussing my vote for President in such a public way before, and I generally prefer to have this discussion in a more personal conversation... but then again this is the first election cycle since I've begun blogging.

So without further delay... I am voting for Barack Obama.

As a registered Republican, it will be my first time voting for a Democrat. My vote is made up of several decision and opinions that I'd like to cover with you. I'd love to hear your feedback.

1) Embarrassment - I am completely embarrassed by the last 4 years of the Bush administration. Having voted for "W" last time mostly due to the "devil you know" theory, I've grown tired of the lack of respect he has brought to the office. I realize that some of this lack of respect is a "snow-ball" effect largely due to the fact that popular culture has been enjoying the natural punchlines in his lack of presence and misspoken words during speeches. Ultimately, not only has President Bush been somewhat of an embarrassment, so have many of his choices for key members of the executive branch organizations. The evidence is easy to find with so many resignations and 'insider' books from former members of the staff.

1a) So what does that have to do with not voting for McCain? I don't have a lot of experience in Washington DC, but what I've learned about the organizations that make up the executive branch, is that they are heavily influenced by members of the party of the President. The members of the executive branch may experience some changes with a McCain presidency, however, my vote for Obama is in part a desire to hit the reset button on as much of that organization as possible.

2) Presidential - Barack Obama is clearly more intelligent, inspiring and poised than John McCain. Evidence? Just watch the debates and the speeches, especially the 'town hall' debate in which McCain was terribly uncomfortable.

2a) So what does 'being Presidential' have to do with the actual issues. In truth, I still identify with the ideals of the Republican party far more that I do with Democrats. For example, I'm harshly opposed to abortion, I don't believe that an increase in taxes on potential employers (those making over 250k) will help the economy, and I'm nervous that removing troops from Iraq too soon could cause some long term instability in a place where we've already invested so much. Despite all of that, I've also learned that I don't have to agree with every position a leader takes in order to respect that leader. So in the wake of the current President, I'm highly concerned with electing strong, intelligent and inspiring leadership to the office, and Barack Obama has demonstrated that character over the past 20 months of campaigning.

2b) With respect to the elders in my life, John McCain is too old. At 72 years old it is hard to believe that he is going to be as connected with the pulse of the this country and the innovations we need in the future. McCain is just a little too late to the party. I'm disappointed with the Republican party for not nominating Mitt Romney, a younger, more intelligent and inspiring leader that would have brought a strong agenda for reducing governmental spending.

Bonus)

I think that spending millions of dollars for a half-hour network broadcast is a lot of money to spend on a commercial, but I really do appreciate an entire half-hour of positive politicking. There was not one negative attack on McCain. The first ad to be run by John McCain after the special was negative and focused on Barack Obama not being ready to be president.

I'm ready for something positive.

Dream Job

2008-10-25T09:49:00.005-04:00

I think that I've mentioned to many of you that my dream job would be to broadcast baseball games. Of course, I'd like for it to be the Red Sox, but I'm realistic... I'd be open to do play-by-play for any team in the majors. So last month when I was in Colorado, watching a blow-out game between the Rockies and Diamondbacks, I noticed an attraction at Coors Field where fans could take part in a fantasy broadcast... and I couldn't help myself. So here it is... my official audition to become a baseball broadcaster along side my friend Jeff Valois calling the 7th inning in Colorado.