Damn!
This guy killed a freakin' deer with his bare hands!

God or Nature?
Topic: Guatemala
I hate to pick on poor people who just went through a tragedy, but here is something interesting that a person from Santiago Atitl?n had to say about the rains and mudslides we had that killed so many people:

“Estamos muy tristes, pero sabemos que no fue obra de Dios. Fue la Naturaleza”

Which translates to: We're very sad, but we know that it wasn't God's work. It was Nature.

What does that mean? What does that imply about God and nature?

I feel awful picking on that and ever more so because it seems I've been doing it more often (picking on guatemala), but jeez. What can I say?

Da Bulls
Topic: Bulls
Well, the BUlls opened up their season last night and were down 25 points to the Hornets in the 3rd quarter. I don't have cable so I was listening online. I was thinking, "Ugh."

But guess what folks, for the second year in a row, the opening game of the season was awesome (although they won this one) and they pulled out the victory.

Duhon had a triple double and Hinrich was lost with an ankle injury.

Rap Feud
Here's a good one.

Seems 50 doesn't know why Kanye said that "Bush doesn't care about black people."

50: "What Kanye West was saying, I don't know where that came from."

Fair enough, but what's 50's take on the whole hurricane fiasco?

"The New Orleans disaster was meant to happen. It was an act of God."

Okaaaaayyyy.

Oh and why is Kanye West so successful? 50 chimes in again:

"I feel like Kanye West is successful because of me."

Uhmm, why?

"After 50 Cent, (hip-hop fans) was looking for something non-confrontational, and they went after first thing that came along. That was Kanye West, and his record took off."

Oh that's right, probably has nothing to do with meaning. Dancing in the club is the same as talking about the diamond-slave trade in Sierra Leone.

Way to go fitty!

A knee slapper
When asked if she had ever visited a therapist, Jessica Simpson responded:

"Yes I have," the singer-actress tells Teen People in its December-January issue, on newsstands Friday. "I respect knowledge of the psyche. I would be a therapist if I weren't an entertainer."

Really? Unfortunately for Jessica, that's one of those careers where you have to be able to spell it before you can be it.

Interesting Statistic
Topic: Guatemala
I don't know how surprised to be about this, but Guatemala has more funeral parlors that police stations.

Doesn't really shock me as much as I thought it would.

http://www.elperiodico.com.gt/look/article.tpl?IdLanguage=13&IdPublication=1&NrIssue=481&NrSection=1&NrArticle=17345

Guatemalan Newspapers...again
Topic: Guatemala
Again I complain about why they have to write in such a convoluted style. Granted, I'm not as good a writer in Spanish as I am in English (rules-wise and all that shit), but I do know spanish and know how to read it, write it, and speak it.

For a country that has such low literacy rates, to have newspapers write in such an inaccessible style is beyond understanding.

La decisi?n respecto a este reclamo no ha sido resuelta debido a que los magistrados deber?n decidir una recusaci?n planteada por el Ministerio P?blico (MP) para que el presidente de la Sala, No? Moya, no conozca la acci?n planteada por los abogados de Portillo.

Ayer se notific? al MP y dem?s involucrados en este proceso, que en dos d?as deber?n pronunciarse respecto a la petici?n del ente investigador. El plazo para que den a conocer su postura vence el mi?rcoles.

They all do it and it feels to me like elitism borne from that same problem - the lack of literacy in the country. Those who can read want to distance themselves as much as possible from those who can't - so they write like this, instead of just focusing on getting the story across.

It's pathetic but it's also very Guatemala.

Devils Don't Dream
Topic: Movies
Virginia told me about this documentary in Paris and I finally got my hands on it. It's about Arbenz and the CIA getting him out of power.

I watched it with Mindy, eager to show her some of the country's history.
Unfortunately, this film is pretty bad at storytelling. Even someone who knows what happened, me, had trouble knowing what the hell he was talking about. Mindy was dumbfounded and I didn't blame her.

Bad bad bad.

Wow, college grads in the Bigs
Topic: Baseball
I can't believe this one. There are only 42 players in the Major Leagues will four-year college degrees.

Wow. That's 42 out of over 750, that's around 5%.

Cubs are still here
Topic: Cubs
While my attention has lately been on the Bears, White Sox, and Bulls (going to see them against the Pistons in December), the Cubs made some moves over the weekend.

Todd Walker will be back at second base making 2.5 million.

Scott Williamson will also be back at 2 million.

Burnitz is gone, no surprise there.

What does this mean?
Well, the bullpen will be stronger, for one. Williamson was coming off of Tommy John surgery and actually posted some pretty decent numbers. His ERA was an ugly 5.65 but he allowed 15 hits in 14.1 innings (which is decent) but struck out 23 and walked only 6, which is fantastic (although the walks are a bit high).

As for Walker, that means that Cedeno will not play second base, which means that there is a position battle if Nomar Garciaparra comes back. This becomes an important decision because of Nomar's health, his salary, and Cedeno's progress. The kid is ready and needs to play, but can you give two unproven young kids two starting positions at the same time? Maybe, but Dusty Baker will probably not start Murton and Cede?o at the same time.