Cliff jumping in Hell's Canyon

[Art Vandelay]

For some reason posting personal info about myself feels like standing on a 60 foot cliff at Hells Canyon. I see everyone else has done it and survived but it still seems scary.

I have decided to use the boilerplate intro with a few modifications.

How did you find CUF? I was on the original cougar-net email list back when everyone had either a AOL or .edu email address with a 2400 bit modem. I then was part of CougarBlue when Dick Harmon was still with the Daily Herald and eventually was sucked into the blackhole that is cougarboard. During one of my many whiny, whoa is me posts, about being suspended I asked what other boards BYU fans frequent. RC Viking (I had to go back to my old boardmail to remember who) told me about CUF. It was several months and lifetime CB parole that finally brought me over here.

What do you like about CUF? I really enjoy a more mature discussion, I enjoy the fact that good threads aren't lost with a page turn, I like that many of my favorite CB posters are also here, I like there isn't nearly the Zoobie-Yewt pettiness of other forums.

What don't I like about CUF? I could do without the vulgarity and I don't like how much time this has been occupying for me recently. Honestly, one of the biggest things I dislike is how I behave online. It is much too easy for me to be sarcastic, condescending, and generally immature. I am often much too quick to post fleeting thoughts or retell old stories that I would be wiser to left untyped. I worry I too easily regress into my pre-angel Alma the Younger days (90% of the movies I referenced in the 80s thread I wouldn't allow into my home now, yet from my posts I recall them with much too fond of memories). I need to work on having less of a desire to entertain and impress and more to inform or add something meaningful to a thread. I wish I could be more like PAC and make my comments less frequent yet more worthwhile.


How did you choose your moniker?

I always like Seinfeld and thought a moniker used by a fictional character was clever and original when I first joined cougarboard. However, when I went to use it as a nickname in other forums I quickly discovered I was not nearly as original as I credited myself for being.

What do you do (other than read CUF)?

It is safe to say that 90% of free time is in either church meeting or at one of my kids' ballgames or practices. I don't enjoy pickup basketball much anymore because my brain still thinks I'm 21 but my lack of quickness, hops, and reflexes reminds me otherwise. I generally come home in a bad mood for playing like a crappy old man so I have pretty much given up the sport I have always loved.

I like to golf, but don't make the time to go enough to play at a level I would like to. Every year I claim I will start taking my boys with me but somehow life and other commitments get in the way.

What goals do you have left to accomplish?

To have Tripletdaddy and/or Seattle Ute quote me in his signature someday.

How many states have you lived in?

I have lived in Oregon, Constant Confusion, Washington, Utah, Idaho, Virginia.


What are your sports loyalties?

BYU Football, BYU Basketball, and the Portland Trailblazers. I use to watch the NBA and NFL religiously. With age my passion has greatly waned, I watch parts of games on occasion but rarely devote 2 solid hours to the any TV viewing.

What's your standing in the church?

I'm sure by this board's standards I would be considered a mullah (a term I never heard thrown around so accusingly until I discovered LDS message boards). I wear a white shirt tie and suit every Sunday, I generally like most sacrament meetings, Gospel Doctrine lessons and even kind like hometeaching.

Neither my wife or I was raised, nor now has any desire to live in, Utah. My father is not LDS but is one of best man I have ever known. He supported 2 sons on missions and he and my mother stood outside 3 different temples without complaint while their children got married.

There is much I don't understand in relation to the Church's current and previous social policies, but try not let it take away from those things I do believe to be true. I don't know if I will always feel this way, but at this time I truly feel like I need the church, its programs and its teachings to deal with the struggles of raising a family. The LDS church would certainly do fine without me, but I'm not at a point where I would be fine without it.

Are you famous for anything?

Other than being one of the very first to rush the field after the Miami game and marrying a woman who dated the son of one of the more famous non-GA Mormons while in HS? No.


Are you looking forward to Wuap's welcome question and what do you think it will be?

Much like a pitcher with a filthy curve ball even if I know what is coming I will be lucky if I get enough bat on the ball to foul it off and hope he makes a mistake with his next pitch.

[I.J. Reilly]

[COLOR="Blue"]
What don't I like about CUF? I don't like how much time this has been occupying for me recently.

My wife definitely agrees with you that this board is way too much of a time suck

[wuapinmon]

Brace yourself.

In October 1963, His Imperial Majesty, Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia, gave a speech to the UN. In the following excerpt, he comments on the future of Africa. These words have been put to music and made into a deeply-moving song by the Wailers.

"Last May, in Addis Ababa, I convened a meeting of Heads of African States and Governments. In three days, the thirty-two nations represented at that Conference demonstrated to the world that when the will and the determination exist, nations and peoples of diverse backgrounds can and will work together in unity, to the achievement of common goals and the assurance of that equality and brotherhood which we desire.

"On the question of racial discrimination, the Addis Ababa Conference taught, to those who will learn, this further lesson: That until the philosophy which holds one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned: That until there are no longer first-class and second class citizens of any nation; That until the color of a man's skin is of no more significance than the color of his eyes; That until the basic human rights are equally guaranteed to all without regard to race; That until that day, the dream of lasting peace and world citizenship and the rule of international morality will remain but a fleeting illusion, to be pursued but never attained; And until the ignoble and unhappy regimes that hold our brothers in Angola, in Mozambique and in South Africa in subhuman bondage have been toppled and destroyed; Until bigotry and prejudice and malicious and inhuman self-interest have been replaced by understanding and tolerance and good-will; Until all Africans stand and speak as free beings, equal in the eyes of all men, as they are in the eyes of Heaven; Until that day, the African continent will not know peace. We Africans will fight, if necessary, and we know that we shall win, as we are confident in the victory of good over evil.

Colonialism existed as a economic boon to European colonial masters. Raw goods and captive markets were achieved, but at a devastating cost. The map of Africa is a disaster of colonial boundaries between nations, with the chief intent being to divide up the tribes into different political entities so that one people, be they Bantu, Wolof, or Fang, could not dominate. These divisions have led to countless strife. Almost every African nation is pledged to "respect" the colonial boundaries, which seems almost untenable given the rise over the last 25 years of tribal politics and corruption poisoning the well of democracy and liberty in many African nations. We often hear people crying out for peace....but, I ask you, which is more important, World Peace as Haile Selassie sought, or the Equal Rights and Justice that Peter Tosh wished for? Explain your answer.

[YOUTUBE]
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[pellegrino]

Brace yourself.

In October 1963, His Imperial Majesty, Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia, gave a speech to the UN. In the following excerpt, he comments on the future of Africa. These words have been put to music and made into a deeply-moving song by the Wailers.



Colonialism existed as a economic boon to European colonial masters. Raw goods and captive markets were achieved, but at a devastating cost. The map of Africa is a disaster of colonial boundaries between nations, with the chief intent being to divide up the tribes into different political entities so that one people, be they Bantu, Wolof, or Fang, could not dominate. These divisions have led to countless strife. Almost every African nation is pledged to "respect" the colonial boundaries, which seems almost untenable given the rise over the last 25 years of tribal politics and corruption poisoning the well of democracy and liberty in many African nations. We often hear people crying out for peace....but, I ask you, which is more important, World Peace as Haile Selassie sought, or the Equal Rights and Justice that Peter Tosh wished for? Explain your answer.

[YOUTUBE]
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quit testing your final exam questions.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

I didn't know we could make up a bunch of questions. I thought we were supposed to stick to the standard ones.

[COLOR="Blue"]
How did you find CUF? I was on the original cougar-net email list back when everyone had either a AOL or .edu email address with a 2400 bit modem.

I would love to get Doc Nelly over here. Dropping smack about Brett Engemann failing his Book of Mormon class. That stuff was classic.

[Art Vandelay]

Brace yourself.

In October 1963, His Imperial Majesty, Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia, gave a speech to the UN. In the following excerpt, he comments on the future of Africa. These words have been put to music and made into a deeply-moving song by the Wailers.



Colonialism existed as a economic boon to European colonial masters. Raw goods and captive markets were achieved, but at a devastating cost. The map of Africa is a disaster of colonial boundaries between nations, with the chief intent being to divide up the tribes into different political entities so that one people, be they Bantu, Wolof, or Fang, could not dominate. These divisions have led to countless strife. Almost every African nation is pledged to "respect" the colonial boundaries, which seems almost untenable given the rise over the last 25 years of tribal politics and corruption poisoning the well of democracy and liberty in many African nations. We often hear people crying out for peace....but, I ask you, which is more important, World Peace as Haile Selassie sought, or the Equal Rights and Justice that Peter Tosh wished for? Explain your answer.

I have never liked questions which ask "which is more important" since that automatically declares the other option of lesser importance. So I will take the liberty of changing your question which, if either, choice is more likely attainable?

Regardless of your theological belief, I think most all would agree conflict has been part of human nature from its inception; Cain dropping from the top turnbuckle like Jimmy Superfly Snuka to clothesline Abel or Neanderthal Man kicking the crap out of Piltdown who most likely had Lucy wearing and organ grinder outfit and forcing her to bring him a huge order of brontosaurus ribs as he watched the local wet loin cloth contest. Part of what has made man advance to the point he can now order a double pepperoni pizza, read Perez Hilton, and watch his favorite Barney Miller episode all in the palm of his hand is competition. The B-side of competition however is conflict. For me to have more of something usually requires you to have less of it. Socialism over the past century has about the same success rate I did with Dottie Howe my senior year of HS. It sounds like a good idea on paper or with Hugo Chavez's cool accent but seems to flounder in application.

I haven't read "The Watchtower" recently (or unfortunately even lisntened to any of the Jimi Hendrix Experience), but I seem to recall something about Gog-Magog and couple prophets sleeping with the fishes or at least lying with the meth-heads in the streets of Jerusalem. I'm pretty sure conflict isn't going away anytime soon, at least not as long as there is church basketball and FHE.

Equal Rights and Justice on the other hand is a concept there actually has been some advancement in. Just look at this picture. We now let my wife and daughter actively participate when we play Parcheesi.


At what point are rights truly equal? This is a slippery slope especially in Mormonism. Is the priesthood, church governance, opportunity to attend 6 hours of meetings on Sunday instead of 3 a right every man, woman and hermaphrodite should have? What about the greatest injustice of all? The RS gets soft comfortable chairs while the priesthood has to sit on the same model of chair my parents used in 1972 for their weekly bridge games. If my butt is going numb on a cold hard piece of metal every Sunday can I ever call myself free man?

I would submit that Selassie and Tosh both look to words of the sometimes coherent Bob Dylan, the answer is blowin in the wind. No, literally, it is blowing in the wind- 1990 I was walking to the testing center with a notes from American Heritage. It was the last day the test was opened and I had only attended the actual class 2 days the whole semester. My roommate, the same one who thought is kosher to swig milk straight from my jug, gave me his notes from the previous semester. Somewhere between the Brick Oven and the Maeser building I turned to admire the beauty that is the female form. The wind took the paper blew it out of my hands over the hill and sent it on a Forest Gump feather adventure. So I can say with confidence, I'm sure the answer to this and most of life's great quandaries was on that piece of paper.

[Indy Coug]

I just think it's really cool that guy's armpit could talk.

[Jeff Lebowski]

I and especially my wife am sometimes bothered when people say we are the "perfect family". Neither of us was raised, nor now has any desire to live in, Utah.

So this happens a lot, eh? Must be a difficult cross to bear.

I am scratching my head as to what the second sentence has to do with the first. Help me out.

[wuapinmon]

quit testing your final exam questions.

Is it that transparent? I can't decide if the question is too subjective for a graded exam, but it will make for a wonderful classroom discussion.

[Art Vandelay]

So this happens a lot, eh? Must be a difficult cross to bear.

I am scratching my head as to what the second sentence has to do with the first. Help me out.

Oops. I didn't realize I left the first line in there, my first edit had much more info in the religious section, but I tried to tone it down. I then tried to cut and paste to be more concise. I obviously left some of my previous diatribe in there.

Thanks for pointing it out, I will get rid of it now.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Oops. I didn't realize I left the first line in there, my first edit had much more info in the religious section, but I tried to tone it down. I then tried to cut and paste to be more concise. I obviously left some of my previous diatribe in there.

Thanks for pointing it out, I will get rid of it now.

Sorry. I couldn't resist.

[TripletDaddy]

Originally Posted by Art Vandelay

I and especially my wife am sometimes bothered when people say we are the "perfect family". Neither of us was raised, nor now has any desire to live in, Utah.

By "perfect family," it is obvious, that people is, complimenting your awesome grammar "and" punctuation.

[Art Vandelay]

Is it that transparent? I can't decide if the question is too subjective for a graded exam, but it will make for a wonderful classroom discussion.

I am a youngest child by 10 years and thus constantly need attention. The lack of a critique or even a response on my answer is very unsettling. I now understand better why young Anikan turned to the darkside, Yoda who he admired and looked to for advice kept too much to himself. Thus the evil governor dude, who I assume bears a striking resemblance to Hallelujah, ways became more inticing.

[Art Vandelay]

By "perfect family," it is obvious, that people is, complimenting your awesome grammar "and" punctuation.

Considering what a huge softball I left hanging over the plate, that was much gentler than I would expect from you. DDD, you are getting soft in your old age.

One of my great embarrassments is how poor of writer I am. I realize it makes me look even dumber than I already am. For some reason I must have missed the day in English when commas, parenthesis, and general sentence structure was explained. I don't feel like reading a HS textbook but would love if someone could point me somewhere I could relearn when it is appropriate to use a colon versus a semicolon.

[Indy Coug]

I always make sure I hold it in long enough to use the full colon.