Miller Time Re:wind

It's time to take stroll down memory lane this past week and reminisce about all of the things that were brewing...

Stacey's 20 Year Reunion-

• Here she got to answer many of the important, deep questions of the past 10 years- who's gained the most weight, who's lost their hair, who went under the knife, who's still alive?

The Painting Olympics-

• Did well in the 20' x 9' sidewall, but had some difficulty on the parallel walls. Finished however with a gold medal given to me by some tall, beautiful brunette.

Lexicon Additions and uses-

• Cone of Silence- "I can't hear you, I'm in a cone of silence."
  
• Phelpsian- "Your bedroom painting skills are Phelpsian."
  
• Obama-Biden - "Obama-Biden = Ebony-Ivory"
  
• Bolted- "You just got bolted in your '93 Ford Escort wagon."

Favorite Read of the Week-

• Os Guiness book, The Case for Civility: And why our future depends on it- how we can agree to disagree
  

Favorite Screenings of the Week-

• Phelps...enough said.
  
• The Dark Knight- a bit disturbing, especially Batman's hoarse/gravely voice.
• Rick Warren's Faith Forum- Mccain A-, Obama B+
  

Passage that I was Chewing on-

• Acts 23:12- where 40 men made a pact not to eat or drink until they had killed the apostle Paul. Will speak on this tomorrow at Life Church... the dangerous word.
  

Most Pressing Question Heading into Next Week-

• How to treat Olympic withdrawal

Looking Forward to in the Coming Week-

• Daddy/daughter date with Raegan on Monday
• Raegan starts Senior High/Ramsay starts kindergarten- wow...
  

Miller's Going for Olympic gold

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We've caught the fever and we've entered the "rhythmic" category looking for some Olympic gold. We'd like to thank our sponsors Jovan Musk and Little Debbie snack cakes. Without them, this moment would not be possible.

Go USA.

note: facebookers will have to go to http://markmiller.blogspot.com for this to make any sense.

Beijing through the cracked lens of Dave Barry

Dave Barry is one of my heroes. He's a comic writing legend. And he is on fire in Beijing providing regular updates. For a taste of the games with a sense of humor, here's a bite and a link thanks to my sis (Debra Ferguson)...

Dave Barry: It's not the destination, it's the journey

By Dave Barry


BEIJING — Here's how you get around Beijing.First you go to the hotel front desk, which will be staffed by 17 people. This is one of the nice things about China: There are always plenty of people around to help. For example: In some men's rooms, there are attendants whose sole function, as far as I can tell, is to direct you to the urinals. You walk in, and there's a guy, and he makes this gesture toward the urinals, which are roughly two feet away, his point being, "Here are the urinals." And no, you do not tip him.

But getting back to the topic: When you get to the hotel front desk, the 17 people gather around and frown thoughtfully while you tell them where you want to go. Usually they have never heard of it. So they talk among themselves, make some phone calls, talk some more. You of course understand none of this conversation, because you are a clueless western idiot...

For more, click HERE. You won't be disappointed.

Olympic fever

I'll confess it, I have Olympic fever. And the only prescription is MORE Michael Phelps!

I'm amazed at how into the Olympics I get every four years. Stacey and I were jumping up and down as the US defeated France in the 4 man 100 meter relay. It brought back some memories for me. I can still remember how cool it was that I had the same first name as Mark Spitz, Mary Lou Retton scoring a 10, the first US Dream Team trouncing everyone, Jesse Owens running for... OK, not that old.

But what a needed break from the Presidential campaign. Americans get to breathe a collective sigh of relief and come together to show a bit of unified patriotism. Of course, it will be back to the normal bickering etc. in a few days, but let's enjoy it while we can.

Olympic-sized observations

Wow. Let the games begin! China brought it's 'A' game to the opening ceremony. We watched it with our neighbor kids who are Chinese. They made a point of telling us that all of the toys at our house are made in China. This was the first Olympics that our Ramsay can remember. She was doing some serious ballet during the dancing parts. And Rowan wasn't even born yet at the Athens games. She was singing some serious karaoke in her pink tu tu.

Here were a few observations while we were watching. What were your thoughts??

• Favorite ceremony parts- the footprint fireworks, the 2008 drummers, the printing press boxes, the scroll, the progressive canvas art piece, the running man and the olympic ring fireworks (how scared was that guy?).
• Any doubts about this being the Chinese century were eliminated.
• How come other countries can celebrate their faith along with the rest of the world but the west cannot?
  
• Bob Costas is the best commentary period. He should do every awards show.
• What were the Hungarian designers thinking?? Ouch.
• I was pleased with the reception that the Americans received. A little surprised actually.
• Stacey commented "very Ralph Lauren" about the American outfits before she knew they were Ralph Lauren...such a fashionista.
  
• How can the Chinese women wave for 3 straight hours!
• Was surprised at how many countries I had never heard of. Djibouti?
  
• Was it just me or was Yao Ming literally twice the size of the next tallest Chinese athlete?
  
• What would have happened had one of the torches gone out? Do they start the whole trek around the world over?
• Amazed at the 3600 hours of coverage this year. This is the DSL olympics.
  
• Chicago 2016 baby!! And we're glad we're not London in 2012!!