And speaking of wrestling…

And speaking of wrestling…

I used to love to watch professional wrestling. This was about 10 years ago, when my son Ian was in third grade. He was in that stage where he hadn’t yet figured out it was fake – ditto for Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. This was at the height of the WCW. Some of our favorites included Macho Man Randy Savage, Kevin Nash, Rick Flair (the Nature Boy), and Ray Mysterio (who was cool because he wore a mask).  But after about a year, there was a discernable change. There were more bikini-clad females climbing into the ring, more chairs and other ‘illegal’ props being used, more farfetched back story lines, more boring ‘intrigue’ about Vince McMahon and the future of the WCW (later swallowed up by the WWF) — we just wanted to watch two guys “wrestle” (or four, if it was a tag team match).

So I’m interested to see Mickey Rourke’s movie, The Wrestler. [View trailer, read Variety's review, and the LA Times review of its own review].

I miss the good old, bad old days when fake wrestling meant something. Maybe, in Rourke’s performance, there’s truth, and redemption to be found after all.

What holiday movies are you planning to see? Four Christmases? Seven Pounds? Frost/Nixon? Valkyrie? Let us know what you think.

Rick Warren to deliver invocation at Obama’s inauguration

So Rick Warren’s been chosen to deliver the invocation at Obama’s inauguration next month. On the one hand, as Andrew Sullivan points out on the Atlantic’s website, it’s a shrewd political move. And the two have some common ground in their concern for HIV/AIDS.  But, as Sullivan concludes, the message it sends to the GLBT community is not a positive one.

My question about Obama’s choice has more to do with Warren’s integrity. Maybe Obama’s unconvinced or unconcerned that Warren may have set him up when he invited Obama and McCain to the televised forum at Saddleback Church. But I’d be a little cautious after hearing rumors that McCain, who went second in being questioned by Warren, was listening to Obama’s answers on the radio while being chauffeured around, or may have had other access to the questions and/or Obama’s answers. [Warren denied the rumors in a Beliefnet interview the day after the forum, during which he was also somewhat critical of Obama].

“Cones of silence” aside, who else might Obama have invited? I can think of a few. What do you think?

Would’ve been great if he’d invited Jeremiah Wright. Now THAT would take some cojones.

Stuck indoors because of the Perfect Storm? Sweet! Or maybe, Random

Each year, Lake Superior State University releases its Banished Words List. Several of the above were banished this year, including “perfect storm,” “sweet” and “random.” Can’t say I’ll be “emotional” about letting those go.

I kind of like “webinar” – having attended my first one just a few weeks ago. But I don’t get out much.

What would you add to the list? My votes: “OMG!” “deleveraging” and “Obamanites” (not the people, just the word.)

National City featured in PBS story on Obama church choice

Ever since Barack Obama resigned his membership at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago during the presidential campaign, people have been wondering and speculating where he would attend church, if elected.  PBS’ Religion & Ethics Newsweekly takes a look at some of his likely options.

Featured in the PBS piece is Rev. Stephen Gentle, senior minister at National City Christian Church. The Disciples congregation has been home to two presidents: James Garfield and Lyndon Johnson.

Interestingly, the story features Presbyterian, Baptist, Episcopal, and AME churches in addition to National City; it mentions the 8 UCC congregations in the area only in passing. Given that Obama spoke at the UCC’s last General Synod, I wonder if he will remain loyal to the UCC. Then again, any church a president attends would have to contend with all the requirements and modifications for security reasons, so perhaps location, and suitability for a huge cadre of Secret Service personnel, trumps denominational loyalty.