Happy Easter

Happy Easter! It’s freezing. I want to go for a run, but it shouldn’t be this cold.

It’s Easter and in Scotland, just as in the USA, this means a lot of people made it to church today. Unfortunately, if you hadn’t been to church since Christmas, then you didn’t know that St. Columba’s was holding mass three doors down in the Parish Hall while the church is renovated. More unfortunate for those hoping to go unnoticed, was that you could see all the people pulling on the locked church door from the parish hall. I felt bad for them, even if it was moderately amusing.

(I have fair bit of respect for the often ridiculed “two-timers” whom I have heard called out during these solemn masses (“We do this every week”). Think of the courage it takes to go to Church on a day when you know that a large portion of the church is going to resent that you are there. There seemed to be none of that at Columba’s this morning, but I know from experience that somewhere a reasonably courageous attendee felt alienated rather than welcomed. I'd love it if I heard something like "We're so happy to have all of you here with us to celebrate Easter, and we invite you to celebrate the Resurrection with us as often as you can.")

On Friday, Edit (a Heatherlea resident from Hungary) went through great pains to explain a bizarre Easter tradition in Hungary. She said that on Easter, her, mother, sister and she would try to leave early in the morning to get out of the city and spent the day hiking in mountains. She described it as sneaking out of the city. Why? Because in Hungary, men douse the women with very cold water, or worse, perfume. I didn't fully understand her explanation, but I found one here. Edit says the custom has roots in a traditional story that the women at the tomb were doused with water by guards to make them leave and also that this represents a kind of re-baptism. Anyway, it's interesting albeit odd.

Last night I stayed up late watching the Final Four. There are only two legitimate reasons for not wanting Butler to win on Monday: 1) you have a direct affiliation with Duke, 2) you have no idea what I am talking about. Other than that, Butler winning the national championship would be the most awesome thing in college sports since I started paying attention, roughly a quarter of a century ago. (See what I did there…like a sportscaster I made it seem like a long time!)

I watched the games, and the first four rounds, on the CBS March Madness on Demand free online game player. During the first four rounds, the MMOD (as it’s called) had its own half-time show. For the semi-finals, it was the real thing. First of all, it was very funny that the three talking heads did not know that they were live on MMOD for about five minutes before they started their half time show. But more importantly, did you watch President Obama shoot hoops? That was really impressive and fun to watch. If you’ve ever spent endless hours playing horse or 21, then you understood how real that interaction was and how solid his long range set shot is. If you missed it, I attached it below.

Regardless of your political persuasion, this was just a genuine 48-year-old man draining long-range threes like a 28 year old. I like the end where he acknowledges the reality of his victory, both in that Kellogg gave him a little, and that this was a bad idea. For sure, the best comment is when he tells Kellogg, "I've a got a few other things on my mind." Well, actually, the best part is the back to back threes from three feet behind the bonus stripe.

I encourage you to watch this if you haven't seen it. If you don't have 4:48 skip to the 2:00 minute mark. If you don't have 2:48, skip to the final minute.


Watch CBS News Videos Online

PS: In March I did 1420 push-ups. In April I will shoot for 2000.

PSS: The wanderers of the Heatherlea are having a meal together this evening. It should be a hoot!

PSSS: If I find an open pub, I'll do some whisky tasting later tonight!