Holiday ROAD

Hey ya’ll the Rasmussen’s/Griswalds are preparing to embark on their South American Vacation. Peru watch out the Ugly American is coming. My dad (Clark) was generous enough to use his many many miles to help purchase airline tickets for 10 of us to and from Lima, Peru. We will be there for about 12 days traveling throughout Peru. I am so excited I have already packed about a week ago and I am thinking of unpacking so I can repack slightly more efficiently (the highlight of my trip). I must admit it took me awhile to warm up to the idea of spending TWELVE DAYS in extremely close contact with NINE of my family members but lately I have been getting into it. Part of the reason I was a bit nervous is that I have never really been out of the country (I don’t count an all inclusive resort in the Dominican Republic as leaving the country). I am not the best flyer in the world and have never been on a plane for longer than 5 hours at a time. Like most people I get a bit antsy being confined in such a small space for so long. That is one reason why I splurged on a fancy video Ipod for myself. I won’t be using the video portion too much (having trouble finding good video to put on it.) but am really excited about my new gadget. The fact that it holds 7,500 songs is amazing. I have been illegally downloading music from the web and ripping my own cd’s like crazy and still there are only like 1500 songs on there. I’ve also been getting into these podcasts. You can find a podcast on any subject you want its pretty cool.
Anyway back to Peru, why Peru you may ask? Well I’m not exactly sure. I know my dad went to Vietnam a couple of years ago and really caught the bug for international travel. I also know that Machu Picchu is one of those places in the world that he has always wanted to see. My sister also went to Peru a couple of years ago and LOVED it. Her best friend is Peruvian. Her friend’s uncle lives in Peru and has been working with my dad to plan out our trip. I know very little about Peru. Up until about a month ago I was just excited that we would be seeing something called “The COCK of the ROCK” and visiting a place called “Lake TITICACA.” Since then I have been doing some reading on Peru which has made me a lot more interested in the trip.
On Saturday we will wake up at about 4 in the morning and head to O’Hare. We will have a layover in Mexico City and arrive in Lima, Peru at about 12:30 at night (they are in the same time zone as we are.) Now that’s one long day of travel. The next morning we will take a flight to the city of Cuzco. Cuzco has a lot of Inca ruins and is close to the Sacred Valley of the Inca’s which we will also be seeing. Then it’s on to Machu Picchu to see more amazing ruins and nature. Following Machu Picchu we will be heading to Manu to stay in tents at a National Reserve in the Amazon Jungle. There we will be swimming with the piranhas, alligators, and god knows what, while canoeing down the Amazon River. (*note: this part of the trip scares the hell out of me too. I am just keep picturing the movie Anaconda with Ice Cube shouting “They got snakes dis big?!?!”)
After the Amazon, if any of us are still alive, it’s back to Costco (oops Cuzco) and then to Lake TITIES AND CACA. Ironically we should have gone to Costco to get everything we needed for Cuzco because we have to bring so much stuff. But we also are trying to carry as little luggage as possible so it has made packing a little tough. It is their winter down there so for most of the trip it actually will be pretty cold but when we are in the Amazon it will be hot. Trying to pack for winter and summer in one suitcase has been a challenge. I am being told to bring layers, winter coats, long underwear but also a swimming suit, sunscreen and sunhat. We were also told to bring tons of funny little things that you don’t often bring on vacations like TOLIET PAPER. The problem is we were only told to bring one roll each. This may be T.M.I for some of you NateBlogg readers but we here over at NateBlogg like us some toilet paper! One roll?!?!?!?! Did they mean one roll per day? Also even nastier, I am being told that we shouldn’t flush our toilet paper!!!!!! WHAT THE HELL ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO WITH IT THEN? Oh well it will be an adventure for sure. Hopefully I come back alive and with a clean butt.

Benny Da Bull

Man I can’t believe the Bulls got Ben Wallace that is crazy! Now what I am so cornfused about… is this a good thing? First of all I would like to say I think it is good. The Bulls haven’t had an all star on their team since a certain somebody left town (and no I’m not talking about Elton Brand or Brad Miller). Our new all star center/power forward fits so well with our up and coming team because he is the ultimate team player. He is well known as one of the hardest workers in the game. He will instill toughness into our young team and won’t let other teams push us around. He will teach our new young draft pick Tyrus Thomas how to play the position. Tyrus is only 19 years old and still has quite a bit of developing to do so it is nice that the best defender in the game will be there to show him the ropes. The championship caliber play of the Detroit Pistons over the last 4 seasons began and ended with Ben Wallace. He was the heart and soul of that team. A true leader. He is all the things the Bulls were lacking. Who was gonna step up and be our leader? Heinrich? I don’t think so. Chandler? Puh lease. Speaking of Chandler how incredible is it that we are about to move his 60 million dollar worthless ass out of town for (well at least the rumor is) a quality veteran center, whose large contract comes off the books next year, and a promising young shooting guard. I mean does Paxson have naked pictures of George Shinn or something? How are we able to do this? What is going on with the New Orleans Oklahoma City of Anaheim Charlotte Hornets? George Shinn is throwing around money like his name was Isaih Thomas. First they draft two big studs in the first round in Hilton Armstrong and Cedrick Simmons. Then they sign Peja Stoyachovich and Bobby Jackson to huge contracts. Now they are picking up worthless bum Chandler’s 60 million dollar contract. Rumor has it they are gonna go out and get Doug Christie, Vlade Divac, Chis Webber, Hedo Turkolou, Mike Bibby and Rick Adelman too. Anyways back to Ben Wallace, I wanna address some of the haters complaints about this move the Bulls have made.

1.) Why spend all that money on a one dimensional player?
I agree it’s a lot of money but that’s the nature of the NBA nowadays wake up and smell the coffee hater!!!! I am pretty sure Adonal Foyle received a 40 or 50 million dollar contract a year ago. Also who isn’t a one dimensional player in the NBA? Ron Artest, Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, Yao Ming, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Elton Brand, and Shaq those are about the only ones that come to mind. Now Iverson, Arenas, Peja, Dirk, Ray Allen, Nash, Labron, Carmelo, Wade, Pierce, Marbury etc etc etc…..are any of these guys known as defensive studs? NO! For some reason defensive skills have always been and will always be underrated. I don’t buy this “the league is playing more of an offense style game now.” Ummm not really. Defense still wins championships. Name me a championship team in the last thirty years that has not had a solid solid defense. That is why the Phoenix Suns of the world, while they are very entertaining to watch, will never win a NBA Championship. You need a dominant defensive player on your team to win it all. Enter 4 time (I think) defensive player of the year Ben Wallace. If this is such an offense based league nowadays then why have the Pistons and Spurs (two defensive teams) been the best two teams in the league for the past 4 or 5 years?

2.) Ben Wallace is too old for a four year contract.
I disagree. He is only 31 years old. As somebody who is going to hit 30 in a couple months I am not ready to say 31 is too old. I remember another former all star Bull hitting his prime around 31 years of age. Wallace is not one of these guys who have been playing in the pros since he was 18 years old either. Plus he didn’t play much at all until his 4th season so he has less wear and tear than some players in their early thirties. 6 years for a 31 year old woulda been too long but 4 years I think is fine. Lots of guys play past 35 years old. If anyone can keep his body in top shape to play late into his 30’s its Ben Wallace. Also, last time he was traded he took it to heart and became a stud. Things didn’t end well in Detroit. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him out there next year with a chip on his shoulder looking to prove the haters wrong.

3.) The Bulls don’t have enough offense.
This is partially true but that has nothing to do with the Wallace signing. Should we not have gone after the best free agent out there because of this? Who should we have signed Peja? We are a tough, defensive team and Wallace fits in perfectly. A great defense causes turnovers and fast breaks which creates points. Our offense will get better as our young stars such as Heinrich, Gordon, Deng, and Nocioni continue to develop. Heinrich was an offensive stud in the playoffs. Gordon, Deng and Noc are all very young and continue to improve in their third year (which also happens to be a contract year). I think the three of them definitely need to step it up offensively. Skiles needs to lean on Nocioni more. When he finally inserted him into the starting line up in the second half of last season Nocioni’s offensive numbers jumped.

So all in all I think this is a great signing and I am very excited about it. How nice to have a Chicago team to be excited about for the first time in forever. As I am typing this I see that ESPN’s Marc Stein reports that the Bulls have just traded Chandler for PJ Brown (and his expiring contract) and J.R. Smith. I love Pajama Brown he gives us more size and depth in the frontcourt. Also he is a capable scorer under the basket. I think J.R. Smith can be really good to. I can’t believe the Hornets are giving up on him so early. He showed signs of brilliance straight out of high school in his rookie year two years ago. Last year he fell into the bitchy Byron Scotts dog house and hopefully that is the only reason his game suffered. I am sure he will at least turn out better than the last young, athletic, wing we got from the Hornets, Eddie Robinson.