April 28, 2008

The Khmer Rouge Trial Web Portal

This is a very interesting website for anyone who would like to read a bit about the Khmer Rouge and the current (albeit very slow) trial of the Khmer Rouge leaders that were responsible for the deaths of 1.7 million Cambodians. Check it out here...

April 23, 2008

The Overlook by Michael Connelly

Harry Bosch (a short biography here) appears again in yet another book by Michael Connelly, The Overlook. This time, the detective returns as a part of the LAPD's Homicide Special Unit. He is confronted by a crime that has dual implications. At the outset, the crime looks like some type of execution on the overlook near Hollywood. After the FBI shows up, it becomes apparent that more is going on. The victim turns out to have medical access to dangerous materials that could be used in a terrorist attack on Los Angeles... you can take it from there... Because all of Connelly's novels happen in real life places, the publisher has created a map online that allows you to track these real-life places as you read the novel... click here

April 19, 2008

at Wat Phnom

Lastly, here are some pictures from the last day of Khmer New Year when we went to Wat Phnom... actually I don't think that there is an actaul picture of the Wat here, but I have put those pics up before... but we also took a boat ride afterward which was really nice...

Going to the Water Park

Here are some other pictures from Khmer New Year (by the way, Khmer New Year lasts three days)... there are some great pictures of Seda's family also... we can only describe Seda's father's healing as miraculous... there are some hilarious pictures of him going down a water slide... no joke...

Khmer New Year 2008

Here are some fun pictures of some gift giving and a dinner with Seda's family on Khmer New Year... as you can see, her father is doing MUCH better.... usually Khmer New Year is a time for everyone to go back to their provinces to visit family, but because of his health over the last month, we elected to stay in Phnom Penh...

April 09, 2008

Whoa Nellie! Who turned up the heat?

So, I got of the plane in Phnom Penh... and it was a full 15 degrees hotter (and a lot more humid) than when I left... I am trusting that God has his hand on the temperature gauge, but whooaa... at night it was borderline 'cold' here, but no longer... April has brought heat (please no global warming comments... I live near the equator)... I just have never been here during this time of the year...

Anyway, I got home safely, even though the flight seemed a bit longer than usual. It was great to see Seda and some others who came to the airport to pick me up. (Did I mention that it was hot?)

I am fighting a MEAN case of jet lag (hence why I came to the internet at 5:20 in the morning after getting no sleep for the second night in a row)...

So, all of that to say... I am back, I doing well... and I would appreciate your continued prayers! May God bless you as you seek Him this week. Graham

April 06, 2008

Charleton Heston, movie icon, dead at the age of 84

There are icons and then there are ICONS... Charleton Heston was one of the biggest movie icons that has ever come out of Hollywood. Now he has passed on. In recent years, he has been less of a movie star and more of an advocate for the NRA, but no matter how you feel about him, he was a genius of the silver screen... starring in movie blockbusters like Ben-Hur, The Ten Commandments, El Cid, and he even had a small but challenging part in the powerful portrayal of Hamlet ten years ago. Read an article here... I hope that you enjoy these short clips below...

Here is a video clip from "The Ten Commandments"


... from "Ben-Hur"


... from "El Cid"


... from "Hamlet"

April 05, 2008

On the road again

Please keep me in your prayers as I get ready to fly back to Cambodia tomorrow. It has been great to see family and friends, and honestly, it has been a really refreshing and encouraging time. God really planned several conversations with people that I could not have even expected when I got to Columbus three weeks ago. Thank you Lord!

Because of the International Date Line, I will be leaving here on Sunday and getting to Cambodia on Tuesday, so I will completely miss Monday. But as soon as I can, I'll be sending out an email to tell you all how the flight was. God bless you, and a BIG thanks to everyone who helped me over these last weeks.

April 04, 2008

Ohio State wins the NIT

Well, it is not the NCAA Basketball Championship, but the OSU Buckeyes finally won one of the 4 championships that they have been in during the last two years of men's basketball and football. OSU beat UMass last night to win the National Invitation Tournament (sometimes joked at as the Not Invited to the Tourney Tournament). The Buckeyes sailed through their five games (despite being down to UMass in the first half). The ease with which the Bucks made it through the NIT shows that they really should have been in the Big Dance, but as they say, you play the cards that you are dealt. Here is a short video.

Contradiction in terms?

Does any one think that it is a drastic contradiction in terms that Mariah Carey (that fashioner of deep and thoughtful pop songs) has a new album called E=mc2?

April 01, 2008

A simple dedication

It has become more widely known that veterans of World War II are dying at a rate of over 1000 a day. Here is a simple, but important dedication to their service. Click here.