28 Mar 2008
The Hoyt team - I can only imagine by MercyMe.
Dick and Rick Hoyt are a father and son from Massachusetts who compete together in marathon races and triathlons.
Rick can't walk or talk. At his birth in 1962 the umbilical cord coiled around his neck and cut off oxygen to his brain.
When Dick runs, Rick is in a wheelchair that Dick is pushing. When Dick cycles, Rick is in the seat-pod from his wheelchair, attached to the front of the bike. When Dick swims, Rick is in a small but heavy, firmly stabilized boat being pulled by Dick.
Dick and his wife, Judy, were told that there would be no hope for their child’s development. Nevertheless, the couple was determined to raise him as "normally" as possible. Within five years, Rick had two younger brothers, and the Hoyts were convinced Rick was just as intelligent as them. Because he couldn’t talk people thought he wouldn’t be able to understand, but that wasn’t true. Rick’s parents taught him the alphabet. They always wanted Rick included in everything. That’s why they wanted to get him into public school.
A group of University engineers came to the rescue, once they had seen some clear, empirical evidence of Rick’s comprehension skills: They told him a joke andRick just cracked up. They knew then that he could communicate! In 1072 the engineers built an interactive computer that would allow Rick to write out his thoughts using the slight head-movements that he could manage. Rick came to call it "my communicator."
When the computer was originally brought home, Rick surprised his family with his first "spoken" words. They had expected perhaps "Hi, Mom" or "Hi, Dad." But on the screen Rick wrote "Go Bruins." His family realized he had been following the hockey games along with everyone else. They learned then that Rick loved sports.
In 1975, Rick was finally admitted into a public school. Two years later, he told his father he wanted to participate in a five-mile benefit run for a local lacrosse player who had been paralyzed in an accident. Dick, far from being a long-distance runner, agreed to push Rick in his wheelchair. They finished next to last, but they felt they had achieved a triumph. That night Rick told his father he just didn’t feel handicapped when they were competing.
With a newly-built bike (adapted to carry Rick in front) and a boat tied to Dick’s waist as he swam, the Hoyts came in second-to-last in the competition held on Father’s Day 1985.
Rick went to Boston University, where he graduated in 1993 with a degree in special education. Rick now works at Boston College’s computer laboratory helping to develop a system codenamed "Eagle Eyes," through which mechanical aids (like for instance a powered wheelchair) could be controlled by a paralyzed person’s eye-movements, when linked-up to a computer.
Together the Hoyts don’t only compete athletically; they also go on motivational speaking tours, spreading the Hoyt brand of inspiration to all kinds of audiences, sporting and non-sporting, across the USA. The message of Team Hoyt is that everybody should be included in everyday life.
Rick can't walk or talk. At his birth in 1962 the umbilical cord coiled around his neck and cut off oxygen to his brain.
When Dick runs, Rick is in a wheelchair that Dick is pushing. When Dick cycles, Rick is in the seat-pod from his wheelchair, attached to the front of the bike. When Dick swims, Rick is in a small but heavy, firmly stabilized boat being pulled by Dick.
Dick and his wife, Judy, were told that there would be no hope for their child’s development. Nevertheless, the couple was determined to raise him as "normally" as possible. Within five years, Rick had two younger brothers, and the Hoyts were convinced Rick was just as intelligent as them. Because he couldn’t talk people thought he wouldn’t be able to understand, but that wasn’t true. Rick’s parents taught him the alphabet. They always wanted Rick included in everything. That’s why they wanted to get him into public school.
A group of University engineers came to the rescue, once they had seen some clear, empirical evidence of Rick’s comprehension skills: They told him a joke andRick just cracked up. They knew then that he could communicate! In 1072 the engineers built an interactive computer that would allow Rick to write out his thoughts using the slight head-movements that he could manage. Rick came to call it "my communicator."
When the computer was originally brought home, Rick surprised his family with his first "spoken" words. They had expected perhaps "Hi, Mom" or "Hi, Dad." But on the screen Rick wrote "Go Bruins." His family realized he had been following the hockey games along with everyone else. They learned then that Rick loved sports.
In 1975, Rick was finally admitted into a public school. Two years later, he told his father he wanted to participate in a five-mile benefit run for a local lacrosse player who had been paralyzed in an accident. Dick, far from being a long-distance runner, agreed to push Rick in his wheelchair. They finished next to last, but they felt they had achieved a triumph. That night Rick told his father he just didn’t feel handicapped when they were competing.
With a newly-built bike (adapted to carry Rick in front) and a boat tied to Dick’s waist as he swam, the Hoyts came in second-to-last in the competition held on Father’s Day 1985.
Rick went to Boston University, where he graduated in 1993 with a degree in special education. Rick now works at Boston College’s computer laboratory helping to develop a system codenamed "Eagle Eyes," through which mechanical aids (like for instance a powered wheelchair) could be controlled by a paralyzed person’s eye-movements, when linked-up to a computer.
Together the Hoyts don’t only compete athletically; they also go on motivational speaking tours, spreading the Hoyt brand of inspiration to all kinds of audiences, sporting and non-sporting, across the USA. The message of Team Hoyt is that everybody should be included in everyday life.
24 Mar 2008
Love is all around
"Love Is All Around" is one of my favourite songs.
It was composed by Reg Persley and first performed by The Troggs. It was released as single in October 1967 (UK), and reached the top 10 in the U.S. singles chart, peaking at #7, in 1968. It also reached #5 in the UK charts.
It was composed by Reg Persley and first performed by The Troggs. It was released as single in October 1967 (UK), and reached the top 10 in the U.S. singles chart, peaking at #7, in 1968. It also reached #5 in the UK charts.
The Troggs were an English rock band of the 1960s that had a number of hits in Britain and America, including their most famous song, "Wild Thing". The Troggs were from the town of Andover in southern England. The band were originally called The Troglodytes.
Wet Wet Wet's version of "Love Is All Around" was released on 9 May 1994. It topped the UK singles chart after two weeks and, probably thanks to its appearance in the film "Four Weddings and a Funeral", remained there for fifteen consecutive weeks.
Information taken and adapted from Wikipedia
22 Mar 2008
5 Mar 2008
American fast food
American fast food: what a stupid way to die,
American fast food – order me the jumbo fries.
Oh, it’s easy, (it’s so easy and it’s trouble free)
(It’s quite and disposable, just like me)
If I don’t stop eating this greasy American fast food.
Well, we’re undernourished, but we’re overfed,
And we’re munching on the burger with the white bread,
And we’re sucking up the sugar in a milkshake ‘til we slip into depression with a big headache,
And our arteries are crying out, “Give us a break.”
American fast food: what a stupid way to die,
Yeah, American fast food – you kiss your old age goodbye.
Oh, it’s easy, (it’s so easy and it’s trouble free)
Hey yeah, (it’s quite and disposable, just like me)
If I don’t stop eating this greasy American fast food.
You won’t have to embalm me when my life is through,
There are so many preservatives in what I eat, the job’s being done right now for you.
Oh,
“Can I take you order, please?”
“Cheeseburger, fries, and a big chocolate malted.”
I said, it’s prefab junk at an exorbitant price, and it’s bound to make you nauseous if you look at it twice,
But they’re selling you by telling you it’s food that’s fun, when it tastes like cardboard, it chews like sponge, ‘cause it’s really only garbage on a sesame bun.
(fun, fun, fun, fun, fun)
(fun, fun, fun, fun, fun)
(fun, fun, fun, fun, fun)
American fast food: what a stupid way to die,
American fast food – order me the chilli-size.
Oh, it’s easy, (it’s so easy and it’s trouble free)
It’s easy, baby, (it’s quite and disposable, just like me)
If I don’t stop eating this greasy American fast food,
I don’t stop eating this greasy American,
I don’t stop eating this greasy American fast food,
Oh, American fast food, (it’s so easy and it’s trouble free)
Whoa, yeah, (it’s so easy and it’s trouble free)
Oh, yeah, yeah, (it’s so easy and it’s trouble free)
Whoa, yeah, (it’s so easy and it’s trouble free)
Oh, yeah.
4 Mar 2008
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