Welcome the New Addition :)

Yes - it is true. We have a new addition to our family! Davina has decided to join the world of blogging and you can find her little corner of the web right here: Storm in a Teacup

Go on over and welcome her aboard. :)

Shawn

Broken & Beautful [MM]*

There’s a businessman, there’s a widowed wife
A smiling face with a shattered life
A teenage girl with a choice to make
It’s crowded here in church today

And the preacher says as the sermon ends
“Please close your eyes, bow your heads
Is there anyone in need of prayer,
Oh Jesus wants to meet you here”
Cause we all fall short, and we all have sinned
But when you let, God’s grace break in

(Chorus)
It’s Beautiful, Beautiful
Come as you are
Surrender your heart
Broken and beautiful

Well he’d never been to church before
But he came today as a last resort
His world was crashing in
And he was suffocating in his sin

But tears rolled down as hope rushed in
He closed his eyes, raised his hands
Worshipping the God who can
Bring him back to life again

(Chorus)
And it’s beautiful, beautiful
Come as you are
Surrender your heart
Broken and beautiful, beautiful
Come as you are
Surrender your heart
Broken and beautiful

Cause there’s nothing more beautiful at all
Than when His sons and daughters call, broken

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Come as you are
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Come as you are

(Chorus)
Broken and beautiful, beautiful
Come as you are
Surrender your heart
Broken and beautiful, beautiful
Come as you are
Surrender your heart
Broken and beautiful
Come as you are
Broken and beautiful, beautiful
Come as you are
Surrender your heart

Broken and beautiful
Broken and beautiful
Broken and beautiful
Beautiful

- Mark Schultz, Broken & Beautiful (2006)
* [MM] - Music Mondays

I repeat - if you haven't bought this album - then what are you waiting for? Mark Schultz is fantastic.

Shawn

The Hobbit

I'm not sure about you, but I loved the Lord of the Rings trilogy directed by Peter Jackson. So I'm very excited to read this news: that Jackson is in talks to bring The Hobbit from novel to celluloid. He is definitely the best person for the job, in my opinion. After the terrific work that he did on the other movies, nobody else should be allowed to film this one other than him. I really hope that they do this - I would be a great addition to the story.

Shawn

LOST S4E3 - Recap

Wow - what a fantastic episode last night.

So I guess I missed this clue - but the Others have a submarine!? At least that is what one friend has told us. Very interesting if that is true - I'll have to re-watch it tonight to see when they mention it. Also, there are 2 islands? Why hasn't anyone seen the second island yet?

Sawyer took a beating - that was nuts. Desmond - something happened to him during the implosion of the hatch - he has either become psychic or else he took a short trip into the future and then returned (remember Hurley found him sans clothes - in the Terminator movies, when they traveled across time, they also arrived without clothes).

Next two weeks episodes look very intense. Also, looks like Jack is slowly getting pulled into the Others camp...

Shawn

Scary Movies

So Halloween is the time for scary movies. Do you watch them? If so, then what are your 5 favorite scary movies of all-time? I know different people rate what is and isn't scary based on all kinds of different criteria. I have one simple little standard - does the movie give me nightmares? If it does, then I say that the movie has accomplished what it set out to do - scare me.

Here are my top 6 (and yes, they give me nightmares):

1. Session 9 (2001)
2. Manhunter (1986)
3. The Shining (1980)
4. Psycho (1960)
5. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
6. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

Shawn

Smoking is Hazardous...For Your Eyes?

Uh, yeah - what idiot is going to do this? As if smoking was bad enough to begin with, this guy smokes with his eyes...

Smokes With Eyes Video

That's just sooooo wrong.

Shawn

Jack Bauer Power Hour

Okay, so I stole the title from another site - but c'mon - that's pretty funny, so have a giggle...

Oh yeah - the Season 6 Teaser Trailer is released today and can be watched here: 24 - Season 6.

I will say that I was pleasantly surprised by a couple of things - but I won't say what they are, you'll have to watch the trailer for yourself. Looks like it could be another high-intensity show once again. 24 and Jack Bauer - yeah, they put the action in Action television.

Shawn

P.S. - if you don't watch the trailer right now - Jack will know and he will not be pleased. You wouldn't want that now, would you? He's already got your IP address, what else does he need?

LOST S3E4 - Tonight

Yes, the fourth episode for LOST is on tonight. Looks like we are going back to the Others camp. It also looks like Locke is planning on a rescue attempt of Jack, Kate and Sawyer - even after Hurley told them they were not to. The last time we were at the Others camp, Sayid, Jin, and Sun had barely escaped a shoot out with the Others when they, lead by "Zeke" (Mr. Friendly), stole their boat. Jin had shot that lady (can't remember her name) and Sawyer purposefully got into a brawl with a bunch of them. Also, Benry had made an offer to Jack about leaving the Island and going home.

Tonight ought to be a good one. Can't wait.

Shawn

It Is Upon Us

What is, you may be asking yourself?

Why, none other than Eggnog Season. Woot!!! Davina bought me some Eggnog last night and as I write this I am enjoying my first glass o'tasty goodness. I'm not really sure what it is about Eggnog and the Fall/Winter time - but man, it makes me wish I had a fireplace and that there was a foot of snow outside...

Cheers,

Shawn

She Was Watching [MM]*

He always called her daddy’s little girl
She was four years old
Waiting by the door to run into his arms
Each time that he came home

And every night he tucked her in and read to her in bed
When she’d fall asleep he’d close his eyes and gently bow his head

(Chorus)
But she was watching
Her daddy praying
And thought someday I wanna be like that
She was watchin what he was saying
And the way he bowed his head
And though she can’t recall the prayer
She was watching

Late one evening he was coming home from work
He called to say he’d lost his job
And after dinner they excused their baby girl
She knew they had to talk

But from inside her bedroom
She could hear them down the hall
They were dancing in the kitchen as momma sang his favorite song

(Chorus)
She was watching
As they were dancing
And thought someday I wanna be like that
She was watching
Her momma singing
As they were dancing hand in hand
And though she can’t recall the song
She was watching

Faith can’t be taught
It’s just something that is caught along the way
No faith is never taught
It’s just something that they catch from watching you along the way

He always called her daddy’s little girl
But now she’s twenty-three
He walks her down the aisle to give away his world
Oh but he can hardly speak
And when he kisses her goodbye he tries to hold it in
But as he turns away she pulls him close and whispers in his ear

I was watching
And I’ve been waiting
And finally found someone just like you
I was watching
My whole life praying
For God to see it through

And as he kissed her one last time
He said a prayer and closed his eyes
And she was watching

- Mark Schultz, Broken & Beautiful (2006)
* [MM] - Music Mondays

Saw Acappella Tonight

Wow - what a fantastic show tonight. Keith sang with the guys at the end and it was a blast. I got to sit behind Keith, Sharon, Matt and Amber the entire show and it was fun to watch Keith all jazzed up about what was happening on stage and in the crowd. This was easily one of the best Acappella concerts I have been too, and I've been to plenty.

Matt reintroduced me to Keith (I had spoken to him briefly about 18 months ago, so I didn't expect him to remember me in the least - I'm sure he meets tons of people). Anyway, it was really cool to chat with him afterwards - he is a great guy and a solid Christian and there are not very many people that I know who can out sing him - what a voice!

Shawn

Dorothy Had It Right: The Director's Cut

Friday: Arrived in Kansas
Saturday: Saw cows
Sunday: Smelled cows
Monday: Ate cows
Tuesday: Left Kansas


Shawn

Dorothy Had It Right

"There's no place like home..."

Trips are fun - I love them, but nothing beats coming home. :)

Friday: Flew from Phoenix to Dallas/Fort Worth. Had 40 minutes to catch a connecting flight from there to Witchita, Kansas. Good thing it was the same terminal, just about 18 gates away, so it wasn't too bad of a connection. After we arrived, we ate dinner at Chili's before driving an hour to Harper. Food was good, service was not. (Hey, that could be one of those 6-word stories right there). Manager was embarrassed and not happy with our waiter so we ended up getting our food for half-price - not a bad way to start a trip (probably not a good way to start it either). The trip to Harper was uneventful - just converesed and got caught up with Joyce (she drove to pick us up in Witchita).

Saturday: Davina and I took Joyce's car (which we borrowed for the duration of our trip) and drove an hour south-east of Harper to pick up the food for her birthday bash that evening. She had rented the senior center in Harper and about 30 people (family) attended and we had a lot of fun. Davina, me, Derrick (Davina's brother), Amity (Derrick's girlfriend), Laura (Joyce's friend from Michigan) and Jessie (Laura's daughter) decorated the place and had it ready to go for the 6:30 party. I think we finished right at 6:29 - just before the first guest walked through the door. We ate and visited until about 9 that night.

Sunday: Church - Harper style. It was an enjoyable service. Harper is a farming community out in the middle of nowhere, so it's a very simple life and things move slow. So does the worship time and it was a nice change - something a little different. It was good to experience other styles. Basically Sunday's consist of morning service, eating and visiting and then evening service.

Monday: Drove about an hour or a little more to a small community called Yoder, Kansas. It's an Amish community and we ate lunch at a place that is run by them. Pretty good food.

Tuesday: Drove back to Witchita to catch out flight back to Phoenix. Flew into Dallas/Fort Worth to catch a connecting flight...that's when trouble began - lol. The flight we were supposed to be on from Dallas to Phoenix was having mechanical issues, so they attempted to fix them. When that failed, they started looking for another plane to get us on. They eventually found one, but it had just come in from Paris earlier that day so it was in the hanger. Not only that, but it still needed to be cleaned and it had to undergo an International Sercurity check before we could board - that took about an hour. Because we were switching flights, and because it took them so long to find another plane - they combined our flight with another flight traveling to Phoenix. This meant that we had to switch gates and everyone had to have their boarding passes reissued - another long line - lol. By the time we boarded the plane for take-off, we ended up being in Dallas for about 4.5 hours. It wasn't bad, just really tiring - I can think of a lot of other things I would rather do than spend time in an airport - good thing we had brought stuff to read. :)

Both of us were pretty tired last night - got some good sleep though - did I mention "there's no place like home."

Shawn

Kramnik is King

Kramnik won the unified FIDE World Chess Championship this past Friday - woot!!!

Shawn

Last Official Post

until Tuesday or Wednesday. :p

Davina and I are flying out way too early tomorrow morning to take a trip back to Kansas. We are going to be celebrating her mom's 60th birthday and visiting with her other relatives. We sure are going to miss all you guys on Sunday (boo). Hopefully we'll have some interesting stories and pictures to share when we get back.

This also means that there will be no Music Monday posting this next week, nor constant proddings about LOST, or endless updates for the World Chess Championship (which, by the way, the tie-breaker is being played tomorrow morning). So maybe it will be a good thing after all - just look at it as if we are all going on vacation - lol

Ciao,

Shawn

Slight Setback

So I've been playing phone tag with Grand Canyon University people since yesterday. Finally spoke to someone on my way back from lunch. Probably would still rather be playing phone tag...

It seems that from the last time I spoke to GCU and now, they have decided to do away with their Philosophy degree program - which means no GCU for me this coming Spring. So now I'm back to researching possibilities of trying to get into ASU for the Spring semester. I'll have to start contacting people over there when I return from Kansas.

Kind of bummed, but it also might be a major positive because I'll get the philosophy training from a secular point of view which means I'll be very intimately familiar with it - which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Plus, I believe the last time I did serious research on the top Philosophy programs in the country, ASU was in the top 50 - I want to say they were as high as 24?

Shawn

WCC: Game 12

It's a draw with the score being 6:6. The match ends in a tie, so now (I don't know when) there will be a play-off game to try and resolve the match and unite the Chess World.

Still, Kramnik wants to play game 5 right now and have the score be set back to 6:5 (his favor) and he is threatening to sue FIDE if that doesn't happen. On the other side, Topalov is threatening to sue if the FIDE takes the game 5 point away from him. FIDE is in a tight spot, but a well deserved one because they continue to mishandle these situations or don't plan for any contingency whatsoever when issues arise. That organization seems to be run by the Marx Brothers half the time...

Shawn

LOST - The Great Escape?

Tonight should be a good show - I'm guessing lot's of action. It appeared from the last weeks preview that Sayid, Jen, and Sun will be attempting a rescue of Jack, Kate, and Sawyer. I've got a bad feeling that someone is going to die tonight. I really hope not, but these confrontation with the others never go all that well.

Shawn

Gimmie Your Stories

Okay - so I came across this yesterday and it was way cool. The idea is to write a complete story using 6 words - no more, no less. The idea comes from this little antedote:

Ernest Hemingway was once prodded to compose a complete story in six words. His answer, personally felt to be his best prose ever, was "For sale: baby shoes, never used." Some people say it was to settle a bar bet. Others say it was a personal challenge directed at other famous authors.

So, other examples include the following:

"Lucky, yes, but my twin wasn't."
"I loved; I lost; I'm sorry."
"Leave that alone; remember Mary's scab."
"She watched the world end. Again."

I haven't tried one yet - I'm still thinking about it - but do give me your best shot.

Shawn

Chalk and Awe

Ah - is there anyone funnier right now the Stephen Colbert? This guy is a riot. You can watch a clip from his show on Safety in Schools. Funny analysis for a very serious topic. But I love the way he uses humor to show the fallacies of some peoples thinking.

Shawn

WCC Game 11 is complete

Well - Kramnik, playing black, ended up with yet another draw. The score stands at 5.5 points a piece with 1 game left. If the last game ends in a draw, there will be a tiebreaker played. Also, Kramnik and their team have issued another letter to the FIDE again stating that Kramnik is not happy that they awarded Topalov with the point in game 5 due to forfeit. He says that he is playing under protest and if they go to a tie-breaker, that this game will be under protest as well and that legal action will be forthcoming from his team once the match is over. In short, Kramnik and his team will be sueing FIDE for slander and the poor manner in which they have handled the match. If you want, you may read the letter released by Kramniks team here: Open Letter

Shawn

Chess Championship Update

Over the weekend, two more games were played (games 9 and 10). Topalov won game 9 while Kramnik won game 10. This still leaves the match tied at 5:5 with 2 games left to play. Kramnik is still receiving the majority of support from the chess world and I still think he is a much better player than Topalov and that he will win the match in the end. Whatever ends up happening, Kramnik has won tremendous respect in the way he has conducted himself in light of Topalov's bush-league tactics to divert attention away from the board by hurling false accusations of cheating at Kramnik.

Shawn

Walking Her Home [MM]*

Looking back
He sees it all
It was her first date the night he came to call

Her dad said son
Have her home on time
And promise me you’ll never leave her side
He took her to a show in town
And he was ten feet off the ground

(Chorus)
He was walking her home
And holding her hand
Oh the way she smiled it stole the breath right out of him
Down that old road
With the stars up above
He remembers where he was the night he fell in love
He was walking her home

Ten more years and a waiting room
At half past one
And the doctor said come in and meet your son

His knees went weak
When he saw his wife
She was smiling as she said he’s got your eyes

And as she slept he held her tight
His mind went back to that first night

(Chorus)

He walked her through the best days of her life
Sixty years together and he never left her side

A nursing home
At eighty-five
And the doctor said it could be her last night
And the nurse said Oh
Should we tell him now
Or should he wait until the morning to find out

But when they checked her room that night
He was laying by her side

Oh he was walking her home
And holding her hand
Oh the way she smiled when he said this is not the end
And just for a while they were eighteen
And she was still more beautiful to him than anything
He was walking her home
He was walking her home

Looking back
He sees it all
It was her first date the night he came to call

- Mark Schultz, Broken & Beautiful (2006)
* [MM] - Music Mondays

I love this guys music - very, very cool stuff. Since this album just came out last Tuesday, I'll probably be tossing a few songs of his over the next several weeks off of this album. If you have never heard of him or his music before, you really don't know what you are missing. It is a pure pleasure to hear him play and sing. Warning - keep a big ole box of Kleenex close by when you listen to him - he'll get the waterworks running.

Shawn

Something New...

Say, what's new Shawn? Well, I'm glad you asked.

This blog has been a lot of fun to have so far. However, it has kind of shifted away from what I had originally intended it to be. But not to worry, I don't mind it at all. I like how it has digressed into something that is not so heavy all the time and can be more of a "fun" type of place to comment and post things. So I'm going to leave this blog just as it has turned out to be - a place that just talking about some of my favorite shows, interesting things that I read on the internet, etc. I'll still have the Music Monday posts ongoing as well.

I think I'll just keep the "self-serving" nature of this blog rolling along - talking about music, favorite movies, television shows, chess, football, whatever. But, if you still want something a bit more heavier from time to time, you can venture on over to my new blog that is going to be entirely geared towards that type of discussion. I'll use that forum more as a sounding board for deeper philosophical and apologetical conversations - so it will have a bit more of a serious tone about it. I will also to putting up some lists for recommended reading in the areas of Philosophy and Christian Apologetics and anything else that falls into that realm.

Anyway - if you choose to delve into some of that type of dialogue, then you can venture on over to this URL: The Trousered Ape

This new blog is also on blogspot, but if it looks a little different it is because this is their beta software. Eventually everyone's blog will be moving over to this new software. It has some nice, new features so I hope you enjoy it.

Shawn

The Arizona Apologetics Conference

This looks like a lot of fun. Grand Canyon University is putting on an Apologetics Conference on November 18th, 2006. (This is the same weekend of the ladies "Women of Faith" conference at Glendale Arena). Here is the information:

The Arizona Apologetics Conference

Questions That Demand Answers: Contemporary responses to 21st century challenges

Saturday, November 18th, 2006
8:00 AM - 4:00 PM
on the campus of Grand Canyon University
3300 W. Camelback Road
Phoenix, Arizona 85017

Topics to include:

• Intelligent Design: Is God's existence evident?
• Christianity: How does it differ from all other religions?
• Apologetics: How can Christianity be defended?
• Christian Ethics: Are Christianity and Bio-Ethics compatible?
• Problem of Evil: Why do good people suffer bad things?
• Origin of Life: Creation, Evolution or Theistic Evolution?
• The Scriptures: Can the Old Book have relevance for today?

Cost: $35 - includes lunch and conference.
Bring a Bible and a notebook.

For more information or registration call 602.639.6750
Find more information online including a brochure (pdf).

Oh yeah - I'll definitely be there for this. :)

Shawn

10 Years

Wow - 10 years (married) and 12 years (since our first date). Guess congratulations are in order to Davina for putting up with me for so long. :)

Hi sweetie - it's been wonderful and I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. Thanks for being my best friend! Love ya,

Shawn

Lost Park - The Movie

I don't know who created this - but it is hilarious!!!

Shawn

A Tale Of Two Cities [LOST - S3:E1]

Once again - the eye opens the show...I haven't really caught onto the significance of that yet, but there must be something to it. Something along the lines of "the eyes are the windows to the soul". Although it was interesting - the first season begins with Jack opening his eye and the focus of the episodes were on the survivors from their perspective. The second season begins with Desmond opening his eye and the focus is from the perspective of the hatch - most everything revolved around that central theme. Now, we have the third season beginning with the opening of Juliette's eye - so I'm guessing that the perspective will be focused more on the perspective of the Others.

Anyway, I don't think Season 3 disappointed in it's opener. They psychological games that they are playing the Jack, Kate, and Sawyer are very interesting. They have totally left Sawyer to his own wits so far and they tricked him into a false escape (I think the person (Carl?) in the other cell was an Other) to show that there was no getting away. I think the entire thing was a ploy to play a mind game with Sawyer. With Kate (and Davina pointed this out to me) the dress they gave her isn't very "jungle" friendly, therefore less chance that she would try to get away in it. Also, they have already started with the Good-Other/Bad-Other routine with her, with "Zeke" being the Good-Other - tending to her wounds, getting her new clothes to wear, getting her a shower, etc. I'm guessing at some point she is going to bond with him on some level and then he is going to hammer her and break the bond. Jack - they've got him totally isolated from everyone else - that is definitely going to take a toll on him mentally. I think also he is going to fall into some sort of a psychological bond with Juliette and when he is vulnerable, they are going to break him down - he might take the hardest fall out of all three of them by the time this is all said and done.

Some interesting observances from last night were (I'll put the person who made the observation next to it, if it was other than me):

1. When the Others ran outside after the "earthquake", they immediately looked up to the sky (Laure, me)
2. The book club is reading Carrie by Stephen King (if you pause and step frames, there is a shot of Juliette's book where you can read the title. A couple of the other copies appear to be very old, possibly first edition because I don't recognize the cover art.) (Laura)
3. Juliette and Ben are married or "co-habit" their bungalow because when Adam and Juliette are arguing about how much he hates the book, Adam says "Now I know why Ben isn't here..." "The host picks the book, but he wouldn't read this in the bathroom." Then Juliette says, "Adam, I am the host and I love this book." implying that she and Ben live in the house together. (Laura)
4. Then, just before the 'earthquake' (which was the first time Desmond didn't push the button) Juliette says, "Silly of me to select something Ben wouldn't like, here I am thinking free will still exists on this... (insert earthquake here)". I think she was going to say "on this island" but she stopped in the middle of the sentence to run for cover. (Laura)
5. That Juliette and Benry are in a relationship (Laura, Davina)
6. The dossier that they had on Jack, the Others must have on the rest of the passengers as well - Benry wanted a list of everyone from the crash within three days (he ordered Ethan to get it for him). There must be a link between who they decided to take from the crash based on what background information they uncovered. So I wonder what common thread is linking those taken in that way.

Shawn

World Chess Championship Update

Ugh - Kramnik dropped game 8. It's Topalov's first over-the-board win in this match and now the score is tied at4-4 with 4 games remaining...Kramnik will get the black pieces in the next game - at least in the final game he will have white.

Shawn

Tick Tock

4 hours and counting until the season opener of LOST - woot, woot!!!

Shawn

To Pee, or Not To Pee

That was the question earlier this week...

Oh brother - Topalov is still at it with the accusations against Kramnik. Kramnik, much to his credit decided to keep playing the World Championship Match against Topalov inspite the attempts of Topalov and his advisors to disrupt the match.

Game 7 out of 12 ended today in a draw with Kramnik still 1 full point ahead of Topalov. The standing so far is 4-3 (Kramnik 4:7) with 5 games remaining. The response to the worlds GM's backing Kramnik has been quite refreshing to see. Reports, letters and emails have been pouring in with the majority of the professional world giving Kramnik support while lamblasting Topalov and his cheap psychological tactics.

Memo to Topalov - why don't you learn how to play at the World Championship level and quit trying to find lame excuses on why you keep losing. If you spent more time training and going over your post-game analysis instead of trumping up unsubstantiated charges against your opponent, you might be able to walk away with some dignity. Yeah, I know - it's not your game that sucks, you drew today because Kramnik parted his hair on the other side of his head...whatever...

It's a shame that the chess world has to be getting all this negative publicity. It's just going to set the effort of reuinification back along with making it more difficult for the game to make inroads into the general public and corporate sponsorship.

Shawn

P.S. Read here the latest letter between the two camps (this is from Kramnik's team) - Link to Letter.

Passing of a Faithful Servant

Since I can't do much better than what was already written, you can read about the conversion, work, and passing of Jerald Tanner here: Jerald Tanner in Memoriam

Shawn

LOST in 24

Wow - I feel like a kid just before they day before they get to open presents for Christmas. In about 24 hours (give a couple) the 3rd Season will begin.

So - will anything be answered during the first show? Will Michael and Walt really be allowed to leave the Island? What is Hurley going to do when he gets back to camp? What is going to happen to Jack, Kate, and Sawyer? What about Sayid, Jin, and Sun - remember, they went looking for them. Are Locke, Mr. Eko, and Desmond (brotha) okay? What are the Others going to do now? And what is up with the four-toed statue?

Shawn

A Change of Face

I decided to go with a much younger look... :) I had thought about posting up a handful of pictures and letting people vote on which one I should use. But I went with this instead. Perhaps later we will do a vote for a new me - lol

Shawn

Abide With Me [MM]*

Abide with me: fast falls the even tide;
The darkness deepens: Lord with me abide!
When other helpers fail, and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me!

Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day;
Earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see;
O thou who changest not, abide with me!

I need Thy presence ev'ry passing hour:
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter's pow'r?
Who like Thyself my guide and stay can be?
Thru cloud and sunshine, O abide with me!

Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;
Shine thru the gloom, and point me to the skies;
Heav'n's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee;
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me!

- Words: Henry F. Lyte (1847), Music: William H. Monk (1861), Songs of Faith and Praise #808
* [MM] - Music Mondays