Tuesday, September 30, 2008

An Homage

So Amy and I really enjoy the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother. Last night the episode focused on the regular characters searching for a place where one of them once had an awesome burger. Regis Philban guest-starred as himself, also looking for that burger.

In one scene, Marshall, played by Knocked Up and Forgetting Sarah Marshall's Jason Segal, was describing the exquisite combination of ingredients and flavors. As he is doing this, an homage to Amadeus occurs. There is a scene in this Academy-award-winning film where Soliare is Mozart's music for the first time and describing how it is the hand of God writing it. That same Mozart music was used as Marshall described his burger. I don't know how many people would catch this as Amadeus was released over 20 years ago, but I thought it was very inventive and very funny.

One Word

I copied this meme from Bubba's Sis. The one rule is one word answers only. No hyphenates, no cramming 4 words together without spaces.

1. Where is your cell phone? nightstand
2. Where is your significant other? bedroom
3. Your mother? work
4. Your father? unimportant
5. Your hair color? brown
6. Your favorite thing? wife
7. Your dream last night? unknown
8. Your goal? fatherhood
9. The room you're in? family
10. Your hobby? photography
11. Your fear? lonliness
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? PTA
13. Where were you last night? church
14. What you're not? liberal
15. One of your wish-list items? money
16. Where you grew up? East
17. The last thing you did? cook
18. What are you wearing? boxers
19. Your TV? RCA
20. Your pet? funny
21. Your computer? Dell
22. Your mood? bored
23. Missing someone? friends
24. Your car? Jeep
25. Something you're not wearing? bra (stayed with Bubba's Sis' answer)
26. Favorite store? BestBuy
27. Your summer? boring
28. Love someone? many
29. Your favorite color? blue
30. When is the last time you laughed? today
31. Last time you cried? Sunday

Monday, September 29, 2008

Help Name the Cat

About 3 weeks ago my mom had my last cat put down, Nittany. Over the years when I was living at home and going to college I brought home 3 cats, Nittany, Jasmine, and Rascal. When I got married, mom wanted to keep them and Amy and I went out and adopted Samson and Delilah. In the past 2 years, Nittany, Jasmine, and Rascal all reached the point where they had to be put down due to age and medical conditions.

Back in 2000, Mom found a kitten outside her office and brought him home. He is Rusty. Rusty is the last one left of my mom's cats, and she felt he was lonely and she is used to having 2-3 cats, so she went to the humane society a couple weeks ago and last week she brought home the new kitty.

He is a clone of a cat we had when I was a child and teen. That cat was our favorite of all time, very personable, loving, affectionate and a beutiful orange tabby/Persian mix. We named him George (because he was curious) and mom called him Fluff.

So she needs a name for the new kitty, here are his pictures...


How Pirate Am I? How Pirate Are You?




You Are 60% Pirate



Garrrr, yer a true pirate down to yer bones.

Yer an originial sea dog, an' ye certainly have earned yer sea legs.

No one be goin' to accuse ye o' bein' a landlubber.

Ye got yer eye on the prize, an' yer willin' to go pillagin' fer some booty.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

A Good Day In Sports

With the exception of UCF losing so badly to UTEP last night (58-13).

The Phillies beat the Nationals and in doing so won their second consecutive National League East Title!

The Running Rebels of Ole Miss beat the Florida Gators!

The Georgia Bulldogs and their legions of fans (most of whom never went to UGA ) got dramatically upset at home by the Crimson Tide of Alabama! Roll Tide!

Friday, September 26, 2008

The one I forgot

I heard yesterday that a woman has filed a complaint against our store because of her telephone number.

A phonebook company hass published a listing for us that has her area code instead of our area code. The seven digits are the same, but here in Atlanta we have the area codes 404, 770, AND 678. The store I work at has a 678 AC and hers is 770.

As a result, she is getting a number of calls from people looking for us, and these calls are coming at all hours of the day and night. From what I read, we verified that our listing was submitted with our correct AC, but the publisher of the phone book made the mistake.

So we are in no way responsible, but she still wants some form of compensation from us. I don't believe she has a leg to stand on, but we are taking steps to help her, namely by having magnets made with our correct info that we can distribute to our guests.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Funny Stuff At Work

Today was truck day, so on top of the normal tasks we had a semi to unload and process. It's also the day that the truck with refridgerated items and tobacco products comes, and the Coca-cola delivery, and the Frito-Lay rep. It's a busy day.

In all that we had to do, we had a little humor too.

Our corporate office sent out an email about a month ago reminding us that no political materials are allowed to be posted or distributed on our store property. In today's truck we received animatronic Barak Obamas. These are based on the sing and dance Halloween animatronic toys. I don't care for Obama, but I will say these things are pretty damned tacky.

We have a section of "AS Seen On TV" product and a videotape that runs commercials on a TV in the department....

One item is a Swiffer knock-off, it describes it as using quadrobrush technology. In English, that means it uses 4 brushes.

Another item uses "Space Age polymers." The Space Age began in the late 50's and early 60's, so woo hoo! this thing uses polymers that are 50 years old.

A third ad asks, "Have you ever been snagged in a tree or a bush?"

A new piece of Halloween merchandise is a cherry-flavored liquid candy. It is packed in a clear plastic bag so that it looks like a unit of blood. It's kind of gross, but I have to give it to the manufacturer for originality.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Tough night to be me

The Phillies lost another game they likely should have won, again to the Braves, which hurts our playoff chances unless the Cubs come through and beat the Mets tonight. I just checked and the Cubbies came through!

We were watching the game while playing trivia and in the 9th there was some altercation between the Braves pitcher and one of the Phillies that lead to the benches clearing but no punches thrown. I have to find out what that was about. The only Phillie I saw involved was Adam Eaton, a pitcher who does not contribute much to the team.

As for trivia, we sucked wind. We did very well through the first 9 questions, but ran into trouble on the round 2 bonus. It was a question the host has used before, and I swear we got it wrong and so we went with the other answer we considered before and now she says the other one was correct. Here's the deal. In the USA, what group of over-the-counter medications yields the highest gross revenue? The options were cough/cold, heartburn, painkillers, or laxatives. Tonight we said painkillers and she said the answer was cough/cold.

Then we struggled on acing the third round until the bonus question. A four part answer to name the 4 NFL teams with the most victories in Monday Night Football games. We submitted four answers and none were correct. The correct responses would have been Cowboys, 49ers, Broncos and Dolphins. We said Packers, Patriots, Eagles, and Vikings (I think).

So we then aced the fourth round and blew the final bonus. That question was - What rapper was the first raper to be nominated for an Academy Award in ANY category. We chose Coolio for Best Song "Gangstas Paradise" but the answer was Will Smith for Best Actor in Ali.

What else... we turned of four land line today, opting to save $50 a month and just use our cell phones...... Clay Aiken is gay. We didn't need People Magazine to tell us that and it certainly doesn't change my opinion of his music (awful).... The one thing that was a bit positive, kinda fun, was I walked into Winston's and Matt the Bartender yelled out, "There he is! The Hot Dog Eating Champion!"

I don't think I mentioned it on the blog, but last Thursday I ate a plate of spaghetti and went out to play cards. I did very poorly an at 8:45 was leaving and realized I could make it to Winston's by 9pm for the first ever wiener-eating contest. I made it, and I entered and in 3 and a half minutes I ate 8 and a half hotdogs (no buns) and won $25 in house cash, bragging rights, and my picture on the wall!

Wordless Wednesday - Bahama Beaches




Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Appetizers

It's football season and that means a lot of bar food. Our friend Jeff posted about some favorite restaurant foods the other day at http://www.eeyorejeff.blogspot.com/, so I figured I could write about food too. So here is a list of my favorite bar food/appetizers....

Chicken Nachos - the place for these HAS to be Miller's Ale House. If you are in Central Florida you can find one easily, otherwise it might be tough. $9.95 and two guys can have trouble putting this dish away.

Buffalo Wings - To be perfectly honest, I have ALWAYS liked the wings at Hooters. To demonstrate I do not go there for the "atmosphere" I will mention my orders for takeout far outweigh any dine-in orders. I like the breading and usually order medium or hot.

Spinach Dip - it's hard to do this wrong, so anywhere is usually fine.

3 Cheese Crab and Shrimp Dip - this one I have only seen at O'Charley's and it might be seasonal, but it's GOOD!

Chili Cheese Fries - okay, a bit messy, but usually tolerable.

Potato Skins - loaded down with cheddar cheese, bacon bits, chives and some sour cream. It's the comfort food of appetizers.

Chips & Salsa - we went through a lot of these when we would hit Chili's after HS football games.

Buffalo Chicken Tenders - Again with the Ale House, but Chili's does a good job too.

Fried Mushrooms - pretty much good wherever you go.

Stuffed Mushrooms - love me some of that crabmeat and cheese.

What are your favorites and who does them well?

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Wordless Wednesday

We are becoming my mother, whose cats use her as a bed as well :)



That's our new grass!




Normalcy

I took this quiz. It told me nothing new!




You Are 50% Normal



While some of your behavior is quite normal...

Other things you do are downright strange

You've got a little of your freak going on

But you mostly keep your weirdness to yourself






Your Observation Skills Get A B-



Your senses are pretty sharp (okay, most of the time)

And it takes something big to distract you!

Monday, September 15, 2008

To Continue

So this evening Amy went to work, and I accepted a friend's invitation to a men's ministry at a local mega-church that has a pastor who holds the highest position in a large denomination, not to name names. :)


So we were in a large meeting room, certainly not the sanctuary, regular low ceiling and flourescent lights. On a foot-high riser there was a band. On either side of the riser stood a portable screen on which the lyrics were displayed. (without moving squiggles or starbursts).

100 or so men sang in unison. One song I did not know. Then "You Are God Alone" and finally "How Great Is Our God combined with How Great Thou Art."

It was awesome.

Boy, oh Boy

I sometimes feel like I am the most misunderstood person on Earth.

I wrote yesterday trying to express the positive reaction I had to a sermon when factored against the distractions I feel and experience during the rest of the service. I came home to write about it wanting to and actually being about as honest as I can get.

Amy called me at work today, sounding kind of excited about the number of comments my writing generated. For any writer, this could be a positive. We want to be read. We want to prompt reactions. Getting reactions from people is a desire I have too much of an it makes me unlpleasant to be around in some people's eyes. Believe me I know it.

In the psychological sense, I'm sure it boils down to a desire to get attention. I'm a middle child, so that should give me some excuse.

So when I got home today I took my time and finally turned on the computer to see what was being said. I found myself feeling hurt and in some senses bewildered. Let me try to explain.

I may not have the correct word when I say I am feeling convicted. What I mean to say is that the sermon yesterday hit me in a meaningful way. It made me feel as if I am being called to the carpet for some of the things I do and what makes this special is I actually WANT to stand up, acknowledge my shortcomings and try to do something about it!

Isn't that a GOOD thing?

Instead another round of "if you don't like it, leave" got started. I got called self-involved. Well, duh! This is MY blog. A place for ME to write about things in my life, things I am thinking an feeling, to post pictures I have taken..... so yeah, the post was self-involved.

I started writing a comment after the series of 9 comments received. I was going to go through, comment by comment and respond, but then Amy came down to get ready for work and we started talking about the whole post and the comments. I was going to be pretty defensive towards most of the comments, while trying to paint myself in as positive a light as I can manage.

Amy went on to explain she had correspondance with one of the commenters privately, and I got the impression AMy was telling me not to take it personally because the commentor had gotten fed up with numerous OTHER people complaining about elements of our church (yes our church as the commentor attends the same church I do). So I decided to delete what I had typed and start anew with this post.

I do have to say I laughed at one comment. An anonymous commentor said perhaps it's not good to post about my church experience on the blog and that anonymous commentors don't help! I have some ideas who some of my anon people are. I know I can disable the ability of anonymous comments, but it would not accomplish much. If you sign your name with an account ID that says your name is DuckBill7 it would be the same as saying anon. Even some comments from people I know are formatted so you can't reply to them directly.

Looking back at the coments now, it seems pointless that I tried to dance around addressing anyone directly by name, because my description of the comments themselves basically identify what person I am addressing. So, that out of the way alolw me to say this.

Laura, you said in your second comment, "I am just so tired of hearing people complain about the church instead of actually doing something about it. If you find yourself in a service that you continually have nothing good to say then it might be time to explore other church options." So I understnad it is not my words alone that have affected you, but please understand that what I wanted to express in yesterday's post is that I DO have something positive to say about the church WE attend.
I really like the teaching, and there are a lot of people at our church that we know and love because of international adoption, your family included!
As for the things that distract me, there are times that they don't and tha tI really enjoy the music, but I really do wonder what the abstract laser art they show on the screens is supposed to do to enhance the experience? Maybe Carlos could tell me as it is part of what he does for a living?

Speaking of Carlos, there was a post and coments on his blog this weekend that I think tie in a bit here. He wrote about an iconic Christian singer announcing his homosexuality (despite being married and having kids). What followed was a lengthy debate about homosexuality and how the church should handle it and the people involved in it. What I got out of reading the debate was the reminder that we are all sinners. And I think the teachings I have experienced have stated it doesn't matter how great your personal sin is. Any sin will separate you from God and give you the need for Christ to be able to reach God. So pointing a finger and saying "well his sin is worse than mine" won't help anything. Judgement of others is something we all do, even if we say we don't. I know I have been judged by many about things I have said and things I have written. Was I misinterpreted? Did I not express myself as I had intended? Sure. I also know that I have judged others for everything from the miniscule to the monumental.

As I go through life, with an encouraged heart and a stronger desire to change after yesterday's sermon, I hope that some I have wronged will give me another chance. And when I wrong them in a new way, I hope they will also forgive. If we spent a little more time forgiving instead of judging, we might just all be a lot happier!

Oh yes, and if you like music from the 1980's, visit my other blog www.rockingthe80s.blogspot.com !

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Bring Me To LIfe

how can you see into my eyes like open doors
leading you down into my core
where I’ve become so numb without a soul my spirit sleeping somewhere cold
until you find it there and lead it back home

(Wake me up)
Wake me up inside
(I can’t wake up)
Wake me up inside
(Save me)
call my name and save me from the dark
(Wake me up)
bid my blood to run
(I can’t wake up)
before I come undone
(Save me)
save me from the nothing I’ve become

now that I know what I’m without
you can't just leave me
breathe into me and make me real
bring me to life

(Wake me up)
Wake me up inside
(I can’t wake up)
Wake me up inside
(Save me)
call my name and save me from the dark
(Wake me up)
bid my blood to run
(I can’t wake up)
before I come undone
(Save me)
save me from the nothing I’ve become

Bring me to life
(I've been living a lie, there's nothing inside)
Free me tonight

frozen inside without your touch without your love darling only you are the life among the dead

all this time I can't believe I couldn't see
kept in the dark but you were there in front of me
I’ve been sleeping a thousand years it seems
got to open my eyes to everything
without a thought without a voice without a soul
don't let me die here
there must be something more
bring me to life

(Wake me up)
Wake me up inside
(I can’t wake up)
Wake me up inside
(Save me)
call my name and save me from the dark
(Wake me up)
bid my blood to run
(I can’t wake up)
before I come undone
(Save me)
save me from the nothing I’ve become

(Bring me to life)
I’ve been living a lie, there’s nothing inside
(Bring me to life)

Feeling Convicted

I don't even know if this is the correct word for how I feel, but I think it might be.

This morning we went to church, attending the early service which opened with a video of the ten year history of the church. This month marks 10 years for North Metro Church.

They plugged a couple of other things including recaping last week's baptism service in which 39 people were baptized. My immediate thought was here we go with bragging and numbers. The guy speaking rambled on about the histiry of the church and the total number of dollars the church has donated to charity. More numbers, more self-praise.

Before you jump in and say I need to find a new church, I'll let you know I have heard/seen/experienced this kind of thing at every church I have attended.

So we moved into the music. We're sitting inthe smaller room upstairs again, where they have the "acoustic" music. I spent the majority of this time thinking critically of the whole thing. What the Hell are these computer-generated colors, lines, and squiggles on the screen supposed to mean or do. If it is about worship as a group, why are there spotlights on the people leading the music. That seems to draw the attention to them and their performances. Why do we have so many people in our church with completely shaved heads?

Next weird thing, kind of bizarre. They do a turn and greet someone (which we almost never do) and the guy two rows ahead turns to us and introduces himself and asks where he knows me from. He said he knows I work for Chick-fil-a and remembers we've played poker together. I offer Winston's as a location and he agrees. I have not worked for Chick-fil-a for 15 months, so this guy remembered me from at least that long ago?!?!?!

So we continue.....

They play another video. This church really likes producing videos. they do it for every person who is baptized and they have done it with people telling really deep stories about their personal lives that tie in to the sermon before it begins. It makes me wonder how they find the people to tell the stories because I know for a fact that the pastor of our church can not tell you my name and we've been attending for a year and a half and have been members for a full year.

So the video is of this couple telling us how they were either athiests or agnostics (they were not sure which they really were). The woman is rambling about challenging God to send her a sign that He is real. So she's driving one morning and she sees a rainbow and this to her changes her life because she read that after the Earth was flooded and Noah did the animal thing he saw a rainbow.

I looked up a website called http://www.weatherquestions.com/ and found this...Rainbows are caused by the splitting of white sunlight into it component colors by raindrops. Some of the light that falls on a water drop enters the drop. As it enters the drop, the light is bent (refracted) and split into a rainbow of colors. This is because each color of light gets bent by a slightly different amount. The different colors then reflect off the back of the drop, and when they pass through the front of the drop again, they are bent (refracted) still more. A rainbow is always directly opposite the sun from the observer. This explains why rainbows are only seen when the sun is low in the sky, usually in the late afternoon. The rainbow's location will appear different for observers at different locations, but it is always directly opposite the sun.

Um yeah, so God exists for this woman because of light and water. Well, even though my original thought about it was that a rainbow is just an element of nature that we can explain easily thanks to science, I thought a bit more. Water and light. Jesus is the living water. Jesus is the light. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.

The pastor is talking about what is next. It's not about what is next for the church it is about what is next for each of us as individuals. He said there would be three references. I only remember 2 and I don't recall the point of the first one which was about Abraham. The one I remember best had to do with Jesus speaking to a woman who was either a prostitute or an adultress (as if it matters) and how she was told to change and move on.

In some form of illustrative exercise there were pieces of artwork placed in the rooms and we were told to go to them and write a word or phrase that illustrates our own "what's next." I did not participate because I was sitting in my seat really stopping to wonder what I am about and what my faith is about. I know the things I do wrong, and quite a few of them I take great pleasure in. I do not want to give them up, but deep down I know I ought to. I need to.

Jimmy Buffett wrote a lyric with a woman talking to her guy and says, "I treat my body like a temple. You treat yours like a tent."

I do.

Mentally.

Physically.

Emotionally.

I need change. I need a next step.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Prayer at School Events

I read this story on USA Today's website tonite. It saddened me to hear of the accident and how it will affect the lives of these kids and the towns they live in. It gave me hope when I read that the teams met and prayed together. It made me sad again when I relaized someone is going to come out and want school officials disciplined for allowing the prayer.

2 killed, 14 hurt in Ariz. cheerleader van crash
BENSON, Ariz. (AP) — A van carrying high school cheerleaders rolled on a southern Arizona interstate, and two other vehicles crashed behind the wrecked van. Two people were killed, and 14 were injured.

The three coaches and eight cheerleaders in the van were traveling from San Manuel to Tombstone, about 70 miles away, for a Friday night football game. The game was canceled.

The Department of Public Safety said the van's driver swerved to miss a dog before the van rolled about 10 miles west of Benson. An SUV slowed to avoid the crash, and was struck by a semi-truck behind it, killing two passengers in the SUV.

University Medical Center in Tucson said Saturday that the van's driver and coach Elizabeth Zazueta, 47, and cheerleader Tyler Cline, 16, were in critical condition.

Three other cheerleaders were in fair condition, and the other cheerleaders and coaches were treated for injuries and released. The SUV driver and a semi-truck passenger were in fair condition, and the truck driver was treated and released, the department said.

San Manuel's Principal John Ryan praised the Tombstone High School officials who decided to call the game. "The parents and kids at Tombstone were amazing," he said.

After Ryan called the Tombstone principal with the news Friday night, the football teams met in the center of the field to pray together.

Ryan was at the hospital with family and friends of the injured Saturday. "It's tough on all of us, but we're family and we'll get through it together," he said.

San Manuel, a copper mining town about 40 miles northeast of Tucson, has a combined junior/senior high school with about 500 students.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

They got him. They got the Tater.

OrlandoSentinel.com
Blue Collar Comedy's Ron White arrested in Vero Beach

The Associated Press

10:48 AM EDT, September 11, 2008

VERO BEACH, Fla.
Click here to find out more!

Ron White of the "Blue Collar Comedy Tour" was late to a sold-out performance on Florida's Treasure Coast -- but he had a good excuse.

Based on an anonymous tip, the Vero Beach Police Department arrested the comedian Wednesday on charges of possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia. He was booked at the Indian River County Jail shortly after 6 p.m. that day and released about two hours later on $1,000 bail.

He's scheduled to do a second sold-out performance in Fort Pierce on Thursday.

One of White's most famous routines includes a joke about being booked into a Texas jail under the alias "Tater Salad."

Justice?

I went to bed last night having checked a few websites including the Orlando Sentinel newspaper.

This morning I woke up and turned on the TV in the bedroom to see some news.

I need to stop.


There is just too much coverage of stories that are making me sick to my stomach because of what people do to each other and what they then do to try to avoid paying any consequences for their actions. I'm not talking about an eye-for-an-eye across the board, and I am definitely not talking about cutting off the hand of a thief to prevent them from stealing again. Just consider these two headline-grabbing cases.

Back in March of 2005, Brian Nichols was on trial in Atlanta for holding his ex-girlfriend hostage for two days during which he had her bound and he sexually assaulted her. This was the beginning of a second trial on these charges as the first resulted in a hung jury. A few days before the trial was to begin, he was found in possession of two homemade knives while in jail. On the morning of the trial's beginning, he assaulted a deputy sheriff and escaped her custody. She was beaten and hospitalized with severe head trauma.

Nichols then took her firearm and worked his way through the courthouse to the courtroom of his trial where he shot and killed the judge and the court reporter. Continuing his escape, he shot and killed another deputy sheriff and escaped the courthouse, stealing a number of vehicles at gunpoint. He proceeded to flee the downtown area, eventually stealing a car belonging to an off-duty United States Customs Agent (a federal officer) who Nichols shot and killed in order to secure the car.

The case made national headlines. A few days later he was taken into custody in neighboring Gwinnett County where he surrendered after spending the night with a woman he also had taken hostage.

There are reports that Nichol's defense team would accept an offer for a guilty plea if the state would take the death penalty off the table. In essence, he will confess to his crimes, as long as he does not have to pay a justifiable price for his actions. Almost as bad, the prosecutor will not agree to such a deal because the penalty would not be steep enough (and I agree). However, as a result, the costs to the state financially are skyrocketing as both sides prepare for trial and the defense claims they can not afford the costs of an adequate defense.

I would think that is Mr. Nichol's issue, not the State's, but because a lawyer is provided for those who can not afford it, we are stuck with the financial burden on top of the loss society has already paid in the sum of four dead civil servants including two law enforcement officers.

The latest atrocity is that the defense team now plans to use a defense that Nichols committed these crimes because the courtroom reminded him of a slave market.

Case #2

Last month, in Orlando, FL, a young mother reported her child missing.... AFTER a month of not having seen her. The mother's story is that she gave her 2 year old daughter to a babysitter (while going to a job she did not have) and that the babysitter took the child and has not returned her.

She waited a month to make this report, which makes no sense.

Police located the mother's car in a business parking lot not far from the mother's home. In the trunk they found a suspicious stain and collected other evidence that now indicates that a human body was decomposing in this car trunk and that it was likely the body of the allegedly-kidnapped toddler.

Again, national headlines. Where is the child? Why was the mother out dancing at night clubs while her baby was missing? People are volunteering to search for the baby and are wasting their time and money because this child is already dead. The mother and her parents (who she lives with) must know the truth.

Instead of easing the hearts and minds of concerned citizens, they are hiring high profile attorneys and public relations specialists.

Today's bizarre factor. Lawyers for the child's mother want to force the state to stop processing evidence it has collected. These lawyers want to influence what kinds of tests are done and by what laboratories. At what point did a team of defense lawyers develop the power to influence the legal evidence-gathering procedures of the State?

I am glad that I will likely never face arrest or prosecution, but if I do, I imagine I could play things like these two criminals and hope to avoid paying the price for my actions, for justice is hard to serve in this day and age.

Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Found an Old Prom Photo

Ten on Tuesday - Favorite Movie Songs

Not in any order....

I'll Be Remembering You by Steven Curtis Chapman - from the soundtrack of music inspired by the motion picture Chronicles of Narnia : The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.

Tonight is What It Means To Be Young by Fire, Inc. - from Streets of Fire

Rainbow Connection by Kermit the Frog - The Muppet Movie

Everybody Knows by Concrete Blond - Pump Up The Volume

I Won't Say I'm In Love by Susan Egan - Disney's Hercules

Somebody's Baby by Jackson Brown - Fast Times At Ridgemont High

There Goes My Hero by Foo Fighters - Varsity Blues

Have A Little Faith by Joe Cocker - Benny and Joon

Independent Love Song by Scarlet - Bed of Roses

You and Me and the Bottle Makes Three by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy - Swingers

Sunday, September 07, 2008

The weekend

Today I work from 3:30 - 10:30. It will be the final day of a seven day stretch that included yesterday's 7am to 4:45ish shift.

After work yesterday I came home to try to unwind before heading out to watch the UCF/USF football game with the UCF Alumni here in Atlanta.

The exhaustion kicked in, and I left at halftime, knowing the game was on ESPN2 and I could watch it at home. The score at the time was 10-10.

The game went into overtime after UCF scored twice in 2 minutes to tie the game at 24-24 with a minute left to play. USF missed a field goal to force overtime and we lost it then.

I feel better losing 31-24 than last year when USF beat us 64-12. This is the last game we will play against the school 70 miles down I-4 from us as they have determined we are not worthy of being on their schedule. To them I say, kiss my ass. UF tried to do the same thing to FSU back in the day and the FL Legislature had to intervene to maintain the games.

I think I might have a kidney stone. I have heard of them and known people who have dealt with them and I am not looking forward to the process.

I have the next two days off. I have a doctor's appointment in the morning and plan to spend the rest of the two days off working on the garage, 3 of the rooms upstairs and hopefully, finally finishing the painting of the shutters. I might work in some yard clean-up too.

I have no real interest in football season thi syear for the NFL as Duante Culpepper is not playing. In fact, he retired from the NFL this week. He was a great QB, but a knee injury really derailed his career at its peak, and his practice of serving as his own agent hurt it even more.

I am still watching VH-1 Classic's 80 Hours of the 80's from last weekend. They are in the D's right now, with Dokken's "Dream Warriors" from one of the Freddy Kreuger movies playing right now. It's an alphabetical list by artist name, so I have a long, enjoyable way to go.

I have another blog dedicated to music from the 1980's at www.rockingthe80s.blogspot.com

Friday, September 05, 2008

Katrina Part Deux

Three years ago Hurricane Katrina evacuees came to Atlanta and the crime rate went up. There were shootings on the street and a Dekalb Police officer is dead because of one of them. So it's time for round two. Read on.


Gustav evacuees busted in blue jeans thefts

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Thursday, September 04, 2008

Police arrested four Hurricane Gustav evacuees Thursday evening in Atlanta mimicking the Metro area’s blue jeans bandits.

The crew — three women and a man — robbed two high-end Buckhead clothing stores of jeans before they were caught. They started around 5:45 p.m., at Luna at 3167 Peachtree Road, Atlanta police spokesman James Polite said.

“Four individuals went inside Luna, grabbing as much as they could grab,” Polite said. “Then they got into a vehicle and went to Brazil and did the same thing.”

Brazil, at 1923 Peachtree Road, is just three miles north of the first store, and witnesses identified the getaway car as a Pontiac G6 with Louisiana plates.

“Officers quickly spotted the car, and [the suspects] saw the officers and fled on foot,” Polite said.

Police gave chase and quickly arrested the four, all between the ages of 19 and their early 20s, Polite said.

The designer jeans, priced from $250 and up, were strewn throughout the car.

Police said the car was a rental, and the four suspects were all New Orleans residents who had fled Gustav.

Polite said all will be charged with felony theft by taking, among other possible charges

Thursday, September 04, 2008

A visitor and a pickle (Pixel)





Thursday

Today we started our Fall charity drive at Walgreens. In the Fall we raise money for JDRF, the Juvenille Diabetes Research Foundation. We're doing a point-of-sale donation where a guest can add a dollar or five dollars to their total. If they make a $5 donation, they will receive a coupon good for $5 off the purchase of photo greeting cards in our lab.

I sold 4 $1 cards if I remember right. Nathan, our soon-to-be college kid cashier had something like 12-15 during his shift. Awesome start!

We'll probably do a Saturday grill-out when the weather cools a bit, selling hot dogs and cokes outside the store.

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

I really have nothing to say. But I would encourage you to visit my other blog, dedicated to music from the 1980's.

I have a theme for each day, Metal Monday, Twofer Tueday, Wednesday's Women, Author's Choice on Thursday, Friday is Requests and Dedications, Soundtrack Saturday, and Soft Rock Sunday.

I need requests and dedications for Fridays, so please email me at mjchristopher@comcast.net with your video requests and dedications.

Wordless Wednesday- BMX







Monday, September 01, 2008

Lost & Found

This afternoon I was mowing the lawn and I found something I had no idea was missing. It was a telephone, one of the handsets to our cordless phones on the land line. I found it when the lawnmower's front wheel drive kicked it up from a slightly buried spot under a shrub in the backyard. How did it get there?

Lucy the Basset Hound. We miss you.

Randomness

We went to Celebrate Freedom Atlanta yesterday and had a good time desite the heat and the "reasonably priced" food and beverage. it was a free all-day concert festival featuring Christian artists like MercyMe, Third Day, Arron Shust, Jaci Velasquez, HawkNelson, Chris Sligh and Salvador. There were no coolers alowed but they advertised the reasonably priced concessions which featured Chick-fil-a sandwiches for $4.00 (in the restaurant they are about $2.80) and 20 oz. bottles of Coca-cola products for $3.00 a piece!

This morning I got up and out to go to work and do some training with the employee who is slated to take my place as Head Photo Specialist when I become a manager.

After training I went to church and enjoyed the comtemporary worship music for the first time in a long time. We went to the upstairs venue, a separate venue with an acoustic band. I like the quieter nature of the music and the reduced enhancement of lights and computer graphics on a screen behind the musicians.

I liked the sermon, focussing on being salt and how salt is used to enhance flavor and also as a preservative, and that we should be both an life enhancer and a preservative of life to others.

Last night I had a bizarre dream. I was working for a small printing company, trying to help them promote their business. The owner was a woman about 15 years older than me, and she tried to and succeeded in seducing me, but she also was caable of turning into a shark.

Tonight I went to a friend's house for an impromptu card game. I won some money and was told that I am not "trustworthy," which in the context was meant as a compliment. You have to understand that all poker players are liers!

I am enjoying VH-1 Classic this weekend as they play 80 Hours of the 80's. They are working their way through the 80s alphabetically. I just transitioned from the Bangles to Toni Basil. I have a long way to go and I LOVE it.