Welcome to college

UConn scored its first points on Larry Taylor's controversial 74-yard punt return. With the Huskies down 7-0 and 13 minutes left in the third quarter, Taylor settled under a 45-yard punt and appeared to call for a fair catch at the Connecticut 26. Replays showed Taylor putting up his right hand, and Louisville players stopped their pursuit as soon as he caught the ball. But Taylor sprinted left, then down the sideline and the referees didn't stop the play.

Louisville coach Steve Kragthorpe called a timeout before the extra point in an effort to get the officials to take another look, but after a consultation, they said a fair-catch signal isn't reviewable.

The official definition of a fair-catch signal in the rule book calls for a player to raise his hand above his head and wave it back and forth more than once, something Taylor didn't do.

``That wasn't no fair catch, that was a fair play out there,'' Taylor said. ``The referee didn't call anything, he said it was a fair play. I felt I didn't fair catch it anyway.''

I imagine if I felt REALLY bored I could find out what major and GPA this Taylor guy has, but it really is not worth the effort, My guess is his major is dredlock-growing.

So if you want, begin the debate over colleges using sports programs to bring money to the school, allowing individuals with no business on a campus of higher learning to "earn" a degree.

Friday Flashback #47 - Fruity

Warrant - Cherry Pie

Bananarama - Venus

Prince - Raspberry Beret

California Raisins - Heard it Through the Grapevine

Friday Feast #25

Appetizer - If you were a dog, what breed would you be, and why?

A bulldog, because despite being ugly, the ladies still flock to them.

Soup - What does the color purple make you think of?

Eggplant, McDonald's Grimace

Salad - Approximately how long does it take you to get ready each morning?

Ready for what? My morning routine, 45-60 minutes depending how long I spend checking email and reading the news online.

Main Course - How many cousins do you have, and are you close to them?

More than I can count, and no, I'm not close to any of them. Just from immediate family, first cousins you would call them, 8, and they have 7 kids, and being Southern and Greek we should count my father's first cousins as cousins of mine so then it just increases exponentially.

Dessert - Take your initials (first, middle, last) and come up with something else those letters could stand for. (Example: SFO = Sweet Funny Otter)

MJC - Mostly Juvenile Carnivore

Good Deed

This morning as I was leaving for work I noticed the neighbor's cat sitting in the garage entrance.

This was weird because both cars were gone (they are teachers and leave early) and the garage door was open, thus allowing the cat to sit there.

So, I called my neighbor (we exchanged phone numbers last year after a tree fell between our houses while they were at work one day). Dave figures the door did not close when his wife left, so he gave me the code to do the keypad and get it shut for them, and I drove to work happy to have helped a neighbor.

Also, pray for Dave, he has a 2 y/o and a 5 y/o and on Monday while coaching football (he's a HS teacher) he was blindsided by 2 players and has most-likely torn his ACL (bad knee injury).

Blueland!

It only took 7 games, but the Atlanta Thrashers have their first victory of the year!

It comes, one day after the coach was fired.

It comes, ten games since their last win (last year).

It comes, against the team they last saw last year in the playoffs, having been swept in three straight games.

Lehtohnen is out for a long time with a groin injury at goal, but Johan Hedburg (with the very cool helmet/mask is doing well.

Thursday Thirteen #30

Thirteen Things about Mike Things I remember from the 1980's 1. The space shuttle explosion in 1986. 2. Lionel Richie performing "All Night Long" at the closing ceremonies of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. 3. A road trip to Pennsylvania to see family and visit a college for my brother in 1985. During the trip the day of the simulcast of "We Are the World" on every radio station in the USA was held. (also learned there are a LOT of bridges in Pittsburgh). 4. Being in 4th grade and hearing about President Reagan being shot. 5. Going to see Ghostbusters in the Summer of 1984 and running into a friend from my football team. (BTW I am dressing up as a ghostbuster for Halloween). 6. Going door to door selling home delivery subscriptions for USA Today in metro-Atlanta in 1982-1983. 7. Going on a weekend retreat in December of my Senior year of HS and "It Takes Two" by MC Rob Base and DJ E Z Rock being the song being played all weekend. 8. Going to game 2 of the 1980 World Series to see the Phillies beat the Royals! 9. Selling Krispy Kreme donuts on the street corner on Saturday mornings as a fund-raiser for a band trip. I sold enough to pay for my entire trip to Panama City Beach, Fl and have spending money too. 10. Going to my first rock cancert (with my brother) in 1985 - Hall & Oates. 11. Riding our bikes to the community pool and usually going over to the 7-11 to play video games while we were there. 12. Getting my first real job, working as a bagger at Kroger in 1987. 13. Going on a July 4th vacation in the early 80's staying in a cabin at Unicoi State park in Georgia. Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

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Wordless Wednesday #27

Here we GROW again!

Last night I called my brother to let him know about the new pictures of our house on the blog, figuring that nephew Basil would like them. We talked for a bit and I heard Basil say something about pumpkins and scarecrows. Basil is almost 27 months old and talks up a storm now.

So we had a nice casual talk with Tim, and when I had to go to the restroom, he continued talking to Amy and the next thing I know I overhear them talking about the fact I am going to be an UNCLE FIVE TIMES OVER this May.

It's way too early to know if it's a baby brother or sister for Basil, but I expect they'll know ahead of time. Tim and Mery cheat that way!

It was good news and it inspired an exciting dream last night in which I was becoming a daddy to a beautiful dark-haired baby girl (not LynnMarie, but a natural daughter!).

Our House...in the Middle of the Street

So yesterday we went to Ellijay, GA for the Georgia Apple Festival. Ellijay is in the mountains, kinda Northwest of Atlanta and straight up I-575 from our house. It's a lot of the same vendors every year, but it's nice to see what they have made, to go up into the mountains, and to enjoy the Fall Festival food. Amy will be posting some pictures on her blog and/or the family blog shortly and you'll see the funnel cakes and roasted corn that were both yummy.

While we were up there we bought a yard sign that we had personalized and you can see it below along with other pictures of the house decorated. As you'll see in the first one, we have some color coming onto the trees in the back. Also we got some hay bales at Lowe's, some pumpkins from the church pumpkin patches, and our scarecrows that we have accumulated over the years.

Amy in front of the house with Lucy.

Our next-door neighbors the Reason's, Holly and Dave with baby Reagan and Griffin.

Our Fall Decorations.

Our decorations with Lloyd (the baby) and Cheney (the dog)

who live across from us in the cul-de-sac.

Our personalized sign.

While we were outside we saw the Reason's coming home from walking the dog and the baby and other neighbors and neighborhood kids came around so we had a very nice time talking with everyone and a bunch of the kids took pictures with our decorations, so our house was a hit!

Friday Flashback #46 - Blue

Debbie Gibson - Out of the Blue

Icehouse - Electric Blue

Elton John - Blue Eyes

Elton John - I guess that's why they call it the blues

Friday Feast #24

Appetizer - When was the last time you were surprised?
Last Wednesday (9 days back). We were at trivia (after the game) and a waitress at the pub was there (off duty) at the bar and I saw her flash the bartender.

Soup - Fill in the blanks: My eyes are ________, but I wish they were __________.
My eyes are damaged, but I wish they were perfect.

Salad - If you were a Beanie Baby, what would you look like and what would your name be?
I refuse to answer this question on the grounds that it may incriminate me.

Main Course - Name two things you consistently do that you consider to be healthy habits.
Release pent-up gases from within my body and express myself with the horn in my truck.

Dessert - What brand of toothpaste are you using these days? Do you like it? Why or why not?
Typically Crest. I like it. It is the brand I grew up using. (when I brush my teeth)

wicked defying gravity

Just because Amy and I love this musical so much, sorry Frigga and anyone else who can't watch videos.

We Won!

Trivia Tonight - our team was DAMM (Dave, Amy, Michael and Melanie), we added Charlie but did not have a way to work his name into the team acronym.

We came in first place, only missing one major question, but we had a 2 point lead going into the final bonus and we got it right. The question, At 238 minutes, this movie is the longest movie to ever win the Academy Award for Best Picture. The answer, Gone With the Wind.

Our one downfall was on the 2nd round bonus, which was, created in 1946, which of these inventions is the newest. Ball point pen, color TV, computer, or helicopter. No team got it right and we lost 8 points (we had been perfect until that point).

We had a good time, and we like having a bigger team again (Dave came to us from the team called the Drug Dealers, and Charlie is a friend of the hostess, and Melanie is a co-worker of Amy's)

Grace and the Photo Lab

We started a couple new things at church today including a 5-week course in order to join the church and a new sermon series to explore the fruits of the Spirit.

The elements of the discussion in the membership class were focussed on Grace. It got me thinking of an analogy that ties in to my work.

As some of you know, I run the photo department in a pharmacy and for some reason I have a hard problem with accepting people wanting to go through their pictures before paying for them. Obviously the plan they have is to see what pictures they do not like and to try not to pay for them. You see, they bought their film, took the pictures and brought them to me to process. I then use the eqipment my employer bought and the products needed to process and print the film to process this roll for this guest. Now, in what way does it make sense for the guest to NOT be responsible for paying for all of the prints? They are the ones who aimed the camera at the floor, or shot the picture without a flash, or shot the picture with their finger over the lens....

There is an expectation that if you shoot a blurry or otherwise crappy picture then you do not have to pay for it. How is this possible?

If I were to go to an art supply store and buy some paint, brushes and a canvas, then go home and paint a picture tat I don't like because I suck at painting, should I be allowed to take all the material back to the store for a refund?

So here's the positive analogy. We were discussing grace and how to explain it to people and this is what I thought about today.

Imagine your life is a large role of pictures. When you die you are to be judged. The pictures of the times you messed up in life. When you slighted another person, dishonored your family, sinned in any way. Jesus is the guy at the photo counter. He not only will not charge you for those pictures, but he will pay for them himself. In doing so, you have an album of nothing but shots you can be proud of. He takes responsibility for your mistakes and you get the benefit.

This is Grace.

The only hitch is, it does not come entirely free. Sure there is no charge, but the cost of receiving grace is the submission to God and the request of his Son to take responsibility for your lousy photos. He will do it without reseration, but only if you ask.

This is Grace at the photo counter.

Atlanta Greek Festival

Amy and I spent about 4 and a half hours of our anniversary at the Atlanta Greek Festival at the Church of the Annunciation on Clairmont Road in Atlanta. It is held every year in October and has become a four day event drawing huge crowds (bussed in from a nearby office park) of all races and faiths. Orthodoxy, commonly called Eastern or Greek Orthodox (because it is the language of the service) is one of the three major Christian faiths along with Catholicism and Protestantism.

The really nice thing was as soon as we got there we got in line to buy food tickets and we found a bunch of family! We ran into my Uncle Gerry (my dad's next younger sibling), his wife Andie, their son Geoff with his girlfriend Kelly and their baby Hope and Geoff's sister Heather with her husband Matt and thier boys Jacob and A.J. (thier daughter Madelyn was off at a sleepover party). Pictures are below. We enjoyed the conversation, the food, the music, the shopping (which included buying a new piece for our curio cabinet) and the tour of the sanctuary.

The mosaic on the ceiling of the sanctuary (over a million tiles).

My crooked shot of the alter, Christ on the wall in the back, the virgin Mary and John the Baptist flanking the alter gate, on the left center the Annunciation and an angel, on the right center we think they said the Apostle Paul and another angel. Michael and Gabriel are on either side of God's throne at the top.

The crucifiction.

Another mosaic.

The Transfiguration with Moses and Elijah flanking Christ.

The hand-painted plate we bought for our Anniversary gift.

Hope Meadow Christopher, Geoff's baby girl.

Cousin Heather (Nikki) with baby A.J.

Uncle Gerry and Aunt Andie (Geoff and Heather's parents)

Nephew Jacob (A.J.'s big brother)

Happy Anniversary

Happy Anniversary to us, me and Amy.

On this day, six years ago, we became one.

We married late in the afternoon of Saturday, October 6, 2001, the day after Barry Bonds hit his 72nd home run of a single season, three and a half weeks after terrorists attacked the United States, fourteen months after we had started dating, and 26/30 years after we respectively entered this world.

We had a lot of things in common, which a lot of people say, but how about these...

We share the same birthday (four years apart).

Our mothers have the same maiden name (Cox).

We were both working in the medical field when we met (Amy's a nurse and I was in pharmaceuticals, plus her father is a hospital adminsitrater).

Her brother attended Temple University in Philadelphia which is where my father and one of his brothers went to college.

some other things....

We are both part of three sibling families.

I introduced Amy to Jimmy Buffett music and she is now a fan as well.

We love to travel, since marrying we have been to Florida and on cruises several times. We have been to Jackson, TN (her college town) twice, to Chattanooga, TN, Nashville, TN and Williamsburg, VA twice (our honeymoon and our 5th anniversary last year).

We both enjoy going to zoos and have visited the zoos in Atlanta, Nashville, Memphis, and the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.

I introduced Amy to musical theatre and we have together seen Cats, Rent, Les Miserables, and Wicked.

Friday Feast #23

Appetizer - On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how much do you look forward to your birthday? Eh, I guess a 5. Birthdays are not that big a deal for me, and no one has ever thrown me a party (at least since I was a child).

Soup - What is one word you don’t like the sound, spelling, or meaning of? their, they're, there - too many people don't know how/when to use each one.

Salad - Do you wear sunglasses when you’re outside? If so, what does your current pair look like? Yes, I don't have a current pair since my last ones broke in July, my favorites were Oakley Frogskins, though I am now looking at the Oakley Gascans

Main Course - If you were to write a book, to whom would you dedicate it? I have no idea, perhaps my grandmother.

Dessert - Name a beverage that you enjoy. Cherry Coke Zero, Iced Tea

Friday Flashback #45 - Never

I found five classics with a Never theme ranging from the awesome (Bon Jovi) to the cool (INXS) to the lame (Rick Astley), to the hot (Heart) and to the Canuck (Corey Hart) who wears his sunglasses at night.

INXS - Never Tear Us Apart

Corey Hart - Never Surrender

Bon Jovi - Never Say Goodbye

Heart - Never

Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up

Thursday Thirteen #29

Thirteen Classic Quotes from John Belushi Movies. 1. Your women. I want to buy your women. The little girl, your daughters... sell them to me. Sell me your children. 2. It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses. Hit it. 3. Ma'am, would it make you feel any better if we told you that what we're asking Matthew to do is a holy thing? 4. SCMODS? State County Municipal Offender Data System. 5. Oh we have both kinds, country AND western! 6. They took the bar! The whole f***ing bar! 7. Over? Did you say "over"? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no! 8. Kroger, your Delta Tau Chi name is Pinto. Pinto: Why "Pinto"? Bluto: [belches] Why not? 9. Who dropped a whole truckload of fizzies into the swim meet? Who delivered the medical school cadavers to the alumni dinner? Every Halloween, the trees are filled with underwear. Every spring, the toilets explode. 10. Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son. 11. Now, she should be good-looking, but we're willing to trade looks for a certain... morally casual attitude. 12. It's not gonna be an orgy! It's a toga party. 13. But you can't hold a whole fraternity responsible for the behavior of a few, sick twisted individuals. For if you do, then shouldn't we blame the whole fraternity system? And if the whole fraternity system is guilty, then isn't this an indictment of our educational institutions in general? I put it to you, Greg - isn't this an indictment of our entire American society? Well, you can do whatever you want to us, but we're not going to sit here and listen to you badmouth the United States of America. Gentlemen! Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

Wordless Wednesday #26 (Greeks)

My Great-Grandfather and Great-Grandmother came to the United States from Greece in 1917. My Great-Grandfather, Costandino "Gust" Gianarris died when I was about four weeks old. My Great-Grandmother Acrivi "Vivian" Macris died about three months later. They were born in 1892 and 1900 respectively. Gust was honored by King Paul of Greece for his philanthropic efforts in helping his home village Neohoris and for encouraging other Greek immigrants in their effort to become naturalized US citizens. The mayor of Coatesville, PA, where he lived and died, praised him as an example of the hard-working immigrants who contribute to excellence of the USA and the pursuit of the American dream.

Who needs an outfielder?

The Atlanta Braves released Andruw Jones today, telling him his services will not be needed next year. If you are a Braves fan I can only hope this means they are planning to buy some pitchers.

Feelings

Since a recent thread here centered on how I feel about life and other people, I felt I could write about feelings today.

While at work today I helped a lady who works for a local paramedic service. She mentioned she is in a support role and not out in the field dealing with sick and injured people. She mentioned one of her crews lost a four month old child this week while on a call and she could not handle that element of the job.

This got me thinking about how and why we feel the way we do. Yesterday evening Amy and I were watching some of season 3 of Grey's Anatomy and they actually took a minute away from the standard sex stories to have a touching moment. A character came in for a broken wrist, having slipped in the shower. She was 8 months pregnant and she lost the baby. The doctors knew the situation and had to go in and tell the lady and her husband that the baby was dead and that they still had to induce labor and deliver the stillborn child.

How hard would that be in real life for the doctor?

How much harder would it be for the parents who had such great expectations for their child?

I know it was a fictional story, but the fact that it CAN actually happen was more than enough to make me tear up. This is part of why I answered a 7 on a 1-10 scale when asked how emotional I am a few weeks ago on the Friday Feast.

Whoa!

Someone's Not Playing Nice!

I was sitting here eating dinner tonight (a lovely chicken breast in creme sauce served over rice that Amy made in the crock pot) and watching TV shows I DVR'd last night.

I get to Chuck, the NBC comic/adventure/drama about a BestBuy Geek Squad kind of guy who has a ton of government secrets in his brain (unwanted). So last night we had him being tested by a government doctor and when they trigger some of the secrets, he starts reciting them.

One of them is this.... "Oceanic Flight 815 was shot down by surface to air..." and then it trailed off into another line.

Oceanic Flight 815 is the flight that the castaways on LOST over on ABC were on flying from Sydney to Los Angeles.

Networks don't play nice do they? BTW the only other reference to the fictitious Oceanic Airlines was in the movie Exuctive Decision with Kurt Russell, Oliver Platt, and Steven Segal.

Monday Trivia

Hello folks!

Amy had a rare Monday night off, in part due to a special schedule that allows her to have Friday-Sunday off to celebrate our wedding anniversary which is this coming Saturday.

We decided to join our new friends from church for trivia at Johnny's New York Pizza in Kennesaw. We had a group of eight including Amy and me, Ben and Erica (who was up past her bedtime), Matt and Emily and thier kids Mia and Jake. We did pretty well in a field of about 20 teams. We came in 2nd place overall and won $25 in house cash and we had a good time.

The only odd part of the night was driving home because there was a massive police action happening at the major intersection by the restaurant with the Cobb County Police, City of Kennesaw Police, and the Kennesaw State University Police all involved. I think we saw at least a dozen units involved in a roadblock and rapidly moving too and from the intersection with lights blazing.

As for questions....

The one that only one team got, was this, "What pitcher played for 12 different major league teams during his career between 1978 and 2002?" We had no idea. The answer is Mike Morgan. Drafted by the A's, he played for Oakland, NYY, the Bluejays, Mariners, Orioles, Dodgers, Cubs, Cardinals, Reds, Twins, Cubs again, Rangers and Diamondbacks. Career record 141-186 with almost 2800 innings pitched and a career ERA of 4.12, yet I have NEVER heard of the guy.

Our final bonus was to put these TV shows in order from first to last of their debut. Angel, 7th Heaven, Touched by an Angel, and Wings.

Also we had....

Has any NFL team played in the Superbowl in their home stadium?

What 1980's detective show had the air-headed office assistant Miss Dipesto?
Not a part of the question, but who played her love interest, detectives-assistant Mr. Viola?

In 1830 Belgium declared their independence from what country?

What is the Danish name for John?

Of Wheel of Fortune, The Newlywed Game, Greed, and Scrabble, which show did Chuck Woolery never host?

In Jerry Maguire, what office pet did he take with him when he quit his job?

What professional sports league had a player strike in 1981?

What 2004 Gwen Stefani song was the first to record 1 million song downloads?

Have fun with these, and thanks to our new small group for allowing us to come and contribute to the win.

14 Years in the Making

Sorry Folks

I attempted to see if any good would come from allowing Mandy free access to post comments here, and within 24 hours it has become a war zone. I apologize that I have to go back to moderating comments, but people are becoming way too emotional here and the great force of negativity is Mandy. So everyone say goodbye Mandy.... "Goodbye Mandy!" and have a nice life in your little Utopian bubble. The rest of us will go on living in the real world, with its problems and I will continue to point them out as I choose.

For more on this and how I am the Great Satan, check Mandy's blog at http://www.mandysmoments.blogspot.com

From Bill Cosby (an American with dark skin)

"They're standing on the corner and they can't speak English I can't even talk the way these people talk:
Why you ain't,
Where you is,
What he drive,
Where he stay,
Where he work,
Who you be...


And I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk.

And then I heard the father talk.

Everybody knows it's important to speak English

except these knuckleheads. You can't be a doctor

with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth.


In fact you will never get any kind of job making a decent living. People marched and were hit in the face with rocks to get an education, and now we've got these knuckleheads walking around.


The lower economic people are not holding up their end in this deal.


These people are not parenting. They are buying things for kids. $500 sneakers for what ? ?

And they won't spend $200 for Hooked on Phonics.

I am talking about these people who cry when their son is standing there in an orange suit.

Where were you when he was 2 ? ?

Where were you when he was 12 ? ?

Where were you when he was 18 and how come you didn't know that he had a pistol ? ?

And where is the father ? ? Or who is his father ?


People putting their clothes on backward:
Isn't that a sign of something gone wrong?

People with their hats on backward, pants down around the crack, isn't that a sign of something ?

Or are you waiting for Jesus to pull his pants up ?

Isn't it a sign of something when she has her dress all the way up and got all type of needles [piercing] going through her body?


What part of Africa did this come from??

We are not Africans. Those people are not Africans; they don't know a thing about Africa .

With names like Shaniqua, Taliqua and Mohammed and all of that crap, and all of them are in jail

Brown or black versus the Board of Education is no longer the white person's problem.

We have got to take the neighborhood back.



People used to be ashamed. Today a woman has eight children with eight different 'husbands' -- or men or whatever you call them now.

We have millionaire football players who cannot read.




We have million-dollar basketball players who can't write two paragraphs. We, as black folks have to do a better job. Someone working at Wal-Mart with seven kids, you are hurting us.

We have to start holding each other to a higher standard.



We cannot blame the white people any longer."



Dr William Henry "Bill" Cosby, Jr., Ed.D.







WAY TO GO, BILL !!

It's never been about color...



It's about behavior!!!

Use your voice!

Help pick Michael's Halloween Costume....

Errand running

I did not do well at poker today, so I was home before 3pm. I got home and after Amy came down from her nap we watched this week's How I met Your Mother and then we went to the Mall. Amy needed some new shoes, and we walked around and I looked at some sunglasses. When we were done we went to dinner at Red Lobster, then browsed at the Halloween store for costume ideas. Amy really wants me to dress up this year and I really liked a Ghostbusters costume I saw.
On the way home we also stopped at Petland, where almost two years ago we bought Lucy the Basset Hound. They have a TON of kittens today and as you can see, they are absolutely cute. A stop at Walgreen's finished the day's errands and home we are to relax and probably watch some Grey's Anatomy Season 3 episodes.

Did you know...

Did you know there is a secret force policing the internet for unpopular content?

It appears there is, and that a member of this force is someone posting as "Mandy."

Mandy has been sending quite a few comments my way, starting back about a month ago when I wrote a post about crime and behavior that perpetuates stereotypes by fullfilling stereotypes.

This, in her mind, makes me a racist. I would perhaps, I stress perhaps agree with the description that I have some bigotted opinions, but that wouldn't even be accurate because I do not dislike any group based solely on their race, age, religion, sexual orientation or any other protected demographic label.

My greatest curiousity involves why Mandy expresses an opinion that it's wrong to hate anyone. It appears that having any dislike/hatred for another person makes me "sad" in Mandy's opinion.

Back in August I wrote in a stream-of-consciousness style, so I did not stay to a single direct point, but kind of hit on a number of related topics. Unfortunately, I responded to some comments on my blog in the same manner, which lead to more criticism from Mandy and an inflation of her opinion of herself and of my evil nature.

It's also very interesting to me that I've received (and rejected) a number of her comments in the past few days and that she is still very concerned with my writings, and that even though my post on responsibility addressed no specific demographic group, she continues to assail me as a "sad" person, a "hater," a "racist," and someone who should be monitored.

She's even gone as far as to warn me that there are many more people watching me than I might think. Just curious who these people might be and what their purpose and plan is.

If you'd like to see what any of this is about, you may visit "Mandy" at http://www.mandysmoments.blogspot.com

At this site, Mandy's Moments are all about me. Perhaps the title should be Michael's Moments? Mandy has offered (several times) this week to repost my comments from August. She has saved files (should I be flattered?) of my old posts (some of which I chose to delete but she felt to save for posterity).
In a vigilante move, she even posted a picture of me on her blog (which she later removed).
Somehow a seven year old graphic image (which is MY property) made an impact in her desire to police the internet for content she disagrees with, and for her and her "others" to perhaps read, discuss, and get upset about.

I don't know Mandy's ultimate purpose. She has instigated a conflict with another blogger who I know, resulting in that blogger being added to Mandy's list of haters. She has now taken to posting on my wife's blog because I have been rejecting her comments here. I have wondered to myself if her purpose is to get me to respond to her, and if by writing this post I am feeding her ego. I have considered a sabatical from blogging, which would probably satisfy Mandy in that my voice would be silenced, but I think her true desire may be more noble, and the simple fact is that if I stop writing about my thoughts, feelings and opinions, there would not be a change in them, and as there are a total of three posts on her blog (all related to me), what would she have to write about if I did not write?

Friday Flashback #44 - Prayer

Bon Jovi - Living on a Prayer

Duran Duran - Save a Prayer

Madonna - Like a Prayer

MC Hammer - Pray

Friday Feast #21

Appetizer -How are you today?
Is this a trick question? A little tired, but I'm still waking up, pan down to the Tirade and Tirade Revisited posts to see how I am.

Soup -Name 3 television shows you watch on a regular basis.
ER (14th season if you can believe it), Lost, How I Met Your Mother

Salad - What’s the scariest weather situation you’ve experienced?
The day of my HS graduation practice a group of about 20 of us went rafting on the Chattahoochee River (it's a slow float) and got caught in a Georgia Summer storm with lightning crashing all around us. Being exposed on the water was worse than any hurricane I rode out in Florida.

Main Course - If you could wake up tomorrow morning in another country, where would you want to be? Ooh, good question with two answers. For financial and general emotional security, England. For my family, China, because I would be there to get LynnMarie.

Dessert - What do you usually wear to sleep?
Well, since you asked.... usually whatever underwear I have on (usually boxers) though I can't rule out wearing nothing to bed but a smile.

Tirade Revisited

I don't apologize for saying what I think.

I refuse to censor myself in the name of political correctness.

There are too many problems that need to be fixed at the source rather than treated after they manifest themselves.

I wrote a blog entry about some of this a few weeks ago and someone called me a racist, perhaps this newer version is non-specific enough to prevent that from happening again.

I write about things like television and sports and the majority of the comments can't really relate. I write about the possession of information and the majority express lack of knowledge.

So what do you want to read here?

I can't write about the beauty in the world because there is simply not enough of it in my life to share and I refuse to be artificial. Do you want a world where if you get hurt, everyone you know rallies in support and waits and prays for a positive outcome? I would like that too, but it only exists in books, movies, and television, in works of FICTION.

You want to tell me that if I change, than I will have a life like that? Tell me how. How do you change your personality. How do you change who you are, especially if we are the people God created us to be?

A Tirade for Respsonsibility

I copied this after posting it as a comment on a friend's blog. Chris said he was nauseus after talking about a political fundraiser and slamming Rudy Gulianni for a while on his blog....

Good thing you support liberals Chris. As you are suffering your nausea, you can have hope that the Democratic Party wins and move to make the government responsible for everyone's health care.It'll be more handouts for the listless masses who don't want to take the effort to provide for themselves.

It would be a great world if eeryone simply took responsbility for their choices instead of asking for help and handouts.

Those on drugs, did someone hold a gun to your head and make you start doing them?

Those without jobs, did you finish school? Have you applied for jobs every day?

Those needing welfare assistance to pay for your children, did you consider how you were going to pay for this child before you decided to f***?

Those who built your homes below sea level in New Orleans, duh!Those who build on hurricane-prone coastlines. If you can't afford the insurance, don't build there.

Those who want to live here, did you follow the procedures to legally enter the country and apply for permission to work and live here?

Those who can't make rent, food, utilities, did you first purchase tobacco, alcohol, lottery tickets?

It is so simple to ask, but so much harder to do. Take responsibility for your own choices.

2nd Place!

We just got back from trivia and for the first time in over a month, we placed in the money! We had a good shot at first place, having been the only team to ace the round 1 bonus, but we missed two we should have gotten right, here are a few of tonight's offerings....

After China and India, name the next 4 countries in order of highest population. (this is the one we got all four parts on, no one else did).

The other 4-parter, name the 4 MLB franchises with the most World Series Championships.

What is the largest muscle in the human body?

How many stars are there in the big dipper?

In what Colorado town is Columbine High School?

What Brownsville Station song did Motley Crue cover in the 1980's?

What state comes last alphabetically?

In what month, on its first Monday, does the U.S. Supreme Court begin its calander year?

In what year did the USA boycott the Summer Games because Russia had invaded Afghanistan?

What rock group created the rock opera Tommy?

In what German city did the Oktoberfest originate?

Yeah!

The Phillies beat the Braves tonight (5-2) and the Mets lost to the Nationals (9-6)!

What this means.....

The Phillies are basically out of the playoff picture (unless they win every one of their remaning games and the Mets and Padres lose all of their remaining games (and the Phillies and one or two other teams).

After two years of coming VERY close, the Phillies may make the post-season this year.

Life Lesson of the Day

This was discovered the hard way (if you know what I mean).

When you look at the container of tartar sauce in the fridge and it says Best By 9/20/07, take that as a "USE BY" meaning throw it out. It you take it to mean, it will be slightly less tasty than before 9/20/07, you may regret it.

News of the weird and plain stupid

Man finds human leg in auctioned smoker

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published on: 09/25/07

Maiden, N.C. — A man who bought a smoker Tuesday at an auction of abandoned items might have thought twice had he looked inside first.

Maiden police said the man opened up the smoker and saw what he thought was a piece of driftwood wrapped in paper. When he unwrapped it, he found a human leg, cut off 2 to 3 inches above the knee.

The smoker had been sold at an auction of items left behind at a storage facility, so investigators contacted the mother and son who had rented the space where the smoker was found.

The mother said that her son had his leg amputated after a plane crash and kept the leg after the surgery. The mother said her son plans to drive to Maiden, about 35 miles northwest of Charlotte, to reclaim his amputated leg, police said.

Motorcyclist clocked going 135 mph on Ga. 400
By RALPH ELLIS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 09/25/07

Alpharetta police say they clocked a motorcyclist, with a female passenger on back, going 135 miles per hour on Ga. 400 Monday night.

Police reported that they first spotted the motorcycle about 11:20 p.m., traveling 102 mph while going north on Ga. 400 near Haynes Bridge Road. Officers began chasing and realized a woman was riding on the back of the Suzuki GSXR600.

RELATED LINKS: • More North Fulton and Forsyth news

Before reaching Forsyth County, the motorcycle was clocked at 135 mph, police said. The motorcyclist pulled off the side of Ga. 400, police said, but sped away when an officer got out of his car to make an arrest.

The motorcyclist turned onto Peachtree Parkway, drove through two red lights and turned onto Old Alpharetta Road before stopping, police said. The officer said he tackled the driver and rider because he did not see their hands and they did not comply with his order to get off the bike.

Sergey M. Drotenko, 23, of Powder Springs was charged with felony attempting to elude police, two counts of speeding and other violations. The passenger was not charged. Police said they gave her a ride to a nearby gas station, where a friend picked her up.

Wordless Wednesday #25 (me and my dad)

Tired to the point of Dementia

I guess I was up too late last night (watching TV with Peter) and up too early this morning (had to go to work). I hae been in and out of sleep for the past three hours while trying to watch the Phillies and Braves on TV and the last few episodes of Heros Season 1 on DVD.

The end results are mixed.

In reality, the Braves were beating the Phillies 10-6 in the 9th inning when I last saw what was going on.

In Dementia, Chipper Jones just cut open Tom Gordon's head to read his brain and blast a homerun to right-center field.

Bobby Cox was getting so upset over the concessionaires running out of hotdogs that he was about to set off a nuclear explosion with himself.

Jimmy Rollins opened the game for the Phillies and literally flew around the bases, his feet never touching the ground, only touching the bags.

Chase Utley reinjured his hand (broken back in August) but healed himself and continued the game including making a great catch that Ryan Howard could not get to.

Skip Carey collected a variety of paintings of events in the game and some artifacts including a magical bat that channels the power of Dale Murphy. This bat was not controlled by any one player as many hit home runs tonight.

Bob Wickman appears from possible invisibility and stops Cox from exploding by offering him some nachos since he's been in Arizona the past month.

A Japanese guy appears and says save the ballgirl save the world. In fulfilling this prophecy the Mets lose and the Phillies stay in the race.

Ten on Tuesday #7

Ten Things I've Been Putting Off

1. Cleaning the garage.

2. Cleaning the white room.

3. Cleaning our bedroom.

4. Cleaning the computer room.

5. Watching the rest of Season 1 of Heros (though I'm getting close).

6. Seeing a bunch of Summer movies including Spiderman 3, Transformers, I now pronounce you Chuck & Larry, Superbad.

7. Finish dewallpapering the master bathroom.

8. Plant some bulbs this Fall.

9. Walk the dog and exercise more.

10. Finalize plans for my anniversary weekend (Amy and I hit 6 years in a week and a half).

Waiting for the birds...

After many months of having a broken (plastic chewed through by squirrels) birdfeeder, we bought a new one yesterday at Target. I put it up last night at dusk, and I've been watching all day today, but we've had no visitors yet. We have a number of cardinals in the area, so I expect they'll be back, along with a number of other birds of varying shapes and sizes. We like the cardinals best though.

Who's Cuter

Amy and I were watching The View this morning and I had the thought....

Who is cuter (personality and physically) Kelly Ripa or Elisabeth Hasselbeck?

Kelly Ripa

Elisabeth Hasselbeck

Happiness Is...

a final score in a conference game for UCF where UCF wins by a 56-20 score over the Univeristy of Memphis Tigers!

They lead 42-0 at halftime. We are 2-1 for the season and 1-0 in conference play for the year.

The University of Louisianna-Lafayette is our next guest, next week at 6pm.

Speaking of gurst, I received a really cheesy email this week from the alumni association, the athletic director and the president of the University asking out fans to be nice to the visiting team and their fans as they want our new on-campus stadium to be a nice place to visit.

Aparently no one in these groups knows that competition, bragging, and taunting are all part of the experience of watching college football. They want our stadium to be like Disney (which they are trying to do already with the no outside drinks so you must buy our $3 bottles of water). I don't see it happening.

Go Knights!

The Weekend - Time for Sports!

Hey guys, it's early Saturday morning (1:45am) and I am psyched because my favorite baseball team won again, keeping hope alive for a playoff berth, the Philadelphia Phillies! They are still 1 and a half games behind the New York Mets.

It's Saturday in the Fall and that means college football! My hopes are that UCF (my alma mater) will win in their 2nd home game of the season, against University of Memphis, and that Georgia will lose to Alabama simply because I don't like Georgia.

it made me wonder what kind of question I could pose tonight, and this is it....

What is your favorite sports movie of all time?

Here are a few sports, and some great movies in each genre for you to consider.... (titles in bold are among my favorites)

Golf - Legend of Bagger Vance, The Greatest Game Ever Played, Tin Cup, Caddyshack.

Baseball - Major League, Bull Durham , Field of Dreams, The Natural, Eight Men Out

Football - The Longest Yard (remake), The Replacements, Unnecessary Roughness, Brian's Song, Little Giants, Wildcats, Remember the Titans, Friday Night Lights, Varsity Blues

Basketball - Hoop Dreams, Hoosiers, White Men Can't Jump, Blue Chips

Hockey/Ice Skating - Ice Princess, Cutting Edge, Mystery Alaska, Miracle, Slapshot, Blades of Glory

Boxing - Rocky, Million Dollar Baby, Raging Bull, Play it to the Bone

Other Sports - Ready to Rumble (wrestling), Visionquest (wrestling), Days of Thunder (auto racing), Talladega Nights (auto racing), The Karate Kid (karate), Airborne (rollerblading), Bend it Like Beckhan (soccer), Chariots of Fire (track)

Tell me what you like and why.

Friday Flashback #43 - Oh Canada!

Hockey season is nearly upon us and we're heading North of the border this week to honor our Maple Leafed neighbors. In the arena of Canadian Rock, there is none better than Bryan Adams, even if there are mega-continuity issues in his video. The girl comes in, changes to a bikini, exits the changing stall in a one-piece, and then climbs the diving platform in a bikini. Hello?!?! Loverboy - skipping the song with the COWBELL, we jump back to 1980 for Turn Me Loose. Men Without Hats were more pop, but they gave us a video with a medieval wench and a midget, you gotta like that. And finally, Glass Tiger, a one album wonder and YES that is Bryan Adams helping them out with backing vocals on this song.

Bryan Adams - Cuts Lke a Knife

Loverboy - Turn Me Loose

Glass Tiger - Don't Forget Me When I'm Gone

Men Without Hats - Safety Dance

Friday Feast #20

Appetizer - What is your favorite type of art?
Static - oil paintings, Fluid - Broadway-style dance
Soup - When was the last time you got a free lunch (or breakfast or dinner)? Who paid for it?
It was probably May if we're talking about going out to a restaurant, and it was my father-in-law.
Salad - On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how emotional are you?
8
Main Course - Approximately how long do you spend each day responding to emails?
Just a few minutes, because honestly, I don't get many emails and fewer still that are ones you'd respond too.
Dessert - To what temperature do you usually set your home’s thermostat?
For air conditioning, 74. For Heat, I'm aiming to do 68 all year this year. And we are in one of the Atlanta transition periods now where we need the heat on in the morning and the AC on in the afternoon!

Oh, and I should mention this. My wife, Amy is having a blog-based contest with some very nice prizes she used a giftcard for (which she got for providing excellent care at the hospital). Go to her blog Amy's Random Thoughts, to say you want to play, and post comments as directed to win!

Survivor - China

I have a pretty strong feeling that I am going to be pretty enthusiastic about the new season of Survivor. Can you believe this is the 15th season? They filmed this season in China, on the Lake of A Thousand Islands. Tonight was the premiere, and here are my thoughts.

Location - Beautiful, and of personal interest as I am going to China sometime in the next couple of years.

The People - Holy Cow what a diverse and stereotypically scripted group. I will have to go back and revise my pick for the MVP on the fantasy league. For the past few seasons Amy and I have competed with her college friends and associates in Fantasy Survivor (www.fantasysurvivor.net) where you form a tribe and earn points based on correctly guessing who will win reward, immunity, be safe, be voted off, and answer a mystery question.

As Amy and I watched, we discussed the players and how awful we thought some of them are. There are always a handful of oddballs and regular people mixed in with the bulk of the players who are models, bartenders, and waitpersons. This season is no exception with the beautiful people.

Leslie - Leslie is the token Christian. They usually have one or two people who are outspoken about their faith, and they ALWAYS get kicked out early in the game. Leslie is a Christian Radio Talk Show host! In the first episode they went to a Buddhist temple for a welcome ceremony and she walked out during the ceremony saying, "I only bow to Jesus."

Chicken - The token old guy, token southern guy. He almost needed subtitles but it won't matter because he got voted off. He tried to make a suggestion about building shelter and they ignored him, so he pretty much refused to speak the rest of the three days. He did speak at tribal when he got voted off, yelling "Damn!"

Frosti - this guy is kinda cool. He's half Russian and half Japanese (I think). He's an athlete of sorts, specializing in the art of vaulting obstacles. If you saw the opening of the new Casino Royale, he does a lot of running and jumping.

Peih-Gee - the token Asian - she's already jumping into the role of the pushy/bossy/hated Asian female that we saw in previous episodes. I picked her because of her background, including being born in Hong Kong and having a good deal of outdoors experience, but her personality means I have to switch MVPs.

Sherea - the token black female out of her element - some of these characters do better than others. I don't expect much from this one. She's a school teacher from Atlanta. She started the game in her healed shoes and competed in the immunity challenge with only her bra on, and it was not a bra built for speed or agility if you know what I mean.

Denise - the older white woman - When I first saw her picture on the CBS website, my first thought was nice mullet, another lesbian who looks more manly than a lot of men. Well, I'm wrong. I'm not wrong about the mullet, it is as fine as Billy Ray Cyrus ever grew, but she's a mother of three and a school lunch lady. She will not win.

Ashley - a professional wrestler. This is outside the Survivor stereotypes, but she has reality competition experience as she won a WWE Diva Search and got a contract in the process. I was reading a wrestling news site today and found out (unintentionally) how long she will be in the game. Let me say this. She will be home in time to be ready to compete at Survivor Series in November.

Jean-Robert - a professional poker player. I have not seen him play cards, but his bio says he's won $700,000 in his career so I hope it's more from being able to read people than it's from being lucky. One thing, from early in this episode, DUDE PULL UP YOUR PANTS! We do not need to see the crease of your groin in the frontal shots, especially while you are hanging out with the gay guy. Save it for the Minneapolis airport bathroom.

Speaking of airport bathroom gayness...

Todd - the token outspoken gay - his bio lists him as a gay, Mormon, flight attendant. Does it matter that his family is Mormon? Do the Mormons condone homosexuality? Will he use his time on the show to be as queer as possible?

Courtney - the fake - Amy and I might consider turning off the TV whenever she gets camera time. She's the most annoying Gwen Stefani wannabee we have ever seen. Her initial camera time was spent arguing over knowing how to bow at the temple and telling everyone in America that she's not wearing a bra. Dingbat. The sooner she's out, the better.

James - the token black guy - he's gonna be interesting to watch. He's very quiet as he apparently works alone, as a gravedigger. He's big and strong, and Leslie reached out to him early to help him with socialization. I think he'll do well and I'd like to see him go far.

Aaron - a surf instructor? He was my first choice for MVp and I think he'll do well. He did step up and accept a nomination to lead his tribe, which will probably hurt him unless they do well, and they already are.

Amanda - eye candy, but outdoorsy eye-candy. She's a professional hiking guide and I think they said she's a Miss Montana or something.

Dave - one of the older guys, but he IS a former model (at age 37). He also volunteered to lead a tribe, the one that is not doing well. At the same time he volunteered, phee-gie did, so there could be some conflict here.

Erik - girl's eye candy - he went to Furman (which is cool) and now lives in Nashville working a s amusician. He reminds me a bit too much of Adrian Grenier (Vincent from Entourage).

finally there's Jamie

Jamie - more eye candy - she's a die-hard Univ. of South Carolina fan, that should be reason enough to count her out, but I did enjoy watching the Gamecocks beat the Georgia Bulldogs the other week. It aooears that she is smart and athletic, and her work as a waitress should help her with dealing with people.

It's gonna be a fun season!

Wordless Wednesday # 25

Some pet fun this week. A family member asked for a newer picture of Pixel the kitten, and I found my original (better wide angle) lens, so the pics of Lucy the Bassett Hound are original (not cropped or edited).

Three Days?

I looked at the old blog here a few minutes ago and noticed, "Hey! I haven't blogged in a few days..." so here I go, with a few topics on my mind.

My Jeep - I like my Jeep, a 1995 Grand Cherokee. It is 13 model years old now, and is approaching 180,000 miles. I am putting some money into keeping it around a few more years as it's a lot cheaper than trying to buy a replacement right now. I've had AC issues for about two years now, and I've endured the heat by driving with the windows down. About two weeks ago, the front passenger window was down and decided it did not want to go back up! So we trekked out to Lithonia (about 45 miles from Kennesaw) to Rogers'. (yes the apostrophe is in the right place, the garage belongs to a guy whose first name is Rogers) He has been our family mechanic for about 25 years now.
He has fixed the window issue (electrical), and done an oil change. He discovered a leak in the anti-freeze/coolant and the water pump is failing, so those are being addressed as more urgent, and he found two leaks in the AC system, so the total job to fix it all will be about $1500. I expect/need about 3 more years out of this vehicle.

My Knights - I blogged about UCF and the debut of the stadium on campus last weekend, the Brighthouse Networks Stadium. They bragged about the stadium because it was built on time (in less than a year and a half), it came in under budget, and it was built without any public funds. They didn't mention that it was also built WITHOUT ANY WATER FOUNTAINS!
It appears it is not required by the code, so they didn't plan for them. Minor problem here. This stadium is in Orlando, where it gets hot, and it was in the 90's on Saturday. They ran out of the $3 bottles of water they were overcharging for in the third quarter. 18 fans were transported to local hospitals with heat-related medical needs.
Yesterday I was writing an email to the Director of the Athletic Dept. and decided to hold on for a moment. This afternoon, according to http://www.orlandosentinel.com/, there will be water fountains installed IMMEDIATELY. They will have 10 installed by this week's game with Memphis, and 40 more after that. My pride is somewhat restored.

My Phillies - I posted a very celebratory comment about the Phillies winning their game at St. Louis last night. I expected the win, because in the 7th inning they were winning by about 8 runs. It turns out they were ahead by 11-0 at one point. They won the game 13-11 after letting the Cards get WAY TOO CLOSE. But the win came, and Ryan Howard had 2 home runs, and the Mets lost, and the Phillies are now just 2 and a half games behind the Mets in the NL East!

My Sleep - Not nearly enough of it. I got home last night after playing poker at Winston's (before which I took Amy to work because my car is in the garage). We expected that one of her coworkers would be able to give her a ride, but it did not turn out that way. As a result, Amy called this morning to wake me to come get her. I have been fighting to stay awake all day.

The Bug Man - yep, the every-three-month visit from the exterminator was today (part of why I could not sleep after we got home). He asked if we were saving our dead cicada (didn't know we had one). Anyways, his stuff works and we are without bugs, yeah!

Oh yeah, and back to the Jeep - do you guys name your vehicles? I never have. Any ideas for mine? (It's a burgundy SUV). Amy used to call her gold Honda Accord "Ginger," but does not do so much anymore.

So Close!

Yesterday Amy and I went to a sports bar to join the Atlanta UCF Alumni to watch the opening game in our on-campus stadium. UCF could have booked a weak team to ensure a win, or they could invite a big team and get national TV coverage and a paycheck in the process. We opted for the latter bringing in #6 ranked University of Texas.

I had poor expectations, but it was a wonderful day except for a 15 minute lightning delay and some rain showers, but this is Orlando in the late Summer.

We lead the game at 7-3, we were behind at the half at 20-10, we lead the game in the 4th quarter at 24-23, and I thought our fate was sealed when we fell behind 35-24 with less than 3 minutes left and having lost possession of the ball. We managed to get it back, score and get the 2 point conversion, for a final score of 35-32.

Very respectable for a game in which we were unranked, and we gave up an interception and two fumbles by our quarterback (running the ball). An upset would have been fantastic, but a loss by three when the betting line said lose by 20 is tremendous.

Go Knights!

Ooooof

Ever have a meal SO GOOD you don't want to stop eating? Literally, you are trying to find a way to consume more despite the limits of your digestive system?

This happened to me last night courtesy of my lovely wife and her online recipe hunting.

We had pork spare ribs, slow cooked all day in the crock pot (with BBQ of course), an entire casserole dish of mac & cheese, and an entire casserole dish of baked beans with bacon and onions added in. I am thankful for leftovers today, but oh my God.

What a meal!

WonderGirl CARLY Flag Football

Friday Flashback #42 - Supermodels

Let's see, in three of these four videos, the artist has/had a relationship with the supermodel in the video, and all three are no longer couples.... as for the fourth video, well, he wouldn't be in THAT kind of relationship with a FEMALE model.... enjoy the tunes.

Billy Joel - Uptown Girl - Christie Brinkley

George Michael - Freedom 90 - EVERYBODY

Guns & Roses - November Rain - Stephanie Seymour

Rod Stewart - Infatuation - Rachael Hunter