Monday, December 24, 2007

And it came to pass in those days......

Not alot to say here tonight except Merry Christmas to all my friends. I love each and every one of you!
Its been a great month getting ready for the big day.....From shopping with friends, to church parties, to dinner with close buddies and then watching The West Wing (greatest show ever)!!
And now ...its here ! I hope each and everyone of you has a wonderful day doing whatever it is you do ....I will close this post with a few of my favorite Christmas quotes and sayings ...
Peace Love and Joy to You!

Dear George: Remember-No man is a failure who has friends.
Clarence The Angel-Its A Wonderful Life.

And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
The Gospel of Luke

"But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time: the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!'"
Fred,Scrooges Nephew in A CHRISTMAS CAROL

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

49th.......

ALASKA: A PRIMER

Outsiders first discovered Alaska in 1741 when Danish explorer Vitus Jonassen Bering sighted it on a voyage from Siberia.
On October 18, 1867 Alaska officially became the property of the United States. Many Americans called the purchase "Seward's Folly."
Joe Juneau's 1880 discovery of gold ushered in the gold rush era.
In 1943 Japan invaded the Aleutian Islands, which started the One Thousand Mile War, the first battle fought on American soil since the Civil War
Alaska officially became the 49th state on January 3, 1959.
Alaska's most important revenue source is the oil and natural gas industry.
Alaska accounts for 25% of the oil produced in the United States.
The state of Rhode Island could fit into Alaska 425 times.
The fishing and seafood industry is the state's largest private industry employer.
Most of America's salmon, crab, halibut, and herring come from Alaska.
Nearly one-third of Alaska lies within the Arctic Circle.
Alaska is a geographical marvel. When a scale map of Alaska is superimposed on a map of the 48 lower states, Alaska extends from coast to coast.
The state's coastline extends over 6,600 miles.
At 20,320 feet above sea level, Mt. McKinley, located in Alaska's interior, is the highest point in North America.
Juneau is the only capital city in the United States accessible only by boat or plane

So whats all this damn Alaska talk you might ask ....well, it just so happens that I am going to Alaska next August. I have been invited by a couple of guys from the church to go Hallibut and Salmon fishing and after a few days or working out the costs I am on board. It will take me all year to get the money together but it will be something great to work for and I think in the long run the trip will mean more to me because its something I am gonna work hard for....My money tree out back died years ago !!
I am so excited....Alaska for me is one of those top 5 places to visit in my lifetime.
Highlands of Scotland,London,Vietnam and Anzio,Italy. They round out the top 5.
Anyway enjoy the Alaska tidbits....More info later
Peace and Love

Friday, December 07, 2007

Happy Christmas !!


Nick recently posted about his favorite Christmas/Holiday Movies and it got me to thinking about my favorite Christmas memories......This is basically for me but yall enjoy also !!


In no order .....




Trying to figure out how Santa brought horses to my grandparents house one year in the late 1970s.


Not being able to sleep as a kid because you know KNOW KNOW that you can hear Santa every time you shut your eyes.


Leaving Mamas homemade carrot cake out for Santa instead of cookies. We never once left him cookies.


Going to Nana and Ga's house on Christmas eve for dinner and presents. That was the Gregg side of our family . We celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve.


The year I got Daddy Dog from my Ga. I still have that stuffed dog.


Going to Granny and Grandaddy's after leaving Nana and Ga's house. We then watched old Miller family movies. The old 8mm stuff with the loud projector clickclickclickclick.....


The year I got so many smurfs and then most were scooped up in wadded wrapping paper and tossed away.....blech.


Watching favorite holiday movies with GREAT FRIENDS.


Grandaddy always wearing a red sweater on Christmas morning ....I wear one every year now.


The last Christmas in the house I grew up in out in Macon County .


The last Christmas with my Dad.......The first Christmas without my Dad. Sad


Getting Connie his first real TONKA Dump truck this year. Big, Yellow, Metal ! I had one ....His Dad had one ....my Dad had one. Little boys need dump trucks !!!


Hunter Still believing.


Egg Nog.


Reading A Christmas Carol every year before Christmas


Listening to old Christmas records on my Grandaddys RCA Sterophonic Hi-Fi while we decorated the tree at their house.


Will Ferrel in ELF saying Son-of-a-Nutcracker


Heres to years and years of more memories yet to be made.

Peace and Love

Jason












Saturday, November 24, 2007

Things like .....Waterloo,The Sinking the Lusitania,Remember the Maine, The Alamo,Battle of The Bulge,The Challenger Explosion......


Well......Maybe those are the things Coach Saban will compare the loss to Auburn to on Monday at his weekly press conference ......Enjoy this weekend Auburn Nation. He is gonna be a good coach at Alabama ....no doubt about it but let me remind folks what he said this summer when asked about taking the Alabama job last winter...." Well, it was the only job really open at the time " WOW ......Did you see the look on Paul Bryant Jrs face in the stands ???Priceless

I am hoping that Coach Tuberville will get a contract extension at AU.....I am hoping that he is sincere when he says he wants to retire from coaching at Auburn.....That this will be his last coaching job ... I hope he stays ! He is 7-2 against Alabama in 9 years at Auburn. He is a good decent coach that has Auburn in a great place!


WAR DAMN EAGLE !!!!!!

Thursday, November 15, 2007

We regret to inform you .......

Its been a while since I posted but as many of you know I have been without a computer at home for a while. I am writing this post from work and just to let you know I am still without a computer. Obit Follows
Funeral services were held on Thursday November 14 for DELL Inspiron 1200. She died peacefully in her sleep on Wednesday at Computer Customware, after a long illness. She is survived by her owner Jason and thousands of brothers and sisters. After serving for 3 years as the primary computer for Mr Gregg she noticed that she was not feeling herself and was starting to feel run down. After many attempts to upgrade and fighting a brave battle she succumbed to her symptoms. She will be missed by all her friends and family.

RIP

I am going out of town this weekend for the big National Youth Workers Convention over in Atlanta. Should be a fun time ...I really enjoy going to visit Atlanta. There are great places to eat and fun things to see in addition to the time that will be spent at the Conference .

Next week of course is Thanksgiving and as always we will be hosting the combined Gregg/Miller/Norwood/Segrest/Marshall family gathering at our house. Always a fun time and its really the only time during the year that my family gets together and is truly RELAXED.
We eat, take walks , sit outside and drink coffee, talk, play silly board games.....Just have a good time ....Now compare that to Christmas---YIKES!
Happy Thankgiving to everyone out there reading this .....

Fall TV so Far......
CHUCK-started out great ...really enjoyed it at first but the show has kinda tapered off....Still watching but......
REAPER-GREAT SHOW .....each week it has gotten better than the previous and the cast has really come along since the beginning . The highlights of the cast are Ray Wise as the Devil and Brett Harrison as Sam the main character. Ray Wise has been in a lot of shows over the years and also has appeared in a ton of movies ...he was also on the West Wing SO THERE!!
DANCING WITH THE STARS-Who knew i would get addicted to this show ...WOW
Thats it for now ....
Peace

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion...


I found this article on a friends blog and thought it would be cool to post here also .....I hope all my liberal and conservative friends enjoy it !!


Charges in Religious Lawsuit Against Army Detailed

By Jason Leopold t r u t h o u t Report
Tuesday 25 September 2007
An Army major who was sued last week for allegedly threatening to retaliate against a soldier who convened a meeting of atheists, and whom Pentagon officials said could not be located, has been found via a MySpace page the Army major updates regularly.
Freddy J. Welborn was identified in a federal lawsuit filed last week by Army Spc. Jeremy Hall, 22, and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, a watchdog organization. Because his name was mistakenly listed in the complaint as Paul Welborne, the Army said it was unable to locate him.
However, Mikey Weinstein, the founder and president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, said researchers working for his group discovered Welborn's MySpace page on Sunday morning. Weinstein said the complaint his organization and Hall filed against Welborn, and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, will be amended and refiled in US District Court in Kansas City, Kansas on Tuesday to reflect Welborn's proper identity.
On Saturday, Lt. Col. James Hutton, a spokesman for multinational forces in Iraq, told an Associated Press reporter "several media reports list a person named Maj. Paul Welborne as having been involved in this situation."
"To date, we have not located any soldier by that name," Hutton told The Associated Press, in response to the story first reported by Truthout about the lawsuit filed against Welborn and the Pentagon.
The issue appeared to be an attempt to cast doubt on the validity of Hall's claims of widespread constitutional violations. However, hours after The Associated Press report was published, Weinstein's researchers and Hall were both able to locate Welborn, albeit under a different first name, at Combat Operations Base Speicher, Iraq, where Hall is serving his second tour of duty.
Hutton's statement to The Associated Press came on the heels of another Truthout report in which Weinstein said Hall was being threatened with bodily harm by other soldiers as a result of the lawsuit he had filed against Welborn and Defense Secretary Gates.
The lawsuit alleges Hall's First Amendment rights were violated beginning last Thanksgiving when, because he does not believe in God, he declined to participate in a Christian prayer ceremony commemorating the holiday.
"Immediately after plaintiff made it known he would decline to join hands and pray, he was confronted, in the presence of other military personnel, by the senior ranking ... staff sergeant who asked plaintiff why he did not want to pray, whereupon plaintiff explained because he is an atheist," says the lawsuit, a copy of which was provided to Truthout. "The staff sergeant asked plaintiff what an atheist is and plaintiff responded it meant that he (plaintiff) did not believe in God. This response caused the staff sergeant to tell plaintiff that he would have to sit elsewhere for the Thanksgiving dinner. Nonetheless, plaintiff sat at the table in silence and finished his meal."
Moreover, the complaint alleges that on August 7, when Hall received permission by an Army chaplain to organize a meeting of other soldiers who shared his atheist beliefs, his supervisor, Army Major Welborn, broke up the gathering and threatened to retaliate against the soldier by charging him with violating the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The complaint also alleges Welborn vowed to block Hall's reenlistment in the Army if the atheist group continued to meet - a violation of Hall's First Amendment rights under the Constitution. Welborn is named as a defendant in the lawsuit.
"During the course of the meeting, defendant Welborn confronted the attendees, disrupted the meeting and interfered with plaintiff Hall's and the other attendees' rights to discuss topics of their interests," the lawsuit alleges.
The complaint charges that Hall, who is based at Fort Riley, Kansas, has been forced to "submit to a religious test as a qualification to his post as a soldier in the United States Army," a violation of Article VI, Clause 3 of the Constitution.
Welborn, 44, who appears on his MySpace page in his Army uniform, wrote on his MySpace page that he is a devout Christian who received a bachelor's degree in "personal evangelism" and a minor in "Biblical world view" from Temple Tennessee University. He wrote that he is pursuing a second bachelor's degree in Christian studies from Calvary Bible College And Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri. He lists his occupation as "Bible Study--Operation Iraqi Freedom" and wrote that his interest is evangelism and preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
"Currently serving w/3rd Inf Div [3rd Infantry Division] Civil Military Operations (Governance) in Baghdad Iraq," Welborn wrote on his MySpace page. He describes himself as a ""Warrior for the Lord Jesus Christ." He wrote that he and his wife Carla "place all our Faith & Trust in our Savior the Lord Jesus - who provides eternal life to anyone that believes that he is the Son of God, that he was born of a virgin, lived as God in the flesh (as man) was crucified, died, and was buried then rose from the grave the third day, then acended [sic] to the right hand of the Father - True repentance (turning away from Sin to God) Being born again, Forgivness [sic] & Justification occure [sic] to the True Believer in Christ when Baptized w/God's Holy Spirit."
Additionally, Welborn endorses Stephen Mansfield's "The Faith of the American Soldier," a book that defends and praises controversial statements made by retired Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin, the former deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence, who characterized the war on terrorism as a clash between Judeo-Christian values and Satan.
Welborn could not be reached for comment. He did not reply to an email sent to him through his MySpace page. A Pentagon spokesman said it is not uncommon for soldiers to maintain their own blogs or web sites and he did not believe Welborn's MySpace page violated military policy.
Weinstein, a former White House attorney under Ronald Reagan, former general counsel to H. Ross Perot, and who spent a decade as an Air Force Judge Advocate General (JAG), has been waging a war against the Department of Defense (DOD) for what he says is a blatant disregard of the Constitution and a pattern of forcing soldiers to embrace evangelical Christianity. Weinstein published a book on his fight: "With God on Our Side: One Man's War Against an Evangelical Coup in America's Military." He is also an Air Force veteran and a graduate of the Air Force Academy. Three generations of his family have attended US military academies.
Since he launched his watchdog organization nearly two years ago, Weinstein said he has been contacted by more than 5,000 active duty and retired soldiers, many of whom served or currently serve in Iraq, who told Weinstein they were pressured by their commanding officers to convert to Christianity.
Last month, the Pentagon's inspector general (IG) excoriated high-ranking military officials for engaging in evangelism while on duty and in uniform. The IG responded to a complaint filed last year by the Military Religious Freedom Foundation alleging DOD officials violated military regulations by appearing in a video promoting an evangelical Christian organization.
The IG agreed and issued a 47-page report that was highly critical of senior Army and Air Force personnel for participating in the video while in uniform and on active duty.
The report recommended Air Force Maj. Gen. Jack Catton, Army Brig. Gen. Bob Caslen, Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks, Maj. Gen. Peter Sutton, and a colonel and lieutenant colonel whose names were redacted in the inspector general's report, "improperly endorsed and participated with a non-Federal entity while in uniform" and the men should be disciplined for misconduct. Caslen was formerly the deputy director for political-military affairs for the war on terrorism, directorate for strategic plans and policy, joint staff. He now oversees the 4,200 cadets at the US Military Academy at West Point. Caslen told DOD investigators he agreed to appear in the video upon learning other senior Pentagon officials had been interviewed for the promotional video.
The inspector general’s report recommended the "Secretary of the Air Force and the Chief of Staff of the Army take appropriate corrective action with respect to the military officers concerned."
The Army generals who appeared in the video appeared to be speaking on behalf of the military, but they did not obtain prior permission to appear in the video. They defended their actions, according to the IG's report, saying the "Christian Embassy had become a 'quasi-Federal entity,' since the DOD had endorsed the organization to General Officers for over 25 years."


~Declaration of Independance***

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by THEIR Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world."

~Bill of Rights ***Amendment I

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Easy Come ....Easy Go ....

It's post time ....so here goes .
Played cards Friday night with John,Luke,Jason,Nick and Myself. I cant speak for everyone else but I had a blast . It was your typical night out with the guys ....cards, cigars, Jack Daniels good stuff.
Sadly I must say I did not win BUT I played really good and stayed in it till the very last hand .....Mr Mielke was the winner and CONGRATS to him !!!

THats it for now .....

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Tick Tock Tick Tock ...............

I'll bet living in a nudist colony takes all the fun out of Halloween. ~Author Unknown

I am not sleeping ....as you can maybe tell by my post from almost 2am on Friday morning. To make matters worse I am at the church because my home laptop is not acting like himself lately. Maybe there is something in computerland that is causing all these problems but there seems to be a rash of computer breakdowns lately. Lane,John and now me ......Maybe its something in the water ...I dont know .
SO whats new around here ......
We are fast approaching the end of October and with that comes Halloween . Let me suggest something to all you ghoul lovers out there ....GO get you a pumpkin and carve it .....Dont settle for one of these crappy light up pumpkins . Those suck !!
Put down some paper and carve.....like you did when you were a child . Get your hands dirty with pumpking guts. Invite your friends over and make a party of it ....Just have fun doing it ....
On Halloween stick you a real wax candle in that sucker and enjoy!!!!!!
After all that is over with and all those kids are back home gettin sick ...Tune your TV over to Sci-Fi and watch GHOST HUNTERS.
They will be investigatiing the WAVERLY HILLS SANATORIUM in Kentucky. They will be live and I am sure it will be great .
Friday night I head to Selma alabama for an actual ghost hunt at Old Cahaba . Old Cahaba was the first state capitol of Alabama and has been abandoned for over 150 years.
I am so friggin excited . I will be going with Ray and Eagon and the rest of the Ghostbusters.

Monday, October 15, 2007

Ahhhhhh October!!!

All things on earth point home in old October: sailors to sea, travellers to walls and fences, hunters to field and hollow and the long voice of the hounds, the lover to the love he has forsaken. - Thomas Wolfe

Good morning ...or evening . I guess it all depends on when you are reading this blog....its been a while since I sat down and composed ,what I am confident will be an engaging array of thoughts and ideas. So ENJOY!!
I am currently sitting here typing this out while being kept on hold on the telephone. I am learning all I need to know about Callaway Gardens over in Pine Mountain, Georgia . I need to order about 20 tickets for the youth group so we can go in December for the FANTASY IN LIGHTS show. As of right now I have been on hold for almost 20 minutes ....but hey its FANTASY IN LIGHTS!!! They do thank me for my patience and for calling Callaway Gardens .
Did you know they are situated on 13,000 acres of beautiful appalachian foothills. They have many vacation packages to offer.
Anyway .....if you have never been to FANTASY IN LIGHTS.....go see it ....Its pretty dang cool .

What else ??
Auburn seems to have righted a somewhat listing ship and they now seem more focused and determined in their playing efforts. I would have to say that their biggest test will be this coming Saturday as they play LSU at Death Valley. If we can get out of there with a win then ....GREAT!!! I pick Auburn ...but then again I always pick Auburn ...
Auburn-31 LSU-20

October has been a great month for me .....Well in terms of things past at least. My life changed for the better last year and so far things have been SOOOO incredibly great its hard at times to put into words. Those of you out there that have been with me on this great ride.....THANKS!!!
Nick,Laura, Jason,Drew,Mike....... and everyone else!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL THE LOVE AND SUPPORT YOU HAVE GIVEN ME .....You made a difference in my year and I love you all so very much .

I really dont have any thing else except to say .....It's beginning to look alot like Christmas!!
Peace and Love to you all
Jason

Sunday, September 30, 2007

In Living Color............

We are one week into the fall television season and here is my pick for the best new show out there .....
THE WAR on PBS. Yeah ......go figure huh???? Ken Burns is a genius when it comes to telling stories like these. If you have ever watched any of his other works you really should be watching this show. If you are a history buff.....if you have a grandad or grandmother who served in the war.....you should be watching this show.
I have managed to watch most of it over the past week and all I can say is WOW.
I remember watching THE CIVIL WAR over 10 years ago and it was great but this show has been different. First of all .....there is the old film that was shot before ,during and after the war. Vivid scenes of battles and the wonderful voiceovers of those who were really there. Thats one of the biggest differences ....we get to hear the stories in the voices of the men and women who were there. The other big difference is the incredible use of color film. I had no idea that it was used as much as it was to film battles and beach landings in Europe and The Pacific. It was stunning to see these faces in living color. STUNNING.
Listen to these guys talk about leaving there buddies on the field of battle.....I would be remiss if I did not tell you that I am choked up thinking about it right now.
I spent a big portion of my childhood traveling each summer with my grandparents to veterans reunions. I would sit in the rooms with these guys and just soak it all in....I believe that is what paved the way for me to be such a huge history buff.
I can hear my grandad right now in my head talking about his time over there.

The other shows on television right now are good ...dont get me wrong BUT do yourself a favor find this show on PBS or online and watch what you can ....Listen to these proud veterans talk about the work they did as if it was as simple as taking out the garbage or planting a garden. They are so modest about how they helped free the world from evil.
We are losing these folks at a rate of 1000 a day. It seems like so little but this is a wonderful tribute to their contribution to the world.
Go Watch.
Then find a local WWII veterens association and talk to these folks.......
Shake their hands and tell them THANKS!!

Monday, September 24, 2007

Its a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World!!!!!!!!!!!

If you have been watching the news over the past few days you would know that many of the worlds leaders are meeting in New York City at the United Nations. They do this every year....they get together and talk about whats wrong in the world or perhaps maybe whats right. Here is the unique thing about the United Nations......if your country is a member then you get to send a representative to speak to the General Assembly. What does that mean?..... It means that nations the United States doesn't like can have an open forum before the world and the worlds media. The President of Iran is in New York this week. He speaks to the General Assembly tomorrow morning .
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was also invited to speak to a student forum at Columbia University. He spoke Monday and the protests have been pretty intense.
This is a man who has been called a terrorist. He hates the State of Israel and has called for its destruction. Has openly talked about a world where the USA is gone from the map. He says homosexuality does not exist in Iran. He supports the stoning of women. He has denied that the Holocaust happened while Hitler was in power.
This man is a lunatic. Plain and Simple I would say ......Folks are pretty pissed about his speaking at Columbia. For me its a double edged sword......Let him speak and folks will realize how incredibly crazy he is .....The audience back home in Iran has already bought what he is selling. What group is he speaking to besides that one back home ?
The other side is this .....Ignore him. Dont turn one camera in his direction....... Dont invite him anywhere......IGNORE HIM!

I believe in free speech and the right to assembly. I support Columbia Universitys right to invite ANYONE to speak.......But what does it accomplish in the end?
A madman is given a forum on our dime!!! Columbia University receives almost 22 million from the State of New York. I can only guess that they also receive money from the federal government......Thats money that comes from taxpayers... US...WE....YOU...ME....YOUR BROTHER....YOUR MOTHERS .....FATHERS......EVERYONE
I love the United States of America. I am maybe one of the most liberal men you will ever have the great pleasure of meeting. I believe in a government that should be bigger so that it can help its citizens. I hate this War we are fighting in Iraq but realize we are there for the long haul. I think Iran supports the insurgents in Iraq. But being liberal does not mean I wear blinders....and this guy is nuts and should maybe be held a little more accountable.

I hope President Ahmadinejad has a wonderful time in New York City....maybe he will get him one of those cool I LOVE NYC tshirts......maybe he will have a hot dog from a vendor outside the UN building.......maybe he will picnic in Central Park.....maybe he will tour all the great museums and take in a play or musical on Broadway......perhaps take a handsome cab ride through Little Italy or Chinatown .....maybe stroll Greenwich Village and see men walking around with their boyfriends and see the intense display of DIVERSITY that is the USA.....
Maybe he will decide that the rest of the world aint such a bad place and America is not the seat of evil and Satan......but I doubt it.....So until he rejects hate based on his religious beliefs and stops he diarreha of the mouth ....I think the world should just tell him to shut the hell up !!

Saturday, September 15, 2007

It's just a break ........

I watched Auburn get beat today. I watched Auburn play bad. I am upset.
Whats wrong with Auburn?
I dont know and I am guessing that many folks dont know either. This next week is gonna be full of folks calling for heads to roll on the plains........I dont think we need a new head coach ....I dont think we need a new offensive line coach.....the special teams coach is fine .....the defense is doing what it can considering .........Tommy Tuberville has done wonders for this program and I think he is the man for the job. Things just need tweaking a bit ...here and there maybe . We might not win alot this year ......and guess what ?? Thats ok with me .
My drive to watch Auburn has dimished the last two years....ever since Daddy died .....but hear me now ....I AM NOT LEAVING THE TIGERS......I say WAR DAMN EAGLE!!!!!!!!

They have had a few times in the last three weeks where they showed a little spark......Kodi Burns is gonna be good ! Short of that ...I dont know whats gonna happen the rest of the season.
I want to say we are gonna win the rest of the games this season but its gonna be a LONNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGG season.

So maybe we should just take a little break ....enjoy the fresh fall weather that is just around the corner.....let your windows up and enjoy the cool nights .......Start getting excited about the upcoming holiday season that is just around the corner........sit on your porch or patio and have your favorite adult beverage with someone special in your life......take a drive out into the country with your car windows all the way down and your favorite music LOUDLY playing on the radio.....go on a weekend trip to the beach or the mountains.....Auburn football will be here when we get back !!!!
WAR EAGLE !!!!!!!!!!!

Sunday, September 09, 2007

Blog Post # 2 September 10,2007

Not sure when this first hit the email rounds but its worth reading again .....
Ben Stein's Last Column...
For many years Ben Stein has written a biweekly column for the online website called "Monday Night At Morton's." (Morton's is a famous chain of Steakhouses known to be frequented by movie stars and famous people from around the globe.) Now, Ben is terminating the column to move on to other things in his life. Reading his final column is worth a few minutes of your time.
Ben Stein's Last Column... (read all of this or you will have missed the best).

How Can Someone Who Lives in Insane Luxury Be a Star in Today's World?
As I begin to write this, I "slug" it, as we writers say, which means I put a heading on top of the document to identify it. This heading is "eonlineFINAL," and it gives me a shiver to write it. I have been doing this column for so long that I cannot even recall when I started. I loved writing this column so much for so long I came to believe it would never end.
It worked well for a long time, but gradually, my changing as a person and the world's change have overtaken it. On a small scale, Morton's, while better than ever, no longer attracts as many stars as it used to. It still brings in the rich people in droves and definitely some stars. I saw Samuel L. Jackson there a few days ago, and we had a nice visit, and right before that, I saw and had a splendid talk with Warren Beatty in an elevator, in which we agreed that Splendor in the Grass was a super movie. But Morton's is not the star galaxy it once was, though it probably will be again.
Beyond that, a bigger change has happened. I no longer think Hollywood stars are terribly important. They are uniformly pleasant, friendly people, and they treat me better than I deserve to be treated. But a man or woman who makes a huge wage for memorizing lines and reciting them in front of a camera is no longer my idea of a shining star we should all look up to.
How can a man or woman who makes an eight-figure wage and lives in insane luxury really be a star in today's world, if by a "star" we mean someone bright and powerful and attractive as a role model? Real stars are not riding around in the backs of limousines or in Porsches or getting trained in yoga or Pilates and eating only raw fruit while they have Vietnamese girls do their nails.
They can be interesting, nice people, but they are not heroes to me any longer. A real star is the soldier of the 4th Infantry Division who poked his head into a hole on a farm near Tikrit, Iraq. He could have been met by a bomb or a hail of AK-47 bullets. Instead, he faced an abject Saddam Hussein and the gratitude of all of the decent people of the world.
A real star is the U.S. soldier who was sent to disarm a bomb next to a road north of Baghdad. He approached it, and the bomb went off and killed him.
A real star, the kind who haunts my memory night and day, is the U.S. soldier in Baghdad who saw a little girl playing with a piece of unexploded ordnance on a street near where he was guarding a station. He pushed her aside and threw himself on it just as it exploded. He left a family desolate in California and a little girl alive in Baghdad.
The stars who deserve media attention are not the ones who have lavish weddings on TV but the ones who patrol the streets of Mosul even after two of their buddies were murdered and their bodies battered and stripped for the sin of trying to protect Iraqis from terrorists.
We put couples with incomes of $100 million a year on the covers of our magazines. The noncoms and officers who barely scrape by on military pay but stand on guard in Afghanistan and Iraq and on ships and in submarines and near the Arctic Circle are anonymous as they live and die.
I am no longer comfortable being a part of the system that has such poor values, and I do not want to perpetuate those values by pretending that who is eating at Morton's is a big subject.
There are plenty of other stars in the American firmament...the policemen and women who go off on patrol in South Central and have no idea if they will return alive; the orderlies and paramedics who bring in people who have been in terrible accidents and prepare them for surgery; the teachers and nurses who throw their whole spirits into caring for autistic children; the kind men and women who work in hospices and in cancer wards.
Think of each and every fireman who was running up the stairs at the World Trade Center as the towers began to collapse. Now you have my idea of a real hero.
We are not responsible for the operation of the universe, and what happens to us is not terribly important. God is real, not a fiction; and when we turn over our lives to Him, He takes far better care of us than we could ever do for ourselves. In a word, we make ourselves sane when we fire ourselves as the directors of the movie of our lives and turn the power over to Him.
I came to realize that life lived to help others is the only one that matters. This is my highest and best use as a human. I can put it another way. Years ago, I realized I could never be as great an actor as Olivier or as good a comic as Steve Martin...or Martin Mull or Fred Willard--or as good an economist as Samuelson or Friedman or as good a writer as Fitzgerald. Or even remotely close to any of them.
But I could be a devoted father to my son, husband to my wife and, above all, a good son to the parents who had done so much for me. This came to be my main task in life. I did it moderately well with my son, pretty well with my wife and well indeed with my parents (with my sister's help). I cared for and paid attention to them in their declining years. I stayed with my father as he got sick, went into extremis and then into a coma and then entered immortality with my sister and me reading him the Psalms.
This was the only point at which my life touched the lives of the soldiers in Iraq or the firefighters in New York. I came to realize that life lived to help others is the only one that matters and that it is my duty, in return for the lavish life God has devolved upon me, to help others He has placed in my path. This is my highest and best use as a human.
Faith is not believing that God can. It is knowing that God will.
By Ben Stein

A PAIN IN THE FREAKIN NECK ........

Literally ......
My neck started hurting about a week ago and got worse as the week went on .....and when I say hurt I mean PAIN!!!!! Horse standing on your groin pain. Hot poker in the eye pain. A small tear in a ligament in my neck was the diagnosis.....how in the crap that happened I dont know but I finally got some meds and am trying to get through this part but WOW ....I have not hurt like this in a while ......

Lets talk about the Auburn game for just a second .....I was upset to say the least. I did not attend Auburn University but its my school and my team and I want them to win every time they take the field. Having said that .....Its ok that they lost! The sun did come up Sunday morning it was just a little less orange than the day before. Am I moving away from LOVING Auburn ....Nah. I will always love Auburn but our relationship has moved to another level over the last two seasons. My Dad so enjoyed watching Auburn Football games and with him gone it really is different for me ......I still get excited and yell at the TV. Not as loud as John McF. though ....WOW can he yell LOUD at a TV HAHA ! I can tell you this ... My Dad would have loved watching a game with John McF.......Hate they never met
Things are different now thats all I am saying......I have friends who are deciding whether or not to move to another country.....I have friends at church who have children that are going back to Iraq in two weeks for their THIRD tour of duty ....I have friends who have recently been diagnosed with cancer .....I have self doubts about my job.....and my neck hurts. Auburn football just moved to another spot in my List of whats important. My faith....my family ....my friends.....my job....If i had a dog he would be listed here also ....little Artanis!!
Dont get me wrong ...I will watch them next Saturday ....I will still wear my orange game day gear....but from now on its a whole new ballgame ! Some of you will say "Fair weather fan you have become" and by some of you I mean Yoda.......but thats not the case ....This has been coming for a long time .....18 months or more. Anyway ....WAR EAGLE !

I am posting twice tonight because what I want to post is too long for one post and does not fit well with this one ....Peace

Monday, September 03, 2007

Come Fly With Me...............

Alright Alright ....
I have heard from too many people this weekend about my posting this blog....I even heard from people that I did not even know were reading this blog !!!! Perhaps I have built this one up a little too much BUT having said all that ......Here Goes....
I went flying on Labor Day ......I dont mean I boarded a commercial airline and flew across the country.....I dont mean I smoked pot and was flying man .....I mean I got into a Cessna 172 and flew from Wetumpka Alabama to Auburn Alabama. This plane is small. It only seats 4 people and those four are gonna be a tad bit cramped....I mean I am a big guy and I was cramped in the front seat. I meant to get pics of the plane...Oops !
My buddy Jason flew down from Bham and picked me up . We then flew over to Tuskegee and did a "touch and go". That means we landed at Moton Field,Home to the Tuskegee Black Airman, and as soon as the wheels touched down, Jason hit the gas and we were back in the air . IT WAS AMAZING!!!!! It was nice to see my hometown from the air . From there we flew over to Auburn and flew a couple of circles around the campus and Jordan Hare Stadium. Not to sound like too much of an Auburn Nerd but.....WOW!!!! It was so cool to see that stadium from the air like that .....we were about 2300 feet up when the above picture was made. From Auburn it was back to Wetumpka .
I had an absolute blast flying on Monday ....I really am having a hard time putting into words how much fun it was. I was not the least bit nervous about flying in a smaller plane and to be honest it was better for me than a large jet. I had complete confidence in Jason as a pilot. Let me thank him again here for taking me up....THANKS !! I look forward to doing it again ...
SO thats what I did Monday .....maybe not a big deal to any of you folks out there reading but it was a big thing for me .....Not to sound too cheesy or anything but it was almost spritual....To be up above everything and have a chance to just reflect ....NICE!

Auburn vs Kansas State
One word -BLEH!!

Michigan vs Appalachian State
Heck yeah !!!! I have always had a small little love affair with App State. My Grandad was born and raised in Boone NC ( home of Appalachian State U)
Makes me proud that App State beat Michigan.......GO MOUNTAINEERS!!!!!!!!!!!

If you have not had the chance to watch Friday Night Lights.....Go rent the 1st season DVD before the second season starts in a few weeks.....You will not be sorry!

Thats it for tonight .....I could not get the picture to post for some reason ....GRRRRRRRR

Thursday, August 30, 2007

The boy who cried wolf...........

Ok Ok I know I kinda, sorta promised a big blog for number 75 and that all fell into the crapper.....but if things hold up and all goes as planned I will have a dang cool blog come Monday night.....and might even have some pictures to go along with it .
Nick -----you have an idea about what I am doing so SHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
Stay Tuned

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

WHAT ????????????

This was posted a few weeks ago on another site and I wanted to post it here .....
This president never fails to amaze me .....

Support our troops ??????? Dont our men and women in uniform deserve the very best for giving part of their lives and often part of their bodies in the defense of our nation ???

Administration Fights Dem Plan to Boost School Aid for Vets
By Alexandra Bahou and Anna Schecter ABC News
Thursday 09 August 2007
The Bush administration opposes a Democratic effort to restore full educational benefits for returning veterans, according to an official's comments last week.
Senate Democrats, led by Virginia's Jim Webb, want the government to pay every penny of veterans' educational costs, from tuition at a public university to books, housing and a monthly stipend.
Such a benefit was a major feature of the historic 1944 G.I. Bill, which put more than eight million U.S. soldiers through college and is now credited by historians as fueling the expansion of America's middle class in the post-war era.
But in recent years the benefit has dwindled; under the current law, passed in 1985, veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan can expect Uncle Sam to cover only 75 percent of their tuition costs. That's not enough, say Democrats and veterans' advocates.
More than 450,000 used the benefit last year, at a cost to taxpayers of $2 billion, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), which administers the program. The Democratic proposal would cost an additional $5.4 billion a year, the VA estimates - and that's too much, it says.
Keith Wilson, the VA official who oversees the education benefits program, told senators last Friday the proposal would make "administration of this program cumbersome," and its costs would "tax existing VA resources."
But Democrats appeared unfazed. The current GI Bill is "woefully inadequate, given the service our military men and women have provided since [the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks]," said Webb, a combat veteran and former Navy secretary, who introduced the legislation that would expand the program. Webb's bill has 19 Democratic co-sponsors, including Sens. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and John Kerry, D-Mass., a fellow veteran.
Patrick Campbell of the Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) endorsed Webb's plan. Better educational benefits are essential for attracting talented, ambitious recruits, he asserted.
"If the Department of Defense said, 'If you serve your country, we'll pay for school no questions asked,' ... [that] would increase the quality of our recruits," said Campbell, "instead of what we're doing now, which is lowering our standards."

Sunday, August 26, 2007

You dont look a day over 60...........

So a few days ago I might have mentioned that I had something important to talk about here .....but maybe not so much. I wanted my 75 blog post to be big and grand. Important in some way but as it goes in the blogging world I cannot seem to get any profound thoughts going lately. Perhaps with me being back in school that is taking all my thoughts and energy right now but never the less I am posting something tonight.
As I just mentioned school is taking a good bit of my time right now. I can already tell it's going to be a real balancing act to make everything work. I am not the first person to be going back to school after ten years. I am not the first to be doing it while working full time. I am not married so I dont have to deal with that added stress .The Lit class is going to be a blast and the discussion has already been fun. I am in school on Tuesday and Thursday nights. I have Church stuff on Wednesday night and that includes church suppers, small group with the kids and then choir. Mondays this fall will include church meetings and Montgomery Quarterback Club meetings. That leaves Friday and Saturday nights to have a social life......
It will work out but from now until I graduate its gonna be a bumpy ride at times....Fasten your seat belt

Mr.Nick" I post about things that Jason is going to post about" Mielke posted on his blog a small entry about going to Atlanta last Friday.
I really enjoy Atlanta and dont know why we dont all go up more often . Its an easy 2 hour drive and once you are there if you dont feel like driving too much you can easily use the MARTA. Atlanta is not the most pedestrian friendly town but its a fun town and if you have a small sense of where things are ie;Downtown,Midtown,Buckhead,285,400,Turner Field, Georgia Dome and World Congress Center, Sweet Auburn District....then you can easily find your way around.
We did get "turned around" trying to find the IKEA STORE but we finally found it and MAN OH MAN what a store it is .....First of all it is GIGANTIC . Rows and Rows of easily assembled modular furniture. If your tastes tend to run towards the heavy oaks and cherry woods of the later 19th century UMMMMMMMMM dont go to IKEA !! I got a few things while there and even got a new bedside table ....Its a fun store and I cannot wait to be heading back there something soon.

I am glad to say that the HOT HOT HOT weather we had for almost the entire month of August finally seems to have broken...... Montogmery had 14 days of 100+ degree temperatures!!! That broke all the records. Thats just sick...Sick I say. Although the calendar says summer does not end until September 23 the UNOFFICIAL end of summer is this coming weekend. So get out them white pants and wear them with pride for the last time .....all I can say to summer is GOOD RIDDENCE

With the end of summer also comes the end of my summer tv viewing schedule ....below are the hits and misses for me
DOCTOR WHO
Luke and Jackie LOVE this show but I have not been able to get into like I thought I would. But I also have not given it my 100% attention. Maybe I need to get the DVDs
ACE OF CAKES
Season two has been pretty dang good . You can tell the folks at Charm City Cakes are enjoying the fame that has come with being on TV but they are also staying pretty grounded. The tattoo episode was great
BUILD IT BIGGER
The host of this show goes around the world to check out how things are not only built but how they are built bigger and bigger and bigger. The best part is the host Danny Forrester, no stranger to building things since his background is construction, he always seems to get laugh from the craziest of things.
RESCUE ME
Maybe the best show on cable. Dennis Leary is amazing
CITIES OF THE UNDERWORLD
Seeing some of the creepy but FASCINATING things that lurk under world cities like , Boston, New York City, London, Paris and Berlin, is just amazing.
This, That and the Other.......
I read a couple of good books this summer.....If God Is Love,God Is not Great,Presidential Courage,Grace Eventually and The Cell. I would recommend them all to anyone....
I also read again ....A Walk In The Woods, Band Of Brothers and Wicked

Ten years ago my oldest Nephew Hunter was born .....Its been an amazing journey watching him mature into the incredible young man he has become. Happy Birthday Hunter ...I LOVE YOU!Finally got me a new iPod. 30g ....currently has about 2500 songs and couple of tv shows on it ....
And finally I think with the turning of the page onto blog posting number 76 it is fitting that I change up the layout a bit.....let me know what you all think...
Its been fun writing and posting and getting to share with everyone....I look forward to maybe 75 more.
Peace and Love

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Stay together ....suprises around every corner!!

I got alot I want to talk about ...but right now my emotions are all over the place ....Not in a bad way though so nobody freak out .
I think I am going to let things settle a bit then I will post tomorrow and I will try and make it a good one since it will be my 75th post on here.
I think 75 deserves something big ...right

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

A NEW BLOG.......

Ok ....So Mr.Mielke stole my blog idea!!!! Then he had the nerve to tell me to post something on here......I really think at some point I mentioned my blog idea and he STOLE IT ....Tsk Tsk ..

On with the show though ......
This week I officially became a college student again after an absence of 10 years. Tuesday night was my first night back and it is something I will for sure have to get used to again . Main thing is this though....I enjoyed it. It felt right to be there and I am excited to be back . It might take me a while to finish my degree but I am going to do it ....once class at a time.

I am still supporting John Edwards for President but I really believe that Sen. Hillary Clinton is the person to beat in the Democratic party . I also think that we will have our first female President come January 20,2009. A cool thought ....something just for fun ...if she wins then we will have had the following occur BUSH41 -CLINTON42-BUSH43 - CLINTON44?....just a thought
I like John Edwards because he seems to be saying and doing things to try and force other candidates to be honest. It's a sorry thing that he has to do that .....but we have all heard about folks running for office who really have no chance to win but they do it just to keep others honest. Listen to what he is saying ....see what ya think.

I will not even begin to talk about the heat.

I have the best friends in the whole world. Hands down the best.....I would put them up against anyone ...anywhere ...anytime. I love each and everyone of them. You all know who you are ....From Oceanside California to Montgomery Alabama to Birmingham Alabama.

I want to go to the Ikea store in Atlanta SOON ...anyone wanna go ??

Thats it for now ......
Peace

Thursday, August 02, 2007

Why Asheville ??

I sat down to write a blog about my recent trip to North Carolina. I cannot believe it but I have had a hard time getting something down here .....Most anyone who reads my blog on a regular basis knows that I love Western North Carolina more than just about anything....I will tell you this anywhere in the southeast that has daytime temperatures of 57 degrees is somewhere that I want to visit and maybe eventually live. That temperature was up on Mount Mitchell and it was fantastic.....

So I decided to just post some pictures about from my trip and to let them tell the story about Asheville and the Asheville area ....

Most all of the pictures are from my most recent trip but some are from other times I have been this past year. Main thing is this though.....I love Asheville and Western North Carolina .
Enjoy.

Folk Art Center on Blue Ridge ParkwayBiltmore Entrance at Biltmore Village

Blue Ridge Parkway Entrance Asheville NC

The Biltmore Estate
Downtown Asheville

Goodtimes at Barley's with my good friend Jason
Barleys Taproom and Pizza

Sunday, July 22, 2007

Its about me ...and You...and them ....

Some days we are forced to look at ourselves......I like myself today alot more than I did last year this time ....dont ask why its pretty dang complicated ....
But that was last year and this is this year ......
Being selfish has never been my thing...or at least I dont think it is ....I dont even think being selfish is really in my nature ....but there are times in our lives when we want it all to be about us ...Screw you its MY time ...If you are reading this right now you know that deep down inside you also feel this way ....and I think that it is ok to be that way . But it cannot EVER be the only way ......
I have been hurt and I have for sure hurt someone or some people in my lifetime ...folks that I dont even know ...The lady at WalMart who pissed me off and I was rude ....WHY was I rude??

I am a man slowly coming to terms with it all ....its not easy but the ride has been fantastic!
Without a heart and soul and without compassion for others or any patience we are a doomed people . We need to try and understand each others differences and then sit back and try and decide what we can all offer each other ....our friends our family people we work with ....what can we offer them ...long term??
Take a chance at something different....help out somewhere ....run for office .....volunteer at a local shelter or your church .....dont be affraid to do something ....Not getting hurt cannot be an excuse cannot be your reason ...any more !
I am a person of substance,character, laughter,tears, and variety. I vote for Democrats, I am loyal to my friends and family .
I am me . Take me or leave me ......
I close with this from the West Wing Season 3......

MRS. LANDINGHAM--You know, if you don't want to run again, I respect that. But if you don't run 'cause you think it's gonna be too hard or you think you're gonna lose... well, God, Jed, I don't even want to know you.

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Funny ....how things change!

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Friday, July 06, 2007

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Happy Birthday America!!!!


Couple of things ....

Andrew and Aprils wedding was a nice affair last weekend and I was glad to see so many of the youth come out and support them on the big day ......I was also glad to see my friend Jason from bham come down for the event. The night ended with a few of us at Sinclairs (is there anywhere else to eat in MGM)......a good long day!


The Second batch of Gregg/Mielke beer is a success.......this is actually the third batch but trust me you did not want to be tasting that crude we concocted the second time around .....

I cannot tell you how wonderful this batch tastes.....Perhaps you will be one of the lucky few to share in this batch.....


It is officially July 4th 2007. Hard to believe that 231 years ago a small group of men met in Philadelphia and said hey ...we want to do things a different way. Whats even more fascinating is that they did it ....they pulled together 13 Colonies that did not get along with each other all the well....they put aside big differences--READ -SLAVERY-- and they beat the most powerful nation on the earth at that time!!! Pretty good stuff, huh?.....

Despite all our differences, and our problems .....we live in the greatest nation in the World! End of sentence. Could you imagine living in France, Germany , Iraq, India or China???? Of course not ......why do people strive so hard every day to get into this country?? Its because they see it as their future...their families future....Its been that way for decades and decades

Emma Lazerus wrote about it saying ....

"Give me your tired, your poor , your huddled masses....Yearning to breath free!"

People who come across our borders each day just want a taste of true freedom and they are willing to die on boats getting here....they are willing to be shot or hunted down on borders. I say God Bless America for being that beacon still today .....

I close with a quote that I posted last year and something new this year

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY !!!!!


I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shows, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more....
John Adams
You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism.
~Erma Bombeck

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

THE AMERICAN WAY


In just a few short days it will be July and of course with it comes more heat....more humidity....and our 231st birthday as a nation.
I wanted to share something I got out of July's issue of Men's Health magazine.....Enjoy and Happy 4th!!


THE AMERICAN WAY

How men view history, hot dogs, Lady Liberty, and fireworks!


Percentage of men who are proud to be an American

93

Percentage of men who admit to having felt ashamed or embarrassed by their country at least once.

39

Number of men who would like to live in another country

1 in 4

Top Choice:

Canada

Runners-up: Australia, England, Italy

How the average guy ranks America's proudest moments:

1. Defeating the British in the Revolution 2. Conquering Hitler 3. Landing on the Moon.

Our most shamefull chapeter: Repression of Native Americans

Number of men who shoot off their own fireworks

1 in 2

Number who have been injured in the process

1 in 5

Number who attend a fireworks show on the 4th

4 in 5

America's most explosive Fourth of July shows

New York City-30,000 shells

Boston-10,000 shells

Albuquerque-6,500 shells

Percentage of men who cant sing the whole nation anthem at a baseball game because they dont know all the words

48

Food and drink most guys say is most American

Hamburger and Coke

Runner up

Hot dog and Budweiser

Percentage who say the French built Statue of Liberty is our most imspiring monument

42

Percentage who dont know what the American Motto "E pluribus unum" means

25

Its Translation

Out of Many, One

Type of historical american figure most guys would like to be

American Cowboy

Favorite historical political figure

Ronald Reagan

Number of states the average guy has visited

20

Order in which the average guy ranks the big three

1. God 2. Family 3. Country
ps the flag pic was made two years ago in Washington, D.C. at our National Fourth of July Parade. We helped carry the flag during the parade!!

Friday, June 15, 2007

Maybe the dolphin owed someone some money ??

I am gonna try and make this short......

I am thrilled to annouce that I received a letter today from Troy University Montgomery Campus stating that they have accepted me into their undergraduate program for this fall semester.
I cannot begin to tell you how thrilled and excited I am to be going back to school . This has been 10 long LONG LONG years in the making and I am stoked to be going back.....FINALLY!
It may take me 5 years to finish but by goodness I am going to do it!!!!

In other news ....
We leave on Saturday for a mission trip for 8 days......While I am excited to be going I am not excited to be driving 580 miles in one day. I am looking forward to doing good work and great things while on this trip ....Keep us in your prayers!

They are shooting Dolphins in California.
Maybe its just another indication that California is a strange place but it seems they are shooting dolphins out there now. I read online that 4 dolphins washed up on shore between Carlsbad and Oceanside. Was this a mob hit? Kinda like Luka Bratsi sleeps with the fishes?? Did these dolphins owe money to some pool shark?? Get it ? POOL SHARK !!!HEHEHEHEHE
Anyway strange stuff going on out there on the West coast .....I called my friends Cyndi and Rick and told them to get back to Alabama SOON. They have lived in Oceanside for 7 years now .....Hmmmmm maybe they shot the dolphins.????
Poor Flipper!
Peace

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

I agree with Luke...........





Nick sent us this thing to fill out and then forward to a couple of folks but I tend to go along with Mr. L on this one.....I dont forward a whole lot to folks. So taking a lead from him I am posting on here instead....and when I say I am taking a lead from him I mean I stole his idea!!



A) Four jobs I have had in my life:
1.Worked at Gregg's Cleaners
2.Worked at Freeman Pharmacy
3.Worked at Worth Cleaners
4.Worked at Dalraida UMC


B) Four movies I would watch over and over:
1.The Godfather
2. The Godfather II
3. Silence of the Lambs
4. Saving Private Ryan


C) Four places I have lived:
1. Tuskegee,Ala
2. Notasulga, AL.
3. Montgomery, AL.

D) Four TV Shows that I watch
1. LOST
2. Ghost Hunters
3. Charmed
4. Ace of Cakes

E) Four places I have been on vacation:
1. San Diego, CA
2. Stowe,VT
3. New York City,NY
4. Asheville, NC

F) People who e-mail me (regularly)
1. David
2. Nick
3. Faye
4. Jason

G) Four of my favorite foods:
1. Roast Turkey and Homemade Dressing
2. Good Veal
3. Coconut Cream Pie
4. My Dad's Hamburger Steak


H) Four places I would rather be right now:
1. Asheville, NC
2. Highlands of Scotland
3. Italy
4. Birmingham,AL

I) Four friends I think will respond:
1. Jane
2. Faye
3. Cyndi
4. Bill

J) Four Things you would like to accomplish in the next f our years:
1. Finishing School
2. New career/Job
3. Perhaps living in Asheville.
4. Having just celebrated my 37!!!! Birthday!!

Monday, May 28, 2007

33 Candles .......and a few matches !!

Summer is here .....

We all know that the first day of summer does not come until next month but here in the United States we start summer on Memorial Day!!!
Memorial Day weekend was a blast ! Sunday night was spent at the Mielkes house with most of the other "Losties" .....and we also had a few more folks added into the mix for our cookout and I think I can speak for everyone when I say it was a Blast!!
I have never been a fan of charades but let me tell you .....I am a fan now ! Its amazing to watch grown people have so much fun and laugh at each other and themselves!
The main thing was the fellowship ......All of my friends were there and thats what made it a great night is that these are wonderful,great folks and I am blessed to call them friends!
My night ended with a birthday cake baked by Mr and Mrs Mielke! It was in the shape of Mickey Mouse and I dare say that Chef Duff at Charm City Cakes on Food Network has nothing on them!!!!!!!!! Its a bit of an inside joke but the last two years I had spent my Birthday at either Disneyland or Walt Disney World.....so the Mickey cake was to make up for not getting to go to Paris Disneyland!!!!!!
I raise my glass to Summer!!! Crap I must have really had a great time if I am toasting SUMMER!!!!

On another note ....The YEAST IS WORKING !!!!!!!!!!

I made a HUGE step this past Friday afternoon by turning in my paperwork to Troy University. I paid my money to the University to get the ball rolling and spoke with an advisor about my options . When I was in school before I was working towards a degree in History but am not sure what direction I will be going in .....I am hoping to be back in school by the fall semester. Keep me in your prayers.

If you have not checked um out yet ...Tune into the following this summer if you get a chance....
Little People,Big World on TLC....The Real Deal on TLC......Ace of Cakes on The Food Network. All excellant shows

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Pop some corn and lower the lights...........

First ...I dont apologize anymore for being late in updating my blog ....But Nick said he would be more than happy to post on here for me if I was too busy .....I really think winning that Blog away has gone to his head !!!

I really dont have anything on my mind right now ....so I am gonna talk about some recent movies and television shows ...

MOVIES.....
Spider-Man 3- What can I say good about this movie? It ended ! Will Hollywood ever learn to stop when they are ahead? I guess the movie had its moments but they were few and far between and it was too long also .
28 Weeks Later-A sequal to a horror film that was actually pretty dang good. I went to see this one alone. First Mistake! I dont do horror movies very well!! I have walked out of more than I have actually sat through in the theater....I tend to be a baby about horror movies in the theater. You see, at home I can stop the movie ...walk around ....fix a drink...change my shorts because I just had the crap scared outta me!!!! You get the point but I am happy to say that I stayed for the whole movie. Check it out !
Children of Men(DVD)-Excellant show! Clive Owen might just be my new favorite British actor. Such a well acted movie and the scenes where they are rounding up the illegal aliens in Britain.....WOW ! Its really creepy to see these soliders placing these others into buses and shipping them off .....Anyone remember what happened in Nazi Germany? Or what could happen here in the US. Watch this movie!
The History Boys(DVD)-The setting of this movie is also in England at a boys school. The movie follows them as they prepare to leave their school and go off to college. I watched this one with Jason and he was able to give me some insight into the process of going to college in Great Britain. Pretty Good movie.
Come Early Morning(DVD)- Hate to say it but this is a complete and utter Chick Flick! But I really enjoyed it. Ashley Judd is the main lead in it and she does a great job. Small town type film. Good date movie
Bobby and Infamous(DVD)- Skipped some of Bobby and did not finish Infamous. Bobby is set in 1968on the day that Bobby Kennedy was shot at the Ambassador Hotel in LA. Too many story lines to really follow. Infamous is another telling of the Truman Capote tale when he wrote his great book IN COLD BLOOD.

Now go rent something!!


Peace

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

What goes up ....

I cannot believe what I am about to say ...but here goes .....I think I might be tired of LOST!! I am not done with the show yet ..Folks will be the first to tell you that I am the worlds worst at getting into a show and then losing interest....Maybe that has happened with this show , maybe i just need a break ..13 weeks of new shows without any reruns or a break has been alot.....I mean we only have three weeks till the season is over BUT I am getting really tired of trying to keep up with everything. It entertains me still but increasingly it getting to where its not that much fun anymore. This past Wednesday promised to show us Ben's origins on the island ...and I guess it did but it was kinda subpar on lots of levels. Once again we were left with more questions than answers and at some point they have to start telling us SOMETHING. The whole "Jacob" thing kinda creeped me out .....and the deaths of all the folks at the camp was weird in a "Jim Jones drinking kool-aid kinda way"
I love our weekly LOST watching parties and I hope we can find something to take their place this summer (not watching old episodes of LOST though) but something....
I am glad the summer scheduling is coming up because it will mean a break from trying to figure things out .....Anyway, I am just a little put out by the show right now ...
Maybe thats the reason I have been watching so much of THE WEST WING! Even when it was not at its best it was better than alot on TV.
If all I have to watch this summer is FLIP THIS HOUSE, ACE OF CAKES, MIAMI INK and WEST WING reruns on DVD and anything else on cable then that is fine by me.......
ABC has said LOST will not return until January of 2008.
Fine by me !!

Thursday, May 03, 2007

All roads lead to Jasper, Alabama

Couple of things in no order ........
LOST is nearing its season end and I have to admit its been pretty damn good .....Each week that goes by brings more answers ....but it also brings more questions. Its kinda like this ..."Oh we now know why everyones ears are larger on the island" but then we get new questions like these ...." Why are the pie plates all yellow?" and "How much wood COULD a woodchuck chuck IF HE REALLY COULD, FRIGGIN CHUCK WOOD????????????????" If you are a fan of the show you know what I mean by all this....
You see ,I have finally decided that LOST is an enigma ...a conundrum....or maybe an enigma wrapped in a conundrum but anyway you look it it makes for good television but I will be glad to see the season end and allow us to have a little break......for good measure let me say HOLLA to Jasper, Alabama .
It's May .....May! Next Friday is my Brothers 37 birthday.....Then on Sunday its Mothers Day ...Then on the 17 my Nana will be 87 years .....Several other friends have also have bdays this month. Its a good month!
I want to make homemade ice cream on the back porch .....In a large hand crank freezer ...Maybe mix in some strawberries or peaches. Dang that sounds good!
For the past few weeks I have been rewatching THE WEST WING. Just when Nick decided to take a break I pick up the habit . Its like going to bed with old friends.....and thats what she said!!!!
Now here is a real suprise ....I kinda want to go to the beach .....have a cool mojito or maybe some sangria and just sit and relax....I am sure this will pass because I will soon remember that I dont dig the beach....Its do crowded, hot, sandy, YUCH.
After seeing President Clinton in Bham a few weeks back it makes me want to get more involved with politics. Work on a local level maybe ....help, actually help get someone elected....Help get folks interested in the process again..... It is sad to think that more young people vote for American Idol than will for the Presidential election in November 2008!
When will we start saying the year as "TWENTY OH SEVEN " instead of "TWO THOUSAND AND SEVEN" Does that even make sense as to what I am talking about???
Why did it only take about one year to build the Pentagon and the Empire State Building and yet it will take until 2012 or so to finish the new World Trade Center area in NYC??
Why have we not rioted in the streets because of high gas prices? Because we are whores to our automobiles .....
I want to buy organic food but dang its expensive......
Its hard to believe that in a country as rich as the USA we still have 44 millionAmericans without any type of heath insurance and that number includes almost 7 million children or people under the age of 18. Crazy. Cant we do better ?
Would a timeline for a pullout in Iraq really be the end of the world ? Does anyone with an ounce of free thought really think that the minute we leave ,regardless of when that is , is really going to matter. Maybe I think to simple about things ....
Teddy Rooselvelt once said " Its not what America has that makes it great, Its what we do with it that makes us great"

Monday, April 16, 2007

So maybe not.......

Ok ....I was wrong ! I hate being wrong ! I am wrong alot though! I do have something else to say so I guess I will save my VERY VERY VERY last blog for another day ....after all tomorrow is another day right ? Or so some overwrought southern heroine would have us believe .....this is kinda heavy and serious and my next post will be about something light and fun I PROMISE

20 Hours In America.
The title is ripped off from THE WEST WING. Those who know the show ....you Get it!
This past Monday a young man in Virginia shot and killed 32 people and injured dozens more. Of course the debate will rage for months, if not years, about the why of what happened. Tuesday afternoon I watched a memorial service for the folks killed. I was both upset and angry . Upset that all of these people had to die for nothing. Nothing!! Upset that we live in a nation where the news media and the talking heads go on television and say things like " this was bound to happen" or "perhaps this boy who did the shootings is now serving his time in hell, right where he should be". Why is our nation so jaded to the point that we just naturally expect things like this to happen?? I dont get out of the bed each morning and wonder " Hmmmmmm what bad is going to happen today". FOX and CNN suck sometimes !

Clearly the guy who killed all these people had serious problems. I am a liberal democrat and I don't believe that gun control is the answer. He bought the weapons under Virginia gun laws and it was all legal. He was just someone who had problems and acted out on them in the most hurtful way possible. No excuses..... but I think that for people to now condemn him is the wrong way to go .
I watched on NBC as they interviewed this young man who's sister was killed in the school shooting at Columbine High School back in April 1999. He said that for years he was upset at God because he never had a chance to say goodbye to his sister. It ate away at him until one day he had a type of EUREKA ! moment. God wants us to choose him and to be close to his son Jesus Christ. God was waiting for this guy to turn and let him into his heart fully . Only then could his healing process start. He said he still misses his sister but he can do more today by talking about the Love of Christ than about the horrible events that took his sister away .....
I think we should adopt that type of thought....... Let the love of Jesus sooth us and make us feel better. It's hard to let things go .....to fully give them over to Christ. We fight it each and every day.....

Words during weeks like these seem like so little .......but I was so impressed by Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia at the memorial service. He said that as Christians we sometimes recall the prayers of Jesus when he said " My God , My God why have you forsaken me ?" He tells us that as Christians we are never forgotten..The entire world is watching and sending prayers and thoughts of love our way ......and while not everyone is a Christian, we can all take heart from the wonderful message of Jesus Christ and that message is Love!

I would like to close this post with the following from my favorite TV show ....THE WEST WING. I thought about this episode almost immediatly after the events of Monday.
Aaron Sorkin wrote an episode of West Wing that was meant to be a tribute to the spirit that we witnessed on and after 9/11. In that two part episode, some of the characters, who work at the White House, get lost in rural America and end up witnesses to the lives of real Americans. The sort of people that are hard-working but face problems and hardships that need to be dealt with....... Anyway, the main characters eventually realize that they’re the only ones who’ve been worried about politics and polling data, while everyone else they encountered was simply doing their best to get by. The reason they eventually make it back to DC after many hours is due to the kindness of strangers who were more than willing to help a couple of strangers.
At the end of the episode there is breaking news that pipe bombs went off at university swim meet and the explosions and resulting fire killed 44 people. Among those killed were some men and women who rushed into the fire to help people , just like the firefighters who ran into the towers on 9/11 and just like the teachers who barricaded the doors at VaTech. The episode ends with a speech delivered by Martin Sheen, who played the President on West Wing. The speech is perhaps one of the greatest pieces of writing in TV history. To me it is beautiful. But most importantly, the overall point of the speech is so true and moving.Given what happened this week I thought that this episode said alot about what is truly good in America. Our best days are ahead. The streets of heaven are indeed too crowded with angels.

Bartlet: ...restoring abundance amid an economic shortfall, securing peace in a time of global conflict, sustaining hope in this winter of anxiety and fear. More than any time in recent history, America's destiny is not of our own choosing. We did not seek nor did we provoke an assault on our freedom and our way of life. We did not expect nor did we invite a confrontation with evil. Yet the true measure of a people's strength is how they rise to master that moment when it does arive. 44 people were killed a couple of hours ago at Kennison State University. Three swimmers from the men's team were killed and two others are in critical condition, when, after having heard the explosion from their practice facility, they ran into the fire to help get people out. Ran into the fire. The streets of heaven are too crowded with angels tonight. They're our students and our teachers and our parents and our friends. The streets of heaven are too crowded with angels, but every time we think we have measured our capacity to meet a challenge, we look up and we're reminded that that capacity may well be limitless. This is a time for American heroes. We will do what is hard. We will achieve what is great. This is a time for American heroes and we reach for the stars. God bless their memory, God bless you and God bless the United States of America. Thank you.

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

You could be working in the steam pipe trunk distribution venue


I love my job .....Let me say that right now before anyone says anything....Its just that we all get in a rut ...and I am in a rut. This too shall pass but right now I kinda feel like I am wondering around not getting anything done. But It could be worse .....
I also think my blog has surived for just about as long as it was supposed to survive . I really enjoy reading everyone elses blogs but I just dont seem to have enough to say to put out here anymore. I started this just about a year ago after I got back from a weekend trip to North Carolina. It was meant to be a way for me to just put some emotion on paper( or in cyberspace as it is ) and I did that and it really seemed to have helped . But now, I sometimes find myself trying to think of things to write about and its just not fun anymore . I want to read more , travel more, spend more time with my great group of LOST watching friends . Maybe you are saying ( hell does anyone even read this ) but maybe you are saying that I can do all those things and blog ....but here' s the deal I dont think I want to anymore.....It's maybe time for me to focus on other things in my life right now . A new place to live .....school........building or rebuilding relationships.....Blogging just does not seem that important to me right now .... I leave in about 8 hours for another long weekend trip to NC. I wish I could say that I am going and will be living there for good .....but its not to be right now but maybe someday soon.

In other news.....
Easter was ok but everything seemed rushed .....I miss hunting eggs !! Is that nuts or what ?

My health has been better lately .....appetite has been back to some extent but still not right ...I am glad to have lost some weight but thats just not the way to do it ....I have more doctor stuff to do next week ...so we shall see .

My buddy Mike got me a great early bday present this week ....A signed Auburn football from Tommy Tubberville!!!

If you have never listened to THIS AMERICAN LIFE on NPR then you are missing out on something special each week .....Luke and Jackie turned me on to it and WOW its really radio at its best.


Televison

LOST contiues to suprise me each and every week ....I know there are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO many questions left unanswered but each week the show seems to get better and better.

The best show on Television that you are not watching is FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS. Go to the NBC website and catch a few episodes . Its the best writing and acting on Television.


Have a great weekend ....I am headed to the mountains !!

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

Happy Easter

So how have you been ? Things going good for ya ? Been pretty busy around my life lately....
But I can see that light at the end of the tunnel and guess what ...that light is Asheville North Carolina!!!!!
Here is the deal ....I have one of the best jobs in the entire world. It affords me with the chance to impact lives in some way (thats what we tell ourselves anyway). I have wonderful opprotunities to help others . My schedule is VERY flexible and If I get my work done then things are cool ......BUT........I cannot really enjoy major holidays. Easter and Christmas usually just turn out to be hectic times. The biggest times of the church year and folks who work in the church are so busy that usually the days are on us before we know it and BOOM ...it's all over!
Nick mentioned in his recent blog about how busy things are this week and I agree. But here's hoping you all have a great Holy Week.

I am giving serious thought to maybe moving to the Western North Carolina area......It"s just a great area and I so enjoy being up there ....Part of my reason for going next week is to just check things out .....I have not moved anywhere yet !!!!

I would like to suggest a really good book.....Team Of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin.
It tells the story of Abe Lincoln and how he brought together a fantastic team to run the country after his election in 1860. A good many folks in his cabinet were either Democrats or Republicans who ran against him and did not have a high regard for him. It's a great read!

Talk to yall soon

Saturday, March 17, 2007

Let them die ............

How has your week been ?

We had our first official LOST watching party and besides on tense moment it went really good and I am looking forward to getting together again with them this week.
I am reminded of a scene from a Star Trek movie where the Klingon race is going to be facing extinction if help from the Federation and Starfleet is not forthcoming. Captain Kirk is trying to be persuaded by Captain Spoke to help them ....saying "they will all die" Kirks response "LET THEM DIE" He changed his tune by the end of the movie......I am hoping for the same in one aspect of my life. Does this sound cryptic? If you know me ...you know what I mean. I think it will all work out in the end though.....

IF you are not watching LOST then you are missing a good second set of episodes this season.

It looks like my other fav show will be renewed after this season ....FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS


I spent this past Friday night in Auburn AKA THe Plains and discovered a really cool place called THE OLDE AUBURN ALE HOUSE. They had a band....they had good food and they brew their own beer. Here is the question .....IN a place that brews their own beer ...how in the world can you order a domestic like Miller Lite or Bud Light ?? But I heard folks doing ...heard it with my own ears. How bout this .....try something different , go out on a limb and get something that actually might taste good. I dont think you will regret it in the long run.....


On Saturday I spent the day in Warm Springs, Ga .....Home to Franklin D. Roosevelts Little White house . I honestly think I could go once a month to visit over there ....the place reeks of history ...if you have not been ..GO!!!


Easter is just around the corner and right after that I am taking a few days off and heading up to my home away from home ....Asheville, NC. I love it there and cannot wait to walk around Pack Square, down Biltmore and Broadway avenue, go to Barleys and .....well If you have been you know what I will be doing.....