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So.....

I was talking to someone tonight at church and as is the way things go lately the talk turned to politics.

It was a civil nice talk about things until I brought up the fact that most polls are showing Sen Obama with a lead. Key states are starting to show fairly big leads....CNN was reporting that as of today Sen Obama leads with 250 electoral points to Sen. McCains 189.

This person I was speaking with was THRILLED beyond comprehension a few weeks back when Gov Palin was picked to be the running mate for Sen McCain. It was the best choice. There was no mistaking that this was going to lead to 4 more years in the White House for republicans.

Tonight ...no so much the same tune was being sung.

He told me he was not so sure it was a wise decision to pick her but he still thought that with her on the ticket the "core" of the republican party would turn out on November 4 and that it would lead to a victory. Ok...fair point.

I told him it was actually hard to watch Gov Palin in interviews anymore....it's gone beyond being cute and funny. It's terrible. She knows nothing about Sen McCains record in the senate. She only seems to know campaign catch phrases. She could not say if it was a problem that Sen McCains main guy running his campaign, Rick Davis, had a conflict of interest since he worked a lobby for Fannie and Freddie. She could not even tell Katie Couric what news papers she reads on a daily basis. Really ??

I am no where near an expert on foreign affairs, I dont know Sen McCains record in the senate, but you would think Gov Palin would know SOMETHING.

My friend I was talking to tonight said the he kinda hoped that Sen Obama would win in November and then he said it ....The main reason he wants him to win is so he will fail!!

He said it will show people how incredibly wrong they are to have voted him in office. That in four years people will be running back to the republican party.

Is that what we need to be hoping for right now ? That the person elected in a month FAILS??

I dont envy either person ...but I honest to God will tell you that I hope and pray that they succeed while in office. I hope they bring something to the White House that has been lacking for years. I hope that which ever gets in there will have a strong group of men and women behind him who will push them and help them lead America back to something better.

Our economy stinks, we are fighting a war on two fronts, we have millions without health care, jobs are being sent overseas at an alarming rate,we are so divided on things it's hard to see what we agree on and business owners are being forced to close. It makes me sick and mad that the best thing some of us can hope for is that if Sen Obama is elected to be our next president he will fail. Who does that help ....I mean really ?

Excuse Me...But Do You Have Prince Albert In The Can?

So....
Congress Sucks ! Just my opionion but I am SICK SICK SICK of hearing about whos fault it is that things dont get done.
These people are elected by US to guide and lead and instead they worry about what will happen if they dont get a chance to go campaingn more ...or have to actually make a decision and stick with it ....
Franklin Rooselvelt said it best in 1933 "It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something."
Something has got to be done ...SOMETHING...
I hate Congress tonight ...
The following link is how I feel tonight ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sM9KcAS5_K4

It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World......

So....
Gov Sarah Palin finally sat down at the end of last week for some interviews by ABCs Charlie Gibson. I am always amazed at how two different people can watch the same thing and come away with TWO VERY DIFFERENT OPINIONS.
Speaking for myself I was VERY unnerved to hear Gov Palin talk of possible war or fighting with Russia over a country that is not even in NATO. If we are to use history as a guide, and I think we should, we managed to not go to war with the USSR in nearly 50 years of the Cold War. I would like to think that I am a pretty smart guy when it comes to some things and it would seem to make sense that we should be talking to people about things and not loading guns ...just in case. I sleep easier at night knowing that she can see Russia from an island off the coast of Alaska.....talk about ready to lead on day one !!

Gov Palin went on to discuss her ideas of the "Bush Doctrine" and how it relates to terrorism. And when I say discuss ....I mean she really seemed to have no idea what was going on or the true meaning of the doctrine. She did say that what she brought to the table in terms of foreign policy was that she had a good knowledge of the oil and gas situation in her state. This was to be a foundation of the McCain/Palin White house.....sound confusing ?? Thats cause it is.....

She could not define what the McCain/Palin ticket would do to change the last 8 years of a Bush White House. She mentioned putting the banking and houseing industry back into the hands of people...and getting the Fed out of things. Here's the kicker though ....most analysts on CNN MSNBC And FOX all say that the gross deregulation of the above industries has directly lead to the HUGE problems we are having as we speak.
How can we really afford 4 or maybe 8 more years of this nonsense???

One more thing...for her to say that she thinks Sen Obama is regretting not putting Hillary Clinton on the ticket.....that is just insulting really. Would Hillary have been a great person on the ticket ...no doubt. But Joe Biden is a great one also....
Speaking of women .....for those on the right to get upset when those in the LIBERAL and LEFT LEANING Media question Palins background as a leader....GIVE ME A BREAK ...This is the same media that tore Hillary Clinton to shreds not just in this election but for 8 years while she was first lady .
The media, I believe , has an obligation to uncover the facts and report them to the country.
If Gov Palin or her biggest fans cant handle two months of being in the limelight perhaps she should have stayed in the Governors mansion in Juneau.

On to lighter things ....
Has any one been watching the second season of Mad Men on AMC. It is an AMAZING show ....Perhaps the best thing on TV right now folks....One thing that I am really impressed about this show is their attention to detail . The show takes place in the early 1960's at an ad agency on Madison Avenue in NYC. Its almost like watching something that was ACTUALLY filmed in 1962....the colors, the art, the clothes, the smoking, the sexism...its all there in bright living color.
Check it out some Sunday and see for yourself .

To be is to do .....

So .....

Politics seem to be the dish of the next few months ....So I am going to try and post about religion and politics.

I have wondered when religion became so ingrained with politics in this nation? I know how our nation was founded. I know the founders and framers looked towards a higher power when planning our country. But they were also clear to place in our constitution that "te congress cannot pass any law making any religion the religion of the United States, or take away the freedom to worship as one pleases ." Ammendment 1, first paragraph of the Constitution.

Abortion and the right for two men or two women to marry seems to be the main thing that people talk about when it comes to politics and religion.


The following statistics come from a group called The Pew Forum: Religion and Public Life Survey. They are independent of any church or social group.

Abortion

I honest to God dont think there will ever be a time in this country when everyone agrees on this subject. Recent polls have shown that more than half of those surveyed say that abortion always will be or should be legal. A majority of those said that abortion should be legal if the person involved is raped, the life of the mother is in danger or there is incest involved. 13% said it should be illegal in any circumstance.

46% of women in this country who had abortions in 2006 were not using birth control of any kind. Using birth control of some kind would have possibly resulted in 500,000 fewer abortions that year. Perhaps if both sides could agree on birth control then maybe less abortions could be achieved in this nation.

What if we went back and started really trying to show that sex is a sacred act between two people. Not something you do after a few dates or drinks. This would also DRASTICALLY reduce abortions in this nation.

70% of those polled who had abortions called themselves Christians. Perhaps as a church we could do more to support those who decide to carry the child to term. Show them love and understanding. The church has to do a better job of saying "We love you ...regardless"

Its clear that over the last nearly 40 years nothing has changed as far as the debate on abortion goes. It will take calmer heads and understanding to address this issue. But its generally not one that should be held on a national debate stage.

amicans cannot be easily characterized as conservative or liberal on todays most pressing social questions....Along with favoring no clear ideological approach to most social issues,the public expresses desire for a middle ground on the most divisive social concern of the day:abortion.

Summery of the Pew Report on Abortion.



Homosexuality and Same Sex Marriage

These are also two very difficult situations to wrap our minds around and come to some sort of middle ground. The stark reality of it is this: One day we will all know people who are openly gay and living their lives. They might be children,grandchildren,neices and nephews,co workers or close friends.
Those against homosexuality or same sex marriage often quote scripture. Genesis 19:1-29 deals with two messangers sent to the town of Sodom where Lot lived. The men of the town demanded that the messangers be turned over to them and to be sexually assulted. Most biblical historians will say that this is more of a cultural reference. The men would sexually assult other men to show their power over those men.

Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 come from a section of the Old testament known as the Laws of Moses. Purity or Holiness Codes. 18:22 says that "You shall not lie with a male as with a women; it is an abomination." The word abomination translated from greek and arabic means something uncustomary. Not a sin. The people of that time were trying to build the nation of Israel. There are many laws on the pages of Leviticus that we never mention... "Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material" Leviticus 19:19. "Do not plant your field with two kinds of seed" also found in chapter 19.

Corinthians mentions "male prostitutes and sodomites" alongside with drunks and the greedy. God says that they shall not inherit the earth. How many of us have ever been drunk or greedy?
1st Timothy 1:10 mentions "sodomites" along with liars and those involved with other women outside their marriage. Who out there have ever lied about something or possibly cheated on our wives or husbands.

Some people will say that at the very core of this debate is the issue of civil rights . We have two different standards in the country in relation to how we treat gays and lesbians. Many of these people daily live a life that is a living nightmare.

Billy Graham was asked once in an interview his views on homosexuality he said" Im going to quote the Bible here, not myself, that homosexuality is a sin. But there are other sins. Why do we jump on that sin as though it's the greatest sin? The greatest sin in the Bible is idolatry, worshiping other things besides the true and living God. But homosexuality is a sin and needs to to be dealt with and needs to be forgiven, and thats why Christ came and died on the cross"

Christianity has to be a mix of grace and truth that Jesus Christ brings to us all. We all have sexual baggage . We all have baggage...PERIOD.
Matthew 5:28 says " it is ultmately a matter of the heart, and brokeness is as common in our private thoughts and attitudes as it is in our behaviors."

James says in 1:26 " If you claim to be religious but dont control your tounge, you are fooling yourself , and your religion is worthless"

and of course in Pauls letter to the Corinthians he says this : Faith , hope and love ...and the greatest of these is love" 13:13

We need to love. Unconditionally each person. Each other. Every day.

I close with this

My church's exclusion of homosexuals who confess Christ and live together in committed love makes me very sad.....Is there really a wideness in God's mercy like the wideness of the sea? Is his mercy wide enough to fulfill one of the deepest of all human needs by the way my wife and I have fulfilled them for fifty years-In an abiding partnership of lasting love? I think I know my own heart well enough to believe that if his mercy is wide enough for me, it must be wide enought for them also....
Lewis Smedes.

Speaking From Experience.....

So....
I been reading alot about the canidates lately. Trying to bone up on what everyone is all about... We are less than two months away from one of the biggest decisions this country has ever faced and it seems all we hear about lately is that people are not ready to lead. Obama is not ready to be president or Palin is not ready to be veep. My question today is this ....who is ever really ready to be President of the United States?
I mean if we look over all the years of this country was there ever ,EVER any person who was truly ready to lead on day one? I would offer this ...No! No one has never been fully ready to walk into that big oval room and run this country. Thank God our founders knew this and distributed the power all around.
Here are a few examples of past presidents

• Abe Lincoln-He was a captain in the Black Hawk War, spent eight years in the Illinois legislature and lost to Stephen Douglas in 1858 for a senate seat. He was elected in 1860 and lead us through the Civil War.
• Teddy Roosevelt -During the Spanish-American War, Roosevelt was lieutenant colonel of the Rough Rider Regiment. Republican candidate for Governor in 1898. Roosevelt won and served till he was tapped by McKinley to be his Veep.
• George Washington-Farmer and from 1759 to the outbreak of the American Revolution, Washington served in the Virginia House of Burgesses. May 1775, Washington was elected Commander in Chief of the Continental Army. In 1787 the Electoral College unanimously elected Washington President of the United States.
• William McKinley-Private in the army during the Civil War. Lawyer. Served 14 years in Congress. Was on Ways and Means committee. Elected president in 1896.
• Franklin D Roosevelt- He won election to the New York Senate in 1910. President Wilson appointed him Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and he was the Democratic nominee for Vice President in 1920. In 1928 Roosevelt became Governor of New York.
• Harry S. Truman-Captain in the army during WW I. Elected county judge in Missouri in 1924. Elected to US Senate in 1934. Choosen as Veep in 1944 and was on the job weeks before FDR died.

So....I would say that no one is ready to be president ...ever. You can plan and prepare and run for congress or be the governor of a state. You can serve in local politics and get things done on a local level but you still are not ready for what lies ahead of you. I admire any person willing to give their time and energy for their country in this capacity. There is no "SCHOOL FOR PRESIDENT"....you get elected and then you go to work doing the damned best job that you can do for all the people of this nation.

Was George Bush prepared for what happened 9 months after he took office in 2001. No. Perhaps he had briefings that terroists were plotting but they had no real idea when or where. Thats what I believe anyway....He had to jump in the water feet first and learn to swim real quick.

Was Ronald Reagan prepared to be shot three months into his first term in March or 1981? Hell no...you assume the risk but who knew...he survied and managed to lead this country.

Harry S Truman is now considered one of the best presidents we have ever had but he was a failed shop owner from Independencebefore going into politics. Hell he did not even know we had an atomic bomb till the day after FDR died.

We could go on for ever and list every president....I am just saying how bout we as a whole lay off who is better prepared and just focus on the issues. Focus on what we are going to do to make this country better . How we are going to improve education and reform social security. How can we balance a budget while providing for the people of this nation and funding our troops over seas. How can we establish a fair tax system in this country that is balanced among everyone. There is so much to tackle....May the best person win on November 4.

Where do we stop.....

So ...I watched Gov Palin on an old episode of Glenn Beck. First of all Glenn Beck should have asked her to marry him because he appeared to be in love with her ...but anway...

She was talking about drilling in the ANWAR area of Alaska and how its the duty of the people to explore that area and open it up to drilling. SHe said that there is plenty of natural gas and oil trapped beneath the surface to handle the needs of the United States. What she failed to mention was this ...and she is not the only one who fails to mention these things, but here goes...

• Drilling in that area will not create immediate results. It will take years to study the impacts on the region and then years to get the drilling actually going . Do people think that the Alaskan Pipeline was built overnight ?


• All the oil and gas in the world is great BUT it will eventually run out . Plain and Simple. There is only so much of the stuff left and once its gone, then what???? We make more of it ? I dont think so .....Some analysts predict that the worlds reserves of oil will be used up in the next 50 years, and thats being conservative . Then what ??


• Who will really benefit from all of this untapped oil and gas ? The people of Alaska ? The people of the lower 48? Will these great reserves of oil be used ONLY in the USA or will it maybe be sold overseas to the growing economies or China and India? Nations that are growing at an alarming rate and greatly need fuel. Who will recieve the huge $$$ windfalls that will happen once this land is opened up?


• And speaking of opening up land ....where do we stop? Proponents of the drilling in Alaska say it will be restricted to a small 2000 acre tract but what happens when it is figured out that oil is beneath Kachemak Bay in Alaska? or near the Portage Glacier ? or off Prince William Sound ? Or in Chugach National Forest ??? No one answers these questions ...

Why dont we use this time to focus our energy and resources on finding real alternatives to not just foreign oil, but to oil in general . Gather the best scientists and minds in the country and offer them incentives of some kind to find a real change. We have done this before in this country. When no one else could figure out a way to dig a canal across Panama... we did . When no one thought that polio could be wiped out ...Dr Salk figured out a way to do just that thing. When people said we could not land a man on the moon ...we did just that and when folks said we could not beat communism ...we did.

But instead of agreeing to any of this Gov Palin will tell people how terrible stem cell research is and how terrible it will be for the nation if gay men and women are allowed to get married . How every man and women should own a gun because the constitution tells them they should..forgetting to mention that in the second line of the 2nd Amendment it says that the federal and state governments have the right to enact laws restricting gun ownership..... BLECH .....This is just one of the many reasons I will not be voting for McCain/Palin on November 4th.

Perhaps we need to explore other options ...just a thought .

NORTH TO ALASKA ........

So ...It would seem that Alaska has been in the news quite a bit today ....I am not here to talk about Sen McCains choice of his VEEP canidate. I will only say one thing and thats this ...the McCain camp can now lay off the whole "experience " thing....I mean come on.

Having said that I will now talk about my great trip to Alaska last week....

IT WAS AMAZING ....I have said that time and time again over the last week and I reallty dont know how else to describe the place ....Its just wonderful,glorious,amazing, breathtaking ....everything really.

To be in a place that is really untouched by human hands is a wonderful, soul mending experience. To be able to stand on the back deck and look across the bay and see a huge glacier and know that that glacier has been moving slowly for the past several thousand years...

To see whales off from the small boat you are riding on....and a 35 foot boat is small to me folks. It was really the trip I had hoped it would be .....enjoy the pictures

It's Never Easy....

So...I was going to post about my trip to Alaska tonight but other events have bumped that posting till a later date...

I did get to go to Alaska and it was AMAZING but on Friday morning right after we had finished breakfast I get a call from Mama telling me that my Nana had died that morning at the nursing home in Georgia.

This was my Dads mother and she had been in failing health for sometime ....Hospice had been called in last week but still its never easy to get that call and realize that someone you love and care for is gone. She had breakfast on Friday morning and was sitting in her room when she had a massive heart attack . She was 88.

Words right now cannot begin to tell you how much I will miss having this wonderful women in my life. She taught me so much and showed me so much ....I ache tonight knowing she is gone.

I will get to posting about Alaska soon but for now I remember my Nana .

Peace be with her tonight.

“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid. "

John 14:27

Travel is fatal to prejudice......

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and, narrow mindness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad,wholesome,charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all ones's lifetime.
Mark Twain 1869

Tomorrow is the day ....I leave and head to Alaska. It's gonna be fun,cooler and more than anything..... relaxing.
Travelling prayers are much appreciated.
ALASKA HERE I COME !!!
See yall next week!!

It's not breaking and entering ....

....If the gate is broken ..Right ?

So ...Last weekend I went to the beach and while I was there we found ourselves at the big Alvins Island on the strip. For those of you who have NEVER been to the beach, Alvins is a HUGE store full of crap. Floors and floors of CRAP.

Coffee mugs with tacky stuff on them, airbrushed tshirts and caps,racks and racks of cigarette lighters,petrified or mummified aligator heads,wind chimes made of sea shells,beach chairs,beach umbrellas,beach toys,beach towels,beach coolers ...lots of crap. There are several Alvin stores spread across the panhandle of Flordia and into Alabama and they are always crowded. We took a group there to just kill time and hang out some ....

While they were inside I was outside with a friend and we wandered over into the parking lot of the abandoned Miracle Strip Amusement Park.

Miracle Strip used to be the spot during the summer ....It was a throwback to old time parks. Alot like Coney Island in NYC. The Big Eli Ferris Wheel, wave swinger, merry-go-round, musik express, paratrooper, teacup ride, spider, train ride, Looper Sea Dragon (swinging boat), Shockwave (Kamikaze), bumper cars, mini-enterprise, the O2 drop ride, a variety of small scale versions and spinning rides kids.The park had the old bumper cars,the big swings,an old wooden roller coster called the Starliner. The park opened in 1963 and was a regular stop for my family during the last part of the 1970's and into the 80's. The park was sold to developers in 2003 and closed in the early winter of 2004. The wooden coaster, Starliner was sold to Busch Gardens in southern Florida.

We walked around to the entrance and the gates were all locked but most of the windows of the ticket booths were broken out.....then we noticed a gate that was broken and laying open...

Well....of course we went in..Not to cause trouble but to see something one more time before its gone for good. There is a good bit of damage caused by recent storms but you could still get a feel for the old park.

We walked around for about 30-40 minutes before finally getting creeped out and leaving but man the memories came flooding back to me while in there ....

Anyway ....it was a cool walk down memory lane.

OUCH!!

Talk about bad timing on Greyhounds part....The bus line has pulled all of the above type ads after the recent beheading onboard one of its Canadian buses.

141 and counting ............

So....
Let me be the first to offer a hardy MERRY CHRISTMAS to you all....Yup, if yall know me then you know that I love the holidays. When the temps start staying near 100 I crank up my christmas music on iTunes and enjoy.
Christmas music is also a soothing thing for me ...It relaxes me....
Anyway....I am odd there is no doubt about it ....
Happy Holidays everyone !!!

Something that made me laugh ....

If you are offended by crude humor of any kind then you should leave this blog now....

One day, during lessons on proper grammer, the teacher asked for a show of hands of those who could use the word 'beautiful' in the same sentance twice.
First, she called on little Susie who said " my father bought my mother a beautiful dress and she looked beautiful in it"
Very good, Susie replied the teacher. She then called on little Michael. 'My mummy planned a beautiful banquet and it turned out beatifully'
Excellant replied the teacher. Then she called on Little Ralphy...'Last night at the dinner table my sister told my father that she was pregnant and he said "Beautiful, just F@#**$G beautiful'!!!!

A teacher asks her class, 'If there are 5 birds sitting on a fence and you shoot one of them, how many will be left?' She calls on little Ralphy.
He replies, 'None, they will all fly away with the first gunshot.'
The teacher replies, 'The correct answer is 4, but I like your thinking.'
Then little RALPHY says, 'I have a question for YOU.
There are 3 women sitting on a bench having ice cream:
One is delicately licking the sides of the triple scoop of ice cream. The second is gobbling down the top and sucking the cone.
The third is biting off the top of the ice cream. Which one is married?'
The teacher, blushing a great deal, replied, 'Well, I suppose the one that's gobbled down the top and sucked the cone.'
To which Little RALPHY replied, 'The correct answer is 'the one with the wedding ring on,' but I like your thinking.'

Little RALPHY returns from school and says he got an F in arithmetic.
Why?' asks the father?
The teacher asked 'How much is 2x3,'' I said '6', replies RALPHY.
But that's right!' says his dad.
'Yeah, but then she asked me 'How much is 3x2?''
'What's the f...... difference?' asks the father.
'That's what I said!'

HA !!!!!

Movie Night ....

So...Tonight we actually finally started our trek to watch EVERY movie on the AFI Top 100 list. Mr Lucas picked a great one ...GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER. Spencer Tracy ,Sidney Poitier,Katheryn Hepburn....What a good movie ...

Anyway ....If you have not seen it ...Find a copy and watch ...its a good one.

The scene where Sidney Poitiers character has a talk with his dad about things is so powerful....The topic of a black man and a white women getting married in 1967 was taboo and its still a powerful topic today ...

Spencer Tracy, in his last role, was amazing.

Thats it....

Strings and Ceiling Wax and other Fancy Stuff.......

So....It was 98 degrees in Montgomery today. We have still not had the heat that we had last summer....of course we have had a good bit of rain this summer also so that is great. But still, it was 98 degrees today and that just sucks.

I have this habit of checking the weather in places all around the country. I normally once or twice a week check the local weather in Asheville NC. Its almost like I am stalking Asheville in some way .....Going online to check out local webcams of downtown,checking the weather, checking on the progress of the new Pack Square,seeing whats going on at the Malaprops Bookstore...etc. But back to weather....

I am fascinated by it ....I love a good thunderstorm during the summer..one of those storms that you can see coming and you can feel the air around you changing. Then the rain and thunder begins and soon its cooler and you feel as refreshed as the environment around you. I have always wanted to experience a hurricane while at the beach ....Not some big huge Katrina style hurricane but a small one or even a strong tropical storm. I know its nuts ...many people have died over the years because they could not leave when a hurricane was coming and here I am wanting to be right in the middle of one. Call me crazy.....

Other things ....

I was asked tonight to go see The Dark Knight again ....I did not go. I am not a big fan of seeing movies twice in a theater. I can maybe count on one hand the ones that I have seen twice in the theater. For me the excitment of seeing a new movie is gone ....plus I am just weird about stuff ...My closest and best friends in the world still embrace me. I am the odd man out in the group and thats cool with me ....

I watched this dvd the other night about people who had experienced discrimination on their jobs based on the fact that they were gay or lesbian. A friend had suggested it.....

One story really stood out to me ....This women in Asheville NC was fired from her photography job at Wolf Laurel Ski Resort north of Asheville. Her former employers said that her lifestyle did not mix well with the "family,christian " atmosphere at the resort. Now, we have to understand that this women was not having sex with her partner on the ski lift...she was not conducting drag shows with her gay friends....she was not selling sexually explicit photos of her having sex with her partner...She was taking photos of people skiing and selling them at the resort. To be fair here ...calling Wolf Laurel a "resort" is using the broadest definiton of the word....I have been there and it aint a resort. But she had a decent job and they fired her....Thats discrimination. Plain and Simple. What if she had been a man and black and they fired him?

"oh sorry man we have alot of people come up here from Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi and they are still living in the 1950s down there and they dont take too kindly to seeing a negro working the lifts, youre fired" Thats the same thing ...right ? You are firing someone based on who they are....I believe it will take a federal measure to make things right ....

Stepping off my soapbox....

I go to Alaska in 20 days and I am pretty damn excited to be going ...Until then I have youth week,a trip to the World of Coke museum in atlanta,a trip to the beach with the youth, youth sunday and another trip to a new heart doctor.

Hurry up and get here Fall....

Thats it for now

$7.00 BUCKS FOR THIS ???

So...The Dark Knight is all the rage right now in America and across the globe really....and for all you poop heads out there I am not referring to Senator(stop acting so damn presidential) Obama's great visit to the Middle East and Europe!! I am talking about the new Batman movie. I am not going to make this a post about TDK but more about going to the movies in general.

I have said it before that I used to love going to the movies....and still do for the most part but maybe its part of my getting older and becoming more like my Dad ..More and more I dont enjoy going !!

I went two weeks ago to see TDK and what follows is a description of my afternoon. IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE MOVIE ---STOP READING NOW---

I spend $7.00 bucks to see the movie....get into a fairly crowded theater about 20 minutes before the film starts. Right before the credits begin a large family enters and sits behind us....There is what appears to be a dad,mom,grandmother and four kids. Two of the kids are way too young to be in this movie...one is a toddler maybe 2 years old and the other is a baby.

The movie begins with a bank robbery....lots of guys in creepy clown masks being killed right and left....the toddler behind us starts crying telling everyone in the theater how much he hates clowns. He is very upset about this but settles down after they are off the screen. The baby is making a constant 'ugh,ugh,ugh,ugh' sound....I dont think he ever was quiet..but he is a BABY and hey they do make noise....

The Joker makes his first appearance on the screen and again the toddler goes nuts with crying and screaming that he hates clowns. I never once noticed or heard any adult in his group tell him to be quiet or try to get him to be quiet or God forbid LEAVE the theater with the child.

Add to this all some strange odor coming from the row behind us...By the point I have directed my steely gaze to the row behind us a few times and finally I snap and leave my seat to go complain. Thats right I got up and went to the front concession stand and asked the nice young girl who I needed to speak to about people being loud in the theater. She yells for Cedric...YELLS I say !!! Cedric asks me what the problem is and I tell him and he radios for a manager who looked to be about as old as my nephew but hey at this point any port in a storm will do right ??

He follows me to the door of the theater and stops me to ask where I am sitting ...I tell and he says nevermind he will just watch me and then come up...I tell him he can follow me up if he likes but he says thats not a good idea. Whatever.

I sit and he comes up and tells the folks behind me that there have been complaints about the noise and if they cannot keep the kids quiet they will have to leave....

They all stand and leave.....pushing and bumping us as they go and for good measure some form of liquid fell on my head and right shoulder .....I am saying it was soda or water of some kind and not any type of pee or spit of any kind ...So we will say it was water....just to protect my sanity .

The movie was enjoyed from there on out .....

My question is this ....when did it become acceptable forople to take small children to a movie like that ?????Or any movie like that ??? For that matter when did it become ok to take a BABY to any movie?? Hey Nick and Laura ,Pack up Harper and Lily and go watch the afternoon showing of TDK on Saturday....Brian and Stephanie ,yall should take Asher and Silas to a midnight showing of Hellboy 2!!!

I dont have kids....and I dont see kids in my foreseeable future. I love kids, I really do. I am blessed to have two wonderful nephews in my life and two adorable little girls that I can hold and spoil for the rest of my life.

I hope that that family did not get a refund on their tickets when they left.....Not being a jerk here but they made that bed .....

It frustrates me that people just grab their children of any age and head off to the movie....I think its selfish of them....its not fair to the kids and its sure as hell not fair to the other movie goers.

Am I a jerk ?? Am I asking too much of people to have some kind of respect for those people around them who want to enjoy a show?

I dont talk on my cell phone in a theater, I turn my ringer off like I am asked to do ...Its a shame we have to be asked to do things like that anyway but ok ....I was once told by management not to use my cell phone again that someone had complained!!! I use my cell phone as a time telling device and was checking the time but ok It bothered someone enough...fair enough
Again, I love kids but just wait till Pixar has a great show out to take them to or better yet wait for the DVD.

Chicken -A Whole New Thing!!

Here is my entry ....albeit a little late into the great chicken thing cook off ....

I followed the recipe but used regular brown rice since the yellow stuff Nick suggested is FULL OF MSG...Thanks for tying to kill me, AGAIN !!

I also used sliced Chipolte Chedder instead of the pepperjack cheese. I then added a small Green salad with sliced tomatoes fresh from the Montgomery Curb Market.

The watermelon was a cool slice of love.

Through the Looking Glass............

When I first started this blog more than two years ago I told myself and the lovely readers out there that I would treat this as an online journal. Of course I started it with the intentions of talking my way through my Dads death.....I have always tried to be honest to myself here and my readers... having said all that this post is gonna be tough!!

I found out Monday night that my Grandfather, my Ga, my dads father ,carried on an affair with a women more than 15 years his junior for about 8 years off and on. It seems to have started in the Late 70's and continued right up until his death in 1984 at the age of 68. Excuse my language here but WHAT THE FUCK???
This information has rocked me to my core ....I have spent the last 24 hours trying to make heads or tails of it....here are a few things about the whole situation.

• They met in AA.
• They would meet at a local hunting lodge in Macon County and AHEM go from there.
• She was also married
• The other women would stay at the hospital with him after family had left for the night.
• My Nana knew about it and had tried to get him to stop seeing this women and thought he had....the other women came to the funeral .
• The other women died this past sunday morning.

I dont know how to comprehend this ......this was my grandfather!! Not that it would be any better or worse if it were my Dad but we hold our grandparents in a different light and now that light is shining in a whole different way..... the other thing--I was the last person in my family to know this had happened ?!?!?!? My mother knew,brother, aunts, uncles...but I find out when my mother shows me the obit in the paper. She assumed that I knew everything....WOW!

What am I upset about ? The fact that he had this affair? The fact that I did not know? I dont know but it has upset me more than anything in my recent memory. As I do with lots of things I tried to find the humor and wondered if we should perhaps send flowers to the family ??? HA I mean no disrespect to this women by calling her "the other women" but that seems to fit....

I am angry, pissed, hurt and more than anything feel terrible for my 88 year old grandmother who was married to a man who was not faithful to her. My grandmother who for the past 24 years has never to my knowledge said a bad word about her husband. My respect for her is tremendous !!

Anyway ...thats my post tonight

211/108

I have always known that I had to be careful about my salt intake and I do a really good job of watching how much salt. ....I hardly ever salt my food and if I do I typically use only a small amount. I also have to be VERY careful about eating any foods that contain MSG.....a fact that was brought home to me in a pretty alarming way this past week.

On Wednesday night I ate some red beans and rice that I had made the night before....It was in a box and contained a LARGE amount of MSG of course I did not know that at the time....I did not eat that much the night before so I had no problems but on Wednesday night I had a good bowl full and a grilled cheese sandwich. Roughly two hours later I was FLYING!!!

I was dizzy, had blurred vision, my heart was racing and my blood pressure was 211/108....THATS HIGH!! After taking another dose of my blood pressure meds I finally settled down and started feeling better and went to lie down ...

I have mentioned this before but sleep does not come easy for me ....and it did not that night.

Add to all this a massive case of heartburn Friday night and feeling very lethargic and worn out since my blood pressure incident....It has made for a pretty crappy week. I told someone Saturday night that I felt like you do when you get the flu...except not the first days but the following days when you are just worn out....thats me this past week.

I complain about this ...I moan about not feeling good and trust me I am trying my hardest to get things in my life going right ....

I love my job, I really do but lately it has been pretty dang stressful for some reason....the mission trip was nice but on some level I did not enjoy it like I thought I would. Usually on trips with the youth I can find time to have a good time....I can let go and enjoy things but this years trip to DC/Balimore found me stressing and worrying about everything.

I try to please people as a whole....

I want my youth to be happy, I want my adult sponsors to be happy, I want my friends to be happy, I can typically handle stress but lately its been hard for me to let things go and just enjoy things .

And lately when I am stressed out I tend to take it out on the wrong folks ....I am sorry to everyone for my being a jerk lately.

Others things that bother me ....

The Economy-I really think we are one small step away from a depression. Not recession but a deep depression that it might take us years to get out of .... former senator Phil Graham said this week that its all in our heads when it comes to the economy problems....WOW.

My grandmother-88 years old, frail,confined to a chair or bed most of the day,confused,weighs 90lbs,slowly slipping away ....its real tough to call her and realize that she has no idea who she is talking too....

I am whining ....there is so much in my life that I should be lifting up as a praise but I am human....

Thats it for now

Around the World in 72 days 6 hours......

I am home .....

The youth trip to the Washington DC/Baltimore area was a whirlwind of activity that started at 5:30am Saturday June 28 and did not end until about 5:30pm on Saturday July 5. In addition to working at two Salvation Army centers in both Washington DC and Baltimore we had a chance to see many of the sites and sounds of these big cities. While the main reasons for youth mission type trips continues to be our desire to help others they also provide the kids with a chance to see cities they might not ever see.

The kids were so excited to see places they have on seen on TV or in books and magazines. A few of us had travelled to the DC area before but about 15 on the trip had never been and of those 15 about half had never left Alabama before.....It was a great trip. I ahve included a few pics of the sites that week ....for some weird reason I never took a picture of The White House ?!?!?

Prayer has also been on my mind for a few days .......

Why do we pray ? I dont always pray on a daily basis......sometimes I will actually go days without doing it and then boom ...I will lift something up to God. I will say that I used to pray more before my Dad passed away ....and while my love for God and Jesus Christ is still strong my act of prayer is not....Its hard to put into words actually but I just dont pray alot anymore....

One of my favorite authors is CS LEWIS and I turned to him recently on this matter....here are some things he said that I found interesting in regards to prayer.

He could, if He chose, repair our bodies miraculously without food; or give us food without the aid of farmers, bakers, and butchers; or knowledge without the aid of learned men; or convert the heathen without missionaries. Instead, He allows soils and weather and animals and the muscles, minds, and wills of men to co-operate in the execution of His will. “God,” said Pascal, “instituted prayer in order to lend to His creatures the dignity of causality.” But not only prayer; whenever we act at all He lends us that dignity. It is not really stranger, nor less strange, that my prayers should affect the course of events than that my other actions should do so. They have not advised or changed God's mind—that is, His over-all purpose. But that purpose will be realized in different ways according to the actions, including the prayers, of His creatures. So at least it seems to me. But what I have offered can be, at the very best, only a mental model or symbol. All that we say on such subjects must be merely analogical and parabolic. The reality is doubtless not comprehensible by our faculties. But we can at any rate try to expel bad analogies and bad parables.

When he says that "the reality is doubtless not comprehensible " he is right I think....we are so stupid and dumb with it comes to fully understanding Gods will in our lives and when it came to Daddy dying it made me just sit back and realize that I just dont get it.... and I could have decided to spend the rest of my life figuring it out or I could say I love God and am growing closer to him and Jesus Christ through this tragedy.

Prayer in the sense of petition, asking for things, is a small part of it; confession and penitence are its threshold, adoration its sanctu­ary, the presence and vision and enjoyment of God its bread and wine.

anyway just a thought or a form of a thought here on my end ....good to be back in Montgomery

Dumbo's Circus

Tonight was really nice .....

I have a fairly ordinary life....but I have the most wonderful friends. Tonight was the first chance that we had some great "back porch" time ....and it was much needed.
Let me say first of all that for the last two weeks or so I have been pretty stressed out about the upcoming mission trip to DC(we leave this Saturday) but tonight was just what I needed....

I could completely be myself...hang out with the best friends a guy could have ....have a few beers and just decompress before the big trip.

We talked what we usally talk ....politics,work,family,OLD TV shows,beautiful babies and so much more.

For the last year Luke and Jackie have been up in Bham and its been hard not seeing them on a regular basis but now they are back in MGM and with John and Laura and Nick and Laura it made the night really great.

You are a blessed person if you have friends who love you and can be silly with you and in the next breath be talking about the supreme court of the US.

We just get along and that's wonderful and I am lucky to call each and everyone of them my friends.

So to my friends I raise a cold glass .....and toast you all

"TO FRIENDS, MAY OUR SMILES ALWAYS BE PLENTY"

Family Reunions......

Some of my fondest memories as child revolve around family reunions in North Carolina. Imagine heading to the mountains of Western NC during the dead of the summer to the cool retreat of the mountains....Blowing Rock, Boone, Banner Elk, Valle Crucis....AHHHH. We would have great food and sit around talking ...These events continued well into my high school years and I sad to say that I have not been to one now in almost 20 years!! Those are family reunions I really enjoy....You will now find below the ones that I dont enjoy.
You ever find yourself in the grocery store trying to get down an aisle and there are two buggies parked in the way with the current owners of those buggies having a great chat....Perhaps they have not seen each other since high school or maybe last week but they are talking and oblivious to the fact that 25 people are saying "pardon me, 'scuse me, I am sorry can I squeeze by,please clear the way my head just suddenly exploded into flames" GRRRRRR
This great occurrence does not just happen in grocery stores....it happens at major discount stores like Wal Mart and Target.....It happens at chain drug stores.....in the middle of the driving lanes at places like the mall.....it even happens at Biscuit baseball games....
Tonight while watching the baseball game at Riverwalk on two seperate occasions people stopped in the aisle to conduct what my dad would have called a "Family Reunion"!!!!
Blech I say ....anyway enought of my rant

For now we see in a mirror,dimly

The above picture was made by a women in Iowa from her front door . The twister touched down and then went right back up....WOW! Just thought I would share for poops and giggles.

So its Saturday night...12:44pm. I am sitting here still trying to wrap my mind around the death yesterday of Tim Russert. I am guessing it will be a few days before I feel better....

I think perhaps one of the main reasons I am upset about him is that it hits so close to home for me ....Many, if not all of you know that my dad died suddenly from a heart attack two years ago and its only been recently that I was diagnosed with some heart problems of my own.

I look in the mirror and see a man who needs badly to lose some weight. To get healthy. It is one of the hardest things I can possibly attempt. Its not something that I take lightly ...trust me.

The United States as a whole is fat. 66% of the nation is overweight or obese. Its a serious public health issue that impacts not only our lives and our families. It also affects our jobs and the overall cost of our health insurance.

Speaking from my own life... I could save $970.00 a year in co-pays and deductibles if I was not taking blood pressure medicines. $970.00!!!!!!

• I mean come on ...That's a round trip plane ticket to just about anywhere in the USA with some left over for car rentals. Even more if you book on Priceline.com



• That's a damn nice flat screen TV.



• That's 6 West Wing Box sets on Amazon.com.



• That's 108 movie tickets to see anything at the Rave.



• That's 24 boxes of brew kits from Williams.com making a total of 1152 beers!



• That's 102 Shrimp and Avocado Salads at Sinclairs.



• That's one tank of Gas. ...Or Liquid Gold....bout the same !!

I think you see my point....My life could be drastically different if I was in better shape. I will never be a "skinny" guy....Not gonna happen.I am a big guy period but could I stand to lose 50lbs ?? Heck yeah!! 75lbs?? FOR SURE....

Does being out of shape and fat equal failure? I dont think so .....I think its a mix of psychological and environmental factors. I eat late at night because I am up most of the night.....I mean really I typically get about 4 -5 hours of sleep a night....I think one feeds into the other. I dont know really but its a huge struggle ...worse than drinking or drugs. For me anyway....Someone told me after lunch Friday that "we gotta get you healthy" AMEN and thanks for the concern. I really do appreciate it....

I recently read an article sent to me by a friend of mine in Pennsylvania. It was about the heart and how its so misunderstood on many levels. Cardiovascular disease and deaths claim nearly 800,000 lives a year. The heart is incredibly strong and resilient but over time just like many things it can wear out from abuse. It beats 100,000 a day and 3,000 people die daily from a heart related illness. My heart is already damaged from the enlargement and my valve not working properly add onto that high blood pressure,overweight and family history.....well you can see my problem. I am scared to death of becoming part of the above statistics .

So what's next ? Start working out regular at a gym is one of the first moves.....losing weight is the second ....I guess they are really more of a combo cant really have one without the other. I just keep telling myself that I have to pace myself and not set unrealistic goals. Being incredibly human I have waited till much later to turn to prayer on this matter ....And while not a huge fan of Paul...I have found something in his letter to the people at Cornith.

In 1 Corinthians 13:12 it says "For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known"

John Wesley says that now we see even the things that surround us. A mirror,(ancient mirrors were often made of highly polished metal and would show a reflection through great distortions) which reflects only our imperfect forms, in a dim, faint manner, so that our thoughts about them are puzzling and intricate, and everything is a kind of riddle to us. But then - We shall see, not a faint reflection, but the objects themselves. Face to face - Distinctly. Even when God himself reveals things to me, great parts of them is still kept under the veil. But then I shall know even as also I am known - In a clear, full, comprehensive manner; in some measure like God, who penetrates the centre of every object, and sees at one glance through my soul and all things. I have prayed and prayed about this and God has placed an answer in my life ....I fully believe that....I could not see the full image in the mirror but now I do . I just had to wait and listen. GAME ON !!

Happy Fathers Day to all the Dads out there ....

PS...Give blood ...the next life it saves might be your own.

We are all on a journey home.......

IF IT'S SUNDAY .....IT'S MEET THE PRESS

Tim Russert died late Friday afternoon in Washington DC. He was 58 years old. I was eating at Jason's Deli and was preparing to leave when I saw the headline on CNN.....I am an emotional person by nature and it was tough to stand there and not get teary eyed.....I have cried tonight watching the memorials to him....
I have had a love affair with news and the political process for a LONG time and I have watched Meet the Press for about as long as Tim Russert was the moderator and host. FOX news likes to say that they are "fair and balanced" but in the whole spectrum of news people and news outlets Tim Russert really was fair and balanced.
I remember in the early 90's deciding that I was interested for the first time in politics and living way out in the country and having no cable I turned to Meet the Press on NBC.
This year marked Tim Russerts 17 year as the host of MTP. It's hard to believe that you can get upset about someone dying that you did not even know. But I have been pretty down all afternoon.
But in many ways we did know him....If you watched NBC news on a regular basis then you were most likely a fan of Mr Russert. He was to me that person in your family that you could sit and talk to all day ....about anything. Sports, politics,religion, life ......
They showed a clip of Tim Russert from 2005 talking about being named to head MTP....He said he called up the founder of the show and asked for a few moments to talk and he went to his apartment and asked this guy what advice he could give him when he takes over in a few weeks.....the founder told him to study everything you could about your guest, his likes , his positions, his favorite color even and then you take the exact opposite opinion and make your guest tell you and the nation why they believe in what they believe.
I hate we will not have Tim Russert here for this years election.... It stinks that he will not be here to help lead us through this years historical election.
My personnal Sunday morning ritual will be changing I am sure......Difficult to think that I will be as engaged with a new host of MTP. MSNBC showed interviews tonight from different folks who knew Tim Russert. They were all filmed today talking about him....One Catholic priest who knew Tim Russert and had arranged a recent meeting with the Pope said that Tim was one of those guys who knew that we are all on a journy home....We will miss you Tim. God Bless

A nickels worth of free advice.......

So here is the deal .....
Do you ever get tired of giving advice ? Its not like I give lots of advice on many topics but I have been known to throw my opinion in there every now and then......But sometimes you give what you think is solid advice and you get crapped on in return.
Perhaps its my ego that took a bruising and that's the cause of all of this but at this point I am pulling back on things ....What can I say ? I'm human.
If asked...I will reserve comment.
It's the best choice right now and for me to have some piece of mind this is the thing to do ....
Lord knows we all have lots on our plates right now and we sometimes suffer gladly....but to be honest I am a little bit tired of everything....

Just for poops and giggles

I dont really know how to upload a Youtube video to Blogger so I just put the link on here for you to go to ....anyone wanna tell me how ??
I am not a fan of the end of the video where they stick all the indicted folks next to Hillary....but the other part does a pretty decent job of showing Barack is not a member of a terrorist group....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTgqQ2_KQkc&eurl=http://news.aol.com/political-machine/2008/06/06/obama-whitey-video-rumor-is-crap/?icid=1615988631x1203764875x1200410134

Omega 3 Fish Oil.....

So here is the deal .....

I have a few health issues that have to be seen about pretty soon . As I reported in a previous blog I have been diagnosed with an enlarged heart. I was sent by my doctor to have a battery of tests to determine what damage, if any, was done to my heart by the enlargement. Blood work, stress tests, heart ultra sounds ....all were done.

I went back to the doctor today to find out the results ....FINALLY!! My blood work was ok, with the only problem being my cholesterol and my "bad" levels being pretty high ....The tests on my heart showed that I have a valve problem with my left ventricle mitral valve. Nothing that is gonna kill me tomorrow ....but something that has to be addressed and soon.

Many people have valve problems ....some very severe and others not so bad. I am just glad to have an idea as to my problem now and start working towards getting it better.

I have to get in better shape....no question about it. I need to lose about 100lbs, I need to excercise more ...on a more frequent basis, I need to eat better and have better eating habits period.

My doctor wants to see me lose weight ....he said this will go a long way in helping deal with the valve problem. Being overweight like I am puts too much added stress on my heart and dropping pounds will greatly reduce this.....It will not cure my problem but it will make things better. Cutting out cigarettes almost 6 months ago is a great thing... Cutting back my level of stress will also help in the long run....anything I can do to keep my heart from "overworking" will be good....careful not to lift heavy things ...careful not to play basketball for an hour straight (ha ...me playing ball)..I can excercise but at a measured pace....anyway you get the point I think.

Getting my cholesterol down is going to be another issue....DR.S told me that I don't have to cut out everything right now ...just cut back. I will not be on medicine yet but he has told me to start taking four Omega 3 fish oil capsules each day.

I will go back in three months for more tests ....To borrow from the West Wing, I have this heart thing now.

So ...here we are

I wanted to post this blog for everyone who has been curious about things ....I apprecaite yalls prayers and concerns.

Charging for snacks on planes.....

This and That .....
A little history ....I used to really enjoy going to the movies ...I had rules and everything. I still stand by a few of my rules but thanks to my friends I have let many, if not most , go by the wayside. At some point it dawned on me that I was not enjoying going to see movies in the theaters as much .
First ...Movies have became VERY expensive!! It now costs $9.00 dollars to see an evening show at The Rave in Montgomery. To me thats alot ......anyway.
Second...There are too many kids at the theater. LOTS of kids ....young teens. I work with teens and I would rather not be around that at the movies.
Third...I joined Netflix.
I started in 1991 collecting movie stubs.....I have every movie ticket stub since 1991. At some point that morphed into me keeping ANY ticket to anything I went to ....I used to see at least one movie a week. Since January 2008 I have seen four. I have seen three in the last week...and they were all really good movies.
Anyway ....a few movie reviews
IRON MAN
WOW....what can I say about this movie ....It surpassed all my expectations. Hell, I did not even want to see it before I read what Mr Lucas had to say about it.
INDY 4
A very good "last" installment to a wonderful movie franchise. Indy is at his best fighting the bad guys.
SEX IN THE CITY
I have to admit that I have never been a frequent viewer of this show but the times I did watch I really enjoyed it. If you have never seen a single episode on HBO or in reruns then thats ok because the movie does a great job of giving you some background to catch you up some.
THE STRANGERS
If you know me at all then you know that I DONT LIKE A SCARY MOVIE. Ever since this movie tralier started playing I have been wanting to see it. I saw it and WOW it was creepy ...but very enjoyable .

I am currently reading James Frey's latest book, BRIGHT SHINY MORNING. It is a novel set in LA and it is turning into quite the read. I know some of you might say that since he "lied" about his hit book A MILLION LITTLE PIECES. I think he really got the short end of the bad publicity stick on that matter...and then to have Her Highness Oprah eviscerate him on national TV ...BLECH. I mean to be called a liar by Oprah is a big deal ....she said she had a reputation to consider and maintain and that people looked to her as an example....But did she not have President Bush on her show also?? I think its fair to say that he maybe, perhaps, sorta lied also...right ? The presidents lie has cost thousands of lives...both american and iraqis ...I mean James Frey told some lies about his past to pad his story ....David Sederis has done it ....Burroughs has done it ....I am guessing many authors have done it. Anyway , its a good book and I still like A MILLION LITTLE PCS.

AIRLINES
It has been announced over the last few weeks that airlines are changing prices, luggage requirements and even charging for snacks in coach.
On NBC, Brian Williams had the best line in regards to the whole matter after reporting this past week ..." in a related story the airlines have decided to leave the seats on the planes ...for now"!!

A few of my Favorite things .....

So ...I am 34.....And glad of it !!!! Another year has come and gone and this Mr Gregg is now 34 years of age ....

I spent Wednesday working as many of us do on our birthdays ....no big deal there except I had committed the youth group to serving supper at church ....and the choir was also singing a special performance ....add those together and you get 150+ people that I had to prepare food for and then sing in the choir ....

Needless to say it was a long day ...but a good one !!!

My good friend Jason came down from Bham to spend the day and help out and with him he brought one of the greatest birthday gifts I have received so far in my 34 years ....THE COMPLETE SEASON OF THE WEST WING BOX SET!!!! Saying that I was suprised would be an understatement .....WOW man what a gift !!! He also brought me the Biltmore Pinot Noir wine and a youth game me the copy of the new Sinatra remastered CD.....these are for sure a few of my favorite things !!!!

My youth were SOOOO great at working the supper perhaps it was the knowledge that there was a special agent from the state watching over things ...LOL....

Anyway ...I got many many birthday greatings from all my great friends, family and youth and for that I am very grateful. I have a blessed life and I could not imagine walking through it without you all ....

THANKS ...and see YOU NEXT YEAR

It had to be snakes......

In the summer of 1981 my Aunt Pam and Uncle Jim took me to see Raiders of the Lost Ark. They also took my brother and cousin. I will never forget sitting in the Eastdale Mall Cinema 3(yes, there was only 3 at that time) with my aunt covering my eyes during the Well Of the Soul scenes and again at the end when the Ark is opened. Raiders is the first movie I can remember going to see at a theater. My parents took me to see Star Wars in 1977 but at 3 years old I dont recall that movie and I am sure I saw others between 1977 and 1981 but Raiders stands out.....
How many kids around my age went home and relived that movie?? Chased down nazis in our back yards or climbed down into our own Well of Souls.....I know I am a few years older than most of you out there that reads my blog but many of you did just that ...you became Indy.
I know there are one or two of you who went as Indiana Jones for Halloween.

On Wednesday of this week the fourth, and possibly last, installment of the Indiana Jones movies hit theaters across the nation. If you are a fan or just want to see a really good move then I have to recommend this one.
Its got everything you could want from Indy. Great references to past movies....Lots of loose strings are tied up but the main thing is its great to see an older Indy still doing what he does best ....Kick bad guys and girls asses !!!
It's a big jarring to hear Elvis Presley singing in an Indy movie since we are so used to him being in the 1930's but .....Its still a great movie.
Go see it ....Tomorrow ....Today ....Right now maybe ....

Eleanor Roosevelt went flying with Chief Anderson....

So the other day Stephanie wrote a short blog that mentioned Marion Anderson and how she was denied the right to sing at Constitution Hall in DC because it was segregated in the late 1930's. Eleanor Roosevelt arranged for her to sing from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and the world was awed by Mrs Andersons singing ability.

Eleanor Roosevelt was always trying to get her husband,Franklin D Rooselvelt, to be more aggressive towards civil rights. She was in favor of full intergration many many years before most people were comfortable with the idea.....

This brings me to the topic of my blog and Eleanor Roosevelt's weird connection to my family

In the late 1930s it was a common belief among many that blacks could not be taught to fly planes for the military. There were many "Negro Flight Schools" around the country but none gave out credentials that allowed the men to then fly in the military....

Letters were sent out to the White House asking that President Rooselvelt come down to Tuskegee Alabama and see first hand that not only could black men fly ...they could fly like white men . FDR decided against going but sent Eleanor Roosevelt instead...She went and flew with Chief Anderson(no relation to Marion Anderson). After she returned to DC she told her husband that he had to allow these men to fly in the army air corps and as a result the first military school to teach black men to fly fighter planes was established in Tuskegee Alabama .

In 1940 the school opened to its first cadets.

My grandfather was born and raised in rural Watauga County in North Carolina. He went to school in Boone and never had any real drive to move away. Then he needed a job.

He joined the army in the early fall of 1941 and since he had trained to be a pilot with his cousin the sent him into the Army Air Corps.

He was assigned to Macon Field in Tuskegee Alabama and spent the entire time of World War 2 in Tuskegee. He helped train the men who became known as THE BLACK AIRMEN. THE REDTAILS.

In the summer of 1942 he met Maude Godfrey they fell in love and were married in October of 1942. My Dad was born in 1945.

Ok...now bear with me ....but in some weird far out way... I am here today because of The Roosevelts. Eleanor to be exact.....If she had not come to Tuskegee,the flight school might never have happened, my grandad would not have moved here and met my grandmother, my dad would not have been born......etc etc etc ...

Not to mention that ER helped pave the way for future generations of men and women to be in the military.

Pretty cool I think ....

A Shared blueberry bagel........

It has been a nice day .......
First of all Nick and Laura's beautiful twin girls are doing really good and everyone is pleased with where they are right now ....Continue with the prayers ! Laura will be home soon and they can continue to get the house ready for those two little ones in a couple of weeks....

The day started early with breakfast at Panera bread.....I had a chance to have coffee and bagels with Nick, Brian, Stephanie and Asher. Of course I see Nick all the time and keep up with the others through Stephanies blog but it was so nice to actually sit at a table and see them in person. These are people I wish I had a chance to see more of....and a thanks to Stephanie for sharing the blueberry bagel!!

My day continued with me going to buy a new pair of flip flops. Question: Do you call them sandals or flip flops? I have always called them flip flops but others call them sandals....Anyway...
I went to The Shoe Dept and used my 20% off coupon to get a new pair of Rainbow flip flops....I wore them the rest of the day and MAN ARE THEY COMFORTABLE!!

My day continued from there with me getting a quick lunch at ChikFilA and then heading by the church for a little work. After that I went home,took a nap and ended my day by going to see the LAMP baseball team play for the state championship. They lost, but it was two really good games and LAMP will have a great team coming back next year.......and let me add that Paterson Field downtown is a DUMP.....WOW I was really suprised at the condition of the stadium. I was also suprised to see that there are only two bathrooms in the whole place for men!?!?!
Riverwalk Stadium puts this place to shame.....

Two Great Things .....
On Saturday May 17 an elderly member of my church will be travelling to Washington DC to visit the National World War 2 Memorial on the Mall. He is going with about 90 other men from across Alabama. They all fought overseas in WWII ,and for everyone this will be their first chance to see the memorial that was constructed to say THANK YOU for what they did in helping to save the world from oppression. These men are going for free. They have not paid one dime to board the plane and head to DC. The money was raised my school children and civic groups so that these folks could see the memorial. One 5th grade class in Prattville raised $11,000.00 by selling tshirts. I think this is a great thing being done and I wish every one well as they travel to DC.

On Thursday the Supreme Court of California decided that it was ok for two men or two women to get married in the state of California. This is the biggest state by far to decide that people, regardless of who they are, are entitled to equal protection under the law. Is that not what we all want ? To love who we want and have the chance to show that love by standing before family and friends and saying that yes we love each other and now FINALLY its legal. How much longer before the rest of USA gets on board with this.......

I am now off my Liberal soapbox ......Night

2 hours at IKEA ........

I always have a hard time deciding what to name each blog .....I dont think I am in the minority either when it comes to this. Perhaps others out there sit back and try to think of witty titles to place at the top of the page of their newest blogs...perhaps you go back an forth on names.....sometimes the title of our blogs take on a life all to themselves....I dont know but I usually find the title after I get to writing the blog itself.

For the past couple of months I have taken the approach of writing THEN naming my blog. I find a sentance or a phrase and place that at the top. If you are a fan of the West Wing ( if you are not then SHAME ON YOU) you will notice that during the run of the series they would often name each an episode after something said or mentioned during the show itself.

I like this idea ....and I have started doing the same ....anyway on with the show



I am back after a fairly long break from blogging and to be honest I am still not real sure what I want to talk about .....Lots going on in my life and the world but nothing that would warrent a long rambling blog.


Can Obama Win in November?

I would like to sit here and say HECK YES he can win ...no question about it . I really do think he has a great chance to be our next president. My concern is the pattern of how he has won during the primaries. In some states he has won by a HUGE margin and thats great but many of these states have high african-american populations. In other states where there is a huge white majority he has won but he has not carried the states like people would like to see him .

Hillary has made the observation that she has carried the big states like Pennsylvania,New York,California and New Jersey. She has also stated that in many states with higher concentrations of middle class/blue collar voters she has won and won big. Take West Virginia the other night .....she won BIG.

Is it a Black and White thing? I think that it's a part of it .....I was talking to a friend of mine in Georgia last weekend and he said he did not see Obama as a black man ....but I do. This does not make me racist it just makes me human and honest. I also see Hillary as a women and John McCain as an older white guy.

I think many people still see Obama as the black guy running for office and that being black is a good reason NOT to vote for him.
I am not voting for Obama because he is black , I am voting for him because he is the best choice in my eyes. But he is still a black man......and Hillary is a women ....I think you see the point.

Hillary will be the Veep I think .....Obama needs her on the ticket .

Of course I wish the candidates would annouce earlier who they want as a running mate ....

My buddy in Georgia also said that he rememberd hearing Jon Stewart saying something to the effect "he wants a President to be smarter than him ...not be his buddy and his pal" I agree with that ....

Speaking in friends in Georgia .....
I got to spend last weekend in Georgia and had a chance to see a good friend,Ryan. It was nice seeing Ryan and his friend Rick. We talked politics and had dinner then watched a movie.....It was a very realaxing evening.
I then got to go see my Nana on Saturday. To my suprise she is doing pretty damn good.....She is very thin but her mind is sharp and it was really nice to sit and talk.
My Nana is the reason I am a democrat. I used to sit and listen to her talk about politics and as a kid I learned alot about her ....She was happy to hear that I am voting for Obama!!
I then made a stop in Atlanta and spent 2 hours at the IKEA store.....WOW I really dig that store.

Talking Politics
Why is it hard to talk about politics with people? I mean, I can mention certain things around people and you can sense them tense up.....I LOVE talking politics with folks...
Whether you are a Repulican or Democrat....I dig talking. I dont like to argue but I love to talk.....I wish others were like this

Wednesday marked the 10 anniversary of the death of Francis Albert Sinatra. If you know me then you know I am a HUGE fan of Sinatra. He was not the best singer of his time but he was the best at making a song his own.....His phrasing and timing was unmatched. People are still trying to copy him. Michael Buble even has used the same arrangements of certain songs on his recent albums.
Sinatra also had incredible style...he gave millions to folks in need and never once did he ask for anything in return. He has his down side of course but ...Man what a talent!!

If you are one to pray then please keep Nick and Laura in your prayers as they continue to deal with being in the hospital and all the stuff that comes with being there.....I have a huge phobia of hospitals and this prevents me from being a good person about visiting folks who are sick. I went last week to see Laura and I had to leave ....my being nervous was not a good thing for her and the babies. BLECH ....
Also keep Luke and Jackie in your prayers as they travel to England and Wales for a vacation.



Nothing much else from me .....Maybe more tomorrow night