My Heart Is In The Highlands.....

but I am going to Georgia...

So....

Tomorrow I am taking a quick weekend trip up to Stone Mountain in Georgia to attend the annual STONE MOUNTAIN HIGHLAND GAMES.

It will be my first highland games in about 4 years...ever since the Alabama games were cancelled a few years back I have not been able to attend any southern games. I am excited to be going.

My Clan name is MacGregor and our family crest bears a lion with the words "S'Rioghal Mo` Dhream" translated from Gaelic it means " Our Race is Royal" or "Royal is our Race"

Our family motto is " While there are leaves on the trees and foam on the river, MacGregor despite them all shall flourish forever"

Should be a good weekend.....

On a sad note I will helping with a funeral tomorrow at church before I head out of town....It will be the first time that I have helped with a funeral since my Dad died two years ago ...Tomorrow will be tough for all involved.

The debates are over and I have decided to vote for McCain. Yep...you betcha!! HA

I saw this quote from CS LEWIS the other night and close with it ....

"Let's pray that the human race never escapes Earth to spread its iniquity elsewhere"

Amen Mr Lewis.

CRIME, BOY, I DONT KNOW ....

So...

At 7:05 this morning I get a call that our church, the place where I work, was broken into over the night. This is the second time in less than 10 months that it has happened. They broke out windows and messed up the ceiling (dont know why), they broke door handles and pryed open cabinets. Unlike last time they walked away empty handed this time.

I will not even bore you with things like ..Why ? People sometimes break in places just to tear crap up....

My concern is this ....There was not one sign of forced entry into the building, much like the last time someone broke in....I was the last to leave Sunday night.

The police asked were doors open before I left and I said yes ...They think someone knew our routine ...came in while we were there and just waited till we left the building.

I was at the church with about 12 youth sunday night. They were mainly in the youth room on the 3rd floor but a few went to the kitchen for drinks, two girls went to the second floor to talk in private....it concerns me that someone was possibly lurking about in the building while we were there....after the youth left I went about turning out lights and shutting things down. I was in the building alone for maybe 10 minutes.....gives me the creeps.

What a Monday.....Keep us in yalls prayers.

The USATODAY, THE WASHINGTON POST, THE NY TIMES , THE BOSTON GLOBE, THE MIAMI HERALD,THE ANCHORAGE DAILY NEWS,THE JUNEAU EMPIRE

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