Another lucky guy...

Saturday night another great friend of mine finally tied the knot. Doug Billian and Jenny Bothwell said "I Do" at 6:00 PM Saturday, October 30th. It was an absolutely beautiful wedding, and the reception was a blast. Congrats Jenny and Doug'r!!!!

Old 97's - Variety Playhouse - Atlanta, GA - October 29, 2004

"You're a bottle cap away from pushing me too far..."

I went to see the Old 97's at Variety Playhouse in Little Five Points here in Atlanta. Allen Richardson, Jennifer Schiveree, Thomas Farmer, Charles and Caroline Echols, Michael Brown and I met up to catch the show, and it was one hell of a show!

They played tons of old stuff, as well as a few songs off their new album, Drag It Up. Despite being on the road for over three months, they looked great and Rhett's voice held up pretty well. It was their second-to-last show, as they headed back to Dallas to go out with a bang at the Granada Theater.

If you've never given these guys a listen, do so NOW! A little country, a little punk, and a little rock...a great blend that grows on you to the point you'll know every word to every song. They have so much energy...it's obvious they love to perform and do so for the right reasons. They definitely don't get to Atlanta enough...hopefully that will change.

See my "Buy These Now" section for more details on the Old 97's!

Happy Halloween!!

No major plans for Halloween this year, thus the reason the pumpkin blew chunks...but...



We're going to a little party on Halloween night to help some friends give out candy and scare the kids in the neighborhood. It should be a lot of fun, and I'll post some pictures for all to see.

In the meantime, here are some pics from Halloween a few years ago. Here is my annual default Halloween costume:

The Buckhead Flower Guy


Buy flowa...$5.....buy flowa for pretty girl....me take picture? Picture $5, too. Flowa and picture..then $8. Yes?



You sure you no want me to take picture? Flowa?

And now you have the rest of our friends. This was all done for a Halloween party a few years ago. Obviously, everyone dressed up for the occasion. The Flower Guy was taking the pictures....


From left to right...Party Guy, Wonder Woman, Bjorn Borg, Geisha Girl (Hadley), Sumo Wrestler, and a member of the Fallopian Swim Team.

And another picture of Geisha Girl and Sumo Wrestler in full pose...



Ahh...such a blast from the past. Anyway, I hope everyone has a great Halloween this year. I'll post some pictures from our party soon....

The Spit Take-Back

Most of the people that truly know me would say, without a doubt, that I'm a very remnsicent person. For some reason, I have an exceptionally good memory...especially regarding my childhood and growing up in Corinth, Mississippi. I readily admit this, and I'm rather proud of my ability to "unforget" a lot of things. Sometimes it takes me by surprise....suddenly remembering something that I hadn't thought of in years. And that's not unusual. But what IS unusual, I must say, is when I have a dream about something that I haven't thought of in years. Let's take it one step further and even say a NIGHTMARE about something I had completely forgotten about. Case in point:

THE SPIT TAKE-BACK


I had a dream...er....a nightmare...last night about something that used to happen to me on a weekly basis as a kid. I was in the 4th grade, and I was riding through my old neighborhood on my yellow and black Huffy Pro Thunder bike (with yellow mag wheels). My trusty dog, Rip, was running along side me, and I was cruising through Creekwood without a care in the world. All of a sudden, Howard Bowles and Michael Brewer jumped out from behind some bushes, grabbed me and threw me (and my bike) into Monica Prather's yard. Howard jumped on top of me, sat on my chest, and leaned over me with his knees on my arms pinning me to the ground. He had a huge wad of chewing gum in his mouth, which obviously meant that his spit glands were chugging 100 MPH. He leaned forward so that his face was directly over mine, and he slowly let a large wad of spit dangle over my face. It stretched and stretched and hung down at least two feet so that it barely swung just above my nose...and then my right eye....and then back to my nose. And right when I thought it was about to break and splat right in my face, he sucked it back up and began laughing hysterically. He jumped off me, grabbed my bike and threw it into the woods, and he and Michael ran off down the street.

Why did I choose to write about this? Probably because any guy that reads this will know exactly what I'm talking about. Kids will always be kids. But some of the things that "neighborhood bullies" and older brothers do to the younger, more "vulnerable" ones can scar you for life! From making you eat boogers to giving you a noogie until you named 20 brands of cigarettes...they always knew how to make you want to take the "long way home" or never go visit your best friend while they were home.

I'm 33 years old, and I'm still having nightmares about the horrors of my childhood. Tonight I'll probably dream about being attacked by the midgets from the midget farm....seriously.

Good things come to those who wait...

Just like the subject line reads, good things come to those who wait. In this case, an old friend of mine from high school finally got hitched. For awhile there, it seemed that Mike and I were in a contest to see who would be the last of our gang to get married. Turns out we almost got married on the same day...



Mike and April got married on the Island of Ischia off the coast of Italy. I haven't seen any pictures aside from the one above, but I'll post them as soon as he sends them my way. I'm sure it was a sight to behold. Congrats, Mike!

Thanks to all of you SUV driving, cell phone talkin' tennis mom's...

Sorry to say, Easter will never be the same again. It looks like our friend the Easter Bunny was out late again and paid for it this time. $100 says a tennis mom on her $#@%*& cell phone probably plowed over him while changing the $@#%&* DVD for her kids in the SUV that she can't drive OR park. Good thing Santa rides in a sleigh...

Turn down the VOLume...!

I've never been one to rant and rave too much about sports. Sure, I played them all as a kid. I played football in highschool. I played some rugby in college. But I've never really been one to obsess about a particular team or sport. However, I do like to watch Ole Miss football. There's something to be said about Ole Miss football. If you're fortunate enough to ever make it to Oxford and The Grove for an Ole Miss Football Experience, then do it. It's an experience all to itself.

There's also something I absolutely loath about sports...and that is ANYTHING related to the University of Tennessee. I grew up rooting for Ole Miss and hating Mississippi State. I went to West Point and enjoyed my share of Army/Navy games...talk about a rivalry! But in my honest opinion, there's nothing like a Tennessee Vols fan. Those fans can't just root for Tennessee. Oh, no. They have to deck themselves out in ORANGE. Not just a hat or a t-shirt or a sweatshirt. It's got to be ALL DAMN THREE OF THEM. Or worse, they'll have sweatpants, socks, sweatbands, sunglasses, and whatever else you can make orange or stick an obnoxious T on.

Furthermore, you have their cars...or vehicles...or RVs. Can't just have a small decal on the back....you gotta have a big T on the back, on the front, on the sides. Gotta have a Vols license plate. Gotta have several Vols flags, preferably on each window of the car. Gotta have the Vols magnets on every square inch of the car, as well. No moderation for these people....gotta go all out.

What takes the cake, you ask? Well, just stop a group of UT fans and ask them what year they graduated. Chances are VERY good that 1 out of 10 of them even went to college....much less to the University of Tennessee. That speaks for itself.