Life's Rich Pageant

So I'm driving around doing some Christmas shopping yesterday, and I put in a compilation cd that a buddy gave me a few years ago. It's got an assortment of music on there, from Van Morrison to Wilco to Train and more. And then the song, "I Believe" from the R.E.M. album Life's Rich Pageant came on. And it was not only a blast from the past, but also a very overwhelming feeling of growing old....

The year was 1986. I was in the 10th grade. This was the era of Genera clothing, Coca -Cola sweatshirts, and the beginning of tight-rolled jeans (you know, when you folded the bottom of your jeans around and then rolled them tightly around your ankles). My gang of friends were REALLY into music at this point, so for Christmas, I got a few tapes (yes, TAPES...compact discs were really popular at this point...):

R.E.M. - Life's Rich Pageant

I remember Weston White having this tape in the beginning of the school year. He had an older brother, Elbert, in college, and that's where he heard a good bit of "new" music. Elbert would come home from college and play the stuff he was listening to at Millsaps. Weston was always one step ahead of most of us regarding music. Anyway, after months of trying to borrow Weston's tape, I asked Santa to bring it to me. "Superman" was our gang's favorite song for a while. I remember riding around in Trew Brewster's car singing "Superman." Good times....

RATT - Dancing Undercover

At this point in time, I had been a RATT fan for a long, long time. In 1986, they released this album and the first single, "Dance." I couldn't get enough of the song, much less the video on MTV. As I wrote in an earlier post, I was certainly a "Rattaholic" and very glad to get this album from Santa.

The Police - Every Breath You Take: The Singles

Just 3 years earlier, Santa brought me Synchronicity, and ever since that time, I was a huge Police fan. As most people know, however, after that album the Police went their separate ways. Sting embarked on a solo career and Andy and Stewart practically disappeared. But in 1986, at least as far as we knew, they got back together to release this album. They released a new version of "Don't Stand So Close to Me" and the video was pretty cool. So, of course, I asked for this album, too. And Santa was nice enough to oblige.

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark - The Best of OMD

I'm still not sure where or how this one happened. Earlier that year (1986), OMD had a few hits, to include "Secret" and "Forever Live and Die". This was a greatest hits album, so it also included "If You Leave." For whatever reasons, I became a huge fan and wanted this album. Weston gave me a ton of hell about it, but I still liked a few of their songs.

Anyway, the whole point to this post is that since it is now the year 2006...that means that it was 20 YEARS AGO when I got those albums. 20 YEARS!!! It seems just like yesterday when we were all riding around listening to R.E.M. in Weston's car, The Ghost. The minute I heard the song, "I Believe" yesterday, it shot me right back to 1986. 20 YEARS AGO....and it seems like yesterday. Oh well, at least the music never gets old.....

World Is A Ghetto

So I'm at a party and forgot to bring my camera, so my phone will have to do. My good friends Michael Welling and Cassandra Tennille are having a huge party at their house. One last blow-out party before the wrecking ball hits. They are renovating their house in a few weeks, so they are throwing this party to celebrate their nuptials, as well as the "new" house. They have good ol' cajun food, lots of alcohol, and one hell of a band. Zydafunk is jamming right now, and are closing the party down with War's "World Is A Ghetto." Awesome!!

Talk about annoying...

Talk about annoying...

I'm at the Thrashers/Leafs hockey game (Thrashers just scored their 5th goal making it 5-0) and this girl is in the box next to us. She is screaming and has the most annoying voice I've ever heard in my life. She's been screaming the entire game. She's about to be thrown onto the rink any minute now....

Deep-Fryin' A Turkey

Our Thanksgiving ritual these days is to deep-fry our turkey. Not sure if you've ever had one or not, but it's damn good. My recipe includes Cajun Injector marinade, Dale's, a little crab boil, habanero Tobasco, 1 bottle of beer, and salt/pepper to taste. Inject all of those ingrediants into the turkey the night before, and let it marinate over night. Before you drop it into the fryer, cover it in Italian dressing and then sprinkle some Tony's Cajun Seasoning on it. Watch the little clip below to see the turkey going into the fryer. I actually forgot to catch dad taking it out of the fryer, so this will have to do!

Happy Thanksgiving!

My first blog post....

Well, I never thought I'd break down and involve myself in a "blog," but after my personal website was hacked, it was (and still is) extremely tough to add updates to it. When I finally realized that my site is really just a blog in the first place, I decided it might be worth taking a stab at the whole blog thing. Who knows...it might take off, and it might not. Only way to know for sure is to sit back and watch.....

The cool thing about this blog is that I can update it from anywhere. I can post stories directly via the web, via email, or via my mobile phone. So...perhaps it's a story from earlier in the day or a last thought before I hit the sack. Or, maybe it's an idea or something that I post by sending an email. Or even better, maybe I'm on the road or out and about and I snap a picture of something with my mobile phone. I can post that picture with a story directly from my phone...not bad, if you ask me.

All that said, stay tuned....you never know what's about to hit the wires!!

Sorry...

Sorry....I've been working through yet another case of being hacked. I'm slowly getting my site back to working status, but it's a slow and painful process.... Your patience is definitely appreciated!

Torino Day 2

Today we got up early, had breakfast, and then hit the town in Torino. It's such an incredibly beautiful city, especially now that it's decorated for the Olympic Games. We had lunch in a local restaurant and then went to watch the Women's 5000m Speed Skating, where we saw Canada's Clara Hughes win the Gold. It was awesome to see so many different fans from different countries rooting for their athletes. After the event, we went back to the hotel, cleaned up a little bit, and then had a romantic dinner in Torino. To cap the night off, we went to the Budweiser/Sports Illustrated party where we saw Tom Brokow, Lester Holt, Campbell Brown, Sasha Cohen, and several US medal winners...among other celebrities. What a night! Stay tuned....!

Greetings from the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turino!!!

That's right! Hello, from Turino! I arrived yesterday around noon Turino time. My flight left Atlanta at 5:10 PM and arrived in Milan, Italy around 9:00 AM Italy time. I took a train to Turino where Hadley met me at the station and we took a cab to our hotel. I took a short power nap and then we had a wonderful dinner at the Bava Winery. I'll provide more details and pictures later. As for now, it's 10:51 AM on Feb. 25th, and we're heading out to see more of Turino. Hadley has been here since February 6th, so I've got much catching up to do. Stay tuned for more updates!!!

Sorry for the lack of updates

Once again, I'm sorry for the lack of updates. Things have been crazy after the first of the year, and I've been on the road a TON. Plus, I broke my digital camera while skiing in Montana for New Year's...fell on it when I busted my @#$%&* on the slopes.

Anyway, I promise to get some updates on here soon. Stay tuned for some pics from the ski trip...before the camera got crushed...as well as more pics from the Army/Navy game and Montana from the 4th of the July...

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!! We wish everyone a wonderful Holiday season and a very Happy New Year!!!

Ignorance Prevailed

Well, friends.....the United Drys won. Alcorn County will remain a dry county...at least as far as liquor is concerned. Beer can still be sold, but as I write this, the United Drys are gathering and getting ready to fight that one, too. It's really sad when you consider this: the Corinth Toys For Tots drive has only produced 7 toys thus far, and there are less than two weeks remaining until Christmas. Furthermore, the Corinth Christmas Basket Fund only has approximately $3,000 in it. If these ignorant people would put half as much effort into helping the poor or homeless or less fortunate as they do in preaching about the evils of alcohol...most of the world's problems could be solved. These are the same people that go to places like Tupelo or Savannah to shop, go out to eat, and DRINK....so that no one in Corinth will see them. Talk about hypocrites. 100% ignorant rednecks. It absolutely angers the hell out of me that people can be such small-minded idiots.

I also heard that over the last few months, nearby towns and counties (that are getting all the revenues from Corinthians that go there to buy liquor) have been taking sides with the Drys...obviously in an attempt to keep Corinth in a timewarp so they can continue to get money that SHOULD be going back into the Corinth community. But NOOOOOO....those stupid, ignorant rednecks are too caught up in their religious BS to understand it's preventing Corinth from becoming more. From becoming a thriving community again.

I would give anything if the O'Reilly Factor would do a segment on the United Drys and Alcorn County. I would love to witness him doing a tap dance on the faces of all the ignorant United Drys. If you ask me, this is right up his alley. Perhaps there are bigger things to debate on his show, but you know as well as I do that he'd love a shot at them...he thrives on ignorant people, and that's exactly what the United Drys are.

Anyway, what's done is done. In another 2 years, perhaps the tables will turn. But who knows. As long as the ignorance continues to spread, things might get worse before they get any better. I guess I don't have anything to complain about here in Atlanta. Most of us moan and groan about not being able to purchase alcohol in stores on Sunday. But at least we can buy it any other day of the week. That's a pretty ignorant law, too...but not nearly as bad as what the Drys are doing to Corinth. Stay tuned....

Our first tree

I'm embarrassed to admit that this year was the first time in many, many years that I have a Christmas tree. When I moved to Atlanta in 1996, my roommate and I bought a tree at Home Depot, and I think that was the last time I had a tree. Fast forward to last year, and Hadley and I were newlyweds and living in our condo. Our tree was a piece of plywood, painted green, with lights strung across it. Definitely nothing to brag about...

Given the fact that we bought our first house this year, I guess it makes sense that we'd finally get a real Christmas tree. And that's what we did:



There's nothing like the smell of a REAL Christmas tree. For those of you out there that get the fake ones, it's time to step up and get with the program. Now I'm regretting all those years of apparently being a Scrooge!

I must say, however, that finally getting a tree opened my eyes to something--you don't always agree (with your significant other) about how to decorate that damn conifer. Growing up, my family always used the bigger, multicolor FLASHING bulbs. And we obviously hung our own ornaments. This year it wasn't like that. First of all, my ornaments are still used by my parents on THEIR tree. Second of all, the PRINCESS (Hadley) doesn't like BIG bulbs, nor does she like FLASHING bulbs. At least I got one out of three and got to use multicolored ones. And lastly, we always went out and cut our own tree. This was always a family event, and all of us would pile into the truck, trespass onto someone's property, cut down a tree, and get the hell out of dodge before we were caught. Could I convince Hadley...whoops...I mean the Princess, to do that this year? Of course not....we got to go down to Big John's and buy one for $120 like idiots. The funny part is that we were actually on our way to Home Depot to buy one, when we passed by Big John's and assumed the ones there were the same price at Home Depot....and we were wrong. Apparently several of our friends went to Depot and got trees for under $50. Shame on us!

Anyway, at least we have a tree this year. I can't complain. No matter what kind of day I've had, the minute I get home and see and smell that tree, I'm ecstatic. But that happens to me anyway when I get home and see the Princess...right?!

Skateland

Ok...so I know it's been a while since I updated this thing. Sorry, but things have just been crazy lately. I got a call from my ol' buddy, Bobby "Side" Burns, last night...and he gave me a little grief about not keeping it up-to-date. That said, I promised him I'd do a better job, and here's proof:

Skateland


So on my last trip to Corinth, it hit me that after all the other pictures and stories about that awesome town and all of its memorable spots, I'd forgotten about one key place: Skateland.

Obviously, the picture above indicates that the name has changed. I'm not sure when that happened, but I can tell you that I'm fairly certain it's not the place it used to be "back in the day." I can't remember exactly when Skateland opened in Corinth, but I want to say it was sometime in the mid to late 70's. No matter what the occasion, Skateland was the best venue in the area. When I think back on my first few times there, visions of feathered butt-cut hair-do's come to mind. And let's not forget about the infamous "comb in the back pocket." Regardless of what kind of person you were or what kind of hair-do you had, the cool thing was to have a comb in your back pocket. I distinctly recall people skating around the place with combs in their back pockets. Of course, if you fell, you always ran the risk of landing on your butt and breaking that prized possession. I guess it was worth it, though, because those things were everywhere. Pink, blue, yellow...the handles visible in the back pockets of everyone...

Skateland was also the place to have birthday parties. Up until Jr. High, almost every kid had his or her birthday party at Skateland. As you walked in the place, the consession stand and tables for eating were to the right, and that's where the actual party took place. There were arcade games along the wall in that area, too....Missle Command, Defender, and of course, Pac Man. To the left as you walked in, was the DJ booth, and on the other side of that was the area where you rented your skates. And speaking of skates....

The roller skates you wore were a major fashion statement, as well as a measure of your coolness. The expert skaters would never have "rented" their skates. Oh, no. Rentals were for the amateurs. The skilled "cool" skaters brought their own skates...you know, the ones with the clear wheels or the yellow neon wheels. The girls had white ones with big puff balls on the laces. The fancier the skates, the better the skater. Which is another reason I was a "renter." This was always a pain in the butt for me because my feet were so big...I could rarely find a pair of skates that fit me. Those ugly brown skates with the big orange bumper on the toes...man, they were ugly. But I had no choice....I was a horrible skater, so I couldn't justify having the cool skates.

At these parties, as well as on Saturday afternoons, there would be different kinds of "skates." Not skates as in "roller skates," but skates as in "types of skating." There was the "Snowball Skate" where the boys lined the wall on one end of the rink, and the girls lined the wall at the other end of the rink. A slow song like "Open Arms" by Journey would come on, and the boys would skate to the other end and ask a girl to skate with him. This was always a major drama catastrophy because there would always be one or two girls left after all the guys had chosen their girls. So the ones that were left would sob and totally play the "poor me" card. It was hilarious....and it was usually the same girls every time. Can you imagine?! Then there were the show-off's. Guys like Corey Battles and Michael Brewer who could do all the tricks like skating backwards, jumping stuff, and all that. The girls thought they were the coolest because of their superior skating skills. There was also usually a guy who would act like he crashed into a wall or bench or something and wait for all the girls to rush over to him to make sure he was alright. Michael Nash was pretty good at doing that....

Nothing beat the songs that we usually skated to. Songs like "Another One Bites the Dust" by Queen, "Double Dutch Bust" by the Sugar Hill Gang, the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, anything by Journey, ABBA, the Bee Gees....every time I hear one of those songs, it immediately takes me back to the good ol' Skateland days.

Anyway, just thought I'd share some memories of good ol' Skateland. If any of you out there remember some things that I've forgotten, just drop me a line and let me know, and I'll post a follow-up story. Skateland stories are too good to not be shared with the rest of the world!!!

Sorry for the lack of updates....

Sorry to be so out of touch with regards to updating the site. Things have been crazy lately, and we're currently out of town for Thanksgiving. But rest assured, I've got plenty of stuff to report on once we get back. Stay tuned!!!

Happy Halloween!

Priceless

Spending your 1st Wedding Anniversary with your lovely wife at the Ritz in Buckhead = $A Nice Chunk of Change$



Complimentary dessert in your honor = $No Charge, but worth every spoonful$



Complimentary champangne waiting for you in the room after dinner = $No Charge, but worth every drop$



Are you ready for the kicker?????



The Ritz staff making a pretty ironic error on the card that came with the champagne, only reminding me of what I feared the MOST about marriage.....PRICELESS!!!!



Oh well.....I still love you, Hadley. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this was, indeed, a mistake on the part of the staff, and not a sign of what the future has in store for me!!!!

Chloe the Goldendoodle!

Ever heard of a Goldendoodle? It's a cross between a Standard Poodle and a Golden Retriever. They are growing in popularity...at least in the Atlanta area. There's also the Labradoodle, which is a cross between a Standard Poodle and a Labrador Retriever...but that's not what Chloe is...



Our friends Sasha and Jeff got her about two weeks ago. I must admit, I'm not a froo-froo dog fan...I'm all about "real" dogs...you know...anything other than your typical "drop-kick" dogs. Chloe is different. Since the Standard Poodle is the "big" poodle, she's going to be a pretty big dog. Combined with a good Golden Retriever, she won't shed and will be a great indoor/outdoor dog.

They brought her over last weekend, and she is one little ball of fluff. They aren't getting much sleep at night these days, but I'm sure she'll get better with time. Regardless, she's a beautiful little pup....don't you think?!

I created a small gallery of Chloe photos, so check them out in the Photo Gallery when you get a chance...

Montana

Now that the site is finally back up and running smoothly, I had a chance to upload pictures from our trip to Montana this summer. We went out there for the 4th of July and stayed for over a week...a much-needed vacation.

Towards the end of our trip, we went on a long hike in Glacier National Park. As you'll see, the scenery was amazing. I snapped a shot of some Bear Grass on the way down from the hike...and yes, I'm well aware of what the Bear Grass resembles...funny stuff!



Anyway, if you want to see the pictures, click here.

Interesting find...

For those of you that are familiar with Pickwick, that awesome lake not far from Corinth...I'm sure you'll agree that somehow, someway...everything goes back to Pickwick. It's just a special place, and most of us from Corinth have spent our formative years there.

That's why I had to take a picture of what I came across at breakfast this morning here in Golden, Colorado:



I doubt there's any relation to "our" Pickwick, but I thought it was worth taking a picture....