What It's About

Welcome to my blog! I ruminate on random thoughts rattling around in my brain. Subjects range from reality TV to current events and everything in between. Whether you agree with me or not, I welcome your comments. God gave you the ability to think for yourself, and this country was founded based on the right to have your own opinion. Who am I to question that? Hope you enjoy! And, if you like to shop on the internet, or have always wanted to try, please feel free to click on one of the banners on the left. Do admit I get a small commission for anything you buy through the links. Appreciate it if you do decide to buy something!

Monday, January 25, 2010

Gapses in the Synapses

Have a veritable smorgasboard of material to cover this go around.  Subjects ranging from politics to the power of TV to sports, among other things.  So, if you're game, here we go:
  • Want to know the true power of television?  My son had been playing his Nintendo DS in the living room all morning with the TV turned off.  I went into the kitchen to fix myself some breakfast and turned the TV in there on while I was eating.  He came in the room, while still playing his game, just to listen to the show I was watching. It was a show about the different stages the earth went through as it was being formed, too.  Riveting television for a nine year old.  He didn't leave until I turned it back off, either.  Reckon only got myself to blame for that;
  • If you have any political ambitions, better make sure you know your local sports teams.  According to David Gergen, a well-respected political analyst, part of the reason the Dem lost in Massachusetts was cuz she didn't know who Curt Schilling is.  She was asked during a radio call-in show about him, and she apparently made some comment about him being a Yankee fan.  Per Mr. Gergen, the fact she didn't know who the hero of the 2004 Red Sawx is didn't set well with the Sawx fans and probably cost her a bunch of votes.  Just never know what may appeal to or turn off voters.  We sure are fickle sometimes.  Who says we only care about the issues?;
  • Know this will sound crass, but if there's anything positive coming out of the whole Haiti crisis, it's that celebrities have something to rally around now.  Been worried about them since they don't have W to kick around any more.  Didn't watch the Hope for Haiti stuff last week, but it wasn't cuz it was hard to find on TV.  Counted at least 7 stations that were covering it, including the major networks.  Read the concert has raised almost $58 million so far and it's still coming in.  Did see an article today saying overall donations for Haiti are already slowing down.  Guess we've almost reached our saturation point.  Talk about a short collective attention span;
  • Read an article saying the best gift you can give is cash if you are interested in donating for Haiti.  Have to say I agree with that.  Was down on the Gulf Coast for nine months after Katrina hit.  Saw piles of water, food, clothing and diapers still outside a lot of facilities when I left from there.  At some point, they are going to need to start purchasing building supplies and other things.  A lot easier to do that with cash instead of diapers.  Also easier to ship cash to Haiti than actual supplies;
  • Saw where Grant Desme, one of the Oakland A's top prospects, is leaving pro baseball for the priesthood.  Have to admire someone who will give up potential millions to follow his heart.  He was the MVP of his league last year so he obviously had potential.  Said he had been conflicted since he turned pro and now he's at peace within himself. The article I read said there is 10 years of training involved to be a priest.  Never knew there was that much to it, but, then again, ain't Catholic, either.  You go, Grant, and God bless;
  • Did you watch the NFL conference championships this weekend?  As much as Brett Favre has aggravated me this year (well, more the media covering him than him), have to admit he played a whale of a game while pretty much getting his brains beat out for most of it.  Wish could say it's surprising his last pass was an interception, but it ain't.  The game was his career in a nutshell.  Great plays because of the risks he's willing to take along with bonehead plays for the same reason.  Excited to see the Saints and Colts in the Super Bowl.  Can honestly say will be happy with whoever wins.  Da Bears are home watching, too, and am fans of both Peyton Manning and the Saints;
  • Saw where Pernell Roberts died today at the age of 82.  Loved him in Trapper John, M.D.  Was also pretty good in Bonanza.  The article I read said he marched with Martin Luther King, Jr, somewhere in Alabama. Selma, I believe.  He also protested having an all-white stage crew for Bonanza.  Never knew he was that big into the civil rights movement.  Not a bad legacy for an old Georgia boy;
  • Was looking at my map today and saw where someone from Istanbul, Turkey, had visited the blog.  Purty cool.  Wish it would tell me how long they were on the page.  Sometimes I will click on the "Next Blog" link at the very top of the page to see what else is out there.  Imagine that's what happened here.  Most of the websites are in other languages.  Oddly enough, most I run across are in Portugese.  Reckon that shouldn't be much of a surprise since the Portugese settled the half of the New World that the Spainsih didn't. A translation button comes up so can translate any that really look interesting to me.  Still, gives you some perspective on just how global the internet really is.
Well, that's all I got for now.  Appreciate you making it this far.  Hope you have a great week!

And, I am outta here!

Thursday, January 21, 2010

We're Not Gonna Take It

Been reading a lot of analysis on this whole Massachusetts-election thing. Have had a chance to ruminate on what happened and why and thought I'd share my thoughts on it for what they're worth.  These opinions apply to both parties so please don't think I'm trying to single either party out:

Think what both parties are overlooking is, in the grand scheme of things, neither one represents the whole country.  In fact, would venture to say neither one of them even represent half of the country. A majority of folks probably consider themselves independent from both parties.  We just have to vote for one of the two major parties cuz that's all we really got to choose from.  But, whenever a party gets the majority in Congress and/or the White House, they automatically think the whole country only cares about what they have to say.  "We have been given a mandate by the American people!" to which I say "Bullfeathers!  You have, but not what you think!"  The real mandate is we're looking for folks to get along and actually get something done that makes a lot of folks happy, not just one party. When they overlook their counterparts on the other side of the aisle, they aren't listening to a large number of citizens in our great land, which angers a lot more people than makes happy.  The term 'compromise' seems to have died when Henry Clay did.

In the specific case of health care reform, think most people in the country realize reform is needed and want to see it done.  However, they are not happy with this particular brand of reform being forced down their throat.  It appears they are more worried about getting something passed than getting the right thing passed.  Besides, if this reform is 'The Answer,' why won't it apply to Congress, too?  Seems to me (and others) like they would want this health care themselves if it's as great as they say it is.  Anyway, I digress...

The politicians usually make the basic excuse that people opposing their ideas are just angry hate-mongers who don't love their country.  Well, they're partially right.  People are angry all right.  But it ain't cuz they're hate mongers who hate their country.  It's cuz they love their country and they are tired of being ignored!

Politicians from both sides usually say they are going to be bipartisan and work with the other party in the spirit of togetherness while they are campaigning.  However, what they really mean to say is, they are going to be bye-partisan, and tell the other side to kiss their behind cuz we're in control now.  We've all heard politicans on both sides of the aisle say these things just in the last 15 years or so.  In fact, this philosophy has been around since the beginning of our great country.  So, it shouldn't be much of a surprise to anyone when that's how it ends up going down.

Was Tuesday's vote a vote against President Obama or the system? My answer would be the system as polls seem to indicate folks generally like him although they are not real sure about his policies right now.  The key to any election is how many independent voters show up, what they want, and who they vote for.  Say right now, as always, they just want to be listened to.  As long as neither party chooses to believe this, we will keep bouncing from side to side with the optimistic hope they actually mean it this time.  Maybe this election will serve as a wake-up call for both parties, but somehow doubt it will.

As always, thank you for your time.  And, I'm interested in what you think about all this, whether you agree with me or not.  Please feel free to leave a comment or send me an e-mail.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Things in the News

Been some interesting things in the news over the last week.  Have some comments on a few of them.  So, if you're interested, here we go:
  • The Democrats lost the senate seat formerly occupied by Ted Kennedy.  Shouldn't be that much of a surprise.  If memory serves right, seems like he had to struggle to win his last election.  Shows what happens when people take things for granted.  The Republican ran on the mantra the seat belongs to the people, not Ted Kennedy.  Have read the Dem didn't do a whole lot in the beginning cuz she thought she was a shoo-in for the seat cuz he did.  Time they figured out she wasn't, it was too late.  Guess people are still wanting change.  Politics are a lot like sports, the fan favorite is usually the guy sitting on the bench when they don't like what's happening on the field. (Independents are a fickle bunch) Even though the Republicans got rid of the supermajority, they still only have 41 votes.  Will be interesting to see how this affects President Obama's agenda and what happens later in the year during the mid-term elections;
  • The governor of our great state is agin legalizing casinos cuz he believes gamblin's immoral.  Alabama has set up a task force under his watch to get rid of illegal gambling in the state. Anyway, the head of the task force won $2,500 (legally) in a Mississippi casino last week and had to resign.  Guess it's wasn't immoral to him, anyway.  Yet another politician with the do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do syndrome. Purty sad;
  • See where the president wants to tax banks to get the TARP money back from 'em.  Just have one question, where does he think they will get the money from?  That's right.  Most likely it will come from increased fees being paid by the customers and reduced interest being paid to the customers.  Banks move money, they don't create it;
  • Lots o' coverage about the Haiti earthquake, and rightly so.  However, won't be too long before Americans will reach their saturation point and start tuning it out.  Whenever I get onto CNN.com on my iPhone (which shows fewer stories), all the news stories are on the earthquake.  Not that there's anything wrong with continuous coverage, but there are other things going on in the world folks probably need to know about;
  • Saw where Danny Glover blamed global warming for the earthquake.  Read the article several times and still not sure what his angle was.  Said something about the earth warming caused the quake (hard to believe he really thinks that), but think mostly he was saying it was retribution for nothing getting accomplished in Copenhagen.  Can't help but wonder why he didn't get the same press Pat Robertson got for his comments.  Guess preachers are easier targets;
  • Favorite Facebook post over the weekend:  Romo on the ground, Romo on the ground, Looking like a fool with Romo on the ground!  (Thanks, Donnie P!)  Not sure if it was copied or original, but thought it was purty funny.  Picked all four games and got three of them wrong.  Guess that's why this ain't a sports blog, for the most part.  Any offers to pick against your favorite team this weekend?
Well, that's all the time have for now.  Just needed to get a few things out of me noodle.

As always, thanks for reading.  Added a new blog link over on the left-hand side.  Please feel free to check it out along with the others.  Hope you enjoy the daily quotes and useless knowledge at the top, too.

Peace out!

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Haiti Earthquake Relief

(If you are interested in contributing to the Haiti relief fund, the easiest way is by texting 90999 ($10) or 501501 ($5).  If you are a little leary of doing that, here is the link to the Snopes.com confirmation that they are legit.)

Sure most of you have heard about the 7.0 earthquake in Haiti yesterday.  Such devastation.  Just saw one estimate that up to 500,000 may have died.  Always hard to make accurate predictions about that this early in the game.  But, pictures on various news sources have showed bodies being piled up in the streets so you know there are lots of casualties.  Obviously, thoughts and prayers are going out to the victims from all around the world.

When you think about it, it seems odd that these buildings have survived multiple Category 5 hurricanes, but were not able to survive an earthquake.  Just shows man cannot completely outsmart the Higher Force. 

Speaking of that, saw where Pat Robertson has already come out saying this was punishment for a "pact with the Devil" Haitians made when they won their independence from France back in the early 1800's.  Not going to argue with Pat cuz it's up to the Higher Force to pass judgement on what he says.  Will say might have waited a little bit before he said it, though.

Anyway, there are multiple ways you can contribute, if you'd like.  Texted 90999 to donate $10 to the Red Cross myself.  It will be added to my monthly bill.  If you are interested but are a little leary of a possible scam, you can click on this link , which will take to the Snopes.com page confirming it's legit.  They also confirmed the Wyclef Jean fund (501501) to have $5 added to your bill if you prefer that.  Of course, prayers are always good, too. 

May God provide comfort to those left behind in Haiti and to those outside of Haiti looking for loved ones.

Monday, January 11, 2010

Random Randomness

All right.  Got quite a few things to throw out there ranging from politics to sports to reality TV.  So, gonna get right to it this time around:
  • Been hearing a lot about this whole mess with Harry Reid and his comments about President Obama a couple of years ago.  Have to say he should probably be embarassed about the comments, but not sure if he should have to step down or not.  Besides, if the polls are correct, he won't be around next year, anyway, as the voters in the Great State of Nevada don't appear too happy with him right now.  And that was before all this mess came out. Can't help but think if a Republican had made the comments, even about a black Republican, the media and others would howl until they had someone's head on a platter.  Anyway, the Republicans have just been waiting to jump on someone since Trent Lott was run out in 2002.  (Not sure that was the right thing in 2002, either.)  Don't really think Reid's comments were on the same level as Lott's, for that matter.  Besides, if every politician who said something stupid were run out, we would have no politicians.  Hmmm, come to think of it, might not be a bad idea after all.
  • Read an interesting article on climate cooling today.  Said we go through 20-30 year cycles of climate cooling and warming.  Right now we are transitioning from a heating trend to a cooling one (December 2009 was the 14th coolest in the last 115 years), and we should expect to have winters like this for the next 20-30 years.  Has something to do with ocean currents.  Have attached a link to the article right here cuz don't think I can do it much justice and think you should decide fer yerself what you believe or don't believe.  Two things which struck me are:  1.  The Arctic ice is growing again, and 2., folks were saying the same things back in the 1920's that the AlGore's of the world today have been saying.  Seeing as how I'm presenting this article (here again) for your perusement, should give you a hint on how I feel about it;
  • So, Mark McGwire used steroids.  I'm shocked!  Shocked!  I tell you!  Yeah, right.  Not really sure how I feel about it.  Still takes a lot of talent to hit a 90+ mile an hour fastball a long way.  Ain't no steroid or human growth hormone gonna help your hand/eye co-ordination enough to make an average ball player into a home run hittin' king.  But, ain't gonna say it won't enhance someone who already has the talent to do it like Mark McGwire or Barry Bonds, either.  All of this justifies what Jose Conseco has been saying for years but people wanted to ignore cuz they either didn't like Jose or just didn't want to believe him.  You know, even a broke clock is right twice a day (well, at least the old-fashioned kind with a real face and hands);  
  • See where Pete Carroll is getting out of Dodge.  Sure, Pete, the fact that USC is probably going to NCAA jail and your AD is ready to throw you to the wolves had absolutely nothing to do with your sudden decision to go back to the NFL.  Whatever...;
  • The wife and I watched Axmen and Madhouse on the History Channel last night.  Axmen is about logging bidness folks in Oregon and Louisiana.  The dudes on that show make the Deadliest Catch crews look like they've been to finishin' school.  Think of the craziest person you can and they still won't be half as nuts as that guy from Lusianner.  He's a hoot!  Madhouse is about small-track car racin' in Winston-Salem, NC.  The Hatfields and McCoys got nothin' on these folks! Highly recommend both shows as it looks like both will be purty interesting.  Have to warn you about Madhouse, though.  I'm fairly fluent in both Southern and Redneck, but had a hard time understanding what was being said half the time;
  • See where Simon Cowell is leaving American Idol after this season.  Seems to me like he hasn't been very interested for the last couple of years so reckon he should move on.  Ain't nothin' wrong with that.  The show's gonna be hard to watch this year now that Ellen DeGeneres is going to be a judge.  Next year will be downright unbearable without Simon.  Think most people tune in to hear what he has to say whether they like him or not.  Maybe that's just me; 
  • Biggest Loser's got some biggun's on it this season.  One dude is starting out at over 500 lbs!  Right now have to say will like this cast better than last season's cuz they don't appear to be as weepy as that bunch.  Will be interesting to see how much the folks lose this time around.  Most of them put up pretty big weight-loss numbers in the first week.  Hope they can keep it up;
  • Haven't had a chance to comment on Evil Russell not winning last season's Survivor. Think he was totally hosed cuz he determined just about everything that happened this time around.  However, the jury was a bunch of sore losers and voted for the blonde instead.  Can't help but think that they didn't want to give a millionaire another million.  That's his own fault, though, cuz he never should have told that to anybody.  But in Natalie's defense, she did make the decision to align with Russell and she did instigate voting out Eric.  So, she did make a few major moves.  Just not enough for me to think she should have won.  Looking forward to the Villians vs Heroes edition this time around.  Could get interesting;
  • Someone (a fan) said in the paper the other day Nick Saban is Alabama's football messiah.  Holy cow.  (No pun intended)  Hope most Bama fans can realize some of this 'celebrating' is starting to get a little out of hand.  People even stood in line for hours in two local Wal-marts just to get their picture taken with the crystal football.  Not coaches or players, just the championship trophy.  Come on, people, get a grip. Know this will strike some folks wrong, but there are a few things more important than college football.  (Will probably get run out of Alabama for that one.)  
Well, that's all I got this week.  Thanks for playing along.  Please feel free to leave any comments below, or send me an e-mail.  By the way, know this week's song is a stretch since it doesn't really go along with any topics.  Mostly just like the song and felt like using it.

Y'all have a great week!

Friday, January 8, 2010

2009 College Football National Champs!!!


Try not to be one of those real obnoxious fans you always see and read about. But, when your alma mater wins the championship in anything, you should crow about it just a little bit. Congratulations to Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide for championship # 13 ( or 8 or 7 whoever you want to listen to)!!! I'm one proud alum today!!! Not that I'm not proud to be from Alabama any other time, but sometimes folks are just more proud than others.

Hats off to Texas for a great game. Hate that McCoy got hurt. Imagine waiting four years to play in this game then you get hurt on the fifth play of the game. That just flat out stinks. You know he had to be in bad shape if they wouldn't let him back in. Seems like a real class act, too. It will always give this game a hint of "what if" for a lot of folks. But, you have to play the hand what's dealt you, and injuries are a part of the game. Gilbert played a whale of a second half. He's going to be a stud before his career at Texas is over. That is a tough spot for anyone to be put in, much less a true freshman.

On a funny but sad note, the local Academy Sports (and other stores) reopened after the game to sell shirts and whatnots (imagine they were going to do the same thing in Texas if they had won). Someone called into a local radio show this morning to say he was at an Academy last night, and the lady behind him was saying she wasn't going to pay her power bill so she could buy Alabama stuff. That's just crazy. He told her she was going to have to burn it to keep warm this weekend after they cut her power off. Say what you want, but Saban has earned his contract with this win. Souvenir sales alone over the next couple of weeks will probably pay his salary for a couple of years. Will admit I was at the local Academy last night, too. There were about 60 people in line when I got there and were about 300 still in line when I left (with even more people still coming). It was about 19 degrees, too, and they were only letting people in about 5 at a time. Not sure what that says about any of us who were there.

Anyway, congrats again to the Crimson Tide and Rolllllllllllllllllllllll Tide! Roll!

Monday, January 4, 2010

And Now Back to Our Regularly-Scheduled Programming...

Don't know about where you live, but it is some kind of cold here in the Deep South. Guess it's wintertime so it's to be expected, but we usually stay in the 40's and 50's, not the 20's and 30's. Anywho...

Now that the holidays are over, have some things to get out of me head that I've been holding off on. Now that you've been warned, here we go:
  • Saw where a global warming protest had to be cancelled the other day due to a blizzard. Have heard of that before, but this one was going to be in Utah mountains. Seeing as how snow skiing is a purty major industry in Utah, didn't make much sense to me to have a global warming protest there. Guess you pays your money, you takes your chances...;
  • Yahoo had an article about Obama not being able to truly get away from his job over the holidays. Guess that's the price you pay for being the leader of the free world. If you're planning on running for president, please remember this is part of the job. Didn't read the article so don't know if President Obama was complaining or not. Would guess not. The cynic in me thinks they would have been criticizing a Republican for taking a vacation during these times, especially to Hawai'i, rather than moaning about his inability to truly get away from it all. Maybe that's just me;
  • Speaking of vacations interrupted, the dude who tried to blow up his underwear has raised some interesting discussions. Saw where Napoliano (the Homeland Security czar, whatever her name is) tried to claim the system worked since his plot failed. Sorry, but his failure had nothing to do with "the system." Just plain dumb luck on our part. Think this exposed more kinks in the system. Has also raised discussions about full-body scans vs. privacy. To me, making sure someone doesn't sneak a bomb aboard a plane is more important than someone seeing if I'm wearing skivvies that day or not. Again, that might just be me. Joke all the time we will all be flying naked before too long. Might not be too far off since they say the full-body scanner wouldn't have picked up that stuff, anyway;
  • Did read an article that whined about all the flak the president is catching about this episode. Said Bush didn't catch much grief from the Dems when the shoe-bomber thing happened. Don't really think you can blame President Obama for what happened. However, this did happen 8 years after we "tightened" our security whereas the shoe bomber was only 3 months after 9/11, when the new system was just starting and we were pretending to get along a lot better. Although it happened on Obama's watch, there's probably a lot more blame needed a little further down the food chain. When you consider the dude's own father tried to warn us about him and our only reaction was to mark his folder to be scrutinized closer if he decided to renew his visa, there is definitely something wrong with the system. Seems like that was an issue before 9/11, too. Hmmmmmm;
  • Any of you play FarmVille on Facebook? Love that game. Think it feeds my inner desire to be a farmer like half my family without actually having live the life. You plant seeds, harvest the crops, raise animals, and do lots of other things you would on a real farm. Can even help your neighbors by fertilizing their crops. If I have several to choose from, will usually choose the crop which I would actually eat even though there's no chance it will ever happen. How crazy is that? Lots o' fun, though;
  • All this stuff with Urban Meyer and Mike Leach shows what a pressure cooker college football coaches live in these days. The job is literally killing Meyer, and he can't make himself quit. Leach gets fired one day before he's due an $800,000 bonus over what appears to basically be a player complaining about lack of playing time when you get to the root of it. Not sure if we'll ever get all the facts since one of the principles involved is a well-known college football analyst. Can't help but think the media will look out for its own in this whole deal. Will just have to wait and see I reckon;
  • See where Tigger is losing more sponsors because of all these women coming out of the woodworks. His best remedy will be playing in tournaments again. Once he wins one or two, all will be forgiven and the media will start singing about how much he's overcome. You know how folks love a comeback story;
  • My kids start back to school from Christmas break on Wednesday, provided it don't snow around here. Way back when I was in school, seemed like we only got about a week off. Now they get a month and a half. Well, it seems that way sometimes. Think they will have been out two and a half weeks when they finally start up again. Been nice having them home, though, for the most part.

All right. Well, that's all for now. Hope everyone had a happy holiday season no matter which holiday(s) you choose to celebrate.

Don't know how many of you have your sound turned up when you read this, but I do have music playing in the background. Usually try to pick something that goes with one of my topics. Anyway, will go ahead and warn my non-Bama fan friends that, if we are lucky enough to win Thursday night, our fight song will make it to this site shortly thereafter. So, do with that info what you will.

Have a great week and, as always, thanks for stopping by and readin' fer a spell!