These May Only Interest Me, But...

Been cold and rainy 'round here for the past, oh, six months or so. At least it seems that a way. Combine that with the fact ain't been feeling very well and it leads to a recipe for lots o' thinking, which can be a dangerous thing. But, hopefully it will make fer some interesting reading. Will let you be the judge of that. Anywho, here's a few things I've been thinking and observing this week:

• Saw where President Obama is trying to pressure banks into loaning more money to folks. Ain't that what got us into this mess in the first place? Just sayin';
• Watched a show about the Beatles on the History Channel this week. Was about their studio/album recording sessions. Seems for the most part they just walked in and jammed for a little while to come up with many of their songs. That's just flat-out remarkable to me. Can remember seeing Mick Jagger being interviewed about them once. Said they were waiting backstage at some TV show with the Beatles. There was some guitar lick The Stones couldn't figure out how to play so they sang it for Paul McCartney one time. He picked up a right-handed guitar, flipped it around, and played it perfectly left-handed on the first try. Not bad for a guy who can't even read music. After hearing that story, have thought they are some of the best musicians the world has ever known. Watching the show this week just solidifies that in my mind;
• Know I talk about the Beatles a lot, but, if you were to ask me my all-time favorite band, would tell you in a heartbeat it's Pink Floyd. Just something about their music that really strikes home with me. Have seen some biographies about them lately. One said they made sure Sid Barrett received royalties from all of their albums until the day he died in the early 2000's. In case you don't know, he was one of the founding members and he basically went insane after their first album in the late 60's. Now THAT's what I call loyalty. Roger Waters said they used to "sit around and talk about using drugs." Never said if they actually used them or not although probably know the answer to that already. Don't condone that, but really appreciate the music, which would probably have come out one way or the other. (That's what I've convinced myself of and you ain't gonna change that) Like many other bands, the two really creative forces in the band got to where they couldn't stand each other so they eventually split. What a shame;
• The Mrs and I have started watching Pawn Stars on the History Channel. Have to admit never thought I'd like a show about a pawn shop in Vegas, but it's purty good. People bring some interesting stuff in there to sell/pawn. Always amazes me how much they think their stuff is worth, too. Most of the time they overinflate the worth, but occasionally they have no idea what they have. To the shop's credit, they will usually tell the person what they have in those cases. Most of the deals I've seen have been fair to both parties. Recommend you check it out sometime;
• Had what George Costanza would probably call the "perfect channel switch" Saturday night. Watched Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer then switched it over to the Heisman award ceremony right as they were opening the envelope. Perfect! Got to see the winner without having to watch all the stuff leading up to the announcement. By the way, Roll Tide! Congratulations to Mark Ingram for bringing the first ever Heisman to The Capstone! Think he deserved to win it, but also think if one of the kids from Nebraska or Stanford would have won, they would have been good choices, too. Now it's time to concentrate on the championship game...;
• Was glad to see Megan and Cheyne win The Amazing Race this time since Flight Time and Big Easy were eliminated. Overall, the challenges were purty lame (with a few exceptions - i.e. - repelling face-first down The Mirage), but the show managed to keep my interest. Hopefully, they will have better challenges next time and will stay away from the ones which the winners are based on totally random luck instead of based on the teams' skills and/or knowledge;
• Can't wait for the finale to Survivor this week! Gonna be interesting to see if Russell makes it all the way to the end or not. You can call him lucky and/or a real SOB, but he has played the best game by far this year, probably the best since Richard Hatch in the first season;
• Good thing there's global warming. Cuz, if there weren't, the Deep South would be a solid block of ice right now. Been cold and rainy for like FOREVER! Well, it feels like it, anyway. We even had snow a week or so ago. Don't usually get that, when we actually get some, until January - March;
• One last thing, my cousin's 4 month old daughter is in the hospital with pneumonia and/or RSV right now. She's made a lot of progress but still has a little ways to go. Please say a prayer for her and her parents. God will know who you're prayin' for. Thanks.

Thanks, as always, for making it to the end. Have seen a lot of different places on the map this week. Appreciate each and every one of you who take the time to read this. Please feel free to become a follower on the left-hand side. Comments are always welcome, too. Please check out the other blogs which have links over there, too.

Peace out!

And Now For Some Total Randomness

Hope everyone had a great weekend. Went to my ma-in-law's over the weekend. Always a nice trip which usually don't last long enough. It's like homecoming, too, since I lived down there for 12 years. Wish had more time to visit other folks when we go down there.

Anyway, have some random thoughts to get out of me noggin so here we go:

• Saw where Ken Ober, the host of MTV's Remote Control was found dead today. Was 51 or 52 years old. Sad. Only saw the show a couple of times, but generally liked what I saw. Prayers go out to his family and friends;
• Have seen a lot of news articles lately about Al Gore and Sarah Palin. Wish they would both just go away. Don't really care what either one of them think about anything although I'm sure they are both nice enough folks. Got no idea why Gore keeps surfacing. Got no idea why people think Palin should be pushed for the presidency. While I doubt she's the ditz the media portrays her to be, don't really think she's presidential material, either. So, please, both of you, please just quietly fade into the background and don't call us, we'll call you;
• What is it about Buffalo that makes football folks want to tell the Bills fans they are Number One? Saw where the owner of the Tennessee Titans was fined $250,000 for giving them the one-finger salute. Seems like I recall a crazy Dolphin linebacker (can't remember his name) doing the same several years ago. Geez Louise...;
• Did you hear about the three University of Tennessee football players getting arrested for committing armed robbery? No, that's not a joke. Two were scrubs and one was a starter. Two were kicked off the team today and the other one's decision is pending "gathering more information." Will let you guess which one is still on the team. While the armed robbery part may be unique to Tennessee, the personnel decisions ain't. Funny how the stars get second and third chances while the backups get no leniency. Imagine that...;
• My useless information box up above said on April 4, 1964, the Beatles held the top five spots in the Top 40 chart. That is simply amazing! Most bands don't have five hits in their whole careers, much less 5 Top 40 hits, and even less 5 top 5 hits. Nowadays, bands don't have five songs released at once, either. If they ain't the greatest band ever, they are at least in the discussion and they have very few competitors;
• Speaking of the The Beatles, my kids came home from school today singing Yellow Submarine. When I asked them where they learned that song, they said they learned it in music class. Purty cool. The only Beatles song we learned when I was in school was Blackbird. Anyway, thought it was funny they liked that song because the other day my daughter was talking about how old 80's music sounds to her. Decided not to get into the history of that song since they seem to like it;
• In the last two weeks, have had a good friend, a friend's husband, and a guy in my Sunday school all lose their job. Two of the three were the result of the current economy and suspect the third one was probably an indirect result of it. Makes me thankful for the job I have. Hope you are thankful for yours, too, even if it's not exactly what you want to be doing right now. Asking that you keep these folks in your prayers (God will know who they are without you having to call them by name). Should probably thank the Big Guy for your job, too, if you have one.

That's all for now. Y'all have a good week!