More Gapses in the Synapses

Been some great weather where I am, but the pollen is still thick as all get-out.  Driving my eyes nuts, especially when wearing my contacts.  The more I blink, the more my eyes feel gummy. Yuck!  Anyway, have some more random thoughts to share this week.  Hope they interest you:

• The White House press corps got its panties in a wad this week cuz President Obama broke protocol and slipped off without them one afternoon.  This was the first time in about a bajillion years that a president has done that.  Oh, the horror!!!  It’s “protocol,” in other words, tradition, not the law, that the press goes with him everywhere.  Know he’s the most powerful man in the world and all that, but he should be allowed to sneak out every now and then.  So, just exactly where was he going?  Turns out he was going to watch his daughters play soccer.  Shame on him for not wanting the press to disrupt their game!;
• Speaking of the press, if you want to see how fickle they can be, hope you’ve paid attention to the Masters coverage over the last week.  Starting last Monday, Tigger was just about the only golfer they would talk about.  Thursday through Saturday you would have thought he was leading the tournament with all the coverage he was getting, and Thursday two legends of the game were leading when the day was through!  Now that he didn’t win, the press is talking about how horrible he played, he shouldn’t have played, Elin wasn’t there, etc.  Folks, he came in tied for fourth after not playing competitively for five months.  Pretty dang impressive to me, and y’all may recall ain’t exactly one of his biggest fans.  Just another example of how the press builds folks up just to tear ‘em back down.  Oh, by the way, congratulations, Phil, for winning!;
• Very sad what happened to the Polish government over the weekend.  Shows why our leadership and most big corporations won’t let all their powerbrokers fly together.  Sad thing about this is it could have been avoided.  The pilot totally ignored the air tower’s warning not to land.  Very sad;
• The Vatican sort of apologized for statements they’ve made about the Beatles in the past.  Made it in their newspaper while commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Beatles’ last album.  Probably goes without saying the Vatican was not happy when John Lennon said they were more popular than Jesus.  Anyway, someone asked Ringo what he thought of the apology.  He basically said they have more important things to do than apologize to the Beatles.  Don’t think he was trying to slam the Vatican.  He was just trying to keeps things in perspective.  Guess he felt he and Paul moved on long ago so they should, too.  In the grand scheme of things, he’s right.  Gotta love that man!;  
• An update to an earlier observation.  Senator Charles Schumer, D-NY, said he was going to introduce legislation outlawing airlines charging for carry-on luggage.  Now, can probably count on one hand and cut off some fingers the number of times I’ve agreed with Chuck on anything, but glad to see him come out against the airlines trying to pull this crap.  Fly quite a bit and see all these yahbos try to carry half their house onboard, but they really are the exception.  No need to punish the rest of us cuz of these knuckleheads.  Stick with it, Chuck!  Guess I’d better sew a finger back on, too;
• A friend of mine is a school nurse.  Said a little girl was sick enough to check out of school but didn’t want them to call her mother cuz “Mommy’s job is very important” or something to that effect.  Not passing judgment on the momma (could be she’s a single parent with 2 or 3 jobs), but it really struck a nerve with me.  Makes me worry that my kids might think the same thing about me.  Hope my kids don’t ever think they can’t call me when I’m working, especially if there’s an emergency;
• Have read Kitty Kelley is releasing an unauthorized biography of Oprah.  Thing is, none of the usual talk shows want to help pimp it cuz they’re scared of Oprah.  That’s pretty sad if you ask me.  But, with as wacky as some of her followers are, they probably won’t buy the dern thing no matter who’s trying to sell it.  Will probably get more pub this way, anyhow;
• Have really been enjoying Twitter.  (I’m @scotps23)  Have made lots of comments to folks but haven’t received many back.  Oh well, it’s still fun.  Am following a few celebs but don’t expect any of them to follow me back or even comment on my occasional comments to them.  Rick Harrison of Pawn Stars started following me this week.  He actually followed me first.  Think it’s cuz one of my tweets was about the show.  Pretty cool!  Have “met” some neat people on there.  Speaking of which…;
• Know some of you are health conscious.  You might be interested in one of my new blog links from the Chubby Chick.  Follow each other on Twitter.  Anyway, she’s blogging about her journey to lose weight.  She’s doing a great job with both!  Hope you’ll drop by and give her some encouragement.  Everybody needs a little dose of that every now and then.

That’s all for now.  If you live in the US, don’t forget your taxes are due April 15.  Gotta pay fer all this stuff Congress is passin’ somehow! Hope you’re having a great week and that the pollen ain’t choking you out, too.

Out!

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!

Quick Hits

OK. So I said I'm gonna start posting more often and haven't, yet. Apologize for that. The hotel I've been in had lousy internet reception so wasn't able to write like I wanted to. Hopefully will be able to write more now that I've made it back home.

Anyway, have some quick thoughts would like to share. Hope you will indulge me.

• This is my favorite time of year. Leaves are changing color with a bit of chill in the air. College football kicking off. (Roll Tide, by the way!) It's a great time to be alive. Not that there are many bad ones, mind you;
• Forrest Gump is on TV right now. Love that movie. Tom Hanks is vastly underrated as an actor. Know that doesn't sound right when he won consecutive Oscars, but don't think he gets the credit he deserves, which is probably a real testimony to his acting abilities. You don't even notice them;
• Still on track to finish the Susan G Komen, a great and wonderful cause, 5K in Birmingham. Won't make my 30 minute goal, but it's more about the cause than the time for me. Did I mention it's a great and wonderful cause?
• Heard people giving President Obama grief about going to meet with the Olympic committee. My knee-jerk reaction was against it. But, the more I thought about it, it made sense. It would have been great for the country if they would have come here. Will give him the benefit of the doubt he would have done it for another city, too. Too bad we didn't get it. Oh well, both the Mayan and Chinese calendars say the world is going to end in December 2012, anyway. Might not matter in the long run;
• Speaking of the world coming to an end, watch those shows on the History Channel all the time. Interesting to see people's rationale for these things. We've heard these things before. (Remember how everything was going to go haywire on Jan 1, 2000?) Not sure if there are more bad things happening in the world or we just hear about them more thanks to our 24 hour news channels. They got to fill the airs with something. Sure you've heard the old saying, "If it bleeds, it leads." Anyway, the Bible says only God knows when the world will end, and He ain't tellin'. Think I'll go with that;
• Does anyone else see the irony in Michael Moore making a movie about how bad capitalism is? Wonder if any of his movies would have been made much less released if he lived in Russia or China and made those kinds of movies about them? Just saying. Think that's what infuriates people about liberals. Won't say all of them, but many are more "do as I say not as I do" than the other way around. (Want another example? Think about the Clintons campaigning on being anti-Reaganomics when they made a bunch of money doing the same thing, and that's only one of many examples) Anyway, think they have a legitimate desire to help people, but it seems like they think they are smarter than the people they are trying to help and those folks are incapable of doing it themselves. Well, if you keep giving a man a fish, he's going to keep expecting you to provide them rather trying to catch them on his own;
• Heard where the inspiration for "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" died this week. Think her name was Lucy Vodden. Lots of folks think that song is really about LSD. Does have some unique imagery in it. But, sometimes a song is just a song. If you have kids, take a look at their artwork. Their view of the world is usually a little diferent from adults. There's no vast conspiracy in the world where everything really means something else. At least, that's what my music tells me;
• Survivor has been pretty good so far. Evil Russell is keeping things interesting. At least he's honest to the cameras about what he's doing. A lot of times people take the attitude what they do is honest and it's just playing the game. Then, when someone else is doing it, all of the sudden it ain't fair. He knows what he's doing is wrong and doesn't pretend to think anything else;
• Speaking of Survivor, was glad to see Ben get voted out last night. What kind of person thinks calling a black woman "ghetto trash" has no racist overtones? As the wise and great Bugs Bunny used to say, "What a maroon!" It bothers me they referred to him being Southern. The boy's from Missouri, which ain't a part of the South on my map (and, yes, I know what side of the war they fought on);
• Amazing Race is looking pretty good, too. Understand the logic of not letting people know you are a millionaire poker player, but come up with something better than you work with homeless kids. You have to know somewhere somebody's going to recognize you and blow your cover, especially when one of you was all over ESPN last year. Telling that lie will just make people not want to help you even more. Will say they have been pretty spot-on when they've shared their observations about the other racers. Have a hard time believing any jury would be sympathetic to that lawyer;
• Saw where Jon Gosselin now thinks it's not good for his kids to be on a reality show. Hmm, wonder if that anything to do with the fact he's been canned from the show? Just sayin'...

Thanks for indulging me. Actually had a pretty good time on my trip. Got to see a few old friends haven't seen in a while. That's always nice.

If you have time, check out some of the blogs I follow. Their links are on the left. I don't get paid anything if you do, but, I like them so you might, too.

Have a great weekend!

Music's Best Of (to me anyway)

Have had the opportunity to do a lot of driving this week, which has led to a lot of iPod time (playing through the stereo, of course). It's made me think of a sort of "best of" list of musicians, and thought I'd share it. These are just my opinion. It would be hard for anyone to come up with "the" absolute list. Anyway, here it is. Oddly enough, most of these folks are on my iPod. Strange indeed...

• Best Voice - One Elvis Aaron Presley. He had the most pure voice I've ever heard. It's hard to picture him ever hitting a sour note, even if he had the flu.
• Best Guitarist - Jimi Hendrix. Man's been dead almost 40 years and he's still way ahead of his time. There's never been a sound like his and probably never will.
• Best Guitar Solo - David Gilmour, "Comfortably Numb."
• Best Guitar Duet - Joe Walsh and Don Felder, "Hotel California"
• Most Influential Band - The Beatles. Single-handedly changed music with their lyrics, music producing, and many other things. You can still hear their influence in a wide variety of musical genres today.
• Second Most Influential - Nirvana. Changed rock forever by introducing grunge to the masses. Can still hear their influence, too, though not as widespread. Hard to believe it's been almost 20 years since Never Mind came out.
• Best Rock Lyricist - John Lennon. His lyrics were so deep the accompanying music had to be relatively simple so the masses (myself included) could follow them.
• Best Country Lyricist - Hank Williams, Sr. He could tell a story like no other before or since.
• Close Second - Alan Jackson. Actually think "Midnight in Montgomery" is more than just a song. Hank must have disappeared onto that bus with him.
• Best Good Time Band - Van Halen. Just have to rock out whenever you hear one of their old songs. Eddie might not like to admit it, but Dave's wish that they play music he could dance to really helped them rise to the top. Eddie's not bad, either.
• Best Musician/Composer - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Can't listen to his music without seeing the story in my head, even the ones without lyrics, which I can't understand anyway. Man wrote all of his operas, etc., in his head and then put them down on paper without making hardly any mistakes. Remember one of his manuscripts selling a few years ago. It was about 2 inches think and he only had one measure scratched out in the whole thing. That is simply amazing. Often wondered if it sold for so much because it was his or because of the mistake. Heard that was what made it so rare.
• Most Eclectic Artist- The Man in Black, Mr. Johnny Cash. How many other 70+ year old men would know a Nine Inch Nails song, much less remake of one of their songs?

With the exception of Mozart and Nirvana, all are on my iPod. Would have Mozart on it, too, but cannot listen to just one of his songs. (Sort of like Lay's potato chips) Have to listen to the whole CD. Since I keep my iPod on shuffle, makes it hard to do that. Can't really explain why I've never purchased anything by Nirvana.

Sometime in the next day or two, I'm gonna talk about some of the things I've seen over the years while driving throughout our vast country. Some have been more interesting than others...to me, anyways.

On a different note, was sad to see Karl Malden died recently. Most of my generation would know him as the American Express guy from the TV commercials he did in the 70's. One of his greatest performances was of Gen. Omar Bradley in Patton. To me, that part summed up Malden's entire career. Bradley was a great general who was so down to earth you just never noticed how great he really was. The same could be said for Karl Malden's acting abilities.

Thanks for indulging me and making it to the end! Talk to you again soon!