A "Model" Friend...

If you see this book in your local bookstore and wonder "are those two really married?" I can tell you the answer is "no!" The male part of the couple there is my friend Luke. He occasionally works as a model and did some royalty-free photo shoots last year; basically the pictures are available as stock pictures for anyone who needs images for print or internet publications. For example, you might also see this picture in an ad where a "happy couple" picture is needed. So far I've noticed him in a local Toyota dealer's newspaper ads and other friends say they've noticed him in different places.

oh, to be young and handsome again.... : )

(props to Jimmah, who first blogged about this and gave me the idea to also blog about it.)

Weekend Edition...

....enjoyed a nice full weekend.

- Friday night, I met my brother at the annual auto show at The Ed/America's Center. It always falls right around his birthday so it's something of a birthday tradition for him. We had a good time browsing the cars on display. He has McMillian blood so he knows a thing or two about cars and for that I was grateful. I'm not looking to buy anytime soon but it was nice to hear his opinions about what I might buy in the future. I believe he was disappointed by the conspicuous absence of higher-end cars like Infiniti, BMW, and Mercedes Benz. That was a telling reminder of the current state of economic affairs in our country.

- My mom called me early Saturday morning to invite me to The Magic House with her and
granddaughter/niece Lydia. My dad was unfortunately otherwise occupied so he couldn't come. I gladly accepted and the three of us set off from Lydia's house. We spent the morning there and then returned after lunch just before naptime! The three of us had a great time!

Yes, that's a diaper bag slung over my shoulder....boy did that feel odd!

This is what she did when I asked her to smile as we were on our way to eat lunch. Almost too adorable for words! My dad got her that awesome hat.

- Saturday night I participated in the 9th annual St. Louis Spikes trivia night. The Spikes are a semi-pro baseball team that an acquaintance of mine plays on. My team of trivia wonks hung in there in second place for most of the evening before fading at the end. The questions were a bit on the "out there" side. There was an entire category on income tax, for pete's sake! I did learn that babies are born without kneecaps (which I suppose makes them least likely to suffer a mob hit!) and that Honest Abe Lincoln started up this whole income tax thing to pay for, you guessed it, a war!! The little skirmish known as the Civil War. I am doing another trivia night with some of the same people next Saturday night so we get a chance to redeem ourselves.

Interesting Observation...

noted by the P-D's Bernie Miklasz in his "5 Minutes" blog post today -

" The New York Jets aren’t bringing back five assistant coaches: After finishing as the runner-up in the AFC, the Jets are shaking up their coaching staff. Head coach Rex Ryan is making some changes.

That’s really interesting to me in light of the Rams’ decision to fire two trainers after a 1-15 season."

**EDIT** - Miklasz wrote today that the Jets moves were for cost-cutting reasons, according to new reports.

As Jim Thomas wrote in his story today, the 2 trainers who were let go weren't really given much of an explanation for their firing. The Rams did have a LOT of injuries this season but they claim that's not the reason.

The Rams are just the picture of ineptness these days and that's unfortunate.

Random Sunday Thoughts...

....thriller of a football game down on the bayou tonight. It did my sentimental heart good to see #4 lead the Norsemen back to tie the game late. He broke said heart by throwing an ugly INT that sent the game to OT. Would have been nice to have a Peyton vs. Brett Super Bowl. Will be nice not to have the game on FOX - not the biggest fan of Joe and Troy am I.

...The Who ( I am NOT making this part up) is the halftime entertainment this year. Seriously? Is the show being sponsored by Geritol? Were the Lawrence Welk All-Stars not available?

...enjoyed the new film Crazy Heart at the Plaza Frontenac cinema yesterday. Jeff Bridges (in what the P-D's Joe Williams calls a career-capping performance) effortlessly embodies the role of a washed-up country singer down on just about everything in life. I read somewhere that if Waylon Jennings were still alive he'd have played the part, which would have worked too. Bridges will likely get an Oscar nomination for the role.

...also enjoyed some great jazz at the Sheldon last evening. Eliane Elias made a very rare St. Louis appearance with her trio. Elias is a superb interpreter of bossa nova music and American standards. Her piano playing and vocalizing were excellent throughout her (roughly) 2-hour set. The trio was a standard guitar-bass-drums configuration; the guitarist and drummer were both native Brazilians, like Elias, natives of Sao Paulo.

...coulda swore that was the disembodied voice of Martin Sheen voicing a (what seemed like) 32-minute commercial for some new video game tonight.

...the Cardinals just thought they were done talking about steroids and McGwire's past using said PED's. Nope. The hits just keep on coming from all sides and they now have perhaps an even bigger problem than before. Their opportunity to get their story straight has passed, sadly. 6 minutes in a remote hotel hallway last Sunday didn't do them a bit of good. This thing and the recent revelation that they're taking control of Christian Family Day (from the people who've done it fabulously for almost 20 years) makes me wonder if they are less concerned with their image than with their revenues. It's disappointing, to say the least.

...garage door opener has been broken all week due to a stripped drive gear. I've been building my muscles by manually working the door by hand whenever I want to go somewhere. My door isn't one of these modern metal jobs, folks--it's solid wood. I've got parts coming to fix the opener and free step-by-step installation instructions courtesy of the Internets. This blogger is going to get his repair on this week!

...I"m not interested in Farmville and I will pray for you who've fallen victim to its siren song. (don't slam me, folks...I'm just teasing!)

...the 3 finalists for the NFL's Man of the Year were announced today and 2 of the 3 used to play for the Rams. Why, again, did we let London Fletcher get away all those years ago? He's only been a leading tackler in the years since he left.

...will be doing trivia nights the next two Saturday nights....guess I'd better start studying.

...Is it already almost Monday? Seriously?

Why My Dad Is Cool...

Thursday night I went to open my garage door so I could take my recycle bin out to the curb. FAIL. The door opener wouldn't open the door. This was why:


The brace that attached the end of the opener and the roll bar of the door springs had pulled completely out of the wall. I couldn't hammer it back in because the board it attached too had split. Fortunately, I was easily able to get the door open by hand after taking apart the black "J" hook. I e-mailed my dad some pictures of the problem so he could help me figure out how to fix it.

This was his solution:

A few pieces of scrap wood plus the two original braces and we had it fixed in an hour this afternoon.

Thanks, Dad!

(Insert Creative Title Here)...

because I can't think of one.

I tried mightily yesterday to do a video blog but after more than an hour of false starts and outtakes, I gave up. TV is harder than it looks, folks. So, you get the text-only version.

It was mighty, mighty cold 'round these parts last week. It was probably the coldest week that I've experienced since I've lived in this house. There was a modest snowstorm overnight Wednesday into Thursday which only deepened the cold. It was so cold that I didn't walk Chili-dog at all until Saturday. I just didn't feel safe having her out early in the morning in the extremest cold. Things bottomed out on Saturday night, with the first period of below-zero temperatures in about 10 years.

Weekend was quiet - had to stay close to home because I am on call for work until this Wednesday. I did venture up to the Borders store in Brentwood because they had a couple of CDs that I've been looking for in stock and I had a 33% off coupon. (The CDs were by The Clientele and Camera Obscura. No, you've probably not heard of them but they are both fabulous!) I also bought a new devotional book for the year, "Look Unto Me: The Devotions of Charles Spurgeon." It's based on Spurgeon's classic "Morning By Morning" devotional. I like what I've read of it so far.

Mark McGwire finally came out of hiding to make his long-anticipated steroids confessional today. He confirmed the obvious, that he was juiced during his 1998 home run record breaker season. I knew he was guilty as suspected after his foolish appearance before the Congressional panel a few years back. "I'm not here to talk about the past" were his words at that time, which translates to "yeah, I used steroids but I really, REALLY don't want to admit to it yet." That he would eventually confess was pretty much a given after he accepted an offer to become the Cardinals hitting coach for this season. I guess a guy can only live with his past for so long. His confessional was a scripted, carefully planned event as detailed in this NYT article.

Funniest, most awesome song lyric I've heard in a long time: "You, with your dietary restrictions / Said you loved me with a lot of conviction" - from Camera Obscura's "French Navy." That's a heckuva way to rhyme two words! :) Later in the same song we get, "You make me go 'ooooooh' with the things that you do, you do, you do." Lovely.

Only 3 Months Away...

Santa Claus brought me a 10-game Cardinals season ticket package for this season...hard to imagine seeing a game on a day like today!

At Age Two...

Niece Lydia turned two years old today....both sets of grandparents and I celebrated a bit early on Sunday evening. We enjoyed a dinner of Imo's Pizza and a dessert of birthday cupcakes (the birthday girl devoured the icing off of hers) and cookies.

Happy birthday, sweet girl. You are loved.

Testing.....1...2..3...4...

So I've got this cool new $20 Logitech C200 webcam....maybe I'll start doing some videoblogging..

Christmas Day 2009...

...is just about over. It was a good day. At left is a sampling of what I consumed today. Prime rib, twice-caked potatoes, and home-canned green beans courtesy of my Aunt E. McArthur's Bakery outdid themselves yet again, coming through for me with this double-layer yellow cake with strawberries and whipped cream. It looked like something my late Mamaw might have made for Christmas dessert, so I chose it from among several worthy dessert candidates. Dinner was pretty much restaurant-quality. My dad cooked an 11-pound prime rib roast that came out perfect! I had a great time visiting with my Matlock relatives. Chili-dog got to meet my aunt and uncle's little beagle; they got along just fine. Later in the evening my parents and I sat near a warm fire and cracked up at "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" and "Home Alone" on TV.

Oh, and we got a little wind and snow on Christmas Day. It looked and felt like Christmas Day today. I was satisfied.

Niece Lydia spent Christmas with her mommy and daddy with her mommy's family in mid-Missouri. We celebrated Christmas with her and them on Wednesday night. I gave her a couple of Melissa and Doug puzzles, plus a Just Like Home pretend housecleaning set for her Christmas. She was pleased.

Now I'm listening to Johnny Rabbitt (aka Ron Elz) spin Christmas tunes on KMOX radio while I sort through Christmas pictures and write this post. To paraphrase the song, it's the perfect ending to a perfect day...

Hope Has A Name...

This was my church's theme for our Christmastime sermon series. It was based on Isaiah 9:1-7.

¹ Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan-

² The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned.

³ You have enlarged the nation
and increased their joy;
they rejoice before you
as people rejoice at the harvest,
as men rejoice
when dividing the plunder.

⁴ For as in the day of Midian's defeat,
you have shattered
the yoke that burdens them,
the bar across their shoulders,
the rod of their oppressor.

⁵ Every warrior's boot used in battle
and every garment rolled in blood
will be destined for burning,
will be fuel for the fire.

⁶ For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

⁷ Of the increase of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David's throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty
will accomplish this.

Hope truly has a name, folks.

'Twas the Sunday Before Christmas...

and all through my house, well, not much is happening. I can't figure out where the month of December went. Christmas comes this Friday!!

- I started my Christmas shopping yesterday. This was possible because I don't have a long list of people to buy for. Just my mom and niece Lydia needed to be shopped for. (My dad shopped for himself, God bless him.) I finally got a list of ideas for the little tyke last week from her mommy, so off I went. I am the world's worst shopper, so at the end of day yesterday, I had nothing to show for my efforts. I should be awarded a medal of valor or something for my unsuccessful attempt to park at West County Mall. Every available parking space was filled, it seemed, and before long I wanted to scream more than I wanted to shop so I hit the "ABORT!" button and headed home.

- Covered a Saturday night shift at work last night. I think everyone should have the privilege of moving computers and phones after 10:00 p.m., at least once. There were no problems getting the Sunday editions of the P-D to press, thankfully.

- Finished my Christmas shopping today after lunch. My first stop, at a far-flung Toys 'R Us, yielded gold in my quest for the perfect toddler gift. My second attempt at parking at West County Mall afterward landed me on the roof of a parking garage. I got to use an escalator that I never noticed before. Maybe because I'd never had need to park on the roof before.

- Hurried home to walk the dog in the fading twilight of the day. Dog's first order of business was to sniff me, my pockets, and my purchases. She loves to use that sniffer of hers to try and figure out where I've been and who I've been with.

- God bless my friend R. for bringing a variety tray of home-baked cookies to share after our lunch with a couple other friends at Five Guys Burgers and Fries after church today. They were really delicious. Friends that can bake are really nice to have. Especially at Christmas time.

A Good Attitude...

is what St. Louis Rams rookie quarterback Keith Null has. Most definitely. He was drafted in the 6th round out of a Division-II school and relegated to third-QB status thus far. Injuries to both the Rams' QBs forced him into action against the Tennessee Titans in Nashville last Sunday. Null didn't have the best of days, throwing 5 interceptions but he did notch his first career touchdown pass. In a story on the Rams website, he explains:

“I am going to go out and play with confidence no matter what happens each week, Null said. “You can see watching the game I threw a pick, threw another pick, threw another one, I was still coming out and slinging it around. I didn’t let that stop me. I am going to go out with the confidence in the ability God has given me and that’s what my confidence is in anyway so I am not going to doubt that...I would love to get out and play again. The more experience I can get, the better.”

what a great perspective! I'm going to keep an eye on this kid...

A Rare Trifecta...

just completed a rare trifecta of seeing live performances three nights in a row -

Started off Thursday night at my church with a friend to catch opening night of a Christmas dessert theatre. Our new worship pastor and his wife have a background in the dramatic arts and decided to put on a weekend of shows as a means of outreach. The show went off without a hitch and my friend and I enjoyed it.

Friday night I caught opening night of the Ambassadors of Harmony's Christmas show. AOH is still basking in the glow of their international championship win back in July. This weekend of Christmas shows is surely their most ambitious yet. Friday night's performance was professionally filmed for DVD and Saturday night's would be webcast over the internet for a worldwide audience. Their singing was up to their usual high standards but this year they added theatrical elements that added up to a fair amount of bloat. The show ran until 10:45 pm, which was about 45 minutes too long, in this blogger's opinion.

Tonight I drove down to Festus to see my dad's church choir perform their Christmas program. The choir sang well and their message was powerful. Of course, my parents just happened to be keeping niece Lydia this weekend so I arrived at their house a bit early to see her. She was in a persnickety mood this time, but still as cute as ever. Did not like having to drive back in a rain storm, but in every life a little rain must fall, I hear.

.............

On an urelated note, I was sad to learn of the untimely death of Rev. Terry Eades on Tuesday at the age of 56. His health had declined in recent years but I had no idea how much. Bro. Terry was on staff at my church in Festus (where I was tonight) when my family started attending there in the mid-80s. He served as worship minister, youth minister, and associate pastor while he was there. I was in junior high while he was youth minister and I remember he logged many miles in a decrepit brown van ferrying our youth group to fellowships and other places. By 1990 he'd completed seminary and was called to Scott City, MO to pastor the Baptist church there. He was a man of great faith and an excellent preacher. "When they arrive at the gates of death, God welcomes those who love him." (Psalm 116:15, The Message)...I'm pretty sure Bro. Terry got a really warm welcome.

Ever Try To Make A Dog Smile On Command?...

it's akin to herding cats - some of Chili's outtakes from a Christmas card photo session last Saturday:

Ticket Tracker: The Swell Season @The Pageant, 12/4/09

What to do when it's cold outside and there are leaves to be raked? Oh yeah, delay by writing a concert review.

Last evening I caught a show by The Swell Season at The Pageant concert club in the Delmar Loop area of St. Louis. The Swell Season is a band led by gregarious Irishman Glenn Hansard. He also has fronted a band called The Frames in his native land for almost 20 years. In 2007, Hansard starred in a movie called "Once" with a young singer/songwriter from the Czech Republic named Markéta Irglová. The duo collaborated on a beautiful song in the film called "Falling Slowly" that won the 2008 Academy Award for best song. Hansard and Irglová formed The Swell Season with members of The Frames soon after that win. I missed them when they came to town last year and didn't want to miss them this time around. This was the penultimate show on a tour in support of their new album, "Strict Joy."

Hansard and Irglova entered the stage alone to perform two songs from the "Once" soundtrack, then the rest of the band joined them. What followed was over two hours of great playing and singing. Hansard is a friendly, engaging singer who stopped often to talk about his songs and how they were written. Irglová also took a couple of solo turns to show off her songs. Hansard's band The Frames was more than capable in backing the singers, showing off incredible musicianship in their playing. I particularly enjoyed the many moments when the crowd became impromptu backup vocalists at Hansard's urging.

Singer/songwriter Rachael Yamagata warmed up the crowd with a 45-minute set of her songs. She and her guitarist friend did a great job and were invited back to the stage during The Swell Season's set to play a couple more songs.

It was a really enjoyable night. I only wish Highway 40 could have opened a few days early so I would have had an easier ride home. Monday, Monday!

And if you've never seen "Once," you really need to. Seriously.

Turkey Day 2009

Here's a short recap of Matlock Thanksgiving Day 2009!



could not do a narration due to a defective microphone, so here's some captioning:

1) Niece Lydia helping Grandma set the table
2) Me, my brother, sis-in-law, and niece Lydia at the dinner table
3) The acorn squash with a gourmet cheese sauce that my sis-in-law made that I didn't try.
4) A girl and her pearls! (borrowed from grandma!)
5) Niece Lydia was nice enough to bring us some drinks - quite a strong kid she is!
6) The family (thanks, Aunt E for taking the picture!)
7) Chili-dog on constant alert for any dropped food particles
8) The AWESOME devils food bundt cake with buttercream icing that my mom made
9) My cousin Stephen celebrating his birthday with a sweet DQ ice cream cake!
10) Niece Lydia feeding Chili-dog some applesauce from her little spoon
11) BYE!!

Thankfulness...

On this Thanksgiving, I am thankful for so many things, I could go on for days. Couldn't we all, if we really tried? Beyond the obvious faith, family, and friends, I am especially thankful for:

my niece Lydia
my dog Chili
my job, which pays me enough to keep a roof over our heads
my car, which a mechanic recently complimented on its running condition
health insurance, which is there even though I'm pretty healthy
music
the beauty of the earth
the glory of the skies

-- AND --

that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8) and for the Rev. Mike Goodwin, who seared that verse forever in my consciousness in a powerful sermon way back in 1994.

Today, I will celebrate the holiday with a small gathering at my parents' house.

Guess I'd better figure out what I'm wearing.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you.

OH, OH, OH. I almost forgot -

Thanks also to all of you who take the time to read my blog. I truly appreciate your interest.

Seriously.

Well, It's Sunday Night...

- attended my first-ever "baby brunch" yesterday....some dear old friends from my old Monday-night bible study became parents a couple of months ago. The brunch was held to show off their son to some of us who'd not had the chance to see him yet. I gifted the little tyke with a "board book" copy of "Go Dog Go" by the illustrious P.D. Eastman. That was a favorite book of mine when I was small. I was one of the few men in attendance, though.

- Raked another 14 bags o' leaves yesterday. The Mizzou Tigers kept me company on the radio as they defeated the Cyclones of Iowa State, 34-24. At 7-4 Mizzou HAS to go to a bowl game. The only question is where they will end up. It will help immensely if they can take out KU next Saturday. KU coach El Blimpo Mark Mangino is in a really bad place lately, career-wise and it hasn't helped that his football team is on a 5 or 6-game losing streak. All bets are off when it comes to MU-KU, though. I still remember all those Todd Reesing - Kerry Meyer connections that were made in last year's game to beat Mizzou.

- decided at the last minute last evening to drive up to the TouPAC to catch George Jones in concert. The Possum, or "No Show", as he has been sometimes been called during his 50-year career, is one of those artists that everyone should see live before they die. Alas, he was not in the greatest of voice last night. He was fighting a cold, or allergies, and sang like he had a mouthful of cotton balls all night. I enjoyed hearing his hits, regardless. The songs are all pure country gold and his crack band provided expert backup for them. He brought someone named Brittany Allyn along to sing the part of Tammy Wynette for some of their famous duets.

- Christmastime's a bloomin' everywhere today, from my church to my local Dierbergs market. Can't we at least wait until after Thanksgiving, folks? Just sayin'...

- Random observation: I really like Camera Obscura's cover of Springsteen's "Tougher Than The Rest." The girl singer delivers the lyrics in a delicious Scottish brogue and it just works.

Rainy and Gloomy...YAY!!!!!!

YAY for rainy day Mondays! it was such a pleasure to start a week off with rain, clouds and gloom! YAY!

...........

Okay, now that that's out of the way.

- had a peaceful weekend. I have no place to put any more leaf bags since my garage is filled, at the moment. SOOOO, I just wrangled them into submission with my evil Leaf Blower O' Doom®. I have a nice large pile of leaves that vaguely resembles a dog bone.

- took a couple of late-afternoon hours on Saturday to ride Grant's Trail one last time. did 14 miles, roughly. my legs really felt it, too.

-on the subject of football, ol' Mizzou really asserted itself against K-State on Saturday. They won the psychological battle early, stuffing K-State's run and refusing to let them impose their will on them. The Tiger offense came alive in a big way and put the game out of reach by the third quarter. Would like them to beat Iowa State on Saturday to get to 7-4, and thus a higher quality lower-tier bowl. The KU game will be a toss-up, I think. Since Mizzou beat K-State, which earlier beat KU, then it follows we should beat KU, but after last year's game/debacle, anything's possible.

- Those plucky Rams durn near knocked off the mighty Saints yesterday. The Saints were playing giveaway with the football and were soft on their run defense all day. The Rams were in it until the very end, but they reverted to form at the end, missing a last-second "hail mary" pass that wouldn't have counted anyway due to a yet another holding penalty called on Alex Barron that would have ended the game. Oh, and yeah, the Rams lost yet another player to a catastrophic knee injury. Oh, and yeah, they totally mis-managed the two-minute drill at the end, but it's not like they've had much practice using it this year. They play hard and don't give in. They just don't have enough playmakers to win consistently yet.

- Is it me or are those "Jimmy Football" Budweiser commercials REALLY REALLY ANNOYING? I see the obvious reference to the late Billy Mays, but it's still annoying. And don't get me started on those Progressive Insurance commercials... : )

- yet another reason why I gladly support FM88.1 KDHX community radio - heard a great song on Cat Pick's program today by a British group called The Clientele. Had never heard of them and now I'm totally checking them out.