The most eagerly anticipated new CD of the year?...

Don't think I'll be camping out at my local Borders waiting for this little gem to be released:

Paris Hilton plans reggae, hip hop album...

I think this is a contender for most ridiculous headline of the year.

"The Landmark"...

This is where I spent an interesting couple of hours last Saturday night. It's the home of my great-uncle and aunt who retired back to the Malden area from Odessa, Texas several years ago. My great-uncle plays a mean lead guitar and moonlighted on the Odessa country music scene for many years. Upon their arrival back home, they renovated an old country church (where my parents were married) into a small music hall and private residence for themselves. They have hosted infrequent weekend jam sessions there ever since. There was supposed to have been one on Saturday night but no one showed up to play, unfortunately. He brought out a box of old family photos, many of which I hadn't seen before, and later he did strap on his guitar and play some tunes for us.

When Blogs Collide...

From left to right : Cooks In Kansas, Life As I Know It, and Four of Clubbs at the Cook/Smith wedding reception, Saturday, May 27. I'm happy to report that Whitney and Jon were married in a lovely ceremony in Malden. The reception was a standard cake/punch affair, which nicely suited the occasion. I especially enjoyed visiting with the Cooks and Clubbs and also many relatives I hadn't seen in a good long while. Heck, even my dad ran into some of his old National Guard pals. Gotta love that!

Yes, folks, I am still alive...

Happy Tuesday, faithful(?) readers!

I haven't had much to say lately, it seems. Life has been rolling right along. Let's review what's happened since I ruminated on John Deere eyewear.

- The annual end-of-year picnic for my Monday night bible study happened on May 13. We assembled at Central Presbyterian's Centreat recreation area on a chilly day. Much red meat was grilled (I built the best fire of the 3 grills in use!) and consumed. We played softball, volleyball, and ultimate frisbee to keep warm!

- Yes, Mom was treated wonderfully on Mother's Day this year. My brother& sis-in-law and I came down for church with the parents and then headed home to prepare lunch for them. It was a very good day.

- I'm having the wood floors in my bedroom and my brother's old room refinished this week. During the work, I'm camping out in my 3rd bedroom/office. My queen mattress and box springs just barely fit in there so at least I'm not sleeping on the couch this week. The sweet parts of this inconvenience are 1) my brother finally was forced to clean out his room after being gone since last October, 2) I have taken possession of many of the clothes he outgrew, 3) several bags of old clothing were donated, and 4) The monstrous old office desk that dominated my brother's room was rescued from the curb by a pair of grateful women who really needed it.

After almost 7 years of a Tuesday-Saturday work schedule, my boss has given me the chance to return to a Monday-Friday schedule. (Since our most senior tech retired we've been short on Mondays so I'm more needed then than on Saturdays.) This is the all-American traditional schedule, so this decision should be a no-brainer, right? It's my Inigo Montoya dilemma - (he'd been in the revenge business so long that once he'd avenged his father's death he didn't know what to do next.) I've been working this schedule so long I don't remember life before it! Still, in the interest of not looking a gift horse in the mouth I believe I'll take him up on his offer.

I'm looking forward to getting back down home for my cousin (and Cooks In Kansas' sis) Whitney's wedding this coming Saturday. Once again it's been too long (January) since I've been down so it'll be that much more nice to be there again.

Suburban Fringe is particularly amusing this week - you'll get a good chuckle, I guarantee.

Nothing Runs (Or Sees) Like A Deere...

Did you know that John Deere has added their name to a line of eyewear? I noticed several different pairs on display at my opthalmologist's office today.

(aside: if your eyeglasses suffer a major injury such as a broken temple, do not pass Go, do not collect $200, and PLEASEWHATEVERYOUDO, do not attempt to repair them with Super Glue, which will likely leak onto the lens nearest the break. Proceed directly to the retailer from whence they came, for repair. You will be charged $20 extra for having the Super Glue removed from the lens. Alternately, warn the optician ahead of time so they're not surprised when they clean them with their super-dee-duper ultrasonic lens cleaner.)

so John Deere sells eyeglasses now - can't help but think of my beloved Papaw who has been a loyal employee of John Deere in some capacity for about 900 years now. Seems to me that's an odd thing for them to sell, but their marketing folks obviously think it'll fly.

Read the entire press release here.

It (was) a beautiful day in the neighborhood...

Holy cow, what a beautiful Sunday it was in St. Louis! Just-right temperature, bright sunshine, and puffy clouds rolling on by. It was a great day to have a pizza picnic at church followed by playing sports in the park with friends current and new. Yes, I'm sore, not being used to so much physical exertion on a Sunday afternoon, but it was so worth it! Definitely not a day to stay inside.

I managed to celebrate Cinco de Mayo this year, non-alcoholicly, of course. My friend K's birthday is May 5 so she and I and some friends met at the local El Maguey for dinner and conversation. We went back to her place for cake and Trivial Pursuit.

I rented Mad Hot Ballroom recently - I really loved it - it's a film everyone, especially teachers, should see.

Be cool and stay safe, folks.

Vacation Report...

It's Friday night and the promised rain is puncturing the dry air over us, finally.

I had a productive, relaxing week. Basement and garage have been tamed into a semblance of order. More importantly, I was able to get out and enjoy the near-perfect weather. Wednesday found me biking the trail at Jefferson Barracks Park. Along the way, I actually sat down under a tree and read a book, how quaint!

On Thursday I biked a trail in a recently-opened floodplain section of Cliff Cave Park. Many species of wildflowers were in bloom - I'll have to return with my camera. I stopped at the River Des Peres Trail afterwards. Beautification efforts along RDP Avenue have resulted in 3 pedestrian bridges being built to cross over the RDP into the Christy Greenway bike trail. I explored the greenway and then returned to hit the entire RDP bike trail, round-trip. I'd never done it front to back and it was a nice ride.

Today I drove out to the new Hamburg Trail near Weldon Spring, MO. It ends at a section of the Katy Trail that I rode last fall and I remembered seeing a sign for it at that time. The Hamburg Trail rides through forest glades with historical markers posted along the route. My legs got really tired near the end of the ride, so I knew it was time to let them rest awhile.

Now the rains will soon come and force me indoors for the weekend. I need to get out and look for new bed linens, anyway. I'll soon be re-doing my bedroom and my brother's old room with refinished wood floors and new paint. For some reason, I haven't seen many manly, non-frumpy, non-flowery bedding ensembles.

My Tunes updates tonight after this publishes.

Vacation, finally...

I'm on hiatus from work this week, first vacation of the year! I'm not headed to any destination more exotic than the greater St. Louis area, though. This week is just unplugging from the usual routine and tackling all those little things that haven't gotten done yet. Things such as lawn fertilization, garage-cleaning, cobweb eradication, etc... There are also some bike trails (and possibly some hiking trails) that have my name on them as well. I will also be able to join some some of my man-friends at Bandana's for dinner tomorrow night.

How do I know I timed this vacation just right? A minor crisis hit at work on Friday night right at 5:00 and a major crisis hit at work on Saturday morning. A computer unplugged at the wrong time and a network cable plugged into the wrong place make for tense times. Sometimes you just know it's time to get away.

Speaking of bike trails, I got out on Grant's Trail for the first time this year on Saturday evening (oh the joys of daylight savings time!). I'd gotten my bike ready to roll last Wednesday night at Sunset Cyclery and it was good to get back at it.

I experienced Blueberry Hill for the *ahem* first time last Thursday night. I know, I'm ashamed I've lived here 6 years and had not experienced it yet. It's a cool place to hang out if you're with a group of your friends. It was karaoke night in the basement Elvis Room, but I was still in my work clothes so I wasn't exactly dressed for that sort of crowd, so I declined multiple invitations to belt out a tune or two.

My church has gotten a new thing going called The Gathering - young professionals (age 19-35) meeting every other Sunday night for bible study and hang-out time. They wanted to attract singles and marrieds but it's been all singles so far. I've started going and it's been pretty cool so far. We started a Louie Giglio video series on dating, love, and life last night.

He Is Risen!...

He is risen, indeed.

Had a splendid Easter Sunday today. Great services at church and a great dinner at home with the folks and bro/sis-in-law. As my birthday is tomorrow, the dinner featured several of my favorite dishes (coincidentally, not intentionally). Dessert was my 'special' birthday cake - a delicious confection called Strawberry Dream Cake. The "dream" part of the name must come from its dreamy taste, or the feeling that you are dreaming when you behold its magnificence--I'm not sure. It's a simple recipe, an angel food cake stuffed with mashed strawberries and smothered in whipping cream (not COOL WHIP!). It's a culinary tradition first started by my beloved deceased grandmother and faithfully carried on by my beloved mother. It's a delight beyond belief for a strawberry lover like me.

I was listening to a Chuck Swindoll Easter message on the radio coming home and he pointed out something I'd totally missed until now. Mark 16:7 says that the women at the tomb were told to 'go tell [Jesus'] disciples and Peter,....' By the time of the Resurrection, Peter had defected! So utterly destroyed by the guilt of his denial of Jesus that he resigned his discipleship. Of course, as the story goes, Jesus restored Peter and he became a great leader of the early church. A man who, when the chips were down, denied any knowledge of Christ (even to the point of cursing at the third one who asked him) had hope because of the Resurrection. If you're reading this and you've been there or are there now, that same hope is yours today.

Albert Pujols picked up his team and carried them on his shoulders today. The Cardinals are scuffling, as the writers say, out of the gate this year. A shaky bullpen, and the new right fielder (who hasn't endeared himself to anyone as yet) conspired to put them at a 7-6 disadvantage late in the game. A brilliantly unorthodox strategy of sending up a pitcher to pinch-hit (albeit one who hits well) was successful and AP sent the faithful at the Church of Busch home happy with his THIRD home run of the day. THREE HOME RUNS. A devout Christian was the Cardinals' saving grace on Easter Sunday. How nice is that?

I've Been Reviewed!...

A few months ago I submitted this blog to The Weblog Review for, well, a review. I didn't pay to get it reviewed quickly, so they put it in their 'people who didn't pay to get a review so we'll get around to reviewing it someday' file, which was OK with this blogger.

So what do they think?

It's down toward the bottom of the page - if it's gone by the time you read this, do a search on my blog title and it will magically appear.

I guess I should explicitly state 'I'm Not A Serious Blogger' somewhere in the sidebar. I think the reviewer expected a harder-core blog than mine is. I don't promote any points of view or any certain cause nor do I have any axes to grind. I just write about stuff that happens to me and, well, occasionally I politicize and point-of-view it. The reviewer was constructive in her criticism, however, and I certainly appreciate another set of eyes looking at it.

I Went to a Concert and a Church Service Broke Out...

This is borderline MyTunes material, but I just got back from a great show at the historic Sheldon Concert Hall tonight. It was a double feature with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and the Dixie Hummingbirds! I lucked out and got a seat front and center first row in the balcony, best seat in the house if you ask me. This is a small room, so the balcony is not far from the stage. The Dixie Hummingbirds were a treat to hear; they feature only 1 original member these days, but have added a young bass who delighted the audience by plumbing the depths of his range. I wasn't familiar with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band but I am definitely a fan after hearing them tonight. They brought back the Dixie Hummingbirds to close out their show and it suddenly turned into CHURCH! It was a very joyous way to end the evening. Only fitting, I guess, since the Sheldon was a revival meeting hall in a former life.

One Slip o' the Tongue...

Yes, it's been too long between writings - just haven't had too much to write about lately.

Until today.

A big ol' stink has arisen in the St. Louis area re: an unfortunate 'radio personality' on a local talk radio station. The poor man was doing his show yesterday and in the midst of praising our Secretary of State, meant to say a certain word, but instead said another word that sounds very similar to it (click on the link - I shall not repeat the word). The word he said is commonly used as racial slur. Did he misspeak? Did he really mean to say it? Is he a filthy stinkin' racist? A huge debate has stirred up as a result of predictable coverage in local print and electronic media.

Regardless, the man did himself no favors by immediately acknowledging his mistake, apologizing all over himself in the process. He hastily segued to a commercial break and to make a long story short, he was fired almost immediately and the radio station manager apologized on-air in short order. Today we learn that he has been suspended from his teaching job at a local chiropractic college.

This is one of those situations where nothing good can result of its outcome. My questions are:

1) He had a 'delay' (OH #$%#@!!) button he could have used to prevent his words from ever seeing airtime. Why didn't he use it? Many a radio announcer has been saved via that route. It could be that he panicked, radio not being his first occupation. He had been on the job only 2 weeks, after coming over from a local low-watt talk station.

2) Did he really misspeak, as he claims? How do you make the mistake he made? Only he knows what his true feelings are. If he truly is a racist, then he deserves to be condemned as such. But then again, why would purposely say such a thing knowing he was deep-sixing himself?

I feel bad for him, as his radio career, and likely his teaching career are being destroyed over one little bit of malfeasance. Now, I don't condone any racist speech and am not personally a racist. The God I serve is not, so neither am I. The radio station's hands were unfortunately tied, as they are now mostly owned by the St. Louis Cardinals baseball club. They can't be associated with anything remotely racist so the radio host had to go. Local radio industry insiders are reacting with a mixture of disgust and amusement at the radio station manager, as he is not held in high regard for his management style. (Side note: The radio station in question dumped most of its personalities and hired new "edgier" hosts when the Cardinals ownership took over in January.)

My concern is the disturbing amount of media coverage this incident is receiving. The sad fact is that nowadays, our culture loves controversy. You make one mistake in public, and it's worldwide within seconds. "Put it out there and let it blow up" seems to be the rule. As of this writing, the story is the headline on Stltoday.com and it's even made it to Drudge.com .

Tom Calhoun is a veteran local radio man and offers a reasoned commentary in his blog.

What do my faithful readers have to say?

Monday, Monday...

How is everyone today? The day dawned partly sunny and cool, not bad for March.

As we march ever onward toward Spring, I have begun planning my annual home improvement schedule. Last year at this time I was deep into planning my kitchen remodel project, which took place last April. This year it's bedrooms--mine and my brother's former room. It will involve refinishing the original wood floors, new paint, baseboards, etc... Also tentavively on the list is repairing my sometimes-leaky basement. It leaks in the same spot every time it rains unusually hard or over a prolonged period of time. I've scheduled a basement waterproofer to look at it today. I expect it will be a very expensive project, so that's why it's tentative.

My garage door has gotten things off to an unexpected start by breaking a spring on Thursday so I'll be shelling out $300 for a pair of new ones. The repairman clamped it together temporarily and advised me to use it "sparingly," which means 'don't use it because it could break again while your car's inside and then you'd be screwed.' So my car gets parked outside during the 5 working days it takes to get the new springs.

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Enjoyed a nice time celebrating my sister-in-law's birthday Friday night. Her birthday is exactly one month later than my brother's, believe it or not. The Parents and I and them had a nice dinner at Cunetto's House of Pasta (I tried Tiramisu for the first time ever!) then The Parents adjourned to see a movie while the Young Folks adjourned to a hip birthday bash with friends in the city.

I finally saw Cinderalla Man on Saturday night. The roles were cast perfectly, in my opinion and I liked the film.

Another concert with the Metros on Sunday afternoon. The rehearsal was rough Tuesday night so I wasn't expecting a great performance, but we "acquitted ourselves well" as the critics say. It was a gray and gloomy day more suited for sleeping than singing, but we overcame and sang pretty well. One of the singers hosted a swingin' post-concert party at her home deep in the woods of Wildwood, in far west St. Louis county.

The Oscars went pretty much as I thought they would. I'm not a big movie-goer so I had no favorites picked to win. I do like Philip Seymour Hoffman, so I'm glad he won for Best Actor. Especially glad that his career has recovered from "Twister." : )

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Prom Night 2006...

Every year around this time my Monday night bible study class holds a winter formal. Of course, being irreverent young adults, we surreptiously refer to it as a 'prom.' Last night was the big night! This year's bash was held at a local Marriot hotel banquet room. Fate did not smile on me when it came to seating arrangements, sadly. 2 of my group-mates and I were seated with 4 young college-age girls. Honestly, I think I've been working at my job longer than the girl to my left has been alive! I say 'fate didn't smile on me' in the selfish sense of "I hope I am sitting at a table with eligible women who are close to me in age." Once I came to terms with the realization that that was not going to be the case for me and got over it, I got to know a couple of nice young ladies. The dinner entrée was some sort of fancy chicken with decorative steamed vegetables and a suspicious herb sprig. Later on, the DJ revved up his sound system and the dancing commenced! Yours truly got his groove thang on and danced away the stress of the previous weeks in a couple of hours. When the DJ prepared to launch into the Electric Slide at 11:00, I took that as God's leading that I should head home, so I did.

Yes, I did make it to church for the 9:00 service.

Only 10 minutes late.

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Double-shot of dead-pool news from Hollywood this weekend. Don Knotts passed away on Saturday and Darren McGavin passed away this afternoon. Practically everyone knows the name Don Knotts (of whom I have a vision of a loud leisure suit being worn into heaven). You might only know Darren McGavin if I mentioned "A Christmas Story." Yep, he was Ralphie's dad who spoke in tongues to the family Oldsmobile and furnace. Both great actors and will be missed.

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MyTunes has updated tonight.

It's Wednesday night...

...and all is well. I haven't had much to say since last week but the drought ends here and now.

Work has been extremely busy since last Wednesday. On that day, our employees migrated to a new e-mail system (to Microsoft Exchange/Outlook from Lotus Notes). This was not done voluntarily, but at the direction of our new corporate parent, who swallowed up my company last June. They are a "Microsoft shop" and we had to come in line with that. That, coupled with the migration to a new "domain" (think of a city of computers getting a new name) a week earlier, has put us under an unusual strain for the past couple of weeks. I've been busy resolving user access problems and training users on software that I barely had time to learn before the migration and trying to soothe their irritations with all the hassles that have come as a result. The dust is settling, though, so I think I'll be OK! Oh, and did I mention that a group of users went "live" with a new production system on Monday morning? And that all our users have had to cope with new user name and password standards? It's been fun!

So last week could've really been a "down" week for me. I had no date onValentine's Day, had a trying week at work, and to cap it off on Friday, UPS delivered another wedding gift for my bro and sis-in-law to my house! They're still scoring almost 4 months after the fact! (My brother was also my roommate prior to his marriage so they had gifts delivered to my house.) They never changed their delivery address because they assumed the well had dried up, but I guess not, as they received another gift yesterday. Now, I I don't mind receiving their gifts, but it does sort of remind me that I'm not married yet! : ) But it wasn't a "down" week. I purposely kept a positive outlook. Those things are little obstacles in the grand scheme of things.

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In other news, a local suburb has denied an residential occupancy permit to an unmarried couple and their children. It seems this family doesn't meet the suburb's definition of a family. The suburb's mayor makes a valid argument, but this still seems like blatant discrimination to me. Thoughts?
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News of the weird - Yesterday was Senior Skip Day at a local private college prep high school. Two knucklehead members of the senior class continued the long and storied tradition of playing a senior prank. The problem was that their senior prank involved rappelling up the side of a mini-skyscraper in full view of passing motorists on a busy interstate. Predictably, the media had a field day with it (I happened to be working in the photo studio at work when our photographer on the scene was doing a play-by-play). Fortunately, both students made it back down safely and were cuffed and stuffed into a waiting patrol car. They spent the night in jail and are suspended from school.
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Sad news from the world of Southern Gospel music tonight. Pianist Anthony Burger collapsed and died of an apparent heart attack while performing on a Caribbean cruise ship this evening. He was a gifted musician, and one of the premier entertainers in gospel music. In recent years, he performed often with Bill Gaither and his Homecoming concert tours. I remember him playing with the Kingsmen during their concerts at the Malden Community Center when I was a child. My grandparents and I always saw them when they came to town.

This made me hungry...

(From 4 of Clubbs' Brooke, who got it from her friend Amy)

1. Eggs? Fried or Scrambled? could go either way, depending on who cooks them
2. Chocolate covered cherries? No - strawberries, always!
3. When eating a salad, what type of dressing do you prefer to use? Homey don' eat no salad!
4. Peanut Butter? Creamy or Crunchy? Creamy - if it's crunchy it's been in my pantry too long.
5. If you HAD to eat only one flavor of ice cream for the rest of your life, what flavor would it be? Breyer's Vanilla.
6. Thick or thin crust pizza? They both have merits! Thick, but I have no problem with thin.
7. Salsa? Hot, Medium, or Mild? Medium, with a little kick.
8. Toast? Lightly toasted or practically burnt? Lightly toasted.
9. What is your FAVE food item at Taco Bell? don't eat there enough to remember.
10. When are you MOST LIKELY to pig out during the course of a day? Famous Amos Chocolate Chip cookies, or white seedless grapes.

1. What time of day is too late to telephone someone? I don't usually call people after 9:30, unless it's all good with them or it's a dire emergency
2. Have you ever looked up the lyrics to a song online? Many times.
3. What’s your favorite dessert to order at a restaurant? That's hard. Hm. Appleby's Caramel Apple crunch with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
1. What are your favorite pizza toppings? List your favorite 3 (or more). Beef, Ham/Canadian Bacon, Cheese
2. What was the last movie you saw (theater or rented, your choice, or both)? The Girl in the Café.
3. What is your favorite fruit? Mmmmm....Strawberries are my first love but I also love white seedless grapes.

Sunday night update...

Rather quiet weekend 'round these parts. Spent most of yesterday at work preparing for our upcoming company-wide e-mail migration (more on that later). Last night, I rented a cute little film called The Girl in the Café. It is a British production for HBO that premiered last fall. It was written by the same writer who wrote Four Weddings and a Funeral and Love Actually, so I picked it up. Allmovie.com reviews it better than I can so I'll let you follow the link. If nothing else, rent it for the female lead who is Scottish and speaks with a delicious brogue!

This was a Dare2Share conference weekend in St. Louis. Their president and founder Greg Stier preached both services at church today. He is a powerful, engaging speaker who takes no prisoners and pulls no punches when he speaks.

I'm back on the job tomorrow so I'd better get some sleep.

but before I go, Erin Bode's new record is out in stores - I highly recommend it. Get a Rhapsody.com account and preview it for free, then go out and buy it... : )

From one live music extreme to the other...

Last night I took in some live music at Off Broadway--BR549 with The Avett Brothers. Tonight it's the St. Olaf College Choir at MUMC. Yes, THE world-renowned St. Olaf College Choir from Northfield, Minn. From loud, hillbilly country music in a smoky bar to refined elegance in a beautiful church nave, all within 24 hours. Such is life for my ears.

Chili for a chilly day...

Today was the annual Great Chili Cook-Off, sponsored by the photography dept. at my workplace. 10 different varieties of chili, but alas, no evidence locker! : )

Super Bowl XL weekend update

So I was wrong in my previous prediction - the Seahawks fell short in their quest to return the NFC to Super Bowl glory. History will remember it as a sloppily played game, but the Steelers were clearly the better team. How about "Big Ben" Roethlisberger winning the big game at the tender age of 23? I was just a greenhorn computer tech starting my first job at that age. If you're a sentimentalist, you love it because Jerome Bettis retired with a big win, Bill Cowher finally won the big one, and Pittsburgh finally joined Dallas and San Francisco in the 5-win club.

You had to feel for the broadcasters of this game, having to spit out names like Tatupu, Roethlisberger, and Palomalu.

The Steelers sealed their victory with a touchdown on a successful trick play. Somewhere in the San Diego area, somehow, Mike Martz is smiling.

How about the commercials? I felt they were more violent this year overall, unfortunately. My favorite was the Sprint "music on your cell phone" commercial with the homage to Benny Hill.
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I covered the night shift at work last night, as I have to do occasionally. 6:00 p.m. - 1:30 a.m. It can be a lonely shift, but I managed to keep busy. It was during the ride home that I noticed my headlights were either not working, or not working very well. Now, that's a bad situation to be in at between 1:30 and 2:00 in the morning, traveling down the interstate half-asleep with little or no headlights to guide you along. Thankfully, I didn't encounter any smokeys or county mounties during the trip home. I checked them today and something is wrong--fortunately, I have about 1,200 miles of warranty left. It's oil-change time anyway, so into the shop it goes tomorrow.