Nuggie Land

Maintenance

2011-08-03T10:06:00.002-05:00

Hey, Lime green was awesome back in 2006. Going to a basic black and white, will try to figure out a good design when I have time. Feel free to make suggestions if you wish.

Bringing the funk back

2011-08-03T07:19:00.002-05:00

I needed a place to put some thoughts that required more than 140 characters, so I decided to revive the defunked blog. (Note that is the correct spelling. Defunct means no longer functioning; defunked means having lost the funk.) My last post was almost exactly 4 years ago.

So here we go:

NASCAR: I hope Carl Edwards stays in the 99. (I'm Nuggie99, people, I have investment here!) My second choice would be for Mark Martin to come back to Roush, and all would be right in the world. After that would be Trevor Bayne, then Brian Vickers. Sounds like Clint Bowyer is staying back at Childress. Not much of a Stenhouse fan, but I suppose I could grow into it.

Comics:

Don't read Ultimate Spider-Man, so don't really care. I've only read one Bendis book (the first Powers trade), but he seems like a good writer. He should be able to pull a good story out of it. Whether the story is any good is really all that matters.

On the same line, Larry (he was Larry in Cadence and Deep Cover, he'll always be Larry to me) Fishburne is a great actor and should make a good Perry White.

100 songs 51-60

2007-08-02T12:40:00.000-05:00

I realized if I didn't shorten them up, I was never going to finish. Here's a few more.

51. Old Country–-Mark Chesnutt
Another one the early 90's new traditionalist. Lots of good songs here.

52. Louisiana Man-–Doug Kershaw
Older song about a Cajun out trapping and making his way in the world.

53. Third Rate Romance--The Amazing Rhythm Aces
Great 70's Country Rock hit. Russell Smith, your lead singer, was also involved in the wonder rythm and bluegrass ensemble Run C&W.

54. She Don’t Know She’s Beautiful-–Sammy Kershaw
Another one the early 90's new traditionalist. Lots of good songs here. (Oooh, cut and paste) I was actually a member of his fan club at one time (another story for another day. He also covered the previous song (#53) for a hit.

55. Divers Do It Deeper–-David Allan Coe
Not his most famous song, but one of my favorites off his Ten Years of Hits CD. Also did some adult material.

56. Promises--Eric Clapton
Another non-country artist, but only in the strictest sense. This song and Lay Down Sally are definitely county, a Tulsa Time was a Dow Williams cover.

57. Walkin' to Jerusalem–-Tracy Byrd
More 90's traditional stuff that I'm so fond of.

58. Wasted Days and Wasted Nights–-Freddy Fender
Good classic country song. Fender had a decent career, then hit again later with the Texas Tornados.

59. Georgia on My Mind–-Ray Charles
Ray Charles. Just a scosh below Johnny Cash on the icon totem pole. Did Country, Jazz Rock, Pop, R&B, Gospel, and everything inside, outside, mixed, pure, blended fused, scattered and covered. This is probably his most famous song, but it's hard to nail down on one for him, moreso that anyone else.

60. Keep Your Hands to Yourself-–Georgia Satellites
Wonderful little Southern Rock song. Big hit.

100 songs 41-50

2007-07-23T13:26:00.000-05:00

41. Midnight Hauler -- Razzy Bailey
Another trucking song. I really like this song on it's own merits, but I really enjoyed Bailey when I was a kid, too.

42. Long Black Train -- Josh Turner
When people say that today's country is too pop, I like to point out this young man. He's very traditional and just a good country singer. This gospel tinged song is a good example. It's odd because the song never made the top 10, but it charted for a long stretch, making it still a big hit.

43. SqueezeBox -- The Who
Here is my first non-country, nowhere near country artist on my list. However, the song has a country flavor to it, what with the banjo sound, and the accordion subject matter, if you want to believe that's what they are singing about.

44. Backside of Thirty -- John Conlee
Another of the Late 70's/mid 80's country pop artists that I like so well. This sad tale of love lost just beats out Rose Colored Glasses as my favorite. Before parlaying his DJ career into a singing career, Conlee was a mortician.

45. Baby’s Got her Blue Jeans On - Mel McDaniel
Again, long list of hits for McDaniel. I think this is probably his most recognized, and it's a fun song.

46. Some Broken Hearts Never Mend -- Don Williams
Interesting that I picked this one over Tulsa Time or I Believe in Love. All 3 are great, as are most of Williams' catalog.

47. Saginaw, Michigan –- Lefty Frizzell
Here's a classic song. This one is about a young man who couldn't gain his lady's father acceptance, but wins her in the end. Frizell had a lot of influence on later artists like Merle Haggard and George Jones, so he is a very important figure in the history of country music.

48. We Tell Ourselves –- Clint Black
This song has a good guitar lick in it, which must be why I originally chose it. On reflection, Better Man and State Of Mind are better songs. Nothin' But the Tailights is good too. Black is married to actress Lisa Hartman. Clint and I both have issues making up our minds, as I had a hard time picking a favorite, and he sand both Killin' Time and No Time to Kill. Which is it man?

49. Much Too Young to Feel This Damn Old –- Garth Brooks
From about 1990 to 1995 or so, everything Brooks touched turn to gold. He was hot. Lots of good country and not so country music from him. This one was the first, and the best.

50. John Deere Green –- Joe Diffie
Diffie came right after Brooks and Black in the new tradition phase that country hit in the early 90's. I'm still a big Diffie fan. This is a fun small mid-western town ditty.

100 songs 31-40

2007-07-19T13:27:00.000-05:00

31. Holding Her and Loving You -- Earl Thomas Conley
Earl Thomas Conley, not to confused with John Conlee or Con Hunley. Bunches of hits out of Conley. This slow sad one was recently redone by Clay Walker.

32. Memphis in the Meantime -- John Hiatt
Getting out on the fringes of country. Hiatt has recently had some success with movie and TV soundtracks using his stuff. Hiatt has had several good country and country pop songs out there, without a lot of chart success. He has written a bunch of hit songs though. I really like this one about putting the country aside for a while and listening to some blues for a while. Honorable mention to Tennessee Plates.

33. Wicked Game -- Chris Isaak
Isaak is pretty pop, but he's still had some pretty country material. This song had a standard black and white band standing and sing the song video. Then they reshot it with Isaak frolicking in the sand with a model, and it started to gain ground. Add David Lynch using it in Wild at Heart and it was a smash hit. Issak also had a TV show (aptly named The Chris Isaak Show) and several other good songs, though not so many hits. This one has a great guitar part and it accentuates Isaak's Orbison-esque voice.

34. Velvet Chains -- Gary Morris
Did I mention that John Hiatt wrote a bunch of hit songs? Here's one of them. Gary Morris was pretty successful back in the mid-80's country pop days. The music a lot of people point out as bad country pop, I suppose, but it's actually some of my favorite stuff. Morris, an avid hunter and fisherman, also enjoyed success on Broadway on productions of La Boheme and Les Miserables. The song is about staying with a woman you like, plus it has a little double entendre thing happening.

35 Reggae Cowboy –- Bellamy Brothers
More mid eighties country pop stuff. Lots and lots of good stuff from David and Howard. Probably most famous for their late 70's crossover hit Let Your Love Flow, or Old Hippie. Really good duo. I like this one because it has some island stuff mixed in with country.

36. 1982 -- Randy Travis
Travis was hot stuff back when this song was a hit. He was first of the a more traditional movement, counteracting the 80's pop stuff I talked about above. This song was about a lost love.

37. That’s What You Do When You’re in Love –- Forrester Sisters
More of the mid 80's pop stuff. I was fond the Forrester Sisters, and I really like this song of forgiveness.

38. You’re Gonna Ruin My Bad Reputation –- Ronny McDowell
Still with this country pop stuff. McDowell was the voice of Elvis in the 1979 Elvis TV movie starring Kurt Russell, the 1990's Elvis TV series, and several other Elvis projects. He had several country hits, this one about settling down being my favorite.

39. It’s a Cheatin’ Situation –- Moe Bandy
Bandy had several hits, his first being Hank Williams, You Wrote My Life. This one about the IRS... ok, that's just little joke, it's a regular county cheating song. Honorable mention to I Cheated Me Right Out of You.

40. Roll On, Big Mama -- Joe Stampley
One of my other favorite sub-genres, the trucking song. This is one of my favorites. Honorable mention to his version of Double Shot of My Baby's Love.

Also, I have to mention Moe Bandy and Joe Stampley had several hits as a duet, which is why they were right together on the countdown. These include the song Where's The Dress, which got them sued by Boy George, You Always Leave Me Holding the Bag and Good Ol' Boys.

100 Songs 21-30

2007-07-17T09:02:00.000-05:00

21. Trying to Love Two Women -- The Oak Ridge Boys
This is probably my favorite Oak Ridge Boys song. Lots of songs on their list too. (My wife told me I make that comment on almost every artist. It's true though) I like this one, because, hey, Trying to Love Two Women IS like a ball and chain. Back when I was single, I either had nothing happening and no prospects, or 2 or 3 gals interested at once. This songs features William Lee Golden a little more than most Oak Ridge Boys songs (save Ozark Mountain Jubilee).

22. Boney Fingers -- Hoyt Axton
Work your fingers to the bone, what do you get? One of the best lines in music history, IMHO. Good old country song about trying to keep things together through the hard times. Should also mention Della and the Dealer, and the fact that Hoyt Axton wrote Joy to the World, the big Three Dog Night hit. (and his mother wrote Heartbreak Hotel). Hoyt did a lot of acting, too. Well rounded career.

23. She Can Put Her Shoes Under My Bed Anytime -- Johnny Duncan
Duncan had plenty of good song out when I was a little kid. Always loved his music, and this song is one of my favorites. Also, I could have chosen his version of Come A Little Bit Closer that featured Janie Fricke, as did Thinkin' Of a Rendezvous.

24. The Weekend -- Steve Wariner
Steve Wariner has always been an odd one for me. I never like his songs when they are new, but a few years later, I start liking his old songs. This is a sad little song about a short fling that wasn't so short for the singer.

25. When I Call Your Name -- Vince Gill
Sad one from Vince Gill. Vince is a great singer and a great guiter picker, too. Lots of good choices from here. Oklahoma Borderline is probably my second favorite.

26. Heard It in a Love Song -- Marshall Tucker Band
They played this song a lot on country radio when I was kid, so I don't consider it rock (The rock and pop songs don't show up till much later) Toy Caldwell was the man on the guitar, and the flute is a change of pace. (not a lot of flute outside of classical music. Considering I don't listen to much Jethro Tull, this is probably about it) Can't You See also deserves mention.

27. When You're Hot, You're Hot -- Jerry Reed
La la la la la la, la la la la. Great song. Jerry Reed is another wonderful guitar picker and another prolific actor. He's also one with a whole catalog of great songs. East Bound and Down from Smokey and the Bandit is probably Reed's most well known.

28 I Never Picked Cotton -- Roy Clark
Buck Owens' Hew Haw co-host and Branson fixture. He's also a very talented guitar and banjo picker. Here's one of the many country songs about hard times and leading a life of crime. A college math professor had a messy divorce and was a big fan of Thank God and Greyhound, You Gone, but I'll stick with this song.

29. In America -- Charlie Daniels
Uber-patriotic anthem from The Charlies Daniels Band. Lots of great songs, yet again. Did you know Daniels played guitar on Bob Dylan's Nashville Skyline album? He was also missing part of a finger on his right hand, due to a sawing accident. Luckily, it was his picking hand and not his chording hand, and we got to visit the Devil down in Georgia and Wooley Swamp with him. In America is my favorite, though.

30. Texas in 1880 -- Foster and Lloyd
Radney Foster and Bill Lloyd were a big part of the late 80's early 90's neo traditional movement, though I suppose they were more neo than traditional. This is a rodeo song, one of my favorite sub-genres of Country and Western music. Several good songs from this duo (and a few more decent one if you add Foster's solo career.)

100 songs 11-20

2007-07-12T12:31:00.000-05:00

11. Old Violin -- Johnny Paycheck
Another singer with a lot of good songs. I chose this one because it's dark and haunting, a song about a man at the end of his rope. Paycheck wrote this one as he was headed to prison.

12. Never Could Toe the Mark -- Waylon Jennings
Yet again, many songs to be had. In this one, Jennings has the "whoop whoop" line, so I had to pick it. EDIT: On further review, the whoop whoop is in Clyde. Don't know why I thought it was in Never Could Toe the Mark. Maybe I should switch this one to I've Always been Crazy and call it even?

13. Crazy Arms -- Ray Price
Dig the Countrypolitan pipe of Ray Price. Might should have picked For The Good Times. Crazy Arms is a great song, too, so it's ok. Good old shuffle.

14. She Got You -- Patsy Cline
I'm not a big Patsy Cline fan. This is still a pretty good song though. On a revision of the list, this might have been dropped.

15. Cherokee Fiddle -- Johnny Lee
Good song about the mix of old and new country from the Urban Cowboy days. I really liked Lee, again could have picked several songs. This song was written by Michael Martin Murphy, by the way.

16. This One's Gonna Hurt You -- Travis Tritt and Marty Stuart
Something a little newer. The Whiskey Ain't Workin' was probably a bigger hit, but this is the better song, to me. A slow sad one.

17. It was Almost like a Song –- Ronnie Milsap
Milsap had a long career with lots of songs. This one is pretty good.

18. Lovin' On Back Streets -- Mel Street
Mel Street is next to unknown today. He was born and got some of his first work near where I was born, so he's probably more popular in that area than anywhere else. Wonderful singer who committed suicide way too young. Bounced from label to label and didn't really have the career he deserved. Borrowed Angel is also worthy of mention.

19. Amarillo by Morning -- George Strait
Strait is nearing 30 years of hit making. This early hit with a great fiddle intro/outro stand as my favorite. Lots of great songs from George.

20. Devil Woman -- Marty Robbins
Lots and lots of songs for part time racecar driver Robbins. I really like this song about a guy who messed up, but is making it right. Big Iron and El Paso are great, as is most of the rest of his catalog.

100 songs 1-10

2007-07-11T12:58:00.001-05:00

As promised, here is some of my reasoning on my 100 songs list.

1. I Started Loving You Again -- Merle Haggard
Yes that's the actual title, although sometimes it's listed as Today, I Started Loving You Again. First, Merle Haggard is probably my favorite singer ever. This is my favorite song. It's simple, to the point and full of emotion. Sometimes picking the song once you've picked an artist is an ordeal. This is the case with Haggard, as I love a lot of his songs. Always Wanting You (written about Dolly Parton) would have probably been second on my list. But, there's a lot of winners in his catalog
Go here, get this

2. Easy Lovin' -- Freddy Hart
Great old classic country song. CMA song of the year in 1971 and 1972. For Freddy Hart, I also have to mention My Hangup is You. I love it maybe even more than Easy Lovin'.

3. Drinkin' Thing -- Gary Stewart
I really like Gary Stewart, but it comes down to 2 similar songs, Drinkin' Thing and She's Actin' Single, I'm Drinkin' Doubles. I went with Drinkin' Thing, though.

4. Someday My Day Will Come -- George Jones
What can be said about George Jones? He's a legend for a reason. Much like Haggard, there were a lot of songs I could have listed. This one is a sad yet hopeful kind of song that I really like.

5. Old Dogs, Children and Watermelon Wine -- Tom T. Hall
Love Tom T. Hall. Story goes that he wrote this after appearing at the Republican National Convention (maybe it was the Democrats... doesn't really matter). Again, could have went with several choices, but this is a darn fine song.

6. Almost Persuaded -- David Houston
I just love this almost cheatin' song. The chorus builds up, and it would be easy to take it over the top, but Houston doesn't. I also have to note the wonderful piano lick that helps to make the song.

7. Big in Vegas -- Buck Owens
It's kinda sad that most people remember Owens for Hee Haw, but not his music career. Yet again, lots of great songs. Honorable mention to Tall Dark Stranger. The other must have recommendation for today

8. Ring Of Fire -- Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash. What else needs to be said? I also really love One Piece at a Time. In anyone else's hands, it would have been just a joke, but in Johnny's, it comes out great. I can close my eyes and see Johnny, Merle, Willie and Waylon in a garage working on the thing, while June brings a out plate of bologna sandwichs and a pitcher of lemonade. Ring of Fire got the nod the day I made the list, though. Love the horns.

9. Lovesick Blues -- Hank Williams
Without Hank, there'd be no country music. Lovesick Blues is probably my favorite, although it's one of the few Williams did not write.

10. Eleven Roses -- Hank Williams, Jr.
Bocephus is more famous for his up-tempo southern rock flavored rowdy songs, but this beautiful slow apology is my favorite.

100 songs

2007-07-10T12:13:00.000-05:00

About a year or so ago, my friend (using that word loosely) Functionally ReTodded asked for input on a list of 100 great songs. I had fully intended to expound on my list here, but never got around to it. His list is here. Mine is below. Over the next few posts here at Nuggie Land, I'll explore each song on the list and try to explain why I chose it for my list. The original list was started in October 2006, so I'll see what still rates and what doesn't. After I go through the list, I'll add a few more that should have made the list.

Here's my original reply
Well, I was afraid of loading my list down with a bunch of Merle Haggard and Buck Owens Songs. I limited my self to 1 song per artist. These are probably my favorite songs by each of these artists. I did it in a stream of consciousness
, so there’s no order. It’s by no means complete or even “right,” just 100 good songs by 100 good artists. I looked it over, but I make no promise that I didn’t repeat. It’s mostly country, of the classic variety, but there's a bit or rock and motown in there too. Here you go:

1. I Started Loving You Again–Merle Haggard
2. Easy Lovin’–Freddy Hart
3. Drinkin’ Thing–Gary Stewart
4. Someday My Day Will Come–George Jones
5. Old Dogs Children and Watermelon Wine–Tom T. Hall
6. Almost Persuaded–David Houston
7. Big In Vegas–Buck Owens
8. Ring of Fire–Johnny Cash
9. Lovesick Blues–Hank Williams
10. Eleven Roses–Hank Williams, Jr.
11. Old Violin–Johnny Paycheck
12. Never could Toe the Mark–Waylon Jennings
13. Crazy Arms–Ray Price
14. She Got You–Patsy Cline
15. Cherokee Fiddle–Johnny Lee
16. This One’s Gonna Hurt You–Travis Tritt and Marty Stuart
17. It was Almost like a Song–Ronnie Milsap
18. Lovin’ On Backstreets–Mel Street
19. Amarillo by Morning–George Strait
20. Devil Woman–Marty Robbins
21. Trying to Love Two Women–Oak Ridge Boys
22. Boney Fingers–Hoyt Axton
23. She Can Put Her Shoes Under My Bed Anytime–Johnny Duncan
24. The Weekend-Steve Wariner
25. When I Call Your Name–Vince Gill
26. Heard it in Love Song–Marshall Tucker Band
27. When You’re Hot, You’re Hot–Jerry Reed
28. I Never Picked Cotton–Roy Clark
29. In America–Charlie Daniels
30. Texas, 1880–Foster and Lloyd
31. Holding Her and Loving You–Earl Thomas Conley
32. Memphis in the Meantime–John Hiatt
33. Wicked Game–Chris Isaak
34. Velvet Chains–Gary Morris
35. Reggae Cowboy–Bellamy Brothers
36. 1982–Randy Travis
37. That’s What you do when You’re in Love–Forrester Sisters
38. You’re Gonna Ruin My Bad Reputation–Ronny McDowell
39. It’s a Cheatin’ Situation–Moe Bandy
40. Roll On Big Mama–Joe Stampley
41. Midnight Hauler–Razzy Bailey
42. Long Black Train–Josh Turner
43. SqueezeBox–The Who
44. Backside of Thirty–John Conlee
45. Baby’s Got her Blue Jeans On-Mel McDaniel
46. Some Broken Hearts Never Mend-Don Williams
47. Saginaw, Michgan–Lefty Frizzell
48. We Tell Ourselves–Clint Black
49. Much Too Young to Feel This Damn Old–Garth Brooks
50. John Deere Green–Joe Diffie
51. Old Country–Mark Chesnutt
52. Louisana Man–Doug Kershaw
53. Third Rate Romance-The Amazing Rhythm Aces
54. She Don’t Know She’s Beautiful–Sammy Kershaw
55. Divers Do It Deeper–David Allan Coe
56. Promises-Eric Clapton
57. Walkin to Jerusalem–Tracy Byrd
58. Wasted Days and Wasted Nights–Freddy Fender
59. Georgia on My Mind–Ray Charles
60. Keep Your Hands to Yourself–Georgia Satellites
61. It’s a Long Way to the Top if You wanna Rock and Roll–AC/DC
62. Do You Know You Are My Sunshine–Statler Brothers
63. Me and You and A Dog Named Boo–Lobo
64. Live Forever–Shaver
65. Everywhere–Tim McGraw
66. 1959–John Anderson
67. It’s All In Your Head–Diamond Rio
68. Can’t Keep a Good Man Down–Alabama
69. Ramblin Man–Allman Brothers
70. Black Water–Doobie Brothers
71. That Smell–Lynyrd Skynyrd
72. Pleasant Valley Sunday–The Monkees
73. Midnight Train to Georgia–Gladys Night and The Pips
74. Devil in Blue Dress–Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels
75. Still The Same–Bob Segar
76. Lodi–Creedence Clearwater Revival
75. You Can’t Always Get What You Want–The Rolling Stones
76. A Lesson in Leavin’–Dottie West
77. Movin’ On–Hank Snow
76. Big Old Jet Airliner–Steve Miller
77. Runnin’ Down a Dream–Tom Petty
78. A Tender Lie–Restless Heart
79. Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow–The Shirelles
80. Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)–The Four Tops
81. The Tracks Of My Tears–Smokey Robinson
82. Soul Man–Sam and Dave
83. Chain Gang–Sam Cooke
84. You Don’t Mess Around With Jim–Jim Croce
85. Burnin’ Love–Elvis Presley
86. My Baby Don’t Dance to Nothing But Ernest Tubb–Junior Brown
87. Papa Was a Rolling Stone–The Temptations
88. Crackers–Barbara Mandrell
89. Waltz Across Texas–Ernest Tubb
90. Gentle On My Mind–Glen Campbell
91. Light My Fire–The Doors
92. Can I See You Tonight?–Tanya Tucker
93. She Ain’t Pretty, She Just Looks That Way–The Northern Pikes
94. The Streak–Ray Stevens
95. Is Anybody Goin’ To San Antone?–Charlie Pride
96. May the Bird Of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose–Little Jimmy Dickens
97. Superman Song–Crash Test Dummies
98. Me Neither–Brad Paisley
99. Still-Bill Anderson
100. Key Largo–Bertie Higgins

Yet another website to neglect

2007-06-12T20:14:00.000-05:00

Because of my sister in law, I have built a myspace page. If I ever get around to completing my template, I'll add a link to it over there --> (or maybe over <--- there)

Anywho it's here The cool thing about it is adding friends. I have a mix of people I know now, people I used to know, family, real life people, and internets friends.

Cranking up at the Mansfield 250

2007-05-28T14:07:00.000-05:00

Short Trackin'

2007-05-14T12:51:00.000-05:00

I wish we had taken the real camera, but here's a couple of phone camera shots of the action at I77 Motorsports Park

Would the real Eric For(e)man please stand up?

2007-05-09T12:21:00.000-05:00

Somebody at Fox needs a new phone book or something.

Ruddy, Puddy, Buddy and Cutty

2007-05-03T18:54:00.000-05:00

Stolen from Avitable

2007-05-03T09:05:00.000-05:00

The concept is to write a paragraph using words starting with each subsequent letter of the alphabet. Here's what I came up with.

Always be candid. Don't ever feel guilty. Have ideas justified killing? Listen, maybe nobody overestimated people's qualms, right? Someone told us very wisely, xenophobia yields zip.

Edit: Changed noone to nobody, since noone is not a word.

Inner view

2007-04-13T12:26:00.000-05:00

My friend (and I use that term loosely) TMLSB had an interview on his blog. He asked any of his readers want to also be interviewed, so I responded in the affirmative. I should have specified that I like to keep my blog family oriented, but I didn't. Oh, well, here goes.

1) Tell me about your most embarrassing public fart.

I don't understand the question. What's so embarrassing about farting? And even if it were, I'm usually silent but deadly. {Editor's note: I went through and answered all the other questions, as I seriously don't remember having been embarrassed by farting in public. I usually just wait, or I'm not embarrassed by it)

2) On what celebrity do you have a secret crush? You know, so secret that even Wahneeter don't know.

Why would I wish for bologna when I got steak at home? Ah, but seriously, after Britney Spears and Lindsey Low-han went all crazy, I've given up on celebs. (Include Katie Holmes, too. Tom Cruise? Hello!) In the interest of the question, I don't think Juanita knows about my crush on Amanda Bynes. I likes 'em young.

3) When was the last time you cried?

When I saw the video for Joe Nichols's latest song. It's called "I'll Wait for You."
That's some sad stuff right there.

4) Describe how you lost your virginity (assuming it wasn't the same as number 3).

This is a family show! It was basically, hey, allright, that's nice, I'm done. And it took about that long.

5) What's the most terrifying thing you've seen on the internet?

Tub Girl. Thanks for bring back THAT memory. Goat-se being a close second.

So here are the way this thing works

1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

And I don't have Red and Rio Grande either

2007-04-04T16:17:00.000-05:00

Doug Supernaw Psych Evaluation Ordered

Bad week for country singers.

Stuck in Pennsylvania

2007-04-03T07:51:00.000-05:00

Here I am in PA, without my copy of "Tramp on Your Street"

Billy Joe Shaver shoots man out side bar

Remiss in my purpose

2007-03-28T10:18:00.000-05:00

About a year ago, I had started back to collecting comics and had intended to review them here. The trouble was that everything I bought satisfied me and it was difficult to think of different ways to write "This was a good read" or "A+++++ Will read again." It was tedious, so I let it slide.

Today is Comic Book Day once again. I haven't picked up my stash, but here's some insight. I only read two Marvel titles (Wolverine Origins and Moon Knight), so the whole Civil War, Death of Captain America business hasn't had much of an effect on me. DC is getting ready to wrap up their 52 weekly comic and start a new weekly series called Countdown. I'll pick it up, most likely. The 2 best comics that I'm picking up now, if I had to choose, would be The Lone Ranger (from Dynamite Entertainment) and The Spirit (from DC). The Lone Ranger is currently retelling the origin (it's up to issue 5, I think) and is doing a good job of it. The Spirit is a revival of the classic Will Eisner Series.

And, (this doesn't happen much, so take note) I do have a negative review. Batman 663 was awful. It was written in prose with back ground drawing, instead of the traditional comic format. The story didn't hold my interest. I'm not sure if it was the story itself, or just the format, but I didn't care for it.

And when you tried it what happened?

2007-03-27T12:07:00.000-05:00

My job is working with Oracle databases. One of the best answers to many of the questions people ask is the title of this post. Oracle allows its software free for download for the purpose of development. All you need to do is get Oracle installed (either hit the Oracle documentation site or Howard J. Rogers' (dizwell) site.) Set yourself up a test case and run your command and see what happens. If you're still not sure, you can either check Oracle's support site, or, if you don't have support, visit Ask Tom. There are other Oracle sites, but those are the ones I mainly use.

What the devil?

2007-03-27T08:41:00.000-05:00

I had an idea for a new blog post, and I was going to quote a couple things from a blog called Creating Passionate Users (CPU) to give me some background info on want I was going to write. What I found was unexpected and shocking. CPU is a collaborative blog, but the main writer is Kathy Sierra. I just read the blog, I don't know Kathy or read the comments much. I don't know any of the back story or anything. Unfortunately, Kathy has received death threats and been the target of several disturbing blog posts. This just doesn't seem to me to be what blogs and the internet was meant for.

Sorry to be such a downer, the current post at CPU just threw me for a loop.

Well, even if you do know Jack

2007-03-26T12:31:00.000-05:00

One of our local radio stations was using the Jack format (We play what we want). It was a ratings failure, so they recently restarted with an Oldies format. This was the format they had before Jack, more or less, but that's really not important to the story. (That line is cribbed from the Weird Al Show from CBS)

SO what's that got to do with anything? Well, it's time for a format change here at Nuggie Land. I've poked around with the template, and I expect that I'm not done. I'll add some new content.

My own worst enemy

2007-02-02T13:19:00.000-05:00

I woke up this morning in a tizzy because I had forgotten to do some database scripts last night that were supposed to happen at 8:00. This was about 5:45, so I was way late. I hurried and got my laptop up and humming and I was almost into the system when I realized, today is Friday, not Saturday. Luckily I hadn't started making the database changes.

Now I get to work and mostly the day has gone well except for one difficult project. I've gotten through the project before (I'm reinstalling a dev system) so I know I'll get through it. That is, if I don't delete my directory structure in the directory again. D'oh! To reinstall, I have to delete it and start over, so that's no big deal, except when you are in your home directory and not the software directory. Again, luckily, there's not much in the home directory, so I'm ok.

Motivation

2007-01-22T12:41:00.000-05:00

Yeah, yeah, New Years, over weight, blah blah. Whatever. So what am I gonna actually do about it.

Well, first things first, we bought ourselves a tread mill for Christmas. The make nice clothes racks, from what I see. How do I go about actually using it? Or, more accurately, why should I? I am now going to let you in on three little secrets on how I'm going to stay motivated.

1. Big Loser Contest My wife and I have entered into a Big Loser (named after the TV show) contest with her sister and brother in law. Team winners get a dinner, individual gets cash.
2. Walking the Mansfield 250 My friend Ethel lives in Illinois and dates a guy in Georgia. She tracks her exercise bike miles and calls in Biking to Atlanta. I'm planning on going to the Mansfield 250 Craftsman Truck Race later this year. I'm doing a similar thing with my walking on the treadmill. Here's my progress so far:

3. Spark People My wife turned me onto this web site. I use it to track calories, exercise, and other activities. I've only used it about a week, but so far it's helped.

Between the 3 motivators, I should be in decent shape in no time.

What not to blog about

2006-12-28T12:45:00.000-05:00

I've been needing to make a post here for a while. I found this blog essay and thought I would share.

Weblog Tools Collection:Things You Should Avoid Blogging About

Enjoy!

Another in a series

2006-11-30T09:39:00.000-05:00

Ah, the wonderful take a cell phone camera picture as you are driving!

I was at a stop sign so it wasn't too bad. My 2003 Toyota Camry rolled up to 88,888 miles and I wanted to get a picture. The total mileage isn't all that impressive for a Toyota, but the symmetry is nice. Did you know the Chicago Cubs were scheduled to play the first night game at Wrigley Field on 8-8-88? It was rained out though.

Assignment part 2

2006-11-22T15:49:00.000-05:00

Cingular finally came through, so here are the other 2 pictures.

Nuggie On assignment

2006-11-21T19:03:00.000-05:00

My internets pal Ethel, in a fit of boredom, posted the contents of her desk drawer. I don't have a particularly interesting drawer, but there is some fun stuff on my desk. I originally took 3 pictures, but only one has arrived. The camera phone to hotmail transfer process is not the best, but it's what I got.

Here's one of my shelves. Click on it and you'll find notes on what is what.:

Successful West Virginians

2006-11-17T10:57:00.000-05:00

Have you ever noticed that in the story of most successful West Virginians, the phrased "moved away from West Virginia" appears? I've noticed this well before now, but a called just mentioned it on a local radio show to remind me. Homer Hickam of October Sky/Rocket Boys fame... moved away. Mary Lou Retton... moved away. Chuck Yeager... moved away.
I could go on, but I think you get my drift.

Marketing Genius, I say!

2006-11-02T14:11:00.000-05:00

I mentioned this in the comments of another blog a long time ago, but I didn't have any pictures. You've no doubt seen "If you like Georgio, You'll love our version." Well, here is one version of Davidoff's Cool Water (not to be confused with David Hasselhoff's Cool Water). So, fellas, if you like your woman Frigid, buy her some of this.

My brother in law

2006-11-01T13:26:00.000-05:00

This is how my bro in law dressed up for a Halloween Party. Presented without further comment.

I just dropped in

2006-10-30T13:32:00.000-05:00

To see what condition my... blog was in. I got busy working from home and neglected my po little blog for way too long.

I have some exciting thing for the next few days, if I take the time to blog about them.

Mean while, please enjoy these Martinsville photos.

100 posts

2006-10-12T13:04:00.000-05:00

I was editing my The Wilds post (your is possessive, you're = you are) and I notice that it was my 99th post (since I'm nuggie99, I should have celebrated that one, I suppose, but I missed it). In the blogosphere, 100 posts isn't a big deal, but it's honestly about 95 more than I expected.

Onward in the next 100! May they be more interesting!

The Wilds

2006-10-10T10:52:00.000-05:00

This weekend we went up into Ohio to a place called The Wilds. It was a great trip and it is recommended. You can view our pictures at Flickr.

The Wilds was built on land donated by American Electric Power. The land was reclaimed from a strip mining site. The animals include rhinocerouses (rhinoceri?), giraffes, onagars (Persian donkey/horse type animal), Przewalski (pronounced Shevalski) wild horses, Sichuan Takin (an Asian buffalo sort of thing), American Bison, Bactrian Deer (one of which bugled at us), Sika Deer, Scimitar Horned Orex, Sable Deer, camels, zebras, and other sorts of things. I wish now I had taken a notebook or something to take better notes.

There are three different tours you can take. You can take a bus tour, an open air tour, or the extended open air tour. We went on the extended open air tour, which is the most expensive, but worth it. It included side trip down to the rhino barn , where we got to actually pet one of the rhinos. We also got to see a 3 week old giraffe.

Again, if you're anywhere near it, or even wish to take an overnight trip, it's recommended.

Do, Do, Do, Looking out My Back Door

2006-09-29T08:32:00.000-05:00

Actually, it was a side window. The window has blinds and a screen over it, and I only had my phone camera, which isn't that high quality, so it's a bad picture. If you squint just right, you can see the deer that walked through my yard this morning. It was a buck deer. It was about a 4 or 6 point, from what I could tell.

So how can you make money like that?

2006-09-15T10:53:00.000-05:00

So I asked Danimal (and anyone else who cared to chime in too, although Dan was it) to recommend some comics. He recommended a series called Spiderman:Blue. I found one that had $7.99 shipping. That was less than 2 bucks an issue (Spiderman:Blue is a 6 issue series, and I didn't see a collection) so I bid 99 cents and expected to be outbid. I ended up winning, so I thought I got a pretty good deal. When the box arrived, the shipping was like 11 bucks, so they've already lost money on this deal, unless the post office did something wierd, Then when I openned the box, not only were there 6 Spiderman:Blue issues, there was also a Spideman and Batman book, Spiderman and Gen 13, and Spderman:Kingpin To the Death which was written by Stan Lee and drawn by John Romita, plus a The Legacy of Spiderman sketch book from Wizard. Lots of stuff for cheap.

Of course all the books were great, but you know how I judge.

9/11 Memorial- Eugene Raggio

2006-09-06T20:55:00.000-05:00

I signed up for the 9/11 Memorial Project and received Eugene Raggio as my person to remember. Now, I never met him, so all I had to go on was what I could find on the web. I hope that if his family and friends stumble onto my blog, that I do his memory justice.

Eugene was a 55 year old Port Authority operations supervisor. The picture I have is from his ID, I believe. He was trying to help people get out when the towers came down. Here is an article about that. Of course, there was more to Mr. Raggio than his job and his tragic demise. According to this website, he liked to bowl. According to this one he had a dog named Tinkerbell that he loved.

As an editorial comment, I had done some research when I first signed up for the 2996 project. Today (Sept. 6) I ran across this page which is better than anything I could write. It includes comments from people who knew Eugene (who was apparently called Gene or Gino by his friends). I also learned that Eugene was around during the first WTC bombing in 1993 and helped people out that day as much as he could also.

For a better understanding of who Eugene Raggio was, follow the link above. I hope his friend doesn't mind, but I'm going to copy part of the rememberence from his friend, Freddie V. Torres from that page so you can see what type of guy Eugene was.

"But one thing that I respect about you was that you truly was a professional at what you did. Mrs.Raggio, oneday I was attacked when working at the WTC on liberty street. Gene, made sure that I recived care and that my wife was called and taken to meet me at ST.VINCENTS. He then visited me and asure me that my job would be waiting for me when I returned. You see Mrs. Raggio, usully if you got hurt you would never return or you would be placed some place in the basement. but Gene got me back. I will always remember him and thank him for that."

A couple of old pictures

2006-09-06T18:14:00.000-05:00

I was searching my hard drive for a picture I used to have. I didn't find what I was looking for, but I did find these to old shots from races long passed.

If you've seen the movie Chicken Run

2006-09-04T18:43:00.000-05:00

You might recall the comments after a near death experience by the hen Babs. She said "All me life flashed before me eyes. It was really borin'."

And so it is for me. If I had posted over the weekend, you'd have been treated to such excitement as:

Watched TV.
Went to Wal-Mart.
Ate dinner.
Mowed grass.
Changed oil in Nuggie Buggie.

I can barely keep my heart in my chest!

Oh well, at least I have a week or two of rest coming up.

So, how should I spend my money next, Dan?

2006-08-31T10:38:00.000-05:00

Previously, my buddy Danimal had recommended the graphic novels/ comic collections "Identity Crisis" and "Hush." Both were excellent reads. So now I'm asking Dan, and any other comic readers out there, what should I read next?

I said kidley, diddle I?

2006-08-22T11:00:00.000-05:00

Ok, another Star Trek line for a title. I've been quiet here lately. I'm still kinda in shock because I have to have a kidney removed. According to the doctor, it just one of those things that happen. I didnt' do anything to cause it. My surgery is scheduled for September the 7th, so don't be surprised if blog posting dry up a little after that.

The gauntlet has been picked up

2006-08-20T14:25:00.000-05:00

My friend TMLSB challenged all his blogging buddies to answer the age old question "If money was not a concern, What would you be doing?" Having given this previous thought, I have decided to answer the challenge.

I would set aside 15-20 million dollars and contact Mike McLaughlin, former Busch Series racer and current Joe Gibbs Racing employee. You might be thinking, "Why him?" which is a legitimate question.

The simple reason why I would contact Mike McLaughlin is that I like him as a driver. He has a lot of talent and the cool nickname "Magic Shoes." Of course, I like a lot of drivers (although not all have cool nicknames), so there is also a bigger reason for me contacting Mr. McLaughlin. He got screwed (that's normally stronger language than I like to use in my blog, but if you can think of a better word for the situation, feel free to substitute it) in the Angela's Motorsports deal. Follow the link for the sordid details.

So, assuming Mike would take my call, then what? I'd offer Mike the chance for one last good ride. I figure with a budget of 15 million, we could set up a top flight one truck Craftsman Truck team. However, Mike knows obviously more about NASCAR than I do, so we'd have some discussions. I'd prefer to run Fords, but since Mike has connections at JGR, it might be best for our team to run Chevies. Of course, Mike has first pick of the drivers seat. Mike is currently "retired" from driving, but he has done some testing, so he may or not be interested. Either way, the rest of the team would be filled out through Mike's knowledge and connection. He'd pick out the crew chief and be in charge of hiring the shop guys, or he could hire a team manger who would handle all of that. It's really just his team, as a reward for having had to suffer through the other deal.

If Mike were not interested, then there's several other older drivers who got shuffled out in the search for young guns. Maybe Hut Stricklin would be interested. Chad Little could use his law degree to help me set up my racing team. Ward Burton and Ricky Craven would be on the short list, too. I think my favorite from a few years back Buckshot Jones would get a call, too. More likely, I'd concentrate on older Busch regulars who still are connected to racing (Curtis Markham, Tim Fedewa, Jason Keller, etc)

Unfortunately, I do have money concerns, so that won't ever happen. I'd probably have some humanitarian interests, too, but those would be quietly dispersed. But, it's fun to imagine sometimes.

A different sort of comic review

2006-08-17T09:56:00.000-05:00

I read on Newsarama about a site called Wowio that had free comics availible for download, legally. Since, I like comics, and I like free, especially legally free, I decided to check it out.
I downloaded 3 comics on the first day, Deal with the Devil #1, Killer Stunts, Inc #1 and Scatterbrain #1. I started with Deal with the Devil, and I liked it. I went back to get the rest of the series and found out that you are limited to 5 books a day. That's not a big deal (it keeps people from just downloading the whole site whether they are interested or not) so I got #'s 2 and 3 and read them. The next day I got the next 2 and finished out Deal with the Devil. I liked it, though it was a little disturbing. Then I started in on Killer Stunts, Inc. It seems pretty good, so I'll get the rest of it. I tried to read Scatterbrain but I didn't care for the art and it was pretty slow. I may try it again, but it wasn't very promising. It was free though, so that's good. The only real bad points are that you had to provide a credit card number for identification, which some people have a problem with, and that the books are in PDF format, which mnakes the download pretty big. Each book has your name on the cover and is coded, so if you tried to defeat the copyright, they could track you down.
I'm still getting used to reading comics off of a computer screen, so after I try this a while, I'll let you all know how that's working.

I need a live band

2006-08-14T13:19:00.000-05:00

Or maybe not.

My wife and I usually sit around moping, "Oh, I wish we had some folk to hang out with and some to do, oh woe is me" but we never actualy do anything about it. Last week, her boss invited us to come to her house for karaoke. At first we weren't going to go, not knowing how the boss might react, but we finally decided to go. We had a blast. I shot my voice singing Big and Rich's "Coming to your City" We stayed up way to late, but it was fun. Songs I sang :
That's How I got to Memphis
Hit Me With Your Best Shot
El Paso
Third Rate Romance
For the Good Times
Achy Breaky Heart (it's time for it to come back)
Ain't Misbehavin'
She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy
Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)
Black Water
Rock and Roll All Night
and probably a couple more that I forgot. Plus I sang along with everyone else.

Uh oh, Dear Readers

2006-08-10T09:18:00.000-05:00

It's been about a month since I started my comic reviews, which mean that I'm now on the second issue of my monthly titles.

Yesterday I picked up Wolverine Origins #5, 52 #14, Secret Six #3 and The Next #2.

I reviewed the first three here My first reviews and Secret Six was reviewed here Another set of reviews

Last week, I mentioned that I had subscribe to some comics. This was a test of sort. Subscribing to a comic is about 10 dollars cheaper over the course of a year. The drawback is that you get the books a couple of weeks later than they show up in the comic shop. The other issue was that the subscription didn't start for 6-8 weeks, so I couldn't pick up the book, for it might have been delivered. I'll keep a watch and see how this works out. I may keep the subscription, or just go back to picking them up at the comic shop. For the record, I've subscribed to Batman, Detective Comics, Superman, and Action Comics. I subscribed at DC Comics If I'm not completely satisfied, I may try a third party online subscription service, or just pick up stuff at my local comic shop.

Smooth as an android's bottom

2006-08-07T08:56:00.000-05:00

So, I was trimmimg my goatee when the notion struck me to shave it off. Unfortunately, by the time I though better of it, all that was left was a sort of animated Ra's al Ghul, which doesn't quite work in the real world.

Oh well, hopefully it can be back in a couple of weeks. I may go with a full one, but I have trouble with the sideburns. I could go with a Dr. Benton Quest, but again, that's one that works better on the cartoons than in the real world, as far as I know.

In case you were wondering, the title of my post comes from Star Trek: Insurrection.

Oxford shirts, Door bells, and hippie's jackets

2006-08-06T19:29:00.000-05:00

Things that have Buttons! Ok after that round of 25,000 Pyramid, we need to include Jenson Button, who won the Formula One race in Hungary this morning. It was the best F1 I've ever seen, though I admit I'm more of a NASCAR fan.

Speaking of open wheel, my thoughts go out to Cristiano Da Matta. Hitting a deer in an open wheel car is just spooky. Sounds like it will be rough going for the next few weeks.

This weekend was my family reunion. Last week was Juanita's family reunion. Read her comments about it. My comments for mine are about the same, just leave out the singing part.

Work is going to be wild next week. My boss is on vacation, so I'll have to buckle down and do his and my job next week. No big deal, I can handle it.

Time for Timer

2006-08-03T07:56:00.000-05:00

I'm so hungry, I could eat a wagon. Err, no actually I just had leftovers for breakfast. It's actually time for the weekly review of Comic book day! I picked up 52 #13, Moon Knight #4 as part of my regular comics. Since I was having a light week, I picked up The Flash #'s 1 & 2. Then when I got home, I found my subscriptions had finally kicked in and Batman #655 had been mailed to me.

Moon Knight is a very dark, mature ongoing comic. It's one of only 2 Marvel Comics I pick up. I had a couple of Moon Knight comics when I was a kid, plus a guest appearance in Spiderman or two. But, this is a little different. It's a good different though, and this is a really good series.

The Flash is a relaunch of a popular DC super hero. This time around, we are following Bart Allen, who has ties to the previous 3 Flashes. There is commentary in these first 2 issues showing how he interacts with his predecessors. He's a reluctant hero, so there's a lot to be explored. I'm loooking forward to it.

Batman. What else needs to be said? My favorite comic book/animated character ever shines this month. I had waited since I started back to collecting to pick up Batman and Detective Comics, because they were in the middle of an ongoing arc and I missed the first few issues. I'll most likely pick up the trade. This was an excellent issue to restart. We begin with Batman fighting the Joker. Then, that all cleaned up, we find Bruce deciding to be more playboy, less Dark Knight. Then we find out that Batman's son (from a previous story called Son of the Demon) will play a role in this story arc. Throw in some Man-Bat goodness, and look like a fun ride.

Find out more about Moon Knight at Marvel and more about the rest at DC

It's all about me!

2006-08-01T15:41:00.000-05:00

I spy this today on Jayski

Inta Juice and Randy Moss Sponsoring Haas, Green at Brickyard 400: One of the nation's fastest-growing smoothie and juice bar franchises is heading to the nation's most prestigious speedway. Inta Juice has signed an agreement to sponsor Haas CNC Racing and the #66 Inta Juice Chevy driven by Jeff Green in this weekend's Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Randy Moss, professional football player and Inta Juice executive, will grace the quarter panels of the #66 Inta Juice Chevrolet. This will mark the first time that the likeness of a NFL player has been on a Nextel Cup car. Inta Juice has launched aggressive growth goals that includes targeting nearly 100 total stores nationwide, either open or with franchise agreements in place, by the end of 2006. The company also plans to double in size by the end of 2008. Inta Juice is looking to grow their brand in front of the 250,000 fans that are expected to be at Sunday's race. More info on the company at intajuice.com.(Moore Consulting Group/GMR Marketing PR)(8-1-2006)

And who was pimping inta juice a while back? Me, that's who. Proving yet again, that I am out on the leading edge.

Weekender Weport

2006-07-31T11:32:00.000-05:00

So, Friday night it was stay up and watch the ARCA race. They had a GWC checker fest at the end and it took a while for Cale Gale to take his first ARCA race win, holding off Steve Wallace.

Saturday we went to Juanita's family reunion. It was a potluck dinner with a bunch of people I don't know, plus horseshoes, volleyball and singing. On the way back, we listened to the rain delayed Busch race. The local Charleston "NASCAR" station only does Cup races, so we had to deal with a static filled Huntington station until we got home to catch the end.

Saturday was also Blogathon 2006. Doing the family reunion thing, I was unable to participate or follow along live. I did, however, sponsor my friend Ethel's 24 hour posting experience. I think you can still sponsor her, if you would so wish. Details are over at her blog. (I'm pretty sure all of my loyal readers read her blog, but every little bit helps)

Sunday was rest from Saturday day. I got up and watched the F1 race on DVR. If you are a numbers guy (and I am), Michael Shumacher is just so impressive. Then we watched School of Rock and The Sound of Music. The former came from my NetFlix queue and the latter from Juanita's. While we were watching DVD's, the DVR was busy taping the Blade marathon and the IRL rain delay. I'd like thank ESPN and ABC for staying with the race to the end. I'd really like to but they bailed and showed it tape delay. If I had known I could have taped the Champ Car race and watched two Canadians throw down.

So, it's you know what day again.

2006-07-27T10:17:00.000-05:00

This week I picked up 52 Week 12, Blue Beetle #5, and Crisis Aftermath: The Spectre #3.

52 is beginning to pickup speed, as a couple of the stories are about to converge. There's lots of stuff going on in this one.

Blue Beetle is a relatively new ongoing book. Ted Kord, the previous Blue Beetle, was killed during the Infinite Crisis, so I understand. The new Blue Beetle is a Hispanic teenager named Jaime Reyes. He's still trying to figure out how his powers work. In the current arc, Jaime has teamed with a street gang called the Posse while searching for a villian named La Dama.

Crisis Aftermath: The Spectre is a 3 issue mini series, wrapping up a couple of lose ends from the Infinite Crisis event. I hadn't intended to pick this series up, but the week after the first came out, I had a light pull list and there was still a copy or two of that first issue there. I like miniseries because the stories are short and sweet and self contained. Even though I hadn't read any of the Infinite Crisis stuff, this series was easy to follow. It delved into the issues of sin, justice, punishment and redemption. Pretty heady stuff, but it was handled very well.

That's it for this week. For previous comic recaps, check the archives. For more information on the above comics, go to DC Comics

I can take the wreck, or the finger, I can't handle both!

2006-07-25T08:33:00.000-05:00

Or so says Carl Edwards. But this isn't a post about him, or Tony Stewart, or anything like that. Earlier I was lamenting that Coca Cola had run out of NASCAR hats. I hadn't found anything else I liked, so I just kept entering my points and hoping. This morning I was looking and a few NASCAR hats were available. Carl "Aw shucks I got a run" Edwards was one, so I quickly sprung into action and redeemed my points. I would have rather gotten Greg "The Bug Eyed Dummy" Biffle, but he wasn't available. The others available were Dale Jarrett (meh), Kyle Petty (meh), and Kevin Harvick. I've seen Kevin win 4 times in person, so he's growing on me and would have been my choice of those three. However, Carl is my third favorite Cup driver (he should move to second if, and it's a big if, Mark Martin retires) so I picked him. Maybe I'll do a back flip later.

Frammin' and Bammin' at Martinsville

2006-07-23T09:18:00.000-05:00

So yesterday we rolled down to Martinsville VA to check the Busch Series boys race. We took Juanita's folk with us. We got to watch both qualifying and the race. Two cool parts were watching Carl Edwards running to his car to qualify it and when David Green's hood flew up listening to his spotter "Straight, Straight, a little to the left" guiding him around the track.

Pictures are up at Flickr

Comic book guy returns

2006-07-20T08:14:00.000-05:00

Continuing from yesterday, I also got Justice League of America #0, Checkmate #4 and Ion #4.

Justice League of America is a preview/review of the popular team of superheroes, for which DC is relaunching an ongoing magazine. The writer for the start of the new series is Brad Meltzer, who wrote the wonderful Identity Crisis story arc. The 0 issue took a look at the past of the JLA through the eyes of the Big 3 (Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman), plus a few glimpses into the future. It was a really good issue, and it look like the series will be awesome.

Checkmate is the story of a covert counter intelligence group run by the UN. One of the members is Amanda Waller, who I really liked in the CADMUS arc on Justice League: Unlimited. It's got more of James Bond/Bourne Identity/The Unit feel to it, with a few superheroes to mix it up a little. I like that mix, and I'm really liking this book.

Ion is a look at what's become of former Green Lantern Kyle Rayner. He's accused of crimes that he doesn't remember, and the Green Lantern elders on Oa don't want to help him. It's a decent read. I like getting more familiar with the Green Lantern and Ex-GL groups.

I hope that's a good overview for the legions and legions of comic fans who come to my blog. I didn't want to spoil anything with to many details. Anyway, for more information on any of these comics, head to DC Comics

More comic reviews

2006-07-19T20:35:00.000-05:00

They say that for everyone who sends a letter, there's 200 people who don't with the same complaint. Since Danimal requested some comic review, then I must assume 200 people want comic reviews. I don't have a hit counter (note to self, get a hit counter), but I doubt I have 200 readers. So, I must assume everyone wants comic reviews. Who can argue with logic like that?

Anywho, this week, in addition to the weekly 52 series (#12) that I reviewed last time, I picked up Secret Six #2, Shadowpact #3 ,and Man-Bat #4, plus 3 others that I will review tomorrow.

Let's start with Secret Six I was supposed to get it a couple weeks back, but the box was damaged on the way to the comic shop. She reordered and they sent the wrong book. It came today. Waiting for me wasn't a big deal. The Secret Six is, put simply, a group of villains who have joined together, to try to do right and defeat other villains. It's a continuation of another mini-series called Villains United. I hadn't read that series, and I'm not familiar with the characters. (Deadshot and Catman showed up on Justice League Unlimited, though.) I actually wasn't planning on getting this one, but the week after the first issue came out, I had a light week, so I went ahead and got it. It's a six issue miniseries, so it's unfolding pretty quickly, with lots of action and violence. It's pretty interesting, especially since they aren't exactly heroes.

Shadowpact is the story of a group of magical heroes. This is an ongoing book. The first story arc involves the team fighting a magical group of villains called the Pentacle inside a giant bubble. I picked it up so I could start a series from issue 1. Magic is a little different from what I'm used to, but this is a pretty interesting book, too.

Man-Bat is a 5 issue mini series centering on one of Batman's more interesting foes. He was featured in the first broadcast episode of Batman: The Animated Series. It also brought back three characters I wasn't familiar with: Hush, Murmur and Black Mask. I'm looking forward to how this one wraps up.

Tune in tomorrow for more comic reviews.

This was nice

2006-07-18T20:28:00.000-05:00

The girls in the office where I work invited me and Juanita out for a congratulatory lunch last Friday. What we didn't know was that they had downloaded some of our picutres from my flickr account and gotten some of the folks with marital advice and put together a scrap book of our vacation/wedding. It was pretty cool.

I've been Tazzed... er... Tagged

2006-07-17T13:03:00.000-05:00

My friend TazChick29 has tagged me as one of the cool kids. Although I am mildly lukewarm, I filled out the form anyway. I'll tag the wife. I couldn't get the table to look right, so you get a list.
Click here to post your own answers for this meme.)

× I miss somebody right now.
× I don't watch much TV these days.
× I own lots of books.

✓ I wear glasses or contact lenses.
✓ I love to play video games.
× I've tried marijuana.

✓ I've watched porn movies.
× I have been the psycho-ex in a past relationship.
✓ I believe honesty is usually the best policy.

✓ I curse sometimes.
✓ I have changed a lot mentally over the last year. (I've changed alot, but I still have much to do.)
× I carry my knife/razor everywhere with me.

× I have broken someone's bones.
× I have a secret that I am ashamed to reveal.
× I hate the rain.

× I'm paranoid at times.
× I would get plastic surgery if it were 100% safe, free of cost, and scar-free.
× I need/want money right now.

× I love sushi.
× I talk really, really fast.
× I have fresh breath in the morning.

× I have long hair.
× I have lost money in Las Vegas.
✓ I have at least one sibling.

× I was born in a country outside of the U.S.
× I have worn fake hair/fingernails/eyelashes in the past.
× I couldn't survive without Caller I.D.

× I like the way that I look.
× I have lied to a good friend in the last 6 months.
× I am usually pessimistic.

× I have a lot of mood swings.
× I think prostitution should be legalized.
× I slept with a roommate.

× I have a hidden talent.
× I'm always hyper no matter how much sugar I have.
✓ I have a lot of friends.

× I have pecked someone of the same sex.
× I enjoy talking on the phone.
× I practically live in sweatpants or PJ pants.

× I love to shop and/or window shop.
× I'm obsessed with my Xanga or Livejournal.
× I'm completely embarrassed to be seen with my mother.

✓ I have a mobile phone.
× I have passed out drunk in the past 6 months.
✓ I've rejected someone before.

✓ I currently like/love someone.
✓ I have no idea what I want to do for the rest of my life.
✓ I want to have children in the future.

× I have changed a diaper before.
× I've called the cops on a friend before.
× I'm not allergic to anything.

✓ I have a lot to learn. (Don't we all?)
✓ I am shy around the opposite sex.
× I'm online 24/7, even as an away message.

× I have at least 5 away messages saved.
× I have tried alcohol or drugs before.
× I have made a move on a friend's significant other or crush in the past.

× I own the "South Park" movie.
× I have avoided assignments at work/school to be on Xanga or Livejournal.
✓ I enjoy some country music. (Lots and lots of it)

× I would die for my best friends.
× I'm obsessive, and often a perfectionist.
× I have used my sexuality to advance my career.

× I think Halloween is awesome because you get free candy.
× I have dated a close friend's ex.
✓ I am happy at this moment.

× I'm obsessed with guys.
✓ Democrat. (Registered as such)
✓ Republican. (On most issues.)

× I don't even know what I am.
× I am punk rockish.
× I go for older guys/girls, not younger.

× I study for tests most of the time.
× I tie my shoelaces differently from anyone I've ever met.
✓ I can work on a car. (I can change the oil and tires.)

✓ I love my job(s).
✓ I am comfortable with who I am right now.
× I have more than just my ears pierced.

× I walk barefoot wherever I can.
× I have jumped off a bridge.
× I love sea turtles.

× I spend ridiculous amounts of money on makeup.
× I plan on achieving a major goal/dream.
× I am proficient on a musical instrument.

× I hate office jobs.
× I went to college out of state.
× I am adopted.

✓ I am a pyro.
× I have thrown up from crying too much.
× I have been intentionally hurt by people that I loved.

× I fall for the worst people.
✓ I adore bright colours.
✓ I usually like covers better than originals. (It depends, but usually)

× I hate chain theme restaurants like Applebees and TGIFridays.
× I can pick up things with my toes.
× I can't whistle.

✓ I have ridden/owned a horse. (When I was a wee lad)
× I still have every journal I've ever written in.
× I talk in my sleep.

✓ I've often thought that I was born in the wrong century. (1800's. I would be like the saloon owner in the old west. Not the gun fighter, but the guy who dressed real fancy and had a walking stick.)
× I try to forget things by drowning them out with loads of distractions.
× I wear a toe ring.

× I have a tattoo.
× I can't stand at LEAST one person that I work with.
✓ I am a caffeine junkie.

× I am completely tree-huggy spiritual, and I'm not ashamed at all.
× If I knew I would get away with it, I would commit at least one murder.
× I will collect anything, and the more nonsensical, the better.

× I enjoy a nice glass of wine with dinner.
× I'm an artist.
× I am ambidextrous.

× I sleep with so many stuffed animals, I can hardly fit on my bed.
× If it weren't for having to see other people naked, I'd live in a nudist colony.
× I have terrible teeth.

× I hate my toes.
× I did this meme even though I wasn't tagged by the person who took it before me.
✓ I have more friends on the internet than in real life.

× I have lived in either three different states or countries.
× I am extremely flexible.
× I love hugs more than kisses.

× I want to own my own business.
× I smoke.
✓ I spend way too much time on the computer than on anything else.

× Nobody has ever said I'm normal.
✓ Sad movies, games, and the like can cause a trickle of tears every now and then.
✓ I am proficient in the use of many types of firearms and combat weapons.

✓ I like the way women look in stylized men's suits.
× I don't like it when people are unpleased or seem unpleased with me.
× I have been described as a dreamer or likely to have my head up in the clouds.

× I have played strip poker with someone else before.
× I have had emotional problems for which I have sought professional help.
✓ I believe in ghosts and the paranormal.

× I can't stand being alone.
✓ I have at least one obsession at any given time.
✓ I weigh myself, pee/poo, and then weigh myself again. (Not regularly, but I have before.)

× I consistently spend way too much money on obsessions-of-the-moment.
✓ I'm a judgmental asshole.
× I'm a HUGE drama-queen.

× I have travelled on more than one continent.
× I sometimes wish my father would just disappear.
× I need people to tell me I'm good at something in order to feel that I am.

✓ I am a Libertarian. (The governement should ind it's own beeswax.)
× I can speak more than one language.
× I can fall asleep even if the whole room is as noisy as it can be.

× I would rather read than watch TV.
× I like reading fact more than fiction.
× I have pulled an all-nighter on an assignment I was given a month to do.

✓ I have no piercings.
× I have spent the night in a train station or other public place.
× I have been so upset over my physical gender that I cried.

× I once spent Christmas completely alone because there was a miscommunication on which parent was supposed to have me that night.
✓ There have been times when I have wondered "Why was I born?" and may/may not have cried over it.
× I like most animals better than most people.

× I own a collection of retro games consoles.
✓ The thought of physical exercise makes me shiver.
× I have hit someone with a dead fish.

× I am compulsively honest.
× I was born with a congenital birth defect that has never been repaired.
× I have danced topless in front of dozens of complete strangers.

× I have gone from wishing I was a girl to revelling in being a boy to feeling like a girl again in the span of five minutes, and not cared a whit for my actual sex.
× I am unashamedly bisexual, and have different motivations for my desires for different genders.
× I sometimes won't sleep a whole night or eat a whole day because I forget to.

× I find it impossible to get to sleep without some kind of music on.
× I dislike milk. (It does a body good.)
× I obsessively wash my hands.

× I always carry something significant around with me.
× Sometimes I'd rather wear a wig in day-to-day life than use my own hair.
× I've pushed myself to become more self-aware and thereby more aware of others.

× Even though I live on my own I still cry sometimes because I miss my mother.
× I hand wrote all the HTML tags in this document. (Not this one, but I usually do for stuff I write.)
✓ I've liked something which a majority of people claimed was either bad or weird.

× I have been clinically dead for a brief period of time.
× Instead of feeling sympathy/empathy with people and their problems, I simply become annoyed.
× I participate/have participated in auto drag races and won.

× I do not 'get' most comedy acts.
× I don't think strippers are money-greedy or slutty for dancing.
× I don't like to chew gum.

× I am obsessed with history/historical things and can't wait for someone to build a time machine so I can be the first to use it.
× I can never remember for the life of me where I parked the car.
× I had the TEEN ANGST thing going for at least 2-3 years.

× I wish people would be more empathic and honest with each other.
× I play Dungeons and Dragons weekly.
✓ I love to sing.

× I want to live in my mother's basement when I grow up.
× I have a custom-built computer.
× I want to create a certain someone's babies, even though there's a 0% possiblity of ever achieving it.

× I would be in a relationship with one of my pets if they were human.
× I've gone skinny-dipping.
✓ I've performed in three plays.

✓ I enjoy burritos.
× I'm Irish and loving it.
× I have a thing for redheads.

× I am a twin!
× Most of the times, I'd rather do something intellectual instead of doing something generically 'fun'.
× Once I set out to finish something, I always stay at it until it is completed before I move on to something else.

× I wish there were a way to erase past mistakes.
× I sleep more than 12 hours a day.
× I wish I could be prouder of what I've accomplished, but it's never enough.

× I need more time to myself.
× I wish I was more open-minded.
✓ I hope that I go really prematurely grey. (I want the Reed Richards look)

✓ I download songs from the internet.
× I've just reenacted chapter 58 of Death Note with my best friend.
× I say random things to freak people out.

× I'm still a little mad about the ending of Death Note.
× I love playing Truth or Dare.
× I love listening to slow music, but I hate singing to it.

× Music helps me remember that I am not alone.
× Playing my favorite sport makes me temporarily forget my problems.
✓ I think this survey is particularly long.

× I prefer my LJ friends to my real-life ones.
× I can only hate someone that I love.
× I've ordered an extra two shots of espresso to an Americano at Starbucks.

Weekend Update with Norm MacDonald

2006-07-17T07:20:00.000-05:00

Nothing major this weekend. Watch the races, catch up on Blade: The Series on DVR, watch Blade II from Netflix (a fine bit of serendipity, I suppose), make a WalMart run or two.

Juanita's cousin Jenni was at basketball camp, and needed a ride to practice after camp. To save her mom driving all the way to camp and then all the way home (Jenni was staying over after practice with one of her team mates), we went down and got her lunch and drove her around town a little. She's a cool 17 year old, but she didn't mind hanging out with two dorky 30-somethings, I guess.

Oh and as promised

Comic reviews

2006-07-14T09:02:00.000-05:00

Or subtitled "For Danimal"

First, a movie review. I enjoyed Superman Returns, but it was a little slow in places. I was satisfied, though.

I had promised comic reviews, but I haven't been delivering. The biggest reason is there are only so many ways to write "This is a good book, I like the direction it is going, I can't wait to read more" I suppose I just enjoy the comic book style as a medium, and it only takes a little bit to keep me interested.

What I read this week was Wolverine: Origins #4, 52 Week 10 and The Next #1.

Wolverine Origins is a dark look at Marvel's most popular X-man. This story arc is a look at some thing Wolverine did in Vietnam. It includes appearances from Nuke and Captain America.

52 is a pretty bold experiment by DC. They are releasing it weekly for 52 weeks, at a cheaper rate than other comics. (It's 2.50, most everything else is 2.99) The basic premise is the current DC universe is now "One Year Later" after the Infinite Crisis. 52 covers the year between the IC and the current comics. During this year, Superman was powerless, and Batman and Wonder Woman were missing. This is the story of some other heroes who took care of business while they were out. Visit the website at 52thecomic.com

The Next is a limited series from DC about some time traveling interdimensional beings whose dog has come to modern Earth. The messed up and now the have to try to save a young girl, and the universe as well. Superman guest stars.

That's a review of what they are about. As for my opinion, well, they have a nice beat and they are easy to dance to. I can dig it.

Happy Accidents

2006-07-12T13:51:00.000-05:00

Last week I made a boo boo. I was attempting to remove some unused archive files and accident deleted some used datafiles. This trashed my database. Fortunately, it was a development database that wasn't being used much, so it was no big deal. When I went to refresh the database from production, I found that we had added a new datafile. So, the development copy needed refreshed anyway. In honor of the happy accident, I present this picture

Placeholder

2006-07-12T08:15:00.000-05:00

This place left intentionally blank.

Catching up again.

2006-07-10T12:23:00.000-05:00

Been busy with a work project and haven't had a lot of time. Anywho, where was I? Ah yes.
Got my eye dilated all nice and wide on Thursday. My optic nerve is misshapen, so I'm a candidate for glaucoma. Any time I get an eye exam, I need to have it looked closely at. You only get one pair of eyes, so, you've got to take care of them.
Friday, we took Juanita's aunt and uncle out for Chinese and then to the WV Power game. It was already planned, but the 4th of July fireworks had been rained out, so we got to enjoy that too. Reggy was there too. He was hilarious. As I think I mentioned before, there's a guy who goes to the Power games who is called the Toastman. He makes up signs and little chants for all the Power players (for example, one of our guys is Tony Festa, so he lead the chant of "Festa is the Best-a!") He gets his name because he toasts bread during the games and if an opposing player strikes out he chants at them "You are Toast, You are Toast, YOU ARE TOAST" and then slings the toast. At the end of the game the opposing team (Asheville), who had beaten the Power, looked back at the Toastman and his section and chanted "You are Toast" at the crowd. The crowd then clapped for them. It was all fun and good natured. A few of the opposing players walked over to shake hands with the Toastman after the game. Another good thing about this night was that we got free tickets to the game next Sunday. One of the guys in the office claimed he could kick a 35 yard field goal. He made the first, but had to go 2 out of three and missed the next 2.

Saturday was mowing and weedeating day, plus the Busch and Truck races on the tube. I also put in a closet door.

Sunday, we went fishing. We didn't catch much, but we got out of the house. Between Saturday and Sunday I've finally gotten caught up on the F1 races I had on DVR. I also squeezed in the CART race between the fishing and the Nextel Cup race. I was angered at first when Jeff spun Matt out, but it was just a racing deal, as they say.

Busy week so far.

2006-07-06T08:25:00.000-05:00

Went to see my folks Sunday. Worked Monday. On the way to my sister-in-law's house I got a call that I needed to fix something at work. Luckily for me, my sister-in-law recently got DSL and they have a wireless network, so connecting was easier than dialup, and I could actually work. A few calls to tech support, and work was done. I was stressed though. July 4th, we went to a parade and a family cookout, then back home to watch the Chronicles of Narnia. Yesterday, we had rains and high water. Today we have an eye doctor appointments.

So I'm walking through Wal-Mart

2006-07-02T21:15:00.000-05:00

And I spy these fireworks. What more needs to be said?

Watch out

2006-06-30T14:16:00.000-05:00

So's I'm driving to work this morning, and what to I see on the opposite side of the fourlane? A buck deer in all his velvety splendor running down the middle of the highway. Of course, I got up on the wheel, because I figured he would jump the barrier into my lane, causing him to get hurt and my car to get damaged. I went on by and was thankful he didn't get me. He was headed toward the middle and going the wrong way, so the odds of him making it to the woods are pretty low. I hate when a deer is killed by a car. It may seem odd, because I hunt and it's ok if they get killed by a bullet or an arrow, as long as they get eaten.

Give till it hurts

2006-06-29T14:52:00.000-05:00

I don't think there's anyone who reads my blog that isn't already aware of this, however, I'd like to post a link to a friend's fundraiser for the Hole in the Wall Gang camp. Details are at the link.
Support Clare

Smooth!

2006-06-29T07:58:00.000-05:00

Last night we tried the new smoothy shop in town Inta Juice. It was pretty good. I thought it was a little expensive, until I compared it to a Blizzard. It was a lot bigger and a little more expensive. Plus, it had fresh fruit and was "healthy" I had a Tahiti Delight and Juanita had a Caribbean Blend. We plan to sample more flavors, too.

Word of warning

2006-06-28T09:41:00.000-05:00

I noticed that I wasn't receiving that many comments to my threads. Of course, once I realized that I seldom comment on other people's blogs, I got the beam out of my eye and I'm now going to make an effort to comment on your blogs, oh citizens of Nuggie Land. Sometimes, that might mean a cogent thought, and sometimes that might be "Me, too!" but I will try to make them useful.

Day late and a bottle cap short

2006-06-27T09:57:00.000-05:00

I finally saved up enough my coke rewards points to get a hat, and they sold out of NASCAR hats. Not that a big a deal in the grand scheme of things, but I wanted me a free Edwards or Biffle hat. So feel free to go to My Coke Rewards and give me suggestions on what I should get with 120 or so points.

Shot (put) down in a blaze of glory

2006-06-24T09:37:00.000-05:00

Congratulations to my baby for winning the Shot Put championship of the Charleston YMCA Corporate Cup!

Vacation Pictures

2006-06-22T15:40:00.000-05:00

And wedding pictures are now posted at
Flickr

I got tagged

2006-06-21T07:35:00.000-05:00

My homey Tiny tagged me with the following meme So here goes:

5 things in my fridge
Fat Free Oscar Mayer Wieners
Diet Dr. K pop
Fat Free Oscar Mayer Bologna
Barbeque Sauce
Yogurt

5 things in my closet
Tom Criuse (bwahahah.. ok not really)
Laundry Basket
Terry Labonte Long Sleeve Twill Oxford
Bobby Labonte Polo
Elliot Sadler 21 Long Sleeve Twill Oxford
Wood Brothers Long Sleeve Twill Oxford (I heart a clearance sale)

5 things in my laptop case
Power cord
Id badge holder
Wireless mouse
Phone cord
Ethernet cable

Five things in my car
CD's
Jacket
Sunscreen
Empty Pop Bottle
Blanket

5 people to tag:
I think all the people I know who blog have already gotten tagged save 1
Juanita

More Vacation notes

2006-06-20T10:51:00.000-05:00

Tuesday:
Got a late start and headed to a Tex-Mex place called Maritza's II for lunch. They opened at 11, so we drove around the beautiful countryside waiting for 11 to come. It finally did, but when we walked in, there was no one to be found. So we went to a place called Jubilee and had lunch, It was ok. Then we headed off to the Crossings Premium Outlet Malls in Tannersville. Along the way we stopped and got a cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory (not a Cheesecake Factory restaurant, but a factory where they make cheesecakes) The we went to a candle shop. Then we were off the outlet mall. We go a CD of Superman Lives for the ride back. We looked for wedding rings at Ultra Diamonds, but Juanita's engagement ring is 18 caret gold with pretty nice diamonds, and she's having a hard time finding a band to match it. Looks like it will be special ordered. Then we hit Maritza's II on the way back for dinner. The portions were generous, but the beans had a funny taste and the shredded beef tasted like hormel chili. Then we went back to the resort. There's a movie theatre there, so we went and saw Over the Hedge. It was pretty funny.

Wednesday:
This was the day we planned to stay on the resort. There was a quarter toll on the road into the resort, so we wanted to save that. First crack out of the box, we rented a paddle boat and went out onto the lake. Then we played a game of putt putt. After that we went back to the room. Juanita took a nap and I went to watch another movie at the theatre at the resort. It was actually a DVD, but it was projected onto the same big screen as before. It was "Rumor Has It." I'm kind of glad Juanita didn't go, because it dealt with some girls who were questioning there decisions to get married. Somewhere between Monday and Wednesday, we watch 4 episodes of Star Trek TNG as rented from Netflix
After that, we hit the resort Sports Center, to hit the hottub and play some ping pong and got some ice cream at the ice cream shop.

Thursday:
The big day! We drove down to Jim Thorpe. We were running early so we drove out to a place called Penn's Peak. It hadn't opened yet, but just from driving up there, you could tell the view was nice. At the courthouse, we went in to get the license. I told them my name and one lady said "Oh, you must be the NASCAR couple" We had figured that being the honeymoon capital and having 2 NASCAR races, this would be a common occurrence. (note: I think the track is in Monroe county, and this was Carbon. Not sure if it would matter) Then we went up to the court room. The Judge and his staff were very accommodating. It was a simple ceremony in a nice courtroom. He offered to do it in the big stately one, but the small one was fine by us. I almost burst out laughing we he said "For richer and for poorer" because we have the "for poorer" part down pat.
After the ceremony, we went back to Penn's Peak for lunch. It was good and the view was breath taking. Pictures shall be forth coming. The bar (Roadies) and the concert hall are very nice, also. We had then planned on taking a hike down to Hawk Falls. Unfortunately, it looked like rain and Juanita had brought the wrong shoes. We ended up heading back toward the outlet mall. We went to the NASCAR Toy Museum in Sciota. Honestly, it's a touch over priced, but it is something to see. They have a bunch of diecasts and standups and stuff from NASCAR, plus old dolls, lunchboxes and thing like that. It's really interesting. Then we went back to the outlet mall. Juanita had one ring that she kind of liked, but upon review, it was still not what she wanted. Then we had dinner at the nice Italian place at the resort.

Friday:
We had breakfast and the resort and headed back to Hawk Falls. The weather was perfect and the falls and surround forest was peaceful and relaxing. Then we went to Claws and Paws, a zoo outside of Hamlin. Very cool animals. We got some Chinese takeout and headed back to the resort. Then we went to see X-Men 3 at the resort movie theatre.

Saturday:
We got up early and checked out. We picked up some breakfast at Wawa and I filled up with gas. On the trip back we listened to the novelization of Star Trek Nemesis (except when Car Talk was on) The trip took most of the day. When we got home, we watch the Michigan Truck race. Then we caught up on last weeks Truck race and Busch races. (Thank you DVR)

Sunday:
We watched the Kentucky Busch race on DVR and the Michigan Cup race. Juanita also took me out for Chinese then Blizzards for Father's Day (no, I'm not father, yet.)

PS. Last week is starting to get fuzzy, so somethings that I wrote we did on Tuesday may have actually happened on Wednesday, or vice versa.

Vacation Blog, a week later

2006-06-19T08:51:00.000-05:00

Here is the word doc I typed up last Monday:

Friday:

We left work at 5:00 or so headed up 79 to Pennsylvania. Our entertainment along the way consisted of Mary Higgins Clark’s “Before I Say Goodbye” on tape. It was 9 hours of tape, so it would last into Monday. We tried to listen to the Craftsman truck race, but we lost the station we were listening to about a quarter of the way through, and never found another. About half way to Pocono, we tuckered out and stayed overnight in Hagerstown, Maryland. No Speed on the cable, so off to bed.

Saturday:

We got up early and checked out of the hotel and set out for Pocono. It didn’t take as long as I thought and we got to the track about 9:30. We went on in, bought our tickets and headed in to watch practice. Then we walked around checking out the haulers. Then we headed back in to watch Happy Hour and the ARCA race. We sat in the Terrace just a little ahead of the start finish line.

The ARCA race was pretty interesting. I expected Nextel Cup driver David Stremme to run away with it, and Pork driver Frank Kimmel to do well. Stremme missed shift or something and broke the first lap. Kimmel had a flat tire that took him out of contention. There were lots of cautions, and different people pitted everytime. The thing was, after the first turn, it was easy to tell the haves from the havenots. Some of the guys up front would drop like rocks, while the others zoomed ahead from the back. Nextel Cup washout Brent Sherman had a strong car, as did up and comers Jeremy Clements and Justin Allgaier. (or Justin Alligator, as my immature self refers to him) They were both friends of the late great Pit Stop comic. They both had troubles, unfortunately. With about 5 laps to go after a caution, someone on the scanner said “The 4 car is gonna win this race. He’s the fastest one out there.” He was about seventh or so, so this was an odd prediction. Brent Sherman was running the 04, so I thought that was who they meant. A few laps later; however, Chase Miller had taken the 4 around the 04 and every one else. There was a Green White Checker finish, but Chase held on to take his first ARCA win.

At this point we were ok with Pocono Raceway. The crowd was light and we could see pretty well. At the Nextel Cup race, all that would change.

Sunday:

Traffic had been really light for the ARCA race, so we didn’t know what to expect for the Cup race. We got up early and headed for the race. Traffic was backed up pretty far, but it didn’t take terribly long to get parked. We sat and listened to a little more of the book, then moseyed on into the track. I don’t normally wear a hat, and had forgotten to put it on our packing list, so I hadn’t brought one. I was faced with the choice of wear Juanita’s Jeff Gordon hat (she wears a visor) or buying one of someone I like. So off I went to buy a hat. Having a few hats back home, and free ones coming soon from mycokerewards.com (just few Coke Zeros away) and John Deere, I was having a hard time talking myself into spending 20-25 bucks on a Mark Martin or Carl Edwards hat. Then I went by the Terry Labonte trailer and they had hats for 5 bucks. I like Terry just fine (since the IROC race where Earnhardt took tires, but that’s a story for another day) so I picked up an olive/brown Kellogg’s hat. I had a pretty good sunburn from the ARCA race. I thought because it was cold and overcast I would be OK. Someday I’ll learn.

The race was… well let’s just get down to brass tacks. You can see a decent amount of the front stretch when everyone is sitting down. You can see the little area right in front of you when everyone stands up. Since people like to stand up, you don’t have a lot of choice in the matter. We were sitting in section SN, about midway between start finish and the end of pit road. We could see the Long Pond straight and the Tunnel turn ok, thought they were a little small. The other two turn we could see a little of. As for the race, it was pretty good. The gaps between two cars could be pretty long, but here was plenty of room to pass if one car caught another. At one point Eli Gold said (off the air) “Jesus, there’s not a close battle anywhere” After that thought, things got pretty good. There were 2 cycles of pit stops, so the lead changed through the green flag as they cycled through. Greg Biffle had brake issues and had to come from the back a couple of times. Denny Hamlin had tire problems and had to do the same. Those two were interesting to watch. We had a good view of several of my favorite driver’s pit area. Ken Schrader was right in front of us, as was Robby Gordon. Was also had a decent view of Carl Edward’s problems, and could see the Biffle’s hood in the air when they were working on him. Jeff Gordon’s wreck was just nasty.

As a race course, I really like Pocono, but as a place to watch, not so much.

After race traffic was a bear. Since the resort we were staying was near the track, I had an idea of where I needed to go. Unfortunately, the first path was blocked off. So after driving a long way out of the way, I was finally headed back to our room. Then, that road was also blocked off. So we went out of the way again. Finally, we got on the right path and back to the room.

Monday:

We got up early and went to a place called Piggy’s for breakfast. The food was passable, but the decor was great. As the name might hint, the joint was adorned with all kinds of pig related items. Then it was off to Jim Thorpe to get the marriage application. That process was simple enough. Construction was the order of the day in Jim Thorpe, so when we left, we didn’t go back the same way we came. We pretty much just headed up the street and went to the next crossroads. We kept looking at the map to try to get back. Just driving around was nice though, because this area is beautiful. We also ended up seeing the Country Junction, the world’s largest General Store. It was neat. We finally ended up back at the room, where we rested and watched “Diary of a Mad Black Woman.” After that, we went over to the Lodge, where there is wifi and we checked our email and a little surfing. Not a lot though, since we are on vacation. When we got back, I decided to go ahead and put this into a Word document, because I’d forget by the time I got back home.

Back from Vacation

2006-06-18T20:12:00.000-05:00

I thought we had internet in the rooms where we went on vaqcation, but we only had wi-fi in the lodge. I didn't take much time to head to the lodge for surf, so I apologize for the long silence.

I have a word doc on my work lap top of the first few days, and I'll post a follow up blog on the last few days of the vacation after that.

We did end up getting married, though,. Here's a pic.

We have a lot of pictures (most of Claws and Paws) that I have to get uploaded to flickr or something in the next few days. Will let you know.

This can't be good

2006-06-09T10:43:00.000-05:00

Juanita has started a blog. Deep thoughts... Now you'll get to hear the other side of my stories.

Oh, By the Way

2006-06-07T09:48:00.000-05:00

I mentioned my sweetie in this blog entry. So, we've decided to make it legal and all. We are attending the NASCAR Nextel Cup race this weekend at Pocono, so a wedding in the Poconos may be in order. Or we may wait until later and do it here in the great state of West Virginia.

I love her so much and am lucky to have her.

I'm a prisoner in a Chinese Kitchen!

2006-06-06T07:45:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to share a couple of fortune cookies we've gotten. The first
one Juanita got today, and it's just plain funny. The second one I got a
few weeks back. It's sort of funny by itself, but it's terribly funny if
you follow the tradition of adding "in bed" to your fortune.

Hold what you got

2006-05-31T12:44:00.000-05:00

After my company switched from a government agency to a private company, we started investing in a 401k for our retirement. Lately, the stocks and bonds have been slumping a bit. I have to keep telling myself that I'm invested for the long term and everything will eventually bounce back. It will all be ok.

The best thing about living near I-77

2006-05-25T10:39:00.000-05:00

Is occasionally you get passed by cool trucks like this one. Headed up to Mansfield, one assumes. Usually around the Michigan races you'll see a bunch. I saw this one in the review way back behind me, so I drove near the speed limit until it passed me. The camera phone isn't that great, but the real camera was in the house.

Frames of reference

2006-05-23T19:37:00.000-05:00

Here are a few pictures of things I've mentioned before in the Blog. It was a little late when I decided to do this, so some are a bit dark.

From the door saga
Broken door:

New Door:

Multiple times I've mentioned weedeating. Here's a picture of the trimmer. I'll try to get a picture of some actual weeds later.

From the tale of the recessed lights This was the only one where I cut a new hole, the rest have previous holes that need refilled or patched.

In this post I talked about the Nuggie Buggie. I tried to get a cool shot, but it's Camry, so there are no cool shots.

Uncool shot #2:

Just add balance to the force, here's a picture of my pickup truck:

Here I talked about getting a new lawn mower. Here's a shot of it.

Posting pictures on dialup is not fun. Hopefully next time I take a notion to snap some pictures, it will be in daylight.

Boss Says No Dice Son, You Gotta Work Late

2006-05-22T18:07:00.000-05:00

I'm a few weeks away from the Summertime Blues (da da da dat, da da da dant) but I am working late. When you do stuff in IT, it just goes better with no users on the system.

Friday, we finished installing the door, as previously described. It was in, but it was tight and not exactly right. We got it more close to level and plumb and now it's much better. Then they delivered the new bed. It's tall. The a short visit to the folks, then the Craftsman Truck Series race.

I worked hard Saturday. I ran the weedeater until I was sore. We made a trip to town. Unfortunately the patio furniture Juanita wanted from Big Lots was gone. Here today, gone tomorrow, they say. Then it was off to WalMart, Around the Farm (where it was too crowded, so we left), Bro. Marsh's BBQ for a taste test, Sears, and 84 Lumber. Still patio furniture, but some other odds and ends were picked up. After that, it was time for the Nextel Open/Challenge. Juanita thought Rowdy Shrub's intro was cool, but I thought it was dorky. The rest was what it was.

Sunday was a day of rest. I caught up on a few things on the DVR. I watched parts of the Champ Car Race, Indy qualifying, and the Sports Car race at Mid Ohio. Then I caught the ARCA race from Toledo. It was pretty good. Then I finished reading Identity Crisis as recommended by Dan. It was a good read. Thanks, Dan!

By Bread Alone

2006-05-19T15:02:00.000-05:00

There was a new fancy schmancy bread place opened up recent here in the Capital City. My dad put in a order for me to pick him up some raisin bread (not cinnamon raisin bread). They opened the doors at noon and I got there at about 12:15. People were already out the door. I had planned on getting 2 loaves, one for me and Juanita, and one for my folks. By the time I got to the head of the line, there were only about 4 loaves of raisin bread left, so I was nice and only got 1. They also had some oatmeal bread, but they were running low on it too. I'm interested to see how good this bread is and how the demand will be when the new wears off.

Lay Lady Lay

2006-05-16T20:26:00.000-05:00

Lay across my king size bed. This evening we went out to the local furniture store and bought new mattress. We got a pretty nice one. You spend $20,000 (or more) on car that you night spend a couple of hours a day in, so why not spend a little on something that you'll spend 8 hours a day in?

You'll also notice a couple of new Nuggie Buddies to your right.

Outlet malls 4, Snakes 0

2006-05-15T15:09:00.000-05:00

On our trip, I had only planned on going to 1 nice company dinner with Juanita, so I only packed on set of nice clothes. We ended up going to 3 (one we left early), so I needed something nicer than jeans and t shirts. Off to the outlet mall we went and I ended up with 2 shirts and 2 pairs of pants from Van Heusen.

I was disappointed that there were no Snakes on a plane on any of our flights.

Interestingly, I got through the extra security in Orlando quicker than Juanita got through regular security.

The weekend was filled with trips to visit for Mother's Day.

More later!

Annoyed Grunt

2006-05-09T21:11:00.000-05:00

That's what it says in the script when Homer says "Doh" on the Simpsons. So, why might I say that? It seems someone had taken his Driver's License out to take a scan of his picture for some reason. Someone also neglected to put it back into his wallet. Someone also needed his license today when he tried to board the airplane to Florida.
Luckily, Charleston is a small airport and all I had to do was go through a little extra security. I have my work picture ID and my Social Security card, so I should be good to get back. If not, then into Gitmo I go.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

2006-05-08T12:10:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow, we're heading out to Orlando Florida. Juanita has a work related conference to go to. I haven't made a big deal out of it, because who knows how tired she'll be in the evening and whether she'll want to get out and do anything. I'll just be chilling in the hotel room each day while she's schmoozing folks.

Of course, is it smart to put you are going to be out of town on the interweb? I wonder if anyone knows both the location of my house and my blog. Something to ponder. Oh well, too late now, I guess. Anywho, take the big screen (we want a new plasma, and that would just be a good excuse) but leave everything else.

Roadhouse Blues

2006-05-07T14:52:00.000-05:00

Saturday, our plan was to go watch Juanita's niece and nephew play ball. On the trip, we were going to deliver her step mom's Mother's Day present. Unfortunately the kids were sick, so that plan was cancelled. We then decided to take the gift to her aunt to take home to give to Juanita's dad. As we were getting in the car I asked Juanita if she has her house keys. She didn't. I didn't either. Luckily we had planned on replacing the back door to the house anyway. We broke out the back glass and opened it from the inside. Then if was oft to Lowe's after the gift was delivered for a new door. The rest of Saturday was spent installing the new door. It was a pain, but we got in it.

Happy Cinco de Ethel

2006-05-05T07:42:00.000-05:00

Here's a picture of one of Ethel's favorite things for her birthday. Dan beat me to the one I really wanted to use.

Todd Bodine says Happy birthday, too!

Smoke on the Water

2006-05-04T21:49:00.000-05:00

A deep purple! Sorry folks, but this is the most interesting thing to happen to me for a while.

Here's a phone pic of the bruise

2006-05-04T09:44:00.000-05:00

It's poor quality, much like my infielding.

Call me the Iceman

2006-05-03T21:22:00.000-05:00

No, not Bobby Drake, Terry Labonte nor King Parsons. Someone was playing third base for his corporate co-ed softball team and took on in the ankle. Unfortunately, the swelling has went down and I can't get a good picture. Oh, well. It was the first game of the year and I played very poorly. There were a lot of people who showed up. Too many, in fact. After a few games it will probably thin down to a reasonable level.

It's Wednesday already?

2006-05-03T09:29:00.000-05:00

I am so odd sometimes. My local comics shop is opening late because of all the shipments of new comics coming. I have a light week with only 1 comic coming in.

I preferred Mark Chesnutt's version of Friends in Low Places to Garth Brooks's.
I prefer Kix Brooks to Ronnie Dunn.
Back when I watched wrestling, the guys I liked got nothing, the guys a didn't care for got championships. (apologies to Lance Storm and Disco Inferno, it was all my fault)
I never had any problem with the Star Wars prequels, Star Trek: Nemesis, or Wesley Crusher. In fact, many of the things that nerds and dorks rail upon, I got no problem with.
I shop at WalMart.
I still use dialup at home. This, however, is not by choice. It works plenty fine for general surfing, though. But it makes youtube and itunes a little less useful to me.

Yeah, so I'm odd, what of it?

That wasn't so bad

2006-05-01T18:26:00.000-05:00

It turns out that it was a blown fuse in the furnace, so it's been fixed. The service guy had been to the house before we bought it, so he was familiar with the house. He gave us some advice on another issue we had, so it was worth the service fee.

Why do people come and ask me to do things when I'm listening to the rain delayed race on the radio? Not that it matters, because it's tough to follow a restrictor plate race on radio. And what's the deal with people needing stuff done at 4:30?

Tomorrow, I'll be off the WalMart for some new tires for the Nuggie Buggie. Whoo hoo!

Saturday Night under the lights

2006-04-30T16:35:00.000-05:00

Last night, we went out to I-77 Speedway in Fairplain WV. It was a pretty good night of racing. There were 5 classes of racing: Dwarfs (Dwarves?), Mini Stocks, Street Stocks, AMRA Modifieds and Late Models.

The racing had a slow start. We we got there, they were in the middle of hotlaps and it was very dusty. They decided to wet down the track again. This was probably a good decision, but it took a while to get the track worked in. They finally got going with qualifying for the late models. They did 2 laps per car. Dale Brown in the 33b took the pole with a 14.30 or so. I'm going from memory. Maybe next time I'll take a notepad. After that was 1 lap a piece for the AMRA modifieds. I don't recall the pole winner. Then all 5 divisions had heat races. Then there was a short pause before the mains. We left before the ministock main, but saw the rest. Yeah, I know, I should have posted this last night when the results were fresher. Of course the website for the speedway (>I-77 Speedway is out of date. It seems almost all small time tracks have trouble keeping their website up to date.

In other Nuggie News, the my furnace is on the blink. Of course, it is 25 or so years old. I don't know whether it will be a simple fix or a replacement. Fortunately, it lasted the winter and it's springtime now. It's still a bit chilly in the mornings though.

Nothing exciting for today, either

2006-04-27T21:30:00.000-05:00

Picked up some recessed lights trim, but Juanita didn't like how they looks, so we'll try again. More string trimming.

Watched House of Wax. Since I didn't rent it, I didn't have to like it. It was not my cup of tea.

The boss is off tomorrow, so I'll probably be busy, taking up the slack.

To post a boring post, or to leave a day unposted, what to do what to do?

Alas, poor Yurick, you get a boring post!

Almost done

2006-04-26T20:48:00.000-05:00

Are they recessed lights or recessed lights? I put recess lights in my last post but this morning as I was getting in the shower I thought that it should be recessed. Oh well, the wiring is done and they all come on when the switch is thrown. I want to make sure all my connections are secure before I put them back into the ceiling.

Is it still weed eating if you use a McColluch? I put a new head on mine and tested it out this evening after I installed it. It looks like fun for me this weekend.

After that I hit the recumbent bike to read the comics (it being Wednesday, you know) Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight just started a new arc so I picked up issue 204. It was good. I also picked up Blue Beetle #2, Checkmate #1 and Ion #1. Blue Beetle was good, Checkmate was really good, Ion was pretty good. Yes, I use the Duke Phillips system of rating. Seriously, though I enjoyed them all.

Exciting, ain't it?

I thought Recess meant to take a break

2006-04-25T21:09:00.000-05:00

And hopefully Randall Weems won't tell on me.

My current project for home improvement is to put recess lights in the kitchen. It's been much easier since we went to Lowes instead of the local place. Lowes had the recess lights specifically for remodelling (They slide through the hole and catch on the cieling, instead making me try to figure out how to attach to the joist or something) A handyman, I am not, but I do my best. I replaced three old fixtures Saturday, and Juanita decided to add a fourth tonight. I got about half way through, but the ladder and wire and tools were in the garage and it was raining. I did get the hole cut in the ceiling, though, so it won't take long when I get back to it. She hasn't decided on a trim yet, but when she does, I'll post a picture.

Speaking of Saved By the Bell

2006-04-24T09:58:00.000-05:00

This has to be a joke, but we'll see

More Saved by the Bell

Cha-cha-changes

2006-04-21T10:45:00.000-05:00

My template is sorely in need of an update. Until I sit down and figure out what I want this bad boy to look, you can settle for a set of links to some folks I like to vitually hangout with. I called it Buddy Blogs, like Buddy Bands, for all you Saved by the Bell fans.