Long Weekend

Yesterday was a holiday for a lot of people which made it a long weekend.

Friday was hockey with friends. Saturday was a charity casino night for the Atlanta Thrashers Foundation. Sunday was get up early and go to the aquarium with my niece. Yesterday was a day to run errands and do a little dreaming.

The hockey was fun as always but the Thrashers barely beat the worst team in the NHL. That doesnt make you feel to good, but hey, a win is a win, right? One step closer to the playoffs... At every game, the Thrashers have a raffle. A winner is drawn and they get half of the money raised. The other half is split between the Thrashers Foundation and another charity. The chairty Friday is a group that takes dogs to hospitals in the Atlanta area. They brought some of the dogs with them which meant lots of people petting dogs. It also meant my dogs were jealous when we got home as they could smell that we had pet another doggie.

Casino night was a blast. Wifey and I bought mystery bags when we first got there, choosing bag numbers to correspond with 2 of our favorite players. We won: Thrasher tickets, Hawks tickets, signed 8x10 pics of a couple hockey players, signed Illya Kovalchuk puck in a display case, restaurant gift certificates, weekend stay at an upscale hotel, a nice cd player, a wooden case with Thrasher logo poker cards, and some other stuff. We had pictures made with several of the players who were also dealers that night. You started off with 1500 play chips (but you could reload throughout the night). I ended the night with around 60k chips. You got a raffle ticket for every thousand chips you had at the end of the night. They raffled off a big screen tv and other prizes. A silent auction with tons of stuff and a live auction with several big items (including a trip to an away game with the team on their airplane). We didnt bid on any of those items. Food was good. And the new Thrasher ice cream (blue cream de menthe with white chocolate chips) was delish!

My niece is 4 and we gave her a trip to aquarium for Christmas. She has been excited about it for weeks. She had a good time

Yesterday, after running some errands we went and looked at new houses. No we are not planning to move anytime soon. We just like to go look at houses and get ieas from them. One we went in had a closet that is bigger than our current bedroom.

Hockey, a Road Trip, and Satellites

Friday night was Hockey night. We went to the game and the Thrashers won. The Penguins rallied in the third period but still came up short, especially after #17 Illya Kovalchuk became the leading scorer in the NHL with his hattrick.

Atlanta has gotten some attention in the hockey world recently. They are on a great win streak and playing incredible. Last Monday they destroyed the best team in the NHL, the Ottawa Senators 8-3. Ottawa's main scorer is a former Thrasher (Danny Heatley) and he was booed everytime he touched the puck. I wasnt at this game but I am not happy the way Heatley was treated.

Fridays game we gained attention for how Sid "the Kid" Crosby was supposedly treated. First, let me say the kid is a crybaby. Anytime he took a little check (which is legal) he would go cry to the officials. He couldnt handle the puck with out someone stealing it from him. He got checked by Kovalchuk and responded by using his stick as a weapon for which he got a penalty (called slashing). He slashed one of our Defensemen, breaking his stick in the process, and went into the penalty box again. 30 seconds later Kovalchuk scored and pointed at the penalty box where Crosby was sitting. Pittsburgh players and fans weren't too happy about that.

Saturday we went to Alabama. A coworker of wifey had a bad car wreck 10 days or so ago. He was in the passenger seat, the car hit a tree, he went through the seatbelt and out of the car. He is lucky to be alive and looks good but with 2 broken legs.

On the way to and from Alabama we listened to a couple of hockey games. I dont know why I am getting addicted to it, but I really love watching hockey but will tolerate listening to it. We got home and went to a sports bar to watch the Thrashers play the Penguins in Pittsburgh. Crybaby Crosby had 8 penalty minutes for slashing, tripping, diving, and an unsportsmanlike conduct. Pittsburgh fans booed Kovalchuk every time he touched the puck but two goals shut them up pretty quickly. Atlanta won again and are now 7th in the NHL East.

Belated Christmas Posting

We did a stay at home Christmas this year. Christmas Eve we had some nice filets for dinner (they were on sale). Who knows, that might become a Christmas tradition. We got up Christmas Day, opened presents and then went to see The Producers (the movie, not the play). It was wonderful. When we got home we had a dinner of roasted chicken. It was wonderful.

While opening presents, we turned on the TV. One local channel was broadcasting christmas carols with the video of a roaring fire.... they called the program Yule Log. Kinda corny if you ask me.

Day after Christmas I had to run some errands. While at Wal-mart, a guy passed me that must have been wearing a whole bottle of cologne. A little tip, if you can smell the cologne more than a foot away from you, you are wearing too much cologne. If you can smell it 60 feet away, your nose must not work.

Tuesday we went up to my niece's 4th birthday party. Dora the Explorer cake was eaten, presents were opened, and then we drove home.

Wednesday we took some friends to a Thrashers hockey game. Come to find out, one of them lives next door to one of my favorite players. I hope she invites us over one night for a cook out or something when the team doesnt have a game.... Grandma was late getting to the game so I called her to make sure she was ok. I may have hockey tickets for this upcoming Monday, which is an afternoon game.

Work has been kinda slow this week and wifey has the week off so Thursday we went up to a Thrashers practice. Since school was out, the place was packed. I have a pennett that I now have signed by every player and the head coach. I have an old Thrashers jersey that is now signed by my 5 favorite players. Also had some photos made with some of the players. What nice guys. Really.

Randomness

Last night I went to a friend's birthday party. He was my roommate in college. His 2 sisters also showed up. One looked like I remembered her. The other had grown up. I know I have seen her more recently but I remember our Freshman year of college we were late getting back to class one weekend because we had to watch his little sister get on the bus for her first day of school. Now she is in her early 20's, studying to be a nurse and has a 2 year old. I kept seeing the little girl in pig tails going to school.

My old roommate pulled out pictures from college. Wow, we looked so young. Lots of memories were relievedlast night.

One of his friends told us about heated mattress pads. He said they are better than electric blankets. I bought one today and will let you know if it is as good as they hype.

Mmmmm.... I love the smell of fresh cut Christmas trees. Usually I am the type that gets the tree up the day after Thanksgiving but just didnt have the time to do it that early this year. Will decorate the tree tonight. It is a pretty tree and it was HALF OFF! and hand been delivered only a day or two before I bought it (at least that is what the guy at Home Depot Landscaping said).

Christmas Lights

A lot of our neighbors have gotten into the holiday spirit and put christmas lights up. The last 2 years in our neighborhood, there was few yards with lights. There was the one we called "The Griswalds" after the Christmas Vacation movie. They have so many lights that I think the FAA has probably asked them to limit the hours they have them on so as not to interfere with the landing lights of a local airport.

This year there are soooo many more decorated yards. We have lots of deer. There are the inflatibles. One house down the street we said their lights around the bushes and tree looked like a dragon; the Christmas Dragon we called it. They have unfortunately redone the lights and the head of the Christmas Dragon has been removed. How sad.

Saying Goodbye

Friday was the Memorial Service and Wake for my other mother. We had the Memorial Service at the State Capitol and the Wake at one of her favorite taverns in town.

200+ people showed up at the Memorial Service. There was people I hadnt seen in years and there were also some people I didnt know existed... Very few of us knew that mama D had an estranged brother and sister. Probably 10 family members showed up.

A former Governor, a somewhat famous actor, a former congressman, an eminent scholar and a state legislator were among the speakers at the service. I was asked to emcee the event and share a few memories. I think the whole service went along smoothly. The Capitol was beautifully decorated for the Christmas holidays, too.

After the Service we had a wake. There was probably around 100 at the wake including several who hadnt been able to make it to Service. We had tons of photos and written memories lying around. I think we did Mama D proud!

Mama D was a great lady. She meant a lot to me and to so many others and will live on in our thoughts and lives for quite some time to come.

Things I have recently learned

I mentioned in my last post about going to the 20th annual Thanksgiving show of Drivin and Cryin. I have been DnC fan for years. A couple of days ago I found a guy that lives on the west coast that has taped lots of DnC and Kevn Kinney shows and if you ask nicely he will send you a DVD of one of the shows he has for free. No postage or shipping costs.

There are several bands/musicians that encourage their fans to tape their shows. The Grateful Dead is probably the first to do this. John Mayer, North Mississippi Allstars, David Ryan Harris, Dave Matthews Band and others are doing this today. Usually if you find somebody that has taped a band you want you have to give them a blank CD and cover the postage costs to get a copy. But like I said for this guy I found he isnt charging for videos of various DnC shows. Reminds you that there are nice people still in this world.

Some of you may wonder about the quality of the taping of shows. Most are just as good as a studio live recording. Digital recording is quite a marvel.

Speaking of nice people. What words would you use to describe people that have never met someone but are interested in possibly donating a kidney to them? Restores your faith in humanity if you have lost it.

The Power of Music

Have you ever listened to a song and be transported to a different time and a different place? You hear a song and remember an event when you were listening to the song or maybe the first time you heard the song.

Bluegrass does that for me. Not the newgrass but old Bill Monroe, Ricky Skaggs, etc. I hear that stuff and I am 10 again. I am at one of two barber shops. I can smell the shaving cream and that blue stuff they use to disenfect combs. One of the barber shops is where my dad took me for most of my haircuts when I was young. The other is one that he grew up going to. It is in the middle of a field in rural Alabama. Sometimes when I hear Bluegrass I can almost smell the freshly plowed dirt mixed with the shaving cream and blue stuff at that country barber shop.

Last night was another one of those events where music was transporting me. I needed a break away with dealing with all of the logistics of my other mother's death. Several friends and their wives met me and wifey out for dinner and then we caught Drivin and Cryin's annual Thanksgiving show. DnC was huge here in the Atlanta area in the late 80's early 90's. I was in High School and College then and DnC was a huge part of the soundtrack of that era. Last night was their 20th Thanksgiving show. The proceeds went to Toys for Tots. They played at least one song from each of their albums and several cover songs. I could think of most of the times I have seen them and all of the times I have met them. I had flashbacks of good friends and good times over the last 20 years particularly high school and college. My only regret last night was that I started feeling funky around midnight and had to take the pumpkin home.

Their was other people there reliving their past. People in their late 30's early 40's that heard DNC when they were in school. Some were dressed nice but drunk 40 year olds showing they cant dance or play air guitar are funny to watch. There was one girl that poured herself in acid wash jeans she has probably had for 15 years and were about 2 sizes too small. She worked her way to the front and tried to get the attention of one of the guitarists. "Tim!!!" she would scream in between songs. Occasionally it was folloowed by, "remember me?" Tim either a) didnt remember her b) didnt hear her or c) both of the above. She finally left in disgust after about 30 minutes of hoping Tim would see her and remember her.

My Other Mother

About 12 years ago I met an amazing woman. She had been married earlier in her life but they had parted ways and never had any children. She had no family but claimed dozens of people as her own kids including me. She introduced me as her son so many times that there are several people that think we are related.

A little over a year ago she was diagnosed with the later stages of Lupus. This woman that was so full of life suddenly wasnt. She had good days and bad days. If she had bad days, she would sometimes have to go to the hospital and when she got home she would turn her phone off, not wanting to talk to anybody until she felt better.

Three weeks ago we went to lunch. She seemed to be doing very well and had been doing well for quite sometime. I thought that the worst had passed.

Yesterday, a coworker called me. Nobody had talked to her in about 10 days to 2 weeks. I went over to her condo. I knocked and knocked on the door to no avail. I could see through the peephole that the lights were out and I could see her cat sitting on the back of a chair. The cat looked well fed. I checked the parking lot and found her car in her assigned parking space. I came back up and couldnt find any neighbors at home nor could I find a maintenace man. I called her coworker and told her what I had found. The coworker had called the hospital that she went to and they said she wasnt there.

This morning, her office called the police and asked them to perform a welfare check. They forced their way into her condo and found her dead and lying in her bed.

Last year my grandmother died. I can tell you that losing my other mother has been harder on me than losing my grandmother. I'm gonna miss my mama D.

Johnny Cash

I have always been a Johnny Cash fan. Friday night we went to see the Cash movie, Walk the Line. It is a wonderful movie. Script, story line, and acting are all superb. Although it is mostly about the early life of Johnny it is also a love story. If you didnt know, Johnny Cash was always in love with June Carter. Even as a small boy he loved listening to her sing on the radio and looking at pictures of her in magazines. It was only natural that when he started playing music professionally that she would be touring with him. His first marriage ended and June forced him to get clean and sober before finally marrying him.

Whenever I see biographic movies I am always worried that they wont treat the person fairly. Johnny and June's son was a big part of this movie, making sure that the adaptation of Cash's autobiography was true to the original.

Long story short, go see this movie. You wont regret it.

Grandma

So for the few Hockey Games that wifey and I have went to, there is always an older lady (mid to late 60's) there. She sits behind the home bench, talks to the players, yells at the officials, and looks like she is having the time of her life. She also wears a personalized jersey that has the number 1 and "Grandma" across her shoulders.

At last Friday's game, I told wifey that the next game we go to it is my goal to meet Grandma and have my picture made with her. Wifey laughed but knew I was serious so she encouraged me to go on over and introduce myself but I didnt because I didnt have my camera with me.

Saturday night was an away game and we watched it on the telly. Grandma had made the 5 hour drive and had alot of tv time. It was great to see her on television cheering on her Thrashers.

TodayI had some business to take care of on the NE side of town. I looked it up and found out that the Atlanta Thrashers' practice facility was nearby, there was a practice today and that it was open to the public (as all of their practices are). How could I resist?

I show up at the facility and find about a dozen people watching the team doing drills and stretching. I looked in the stands and saw Grandma so of course I had to sit next to her. She is an awesome lady. After the practice was over, the players would stop and sign things on the way to the locker room and the majority of them came over to say hello to Grandma. They all knew she had traveled to see them in Carolina and thanked her for her support.

I cant imagine being able to be that close to professional athletes as often as you can at Thrasher practices (like 3 or 4 a week). Or that they would know one specific fan and feel it neccessary to say hello to her.

I had the pleasure of shaking hands with and getting the autograph of Ilya Kovalchuk who was named the NHL offensive player of the week after scoring 4 goals last Friday and 2 on Saturday. Last season he was the leading scorer in the NHL and I (as well as the other fans that show up at practice) are able to watch him practice and then get his autograph. Not too many professional athletes can you say that about. Not too many professional sports have a "Grandma" either.

Nothing much

Went to a Hockey game last night. Refs didnt call many penalties unless it was very obvious. I liked that refs were making sure the game kept going and didnt nitpick penalties. Atlanta and Tampa (our opponent last night) are both big, quick skating teams. Atlanta player scored 4 goals. When he got the hat trick the ice was filled with hats that people were throwing. When he got his 4th goal the place went nuts. Tampa is the defending NHL champs so it was good for the hometown Thrashers to win.

Took a client last night. He was curious how someone born and raised in the South would like Hockey so much. I told him I just liked the speed and skill.

You Dont See That Every Day

We had a friend in from Seattle the last couple of days. She was in town for a work related conference starting Wednesday and then Friday through today she stayed with us. Yesterday we drove up to the mountains to get some apples and to look at the foliage. Very pretty day.

On the way home our friend asked "was that a parrot on that man's shoulder?" I immediately started looking for a pirate ship with men wearing patches and a peg leg. We slowed down and let a truck catch up with us and sure enough there was a parrot on his left arm while he (the man, not the bird) drove with his right arm. The man was talking to the bird as they rode on down the road. The parrot kept looking at the traffic and scenery they passed.

Trick or Treat

Last night was our first Halloween to be at home since we got married and bought this house. I was surprised at how many trick or treaters came to our house. Tons and tons of kids came by.

The first was probably the cutest. She was barely old enough to walk and was dressed as a candy striper, with a tiara. She was just precious and left with a ton of candy from me.

As the night wore on, we had kids that were not dressed up (mostly in their late teens) who wouldnt say trick or treat but instead demand "give us some candy" and then no thank you for giving them candy. Some of them I asked what they were dressed as but after a while I gave up on that. Of course the teenagers only got one pack of candy. If you were in costume you got multiple candy packs. A thank you got you more candy. I had also bought two different kinds of candy, one kind was for kids in costume and who said thank you, teens in jeans and t-shirts got the other.

Six Degrees of Seperation

There are rumors that you are only seperated from anybody in the world by only 6 people. The most famous version of this little game is that you can connect Kevin Bacon through actors he has worked with to any other actor.

Anyway I have been doing my own version of this game lately. I am helping the Kidney Foundation raise some money. I have called some friends to help find items to use at a silent auction at an upcoming event. I dont wanna go into too much detail yet, but I have been surprised who some of my friends know. Names that I could drop that would definitely get your attention. After I get some items that are promised I will go into a few more details on some of these people.

Today I received a package in the mail. It was from an actor that you may not know the name but you would probably know the face. He is currently on the multi-Emmy winning TV show "The Shield" (which I am a huge fan of). He grew up near where I live and I was able to find a friend that knows him fairly well. The actor got a script of the show signed by the cast and that is what was in the package I received today. The funny part is that the return address is one of those stickers that you get in the mail with a letter asking you to donate to some organization but few people send in a donation. I just find it hillarious that 1) a big celebrity would get those stickers in the mail and 2) would use it on a package he mailed to someone he doesnt really know. I wonder if the Pope gets those stickers in the mail?

More Poker

So I watched part 5 of the WSOP last night. The guy I was discussing a couple of days ago that was playing with no hands is named William Rockwell. They had a feature story on him about 15 to 20 minutes into the show. Check your local listings and see the next time they are showing part 5 of 12 of the World Series of Poker from this year on ESPN or ESPN2. You can read more about him here (a photo of him playing and a press release of his sponsorship by GoldenPalace.com) and I have a link to the foundation he started here.

Dreams

Have you ever had a dream that will coincide with something happening in the real world while you are asleep? Like you are dreaming that a phone rings while in the real world your phone rings?

A couple of nights ago, I was dreaming that I had just had my transplant surgery. I was wheeled back to my room but was still under the anesthesia. I could see me lying on the bed and my family and friends around me. The doctor said he had a new safe way to wake me back up. I could feel something weird and I started to wake up. I woke up in the real world and found my wife's dog licking my fingers.

Another night I dreamed that a truck was bumping me while I was crossing the street. I kept feeling the bumping even after I had awakened. I looked down and found wifey's dog bumping me as she was trying to get comfortable and get back to sleep. Weird.

WSOP

Last night I watched part of the main event of this year's World Series of Poker. ESPN took the 7 days of action from back in July and edited it into 12 - 1 hour episodes that they are now showing. This year over 5600 people plopped down $10,000 a piece to have the chance to win $7.5 million. It was ultimately won by an Australian who if I remember correctly this was his first big tournament.

I watched episode 3 last night and got to do one of my favorite things to do with televised poker; watch Phil Hellmuth lose. Hellmuth is the world's greatest poker player in his own mind but hasnt really won any tournaments in a couple of years (NBC's heads up tourney this year doesnt count) but every year at the WSOP he says he is playing the best poker of his career and guarantees a win, only to lose.

Phil lost the majority of his chips against a guy that probably shouldnt have been involved in the hand but he was and ultimately won against Phil on the river. If you are unfamiliar with No Limit Hold-em look here for the rules. It was great! He gets up and walks away from the table ranting and raving the whole time, goes talks to his psychiatrist wife for a while, and then walks around before finally going back to the table only to lose the rest of his chips the next hand he plays.

The other neat thing they showed last night was a guy in the tourney that was playing with no hands! He had a ramp like device on the table that he would pull his cards up with his toes so that he could see what he had been dealt. It was amazing to watch but they only showed him for 2 quick segments, maybe 30 seconds a piece. He had a guy that would help him stack his chips when he won but otherwise he was on his on. I really wished they had done a feature on him and showed him playing more. I think it would have been very inspirational.

Al Green cant clap

Last night I stayed up to watch Rev Al Green perform on the Dave Letterman show. First of all, I love Al Green. I own at least 4 albums including his last 2. I have seen him live. I had an Al Green song played at our wedding reception. One day, I want to go to Memphis and go to Al's church. But last night, he started to clap... on the offbeat. He got the audience clapping along at the end of the song and then he couldnt clap along with them. It was weird but it was Al Green singing so it was still great.

A few weeks ago I went to see David Ryan Harris, one of my favorites, perform with a band (first time he has toured with a band in several years). His opening act, at least for the Atlanta show, also had rhythm problems. The drummer would lay down the beat and then the singer/guitarist and bass player would play a different groove and then the drummer would have to speed up or slow down so they would be playing together. Throughout each song and throughout the entire show the drummer would have to constantly adjust his tempo to that of the rest of his band.

And the bad part... as white and rhythmless as I am for me to notice these things you know it had to be bad.

Driving Down Memory Lane

Yesterday I decided to go see a football game at the college I graduated from. I had emailed a few friends that still live in the area and before you know it we had a decent group getting together including one classmate who flew in from NYC. My old roommate lives near me so we rode together and talked on the way to the game. We havent really had a good talking in quite some time.

Our first stop (well second if you count the stop for $2.65 gas while it is $2.90 next to my house) was to a little sports bar that opened up I think my Senior year. It was there that I had my first buffalo wings and they were as good yesterday as they were the first time. The rest of the crew had originally planned to grill and tailgate but most joined us for wings instead. We left the group and went driving around. My former roomie wanted a chocolate-bananna milkshake and then we were off to go see his fraternity little brother but he wasnt home. We called another friend who is a high school principal in the area but he and his family already had plans for the day (sorry for the last minute call Shaky). We drove around the campus and stopped to say hello to a couple of former teachers. One has a significant other near my house and he promised to stop by on his way to or from.

The campus has changed. When I was there, the buildings were a hodge podge mix of architectural styles but now they all look the same except for one of the girls' dorms (the one where the sororities reside). The dorm I stayed in my Freshman and Sophmore years has been demolished. That was kinda sad. I guess that is what I get for not coming back to visit that often (I think it is at least 7 years since I was there).

Next stop was the game. We decided to sit in the student section but there wasnt that many students. The band has been moved from the endzone to the 50 yard line so that it looks like people are at the game when the games are televised. Gone are the Fraternity and Sorority seating sections and as a result, gone also are most of their members at the games. And speaking of sororities, when I was in school there was one sorority that all of their members were stick thin blondes with long hair. They definitely are not that sterotype today. The other big change at the game is the pyrotechnics: sparklers and fireworks as the team takes the field and then more explosions when we score (I thought they were going to run out of fireworks yesterday as we kept scoring and scoring and scoring).

After the game, most of the group went to a new restaurant (there are a lot of new places that werent there when I was in college) but me and my former roomie wanted to head home... after a stop at our favorite BBQ place. We asked for a side of Brunswick Stew and the waitress said she didnt know what that was. Can you imagine a BBQ place that doesnt know what Brunswick Stew is? I was dumbfounded.

We ate quick and then drove back home while having lots more conversations. He plans to go back in a couple of weeks for homecoming but I have other plans for that weekend. Who knows, maybe I will change them.