Just a thought

I know it has been a while since my last post but in my defense I have been working about 60 hours a week. It seems to me that there has been a lot of loss lately and as we all get older we will have to deal with more of it. Now, I am, in no way depressed and I don't think there is anyone else in my life that is either. But life has a way of giving us examples on how to deal with it and how to act before our time comes. I will always remember a story I read in the News & Observer some time after 9/11. It was about a man from North Carolina who was in New York that morning. He was late for a meeting near the World Trade Center and snapped at the bell-hop because he felt the man was not trying hard enough to get him a cab. The building he was in collapsed and he was trapped under a stairwell, thinking he was going to die. All he could think about was how he treated that man at the hotel. He thought to himself that he was going to die and that man thought he was a jerk. He then realized, that if he made it out alive he was going to treat everyone as if he would never see them again. What a great philosophy. That is why I always tell my parents that I love them every time I talk to them. You never know. Always try to be a positive influence when ever you are around others you may never get another chance.

Christmas Movies

I have had serious connection problems lately and have not been able to post anything new. I wanted to post some Thanksgiving themed movies but since this is Thanksgiving eve I will mention a few and then give the Christmas list.
Scent of a Woman, great movie. It takes place over Thanksgiving if you have forgotten.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles, if you have kept up with me on face book you know this is my favorite Thanksgiving movie.

Driving Miss Daisy, I know this is a stretch but the last scene in the nursing home is on Thanksgiving Day. This ending along with the end of Field of dreams are the only two movies that still make me a little misty-eyed.

Okay Christmas, these are in no order, but you have a month so check them out.

The Family Stone, funny, I never in my life imagined I would be writing but Sara Jessica Parker is pretty good.

Just Friends, hysterically funny.

A Christmas Story, yes you get 24 hours of this on TBS or maybe TNT, but it is so much better without commercials. Check TCM's listings this month, they may play it. After Ralphie says the F--- word and the old man tells him to get in the car, notice the ever so slight grin on the father's face.

Fred Clause, Vince Vaughaun and Paul Giomatti, good combination. The scene where Fred is at therapy with other brothers of famous guys is classic.

Christmas Vacation, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer on the tuba as Eddie empties the "shitter" into the drain is priceless.

It's a Wonderful Life, the classic. I started watching this movie every Christmas Eve many years ago. Past jobs, which usually involve retail, had always kept me at work late on Christmas Eve. I would get home exhausted and the last thing I wanted to do is drive somewhere so I would always leave Christmas morning. This movie is old but there are many messages about life. The scene where is the run on the Building and Loan, during the depression, George(Jimmy Stewart) turn to look at a picture of his deceased father. There is an embroidery on the wall also. Through the magic of DVD and the zoom feature, I was able to read it years ago. "All you can take with you is what you have given away."

This one I discovered a few years ago and it is VERY funny, Love Actually, everybody is in this one, the aging rock star steals every scene he is in.

For those action fans, there are some options; Lethal Weapon, The first two Die Hard movies are good and well done, okay, Die Hard 2 is a little weak, it is hard to see James from Good Times play a bad guy.

I have noticed that TV Land plays all of its Christmas episodes at once and there are some good ones.
Now I know that I have left out a bunch but these are my favorites, so enjoy.

Oh yeah, on the subject of movies, the new Star Trek is awesome. If you are any way familiar with this show or the movies you will love it.

Okay, it has been a while, the holiday season approaches. I think it is safe to say that anyone that knows me will tell you that I am a fan of movies. So for the next three months I will suggest movies that go along with the current holiday season. Of course the first on is Halloween, I have never been a big fan of gory movies so there may be some movies that are not on the list. Movies that turn the stomach are not my bag, there will be no references to stuff like Hostel or any of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre remakes. It seems like these "new" horror films only want you to vomit in your mouth, so this may not be your list.





These are in no particular order but if you like feeling on edge in the month of October I think you will enjoy these:





The first three Hannibal Lecture movies The Red Dragon, Silence of the Lambs, and Hannibal. Watch them in that order, yes Silence of the Lambs started it all but it is hard to beat them in order, they were done well, Hannibal being the worst of the three, Jodie Foster did not like the book, that is why she was not in the last.

Keeping with the serial killer theme, Seven, I have not talked to anyone that predicted how that one ended. Notice how they never identify what city it took place in and the credits roll backwards.

For the dark comic fans I suggest Underworld and Hellboy, great action and as far as Underworld, Kate Beckensail in a skin tight leather suit, enough said.





Bram Stokers Dracula, awesome and spooky. I know Kneau Reeves, but you get past him pretty fast, Gary Oldman steals the show.





Here is a sleeper, Exorcist 3. George C Scott is reason enough to watch this, but the nurse walking through the empty halls because she hears a noise, well you will jump. And the old woman crawling across the ceiling like a spider, damn.





Interview with a Vampire, great vampire tale.





Here's an oldie, John Carpenter's The Thing, remember this movie was very early 80's. Awesome special effects and a great story, dog lovers may not like this one, Wilford Brimley is not selling diabetes products either. Or oatmeal for that matter.





I will recommend the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, I write this only because the movie theater in Kinston showed this one night in high school and I was the only guy out of all my sister's hot female friends. The girls were spooked and I was like John Wayne to this bunch so I was protecting them. During the chase scene an employee of the theater ran down the aisle with an actual chainsaw, I screamed like a girl and stepped on all of their feet as I scrambled to the wall. No chance of getting laid that night.





Okay, I guess these are in order, the original Halloween 1 & 2, watch these on the same night. This series started it all, these movies would have been 10 minutes long a piece if Micheal Myers would just have ran instead of walking, but this is why they are so good.





So turn the lights off and enjoy.

Be careful

This is more of a cautionary tale, I have been selling stuff on E Bay for the past five years. I think it is a great way to get rid of the stuff you no longer need or use and a good way to make a little money. I from time to time sell stuff for my friends, I take a small percentage, usually just enough to cover my costs. I was recently sent an offer to join the E Bay Seller's Lounge. Sounded pretty groovy, I envisioned a smoke filled bar with jazz in the back ground, hanging out with a bunch of cool cats talking about E Bay. Now I do not know how affiliated this entity is with E Bay, I e-mailed a complaint about this organization and it is the only time they have never responded to me. Anyway, the membership comes with a disc, I quickly realized that I did not need this "mess" and cancelled the membership. Problem solved, right?? WRONG!!
Somehow my information was passed along to the Product Resource Network, if you go to their web-site you will see E Bay logos all over the place. They send an e mail saying that you have to cancel your membership or your credit card will be charged. You have to call a number, which I did. One of the first things they ask for is account information, I thought it was a scam and hung up. A few weeks pass and I notice a charge, a little over thirty bucks on my account. I call my bank and got a number, which I called and cancelled the account. "Your refund will be posted in 5-10 days," I was told. WRONG!
Now I consider myself to be pretty on line savy, I do a lot of business on line and it is very safe but Product Resource Network is a scam and it looks like they have managed to drag E Bay into the mud with them, buyer beware.

Has it been that long??

I was recently reminded by a good friend that I do have a blog post, it has been well over a month since I have posted anything. The truth is I have been writing, just not here. Oh, before anyone gets distraught, I thought I heard a resounding gasp out there, I do not have any other blogs out there. So to the tens of people reading this around the world, calm down.



OK, funny and true story. I recently visited my grandparents the other day and it reminded me of a story about my grandfather. For three and a half years I worked in Raleigh, from '04-'07. I would frequently visit my grandparents and spend a lot of time on their farm. When the season was in I would hunt when the season was out I would work or just mess around. This day I was "messing" around with a .22 rifle and saw a carpenter bee hovering about 10 yards away. I raised my rifle and waited for the bee to hover into my cross-hairs and fired....spilt the bee in half. I half to admit I was feeling pretty good.
Thinking it may be a fluke I returned a few weeks later and missed every bee I shot at. While this was going on my grandfather was bush hogging around the farm. (that is cutting grass with a really big mower, for those of you north of the Granville Co. line)
He finished and slowly walked over with this "what the hell are you doing?" look on his face. I explained the earlier kill of the bee and my desire to prove that I could do it again. "Oh." was his reply. He then noticed a bee hovering beside his head. With the speed of a ninja, this 85 year old man jerked his hat from his head, slapped the bee to the ground, and stepped on it. He then placed the hat back on his head and said, "And my way is quieter."
I put the gun in its case and never fired another shot. We then sat under the old stick barn and talked for the better part of the afternoon. A good day.
That one is for you Barb.

How stupid are we?

I am sure we all have asked ourselves that question at one time or another. Usually right we have said or done something that was pretty dumb. Okay for those of you asking, this is where I am going with this.

I received the mangled mess of glossy advertisements today in the mail. They arrive every Wednesday just like clock work. Pizza coupons, Arby,s(I sometimes use those), the usual. I happened to notice the advertisement for Family Dollar. With the holiday approaching, Independence Day, (see previous post) I saw that they were advertising a charcoal grill for twelve dollars. It looked like, well, a twelve dollar grill. The picture showed the grill with three burgers and four hot dogs. At the bottom of the picture in fine print it read, "food not included."

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Are we as a society that stupid, do we need to be told that? I know that all of you are thinking of a similar situation that you have seen or heard. And as a person that once owned a business and had to do some advertising, I bet I know why they put that disclaimer on the ad. Somewhere a person walked in and purchased an item, not necessarily a grill, but the ad showed food in the picture, and they asked where was the food.
Like someone walked into Walmart and bought a frying pan and got home and was mad because the two over easy eggs, that were pictured in the pan on the outside of the box, were not in the pan! It happened, I bet it did.
So that being the case I guess society is that stupid, wow. I would love to have been the guy in the store that day when it happened. We have all had those moments when we get that incredibly stupid question lobbed to us.
Jonathan Brooks and my self were cooking pigs one time for a fraternity function. As the time approached to flip the hogs we opened the lid and got some help. One of the helpers stared at the pig lying skin side down spread out on the cooker, and then it happened. "Brooks is that a whole pig or a half a pig?" The look on his face was priceless, I gave him the look of, yes he just said that. Jonathan took a moment, "No (the person will remain nameless), a whole pig has eight legs."
Caption under that story *brains not included

Happy ID

As the holiday weekend approaches it make me wonder about "Independence Day". You always hear people ask "What are you doing for the fourth?"
One of the most important days in the history of this country has just turned into a number. You never hear someone say "Merry 25th" or "what are your plans for the 25th?" And have no doubt July 4th is one of the most important days in the history of the United States.

Some others come to mind; July 20th(moon landing), June 6th(D Day), September 11th 2001(terrorist attacks for those who may have forgot), April 9th 1865(Lee surrenders), January 14th 1972(first episode of Sanford and Son) just to name a few.
You have to give Independence Day its props. This always reminds me of one July 4, I mean one Independence Day many years ago when a friend of mine showed up to help me get ready for the first of many Independence Day parties. It was late in the morning and he walked in my front door laughing. as he was holding a Hardee's cup he told me of his drive thru experience. This was the old Hardee's on the corner of Charles and 10th. After ordering he proceeded to the window where he wished the young girl a happy Independence Day. She said thank you. He then asked her what did Independence Day mean to her. Her reply, "Ya know Geor Washenton an shit."
I erupted in laughter, still do to this day.
So keep the meaning for this important day in mind, pass on what it really means, not what the hippie teacher said in the movie Dazed and Confused. ".....that a bunch of rich, slave owning, white men didn't want to pay their taxes."

Happy Independence Day.