American Idol

I Never Miss A Show. I'm Hooked On American Idol! How About You Guys?
Every Year I Have My Favorite Singers And Usually I Am Pretty Much On Mark. I Have Been Perfect In Scoring As Far As Picking The Next American Idol. If You Haven't Watched The Show, It's Never Too Late.
Every Tuesday And Wednesday Night I Am Right In Front Of The TV Enjoying All The Beautiful Voices.
This Year Is Going To Be A Tough One. Here Is My Prediction 9 Weeks Before The Next American Idol Is Chosen.
The 2009 American Idol Will Be....Danny Gokey
2.Allison Iraheta
3.Adam Lambert
4.Lil Rounds
5.Anoop Desai
6.Matt Giraud
7.Kris Allen
8.Scott MacIntyre
9.Megan Joy

So In Other Words The Next Person I Believe To Exit Will Be Megan Joy. I Don't Base My Choices On Anything Other Than A True Ear For Talent.
For Those Who Have No Idea What I Am Talking About Tune In On Fox Network Tuesday Night, And See For Yourself! If My Predictions Are Wrong, Remember I Am Only Human.
In My Opinion...The Next American Idol....

Thank You......

How Hard Is That For You To Say? Is It Me Or Do You Find Those Words Being Used Less Frequently Nowadays? Why Is That?
I Was Taught By My Parents At A Very Young Age To Always Say Please And Thank You. In Addition I Was Taught How To Respect My Elders By Calling Them Sir Or Mam, Mr. Or Mrs.
I Go To The Grocery Store And Spend Alot Of Money. During The Transaction I Was Handed My Receipt And Was Told Here's My Change? Here's My Change? What Happened To Thank You?
To Be Honest About It It's My Opinion This New Generation Of Young People Don't Have The Words Thank You In Their Vocabulary. Before You Think I Am Picking On Young People, Please Think Again. If I Were To Have A Transaction With An Older Cashier I Would Most Likely Be Told Thank You. I Think Most Would Agree With That Assessment.
Both My Children Were Raised As I Was Raised.
Ok, Thanks Guys For Allowing Me To Let Off Steam.
Now, That Photo Of The Dog? If You Find Any Puppies Of That Breed Will You Please Get In Touch With Me? Thank You......

The Sullivan Brothers

George, Francis, Joseph, Madison & Albert Sullivan Were Killed While Serving On The Light Cruiser USS Juneau. All Five Brothers Enlisted In The Navy Shortly After Pearl Harbor Was Bombed By The Country Of Japan.
These Boys Grew Up Together In Waterloo Iowa.
Feel Free To Google Their Name And You Will Get All The Information You Would Want On These Fighting Brothers. They Were All Good Catholic Boys Fathered By A Conductor On The Illinois Central Railroad. Their Mother Was A Protective And Loving Person.
Never Again Would The US Government Allow Brothers To Serve On The Same Ship Since The Sullivan Brothers Gave Their Lives For This Great Country Of Ours.
Ok, No Need To Thank Me For The History Lesson. You Know How It Is After You Watch A Tear Jerking Movie Or Read A Wonderful Novel. You Want To Share It With People You Care About.
Now You Can Ask My Brother Since We Were Both Sailors Back In The Day. Me A Sailor? Ask Tuck If I Was In The Navy. He Will Tell You I Had A Two Year Vacation On The Island Of Paradise. You Think There Is A Little Jealousy There?
Back To The Sullivan Brothers. Seriously, They Paid The Ultimate Price Because They Did Everything Together. God Bless Your Souls...Anchors Away My Boy..Anchors Away.

It's Not Just A Pumpkin Pie

No, It's Not The Pie. I Have Had Alot Of Slices Of Pumpkin Pie In My Lifetime. This Pie Is Not Your Normal Piece Of Pumpkin Pie.
Terry, My Former Neighbor And Bowling Friend Made A Pie And Brought It Down To The Bowling Alley This Afternoon. Why? Because He's A Nice Guy No Matter What Carol Says About Him.
See This All Started When He Told Me He Missed Me Being His Neighbor. It's Nice To Be Missed But It's Not The End Of Our Friendship. We Bowl Every Thursday From August Through April And Have The Past Four Years. Terry Told Me He Was Going To Bake Me A Pie. I Said That Was Cool. He Called Me A Few Nights Later And Told Me I Have Some Good News And I Have Some Bad News. The Good News Is I Baked Us A Couple Pumpkin Pies. The Bad News Is I Burnt Yours. Hehe,Hahaha,Hehehe!
From That Point On Anytime He Would Call Me Or Instant Message Me I Would Call Him Pumpkin. After A Couple Weeks Of This He Instant Messaged Me And Made Me A Deal. He Said I Will Bake You A Pumpkin Pie And Bring It Down To The Bowling Alley If You Promised Not To Call Me Pumpkin Again. I Said Ok, You Gotta A Deal.
Guess What I Ate At The Bowling Alley This Afternoon? If You Guessed Pumpkin Pie You Are Correct. I Tried To Share With Others While I Was Down There But Ended Up Bringing Some Home. Ohhh, I Have Some Ice Cream. I Don't Ever Remember Having Pumpkin Pie Alamode. I'll Give It A Try And Report Back To You And Let You Know How Good It Was.

Danny Boy

Oh Danny Boy, The Pipes, The Pipes Are Calling.
From Glenn To Glenn And Down The Mountain Side.
The Summer´s Gone, And All The Flowers Are Dying.
´Tis You, ´Tis You Must Go, And I Must Bide.

But Come Ye Back When Summer´s In The Meadow.
Or When The Valley´s Hushed And White With Snow.
´Tis I´ll Be There In Sunshine Or In Shadow
Oh Danny Boy, Oh Danny Boy, I Love You So.

And If You Come, When All The Flowers Are Dying
And I Am Dead, As Dead I Well May Be.
You´ll Come And Find The Place Where I Am Lying.
And Kneel And Say An "Ave" For Me.

And I Shall Hear, Tho´ Soft You Tread Above Me
And All My Dreams Will Warm And Sweeter Be.
If You´ll Not Fail To Tell Me That You Love Me
I´ll Simply Sleep In Peace Until You Come To Me.
I´ll Simply Sleep In Peace Until You Come To Me.

Down That Golden Road

What Comes To Mind When You Hear Those Words? Everyone Seems To Have A Different Interpretation For Different Phrases.
Try To Imagine For A Moment The Most Serine Place You Have Ever Been. A Place Within Your Comfort Zone. A Place You Can Sit Back And Think About All The Wonderful Times You Shared With A Loved One. Whether It Be Last Year Or 50 Years Ago, A Speckle In Time Is All It Was.
Eternity Is Just That. Forever.
We As Human Beings Living In A Time That Was Used By Others Before Us. A Place That Will Someday Be Used By Those Who Will Come After Us.
I Can Remember As A Child The Oldest Living Person That I Knew Was My Great Grandfather. Through A Childs Eyes You See Things Differently. I Will Never Forget The Day He Passed Away. My Grandpa Was Big And Strong But That Day He Cried. The Only Day I Ever Saw Him Cry. I Placed My Hand Into His And Not A Word Was Spoken.
He Picked Me Up Into His Strong Arms And Kissed Me On The Cheek And He Told Me He Loved Me. I Never Knew My Grandfather To Share His Lovingness In A Physical Way.
Even Though I Was Raised In A Loving Home The Words I Love You Were Hardly Spoken. However, I Was Taught To Show Your Love In What You Did For Others. That's An Expression Of Love. Bake A Pie, Prepare A Meal. Send Cards Or Flowers. Plant A Tree.
When Someone Loses A Loved One It's Difficult Sometimes To Find The Right Words To Comfort The One Who Suffered The Loss. Ofcourse Shortly After The Loss Both Family And Friends Are In Abundance. The Time Afterwards, The True Emptiness Begins To Become Relavant.
So Where Do You Find Your Inner Peace? On The Fishing Bank? Do You Go Out And Buy A Book And Sink Your Mind Into The Depth Of It?
I Find My Inner Peace Through A Child. A Childs Eyes Are The Innocense Of Being. A Child Does Not See As We See. They Only Know For What They Have Been Taught. Their Innocense Shines Through From What They Don't Know Or Have Not Been Shown. Because Of Their Assumption Some Strange Or Funny Things Can Result From It.

If You Have A Friend Or Loved One That Is Hurting Because Of A Loss, Try To Fill That Void With Something New Or Fresh. I Have Always Thought By Planting A Tree Or Shrub Could Serve As A Silent Reminder Or Reflection Of The Times Spent With That Person You Miss Here On Earth.
With Times Like This I Am Reminded By, To Everything There Is A Season.
To Everything-A Season, And A Time To Every Delight Under The Heavens:
A Time To Be Born And A Time To Die. A Time To Plant, A Time To Pluck The Planted.
A Time To Slay, And A Time To Heal. A Time To Break Down, And A Time To Build Up.
A Time To Cry, And A Time To Laugh. A Time To Mourn, And A Time To Dance.
A Time To Seek, And A Time To Destroy. A Time To Keep, And A Time To Throw Away.
A Time To Rend, And A Time To Sew. A Time To Be Silent, And A Time To Speak.
A Time To Love, And A Time To Hate. A Time Of War, And A Time For Peace.
May God Bless And Keep You Forever More.

March Madness

Ohhh You Think This Blog Is About Basketball Eh? Wrong!
The March Madness I Am Referring To Is The Transition From Winter Into Spring.
Last Week I Reported My First Sighting Of A Robin. We Have Flowers Sprouting From The Ground. Call It Spring Fever Or Cabin Fever, Whichever, I Am More Than Ready For Spring To Finally Arrive. I Should Have Put The Car Into The Garage Because I Had To Scrape Frost Off The Windows Early This Morning So I Could Take My Grandson To School. I Hate Frost And I Hate Snow. I Also Hate Cold Weather And Anything Closely Related To Old Man Winter. I Have Always Been A Summer Person And It Couldn't Get Here Any Sooner For Me!
The Spring Tease We Had In Danville Last Week Was Just Terrible. The High For Tuesday Through Yesterday Was In The Mid 30's. Atleast The Temperature Got Into The 40's Today!
Soon I Will Be In The Woods Searching For Mushrooms And Mowing Grass And Getting Things Ready With My Truck. I Am More Than Ready!

Moving Day.......

The Things We Do For Our Children Are Because We Love Them.
Yesterday I Moved My Daughter From A Third Story Apartment Into A House. These 50 Some Year Old Legs Are Really Tired And Sore Today. Ofcourse It's Not The First Time My Legs Hurt Me This Bad. After Months Of Hibernation My Legs Aren't In The Shape They Are In The Summer Months. I Tried At The Last Moment To Change Moving Day To Friday Or Saturday Because It Would Not Interfere With My Bowling Day On Thursday. No Such Luck Because My Daughter Had Already Made Arrangements With Her Work To Be Off That Afternoon. Lucky For Me I Was Able To Recruit Some Helpers So The Move Won't Be As Hard On Me.
I Never Feel This Bad Until The First Week Of April Of Each Year. I Get Things Going With My Truck At That Time As Well As Walking Through The Woods Searching For The Best White Man Soul Food(Mushrooms).
So From That Point On I Consider Myself In Good Shape. Ofcourse I Am Not In The Shape I Was In Years Past But Who Is? I Am Use To Lifting And Moving Furniture Around Throughout The Summer Months.
The Problem? Today I Bowl And My Legs Are Killing Me! I Normally Show Up Early And Throw A Few Practice Balls Before The League Starts. Not Today!
Ofcourse I Will Go Down There And Give It My Best As I Always Do. I Just Hope I Will Do Good For My Team.
Wish Me Luck Everybody!

I Miss Bob Barker

I Have Always Liked The Price Is Right. It's Been One Of The Longest Running Game Shows On Television Today.
Bob Barker Began Hosting The Price Is Right On September 4, 1972. His Final Show Was On June 15, 2007. Even Though I Like Drew Carey, It Just Does Not Seem The Same.
Maybe One Day They Will Bring Bob Back On A Special Program.
I Think Most Of Us Remember The Catchy Saying; Come On Down, You Are The Next Contestant On The Price Is Right!
My Trip To California Included A Chance To Get On The Show. My Brother Tuck And I Got Up Real Early One Morning Before The Sun Came Up. When We Got There A Very Long Line Of People Standing There Ready To Be The First To Go In 4 Hours Later. My Brother Tuck Was On The Show Years Earlier And Knew He Had To Get There Early In Order To Have A Chance To Get Inside. Unfortunately The Time Was Not Right For Us Because It Was Spring Break. That Dream I Had Was Shattered, But I Will Always Remember That Trip To California And The Quality Time I Spent With My Brother.
We Had Alot Of Fun That Week Going To Places Like Disneyland, Universal Studio's, Wax Museum, Etc. We Even Tried To Get On The Jay Leno Show, But Instead We Got A Really Good Tour Of The Set Of NBC. Yet Again He Was Gone For A Week During Spring Break. We Were Given The Pleasure To Sit In The Seats Of The Tonight's Show And Given The Facts About The Show And The Host.
That May Have Been My Only Trip To California Since My Brother Is Moving Back To Illinois In November.
So I Guess I Will Never Hear Those Wonderful Words; Just Call Me Mac, Come On Down, You Are The Next Contestant On The Price Is Right!

Judge Judy Is My Hero!

I Am A Little More Selective When It Comes To My Hero's. Nah, Judge Judy Is Not Really My Hero But I Like Her. I Really Do Like Judge Judy Sheindlin.
There Seems To Be An Abundance Of Television Courtroom Shows On Cable Today.
To Be Quite Honest About It, The First Few Times I Watched Her I Thought She Was A Bitch. I Also Felt Very Thankful I Wasn't Married To Someone Like Her.
Judge Judy Is A Very Tiny Person But What Comes Out Of Her You Would Think She Is As Big As King Kong.
For Those Not Familiar With This No Nonsense Type Of Character, Feel Free To Google Her And You Will Find Pages Upon Pages About Her And Her Show.
She Tells It Like It Is Whether You Want To Hear It Or Not. Now I'm Not Saying I Agree With Her All Of The Time But I Do Most Of The Time.
This 66 Year Old Divorcee With Three Children Earned Her Way Respectfully And Her Show Is Televised Worldwide.
If You Haven't Watched Her In Action, Maybe Someday You Will.

I Hate Math....

I Inherited My Mothers Genes As Far As My Mathematical Abilities. As A Kid I Didn't Wear Shoes Because Those Toes Were Worth An Extra Ten On The Counting Calculator.
As Far As My Father, His Favorite Subject In School Was Math. As A Matter Of Fact Just Recently He Quit Tutoring 5th Graders Math At The School Near His Home.
I Struggled Understanding The Fundamentals Of Mathematics During All Of My Years Growing Up. I Even Had A Terrible Time Trying To Learn How To Tell Time.
I Can Remember Night After Night At Home Growing Up Sitting At That Table In The Dining Room Studying Simple Math.
When It Comes To Money I Learned Rather Quickly How To Count It. Unfortunately I Never Had Enough Of It To Lose Count.
Addition, Subtraction, Division And Multiplication Is An Understandable Tool For Having The Knowledge Of It. When They Started Putting X And Y And Any Other Letters Of The Alphabet I'm Lost! I Still Have Not Found Any Need For It In My Adult Life.
Fractions Gave Me Fits As Well.
When It Came To School I Loved English, Language Arts And Phonics. I Would Like To Say That It Has Helped Me As An Adult Through My Writings. That I Inherited From My Mother. I Would Have To Say Mrs Bandy Would Be Pleased. She Always Encouraged Me To Write. Evidently She Seen Something In Me That I Did Not.
As Far As My Math Teacher Mr Huddleston, I Bet He Is Still Shaking His Head 40 Years Later Wondering If I Would Ever "Get It". No I Still Don't Get It But I Have Come To Realize At This Stage In My Life It Just Does Not Matter Any More.

I Would Like A Milkshake Please......

That Was On My Order Shortly After Arriving On Nantucket Island Back In 1973.
When I Discovered There Were No McDonalds, Arby's, Wendy's, Etc. What Kind Of Life Can This Be?
Upon Discovering This I Went To A Dowtown Restaurant And Ordered Myself A Burger, Fries And A Milkshake. The Waitress Looked At Me In A Very Weired Way And Confessed She Had No Idea What A Milkshake Was. Huh? Ofcourse I Was Now In A Different Region Of The U.S. But I Was Still In America! I Always Considered A Milkshake Like Apple Pie. Everybody Knew What Apple Pie Was. Ok, Now I Was Having To Explain Myself To This Young Waitress And Describe What A Milkshake Was. After My Description She Blurted Out, Ohhh You Mean A Frapp! Well If That's What You Call It Here In Nantucket Then Yes Mam That's What I Want. A Few Minutes Later My Order Arrived And Sure Enough My Chocolate Frapp Was Alongside It! It's A Good Thing I Didn't Return Home To The Midwest And Ordered A Frap Because I Would Again Find Myself Explaining What A Frapp Was. It's A New England Thing You Know!
Even Though We All Live Here In America, The Way We Say Things Can Be Much Different According To Where You Reside. You May Want To Pock Ya Caw Near The Coob. In My Opinion They All Talked Funny With That New England Accent. On The Otherhand I Am Sure I Talk Kind Of Funny To Them As Well.
One Thing Is For Sure Though. Starbucks Got It Right In Spite Of The Language Barrier. One Of Their Famous Beverages Is Called A Frappochino. I Never Ordered One Due To Their High Prices. Their Stay Here In Danville Was Shortlived And I Really Don't Miss Them. However, That's An Alltogether Different Subject.
I Can Remember When Any Of The Sailors Left The Island For The Weekend They Would Take A Hefty Order To McDonald's With Him. Ofcourse That Was Before The Microwave. So Either You Ate Your Sandwich Cold Or Warmed It Up In Your Oven. I Wished However I Had The Opportunity To Go Ashore Myself And Read The Menu Board To See What McDonald's Called Their Milkshake. If I Was A Gambling Man I Would Have To Say Milkshake Since McDonald's Is A World Wide Frandchise. Hmm, I May Take That Back Since I Haven't A Clue How To Say Milkshake In Japanese.

First Robin This Year!

Yes That's Right! My First Robin Of The Year Was Sighted Just This Morning Right Here In Danville. Here It Is The First Week Of March And This Gives Me Hope!
At 9:30 This Morning It Was Already 61 Degrees. The High Today Is Suppose To Be In The Upper 60's! I'm Not Getting Too Excited About It Because We Have An Approaching Storm Which Will Bring Those Highs Down To The 50's.
Hey It's March And Anything Can Happen In March.
I Have Seen Alot Of Robins Hopping In The Snow In Years Past. Let's Just Hope It Stays In Years Past And More Spring Like Temperatures With Be Forthcoming.
In The Meantime I Will Be Walking The Streets Of Danville And Enjoying This Wonderful Day!

I Hate Football

I Never Did Like Football. Does That Make Me Un-American?
I Played Baseball For Eight Years Growing Up In The Sixties.
I Can Remember Going To Danville High School Football Every Friday Night Because It Was The Cool Thing To Do. Back Then That Was The Meeting Place For All My Friends.
To Be Perfectly Honest About It, That's Where We Would Look For Girls...QQ:)
I Have Had A Wide Screen Television For Quite A Few Years Now And My Brother-Inlaw Never Could Understand How A Person With A Wide Screen Could Not Get Into Football.
Ok, Just To Please Him And Any Other Curious Minds I Decided To Dress Up And Give It A Try.(Picture Above).
I Didn't Like It Then And I Don't Like It Now. I Think I Will Stick To Baseball And Bowling. My Friends And Relatives All Know I Have No Interest In Football But They Have The Need To Share Last Nights Game With Me Anyhow. As Far As I Am Concerned They Could Just As Well Stood In Front Of A Wall And Tell It All About The Game Because The Response Would Be The Same. I Would Rather Listen To The Results Of Aunt Martha's Gallbadder Surgery Than How Many Feet The Runnerback Ran With The Ball. Maybe That Is Actually Measured In Yards And Maybe It Was The Quarterback Who Catches The Ball. You See What I Mean? I Haven't A Clue!
So Before You Ask Me If I Watched That Terrific Game Last Night? The Answer Is No I Didn't, I Don't Care, And I Will Never Ever Care. I Still Like You Though.
It Aint A Man's Game Unless You Udjust Yourself, Spit On The Ground And Pat Your Teammate On The Butt.

Back In The Day.......

So When Was That For You? Back In The Day You Say? It All Depends How Old You Are.
If You Are In Your 70's Back In The Day Was When There Were No Television Nor Indoor Facility's. Growing Up In The Great Depression And Realize What The Word Poor Meant.
Back In The Day For Me Was The 1960's. I Remember It Well. Our 35th President Of The United States Was Assasinated, Our Country Was Mourning The Loss. That Day Is Etched In My Memory As Was Dec 7th, 1941 For Those Who Are In Their 70's Or 80's Today, When Pearl Harbor Was Bombed.
I Never Knew What A Liverpool Was Until Some Long Haired Hippy Dudes Stepped Off The Brittish Airplane. That Day Music Changed The Lives Of Many. Step Aside Pat Boone, Shake That Pelvis Elvis, Rock And Roll Is Here To Stay.
Back In The Day Of Rosa Parks. Her Bold Decision To Stay In That Seat, No Matter What.
Back In The Day Of Neil Armstrong, The True American Hero! His Footprints Were The First. Not Because He Was An American, But Because His Was The First Of Mankind.
Back In The Day Of Black And White Television And Your Outside Antenna That Brought The Signal Into Your Home.
Back In The Day Of Dick Van Dyke And Andy Griffith. Barny Fife With His Bullet In Shirt Pocket.
Back in The Day Of Plastic Framed Glasses And The Flat Top Haircuts & The Pixie.
Back In The Day Of Dr King And Bobby Kennedy. The Shock We Shared, The Tears We Shed.
Back In The Day Of Sandy Kolfax, Willie Mays And Mickey Mantle. When Baseball Players Didn't Cheat.
Back In The Days Of The Hoola Hoop And Saturday Morning Cartoons When They Were Really Good.
I'm Sure If You Sat Back And Thought About Your Back In The Day Memories You Could Rattle Off A Few Of Your Own.

The Rest Of The Story.....

It Was In February of 1994 When My Friend Brian Sollars Lay In A Coma From That Horrific Accident I Once Wrote About.
Brian Was A Route Salesman For Bud Electronics. He Would Drive From Town To Town Delivering Components Or Supplies To TV Repair Shops Throughout Central Illinois.
Each And Every Day Brian Would Tune In To Paul Harvey's Radio Show And Listen Up For "The Rest Of The Story".
His Family Was Aware Of This As He Layed In This Deep Coma. Paul Harvey Was Contacted And Asked If He Would Mention Brian In His Broadcast And Hope For The Possibility That Could Wake Him Up. At This Point In Time There Was Nothing To Lose.
The Broadcast Came One February Morning Calling For Brian To Wake Up. Paul Harvey Thanked Brian For His Loyal Listening To His Daily Broadcast. Please Wake Up Brian Sollars, Were The Words Spoken That Day From Paul Harvey. Mr Harvey Explained To His Listening Audience About Brian's Ordeal.
Brian Didn't Wake Up That Day. The Family However Continued To Play It For Him And Still Has That Broadcast Today. Brian Did Wake Up A Couple Weeks Later To Everyone's Delight. Was It Paul Harvey's Broadcast? I Don't Think So But Who Knows For Sure?
The Real Story Is That Mr Harvey Was Willing To Help Out A Loyal Listener If He Could.
That's A Real Class Act In My Opinion And I Will Always Remember What He Did For My Friend Brian.
In Memory Of Paul Harvey Aurandt, September 4, 1918-February 28, 2009. Good Day!