I couldn't think of a Christmas related title that didn't sound overused

It's Christmas time, and our house smells fantastic.

Leftover Pumpkins

Anyone remember when our dryer broke causing us to go to Florida to do our laundry? Well, that trip also left us with two un-carved pumpkins in the month of November. Whole pumpkins are the equivalent of unused milk or an uneaten bag of chips that you were really looking forward to scarfing down, but they got lost behind the cereal boxes and pancake mix while you were putting up groceries.

Anyway, something had to be done.

GOPFL Standings

It's time to update the GOPFL standing. Saturday's debate was called on a count of football, which means that the last draft's selections were carried over into Saturday's debate. Candidates are starting to separate themselves, but interesting enough, Gingrich is gaining ground and has overtaken Herman Cain for the #2 spot behind Romney.

Here are the standings:

1. Kevin
2. Steven
3. Peggy/Drew
4. Me

November

Me (live)

Streaming live video by Ustream

As if Herman Cain wasn't awesome enough...

GOP Fantasy League Standings

Here are the updated GOPFL standings after the most recent debate:

1. Kevin/Steven (tied)
2. Peggy 
3. Me/Drew (who's lame and doesn't have twitter)

The next scheduled debate is set for Nov. 9th.

This week went by fast

I went from a hometown vacation to back to Nashville in a hurry. It was so fast that it almost doesn't feel like it happened. Almost happened so quick that I'm still waiting in anticipation to leave.

But I'm not upset.

In fact, it feels good to be back in some ways; however, there are too many things I miss until I'm home. There are also too many things I don't miss about Nashville. I guess no matter what we're back to square one.

"We're so disarming darling everything we did believe
  Is diving, diving, diving, diving off the balcony
  Tired and wired we ruin too easy
  Sleep in our clothes and wait for winter to leave"

GOP CNN Debate

Rick Santorum was omitted from the photo for obvious reasons, but is still available to be drafted

Tonight's debate in Las Vegas will kick off at 7 p.m. central. Coverage can be seen on CNN (I'm sure you could've figured that), and the draft will start whenever I feel like it.

*Here's the starting lineup:

1. Peggy (selects Herman Cain)
2. Me (selects Newt Gingrich)
3. Drew (who's lame and doesn't have Twitter was given Ron Paul)
4. Steven (selects Mitt Romney)
5. Kevin (deferred selection and received Rick Perry)

* Rick Santorum and Michele Bachmann are on the bench

GOP Fantasy League Standings

We've waited for all of the GOP polls to come out before setting the standings for the GOPFL. Some surprisingly developments have come out in terms of GOP candidates poll positions. For reference, we've decided to use the Real Clear Politics aggregate of all GOP polling services to determine the first GOPFL standings. Enjoy.

Candidates:

1. Mitt Romney
2. Herman Cain
3. Rick Perry
4. Newt Gingrich
5. Ron Paul
6. Michele Bachmann
7. Jon Huntsman
8. Rick Santorum

GOPFL Standings:

1. Kevin
2. Steven
3. Drew (who's lame and doesn't have Twitter)
4. Me
5. Peggy

As a result of the standings, tomorrow's draft order will go in ascending order (5th place picks 1st, 4th place picks 2nd, etc.)

It's almost Thursday

If you know me then you know that means nothing.

I do know a few things:

1. It's hot as hell in here
2. I'm going to die
3. It's almost Thursday

There are a few thing I don't know:

1. It's hot as hell in here
2. I'm going to die
3. It's almost Thursday

I guess we're all back to square one.

"It's terrible love and I'm walking with spiders

 It's terrible love and I'm walking in

 It's quiet company"

Oct 11th GOP Debate Starting Lineup

The first league has formed and here's the starting lineup:

1. Steven - starting Herman Cain (takes the Over for # of Q's Newt refuses to answer) 
2. Peggy - starting Ron Paul (takes the Over for Romney mentioning the words "private sector")
3. Drew - starting Rick Perry (takes the Under for # of Q's Newt refuses to answer)
4. Me - starting Newt Gingrich (takes the Under for # of Q's Santorum gets asked)
5. Kevin - starting Mitt Romney

*On the bench: Bachmann, Huntsman, and Santorum

Over/Under for each candidate:

Bachmann - # of historical reference errors (5) 
                      Height of hair-do in inches (8")
                      # of times Obama is referred to as a "one-term" president (4)


Cain - # of times says "economy is on life support"  (3)
          # of times 9-9-9 plan is mentioned (5)


Gingrich - # of questions refused to answer (3) 
                 # times he chokes the moderator (2)


Romney - mentions the words "private sector" (10)


Santorum - # of questions he gets asked (3)

*Teams can bench their starter for any of these remaining candidates, but can only do so once per debate. 

**Trades can also be made between two teams, but can also only happen once per debate.

GOP Fantasy League

Watching the GOP debates? Want to become more involved? Join/create a GOP Fantasy League!

We will be participating online via Twitter using the hashtag #GOPFL

Here are the rules:

- 5 *teams make up 1 league

- Each player will "start" one candidate for the night's debate

- No two players can "start"/"play" the same candidate at the same time

- At any time during the debate a player can "bench" a candidate for any available candidate (one that isn't in use by another player), but can only do so once per debate

- Results will be based on various polls the next day following the debate (check back on this blog where results will be announced)

Order in which players select candidates:


- The order in which players will choose candidates will be based on the results from the previous debate in which the player that finishes last chooses first, 4th place chooses 2nd, etc.

- If all participants are new then order will be chosen at random (flip a coin, rock paper scissors, or something else like that).

- If a player is new to an already existing league then that player chooses last.

- If more than one player is new to an already existing league then the newly inducted players will choose their order at random.

*Teams may constitute 1 individual or up to 3 individuals
**Check back later for GOP Fantasy Primary Election League Rules!

A Dog's Bark

I can't speak much on the subject of dogs, but I do find it fascinating that much of society's evolution can be contributed to the bark of a dog.

"We're howling forever..."

R.I.P. Steve Jobs

Al Roker

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

No Good for Nobody

It's three o'clock in the morning, and our boxwoods are dying.

Maybe the rain and fertilizer will help. They were doing pretty good for a while there, but as the heat and summer continued they gradually slid downhill.

I hope they bounce back.

Fortunately, there's always that midnight hour avenue, no matter what. That street often carries the most optimism. Maybe it's because there's really nothing else left. What hope is left gets invested in a last ditch effort. All is probably true, but mostly true because it's probably easiest to go all in on the last hand.

At least that way you can say you tried, even if you didn't.


It definitely takes shots at your pride. I guess the only way it doesn't is if you rethink what you're proud of. I don't think pride is a bad thing. In fact, if we didn't take pride in anything then I doubt we'd be good at anything.

Maybe pride gets a bad rap.

Maybe it's also another way to seek sympathy. There's a chance things will turn around  because this isn't normal. An interregnal part of me is suffering. Things must and will be right.

I don't know.

Pride's not really a good excuse for anything, really. But then again, there never is a good excuse, or an excuse that's good enough. To be an excuse is a failed attempt at being.

Excuse is another harborer of false hope, anyway. The only thing you can do with false hope is more accurately schedule your disappointment.

It's three o'clock in the morning, and our boxwoods are dying.

I Caught a Mouse

We've been hearing scurrying late at night in our kitchen. Not to mention there was evidence something got into our food that was left on the counter. So, last night I implemented a homemade mouse trap that looks something like this:

Yep.  That's a ruler hanging over the counter (and a trash can) with peanut butter on the end of it. The idea is that if a mouse was in the kitchen, he would walk out on the ruler to eat the peanut butter and the added weight on the end of the ruler would cause it, along with the mouse, to fall into the trash can below. What was that result you ask?

Say hello to Simon the mouse

Here's video of Rachel and Me letting the little guy go:

Casey Anthony: A Modern American Product

With so much going on around this trail, I had to offer my 2 cents on the whole thing

The idea that a mother would kill her child is unimaginable. Whether Casey Anthony did it still doesn't take away from the fact that not matter what, the death of her child is a product of neglect. Also, the pictures taken while her daughter was missing/dead which portray a glamourous nightlife shows clearly that Casey Anthony had little concern for her child. In fact, it wouldn't be difficult to say she has little concern for anyone outside of herself. If you ask me, that's a bona-fide 21st century American product.

I'm not saying that 98% of young Americans would kill their children or have a child die due to neglect and go out and party that night. I'm also not blaming Mortal Kombat (for once) for corrupting society. What I will say is look at the majority of the ideologies our culture absorbs from music, TV, magazines, etc. It's no secret that the most recent American ambiance is one of total egotism, which typically brings about the decay of responsibility,  accountability, and conviction.


I'm not telling you anything you don't know. Everyone will admit that Paris Hilton & Co. are absolutely ridiculous. It's no secret hip-hop, rock, Big & Rich, and most music portrays themes are considered to negatively influence listeners. We all know it, but we still buy it.


Casey Anthony is really no different.

I do believe the majority of Americans have souls and therefore wouldn't be susceptible to murdering a child. I also think that Casey Anthony is an example of an extreme case, and I do think that extreme case is a reflection of our culture in a fundamental way: we're purging ourselves of accountability.

Education slowly declines because no one does their school work, and when that happens parents aren't responsible because their children have a medical disability.

The economy isn't exempt from this discussion either. No one wants to work manufacturing, construction, or other jobs that might below them. There are social government-run programs for that. Not to mention us college grads; we went to school so we should have our dreams jobs. Right?

Come to think of it, I guess Casey Anthony just had an abortion during her 30th trimester (I'm not laughing at that joke either).

I know it's not fair to say who or what is responsible for Casey Anthony's actions other than Casey Anthony. I do think that our culture can learn a lot about itself by observing her behavior. The pictures from the "hot body" contest while her child was missing/dead speaks volumes if you ask me.

Yeah, this is what you do when after finding out your kid is missing/dead...or on any given weekend?

 We may not stoop to commit such despicable acts, but we do bath in the same soup that molded Casey Anthony. Extreme case aside, it's hard not to see that Casey Anthony's shunning of accountability and responsibility is truly a modern American product

I'm Married!

I got married and it's awesome! I don't have much to say besides the experience was incredible, and I wish I could go back and relive it.

We went to Jamaica for our honeymoon. It started out a bit woeful, but thanks to AMEX Travel (I highly recommend them) our trip was saved. Here's some pictures:

It's Official....

Let the jubilation and fun, fun, fun, fun begin (after work, of course)

The best combo you never thought of

No, you haven't gone cross-eyed. That is Pizza Hut breadstick sauce and a Taco Bell chicken burrito. The two make one of the most delicious combos that I've experienced in the world of fast food.

If you haven't had if (I'm sure you haven't) then go get it. It's worth going out of your way to get. Give it a chance and I think you'll be extremely satisfied.

It's Time for a Post

I refuse to reference that song. You know the one I'm talking about.

There's not much going on outside of wedding planning and work. I was fortunate enough to come into a boat this past weekend. Yeah, that's something new.

If anyone knows me then they're very familiar with how desperate I've been to acquire a water vessel from which I could fish. My grandparents were kind enough to give me the ole' jon boat that's been hanging out at the lake for a while, and I'm very anxious to get it running out on Percy Priest. Of course, there's still work to be done. I just recently realized that a fuel line needs to be replaced, and I'd like to get it cleaned up and outfitted with some lights so that it can be one mean midnight-catfishing boat during the dog days of summer.

It was a lot of fun trying to get this thing all the way to Nashville. The homegrown trailer that it sits on was a bit of a challenge to tow. If it wasn't for the crucial help that Panda provided pretty much the entire weekend then there's a very large chance (guaranteed) that this boat would still be sitting in Alabama.

After several trips to Wal-Mart and watching Panda bang a piece of the trailer-hitch lock with a hammer, we were able to rig up something that even Pon would be proud of (you probably didn't get that reference).

To make things even more entertaining, Matt helped me tow it back to Nashville with the trailer lights installed backwards. That means that if we wanted to turn left then we had signal right. The cars in front of us were very confused.

One anxious trip back and a tornado away, the boat is sitting in the backyard ready for a facelift. I hope it happens. I plan on getting it ready before the weekend is over, and if I'm fortunate then it will see the water come Sunday afternoon.

Here's hoping it all works out, and I don't spend Saturday napping or watching TV.

UPDATE: The boat saw the water twice this weekend. The Force outboard was excellent, and you would never have known that it hasn't been cranked in a long time. Matt hauled it both times and even brought in a few fish. Unfortunately, both trips were either at night so I'm still not very familiar with Percy Priest.

Best part about all of this is that there's still so much left to explore. I'm pretty excited about it.

Weekend Fly

New post up at 'On the Fly' 

Back by no one's demand...Ferguson

Ferguson's back for another year of NCAA March Madness

Yeah, the caption pretty much sums it up. Go here to join the bracket on Facebook. Teams are released Sunday night, and you can fill out your brackets then.

How Not to Launch a Phone

The HTC Thunderbolt has seen many speculative release dates come and go

You could consider this post somewhat cathartic. You could also consider this post a lesson: how not to launch a phone.

The news of Verizon's first 4G LTE handset, the HTC Thunderbolt, released in January has garnered much excitement. Once Best Buy began taking pre-orders that excitement was doubled over with anticipation. Ever since then, sources have offered rumored release dates from February until the end of the summer.

It's not difficult to see why so many consumers, myself included, are growing weary waiting for this device to launch.  Sources including Best Buy and Verizon employees have offered much conflicting information. The message from Verizon's corporate offices: it will be arriving soon. Thanks.

Verizon has been advertising the Thunderbolt since mid-February through television commercials, and Best Buy promo flyers have been advertising the device as well. Needless to say, evidence is mounting that Verizon has officially screwed the pooch with the HTC Thunderbolt's launch.

Verizon keeps reminding consumers that no official launch has been announced; however, anyone who has followed this device for longer than a week has picked up that this is more than consumer speculation run rampant. Why would Best Buy take pre-orders for a device that won't launch for over a month? Also, why would the Thunderbolt appear in numerous ads so far from its launch, including a recent release from Big Red claiming the device was already available - opps? Anyone that has sat through 5 minutes of an intro to marketing class could tell you that the timing would do nothing but lose consumer interest.

It would be easy to go back-and-forth on when the release will/should be, but I believe this marketing blunder raises a more interesting point: Will HTC ever trust Verizon to launch another flagship device of this significance? I am a long-time satisfied Verizon consumer, but the handling of this launch has me wondering if they're capable of handling the release of technology's next evolutionary developments.

Some more 'On the Fly' Stuff

The site still isn't finished, mostly because I still have no idea what to do with it. Also, it'd help if I could actually get back out on the water and provide some content. Between weddings and the flu, there's not an awful lot of time to go wet a hook. 

I'm getting antsy though, since things are warming up, and I've spoken with some that have had luck pulling in stripes with imitation minnows. You can go check out what's up now, and please offer suggestions and thoughts on how to make it better.

On the Fly

I've got a small mock site built. Click here for a look that's definitely still under construction. Please offer thoughts and ideas to help make this project more complete.

What's this?

I'm toying with the idea of creating a site or blog dedicated to my fly fishing adventures. I created this logo so that pretty much means something is going to happen. I'm just not sure what I want it to be quite yet.

Some thoughts on tablet computers

Tablet PCs are devices that have existed for quite sometime. I can remember working at a doctor's office in high school back in the early 2000s where all records were kept on Dell tablets which were transfered from room to room in order to take down and update patient records. Let's not forget about the convertible laptops that are still around.

All of these previous attempts at developing tablet computers have been easily forgettable due to the marketing success of Apple's iPad. Until the iPad revolutionized the idea of a tablet computer, computer companies had given up on the idea that tablet computers could gain successful share of the market. Now we're seeing the likes of Samsung, Motorola, Acer, etc. rushing to develop similar concepts.

Motorola's Xoom could be the iPads biggest rival, but the price tag may be what keeps it from becoming a mainstream device

You have to give props to Apple. Not only did they have the guts to try and develop a commercially successful tablet computer, but Apple foresaw that tablet computing could change the shape of the devices we use daily.

I know that's a bold statement, but by observing the habits of casual computer users it becomes obvious that focusing attention on web functionality is key. Most computer users spend their time on the internet, which doesn't require 120 GB hard drives or accelerated graphics cards. Netbook developers saw that potential by offering smaller and cheaper alternatives for Internet access. Unfortunately, the netbook may have only been a brief step in the evolution of efficient web-accessible machines. Google has been developing an operating system through the Chromium project (Chrome OS in particular) that is focused on cutting out most hardware in order to develop a machine dedicated to internet usage. Enter cloud-storage and we're looking at the death of the laptops and netbooks all-together.

Google's Chromium project opens up the possibility of devices solely dedicated to internet browsing.

I'm aware that this idea is nothing new, and honestly, I don't believe the death of computers are eminent; however, the need for PCs will diminish, and as more tablets are introduced, many people who were in the market for a new laptop or macbook will suddenly be in the market for a new tablet computer. What will be interesting is how companies like Apple, Google, Motorola, et al will evolve their devices to remain ahead of each other, and how that effects the ever-growing dependence on mobile carriers with 3G and 4G technology that will keep these devices connected.

Trip to Las Vegas and BCS National Championship Game Video

Low quality video. HD version soon to follow.

Made it the 'ship!

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Headed to Glendale

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Hello: From Vegas

We made it

Long flight. Promise to catch you up after some food and good rest.

bags are packed I'm ready to go

I've got everything I need packed and ready to for the game!

Photo Dump

A collection of pictures that have been stowed away in my phone/laptop/camera/anywherethatphotoscanbestored. Enjoy.

Mumford & Sons at Grimey's Records was awesome

snow day that almost killed me

frozen roads downtown

Our backyard covered in snow

Angelo's Pizza. The best pizza in Nashville

picture of our chimney?

Christmas at Bag End

I've seen more snow the past month than I have my entire life

what happens when you run out of hot water