Our trip to Grizzlies vs. Cavaliers, January 17, 2020

Barbra, Kaitlin, and I went to the Grizzlies game Friday night.  It was the second game that Katie has been to this season.  The Grizzlies were on a six-game winning streak heading into the game.

It was a Hardwood Classics Night, so the court had the old logos, as did my and Barbra's shirts!

The Hardwood Classics Night BamBams given away look like KISS makeup while in the package!

The giveaway was a Ja Morant Pocket Square for your suit breast pocket!

Celebrating 25 years of the Grizzlies franchise

Katie watches the happy crowd leave after the Grizzlies win their SEVENTH game in a row, 113-109!

CC 2019...extended!!!

I received a call from American Greetings today saying that my Company Convenience has been extended by a week!  Woooo hoooo!  Now I go back to work July 15 instead of July 8.  That's great because it helps to make up for us getting CC so late anyway.  We should have gotten it a week or two earlier than we did back in May.  If we had went back July 8, we would only have been off 6 and a half weeks, so now we'll be off 7 and a half weeks.  So that's more like it, because we should get 8-10 weeks off every year.  In my opinion, anyway.  😉

Batman foils thieves who rob little towns along the Mississippi River in this month's Batman calendar. Was Osceola one of the towns?

I have the Vintage Batman 2019 Calendar by Asgard Press.  Every month features a different vintage Batman comic book cover.  This month's cover (the cover for June) is Detective Comics #90 from August 1944.  The title of the issue's Batman story is "Crime Between the Acts!"  It tells the story of a showboat called the Mississippi Mermaid that travels down the Mississippi River.  The troupe aboard the ship entertains the "river folk" at the little towns along the river, and during the intermissions of their shows, the troupe sneaks off the ship and robs the towns blind.  That is, until they're stopped by Batman and Robin!

I read the issue on the DC Universe streaming service and I was disappointed to find out that my hometown of Osceola, Arkansas was not one of the little towns that the showboat stopped at!

It was funny, though, that the showboat captain & leader of the river gang that robbed the towns was named Captain Ben.  After all, I played a character called Captain Ben in our Star Trek series of movies at Dramedy Productions!

Hmmmm...this Captain Ben doesn't look much like my Captain Ben...

CC 2019

Got my Company Convenience started today at 10am!  This was one of the longest times it's ever taken to get Company Convenience.  It may have even been the longest.  But got it I finally did!  Beginning today, I'm on my voluntary layoff for 6 weeks, 3 days, and 5 hours.  Summer break from school has begun!

CC 2018

Got my Company Convenience papers yesterday, buddy.  Hell to the yeah!  Got them a whole week later than I did last year, which really, really sucked, but at least I finally got them.  And I'm not to return to work until July 9!  Awwww yeah!  😀

CC 2017

Just got Company Convenience again!  Today was my last day of work.  CC officially starts Monday, May 8, and the paper says for me not to return to work until July 17!  That's the full 10 weeks off!  BOO-YAH!

CC 2016

I'm a little late posting this, but I'm on Company Convenience again!  It started Wednesday, May 4th.  My paper says I return July 11th, but I'll probably have to go back before then.  Not that I'm hoping that's the case.  I wouldn't go back until August or September or October if they let me off that long!

I won a Batman v Superman prize pack from Malco Theatres

On March 23, Malco Theatres began a contest.

............Riddle Me This.......... ....................What 3 characters comprise the "Trinity"?Post your answer...
Posted by Malco Theatres, Inc. on Wednesday, March 23, 2016

That day, I answered the question correctly, and two days later, I was one of the four winners! So on March 30, I received my prize pack in the mail: a medium Batman v Superman t-shirt, a Dorbz Batman vinyl collectible, and a Dorbz Superman vinyl collectible.

My Batman v Superman prize pack from Malco Theatres

Sounds vs. Timberwolves: Season Ticket Growl Towels & more

This past Friday, February 19, was the first day that current +Memphis Grizzlies season ticket holders could renew their season tickets for next year.  So that night, at the game vs. Minnesota at FedExForum, Growl Towels were waiting for every season ticket holder at their seat.  It was also a Memphis Sounds game.  It was also the first game for the recently acquired Chris "Birdman" Andersen and P.J. Hairston, which meant they wore Sounds uniforms for a game before they wore Grizzlies uniforms!

Growl Towels awaiting at my, Barbra's, and Scott's seats

Our section from a distance

Our section from an even further distance!

What the towels in the arena looked like from our seats

View of the towels from Plaza Level, where we watched the players warm up before the game

Kari with the Growl Towel, two Memphis Sounds Car Freshener giveaways (showing each side), and the Item of the Game: Memphis Red Script Tee for $15

We were going to eat at the Hard Rock Cafe, but decided not to.  It would have been our first time eating at its new location. But I had to get a selfie from inside the Hard Rock with this cool view of Beale Street out the window.

The shirt that spoke to me

I was looking for a shirt in my closet yesterday to wear to the Grizzlies game last night.  I found this one, which was a giveaway from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee earlier this season at the November 20th game.

Then I viewed the back of it.

As I looked at the top line, which says Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee, I heard the TV in the living room say, "Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee," at the exact same time.  Freaky, huh?  Needless to say, I made sure I wore this shirt to the game...apparently I was meant to!

Star Wars In Concert returns in 2016...so we'll be seeing it again!

Just opened up my (Target Exclusive) CD copy of the soundtrack to Star Wars: The Force Awakens and was pleasantly surprised to see the following card inside!

Star Wars In Concert toured around here a few years ago.  It told the story of Episodes I - VI, narrated by Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), while an orchestra played Star Wars music.  There were also props on display from the movies.  When the tour dates were first announced, Memphis wasn't on the list of cities, so +Barbra McLaughlin , +Kaitlin Sexton , and I had to go to Nashville to see it.  The show was on December 13, 2009.

Barbra and I with Luke, Leia, and Santa R2-D2

Han and Katie, both frozen in carbonite

Later on, another leg of cities were announced, and Memphis finally made it on the list.  So this time, +Scott Mcnutt , +Ted Millikan , and I went to the concert.  It was at FedExForum on May 18, 2010.

Myself, Ted, and Scott, scorching in the heat of Tatooine's twin suns

So it'll be awesome to see the concert again this year.  And +Kariann Sexton didn't go to the other shows, so she'll finally get to see it.  And THIS year, Memphis better be on the FIRST leg of shows!

On a side note, Star Trek is also having their own orchestral concert tour this year called Star Trek: The Ultimate Voyage, celebrating Star Trek's 50th anniversary.  And Memphis is actually one of the first stops on the tour!  It's coming to the Orpheum Theatre on January 29.  Of course, Barbra and I already have our tickets!

Happy that the Vintage DC Comics Calendar is back!

Interesting choice for the cover of a 2016 calendar.  Does it have a twofold meaning?

I was pleasantly surprised when I walked into Books-A-Million at Edgewater Mall in Biloxi, MS, Saturday and saw a new Vintage DC Comics Calendar for 2016!  Asgard Press made these calendars in the past for a few years.  I always bought them because they were so awesome, but they haven't made them in a while.  I hadn't even heard that they were going to start making them again for 2016.  I always loved these calendars because they showed old DC Comics comic book covers.

The calendar cover is a comic book cover of Wonder Woman running for president.  Right off the bat, I realized why that cover may have been picked: in 2016, Wonder Woman is going to be featured on the big screen for the first time ever in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, and also in 2016, there may be a woman elected president for the first time!  And I hope there is!  (Clinton, anyway, not Fiorina.)

The cover used for May 2016 is of Hawkman #1, from 1964.  I own that issue, and its one of my most valuable comics.

Oh, and this calendar is BIG, too, 11"x30" when opened up all the way.  And I got it for 50% off the suggested retail price of $21.95.  Calendar shopping is always best after Christmas, cause you can always get them for a lot of percentage points off!

Halloween and honor roll

+Barbra and +Kaitlin both made The Osceola Times last week!  Barbra handed out candy at a school for +American Greetings, and Katie made the honor roll at her school!

A Jedi wasn't the only thing Barbra was for Halloween this year!

Katie starting her senior year off right!

CC 2015

My company convenience started this past Thursday, May 7!  Yee haw!  The CC paper said I'm supposed to go back July 13, which would mean that I'll get 9 and a half weeks off.  But I might have to go back June 29, which would mean that I would only get 7 and a half weeks off.  But shoot, I want the whole 9 and a half weeks; 7 and a half is just getting started!  Hahaha!!

Fridays off in the past...Company Convenience in the future

This past Friday was my first Friday working in five months!  My Fridays off began Friday, October 31, when I called in sick to work.  After that, I started taking vacation almost every Friday through the end of February.  The only Fridays I didn't take vacation were the Fridays already given off by the company, which were the day after Thanksgiving, the day after Christmas, and the day after New Year's Day.  March 6 would have been the first Friday I worked since October, but we were given a bad weather day for the winter storm!  So March 13 was the first Friday I worked in 20 weeks!  (We did have to work on Saturday, March 7, however, so that was the weekend that my three-day (at least) weekends ended.)

But don't feel too sorry for me; I only have a few more weeks to work, and then I'll be off work for a while on Company Convenience again!

CC 2014

Got my Company Convenience started this week!  Yeah, buddy!  It started at 1:30 pm Monday, and it lasts until June 23.  That's almost eight full weeks!  Then I should get it again another time or two during the summer, especially during the month of August.  Awesooooooome.......

Dallas birthday trip for Barbra

Barbra and I went to Dallas two weeks ago. Barbra had been wanting for a while to see the Dallas Mavericks play in Dallas, so we went to the Mavs game for her birthday.

Shortly after arriving at American Airlines Center, home of the Mavericks

We didn't realize when I bought the tickets for the game a few weeks earlier, but the day that we would be there for the game was going to be the 50th anniversary of President Kennedy's assassination right there in Dallas! We didn't go to the site of the assassination on that day, but we had been there a year earlier when we went to Texas on vacation.

Site of the assassination in 2012 when we we visited Dallas

X marks the spot in 2012, although it has since been repaved and had another X put down

There's another strange coincidence to this trip that we didn't realize when I bought the game tickets.  Going to the Mavs game was my present to Barbra to celebrate her 41st birthday.  Dirk Nowitzki, the Mavs star player and Barbra's favorite player, wears number 41 for Dallas!

Two 41s!

Anybody want a ride in this cab?  Notice the star so that you know for sure what kind of cowboy they're talking about!

While we were in town, we checked out Galleria Dallas.  It's a pretty big mall.

21 weeks of goodness!

This week marked my first full (40 hour) week of working since April!! I had 21 weeks in a row of either not working or only working a partial week. My days-off work schedule went as follows:

-Week of April 15: 21 hours of sick time and a vacation day
-Week of April 22-week of June 17: Nine weeks of Company Convenience (voluntary layoff)
-Week of June 24: Two vacation days to go on vacation to Gulf Shores, AL
-Week of July 1: Two holiday days for Independence Day
-Week of July 8: Company Convenience again
-Week of July 15: 4.5 non-scheduled hours for lack of work
-Week of July 22-week of August 26: Company Convenience yet again, which began July 26
-Week of September 2: Labor Day, two hours of sick time, and four hours of paid leave

So now I'm back to working full weeks for a while, unless I take a day off here or there. But by November or December I'll be taking off every Friday until my vacation days run out March 1. Then I'll only be a few weeks away from Company Convenience again!

CC 2013

I just noticed that I post on here every year that I'm on Company Convenience, so...I guess I'll do it again this year! I've been off since April 22, and I'm going back June 24. That's nine weeks, baby. But hopefully I'll get off for the month of August too, just like I did last year! :-)

CC 2012

I've been late the last two years posting here on Blogger that I'm on Company Convenience, but I won't be this year. So here it is: I'm on Company Convenience...starting today!! WOOOOO HOOOOO!! Nine-and-a-half weeks, baby!!!! Today was our first day off, and we're scheduled to go back July 9th. Happy days are here again!!!

CC 2011

I'm a little late posting this, but I'm on Company Convenience! I'm currently on my seventh week. We were told we would get ten weeks off, but I figured all along that it would just be nine, because we always go back the second week of July. Oh well, I'm sure most people won't feel sorry for me that I only get nine weeks off instead of ten. HA HA!!

CC 2010

I think every year I mention on here that I'm on Company Convenience. Well, I'm a little late mentioning this year, because it's almost over with, but hey...I'm on Company Convenience!

I'm the one who bought Action Comics #1!

Well folks, as I'm sure you've heard, a copy of Action Comics #1, the first appearance of Superman, was sold at auction this week for $1.5 million. (And if you haven't heard, you can read about it here.) Anyway, the buyer was anonymous...until now! I'm happy to reveal that it was me! I've been saving for this issue for a while now, and so when I saw it go on sale, I just had to snatch it up! It's been graded and put in a protective sleeve, and they're saying that the buyer may not ever take it out of the sleeve...yeah right! I'm tearing that baby open as soon as I get it home! Reading it while I eat me some cookies! I'll try to to get too many crumbs on it. Oh well, read more about it here!

Kiss and Star Wars In Concert both playing in Missouri RIGHT NOW!!!

Missouri is rocking right this minute!! Tonight, Star Wars In Concert is playing in St. Louis, and Kiss is playing in Kansas City! And they both started at 7:30pm! Of course, Kiss had an opening band, but by now Kiss has taken the stage, so at this very second Kiss and Star Wars are both rocking Missouri at the same time! But I'm not at either one, cause I saw Kiss in Little Rock, and I'll be seeing Star Wars In Concert in Nashville Sunday. But Missouri is the coolest place in the world tonight, buddy!!

Kiss is back!

Kiss is back, buddy! Last week they started their new North American tour, and next week they'll be releasing their first studio album in eleven years. And here lately I've been hearing Kiss songs on the radio, and a couple of stations are giving away free tickets to the Little Rock show. Speaking of the Little Rock show, that's the one I'm going to, cause Memphis isn't on the first leg of the tour. Will Memphis be announced at a later date? It should be, because the fans voted on where the tour should go, and I think Gene Simmons said the top 60 cities would be on the tour, and Memphis made that cut. Or will Memphis get SHAFTED, like it did with Van Halen (with Sammy Hagar) a few years ago, which I wrote about a few times in my blog back then. I'll tell you what, if Kiss doesn't come to Memphis, I'll blame it squarely on FedExForum, cause for some reason I think that they just don't like for too many big name acts to come their establishment. Why, I don't know. But we'll see!

Some more company convenience

Just got some more company convenience. I'll be off for a week and half. Now that's what I'm talking about!!

I saw the space station!

Just saw the International Space Station for the first time! It passed directly overhead for five minutes, from 9:40pm to 9:45pm. If you were looking for it, you couldn't miss it; it looked just like a moving star. I've seen parts of it in person before, before they were attached to the rest of the station: the first time on January 1, 2000, at Kennedy Space Center (awesome way to open up the 2000s), and the other time just two months ago, when I visited KSC again (although the parts I saw two months ago haven't been taken to the station yet.)

Thank you for the championship, Memphis Grizzlies. Signed, Los Angeles Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers are about to win their next championship. And it's all because of the Memphis Grizzlies.

Y'see, last year, Memphis traded all-star player Pau Gasol to the Lakers for...um...well...nothing. He was traded for like a draft pick or two that Memphis has probably already given away, a player or two that I don't think are with the team anymore (and that Memphis knew weren't going to be with the team for long), and Pau's brother, Marc Gasol. Now, Marc is a good player, but hey, there are a lot of good players in the league. But Pau Gasol is an all-star.

Oh, and there's another thing, too: Jerry West. West has been with the NBA for a hundred years as both a player and an executive. 95 of those years he was with the Lakers...5 of those years he was with the Grizzlies. He left the Grizzlies in 2007 to go back and hang around the Lakers again. The very next year, Memphis traded Pau Gasol to Los Angeles for nothing. West had it planned all along.

As soon as Gasol went to the Lakers last year, I knew that they would come close to winning the championship last year, but that they would defintely win it this year. My only slim hope of LA not winning was if LeBron James and the Cavaliers played them in the Finals. But the Cavs choked just like they always do. And LA is on its way to a sweep of the Finals against...get this...the MAGIC.

So when the Lake Show kisses and slobbers all over that trophy Thursday, and the rapist Kobe Bryant is all smiles (after looking pissed off after every play in the series, even ones that go in his favor...why is he mad when he makes a shot? Is he effed up in the head?), all I've got to say is...you're welcome, Los Angeles Rich Man's Team...we gave it to ya!!

Company Convenience time again, buddy

It's the most wonderful time of year again...time for...Company Convenience!! A time where I'm off work and can do whatever I want to do, all day every day, and get paid for it! Now that's what I'm talkin' 'bout...

Chewie gonna make me famous!

I sent the picture of me and Peter Mayhew (aka Chewbacca) that I had taken at Star Wars Celebration II to Star Wars Insider magazine. They have a section called Bounty Hunters that contains pictures of people that had their pictures taken with Star Wars celebrities. Maybe they'll publish my pic in the magazine and I'll be famous again, like I was a couple months ago when I walked onto the background of the Grizzlies' live pre-game show on TV!

Barbra and I to be on The Amazing Race!!!

We made it! Barbra and I have been applying for years to be on The Amazing Race, and finally we’re going to be on there! We just got the call today. At first, Barbra didn’t really want to do it, since she doesn’t like to fly, and we’d have to fly to all the different locations via airplane. But when I reminded her that we’d be playing for a million dollars, she said “Where’s the jet?” For more about this awesome news, click here!

Memphis Tigers booted again

The Memphis Tigers got eliminated from the NCAA tournament last night, making it only to the Sweet Sixteen. They had probably their only chance of going all the way last year, when they made it to the championship game and were up by 9 points with 2:12 left in the game. But then they missed like a gazillion free throws. And they sucked at free throws that whole year. (I'm sure they did this year too, but I didn't pay much attention.) So how are you going to win a championship when your whole team sucks at free throws? Answer: you don't.

Green Lantern movie: 12/17/10

It was announced yesterday that the Green Lantern movie will be released December 17, 2010. All I've got to say is...thank the Lord! Been waiting on GL at the movies for years!! Bring it on!

The Dark Knight doesn't get Best Picture nomination; further proof that the Oscars are a joke

The Academy Awards nominations were today, and The Dark Knight didn't get a nomination for Best Picture. If it had, it would've been the first comic book movie ever to do so. It did get eight nominations, including Best Supporting Actor for Heath Ledger (which was guaranteed because of the sympathy vote), but not the nomination for Best Picture. Why didn't it? Because the Oscars have been and always will be a joke, nominating movies for awards that people have never even friggin' heard of.

The Oscars are run by a bunch of old Hollywood weirdos who wouldn't know a good movie if it bit them on the ass. They have always avoided comic book, science fiction, and fantasy movies. Believe it or not, Star Wars in 1977 was actually nominated for Best Picture, but it lost to some movie that no one had ever heard of. The last Lord of the Rings movie won Best Picture a few years ago, and it is the only time a fantasy movie has ever won, but there was a specific reason why it won. You see, the Lord of the Rings movies started off as novels in the 1950s, so that gives them "clout" with ceratin idiot people who otherwise wouldn't give clout to a fantasy movie that started out as a movie. (Of course, those movies would have been great if they had had an hour cut out of each one. Oh, and what's so funny is that the LOTR movie that won Best Pic is the only one of the three I haven't seen...I've seen the first two, but they were both so long and drawn out that I haven't been in a rush to see the last one. But other than that, they were pretty goo. So I'll see the last one one of these years.)

Anyway, to get back to the subject at hand, and in closing, I would like to say...the Oscars suck.

My favorite from two years ago wins Rock of Love: Charm School

Brandi M. was my favorite girl from the first Rock of Love, and she wound up winning Charm School a couple of weeks ago! Just like my favorite girl from the beginning of Rock of Love 2 won that season, as I talked about here! So like I said before: can I pick the ladies or what?

Dyess, Arkansas on Belgian cooking show, showcasing Johnny Cash

In October, a Belgian cooking show called "Favorite Dish" journeyed to Dyess, Arkansas, to make Johnny Cash's favorite dish. The Dyess segment aired in Belgium on December 2, and now I've found it on the Internet. It's at "Favorite Dish"'s homepage, which is at http://platprefere.canvas.be. Just scroll down till you get to it!

It's official: Grizzlies SUUUUUUUUUUCK...and suck hard

The Grizzlies, who traded away their star player last season for nothing, and who got a bunch of children this season to play on the team, officially suck and suck hard. They started off 3 and 3, making people think that they would be halfway decent this year, but since then they've lost TEN OUT OF ELEVEN GAMES. But their latest loss was the clincher: tonight they lost, at home, to the THUNDER. The Thunder...who are the worst team in the league...who before tonight were 1 and 16, and had lost FOURTEEN IN A ROW. So it's official: the Grizzlies suck as much as they have the past two seasons, and before it's over with, they may suck MORE. Their days in Memphis are numbered, folks, so get ready...before long, they're going to be the LAS VEGAS GRIZZLIES! Or maybe the Louisville Grizzlies. Nah, probably Las Vegas.

St. Jude's WHAT?

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis is a great place that does great work, but...do you think their construction workers could've found a better stopping place while making their new sign?

Magic Johnson: faking AIDS

A couple of talk show hosts on a radio show last week said that Magic Johnson faked having AIDS. Hell, we've been saying that for years!! That man's healthier than an ox and always has been! He probably faked AIDS so he would have an excuse to quit the NBA because he was too lazy to keep playing. I mean, the man's quit or run into the ground everything he's tried since then: returning to the NBA in '92 but quitting before the season even started, taking over as coach of the Lakers towards the end of the '93-'94 season and then not returning for the next season, returning to play in the NBA halfway through the '95-'96 season and then not returning the next year, hosting a talk show in '98 that sucked big time and only lasted two months, etc., etc.

After the talk show hosts said that Johnson faked AIDS, of course he denied it, but did go on to clarify that he has HIV, not AIDS. That reminds me of one time in high school when Johnson first announced he had AIDS, I mean, HIV: somebody was talking about Johnson having AIDS, and a girl in class said, "He ain't got AIDS, he got HIV."

Clone Wars TV series rocks, too

Star Wars: The Clone Wars had the highest-rated debut ever for a series premiere on Cartoon Network last week. Now that's what I'm talkin' 'bout.

Knight Rider is back

Man, the premiere of Knight Rider tonight was awesome! The TV-movie that aired back in February was pretty good, but they really pulled out the stops tonight. I'll have to keep watching this show for a while!

Clone Wars movie rocked, now bring on the TV show!

Saw Star Wars: The Clone Wars last Friday, on opening day, and it was awesome! Now I'm really stoked for the TV series. My favorite character in the movie had to be Ziro the Hutt. He/she was cracking me up big time! Ha ha! It was funny when he said, "I'm outta here!" and tried to run away, but being a slug, he couldn't move very fast.

The Dark Knight: kickin' ass and takin' names

The Dark Knight's all-time movie records so far, according to SuperHeroHype.com:
widest release (4,366 theaters),
biggest midnight opening ($18.5M),
biggest opening weekend ($158.4M),
biggest July opener ($158.4M),
biggest PG-13 rated opening ($158.4M),
biggest single day ($67.2M),
biggest opening day ($67.2M),
biggest Friday ($67.2M),
biggest Sunday ($43.6M),
biggest IMAX opening ($6.3M)
and fastest to $200M in five days ($203.8M).

And it's not done yet! As for me, I saw it on opening day, on one of Jonesboro's new DIGITAL screens!

The Mole: Best Show On TV!

Man, The Mole is the best show on TV! Well, it and Gene Simmons Family Jewels are the only two shows I'm watching right now that are showing new episodes, but still yet, The Mole is awesome! It'd be one of the best shows on TV even if it was on when most other shows were showing new episodes. I've watched it since the first season. I even liked the two celebrity editions, although they shouldn't have done a second one immediately after the first. (But at least Dennis Rodman was in the second celebrity edition...and he won, to boot!) But The Mole is being preempted next week! That means I'll have to wait two more weeks to see more Moleish action! Dadgummit!

HOWL YES!

Arkansas State University had to change its nickname, the Indians, because it was racist. So they changed the nickname to the Red Wolves. A billboard was put up in Jonesboro promoting the new name saying "HOWL YES! I WANT FOOTBALL SEASON TICKETS". I saw the billboard a couple of weeks ago and thought it was pretty doggone funny. Well, then I saw on Action News 5 this past Thursday that some people have complained that the billboard is "not very positive." I just love when people are damn stupid and complain about any old damn thing. It's friggin' funny. As a matter of fact, the next time I go to Jonesboro, I'm having my PICTURE taken with the damn thing, and I'm posting it online! That is, if Jonesboro doesn't wuss out and take it down before I can get over there again. Hopefully they won't. Hell, that billboard makes me actually want to go out and buy football season tickets! Well, not really, but it'd be funny to do it just to spite the dumbasses.

Does Ted know Diddley?

Just saw where Bo Diddley died. He was in an old "Bo Knows" commercial close to 20 years ago, where Bo knew this and Bo knew that, but Bo couldn't play guitar, so Diddley said, "Bo...you don't know Diddley!" Well, I had never heard of Bo Diddley before then, and I've never heard of since either, so the only reason I'm writing this is because it reminds me of "Ted Knows": my and my friends' music video from the early '90s that we made as a parody of "Bo Knows." And, coincidentally, we're about to make a sequel to it called "Teddy Knows"! But for now, just check out "Ted Knows" below!

David Cook wins American Idol!! Yahoo!!

WOWZA!! America got it right this time! I thought for sure that with all the praise the judges heaped on Archuleta Tuesday night that Cook was doomed. But he wasn't! America saw through the judges' crap and voted Cook the winner by a 12 million vote margin! Simon himself said that after he watched Tuesday night's show on TV that the contest wasn't as lopsided as he had made it sound.

Finally, American Idol has a rock 'n' roll winner...and a damn good one, at that! Ryan Seacrest said that a record 97 and a half million votes were cast...I'm thinking America was just trying to right itself after screwing over Chris Daughtry two years ago. Probably everyone thought he was safe back then when he wasn't, so he went out fourth place (but went on to sell the most albums of anyone from that year). So America decided that THIS year they wouldn't let the rocker lose! Congrats, David Cook...and America!

David Archuleta wins American Idol, David Cook sells more records

David Archuleta will win American Idol tomorrow night, but David Cook will sell the most records. It will be a virtual repeat of what happened two years ago with Taylor Hicks and Chris Daughtry, with Hicks winning American Idol and Daughtry selling FAR more records (Hicks has sold 702,000 copies of his album, while Daughtry has sold 3,200,000 copies).

Archuleta has a good voice, but the little girls that are his fan base aren't going to buy his album, because Archuleta is NOT a pop singer. He's like a crooning, adult contemporary singer. He's a nice guy, and he has a great voice, but he's not going to appeal to the masses as far as record sales. Plus, he looks like he's about to throw up when he's on stage sometimes, especially when the judges heap praise on him.

David Cook, as opposed to Archuleta, has shown that he can sing a range of songs in different styles. He would appeal to the teenage crowd, as well as older folks. He also has a lot of stage presence.

Cook's album will sell more copies, so that means he'll continue to make more music in the years to come. Archulea? Not so sure. If his album is a pop album, he might sell some records. But the fact is, he never sung ANY songs in a pop style on American Idol, so that makes one think that he can't sing in that style. That means he'll have to sing his adult contemporary style, which is good, but will children want to buy adult contemporary? And will adults buy an "Aw shucks" kid singing adult contemporary?

Company Convenience time again!

I'm off work again! For eight weeks, buddy! And getting paid for it, to boot! Can't beat that with a friggin' STICK!

My favorite since the first episode wins Rock of Love 2

Rock of Love 2 with Bret Michaels ended tonight, and Ambre won...who was my favorite of the girls since the very first episode! As a matter of fact, she was one of the girls eliminated in the first episode, but when one of the girls that Bret had picked to stay decided to quit, he decided to give Ambre a second chance. And she wound up winning the whole thing! Can I pick 'em or what?

DC Comics to start making movies about their super-heroes

DC Comics has finally done it! They've decided to catch up with Marvel Comics and make their super-heroes into blockbuster movies! You see, years ago, DC was the only game in town as far as super-hero movies, whereas Marvel had hardly any, and what few they had, sucked. But for the last few years, Marvel has kicked it into high drive with movies about their super-heroes, whereas DC has been thinking that the only super-heroes they have are Superman and Batman. But not any more!! DC has announced that they will be soon be making solo movies about Wonder Woman, Green Lantern (the Hal Jordan version, mind you), Flash, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Captain Marvel (but they'll have to call it Shazam!), Zatanna, Lobo, Black Lightning, Elongated Man, Firestorm, Nightwing, Booster Gold, the Atom, and many, many more! As a longtime DC fan who has always wanted to see their super-heroes made into movies, all I can say is, it's about time! For more on these cool developments, click here!

I believe in Harvey Dent

Harvey Dent is thinking about running for District Attorney in Gotham City. We all know that crime is rampant in Gotham, and I think that he would be just the right man for the job to clean up the streets! Read about his campaign at IBelieveInHarveyDent.com! The website wants people to send in their pictures and videos supporting Dent in his run for D.A. So Friday I went to Memphis and had my picture taken in front of some famous Memphis landmarks while holding a Dent campain sign. They published my pic, and you can click here to see it!

Let's all help Harvey Dent take back Gotham City!!

Semi-Pro stuff

Dial 1-800-TROPICS. You'll hear a funny message from Will Ferrell about his upcoming basketball movie Semi-Pro. He's trying to sell you season tickets to the ABA team Flint Tropics for the upcoming 1976 season!

Also, at the Grizzlies game Barbra and I went to Friday night, during a time-out, people played a game on the court and the winner won Semi-Pro stuff for their section of the arena. Stuff like trading cards, pom-poms, and a stick-face of Will Ferrell. Pretty coo! (Well, it wasn't our section that got the stuff, so we just went over to that section and scavenged!)

Which is bigger news today: Castro resigning...or HD DVD resigning?

Fidel Castro finally resigned as dictator of Cuba overnight last night. The old coot is just too weak and feeble to run an island anymore. Hopefully this will be the first step (of probably many) to Cuba becoming democratic one of these decades. Hopefully Raul (Fidel's brother who will probably take over) will be coming under pressure worldwide to open the island up, and Fidel quitting can only be a good thing. Maybe one day I'll be able to take a cruise to Cuba, instead of having to bypass it on the way to other islands in the Caribbean. I mean, the last few decades, Cuba would have had money coming out the WAZOO with all the American tourists visiting the island. But no, Fidel had to ruin it for everybody, not just American tourists willing to pay money down there, but the Cuban people who would have reaped the benefits. Instead they're all dirt-ass poor while Fidel's been living the high life. Well, up till now anyway, since he's about to kick over.

As to the other resignation making news today, Toshiba, the folks behind HD DVD, have announced that they're ceasing HD DVD. Which is wonderful news, because the format war between it and Blu-ray Disc was just pathetic. There should have only been one high definiton disc from the start. So when Blu-ray Discs and machines get a little bit cheaper, I'll be ready to go all Blu!

Star Wars event in Memphis? And I get on TheForce.Net for it!

Scott stumbled upon a webpage yesterday about a Star Wars event planned for Memphis for November 7th-9th, 2008. The page is here. So I told TheForce.Net about it, and they posted it, saying that I told them about it! Check out their article about it here!

Another cool bumper sticker

It seems like every time I go on an out-of-town vacation lately I see a cool bumper sticker on a car! Two months ago, on my Gatlinburg-area trip, I saw a bumper sticker that said "Pro-America, Anti-Bush." (Check it out here.) Well, this weekend I went to Huntsville, Alabama, to visit the Space & Rocket Center, and on my way back home, I saw the below bumper sticker...and on a Navy person's car to boot!

Heat suck

Hey, ain't it funny that the Miami Heat have the worst record in the league? That's what Pat Riley gets for forcing Stan Van Gundy to quit two years ago so Riley could take over the coaching job and get the coaching glory when the Heat won the championship that year. And now they've gotten rid of Shaq, which sucks, cause now Shaq is on a good team. It'd be funny if the Suns started sucking now that Shaq is on their team, even if it did make Suns GM and ex-Bull Steve Kerr look bad. But Shaq probably won't be able to bring them down THAT much, though, although I'm sure he'll try. HAHA!!

My birthday on Deal or No Deal (again!)

In my 11/5/06 column, I commented on an episode of Deal or No Deal in which the final two cases in a game were 12 and 23, which are my birthday numbers. (December 23.) Well, here's a picture of a Deal or No Deal home game that also just happens to have my birthday on it! Maybe these are signs that I should apply for the show, eh?

East Tennessee rules! Bush sucks!

I just got back yesterday from my vacation to Sevierville/Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg, Tennessee. It was the first time I had been there since 1994, so I was ready to go back. And it was awesome! One of the highlights of the trip was the following bumper sticker that I saw on a vehicle while I was there and just had to take a picture of. It describes me to a tee!

Steroid Man Barry Bonds finally indicted

Barry Bonds, baseball's all-time leading home run hitter & all-time leading asshole, was finally indicted by a federal grand jury yesterday for allegedly lying about using steroids. About damn time! This guy has always been a first class jerk, and for the past few years he's made himself look even worse by pumping up with steroids. So he's finally going to start getting what he deserves, especially if he gets 30 years in prison like he should. (Although he probably won't get any, since he's a celebrity.) This is why Mark McGuire, another steroid-using baseball player, kept saying "no comment" a few years ago when he was under oath and was asked if he used steroids.

Yet another comic book movie at #1

Yet another comic book movie leads the pack, as 30 Days of Night opened in first place at the box office this past weekend. Not a movie that would ever I care to see, but nevertheless...comic book movies rule!

My video posted on trekmovie.com!

I've noticed that trekmovie.com (the best Star Trek site on the Web) has been finding and linking to various cool Star Trek videos that are on the Internet. I had a cool video of my own that I wanted them to link to. It is of two back-to-back episodes of Entertainment Tonight from July of 1987, showing one of the first, if not THE first, looks at footage of The Next Generation. This was a full two months before TNG was to premiere.

So I e-mailed trekmovie.com and told them about my video on August 23. They wrote me back and said they loved the video and would link to it on August 31, and sure enough, they did! They put it right there on the front page. Earlier on August 31, before trekmovie.com linked to the video, the video had 133 views, but within a couple of days, there were more than 1,600 views! And as of right now, there are 2,069 views! Pretty awesome if I do say so myself!

And here is the direct link to my trekmovie.com article!

Tom Welling to finally be Superman?!?!?!

I just heard one of the most awesome rumors ever: Tom Welling has been approached to play Superman in the upcoming Justice League movie!! Now THAT would be bad-ass! I always thought he got screwed over a few years ago when Warner Bros. decided to make a new Superman movie. They should have waited until the TV series Smallville ran its course, and then made a Superman movie starring Tom Welling. Now don't get me wrong, Brandon Routh was damn good as Superman. But Welling had played Clark Kent for years and wasn't going to get to wear the Superman costume at all, except maybe for the last scene of the last episode of Smallville. So this news today is totally cool. Hopefully it isn't too good to be true and Welling will be Supes in Justice League.

(And maybe this Justice League movie will FINALLY kick-start DC into making a gazillion movies about ITS superheroes, just like Marvel's been doing for the last few years...)

Teacher (finally) in space!

The Space Shuttle Endeavour lifted off about an hour ago with Barbara Morgan on board. Morgan was the backup to who was going to be the first teacher in space, Christa McAuliffe, in 1986, when McAuliffe died in the Challenger accident. After the accident, NASA told Morgan that she would fly eventually. Well, it took 21 years, but she finally did! Awesome!

Today is the 20th Anniversary of TNT Collectors Hut

20 years ago today, an awesome store in Osceola, Arkansas was opened. Why was it so awesome? Cause it was mine! Mom, Dad, and I opened TNT Collectors Hut on August 1, 1987, after we spent the previous two months getting it ready to open. The store was open for business until the mid-1990s. We've had other stores since then, but this one was the most special, because...it was right next to our house! I worked in it every day the entire time it was open. Now that did get tiresome, especially working every Saturday, but it was a cool place for me and my friends to hang out.

Following are some pics of the outside of the store from shortly after it opened.

Mom and Dad:


Mom and me:

I order you not to buy so many cars!!

The Osceola City Council tried to pass a stupid resolution last week that said that you could only park four cars on your property, or one car per licensed driver, whichever was greater! It was also going to say that you couldn't even park on your own grass! There were various other stupid things in the resolution. How stupid is that crap, telling someone they can't own as many cars as they want? Mary Milton and Gloria Copeland had a petition going around for people to sign who did not want the resolution to pass, so Mary brought it to my house and I gladly signed it. So when it came time for the vote in the City Council, a lot of people showed up to fight the resolution. So many people, in fact, that the Council didn't even vote on the mattter! It just flat out DIED. Bwahahaha!

Star Wars Post Office Adventures

Star Wars and the U.S. Post Office have joined forces this year. There are new Star Wars stamps, and mailboxes made up as R2-D2! There was also a cool big Star Wars display at the post offices that featured R2-D2 and C-3PO back in the spring. My good friend Gary Chipman, who works at Osceola's post office, tried to get me Osceola's display, but he said that the post offices had to destroy all of them. I figure he probably just took it home himself! Ha ha! But I told him that some would escape destruction, and sure enough, I saw one on display at the Hollywood Americana museum in Metropolis, IL last month!

Here I am with some R2-D2 mailboxes last month!

At Arkansas Children's Hospital in Little Rock, AR:


At Little Rock National Airport:


Doing my C-3PO impression, and wearing a Star TREK t-shirt, at Texaco in Jackson, MS:

What do the San Antonio Spurs and the Lord of the Rings movies have in common?

I like them both...but they're both boring!! But how can that be, you say? Well, I've always like the Spurs and their players, and I liked the Lord of the Rings movies with their cool fantasy elements. But the Spurs are about to win another championship, something I've known was a sure thing ever since the two Phoenix Suns players got suspended for a game in the second round for coming off the bench after Robert Horry decked Steve Nash intentionally. This championship will be their fourth in nine years, and yet...none of them were back to back! They've never had a dynasty, which requires a team to win at least TWO championships back to back! In the past 20 years (counting this year), there have been seven NBA champions. Four of the seven have either repeated or three-peated. Two of the three teams that didn't repeat were the Pistons and Heat, but they only won one championship apiece (not counting the Pistons of the late 80s-early 90s which of course repeated). But the Spurs have won four out of nine years, and none of them were repeats! So I mean, I'm just tired and bored with seeing them win every other year. But it could be worse! It could be the Lakers or Heat or Knicks winning every other year! And as for the Lord of the Rings movies, I liked them. Except for the hour's worth of extra footage that could've been cut out of each movie because the extra footage dragged down the story and made me sleepy. At least, that was the case with the first two movies. I've never seen the third one. I've heard that it's the best one, but something tells me it has an hour's worth of boring footage too.

Gene Simmons reads Justice League

A couple of weeks ago on Gene Simmons Family Jewels (the episode where he finally reveals his new face after his facelift), he's shown reading a recent issue of Justice League of America! I always knew he was a comic book fan, so it was nice to see him in action!

I'M OFF WORK FOR NINE WEEKS!! OHHH BABY!!!

Today was my last day of work for nine weeks!!! Every May, my job gives me a voluntary layoff called Company Convenience. It lasts between eight and ten weeks. This year it is going to last nine weeks. And I get paid unemployment while I'm off. In other words, I get paid for doing nothing. Pretty dadgum awesome situation, wouldn't you agree?

Latest comic book movie to rule the box office: Spider-Man 3

Spider-Man 3 made $151.1 million on its opening weekend, which was this past weekend. That broke the record for biggest opening weekend for a movie EVER. What's funny is that Spider-Man's actual weekend gross turned out to be higher than Sunday's estimated gross for the weekend, because Spider-Man didn't have as big of a Sunday drop-off as most movies do on Sundays! And oh, this makes yet another comic book movie to dominate the box office...hell, not dominate it, completely DESTROY it!!

I watched it Tuesday night on one of the DIGITAL screens in Memphis! And the movie was friggin' awesome to boot! Bring on Electro and the Lizard! Or whoever the villains might be in Spider-Man 4! Ha ha!

Grizzlies prove they were just faking being so bad this year

The Grizzlies had the worst record in the NBA this year, which gives them the best chance of receiving the #1 draft pick in the lottery next month. Last week, when they lost to Sacramento, it guaranteed them the worst record of the year. At that point, they had three games left. Also at that point, I said that they would win those last three games. And as of just a few minutes ago, they did. Considering that this winning streak was only their second of the year, it may seem surprising to folks, but it's not. Because, y'see, the Grizz aren't as bad as their record shows. Lemme explain. With Gasol injured for the first two months of the season, all the other injuries, the firing of the coach, the replacement coach only being an interim coach, and issues with possible buyers and non-buyers of the team, they were losing a lot of games. When it became clear they were going to be one of the worst teams in the league, they made absolutely sure of it. In my opinion, they didn't try hard to win games, because they wanted the best chance at the #1 draft pick. But once they were guaranteed the worst record and the best chance at the #1 pick, they decided to show the rest of the league that they were just faking being that sucky all this time. And I predicted it before it even happened.

Why did the Grizz not try to win? Because last year they won games down the stretch and got screwed over for it. A flaw in the NBA's playoff system led Memphis to have to play a better team in the first round than they would have if they had lost games down the stretch in the regular season. (I talked about it in my April 23, 2006 column.) And, of course, they were promptly swept out of the first round of the playoffs four games to none. That flaw in the playoffs was fixed by the NBA after the playoffs were over with, but, of course, it was too late for the Grizzlies. So this year, instead of winning games that they possibly could have won down the strecth, the Grizzlies lost them instead. They learned their lesson last year. Because apparently in sports, sometimes you have to lose to win.

So I predict that the Grizzlies will be like the Spurs were a few years ago. The Spurs were a good team in the early 1990s, with David Robinson leading them, and then all of a sudden one season (the '96-'97 season), they had an awful year. Well, that year gave them the #1 draft pick, and they picked Tim Duncan with it. The Spurs would then go on to win three championships with Duncan, with possibly more to come. So since the Grizz have made the playoffs the past three years, and then this year dropped down to the worst record in the league, maybe they'll get the #1 pick and then shoot back up next year and win a championship one day soon! So if it happens, remember, you read it here first! And if it doesn't happen, well, I'll just blame it on Memphis suckin'.

Memphis Grizzlies to leave Memphis after end of season [APRIL FOOL'S JOKE]

The Grizzlies have been suckin' so bad this year that they're going to go to another city! When the season's over with, they're packing up and moving out. Top contenders as to where they'll wind up are Louisville, Oklahoma City, and Los Angeles (yeah, I know, LA already has TWO teams, but they can always use another! I mean, they're LA!) Another possibility is New York. So it looks like Memphis will go back to being a sorry no-pro-sports town and be stuck with the FedExForum bill for years to come. Of course, with the Grizzlies about to end the season as one of the worst teams in the league, if not THE worst, they'll get a high draft pick, possibly the #1 pick. And considering that the Grizz aren't that bad on paper, and they've had a lot of injuries this season, they could conceivably be a pretty good team next year. But another city will reap the rewards of that next year, even though Memphis had to suffer through the current awful year. But according to Grizzlies majority owner Michael Heisley, they have to leave Memphis this year. Says Heisley, "If we stay in Memphis past this year, and we're not out of here before the NBA Draft Lottery happens, we probably won't get a top ten pick. I know that's supposed to be impossible with our worst-in-the-league status, but Memphis would find a way to do it. I mean, look at how we lost LeBron James a few years ago."

So there you have it, folks. Throw away your Grizzlies stuff and start collecing Xplorers and Hounds Dogs merchandise. For more info on this craziness, click here.

TMNT is #1...comic book movies continue to dominate box office

TMNT opened in first place at the box office this past weekend with $24.3 million. TMNT, of course, stands for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The Turtles were first created as comic book characters by Mirage Studios in 1984. So with TMNT's first place finish, that means that there has been a comic book movie finish in first place in 5 of the past 6 weekends (TMNT, Ghost Rider twice, and 300 twice). And with Spider-Man 3 and Fantastic Four 2: Rise of the Silver Surfer coming soon, 2007 is truly comics' breakout year at the movies!

But where are DC's comic book movies? I'll tell you where: NOWHERE.

Another comic book movie is on top of the box office; this time, it's 300

300, a movie based on a five-issue comic book mini-series by Dark Horse Comics, was the number one movie at the box office this past weekend, bringing in $70.9 million. It was also the biggest opening weekend gross for a movie for the month of March in history. And this happens just a month after Ghost Rider, another comic book movie, broke the record for highest Presidents' Day weekend movie gross ever. Are comics awesome or what? ;-)

Marvel continues movie dominance with Ghost Rider; DC continues suckin'

Ghost Rider debuted at theaters this weekend with an estimated $44.5 million dollars. By tomorrow, it should cross $50 million, which would make it the biggest premiere ever over President's Day weekend. I saw it last night and thought it was cool.

Marvel Comics characters continue to domintate the box office, while DC Comics continues to focus only on Superman and Batman. I've always been a bigger DC fan than Marvel fan, but if DC is going to continue to let Marvel have all the box office glory, then it's their own damn stupid fault. Marvel will continue to soak up all the publicity and money their movies make, while DC continues sitting on their laurels. Pathetic. Poor Martin Nodell, who created Green Lantern for DC years ago, kicked the bucket in December before he could see his creation make it to the silver screen. (Green Lantern is one of the DC properties that's been supposedly "in the planning stages" for years, but never got off the ground.) I mean, the poor ole guy lived to be NINETY-ONE YEARS OLD just to see if his creation would make it to the big screen! I mean, hell, he just couldn't take it any more!

And to think that just a few years ago, DC was the one who had all the movies (albeit only Superman and Batman), and Marvel didn't have jack crap. Boy, how the tables have turned!

UPDATE 2/23/07: Ghost Rider did indeed have the biggest President's Day weekend ever: $52 million. Yay for comic book movies!

Today is Martian Manhunter Day on Smallville!

The Martian Manhunter makes his debut on Smallville tonight! (Well, he appeared in shadow for a few seconds at the end of an episode a few weeks ago, but that almost doesn't count.) He's the latest in a long line of DC Comics superheroes to show up on Smallville. It's awesome that they're showing so many of DC's characters on the show. (As a matter of fact, last week was the "Justice League" episode that showed four different DC heroes! Well, five if you count Clark.) Showing all these cool characters is part of the reason that Smallville is the best show on TV!

Indiana Jones is back! About time!

Indiana Jones is finally coming back! George Lucas and Steven Spielburg have been talking about it for over ten years, but it looks like it is FINALLY on track this time. Lucas said yesterday that it is going to start filming in 2007 and will come out in May 2008. (Which I think is an appropriate time, because the three Star Wars prequels came out at three-year intervals and always in May, and had there been another one, it would have came out in May 2008!) Lucas made the announcement during a break from preparing for his duties as grand marshal of New Year's Day's Rose Parade. (There are going to be people in the parade dressed as Star Wars characters, so that'll be cool.)

Anorexics on Entertainment Tonight Part Two

In my May 23 column, I noted that Entertainment Tonight has stories on anorexics every night. Well, I watched ET tonight for the first time in a long time, and...yep, you guessed it...there was a story about an anorexic on there!! Thankfully, the story was about a good-looking actress on The Sopranos who had gone through anorexia in the past, so we didn't actually have to see her looking all grossed-out and stuff. But in another segment, Delta Burke talked about some eating disorder she's had before, or something. Ooookay...

Gay Night for the Grizzlies

Last night was Gay night for the Grizzlies at the FedExForum! The first 3,000 fans in attendence to the game were give a free Rudy Gay jersey. I had to make sure me and Barbra got there early enough to get our Gay jerseys, and we did, as you can see in the picture! But the line of the night had to be from a dude in the row below us talking to another dude in that row: "Did you not get here early enough to get your Gay shirt, man?"

Democrats sweep the elections...thank the Lord

The Democrats have won the majority in the House of Representatives, will probably win the majority in the Senate, and in my home state of Arkansas, Democrat Mike Beebe destroyed Republican Asa Hutchinson in the polls to win the governor's seat. Nancy Pelosi will probably become Speaker of the House, and in so doing, become the first female to ever do so. (Bet you'll never see a female Republican politician with that job...waitaminit, are there any female Republican politicians?) And then today, President Dubya, seeing that his power was about to go bye-bye, fired the pariah Donald Rumsfeld. The only way things could be better is if President Dubya himself were gone. I know for a fact that in the past two presidential elections Republican voters have been so stressed out, because they thought that they just had to vote for someone who is such a damn IDIOT to be the president, just because he was a Republican. I mean, entire books have been written on how he can't even talk right! And he's the president! I even gave one of those books to my Dad one year for Christmas. But oh well, the bottom line is, God has truly blessed our country this week, and we should all be thankful for that.

UPDATE 11/9/2006: Yesterday Democrat Jim Webb was declared the winner of the Virginia senatorial election by the Associated Press, which means that Democrats have indeed taken over the Senate as well. God is good.

UPDATE 11/12/06: I wasn't for sure until I saw just now, but the elections have also given Democrats a majority in state governorships across the nation: 28 for Democrats, 22 for Republicans. Praise the Lord.

My birthday on Deal or No Deal

On Thursday's episode of Deal or No Deal, the contestant took the deal when there were two cases left to open. Those final two cases were my birthday numbers, 12 and 23! As in December 23rd!

Taliban or Talabani?

I just found out that the president of Iraq is named Talabani!! Doesn't that sound a lot like Taliban?? Damn, they're coming back in Afghanistan and already in charge in Iraq!! HAHAHAHAHA!!!

P.S. I found out his name from last week's episode of Saturday Night Live. When I heard it on there, I looked it up on the internet to make sure the name was real, and it was! It took SNL to educate me about the name of the Iraqi president because whenever news programs talk about Iraq, all they talk about is bombings and killings that happen over there. Oh wait...that IS all that happens over there.

Road sign love

I took this pic yesterday of a graffitied-up road sign close to Sports & Racing in Gosnell. I've seen other graffiti around Gosnell and Blytheville for a while now saying stuff like "I Heart Baby Tracy", but this sign was sprayed sometime in the past four weeks. On the fence next to this sign was sprayed "I Heart (somebody else)," so Tracy must have sprayed that one. 'Twasn't THIS Tracy, though!

Political signs on public property

Are political signs allowed on public property? I noticed a sign to re-elect Dickie Kennemore the mayor of Osceola in front of the city hospital last week. I took these pictures yesterday. Does this mean you can put political signs in front of churches, banks, and schools too? I don't know what the law is on this sort of thing, but I thought it looked strange having a political sign in front of a public building.

I e-mailed the Jonesboro Sun newspaper about it. Maybe they'll do a story about political signs on public property. I'm not holding my breath waiting on them to do it, but as Vision Man would say, it doesn't matter if you succeed or fail, as long as you try your hardest!

UPDATE 10/29/06: Never heard back from the Jonesboro Sun, so I just e-mailed the Blytheville Courier-News newspaper and the CW and NBC TV stations in Memphis about it. Reckon one of them will think it's a good story?

Grizzly time!

It's that time of year again...time for the Grizz to stink it up! Waitaminit...I take that back...they usually do pretty good in the regular season...it's the PLAYOFFS where they stink it up! But this year's gonna be different, right? Ha ha! (At least they got rid of Lorenzen Wright this summer, so that'll mean a few extra wins right there. Maybe even one or two in the playoffs!) Here are me and Barbra Wednesday night at the first home preseason game, where they sucked big time. But hey, it's only the preseason, so it doesn't count! But that new PA announcer they got sucks. Maybe he'll get better.

Superman everywhere at Mississippi State Fair

I was at the Mississippi State Fair all last weekend because my parents have a booth there. Well, that Saturday I noticed that just about everyone had on a Superman shirt except for me!! I was jealous!! Luckily I had brought along a Superman shirt of my own to wear, and so I wore it Sunday! I had to show those folks that they weren't the only ones who could be cool!

Memphis to finally show Smallville in prime time for the first time ever!

Memphis is finally showing Smallville when it's supposed to be shown: Thursdays at 7pm! See, Memphis used to have a UPN station but not a WB station. However, the UPN station also carried The WB's prime time lineup, but it would be shown after UPN's prime time lineup. But now with the merger of UPN and The WB into The CW, Smallville is finally going to be shown in its rightful timeslot!

When it was first announced months ago that UPN and The WB were going to merge, I immediately figured that would mean Smallville would now be on at 7. I just hoped Memphis didn't screw it up somehow. Well, the other day I noticed on my TiVo's program guide that on September 28th at 7pm, when the season premiere of Smallville was supposed to be shown, that there was going to be DIFFERENT programming!! So I e-mailed the program director of Memphis' CW and she told me that Smallville would indeed come on at that time! And she even called the listing service and told them that their data was incorrect...and it was all because of me: Tracy Walters, TV Watchdog!!

The only question now is...since Survivor also comes on Thursdays at 7...which one do I watch first???

LORENZEN WRIGHT IS GONE FROM THE GRIZZLIES!!! WHOOO DOGGIES!!!

The moment I've been waiting on for years finally happened yesterday! Lorenzen Wright signed a contract with the Atlanta Hawks, thus guaranteeing he won't be back on the Grizz this season! HALLELUJAH!!!!!

I'M A MILLIONAIRE AGAIN!!!!!

Just like in my February 28 column, my grandma won the Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes again today, and she's gonna give me half of it again! But back then, it was $10,000,000. Today it was just a measly $1,000,000. Oh well, it'll be good enough!

NBA fixes playoff system...a little late for the Grizz, though

The flaw in the NBA's playoff seeding was pretty much corrected Wednesday, so now teams in certain situations at the end of the regular season shouldn't have to purposfully try to lose games in order to get an easier opponent in the first round of the playoffs. Too bad the new rules weren't in effect all along, or maybe the Grizzlies wouldn't have the worst playoff record in NBA history right now!

Aquaman pilot on iTunes

The Aquaman pilot was put on iTunes for $1.99 last week, on the night of July 25th! I was on vacation in Panama City Beach, Florida, last week, so I didn't even know about it until I got back Sunday night. But then I bought it and watched it and it was totally awesome! And, of course, it was the number one video download on iTunes for over a week after it was first released! So everyone get on over to iTunes and buy it right now!!