One Big Happy Family

According to the Los Angeles Times, "After conducting a college band and watching Palin deliver a commencement address to a small group of home-schooled students in June 1997, Wasilla resident Philip Munger said, he asked the young mayor about her religious beliefs. Palin told him that "dinosaurs and humans walked the Earth at the same time," Munger said. When he asked her about prehistoric fossils and tracks dating back millions of years, Palin said "she had seen pictures of human footprints inside the tracks," recalled Munger, who teaches music at the University of Alaska in Anchorage and has regularly criticized Palin in recent years on his liberal political blog, called Progressive Alaska."

So humans and dinosaurs were just one big happy family? Wow...If this is true and if McCain wins. She will be one heartbeat away from the. Scary!!!

Jilted Dave

This whole thing with McCain suspending his campaign and trying to wimp out on the debate tomorrow night is a bunch of BS. Yeah, like him in Washington is going to help solve the problem. I'm thinking the real reason McCain is doing this is so he can push tomorrow's debate to October 2nd (the scheduled date of the Vice Presidential Debate) and then push the Vice Presidential Debate to a later date, giving more time for Palin to prepare. We all know Palin is going to get eaten alive by Biden.

McCain cancelled at the last minute yesterday from David Letterman because he needed to focus on the economic crises. Dave had some fun with the last minute change but also threw a couple of shots and good points Johnny's way.

A Big House of Fans, History and Memories

I can't think of the last time when I brought up the Yanks and had anything nice to say about them. Yes, I know, we won the Series in 2004 and ripped a 86 year old monkey off our back. But I still never had anything nice to say about this team or (in my own words) their precious Stadium. Recently, I even mentioned to all the Yankee Fans at work that I would be having a big party on the day they blew up Yankee Stadium. But then I realized that this wasn't a time for that. It wasn't a time for throwing zingers. It was time to put aside this intense rivalry and my cynical obnoxious views and (trying not to gag) pay some respect to a piece of Americana and the history of it....Boy, that was really tough to say!!!

But it's true, whether your are a sports fan or not, you have to admit that these old ballparks (Yankee Stadium, Wrigley Field, Ebbots Field, the old Detroit Stadium or my beloved Fenway) remind us when life once was so simple, so innocent, so natural. A time when you didn't need a IPod, game boy or any number of gadgets that people now need to live. The simple life. I remember the first time walking into Yankee Stadium and hearing the booming voice of Bob Sheppard echoing around the stadium. It reminded me of old baseball footage from the 20's, 30's, 40's. The smell of Cracker Jacks reminded me of going to my Grandfather's house when I was a kid. My buddy Chris, has talked many times on his blog about the times he visited Yankee Stadium with his Dad and now his son, Nolan.

But now, one more symbol that reminds us of the simpler times will be taken down and replaced by what team owners and presidents feel is something better. But will it? From a corporate stand point, absolutely yes. But from a fan aspect, from what I saw on TV last night, I'm not so sure. I think the fan would have been just as happy if they had refurbished it.

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Unfortunately we have to move on and try to swallow the fact that our beloved house is being torn down and accept the new stadium. At the same time we also need to remember that our fond memories of this place will never be forgotten. The memory of being at the game with a friend, a parent or child will never go away. Yes, the new stadium may not make the same echo of Bob Sheppard voice, or the smell of cracker jacks may not be the same, but the important thing is, you will always have great memories of the place. Nobody will ever take that away.

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So my hat goes off (for one day) to the Yankee Fans out there, the history of your franchise, the memories and finally to the House That Ruth Built.

Morons

This is one word of many I would use to describe the people that decided to stay in Galveston and along the cost to weather out Hurricane Ike. Didn't they get a clue when the Authorities said last week that "if you don't leave, you will face certain death". What kind of Morons are these people? And then during the storm when the light bulb turns on in their thick heads, some of these people had the guts to call 911.

It's a good thing I was not in charge of Emergency Management, because, if those people called 911 and I was in charge, I would simply say: "Hey Moron, You had your chance...You're on your own now, good luck." There is no way I would send out men or women to rescue these morons...No Way!!!

And then I watch the news, and the reporters interview these people and how they got rescued.... If I was the reporter, I would have asked them several questions:

1. Why didn't you leave when Authorities ordered a evacuation and said last week that "if you don't leave, you will face certain death"?

2. Because you were stubborn and didn't want to leave, did you care that you put the lives of rescue men and women in danger that could have been prevented if you had left?

3. Would you have been upset if you called 911 and the operator had said to you ""Hey Moron, You had your chance...You're on your own now, good luck."?

4. How would you have felt if a rescue men or women had died while saving you?...Something that would not have happened if you had left before the storm hit.

Myrtle Beach - 2008

It's finally calm down a little bit to the point where I can write about our vacation to Myrtle Beach, SC. We started out Friday (8/30) and again drove down to Chester, Va where we stopped to spend the night. It took us a little longer then expected, but this time it wasn't the traffic; it was a combination of Maeve needing to stop to eat and the fact that we took a longer trip down I-81. On Saturday we woke up early and finished our drive to Myrtle Beach.

Again, we stayed at our usual place...Holiday Shores Motel on the corner of N. Ocean Blvd and 76th. By the time we checked in, got settled and fed Maeve (again), it was dinner time. Today it was dinner at Cheeseburger In Paradise. Yes, this place is owned by Jimmy Buffet.

The weather was great everyday we were there so we spent most of our time at the beach. On Wednesday, it got a little too hot so we came home early and took a trip to Barefoot Landing and dinner at Johnny Rockets.

Well, I lied, the weather was great every day except for Friday, when Tropical Storm Hanna decided to make a visit. We had been watching the weather all week and wondering if we would be evacuated. On Thursday we knew we were OK after talking to the owner of Holiday Shores and hearing the Governor of SC stating that the only people that should leave are people camping and in Mobil Homes. So Friday, we got up and went to Ripley's Aquarium at Broadway At The Beach. After the trip to the Fishies we had lunch at the Key West Grill (The food was bad, don't go there...Rip OFF). By the end of lunch, the wind and rain was picking up, so we stopped at a few more stores and then went back to the Motel for the night. After Charlotte went to bed around 9:00PM, the wind and the rain picked up, but we never lost power or cable. The next day we were on the beach at 10:00am...it was sunny and 85...a few branches on the ground, but no damage.

So that was about it...We left Myrtle Beach on9/8 and got home on 10th. Al in all, it was a great trip, however, I think we are going to cut back our 2010 trip to a week instead of 10 days. After 8 days there, Charlotte wanted to go home. I think we were all ready to go home at that point.

Here are some more pictures of the trip: