I killed my television

I had been sick for a couple of days. During the illness I watched very little tv, to be precise.. I watched very little infotainment, or news, as it is still called in some circles. This evening I decided to tune in to see what the latest headlines were. I was met by the excited image of Geraldo Rivera going on and on with a torrent of babble about something. There was a crawl zipping along the bottom of the screen proclaiming that an "imminent arrest" was about to take place. I paid close attention as he threw it to an on the scene reporter, proclaiming that the international media had caught the story and the suspects had been followed by a Brazilian news crew and were currently in their home as search warrants were being served by local officials.

I sat in abject horror as I watched the back-story unfold.

A family was being accused of telling a lie about their six year old son being inside of a twenty foot balloon as it was floating around for two hours....

I shit you not.

I was dumbfounded... I began flipping channels, checking out all the cable news programming. The heads bobbling around the screens were all deadly serious. The expressions they carried were of the type you would expect from people reporting that Washington DC was under a nuclear attack. I was amazed... this is news? From either angle you approach the story, whether the son was lying for some reason about being in the balloon, or the family had done this at the behest of the attention craving father for simple exposure... This is not news.

If this is was a publicity seeking event should they charge the family in question for the cost of the rescue effort? Exactly how many different tv shows did the six year old boy throw up on? Why did the father run out and immediately get on Larry King? Was the mother involved? If the father put these children up to this, should child protective services be contacted to evaluate his fitness as a parent?

Who gives a damn?

Some asshole called the cops and reported that his kid was in a huge balloon floating around in an uncontrolled manner. My interest would wane with the answer to the question, "Was he ok?" being, "Yeah... turns out he wasn't in it."

Without further pontification, I turned the television off and decided on the spot that I would not tune into another news channel for the duration of my life on this planet.

It must be cursed....

Some time back, I started working on a walking stick with a stubborn knot on the end. during the removal process I sliced my hand open in a fairly raucous manner. The picture over to the left was taken the next day...

This morning I decided to retrieve that walking stick and begin working on it again, and yep, it happened again. This time wasn't as bad, no stitches.. Just a touch of super glue and a couple of band aids, with, as you can see, little blood loss. I am beginning to think that the damn thing may be cursed. The wood came from a tree that was downed in a storm last year, it's pear. The downed tree took out the corner of a house and an air-conditioning unit. I helped the owner of the house move the tree, then went over the entire thing and scavenged the remains for pieces I could use. I took eight or nine all told, and each one of the walking sticks I have made from it have sold. This is the last piece left, and somehow I think it's trying to throw some kind of voodoo on me.

To quote a movie line I once heard, "I feel like a voodoo doll. It's grim. It's gross. "

I am determined to finish the walking stick and damn the evil spirits associated with it back to the darkest level of hell that they spawned from. I decided that I will carve it into a snake, to celebrate the evil nature it seems to have, because lord knows... It couldn't be my fault... So if you want to purchase a ready made item for tossing a curse on me.. come up with the cash when I'm done & my eternal soul could be under your control... for a mere eighty dollars... I'm cheap that way.

Bill Maher

Why do I watch this program? I have decided that I simply watch it to get angry. The opinions he spouts are just that, opinions... But man... come on..

George Bush is the devil revisited and all the woes suffered by this nation were created by him and the cattle industry. Maher is bad enough, but couple him with Janeane Garofalo and you have the makings for an evening of blithering bullshit that could only be seconded by a three hour meal with Al Sharpton and Louis Farrakhan.

I just bit the bullet and watched these two asshats pontificate on his latest HBO showing. Garofalo, as usual, blamed every criticism of obama on racism, and Maher almost came to tears while soap-boxing about the stupidity of those that don't buy into man made global warming. They have no original opinion between the two of them and waste time that could have been given to a guest that could've created an interesting dialogue. Why did HBO get rid of Dennis Miller and put this clown on? He is the spokesperson for walking in lockstep with the mindless masses of drooling simpletons that get their information from Jon Stewart.

It seems that fad and fashion is what should rule the day when you are interested in current events and political points of view. The people you have to deal with are mindless, either parroting Limbaugh or Maher.. what the hell is the problem? what happened to people actually reading a damn bill in congress to find out what it really says, or just simply digging into an issue to get to what is really going on? Maher is constantly speaking of the stupidity of the American people and praising the intellect and maturity of Europeans, while showing that he has no more understanding of what he is speaking about than does George Galloway...

This is what happens when a true investigative media gets replaced with the infotainment we are having to deal with. Made only worse by the neo-intellects that begin to spew about how much better BBC is at reporting the news...

The only person that can speak on Maher's show in an intelligent manner, and knows how to deal with Bill's automated audience, appears to be Mr. Hitchens...

Up in Smoke... 2009

Today we did our second Coweta Up in Smoke BBQ cook off. It was a pretty good day, we were tired, but had a great time. The crowd of shoppers was constant and they gave us very good feedback. We sold several items and stayed busy, so I didn't have the opportunity to take as many pictures as I would have liked. So here are a few of the highlights....

Honor guard from the fire department getting ready walk to the stage for the opening ceremony.

We arrived very early again and were ready long before the gates opened.

Julie had a brisk business all day.

The singing of the national anthem.

It was ungodly early to have been so busy.

She saw the club & had to have it..

Several old friends stopped by to say hello, it was a good time.

My brother was on stage singing as his son watched on with Grandpa.

There was good bbq to be had every few feet. The food was amazing.

I even got to touch base with an old friend from school... haven't seen him in twenty four years, it's amazing how time flies. (what is going on with the two guys in the background comparing muscles?)

She picked a walking stick that is one of my personal favorites.

He was my first customer. He was part of a cook team and stopped by as we were setting up. A very nice guy who's team was serving up some great food, Stumpy's barbecue.. look for them soon, it's good stuff.

The kids played hard all day and were worn out by the time it was winding down.

The National guard was on the scene giving helicopter rides.

My brother played two sets during the day to entertain the crowd.


It was a sunny day and we all ended up tired and sunburned, but it was a good day, as all days should be.

Crickhollow at the BBQ cook off

This Saturday, October 3rd, we will be selling some of our work at the 5th annual Coweta up in Smoke BBQ cook off. The event will be held at the Coweta County fairgrounds, gates open at 10:00 A.M.

We will have jewelry, walking sticks, and various bits and pieces of things that we have created over the past few months. So please come out and enjoy some good food and buy a few things from us!