One Big Step

OK, this is one of those WOW! kind of things. Austrian Felix Baumgartner used a ballon to climb to over 128,000 feet, stepped out of a capsule, and jumped. Because he was in the very thin air of the stratosphere, during his 4 minute free fall, he reached a speed of 834.4 miles per hour (that’s Mach 1.24)…faster than the speed of sound. This on the same day 65 years ago when Chuck Yeagar became the first human to go faster than the speed of sound. Yeager used a rocket plane. Yeager was able to do it this year using just a space suit.

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The Campaign

When long-term congressman Cam Brady commits a major public gaffe before an upcoming election, a pair of ultra-wealthy CEOs plot to put up a rival candidate and gain influence over their North Carolina district. Their man: naive Marty Huggins, director of the local Tourism Center. At first, Marty appears to be the unlikeliest possible choice but, with the help of his new benefactors’ support, a cutthroat campaign manager and his family’s political connections, he soon becomes a contender who gives the charismatic Cam plenty to worry about. As Election Day closes in, the two are locked in a dead heat, with insults quickly escalating to injury until all they care about is burying each other. Because even when you think campaign ethics have hit rock bottom, there’s room to dig a lot deeper.

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Weight Loss-Updated

I haven’t written much about this because it’s kind of embarrassing, but if you know me, you know I’m a big guy, and I have always been a big guy. However, over the past 5 or 6 years especially, I’d really put on a lot of weight. I finally reached that breaking point, and realized I had to deal with it, so what follows are some random thoughts I’ve had about weight and weight-loss.

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The Canon As You’ve Never Heard It Before

I suppose of all the classical music out there, perhaps my favorite is the Pachelbel Canon in D. It’s beautiful melody has soothed me many times, and it seems there’s almost no treatment of music that doesn’t turn out beautiful. Guitar, organ, symphony orchestra, hammered dulcimer…it doesn’t seem to matter, it almost always sounds amazing.

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I’m Back, and We’re Going Green

I admit I have not been good at posting lately. I’ve had a lot on my mind, we went through a very busy time at work. I was writing a lot, so just couldn’t get up to write. So now we have a political campaign nationally. The homophobes are ramping up their attacks, especially in North Carolina, and I’ve some interesting things happen at work which I may decide to discuss. Here in Florida we’ve had the Trayvon Martin shooting, and lots is changing at church, and the General Conference for the Methodist Church is being held here in Tampa. I’ve got plenty to write, so I’m going to work to get back to it.

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Christmas 2010-A Good One

Well, Christmas 2010 has come and gone. Nothing left to do but pack up the decorations. I’d have to rate it as a pretty good Christmas. I think I managed to stick to a fairly tight budget, and despite a few arguments with Lay, we wound up with everyone getting something they really enjoyed. I got my shopping and gift wrapping done well ahead of time this year. The decorations were up right after Thanksgiving, and the Christmas Cards went out just after that, so I never felt rushed or hectic.

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Get Him to the Greek-A Movie Review

Aaron Green gets things done. The ambitious 24-year-old has been given a career-making assignment. His mission: Fly to London and escort a rock god to L.A.’s world famous Greek Theatre for the first-stop on a huge comeback tour. His record mogul boss, Sergio Roma, gives him one warning: “The artist is the worst person on Earth. Turn your back on him at your own peril.” British rocker Aldous Snow is a brilliant musician, but due to a bad break up and nose-diving career, has fallen off the wagon and is now a drunken disaster. This was better than expected.

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Autumn and The Canon

Many people prefer Spring, but I prefer Autumn. As said by Albert Camus, “Autumn is a second spring when every leaf’s a flower.” Here are two of my most favorite things…beautiful Autumn scenes set to Pachelbel’s Canon in D. We did have a cool night last Thursday night, but not many other signs of Autumn here in Florida. As an Appalachian State University Alum, I know a thing or two about a beautiful Fall. Even down the mountain in Kings Mountain, it’s still a beautiful time of the year.

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