You Might Want to Rethink That Design

I have to thank Dan Lee for finding this link. What better way to celebrate Christmas than a glowing cross on your lawn, oh wait... it looks like is on fire. I've seen this before... where is it... I don't know*.

I understand what the American Family Association was going for, but you can't sell a burning cross. Good intentions, bad follow throw.

*Still frame from O Brother Where Art Thou

Finally theChristmas Trip Wrap

Christmas has come and come and everything has settled down, well almost, we still have the bowl game trip next weekend and Kim the sister in law is coming the weekend after that. To think about it, this is just the calm before the storm... CRAP!

Well, the trip was a good one, we only got to see about half of the people we wanted. Most were in Columbus and it's hard to see people because we were there during the week. The biggest thing I learned on this trip is the differences on how we act while in Columbus and Ironton. In Columbus we are always moving and if feels like we never stop moving. In Ironton we hardly did anything. Examples, Thursday in Columbus;I worked on a church project, drove to see Kim the sister in law in Hillard, saw a friend of The Wife because she was selling candles, met more of her friends for dinner, met my sister for desert and finally made it back to her parents house at 11. Saturday in Ironton; took some pictures of the town, met Tiffany for a couple of hours, helped The Dad put in a new dryer and ate dinner. It's just different areas and how things are done. It always amazes me that when in Ironton I can sit there and do nothing and enjoy it, but I always have to be moving in Columbus.

The Wife and I had a good Christmas over all, she liked all her gifts (a pearl necklace and a jewelry box) and I enjoyed mine (Brian Piccolo rookie card and the Simpsons Movie), we also did get the BCS Championship tickets and we are also still going to Mobile for the GMAC Bowl. We are in the second level of the end zone in the Superdome and we will be dead center 13 rows up in the west end zone with a Bowling Green flag.

Also I have made a gnome blog, I've called it Gnomadic Gnome. I've got enough pictures to get me to the bowl games and the bowl games will get me till February.

Holiday Season

With Thanksgiving behind us, The Wife has turned towards Christmas. As you can see from the picture, we have put up the tree, we even have most of the shopping done (Thank you 20 hours of overtime check!) and have them wrapped under the tree. The Wife even got me to put of the outside lights.

In most parts of the country this is normal, but this year it feels very odd. I'm guessing because to day the high is in the 60s. I know most of the Ohio and northern readers are telling me to shut up and stop complaining. I'm not complaining... it's freaking awesome, but I am not in the "holiday spirit." Being in news I really don't like most holidays, why? because I have to work on those days and usually they are boring and you do the same story every year. So when a holiday approaches a get a little sense of dread.

As the holiday gets closer, The Wife gets all excited and the weather is more crisp and you have a chance for snow, I usually get a little more excited. Here in Raleigh, that's a little hard to do. It still feels like late September to me and how am I suppose to get excited about Christmas when internally I still think it's before Halloween. I guess this will have to be one of those things I will have to adjust to while living in the south.

Christmas Day Semi Live blog

This is the first time in four years I have had to work on Christmas, and with news, Christmas day is generally boring and you do the same story every year (Unless something horrible like a deadly house fire occurs). So I am attempting to live blog my day. I will admit it's already 4:30 and I'm going to start this from the time I started off to work.

2:20pm- I leave the house with the new MP3 player in hand. I get a nice mix to drive to
Bel Biv Devo- Poison
Ash- Meltdown
U2- Beautiful Day
Ash- Life Less Ordinary
Jimmy Eat World- Bleed America
Ash- Burn Baby Burn

3:00pm- Get to work and find out that I'm either going to do a story about church services or about the monsoon. I'm hoping Church service.

3:15pm- Wonder about Levy's Mom so I go and visit the site and find out James Brown has died! It's a little weird because yesterday I cut some video of him giving out some toys to some kids. A legend has died. Most people will remember the last few crazy years from him, but he was an innovator and a leader in the civil rights movement. I still remember watching a documentary about his show in Baltimore after Martin Luther King died. Many believe his show was the reason that B-more did not have a riot that night. R.I.P. Godfather.

3:30pm I pull out the laptop and start watching Wallace and Gromit's Cracking Contraption's.

4:00pm Wonder where the hell my reporter is. Oh guess what they have him coming in at six.

4:15pm Watch Wallace and Gromit in "The Wrong Trousers."

4:30pm Decide to do a live blog my work day. I should have brought a book.

4:55pm I just found out that my dead guy baseball league has a podcast. I'm currently listing and my team just got blasted! Montreal was the best team in the NL, but I got swept in the first round. Overall so far, DJL... kick ass my friend.

5:15pm Started to watch Dallas vs Philly and I have made a personal revelation. I hate Tony Romo. It's not because I hate the Cowboys(which I do) I just hate the hype. From preseason till now it felt like the media machine wanted him to play. Everyone was calling him the second coming of Troy Aikmen, even though he had never really played in an NFL game. I'll admit he did well when he first came in, but no one had seen him and did not have any real tape of him to break down his weakness. So he picked teams apart, now the rest of the NFL has seen him and his numbers are not as good. 16TDs 10 INTs. Wow that's slightly above average, lets crown him MVP of the league and Pro Bowl starter. If he does well go for him, but shut up with the hype of Romo.

5:35pm Just found out one of the reporters graduated from New York University, which immediately makes me laugh. I use to work with another reporter who graduated from NYU and told me their nickname is "The Violets." Wow I am scared of a violet so a couple of the photographs changed the nickname to "The Fighting Violets."

5:45pm- Just found out that NYU are the violets, but their mascot is a bobcat named violet. Come on NYU be the Bobcats or be the violets, but not both. I personally think they need a mascot that is something that represents the city and university. What about The Cabbies, what you don't fear NYC cab drivers. I heard those guys are surly, mean and drive like it's Grand Theft Auto. Hell if Norwalk can be the Truckers why can't NYU be the Cabbies.

6:05pm- well this maybe the last addition for a while. Looks like I have to head to a place called Pittsboro for a story about a house fire.

6:00pm-11:30pm- Went to Pittsboro and did an OK job on a sad story. This lady and her three year old son were next door at her dad's house cooking Christmas dinner and decided it was late and spent the night there. At 1am her trailer caught fire and was pretty much lost. Then later in the morning after the fire crews left, it rekindled and burnt what ever was left. On what is normally a day of joy, her life was turned upside down. These kind of stories always make me feel appreciated for what I have, because at any time we could loose it all.

Booger mountain

Where you always pick a good one.