1000 visits!

I am not sure how it happened, but I have had 1000 visits to my site. I have been up and running her for almost three months, so that is more than 10 hits a day. Of course that isn't 10 unique visitors, but still, 10 is 10, and 1000 is 1000. Wow.

I get visitors from all over. Many of them come from BlogSpot/Blogger referrals. You may have noticed that you can click on a link at the top of the page to send you to the "next" blog. I don't suggest it if you are faint of heart; there are many blogs out there that are NOT for public consumption. Seriously, don't press that button.

I also get a lot of visitors from websearches. I get lots of hits from MSN and Google searches based on content that i have in the blog (stadiums, Mayor Nagin, Best Wings in Marietta, Pomperaug Coach, etc.). I am surprised how often people click on random content like my blog.

There are ways that I can optimize the code to this page to get even more hits from random websearches, but I am not an expert on that, and I just don't have the time. Maybe some day.

Oh, and I haven't sold a single t-shirt to any of the 1000 hits. Not that anyone was surprised. Maybe i need to expand my offerings... hmmm...

Nagin proves himself to be an Idiot, says Johnny Damon

I couldn't believe it. I had to slow the car down and turn the radio up when I heard this.

In a Martin Luther King Jr. Day speech, Ray Nagin, Mayor of New Orleans, said something that made me shake my head in disbelief. On the day where we celebrate the man who said:
"When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!" Ray Nagin stands up and dishonors his memory.

"I don't care what people are saying Uptown or wherever they are. This city will be chocolate at the end of the day," Nagin said in a Martin Luther King Jr. Day speech. "This city will be a majority African-American city. It's the way God wants it to be." (CNN Article Link)
Holy candy wrappers, Batman! Even Willy Wonka could tell you that rebuilding a "chocolate New Orleans" would be a bad idea that close to the equator. It wouldn't last through the summer! How wasteful.

Or, maybe he was just listening to a lot of funk music lately? Getting Parilament confused with local city government, perhaps? Chocolate City. Mayor, you are a hoot.


Mayor, will there be a Vanilla Sky in Chocolate City?

The best part was his explanation on what he meant. When pressed that his remarks were devisive and racist he explained, "How do you make chocolate? You take dark chocolate, you mix it with white milk, and it becomes a delicious drink. That is the chocolate I am talking about." Mayor, what ARE you talking about.

Mayor Nagin is up for re-election in April.

Best Wings in Marietta, part two

A while back I wrote a short article about my experience at Wild Wing Cafe in Marietta, GA. Seriously, the best wings ever. It's a quick read: link

The results of a google search for "best wings" Marietta gives you: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=%22best%20wings%22%20marietta&btnG=Search
My site is the first on the list.
I am going to make this place famous. I want free Athens Fireball in return. And beer.

Baseball Stadiums

My friend, Jeremy, and I were discussing Busch Stadium's demise in St. Louis recently. This prompted us to trade lists on which stadiums we had visited in our lifetime across the United States. (trackback)

Here is my list:

• The King Dome, Seattle
• Safeco Field, Seattle
• Coors Field, Denver
• Shea Stadium, Queens
• Yankee Stadium, The Bronx
• Turner Field, Atlanta
• The Astrodome, Houston
• Comisky Park, Chicago
• Candlestick Park (3Com), San Francisco
• McAfee Coliseum (Network Associates Coliseum), Oakland

Which makes me think about how much I am looking forward to bringing Big Sis back to Turner Field. What they have done to that ballpark is taken a boring baseball diamond and turned it into this carnival of things to do before, during and after the game. It's not just about baseball anymore.

Once you get to the game, you can take your youngin' to Tooner Field, a Cartoon Network sponsored play area. Designed with the kids in mind, it really attracts a young demographic to the game, which does two things: creates new baseball fans, and retains existing, older fans.

There is an enormous jumbo-tron-like viewing screen, which is almost more fun to watch than the actual game (did I just write that?). The 72 feet by 80 feet "BravesVision" lights up a night game, and is crystal clear during a day game. It makes following the game action very easy, and really gets the crowd involved.

At the end of each Sunday afternoon game, fans 12 and under are invited to "run the bases." Yep, the little kids get to go out onto the playing field and run like little maniacs around the basepaths. On Mother's Day, Mom gets to run too.

Of course, I am still there for the GAME. But if that's what it takes to get my kids interested, so be it. Opening Day is scheduled for April 1st weekend again, as usual, and I just can't wait. With Little Bubba's arrival, it may be harder to get to a game, but I'll be tryin'! See you at the ballpark.

Check out the new online shops!

There is a new section on the right-hand sidebar called "Shops". This spot will be dedicated to places to go o the web to find great stuff.

I have created a new CafePress online store for you to buy Nobody Tells Me Anything Brand Merchandise! Don't kid yourself, everybody will be wanting this by next Christmas. Get yours today!
Click the link to see the latest offerings, and check back frequently to see new items as they are made available.

Below that is my friend, Jen's, Vintage Clothing store. Lots of good finds there, cheap. Check it out regularly; her stock rotates often.

Kids say the darndest things... Especially in the South.

Our Little Bubba is sick. He caught a cold from his Big Sis recently and it turned out to be some big nasty virus called RSV. Supposedly it isn't very nice to the wee ones.

Turns out that after some coughing and wheezing, a trip to the pediatrician and two trips to the hospital, he has been diagnosed with bronchiitis (infant bronchitis) and pneumonia. He has some antibiotics to take as well as another medicine that he inhales through a nebulizer. Neato. He is such a trooper -- barely cries, a little fussing, but generally pretty happy. Good kid.

My Wonderful Wife, during a break while Little Bubba was napping this afternoon, took Big Sis for a ride down the driveway in the wagon. They were met by our neighbor's child, Katie, who is a precocious little 8 year old. Very nice kid, very talkative, and not shy at all. W.W. told Katie about how Little Bubba was sick, and that he had "Bronchitis and Pneumonia." Katie nodded knowingly, responding "Oh yeah. My cousin is sick too. He has Bronchitis and Dwarfism."

Is it baseball season yet?

I am hungry.
Starved in fact.
My only nourishment is coming from a website that we keep up, referenced on the sidebar there, about our Fantasy Baseball League. I need to have myself a full baseball meal. This always happens to me during the winter. It's the same every year. I have had enough baseball by the end of October, and I barely think about it during November and December. But once January comes... hoo boy.

The World Baseball League should be interesting, and will probably keep my hunger at bay for a little bit. But that is still over a month away. Until then, I talk baseball with anyone who will listen. You'd be surprised to hear that there are others out there like me.

• I discuss trades,
• talk about free agents,
• mull over the sorry state of the Red Sox,
• lament the Red Sox acquisition of Mark Loretta to fill their 2B hole,
• revel in the "Babe Ruth-like" acquisition of Johnny Damon by the Yankees (could this be the Curse of the Idiot, another long Red Sox World Series drought? please, let it be so.),
• argue with the sister-in-law's boyfriend that it's ok to be a Yankee fan AND a Braves fan because they are in different leagues,
• compare recent Hall of Fame inductee, Bruce Sutter (the fourth reliever inducted ever to the Hall), to our own superstar, Mariano Rivera,
• coax and cajole the father of a friend to join our highly competitive keeper Fantasy Baseball League,
• discuss the merits of the Rule 5 Draft with people who actually know what Rule 5 is.

All the while, I completely ignore that there is a Basketball season, forget that there are NFL playoffs happening, and barely acknowledge that the hometown Thrashers might actually make the playoffs in their short NHL existence.

I can't wait to bring the kids to baseball games this year. I was totally disappointed to find out that the Atlanta Braves vs. NY Yankees games will all be played in New York again this year. The Yankees haven't visited Atlanta in years.

I have considered canceling NetFlix just so that I can subscribe to XM satellite radio in order to get all the Yankee baseball broadcasts.

I look forward to the start of Spring Training when I ritualistically buy a new Yankee cap to replace my own. As a part of the ritual, I "hand down" my current Yankee hat to someone who is a fan, but really needs a good hat. Last year's hat remains on my shelf because it has become my "painters cap"; I can't wash it enough for it ever to be anything other than a "work hat".

I have two coffee table books for when I have a coffee table that will not be attacked by my curious children. I received one of them from one of my sisters, a Rolling Stone Top 500 Albums book. Very cool. The other is a History of the World Series. I love that book.

You are welcome to join me in the baseball talk by clicking on the link on the right for the Baseball Addicts Anonymous page. See ya there.

My gym teacher died.

My former gym teacher just passed away. He was too young, dying in his sleep at the age of 53. This is shocking to me, trying to exersize more now to keep from dying, but this isn't about me. This news has struck my littlest sister hard -- she played basketball for him for years. She and her former high school teammates got together Saturday night to watch some old game footage.
I wish his family well. We enjoyed his class. I enjoyed watching the girls volleyball team he coached.
Here is the article from the local paper:

Basketball coach's death leaves community shocked
Sunday, January 8, 2006
BY JOE PALLADINO
Copyright © 2006 Republican-American
Pomperaug High School girls basketball coach Pete Kamide died at his home early Saturday morning, leaving an athletic department and a community shocked and saddened.
Kamide, who taught in the physical education department for a quarter century and who was in his 19th season as head basketball coach, was 53.
"Right now we are still in shock and disbelief," said Pomperaug High athletic director Joe Velardi. "Pete touched so many people in this community."
The Pomperaug girls played at home Friday night against Lauralton Hall, winning 41-33.
"As he walked out of the gym Friday he complained of a little headache," recalls Velardi. "He went home, called the newspapers, watched a little television, had dinner, and went to bed. He passed away in his sleep. There is an autopsy being done (Saturday). We don't know what happened."
Velardi said that Pomperaug's girls basketball game Tuesday against Newtown has been postponed. A determination has not been made on the home game Friday against Masuk
"The kids on the team and their families are deeply saddened," added Velardi. "It is hard to gain perspective right now. Nothing has been decided. We need some time to deal with that."
One man who coached with Kamide for more than a decade, and taught alongside him for more than two decades, is Pomperaug football coach Chuck Drury.
"I am as shocked as everybody today," said Drury.
Kamide served as a football assistant for Drury for eight seasons, and Drury was a basketball assistant for three more.
"Pete was a wonderful husband, father, and coach," notes Drury. "He was a good friend and a good colleague, and he had a great relationship with a lot of the other coaches. He was a guy's guy. I guess a guy would understand what that means."

Jack Edward is here!!

My sis has FINALLY had her kid. I'll get a picture up soon, with her approval, but the kid is a GIANT!!! Jack Edward was born at 3:08am on January 4th, 2006. He was 9 pounds and 10 ounces, and 22 inches long. As my mom says, "A big baby for our little Katie."

Hurray! I'm an Uncle!

Just let Ryan do it.

It has been too long since I have posted, and my head is filling up with too many random thoughts. I just need to share some of them.

Was it just me, or did Dick Clark mess up the New Year's Eve Countdown.
Fifteen, Fourteen, Thirteen, *mmmph*, *mmph*, eight, seven, six... and so on. I lost four seconds off my year. Thanks, Dick. I realize you are recovering from stroke and that you have made great improvements, but DANG! This is live television! Let's just let Ryan Seacrest do it next year. Maybe Dunkleman will join him.

Sidebar: there is no way that Mariah Carey wasn't freezing in that outfit. She sure did seem a bit "happy" to be there... did you notice that too? And when did she become so "voluptuous?" E-gad, I couldn't decide what was more distracting, Mariah's skimpy outfit or trying to decipher what Dick was saying at that time. Ugh. Not my favorite New Year's Eve TV moment. But that may have everything to do with the fact that I was more sober than I had ever been on a NYE, since I was eighteen? Maybe. Two kids and one less than a month old sure does curb your New Years Eve party experience.

Happy New Year!! What is your resolution?
I have thirty more pounds to lose. I'd like to see the inside of 200, and it would be great to hit 190. If I can start running again, I'd like to run the Peachtree Roadrace on July 4th. That one might be a stretch.

Camera fun

Some photos from the holi-daze.
Hope yours were happy.