wow

While my prayers and thoughts go to the people on the gulf coast and New Orleans, I must say that I will NEVER establish a permanent home on the coast…anywhere, and will probably include lakeside property, as well. That is just some serious …damage. My creekside home is about the limit…I have already dealt with one flood, and STILL haven’t completely recovered yet. I cant possibly imagine what those people are dealing with.

wow

they are saying a category 5 hurricane is going to hit new orleans...i am officially putting new orleans on my places NOT to live, along with South Florida and the California coast, The book is still out on Charleston, too. it is interesting listening to the XM satelitte channel that is broadcasting to the people in Louisiana. Man, I would have been long gone from there a couple of days ago, yet people are just now leaving, with the outer bands hitting the shore now....

slow progress

In the Frak yeah department…I went to the Heywood Mall today to get fitted for a tux…. Pottery Barn is coming to Heywood. Wow…I thought I’d NEVER see that.

Today, we moved the futon out of the 3rd bedroom and are starting to prepare for Ian and Rylee to have separate bedrooms. Should be fun for Ian to move out and have his big play table in his bedroom. Of course, now we will have to deal with him playing with toys instead of going to slepp…But I guess rules will have to be set, and enforced. I got out the leaf blower today, as well. The leaves are starting to fall…..

Today to-do

Today ..i have to get fitted for my tux…. Also gotta get shin guards and cleats for Ian for his soccer team gig coming up next month…also looking for bedding stuff for Rylee for xmas …

Testing this new Blogger/Word option thingy

Testing this new Blogger/Word option…..

I just don’t get why the recycle people toss out styofoam (sp?) out of the bins onto the ground…and then I don’t get why the trash people who come later will only pick up the trash bags…leaving the Styrofoam on the ground…. I just don’t get it.

theres always a bigger fish

always amusing to watch the little league world series stuff, especially when these kids face adversity...and break down bawling on the field...hard lessons are learned...they are used to beating the crap out of everyone all season, then suddenly, some kid catches up to their fast ball, and parks it beyond the wall. Suddenly, you aint the stud you thought you were...you are just another above average player.... who lost. I bet the kid who struck out 18 of 18 batters yesterday gets tagged by some Taiwan kid whose parents will be sent to jail if he doesnt perform....

by the way....

...its 82 degrees outside, but the heat index is 91 degrees. Fall cannot get here quick enough....

i gave in

..I found another Julius Peppers #90 jersey...I am watching it on Ebay. I...must...have...IT!!!!..it ends tonight @ 1230ish.... so i am cleaning our bedroom, watching the ebay site...me thinks that since it is Saturday night, bidding will be light.

I watched the entire preseason Panthers game tonight (while watching ebay, talking to my mother, jessica, AJ and a frat brother...amidst cleaning up the upstairs bathroom, the kids bedroom and starting on our bedroom...yes, i was bored)...I have decided to make my pick now. i am going with the Panthers. Now, i know this probably means that the Falcons will go to the Super Bowl. Always seems to work that way....

tried to talk to Lynn online...alas, no response...

Long ago way down in the jungle
Someone got an inspiration for a tune
And that jingle came from the jungle
Became famous mighty soon
Thrills and chills it sends through you
Hot so hot it burns you too
Though it's just the growl of the Tiger
It was written in a syncopated way
More and more they yell for the Tiger
Everywhere you go today, they're shoutin:
Where's that Tiger?
Where's that Tiger?
Where's that Tiger?
Where's that Tiger?
Hold that Tiger!
Hold that Tiger!
Hold that Tiger!

fact for today

Passacaglia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

In music a passacaglia (French: passacaille, Spanish: passacalle or pasacalle) is a musical form and the corresponding court dance. Its name derives from the Spanish pasear (to walk) and calle (street), supposedly to denote the music played by wandering musicians.

Originally a slow Italian or Spanish dance in 3/4 time, the passacaglia later came to be an instrumental work in 3/4 based on a ground (that is, a melody which repeats unchangingly throughout while other lines are freely varied). The passacaglia is very closely related to the chaconne, except that in the chaconne, the repeating melody is always in the bass (that is, it is a ground bass).

A number of passacaglia themes became well known enough to merit their own names. Many Baroque composers wrote variations on La Follia, also known as la folia and la folie d'Espagne (the folly of Spain) a chord progression apparently based on a Spanish folk melody. Composers from Jean-Baptiste Lully and Arcangelo Corelli to Sergei Rachmaninoff and Vangelis (in his film score to the motion picture 1492: Conquest of Paradise) have used the La Follia theme, although not always composing a passacaglia based on it. Another exemple is the Passacaglia in D Minor by Christian Friedrich Witt (Germany, 1660-1716) for organ or clavier, often falsely attributed to J.S. Bach (BWV Anh. 182).

One of the best known examples of a passacaglia in western classical music is the one in C minor for organ by Johann Sebastian Bach, BWV 582. Another Baroque example is Dido's lament, "When I am Laid in Earth," in Purcell's opera Dido and Aeneas; and a 19th century example is the finale of Josef Rheinberger's 8th organ sonata. Perhaps the most frequently heard passacaglia, however, is the finale of Johannes Brahms' Symphony No. 4 (although Brahms did not explicitly call it a passacaglia, it follows the rules of one and the repeated figure is based on one found in Bach's Cantata No. 150, Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich). Halvorsen also composed a passacaglia that is based on a Handel theme and written for a duet of violin and viola, considered among the most popular pieces for both instruments due to its simplicity and depth.

shopping is on...

...starting to gather xmas gifts now. I found an awesome jersey for my brother. Its a julius peppers Carolina Panthers jersey...looks so much like the real deal I am jealous. sewn on numbers, sticthed on name.... you cant tell it isnt the real deal unless you are all into this stuff like I am. I got it today. i am now thinking about getting one for myself.... looks like the twins are going to separate bedrooms come xmas, if not before. therefore, Santa is bringing bedroom stuff for them, via the grandparents. we are trying to find bedding etc for their twin size beds that they will be moving up too then. seems like yesterday that they were out of the cribs and into the small size beds. of course, all of this is compounded by there being 2 (two) of them, for those of you reading with singletons..... jessica is pondering tossing the Explorer and getting something smaller that will do better in regards to gas. so we are searching now for a bettr car, i guess. Gas is just flat out ridiculus...but, if you are a normal human being, you already know that and have been saying that to yourself .

Got the invite to go over to the End of Bandcamp picnic/barbecue thingy...i am going to try to get over to that this year because i am curious to see how the Frat hits the ground this year. Jenee (the president) has potential to be a great leader for them, but i wonder if the rest of the group is going to play nice, be grown ups and do what is expected of them. I have my fingers crossed that they will not play the "high school" games anymore.

watched the stuff over in Gaza this morning. It was weird. i am not sure what to think of it. Kinda hard to know which side to be on in that discussion.

US soccer won again last night. I am looking forward to the World cup next summer. THAT should be fun, especially if the US side can hold up to its current ranking

lots of thinking going on....

10 years ago, I lost a dear friend. Now, granted, i wasnt as close to him as a couple of people who read this, but i did consider him to be the type of person i would still be in touch with today as i am with the people I consider to be within my personal circle of friends. I think back to that time, especially these days...10 years ago...wow. His death really changed the course of where I was heading with things. I was just elected to my first term as President..Scott was Secretary and it was widely assumed he would follow me as President of the chapter. Instead, i remain as president for 3 years, go on to be District VP then President, then attain National Office. Eventually I become Sponsor of the chapter and Kappa Kappa Psi in a very important part of my life. I must admit that having to call all the brothers and tell them of his death, and then try to push forward during those difficult times changed things with me. And i always consider that time as the beginning of what i consider to be the "modern" times of my life. I look at it now...Josh is married and has just celebrated the birth of his child....kim is married and has a son...I am married to jessica and have twins, one of whom is partially named after Scott.... Lisa and TJ are married with a son....the list goes on.... who would have thunk it at that time that all of that would happen.. I never will forget the conversation I had with kristen immediately following his funeral, driving back to clemson, a couple of days before bandcamp, and us talking about how life would never seem the same again.

And..it didn't.

10 years ago. Seems like forever and a day...yet seems like yesterday. I regret that I havent been able to get to your grave recently, Scott. but i will stop by sometime soon. I told you the day we said goodbye to you that i would never forget you, and i wont.

Fall is just about here....

spooling up for a wedding that i get to photograph in a couple of weeks. Tomorrow I am going to scout the church. This is a very small wedding that is only wanting the "basic" photos. but this will give me a chance to get in a gig before a somewhat more important gig ( to me, at least) in October.

...I am also investigating male strippers to hire for Brandy.....

time moving quickly

Don't hang on,
Nothing last forever
but the earth and sky
It slips away,
And all your money
won't another minute buy

Dust in the wind,
all we are is dust in the wind
Dust in the wind,
everything is dust in the wind
- Kansas

seems like so many times now...I think that I need to call Kristen, or that I need to call Lynn and check in with her...or that I just need to call Brown and laugh about the Yankees...or that i need to call Josh and see how the new family is going...or I need to call Lisa and just say HI!!!...or I need to call Brandy and just keep in touch...or i need to call Kim and try to get up to see her...but.... somehow, when i get home, after dinner, bath, reading, and bedtime...I never do. And this makes me so damn sad. the next thing you know, a few days have past...then suddenly you look at the calendar, and MONTHS have passed.

hmmmmm

“Oh, the places you'll go, oh, the things you'll see.”

“You don't have to hold onto the pain to hold onto the memory.”

Death has a tendency to encourage a depressing view of war.
~Donald Rumsfeld

??????

seems my last 2 posts didnt work. Wonder if Firefox has something to do with this?

steppin up the discipline a notch

...seems like Rylee and Ian are starting to get a little dose of reality lately. Used to be something like..."Rylee.... put the cup up!"...no movement......."Rylee.... put the cup up!"...a little"umm umph!!"......."Rylee.... put the cup up!"...stomp the floor and look defiant. Then we would have to either give a little pop or do it ourselves.... now, things have had to change.... lets just say that no response the first time leads to some..uh...stinging consequences. Its kinda sad that we have had to advance to this stage....but, alas...its necessary. It has led to a slighter faster response, i must report.

back home

...i have finally returned home from Lexington, where National Convention for the Frat was this year. It was a lot of fun, and was great to renew old aquaintances again. It did make me ponder seriously whether or not i want to run for national office again. That is something I will have to seriously consider in the next couple of months..

So we are now into August. Rylee and ian get signed up for Dance and Soccer, i have a wedding to photograph( i think) and school starts for Jessica and the kids in the Fraternity. I am so ready for fall, even though we only have had a recent stretch of hot weather. Fall is by far the best time of the year. On deck for the fall... must visit Wyatt and his new kid, Brandys wedding and a visit by Kristen down here.