As this first season of "Academy" level soccer has wound down, we have seen definite improvement in conditioning and aggressiveness from I-Man in this soccer gig.I am now looking forward to seeing a bit more from him and other team members in regards to on the ball skills. They all were improving at the end of the season and you could see a definite momentum shift away from I-Man and the goalie on their heels constantly defending in front of the goal to a more "attacking" attitude from the midfielders and forwards. So February will bring the start to the second half of season... and some cold weather for a while for practices. I am not sure how I-Man will like practicing outside when it is 32 degrees... and I KNOW he doesn't realize that's coming. But time to man up, so to speak. Meanwhile... Baritone (and inherently, Tuba) still looms in the distance...

Smokin' Joe Frazier passed away last night. I bet to most people reading this there is a "Um.. who's that?" sorta vibe... But Joe Frazier was a baaaddd man. And he was unwillingly the evil villain to Muhammed Ali. (Ali was also polarizing because of his stance against the Vietnam War) And it could be said that there would be no Ali without Frazier. Frazier, Ali and Foreman (and to a far lesser extent Norton) were the heyday of Heavyweight Boxing... their boxing matches made ANY of the current matches seem like a MMA fight down at Anderson Civic Center. BILLIONS of people watched their fights in a time where there was NO cable TV or internet. I remember watching the fights (some of my first memories) on TV on Saturdays/Sundays on Wide World of Sports. And just as entertaining were the interviews and press meetings promoting the fights between Ali and Frazier. Ali invented trash talking. and he took it out on Frazier. And Frazier was never really able to respond and it always hurt him. And I dont think Frazier realized that to Ali, it was all promoting the fight and not personal. I also remember watching the fights and not realizing that they were actually taped events we were watching. This was before cable, 24 hour sports talk and the internet. This was when the NBA came on on Sundays and you didnt even know that the game you were watching happened 4 or 5 days ago.

at any rate, I hope Smokin' Joe is able to go drink a beer and smoke a cigar now in peace.... a part of me died with him. While I was an Ali guy back then ( a kid more drawn to Ali's flamboyant style and words) i do feel I would have been a Frazier guy if I would have been an adult at that time. And can you imagine how Ali would be received now? a muslim? anti goverment? brash, outspoken?...

anyway, I digress. More for another time.

To echo George Foreman this morning... "Goodnight Joe... Rest in Peace."

i remember a time when it took me three days to program sprites into my Commodore 64 to try to run the most basic of videogames... now I am watching Monday Night Football as I drive down the road, receiving text and Google talking to my daughter... on my phone.

So the Jetta has returned FINALLY from the local snakeoil dr. and it is running like it did 10 years ago. It has me now thinking I should push for 400K... Fix the AC (likely a dead compressor) and the nose and we are set... I think for the 18,000 I paid for it that I have gotten my moneys worth...

mucho thanks to Nanna and Papa, and Uncle Wes for letting me borrow a car during this time...

tsk.. tsk.. somebody at work dared to break what is normal policy at work and brought up Herman Cain to me and asked me what I thought about the harrassment scandal thingy. Well..

tsk, tsk.. I can certainly see where this is a story. But I also see where people will take the opportunity for their 15 minutes of fame. And then you will see the piling on... women coming out of nowhere suddenly saying this and that. Probably the truth lies in there somewhere. I can kinda see him as a guy who might occasionally make off color remarks or bad attempts at innuendo humour. So I bet he has said some things in the past that i am sure he regrets now. And his inexperience on this stage is hurting him at this junction. He will eventually have to start having a savvy press secretary soon to run interference for him IF...IF he gets past this current bruhaha. I am guessing they might feel he can ride it out. I am not sure the media is going to let this go considering it seems they have deemed Romney as who they want to run against Obama.

at the end of the day, the charges are serious. And Cain did not handle it well from get go (see: inexperienced at handling the bigtime stage) Personally, I am curious to see how this all comes out. I dont see it being a deal breaker for me based on what has been leaked.. so far. I havent heard where there has been anything physical... yet. And while any sort of sexual harrasment toward anyone should be addressed, it remains to be seen just whether or not this stemmed from the "lets sue over anything" days 20 years ago, or belies a more serious systematic problem with his character. he wouldnt be the first President, or probably last, who has had "issues" with women, would he? Its just now it is something to generate ratings and get people to watch/read....

dude.. i have a slight back problem. It seems to be going away, and its not as bad as a couple times before. But i assume most people reading here have had a back issue at one time or another. And it always amazes me how much of what you do is controlled by your back muscles. especially the lower back. I also am re-evaluating my diet as I my blood sugar is cycling a little higher over all. And I am beginning to wonder if that has a part in my lower back tweak as I do remember that the last time this happened, I immediately changed my diet to a strict adherence and almost immediately recovered... So... i guess that answers my question, i suppose.

one of the "benefits" of where I work is that they will pay for a certain amount of education costs. So I am now getting my A+ Certification for free... well, not exactly free in that I have to actually work at my  job and go there everyday. And that it does take time... so every morning I take a little time to watch videos and do labs and take quizzes... This will be huge in that it will instantly open up doors for me to think about other opportunities within the company, or even elsewhere if I thought I could improve on salary. But a short term benefit will be an increase in pay due to that certification being on my resume. Its funny in that so much of this stuff I already know. I will also be going on to get the Networking Certification, as well. Now THAT will be stuff I am not as totally familiar with.

while I am definitely undecided (and still Independent) I have been piqued and amused by Herman Cain. I am not sure he is what we need as President. but what I find pisses me off is that the supposed "Progressives" are all out attcking him now that they see he has a little traction? And the nastiness of the supposed enlightened Liberals is funny. What? oh.. I forgot, all Black people are supposed to be Democrats right? If you dare think outside of that mold.. dare think for yourself and think against what we are told to think, then we are Uncle Tom's and "smoking from a crack pipe". And the attacks on Cain will get worse. And where will they come from? Think about it... I am reminded of the fact that Jackie Robinson was called an Uncle Tom when he was involved in the Nixon campaign and Administration. He, like me, had a lot of opinions that could be "labeled" as Left or Right... which, by the way, I think most people are.. But it pisses me off when I see the obvious cheerleaders for Obama at MSNBC, or NBC or CBS or ABC or NPR... openly diss Hermain Cain and look to tear him down. What? he's not Black enough? (and we all know Cain is waaayyy more "black" than Obama can ever claim to be.. or ever was) or is it that if he does succeed, it blows the "Blacks MUST be Democrats" notion out of the water? It seems you can be diverse as long as you are diverse in the way WE tell you to be....

so... I think I am a tad bit tired of Halloween. First of all, we start talking about this so called "holiday"? in late August and when it falls on a Monday (or even Sunday) it is a 3 or 4 day gorge fest on candy. now... i like candy. I dont eat too much of it for many reasons. But it really is all the kids are thinking about. It really is selfish and we all feed into it.. How much did you get? what did you get? I think the Charlie Brown Special pretty much sums it up... "I got a rock"

and as I have said before, I am not sure I like how the "Holidays" are heading. We will now essentially bypass Thanksgiving and start getting pounded on Christmas "stuff". And I am not talking about the actual meaning /history/symbolism of Christmas. But the Santa/Skatell her/Its he most wonderful time of the year over and over will start to be pushed down our throats. Once again, i tread carefully cause I dont want that part of Christmas going away.. But I also want to make sure the twins understand where these "Holidays" actually came from this year. And the symbolism of Santa and gift giving, etc. will have to be stressed this year... I think I might have to find that "The Little Drummer Boy" on DVD to go a long with the Charlie Brown Specials, Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer, Santa Claus is Coming to Town and... yes... The Polar Express.