A friend recently told me of Rolling Stone's article about the top 100 guitarists of all time. Of course, I had to go look for myself to see what they had to say. I have no problem with Hendrix, Clapton, Robert Johnson, Vaughan, and Page being in the top 10, but where are Steve Vai and Joe Satriani? I think someone's been smoking crack.

Where "Do Not Call" Does Not Count The old addage holds true... if it's too good to be true it probably is.

The Man In Black passed away today. "I hear the train a comin'; it's rollin' 'round the bend"

United we stand.

This is what I fear. National ID cards, at first glance, seem to be a good idea. Until you start throwing out what ifs.

What if it gets stolen? "Sir, our records show you entered LAX at 9:05 pm last night. At 9:06 a deadly nerve toxin was released into the air conditioning duct from a locked access panel in a security closet... a security closet next to the terminal your ID was used at."

What if the military overthrows the government and places the last election's losing party in power? "Our records show you voted Republican last year Mr. Smith. Please come outside with us."

What if the system gets hacked? "Well Mr. Jones, I pulled you over for a broken taillight, but I see here that you have numerous warrants out for your arrest. How do you explain that?"

This is surreal.

This might be old news to some, but Taco Bell has a summer promotion where you can win gas. And their cups say they're the "Official Sponsor of Summer Gas." Gotta give it to those guys, they have a sense of humor.

In related news, it's good to see the headline U.S. Bimbo Defeats Spanish Challenger in Web Bout. Chalk up another for the good ole U Ess of A.

Johnny Cash Lyrics - Ring of Fire Lyrics:
"I Fell Into A Burning Ring Of Fire
I Went Down, Down, Down
And The Flames Went Higher
And It Burns, Burns, Burns
The Ring Of Fire
The Ring Of Fire"

I think this picture sums up my current mood.

Yahoo! News - Episcopalians Approve Openly Gay Bishop Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan had this to say:

"This body willfully confirming the election of a person sexually active outside of holy matrimony has departed from the historic faith and order of the Church of Jesus Christ," Duncan said. "This body has divided itself from millions of Anglican Christians around the world."

Today I became a registered user of Work or Spoon. Yes, there is a reason, but I don't want to talk about it.

Two things.

Something is horribly wrong if your police department is advertising for new recruits on the radio in a market that is 180 miles away. The New Orleans P.D. has been advertising on regional radio stations in Jackson MS. Advertising the fact that your P.D. is understaffed isn't a Good Idea. Apply here if you consider handling drunks and dodging bullets a good time.

I was at the grocery store late last night, and got behind a woman with a child and a cart of groceries in tow. She proceeds through checkout, and slides her bank card through the card reader. It doesn't work, the cashier tells her to try again. After a second try, the cashier says "It says to call the bank." The woman replies, "Oh, I just got this card in the mail, you think I need to call them?" Now... when was the last time you got a credit or debit card in the mail that didn't have a BIG sticker on it telling you to call the bank to activate the card? I have no patience for idiots.

Is it THAT bad that lawyers think we need to find their phone number at the drop of a hat? Here in Jackson, there are a few major players, and their ads are all over the place. We just received this year's updated phone book, and Don Evans ("No fee unless I collect for you!") has his add imprinted upon the spine and back cover, while Richard Schwartz ("One call, that's all!") had a flexi-magnet glued to the front cover. This got me a little curious, and I looked in the yellow pages. Surprise! The Attorneys section is highlighted and is the largest highlighted section in the book. What is this world coming to?

You've gotta love a day that includes a news item that can legitimately contain the sentence: "The giant hot dog stumbled over the sausage and also tumbled to the ground."

On another note, I'm excited about this weekend! I'm going to see Cats at the Orpheum in Memphis with friends this weekend. A good show and Beale Street with friends... THEN... THEN in two weeks I'm going white water rafting on the Chatooga with some buddies! THEN I close on my house! July is quite possibly the best month ever created.

Wow! I just moved my entire blog from my Road Runner site to Blogpost! I'm impressed with how easy that was!

I was outside this evening at dusk, and I was reminded of how fitting the word "dusk" is at times. The air had an odd quality about it, the sun was wetting and the light was filtered through some low-lying clouds. Dusk. The light had a yellow-ish hue, similar to the way the world looks through amber sunglasses (you know the variety, "Engineered for enhanced vision!"), this clear but hazy color really hit me. Dusk. Yup, sometimes it's the little things in life that make us stop and take notice.

I'm buying a house! I'm buying a house! I'm buying a house!

Yup, I'm seventy-five percent excited, twenty-five percent apprehensive. After signing papers about the possibility of mold in any structure, and the problem with stucco, I've got this feeling that my good luck in the last few months will turn to bad as soon as I've got that debt tied around my neck. Remember the movie The Money Pit? (except of course there won't be a Shelley Long in my story.)

On another note, I notified my apartment complex today that I'd be moving out in a little over 30 days. I signed a paper with them, and they told me about things they'd check out after I moved out, and gave me a checklist of things they check so I'd know how to make sure I get my full deposit back. This checklist has the normal things you'd think of: repairs to sheetrock, vacuum carpets, patch holes, clean blinds, clean bathtub, shampoo carpets (due to pets), exterminating (pets), clean stove/oven, ... WAIT... exterminating? Pets???? Is there a major problem with people leaving pets in their apartments when they move out?

"I'm sorry sir, but you left your siamese cat in your apartment when you moved, can you come pick it up?... You don't want him any more?... Oh, you'd like us to exterminate him? We'll get right on it." And you thought you had a bad job.

Last time I caught a flight to Minnesota, I noticed something that has been in the back of my mind ever since... just a little tidbit that I thought was strange that's somehow stuck with me. When they gave me the in-flight pretzel snack, for some reason I studied the package of pretzels (I must have really been bored!), there at the bottom on the back was a phrase that has since stuck with me: "Snyder's of Hanover pretzels, not affiliated with Snyder's of Berlin".

What? Was there some kind of family feud in the pretzel business? I could imagine an old German immigrant getting angry at his cousin Lars at the sub-par quality of pretzels he churned out using the family name, then starting his own company to compete. The family would have split along the "crunchy but not overly-dry" or "salty but not overly-so" battle lines, and the two companies would battle it out in the free economy that is the promised land! Well, I found out that it's not nearly as exciting as that. Snyder's of Hanover is mainly a pretzel company with chips, Snyder's of Berlin is mainly a chip company with pretzels. The only connection seems to be pretzels. *sigh* I thought I was onto something big.

It's sickening to see how the top brass in the company I work for are making millions off of their stock options while the rest of the company enjoys lower yearly raises than ever before. Our top brass has gone on a stock trading frenzy in the last month, selling old stock for current market value and excercising stock options to buy new shares at highly discounted prices. Our CEO, President, and a VP have combined to profit more than 5.8 million dollars in the last 30 days alone. I wonder why... maybe because of this upcoming news? Darwin Deason hasn't profited from stock options recently, but he has sold more than 15 million dollars in stock in the last 2 months, I'm guessing some of it will be used to cover his legal defense. I don't know why this hasn't been picked up by more media sources yet.

This week has been a long one for my family. Sunday, my uncle (father's brother) went to the hospital with heart trouble. He had open heart surgery on Wednesday morning, with complications that had him in and out of surgery for 12 hours or more. It was very trying on everyone, both at the hospital and away. He pulled through, but not without some drama. I heard the doctor say at one point that he had been through 6 units of blood. It's time like these that I'm proud that I donate blood regularly. And you should too.

Oh, and when my cousin shook the doctor's hand and thanked him for sticking with his father through the ordeal, the doctor politely said "Son, don't thank me, thank God." That's one doctor who has his head on straight.