Break Me Down

When something tests me, a lot of times, I find something in a song that gets me singing it as loud as I can when it comes on.... right now, this one seems to be the most applicable.

The sun is gone and the flowers rot

Words are spaces between us

And I should've been down in the rivers I've found of token lost

And I should've been down when you made me insecure

So break me down if it makes you feel right

And hate me now if it keeps you alright

You can break me down if it takes all your might

'Cause I'm so much more than meets the eye

And I'm the one you can never trust

'Cause wounds are ways to reveal us

And yeah I could have tried and devoted my life to both of us

But what a waste of my time when the world we have is yours

So break me down if it makes you feel right
And hate me now if it keeps you alright
You can break me down if it takes all your might
'Cause I'm so much more than all your lies

Now I wish I was in my car to hear this. Anyway... okay, back to work....

(political post)

In my limited political knowledge, I'm pretty sure this woman will not stand a chance to do anything on a national level because of the perveyance of so many lies and rumors around her. I really hope I'm wrong though.

One Thing I Cannot Do Without During a Cowboys Game....

And in tonight's game, they are dressed in red "Santa" type outfits... oh THANK YOU LORD for the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders!!!!

Things I Can Do Without During a Cowboy Game

1 - John Madden... I haven't liked him for a long, long time... I know that he's Frank Caliendo's favorite, and I like HIM cause he's "funny, funny Frank", but Madden needs to be booted.

2 - Andrea Kramer - What kind of a stupid question is this to a player on a TEAM SPORT... "What do you peronally have to do in order for your team to win this game?" Idiot.

3 - All those McDonald's commercials asking if you're a "Nuggnut"... LOL

More Brian Regan

Okay, so I've been on this Brian Regan kick... oh well... it's hilarious to me. :-) I figure with the economy lately, and with all the craziness, we all need something to laugh about, so as not to concern ourselves with our 401k's that are now 201k's, or 101k's.... or 1k's. Or however this stuff is affecting you directly or indirectly. (and i bet that if i used "affecting" incorrectly, someone will be correcting me on it)

This is one I heard once as my alarm went off when I was in HS. The DJ started playing this exact bit just as the alarm went off, and while in a half-asleep stupor, I was cracking up laughing, and that's what woke me up.

Not sure what the deal is with the video on this... kinda weird... but it's still a funny bit...



and here's another...

Couple of my favorite commercials, and some funny YOUTUBE videos

i heard this one on the radio, but hadn't seen it on TV



and here's one of my favorite stand-up comics, Brian Regan





Good for a few laughs, huh?

And for those who haven't seen it... here is Achmed, the Dead Terrorist!

If you're looking for my current running/training:
http://houstontoboston.blogspot.com

Perhaps I'll update here soon, but not likely for now.

After the Debate

Okay, so to steal a phrase from my favorite radio talk show guy, Pat Gray, Sarah Palin dog-slapped Joe Biden, and I loved watching it happen as they stood on stage. I know the opinions of some of those who read my blog, and I know we have different views, so I apologize right now for any offense taken.

As I watched, a couple of thoughts came to mind concerning Sarah Palin. I've thought them up to now, but it was accentuated on the screen.

1. She is middle-class. She's a wife and mother, of kids in public schooling. Her son is on his way to Iraq. She's from small-town America. She owns guns. She absolutely represents everything that makes America the country we are. The term I keep hearing is "Joe six-pack", and quite honestly, that's where she comes from, lives in and relates to.

2. I'm sickened by the portayal of Sarah Palin as "folksy" and "inexperienced". In all honesty, every year that I've been able to vote, I hear from people that are "sick" of the system, tired of corruption, tired of politicians, tired of this and that. The "other side" is the party that supposedly is FOR the middle-class, for the little person, for "Joe six-pack", for the small-town person who struggles through life. You know what? That's what she is, and to see the absolute despise for her and all she stands for, in my opinion, tells me exactly just how much those elitists care about middle-America. They aren't for you and me, but she is. Granted, she's ONLY the VP candidate, but she is the definition, again just in my opinion, of in touch with what Americans want. And it's absolutely ridiculous how much spin is performed in the mainstream media against her, all in an attempt to put into office, their Chosen One, Barrack Obama. They tout her inexperience, but no one wants to use the word to best describe many of Obama's policies.... Marxist. Flat out, Marxism.

And one final note, for those who know me, you gotta know this was coming, but again to use a phrase from Pat Gray, blood was absolutely SHOOTING from my eyes as I listened to the discussion on man-made Global Warming and man-made Climate Change. BLEH!!! I'm so sick of this discussion being held as if there is concensus, as if it's plain fact, as if it's absolutely undisputably real. Scientifically speaking, they are divided practically right down the middle, with evidence popping up all the time that in actuality, climate change may be.....you know.... NATURAL!!! What bothers me about both of these candidates is that they so foolishly speak as if man-made climate change is fact, and it is absolutely not. It is absolute, 100% THEORY. Lastly on this, I so wish that the other side of the argument, which holds just as much, if not more legitimacy, was put out there for America to read about, see and hear.

Okay, that's all for now. I can't wait for election time in November. In no uncertain terms, Obama and his Marxist policies absolutely cannot get into the White House, especially if the existing Democratic Majority exists in the House and Senate. Heck, many of the Republicans in there are just as worthless. So many new faces need to be in there, so that we go from having a Do-Nothing Congress to one that moves our country in the right direction.... an American direction.

Funny Stuff

I was just talking with my brother about this, so I had to go and look for this on youtube...I remember seeing this when I had my first job, about 7 or 8 years ago... I love it. Enjoy!!

Quick updates....

I survived Ike, with the Grace of the good Lord, and with the help of a friendly voice throughout the night.

I got out and video'd some of the storm as it came through...that was pretty cool, getting out in front of my house when the eye-wall was about 20 miles from me. Unfortunately, I fell asleep after that and missed the worst part of it.

I lost power at my house about 5:45 am as the storm passed my area.

We regained power in our neighborhood about 9 o'clock or so on Sunday night.

I lost two side to my fence, and a bunch of tree limbs were down in my yard, but that was it, thank God.

I returned to work on Tuesday after the storm...that week was pretty nice, as far as traffic goes. Nothing too bad at all.

This week has been a very different story. What was once, at the worst, an hour and 15-minute drive has now become an hour and 45 minute, to 2-hour drive in. I left my house today at 6:45, only to arrive at work at 8:30...that sucked.

That's all I have to say, at this time.

My Goodness....

It's amazing what it sounds like outside right now, as Ike moves over us here in Clear Lake. Right now, the eye wall is pounding my area... the eye is about 20 miles or so from me... at least, the leading edge of the eye. So, that means, it's possibly about an hour, maybe hour and a half away.

The lights have gone off and and back on at least 7 or 8 times.

I've tried to get pictures and videos with both my digital cam and my handheld video recorder. It's amazing. About 10-15 minutes ago, I went outside and video'd... it's absolutely indescribable watching all of this happen from outside.

Anyway, keep praying for SE Texas folks... we're getting it now...

Getcher Popcorn Ready... and Going for 3

First off, I'm so excited that the NFL has begun, and the Cowboys are back. I missed watching the game as we were driving back from Dallas, however, I got to listen to Brad Sham, the voice of the Cowboys. He, by far, is the best football voice, in my completely unbiased opinion. I tried to find some audio files online of some of his play calls, just to give those who don't know the voice some insight, but instead, all I could find was this story which was pretty cool.

The Cowboys were awesome... winning 28-10, and taking thier first step in, what I believe, will be a Super Bowl season. We shall see.

One of the best parts of the Cowboys and their resulting coverage during The Blitz on ESPN was some pretty cool irony. On Saturday night, Tom Jackson, Mike Ditka, Chris Berman and gang talked about the Cowboys talent, but wondered how they would respond when someone came up and "hit them in the mouth" or "chin"... I can't remember which word was used. Well, mid-way through the game today, Tony Romo took a big shot to the chin. A closeup shows him grimacing as he lay on the turf. He got up, stayed on the field, and finished the drive, ending with a TD for the Cowboys. Turns out, he was cut on the chin as he bled through the chinstrap. He finished the game with 2 TD passes, and over 320 yards passing. So, how would they respond when getting hit in the chin.....??

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In NASCAR, Jimmie Johnson out-raced Tony Stewart over the final 10 laps to claim his 4th victory of the season in the final race to the Chase. I ws not able to see much of this either, except the first few laps. I listened on the radio (I know... NASCAR on the radio???), and heard the call of the final laps... thought it was very cool. Wish I could have seen it live.

Now comes the fun part... and in my opinion, with the Chase starting, it seems that Jimmie is hitting his stride at the right time, and Carl and Kyle... well, they are racing good, but not great. I don't know any better than anyone else what will happen in the Chase, but it's looking good for the 48 Lowes team. To see Jimmie win 3 in-a-row....man, that would be AWESOME!!

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The Astros... man, what can I say? A week ago, I got to go to a 'Stros game on a Friday night with my parents and my little one, and we got to see the first game-winning HR that I'd been present for AT the game since 1986... if I recall correctly, Craig Reynolds hit a winning HR against the Mets over the right field fence. So, yeah, had been 22 years... wow, that makes me feel old. So, Berkman hits a game-winning 9th inning HR, and looking now, after taking 2 of 3 from the Rockies over the weekend, they have won 10 of the last 11... once again making a late-season run at trying to get in the Wild Card. Will they get there?? I don't know, but I sure hope so. I don't know if I could handle it though... my driver in the Chase going for 3, my Cowboys starting what should be a Super Bowl season, and my hometown baseball boys in the playoffs?? Sports-sensory overload, but I'd love it.

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I realize it's bad for a great player like Tom Brady to go out with a potentially season-ending injury, but man, I thought the guys on SportsCenter were going to cry over Brady's injury. But, I guess it's no longer the job of ANY media source to simply report the news, but to manufacture as much drama and controversy as possible. I mean, to bring up the question of whether it was dirty or not... was just dispicable. I don't know and correct me if I'm wrong, but in the post-game bits I saw, it sounded like Randy Moss saying he thought it might have been dirty was in response to a question asking if it was a dirty play, and not simply him voicing his own opinion on it. If they are trying to create that controversy, I just think that's trasy of whoever asked that.

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Back to NASCAR, Tony Stewart is a jerk.... again. I mean really, to tell your team "Great job guys, you gave away another one" because they couldn't get out in front of Jimmie on that final pit stop, that's just stupid. Joey Logano will be replacing Tony in the Home Depot car next year, but really, that doesn't make me like any of Joe Gibbs Racing any more than I do now... and it ain't much. :P

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Ummm... I think I'm done for now. I have plenty of political stuff I could get into, but I won't go into that unless something simply gets absolutely under my skin again. Most who have read to this point know where I stand and can probably guess how I feel about things at this point. Those who know me are unfortunate enough to have probably HEARD me talk about how I feel about things at this point. :P To those who I've yammered on to about it, my apologies for going on and on and on about things. :-)

Later all!

Sometimes...

...I have a night where I look at things I wish I had done when a certain situation was there...
...things I wished I'd said...
...feelings I wished I'd expressed...
...just having a "I wanna pick a fight" kinda night.

Not sure what that means, or why, but just am.

Besides that, I'm way tired.... gotta blog about my run, snack to get some "dinner" in me, and get some sleep.

Before I Cut the Grass Today...

Watching my DVR'd Men's Olympic Marathon...awesome to watch this fast of a race, but so disappointing that Ritz and Hall weren't able to run up with the leaders.

While watching, I got a hankerin' for this movie to come out on DVD, and had to go watch the trailer again.... man it got my heart racin'....



This vid was on the sidebar, and while I'm no fan of rap/hip hop, the song choice (for the most part) for this vid seemed to go along well... very cool video.... both of these just give me chills.

Random Stuff

It's great having a blog to put your thoughts out there, but sometimes things can be said that the wrong folks are definitely going to read. Kind of a bummer, because there are good things and not good things that I just want to write out sometimes... just can't ya know? Folks will read them, and while it might be what I "really think" of a situation, doesn't need to be aired here. Oh well... no matter.

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I called into the Pat Gray morning show on Friday while on my way into work, and got on the air...that was pretty cool.

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Didn't go to work today... and man, I guess folks really get on emails late in the evening and early in the morning. When I logged in around 9:30 or 9:45, I'd already gotten about... I don't know... 70 emails since logging out the night before. Then, after lunch, I might have gotten about 10 between 1:30 and 5. Just an interesting trend.

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Of all the things for my ex not to take with her when she left, she didn't take the mouse pad.... it's got Orlando Bloom and Johnny Depp from Pirates. I just don't even think about getting a new mouse pad, until I get on my desktop computer, as opposed to my laptop where I normally am. I need to get myself a new one.

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I love the new Tylenol NASCAR commercial with Jeff Gordon, Elliot Sadler, Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick, where they take a call from a guy who says his girlfriend wants him to get off the couch and lose some weight. If you haven't seen it, you gotta.. been trying to see if I can find it online, but have not had any success.

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Speaking of NASCAR, I'm about tired of Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch... I was about tired of hearing about them when they weren't winning as many races, but now that they have more wins than anyone else this year, it's gotten to a hard to handle level... bleh!!!

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Cowboys Season Opener is almost here... woo hoo!!!

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As was mentioned in a discussion I had earlier, what is it with top athletes becoming American citizens, then stinking it up, to some degree, when they get back into racing?? Let's go back a few years... Khalid Khannouchi... sets the world record at the marathon a few times...does it with ease, no less. Then he becomes an American citizen...then he gets injured and misses the 2004 Olympic Trials. So, 2008 comes along, and guess what... injured again and recovers with enough time to place 4th in the Olympic Trials Marathon. Now, 4th is not exactly stinking it up...but when you think about where he was at before his citizenship, it's nothing short of disappointing.

Move forward now to Bernard Legat. He regularly contested Hicham El-Garrouj (however you spell it), but could never really beat him. Outside of Hicham, he was the top 1500m runner around. Again, he gains his US Citizenship, and suddenly, in the next races, he's struggling to run the kinda times he ran before. I didn't see the trials at 1500m, but in the Olympics, he fails to make the finals. He was America's hope for a medal at this distance...and now, he's done.

Along these same lines, I can recall one or two female swimming athletes that the commentators stated had been born here, were raised here, attended school, then college here, and are competing for the country their parents are from. What the heck is up with that?? I mean, their parents obviously came to this country before their kids were born for some reason. So, they are citizens of this country and would choose to race for someone else?? I can really only recall one girl doing this, but can't remember who she was. I believe she raced for Spain or Italy...whatever, it doesn't matter. I just didn't get it.

Okay, so that's it for my rant on that.

Gotta get!! Later.

Training Blog

For those who may have missed, I started a new training blog for my Boston Marathon Training.

http://houstontoboston.blogspot.com/

Stop on by. It's pretty much only running posts, pertaining to my training. Pretty boring, but just thought I'd put it out there just for the heck of it.

Pretty Cool on Gas Prices

I was just about to head to my bedroom, when the news comes on, and they talk about a couple of gas stations that had a little price-war on gas. Starting out the day at about $3.50/gal. One place, a Chevron station, was having it's grand opening, and started changing their price every few minutes... getting all the way down to $2.08 by night-time. The Shell station across the street played along, and would lower their price a little lower as the day went on.

Pretty cool... too bad it probably won't stick, nor will it probably inspire other places to do the same.

The drawback? A traffic jam at these gas stations the entire day... even now, at 11:30pm, there was still lines to get gas at both places.

Okay, that's it for now....good night all!

8/11 Easy Run

7.21 Miles
49:22
6:50 avg pace

7:21, 7:00, 6:56, 6:52, 6:44, 6:36, 6:28, 1:22 (.21 miles)



Surprisingly "easy" effort. Never really felt like I was working all that hard, although I knew by the end, I was running probably faster than I should have been.

Olympics - Men's 4x100m Relay - Swimming

That f--kin' rocked!!

I gotta say, seeing the looks on the faces of the French team after the finish can only surpasses watching the New England Patriots walk off the field in the Super Bowl with their heads hanging after getting their first loss of the season in really the only game that really mattered in their season. They had said "The Americans? We're going to smash them. That's what we came here to do." Well that that, boys!

It's shit like that that makes me LOVE the Olympics... watching underdog American athletes medal when they aren't supposed to, or even better, take Gold when they are not supposed to.

Some Cool Sports Stuff

This weekend starts the Cowboys Season, with a preseason game versus the Chargers on Saturday night at 9pm. I can't wait.

Also on Saturday, Jimmie Johnson is driving in the Nationwide race @ The Glen, with his whole 48 crew, in a 3rd JR Motorsports car. For some reason, I think that is f---in' awesome.

On NASCAR Now tonight, they had Brad Coleman on for an interview. Brad is a Houstonian who happened to win the Pole for the Busch race @ Talladega in 2007. He raced for Joe Gibbs Racing last year, this year is with a start up race team. Anyway, he will be driving the 96 car for Hall of Fame Racing @ Michigan this year. When asked if he would be making it more than one race, he said they would take it one race at a time.

Okay, that's it for sports right now. Gotta run.

Really Folks...

It's Houston.
It's Summer.
It's hurricane season... Is this really necessary?

The bread aisle... what's on the shelf is fresh, white bread only, as in it was still warm and had just been put out... everything else was gone.

The chip aisle... what seems to be left is the flavor I like... thank God. Tostito's with a Hint of Lime.

Fortunately, all I needed to survive in case Eduardo floods Houston like the news casters would have you believe is inevitable, was a flashlight (as I recently found out mine was busted), Gatorade, chips, cheese dip, bread, hot dogs, jelly (gotta have my pb&j) and milk.

Perhaps, I'm underestimating it...and I truly hope I'm not, but it's a tropical storm right now... and MAY be a hurricane when it makes landfall. I guess the way to do it these days is to assume that everything is going to be a catastrophe.

Guess we'll see.

New Training Blog

http://houstontoboston.blogspot.com/

I've started the above blog strictly for my training from here to the 2009 Boston Marathon. I don't know much about editing layouts on a blog to make it look different than what Blogger offers, so for now, it looks pretty plain. I hope to make it a little more race specific, but until then, it's just a plain looking blog.

Visit if you like.

Later all.