sir_spamalot's Xanga

If you had the power to bring one person back from the dead, who would it be and why?

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:05:45 GMT

I might have said no one up until yesterday... but right now if I had the power I'd give my good friend Dan Schulz the gift of life again. Dan (Or Albatross as he was known on Classicbattletech.com) passed away a couple of days ago at the age of 30, far too young for a person to leave this planet these days...especially in a country such as ours. Like many of you that follow me here on Xanga, I never met him in person, though I wanted to on many occasions. Despite this, he has been a great friend online, even longer than I have been blogging here. He helped several people with their websites, even offering to host mine on many occasions... I still even use the menu bar he designed for my Web site. Right now it's still hard to believe he's gone and to be taken after having to lose his mother in the summer and struggling each month just to make ends meet. If anyone should have died, it wasn't him... and I will miss him tremendously. I've lost a couple of relatives, but never a friend who was only four years older than I am. If I could, I'd be in his home town now, offering any help I could. It may not be much, but this week I dedicate in your memory Dan. Rest in Peace.

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Like AHNULD says, I'll be Bag!

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 01:37:53 GMT

Republicans in video games and endangered actors are the top stories this week!

What are three things or events that have made you who you are today?

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:15:57 GMT

You mean other than conception, growth in the womb and birth? I'm not really sure I could nail it down to three events or things... each day of my life has been a contributing factor to who I am and who I will be in the future. I suppose I could try and squeeze it into three categories to somewhat play along with this question.

One of them certainly has to be my exposure to music, for it has given me a chance to play instruments like the cello as well as piano and sing. My piano teacher Mrs. Settler is largely responsible for a good bit of that appreciation and I still like to be a part of a ditty when I get a chance.

Another area has to be humor... I would not be the sarcastic, bitter and wise acre that I am today with out this. I can trace some of my comedy back to my parents and often blame my mother for dexterity of pun. I pay homage to many comedians and their works, though Monty Python and Weird Al are royalty.

Third has to be my faith, beliefs or whatever you want to call it. I am not your average Christian... I'm certainly much more open to ideas than some might be comfortable with. Sure I still have a couple of ideals that are conservative, but I will never make someone not practicing what I do feel awkward about it.

That's about as detailed as I feel about getting today... I'm off to other heroic deeds this day.

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One last shout for Halloween.

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 02:20:53 GMT

Thank you all for your comments on my photos lately... enjoy my halloween tribute.

For all my wino friends....

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:20:46 GMT

No, I'm not going to hire you to decorate my home, but I though I'd share pictures of two of the wineries I visited while in Texas. This also will be the last of my vacation pictures on Xanga for this trip, but I will try to put up a link to Facebook soon. Until then, here's a glass or four for you.

This first picture is of the Caprock Winery doors, located in Lubbock Texas it is one of five in the county. The second picture is of the sculpture above the doors. I bought one of their wines, the Palo Duro Canyon Red (A mix of dry and sweet, smooth and spicy).

These next two are from LouViney Winery in Sulphur Springs Texas... a restaurant combined with the wines they sell. I did not buy any wines there, but came close to buying their Belle which is a fruity sweet red. Lin models what I tried in the first, and I would love to have this wine rack they had in the second picture.

I also visited McPherson Cellars, which is in downtown lubbock in the old coca cola bottling plant. Of the wines I tried, I liked and ended up buying their Hook Line and Sinker white wine, which is pleasantly sweet. On our way back to Mississippi the day before we went to LouViney, we stopped at Times Ten Cellars in Dallas/Ft. Worth and enjoyed a few chocolates with the wine tasting (Very Swanky restaurant was a part of it too, but we could not afford to dine there that night). I knew right away I had to take home a bottle of their Muscat Blanc which was the sweetest of all those I tried...a white with strong citrus flavors. Next time I go to lubbock I'd like to visit Llano Estacado, but will be happy with the Blush and Sweet Red of theirs I bought at the grocery store.

Sometimes the wind tells a story...

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:58:46 GMT

I remember BigToePeople putting up an entry of her visit to the "old country" where she put up pictures of the windmills that are big in the countryside. When I was taking pictures at the National Ranching Heritage Center last week I thought it would be neat to do an entry on the windmills that are big in the American southwest. The principles of windmills in both nations are pretty much the same with water and grain being the products most commonly worked with. The main difference is that in the southwest you didn't just get water for what crops you grew, it was sometimes the only way of getting drinking water for your homestead. It is not uncommon for there not to be any source of water above ground even where I grew up except when the rains were plentiful enough in a year...so you had to dig a well of sorts and pump it out. In any case, BigToe, this one is for you, I hope you enjoy.

Check out the National Ranching Heritage Center Here: http://www.depts.ttu.edu/ranchhc

Ghosts on the Plains...

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 19:23:19 GMT

What better way to get into the halloween spirit, show off more pictures from my recent trip to texas and sumbit my own entry to Saint Vi's ghoulish theme suggestion? Why, the National Ranching Heritage Center in my home town of course. I am no stranger to this historical setup, going many times as a child on field trips, but my wife Lin had never gone so we had to stop by. Sure, none of these houses are in the original location (most of them constructed in the style of each period), but with a little photo magic...anything can look spooky. So enjoy, beware and keep a look out.....

Some would say it's too cliche to have a haunted mansion, but I say it's too classic to ever completely lose the effect.

All aboard? I think not on this train which is already at the end of the tracks, but maybe you are ready for the afterlife.

Can't you just see a ghostly apparition sitting in the rocking chair, waiting for a loved one that will never get well...times were tough on the plains in those days.

Perhaps the piano has one more tune... do you dare hear it?

Some say none of us can relate with the dead... I say we'll all have an understanding eventually.....

If you want to visit this place, they have a Web site through Texas Tech University: http://www.depts.ttu.edu/ranchhc

Going back home, always too short a trip.

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 16:06:21 GMT

While the trip back home did not go perfectly as planned (Lin caught bronchitis from a resident at the nursing home she works at before we left), I have to say our travels were well worth the 16 hour trek each way. I took 426 photos from start to finish (mind you with any photo endeavor you get plenty of meh photos to go with the real gems), which is decent considering we did not see a few of the other places we meant to check out. Still, we saw the state fair, four wineries in Texas *two of the five in Lubbock*, the national ranching heritage center, the Texas tech museum, a game at my alma mater-Eastern New Mexico University- (Lin stayed home for this, but mom and my youngest brother went to watch the greyhounds blow chunks on the football field) and several friends and relatives in the mix (not many photos of them this particular trip though). I could show all the photos today, but that might be a bit much to handle all at once. Instead I'll start with the state fair and do a few days of photo fun. (All will be facebooked eventually).

Bix Tex himself... in all his howdy folks glory.

The Cotton Bowl... thankfully we went to the fair before the big game between texas and oklahoma.

Fried peanut butter and jelly sandwhich, very tasty and highly reccomended.

Lin letting a baby cow suck on her fingers, brought back memories for her growing up on a dairy farm.

A shot from the parade that evening.

Although I did not get to go to the Llano Estacado Winery in Lubbock, I did visit their booth at the state fair and tried some blush wine. Sweet and affordable.

That's a sample of them...real hard to pick just a few for this entry, but I shall provide a link to the rest later.

Comic Day and update on the meness.

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 04:00:03 GMT

The texas state fair was a blast... no fellow xangans unfortunately... though I would not mind showing any around who might feel like dropping by Northeast Mississippi (Lot's of civil war and historical stuff to see there) while I am still there. In Lubbock right now...took Lin to see national ranching heritage center (saw it several times as a kid... this town has changed so much in the past several years). I'll still upload pictures to facebook...perhaps sunday or monday, when I get around to it at least. In any case, enjoy this comic, which speaks so much for me sometimes.

Happiness is Lubbock Texas growing nearer and possible xanga meetup.

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:58:44 GMT

Looks like we are getting a change to head out on our trip tomorrow instead of Wednesday... barring that things keep us so tied up we can't get out of town at a reasonable time. In any case I am going to do all I can to get things ready by myself since lin worked double shift last night and works regular with less that eight hours sleep today (Since she ended up working double she asked for tuesday off and got it). I'm planning on still getting my workout in today at the gym, but since I have to drive over to boonevegas to drop off the cats at the inlaws (as well as get an oil change for the mighty astro van) It may be this evening (which is fine). In any case today will be crazy ezra day....

One of the things I mentioned in a previous post is that we will be going to the Texas State Fair... the plan is to go wednesday and leaving tuesday would mean we could get a full nights rest before going in the morning (of course how early we leave tuesday will depend on how quickly money we need for the trip gets here). I figured this venture to the festival of fun would be a great chance to see if any of my fellow xangans felt like meeting us there (I'm not sure how many of you live within reasonable distance of the Dallas metroplex). I know this is short notice, but unfortunately many of my plans these days come down to the wire so it's the best I can offer.

In any case I need to get back to preparations, but I will check my account here throughout the day just in case youse guys decide you can spare the time. I also plan on putting up pictures of the trip. Take care.