fick's world

Huffington Post: ESPN Reporter Stiff Arms Rival

2012-01-05T10:37:00.001-05:00

		ESPN Reporter Stiff Arms Rival
	The 2012 Sugar Bowl between Michigan and Virginia Tech was broadcast on ESPN and featured Brad Nessler and Todd Blackledge up in the announcer's booth and Holly Rowe reporting from down on the sideline. Following the Wolverine's first BCS Bowl win since 2000, Rowe showed her colleagues that a network doesn't become known as the "Worldwide Leader" in anything without using some strong-arm tactics. During the frenetic postgame scene, Rowe sought out Michigan head coach Brady Hoke immediately after the game for an on-field interview. And nobody was going to scoop Rowe -- even if they got there first. In...

Sent from my iPad

Test Cast #1 is up

2011-11-09T23:43:00.001-05:00

Here is the link for the test cast in case the file I sent was too big for your mail server to deliver. I didn't check the size until after I hit send 14.something MB. Oopsie! beta cast When (if) this becomes a real thing, I will take the steps to try and make it available on iTunes as well as here.

Possible Reason To Worry

2011-11-01T00:05:00.002-04:00

I'm working up the nerve to create a podcast. My idea is a weekly, 15 minute collection of thoughts and stories, with maybe some music thrown in. I want to get the most out of my new iMac.

I joined Netflix Nation

2009-09-14T21:03:00.002-04:00

Here are my first two movies in the queue:

Kevin James in BluRay, baby!!!

I don't like a lot of people these days

2009-09-13T17:13:00.003-04:00

Mostly those far right wackos who are foaming at the mouth about socialism, communism, Obama thugs, death panels, tea parties, etc. I am appalled at their audacity. They expect me to believe that their anger over our nation's woes is anything other than racial fears being exploited by out of work NeoCons!

Here's a blast from the past. Little Rock, Arkansas 1959

50 years later it's a new crop of scared, ill informed white folks.

Ren and Stimpy-Happy Happy Joy Joy

2009-06-02T22:15:00.001-04:00

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdD7cG4rz48

3G, yo!

Drinking Fountain Fail

2009-05-10T19:05:00.001-04:00

http://failblog.org/2009/04/26/drinking-fountain-fail/

3G, yo!

That's right, I cook

2009-04-22T20:22:00.002-04:00

Tonight I prepared some burgers for a camping trip next month. Last year we used some Bubba Burgers. They were really good, but I got the itch to prepare my own. Here's how I did it:

2 lbs ground round
2.5 oz package real bacon pieces
4 oz package cheese crumbles
butt rub seasoning (to taste)

mix ground round with seasoning until well mixed. Then separate meat into even portions. You can make 4 1/2 lb burgers or 6 1/3 lb burgers. separate each portion into 2 equal portions. I used a 4" round mini quiche dish as a form. Press one half of portion into bottom of form. add bacon and cheese to middle of meat. Top with second half of portion. press at edges of form all the way around to seal the edge. remove from form and continue to seal and shape the patty on cutting board.

I made 2 batches, one with colby jack cheese and one with bleu cheese. I transferred them to a freezer container and placed wax paper between them to prevent sticking. I'll get back to you in a month and tell you how they taste! I'll also try to remember how long they take to cook. I made the 1/2 pound size.

Murderbears: Chapter 2

2009-04-06T17:43:00.001-04:00

My newest waste of time.

2009-04-06T10:29:00.003-04:00

I discovered this site through a friend of mine on FB. You can make your own movies by typing dialogue and tweaking expressions, camera angles, and whatnot. We'll see how long it takes to completely make me crazy

Presenting: Murderbears Chapter 1

Test

2009-04-02T13:41:00.000-04:00

Kyia enjoying some birthday cake

Still breathing

2009-03-31T14:51:00.003-04:00

Just posting to prove my existence and to keep anyone from shovelling dirt on me. Life is hectic nowadays, those on the inner plane know what I mean. FB also occupies n inordinate amount of my time. I could say, "I'll do better" but I can't guarantee it. We'll see. Hugs to everyone!!

Here: enjoy this:

The New Sensation Sweeping the Nation!

2009-02-25T18:27:00.003-05:00

I 1st saw this interesting MEME about creating a fictional album on my favorite music forum, Stonerrock.com. Then AB posted it on his blog. Here are the instructions

-> Go to "wikipedia." Hit “random” or click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random The first random wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.
-> Go to "Random quotations" or click http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3 The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.
->Go to flickr and click on “explore the last seven days” or click http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.
->Use photoshop or similar to put it all together.

So I decided to display the albums I have created so far...

there are a couple more on my laptop that I might add later. You can see the others created on Stonerrock here: link (if you're not a registered user you will have to click on the right side of each post to show images. This is to protect the kiddies!)

We can all learn from this

2009-02-24T07:38:00.001-05:00

Now THAT'S a logo!

2009-02-17T12:47:00.006-05:00

The new logo for Stewart Haas racing has been on my mind for a few days now. Why, oh why, you might ask, would a race team's logo be on your mind? Well, I 'll tell you. Because I think it is really freaking cool! Here is the 1st logo they used:

It was scary bad, in a Star Wars rip off way. It looks like the straight to video VHS cover of a bad sci fi movie! Awful, awful stuff. If I had to see a car or merchandise with that logo on it, I might stare at the sun.

Here is the new logo:

Look at the classic lines. The retro font. The colors, the shape and style! Man, I wish I had designed this. GET 3 needs a t shirt with this logo on it, stat!

* after studying the logo again and again, something familiar came to mind. The font of the word "racing" is very familiar to me. I've seen it on the side of a race car before:

Here's a more detailed image of the car:

STR8 Arrow on saturday

2009-02-14T15:50:00.003-05:00

#1 Stewart, #2 Edwards, #7 Earnhardt Jr., #11 Harvick.

Well done, gentlemen! Let's tighten it up a little tomorrow!

p.s. just tried logging on to Hendrickcars.com to register, received Server too busy message. Stewart is advertising gold! Gold, Jerry, Gold!

MMMM, Activision, I think I love you...

2009-01-25T01:18:00.003-05:00

I got this info from the innernets today about the Metallica edition of Guitar Hero that will be coming out in 09, I think:

All Nightmare Long
Battery
Creeping Death
Disposable Heroes
Dyers Eve
Enter Sandman
Fade To Black
Fight Fire With Fire
For Whom The Bell Tolls
Frantic
Fuel
Hit The Lights
King Nothing
Master of Puppets
Mercyful Fate (Medley)
No Leaf Clover
Nothing Else Matters
One
Orion
Sad But True
Seek And Destroy
The Memory Remains
The Shortest Straw
The Thing That Should Not Be
The Unforgiven
Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
Wherever I May Roam
Whiplash

Then there are the non Metallica tracks:

* ALICE IN CHAINS - No Excuses
* BOB SEGER - Turn The Page
* CORROSION OF CONFORMITY - Albatross
* DIAMOND HEAD - Am I Evil?
* FOO FIGHTERS - Stacked Actors
* JUDAS PRIEST - Hell Bent For Leather
* KYUSS - Demon Cleaner
* LYNYRD SKYNYRD - Tuesdays Gone
* MACHINE HEAD - Beautiful Mourning
* MASTODON - Blood And Thunder
* MERCYFUL FATE - Evil
* MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP - Armed and Ready
* MOTÖRHEAD - Ace of Spades
* QUEEN - Stone Cold Crazy
* SAMHAIN - Mother of Mercy
* SLAYER - War Ensemble
* SOCIAL DISTORTION - Mommy's Little Monster
* SUICIDAL TENDENCIES - War Inside My Head
* SYSTEM OF A DOWN - Toxicity
* THE SWORD - Black River
* THIN LIZZY - The Boys Are Back in Town

You'll notice a track by a little known band that starts with a "K" that this guy is stoked to rock out to. Bring it on!

Alice In Chains - No Excuses
Bob

Happy New Year

2009-01-01T01:43:00.002-05:00

More to follow...

Change has come at last

2008-12-25T20:39:00.003-05:00

In case you haven't checked lately, Tony Stewart has moved on to his greener pastures.
Good luck, Smoke, and welcome back to the bowtie!

p.s. the pic is a link to his new site

News Flash!!!

2008-12-23T21:33:00.002-05:00

Sure everyone thinks the Evil Empire's acquisition of free agent Mark Teixeira is the big news item of the day. Well they are wrong, dead wrong. The big news of the day is that yours truly has finally harnessed the power of High Definition....

I have now entered the world of Blu Ray. I wanted to get the model one step down, which was $100 less, but when you go to the box store on the week of Christmas, the pickins can be rather slim. This beaut was the only one there from Samsung. Since I already have a Samsung TV (50" DLP) I wanted seamless integration. Here are my 1st 2 BluRay discs:

I knew I wanted Dark Knight after watching it on DVD, and I am a huge Coen Bros. admirer. BluRay discs aren't cheap, so my library will grow slowly. Luckily, my player will upconvert my existing DVD's to 1080p, so they will not be relegated to the scrap heap!

Whatever Happened To?

2008-12-21T09:56:00.002-05:00

Where did these guys go?

What about him Buckeye fans? Still proud of your native son?

Cousin Larry, I think I miss you most of all!

If you have any news of their whereabouts, please inform us!

Keep the Muppets coming!!!!

2008-12-11T21:51:00.002-05:00

I remember learning this song for a school program when I was in the 4th grade. My 4 musical memories of that year are this song, the album cover for Kiss: Destroyer, Queen's Another One Bites the Dust, and some guy named Buffett singing about not knowing where he was going to go when the volcano blew! Anyway, here's Kermie:

Seriously people, this song is an all timer!

Tonight's Musical Interlude

2008-12-05T23:41:00.000-05:00

Man I miss this song!

Instant Opinion

2008-11-23T20:31:00.002-05:00

I am one half hour into the new season of 24 and I can't get this image out of my head:

I am convinced that by hour two we will see the appearance of these two characters:

Oh well, only 58 days until Lost kicks off!

Gamecocks in the NFL

2008-11-23T17:39:00.001-05:00

As of week 10. Click photo for more stats, courtesy of NFL.com

John Abraham, DE, Atlanta

Fred Bennett, CB, Houston

Cory Boyd, RB, Denver

Casper Brinkley, DE, Carolina

Sheldon Brown, CB, Philadelphia

Terry Cousin, CB, Cleveland

Kalimba Edwards, DE, Oakland

Na’Shan Goddard, OT, New York Giants

Andre Goodman, CB, Miami

Johnathan Joseph, CB, Cincinnati

Lance Laury, LB, Seattle

Jamar Nesbit, G, New Orleans

Sidney Rice, WR, Minnesota

Dunta Robinson, CB, Houston

Ko Simpson, S, Buffalo

Shaun Smith, DT, Cleveland

Travelle Wharton, OT, Carolina

Troy Williamson, WR, Jacksonville

Anthony Wright, QB, New York Giants

Don't Pretend You Didn't Like This Song....You Did

2008-11-20T22:42:00.001-05:00

The Inevitable Failure of Technology

2008-11-19T12:58:00.001-05:00

I love Pink Floyd, I love Lego

2008-11-13T08:56:00.001-05:00

I'm afraid it's just a matter of time

2008-11-12T21:31:00.005-05:00

The above image is a vision of the future for my XBOX360. I have experienced several hiccups lately, involving discs suddenly becoming unreadable, only to work again after rebooting. Then Nascar 2009 started locking up on me. Then this week while test driving GET3's Guitar Hero World Tour, video game hell broke loose. I was away at the chiropractor and returned to find that the game had frozen up. GET3 tried all manner of troubleshooting techniques and was convinced that the disc was to blame. I disproved that by causing the system to lock up while merely trying to move around in the dashboard. Then after another restart it was there: The Red Ring of Death staring us dead in the eye! After the initial shock of GET3 having no earthly idea why I had called it that, the panic set in. I quickly offered a prayer to Link, the Norse god of whimsy and gaming systems.
I rebooted the system and surprisingly it fired up. We played a quick game of Bankshot Billiards 2, which is saved on the hard drive. I then went through the saved game files and deleted a corrupted file from Guitar Hero 3, as well as the file we had saved already from the new game. We were actually able to play the game for a couple of hours with no problems, aside from the new guitar controller, which was registering the notes I played, but not allowing them to add into a streak, causing the crowd to boo us off the stage. We switched to my Guitar Hero 3 controller which performed with no problems. I

I haven't played anything since. I know that soon it will break for good and I will have to send it off to the MS Hospital.

Why do these guys have to Eff up a good thing.

2008-10-27T22:03:00.003-04:00

I came across this article about a hairbrained attempt to bring on the genocide. Here's an excerpt:

WASHINGTON – Two white supremacists allegedly plotted to go on a national killing spree, shooting and decapitating black people and ultimately targeting Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, federal authorities said Monday.

In all, the two men whom officials describe as neo-Nazi skinheads planned to kill 88 people — 14 by beheading, according to documents unsealed in U.S. District Court in Jackson, Tenn. The numbers 88 and 14 are symbolic in the white supremacist community.

The whole story (link) is disturbing enough, but the business in the highlighted sentence is particularly distressing to my Nascar world. The idea that a bunch of racist honkys (Nascar demographic much?) can co opt the car numbers of two of the members of STR8 Arrow Racing is abominable!!! If you are lost right now, here's the key <>-''' GET3 and I have our own imaginary race team consiting of Dale Jr, Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick and Carl Edwards. Their car numbers are 88, 20, 29, and 99. Next year Tony's number will be 14. So now a small sect of haters will rejoice when they see me wearing the number 88 on a hat or shirt.

Fun with Photoshop

2008-10-21T16:46:00.007-04:00

edit: GET3 has spoken and his new GHWT band will indeed named FIHYR!

So I'm waiting for my trimmer battery to charge up so I can finish trimming the yard. So I decide to play around with photoshop to create a band logo for a fictitious band. The one GET3 and I will use to dominate Guitar Hero World Tour. We haven't settled on a name yet, but I had a few I pulled out of Monster Manual II ( the same tome that gave birth to the name Kyuss) I used the image of the Deathbringer (there is already a russian metal band by that name, dammit!) and the name Fihyr (pronounced "fear"):

Fihyrs are the collected fears of humanity made corporeal.
These creatures were once thought to be related to beholders,
but in fact there is no connection between the two kinds
of monsters aside from a superficial resemblance.
As the remnants of hundreds of people’s
nightmares swirl
through the ether,
they somehow combine with leftover magical
power and coalesce into these physical monsters. A few
random dream images aren’t enough; it takes the strong emotional
energy of a mass of people under duress to spawn a fihyr.
The right combination of conditions is most often found in
cities that are under siege, or being terrorized by monsters, or
suffering from famine, civil war, or some other mass trauma.
Great fihyrs are larger, more intelligent, and much more
dangerous than the smaller variety. A great fihyr forms
when a number of small fihyrs combine.

I need some more elements (flames, anyone?) in the lower corners, and maybe a headless corpse or two. What do you think?

Probably my next game

2008-10-21T13:19:00.001-04:00

New camping equipment

2008-10-19T17:37:00.001-04:00

Here is the new camping canopy i got through my job's referral program. It will comein handy for the race next spring!

This post is brought to you by AT&T and the wonderful 3G network!

Thanks, AB

2008-10-19T13:35:00.001-04:00

My opinions

2008-10-18T21:22:00.003-04:00

It is my permanent opinion that if you admire the image on the bottom, you are the image on the top

Test again

2008-10-14T12:39:00.000-04:00

This post is brought to you by AT&T and the wonderful 3G network!

Test post

2008-10-14T12:07:00.001-04:00

Just a test of the system

This post is brought to you by AT&T and the wonderful 3G network!

The Time Has Come

2008-10-06T12:10:00.003-04:00

It is now October, 1 month left until the 2008 presidential election. i have waited until after the 1st 2 debates, but now is the time...

If this were 2000, I would vote for John McCain. It isn't, and McCain isn't the "maverick" he was back then. He is a beaten, desperate man. Not beaten by the democratic party of the campaign, but beaten by the RNC. They forced him to co opt everything he's stood for in order to be the nominee. The very same people who ran attack ads about him in the 2000 republican primaries are the same ones now campaigning for him. He has betrayed my trust by changing his position on just about everything I care about, all to try and appease the same people who so viciously opposed him before. I would have loved to see President McCain in 2000, but now is a different time, and the man I admired is gone.

Here are some examples of today's republican party:

Look! Something Shiny!

Scaring young voters
Sarah Palin = Bat $#!+ Crazy

another note about Palin, it's neat how the RNC can pull the string in her back and make her say anything they want. If I wanted a puppet show in the White House, I'd vote for these two: link

My Name Is Fick, and I approve this message

Yard work

2008-09-23T12:20:00.005-04:00

Our new patio was installed last Thursday. Today I finally cut the back yard again (where there is grass) and raked and seeded the area around the patio. I will be watering it fairly often in an effort to get the grass seed to actually grow!

Here are some images of the backyard...

I have since fertilized the dirt and covered it with magic straw. A lush, green lawn should appear soon!

Enough, already!

2008-09-21T13:17:00.000-04:00

I am completely sick of NASCAR radio and TV personalities (Dave Despain,Winston Kelly, etc.) telling me that I should give Kyle Busch credit for being a better driver that everyone else. There is no other sport in America that has a less objective cadre of commentators. These clowns never ask tough questions of officials, owners or drivers because they are scared to death of losing access. They are the biggest bunch of France family cheerleaders in the world.

And then they keep telling me how I should like Kyle Busch. F U all!!!!! I hate Kyle Busch. There, I put it in italics, boldface, and changed the color to emphasize my position. This will never change. Ever. I am also annoyed by the callers to radio shows who say this.:

“I’m not a Kyle Busch fan, I ‘m a NASCAR fan… but Kyle Busch deserves props for his driving.”

Guess what dickhole? You are a Kyle Busch fan! Get out of the closet and start mainlining M&Ms! Gaaarrrgghhhh!!!!!!!

Berman Picks Week 2 (late, I know)

2008-09-18T16:00:00.003-04:00

Here are fat bastard's picks from week 2 and the actual results:

Ind 23 18
Min 19 15

SD 24 38
Den 20 39

Buf 10 20
Jac 17 16

Ten 23 24
Cin 17 7

GB 20 48
Det 21 25

Kyia Pic

2008-09-18T12:03:00.003-04:00

Testing again, here's a pic of sleeping Kyia, along with one of Gamecock Kyia

at least it's another pic of Kyia, right?

2008-09-18T11:50:00.012-04:00

Well I can upload pictures that are actually on my laptop, but not on my networked drive. It must be a windows/linux problem.
I guess I'll have to copy images from the external to the laptop and then upload them, no big deal.

pic test

2008-09-18T11:50:00.007-04:00

still trying to work out ubuntu + blog. evidently it works for pics already online. the previous pics were uploaded over my windows desktop.

Testing a new app

2008-09-18T11:50:00.004-04:00

I just installed scribefire on my laptop. It's a new way to send posts to my blog w/o going directly to the blogger site. I can send posts through email from my blackjack II, so I'm a fan of alternative posting methods. It looks like a pretty powerful app, but I have to test it's compatibility with Ubuntu.

I have discovered that I can't attach pics from my laptop to the blog with scribefire or through blogger. I'll have to dig into the problem.

Quick Blast of Humor

2008-09-17T21:23:00.001-04:00

Here's a link I found in one of my music forums. I got such a kick out of it, I feel compelled to share it here. Enjoy. click here for funny

Sad News for the music world.

2008-09-15T21:12:00.002-04:00

I just learned (sorry, but I spent all day with Kyia and am just now on the internets) that Richard Wright, one of the founding members of Pink Floyd has died. I'm now bummed out. article

How easy it is to find hypocrisy in politics

2008-09-08T22:36:00.001-04:00

Ficksworld v. ESPN Part II

2008-09-07T21:16:00.006-04:00

I am wondering if anyone out there knows why this man is still employed by HYPE:

Chris Berman has been washed up for years. No one likes his nickname schtick anymore, he doesn't offer any insight to the game of football, all he does is take up desk space (and plenty of it!) and raid the craft services table. Sometime last year his Swami bit really started to bug me. He makes picks for a handful of games each week. He actually picks a score for the two teams when he picks his winner. Then he tells you the next week how well he did the week before. The trouble is, when he tells you he was 4 and 2, he's only looking at the winners and losers. He ignores his score. This season I plan to try and track his actual record according to the picks he makes. Here are his 1st week picks:

NYG 23, WAS 16

NYJ 20, MIA 14

HOU 24, PIT 27

JAC 17, TEN 19

StL 10, PHI 27

DAL 30, CLE 28

CAR 13, SD 28

Now here are the results:

NYG 16, WAS 7

NYJ 20, MIA 14

HOU 17, PIT 38

JAC 10, TEN 17

StL 3, PHI 38

DAL 28, CLE 10

CAR 26, SD 24

Now Tubby McGee (how's that for a clever nickname?) actually got 1 right! But he'll tell you that he was 6 and 1. The truth is that he amazingly went 1 and 6. That NYJ/MIA pick is eerie!

Ficksworld v. ESPN Pt I

2008-09-07T21:03:00.002-04:00

ESPN lost me as a true believer when they let this man get away:

Dan Patrick was the greatest talent that ESPN ever had. Ever since he left ESPN on August 17, 2007. I have waited for him to return to my radar. He was always great on sportscenter, especially when he was teamed with Keith Olberman. I really enjoyed him more on his radio show. He was free from the "keep it popping" format of SC and was able to be more of an actuall sportsfan. He also wasn't afraid to piss off an athlete by asking him or her the questions that needed to be asked. He's been working with CNN/SI for a while, but I haven't seen or heard from him. I have Sirius so I can't get his show on XM 144, but maybe I will after the merger is final! I was stoked to see him on the NBC Sunday Night Football coverage along side KO! Long live Dan Patrick!

Let the hilarity begin....

2008-09-02T15:38:00.002-04:00

It is now 3:35pm and I have just heard that Kyle Busch will be in studio with Primetime with the Packman at 5:00. I have 1:25 to prepare my call to the whiner line. be sure to check it out if you can. The best part of this is that Kyle will unknowingly cover himself with the primetime curse, thereby assuring us all that he will not win the championship! Rejoice, people!!

You better get on board right now!

2008-08-23T21:02:00.002-04:00

So...why do they call you DJ Fick?

2008-08-21T21:26:00.003-04:00

Well, I'll tell ya...this is why! Enjoy.

Metallica - The Day That Never Comes

Whatever Happened To.......

2008-08-18T15:04:00.002-04:00

Meshach Taylor

Today's Triumph (update)(update)

2008-08-12T14:48:00.006-04:00

Today I have relaxed at the house. I had to stick around on my day off for the guy from Home Depot to install the new storm door for the back door of the house. I watched a movie (Meet the Spartans...meh), watched some olympic basketball and soccer, and I designed a racecar for use om Nascar 09. Guess what brought me the most satisfaction?
Another change as of 8pm on friday

Now I'm off to clean the new glass door and race a new car! Cheers!

Enough of the Madness!!

2008-08-11T21:36:00.002-04:00

I am a thousand times better looking than this tool!

My New Shirt

2008-08-11T21:12:00.001-04:00

I fell for it, I ordered a customized sweatshirt from NASCAR.com. It arrived this weekend and I will wear it proudly on race days in the fall. Now of they can add Stewart to the list of available drivers, then GET3 will buy one. But until then he will just mock mine!

The Best Skateboarder on the Planet

2008-08-05T21:13:00.002-04:00

No...it's not Tony Hawk. Tony Hawk is the best vert skater on the planet. Rodney Mullen is the best skater on the planet. Period. See for yourself

If you ask Tony who the best skater is, he'll tell you it's Rodney. That is a boatload of respect for both of them.

Sorry Jr, it's all my fault

2008-08-04T21:11:00.002-04:00

There I was. Pacing in front of the couch, watching the last few laps of the Penn 500 at Pocono on Sunday. Carl Edwards or Jimmy Johnson were going to finish 1 and 2, that was decided. The order would depend on the amount of gas in the 99. The excitement was building inside of me because all of STR8 Arrow Racing's 4 cars (88,20,99,29)* were in the top 5. I was holding back my urge to whoop and holler. Then Carl Edwards passed underneath the white flag. One to go! I shook my fist in victory and began to step toward my phone to give GET3 a call to celebrate. Then in a flash I realized my mistake! I froze in place and stepped back in front of the TV to resume my nervous pacing. It was too late! I had done it! I pulled a Thompson! As Edwards and Johnson crossed the line you could see it in the background. Jr's AMP Chevrolet was out of gas and coasting in. The 24 was out as well and the two cars were locked into one of the most bizarre drag races in history. Car after car went by the pair, and Jr's 4th place finish morphed into a 12. The only bright spot was that the 18 had run out of gas and had trouble restarting, finishing in 36th. Click the Ocho Doble for race results.

* STR8 Arrow Racing is the imaginary race team that GET3 and I "own" And by imaginary I mean we just don't have the money put together yet to purchase the contracts of these 4 drivers!

Not again!!!

2008-08-01T21:23:00.003-04:00

Please Lord, give me a few million dollars and the fame of being a professional athlete. Give me this gift and I promise I will be able to remove all anger and childish impulse from my character. Oh to have the burden of financial responsibility lifted and to be able to enjoy life. If you can't give this to me, then can you at least help Steve Smith, WR for the Carolina Panthers, realize the gift he has been given? Click the pic for story.

A Quick Out Of Character Gripe

2008-08-01T15:57:00.002-04:00

My boss' boss is a real dickhead. I have been working required overtime for the past few weeks. 2 weeks ago it was understandable with the violent storms and all. But lately it's just stupid! So tonight I'll probably get home after Kyia is in bed, again! My boss' boss has no children, so I don't expect him to understand my pain. I expect him to die a miserable a$$hol3. Prick!

One plus Four Equals FIVE

2008-07-25T21:05:00.002-04:00

14, That's Smoke's new number when he returns to Chevrolet next season. Office Depot will be the primary for 20 races and Old Spice for 16. You know, I'd like to see Stewart run a race in a Captain Morgan car! Come on GET3, let's start a petition! I would have picked 4, but now we know what car Ryan Newman will drive, right?

Official Story

Oh the humanity!!!

2008-07-24T15:37:00.001-04:00

I was just listening to HYPE (espn) radio and Mike Tirico was interviewing Caleb Campbell. Campbell is the West Point cadet who was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the 7th round of this year's draft. When he was announced as the Lion's pick, his mom rejoiced and the sports media world said a collective Awwwww. They were sure that little Caleb would be safe from the 'evil doers'. Not so fast my friend. DOD has now decided that little Caleb has to earn the free education that he was given by living up to the terms of his contract. Tirico can't beleive what he's hearing. You could hear him harumphing after Campbell told him he was on his way to sign his Lions contract when he got the news. Campbell has no issues with the fact that he has to serve. Let's see how HYPE handles it. Let's see how long it takes for them to mention Pat Tillman. Then they can call up Tillman's mom and get her reaction. What good argument is there for allowing someone out of their obligations in order to play a game? If a cadet is really good at math, can he avoid serving his country to go be a CPA? The NFL will still be there when his time is up. If he is anywhere near as good a soldier as he is a DB, he'll still be here too. Good luck, Lt.!

July 22nd observation

2008-07-22T09:32:00.000-04:00

I encountered this vehicle while driving on Hwy 51 this morning. The driver was wearing an anniversary band that probably cost more than my trip to Aruba. There was a young child in the back. The vehicle, a nearly brand new Yukon, was traveling ~ 60 mph in a 45 mph zone. The driver was changing lanes without using a signal, darting back and forth as if she were driving a sports car. Notice the McCain sticker on the left and the private school sticker on the right.
Despite all of her efforts to win the race taking place inside her head, I ended up behind her at a stop light some 3.5 miles from where she first blew by me. It is a great illustration of the parable of the tortise and the hare, and further evidence that there are too many people that just don't get it.

A new sheriff in town

2008-07-20T08:21:00.003-04:00

You know the web sensation about Chuck Norris: Chuck Norris counted to infinity, twice. There is no CTRL button on Chuck Norris' computer; Chuck is always in control, etc. Well, if Superman wears Chuck Norris underroos, then Chuck wears this man's:

This is Anderson Silva, quite simply the baddest man on the planet.
Silva normally fights at 185 lbs, but after demolishing everyone at that level he decided to test himself against bigger opponents. This is what he did to James Irvin last night.

A day in the life

2008-07-19T12:19:00.001-04:00

Well it sucks out loud that i'm working today instead of spending time with my family. Laura wants to take Kyia to Riverbanks Zoo and I'm all for it if I can get the time. Here's a peek at my "office"

OOOPS!

2008-07-14T16:11:00.002-04:00

Well I went into the internets looking to spiffy up my blog with some new backgrounds. When I set up the new background, I lost some of my sidebars. Then I went to reload my old template that I had saved, it didn't work out, so I'll be doing a complete redesign. Thanks, GET3! :)

Back from da beech!

2008-07-05T21:24:00.002-04:00

Me and the Missus have been in Aruba for the last week. It was great, but we both missed our little pumpkin terribly. M & P are bringing her up tomorrow! More to follow...

What we've got here is failure to communicate

2008-05-28T17:26:00.002-04:00

Well I surely intended to have posted a lot more during the race trip. Unfortunately, my Blackjack II phone crapped out on me on Friday morning, rendering us internetless. I replaced it yesterday and I'm hopeful that it won't happen again.

Metal in the dark

2008-05-22T22:44:00.001-04:00

This is the result of Bacardi, Slayer, and a dope cell phone!

Crushed!!!

2008-05-22T18:57:00.000-04:00

I'm sitting here on the front stretch of Lowes Motor Speedway, about to watch qualifying for the race on Sunday and I feel like throwing up. I just realized that George and I both forgot our "eff Gordon" hats that I jad made just for this trip! I was so looking forward to cheesing off Jeffie's fans. Son of a bitch!!!

The arrival

2008-05-22T16:20:00.000-04:00

George and i have arrived and established a beachhead. The entertainment center won't be set up until tonight. Updates will follow!

Driving courtesies #1

2008-05-20T07:46:00.000-04:00

This is simple, people. If you are turning onto a road, trying to merge into a lane, or any other scenario which requires another vehicle to let you in front of it, you MUST acknowledge their kindness! A wave, a nod, a smile. It is your duty. Being too busy because you have a phone to your ear is not an excuse. That actually pisses the samaritan off. Wake up and learn to be polite.

Mobile blogger strikes again

2008-05-10T19:05:00.001-04:00

Check out baby kyia enjoying her grilled cheese dinner

Test 2: electric boogaloo

2008-05-10T15:47:00.000-04:00

If this picture is visible, the world is in trouble!

Test post

2008-05-10T12:14:00.000-04:00

If we are reading this, then my new cell phone kicks arse!

F*@k You, Kyle Busch!!!

2008-05-09T21:03:00.002-04:00

Kyle Busch, the ass clown that wrecked my favorite driver in last week's Sprint Cup race, just wrecked his car in the Nationwide Series race at Darlington, SC. He ran into the #88 car of Brad Keselowski. (yes, this car is owned by Dale Jr) The difference between last week and this week is this time it was Busch who ended up in the wall and out of the race. When interviewed, he put all the blame on Keselowski and cast himself as the victim. The circumstances of the wreck were nearly identical to the race last week, the only difference being that Busch didn't survive the contact. This guy is a huge whiner, he needs to get his Las Vegas ass kicked Carolina style. I might have to do it myself. He's a douchebag!

My Fantasy Squad: The Turd Burglars

2008-05-07T10:17:00.003-04:00

Here is the performance of my fantasy baseball squad to date:
(you'll need to click on them to read them, sorry about my naivete)

Here is the roster:

Political bits volume 2

2008-05-07T09:48:00.004-04:00

Don't Elect this Person

I want to give a brief opinion piece about election '08. Hillary Clinton wants to be elected as the next president of these United States. 100%. She wants nothing more than to be elected as our next president. That's her problem. Her goal is to win an election. Actually holding the office is a consequence of attaining her goal. This is not who we need running our country at this important time. Electing her would be like voting for the girl who handed out candy while running for class president in Jr High

John McCain and Barack Obama both want to be the president of the United States. For them the election is something they have to contend with in order to reach their goal. I hope (unrealistically) that America's voters can see this distinction and act responsibly.
Hey look what I just found on the internets! Link

Political Bits volume 1

2008-05-07T09:33:00.002-04:00

This man, Pat McCrory wants to be the next governor of the great state of North Carolina. He has been the mayor of Charlotte since 1995. Here's an ad he has about his stand and plans on gangs, crime and illegal immigration.

This would be a fine, hopeful idea except for the fact that mayor Pat can't even control those issues on a municipal level. How is anyone supposed to believe that he can do so on a state level? Criminals in Charlotte are back on the streets before the ink on their intake paperwork is dry, and gang activity is growing into the suburbs.

Now, if you want a governor who will ignore the wishes of the voters (downtown arena voted down by citizens, built anyway with tax dollars), and give favors to real estate developers in zoning applications(see current state of tear downs on dilworth and south park where one lot becomes 3, helping to price middle class out of the market) then he's your man.

Your favorite handyman

2008-05-05T21:06:00.005-04:00

So while I was stewing all day Sunday about the race the night before, I decided that I would accomplish something. I was honestly feeling the pressure to perform from my lovely wife as well, who was painting in the kitchen. So I went to Lowes and got the ingredients (actually, I got them the day before) to build a fence to screen our herbie curbie. It's been stinking up the garage ever since the nasty gram from the HOA overlords cam a few months back! So I cut and sawed and drilled and dug and voila!!!

Not bad for the semi-competent son of a master carpenter, right? It's not perfectly squared off, but I think it's respectable. Laura complimented me on my work, and that made me very happy. Her job painting the wall in the kitchen was awesome as well.

Not A Post for Nascar Haters

2008-05-04T19:49:00.004-04:00

After letting my initial rage and furor die down overnight and through the day, I am now ready to post my feelings about the Cup race last night. If you don't know, I am a fan of the #88 Chevrolet driven by Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

It's been 2 years since my guy has won a race in this series. In his 1st year with Hendrick Motorsports, he is well on his way to winning big. Last night didn't look like the night. The #11 of Denny Hamlin, who drives for Joe Gibbs Racing, was dominating the race. No one could even get near him. with less than 25 laps to go, Hamlin was in 1st place, with his teammate Kyle Bush (#18 Toyota) in 2nd and #88 in 3rd.

All of a sudden Hamlin slowed down. The announcers excitedly reported that Hamlin had a flat tire. Hamlin was caught by the duo of Busch and Jr, who went by him on both sides. Jr got the best of the pass and began to boogie away from everyone, leaving Busch a full second behind him. At this point Hamlin is falling back in the field, due to his tire issue. He is not goin to win the race, he is not going to finish in the top 20. His car is a danger to everyone else on the trak because at any second, his flat tire could shred and send him into a spin and wreck more cars. He should pull into the pits and get a new tire so he can salvage as good a finish as he can. Does he do this? Of course not! If he had, Jr would have won the race and I would have been happy all day long.

No, this douchebag stays on the track. Why you ask? Well, I'll tell you why. I mentioned Hamiln's teammate Busch, right? I actually like Kyle Busch, even though he drives crazy. That's actually why I like him, I guess. He really reminds me of Dale Sr. Well at this point Kyle has no shot of catching the #88. The only way he can have a chance is if there is a caution flag. Then the field will bunch back up for a restart. Hmmm, need a caution, huh? I'll bet you if a car were to shred a flat tire, that would bring out a caution! Denny, don't come in. Just drive around the track until your tire blows up. I tell you what, instead of that, just stop on the track somewhere....bingo, caution flag!!!

Now it gets sickening. After stopping on the track to get the caution, Hamlin starts driving again!!! He pulls into the pits to change his flat tire, about 1o laps after he should have! NASCAR officials penalize Hamlin 2 laps. This shows how out of it the officials are at this point. Hold Hamlin in his pits for 2 laps!?!?! Oh no, then he won't win the race!!! Wait, he couldn't win the race at that point anyway. But now his teammate is back on the rear bumper of the leader. I am sure that Hamlin was told to stay on the track by his boss, so that a caution would come out and allow Busch a chance to pass Jr. The safety of the other drivers on the track was compromised for team strategy!!

In case you need the rest of the story, after the restart, Busch spun Jr around. It was a racing thing. The spin itself wasn't controversial IMO, but the fact that Busch was allowed the chance to spin Jr out has pissed me off!!! I can take a tiny bit of solace in the fact that Clint Bowyer won the race, and Busch finished 2nd. Jr recovered to finish 15th, but he was very frustrated afterward.

here's a story about the race Link
here's an interesting take: Link

While I'm feeling subversive...

2008-05-03T11:10:00.001-04:00

Here's a link to the NY Ties story that the video discusses. Link

Picking Up the Pieces

2008-05-03T10:43:00.003-04:00

Gates calls bad barracks conditions at Fort Bragg appalling

Published: 5/2/08, 9:46 AM EDT
By LOLITA C. BALDOR

FORT BLISS, Texas (AP) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates, after watching a YouTube video showing poor barracks conditions at the Army's Fort Bragg in North Carolina, said Thursday that what he saw was "appalling" and that all commanders must ensure that their troops have decent living quarters.

"Soldiers should never have to live in such squalor," Gates said during a speech to a packed auditorium of senior enlisted soldiers.

The nearly 10-minute video, put together by the father of an 82nd Airborne paratrooper, showed mold, peeling paint and broken plumbing fixtures in the Korean War-era barracks. The video triggered a worldwide inspection of Army barracks when it surfaced last week.

Gates' comments were the first he's made about the problems, and he said that if local resources are not available for the soldiers, then troops must alert their commanders.

Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said he does not believe that Gates had any particular person in mind when he mentioned that commanders needed to be responsible.

"He knows that the Army is aggressively looking into this matter and is confident that they will deal with it accordingly," said Morrell. "But, in general terms, he believes in accountability up the chain of command."

Gates watched the video on the plane en route to Mexico City on Tuesday.

"The conditions were appalling," Gates said Thursday.

The soldier's father, Ed Frawley, said he was disgusted by the conditions that greeted his son and the rest of his 82nd Airborne unit that returned last month from a 15-month tour of duty in Afghanistan.

Army leaders this week said improvements were coming, but some of the problems couldn't be fixed quickly. By Wednesday, the barracks had new paint, and water fountains were fixed, but work crews still labored on the plumbing.

Gates warned in his speech Thursday that, "current needs must not be sacrificed to future capabilities, whether the need is proper treatment of wounded warriors" or getting heavily armored vehicles and more surveillance capabilities to the battlefront.

I don't know why it's so surprising to Mr Gates. He knows very well how much Uncle Rumsfeld cut funding for living quarters and quality of life projects from the DOD budgets in order to finance our kick ass war in Iraq. It's all coming home to roost, just as the current admin is getting ready to ride off into the sunset of semi retirement

Because Orr Said So

2008-04-30T23:07:00.001-04:00

Mad Season - River of Deceit music video

I loved this song and I still do. RIP, Layne

Cool Cover

2008-04-29T17:57:00.000-04:00

Funny Vid

2008-04-16T06:19:00.001-04:00

Pre Game Message

2008-04-05T19:53:00.002-04:00

I'm taking a few moments before UNC's game against Kansas to pound out a blog entry. In about an hour I'll be a nervous wreck on the couch, only consolable by sips of Presidente beer. In the meantime I am under attack. Remember the windmill scene in Army of Darkness? Well I have a few tiny DJFicks poking at the inside of my mouth with forks and spears. That is the result of my visit to the orthodontist on Thursday. At the tender age of 36 (until the 28th) I finally decided to get braces.

I'll be wearing them until April of 2010. It feels wierd to have things attached to my teeth, and I may never eat the same again! I don't fully chew my food now, I simply try to break it down into swallowable bites.

Well, off I go to take a couple of Aleve. Go Heels!

A Look Inside DJFick

2008-03-27T06:08:00.002-04:00

Here's an X-ray of my face that was made on Wednesday. Proof positive that I am not a cybernetic organism!

Amy Walker plus rebuttal

2008-03-26T07:29:00.003-04:00

AB posted this You Tube clip of a woman showing us 21 accents. Me being me, I found a funny response clip and now present them to you. Enjoy

Happy Birthday Baby Kyia!

2008-03-22T22:05:00.002-04:00

Sunday, the 23rd is Kyia's 1st birthday. I honor of her great day I am repeating a song of the week for the 1st time. Right after she was born, I was taken to the room in the maternity ward with her while they took care of Laura after her C section. Well, I was all alone in the room with my precious little newborn daughter and I didn't have a clue what to do. So I sang to her. I sang Bob Marley's 3 little birds. I wanted her to know right from the start that I would be there for her. I put the song on her 1st mix CD as well. Last week Laura and I watched I Am Legend. In the movie, Will Smith's character sings the song to his dog. It felt like someone had entered my brain and taken my idea. Oh well, I did it 1st, and it was REAL, ot a movie, so Plllbbbt! Happy Birthday little one, Daddy loves you!!!

Don't know why I waited so long

2008-03-13T07:54:00.000-04:00

A Sketch and a Theme Song

2008-03-05T16:49:00.001-05:00

Wait a minute!

2008-02-24T22:43:00.002-05:00

I thought I was the only one with a cute video of my daughter! Now I find this!

Tonight I defend my title

2008-02-24T10:09:00.002-05:00

Tonight I will be defending my Oscar pool crown in AB's Oscar challenge. Here are my picks, showing my strong bias for Joel and Ethan Coen

oscar_ballot_2008.pdf

This weeks Song of the Week

2008-02-17T10:04:00.002-05:00

After posting this weeks SOTW, I realized I have posted the song before. It was an Albert King recording of the song. This song is important to me because of the 1st version of it that I heard. I was in high school when I was introduced to Jimi Hendrix. My buddy Peter Zoole had Hendrix Plays Monterrey, a live recording of his US debut. That cassette was holy material for me. Introduced me to hard rock psychedelic rock, and the blues all at once. Musically, I was never the same after hearing it. That recording is what made me want to learn to play the guitar. I would bang out Wild Thing as loudly as I could on whatever I could get my hands on! This week I feature Howlin' Wolf's rendition of Killing Floor. Next week I will play the Hendrix version.

Flashback Commercial

2008-02-12T10:43:00.000-05:00

My friend Scott put this time bomb in my head at work yesterday and the only way I can rid myself of it is to pass it on to you. Enjoy!

Bad Drivers #1

2008-01-29T20:35:00.000-05:00

In what I hope becomes a recurring post, I am going to tell the story of a bad driver I observed this morning.
While driving on highway 161 from York to Rock Hill, a car came up very close behind me. The driver apparently didn't appreciate that I was travelling 50 mph in a 45 mph zone. It didn't matter that there was a line of cars in front of me or that we were in a construction zone. When the road widened back to 4 lanes, I pulled into the right lane so our impatient friend could get by me. It turns out that the car (A brown, metallic flake Toyota Camry SC plate798VFS) didn't think the car that had been in front of me was going fast enough so it pulled in behind me, without using a signal to change lanes, and resumed tailgating me. A few hundred yards later the car was able to get by us both. Almost. There was the small matter of a red light. The driver, now seen to be a young woman in her 20's pulled along side of me. Thankfully she wasn't talking on a cell phone. I was about to forget the matter altogether when I noticed something in the back seat. There was a young child laying down in the back seat- no belt, car seat or any other form of restraint. This woman was speeding and tailgating at 6:15 in the morning with an unprotected child in the vehicle! The more I become immersed in fatherhood, the more things like this piss me off.

The greatest gay couple in TV history

2008-01-26T15:07:00.000-05:00

The sexual tension between Pvt Pyle and Sgt Carter was palpable in every scene they shared! As for this particular scene, Why do you suppose Gomer is so interested in what the doctor had to say about the Sarge's condition? STD's are a scary topic to address in the 60's

10 Reasons I hate Duke

2008-01-24T21:45:00.000-05:00

I will always hate Duke. It's part of who I am. Any attempts to change me will be met with indifference.