A Few Remarks On The Flooding

It's easy to focus on all the bad that comes with something like the recent floods in Nashville. But watching the news I was struck by all the people that came out to help those that needed it. They interviewed a woman who said she didn't know any of the people in her house, but they had come out from all over to help. Just people that wanted to help. One guy said he didn't know anyone there, he just drove up to help.

The memories of Katrina are always the darkest, but the same outpouring of help was there too. People from all over the world arrived to help. They took time off from work and sacrificed pay and comfort to help those that needed it.

It's so easy to look at all the bad that comes from these events, and we shouldn't forget the bad, but we shouldn't forget or ignore how people step up to the challenge of helping those that need it. In times of our deepest remorse we can see the brightest and best of us.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Franklin, Tennessee

Chattanooga, Here I Come

Today is my final day in Franklin. To say the least, it was a very unusual week. Outside of world effects work actually went well. Everyone welcomed me and things went smoothly. Tomorrow I get up and head for a week in Chattanooga.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Franklin, Tennessee

Country Stars Come Out For Nashville

I know everyone has been waiting to see what the country music world was going to do for Nashville sine the flood. The national networks aren't showing them, but the local stations in the Nashville market are having telethons. Thursday night was one such event. Vince Gill, Allison Krauss, Amy Grant and Keith Urban all donated their time and money to victims of the floods. Another local station started a three day telethon with some of the same names attached as well as former American Idol hopeful Melinda Doolittle. Other names I've read that are helping out have been Holly Williams (grand daughter of legend Hank Williams), Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Brad Paisley, Taylor Swift, Kenny Chesney, Reba McEntire and more.

It's nice to see artists that are so associated with the capital of country music are stepping up to the task. Why there isn't anything showing up on a major, national network I don't understand.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Franklin, tennessee

More on the Flood

Today I realized something. A lot of the people here in Nashville who were flooded do not have flood insurance. And before anyone makes any snide comments about it, they didn't think they needed it. Their insurance companies didn't think they needed it. It hasn't flooded like this in more than just years, maybe centuries. Nashville is not a city known for flooding. Back home in New Orleans everyone buys flood insurance, it's a given. Here in Nashville not so much. I hope FEMA doesn't let them down and steps up to the plate here. There's going to be a lot of people here you are going to need a lot of help.

I haven't figured out how to get pictures in here yet on the Ipad, I really want to put some of the pictures from the flooding up. It'll tear your heart out.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Franklin,Tennessee

iPad

Oh, and as you might have noticed, the more recent posts have been made on an Ipad. I broke down and bought one just before I had to leave on my trip. I thought it would be nice not to have to cart a bunch of books around with me, I could just download them on the Ipad. I have downloaded a few, some Harlan Ellison that I in print but that I can always enjoy reading over again and this way I figure I'll have with me. I've also downloaded some comic books on here and I have to admit that they look really good. But I find it also is good for surfing the web and posting to my blog. I brought my laptop, but I have to admit I hate typing on it. My fingers never seem to be comfortable typing on it. I have to two finger type on here but find I can do it pretty easily and fairly fast. I prop it up in my lap and go to town on the keyboard. Oh, and I'm still hauling around a bunch of books...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Franklin, Tennessee

Hamburger Wars

I've heard a lot about a hamburger chain called Five Guys and how good it's supposed to be. While I was working someone mentioned they had one up here, so I figured I'd go check it out. For some reason my GPS came up empty every time I input the name of the hamburger chain. I tried the GPS on my phone and it came up. It was located in Brentwood, which if you're like me and had no clue, is a very rich neighborhood. When I say rich, I mean rich with a capital R. I passed houses that were big enough to be apartment complexes. From what I've since been told a lot of big country stars live here. But back to more important matters, how was the hamburger?

It was good. I don't know if I'd say it was the best, but it was very good. The next day I actually ate a burger at what I think may have the best burgers....Backyard Burgers. Not to take anything away from Five Guys, but I love these burgers. Still burgers from two of the best isn't bad. And yeah, I know what it says about my culinary habits that I'm praising hamburger chains.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Nashville

It's heart breaking watching the news and seeing the scenes from Nashville. I'm sitting in a hotel room, maybe twenty minutes from these scenes and it's so weird. These are scenes I'm used to seeing back home. To drive up here and have this happen is almost surreal.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

A Little Rain

I'm sitting in a hotel room in Tuscumbia Alabama after having spent the day trying to make what should have been a little over three hour trip from my Moms in Saulsbury to Franklin Tennessee. Over eight hours on the road, going up one road only to end up having to turn around after running into a water covered road, and trying another path. It's pretty bad out there. The rain is supposed to stop tomorrow but there's so much standing water I don't know if i'll make it up there than.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Drill Baby Drill

How's that working now?

Long Day

I used to make these type of posts a lot more, just about what was going on in my day, nothing earth shattering, but lately it seems that every post has to be about something.  I kind of like making these type of posts.  Today has been a long day, first I had to get three weeks of posts up for Voices to hear so they can drop every day that I'm traveling.  And than just get other things ready for the trip, tomorrow night I work late so I won't have time to get much ready.   Than tonight I went downtown New Orleans to see some great music, Amanda Shaw, Shannon McNally, Little Band of Gold and Theresa Andersson.  More of that on Voices to hear.  And now I"m back home typing still.  Need to go to bed sleep soon.

Traveling

Getting ready to hit the road this weekend.  I have to travel to two other stores, one near Nashville and the other in Chattanooga in the coming weeks and at the end I'm hoping to take the last week as a vacation and go see my Mom near Memphis.  It's strange that all my traveling is being done in Tennessee during these three weeks.  Honestly I got more than my share of traveling when I worked for Service Merchandise and spent a year and some change traveling to different stores and spending very little time in my own bed.  Some people like to travel, and it's not that I don't like to travel, but when I do so for work, it's not much more than work and a hotel room, so to me it's really not that much traveling.  But the whole point of this overly long preamble was to tell everyone that if I'm not on here for the next three weeks it's not because I've been kidnapped by aliens or anything else drastic, it's just that I'm on the road and can't find a place to connect the laptop to.  And a side note to all this:  for those who have been reading this blog for any length of time knows May has not been a good month for me in the last few years.  I seem to end up in the hospital for one reason or another.  I'm thinking that it has something to do with the building I work in, it doesn't want me there for May, so this year instead of sending me to the hospital it's sending me traveling.  At least that's what I'm telling myself, because I don't want to end up in the hospital while traveling.

So check on me now and than, I'm going to try to post when I can....

Changes by Jim Butcher

I just finished reading the latest Harry Dresden novel.  All I'll say is that it lives up to its title.  I don't want to give anything away, but it was a very good read.  If I had any complaint and it's really not one is that because of the nature of the book a lot of the humor that is part of a Harry Dresden novel was missing.  A very small nit to pick.  I liked it a lot.  I'm waiting to see what Travis thought of it, let me know Trav.

Coming Soon To A Blog Near You

(Better Late Than Never)

Welcome to the 7th launch of BlogBlast For Peace aka Dona Nobis Pacem in the blogosphere. It's inception began in 2006 with one single post and a cry for peace in our world.
A small group of bloggers answered that challenge and it began to spread across the internet in ways that humble me still. It reaches across political lines and religious creeds, abides in corners of unrest and places of hope, gives voice to individual beliefs and promotes tolerance for diversity. It celebrates the genius in each one of us, found in sparkling conversations of passionate pleas for change in the earth. It is that hope for change that motivates us.

It was the Internet's first ever online movement of its kind to invite bloggers to post the same message on the same day. From blog to blog it has moved and continues to grow. We have been amazed to see the power and passion shown each year displayed on pages across the world. We visit each other with our prayers and scribbles, prose and poetry, art and angst, heart and hilarity - and we are moved by it. From one post to thousands of others in fifty countries and almost every state in the United States, something rare and wonderful happens on BlogBlast For Peace day.
I am privileged to witness it.
I invite you to experience it.
It's time.
Join us!

November 4, 2010
Bloggers from all across the globe
will blog for peace. 
We will speak with one voice.
One subject.
One day. 

How To Get Your Peace Globe 2010 Here's how to do it in 4 easy steps!

1. Choose one of the Peace Globe designs shown on this page. Right CLICK and SAVE in JPG format.

2. Sign the globe using Paint, Photoshop or a similar graphics tool. Decorate the globe anyway you wish. You can even include the name of your blog. Click here for thousands of inspiring examples from previous BlogBlasts.

3. Return the peace globe to me via email ~ blogblastforpeace at yahoo.com and sign the Mr. Linky below. Leave a comment and your blog's name and url in the Mr. Linky so that we can visit each other.
Your submission will be numbered and dated in the official gallery with a link back to your post and a permanent spot on the Official BlogBlast For Peace website.
4. On November 4,2010 DISPLAY YOUR GLOBE IN A POST on your blog, FACEBOOK WALL and TWEET IT!
Title your post "Dona Nobis Pacem" - Latin for Grant Us Peace. This is important. The goal is for all blog post titles to say the same thing on the same day. Write about peace that day or simply fly your globe. Come back here and sign your name again once you've posted your own globe.

Need ideas and inspiration? Go toBlogBlast For Peace.com to see the gallery of thousands of peace globes and posts from 50 countries already submitted and numbered. If you'd like to read about the history of this movement, go here.

You can also find us on.... 

Join the Peace TWIBE Bloggers Unite group IPEACE Group

What should you do while you're planning what to write and create?

1. Post this badge on your site and Facebook pages to promote. Or feel free to use it as your globe on November 4th. Just grab the code below.

November 4, 2010 

2. Become a Peace Globe Worker Bee.
This organization of busy helpers and dedicated peace bloggers began in 2009. The concept was created by this man and taken up by a growing number of bloggers with a passion for peace and this movement. Read "You See There Were These Bees...." to find out how the bzzzzzzz started bzzzzzzzing. Any one of the bloggers mentioned in that post or who commented on that post are ready and willing to assist you.
What does a PGWB do? Many of you already do the following actions that define a Peace Globe Worker Bee: Spreading the word, posting the date, flying the Blog Blast banner, offering assistance to anyone who needs help making a Globe, or directing bloggers to one of the sites where they can find out more about the movement. Please take the bee badge with you too! We want to see the peace bzzzzz everywhere! We appreciate all you are doing already to spread the word.

3. SHARE and TWEET this post every chance you get until November 4th, 2010.

This is what has gone before.
I can't wait to see what you do with this movement in 2010.

Papa's Marbles ~ How It All BeganThe Silence Of PeaceBlogBlast For Peace #1BlogBlast For Peace #2 June 2007BlogBlast For Peace #3 November 2007BlogBlast For Peace #4 June 2008 BlogBlast For Peace #5 November 6, 2008BlogBlast For Peace #6 November 5, 2009 

If words are powerful....then this matters.
Join us! 

Checking In On Lost

Ok, does anyone understand what's going on?  I'm more confused every episode, even as they tell us more they leave us with more questions.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining.  I'm loving it.  Each episode now gives us those WTF moments.  I just wonder how they're going to tie all this up.  And I can't wait.

Sitting on a bench facing the Mississippi River, waiting for the music to start. Can't ask for a better day.

Tired But Feeling Great

Last year was a year sorely missing in the amount of live music I attended.  I'm not sure why, but for me there was little in the way of live music.  After spending the day at the French Quarter Fest I have to wonder why.  I have to make sure this year I get out to as much live music as I can.  There's just a feeling that comes over me when I'm listening to a musician sing live, all my troubles and problems are forgotten at least for the time being and it's the next best thing to being transported to anther world.  Saying that I have to admit that I am exhausted right now, I hopped around from stage to stage for most of the day before settling in for the long haul with Brian Stolz and Anders Osborne.  I'll post more and plan to do a lot more on Voices to hear (and pics)!  For now I'm going to bed.

Did You Get An Ipad?

I'm still on the fence about getting an Ipad.  Almost got one today, but decided to hold off.  I've heard that there are long lines and people sleeping over night to get first crack at the Ipads, but today I just happened to walk into Best Buy and there was no one even looking at them.  They told me they had a bunch of people when they first opened, but by ten it was clear.  I left and actually went back later in the day, around five and there was people looking at the Ipads.  The store itself was very busy, which probably was why I ended up not buying an Ipad, I couldn't get anyone to help me, so I looked for a bit and than left.

They look pretty cool.  I may end up buying one soon and than I might just hold off.  I'm not sure at the moment, still trying to make up my mind.  Anyone get one yet?  If you did how do you like it?

Next Monday

Next Monday I'll be a guest of Vinnie from The Big Leather Couch on his internet radio show. We'll be joined by some other great people that probably know more than me about music and we're going to talk about one of my favorite subjects, music. So stop by and listen.

Lost Tonight

I know I haven't been keeping up with what's going on this site with LOST.  But I have been watching it.  Last week's episode with Sawyer was very good.  Who would have imagined Sawyer as a cop?  The answers are coming slowly...and I do mean slowly.  But tonight's episode features Richard and promises a lot of answers.

I have one question.  Ok, the numbers refer to Jack, Sawyer and the ones chosen as candidates to replace Jacob.  There were a lot of names on that cave with names.  Did Jacob always keep a group of candidates in every era on hand in case he needed replacing?  Or did it just happen with this group?  Am I missing something here or is this another question that hasn't been answered yet.

Any thoughts if one of the chosen will end up on the island at the end.  And if so, which one?  After all Jack's arguments against the island and his fight to get off wouldn't it be something if he becomes the new defender of the island?

Still Another New Book

I had to post this one, because I know at least one other person out there that will be looking forward to it.  This is the twelfth novel in The Dresden Files series and is one of my favorites series.  If you haven't picked it up yet, do yourself a favor and give one of them a try.  There was a short lived sci fi series based on this series a year or so back.  The series, while actually got better as it went along, did not do service to how good this series is.  If you want to give the new book a try you can order it here from Amazon.  The cover price on the book is twenty five dollars, one reason I buy very little hard backs until they hid the remainder tables.  But at Amazon you can pick it up for $13.00.  And if you can find a few other things and get your total up to twenty five dollars (the irony of it) you get free shipping.  I find myself buying the more expensive books that I might not from Amazon, just because they usually offer such a good deal.  The book will be out in book stores April 6 if you want to wait and pick it up at your local book store.