A Broader Themed "What Are You Thinking?" Post

WARNING: Loads of caps typing ahead...sorry, y'all, I'm a bit frustrated this morning.

So, I am sitting here, early this morning, glancing around the internet. I go to my email and see an invitation to be part of some "RickRoll Day" today. The person says Rick Astley (you know, the guy behind the "RickRoll" video meme?) has died today.

This would normally be a fitting way to pay tribute to a deceased celebrity. (Heck, look what we saw with MJ's death Thursday. Or with Billy Mays' death Sunday [today was a day when people were asked to wear blue in his memory]). But...

Come on. You can't fool someone who blogs about media. Factchecking is the bane of any journalist's existence.

So, I looked into this story. Not only is it TOTALLY FALSE, but there's a SECOND one about Kanye West, same kind of story, also dead. ALSO TOTALLY FALSE.

When the hell are people gonna start learning that you can't trust everything that's said on the internet!?!? Just because someone throws the supposed "story" on a national news site (In this case, CNN's I-Report is being used to spread this false news) doesn't make it true. The news organizations will almost ALWAYS check the facts BEFORE reporting them as true.

So, in conclusion, about this "spreading rumors of celebrity demises", I say:

WAKE UP, WORLD...WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?

Courage + Belief = LIFE

2:50 AM Prayer Request...

I am badly in need of prayers this early morning.

Since early Saturday morning I have been fighting what's wound up being a pretty severe cold. Now, my throat has become irritated and I'm getting slightly worried I may have more issues than originally thought.

Keep me in thoughts and prayers...this is not feeling good, and certainly not looking good. I might need to go for my once-a-year hospital stay if this continues...

Courage + Belief = LIFE

Review of Chickenfoot's First CD Effort - This CD ROCKS!

When I saw a one-line review of the band Chickenfoot's new CD by WKRQ-FM 101.9/Cincinnati midday DJ Grover Collins early last week, my first thought was, "I need to get my hands on this."

So Wednesday, I dropped the cash on it. (Because of a reward certificate, I was able to get almost 90 percent off of it. It is $9.99 at local Best Buy stores.)

As I was listening to it, my next thought was this: They still got it!

I am going to have to listen to get the gist of what each song is about. But you can tell there is a lot of experience behind this record. The band is fronted by Sammy Hagar on vocals, with Michael Anthony on bass, Chad Smith doing drums and Joe Satriani on guitar. Yes, Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony are the same guys from Van Halen of the 1980s. Smith has The Red Hot Chili Peppers to his credit. Satriani is more known for being a solo artist, however he was also part of Deep Purple in 1994.

Each song is infused with that rock style men like Hagar and Anthony were known for. They start fast and keep that beat pretty much through the end, and then right into the next song. Basically, if you like high-energy rock and roll, this CD is for you. Likewise, if you liked either of the bands that the members of Chickenfoot came from, this is for you, as they take all of those bands and combine them to make one, likely-to-be-a-success band and record!

Recommendation: GET THIS CD! Can't emphasize it enough!
Specific songs I liked: "Avenida Revolution", "Oh Yeah", "Runnin Out", "Future In The Past"...and that's not even half the ones I liked! Actually I liked every song on it!

Courage + Belief = LIFE

Reaction to Billy Mays' Death

My first thought about this was...well, read the first post of today on my twitter page (at right).

Here's what we know about the situation:

Details continue to be released, albeit slowly, about the circumstances under which Mays was found. He apparently died in his sleep late last night/very early this morning.

Reports indicate he went to bed around 10 PM last night, saying he didn't feel well. He had been a passenger on US Airways Flight 1241 from Philadelphia, PA to Tampa, FL, which had a hard landing upon arrival in Tampa when the tire under the nose of the plane blew out. According to FOX station WTVT-TV in Tampa, when the plane hit the ground, a piece of luggage came out of the underground compartment and struck Mays on the head. That occurrance hasn't officially been connected to Mays' death yet.

Now that I've had a couple hours to think through this, here's my reaction.

Mays was, by far, most successful at what he did. It is now impossible to see commercials for Oxyclean, Mighty Mendit and other things he hawked, and NOT recognize the voice. In his final months, he also did ads for ESPN360.com and had his own long-form TV show, Pitchmen on the Discovery Channel. He truly sold me on the TV show, even if I didn't buy the products.

Mays is a legendary pitchman. If there was a hall of fame for TV infomercial pitchmen...well, Mays would be at the top of the list. Mikey and I might have occasionally joked about seeing him on TV so much, but...he was great at what he did.

RIP Billy Mays
1958-2009

Courage + Belief = LIFE

Friday (Saturday) Freestyle the Fourth

As all of my poems and Friday freestyles go, this was right off the top of my head. Nothing is ever pre-written with these...

Yo, here we go

So, here we are again
And what a week it's been
Went out and hit the town again
And the hijinx, they were plenty

So, the King of Pop is gone now
That really was a sad day
His music, it is legendary
And he'll live on in the radio world

Storms kept coming and coming
Over a long day and night
Some people lost cars and windows
Others got lucky to lose nothing

So, that was another week
Of the Friday Freestyle
We'll hit ya again in seven
But till then, stay cool, y'all!


Courage + Belief = LIFE

Thoughts on Relay For Life Boone County

First, a quick announcement, then I will get back to the blogging...

FRIDAY FREESTYLE WILL be posted later today! Real Life Intervened yesterday, so, I didn't get it done - but I WILL get it up today after 1:00 PM.

I now return you to your regularly scheduled blog posting...

Yesterday evening, I participated in the annual Relay For Life out in Union, which is a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society.

My thoughts on this are a few.

1) The survivors...they are SO inspirational! Each one has a story. Some of them have survived 20+ years after their various cancer experiences! Some of them have even beat multiple types of cancer, and a few are even fighting second bouts with it.

2) The luminaria. That, right there, was a reminder of everybody's reason for participating. They had luminarias lining much of the track's inside (save one, 10 foot area, which had been flooded in storms Thursday night). Each luminaria had the names of a cancer survivor, cancer patient, or someone who died from cancer, written on the outside. During a break in the activities, between 10 PM and 10:35 PM, everybody lined the track and lit the luminaria in their respective locations. Then the names were read, one by one, in groups of either "In Honor of" or "In Memory Of".

3) The PEOPLE. There had to be 1,000+ people participating! Everybody knew someone who had died from cancer, beaten it, or is currently fighting it.

4) I felt privileged to be a part of something that does SO much good for the ACS. There were also folks from WGRR 103.5/Cincinnati, WUBE 105.1/Cincinnati, and (my understanding anyway) WNKR 106.7/Dry Ridge. There were also fun activities. Unfortunately, my body gave out - and so my plans to stay there until 3 AM had to be scrapped - but I still walked 7 laps around the track!

It was a great night...and to those of my friends who were out there with me, and who might read this, I say THANK YOU for letting me be a part of last night's efforts!

Courage + Belief = LIFE

Wild Weather Night

Damn, what a night!

First, between 6 and 8, it was storm after storm for several hours.

Then it got quiet for an hour or so...just an occasional lightning strike far, far away.

And then around 1:30 AM - All hell broke out.

From 1:30 to around 3:45, it was BOOM, BOOM, BOOM! Just unbelievable lightning and thunder. There might have been around 200 visible lightning strikes in 20 minutes!

And oh, the RAIN...that was CRAZY! Some locations got as much as SIX INCHES of rain!

Unfortunately...Derek Beasley (chief meteorologist at WLWT-TV 5 and a good friend of mine) says storms are possible AGAIN this afternoon!

Might as well get out the damn ark...

Courage + Belief = LIFE