Pirate Party

Sam's Pirate Birthday Party saturday was a huge success.

Everyone had to "Walk the Plank" to get a pirate hat (or princess tiara).

Gammy made a cake.

And the kids played pin the eye-patch on the pirate (my artwork patterned after Captain Feathersword himself).

There was a treasure chest of goody bags sitting on the table during the party, but it disappeared while the kids were eating cake and ice cream. In it's place was a clue (a photograph of a hiding place nearby).

When the kids found that hiding place, there was another clue (photograph of another hiding place) ...

There were many clues, and near the end of the treasure hunt, Karina was running way ahead of the younger kids, with all the photos in her hand.

Then, in her haste, Karina started running towards a tree in the wrong direction. James figured out the right direction, and by the time Karina and Madeline caught up, Sam actually spotted the treasure chest first.

Limo Livin

Introducing Limo Livin - a short series of posts about my experiences riding around in a limo at the Flowers-Spencer Wedding.

I was a groomsman in my friend Leon's wedding. The wedding party got to ride from a hotel to the Georgetown Chapel in a limo. There was family and groomsmen and bridesmaids.

After the wedding, The wedding party got to ride from the wedding to Ft. Myer, for the reception. There was beer and champagne flowing in the limo. Leon's parents and sister and brother and niece, Brian and his wife and kids, and me and Jeff Patterson.

When we got to Ft. Myer, it was a real, military, fort.

There was a gate and armed guards. After a brief moment of confusion with the foriegn limo driver and guards, the limo was turned away.

We went and parked around the corner to wait for a bus that would take us into the fort and to the reception. There was beer and champagne flowing in the limo. We drank and talked and waited for about 20 or 25 minutes.

We were told that we would each need to show our ID to get into the fort. Leon's sister hadn't brought her ID and there was some discussion about what might happen.

When the bus arrived, we boarded and drove back up the gate and guards. The driver jumped out momentarily and we were waved through with no problem or ID checking. The driver said that the guards had looked at his driver's license.

We rushed inside where the rest of the wedding party was waiting, outside the doors to the reception, for us to arrive for formal introductions. Robert Gu-lay made sure he had everyone's name right, and we made our entrance to applause.

Limo Livin.

Kid Tip - National Aquarium

We went to the National Aquarium in Baltimore. The kids loved it. There was a cool dolphin show and check out these wild looking frogs.

# 66 and Proud

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I Think We Missed the Wormhole

Friday, we drove from Baltimore to our hotel in DC. We printed out directions from the hotel's web site and brought them in the van. We make it to DC, no problem. Then I noticed that the directions printed out without spacing or punctuation, all-one-word, like an e-mail or internet address.

We followed them as best we could, but still got a bit confused. I called the hotel and talked to a lady who confirmed that we had just turned onto the correct street.

Reading the directions, I asked "So we should be in Crystal City in 8 miles?"

And the lady said...

"It might not take you that long."

Most Poisonous Animal?

Do you know what the most poisonous animal in the world is?

I saw one last week and will post a photo when someone guessess correctly (no google-ing)

Thanks Duke/JJ

Duke/JJ really helped me out by exiting early from the NCAA Tournament.

I had come to be dependant on Duke's sucking.

If things went bad in my life, I turned to JJ.

Whenever I got low on material for Turnipblog, I was using Duke hatred as a crutch.

As the cop watches, I will now walk to the gutter and pour out my Duke...













What would Coach K do?




JJ Redick has cussed you out. Don't believe me, watch this video and read his lips.(link)

Please Don't ...

Finish the sentence Please Don't...

with something that you don't want other people to do.

I'll Start:

Please Don't ... give me a straw with my Iced Tea.

Please Don't ... press the clearly lit, Up or Down button, for the elevator when you can see that I am standing here.

Please Don't ... tell me an internet or e-mail address is "all one word".

Now you try. Leave me a Please Don't ... comment.

Sam's Birthday

Today is Sam's third birthday.

We took a cake for his daycare class and he blew out the candles. The real, Pirate Party, is this weekend.

Leon Wedding Photos

Our dear friend Leon Spencer got Married yesterday to Kelly Flowers at the Georgetown Chapel in Washington, DC. I was a groomsman. (click to enlarge the photos)



The ceremony was beautiful. The priest talked to Leon and Kelly about "vitamin P's" (words that describe marriage that start with the letter P) and how our perception of marriage changes from before we get married to after we have been married. The theme of the wedding perfectly tied together "vitamin P's" and how the nature of a relationship changes at the moment you say "I Do".

Congratulations Leon and Kelly!

Turnipblog Travel Tip - Baltimore/DC

Bring Chapstick

You Tube

You Tube is a website where people submit funny videos that you can watch. If you have ever been forwarded a funny video, it is probably on You Tube.

Here is the You Tube(link) . Check out Top Favorites; Crazy Dog(pictured at right), Real Life Simpsons Intro, Robot Dance, and Pokemon Theme Music Video.

Duke Elimination Day

Today is my favorite day of the year, the day that I would make a National Holiday if I were the President - Duke Elimination Day. LSU eliminated Duke from the NCAA Tournament 62 to 54.

This should also end the absurd talk of JJ Redick being the national player of the year. JJ once again choked (and cried) in the big game, going 3-of-18 and finishing with 11 points.

If I were President....

What are the first 2 things that you would you do if you were President(and the Presdient actually had the power to unilaterally pass legislation)?

If I were President:

1. Legalize it.

2. Make my favorite day of the year a National Holiday

Leave a comment, What would you do?

Small World

We are in Baltimore right now visiting Cyndy's brother Kevin. We drove up 10 hours from Columbia with the kids. On the way, we stopped in Rocky Mount, NC and ate dinner at a Waffle House. We were the only customers there and the owner gave us special attention. He was very nice and funny and did a magic trick for Madline. He looked just like the guy from Full House (not John Stamos or the America's Funniest Videos guy, the other guy).

As we were leaving he commented about leaving a boat. I asked about it and he said he had worked on cruise ships.

"Really, we took a cruise on our Honeymoon"

"What Cruise line?"

"Norwegian"

"What Ship?"

"Seaward"

"What year?"

"1996"

"I was your Cruise Director."

I confirmed he was telling the truth when he knew that the cruise show was Grease.

Leon's Bachelor Party

My good friend Leon Spencer is getting married this weekend. Saturday night was Leon's Bachelor party. We ended up at a gentleman's club. It was very late and very smoky so I walked outside for some fresh air.

Two girls were arguing just outside the club. One said to the other "I don't care what you do!" and went inside. The remaining girl then proceeded to have a full blown Tonic-Clonic, or Grand Mal, seizure. She fell to the ground right beside me and started convulsing. Soon she was lying on her back with her head facing down a long flight of cement steps. I was afraid she was going to bash her head open or vibrate her way down the steps, so I grabbed her and held the back of her head. Her eyes were rolled way back in her head and she was foaming at the mouth. Soon a bouncer came and we both held her. The seizure lasted well over a minute. Eventually, she quit convulsing and would look at someone trying to speak to her, but she couldn't talk. Another bouncer came and they carried her down the steps.

I came back outside to check on her a few minutes later and she was sitting up, babbling incoherently on her cell phone. The bouncer went inside and found her friend. They started arguing again and the girl refused to believe that she had had a seizure. She started demanding a cell phone to call 911 to report that her friend had stole her purse (?). The friend and bouncers refused to give her a phone, or call the police for her. Finally, her friend coaxed her into a car and they left.

Now for the interesting part of my story. While inside the club we were sitting at a table. A young lady came up beside me and started asking if I wanted I private dance. I refused to make eye contact and started shaking my head "no" vigorously.

The girl asked Brian, who was sitting next to me "Is He Gay?"

Brian leaned over and told the girl something and she took off faster than I would have thought possible for someone wearing a leapord-skin bodysuit.

Brian started laughing and then he told me what he had said to the girl and we both laughed for a couple of minutes. When she asked "Is he gay?", Brian answered...



..."No, he ran out of money."

New Coach K Commercials

Have you seen new, annoying, Coach K commercials shown during the NCAA Tournament?

Coach K Commercials(link)

2006 Weblog Awards.

Did you know that blog is actually short for "weblog"?

The 2006 Weblog Awards(link) were recently awarded and Turnipblog won Best Weblog Ever.

Other notable winners included:

PostSecret(link) - Best American Weblog, Best Topical Weblog, Best Community Weblog, Best New Weblog AND Weblog of the Year.

Girl with a One-Track Mind(link) - Best British or Irish Weblog.

Tarheels still National Champions.

The National Champion Tarheels begin play in the NCAA Tournament today.

Click on - my poster from Last year's championship game to enlarge.

American Idol - VFTW

How did uber-chump Scott Savol make it so far on American Idol 4?

Why is Kevin Covais (a.k.a. Chicken Little) still around on American Idol 5, and not even in the bottom 3 last night?

The answer is WWW.Vote for The Worst.Com(link).

My NCAA Bracket

(Click to Enlarge)

They Grow Up So Fast

Every parent has experienced it - Your child says or does something that shows he/she is growing up and isn't your little baby anymore. You are at the same time proud and a little sad.

This happened to me the other morning. I heard a familiar "blipping" sound, came downstairs, and observed Sam on the couch. He didn't see me, but I watched him, and a tear came to my eye as I saw this...



He was using Tivo.

Extraterrestrial Life = Confirmed

This is the most important discovery that science has ever yielded.

We came from the stars baby!

In this post(link), I predicted that Humans will one day discover evidence of Extraterrestrial Life.

I have 3 words for you...




....Face On Mars!

In July 1976, Viking Orbiter 1 was acquiring images of the Cydonia region of Mars as part of the search for potential landing sites for Viking Lander 2. On July 25, 1976, it photographed a region of buttes and mesas along the escarpment that separates heavily cratered highlands to the south from low lying, relatively crater-free, lowland plains to the north.

Nasa tried to cover-up the significance of The Face and has denied its existence, but recent Hubble Space Telescope images show that the same face can be found at the center of several galaxies and nebulas.

Everything is about to change.

Not The Ark

High on Mt. Ararat in eastern Turkey, there is a baffling mountainside "anomaly".

Images taken by aircraft, intelligence-gathering satellites (Image at right) and commercial remote-sensing spacecraft are fueling an intensive study of the intriguing oddity. The anomaly of interest rests at 15,300 feet (4,663 meters) on the northwest corner of Mt. Ararat, and is nearly submerged in glacial ice.

Is the anomaly the remains of Noah's Ark (The boat, not the coffin that Indiana Jones found)? Some "scientists" think that it may be.

The Genesis blueprint of the Ark detailed the structure as 6:1 length to width ratio (300 cubits by 50 cubits). The anomaly, as viewed by satellite, is close to that 6:1 proportion. The anomaly dwarfs the Titanic and Bismarck in size, and equals the size of the largest modern aircraft carrier...

... Give me a break. The Ark anomaly is an example of Pareidolia.

Pareidolia is a type of illusion or misperception involving a vague stimulus being clearly perceived as something or someone. Some examples of pareidolia include seeing the image of Jesus Christ in a burnt tortilla or a tree wound; seeing the image of the Virgin Mary in a cloud or on a public toilet floor; and seeing the image of Mother Theresa in a cinnamon bun.

Under ordinary circumstances, pareidolia provides a psychological explanation for many delusions based upon sense perception. For example, it explains many UFO sightings and hearing sinister messages on records played backwards. Pareidolia explains Elvis, Bigfoot, and Loch Ness Monster sightings. It also explains numerous religious apparitions and visions.

The anomaly is an ordinary rock and ice formation, not the Ark.

Most Improved Player

Madeline recently finished playing her first season of basketball.

Madeline played for coach Pilcher's team in the St Joseph's church league for 5k, 1st, and 2nd graders.

Madeline had fun and won "Most Improved Player" on her team.

First Night In New House

Tonight is our first night in our new house. We moved-on-up from Hampton Trace to Hampton Crest. (Couldn't quite make it to King's Grant)

Last Night in Old House.

Tonight is our Last Night in 101 Chimney Hill Road.

My 70's Memories - Lego Spaceships

These are Lego baseplates from the 70's. Legos were my favorite toy as a kid. In my world, Lego baseplates served as the starting point for all Lego spaceships. I built some masterpieces.



The possibilities for Lego spaceships were limited only by the imagination (so long as the finished spaceship had engines, guns/rays, and bilateral symmetry).

The Nitpickers Site

I found an interesting website called The Nitpickers Site, where people submit mistakes that they noticed in movies

A nitpick is a mistake, or anomoly, in a movie. For Instance:

A microphone shows up on screen.
You can see the wires holding something/someone up.
Hole or conflict within the plot.
Scientific facts are misquoted or just plain wrong.
Historical and Technological inaccuracies.

Note: Nitpicks are not considered to be details which are necessary for the majority of the plot. IE: While real-life dragons do not exist, Draco the Dragon being alive in "Dragonheart" is NOT a nitpick.

Nitpickers covers movies and TV. War of The Worlds, a movie I hated(link),had 47 nitpicks.

Nitpickers Site(link).

Good Music - Old 97's

The Old 97's are one of my favorite bands. Old 97's are an Altertnative Country Rock band from Texas(think Uncle Tupelo or Jayhawks).

Old 97's have been around since 1993, but I discovered them on the internet in 1999.

My wife and kids love the Old 97's. The lead singer, Rhett Miller, is good looking, and the lyrics and music are catchy. I have yet to see Old 97's live, but I will some day soon. I have a few Old 97's soundboards, and the band sounds great live.

I bought the Old 97's CD Fight Songs, when it came out in 1999. The very Kinks-ish song Murder (Or a Heart Attack) from Fight Songs got some radio airplay.

I bought Satellite Rides, when it came out in 2001. Satellite Rides is probably my favorite Old 97's CD.

I bought Drag It Up, the latest Old 97's CD, when it came out in 2004. Won't be Home, The New Kid, and Bloomington are my favorite songs on Drag It Up.

I will now perform the Old 97's song Question, from Satellite Rides as featured on the TV show Scrubs when Turk proposed to Carla.

Space Update - New Red Spot for Jupiter

If you know anything about the Solar System, you are familiar with Jupiter's Great Red Spot, a storm twice as wide as our planet and at least 300 years old. The Great Red Spot is the most powerful storm in the whole solar system.

Well, Jupiter is growing a new red spot. The official name of the new storm is "Oval BA". It's about half the size of the famous Great Red Spot and almost exactly the same color.














Oval BA first appeared in the year 2000 when three smaller spots collided and merged.

Oval BA has been changing colors in recent months.

It was white in November 2005, slowly turned brown in December and then red a few weeks ago. Scientists are wondering if Oval BA has become permanently red.

Other Space Related news:

Scientists have discovered a huge crater in the Saharan desert, about 19 miles (31 kilometers) wide. The newfound crater was likely carved by a space rock that was itself roughly 0.75 miles wide in an event that would have been quite a shock, destroying everything for hundreds of miles. The crater is named “Kebira,” which means “large” in Arabic.

Scientists are debating whether or not there may be water on the moon, in permanently shadowed craters at the lunar poles, called "cold traps". If there is enough lunar water at the bottom of deep craters it might be converted to oxygen, drinkable water, even rocket fuel for future Lunar missions. If the US finds the water first we will, of course, appropriate it in violation of The Moon Treaty(link).

Senior Night Spoiled for Class-less Duke

Duke is ranked #1 in basketball (until Monday). Tonight, Duke was playing its biggest rival, UNC, who lost its 7 leading scorers from last year. It was Senior Night at Duke and JJ Redick was being honored. The Heels spoiled Senior Night and beat Duke 83 to 76.

Random Notes:

Redick is OO-ver RAA-ted. Redick went 5 of 21 and showed that he is not the best player in the country and that he chokes in big games.

Why does Dick Vitale continue to kiss JJ's butt? Tonight Vitale said that he has never seen a player suffer the verbal and physical abuse of Redick. What physical abuse is he talking about?

Maybe if Coach K talked to his players during time-outs instead of screaming at the refs, his team would have played better. Why does he never get a T?

Duke has no class whatsoever. At the end of the game when it was clear to all that Senior Night was ruined, Duke guard Dockery clearly pushed UNC center Hansbrough in the face and no technical was called.
No Class.

TiVo Update - American Idol

How good is Idol?

Melissa (boring) and Kinnik (sorry fellow Leaphart Leprechaun) are history after next week. Bucky (a Bo who can't sing) and Will (very Brady-ish) should be gone next week also.

My favorites are still Katharine (see photo), Paris and Chris.

Elliot can really sing. When Elliot started singing Stevie Wonder's "If You Really Love Me", I was thinking "No Way Dude", but he nailed it. Elliot doesn't look the Idol. The Shave helped, but if the producers could pull a few of his teeth and do something about his hair, Elliot could make it to the finals.

Best Cartoons Ever - I Want to Singa!

"I Love to Singa" is a 1936 Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Tex Avery.

Owl parents are pleased with their classically trained children until one baby owl wants to sing jazz instead of his parents' preferred genres of classical music and opera. The young owl is kicked out of the house by his disciplinarian violinist father, and runs off to enter a radio amateur contest. The boy wins the contest, but only after his strict father sees his son's potential and allows him to freely sing jazz.

I will now perform an abbreviated "I Love to Singa".

What and Why?

What is this? and
Why did my daughter color it in school today?



Hint: I saw several people with dirt on their forhead today.