Life's Little Reliefs or Pulled Over by a Chopper

There are plenty of instances in life where one experiences intense moments of anxiety, but then, for whatever reason, that fear is immediately alleviated. One of my reoccurring examples is waking up after having a dream that I had forgotten to go to class for the whole semester and it is the day of the final. It usually takes me a few seconds after I am awake to realize I have been out of college for awhile now and I have my diplomas to prove it. I flop my head back down on the pillow and exhale as I sink back into the bed.

Monday morning, I had another enormous exhale moment while driving down Murphy Lane. I was going my normal speed, just a few over the limit, when I heard a rapid thump, thump, thump sound. When I heard this, for some reason my brain also led me to believe my car was pulling hard to the right. Wonderful...a flat tire! I pulled onto a side street and onto an asphalt pad cutout on the side of the road. I open my door to get out and I hear a rapid "thump, thump, thump... I look up to see an Apache helicopter slowly flying overhead. I didn't really believe that was what I heard until I checked out all four tires. I looked up and watched it disappear behind the tree line, took a deep breath, and drove off a much relieved individual. However, this incident puts things in perspective. In the United States, I am relieved my car didn't have a flat and that it was the props on an Apache helicopter. In other countries, they are just relieved that the Apache helicopter overhead is not firing ammunition.

Current Reading

I haven't read much the past couple weeks, but I hope I can get back into it with some time off coming up. Also, it seems things are slowly beginning to get back to normal.

I am currently halfway through "The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America's Favorite Planet" by Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson. I picked it up at Half-Price Books as I was trying to decide what to read next. I thought it would make good filler inbetween my "must reads." I heard a few years ago about the controversy surrounding the status of Pluto's planethood, but never new the motives behind the discussions. The book is very entertaining and enlightening.

Even more so than Carl Sagan, Tyson makes the book accessible to everyone and has written an interesting book, even if you have no more than a passing interest in planetary science. He does a great job of combining the history and discovery of Pluto, planetary science and funny, interesting anecdotes surrounding the planet and it's name.

I highly recommend it to anyone and I am more than willing to loan it out when I am done. It is a quick read as long as you are reading it and don't put it down for weeks like I have.

A Christmas Story

I found this video on Youtube discussing the common them among "chosen ones" and comparing them to Jesus. I have no idea how accurate this video is, but I think there is quite abit of truth in it, even if it is a stretch.

Top Five Favorite TV Shows

I struggled a bit trying to figure out what was allowed into this list and what doesn't qualify. First, it has to be a series that lasts more than one season (no mini-series or made for TV movies). Second, it can't be a news program of any type (CNN, Sportscenter, KSTV, etc). Again, these shows might not be academy award winners, but they are shows I can watch over and over again and still enjoy, so I need to have access to watch them (either they are on TV constantly or I have them on DVD). There are shows not on this list I currently watch and feel are better (i.e. The Walking Dead on AMC), but that's not what this list is about. Ask me next week and this list could be a bit different. Like comfort food, these are my comfort shows...in random order:

Seinfeld
http://youtu.be/BveKDWXqyRU

The Simpsons





Buffy the Vampire Slayer





Futurama


The Big Bang Theory

Top Tens (or Sometimes Fives)

For a long time I have been wanting to do some posts listing my favorites of this, that and the other. My criteria for these lists is pretty loose. If I were to do the lists at a different time, they may vary slightly. Simply understanding the value of something and realizing it may be the best of the best doesn't necessarily mean it will make the list. For example, I feel "Saving Private Ryan" is one of the best films I have ever seen, but it won't be in my top ten. My top ten movies will be movies I find myself watching over and over again because they provide me comfort, make me laugh or envoke some enjoyable reaction from me everytime I see it. The same goes for music or whatever else I decide to make a list about. Hopefully you'll learn a little more about Buckle B in the process.

Let's start off with music. Here is a list of Buckle B's Top Ten Favorite Bands/Musicians, in NO PARTICULAR ORDER:

Queen - Possibly the best harmonizing rock band of all time, no drive time in the car is waisted when you have a "Best of Queen" CD.

Amos Lee - This is the type of music I wish I could play. I have become a big fan of Amos Lee and hope he comes back to Louisville for a concert soon.


Blues Traveler - I first started listening to Blues Traveler when I was living in Colorado. We drove to Denver and bought standing room tickets outside the Paramount Theater. We stood right in front of the stage and I was "hooked." I wish I could play the harmonica like John Popper.


They Might Be Giants - Mark got me started on TMBG a long time ago and my fanship was reaffirmed driving to school in the mornings with a friend of mine who was a TMBG fan as well. It's hard to be in a bad mood when listening to them, although some of the lyrics are quite sad. Anyway, here is a happier song that may teach you something as well.


Jimmy Buffett - This Parrothead has been to several of his concerts and they are a blast. Anytime is a good time for a little Jimmy. I think the stories he tells in his music are some of the best in music.


Tom Waits - You either love his stuff or hate it. The bottom line is nobody's voice is like his and his songs evoke more emotion (not all pleasant) than anyone else I lsten to.


John Coltrane - Sometimes you just want everyone to shut up and let the music speak for itself. I often find myself saying, "it's a John Coltrane kind of day." I have several albums and he never disappoints.


The Grateful Dead - I seem to always forget about The Grateful Dead. Then I will put a few of their albums on and I'm always suprised how many great songs they have. They had a sound that I seem to constantly crave. Do they put weed in their music, too?


Barenaked Ladies - This is the most fun music on my list. Slightly odd and never taking themselves too seriously, even in ballads, Barenaked Ladies is another "must have ready to play at any moment."


Old 97's - A great southern rockabilly band that has a great sound, lyrics and style. My steering wheel has been drummed on a lot because of them. I hope my airbag still works.


As a footnote, I had a hard time leaving out Old Crow Medicine Show...I could easily swap them The Grateful Dead. Ask me next week...

The Buckle B Boost

My April 6th Masters post showed a picture of Darren Clarke standing in the fairway smoking a cigar. Three months later, he wins his first major ever at the age of 42.

This just shows that if you appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated, you're jinxed. If you appear on Buckle B's Blog, all your wildest dreams come true.

You're welcome Darren.

Round Number ???? for the Year

I played Nevel Meade Wednesday night with a few guys from the Bats. Recently, I began trying to eliminate the loopiness known as my backswing. I have always felt, except for a few small details, that I had a good swing in spite of my horrid takeaway. However, my backswing puts me in a hole and my body must do everything to compensate for me to make solid contact. Then if I do make solid contact, I must hold the face open to keep from hooking, causing a push, or I over correct and slam the club face shut causing a hook. It doesn't always work, which leads to a very inconsistent game. One of the teaching Pros at Hurstbourne told me years ago they new I had some talent just by being able to hit the ball using my backswing.

Over the past few years, I have tried to correct this problem by merely forcing the change with will power. This didn't work. Anytime I felt I was not fanning the club face open, I would watch a video of myself or someone would say, "hey, you swing like a Jim Furyk...without the talent."

I decided to tackle this problem the correct way. Through lots of reading, gathering of information and a series of drills. I feel I have finally turned the corner with my back swing, although it still requires more work, but the loopiness is more than half gone. I intend on bringing a mirror to the practice range along with my camera to help me fine tune.

I will never, ever say I have the game figured out. That is impossible. More issues will arise down the road and that's one of the reasons I love the game. I also know my swing will always be unique, but that is ok as long as it is consistent.

I did shoot my best round in quite awhile Wednesday night at Nevel Meade; a 2-under par 70. I birdied #1, #6, #9, #10, and #18. The only par-5 I birdied was #18 where I missed an 8ft eagle putt for my 69. I had several shots throughout the round I tanked, mostly on par-5's.

I am excited with the direction my game is taking and feel the swing change is simple and will allow more consistent golf. I hope to post some video within the week to show you what I am blabbering about.

What I Did This Summer - by Brian T.

The last time I posted, I was showing you pictures of our mailbox that was struck by lightning. That was April. Since then, we have put in a new mailbox (but it still gets junk mail) and put on a new roof due to the wind damage.

Our fish pond has all of sudden started retaining its water. Last year, I would fill it up and then the next day, it would be down 25%. This year, I haven't filled it once. I guess wherever the crack is, it finally filled in with enough sediment to seal it. We have two fish left. Last year we had four. I'm not sure what is getting them, but it's stealthy. For awhile, I didn't think we had any, but the two remaining fish must have kicked into survival mode and started hiding in the filter box where they get stuck. They spend most of the day hiding under the rocks now that I've put the Kibosh on them by blocking the filter.

Work has been extremely busy. The huge GE Volunteer Project is complete, but now my very small department is busy tying up all the loose ends while still trying to maintain the daily operation of the building. All this while we have 400 kids here for summer camp and the pools have been packed every day because of the heat.

Amongst all the chaos, my beautiful Fiancee and I have been planning the wedding with tons of help from Julie's mom and sister. Julie is on top of things...I am not. I help where I can, but my brain doesn't work when it comes to all the little details that need to be taken care of. But I'm trying. We are both extremely excited, but just want the day to get here.

We are taking dance lessons at Arthur Murray, but Julie's ankle has kept her sidelined quite a bit. We need to practice this week so we don't tick off the teacher Monday at our next lesson. I never think the first dance looks quite right when it's a set dance, but I guess it's just me. I come from the "sway back and forth until the song is over"camp, but then again, I have no culture ( I also don't know no Portuguese).

I've been playing softball with brother Kevin and the Yogi's on Sundays, which is fun. However, I do prefer Fall leagues. If I am going to be that hot, I'd rather be on the golf course. I usually pitch, but have caught a few times when I was having trouble finding the plate. I only feel comfortable at the moment at these two positions and first base, however I think with some practice I could be an outfielder. It's been years since I fielded fly balls.

When it comes to hitting, I feel like I've started games off well, but then start grounding and flying out in my last couple of at-bats. This is usually due to a lack of patience and swinging at the first pitch. I'm sure I'll get it figured out by the last game of the season.

I have tried to play some golf here and there, but it's been tough to get out. I'm playing Nevel Meade tomorrow night after work with some guys from the Bats, so that should be fun...but hot. I won't go into detail in this post, but I am going to post some self made videos of my golf swing and what I am working on. It is mostly for my benefit, but thought it may lend some direction to my sputtering blog posts.

Anyhow, I know it's not as fascinating as my brothers, God of Thunder, and Carlos Merriweather, Dr. Love & Tony Dollar$. Now that I think about it, I have never seen any of them in the same place at the same time. Hmmmm

E(lectric)-Mail Box

Here are the pictures of our mailbox that was struck by lighting a few weeks ago.

This is the hole that was blown out the side of the mailbox. The last number looks like it used to be a 7, but it was a 3. That's just the path of the bolt. It melted the decal.

The force of the bolt ripped the mailbox off the newspaper holder and flaked off most of the paint inside the paper slot.

You can see the blue streak on the top of the mailbox and it's path down to the last number. I want to keep this mailbox...any ideas how I can use it?

"A Tradition Unlike Any Other..."

Now that basketball season is over, I can turn my sporting attention towards the Green Heaven of Augusta National and the rest of the golf majors this Summer (I haven't forgotten about the St. Louis Cardinals, but I won't really start watching baseball until after Derby...just usually how it works out).

The Masters starts tomorrow and I'm ready for it. I haven't thought much about it up until now because of Kentucky Basketball going to the Final Four this year. I turned on the TV last night looking for Live from the Masters on the Golf Channel (which is now an HD Channel...yippee!) and watched that for awhile. I then went online to see what has been happening on the PGA and European Tours this year. I knew Phil Mickelson won this past weekend, but that's all I had really heard or remembered. I also heard Lee Westwoods plan had to make an emergency landing due to smoke in the cockpit, but that it was just Darren Clarke's cigar. Now that the temperature is warming again and I have a general feel for what is happening in the golf world, I am very excited to watch some golf this week. My DVR is set and I can already hear the The Masters music along with the piped-in bird songs they use on broadcasts (not to be confused with The Byrds songs). I will post my predictions later today.

Dirty Cars

I noticed after the heavy rains on Sunday/Monday, my car was dirtier than it was before it rained. It went from having dust on the sides to thick dust in spots all over. I saw other cars with the same issue.

Today I stumbled across a weather blog that said a dust storm in the plains hooked up with the front that came through Sunday into Monday, causing the dust to be absorbed by the rain, thus causing it to be deposited during the storm.

Thought it was interesting. Here is a video of the storm and fires in Texas that caused it.

Conservapedia

Every once in awhile, I will go to Conservapedia's website to see what garbage they have on the front page. At lunch today, I pulled up the homepage and this is the featured entry.

http://www.conservapedia.com/Essay:_Ponies_vs._atheism_-_Ponies_win

Going for the Perfect Saturday

(It's no "Summer of George," but it's not bad)

I am keeping a close eye on tomorrow's forecast as I aim for as near perfect day as I can have without my beautiful fiancee. Because Julie has a busy afternoon planned with girl stuff, I will be making the best of it. I will attempt four things that will make for a great Saturday after a very long, stressful work week. Here is the recipe for a great Saturday:

1. If the rest of the snow (that is not piled up in parking lots) can melt and we get temperatures into the mid-40's tomorrow, I would like to break out my new clubs and at least walk 9 holes. If anyone is interested, I could use some company on this "good walk spoiled."


2. After shooting my best 9 of the year, I would head home, catch a few scores and then read for awhile as I attempt to finish one of the several books I started months ago.


3. At 4pm, Kentucky takes on Georgia in Lexington. Georgia beat Kentucky in a disappointing game to open the SEC season. I think Kentucky will exact revenge and all will be right with the basketball world.


4. To complete this wonderful day of frivolity, my beautiful fiancee and I will head to the movies. I'm not sure what we will see, but going to the movies has always been one of my favorite things to do.
   

So what do you think, can I fit four of my favorite things into one Saturday?

Snow

A part of me still loves tracking snow storms and watching the snow fall, but once it's on the ground, I wish it would disappear. It's easy to like snow if you get a day off school or don't have to go into work and still get paid for it. Now, with my job, I sit up most of the night or get up extremely early in the morning to make decisions on closing or delaying the opening of the center. Then, usually with very little sleep, I trudge down to work and help get everything salted and cleared.

I think some of this bitterness is also due to my new golf clubs sitting in storage just waiting for action. With a "potential mega-storm" (according to one local meteorologist) possible on Monday-Tuesday followed by another potential storm Thursday-Friday, it may be awhile.

When Dreams and Reality Collide

A few days ago, in the early morning hours before I planned to get up, I had one of my strangest dreams in awhile (and that is saying something). I was in the shower, but suddenly had something pinching my feet. The shower curtain liner hung down only inches from my toes due to the weights in the bottom of the liner. However, the weights were not your typical little magnets...they were little turtles. This was made even stranger because I was fully aware turtles were being used as weights, but was agitated the liner had the wrong turtles in it. The manufacturer had mistakenly sewn in snapping turtles! They were craning their little necks trying to chomp on my little toes.

I then awoke to find our cat nipping at my toes sticking out from beneath the blankets. So I got up and fed her breakfast.