Music

I have a wide range in tastes when it comes to music, but if I was asked to show someone who had never heard of music what it is, I would show them this.

A Few Forgotten Characters

I ran across these old clips from Mad TV. Saturday Night Live has always had very memorable recurring characters, but I forgot how good Mad TV was at times. Here are just a few off my favorite recurring characters from that show:

Here is Dot:


And Miss Swan:


And Stuart:


And Lorraine:

Baby Tabler

As everyone knows by now, Julie and I are expecting our first baby at the end of January or early February (official due date is January 30th). I think we are still both in the stunned faze, even though this is exactly what we wanted. However, it all still feels little abstract. That being said, I think it will really sink in once we have the first ultrasound and/or hear the heart beat. We are both very excited and are doing what we can to get ready. Aside from reading everything we can get our hands on, we have started on the nursery. It is freshly panted and ready for us to start putting it together. Jen and Chip gave us the crib they used for the boys, which is fantastic. Julie and I also bought a dresser from Louisville Antiques that is a good size to use as a baby changing table. I still need to install a new ceiling fan and switch out the blinds. All in all, we are very excited and know it will be here quickly. We look forward to sharing this experience with all our friends and family and relying on the experience of those who have been through it.

In an effort to save money and eat healthier food, Julie and I have made an effort to cook more meals at home. On Sundays we have started making several dinners for the week. Yesterday, we made chicken enchilada casserole and I have chicken and dumplings in the crock pot. I will probably finish off the baked spaghetti we made in the next day or two. Doing this gives us lunch for the week as well. I haven't had fast food in over two weeks and we limit eating out to once or twice a week. When we do eat out, we often split a dinner because the portions are so big. Another benefit is the gas and time we have saved by not running out to pick up food at lunch and dinner.

Julie hasn't had any strange cravings yet, but has had a mild aversion to some foods. It will be interesting to see how this holds up as baby gets bigger. She will be 11 weeks this coming Friday, so the baby is about the size of a peanut shell.

We will keep everyone posted as we go through our doctor visits and check-ups.

 

Meteorite Landing in Russia

I spent much of the early morning watching and reading coverage of the meteorite in Russia that caused wide spread damage and around 1,000 injuries. When I first saw this story breaking this morning, the nerd in me was very excited and I immediately began looking for videos of the event. In doing so, I found several incredible videos. I also wanted to see peoples reactions to the event and hopefully see some interesting conversations. I made the mistake of looking at reader comment sections on popular news sites and found the exact opposite of what I was looking for. Some comments I agreed with, but here are some comments from people in need of a good slapping:

Wouldn't it have come from above rather than the side?? Just saying...... Looks staged to me!

- Umm, west yorkshire, 15/2/2013 2:52

There appears to be a lot more to this story, as usual a lot of speculation, maybe the truth will be told, maybe not!

- maggie Elaina, jasper Ga USA, United States, 15/2/2013 10:06

I'm not totally buying this story. A meteorite is random yet there just happen to be a camera on a pod shooting a empty scene in the exact location. Also, there were reports of the Russian air force intercepting the meteorite? Really? How many thousands of feet per second does a meteorite travel? I'm not buying it. The Russians were testing something that went awry.

- TN_Ric, Nashville, 15/2/2013 9:39

Cameras at the ready to capture this thing from every angle, just at the moment it happend to appear? C'mon - give me a break. Look at that trail, something in there is reflecting light, something liquid perhaps. And it looks more like smoke than vapor. Meteorites don't smoke. This was the breakup of some high flying aircraft that was going to require an explanation and they decided "There's an asteroid passing by today - we'll just say it was a meteorite - they'll never know the difference."

- Forward Observer, Miami, 15/2/2013 9:21

Check out the book of revelations. It fortells an event where burning ice falls from the sky. Sounds like frozen gases entering the atmosphere. It also describes a star falling to earth that destroys a third of the trees and a third of the sea life. How could the ancient writer have speculated with such accuracy the impact of space objects on the earth with such limited science in that day? Could he have been taking dictations from God? Igf he was, then this little rock was just a trailer for the big action flic to come.

- markd4lyph, LangleyOKusa, 15/2/2013 9:19

Global Warming strikes again. When are we going to learn?

- asmith555, Charlotte, 15/2/2013 8:29

So, how come a meteor strike has never been witnessed before? I'm as sceptical as the next man, and I think human causes are more likely than meteorites. It looked more like the Columbia did when it broke up on re-entry.

- Realist, Kent, United Kingdom, 15/2/2013 8:25

Was it the same one which wiped out the dinosaurs?

- Dexter Morgan, Kettering, United Kingdom, 15/2/2013 8:18

so it was big enough to knock a building down but no crater??? more likely some government body has used the meteor passing us today as an excuse to test fire something!

- mark, hull, 15/2/2013 7:36

Marvel Mash-Ups

Here are just a few of my favorite Marvel Mash-Ups that Marvel puts out on their Youtube channel (although Disney owns it now). I like a company that can lampoon their own product.

Office to Bedroom Renovation Almost Complete

Turning our office off the living room into a bedroom is almost done. The drywall and doors are in and everything has been mudded. I spent about 5 hours last night priming the drywall and then filling in the little nail holes in the door frame with wood putty. I then sanded the door frames down before I went to bed. Our contractor is going to touch up a few spots now that he can see it primed and will add in the outlets, door hardware and shelf in the closet. My goal is to have the doors painted tonight and start painting what I can. I think it turned out really well. The last thing we will do is put a nice thick area rug in their to give it a homier feel.

We hope to put the house on the market very soon, possibly this weekend or Monday. We are meeting with a Realtor to look at a few houses on Saturday.

Ummm...yeah

A "Waiting for the Storms" Update

I am sitting in bed waiting for the storms to blow through a bit later on and thought I would post an update on all the trivial things I have been up to outside of working. I used to love storms, rain or snow. Now I just worry about the community center flooding, experiencing a power outage or having to delay an opening. I am still fascinated by storms, but don't enjoy them as I once did.

I am currently watching "Haywire", one of the three free movies I am getting from Redbox because the "Muppets" DVD I rented a couple weeks ago did not work. Julie lasted the first fifteen minutes and now she is snoozing. It is moderately entertaining, but that is about all I can say. The cat is curled up under my arm asleep, so I am left holding down the fort.

GOLF
I played golf at Shawnee on Labor Day with Kevin, Uncle Mark and Matt. It was incredibly humid. Tropically humid. I scored fairly well, especially the back nine. The front nine, I kept barely missing fairways and had several punch shots at greens. I also hit more bunkers that nine than I have the rest of my rounds at Shawnee combined.The back nine was better scoring, but I always feel like I give away too many shots. I did putt well both nines. That was the only consistent part of my round. I shot 5 over on the front for a 39 and 2 under on the back for a 34...73.

My shoulder hurt a little, but I had neglected my anti-inflammatory for about two days. I am back on them with some ice and the shoulder feels better.

CORNHOLE
Kevin and I began our cornhole league at St. Martha on Wednesday night. There are 8 teams in the league. Each night we play four games against one team. We began 3-1, so not a bad start. The game we lost was close. We play again Wednesday at 8:15. I enjoyed playing and spending time with my brother.

DNC/RNC Conventions
I watched'em. It was all status quo for the most part. I, however, did get angry at the  platform change during the DNC convention. I won't go into more detail, but it ticked me off.

Ok...time to check the weather. If you are reading this, it means you survived and your house is probably still standing. Goodnight everyone!

Shoulder Update

As most of you know, I have been battling a bad left shoulder for several years. In the past year, it has become incredibly more painful when I play golf or try to lift anything above my head. I was first diagnosed with an impingement in my shoulder blade and rotator cuff. I went through a few weeks of physical therapy and did my exercises at home, but did not feel it was any better. It may have even been worse.

I went back to my orthopedic yesterday and I think we have finally pin pointed the problem. Bicipital Tendonitis. In the picture below, my pain is exactly where the line points to for the tendon of the biceps muscle. The tendon stretches over the ball at the top of the humerus, in a notch call the Bicipital Groove (I like that name...sounds funky). This is where the problem lies. Physical therapy will not help this. The doctor gave me a cortisone shot right into the tendon. Apparently, this has been going on for so long, the anti-inflammatory medicine I am on is unable to decrease the inflammation. However, the shot has greatly increased my range of motion and decreased my day to day pain. I haven't tried a golf swing yet, but I am going to wait a week or so until I attempt a practice swing. Hopefully, the medicine can now maintain the tendon.

I have been told not to play golf for a couple of weeks to give the shot a chance to work. It takes a few weeks for all the inflammation to subside. Here is hoping for the best. If not, I am moving up to the gold tees with Pop.

The Open

My favorite golf major to watch on TV started this morning. I awoke at 4:30am to watch a few hours of the Open Championship before I went to work. Every year for four days in July, I wake up early, head to the couch with some breakfast and watch golf, occasionally dozing off while doing so.

The reason it is my favorite to watch is the combination of a few things. First, I love I get to wake up and watch golf early and still have the whole in ahead of me. Second, it is a different type of golf course and game than we watch week in and week out on the tour, including the majors. I have always loved links style golf and watching the players battle wind and rain makes it even more fun. I love the pot bunkers, the tall golden Rye and Fescue grass, the old buildings and clubhouse and even the bagpipe bumper music they play during the telecast. Plus, I think watching them play golf in July while wearing sweaters helps me forget how hot it is outside.

Enjoy the Open if you plan on watching. If not, what is wrong with you?

Frolio's

After leaving Audubon tonight, Julie and I stopped by Frolio's on Poplar Level Road and Trevilian Way. I have driven by Frolio's hundreds of times over the years, but I only vaguely remember going there when I was younger with the family. The pizza place has been open for 27 years and the only thing that has changed is the sign out front.

We were the only one in there most of the time and the young lady waiting on us for very nice. However, I don't think the food was all that great. It will do in a pinch if you are craving pizza, but it may be another 27 years until I go back.

Day Lilies

Here a a couple pictures of our day lilies in the backyard before they succumbed to 106 degree temperatures.

Julie & Leonard

Taken at Derby City ComicCon. It's a cut-out, if for some reason you couldn't tell.

Hurry Up, George!

I ran across this and remembered what Mark said about George R. R. Martin. I am glad I have waited to read these. Hopefully he will get to the last book.

100 Yards and In

As I mentioned in the previous post, I feel more comfortable with my golf swing, except for the shoulder pain, than I have in a very long time. However, I have been focusing primarily on my short game the past several weeks. At lunch, I often go to Seneca and putt, hit bunker shots and work around the green. Squaring the club face and having my hands slightly ahead at address has not only helped my long game, but makes my pitching and chipping much more consistent. Instead of my arms trying to control the face angle, it frees me up to simply take the club back and through with a solid downward strike.

I applied this same logic to my putting. Using a straight board, I discovered my putter was also open at address. I have squared the club face and moved my hands ever so slightly ahead of the ball at address. This has given me a much more solid, consistent strike on the ball allowing for more consistency in my distance control. Squaring the club face also puts me in a position where I feel the putter face is easier to control back and through, taking the uneasiness out of shorter putts. I feel if I miss a putt now, it is due to a bad read and not a bad strike, push or pull. My misses are much closer, and that is worth a lot.

All This Blogging Is Wearing Me Out!

I know you must be sick of all my posts by now, but I can't help it. Hopefully you can keep up.

For those of you unable to devote the time needed to the fast paced world that is BuckleB, let's review:

Golf: I have played a little golf this year. Not as much as I want, but more than I have been. It has been a relatively successful year so far. I have only failed to break 80 in one round (that I can think of). I have also won $100 in a closest to the Pin contest in a scramble.

My left shoulder has been giving me more issues this year and has made playing golf to be a rather painful experience. The good news is that my rotater cuff does not seem to be torn (at least this is what the doctor thinks without and MRI). I do have an impingement in my cuff and some tendonitis with minor nerve irritation causing my elbow to hurt and my left pinkie to go numb. I am going through physical therapy to help strengthen my upper back and increase my range of motion to help take the stress off my shoulder. I also talked with a local golf pro who, upon looking at my set-up, informed me he thought I was standing too far from the ball, thus putting more strain on that shoulder on the takeaway. Makes sense. I have stepped a couple inches closer and have been pleased with the results. I was also told my clubface is open at address. Both of these changes have helped me keep the ball flight down and make a more balanced swing and better strike on the ball. The only issue is trying to keep the ball from going too far left because of my strong grip. This is accomplished simply by maintaining my right wrist angle a bit longer and not allowing over rotation of the lower body causing me to flip my hands over. Like anything in golf, it all sounds like a lot to think about during the course of a 3 second swing, but it is very simple when put into action.

I am playing Seneca on Friday with Jeff, Jeff's Dad and family friend Paul. It's a fun group. Saturday for Jeff's bachelor party, we have three groups playing at Chariot's Run in Indiana. Should be very hot, but fun.

Books: I am almost done reading The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. There is a sequel I am looking forward to reading, but the name escapes me at the moment. I was getting nervous. With only 70 pages left out of a 661 page book, I felt like he had way too much to wrap up. Good to know the story of Kvothe isn't over.

I probably won't jump into the sequel right away. I want to finish the book on the Civil War and maybe the last book of the Hunger Games trilogy.

Derby City ComicCon: Julie humored me and went to the Derby City ComicCon with me at the Convention Center Saturday afternoon (I didn't make her go...she wanted to!). One of the main reasons I wanted to go was the co-creator of The Walking Dead, Tony Moore, was supposed to be there. I wanted him to sign the first volume of the the graphic novel series, but when we came to his booth there was a sign on the table apologizing and that he was sick and could not attend. Bummer.

However, I did get to meet the creator and writer (Tim Seeley) of the graphic novel series Hack/Slash, a very graphic series about a scantily clad female vigilante seeking justice on those she feels deserve punishment. This is the only medium in which I enjoy this type of stuff...but even Julie found herself reading it in the car on the way home. I bought an Omnibus of the series...Tim signed the cover. The funny thing is that he got his start writing children's books.

Julie didn't walk away empty handed either. She bought an original colored pencil sketch of Archie, Jughead and Betty done by current writer Craig Boldman. He signed it to both uf us. It will be neat to have hanging in the house one day.

After the show, we had dinner at Smash Burger at 4th Street. It was tasty.

Misc: We have both been staying busy with the upcoming wedding plans (I am the best man and Julie is the Matron of Honour). We have had couples showers and parties filling our weekends. Plus it seems most of our family and friends have birthdays in July (including Julie).

Anyway, that is all for now. My goal is always to post more often, but time seems to keep getting away from me.

Dinosaur Lecture Clip for Pop

A Century of Plate Tectonics (Continental Drift Theory)

One hundred years ago, on January 6th, 1912, on of my favorite scientists, Alfred Wegener, presented his idea of continental drift to the public for the first time. Like many huge scientific discoveries, the initial idea was brilliant (and scoffed at), but the mechanics of it were not what they appeared. Through decades of exploration and research, Wegener's idea has been put into it's proper "context" and is now seen as the foundation for modern Plate Tectonics Theory. Even though his idea of what drove plate tectonics was flawed, Wegener's ideas opened a window into our understanding of seismology and vulcanology. It has helped explain many variables in paleontology, anthropology and the history of our planet, both ancient and recent. It even aides our understanding of other planets in our solar system.

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.