Blog Blog Woof Woof

Solomon Burke - R.I.P. King of Soul

The following is a semi-paid (I think I get a t-shirt.) advertisement for SoccerPro.com and their efforts to help Shoes 4 Life.: The World Cup being hosted in South Africa is a big step forward for the nation of South Africa and the entire continent of Africa . Billions of South African Rand are entering the country, and it is getting a lot of media exposure. The World Cup is a great celebration that unites the world. Soccer equipment retailer SoccerPro.com is celebrating in their own way. They're raising awareness of those who are less fortunate in Africa (and throughout the world) who do not have shoes. When a family barely has enough more to eat and provide shelter, the purchasing of shoes can be missed if funds aren't available. The lack of shoes can lead to injuries and infections which are amplified by the poor ground conditions and lack of urgent medical treatment. SoccerPro.com has launched their Shoes 4 Life charity to raise money to buy shoes for those in ne

No, I'm not into Manolo Blahniks - although I do appreciate a woman in a nice pair of heels. I am talking about men's shoes; men's dress shoes, men's outdoor shoes, and men's athletic shoes. I love them all even when I have nowhere close to the money to afford or justify a new pair and anybody who knows quality shoes knows I'm talking quality price tag too! I think it started with my dad. Although I most often saw him in work clothes (khaki pants and short sleeve shirts), they were meticulously maintained clothes. He had his pants and shirts laundered and pressed, even the ones he kept for yard work and fishing. He shined all shoes except his "working in the yard shoes". When he did get dressed up he looked crisp and clean with a just enough style elements to show you that he really knew what he was doing. My first encounter with shoe envy came when I played football as a 6th grader . I desperately wanted a pair of off-white on white Puma cleats

To all the mothers of the world let me take a minute to say that I am awed by you, each one. You don't get the credit you deserve. To my mother... Thank you for everything you did for me while I had you. I miss you so much! Jai

I was a Cub Scout . I was a Webelo . I was a Boy Scout . They are different age groupings of the same institution but no matter how young or old you were you were always encouraged and trained to be a kid who did things outside. There are some more cerebral activites or functions like citizenship and religion but in a pinch there is nothing you couldn't translate to the out-of-doors. Reading ? Check. Basketweaving ? Check. Leatherwork ? Check. Theater ? Check. But now in an effort to keep the kids coming they have added Video Games ! This makes me almost as mad as the culture of discrimination and homophobia the BSA continues to perpetuate. I know people will say that the games promote healthy competition and togetherness, or that kids who play video games a lot develop good hand-eye coordination but give me a freaking break Scouting is filled with activities that promote all of that without gazing into a TV screen for hours on end. Scouting is about broadening the

Same woman, same reaction . The difference? I had Julia in one arm and a diaper bag in the other. This time, as the woman got closer I ask Julia to say "hi" to the woman. Julia just stared and the woman just ignored.

I talk a lot of cuss ( Fantastic Mr. Fox reference). Its usually factually based but I talk a lot of BS. I have a talent for gleaning knowledge from slivers of information. I am also blessed with a curiosity level that allows requires me to be interested in all sorts of random stuff, very little is uninteresting to me. On the surface that's all pretty harmless but I am discovering that it is actually quite ego driven which isn't so harmless. I am reading a book that is forcing me to evaluate my actions and their motives. The book is The Lost Art of Compassion . The premise is that some Buddhist thought and some western psychology agree that when you are truly compassionate you are happier. I buy that and I want to be that. The book gives some instruction on how to become compassionate and one thing it stresses is that narcissism drives most of us more than we can imagine. Narcissism as the author tells is stealthy and this is where I come in. He talks about things we

Many of you know that I live in the same house I grew up in. The street was racially mixed when I was a kid but now it is predominantly black. There are a couple of transitional housing places that tweak the "white" end numbers a bit but overall this is a black neighborhood. I just went to my front yard to get mail and retrieve the trashcan. As I got to the mailbox an unfamiliar (a resident or friend of someone in the transitional housing on our street) woman with white hair - white skin too - was walking down the street. I said "Hello, how are you?" but she didn't verbally respond. Instead she went to the opposite side of the street AND put her purse on the opposite shoulder only to come back to my side of the street when she was a full house or so past me. As she did this I wished her a good day, got my trashcan and came back inside. I am not overly concerned about racism ; I tend to see the individual more than the group but it is instances like this tha

This is an oddball observation. For the past 4 years I have worked hard to get Tara to fold my pants the way I have folded pants my entire life (Tara does most laundry in the house). I learned to fold pants in what I believed was the only (and proper) way, as a prep for hanging. You fold them front to back so that a crease is kept in the front and back center, perpendicular to the side seams. Tara folded my pants like she folded her own pants, the opposite way. She folds along the side seam . I was under the impression that this was a female thing b/c every man I knew well enough to see them fold their pants folded them the way I do. A few weeks ago my brother-in-law moved in with us and he wears - almost exclusively - urbanwear jeans. You know, the jeans that are pressed board stiff and have the fancy embroidery on the back pockets. Well, he folded some of my pants the other day and, to my surprise, they were folded like Tara does it. Now, as I started writing this post I thought

Those who know me well know that I am a bit of a clothes hound. Those who know me really well know I have no money to buy what I like. Well, I've just found one way to possibly get some soccer jerseys on the cheap...free actually. soccerpro.com is having a "Jerseys for Life" sweepstakes to celebrate the 2010 FIFA World Cup . If you connect to soccerpro.com on Facebook you automatically enter to win your favorite team 's new jersey every year for the next 10 years, crazy huh?!?!?! If you don't win you will at the very least you get a $10 coupon for soccerpro.com . **Be sure to follow the link here or at the end of this post to get to the right spot.** soccerpro.com has a wide selection of soccer gear for fans, players, trainers and coaches and as far as I can tell, pretty darn good prices. It is to my eyes a great online soccer gear store. If you are a coach or are involved in an organized league of some sort I think it would be worth your while to check it

There are so many things about my dad that come to mind in relation to Barack Obama . I am constantly struck by the similarity of body movement. Every time I see the President walk I am reminded of my dad, every time I see the President sit or speak I am reminded of my dad. The photo here is from the White House flickr page. I think it is a wonderful photo but looking at the man in the photo I think of my dad. In life and lifestyle Papa and POTUS are very dissimilar but they carry themselves in a suprisingly similar way.We know about Barack Obama's life so I won't repeat it here but I will tell more about my dad. He was born in rural Middle Tennessee , oldest of two boys, his mom was a domestic and his dad a carpenter. If I understand correctly, some of his great grandparents were slaves (I think one of his grandmothers was a Cherokee and one of his grandfathers was a white man). My dad completed high school ( Pearl High School , class of 1936) and at most, a year of col

I've loved PBS as long as I can remember, going back to ZOOM , Sesame Street , etc. I can always find shows on PBS I love. Austin City Limits helped me keep sanity through the 90s. I haven't paid a bunch of attention to what was on other than Tavis Smiley and Volunteer Gardener but in this first week of 2010 I have seen two of the most enjoyable and interesting documentaries I have seen in a very long time. First was " The Human Spark ", Alan Alda hosts this three part show on what makes humans human, not Neanderthal or chimp or whatever. The first episode was great. He went to archeological sites and discussed what made us, homo sapien sapiens , different from Neanderthal. Why did they die out and we are still here? Really cool stuff. Now I am watching " This Emotional Life " which explores how and why we feel what we feel. Using case studies and interviews, including interviews with lots of entertainment folks. Its narrated by Daniel Gilbert , the g