Christmas in July

Last night I finished up working with Larry, the Cable Guy on his "Star Studded Christmas Extravaganza. It was a ton of fun. Monday was kinda boring...I actually only worked about 5 minutes during the 10 hours I was there. Tuesday exploded into 7 minutes of work during the 10. Yesterday was much better. We did a full dress rehearsal and then the show, live to tape last night. Trivia: Larry, the Cable Guy's real name is Dan Whitney.
You may wonder why do a Christmas taping in July...well, that gives them time to edit it for its late November airing. The highlight for me was seeing Charlie Callas.
He is very old now and couldn't walk very well, but he was the same funny guy I remember watching as a kid. His signature exaggerated facial expressions and sound effects were hilarious.
By the way...the DVD of the special comes a few days after the special airs, so buy a copy and see my name fly by.

"Certiforcator"

I just received a text from Alex. It says, "Dad mom is a certiforcator she passed" I pondered it for a moment, then my phone rang. It was Alex. He said, "Did you get my text?" I said, "Yes." He said, "Mom just found out she passed the test." To clarify, Sandy is now a certified TaeBo trainer....the good news is she is not actually a certiforcator...because we all know how detrimental that can be to a family and society in general. Hopefully now she can start to teach some classes, grow some clientele, and make some great money doing something she loves.

Raceday in Indy

It's a lovely day in Speedway, Indiana. The Allstate 400 is just a few hours away.
Last night's Nationwide race was once again won by Kyle Busch. With last night's win, Kyle set a modern day record for wins in a season by a driver in the NASCAR circuit. He has 15 wins this season in trucks, Nationwide and Sprint Cup combined. Whether you like him or not, he will probably win several more races this season and establish himself as one of the best drivers racing today. He actually has been more humble as the season goes along, so he may work out ok in my book.
I actually didn't see his win last night...I was enjoying "The Dark Knight", the new Batman movie. I really enjoyed it...though, I advise getting the small Coke...it is a looooong movie. I liked Heath Ledger's Joker, but I don't know if it was an Oscar winning performance...maybe as supporting actor.
Back to racing...the race starts at 2pm consisting of 160 laps around the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway finishing 400 miles of wheel to wheel racing. Hopefully, it will be a great race, but this is the first time they've raced the "Car of Tomorrow" here. There has been an issue with tire wear, so we'll have to see how that plays out. The tires seem to be wearing out after 10-15 laps, and they have scheduled a competition caution at lap 10 to check the tire wear. They will have additional cautions if needed. They have backup tires that they use for Pocono races standing by if these tires fall apart.
My predictions...I think that former Pittsboro, IN resident, Jeff Gordon, will win his first race of the season and his record 5th Brickyard race. Jimmie Johnson will be a close 2nd and Kevin Harvick 3rd.
Have a great Raceday!

Change of Pace...

I went to the Indianapolis Indians game last night for a little change of pace. I walked from my hotel and someone was handing out some kind of ticket coupon, so I took one. Took it to the gate, asked for a box seat and for $4, I was in the 7th row behind the Indians dugout. It was a fun game to watch with the Indians scoring 6 runs in the 6th, and in some odd ways....squeeze bunt, wild pitch and some great hit and run. The only downfall was that right behind me were two redneck NASCAR fans from Charlotte who just couldn't stop talking about racing..."Every time I think I'm out, they keep pulling me back in."

Back in the groove...

I arrived at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway today to get back in the groove of working the races. I have spent the last three days here in Indiana visiting my parents and some of my siblings. I stayed at my brother Shane's house. Good times were had by all...especially as we Wii Bowled into the wee hours of the morning. It was great also to see my parents. I don't get to see them enough since I am the only child of their four living outside of Indiana. I spent Tuesday and part of Wednesday working at their house cutting some tree limbs, yard work, etc. It was good, hard, fun work. My dad is battling cancer, so he appreciated the help. I need to lose some weight, so the sweating was good for me.
I like coming to Indy because it feels like home...even though the first time I ever came to IMS was 2 years ago for a NASCAR race. I have never been here for any Indy car stuff, but if you listen really closely, you can hear echoing around the grandstands Tom Carnegie's voice ringing out "It's a new track rrrrrrrrrrecord!". Little known fact about Mr. Carnegie...Tom Carnegie, born in 1919 in Norwalk, Connecticut as Carl Kenagy (which is still his legal name) was the public address announcer for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway from 1946 to 2006.
A little too early to make any predictions for this week...we'll see after practice tomorrow who is looking good.
My vote...anybody, but Kyle Busch.

Walkin' in Memphis...

I'm in lovely Memphis, TN for a college football preseason special tomorrow. I came over here with a friend of mine from Nashville who will be with me in the tape room tomorrow. I'm staying at the lovely and historic Peabody...
http://www.peabodymemphis.com/

We went out to eat at Rendezvous. Really good!
http://www.hogsfly.com/

Then stopped by some "owl" establishment to watch the UFC fights.
http://www.hooters.com/

Then headed down to Beale Street to hear some music. Saw an incredible guy who played guitar and drums at the same time. His name is Richard Johnston.
http://www.richardjohnston.com


I also stopped to listen to a blues band called Saturn Delta Blues Band...kind of a take off of South Saturn Delta, a posthumous Jimi Hendrix album made that consists of leftover material such as demo tapes, unfinished takes, alternative takes or rejected material.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Saturn_Delta
(don't you just love Wikipedia?)

Anyway, no website for Delta Saturn Blues Band, but they were really good!

I also saw "Dancin' Felix" mingling in the crowd...couldn't find a website for him...only found a pole dancer from Australia named Felix...you're on your own with that /




I texted my nephew Jake to see if he wanted to come and visit me, but he was too busy playing croquet with Aubrey, Wellington, and Beasley in Germantown. He may come visit tomorrow if the fox hunt ends early.
Heading to Indiana on Monday...Whoo-hoo!

PS. Sandy has talked to Billy Blanks a bunch...really likes him...he was sharing some scriptures with her today to help her through the test and drills.
The boys are in Ft. Worth with Mimi and loving it.
To see their 1st place winning dance video, go to my final web site of the day...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwPErQa2aR0

Are You Lonesome Tonight...

It's another race weekend...oh, wait! No, it isn't! And I am enjoying not being at a race track today. But the house is lonely. The boys are all at "Youth America" and apparently loving it. Andy, Alex and 6 other kids from our youth group performed a dance (that Sandy taught them) for the talent show. They tried out on Tuesday and we're a huge hit. They performed it at the talent show on Wednesday night and won! The crowd went wild! They are performing it in front of the whole camp on tomorrow morning before the last service. Pretty cool.
Sandy has successfully arrived in Los Angeles for the Billy Blanks TaeBo Training Certification. In case I didn't mention it, she is going to LA to get certified at the Billy Blanks Training Center by Billy Blanks so she will be a Billy Blanks Certified TaeBo teacher. ( I get a nickel each time I type Billy Blanks on my blog). She will start teaching here in Franklin probably at our rec center and also at the church. She is excited, but nervous. Plus she has done so much dancing in the past few days (she also taught the same dance to another youth group and performed it last night in West Nashville) that she hurt her right knee a little bit. It was swollen this morning and pretty painful when she landed. She was going to ice it tonight as she studied her manual for TaeBo.
I am sitting at home watching TV. Pretty quiet day. I am traveling to Memphis Saturday night for a show at the Peabody on Sunday for a Conference USA Preseason Football show...then off to Indiana on Monday!

Lenny or Lennette?

Well, that makes 3 males neutered, 3 not neutered in our family. Little Lenny met his fate yesterday and now sports a kicky cone that really brings out his eyes.
My three sons hope none of them are next at Valu-Vet.

Race Day in Chi-town

Saturday night racing under the lights...for the first time, the race in Chicago will be a night race. It was pretty last night, but, of course, Kyle Busch won. Man, I'm getting tired of that kid winning. But he can race anything on wheels. I guess he'll be the favorite tonight. The Cup guys got to practice, but not under the lights. Qualifying got rained out, so these guys don't know how the cars will react to the track once the sun goes down. Since they race different cars than Nationwide, the Cup guys who raced last night don't have that big of an advantage over those who didn't.
Any one else tired of hearing about Brett Favre?
Picks time:
3). Tony Stewart
2). Brian Vickers
1). Kyle Busch

Scary Storms

YIKES! In case I don't make it thru this storm, you'll see the last clouds that went over...really pretty, though!

Second City...

Actually, according to the front page of USA Today today, Chicago is the third city in population. Just for a reference:
1. New York: 8.2 million people
2. Los Angeles: 3.8 million
3. Chicago: 2.8 million
4. Houston: 2.2 million
5. Phoenix: 1.5 million....
and coming in way down the list is Farmland, IN with 1456 according to the 2000 census.
And another note for you single males out there...For every 100 females there were 92.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.0 males...incentive to make the move to Farmland.
Well, I'm here in the Chicago area...the track is actually in Joliet, IL...long hike from the hotel, but a nice facility. Multi-groove, so the racing should be good. No real favorites yet this week.
The big news is that Tony Stewart is leaving Joe Gibbs Racing to buy into Hass racing and form Stewart Hass Racing. It is a great move for Tony. He is thinking beyond his years of racing. He will be the primary driver with Office Depot as the sponsor. Some say that he will lure Ryan Newman away from Penske Racing and the two Hoosiers will unite as teammates at SHR. Did you know that Ryan graduated from Purdue with an engineering degree? Did you know why they have a grass football field at Purdue? So their cheerleaders can graze at halftime...old, old joke...and still not too funny.
We came in early this week...Wednesday...for a Saturday night race...storms are in the forecast for Chicago on Saturday, so we'll see. Have a great day!

Out of the truck?

Yes, I took the time to actually go inside the track...and it was loud on the backstretch at Daytona International Speedway!

Sun on the beach...

Looks like good weather today! That means the race will get raced and I will get home tomorrow. I stayed last evening to cut highlights from the Nationwide race...as I drove back to the hotel, there were fireworks being shot off the pier by the hotel. Had I not gotten to my 6th floor beach side room 2 minutes after it was over, I am sure it would have been gorgeous watching the fireworks reflecting in the ocean...but I missed them. Oh, well.
I went to the gym for about 45 minutes, then to bed. I set my alarm to get up and run on the beach this morning. It went off. I did not. I went back to sleep...maybe I'll run on the beach another day.
There's racin' under the lights tonight at the Coke Zero 400...formerly known as the Pepsi 400...formerly known as the Firecracker 400. I have been pretty bad at my predictions for the past, well, the past 18 races or so...but today, I feel like I might have an inside lane. Ok, not really, but I know who I'd like to see win...I really want Tony Stewart to win. I like him...totally platonically, though. So, no predictions today. With Paul Menard taking the pole, anything can happen. It would be cool also to see Mark Martin pull off a win. I just know that I don't want to see Kyle Busch win again...it's like Jimmie Johnson from last year. You just get tired of the same guy winning over and over.
Hope everyone had a great 4th of July and thanks to all the troops all over the world and here at home and their families who sacrifice to keep our nation free.

Beach Blanket Bingo

Frankie and Annette, lookout...NASCAR has once again invaded your beach! We have arrived in Daytona Beach! This week's race is the annual 4th of July race...Saturday night race under the lights.
Quite humid here in Daytona...and probably where you are, too, huh? These short weekends are hard to keep up with...since we do the same amount of shows in one less day, it really throws me off my schedule and I forget what day it is. There seems to be quite a bit of rain in the forecast, so we may be sticking here thru Sunday....we'll see. A storm is brewing off the coast of Africa, but I don't think it will get here before we are long gone.
Zach is babysitting today...he is babysitting the same 2nd grader that he tutors on Tuesdays. He tutors Clyde in math. Clyde has a pretty short attention span, and that pushes Zach to the edge, but he gets paid $10/hour to tutor him...so that makes him happy. Zach's driving is getting really good. No real close calls yet and he pays attention well, drives under the limit, signals always...I am very proud.
Yesterday we all went to the gym. Since the twins turned 13, they are allowed to work out on the treadmills/ellipses/bikes and also on the weight machines. No one under 17 can work out in the free weight room, but we have free weights at home that they lift each night. After we left the gym, we went to Dony and Reba's pool for an afternoon of fun in the sun. It is good to spend time splashing with the boys and Sandy. Last evening, Zach went to wrestling practice and I took the twins to church. Fun day.
We still haven't kayaked, but hopefully this coming week. It is supposed to rain in Nashville on Friday, so maybe Monday the day on the river will come. For those of you with too much rain and flooding, I'm sorry...we haven't had much.
Well, Nationwide cars are on the track, so I need to cut some highlights. Have a great day!