I LOVE JESUS

²⁴To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— ²⁵to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen (Jude 24,25 NIV)

SAM'S TOP 3 LIST

THE TOP THREE JOBS THAT PEOPLE TAKE TOO SERIOUSLY

3. NFL REFEREES - These guys only work about three hours a week as referees but take it way too seriously. You can detect their misplaced enthusiasm through their statuesque and ridged body language, coupled with a stern stoneface and crumpled brow.

Recommendation - any type of depressant will suffice, maybe some yoga and deep breathing

2. DOG SHOW JUDGES - These clowns are easily identified buy their pervasive aura of pretentiousness. Tight sphincter muscles and gray hair are common. Their dress is always elegant but found wanting due to all of the butt sniffing and leg lifting surrounding them.

Recommendation - embrace the fact that they are not taking tea with the queen

1. SECURITY GUARDS - No explanation needed.

Recommendation - get a new job

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wrong Again

It is just too easy to rip on the Obama administration. This whole civilian trial of the 9/11 conspirators is such a terrible decision. These are terrorists, not shoplifters. They are NOT American citizens and do NOT have the same rights as American citizens have. This is a stupid decision and a horrible venue. My stomach acids boil at just the thought of the ridiculous media circus that this trial will create. Obama and Holder (US Attorney General) should be ashamed of themselves for this crap.

No Monday morning quarterbacking will be needed to reach the conclusion that Gitmo should be kept open, and that these human pieces of trash should be tried by military tribunals. I personally think that they should be flown to Afghanistan, strapped onto a bomb, and dropped on their friends.

A taste of early November

1.Happy Birthday Sammy D! Ditto Ditto Babby Gordito is now 2 years old.

2.I am happy to see that the GOP pulled off two big wins in NJ and VA. I hope that the conservative message of lower taxes and less government resonate throughout the party.

3.NO to government health care! I fully support health care reform, but not a bill that will destroy private insurance, expand government control, and further bankrupt the country.

4.There are no good movies out, and I can't afford to see one anyways. I'm pissed.

United States of Wuss

Obama has renamed our country this week at the UN. Our once strong and proud nation is now a certified pushover on the world stage. Our own president is in the "blame America" crowd. It is embarrassing to see the total lack of leadership and backbone that our president exhibits. Of course the world loves him! He is conceding everything to them. His appeasement mentality is making our country weaker and the world loves it!

Also, I love his brilliant call to disarm the world of nuclear weapons. Only a retard would have all peaceful and law abiding nations rid themselves of nuclear arms. What would be left to fight against rouge hostile nations that WILL develop such weapons?! Hmmm? It's just like making gun prohibition laws. You will end up taking guns away from the good guys. Why? Because bad guys don't abide by the laws! A child can comprehend this concept. It really makes me wonder if Obama is just dumb, or is he trying to make our country less safe.

BOOGITY BOOGITY BOO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It has been a while but I'm back. Unfortunately I don't write on this blog unless I am inspired to do so. Hence the "erratic" mention in my blog title.

Teri and I had an experience last night that I had to blog about. We watched a movie that we thought was going to be a suspense action film, but turned out to be more of a weird creepy movie. Teri and I NEVER watch horror movies or anything that may get too scary. For me those movies are dumb. I have never been scared in a movie in my life. I just can't seem to shake the thought that everything I am seeing is fake. The blood, guts, and gore are just not appealing to me, probably because I saw these things on the street as a police officer. Teri, on the other hand, gets so scared that she curls up into a ball and has nightmares for days. It is for these reasons that we just don't "go there" with movies. This brings me back to last night. Teri and I find ourselves an hour into a movie that was more creepy than we expected. I didn't mind but I knew that it was going to freak Teri out. In retrospect I feel bad that I messed with her so much after the movie. I kept saying that I saw the "boogie man" in all the dark corners of the house. I had a blast and fortunately Teri did not have a bad dream (yet).

I would like to weigh in on the whole monsters/aliens/ghosts argument. My response is blunt, simple, and most importantly, correct................................ B***S***! It is all a bunch of crap. There are no space men or alien spaceships or ghosts or ghouls or haunted houses. We live in a world of reality and science based upon logic and fact. Until I can meet a alien or ghost, I will not believe in them. Teri gets mad at me because I will occasionally defy and mock evil spirits and ghosts to "come and get me". Lucky for her, they have yet to cause me even a raised eyebrow. In order to support my argument I would like to cite an unexpected source, somebody who is an expert on the human condition and the feeble mindedness of most people. He stated, "People want to believe". It is brilliant and true. I just wish I could make millions of dollars on this premise like Criss Angel has. People buy into a lot of BS. Why do you think infomercials are so successful, and that Obama is president? I hate to break it to you, but there is NO reason to be afraid of what does not really exist.

Of course, as a Christian I believe in God. Some may say that one is unable to see God. Well, I have to call BS on that too. People see God in countless ways everyday. Look at the sky, the stars, and our human bodies. All of which are true miracles which appear in front of our very eyes. I can tell you that watching my baby son sleep is the closest thing that I have ever seen in my life to God. His innocence and peacefulness can bring me to tears at any moment. I just can't believe that God can trump that exponentially. God is more real to me than things whom others base their entire lives on (money, fame, power).

With Halloween approaching, please keep in mind that it may be fun to dress up as the boogie man, but don't get to scared because HE DOES NOT EXIST.

Nut has spoken.

The Oath

Words can be so ambiguous. To some people they can be gold, and to others they can be meaningless. Taking an oath of office may seem meaningless on the surface, but it holds a tangible power.

For example, I was re-sworn as a police officer yesterday. The actual event was somewhat informal and only took about 5 minutes (and that is stretching it). The actual oath was just words, but gave me so much authority. In the most brutal of realities, the oath could be recited by anybody at anytime and seems meaningless..... BUT, the fact that it was recited by the Chief of Police to me (after the pain and effort of department training AND six months of the police academy, 7 years ago AND 4 years of sworn law enforcement experience) I became something that I was not 24 hours earlier. It feels great to be the popo again.

Unfortunately it's just something that you will never appreciate or understand unless you do it yourself. I have shed blood an tears being a police officer in the past. I have done things that you only see on TV and in the movies. However, it comes at a cost. It is with that thought that I give Teri my complete and absolute thanks. She made the effort to attend my ascension into something that makes me a better man. It's always a sacrifice, but it's who I am.

Summer Movie Wrap-up

I just saw the last movie on my summer "must see" list (GI Joe). I enjoyed the movie purely based upon what I expected the movie to be. I didn't expect the greatest acting, storyline, character development, or special effects. I did expect to see an action packed movie injected with 80s nostalgia. I must admit that the action sequence about half way through the movie had me laughing out loud because it was so well done. The action was awesome, the special effects were great, and it is certainly something that I have never seen before on the big screen. The movie producers also did a great job of updating the GI Joe franchise without straying too far from the 80s cartoon that my generation grew up on. (It didn't piss me off like the first live action Transformers movie.) Overall the movie was good and I recommend it. Just don't go see it with your expectations too high. Also, Snake Eyes kicks butt!

I've touched on other summer movies in my 6-23-09 blog and my 5-12-09 blog. I must say that Star Trek was by far the best movie of the summer. It was a perfect mix of all things that make a movie great. There was something for everybody. I know people that have never really cared about anything Star Trek who become instant fans after seeing that movie. I guess I can indirectly include myself in that group. I have seen all of the Star Trek movies from the mid 80s on. I respected them and paid to see them, but I was never really a fan until now. I can't wait for a sequel using the current cast.

The worst movie of the summer was also easy to identify. Terminator Salvation sucked. It was slow, boring, shallow, and offered nothing fresh to the Terminator franchise. Christian Bale's performance was terrible as John Connor. I think he is a great actor but this character was abrasive, nasty, constipated, and oddly enough not human (in that the only emotion he conveyed was anger). The movie was not fun, and a post apocalyptic setting has been done a million times before. The movie did have a great twist at the end, but it's hard to care when you're not really engaged in the movie and its characters. Do not go out and see this movie. I'm not even sure that it's worth 5$ to rent.

In conclusion I must mention that I didn't see any dramatic or girly movies this summer. I also skipped the Harry Potter movie due to the fact that I have never seen any of the previous films. All of said films are exempt from my beautiful and glorious rants.

Speed bumps, scorpions, and a blessing named Tim

The life of a christian is not an easy one. Stepping out of your comfort zone to serve God is difficult, but we all know that actions speak louder than words. So once a year my wife and I go to Guatemala to work at an orphanage. The trips are bittersweet because leaving the comfort of home and all our loved ones (especially Sammy D) is terrible, but seeing all the kids in Guatemala is great. Teri and I have been building relationships with these children for years, so seeing them is like seeing distant family members.

Our trip was cut short this year. On Tuesday night Teri got extremely sick. When I found out, I went to see her and knew immediately that she was going to end up in the hospital. She was shaking from head to toe, had a fever, nausea, fatigue, and abdominal pains. Sure enough we left for the hospital around 10:30pm due a possible appendicitis, and so began the worst night of our lives. Just moving Teri 10 feet to the car caused her to start dry heaving. She was loosing consciousness on the way to the hospital and every speed bump seemed to make her worse. I can't explain the amount of fear I was in knowing that my wife was on her way to a hospital in a third world country. Thankfully one of the permanent missionaries (Tim) knew a hospital that would provide Teri with the best care available in our area. Tim also worked in an ER for six years and spoke Spanish. I was just as helpless as Teri upon arriving at the hospital, but thank God Tim knew what to do and gave 100% for Teri. My 100% was meaningless, I wouldn't even know how to ask the staff where the bathroom was.

After the initial exam the doctor concluded that her appendix was the problem and that it needed to come out. Surgery was set for 8:00am and Teri and I faced a long night of fear, uncertainty, and worry. Neither of us could believe that she was going to have surgery in another country. The worst case scenario of Teri never making it out of that hospital had become a possibility. I made some essential phone calls and updated friends and family on her condition. Word spread fast and the faithful began to pray (overtime).

I spoke with Teri late at night before we attempted to get some rest. She told me that the pain was getting much better and that she didn't want to have the surgery unless she really needed it. I agreed and now had all night to make sure that her request was granted. I had to sit in the waiting room all night. It was dark and boring. There were no people, magazines, TVs, and the chairs were horribly uncomfortable. I had a lot of time to worry and freak myself out. I didn't sleep but I did get some action around 4:00am. I saw a huge black scorpion strut across the room and crawl behind a filing cabinet. I stared at the cabinet for about an hour until the black death emerged again. I engaged the enemy in battle and won. It was a disturbing realization that scorpions were roaming about the hospital, so for the rest of the night I had to keep checking to see if there were any ghouls on me.

Morning came and so did Tim, we had a conference with the new daytime staff and voiced our concerns. Teri was re-examined and we were in the presence of a miracle. She was no longer in need of surgery and was in no pain. The doctors could not explain what had happened. Teri was released from the hospital and I got her back to the states ASAP. The final diagnosis was that she had a viral intestinal infection that aggravated her appendix and then miraculously got better. In short, prayer works. God has great plans for Teri and is not going to let her expire in some crappy hospital thousands of miles from home.

Thank you is not enough for all of those who lifted Teri up in prayer, and for Tim and all of our Guatemala team members. You were all part of a miracle, the closest one to me that I have ever experienced.

Don't tase me bro!

Today I was tased by UPD (University of Florida Police). I decided to experience the taser during my initial in-service training for the department. It wasn't mandatory, but I knew that I needed to experience it. I don't want to carry a weapon that I haven't been exposed to myself.

I remember being anxious but not scared before getting shot. I had no frame of reference, I just knew that it was going to hurt. Two of my buddies stood next to me and secured my upper body before the tase, so I wouldn't fall on my face (thanks Kenny and Bradley). The training Sergeant took aim at my back with the X26 (pictured above) and let me have it. The blast doors of the taser cartridge opened and two prongs stuck into my back. GRRAAAHHHHHHHHHH! I felt a strong shock which immediately overloaded my mind. It felt like my brain was screaming "PAIN! STOP THE PAIN!" Unfortunately my entire body was seized and I knew I had to take the full 5 second ride. Trust me when I tell you, 5 seconds of being tased is the longest 5 seconds of your life. The initial deployment of the taser is exactly five seconds, the shock will not stop early so I got every freaking bit of that 5 seconds. The feeling is very hard to explain. I would not recommend it unless you're in the law enforcement profession or you're just stupid.

After the exposure my body relaxed and I melted into the floor. Within one or two seconds I was at 95% I tried to jump up to my feet in excitement that it was over. My spotters reminded me to stay on the ground because I still had two prongs stuck into my back. The instructor plucked them out and I was done (yes, that also hurt).

As a human being I love to accrue "life experiences". This one was very memorable and I would prefer to not to experience it again. I just think it's awesome that I got tased by UPD. If you ever piss off a cop I would recommend saying, "Please Please Please Please Don't Tase Me SIR!"

Deserving of more magazine covers than Michael Jackson

Here are the names of US forces killed in the War on Terror this month. The sacrifice of these Americans weighs heavy on my heart. I'm older than the majority of these soldiers (12 of them). I can't believe that there are so many life experiences that were taken from them. I can only pray that those left behind understand that God is always in control, no matter how hard it is to believe. Life and death hold a strange dichotomy. The concepts are easily learned but never fully understood. As humans it is our nature to figure out why things happen and how things work. However, there will always be things that occur which will defy all logic and understanding. It is through my own mortal inferiority and feebleness that I surrender all things known and unknown to me. I surrender all to my Lord and Savior. He accepts me as I am and strengthens my faith through all of life's experiences that fly well above my head. I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank God for blessing me, and pray that those affected by these war casualties will be blessed beyond their understanding.

I expect you all to read every name on this list out of respect.

1290	07/11/09	NAME NOT RELEASED YET	Not reported yet		U.S. Marine	Not reported yet	Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack	southern Afghanistan	Not reported yet	Not reported yet
1289	07/11/09	NAME NOT RELEASED YET	Not reported yet		U.S. Marine	Not reported yet	Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack	southern Afghanistan	Not reported yet	Not reported yet
1293	07/10/09	NAME NOT RELEASED YET	Not reported yet		U.S. Army		Hostile - hostile fire	southern Afghanistan	Not reported yet	Not reported yet
1288	07/09/09	Farris, Joshua R.	Specialist	22	U.S. Army	2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry)	Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack	Wardak Province	La Grange	Texas
1287	07/08/09	Hayes, John E.	Master Sergeant	36	U.S. Marine	2nd Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force	Hostile - hostile fire	Helmand Province	Middleburg	Florida
1286	07/08/09	Hager, Roger G.	Lance Corporal	20	U.S. Marine	2nd Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force	Hostile - hostile fire	Helmand Province	Gibsonville	North Carolina
1277	07/08/09	Tate, Darren Ethan	Aviation Ordnanceman Airman	21	U.S. Navy	Individual Augmentee to Combined Security Transition Command	Non-hostile - illness - pneumonia	Bagram Air Base	Canyon	Texas
1276	07/08/09	Missman , Gregory James	Specialist	36	U.S. Army	Not reported yet	Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack	Bagram Air Base	Batavia	Ohio
1275	07/08/09	Roy, Michael C.	Sergeant	25	U.S. Marine	3d Marine Special Operations Battalion, Marine Special Operations Advisor Group, Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command	Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack	Nimroz province	North Fort Myers	Florida
1272	07/07/09	Talbert, Christopher	Specialist	24	U.S. Army National Guard	2nd Battalion, 130th Infantry Regiment	Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack	Shindand (Herat province)	Galesburg	Illinois
1274	07/06/09	Garner, Mark A.	Captain	30	U.S. Army	1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, Joint Multinational Readiness Center,	Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack	Arghandab District	Elkin	North Carolina
1266	07/06/09	Williams, Derwin	2nd Lieutenant	41	U.S. Army National Guard	2nd Battalion, 106th Cavalry Regiment	Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack	Kandu	Glenwood	Illinois
1265	07/06/09	Hosford, Chester W.	Specialist	35	U.S. Army National Guard	2nd Battalion, 106th Cavalry Regiment	Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack	Kandu	Hastings	Minnesota
1264	07/06/09	Chavers, Brock H.	Sergeant	25	U.S. Army National Guard	2nd Battalion, 121st Infantry Regiment	Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack	Kunduz	Bulloch	Georgia
1263	07/06/09	Johnson, Issac L.	Specialist	24	U.S. Army National Guard	1st Battalion, 108th Reconnaissance, Surveillance and Target Acquisition Squadron	Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack	Kunduz	Columbus	Georgia
1262	07/06/09	Gideon, Nicolas H. J.	Private 1st Class	20	U.S. Army	1st Squadron, 40th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division	Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack	Paktya (Died at FOB Salerno)	Murrieta	California
1261	07/06/09	Randolph, Tony Michael	Petty Officer 2nd Class	22	U.S. Navy	Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit Eight (Combined Security Transition Command)	Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack	Kunduz	Henryetta	Okalahoma
1257	07/04/09	Fairbairn, Aaron E.	Private 1st Class	20	U.S. Army	3rd Battalion, 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division	Hostile - hostile fire - small arms fire, indirect fire	Combat Outpost Zerok (eastern Paktika province)	Aberdeen	Washington
1256	07/04/09	Casillas, Justin A.	Private 1st Class	19	U.S. Army	3rd Battalion, 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division	Hostile - hostile fire - small arms fire, indirect fire	Combat Outpost Zerok (eastern Paktika province)	Dunnigan	California
1254	07/02/09	Sharp, Charles S.	Lance Corporal	20	U.S. Marine	2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force

Still Enjoying the 1st Amendment

There is no Independence or freedom in "Cap and Trade" and "Government Healthcare" programs. We are becoming less and less free by the day. The federal government has become a powerful pervasive force that is making you less free by taking CONTROL of your life. It is no longer a government that is "for the people and by the people", it is a government that is "for more government and by more taxes".

There will be hordes of idiots that wave the American flag this weekend that have no idea that their freedoms are under attack. They have no idea that the government has spent trillions of dollars that it doesn't have and that the government is using that money to cripple capitalism and and create more bureaucracy and regulation. True freedom for an American family is one that exists in less government intervention, regulation, and taxes.

Don't forget that Obama only won about 53% of the vote. There are tens of millions of Americans that don't worship at his alter. Don't be fooled by the mainstream media that is goo goo over him.

Wave your flag for those who have died for your freedoms and not those who wish to regulate them this 4th of July.

proud to be a nerd

I will be attending the 12:01 am showing of Transformers 2 tonight. Yes, I am a dork. I am all about nostalgia, and the transformers are all 80's. I have the movie from somewhere around 1985 on DVD and have the soundtrack on my i-pod. I also have all four seasons of the series on DVD.

The brand has evolved over the years and I have pretty much ignored all of the repackaging and reworking of the series. However, when the live action movie came out a few years ago I had to go see it. I enjoyed the movie, but like a true nerd I was angry that some of the characters and plot lines did not hold true to the original series. I am sure that the sequel will be a great movie overall, just like the first. I do expect that I will be impressed at times and completely pissed off at others.

Here's to the 80's!

"Till all are one"

blah-g

If I could just get paid to rail on this administration I would be very wealthy. It's so easy.

You are an idiot if you haven't realized that Obama says the opposite of what he does. It's OK if you have been offended, there are tens of millions of idiots out there. I guess the proper term would be ignorant. There is a difference between idiocy and ignorance (we can save that for another blog).

Here is a quick and easy example. Obama has had the nerve to say that Washington needs to be fiscally responsible. OK, all the ignorant sheeple say "hoorah". In a static environment this statement is sound. Unfortunately, if you put this statement in any kind of context it is ABSURD. The sheeple don't understand that he is doing the complete opposite. This guy is going to bankrupt the country! We are borrowing money that we can't pay back and printing money to the point that it's going to be worthless (or significantly diminished).

This spending lust is not exclusively Obama's to own. As much as I loved W's presidency. Bush failed to be fiscally conservative and spent way too much money. After all, he was the first one to sell a ridiculous "bailout" to the country. The problem is that Obama has put us in an exponentially deeper hole than Bush did. And he is not done! Somebody has to shout out to the federal government, "STOP SPENDING OUR MONEY!" Put me on record as shouting this to the tards in Washington myself.

My rant has caused me to deviate from my original desired topic, Obama's "pay czar". I'll just say that this is a huge step toward destroying capitalism and making America the land of the unfree.

topic change-

I would now like to call myself out. I have failed in predicting that the Cleveland Cavaliers would win the NBA championship. At this point in time I am watching game 4 of the finals and refuse to pick a winner. L.A. looks like the easy choice but I don't care who wins, I just want the series to go seven games so that the NBA season will last as long as possible. After it's over I have to wait for the NFL in September. I must prepare you now. The GGGGGGGGGGGG-MEN (aka New York Giants) will be my obsession from late 2009 to early 2010. I'll try my best to limit my football blogs.

God bless America and GO BIG BLUE!

Brennan

This individual (standing on the left) is the key to G-14 making a comeback. The band has had tons of stand-in personnel but I can honestly say that Brennan is the best musician that has ever been in the band. He can sing and play guitar better than me. That sucks because that is what I love to do, but Brennan is humble and thankfully willing to help me become the elite musician that I know I can be. Brennan is younger than Crumb and I but he is definitely is versed in punk. That's why he fit perfectly into our band.

Brennan's first comment after listening to G-14 was, "It's good old school punk". That quote has become the crux of our band. It hurt to be called "old school", but that statement has defined the band. We are not the most talented band in the world, BUT we love the music that we play and we value the soul and flow of a song more than the pure musical value. Brennan understands this concept and has helped the band reach new levels of skill and potential. He provides an increased "talent" component to the band but does not "corrupt" our sound by doing too much to a song.

Thank You Brennan, you will earn a nickname in time.

Crumb

Crumb (aka Caleb, aka The Notorious I.Z.M., aka Schmuck Foo, aka Bread Man) has been my best friend for about 20 years.  We both started listening to punk music at the same time.  We raided his brother's CD collection and found some Nofx albums in junior high.  From then on we were hooked (thanks Rob).  Crumb and I also started playing guitar and writing music together.  We dreamed of creating a band.  We would succeed, but like most bands, we had a high turnover rate on band members.  To this day Crumb and I have remained the nucleus of the band.  Since we both write music and lyrics our approach is simple, if you write the song - you sing it.  

In 2004, after several years of band successes and failures, "life" derailed us.  Caleb moved to Japan to do some teaching (and become a ninja).  I moved to Gainesville and became a police officer (and used ninja tactics on covert details).  The band was gone but I never stopped writing music.  I routinely listened to our poorly produced CDs and hilarious band practice videos.  I knew that one day I would create a new band, but I doubted that Crumb would be a part of it.  Luckily in 2009 the stars aligned and G-14 played a reunion show.  It took lots of hard work to pull off the show, but it was worth it.  There are too people many to thank.  In a few weeks Crunb will ship off to Hawaii for his new job as an NCIS special agent.  Once again the band is down, but I don't think it will ever be out.

Nut and Crumb will prevail.  Here's to G-14 in 2014!

tomorrow is more than a thousand songs

God and Family are the priorities of my life.  The ranking system is simple #1 God #2 family and #3 everything else.  My right arm displays this boldly in the form of Japanese Kanji symbols. If I were to assign a #3 it would be music.  I'm sure that everybody has a favorite song (or songs).  These songs invoke our deepest emotions, you become seduced and unable to fight the urge to turn them up and sing them at the top of your lungs.  At worst, you have to at least bob your head.  I fully understand, music has been a large part of my life for some time.  

However, I learned early on that the music industry was crap.  Back in junior high I remember sitting on the bleachers after gym jamming out to Kris Kross (spelling?).  The group's shelf life was about expired but I enjoyed the music.  A friend asked me what I was listening to and I told him.  He scoffed and dismissed me.  I didn't care because I was enjoying the music, but I did take some time to ask myself, "Why is this music not cool after only a few months"?  I concluded that the music industry made their money from exploiting artists and then quickly replacing them in order to maximize sales and profit.  I was young, but smart enough to call BS.  From that moment on I discovered the sweet nectar that is underground music.  In my case the genre was PUNK.  Thank God my music never expires!  Here is an example, today I listened to Dynamite Boy in my car and enjoyed some Face to Face on my Ipod while grocery shopping.  Have you ever heard of these bands? NO

My tangent does have a point.  The only thing better than loving music is writing it.  In high school I decided that I wanted to play guitar.  Teri was in the picture at this time and can she can tell you that I sucked.  But, after a while I developed some skill and taught myself to play.  I have still never had a lesson but I can play pretty well (punk, very well).  Soon after I started playing guitar, I started writing lyrics.  13 years later I can play the drums, bass, guitar, recorded 4 albums, and played dozens of live shows in every corner of Jacksonville and the surrounding areas.  I love music, and believe me when I tell you, nothing beats writing your own.  I never cared and still don't care if anybody likes my music.  It is not for you it's for me.  If you happen to like it, it's a blessing to me.  I pour my soul out on paper when I write my songs.  It has been my catharsis for over a decade.

I now present to you my band.  Once known as Indiscretion, The Izms, and The Crumpetz.  We are currently known as G-14.  We just had a reunion show after 5 years of not playing.  It was a dream come true.  This blog begins a series of blogs dedicated to my band and its members.

The title of this blog happens to be one of my song lyrics.  One that just recently escaped my lips on 5-2-09 (our most recent show, AKA my 30th birthday party).  It generally means that my songs mostly represent the past and the lessons learned from it.  We all have a past, and have mistakes that we have made.  The good news is that it IS the past and that tomorrow is yours to seize.  Hence, "tomorrow is more than a thousand songs".........................Enjoy my #3.

Plenty to blah-g about

1st, On Friday May the 1st I reached the ripe age of 30. I really don't feel any older. Things like my sister graduating college and my son turning one and a half have aged me way more than existing for a third decade. Life experience at this age is similar to being a police officer. In policing, the more years of service you have, the more you realize you don't know. Of course you gain experience and knowledge over time, but your maturity seems to reveal your distance from mastering your discipline. The same applies to life. At thirty you can think and function like a normal person (well...most of us) but your age reveals that you are far from fully understanding the idiosyncrasies of life.

2nd, the NBA playoffs (all women begin zoning out now). I have hated Labron James since the day his hype invaded my consciousness. Anybody close to me knows that I hate things that are "popular" or "trendy". King James came to the NBA straight out of High School and was supposed to be the next Michael Jordan. I called BS on that crap and vowed to hate him until he proved himself. Well, I can now easily say that Labron James has surpassed all of my expectations and I am now a fan of his amazing talent. The Cavaliers are racing through the playoffs with a strong momentum. I believe that they are the front runners to win it all this year. I know that the west is always strong and is the conference to beat, but this year it is the Cavs championship to loose. If you have seen the bench of the Cavs you know why I say this. The Cavs are tearing people apart and are having fun doing it. No other team has this continuity to their group. The Cavs have the unpredictable and intangible "team" quality that no other team in the playoffs possesses. They will win it all unless the western conference winner is playing their absolute best come finals time.

3rd, I would like to give my first summer movie review. I love huge budget summer movies because they show us the potential of Hollywood. Of course I have no love for the liberal propaganda machines of the west coast, but I do love when hundreds of millions of dollars are spent for my simple 2 hour amusement. I'm so poor that I had to use change from my car and bedroom change jars to see this movie, but it was worth it. X-men Origins: Wolverine is the subject of review - Wow, I had high expectations going into this movie and they were surpassed. The intro was action packed and was developing characters from the start. Several new mutants were introduced and they all had some impressive skills. The movie takes an expected lull afterward to further develop the Wolverine character. At one point I was turned off because of the use of a terrible movie cliché. When a character dies, why must somebody always scream "Noooooooooo!" while the camera angle fades away. It has been done so many times that I roll my eyes when it happens. I'm sure there are more creative ways to invoke strong emotion on film than to use that cliché. Anyways, the transformation into the Wolverine character was awesome and the movie kicked into overdrive at that time. Blood, guts, explosions, screaming, fighting, and general manly stuff ensued. Just what I paid for. The special effects were terrific and the movie had one heck of a twist at the end (I won't spoil it). The final battle was a worthy crescendo to the action and I also loved the cameo at the very end of the movie. This movie would be entertaining to someone who has never seen any X-men movies, BUT to get the most out of it, like I did, you have to have seen all the prior movies. I am not a comic book guy so I can't give any critique on how much the old school Wolverine was represented. I just know that I like what I saw. This movie is really not for women, so guys don't take your significant others (not to say that they are not wonderful company at all times).

Oh, how the mighty have fallen

Lots of people ask the question, "Why do bad things happen to good people?" The answer is, there are greater things at work in this world than you can comprehend with your limited human understanding. God is in control. Life is certainly not easy, and things sure can suck, but the fact remains that we are just a fraction of a grain of sand in this world. How does a spoiled rich celebrity effortlessly amass tens of millions of dollars and then spend them on ridiculous things such as designer dog jewelry? I don't know. Why are babies born with deadly diseases that limit their life to only a few minutes, hours, or days? I don't know. I do know that God doesn't miss a beat on this Earth and that I trust in him completely in my life.

I bring this up because God has decided to take me down a notch. In short, I had it all eight years ago. My living condition was one that people work their whole lives toward retiring with. My family life was outstanding, my finances were secure and virtually stress free, and my career was perfectly on course. Now I am unemployed, in debt, and struggling to provide for my family. Not quite the future I planned.

Luckily I have not lost heart. I know that my family and I will recover from this difficult time. Years or even months from now, we will be able to look back and glean lessons from this terrible experience. This is not to say that I haven't been stressed out. I am still human. I've succumb to the occasional fit of rage and have tested the depths of my profane vocabulary. But even now I can understand that I did consider myself "mighty" in the past. I wasn't in the position to correct myself, so I was"corrected". It's exactly the same thing a loving parent does with a child. When Sammy D wants to stand up on the couch I tell him "no" and sit him back down. He doesn't understand that I'm trying to prevent him from falling and getting hurt. He just gets mad and cries having no idea that I did it for his own good. This is a microcosm of what my "father" has done for me. I may be prone to the occasional fit, but unlike Sammy, I understand that events in my life are being shaped for my own good. The appropriate response should be that of thanks, love, and understanding.

@#$% happens. When it happens to you, don't miss the opportunity to capture the positive within it.
The mouth of Sam has spoken.

Calm Down

It is a rare occasion when I disagree with the right, but it's time to call them out. Obama authorizes the Navy to use deadly force to free an American hostage held by Somali pirates. The Navy executes a flawless rescue effort and saves the life of the hostage. GREAT JOB! Well done Navy seals and well done president Obama.

I was fearful that the great appeaser would wuss out and allow us to be victimized in this scenario, but he did not. I have no problem acknowledging that Obama made a good call. Apparently the right is incapable of doing this. Blinded by pure anti-Obama sentiment (similar to the anti-Bush hatred) the right is now focusing on how the media is giving Obama too much credit for the rescue and not enough to the Navy. Who cares!? Clam down with that crap! There are plenty of things that Obama and the media do (and will do) that deserve our scrutiny and disapproval. This is not one of them.

God Bless America

don't blink or you'll miss it

Here are just a few monday morning headlines -

5 dead in Florida boating wreck

21 killed in blaze at Polish housing shelter

5 killed in hit and run crash in Atlanta

22 Afghan militants killed in clash

Uf student dies studying in Africa

Fort Lewis soldier accidentally shot wife dead

It's easy to become desensitized to these stories, but death is certain and is everywhere. I can't imagine facing death with uncertainty and fear. Of course I'm scared of death, it's human nature, BUT I do understand that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. I have no uncertainty as to where my eternal destination will be. As a former police officer, I have seen plenty of dead bodies and have actually watched people die. I can tell you from first hand experience that those bodies are just empty, inanimate vessels, devoid of any substance or essence. The soul is gone, it's not hard to see.

All I can do in response to my impending death is to thank and praise God. Jesus died and then rose from the grave, NO other "God" has done that. He defied and defeated death so that I may do the same in his name when I perish. Life is precious and short. You best get your eternal business in order Mr. or Mrs. blog reader.

I am happy to notify all that today is my 7th wedding anniversary. A blog couldn't hold all my thoughts about marriage. It can be as complicated as neuro-science or as simple as flicking a light switch. My best advise is, marry someone with true character. I lucked out and married someone with intelligence, compassion, faith, kindness, and loyalty. It is only in the tough times that you can truly measure the character of an individual. Over the years I have found that Teri is the real deal. She has been tried and tested and has remained as solid as a rock. I have more love and respect for her than I have ever had in the past because I know her true character. There is no show, she is all real. And that's why I love her.

Happy Anniversary Ful Ful, Cheers!

I relinquish my title

About five years ago I decided to give my self a nickname. It was "KING". The name was only to be written in capital letters and never to be preceded with "the". I was simply KING (yes, I was arrogant enough to give my self a nickname). Teri refused to acknowledge my title and vowed never to call me by it. The rest of my cohorts also failed to respect the title. I was called by that name approximately half a dozen times in the past five years.

Here ye, here ye, I officially relinquish my title and bestow it upon my son, baby gordito. From this day forward, he shall be known as KING Dito.

Enjoy your new title Sammy D!

IDIOT

HEADLINE-The Obama administration has ordered an end to use of the phrase "Global War on Terror," a label adopted by the Bush administration shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday.

Congratulations to the Obama administration. They have come full circle and completely forgotten about September 11th. This is the worst kind of idiocy. The dangerous kind. Terrorists were at war with us before September 11th and will continue to be at war with us in the future. If you are walking down the street and you see that a car is about to hit you, closing your eyes does not make the threat disappear. You will still get hit. A child can understand this logic but Nobama does not.

There are certain people that inhabit this earth who are evil (terrorists, murderers, rapists). These people cannot be appeased nor can they be reasoned with. They must be confronted, called out for what they are, and defeated. Calling the war on terror an 'Overseas Contingency Operation' does nothing but empower those who want to do us harm. It shows them that we don't even have the balls to call them out anymore.

Also, I hope you noticed Obama's recent failure to make nice with Iran. The president made a video saying that he was "committed to diplomacy" and that he wanted to pursue "constructive ties" between the US and Iran. That crap sounds all nice and fuzzy, but guess what Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei said in response. He called Obama another George Bush (whom they hate with a passion) and then called Israel a "cancerous tumor". It was a nice try, but once again shows what a naive amateur Obama is.

Tuff Gong

My family and I enjoyed some Bob Marley tunes this past weekend. I've been listening to those songs for years and tend to sing along without thinking too hard about the lyrics. I must say that Marley has some powerful lyrics regarding faith. I do understand that there are major theological differences between the Rastafarian religion and my own. I still consider them to be Christian due to their monotheistic belief in God, their belief in Jesus as savior, and their acceptance of the holy trinity. Luckily I can defer all judgement and critique of theology to God himself.

I don't care what faith you claim (or don't claim). Marley speaks some profound truths. "There aint no hiding place from the father of creation" ...........marinate on that............ I could not have said it any better. For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Romans 6:23 says, "For the wages of sin is death...." Hmmn, clearly Bob and the Bible express a need for something. A savior maybe? Well, lets look at the rest of verse 23".....but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord".

It's not rocket science. It's FAITH. And it's mine. Go find your own.

"I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me " Proverbs 8:17

Until then, I'll be "jammin in the name of the lord".

Don't be that guy (or girl)

Have you ever considered how you order your food? I have developed a pet peeve toward those who show their selfishness and entitlement mentality through ordering food. If you pull up to a drive thru and they say, "How can I help you?" please don't say, "I WANT a coke and fries". It would be better to say, "Could I get a coke and fries" or "May I please have a coke and fries". It may not seem like a big deal but those phrases have very different contentations. "I WANT" is a phrase for spoiled kids and clueless adults. "Could I" or "May I" is polite and respectful.

You may have never thought about it before, but pay attention to others and you will see it first hand. I'm sure some of you do it and don't even realize what you're saying. Give it a try and enjoy a more happy happy joy joy world.
(then go for a run because you just had a coke and fries)

It's all about the little things

I parked next to a very dirty car the other day. I noticed that someone took the liberty of writing a message on the hood with their finger. It proudly said, "I wish my girlfriend was this dirty". Awesome.......... Much better than "wash me".

In another matter of grave importance. I saw a bird attacking its reflection in a chrome car bumper today. Very nice.

Apparently the legendary Chupacabra has been found. Also very good news, maybe we can ask it where bigfoot and the easter bunny are.

Congratulations if you are still reading this.

At least we are having a better day than this guy----DRIVER WAKES UP IN A COFFIN: Croatian motorist who crashed through an undertakers' window woke up to find himself in an open coffin.

NOBAMA

Does anybody else find it strange that there are pictures of President Obama on posters and bumper stickers? How many pictures of President Bush were distributed for propaganda? Zero! The images are frightening because they are exactly what you see in other countries run by dictators. I'm sure that you remember the fall of the other Hussein. His ugly face was all over Iraq. The images promote submission to a godlike figure. That does not strike me as American.

Lets see how Obama has ushered in "change" and "hope" so far, shall we?
Closing GITMO - Fail
appointing tax cheats to his cabinet - Fail
appointing lobbyists to his administration (broken campaign promise) - Fail
1 trillion $ spending bill (not stimulus) - Fail
multi trillion dollar budget - Fail
400 billion congressional spending bill - Fail

All Hail Socialism

The founding fathers would puke if they could see what our federal government has grown into. It is like a balloon that keeps getting larger and larger. When the balloon pops, guess what the result is? A TOTAL LOSS OF OUR FREEDOM! The government has their hands in everything and wants more. I am sickened by the historic amount of government spending in the president's "stimulus" package. Everyday of this administration takes me one step closer to the Libertarian party. BLEH!

Economic Policy 101

Here is an example of the dreadful idiots that surround Obama.

First allow me to provide some context. The subject is the economy. The proposal is to spend our tax payer dollars on infrastructure in order to stimulate the economy (this is stupid because it is a solution based upon GOVERNMENT SPENDING).

Obama's economic advisor Robert Reich had this to say,"I am concerned, as I'm sure many of you are, that these jobs [hopefully being created by government spending] not simply go to high skilled people who are already professionals or to white male construction workers".

WHAT? This is insanity! Why would we not want skilled professionals working on bridges and other infrastructure projects? Also, what is up with the shot at white males? In addition to them being racist and stupid, these statements reveal a great insight into the liberal mind. It's all about government control. They are the mighty omniscient government and must control who gets jobs and who does not. They must control what jobs get done (earmarks), what people get paid (wage standards), what products they use, and what methods they use to complete the job (EPA and global warming hysteria). After all, they already exercised control over your wallet to get the $ for all this crap, why not continue to feed the beast.

Unfortunately the news media is still having their Obama orgasm and have failed to bring these issues to the attention of what Neal Boortz commonly refers to as the "dumb masses".

The Mighty Sumo

HEADLINE - "Clinically Depressed Poodle Mauls Former French President Chirac
Thursday, January 22, 2009

Former French President Jacques Chirac was rushed to a hospital after being mauled by his pet dog who is being treated for depression, in a dramatic incident that rattled his wife Bernadette.
The couple's white Maltese Poodle, called Sumo, has a history frenzied fits and became increasingly prone to making "vicious, unprovoked attacks" despite receiving treatment with anti-depressants, said Chirac's wife Bernadette."

HA HA HA HA HA What a great headline! Apparently the French can now be defeated by a poodle. (FYI-the photo is not Sumo, just an intimidating picture of a poodle I found online)

?????

Am I the only person who is not buying all of this crap?! What a bunch of sheep! I tried so hard to be supportive and patriotic while watching the inauguration, but now I'm pissed. I would like to inform the world that less than 10% of those morons at the inauguration actually voted for or supported Obama based upon policy. The rest are a bunch of idiots that have blindly followed the pied piper to Washington DC. The news media does nothing but perpetuate the ridiculous notion that Barak Hussein Obama is the messiah. I am sick of seeing his face and he hasn't even been the president for 24 hours. This will be a long four years for me.

I still hope that Obama succeeds as president because the future of our great country depends on it. I will continue to pray for him and our country. BUT I just can't see how he can do anything productive based upon his political ideals. I am a conservative! I don't want big government! I want less taxes! I want a strong military and national defense! I want secure borders! I want to drill for oil domestically! I want free market capitalism! I don't want the government to take my money and give it to the irresponsible! I don't want the government to tell me what kind of car to drive or what kind of light bulbs to put in my house! I don't give a crap about my carbon footprint! I'll tell you where I'll put my foot! In the mouth of the next uninformed dim witted intellectually vacant zombie that repeats the idiot's mantra of "change".
THIS IS WHY OBAMA IS PRESIDENT - WATCH THIS VIDEO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P36x8rTb3jI

I Can Only Imagine

Bank Of America helped to teach me a lesson on perspective today. As I stood in line waiting to deposit my paycheck I became increasingly burdened by my responsibilities and depressed by the prospect of going back to my meaningless job for another 5 hours. I got to the teller and handed her my pathetic paycheck so she could put it into my even more embarrassing and pathetic checking account.

At that time I could hear the christian song "I Can Only Imagine" playing on a small desktop radio behind the teller. I thought to myself, "cool, this lady is listening to christian music at work, good for her". Then I actually listened to the words of the song and pictured myself standing before the Alpha and Omega. My sorry little concerns were instantly wiped from my mind and I had a fresh and much needed renewal.

Going back to work still sucked, but at least I was now blessed with "perspective".

HAPPY 2009

Once again Sammy D has impressed me. During a cold winter night I found Sammy and I out in our poorly lit driveway. As I began to walk him inside the house I heard him say "this?" In Sammy language that means, "hey! look at this thing over here, it's cool looking and I want to know what it is" I turned to find him pointing straight up at the sky. I looked up and saw the moon and stars shining brightly in the clear and cloudless night. I promptly told Sammy that he was looking at the moon and stars. I felt compelled to add that God put them in the sky, seeing that this was his first time noticing them. I was so thankful and proud to see that Sammy got his first taste of the glory of God by appreciating first hand the glory of the heavens. It was as if God put the starts in the sky just to say, "hey Sammy, I am God, I am very big, and I love you"
Sammy got the message, and so did I.

Happy New Year -
Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man. ~Benjamin Franklin