JamesSlusher.com

Skip Caray, the voice of the Atlanta Braves, has passed away at the age of 68.  Skip was one of the good guys and he will be sorely missed, especially by me.

The number of times that I have looked at a television and cried tears of joy can be counted on one hand.  His voice was calling the play by play on each and every one of them.  He could be blunt, he could be abrasive, but he always called ‘em like he saw ‘em and that honesty showed brightly through his work.  He might have passed, but my respect for the man never will. 

Goodbye, Skip.  Peace be with you.

P.S.  I found this on youtube.  This was one of those tearful moments spliced with some shots of Skip as a memorial:

 

My big girl is 6 years old today!  Today is going to hold all kinds of 6 year old goodness for her including (but not limited to ) cake, ice cream, Chuck E. Cheese and (best of all) toys, toys, toys.

I love you, princess.

If you ask Emily which online poker site she prefers she will tell you Bodog.  She is quick to point out that she likes it much better than FullTilt.  

I’m either a horrible father or the best EVAR.

During an IM conversation with my brother I had a revelation about poker:

I think that the difference between good and great (poker players) is that the good ones understand the chance aspect and the great ones embrace it.

Emily and Jonathan have an array of letter shaped magnets on the fridge.  They go to some Leap Frog thing that is designed to help kids learn the alphabet.  I love to spell out messages with them, but there is a bit of a trick to it.  There is only one of each letter.  I’ve been doing my best to make as many different sayings as I can and to make them as long as possible.  I have cheated a few times by turning a W upside down or a C sideways to make an extra M or U and, of course, I’ve used some poetic license in the words (ta for to, dem for them, etc).

Some samples of my work:

• I study poker, man
• I love ta hug my kids
• Em is crazy
• We got skilz
• Dem boys act fun

There have been others, but I forget them now.  I don’t know why this little thing pleases me so.  I’ve stood in front of the fridge for ten minutes looking at those letters and trying to write these sayings.

What have you got?

I made my first attempt at frying plantains today.  I would have to rate it a complete failure.  I got the grease too hot and it really crisped up the outside of the plantains really fast without cooking the inside enough.  In the future I think I will go with thinner slices of plantain and cooler grease.

I’m eating the failed experiment anyways, cause I hate to waste food.  It’s okay, but not the deliciousness I expected.

I will try again soon.

Now Tony Snow is dead.  Tough week to be a neocon.  They are dropping like flies.

Good.  I want to show him the same respect he had for others.

“I mean, I love old fashioned eye-gouging, hair pulling, sucker-punching, full-contact politics.” - 
  —  Tony Snow

Bye, jackass.

It’s my birthday too, yeah.  Or actually was my birthday yesterday. 

I’m 38 years old now.  I think that maybe, just maybe, I know what I want to be when I grow up.

Then again, maybe not.

Dave’s post reminds me that I haven’t mentioned my weight in awhile.  I’ve plateaued at 190lbs.  I’m still losing fat slowly, but I’m continuing to add muscle so my overall weight stay the same as my muscle and fitness level is still improving.

I’m nowhere near being the strongest I’ve ever been.  I’m relatively sure that I will never regain my college form simply because I worked out for hours a day several days a week and will never have that kind of time to put back into it.  Having said that, I’m willing to bet that I am the fittest I’ve been in 10 years and I’m still improving.  I can say that safely because twice in the past few months someone has guessed my age at a decade younger than I am.  There is a certain social pressure to guess younger than you actually think, just in case.  But that would put a number of people thinking I’m in my early 30s, which is still complimentary enough for me at 38.

I’m happy with my progress and I’m happy with the journey.  I’m going to keep going down this road because I like the ground covered as much as the nearing of the goal.

Jesse Helms died last night.  I think everyone that is glad to see a lying, bigoted scumbag gone from the face of the earth should shoot off fireworks in celebration of his passing today.

Good riddance, bad rubbish.