I couldn’t quit laughing… after watching it… 7 times.
Depending on my mood, I either love or loathe inflight discussions. Most of you know the feeling… it’s not that we’re antisocial, it’s simply that you want to avoid long conversations from people giving you advice on marriage and children and “ooohhh, the best sandwich shop in Boise is the Spotted Owl — you’re fiance will just love it.!”
I once sat quietly with my earphones on and my iPod-in-lap (even though my battery died before I ever boarded the plane) for over 4 hours simply to avoid the bee hive grandmama to my left.
On my trip from Seattle to Birmingham I actually met three interesting people (if only for their stories) that were worth losing iPod-listening time over.
Susan : She was flying home to Lincoln, Nebraska to attend the memorial service of her 54-year-old sister to died in a freak accident. When riding her horse along side a shallow river, she was bucked, hit her head on a rock, knocking her unconscious, leaving her to drown in the river. They still haven’t found her body.
Charles : A 35-year-olf father of one who actually had 3 weddings with the same woman without ever having gotten divorced. One wedding at the Denver courthouse, one traditional German wedding in Strasbourg (he’s German), and one traditional Korean wedding in Seoul (his wife is Korean).
Willie : A 72-year-old widow of 16 years who was returning home to Alabama after visiting her daughter in Denver. Willie is retired and lives alone on a 20 acre plot of land outside of Prattville, Alabama. She owns a ‘02 Ford pickup and an old John Deere tractor , which she uses to mow the lawn while she has her quiet time (or as she says: “talk to God”). About half-way in our flight to Birmingham, with Willie in a deep sleep, she abruptly popped-up, slumped forward into her tray-table, then looked at me and said: “Move. Now.” She scurried down the aisle to the bathroom where she proceeded to vomit for 20 minutes at 30,000 feet. She thinks it was the ginger ale.
I just returned from a non-stop, 48-hour to-n-from Jasper trip and haven’t even had time to check email, much less get an update from the grand ‘ol pageant.
I need folks to fill in the gaps…
For those who haven’t yet heard, four people died in a plane crash yesterday in Walker County. Killed in the crash were Bobby and Jan Crump, their son Matthew and his girlfriend Lauren Brue. They had just returned from a trip to Des Moines, Iowa to meet with Lauren and her family.
The report from the witness:
- “I immediately looked up to where I heard the noise and I nothtmliced the plane was in a spiral motion and next thing I know I heard a crash and I ran to the house and told the wife to call 911.”
I know it may sound cliché, but Matthew was the type of guy whom everybody liked. I was a chaperone on a youth ski trip for New Years’ 06 — Matt brought his XBOX 360 and I never got a wink of sleep why attempting (without success) to beat him in Medal Of Honor. My thoughts and prayers go out to their family, as well as the citizens of Jasper during this difficult time.
It’s weird when something like this happens and you’re able to go to the facebook pages of the individuals killed.
When I got home from church, I checked Matt’s facebook page quickly before I left for the airport. His status reads “Matt Crump is in iowa with lauren!!”, and one of the last messages left on his wall was from his girlfriend who said: “hi baby! guess what?! in exactly 5 days you will be in des moines at my home : ) i miss you so much and cant wait to see you!!”
[Chelsea participating at Will Leitch's (middle) book reading for his latest: God Save the Fan]
Those of you who’ve read the blog for more than a week know of my love for the sports blog, Deadspin. Today is the final day for Deadspin founder Will Leitch. Will helped revolutionize the sports blogging world back in September 2005 when he agreed to take the helm of Gawker Media’s new sports blog.
We actually had the chance to meet Will. He came through Seattle earlier this year during his book tour (which was held in an Irish Bar of all places) and Chelsea and I were fortunate enough to actually hang out with him.
I can honestly say he’s one of the most genuine, polite people I’ve ever (ever) met. We spent 15 minutes discussing debutante (his girlfriend is from Georgia) as well as the South, and his “connections” at ESPN.
Deadspin has been incredibly successful. Just to paint you a picture: my blog gets 2,200 visitors per week… Will’s get 500,000 per day. Yeah… he’s a darn good writer.
His book - God Save the Fan - is a hilarious, insightful take of sports, sports writers, and the business of professional athletics. Go out and buy it today, and look for his next columns as he moves in to a more ‘mainstream’ role at New York Magazine.
Chick-fil-A for breakfast.
Something for lunch.
Something else for dinner.
Who cares… it’s Jasper.
Aaron sent me this: SendBarackYourBaby.com
Obama supporters: don’t actually do this… the website is just a joke. download charles mingus the black saint sinner lady I know it should be obvious, but being oblivious to the obvious (lack of experience, unbridled arrogance, flip-flopping on issues already) seems to already be an issue with most of you… it scares the bejesus out of the rest of us.
Obamania:
-
About 46 seconds into the ad, we are told that Obama “passed laws” that “extended healthcare for wounded troops who’d been neglected,” and in the usual manner of these political commercials we are given a little citation at the bottom.
The citation reads “Public Law 110-181 1/28/08”. That law is the only federal legislation cited in the ad — the other two items mentioned were from the Illinois legislature and referred to other issues raised in the ad.
I haven’t thrown up any photos in a while. I’ll try to take some shots in Jasper over the weekend, but for now here’s a few from the last few months — some you have seen before, some you haven’t.
A guy named Chris Thrash bought a Chuck E. Cheese set-up and takes requests for songs to program it to play.
[Photo is from good ole Gambrell Ki-Ro Field -- former home of the most feared punk blocker in North Alabama.. whoever he was.]
I fly home to Jasper this Thursday afternoon to sing in the Saturday wedding of Kristy Beall [facebook] at Jasper’s FBC.
The reception will be at the Country Club, and I hope I bump into a host of you folks there.
