Merry Christmas

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas. I was blessed enough to have a fantastic Christmas with my family. This whole Holiday Season has been special driving with my daughter and watching the Christmas Lights. Christmas Eve I spent doing some last minute shopping. Our family went to a late night church service which was beautiful. It was special to be back at the church we were married at, to see old friends, to see a beautiful service. Christmas Day was filled with wonderful gifts. No big ticket items. However, everyone was happy.

We didn't let the roast or turkey thaw. So, we really didn't have anything special plan. A friend came over with dinner cooked and we shared a bottle of wine. Really, they made our Christmas better. We spent the day listening to Christmas music and watching Christmas Movies. Simply, having a wonderful Christmas Time.

Seasons Greetings to you and yours!

My Fantasy Football Team

My team almost went undefeated. They lost last week for the first time. My team finished 13-1 and were the top seed for my leagues playoff. The team that beat me was not a contender, however the old football saying on any given Sunday or in Fantasy Football terms any given weekend  any team can beat any team and that is what happened to me.

I finished first in the regular season last year but got bounced in the first round of the playoffs. This year I won during the first round. So at this point I can finish no lower than fourth. I won this weekend, I have a big lead and I have a player my opponent has none remaining.

Fantasy football is a long season, but I survived to go into the next round The match up next week will have me taking on one of the hottest teams in our league. I beat them once this year but it was a very close win which I pulled out the win on a Monday night game.

Let the football fun continue..

Happy Keith Richards Birthday

Keith Richards had a birthday today..and turned quite old. However, he continues to play guitar and continues to create music. Who doesn't appreciate his one off jams, his solo stuff, or his legendary work with the Rolling Stones.

It has been a busy year for Keith publishing his autobiography being released. The rumor of one more Rolling Stones tour to come in 2011 gives his fans something to look forward to in the New Year. You can read about that here.

I spent the day volunteering, then I took my daughter to see Frosty the Snowman, Frosty Returns, and Home Alone in a movie theater today. So it has been a long, fun day.

A Bad Season

Maybe I am just reaching an age where all my peers parents start to have serious issues. My mom is in the hospital recovering from cancer related surgery, an old friend of mine's dad is in the hospital recovering from a stroke and a heart attack. We were close when I was in high school and I have very fond memories of his Dad and going over and watching boxing. The man was always nice and treated me very well.

A person at work passed away last week. I didn't really know him. I have friends that did. I feel for the guys family and it is so sad since the guy was only 27. When you write about a celebrity's death it doesn't really hit home. You can appreciate their work and life goes on. When they are friends, family, and co-workers it hits a little closer to home.

When they come along so close together it is really a bad season.

Yngwie Malmsteen Interview

Yngwie Malmsteen was my big interview! It was just published yesterday. I am excited about it and it is by far the biggest interview I have done to date. You can read the interview here.

I also did a review of his latest album "Relentless" which you can read here.

I must admit I was a little nervous when he called late. I was thinking he cancelled on me. However, he called apologized and we got the interview. I covered his influences, his new album, and tour plans I hope you enjoy.

Thirty Years Ago

Thirty years ago the world was robbed of incredible songwriter and musician when John Lennon was shot. We will never here the songs he would have written in the last 30 years. I might be biased but his solo work was the best from the former Beatles. He was the key songwriter with the Beatles along with Paul McCartney.

Perhaps it is selfish to complain of the music lost. Besides music, Yoko Ono was a robbed of her husband. Julian and Sean lost a father. The world lost a person who had the ways and means to change it. How, would the world have been different if John hadn't been shot.

Sadly we can't bring John Lennon back, we can't bring back the last 30 years. We can listen to the music of the Beatles and John's solo works. We can appreciate him for the musician he was. Yoko can remember him as the husband he was. Julian and Sean can remember him as the father he was. We can listen and the world will keep on spinning.

Brunch

Went to a brunch today at a wonderful restaurant. It was for a local charity I volunteer for. It was nice to get together when it wasn't a fundraising activity or a meeting. Sometimes it is nice to put a face on people you help, to share some fellowship time with those you work with.

More importantly it was nice to go somewhere wonderful with the family. A place where everyone could have a nice time and enjoy the Holidays.

The Interview is Confirmed

My interview is confirmed. I will turn it into an article. I've been working on this interview since late October going back and forth with a publicist. The subject is a musician like my other two interviews, but this one is a much bigger name. I'll spend much of the weekend prepping for the interview.

Come Monday, I will have a rock star calling my house. It's show time. It is a keystone in my writing to this point and what my future could be. Obviously, I want the interview to help the artist promote the latest album. Artists have an agenda. However, I don't want to end up being the same old interview or worse, the one asking the dumbest questions.

I'll blog next week about how the interview goes and when it gets published I will link to the interview. Well we will see how it goes...

RIP Leslie Neilson

Leslie Neilson won of the best know comedic actors has past away. Leslie is of the Naked Gun and Airplane. He died at the age of 84, so he did live a long life. We will miss him in Naked Gun movies. However, his legacy will live on thanks to film, DVD and streaming technologies. May he rest in peace.

Blues Examiner of Harpers Ferry Up and Running

The new venture with the Examiner is officially up and running. My first article is a review of the Reggae Got Da Blues show at The Tap House in Charles Town, West Virginia.  The link should take you to the article. The review is about a show on Saturday, where Reggae singer Lenny Kurlou and his band Arkives were joined by local blues guitarist Paul Pfau.

It was a great night of music. The band played a long time with the time change.My goal is to shine a spot light on the great blues music in the Tri-State area. It should be interesting since I will be competing with the Washington, DC area.

Keeping busy in the writing world. I have a lot going on I will try to keep you posted.

Creative Writing

Well I have eluded about writing more poetry as of late. I ti s true I have published about a half dozen or so on helium. Well I have earned a Bronze Creative Writing Badge on Helium with it so far. I am trying to compete in a writing contest, I have moved up to a high of #15 and I have fallen back into the 20's I need to be in the top three to win any money. We will see what happens.

It breaks down to two  acrostics, three sonnets, and three haiku. There are 20 titles in  the contest, so I guess I need to write 12 more. the contest ends on the 9th and results will be on the 24th. It is nice to write poetry again, after all poetry is where I started in writing. However, as I have aged I have written less and less of it. As my writing has concentrated on other things.

Sparky Anderson

Sparky Anderson has passed away. Baseball fans may remember him from managing the great Cincinnati Red teams of the 70's known as "The Big Red Machine." I was a bit young then so I remember him as the manager who led the Detroit Tigers to the World Series in 1984.

Sad news, he was 76 years old. Sad news after posting good news about the World Series and about Beau being signed to the Braves. I wrote an article about Sparky Anderson if you would like to read  it you can here.

I wasn't planning to blog about baseball today. I've been busy writing lots of poetry today. Published somethings on Helium for the first time. I had some more articles published on Yahoo. However, sometimes other things come by that are more important.

Congrats to The Giants! Congrats to Beau!

The Texas Rangers did a great job getting to their first World Series. The San Francisco Giants did a better job in their first World Series appearance in five decades. The Giants made short work of the Rangers winning the series in five games. 


In more important baseball news (to Beau Torbert fans anyway)..Beau Torbert has signed with the Atlanta Braves according to the Sioux Falls Pheasants site. Details state it is a Class AA/ Class AAA contract. The article also stated he won a few more awards I had not mentioned in my earlier posts. Most notably Beau "was  named Baseball America’s 2010 Independent Player of the Year."


The best news is Beau gets a chance to pursue his major league dreams and play in organized ball again. He started with the Astros and had a chance with the Tigers. Now he is in the Braves organization.

Blues Examiner of Harpers Ferry

A new day, a new month, a new writing project. I am going to write for the Examiner. The topic will be blues and the region will be Harpers Ferry. ( I will push the limits to that to at least the tri-state area and beyond).

I have covered some local blues events over the past year. If anyone wants to take a peak I will place the links below.

Interview with South Carolina's Chocolate Thunder

Tommy Castro Review

300,000 Mile Stone

This week I surpassed 300,000 page views on Associated Content. Not bad considering my first article wasn't published on Associated Content until 7/28/2007.  Of course this year is seeing the most growth in my page views in the spring I went over 200,000 page views.

This year has been a pretty cool year for writing. I started writing poetry again. Alright, they were only Haiku. I knew they wouldn't gather a bunch of page views. However, I was comfortable with my page views to take chances. Writing isn't always about page views and upfront payments. I also published my first two interviews. One with Jay Turner, who has worked on a Grammy Award winning project and toured Europe a few times. I also interviewed a regional blues singer in Chocolate Thunder. I also was able to get my first press pass.

I also have had articles published on Yahoo Finance, Yahoo Sports Canada, and Yahoo Sports. I hope to finish the year off strong. I am trying to get a big name interview as I have eluded to in my previous posts. I am working on a few more things which might be published on Yahoo.

Tough Process

Contacting a publicist is the easy part. The publicist either ignores you, turns you down or says yes is what I thought the process would be like. My first interview was easy in the musician contacted me. My second interview I contacted the artist and we made the arrangements. Now that the star is bigger I am going through a publicist.

Contacting the publicist is the easy part, once you have committed to it. (A.K>A. Getting the Courage Up). I'd been ignored by a promoter before so I figured that was an option. However, I did get a response. Now it is an email game of pong back and forth. I am still hopeful I will get the interview. 

However, I am learning as I go. I already have a greater appreciation of what my friend who does this for a living goes through.Well I will let you know how this story unfolds...

International Sports Writer?

I blogged earlier a lot of my articles are showing up ojn Yahoo. Mostly on Yahoo Sports. One on Yahoo Finance. Well, I had an article published on Yahoo Sports Canada. The article can be read here. Does that make me an international writer?

I don't know it is fun to see my work in different places. I am working on a few more articles which may appear on Yahoo soon. Also I responded to a publicist, and I might be doing a pretty interesting interview soon as I eluded to in my last post. My writing world is looking up..

I also wrote an article last month about The Vendyrs. Life is looking up for them, the band did get the gig at Maryland's homecoming on October 30th. I wish them luck in the Battle of the Bands.

Crazy Week

What a week or so...maybe even a month. Last Wednesday I spoke at high school, then Thursday I left to go out of town for another speaking engagement on Friday. I managed to come back home on Sunday. It was nice to get away a break was long overdue. I was able to see friends I haven't seen in years. Then it was all work until Thursday. Thursday I went to a luncheon, then to my son's football game, and  then a banquet. Also on Thursday my parents came up. My mom had been battling cancer and really wanted to see her granddaughter something fierce.

Yesterday, I also got an email back from a publicist. It looks like I might be able to interview my most famous musician yet. I don't want to jinx myself but I am pretty excited about it. Friday, is my busy day at work. So, I am pretty exhausted from this running around and burning the candle at both ends. Tomorrow in the wee hours I am off to volunteer at SHARE. Then hopefully a lot of sleep at some point...

Solomon Burke Passed away at the Age of 70

Solomon Burke passed away at the age of 70. You might not know his name but you know his songs. His best known song is "Cry to Me." You may know his song "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love." It was covered by The Rolling Stones, Wilson Pickett, and made famous by the Blues Brothers. The people who covered him speak volumes of his influence. He is still being covered today by artists such as Duffy.

Gospel and Soul, Solomon could song them both. A powerful voice. He was also a preacher since the age of seven. One way or another he touched a lot of people in his seventy years. Thankfully he left us his recordings and you can watch him on Youtube. It is away for the songs to live on and one to catch up on what they may have missed.

Happy 70th Birthday John Lennon

I rang in John Lennon's 70th birthday by listening and watching a ton of John Lennon songs. I didn't even dive into his Beatles catalog. He was an incredible talent. No one could argue he was a great songwriter. Lennon was comfortable singing, playing the guitar or tickling the ivories of a piano. He was a dad and a husband too. John's life ended way to soon in 1980. We know what kind of music Paul, George and Ringo have produced in the last 30 years, I can't help and wonder what John Lennon would have done. Yes, George died too. However, George did produce some music after 1980.

The world lost a musical legend. However, John touched this world with a message of Peace and that is always an important message.Lennon also left as legacy of music both solo and with the Beatles that has touched many generations. He still shines on...

Doctor No No!

Congrats to Roy Halladay! His Philadelphia Phillies won the National League East. He pitched a perfect game in the regular season (you can read about that one here). More Congrats he had a heck of a season winning 21 games. Then today he hurls the first no hitter in a division series and the first no hitter in the post season since the 50's. You can read more about it here.

His no hitter is what baseball needs. It stirs interest as the game reaches for the World Series. However, now baseball  competes with football and more sports around the corner. This is when baseball needs outstanding performances like the no hitter.

Fantasy Football

My team won by 14. However, it was a close match and my team pulled away at the end. However, it did come down to the wire. Monday night football decided the outcome up my match up, The real Monday Night Football was exciting and a very close game much like my fantasy match up.

This years team I am not overly excited about. I made a move last week and another move this week picking up some decent receivers. The team I face next week is 2-0-1 so it should be another close match up. However, isn't that the point of fantasy sports to add to the excitement of t he real game?

Well, Monday is down. I finished an article and I started a second one. I have a third article in my mind. I should crank out 8 articles by Thursday night. It is going to be tough I really need to get into the zone and it doesn't help that I have a very busy week this week. Oh well we will see how it pans out...

Published: A Pleasant Surprise

Writing has it surprises. I didn't know I had three articles published on Yahoo! Sports in August. All and all it has been a pretty good year for me on the writing side. More people are reading my articles. I take a lot of assignments but I have a lot of freedom to write about what I want to write about. I have done two interviews. I got my first press pass. I am writing poetry again, even if it is just Haiku. I am making more money from it. Not enough to quit my day job but enough to help out with the bills.

However, the coolest thing is to see my work published somewhere different than the usual places. It was neat when I had one article published on Yahoo! Finance in July. In August I had an article published on the WNBA's Crystal  Langhorne,  a stadium review on Nationals Park, and a MLS  Review of RFK Stadium. I have submitted some more articles and I am working on a few more that might show up on Yahoo as well.

The Vendyrs

I haven't plugged one of my articles in a while. However, I wrote a review of The Vendyrs debut concert. It was for a charity event I was at. The band is a band of college age kids, who have a pretty tight musical feel to them. They have a 90s grunge feel to them. However, there music really does rock. I like what I heard from them you can read my review here.

They were great, playing for a great cause and were really nice guys. So, if your looking for a band in the Washington, DC area, Frederick, Maryland area The Vendyrs are worth a listen.

40 years ago...

40 years ago Jimi Hendrix passed away. He passed away at the age of 27, way to young for anyone to pass away. He did a lot in his short life. He was an outstanding guitarist. Some would call him an innovator. Some would call him the best. It is hard to call someone the best guitarist. Different styles, different approaches...but I think it would be safe to say very few where on his level.

I've always wonder what music he would have turned out if he would have lived past 27. What ventures would he have done? Would there be a jazz album? A blues album? Sadly we will never know. Not only was he a fantastic guitar player I also was a fan of his lyrics.

Anyway here is to celebrating his life. Sadly his life ended before mine started but thank goodness there are the recordings...

Pheasants, Beau Swept in Championship

Beau Torbert wasn't able to win any new awards. The Pheasants were swept three games to none. In the series Sioux Falls didn't show much offense. The Pheasants will have to enjoy being Northern Division Champs. Beau had a tremendous season for the Pheasants and stayed healthy.

Well that wraps up the Beau Torbert updates for this season. I will blog about any Beau news if I hear any in the off season. Will Beau be back in organized baseball next year? Will he be back with the Pheasants? I will have those answers.

9/11

Today was a beautiful day with nothing but blue sky. Nine years ago on this date it was also a beautiful day. However, that beautiful day changed suddenly when the first plane hit the World Trade Center. The day got worse when the second plane hit the World trade Center. Followed by a plane hitting the Pentagon and one going down in Pennsylvania.

A beautiful day turned into a day of destruction. The destruction of three airplanes, the destruction of the World Trade Center, the damage done to the Pentagon, the casualties, the damaged lives. A day so beautiful turned so tragic. I write about this every year as it is a day that should not be forgotten.

We need a world where Muslims, Christians, Hindus, and people from any religion not mentioned or people of no religion live together as one. We need a world free of fanatics that unfortunately bring hatred on their own people who don't deserve it. We need a world where fanatics don't have their hatred. The world has enough problems and live has enough struggles. The world doesn't need another 9/11.

Beau Knows Awards

Beau was named the American Association Player of the Year. He was also named the player of the month for August. Beau Torbert and the Sioux Falls Pheasants can aslo add a Northern Division pennant to their awards. The team is waiting for the American Association Finals.  Here is a link to a great article about Beau and his awards.(Also the source for this blog)

Beau Torbert also won his second American Association MVP Award, his first one he won in 2008. Injuries held him back from winning one last year but he bounced back well this year. The Pheasants Manager Bob Shirley won the manager of the year award just like he did in 2008. Here is a link to that article.

Also from that article here are some records Beau set along the way..
"He won the batting title with a .394 batting average, the highest in both league and team history.""His 100 RBI was tops in the league and set a new team record.""Torbert amassed 155 hits this season, breaking the previous league record (148) and team record (136) for hits in a season.""Torbert also set a team record for doubles in a season and a league record for total bases on one season. " Needless to say Beau had one heck of a season in the American Association, hopefully Torbert and the Pheasants can top it off with a championship.

Long Overdue Beau Torbert

Well I have been busy and the blog has been a little neglected lately. Any how I haven't done a Beau update since early July so I am a bit overdue.

Beau has played in 93 games and is batting a team high .396. Torbert leads the team in hits with 152, doubles with 38, and runs batted in with 98. Beau has also slammed 24 home runs and scored 79 runs. He leads the American Association with his batting average and Runs Bated In, Beau is second in the league in home runs.

Beau's team the Sioux Falls Pheasants have the best record in the North Division with a 62-32 mark overall. They won the first half with a 32-16 record  and currently lead the division in the second half with a 30-16 record. The playoffs start on August 31.

Stevie Ray Vaughan

It is hard to believe it has been 20 years to the day that Stevie Ray Vaughan died in that fateful helicopter crash. Sad he had battled past his demons and yet left this world way too soon. Lots of musicians left this world way too soon. Stevie left this world too soon like Jimi Hendrix did. Stevie did wonderful covers of Hendrix's songs like Voodoo Chile and Little Wing. He paid tribute to Jimi with guitars on occasion too. When I was younger, I thought Stevie was one of the few that could really play Hendrix. I've since then discovered Roy Buchanan.

However, Stevie also played with a lot of flash. Just check out the clips from youtube I am adding to the blog. You can only wonder how Stevie Ray Vaughan's musical career would have gone. His music did help the blues as a music genre stay alive. Heck, he helped guitar music stay relevant. In his young live he did get to play with Eric Clapton and tour with Jeff Beck He was a guitarist who garnered the respect of other guitarists from beginners to old masters. Stevie Ray Vaughan is missed and remembered. Hopefully, he is somewhere, playing his Stratocaster.

A Difference

Over $1500 was raised yesterday, at a Bluesgate jam fund raising concert at Longshots in Charles Town, West Virginia. The concert featured over 12 bands, several jams and over 9 hours of music. The gig was broadcasted over the internet.

The concert was raising money for the fisherman in the gulf. Now $1500 is not $20 billion dollars. However, it is $1500 which will help the fisherman. This was just one concert, in one bar, in one community. These were not the huge names in music. They were talented blues players playing a fitting blues fund raiser. Across America their are a lot of  communities, a lot of talented musicians, and an chance to make a difference.

World Cup: Congrats Spain

Spain and the Netherlands met in the World Cup Final and both countries were looking for their first World Cup title. Spain won the match 1-0 in overtime. The television ratings were up in the United States for this World Cup.

Soccer is the World's game and not really the United States game. It would change if we fielded championship quality teams. The country would watch before switching back to baseball, and soccer would never climb to the level of American football, the NBA, and would be hard pressed to catch the NHL. Soccer leagues have struggled in this country. We know defense whens  championships, but we like scoring.

However, the World Cup Championship is the biggest sporting event in the world and I did watch. On the plus side soccer moves very quickly. The pace of their football is very quick. The yellow cards were pretty exciting. Both teams played hard. Spain appeared to be more aggressive than the Netherlands. I think that is one of the reasons Spain won. However, it was a battle between both teams.

Spain beat Portugal 1-0, then beat Paraguay 1-0, and beat Germany 1-0 to reach the finals. I tip my hat to their defense, Germany had put up four goals in games against Argentina and England. Spain started the tournament with a 1-0 loss to Switzerland, followed by a 2-0 win over Honduras and a 2-1 win over Chile. Congratulations to Spain on their World Cup Championship. We will see who wins in 2014 in Brazil.

Lebron James

Sorry for your loss Cleveland. I'm sure it stings. Don't be a hater, he gave you seven years. Sure he turned down the most money in Cleveland, but I am sure he plans to recoup his losses in increased endorsement. His hyped moved is setting the NBA World on fire, like his jersey in the streets of Cleveland.

Miami wasn't a front runner when I wrote my article on where Lebron James might wind up. Like the Cavaliers I guessed wrong.But everything changed when the Heat re-signed Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosch agreed to play for them. Lebron joined a real contender and an organization which is run by Pat Riley, a man who knows a thing or two about contenders.

I'm not a big fan of the way Lebron had his ESPN special to announce where he was going. Wasn't needed. A simple statement would have done the job. However, the sports world is all about hype and the special did add the drama and fed the hype machine. According to the hype machine the Heat and King James are already in the 2011 NBA Finals. But there is a difference between reality and the hype machine. In reality you have to play the game. In reality there will be challengers like the Boston Celtics and the Orlando Magic. There are 82 games first and then the playoffs. There is a lot of reality to be played. There is a lot of hype too. Can the hype become reality? We will see starting this Fall.

Happy Birthday Ringo

He wanted a message of hope, peace and love for his birthday. Great things to hold onto if you can find them.

Ringo Starr turned 70 today. I have been fortunate to see him twice with his various All-Star bands. Both along time ago and kind of makes me old. The first time was at Wolf Trap. The All-Stars there included Jack Bruce, then I saw him again in Portsmouth, Virginia with Sheila E and some 80's musician. Real fun shows.

He has to be a proud dad, being able to see his son follow him into the family business of great music and drumming. Zak Starkey the drummer for the Who since 1996. Filling legendary shoes of Keith Moon. He also has to feel proud being part of the Beatles and being able to have a fun solo career.

Cheers and happy birthday!

Robert C. Byrd

I was going to do a 4th of July blog late last night, however technology did not work with me. Like always there are a lot of topics to blog about. I will stay with a patriotic theme, a political appreciation if you will. The blog will give an opinion but it will be positive.

Last week Senator Robert C. Byrd passed away at the age of 92. He was a democrat, senator for the state of West Virginia. West Virginia paid tribute declaring Friday, Robert C. Byrd day in the state and the nation paid tribute by flying the flag at half mast.

He served West Virginia well. He brought jobs, better infrastructure, and stood up for the state in Washington. West Virginia will be hard press to find another Senator to fill Byrd's shoes.

Beau Torbert Update July 3

Through 46 games Beau is hitting .404, which leads the American Association. Torbert is tied for second in the league with 11 home runs. He leads the Pheasants in hitting, hits with 74, and doubles with 15. Beau is second in home runs with 11, RBIs with 49, and slugging percentage .689.

Beau Torbert is having an outstanding season, the only bad news is team mate Brandon Sing is a wonderful season too. Sing leads the league in homers with 17, leads the team in RBIs with 52, run scored with 47, and slugging with .818. Sing's batting average is at .396 which is just behind Beau's.

Stats are from pointstreak.com.

The Sioux Falls Pheasants are close to clinching the first half division title and a playoff spot. The team has a 31-15 record.

The Correlation Between Search Engine Optimization and Page Views

Page views are important in the world of online writing. Page views account for a large amount of my income being an internet writer. It is to my advantage to utilize search engine optimization (SEO) as much as I can to drive traffic to my articles. SEO also strokes my humble ego. I get a thrill every time I do a search engine search and one of articles appears near the top. Search engines send more readers to my article the closer to the top my article is found on search engines. When more readers read my articles I get more page views. More page views for my articles mean more money in my pocket. The correlation completes a circle as more page views an article receives, the higher the article appears in the search engines.

Interesting link

The NBA Draft

So many choices of what to write about with a lot going on. Even in the NBA, there is he Lakers winning the Championship, Manute Bol passing away which is very sad he was only 47. However, I will stick with the NBA Draft and throw in some suggested plugs to help your draft day.

First I didn't think Washington would get the first round pick when I wrote this article. So, the Wizards have a new owner, the first, the 30th, and 35th picks in the 2010 draft. Welcome to your new team Washington. They might select John Wall, okay they probably will.

DeMarcus Cousins will he be a star or will he flop? He will need some coaches. A top pick but not a safe pick. It should be an interesting draft.

Press Passes

Today I am going to the Brunswick Music Festival, I have been granted Press Passes for the event. Another first for my writing career. Writing career might be a stretch, but it is heading towards that direction. It has definitely moved up from the hobby stretch, and might just the below the part time job, but right about at the right spot to rescue me from some bill or another.

To me it is not all about the money anyway. I am pretty lucky I do get to write about what I want to for the most part. Sometimes it is about the money and I take an assignment for a bigger payout. This year I am making more money with it, but at the same time I am writing a lot more. It is nice to be named a featured contributor, I was named to three this year. It wasn't cool to be rejected, but it made being named one more special because then I knew they weren't automatic and were more of an achievement. It was a big deal when I interviewed Jay A.Turner. Why? Because it was the first time I had interviewed someone. I was able to write something different. I even wrote some poetry, yes they were short Haiku. However, to me that was getting back to where I started writing a long time ago, when I first was published, a writing I didn't share very much since to me it was more personal.

So yes, I know to most journalist getting press passes to an event is no big deal. It is old hat they get them all the time. However, I don't so it is a big deal even if the artists are more regional. However, it is very diverse group a blues band from South Carolina Chocolate Thunder, some old time music, some blue glass, a regional funky blues band in the Kelly Bell Band. Regardless it should be a fun time, if I can avoid heat stroke and frying in the sun as it suppose to be hot and humid.

Beau Torbert Update: June 13, 2010

The Sioux Falls Pheasants are in first pace with a 19-9 record. Beau Torbert leads the American Association in batting average with a  .393 batting average. Beau is third in the league with 9 home runs  and second in RBIs with 31. Beau is second in the Northern Division with a .705 slugging percentage, Beau leads the division in hits with 44, and is third in the division with a .452 on base percentage. All stats are from Pointstreak.com.

Beau is healthy and has not committed an error in 28 games. Beau has 16 put outs and one assist for the season in fielding stats. If Beau keeps this up he should be a contender for another MVP season as long as he stays healthy. Right now his numbers are dominating the league. Will post another Beau update soon.

World Cup Soccer

I didn't get into all the hype for the USA soccer team in the 2010 World Cup. However, a tie with England is huge for the U.S. Team. However, team USA still needs to take care of business against the rest of the teams in their group. Yes. team USA will be favored to do so, however being favored and actually taking care of business is two different things. England was favored against team USA, however England didn't take care of business. That being said all is not bleak for England. England did not lose and is still favored to advance.

I did write a few World Cup related articles recently. One was on Lionel Messi who I heard one expert on the radio call one of the best players in international soccer if not the best. You can read my article on Messi here.

In a related article I wrote about the rich soccer history of Messi's team Argentina you can read that article here.

I also review the rich soccer, or football history of two more power houses. One was Brazil which can be read here. The other one was Italy which you can read here.

Hope you enjoy the World Cup action and I will blog about something else next time.

Les Paul

My mind wanders off to the gulf after each horrible headline I read, or it could wander to my unknown economic gloom. Instead, I will write about something else. No shameless self promotion either, I haven't done that in a while.

Yes, I wanted to see Jeff Beck in concert last Monday. Money is tight and I went to the Blues Fest for fre the weekend before. However, the concert I wanted to see was Tuesday and Wednesday at the  Iridium Jazz Club in New York. Jeff Beck and friends played a couple of shows as a tribute to the late great Les Paul, who I blogged about his passing last year. I did enter a contest to win tickets but I didn't win.

However, the shows were outstanding here is a link to one review.

On occasion I do plug other writers work. Disclaimer I don't know this writer, I just wish I was at t he show.

A bit on John Wooden

I'd be liar to say I remember John Wooden who passed away this month at the ripe age of 99. He coached his last game in the Spring of 1975 as UCLA won a championship. He left coaching as a champion. He won 10 of those in 12 seasons which is quite an achievement. He coached an amazing four 30-0 teams. he compiled a 664-162 record as a coach.

Wooden new basketball and he knew how to win. Through this he became great, was able to write or co-write several books and probably made more money in speaking engagements than he ever did as a coach. One could learn a lot about life, winning, and coaching from Wooden. He also stood up for what he believed was right. I could right a longer appreciation about him, but better ones have already been written and things said by people who knew him such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. I just wanted to take a moment to acknowledge his passing since I do write about sports. His life does deserve a moment of appreciation.

Observations

There is so much I could I blog about. So much has happened since my last post. I usually try to blog for Memorial Day and Veteran's Day. I missed blogging on Memorial Day. However, I would like to touch on that subject now. Over the weekend I attended a Blues Festival. The music was fantastic and I could blog for days just on the different blues act. However, something besides the music stayed with me from the weekend.

I have seen amputees before. However, last weekend I saw more amputees in one day than I had seen in my entire life at this festival. The first one I saw was on Friday. The man was in a wheel chair missing a leg. He appeared to be happy. He was enjoying the festival with his wife and son. He was obviously one of the few, one of the proud Marines. I gathered that by the Marine baseball hat he was wearing. I assumed he lost his leg being a proud Marine in Iraq or Afghanistan. Part of me wanted to go over and tell him thanks.I wanted to ask him if he lost his leg in action. The introverted part of me won out and I never did ask him. I didn't want to upset his happy vibe. I was thinking he probably didn't want to talk about how he lost his leg.

There was another gentleman at the festival who had the look like he was a former military person. He had lost both legs. The loss of his legs barely slowed him down and every time I saw him he appeared to be hustling off here or there.

I volunteered at this festival, on Saturday one of the session musicians entered a gate I was watching. The horn player, wanted to make sure he could park there and showed his artificial leg. He stated he lost his leg in Afghanistan.

I saw a couple who appeared to have peg legs. I thought to myself they must of lost their legs in an accident. The lady always managed to smile. The couple seamed to help one another and they appeared to be a loving a couple. My mind wandered to the terror the two had faced together.

The writer in me, saw stories in each of them. The war hero with his family, the war hero turned musician, the story unknown from the other amputee, and  the pegged legged couple. I never asked for the story but the story was there..

Any way the amputees did bring the latest wars in Iraq and Afghanistan back home to me. The first gulf war was more my generation. I was lucky the people I know made it home in one piece. My friends just went away for a long time. I know people died and I know people were wounded. The people I saw over the weekend brought home the war. Yes I know people paid the ultimate sacrifice in these wars.However, the folks who will live the rest of their lives missing a leg or two while serving for us in our military. They deserve our respect and our thanks regardless of politics.

Beau Torbert Update: New Season, Same Team, New Name

Beau Torbert returns to Sioux Falls in 2010. The team changed their name from the Canaries to the Pheasants. The Pheasants are 11-3 so far this season and have the best record in the American Association. Beau has played in all fourteen games for Sioux Falls.

According to Pointstreak.com  Torbert is second in the league in hitting, batting .421 for the season. Beau is tied for fourth in the league in homers with four. Two Pheasants are in front of Beau in homers. They are Sing and Sheldon and they both have six dingers a piece. Beau is seventh in the league in runs batted in with 13.

Beau leads the team in hits with 17, doubles with 7, and runs scoring 17 times. In 2008 Beau was the leagues MVP. So far in 2010 Beau is in contention for another MVP award.  Hopefully, Beau won't miss as many games with injuries as he did last season. Last season injuries kept Beau from repeating as MVP.

Questions on the Gulf Oil Spill

It should never take this long to stop an oil leak from an oil rig. The damage will be incredible. Hopefully, we will learn valuable lessons from it. It needs to be stopped! We also need to focus on how to clean up this mess and minimize the ecological damage.

How do we clean up the damaged gulf? How do we stop it from spreading to the Caribbean?  How do we stop it from spreading to the Atlantic Ocean? How do we clean up the damaged wetlands? How to we reverse the damage? When will it be safe for the shrimpers to go back to making a living? When will it be safe to eat gulf shrimp again? When can the commercial fisherman go back to fishing the gulf? When can I take a charter fishing trip in the gulf and catch healthy safe fish? How many animals are going to go extinct over this? How many will go endangered? What is going to happen to the waterman who can't make a living? What is going to happen to the tourist towns on the gulf who will lose visitors? How do we make sure something like this never happens again?

Not everybody at BP is evil and BP does do some good things. The government isn't all bad. It isn't a blame game. We don't have time for that. Yes BP should cover the cost. However we have to work together and answer the questions I asked and I am sure there are more questions to be answer. Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, and Florida all deserve better. It is another slap to the regions face, just like Katrina. And this tragedy effects more than the five states mentioned it effects us all.

Yahoo Writing

Anyone who reads my blog knows I write for Associated Content.  I was going to say read my blog regularly, but I know no one does and since I don't even blog regularly I can't blame them. I shamelessly promote some of my articles I write.Relax none of that today. However, I did want to touch on some big news about Associated Content.

Associated Content was sold to Yahoo this week for a large sum of money. So, needless to say somewhere down the road change is going to happen. Some how the move is going to effect me. The changes could be great. It could be bigger pay,  more exposure, and more opportunities. The changes could also be negative, they might not like my writing, the pay could change, or they could change the way business is done. It is like looking at the half empty glass.

However, for the moment business has not changed. The half empty glass does not matter yet because I am not thirsty.  When I am thirsty, I will have to evaluate the cup.

Robert Plant New Album and Tour

Robert Plant will have a new album coming out, with another new band.No, he did not do another album with Alison Krauss however it appears it will be in the same sort of genre. It will be his second release on Rounder Records. Plant will do a 12 city mini-tour before launching into a larger tour later this year.

You can read my entire article here.

I am also going to update the you tube area with some Robert Plant related videos. I have been a slacker updating that side. Really, March and April I was really swamped with writing on top of my regular stuff. This month will be busy but hopefully not as busy. I will return to making more blog appearances and other news...

Which Ones Pink

Well, I write about music as well as sports and business. ou may have head Roger Waters, the bassist and lyricist of Pink Floyd is planning to tour and perform Pink Floyd's  The Wall. There have been rumors of  a Pink Floyd reunion ever since the Live 8 reunion. Funny, how a super group regroups for a one off show and everyone expects a reunion tour. Well, it is fans wishfull thinking I suppose...

Anyway I investigated the rumors and here is what I found out!

Funny, I have seen David Gilmour's version of Pink Floyd and I have seen Roger Waters in concert. Pink Floyd was the stadium sensation, awesome light show. Roger Waters smaller arena, same vein but different. When I saw Waters he surrounded himself with great musicians.

Fantasy Hockey Champion

I've been busy writing this month. I thought it would be a slower month. I was wrong. I have a bunch more articles on draft prospects and the draft. But I'm here to check in, to procrastinate on some writing assignments, and to brag about winning the fantasy hockey league I was in.


Yes, I am bummed that my first place fantasy football team choked in the first round of the playoffs. However, I am happy my hockey team won. Though I must confess I left the team alone. But it is fun to win...

NFL Draft Preview

 Besides basketball in March, I did write about football. The NFL Draft is coming up this Thursday so I thought it would be a great time to shamelessly plug the 12 players I did draft previews on associated content. I broke them down by position and the links are plugged in on the names.

On Defense I have:

Defensive Tackles:
Gerald McCoy 

McCoy will probably be drafted early on Thursday.


Defensive Ends:
Derrick Morgan
Jared Odrick
Jason Pierre-Paul

Morgan, Odrick. and Pierre-Paul will probably be pick on Thursday if any remain they will go early on Friday.


Safeties:
Eric Berry
Taylor Mays
Earl Thomas

Berry will probably be the first of the group to be picked. Mays and Thomas will probly be picked in the second half of the first round.

Cornerbacks:
Joe Hadden

Joe Hadden will probably be the first Gator picked and could be picked in the first 10 picks on thursday.

On Offense:

Offensive Tackles:
Trent Williams 

Trent Williams could be picked with the first 10 picks on Thursday.

Tight Ends:
Jermaine Gresham 

Gresham will probably be selected in the early part of the second round.

Wide Receiver:
Dez Bryant

Dez Bryant will probably be selected in the middle of the first round.

Running Backs:
Jahvid Best

Best will probably be selected in the second round. However, he could rise to be taken late in the second round.

Update

Been away a while. I was writing a bunch in March, to be honest probably too much. I have been trying to slow down a bit in April but I haven't had much success with that. I did go on vacation for a week. However, even while I was a way I had articles being published, I submitted another, and then I had an offer I couldn't refuse. A bigger upfront to write an article for a partner site.

Since, I have been writing so much for the main site I write for all of my other writing has taken a backseat. Which Includes this blog. Yes, I did write a bunch of sports articles in March, however I have published a bunch of non sport articles too. I still have a bunch to write on my plate and I know with the NFL draft coming up I will be busy again.

Well I am just passing through to give an update and say hi! Stay tuned for more...

A break in the Action

Things have slowed a bit. I am still busy. However, things have slowed at being published. Currently I have three articles waiting to be published. My goal is to write one more tonight before I go to bed. These three articles are non-sport articles which is great since I have done my share of sports articles this month with a few more left to work.

Today I volunteered at SHARE which brings my volunteer hours up past 30 hours not counting travel time. I wanted to reach that level before the end of March so I met a personal goal on volunteering.However, it being a SHARE day has made the day a very long and tiring day. Anyway, this was just a quick check in to the blog to say hello.

Update and Haiku

A quick hello! March has been quite crazy. As I have mentioned before I have lots of basketball articles out. Yes some football too which I will pimp in due time. I have had 27 articles published this month, I have two awaiting review. I have 10 articles I will need to write before the end of the month. That doesn't mean they will all be published this month. However, I have to feel pretty good that I will be able to reach my goal of 30 published articles this month.

This month has been far my busiest writing month. I have made the most money this month by writing. Not enough to quit my day job but enough to help with the family finances in a more substantial way. But, I have ran into a involuntary slow down. Burning candles at every end is taking a toll. Oh well..

However, I am at a point where I can write what I want. When, I started writing, I started with poetry. I published one a long time ago. Then I did a Holiday Haiku.  It was my first stab at Haiku. It is a somewhat simple form but I also find it has a challenge to it. I made my second stab at it with a Spring Haiku. It is nice to write poetry again even if they are short.

More Basketball...

I've been writing a bunch about college basketball. A lot of football but that will be another blog. Been writing so much I haven't been able to check into the blog as much.

Need info on the brackets you can read it here.

Who do I think was snubbed? The Big Dance Surprises? It can be read here.

A preview of the SEC Championship game which was published after the game. Really, I did write it before the game. You can read it here. Even a preview of the SEC Tournament is here. If your an ACC fan, I have your preview here.

Like I said I have been really busy with over 20 articles published this month. Work, Family, Play, volunteering, and writing.

Gearing up for March Madness

Well I have started writing about college basketball it must be March! I kicked things off with an article about the North Carolina tar Heels struggles. UNC finishes 16-16 after a loss to Georgia Tech. The Tar Heels may get a NIT bid based on name alone. They should be end of season bound.

Next up I did a preview of the CAA Conference tournament. I predicted the winner Old Dominion over William & Mary. The score was 60-53, I predicted 63-58. Pretty good predictions. To read about some other fine teams from a powerful mid-major conference read here.

Then I did previews of the SEC Tourney and ACC Tourney. If you like college basketball, I have more articles on their way soon.

Update and a little about SHARE

I am alive. Like my last post eluded to I am very busy writing away. I've already published more articles this month than all of last month. Then there are the other things I am involved with, family, and trying to squeeze as much skiing as I can before it is all gone.

I am enjoying writing more now since I do get to write about what I want to write about. Lately, I have written a few articles on non-profits so far most of them have been about ones that I am involved in or have been involved in which is a good thing.

My latest one on SHARE is no exception. SHARE is a great program which can save folks money on food and promotes volunteering. Both wonderful things. I find my time volunteering at SHARE to be better than church. Any way to learn more about SHARE read my article here.

March Writing Madness

Sorry, I have been away from the blog a bit. The winter storms, the laptop crashing, and life in general have kept me away from the blog. Plus when I have been writing it has been on articles. I am getting to a great point in my writing. I can write mostly about what I want to write about in music, business, and sports. I could do that before but now I am getting a little bit more money for it. Yes, I do still take the odd assignments as well. No, the money isn't good enough to quit my job. However, it is enough to pay a bill or two.

2010 so far has seen me take up another blog. The Orioles blog, which I have only submitted to sparingly. I also have written a few articles for the Tim Tebow site of course timing was bad on that. I discovered the site after the football season had ended. I have published 17 articles in the first two months.

March is going to be my month of writing madness. Unlike the NCAA March Madness mine is going to be about shattering personal records on the amount of articles written in a month. So, far this month I have three articles published and five waiting for approval. I have 19 more articles that I am committed to writing this month. That is 27 articles and it is only March 2. Sure it will take most of the month for me to write that many articles but it is possible I still might pick up even more. I also submitted my first post on the Orioles blog. Needless to say it will be interesting to see how this month unfolds.

My First Interview

My first interview is finally published. Where I was going to originally publish it did not work out. So, after I waited and waited I went to Plan B.  I'd like to thank Jay A. Turner for being a great person to interview. I feel bad it took so long to publish.

Jay A. Turner is a Baltimore, Maryland based musician. He is a bass player who plays a bunch of sessions, tours Europe with Tom Principato, and sits in with bands from time to time. To find out more read my interview here.

I also wrote a review of Jay A. Tuner's latest release "Nine Ladies Dancing" and you can read the review here.

I hope you will read and introduce yourself to his music.

U.S. Woman Ski Team Has Arrived

No American woman had one the Gold Medal for the Olympic Downhill before Lindsey Vonn did it yesterday. That is saying a lot as the U.S. has had some talented woman skiers like Picabo Street and Diann Roff in the past.

Not only did an American woman win the gold yesterday, they won the silver as well. Julia Mancuso came in second place. The U.S. Woman's ski teram has arrived at Vancover. It was the woman's first event, with more races still to be had the U.S. Woman have a very good opportunity to add to their medal count.

The men are there too. Bode Miller finshed third in the men's downhill only .02 seconds away from the Gold. What a race, where Gold, Silver, and Bronze where only seperated by .02 seconds.

NBC sports for results

Snowed Out and Mardi Gras Week

Ok, we are having a heck of a winter. I like snow but I think I like things in moderation. Too much snow so I can't get my car out means no skiing and playing in the snow. We got dumped on and I live on a hill. We lost power for 12 hours one day and our roads have been barely passable by 4X4's. I have front wheel drive, my wife has a jeep. So, we have been staying at friends house who have power lines underground, and have been having an endless slumber party. I was finally able to get my car out yesterday. My laptop also crashed. So, needless to say I have been away from my computer for a while.

I published a few articles early this month. I haven't published anything new in almost 2 weeks so I do need to get on the stick (or at least the keyboard).

Well, it hasn't been all bad as Valentine's Day, me and my wife ended up going to the Tab Benoit show in Falls Church. He is a very talented musician. One of the best guitarists from New Orleans. Big Sam's Funky Nation was a fun opening act who also jammed with Tab during his set. It was a  great show and a great way to kick off Mardi Gras week. A little taste of New Orleans. Then Monday and even Tuesday were ordinary days. But hey ordinary days aren't all bad. I hope everyone had fun on Fat Tuesday.

Featured Sports and Music Contributer

My writing has really taken off this year. First I picked up the baseball blog and the Tim Tebow Fan staff. This is great for getting my name out there and to add more to my portfolio. In late 2009 I was named a Business & Finance Contributor at Associated Content. This meant more income with 3 higher paying articles a month. Since, then I have learned these are pretty competitive as I have been turned down for a couple of these positions.

Today, however, I was named a featured contributor for Sports. I write a lot about sports, so this was great news. Then later in the day I was named a featured contributor for Music, another topic I like to write about. So, I will be busy writing my nine articles a month. However, that is good too. I find that the more I write the more page views I get. When I disappear like I did last year my page views fall off drastically.

It is also great for the blog because I get to share good news. This is better than my weekend. My weekend ended up with my laptop getting messed up, my dad going to the hospital, and me catching a cold. So, really this Monday was not that bad.

One Week Until The Super Bowl

The Super Bowl has the potential to be a dady with the two best teams in the NFL meeting. The Saints and the Colts. Manning Vs Brees. I am ready for this game! Also The Who performing at half time. A great football game with a great band playing at halftime. I can't wait.

I think I pointed it out in this blog I have been writing on the Tim Tebow Fan page site for a while. I did write an article about his Super Bowl Commercial. The latest article I wrote about tIm Tebow is about his performance at the Senior Bowl. 

Well thats the blog for today, good bye January welcome the new month.

Haiti

I've been writing a bit about Haiti lately due to the big earthquake which shook the island nation. I have a couple of articles out on organizations which are helping with the relief efforts. I urge you to check them out. My publisher is donating money for the articles and page views to the Haiti Relief efforts.

The first one was abiut Google, President's and Direct Relief. You can view the article here. 
The second one focused on Christian groups who were helping. This article can be viewed here.

We all know Haiti needs help. Heck, they probably could have used help before the earthquake. They are our neighbors (or at least mine). It is encouraging to see past Presidents both democrats and republicans come together for Haiti. It is nice to see all these christian groups from different denominations come together for Haiti. It shows we can overcome our differences and make things better.

New Baseball Blog

I know Spring Training is still a ways off. However, I just wanted to announce my new blog. The blog is focused on the Baltimore Orioles. Right now it is all about the Hot Stove and what moves the Orioles have made this off season. If your interested please feel free to check it out here. So far I have a blog about Miguel Tejada rejoining the Baltimore Orioles, an article on Gonzalez being the new closer for the O's, and a blog about the Orioles getting Millwood in a trade. I have been blogging on there fairly regularly so there should be more stuff on there soon.

Work, skiing, and other writing activities have kept me away from this blog. However, rest assure there are more updates to come on this blog.

More football...

I haven't post in here for a few days; I have been pretty busy writing as I have picked up a few more opportunities...

A lot about football as of late:

In the NFL I had my wildcard predictions. I went 2 for 4 on those.

In college, I had my final NCAA rankings posted here. My rankings gave more love to Boise State and there were a few more surprises.

Also I started writing for a Tim Tebow site. I will probably write a few more articles there. I joined the site at a bad time after the college football season has ended. Oh, well I have a couple of articles out there/

The latest one is about his Super Bowl Commercial.

I also wrote one on his record breaking performance at the Sugar Bowl.

I'm open for sugestions on new Tim Tebow articles if there are any Gator Fans or Tim Tebow fans out there.

I've been writing other things as well and I will blog about them later.

First Beau Torbert Update of 2010

Some how with the big snow, the cold, the holidays I missed this..



Beau Torbert signed to play with the Sioux Falls Canaries for 2010. I know Beau fans would have liked to have seen him get another chance at "organized" baseball. Canaries fans should be glad he is coming back. Hopefully, he will be able to stay healthier in 2010. He was able to do a lot in 65 games, however if he stays healthy he could be in the running for MVP honors again.

Hagerstown Cold Weather Shelter

I wrote about the problem of homelessness in a November blog. Today I published an article about an organization doing something about it in Hagerstown, Maryland. The word needs to get out about these kind of organizations.

You can read the article here.

I think I left these facts out of the article so I will through them in here.

The shelter provides the homeless an address to use and a place to get messages and phone calls. This is a big deal because it allows potential employers a place to reach them, or family, or somebody who could potentially help them.

It gives them a place to do their laundry.

It gives them a place to shower.

The cold weather shelter is more than a warm meal or a cot to sleep in. If you want to learn more read my article and follow the links. If you want to do more volunteer at a shelter, I am sure you can find one that can use your help.