5/31/06--So, about that good news I mentioned

So some of you have been wondering about the rather cryptic post from a week or so back....regarding the impending "good news" that was going to be forthcoming.

My ex-wife has left the clerk's office.  That sound you just heard was me going...

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.

Let's just look at this as....one aggravation in my life, that is now not in my life.
If I said more, I'd be violating the terms of a verbal contract I made.  No, not with her.
With other people--important people--in my life.

So to you people...and you know who you are....here is my gift to you.

Silence.

Later,
Jeff

5/23/06--Driving with Mr. Andrew....it ain't no Daisy!

   I was thinking awhile ago about my first experience driving the car.  There I was, 15 and ready to take on the world....except of course for the presence of my Dad, sitting in the front passenger seat with a rather stern look on his face.  We were in the parking lot of the old Landmark Bank building on Broward Blvd & 70th, and Dad was having me do your various basic driving manuevers, like pull the car into a parking spot and then back it out---etc etc.  It was then that he really through me for a loop....he suggested that I take it out onto 70th Avenue and pull into the other end of the parking lot.  Now, mind you....this meant I would be on an actual road for all of about, oh, 50 feet or so.
But it didn't matter!  It was the fact that it WAS ACTUAL road!  So I pulled out (carefully no doubt), drove the correct speed limit for the 50 or so feet, put on my turn signal and then pulled back into the parking lot.  Nirvana!  I felt like saying--Dad, you can leave now, I've got places to go!  But of course, I digress.  My other favorite memory of my Dad teaching me to drive is when he actually let me drive home one day.
From the bank I mean.  It was about a mile or so to our house, but when I pulled onto the road....the feeling of power!  Of freedom!  (And I didn't have a Harley!)  And so I'm cruisin along there....Master of my own Domain....King of the Castle....Lord of the Manor....and Dad crushes me with four devasting, knife into the heart words:

"You in a hurry?"

My day as Speed Racer came to an end as I went back into "Mr. Safe Driver" mode.
Now I look back and realize what absolute emotional torture it must have been for my Dad to have to teach me to drive.....its because...I'm now in that same position.  Once again, I'm becoming my father--right before my very eyes.

Andy had gotten his restricted license a month or so back, and truthfully had not been pushing the whole driving issue the way that I know his sister will in a few years (God help us all when that day arrives).  I had the day off from work and decided that today was as good a day as any to begin his lessons.  Right where mine had begun.  In a parking lot.

So I pulled in behind the Men's Wearhouse and parked the car, and Andy had this gleem in his eye--ya know, the one you usually only see when he's about to get to the next level on his video games.  So I stepped out of the car and got in the passenger's seat--you know---the "Dad seat"--and let Andy get situated.  I told him to go ahead and tilt the steering wheel down until it was at a comfortable level for him....whereupon he began pulling the steering wheel with all his might towards him.

"Uh, son....you might wanna try using the lever there on the left and the wheel will tilt a whole lot easier."

I had Andy put his foot on the brake and then on the gas pedal ("GENTLY!!") to try and get a feel for them.  I was NOT encouraged when he asked me if the brake was the one in the middle.  DOH!  So then, using what can only be described as my genetically inherited best ever sense of patience (Not said to be one of my best qualities), I told Andy to put his foot on the brake and then slowly.....ssssssssllllllooooowwwwllllyyyyy...
put the car in reverse and begin back out.

Did I mention the parking lot was empty?  What?  Do you think I'm crazy or something?

The car is put into reverse and the first thing Andy does is hit the gas.  The next few feet felt like I was on the track at Daytona, before I yelled STTTTTTTTOOOOPPPPP!
He hit the brake and the car....my NEW car, just for the record....bounced like the proverbial ping pong ball.

"We'll work on the accelerator next lesson, okay?  For now, let's just work on the brake...and let the car idle."

Be still my heart.

And then Andy back the car out, and drove it at idle speed through the small parking lot, making the appropriate turns and pulling back into the parking spot I told him too.
He then backed out again, and drove around the parking lot in the other direction, just getting a feel for the steering wheel and the brake.  He then pulled back into the parking lot.

Then I gave him a little lecture.  It was about how car accidents kill more teenagers than anything else, and that I didn't want him to be some sort of statistic.  How driving a car was absolutely not a game...not a joke...not to be clowning around.  That it was serious business, that it involves multi-tasking of the highest order.  That you had to pay attention with your eyes in four different directions, how you had to listen, how you had to watch out for what the other guy was not only doing, but what he MIGHT do....in other words, I had stopped being my father.....oh good God, I had turned into my Mom!  Backseat Mary! 

But he listened, and I think he understood.  I told him that I could have let him drive on a major roadway and how we probably would've gotten into an accident because he wasn't ready yet.  That this was the equivalent of going into the baby pool, and that we were going to stay in this pool until he was ready to go into the intermediate pool.

Here's one time I've become my Dad---and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Later,
Jeff

5/21/06---The rarely invoked.....celebrity opinions

Ya know, if there is one thing that I am....its a man of opinion.  Go ahead...just ask me about a particular topic.....I'll probably have an opinion.  So, in that spirit, let me go to my voluminous stack of letters and answer some question about celebrities that you might be waiting for my opinion on.  (cough).

P. Lavigne of Davie, Florida writes:
"Hey Jeff....love the blog......have you seen Brokeback Mountain yet?"

Dear P.....
No.  Its not prejudice.  I'm just not in a huge rush to watch two guys snuggle in a sleeping bag, ya know? 

N. Moles of Weston, Florida writes:
"Hey Jeff.....the subject of being in a crappy marriage came up the other day.  What are your thoughts about Brittany & K-Fed?  Can their marriage survive?"

Dear N....
A valid question, and certainly one that I'm more than qualified to answer.  My opinion:
The marriage is DOOMED.  Brittany was raised to be poor white trash, but K-Fed is trash right down to his bones.  Poor Brit....she's knocked up again, and is stalked by the paparazzi on a daily basis.  Their criticizing her about putting on some weight.  Me?  I think she looks better with a little belly, but hey....you know me.....I'm open minded.
K-Fed, mind you.....has been working on his latest rap CD, and from what my sources tell me....that thing won't be released....it will escape.  Let's remember Brit....when you "snagged" K-Fed, he walked away from his girlfriend that was like 6 mos preggers, so why are you now surprised that he's not a candidate for Husband of the Year???
However, we here at Booker's Journal will be keeping a close eye on this developing story.

D. Flaherty of Ft Lauderdale, Florida writes:
"Hey Booker, what's this I hear that Whitney has checked herself out of rehab?  Doesn't she know what a lonely road the world of drugs are?"

D., you said a mouthful there.  Whitney has gone from the top of the mountain all the way down to where, now....can you believe it?  Bobby Brown is the stable one in the relationship.  Holy crap is THAT a scary thought.  My prediction?  Whitney either gets the help she needs (two words--BAKER ACT) or is dead by the end of the year.


M. Danyev writes:
"Hey man.....what about this business with Paris Hilton & Lindsey Lohan?  Is this a real life feud or just a publicity stunt?"

M., great question.  I think its a real feud between two total dipshits.  Paris Hilton is the poster child for the idea that all the money in the world can't buy class.  Trailer trash city.

H. Morrison of Lauderdale Lakes, Florida writes:
"Hey, what's your thoughts on the ending of 24 this year?  And have you watched CSI this year?  And what about Navy NCIS?  And American Idol?  And....how about NASCAR...are you into that?  Its unbelieveable!"

H., you don't get out much....do you?  I like Taylor on Idol, and think the wife of the president bumps him off this coming Monday night.


G. Goode of Ft Lauderdale writes:
"Hey, what about this Tom Cruise guy?  Film icon or major wackjob?"

G., it isn't even close.  He's a film icon--who happens to be a major wackjob.  Over and under on the marriage falling apart---two years.  Hopefully for the wackjob, unlike Paul "What in the world was I thinking" McCartney, I'm sure he signed a prenup.


Thanks for your letters....

Later,
Jeff

5/15/06--Happy Days are ahead!!!

Let's just say....that yours truly.....got some amazingly good news at work today.  I will be more forthcoming with the details in a couple of weeks.

Boy will I have a lot to say at that point.

Jeff

5/15/06--Happy Mom's Day....and a couple of reviews

First of all....I would be horribly remiss if I didn't mention that yesterday was, of course, America's tribute to the greeting card industry, or as we call it.....Mother's Day.
I managed to sneak in under the wire and send my Mom a nice arrangement of flowers, thereby ensuring that I remain in her good graces.....if not for the entire year, at least until her birthday in June.  My beloved was taken out for a nice Mother's Day dinner on Saturday night, primarily to avoid the insanity of taking ANYONE out on the evening of Mother's Day......two or three hour waits for a table?  No thanks.  But we got her out on Saturday evening and had a nice evening--which is good because she might have killed me if I didn't acknowledge what a great mom she is.  By the way.....Father's Day is coming in June.  (cough)

So I have been catching up on some DVD and movie watching this past weekend.
I have FINALLY (Good Lord I do mean FINALLY) finished season #1 of the terrific HBO series "Deadwood".  Holy crap, what a great show.  If its not my favorite television show, it don't take long to count the list.  Not only terrific storylines with great dialogue (and I don't just mean the cursing), but a real gritty feel that makes you almost want to take a shower after each episode.  And I mean that in a good way.
Top notch performances abound, with special mention going out to William Sanderson,
Keith Carradine, Timothy Olyphant & a career defining performance by Ian McShane as the legendary Al Swearengen, owner of the Gem Saloon (and make no mistake about it---Al is THE most ruthless character on television.  He makes Tony Soprano look like a giant wuss.  Al not only kills his rivals, he then feeds them to flesh eating pigs for God's sake.  I don't think anything more needs to be said).  Suffice to say, this is not only the best western in television history---its epic filmmaking.  A MUST SEE  *****

A few years ago I watched a movie called Dogtown & Z-Boys, which was the highly entertaining documentary about a group of teenagers in the Los Angeles who almost by accident created the skateboarding craze that began in the mid 1970's.  Following up on that is the movie Lords of Dogtown, which basically takes the original story, fictionalizes it just a bit, sets it to an absolutely AWESOME soundtrack and features a trio of very good performances by some young actors.  I found myself totally reminded of my own teenage years in the mid 70's.  I found myself remembering kids EXACTLY like the kids in this movie.  The documentary was outstanding filmmaking--this is a good movie, that combined with a terrific soundtrack make for a fun, diverting couple of hours.****

One of the young skaters featured in the above movie was Stacey Peralta.  He ended up becoming quite a young filmmaker, first with the documentary previously mentioned and then with an incredible look at the origins of surfing to those who sought out only the biggest of waves.....Riding Giants is a terrific movie, even if you could care less about surfing.  Really.  Its pretty fascinating stuff, with the stories of the carefree beach bums of the late 50's who were around before the surfing craze of the early 60's, who continued to search for, not the "perfect wave", but the "larger wave".  Their quest was to continue to test fate by finding bigger and bigger waves.  The story takes us through the modern day quest by guys such as Laird Hamilton, a man literally born and raised to be a big wave surfer.  The footage of Hamilton and his crew chasing waves as large as 70 feet high is absolutely stunning--your breath will be taken away.  Very highly recommended, not only for an interesting story, but the terrific camera work.  ****1/2

Later,
Jeff

5/7/06--sports commentary...and a couple of book reviews! WOOHOO!

So of course last week was the big NFL draft.  People like me watch the annual event in part...because we're total geeks, and....in part because we know that the foundation for our team's future is determined by how well they do in the player selection.

Now about 4 days before the draft, I picked up on a story that was posted by our friends at ProFootballTalk.com -- The Best Pro Football Scoop on the Internet which provides not only some first class gossip, but does so with a sort of sarcastic edge that we love and appreciate.  The article in question was the first to bring up some....uh...."slight discrepancies" in recently hired Vice President of Player Personnel
Fran Foley's resume.  You might say....he pulled an O'Leary.  Sort of fudged on one or two things....well, okay....maybe about five things.  (To his credit, I think O'Leary only lied about ONE thing).  Anyway, after that news hit the wires....some people were openly questioning how much longer Vikings owner Zygi "Played Guitar" Wilf was going to stand by his man--especially after issuing the zero tolerance plan in relation to his players and their off the field shenanigans.  Well....then....just to make it that much better, Foley proceeds to go into the draft....and by most accounts....completely drop the ball!  And what's even worse...he dropped the ball while acting like a total tool!
From what I've read, Foley on the way out, it wasn't like he was the most beloved guy in the front office either---which of course begs the question as to why Wilf didn't just can his sorry ass BEFORE the draft.  So now, the Vikings are once again in search of a new GM//Vice President//front office big shot....let's hope they don't drop the ball again.  But wait!  There's more to the Foley story.  After he gets the axe, the guy probably ruins any chance whatsoever of ever getting himself a high profile NFL position ever again---by suing the team!  And get this one....his reason?  The Vikings violated the terms of his contract!  You remember...the one he signed after the Vikes reviewed the falsified resume?  According to his attorney....

Just before noon Wednesday, the Vikings released a one-sentence statement relaying that the team had "terminated the employment contract ofvice president of player personnel Fran Foley." Later in the afternoon, Foley's attorney, Jeffrey Kessler, said his client was "wrongfully terminated" and that he would seek full compensation for the three-year deal Foley signed in late January, as well as "additional damages."

Kessler declined to comment on the value of Foley's contract. But a source close to the team said the total was more than in excess of $1 million.

"It's shocking to us that the Vikings are refusing to honor his contract, after inducing him to leave his job in San Diego, where he was quite happy and successful," said Kessler, a partner at Dewey Ballantine LLP. "The reason we're shocked is the emphasis the club and owner in particular have put out to adhering to a code of conduct and ethical standards. You'd think it would start with honoring contracts."

 
You have to admit...the guy has quite a set of stones on him.

And anyway....on to a different slant here....we're proud to enlighten you, oh lucky reader, with a couple of book reviews!  WOOHOO!  How about all this culture, just seeping our of our very pores!
First of all....let's take a look at the recent autobiography of wrestler Steve Austin:
Amazon.com: The Stone Cold Truth: Books: Steve Austin,J.R. Ross,Dennis Brent.

I have to be totally honest.  I bought this book and wasn't expecting much.  I got it in the discount bin over at a Barnes & Noble and thought it would be a lot of kay fabe (that's a wrestling term that loosely translates to....uh....bullshitting) about how real the business is, etc etc.  Boy was I wrong.  This is a really good insider's account of the business.  I really liked a lot of the stories of the road from his days in Memphis & Dallas....riding in the car with guys like Dutch Mantell & Scandor Akbar....soaking in all the knowledge that guys like that possess and using it the way that he should.  He pretty much has something good to say about everybody, with the possible exceptions of Lex Luger (who really NO ONE has anything good to say about) and his trainer//mentor Chris Adams, who he describes as a con artist a not-such-a-nice-person.  Which is also something that a lot of people have said about Chris.  I liked his stories about the late Brian Pillman, including the revelation that the gold chain he wears around his neck was a gift from Pillman...as well as some of his thoughts on some of the guys in the WWE today.  A very pleasant surprise....and well worth the read--ya know, if your a wrestling fan....if your not....you probably didn't even read this review....so who cares?

Next on our little book review list is the latest Notre Dame book that I've read.  Its:
Amazon.com: Touchdown Jesus : Faith and Fandom at Notre Dame: Books: Scott Eden.  This one set on my book shelf for awhile as I found myself wondering just how much I was going to like it.  The book begins as an attempt to look at the way that Notre Dame football collides//intersects with//coincides with the Catholic faith that is preached at Notre Dame.  It was a surprisingly interesting look....and then, about a 1/3 of the way through the book, it becomes sort of a study of various fans of the football program and school--the wealthy alums, the "subway alums"--people who have never attended or even been to Notre Dame but whom are for reasons that they are sometimes unsure of themselves, root and cheer for Notre Dame with religious fervor.
The last part of the book, which for me was the most fun, was the collision that occurred between the Notre Dame administration, the wealthy alumni base....and the newest breed of Notre Dame supporter:  the internet cruiser.  The person who follows the program with the assistance of various websites--NDNation, IrishEyes, Blue-Gray Sky, etc etc.  The collision that occured during the fall of 2004, when the writer just happened to be covering the program and school--that lead to the termination of former head coach Ty Willingham (don't get me started) and the hiring...after much hand wringing...of current head coach Charlie Weis.  The backroom dealing, the administration backstabbing (among priests mind you!) makes for terrific reading.  This may be one of the best books that has ever been written about Notre Dame.  The football team, the school, the experience, the administration....its really good stuff.

Later,
Jeff

5/7/06---a little bit of everything

So yesterday, Kim & I went to a picnic over at Markham Park, where there was a retirement party for my old friend Sandi Langley.  Sandi managed to last (gulp!) 35 years with the clerk's office.  Me?  I'm at 20 1/2 years and can't believe I've lasted that long.  It was a very nice day as I got to see some longtime employees that I haven't seen in like....I dunno....forever.  Brenda Brown Campbell....aka BBC, who has been working down at the south courthouse for the last few years.....Dottie Braun, who retired about 5 or so years ago after working in the cash bonds department forever.
I felt like it was a nice tribute to Sandi that so many old friends showed up to wish her well in her retirement.  I was happy that Kim managed to go with me....and later on we were joined by the kids and got to sort of "show them off"....I think Kellie is going to get a big head from all the compliments she was getting about how beautiful she was.  I was telling everyone how much she is starting to look like her mom.  Luckily for me, the rumored appearence of at least ONE of my ex-wives proved incorrect.  Now that would've been some kind of big fun.

Well, in the "easy come, easy go" department....the lovely Kellie Poe-Bowdren had her first "official" boyfriend this week.  Earlier this week Kim informed me that Matt, a 9th grader at Kellie's school, had come up and asked her to "be his boyfriend".  Very official and formal like, don't you think?  Well....as young love can be sometimes, it didn't last very long.  As in....the next day.  Apparently a friend of Matt's, who rumor has it has eyes for young Ms. Kellie....started a very scurrilious and nasty rumor about her....which caused Matt to END THE RELATIONSHIP!  Kellie was then joined by some friends in confronting "the friend".  Threats of schoolyard violence ensued.....but calmer heads prevailed....and Kellie is once again single and carefree.  God Lord, I've only got like 4 more years of this stuff.  I'm already gray!

On a much happier note.....we were extremely....EXTREMELY happy the other day to find out that Kellie has been awarded a scholarship for music at her school.  Anything that saves Mom & Dad money is a good thing....and in this case....a very good thing.

Later,
Jeff