It's Official.

I am now old. I am a card-carrying member of AARP. Now I can become a crotchety old man. Hey you kids, get off my lawn. (But you don't have a lawn.) Shut up. I can holler if I want to. All you young whippersnappers better shape up or else.

Beware This Man.

Yes you must be afraid of this man. Don't ever let him turn your back on you. Why? He was charged with battery on a police officer. His weapon? His gastro-intestinal tract. That's right. He farted on a police officer. On September 23 this gentleman, Jose Cruz, was driving in West Charleston, West Virginia with his lights off. He was stopped and failed a field sobriety test, at which time he was arrested. While in custody he allegedly hiked his leg and let fly, then to make matters worse he allegedly fanned it. You can read the arrest report here. Now I realize to call a fart battery is stretching the imagination. If that is battery people are being assaulted daily. Saner heads have since prevailed, as you can read here. The battery charge as well as an obstruction charge have been dropped. the DUI charge remains as well it should. I wonder how many times the arresting officer has been compared to Barney Fife? Since he finds farts so offensive, I hope that officer never sees Blazing Saddles. The campfire scene might kill him.

Under The Counter.

If you go into a Lifeway Christian Bookstore and want to buy the magazine you see here, you will have to ask for it. It will be found under the counter, not out on display. Why? Because Lifeway is owned by the Southern Baptist Convention. They do not believe in women pastors and evidently think that their membership will be contaminated by simply reading an article about them. I want to point out here I am not condemning the SBC for their beliefs. I don't agree with it, but we have freedom of choice when it comes to our beliefs. To me this is more of a censorship issue than anything else. There also is some hypocrisy involved. We won't display the magazine, but we will take your money if you want to buy it. Huh? If it offends you that much, don't sell it. No one is forcing them to carry that magazine.

This is one of the problems that I have with organized religion. I believe in God, but sometimes the churches try to tell you how to think. I am not putting down any preachers. I have several friends who are in the ministry. I have been in churches where the problem was not in the denomination, but in the preacher. My wife and I were driven out of a church once because of that. I will go further with that topic later. I do not believe that God wants you follow blindly. If you listen He will talk to you. I have never heard a voice, but I believe God has spoken to me several times. I used to teach Sunday School and would spend 5-6 hours preparing for an hours lesson. More than once while teaching some good point presented itself. I hadn't seen it before, and I took it as a point God wanted made to someone listening. A couple of times after the class I was told how much that point meant to someone. People should be following God. He is much bigger than a magazine article. There are much more urgent things that the SBC should be worrying about. For another take on this read what my friend Mike Parnell has to say about it. Mike is a Baptist minister, but is not affiliated with the SBC.

My High Five

My friend Jeff posted in his blog about 5 questions that are making their way into blogs. I like the questions so here are my answers.

1. Where was I 10 years ago?

I was receiving manager at K-Mart. My wife had started studying for her GED, which she would get the next year.

2. What was on my to do list today?

Today is my day off at Wal-Mart. I plan on watching a DVD, sort some baseball cards, and do some cleaning in my apartment. I do not plan on going anywhere today, which is unusual for me.

3. What would I do if I was a billionaire?

I would make sure I had enough money invested that I could live off the interest. To occupy my time I would run a collectibles store featuring my 2 hobbies, baseball cards and comic books. I also would start a foundation that would give away a lot of money, but would have a paid staff to make sure that the money given was not going to scam artists.

I have never wanted to be that rich. I would like enough to live comfortably but I enjoy my life as it is.

4. 5 places I have lived.

Mason City, Illinois/Springfield,Illinois/Auburn,Illinois/Hanover Park,Illinois/Calhoun,Georgia.

That also is everywhere I have lived.

5. Bad habits.

I eat poorly and don't exercise enough.

Could It Be?

1908.
Theodore Roosevelt was in the final year of his Presidency.
William Howard Taft would be become President-elect by defeating William Jennings Bryan.
For the first time a ball drops in Times Square in New York City to welcome the new year.
Mothers Day is observed for the first time.
The Office Of Chief Examiner is established by the US government. This would be later renamed the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The company that would become General Motors is founded.
Henry Ford makes his first Model T.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid are allegedly killed in Bolivia.
And on October 14 Orval Overall pitches a 3 hit shut out as the Chicago Cubs defeat the Detroit Tigers 2-0 to win the World Series for the second consecutive year. The Cubs won the series 4 games to 1. The Cubs would appear in the series 7 more times, but 1908 was the last victory. Their final appearance in the series was 1945. Now we look at 2008.
The Cubs have the best record in the National League and the second best in baseball. They have been extremely consistent, except for that losing streak at the start of this month. Is this their year? I am a die-hard fan and will tell you of course it is. They have great hitting and pitching. Their pitchers also are good hitters. I don't know if it is still true but the Cubs number 9 spot had produced better stats than 4 American League teams. No matter what happens, this will be fun.

Take Me Out To The Ball Game.

Today is the last game that will ever be played in Yankee Stadium. There is a very slim chance that they could make the playoffs. All that would need to happen is the Yankees win every one of their games and the Red Sox lose every one of theirs, then there would be a play off. The Yankees are guaranteed a winning season, but considering their payroll more is always expected. How much would you be willing to pay to be there? According to a website called Razorgator, which keeps tabs on the secondary ticket market the average price for this game is $1111 with the highest ticket going for $18,300. The article that I read that is 9 days old. I was going to talk about this sooner, but I have been a little distracted. I am curious if anyone actually bought the seats for that much. You can ask for it, but getting it is totally different.

With Yankee Stadium going away, Fenway Park in Boston and Wrigley Field in Chicago are the oldest ball parks around. The next oldest is RFK Stadium in Washington, DC which was built in 1961. The House That Ruth Built closes tonight. I am not a Yankees fan, but I do like their manager, Joe Girardi. I hope they close it out with a win.


For the last game at Yankee Stadium, what better baseball card to represent the ocassion than the Bambino himself. This card is from Upper Decks' Yankee Stadium Legacy series, which I have posted a few previous examples. this is from Game 909, August 14,1934 in which the Tigers beat the Yankees 7-3.

Collecting Follies.

I am taking a break from my previous posts. I have one more to do but I am going to do it later. The comic book shown here is creating a controversy, and you can read about it here. There are some swear words that did not get totally blacked out and DC recalled the book. Of course copies immediately went on eBay. I just checked. There are 278 copies available, prices ranging from 99 cents to $499.99. The highest bid is currently $192.50. I understand the collector mentality, but this kind of stuff blows my mind. Are people that juvenilish that simply because some swear words are present we will pay almost $200 to own it? I do not have a copy and never will. I like Frank Miller but I have read enough about this series that I don't want to read it. It should come as no surprise that language is present. In issue 1 of this series Miller had Batman tell Robin, "I am the G.D. Batman". I would be amazed if whoever buys this book ever comes close to recovering what they paid for it. The only one who will make a lot of money are the ones who are selling now. My attitude with my collections are they are only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. I don't care what a guide book says. If you hold out for that price you probably won't be making a sale. when I buy off eBay I decide what I am willing to pay for something and if I get outbid whoever bid more can have the item. I refuse to get into a bidding war. If someone is willing to pay $200 for a few blacked out swear words, they must either be an uber-geek or they have more money than sense.



Baseball cards had a similar situation 19 years ago with the Billy Ripken card. There was an obscenity on the knob of his bat. You can read more here. WARNING. If you are offended by obscene words do not click here. There are 19 cards listed on eBay, prices range fron 10 cents to $49.99. There are also 17 in eBay stores, prices running from $1.49 to $$185.00. I have the card. A friend gave me the 1989 factory set for Christmas 2 years ago. Personally I would not pay more than $5.00 for the card. You can read more about this card here.