Ballads

While checking on my bloglines feeds I found this post which asks…

So, here's this week's question: What oft-maligned ballad will you never stop defending?

They offer a few suggestions, which I immediately remembered.

Here are mine…

Little River Band’s “Reminicing”: 1978. Get past the bowl haircut and fly glasses and enjoy the groove.

Kim Carnes’ “Betty Davis Eyes”. It is 3:40 of pure gravelly voice heaven.

Bobby Caldwell’s “What you Won’t Do for Love” . What better way to start a video then to have the album cover come to ‘life’… amazing eh?

And for the best of all…

Culture Club’s “Do you Really Want to Hurt Me”. ‘nuff said..

I will take you to the mat over this one…

Heatwave’s “Always and Forever”

…and the song my wife and I used for our wedding…

Taylor Dane’s “I’ll Always love you”. She was smokin’ hot back in the day… I am a huge fan (pun intended) of BIG HAIR… and this is it man!

NOW WHAT ARE YOURS?

bye, bye Paulina!

The first elimination from "Dancing with the Stars"

Paulina porizkova & Alec Mazo

Catching up!

A REAL BLACK ANGUS DINNER...
We had the luxury the past two nights of attending the Arkansas-Oklahoma Angus cattle auction and dinner. On Friday night we went to, what I thought was a dinner - and later found out was an appetizer meal... yeah right.. this photo is of the 24" wide prime rib that they cut into LARGE slabs for us to consume... my gosh. If you know how I am - you know I LOVE ME SOME RED MEAT... and I was in shangri-la-baby!

On Saturday night we returned for dinner and dancing. The dinner again... prime rib. This time it was individual Grade A - Angus prime rib slabs. My gosh, these cattleman can cook some red meat. The only person I think I know that can cook meat this well is my friend Rick Mysse!


And Cattlemen are very friendly. These were some very nice people to be around. Dawn & I danced like crazy both nights. The first night we visited the local senior center - so I can now officially say that I have fulfilled my "dare" by spending over 2 hours with a whole grip load of seniors.



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SETUP AND TEAR DOWN, ARKANSAS STYLE

Last night we went with my mother-in-law to set up church for Sunday morning.







Set up for their church is considerably less than at Revolution... it involved copying the bulletin and placing two in each row. Church today was packed with 45 people in attendance. I was VERY impressed with this little country church. These folks are genuine... they love each person that attends the church - it seemed like EVERY person at the church welcomed us, gave us a healthy handshake or a hug and we didn't even know these folks. They even welcomed the new comers from the pulpit and said, "we aren't welcoming you because it is the right thing to do, we are welcoming you because we are truly glad you are here" (and they meant it). The best part is that we received numerous invitations to lunch. Now THAT is community. Granted the service is not what I am accustomed to - all acapella hymns - no hi-tech lighting, no instruments, no video - just God's word, straight from His text. No topical discussion, just scripture.

Ashley was bummed, no REVO...


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A WALK IN THE COUNTRY....

Before dinner and after a long 2 hour nap (after lunch), Dawn & I went on a walk along the 1.78 mile dirt road that leads to the family property. It was very nice as we walked along with Desmond and his new friend "milo". A stray that just appeared at the property this morning - he looks like the dog in the movie Mask, so we named him Milo.



As we were walking, it began to rain and a beautiful rainbow appeared - a double rainbow, over the family property. It was really beautiful - what a great way for God to close this beautiful day.

Along our walk Dawn & I talked about the possibility of buying some land and putting a few chicken houses and cattle on it - 'guaranteed income' is what I called it. There is a small property just down the road for sale; 18 acres of pasture land with a small 1500sf home on it, $100,000 is the asking price. Can you imagine that being offered for sale in California... it would easily be over $1mil. Anyways, it is a dream, but with the uncertainty of the Real Estate market (my employment) and the possibility of having a 'foreman' live in the house and run the ranch, it could be a guaranty of income should the market crash miserably... Just a dream... Oh, Heck no - I would never move here, but it would be nice to own something out here. We wouldn't have to bring our 5'er with us, we could just travel to our 'summer home' ha-ha!

Well, that is the update so far...

Grease, the finals...

Well, the results are in...

As for the girl - Laura is the one that America wants.

For the guy...

Chad is the one we wanted... but we will have to settle for .... MAX - I am so happy.. cuz Austin is creepy... and ARROGANT. If you don't believe me watch his face as they announce he didn't win! What a jerk.

Remember this / compare that...

I was searching for some internet stuff and stumbled on this...
I was blown away the first time I saw this - live...



Compare this...



and this...



and the original...

4x4 camping

Our 4x4 went camping at a Thousand Trails park in Idylwild last month. When we got there, there was a smattering of snow in the ground and we had a great time with the kids (and some crazy parents) sledding in the icy-slush.

Here is what it looked like when we got there... (again, photos were taken with my Q phone, so they aren't the best quality)





And the morning we left we were greeted with about 4" of fresh powder and as the day went on a blustering of new larger and larger flakes fell... it was magical!

Arkansas

Well here are a few photos from our trip here in Arkansas. (Sorry about the resolution - I took them with my Q phone and I am not the best photographer!)

This is Ashy in the truck on the way to Arkansas, she was rushing to take a picture of one of the state welcome signs - I think it was Texas.





This is what I see out the window in front of me in the morning - yes, that tree is actually purple! Isn't that wild!

That is a black snake that was run over in the road - we saw it while on our (semi) daily 2 mile walk. The chunky stuff next to it is a partly digested frog. You should have sees Ashley's face when she saw the photo.

I'm a Porsche 911!

You have a classic style, but you're up-to-date with the latest technology. You're ambitious, competitive, and you love to win. Performance, precision, and prestige - you're one of the elite,and you know it.

Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

Day 3 - We made it!

Well the last leg of our trip was a quick 5 hour trip down the 40 from Elk City, Oklahoma to Booneville, Arkansas.

After a great night's sleep we fueled up the truck and headed East. We arrived at about 5 pm. No problems this trip!

Oh, not before my family gave me a wonderful birthday morning with my favorite thing... PRESENTS!

Well, I will update as I can with photos and stuff! (said in the best Nacho Libre voice).

Well I hope that everything is typed correctly on this post - as my wife read my blogging during the trip and said that my intelligence was falling the further East we went... duh!

I have set up my mini-NORAD style dual monitor system and I am using a 'line of site' broadband over radio network - it is kinda slow right now (kinda like an old ISDN setup).

Well, it is late up here on the hill! Till later...

Day two is for the record books...

Well, the second day of our cross country trip is done. It is midnight Oaklahoma time and I am tired - drove straight through from AZ to OK - Whew! with only two stops for gas!

Staying at the Elk Creek RV park just off the 40 at exit 38 in Elk Creek, Oklahoma. Their tag line is, "The nicest RV park on I-40". Yeah right. Well it is the safest with two, not one, but two tornado shelters - yeah, like I would leave my truck and 5th wheel out during a tornado... I have seen 'Twister' I know what happens to trucks and I ain't havin' none o'that! Well, I don't have to worry about it because the weather has been beautiful so far.

Right now I am going to hit the hay - get up early and head for Arkansas in the AM, there is only about 5 hours of driving left and I am very grateful for that.

Till then, y'all!

On the road again

Well Day 1 of our trip to Arky-land is over. We are camping for the night at "Meteor Crater-RV Park" and Subway sandwich shop. Wooo -hooo, we are in a thriving metropolitan city here.

We rolled in at exactly 8pm. The kind lady at the check in counter informed me that we got here right in time, cuz the close up show at 8! Yeah, and close they do - one of the beautiful things about being in the desert is the night sky - you see, out here, there aren't any 'city lights' and when the Subway sandwich shop turned off their lights, we were suddenly in a giant black hole - except for the billions and billions (I hear Carl Sagan saying that) of stars! Wow.

When I look up, I see the wonderous sky our miraculous God placed in the heavens for us! It is truly Amazing!

Well, Day 1 over - Will check back in tomorrow. (sorry no photos yet) Gonna try to get to 'Elk City, OK' by tomorrow night! Yet, another thriving metropolous!

We are at a loss...

Ok, Ashley and I lost our favorite 'greaser' this week. We don't even want to watch now...
How could they bump off Chad and keep creepy Austin!?!

Bye Chad! Good Luck in your career!

FlapJack Flappers and Flippers Unite!

Yes! It is nearly that time. The annual

REVOLUTION PANCAKE BREAKFAST

on the saturday before Easter Sunday. So, with that in mind, I am looking for volunteers to help flip, scramble, fry, stir, serve and clean-up.

So, if you have a yearning in your heart for that smell of freshly cooked eggs, sausage and pancakes (and you know who you are!) or, you are an individual who loves to serve, or has a knack for serving breakfast foods (prior employment at IHOP is always helpful - just kidding) please contact me ASAP so I can get you on the serving list. It is first come, first serve for helping! Don't get left out!

Weepies

I read this post from another blog this morning and initially thought, this is not making sense... until I read, "And Titanic? Sure, I cry... every time I hear that damn Celine Dion song!" Then I could not stop laughing!

If you know anything about me - and that particular song, and that particular movie - you would be laughing too!

So, I began to think, which movies make me weepy...

1. The Passion of the Christ
2. Saving the Giants
3. Rudy

I am sure there are others, but I can't think of them right now - maybe because crying over a movie ain't my thang!

How about you?

THANK YOU ALL!!!!!

THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!

Because of your generosity and kindness, my daughter, Ashley Scarlett Bambrick has supassed her goal of selling 703 boxes of Girl Scout Cookies!!!

That means that she will be able to 'Bridge' to Cadets by walking over the Golden Gate Bridge! Wooo hooo! She is very, very happy about that!

The best part is that because of all of your kindness and support to our soldiers that are deployed around the world - her troop was able (thus far) to buy over 600 boxes to send to the men & women who serve our country! Yeah!

Nothing says home, like a box o' Girl Scout Cookies, eh?

THANK YOU ALL AGAIN,SOOOOOO MUCH!

Ha ha ha... Chloe... Ha ha ha ha

I just came across this post on another blog. I had no idea that Chloe is a stand up comedian... and based on this review, I don't really know if she is... hmmm... perplexing!

Oh My Achy Breaky Heart...

Well the lineup is final for the next season of one of the craziest 'pseudo' reality shows....

Dancing with the Stars has released the season 4 lineup...

Laila Ali - Muhammad Ali's daughter

Billy Ray Cyrus - Hannah Montana's Dad

Clyde Drexler - NBA

Joey Fatone - NSYNC

Shandi Finnessey - Miss USA 2004

Leeza Gibbons - Entertainment Tonight/Extra

Heather Mills - UN Goodwill Ambassador

Apolo Anton Ohno - Olympic Gold medalist

Paulina Porizkova - Supermodel

John Ratzenberger - Cliff from Cheer's (filled in for Vincent Pastore, who withdrew)

Ian Ziering - Beverly Hills 90210

Well I don't know about you.. but my money is on Apollo to take the glitter ball trophey!

Screen it!

I have been looking for a long time to find a proper background screen for my Q phone and just happened to stumble on these:

These are GREAT!!!! I got the last one for my good friend Tim Lasch (mostly cuz it will upset his wife - she's a LA fan.... but she's still cool anyway!) Hey Tim, notice the name... ANAHEIM ANGELS!!!

Now if I can only find a T.U.L.I.P. screen my collection will be complete!

...missing

Well, I haven't blogg'd for a while - cuz I have been very, very busy - - - arrrgh, swore I wouldn't use that excuse again!

Nevertheless, I went on a luncheon date with my wife and daughter to "The Corner Bakery" at "The Block at Orange" today and had great pleasure of running into a few of my former co-workers when I worked for that 'other' company. I sure do miss those guys. Shout out to Dave Derosa, Jim Weider, Jim Irons, Marc Leath and Chris Spenser! Nice to see you guys today.

The sad news is that the 'other' company is really not doing so well. According to the general consensus the workload for review appraisers is nearly non-existent - yet the work for the Due Dilligence guys is really good (hmmmm.. guess all those 'pushed' values are coming back!).

Oh well. Cheers to the old gang! Keep banging those deals out!

WELCOME !!!

Hey everyone! Let's all Welcome Christopher Lytle to the blog world!!! (a resounding hazaah is heard among the land)

You have got to go to this blog and see how funny, thoughtful (pensive), inspirational and unique our Bellflower Campus Pastor is... He is GREAT! Check his blog out and leave him a note to say welcome to the blog world!

Just a note though... other than his sick admiration for Braveheart - he is a great guy!

Welcome Christopher!