Link: [Autorotate's Flying Circus]
Link: [Lonely Planet]
Link: [Surfer Jerry]
“Come Monday…” is a weekly series that will involve a review of websites, movies, documentaries, television shows, sports, music, and whatever else may tickle my fancy at the time. Be assured that these reviews will be generally positive, as in accordance to the Jimmy Buffett song “Come Monday.” This is subject to change, however. In fact, I would be most derelict in my duties to neglect going on a rant every once in a while. For rants promote change, and change can be good—right? Therefore, since good is generally considered as being a positive force in 99.3% of the parallel universes that I am aware of, even a rant could be considered as being something positive, and a genuine hissy-fit would be even better (I am told).
Clint Ashcraft has long known he'd like the opportunity to one day be the football coach at Conway High.
That day has now come.
The former Siloam Springs coach was hired by the Conway School District's Board of Education in a special meeting Thursday night. Ashcraft replaces Kenny Smith, who led the Wampus Cats the past 18 years and finished his tenure as the program's winningest coach with a 129-75 record before announcing his resignation last month.
"I'm elated to have this opportunity," Ashcraft said during a telephone interview Thursday. "It's a great community and a great location. I always thought it'd be a great job to be at Conway."
Read the entire story here.
Link: [SillyGrrl]
Link: [Caraga...Rising Paradise]
Link: [AardvArt In A FieldofClover]
Thursday, December 18, 2008
The ever-growing Arkansas family has added a holiday bundle-of-joy to their brood.
That's right folks, Michelle Duggar, has given birth to her 18th child.
The Arkansas supermom delivered the baby girl by Caesarean section Thursday at Mercy Medical Center in Rogers. The baby, named Jordyn-Grace Makiya Duggar, weighed 7 pounds, 3 ounces and was 20 inches long.
"The ultimate Christmas gift from God," said Jim Bob Duggar, the father of the 18 children. "She's just absolutely beautiful, like her mom and her sisters."
The Duggars now have 10 sons and eight daughters.
Jim Bob Duggar said Michelle started having contractions Wednesday night. She needed the C-section, her third, because the baby was lying sideways. Jim Bob said both baby and mother were doing well Thursday night.
"We both would love to have more," he said. Jim Bob Duggar is 43, a year older than his wife. Their oldest child, Joshua, is 20.
The cable network TLC broadcasts a weekly show about the Duggars, called "Seventeen and Counting." Chris Finnegan of TLC — which handles public relations for the Duggar family — said the show's name would be updated to account for the latest addition to the family. He said TLC also will air a show Monday on the baby's delivery.
"Our whole family is excited about Jordyn's addition to our family," Jim Bob Duggar said. "She's just perfect in every way."
With the latest addition, the Duggars’ 18 natural children range in age from 20 years to one day old. Included in the mix are 10 boys and now eight girls — Joshua, twins Jana and John-David, Jill, Jessa, Jinger, Joseph, Josiah, Joy-Anna, twins Jedidiah and Jeremiah, Jason, James, Justin, Jackson, Johannah, Jennifer, and Jordyn-Grace.
With two sets of twins, Michelle, has gone through 15 pregnancies that ended in 13 natural deliveries and two Caesarean sections.
Both Michelle and Jim Bob — a former state legislator who served in the Arkansas House of Representatives — are real estate agents. They claim their family is debt-free, with the entire bunch helping to build their 7,000-square-foot home in Tontitown. And they are enriched by a devout faith in their religion.
The Duggars are followers of the evangelical Christian movement called Quiverful, which teaches that children are God’s blessing and that husbands and wives should happily welcome every child they are given. In fact, the Duggars' website quotes, “Children are a heritage of the Lord” from verse 3 of the 123rd Psalm.
Source: here
Contributor: Laura Eilers, Junkfoodaholic.com
I absolutely hate cold weather.
Sadly, we've got a ton of it here in the Natural State tonight. Yes, old man winter decided to pay Arkansas a visit today and we've got a mess brewing.
I, The Hawg, have marked the spot on the latest map from the National Weather Service that shows I'm smack dab in the middle of all this rotten weather. We Saline County folks don't cope with this stuff well.
In fact, most Arkansans don't react well to ice covered roads. If a snow flake hits the ground and sticks, that's a sure sign it's time to shut the town down for a couple of days and wait for it to melt. We don't know how to drive on this stuff in Arkansas and I, for one, don't care to learn.
I'm hoping it works out that way tomorrow. We're supposed to get more sleet and freezing rain -- perhaps enough so that schools will be canceled and we'll get to stay home from work. The break won't last long, however -- it's supposed to be in the 40s by Wednesday and then in the 60s by Thursday, according to the National Weather Service.
Ah, that's how it is in Arkansas. Don't like the weather? Give it a minute and it will change.
Meanwhile, it's time to break out my favorite lawyer joke:
Friendly The Hawg: It's cold out there.
You: How cold is it, The Hawg?
Friendly The Hawg: So cold that I went downtown and the lawyers had their hands in their own pockets!
I've been lazy lately
Yes, I haven't been too active here or at The Natural State Hawg these past few days. To quote an e-mail I got a couple of years ago that still gives me a chuckle, "Oh well. It Christmas."
And because it Christmas, I've been busy with family and such. While I'm well aware that some people have been disappointed that my inane prattle hasn't been thrown around as often as it was just a few weeks ago, I'll be back to my old self before long.
Link: [A Beer Sort Of Blog]
Link: [Branson EDGE]
Link: [Octavine Illustration]
Link: [Predator Press]
Link: [The Slap & Tickle]Go ahead and click on the below commercial posted on YouTube and prepare to be amazed. Bear in mind that this guy is, apparently, a legitimate businessman in the Chicago area. I hope so because this has to be one of the top marketing schemes of all time.
If you want to check out this cat's Internet site, just click right here.
Here's Bella, our dachsador, busily doing, err, something.
Be sure to visit the other Wordless Wednesday participants (or submit something of your own) by clicking right here.
Last night, my husband and I went to my company's Christmas party in Conway.
Carol, one of my coworkers, is so very gracious and every year, without fail, she offers to host the party. And even though her house is large, by the time everyone arrives, there is standing room only.
We all look forward to the Christmas party because it's a time when everyone can relax and enjoy each other's company outside the work environment. It's also neat to meet coworker's spouses or dates.
But the main reason I look forward to our Christmas party is the infamous "White Elephant Gift Exchange".
I cannot possibly convey in a post how much fun we have playing this silly little game. First of all, I work with a fun, great group of people. That's the first necessary ingredient. Add in some gag gifts, gifts of an alcoholic nature, girly gifts, tools, toys, etc. and you're gonna have some laughs!
The game starts out pretty boring: people opening gifts - everybody saying, "Ooh", "Aah" etc. It starts getting interesting, however, when the first gag gift is opened.
Last night's first gag gift was a Snoop Dogg doll! What made it even funnier is the guy who opened it is a white computer techie who was wearing Wrangler jeans, a cowboy shirt and boots! It's painfully obvious, rap music is not his thing. Anyway, everybody starts hootin' and hollerin' and saying "Ooh!!!!, Alright Michael! WOO HOO!!!" He smiles, takes a bow, and goes back to his seat. Then about ten minutes later, somebody steals it from him! I sure didn't see that coming. I elbowed my husband and said, "Honey, you ought to steal it and give it to your brother for Christmas!" Paul's brother, David, likes rap music and they always give each other gag gifts at Christmas. Well, Paul never got the chance because someone stole Snoop Dogg again and after that, the rap doll was frozen and couldn't be stolen again.
Click here to read the rest of the story.
Link: [FreshRevision]
Link: [Homemade Pizza]
Link: [Mom's Crazy Life]
Link: [Snitterdog]
Link: [Section Hiker]A good friend of mine sent this to me today and I couldn't help but to pass it along, as it has to be the funniest thing I've seen in a very LONG time
3 Unused LSU Timeouts for sale on Craigslist: http://batonrouge.craigslist.org/spo/940244949.html
Gotta love me some Hog's football!!
Willy is hearing the stories this morning that the Automakers are getting the message and they are going back to congress to plead their case for a bailout and are traveling in their hybrid vehicles instead of their corporate jets.
They are saying that they have to have money because if they don't get it soon that their mismanagement to date will cause them to go bankrupt this month. If they get the bailout they will sell their corporate jobs, they will figure out how to make cars go further on a gallon of gas, the CEO will work for $1/year + expenses and they will sell the corporate jets.
This they say will bring them back to profitability if Americans-- Many who cut from their jobs by the automakers, will then buy more cars and drive more miles and use more gas and spend more money on credit cards and ..........
Willy has debt, but the problem is that Willy has not let his debt get totally out of hand. Willy has spent beyond his means sometimes but Willy took a look and pulled in the reins and got it back in hand all by himself.
Willy needs someone to help Willy to financially figure out how to get in the mess that the automakers are in so Willy can get the bail out. Willy believes if the government will give him only about 1/100 of 1% of the $800 million bailout money, then willy will be debt free.
My plan is that if the government could spare Willy that small amount then Willy pays off all debts. That allows Willy to save a small part of his salary and then spend the rest on big cars, great vacations and many other things that will give people jobs.
That would spur the economy.
Listen to the Video from Fred Thompson - like him or not - he has a humorous- sarcastic take on the whole mess. Willy thinks Fred should send him some money.
Listen to Fred - come on it wont hurt you.
10-4 Willy
Ah, the Flaming Lips. Remember when that was an actual rock band? Some of us do.
Go ahead and visit the other Wordless Wednesday participants (or submit something of your own) by clicking right here.
Wednesday night, police arrested Curtis Lavelle Vance, 28, at his home in Marianna, and charged him with capital murder in the death of Anne Pressly. Vance was with a woman, three kids and "lots of extra ammunition." Police aren't saying what led them to Vance, but insist their evidence is based on very good police work, DNA testing and a scene profile.
Besides being a popular newsanchor at Little Rock's KHTV, Anne Pressly had a minor role in the movie "W" as a conservative commentator.
Link: [Cat Directory]
Link: [Drawing Flies 365]
Link: [CrAzY Working Mom]
Link: [Underground Ozarks] LOG CABIN DEMOCRAT
Little Rock police named 28-year-old Curtis Lavelle Vance of Marianna as a suspect in the death of Anne Pressly on Wednesday.
At 5 p.m. Wednesday, a warrant was issued for capital murder. Police say Vance allegedly left his home at 1 p.m. today in a Black 1998 Oldsmobile Aurora. There is a small Razorback decal near the rear tire on the driver's side of the car.
Vance is allegedly traveling with a woman named Shaniqua Cooper and three small children.
"He knows we're looking for him," said Lt. Terry Hastings, police spokesman, at a 10 p.m. press conference.
Those who have information can contact the tips line at 501-517-0750. A $50,000 reward is being offered for any information that leads to Vance's arrest.
No motive was disclosed. Police say that Vance is considered armed and dangerous.
Anne Pressly died in a Little Rock hospital on Oct. 25 from injuries sustained in a home attack on Oct. 20.I want to wish you and your family a happy, peaceful, joyous Thanksgiving!
Theresa
Arkansas officially blew its slim chances of getting into a bowl game by absolutely folding against Mississippi State on Saturday.
As all college football fans know, a team needs six wins to be bowl eligible. Arkansas would have hit that magical six-wins mark with wins over its last two games -- Mississippi State and LSU.
Arkansas managed to lose 31-28 to Mississippi State (4-7, 2-5 SEC), thus falling to a 4-7 record (1-5 in the SEC) and dropping to dead last in the SEC West. Miss State, by the way, is now next to last in the SEC West.
A lot of people want to blame kicker Alex Tejada for losing the game, but that's nonsense. Sure, Tejada missed a 46-yard field goal at the end of the game and missed another one besides. However, the defense was absolutely horrible against Miss State.
How bad? Miss State was averaging 77.3 yards rushing per game, but registered 226 yards against Arkansas. It's no wonder that Arkansas' defense is rated the worst in the SEC, is it?
Arkansas' offense did its job. Nathan Dick took the starting quarterback job away from his brother, Casey Dick, and passed for 333 yards and two touchdowns. Add 109 yards rushing to that total, and you come up with 442 yards of offense for the Razorbacks. Not bad at all.
However, Arkansas' absolutely flat defense allowed a generally pitiful Miss State offense to run up 445 yards. That's just pitiful and inexcusable.
Yes, the pundits will blame Tejada and he is, admittedly, pretty bad. However, his sub-par kicking game is nothing compared to the miserable Arkansas defense.
Arkansas, of course, got a new coach, Bobby Petrino, this year. The argument can be made that he made the best of a bad situation -- he inherited a bunch of young players and some fairly bad ones from former head coach, the hated Houston Nutt. Regardless, it seems pretty clear that Petrino has some butt kicking and recruiting to do to rebuild this team.
Hang in there, Bobby! Better seasons are on the way.
Meanwhile, LSU comes to Little Rock on the day after Thanksgiving to play the Razorbacks. Yes, you heard right -- Arkansas still splits home games between Fayetteville and Little Rock.
At any rate, the LSU game doesn't really matter at this point as Arkansas has no chance of going to a bowl game. Expect to see the Hogs play like they just don't give a damn when LSU comes to town.
A shameless plug for my father
I was shopping for some gifts for my dad today and settled on a good MP3 player loaded with a bunch of old time radio shows from the incomparable OTRCat.com. I like buying unique gifts for my dad and he loves old time radio shows.
It occurred to me, however, that dad has had a rough year. As I've whined about on her plenty of times, a tree fell on mom and dad's house earlier this year and caused about $100,000 worth of damage. Fortunately, they're living in a great house right now -- a great thing because it will take about six months to rebuild their home.
So, dad's pretty down about it all. Now, my folks are set for money, so there's no problem there. The maniac tree company that dumped the tree on their home is insured, so there's no problem there, either. However, what would make my dad absolutely thrilled this holiday season is for some people to purchase copies of his book, Poems from a Baseball Fan by Howard A. Nobles.
That's a very unique book and one that I do believe any dyed in the wool baseball fan would love to get for Christmas. Dad put that book together from over 40 years of poems he's written about baseball, a sport he loved to play
Of course, I'm biased.
If you're looking for a unique gift for that baseball nut on your list, why not click on the above ad and give it a look?
You'd make a retired educator and lifelong baseball maniac happy. You know you want to take a look and buy a copy, so have at it!
King of the Stump?
Make sure to tune in to the Food Network tonight to see an Arkansas company highlighted.
Yes, this week's Road Tasted with the Neelys special is all about Thanksgiving and we all know how great a good ham can be on that holiday, right? The Neelys -- a good, Southern couple -- certainly know the value of ham and they've named the pepper ham made by Petit Jean Meats in Morrilton as one of the finest anywhere.
It appears the Neelys have learned what we Arkies have known for years -- Petit Jean Meats makes some good stuff.
One of my favorite things about this story is that I got to tell this bit of news to my wife. She's a Food Network fan and she wasn't aware that the Neelys would be featuring an Arkansas business on their show. Yay for me!
The show will be on at 9 p.m. CST tonight (Friday, Nov. 21), midnight on Saturday and at 2 p.m. on Sunday.
A Petit Jean ham would probably go well at Christmas, too. Speaking of Christmas, here's a lights display my wife sent me. Enjoy!
Link: [A Bumpy Path]
Link: [Razorbloggers Network]
Link: [The Conservative Post]
Link: [Holy Sarcasm]
Link: [The American Patriot Institute]NOTE: FIVE FOR FRIDAY is a weekly feature on this blog that is meant for the SOLE purpose of calling attention to sites that I think that many would find interesting. There are 5 more sites to see at [AsTheCrackerheadCrumbles] and [FishHawk Droppings].
ARTIST - KLAUS NOMI
SONG - AFTER THE FALL
This guy was popular in New York back in the early 80's. I loved him. You guys are probably gonna wonder "what the heck" but this guy was and still is one of my favs. He died of aids back several years ago. There is a great documentary out about him called "The Nomi Song".
The Ramones covering a classic cartoon theme song? Excellent!
Click right here to visit the other Wordless Wednesday participants or submit something of your own.
On November 4th, 2008 millions of Americans were shocked that a man of Barack Obama's limited experience, extreme liberal positions and radical political alliances could be elected President of the United States. For many of these Americans, the explanation was rather simple... the news media, completely enamored with Obama, simply refused to do their job.
On Election day, twelve Obama voters were interviewed extensively right after they voted to learn how the news media impacted their knowledge of what occurred during the campaign. These voters were chosen for their apparent intelligence/verbal abilities and willingness to express their opinions to a large audience. The rather shocking video below seeks to provide some insight into which information broke through the news media clutter and which did not.
Because obviously interviewing a relative handful of Obama voters, while interesting, is hardly scientific proof of anything, we also commissioned a Zogby telephone poll which asked the very same questions (as well as a few others) with similarly amazing results.
- 512 Obama Voters 11/13/08-11/15/08 MOE +/- 4.4 points
- 97.1% High School Graduate or higher, 55% College Graduates
- Results to 12 simple Multiple Choice Questions
- 57.4% could not correctly say which party controls Congress (50/50 shot just by guessing)
- 81.8% could not correctly say Joe Biden quit a previous campaign because of plagiarism (25% chance by guessing)
- 82.6% could not correctly say that Barack Obama won his first election by getting opponents kicked off the ballot (25% chance by guessing)
- 88.4% could not correctly say that Obama said his policies would likely bankrupt the coal industry and make energy rates skyrocket (25% chance by guessing)
- 56.1% could not correctly say Obama started his political career at the home of two former members of the Weather Underground (25% chance by guessing).
- Only 13.7% failed to identify Sarah Palin as the person on which their party spent $150,000 in clothes
- Only 6.2% failed to identify Palin as the one with a pregnant teenage daughter
- And 86.9 % thought that Palin said that she could see Russia from her "house," even though that was Tina Fey who said that!
- Only 2.4% got at least 11 correct.
- Only .5% got all of them correct. (And we "gave" one answer that was technically not Palin, but actually Tina Fey)
Source: HowObamaGotElected.com
Brownie Mom has started a program through which participants can raise their Technorati authority.
You'd better believe I'm joining the effort. Perhaps you should, too. Interested? Here's all you need to do:
1. Copy The List Below into a blog post on your blog(s).
2. Add Your Link(s) To The List on your website.
3. Comment On This Post stating the blog address(es) you want listed so Brownie Mom can update the list to include your link(s).
(Comments on this blog are moderated. She will add all of the waiting links once per day so come back to be sure you have the full list and your blog is listed on your blog as the correct number)
4. Watch Your Authority Rise!
Copy Here -
1. THE MOM WITH BROWNIES
3. THE BIG DOG
4. ARE YOU PART OF THE SERIOUS BLOGGER ADlog?
5. Thoughts From The Front Porch
7. The Pond
9. 1stopmom
10. Juicy Alligator
12. Life Of A Star
16. Lyndonology
17. All Arkie Army
19. Healthy Moms
20. Idiot On A Stick
Don't forget to comment on Brownie Mom's Original post!End Copy -
There will soon be a new head coach for the Conway High football team. After 18 years of service, Kenny Smith will step aside to accept other responsibilities in the Conway Public School District, according to school officials.
Smith finished his tenure with a 129-75 (63.2 percent) record with the Wampus Cats. He had coached in Conway for 25 years in all and won six conference championships, as well as played in the 1993 Class AAAAA state title game.
"No one bleeds Wampus Cat Blue any more than Coach Smith," Conway superintendent Greg Murry Said. "Our district and our community appreciate all that he has done to bring pride to our football program. We wish him the very best as he begins a new chapter in his professional career."
The Cats have had their rough times in recent seasons, including a 2-8 record this past season. Conway, which has not made the state playoffs since 2006, also went 3-7 in 2007.
Murry said the district will immediately begin the process of finding a replacement for Smith.
The Denver Broncos have come up with all sorts of ways to deal with their injuries.
It's working out just fine.
Peyton Hillis is #22 for the Denver Broncos.
Wheel of Fortune is in Arkansas and Willy thinks he needs to go down and audition. Well Willy went by the Possum Grit Grill and Cantina to see what Juanita thought about it. She was all for it.
In fact Juanita had her own game of Wheel of Fortune going on there at the Cantina.
Juanita had bottles of beverage sitting up on the bar and each one was covered in front by a letter turned over backwards. She was giving the two regulars to the Cantina a chance to win a beverage.
Well, Sammy Bob over in the back just kept holding up his brew and hollering "Big Money" - "Big Money" Juanita kept asking him to give her a letter and Sammy Bob hollered out " I would like to buy a bowel."
Well if you knew Sammy Bob like Willy knows Sammy Bob you would know that he has one bowel to many now.
Juanita - says no Sammy Bob. You have to spin the wheel. Well Sammy Bob took hold of the spokes on the car wheel set up on the table and gave it a spin. The pointer stopped on "bankrupt". No problem for Sammy Bob - he declared that a long time ago.
Next up was Billy Mack. - He hollered big money gave the wheel a spin - it came up on bottle of budwiser. Billy Mack immediately hollered "give me a bud light"
Juanita thought he was solving the puzzle and declared him the winner.
As a Winner she declared that he got $5, a chance to drive her daddy's four wheeler and a date with Juanita. Bill Mack immediately refused the prize unless he could eliminate the date part of it.
Guess he has no taste for fine women like Juanita. Or maybe he thinks the little wife back at the shack wouldn't like him going out with Juanita.
Well enough of that - Willy better hurry if he is going to get to those Wheel of Fortune auditions -- Better yet - Willy might just go to the deer Woods.
10-4 Willy
A couple of days ago, I mentioned that a tree service company dumped a pine tree on my parents' house.
Here are a few pictures showing the damage done. I won't add commentary as the photos speak for themselves.
