They Call Me "G"...

No harm, no foul....

2009-01-12T16:29:00.000-08:00

Well, I basically wasted a week of hard work...Went to Snowshoe with the fellas this Fri-Sun. Drank a bunch of beer.......This week was a wash...

Starting weight: 256

Ending weight: 256

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Dunno how it happened.......

2009-01-05T05:33:00.000-08:00

Starting weight week 1: 260

End week 1: 256

WOOT!

I doubt it will be that easy every week, but a good start!

(And thats even with new year's dinner..)

Hello! My name is Jack Straw from Wichita....

If you dont like the Dead.....get off my damn blog.... :) and blog update......

2008-12-26T17:54:00.000-08:00

To keep Jenny appeased.....

A good Franklin's from Radio City....

Blog Update: Gresham has gained mucho weight since college. The beerskis are finally catchin' up with me. With my daughter on the way, I thought it might be good to get healthy for the little booger. So, Im starting my "Fast Track to a Healthy G" campaign on Monday. Ill be updating the blog not so much for a "here look at me lose weight" pitch, but more for accountability reasons. I think the main reason that people lose the weight loss battle is that they don't have any accountability but to themselves....and its easy to trick yourself...So help me along the way! 40lbs in 4 months.....it can be done.....goals set, mind right.....

Looks like I'll be paying for a wedding in the future...........

2008-12-22T07:40:00.000-08:00

Use your noggins and figure it out.....

YAY!

2008-12-19T23:13:00.001-08:00

YAY!

The ONLY band that sounded good at Winterland....

Good stuff from Donna J. & Bobby...

I'm gonna be a daddy....

2008-10-28T10:05:00.000-07:00

Just thought you should know....

The American Dream.....Dusty Rhodes

2008-09-19T21:44:00.000-07:00

Papaya Juice, Jack!

How "Grateful" I am.....

2008-07-23T20:17:00.000-07:00

“What I like best about music is when time goes away.” - Bob Weir

I recently began going through a bunch of some of my favorite Dead tunes, played at various venues and in various years over the past few weeks. This has been fortunate for my soul and unfortunate for my punctuality! (I've been late to work a few times this week researching some rare occurances of tunes, i.e. last San Fran "Dark Star" before the Closing of Winterland - 12/31/78.) It's amazing how much influence this band took from the legends before, and how much MORE they passed to those who followed.

I once read an article quoting Christopher Sabec (Now Chief Exec. of Jerry Garcia Estate, L.L.C - in conjunction with the Garcia family) as saying "When I first got into the record business, I learned that it wasn't "cool" to be into the Grateful Dead". The key to this quote is "record business"... Although the Dead recorded and/or released well over 40 albums, it was the constant touring and "live experience" that created so many devote fans. Christopher eventually saw the boys play over 250 times.

After digging through a bunch of the music that I have, I bean to research books, videos, rare tapings of live performances, rare FOOTAGE of live performances, etc.......Every day it just gets better. I have never been so entangled in the music, history, ambiance, and constant change of a band before. I find myself listening to songs 3 and 4 times in a row, finding something ELSE truly amazing about each one each time. And that's what makes the Grateful Dead so special....constant change while the complete package remains.

As the mangled, electronic bull crap we call music today makes record companies millions of dollars by forcing talentless melodies down people's throats via continuous play on local (and even sattelite) radio stations, there will always be a safety net......The Grateful Dead. Time passes, and people still listen....they wear out old traded tapes......they scramble feverishly to transfer live shows to digital format in an effort to preserve them.....they still love Jerry......they go see Rat Dog....they go see Phil Lesh & Friends......they are as "Grateful" as I am that we still and will always have the music of the best damn band in the land flowing through our ears and into our souls...

So I leave you with one of my favorite tunes.....and although its traditional and not a GD original, I think the boys played the crap outta this one damn near each time they fired it up...It was played regularly by the Dead from the mid 70's till the end....

"Samson & Delilah" - 3/28/81 Essen,Germany - Rockpalast

The Calm During the Storm.....

2008-06-13T13:34:00.000-07:00

Wednesday was the official start of summer for me.......the first true thunderstorm of the year. I remember growing up and watching my dad stand on the front porch during some violent thunderstorms. For some reason, it appeared to bring some sort of peace over him during such turbulence. I got brave enough to stand on the porch with him as I grew older, and now find myself doing the same thing from time to time. I found myself in a world of comfort Wednesday as I enjoyed one last storm on Paris Mountain Avenue.......I guess I'll just miss this place.....

We close on the new house next Friday......

Some Paddlin' Pics (And Vid)

2008-06-02T21:54:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite hobbies is paddling. It's late and I don't feel like typing a whole bunch so just enjoy some pics and video....

Ocoee River, TN

At the campsite after busting my face at Broken Nose

Hell Hole

Tellico River/The Ledges, TN

Middle Ledge

Second Ledge

Baby Falls

My buddy Clinton styling Bald River Falls

Nantahala River, NC

Just above Whirlpool

Reedy River, SC (Reedy Falls Park)

Every so often, the Reedy floods after a good summer rain (2+ days), bringing all the fecal coliform in Greenville County into a swirling jumble to the middle of our hometown....what a kayaker's dream.....not only to be UP Shit Creek, but also be able to paddle it....

I like Pets....but hate Peeves....

2008-05-26T22:57:00.000-07:00

I figured since my wife gets tired of hearing me bitch and complain about the same things, I guess I'll just go ahead and get one off my chest. You've got them....I've damn sure got them....Pet Peeves....I'm one of the most tolerant people in the world, but when I'm confronted with some of my peeves, I seem to break down into "WTF?" moments. I'll share some, but for now, let's just start with A-Numero-Uno...

The use of a possessive "S" when a plural "S" is grammatically correct

I saw a mailbox the other day while driving in Taylors that read "The Bailey's"......The Bailey's what?!!? Dog? Mailbox? Yard? Driveway? For God's sake, tell me what the Baileys are possessing at the present juncture! I think the Baileys were trying to tell us that they own everything, starting at their mailbox, and extending a 4 billion mile radius in all directions. Don't mess with the Baileys....Maybe I should stick a copy of Webster's English Grammar Handbook in the Bailey's mailbox. You think they would get the hint?

While performing a site study last month, a contractor that we use for soil sampling was wearing a shirt from a motorcycle rally for a cancer patient that he recently attended. On the back of the shirt, in large bold print, was the heartfelt sentiment "Thanks to all rider's and sponsor's"........I wanted to punch the editor of the T-shirt. "Thanks to all rider's and sponsor's"?!?! Are you kidding me?!?!? Well why don't we all go thank the rider's and sponsor's invisible possessions while we are at it too. Hell, they probably have so may possessions between them, it would take a lifetime to thank them all. I was getting a little worried at first, because I did not see any of the rider's or sponsor's possessions after the sentiment......That would take up a lot of T-shirt space...

WHEW....

Now for a good funny....maybe worth sending into Reader's Digest for some bucks....

Setup: Cheryl and I just got back from a trip to Jamaica....I've noticed that the Jamaican accent/language does not include the sound "th", as in the words THree, THere, and THermos. This can make for difficult situations...

Story: When not pounding fruity rummy yummy drinks on the trip, I stumbled upon a nice tasting Jamaican soft drink called "Ting". It reminds me of Fresca, but just not so Fresca-ish. A lot less grapefruit flavor and a lot more bubbly. All the advertisements I saw for Ting had one or two grapefruit halves splashing through some running water, or two Jamaicans having the times of their lives while holding bottles of Ting.

About the third day on the trip, we set up shop at our normal spot on the beach. I was starting to feel "empty handed", so I approached the pool bar for a little rum rum yum yum. It was a little early for rum rum yum yum, and I had just finished breakfast, so I decided against the booze....the following conversation commenced between myself and the rastaman bartender....

G: "Hey man! How's it going?"

Rasta man Bartender: "Is irie man...what cana getcha ta drink mon?"

G: "Yeah..I'd like some 'Ting' to drink man."

RMB: "Yeah mon...I'll make you anyting you want mon....we got everyting."

G: "Nahh...I'll just take some 'Ting'."

RMB: "Lik I said mon, da bar is your's mon. I'll make you anyting."

G: "Ohhh..noo..um...some Ting.....the soft drink..."

RMB: (Laughing) "Ohh some TING....ya mon...is all good man."

Rastaman gives me some knuckles after the encounter and I get more miles per gallon out of that story for the rest of the week than a hybrid on a cross country road trip. Too damn funny!

Ok....I'll try to keep up the blog now that I've started