No Country for Old Men

"No Country for Old Men" is the Cohen Brothers' newest movie coming out this fall. I, for one, am very excited about this movie. It looks to be a tight suspense movie with engaging characters and a great plot; something many movies are missing.

Many of the Cohen Brothers movies are excellent; "O, Brother! Where Art Thou", "Raising Arizona", "Blood Simple". This will undoubtedly be ranked among their best. It has already garnered a lot of awards buzz, critical acclaim and fan excitement. In a time when many movies released are just plain bad, we are lucky when movie makers like the Cohen Brothers care enough about their craft to give us something great.

Of all the characters in the trailer, only Tommy Lee Jones' gives me a sense of "Again?". He seems to have latched onto the grumpy southern cop/Texas Marshall persona. Show us something different. Don't allow yourself to be typecast like that. We know you can do more. Hopefully I will be dead wrong about him in this case. Only time will tell.

Do yourselves a favor, as well as the movie industry in general, and go see this film when it is released. I'm sure you won't regret it.

T

Bees in the Trees

This morning I decided to step out onto the deck behind my house and enjoy the somewhat cool air we were experiencing. I was unlocking my door when I noticed something unusual. There was a large moving mass in the tree just beyond my deck. I wasn't sure what it was at first, then I realized it was a bee swarm.

My wife and I were fascinated by the bees. We had never seen such a thing in person before. Being the genius that I am, I decided we should take a picture of it.

First my daughter tried to take it through the glass door. This did not turn out so well. I then took matters into my own hands. I went out onto the deck, got the camera lined up and snapped the picture, then ran back inside. The picture was good but too far away. This time I got closer but still not close enough. Finally I went all the way to the furthest edge of the deck and stretched my arm out as far as I could. I had it lined up perfectly when a bee flew right into my face. I did the only thing I could do. I waved my hand in front of my face quickly like a girl to keep the bee away. It worked! I lined the camera up one more time, ignored the bees bumping into my arms and body and took the picture. It was the best I was going to get. Click on the picture in the upper right corner for a closer look. Not bad if you ask me.

Now I am wondering how I will get rid of them. I am going to give them a couple of days first and see if they leave on their own. What could they possibly want to stay in my tree for? It is just a pecan tree. No flowers or anything of bee interest. If waiting doesn't work, I guess I'll have to become more proactive and have them removed. There's no way I'm going to do it myself though, I'll hire a pro. One or two bees I can handle. Hundreds, maybe thousands? No thanks.

T

Bubba Jones

I have a friend who is getting his first book published this November. For years he, like many struggling writers, has been trying to get some of his work published. He finally struck it big with his latest novel. It is called Bubba Jones by Gary Simmons.

What would you do if you just won 1.75 million dollars? Say that you are mentally challenged. Now what would you do? Bubba Jones is mentally challenged and he did just win 1.75 million dollars. Will he light his cigars with hundred dollar bills? Will he find all new friends? Will he go out and buy new houses and cars for himself and all his family?

Set in the late sixties, the story is told with the obvious expertise of a storyteller born and raised in the deep south. The characters are fleshed out brilliantly and the scenery is described so well, you almost believe you are there in the moment. It is comical yet still has plenty of drama to keep it interesting.

It is available for pre-order on http://www.amazon.com/, http://www.booksamillion.com/, and http://www.barnesandnoble.com/. You can also order it through the publisher at their site, http://www.publishamerica.com/.

For a preview of the first chapter and to learn more about the author, go to http://www.bubbawjones.com/. Read the chapter and let the author know what you think. Also, let others know about this new novel. They'll thank you when they finish it.

T

Colbert Report: Funny as Hell

I just watched what may have been the funniest Colbert Report i have ever seen. I know that is saying a lot but, holy crap, I was in tears.

He was playing a recorded message from a Rabi who on his toll free number 1-800-OOPS JEW. The Rabi apologized to Stephen for stealing some of his material for numerous sermons. Stephen, being the great man that he is, accepted his apology on one condition; the Rabi continue to use his materials but give him the credit he is due. This way the Jews he was speaking to would continue to be exposed to Stephen's philosophy and accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

Stephen also did a segment on the Craziest F%#king Thing I have Ever Seen. It was a restaurant in Japan or China that put mayonnaise on everything. They even had a cocktail that didn't have salt on the rim but mayonnaise. Every time he tried to finish the report, he nearly puked. This is classic humor. What is funnier than trying to keep yourself from vomiting?

Of course the rest of the show was hilarious, as usual. This has got to be one of the best shows I have seen. If you have the time, find the episode originally aired on 9-20-07. You will not regret it.

T

Tiling My Floor

My wife and I decided it would be a good idea to replace the linoleum floor in our kitchen with 18 x 18 porcelain tiles. I figured, "How hard could it be?". Turns out it totally sucks.

You see, when we first moved in to our home, we pulled up the original floor and replaced it with the linoleum. I was ready to pay someone to do this for me, but the employee at Home Depot convinved me that I could do it myself. I thought I needed to cover the subfloor with sheets of wood to level the floor properly so I bought the cheapest material I hoped would work. It didn't. I wound up having to rent a nail gun to keep it from bubbling up. I must have put thousands of nails into my floor.

Once I had the floor flat, I laid the glue and placed the linoleum down. I even rented a 500 pond roller to help the floor adhere to the glue better and prevent bubbling. It looked great ... until I got up the next morning. It had bubbles in a few places, so I rolled the 500 pounder over it again. It still didn't work. I was too upset to try anything else and figured it would flatten out over time. I was wrong again.

Seven years later and it still looked the same. Best option; lay new tile. The bad news; remove all of the old flooring again. This time though I have thousands of nail heads sticking up between the first and second lair of cheap wood sheets. I decided it would be best in the long run to remove the nails. So, one by one, I am in the process of pulling these nails up. You wouldn't believe how much this sucks. I have almost finished half of the room and feel like I have achieved a huge accomplishment.

Once it is done and the tiles are laid out, it will look better than ever and I will finally have the kitchen I have always wanted. Not to mention the pride of completing it myself. The moral of this story; do it right the first time.

T