Ugly Homes

Given that this is the worst housing crisis in our memory, we thought what it must be like for owners of the ugliest houses in America. How could you ever sell these?

Heart of Dixie

Does anyone really know where the Heart of Dixie is located? Google Images thinks it does:

Rocky Patel

In the midst of this crazy global financial meltdown, there is one guy who is growing his business - literally. His name is Rocky Patel, an amazing guy that I met about a month ago. He travels the country promoting his premium cigars. He was a lawyer who got tired of reading paper, so he decided to go into a business that burns, very smoothly.

I was talking to David of Milan Tobacconists the other day http://www.milantobacco.com
who told me that Rocky is now the fifth largest cigar seller in the country. You have to check out his website http://www.rockypatel.com. You gotta love the open..very Vegas meets Cuba. There you can see the Rock wandering through his tobacco fields. He invited me to come visit his factory, which I may do (if the gods, and my wife allow me to). Anyway, I just picked up his premium Decade cigar which I'll review here after I fire that baby up.

Here is Rocky telling us about it.



I won it from my cigar purveyor Poochie who is an avid Redskins fan (and who sillily bet against the Giants). If you like lighter cigars, try the Connecticut vintage 1999 cigar...smooth as silk. For a darker, richer, deep cigar go for the 1992 version. Anyway, gotta go and light up.

--john anderson

Father and Son

OK, call me corny, but I had to post this incredible father/son picture that our good friend, Sarah Hazlegrove, took of my son Seth and I. He is now a sophomore in high school. Time is clicking bye just too darn fast, but when Seth laid his head down on my shoulder for this picture, time stood still.

Pearl Jam, Brown Bag bootlegs

My iPod starting playing today this amazing series of live songs from Pearl Jam that I bought way back in 2000. It was when Eddy and the lads were fighting like hell against the music establishment, specifically Ticketmaster. They released a series of official bootleg CDs that showed up in Tower Records (remember Tower on Broadway @ 4th and the other store on Broadway @66 th? That'll be another blog entry soon).

Anyway, there was this huge stack of brown bag-covered CDs at Tower that featured each live show by Pearl Jam. There was no art on the CD cover, just a stamp like the one shown here.

The first show was the one that I bought which was in Lisbon on May 23, 2000 is the first in Pearl Jam's official bootleg series of the 2000 tour of Europe and North America. There were 2 CDs in it, which cost about $10, jock a block full with PJ's greatest hits.




The Portugese really dig the show, doing all kinds of soccer chants. Eddie can't remember the lyrics at time. You have to check out "Immortality" if you can find it. I would love to get my hands on other concerts, but they are very rare to find now. I found this site that had a few European imports -

http://www.bigwentertainment.com.au/artist/pearl_jam_2743.html




Hear are the songs on my two brown bagged CDs:

Disk 1
1.	Of the Girl [6:56]
2.	Do the Evolution [3:49]
3.	Animal [2:56]
4.	Red Mosquito [5:09]
5.	Corduroy [5:29]
6.	Grievance [4:31]
7.	Light Years [5:12]
8.	Nothing as It Seems [5:57]
9.	Given to Fly [4:12]
10.	Even Flow [5:13]
11.	Faithful [4:43]
12.	[Untitled] [3:59]
13.	Last Kiss [3:27]
14.	Mfc [2:37]
15.	Breakerfall [2:47]
16.	Wishlist [3:52]
Disk 2
17.	Thin Air [3:55]
18.	Daughter [6:45]
19.	Evacuation [3:03]
20.	Immortality [6:03]
21.	Betterman [4:52]
22.	Black [7:20]
23.	Go [3:50]
24.	Encore Break [3:30]
25.	Last Exit [2:49]
26.	Jeremy [6:24]
27.	Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town [3:39]
28.	Alive [10:44]
29.	Yellow Ledbetter [*] [6:19] --john anderson

Basketball: Robert Smith, Goth Bunnies, & the Yellow Jackets

We're coaching a basketball team of 12 year olds, and so we started kicking around some ideas for a team name. Our favorite was the Goth Bunnies, inspired by this fellow, Robert Smith of The Cure.

The problem is that we don't think the rest of the league would have appreciated the name or the mascot image, especially for an all-boys team.






























So we decided to go a safer route with black by adding a bit of gold and becoming the Yellow Jackets instead.




But what if we had our cheerleading squad be the Goth Bunnies. Here's a possible approach. How do you think the parents would react then? No good..bad idea...but fun to think about nonetheless.

What was he thinking?

We are so happy that the Giants are 11-1 despite Plaxico Burress' antics, as detailed below. What is Coach Couglin going to say to this guy? Here's the summary of the situation from USA Today:

NEW YORK — New York Giants star wide receiver Plaxico Burress faces an uncertain future after he was charged Monday with two felony counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, stemming from the accidental discharge of a gun.

Released on $100,000 bond, Burress, who was led into court handcuffed, faces 3½ to 15 years in prison if convicted. New York state law requires mandatory prison for carrying a loaded handgun.

GIANT DISTRACTION? Champs are built to weather Plax's trouble

AGENT: Burress will report to Giants on Tuesday

HOSPITAL'S MISTAKE: Acknowledges failure to report wound

Both the NFL and the defending Super Bowl champions are monitoring the police investigation. A criminal complaint released by prosecutors provides an account from a witness at the Latin Quarter in Manhattan last Friday night who heard a popping sound, then saw a bloody pistol — a .40 caliber Glock — fall out of Burress' pant leg. He did not have a permit to carry a handgun in New York.

"This is a law enforcement matter and we are continuing to cooperate fully with the police," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "In addition, it will be reviewed under our league policies."

What was he thinking?