Classic Tune of the Week 14

I'm cheating a little bit here in that this week's classic song is really a television series theme song. However, I felt it was an appropriate choice in that it celebrates my new nickname at school. Enjoy.



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Bat Wars

Yesterday, while checking roll in my 4th period P.E. class, something flitted by me. I just assumed it was some sort of flying insect and didn’t pay much attention to it. Within seconds, however, it happened again. I looked up just in time to see a small bat dip and dive right over the heads of the girl’s P.E. class across the gym. Bedlam quickly ensued. I am quite sure that this country has not seen panic like that since Orson Welles’ infamous War of the Worlds broadcast in October of 1938. As the day progressed five more bats made appearances. Each time they appeared total chaos would break out. I managed to catch and remove three of the little buggers and figured it was only a matter of time before I caught the rest. I went home yesterday afternoon figuring the days’ incidents were a fluke and things would get back to normal by the next morning.



Last night the phone rang and the caller ID showed it was a pre-recorded message from my school district. I picked up and the voice of my principal came across the line saying, “There were bats in our gym and school today and that steps were being taken to take care of the problem.” She also added, “if your child came into contact with a bat they need to be evaluated by a physician immediately.” The overall impression was that our campus was overrun with hordes of blood thirsty bats that were attacking everyone in sight. I rolled my eyes as the message concluded. I couldn’t help but chuckle at how this whole deal had been totally blown out of proportion. Shortly thereafter I turned in for the night.



I had not given the bats a single thought as I drove into work this morning. Imagine my surprise when I was greeted by a gentleman in a hazard suit who was busy putting a “closed” sign on the door of the gym. He identified himself as being from the, I’m not kidding here, “environmental unit”. “The environmental unit of what?” I asked. He just finished putting up his sign and told me, “This area is off limits until further notice.” He then walked into the gym where he joined five other guys in hazard suits who appeared to be studying the ceiling of the gym intently. They were no doubt plotting how to rid the gym of the potentially disease ridden and rabies crazed bats. Six hours later, as I was leaving school I peeked into the gym. The same six guys were inside still staring at the ceiling. I guess they haven’t figured out exactly how they are going to rid our school of the flying mammal menace.

I’m not sure how this is going to play out tomorrow. I know the gym will still be “on shutdown”. All I know is that I’m taking my camera to work. I have this vision of those six guys in their hazard suits running around the gym with butterfly nets trying to capture those six tiny bats. You can bet those pictures will end up online somewhere. I will keep you posted.

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A Blast From The Past

I unearthed some old photos of my high school basketball days and thought I would post them here for laughs. It is a nostalgic look back at a time when shorts were short, socks were high, and hair was big. I am #44 in all the photos.

By the way, the giant guy in the bottom photo is Tito Horford. Tito played in the NBA for a couple of years before playing several more seasons overseas. Tito is best known, however, as the father of Al Horford. Al Horford won two national championships at Florida and is now playing for the Atlanta Hawks.

Poetry Update

I thought I would update everyone (both of you who read this blog) on the status of my first ever poem on the Helium.com website. Basically, it works this way: you submit your article, poem, etc. and then it is rated by Helium members. My poem reached #5 (out of 56 submissions on this particular topic). It has since settled in at #18 out of 56. I guess the "real poets" sniffed out a fraud and voted me out of the top 10. Still, I thought that was pretty good for a first attempt. Who knows? Maybe I am a poet and didn't know it :)

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A Poem

Below is my first ever attempt at a poem. I saw some poetry online a little while back that was considered good enough to be published. I was more than a bit underwhelmed with what I read and had that "even I could do better than that" thought we all sometimes have about one thing or another. So, I decided to put up or shut up.

The poem below is not really based on anything or anyone specific. Instead, it just follows the theme of the poems I saw online. I haven't even been able to come up with a name for it yet. Maybe that will come to me later. Feel free to suggest a title.

I have submitted my poem to the online site I was reading and will be interested to see how it fares against the "real poets" found there. You can read it below.

Untitled Poem

No longer do I miss her every hour or even every day
But in my thoughts she does remain.
She comes unexpectedly; in a song on the radio perhaps
Or in the heavy air just before a cold November rain.

She was the love of a young man who is not here anymore
Years have gone by and I have aged.
Yet, in the secret places of my memory
Somehow, she has remained exactly the same.

She is untouched by the hands of time;
The same hands that now have me in their grip.
Her golden tresses still flow; blue eyes remain bright,
And the words of love still flow from her soft lips.

No doubt it is better this way; she will remain forever young.
Never will I see her any other way but as she was when she was mine.
Our life together may have slipped away but a piece of her will always remain
In the recesses of my heart, my soul, and my mind.

Classic Tune of the Week 13

My latest trip down memory lane takes me back to October of 1982. That is the month when “You Got Lucky” was released by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers. The song was the first single from the album Long After Dark and was an important breakout hit for Petty and his band. “You Got Lucky” peaked at #20 on Billboard’s Hot 100 but reached #1 on the Billboard Top Tracks chart. The song held the #1 position for three weeks at the end of 1982.

I first became familiar with the song through the video, which received heavy rotation on MTV in the early 1980s. The setting for the video was a very Mad Max looking post apocalyptic world. The video had nothing to do with the lyrics of the song but somehow worked. I especially liked the haunting guitar solo featured in the song. When I think back to those many summer days watching MTV in the afternoon, “You Got Lucky” is one of the videos that comes to mind. Check it out below. I hope you enjoy it.

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Quote of the Week 5

"Time is the most valuable thing a man can spend."

- Theophrastus