American Idol Update 1/24/10

This week's American Idol update is honestly going to be kind of weak. Is it my fault the update is weak? NOPE! It's Idol's fault. The audition shows this week were the the weakest lamest collection of talent and terrible singers I can ever remember in years of watching this. Even the guy who got arrested --- wasn't even all that entertaining. The only thing I can surmise is that Idol is saving the best singers for Hollywood week because last year they caught so much flak for bringing in ringers. Oh the ringers are there we just haven't been introduced to us yet.

The best singers from the Chicago auditions were Katelyn Eepperly from Iowa, Keith Semple from Illinois, and Angela Martin who has been on the show before not just once but twice. My pick for surprise coming out of Chicago is John Park an Asian singer who our Tweeter of the week @susantran was referring to her tweet.

Orlando was almost completely devoid of talent except for the very last performer Matt Lawrence. Look for this guy to go far in the competition. Great voice and a compelling story of redemption, as he was recently in prison.

I hope the season really gets going with Hollywood week but first we have some more auditions coming up this week. Once we get through Hollywood I will start giving my rankings and predictions.

-Doc

Motivational Poster of the Week 1/23/10

Have a Great Weekend

-Doc

The Mountain Cat's 'Dog Gone' Birth

My birth and the subsequent aftermath have become folklore in my family. Some of the details of this legend are vague based on my parents' recollections. It all started sometime in July 1971. My parents were on the way to Canada or already in Canada or on their way back from Canada. Allegedly they got into some sort of car accident and were forced to stay overnight in some roadside motel. I can imagine it was the type of seedy motel that propagates romance and other illegal activities for the frequent traveler. Consequently, nine months later on April 7, 1972, Vince was born.

I don't recall how I learned about this story, I believe that I quizzed my parents once in my adulthood about the events that led up to my nativity. Not that I'm a pervert mind you, but somehow we got on this topic one day. Over the years since then, my mother has recanted her original story and amended; 'No Vin, I was actually pregnant with you when we got into that car accident.' If this fact is accurate, it may explain some of my mental deficiencies due to a bump on my head that I suffered when my mom hit her womb against the passenger side dashboard. Those of you who know me well enough know that my personality is slightly 'left of center' to describe it modestly.

Anyway, over the years I have often given my parents mock guilt that I was an unplanned child. My mom always give me the same response: 'Well none of your sisters were planned either, Vin. So don't feel bad.' My two sisters are 11 and 12 years older than me which illustrates how unplanned my birth was!

Now at the time of my genesis, my parents had a French poodle named Jean-Pere. (Pictured below with my sisters in 1971). According to my father 'Jean-Pere was the best catcher he'd ever seen! He can catch any ball or any stick no matter how far or fast you threw it to him.' This fact has nothing to do with my story but it is a fascinating to me nevertheless. Unfortunately for me but certainly more for the dog, I never met Jean-Pere. My parents decided that they did not want Jean-Pere around their new infant. They were probably worried that poodle scent can deform a baby or something. I will have to research that someday to justify my parents' rationale. But the running gag all my life has been that my parents 'had to decide whether to keep me or dog'. Luckily my parents choose me instead of leaving me on some random doorstep or donating me to some refugee family in Chinatown.

Anyway I am saddened that I never got to meet the great Jean-Pere. My parents can't recall what happened to Jean-Pere. They most likely gave him away to a dog shelter where he stayed lonely and unwanted for several months before he was eventually euthanized. Mom and dad you should be ashamed of yourself! The blood is on your hands! Oh and I would have gladly co-existed with Jean-Pere. Come to think of it, I never had any pets growing up. Only goldfish. And goldfish are not affectionate plus they die too quickly to form any loving bond with them. What joy a dog, a cat or even a hamster would have brought to my life instead of the barren childhood that I led. (How's that for guilt?)

Yup, my mom was definitely pregnant with me at the time of the car accident.

-The Mountain Cat (aka Vince)


***Note: The poodle's name is pronounced 'Jon-pear'. It is French for 'John the Father' in case you were wondering. I don't know how he got the name Jean-Pere. According to my dad, they adopted him as a puppy and he already had the name.

Thursday Random Thoughts 1/21/2010

Stuff I have been thinking about:

- So apparently with Titanic and now Avatar James Cameron is the King of the World. Speaking of which I have absolutely no interest in seeing Avatar whatsoever. I think my interest in Sci Fi ended with Star Wars.

- I'm not usually a snooze button hitter but the difference between 5:08 am and 5:18 am made all the difference on Tuesday morning.

- I am all about shooting the messenger.

- I am telling you this It's not a good thing when you get an email and the subject line is "Mr. Douchebag is now following you on Twitter."

-I read the other day that Tim Tebow and his mother are filming a commercial to run during the Super Bowl that is sponsored by a religious organization. It's an anti abortion commercial and apparently tells the story that Tim was an at risk pregnancy for his mother and the doctors advised her to terminate the pregnancy. Obviously she didn't and see what a life was saved. Not trying to start an abortion debate here at this time and not a big fan of Tebow but I bet this will be a pretty pointed commercial. Something to think about.

- This past month I shattered the old text messaging record of about 10,000. New record is 18,600!

-Last night I went to the Charlotte Bobcats game and not only did they win but they blew out the Miami Heat by 40 points. This team is really good. They are 9-1 in their last 10 and are now in 5th place in the East. Watch out NBA the Bobcats are going to be a tough out in the playoffs!

- So Jersey Shore is the newest trashy reality show flavor of the month. I have never seen the show but I am listening to a few of the participants on the radio right now and Oh MY we are in trouble if these kids are our future. As someone who spent summers during my childhood growing up at the Jersey Shore I am appalled at these idiots. I am sure the city officials of places like Wildwood, Ocean City and Seaside Heights must be so proud. I bet this show is even worse than Rock of Love or Flava Flav's show.

- You know a movie that I haven't seen in a long time that I need to see again? Johnny Dangerously. What a great hilarious movie!

- Is the opposite of being on the "up and up" being on the "down low"?

- What exactly is my son's fascination with toilet paper? He is potty training now and is so distracted by the TP that he forgets to go to the potty. I guess it's the rolly aspect of it. Anyway have any other parents found their child to be fascinated by the TP? Is it just a boy thing?

Until next week...

-Doc

Oh BTW - Vince (The Mt. Cat) has a post going up tomorrow about the strange and debatable surroundings of his birth.

Tweet of the Week Award 1/20/10

I am introducing a new feature here on YJKOBT. The Tweet of the Week! (only kind of stolen from Sports Illustrated columnist Peter King) I follow a bunch of great and funny people on Twitter and often laugh or cringe at the things they say. I am going to use this space each week to highlight some of these great tweets. This weeks winner is @susantran for her hilarious Tweet about American Idol and the lack of Asian pop singers:
An Asian dude is an American Idol hopeful. Cool! I'm afraid we might not be a hugely musical people! Plz submit names of #asianpopstars! :) Here is the permalink to this Tweet.
I have included a funny picture of Susan supporting Charity by "growing" a mustache. Susan is a local Charlotte news personality who not only lots of fun as a tweeter but is also a big supporter of local charities:

Susan: Here is your Tweet of the Week award if you want to post it on your blog. And if you send me the address of your blog I will gladly post it here for others to read and follow:


Until next week keep tweeting and of course if you have a twitter feed I need to be following please let me know.

-Doc

OK, So apparently I have too many coats

I have a confession to make. My name is Doc and I am a coat whore. Very recently it has been pointed out to me by my wife that I just may have an issue with this so I have decided to come clean. I know I have picked on women for having to many shoes in the past so I now must confess my own failing. Coats. After using a gift card to buy a New York Mets jacket while up in NY the other week my wife asks me, "Why in the heck do you need another coat?" My response, "Oh I don't have too many coats."
"Go count them!" I'm told. So I did. I made an inventory. Here is a picture of our downstairs hall closet:

Between this closet and in my closet upstairs I have:

1 Carolina Panthers Heavy Duty Coat
3 Panthers pullovers (heavy, medium, and light)
1 Panthers lightweight coat
1 Panthers Windbreaker
1 New York Mets Heavy Coat
1 Mets pullover
1 Company logo Windbreaker
1 Company logo Parka
1 Dupont Jeff Gordon Jacket
1 FSU pullover
1 FSU Windbreaker
2 FSU Coats (heavy and light) + I recently gave my nephew my FSU letter jacket
3 Fleeces (2 full and 1 vest)
1 Everyday Windbreaker
1 Everyday heavy coat
1 Dress overcoat
1 Everyday light jacket
1 Rain Coat

For a total of 23 coats/jackets/pullovers. (Too be fair that closet picture also has 2 of my wife's coats and 3 of my son's as well) Is this excessive? Maybe. Now I don't live in an area known for super cold weather but sometimes it can be unpredictable. These coats are not being wasted. I promise that I have worn each of these within the past year. Probably more than once.

So there is my confession. I am a coat whore. Even so I can give good reason for having and keeping each and every one. How many do I plan on getting rid of? Well None actually. I already gave away one last year. As a matter of fact I am thinking there is room in there for me to get another one. (or two)

-Doc

Edgar Allan Poe's Mystery Toaster fails to show...

For the first time since 1949 they mystery toaster who leaves a bottle of Cognac and roses on the grave site of Edgar Allan Poe in a Baltimore cemetery has failed to show. for those who have no idea what I am talking about there is a a single mystery individual who for more than half a century has shown up between the hours of midnight and 5:30 am on January 19th and leaves these gifts at the author's grave in a birthday tribute. This year the mystery guest was a no-show for some reason.
Over the years the Poe Toaster has developed quite a following and the 19th of January has become a sort of pilgrimage day for serious Poe enthusiasts to visit the site. Apparently many were waiting overnight for the toaster to come and present his gifts. Perhaps the simple gesture that was born and carried out for decades in solitude has become to much of a spectacle for the enigmatic toaster who has never been identified or sought any attention for his simple act of dedication.
I hope this tradition isn't dead along with so many other things but I fear that it is. I would like to think that life still has some things that remain a mystery. Perhaps the Poe Toaster wherever he is as sad as I am today because others ruined his gift. Poe might agree.

"I have no faith in human erfectability. I think that human exertion will have
no appreciable effect upon humanity. Man is now only more active - not
more happy - nor more wise, than he was 6000 years ago. " - Edgar Allan Poe

-Doc

My Weekend Project - The Train Table

So this past weekend I had little project. My in-laws gave my son a train table for Christmas that we were just able to transport home last week after the wedding. So on Saturday (while he was taking a nap) I put it together. It is pretty awesome. The pictures below don't even really do it justice. I mean it's just a simple low to the ground table with a landscape scene printed on it but to my son it's magical. We set up the tracks and the accessories and he runs the trains around it. Well actually he has so many trains that he hooks them all together that it makes it hard to go around the corners. He uses his imagination and has the trains talk to each other and do little jobs. He crashes them in spectacular fashion and hollers out, "Cinders and Ashes!" just like they do on the show Thomas the Tank Engine. It's great and you know what the best part is? He isn't sitting there staring at the TV or a video game. This is active and mind engaging play!

What do you think? I'm actually pretty proud of my handiwork.

-Doc