Okay, it's been two weeks since I updated. I was sick last week and worked a lot of OT. I know that it's not an excuse but cut me some slack will ya.

Super Bowl time. Next Sunday is the Super Bowl, we've come a long way since the first Super Bowl in 1967. As a matter of fact the first Super Bowl wasn't even called a Super Bowl. The Packers beat the Chiefs in a half filled LA Coliseum. Tickets were $10 and the game was telecast on two of the three networks. This week you will hear all sorts of stories about how Payton Manning and the Colts will win. My advice, take the Bears and the points. The Bears defence will make Payton look more like his father back with the Saints. I still say Archie Manning was the best quarterback to play the game. The New Orleans Saints had the best QB with the worst offensive line ever. When Conrad Dobler joined the Saints for his final season, his knees were so bad he could hardly walk and he was still the best lineman on the Saints. It's a miracle that Archie Manning didn't get killed on the football field.

Archie, Payton and some guy from the Giants

The other major sporting event going on is the Presidential election in 2008. The hats are flying into the ring. Bush has pushed his approval rating so low the only way the Republicans can win in 2008 is if the Democrats put up a woman or a man with an Islamic sounding name. So who are the Democratic hopefuls? Hilary Clinton and Obama Barack. Hilary, who went from the White House as First Lady to the Senate, representing New York ( I guess they didn't want her back in Little Rock) now on to the White House. If Bill was stepping out when he was busy being President does Hilary really think he won't be getting busy as first.......Gentleman. When asked in Iowa this weekend how she would handle Osama bin Laden, Hilary quipped, " I know how to handle bad men". Is she planning on sending Monica to Afghanistan?

Barack, a congressmen from Illinois, doesn't stand a chance. the voters will confuse him with Borat or Osama either way he's dead in the water.

Obama Barack

Obama Borat?

Osama Bin Rack?

The Republicans on the other hand have a major hole to climb out of. Arizona Senator John McCain has been waiting his turn for eight years. Back in 2000 John came out of the gate with a couple of early wins but then the Bush machine took over. As the primaries were heading to the Carolina's they started a phone poll of Republicans asking questions like, would you vote for McCain if he had an illegitimate black child? or would you vote for McCain if his wife were an alcoholic? In reality, the McCains had adopted an Indian girl from one of Mother Theresa's orphanages in India and she did look black in the family photos. Mrs. McCain had an openly discussed problem with prescription painkillers but the biggest rehab center in the country is named after former First Lady Betty Ford so that point should have been moot. The voters looked at the family photos and McCain went down the tubes. How did big John repay the Bush Juggernaut, in 2004 he came out supporting the President just like a good Republican soldier.

What the Republicans need is someone to clean up the mess that W has made. Who cleaned up the mob in New York City? Who cleaned up the remains of 9/11? We need Rudy. Former Mayor of New York City Rudy Giuliani is talking the talk in New Hampshire but has still not officially thrown his hat in. This is going to be a great year and a half to the next election.

Rudy still wearing his hat

Breaking News..............

The eagles have landed! Harry and Jack Millis came into the world . Mom is doing well. Dad is ecstatic. I will pass on more news when I get it. Congratulations Lisa and Chris

Harrison Scott Richard 4# 5oz
John Tracy Scott 5# 11 oz

More Breaking news.......

Brother Joey Templin and his wife welcomed Liam Patrick Templin at 3:59 this morning( Jan. 30). He is 7 # 13 oz and 20 inches. Both mother and Son are doing fine.

Any other baby news?

Global warming my ass. I spent MLK day reading a Stephen King novel, the end by candle light, as the first major storm of the winter hit Saratoga Springs and the capital region. No snow, just ice. All of you out there complaining about the weather,or the lack of it, and you know who you are, I hope you are happy. Ice covering everything. Trees down. Power lines down. You can skate down the street. Happy now. I must admit i enjoy the way fresh snow looks on the trees and houses, but this ice is something else. There is a cruelty to it. The day after a snow storm, everything looks white and pure. Today everything looks cold and lifeless. A glass village for a glass menagerie. I woke around eight yesterday morning to find we had no power but by 8:30 the power was back. It was just a tease, 11:37 the lights flickered once then went out, and stayed out until today. I went to pick up the boys at their mothers house around 5 and the houses all looked empty. There were a few cars in and around the crest but the whole neighborhood had that war torn look and feel to it. Trees bent over and broken. Power lines laying across lawns of ice covered grass. There were cars on route 50 and the traffic light at 50 and Midline Rd was not working. Drivers were stopping at the intersection as if it were a four way stop sign so there was no back up. I think everyone was stopping because the Stewarts shop was lit up and open. I needed gas but I didn't think I was going that far and I would have enough to make it back here after I picked up the boys. I had my radio set to 87.7 so I could hear the channel six news. As I entered Ballston Spa I could see that the street lights on the other side of downtown were on. As I started up the hill, you would not have thought anything was wrong, but by the time I reached Route 67 the lights had stopped. I picked up the boys and we started to make our way back home. through the half lit city and out into darkness again. This time I stopped at Stewarts for gas. It seems that everyone out was stopping for gas. I guess that the generator they have only gave power to certain parts of the store. You could buy a lotto ticket but the coolers had no power. I really think that they should rethink this. I don't need a lotto ticket as much as cold milk ( you're right beer ). As we left the Stewarts, Liz Bishop on the news was saying, for a complete listing of all emergency shelters log on to our website. Someone should tell Liz that if I need a shelter because I'm without electricity, most computers won't work. I know all of you with battery powered lap tops or fancy cell phones don't see this as a problem but trust me for the rest of us it is. We made it home and lit a few candle, wrapped ourselves in blankets and made it through the night. As I went out today the landscape looks surreal. Everything looks like glass. I have this urge to try and break off the guardrail on the bridge like in the movies when something is frozen with liquid mercury. We will survive, we are the hardy people of the north. I keep telling myself that it is only 60 days till St. Patrick's Day, that will get me through the rest of the frozen winter.

The document was dated July 4, 1776. Thomas Jefferson had painstakingly written it and 56 of our founding fathers signed it. The Declaration of Independence. The cornerstone of our great country. "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal" never mind that most of the 56 owned slaves at the time and if they didn't, they were from a wealthy family and did not consider themselves equal to most of the working class poor of the colonies. It is still a tremendous statement to build a country on. "that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights" Unalienable, according to Webster's that means, not alienable. Apparently government double talk even in the 1700's. Alienable:adjective: that may be changed over to another's ownership. So what are these rights that can not be changed over to anothers ownership? Jefferson only list three, "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." So lets talk about happiness. Notice that happiness is not an unalienable right but only the pursuit of it. More government double talk. How important is that pursuit? If you go to the Internet Movie Database and search "pursuit of happiness" you get 1 popular title, from 2006 staring Will Smith, 2 exact titles, 13 partial titles and one company, The pursuit of happiness productions. So just what is happiness? What makes a person happy? Money? Nooo, money can't buy happiness, money can't buy me love, money is the root of all evil. I'm sure that the people that came up with those sayings all had money. So if not money then what? Family, maybe, but how many times do you fight with your family? If you are a parent how many times do you find yourself saying "Leave your brother/sister alone, stop that". On a personal note, if you only have one child you are not a parent, that is just a hobby. You are not a parent until you hear things like, Give it back, it's mine! or He touched me!! and the ever popular I'm TELLING. Back to happiness. I think that happiness is made up of quick split second moments that when you add enough of these moments together you can find happiness. These split seconds give you a lifetime of memories. In your memory the moment last longer then in reality. think back to your days in school, mostly you remember the good times. They seem to run together to the point that people will say, "I was very happy in school" We tend to forget the stress of studying for the big exams, the peer pressure of being in high school, the day to day drudgery of growing up. How small are these moments that bring us joy? How about a smile from someone special, makes you all warm and tingly inside doesn't it. A line from a song on the radio. It brings you back to happier times (see above). The smell of fresh baked food. Smell a turkey roasting and a flood of Thanksgiving memories run through your brain. Walk past a bakery early in the morning and you can almost float on the whiffs of aromas. The feel of an old blanket. You get that safe and warm feeling all over. Don't forget, how happy are you when the pizza man arrives or the waiter places the dinner on the table in front of you. You can be sitting with the most beautiful woman in the world and the waiter places your dinner down, your eyes leave the woman and look to the food and you are happy. What do all these things have in common with happiness, sight, smell, touch, sound and taste? The five senses bring happiness. Epiphany! Happiness is in you. The hardest pursuit possible, search yourself. How do you find happiness, look inside yourself. Be honest with yourself. Even if we consider ourselves honest people we never seem to be honest with ourselves. It is too hard. Look in that mirror, what do you see? A little overweight maybe? Your as big as a house! Just a little grey around the temples? Your hair, what's left of it, is white. We lie to ourselves because we want to be happy. A viscous cycle, we lie to ourselves to be happy but to really be happy we have to be honest with ourselves. Did you ever notice when you see someone that is always happy some one says, "They only think they are happy" or "Oh yeah, he's a bit crazy" No one wants to admit that someone else is happier then they are. So Steve's lessons for being happy. One, smile; always. If you are smiling two things can happen, others will smile and spread the joy around or miserable people will get pissed off because you are always happy and making miserable people more miserable really does make you happy. Two, sing or play music. Music makes people around you happy, except for rap and we can get into that some other time. Three, bring a box of donuts to work one morning. Watch peoples faces light up when ever free food comes around.
Mostly the answer is simple, make other people happy and you will be happy. If that wasn't true why would there be clowns? Or strip clubs. I'm sorry, they make me happy.
Enough philosophical bullshit.
Is fate stepping into the NFL. Is karma a fan of the gridiron? Can the Saints rebuild New Orleans with a super bowl bid? Is Tom Brady as good as he seems? Sit back, open a few cold ones and enjoy playoff football.

I checked the update on Sean's website, as all of you should, and found that he, at my urging, posted the results of his soundtrack of his life. He also seems to have lost a bit of respect for the old fella because of some of the music in my play list. He said, "I think he might of wanted to think twice about posting an update that shows people that he has Sarah McLachlan , Shania Twain, and Mary J Blige on his play lists". Not as bad as when Millis heard a song on my i-pod and demanded to know why I would have that song. So let me explain my feelings about music. I think that as you go through life you collect songs like a young boy collects baseball cards. You have your hero cards like Mickey Mantle and Don Mattingly but you also have a lot of crappy players too. You have to keep all the cards because if you didn't your set would not be complete. Remember those days, opening a new pack of cards. Popping that piece of pink plastic covered in some kind of white powder that they called gum into your mouth. Thumbing through the cards in front of your friends to the tune of "Got'im, got'im, got'im, need 'im, got'im". Music is the same. The more you have lived, the more people that have been a part of your life, the more songs in your collection. I'll be the first to admit in my music file I have John Denver and Barry Manilow. I also have Bruce Springsteen and Van Morrison, so I guess it kind of evens out. As in every other aspect of life, those of you without sin may cast the first stone. Look through your records, if you were a teen in the 70's do you still have that Saturday Night Fever soundtrack? That's right you listened to the Bee Gee's, you know you did. So here I am opening myself up to the world for everyone to see that I listen to Melanie. I have over 1000 songs in my music file. Every genre is there, Folk, rock, country, classical, pop, and yes, disco. I don't hate disco, when I hear the Tramps "Disco Inferno" I think back to some great nights at Fatso Fogertys, dancing, drinking, three gins for a dollar, all the beer you could drink for $5. Those were some good times. When i hear the Bee Gees I think, "What were we thinking?". As I go through my music file I think I have everything covered from ABBA to ZZ Top. I have Dean Martin and I have Ozzie Osborne. I have Limp Bizkit, Oingo Boingo and the Allman Brothers. Everything has to even out, a good balance of tunes shows a well rounded life. In the Irish music category, I have the plastic patty stuff but I also have Christy Moore. Picking your favorite song is a lot like picking your favorite child, well almost. I do have some songs that seem to show up on every play list that I make. At least some performers show up on all the play list. I mean how can you put together a play list and not have Van the Man and U2? Hopefully I have passed on a love of music to my children, I do quiz them sometimes and can proudly say that they do very well in naming a Roy Orbison song or Elvis Costello. Samantha even knows a few Irish tunes. I think it would be fun to write down the top ten songs that would embarrass you if your friends knew you had them list. No, I'm not going to do it. I still want my kids to have a little respect for the old man. So sit back and listen to your songs and smile when you hear a song everyone else is laughing about, smile and think of the memory that song brings and enjoy.
Sean's site is www.curranstat.com

So why do you ask, am I so melancholy lately? It seems such an easy answer, I want to be happy. That's the whole shebang right there. How do you stay happy. What would make a person happy? Is it not enough to have a great family around you? Look at other people and see what they have to be happy for and realize that what you have is enough. Or is it? Everyone seems to want more, Springsteen wrote "Poor man wants to be rich, Rich man wants to be King" is it all that simple? Bottom line is I guess, I'm lonely. Ok everyone all together AAAHHHHH. Man was not created to be alone, but not every Adam has a higher being taking his rib and forming an Eve for him. That little bite from the apple has caused us all the job of finding a mate. So let's look at this little problem. Should a person lower his or her standards to find love? If you do at what point to you start to resent the other person? Let's look at this from thew mans point of view. What makes a woman attractive to a man? Ask ten guys and you are sure to get ten different answers. Big boobs, little boobs, nice butt, big butt, brown eyes, blue eyes, green eyes, Blonde, brunette, redhead it goes on and on and on. What am I to teach my sons. remember, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Yeah that's a load of crap. Beauty is in the eye of a marketing person. what do you wear to make you look sexy? whatever they tell you at the fashion shows. Look through a woman's closet some time and see all the outfits that are now out of style. Look through a guys closet and see clothes that have stayed in style for years. Ok, some changes but pretty much the same. You can't wear the shorts from ten years ago because they come up to mid thigh but you are still wearing shorts. So just what are we as men looking for in a woman? I like when a woman crawls up onto your lap and buries her head into your chest like a small child would. I guess I like the feeling that I could protect her from anything, meanwhile she likes the feeling of safety that you give her. I want a woman that stands next to me as I tell the same story over and over and each time she smiles and looks me in the eyes with that look that says they all like you. I want a beautiful woman on my arm as I enter a room. I want to cross the room with an air of superiority over the other men in the room, yeah that's right she's with me. I want a woman that I can carry on a conversation with. I want a woman that I can share the good times as well as the bad times with. I want a woman that understands that she is the boss but lets me think I am. So where do I find this woman? Have I met her already and not known it. Did I screw up all ready? Do I spend my time hanging out in front of Victoria's Secret waiting for a woman to see me and swoon? How come in the movies a guy meets a girl and in the next 120 minutes they fall in love, fall out of love, reconsider and fall back in love. "I wish I could quit you" sorry wrong movie. Why can't life be more like the movies. Why can't we be paired up by some director and that's it. Think about it in all the history of film how many movies are about falling in love? Name be one other movie about divorce other than Kramer vs. Kramer. Even if the movie is about a breakup the guy always gets a hotter chick before the movie ends. Even if the woman dies in the movie, the love of his life, the woman he would go through hell for. The meaning of life for this poor sap, can't live without her, get the picture. Braveheart, Mel Gibson wages war against the entire British Empire after they kill his wife. So what happens? He hooks up with an even hotter woman who just happens to be the wife of the English prince. I guess the director of that movie liked Mel. I think I have rambled on enough about this for one night. My search will continue so If you are a single woman out there drop me a line. In the mean time, thank you to the women that have made me happy in the past and please keep up the good work. Especially you Sarah, you seem to be there when I need you the most. Just a smile and a phone call makes the day worth while.

Can you believe it's going to be 50* today? It's January 3rd for crying out loud. not that I'm complaining, just the opposite. I love it! It feels like spring. Everyone knows what spring is for. Every spring, young men's fancy turns to love. If that's the case then in my fancy it's always spring. You can't have love without music so today let's talk music. Micky Gilly sang "Lookin for Love in all the wrong places" and I think he was right. As most of you know I have been very melancholy ( what a great word ) for the last few months. Things have happened that tried to knock the legs out from under me. I am still standing. I am still standing because of the love around me. So let's look at love songs today. there are so many love songs that no one could list them all so lets break them down into categories.
First, let me set the scene for you. A chilly October night, a soft rain against the window, lightning in the distance. The fire in the fireplace lights the room as you sit and sip champagne with that someone special ( I love being politically correct ). As you take him/her (again with the pc) in your arms what songs are playing?
1. "Breezin" George Benson
2. "If You Don't Know Me By Now" Simply Red
3. "Let's Get it On" Marvin Gaye
4. "When You Say Nothing at All" Ronan Keating
5. "Arms of an Angel" Sarah McLachlan

So the night in October worked and now you are a wonderful couple. At some point, be it a wedding, a party or just a night out, you have to dance with your partner. To what song will you dance?
1. "Have I told You Lately" Van Morrison
2. "Wonderful Tonight" Eric Clapton
3. "Color My World" Chicago
4. "The Way You Look Tonight" Tony Bennett
5. "In My Life" the Beatles ( check out Dave Mathews version)

Things are going great, or at least you think so, then BAM it hits you. The breakup. Divorce, or just going your separate ways, you need music.
1. "The Breakup Song" American HiFi
2. "Song for the Dumped" Ben Folds

You start to move on with your life, it's a small world so you are sure to run into this person from time to time so you have to have music for these times.
1. "Wall of Tears" Francis Black
2. "You Don't Know Me" Ray Charles or Van Morrison will due.
3. "I love You Too Much to ever Start Liking You" Lobo
4. Stuck in a Moment" U2
5. "I Will Survive" Donna Sumer

If by chance you are one of those lucky ones who finds their true love and stay together for years and years and years. Yes there is music for you also.
1. "You're Still the One" Shinia Twain
2. "When I'm Sixty four" The Beatles
3. "Unforgettable" Nat King Cole
4. "Someone Like You" Van Morrison

So these are just a few of the songs of your life. Always remember there are more songs for you out there. How about "Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" by U2, "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere" by Alan Jackson, or Toby Kieth's "I Love This Bar". My advice for all of you out there may just be summed up in two songs. "Always Look on the Brightside of Life" by Monty Python and Steven Lynch's "Her Big Fat Friend".

If you think your life might just be a movie, try this sound track quiz thing. You choose 18 different things in your life. Put shuffle on your music and as you ask each question of your life write down the song that is playing. Here's mine.

1.opening credits: “I Will Remember You” Sarah McLachlan
2.Waking up: “Since You’ve Been Gone” Kelly Clarkson
3. First Day Of School: “Rock on Rockall” Wolfe Tones
4. Falling in Love: “The Umbreilla Song” The McKrells
5.Fight song: “Life Will Go On” Chris Isaak
6. Breaking Up:”The Body of an American” The Pogues
7. Prom: “You’re Still the One” Shania Twain
8. Life: “Last Letter Home” Dropkick Murphys
9.Mental Breakdown: “Take Me Anywhere” The McKrells
10.Driving: “Space Cowboy” Homer Simpson
11. Getting Back Together: “America, You’re not the World” Christy Moore
12.Wedding: “My Little Lady” Seven Nations
13. Child's Birth:”Be Without You” Mary J. Blige
14. Lifetime success: “Angel” Alison Brown
15. Lifetime Tragedy: “Streets of New York” Wolfe Tones
16. Death scene: “Irish Bagpipes”
17. Funeral: “Days Like This” Van Morrison
18.End Credits: “Breakaway” Kelly Clarkson

I have over 1000 songs in my playlist and some of these came up pretty close to what I might have picked myself. Try it. it's fun.

Happy New Year!!!! 2007