soundboard de cheevo

I am playing catch-up right now with my recently updated trip blog. The Brown family four went to up to the mountains of northeast Alabama two weeks ago and we had a nice, relaxing time. I lucked into getting us a new log cabin at DeSoto State Park that someone had cancelled reservations on at the last minute. We were only the second group of guests to rent the place. Trip photos and commentary are here . Tragically we did not make it to the Fort Payne museum of the country supergroup, Alabama. I guess there's always next time.

Bill Gates, left, Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett speak during a press conference Monday, June 26, 2006 in New York. Warren Buffett, the chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, recently announced his intention of giving 10 million shares of his company to charitable organizations, the majority going to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) I will never know what it's like to be this rich, but I have always liked it when people who are do good things in this world. I work in the news world and so many stories are depressing and mundane, but this has captivated me. I like that king of all nerd, Bill Gates, is stepping back from Microsoft to tackle real issues like childhood diseases in third world countries. The saying goes, "Think global, act local," but with many billions of dollars, Gates has the unique power to make parts of the world change for the better. To the naysayers who say people like Gates and Angelina Jolie do this for publicity and righteousn...

Who can resist getting photos of a baby taking on a miniature birthday cake. Poor Ben was so overwhelmed with attention from everyone that by the time he got to his cake, he was pretty much over it and didn't know what the hell was going on. I'm not sure that any cake actually made it into his mouth. When the icing got in his nose and eyes, it was all over. He did make another appearance after a quick bath, but then succumbed to a very much needed afternoon nap. After all the grandparentals, aunts, uncles and cousins left, Mary Catherine and Jason got to kick back and unwind with their neighbor friends, a bit overwhelmed at all the tornadic activity surrounding Ben's first birthday. His cake theme -- mosquitos and crickets -- perfect!

I learned how to make animated gif files today so here is a little story about Fred the cat, my muse, or mews as it were.

Miles' first feature captures his limited mobilty. Maybe he should shop at The Scooter Store for alternate mode of transporation since the all-fours method doesn't seem real successful.

- I was telling his mother today that it's hard to believe that Ben was a tiny baby just one year ago. He has been a bright ray of sunshine in our lives and it's impossible to imagine our neighborhood without its little prince, who ironically shares a birthday with Prince William. Happy 1st birthday Nugget!

It's weird the way life goes full circle. Thirty years ago it was those two who made sure my sister and I were taken care of and now that is what she and I do when my parents come for a visit. I lay in a deep coma this morning at 8:00 a.m., physically exhausted from the amount of marathon cleaning, dusting, vacuuming, reorganizing, washing, drying I did in preparation for the parental visit. A bearded face kisses my cheek and then says, "In this morning's New York Times there's a clue for a Rolling Stones' song that has the word 'sugar' in it." Without opening my eyes or moving a single inch from the carefully crafted wind tunnel I create with electric fans and squishy pillows, I reply, "Brown Sugar, Dad" and steal another 20 minutes of sleep before I officially wake up to two fully-engaged, well-caffeinated parents who are ready to start the day. I always say I wish I could channel the energy of a three-year-old during drag-ass days, but I w...

The positive aftershocks of the first unofficial 1990s University of Montevallo reunion continue after almost a week. Everyone had such a good time, we didn't want it to end as the sunlight faded out at about 9:00. It was great to see people I hadn't seen in 10 years or longer, meet their kids, husbands, wives, girlfriends, boyfriends and/or dogs. The wife of one of my bandmates had told me the place would be covered up with kids. I didn't believe her until I got there and realized that each one of the herd, ranging in ages from six months to 13 years and every age in between, belonged to someone I know. My band, Every Alice on Earth, had some definitely butterflies to content with after a six year hiatus and only two practices under our belts. The good thing was that no one seemed to mind our screw-ups except us and when it was over, we got to relax with the rest of the adults, watch the kids play, drink some beers and relax. My friends Sam and Angela were nice enough to g...

Sound is always weird during an outside show and we were nervous, but everyone seemed to like us, especially the kids. - (Photo by Mike Johnson)

As Chris Tutor pointed out tonight at work, being Jon Stewart sure must be great these days. In a recent off-the-cuff moment Dubyah, reacting to the call for the firing of Donald Rumsfeld, referred to himself as "The Decider." The material just writes itself as this brilliant spoof illustrates (literally). Fans of Super Friends will surely appreciate this recent piece of brilliance -- kinda makes me want a cheese sandwich or an Eggo waffle.

(Pictured above. Every Alice on Earth in 1991, in a burned-out firehouse at Orr Park, the place we will be playing tomorrow. The photo was taken from my then and now best friend, Clare Vance. Below: Cleaning off the rust at our first practice in 6 years.) Tomorrow my first band, Every Alice on Earth , reunites for the first time in five years. We got started in January of 1991 when I was a freshman at University of Montevallo. Eric McGinty and identical twins, Peter and Paul Wilm, were sophomores at the time. We were remembering last night at practice that our first practice, before Eric joined, was in Fuller dorm and an R.A. told us to keep in down and kicked me off the hall for being in a men's dorm after 9:00. My how times have changed. It's weird to think that 15 years ago we had another Bush in the White House, everyone still listened to tapes, and there was no such thing as e-mail or the internet for the masses. Highlights of our band career so far have been: * Playing ...

This is stupid, but strangely fascinating. I love the cronyism between Bush and Blair and so must someone else who had a hell of a lot of time to spare. The song is by a band called Electric Six. I guess they get props for knowing the correct pronounciation of the word "nuclear".

1. Soul Patrol -- I am glad that another Birmingham-native has won "American Idol," but the name of Taylor Hicks' fanbase is lame considering the core of that group lives in the suburbs and drives kid tanks with 'W' stickers on the back. 2. Anything concerning Paris Hilton or her stupid little dog 3. Any coverage of the Natalee Hollaway case that is not directly connected to the investigation of her disappearance. I am sorry for her family, but damn, enough is enough already. I know everyone in Mountain Brook is shocked that something bad has happened in their exclusive neighborhood, but it's not page one news anymore. 4. Songs: Daniel Powter 's "Bad Day" and James Blunt 's "You're Beautiful" -- Barry Manilow can rest easy knowing that sappy piano songs are back and in full force. I have an automatic hatred for songs that I can't get away from and "Bad Day" was played every single time someone was voted of...

Lloyd Bensten had an impressive resume from his military beginnings to serving as a Senator and Secretary of Treasury under Bill Clinton, but no moment stands out like the verbal bitch slap he gave Dan Quayle during the Oct. 5, 1988 vice presidential debate.

Back in March I posted a piece about Tom Cruise having episode of "South Park" pulled from Comedy Central because it poked fun at Cruise's religion, Scientology, and the super sensitive topic of his sexuality. Cruise threatened to not promote his latest movie, "Mission Impossible III", if all-encompassing parent company, Viacom, didn't pull the cartoon. The more Scientologists want to shield themself from public scrutiny, the more we want to know and this episode of "South Park" lays it all out on the table, aliens, spaceships and all. Unlike most episodes of the show, the South Park boys take a literal interpretation of Scientology doctrine and animate it. Truth definitely is stranger than science fiction in this case. The reason Tom and his church were so mad about the "South Park" episode is because this group has a strange philosophy, not unlike the Freemasons, that what goes on behind closed doors is only for their paid members to...

Alexis Arquette , member of the famous Arquette acting family, underground cartoonist and transgendered person has always captivated me. I always loved her wicked humor in the drag documentary "Wigstock" and random cinematic appearances in everything from "Pulp Fiction" to "Bride of Chucky". Alexis' quick wit and unapologetic stance on gender ambiguity made her a stand out gem on the latest installment of "The Surreal Life" -- a car crash of a reality show that is just too damn funny to not watch. The premise of the show, now in season six, is a casting of has-been celebs with young unknown one-trick ponies like Playboy models and professional wrestlers. They live together in a beautifully tricked-out Hollywood Hills house for six weeks or so. Alums include Vanilla Ice, the former Tammy Faye Bakker, Ron Jeremy and Corey Feldman to paint a not-so pretty picture of the insanity behind the show. The latest freak fest delivers, especially when ...

Top: Alexis Arquette calls it out on "The Surreal Life 6". With a name like that, he was destined to become a fabulous woman and sister-in-law of Courteney Cox-Arquette. - Middle Left: As a man in 1999, a persona now retired. - Middle Right: With Florence Henderson on a very special underground episode of The Brady Bunch, "A Different Daughter." Suddenly Jan's middle child complexes don't seem like such an issue. - Bottom: Alexis upstages Andrea Lowell, of Playboy fame, and professional girlfriend of someone more famous, Tawny Kitaen. Her Patti Smyth/Tina Turner/Kajagoogoo creation is an amazing bit of glam artistry that Poison, in their prime, would never have attempted.

Alexis Arquette's entrance into the world of pop culture began in 1983 when he, as a boy, starred in the classic early MTV video for "She's a Beauty" by The Tubes . He says his older sister, Rosanna , got him the job, but imdb.com says he just happened to be on the set that day and they needed a kid his age. Alexis says he saw cocaine for the first time on the set of this video, snorted by the woman who played the mermaid -- who knew? Maybe that's where the budget for this video went. The rest went for dry ice. Watch the video here. = - Afterthought: Guess who else began her career by starring in an famous early '80s video? Courteney Cox in Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing in the Dark" . The year was 1984 and, like The Tubes video, the budget was obviously tight. IMDB reports that CC was only paid $350 for the video. Hell, I'd take it.

Audrey Rose Georges turned one year old today. Her mom, Angela, made this wonderful invitation for the occasion and has done an excellent job of documenting Audrey from a positive pregnancy test to her most recent milestone, taking her first steps, through her blog, My Daily Struggle . This is one well-documented and adored kid and I hope Angela and Papa Tim congratulate themselves on 12 months of excellent hard work. Audrey is a little superstar.

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