Happy New Year!!!

Living and dying in ¾ time (or three months at a time…..)

“That's cause everyone here is just more than contented to be living and dying in three quarter time”

Nautical Wheelers, A1A, Jimmy Buffett

“Well now, if I ever live to be an old man, I’m gonna sail down to Martinique.

I’m gonna buy me a sweat stained Bogart suit and an African parakeet”

Migration, A1A, Jimmy Buffett

I have stage 3 melanoma and I am currently clinically free of disease (none detectable). In simple terms cancer developed in the melanin in skin cells in a mole on my back and later some spread to my lymph system, causing a tumor under my left arm. The mole and a margin of skin around it were removed by surgery in August 2008. The tumor was removed, along with all of the lymph nodes under my left arm in October 2010. I have never felt sick or been ill for one single day due to the melanoma (it did take about six weeks to recover from each surgery, but it was not really very bad). I am receiving a clinical trial vaccine that is supposed to help my body fight off any melanoma cells that try to grow. The most likely cause for my melanoma was some bad sunburns on my back as a teenager. Microscopic melanoma cells are not detectable. To find melanoma there has to be a biopsy done on a mole, tumor, or lymph node. A swollen lymph node may be an indication of a tumor. If the melanoma goes to stage 4, it means a tumor has formed in an organ outside of the skin or lymph system, most commonly in the lung, liver, and brain. These tumors can be detected by X-rays or CT scans. It is very unlikely to have symptoms until the tumor grows large. For an extended period of time I will have a CT scan every three months to look for small tumors. Best news each time is for no tumors to show up, but if they do it is much better to treat them while small and no symptoms are apparent. Depending on the location and size, treatment could be surgery, radiation, chemo, or some combination.

Since it is unlikely that I will discover a tumor due to feeling bad or having other symptoms, I basically will live knowing I am free of disease three months at a time. So in addition to trying to make the best of each day that I have, I will also try to enjoy life as much as possible three months at a time. I will enjoy every minute with my wonderful wife. I will enjoy the time with my children and the rest of my family and friends. I guess I have already lived to be an old man since that is what my daughter and son call me. So where is my Bogart suit and parakeet? And the sail boat big enough to sail to Martinique? (the Sunfish with a hole in the side is all I have now and it ain’t gonna make it into the ocean). I guess I will let Fury in Key West and Gemini in Maui provide the sail boats and crews (and Penny can be my parakeet).

So far now I will be more than contented to be living three months at a time…..

Some of Jimmy’s words to live by for 2011 (The Year of I Am Still Here):

“Roll with the punches, make the best of whatever comes your way”

“Breathe in, breathe out, move on”

“Oh yesterdays are over my shoulder, so I can’t look back for too long,there’s just too much see waiting in front of me, and I know that I just can’t go wrong with these Changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes, nothing remains quite the same”

“Be good and you will be lonesome,be lonesome and you will be free, live a lie and you will live to regret it,that’s what living is to me, that’s what living is to me.”

“Some people never find it, some only pretend

But me, I just want to live happily ever after, Every now and then”

“Havin' fun is just smilin' through
Those changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes”

“I wanna be the last man standing
Bring me the hot sauce, bring me a beer
Gonna be the last man standing
But where do we go from here?”

“Yes, I am a pirate two hundred years too late.
The cannons don't thunder there's nothin' to plunder
I'm an over forty victim of fate
Arriving too late, arriving too late.”

“I’ve got a Caribbean soul I can barely control and some Texas hidden here in my heart”

Happy Birthday Jimmy

A very happy birthday wish for Jimmy Buffett! I hope I am still alive and kicking like Jimmy when I am 64. Actually just being 64 is a great goal for me.

A Merry Christmas To All

Interesting Effect

Woodlands Waterway Waterfall

Waterway Christmas Tree

Christmas in Texas...record high temp of 82 on Tuesday, it will be below freezing tomorrow.

A blessed Christmas wish to all friends and family for a wonderful Christmas and a better new year.

Cowboys Win, Texans Lose

Normal situation. Cowboys will win more games the second half of the season than the Texans and have a better record.

RIP Dandy Don

The line of good/great Cowboys quarterbacks started with Don Meredith.

Don Meredith, Craig Morton, Roger Staubach, Danny White, Troy Aikman, maybe Tony Romo.

You will be missed for your on and off field talents.

http://proxy.espn.go.com/dallas/nfl/columns/story?columnist=reeves_jim&id=5891895

Todays Key West Sunset

I Think I'll Go Back To The Keys

My Lovely Lady
by Jimmy Buffet

When I pay my bills

Gonna leave these Tennessee hills

Take my lady to the sea

That's where we both come from

That's where we both belong

Think I'll go back to the Keys.

(Chorus)
'Cause I don't want the thing that brings confusion
Where people recognize you on a plane
All I want's the quiet and the comforts
That livin' with my lovely lady brings.

Somehow we survived the double talk and jive
Things are looking better all the time
I owe her all I can 'cause she made me understand
The simple way that we should live our lives.
(Chorus)

Let me tell you now she can eat her own weight up in crab meat
And there's plenty of that down there by the sea
Well, we're sailing in those warm December breezes
Sendin' picture post cards back to Tennessee.
(Repeat chorus)

I am ready to go back to the Keys and sail in those warm December breezes. And I have a very lovely lady.

Maui Sunrise

It would be nice to be on the beach at Kaanapali right now.

Happily Ever After (Now & Then)... is Good Enough For Me

Happily Ever After (Now & Then)
by Jimmy Buffett & Dave Loggins

I've been a stand in a stunt man, I've taken some falls
Troubles,--I've had my share
But no one has to learn how to run before walkin' 'round
Breathin' that million-air

Take it from me 'cause I found
If you leave it then somebody else is bound
To find that treasure, that moment of pleasure
When yours it could have been

(Chorus)
Some people never find it, some only pretend
But me, I just want to live happily ever after
Every now and then

I've been in vans and in bands on and through stages
One thing I can conclude, one has to learn
Havin' fun is just smilin' through
Those changes in latitudes, changes in in attitudes

Take it from me 'cause I found
If you leave it then somebody else is bound
To find that treasure, that moment of pleasure
When yours it could have been

(Chorus)

Some people never find it, some only pretend
But me, hell, I just want to live happily ever after
Every now and then
Every now and then

Adios Amigos Cornshuckers

Bye Bye Cornshuckers. I hope you have some lovely memories of Kyle Field since you are joining a minor conference next year and won't be returning for another ass kicking.

Hey Sips, on Thursday it will not be a Florida junior college you are playing, so get ready to Get Wrecked!!!!!

GIG 'EM!!!!!!!!!

Corn People Beware

The Cornshuckers better watch out, Kyle Field will be making popcorn next Saturday night.

Wrecking Crew.... Wrecking Crew.... Wrecking Crew!!!

What Missile?

Aggies Rule, Sooners Drool

The Wrecking Crew is BACK!!!!

Memo to Jerry Jones: Start McGee

Start Stephen McGee next week at Green Bay. Some reasons:

1. Kitna may be a better choice for a half or one game if Romo was coming back, but at 38, lack of mobility and rust are what you will get. If you can't run the ball, the other teams will tee off to sack Kitna and knock him out.

2. You are out of the playoffs, but you can't rollover the rest of the year like some other teams could. You have seats to fill and you don't want to look awful on TV for two more months. McGee is your best chance to win.

3. With McGee you lack NFL experience, but have a good arm, very good running ability, and a tough competitor. You should have been using him anyway in a wildcat or Tebo/Burton running QB type offence. If McGee shows promise, he is your back-up next year and you dump Kitna.

4. What else are you going to do? At least McGee should know the offence. It would at least make the games at little more interesting.

Semi-true Stories (Believe it or not)

Semi-true Stories

Jimmy Buffett

With his head out the sunroof
And his heart in the right place
Plan B was fool proof.
He drove off to her place,
And yelled out his feelings
Among other stuff.

It was too much tequila
Or not quite enough
It was too much tequila
Or not quite enough.

It's a semi-true story
Believe it or not
I made up a few things
And there's some I forgot.
But the life and the tellin'
Are both real to me
And they all run together and turn out to be
A semi-true story.

Well, the picture is fuzzy,
And the details are sordid.
It was on the same day
God's Own Drunk was recorded.
A walkin' tall sheriff
And a big Cadillac
And me and my golf shoes
On the hood makin' tracks.
This daring young singer
Was under attack.

It's a semi-true story
Believe it or not
I made up a few things
And there's some I forgot.
But the life and the tellin'
Are both real to me
And they all run together and turn out to be
A semi-true story.

Well, the things that I've lived
And I've dreamed
And I've seen
And I've heard
You take the good with the bad
And be glad to have every word.

It's a semi-true story
Believe it or not
I made up a few things
And there's some I forgot.
But the life and the tellin'
Are both real to me
And they run like the rain
All the way to the sea.
Semi-true stories.

The Year of Still Here

I am sure Jimmy won't mind me borrowing a tour name so starting October 22, 2010 is Big Al's Year of Still Here Tour. Roll with the punches, make the best of whatever comes your way, plowin straight ahead, come what may.

Thanks to my wonderful family and friends.

Today's Philosophy of Life From Jimmy

COWBOY IN THE JUNGLE
Jimmy Buffett

There's a cowboy in the jungle
And he looks so out of place
With his shrimp skin boots and his cheap Cheroots
And his skin as white as paste

Headin' south to Paraguay
Where the gauchos sing and shout
Now he's stuck in Porto Bello
Since his money all ran out
So he hangs out with the sailors
Might and day they're raisin' hell
And his original destination's just another
Story that he loves to tell.

With no plans for the future
He still seems in control
From a bronco ride to a ten foot tide
He just had to learn to roll.

Roll with the punches
Play all of his hunches
Made the best of whatever came his way
What he lacked in ambition
He made up with intuition
Plowing straight ahead come what may.

Steel band in the distance
And their music floats across the bay
While American women in muumuus
Talk about all the things they did today
And their husbands quack about fishing
As they slug those rum drinks down
Discussing who caught what
and who sat on his butt
But it's the only show in town.

They're tryin' to drink all the punches
They all may lose their lunches
Tryin' to cram lost years into five or six says
Seems that blind ambition erased their intuition
Plowin' straight ahead come what may.

I don't want to live on that kind of island
No, I don't want to swim in a roped off sea.
Too much for me, too much for me
I've got to be where the wind and the water are free.

Alone on a midnight passage
I can count the falling stars
While the Southern Cross and the satellites
They remind me of where we are
Spinning around in circles
Living it day to day
And still twenty four hours, maybe sixty good years
It's still not that long a stay.

We've gotta roll with the punches
Learn to play all of our hunches
Makin' the best of whatever comes your way
Forget that blind ambition
And learn to trust your intuition
Plowin' straight ahead come what may.
And there's a cowboy in the jungle.

Gary P. Nunn at Dosey Doe

Gary P. Nunn

The Bunkhouse Band

With Gary P. after the show

Excellent show, played a lot of songs from the new album. An interesting story about how he met his wife in Switzerland after playing the place she worked for 28 nights in a row, three times.

Truly a Texas music legend.

Gary P. Nunn Set List

Dosey Doe

September 30, 2010

Nobody But Me

A Two Step Away

Its Not Love

Why Don’t You Meet Down In Corpus

Down To Lousisiana

The Girl Just Loves To Dance

Denver

Lonesome Lone Star Blues

The Likes of Me

My Kind of Day in Padre

The Last Thing I Needed First Thing This Morning

What I Like About Texas

Redneck Riveria

Adios Amigo

Friends For Life

London Homesick Blues

Taking Texas to the Country

ZZ Top / Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

Great concert Friday night at the Woodlands Pavilion. The "little old band from Texas" can still rock with the best of them. Billy Gibbons brought his 80 year mother out on stage (in a wheelchair) to a nice round of applause.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers put on a very good show. Nice lights and lasers, the lead guitar player can wail. Packed arena, nice breeze blowing, not too hot.

English

There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins were not invented in England or French fries in France. Sweetmeats are candies, while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat. We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square, and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

And why is it that writers write, but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce, and hammers don't ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So, one moose, 2 meese? One index, two indices? Is cheese the plural of choose?

If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?

In what language do people recite at a play, and play at a recital?

Ship by truck, and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell? Park on driveways and drive on parkways? How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? How can the weather be hot as hell one day and cold as hell another?

When a house burns up, it burns down. You fill in a form by filling it out, and an alarm clock goes off by going on.

When the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible. And why, when I wind up my watch, I start it, but when I wind up this soliloquy, I end it.

Aloha and Aloha

Maui is a fantastic place. Can't wait to go back.

Sunset Cruise Key West

A fun time on a catamaran sailing off of Key West at sunset.

Florida City, Gateway to the Keys

Getting ready to leave Florida City, FL to travel down the Keys to the homeland for all Parrotheads, Key West. A nice sunny day with a margarita and cheeseburger on the menu for lunch at Margaritaville!!

London for the week-end

Heading to London for a meeting Monday. Back Tuesday. May even have some nice weather.

Cheers.

Drum Roll Please

A drummer, sick of all the drummer jokes, decides to change his instrument. After some thought, he decides on the accordion. So he goes to the music store and says to the owner, "I'd like to look at the accordions, please." The owner gestures to a shelf in the corner and says "All our accordions are over there." After browsing, the drummer says, "I think I'd like the big red one in the corner." The store owner looks at him and says, "You're a drummer, aren't you?" The drummer, crestfallen, says, "How did you know?" The store owner says, "That `big red accordion' is the radiator."

Yes I Am A Pirate... 200 Years Too Late

A guy walks into a pub with a t-shirt that says "Pirates are stupid for 3 reasons!" He walks up to the bar, orders an ale. and sits down. He no more than gets his quaff when a smelly old sot comes up to him and says, "Aaargh, thar, matey! What's that yer shirt be sayin' thar?"

The guy looks around, looks the man straight in the eyes (well, in his one good eye, anyway), and says "Reason number 1 -- Pirates can't read!" Then he turns around to enjoy his beverage.

Not used to this sort of disrespect, the surly gent takes his hooked arm, lays it aggressively on the man's shoulder, and slowly says, "What's that ye be sayin' thar, sonny-boy?"

The guy looks around again, looks his aggressor square in the eye this time, and enunciates, "Rea-son num-ber 2 -- Pirates can't hear!" And again, he turns around to face the bar.

MSU Debate

MSU team crowned national debate champ

Contact: Greta Stahl, Debate, stahlgre@msu.edu; Kristen Parker, University Relations, Office: (517) 353-8942, Cell: (517) 980-0709,Kristen.Parker@ur.msu.edu

Published: March 24, 2010 E-mail Editor

Carly Wunderlich, of Brookfield, Wis., a chemistry senior, and Eric Lanning, of Spring, Texas, an international relations junior, hold the Larmon trophy, which they received for taking first place in a National Debate Tournament.

The 12-member MSU debate team poses with the Larmon trophy.

Click on an image to view a larger or high-resolution version.

Related Links

• MSU Debate Team

EAST LANSING, Mich. — For the third time in seven years, a team from Michigan State University has won the National Debate Tournament.

The two-member team of Carly Wunderlich, a chemistry senior, and Eric Lanning, an international relations junior, claimed the honor early Tuesday morning at the 64th annual competition. The five-day tournament was held at the University of California in Berkeley, Calif. Both students are members of the Honors College.

There are 12 students on the MSU debate team. The team’s road to the championship included victories over the University of Kansas, Emory University (which entered the tournament ranked No. 1 in the nation) and the University of Mary Washington in Virginia.

In the final debate, MSU faced fellow Big Ten competitors Northwestern University, which entered the tournament No. 2 nationally and had not lost a debate at the tournament. At about 1 a.m. Tuesday, after two hours of debate and another hour of waiting, the five-judge panel voted unanimously and named MSU champions.

“Carly and Eric’s victory demonstrates their commitment to hard work, research and devotion to the activity,” said Greta Stahl, MSU’s director of debate. “Supported by a team of extremely hard-working coaches and teammates, their success demonstrates that MSU continues to stand among an elite group of competitors in the debate community. Their success is incredibly well-deserved.”

This year's debate topic was the United States' nuclear weapons policy, Stahl said.

She explained that throughout the year, when students endorsed government action (referred to as being affirmative), they argued the U.S. should declare it would never be the first to initiate the use of nuclear weapons during a conflict. Other examples included reducing the number of U.S. nuclear weapons, taking U.S. nuclear weapons off high alert and shifting to development of non-nuclear weapons for deterrence purposes.

"This year's resolution said that the U.S. federal government should reduce the role, mission or size of its nuclear weapons arsenal," Stahl explained. "This topic was chosen due to its timely nature: The Obama administration is due to release its Nuclear Posture review in early April, which sets the administration's policy on many of the questions above."

MSU won this particular tournament two other times – in 2004 and 2006 – and had been to the “Final Four” five times before that. MSU also won the Cross Examination Debate Association National Tournament in 1995 and the Seasonal National Championship Awards in 1996 and 2002.

http://news.msu.edu/story/7624/

MSU is 2010 NDT Winner

The Michigan State University policy debate team of Carly Wunderlich and Eric Lanning win the National Debate Tournament with a 5-0 decision over Northwestern Matt Fischer and Stephanie Spies in Berkeley, California at 1 am today. The finals match-up had #1 seed Northwestern versus #2 seed MSU. Lanning was ranked 2nd speaker in the tournament which started with the best 78 debate teams in the nation. MSU defeated Emory IW in the quarter finals on a 3-2 decision. Emory IW was the top ranked team for the season, winning the Copeland Award. Stephen Weil, the W in Emory IW was 1st speaker in the tournament. Congratulations to Coaches Greta Stahl, Will Repko, and Dave Strauss of MSU.

A Nice (Almost) Spring Day

Sunny and 65 F today. Good-bye winter.

Bubba is Comin' Back To Town / Big Top Tour 2010

Touring in support of his latest album, Buffet Hotel

Jimmy Buffett and The Coral Reefer Band comes to town on May 20, 2010 at The CWM Pavillion and we will be there, Section 108, Row Q (the best available from Ticketmaster 10 seconds after they go on sale).

Can't wait for a warm spring night with some hot music!!!

Concert Review: Gary P. Nunn @ Dosey Doe

Monica Perry

Gary P. Nunn and the Bunkhouse Band played Dosey Doe in The Woodlands last Thursday night, with Monica Perry as the opening act. I have enjoyed Gary P. Nunn's music for many years but had never seen him in concert. While having breakfast at Dosey Doe before Christmas we decided to get tickets and were able to get seats next to the stage, just to the left of the stage.

The four of us were literally all less than 8 feet from Gary, and I was 5 feet from the lead guitar, .

Monica Perry opened and she was very good. She is from Texas and is working in Nashville, writing and performing. She has a nice voice and is an excellent fiddle player. Her original songs were very good as was her cover of "Bob Will Is Still The King", "The South Is Going To Do It Again", and "Orange Blossom Special". If you see her listed as performing again at Dosey Doe, it would be worth attending.

Gary P. Nunn

Gary has streamlined his band with a lead guitar, bass, and drummer along with himself. It might seem like you would miss a lot with piano, fiddle, and steel guitar, but they pull of all of the songs very well. They opened with a song from his first album, Nobody But Me followed by Kara Lee , about his first wife who he joked that he got a son and three good songs out of. A partial set list is :

Nobody But Me
Kara Lee
Austin Pickers
Why Don’t You Meet Me Down In Corpus
My Kind Of Day On Padre
What I Like About Texas
London Homesick Blues
Roadtrip
Terlingua Sky
Macho Man From Taco Land

He told a story about Rusty Weir, another Texas country outlaw, who died last year. He said the story was funny and sad. The doctors told Rusty that he had liver cancer and Rusty said "I've got a liver?"

After the break they came back with electric guitars and really cooked with songs from the new album set to be released in March. I want to get it as soon as it comes out. A very fine evening of genuine Texas music in a perfect setting of a 100+ year old Kentucky barn transplanted to Texas. You just can beat sitting that close to the stage and the performers with a cold Lonestar listening to outlaw Texas western swing progressive country rock.

I give the concert 5 stars.

Green Mesquite-Austin

Had dinner tonight at Green Mesquite at 1400 Barton Springs in Austin, south of Town Lake. Very good barbeque. Eclectic atmosphere, lots of music/club posters, friendly waitress, and cold Lonestar. The wings were excellent!

Saints Superbowl Drinking Game

Saints Superbowl Drinking Game

1. Every time they mention hurricane Katrina, drink 1
2. Every time they show Kim Kardashian in the stands, drink 5
3. Every time Reggie Bush gets negative yardage, drink for 5 seconds
4. If they mention Tim Tebow for any reason, funnel a beer
5. If Jeremy Shockey pretends to be hurt after dropping a pass, drink 2
6. Every time they show a Saints fan yelling "Who Dat", drink 1
7. If Brett Favre is mentioned for any reason, take a shot of cheap liquor
8. Every time they compare hurricane Katrina to the Haiti earthquake, drink 1
9. Every time they show Archie Manning, chug 2 & mention how he sucked
10. If they show Ray Nagin, drink 5 and punch someone in the face


I am picking the Saints to win.

Happy 2010!!!

Happy New Year best wishes for all of my family and friends.

My God bless and protect you this year.