I think I've touted this mind candy movie before.

Waking Up in Reno, with Billy Bob Thornton, Patrick Swayze, Natasha Richardson, Charlize Theron, Chelcie Ross (Eddie Harris, from Major League) and a cameo with Penelope Cruz playing a bar hooker.

I don't think it did well at the box office, but I REALLY like it. Of course I did spend about 20 years of my life living in the deep South.


My wife and I have a milestone wedding anniversary coming up this Friday.

We were married in The Chapel in the back of The Silver Queen Hotel & Bar in Virginia City, Nevada. The oldest Wedding Chapel in Nevada. And our Wedding Brunch was in the oldest hotel in Nevada.

We'll be heading to Reno on Friday, and will spend some time in Virginia City over the weekend. We might renew our vows.

Or we might do some shots!


I pound and slam. She sips.




I wish Tony Orlando was playing in Reno this weekend......

When my youngest daughter was here in California last week from her now home in Florida, she heavily touted and watched Criminal Minds. She touted it as Law and Order SVU "on roids."


We did get a little hooked.


I think we got lucky and caught some of the better reruns while she was here.

But it is a decent show that has been on the air for a few years that I had never watched before.

She told me that the Dr. Spencer Reid character reminded her of me. Pretty sure she just meant my mind.

That'll work. I needed someone to replace my Charlie Sheen family image.


The family here in California is easily impressed with a memory.

But as JR knows, I have to brush up on my catching details while speed reading.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WU8X4tgIBXw

I was only joking, my friend.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJIiWpgZ ... re=related


Terry Kath, on Colour My World


Dumb, though talented f*uck.


I danced with the hottest girl in my high school (my opinion, of course) and shared a bottle of cheap wine while dancing to this song in The Spring of 1974.


As my Wedding Anniversary approaches, I can rest comfortably and "hornily" with a resounding,

I won!


I just want The Tribe to win in 2011.


If we don't, I have the best prize in my wife, anyways.

Cali, I love Criminal Minds. I even tape ones I've seen. If you get a chance try to catch some of the earlier one when Mandy Patinkin was there.

Haley singing Led Zeppelin was amazing. As much as I like Scottie, Haley is going to be a big star. Fantastic !

$2M Michigan lottery winner defends use of food stamps


By Detroit News – Wed May 18, 1:27 pm ET

Ron French, Detroit News staff writer

A Michigan man who won $2 million in a state lottery game continues to collect food stamps 11 months after striking it rich.

And there's nothing the state can do about it, at least for now.

Leroy Fick, 59, of Auburn won $2 million in the state lottery TV show "Make Me Rich!" last June. But the state's Department of Human Services determined he was still eligible for food stamps, Fick's attorney,
John Wilson of Midland, said Tuesday.

Eligibility for food stamps is based on gross income and follows federal guidelines; lottery winnings are considered liquid assets and don't count as income. As long as Fick's gross income stays below the eligibility requirement for food stamps, he can receive them, even if he has a million dollars in the bank.

Food stamps are paid for through tax dollars and are meant to help support low-income families.

"If you're going to try to make me feel bad, you're not going to do it," Fick told WNEM-TV in Saginaw on Monday.

Wilson said Fick told the DHS officials he'd won $2 million but was told he could keep using the Bridge Card issued to him to buy groceries.

Fick could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Al Kimichik, director of the office of inspector general for DHS, said the department could not comment on individual cases but that it this week began the process of requesting a waiver from the federal government to close the lottery loophole. If it is granted, assets would be counted in determining food stamp eligibility.

Though the food stamp program is federal and states must follow U.S. guidelines, states sometimes request waivers of rules. Michigan was granted a waiver recently to stop college students from qualifying for food stamps.

"For Leroy Fick to continue to use a Bridge Card, paid for by the taxpayers, after winning the lottery, is obscene," said Sen. Rick Jones, R-Grand Ledge. "What a waste of taxpayer money."

Jones contacted DHS officials Monday about Fick's case, and was told the department's hands were tied by federal regulations.

"There is no liquid asset requirement for getting food stamps," Jones said. "The department is asking the federal government for an immediate change (in policy). They're hoping this case will help the federal government act."

Until then, Fick can collect food stamps and keep his lottery winnings in the bank.

"I am not going to sit and debate the ethics of this," Wilson said. "But from his standpoint, he did what he was supposed to do -- he informed the state, and the state said he could keep using the card. The problem is with the state."

That's a heckuva technicality that allows him to qualify with $2 million in winnings.

Of course I knew lots of people in near million dollar and up homes who have collected the $450 per week in unemployment benefits after losing jobs.

As mentioned previously, my wife and I are headed over The Sierra to Reno on Friday afternoon. As it is a wedding anniversary trip for us, I likely will do little if any gambling.

We have absolutely nothing planned intentionally, though at some point we will certainly go to The Chapel in the back of a bar where we were married in Virginia City.

The Reno Aces of the Pacific Coast League have their ballpark walking distance from the downtown casinos.

I was checking their website to see if they were in town and noted they are managed by former Cleveland Indian Brett Butler.

I checked their roster and see that's where 29 year old Wily Mo Pena and 30 year old Sean Burroughs have now landed trying to get back to a major league gig.

I've somewhat recently put Modern Family on my short list (but recently growing) of network shows I will go a little out of my way to watch.


It's amazing how two shows with somewhat similar premises of "different" relationships and families all interacting have such a marked difference in sharpness and quality. At least by my humble evaluation.

Cougar Town is such a weak follow up to viewing an episode of Modern Family.

If anyone attempts to catch on to Modern Family for the first time, I will mention it took me four or five episodes to "get" the characters and appreciate the show.

Lucy Liu is on "Chelsea Lately" at present.

I once typed (last Fall) that one of my fave "bartenders" looked like Lucy Liu.

Heck, as of tonight that bartender looks WAY better than Lucy Liu.

Even though Lucy Liu has on the requisite little black dress, a plunging top, and lots of thigh leading down to the four inch style stileto hint heels.

I believe that bartender has much more natural and real personality for public consumption than the Lucy Liu I saw tonight.

No Triple Crown winner again this year.

That's cool by me.

I was in a little 140+ old saloon in Virginia City NV as my wife shopped as the Preakness aired and ran. I was in a super cool conversation with a guy and his wife who are photographers who specialize in catching guys on their motorcycles in scenic places and then selling them an action momento of their run. There is a biker fundraiser coming through Virginia City tomorrow they are in town for.

The guy pulled strings and pressed buttons and arranged for his Dad to be buried in the National Historic Boot Hill cemetery in Virginia City. He told me that in his life with his Dad, Virginia City was the only place he absolutely knew his Dad loved to be.

He and his wife pressed for specifics on my wagers pre-race as we watched and decided they wanted to root for and with me as they had no skin in the game. I told them not to worry or pay attention with regard to my wagers, and to just enjoy a good race and story.


I don't know why exactly, but I was personally satisfied Animal Kingdom did not win the Second Leg of The Triple Crown.

Certainly sounding elitist, I just didn't think his lineage or connections were worthy of a shot at a Triple Crown in somewhat of a lukewarm year of talented thoroughbreds.

Later in the day my wife and I revisited the little Chapel in the back of the bar where we were married in Virginia City.

There were two guys playing. An amazing guitar and singing duo.

I knew immediately the older guy was superbly trained and talented.

Turned out he went to Juilliard to prep for playing with Sammy Davis, Jr. and Dean Martin.

And then he became a weekly part of American Bandstand and a member of the second generation of "Bill Haley and The Comets."

And then became friends with Les Paul and Chet Atkins as a studio musician.

The blond ash front guitar he was playing today was built by Les Paul for him.

I told my wife it was a near crime that we were watching these guys for free.


After I conversed with them at length, they dedicated a Ray Price to me for my Love of my wife.

"Your the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me"

They nailed it. I previously had only known the Gladys Knight version.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FT5QF4JZUA

Then they played John Anderson's "Would You Catch a Falling Star" as their closing number and nailed that even better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIRTmUQZwnU


The "older guy" was 76. The younger guy wasn't that much younger.

Super day, super great conversation that they read well.......and I have a Super wife.

A church with a view we love in Virginia City