Christmas Specials on TV

Have you watched any of the Christmas specials on TV? Which is your favorite? Matthew K brought up a good point the other night. He said remember when you could only watch "The Grinch" or even "Charlie Brown" on just one night - a special night that you wouldn't want to miss? Now thanks to DVD's our children have already seen both shows at least a handful of times. As I watched "Christmas Eve on Sesame Street" with my boys (a favorite special when I was growing up) I realized that they could probably not share this classic with there children. The technology has changed so much. There is one scene where Cookie Monster is trying to type a letter to Santa about what he wants for Christmas but gets distracted because the different parts of the typewriter looks like different cookies or desserts. My 4 year old has never seen a typewriter before and didn't really understand how a typewriter works. I guess my boys will now have "Shrek the Halls" to pass down to my granddaughters (positive thinking on my part). It was an enjoyable show but there are some satire scenes in the show that they may not ever understand.

DWTS Finale

I know I'm a little late with my opinion but I've been busy with the holiday season. First of all I'm so happy Helio and Julianne won. I would have been happy for Maks and Mel but as you know I'm a huge Julianne fan. I guess what is more intriguing is the rumors that came the next day that Helio and Julianne might be a couple because Helio's engagement is off. I read somewhere online today that maybe it was her brother or Donny Osmond said that Julianne could have chemistry with a broomstick. She sells it well and I think that is one of the reasons why I love her. I also read that she is recording an album Not sure the genre - not sure that I'm interested in her as a singer. My friend has this theory that Julianne will now be stuck with someone with not much dancing talent because she has won 2 times in a row. Cheryl had a shot at 3 but Ian was just too stiff compared to Joey and Anton. I don't think they will have another competition until this fall. I am assuming the Bruno / Carrie Ann dance war will take over from Jan - May. If that is the case I will be bummed because I enjoy watching the stars learn how to dance!

A poll for Cavs fans

Browns Town Again?

Is this crazy? The Browns have won five straight at home this season? I cannot BELIEVE it! Wearing a throwback uni (just one digit off from a legend) Jamal Lewis ran past, over and through the Texans. Lewis has a stiff arm from circa 1949. Given the fact that my Indians far exceeded my expectations, I am starting to think the "P" word might be spoken. And I may be wrong, but this might be the first time in my lifetime the Indians and the Browns were in the playoffs in the same year. I KNOW the Indians, Browns and Cavs have never been to the post-season in the same year. Could we, should we dream?

Here is the really fun part. My four year old son is begging me to skip nap time so he can see the Browns. Now, maybe he just wants to skip his nap. However, it is still cool that I am watching the Brownies with my son, and it is not punishment.

The photo is borrowed from a slideshow at www.ClevelandBrowns.com

That Was Close! Browns Making It Interesting

Last week they SHOULD have beat the Stillers. Just a field goal away. As the lovely Joyce lamented, "How could that exact thing happen two weeks in a row? HOW?" Only because it is a Cleveland sports team. That is how it could happen. All is well that ends well. But now it REALLY hurts the the Brownies didn't get it done last week.

Do you think the ref looked at the tape before they had further discussions? Do you suppose Baltimore sports talkers are crying in their crab cakes about the reversed call. If they are, it gladdens my heart. I hate the Ravens.

Remembering our Troops

As Veteran's Day approaches us I thought I would pass along a few ideas if you would like to take time to thank our troops. The first idea I received in an email.

When doing your Christmas cards this year, take one card and send it to this address. If we pass this on and everyone sends one card, think of how many cards these wonderful special people who have sacrificed so much would get.

Send to: A Recovering American soldier
c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center
6900 Georgia Avenue, NW
Washington,D.C. 20307-5001

An update to my original post (11/20) -

I heard on the radio today that if you don't have a soldier's name on your Christmas card the Walter Reed Center is returning the card to the sender. That is a shame - why can't they just pass them out?

My second idea would be to donate to the Freedom Calls Organization. Here is the link
http://www.freedomcalls.org/ They get the troops hooked up to their families back home when they can't make it back for a birth or a death of a family member.

I think these are two ideas that I will be acting on in the near future!

Thank you to all the Veterans who read our blog!

CMA Recap

I enjoyed watching the CMA's very much. Glad to see the people who won. They deserved it. Now here is my red carpet recap - I guess that makes me a Joan Rivers wannabe without the annoying voice.

LeAnn Rimes - nice dress I guess but she is so pale that I don't think I like it that much.

Taylor swift - nice dress - she looks like an emmy award.

Jewell - can you say boob job?? That doesn't look natural - it looks like it hurts to be honest with you.

Sara Evans is really pretty but this dress reminds me of my sister's first homecoming dress back in 1988. I think it might have helped things if it went below the knees and what is up with the Wilma Flinstone jewelry??

Kellie Pickler looked nice. She did a nice job of not accentuating the boob job.

The elegant award winners go to Carrie Underwood and Martina McBride. Both looking awesome as always!

That's why they call it Fall

Dad didn't mind raking them up again & again & again...

The Office

Last night's episode of "The Office" was awesome as always. The exclusive club was great. As I was driving to work this morning I couldn't help thinking that the Toby/Pam relationship reminded me a lot of Friends Rachel/Gunther relationship. Is Toby only in the club to be closer to Pam? When Michael to Jim to take Karen to a hotel, get on top of her and think of Stanley I thought I was going to lose it. The only thing I was disappointed about is they didn't touch on the Andy/Dwight/Angela triangle. That is a great B story!

Baseball - the off season

Some random thoughts I have about what has happened in the "off season" of baseball. The baseball season ended just 4 days ago but so much has happened. Joe Giradi is now the skipper of the Yankees - good luck with that and Joe Torre is now going to lead the Dodgers. I'm happy for Joe. Maybe he will finally get the credit he deserves without the owner second guessing him in the media.

Today, I read about Barry Bonds playing "hardball" with the Hall of Fame. Here is a link to the article - http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3090631. He said if the hall displays his record breaking ball with an asterisk he will never be in the hall of fame. So if he is elected he won't show up for the ceremony. I think it's rather bold for him to think he is an automatic bid. Look at Mark McGuire. I believe last year he was his first year of eligibility and he did not get enough votes.

I guess the good news is the Curt Schilling has the Indians on his list of teams he would like to play for in the future. I'm impressed because the list included cities that were good enough to raise a family - schools/neighborhoods. I wonder what 'hood' he would live in if he became an Indian. My question is do we dish Byrd and go after Schilling? Then you can let Lee/Laffey/Miller battle it out.

A-rod will no longer be a Yankee. Ok - who is going to sign him to the big contract he will demand? I don't think the Indians will but it would be interesting to throw him in our lineup and put him at 3rd base. I don't think the Indians will do this because of the money and the choke artist that he is in the playoffs.

Stay tuned as who knows what week 2 in the off season will bring!

Happy Halloween

boo!

That Was Painful...Better With Time

The "Stop Me When I Am Lying" crew must have all gone into the same disbelieving funk that I did. How could the Tribe just fall apart like that? The sting is still there, but seeing Colorado get swept ended the season mercifully.

What are we going to post about now? The Browns won back-to-back games. That is something. The presidential elections are less just about a year away. "Dancing with the Stars" has been entertaining.

I look at the search queries to see how people find this blog. During the Indians run in the post season, there was traffic related to "rally pie" and "it's Tribe Time now".

Today there was a new query that brought us a visitor - "how to stop our annoying brother from annoying us". OK - given that my brothers post here, I better be careful. But if you want my advise on the subject, here it goes. I am making an assumption that the annoying brother is a younger brother. They usually are the annoying ones. Wait twenty years or so. He may be just as annoying, but there is a chance that he will have moved far enough away that you won't be subjected to his pure annoying-ness as often. If you can't wait that long, fink on him to your parents.

It's a sad day

The mourning begins - another baseball season is over for the Indians. So what do we have to look forward to in the Sports World? The Cavaliers will try to defend their Eastern League title and the Browns are 3-3 and will try and have a respectable season. It's going to be a long winter.

The fat lady is warming up!

Big win last night! I'm looking for the Tribe to close it out tomorrow. We definitely have the BIG MO on our side and I'm not talking about Mo Vaughn!

Some observations about the ALCS

I have been listening to a lot of local sports talk not only in the car but on the internet. I can't get over how hyper and panicked the Indians fans are. Last week they wanted CC to go on short rest instead of Paul Byrd. Wedge stays with Byrd and we clinch. Again this week people are just nervous nellies about our team and second guessing Eric Wedge. It is almost comical because you would think we were down 0-3 to the Red Sox and were facing elimination. Tribe fans - relax. We are going to the World Series. I can't see us losing to Tim Wakefield tonight especially because the Red Sox will have to decide if they let Varitek catch him (highly unlikely) then if you use Varitek as DH the ailing Ortiz surely couldn't play 1st base with an achey knee. If you did get crazy and start Ortiz why would you want to take Youkilis out of the lineup?? The way I see it is the Red Sox have problems and the Indians can pick another person's bat to victory with another solid performance from our bullpen to close out Game 4. I am hoping CC is the CC of old when he pitches on Thursday. Hopefully he will be back in synch.

Who got PIED on Friday?

Inquiring minds want to know. Normally the pie in the face takes place during a TV interview but I never saw who was the lucky candidate on Friday evening when the Indians squeaked out the victory against the Yankees in 11 innings. I really hope they continue this trend as many players are superstitious - just look at Casey and his beard, Fausto and the foul line jumping. and all of those pregame HIGH 5's that Martinez gives out to his teammates. Does anyone have the answer???

Update: here is a link to a Plain Dealer story - http://tinyurl.com/yop3l7

Buh Bye, Yankees!

Congratulations to the 2007 Cleveland Indians. The ALCS is set and the two teams with the best records are facing each other. The Red Sox are tough, but it is Tribe Time NOW!

Joyce's keys to an ALDS Victory!

1) Pitching has to be superb. We know CC and Fausto will bring their A game but the bullpen will need to carry on with what they started. Joe B will need to make sure to take care of business when A Rod, Jorge and Jeter come up to the dish.

2) The hitters need to be patient at the plate and make the pitchers work deep into the count. I think when the Tribe was on the skids before and after the All Star Break it was because they weren't being patient and making the pitcher work.

3) Keep mental and fielding errors to a minimum.

4) Be aggressive on the bases. We aren't a team that likes to steal alot of bases but sometimes I think we need to push it and put the pressure back on the other team.

5) Fans need to be loud as possible. They shouldn't listen to the press and how they are saying the Yankees are the greatest thing since sliced bread. Yes, they are good but they haven't won a sausage in 7 years.

6) Someone needs to come through and get me a "It's Tribe Time Now" t-shirt - preferrably XL (room for the future fan)

GO TRIBE!!!

Croc Guitar

Outside the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.

Would you vote for this grin?

Our local ABC affilliate has a link on their page to have a photo vote. Each week they list a topic and you have a few days to upload your photo and then from the 500 submissions they receive, they pick the top 10. There were a few topics I had the "perfect" picture to submit but was to late. This week's topic "Goofy Grins". My children give me plenty of goofy grins all the time, but the most recent one I capture was my dear little Patrick. Well Patrick didn't make the top 10, but I still think its cute. What do you think?