Thanks to everyone who sent me comments and messages wishing me a happy birthday...I really appreciate it.  And to those who couldn't take a minute out of their lives to wish me a happy birthday...who needs you anyway!  hahahahaha.   I woke up the morning of my birthday and thought to myself "I'm 39???  How in the heck am I 39???"  And then I started wondering what kind of legacy I would leave behind and all that...what do I have to show for my time on this planet.  I walked out into my living room and saw my 56" hi-def TV, my vast collection of kickass video games and horror movies, my autographed movie posters of "The Devil's Rejects" and "Texas Chainsaw Massacre", and told myself that I'm pretty much exactly where I want to be.  Sure, I could daydream about being rich and famous, but in reality I've got a kickass house, two awesome dogs, some great friends and a great relationship with my family.  God has truly blessed me, and I really can't complain about anything.  It's like I told Don, our guitar player, at practice on Friday night...I'm basically the same person I was when I was about 15 but I now have the money to afford all the cool stuff I want.  And now that my birthday has passed, the holiday season is officially over...haha.  How did mine go?  Well I'm glad you asked.

Since I was off work for about a week and a half, I made some HUGE plans.  Basically every day I'd get up around 11 or so, put on a movie and eat.  Some days it was pizza, some days burgers and fries, and sometimes a hoagie.  And there was the one day where I feasted on the awesome leftovers my mom sent me home with after I visited on Christmas day.  There is nothing like heating up some turkey, stuffing, and sweet potato casserole to start off the day.  After the movie it would be video game time, and after that I'd go to sleep.  Yeah, seriously, that was about it.  I'd throw on a game and stay up until about 2 or 3 in the morning playing.  Now some nights I'd watch another movie, but that was pretty much my time off.  And man was it needed.  After all the extra hours I've put in at work, I was all about needing some "me" time.  The only thing that could even be considered actually doing anything was when I drove out to see my dad on New Years Day so we could watch Georgia thoroughly THRASH Hawaii in The Sugar Bowl.  That was a grade-a, 100% ass kicking.  Now I did get together with some friends a couple of times, but it was always at my house so I still got to sit in my recliner...haha.  I swear, I put on about 10 pounds during my time off.  Of course that's to be expected when you eat like I did and don't do any exercise.  I didn't even go to MMA training during the time off...and I paid for it.  Tonight was the first night I trained in about two weeks and it was absolutely brutal.  It amazes me just how quickly the body can get so lethargic.  But hey, I'm not 20 anymore either.  Oh, and speaking of training, my dad got me a speed bag.  I have a heavy bag already, and the stand has an attachment for a speed bag, I just never got one.  I hooked it all up and figured with my punching speed and technique, I could pick it up pretty quickly.  After all, I watch the Rocky movies a lot, and it doesn't look that hard.  Wow...was I wrong.  The guide says that you hit it, let it bounce three times, and then hit it again.  No problem, right?  Well there's a slight catch to it...the bag is on a swivel hook so if you don't hit it squarely it just starts flying around in a circle.  Another thing is that the little booklet said to make sure and always wear tape or hand-wraps when using it.  I figured "eh...I'm not hitting it that hard, no need to put my hand-wraps on".  And once again, I was wrong.  I was working the bag and actually doing ok until my right hand connected with the laces on the bag and a nice little chunk of skin was ripped off over one of my knuckles.  Needless to say, I take the time to put the wraps on now.  But I can say I'm getting better at it...not quite ready to have footage of me doing it to be put in a training montage with cool music playing...but I am getting better at it.

You know, I may need to do my babe of the year award a little differently.  Did Rose McGowan contact me to thank me?  Nope...not a word.  However, runner-up Kimberly Caldwell sent me a message wishing me a happy birthday.  Maybe next time I'll see who would truly appreciate such an honor before bestowing it on them.

I have a feeling that when "Rambo" comes out in a little over two weeks that it will be the film to beat for movie of the year.  But if it wasn't for "Rambo" coming out, I would say I've already seen the greatest movie of the year.  I know it came out last year, but for my awards the criteria is when I saw it, not necessarily when it came out.  This past weekend I saw...no...was privileged enough to see one of the most awesome movies ever - "Shoot 'Em Up".  From the opening scene to the credits it was nothing but pure balls-to-the-walls action.  Sure it was over the top...but it was so incredibly cool that the temperature in my house probably dropped 20 degrees while I watched it.  Normally a badass movie like this is ruined by some stupid sex scene to show the softer side of the hero.  This one did, but while he's having sex, bad guys come smashing in and he shoots a bunch of them while still taking care of business.  No, I'm not kidding.  Clive Owen rocked in this one...which once again shows the kinds of wimps we have as American actors outside of Stallone and Bruce Willis.  Plus, to have Motorhead's "Ace of Spades" blasting during a major gunfight is about as cool as it gets.  I regret not seeing this one in the theater...it was THAT good.  The reason I didn't was because it got horrible reviews.  It was called juvenile, it had no substance, no character development...blah blah blah.  For a movie like this, character development is about the last thing I'm looking for.  Seriously, I don't need to know his childhood or whatever, all I need are some basics about who he is, why he's such a badass with a gun, and what he's trying to do...that's it.  And I got all that in this movie.  Plus, he is one pissed off dude.  He's driving while trying to get away from the bad guys...yet all he can do is bitch about a guy on the road in front of him who won't use a turn signal when switching lanes...it was truly a classic moment.  I can't stand how some think that movies have to change the world or deliver some stupid message.  It's like when I watched "The Doors" during my time off because I hadn't seen it in years and I like the band.  There's a scene where Morrison and Ray Manzarek (no clue how it's spelled) are walking on the beach and Ray is telling Jim that the country is ready for a revolution and alluding to how their music could change things.  Oh yeah..."Light My Fire" really altered the course of history.  Sometimes I just want to be entertained...what the heck is wrong with that?  So if you're a guy looking for a true "guy" movie, then "Shoot 'Em Up" is for you.  However, in just a little over two weeks, "Rambo" hits the theaters.  To show how much of a geek I am, a bunch of us at work have planners hanging in our cubicles at work that span a couple of months so you can keep up with projects and all that.  On my planner for January 25th, I have "New Rambo!!!" written.  Of course everyone makes fun of me, but it is truly their loss.

We have almost a year until the presidential election and I'm already sick of hearing about it.  Did you see the clip of Hillary Clinton crying over how tough it is?  Oh yeah, that's something world leaders will respect...that shows strength.  Of course I'm sure they were crocodile tears because I believe that even when she takes a breath it's done with some kind of ulterior motive and has been planned weeks in advance.  So now Barack Obama is the leader on the Democrat side...HOW?!?  I have NO clue what this guy stands for outside of "change" whatever the heck that means.  Oh, one thing that really cracked me up was when I saw that Dennis Kucinich was not allowed to participate in a Democrat debate this past weekend, so he was going to file a complaint with the FCC about equal time.  Hey Dennis...welcome to my world!  I was not allowed to participate in ANY of the debates when I ran for the Senate in 2006, and that's because debates are exempt from the equal time laws.  I would think he would know this seeing how him and his cronies are the very ones who put this into law to keep "outsiders" away from these events.  I think it's both sad and hilarious at the same time.  They made this law, and then one of them falls victim to it.  Will it change anything?  Heck no.  How in the hell debates fall under the exemption of "on the spot news" is beyond me...but that's the way the law is.  And on the Republican side there is nothing.  Fred Thompson is a dud, Mitt Romney is like the slick salesman, and Gulliani and McCain are complete flakes.  And then there's Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul.  I love Paul's domestic ideas...but he is CLUELESS on foreign policy.  Huckabee...I don't get it.  He talks the talk but there is SO much that shows what a fraud he is when he was governor of Arkansas.  So basically we're all screwed.  Now here's something that's really pathetic - When I first launched my campaign websitee back in the summer of 2005, I had a section about the issues and exactly what I wanted to do to resolve those problems.  They were items dealing with Social Security, illegal immigration, taxes, government spending, and the war.  I wrote on there that if I was to lose in 2006 and run again in 2008 that I could leave that page up because in 2008 candidates would still be talking about those exact same things.  And here we are in 2008, and I was right.  Why?  BECAUSE OUR GOVERNMENT IS COMPLETELY WORTHLESS AND GETS NOTHING ACCOMPLISHED!!!!  The system works, the people in it suck and have WAY too much power...power they were never intended to have.  But because too many people sit around more concerned about who's going to win "American Idol" versus who's deciding the future of this country, we're in big trouble.  I know I love my movies, football, and video games, but I take the topic of politics VERY seriously because there are SO many idiots making decisions that affect me...and I can't stand it.  You know, I'm always cautious of saying what I'll write about the next time because I've got some pretty intense ADD...hahaha...but I really want to write something dealing with basic Constitutional history and the role of the federal government.

Well sportsfans, I'm done for now.  I hope everyone had a great Christmas and a safe New Year's.  2008 looks to be action-packed for yours truly...and I'll talk more about that another time.  LATER!