Well I'm sure everyone is waiting to hear how my big speech went.  Yeah, it kinda didn't happen.  Oh I was ticked off, but understood afterwards.  what happened was on Friday afternoon I called the dude who was my contact for this whole thing, and asked him stuff like how much time I was going to get to speak and if I needed to check in with someone when I got there.  He gave me the number of someone else to call for that, so I called the other number and left a message.  A little while later someone else called me, and my first question was "since I don't have to pay to get in, who do I need to check in with?"  Well, I was informed that I would have to pay to get in, all the candidates did.  How much?  One hundred bucks.  But I was willing to pay considering this thing was going to be huge for me, so I asked how much time I would have to speak.  Well it turns out my info was never forwarded to the proper people, the itinerary had already been set, and I was told they MIGHT be able to squeeze me in.  Hearing the disappointment in my voice, the guy told me that they are having another even in October that will focus on the general election and would definitely want me to speak at that.  He also told me that with the focus of this one being on the Republican primary this week that I'd probably be lost in the shuffle.  So I'll be waiting until October to speak at the Tennessee Conservative Union's get-together.  Oh well, it happens, but at least I get to speak there.  I gotta say though, the speech I wrote for this thing was absolute perfection.  I'm no great orator, but when I get focused I can definitely speak from the heart with no problem, and this speech was a thing of beauty.  I wrote it in about fifteen minutes last Thursday night when I came back from an anti-illegal immigration rally Phil Valentine was hosting.  I handed TONS of my business cards out to people, spoke to some of the guys from The Minuteman organization, and received a lot of good feedback.  Then on the drive home I was listening to Michael Savage's radio show and he was in classic form talking about the war and wondering when in the heck we were going to call this a holy war since our enemy is calling it that.  I couldn't agree more, I've felt that way for a while and it was so awesome to hear someone else publicly state that.  So when I got home I was pumped and pissed...a lethal combo in my world...hahaha.  I wrote a speech blasting the other candidates who would be in attendance and at the same time being very positive with my ideas.  All I know is I"ll be very glad when Thursday is over with and there will only be two "real" candidates to worry about...I'm running out of material on my blog to make fun of four people...hahaha.  I will say I am working on some radio and TV interviews right now...so stay tuned.  I can say here that if I ever get on a debate, I will guarantee a victory much like Joe Namath did in Super Bowl III.  With my wit, intelligence, and common sense approach bundled with my anger towards typical politicians, I know I would wipe the floor with them.  I will definitely be trying to get on one...and if I do I'll let everyone know since they'll be televised.  The funny part will be election night in November.  Candidates usually have their big bashes at some fancy hotel downtown...my website will say something like "come join me at Hooters off Harding Road to celebrate...have some wings and beer and watch me count on one hand the votes I will get"...hahahaha.  Since I didn't make the trip to Knoxville on Saturday, that meant I didn't need to go to sleep early Friday night which allowed me to enjoy one of my true passions - boxing.

See, this is what I love about my life.  All the guys I work with who are married and/or have kids act like Friday night is nothing special.  To them it means that they get to sleep a little later the next day and if they don't have kids they have to spend the night watching some crappy movie the wife rented.  But not me, the epitome of bachelorhood.  Friday nights recently mean one thing - boxing.  Yep, some friends of minne come over and I get the XBOX 360 going online and we take turns fighting someone online.  Sounds stupid?  Please...for a boxing aficionado like myself it doesn't get much better.  As one fights, the others are acting as the corner men.  Serious...whoever is boxing, the other dudes will be coaching him through it.  "Ok, he's constantly leading with a left hook to the body, so when he does that block it and nail him with a right uppercut" and stuff like that.  This past Friday night was awesome.  A bud of mine brought a bunch of BBQ over, and of course I had a couple of rum & cokes, and the boxing went on for hours.  We were SCHOOLING these people online.  I should have worn some old fedora while smoking a cigar giving advice...it was that serious.  And of course the "Rocky" quotes flow beyond belief.  When the announcer starts saying "he better be careful or the ref will stop this fight" someone always says "don't stop nothin'!!!" and lines such as that.  Oh, and every time it goes to the cut man in the corner, someone has to say "cut me Mick".   I have my own trademark when I win....ever heard Alice Cooper doing "Hey Stupid"?  Yeah...it's to that melody...I start singing "AAAAA.....AAAA....AAAA....AAASSSS......ASS WHOOPIN...WHAT YOU GONNA DO?".  But I gotta say, if I was a boxer and had my buds Don and Jason in my corner, there is no way I could lose a fight.  We all coach each other and give tips during a bout, and man we rock.  We figure out the pattern of the other guy and scream out what needs to be done to beat them....and we win.  Oh you don't think having a good team in the corner matters?  Just look at the fight where Tyson lost to Buster Douglas and tell me a good corner team doesn't matter.  Man I love boxing.  One of the few sports where heart can win over talent, and I'm all about heart.  That's why I dig the show "The Contender" so much.  Every fight comes down to who wants it more...and that's what I dig about sports.  Football and boxing are the only two big sports where desire can overcome talent.  I just LOVE being in a position where ability doesn't matter as much as how bad someone wants it.  I know it's just a videogame, but Fight Night on the XBOX 360 does that for me.  Now the really funny part is the messages.  Oh yeah, some dudes will actually send me messages after an ass kicking.  I get voice messages through XBOX live with stuff like "man you're a bitch...you used the same punch over and over...only a bitch would do that you faggot" and stuff like that.  First off, if someone beats me online I'm like "hey, good match" and would NEVER take the time to send a message whining like a baby.  Second, what compels someone to cry like that over a firggin videogame?  Whatever...I never respond to them.  It's a game...jeez...grow up and have some fun.  But next week the game of all games comes out - "Dead Rising".  Oh, if you think I'm a dork already, you haven't heard anything yet.  The premise is that you're in a shopping mall packed with zombies.  In some of the screenshots I've seen you get to do stuff like run over zombies with a lawnmower and smash their heads in with cash registers.  It could quite possibly be the greatest game ever created.  I mean anytime you add killing zombies to ANYTHING it's better, just like if you add a clown to a movie it becomes creepy and if you add a midget it becomes funny.  For instance, the movie "Transporter 2" is about the best guy movie ever, but if he had killed just one zombie it would have been perfection.  And some people wonder why I'm so in love with Milla Jovovich...how many hot women have killed zombies?  Exactly...'nuff said.

Here's some band news - we've got a gig coming up at The Muse on Friday, August 11th.  The show will rock.  The Creeping Cruds are also on the bill and I love playing gigs with those guys because they're all pretty cool dudes.  One of the best times I had was last summer playing there because during the second song, I'll never forget, all these lights cut on and started swirling around and my adrenaline level shot through the friggin roof.  I hit this scream on a song I tried repeatedly to match in the studio and never could do it.  I guess I was just "rocking out"...hahaha.  It should be a killer show.  The week after that we hit Chattanooga to jam with our buddies in Chokeslam.  If you come check out the gig at The Muse, I promise you will not be let down.  I swear, a year ago when I took over lead vocal duties I never thought I could really pull it off, but now that I'm used to it I am having an absolute blast.

And on a final note, this is America, right?  Do we still speak English here?  Well, if you aren't already pissed off about illegal immigration, I wanted to share a photo I took.  This is the middle school across the street from me, and when I saw this I was completely enraged.  I saw my tax dollars hard at work catering to people who broke the law to get here.  Check this out, a picture of the sign in front of a school here in America.

I'll end it here for now sportsfans.  More in the next few days.