I was just thinking about you guys...in Peoria, and Carlinville and Macon.

More and more I'm learning the best friends are the ones you never even looked for to begin with, they just show up and make your life special. Even when God's plan for each of us takes us in different directions they are still there, and in the rare moments of reunion it seems as though we never left. All I can say is thank you to my friends and to God for allowing all our paths to cross for a few special years of daily fellowship and encouragement.

Wonder where your streaming audio went?

If you enjoy listening to streaming audio at work or home on your computer, a recent 300 percent royalty increase imposed on webcasters is poised to crimp your fun. A "Day of Silence" is underway today, June 26th to protest the increase and raise awareness of the issue.

Thoughts from a family reunion

Today was the Lyerla family reunion at Giant City State Park. As a kid I looked forward to the reunion every year as a chance to run around with my cousins and see aunts, uncles and other relatives that came in for the occasion. Twenty years and two children later, my enthusiasm has tempered somewhat. It was still great seeing everyone and catching up, but coordinating with my wife to keep track of our girls added a whole new angle to the event.
I did get a chance to pitch washers, and wound up with a great partner who nailed ringers the entire afternoon and pulled us to an undefeated record. I added a few points myself, but definitely found myself in the support role.
One glaring difference between reunions even five years ago and now was the topics of conversations between the cousins my age. Back then we talked about fun stuff; hunting, fishing, music, etc. The first conversation I walked up to this afternoon involved one of my cousins cautioning another about needing to get to a doctor to have something checked out. Growing up stinks! LOL
Anyway, we had a good time seeing everyone, Nancy won a basket full of camping/picnic gear in the drawing at the end, and hopefully we reinforced the importance of family history to our girls. Someday it will be THEIR responsibility to keep the tradition alive.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

My dad and I went to a Southern Illinois Miners game on Saturday night. A group of men from my dad's church arranged the trip while their wives were at a women's conference in St. Louis. My first impressions of the minor league franchise in Marion was positive. We were able to see a lot of runs scored, the Miners won, and Tim Dorn crushed two home runs over the 400' mark.
The enthusiasm of the crowd was good to see, and I hope they can maintain that level of excitement in future seasons. Tickets and concessions were a little higher than those at Pringles Park here in Jackson, but not as much as a major league park would charge. Traffic going in and coming out was managed effectively, something that truly surprised me.
Another surprise was the number of people I know that were at the game. A friend of mine from high school, a couple we used to go to church with and fellow blogger and friend Chase Abner. I was glad to see the game draw fans from all over southern Illinois.
Seating in Rent-One Park was a little tight, but they do have a "blanket area" down the left-field side that seemed worth checking out. I walked around the concourse to check the view from other seats and found few, if any BAD seats. As we were leaving dad voiced satisfaction by saying he and mom would probably watch another game.

To sum things up in small-town newspaper language, a good time was had by all.

A Whale of a Tale

Okay, I thought this was pretty cool. Had no idea that whales had such a long lifespan.

Weapon dates bowhead whale to 1800s

A month of silence...

For anyone who reads my musings, I want to apologize for the lack of content over the past month or so. Mix a little bit of writer's block, some discouragement and a lot of things going on at work this summer and it adds up to the blog slipping my mind. I'll do what I can to keep more current as the summer goes on, if for nothing else than a sounding board.

Citing High Casualty Count, Obama Calls for Withdrawl from Kansas.

Leave it to a Democrat to exaggerate numbers to make a point.

RICHMOND, Va. - Barack Obama, caught up in the fervor of a campaign speech, drastically overstated the Kansas tornadoes death toll, saying 10,000 had died.

The death toll was 12.

“In case you missed it, this week, there was a tragedy in Kansas. Ten thousand people died — an entire town destroyed,” the Democratic presidential candidate said Tuesday in a speech to 500 people packed into a sweltering Richmond art studio for a fundraiser.

Acknowledging his blunder later:

“There are going to be times when I get tired,” he said. “There are going to be times when I get weary. There are going to be times when I make mistakes.”

Obama spokesman Bill Burton said later that the senator meant to say “at least 10,” instead of 10,000.

The Buttafuoco Legacy

Joey Buttafuoco was released from jail this weekend after serving a three-month sentence for a parole violation. The CNN headline says Buttafuoco "paid his debt to society". The first thing that came to my mind was can he ever really make up for the countless SNL skits, woeful made-for-TV movies and cliche stand-up gags he is responsible for inspiring?

Just a thought.