Wonder why the bailout bill failed?

Wonder why the republicans are scared to let the Dems run everything. Watch this and listen to the stupidity.

Coming Soon to a Theater Probably Not Near You

You may have to hunt for this film, but it will be worth it. This has received several awards from film festivals and if word of mouth generates enough of a buzz it could get to some mainstream chains. Ask your local theater to bring in a film like this. It may be the only way this ever even makes it to DVD. This is the short trailer. Its all I could snag at the moment. The longer trailer is available at www.specialthemovie.com and is well worth checking out as it expands on the short trailer above. This is also getting some play on my favorite TV channel HDNet.

Paul Newman -- Champion

I first met Paul many years ago during an SCCA race at Mid-Ohio. He was just another racer. Coming in the back door at registration so that his presence did not cause a commotion and slow things down. That was him. Always in the spotlight, but not wanting to be the spotlight. When word leaked out several months ago that his condition was grave there was nothing from his camp. The next thing you knew the story was being retracted. Only most of us knew that it was true. Time had come for Paul to go. He would do it his way.

About a month ago Paul rented Lime Rock Park in Conn. He wanted to take his race car out for some laps. He ran the GT-1 class Corvette the way he always had. Flat out. This lead some to speculate that maybe things were not as bad as had been reported. We knew better. Paul spent that day saying goodbye to his cars. His crews. His passion. It was a chance to go out on his terms. Here is a photo from that day.


With the news this morning of his passing millions of people will look back at his life and career. Think about their favorite movie with him. That one scene where you knew he was perfect in the role (Slap Shot). Others might look back at his career as a car owner in CART or CAN-AM. Races he ran in SCCA and IMSA. Sitting in his pitbox cheering on Mario/Michael Andretti Sebastian Bourdais, or more recently Graham Rahal. Still others knew him for his charitable work with the Hole in the Wall Gang Camps or Newman's Own dressings and popcorn. The man was complete. Everything he did he did for a reason. It was just time to go. So he did. In his own house with his beloved wife. And the world goes on. Just not as fast. Godspeed PL.

Free WiFi WooHoo

Just a few miles down the road in Powell there is free WiFi in the historic downtown area. You gotta love it. For a couple years I've spent every Wednesday evening sitting around doing nothing while the kids are at piano lessons. Tonight I blogged. Baby steps my friends. Baby Steps.

Oh Yeah... Hockey season has arrived and just in time. The Blue Jackets have decided to actually use some newcomers in preseason games. Sorta like the rest of the NHL. Maybe things are turning around. Baby steps again!

I survived the weekend- barely

I say barely because late last week I caught the virus thats going around. You know slight fever. Crud in the lungs and a cough. General feeling that you are going to die at any moment. Here at our house we all got it and I blame AEP. Yes I blame the electric company because without power we had to wash dishes in cold water and the virus was spread to all of us. Once again a reason to dislike them.

Ok back to reality for a sec. Saturday Poppy had hockey practice and then we had to go shopping for gifts for gift bags and other party gear as its was time to celebrate her 8th birthday with a 'girls only' party. We struggled to come up with the right assortment of goodies, but managed to get it done and get to DQ for an ice cream cake. The party... oh my 8 year old girls on ice. Oh Poppy loved it, but several of the girls had never skated before so it was interesting. After that we headed home for some pizza and gifts. Frudoch on the other hand was like a man alone. None of the girls wanted him around and he did not know what to do.Once they left I crashed out as by that time I was exhausted and felt like mush. Yesterday was nice and slow paced watching Ryder Cup golf and cheering on local hero Ben Curtis in his first Ryder Cup outing.

I'm still feeling it today and in fact after the kids boarded the bus I went back to bed for 2 hours. Hopefully I'll feel better as its now time to restock the 'fridge as both were emptied of their contents. I'm going to bed now.

The Life Before Her Eyes

Check out this film now on DVD. Its trailer looks pretty good.

After 117 Hours......

Electricity was finally restored. Thanks to the CANADIAN crew that fixed the problems. Yeah wait until we get that bill for service...

This is getting OLD. Still no electricity

OK its THURSDAY and I still have NO ELECTRICITY. To make matters worse apparently nobody outside of Ohio and parts of Kentucky even knows about this. I am totally exhausted and pissed. Each day drags on longer and longer. Where are you AEP? To make matters worse according to the local media AEP is going to have to raise the rates to cover the extra expense of paying overtime and bringing in crews from out of state. NICE! Where were all of the AEP crews? Texas. I think I need to buy 2 generators. One to backup the first one I'm gonna buy as soon as things return to normal. I will never be in this position again. Its been over 100 hours without power and I will have to pay extra. UGHHHH.

I can tell you what its like without electricity for 56 hours and counting

Quick post from my parents. We lost power in the hurricane force winds that ripped thru Ohio on Sunday. Its been 57 hours and the electric company says it will be another 5 days. yes 5 MORE days. This is crazy and life is hard without power. I can't get batteries and a GENERATOR? Forget it those are gone to TEXAS. I will sit and wait. There is nothing else to do. My blackberry is my only link to the world--and its tough to recharge without the juice. I've gone more than 2 days without tv or internet. Just wait to hear the fun when the power comes back. Ok back to our cave to rub 2 logs together...

Sukhoi SU-30 and IL-78 in the USA

First off I did not take these photos. I got them from a fellow airshow fan. What we have here are a couple of birds rarely found over the USA. The Sukhoi SU-30 Mk1 and the Ilyushin IL-78. Both of the Indian Air Force. They were here taking part in Red Flag in Las Vegas. These shots were taken in Rockford Illinois on Aug 30. From there they flew to Bangor and all along the way people misidentified them as its not everyday an SU-30 goes ripping overhead. The SU-30 was the answer to the F-15. I wonder how bad it got its ass kicked by the F22 at Red Flag? So here you go. Enjoy them and keep your eyes to the sky...

Finishing up Cleveland Airshow Photos

OK I've blown them up and touched them up and while I might have a few more here and there this is about all for now as far as the jets go.I'll start on the other shots and post as I go. I'm trying to decide whether to go to the Wings of Freedom Airshow next weekend in Middletown Ohio, but with the price of gas and my wife not really "getting" how you can keep going for the same planes, but different locale thing Its only temporary at the moment. I also will have some super cool pics of a couple Indian Air Force jets in the US a couple weeks back for training. Lets just say these were not your typical US sourced warbirds. Oh do I have you interested? Look for those pics this weekend. Ok on to the Cleveland photos....

Dear Obama

Back to MORE Cleveland National Airshow Photos

Cleaned up a few more photos from the airshow. I've got more to come. Please bookmark and check back again. I also have lots posted earlier so go back a few weeks for more from this and other airshows this summer.

You MUST see this film-- Man on Wire

We interrupt this blog for a quick trip to Denver

Yes I am heading west for a few day. We are on our way to a wedding of one of my wife's college roommates. Yeah she waited awhile to get married. As long as the weather holds out I will be back in Ohio on Saturday evening. Yeah I said quick. Too bad there is no In-N-Out Burger in Denver. Well actually we are going to Breckinridge which is something like 9800 ft of elevation. Thats pretty high and the air is thin. I'll take it easy. We are flying Delta thru Atlanta. Cross your fingers for me as we have a really tight connection in ATL. So tight that we are not checking bags. I am crossing my fingers that we are in the same terminal for arriving and departing flights. Oh well. I'm gone. Gotta get up before 6 to catch the flight.

Cleveland Airshow Photos

More Cleveland National Airshow Pics

Now THAT was a great way to end the summer!

Took Poppy and Frudoch up to Cleveland for the airshow. If you missed it and could have been there you are a fool. That was one fantastic airshow. I took about 350 photos and have many to go thru, but I got a few pics for you to see tonight. Lets just say it was well worth the 120 mile drive! Oh yeah the CLK500 got more than 26MPG on the way up and just a fraction less on the way back including the 45 minutes where we only went 3 miles and at that point were averaging around 9MPG. enjoy these pics. Lots more to come in the next few days.