a simple twist of fate

Am/D C
ya been a thorn in my side for over twelve years now
G F Am
think i'll get a gun a blow you straight to hell
Am/D C
but even then your features would haunt me late at night
G Dm Am
make me contemplate the days we held each other tight

CHORUS:
C G
how could a love that tasted sweet as wine
Dm Am
metamorph itself into all this wasted time?
C G
how could a couple who started out so great
Dm Am
work to turn the tables -- a simple twist of fate?

the tube is still going...

as promised, here goes...

channel 21 - mooresville graded school network. is that my honor student?

channel 22 - research channel. boring...

channel 23 - cpcc network. i can't seem to get away from school this morning. this program is telling me how great the law enforcement industry is. hmmm...

channel 24 - christian children's fund. depressing.

channel 25 - another access channel bad singing.

channel 26 - disney. some kind of cartoon with rabbits. and i don't mean bugs buny.

channel 27 - infomercial about a bicycle.

i think we have discovered how wonderful the color bar was. television is the devil! don't believe me? read on...

channel 28 - full house. need i say more?

channel 29 - a weird*** cartoon. those japanese are crazy!

channel 30 - ex-fat chick pushing nutrisystem.

channel 31 - ex-rockers pushing time-life cd collection. sad.

channel 32 - an animated fox is telling me i can spend my winters in hawaii if i send him $$$ for a get rich kit.

channel 33 - someone speaking to the university of texas on c-span. i am getting sleepy again.

channel 34 - the suzie orman show. suzie is talking about finances. now i am depressed again.

channel 35 - nfl commentary. i can barely hold my eyes open.

channel 36 - college football. geez.

channel 37 - infomercial about the total gym. everybody is selling!

channel 38 - infomercial about aloecure. send us your credit card number and that heartburn will be a memory!

channel 39 - there's that bike ad again. man!

channel 40 - infomercial about a mattress.

channel 41 - infomercial about hair loss.

channel 42 - amc movie. this is usually a pretty good show. hitchcock comes on tonight. scary.

channel 43 - christmas vacation. one of my favorites.

channel 44 - selling more music. good footage of old american bandstands.

channel 45 - infomercial pushing an excercise video.

channel 46 - weather channel. i like the weather channel girl:)

channel 47 - infomercial pushing that remote control vaccuum. weird. we are turning into the jetson's.

the boob tube has really taken it's toll on me. more later.

love ya!

what's on the boob tube?

i vaguely remember the late, late show. i do recall when television stations would sign off. they'd play the national anthem and show patriotic footage, then run a color bar so you could keep your settings in check.

i think tv was better then. there weren't nearly as many channels, affilliates weren't on for twenty-four hours and the info commercial hadn't been invented.

as usual, i am up in the wee hours. just for kicks and giggles, and to help prove my point, let's see what's on the set now:

Channel 2 - Dr James Kennedy. I think this preacher just died. Must be a repeat.

Channel 3 - I HATE that scrolling TV guide! You wait and wait, then usually miss what you are looking for!

Channel 4 - Cable classifieds. Terrible music.

Channel 5 - Some interview on PBS. Boring.

Channel 6 - Conan O'Brian. I like this guy! He is the next Carson.

Channel 7 - A skinny black guy and a fat black guy. I think it is some kind of musical program.

Channel 8 - Byron Allen. I remember Byron from the seventies. I think he is under rated.

Channel 9 - Some kind of women's shopping show. Yuck!

Channel 10 - Another one of those "what's going on in Hollywood" shows. Who cares if Brittany put on a few pounds?

Channel 11 - Local news show. Anchors are terrible!

Channel 12 - Some dude from the Washington Post is talking politics.

Channel 13 - Shopping channel is seling knives.

Channel 14 - Another local news show. They are talking about how geese kept the football team from playing at home. Funny.

Channel 15 - Shopping channel is selling watches.

Channel 16 - PBS has some kind of show on private business. Boring.

Channel 17 - Weird looking program with strange angles and yellowed out film. Looks interesting.

Channel 18 - Shopping channel is selling jewelry.

Channel 20 - Public access. Strange.

I am only third of the way through my basic cable line-up. Think I will check out 17 again. I am sleepy. Saturday night might prove a better post. See you then.

cmo-nkeys

remember this ad? what a jip! i ordered some once and not one of them had any distinguishable features. boy, i'd like to met the guy who designed that ad!

day on the lake

spent most of the day with a friend on lake norman. the fish must have been on vacation since none were biting. we were hoping to hook some white perch or maybe a large mouth bass. nothing.

however we did catch a sunset, tossed the anchor and listened to a couple of guitarists at bill's marina, caught up on old times and downed a few sundrops. all in all a good day on the lake.

and then there was tate

slow going, but eventually worth the wait. first marcus, then magoon, skater manny, shannon fernandez, larry noris, julie from across the street, now her big bro tate. this is really starting to look like a virtual party!

hello, larry!

thanks to lary morris for answering my ad on the lejeune high alumni website. i understand lary is growing old like the rest of us, maried, and has a bunch of kids. and all i remember is that meek kid in band. the years fly by, don't they?

passion

lead others in something passionate today! be happy. seldom frown. whistle. it is impossible to worry while whistling!

baby @?

associated press, beijing - a chinese couple seeking a distinctive name for their child settled on the e-mail ‘at’ symbol — annoying government officials grappling with an influx of unorthodox names.

the unidentified couple were cited thursday by a government official as an example of citizens bringing bizarre names into the chinese language.

written chinese does not use an alphabet but is comprised of characters, sometimes making it difficult to develop words for new or foreign objects and ideas. as of last year, only 129 names accounted for 87 percent of all surnames in china, li yuming, vice director of the state language commission, said at a news conference.

cmochordfinder is cool!

scroll down. look to the right. strum away!

"hot enough for you?" - the sequel

it's sooooo hot.....

.....the birds have to use potholders to pull worms out of the ground.
.....the trees are whistling for the dogs.
.....the best parking place is determined by shade instead of distance.
.....hot water now comes out of both taps.
.....you can make sun tea instantly.
.....you learn that a seat belt buckle makes a pretty good branding iron.
.....the temperature drops below 95 F (35 C) and you feel a little chilly.
.....you discover that in august it only takes two fingers to steer your car.
.....you discover that you can get sunburned through your car window.
.....you actually burn your hand opening the car door.
.....you break into a sweat the instant you step outside at 7:30 a.m.
.....your biggest bicycle wreck fear is, "what if i get knocked out and end up lying on the pavement and cook to death?"
.....you realize that asphalt has a liquid state.
.....the potatoes cook underground, so all you have to do is pull one out and add butter.
.....the cows are giving evaporated milk.
.....farmers are feeding their chickens crushed ice to keep them from laying boiled eggs.

brought to you by graphickathy.

candy with hair?

i don't get it. you decide!

"hot enough for you?"

you could fry an egg on the sidewalk. but who would eat it?

beer ad

click on image for a better read. thanks, mandi!

world's smallest newspaper

back in the 1930s, brazil's leonidas schwindt had a burning ambition to make it big in the world of newspapers. his tiny micro journal vossa senhoria became big news in south america, and the paper's diminutive dimensions soon began making headlines. the original editions measured 7 x 10 cm (2.75 x 3.94 inches), but when leonidas' daughter took over the paper in 1985, she shrank it further still, to a tiny 2.5 x 3.5 cm (0.98 x 1.38 inches). the weekly newspaper has a circulation of around 5,000 copies, and each edition has around 16 pages.

like what your reading? scroll down and click "guinness book of world records" for more remarkable stories like this one.

the cadbury conspiracy

just saw a rerun of conan o'brian. one of his guests was actor b.j. novak from the office. the interview included shocking proof that the cadbury egg has shrunk!

a search on wikipedia revealed the eggs are indeed 12.3% smaller. a pack of four eggs weighed 155 grams in 2005, but only weighs 136 grams this year.

since 2003, cadbury's faq has included the following q & a:

"why has the size of the egg changed?"
"it hasn't - you've just grown up!"

I WANT MY OLD CADBURY EGG!

jt the artist?

who doesn't love listening to james taylor crooning with an acoustic guitar? anyone?

now couple that talent with some pen and ink. who would've thunk?

stench of rot

here is another upper rom devotion. funny how timely they can be.

in october, 2005, with a group of 30 people from my congregation, I had
the privilege of traveling to the gulf coast of mississippi to aid in the
relief efforts following hurricane katrina. i was shocked by the
destruction. at one particular home, my job was to move debris out of the
backyard. every possession that these people had worked for and cared
about was suddenly debris, which i moved to a corner to be carried to a
landfill. as i moved the debris, i smelled the foul stench of rot.

thinking about the foul-smelling possessions heaped up on the gulf coast,
i began to smell the foul stench in my own life. i began to question if
Christ was my treasure or if I had put my trust and love in the world, in
possessions, status, and people. have i stored up my treasure here or in
heaven? where is my heart?

we can treasure the things of this world, or we can invest ourselves in
the lasting treasure of a relationship with God. every day we choose
which it will be.

"sing-along-with-mitch", why don't you?

why not?

pace yourself

i am actually talking to myself here, but...

pace yourself.
millions of things to do today.
pace yourself.
hundreds of people to please today.
pace yourself.
can't let the family down.
pace yourself.
make the boss happy.
remember to pace yourself.

show me your favor, LORD.
in the meantime, i will
pace myself.

pace yourself.
and don't die trying.

merv griffin dies at eighty-two

from the cmoobit file

veteran talk show host, entertainment business mogul, and long time game show producer merv griffin has died of prostate cancer. he was eighty-two.

mervyn edward griffin jr. was born july 6, 1925, in san mateo, california. he began his show business carreer singing "i've got a lovely bunch of coconuts". his gift of gab later sparked an interest in television. then in later years his interest in casinos, hotels, radio stations and thoroughbred race horses amassed fortunes.

"the merv griffin show," enjoyed a twenty-three year run. the popular television program featured celebrity interviews and performances. merv griffin enterprises produced staple programing including "jeopardy!", "wheel of fortune" and "dance fever".

his marriage to julann wright griffin ended in divorce in the seventies. survivors include a son, anthony p. griffin and two grandchildren.

mr. griffin suggessted an appropriate tombstone epitaph in an earlier new york times interview, "i will not be right back after these messages."

i have one more virtual friend

jer and marcus and julie and shannon. why haven't i heard from the following?:

christine bancroft
mr. scruggs
senor blanco
ann and waco porter
doug toth
leslynn defosses
artie parks
adam and theresa phillips
tate harman
james howard
joey crouse
mike atchinson
ann o'donnell
phil o'donnel
ray schenberg
jeff mckenzie
larry morris
angie langlois
fred wilson
eric griffin
joe sugar the bus driver
mr. parker the art teacher
coach anderton
rudy who lived on jones street
karen who went to the world's fair with me
desiree and her little brother shane
dana pelitier
mike samuels

martha stewart or paula? YOU DECIDE!

another post for valdez.

plant a seed today

GOD'S GARDENS

Isaiah 58:10-11 (NRSV)

If you offer your food to the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,
then your light shall rise in the darkness
and your gloom be like the noonday.
The LORD will guide you continually,
and satisfy your needs in parched places,
and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water,
whose waters never fail.

[The kingdom of God] is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in
the garden; it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests
in its branches.
- Luke 13:19 (NRSV)

My wife and I were interested in becoming part of a church after an
absence of a few years. Eventually we joined a small congregation where
making personal and spiritual connections was easy for us. One of the
church's ministries is a vegetable garden that supplies fresh produce to
local soup kitchens.

The Bible gives us many garden stories. The mustard seed growing in a
garden is compared to God's kingdom (Luke 13:18-19). John tells us that
Jesus was buried in a garden (John 19:41-43), where he appeared to Mary
(John 20:11-16).

In my life, gardens have not always been so glorious. During my
junior-high years, I viewed the sweaty, dirty, itchy, hard work in my
family's garden as punishment for unknown transgressions. However,
working in the church garden has become a part of our worship, and my
feelings about gardening have changed.

That small church is our spiritual garden plot. Regular worship is our
spiritual watering, participation in Sunday school is tilling the soil,
and mission trips are our way of planting seed in the lives of others. I
am grateful that the Holy Spirit has given us a bountiful garden in the
church and in our lives.

Prayer: Dear God, thank you for opportunities to serve and to grow.
Amen.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
How will you care for God's garden today?

murder she wrote was a fox

jer and marcus -- maybe you were right? post a comment!

separated at birth, again!

here's another pair i found after reading next week's tv guide: glenn close and diane sawyer.

separated at birth?

is it just me, or do "the hoff" and dan marino look a lot alike these days?

the votes are in, again!

is it time to leave iraq? apparently w. isn't reading the blog. 66% say, "yes", while the remaining 34% are undecided. scroll down for a new poll question.

thanks for voting.

mrs. johnson lives!

got an e-mail from my high school english teacher today! she always liked my drawings even though i was doing them while she was giving us assignments.post a comment, mrs. johnson!

i keep thinking of more pups

i can't shut my mind off air station kidz, brewsterites, and devilpups. here is an updated list of those i'd love to hear from and some i probably wouldn't:

doug toth
leslynn defosses
artie parks
adam and theresa phillips
tate & julie harman
james howard
joey crouse
mike atchinson
ann o'donnell
phil o'donnel
ray schenberg
jeff mckenzie
larry morris
angie langlois
fred wilson
eric griffin
shannon fernandez
joe sugar the bus driver
mr. parker the art teacher
coach anderton
rudy who lived on jones street
karen who went to the world's fair with me
desiree and her little brother shane
dana pelitier
mike samuels

giggin's what it's all about

took the clan, including the battleaxe to legends -- a coffeeshop that serves beer --last night. june "offie's rocker" benfield was playing on the patio. sam and i settled back and read some pieces of spiderwick and listened.

saw bob the barber, john the mailman, java jim, tim the barfly, miss bird and her better half, and a host of others that claim notiriety.

the great uncle invited me up to strum a few. i picked jt's "country road" -- did it moderate justice --, then two originals which got positive vibes.

i love to gig, especially when the groove is there. you can feel it pulsing through yur veins and all of a sudden it hits you. giggin's what it's all about.

what's in a name?

did you know that rearranging the letters of "george bush" gives "he bugs gore", "madonna louise ciccone" gives "occasional nude income" and "william shakespeare", "i am a weakish speller"??!

now you can find what lurks within the letters of YOUR name, and that of your boss, employer or anything else you want! go to http://www.anagramgenius.com/server.html and see!

buds

thanks again, marcus valdez. this guy is a wealth of scrapbook material. here is a candid shot from 1985. i can't remember the guy on the far left, but manny is in the middle and marcus is on the far right. nice pants and shoes, guys!

update - three contacts made

help me add to the list:

manny malanado
jeremy magoon
marcus valdez

m.i.a.

haven't seen count choula in a while. come to think of it, toucan sam and sugar bear haven't made very many appearances. did you hear captain crunch was murdered? they think it was a cereal killer.

summer nights

it is hot outside tonight. the air seems stiff. i hear a siren in the distance. blades of grass feel like shards of glass under my bare feet. i walk over to the driveway and it is warm.

all of these senses take me back to my grandparents. i remember sitting on their porch swing watching the stoplight change. sometimes i would listen to the radio. another time my brother and i draped a sheet over a rusty swing set for a makeshift tent.

i like this time of year. i walk back inside and get into bed. before i know it r.e.m. takes over. my childhood is rekindled. i am inside that homemade tent and hear the traffic pass. i fall asleep inside my dream.

it is hot outside tonight.

WANTED!

chatting with marcus and jeremy makes me want to chase down these devilpups. can you help? post a comment.

adam and theresa phillips
tate & julie harman
james howard
joey crouse
mike atchinson
ann o'donnell
manuel malanado
ray schenberg
jeff mckenzie
larry morris
angie langlois
fred wilson
eric griffin
shannon fernandez
joe sugar the bus driver
mr. parker the art teacher
coach anderton
brenda johnson
rudy who lived on jones street
karen who went to the world's fair with me
desiree and her little brother
dana pelitier
mike samuels

ironic. or is it?

lisa and i were bickering when we stumbled on this devotional. it made me realize that the man upstairs is involved in everything we do. here is the upper room article. you decide.


when our three children played together, they sometimes argued, as all
children do. i never enjoyed those times and would work to help them see
the need to get along. in the moments when they shared their toys
peacefully, i loved to watch them. as they grew up and their interests
diverged, they spent more time with friends and less with siblings. but
still, sometimes i would come across two or all three of them together,
talking about a book they had read or just chatting about the day. now
that they are grown they see less of each other; but when i hear of one
inviting the other to dinner or their going shopping together, my heart is
warmed.

watching us, God must feel as i do about my children. how it grieves
God's heart when we squabble and argue among ourselves. that's not the
way we please God. but when we interact together in love, the Bible says
it is "good and pleasant." just as human parents take pleasure in
watching their children respect each other and enjoy each other's company,
so God is pleased when believers live in harmony.

thought for the day:
God smiles on us when we love one another.

-- lorrie orr (british columbia, canada)

man on a mission.

scroll down to see some cool photos from central america. stay tuned for more soon.

lost friends keep on coming!

hello JEREMY MAGOON!-- another lnhs alumni has responded! i always liked jeremy. he was a band geek like me. a lot can happen in twenty years. thanks again to marcus
valdez who got the ball rolling. stil looking for:

adam and theresa phillips
tate & julie
james howard
joey crouse
mike atchinson
ann o'donnell, (she's the girl that bit me!)
manuel malanado
ray schenberg
jeff mckenzie
larry morris
angie langlois, (she was HOT!)
a guy named fred that had sweaty hands
a guy named grif that played soccer

old friends-- new contacts

check out the "cmoschool links", inspired by bandmate marcus valdez. he's the one who called out of the blue last night. i started thinking about old friends, where they are, and what they are doing. refer to the couple of posts below to see past acquaintances. add a comment if you are a devilpup.

someone read my blog!

thanks, marcus, burton, and mandy. haven't tried very hard to increase traffic -- but at least you guys are noticing. i enjoyed logging on to your posts.

i keep adding more and more to cmo's world! maybe too much? it makes for a good read plus easy reference to the internet - at least what i am interested in.

btw, why am i doing this at 4:58 a.m.?

class of 89... almost 20 years later!

who the #$@! is this guy? why it's marcus valdez, former drummer for the camp lejeune high devilpups.

"who?", you say, "is that?". let me explain..

tuesday night, 8:58 p.m., phone rings -- voice on the other end says they know me. turns out we were band nerds together way back when! wow.

here's a shout out for:

adam and theresa phillips
tate & julie
james howard
joey crouse
mike atchinson
ann o'donnell, (she's the girl that bit me!)
manuel malanado
ray schenberg
jeff mckenzie
larry morris
angie langlois, (she was HOT!)
a guy named fred that had sweaty hands
a guy named grif that played soccer

if y'all are reading this, please post a comment. thanks.

the votes are in.

who is the greatest rock n' roll band of all time? you voted, we listened:

beatles 40%
stones 40%
the who 0%
other 20%

let's hope pete townsend isn't reading!

i like your music, butt...

ben taylor sounds like a cross between pink floyd and papa, "jt". a little liv sneaks in from time to time, as do the vocal stylings of mother simon. with that said, the founder of the btb is really his own man. and now i have to ask...

the beatles, kiss, and even hannah montana have depended on successful marketing to further record sales. but thongs? yes, thongs have entered promotional areana. has anyone broke the news to tom jones?

come on down!

drew carey has been a game show headliner for a very short time. even so, the comedian turned actor is the latest rumored replacement to host "the price is right". bob barker leaves big shoes to fill. at least they've forgotten rosie o'donnel.

cool blog

after browsing the blogs i found some interesting creations, including sculptures made entirely of scotch tape! log on to artmakers.blogspot.com
and prepared to be blown away.

save the date!

essential elvis will hold a meet and greet at vernon presley's on nolan drive, (beside graceland) on august 15th at 6.PM. with the exclusive appearances of billy & jo smith, mary & patsy lacker, george nichopoulos, jeanne lemay dumas and susan henning. for more information go to www.essentialvis.com.

wooooooooooooooh!

met rick flair on my return trip from guatemala. seems he doesn't like to be called "nature boy" in a crowded airport. just the same, he autographed my journal and posed for this photograph.

we shared the same airplane, only he was in first class. they sat him next to a pretty girl. i saw him get up to pee three times.

that's luke on the far left, mr. flair in the middle, and me on the far right. luke and i served on the mission trip together. he was by far the funniest kid there.

create your own radio station!

this is really cool, http://pandora.com/. thanks, holly and nate.

chimpanzee suffers from smoking

China - A 26-year-old female chimpanzee named Aiai smokes at Qinling Zoo in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi province, August 23, 2005. The chimpanzee began smoking in 1989 after her first mate died. Following the deaths of her second mate in 1997 and one of her offspring, and the transfer of another offspring to a different zoo, she began to smoke more heavily. Zoo authorities announced on August 23 that they planned to help her stop smoking through several measures, such as finding a male chimpanzee for her.

miranda memories

how'd she balance all that fruit?

under those bananas and mangos was one brazilian bombshell!

"but i'm just an old man. i'd probably get sore. cause they don't dance like carmen no more."

thanks, jb.

way to travel

well i can dream, can't i?

here's a magic bus by the seashore, palm tree included. i could easily live out of this van for at least a weekend.

the search continues. there is a brown, sixty-some vw a few miles from my house. i've seen an old man drive it around town, but not of late. i'm half the mind to ring his doorbell.

the kids would love it and lisa would end up behind the wheel. i could dig that! camping would be a blast and it would be great for gigs. i could go on and on and on... have i sold you on the idea?

are you a van lover? have special memories growing up with one? feel free to post your comments. i would enjoy hearing from you.

back online

hello again. it has been away too long -- but i'm better equipped than ever before! keep checking my posts and add a comment or two. i'll try to keep up my end of the bargain. later.