Our boy Miles

One my Grandmother Louise's favorite movies and ours too!

The Bishop's wife starring Cary Grant, Loretta Young and David Niven is a great Christmas movie that is little known and under rated. My Grandmother watched it with me many times while she would visit at my Mother's home. I bought it on DVD when it came out and have tried to turn as many people on to it as I can.

Movies such as this are just full of goodness, comedic moments, moral teachings in God and Christmas and finding your way through life with God's influence.

Click here to watch the entire movie in several segments. They should start automatically when one ends the next should start.

There is a reason that people today all over the world have a feeling that something is missing in their lives, missing in the U.S. especially. Once God had a place in people's families, government, work, school, society and entertainment. Now the radicals have bullied people into not mentioning God in public for fear of a lawsuit. There was a long time in our country when people used Christian values in their everyday lives. They did it because the teachings of the church and Jesus were right and people knew it. Now with the loss of God in our society our country has lost much of it's conscience and soul and people yearn for it's return.

Reject the evil ways of the radical that denies God and goes against everything he teaches and commands. In doing so they also reject through their intolerance of anything that challenges their self serving agenda, any benefit from those teachings.
Shut off the TV shows that teach hedonistically selfish impulses are alright, especially to children. Show them programs, movies and books that promote values and morals influenced by God and you will give them a base of what's right and wrong to guide them through life.

I will admit that I'm not a practicing Christian, but I do believe and I know what evil is because I know who God and Jesus is. I am not suggesting you do anything I am not, like attending church weekly, I'm just suggesting that the lack of God in our lives is making our souls and our country sick. The attack on God and Christianity in the U.S. has entered every aspect of our society and I believe there is a backlash brewing against it. People instinctively know something is not right in the country now and that's why movies like the Bishop's wife make my wife and I feel good inside and I'm eternally grateful to my Grandmother Louise for introducing us to it!

I hope you enjoy it and pass it on to your loved ones!

Merry Christmas! - drewby

Jeff Dunham

A group of us went and saw Ventriloquist Jeff Dunham last night at the South Shore Music circus in Cohasset, Ma. It was myself, Maureen, her sister Jean and brother Rich and his wife Michelle and Maureen's parents, Ann and Dave. We had seen him probably 11 years ago and we have always thought his characters were very funny. He has several, but the newest rage is one named Achmed the dead terrorist. Because of Dunham's comedy central specials and his videos being posted on youtube he has quite a number of new followers. The show was sold out after all.

There is also another guy that is part of his show and does the warm up act named Brian Haner. He is affectionately known to Jeff Dunham fans as "guitar guy". He did a great job warming up the crowd by narrating his own comedic biography and how he got his start in show business. I especially liked his funny song, "Carney man". Posted below is Haner performing this song at the Improv in California.
Haner is called on stage a few by the "puppets" to help with a song or a story. Last night you could tell that Dunham was improvising with him through the puppet characters on stage as Haner could hardly contain his laughter. It was funny to watch. He is a very talented guitarist and a great straight man for Dunham's characters.

We were afraid that Dunham would basically do all the same stuff we saw on the comedy central specials. We were surprised that almost everything was new material! He also told us that there would be a new comedy central Christmas special this year and he did some of that material last night. His characters Peanut, Walter, Bubba T, and Jose jalepano on a stick were all very funny. The crowd favorite was Achmed though. Everyone loved his time on stage. I actually bought a T shirt for Maureen and I with his picture and famous quote, "I keel you!" on it. Posted below is his video from youtube as well. If you get a chance I recommend seeing Jeff Dunham and all the whacky characters that come straight from his own imagination.
- Enjoy. Drewby

Brian Haner - "Carney Man"


Achmed, the dead the terrorist

My Dad's 80th Birthday!

To the right is a picture my Dad, Leo. He turned 80 on July 15th 2008 and as you can tell by the look on his face as he looks at his cake, he probably can't believe it himself. He doesn't act 80. He certainly doesn't act elderly. Hey, he just bought a Chryler 300. Myself, Maureen, My brother Peter and his wife Katerina, and brothers Dennis, Joe and Mark took him up to the Granite links golf course tavern in Quincy, Mass for lunch. It is a very nice place with a great view of Boston. Maureen, Dennis and I chipped in for a gift certificate for 18 holes anytime of the week with a cart.
We had a very good lunch and then they brought out his cake which was a Kalua torte cake from Konditor Meister bakery in Braintree. Everyone loved it. We then went back to Dad's place for a few hours or so and talked. It was a good day. He seemed to really appreciate the effort everyone made to be with him for this day.

The next week he surprised Maureen and I at home by showing up at 6pm with a big container of his meat sauce with meatballs, sausage and pork mixed in that he made the night before. He came by to thank us for putting the day together. It was a 45 minute ride for him to do this. He had a few cups of coffee with us and then an hour or so later said he wanted to get home to watch the Red Sox even though he was invited to watch it with us here. It was a nice surprise and nice that he really appreciated us making a big deal of his birthday. It was always a given on our part.

Blueberries

Maureen, Dennis and I are supoosed to go blueberry picking again today. We found a nice pick your own blueberry farm a few towns over in Rochester, Mass. The blueberries were almost the size of small grapes and they are all the high bush varietie. Which means, and you will know this if you have ever picked blueberries from low bushes, that everything was at almost eye level which means no aching back at the end of the day!! Plus, they were a very reasonable $1.50 a pound!

Anyway, Dennis uses them for his juice drinks. He bought a really nice juicer to help him eat better and has now gone strawberry and blueberry picking with us this year. He came down that day with a good strawberry/peach concoction he devloped. It was pretty good! After today the next outing will be apple picking in September or October.

We picked 20 pounds of blueberries last time!! I know what your thinking W.T.F? 20 pounds and you need more?! Well, we do. Maureen has made two batches of blueberry jam that she cans, three pies that are in the freezer. A blueberry and yellow squash bread, like zucchini bread but with yellow squash. I was skeptical of how that bread would come out, but I liked it a lot! We also made blueberry ice cream that came out really good! I had her put in whole blueberries at the end of the process and that was a mistake. They are like small ice balls, but they melt in your mouth fast enough. Maybe chocolate chips next time? Chocolate chip bluebery ice cream. That sounds good!

She will make more pies to to keep for later and maybe more jam or maybe she will just freeze the new berries until she is ready to use them. It's up to her.

Blueberry picture above taken by wife Maureen the same day.

Manny's replacement

Well, what a difference a day made in the life of Jason Bay, the ex Pittsburg Pirate outfielder. One day he is the star player on an under performing team in the National league and the next he is the starting left fielder for the defending World Champion Boston Red Sox. His Father who is a diehard Red Sox fan according to Jason, must be pleased with what fate has brought his son. He got a standing ovation as he stepped to the plate for the first time at Fenway Park in Boston. A warm welcome from the Boston fans to a guy who has just kept his head down and played for the last 5 years. He was the rookie of the year in 2004 and has quietly maintained a respectable .281 batting average,.376 OBP, .517 Slugging percentage with 733 hits, 141 home runs and 547 RBI.

In two games with the Red Sox, Bay has come to bat 7 times and has had 2 hits and 3 walks and has crossed the plate 4 times. He also has had a triple and a home run and has been credited with 3 RBI. He also made two great run saving catches in left on Friday night.

Bay, admittedly, doesn't know how to handle all of the new found attention here in Boston. On the standing ovation he said, "It's all new to me". He stood at the plate and tipped he cap a little and then waved to the crowd. He ended up with a walk and the Red Sox fans were satisfied with that. "I had numerous people try to help me with my bags at the airport," he said. "It was very overwhelming." In the 12th inning, tied 1-1 with Oakland, Bay came up and hit a high triple off the Green Monster that everyone thought was a home run at first. Two batters later Jed Lowrie hit a single and Bay scored the winning run. His new team mates swarmed him at the plate like he just hit the walk off home run in the Worlds series. Asked about it later, Bay said "Having met these guys eight hours ago, everybody's been extremely positive, You jump around with those guys, I felt like I'd been here all year. We were like little kids."

Welcome to Boston Jason Bay.

Batman: The Dark Knight

I went and saw this movie last week. I don't really go to the movies much, but I thought I would like to see this on the big screen after all the hype of how well Heath Ledger did in his final acting appearance. I have to say that this Batman was the darkest yet, and I loved it! Ledger was incredible as the joker. He wasn't the goofy joker we are all used to. He was dark and menacing. You never knew what his character was going to do next. This movie isn't for kids though. It is rated pg-13. There is a lot of violence. It really is more for adults.
Christen Bale does another good job as Batman/Bruce Wayne and Michael Caine is again entertaining as Batman's/Wayne's Butler,friend and advisor Alfred. The only down spot in the movie I thought was Maggie Gyllenhaal as Batman's old flame. I thought they could've found someone much better.
Gary Oldman returns as James Gordon still a lieutenant on the Gotham Police force. Morgan Freeman returns as Lucius Fox, Wayne's/Batman's friend and specialized equipment innovator.
The movie cast Aaron Eckhart as Gotham District Attorney Harvey Dent. In doing so they brought back Batman villian, Two face.

There have been reports in the news that Christen Bale assaulted his Mother and Sister in England. It was assumed that he physically struck them, but under English law you can charge someone with assault by being verbally attacked by someone. So the claims that he physically struck them were false from what is being said now. I have heard that they asked him for $200,000 and he refused. it was reported that he has been estranged from them for some time for some reason.

Anyway, I recommend this film. Action, and suspense are strong attributes to this movie. Hey, maybe I'll start a movie review section of this blog? Who knows.

Good bye and good riddance Manny Ramirez!

7 and a half years after Manny Ramirez signed his 160 million dollar contract with Boston Red Sox he has finally worn out his welcome with the Red Sox and their fans.
Manny has always been just about Manny. He has pulled one stunt after another, made up one vague injury that couldn't be confirmed after another to get a day, a week, a month off while most of the time his team and his team mates were fighting to get into the post season. The final straws as it were was the shoving to the ground the Red Sox traveling secretary Jack McCormick in Houston on June 18th. Manny asked for a large amount of free tickets with almost no notice for Mr. McCormick. When McCormick, who is 64 by the way, told Manny he couldn't do it with such short notice Manny told him "Just do your job" and shoved him. McCormick hit the ground. Both men reported that Manny apologized and wanted it to all just "go away". Unfortunately, the fan's memory would not be wiped out so easily. Even the Red Sox front office wanted it to "go away" without penalty for Ramirez, showing how they think. It wasn't until public outcry for the Red Sox to penalize Manny in some way was at a deafening point did they come out and fine Manny at all. As the 2008 trading deadline approached and Manny got more amd more disrespectful and brazen. During a Yankees series he took himself out of the first game complaining of knee pain. Skeptical management sent him for MRI's on both knees, when they came back clean they told him to either play or be suspended. He did play, but went 0-4. He tells reporters the next day that "enough is enough" and that he and the team are fed up with each other. He also told papers that ownership and the front office were "liers and backstabbers" and that "they don't deserve a player like me". It was then reported that team majority owner John Henry took great offense with Manny's statements. It was also reported that after a few deals fell through for Manny, Henry told GM Theo Epstein to get a deal done to get Manny out of Boston. He did. On July 31st at the last possible moment before the trading deadline, a three team deal was enacted that would send Ramirez to the L.A. Dodgers. In exchange Boston would get outfielder Jason Bay from Pittsburg and Pittsburg would receive 4 prospects. 2 from Boston and 2 from L.A. In the end Boston paid a great deal to get Manny and a great deal to get rid of him. They gave up two top prospects in their system already, including number 1 pick, pitcher Craig Hanson. Hanson hasn't worked out yet, but his upside is good if he could improve his control to go along with his 98 mph fastball. The Red Sox also had to pay the remainder of Manny's contract for this year that is 7 million dollars. Also, by trading him they gave up the two draft picks they would have gotten if he refused salary arbitration which he most certainly would have done and another team gave him a contract. To Manny's credit he is a terrific offensive player and will be a hall of famer. I think that the Red Sox wouldn't have won the World Series in 2004 or 2007 without him.

My analogy of Manny and his antics is this. Manny is like a big, dumb dog that is a lovable goof, but does things once in a while that makes you mad or makes you scratch your head for a moment. You put up with the bad things because he is a good dog and you love him and you know he loves you or you think he does. Then one day he turns on you or a family member one time to often and then you know he has to go live someplace else. All you can think is that it's too bad that you and that once lovable dog are now headed down a bad road together and something has to be done.

When it's all said and done though, I'm glad he's gone. He doesn't have respect for the game of baseball, the Red Sox or their fans who had put up with his antics for years. He doesn't care about anybody but himself, and that's just Manny being Manny!

I'm Back

Well, I hadn't added any new posts on my blog since March. I can attribute it to a combination of procrastination and my having to have a surgery to repair a hernia that put me out of commission for around three weeks. I thought with all that time off I would have been writing on here all the time and reading all my books that I never seem to have time to read. Well, that obviously wasn't the case. I just didn't feel like writing. Oh well, I'm back now and I'll try to add more to this more frequently. Andy

Robert Plant and Alison Krauss June 5th in Boston

Well, my friend Mike and I went to the Robert Plant, Alison Krauss concert on June 5th in Boston and it didn't disappoint! It was an incredible night of mixed music forms as on their Raising sand cd that I have promoted on this blog. They did all those songs plus some Led Zeppelin songs that were reworked to fit this band. Adding a little country/bluegrass element to those Zeppelin classics. They also did 3 or so bluegrass/gospel tunes that the crowd really responded positively to. That positive reaction to songs referencing God and a belief in God and the promise of a life after this one was wonderful to hear from the crowd here in liberal, take God out of everything Boston. Anyway, the show was wonderful and I would go see them again. If you get the chance to see them I would recommend it and to pick up their cd as well.

Below is the set list from that show and a video of them performing "Please read the letter" Enjoy.

Rich Woman
Leave My Woman Alone
Black Dog
Sister Rosetta
Through the Morning
So Long Goodbye to You
Fortune Teller
In the Mood
Black Country Woman
Shut It Tight
Bon Temps Roule
Trampled Rose
Green Pastures
Down to the River
Killing the Blues
Nothing
Who Do You Love (Bo Diddley tribute)
Battle of Evermore
Please Read the Letter
Gone Gone Gone
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Don't Knock
One Woman Man
When the Levee Breaks
Your Long Journey