It has been awhile since I last posted here on my blog. I do not know about everyone else, but it has been busy the past few weeks. As well as hot. There are some days I come home, I do not feel like doing anything.

As I mentioned last week, summer camp is over, and the children are in their second week of school. As soon as the children go back to school, however, we start our after school program.

It is like those old science fiction/horror movies that I talk about from time to time. I can just imagine the voice over for the trailer now:

"Just when you thought you were safe because summer camp is over and THEY have gone back to school. THEY now return to haunt you in AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM!" Insert picture of woman screaming as children approach very slowly dragging their back packs behind them.

Anyway, I have been trying to get the neighborhood center back into shape during the day. Since the summer camp is over, I find that I have some energy to do a few things after work, so I have been busy running any errands and catching up with some friends.

Last Friday, I had the day off, so I went for a road trip up to Astor to see my friend Ron. He was not at home, but I dropped off a few things I needed to give him and went down the street to have lunch at the Dockside Bar and Grill. This place sits right on the St. Johns River across from the Blackwater Inn. It's great to have a cheeseburger and a cold draft beer while watching the boaters sail by.

"Good God almighty, I way do I steer? It's a cheeseburger in paradise..."

Afterwards, I drove into Ormond Beach and visited an old friend, Bruce. He happens to own a cigar shop called The Big Smoke, located on Granada Boulevard (State Road 40) in downtown Ormond Beach. Look for the wooden Indian figure that sits out front. That's the one that an old friend of mine, David, carved for the store. And when you go in, Bruce always offers you a beer or a coffee if you stay to smoke your cigar.

On that afternoon I went in to the store, Bruce had a few customers sitting down having a smoke and a beer while a gentleman named Joseph performed magic tricks from his bag of tricks. Needless to say, we made an evening of this, watching a deck of cards disappear, only to see those cards reappear out of thin air. I do not know what was more fun, watching the magic tricks that Joseph performed, or watching the reaction of the customer who walked into the store to purchase tobacco, only to end up performing along with Joseph and his illusions. Like the young lady by the name of Tonya.

I had to drive back to Orlando, so I wished everyone goodnight and drove back through the rain. I will have to get out to Ormond Beach again, but the next time I go, I will have to take a few days off and stay over night.

As for my friend Ron, I talked to him on the phone today. He was out with his wife Cathy and did not get my message until he got home. By that time, I was watching someone make a cigarette disappear.

We did make plans to get together on Monday. Ron says that he has not been fishing much lately, so I have an idea that we will be taking the boat out and try to catch a few. Remind me to get a case of Bud long necks and ice down the cooler.

And if we don't catch any fish, then good God almighty, I'll steer right up to Riverside and dock the boat right there. Get me a cheeseburger and a cold draft beer.

"I like mine with lettuce and tomato...."

Hey Folks!

I am up late tonight, celebrating the end of summer camp. Yesterday was the last day of summer camp, and the children will be going back to school on Monday. The campers wore me out yesterday, so I am partying today!

For the last day of camp, we had a cook out and a pool party. And for those children that couldn't swim, we had water games. A great way to beat the heat. Then we had cake, cookies, and ice cream. I think the children will be on a sugar high all weekend.

Well, I'm going to get back to my movie. It's one of those old black and white horror movies from the early 1960s. The movie is not the greatest, but I enjoy the hostess, who goes by the name of Ivonna Cadaver. She is a Elvira for the 21st century. She is also a brunette who has nice ...

Anyway, take care, have a great Sunday, and I'll let you know how that first day of school went.

Last night I was reading a few of the blogs here at Blogstream. I was delighted to find that Misty had posted one of my favorite songs on her blog, Life Is Not One Big Joke. In case you have not been there, she posted the lyrics to Pink Floyd's "Shine On You Crazy Diamond". This is from the Pink Floyd album, "Wish You Were Here", released on Columbia Records in 1975.

Most of you probably heard the album in your younger days. If you're like me, I usually pull the CD out on occasion and listen to the CD with volume on loud. Anyway, "Wish You Were Here" is based on fellow Pink Floyd co-founder Syd Barrett. Barrett passed away in July of 2006 after years of struggling with problems of drug abuse and mental illness.

Syd Barrett co-founded Pink Floyd with Roger Waters, Richard Wright and Nick Mason around 1964-1965. The group took its name from two blues artists that Barrett had been familiar with, Pinkney Anderson and Floyd Council. The group released several songs on singles, including "Arnold Layne", and "See Emily Play". They would release their first album, "Piper At The Gates Of Dawn" in 1967.

Sometime later, Syd started to develop symptoms of mental illness, as well as a problem with drugs. He would later be replaced by David Gilmour late in 1967.

Recently, I visited the official web site for Pink Floyd. For the 40th Anniversary of their first album, Pink Floyd will be releasing a special three disc CD set of "Piper At The Gates Of Dawn". The first CD will be the stereo recording of the album, and the second disc will be the original mono recording. The third CD will be material not previously released. The release date will be August 28.

I will most likely get this when it is released. And in case you are wondering, I have the release date circled on my calendar.

Anyway, if you are not familiar with the early Pink Floyd and the work of Syd Barrett, I suggest that you pick this special release up.

Now if you excuse me, I'm going to listen to "See Emily Play". Then I am going to pay my friend Misty a visit and listen to "Shine On You Crazy Diamond". And if you want to listen to any of those songs, visit the Pink Floyd web site. Then click on the icon for "Echoes", which is a CD of Pink Floyd's greatest hits.

www.pinkfloyd.co.uk

I'm thinking about her. The girl down the street that I grew up with. I have been thinking about her since I heard that song earlier tonight. "Big Boys Don't Cry"(I'm Not In Love) by 10CC. It was a song that was big in the 1970s. The time I was growing up in the suburbs west of Cleveland. The days of listening to WMMS 101FM, faded jeans, and smoking marijuana.

And whenever that song came on, I would always think of her. Especially when I would look at her picture upon the wall. And it did hide a nasty stain that was lying there. And she never did ask me to give it back. Although I do not know what happened to it, I wish I had it now. Hanging upon the wall, minus the nasty stain.

Just because.

I was going to post a joke I received in my e-mail, but I cannot find the copy of the joke I had printed. Oh well.

I just finished watching some pre-season football. Locally, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers played the New England Patriots, and the Buffalo Bills played the New Orleans Saints in a nationally televised game. I enjoy watching the pre-season games because you get to see the players trying to make the team, as well as all the big contract first round picks from the NFL draft. Granted, some of the play is sloppy, but some of the plays are great to watch.

Which leads me to write about the pre-season. After the game, the news came on. After the news comes the weather. And it is going to be hot again. After the weather comes the sports. And the sports caster is some radio/television major with good looks and most likely never participated in sports, trying to come off like some comedian. As I am watching the sports report, the sports caster goes into the story about the Tampa Bay-New England game and proceeds to talk about how these games do not mean anything. That the games are a waste of time, and nobody wants to watch a bunch of players they never heard of.

I am really tired about how people complain about pre-season football. Especially these sports casters who never played the game.

"Here. Put this football helmet on. And don't worry about messing up your $200 haircut. Go out for a pass. And don't worry. It won't mess up your manicure."

I don't know if these sports casters are aware of it, but many of these players are not in shape after the off season. Training camp is for conditioning players to get into playing shape. Many of the players are new and are learning a new system installed by the coach. And if the coach is new, the whole team is learning a new system.

Yeah, there is the argument that most of these players with the big contracts know what they are doing, but you have many rookies trying to make the team. And as a coach, you and your coaching staff want to get a good look at the players you think will help your team. And you want to have your best players in their best shape come the opening day of the season.

So these sports casters go on about how the pre-season is too long, and how they never heard of any of these players, with the exception of the first string. I think the real football fan enjoys the pre-season because the real season is around the corner. But in the time being, I want to see the fourth string quarterback trying to make the best of it. This player is trying to do the best he can, so how about showing him some respect while he is getting his fifteen minutes of fame. And who knows, that quarterback could someday be a starter.

How do you think the Pittsburgh Steelers felt about the quarterback they waived playing for the Baltimore Colts? And in case you are wondering, that was Johnny Unitas.

So maybe some of the players are not household names. But you never know how these players are going to do. They may not make the team, but that doesn't mean that they will not end up somewhere else. Just ask Curt Warner about that one.

"The pre-season games don't count!"

No, but the pre-season is a lot of fun. So in the meantime, have some fun and cheer on these guys who are trying to make the team.

Now if you excuse me, I am going to put on this helmet and knock the living daylights out of prettyboysportscaster while he catches this pass.