Little Johnny

Little Johnny
Little Johnny was sitting one day on a dock. Along came a preacher and sat down beside him. Little Johnny had a mason jar full of what looked like water and he was turning it over and over, watching the bubbles float through it. The Preacher asked, "What are you doing with that water?" Little Johnny studied the contents of the jar for a moment, then explained, "Preacher, this here is turpentine. It's the strongest liquid in the world." The preacher replied, "Son, Holy water is the strongest liquid in the world. Did you know if you rub a little Holy water on a pregnant woman's belly, she will pass a baby boy?" Little Johnny thought about this one for a minute, and then remarked, "Nope, this here turpentine is still the strongest because if you rub it on a cat's ass, it can pass a speeding car!"

The motorcylist

A man was working on his motorcycle on his patio and his wife was in the house in the kitchen. The man was racing the engine on the motorcycle and somehow, the motorcycle slipped into gear. The man, still holding the handlebars, was dragged through a glass patio door and along with the motorcycle, dumped onto the floor inside the house. The wife, hearing the crash, ran into the dining room, and found her husband laying on the floor, cut and bleeding, the motorcycle laying next to him, and the patio door shattered. The wife ran to the phone and summoned an ambulance. After the ambulance arrived and transported the husband to the hospital, the wife uprighted the motorcycle and pushed it outside. Seeing that gas had spilled on the floor, the wife used some paper towels to blot up the gasoline, and threw them in the toilet. The husband was treated at the hospital and was released to come home. After arriving home, he looked at the shattered patio door and the damage done to his motorcycle. He became despondent, went into the bathroom, sat on the toilet and smoked a cigarette. After finishing the cigarette, he flipped it between his legs into the toilet bowl while still seated. The wife, who was in the kitchen, heard a loud explosion and her husband screaming. She ran into the bathroom and found her husband laying on the floor. His trousers had been blown away and he was suffering burns on the buttocks, the back of his legs and his groin. The wife again ran to the phone and called for an ambulance. The same ambulance crew was dispatched. While they were going down the stairs to the street, accompanied by the wife, one of the paramedics asked how the husband had burned himself. She told them and the paramedics started laughing so hard, one of them tipped the stretcher and dumped the husband out. He fell down the remaining steps and broke his arm.

Miley Cyrus

Miley Cyrus

Biography of Miley Cyrus
Birthname: Destiny Hope Cyrus

Date of birth: 1992-11-23

Birthplace: Nashville, Tennessee, USA

Height: 5' 4''

Nationality: American

Profession: Actress, Singer

Miley Ray Cyrus (born Destiny Hope Cyrus; November 23, 1992) is an American child actress, singer, and songwriter. She is known for starring as Miley Stewart, "Hannah Montana" on the Disney Channel series Hannah Montana.Cyrus became an overnight sensation after Hannah Montana debuted in March 2006. Following the success of the show, in October 2006, a soundtrack CD was released in which she sang eight songs from the show. In December 2007, she was ranked #17 in the list of Forbes Top twenty earners under 25 with an annual earning of US$3.5 million. As of December 2007, she is working on a movie spin-off of Hannah Montana, titled which is due to be released on May 1 2009.
Early lifeCyrus was born in Franklin, Tennessee, She grew up on her parents' farm outside of Nashville.
Acting careerCyrus became interested in acting at age nine when the family briefly lived in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Her first acting role was as a guest star on her father's television series Doc, in which she played a girl named Kylie. In 2003, she played "Young Ruthie" in Tim Burton's Big Fish and was credited as Destiny Cyrus. She was also featured in Rhonda Vincent's music video for "If Heartaches Have Wings", and appeared on Colgate Country Showdown with her father, who was hosting the program.
Disney careerCyrus was twelve years old when she originally auditioned for Disney for the lead role of Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana, as well as the show's "best friend" roles, but Disney Channel executives judged her to be too small. Cyrus was persistent in her desire to be part of Hannah Montana, however, so Disney called her back for further auditions. According to Disney Channel Executive Vice President Gary Marsh, Cyrus was chosen for the show because of her energetic and lively performance and was seen as a person who "loves every minute of life", with the "everyday relatability of Hilary Duff and the stage presence of Shania Twain". On June 26, 2007, exactly eight months after the release of the first soundtrack, Cyrus released a double album, . The first disc served as the second Hannah Montana soundtrack, while the second disc was Cyrus's debut album as herself. She wrote eight of the ten songs, credited by her birth name Destiny Hope Cyrus. As of April 2008, Cyrus has been recording her second studio album. In an episode of her web cast show, The Miley and Mandy Show, Cyrus announced she was working on her new album titled Breakout . Cyrus also performed two new songs, "Fly on the Wall" and "Breakout" at the 2008 Disney Channel Games concert. Breakout is expected to be released on July 22 2008.
TouringCyrus performed both as herself and in character as Hannah Montana on a North American Best of Both Worlds Tour that started on October 18, 2007 in St. Louis, Missouri; the tour was extended, due to high demand, until January 31 2008, with 69 total dates, 14 more than previously planned. The Jonas Brothers were the opening act for most of the tour. Tour tickets for each date sold out in record time after they went on sale, disappointing large numbers of fans. Though its initial run in theaters was due to last just a week, Disney extended the film's run indefinitely because of the demand.
EntrepreneurshipCyrus became a spokesperson for Daisy Rock Guitars in 2004, when she was presented with her first Daisy Rock guitar - the Stardust Series Acoustic Electric Pink Sparkle. It was given to her by her parents from her father's Country Music Television fan meet-and-greet when she was twelve years old. Disney released a Hannah Montana clothing collection in late summer 2007. Cyrus helped to design some of the pieces from the collection. "It's not a costume. A tween girl isn't doing dress-up, they want to look like they could be Hannah Montana's friend. This is a fashion line."In April 2008, Cyrus announced plans to write a book about her life and career. The Disney Book Group bought the rights to the book for a reported 7 figures to be published by their imprint Disney-Hyperion Books for a scheduled release spring 2009. An initial printing run of one million copies is planned.In December 2007, she was ranked #17 in the list of Forbes Top twenty earners under 25 with an annual earning of US$3.5 million. In April 2008, Parade and Us Weekly reported that Cyrus earned $18.2 million in 2007. Cyrus was ranked #35 on the "2008 Forbes Celebrity 100" with an estimated earnings of $25 million during June 2007 to June 2008. A wax figure of Miley Cyrus was unveiled at Madame Tussauds in New York City.
Personal lifeCyrus is good friends with fellow Hannah Montana co-stars Emily Osment and Mitchel Musso, often texting and conference calling each other during busy days.In an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show, she stated that she looks up to Hilary Duff as her role model. In an interview to Christianity Today, Billy Ray said, "Being Christian, we believe in heaven," and "We also had a great church, and when you give up your church, your pastor, and the community you are involved in, you're making a big sacrifice. Let's face it, Hollywood is a completely different environment than Franklin, Tennessee." Beginning in February 2008, Cyrus and her friend Mandy Jiroux (who is also a backup dancer for Cyrus) have been creating videos on YouTube called The Miley and Mandy Show. The show, described as a "YouTube hit", is said to be filmed for fun by Cyrus and Jiroux and to be entirely their work, with Cyrus and Jiroux editing the footage together. It is mostly filmed in Cyrus's bedroom. A particularly popular video was posted on April 13, featuring a dance-off "battle" pitting Cyrus and Jiroux against Jon Chu and Adam Sevani of Step Up 2. In 2007, Cyrus made a large contribution to the City of Hope (she gave $1 for every HM concert ticket sold) "The cool thing about being a part of City of Hope is that they are a cancer research center. They're not only helping kids that are there, but also finding out how they can heal them by figuring out what exactly is going on, which is amazing."
Controversies
Pregnancy hoaxOn September 24, 2007, rumors began circulating that Cyrus was pregnant. The cause of the rumor was an image of a page of J-14 Magazine circulating on the Internet entitled "Miley's Meltdown" and saying, among other things, "Miley herself confirmed the pregnancy rumors during a J-14 interview". J-14 immediately responded saying that, "Someone doctored the "This Just In" article that appeared on page 16 of J-14's July 2007 issue" and that "this story is completely fabricated!" The real story on J-14's Page 16 magazine was about 'Miley's Gross Habits' told by her co-stars on the set of Hannah Montana.
Seat beltsIn her movie, , there is a scene where she and her dad did not put their seatbelts on, causing her to be labeled by some newspapers as a "bad role model".
Vanity Fair photosOn April 25, 2008, the televised entertainment program Entertainment Tonight reported that Cyrus had posed topless for a photo shoot with Vanity Fair. The photo, and subsequently released behind-the-scenes photos, show Cyrus with her bare back exposed but her front covered with a bedsheet. The photo shoot was taken by photographer Annie Leibovitz. The full photograph was published with an accompanying story on The New York Times' website on April 27, 2008. On April 29 2008, The New York Times clarified that though the pictures left an impression that she was bare-breasted, Cyrus was wrapped in a bedsheet and was actually not topless. Some parents expressed outrage at the nature of the photograph, which a Disney spokesperson described as "a situation that was created to deliberately manipulate a 15-year-old in order to sell magazines." According to the interview, Cyrus' parents and/or minders were present during the entire duration of the photo shoot. The idea to pose with the sheets on was suggested by Annie Liebovitz. When asked if she were "anxious" about the pose, Cyrus stated to interviewer Bruce Handy:
“No, I mean I had a big blanket on. And I thought, This looks pretty, and really natural. I think it’s really artsy. It wasn’t in a skanky way.… And you can’t say no to Annie. She’s so cute. She gets this puppy-dog look and you’re like, okay.”
Soundtracks
2006: DisneyMania 4
2006: Hannah Montana
2007: Music from and Inspired By Bridge to Terabithia
2007: DisneyMania 5
2007:
2008:
Other albums
2008:
2008:
Tours
2007-2008: Best of Both Worlds Tour (Miley Cyrus as Hannah Montana / Herself, Opening Acts Jonas Brothers, Aly & AJ, and Everlife)
Mainstream singles
2007: "Ready, Set, Don't Go" (Billy Ray Cyrus featuring Miley Cyrus)
2007: "See You Again"
2008: "7 Things"
Other singles
2007: "G.N.O. (Girl's Night Out)"
2007: "I Miss You"
2007: "Start All Over"
Awards
2008 Winner of Best Performance in a TV Series as a Leading Young Actress for the 29th Annual Young Artist Awards
2008 Winner of the "Favorite Female Singer" for the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards
2008 Winner of the "Favorite TV Actress" for the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards
2007 Winner of the "Favorite TV Actress" for the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards
2007 Winner of the "Choice TV Actress: Comedy" for the Teen Choice Awards
2007 Winner of the "Choice Summer Artist" for the Teen Choice Awards

Homemade Pizza

I found some whole wheat pizza dough at my local Trader Joe's & decided to give it a try. This was a wonderful, crispy & delicious pizza... it was a big hit with all of us (especially the kids). I will be making my own pizzas from now on! Really easy, much healthier & so tasty.
16 oz prepared pizza dough (I used whole wheat & it was amazing)
1/2 cup of pizza sauce or marinara sauce
1-2 cups of mozzarella cheese, shredded
Turkey pepperoni (as much as desired)
1 cup of sliced mushrooms, sliced very thin
1-2 tbsp sweet yellow onion, sliced very thin
Fresh pineapple cut into small chunks (or canned pineapple tidbits)
1/2 tsp fennel seeds, crushed (reminds me of my favorite Louies Pizza)
1/2 tsp dried basil
1 tbsp shredded parmesan cheese
1 tsp fresh parsley, chopped
Let the dough sit on a floured surface for 20 minutes before rolling it out. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Roll the dough into whatever shape & size of pizza you desire. Place on a round or square baking tray coated with cooking spray. Spread sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni, mushrooms, onions, pineapple, fennel seeds, basil & parmesan cheese on top. Cook for 10-14 minutes until desired crispiness. Remove from oven add fresh parsley. Enjoy.

Interesting: Speeding Up Financial Analysis

Interesting: Speeding Up Financial Analysis

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Air force one and the farmer

Air force one and the farmer

Air Force One crashed in the middle of rural America. Panic stricken, the Secret Service mobilized and descended on the farm in force. When they got there, the wreckage was clear. The aircraft was totally destroyed, with only a burned hulk left smoldering in a tree line that bordered a farm. Secret Service descended upon the smoking hulk but could find no remains of the crew or the President's staff. To their amazement, a lone farmer was plowing a field not too far away as if nothing at all happened. They hurried over to surround the man's actor. "Sir," the senior Secret Service agent asked, panting and out of breath. "Did you see this terrible accident happen?" "Yep. Sure did." The man muttered unconcernedly. "Do you realize that is the President of the United States' airplane?" "Yep." "Were there any survivors?" the agent gasped. "Nope. They's all kilt straight out." The farmer sighed cutting of his tractor motor. "I done buried them all myself. Took most of the morning." "The President of the United States is DEAD?" The agent gulped in disbelief. "Yep, he kept a-saying he wasn't ... but you know what a liar he is!"

Pub Game Idiot

Last Boxing Day (that's the day after Xmas for those who don't have one) I was in a local bar with three of my friends. I don't smoke myself, but the others all did and one of them, Porky, showed us this bar game. You take a box of matches and pierce the top of it with one unlit match, so that this match sticks vertically up out of the top (i.e. the only side that doesn't have contact with the drawer underneath so that it can still open and close). The challange is to take the box in your hand and with just that one hand open the box, take out a match, light it and then light the match on top with the match you have just struck.Turned out the hardest bit was getting the match struck with enough force to ignite it but not so much that it carries on and you burn yourself in the palm of the hand (try it and you'll see what I mean!). So me, Porky and one of the other guys had been sitting trying this for about fifteen minutes but mostly kept burning ourselves. Then Toomba, the guy who up to this point had just been watching, decided he would have a go. We were happy to sit back and nurse our burns while he took a blast at it. So, he takes the box in his hand and pokes it open with a finger. He then takes a match out WITH HIS OTHER HAND and procedes to do it and then gloat at his "success" assuming our astonished faces were because his genius brain had cracked it - ignore the "do it with one hand" bit!

Euro English

Euro English

The European Commission have just announced an agreement whereby English will be the official language of the EU rather than German, which was the other possibility. As part of the negotiations, Her Majesty's govt conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a 5 year phase in plan that would be known as "EuroEnglish": -- In the first year, "s" will replace the soft "c".. Sertainly, this will make the sivil servants jump with joy. The hard "c" will be dropped in favor of the "k". This should klear up konfusion and keyboards kan have 1 less letter. There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year, when the troublesome "ph" will be replaced with the "f". This will make words like "fotograf" 20% shorter. In the 3rd year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible. Governments will enkorage the removal of double letters, which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling. Also, al wil agre that the horible mes of the silent "e"'s in the language is disgraceful, and they should go away. By the 4th yar, peopl wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing "th" with "z" and "w" with "v". During ze fifz year, ze unesesary "o" kan be dropd from vords kontaiining "ou" and similar changes vud of kors be aplid to ozer kombinations of leters. After zis fifz yer, ve vil hav a reli sensibl riten styl. Zer vil be no mor trubls or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi tu understand ech ozer.

A Lawyer's Question

A small town prosecuting attorney called his first witness to the stand in a trial--a grandmotherly, elderly woman. He approached her and asked, "Mrs. Jones, do you know me?"
She responded, "Why, yes, I do know you Mr. Williams. I've known you since you were a young boy. And frankly, you've been a big disappointment to me. You lie, you cheat on your wife, you manipulate people and talk about them behind their backs. You think you're a rising big shot when you haven't the brains to realize you never will amount to anything more than a two-bit paper pusher. Yes, I know you."
The lawyer was stunned. Not knowing what else to do he pointed across the room and asked, "Mrs. Williams, do you know the defense attorney?"
She again replied, "Why, yes I do. I've known Mr. Bradley since he was a youngster, too. I used to baby-sit him for his parents. And he, too, has been a real disappointment to me. He's lazy, bigoted, he has a drinking problem. The man can't build a normal relationship with anyone and his law practice is one of the shoddiest in the entire state. Yes, I know him."
At this point, the judge rapped the courtroom to silence and called both counselors to the bench. In a very quiet voice, he said with menace, "If either of you asks her if she knows me, you'll be in jail for contempt within 5 minutes!"

Mediterranean Pizza

Mediterranean Pizza
A yummy pizza inspired by my love for feta cheese! This salty cheese really pops in this pizza!

fresh pizza dough
1 package of spinach
1/4 of onion
pinch of oregano
EVOO
Kalamata olives
Chopped tomato
1 garlic clove (or cube in this case)
1/2 tub of feta cheese
1 cup mozzerella

Arrange the pizza dough on a pizza stone and prick with fork all over. Parbake at 475F for about 5 minutes. This will ensure a crispy pizza, not a yucky, doughy one.While this is baking, saute the garlic, oregano and onion in EVOO. When onion is transluscent, add the spinach and cover. Cook til wilted.Arrange the toppings on the pizza in the following order:
1/spinach
2/feta
3/tomato
mozzBake in a 500F degree oven till browned and bubbly, about 7 mins.Garnish with sliced olives.Note: I used Lite Mozzerella, which doesn't melt the way it should, and it doesn't brown. So you forgo the taste/appearance, but the calories you save might make up for it

Santa statistics

No known species of reindeer can fly. But there are roughly 300,000 species of living organisms yet to be classified. While most of these are insects and germs, this does not rule out flying reindeer - though Santa and my uncle Ralph, in his drinking days, are the only people who've ever seen one. There are two billion children (small people under the age of 18) in the world. But since Santa doesn't (appear to) handle most non-Christian children, that reduces the workload to about 15 per cent of the total (roughly 378 million according to the Population Reference Bureau). At a rate of say, 3.5 children per household, that's 91.8 million homes. One presumes there's at least one good kid in each. Santa has 31 hours of Christmas to work with, thanks to the different time zones and the rotation of the earth, assuming he travels east to west. That's 822.6 visits per second. For each eligible household, Santa has 1/1000th of a second to park the sleigh, jump down the chimney, fill the stockings, put presents under the tree, eat any snacks, kiss mommy when available, get back up the chimney, hop in the sleigh and move on. Assuming each of these 91.8 million stops are evenly distributed around the earth, we're now talking about 0.78 miles per household - a total trip of 75.5 million miles, not counting stops to let Santa and the reindeer do what most of us must do at least once every 31 hours. This means Santa's sleigh moves at 650 miles per second, or 3,000 times the speed of sound. The fastest man-made vehicle, the Ulysses space probe, moves at a poky 27.4 miles a second (a conventional reindeer, by the way, can run 15 miles per hour, tops). Assuming each child gets nothing more that a medium-sized Lego set (two pounds), the sleigh is carrying 321,300 tons, not counting overweight Santa. Conventional reindeer can pull no more than 300 pounds. Even granting flying reindeer could pull 10 times the normal amount, Santa would need 214,200 reindeer. This increases the payload (not counting the sleigh) to 353,430 tons, or four times the weight of the Queen Elizabeth II. 353,000 tons travelling at 650 miles a second creates enormous air resistance, which would heat the reindeer to incandescence in the same fashion as spacecraft or meteors entering the earth's atmosphere. The lead pair of reindeer will absorb 14.3 quintillion joules of energy. Per second. Each. In short, they will burst into flame almost instantaneously, exposing the reindeer behind them and creating deafening sonic booms. The entire team will be vaporized within 4.26 thousandths of a second. Santa, meanwhile, will be subjected to centrifugal forces of 17,500.06 gravities. A 250-pound Santa (a wee bit of an underestimate) would be pinned to the back of his sleigh by 4,315,015 pounds of force. The Internet originator's conclusion to the above: "If Santa ever did deliver presents on Christmas Eve, he's dead now."

Adventurous Dining

A man travels to Spain and goes to Pamplona during the great "running of the Bulls" festival.After his first day there, he goes out late for dinner at a restuarant in the center of the town. He orders the house special and he is brought a plate ,with potatoes, corn, and two large meaty objects."What's this?" he asks."Cojones, senor," the waiter replies."What are cojones?" the man asks."Cojones," the waiter explains, "are the testicles of the bull who lost at the arena this afternoon."At first the man is disgusted, but being the adventurous type, he decides to try this local delicacy. To his amazement, it is quite delicious. In fact, it is so good that he decides to come back again the next night and order it again. This time, the waiter brings out the plate, but the meaty objects are much smaller."What's this?" he asks the waiter."Cojones, senor," the waiter replies."No, no," the man objects. "I had cojones yesterday and they were much bigger than these.""Senor," the waiter explains, "the bull does not lose every time."

old pictures

Nobody told me how terrible it is to be pregnant. I suffer from morning sickness all the time. I think it should be called “whole day sickness!” How hard to be a mom! We should thank all the mothers all over the world.
I vomit everyday, so I have to reschedule my plan during the vacation. My mother asked me to move to her apartment; therefore she can look after me at anytime. That’s very good for me! My mother has been collecting old pictures in the recent several days. We didn’t have the digital camera 2 decades ago, so my mother has to scan and save the old photo into the computer one by one. I would like to do the interesting job with her. There are thousands of old photos, my grandparents’ wedding pictures, my parents’ pictures when they were dating, my cousins’, and my babyhood photos. It’s very interesting to see that everyone on the picture is quite different from nowadays.
The old picture is just like a story teller telling us the story and makes us remind a lot in the past. We can see something we never knew through the pictures. I will keep all the old pictures and take a lot of pictures in the future. When my baby grows up, I can show him/her those pictures and tell him/her every story in the picture.

St. Mary’s Cathedral I: History

Original plan for St. Mary’s Cathedral with spire, circa 1853
On January 8, 1880, San Francisco’s beloved local character Emperor Norton dropped dead in front of Old St. Mary’s Cathedral. It was in some way the end of an era for the city and the cathedral of the Roman Catholic archdiocese.
The story began in 1851 when Bishop Joseph Sadoc Alemany arrived in California as bishop of Monterey-Los Angeles. He used the San Carlos presido chapel there as his pro-cathedral. In 1853 Alemany moved the pro-cathedral St. Francis Church on Vallejo Street when the Archdiocese of San Francisco was established. At the time, St. Francis and Mission Dolores were the only Catholic churches in the city. It was at St. Francis Church, then a small wooden structure, that Alemany was first welcomed as bishop. On that occasion, he spoke in English, Spanish and French; from the very beginning, ethnic diversity was a given in California.
Of course the cathedral for the diocese was to have been in Santa Barbara, but the grand plans of Bishop Thaddeus Amat never amounted to more than foundational stones being dragged to the proposed site. But plans were already afoot to build a great cathedral for San Francisco even as the archdiocese was established. The land was given by a prominent layman, John Sullivan, amid the usual criticism that the site was too far from the center of the city. Sullivan also gave land for Calvary Cemetery, St. Mary’s College on Larkin Street, Presentation Convent at Powell and Lombard, built Old St. Patrick (later the pro-cathedral) and dutifully supported many other Catholic institutions of the city. When Sullivan’s home was destroyed by fire in 1850, Bishop Alemany wrote him, “I can never forget the first $20 dollar gold piece I received in San Francisco was from your dear wife. Here is $5,000; take it, build up your houses. Repay me when you can.”
Architects William Crane and John England were retained to design the gothic revival church, originally envisioned to have a tall steeple, which was never completed. Many San Francisco residents were surprised when they answered a knock at the door to find the archbishop on their doorstep, asking for gifts to build St. Mary’s Cathedral; Alemany himself went door to door to raise the funds.

Old St. Mary’s Cathedal circa 1856

The foundation of St. Mary’s was begun and the cornerstone laid in 1853 at California and DuPont (now Grant Avenue) Streets. The stones for the foundation were cut and quarried in China. Brick was imported from New England around the horn, and local lumber was bought at highly inflated gold rush prices. To raise funds, pews were rented by auction, a common practice at the time.
Work continued feverishly through Christmas Eve of 1854, when workers were shooed out late in the evening so that the dedication could occur. The new cathedral was filled beyond capacity and a huge throng spilled out onto California Street, with rowdy San Franciscans literally hanging from the rafters of the unfinished church, their boots dangling above the crowded nave. A full orchestra provided the music for the dedication liturgy—Haydn’s Mass no. 3. Even without the steeple originally envisioned, St. Mary’s Cathedral was the tallest building west of the Mississippi and the pride of San Francisco. The full title of the church was the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception; the first cathedral church in the world to bear that title, as the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception had been defined by Pius IX only 17 days before the cathedral’s dedication. It was the first church to be built as a cathedral in California.

Old St. Mary’s Cathedral circa 1870

As Civil War loomed, a controversy erupted in San Francisco over a practice that came to be known as the “flagging of churches.” The churches of the city competed with each other to raise enormous American flags to demonstrate their solidarity with the Union. This hyper-patriotic frenzy reached its peak on July 4, 1861. Newspaper editorials called on Archbishop Alemany to follow suit and display the flag in St. Mary’s Cathedral. Alemany refused. He felt the flag did not belong in a building dedicated to the worship of God.
As the city continued its exponential growth, it became apparent that a new cathedral was needed. Archbishop Alemany once again began raising funds for a new cathedral. His new coadjutor, Bishop Patrick Riordan, had been ordained bishop in Chicago in 1883. The weary Alemany—who had been begging for retirement for years—entrusted the bulk of the project to Riordan, who was named archbishop of San Francisco in 1884, much to Alemany’s relief. On May 24, 1885, Alemany wept as he celebrated his last mass at St. Mary’s Cathedral, and shortly thereafter he returned to his native Spain.

The second St. Mary’s Cathedral

The cornerstone for the new Romanesque Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption was laid in 1890 at the corner of Van Ness and O’Farrell in the Tenderloin District. The Chicago architectural firm of Egan and Prindeville designed the red-brick structure. Among their existing works is St. Paul’s Cathedral in Pittsburgh (1906). Archbishop Riordan declined to live in the humble two-room shack Alemany had called home, and moved to the rectory of St. John the Baptist on Eddy Street while construction of the new cathedral was underway. When the new cathedral was dedicated in 1891, that parish was suppressed and its territory became a part of the cathedral parish. Old St. Mary’s Cathedral was given to the Paulists in 1894 to run as a parish church.

The second St. Mary’s Cathedral
On the morning of April 18, 1906 an enormous earthquake shook the city. This singular event in California history wold destroy much of the city; what had not crumbled in the first temblor was likely destroyed by fires that raged throughout the city for four days. At Old St. Mary’s Cathedral, there was little damage; the cross and pediment fell from the tower, some finials fell inside, some buttresses were damaged. As a precaution, the sacred vessels, vestments and some furnishings were sent to residences on Nob Hill for safekeeping; a move that was to prove a mistake. About noon that day the flames begin to approach Old St. Mary’s. For several hours the faithful fought flames, but eventually they ran out of water and could only watch as the venerable church burned. Only the brick walls remained; the stained glass was melted and the marble high altar had turned to dust.

Old St. Mary’s Cathedral in ruins after the Great Earthquake and Fire of 1906
The new cathedral, however, had narrowly escaped destruction when the pastor and sexton climbed the tower to extinguish the flames that had broken out in the belfry. As one of the few remaining structures following the Great Earthquake and Fire, St. Mary’s Cathedral became a center of relief in the devastated city, feeding up to 2,000 people each day in the aftermath of the disaster.

Lines of hungry people up to one mile long form in front of St. Mary’s Cathedral after the Great Earthquake and Fire of 1906
It was decided that as the brick exterior of Old St. Mary’s was left largely intact after the earthquake and fire, the church would be rebuilt around the ruins. Thomas J. Welsh was retained as architect of the rebuilding. In 1909 the proto-cathedral was rededicated by Archbishop Riordan. A renovation in 1925 increased its capacity from 700 to 1300.

nterior of Old St. Mary’s after the 1925 remodeling
In 1902 the Chinese Mission was established at Old St. Mary’s, which was then in the middle of Chinatown–the first such outreach in the United States. English was taught to Chinese immigrants in the church basement and native Chinese sisters arrived to provide social services, healthcare, work for the unemployed, immigration assistance, and lunch service for children, all with the dedicated support of the Paulists.

Old St. Mary’s Cathedral in the middle of Chinatown
Both the proto-cathedral and the new cathedral on Van Ness continued to serve the city until September 6, 1962, when the new cathedral was destroyed by fire. The cathedra itself escaped destruction and was moved to Mission Dolores, where it remained until 1979, when it was placed in the chapel of Holy Cross Mausoleum in Colma.
As the “new” cathedral was destroyed, the city of San Francisco began its third effort to build a cathedral. It fell to Archbishop Joseph McGucken to construct what would become perhaps the most significant cathedral built in the United States in the 20th Century, high atop a hill above the intersection of Geary Boulevard and Gough Street in the Western Addition, overlooking the City of St. Francis. As principal architect, McGucken chose Pier Luigi Nervi, the eminent Italian modernist architect whose unique vision vivified the cathedral design, and Boston architect Pietro Belluschi, who worked with local architects Angus McSweeney, Paul A. Ryan and John Michael Lee.
The new Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption was dedicated on May 5, 1971 and includes in its complex a large plaza, high school, faculty residence, rectory, conference center, parish hall, a museum and underground parking. The hyperbolic paraboloid rises to the shape of a cross outlined in stained glass 189 feet high, the equivalent of an 18-story building—about the same height as Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. From the clear glass windows of the cathedral one may look out on a stunning panorama view of the entire city of St. Francis, a city whose symbol is a phoenix, the mythical bird who rose triumphant from the ashes.

Blacksburg: A Brief Early History

By the time European explorers entered the region of present-day Blacksburg in 1671, Native Americans no longer lived in the area.
Those explorers, led by Abraham Wood, followed Stroubles Creek through today’s Blacksburg and the Virginia Tech campus to a river, which they named Wood’s River. On September 17, 1671, the Wood party claimed for King Charles II all the lands drained by the river, which later was renamed New River.
During the 1740s Col. James Patton, who represented the Wood’s River Land Company, took possession of a large tract of land, part of which later became Montgomery and Pulaski counties. He sold some of the land to settlers, who began entering the region. Among them were the Draper and Ingles families, who built their homes somewhere in the vicinity between the present-day Virginia Tech campus and the Hethwood subdivision. The settlement became known as Draper’s Meadow.

This undated photo shows the old Main Street entrance to Blacksburg.

After the French and Indian War erupted, a Shawnee Indian war party attacked the settlement, probably on July 30, 1755. The Indians killed four settlers, including Col. Patton; wounded one settler; and captured another five, including Mary Draper Ingles, whose wedding to William Ingles had been the first European marriage west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and their two sons. The Indians walked their captives to the Ohio Valley, but after several months in captivity, Mary Ingles escaped and wandered as much as 800 miles to return home.
In 1772 Samuel Black of Staunton bought 600 acres of land in the Draper’s Meadow area for his sons, John and William. After his death in 1792, John and William divided the land equally, with present-day Draper’s Road serving as the dividing line between their properties. John’s land covered much of the present-day central campus, while William’s land covered much of the present-day central downtown Blacksburg.
In 1797 William laid out a small grid of streets and lots—16 blocks in all—on a portion of his land. He petitioned the state legislature to establish a town at the site, which it did on January 13, 1798, giving birth to the town of Blacksburg. The following August 4, he signed over the deed to the land—38 and three-quarter acres—to the town trustees.
Today, the streets of central downtown Blacksburg remain pretty much where William laid them out more than 200 years ago.

Big Buck for Lori

It was the second day of the rifle hunt in Southern Utah. My wife Lori and I woke early as usual and headed out hunting. We made several small pushes. As the weather started to warm up, by about 1:00 in the afternoon we were both hot and sweaty. Lori, over dressed as usual, decided she needed to shed her underarmor. As she was changing I was on point glassing. She yelled out 'There's one!' I put my glasses on him and saw that he was a nice heavy 4 point. As I turned to look at Lori, her rifle leaning on a bush, pants half on, one sock on.... I hollered for her to get her rifle. I ranged the buck at 500 yards and decided he was too far.
We decided go back to camp, get a sandwich, rest and go back that evening. On the way back to camp, we stopped and talked to our friends, Wes Atkin, Tom Bradshaw and Dan Curtis. We told them about the buck and decided we would all hunt him that evening.
Lori and I hiked up the canyon to about where we had seen the buck. We were glassing looking for him when Wes called on the radio to say he could see the big buck about 150 yards away from where we were standing. Lori and I frantically looked for the buck, but couldn't see him. Wes tried to guide us calmly on the radio and I was ready to take off to get a better look. But Lori said stay calm, let's just look for him. Just then he stood up and I said, "There he is!!" He was standing about 100 yards on our same ridge. Lori fired and shot over him with her first shot. She shot again and missed and the third shot hit him right in the motor.

Wes called on the radio to see what happened, we told him we got him! Wes and Tom ran over several ridges about 1,000 yards away at break neck speed to see the big buck and help us out. The buck is a heavy 27-inch 4x4. My wife couldn't get the smile off her face and neither could I. After high 5's, hugs and pictures we got down to business and quartered and caped him. By then it was well after dark. We had to trudge thru the darkness like miners with our flashlights to meet Dan for a ride back to our 4-wheelers.
We want to thank Wes, Tom & Dan for all their help, because we couldn't have done it without them!

The bomb and the pilot

The bomb and the pilot
3 people were on a plane. One said to the pilot, "I have a glass bottle. What do I do with it?" The pilot told him to throw it out the window. The second one asked the same question and the pilot also told him to throw it out the window. The third one asked the pilot, "I have a bomb. What do I do with it?" The pilot told him to throw it out the window. When they landed they met a man crying. When asked why he was crying, he replied, "Because I got hit in the head with a glass bottle. They met a woman who was crying for the same reason. Then the met a man laughing. They asked him why he was laughing and he replied, "Because I walked by a building and farted. Then the building blew up.

Greek Pizza

One of my very favorite pizzas is a Greek pizza from a local restaurant but it costs over $25.00 for one pizza. I was inspired to make my own version of this pizza by Kim's Mediterranean pizza at My Lil' Kitchen. For less than $10.00 I made a wonderful Greek pizza that my entire family loved. The salty kalamata olives and feta cheese tasted delicious with the artichoke hearts, tomato sauce, red onions and tomatoes. It's my new favorite homemade pizza. Simple to make, easy to clean up and it doesn't break the bank. Thanks for the inspiration Kimmie!


Greek Pizza:
Recipe and photo by For the Love of Cooking
Inspired by Kim at My Lil' Kitchen

• Pizza dough (I used Trader Joe's)
• Corn meal (to sprinkle on pizza baking tray)
• Pizza sauce
• Mozzarella cheese
• Feta cheese (I used reduced fat)
• Frozen artichoke hearts, thawed
• Kalamata olives, sliced in half lengthwise
• Red onion, sliced thinly
• Roma tomato, sliced thinly
• Dried oregano

Let the dough sit on a floured surface for 20 minutes before rolling it out. Thaw the artichoke hearts on a paper towel, make sure to blot them with an additional paper towel to remove any excess liquid. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Coat a large pizza baking tray with cooking spray then sprinkle lightly with corn meal. Roll the dough into whatever shape and size of pizza you desire. Place on baking tray. Evenly spread sauce, mozzarella, artichoke hearts, tomato slices, red onions, kalamata olives, feta cheese and oregano on top.
Place in the oven and bake for 10-14 minutes or until desired crispiness. Remove from oven and slice. Enjoy.

The Beekeeper

In the town where I live we've got this guy who is about three sandwiches short of a picnic. He drinks in the bar down the road and one night one of the new neighbors stopped in for a pint. Turns out he's a beekeeper and has two or three hives at the bottom of his garden. Somehow we all got to talking about pets and we're comparing them all. The beekeeper tells us that bees are actually quite smart for insects and to prove it told us this:
Every morning at 5 he'd go out to the hives and flip the latches to let the bees out. They'd all fly down to the park and wouldn't return until around five sharp that evening when he replaced the latch. Our friend (the Looney) started laughing at this point and when we asked why he thought this was funny he said, "cos it's bullshit! Everybody knows the park gates don't open till 10!

Shredded Chicken, Green Chile, Black Bean and Cheddar Cheese Chimichanga

Shredded Chicken, Green Chile, Black Bean and Cheddar Cheese Chimichanga
I could eat Mexican food every day. I love it. I crave it. I need it. Luckily, my husband loves it too and if you ask my children what restaurant they want to go to, they will always say "chips and salsa" aka a Mexican restaurant. Anyway, I had a few avocados to use up and decided to make a batch of guacamole. I love shredded chicken with green chiles so I thought a chimichanga would be perfect with the creamy guacamole. I was right. I added black beans and cheddar cheese along with the chicken and green chiles. Cooking the chimichangas in a hot dry skillet makes them really crispy on the outside while staying moist and tender inside. The cheese oozes out and the green chile gives it a bit of a kick. My husband and I loved this! The chiles were a bit spicy so I did chicken, bean and cheese for the kids - they LOVED theirs too.Shredded Chicken:
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed of any fat
3 cups of chicken broth
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tbsp sweet yellow onion, diced finely
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
Combine all ingredients and gently boil for 20 minutes. Let the chicken breasts cool then shred with two forks.

Ingredients:
Flour tortillas
Cheddar cheese
1 4 oz can of whole green chiles
Tomatoes, diced (garnish)
Green onions, diced (garnish)
Black beans, rinsed and drained
Guacamole (click here for recipe)
Sour Cream (optional)
Salsa or hot sauce (optional)
Heat a dry skillet over medium heat. On a flour tortilla layer cheese, green chile, shredded chicken, black beans then roll into a burrito, making sure to fold in both sides to contain ingredients. Place in the hot skillet and cook for 4-5 minutes on each side until golden brown and crispy. Top with fresh guacamole, tomatoes and diced green onions. Enjoy.

Shredded Chicken, Green Chile, Black Bean and Cheddar Cheese Chimichanga

Southwestern Roasted Chicken

Southwestern Roasted Chicken

• I am in love. This is my new very favorite roasted chicken. If you read my blog you know I love Mexican food and I can't believe I never thought to put these flavors on a roasted chicken before. I can't tell you how amazing the cilantro and lime smell wafting from my oven was - my entire house smelled so good. The meat was tender, juicy and really flavorful. My husband and children loved it as much as I did. I roasted it slow and low like usual and it turned out perfect. I highly recommend making this chicken - the leftover meat makes wonderful tacos, enchiladas, tostadas, chimichangas or burritos.Note: I didn't measure any seasonings, I simply sprinkled them all over the bird.Southwestern Roasted Chicken:Recipe and photos by For the Love of Cooking
  1 4-5 lb free range chicken
  Onion powder
  Chili powder
  Sea salt
  Freshly cracked pepper
  Oregano
  Cumin
  Garlic powder
  1/2 sweet yellow onion, quartered
  1 lime
  6 cloves of garlic
  Handful of fresh cilantro
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Clean chicken and pat dry. Squeeze half the lime juice on the outside of the bird and the other half inside the cavity. Sprinkle all of the seasonings evenly over the entire bird. I season the back first then flip it over and season the breast side. Place onion and garlic inside the cavity along with the cilantro and used lime halves.
  Place chicken on a roasting tray in a tinfoil lined baking dish. Place the meat thermometer in the thickest part of the thigh, making sure not to touch bone. Roast uncovered for 3 1/2 - 4 hours or until the meat thermometer reads 170 degrees. I start basting my bird after 2 hours and repeat every 1/2 an hour after that. My chicken turns out sticky and slightly crispy. If you want crispy skin then don't baste for the last hour and turn the heat up to 350 degrees for the last 5 minutes of cooking. Remove from the oven and let the bird rest for AT LEAST 10 minutes before carving. Enjoy!
  
  
  
  

Chicken, Black Bean and Caramelized Onion Enchiladas Verde

Enchiladas are a very simple and delicious dish that are quick to make with little clean up. I used the leftover chicken from my Southwestern Roasted Chicken and it worked really well. I love the flavor and texture of the caramelized onions and black beans combined with the chicken and tangy sauce. My husband, son and I all love these enchiladas but my daughter isn't a fan. Oh well - can't please them all.Chicken, Black Bean and Caramelized Onion Enchiladas Verde:

8-10 corn tortillas
1 onion sliced thinly
1/2 tsp olive oil Sea Salt, to taste
2 cups of leftover chicken, shredded
1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 28 oz can of green enchilada sauce
1 3 oz can of black olive slices (optional)
Mexican blend of cheese or cheddar cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and sauté until caramelized, about 20 minutes. Season with sea salt and set aside. Wet a dishcloth or several paper towels and ring out. Place the corn tortillas inside and cook them in the microwave for 60-90 seconds until soft and pliable.
Coat a large baking dish with cooking spray. Pour a bit of enchilada sauce over the bottom of the baking dish. Take a corn tortilla and spoon chicken along the center, next add onions then finally a spoonful of beans. Roll and place in pan. Repeat until finished. Add the rest of the enchilada sauce over the top of the enchiladas. Top with cheese and olives. Bake covered in tinfoil (spray top of foil with cooking spray to keep the cheese from sticking) for 30 minutes. Serve with sour cream and and fresh cilantro if desired. Enjoy!

Iced Lemon Rounds

Iced Lemon Rounds

wanted to make a different cookie for Santa Claus this year. My kids didn't want to do chocolate, sugar or peanut butter so I went on a search for something tasty. I found this recipe on Sharon's food blog Culinary Adventures of a New Wife The cookies were light, lemony and so good. They had a cake like texture that I really enjoyed while being packed with lemon flavor. I have one regret...I made the frosting into a thin lemon glaze instead of a thick lemon frosting. It was a bad call on my part. These cookies, with their cake like texture, need a thick and creamy frosting. They were a big hit with all of us, including Santa - there were only crumbs left on his plate. Thanks for the great recipe and inspiration Sharon.
Iced Lemon Rounds:
3 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 sticks (16 tbsp) butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
2 large eggs
2 tbsp finely grated lemon zest
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet silicone baking mat. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat softened butter in a mixing bowl until creamy. Add sugars and beat until smooth. Beat in eggs, followed by lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla. Gradually add flour mixture, combine until just incorporated. Scoop about a tablespoonful of dough and roll with your hands into a ball. Place on the cookie sheet and flatten to about 1/2 inch thickness. Bake for about 13-15 minutes until cookies are pale on top but golden on the bottom. Allow to cool on a wire rack completely.

Lemon Icing:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice (I used 3 tbsp)
2 tsp milk
To make the icing, whisk the powdered sugar, lemon juice and milk until combined. Spread the icing on the cooled cookies with a table knife.

Decorate with sprinkles if desired. Let the cookies stand on rack until icing sets. Enjoy.

The Bar Story

This guy goes to a bar that's on the tenth floor of a hotel. He sits down and has a couple of drinks, then stands up, announces loudly that he has had enough, and goes over and jumps out the window. Now, there are two men who are sitting at a window table, and having that natural human curiosity about the grotesque, watch as this man plummets to certain death. However, just as he is about to hit the ground, he rights himself, pulls his feet underneath himself, and lands gracefully. He then turns and comes back into the building. Naturally, the two men are amazed. The guy comes back into the bar, orders a few drinks, then repeats the process. The two men at the window seat are astounded! When the guy returns and repeats the procedure AGAIN, the two men stop him before he jumps and ask him how on earth he does that. He replies "It's simple, really. There's an air vent down by the ground, and if you catch the updraft, you can right yourself and land on the ground with no problems." Then he proceeded to jump out the window again. Well, these two men decided that they just HAD to try this, so they jumped out the window, and SPLAT! -- made a mess hitting all over the ground. Meanwhile, the first guy has made it back up to the bar. When he sits down to order his drinks, the bartender says "Superman, you can be a real ------- when you're drunk!"

WALLYWORLD

This year's season began back in April when I posted a thread on the MonsterMuleys.com message board. The thread stated my situation for the up coming hunting season. You see, my wife and I were expecting in October and the elk hunt I had hoped to go on in late September had to be canceled in fear of not being present or available if my daughter decided to arrive early. My quest was to find a good archery hunting area close to home that provided an abundance of elk with few hunters. I was aiming high, but what the heck.
My quest shortly became a reality when I received a response from a member on the board by the name of, "Ahunter". Ahunter, now known as Mike, presented me with remarkable information on an area close to home that produced quality bulls and where he had seldom encountered other hunters. And, after extensive email and phone conversations, Mike agreed to join my hunting partner, Ben, and I on a scouting trip into the area.
Our first scouting trip was a success, as we encountered four six-point bulls and roughly 10 cows during our all day excursion. Visuals weren't the only accomplishment during the day, as Mike also showed us many of his favorite wallows, ridges and basins. Ben and I immediately fell in love with the country and returned for a second scouting trip two weeks later. During that trip, we covered as much ground on foot as possible. In my opinion, true scouting involves getting into the timber and finding rubs, scrapes and bedding areas. One wallow that Mike mentioned, but fell short on time to show us, reputed the name "Wallyworld". Mike claims this is the biggest wallow in the world and I have no reason to believe it is anything short. With that said, Ben and I set a goal to uncover Wallyworld. But, after 16 hours of hiking, our efforts fell short in finding the wallow. However, we did find a heavily used bedding area with multiple rubs pushing 7 feet high. We were excited for the hunt!

Labor Day weekend finally arrived and our 2002 elk hunt was underway. Opening morning started quick when several elk busted through the timber seconds after I let out my first bugle. Sign on the hillside indicated that more than a few elk were living in the northeast-facing basin. All was silent until 10 o'clock when a small bugle rang through the canyon. Two more bulls followed, exhibiting their vocal rank. The game was on!
Ben and I quickly acknowledged the situation and forecasted our game plan. The bugling choir continued for about an hour, allowing Ben and I to mark a more precise location on the bulls. Hours later, we reached our destined ridge. I let out a short unchallenging bugle that produced a quick response. The responsive bull was close and surprisingly hot. Focusing on the wind, Ben setup 75 yards below me as the shooter. After a few hyper-hot cow calls a 4x5 appeared, splitting the distance between us, but not premising a shot. From below, a much larger and demanding bull stirred up the action when he decided to get vocal as well. Several minutes later, after exchanging bugles, the 4x5 became impatient and escaped while the big bull grabbed his cows and headed further down the drainage.
That evening as we hiked out of the basin, three bulls were warming up their voices. We headed towards the closest bugle, and to our surprise a 300 class 6x6 was standing broadside less than 100 yards away. We were completely busted, but surprisingly it didn't alarm the bull, instead, he continued to bugle at us! Ben bugled back and caused the bull to thrash the innocent bush in front of him. The wind was strong and was in our favor, but daylight was running thin. I attempted a quick stalk knowing that my time was limited. When the bull would rake the bush, I edged towards him. When he looked up, I stopped. Ben quietly cow called keeping the bull interested while I managed to close the distance to within 65 yards. Another 15 yards and I was going to take my shot. Then, the bull started to move towards the timber but I was right behind him. At 55 yards, I had a shot opportunity, but chose not to take it because of the daylight condition. The crazy thing to note about this whole situation was that this un-spooked bull followed us out of the canyon in the dark bugling every 30-60 seconds. That concluded a crazy, but also very exciting ending to our opening day hunt.

Ben and I returned two weeks later after several close encounters without success on opening weekend. After three weeks of hunting pressure and the rut in full bloom, I was confident that the Wallyworld drainage held elk. One hour before daylight found us on the opposing hillside facing Wallyworld. Distant bugles assured us several bulls were in the basin and we zeroed in an approximate location on one of the bugling bulls and commenced our stalk.
By 1:00 p.m., Ben, Chuck and I agreed we were within 100 yards of the bugling bull. After setting up, I let out a challenging bugle hoping to get a "No Trespassing" reaction out of the bedded bull. Bingo! My Primo's Hyper-lip bugle nailed the perfect note and within seconds, a growling bugle responded less than 75 yards away. I followed with a quick angry bugle that triggered a response from not one, but three different bulls all within a 50 yard circumference.
I moved to a better shooting location and started cow calling. The three bulls were going nuts! Just as one bull started bugling, a second would begin and then another. The fired up bulls wouldn't take a break long enough for me to call without interrupting. I could hear one of them breathing and busting up a tree right in front of me. I let out another challenging bugle to stir the excitement as a fourth bugle or something to the sort rang out, bluuuhhhhhhhhhhhHHH! I remember thinking, "Holy smokes! That has to be a HUGE bull!" His bellowing bugle never even reached a high note!
To the left of me a large 330 class 6x6 appeared at 25 yards. I went to full draw as he was walking towards Chuck, who was about 100 yards above me chirping on a lonesome cow call. I cow chirped to stop the bull, and the big bruiser stopped right on key, but didn't allow a vital shot.
BluuuhhhhhhhhhhhHHH! Crash! Crash! Crash! The giant bull was charging in to see what all the commotion was about! I slowly turned, only to catch a glimpse of this monster laying his enormous rack on the ground to go under a branch. I quickly cow called to stop him, but it didn't work. Following him was a 4x4 who halted in a wide-open shooting lane. There was no way I was going to shoot this bull with a 330 class bull 20 yards to my left, so I turned back to the 6x6. I cow chirped again to stop him as he crept towards the lonesome cow call. This time, he stopped leaving me a gut shot. I had to pass.
Meanwhile, all five bulls continued their bugling frenzy. Just as the 330-inch bull escaped out of site a 5x5 following him materialized. Walking in the same path as the 6-point, the 5-point managed to stop on key after my cow chirp, providing me with a 20 yard shot behind his front shoulder. I released and watched my two-bladed Modoc broadhead pierce through both lungs. The bull leaped over a dead log and quickly expired after traveling only 30 yards. A great conclusion to a great hunt and better yet, we still haven't found the wallow of Wallyworld!

CEO Party

CEO Party

A CEO (and member of Forbes 400!) throwing a party takes his executives on a tour of his opulent mansion. In the back of the property, the CEO has the largest swimming pool any of them has ever seen. The huge pool, however, is filled with hungry alligators. The CEO says to his executives "I think an executive should be measured by courage. Courage is what made me CEO. So this is my challenge to each of you: if anyone has enough courage to dive into the pool, swim through those alligators, and make it to the other side, I will give that person anything they desire. My job, my money, my house, anything!"
Everyone laughs at the outrageous offer and proceeds to follow the CEO on the tour of the estate. Suddenly, they hear a loud splash. Everyone turns around and sees the CFO (Chief Financial Officer) in the pool, swimming for his life. He dodges the alligators left and right and makes it to the edge of the pool with seconds to spare. He pulls himself out just as a huge alligator snaps at his shoes. The flabbergasted CEO approaches the CFO and says, "You are amazing. I've never seen anything like it in my life. You are brave beyond measure and anything I own is yours. Tell me what I can do for you."
The CFO, panting for breath, looks up and says, "You can tell me who the hell pushed me in the pool!!"