I just got the news that Don Knotts, the incredibly talented man who I’ve always known as Barney Fife, passed away this weekend.  I’m reminded of Randall Goodgame’s line “Everybody dies but still it always seems too soon.”  He may have been 81 and weak in his final days, but he’ll forever live on in my mind as the young, goofy, lovable Deputy of Mayberry, NC.

There’s a full download of “Radiate” from Eric Peters’ forthcoming (and quite spectacular) album “Scarce” over at this site.  Eric previously had posted a partial clip of an earlier studio mix of this song, but this is the final cut from the CD.  Go check it out.

And, by the way, the rest of “Scarce” is as awesome as that track.

Chris Mason’s new CD came a little early in the mail over the weekend. His new EP “Songs One Through Six” releases tomorrow, but I suppose I was one of the lucky ones to get a copy before release day. I got a chance to sit down yesterday afternoon while it was quiet in the house and really pay attention to the lyrics and the message woven in these 6 songs.

The first four songs on the EP speak the voice of a man who is expressing struggles with doubt, frustrations with failure, and confusion about the world around him. Mason’s writing really pulls you into the man’s point of view. You feel his frustrations, and you understand them - partly because of the skillfully crafted lyrics, and partly because the man’s frustrations are familiar to your own.

When you’re not sure how the man’s story (or your own story) will end, you reach track five, “Reaching Out,” which gives a voice of reason to the man in the previous songs. “Reaching Out” calls to the man to lay down what he has been holding onto and to accept the hope found in grace. The story then concludes with “Precious Lord, Thy Mercy Come,” a song simple in its production but profound in its content and its placement in Mason’s story. The man, now seeing an answer to his doubt, failures, and confusion, calls on the mercy and grace freely given. The struggle ends in anticipation of what will come because of mercy and grace.

“Songs One Through Six” is available at Chris’ web site, and I would highly recommend it as an addition to your collection. You will enjoy hearing this story over and over again because you will realize that your story, like the story Mason is telling, can have a happy ending. And everybody loves a story with a happy ending.

It’s snowing today in Dallas, Georgia.

Every time it snows, I think of the “Welcome Back, Kotter” episode where Horsehack wrote some stupid poem that started “No two snowflakes are alike; no two people are the same” and he was reading it in front of the class in his overly-annoying voice.

Today Im sitting in my living room with the family all asleep, new tunes in the iPod (Chris Mason - “Songs One Through Six”…more on that soon), with the TV off, and I’m thinking about Horseshack.
We don’t get snow very often, and when we do, it’s rare that I get to sit and watch it.

I’m convinced that God was just showing off when He made snow. When He put Adam and Eve in the garden, it was probably a warm place. They were, after all, naked. Plus, there was fruit on the trees, and the animals weren’t curled up in a cave asleep. And the snakes were active. So they probably didn’t see snow the first week after creation was complete.

But the first time they did see it, I bet they were amazed. It’s like God said “Oh…you thought the rest of this was pretty? Wait until you see it in white!”

Chances are good that we won’t be seeing the state of Georgia dressed in white any time soon, but this small glimpse of white is a good reminder of how things look in white and of how much I miss “Welcome Back, Kotter”.

Note: You’ll find a lot of crazy stuff on this site. Some of it’s real; some of it’s just me being me. This post - I swear - is the real thing.

My dad was driving through the beauty of Lee County, SC and found something photo worthy. Take a look…

Yeah, that’s a row of toilets in this front yard. Yes, those toilets are serving as home to various plants. I don’t even know what to say about these. If you click the pictures, you’ll be able to see a bigger version (since the toilets are hard to see in the resized images).

It seems my credit card on file with my domain registrar had expired, and so my domain name did the same.  I don’t remember seeing the email about it, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t get one.  I updated the credit card on file, and the domain came back this evening sometime.

If you sent me email this afternoon and had it bounce back undeliverable, do me a favor and resend it.

Anyway, have no fear, moreron.com is back in action.  I normally wouldn’t bring this up, but I wouldn’t want anybody losing sleep over it.

The Braves have developed a habit over the last several years - losing in October. That habit has been making this fan fairly unhappy. I mean, yeah, a division championship is nice, but not getting a World Series trophy year after year after year…well, that gets old.

It makes you almost not want to go to the stadium after a while. You’ve got the $10 for parking, money for tickets, money for concessions, gas to get down there, crowds to deal with…it gets old. But on Saturday, the Braves did it right.

They invited their fans down to the field. Parking was free. Running the bases on the field was free. Face painting was free. Everything was free. ($20 donation and a LOT of luck might have gotten you an autograph.)

They really impressed me with the Fan Fest. Our kids had a lot of fun running around the field, walking through the stadium, and playing at the “Tooner Field”. It was cold, but I don’t suppose the Braves can be to blame for that. I know it won’t help my frustration at the parking fees, ticket prices, concession price gouging, or the October losses, but for now, I’m pretty happy with the Braves.