Kicks.

Baltimore Raven's kicker Billy Cundiff's miss of what would have been a game-tying field-goal in the A.F.C. championship game is almost a week-old now. The miss is not fresh news, anymore, but as a long-standing Florida State Seminoles fan, it touches a nerve. The following videos are about kicks. They range from Paul Revere and the Raiders warning against chasing kicks in the 1960's, to the thoroughly raunchy video by Peaches and Iggy Pop. None of them is so painful as the last video, though.

Okay! Okay! Take the Acorns!

I dunno. To me this guy just looked... angry. Crazy angry. Like this guy:



Or maybe this one.

New England Patriots: The Empire Strikes Back.

Outside of New England, Patriot's coach Bill Belichick is a guy opponents and fans of opposing teams love to hate. Is it his sometimes frosty demeanor? His propensity to run up the score? Accusations a few years ago that he filmed opponents' practices? Or maybe its his dreadful hoodies? In any event, an Associated Press article today about Bill Belichick contained a quote from Grantland.com writer Charles P. Pierce that Belichick is "the NFL's last real anti-Christ". Anti-Christ? No. Darth Sidious? Well, I've never seen them in a room together...

Weight, Weight, Don't Tell Me!

I've often pondered weighty matters. Here are some of my favorites:


Of course, you've got to start with The Band:



...and the Beatles:



Tennessee Ernie Ford was toting weight before John, Paul, George and Ringo did:



Did I miss any?

A Fistful of Gummi Bears.

Clint rocked Spaghetti Westerns many moons ago.

Son Taylor just wants some spaghetti. Or maybe it was corn chips.

Guac this Way.

No, "avocado" is neither a hobby (that'd be avocation) nor a Spanish attorney (that'd be just silly): it's a vegetablish-fruit that Lady Di mashes, then mixes with lime juice, garlic, onions and tomato to create a most fine guacamole. We had some on our black bean burritos the other day and it was muy bueno!

Teenagers, Redux.

Mostly my job is to represent grownups charged with crimes. Mostly. I do get the occasional juvenile case, though, and it gets me thinking about the good, the bad and the ugly of a teenager's lot in life ('course, I got my own teens, too, so it isn't just work that gets me thinking about teen behavior). I've posted about teenagers before. As a group, they'll drive you nuts. The experts have spilled plenty of ink on why teenagers do the stuff they do. From brain development to risk_taking. Bill Cosby talked about why parents never smile, and Alice Cooper summed it up pretty well way back in 1971 about being a teenager: "I've got a baby's brain, and an old man's heart". Here's your point/counter-point. Alice or 'Cos. Pick 'em.

She's Down to Seven Lives...

Poor Puddy Cat. According to an Associate Press article which I read in this morning's Charleston Post and Courier, a freaky feline named Andera has suffered the indignity of being twice_executed in Utah, but she keeps right on living. Obviously, see still has seven lives to go. Either that, or she's...

...a zombie cat. They probably just picked the wrong Pet_Cemetary (I always thought Steven King borrowed his idea for that book from a_short_story_I_read_in_Junior_High_School, but what do I know?

Racing Along in 2012.

2011 was a rocket ride through some amazing and some troubling times. Things are grand at La Maisson Jeune at present: Lady Di is, as always, an amazing partner; Son Tyler has returned from the abyss, and has been a source of pride since coming to join us at the beginning of October; and we've got a new priest at St. Jude's who exudes Christ's love. Not too shabby, really. Here's hoping the trend continues.