[Shrek and Fiona] Theme Thursday 9-24

It's time for another Theme Thursday again, and this week's theme is "wild". With us both being hockey fans the first thought was obvious...


And I expect this week will see be more than a couple of mentions of "Wild Bill Hickok"...


...and Oscar Wilde.


But odds are this will be the only mention of Zakk Wylde.


There should be a mention of The Rolling Stones, who sang Wild Horses...


...and Charlie Sheen, who played Rick "Wild Thing" Vaughn In the Major League movies


Now, in our attempt to find some connection to beautiful women, we determined that any actress with the last name "Wild" was more likely than not to be working in films that don't generate many "rated PG" photos--if you catch our drift.

But lo and behold, it turns out that there is an all girl classical music group called "Wild", and they have lots of rated PG pictures...


Fiona was quick to mention there's a new kid's movie coming out called Where the Wild Things Are...

...written by Maurice Sendak for the crayon set.

Which leads us to The Wild, written by Whitley Strieber...

...a book that may have actually been written in crayon.

For this week's totally unrelated YouTube video, we give you Meatloaf...

[Shrek] Greatest Comedy Routine Ever?

I certainly think so.

[Shrek] Why I Love Sports

From The Kansas City Star

Rivals cooperate on touchdown for player with Down syndrome

By RYAN YOUNG
The Kansas City Star

ST. JOSEPH | Matt Ziesel doesn’t stray far from coach Dan McCamy on the sidelines during St. Joseph Benton High School’s freshman football games. He likes to stay within earshot.

"I’m ready, Coach. … Coach, I’m ready," Ziesel says.McCamy says he hears it about 10 times a game, and also at practices, from Ziesel, his 5-foot-3, 110-pound running back.

So in the final stages of Benton’s third game of the season on Monday at Maryville, McCamy decided it was time for Ziesel — a 15-year-old freshman with Down syndrome — to make his season debut.

With about 10 seconds left in the game, and Benton trailing 46-0, McCamy called his final timeout, told an assistant coach to organize the team for the "Matt play" and ran across the field to the Maryville defensive huddle — and to some puzzled looks from the opposing players.

"I’ve got a special situation," McCamy remembers telling Maryville freshman defensive coach David McEnaney. "I know you guys want to get a shutout. Most teams would want a shutout, but in this situation I want to know if maybe you can let one of my guys run in for a touchdown."

Several days have passed since Ziesel chugged more than 60 yards down a sideline for his first high school touchdown — but the buzz hasn’t.

The YouTube clip McCamy posted Tuesday morning had received more than 1,500 hits as of Thursday night. The e-mails and messages of support also have been rolling in all week — to McCamy as well as the Ziesel family.

"It’s just amazing how one play can mean so much to one kid and then to a team and then to a community," McCamy said Thursday after practice. "And now it’s spread not just to the community of St. Joseph, but now it’s spread across the region. How something so simple can impact so many — to me, that’s the amazing part about it."

Mike Ziesel, Matt’s dad, a longtime high school coach and the athletic director at Benton, was standing near the top of the bleachers Monday when a spectator told him it looked like Matt was about to enter the game. His wife, Patty, was at home. She hadn’t planned on Matt actually getting on the field Monday.

Neither had McCamy. As he headed across the field to talk to McEnaney, McCamy wasn’t sure what the reaction would be. He asked the players to avoid physical contact with Ziesel but to make it as real as possible for him.

"The (Maryville) players, they didn’t hesitate at all," McEnaney said. "They jumped right on board."

And so Matt Ziesel ran a sweep to the right and just kept going. This time, it was McCamy making sure he was close enough to be heard — running down the sideline alongside Matt, yelling as loud as he could.

"Come on, Matty! They’re coming!" McCamy yelled, making the play as real as possible for Ziesel.

Benton lost Monday’s game 46-6, but those six points made a bigger impact than McCamy could have ever imagined.

"It’s not necessarily about winning or losing," said McCamy, a second-year coach who played college football at Missouri. "Obviously up in Maryville we lost the game. The end result, we lost the game, but when we went away, we were all kind of winners."

After he posted the touchdown video on YouTube on Tuesday morning, McCamy sent the link to the Ziesels, so Patty could see her son’s first high school score, and to five fellow Benton coaches.

From there the highlight and the emotions it stirred just kept spreading.

"I don’t know that I (have) gotten one comment from somebody who said they didn’t cry" after watching the video, Patty Ziesel said.

Mike Ziesel, who coached boys basketball for 19 years, said what made him most proud was the way the rest of the players embraced the opportunity.

"It was just a good thing to see people realize that the value of winning is not (as) important as it is to participate and enjoy the game," Mike Ziesel said.

Said McEnaney, who co-coaches the Maryville freshman team with Jordan Moree: "It just kind of takes you back to what it all really should be about."

The truth is, Patty Ziesel had reservations about Matt joining the football team. And after she had taken him for the mandatory physical, she received a call from his pediatrician.

"When they got the report that said he was playing football, the pediatrician’s office said, 'We just want you to know that (the doctor) doesn’t approve of him playing football,' " she recalled. "I said: 'Well, neither do I, but here’s the deal: He wants to be part of the team, and he will be part of the team.' "

To minimize the danger, Matt doesn’t take part in full-contact drills at practices, and on his touchdown run he raced untouched as players from both teams trailed along.

Standing next to Matt on Thursday after practice, Patty said she hoped the players on both teams understood how important Monday’s touchdown — and their roles in it — were for her son.

McCamy is sure they do.

"Some of them get it now, but in due time all these kids who were a part of it will have a better understanding," McCamy said. "When they grow up and they get older, everybody will realize the impact that maybe that play (has) had — not just on that kid’s life, because Matt will remember that forever — but on some of these other kids and what they may have been a part of."

[Shrek] Theme Thursday 9-17

Well, with Fiona being away for this week's Theme Thursday post, it's pretty easy to figure out that I was going to find a way to post pictures of beautiful women as long as I could make it fit the theme. And despite this week's theme being "over the hill", it was pretty easy to find a link.

So here's six beautiful women, all of them somehow connected to the theme. See if you can figure out how. The answers are after the unrelated YouTube video at the bottom.








While thinking about the topic it came to be that "over the hill" really refers to being older than 40. Does Heather Locklear look over the hill?



Or Sela Ward?



So maybe "over the hill" should mean an older age. How about 58?



Huh, Jane Seymour doesn't look over the hill. So maybe 64...



Helen Mirren looks pretty good at that age, so perhaps we should look at age 70.



Raquel Welch is about to hit 70, and she doesn't look over the hill. I know, let's go to 75.



And Sophia Loren is about as stunning as you can get.

So I guess "over the hill" must really mean how you feel, not any particular age or look.

Now for this weeks totally unrelated YouTube video, here's Chris de Burgh.


OK, so now about the first six women posted...

The first two are Rozonda Thomas and Taraji Henson, and they both dated actor Hill Harper. The second two are Jada Pinkett and Mariah Carey, and they both dated NBA star Grant Hill. The fifth pick should have been the biggest clue, as that's Faith Hill, who was once married to music producer Dan Hill. The sixth is Morgan Fairchild, who once dated ZZ Top guitarist Dusty Hill.

As none of those couples are together any more, it's safe to say they're all "over the hill"s in their lives.

[Shrek] King Times Three

Tonight was my third King of the Hill tournament, and like last month I showed up much earlier than I needed to.

Because my back has been bothering me I didn't really warm up at all before the match knowing that my opponent was going to want to grab a quick cigarette after his semi-final match, giving me plenty of time to loosen up a little on the lanes we were going to bowl on.

I haven't been bowling that well as of late, but I knew my opponent was wearing down because he started the head-to-head rounds as the lowest seed. I just kept muttering to myself "no bad boxes" and just tried to stay in the game until he ran out of gas.

I had a small lead after the first string, and about midway through the first half of string number two my opponent was literally running on empty. I went back to my manta "no bad boxes", and cruised on to victory. Fiona and I celebrated by buying some Chinese food.

Next month might be a little different story as I have enough strings to have my average figured based on what I've bowled at the King events, so my lowly 98 average will no longer count for me.

I'm still planning on winning, though.

[Shrek] Do You Like It In The Can?

[Shrek and Fiona] Theme Thursday 9-10

It's Theme Thursday again, and despite being on vacation we're back with another weekly dose of brainstorming. This week's topic is "rhythm".



Oh, we have no problem saying who it is--it's us. Out of tune and out of step; that's us.

But there are a lot of other folks that have rhythm...






But as it turns out, everyone needs a certain rhythm to live...



Years ago Shrek did actually have some rhythm, as he and frequent commenter Cousin Saul became members of the...



Rhythm can be important for lots of things, and not having it can lead to serious consequences...



And now, for a totally unrelated YouTube video...as there has been a mention of Cousin Saul, this one is for him.

[Shrek] Pet Rock Festival: Unintentional Comedy

So Fiona and I are sitting this Sunday morning in our front room watching TV, which is the usual occurrence for early Sunday. On ESPN, a local commercial aired for the 11th annual Pet Rock Festival here in Worcester.

The Pet Rock Festival is a really great local event that shines a light on rescue animals and abused pets. From their website:

The mission of the Pet Rock Festival is to provide a venue where animal welfare organizations of all kinds (from those that fight to prevent cruelty in the courts to shelters to rescues to rehabilitation programs) can gather to fuse an even tighter network, and to also get the word out about their programs to the public.

By placing these organizations in a bed of family style entertainment that includes live music and attractions, we hope to reach a wider range of people to get them caring about animals. We promote kindness to animals – a focus that reaches to areas that include the appropriate adoption of shelter pets, spaying and neutering, educating children that animals are living creatures that feel pain, etc.

Pet Rock is a work in progress, but one we hope will extend to national levels and get more and more people thinking about the welfare of animals. It is an area that needs more attention.

Fiona's dad has a rescue dog, and a very good friend in Delaware has also in the past volunteered time at a shelter and has has several rescue animals. Because the Pet Rock Festival is such a great event one would think that making fun of it would be the furthest thing from my mind.

Au Contraire.

First, watch the commercial...



Did you catch it?

At the :13 second mark they announce the musical headline act is the Bay City Rollers. Now if that weren't funny enough on its own, the graphic shows "Bay City Rollers featuring Ian Mitchell". Ian Mitchell wasn't even in the Bay City Rollers when they had all their top-40 hits, and in fact wasn't in the band even a full year before quitting. There are actually several acts touring as the Bay City Rollers...and no, I have no idea how I know all that.

Despite the goofy musical act, both Fiona and I call this a "thumbs up event", and if folks are not busy on September 13 they should think about attending. For those that can't make, you can contact the Pet Rock folks and make a donation. I'm sure they'd love to hear from you.

[Shrek] Normandy: Then and Now

Just a drive-by post with a cool link that has some pictures taken at Normandy just after D-Day and comparative shots taken recently. I thought it was sufficiently cool enough to share with everyone.

Normandy: Then and Now

[Shrek and Fiona] Theme Thursday 9-3

We're back with another Theme Thursday post, with this week's theme being "beginnings".

When we think of "beginnings", the first thing that jumped into mind was some famous opening lines from some of literature's greatest books...

Call me Ishmael. (Herman Melville, Moby Dick)

It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. (George Orwell, 1984)

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair. (Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities)

If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth. (J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye)

All this happened, more or less. (Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse Five)

Being music lovers, mentioning some great beginning lyrics is pretty easy too...

You never close your eyes anymore when I kiss your lips (The Righteous Brothers, You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin')

Hello, Darkness, my old friend (Simon and Garfunkel, The Sound of Silence)

There must be some kind of way out of here, said the joker to the thief. (Bob Dylan, All Along the Watchtower)

I was born in a cross-fire hurricane. (The Rolling Stones, Jumpin' Jack Flash)

And now, the end is near, and I must face the final curtain. (Frank Sinatra, My Way)

But there are tons of other beginnings...





And this post is also a beginning, as from this point forward all of our Theme Thursday posts will have a totally unrelated YouTube video shown at the end. Why are we doing this? It's nice to have our own little hook.