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Humpday Hilarities

My apologies for this being late. We have had severe weather this week in Alabama, and (at home) we are currently still without power and cell service. Hope y’all are all OK!

This week’s funnies are courtesy of John:

UNDERSTANDING ALABAMER

First you must learn how to pronounce the major cities…Burminham; Huntsvul; Mobeeeel

Driving Information: Alabama has its own version of traffic rules. The truck with the loudest exhaust goes next at a four-way stop. The truck with the biggest tires goes after that.

Note: Blue-haired ladies driving anything have the right-of-way anytime.

To find anything in Burminham, it is required that you know where Malfunction Junction is, which is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. It may be one of only two ‘cloverleaf formation’

interchanges in the world. We invented it and only one other city was stupid enough to implement it again Atlanta — making them only a wee bit dumber than we are.

The morning rush hour is from 6:00 to 10:00. The evening rush hour is from 3:00 to 7:00. Friday’s rush hour starts Thursday morning. If the term ‘merging delays’ is ever used by the person reporting the traffic, even in passing, call in to work and tell them that you will be at least 30 minutes late regardless of where you are in your commute.

If you actually stop at a yellow light, you will be (at the very least) rear-ended, cussed out, and possibly shot. This applies to male and female drivers alike.

You must know that ‘I-459,’ ‘I-59,’ ‘I-20,’ and ‘I-65′ are the same road. They just loop around, cutting in and out of each other’s path. We think this was a ploy utilized to confuse outsiders and discourage visitors after the War of Northern Aggression.

Always, always, always, find out if it is a race or football weekend before you get on any of these highways to travel somewhere. If it is a race or football weekend, stay home. You won’t be pleasantly going anywhere else.

Construction is a permanent fixture in Alabama . The barrels are moved around in the middle of the night to make the next day’s driving a little more interesting. The barrels stay long after construction ends because the construction company has nowhere else to store them until their next construction job.

If someone has their turn signal on, wave them over to the shoulder immediately to let them know — you can be sure it was accidentally activated’.

The minimum acceptable speed on ‘I-65′ (see above) is 85 mph. Anything less is considered downright sissy.

This is also Alabama ‘s state-highway-sponsored version of NASCAR — especially during rush hour (see above) and everyone in the city is driving at once, bumper-to-bumper. If you are in the left lane and only going 70 in a 55-65 zone, you are considered a road hazard, and will be ‘flipped a bird’ accordingly.

Do not gawk at the woman in the car beside you in traffic who is applying make-up, drinking a Diet Coke, smoking a Marlboro, and maintaining a steady speed of 85 mph on I-65 in rush hour traffic. If she is coming from north of Burminham, she might be packing. If she is coming from south of Burminham, she IS packing and is not afraid to use it.

Weather Information: If it’s 110 degrees, Thanksgiving could be next weekend. If it’s 10-20 degrees and sleeting or snowing, then watch out. Burminham residents consider this ‘demolition derby’ day and will be all over the roads (front ways, sideways, etc). Please proceed with caution, as you could be the next target. 100 degrees Fahrenheit is ‘a little warm’.

Seasonal Information: If you stick to the seats in your vehicle, it is Spring. If you need to let the car ‘get some air’ while standing next to it with the doors open for a minute before you can stick your upper body inside to crank it and get the air going, it is Summer. If you are sweating even with the windows down, driving 55 mph, it is Fall. If you finally turn the AC off and roll your windows up, it is Winter. You’ll probably have to switch from ‘heat’ to ‘A/C’ in the same day. We have four seasons: Almost Summer, Summer, still Summer and Christmas.

General Information: Do not ever speak during the song ‘ Sweet Home Alabama ‘ unless it is to sing along with the lyrics. This is a form of heresy and will erupt in a brawl if everyone doesn’t show ‘proper respect’ to the band who gave us Free Bird. This is especially true if alcohol is present (notice I didn’t say ‘sold at this event,’ but ‘present’).

Yes, we know that Vulcan is mooning the entire city of Burminham. It’s not that funny to us anymore, and by now we’re used to it.

If you ask someone for a ‘coke,’ they will often ask you, ‘What kind?’ This is not a trick question. Tell them what you want: Sprite, Dr.Pepper, Root Beer, etc., it is all ‘coke’.

All tea is sweet. If it’s not sweet, you are in a Chinese restaurant or have crossed the Mason-Dixon Line.

Possums sleep in the middle of the road with their feet in the air.

There are 5,000 types of snakes on earth and 4,998 o them live in Alabama.

There are 10,000 types of spiders. All 10,000 live in Alabama, plus a couple no one’s seen before.

If it grows, it sticks; if it crawls, it bites.

Onced and Twiced are words.

It is not a shopping cart; it is a buggy.

People actually grow and eat okra.

‘Fixinto’ is one word..

There is no such thing as ‘lunch.’ There is only dinner and then supper.

Iced tea is appropriate for all meals and you start drinking it when you’re two. We do like a little tea with our sugar!

Backwards and forwards means ‘I know everything about you.

DGeet is actually a phrase meaning ‘Did you eat?’

You don’t have to wear a watch because it doesn’t matter what time it is.

You work until you’re done or it’s too dark to see.

You don’t PUSH buttons, you MASH them.

You measure distance in minutes.

All the festivals across the state are named after a fruit, vegetable, grain, insect or animal.

You install security lights on your house and garage and leave both unlocked.

You carry jumper cables in your car . . . for your OWN car.

There are only four spices: salt, pepper, Tabasco and ketchup.

The local papers cover national and international news on one page, but require 6 pages for local gossip and sports.

The first day of deer season is a national holiday.

Going to Wal-mart is a favorite pastime.

Fried catfish is the other white meat.

We don’t need no stinking driver’s ed …. if our mama says we can drive, we can drive.

If you understand these jokes please forward them to your friends from Alabama (and those who just wish they were).

EVERYONE can’t be a Alabamian; it takes talent. You might say it’s an art form or a gift from God!

For the love of metal

I was watching FoxNews just now with Jim, and a news snippet came on with Laura Ingle sharing the story of a heavy metal band from Baghdad, called Acrassicauda. The band members lived through missile attacks and death threats in order to try to play their music in their homeland. There’s a documentary, Heavy Metal In Baghdad, which chronicles their struggles and their journey to America as refugees.

The FoxNews snippet was quick but highlighted the band’s journey as well as well as featured my personal childhood heavy metal heroes, Metallica. It seems James Hetfield gave them the guitar off his back after their latest show in New Jersey.

While this is a great story, Acrassicauda is not the only band struggling for the freedom to pursue heavy metal dreams. Remember a while back when I highlighted a story about Brutal Impact, a heavy metal band from Iraq going through similar struggles? These are the two we’ve heard of so far … so how many more are out there?

Here’s a vid of Hetfield presenting the guitar:

OK, Metallica … you’ve done some really assholish things over the past few years, but that was just freakin’ sweet! Just for that, I created a new category for any ‘good’ posts that I write about you — “Ok, maybe they’re not so bad” LOL!

Seriously though, rock on, guys. Rock on!

Anything for metal

Heavy metal is what I consider my “first love” when it comes to music. Although I have branched out into other genres over the years and have lots of favorites from 20s and 30s jazz and blues, to bluegrass and cajun banjo-picking, to opera and classical, I still always come back to heavy metal. When I’m in good mood and want something to match, or feeling nostalgic and craving a particular sound, or simply need a “pick me up”, I pop some heavy metal in my CD player or MP3 queue, and am instantly in love all over again.

Hell, I “earned” my online moniker because of heavy metal. I was dubbed ‘Nitallica’ by a friend in high school because at the time bands like Metallica were, for years, the staple of my proverbial musical diet. I happily credit heavy metal as a constant source of inspiration for many of my digital and other artrial emissions over the years, as well as a positive focal point from which I drew strength during darker periods in my life. While I appreciate many different forms of music, what really quickens my pulse are the primal sounds of lightning quick guitar riffs, thundering percussions, screaming/thrashing vocals — simply put: metal makes my heart smile.

One of my co-workers just sent me the link to an article posted yesterday on USA Today‘s website:

Nothing else matters: Iraqi heavy metal returns

BAGHDAD — At a private dinner club on the banks of the Tigris River in Baghdad, Muthana Mani screamed threats at a wild-eyed crowd of young Iraqis.

“I’ll see you die at my feet! Eternally I smash your face! Facial bones collapse as I crack your skull in half!” he roared.

Two years ago, these kinds of threats in Iraq typically came from members of al-Qaeda, or violent sectarian militias. Saturday night, they were directed at 250 Iraqi fans of heavy metal music who fearlessly donned eye shadow, anarchist pendants and black T-shirts and came out of hiding to attend Iraq’s first metal concert in five years. Throughout the two-hour show, the crowd thrashed about, a sea of sweating bodies and banging heads. They screamed obscenities and broke tables. It was a scene that would have made any American metal fan proud.

It was also another indication of just how much security has improved here. When religious extremists controlled Baghdad’s neighborhoods, being a member of heavy metal’s unique subculture could amount to a death sentence, says Mani, 21, the lead singer of Brutal Impact, one of the two bands that played the concert.

“If I wore a T-shirt like this one,” Mani said in an interview after the show, pointing to a logo of a bleeding skull, “they’d have killed me.”

Read the whole article and watch the video here!

That is just freakin’ awesome. Freedom … and Metal. Two of my favorite things — and those Iraqi youths now have both.

Just one more reason to thank our troops!

Stop this rollercoaster, I want off!

The past month has been an emotional rollercoaster from Hell. I finally got my car back this weekend. Jim and I rode over to Perfect Reflections, who did the body work. The car looks great, and as far as I can see you can’t tell that it was ever damaged! I’m very pleased with their work, and highly recommend them to anyone who needs body or restoration work!

We still haven’t settled with the other insurance company. We’ve had some disagreements over the paperwork, then lawyers were involved, so right now we’re kind of in a holding pattern until we can see a new set of paperwork.

Oh the joy … :roll:

Jim and I have been on each other’s nerves a lot lately and decided to get out for a bit yesterday. We finally saw Ironman — I liked this movie VERY much! Seemed a bit short though, am hoping the DVD release has extras, you know, deleted scenes, and the like. Downey Jr. looked great and I enjoyed the soundtrack. (I’ll probably be buying a copy of it too!)

We also trekked around various parts of Birmingham over the weekend. We had dinner Friday night at Cajun Steamer, and dinner last night at El Carreton. (If you’re ever in the north Jefferson area, look ‘em up! VERY tasty Mexican food!!!) We stopped by Best Buy, Jim needed an HDMI cable for the tv upstairs. I perused the Asian films for an old kung fu movie I’ve been trying to find. Having no luck, I decided to check the music aisles … and a good thing too, seeing the small section of Lordi CDs reminded me that I accidentally cracked mine and so I picked up a new copy of The Arockalypse. Even better — it was a special edition! 3 extra tracks (one which is my FAVE Lordi song!) and a DVD of goodies.

Bonus! :mrgreen:

Jim’s watching the race and I’m sitting here looking at the folder full of stuff I bookmarked to post on or about … I think I’ll put ‘em off until tomorrow. I’ve been enjoying my “time off” and Jim and I have needed the “together time” to work out various things.

Mental note: I *so* owe Jim’s mom big time for keeping Jessie all this time … we’ve badly needed a “break”!