Cue Wonder Years voiceover… it's about to get nostalgic up in here

Earlier this week, I got an email from a buddy from my hometown.  He proposed that a few of us get together at the old golf course – Magnolia Country Club in lovely, bucolic Magnolia, NC – for a round of golf for old time’s sake.  Sounded like a great way to spend a early spring Saturday.  That is, until a friend who still lives in the area threw down the news I didn’t really expect.  The old course had been shut down.

Guest blogging like a Mother Bunker

About a week ago, my girl Beth (aka, Bess or Bessums) asked if I would provide a blog entry for her site, Mother Bunker.  Beth is one of the best writers I’ve ever known, and she’s turning Mother Bunker into must-read stuff for parents everywhere.  Although her entries are normally mom-focused, she turned this week over to the dads.  I was given the assignment to provide 13 things that every dad should know.  Check it out.

Random thoughts… because my brain can't assemble anything more

As much as I’d like to write a long missive about a hot topic, let’s just take this as a chance to do some spring cleaning of my noggin.

XM and Sweetmonkeypie: Something's happening here, what it is ain't exactly clear

OK, last night I wrote yet another entry about the bizarre programming on XM radio’s channel 21.  That made this morning’s experience driving experience pretty surreal.

Update on XM Radio: still rockin' NWA on channel 21

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about XM Radio’s decision to play “Straight Outta Compton” by NWA on channel 21, KISS (“Fresh Hits of Pop, Rock and Rhythm”). In the days since, I had chalked it up to a either a bizarre mixup or a nice, pleasant hallucination. Well, it happened again.

A brave new world: Sweet Monkey Pie adds a new columnist

Recently, the world lost a great single guy. My boy, Matt, took the plunge and got married, leaving me happy and excited that he’s found his soulmate and blah blah blah. But, it also left me without the perspective of a single guy living on the edge… dating a skein of girls… never once thinking past the next date.

Viva Las Vegas… and Viva Matt and his bride

On Friday, I was on my way to a meeting in Chapel Hill. As I parked the car and started to stroll through campus – the trees ablaze in golds, oranges and reds – I thought to myself, Wow, I should call my old college pal Matt (aka, Nipsey) and make him jealous. It’s a ploy I used all the time when he was in San Diego, and then Miami. He lived in near-paradise most of the time, but I was 20 minutes away from our beloved alma mater.

Random slices of sweet monkey pie

The Sweet Monkey Pie revolution continues. OK, it’s going a bit more slowly than I anticipated, but it’s picking up. Here are two recent examples:

A shout out to my Steeler friends out there

Congrats to the Seahawks, Panthers, Broncos and the Steelers for getting to the conference championships. After a tepid start to the playoffs, it would be hard to say that yesterday was anything but thrilling. OK, I was actually at Carmax buying a new ride, but the highlights looked stupendous. The recap of the Steelers game almost stopped my heart… had I watched it live, I’m not sure what would have happened. And I’m a frustrated Cowboys fan.

The most critically bad team ever

It’s basketball season, and a young man’s thoughts often turn to… well, the most god-awful, yet entertaining team ever seen at the University of North Carolina. Nope, not the 8-20 team that imploded in front of our eyes a couple of years ago. I’m talking about the rec-league basketball that I started as a freshman: Critically Caucasian.