that's my bag baby

My friend Rachel gave me these a few months back, and I regularly use them now at the co-op and at Harris Teeter. In case you have been living under a rock, those little plastic numbers at the grocery take about 1000 years to degrade, and are a serious hazard to wildlife and the earths soil and seas. $5 each Chico Bags, as homely as it may seem to take them to the store, are a good option. Lots of the grocery chains sell their own bags now too, look for those if the Chico's are not your style.

guide on how to recycle everything

Found this on the Lime site, which is a great find for anyone environmentall minded. From areosol cans to toothbrushes, this is a sweet directory on where to recycle everything you never thought you could...

http://www.lime.com/features/limes_guide_to_recycling

green threads

Cool new organic clothing line I saw an ad for in Rolling Stone Mag.

They are out of Cali and have skate, surf and snow gear.

plug in

I watched Who Killed The Electric Car tonight, a documentary on the theories of who outed the plug n' drive machines born in the mid-90's by GM. This is a film, like An Inconvenient Truth, that everyone needs to watch. The gov., fuel companies (not you Erwin, the major corps) and automakers are some shady suckers. Narrated by Martin Sheen, some commentary from Ralph Nadar.

midnight riders

Some close friends and I took our buddy Dave to the New Orleans Jazzfest a few weeks ago for his bachelor party. This was all a virgin trip for us, we had never been, but did meet up with Major and some of his crew, who have gone for years. Needless to say, we had a great time. Drank too much, stayed up way too late, and saw some incredible live music. ZZ Top, Better than Ezra and the Allman Bros. to name a few. Greg Allman had Warren Haynes (Govt. Mule) and Derrick Trucks on stage with him. One of the best shows I have ever seen.

The city is still in bad shape, lots of empty buildings and condemned homes. The event had to be good for the community, bringing in some revenue for the area. I plan on spending some more of my $ down there in years to come.

an inconvenient truth

Watched this movie tonight...it is something EVERYONE needs to see. I have a much better understanding of global warming, and new respect for Al Gore and the fight he is leading.

saving more than trees

Read today that if every household in the U.S. replaced just one pack of 400 sheet virgin toilet tissue with a recycled one, we could save 1,450,000 trees, 3.7 million ubic feet of landfill equal to 5,500 garbage trucks, 523 millon gallons of water and avoid 89,000 pounds of pollution.

My next pack of tissue will be coming from Seventh Generation...I just purchased their dish detergent and soap last week. Good stuff.

g'trip mate!

My brother just returned from a abso-bloody-lutely fun trip across the world...a weeks visit at the Australian Tennis Open..most of which was paid for by his very generous bossman. He had a great time and posted some great notes, experiences, videos and pics throughout the week on his own blog.

He did not see anyone throw any shrimp on any barbee, but he saw plenty...Onya!

tasty bites

A big bump for the green movement to hurdle is making the movement cooler and hipper and more mainstream with young adults. This site is taking the right steps. They send some good facts/bites/tips to your email every couple of days. Sign up here.

broccoloroos...mmmm, good

On the topic of organics and health foods, The Onion had a great posting today regarding new products from Frito-Lay!

"According to Frito-Lay's website, the new snacks contain one-third of the fat, one-half of the calories, and one-1,000th of the irresistible flavor of Frito-Lay's classic line of potato and corn chips. The presence of trans-fats and saturated oils is avoided by employing a cooking process "strikingly similar to the method used to create particle board." Serving suggestions that will be printed on the packaging include "definitely not adding any salt or seasoning, because then you might die"; dipping the chips in "delicious plain yogurt, lettuce paste, or other ground-up Flat Earth products"; and enhancing the flavor by replacing the chip in your hand with a Hot'n Spicy BBQ chip. "

I was in tears by the end of the article.

environmental activism

I am currently reading a book written by Yvon Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia. His is an incredible story, and I recommend everyone with any business savvy, and any concern for the planet, read it. I have always considered myself eco-friendly, but in reading Let My People Go Surfing, I am realizing how little I am really doing. Recycling my wine bottles and milk cartons is a good thing, but there are a lot of other things that can easily be done. My next few entries will be related to "living green" and the importance that the organic movement has on me, you, our family, wildlife, plantlife and more. Hopefully those of you that are thinking "is Shelby becoming a treehugger?" will take the time to read them!

pete yorn

I've gone a few months w/o posting. No, the hurricane did not sweep me away, nor did it dismantle my cable modem (it did produce a nice poker game that paid dividends though). I've been preoccupied and have simply neglected all that is blog lately.

It's been a few months without buying any new music. Last few album downloads were the new Chili Peppers, Pearl Jam and the debut by Wolfmother, probably one of the best new rock bands in last 10 years.

A few days ago I got the new Pete Yorn album. My bro introduced me to him years ago, he has been a favorite of mine ever since. He is by far one of the most under rated alt rock artists in the music industry. I highly recommend you give him a listen if you are a a rock and roll purist.

mucha lluvia

Got our first taste of hurricane weather yesterday. This season has been quiet. Ernesto brought a lot of rain, something like 8 inches during the day. Flooded the entire area and closed most everything down by 2pm. We saw a a few places with water flowing in the front door. That aint good for business.

Looking forward to a dry Labor Day Weekend.

agassi

As a lifetime tennis player and tennis advocate, I'm very disappointed to see one of the most talented, humble and durable players to ever play in the pros enter his last US Open. So, I'm on the couch watching Andre in the first round, hoping it's not his finale match at Flushing Meadows. He just lost the first set 7-6.

Hopefully you're giving him a few minutes of attention tonight, or this week if he advances. He's a solid player and a solid guy, and has created some big educational opportunities for kids in the Vegas area.

He and I also see the same barber.

captain matt bowen

To the left is Matt Bowen and his sons Sawyer and Henry. Matt was a roommate of mine at UNCW back in 1992. We lived in a rathole called "the crack shack" that was low on the rent scale and high on the beer drinking scale. He is a long time friend of mine, and I hate I've lost touch with him and his wife Sandy (who he was with back in '92) for the last few years . I recently discovered he was deployed to Iraq a few months ago. He has written me and some other folks detailing some of the gruesome scenes he has been part of. It aint pretty.

There are a few articles that the Winston Journal reported about he and his family. They have two kids, so Sandy is home solo, like many other Mom's are, handling them the best she can. The articles are a good shot of reality, especially for those of us that know Matt and Sandy.

Matt, we love ya buddy. Come home safe and thank you for what you and our boys are doing for us. Sandy, you and the kids hang tough. Matt will be home soon.

crackin nuts

I started my new job today. So far, so good. Jay, my new bossman who owns the Insiders franchise that I am now working with, is the Board President of a charitable organization that has seen a lot of momentum over the last year. It's called the Full Belly Project. From their website...

"The Full Belly Project is a non-profit organization that designs and delivers simple agricultural machines to people in developing countries around the world.
This project teaches people how to build hand-operated machines with common materials. Our material of choice for (peanut) sheller parts is concrete because it is inexpensive, widely available, easy to work with and has a very long service life".

A local fella helped start the project. I plan on getting involved myself. Give the website a look to learn more about the Nut Sheller. It's a very interesting invention and developing story.

going...going...gone!

The MLB Baseball All-Star game is in Pittsburgh this year, and tonight is the home-run derby. My cousin Greg called a few mins ago and told me where he was sitting, and I just spotted him trying to catch a foul ball by David Ortiz (who is one of many hitting balls out of the park into the river). Greg got a bad bounce on the foul and didn't get the prize, but he is sitting pretty just behind the dugout behind the ESPN crew.

PNC Park and entire riverline is a great site. I've been there for lunch in one of the restaurants in the outfield, but never been to a game. Wishing badly I was there with my bro right now, along side Greg... shagging foul balls, shelling peanuts and sippin brew.

Go Pirates!

for unlawful carnal knowledge

I wore a Van Halen t-shirt today that I bought in Beverly Hills years ago when Shawn and I were there for work...it's a an old stage photo iron-on, with David Lee Roth and the boys in their prime. I often get compliments on it, but the only one I got today was from a young black dude that was MC'ing at the Shoe Carnival on Market Street! Just a bit odd that he was the only person to comment on it. He was probably 23.

If you are a Valen Halen fan, you should bookmark this site immediately...www.valenhalenmusic.com. It's owned and maintained by my buddy Jon in Boston, who has known the guys for years and used to publish their official mag. He keeps good tabs on them and Sammy Hagar, and it's a great resource for a band that still has some buzz and life left from all members...they've been around for almost 30 years now. Incredible.

big bens bike

ok, I have never been a big fan of riding motorcycles. I think they are cool, just like every other male, but I also know how dangerous they are, and how many people get hurt of killed each day b/c of the mistakes of another driver. We report about it all the time at the station.

I went four wheeling in Costa Rica a few months ago, against my better judgment really, but had a blast doing it. It's a big rush. But, I was wearing a helmet, and we were in the woods....alone. No cars.

Big Ben Rothlisberger just about spent his last day alive on this planet today. Did a face plant into a car that turned in front of him. Broke his jaw, nose, gashed his head and banged his knees up badly. He was not wearing a helmet.

I think the world of this guy, he is very solid person and is loved by the Pitt community and fan base. And he just helped bring us a Superbowl. I am just hoping he is smart enough to change his outlook on safety, and be around for another one.

if you've got will and a little time, use it

I'm laid up on my couch with a rare chest cold, watching the Pistons and Cavs, chatting w/ my bro, who is in Seattle. Been sick for a few days. Just found out some bad news about a job I was looking into. Work is currently driving me bonkers, I'm drained with frustration. I've been very active in looking, and thinking about starting something on my own. More to come on that.

I also just read an email from the Save Darfur Foundation that helps keep things in perspective. I really took notice of the situation after hearing George Clooney, the only real high profile activists that I have seen creating awareness for the cause, on the Bill Maher show. You can send a letter to Pres. Bush from the homepage, urging for more help from the US Government. If you are not familiar with this crisis, please read about it. It's beyond horrible, and I'm a bit numb reading about the developments.

I heard a song today that phrased "if you've got will and a little time, use it". It's a good thought, and phrase to think about when bitching about your own personal workday, or reaching out for world peace. Make a difference in your own life and someone elses. A bit deep, I know. But true.