see this seahawk

ok, so it's not a seahawk, but it I certainly saw it...up close. we think it is a young Red Shouldered Hawk. it was looking to chow one of the many smaller birds that feed on the feeder it is sitting upon, which is just off my deck in my backyard. caused quite a stir with all of them, they were going crazy chirping. it eventually took off after a cardinal in the woods but missed. very cool to get a peep at one from such a short distance.

happy birthday, Pops

mad hops returns...

Many of you have asked, and here's your answer...my toadly friend has returned again to scale the front porch and meal under the night light for a third year. Cinco De Mayo was Mad Haps return date...a fine fiesta to choose her first Spring appearance. I've seen her probably 10 times already...my goal is to get video of her scaling the 4 front porch stairs...this is my America's Funniest Home Video cash cow if I can catch it...quite a site, but happens only after 10pm or so on humid nights. I am determined to get the footage.  I've only witnessed it once. 

Here is a not-so-exciting clip of her, the first...

feliz ano nuevo

Friends and Family,

Hope the New Year is treating you all good thus far. I've decided to use my blog to once again communicate a year review and some well wishes to you all. I've been very slack this year in posting anything to it, so this may serve as a catalyst to get me back on track in 09.

2008 was a year that included some great trips and highlights...here's a quick list that, once reviewing it, makes me realize that despite the economy and awful local advertising market, I'm a very lucky guy.

A quick view of my Dad on The Today Show representing his teams stance on harmful plastics

A Charlotte Bobcats game with some college buddies. They got smoked but we had fun. Thanks to Tim for hosting

A Radiohead concert in Charlotte with those same buddies. A top 5 music moment for me. Thanks to Pat for hosting

A 5th annual trip to Las Vegas to remember our friend Steven Anderson. Thanks to Mandalay Bay for hosting ;)

A beautiful but mosquito ridden weekend in Bald Head Island. Thanks to Jay for the freebie

A lucky chance to see Barack Obama speak here at UNCW's Trask Coliseum

Another lucky chance to see James Taylor play to a small crowd in support of Barack. Another top 5. He is pictured above

A trip with my Bro to see the Steelers lose to the Colts in Pittsburgh with our Cousins. Luckily they have now stepped up in the playoffs. Thanks to Greg and Rebecca for hosting

A few minutes with baby Charlotte Hinson snoozin' in my arms. Congrats to Dave and Dani

A whirlwind holiday trip to Raleigh, Chapel Hill, D. C. and Pinehurst to spend some quality time with my family and friends. This included a chance to see my cousin Katie sing at the National Cathedral. She rocks, as do her kid brother and sister. Thanks to Lakins', Spaller's, Salmony's, Haber's and Shelby's for hosting

So, thankful for all this, along with plenty more.

I plan on continuing my heavy support for green life...hopefully you are going green as well, if not already. Composting, recycling, taking a bag in the grocery with you, paying bills online, buying in aluminum vs plastic, donating items vs. trashing them, planting trees, discovering wildlife, buying and eating locally...I could list 1000 things here. It's hard to do it all, but every bit counts. It's obviously a passion of mine and I am working on a project that you will soon hear about, one that has a green arm to it and is also a good bit of fun. If you have any green websites or projects you are working on feel I'd be interested in, please let me know.

Thanks to all of you for your holiday cards, gifts, family pictures, email cards etc. It's great to hear from you. Some of you I have not seen in years. If you and I have not chatted in a bit, don't be scared to call, email or come visit at the beach.

Best to you in the New Year,

Much love,

~Sam

white men can't jump. but small brown toads can.

So early last summer I came home one night to find something that has now captivated me for over a year.

Got home late one night, a toad was waiting for me on my front porch. Waiting for bugs to drop from my porch light for a nice snack. No big deal, right? It would not be...if my porch did not have 4 brick stairs leading up to the porch. This toad is probably 2 inches long, if that. The stairs are exactly 6 inches tall. 4 of them. He/she has to get up these in order to get to my porch. This is equal me jumping up onto the top of a 2 story house. 4 times.

I probably found Mad Hops (that's right, Mad Hops, holmes) waiting for me a dozen times before I finally caught it in action last year. Basically, it jumps up and grabs the stair with its front legs. Then pulls itself up, kinda pull-up style. Quite a sight.

I had not seen it since late last summer, friends have been asking if I had seen Hops. I thought maybe it was an owl's dinner, or run over by the landscaping crew.

The picture above is at my front door from a few nights ago. Mad Hops is back! It comes from my back yard, across the walkway, scales the stairs, comes to the front door ledge, turns around and faces the street, and waits for dinner to drop. Does not flinch when I unlock the door and step over him. It has seen me so many times it knows I am not a threat.

I just get a big kick out of this. Web says they can live 4-20 years. Hopefully it's around during my stay here.

in rainbows

For 15 years I have listened to what I think may be my favorite band...Radiohead. I have all but one of their albums. I listen to The Bends, their second release, once a month, at least. They are currently one of the hottest bands touring...they made history with their current release, In Rainbows, by offering fans the option to pay what they wanted for the download of their new album...Thom Yorke was on the cover of Rolling Stone a few weeks ago...and the their first US Tour in like 900 years is getting very solid reviews.

AND! On May 9, 2008, I finally had the opp to see them in Charlotte. With my friends Marc, Robert and Pat. It did not suck. We were deep in the lawn, but a wacky lightning storm, huge shooting star and incredible light show complimented their music nicely.

A girl asked me a few days ago who they sounded like. I said, "Radiohead". There is no band to compare them to. They are one of most talented and unique bands ever, or at least in my lifetime.

Radiohead 5/9/08 Charlotte, NC Set List

Set #1: All I Need, There There, Airbag, 15 Step, Nude, Sail to the Moon, Weird Fishes/Apreggi, Myxomatosis, Idioteque, Morning Bell, Videotape, Optimistic, Where I End and You Begin, You and Whose Army?, Everything in Its Right Place, Bangers & Mash, Bodysnatchers

Encore #1: Go Slowly, Talk Show Host, Exit Music, Planet Telex , House of Cards

Encore #2: Paranoid Android, Reckoner

(thanks to Scott E of http://silenceisoverrated.blogspot.com for the pic)

Gonzo El Rojo

I now have a roommate. Meet Gonzo El Rojo, a male Beta Fish.
Been wanting a dog, but it's not sensible right now, I'm in and out of town so much. "Zo" should be simple to take care of and won't break the bank. He eats about 6 little pellets of food a day and the $3 food canister I bought has about a million pellets in it. He is in a 1 gallon, "stemless wine glass" shaped bowl, which is about 5 times the size of the spit-cup he was in at the shop. Lifespan is about 2-3 yrs, let's hope he sticks around that long.

Feliz y Verde Ano Nuevo

If you are reading this, it is most likely because a photo of your family or your kids arrived in my mailbox and made it to my fridge for the Holiday season! Thanks for the card and picture. Very nice to see the crumbsnatchers growing and how good lookin' my friends kids are!

Hope your vacation went well. Consider this my Holiday card in return, wishing you a safe, prosperous and earth friendly 2008.

One thing to put on your to do list is to continue to make the planet a better place for your kids. So...recycle, compost, reduce the"stuff" you buy (especially plastics), turn off your lights, vote green, understand global warming, purchase local made goods and foods, add CFL bulbs, bookmark green websites, read a book on living green...all these things go a long way now and down the road.

Hope to see you all soon. Peace.

~Sam

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.