BERIGAN

There have been some terrible storms 20-30 miles north of Atlanta(Right over Lake Lanier, the one good thing about these storms) baseball sized hail, and storms that had the local weather guys gasping by their size and strength....now there is a tornado warning west of Atlanta(moving towards Atlanta) in the Douglasville/six flags area if you are familiar with Atlanta area.

Check out this 1921 Popular Science story on Babe Ruth, and why he was the greatest home run hitter!!!! http://www.popsci.com/node/9595

Ain't it the truth!!! Thanks!

Thanks for the concern. Very weird in so many ways. Thursday was the very warm springlike day in the 70's. Friday was in the low 60's light rain off and on today. No rain at all in the evening, clear skies when we went to dinner around 8 pm. They have shown footage of several brick buildings that have suffered major damage, one old brick building had part of it's 6th floor...just taken off! How they will finish the SEC basketball tournament tomorrow(Today) is beyond me....

CNN has just gone to the story, weather channel still running canned crap program....Atlanta is only the home town for both, so naturally they couldn't cover the story right away.

We live south of town, and nary a drop of rain!!!! I think the damage is going to look terrible tomorrow....hopefully no one was killed, but I don't know how all those folks at the Georgia Dome and at the other sports events will get home, they have closed down parts of 75, at least in and out of town!!!! http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/weather/03/14/a...nado/index.html

I can't tell with the helmet on, but is that Ralph Nader driving? It would be the first Corvair he drove then! Funny, Corvairs are really VW's, yet Nader never beat up on them(As far as I know) Perhaps too many of his friends drove them....

You hope!

Here's a nice story on the best hitter no one knows about....even his manager seems pretty clueless about him! Persistence Makes Him a Hit By Dick Scanlon WINTER HAVEN | Matt Diaz had two strikes on him when he showed up for spring training two years ago. He was almost 28 years old and had spent most of the preceding seven years in the Tampa Bay and Kansas City minor league systems. But from Day One with the Atlanta Braves, his career took an abrupt turn for the better. "My first spring training in Tampa Bay I was (jersey number) 99. In Kansas City, I was No. 74," he recalled. "When I walked in my first spring training here, No. 23 was hanging in my locker. I said: 'Oh my goodness, I may have a shot.' " Diaz still wears No. 23 for the Braves. He has a growing young family and a .320 career batting average, and he just signed his first million-dollar contract. Every morning, he leaves from his Winter Haven home at 6:30 and drives to Disney's Wide World of Sports, where the Braves train in the spring. No wonder it's his favorite time of the year. "I don't take it for granted, my wife doesn't take it for granted," Diaz said. "Before this started, I was with three teams in two years." "It's great being around the same group. Now, that's not to say this isn't a business and things couldn't change immediately; I could get traded tomorrow. But just coming to camp with the same group of guys is a refreshing feeling." At almost every stage of his career, the 6-foot-1, 205-pound Diaz has had to overcome the perception that there is nothing exceptional about him as an athlete. "A lot of people focus too much on the body, or on the athleticism, or on the arm strength," said Mike Martin, his coach at Florida State. "He just doesn't profile as a professional star, but the numbers don't lie. We're playing a game of skill, not necessarily of great athletic ability." Diaz got his big break at the professional level when Braves manager Bobby Cox watched some video of his swing in December 2005. By then the Devil Rays and Royals had pretty much written Diaz off, and he was having doubts about continuing the pursuit of his dream. "The week before my first call-up in Tampa (in 2003), we were at a Wal-Mart, and I wanted Mach3 razor blades," he said. "My wife and I looked at each other; we couldn't afford 'em. So I said I'll just shave with the disposable razors and nick my face up. And then three or four days later I get called up to the big leagues, and (in the clubhouse in St. Petersburg) the first thing I notice in the bathroom is Mach3s lined up everywhere. "It got me to thinking: 'What am I doing to this poor girl? She's a college girl, she's been on the dean's list and I can't afford to buy good razor blades for us.'" But Cox liked Diaz's swing, and on Dec. 19, 2005, the Braves traded pitcher Ricardo Rodriguez to the Royals for him. "When we got him, his reputation was he could hit," Cox said. "He got a chance to play a lot more with us, and he hit. Some guys, for one reason or another, don't get a chance to get in there. He's taken advantage of it and made the most of it." Matthew E. Diaz was born March 3, 1978, in Portland, Ore., the son of parents who had been athletes at the University of Pennsylvania. His father, Ed Diaz, is a nondenominational minister who soon moved the family to Atlanta briefly, then to Lake Wales and to Lakeland. Matt had the advantages of having a baseball enthusiast as a dad and three brothers who played baseball well. His older brother, Zach, was a left-handed pitcher who preceded Matt to FSU. Matt was primarily a catcher at Santa Fe Catholic High School in Lakeland. To this day, he is the Braves' emergency catcher and also fills in at first base occasionally. John Carpenter, his coach at Santa Fe, still thinks that is his best position. "He had instincts at first base, things you can't coach," said Carpenter, now the coach at All Saints' Academy in Winter Haven. "But I think he's become an above-average outfielder without getting credit for it. He's always been the kind of person that if you let him know what he's weak at, he'll do what he has to do to get better." Diaz hit .384 with 43 home runs in two years at FSU. It was there that he met Leslee, his wife, who had grown up in Winter Haven. They live in southeast Winter Haven with their two children. The Devil Rays drafted Diaz in the 17th round in 1999. After a couple of years, it became clear he had to get out of their system to succeed. "It's no knock on them. Look at the outfielders they had - Rocco (Baldelli), (Carl) Crawford, (Delmon) Young," Diaz said. "They had a logjam of good, young outfielders and I was on the older side of that, so I was not going to get a look." He got four brief looks from the Royals in 2005, but the Braves proved to be the right fit. Cox appreciates Diaz's positional flexibility and Diaz has produced consistently as a hitter. He was rewarded this winter with a $1.225 million, one-year contract, not enormous by major league standards but not bad for a guy who had to buy cheap razor blades not long ago. So far, the highlight of Diaz's career came in August 2006, when he tied a 109-year-old National League record with hits in 10 consecutive plate appearances. It is the kind of record his father would have expected him to get. "He's always been streaky, and when he gets on a roll you can't get him out," Ed Diaz said. "The Braves got him when he was healthy and hot." As much of a kick as the hitting streak was, Matt takes more pride in his .320 career average. "The 10 hits ... people can get hot," he said. "That was fun. It did kind of get me on the national scene for a second, and it was a lot of fun to get a printout of all the people who had that record. I couldn't believe that record had been around that long and I was part of it. But I've always thought a batting average is a measure of consistency, and to me that's more important." When his playing career is over, Diaz plans to either coach or go into the ministry. He has no way of knowing how long this career will last, but he is enjoying the ride, even the recognition part. He recently overheard a little boy saying: "Mom, that's Matt Diaz!" "She looked at him and goes: 'No way, he's too short,'" Diaz recalled. "I just kind of smiled and gave the kid a wink, like I understood what he said." http://www.theledger.com/article/20080310/NEWS/803100364

organissimo relocation to Italy, 2010. Gonna be tough on you guys moving Jim's instrument of choice via motorcycle!

What a difference a few days (literally) make! Less than a week ago.... Today..... Sun was in my face....couldn't see screen on digital camera...an older one.

Yes I do Chris, very good memory!!!!!

Hey, Ishtar is nowhere near as bad as Battlefield Earth!

That's damn cheap ! Minimum I've seen round here is £1.03 a litre, which equates to about £4.60 a gallon, ie. a socking $9.75 a gallon There were 'plans' by the Government to add another 2p per litre tax in todays budget but looks like they might defer it. Maybe they think they will have another fuel mutiny on their hands. So, you guys don't vote on tax increases, they are just added to the budget?????

Hugo probably just needed some extra help funding that little skirmish with Colombia

Also rent cardboard apartments to cats down on their luck....

Chris, Randy, very nice photos!!!! I know that everyone is curious as to what an Autolite 2150 carb looks like inside, so...here ya go! Oh drat, silly photo size limits here....hang on a sec... carb was leaking gas badly(Is there such a think as a good gas leak?)after I rebuilt it. Why???? Here is the reason, below!!! Carb rebuild kit had the wrong size float hanger! So, float floated too well!!!! Fascinatin' ain't it????

Yeah, that's a great curveball. But you know what? During his no-hitter, Clay Buchholz threw a curve that looked at least as good. And there's a lefty on the Cubs staff that throws the same kinda curve, last year I saw examples that were even sicker than that one. So, all credit for being 19 years old and having stuff like that but really, let's win a few ball games before we reserve the spot in Cooperstown or start comparing him to Koufax. Yes, let's keep his hype down to the level of Clay Buchholz! And let's see, Clay has 3 more career wins than Clayton, and he's what...almost 4 years older??? Loser! Trade him for a bag of balls before it's too late!!! Kidding, kidding!! He looks great, and I am sure he will have a fine year, and career. Steve Avery had the best curve from a left hander, I ever saw....didn't have a very long career either(Funny, you never hear how Bobby Cox ruined his arm, do you?) I do remember a line Mr. Koufax said after Dwight Gooden at the age of 20, went 24-4 with a 1.53 ERA. "I'd rather have his future, than my past" Of course pitching 276 innings at that age, didn't help him long term either. Ever hear people say Davey Johnson ruined his arm???? We really have no idea how these young kids will turn out, but it is fun to wonder how could they can be!

Here's Clayton Kershaw's curve....check out the reaction of the always even keeled Vin Scully!

Just read a few articles on Dodger Phenom Clayton Kershaw....wow! 19 years old, and making quite the impression! Dodgers catcher Russell Martin said he has the best curveball he has ever caught....and mention of Koufax even came up!!! No pressure there! Dan, was the Sox-Dodgers game televised??? Did you see him??? Has anyone seen a clip of him yet? http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20...sp&c_id=mlb http://www.latimes.com/sports/printedition...1,1547902.story

So far, so good. The new Dell XPS is running like a champ, and Vista Ultimate, although presenting "reacclimation" issues in terms of interfaces, etc. is actually turning out to be kinda neat. However, it looks like Vista is not an OS to "upgrade" to. Instead, it seems like it's one to "start over" with - new hardware, new software, the whole shebang. And only then if you can get stuff with the juice to make it do what it's supposed to do. And it looks like Microsoft's known this from jump: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/09/business...p;th&emc=th Thanks for the link, very interesting!

Being a bit hilly you mean??? Or all the trees??? The home builders have tried, but haven't been able to cut them all down yet....to be fair, this is a fairly new subdivision(built in the early 90's) and they did leave a fair number of trees, which is not always the case. Those evergreens drop needles all year round though. Funny, the hilliness isn't all that noticeable compared to a lot of other cities, of course, but everything's relative. I remember back when I worked for Borders Books, some trainers were brought in from the Miami area to help stock and train a new store in north Atlanta. And those Florida guys and gals, were just amazed by the hills, and fairly tiny Stone Mountain!!! I think except for Gainsville Florida, the rest of the state is as flat as a pancake!

We can't compete with what's going on up north, but man....we had 2 very warm days, around 70 Thursday and Friday...now flurries!!! This is not a photo that I took back in January, but a brand new one after a brief snow shower. Oh, and the winds are gusting up to 40 MPH!!!! It has been so very windy this year, the same most everywhere else I assume???

Well, only if we avoid the injury bug...have you seen what's happened to the Mets this year???? This is from a Braves blog, no link, and he isn't prone to lying.... Jose Reyes (SS) …….. healthy Luis Castillo (2B) …….. OUT — knees David Wright (3B) ……..healthy Carlos Beltran (CF) ….. OUT — knees Carlos Delgado (1B) …. OUT — hip Moises Alou (LF) ………OUT — groin Ryan Church (RF) ……..OUT– concussion Brian Schneider © ……OUT — hamstring Johan Santana (LHP) … pitching today, so presumably OK Now let’s look at the projected bench, too: Ramon Castro © ……….. healthy Ruben Gotay (SS) ………. OUT — ankle Damion Easley (INF/OF) .. OUT — ankle Endy Chavez (OF) ……….. OUT — hamstring/ankle Marlon Anderson …………. OUT — bruised chest I figured before spring training, they might be the team to beat...but with Alou likely out til May, and Degado having a hip problem before even playing...I just don't see it right now....

Here's yet other opinion on the Cole Hamel's situation....man, all this Phillie talk. Just you wait til the season get's rolling, and it's all Red Sox, all the time! http://www.philly.com/inquirer/sports/2008...ith_Hamels.html Bob Ford: Bob Ford: Phillies blew it with Hamels By Bob Ford Inquirer Sports Columnist Here we are, eight years into the new millennium, more than 125 years since the Phillies began operating a professional baseball team, and the organization still can't tell the difference between what is smart and what it can get away with. The Phils have bungled the handling of Cole Hamels' contract, and there's no other way to look at it. They have upset a valuable part of their roster, apparently because they had the right to do so. "We think he's been treated very fairly," general manager Pat Gillick said, failing to understand that it doesn't matter what the team thinks. What matters, ultimately, is what the player thinks. And fair? Forget fair. There is no fair in a world in which throwing a hide-covered ball of yarn is worth millions of dollars. Fair has nothing to do with anything. All that should matter to the Phillies as they consider each move that crosses the desk is what will make the team more likely to win baseball games. In the case of Hamels, now and in the future, the Phillies have made winning less likely. Cole Hamels has the potential to be a great pitcher for a long time, but it is now less likely that he will be happy here, less likely that he will pitch through his annual collection of tics, spasms and strains, and less likely that he will stay with the organization once escape is possible. But, congratulations, Pat, you saved $200,000. To recap, the team and Hamels failed to agree on what the pitcher should be paid this season. Hamels wanted $700,000, but the Phillies thought that was too much. Because he doesn't have enough service time to qualify for arbitration or free agency, Hamels must take the number they put on the contract - or find another profession. The Phillies renewed him for $500,000, repeating the mistake they made last season with Ryan Howard. Penny-wise, roster-foolish. Hamels, committing the sin of speaking honestly, called the renewal a "low blow," and said the memory of it would stick like peanut butter in his frontal lobes. Now, let's dispense with the obligatory, beside-the-point observations: $500,000 is a lot of money. We all wish we could be treated so badly. Cole Hamels, let's face it, is a bit of a sensitive Californian. I mean, the whole traveling chiropractor thing, give us a break. Shut up and pitch, already. All true, but completely irrelevant. What matters is what the player sees when he looks around. Hamels, who won 15 games last season (making him the modern-day pitching equivalent of a superhero), looks around and sees an organization that paid Freddy Garcia and Jon Lieber a combined $17.5 million last season for their combined four wins. He sees an organization so savvy with money that it will pay more than $8 million this season to continue the thrill ride that has been The Adam Eaton Experience. The system worked to the benefit of those players, not to the benefit of the team. That same system is not yet working to the benefit of Hamels, but - assuming his arm bone remains connected to his shoulder bone - it will soon enough. Next off-season, he should be eligible for arbitration. Beyond that, he will get in line for one of those contracts that helps ease the pain for Garcia, Lieber, Eaton and many others. And what will Hamels be thinking about when his day arrives? Perhaps things will change, but it appears he will be thinking of the season in which his happiness wasn't worth $200,000 to the Phillies. What idiots. Here's a quick history lesson about another very talented, very sensitive player who was handled terribly by the organization, albeit during a previous front-office administration. When Scott Rolen won the rookie of the year award in 1997, the Phillies wouldn't pay to fly his parents into town for the ceremony. Rolen never forgot that - all right, he never forgets anything - and the relationship between the player and the team deteriorated from there. Could Rolen have easily paid for the trip? Of course. Was he being petulant? Naturally. But that doesn't matter. For the price of two plane tickets and a ride from the airport, the Phillies began a process that eventually cost them the services of a great third baseman. A brilliant strategy. The Hamels situation isn't the same thing, but it is the same principle. Just because you don't have to spend some money, just because there isn't a rule book somewhere forcing you to spend it, doesn't mean that spending it anyway isn't a good idea. The Phillies are technically right about how they handled Hamels' contract. They followed the rules, doing what they were required to do and little more. Being right isn't the same thing as being smart, though. All these years and they still don't get that.