Memphis, TN, The bridge, Movie review and assorted comments

Well I just returned from an industrial trade show in Memphis, TN, called the Mid South Gin & Equipment show. While I have attended this show for many years this was the first time I have been back since selling Greer Industrial over four years ago. It was interesting to see people(older now of course) I had done business with in the past and to see the new equipment that was being offered to the agriculture industry in our present day. One piece of equipment was particularly interesting in that it was being offered for $540,000.00 and when I ask the young engineer what the cost justification for this type of equipment was he seemed puzzled at the question. It is really a simple question, duh!!, how long does it take to pay back the initial expense based on the production of the equipment? Of course that is why you want young impressionable, inexperienced people working these type of shows. They can't lie to you because they don't know any different and since they are engineers they very seldom think outside the box of design, plus there is no real experience with this equipment so they have not seen any failure. Hopefully my question will prompt him to design some form of cost justification and he can answer this simple question. But, I didn't notice him writing anything down so I am sure he gazed at the star's as I walked off and sighed, "thank God that old guy moved on to harass someone else and I can get prepared for Beale St. tonight". ----interlude on writing, Squeaky got out and I had to chase her all over the neighborhood. What a pain, that dog weighs 15 pounds and makes grown ups(me mostly) look very stupid. But I caught her finally and warned her that I was changing the name of the triathlon to Buffman Triathlon and leave her out if she continued this nonsense. She really didn't seem to care and did her dancing stuff and acting real smart. I finally caught her while nosing up to a terrier down the street. Now back to Memphis----While the show was a very good one we also had to try the famous "Rendezvous" ribs, they turned out to be as dry as the West Texas wind and we decided they just had a bad day, since this place is very famous or maybe they just have become a tourist trap and people go there regardless to say they have. The next night we fell into the same mode and went to the equally famous "Butcher Shop", had a two hour, two Margarita wait and then ate a fantastic steak. The wait was a small pain since we really didn't have anything else to do, the Margarita's were great and the scenery exceeded that. My belief is that the women of the south/southeast, southwest offer the best scenery of any place I have ever traveled. So, we enjoyed ourselves to that pleasure, ate a great steak, rubbed our strained eyes, and then returned to the hotel. Another trade show out of the way and back to real business.

In previous posts I have mentioned my new bridge, you know that one I am supposed to be able to eat with and enjoy the luxury of both sides of my chewing world. Well the jury is still out on this and I am still training my mouth to have a contraption looking like something out of Frankenstein. I even ate a pizza with it in the airport in Dallas, it worked fairly well but then my gums and other teeth were so sore afterward that I couldn't wear it again. Guess it takes training, like training for the Ironman. Oh I forgot, it also gives me a slight headache, so I have a way to go. One thing I like about it though is that if I were attacked by someone for whatever reason I have a lethal weapon on me that I could use to defend myself. I could take the bridge out and cut their ever living guts out with it. Makes me feel safer already, the only problem is getting the bridge out in a timely manner. It is still a little snug and needs both thumb nails to remove. Now as I type I am gritting my teeth to see if there is still pain and discomfort, yep there is, so I will remove it for a while. To be continued-----!!!!

Since starting my movie review segment I have decided to offer some explanation of how I determine my ratings and how they may different from the so called professional critics. While the definition of "critic" is one who reviews movies or more fittingly, one who tends to faultfinding, I define my reviews as the first definition, of course, but I also review the movie just simply as to the entertainment nature of the movie. Since that is what movies are supposed to be about then I think that should hold the most weight. So, if I am entertained and the movie makes some sense, no matter whether it was based on fact or fiction that is how I look at them. If I am watching what I call a "cause" movie, i.e. "Blood Diamond"(the cause being the taking of young black boys and making them slaves by their own black terrorist insurgents, and including the exploitation of the black market diamond industry, a double cause here) base on a true story or simply "Happy Feet", based on animated penguins. I rate the movie on whether not I was entertained or not. My local critic and I totally disagreed on "The Astronaut Farmer," while he thought it was a useless story I found it entertaining. I would agree that building a space craft that would actually take me into outer space, in my back yard is a tad bit far out, it was great entertainment, and I like Billy Bob Thornton. But after all this was fiction and never meant to be a true story. We did agree on "Epic Movie" when he said he wanted his popcorn back and a full refund. So, we are not always in disagreement. Now for my most recent viewing, "Wild Hogs," ****, this dude was not criticized favorably by my local guy, and I really do not care. This was a funny entertaining movie. The four stars in the movie played their parts well and complimented each other with lots of chemistry. With John Travolta, Martin Lawrence, Tim Allen and William Macy as the "Wild Hogs" how could it go wrong. Then throw in Ray Liota as the real bad "one per center(a term given original motorcycle gang riders)" who had a disgust for the "posers"(a term given to the modern day riders of hogs, coming from all walks of life, i.e. lawyers, bankers, etc., by the one per centers). The story was really about four guys feeling the need to get away on their Hogs and enjoy life a little. Each one had their own reasons and each of these reasons were told in the story. It had some drama, some girl/boy stuff, some marriage stuff, some failure stuff, some happy stuff, some "I can relate to that stuff", plus some good motorcycle riding stuff. Since they all road Hogs the sounds were good and there was even some realism in it. A couple of thoughts came to mind after watching the movie, 1. Everyone watching the movie who owns a motorcycle will want to ride immeditely(like today)!! 2. If they don't own a motorcycle they will go shopping immediately(today), 3. Motorcycle, especially Hogs, sales will go up within the next month. Generally a great buying time anyway, but with this movie it will go up even more. Guess Harley had something to do with this!! Warning: If you don't like motorcycles you might not enjoy this movie, but afterall the acting is good, the story is sound and it is really about life, so why not.

For today,

greerman