The Lewis Show

Best described by Dane Cook

So someone I knew at one point got in trouble with the law by driving on a suspended license. Apparently that's frowned upon in Virginia, so he was sentenced to serve two weekends in county jail. He never really told anyone about the experience because it was pretty embarrassing, but I figured the life lessons learned from his time in jail will be entertaining and a lesson can be learned. Let's call him, Mikey. He didn't think the judge was going to throw him in jail, but wasn't really shocked either after watching him throw the book at every single offender no matter what the offense. He remembered the unnaturally high fine he had to pay and then getting details to attend "Weekend jail" from the county clerk. So check in came. He remembers the look of the new jail and how everything was so clean when he first checked in. He then waited until everyone arrived and were walked to the back. In typical fashion shoes, money, belts, or anything that could be used a...

I am a stern minamalist. A minamalist defined as: " movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is stripped down to its most fundamental features and core self expression." I also look good in a suit, who knew? But I'm posting after spending some time cleaning out the sidebars of my blog. I took a lot of things out and only kept the really important stuff as it involves The Lewis Show. I had figured at one point with the extra sidebars that I should try to fill them from top to bottom with material that I like. That seemed like a good idea at the time until I applied that and lost readers. Two things were happening that people tend to not appreciate when reading blogs: The site was taking a long time to load because of the content. This meant that people who either found my site by searching or wanted to get that link to someone else's blog had to wait. I know from experience that if I wait more than three seconds, I...

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I have gotten a lot of good advice lately on the new social web and blogging, and the main theme is creating and owning a niche. I looked up niche in the dictionary and it's defined as "a position particularly well suited to the person who occupies it". The question is, what on earth is my niche? Everyone has some sort of talent. Most of us go a long way in life without even knowing what that niche is. Some of us expect or hope for something glamourous such as great acting ability, or being good with nunchucks, but for most of us average, everyday people, we have very simple niches such as being a great family administrator, a good cook, or just someone with a smile that can heal the world. In the web world, how does that translate on a virtual scale? I can honestly say, that it dosen't in all cases. I may have a keen ear and am a good listener, but that dosen't translate to the internet community well outside of some sort of online therapy or support group, but I...

Dad called and left a message this morning that my Grandmother had passed away last night in her sleep at 85 years. We had all been anticipating this for a while, she had been stricken with cancer, and diabetes. My heart goes out to my Dad because I cannot imagine losing my Mother and even though he is at peace with everything, I know he's feeling pretty grounded today. Grandma Frances was a strong, tall, (literally over 6 foot tall), and powerful woman but she was also very compassionate; especially to her grandchildren and great grandchildren. She lived in a day when she had to work, not for equal pay or for community status, but just to survive. Her family got hit hard by The Great Depression which eventually led to her and her husband to sell off all of their farmland. The relationship between her and my parents can be talked about at another time, but despite everything, she was always very kind to me. I would always get a check for ten dollars on my birthday and for Christmas...

I finally got uploads to work! Last weekend Sam, Jessi, Janine, and I stopped by Hollywood Cemetery here in Richmond to take advantage of the clear, sunny, warm day. I took a few pics which I will share with you now. I've always wanted to walk around here at night. Jessi and Janine checking out the monument to The Confederate Dead. It's freaking tall! President Monroe is buried out here with his family. Kinda surreal to be this close to a historic figure. Janine checking out some gravestones on our way out. She loves it there. Maybe there's a house close by for sale? Like this one? I'm sure this one's out of my price range, but if I could, I would in a second! We both love this type of architecture. This shot highlights the old city and finality blended with the new city and tomorrow being a new day.

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Either you get the photo uploads working now, or I will take my 10 readers elsewhere! Love, The Lewis Show

What a fun weekend so far! Sam and Jessi came into town yesterday afternoon to see the Clutch show at The National. We all went to Red Lobster for dinner and then it was off to get our jam on. I have to admit we have a very, very nice venue in The National. They are still restoring the place like crazy on the outside, but the inside is a living breathing piece of art. It's an amazing place and I look forward to going to a lot more shows there. We kinda snoozed through the opening acts, I'm sure they have a following out there somewhere, but it's definitely not us. Clutch however was just simply amazing. For a band that has earned it's "stoner" rock label, they can bring a lot of intensity! I had such a good time though. It's weird, the floor has an incline and standing there for a long period of time can be very painful indeed. I do believe Sam, Jessi, and Janine had a good time too. That makes me glad. This morning, we all rounded up again and had Shoneys...

Clutch will be playing at the National tonight. Sweet!

I remember getting Mario Paint for my Super Nintendo years and years ago. I was never able to glean any artistic or musical ability from using it, but it was fun and wasted several hours of my youth. Youtube is full of people who were able to achieve musical greatness using Mario Paint, and for that I am envious.

Big thanks to Merlin Mann from 43 Folders for posting this on his site. I had to do the same. This song reminds me a lot of my college days!

So I watched the movie that won the 2008 Academy Award for best picture tonight. No Country For Old Men , directed by the Coen Brothers, details the violent life of drugs and money in a very gripping way. I could not stop watching the movie mostly because it was a spectacle of good acting and great directing. The cast featured Tommy Lee Jones, Woody Harrleson, Josh Brolin (which was pretty damn good), and newcomer to American film, Javier Barden who was so evil and so brilliant. I didn't know if I was supposed to hate the guy or revere his dirty, work. But alas, this is a movie that I can only really review by discussing the ending. The plot is simple enough, it's the course of the last moments of the film that's drawn the most discussion. I will not do that, I won't even post a spoiler warning. I will just say that people will either thank me for recommending such a fine, but evil work of art or people will hate me forever for wasting their time. It will leave people,...

I've always been asked at work at my current job and my last job where I find good wallpapers. One has to be careful these days, most free wallpaper sites are run with malicious and intrusive ads, I shall call them ad ware. I have a couple sites that have ads, everyone needs ads to host this massive amount of bandwidth, but they are both non intrusive sites. The first one is one that I found on Digg a couple years ago, and I've always stuck with it. Interfacelift has always drawn my attention mostly because it's not full of wacky photoshopped super geeky and cartoony wallpapers. It's mostly just clean shots of nature and urban life. My favorite part about interfacelift is the variety of sizes for use, they even have HD which looks really good on any LCD monitor. They also have icons and themes for those of us who are tired of the default graphic user interface in Windows and OSX. The other one is new to me, it works almost like a social network, where the other one ...

Another protest against the Church of Scientology. I just enjoyed the non marching marching band. Happy Birthday Mr. Hubbard?

Big thanks to the Common Craft people who put this video together. If you've ever been curious about Twitter and have never signed up, this video is pretty helpful. I've always been shouting and hoping that my friends all sign up, maybe this will convince them to do so now. Twitter has really caught on because of it's super simple interface and there are plenty of fun people like me to follow.

I was listening to one of my podcasts when I heard that the TSA, which is very familiar to those of us who have traveled by air over the past 7 years had a blog . Now this isn't plug worthy, but it's a standard Word Press blog with comments. I found that exciting because the comments are enough to make any moderator want to jump off the highest cliff. It's worth checking out at any rate, here is a snippet from someone who had an issue with the TSA over his a MacBook Air. Instead of my bags trundling through the x-ray machine, she stops the belt. Calls over another agent, a palaver. Another agent flocks to the screen. A gabble, a conference, some consternation. They pull my laptop, my new laptop making its first trip with me, out of the flow of bags. One takes me aside to a partitioned cubicle. Another of the endless supply of TSA agents takes the rest of my bags to a different cubicle. No yellow brick road here, just a pair of yellow painted feet on the floor, and my flig...

The shark put up a valiant effort, but in the end Janine overcame the giant water beast with a double roundhouse spin kick to the jaw. I think I've been playing too much Smash Brothers.

Yes! The beach. Wait a sec...there's a million seagulls camped outside on the beach! They were everywhere, but it's not the beach without the sounds of the ocean and a million scavenger birds eating everything they can. The gulls weren't the only things trying to dominate the skies. There was a ton of military activity around Virginia Beach. I'm reminded of a funny local bumper sticker that said "I love jet traffic". This one was carrying something with a rope. I was waiting for Steven Segal to jump down the cord and kick some Russian guy's ass! I gotta admit I would be a hot dog just like the Navy pilots that practically fly backwards as they circle around Oceana to land. Janine and I went to the aquarium in Virginia Beach. I had not been there since I was in grammar school! The place is still pretty much the same....under construction. We had fun petting sting rays and watching the turtles and sharks swimming around. The shark on the left kept eyeballing...

There has been way too much media coverage over soon to be former New York Governor Elliot Spitzer's involvement in a prostitution ring. This kind of coverage is normally reserved for other politicians (you know...Republicans) that think they are above the law and preform acts and break laws that they are sworn to uphold. Honestly they deserve the attention they receive and then some for the sheer hypocricy alone. But... Spitzer (D), is a victim to the system. The New York Democrat is probably hoping that with the passing of time, people will calm down and let him get back to his job of coddling and caring for us. So leave Elliot, Democrat from New York alone! He should be allowed to break the some laws now and again and violate the vows of his marriage. His job is stressful! Isn't that how we're supposed to respond in light to other perjuring , adultering democratic politicians? (this blurb is brought to you by someone who would have heard the word "Republican...

The seagulls are saying Happy 34th Mike in...seagull. I haven't had time to post and reflect over the past year of my life because Janine and I are enjoying some vacation time in Virginia Beach. I have to admit I'm really enjoying coming out here for short vacations every couple months. It's cheap and super close to home. And then there's all this ocean! I feel so at home here. I don't know what it is. I only lived the first four years of my life here, but there's just something about this area that makes me feel calm and at peace and happy.I 'm sure I'll be posting more all week. Have fun, all you people that are stuck at work!

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My brother Dave and his wife Barbie were pleased to announce the birth of their twin sons, Ethan and Ian. I have no idea which child is which, and Dave is still trying to figure that out himself, I'm sure. Both Mom and babies are doing fine. Each baby was around 7 lbs and about 20 inches a piece. I of course am again a very proud uncle. Janine and I are looking forward to meeting them hopefully around Easter time.

Sixteen years of any professional sport is an unheard of achievement these days. Athletes are pushed beyond any reasonable limits more so now than ever. Needless to say when talking about the retirement of Brett Favre, one speaks of more than an end to a great career, but to the end of an era. I remember that first game when Brett Favre took the field taking over for an injured Don Majkowski, and playing brilliantly. I knew from that moment, that we would all be in for a treat. I remember in 1996 watching with great delight as Favre and the Packers defeated the greatly overrated New England Patriots to win the Super Bowl. I remember just last year, a 38 year old man who was supposed to be written off, lead the youngest team in football, to the biggest game in the National Football Conference. The memories I have span my entire young adult life, so with a great amount of meloncholy and nostalgia, I say good luck to Number Four in his retirement and thanks for the magic and the memorie...

With me staring at another birthday, I thought this was cute enough to help me forget that I'm aging!

It has snowed everywhere in the US now, except Richmond, VA. Meanwhile it's almost 70 degrees and perfect outside. The above shot was taken in the balmy state of Oklahoma! Is it too much to ask for a good foot or two of snow locally? I guess so...sheesh.

Janine got to spend some time holding her newest nephew last night. We've both been fighting colds and I'm still hesitant to hold him myself, but he is definitely a cutie. We have two more nephews coming up on the 6th. Dave and Barbie have an appointment to have their twins that afternoon. I tried to convince him to wait 3 more days so they can be born on my birthday, but Dave wasn't hearing it. So that's 5 nephews by next week. I think it's time I did more to be a good uncle, by buying lots of presents for them and spending more time with all of them. Life is the biggest gift we all have, for sure.

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