I think Bear Bryant is about to start turning in his grave. The strong rumor on campus today is that Steve Spurrier MAY be Alabama's next head coach. Talk about sacrilegious and blasphemy. Can we get Terry and Bobby Bowden as assistant coaches. I beg of Mal Moore to complete the coaching staff with an invite to Phillip Fulmer. Every Alabama fan LOVES him. Every fan wants a winning season and a national championship, but hiring the enemy is not the way to do it. I can't wait to hear that Spurrier turned down the offer.

Today, I am embarrassed to be a University of Alabama football fan. After 4 years of hard work and service, Mike Shula has been fired as the head coach for the football program. Taking over at a time when Alabama was hindered by probation and loss of scholarships, Shula did what he could to try and bring Alabama to national prowess.

No one expected Shula to win a national championship this year and most would have told you Alabama didn't have a chance at a top 25 spot. Go back and look at every preseason outlook and Alabama would place no higher than 4th in the SEC West. Just because the team finished at 10-2 last year does not predict the same for the year after.

The team had a new QB and a depleted defense due to graduation. The defense stepped up and continued to keep the games close. John Parker Wilson is going to be a great quarterback, but he's young. He is still trying to develop his skills. Dropping in a new coach will not help Wilson to develop. In fact it will probably hinder him as he will need to learn an all new system which will take at least a couple seasons before there is a comfort level. By then it's time for Wilson to head to the NFL.

I'm extremely frustrated that the university continues to expect a national championship immediately when a coach steps into the position. Shula was in a position to make great strides toward catapulting Alabama back into prominence. At the very least give him one more year. The guys he recruited are just now getting to play. Let's see what they can do. What coach would want to come here when every loss could mean the loss of your job?

After procrastinating for several weeks, I've posted a review for The Prestige. In my opinion, it was one of the best films of the year. Read the review in Now Playing and go see the movie to decide for yourself.

It's here at long last. After what seemed like an excruciating wait for the past 6 weeks, the Wii is here. Not only is it here, it is now in my possession. I was afraid I wouldn't get one at all. Reports on the internet were grossly inaccurate regarding the number of units shipped which got my hopes up about buying a Wii on launch day. I began my search in Hattiesburg after the Cowboy Mouth show. Knowing that Wal-Mart would start selling at midnight, I went by at 1 am thinking there would be a chance. But, Wal-Mart only got 12 unlike the 53 that were reported on the Internet. We got home at 4 AM and finally went to sleep around 4:30. I made sure to set my alarm for 7:30 so I could try Target. Honestly, I didn't expect to get one at Target since the night before we saw several people camping out. I got there right at 8 as the line was going in. I finally found an employee who confirmed all 24 tickets had been giving out.

I decided to drive down to K-Mart on the south end of town thinking no one would think to go to K-Mart. I didn't think they would open until 9 and when I arrived, there were very few cars in the parking lot. Wow, I might actually luck out. As I exited my car, a few people were leaving the store. I found out they opened at 8 as well but there was no one there. This really would be my lucky day. When I got to the electronics department there were only a couple of people there. They were quick to dash my hopes and shatter my dreams. K-Mart only received 3 units. There were more than 3 people there so they had a raffle. The guy leading the line didn't even get one. That is so completely unfair. I hung around to talk to the sales associate to see when they would receive more. They didn't even know they were getting that shipment, so it was anyone's guess when more would arrive.

I left there disappointed. I knew there was no chance Wal-Mart had any left. I knew Gamestop was a strikeout as well. However, I did hear that Circuit City had 18. When we drove by the night before, there were only 6 or 7 people camped out and when I drove by at 8 AM, people were putting up their gear, so I figured I had a chance. As I pulled into the parking lot, I noticed a few people gathered outside Toys R Us next door where there had been none at 8 AM. Rather than going to Circuit City where I could see no one, I stepped up to the crowd and was greeted with "We're putting people's names on a list. You would be number 5" by a young and geeky (but cute geeky) college girl. "How many do they have?" I asked. "Nine," she said. "My name's Jason Smith."

Here it was 8:30 AM and Toys R Us didn't open until 11. Erika knew I was going out, but she wasn't awake when I left and I was supposed to bring home orange rolls for breakfast after getting my Wii. Honestly, I was expecting to grab one quickly and be back before 9 after everything I had read and heard about there being plenty of units available. I kindly asked if anyone minded if I ran home for a minute so I could take the orange rolls (which I hadn't bought yet) and let Erika know what was going on. They didn't mind and held my spot in line while I did what I needed to do. When I came back I began the 2 hour wait. I started by playing Mario Kart DS with a group of guys. I really sucked, but it was fun and passed the time. Eventually it got too cold to play with our fingers all curled up from playing, so I spent the rest of the wait talking to the geeky girl's boyfriend. He was in band and we chatted about the differences between now and when I was in band.

The geeky girl clearly wasn't thinking when she rolled out of bed that morning. She was wearing very thin cotton capris and flip flops along with her North Face jacket (which covered up a pink tank top and a thin Victoria's Secret hoodie she admitted later). Within the first 30 minutes I was there, she had a thin bath towel around her waist and her feet in her purse. I'm not entirely sure how she avoided frostbite. I guess it wasn't as cold as it felt.

At 10:30, we all lined up to await our tickets which were to be given out at 10:45. One of the managers came out and told us what was going on which was very nice of him. At 10:45, they cleared out the foyer into the store so that we could at least take shelter from the cold. The minutes ticked away as we got our tickets and were finally allowed into the store to shop. The entire processional made their way back to the Wii area of the store to browse the accessories and games.

By 11:20, I had my Wii in hand and was on my way home. I was so giggly and excited I could hardly contain myself. Unfortunately, real life took over when I got home and I spent most of my day taking care of other obligations such as cleaning and paying bills. I haven't gotten a chance to enjoy it as much as I want to, but I've had fun with what I've played so far.

Wii Sports is frustrating at times due to the sensitivity of the controller. It's very hard not to try to react as if you are actually playing the sport. I still get carried away playing baseball wanting to swing the remote as hard as I can to hit the ball even though it only requires a simple wrist flick. Excite Truck is the most difficult thus far. Again sensitivity is an issue as the smallest moves with the remote turns into exaggerated moves on the screen. The controls are so simplistic and natural, but it's very hard to reprogram your brain to move the controller after spending 25 years mashing buttons.

Was it worth standing in the cold for 2 hours? Definitely! Would I do it again? Yeah, but I'd stand in line a lot longer. Call me crazy.

This weekend was great and sad at the same time. I had such a good time going to see Cowboy Mouth in Baton Rouge and Hattiesburg. I may never see them on back to back nights again though. I'm not sure if my body can generate the energy necessary for two Cowboy Mouth shows in 24 hours.

I also had fun tailgating at LSU. I've never tailgated before but it was a good time even if it was with LSU fans. Even wearing my Alabama gear and yelling at the top of my lungs when Alabama did something good, I came out unscathed physically.

But, it can't be roses all the time. Alabama lost to Auburn. Shocker I know. That didn't really bother me since I was expecting a loss. The trip down wasn't too fun either as Erika and I used the time to try and work through our current difficulties, but it turned out to be quite beneficial despite the discomfort initially.

The worst part of the trip was finding out in the middle of the concert Friday night that one of the founding members of Cowboy Mouth was leaving. It really put a damper on the second half of the show when Paul "Poppy" Sanchez announced his departure. The show Saturday night in Hattiesburg was has last show with the band and it hurt to know this was the end of the path. He brought a lot to Cowboy Mouth in both music and character. He's not giving up music thankfully and plans to do some solo work. Honestly, I'm not sure how Cowboy Mouth will fare with Poppy's departure. He will be sorely missed.

A month ago, my life and marriage began crumbling. I didn't even realize it for another 10 days. It's taken a lot of work and a lot of talking but we have managed to repair the crumbling. It could have been a lot worse, but we met the problem head on. It's been difficult to deal with at times, but for the most part things are really good. Not just really good, but newlywed good. Like Erika says, some days are diamonds, some days are stones. The path before us still has a few stones to move, and there will be a few bumps, but for the most part I believe the path is clear.

Last night, Erika and I began our weekend of craziness. We went to see Sister Hazel down at the Jupiter. It was a good show, but I was a little miffed they didn't play Superman. Erika posted a blog and pictures about the show earlier today.

Today is an off day. We have the usual TV shows to watch. Tomorrow we are driving to Baton Rouge for a Cowboy Mouth concert. Saturday we are tailgating for the LSU game and watching the Alabama/Auburn game while hanging out with a few of Erika's friends (one of which is an Auburn alum - booo!). After the game we are heading back home but not before stopping in Hattiesburg for another Cowboy Mouth show.

After the show we are driving back home, but even before we get home, I expect to visit the Hattiesburg Wal-Marts and the Tuscaloosa Wal-Mart searching for a Nintendo Wii. I don't expect to find one there, but I do plan on standing in line Sunday morning if need be at Target to get one. If by chance I am unable to get one at Target, I will probably try my luck at Circuit City and/or Toys R Us. I need to make some phone calls today to see how many units have been received at every location.

I am hopeful that I will get one since so many are being released. Getting one before Thanksgiving would be ideal since I have a few days off and can really play until my eyes fall out. If not, I should have one before Christmas based on the numbers Nintendo is releasing. I'm crossing my fingers. I've saved up money from Christmases, birthdays and other odds and ends for the past two years. If I wanted to, I could get an Xbox 360 or PS3, but I don't want to. I want the Wii and it will be mine.

A month ago, my life and marriage began crumbling. I didn't even realize it for another 10 days. It's taken a lot of work and a lot of talking but we have managed to repair the crumbling. It could have been a lot worse, but we met the problem head on. It's been difficult to deal with at times, but for the most part things are really good. Not just really good, but newlywed good. Like Erika says, some days are diamonds, some days are stones. The path before us still has a few stones to move, and there will be a few bumps, but for the most part I believe the path is clear.

Last night, Erika and I began our weekend of craziness. We went to see Sister Hazel down at the Jupiter. It was a good show, but I was a little miffed they didn't play Superman. Erika posted a blog and pictures about the show earlier today.

Today is an off day. We have the usual TV shows to watch. Tomorrow we are driving to Baton Rouge for a Cowboy Mouth concert. Saturday we are tailgating for the LSU game and watching the Alabama/Auburn game while hanging out with a few of Erika's friends (one of which is an Auburn alum - booo!). After the game we are heading back home but not before stopping in Hattiesburg for another Cowboy Mouth show.

After the show we are driving back home, but even before we get home, I expect to visit the Hattiesburg Wal-Marts and the Tuscaloosa Wal-Mart searching for a Nintendo Wii. I don't expect to find one there, but I do plan on standing in line Sunday morning if need be at Target to get one. If by chance I am unable to get one at Target, I will probably try my luck at Circuit City and/or Toys R Us. I need to make some phone calls today to see how many units have been received at every location.

I am hopeful that I will get one since so many are being released. Getting one before Thanksgiving would be ideal since I have a few days off and can really play until my eyes fall out. If not, I should have one before Christmas based on the numbers Nintendo is releasing. I'm crossing my fingers. I've saved up money from Christmases, birthdays and other odds and ends for the past two years. If I wanted to, I could get an Xbox 360 or PS3, but I don't want to. I want the Wii and it will be mine.

Last week I posted my review for The Nightmare Before Christmas 3-D but I just realized I never announced it. Take a look at the review in Now Playing to see if the digital 3-D makes a difference for this Halloween classic.

Normally every morning before I trek off to work, I play video games for about a half hour. Yesterday I was spending quality time with my wife on the phone (not that kind of quality time ) so I didn't get to play. Given the choice I'd rather talk to my wife, anyway. So, with the limited time I had left before work, I flipped over to G4 to watch the end of G.I. Joe. Here's what I learned in that 10 minutes:

1. When riding in a vehicle, don't wear your seatbelt. That way when a missle hits near your car you will be flung far away from the explosion without getting hurt.
   
   
2. When a missle hits your tank, only the turret will explode initially giving you plenty of time to hop out before the rest explodes. And of course you escape without a scratch.
   
   
3. For no reason whatsoever, a parrot can grow to an enormous size. At this size he can catch a plane that has been shot down with his claw. He can also catch a man falling from the sky. Both the plane and the man are about the same size when compared to the size of the parrot claw.
   
   
4. Cover Girl is drawn a lot hotter now than she was in the 80's
   

I didn't vote yesterday because I thought it was unnecessary. How do you decide who to vote for when the candidates are all saying the same thing. Here's the basics behind the campaign crap for Alabama's Goober-natorial candidates.

Don't vote for Lucy because she is supported by casino bigwigs. Don't vote for Bob because his campaign was supported by casino bigwigs. Uhhhhh, ok. Lucy is for lowering taxes. Bob is for lowering taxes. Lucy voted for tax increases. Bob voted for tax increases.

I love how all the political ads give you about 10% of the story. Don't vote for this person because they voted against lowering taxes. What they fail to point out is why that person didn't vote to lower taxes. Was it because they were absent? Was it because in order to lower taxes, nursing homes would have to be shut down? Or perhaps, in order to lower taxes, every resident would need an anal probe and have to drink raw sewage. These are things you just don't hear about.

Finally all of these signs will disappear. Is there even a point to the signs? They all look the same. Every sign is red, white and/or blue. Every sign is rectangular and stuck in the ground around at least a dozen others. I saw one unique sign that was diamond shaped. That brought some attention, but after seeing it for 2 months, it lost its appeal. Now it's just another sign in a sea of lies and unfulfilled promises.

Next year, vote for me. I promise that all children will exercise more than they do now. What I won't tell you is that I am going to release rabid animals in the gym during PE. I am Jason Smith, but I do not approve of this message. Paid for by people that need a tax break and donated money to my futile effort.

This past weekend, I considered and did things that I haven't done since college. Honestly, getting drunk was not on that list.

Being all alone this Saturday, I guess I forgot I'm supposed to be 31 (nearly 32). I started off my Saturday pretty normally: grocery shopping and football. However, I had been driving around town Saturday blaring Cowboy Mouth's Voodoo Shoppe. Something struck me and I suddenly really wanted to go to a Cowboy Mouth show. Even as I tried to dismiss it and had decided to sit at home playing video games, it kept gnawing at me. I watched the miserable game debating how far I would travel for a show.

This shocked and disturbed me. I'm not a groupie but I felt compelled to "scream and shout like (I) was five" again just like I had the weekend before. It's not often I make spur of the moment decisions, but I was ready to drive 4 or 5 hours to see them, grab a nap at a hotel and head back the next day. Luckily for me (I guess) they had no shows scheduled for Saturday night. I even debated catching a flight somewhere if it was too far to drive, but quickly dismissed that due to the cost involved.

Since there were no shows, my other idea came to fruition. It was me and my video games for a raucous night of fun. My original plan (before the Cowboy Mouth thought popped up) had been to drive to Meridian and see Colin Mocherie and Brad Sherwood from Who's Line Is It Anyway. Unfortunately, the ticket prices pushed me away. Since Erika was gone for the weekend, I might as well indulge in my passion.

Baseball and hockey started the evening, but soon, I found myself at my PC playing Half-Life 2, Episode 1. I played and played, barely keeping track of the time. I kept plugging along continually wondering what was around the next corner. Eventually I turned a corner and saw two mounted turrets at the end of a hallway that were really causing some frustration. I paused to consider the best way to get through this obstacle. It was then that I realized it was 4 AM. Holy cow!?! That clock has to be wrong. I actually got up and checked the other clocks in the house. Yep, it was 4 AM. Quietly, I saved and closed out of the game, brushed my teeth and went to bed. I wasn't really sleepy but I dozed off pretty quickly. And I knew that in a few hours Kitty would wake me begging for breakfast.

I can't remember the last time I've stayed up later than 2 and even those times are rare occasions. Usually I force myself to go to bed so that I can get up with Erika on Sunday and start our day together. I don't think she'd take too kindly of me staying up all night and sleeping all day especially since our time together is limited (stupid work).

I have to say it was a blast. Were I not going to Cleveland this weekend, I'd probably do it again.

Before this past weekend, it had been about 6 weeks since I had stepped into a theater. Not sure why. Partly busy, partly nothing appealing which is typical this time of year, but usually I can spare a couple hours on a weekend. I finally made the time to see The Departed. The review is posted under the Now Playing section. Nothing else has changed. I'm still working on the new site design and hope to make some major progress over the next few weeks. I'm still shooting for completion by the end of the year.

I have nothing to blog about today so I will turn random thoughts into something.

For some reason I feel blah today. I don't know why. Something seems out of sorts and I can't put my finger on it.

Counseling was pretty much a waste yesterday. He basically confirmed that what I was feeling wasn't unnatural and that we (Erika and I) had done all the right things with our problems.

The Predators are 8-0-1 since starting the season 0-3. Amazing how many haters and whiners there were the first week of the season. Now I hear nothing, neither positive or negative. Makes me wonder if the fans are complacent because the team is winning again. I still wish I could see the games. Center Ice is unavailable through Comcast here and we are outside the FSN viewing area for Predators hockey. The first game I have a chance to watch is next Friday night when I will be flying to Cleveland. How's that for luck?

Fall is in full effect today. The leaves are actually starting to turn colors other than brown. I love looking outside and seeing the leaves raining down like snow.

Should that be snowing down instead of raining? Snowing down sounds stupid.

I really have to wonder about what was being considered before I was hired at Alabama. The Alabama education standards are probably the most complicated thing ever invented in terms of what they want to track and how. It doesn't help that there seems to be no unification in the college. Every department wants to do things their way.

I just sat here trying to explain and describe what's going on, but it's too complicated for words. It doesn't help when the system I was hired to work with is not required for use. Of course, we are still not sure this system will even do what we need it to do. I may have to create something from the ground up and have it working in about 15 months. I am so not looking forward to that if it happens.

I guess that's it for today.