2009 and the 2000's out the door!

What a year!!  What a decade!  Good or bad, certainly a decade that will be WELL remembered... like the 1920's or the 1960's.  What will you remember from the 2000's?  Definitely 9/11,  maybe the recession, war, the first black president?

What a life changing decade.  From 22... now I'm 32...I learned from mistakes, lived through new experiences (good and bad,) and grew up!  I now have three children, and a loving wife... and have learned that outside of my family... everything else is second.

What to do in 2010?

• Lose weight and get in shape!  It's going to be hard to keep up with 3 rowdy kids otherwise
• Find a niche
• Travel more
• Get more involved with local and national politics
  
• Stop wasting time on ideas in my head and execute them
• Dream bigger
• Live...
  

Have a Happy New Year!  Enjoy a nice year end list!

• Number of trips I took: 2
• Number of countries I went to: 1
• Number of new members of my house: 1
• Number of new tax deductions: 1
  
• Approximate number of times I've had to yell at my children to stop running around the house: 36,732
• Approximate number of times they listened: 0
• Gallons of sweet tea consumed at Louisiana State Fair: 12
  
• Number of Captains foam fingers purchased:1
• Number of GB's inconvenienced by this blog:  3.3
  
• Number of times we moved: 0 (My wife thanks me)
  
• Number of concerts I went to: 10
  
• Number of movies I went to: 4
• Number of times I've threatened to move to the Cayman Island: 23
• Number of times I've followed through with this threat: 0

2009: The Game

Kick 2009 out the door and try to gather up all the money you lost in the recession while dodging teabaggers, Balloon Boy, zombie Michael Jackson and more.  It's 2009: The Game!  Click to play!

Happy New Year from ToddOnAir.com!  Woop Woop!  Here was my score...

Valentine's Day Movie

No surprise that Taylor Swift would have a song on the new soundtrack for the movie "Valentine's Day" since a) she's in the movie. Two of her songs, "Jump Then Fall" and the brand new "Today Was A Fairytale", are both unveiled to be among the tunes for the album.

See the movie on Feb. 12th, and get a sneak peek at Taylor's part in the movie in the clip below.

Front row at Mason's Christmas part

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

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Beautiful sunset tonight

This photo doesn't do it justice. It's 40 degrees with a nice chill in the air.
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Tiger Gives The "Back 9" A Whole New Meaning

I've tried.  I have resisted.  I have refused to blog about the Tiger Woods ordeal... until now.  A Taiwanese tabloid website has recreated the crash, affairs, and other musings in all their glory using computer animation.   The videos are based on some fact, mostly tabloid reports, all completely entertaining.  MSNBC's Keith Olbermann has the translation.  It's PG-13.  Enjoy!

@radiotodd Twitter Updates For Week Of 11-30-09

• going on a picnic with the fam... hopefully we'll stay dry!
• http://twitpic.com/rhnin - Trale strikes a pose
• Dusted off the ol' iPod tonight. Now spending the rest of the evening believing that planet earth turns slowly.
• @daisyinahazy Who need all those distractions like electricity anyhow?
• Turkey Sammich anyone?
• Tatonka! http://flic.kr/p/6u9MPz
• @kirkfontenot I think you use the select button and it throws a special punch
• Tongue is tied today...must be the excessive amounts of turkey over the weekend.
• #syncmyridepodcast ! Hook me up!! Heard about it on www.twit.tv from Leo Laporte!
• One light goes out, they ALL go out?!
• Listening to the country music on Gibraltar's radio station. www.gbc.gi
• @lesliettravis I'm really jealous!! Radney is awesome!
• Loving the winter weather. Skull caps are my friend. Keeps bald heads warm.
• http://twitpic.com/rytx7 - Nice bun!
• I hope it snows enough tomorrow to make a snowman and have a snowball fight!
• Where'd the snow go??
• @lesliettravis I'm jealous!! We're not getting any of that snow! Yall enjoy it!
• http://twitpic.com/s5d3p - Snow... Now sun... Only in Louisiana!                

Grammy Noms Today!

Taylor Swift earned eight Grammy nominations last night, second only to Beyonce who scored ten. The candidates for the 52nd annual Grammy Awards were announced last night during a live music special televised by CBS from Club Nokia in Los Angeles. Taylor earned three nominations in the all genre categories. Zac Brown Band was the only other country act nominated in an all genre category – they earned a nomination for Best New Artist.    Copy the list below and comment with your picks to win!  The person with the best picks wins a t-shirt!

BEST FEMALE COUNTRY VOCAL PERFORMANCE:
--"White Horse", Taylor Swift
--"Dead Flowers", Miranda Lambert
--"I Just Call You Mine", Martina McBride
--"Just A Dream", Carrie Underwood
--"Solitary Thinkin'", Lee Ann Womack

BEST MALE COUNTRY VOCAL PERFORMANCE:
--"All I Ask For Anymore", Trace Adkins
--"People Are Crazy", Billy Currington
--"High Cost Of Living", Jamey Johnson
--"Living For The Night", George Strait
--"Sweet Thing", Keith Urban

BEST COUNTRY PERFORMANCE BY A DUO OR GROUP: (With Vocals)
--"Cowgirls Don't Cry", Brooks & Dunn
--"Chicken Fried", Zac Brown Band
--"I Run To You", Lady Antebellum
--"Here Comes Goodbye", Rascal Flatts
--"It Happens", Sugarland

BEST COUNTRY COLLABORATION: (With Vocals)
--"Beautiful World", Dierks Bentley & Patty Griffin
--"Down The Road", Kenny Chesney & Mac McAnally
--"Start A Band", Brad Paisley & Keith Urban
--"I Told You So", Carrie Underwood & Randy Travis
--"Everything But Quits", Lee Ann Womack & George Strait

BEST COUNTRY SONG:
--"White Horse", Taylor Swift
--"All I Ask For Anymore", Trace Adkins
--"High Cost Of Living", Jamey Johnson
--"I Run To You", Lady Antebellum
--"People Are Crazy", Billy Currington

BEST COUNTRY ALBUM:
--"Fearless", Taylor Swift
--"The Foundation", Zac Brown Band
--"Twang", George Strait
--"Defying Gravity", Keith Urban
--"Call Me Crazy", Lee Ann Womack

BEST COUNTRY INSTRUMENTAL PERFORMANCE:
--"Producers' Medley", Steve Wariner
--"Under The (Five) Wire", Alison Brown
--"The Crystal Merchant", The Greencards
--"Mansinneedof", Sarah Jarosz

BEST BLUEGRASS ALBUM:
-"The Crow / New Songs For The Five-String Banjo", Steve Martin
--"Could We Get Any Closer?", Jim Lauderdale
--"Buckaroo Blue Grass", Michael Martin Murphey
--"Almost Live", Bryan Sutton And Friends
--"Destination Life", Rhonda Vincent

@radiotodd Twitter Updates For Week Of 11-22-09

• Fritos + Candy Corn = crazy delicious
• @Tigger311 Haha!! I had fritos and candy corn in the lunch box with my sammich... salty sweet!
• up this morning holding the baby and catching up from a busy Monday
• I'm helping the local economy and keeping window washing jobs in Shreveport when the boys smudge their hands on store windows.
• http://twitpic.com/qsvmo - I need some shades in the studio... Its bright up in herrre!
• @lesliettravis mmm...yummy... a must for thanksgiving dinner!
• Grrrraaaaaavvvvvvyyyyyyyy!
• http://twitpic.com/qxkxp - First time I've seen the Christmas tree outside the studio lit up.
• Happy Thanksgiving!
• Tree is up... Time for some egg nog... with extra nog. http://post.ly/Db36
• @kaylanut yes! gravy hooked up through IV ;) It's all gravy!
• @roadmunk All in moderation ;)
• http://twitpic.com/rbn13 - Watch out for Trale's           

Tree is up... Time for some egg nog... with extra nog.

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Happy Thanksgiving!!

I'm thankful for you, great friends, and a loving family! I'm ready for the upcoming week of leftover turkey sammiches!

Episode 001 - Todd On Air Podcast

Show number one in the can!!  It's a start anyway.  Thank you for checking us out and use the share button below to send to your facebook, twitter, digg, etc.  Look for a new episode every week!

Download MP3 File

Here are the links from today's show.
Todd On Twitter
Oprah: 25 Years Of Screaming Celebrities' Names
Paula Deen Hit with Ham
Men's Fitness test the best and worst light beers on the market
HOW TO: Use Social Media to Find Black Friday Deals
Top 10 Funniest Google Suggest Results
Women cannot keep a secret for longer than 47 hours
Record Breaking Granny: 1,400 Relatives

@radiotodd Twitter Updates For Week Of 11-15-09

• Hello internet... how do I miss thee... let me count the ways...
• Went to go pick up the boys at school and it was mighty chilly!
• Haha!! Lorenzo von Matterhorn!! http://is.gd/4WHkM
• Updating my website/blog . . . check out the work in progress... http://www.toddonair.com Watch for falling boulders!
• 7 reasons why you should keep your tyrannosaur off crack cocaine... http://is.gd/4XgIZ
• Temperature outside 48 degrees... temperature inside the KRMD studio... 30 with snow!! BRrr it's cold in here!!!
• Sweet tea is still good when its chilly outside...mmmm I want some Chili
• Haha! Tasty! RT @alltop Yummy mail: Bacon-flavored envelopes - Holy Kaw! http://bit.ly/3Th72C
• Anytime is a great time for shadow puppets! http://post.ly/CvRW
• http://twitpic.com/q4exe - Me and Bubba eating turkey lunch at school!
• #syncmyridepodcast I wanna win!! I heard about it on TWiT.TV! Thank you Leo!
• I've been tweeking... and I like it.
• TGIF! Woop!
• People protesting downtown S'port to "not sell us out" and vote no to the health bill.. err.. Voting No IS selling out.. to insurance lobby
• Glad I don't have a bunch of plans this weekend, 'cause I got some chores!!
• #syncmyridepodcast oohhh... pick me pick me!!! I heard about it on www.twit.tv from THE @leolaporte!
• http://twitpic.com/qdyv0 - Out with the boys checking on my geocaches               

Todd On Air Podcast - Episode 000 - Testing 1, 2, 3

Download MP3 File

This is a test post getting ready for the podcast. I'm working on a weekly podcast you can catch right here at ToddOnAir.com.   If you want me to discuss a topic, email me at toddonair@gmail.com, call me at 281-668-TODD and leave a message, or Skype me at ToddOnAir!

Anytime is a great time for shadow puppets!

Make your own and post! www.shadow-puppets.com
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Posted via email from todd's posterous

ToddOnAir.com v.2

Lookie here!!  Somebody has been doing some cleaning up here at the ToddOnAir.com blog.  Let me welcome to the newly redesigned blog and now website!  It's still under construction, so bare with the dust.

Now into my 4th year of blogging it was time for a little update.  When the blog first started, I was pretty new at HTML, web scripting and such. I'm still not that great, but I have learned a few tricks due to trial and error... mostly error :)

Here's what's on tap at the new ToddOnAir.com

--> Podcasting!  Dust off that iPod...Yes... a weekly show is in the works now.

--> Content!  Yes... more web content for your eyes and ears to enjoy.. not just a blog anymore!

--> Sharing!  You like what you see?  Easy integrated sharing features allows you to share ToddOnAir.com goodies with friends on Facebook, Twitter and tons of other social networking sites.

Get ready!  ToddOnAir.com version 2.0 is here.  Woop Woop!

@radiotodd Twitter Updates For Week Of 11-08-09

• Baby just woke up... Daddy time!
• Tweeting just because... know what I'm screamin'?
• I just posted some of the Taylor Swift skits from SNL over the weekend! Check it out! http://www.toddonair.com
• How dare I not mention the Dallas Cowboys in the same breath as the Saints on the air... What was I thinking?! Thanks Charlie!
• Haha! So true! RT @rrjprincess life is like a box of chocolates the only problem is that my box only has the orange cream ones in it
• @lesliettravis Red Bull + Alka Seltzer = crazy delicious
• http://twitpic.com/oxk9r - Beautiful sunset over Shreveport tonight!
• I did it because I can, I can because I want to, I want to because you said I couldn't.
• http://twitpic.com/p14wh - Nice message even if that person did deface property...
• http://twitpic.com/p45a5 - Going for a walk waiting on Momma
• Sitting with Kyli listening to Tom Petty...Groovy
• http://twitpic.com/pis0s - I'm holding a sleeping beauty :)
• @DaisyinaHazy my two boys are sweet too... when are sleeping           

Taylor Swift IS funny!!! Who knew?

Taylor Swift did poke fun at the infamous Kanye West incident during her hosting gig on "Saturday Night Live" over the weekend. But Kanye wasn't the only one she called out.  Taylor's opening monologue was a SONG, called "Monologue Song (La La La)". And in it, she talked about all the things she WASN'T going to mention in her opening monologue . . . like Kanye.

Taylor was actually pretty funny throughout the show. She spoofed Kate Gosselin in a parody of "The View"  and she did a Kristen Stewart impression in a "Digital Short" that mocks "Twilight".

How'd you think Taylor did?  Comment below!

@radiotodd Twitter Updates For Week Of 11-01-09

• Mmmm... I hear the McRib is back. I got my McRib Bib ready for tonight.
• RT @jennymattson The type of beer you drink says alot about you: http://bit.ly/1rTUIw
• @jasenbragg You deserve it man! You have been busting your butt for these stations. Get some good rest. I appreciate all your help! :)
• With the time change, that sun really beams in now during my show. I can't see the buttons on the board. Trying not to push the red one.
• At McDonalds and saw the biggest biker dude walk from the counter with his Happy Meal
• You call it a McMystery... I call it McYummy... http://post.ly/BSgx
• Recovering from the fair! Corn dogs and fried cheese!
• I'm so proud of my 7 year old Trale! He was only one of two kids to get straight A's in his class this 9 weeks! Woop!
• Praying for the soldiers in Ft. Hood!
• Check out the new "iphone killer" Droid from Verizon... I want one!! http://is.gd/4P7Nh
• Watching a couple @LABoardwalk by the fountain talking in sign language. Wonder what they said?
• RT @cmtonecountry Join the USO in helping families affected by the tragedy at Fort Hood: http://bit.ly/1do8Is
• @lesliettravis I was so bummed when the price went up a quarter at wal-mart :) Still the best cheap pizza anywhere!
• Who needs football when all the hits are on c-span today!
• Healthcare bill final vote coming up!
• Yes! Bill passes!!
• the lone republican voter was from Louisiana! Bhaaaa!
• It's funny I stayed glued to c-span tonight. Ready for Taylor Swift on SNL! I wonder if Kanye West will stop by?                

My kids are smart!

School was not my best subject... (haha!)... which makes me happy that my children are so brilliant and smart. Maybe they got their smart genes from my better half?? Big kudos to my 7 year old son, Trale. Who not only got straight A's this 9 weeks period, but he was one of only two in his class that were able to accomplish that feat! Way to go Trale! Keep up the great work!

You call it a McMystery... I call it McYummy...

McRib is back... Let's write a song about its bbq tastyness!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Posted via email from todd's posterous

Taylor Punk'd

On her Halloween episode Friday, Ellen DeGeneres jumped out and scared Taylor Swift in a fake dressing room. If you haven’t seen the video… it’s hilarious!

@radiotodd Twitter Updates For Week Of 10-25-09

• Hey! It's raining today!! It's been a while.... like 1 day.
• I keep getting song requests for songs I just played?? That's my sixth today...
• I'm in a box! http://bit.ly/4pQ25R
• It's #followtuesday! Ok, so it's not exactly #followfriday, but I'm wishin' it was!
• Mason is ready for school http://post.ly/AeA5
• Gettin' funky on the mic like an old batch of collard greens
• Upgraded my BB Storm... I think I can live with you a little longer now.
• Why does @wootoff have to do the woot off a week away from payday? Sup wit that?
• Getting ready for the radio show... it's raining... again....
• Hangin with James Otto before the sheaux! http://post.ly/AFjz        

Mason is ready for school

He was this close to being named "The Dash"
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Staying busy?

Has it been over a week since I blogged?  I thought my time was squeezed before... with the new baby in the house... it squeezed down even more.

I find myself wanting to take care and hold the baby now, so my time is a little split between all my blogs, tweets, facebooks... and now baby! I'm learning to rearrange schedules to do certain tasks like the blog here... and a podcast project I have yet to start. So hang in there! 

Speaking of the new baby, Kyli is doing great and weighed in today at 9lbs 11oz! She is growing and changing everyday. An amazing blessing and miracle!  New pics soon!

The baby isn't the only thing keeping me busy... my job is actually keeping me very busy now that we are in Fair season. Got to hang with James Otto last night before his show at the State Fair Of Louisiana. He's finishing up a new CD for 2010 and the new tunes are amazing!  Plus, he was a really cool, laid back dude.  Rockin' concert!

@radiotodd Twitter Updates For Week Of 10-18-09

• At the park with Bean and the kiddos http://post.ly/A5hp
• Live at the State Fair of Louisiana... Where's the deep fried donut burgers? http://post.ly/9kYT
• Today's show powered by Mucinex and Red Bull.
• @MARKCRAWFORD1 Aww man!! No fun for me today! I love seeing folks get sprayed on windy days! The looks on their faces!! haha!!
• Walking the boys on Caddo Parish "Walk To School Day" http://post.ly/9NHp
• Hard Times in Haiti Mean Many Risk Their Lives at Sea to Escape... http://tinyurl.com/ykp6f2j
• With Cindy and Crew for KRMD Manic Monday lunch @ Ralph and Kacoos! http://post.ly/9G3J
• My lil goblins at Walmart http://post.ly/99K9       

Snot and Sunshine

Is it me or are people seem a little more sicker? They keep passing their gunk on to me! On a good year, I can make it without getting really sick or even a cold...except this year. I've had a violent stomach virus, and a seasonal cold in the past 3 months. Right now the mucus blobs are once again setting up hotel in my lungs.

Maybe I'm lacking Vitamin D.

It's the first time I've seen the sun shine in the past two weeks. Today, it was glorious! 68 degrees with bright sunny goodness. With all the rain the Red River that runs through town is overflowing! Standing at the boardwalk, it's about 6 feet below where I am standing. It's the highest I've ever seen it.  Lots of sediment, trees, and other debris scream past me with the fast flow of the river.

Have a great weekend! And happy birthday to my sister Sunnye!

Testing out a player

I'm working on some new stuff and wanted to try out a player for the blog... here goes...

Free Music Monday!

Interested in some free music to brighten your Monday?  People Magazine is giving away 10 free country music downloads.  Jason Aldean, Big Kenny, and others are in there!  Some good tunes!  The downloads are through iTunes and the People site can get you set up with software if you need it.

Click here to check it out...

...and now Blake Shelton....

...in a deer stand... making a stinky...

I try to not be juvenile on the blog here, but when Craig Morgan goes there, I must!  Blame it on him...

Sometimes, it's best to just get to the point. So here we go: CRAIG MORGAN posted a "twitter" photo of BLAKE SHELTON squatting in a deer stand . . . about to drop a deuce.   It looks pretty much like it sounds. It shows Blake up in a tree stand, bent over with his pants down . . . and a plastic bag placed underneath his butt.  Curious?.... I will not post the picture here, but you can click here to see it.

Remember Haiti

I still remember my trip to Haiti back in March like it was yesterday. An event in my life I will never forget.  It helps when you are raising money for charity organization, to actually go and visit the place and people you are raising money for.  Food For The Poor is the organization that sent me there and they send other folks from churches and radio stations there to see just how bad it is there... and believe me, it's worse than you can ever imagine.    FFP does amazing work and they upload videos from the group trips.  Here's the latest... I remember standing in every location shot in this video... the people, the eyes of the children, and the inhuman conditions they live.

Catch a (google) wave

Rant Start:

The hot thing right now in tech (nerd) talk is the arrival of Google Wave.  It's supposed to be the new web application for everything in one neat little site.  Like "the new email."

I have been waiting patiently, even lusting for the new Google product, after being a big fan of gmail, google calendar, maps, voice, etc... I'm a heavy google user!   Even this very blog was built on Google's Blogger site!  Google planned to initially open up Wave to 100,000 people to start, as a preview, and to troubleshoot with the first batch of people.    I thought, "I was a big google user, I signed up for the preview... SURELY, I was going to get an invite to be part of that first 100,000 people.   The big day: September 30th!   I waited, and waited, and waited for my invite.  Now a week later, still no invite.  I figure now I'll have to wait until the full roll out in 2010... I'm still optimistic.

Google... where's my invite yo?

:End Rant

Check out the Google Wave video below and bring paper towel to pick up drool.

Here's a less cartoony one.

PS:  If you ARE on Google Wave... I'd love you forever if you sent me a Google Wave Invite... toddnixonradio{at}gmail.com

Best Healthcare Pitch Yet!

Here's a nice healthcare pitch to America.  A pretty nice one from Rep. Alan Grayson from Florida.  Enjoy!

Grayson's pitch got him into a little hot water with the other side...
So he apologized... well sort of...

YouTube's Greatest Hits

This needs to happen every year... a best of all the crazy viral videos as seen on YouTube.  How many do you recognize?

Can't you see kid shows?

The age gap between my kids gets larger as they get older. My 7 year old, Trale, now has his own taste in music, what he thinks is cool, and what he wants to watch on TV.

There was some disagreement on what TV shows we should watch this morning. Usually, anything on PBS or the Disney channel would work.  Not today.  Trale wanted nothing to do with those shows. He called them baby shows. One show was already on that our 4 year old, Mason, was watching and would not let his "bubba" change the channel, so Trale was forced to watch a "baby show."

Dora The Explorer, The Wiggles, Curious George at one time were all cool. Now, when 'The Map' from Dora asks where the bridge is (or anything obviously seen on the TV screen,) Trale would jump in and say "duh! it's right there in plain sight...they can't see that?"

Kiss my grits!

I participated in the grits eating contest over the weekend at Louisiana Downs.  There was really no competition, because there were professional eaters lined up with us radio DJ's.  I spent more time watching the pros than eating, plus I knew I had to continue to work the rest of the afternoon.  Considering there was no butter or fixins to be found, I'm proud of eating 1.5 pounds of plain grits!   And I didn't spew grits in the toilet later!   The winner ate 18.9 pounds of grits in 10 minutes.  That's like eating three babies!  Fox News even picked up the video!

Kanye interrupts the Prez...

First Taylor Swift, now President Obama?  Democrats are demanding Kanye West apologize on the floor of the House.

Be like T-Pain

Before I get started, a note for our country music folk... T-Pain is a rapper.. :)

Nearly every recording artist uses studio software called Auto-tune when recording music or when they are live on stage.  Auto-tune smooths out any "off-key" imperfections in the artist when they sing.  When used correctly, it's hard to tell when auto-tune is actually correcting an artist.

T-pain, is arguably the Godfather of the Auto-Tune phenomenon in pop and rap music.  T-pain uses an extreme setting on auto-tune that adds that warble effect in the vocal from one note to the other.  Some country artists like George Strait have used that extreme setting.

Check this out!!  He has created an Auto-Tune application for the iPhone.  It's called "I Am T-Pain," and it allows you to record your voice with the Auto-Tune effect, in real time. You can then create your own tracks and stream them on your Facebook or MySpace pages.   Bhaaaa!!!

Check out the video of people using the app!  The app is $2.99.

Health Care's Cruel Summer

The summer was tough on health care reform:  Out of control scream-matches at town hall meetings, slanted news coverage,  "paid-off" conservative politicians, and TV commercials FULL of lies.  Months of wasted time...

As an Independent, I've actually enjoyed watching both sides of the debates, news coverage and republicans who were full of bad rhetoric and poor ideas of reform.  If I hear another republican politician step up to a podium or town hall meeting and talk about how bad a "government-run health care plan" would be, I'm gonna scream!   Then you hear republican supporters asking their representative not to touch their Medicare?   Uh....Medicare IS government run health care dummies.... so is the VA for our veterans.  I can see why the older folk don't want it touched... it's actually a good system!

The "government death panels" argument from republicans make me laugh the most.  Death panels??  We have death panels now... it's called the American private health insurance industry that continues to deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions and employ armies of adjusters to deny claims when their customers become sick.

Why are we protecting these goons of the health insurance industry, when we can take health care back, pay for it ourselves through taxation at a much lower rate, and have full coverage until we die without any worries of a medical bill??   Over 700,000 people file bankruptcy every year due to medical bills; most were insured.  Morally, why wouldn't every American and politician not want universal coverage for all, paid for and run by the American people?  Oh... that's right, health insurance and pharmaceutical lobbyists, and special interests paying off our elected leaders (and some of the screamers at town hall meetings) against such a plan.

As a moral obligation to our fellow man, we have to fix how our health care is paid for.  It's the only thing in our American society worth fixing for ourselves and future generations.  We must come to a consensus that U.S. health care must be universal and comprehensive to take care of everybody's basic health care needs from womb to tomb.

Stop listening to TV commercials and what the news people on Fox News, MSNBC and CNN are saying about reform.  Read about it on your own.  Then call your representative and tell them what you want to see in health insurance reform.  There are many other options out there that aren't getting a chance, mostly because nobody know about them.  I'm a big proponent of the "Medicare-for-all" bill, HR676.  But I bet you never heard of it.  You can thank the special interest groups for that.  Read about HR676 here.

Also, check out a guy named I saw on C-SPAN, T.R. Reid, who has studied the universal health care systems in other countries and wrote a great article for the Washington Post on the myths of health care reform.  A pretty fair and honest article that truly examines each countries systems.

Wake up America!!

Before you go, read my "eye-opening" blogs on universal health care:
The Other Crisis from 10/08
But Seriously... from 6/09

This video is fun too: Why We Need Government-Run Universal Socialized Health Insurance

As always, your views are welcome.  Please comment below.

Saturday Surfing

I've been stuck at home today with a miserable cold and a laptop.  While surfing around in my snot filled stupor, I found some great sites.

Ignite on YouTube: These 5 minute seminars can teach you everything from "How to work a crowd" to "how to hack chocholate", whatever that means...  5 minutes and a presentation slide that changes every 15 minutes.  A perfect way to get enlightened in a short time with a little comedy thrown in.

Liberated Syndication:  Ever wanted to host your own podcast show?   Take your voice and put it on iTunes.  I haven't done it yet, but I'm still thinking about a show idea.   Easy publishing even for the non-tech savvy folk.

TED Talks: Learn something new! Get inspired!  Some great 18 minute talks on a wide range of ideas.

Twit.tv: It's a television network online!   It's all website, net-talk, geeky stuff.... it's great!

Please share your Saturday Surfing below!

Lady Antebellum: Punk'd

Kenny Chesney pulled a good prank on Lady Antebellum during their last show on Kenny’s tour in Raleigh, North Carolina. The trio was about to sing “Love Don’t Live Here Anymore,” when Kenny’s band and crew came out dressed like characters from Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” video and even performed the entire dance on stage. Kenny watched on stage and video taped the entire episode. As Lady A was starting their last song, Kenny’s drummer came onstage and removed the cymbals from the drum set. And fellow opener Miranda Lambert didn’t let the new act leave the tour easily. She put baby powder on the drum heads and taped down keys to Dave Haywood’s keyboard. It took me forever to find some video... but I got it! Enjoy!

Got Cooties?

It's been about a month since Kyli was born...now a chunky five pound ham.  I visit her almost every day and have gotten used to the routine of washing my hands with  industrial-strength hospital germ killer before holding her hand.  Even the boys know that they need to must sing the ABC's while soaping up to know that they have washed long enough to kill the germs.  In fact, there was a hand sanitizing station at nearly every hallway entrance in the hospital.

The swine flu has become a pretty serious concern.  The government people that monitor flu say 30%-40% of all people could get this particular flu in the next year or two.  As you can imagine, the sales for hand-sanitizer lotions have gone through the roof.  Some schools require that each kid have their own bottle.  A guy at the gas station this morning kept a bottle in his truck for after he filled up.  Everywhere I go, somebody's offering me a squirt of their personal 5 gallon stash of Germ-X.

Is this safe for everybody to turn into germaphobes??  Common thinking says that repeated use of anti-bacterial soaps and hand sanitizers make us less immune to the viruses and bacteria we are trying to protect ourselves, right?  It seems like some of those results could be inconclusive or wrong depending on what you read.   Here's a nice article.  This article has a little different view on the matter.   This article exposes germs living in the containers!  Take your pick.

These little bottles of hand sanitizer have worked it's way into every purse, desk drawer, and pocket in America.  Congratulations if you own some hand sanitizer stock!  ...and I'll take a dime-sized amount of your berry-sage scented Purell.

Nursery Rhyme by Todd

Inspired by my 4 year old who likes to try and scare us at the house by screaming "Boo-ga-la-boo-ga-la-boo!"

Boo-ga-la-boo-ga-la-boo!

A spider went poo in my shoe.


When the spider was through, the spider said ewww!

Boo-ga-la-boo-ga-la-boo!

Baby Kyli Update

Kyli is almost three weeks old now and doing fantastic.  She is now over 4 pounds, and the only tube on her is the feeding tube that goes through her nose.  She is able to breathe on her own and regulate her temperature for the most part, but until she able to feed on her own and get up to 5 pounds, she'll have to stay in the hospital.  It's been a mixed blessing, because it's allowing Holli to rest and fully recover before Kyli comes home.  In fact, with school now in session for the boys, it's been very quiet around the house.  We never get that!!  Enjoy some new pictures...

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Yo MTV, quit jacking our artists!

The MTV folks have grabbed a hold of Taylor Swift.  Soon she'll be rapping with T-Pain... um...oh...right... Here's Taylor in a great TV promo for the MTV music awards. (she will be performing) I'm stoked that Taylor is reaching new audiences and potentially bringing new listeners to country music, but at the same time, I wish we could just keep country artists to ourselves.  I think crossing over stalled Faith's career, I just don't want that to happen to Taylor too I guess.

You're the reason I like this song...

One of my favorite country tunes is "You're The Reason God Made Oklahoma" by David Frizzell and Shelly West.  This past week, Keith Urban and Sugarland teamed up for the duet in Tulsa.
They rocked it!  Check it out!

I think this song is due for a remake, since not too many years ago, Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert nailed a version for a CMT special.

Baby Update

Holli is back at home after 10 days in the hospital and doing great!  Since Kyli was so early, doctors expect her to be in NICU for the next 3 to 4 weeks until she learns to feed on her own and get a little meat on her bones.  Thankfully, there have been no major complications and she is doing really great! 

We took Kyli's two older brothers to see her today for the first time.  Trale and Mason were full of questions and very excited to see her!

Here's a couple of new pics....those tubes will be gone soon ;) but, check out the hair!  I'm jealous!

Baby Kyli is here!

My, how things change in just a couple of days.  Holli's body was beginning to shut down and it was time to deliver this morning for the the health of Momma and the baby.  Here's Kyli!  She weighed in at 3lbs. and 8oz.   Sure, she is tiny, but was screaming and kicking coming out!  Both Holli and baby are doing great!  Thanks for everybody's thoughts, prayers and help!  We greatly appreciate it!

Fetus Nixon Watch!

We are getting close... perhaps too close actually.  My beautiful wife, Holli, is 7 1/2 months prego and it's a girl! We had to rush to the hospital on Thursday after a routine doctor appointment showed she had some dangerous indicators that would cause a need to deliver immediately!   Did I mention the baby hasn't finished cooking in the oven yet?  Just 30 weeks... After a couple of days in the hospital, Holli was not getting better and there was a possibility we were going to have the baby this weekend.  Well, it's funny when the pressure is on that Holli starts to make a turn around.  Both Momma and baby are doing great tonight.  The doctor is still saying a possibility of "going" this week depending on how she does.  I'm hoping to get another week or two, at least, to keep the baby in there cooking just a weeee bit longer.  Hang on tight!

We did ultrasound pics on that Thursday by the way.  Fetus Nixon is doing great!  She actually gave us a nice wave!

We finally have some video of TIM MCGRAW tossing that abusive fan out of his concert Sunday night in Paso Robles, California. --In case you missed it: Tim saw some dude acting inappropriately towards a woman in the crowd, so he stopped the show and said, quote, "You don't treat a woman like that." Then he waited until security removed the guy before continuing the show. Check out the video below!

Fun At The Captains!

Took the boys to see America's Past Time over the weekend to see our local Captains's Baseball team.  It's always a nice time to watch a game and hang out!  It was boys night out since the Momma was in Texas at a baby shower.  Trale and Mason got to show off some of their dancing skills in between innings!

New Taylor Swift Myspace Video

I really enjoy Taylor Swift's Myspace videos. Oh, to be 19, and a big rich superstar!! I'll take just being 19 again...  Enjoy!

ToddTube

I'm back as the MC for the American Cancer Society Baron's Ball event on August 22nd at Fox Creek Farms. Commercial time!! They invited me to be on their TV Public Service Announcement spot. Again, no funding for a new toupee. Sorry ladies...

Special thanks to Fox 33 for shooting and airing it for us, and to Julie Colvin and Brooke Henry for getting me on the tube!

Don't Forget To Check The Pockets!

I usually wash the jeans each week, because I always go through all the pockets to make sure the kids didn't leave something, or me for that matter. My wife got hold of the pants this weekend, and didn't check the pockets... my wallet was left in one of the pockets and left bits of papers and stuff everywhere in the washing machine... so... should I have checked my pockets before putting in the laundry or should she have checked???
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Everything makes sense now!

Silly politicians...

Happy Friday and have a great weekend!

I'm such a kid sometimes...

I couldn't stop laughing at this.... It's Akin's Nursery on East Kings.  They knew what they were doing when they put up this sign...

I believe there are other crazy signs in the Ark-la-tex... post them below!

I Got Your Number Chicken People

We are a frequent customer at Chick-Fil-A...we love the chicken sandwiches and the kids nuggets meal for the boys.  The restaurant would always let you exchange the toy in the bag for a small ice cream.    The toy today came in a black, secretive, bag.  On the outside it says, open for a chance to win a free ice cream!  So instead of exchanging the toy for the ice cream, we opened it to see if we won, of course!  We got a nice little toy cow and a piece of paper that said better luck next time.  You see where I'm going with this??  Now, we have a toy and no ice cream, and now have to spring for some ice cream because we opened the toy instead of exchanging for ice cream.  Haha!  I got your number Chick-Fil-A marketing people.  I fell for your trick this time.... I'm watching you now!  See you again on family night.

Junk In My Trunk

Time is counting down to the new baby.  So, I spent much of Sunday, moving furniture around and cleaning out stuff to sell to make room.   You wouldn't believe the little scraps of stuff I save.  Ticket stubs, bumper stickers, old airchecks. Here's a little collage, see if you recognize anything:  Click on the pic to see a bigger version.

When I turned 18, my hair all fell out thanks to male pattern baldness.... so, people always ask me to show pictures of what I looked like with hair.  Enjoy!

At church camp about 12 years old.  Nice bright red shorts and tube socks!




My 18th Birthday driver's license, the last one with hair.  I got rid of the mullet just days before this shot was taken in 1995!

Weekend Inbox

This was in my inbox this morning.  It's a YouTube video of an insurance company exec who left the field after almost 20 years to become a health reform advocate.  This is a must see if you have concerns over government run health care.

You know that I'm a pretty big advocate of health care for all... and anti-anybody who claims to be a conservative or liberal, because everybody has individual ideas and beliefs and can't fully be put into one category or the other.  Don't follow the herd, research and come up with your own conclusion.  If you haven't seen the Sicko movie yet, run down to the library and rent it. Then go fact check the movie, you'll find that it's pretty right on.

The best health care bill is already in the house, but is getting no attention due to deep-pocketed lobbyists, as you saw in the YouTube video above.  Google HR676 and call your reps in the house and senate.

Health care for all, right now!  Everybody in, Nobody left out.

Read my other article on health care reform.