In a surprise move...

...we've decided to reveal the front runner in the name category for the new baby:

Di Aria

That is, Di, short for Diane and Aria which is a beautiful piece of music. They go well together, eh? Quite a ring.

The Countdown

Anderson Hills @ ASP 2007

Here's a little video dealio I made from our ASP trip to Morgan County, TN. Wahoo!

Mom My Ride

Pregnant Woman Yields Saws-All

trapper jane?

well, trapper made it through the surgery just fine!

however, instead of getting neutered, turns out it was a spay-job.

yep, sabrina and i are still getting over the shock of finding out that our little guy is, in fact, a girl.

tom-boys. gotta love 'em.

this has definitely highlighted my preconceived notions of the sexes. i am already thinking of her differently, treating her differently, and attributing her behavior to other causes.

well, i should have known she was a girl by how taken with me she is (as all females helplessly are), as well as the fact that she is willful as all get-out and gives me hell daily.

although the vets were calling her hotlips houlihan (also a name from mash) and others have urged us to do the obvious and call her trapper jane/joan, her name will remain trapper john.

here's to the over-recruitment of girls to the ferry family after a strong male-dominated run. chug-a-lug!

trapper john, a carrot but no nuts!

i am a nervous wreck!

trapper john is under the knife as we speak getting neutered! he has become a bit of a handful since puberty and it had to happen, for the same reasons we had to spay scott at that time in his life.

religious and unreligious alike, pray for our trapper john!

Dancing with the Chicken Slacks

So Grace recently bought me a two-CD set celebrating Stax Records 50th anniversary. It's incredible. And it has only reinforced my belief that there is no better music than soul and r&b (rock 'n' roll be damned). I also started reading Peter Guralnick's incredible book Sweet Soul Music. This has inspired me to revisit the top-five lists idea from months ago.

This installment is Top Five Vocal Performances. Same rules apply. In no particular order:

Carl Wilson on "Wild Honey"
Otis Redding's "These Arms of Mine"
Roscoe Holcomb's "Swanno Mountain"
Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come"
James Carr "Pouring Water on a Drowning Man"

Yeah, soul-heavy I know. But really, could it be any other way?

The Ultimate Beardo = Sam Beam

Sam Beam, aka. Iron & Wine, may very well be the ultimate beardo. Check that thing out! Yowser. Makes me feel like a small female child that thing is so gigantor and manly.

Word on the street, er...the interweb, is that there's a new record dropping in September and if this cut is any indication it's going to be swell!

LISTEN TO IT NOW SNACK SHACK!

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN to Boy With a Coin of The Shepherd's Dog coming September 25th.

David and Goliath...the REAL way it went down.