The weekend always goes by so quickly!  With the Cleveland Football Team not playing so well...   I took in another Futbol Game this weekend.  Actually a lot of them.  My son's Travel Soccer Team wrapped up their season with a tournament was in Lodi.  Their sports complex is amazing.  It was my first time there so most locals said it was an old sod farm.  They put acres and acres of soccer fields in and also have indoor facilities.  It was impressive right off 224.  There were teams from all over Columbus, Pittsburgh, Youngstown and many local surrounding areas.  Over 30 fields filled all day from morning til night.  Families with full tailgate set-ups making a day (weekend) of it...  

Soccer is definitely growing and representing in the area.  It was great to see kids across so many areas and age groups having fun on a beautiful weekend.  Even better win, lose or draw players were all laughing and playing after the game.  Kudos to a great tournament and a great area for the facility.   Click Here to see the Complex.

Could we have asked for better weather for an October weekend?! Even Friday I was driving around with my windows cracked open. Then Saturday and Sunday somehow WAY surpassed it!!! I went and toured the houses in downtown Akron with my mom and my car said it was approaching 80 degrees!!! 

Can we have this all winter long (except Christmas Eve and Day)??? I'd rather have this in January and February than the feet of snow we had last year! The only complaint I have about this weekend is that trick or treat is this coming weekend. This would have been perfect to sit outside passing out candy.

Right now, my phone says partly cloudy and a high of 64 for Saturday. Hopefully that holds up...fingers crossed.

As I drive to work in the evening, I can't help but notice how lovely the fall leaves still look on the trees. Although the pretty colors will fade soon, it feels like the perfect moments of autumn are happening all around us. Chai and pumpkin spice compliment the crisp air, Halloween shopping and Thanksgiving turkey ads are on our minds, and foods like apples and sweet potatoes make it back onto our plates. I can't help but say TGIF (Thank Goodness It's Fall!)

I hope you enjoy the season over your weekend!

Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads.

Back To The Future is my favorite movie trilogy of all time. For me, it's the concept of time travel, the space/time continuum, and how cool 1955 was. Sounds like the original is my favorite out of all three? It is, but I have all three movies and will watch them back to back at any given time. I will obviously watching them later on today to celebrate Back To The Future Day!

Why this date for Back To The Future Day? Because it was October 21, 2015 that Doc, Marty McFly, and Jennifer Parker traveled to the future in a DeLorean time machine at the begining of Back To The Future II (I won't expand on why, in case of a spoiler for anyone who hasn't seen the movies!). Of course it was a big celebration back in 2015, but celebrated every year leading up to and after that year by fans of the movie.

In researching why screenwriter, Bob Gale, chose October 21, 2015 as the date to time travel in the second installment of the series, he chose it as the date the Chicago Cubs would theoretically win the World Series. As it turns out, he was only one year off, the Cubs would win in 2016. Great Scott!

Also, announced today, Back To The Future: The Musical! 

Great Scott! Jump into the DeLorean Time Machine and set your time circuits to August 3, 2023 for the official Broadway opening of Back to the Future: The Musical starring Roger Bart and Hugh Coles at the Winter Garden Theatre! #BacktotheFutureDay https://t.co/2TCPXjzF84 pic.twitter.com/aQaK1ot5CK

— Back to the Future™ (@BacktotheFuture) October 21, 2022

It's been a week, TGIF! If you have been catching my socials I have been living W-Boo-MX to the fullest!  
You may have guessed that Halloween is my favorite holiday.  I guess it is the kid mentality inside of me, or the childish intellect.

So this was one of my costumes from yester-year...   If you remember Billy The Exterminator... I was Benny The Exterminator.

Marcy asked if I could feature her favorite, Diamond Rio and the answers is yes!  They were already on the future schedule.  DR was on the charts for a good long while with a very interesting back story.  And after all the success, they always seemed to do it the hard way.  But they did it, sold a bunch of albums and made some history along the way. They were exceptionally popular during their run and their fan base loved them.

Debut Songs Get No Bigger Than This!

Their story goes back to the early 1980's when they were formed at Opryland USA Park and known as Grizzly River Boys, then the Tennessee River Boys.  The original three included Ty Herndon who you may remember went on a solo career and had a few hits in the mid 1990's. The group went through a whole bunch of personnel changes over a number of years, but in 1989 the group settled on 6 permanent members and the name was changed to Diamond Rio, with Marty Roe as their lead vocalist, which was a great move.  They also considered Kilroy and T-Town Mavericks as their new name, but chose DR just like the heavy semi tractor truck maker.

More Early Success

When DR hit the charts in 1991 with their self titled first album, the single, Meet In The Middle was a gigantic hit, as it went number one, and they became the first group to ever have a debut single go number one in country music history.  They would go on to chart great songs over the next 15 years or so, and have huge success, but they will always be known for that incredible feel good anthem that seemingly everyone loved and still does.  Country songs don't get much more popular than that song.

Always Loved This Song

They went on and charted a ton of hits over the years and pretty much every album was certified platinum or gold.  They were a staple on the charts and radio.  They had a new, fresh and young look that was basically mandatory then as country was discovering a younger and energized fan base as never before.  Younger fans loved them for every reason there was.  They had a new sound, traditionally based with a thump, and really slick harmonies.  They were very accoustic for the time, and I think that served them very well. They stood out.

This Song Was Huge #1 - Makes You Happy

Meet In The Middle was one of those songs we could have played every 15 minutes and no one would have minded. It was one of those rare songs that made everyone happy and took us all back to a simpler time, and it was arranged wonderfully.  The singles that followed, many of them had the same feel to a degree, and fans loved them for that.  Then they kind of hit the mid season rough spot. From about 1993 to 1995 they were still there, but the chart success was not as strong.  I was concerned at the time they may have lost the edge to a degree. 

Great Little Song #2

But when the IV album came out, they shoved it back into high gear.  A slew of big songs came off that album and the albums that followed, along with a greatest hits package.  What is interesting about this is, many times once the slip begins for an artist or in this case a band, it can be tough to turn it back around. But they did it, and then some -  enjoying some of their biggest success later on.  Going against the grain and doing it the hard way.

This #1 Spoke To A Whole Lot Of People

They were also groundbreaking in the fact that when recording albums, they insisted on doing all their own playing, which is rare in Nashville. There are studio musicians that play for  - and on most artists albums, but Diamond Rio played their own.  Clint Black's band did the same thing if I remember correctly, and I respect that.  DR has sensational harmonies and are gifted players, so why not?  Again, against the grain, but it worked wonderfully.  I think it's one of the reasons they sounded different, which was smart at the time with a TON of bands out there.

Beautiful Mess - #1

Diamond Rio charted songs till about 2003 or so, and scored a bunch of big hits, including 5 number ones and many top tens.  They were Grammy and Country award winners a few times and were nominated every year for pretty much all of the 1990's.  They were loved, in an era where there were many very popular country bands going, they cut through and were a big part of country's big decade of the 1990's.

One thing is for sure, you certainly knew when a Diamond Rio song was on the radio. They had a sound, a style and great success!~

I love stuff like this, especially this time of the year. The Beautiful Windy makes things like this all the time in the fall and winter, and this just looks great. We each like soups, and this seems like a big win with the weekend a few days away!

Mexican Street Corn Soup!

The Browns dropped another game, now 4 in a row for a record of 2-5.  But you know that. 


Now the season is in real jeopardy of being a flop far worse than we could have imagined 3 months ago.  But this loss to the Ravens was not one of epic mistakes, insanely bad game management, thinking field goals are stupid, or horrible in game 4th down decisions.  This loss was simply a team that is what they are - not very good for many reasons.

At the top of the list is a head coach that only knows one way to win a game, and that is a huge issue. His QB is average at best, (not his fault) and actually overall playing fairly well, but that won't get it done on Sundays in the NFL.  Stefanski continues to think he has Pat Mahomes at QB, and puts the game on his backup QB's shoulders, and that is a critical and fatal error.  The Browns have a GREAT running attack that he abandons week after week and it has us all perplexed.  The two touchdown drives the Browns had Sunday, were both anchored by the running game. The rest - well, were not.

Nick Chubb is what the entire offense runs through. When we/he can run the ball well, we can do many more good things.  Problem is, he's on the bench at critical times in the game and that's perplexing too.  As hard as this will be to hear, at 2-5, the time has come to trade Kareem Hunt.  You can't re-sign him for next year, and the trading deadline is coming.  It also forces Stefanski to put Chubb on the field more. And it woud be good for Kareem and his own career, who Stefanski has never figured out how to use well.  Trading Hunt now helps us recoup some draft capital since we traded almost all meaningful draft picks for the next few years for Watson.   It has ZERO to do with Hunts ability and talent.

Overall, the Browns played a pretty fair game Sunday taking into account who they are.  THIS is who they are. They have been exposed as inept on the sidelines with their mediocre front office and coaching staff, including the head coach, who would be better simply as a good offensive coordinator.   The talent on defense is way overrated, far too small, weak, and constructed improperly and the league knows it.  The defense puts zero fear into other teams, as there are no game changers there, and can be shoved around almost at will thanks to film from Atlanta, LA, and New England. The special teams are anything but special, and the offense has played well when the head coach decides to get the ball to his play makers, and have his best players on the field when it matters.

The season is on the verge of becoming embarrassing on many levels. Cincy in town this week, then a bye.  Then in Miami, at Buffalo, then the Bucs at home. Could get uglier than we ever really thought

Time for a pride check. They are who they are, but do they have the heart to overcome that?

GO BROWNS!

When was the last time you REALLY looked in the fridge?  Yeah, me too.  BUT since we would probably all like to get it more orderly -  this is kind of a fun read.  And since there is also no shortage of people trying to tell us what to do, this may be helpful for us all.  I will admit, I do like a tidy fridge as I'm sure you do too, but with our lives taht is seldom the case for most.

We may all read it, but after a week...well  same old fridge - but let's give it a try!

How To Properly Organize The Fridge!

The last two houses in Downtown Akron are being torn down this coming Monday, October 24th. They were built in the 1890s and are owned by St Bernard Catholic Church (which is a BEAUTIFUL church inside if you've never been). The church is going to use the property the houses sit on for a new, yet-to-be-determined purpose.

Over the years, the houses have been used as a women's shelter, a convent, and other uses. The public will have an opportunity to tour the homes one last time this Sunday afternoon, October 23rd from 3-6pm.

I plan to stop by sometime on Sunday and take a peek at Akron history. If you are interested, the houses are located at the corner of High & State streets in downtown Akron. Don't let this opportunity pass you by!