Tom_Johnson's Blog

I know I'm very late in this game but... I saw the Blue Man Group for the first time recently. (My wife and I went for our anniversary!)  I cannot recommend it highly enough.  It really is a cool show.  I expected it to be very musical... a little odd... and a little funny.  I did not expect it to be REALLY funny and wildly entertaining.  It was though.  My wife lucked into front row tickets when she went on line to buy ours.  (I'm pretty sure all the tickets are the same price and these just happened to be available.)  Anyway... it's amazing to me that this company is able to find performers who are not only exceptional musicians but also have incredible comic timing.  These guys are really funny!  The staging of the show is pretty darn cool too!  I have to say... I recently talked with someone who saw BMG and they said they were disappointed.  I'm not sure how that could happen... but I thought I'd be fair and share that.  If you have not seen them... try.  It's a world class show playing right here in our backyard at Universal City Walk.  Here's a sample of what you'll see:

Not sure if you've heard or not... but Ozzy and his brood are gonna give TV another go.  This time... and I am not making this up... it's gonna be a variety show!  Seriously... "Television Week" magazine reports the working title is "The Osbournes: Loud and Dangerous."  TVW says it's based on very popular European variety shows and will feature competition, stunts and performances.  Before you scream: "Yeah right... like that has a chance to succeed!"... you should know that it's being produced by Fremantle Media North America.  They have a pretty good track record with a little show called "American Idol" and also NBC's "America's Got Talent."  Oh by the way... you'll likely see it on FOX 35 because TVW says FOX signed up for six episodes of the show.

Ozzy Osbourne doing a variety show.  That should be good TV... if you can understand what he's saying!

O.K. fellow rockers check out the article below and then answer this question for me:  Do you really care at this point if Axl Rose brings his latest version (whatever it is) of Guns 'N Roses back?  Personally... I'm sick of the drama at this point. I say... just go away Axl!  GNR was great back in the day.  Let's keep the good memories and not make any new... bad ones with another weak comeback attempt that will undoubtedly flounder when you go off the tracks... again.

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NEW YORK (AP) - Guns N' Roses are finally releasing a single and you've got to get Rock Band 2 to hear it. MTV has announced that Rock Band 2 will include the Guns N' Roses song "Shackler's Revenge" from the "Chinese Democracy" album. Axl Rose has been working on that album for 14 years. Rock Band 2 will come out for XBox in September and for other game platforms later in the year.

O.K... now that I have your attention... I'll fess up.  I'm not talking about the 1980's one hit wonder "Tiffany!"

I'm also not talking about the Tiffany jewelry company.  I am however talking about some just as spectacular and also culturally significant.  I'm talking about the world's greatest stained glass artist Louis Comfort Tiffany.  Did you know that the most comprehensive collection of Tiffany's works are housed in Winter Park?  Now you do and you owe it to yourself to check it out because it is spectacular.

I had read about the collection at the Morse Museum of American Art several years ago.  The one thing that interested me more than any other was the chapel Tiffany created for the 1893 Chicago World's Fair.  The museum has the ENTIRE CHAPEL (see photo below) as an exhibit... floor-to-ceiling.  To say it's amazing would be like saying Rembrandt was a pretty good painter!

I finally got to see the collection (and the chapel) on July 4th.  The museum had an open house and we happened to park next to it when my family went to the fantastic Winter Park Old Fashioned 4th event.  It did not disappoint.  I'm just sorry it took me almost five years to finally get there.  If you get the chance... take it... you will not be disappointed.

Orlando gets a genuine red carpet movie premiere tonight.  It's a new mixed martial arts film called "The Red Canvas."  John Savage is one of the stars.  He first made a name for himself as one of the 3 main stars of 1979's Oscar winning Best Picture "The Deer Hunter."  My favorite role of his was the following year co-starring in "Inside Moves" with David Morse (see movie poster below) .  It was really cool getting to meet him and talk a bit.  The director of the new picture is Ken Chamitoff (on the right in the photo).  His brother Greg is a NASA astronaut who's on the space station right now.  They're actually beaming the movie up so he can be one of the first to see it.  Pretty cool stuff.  Here's a photo of them with Lauren and I on FOX 35 Morning News.  (Click the "Mornings" tab up top if you wanna see my interview with John and Ken.)

Now this is taking a stand against smoking!  What do ya think?

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WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) -- Health officials want to make the tiny South Pacific island of Niue (NEE'-oo-ay) the first country inthe world to be fully smoke-free by banning tobacco.

A bill proposing to ban smoking and the sale of tobacco in all public areas and private homes has been drafted and presented to lawmakers, Dr. Sitaleki Finau, Niue's top public health official, said Tuesday.

The government has not yet signed up to the plan, and Finau conceded it could face stiff opposition from tobacco companies and other commercial interests.

But health officials were urging legislators to be bold and impose the bans.

"Small countries are allowed to be ambitious," Finau told The Associated Press on Tuesday. "If a small country can do this, then big countries will start thinking. Imagine what that means."

Niue, a lone island measuring just 100 square miles about 1,500 miles northeast of New Zealand, has about 250 smokers among its 1,300 population, Finau said.

I messed something up and my from Friday did not post for some reason... so I apologize if this seems a little dated.

I love the 4th of July and have a lot of good memories throughout my life that are tied to the date.  First and foremost... my wedding anniversary is July 5th.  So... July 4th... 11 years ago... we had a great rehearsal dinner!  It was an old fashioned southern barbecue at this really neat place overlooking the Saluda River in Columbia, SC.  Lots of family... good friends and good eats then... fireworks for dessert.  GOOD TIMES!  July 4th will ALWAYS make me think of that day.

As for memories of the actual holiday... I'm always taken back to Washington, DC.  I lived in the DC 'burbs for a long time growing up.  We always went downtown for fireworks on the 4th.  If you've never seen them there... make a point to try at some point in your life.  Many of those years featured a free concert from The Beach Boys on the Washington Monument grounds.  One year... it actually broke the attendance record for an outdoor concert that was set by "Woodstock!"  We would hang out all day listening to great music then watch INCREDIBLE fireworks bursting over the beautiful DC landmarks when the sun went down.  Truly magical!

The Beach Boys free concert on the Washington Monument grounds. July 4, 1981

(See me?  I'm about 25 feet from the stage... on the right hand side.)

DC Fireworks over the Washington Monument

I am fascinated by the re-emergence on Journey on the music scene.  They are one of my all-time favs but I listened to them SO much when I was younger that I kind of burned out on their music and had lost touch with them for a long time.  Once Steve Perry left... I just did not want to anyway.  They've had a series of Perry "sound alikes" and they have great voices for sure.  But I tried to listen to some stuff they put out a couple of years ago and it just did not measure up.  Last year... Neal Schon discovered a guy on YouTube singing old Journey stuff.  His name is Arnel Pineda and he's so good... the band hired him.  They're touring with him and just put out an album of new stuff with him.  They also re-recorded some of the classic stuff with Arnel singing.  It's good... but not the same and I can do without it.  But the new stuff... is REALLY good.  Some of it is so good that it sounds as if it could've been written and recorded at the height of Journey's success with Steve Perry.  So... I have to say... I have rediscovered my love of Journey and I sure hope they come to Orlando sometime soon.  I'll see ya there if they do!

New Song "Never Walk Away":

Samples of the re-recorded stuff:

Help me out here.  I need some good, simple hummus recipes.  I have a decent recipe for a plain and basic hummus.  It's actually quite good... but I am growing tired of it.  Do any of you have some good, easy to make recipes you would be willing to share with me (and the rest of the world?) 

Here's a hummus variation that I just found online that really sounds great.  The blogger says this recipe makes a LOT of hummus... so you might wanna cut it down.

Thai Curry Honey Hummus

2.5 lbs cooked garbanzo beans (1 lbs garbanzo beans soaked and boiled makes about 2.5 lbs cooked beans)
2 tbls. chopped garlic
¾ cups tahini
1 tbls Curry paste – Thai curry paste –
¼ cup lemon juice
¾ cup water
½ cup honey
1 tbls. salt
1 tsp white pepper
1 tbls. Madras curry powder
1 tsp garlic powder
½ Tsp cumin
¼ tsp nutmeg

Combine in a food processor and spin away!

"UGA VI" was indeed laid to rest yesterday in the University of Georgia's Sanford Stadium.   "UGA's" body and his family were flown to Athens from Savannah for the service.  He was buried next to the five bulldogs who served as "UGA" before him... including his daddy "UGA V."  A sad day for the Bulldawg Nation.

Despite pleas from the dog's owners that it was a private service... some fans did show up and at least one of them made a video of their experience.  Here's one of them that is on youtube this morning and GA Governor Sonny Perdue's statement about "UGA VI":

"Uga VI was a tremendous ambassador for the University and the state, including his appearance just a couple of weeks ago at our inaugural economic development conference held in Savannah with officials from Canadian provinces and our neighboring Southeastern states. Though much of the Bulldogs' success in recent years has been attributed to Coach Mark Richt, most true Georgia fans know that his job will be much tougher now without the winningest Uga of all time stalking the sidelines, sitting on his trademark bag of ice and carefully eyeing any opposing mascot that dared to come close."

----Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue

'Tis a sad day in the college football world.  UGA VI will be buried today at the University of Georgia's Sanford Stadium alongside his 5 predecessors.  The big English bulldog died Friday of heart failure.  (Perhaps it was losing the College World Series that did it?)  He would've turned 10 years old on July 22.  So many people were expected to turn out for the funeral that UGA's owner put a public plea that the service is "private", family only.

I was actually on the field standing next to this great "dawg" when he became UGA VI before the 1999 Georgia v. South Carolina game.  He was a big boy too... a full 20 lbs. larger than his father... UGA V.  I took the photo below during the ceremony when UGA V retired and UGA VI took over mascot duties.  He was the latest in a line that dates back to 1956.

Georgia takes their mascots seriously.  "UGA's" travel to away games on Delta airlines.  On the sidelines they have an air conditioned doghouse with bags of ice just outside to stay cool.  UGA V was named "No. 1 Mascot" in America by Sports Illustrated (see picture below) and featured in the book and movie "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil."

UGA VI was the winningest Georgia football mascot in school history.  The team was 87-27 during his tenure.  He will be missed by the entire Bulldog Nation.

UGA VI: R.I.P. You were a darn good dawg!

Honest truth... I find the College World Series format... a little confusing and hard to follow.  Therefore, I normally don't follow it all that closely.  But with so many SEC and ACC schools in it this year... I have been watching from the start.  I have to say... very exciting!  If you are a fan of the many "pitcher's duel," defensive gems in Major League Baseball... it's probably not for you.  But if you love lots of scoring and lots of drama... the C.W.S. is really for you... especially this year.  It's been filled with lots of scoring, lots of late inning comebacks and at least one great "Cinderella" story in Fresno State.  The entire thing comes down to one game... tonight... for the National Champhionship.  "Cinderella" and Georgia... the Bulldogs and Bulldogs... played two already and split 'em.  So now it's become a one game... winer takes all... drama filled instant classic.  No matter who you're rooting for... Fresno State or Georgia:

GO DAWGS!

O.K... here's my preseason Top 10... what's yours look like?

(Click the underlined text for more on each team.)

 1. Ohio State -  Another "managable" schedule (except for USC in L.A.) in a mediocre "Big 1 & Little 10"  conference

 2. Georgia - Big time defense... fantastic offensive weapons (See Moreno, Knowshon)... but a KILLER schedule... toughest in the land.  Can they get through it unscathed?  Best team of this decade (record-wise) to have not played in the Nat'l Championship Game.

 3. Florida - Two words: Tim Tebow.  Another Heisman caliber season perhaps?  Two more words: Percy Harvin.  Can he steal Tebow's Heisman thunder this year?

 4. USC - Another great backfield... stout "D" and they play in the weak PAC-10.  Plus they're freakin' USC... they're always good these days.

 5.  Oklahoma - Too many weapons to not be in this spot and a great coach.  But will they find a way to blow it late again in the suddenly strong Big 12 South?

 6. Clemson - Probably the best backfield in college football with James Davis and C.J. Spiller (i.e. - "Thunder" and "Lightning") running the ball and Cullen Harper throwing it.  However, if Tommy Bowden finds a way to sink below expectations yet again... look for Tigers fans to riot in Death Valley and run him out on a rail.

 7.  Missouri - QB Chase Daniel is so much fun to watch.  If you did not get a chance to see the Tigers last year... try this year.  They also reloaded from losing superstar TE Martin Rucker with another really talented big TE named Chase Coffman.  (What's with all the Chase's on this team?) Great team... great coach... they'll be "chase-ing" another title run.

 8. BYU - A ton of talent... plays in a weak Mountain West conference... toughest games are at Washington and home against a transitioning UCLA at home... both early.  All the pieces are there for a run at a 12-0 schedule. 

 9.  West Virginia - Can they continue to thrive without former head coach Rich Rodriguez and his system?  I'm not a believer frankly without QB Pat White and Steve Slaton.  But... Rodriguez left a LOT of good players behind and new head coach Bill Stewart does know the system.

10. Auburn - Tommy Tuberville always seems to find a way to rise above expectations.  Despite having yet another offensive coordinator... I think the Tigers new system shakes things up and gives them advantage enough to have a resurgent year.  ** I put AU here in place of LSU (who are on a lot of Top 10 lists) because of LSU losing QB Ryan Perriloux is gonna be just too much for the Bayou Bengals to replace.