Soxy

This song has always baffled me. Always. ODE TO BILLY JOE (Bobbie Gentry) © Northridge Music Company / Universal MCA Publishing. From "Ode To Billy Joe," Bobby Gentry, © 1967, Capitol. It was the third of June, another sleepy, dusty Delta day. I was out chopping cotton and my brother was baling hay. And at dinnertime we stopped and walked back to the house to eat. And Mama hollered out the back door "y'all remember to wipe your feet," And then she said "I got some news this morning from Choctaw Ridge," "Today, Billy Joe MacAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge." And Papa said to Mama as he passed around the black-eyed peas: "Well, Billy Joe never had a lick of sense; pass the biscuits, please." "There's five more acres in the lower forty I've got to plow." And Mama said it was a shame about Billy Joe, anyhow. Seems like nothing ever comes to no good up on Choctaw Ridge. And now Billy Joe MacAllister's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge. And brother said he recollected when he and Tom and Billie Joe, Had put a frog down my back at the Carroll County picture show. And wasn't I talking to him after church last Sunday night? "I'll have another piece of apple pie; you know it don't seem right. "I saw him at the sawmill yesterday on Choctaw Ridge, "And now you tell me Billie Joe's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge." And Mama said to me: "Child, what's happened to your appetite? "I've been cooking all morning and you haven't touched a single bite. "That nice young preacher, Brother Taylor, dropped by today. "Said he'd be pleased to have dinner on Sunday, oh, by the way. "He said he saw a girl that looked a lot like you up on Choctaw Ridge. "And she and Billy Joe was throwing something off the Tallahatchie Bridge." A year has come and gone since we heard the news 'bout Billy Joe, And brother married Becky Thompson, they bought a store in Tupelo. There was a virus going 'round, Papa caught it and he died last Spring. And now Mama doesn't seem to wanna do much of anything. And me, I spend a lot of time picking flowers up on Choctaw Ridge. And drop them into the muddy water off the Tallahatchie Bridge.

Eh, sometimes I will. Like at Sam's Club because they don't take CC and debit costs me a dollar. But all of my bills are handled by my online banking stuff--which is nice.

In the Trailer's for The Dukes of Hazzard Jessica Simpson's southern accent sounds really fake--but isn't she actually from the South? I am very confused.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Aug 4, 2005 -> 01:06 PM) Astronauts claim you can see enviormental damage from space More liberal propoganda. :rolly

Linky Toyota boss: 25% hybrids by 2010 `Wildly optimistic,' forecaster responds By Rick Popely Tribune staff reporter Published August 4, 2005 TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. -- Toyota's top American executive said Wednesday that gas/electric hybrid cars could account for 25 percent of its U.S. sales, or 600,000 vehicles annually, by the beginning of the next decade. The prediction by Jim Press, president and chief operating officer of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., is far more optimistic than J.D. Power and Associates' forecast, which expects the industry to sell about 620,000 hybrids in 2010 with Toyota selling fewer than 300,000. Anthony Pratt, senior manager of J.D. Power's global powertrain forecasting, called the numbers "wildly optimistic" and sees hybrid growth slowing after 2010 because of competition from diesel engines and more efficient gasoline models. Press said in a speech at an industry conference here that Toyota will introduce 10 more hybrid models by "early next decade," including eight not yet been announced. Toyota offers three hybrids in the U.S. and will add hybrid versions of the Lexus GS sedan in 2006 and the Toyota Camry in 2007. Though he didn't elaborate on the others, Press said at least one would be a pickup truck, likely the full-size Tundra that Toyota will build at a plant in San Antonio starting next year. "We have to include pick-up trucks," he told reporters after his speech. "That's where you have big impact and the most potential [fuel economy] gain." Ford and General Motors have targeted light trucks in their initial foray into hybrids. Honda is also a player in the market. Press added that Toyota is looking into technology that would allow drivers to switch hybrids to deliver fuel economy or acceleration, depending on the need. Toyota has been the top seller of hybrids, which combine electric motors with gasoline engines to reduce fuel consumption. The company has said it will offer hybrid technology on most models. Press said Wednesday that hybrids, currently about 1 percent of the U.S. market, would climb to 10 to 15 percent by 2010, depending on how many models other companies offer. "The demand is there. The question is how big the supply will be," he said. But there are other issues, such as price. The electric motors and batteries in hybrids add $3,000 to $4,000 to their cost, and manufacturers often include other pricey features. The Lexus RX400h hybrid, for example, costs $48,535, $11,110 more than the AWD RX330. And there has been talk that Toyota is selling hybrids at a loss. Early adopters will pay more for an environmentally friendly hybrid vehicle, but Pratt said by 2010 the industry would "start to hit the saturation point of the number of people willing to pay a premium." "There's a lot of awareness of hybrids, a lot of interest, but when it comes to making a purchase decision, the manufacturers have to deal with that price premium," Pratt said. Press did not address the higher price of hybrids, but Toyota maintains that the cost will drop as technology matures and sales volumes increase. Toyota sold 54,000 Prius hybrids last year and is on pace to sell nearly 100,000 this year. Prius sales stood at 63,000 through July. Toyota added hybrid versions of the Lexus RX and Toyota Highlander sport-utility vehicles this year and has sold a total of 13,279 of those through July.

QUOTE(Kid Gleason @ Aug 4, 2005 -> 12:55 PM) You're hardcore. Nope, just can't afford to have both.

QUOTE(YASNY @ Aug 1, 2005 -> 05:59 AM) Phil Rogers' column Well, that is by far the oddest place I have seen Harry Potter mentioned. That one came out of left field (or, more aptly, right field. . .)

Had mine for a little over a year. Don't have a landline.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Aug 4, 2005 -> 12:43 PM) Your phone just rings? [shudders in horror] I know. But it's kind of awesome, everyone has these really stupid ringtones that all kind of sound the same, but I can tell mine instantly. Plus, irony is not dead.

Old fashioned sounding phone ring.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Aug 3, 2005 -> 11:05 AM) 5 weeks away from the White House Thank God he's keeping those Texas roots. Much more at link. Another brilliant idea stolen from the French. :france

f***. I just found out my TA assignment was switched from my #1 choice to the worst teacher in the department. Everything is awful.

Okay, so I didn't read this whole thread. BUT, I thought I would share this story with you all. My undergrad advisor was a former swimmer (competed with U of MN, and almost went to the Olympics ), and did a lot of competitive swimming in her native country (Germany). She said that a lot of the East German Women who used to swim were given steroids and ended up having to get sex changes because it effed 'em up so bad. So, I'd take her words for it.

QUOTE(Kid Gleason @ Aug 1, 2005 -> 01:31 PM) But I'm actually curious. It would make some sense...in a way...maybe. There could be something in there that tests like 'roids. Heck, I'm no chemist. Maybe he should switch to Cialis to see if he still tests positive. Iirc, Viagra is a vasoconstrictor which is about the blood and veins, not muscle mass, so no, I would be shocked if it somehow confounded steroid results.

Wow, I honestly did not see that coming.

Yes, but, see, the last election was a mandate that he can do whatever he wants. Perhpas you've forgotten?

QUOTE(Steff @ Aug 1, 2005 -> 11:15 AM) Non name brand cereal and Mac & Cheese is good also. Hell yes Malt-o-Meal. And you can get two meals out of an 84 cent box of Rice-a-Roni. Not delicious, but doable.

Looks great Ian!

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Jul 31, 2005 -> 07:00 PM) That would be a great book for a 'club' -- The story teller is an autistic child, so the reading level is accessable, and the story is a very cute one. Amazon description.

QUOTE(Soxfest @ Jul 31, 2005 -> 06:48 PM) No it does not, but a team that got swept in 2000 and has not won a home playoff game since 1959 sometimes a fan expects a little more. And that's why you're a fan not a general manager. Realism seems to separate the two.

QUOTE(LowerCaseRepublican @ Jul 29, 2005 -> 03:43 PM) Alrighty...who is picking the next book cuz I needs to be getting to the library & picking it up. Cheat, Soxy, Spiff, Tex...somebody pick one & let's do this. I know Cheat suggested a book but it was still in hardcover, so maybe he wants to choose another one instead? What kinds of books do people like to Read? I'm assuming some of my favorites probably wouldn't be good fits here (Atwood, Christie, although for a murder mystery many of her books can't be topped), but if we were in a conspiracy kind of mood Ian Rankin's books are decent, quick fun reads. Or I also really enjoyed The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime--funny, quirky.

Bwahaha, Batgirl has a pretty good new pictural update on the trade deadline.

QUOTE(Soxfest @ Jul 31, 2005 -> 05:01 PM) Ho hum we got Blum.......................tell me again KW how we will get any player and have the ability to increase payroll to help win a world series, talk more BS KW Sox fans no longer by it. By what? What aren't we by? Oh, I see, you mean buy. The mind numbing content of your post was obscured by your incompetence with the written English langauge.

Kenny has said he isn't willing to trade away the farm for a rental player. I trust his judgement that we wouldn't be able to get someone decent without giving up too much. Look around the league too, how many blockbuster trades were there? It looks to me like the deals weren't there to be made. Just enjoy this season, seriously, some people on here would find a way to complain if we won the division by 10 games instead of 20.

Saw Bad News Bears. Pretty funny. The first half was definitely better (before it got all feel good). You can't top kids at Hooters, swearing and playing awful baseball. It was a good laugh and well worth the $5.