What is to come?

The ballots have been tallied and Obama received his second term in office.

While I am incredibly disappointed, I am NOT surprised.

Why, you may ask?

We have allowed a perverse notion to take root and flower in this nation. The idea that if you do nothing for yourself and your family even when you are perfectly able to do so that you deserve to be taken care of because you are entitled to it. We have allowed the robber barons of our government to dole out tax dollars to cheats and fraudsters without doing a thing to stop it.

So now, we see them elect their rightful king. A charlatan and poseur who says whatever they want to hear so long as someone else picks up the tab for all the toys and goodies he is dispensing.

To paraphrase Rush Limbaugh, when you have a nation of children, then Santa Claus gets elected.

Santa grants wishes and gives presents and makes promises that hardworking and tired people have to scramble to fulfill or risk the almighty displeasure of people who have no stake in the fiscal side of granting these wishes.

Santa can say "sure, you can have that!" and never be held accountable when Mom and Dad fall through on another persons promises.

Santa can say 'you've been good so you deserve it" and "you are entitled to it because the neighbors have one". Santa can tell someone that if your folks don't pony up, it's because they are scrooges who don't really care about your interests.

It's hard for me to get behind that kind of cosmically warped thinking simply because I'm one of those trying to be responsible parent types who has to face the reality that we cannot afford every single thing that we see. In fact, we cannot afford even half of everything that we see. Any time that a politician promises you ANYTHING, you can rest assured it didn't come from HIS salary. It came from yours.

Santa Claus is a jolly fellow because he never has to actually be in every one's home when the bills come due and the fun is over and hard decisions have to, of necessity, be made. Santa is always pictured as smiling and happy because Santa doesn't have to explain why we are on a fiscal cliff, both as individual families (in many cases) and absolutely as a nation.

Our nation is awash in Chinese red. The ink is indelible. We have allowed our elected representatives to go on for FOUR YEARS without passing a single budget to detail why they are spending like there is a honey pot of money that is bottomless. Now, we have elected Santa Claus for 4 more years of endless spending without any responsibility.

Who picks up the check? It will be multiple generations worth of Americans, if America even exists by the time we are discussing full payoff. And with the growing mentality of "you owe me", that time of payoff will never come because the bill will continue to be passed until NO ONE will want to buy up any of our debt because we are like the mooch who never remembers our wallet but always reminds you how much you have in yours.

I am not bitter. I am sad and frustrated that the entitlement generations of our nation have become so large, so vocal and so powerful that their angry demanding voices can drown out truth.

I will share with you a painful truth that is coming: when the number of people taking completely exceeds the number working to pay for the "free stuff" that isn't really free at all, our nation will collapse like a house of cards in a gale. 
 
And it is not just fiscal issues. The moral turpitude that is becoming "no big deal' is horrifying. People are not perfect. I get that. But giving in to our baser selves and calling it "a lifestyle choice" is not God's will. Not in any measure. When we start to say some sins are just fine, where do we draw the line? Our entire judicial system is based on the Judeo-Christian principles that built our framework of laws. We have elements of the Ten Commandments, the Code of Hammurabi and the English Law that came from our Mother country.

So how do we decide which of our laws can be trampled next? Which of God's commandments no longer matter? I fear for the legacy we are establishing in our nation and which we leave to those generations who will come after us.

They will not be as free, nor will they be as Godly. They will have been raised to believe that the problems will be remedied by 'someone else'.

I pray for our nation and its leaders. But more, I pray for what we will all be compelled to endure together. I pray that we will have the moral fiber to endure the fire that is to come. And I pray that we will not rejoice in the sufferings of others, even when they have brought it upon themselves through unrighteous and unwise choices.


May God have mercy on us if it is right that He should show us any mercy at all.

The Unemployment Line

Our family has officially joined the ranks of those countless millions who are looking for work. Not a happy thought with bills to pay and a mortgage that comes due each month. Kinda have concerns about feeding ourselves a bit as well.

Due to government cutbacks in defense spending thanks to President Korihor, aka Obama, the QinetiQ company did a reduction in force to meet the contract money obligations. And just like that we are unemployed.

Nice. NOT.

The military is the blood and guts that pay the literal price for our freedom. And Obama wants to cut it down to the nub. Ostensibly, his motivation is 'saving taxpayer money'. What he is really doing is killing jobs... not just defense jobs and military enrollment, but all the collateral jobs along the way.

It also gives us a very weak posture in the world where lots of our enemies, some of whom Obama has give money to - cough Muslim Brotherhood cough - are delirious with glee at the prospect of an eventual takeover of our nation. 

We are not earning brownie points for knowing all the words to "Kum Bah Yah" and "I'd Like To Teach the World To Sing" in a world that not only has no desire to join hands and sing with us, but would rather see us destroyed. Instead we are garnering the disdain and mistrust of our longtime allies, their bitter disappointment at our broken promises, the violation of their trust which has been abused and the hearty and wicked laugh filled derision of our enemies, both foreign and domestic, who are completely thrilled at the prospect that our nation can become the delightful socialist/communist/fascist paradisaical utopia they think exists between the leaves of the Lenin and Stalin playbook. Plus, if they can get rid of the world conscience that speaks for, sues for, then bleeds and dies for peace, not just for our nation, but for all nations, then the evil of the world wins.

Unfortunately for them, what sounds good on paper hasn't worked so hot in real life for those many nations compelled to wade through that drama over the last hundred years. Socialism only creates poorer rich and poorer poor. It doesn't make everyone equal, it makes everyone enemies to everyone else. There is not any equality in that playbook - unless you count suffering. There will always be class-ism under the banner of the hammer and sickle. There will always be someone who still manages to have all they want while even more have less than what they need.

Yet Obama and his policies are driving as hard and fast toward that ideology as he can muster. He sees nothing wrong in his plan because his arrogance and narcissism overshadow all else. That every single socialistic nation on the planet is awash in red ink, gasping for air and dying on the vine is no lesson for the man who knows everything and isn't afraid to tell you he does. He also harbors the deep misunderstanding that when a new world order is ushered in, that he will have a place in that order. 

Lacking understanding, he fails to see that no traitor is ever honored by those to whom he sells out. Ever. They are not trusted. They can't be. After all, they have ALREADY proven they will sell their soul for a mess of pottage. So how can they be believed?

Funny thing is that when his arrogance doesn't work out so well, like in the glaring example of Benghazi, Libya, Obama manages to obfuscate, hide, skate figure 8's around the truth, blame others and throw people under the bus of his personal power and charisma all while smiling like he knows so much more than we mere mortals will ever comprehend. And that smile is oily, unctuous and evil.

When I read the scriptures about leaders who are only there for power, it never ends well. From King Nebuchadnezzar to the aforementioned Korihor, those who are self-seeking in their ambitions bring many down to suffering, hardship and sorrow while seemingly never being touched by all the damage that is caused around them.

I also see that when the time of God's judgment comes upon them, the fall is terrible to behold. All who place their trust in the arm of flesh, the mortal arm so fallible and so imperfect, are doomed to fall with the "leader" who has led them far from the safety of the sheepfold and far from the True Shepherd who only sought for their safety in Him.

Knowing that God has a plan and a purpose for all of us, I trust and I pray. Learning through trials IS part of the plan because there are lessons that we must endure in order to become acquainted with God through what we suffer so that we can come to appreciate the Atonement in a way that would otherwise escape our understanding.

The scary truth is that none of us, from those plagued by personal disaster to those most recently harmed by the fury of Hurricane Sandy, is immune to the pain of being mortal. Yet only through these trials can we know what the next step is supposed to be.

Patrick Overton once opined: "When we walk to the edge of all the light we have and take the step into the darkness of the unknown, we must believe that one of two things will happen. There will be something solid for us to stand on or we will be taught to fly."

The issue here before our family is learning that trust in God isn't circumstantial, but preferential. We have to know, not just trust by going beyond faith to a sure knowledge; to learn to see reason as God reasons and to develop the understanding that all of this is for our experience and for our good in His plan and His timing.

The unemployment line is long and stretches through cities and towns across our nation. However, the line I am interested in right now is the line of communication between my Father in Heaven and our little family. We desire to know what the next step is and whether we will land on solid ground, or if we are to fly in a way we never dreamed possible.

All will be explained. I trust this. In the due time of the Lord...

Debate Club

I watched the first of the presidential debates scheduled for the television audience near and far. What I came away with was the feeling that Mitt Romney wants to help America to return to prosperity, constitutional principles and godly, moral behaviors. Obama left me feeling like a substitute teacher watching the biggest snot-wallet in class trying to score points on someone whom he thinks is clueless instead of realizing that he was merely revealing his arrogance and disdain for what he was there to do in the first place.

Maybe I read too much into the evening.

Then again, maybe I didn't.

Absent his familiar friend the teleprompter, Obama was strangely inarticulate. We finally saw what he is really like under pressure when dealing with someone who neither shares his world view or his opinions. What we saw is a person running for student council hoping to have everyone be his friend by saying what everyone wants to hear.

Ours is an AMAZING nation full of incredible people with brilliance that can help the world. What we need now more than anything is a leader who not only sees that divine promise in our country but who believes our place in the world is in front leading the pack, showing the way and holding aloft the light of liberty for everyone on earth who wants to be free.

Last night, I got no sense of that from our current commander in chief. It was a little like watching a small kid sneak into the principal's office and pretend to take charge with no real idea about the work that really goes on in the office. He bluffed and grinned, grimaced and sneered doing his best to look like he knew what was happening but really hoped he didn't get caught unprepared. But unprepared was exactly the truth.

Obama was hoping to skin through the debate on charm. We've had almost 4 full years of his alleged presidential charm. It's wearing thin and tired. Charm only works on the first couple of dates but now that the relationship has progressed, the nation is seeking substance - boring, steady, relentless pursuit of substance.

We've enjoyed the party boy long enough. We've endured the frat house humor and the blame game long enough. It's now time for an adult to enter the room and do what the job and office require - make decisions even when unpopular, work with people who can offer you no advantage, and listen to opinions that you do not agree with in order to understand ALL of the people you are supposed to govern, not just those who are kissing your ass and pretending you are the most brilliant thing since sliced bread.

We need a man who is willing to be a leader, take the flak and keep coming in the passionate pursuit of what is right, though not popular. We need a man willing to say "NO" and mean it even when the pouting, whining and crying are epic in nature. And more than anything, we need a leader more interested in running our nation than running his golf cart and more interested in forging alliances to strengthen our world than in how good he looks on camera.

It's time for someone prepared through life experience, business experience and governing experience in circumstances that were less than idea.

It's time for MITT.

Brad Paisley in Atlanta

It was fun posing with the card-Brad at the Mossy Oak booth, wish it had been real!

Of course, we had our pictures taken with The Band Perry as well. Digital enhancements sure are fun! You can be in the photo with anyone at anytime and anywhere!

Photo booth with The Band Perry, Beth and me 

SEPTEMBER 15, 2012

The Coca Cola Photo Booth

Atlanta is the place.

 

Aaron's Lakewood Amphitheater is the setting.

BRAD PAISLEY IS THE MAN!!

Thank you, Beth!! What an awesome birthday present! 

HOLY COW!! BRAD PAISLEY!!

For the record, going to Atlanta for the two of us is an adventure in how to get lost, get stuck in traffic, get rerouted through hell and half of Georgia and still manage to make it to the hotel in time to change and get a quick nap before the concert.

The intent Saturday morning started out oh so well. We left Athens in plenty of time to drive to the Atlanta temple to catch a session. Or at least that was the intent...

Foolish mortals we, the Devil laughed at our plans and used the Georgia DOT to cause chaos to erupt on the roads and highways all in, around and to Atlanta. I honestly think I have never seen that many orange and white construction barrels! Ever! They littered the highway like so much flotsam and jetsam on the waves. The road narrowed and widened and narrowed again like a Hollywood starlet on a diet, binge and diet again program. It was a vicious game of dodge the big rigs and try not to scrape up Beth's truck 'George' on the cars, trucks, rigs, barriers and dividers all along the board game called the I-20 roadway.

By the time we actually got to the temple in Sandy Springs, we had been delayed on the road for so long it was unbelievable. And, to borrow a phrase from my cousin Alice Waldron, "I should probably eat something... my stomach sounds like a chorus of wild dogs". We both definitely needed food and we weren't going to be able to make it through a temple session without it. We looked at the clock. Holy cow!! It was already past time for current session to be starting, we'd have NO time to change and it would be TWO MORE HOURS until time for the next session by which time we would be late getting to the Amphitheater to find a parking place anywhere within a 5 mile walk.  

CURSE YOU, DEVIL! Those highway construction signs and detoured roads were a deliberate tactic... and it worked. At least this time. There just would NOT be sufficient time to eat anything reasonable and still make it back to the temple in order to do a session!

Atlanta temple no longer has a cafeteria for patrons. Sadness. The nice man at the desk said they had vending machines. That didn't sound helpful to two starving women who hadn't eaten since 5 a.m.

We decided to be prudent and go eat actual food. The vending machine adventure was forestalled until another time. Oddly, neither Beth nor I realized how soon vending machines would enter our lives again! Pay attention! There WILL be a test... probably.

I had a card to eat at "On the Border", a fine Mexican food joint indeed. Although the food is Anglicized, it was truly excellent... so good and so large were the portions, that while we ate all we could of what was served, and it was SOOOO good,  but we soon realized there wasn't enough belly on either side of the table to scarf it all down. And frankly, that's saying a lot, because Beth and I are Mexican food pigs. It was a pity. Truly. A pity. The food was AMAZING and I hated to leave even one grain of rice behind!

Dragging our overstuffed carcasses to the truck after we ate, we meandered along with Beth behind the wheel and me navigating. Yeah, I know, I'm laughing, too. We got checked into the Holiday Inn hotel right across Turner Field. We had an interesting time getting into the hotel at all. The Braves game had been moved up about 3 hours and the streets all seemed to be narrowing down to one lone thoroughfare and IT was blocked off for one way directional flow for the fans seeking parking for the Braves game. Again, Satan laughed in his basso profundo voice and said, "You want to get to your hotel? There it is... the one you are passing! Bwahahahahahaha!"

A nice policeman near the intersection to the back side of the Turner Field parking lot showed us how to maneuver around some side streets working our way around to get to the front of the hotel from some unorthodox methods. Yeah! The hotel! Beth jumped out and checked us in while I sat behind the wheel looking intelligent. (STOP LAUGHING!! That is impolite!)

I got us backed into a parking slot in the parking deck and Beth and I hauled our gear upstairs to our room. The rooms were NOT sequentially numbered. It was like someone had pulled a prank on them and rearranged the numbers as a joke. We finally found the room and dumped our stuff. #417. ICE FREAKING COLD!! Some special "in-DUH-vidual" had turned the AC all the way down to 55 DEGREES!! 

For the record, neither Beth nor I are big fans of freezing our assets off!! Stomping across the room and whipping open the cover for the control panel, Beth turned the AC and heat unit completely off.

We looked at the time. The merciless clock indicated that we didn't have much room for anything besides a quick pit stop in the bathroom, an equally quick change into concert wear of jeans and boots and a brief respite from the trip over hill and dale and dusty trail to get to Atlanta.

NAPTIME! Sounded SOOOO good, but it wasn't part of the plan for me. Couldn't sleep... instead, I read while Beth napped. I was reading a hilarious book about a vet who was new to a practice in England and the pitfalls and troubles of getting used to his coworkers and the pets who were his clients. At one point, I had to literally put my face into the pillow to keep from guffawing too loudly while Beth slept.

The alarm sounded and it was time to find our way to Lakewood. The directions seemed straightforward. But they only SEEMED that way. Even Satan's minions were laughing now. Plainly put, "you cain't git thar from here!" Thankfully, a nice policeman in an "interesting" neighborhood got us back on the right road and headed toward Brad and the concert.

Beth got us into the parking lot fairly close to the action. That turned out to be a really GOOD thing since all the up and down and singing and dancing takes its toll on the old leggy bones. It's one thing to be full of spit and vinegar going INTO a concert and something entirely different when coming out virtually dead but after having had the time of your life. No one in their right mind wants to add a 3 mile hike to that feeling. Okay, mostly no one. I'm sure there are some people who find that "refreshing".

Some seriously cool guitar pickin' skills from Brad!

When the night got underway, it couldn't have been in a more idyllic setting. The Lakewood Amphitheater is tucked into some rolling hills and has a wonderful covered pavilion with a grassy slope behind which Brad referred to as "the cheap seats" during the latter portion of his set. The sound in the amphitheater was AMAZING! Often, sound is lost in an outdoor venue because it just isn't well thought out and the natural terrain eats it up. The people who prepared this location really and truly knew what they were doing. From the quiet of the gentle ballads and their haunting refrain to the full on in your face jams, the acoustics were perfect!

The only downer on the night (which was short-lived thanks to our hero, the big dude the row ahead of us) was the three rude people who kept standing up and blocking everyone's view. We found out that one of the rude persons was the wife of the drummer for Scotty McCreery. She should know better!! Her free VIP entry was paid for by every single person who bought tickets to the show and therefore she of all people should have been more respectful to the people behind her!!! 

Some of those old folks the row behind where Beth and I had been seated were not able to get up and down to see and that was not fair.

Finally, after a less than gentle invitation to "either sit down or I'm gonna mess you up!" by our Galahad of the stadium seat, the rude trio decided to move and we all applauded in seeing them leave. It's one thing to be up and singing and dancing when everyone does or to take photos, but to do so the full time when you have been asked nicely repeatedly and not so nicely a couple of times just shows a lack of character. By the way, here are their butts. You might want to see them just in case you can identify them when they stand in front of you at your next concert.

Scotty McCreery's set was fun. He has a nice voice and as his act is maturing on the road, it is evident that his talent is genuine and growing. He sang his current single on radio, a couple of songs from his first album and a couple that he was featured on American Idol singing for his big win.  Scotty has a Christmas album coming out this year. I think I'll have to check that out. After Scotty's set, The Band Perry came on stage to share their talents with us.

They sang "If I Die Young" and their video was playing on the jumbo-tron screens. They also sang "All Your Life", which is one of my favorites. As they belted out their rendition of Queen's "Fat Bottomed Girls" the crowd was on their feet singing along. It was just flat out fun!

Their song "You Lie" was a real treat, Kimberly was in rare form. Her voice is great anyway but there is just such a connection in a live concert!

As the last applause for their set died out, the lights dimmed and the crowd noise surged to jet engine decibel level. It was time for THE MAN!!

Brad gets better and better every time I've been privileged to see and hear him!

BRAD! BRAD! BRAD! 

He is funny, talented, amazing to see and hear and handsome... that easy on the eyes part is not to be underestimated! There were some really neat light show effects that were going on just before Brad came onstage. And when he did, the volume of the crowd was EVEN louder!

It was a fast paced run through his song "Camouflage" to open the set! LOVE that song! My favorite lines in the whole song are: 

We took pictures in the backyard  

Before we went to the dance  

And the only thing that you can see 

Is our faces and our hands
Camouflage, camouflage  

You should've seen the way it popped with her corsage Camouflage, camouflage 

Ain't nothing doesn't go with camouflage

The visual image in my mind of the smiling faces that Cheshire cat-like float above nothing crack me up! When Brad sang Celebrity later on, Scotty McCreery joined him on stage. One of the "tabloid headlines" in the graphics displayed on the jumbo-tron asked if Scotty were Brad's love child. It was a hoot!

Brad and his "love child" Scotty McCreery singing "Celebrity"

After a while of singing solo, Brad performed Whiskey Lullaby with Kimberly Perry. She did a fine job covering the part normally performed by Allison Kraus.

Later on, the music for "Remind Me" started up and I figured Kimberly would make another appearance. Nope. Carrie Underwood did the honors through a holographic imaging stint. Beth was screaming pretty loudly when her image came up. I have to admit, I was blow away (no pun intended for Carrie's new song!) and thoroughly enjoyed the presentation.

During Brad's gentle crooning of "Then", I got a little choked up thinking about Thomas and Tianna having that as their first couple dance at their wedding reception. I had a quick conversation with the man in the row in front of us who dealt with the rude people and told him about how special that song was. We gave each other a high-five when he said his brother had just gotten married and that they'd used it for THEIR wedding, too.

I didn't want the night to end, but as with all good things, the end does come. We made our way through the crowd back to the truck and sat and talked for a bit while waiting for traffic to thin out. It was so hot and sticky that even with the windows down to take in some breeze, it was like sitting in a sauna fully clothed. The man and woman in the car next to us were having a few difficulties.

He swayed over to us and told us that he couldn't understand why people were mad at him for saying he was "Obama's brother" and expected special treatment. Idiot. 

Not only was he white... and I'm talking mayonnaise on white bread kind of white... but he was three sheets to the wind and climbing. 

His wife was not amused and she could have put a sailor under the table with her colorful language. Blistering! By far and away, she had her favorite swear word and she applied it as subject, verb, adjective, adverb and modifier all in one sentence. Had it not been so downright profane, I would have been impressed. As it was, it kinda made me sad because she seemed to be articulate under less booze soaked circumstances. She drove them away. I hope they made it home okay because although her husband was DEFINITELY too drunk to drive, she wasn't too many notches behind him on the breathalyzer test. I could smell it on them both, so unless she was wearing beer as a cologne, she'd had some, too.

By the time we got enough leeway to head for the gates to freedom from the parking lot, there weren't a lot of choices on something to eat. And NO, simply eating lunch doesn't make up for dinner. NOTHING was open. And I mean NOTHING. Laughingly, Beth said we should stop at a gas station and see what they had.

We didn't and by the time we got back to our hotel room, we both wished we had.

The nice man in the lobby at the hotel told us that vending machines were located on various floors. Nice. Vending machines are not well known for having actual food in them, nor are they advertised for their nutritional properties.

We dined that evening on pistachios, peanuts and animal crackers. We bought one of each and split them. Beth had a Coke to wash hers down and I chose a bottle of water.  MMM. Just like Mother used to make - in that way that I mean NOT.



Rummaging through the animal cracker bag, it was obvious that some were genetic throwbacks. They were animal PIECES. I tossed Beth a set of nicely proportioned animal buttocks. She was not amused and wanted to know why she got the retarded animals. I laughed and threw over what were, ostensibly, a set of lion ribs.

I did, however, give her a WHOLE owl. I have NEVER in my entire life seen an OWL in a bag of animal crackers!! I guess the Harry Potter influence has even entered the animal cracker arena. I gave all the owls to Beth because I couldn't bring myself to snack on Hedwig. Oh, dear!! Now SHE will think about that and perhaps have a delayed indigestion for having eaten Harry Potter's owl!

When all the hilarity of the fine "feast" was over, we went to bed. 

The two beds had not a single full sized pillow in the lot. Instead, they were festooned with a selection of tiny pillows, some of which were wearing decorative belts. Slicking the little belt off of one pillow, I tossed it over on Beth and asked her "What the heck is this little belt for?"

I never knew pillows had pants that needed holding up. The belt thingies were some sort of "accent" but they had this whacking big button on them that would have left a mark on your face while you slumbered that would have been unmistakable. People in church the next morning were sure to say "Look, they have pillow belt marks on their faces!"

Okay, so maybe no one would have said that, but I didn't plan on risking it and removed the little belts.

Sunday morning came and apparently in the night there had been some minor power outage. The room alarm clock was flashing wildly to indicate that we were late. Not just late, but REALLY late!

Hastily, I jumped into the shower and attempted to get ready for church. Beth got in next and we found a ward just off of I-20 in Douglasville that we could attend. 

Did you know that even on the church's official site, their GPS navigation was not correct??? 

Once again, the Devil was helpless with laughter and rolling all over the floor in his office as he watched us attempt to navigate to the ward building.

After we arrived, I knew why he didn't want us to attend. The lady who was their ward genealogy librarian was there concluding speaker and her talk was about RICK'S ANCESTORS in Logan, Utah at the temple there!!! HOLY FLAMING COW!! How truly small the world is when the church is part of that world!

Without breakfast to get us going, we stopped for lunch after church at our favorite spot, THE FIVE STAR, and grabbed some tasty subway sammiches. I'd put a Subway restaurant in my HOUSE if Rick would let me. That way, I could have something good, salad filled and tasty every single day. 

We got home to my place for Beth to drop me off. I drove us home while she did homework. When we got there, we discovered that Jared and Rick had stayed home because Jared was still under the weather. I kinda felt bad about that since Mom's are supposed to be there for that sort of thing, but Rick told me they'd been fine and not to worry about it.

Beth headed home to her place to continue the merry parade of homework and I did some indexing while waiting for Kari to pick me up for Stake Choir rehearsal.

All in all, the weekend was FABULOUS!! Tiring, but worth it!

The only bad thing for me was after getting home Sunday night after choir, I attempted to go to bed and instead had a panic attack requiring help from Rick and the priesthood.

I hate those things. They make me feel like I'm being squashed like a bug. And worse. It's hard to articulate just how awful they are. 

But for now... let us reflect on all the excitement, wonder and joy that represented this weekend...

BRAD!