Tonight President Obama will present his first State of the Union Address. The speech will begin at 9:00 PM Eastern. America’s Debate Radio will simulcast a live stream of the speech.

Our chatroom will be open before, during, and after the speech.

As soon as the President finishes, we will open up our phone lines to take your calls and hear your thoughts on the address.

This is also the 4th anniversary of America’s Debate Radio. Please tune in for the speech, the show, and the chat. This will be lots of fun! Talk to you tonight

Great title, eh? Wish I could claim it. Unfortunately for me, it’s Faulker’s. No – not that Faulker (sigh). Rather,T.A Faulker.

Who the f*#! is T.A. Faulkner you ask? Check out this hardcore reading: From the Ballroom to Hell.

Yes, I spent more time than I’m willing to admit reading T.A. Faulkner’s missive. While obviously hideous and completely unfounded, his work was somehow compelling. I could not, and did not, stop reading until I was done. Fortunately, this Faulkner is not so verbose. Plus, after four chapters or so, how many other ways can one say that you are a whore if you dance? That’s right…DANCE. I’m not even a dancing type and I still think this Faulkner is lame. DANCING? For real? Get over yourself.

…is where my new laptop is resting. Ok, not really. In fact, I have it on my desk, in front of my desktop monitor and keyboard. I swear, though, I will get mobile with this thing. My new toy is an Acer Aspire 5740-5513. Much thanks to Mike for not only finding me a killer deal, but for setting it up with all my preferred software and settings. Thanks Mike!

As much as I hate new year’s resolutions, I figured it couldn’t hurt me much if I used the first of the year to begin focusing on my wandering, er walking about town. I’ve been an avid wanderer since I’ve been a citizen of this fine city. Unfortunately, I’ve let my wandering get away from me (if that makes sense to you then… score!). I’m now working to ensure 2010 is not lost on my sloth, and to actually enjoy my wanderings about town. To date, I’ve walked/wandered every workday since the 4th. I may actually prove to be serious here…operative words being ‘may…be’ and ’serious.’

With a mere five full days left in this year, it’s time to look back at how all we beachcombers did in the Death Pool 2009. Admittedly, I haven’t done a thorough double-check to make sure the list is entirely updated, I’m rather confident it is. If you see anything I’ve missed let me know. I somehow doubt it will matter much, however, since we have Eeyore running away with the contest, having an unprecedented 50% correct guess count. /Que scary music. Looks like we have a new Angel of Death 2009 on our hands.

Now’s time to start thinking about your 2010 picks. Rules are the same as always. Submit to me 10 names of celebrities/well-known people that you think will die in 2010. You can post your picks as either as a comment to this topic, or if you want to keep them private until all entries are in, email me (thegullreefclub -AT- gmail.com). The people on your list cannot currently be hospitalized (care facilities like nursing homes and drug/alcohol rehab are acceptable), nor can they be on death row. If the person on your list can not easily be found by a wikipedia or google search, then that person is not famous enough to be valid. If one of your picks happens to pass away in these last few days of 2009, you be permitted to pick a replacement. If there’s a tie in the end, winner will be decided by whomever’s picks died earlier in the year.

The deadline to submit your list to me is 11:59 pm eastern, December 31, 2009. Once I have all the entries, I’ll post all the picks in a static page.

As usual, there are no prizes other than holding the title Angel of Death for 2010.

So start thinking of your picks, beachcombers. Happy New Year.

Being of short memory, it is imperative I remember my…the…birthday weekend. The food is what is worth remembering. Let’s reminisce.

It all started last Thursday – my actual birthday. Lunch was had at a fancy Savannah club. I’m not at liberty to share many details- but rest assured – I had the 2nd most expensive dish on the menu…. Thursday night was take-out bbq from a local place.

Friday was my ‘pretend’ birthday – turning out to be just as great as a regular birthday – probably better. Dinner was mussels on the half shell, sauteed in a white wine/butter/garlic sauce. Mike is the best.

Mike managed to top himself when it came to dessert. I had asked for a simple vanilla ice cream ball, rolled in pecans, with chocolate syrup. Mike took that idea, deep fried some flour tortillas, dredged through sugar & cinnamon, and served that ice cream ball with his very own chocolate syrup. For real! Mike makes chocolate syrup – get – in – line!

I was a very lucky girl this weekend. Thanks Mike!

Your Innkeeper is the unfortunate recipient of health news today – I have killer high blood pressure for a person my age (low 30s in case you’re counting). Sigh…a lifetime of gyros, mac and cheese, plus pork of all variants have done me in…

This puts a real wrench in my choice of birthday dinners. I am now leaning toward a mussel piccata but have yet to find a real recipe. Have any of you Beachcombers tried this? I’m certain it has to work; it would just be nice to have a go-by. How hard can it be to combine mussels, white wine and citrus?

Even if we can’t find a recipe, I almost doubt that I may be challenging Mike with this idea. He’s the birthday dinner bringer genius, and to date, has not disappointed. If you’ve not had a Mike bday dinner…well, you just can not know. He is the best. I am a lucky girl.

I think I need to avoid the crab stew and braised beef ribs this year…

I am utterly dismayed and disappointed that my birthday month has allegedly been been co-opted by breast cancer awareness month. Forgive my pettiness (if it is such, which I sort of doubt) – but a) the color pink SUCKS and is the ugliest color in the spectrum and b) who ISN’T aware of breast cancer – do we REALLY need a whole month dedicated to this? Especially the particularly awesome month of October?

Too many of the places I consider to be part of my normal life are now flipped upssidedown to recognize that of which we were already aware – the NFL homepage, the Talmadge bridge – now ALL pink, much to my chagrin and dismay. Pink is UGLY. Can I emphasize that enough?! Pink is UGLY..UGLY…UGLY….! I don’t care the cause – if pink if your banner flag, please stop waving it – it’s U-G-L-Y!

I don’t give a flying cancer cell that ‘pink’ now represents something or other to some people. The color is the ugliest of ugly and has no place showing itself in the autumn, a time for warm reds, yellow, and oranges. GO AWAY PINK. GO AWAY!!!! I hate you. I hate PINK.

Further, we are ALL aware of breast cancer. Seriously – who needs a breast cancer awareness month? Are you one of the few under a rock NOT aware of breast cancer? Of course not. You never had an option. You are aware whether you like it or not.

We don’t need any sophomoric reminders, we don’t need every normal aspect of our autumn lives turned into an unnatural color because of some desperate need pretend we love our western women more than we actually do. Just stop already…please! Let’s move back to the lovely pumpkin orange of norm.

PINK SUCKS. PINK SUCKS. PINK SUCKS. PINK SUCKS. PINK SUCKS. PINK SUCKS. PINK SUCKS. Amen and goodnight. Have I mentioned the color pink SUCKS?

I came across this Chinese artist today, Liu Bolin, and am loving his work – first link I saw:

Liu Bolin…The Invisible Man

Then, of course, I GIS’d him and found many, many more.

Fascinating.

After over two months at the Gull Reef Club, I am extremely pleased to introduce to you, my Beachcombers, OSCAR! One of the coolest kitties to ever grace the Club. Yes, our fourth kitty (still no human babies, yet – I consider that a win).

Who needs kids when you have cats?

Here is Oscar at about 2 months, when we first got him:

Here he is now, about 4 months, well entrenched in the Gull Reef Club:

I think he’s fitting in well.

I adore my Oscar. Don’t you?

Another point for DaffyGrl in the Death Pool 2009. Patrick Swayze has passed. I wonder if there is dirty dancing in heaven? I wonder if wondering secures my spot in hell?

Ted Kennedy is dead.

Bambi’s bunny-friend Thumper’s mama once said, ‘If you can’t say anything nice…’ You beachcombers know the rest.

I suppose I have something, at least, quasi-nice to say – which is that I may now have empathy. To wit, when Ronald Reagan died, some of my liberal friends were nearly gleeful over it. Not being a Reagan worshiper, but not a hater either, I didn’t quite understand the smug happiness they felt over his passing. Then Senator Kennedy passed, and my empathy for my liberal friends surfaced. While I can’t say I completely understand the Reagan-death-love, I think I can sort of empathize with it. As Mike said on last night’s America’s Debate Radio, Ted Kennedy was “what’s wrong with America.” I can’t sum it up better than that.

Without remorse, I write to share that we have four winners in the Death Pool 2009 because of Senator Kennedy’s passing. Congrats and kudos to DaffyGrl (her 2nd), Eeyore (his 4th – scary!), and to Ted and Mike for scoring their first hits. I’m kicking myself for not going with the obvious choice. I guess they’re always obvious after they’re dead. Congrats, all.

There’s probably been a little too much death-talk here at the Gull Reef Club. I’ll try to lighten things up a bit by sharing some of my summer reading.

First up, was Stephen King’s The Shining. Too many dilettantes like to mock King as being an airport store author. Perhaps he may be. Yet, there’s a reason this book is practically a classic. It really was that good. Plus, of course, it’s better than the movie, which also was quite good. For reference, there were no lines in the book that read, “All work and no play make Jack a dull boy” – completely a movie flourish.

It’s funny I chose to read this book during the hot, balmy Savannah summer. One of the critical aspects of this story was the season – the dead of winter, at the top of the Rockies. It really couldn’t be more remote from my own reality. I’d certainly recommend this one to all of my Beachcombers.

The other book I’ve indulged in this summer, so far, was Rebecca Wells’ Divine Secrets Of The Ya-Ya Sisterhood. Male Beachcombers, you can stop reading now, I’m sure none of this will interest you. This really was a chick-book. I didn’t think I’d like it merely because of that fact, but I actually somewhat enjoyed it. It wasn’t great by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, there were a few parts that I just skimmed (the whole elephant fake-adventure, for example). The story could have also done without the whole Sidda-as-a-spoiled-brat-adult storyline and merely focused on the youth, then maturity, of the Ya-Yas. They were the best part of this book.

Now, I’m trying to make my way through Tom Clancy’s The Cardinal of the Kremlin. I’m having a difficult time of it. If the Ya-Ya Sisterhood was a chick-book, The Cardinal is a dude-book. A little too much dude for my liking. I find myself skimming over the ridiculously detailed descriptions of cold-war era military operations and equipment. I really don’t give a hoot, and I suspect it has little to do with the storyline as a whole. I’ll keep working my way through it though. I’m hoping for some sort of adventure to spring up eventually.

Alright, so there you go. A post without death. Until next time!

Was it good or bad juju that just the other day I was complaining that I was lagging on the Death Pool 2009 and today I score? Hmmm…

Turns out the easy pick of Henry Allingham gets me a point. /obvious much?

Love that wiki though. Screen shot I caught:

I note upon final edit that I failed to highlight a few ’sexy’ references, his birth place of ‘County of America’, his birth year of both 1600 and 1660, and the pink camera with polka dots.

Eeyore and our late Wertz have both struck again on the 2009 Death Pool. This is their third in so many months. I’m almost feeling inadequate. Your Innkeeper usually wins this game. Good (?) job, guys.

The remaining mutual pick for Eeyore and Wertz is Fidel Castro. If he’s not actually already dead – B E W A R E. He’s next.

Muera Fidel!

Score two more for both Eeyore and the belated Wertz for their picks of Robert McNamara for this year’s Death Pool. Creepy they should come so close together!

Moribund congrats to DaffyGrl, Eeyore, and the dearly departed Wertz* for scoring a point in this year’s Death Pool – thanks, or sadly enough, due to the passing of Karl Malden.

Congrats to you all, you now tie me, your Angel of Death, for the lead.

* Please be advised that Wertz submitted his list before his dearly departing and, as far as your right, honorable Innkeeper knows, he had NO inside information on any of his picks

A perpetual curiosity for me – why do some women pluck out their eyebrows only to draw them in again with a ridiculously expensive eyebrow pencil? Really. I seriously don’t get this.

An aside to these plucking ladies: stop. Stop. STOP. No one cares but you. Get over your eyebrows. Your obsession is so beyond silly words cannot express.

No one and I mean absolutely not one living, breathing person on the earth but you has ever given more than a second’s thought to the naturally growing hair above your eyes. So why pluck, tweeze and restyle that which nobody else really even sees? Get over yourselves. This has to be one of the STUPIDEST trends since powdered wigs.

Is losing a friend anywhere akin to a punch to the face? It certainly feels like it. Though truly -I’ve no point of reference – having never actually been punched in the face…

Yet, sadly, a week and a day ago today, I learned of the tragic news that my dear friend Wertz passed away. I wanted to share this sooner, but I’ve had some trouble articulating this. The punch analogy is the best I can surmise. The loss of Wertz hurts so much, it’s dizzying. Sometimes you just can’t get up at the 3 or 4 count. Sometimes it takes almost to 10 before you can stand on your feet again, and even then with a semi-clear head, but a time comes that you must acknowledge the new reality. Thus it is with our loss of Wertz.

My Wertz, your Wertz, our Wertz. We all have so many reasons to celebrate his comforting mix of sarcasm and serendipity that he managed to share with and bestow on us. How was that even possible? How am I even lucky enough to have known such a person? A man who stumbled upon America’s Debate nearly seven years ago and subsequently made it his home, his volunteer workplace, and where all his friends knew his name. Wertz helped me mature in my political and philosophical growth. There are very few who could even near the credit he deserves in this. I wouldn’t be the person I am today if I hadn’t known Wertz, and suffice it to say, I live the happy life. Bits and pieces of that are solely because of my friendship with Wertz.

I am proud to say that I am part of the Wertz Generation. We will live on forever because of you, Wertz. I hope you’re enjoying the great debate beyond – and making them cite their sources.

It’s hard to believe it’s nearly 1/2 way through 2009 and only one entry is now eligible to be marked off in our 2009 Death Pool.

Who was this fabulous prognosticator you Beachcombers ask? Why, your insightful Innkeeper, of course. I pegged the oldest Titantic survivor as not seeing the end of 2009. It appears I was correct.

This has been an unusually slow year for the Death Pool. In previous years, we would have had a number of points scored by now. Not sure why 2009 is different. Maybe we’re just so overwhelmed with all this hope and change.

Regardless – you know what this means, right? I remain Your Angel Of Death. I’d bow…but Americans bow to no one…so…enjoy my creepy awesomeness and move on. Good night.