It's a Bird... it's a Plane... its a Ballet Class Doing Soulja Boy?

That's right... the popular song and dance has been hitting all kinds of places across the nation, and I mean ALL KINDS.

While emailing back some viewers and friends on our WBTV Morning Show Facebook... I saw this video was pretty popular in the Charlotte Network.

It's a group of young kids in a ballet class doing the dance.

It's Time to Spice Up Your Life!

We all knew it was coming...the tour, the CD, and now...

the music video.

It's true - the Spice Girls are back.

Found their "first" new video on YouTube.

Looking for a Good Laugh?

You can't beat a good Phone Scam!

Candy and Potter from 107.9 the Link has made a CD of their famous phone scams. Check out the pre-order of "F is for Phone Scam."

I'm thinking Christmas gifts!

Click the picture for details!

Ma'am...Ma'am... Ma'am - Look out for that *smack*

If you've ever run into a glass or screen door, you can relate to these people.

There's not window missing from this door, because it's not a door! See what happens when store windows are just TOO clean.

Why You Shouldn't Mess with the Cleaning Crew...

This is just funny, and should be a lesson to all!

Some door cleaners started getting upset with people leaving smudges on the door's glass, instead of just pushing on the handle.

So what do they do? The only sensible thing...remove the glass and record what happens!

Some of Our Favorites Halloween Pictures!

We asked, and you delivered! We got a ton of pictures from viewers with Halloween costumes, here are a few of our favorites. It wouldn't be Halloween, if we didn't show of a few pictures of our own ghouls and goblins. Enjoy!

Recent Trip to NC mountains

First off, this blog entry officially enters me into the wonderful world of blogging. I decided this blog would address my trip to Yancey County, NC last week... a truly relaxing week of soaking in the beauty of western North Carolina.

My wife (Kara) and I have always treasured the North Carolina mountains as a must stop several times a year. We had thought about a trip to the Outer Banks as Kara has never been there. This trip will continue to be a future goal of ours, now for 2008:) We had gone to the Blue Ridge Parkway last October and my gosh did we hit it right! The Fall foliage was sensational around every corner of the parkway. Views were breathtaking and we must have snapped several hundred digital pictures. We only made a weekend trip in 2006 and decided early this Summer to scrap the Outer Banks and rent a mountain cabin for a full week. Admittedly, in this horrible drought we're in I told Kara to lower her expectations of Fall color this October but we should still see some nice color. The projection could not have been more spot on!

We just caught the peak for the higher elevations but did note golden yellow was much more prevalent than red compared to last October. There were signs of drought stress but without a doubt, there were still many gorgeous pictures to be taken. I'll include a few we took... see for yourself! By week's end, higher elevations were losing their leaves and the best color was definitely working into the lower elevations of the mountains and foothills. If thinking about making a go of it this first weekend of November, you should still be in good shape. The parkway will likely be less of a show however.

Otherwise, the vacation featured a trip to Linville Caverns. This stop was one of the last for me to scratch off the list of must see sites in the central and northern mountains of North Carolina. They did not disappoint... certainly not as large as Luray Caverns in Virginia but two things made this stop standout from Luray. #1 the large trout swimming at the entrance of the cave (wish I could have cast a line-hah) and our tour guide turning the lights out so we could experience complete darkness in the back of the cave. Umm, that's quite the experience!!!

We enjoyed downtown Burnsville from the Hilltop Restaurant to the large number of stores featuring local art. We also checked internet frequently downtown where we could establish a wireless connection. There were important fantasy football scores to check on Monday, not too mention keeping up with weather charts during our vacation. It rained for a couple of days and I've never been so happy to see rain during my vacation!! The rest of the vacation featured fishing in the Cane River and relaxing around the cabin. Coming back to work, well I felt totally recharged and was happy to get back into my groove. No doubt though, this vacation was just what we needed and we'll be back!

FYI... pictures taken by my wife who does most of our family photography (obvious reasons). I'll paint a few of these in the months ahead with acrylic paint to canvas.

Ghosts and Goblins and Ghouls...Oh my!

The other day, we were talking about UFO's. Something was caught on tape in South Dakota - but what is it?



And did you know that 1/3 of American's believe in ghosts?

According to a poll by The Associated Press and Ipsos, that’s the same proportion who believe in unidentified flying objects! That's right UFOs...like the one in the above video????

48% believe in extrasensory perception, or ESP. But I'm guesing about half of you knew I was about to type that, right?

19% accept the existence of spells or witchcraft.

Nearly 1 in every 4 people say they have actually seen a ghost or believe they have been in one’s presence!

Now to put the numbers of ghost and UFO believers in perspective, it about the same as other AP polls, such as:
36% of people say they are baseball fans
37% say the U.S. made the right decision to invade Iraq
31% approve of the job President Bush is doing

What about you? Do you believe in ghosts?

Happy Halloween!

Hey Everyone!

Its Halloween and you know what that means! Its time for Suchan to pull out his Halloween costumes. The Invisible Man paid us a visit again this year, along with the Professor Suchanski. But wait...Chris drank some coffee and something strange happened to him! Great googly-moogly!

Watch the videos to see some of our Halloween fun!

Ode to Karl Rove...

Apparently President Bush REALLY misses Karl Rove and his tactics.

This is just funny...

Halloween Party Mixup!

If you plan to dress up and drink - watch out!

A guy in Germany dressed up, drank and passed out on a train in Germany. In an area that doesnt know much about Halloween. That's when other passengers spotted the man, and thought he'd been murdered!

Here's the story from Reuters.com:

Passengers on a German train mistook a Halloween reveler dressed up as a gore-covered zombie for a murder victim and called the police.

The 24-year-old man fell into a drunken slumber on his way home from a Halloween party in Hamburg, police in the northern town of Bad Segeberg said Monday.

Believing his hands and face were smeared with blood, passengers alerted police after getting no response from him.

A first aid team called to the scene soon cleared up the confusion. Police told the man to remove his make-up after which he was allowed to continue his journey.

"Bad Segeberg is in a rural area and Halloween isn't very well known there," police spokeswoman Silke Tobies said. "So people weren't expecting anyone to be dressed up in the train."

Think You're Having a Bad Day?

This Seattle-area cheerleader had just become Homecoming Queen and was making sure everything was perfect for the football players entrance....when BOOM! Can you say ouch?!?!

KOMO 4's Mike Ferreri picked the hit, as the Play of the Night. Gotta love how the camera is always there!

With great power...comes great responsibility...

Thats right Spiderman fans - its finally here!

We're taking a look at the new releases on DVD.

"Spider-Man 3"
This movie is now swinging onto DVD and high-definition Blu-ray disc. There's also a collection packaged with the two earlier installments of director Sam Raimi's comic-book franchise.

The main players return for the conclusion of the love triangle and friends-turned-foes saga among Spidey, Mary Jane and Harry. A single-disc DVD has commentary with cast and crew, while the two-disc DVD and Blu-ray releases are stuffed with extras on the cool effects and the stunt sequences, among others.

On a side note - you can also pick up "Spider-Man - The High Definition Trilogy." That's right, all three movies in one set!

"License to Wed"
This movie stars Robin Williams as a clergyman leading a couple through an outrageous pre-nuptial education course. The DVD has deleted scenes accompanied by commentary from the director (Ken Kwapis).

Along with the DVD release, the movie is available in a high-definition Blu-ray disc and a combination disc with both standard DVD and high-definition HD DVD versions.

"Talk to Me"
This movie has Don Cheadle playing Ralph "Petey" Greene, a former prison inmate who became an outspoken radio personality and activist during the civil-rights movement of the 1960s.

Cheadle leads a sturdy cast that includes Martin Sheen, Cedric the Entertainer and Mike Epps. The film is accompanied by deleted scenes, a featurette on Greene and his significance in black politics of the era. Another segment is on the movie's re-creation of 1960s and '70s style through music and fashion.

Other DVD film releases this week:
- El Cantante
- No End in Sight
- Looney Tunes: Golden Collection - Volume Five

TV on DVD

- Angel (Complete Series Collector's Set)
- CSI: Miami - The Fifth Season
- Everybody Loves Raymond (Complete Series)
- Family Affair (Season 4)
- Family Guy: Freakin' Party Pack - The Complete DVD Collection
- Magnum P.I. (Season 7)
- My So-Called Life: The Complete Series
- Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection, Volume 12
- Scrubs: The Complete Sixth Season
- The Outer Limits (Original Series, Volume 3)
- The Real McCoys (Season 2)
- Twin Peaks: Definitive Gold Box Edition

Dads Help Carve Pumpkins

Near the end of our Great Pumpkin Contest, we had a teacher email us this great story.

First graders at Cherryville Elementary were able to bring their dads in to carve some pumpkins for Halloween. Debra Spangler sent us these pictures and they were just too cute - we had to share.

We love seeing dads getting involved with their kids, its so great!

Fantastic Pigskin Action!

The Carolina Panthers may not have done as well as we'd all like - especially John, but someone is hitting the field in style!

John follows the Gaston County Jaguars as they play at the Bank of America stadium during a recent Panther game.

These kids are the current national champions of the Pop Warner Junior Pee Wee Division! Go Jags!



And they aren't the only ones pulling some amazing moves on the field.

Trinity vs Millsaps College, with two seconds left in the game.

Trinity continues to lateral the ball...more than 15 times and is finally able to score and win the game! Just amazing!



Gotta love football season!

It's a Scary Good Laugh!

Found this video of News 10 Good Morning out in Sacramento, CA.

The group got quite a scare when some folks dressed in their Halloween creepiest came running out on set.

Keep your eyes on the ladies who book-end the desk. One jumps under the desk, the other runs across the studio!

Click here to watch the video!

Not The Time To Gloat

My first University of Tennessee game was a success. I had a great time with friends I hadn't seen in a while. I loved being around fans as enthusiastic as UT fans, especially when they got into it with South Carolina fans. And the win didn't hurt either.

After the game UT fans were excited and rowdy and USC fans... well you can imagine. And yet as we were soaking in a victory most didn't think we would have and USC was moping because of the loss, no-one would even imagine the tragedy the next morning would bring.

As I was walking out of the game, I couldn't wait to write a big "I told you so" blog. I was really going let all you USC fans who doubted UT have it! But after learning about Sunday's fire that claimed the lives of seven college students, six of which went to USC, football just doesn't seem that important anymore. It is hard to fathom how seven seemingly healthy, young, happy adults could suddenly be gone in the span of a morning. I can't imagine what their parents are going through right now. USC students, family members and friends were probably still talking about the football game Sunday morning. At that point no-one knew about the fire, and the loss of the football game was probably the worst thing on their minds. No-one could imagine the day would get a lot worse.

More than anything, I want to extend my condolences to the family and friends of those who lost a loved one on Sunday. I'm praying for everyone who goes to USC and Clemson, and for everyone who knew someone involved in the fire.

A Time of Tragedy

It's the kind of phone call that just hits you in the gut.

A massive house fire and anywhere between 6-13 people from your old college are dead. That's what I got on Sunday, when I was at home preparing to catch a nap before work.

Instantly - you go into panic mode. A lot of my friends still live in and around the campus area of USC. So I grabbed my cell phone and start calling people. That's when I realize, I need more information.

So I go online and start looking at the local papers for Columbia and Myrtle Beach. Thank goodness for online editions!

Even still, I went to places like Facebook and Myspace to see if anyone has posted anything at all... plans for the weekend, vacation plans or "Oh my God, did you see what happened?"

I was too nervous - I couldn't go back to sleep. I had to keep updated on everything that was coming out. Maybe it was the news guy in me, maybe it was the connection.

Its no secret that I don't like South Carolina Football, but the school - I loved. I met some of my best friends in classes, even if I didn't wanna be in class.

Even now, I still don't know. I haven't been gone that long from USC, some of those killed, I could easily know. Guess I'll have to sit - and wait.

I can't imagine being a parent right now, not knowing for sure.

My thoughts and prayers go out to those 7 students... and the family, who are just waiting on a call.

The Jekyll-Hyde Carolina Panthers!

Can anyone tell me what happened to the Carolina Panthers?

Their first drive of the game against the Indianapolis Colts actually gave a lot of us hope that they might give the Colts a real game. Then the mistakes began to happen...the fumbled punt return...the interception...the penalty on the great kick return...the John Kasay kickoff that went out of bounds...etc., etc.!

In the past, the Panthers always seemed to make great adjustments during halftime and would come out looking better in the second half. Nowadays, it seems the Panthers come out flatter and worse in the second half!

Why is that?

It just seems to me...that the Panthers seem to lack fire and heart much of the time. Does anyone else get that sense? I still support the team 110%, but it is incredibly frustrating to see them play so poorly and without much enthusiasm.

There's no shame in losing when you've given the effort your all...but I often get the sense that the Panthers aren't giving it their all. Is it a coaching thing? Players? What? Why did the team appear so different when it came out in the second half?

Biting off more than we can chew?

I was on my way to the gym this morning and couldn’t help but notice yet more land being cleared for development.

I remember when I first moved to Charlotte. I was so excited about all the building going on. I would tell my friends and family in Detroit; Charlotte is a city on the move! The city’s progression is incredible.

But now all this development has me wondering – are we biting off more than we can chew? I mean how much is too much development?

Every time I turn around there’s a new shopping plaza going up, another restaurant or nail salon opening and some new condo project.

Sure construction is a good thing. It means money is coming into the city. But it also leads to clogging roadways and crowding schools.

Getting back to that intersection that’s been flattened by bulldozers -- I miss the trees that were there and the shade/privacy they provided. I am sure as our city continues to grow this will become a more frequent sight. I can only hope our elected city leaders are thinking about the long-term and short-term benefits.

On another note…I can’t believe my Michigan State Spartans BLEW it against Iowa this weekend. They seemed one step closer to a bowl bid by the end of half time – but as one columnist put it – the game turned so decisively after that, you would have thought the teams exchanged jerseys.

We have to regroup for next Saturday's game against Michigan. Thank goodness the game is in East Lansing. I really want that bowl game.

Oh, and thanks for the hospitality in Cleveland county this weekend. My husbands company had their company picnic and we had a ball!

Until next time…

College Football Roundup

Okay...yesterday was just awesome.

It was nice to see college football back to its old reliable self - just a few upsets like any other year.

West Virginia at Rutgers - This was a blowout. WestVa showed its power and muscle and trampled all over Rutgers, at home! This is the 3rd time this season that running back Steve Slaton scored three touchdowns in a game.
Final Score: West Va 31 - Rutgers 3

North Carolina at Wake Forest - The Demon Deacons were on top of this one. They managed to score at least six in every quarter... and the Tar Heels were struggling to score at all!
Final score: WF 37 - UNC 10

Michigan State at Iowa - Michigan State started off strong, but Iowa came creeping back, and gave the Spartans quite a scare. In fact, the game had to go into double overtime before a winner was decided. Sadly, for Lenise, the Spartans were not on top.
Final Score: Iowa 34 - Michigan State 27

USC at Oregon - Ranked or not, Southern Cal just couldn't hold onto the ball. Three turnovers, including one on the last drive of the game as they tried to tie up the game and take it to overtime. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
Final Score: Oregon 24 - USC 17

Florida at Georgia - Georgia's defense was really in this one. Even though Gator QB Tim Tebow was able to run in two TD's - the defense held him to minus 15 yards of rushing!
Final Score: Georgia 42 - Florida 30

Clemson at Maryland - The Clemson defense played well in this game, with a Maryland home game - the Terps can be intimidating. Maryland did make a nice 4th quarter run with 2 TDs. Clemson QB Cullen Harper was on point, with running backs Thunder and Lightning storming up the field! Good thing too, since running back James Davis publicly promised he would carry the Tigers to victory.
Final Score: Clemson 30 - Maryland 17

South Carolina at Tennessee - turnovers, turnovers, turnovers. Spurrier's all encompassing multiple QB plan just didn't work out. Click here for more.
Final Score: UT 27 - South Carolina 24 (OT)

Ohio State at Penn State - Ohio State just proved they are number one for a reason. They when into Penn State, and even a White Out couldn't stop the Buckeyes! Ohio State QB Todd Boeckman was on point, completing 19-of-26 passes for 253 yards and three touchdowns.
Final Score: Ohio State 37 - Penn State 17

Other Shockers You May Have Missed:
- No. 23 Connecticut beat No. 10 South Florida
Final Score: 22-15

- Unranked Mississippi State beat No. 14 Kentucky
Final Score: 31-14

- Unranked North Carolina State beat No. 15 Virginia
Final Score: 29-24

I Need a Fork and Salt...its Time to Eat My Words!

All I can say is "Wow!"

Before I even get started, just lemme say...this is the one time I don't mind being wrong. I've mentioned before that I'm a die-hard Clemson fan, and I - in no way - like University of South Carolina football.

With that said, last night during the UT vs USC game, I was blown away. The fact that UT got a 21 point lead and held it going into the half was just amazing - Colt Brennan did a great job.

But....with the Gamecocks having 5 turnovers, the Vols should have capitalized more. In fact, the first half was all Vols, but they let USC come back and take the lead in the second half. It took a last second field goal to tie it back up. The Gamecocks are a definite fourth quarter team.

The game should have never gone into overtime, at all.

So yes, I did say the Other Producer was crazy for thinking Tennessee would win. I still stand by that, because that was not the USC who played in the first six games of the season. I'm not sure who Steve Spurrier brought to Rocky Top, maybe it was Lou's old team...