NASA Is 54 Years Old Today!

We, just a few days ago, celebrated the anninversary of Neil Armstrong's historic "one small step for a man..." moment in history, and it just so happens that the United States Space Program recognizes another milestone in its existence.

There's more here.....

Plus One: Happy Birthday, Bocephus!

Bad. Ass. Man.

Repost from October, 2010....It's been a great Trip Through Time and Country Music over the last four weeks, but like all things, this too must end. We began our tribute with a bang with Garth Brooks, and now we're gonna end it with a BOOM! 

My favorite artist from any genre of music, bar none, is Hank Williams, Jr. I am very familiar with Hank's trials and tribulations over the years. He has told me about many of them in person, during the three times I had a chance to talk with him. As we drank shots of whiskey and nursed a few beers, Hank related to me one great story after another. Most of them were just general stories about the music biz, his role in it, his Dad (of course) and some other stuff. The one subject that Hank told me about was when on Augusta 8, 1975, he fell almost 500 feet down the side of Ajax Mountain in Montana. He went over the accident that nearly killed him in chilling detail. He probably would have fallen further down the side of the mountain except for one thing - a BFR. A Big Fuckin' Rock. He smashed into it face first into it and it opened his skull like it was on a door hinge, his brain exposed to the elements. Hank was hiking with his buddy, Dick Willey and Willey's son, Pete (I think, his name escapes me) when the accident happened. The senior Willey had to hike several miles back down Ajax to get help, while his son, who was about 10 years old, IIRC, tried to keep Hank awake and alert. The boy prove to be a hero. Hank told that if it hadn't been for the cold weather, he probably would have died right then and there. Two years of reconstructive surgery and rehab, including learning how to talk all over again, followed the fall down Ajax. Amazing story.

Already recorded prior to Hank's accident, was an album called Hank Williams, Jr and Friends. The link provides only clips of the songs, but I urge you to take a minute to listen to them. this album, in my opinion, is the single greatest album ever recorded. It was the single most influential album that initiated the Outlaw Movement in Country Music. I know, I know, Willie and Waylon and all that. I agree that W & W were the ones that popularized Outlaw Country, but Hank, Jr and Friends was before all that. Hank and Friends consists of nine songs that are my life set to music. It's the ultimate Country record. It's that great.

We know what many of Hank's hits are. Below I will list some of his better-known songs and some that aren't. But I promise you, they will all be good, and maybe you'll look at Hank from a different point of view.

• A Country Boy Can Survive - Arguably Hank's most popular song. A classic.
• Family Tradition - Another Bocephus classic.
• I've Got Rights - Justice, country style when the system fails.
• Country State of Mind - If the sun don't come up tomorrow, people I have had a good time.
• The American Way - Blue collar anthem.
• Hotel Whiskey - Clint Black makes a cameo.
• Honky Tonk Women - Hank rocks The Stones.
• Lone Wolf - I no longer run with the pack. 
• Outlaw's Reward - Gospel. Thinking of eternity.
• Whiskey On Ice - Whiskey on ice, women on fire.
• Feelin' Better - Becoming Bocephus. Waylon does harmony. Killer story.
• Blues Man - Bad ass tune. 
• Born to Boogie - Title cut from the 1986 Album of the Year

What a great way to end our tribute to Country Music Month. Hank Williams, Jr, who once had NINE albums in The Top 75 at one time (!), has a ton of YouTube pages with his music on them. Make time to listen to some of Hank's songs that were never released as singles. There's a treasure trove of kick ass Country tunes and songs that paint a vivid image in your mind that I think you'll really like.

It's Our 1st Birthday!!!

It was exactly one year ago today that I put up my first post Three States Plus One. It's difficult to believe that it has actually been a full year since I undertook this task. What's even more amazing is the fact that I am still doing this thing! The blog has changed in many ways since that day that seems like a lifetime ago. For one, the posts are a bit longer therefore allowing me to get more information to you the reader. I knew that would happen when I started the blog, as I was literally feeling my way through the process. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. I take that back...I have written some stuff before, but that involved tens of thousands of radio and TV commercials, never a daily article about any chosen subject. Besides, radio and TV commercials are 30 and 60 seconds long requiring few words and, most of the time, just a few minutes of my time. Blogging, on the other hand, can take a few hours just to put one post together, depending on my mood, energy level, the state of my illnesses and whether or not Bailey the 4 Year Old is wound up like a cheap clock or taking a nap. Such is the life as the Head Honcho of the Next Big Blogging Empire.

I'd like to think that, as a blogger, I have grown in my writing and ability to make you a part of the experience I write about. I'll give myself an A- on that, as there is always room for improvement. The template of the blog has changed very little with the exception of the sidebar which gets a makeover every once in a while with new gadgets I find on the internet, but it's pretty much the same as it was on Day One. I am halfway in the mood to redesign the entire page, but that will take more effort that I am willing to put forth at this time...in the near future perhaps, but not now.

On May 24, 2010 all the stats for the blog read "zero". Let's take a look where they stand as of this writing:

• Page views - 24, 075 Total; 462.9 per week; 2006.25 per month; 65.9 per day
• Countries - We are now read in 98 countries around the with the USA, of course, leading the way with 5434 Unique Visitors followed by Canada, 325 and the UK, 192. Our newest country on the list is El Salvador. All told, we have accumulated 6712 Unique Visitors over the last twelve months. 
• States - Three States Plus One is read in all 50 states as well as Washington, D.C. Texas easily leads the way in total number of uniques with 1529, followed by Maine, 738 and California, 565.
• Number of Posts - 551

I don't want to bore you with a lot of numbers (and believe me, I could!), I just wanted you to get an idea of how far this blog has come. Despite the brilliant writing, biting humor and scathing satire, it's not my award-worthy writing that makes this thing click, it's you, the reader who are the bread and water, the sustenance if you will of Three States Plus One. I never in my wildest dreams thought that we'd reach such heights in such a short period of time.

I want to humbly thank you for sticking with me for the last year and I hope you'll hang in there with me for Year 2. Your support and acceptance of Three States Plus One has been nothing short of astonishing. I hope in some small way I have taught you something, provoked you to think or made you giggle out loud (or cursed like a sailor) during the past 12 months. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. God bless you and may God continue to bless America.

Adios,
Toby, Benevolent Blog Emporor, TexNetMaine Blogging Empire
threestatesplusone AT gmail DOT com

Happy Birthday, Number 2 Son

My Bouncin' Baby Boy

April 27 is a very special day for me. It was on this very date in 1982 that I became a father for the second time with the birth of Number 2 Son, Toby Dillon Shoemaker. Toby came kickin' and screamin' into this world several weeks early at a mere 5 lbs 5 oz. Shortly after his birth, Young Tobe was placed in an incubator with so many wires hooked up to him, he looked an alternator for a '64 Chevy, although not nearly as heavy. I was the only new Dad at the NICU (Natal Intensive Care Unit) at the time and I was given a gentle knot on the head by the Good Lord, a dose of reality if you will. I wasn't sure if Toby was gonna go home with his mother and I or not. He was so tiny and helpless laying there just on the other side of the big plate glass window I was looking at him through. Worse, there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it. Talk about a feeling of helplessness. Hurry up and wait isn't one of my strong suits. Toby did come home a few days later weighing a hefty 4 lbs 13 oz. He was so small, I could cradle him in my arm like a football. It was something to behold, I'm tellin' ya.

I remember a few weeks (?) later when, on a clear starry night, I took Toby to the top of a big mesa just outside town. I held him up with my arms outstretched as far they'd go, my hands holding my son behind his neck and under his bottom reaching to touch the Face of God and I said out loud, "Behold, my Son...the only Thing greater than you". Just like in Roots. Ever since that time, Toby and I have had a spiritual connection that defies a simple worldly explanation. But I know the reason why it is so. God heard my payers while I was praying to Him for the health of my new son at the hospital a few weeks earlier. Toby, even as an infant, heard the voice of God tell him that he (Toby) and I would never be far from each others' hearts, no matter the circumstances. And despite some really tough times over the years, my son and I have never lost that supernatural ability to "feel" the other's love and commitment as Father and Son.

Toby D. is twenty-nine years old today and has a new family of his own - Faith and my three new grand children. Tobe's new family was ready-made for him, but he didn't miss a beat stepping into his new Tribe. He's is an excellent Dad and I hope (LOL) a great partner to Faith. My tiny 5 lb 5 oz baby boy is now a Man...and a damn good one. I couldn't be more happy for him.

Long ago and far away on a mesa top near Carlsbad, New Mexico, my Son beheld the only Thing greater than he and ause of that, I think, has been blessed since with unique and special qualities that make him a fine young Man today. On top of that, he got his good looks from me. :)

Happy Birthday, Son. Your Old man is mighty proud of you.

I love you.

Abraham Lincoln - A Man for the Ages

The 16th President of the United States

I couldn't let today pass by without mentioning one of the greatest Americans to ever live. He was born on this date in 1809. This boy would grow up to be the 16th President of the United States. He would also be known for a speech which to this very day is one of the greatest in the history of not only America, but the entire world. In just over two minutes time, this President rallied a broken nation to the cause of victory in the deadliest war in US history. The man? Abraham Lincoln. The speech? The Gettyburg Address. The words "Four score and seven years ago..." will live in the hearts of all men who yearn for one of the most basic human instincts - to be free to live his life as he chooses in accordance with the laws of a civilized nation.

There's not much, if anything, that I could add to Abe Lincoln's life story, so I'll leave that to people way more qualified than I am. What I do about this man is that he was the right man for the times when he became President of the United States. It was Divine Providence that he lead the country through the most perilous years of its young existence. Honest Abe stood by the principles of the Founding Fathers when they wrote that, 'All men are created equal...". Lincoln issued an Executive Order freeing all slaves in the United States under the war powers granted him. It became known as The Emancipation Proclomation, a landmark document for all citizens of the United States. That's about all I wanted to say about ole Abe, but you can click on the links above if you'd like to delve a little deeper into the facts about him.

I remember as a young child in school that we used to celebrate Lincoln's Birthday every year. But, for whatever reason, it and George Washington's Birthday were consolidated into a day honoring all Presidents of the USA. i think that's a stupid idea, but that's a story for another day. Many of us know that today is the day Abe Lincoln was born. and for now, that's all that matters.

God bless Abraham Lincoln and may God continue to bless this great country of ours.

Bailey Turns 4 Years Old!

I am proud to say that today marks the anniversary of one of the proudest days of my life. It was on February 1, 2007 that I became a father for the fourth time, at the age of 50. Yep. Today is my little girl's fourth birthday. She younger than my grand children and is 25 years younger than one brother and 28 years younger than the other. Odd, huh? While I am up way too early, Bailey is sound asleep upstairs, her torso on the mattress of her toddler bed, her legs and feet hanging off the side. That child always finds the damnedest sleeping positions. Hell, if I thought I could sleep half as good as she does in the various states of contortion she ends up in, I'd give it a try myself. But,I digress.

Hello World

Bailey came into this world as silent as a church mouse, not a peep from her as I held her when she was a few seconds old. Did I mention that I was in the delivery Room when she was born? I was there with the whole event happening before my very eyes in living color. Doing that sort of thing today is common place. Guys see their kids born all the time, but that wasn't always the case. I saw my oldest son born in 1979, and all my friends held varying opinions of whether I was drunk (no, I wasn't) or crazy (yes, I was and still am). Back to Bailey...she was three weeks early and still weighed 8 lbs. 10 oz.! If she would have gone to term, the Doctor said she would have weighed almost eleven pounds! Today, as she hits her fourth birthday, she is built and acts just like me. All 3' of her is as mean as an acre of rattlesnakes when she gets mad, but otherwise she's a hilarious kid. Her comedic timing is better than any kid I have ever seen. Sometimes to her detriment.  Just ask her mother.

My other daughter, Isabella is now 8 years old and is "too old" to be Daddy's girl most of the time, but she still has her "Daddy moments". Unfortunately, Justin Bieber, school, Girl Scouts and little boys take up most of her time these days. But, Bailey still finds time to play and laugh with me despite her burgeoning independence. That makes me happy. Although I am considerably older than most fathers of four year olds, I can still muster up enough of the kid in me to to goof off with Bailey. For that I am grateful.

Daddy's Girl

As we celebrate her birthday today, Bailey is, right before our eyes, going from a toddler to a full fledged kid a little more each day. It's a blast to see what new stuff she comes up with every day, but it saddens me that she won't always be the rambunctious little girl I'll see in a couple of hours. She's growing up and I am growing old. Ah, but such is life. Dammit.

I thank God each and every day that he has blessed me with my Way-ba-boo-boo. I thank Him that she is healthy. I thank Him she is goofy as all get out, but I thank Him mostly that she is my little girl.