Life is an adventure, so live it to the fullest.
Last year, sometime my mom asked me to record “Amazing Grace”. She said she loved my voice and wanted to me sing at her and my Mamaw’s funerals, without having to actually sing. I told her that my voice is not what it use to be because of my ex-husband trying to choke me to death back in 2003. She insisted that I do it anyway.
I started talking to one of the instructors on the USM campus about getting into a studio and getting it recorded. He asked if I wanted any back up. I told him that would be nice, but I was not sure how I would get that done since i don’t really know any musicians around here. This semester Jeff, the instructor, is teaching a class that does just want I was looking for and he approached me about allowing his class to record, edit and mix that song for me. We have been working on this for several months to get just the right feel and sound.
I wan to tank “The Gracenotes” for putting their hearts into this project for me and my family.
Members of “The Gracenotes.”
Jacob Arnold, Daniel Hartzog, Daniel Herrington, Bryon Johnson, Evan Jones, Paul Linden, Micheala Melton, Joshua Rosonet, and Stephen Scott.
Listen to the recording here –> 01 Amazing Grace
This year there are 3 rides for Dixie Thunder Run as well as many places and events that you can see Citizen Soldier IV motorcycle: Endeavor.
Ride dates:
MEMORIAL DAY ~ May 28, 2011 ~ Southern Thunder HD, SOUTHAVEN, MS
LBOR DAY ~ September 3, 2011 ~ Chunky River HD, MERIDIAN, MS
RIDE FOR A CAUSE ~ November 19, 2001 ~ Horseshoe Casino, TUNICA, MS
Brandon Day Treasure Hunt ~ May 14, 2011 ~ Shiloh Park, BRANDON, MS
Tour Dates for Citizen Soldier IV:
Apr 27-1 May Thunder Beach, Panama City, FL
May 5-8 Camp Shelby, MS
May 13-15 Brandon Days Jackson, MS
May 16 Nashville, TN Photo Shoot
May 21 Tupelo Armory
May 27-29 DTR # 1 Southern Thunder Southaven, MS
Jun 1-5 FT. Campbell, KY
Jun 23-26 Whiskey River Grand Opening TX
Jul 13-17 FT Benning, GA
Sep 2-4 DTR # 2 Chunky River Meridian, MS
Oct 6-9 Sturgis South Sturgis, MS
TBD Take CSIV to Horseshoe for display
Nov 16-20 Horseshoe Casino Tunica, MS
Proceeds for 2011 will got to support “Operation First Response” and “The Better Life Foundation.”
Raffle tickets for Citizen Soldier IV are 1 for $10 or 6 for $50. For more details or to get your tickets, go to the Dixie Thunder Run website, www.dixiethunderrun.org. Drawing will be held November 19, 2011 at the Horseshoe Casino in Tunica, MS at the 3 Doors Down concert.
HOPE TO SEE YA’LL THERE!
Thursday April 14,2011
Currently, the plane is to at arrive about 1400 Thursday at the ANG base at the north end of the Jackson International Airport. We anticipate a huge crowd (1,000-1,500 people).
Tentative Plan (ALL is subject to change)
We are planning on stage at the the Flowood Police Department parking lot around 1300 and then Flowood PD escort to ANG base. Waiting on confirmation with PD Chief.
I will be at a planning meeting at the base with Honor Guard and Base Staff Officers at 1300 Wed April, 13, 2011. We are working on the PGR being able to stand a flag line from Plane to Hurst on the flight line but no bikes will be allowed on flight line. We may be limited to the number of PGR members that can stand this flag line. These details will be worked out at Wed meeting.
We will provide an escort to Ott and Lee Funeral Home at 1360 West Government Street, Brandon. There will be no visitation that Thursday evening. Flags will be posted at the funeral home until Friday
Friday Apri 15, 2011
We will provide escort from Ott and Lee Funeral Home to Pinelake Baptist Church, 6071 Highway 25 (Lakeland Dr), on Friday afternoon at a time TBD. Visitation will be 1800-2100 on Friday at Pinelake We will stand a Flag Line during the Visitation.
I will post flags from West Central Ms Region at the church at 1200 Friday. These Flags will remain in place for the duration and we will use flags from the other regions for Flag Line at church and cemetery
Sat April 16
The funeral will be at 1500 on Saturday at Pinelake Baptist Church, again with a flag line. We will escort from Pinelake Baptist Church to New Brandon Cemetery on Star Road, south of Polk’s Drug Store
RC’s will be Ed Baker and Alan SmitH.
I will have times and staging areas after the 1300 meeting tomorrow. So please be patient there is a lot of planning to be finalized but,,,,ALL INFO WILL BE POSTED ASAP.
Please Post to all web sites and everyone is welcome to attend
Alan Smith
“DRAGONSLAYER”
Patriot Guard Riders
Primary Ride Captain
West Central Ms. Region
American Legion Riders
Post 112, Jackson Ms
Riders Director
I have entered these 5 photos in the Weather Channel’s Photo Contest on Facebook that is running in conjunction with the Peter Lik series. You can click on each picture and it will take you to my photo in the contest. Please go click on the “My Favorite Photo” button below the picture and leave you comments. In this you could share a picture of rock formations, arid landscapes, Red Rock Canyon State Park or anything else that reminds you of the American Southwest.
Sedona Sunset
Mother Earth
Loneliest Highway in America
Earth's Veins
Sedona, Arizona
I have entered these 5 photos in the Weather Channel’s Photo Contest on Facebook that is running in conjunction with the Peter Lik series. You can click on each picture and it will take you to my photo in the contest. Please go click on the “My Favorite Photo” button below the picture and leave you comments. The theme was Hawaii.
Sailing Away
Middle Easter Sunrise
Garden Butterfly
Walk With Me
Going Green
UPDATE: Please note that there has been a change of date to June 9 – 15, 2011.
This year, in addition to the ride to Sturgis, Road Dogs on Hogs is also going to do a ride June 9 – 15 to the Deal’s Gap area. The Tail of the Dragon is a very popular ride in the area. It has 318 curves in 11 miles. Many riders over the years have wrecked or been killed on the road. But that is not the only great ride in the area. There is:
Tail of the Dragon
Six Gap
Moonshiner 28
Devil’s Triangle
and Cherohala Skyway.
All these beautiful rides are where GA, TN, NC, and SC come together. I have looked at many campgrounds in that area and decided on the Punkin Center Motorcycle Resort. I talked to them as well. It is a motorcycle ONLY place. If you are camping, you do not need a reservation. BUT if you want a cabin, you will need a reservation.
Camping is $15 per night, per tent with up to 4 people. We can get a group rate if there are enough people going. It is $80 per night per group for up to 10 tents. They are redesigning their website so if you have problems with it, try again in a couple of days. I plan on being in there on Sunday, June 5th. See ya’ll there!
Punkin Center Motorcycle Resort is close to all of the action and offers camping facilities ranging from roughing it with tent sites to full service cabins with all of the amenities. They are a biker friendly campground.
They are close to the Cherohala Skyway, the Foothills Parkway, the Blue Ridge Parkway, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Cades Cove, Chilhowee Lake, and the many lesser known treasures waiting to be discovered. Best of all, Punkin Center Motorcycle Resort is only 400 yards off Highway 129 and 9 miles from the start of the Dragon, one of the most famous motorcycle tours in the Eastern US!
Feel free to invite your friends!
So start making your plans if you would like to do something different this year with the group. It promises to be a great week of riding and camaraderie.
THE DISCOVERY CHANNEL ANNOUNCES NATIONWIDE CASTING FOR THEIR NEW SERIES
“THE ASSAILANT”,
PRODUCED BY RENEGADE 83
“Human weapons” to compete in demanding challenges
8 November 2010: Sure, we see them on the big screen – super-human “armies of one” who wield state-of-the-art weaponry, outwit villainous masterminds, and barely escape life-threatening scenarios. But are there real-life versions of these operatives? Or are they only fictional characters that exist only in movies? With “The Assailant”, The Discovery Channel aims to find out.
Each episode of “The Assailant”, a new competition series produced by Renegade 83, the award-winning powerhouse producers behind some of the televisions most compelling programming, will feature four contestants competing in grueling challenges to find out who among them has what it takes to be the perfect “human weapon”. Viewers will have a front row seat to all of the action as “one-man armies” battle against one another in feats of physical strength, mental acuity, and “missions”: sophisticated adventures that simulate those depicted on the big screen, and that demand highly specialized skills and peak performance from both mind and body.
An intense nationwide search is currently being conducted to find contestants who have what it takes to compete in this type of series. Candidates must be physically fit enough to succeed in each ramped-up, high stakes, action-packed challenge. Marines, SWAT, FBI, Black Ops, rescue workers, Navy SEALs, stuntmen/women, firefighters, police officers, and anyone who think that they have what it takes to survive this adventure is encouraged to apply.
Interested applicants over the age of 18 who fit the criteria above should apply immediately. Please contact casting directors at Metal Flowers Media by emailingtheassailant@metalflowersmedia.com or by going to facebook.com/metalflowersmedia.
I am taking a media class at USM. I have had to do several projects with several different programs; photoshop, In Design and now Audacity. Last November I did a special thing for the Marine Corps Birthday, live on the Southern Miss Today radio show. I was asked if I had recorded it, I had not. So I thought this would be a great thing to do for my Audacity project. I hope ya’ll like it.
Bayou Boy is a Louisiana Owner/Operator that I met a few years ago. He is now pulling a drop deck and thinking about buying a double drop. Here is the podcast of the chat I had with him on the show.
ABATE of Georgia is organizing a protest of the motorcycle only checkpoints. I urge everyone that is in the area or can ride to Atlanta, to join this protest. The checkpoints are profiling and discriminatory. Some people may think that the check points are no big deal, but what if they were just doing checkpoints for SUV’s? Would you think that it was ok then? Either do checkpoints for ALL autos on the road or not at all.
The money being spent for these checkpoints that they say will help motorcycle crashes could be better spent on educating the non-ridinf public on how to watch for bikers and sharing the road with us. Most motorcycle crashes are not caused by the rides, they are cause by the cars, pick-ups, suvs, and campers that do not pay enough attention to the fact that there is something smaller than they are on the road. Truckers have to watch this every day. And every day there are cars, pick-ups, suvs and campers that cause a driver to swerve to miss their dumb-asses.
So join this protest if at all possible. We have to stick together. If we allow this to continue what comes next?
The following is form the ABATE of Georgia’s event that they created on Facebook.
*********************To all Motorcycle Riders!!!!!!!***************
A.B.A.T.E. of Georgia will ride to the Capital to protest the Motorcycle Safety Stops on March 23rd with arrival scheduled for 11:30 AM and Departure at 1:30 PM.
We welcome all riders in the State of Georgia to join us in this Protest ride. We will provide information on gathering points around the City of Atlanta, as soon as plans are firm, so we may arrive in force and shake the wall and rattle the windows as our anger flows through our pipes.
We are in the process of obtaining a permit that will allow us to assemble and park in the streets around the Capital Building and we are asking Government Officials to join us in denouncing these Discriminatory “Safety” stops.
We as Motorcyclist should not be singled out and harassed by law enforcement just because of what we ride. Our 4th amendment rights are being violated. The ABUSE OF POWER by the State of Georgia in these actions MUST STOP. It is time for our collective voices to rise up in protest and to request the Governor of Georgia to stop any further infringements on our rights.
The safety stops are being presented as a way to help save lives on our highways yet no data exists to show that this is in any effective. This time and money should be spent on educating the motoring public to be alert and aware of motorcycle traffic. The vast majority of all motorcycle accidents are cause by automobiles and not due to safety issues with our bikes.
Please forward this information on to your local media and to any interested parties. Call your representatives in Atlanta and ask them to support us in putting an end to Discrimination toward those of us who ride Motorcycles.
More information will follow as we get closer to the event. If you wish to speak on the 23rd contact Linda Allen at
Legislative.director@abatega.org
Ride Loud and Ride Proud for your Freedom.
Dan Forrest
State Director, A.B.A.T.E. of Georgia
