Clemson V. Carolina ::

The game starts in a few minutes, but I long ago decided that if there is a way for Clemson to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory the team will find it.

Visitor Stats ::

Normally this site gets between 3 and 7 visitors per day but last Sunday, for some reason, the stats show 163 unique visitors. This is curious, but probably attributable to a spam attack of some sort. Interesting!

Time Only Matters ::

When you're watching the microwave count down!

Happy Thanksgiving! ::

For those who may not be on Jim Ring's e-mail list here is his Thanksgiving message:

I wanted to take a moment to wish each of you a very Happy Thanksgiving.

In various ways 2008 has been a difficult year for many if not all of us. Still, we have so much to be thankful for. Just look around you...locally and worldwide. By comparison things are pretty good for us. All I have to do to when I get down in the dumps is look at my two grandsons (ages two and five). Living in this country means their futures hold much promise...as has been the case with their parents, grandparents and many generations before them. That thought always brings me back up.

I'm confident each of you, if you think about it for a moment, has much to be thankful for. Please don't lose sight of that. May tomorrow be a most wonderful day for each and everyone of you.

Again, Happy Thanksgiving.

Jim

Well said, and I too wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

Today, not coincidentally since I was born on Thanksgiving Day in 1947, is also my 61th birthday and I'm keeping in mind that 61 is now the old 41!

A Camden Photograph ::

Taken on my last trip over early in September.

Friday Catblogging ::

Here's Missy taking a break on what will soon be decorated as our festive holiday rock:



Thursday, Thanksgiving day, should see the kids, big as they are, and the grandkids here for some fried turkey and I'm hoping to get a photograph of most of us out by the festive holiday rock after we've put the lights on it. I'm hoping this will be our Christmas card this year and I'll post the photo if it works out!

International Space Station Flyover ::

Just curious if anyone else had the opportunity to see it. It was very visible here in North Alabama and I would imagine that it would have been very visible throughout most of the South even in a fairly well lighted area.

I'll check the schedule again and post if there is another sighting opportunity soon! In the meantime here is a photograph of astronaut Steve Bowen on one of his EVA's from this mission:



Looks like Don has stayed inside so far. I can't imagine what it must feel like to be hanging out there approximately 230 miles above the Earth. Most astronauts I have talked with say that they're so busy on an EVA (Extra Vehicular Activity-to us a spacewalk) that they usually get very few moments to enjoy the view.

Camden High Bulldogs Growl! ::

Shamefully stolen from this morning's The State:

CAMDEN — A few seasons out of the spotlight left Camden High’s football players longing for more.

More wins.

More playoff games.

More fun.

A late-season rush, advancing further in the Class 3A playoffs than they have in five years, has helped the Bulldogs accomplish it all.

“Like our coaches said, we’ve got our swagger back,” Camden senior wide receiver Jonathon Marshall said. “We’re going all the way, hopefully.”

Reaching the third round of the playoffs, where they play at Marlboro County on Friday night, represents a return to normalcy for the Bulldogs.

Camden has won seven state championships, with the most recent coming in 2001. The Bulldogs reached the state finals again in 2002, losing to Union, and advanced to the third round in 2003.

Since then, the program fell on hard times.

In the past four seasons, Camden has won just one playoff game. The Bulldogs missed the playoffs in 2006 and had back-to-back losing seasons entering this season.

On Oct. 10, following a 40-7 loss to Wilson, Camden was 3-4 overall, 0-2 in Region 6-3A and appeared headed for another rough fall.

Things changed quickly. Behind improved defense and strong play from its offensive line, Camden (7-5) has won four of five games since then. That includes playoff wins at Georgetown, 33-0 and at Midland Valley, 35-27.

“They are having fun right now,” Camden coach Jimmy Neal said. “They are practicing hard and enjoying it. It’s a fun time of the year. Everybody wants to be here this time of year. They are enjoying it, enjoying every minute of it.”

Camden’s defense has become a brick wall.

Georgetown amassed a minuscule 47 yards of offense while being shut out in the first round. Midland Valley managed 19 rushing yards and 135 yards of total offense. The Mustangs point total is deceiving, as they scored touchdowns on a kick return and an interception return while also scoring a touchdown on the game’s final play.

“We’re motivated,” said Camden senior linebacker Chris Outten, a North-South All-Star pick. “Coaches are giving us great plays. We’re hungry as a defense. We’re just proving that we’re a better team, a better team than our record shows.”

Sophomore running back SaVonn Wingate paces the offense with 1,346 yards rushing and seven touchdowns. Marshall is the team’s top receiver with 445 yards and five touchdowns.

To reach the school’s first Lower State final since 2002, the Bulldogs must win a third consecutive road playoff game. This one comes against a familiar foe. Marlboro County, a fellow Region 6-3A team, won 24-6 at Camden on Oct. 31.

But Outten said the Bulldogs learned a lesson from that defeat, their lone loss in the past five games.

“They were a more physical team than us,” Outten said. “They came out and showed us they were physical. They were giving us late hits, they were holding. It was real physical. We were playing softer than we usually played. Now we know we’ve got to go out there and be more physical.”

They’ll be more physical and, no matter the outcome, more satisfied because the Bulldogs have returned Camden football to prominence.

A Camden Photograph ::

I haven't done one of these in a while, but this photograph taken down Rutledge St. was shot sometime last year:



I'm hoping to make a trip over to Camden and Columbia sometime in December either shortly before or shortly after Christmas. My schedules have been pretty strange lately so we'll have to see how the next few weeks play out.

In the meantime look down at the Space Shuttle and International Space Stations sighting schedules below. Take your kids and grandkids out to see it fly by.

Last year I was out in my backyard during a week long visit by my little granddaughter from Columbia and we watched the Space Station fly by after the Space Shuttle had disconnected from the ISS and was trailing it by some large distance. Both objects were very viewable in the night sky.

Math and science education represents our country's future although I continue to extoll the virtues of reading!

Whad'ya Know ::

I was out running some errands this Saturday morning, as I usually do, listening to NPR, and Michael Feldman of Whad'ya Know tossed out a question about strange foods people fix. The first call was from Camden, S.C. by someone named Reid who fixed a chili for his work group with ingredients beginning with the consonants CH.

Chicken, Chutney, Chiterlings (or as we in the south say, Chitlins) and other assorted ingredients.

Interesting!

Space Shuttle Endeavour And The ISS ::

Endeavour flew just about 15 minutes ago and should rendezvous with the International Space Station on Sunday. There are a couple of good viewing opportunities next week for the Columbia area, which includes Camden:

Wednesday, Nov. 19 @ 5:46pm
The ISS and Endeavour should be visible for 5 minutes at
a maximum elevation of 26 degrees above the horizon
approaching from 11 degrees above the south and departing
to 11 degrees above the East North East horizon.

I don't know how dark it is at 5:46pm in Camden and Columbia, but the combination of the ISS and Endeavour should be very bright in the sky. Look for a bright light traveling rapidly (17,500mph at about 230 miles above the Earth). It's best to be in an area relatively dark although I have stood in a Wal-Mart parking lot, with its lights, and I have seen the ISS by itself pass by.

On Thursday, November 20, the sighting opportunity should be even better:

Thursday, November 20 at 6:13pm
Endeavour and the ISS should be visible for 3 minutes at
a maximum elevation of 60 degrees above the horizon
approaching from 40 degrees from the West South West and departing to 18 degrees above the North East horizon.

This means that the linked ISS and orbiter Endeavour should pass almost directly overhead in Columbia and Camden.

The viewing schedule for other areas can be found here.

I sometimes work with one of the astronauts, Don Pettit, who is flying this mission. Don has been an astronaut since 1996 and has spent 5 1/2 months aboard the ISS. He is a fascinating person (PhD in chemical engineering) and I look forward to his input from this trip.

Fall in the UpState

Camden is a great place to live. It certainly was a great place to grow up. But now that we have lived in other areas I really do think fall is much more impressive further north. We certainly missed the mild winters of SC during our last years with DuPont in the Mid Ohio Valley area - especially when the snow was up to our knees. Spartanburg has been a good compromise for us with cooler summers than Camden or Columbia but plenty of mild winter weather. We still enjoy the typical SC weather but get to enjoy a show of leaves in the fall that just does not happen in the midlands. This is the redbud in our back yard which looks like this for just a few days then drops its leaves like it stole them. Every place has its own beauty. Sometimes in our own back yard.

Bill

Veterans Day, 2008 ::

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

by Lt. Col. John McCrae

Kirk Ring ::

I try to remember to check the on-line edition, such as it is, of The Camden Chronicle-Independent each Monday morning to get some idea of what is happening in Camden. This was published this morning:

Kirk Ring
Kirk Ring, 64, of Richmond, Va., departed this life on Nov. 1 after a mighty fight with cancer. He is preceded in death by his parents, Giles E. Ring Sr. and Sallie (McClung) Ring of Waynesboro, Va. He is survived by his loving wife, Nancy (Britton) Ring; two brothers, Giles E. Ring Jr. of Virginia Beach and James M. Ring and wife, Patricia (Hall) of Mechanicsville, Va.; and their children, Giles M. Ring and Tracy Berry. Also surviving are his mother-in-law Kay Steele; Nancy's children, Douglas Britton, his wife, Amy, and their daughter Madelyn, and Angie Matthews, her husband, David, and their children, Jake and Jessica; and brothers-in-law, Richard, Mike and Ron Steele. Also Spot and Spooky. They will all miss him.

Born in Waynesboro, Va., in 1944, he spent his formative years in Camden and graduated from Camden High School. He attended the University of South Carolina from 1962 to 1965. He enlisted in the U.S. Army and spent three years in Germany in the late 1960s with the Security Agency. He graduated Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in 1975 (MBA) and enjoyed a long career in real estate brokerage. He was an adjunct at VCU teaching real estate for 20 years. He also taught at other real estate proprietary schools. He loved to teach!

There will be a Celebration of Life for all his friends and family at Melito's Restaurant on Sunday, Nov. 9, from 2-5 p.m. In lieu of flowers, he requests that donations be made to the Cullather Brain Tumor Quality of Life Center at Bon Secours St. Mary's Hospital in Richmond.

Our thoughts are with the Ring family!

An Odd Fact ::

I have two friends, Sherry and then John, who have been on Who Wants To Be a Millionaire.

Each of them won $100,000.