According to Wikipedia, Mantracker is Terry Grant, a 25 year veteran of the Canadian Search and Rescue Team.  Each episode starts out with a two person team known as the “Prey” who try to evade capture and reach final destination in the wilderness from Mantracker and a local sidekick who knows the area.  They start out in the wilderness 2 km apart.  Mantracker knows neither what they prey looks like or where they are going.  A flare shoots up in the sky from where the prey starts, and the game is on.

The amount of cheesiness and awesomenicity is mind blowing.  I find myself laughing and on the edge of my seat at the same time watching this show.  I know this is a little long for a video, but you have to watch it.

The Honeycrisp apple.  The best fruit in the world.

Honeycrisp apples are oblate to roundly oblate in shape and 2-3/4 to 3-1/2 inches (7 to 9 centimeters) in diameter.  Skin color is 60 to 90 percent distinctive mottled red over a yellow background. A nearly solid red coloration develops only if the fruit is well exposed to the sun.  Honeycrisp fruit is characterized by an exceptionally crisp and juicy texture.  (From honeycrisp.org)

That description does nothing to tell you about the Level of Awesomeness that the Honeycrisp holds.  I think about a 12 on the Awesome Level.  And today Mandy picked up a peck of Honeycrisp apples from Perdue’s Fruit Farm right down the road.  When she arrived home, I think I did a little dance.  On hindsight it was probably more a Ten Seconds of Zany than a dignified robot dance.

I took two apples down to work with me after lunch.  I called my friend Kevin to drop off one with him.  Kevin likes apples.  Dare I say a connoisseur?  No, I dare too much.  Anyway, I introduced Kevin to Honeycrisp apples last year.  He took one bite and within 5 minutes was on his way to purchase a bag of apples.  So, one apple down.  That left one more in my hand.  I walked into the office and pandemonium erupted when people noticed that I had the apple.  Of course, the fact that I was waving it around and singing a little song had nothing to do with their reaction.  I had to divide it into 4 pieces for 4 people.  Two apples down.  Dang, I forgot to bring myself one.

No fear, I have had 3 apples today, and I am having to talk myself into not having one right now.  Unfortunately, Mandy has not been able to handle fruit with her pregnancy.  Don’t tell her, but I am okay with that.  More apples for me.

Stuff Christians Like: #581

Which leads me to this.  Perhaps the most popular and enduring comic strip was Garfield.  The misadventures of the lasagna loving cat and his friends made me laugh as a youngster.  But I recently found a new slant on the Garfield comics.  Minus Garfield.  The focus of the new strip is Jon Arbuckle.  It is described as ” a journey deep into the mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against loneliness and depression in a quiet American suburb.”

Without further ado, here is Garfield minus Garfield.

Here is my beautiful, pregnant (not at the time!) wife frying up some Twinkie.

Next, we have a picture of said Twinkie after it has been deep fried.

Yuuummmm.  We had an assortment of other snacks (pickles, kisses, etc.), but the Twinkie was far and away the best.  It was like a hot and fresh donut, except better.  Because it was a Twinkie.  And deep fried.

I know it sounds weird, but I am more sad that Billy Mays died than Michael Jackson.  I wonder when the last time I hear this phrase will be:

“HI, BILLY MAYS HERE!”

For instance, the hysteria and tears from Michael Jackson’s fans boggles my mind.  I have seen video of women breaking down and sobbing, creating makeshift memorials in California and Indiana, worldwide sorrow.  Why?

Do these people know the celebrity?  No.  But I guess they feel like they do through his music.  I know this is not the main stream of society, but I have even heard “normal” people very sad about Jackson’s death.  The weird thing to me is that his personal demons seem to have not made a bit of difference, and for the most part, seems forgotten at this moment.  I hear people saying they don’t want to speak ill of the dead, but would they feel the same if this was someone in their community and not a superstar?

What is it about Jackson or other celebrities that move us while a story of a child being murdered on the news in our area doesn’t even register?

Quick video, here is an old advertisement from the 80′s for Kodak.

This picture (taken by Skyliner), showing people playing on the falls, was shot from the Liberty Bridge which spans the Reedy River.

Here is a picture of the bridge itself at night.

We ended up strolling over to Mellow Mushroom and getting a pizza to go, and sat in the park and watched the end of a performance of Shakespeare in the Park (Midsummer Night’s Dream).  All in all, just a fun night out and about in one part of downtown Greenville.  Whenever we have visitors we always end up downtown because there is so much to do.  You have the park, restaurants, and events going all the time.  On June 8, for instance, they showed E.T. in an amphitheater beside the river for free.  Then you have all the free concerts and festivals, and pretty much any night there is something going on.

Greenville has done a great job encouraging people to come downtown.  Most of the parking decks are free on the weekends, and there is a family friendly atmosphere.  In fact, Greenville was featured on Good Morning America this past week as a main street that is thriving in this economy.  This is why Falls Park is my Local Highlight of the Area for this week!  (Was that cheesy enough?)