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Ten years ago Princess Diana was killed.

I remember exactly where I was. It’s strange how I can’t remember what I did a few months ago, but I can remember exactly what I was wearing, who I was with and what I was doing this day 10 years ago. I had flown up to Burlington, VT to say goodbye to a bunch of my friends from college before I moved to Florence, Italy. I was staying at Betsy’s apartment and we went to a party at my friend Mike’s house. When we came home we watched all the TV stuff for hours. That next day I flew home to Philly and then the following day I moved to Italy. I remember arriving in Italy and wanting to watch more of the TV coverage and they barely had anything on. People were a lot more respectful of privacy over there then our media was. It was hard to find coverage, but the Herald Tribune had tons of stuff and I still have those papers in my basement in my memory trunk. It was a sad time for so many people yet it was the beginning of this incredible journey for me. Crazy how that happens.

Man this poor kid came into the ER last night with some serious battle wounds. He was playing basketball up the street from the hospital and got elbowed after a rebound. The guy had knocked out all his teeth on the left side of his jaw pretty much from the front ones all the way to his very last molar. He also had his jaw broken. He came in fire rescue because the molar tooth had actually gone down into his windpipe an had lodged itself sideways and he had gone unconscious from the pain and lack of O2. Man I wish I could show you the films. Ugly. Jaw broken in 3 places and all his teeth knocked out. Worse films then some of the car accidents that have come in. Ouch! We managed to fish out the tooth and he was off to surgery when I left last night. Poor kid. Mouth gonna be wired shut for 6-8 weeks. To top it off he was only 19 years old. A dentists dream I guess. What a nightmare! I thought my teeth stuff was bad but I will never complain after what I saw last night.

Ahh the green mountain state…what a change of pace. We had an amazing vacation/long weekend up at the Sadler estate. Thanks Jim! The accomodations were top notch and the food was insane. We had a blast. Now come to Philly and visit us at the shore house. Jersey shore..come on…what could be more entertaining?

Here are some of the best shots from the trip:

My most favorite dog in the world right now. Our friend Matt’s. She likes to play fetch, but sometimes drags out huge branches from under the boat that she would like to chase down..go figure. Matt has a life preserver for her for the boat and it’s just like carrying a six pack around. awesome.

Went over to Gary Blodgett’s house for a couple beers before a night out. He has a pretty awesome wiener dog who likes to fetch big rocks from the creek. He swims out in the creek and dives under water to get them. It’s petty incredible to watch. Comes up with ones bigger then his head sometimes. I don’t know how he still has all his teeth.

A good night at Daily Planet and then JP’s

I can’t spell and I was drunk and I could have sworn this said “labia”, but apparently it said “lolita”. Close enough. Location: The stairwell in the parking garage in downtown BTV

I love this state!

Jim has this crazy grill that helps him make amazing food…so fancy

WOOSHERS. yeah - girls won this go round. Sorry boys!

Randoms from the architectural salvage joint on Main Street in BTV.

…from the blog. Sorry. I am going to do a huge update tonight when I get home from the hospital. We have been traveling the last 3 weekends and I just haven’t had any time to invest in this thing. Promises promises…

This is an article that came out this week about obesity and the staggering rates that exist in the US. It’s ironic that the number one state is Mississippi being that this is the anniversary week of Katrina. 30% of the population in that state are obese. 70% never even came back after the storm. We are in a bad way down there still and no one seems to notice. The obesity epidemic is just one example of the things people just don’t notice until it affects them personally. Here is a snip of the article:

“According to the fourth annual report prepared by the research group Trust for America’s Health and released Monday, adult obesity rates rose in 31 states last year, 22 states experienced an increase for the second year in a row, and no state had a rate decrease.

A related public opinion survey found that 85 percent of Americans now believe that obesity is an epidemic.

For the third year in a row, Mississippi topped the scales with the highest rate of adult obesity in the country. It also has the dubious distinction of being the first state to record a rate higher than 30 percent (30.6 percent), according to the report,F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies Are Failing in America, 2007.

Colorado was again the thinnest state, but even its adult obesity rate increased over the past year, from 16.9 percent to 17.6 percent.

“We find this report to be a devastating indictment. We’re in the middle of a public health crisis that is still deteriorating rapidly, and we’re treating it like a mere inconvenience rather than the emergency it is. Over the past year, obesity rates got worse in nearly two-thirds of states and got better in zero. That is not progress. The number of states with obesity rates greater than 25 percent has more than doubled in just two years. That’s not sending a wake-up call. We’re ringing the disaster alarm,” he said.

The rates of overweight children ranged from a high of 22.8 percent in Washington, D.C., to a low of 8.5 percent in Utah. Overall, about 25 million U.S. children are overweight or obese, the report found

“Diseases that used to be considered adult illnesses like type 2 and high blood pressure are becoming increasingly common among children,” Marks said. “If we fail to reverse this epidemic, the current generation may be the first in American history to live sicker and die younger than their parents’ generation.”

Among the study’s other findings:

Only 17 states require that school meals and snacks meet higher nutritional standards than the U.S. Department of Agriculture requires (six states enacted new laws in 2006-07). Only 22 states have mandated nutritional standards for foods sold in vending machines, a la carte, in school stores or at bake sales, and only 26 states limit where and when such foods can be sold on school property beyond federal requirements. Many physical education requirements in schools are limited in scope or not enforced.

Brooklyn in the news…It was an especially violent weather day in and around Philly. Summer thunderstorms are the best, but not when they take the roof of your house off! Sounds like NYC had is pretty bad:

CBS) NEW YORK: What was thought to be a violently windy thunderstorm that plowed through Brooklyn Wednesday turned out to be a weather event of historical proportions.

The National Weather Service confirmed that the storm brought with it Brooklyn’s first ever tornado since such weather events were recorded. Officials measured it to be an EF2 twister, characterized by winds of anywhere from 111 to 135 miles per hour.

Buildings damaged by the storm in Bay Ridge Brooklyn.

A portion of the Long Island Expressway is turned into a small lake.

A house was torn apart by the storm in Brooklyn.

Went up to Northern NJ this weekend. Stayed with my grandmother right outside NYC in Madison. The 2nd not so annual Merkin Party was Saturday night. (google it if you don’t know what one is)

Hosted by none other than the infamous Carter Olcott.

It was amazing. I don’t think I could actually describe all the chaos, so I’ll let the photos do it justice.

Slip and Slide. This was on the front lawn of the house. The real one at the top wripped after the first person slid down it. There were some serious grass stains and burns happening and people were flying down this thing!

Beer Pong and Cups. So college and so fun. A great way to get everyone drunk…fast. The girls were cheating big time trying not to fill the cups up all the way to the line..but in the end they lost anyway.

Pool Party. The big wheels made it into the mix and there were some serious diving board competitions going on. Dave Olcott and Chuck had similar style.

I think I may have won the Merkin contest seeing as though I had 2 Merkin’s and everyone else had only one. I had a good and evil theme going on…

Thanks Carter. Come to Philly soon!!

Went and saw Slayer last night.

Real good. Real Loud. Perfect Seats. Cold Beer. OK set list. Perfect night. Open air stadium. Real Fuckin’ LOUD.

Marilyn Manson played after them. We stayed for a couple of songs. Ummmm. What should I say…

Real weird. Too theatrical. Couldn’t understand him. Too much squatting in front. Way to much down the pants grabbing. Looked uncomfortable on stage. Cool Makeup for a freak show. His logo looks like a Sobe extreme drink one. His crowd was more fun to watch then him.

It’s funny how he goes from this:

To this:

This one is for Draplin:

Ut-Oh

The pint-sized pop on the TLC reality show “Little People, Big World” has been hiding a pretty big secret — he was busted for DUI last month.

According to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, 45-year-old Matthew Roloff was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of intoxicants, around midnight on June 19 after cops claim that Roloff’s van had been swerving on the road.

Roloff, who then failed a field sobriety test, was taken to Washington County Jail, where he was cited and released.The recent DUI arrest of “Little People, Big World” star Matthew Roloff isn’t his first — he was popped back in 2003, too!

Roloff was arrested on March 21, 2003 in Multnomah County, Ore. for driving under the influence of intoxicants and reckless driving. He successfully completed a 16-week diversion program and the charges were eventually dismissed.

The 45-year-old reality star was cited and released on June 21 of this year, after cops say he failed a field sobriety test and refused a breath test.