Connecting Blog

I got a new idea for Hollywood or anyone that owns a movie theater. How about we get a theater room that is completely dark? I know there would be a few problems with this idea. People falling down and tripping as they go to get more popcorn or use the restroom. I would also imagine the fire Marshall would still want his exit signs to be visible to the theater audience. If these are the only two problems, maybe we could work around it and get a theater room that is pitch dark. A pitch black room would give a better view to the large theater screen above. As long as a movie was playing, the room would not be totally dark. My idea isn’t for the average movie. My idea is for horror movies and the 1 or 2 people left in Hollywood that still has some original ideas for creating and producing new movies.

I just think some theaters are too lit. A company could promote a pitch dark theater room. They could also pick a halfway point in each movie; where they would turn on a few lights and allow people to use the restroom and go back for more snacks and soft drinks. Before each movie started, a live person could lecture the theater audience on where the exit doors are located, so the exit signs would not be needed. Don’t allow late movie goer’s to enter the pitch dark rooms or you lead them in with flashlights and tell them where the exit doors are located. I understand it would take a little more effort to show a movie like this, but I think movie fans for horror movies would love it. They would be showing up by the bus loads, to watch a new scary movie in total darkness. The extra sales would offset the extra hassle each theater company had to go through, to have a pitch black room for showing movies. Good or bad idea?

The NCAA Regional Tournaments start up tomorrow for most of the major conferences in college basketball. I know a lot of men will be wanting to watch these games this weekend. However, their partners may not care to spend all weekend watching college basketball on TV. Who is going to have the remote control in your household this weekend? I know in most cases, dad and mom will both curl up with a few pillows, a blanket, and lay down on their modern sofas to watch television this weekend. I’m just wondering what they will be seeing? Don’t get me wrong ladies, I know some of you will want to watch the hoops this weekend too and it may be your husbands looking for a good action movie on the tube. If you’re married, please let me know what the two of you guys will be watching on TV this weekend. Do you each go to a different room to watch your movie or the big basketball tournament; which will be on a lot of the stations this weekend, or plan to watch TV together? I’m single, so no worries for me and I will be a couch potato with the basketball games this weekend.

Rising Superstar Josh Smith

You may have heard the name, you may know he’s an NBA basketball player, or you may have even seen him play, but I can assure you that you don’t know who Josh Smith is. In most cases, the fans of the Atlanta Hawks don’t even know who Josh Smith is or what he’s capable of. It’s clear the coaching staff in the ATL, led by head coach Mike Woodson, don’t even know what number 5 can bring to the table. Let me tell you a little about this unknown star in the NBA and what’s led to many people not knowing who Josh Smith is.

You can go back to the hiring of Mike Woodson or the trade that brought Joe Johnson to the Atlanta Hawks. This trade made national news and sent the Atlanta Spirit partners in a battle that still rages on today. Or you can go back years earlier to another famous Atlanta Hawks trade that sent Dominique Wilkins packing for a new NBA team. Since Mr. Wilkins the Human Highlight Film left, the Atlanta Hawks has failed to get a superstar on the floor and wearing their jersey. Not having a true superstar in Atlanta is the reason the Hawks have gotten very little publicity over the years and is also blamed for the low attendance levels for their home games. The new owners came in and they recognized that the Hawks needed a superstar. Since there was none availabe, the Hawks did the next best thing. They manufactured their own ”superstar” and did anything and everything to build him up.

The Hawks didn’t have one on the roster they could create, so they had to make the trade with the Phoenix Suns to bring in Joe Johnson. They figured he was young enough, athletical enough, and had enough upside, they could make him the main man in Atlanta. This would solve their superstar issues, the NBA community would recognize the team again, and fans would come back to fill the seats. The one big problem in this formula is that Joe Johnson isn’t really that good. He just doesn’t have what it takes to be a superstar in the NBA. Even calling him a star player is stretching the truth, because he’s just about as average as you can get for an NBA player. I know many will disagree with me and this is because they have only watched and heard about the manufactured Joe Johnson and haven’t really took the time to watch him. Joe is working on his 4th year with the Hawks team and he’s not improved in any area of his basketball game in those 4 years.

You have to understand that Joe Johnson plays more minutes than any other player on the team. He gets more offensive plays run for him than anyone else on the team. When there is just a few seconds left on the clock at the end of quarters, Joe always gets the ball and tries to go one on one. Basically speaking, Joe Johnson has been given the keys to the team and it’s not worked. You can take half of the guys in the NBA and give them the minutes and shot attempts as Joe Johnson gets nightly and they would have his exact numbers too. He’s a manufactured basketball player and as far as the marketing efforts are concerned, it has worked. The 4 All Star Games that Joe has been invited to proves that. As far as a team leader or someone that can carry a basketball team, he’s not your man!

The problem also lies with the head coach too. Mike Woodson has no feel for an NBA game. He runs his starters out to start the game and then makes preplanned decisions on which players will play and for how much time they will get. Woody has became a Joe Johnson fan, so in his eyes, the man can do no wrong. He overlooks the mistakes that Joe does on the court; while giving other team members the evil eye for just 1 mistake they will make. If a player gets 2 fouls in the first half they’re coming to the bench. Otherwise, Mike Woodson knows which guys will play and for how long. Regardless of their performance, he already has his mind set on making certain changes. First guy off the bench is Jamal Crawford and he comes in Marvin Williams. I have seen Marvin start many games where he’s the best player for them that night. Only to see him get replaced by a plan-change that Woody has already decided on. I have seen many games where Joe Johnson is the weakest of our starters and having a horrible night, but yet he will be the last starter that gets replaced. Woodson doesn’t understand that he’s coaching like a computer and anyone could coach in his style of coaching. His contract is up after this season and he’s done nothing to show the owners why they should keep him around.

I understand that his record has improved every year, but so has the players on the team. Woody came in with only Joe Johnson to rely on and he’s failed to see the other young players getting better and how they have passed Joe’s abilities as a basketball player. Not recognizing who your best 5 players are for a certain night and not allowing the team to run up and down the court with their athletical players is the reason the Atlanta Hawks did not get a chance to play the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals last year.

Things only got worse this year; when the team got noticed enough to have a 2nd player on the Eastern Conference All Stars. So who did the NBA community think that player was? It was Al Horford that got the nod over Josh Smith and this story wasn’t big news around the NBA or even in the Atlanta area for that matter. Since Josh Smith was not selected to be on the NBA All Star team, I know the NBA and people associated with the Hawks team, don’t have no clue to who Josh Smith is.

It’s actually embarrassing to see Joe Johnson constantly getting mentioned as the best player on the Hawks team. Then to see Al Horford go to an All Star Game before Josh did is only adding salt to the wound. It doesn’t look like many people know who Josh Smith is and the front office and the Hawks head coach is the reason why.

Does anyone seriously not think Josh Smith is one of the top 12 guys in the Eastern Conference Division? Well I got news for you. Not only is Josh Smith one of the top 12 players in the East, but he’s in one of the top 12 players in the NBA. Nobody is going to buy into this, due to the amount of playing time he gets compared to Joe Johnson and the horrible game plans the Hawks coaching staff comes up with each night. I’m sure you have heard about star players in the NBA getting double teamed right? The ball goes to Kobe or LeBron, teams will want to double team them, so they can get the ball out of their hands. Well if we had a coach that had just a little sense, they would understand that Josh Smith might be the only guy in the NBA, that could command a double team from the defense and not even have the ball! This might sound crazy, but the coaching staff in Atlanta has no creativity. No teams or players like to get dunked on. If the Hawks would push Josh closer to the basket and keep him montioning to the rim, the guy guarding Josh and the guy defending the rim would both be keeping an eye on number 5. Once the Hawks throw a few lobs up for Josh to dunk home, other teams would want to stop this. This would cause Josh to actually be double teamed and he wouldn’t even have the ball! How many guys in the NBA can you say that about?

Recently Josh has been putting up solid numbers and it’s great to see. He has a team that doesn’t recognize him as the best player on the team and this has slowed his growth process. Once the Hawks or some other team sees Josh Smith as a top 12 player in the league, this guy will be worth the price of admission and his team will be winning a lot of games. Mike Woodson and Joe Johnson’s contracts are up and I can guarantee you, that neither one of them will be missed. New coach and no Joe Johnson will make the Atlanta Hawks a better basketball team.

A gardener can do several things during the cold months of the year, so they have a fertile ground to work with in the spring. Creating a big compost pile is something all farmers should do during the fall time of the year. These compost piles can be created by old rotten trees, leaves, and household trash. Your old newspapers work great for composting and they can break down in just a couple of months. If you have a large container that you can use, try to add earthworms and a few table scraps to help get a rich soil started. Don’t include meat or cheeses in your compost piles that have earthworms. All your other food items are perfect for worms and they need just a little food to help them create a super rich soil. All trash should be paper and try to avoid those papers that have color inks associated with them. The black and white newspapers work the best, since they are so easy to bread down in the soil.

It’s not too late to start your compost pile now. If you start now, you still have about 6 weeks to get a good soil going. Once you’re ready to plant in the spring, just take some dirt from your compost pile and mix it with your other dirt. This mixture will create a rich soil environment in your garden. The richer the soil is, the better your flowers and vegetables will grow and produce. The rich soil from a compost pile will help your vegetable plants be more productive and you will get a lot more food per plant. Next year you can start your compost piles earlier and give more time for the earthworms to create magic in your compost piles.

If acne is not treated properly or taken seriously enough it can leave scars. These scars on the face is not a pleasant sight to see. In some ways they are worse than the acne itself; since these scars can remain permanently. If you currently have a scar left by acne, have you tried to use a acne scar removal and did it help? As far as I know I don’t currently have any marks or scars that was left by acne. I did have acne when I was a teenager and it was the typical acne that most teens do get. I know some people I went to school with did have severe problems with acne and some of these folks may have been left with scars. I wasn’t aware of any products on the market that could remove these scars left by acne. If you have tried a acne scar removal product, then please let me know if it worked for you. I may just have a loyal reader to my blog here that wants to know the answer and you could help shed some more light on the subject.

The dreaded flu or swine flu is still around and hasn’t went anywhere. I got a bad flu about 6 months ago and figured this was my first experience with the swine flu. I didn’t receive no medical treatments from a doctor, just stayed in bed and waited it out. I didn’t think I would get sick again anytime soon, but now I have gotten the flu for a 2nd time this year. Perhaps this 2nd time is really the swine flu for me or maybe I just got the regular flu this time. No matter what you want to call it, the flu is no fun to have. I am still weak and battling my flu symptoms. I have felt a little better today; compared to the last 2 days which was really bad. The coughing seems to be the worse thing with a very soar chest. I have a runny nose and fever associated with my coughing spells too. I hope everyone is still continuing to protect their selves from the flu. I’m not sure if I have ever had the famous swine flu, but I have got the flu bug 2 different times within 6 months and this is rare for me. Usually once a year and even then it’s not really bad. I probably catch a bad cold about once a year, but have already had to battle the flu 2 different times and I’m not out of the woods yet on my 2nd sickness.

We are seeing more and more smokers have less rights these days. I don’t agree with all the new laws that are coming out and are targeting smokers. A business owner should be allow to let customers smoke or not. It’s their business and the Government is trying to take that control away from them. North Carolina is the tobacco capital of the world and now public places in NC can’t smoke cigarettes or cigars either. It doesn’t look like there is no hope for smokers in public anymore. These new laws against smokers are only opening up the door to other things small business owners will have to uphold to in the future. It doesn’t matter if you smoke or you don’t. These new laws are going to hurt all of us in the long run. Just look at the foods with trans gram fats and restaurants in most areas are no longer to foods high in these anymore. Someone needs to stand up for smoking and good tasting foods too.

It can be a daunting task sometimes when we come online to search for various pieces of information. The search engines do a good job in leading us there, but they can’t breakdown or distinguish the information that is in front of us. Online reviews can be a valuable source for all kinds of good information. A atro phex review or a review on beauty products is a good way to compare different companies or services. Normally these online reviews will do their own ranking system and give readers a chance to compare their findings. This is a lot easier than if we had to search for each company or service on our own. An online review takes a great deal of time to compose. A responsible one will include all the main stats and numbers, so readers can make their own determinations in deciding which is best. I think I will work on an online review for something I know and see if I can help an Internet user to find the information they seek online.

We have seen basketball grow in popularity with women since the WNBA opened up for business. Women now have a chance to continue their basketball careers past their college days and can get paid nicely for it too. This is great news for the girls that are currently playing basketball at a high level in high school. At the southern end of my county is a high school called Etowah High School. Number 25 in the picture above is Ashley Renfro; who was taking a jump shot in a recent high school girl’s game. It must be a much different thought process for girls now like Ashley that can work on their basketball game and actually earn a living from it one day. This wasn’t always the case and just a couple of decades back, there was no professional basketball leagues for women.

At the northern end of my county in Georgia is a high school called Cherokee High School. This is the closest high school to my house and the one I attended when I was in high school. Number 10 in the photo above is Alyssa Howell for the Lady Warriors of Cherokee. Now Alyssa for Cherokee and Ashley from Etowah is probably not the best of friends. They are actually enemies, but they probably don’t know it yet. This is because there is a big rivalry between the Cherokee Warriors and Etowah Eagles. At least this was the case a long time ago; when these were the only two high schools in the county. Now there is 3 new high schools in Cherokee County and the rivalries are not as clearly defined. I’m sure Cherokee probably considers the Sequoyah Chiefs as their main rivalry now; while Etowah’s would probably be the Woodstock Wolverines who is just down the road from Etowah on Towne Lake Parkway in Woodstock..

I can see the changes just in my county over the years and how it affects the high school girls team in basketball. We are a lot larger now and this means more and more girls to play basketball in just Cherokee County alone. Once you start to multiply this county by county and then go state to state, you see the pool is much larger now for girls wanting to play high school basketball. This growth carries over to the college levels and these girls continue developing their talents into their late teens and early twenties.

After the college years are complete, these young ladies have a real chance to get drafted by a WNBA team and this job will pay them as well, if not more, as any other female could make with a college degree. The times have certainly changed for women in basketball and don’t look for them to go away anytime soon. Expansion will continue to happen in the WNBA and we even have a team in Georgia now called the Dream. The women in the WNBA is still a long ways from making what the men do in the NBA, but it is still a big accomplishment and shows just how far we have came. I can only imagine some of the talented high school girls in the past that gave up their basketball playing days after high school, since there was no future in it. You can bet that mindset has changed now and going to college and continuing to improve their basketball skills could have real benefits. Even if girls like Alyssa and Ashley fall short of the WNBA, they still have the opportunity to get a good college education and girls before them, may have not even got that far, since basketball for women had no happy endings.

Yahoo is buzzing today and lots of people are making online searches. Let’s see what the top 10 most popular things users are looking for on this early January day.

Top 10 Yahoo Searches

1. Elvis Presley

2. BCS National Championship

3. Youth in Revolt

4. Balloon Boy

5. Pirates of the Caribbean

6. Nick Jonas

7. Charlie Sheen

8. School Closings

9. Washington Capitals

10. Ellen DeGeneres

Those are what Internet users are looking for today. No big surprise to see Elvis at number 1 on his birthday today. The BCS college football game was last night; where Alabama hammered the over ranked Texas Longhorns to win the National Title in college football. It would be nice to have a playoff system, so we wouldn’t have these awful championship match ups. I know half of the teams in the SEC could have beat the Longhorns last night and not fair to showcase the best two teams in the country for the BCS Title Game.

I know most people in America are freezing right now with the temperatures so cold. The 2nd arctic blast from the North is flowing in and everyone is staying indoors with the thermostats on high. This is why we see “school closings” making the top 10 at Yahoo and many schools have closed or will not be open on Friday. The rest of the weekend promises to be cold for most of the nation, so we aren’t out of this brutal winter pattern yet. Even in Georgia, the temperature may not get above freezing again, until sometime on Sunday and maybe as late as Monday, before the thermometer sees 32 degrees or higher. I think schools will reopen on Monday for most school systems, but we may see other problems when the temperatures do go back up. City workers are expecting to see a lot more water main breaks as these pipes begin to unthaw sometime next week. Stay tune…

Do you have any great tips or things you do each day to make your eyes look better? Perhaps you do something to the skin around your eyes or use a home remedy that works real good for you. I know the wrinkles around the eyes is always a popular topic. Some have trouble with those dark circles that can form around the eyes. If you use cucumbers, tea bags, or something like that, to give your eyes a better appearance; then please share your best tips and advice. I’m sure there is a lot of people out there that would like to have a better looking appearance and after you fix up your hair, it seems eyes is the next most popular thing to touch up. This is especially true for women and it’s the women that want a better overall looking appearance; when it comes to their eyes. I don’t think the men care as much and that is probably why the women look better than we do. I do know that if you don’t get enough sleep each night, you will start to form bags under your eyes. A lack of sleep does cause those bags to form underneath the eyes and some of this probably results in those dark circles too. So go ahead and please reply back with your best tips for the eyes.

Working out is hard and many of us can’t do it for long. I guess working out is really easy, it’s staying with it over a long period of time that is hard. If you want to keep up a workout routine; then your gonna need to make it fun. I don’t know if there is any easy ways of achieving this, but please reply with any good methods you use to make working out fun. If we can make it fun, it won’t seem like we are working out and keeping our bodies in shape. If you can find a friend, family member, or co-worker to exercise with you each day; then you have a better chance of sticking with a workout program. Have you ever tried using an elliptical exercise machine or something like a NordicTrack? This can be a fun way to workout and it is a lot better than jogging around the neighborhood each evening. Also, don’t forget to reward yourself when you complete a full week’s exercise or workout routine. Give yourself something good, so it encourages you to complete the daily missions you lay out each week. Our health is important and it’s worth the extra effort. Just remember your not alone and everyone who exercises, knows that working out is hard to do.

My favorite NFL team the Atlanta Falcons will get a chance to play at the new Cowboys Stadium in Texas. We have a punter who can really hit some high kicks. The Falcons punter was so effective last year, he helped the Atlanta Falcons get a new NFL record. They allowed less than 50 yards on punt returns and this was for the whole season! Teams didn’t return many punts on us, due to the fact our kicker was hitting them so high. Now most NFL fans know about the big TV screen that sits above the 50 yard line in the new Dallas Cowboys stadium. Some kickers have hit that big TV; while punting in the warm-ups. Our kicker might be the first one to hit the huge TV during an actual game time situation. I hope Jerry Jones has those TV mounts on tight, because the Atlanta Falcons kicker will test it’s strength.

Biggest HDTV in the World

Being a fan of Atlanta sports, it would only be right for us to hit the big TV screen out in Texas today. Our Atlanta Braves did have the world’s largest HDTV at Turner Field in Atlanta. The new HDTV in Dallas is now known as the biggest HDTV in the world. If the Atlanta Falcons punter could knock down, damage, or put the big TV out of commission; then the Falcons in a strange way would be helping out the Atlanta Braves. I know an NFL football isn’t going to do much damage to a big television like that, but it would be nice to see a little pay back if our kicker could hit the TV in a game situation. Perhaps this would force the NFL to make Jerry Jones take down the TV or at least move it up higher.

The game will be shown as a late game today on Fox. You can see the Atlanta Falcons travel out to Dallas on Sunday and the kick off will be at 4PM for those living on the east coast in the United States. It should be a good NFL game today and will be big for the winner. I’m looking forward to seeing who can win this big NFC match up and to see how the world’s biggest TV will hold up against the best punter in the NFL. It’s man against technology today in Dallas and don’t be surprised to see the Falcon’s punter tag the monster HDTV screen.

A golfer is more likely to light up a Drew Estate cigar; than to smoke a cigarette, while playing golf. At least this is what I have been seeing when I go out and play golf. Do you smoke cigars on the golf course? Perhaps you could let me know what it does for you and why you choose a cigar over a cigarette. I think it’s probably just a “looks” thing and a cigar doesn’t offer any positive results on the score card.

When was the last time you had your colon checked at the doctors? Once we start to get up there in age, it is a good idea for us to get that colon checked at the doctor’s office. It’s a simple routine and is a 1 day procedure. They generally will give you a sedative to help relax you; while they run that “you know what” up your “you know where“. It’s nothing painful and I have had this procedure done before. It’s just a flexible light that also has a camera attached to it, so the doctors can take a closer look inside of you. In most cases, they can do any repairs that they need to when they do your colon procedure at the doctor’s office.

Lots of people are cleaning their colons at home and this is a good idea too. Based on the colon cleanse reviews I have read; this simple home procedure can help rid your body of waste and toxins that have built up in the body. Removing the harmful toxins in your body is a good idea and all adults at any age should consider getting a colon cleanse. Keeping the colon good and clean is a key to a healthy and long life span. If we let these things go unchecked; then we run the risk of some serious health issues. Please try to find the time between now and the end of the year to get your colon checked and go ahead with the colon cleanse too!

Women love their fashion and they have found numerous ways to set new trends in the 21st century. Anything from clothing to jewelry to their latest hair styles is just some the ways women make fashion statements. Even when it comes to the feet, women view that as another way to make a fashionable statement. Shopping for women shoes is an art and most ladies will own 10 or more pairs of shoes for different outfits they wear. A woman will spend as much time shopping online or offline for shoes as she would on a hot new outfit she would be looking for.

People living in the state of Georgia had a really tough time with the recent rains that flooded most of the state. There are 17 counties in Georgia that have been declared in the state of emergency and the governor is seeking fast help from the federal government. These hard rains that came in Sunday night and lasted into the day on Monday caused a lot of flooding throughout the state of Georgia. There was already 6 consecutive days of rain before the hard rains came in late Sunday night.

It has been an historic weather event in Georgia and we have never seen this much rain in our state’s history. These recent floods in Georgia caused wide-spread damage to business and homes. There was 2 story houses under water and you could see entire trailer parks or mobile homes under water too. These heavy rains effected everyone and it didn’t matter if you lived near a flood plain or not. There was 3 major interstate roads that got shut down; due to the water that had crossed over them in Georgia. You don’t ever see interstates under water and it’s incredible to think about three of them under water.

All emergency crews did well working late Sunday night and into the wee hours of Tuesday morning, trying to make sure everyone was safe. There were people that lost their lives in these floods and it did destroy some families for a lifetime. The water is now slowly going back to the rivers and streams, but we are still not out of danger yet. More rains are expected in the Georgia area this weekend and if any of these rain storms stall over an area in Georgia, we could see things get bad once again. We were in a drought in our area of North Georgia, but now the lakes are over full and the drought is no longer in effect.

I read a sad AP newswire on Monday night and it was then when I found out that Patrick Swayze lost his battle against cancer. Swayze was 57 years old and was taken away from us way too soon. He starred in a lot of good movies and most people will know at least 1 Patrick Swayze film. Here are a few Patrick Swayze movies that come to my mind first:

* Ghost

* Dirty Dancing

* Red Dawn

* Outsiders

* Point Break

* Roadhouse

* Grandview USA

I don’t think I recall any bad Patrick Swayze movies. Most of the ones I seen with him in it were very good. He had a couple of blockbuster movies and a long list of real solid movies. I think my favorite Patrick Swayze movie was the Outsiders. There were a lot of stars that played in this movie like Ralph Macho, Rob Lowe, and a very young Tom Cruise. I think Mr. Swayze will be heavily missed in Hollywood and by the millions of fans all over the world who loved his movies. I’m sure some TV network will do a Patrick Swayze marathon and will give us the chance to watch all of his great movies back to back.

Time to connect all the good bloggers online today. If you know of a blog or a blogger who has did a great job on their blog; then please nominate their blog for the best blog online. Let’s see which blog has the most loyal followers or which blog do people want to visit the most. There is many things that can make a good blog great. A blogger that writes up good material is probably the most important thing for any blog. Online blogs are a great way for bloggers to express their feelings online. A blog can work much like a diary; but with the blogs online, everyone in the world can read your thoughts. The design can be important too and a well-designed blog will catch the eye of people surfing the Web. These blogs usually generate tons of traffic because people just like the design. Anyone that has a nice looking blog with good written posts is going to be the best bloggers!

Feel free to submit your own blogs and this is a great linking opportunity. You can also select famous blogs or your online friends that have a blog and nominate their blogs for the best blog online. Blogs come in many shapes and colors and we look forward to going through all of them and seeing which blogger has the top blog online! Any blog you feel that is important, interesting, you like to read often, or you just think it’s a good blog, you can submit it as a candidate for the top blog or best blogger online.

I recently found out that our local skating rink is no longer in business. They have turned it into some type of skater park and you can see skateboard ramps in the parking lot now. I had a lot of fun at the skating rink and not sure why it has went out of business. We use to have school nights at the skating rink and certain schools in our area would have their own skate night. It would usually be on a Tuesday night during the week and would last from 6PM to 9PM. I always love going on our school nights to the skating rink and you knew all your friends would be there on our school nights. I’m not sure when this promotion ended with the schools, but it was one of the best memories I have from my elementary days of school. As a kid, these 3 hours were never long enough and I always hated to see it end. I believe me and my friends could have skated all night if they let us.

It wasn’t just the skating that was fun, but other things stick out in my memory too. The video games were huge back then and this was when Pac Man and games like that were just starting. It was nice when you could get the high score on a video game and leave your intials for everyone to see. I guess the video games were as much fun as the actual skating we did out on the rink.

They say smell plays a big part in our memory and I believe this is true. I love the smell of the skating rink and didn’t realize this until I went back years later; after my elementary days were long gone. The food area was where the video games were located and the skating rink food was very good too. It seems like I was always hungry and loved it when I could afford to buy some food at the skating rink. Normally I would save my money for the video games and just go hungry. It was the pizza that gave the most smell and was the thing I ate the most at the skating rink. The skating rink had great birthday cakes too and I love all the birthday parties I went to as a kid. I never did have a skating party, but I did love it when my friends chose the skating rink as their party place. It’s sad to see the skating rink gone now and I wonder what memories are being created in my hometown these days for the elementary-age school kids.