Golf Outing in Austin

The Austin SEC alumni groups are holding their golf tournament on Friday, April 1 if any of you are interested in coming down.  Why should you care?

Not only have I heard tales that we'll be graced by the presence of Aaron H. and Nunnrey, but Coach Jackie Sherrill is planning on coming out to help us represent MSU.  If you are ready to come re-live our college glory days with Coach Sherrill, then I suggest you contact me and start making travel arrangements. Be dialing.

Christmas Show & Tell

For Christmas I got a Smith & Wesson M&P 15-22 (it's a 22LR).

I thought I'd go ahead and get a 22 to make it a little cheaper to go shooting. At first I looked at the standard 10/22 and the Marlin and Remington models. My father-in-law offered to sell me his Henry Golden Boy as well. I saw the M&P online so we went down to Cabela's to check one out. And you know the rest of the story.

This gift wasn't really a surprise so John bought a scope for it for me. It's the BARSKA 3-9x42 IR Contour Compact Tactical Scope.

In other exciting gun news; Kaci bought Nunnrey his first gun...a Red Ryder BB Gun. Hopefully he hasn't shot his eye out with it yet.

Is Nunnrey Running This Blog?

http://pooing-in-austin.blogspot.com/

Nunnrey missed his calling

I'm waiting at our rental condo in San Marcos waiting for a washer and dryer delivery. Nunnrey replaced the rollers on the sliding glass door the other day, so I decided to inspect his work. That thing is gliding like a champ. If your door needs some TLC, call nunnrey.

Nunnrey, is there something we should know?

Nunnrey left his pen in my truck the other day.

Nunnrey is a Bia - Reason #24

Remember back in March when John mentioned the beginning of chicken wing madness?  No...here's a refresher:

• Feb 2008 - JT, John, Nunnrey, me embark on the 2008 challenge to visit 25 of the restaurants so we can have the wing parties.  Can read the details in my original post from June.
• Nov 2008 - I receive completed passports in mail from JT as documented here.
• Nov 2008 continued - I fill out the required forms and go submit the completed passports via certified mail for John, Nunnrey and myself.
• Dec 2008 - Everyone receives certificates for their wing parties which must be completed by March 31, 2009 (this is key)
• Mar 2009 - JT kicks off chicken wing madness with the first party in Minnesota (although he didn't report it to any of us).  John has his party the following week.  I have mine two weeks after that.

Which brings us to now.  

Backtoms: But James...looks like you missed listing when Nunnrey had his party.  

James: Oh, I didn't miss anything...Nunnrey conveniently waited until the last day of the promotion and was unable to have a party.

Backtoms: But why would anyone give up a party for free chicken wings.

James: That is a good question.

So if you needed another reason about why Nunnrey is a bia...here you go.

Founders Day Wrap Up

I'm finally feeling back to about 99% today after the long weekend of drinking in Mississippi.  What did we learn:

• Philly was very good to a few of us.  I think my winnings will be just enough to cover my deductible for the hail damage to my roof (if I need a new roof as my roofer is telling me).  I think John is buying more AR-15 equipment with his, and I guess Nunnrey will probably buy some chickens.  I'm wondering if I should add the mustache to my list of winning slot moves.
• Crunk Craig is a jerk according to the slow chicks in front of us at the golf course.  It only took one hole to realize why.  Maybe my Red Ryder will speed them up next time.
• The birthday girl (aka Trained Killa, aka Gun Cleaning Machine), Vanessa, doesn't appear to be able to drink like she used to.
• Courtney is learning the SWA Rap as we speak.  Be on the lookout for her on a future flight.  Did I mention Courtney is a NKOTB groupie?
• On Saturday night, I think that waitress from Friday night was out celebrating the large tip she earned from us.  Too bad we didn't have her the second night instead of that slow, forgetful chick we had.
• Tarkus is getting old.  His hair is gray.  He's not on any of the social networking sites and has never heard of Twitter (not that I completely understand why people use it).  When I said blog he had a puzzled look on his face.  And then he started in on the virtues of face-to-face discussions over email.
  
• I want to welcome our new authors to the blog.  I know you guys are dying to post so here are a few of the older posts you should check out first: Genesis, What's It Gonna Take and Blog Template.
  

Let Me Post That For You: Bacon Explosion

I'm posting this one on behalf of Nunnrey and JT.

JT: gonna have to make this.... http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/28/dining/28bacon.html?no_interstitial

Nunnrey: I like the tight cross hatching of bacon used to create a blanket that gently swaddles its pork based innards.

James: I'm a little surprised Nunnrey is content not throwing some chicken in the mix.

Time to use these?

Since it's Nunnrey Tribute Weekend, maybe it's time to go to Pluckers.

Happy Holiday Weekend

Note that many businesses and schools will be closed on Monday.  In some parts of the country they are celebrating MLK and in others for REL, but here on Backtoms we will celebrate Chicken Lover Day.  This weekend is the 9 year anniversary of the Chicken Lover story.  Check out my previous post if you need to be refreshed.  

We will certainly toast in Nunnrey's honor tonight...heck I might even eat some chicken.  And I would love to hear any special stories about how you will celebrate this weekend.

Poor Excuses

Last night I asked Nunnrey if he was planning on making it out to Founders Day this year.  His first question was when is it and I let him know it's March 28.  Then he wanted to know about who was going.  I pointed him at the blog entry with the latest that I'm aware of and I also threw out some others that would probably be in attendance.  He asked about JT to which I replied I haven't asked him yet, but my guess is no since he just spent a week in MS last month and he's planning a long vacation in May.  Nunnrey's response to that:  I'll go if JT goes.

What are you writing about James?  This isn't that entertaining.  No, it's not, but let me tell you another story about Nunnrey.

Shey and I are going on a Mediterranean cruise on Royal Caribbean in May of this year.  Sidenote: if any of you are interested in going contact me and I'll get you the information.  When I asked Nunnrey if he and Kaci would like to go he immediately asked for the dates.  I told him May 2 - May 9 of 2009.  He asked who was going and I told him: JT, Lisa, Shey, me.  Nunnrey asked me if John and Stef were going and I told him I didn't think so.  Nunnrey then told me if John and Stef go then they'll go.

What sort of response is that?  Let me pick someone not likely to go to hinge my decision on.  If you don't want to go just say no.  If you do want to go then say yes.

Well, Nunnrey....I'm onto your game.  The next time a trip comes up and you ask who else is going I'm going to tell you that no one else is going, but I'm working on X, Y and Z.  Where X, Y and Z are people that are already committed.  When he tells me that he'll go if X goes I'll tell him he's in luck because X just confirmed via text message they are in.

Guitar Hero Brokeback Edition

For Christmas, John bought me Guitar Hero World Tour for our Wii.  We've played it a handful of times now and it has provided hours of entertainment.  In the words of Cowboy, I can tear that A$$ up when playing against John.  

Friday night, Nunnrey and Kaci came up for the evening.  After Bama choked and embarrased the SEC, we cranked up GH for Nunnrey to try out.  Here is a pic from the event.  I like to call this Guitar Hero Brokeback Edition.

Happy New Year! Beau Knows...

For your New Year enjoyment I felt obliged to provide the latest stories heard from Beau.  You Biloxi High guys will remember Beau B. (last name the same as a previous MS governor that has a reservoir named after him in Jackson) and for the rest of you I will try to paint an accurate picture of him:

• This is the guy that lived on Nunnrey's couch for a little while in San Antonio before moving in with JT for an extended stay in Tulsa earlier this decade.
• Maybe JT or Nunnrey can clarify here, but I believe he has 3 kids from 3 different mommas.
• I believe he's been married two times before, but is currently divorced (and dating someone in a long term relationship).
• He was previously a Marine and has also served in the Army.  I believe he has also had a stint as a bounty hunter.
• Beau is a good guy and at a bar he's the type of dude you would much rather have on your side since his Marine training has taught him to kill with well over 100 different methods (and that is just with a paper clip).
• Beau has certainly made it through some tough times and lived to tell about some interesting experiences.
  

Some of my favorite one-liners from Beau (and sorry if I butcher them slightly, but you get the point):

• I get laid like a sack of fertilizer.
• I gotta be careful because I just walk into a room and b!tches get pregnant.
• When you say something is "frowned upon" do you mean they poke out their bottom lip and look upset or do you mean it is against the rules (this was more acted out rather than simply said).

Last Friday night, JT called Beau and we all met up at Treasure Bay in Biloxi for drinks.  Over the course of several hours and many beers, Beau caught us up on various happenings in his life as well as others from high school.  Here are a couple of the highlights:

• Beau's ex-wife made an appearance on Dr. Phil to explain how her life had been ruined by Beau.  Not sure if Beau was invited to the show or not, but amazingly enough Dr. Phil sided with Beau on this and told the ex that she needed to let go of the anger and move on with her life or she would be alone forever.
• While catching Beau up on Nunnrey, he told us of a story from the glory days of high school football.  Biloxi High was taking on St. Augustine in the New Orleans Superdome.  While out in the huddle, Beau noticed a short, stocky fellow running out to replace one of the other lineman.  Who was the stud coming in...it was Nunnrey.  The play was called and the huddle broke.  Nunnrey lined up on the wrong side of the ball and a timeout had to be called to prevent a penalty.  Not sure if Nunnrey got to play too much more in the Superdome game.

Wishing you all the best in 2009 (especially Beau, as he could use some good luck)!

Keeping the story alive

You may recall the origin of Nunnrey's other alias, the Chicken Lover. Just in case here is a small recap. Back in 2000, while I was living with boy Shay in Flowood (outside of Jackson, MS) there was a weekend when JT, Nunnrey, John came in town to visit for a weekend.

The night started off at the apartment and John was trying to get in touch with another high school friend known as The Dr. Come to find out The Dr. actually lived in the same apartment complex as me. After The Dr. and John got their bearings they figured out they were actually looking at each other on balconies across the parking lot.

The Dr. came over to have some drinks with us and reminisced that some African-American gentlemen used to live in my apartment before us. He went on to explain that they had this large, red couch that he could see from his apartment. At that point boy Shay interjected that this was actually his old couch. After The Dr. took his foot out of his mouth we all had a good laugh.  While I don't actually remember seeing the red couch I will never forget it.

Next, we all headed out to get our grub on at Outback Steakhouse.  While I know the name is misleading, this is actually a restaurant that specializes in steaks.  I seem to recall that we had a rather large party that included a couple of females.  When the food started coming out I can remember the waitstaff calling out entree names so that each of us could claim it.  I distinctly remember both females having some sort of beef related dish.

Somewhere along the line we heard Alice Springs Chicken being called out.  I believe the music must have come to a screeching halt as everyone around our table looked up to see who ordered the chicken.  While Nunnrey will tell you now that they messed up his order it was indeed what he had asked for and a new nickname was born.  We salute you Mr. Chicken Lover.

Fast forward 8 years to present time.  Earlier this month I was placing an order to Omaha Steaks.  My wife chimed in with a money idea, "How about you order some chicken from there for Nunnrey for Christmas?"  What a genius idea.  So I went ahead and placed a gift order for Nunnrey so he would receive some of the finest marinated chicken breasts from Omaha Steaks.

That package arrived this week and I received the following text message from Nunnrey:

Hahahha you fools... You ordered chicken and ham from omaha 'steaks'... What a bunch of morons!

Note: The ham he is referring to came free with every delivery.

Anyway, I thought it was an appropriate gift for the Chicken Lover.  Maybe he'll cook us up some chicken fajitas with it the next time we visit.

'Twas the night before Thanksgiving

In the spirit of Thanksgiving I wanted to share some things we should all be thankful for:

• First and foremost...thick skin and a sense of humor.  Even after Luke and Mike C. broke into the Little Brown Crack House and turned everything upside down I finally caved after a few days of boredom and invited them back over to drink.
• Flo & Eddie's - It's a shame it burned down.  Here is The Reflector article from 2001 about the fire which happened in the early morning hours on Thanksgiving Day while Luke and I watched from across the street.  Most of us had some great times there while in school.  Tonight make sure you tip your drink in tribute to Flo's.
• That hot, crazy, naked chick (aka the pre-Cruise Katie Holmes look-alike) that lived across the street from the LBC.  The first time I met her was in the front yard while we were drinking and grilling.  She came over to chat and bummed a beer and a dip.  Two words come to mind: HOT and AWESOME!  You stay classy crazy, naked chick.
• Nunnrey and Deebo are kind enough to offer assistance and a jacket to the crazy, naked chick while she sits in the middle of Maxwell Street screaming about her pills that her boyfriend just ran off with.  My guess is that it was in the low 40s that evening and hopefully she is thankful for the assistance she received.
• Nunnrey heard the baby crying and decided to recruit Deebo to check it out to make sure everything was okay at the crazy, naked chick's apartment.
• Deebo touched her butt.
• That it really wasn't an earthquake that shook the Cotton District seven years ago.  It was just Nunnrey falling backwards down the stairs and taking all of the hanging pictures with him while Deebo was touching the crazy, naked chick's butt after they heard a baby crying and decided to invite themselves in to the apartment.

I know I'm thankful.  Feel free to share your list as well so I'll at least know John's not the only other person reading this.

Pig Butchering Guide

Nunnrey is too busy (maybe eating or testing out bathrooms) to post this for you guys, but I thought I'd share.  I know I know...why would the chicken lover be interested in this?  My guess is that while chicken is #1 in his heart, it's probably wrapped in bacon.

Afternoon Snack

The turbaconducken looks promising.  I'm wondering if this is what Nunnrey will be cooking up on Thanksgiving to go with his Luther Burgers.  Would be even better if they could figure out a way to chicken fry it.

Food Safety Advisory

We went down to Nunnrey's over the weekend to enjoy some San Antonio hospitality and bet on the ponies at Retama Park. Nunnrey, being a gracious host, puts out a spread of snacks after we finished up at Retama; candy, chips, Julio's Salsa, etc.

So I'm enjoying some plain corn chips and salsa, but notice after a while that some of these chips taste like Doritos. I asked Nunnrey about it, and was told, "Yeah, I had a bag of Doritos that was almost empty, and dumped the crumbs in there."

Now I have to be wary about the sanctity of the free food over there.

Orange juice almost empty? Dump it in the milk jug.
Didn't finish that can of tuna? Better put the rest in the peanut butter.

To top it off:

We went by our favorite S. A. burrito place on the way out of town. Last year I spotted that they had a bug problem. I told one of the kids working there, and I guess it wasn't that big a deal to him (I guess he's used to them). Well guess what? They still have that bug problem.

Bottom Line:

Watch out when you're eating in S. A., Esé.

John ate his liver

Yesterday, we had some Chicken Express for dinner.  Every time I see their logo it makes me think of Nunnrey.  The chicken tenders are great, but I would still prefer some Raising Cane's sauce over the white gravy.

Anyway, Shey for some reason has a liking for fried chicken livers.  I learned this on a trip to Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles.  I'm not a huge fan of the livers as I think they are a little gritty, but since I saw them on the menu at Chicken Express I decided to pick some up (specifically for Shey) to go with our chicken and catfish dinner.

John claims he's never had liver so I told him he should try one.  He refused, but Shey called him a sissy so he gave it a whirl.  There were no fava beans or Chianti for John's Hannibal meal, but he did have some sweet tea with vodka (not to be confused with The Sweet Tea Vodka).  Once John got through the fried goodness and his teeth sunk into that liver he started whining like a little girl about how gross it was.  

I'm not sure if he actually swallowed it or not, but this one goes up there with his fear of roaches for how much of a little punk he is.  I assume this means you'll never see John on any survival shows in the future.

Vandy Trip Wrap-Up

We had a really good trip down to Starkville over the weekend.  Here are some of my notes:

• Ran up a ~$500 tab at The Grill Friday night.  Even better than that...JT picked it up.  What a guy!
• Sweet Tea Vodka is good...no...actually it's awesome.  Thanks Lukey and Vanessa for bringing down your stash.  Shay, next time you mix one up remember to use half water.  And thanks to this drink we actually ran out of bottled water before we ran out of beer at the tailgate.
• Had a nice setup in The Junction for tailgating.  Big shout out to Devin for taking care of the cooking duties.  Although we didn't get any Luther Burgers, Devin did hook us up with some of his Deebo's Delight burgers.
• Potato salad from Bulldog Deli is still like ambrosia.
  
• Pool + JT + Nunnrey = lots o' water displacement
• Devin really is a dirty Mexican.  After digging around in the mud to try and find Vanessa's shoes (walking back to get truck after tailgate), he bathed in the water fountain in front of the Comfort Suites.
• Pork chop and gravy biscuit from Hardee's hits the spot pretty well in the morning while you're hungover.
• JT and I took a tour of the Little Brown Crackhouse.  It's still pretty much the same, but the flooring in the kitchen has been replaced and they have a dishwashing machine now (that's BS).  Oh yeah, and it smelled like hippies lived there.  And I was a little disappointed that there was nobody over there drinking on a Friday night of a home game.
• That's what Deebo loves about college girls, man.  He gets older, they stay the same age.

Definitely had a great time and I always enjoy getting back together with the crew.  We should try to make it a yearly thing to make it out to at least one home game.