Take a Walk in the Park

W.C. Johnson Park is one of Collierville’s most beautiful parks. It’s the perfect place to relax on a sunny day.

One of my favorite hobbies is to take pictures of the local flora and fauna. So, I often take pictures of the ducks and deer (when I can catch them) lurking around the park.

The central lake brings about a sense of tranquility that is hard to find in some places. Often times I just like to sit by the edge and retreat into my own world. Hearing the sounds of the animals and feeling a soft breeze flowing through my hair takes away all of my stresses. I often go by myself when I just need to get away from everything.

If you like to fish, you also have that option at the lake. I’ve heard that there are a good variety of fish there. I don’t know personally, seeing as how I don’t fish myself.

All in all, W.C. Johnson Park is a great place for you, your friends, your partners, and your pets to relax. Being Collierville residents,  you should definitely check it out.

Have you ever been to W.C. Johnson Park? What have been some of your experiences?

Fogelman Management Group 2010 NCAA Bracket Challenge Leader Board: Are you on it?

The first weekend of the 2010 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament is in the books and the leader board for the Fogelman Mangaement Group 2010 NCAA Bracket Challenge is set. With 50+ bracket submissions, this is sure to be a tight race.

 

A few interesting statistics developed among the Fogelman residents that participated. Among them…

• 31% of the participants picked Kansas to win it all.
• 14% picked Kentucky
• 12% picked Duke
• 7% picked Syracuse

Here is the leader board after the first two rounds of the tournament along with their pick to win the whole thing…

1. Kim Martin (Kansas), 46 pts.
2. Garrett James (Kansas), 44 pts.
3. Kate Asselin (Kansas), 44 pts.
4. Amanda Hill (Michigan State), 43 pts.
5. Heather Towe (Kansas), 43 pts.
6. Zach Hightower (N/A), 42 pts.
7. Chris Gholston (Syracuse), 42 pts.
8. Janelle Crandall (Kansas), 42 pts.
9. Dani Soto (Kansas), 42 pts.
10. Melissa Rosenthal (Kansas), 40 pts.

The tournament itself is proving to be one of the best in years, with major upsets and Cinderella stories playing out as the field battled to join the ranks of the “Sweet 16”. Northern Iowa’s upset over Kansas in the second round will definitely shake up the Fogelman Bracket Challenge leader board in the coming weeks.

If one of your neighbors has made it on the leader board, be sure to drop them a note of congratulations on your community’s Facebook page and cheer them on. And make sure you stay tuned to all of the drama in both the NCAA tournament and the Fogelman Management Group Bracket Challenge. I’ll post a new update next week.

The Regional Semifinals play out today and tomorrow (Thursday and Friday, March 26-27), with the Regional Finals being played on Saturday and Sunday, March 27-28. Check your local CBS affiliate for game times.

Visions of a Spring Night

My friends and relatives have always told me that I had my head in the stars. Apparently I bypassed having my head in the clouds years ago. I can kind of find some type of peace in this, simple because I love to gaze at the stars on a clear night. Nothing can be more beautiful or romantic than a picnic under the stars with your SO. I may not know all of the names of the constellations, but I don’t need to. I can make the shapes with my mind.

If you like to stargaze as much as I do, you have your chance to do so at the ‘Visions of a Spring Night’ stargazing showcase held at the Memphis Pink Palace Museum running from now until June 19. Contact them for more details.

Do you like to stargaze?

Blast from the Past: Video Games From Back in the Day

It’s funny. How does one go from being a video game geek when they were a child, to hardly touching a console these days? Oh yeah, I remember how; my parents bought those game for me. I’d have to buy my own now if I wanted to play. Granted, the video games and consoles released today are SO much better than what I played when I was younger, but the old games have a kind of classic charm.

You know the ones I’m talking about. I’m talking about consoles like the NES (Nintendo) and SEGA where you had to blow in the cartridges if they weren’t working.

My absolute favorite game was the duck hunt game on the NES. You know, the one where you had the little gun and shot at the screen to hit the ducks? And whenever you missed, that little dog would pop up from the bottom of the screen and laugh at you? There were so many times when I tried to shoot the stupid dog just for laughing at me. I loved that and the original Mario where you had to eat the mushroom to grow and you were able to spit fireballs. My favorite level was what I called the “basement” level, where everything was blue and you had the cool dunna dunna dunna music.

Other than that, my favorite game on the SEGA Genesis was Sonic. That’s Sonic 1, 2, and 3. When my cousin showed me the code for the golden Super Sonic on Sonic 2, that opened up many more hours of game play for me, and many more hours of headaches for my parents.

What were some of your favorite video games growing up?

John Mayer in Concert

John Mayer will be performing at the Rock N Soul Museum tomorrow night at 8 pm, with special guests Michael Franti and Spearhead. The controversial blues style singer will only be in Memphis one night, so try to make it out if you have a ticket! If you don’t have a ticket, there are a few left, so go to ticketmaster.com now to claim your spot!

Do you like John Mayer?

Photo courtesy of New York Daily News

MARCH MADNESS is here! Join the Fogelman Management Group 2010 NCAA Bracket Challenge!!!

Are you ready for March Madness? Join the Fogelman Management 2010 NCAA Bracket Challenge on Facebook and compete against other residents from your community, and other Fogelman properties, to see who the most basketball savvy resident is! Prizes have yet to be determined. You must enter and complete a bracket before the games begin this Thursday, March 18, 2010 at Noon EST/11 am CST/.

Also, each submission is automatically entered into the $5k March Mania Bracket Pool created by Citizen Sports.

Follow this link to join the Fogelman Management Group 2010 NCAA Bracket Challenge!

How does the bracket scoring system work?

The following scoring system is used for the bracket: Round Points Received for correctly choosing the winning team…

• Rd. 1 (round of 64): 1 pt.
• Rd. 2 (round of 32): 2 pts.
• Rd. 3 (round of 16): 4 pts.
• Rd. 4 (round of 8): 8 pts.
• Rd. 5 (round of 4): 16 pts.
• Rd. 6 (championship): 32 pts.

When and where can I see how I’m doing compared to other people in my pool?

Once the tournament begins, click on the pool name from the homepage. You’ll see how many points each person in your pool has scored as well as the team they picked as the national champ.

What can I win in the Fogelman Management NCAA Bracket Challenge?

The top three finishers (in points) that are residents of a community that Fogelman Management Group manages will receive prizes yet to be determined. Stay tuned!

What is the $5k March Mania Bracket Pool created by Citizen Sports?

Every entry is automatically submitted to the $5k March Mania Bracket Pool. The winner of the bracket pool will win the $5000 cash grand prize (pending eligibility, see full rules here).

A Four-Day School Week: Is it really a good idea?

Budget cuts are the topic for today kiddies. This time, we’re cutting the school week. I know that the idea of a four day school week THRILLS grade school students. I know that I would have leaped for joy if I had that option while I was in school. But now that I’m in the working world, I tend to have a more ‘adult’ way of thinking. And this way of thinking made me realize that a four-day school week would prove detrimental to many families.

For parents who stay at home, this may not seem like it, but it would be a big adjustment. When the kids are away at school, it gives the parents a chance to unwind and get things done that are impossible to do while a kid is tearing through the house.

For those that work during the week and have younger children, this means shelling out extra expenses for daycares and babysitters. With the economy the way it is, who has that many extra expenses at their disposal?

Okay loyal readers, what do you think? Do you think that it’s a good idea (saving us from even more budget cuts) or a bad idea (putting extra expenses on families, as well as dissembling their personal schedules?)

Daylight Savings Time

Hey Bailey Creek! Don’t forget about Daylight Savings Time on Sunday! It’s time to ‘Spring Forward’ and get an extra hour of sunlight! Biggest downfall? We LOSE an hour of sleep. Now for someone like me who appreciates the value of a good night’s sleep, this is not going to go over well for my body. I’m just glad I get to enjoy a little daylight when I get home from work.

Either way it goes, don’t forget to set your clocks forward before you go to sleep! You don’t want to be late for work/school/anything that you have to do that following Monday!

Google Fiber Coming to Memphis?

Do you know how great it would be to get a faster broadband service in Memphis? That means even faster access to Bailey Creek’s blog and Facebook sites!

Google is planning to build and test a super fast fiber optic network in a few communities around the United States at their own expense. They say it will deliver internet service at one gigabit per second. Since Memphis is suffering through a lack in broadband service, Google setting up shop here would be ideal.

Sure it won’t affect those who don’t have the internet, but for those that do, it’s promising to be revolutionary. The new network would be a hundred times faster than any other network available right now, and it can download HD movies in minutes.

For an avid internet user such as myself, this is almost like getting a enormous birthday present 2 months early! I’m tired of having to wait for things to download or buffer completely before being able to enjoy a video, or wait for more than 10 minutes to submit a form!

The thing is, it’s a big competition between the other cities. The mayor of Topeka, Kansas renamed the city ‘Google’, Kansas, while the mayor of Duluth, Minnesota jumped into Lake Superior. What do you think Mayor Wharton should do??

Seriously, what should be done? Do you have any creative ideas for catching Google’s attention? The mayor’s office suggest submitting short videos on why would Google Fiber be beneficial to Memphis. Anyone else have anything to contribute? Who knows? Your idea may be chosen!

‘Alice’ Just May Stay in the Box Offices for Longer Than a Cup of Tea

Apparently ‘Avatar’ isn’t the only movie to break records recently. Tim Burton’s ‘Alice in Wonderland’ did well this past weekend in the box office, earning an estimated $116.3 million, the highest grossing weekend ever for a spring release. Not only that, but IMAX — which pulled “Avatar” from all its screens in exchange for “Alice” — was rewarded handsomely with its highest weekend gross ever, $11.9 million in only 188 theaters.

The 3-D spectacular solidified the fact that 3-D is the new movement on the silver screen. IMAX alone sold out every seat they had for the entire weekend. Pretty amazing right?

Unfortunately, I have not had the awesome privilege of seeing ‘Alice in Wonderland’ as of yet. Have you?

What do you think of it? Do you think that it may be a contender for a 2011 Oscar?

Photo courtesy of EW.com

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