2008 was an awesome year of travel for the Albino Bowler, however it would not seem that it was the best of years for his health.  The poor guy underwent intensive surgery back in August, and then subsequent follow-up surgeries after that to repair his arm.  Finally it had accumulated so much glue that it would no longer stay on for any amount of time, so Erin did the next best thing… she made him a sling.

    Striving to give him the best life possible, and hopefully even restore him to a state in which he could bowl again, I decided we should buy another Albino Bowler and sacrifice it in the name of spare parts… so the “spare parts Bowler” (SPB) was purchased… and the operation began.

    I should have seen the dark clouds looming when I realized that 2 of his 3 now rusted screws were stripped out… but alas, I pressed on.  I drilled out the screws knowing I’d have to replace the chest piece anyway if his bowling action was to be restored.  About 15 minutes later, the deed was done.  The Albino Bowler was once again in pieces.  Not to worry though, we now have a shiny new bowler ready and willing to give of himself so that the original can live on… or so I thought.  I proceeded to unbox the SPB, and that’s when the gravity of the situation was realized.

    It would seem that our friends over in China who put together our pigmentally challenged friend, in their infinite wisdom, decided that they should change the way the fellow is put together.  Undoubtedly to save on the huge cost of the three screws… they have been deleted.  Yes, the newer models have no screws, and thus cannot be safely disassembled and scavenged.  That my friends… is just plain wrong.

    So it’s glue and pins again for the old guy, and he may well be permanently in a sling.  He’ll live to travel another day though; this, I promise.

– Dan Thompson

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    Well, you just never can tell where the Albino Bowler is going to show up next!  :)   This past week, the Albino Bowler joined me on the set of the WBIR morning show to discuss last minute Christmas ideas for all those techies on your list (check out the clip below).  Morning show host Russell Biven, traffic guru Ed Rupp, and the rest of the morning show team were nice enough to play along.  Keep your eyes open… who knows where he’ll show up next!!

– Dan Thompson



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    You may not think of Knoxville, Tennessee as a real bright spot on the jazz scene map, but as it turns out… there is some real talent walking around this city of ours, and they can put on a great show!  For the fifth year in a row, Merrill Lynch has sponsored the Knoxville Jazz Orchestra’s “Swing’n Christmas” at the Tennessee Theatre in downtown Knoxville.  Special guests this year included; Knoxville’s own, Hallerin Hilton Hill (yes, the man can sing as well as talk!), the “Celebration Choir” from the Community Evangelistic Church, and out-of-towner trombonist Ron Westray… it was an impressive line-up to go along with the already outstanding 17 piece big band.  The concert itself features jazzed up Christmas classics like “O Holy Night” and “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Raindeer”, as well as other tunes you might not initially recognize, but that will have you bob’n your head and moving in your seat. 
    Something about the group that always impresses me is not only the talent that is in the band itself, but the talent they are able to bring in as guests.  This year’s guest, Ron Westray, spent a lot of time touring with the great Winton Marsellus, and was an absolutely ridiculous player… and I’m not really a trombone fan.   Other’s who have stopped by to play with the band are people like Donald Brown, Jimmy Heath, and Stefon Harris.  Pretty neat stuff.  If you haven’t made the concert part of your family’s Christmas tradition yet, you should come out next year… and see what you’ve been missing!  The Albino Bowler says, “I dig it”.

– Dan Thompson

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    The Albino Bowler unfortunately missed the Claris Networks 10 year anniversary party because he was out gallivanting around with Erin doing things like going to Madonna concerts and checking out coach Philip Fulmer’s last game with the UT Vols (as if those can some how compare to the party we threw), so I had to make sure he made it to the Christmas party… and as is normally the case when the Albino Bowler shows up somewhere… he was right in the middle of everything!

    This year the Claris Christmas party was held at the old Green Hills Grill (which apparently now you can rent for events) and turned out to be a great place to have a shindig.  The event was catered by Horn of Plenty, and as usual, the food was excellent, as was the entertainment (Zac brought Rock Band… which is quickly becoming a staple at Claris events).  All in all it was a great time with some great fellowship… looking forward to next year already!

– Dan Thompson

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    Oh my gosh it seems like forever since I have had a chance to sit down and type of my travels.. I have been so busy.. but it’s not always documented.. but I am ALWAYS on the run.. and now with the holidays.. whoosh where has the year gone??

    So a couple of weeks ago I went over to Erin’s again.. heh that new puppy is a little much.. she stares at me so.. I got bored for a while.. you can see by my pictures I just meandered around the house.. I tried to get out.. but sometimes it’s just better to nest.. who said that.. yes even a bachelor likes some down time..
    Then I went to the Madonna show.. G Hollah!! wow was that fun.. a lot of driving.. we went to Atlanta.. three girls and me..there was a lot of LOUD singing all the way there.. I thought I might have to start hitchhiking.. Show was great and then back to KnoxVegas.. It was Thanksgiving.. I was in a coma after that meal.. I said no pictures.. I was a little bloated.. Derby Pie, Turkey, every kind of potoato and family member imaginable was in town.. and of course there’s football all day..
    Speaking of football some of you might have heard that our legendary Coach Philip Fulmer is no longer going to be our coach. So we decided to have a phinal tailgate for Phillip.. it was freaking freezing and raining.. ugh.. the photos are lovely.. although my sweater shrank a little on that day..as did my spirit.. We’ll miss you Coach Fulmer.. tear.

    So now I have been slaking Santa but for some reason I keep chickening out.. although I think I will be ringing bells for the Salvation Army on Thursday..

When the heck is the work Holiday Party??
– Erin Donovan

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    So, I hitched a ride with this funny family to sunny Florida again – this time to Orlando – Disney more specifically.  They have a cute couple of kids…the little girl, she sure is cute – but she talks a lot.  I kept looking for her battery compartment but couldn’t find it.  The littlest dude, he drools a lot, poops a lot and hardly ever sleeps…more on them later.  It took us 2 days to get there and when we did, we hit the ground running.

     Our 1st stop was the Magic Kingdom. Here I am at the front gate and in front of Cinderella’s castle. 
    She sure does know how to live it up right… I think that she is loaded! I think that I will try to meet her while I’m here. Well, as you can see… I did!! I even met one of her girlfriends, Belle. She was a hottie too!!!  Grrr!! Good thing my hair was in place, I know they liked me.   She’ll be able to check me out on my Facebook page.

    Another great stop that we had was breakfast at Chef Mickey’s in the Contemporary Resort. Wow!! What a spread that Mouse had for us to eat. He had everything from fruit to breakfast pizza!! The dad in this family tore this buffet up… he had eggs, biscuits and gravy and who knows what else. I knew that we had a big day planned, so I just took some OJ for the road.  We got to meet Mickey, Donald, Minnie and Pluto here. They were cool, but they didn’t know how to react to me, so no pics with them. I did get my picture made with the Mickey on the table though.
    While I was just chillin’ out there.. the little dude tried to make me breakfast.  Thank goodness he doesn’t have teeth or I could have been a goner. Little Dude did get my shirt wet though. It was dry by the time we got to the park… and hair, still in place! Weather was great while we were there, sunscreen was in demand for the bowler.
    I got to go to Epcot, that could clearly be the world’s largest golf ball. After going golfing with Chris Walker, I would say that he may need this ball for his bag. It would be tough to lose in the woods. ( Sorry Chris!)
    I got to see Crush from Finding Nemo while we were there, but I couldn’t get a picture with him. They said no photos where he was. I did get to see some fish in the aquarium. Those guys were checking me out… I was like their size. Also considered as a possible snack for them. It was a cool place to visit I must say.

    Another morning we had breakfast at this high-flutin’ hotel. That was a nice place.. I think it was the Grand Floridian. We saw Mary Poppins, Alice in Wonderland, The Mad Hatter, and Tigger. Mary and Alice were some nice eye candy to see in the morning. Tigger was Tigger and this Mad Hatter dude… he was a trip!! Could have been the funniest guy there. He thought that I was a I Phone until he opened me up. Dude, he nearly dropped me in some grits!! 
    We made it back to the Magic Kingdom and I went through the Swiss Family Tree House (1494) and had my picture made with their map since I am a world traveler myself. They needed a globe for me instead of this North America map. This will due for now and for the photo op. The little girl and dad rode Space Mountain while we were there. It was her first and last time I think. I wasn’t tall enough to ride, so I had to wait outside with the mom and little dude. All I remember was hearing from that little girl.. “I want to ride Space Mountain”… until afterwards!! Ha Ha!! Then it was, “I’m never riding that again!!”. The dad loves that ride and I think any rollercoaster from what I could gather. They rode rides all day while we were there.
    We also went to Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM Studios). That was a cool place too. We went into this place where you can learn to draw characters, voice over movies and all kinds of stuff. I got to see where the real people draw the movie characters up for the films. Seems like a cool place to work. We were there after working hours, so all that we saw was their offices. 
   We went strolling around the park an low and behold… I saw my favorite truck. No, it’s not a Ford F350 or a Dodge Ram… it was Tow Mater!!  He doesn’t have a HEMI, but he can still Git ‘R’ Dun!! He asked if I knew of anyone that he could hook up with to fix him up and I gave him Dan Thompson’s, Jeff Lane’s and Chad Quesenberry’s numbers. They’re motor heads as they say in the business. He said that he was.. “ Happier than a tornado in a trailer park” to get those guys’ names. Be on the look out guys, he will be calling. He’s got a few rusty places on his body and a jacked up grill.

– Mark and Jennifer Allen

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