Heres to my dignity and pride. :D

uh-oh, what did you do? and does it involve your ass?

If you have Daddy issues too you could be the next Ex-Mrs. Pisceschef!
:D

It most definitely involves the butt.

@ Foetus LOL. :D It always involves my ass. Its too delicious not too. :D
@ Chef The only issue I had with my dad is that I hated him. Do you have a house and money I can take from you? If so Im down.
@ Snake DUH!!! :D :D :D

Funny stuff.

George Ballas; dance teacher was inventor of Weed Eater



June 30, 2011|Associated Press
HOUSTON George C. Ballas Sr., a Houston entrepreneur best known for inventing the Weed Eater, has died at 85.

Mr. Ballas's son, Corky, said yesterday that his father died of natural causes Saturday.
He changed the way we cut grass, Corky Ballas said.

Mr. Ballas got the idea for the Weed Eater, a device also commonly known as a weed whacker, while sitting in a car wash. He wondered whether the idea of spinning bristles, like the ones cleaning his car, could be applied to trimming grass and weeds in areas a lawnmower could not reach.

He experimented with fishing wire attached to a tin can mounted on the rotary of a lawn edger and found that the spinning wires easily sliced through grass, The Houston Chronicle reported.

Mr. Ballas founded his Weed Eater company in Houston in 1971, and sales flourished during the subsequent decade.

He later sold his invention to Emerson Electric. As part of his agreement with Emerson, Mr. Ballas was not allowed to disclose how much he was paid, even to his family.

Corky Ballas said his father for years was known as the Weed King.

But George Ballas, who was born in Ruston, La., was also a dance studio owner and dance was an important part of his family's life.

After his military service, Mr. Ballas worked for both the Arthur Murray and Fred Astaire dance studio franchises. He was a dance instructor, but also traveled to various cities, troubleshooting to make the outlets profitable.

After moving to Houston in the late 1950s, he built and operated the Dance City USA Studio. With 120 instructors and 43,000 square feet of space, it was heralded as the largest dance studio in the world.

He sold it in 1964.

Mr. Ballas's wife, Maria Louisa Ballas, was a noted flamenco dancer who studied with famed Spanish dancer Carmen Amaya and appeared in several films.

Corky Ballas became a champion ballroom dancer, and his son, Mark, is a professional dancer. Both of them have appeared on Dancing With the Stars.

George Ballas also helped develop a Houston hotel and worked as an adjunct professor at Rice University, teaching entrepreneurship.

He leaves his wife, three daughters, two sons, and seven grandchildren.

Jesse William Burley



Fargo man decapitated in fireworks accident
FARGO - An eyewitness said a Fourth of July fireworks accident decapitated a Fargo man Monday night.

Police identified the victim as Jesse William Burley, a 41-year-old father of two, who enjoyed life to its fullest, said Burley's stepfather, Chuck Asplin of Fargo.

Chris Hanson, Burley's neighbor who saw the accident, was packing up his car to leave north Fargo's Riviera Heights mobile home park as tornado sirens sounded just before 9:30 p.m.

Burley was getting ready to set off a second round of what Hanson said he believes was either a homemade or illegal artillery shell firework.

"He went over into the middle of the street, and within 10 seconds of us talking to him, he lit it and all we saw was a cloud of smoke, a bang," Hanson said.

What Hanson saw next immediately sent him into shock, he said.

"When I walked up to his body, it was nothing but his shoulders down," Hanson said Tuesday.

Police Lt. Joel Vettel said Tuesday police are confident the device was a commercial-grade firework, which are federally regulated.

The area Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is assisting Fargo police to investigate whether this type of firework was illegal and how it was obtained, Vettel said.

Hanson said that on Monday evening Burley asked him over to his trailer to check out something. Burley showed Hanson fireworks that contained a warning that read, "If found please report to the U.S. government," Hanson said.

"Right there and then I knew that I had to get away because I was not going to be involved in that," Hanson said.

Burley ignited the first firework, which went off with a big bang but no injuries, Hanson said.

"You could see the shock waves in the air," he said.

An hour and a half later, Burley lit the fatal second firework, Hanson said.

The accident should be used as an example of how dangerous fireworks can be, Hanson said.

"I'm never going to light a firecracker off again in my life," he said.

Burley's family remembered Jesse as a good-hearted kid, who would do anything for anybody, said Asplin, his stepfather and boss at Chuck?s Sandjacking in Fargo.

Jesse Burley had a 2-year-old and a 3-year-old son who were not at his residence at the time of the accident.

Fargo police recovered a third fireworks device in Burley's home on Tuesday and a metal pipe near the accident site at the 3500 block of Kelley Street North, which was reportedly used as a mortar to launch shells.

"It appears that he was lighting the device off, and so we don?t feel that there were others involved in the incident at this point," Vettel said.

Motorhead Guitarist Michael 'W?rzel' Burston 1949 - 2011
 

That's a shame. Dude at least deserved his own thread...

+rep.