My new CD of Christian music is winning nice reviews -- and now you can hear clips in an easier-to-download .mp3 format! Click here for details on my debut album. And while you're here, read below for some humorous thoughts about the area I call home.

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17 NOV 03: THE FIRST LIGHT

At least 14 trees and four bushes were covered with hundreds of white lightbulbs - and they were all shining after dark, two weeks before Thanksgiving. The people who lit up this house obviously don't have to worry about paying their Georgia Power bills.

The large-scale light show has been on display for several days in the 600 block of Front Avenue. As someone who goes jogging in that neighborhood, I don't mind the display that much. The Chattahoochee Promenade is so poorly lit after dark that it's a wonder I haven't missed a curve and run into a gazebo.

What makes the display on Front Avenue even more amazing is that no tree in the yard seems to be spared. Even the ones in back have lights all over them. If this doesn't get nearby children out of the "night light" habit, nothing will....

But light displays like this in mid-November raise a question for me: aren't we rushing the Xmas season a bit too much? Shouldn't there be a law against lighting up your house before the costumed Santa Claus shows up at the mall?

(The way year-end holidays are blending together, before long Santa Claus will be going door-to-door on Halloween for candy - then turning around and putting it back in people's stockings.)

The early rush of "the season" was evident Saturday night, when I shopped at Rich's-Macy*s at Peachtree Mall. Every song on the store's P.A. system was a holiday song -- well, except maybe "My Favorite Things." This probably could be played every time there's a one-day sale.

One message board reports at least one radio station in the Northeast already is playing 24-hour Xmas music. Thankfully, as of Sunday night Sunny 100-FM had NOT started this yet. When it happens, I think they should be required to change the name to Snowy 100.

Maybe someone should start an offer to make more Thanksgiving music, so that holiday isn't lost in the Xmas rush. Rap performers could get things started, by calling each other turkeys.

LOTTO MILLIONAIRE UPDATE: For some reason, we haven't heard from Carlos in Spain since we replied to his e-mail last Wednesday about a "processing and attestation fee." If he stole my jackpot money and headed for Monte Carlo....

The quietness of Carlos from the ALLEGED Spanish Foreign Ministry could mean several things, of course. He could be too busy to reply to our e-mail. Or maybe he was occupied over the weekend - in a jail cell, without a laptop.

BLOG UPDATE: New Georgia Baptist Convention President Tony Dickerson of Columbus finally has explained his stance on the Ten Commandments monument controversy in Alabama. He expressed concern a removal of the monument could lead to "In God We Trust" being removed from U.S. currency. Well, those words don't seem to slow down drug dealers and
gamblers.

COMING THIS WEEK: The countdown to Showdown Sunday at Fort Benning....