TYC isn't all about Denzel, we have games too!

as was discussed on my comment section for yesterday's post, there was some disappointment expressed about my not talking about my Oregon T-Shirt diet. being as i am very attentive to the concerns of William Oram, i am of course not going to talk about it today either. instead let's play a game.
yesterday, i was talking to Robyn and randomly i asked her who sang the better "How Do I Live," Trisha Yearwood or Leann Rimes? for those of you not familiar with the 90s country music circuit, both these ladies released this song in 1997 and both became hits and both were nominated for a Grammy. Yearwood's version won the Grammy while Rimes' broke a record for most weeks on the charts.

Ro's answer was Yearwood's version while i kind of have to go with the Rimes. so that got me thinking about cover songs and who sung what version better? after exchanging some ideas with Robyn, i have compiled a list of 15 songs that have been sung by more than one artist and who i think had the better version.

agree? awesome. disagree? well, that's why you don't write for this blog.

Who Sang It Better?

1. “I Will Always Love You” – Whitney Houston or Dolly Parton
- duh. the answer to this one is Whitney. if you disagree, you should probably quit reading this right away and go get your ears checked.

2. “Respect” – Aretha Franklin or Otis Redding
- i do like me some Aretha but i've got to go with the original on this one. Otis is the man.

3. “What’s Going On” – Marvin Gaye or the Plethora of Pop Stars
- while i am a fan of anything that features blindfolds and Christina Aguilera, Marvin Gaye's version is one of the five greatest songs of all-time. so we go with Marvin.

4. “Landslide” – Fleetwood Mac, Smashing Pumpkins or the Dixie Chicks
- the Dixie Chick's version is probably the only post-2000 country song that i've liked.

5. “Sexual Healing” – Ben Harper or Marvin Gaye
- the Ben Harper version is great and a mood-setter but Marvin gets the nod here solely for the music video. balla.

6. Hallelujah” – Jeff Buckley or Leonard Cohen
- i think Jason Castro's version is even better than Cohen's. Jeff Buckley's version is 6 1/2 minutes of haunting brilliance.

7. “Smooth Criminal” – Michael Jackson or Alien Ant Farm
- Ro thinks the AAF cover is better. i disagree... a lot. you can't disrespect the King of Pop like that.

8. “Time After Time” – Cyndi Lauper, Blaque, Quietdrive or INOJ
- i have nothing bad to say about the Cyndi version (it is afterall the song that reminds me the most of my relationship with the only girl i've really ever loved) but the INOJ version is just better. it's awesome.

9. “Heaven” – Bryan Adams, Yanou or DJ Sammy f/ Yanou
- i refuse to vote for Canada on this one so let's go with Yanou because the DJ Sammy one is just a little too much funk for a song like this.

10. “When You Say Nothing At All” – Ronan Keating, Alison Krause or Keith Whitley.
- probably the toughest call on the board... and we've got to go with Allison Krause on this one. i dunno, this song just sounds better and more real when a female is singing it. i actuallly first heard this song (the Roman Keating version) in 5th grade and i suggested that it be the song for a couple of friends who were "dating." it became their song and they then broke up soon afterwards. forever only lasts a few months when you're a pre-teen.

11. “Every Breath You Take” – The Police or Puff Daddy
- i want the Puff/Puffy/Diddy Daddy version (actually named "I'll Be Missing You") played at my funeral (sandwiched between Forever Young and Amazing Grace). i want Sting nowhere near my casket.

12. “Right Here Waiting” – Richard Marx or Monica f/ 112 - when i want great music i look for the "Totally Hits" CDs... which is where i found the Monica cover.

13. My Perogative” – Britney Spears or Bobby Brown
- Bobby. Brown.

14. “What Hurts The Most” by Rascal Flatts, Cascada or the UNC Clef Hangers
- i will give a shout-out version to the Clef Hangers here. they do a really good rendition, it's a shame they aren't on the iTunes.

15. “Candle In The Wind” by Elton John (for Marilyn Monroe) or Elton John (for Princess Di)
- maybe it's just my anti-Diana bias here but i really like the original version dedicated to Marilyn Monroe more.

so that's my game. i hope you stayed awake for the entire thing.

let's make a toast to my shot glass collection

there are a lot of things that i need to talk about such as my new apartment, the Oregon t-shirt diet and Jen Reed. but we can get to those later because i want to focus this post on my favorite item to collect... the shot glass. i have a lot of them and with the addition of the ESPN Zone and Al Capone ones i bought this past week in Chicago, my collection is now up to 77.

i got my first shot glass during my senior year of high school when my friend Natalie randomly bought me one during a vacation to Houston. since then i've bought them from gift shops and gas stations in San Diego, Washington D.C., and Oregon and had friends bring me them from wherever their travels have taken them. my former roomie Chris has single-handedly made a dent in my collection with shot glasses from Belize, Tahiti, Disney World and the Kennedy Space Center. Le has also done a pretty good job of feeding my shot glass hunger (she got me a killer one from Canada!!!).

i just like shot glasses. they have cool designs and each one has its own little story to tell. like if someone ever asks me about my shot glass from the Wild Horse Saloon , i can tell them about the time that myself and about 50 other minorities walked into a white country bar and learned how to line dance and then took over the dance floor with the electric slide. or my plastic shot glass that light up which reminds me of the fun night i had in San Marcos with the Garcia sisters one. i've had a resident buy me a shot glass while i was still his RA (he broke one so i made him replace it) and i've also had a resident randomly come to me one day with a shot glass and explain that one of his friends had stolen it from my room a few months beforehand. i even have a Montana State shot glass.

oddly enough, of my 77 shot glasses, i have only taken a shot out of one of them. after every playoff games that the Rockies won last fall i would take a shot out of the "Austin Is Weird" one that i obtained after my summer roomie Seth left it behind last year. obviosuly i am guessing that the one the resident stole was used for consumption and Chris used the aforementioned broken UM one to drink out a few times during freshman year (of course it was whole at the time).

i have a lot of cool shot glasses but my favorite is the one that looks the worst. i want to say this went down about three years ago but my lil' sister (Alyssa, not Little Girl) made me a shot glass in her pottery class at Senior and gave it to me as a Christmas present. if i had to get rid of all my shot glasses, that would be one that i would never sell. granted, it probably has no resale value but i honestly wouldn't sell it even if someone offered me $500 for it. now if someone offered me $1,000 for it, it's sold because everybody has a price and $1,000 is mine.

that's about it for today. i have an ever-growing shot glass collection and donations are always appreciated. the only thing that sucks about my collection is that if my apartment ever catches on fire, there would no way i'd be able to grab all of them before the fire engulfed my humble abode. i guess that's why stamp collectors have got it good.

mourning the loss of the Facebook Scrabble

i heard some terrible news today. yes folks, Facebook Scrabble is no more on the 'Book and i think this is probably what a tragedy feel like. i am in tears now. well, at least i can say that i won my last game as i beat Robyn in another one of our epic showdowns. sadness. looks like now i am just going to devote all my Facebook time to the Facebook chatting and playing the Chip 'N Dale game on my old school Nintendo application.

oh another note, i saw that gas was $3.79 at the Shell gas station by the Dell Diamond yesterday and i nearly wet myself. how sad is that? i am getting giddy over $3.79 gas. wow.

UNITY 2008: The Review

i am just going to warn you now that this post is going to be hella long. so you have three options: stop reading now and go about your business, start reading now and just stop when you get bored with my jarble or read the entire and get rewarded with a prize. those or literally your only three options. so enjoy. and there actually isn't a prize. sorry.

it's been almost a week since i last blogged and this particular blog post should have actually been done yesterday but it wasn't going to happen because i was e-x-h-a-u-s-t-e-d. why was i exhausted? because i had been in Chicago for the past five days and i think i was averaging like four hours of sleep a night. it was very nice to be back in my own bed and i crashed at like 8 p.m., was awoken by a text message around midnight, went back to bed at 2 a.m. and just recently woke up.

anyways, let's talk about Chicago!

i traveled to Chi-town for the UNITY Conference, which is a conference every four years which merges the four major minority journalism organizations. i am part of the National Association of Black Journalists and also at the conference were the organizations for Asians, Hispanics and Native Americans. i think i heard that there were something like 4,500 journalists there which was pretty intense even though i heard they were expecting 8,000.

while in Chicago, i shared a room with four kids that i had participated in th Sports Journalism Institute with in the summer of 2006. the plan was originally to have six people in one room but being as our room ended up being as big as a Jesse Hall dorm room, five people was more than enough. but we survived so good job us.

now the reasons the five of us were there differed. Ronald had just graduated from college so he was looking for a job so he was hitting up the job fair hard. others had jobs but were looking to network for possible job openings down the road. me, i was just kind of there to chill and take in a few classes and have some reunions with some old friends.

at the convention center, i ended up going to a breakfast, a meeting and two classes. honestly, the conference was alright but none of the things i went to were all that great except the STF meeting and the class on online sports journalism were interesting.

but my memorable experience was something that wasn't on the conference program. because of some connection Ronald had, we ended up having breakfast with David Aldridge, a sideline reporter for TNT basketball who has also written and worked for the Philadelphia Inquirer, Washington Post and ESPN. it was just four of the five roommates and D.A. and it was great to just hear about his experiences. we all got great advice from D.A. but i think what i took from the breakfast was just the advice that i don't need to know everything and there is no shame in asking for help and saying that i don't know something. it was a great breakfast.

i also got the opportunity to meet Washington Post columnist and PTI star Michael Wilbon, ESPN contributer J.A. Adande and Hall-of-Fame running back Gale Sayers. and although they weren't A-list stars, i also was introduced to some minority writers who are definitely making an impact in the journalism community.

it wasn't all chummy though as i was put in my place on Saturday for attempting to skip out on the Sports Task Force annual meeting. it was good though that i was caught because the meeting was good and helped me understand more what the STF is about and that they are trying to accomplish. but i was pretty much owned by Garry Howard of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel for the rest of the conference for trying to pull that stunt.

i think, if anything, the UNITY conference helped re-energize me which is good since football season is quickly approaching. i have some new ideas that i am going to push and between the conference and my annual performance review that happened the week before UNITY, i have realized that i need to work on to make myself a better journalist and i am eager to confront those challenges.

i've also got to say that the NABJ knows how to know a good party. on Thursday, the STF (which is part of NABJ) threw a bumpin' party at Crow Bar that raised over $30,000 for our scholarship fund. i didn't really like the DJ (dude, it wouldnt kill you to play more than 25 seconds of a song) but it was a fun environment and who doesn't like dancing? then on Saturday night, NABJ threw a party that easily outdid the AAJA Karaoke and NAHJ Salsa parties that were going on at the same time although i will admit that the AAJA party was pretty fun and me and Maggie spent a good amount of time there while the NABJ party was taking forever to get going.

we had some fun sightseeing in Chicago although most of our tourism was restricted to Michigan Ave. we didnt do much on the Chicago dining scene although we did find time to grab some Chicago pizza and me and Maggie went to some fancy smanzy restaurant on Saturday evening where i paid $16 for a hamburger. we also ate twice at some nice little restaurant called Chipotle. it was tasty.

the only downside of our week dealt with out inability to read signs and e-mails. we spent a lot of money on taxis and shuttles over the first two days of the conference. on the way home from the airport alone, we combined for around $200 in taxi fares and on Thursday, i think we figured that we spent about $165 on taxis and $90 of that was spent traveling strictly from the hotel to the conference center. funny story... it turns out that there was a free shuttle from our hotel to the convention center. there was also a train that went from the hotel to the airport that cost $2. we figured this all out on Saturday and i guess we saved some money on those two final days but Christ, we gave the taxi industry like $400 when we should have only been around a $50 contribution. to make it worse was that there was a big posterboard in the hotel lobby advertising the shuttle and we had received an e-mail about the train. and yes, we all have college degrees.

so there you go, that was Chicago for me. i met some new friends who i think are going to become recognizable names in the business very soon and i was very impressed with how Maggie and James handled themselves on the convention floor. Meach and Ronald are also going to do big things. so yea, watch out world, here we come.

still finding time to blog on a busy Tuesday

is there a reason why those silver tops on yogurt containers have to be so damn difficult to open? all i want to do is eat my strawberry Yoplait Light and i've already struggled enough opening the damn thing that the calories in the yogurt will just simply replace the calories that i've just burned. great.

anywho, my blogging is likely going to be sporadic until Sunday because i will be leaving for Chicago tomorrow for the UNITY conference. it will be my first journalism conference and we may catch a Cubs game if the ticket price is appropriate (i don't see the value of paying more than $60 for a Cubs v. Marlins game). oh, and then there is the STF party on Thursday night and i hear these things are epic so i am looking forward to going to this and seeing all the journalism celebs. maybe i will get to meet Wilbon.

as for Tuesday, i have a lot to do which i guess i should be doing instead of blogging. already today, i've had a haircut and i've got to send about 75 e-mails for work as well as cover an Express game tonight. i need to still do laundry and i think i may need to hunt down a larger suitcase... i also need to clean my apartment because i have a thing about coming home to a messy apartment. so much to do, so little time.

and there is apparently some hurricane/tropical storm heading towards the Texas/Mexico coast. while i am not worried about my apartment being swept away by some tidal wave, i am a bit worried that this storm might bring some rain towards Texas in the next few days and mess with my travel plans. so cross you fingers that i get to Chicago safely and on time. holla.

the Kaimin has a editor in place... for 2029-30

for the past week or two i have been teasing on my Facebook profile that i was excited about a secret. i wasn't allowed to tell the secret but i got the oh k this morning so yes... we are finally getting a KAIMIN BABY!!! yes, our favorite redhead and her husband are expecting their first child in March. not sure what the sex of the baby is yet but i will be positioning to have it named Danny regardless although i don't think Swan is too keen on the idea.

i believe this will be the first baby for Class of '07 (the important class) unless Duganz has a few kids that we don't know about. and being as both mommy and daddy (pictured above) are Kaimin alums, this baby is going to be an uber journalist fo' sure.

so congrats Swan. holla.

oh, and to answer yesterday's $5 questions... "When You're Mad" is the song Jen Reed hates and the day-by-day calendar in the video for "Sexy Love" is set on the day before my 21st birthday.

my mouth floats like a butterfly, stings like a bee

if you look in the dictionary, the definition for the word "July" is "the month following June and preceding August.'" i define "July" as the month where i apparently get into fights with good friends. already this month, i have gotten into a fight with two good friends and although i think i've made up with both, i'd still say this month has caused some unnecessary drama.

i am a fighter. and since i don't have muscles or a good right hook, i do my fighting with my mouth. i think that i am pretty generous with the give and take but when i feel that i am being screwed over, i have no problem letting people know about it. the biggest problem arouses when i develop a grudge because then apologies are meaningless to me because i hold grudges way longer than a Christian man should.

another problem with my fighting is my stubbornness. over the course of the argument, i usually become somewhat rational and will concede some points but i never will fully admit that i'm wrong. i think i get my stubbornness from my mother which is probably the main reason that we don't get along.

so yes, i will be hanging out with some good pals in Chicago starting on Wednesday so hopefully the fights will be kept to a minimum. oh, and for the rest of you i'd suggest not talking to me until August 1.

feeling hopeless in a Burlington Coat Factory

the biggest problem with my sleeping habits is not many people that fall in line with them. see i enjoy getting up at 6 a.m. and believe that when you sleep past 9 a.m. all you are doing is wasting time. too bad 98.4 percent of America doesn't really agree with those ideals and thus i am blogging at 8:17 a.m. because Jamieleen wants to sleep in until at least 10 a.m.

anyways, today is my last day in Los Angeles and i believe we are touring campuses and Beverly Hills. we also get to eat at In-N-Out which excites me way more than it actually should. i will be back in Austin around midnight (i think Emily is picking me up so a round of applause for her for doing that dirty deed) and honestly i am will be happy to have the opportunity to sleep in my own bed even if it will only be for two days.

and for you TYC faithful, be ready because if a text message i got last night was any indication, there is going to be some drama in the near future. sigh.

anyways, let's talk less about the future and more about the past. yesterday, i lost my phone in a Burlington Coat Factory for about 20 minutes and for about 20 minutes i was literally helpless. Jamieleen had to run to the bathroom or something so i decided to kill time by buying new shoes for the big STF Party next week. i was texting Robyn and i remember getting a text message from her while trying on a pair of shoes and thinking to myself that i would respond to the text message in a second. i swear i put the phone in my pocket but when i went to respond to Ro's text two minutes later, my phone, well, wasn't in my pocket.

i literally felt helpless. to make matters worse, my phone was on vibrate so instead of listening for the sounds of Biggie's "Juicy" i was stuck trying to hear a vibration in a crowded store. i had one of the employees and Jamieleen call my phone a few times and i was searching under cabinets and in shoeboxes for that damn phone. honestly, i hate my phone and need a new one anyways but it was still an incredible annoyance not to have the Razr on me. luckily, after about 20 minutes or so a nice man who spoke little English found me and the unlucky employee who i was making help out and told us that the phone had been turned in to the store manager. gracias.

since i still have 93 minutes before i can ever think about waking up Jamieleen, let's do another Top 10. today's Top 10 artist is the answer to the $5 question on Thursday: Ne-Yo. since Ne-Yo is an accomplished songwriter too and has lent his vocals to the choruses of some good songs, we're going to make this Top 10, my top 10 songs that he's either sung solo on, sung a duet on or written. the man is a talented guy. also, in true Robyn Keyes fashion, this Top 10 has more than 10 songs.

today's we have two $5 questions. first, there is one song of Ne-Yo's that is the most played on my iTunes by probably 75-100 plays. it is also the song Jen Reed hates more than any song in the world. what song is it?

secondly, the video for "Sexy Love" was shot in 2006 and in the video there is a day-by-day calendar that is on a date that is one day before a day that was moderately important in the history of Danny Davis. what date was that?

11t. Let Me Love You (by Mario, written by Ne-Yo)
11t. Closer
9. Irreplaceable (by Beyonce, written by Ne-Yo)
8. Make Me Better (w/ Fabolous)
7. So Sick
6. Because Of You
5. Walk Away (by Paula DeAnda, written by Ne-Yo)
4. Sexy Love
3. Hate That I Love You (w/ Rihanna)
2. Go On Girl
1. When You're Mad

OMD ends up a colossal failure

so i'm chilling in the Los Angeles with my homegirl Jamieleen and i realized that i am much too tired to do a Top 10 today. maybe it's because of my failed quest find Denzel tonight or maybe it was because of my adventures in the LA airport, who knows? anyways, me and Jamieleen are heading to the OC today to meet up with Meach for lunch and then i think we will hit up a beach. i'll be sure to buy a few more shot glasses. holla.

the Top 10 will resume Sunday... or Monday.

talking about a pop princess at a sleepover

it's 5:42 in the morning and i can't sleep or go running (i'll explain in a couple of sentences) so i am going to blog. it's the cool thing to do.

i am not going to go running because i am very unfamiliar with the neighborhood i am currently in because... last night we had a sleepover. kind of. yes, Emily is taking me to the airport today so the girls were kind enough to let me crash on their couch this morning thus letting me avoid the fun that is Austin-morning traffic. so big shout-out to them, they're great.

also, the Ball Bustas improved to 2-1 on the summer season yesterday with a 13-4 win over some team whose name is not important enough to remember. the game was tied 4-4 going into the last inning but the Bustas got hot and put together the first mercy rule inning (9 runs) in franchise history. so far our season outlook looks like this... a 19-4 loss, a 10-3 win and a 13-4 win. either we are playing really good recently and that team we played the first week is the greatest team to ever play intramural softball or we have just been playing horrible teams the past two weeks. i am going to go with the former on this one since we were missing 1/2 our team for the first game and the replacement players that we did get were definitely on something. go Bustas, we rock.

i am a bit sad though because i will be unable to play softball next week because i will be in Chicago for UNITY. me not having softball is like a cheeseburger not having cheese. competition is my drug of choice and i am going to have to supplement the softball with something in Chicago so i might just end up doing that 5K afterall... or playing pick-up basketball, that seems much easier.

oh k, i've spent enough time talking about intramural softball so we'll move onto the Top 10. i learned yesterday that Emily hates KISS FM, which is a radio station in Austin that specializes in playing such popular hits as Lollipop and random songs by trainwreck-in-waiting Miley Cirus. and being as Emily was nice enough to let me sleep at her place, we will honor her by having our Top 10 about a pop princess who is often on the KISS FM... yes, today is all about the Rihanna. why Rihanna? have you looked at the girl?

before we get down with the Good Girl Gone Bad, let me tell you that the answer to yesterday's $5 was "Rock Your Body." today's $5 question is this: Rihanna's "Take A Bow" and Beyonce's 2006 hit "Irreplaceable" are eerily similar in content which isn't that surprising since both songs were written by the same person. Who wrote those two songs? (hint, he's my favorite current artist and will be the subject of tomorrow's Top 10)

10. Shut Up And Drive
9. Don't Stop The Music
8. Unfaithful
7. Disturbia
6. Take A Bow
5. SOS
4. Pon De Replay
3. Umbrella (f/ Jay-Z)
2. If It's Lovin' That You Want
1. Hate That I Love You (f/ Ne-Yo)

determined to find Denzel... while listening to JT

well, tomorrow i am going to LA to hang out with Jamieleen for the weekend. Cameron might make an appearance but who knows? anyways, i am really looking forward to hanging out with my TNT (The News Tribune for those of you not in the know) homie and get a taste of Southern California. maybe i will get to finally meet Denzel. actually, that is a goal of mine for this weekend... Operation Meet Denzel is fully in motion.

for some reason i thought it would be a bright idea to get into L.A. around noon... although Jamieleen has a job. i originally thought i was getting in around 3 but nope, i will be in around noon which means i will be chilling at LAX for about six hours or until whenever Jamieleen gets off of work. i could take a taxi somewhere but where would i go? i don't feel like paying $50 to take a cab ride to somewhere where'd i'd be just as bored and lonely as if i was in the airport. at least the airport has food and i'll get to people watch. i also downloaded Batman Begins and Juno and brought the third season of The Office so we should be good as far as boredom-fighting is concerned.

if the Juno and the Batman, don't do the trick, we can always just listen to the music... of Justin Timberlake. i'm not going to lie, i like me a little JT every now and again and since he hosted the ESPYs last night, a Top 10 of Mr. Timberlake seems appropriate. does that make me less of a man? it might but quite frankly, i can't here your insults because i'm too busy listening to my Justin Timberlake songs. oh, and this Top 10 is going to include N'SYNC songs because while he is hip as apple pie, i think actually knowing 10 Justin Timberlake songs might be a little bit too lame (so of course knowing a few N'SYNC lyrics will make it all better.)

yesterday's $5 answer: Chocolate Factory. today's $5 question: what Justin Timberlake song was playing when i walked into my high school prom? here's a hint, my prom was in the spring of 2003.

10. Summer Love
9. My Love
8. I Want You Back
7. Bye Bye Bye (for additional pleasure... Danny Davis & Co. dance version)
6. SexyBack
5. Rock Your Body
4. This I Promise You
3. Senorita
2. I Drive Myself Crazy
1. LoveStoned/I Think She Knows

R. Kelly and quite possibly the worst wife ever

i don't know why i haven't talked about this sooner but... apparently there is some lady who has (allegedly) killed off five of her husbands. also one of her kids has died and this lady has gotten pretty rich off the life insurance payments (read the story, it's actually a decent read). i think four of the husbands died from a gunshot wound and the other husband's death was at originally ruled natural but they think he now may have been poisoned.

do you know who i blame here? the police. five dead husbands is a little suspicious, don't you think? i know that some people have it bad, but no one has it THAT bad. didn't the town kind of suspect something? i mean this lady had schemed the town out of thousands of dollars and had a crapload of debt because of 43 credit cards. 43!!!! what kind of company issues 43 credit cards to one person!?! 43!!!

do you know who i don't feel bad for? husbands #3, #4 and #5. i don't know how they do things in North Carolina, but here is Reality-ville, when you are dating a lady who has had two/three/four husbands all die from gunshot wounds... well, that is usually a sign to take off. quickly. seriously.

well, in regards to the top 10, let's keep the legal theme going and we will count down the greatest hits of R. Kelly who recently got off for something involving urine and an underage girl. and the answer to yesterday's $5 question was "Yeah." today's $5 question is R. Kelly is the author of one of my top thee favorite albums of all-time, what is that album's name?

oh, and i couldn't find a video or YouTube clip to the original "Step In The Name Of Love." download it, its worth it.

10. Step In The Name Of Love
9. Bump N' Grind
8. Same Girl (f/ Usher)
7. I Wish
6. I Believe I Can Fly
5. Ignition (Remix)
4. World's Greatest
3. Step In The Name Of Love (Remix)
2. I'm Your Angel (w/ Celine Dion)
1. If I Could Turn Back The Hands Of Time

Usher makes me feel like a bowl of J-E-L-L-O

in my opinion, there are two types of stereotypes about the African-American male. first, there is the more negative uneducated-detriment-to-society-living-the-thug-life one. and then there is the Usher stereotype.

Usher is the worst thing to happen to me since Theo graduated from college in 1992. he's the Mecca of good looks, an incredibly fit body that compliments a great voice. i mean, by comparison, i am just a side of strawberry-kiwi Jello to his filet minon. i feel bad for my future wife, she's going to want a man like Usher and she is going to be stuck with Jello.

anyways, we have another Top 10 (this week's theme is artists you can find in abundance in the ol' iPod) and as you can guess today is all about the Usher. jerk. oh, and the answer to yesterday's $5 question was Michelle Williams appears in the video for "Say My Name" but did not do the vocals. today's $5 question: what Usher song was the theme song for me and my freshman-year roommate?

10. Love In This Club (f/ Young Jeezy)
9. Superstar
8. My Way
7. Burn
6. Confessions, Part I
5. Confessions, Part II
4. Yeah! (f/ Ludacris and Lil' John)
3. U Remind Me
2. You Make Me Wanna...
1. U Got It Bad

Michelle Williams needs a soldier? i volunteer!

i honestly can't get over how hot the video for Destiny Child's "Soldier" is. all three of those girls are looking gooooood. and do you know who looks the best? Michelle. yes, conservative Michelle who's released a gospel album and is famous for wearing pants instead of short skirts in almost all the DC videos. homegirl has it going on when the screen goes black-and-white.

how much does Michelle Williams have it going on in the video (her solo is at the 2:57 mark)? so much that i think this solitary performance might make her the 6th member of the Big Board of Beauties. stay tuned...

anyways, i think this week's theme is going to be Top 10 songs of artists who have a lot of their work on my iPod. being as i am obsessed with Michelle Williams, today's Top 10 will feature Destiny's Child. you know, DC is that girl group where Kelly is the talented one, Beyonce is the marketable one and Michelle is suddenly the incredibly hot one.

today's $5 question: what is the one thing that Michelle Williams did not do for my #1 song, "Say My Name"? answer and you might get $5.

10. Independent Women, Part I
9. Bills, Bills, Bills
8. Lose My Breath
7. Survivor
6. Jumpin' Jumpin'
5. Emotion
4. Bug A Boo
3. Bootylicious
2. Soldier (f/ T.I. and Lil' Wayne)
1. Say My Name

a sad story about some bitter old men

Sunday feels like a two-post day.

growing up i was always a poster kind of guy. i mean, it was literally a way to decorate your entire room for $10. when i started at UM, it was no different and my dorm room (which i think may be smaller than the bedroom i have right now and i had to actually share it with someone) was covered with posters. there were a two or three posters of Shakira on the wall and ceiling, a poster of Britney Spears on the door and for some reason in the closet there was a Destiny's Child poster (from the BKM era) and another one of Allen Iverson.

eventually i grew up and the abundance of posters died down. now i have things with frames that decorate my walls. but i still do have one poster (which is in a frame) which is an enlarged print of the famous photo from the 1968 Olympics. i tell you this because i found this interesting article on one of the runners 40 years later. i found it absolutely amazing that the two guys, who made such a social stand in Mexico don't even talk any more and pretty much hate each other. sad.

to answer the Chris Tucker question from earlier... "Fantasy" is featured in this funny scene from Tucker's 1998 movie Rush Hour. he also appears in the music video for Shake It Off (look for him at about the 2:07 mark).

a Sunday with God, Mariah and the Cosby Show

sometime last week, i had a bit of a breakdown. i became pretty convinced that there wasn't a God.

these freak-outs happen from time-to-time. i had one during my freshman year of college and again after Haley died. this most recent "No-God" event was triggered by some events last weekend but had to do more with family issues than anything else.

i consider myself to be a good, straight-edged Christian boy. and yet, bad things keep happening to me. now don't get me wrong, i have had a lot of good things happen (i.e., my job) and as much as they drive me nuts, my family is all still alive and accounted for and for that i am grateful. but sometimes it is hard to grasp why God can let shitty things happen to good people. it just is.

anyways, over the past few months, i have been drifting in my relationship with God. i hadn't been at church since Easter. at first, my excuse was work which was legit because i was out of town a lot and when i was in town those 2 p.m. Express games made it difficult to make any of the services. then i wasn't going because i was staying out too late the night before and needed my sleep, which i guess transitioned into the evening services too. then my excuse was i just didn't want to go.

then i had my freak-out earlier this week and luckily, Robyn was able to talk me off the ledge. now i had to do some soul-searching and i'm still not really even sure where that led me. but i did decide that i needed to start going back to church.

so this morning, i put away the excuses and went to church. granted, it was a crappy week to go back. i think the pastor's wife was in labor so i was stuck with an elder giving a message with no real direction that began with the awkward sex talk and ended with him mentioning something about eating salad and eating disorders (the sermon was about our bodies as temples). i also learned that apparently God does not want me to watch re-runs of the Cosby Show (the guy's exact words, not mine) which could be an issue since both God and Bill are in my Fave 5.

non-inspiring sermon aside, i was glad to be back at church. hopefully, i can find the direction that i need to make myself the man that i was to be. because in the end, no matter how pissed off as i was at God, i was incredibly miserable without him. it's interesting how that works.

since today's topic was a little dry for some, let's throw in a top 10. on the way back from church, i ended up jamming to some Mariah Carey. it was awesome. so yea, here are my top 10 favorite songs and here's a little known fact: one of these songs inspired me to drunkenly propose to an ex-girlfriend via text message. true story. also, if you can tell me what the Chris Tucker connection is with two of these songs, i will give you $5.

10. Dreamlover
9. When You Believe (f/ Whitney Houston)
8. Fantasy
7. We Belong Together
6. Heartbreaker (f/ Jay-Z)
5. Hero
4. One Sweet Day (f/ Boyz II Men)
3. Always Be My Baby
2. Shake It Off
1. Fantasy (f/ ODB)

one day Salt N' Pepa will sing a song about me

i haven't blogged for a few days but i really have no desire to do laundry right now so blogging seems like a good alternative. it's been a while since i had an update on my weight loss quest so let's roll with that.

as of this morning, i have am 22 pounds lighter than my low point (well, i guess high point on the scale) that occured in January. i am still 20 pounds or so away from my goal but it doesn't seem so out of reach now. i am also nearly five pounds under the weight listed on my drivers license, which was taken when i was 21 and was probably a little bit of a fabrication when i wrote it down.

i feel a lot better too. for example, yesterday i hit a home run in the Ball Bustas' 10-3 win (and by home run, i mean bloop double in which i scored on a two-base throwing error) and after rounding the bases i wasn't panting for breath and wanting to keel over and die. i also think that i am looking better (could be the hip new hairstyle i've been sporting) and apparently i am good-looking enough to work at Hollister as me and Robyn were asked by some store manager (who was very hot) to start working there part-time while Robyn was doing some jeans shopping on Sunday. although the offer seemed too good to be true (part-time work at a place i don't shop at, i'd be making mom proud now!!!), we both had to decline the offer.

i haven't run nearly as much as i'd have wanted to over the past month and am about 1/2 mile behind on my 10K training. but i have been walking a lot and eating better and although i had a week-long orange soda binge, i've been able to, for the most part, stay away from that kind of crap.

so yea, i'm still losing weight and hopefully will be at my playing weight by Christmas. hopefully, by then the ladies will be saying less of this to me and my presence will invoke more of a reaction like this.

Yahoo! News: wasting away money and brain cells

i've got a lot of work and damage control to do today so we're going to keep this one short. i am on my personal computer (i usually do everything from my work computer) which has Yahoo Messanger. when i signed up for the YM a couple months ago it made my Internet Explorer home page Yahoo.com and i've just been too lazy to change it.

so anyways i got up this morning and my computer was lying on my bed (that part has to do with the damage control) and i flipped it on to turn on the Internet. so the first thing that comes up is the Yahoo homepage and this is the first thing i see.

yes, John McCain has a strong following among pet lovers and you just wasted time reading that. why is this news? isn't there like a war, worldwide chaos, and upcoming issues with the Olympics in China going on? but i guess if you want to read about A-Rod and Madonna or how dogs could have an impact on the election, then Yahoo.com is the place for you.

i'm also happy to know that someone is spending money to fund polls like this. because it's not like cancer and the HIV haven't been completely cured by now. hey, homeless kid! we could be using this money to fight hunger but we'd rather just waste it finding out how some old lady with 6 cats doesn't like Obama, so suck it. ugh, life sometimes makes me shake my head.

things i learned while camping

i have never really been an outdoorsy person but i don't mind being outside if other people are going with me. so to celebrate the 4th of July weekend, i went camping with Robyn and some members of the softball team.

i learned a few things on Saturday ranging from the vulgar vocabulary of 18-year-olds to Matt's campfire building skills. i got so dehydrated from drinking beer on the river (we went floating too) that it was taking me about 30 chews a bite to break down my hamburger enough that i could swallow it.

it was a draining day but luckily Matt and Mike stole a park bench that i converted into a nice sleeping spot. sleeping under the stars is a good time. however, i don't think its wise for me to sleep outside in an open campground when i am alone. why be scared of bears when there are random drunk rednecks stumbling around?

Hip Hip Hooray for Hancock

we went and saw Hancock at 11:30 this morning because that's how we roll. and by "we," i mean me because i'm sure i was the only one who wanted to see a movie before noon but since i was driving i got to make all the calls.

since we got there before noon, we only had to pay $4 for tickets. i would have paid full price because all-in-all, it was a pretty good movie. if you are expecting an Academy Awards-esque movie you are going to be disappointed but i can't complain. it was funny and the plot had some interesting twists and turns and i thought the pairing of Will Smith and Jason Bateman was great. also, Charlize Theron looked the hottest she's looked since the Italian Job.

i will say the ending sucks and they should have ended the movie about 3 minutes before they did. but overall, i give it two thumbs up.

an intimate interview with my future roomie

this post is being written by myself and Robyn, who is sitting next to me right now in the Express press box. yay. since i am in a journalism setting, i am going to post an exclusive interview that i just conducted with Lady Pants.

Danny Davis: So you've in Austin in for about four hours, what are your thoughts so far?
Robyn Keyes: It's humid and I like it. It's not very green but that baseball field is and the odd names of random businesses are keeping me entertained for hours (i.e. Wag-A-Bag).

DD: So far you've been able to have some fine Tejas cuisine, what did you think of it?
RK: Everything is bigger in Texas so that means Wendy's tastes better in Texas. My chicken nuggets were rather large. But i was thoroughly enjoyed the availability of sweet tea and will continue to do so until I leave.

DD: What do you want to accomplish while you are here in Texas?
RK: I'm going to improve Danny's talking to random girls skills. Please refer to blog at a future date to see how successful this goes. I also want to quickly perfect a Texas drawl and have one when I return home on Monday and if I don't then I will fake it.

DD: How about you, planning on doing any hooking up?
RK: No. Unless one of these baseball players wants to take me home with them and you have to put one of those winking smilies at the end because that's part of my quote.

DD: How wasted are you going to get on Saturday?
RK: Saturday? What about Thursday and Friday?

DD: Are you excited for the apartment hunt on Sunday?
RK: (After incorrectly trying to correct my grammar) I like pools. I would like a pool.

DD: What do you think of Max, I think he sucks.
RK: I think it's funny he picks on you.

DD: How do you think this interview is going?
RK: Quite well, thank you Danny Shirt.

DD: No problem, Lady Pants. What do you think of the current crisis in the Middle East?
RK: I think John McCain will solve the problems. People are going to hate me when they read your blog.

DD: Why don't you like Obama? Are you a racist?
RK: That's a loaded question. I don't dislike him and I think he would do a fine job. I just prefer the other candidate's platform better.

DD: Is it really ever Miller Time? I'm more of a Bud man myself.
RK: Oh heck yes, it's red Miller Lite Time.

DD: Last question, why is Danny Davis so awesome?
RK: Because he likes whale porn on his door (editor's note: Robyn lies). Especially drawn by Angels #1 and 2. Those were the best days of his life, which makes him awesome. He's also the world's greatest Scrabble player except for myself.

so you're cheating on Halle Berry... sounds smart

it's been a long day and the awesome thing is it's only 3:26 in this afternoon. i found out this morning that i can't add and that a stupid $10 error in my checkbook turned into two overdraft charges in the bank account (cost: $70). i am going to start having any 6-year-old balance my checkbook because they will do a better job than i apparently can.

i also just spilled some strawberry soda on my bed which got to my white mattress. see, this is why i don't drink pop.

anyways, it's nearly the 4th of July and although i still have a lot of stuff to do tomorrow, its going to be an excellent three-day weekend. Robyn is coming into town tomorrow and Hancock came out today so maybe i can get to the theaters for that. and also, there is a camping trip for the 4th. holla!

anyways, i want to talk about cheating. now, i don't condone cheating at all so don't think i am taking this lightly when it comes to the heartbreak of the common folks. but after reading this story, i've got to talk to my peers (guys that are married to celebrities) because me and Thandie are going strong (we've been together for like 3 days now) and i would never cheat on her.

i read this story today about some dude that cheated on former supermodel Christine Brinkley with an 18-years-old. and while yes, i know Christine is getting up there is age (she's 54), homegirl has still got it going on and guess what, as her husband you probably get to have sex with her for free instead of having to pony up 300K like this dude did to keep the teenager quiet. also, how is Brinkley divorced four times and how did she end up with Billy Joel!?! there is hope for us odd-looking guys everywhere.

anyways, Peter Cook is kind of like the idiot who cheated on Shania Twain for this beauty. a little shallow of a comment? maybe, but c'mon you don't go from this to that... although the guy did look like this so maybe he wanted to have sex in his hotness range. another celebrity married to a doofus... maybe that Thandie Newton fantasy is a possibility afterall.

but both of those morons have a higher IQ than Eric Benet, who will forever be known (at least by me) as the guy who was married to and cheated on Halle Berry. his excuse for cheating? he was addicted to sex. yip, last time i cheated if you're addicted to sex, Halle Berry would be an excellent place to go to rehab. i mean, it's Halle Berry! HALLE BERRY!

once again, cheating sucks but i am scratching my head on these examples. i mean Halle Berry! she even looks hot when she's bald!

make love, not war on the softball diamond

yea, i'm a little too intense about the intramural softball but i am not this intense. i don't think i've never gotten visibly mad at an opposing player and the only time i've ever opened my mouth was during the Austin's Pizza fiasco in the spring. i mean, this story is a bit nuts.

i'm giving you until Wednesday at 3 to read this

as we've previously mentioned here at TYC, i am not the smoothest guy when it comes with the ladies. i only had one or two real girlfriends during my high school days and my last meaningful relationship was with Shayla, which was about three years ago and is a story that we'll save for a rainy day. i don't hit on the ladies in the bars... blah blah blah.

however, in my life i am surrounded by many women. i have two sisters (one of which is unfortunately close to dating age) and many of my closest friends are girls. in other words, i would like to think that i have gathered enough advice (either wanted or unwanted) over the years to guess that i probably know how to treat a woman right. if girls didn't scare the crap out of me, i would definitely know how to hit on them correctly.

the best part about knowing what to do, is knowing what not to do. this is a perfect example of what not to do. it comes courtesy of some guy in San Fran that was trying to woo some girl he met on the street who gave him her business card (sign #1 that she's not interested: giving you her business phone instead of a personal line). the guy leaves a couple of voicemails that are, well, just listen for yourself.

not sure what's better about this: the timetable Dimitri sets or the rationalization of why Olga hadn't called him back (i always go with the mom has cancer guess too).

but ladies, fret not. not all guys are like ol' Dimitri and there are still some winners out there. unfortunately i don't talk to girls so it looks like you're just going to be stuck with swell dudes like Dimitri buying you drinks.

also, i am going to announce that i'm bring the word "dude" back into the everyday vocab of hip America. just wait.