so we had our annual office fantasy football draft and since it's a bid draft it took a little more than 4 1/2 hours to complete. but it's completed. i went to the semi-finals last year (prize = $50 check) and will be looking to improve on that finish this year. so yes, here's the roster that i spent nearly the last five hours putting together. since we had a $50 salary cap, their salary/winning bid is in parentheses.
Eli Manning and Braylon Edwards were my keepers and there was lots of Browns love on my team. i even took their defense... homerism reigns supreme on the Thandie Newton Appreciation Society (yes, that's the name of my team.)
and for those of you who think i'm a dork for doing the fantasy football, you are probably right. i just realized that i am in four leagues this year. sheesh.
Starting Line-up
QB: Eli Manning, New York Giants ($4.00)
RB: Reggie Bush, New Orleans Saints ($6.00)
RB: Selvin Young, Denver Broncos ($5.00)
WR: Braylon Edwards, Cleveland Browns ($6.00)
WR: Plaxico Burress, New York Giants ($4.60)
WR: DeSean Jackson, Philadelphia Eagles ($2.70) *
TE: Kellan Winslow Jr., Cleveland Browns ($6.50)
K: Nick Folk, Dallas Cowboys ($0.60)
DEF: Minnesota ($2.00)
Bench
QB: Jason Campbell, Washington Redskins ($0.70)
QB: Troy Smith, Baltimore Ravens ($0.10)
RB: Felix Jones, Dallas Cowboys ($1.40)
RB: Jamaal Charles, Kansas City Chiefs ($0.10)
WR: Steve Smith, Carolina Panthers ($8.00) *
WR: Reggie Williams, Jacksonville Jaguars ($0.50)
WR: Javon Walker, Oakland Raiders ($1.30)
TE: Alge Crumpler, Tennessee Titans ($0.10)
PK: Neil Rackers, Arizona Cardinals (0.20)
DEF: Cleveland ($0.10)
* Steve Smith will start in DeSean Jackson's place once his two-game suspension is over. holla.
i can already see Blair typing up her blog comment now... but Sarah Palin is one smokin' hot VP candidate. this is a brilliant move for McCain. first off, Palin is younger (44) and secondly, she is obviously a woman so she is going to grab some of those Hillary votes. third, she is from Alaska (3 whole electoral votes) so she is going to attract votes from eskimo enthusiasts. finally, you can never underestimate the power of the lonely college kid. what does that kid need? more Sarah Palin... and more alone time from his roomie.
who cares about her credentials? vote McCain/Palin '08!!!
oh, and i'm still probably voting for Obama and i am going to go listen to his speech from last night over lunch, i have heard good things and i am sure it was brilliant.
also, in honor of Michael Jackson's 50th birthday here is a photo collection that Robyn sent to me. here is also my favorite Michael song.
i'll kick off this blog by saying that Bill was awesome last night and it will be fun watching Barack go at it tonight... even though i won't be watching it tonight because i will be covering my first football game of the season. holla. but i will catch it on the YouTube or the CNN later.
today we are going to talk about being sketchy and we'll break it down into three sections: driving, porn and ice cream. one of these sections will have a Raffi reference. can you guess which one?
1. this morning at about 8 a.m., i was driving over to drop some stuff off at the new apartment and i was taking the Lamar route. there were three lanes and i was in the middle and there was about 20 feet of nothing-ness in front of me... except for two cars (one in the right lane, one in the left) that decided that they wanted to be in the middle lane and side-swiped each other.
one of the cars was a black SUV (looked like a 2003, 2004 model) and the other was a green-ish Suburu that looked like a piece of crap. guess which car pulled over and guess which one kept going? yes, i am guessing the folks in the beat-up Suburu haven't been paying their insurance bills and they just kept on going. that is sketch. granted, while it didn't appear that either car had much damage, you should still stop and see if everyone is oh k and swipe information. my friend Leslie got rear-ended a few months ago in Austin by some guy that didnt have any insurance (well, he did but it was through some sketch dealer and it wasn't on the car he wass driving or something) and Bill rear-ended some guy during the summer that didn't speak any English and didn't have any insurance either.
so yea, getting in a car accident sucks and getting in one in Austin (apparently) sucks too because there is a good chance that the other person may not have insurance. it's getting to a point where if you're hit, you are praying that you just got taken out by someone in a nice car. if you get taken out by a beater, it's over homie.
driving without insurance = sketch.
2. after doing some stuff at the apartment, i drove to work and i noticed in the two or three miles from when i get on the highway to the Williams Cannon exit, there are two adult movie stores on the south frontage road. one is a Megaplex which by the looks at it means a shed with TVs. the other is a beat-down blue house (maybe run by your grandma) tucked about a football fields length away from the frontage road. i know adult movie stores are shoddy by nature but these ones seemed determined to remind their customers that they are creeps.
I-35 video stores not named Blockbuster = sketch.
3. and finally, let's talk about candy... or ice cream, i don't really know what this guy was selling. on Monday and Tuesday, i was working on my Eastside Memorial story and that took me to the eastside of town. if you read my story, you could probably figure out that the Eastside isn't the rich side of Austin and walking around Eastside was an experience in itself but that's another story for another day.
on both Monday and Tuesday (Monday i was at Eastside and Tuesday i was at LBJ which is a few miles away) i noticed the same van rolling around selling ice cream. the van was red, looked like it was about 10 miles away from breaking down for good and i think the words "ice cream" were actually drawn on the side with chalk or something. in other words, this wasn't the Schwan's man. i'm sure this ice cream dude is well known in that community and he/her is just trying to earn a living to make ends meet but his/her get-up just looked sketchy to me. i was as likely to buy ice cream from that van as i am to take career advice from one of the Olsen twins. you don't got it dude!
the van also continually played the same song over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again. but it was worse because it was the instrumental version of this classic Raffi song but like seriously only the first 15 seconds. it was driving me nuts. if you are going to overplay a song you might as well make it a Christina Aguilera "hit." at least she makes cool music videos (this one too). Raffi... not so much.
vans selling ice cream = sketch.
Raffi = also kind of sketch.
it wasn't the greatest ever but Hillary's speech last night at the Democratic Convention was pretty damn good. i mean, how do you follow Brian Schweitzer? pssh, Hill knocked it out of the park. and all the haters need to quit talking about how she didn't talk enough about Obama's credentials. last night was about Hillary, period.
it was a great swan song for Hill. she was able reflect on her historic campaign, throw support for Obama while calling for unity and she also slammed McCain but did so in a respectful way. it was classy and i hope that Obama was paying attention... as he was in Billings. and we all know about the exciting things there are to do in B-town. one last Hillary note, i loved the AP picture the Statesman ran on the front page of Hillary's speech. so go pick up a Statesman and look. don't live in Austin? well, that's moderately tragic.
two things to touch on about these conventions. first off, Denver and St. Paul!?! seriously!?! were Sante Fe and Des Moines booked this week? i mean, they are both nice towns that i have to fly through if i am going to or from Billings (the Denver airport is evil, the St. Paul-ish one is decent) but c'mon. the Republicans should just reserve their convention for Ground Zero every four years and the Dems could surely pick a nicer place than Denver.
secondly, what was Obama doing in Billings? he's made like five visits to Montana. i mean, that's cool and all but i think his services are better served elsewhere. no matter how many time he visits, there is a 95% chance that we are going to McCain and even if Montana doesn't, we are worth three whole electoral votes. i'm glad Obama is making us feel important but i think he should probably be spending this time (especially during the convention) in those important swing states.
oh, and since we devoted time to Hillary again today, we have to push back talking about creepers with candy for another day. OH! and read my story today. it's good.
i will say this much about the Brian Schweitzer, who is fair governor of Montana: he is a guy that i'd like to have a drink with. Schweitzer (who seems to think Montana isn't a red state which i guess means he hasn't actually hung out in Montana in the last 60 years) is talking at the Democratic convention right now and is it just me or is he just a pretty uninspiring speaker? honestly, i am more interested in the CNN mini-window that's been focused on Bill Clinton talking to some random women. this speech? yawn. Schweitzer's speech (i still insist he had to have been drunk) at Tester's near-victory party in 2006? awesome. so when the next convention comes around, someone give Schweitzer a couple shots of Jack before he gets on stage.
now people are booing John McCain because Schweitzer is talking about some vote for wind energy. those people have no idea what he's talking about. but i can't hate on Schweitzy, his Lt. governor was a pall bearer at my great-grandmother's funeral. true story.Schweitzer is up for re-election in a few months against Roy Brown, a guy who has been a politician around Billings foreva and has those hip brown signs that say "Vote For Brown." but yea, Roy Brown could have Shakira with "Vote For Brown" all over her and he isn't going to get within 20 percentage points of Schweitzer during this upcoming election. this could be as big of a blowout as that election in 1996 when Marc Raciot ran against a dead guy.
anyways, the only reason to be alive on this Tuesday night is... HILLARY FRICKIN' CLINTON!!! yes, the former first lady is a talkin' tonight and i am ready for some fireworks. will she pledge support to Obama (likely but boooooring) or will she announce an independant ticket of Hill and Bill (unlikely but that would be some awesome drama)? anyways, i am excited to hear Hillary speak before she fades into obscurity for the next 4 to 8 years. go Team Clinton.
wait, Schweitzer is now freaking out and flailing his arms and demanding that Colorado, Florida and all the cheap seats start standing up. apparently, he has found his Jack. awesome.
anyways, on a side note, Little Girl started high school today. i was talking to Jen about our high school days yesterday and we started talking about tunes that were played at our high school dancex. how about this doozy? this song was definitely a classic (Noelle isn't allowed to dance with any boys if this song is being spun by the DJ). who doesn't know the dance steps to this song? and the lyrics to this one? eh? eh?
enough YouTube clips. tomorrow we talk about sketchy men with candy.
gotta go though because Chelsea (cute) is introducing her mother. Hillary is decked out in orange and they are shooting to pictures of random women in the crowd crying. this is going to be awesome (and by fingers are crossed for Hill-Bill '08!)
my text messages are more timely than Barack Obama's. i say this because i sent a text message to MJ about Biden being selected as the VP selection at 11:24 p.m. (CST) and my "Obama/Biden 2008" Facebook status change went up at 11:53 p.m. my friend Raven said she got her text from the Obama campaign announcing his choice at 3:46 a.m. and since she lives in D.C., that means she got the text at 2:46 a.m. my time. silly Obama, thought he could beat the news media with a text message. ha.
anyways, it's official. its Obama and Biden v. McCain and somebody else who hates abortion. where do i get my Obama/Biden 2008 t-shirt?
not much else to talk about because i've got to start getting ready for Ami's NASCAR party in a little bit (i will blog about that tomorrow). i am also beginning my move across town tomorrow and i have the SJI fantasy football draft. busy weekend.
since i am going to assume the Olympics are wrapping up, i will leave you with this story by the legendary Gary Smith. that man is awesome when it comes to writing and "Shadow of a Nation" is the best thing i have ever read. the guy does wonderful work.
yesterday was supposed to be Haley's 23rd birthday but as i've mentioned before, she's died over three years ago. so she's buried and they are actually still debating whether or not this guy should get executed (i actually remember this happening as it was right by Missoula). yes World, that sounds incredibly fair.
a lot of buzz has been circulating over the past few days about Barack Obama's new vice-president selection and that's fair since the convention is, well, next week. i for one am shocked that the press hasn't gotten someone to say who it is yet but i guess more power to the Obama campaign.
i've got to say with Obama's lead in the polls dwindling, his choice of a vice-presidential candidate is a huge lose-lose situation. no matter who he picks, he is just giving the McCain campaign a crapload of ammunition to use, which is not necessarily the case if it's the other way around.
Obama has run a great campaign focused on change in the Oval Office. however, you can't preach change if you pick an older and experienced politician as your running mate, which hurts Joe Biden who the guy that i want on the ticket. if Obama picks someone like Biden, he loses a lot of credibility and McCain can just say whenever the subject of change comes up "Yea, shut up and look at your vice-presidential candidate."
however, Obama's biggest flaw is his inexperience, let's be real here. I also think that's a reason that some people haven't fully embraced him and this race isn't a rout yet. So if he were to pick someone like Virginia governor Tim Kaine, would that really help his cause? i don't think it is going to grab much confidence when potentially the two highest-ranking members of your political system have the experience of a ham sandwich. this is the scenario that the McCain camp would probably like to see happen because they could exploit the crap out of it and just insert fear into voters and get more people out to vote for them. if you think that experience doesn't matter in these campaigns, just flash back to the vice-presidential debate of 2004. i don't think there are many Dick Cheney fans out there but i don't think there is a single rational person who didn't think that he made John Edwards look like his whipping boy in that debate. it was embarrassing.
and of course there is the Hillary factor. i have suggested many times a Clinton/Obama joint ticket (most of the time i was talking about Hillary as the presidential candidate though) and she is really the only possible VP that could bring in votes since, as of now, at least 25% of her supporters aren't going to check the voting box next to Obama's name. that's a lot of people. but the problem with Hillary is she brings with her Bill and while i love those two dearly, i can just see disaster going down there because the Clintons don't (and shouldn't have to) play second fiddle to anyone and i can just imagine the fun that would be had in the White House over the next four/eight years if Hillary was the VP (Obama: "Bill, i don't know how many times i've had to tell you this but this is my office now. hey, and these are my interns too!)
UPDATE: Maura sent me this link and apparently Hillary won't be on the ticket. shocker.
personally, i would like to see Obama pick a more experienced running mate (go Biden!) because he is pretty weak on foreign affairs and no amount of middle east tours is going to change that between now and the election. i'm not saying that i won't vote for him if he chooses someone like Kaine but man, i might have to actually think about that one.
but yes, the Democratic Convention is next week and i am excited. honestly, i will probably watch a lot of it and i am very interested to see Hillary and Bill speak and see if any drama unfolds with Hillary being put into nomination. being as the convention is being held in Denver of all places, i was hoping that maybe Obama would catch a Rockies game but apparently they are in California all next week so that dream has been shattered. lame.
does it make me un-American if i am rooting for a guy from Cuba in the Olympics? how can you not pull for Dayron Robles in the hurdles? i mean, the guy wears glasses while competing. awesome. he is a hero to dorks like me. i wonder if anyone has ever called him four-eyes.
i am watching some Olympics on the ol' NBC tape delay and there was an Allison Felix sighting. i remember when she was a high schooler and was the next big thing. nice to see that she's panned out. oh, and she's hot too.
this topic came out on the NABJ Sports Task Force server today: who had a more impressive performance at the Olympics, Usain Bolt or Michael Phelps. to recap: Phelps won an Olympics-record eight gold medals in swimming while Bolt set world records while winning golds in the 100 and 200m dashes.
i will be the first to say "enough is enough" on the video shots of Phelps' mother and i think that Phelps is a doofus but still, i don't think its a debate here. do i need to say this again? Phelps won EIGHT gold medals. EIGHT!!! he not only grabbed eight gold medals (three were won in team relay races) but he set seven world records and half the time looked like he was just coasting. the 100m butterfly was the only race that it looked like he actually had to put some effort into. it's doubtful that we will ever see a performance like Phelps' again.
While Bolt blew away the competition, he did so in a watered-down field as his main competitor (Tyson Gay of the USA) didn't compete in the 200m because of an injury sustained in qualifying. Gay's injury was obviously still persistent as he didn't even make the 100m final. What Bolt did has been accomplished before and will be accomplished again. so yay but yawn. even if Bolt wins the 400m, i don't think it pushes him over Phelps who, oh yea, got eight in China.
the only reason this was brought up on the NABJ TSK server was because Bolt is black and Phelps is white. if Phelps was black, we would be dancing in the street and saying this was undoubtedly the greatest achievement in any sport ever. but since Phelps is white, i guess we are throwing our support to Bolt. i'm all for supporting the brotha but i think we run a risk when we do so while being completely ignorant and oblivious of others.
also, when i earlier posted about the Chinese gymnasts kicking the crap out of us, i talked about how the USA doesn't handle losing well and we proved it again on Wednesday (or Tuesday or whatever it was when this race was run in China). one of our guys, Wallace Spearmon, won the bronze in the 200m but was disqualified for stepping on a line. how does the USA respond? by filing an appeal against the silver medalist from the Netherlands who, on replay, also looked like he stepped on a line. yes, we filed an appeal against another runner. Churandy Martina was disqualified and Shawn Crawford, who finished fourth, ended up with a silver medal and Walter Dix, who was 5th, got a bronze because of the DQs.
seriously. U-S-A.
this is a picture of me being a badass. we took a couple pictures (the other is on Facebook) last Thursday during a photo shoot for these high schools for a twice-weekly segment called "Faces Off The Field." we were waiting for some kids from Travis to get dressed so me and a photographer were goofing off while Kelly West took some shots. i think the photos look awesome. i actually look moderately athletic.
someone who is more than moderately athletics is my lil' sister Noelle. Little Girl, who will be a freshman this year, made the sophomore volleyball team at Senior today and i am incredibly excited for her. Little Girl is awesome and i am quite happy. Senior has a great history in volleyball and hopefully Noelle will get to be a part of it for the next four years. go Broncs.
this is also the 200th post on TYC. celebrate accordingly.
i somewhat care about my appearance.i try to stay in shape (and by try, i let myself go for 5 years and am now slowly getting back to a presentable form). i kind of have a nice wardrobe although i will concede that i shop for new shirts maybe once a year and have some clothing that i wore in high school (it's a bit snug but it occasionally works). i even recently bought a $65ish pair of shoes which is even more awesome when you consider the fact that i'd rather wear my $15 Walmart tennis shoes and the $65 dress shoes are incredibly uncomfortable.but one thing i really care about is my face. i've been told i have nice eyes (sometimes i put down the glasses and wear contacts), nice lips (i kiss good ladies) and a great smile (i abuse my teeth with toothpaste). i even hear the goatee is working. topping my head is of course my hair, which has become my most recent area of obsessive care-taking.after going through my first few years of college with the 'fro look, i have been try to keep my hair short. i get my hair cut every other Wednesday and at 26 times a year at $20 a pop, that comes out to $520 that i could probably be spending elsewhere. but whatever, i like to look good.me and my barber are pretty tight and have a well-defined relationship: i treat him well ($6 of that aforementioned $20 is a tip) and he does my hair well. it's pretty simple. i've been going to Robert since probably around January and i've got to say that i really like the atmosphere of a black barbershop. it doesn't quite fit the stereotypes of the black barbershops you see on TV but it is still a cultural experience and i like it.let's face it, my hair looks good. but i was flipping through some old pictures on the Facebook (pre-Robert days) and think its pretty clear that white people don't know how to cut black people's hair. growing up in Montana, i didn't have much choice as to who was cutting my hair as the state kind of has an abundance of white people in it. i think the only black people that touched by hair was the lady who braided my hair, my dad (who usually just made me cry as he ripped through the hair tangles) and StePe (who wasn't cutting my hair, he he). getting my hair cut in Montana was always a trip as the first thing that was usually said to me as i sat down in a mall hair salon (i refuse to call those places barbershops) was "I've never done black hair before." not something that you want to hear. and since those were the words coming from the good white haircutters, just imagine what happens when you put a razor in the hands of a drunk, inexperienced white person (see above picture). i had this one barber in Missoula named Tom who did my hair every few months during my latter years in college. now don't get me wrong, Tom did a decent job and at the time, i was always satisfied. but after looking back at some pictures of my hair after Tom got through with it, i gotta say that Tom kinda did me wrong. what the crap is with those streaks of shorter hair on the sides of my head? was i a race car?and don't even get me started on the $8 haircut place in Austin. yikes.i like the way i now get my hair did. white people (namely Ian Graham) please put down the razors and clippers and stay away from it.
earlier this week, Le demanded that i write an entire post about her. instead i will post a funny picture of her and put up a link to her favorite roller-skating anthem of all time. i kid because i love my white lil' sister so peace out Cub Scout. and once again, here's that great song she loves.
as i've stated before, i'm somewhat decent on the softball diamond. i'm like Kenny Lofton but i'm much slower, i play softball and i don't play in the outfield. but yea, i am just like Kenny Lofton.
anyways, the Ball Bustas had their regular season finale yesterday and we had a simple mission, win. for the third straight season, we entered the final game with a chance to get into the playoffs if we simply got a "W." and for the third straight season, we lost our season finale and missed out on the playoffs. at least this game was moderately competitive and we lost 10-6 to a team that had entered the game with a 1-4 record.
the highlight of the game was an error by yours truly. i was pitching and up at the plate was a girl who was the last hitter in Team Yellow's lineup (we call them Team Yellow because their regular name is too long and they were wearing yellow shirts). anyways, i threw a pitch and the girl hit it... about 10 feet from home plate and up the third base line. i raced to the ball and fielded it and had an outside shot of throwing her out at first base if i just chucked it.
(side note: i have no control of my arm when i "just chuck it.")
so i fired the ball at first base and while it was the right height, it was about three feet to the right of my first baseman and it just keep rolling into the right field corner. poor Anna had to chase down the ball and by the time she had got to it and threw it in, the Team Yellow girl had scored. i turned what should have been an out (at worst, an infield single) into a solo home run by probably the worst hitter on a 1-4 team. it was a very sad display of softball.
so we lost and missed the playoffs. at post-game drinks, we decided that we would keep the team going into the fall season but the team vets voted that after three seasons of playoff-less softball, the name "Ball Bustas" needed to go. so next season Me and David (and hopefully Vanessa) will suit up under a team not named the Ball Bustas for the first time in four seasons. so its the end of an era i guess but i do like the suggestions for a new name ("Danny and the Glovers," "Sunflowers and Lillies" or something dealing with the band LFO) so i think i will enjoy the new era just as much. holla.
oh yea, this really wouldn't be appropriate for the Olympic post so we'll make it a two-post day. the newspaper i work at is being sold. it's too early i guess to really comment on this because nothing is expected to be finalized until next April. but with the way that the industry is right now, there will be some obvious unease in the newsroom for a while.
also when you look at the comments on the story that is linked above, it seems that people hate the Statesman. but by commenting on our stories, i guess they are still reading our content and thus upping our circulation numbers so i guess the joke is on them.
i haven't talked much about the Olympics, so here is a quick rundown before we get to the main subject: if the USA doesn't win the gold in basketball, that would be disgraceful... this is the last year for Olympic softball and baseball, which is disappointing because softball was the one sport we could guarantee a gold in... the Michael Phelps thing got a lot more exciting with the Mark Spitz controversy... Shawn Johnson is simply adorable, i want to take her and plant her in the ground and grow 10 of her.
speaking of Johnson, yesterday i mentioned that i was watching the USA whoop on on China in female gymnastics. yea, well that didn't happen. last night, Alicia Sacramone fell more often than some drunk girl at 2 a.m. on 6th street and it costs us after China had left us a chance to get back into the gold medal hunt. she apparently has no balance but she is pretty hot.
of course, we (the USA) aren't going to handle this maturely. NBC commentator Bela Karolyi (who just happens to be married to the head of the gymnastics team, no biased coverage there) threw out the claim that the China team is made up a bunch of 10-year-olds which is illegal since the minimal age for gymnastics is 16. this claim, of course, was just based on him just looking at the team... and being a bitter old man that just saw his woman's team get worked.
then the Mrs. came out and claimed that a delay between the balance beams and the floor routine caused Sacramone's fall during the floor routine. so assume this is correct and let me get this straight... Sacramone just performed on the balance beam and has been waiting her entire life for this minute and it's an addition five minutes that caused her to choke? what about those Chinese girls who performed before the USA in the balance beam and then had to go after them on the floor routine... that delay didn't seem to hurt them.
in other words, China kicked our butts. let's try to act somewhat grown up about it. go U-S-A.
i actually turned on the Olympics tonight and have kept on the TV. i've seen a couple swim races and now i am watching gymnastics. China is starting to choke on the balance beam so go U-S-A. our pocket-sized girls can beat the crap out of your pocket-sized girls any day of the week. boom. but i'll probably do my actual Olympics blog tomorrow.
the big news today: it's been about a week since i started but i think that i might continue to grow a goatee. the facial hair growth needs to go down because i have heard from one too many people that i look like i have the face of a 12-year-old. now my goatee is never going to reach Delmoe-esque levels (pictured above) but we'll see how it goes. maybe i'll look more studly. ladies, what do you think?
as was announced yesterday on the Facebook, i have been on a bit of a soda binge for the past week. the sudden addiction reached a new low this weekend as i think i've consumed about 10 cans of soda over a two-day period. my weapon of choice? Diet Dr. Pepper with an occasional Mountain Dew or Sprite. i have yet to delve back into the orange soda but i feel that inevitable turn will happen soon.
i don't usually drink soda because it doesn't have any health benifit and the crap ruins teeth and being as my smile is the only thing i have going for me, well, it's wise to stay away from the stuff. i've been able to stay clear of the stuff for the past five or six years but every once in a while i go on a week-long bender and i need to find a way to ween myself off the crap. so maybe i just need to find some Nalgene bottles, fill them up with water and duct tape them to my hands, thus hindering my abilities to drink soda while at the same time keeping me plenty refreshed. the only problem with this plan is i guess it would somewhat make it difficult to do my job if i didn't have use of my hands. hmm.
on another note, i don't understand why girls are attracted to douchebags. there i said it. i have a lot of close relationships with women and the underlying theme with a lot of their relationships seems to be that the guys they date are complete tools (except, i will state that i think I like Le's boyfriend of the past year or so more than i like her). i know i am going to get in trouble here because "You don't know him like I do," but c'mon. there has been one certain example over the past week that has been driving me nuts and i almost wanted to scream twice in the past two days because of it. i know i'm not the biggest catch in the world but it boggles my mind that these guys are getting playing time while i am on the sidelines (yes, it's football season so most of my analogies are going to reflect on that). and it's not that i want to be with these girls but i do care for them (maybe in some cases, too much. and yes, i get it, i'm unnecessarily overprotective) but i do think that they deserve the best and i don't see why they want to put themselves in these situations. but maybe that's just me and maybe i am have become that tool that i frown upon for thinking like that.
to close, apparently Cesar Chavez is now fully a two-way street. i will undoubtedly be avoiding it for the next month because that just seems like an accident waiting to happen.
i opened up the CNN homepage when i got to the Dell Diamond today and what is the main story? soul legend Issac Hayes is dead at 65. a lot of people know Hayes from him lending his voice to the Shaft theme song and he even made a guest appearance on the Fresh Prince. i was introduced to Hayes when he was voicing the character of Chef on South Park and i was not too happy when he left the show in 2006. it's a sad loss for the entertainment industry.
so Hayes is dead and Bernie Mac died yesterday. they say that celebrities die in waves of three (over a span of 10 days) and this round sadly seems to be the Famous African-Americans edition. yea, i am going to pretty nervous for Denzel's sake for the next eight days.
comedian Bernie Mac died today at the age of 50 after a bout of pneumonia. Mac was rumored to have died last week but i guess this time its legit. Mac wasn't my favorite comic but he was good as an Original King of Comedy and i always thought The Bernie Mac Show was underrated. i actually got to catch a few episodes of that show while we were chilling in our hotel room in Chicago (ironically, Mac's hometown), it was a good show.
Mac also starred in a bunch of movies and one of the roles that isn't going to be mentioned during the slew of tributes that are about to hit the media circuit was when he played Mitch Gilliam in the 2003 movie Head of State, which also starred Chris Rock. i watched that movie (yes, its no Denzel flick and yes, i own it) about four months ago and couldn't help think about how much it reminded me of the current election. young black politician runs on a platform preaching hope and change (but with no real substance) against an aging white politician who is running solely on his experience and love for America ((when i first saw the movie, i thought Hillary fit this role but now that it's Obama v. McCain, this analogy really fits). spoiler alert: the ticket of Rock/Mac wins. another spoiler alert: Obama is going to win in November. sometimes life does imitate art.
in other news, my old Kaiminite Dianne Bentz was in town this weekend with her boyfriend, brother and friend (side note: her brother was one of two people i wrote up by myself during the 2005-06 school year). her parents live in town and they hosted a BBQ with some great food and then a group of us hung out on 6th street and went on a tour that included stops at Buffalo Billiards, Cheers and Mike's Piano Bar. there was also a Leslie sighting (pictures to eventually come on Facebook) and i somehow inhaled some stray pepper spray as i walked by a club on my way back to Maria. but all-in-all, it was an excellent night and it was good to see Dianne again.
and while one Kaiminite was hanging out for the weekend, another was leaving. yes, the intern days of William Oram are over and he left town today to drive back to Oregon with his dad. while there was some drama and fielding errors, it was a pretty good summer with William and now i look forward to seeing what he does with the Kaimin in this year.
i just walked into the house from the 7 p.m. showing of The Dark Knight and after doing some basic chores (pouring a glass of water and changing into the PJ pants), i am ready to blog about the experience.
i will start by saying that i have seen probably five movies in Austin (Ratatouille, Rush Hour 3, American Gangster, Hancock and Get Smart) and i have seen all of those movies at two theaters on the south end of town. one is at the Barton Creek mall and the other is off of 270. we switched it up and watched the Dark Knight at a Tinseltown theater in Pflugerville that is a mile or two away from my apartment. don't go there. first off, the decor (stars everywhere) just drove me nuts, the chairs were craptastic and for some reason there was a power outage right in the middle of the movie causing a rather unfortunately three minute delay. very odd.
onto the movie review.
honestly, i thought the movie was a bit of a disappointment. not like a Napoleon Dynamite (not funny) or No Country For Old Men (best picture, you have got to be kidding me) disappointment but more like a Spider-Man 3 disappointment in the sense that the ticket numbers were so great that you expected a great movie and it just wasn't a great movie. it was a good movie and i certainly don't feel like i necessarily wasted my $8.50 but i'm not going to be rushing to Best Buy to get this movie when it comes out on DVD. in short, Batman's only real weakness is hype. and now that i think about it, if i were stuck with $20 and i could only buy one DVD and i had to choose between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, i'd go with Batman Begins without much hesitation.
let's talk about the casting.
Christian Bale makes a great Bruce Wayne and i would say the same about his act in a Batman suit but that Batman voice is pretty damn annoying. Maggie Gylenwhocares was blah, Katie Holmes made a much better Rachael Dawes. Morgan Freeman was, as always, awesome. Aaron Eekhart was oh k.
but the performances of those actors aren't why people have dropped over $400 million to see the Dark Knight over the past three weeks or so. there was that Heath Ledger guy, maybe you've heard about him. i wasn't digging the first 45 minutes of his performance but after the film got rolling (i'd say it really got going after that sick truck flip), Ledger was brilliant. b-r-i-l-l-a-n-t. if he ends up getting nominated for a Best Supporting Actor award at the Oscars, nobody should fuss. Ledger's Joker was probably the cruelest and best villain ever (eat that Anton Chigurh) and that was with a PG-13 rating which meant most of his actual kills were implied and not shown. i can't imagine the pencil trick had the movie been slapped with an "R" rating. on a side note, if you actually let a 13--year-old see this movie, you're a bad parent.
Ledger's final scene was great and you could tell that they were setting up a sequel, a sequel that unfortunately won't happen because, well, he's dead. but i guess if you are going to go out, this is a good way to good out, Ledger was that good. if Warner Bros. decides to cast anyone else as the Joker in the next 10 years in an attempt to get some more money, they will competely ruin the Batman franchise.
there is my review of The Dark Knight. want a shorter version: it's good and Heath Ledger was amazing. just don't think you're going to see the best movie of your life because Philadelphia this wasn't (it wasn't even Remember the Titans).
now its off to bed where i will undoubtedly dream that i'm a superhero.
it's technically Tuesday night but since its after midnight i guess we can consider this my Wednesday post. but i will probably post again on Wednesday night but we'll explain that in a few paragraph or so.
first off, one of my old college friends is trying to fulfill a dream of hers and is trying out for the Phoenix Suns so you should go vote for her (she's the last one on the third row). apparently she is one of 32 finalists for 16 spots and fan voting factors in the final decision. Callie is pretty much the reason i fell in love with the UM dance team back in the day and as Ian Graham once pointed out, the Kaimin arts department creepily appreciated her dancing skillz too. so yea, vote.
i rented two movies on iTunes three weeks ago (a few days before i went to LA) and since apparently my iPod isn't new enough to store rented movies, i finally got around to watching them today, which is good since they were set to expire in 10 days or something. i have gotta say, this movie rental idea on iTunes is genius, i will never set foot into a Blockbuster again... unless i have a girlfriend and she isn't all about crowding around my computer screen to watch the latest Denzel Washington flick.
the two movies were Juno and Batman Begins. i watched Batman Begins first but we'll start with Juno. Juno was a pretty good, cute and enjoyable film but was it "Best Picture" worthy? i don't think so. Ellen Page delivered a fine performance and so did J.K. Simmons but Jason Bateman was kinda creepy. i have the biological clock of a 45-year-old single woman but, strangely, i wasn't yearning to have a kid after watching this movie but whatev, it was still fun to watch.
Batman Begins was AWESOME!!! AWESOME!!! and i am going to The Dark Knight tomorrow night (well, technically tonight). AWESOME!!! i am so excited! stay tuned for my review of the Dark Knight but i will just tell you now that i am expecting it to consist of the same seven capital letters and three symbols that this one did... AWESOME!!!
if you don't know who that lady is in the picture above, then you probably do not follow sports. at all. that is, of course, Ms. Erin Andrews of ESPN fame and homegirl has got herself into a little bit of trouble recently.
last week, the Cubs and Brewers squared off in a big four-game series but the news coming out of the series was less about the Cubbies' sweep and more about the way Andrews conducted herself in the clubhouse. after that story was released, some Milwaukee folks got on the anti-Andrews bandwagon and we even got to read Jay Mariotti defending Andrews which is odd that he'd talk about something that happened in a clubhouse being as, ya know, he's too lazy to leave the press box. oddly enough, ESPN has not addressed the debacle on any of its afternoon talk shows but i guess that shouldn't surprise anyone since ESPN is notorious for being unable to handle criticism.
i have some conflicting views on this one. on one hand, Erin Andrews has never been and should never be considered a journalist. she isn't one so we should just stop acting like she is one. she didn't go to journalism school at Florida (her degree is in telecommunications) but she was a dancer on the UF basketball dance team. yes, Andrews has an much journalistic credibility as Paula Abdul.
i am not saying that sideline reporters can't be journalist, you can just look at my boy David Aldridge to refute that idea. but Aldridge has a very impressive resume and while he is probably more famous for his TV work, he still worked at the Philly Inquirer and Washington Post. what has Andrews done? she asks good questions and does her job well but she is essentially a fan with a microphone. simply put, Erin Andrews is a TV personality and, let's face it, she has gotten pretty far based on the way she looks. i mean anytime this picture makes you more famous than anything you've reported on, then, well, maybe that says something about your career. it is what it is.
there is also an anti-ESPN bias in the business because if you can say "Joe Smoe, ESPN" you are going to get great access whether you are Erin Andrews, Pedro Gomez or Hefty Smurf. the bigger the name, the greater the access and it happens on every level. and even if those loyal beat writers who are with their respective teams everyday don't like it, that's how it goes.
but with all that being said, Andrews and ESPN need to have a better understanding of the parties they are crashing. her outfit at the center of the most recent hullabaloo wasn't skanky but it also wasn't appropriate. it's never appropriate to be flirty with a player and there has been enough stories about Andrews to believe that people aren't just making this accusation up. even if she isn't a real-life journalist, she needs to grow up and start acting professional. she is making a joke of herself and of women in general in the sports reporting industry, many of which do an excellent job and do it the right way.
there are enough roadblocks that female journalists have to conquer in the world of sports journalism. Erin Andrews shouldn't be one of them.
every once and again, a man steps up to the plate and does something so incredible that he instantly become a god among mortals. yea, that did not happen on Monday afternoon.
last Thursday after he ate a triple cheeseburger, a lemon pie, a large fry, a large soda and a milkshake at What-A-Burger (yes, in one sitting), i challenged William Oram to the Freebirds Challenge. pretty much he had to eat a Super Monster burrito over the course of lunch. today, the challenge was attempted and William Oram finished off that bad boy in 24 surprisingly quick minutes (he had 32 to eat it).
the beginning of William's journey is pictured above so you can imagine how big the burrito was but let me paint an even better picture for you. two huge wheat tortillas, scooploads of rice and black beans, a few squirts of BBQ sauce and sour cream and let's not forget the mixed cheese and a decent amount of dark chicken. to be fair, William was thinking healthy and got some mixed veggies on his burrito. the total damage: $12.80ish for me, 2,837 calories for him (according to the Freebirds nutritional menu).
i am unsure whether to be incredibly disgusted or somewhat impressed with this feat. sadly, there was no massive applause when William finished off his burrito and the two cute girls at the table next to us didn't even throw a glance our way that wasn't a "we're way out of your league" look. i figured that if William completed the challenge he would pick up some sort of Freebirds groupie but apparently the ladies don't find stuffing your mouth with burrito deliciousness all that appealing.
so ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you to the What-A-Burger/Freebirds eating champion of the world: William Oram. please mock him accordingly.
i really should be sleeping now but i'm not. i'm at the point where i am kind of tired (i have yawned twice since i started writing this blog, all 31 words of it so far) but still awake enough that i know i will lay in bed for at least the next 30 minutes before i fall asleep. so to kill time and hopefully lull me into a state of sleep induced unconsciousness, i will blog for a bit and i will blog in a random fashion. buckle up.
random thing #1: tomorrow at 11 a.m., i will be at LBJ High School to conduct my first interviews of the 2008 football season. the Jags have practice tomorrow so i will be stopping by to do some video work and to do a Q&A for a story that will run on Sunday. technically, i guess football season started for me on Friday because i went to a banquet and interviewed a bunch of local prepsters for a multimedia thing that will hopefully be up on the website early this week. but even though i went to that luncheon, i won't feel like practice has technically begun until i am at a practice field in the sweltering heat.
i really can't explain how excited and pumped about football season. it is ridiculously time consuming but it's worth it and honestly, i love the frantic pace that i'll be on until December. i love covering the games and just witnessing the atmosphere that the (steady yourself for an area-based cliche) Friday Night Lights bring to stadiums throughout Texas. also there are honestly at least 3,000 stories to tell regarding players in Central Texas and i am looking forward to telling as many as possible.
random thing #2: i have talked about something that i am excited about. do you know what i am not excited about? moving. i am set to move into my new place in less than three weeks but i am starting to pack right now since the next three weeks will be complete chaos with the football season kicking into full gear. i am not looking forward to figuring out a way to get my bed across town. Maria isn't too pumped about that dilemma either.
random thing #3: what was the best Spider-Man movie? 1, 2, or 3? i vote for the dos.
random thing #4: Friday was National Sister's Day or something and so i shot my sisters both some love. i realized that i don't tell either of them how much i love and appreciate them nearly enough. i should work on that.
random thing #5: maybe it's because one of my friends puts up a wedding album on the Facebook or maybe it's because i'm an 11-year-old girl trapped in a 23-year-old man's body but i have been thinking about marriage a lot lately. more importantly, i've been thinking about who would be my groomsmen? obviously, Cameron gets the top billing and then one spot would be taken by a bride's selection since i would insist that Le would be one of her bridesmaids. i think Christopher would also be a groomsman since he actually lived with me and neither of us died. that and we have an unbreakable bond because of Horatio Caine.
after that trio there would be a good list of candidates including Ian (best Kaimin friend), Brian Sloan (he's known me longer than anyone) and Bill the Intern (better friend than shortstop). i guess my brother would also be considered for a wedding that won't happen for another 16 years because well, he's my brother.
sadly, no one that lives in Austin is on my list which is kind of sad. i really haven't made any real close guy friends here in Austin even though i have been here for over 14 months now. John fits the description of a close friend but is he more of an Austin friend or a Billings friend? hmmm. i also don't have any close friends who are African-American which is something that i find kind of odd.
but i guess i have plenty of time to figure out these problems being as i am nowhere near the altar. fittingly, i am nowhere near having a girlfriend and (bringing this blog back to its first random subject) i am probably six months away from having time to devote to anybody who doesn't throw around a football. i am seriously going to be spending enough time at various high schools that i might just get invited to one of their dances. maybe they'll play a better song than what was the last song at our Prom.
random thing #6: while we are on the subject of high school, i sent a postcard to my sister today. Little Girl will be starting high school at the end of the month and i pointed out that its been nine years (and like 50 pounds) since i started high school. i feel pretty old which is ironic since i apparently have an 11-year-old with a wedding notebook running my psyche.
alright, that's it. i have about three or four more random things to talk about (looks like the Oregon t-shirt diet didn't make the cut again. sorry Bill) but i need to get some sleep. FOOTBALL SEASON STARTS TOMORROW!!!
i am a little bit OCD and so this morning when most people were exercising, watching cartoons/MTV re-runs or eating breakfast, i was re-arranging my Facebook photo albums. why? because i title my albums like a book so each album looks like "Chapter XX: Catchy Title That Has Something To Do With The Album." the only problem was that the albums had gotten out of order over the past few months because of random updates to them so albums like Chapters 17 (the signs one) and 4 (the original Billings one) were ahead of the high-teen chapters and some of the 20s.
so i spent the morning rearranging my albums by deleting a photo and then reentering it into the album. this took about an hour but i got the job done. the only problem was that i had to rearrange 24 albums (the first three albums were fine) so whenever one of my friends opens up their Facebook page today, they are going to click on the "photos" button and the 24 most recently updated photo albums are all going to belong to me. and in 22 of those albums, i didn't even technically add a photo. the worst part was one of my friends just got married and put up her albums a few minutes before i started my rearranging assignment... so instead of our mutual friends first being directed to the albums of her marital bliss, they are instead going to be treating to 24 albums of my OCD in high gear. sheesh.
outside of online photo albums, intramural softball and people watching, i think one of my favorite leisurely activities can be found in the history books. yes, i am a huge history nerd. i am three credits short of a history major and the only reason i started taking the classes at UM in the first place was i just wanted a hobby and something to occasionally distract me from my journalism classes.
i love American trivia and i am all about any game regarding state capitols. once during my senior year of college, i entered a pub trivia with some fellow Kaiminites and i was completely worthless through most of the competition... until the category came to First Ladies and i got all 10 questions right. history is just fun and interesting and i love learning about the past. i would much rather read a book on African-American history than any garbage that John Grisham puts out on a yearly basis (how many law-themed books can this man write?).
anyways, the past two paragraphs about my obsession about the past has a point. this morning the Statesman ran a story about the city honoring some folks who played the role of hero during the UT Tower tragedy during the 60s. i didn't know anything about UT Tower so i Wikipedia'd Charles Whitman and looked into the Statesman archives. while that whole event was pretty messed up, i found it to be a fascinating read and a pretty compelling tidbit of local history.
i think i am going to try to learn more about the history of Austin. while i am sure there aren't a lot more crazy UT Tower-like events in the history books, there still has to be plenty of interesting things for me to learn. and since i am going to be here in the heart of Texas for a while, i should probably learn a thing or two about the area that i now call home. so i guess in the next couple of days i should attempt to find the local library because i guess that would be a good place to start.
so we had our annual office fantasy football draft and since it's a bid draft it took a little more than 4 1/2 hours to complete. but it's completed. i went to the semi-finals last year (prize = $50 check) and will be looking to improve on that finish this year. so yes, here's the roster that i spent nearly the last five hours putting together. since we had a $50 salary cap, their salary/winning bid is in parentheses.
