horns down, i'm sending my kids to College Station

i was reading on the Statesman tonight and there was an interesting article about Texas A&M and a tuition plan it is implementing to help lower-to-middle class families. in short, if you are in a family that is making $60,000 or less, you are eligible to apply for free tuition. i'm sure there are some stipulations and all that jazz but i don't see UT, UM or University of Anywhere Else giving an offer like this so i kind of like it. hopefully me and the mrs. will be making more than a combined $60,000 but if we aren't, this will be a nice option for lil' Brooklyn, Rooster and Kermit Davis.

if anything at least the kids will get to experience a great football town for free. i know this will upset some of my loyal Longhorn readers, but i don't care what anybody says, Kyle Field is a much nicer stadium than Darrell K. Royal. not even close. i've covered college games at both (and a few high school games at Kyle) and the experience at the A&M game was incredible. covering the UT game this year was cool but i wasn't awestruck or amazed at all while in College Station i was because that atmosphere was something else. it's a shame their football team is so awful but at least their fans have gotten to enjoy a Longhorn beating the last few years.

we'll end this night on a musical note. the iPod was on shuffle the other night and this song by Brian McKnight came on and i remembered how much i love this song and that it had to be in my top 10 slow jams of all time. well i archived TYC and found out... that it did make my list of the top 15 love songs of all time, landing at #4 on the V-Day savvy list. well, i found this acoustic version on the YouTube and it's pretty great so find that special someone of yours, turn up your computer and dance the night (well, next 3 minutes and 33 seconds) away.

making sure early that my nephew will be a Griz

i was reading this odd story on SI.com today and it made me think that this might be the most worthless class ever. then i remembered that i was forced to take health class all through junior high and in parts of high school and i had to definitively call that the most worthless class ever.

moving on. for those of you that don't know, i am set to become an uncle any day now. Alyssa is due on the 15th of October but they believe the baby might be early so i could honestly have a nephew any day now. being as the baby is a-coming, i had to begin preparing for my role in the kid's life... and start spoiling him with crap that he doesn't need.

i went online shopping today and with the help of Le and Erika i picked out a onesie (is it lame for a guy to say "onesie"?) to include in the package i am putting together in preparation for the birth. but this just wasn't any clothing, this was Montana Grizzly clothing. yes, that's right, i am going to make sure that kid is raised a Grizzly.

both my sister and Andrew (the baby's father) are in the Navy right now so neither has had a chance to go to college yet. so neither has an Alma matter to force the kid to pledge his allegiance to so i will volunteer mine, since i do not yet have any kids to torture with the Grizzly fight song (actual lyrics found here, not that they are any less embarrassing that what that kid was singing). when i was growing up, my uncle lived outside of Dallas so for every holiday imaginable (birthday, Thanksgiving, Easter, Christmas, siblings' birthday... and no, i am not kidding on any of those), we would get Cowboys gear. the nephew can expect the same treatment but instead of Cowboy blue, he will be showered often in Grizzly maroon.

speaking of the Griz, we are not only 4-0 but we have had no arrests since the season started so i think things are going pretty damn well in Missoula.

Slump-busting: The Britney Spears edition

my Cleveland Browns were in a slump and i think i was to blame, so i took some dramatic actions this weekend. first off, as you can see in this picture, for the last year or so, my Braylon Edwards bobblehead doll was hanging out on my desk at work with the likes of Britney Spears. was is a coincidence that Braylon had eight catches and no touchdowns through the first three games while hanging out with a doll who, while dressed like the heartbreaker who had previous hits like this and this, had been turning out crap like this for the past year or so? i think not.

so i removed Britney from Braylon. now Braylon hangs out by himself while Britney is chilling out with my Thriller album cover. because, honestly, Mike can't be in a bigger slump than he already is so what harm can Britney do?

i also did not wear my Braylon Edwards jersey on Sunday for the first time this season. the result of the wardrobe change and desk rearrangement? a 20-12 win by the Browns (1-3) and Edwards had three catches for 22 yards and the game-winning touchdown. point, Davis. go Browns.

coming to a computer screen near you: NBC TV!

oh k, here we go with the third and final post of this Sunday and its about a subject that is near and dear to me: TV. i'm guessing Blair will probably comment on this subject and she's likely a better source since she works there but i am going to give my take on the KXAN/Time Warner controversy.

now this is a subject that you likely aren't going to care about unless you live in Texas but i guess it's a big deal. in short, KXAN (Austin's NBC affiliate) is having a contract issue with Time Warner (who provides my cable) and if the advertisements are correct is set to go off the air on Thursday if a contract isn't reached. according to KXAN, the beef stems from Time Warner not giving the station a fair price while TimeWarner is arguing that LIN, KXAN's parent company, is trying to charge them an outragous price. Diane Holloway of the Statesman ran a good piece about it, which likely explains it better than i ever will.

LIN was in a similar dispute earlier this year with a smaller cable provider Suddenlink. Suddenlink dropped KXAN at the beginning of the year, picked up another NBC affiliate and eventually reached a contract agreement three months later.

if you ask me, my guess is TimeWarner wins this battle because it seems to me that KXAN needs TimeWarner more than TimeWarner needs KXAN. TimeWarner has over 300,000 local subsribers so my guess is if KXAN loses those households, they are going to lose a lot of advertising dollars because their ad rates are going to plummet. and while NBC does host great shows like The Office, 30 Rock and Heroes, those shows are also available online so i would imagine that people would be more inclined to just watch those shows on their computers than go through the hassle of switching cable providers.

the one thing that could get people to want to switch providers is the fact that people are very loyal to the local news they watch (i, for one, will not watch any national news except for the CBS Evening News, no matter how awful Katie Couric is). however, this contract dispute comes at the worst time as KXAN is going through a very public anchor turnover so people might not be as inclined to be loyal as they will not be completely used to a Valles-less newscast by October 2.

hopefully this thing gets figured out by Thursday but my guess is that TimeWarner will probably pull KXAN for a while. i doubt the outage will last as long as the Suddenlike one (Suddenlink has only 30,000 customers) but i wouldn't be shocked if i was NBC-less for a week or two. luckily, i only watch one show on that channel (The Office) but if TimeWarner was to pull the plug on KEYE (the CBS affiliate), i might just lose my mind.

let's debate about McCain and Obama debating

since i will be holed up in my apartment all day watching football and monitoring my fantasy football teams all day (in 2008, my four teams are a combined 10-2) so today is going to be a THREE-POST DAY!!! we've already gotten the underaged drinking post out of the way and the final post will be about the KXAN mess. but the meat of this Sunday blog sandwich is, of course, politics.

the job kind of keeps me from watching presidential debates on a Friday night so since once actually happened this week, i watched it on DVR today. let me hit you up my review.

• first off, if you were playing the Jim Lehrer drinking game (nearly as popular as beer pong on most college campuses) and you took a drink every time he insisted that the candidates talk to each other, you were likely drunk four minutes into the debate. i think Lehrer was hoping for McCain to give Obama a nasty glare and for Obama to counter with a hard right jab. news flash Jim: the reason they are talking to the cameras is because the people on the other end of the cameras are the ones they are trying to get to vote for them. i don't think if McCain looked Obama in the eye all debate that Barack is going to come out tomorrow and pledge his support to the McCain/Palin ticket.
• McCain gave a Montana shout-out. but i don't think it was a good shout-out because it was something about bear DNA and i don't think he was talking about our football team barely beating some D-II patsy yesterday.
• i think Barack Obama could sell John McCain a car. in fact, maybe he did sell McCain one of the 44 cars he already owns.
• Chris Rock has ben stumping a lot for Obama lately as he promotes his new HBO special. McCain doesn't need a celebrity comedian because he's got jokes, kids. his wisecrack about Obama being the most liberal senator (wasn't that John Kerry four years) and being unable to reach across the isle that far to the left got a chuckle from Obama. but McCain also did pause to laugh at his joke for a 1/2 second and laughing at one's own jokes is kind of lame.
• i had to hit the rewind button once, and that was to make sure that Obama did indeed use the word "orgy" in an argument. awesome.
• i'm was most impressed with the fact that McCain was able to stay awake during the entire debate. i was also impressed with the candidates actually debating about who's bracelet was more important. balla.
• was i the only one that started imagining Spiderman, Batman and the Ninja Turtles being a part of the "League of Democracies" that McCain was touting?
• random (yes useless) fact learned: the average South Korean is three inches taller than the average North Korean. if i ever end up on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire and that question comes us, i am using John McCain as a lifeline.
• it was Barack Obama that needed to "win" this debate, not John McCain. John McCain is a horrible public speaker so no matter what happened on Friday, he could fall back on that. Obama, on the other hand, is the one that can speak and is the one that has limited experience and is the one who could best use this stage as a way to communicate his vision with the masses (and by masses, the ones who were spending their Friday nights watching two adults argue like children). honestly, i think this one was a wash when you look at the substance and not the style. both candidates did a decent job of slamming the other's platform. Barack did a better job delivering his message but his weakness with foreign policies was exposed. McCain's weakness is probably the economy and since ours is apparently going to crap right now, that was a much-talked about subject and he really wasn't oozing confidence on that subject so point, Obama on that one.
• and of course, both candidates got a lot wrong (what would a debate be without a lot of straight-up bullshit?) so you can sort through the mess here.

so that's that. the next presidential debate is October 7 in Nashville (i've been there!!!) while Beauty and the Biden go at it next week (on Thursday, which is also the brother's birthday) in the Veep debate (note: if my boy Biden can't just wax the floor with Palin, they should probably just concede the election then and there).

in the meanwhile, here is an interesting article about how Black America is responding to Obama's run and their fear over the chances of him losing. the theme of hope is sprinkled throughout the piece but a disturbing amount of paranoia is beginning to sprout up. a good read.

they should raise the drinking age to 40

first off, read my story that ran on Friday because it was a pretty fun piece to write and i think that the entire package (story, photos and video) out well.

after you get done with my story, you should read this interesting story that was published today in the ol' Billings Gazette because i think its a subject worth talking about. i remember the "lowering the drinking age to 18" debate being a hot topic in Mock Congress during my senior year of high school and five years later, i have the same viewpoint: dumb, dumb, DUMB idea.

my argument is simple: i am 23-years-old and i barely think i am mature enough to legally handle alcohol so i don't really think 18-year-olds should be able to get their hands on the liquid gold.

i spent three years as an RA and saw the effect alcohol has on freshmen students and i'd like to think that the effect was somewhat subdued because of the fact they were 18 (thus making alcohol tougher to get and there was always that fear of getting caught) so i can hardly imagine the debauchery if they could legally buy it. 18-year-olds are morons. period. they are just out on their own, establishing themselves as adults and the last thing they need is an accelerant towards failure. college freshmen go nuts enough as it is (after my first semester as an RA i lost like 12 or 13 of my 40 residents who had to drop out because of poor grades) and i'd hate to see what it would look like if they didn't have to sneak around with the alcohol.

i drank before i was 21 (see above picture) and i can safely say that most of the dumbest alcohol-related situations i've gotten myself into occurred before my 21st birthday. i wasn't mature enough to grasp the concept of moderation and back then, drinking was less about being social and more about getting "WASTED!!!" and "HAMMERED!!!!" and "BUCKWILD!!!!" i wasn't mature enough then, i am barely mature enough now.

but my biggest problem with lowering the drinking age is the whole high school thing. now don't get me wrong, i know there is drinking in high school but i also don't believe that it's as crazy as some Hollywood scenes would make you believe. in order to drink in high school, you've either got to have some parents who don't lock up the liquor cabinet or an older sibling who doesn't care. in short, it's not impossible to get alcohol but it's not incredibly easy either.

but if 18-year-olds are allowed to drink, then that changes everything. now alcohol is introduced to a community of people that date and have friends who are, sometimes, four years younger than them. i don't think 23 and 18-year-olds are mature enough to drink, do you know who i really don't think is mature enough to drink? 14-year-old freshmen. i'd rather Little Girl at least make it to college because she is introduced to alcoholism.

the one argument that always comes up is the "If I can fight for my country, then I should be able to buy a beer" argument. i hate this argument because the people that argue it are the people who aren't going to war (also the reason why i hate war protesters but that's another story for another day). does anyone actually know someone in the armed services that can't actually get their hands on some alcohol? before she actually turned 21 (and, well, got all prego), i think Alyssa (Navy sister) had easier access to alcohol than i did and i was the one who could actually drink. yea, it might suck that some 19-year-old soldier can't get into The Dizzy Rooster on his leave but the kid isn't going dry.

second dumbest argument for lowering the drinking age: people are going to do it anyways. that's true but guess what? people are going to continue stealing crap, should we make that legal too? just because people are doing things doesn't mean they should be considered right.

to wrap up my opinion, kids are stupid and should be stuck drinking apple juice.

did you get jiggy on Will Smith's birthday?

it's late in the day so we will keep it short with this evening's highlights. first off, the softball team didn't do too great so we're 0-4 now. the good news is i didn't act like a four-year-old this week and argue with the umpire.

second, Little Girl took a page from my old playbook and ran for class office and i am now the proud older brother of the class treasurer for the Class of 2012. she even beat me to the punch because i lost the elections for class office by freshman and sophomore year before making it to STUCO for my final two years. so yes, Little Girl is becoming a high school socialite like her older brother but as she is quick to point out, she is nothing like me because when it comes to sports she "actually plays." yes, Little Girl knows how to hit 'em where it hurts. ouch.

thirdly, The Office season premiere = awesome. however, it turns out that CSI doesn't debut until the second Thursday in October so you can imagine my disappointment when i got home and an episode from last season was on my DVR. i will slowly recover.

finally, it's Will Smith's birthday today so we'll leave you with this classic. and by classic, i think i am the only one who has this song memorized. and yes, i'm very proud of it.

where is my "I'm Black & Straight" People cover?

the trend yesterday? being gay. has-been Clay Aiken came out of the closet with a Lance Bass-like People Magazine cover. what!?! Clay Aiken is gay!?! you're telling me the guy who sang masterpieces like this isn't pulling lots of female tail!?! shocker. also, in news that surprised everyone (no one), Lindsay Lohan finally admitted that she is dating another female. although, by the looks of it, i'm still not convinced that Sam Ronson doesn't have a penis. but that relationship does give me hope because it proves that LoLo loves herself some ugly people so maybe i have some hope still if Lindsay ever comes back to this side of the fence. holla.

i bring up this subject because it's another interesting angle towards the whole gay rights argument. first off, i think gays should have all the rights that everyone else does. they should be able to marry, go to war, adopt and eat ice cream. period. in terms of marriage, i think straight people have screwed up the whole sanctity of marriage deal so i don't know how much harm gay people can supposedly do. when it comes to adoption, i'd rather have a kid adopted by two loving dads then have that kid wander through the system unloved and unwanted for 18 years.

when it comes down to it, this guy is no different that this guy and that's why the Clay Aiken People magazine cover bothers me. who the hell cares that some C-list celebrity came out of the closet? you're gay, so what? why is this worth putting on a magazine shelf? so, you want equal rights but you want to be splashed across the tabloids because you're gay? last time i checked, that's not very equal to either the straight folks or the other minority groups. does Kanye have a People Magazine cover saying "I'm Black"? where is the "I'm Straight" cover for Justin Timberlake (we can combine them with the other members of N'SYNC and make a commemorative edition)?

in other words, i think it's incredibly hypocritical for the homosexual community to expect us to care that they're gay but then not care that they're gay when it comes to topics like marriage and adoption. you can't have it both ways homie. people shouldn't care about who is gay and who is straight because 99% of the time it has no impact on people's everyday happenings. there are bigger things to deal with.

while we are on the subject, i will say the one thing that pisses me off is when the homosexual community equates their struggle to that of the civil rights movement. they are nothing alike so shut your mouth. yea, not being able to marry sucks but you can talk to me when you aren't allowed to marry certain people, vote, eat at some restaurants, use some restrooms, live in some neighborhoods, attend some universities and you know, live a normal life. these two struggles are not even close to being the same and it pisses me off to no end when people try to compare them.

anyways, today is a two-blog day. check back later for my thoughts on the financial crisis.

i do not listen to Josh Groban's smooth sounds

the EMMYs were last night and i've got to admit... i didn't watch them. i was too busy watching the end of the Cowboys/Packers game (it had huge fantasy football significance) and the final out of the final game at Yankees Stadium (if you don't like Sinatra, you probably should have watched the post-game festivities on mute). but by all accounts, the EMMYs last night sucked. but i did find some highlights... like this one. and that one. (which included a reminder of why that Ryan Seacrest should be doing stand-up. he's hilarious. and by hilarious, i mean as funny as an orphanage fire).

but the best moment was this one which featured crooner Josh Groban treating the crowd to a medley of TV theme songs ranging from Happy Days to Two And A Half Men. a good arrangement but where was the Full House? the Family Matters!?! THE COSBY SHOW!?!?! i mean, there were a crapload of seasons to pick from (granted, there aren't any lyrics but i'm sure Bill would have appreciated some love). well, at least he got the Fresh Prince.

getting back to the Groban, sure he has a nice voice but i just don't get his appeal. i heard somewhere that in 2007, he was the second-largest grossing musician but aside from that "You Raise Me Up" ballad, i can't not name a single song that he's recorded and i doubt that i am the only one in that boat. WHAT!?! how did he outsell Rihanna? that girl is so hot, she could put out a song about cooking macaroni and cheese and it would be a hit. did Josh Groban win American Idol? Josh Groban is no Ne-Yo either, where is his Big Red jingle? that's what i thought. hell, i'll go as far as to say that i'd rather listen to this crap than whatever nonsense Josh Groban is spewing. and that is saying a lot. A LOT... because that song is so damn terrible but once it's in my head, it's there for at least the next two or three days.

i do know that Josh Groban was in this lil' diddy, so that's cool i guess. but other than that, i don't get it. Josh, put together a song that they'll play in the clubs and maybe then i can understand why you're so damn popular. hit me with the You Lift Me Up remix featuring Akon and Lil' Wayne, holla!

TV about to once again start running my life

lately they have been doing some TV advertising on ABC or NBC or LMNOP for the upcoming National Stay At Home week or something. now that seems kind of a bad holiday to celebrate but then again we're a country of fat people so i don't see why every week isn't National Stay At Home week. pluuuuuus, while Fox has already started its new season of TV shows, the rest of the main channels kick off their fall schedule this week. in other words, after being somewhat idle the past three months, my TV and DVR are going to be busy for a while (barring a strike or something but when does that ever happen?)

in case you are wondering (and i know you are), here is what my TV schedule will look like. ironically, the season debut about The Office is supposed to be about weight loss, which is ironic since America will be gaining a lot of weight this season.

Monday: How I Met Your Mother (CBS, 7:30 p.m.), Two And A Half Men (CBS, 8:00 p.m.), CSI: Miami (CBS, 9:00 p.m.)

Tuesday: Without A Trace (CBS, 9:00 p.m.)

Wednesday: 'Til Death (FOX, 8:00 p.m.), The Island (MTV, 9:00 p.m.)

Thursday: The Office (NBC, 8:00 p.m.), CSI (CBS, 9:00 p.m.)

little sisters shouldn't be allowed to send texts

i didn't blog yesterday so today is at least a two-blog day. maybe we will have three blogs today, maybe seven. who knows? stay tuned.

there was an interesting story in the Billings Gazette today about how sports will go on in Huntley Project after a fire gutted the school. about the fire, who starts a school on fire? talk about never being able to get a fair trial. those dumb kids are toast.

speaking about high school sports in Montana, the little sister's team rolled West High last night so go Senior. it's official, i will be in Billings in late October to see the final sophomore team grudge match between Senior and West. so shizam, i'm excited to see Little Girl play.

however, it's very clear that i am going to have to kill a 15-year-old or two when i get back to town. on Sunday, i was talking to Little Girl on the phone and i was talking to her on her cell phone, which she had just gotten back after her 157th grounding of the past year. after we finished talking, she told me that i could always just text her and i nearly spit up on myself. first of all, i didn't get my first cell phone until my 17th birthday and i didn't get my first texting plan until either my sophomore or junior year of college. Noelle is 14!!! 14!!! who does she have to text? i feel like the next time i talk to her, it's going to be like this commercial (and speaking of cell phone commercials, this one is still my favorite. SNL did a take on it this past weekend and it was decently funny).

anyways, back to Little Girl... yesterday was the first time that i ever texted a 14-year-old and even though i am related to her, i still felt rather sketch doing it. 14-year-olds shouldn't be allowed to text and neither should 50-year-olds (my parents don't call anymore, they just send random texts). the texting demographic should be between 18-30. after that, it should be all actual chatting. in fact, if my grandmother ever starts texting me, i will never send another text message again because i can safely say that texting has officially been played out.

the thing that upset me the most about Little Girl's text message was her signature which said "WANTED BOYFREND". yes, my 14-year-old sister is using her cell phone as a cheaper version of match.com. i wasn't allowed to date until i am 16 and Little Girl isn't only allowed to date, she's allowed to advertise her single-ness. i don't think you should be able to date if you can't spell "boyfriend." period. so, it looks like i am going to have to raise some hell when i get home, unfortunately i am coming back to Billings, the week after homecoming so i wont be able to chaperone any dances but maybe the kids don't do that anymore, they probably just text each other the lyrics to bump-n-grind classics. holy crap... i am going to have to destroy that phone of hers.

Danny's strikeout fuels 0-3 start for the Glovers

after three seasons of non-playoff intramural softball, we abolished the Ball Bustas and created Danny and the Glovers, pictured above. why am i wearing a different colored shirt and missing part of my right foot? well, because i am photoshopped into the picture. because of (of all things) my job, i missed the first two games including last week's, which is where they took the team picture for the website. but luckily Ryan (far right) has some connections so they posed in a way that allowed my picture from last season to be photoshopped in. holla.

anyways, i made my season debut last night and i am proud to report that... we lost 9-8. for those of you keeping track, we are now 0-3 with all of our losses coming by one run. three losses by a combined three runs. we ain't making the playoffs but at least we are consistently bad. in fact, i think the team's new goal is to go 0-6 with each loss being a one-run loss. i'm the pitcher, i can make these things happen.

we didn't play bad last night, in fact we came back from a 9-3 deficit in the last inning and had a runner on 1st and 2nd in the bottom of the last inning when the last out was recorded and the first baseman had to make a nice play in order to do it.

i liked the team that we lost to. we both trash-talked but it was in a pretty fun way. they boasted a drunk outfielder who couldn't walk to first base without tripping but caught everything we hit to hit in the outfield. it was crazy. anyways, in the final inning, when their pitcher faced me, we both threw off our hats (i had a hat, he had a wanna-be do-rag) and talked some trash... and then he hit a bases loaded triple off me. i faced him in the bottom of the inning and the hats came off again. after taking the first pitch for a ball, i went left-handed and lined one down the line for a hit that would have at least been a two-run double... but it went just barely foul. i went back to the right side... and struck out. in my defense, it was an awful called strike as, at best, the ball was eye-level when it got to me. but the umpire liked to call them high and i was sent back to the bench under the most humiliating of circumstances. of course, i acted like i was about 3 and i had some not nice words for the umpire and threw my bat. i am surprised i wasn't tossed.

so that was softball. let's do it again next week.

Drew Barrymore is possibly parking in my spot

Drew Barrymore nearly took my parking spot this morning and i am none too happy about it.

let me explain. apparently Drew Barrymore is shooting a new movie in Austin and they need a scene with bats in it and since the Statesman's back lot is about 20 feet from the bat bridge, they are taking over our parking lot. we donated 1/3 of our parking lot to the movie crew during the day and like 2/3 of it at night. so i got to work early today (i had a haircut appointment) and the back lot was full.

now i really didn't want to drive around to the front lot because the back lot is closer to my desk, i haven't been in the front lot in months and the parking spaces up there are smaller which isn't great when you drive a Jeep. luckily, someone was leaving as i was coming in so i just stole her parking space.

what annoys me is that i nearly lost my spot (and there are always plenty of spaces open in the back lot) to Drew Barrymore. if it was Denzel, i would have camped out and personally reserved him a spot. if it was one of Barrymore's Charlie's Angels co-stars, i'd be alright with it. but it was Drew Barrymore. aside from The Wedding Singer, what has Drew Barrymore done in the past 15 years that justifies the fact that she still gets work? is she an A-list celebrity still? more like Z-list. that girl did E.T. in 1982 and has been stealing money ever since.

i didn't actually see Drew Barrymore but she is directing the film (entitled "Whip It") so i would imagine that she will be here. Ellen Page is in the movie and Juno was actually a good movie so i don't mind giving up a parking spot to her. but since Drew Barrymore is attached to the project, i'm out.

so that's my random story. Drew Barrymore is lame.

baby names, fantasy football and waffles, oh my

when i want a completely random link to entertain me, i go to Maura Judkis and today she delivered. apparently on the heels of people realizing her children's names are Track, Trig, Bristol, Willow, Sunflower Seeds, 14, Jim and Piper (a few of those may be made up), there is a there is a Sarah Palin baby name generator.

if Sarah Palin was my mother, my name (Daniel Robert) would be Mole Valdez Palin. cool.

anyways, today i took an extra long lunch break and me and Erika went furniture shopping at the IKEA. i've said it once and i'll say it again, that store is much too large. we had four things to get and it seems that we were there for six hours. i got a table to put by my bed, a shower rug and a bookshelf. i would have liked to get a better bookshelf but i still have crap in boxes that need to be unpacked so this one will work for now. so if you need me tonight i will be spending my time being a handyman.

let's fire through some other headlines from today...

• the very pretty Michelle Valles is leaving KXAN over a contract dispute. i don't really care because i can count on one hand the amount of times i've watched a local newscast in the last year... but judging my the comments on the story, it's a big deal to some.
• my fantasy teams went 3-1 this week with its only loss coming in the SJI league. the loss came by three points and was due to this bonehead play by Desean Jackson, which took away a touchdown from my quarterback, Donovan McNabb. excellent.
• here is a link to a video about the Obama Waffles flap. the best part? the CNN headline which read "Some find 'Obama waffles' offensive." excuse me, some? SOME!?! how is this considered not offensive to anybody? good job America.

sticking up for my homies back in the C-Hall

i will preface this blog by saying that i love the Montana Kaimin. i spent four years and am proud of what i accomplished there and the opportunities that the Kaimin presented me. anyone who knew me in college was well aware that i loved the Kaimin first and everything else second. Bill Oram is also one of my boys and i am happy to see what he's been able to accomplish.

however, in addition to being a Kaiminite i was also an R.A. for three years (two of which were in Craig Hal) so you can probably guess why i am a bit annoyed by an editorial Bill, now the Kaimin's editor, recently wrote.

for some reason, it became necessary to name the R.A. who "unceremoniously booted" the Kaiminites because it's really easy to paint someone in a negative light when he was just doing his job. did he get a DUI? no. did he hurt anyone? no. he simply did his job and this article makes him seem like a complete douchebag. nice. it's also nice to imply that Ron Brunell is some first amendment rights hater. and by nice i mean, ridiculous.

i take major offense to the argument that RLO was denying the Kaimin its first amendment rights. did RLO call up Uncle Denny and have the story (which in my opinion is a huge non-story but whatever, that's another story) halted? no. they simply disallowed students going door-to-door without permission which, as the owner of these residences, is fully within their rights. soliciting is going door-to-door trying to get residents to give you want you want. how is it any different than a credit card salesman? they have first amendment rights too. it doesn't appear that these reporters had an exact person in mind when they were in Craig Hall so being as its RLO's job to create a safe environment for students to live, study, socialize, etc., i can see how a reporter going door-to-door could hurt that. i could also be very wrong here but because of the way Craig Hall is set up, i don't think there is any temporary living in the building (both study rooms are on girl floors and are accessible by anyone, which doesn't sound very safe) so i don't even know why the reporters were even in C-Hall in the first place.

i can tell from personal experience that the Kaimin isn't a favorite of RLO and it was always awkward for me, Keriann and Laz when we had to go through the anti-Kaimin talk at RA training each year. it also sucked when the Kaimin messed up a RLO story and i had to deal with the backlash and scorn. but guess what? RLO has a right to keep the Kaimin out of the dorms. if they didn't, it would have been challenged in court already. you can't just walk around a random apartment complex in Missoula or through the coaches office on campus. the football team practices on facilities that are paid for by the students and our taxes but if they want to hold a closed practice, they have the right to do so even though by the Kaimin's reasoning, that is infringing on first amendment rights as well. you need permission to be these place and using the first amendment as an excuse just dumbs down our cause.

going door-to-door in the dorms is, at best, lazy reporting. Bill argues that RLO is keeping students from talking to the reporters. being as it's early fall in Montana, if you want to talk to students, go to the University Center. go to the Oval. go to the gym. go anywhere on campus because chances are there are million of freshmen out there. it is not that hard to go talk to students.

but in addition to this story, the Kaimin also published an Around the Oval about this topic asking people if they would kick the Kaimin out of their house too. in addition be being somewhat classless, it's also like beating a dead horse. as the article points out, it is the Kaimin's duty to give the student body a voice, but it's also the newspaper's duty not to champion frivolous causes by trying to pick a fight with the big boys on campus which is something that this editorial (and the 67 articles about the so-called housing crisis that have gone before it) is doing.

once again, i love the Kaimin and i love Bill. i also love RLO and it sucks to see one of your loves slam another love without warrant. i should be on Jerry Springer or something.

Total Request Live 1998-2008, R.I.P.

i just saw this but apparently Total Request Live is ending after 10 years on the air. i haven't watched the show in about five years but i remember coming home from Senior and watching the top videos of the day, which usually just ended up being the latest Britney Spears or N'SYNC hit. kind of weird to hear that it's ending but then again it's kind of weird to hear that show was actually still on the air.

in honor of TRL, i will give you a music video countdown of my own. here are the music videos for the first 10 songs on my iTunes for when i hit the random feature. don't laugh at the Backstreet Boys, when you have 700-some songs on the ol' iTunes (and two sisters), some lamer ones tend to get in there. sue me.

10. "Tubthumping" by Chumbawamba
9. "I'm Real" by Jennifer Lopez f/ Ja Rule
8. "Calabria 2008" by Enur f/Natasja and MIMS
7. "Losing My Religion" by R.E.M.
6. "Get It On Tonite" by Montell Jordan
5. "As Long As You Love Me" by Backstreet Boys
4. "Low" by Flo Rida f/ T-Pain
3. "Because of You" by Ne-Yo
2. "Where Is The Love?" by Black Eyed Peas
1. "Rudolph The Red-Noised Reindeer" by Gene Autry

Danny Davis is not a fan of Hamlet (a moment ago)

before you start reading my blog today, you should read the material on the other side of this link. funny stuff, and this link will let me touch on two things today: Facebook statuses and evil AP English.

first off, let's talk about the Hamlet. i had to read that crap during my senior year of high school in AP English. let me recount the AP English crap for one second... AP English was supposed to be the easy class, it was supposed to be the payoff for going through three years of advanced English. we were supposed to just sit through class all day watching movies and drinking milkshakes or something. but at the end of my junior year, the school board decided that the classroom was more for learning and less about the candy and replaced the teachers and revamped the cirriculum. so lollipops were out, actual work was in. and it sucked. hardest "B" i have ever earned... and i honestly don't even know if i actually earned a "B" in that class.

anyways, back to Hamlet. aside from Heart of Darkness (which i will always maintain as the worst book ever), this may have been our worst assignment. yea, so your uncle killed your daddy and married your mother Hamlet? boo hoo, get over it and come back to me when you have a real problem. the big assignment for this book was to memorize the "To Be Or Not To Be" soliloquy. and let me tell you, after hearing those 259 words about 20 times, you kind of want to take a cheese grater to your ears to stop the pain. to make it somewhat fun, some girl said her entire speech in a fake Minnesota accent, a few kids gave it a real dramatic twist and i think i may have rapped mine (you know because I'm black). anyways, Hamlet gets two thumbs down, as will anything associated with the AP English, a class that, over five years later, still haunts my dreams.

as evident by the link that you should have read, topic no. 2 today is... Facebook statuses (FS for short). FS is a hip new way to keep everyone updated on your every move without ever having to talk to a human being again. if i look at my Facebook right now, i learn these things...

• Troy G. Krieger has One week to go! (2 minutes ago)
• Hunter Durgan lives on front porches and swings life away. (11 minutes ago)
• Robyn Keyes has a f'ing cold...again. (41 minutes ago)
• Tucker Miles still maintains that Steve McQueen, even after death, is the ultimate badass... Uncontested. (6 hours ago)

i have decided that i don't like the FS for one of two reasons. i am either being given a recap about a person i don't care about or i'm being given a recap by someone who is being too lazy to tell me themselves. the FS just seem so impersonal and honestly, i doubt people even care what i have to say. i believe my statuses over the past week dealt with Hurricane Ike, Alyssa's 21st and the Browns (mostly Braylon Edwards) pissing me off. yawn, are you bored yet? half the problem is the stupid News Feed because whenever i log onto Facebook, i am forced to see that someone is "excited that Grey's Anatomy is coming back on" or that someone else "is so in love with their soulmate. XOXOXOXO" even though those soulmates have broken up four times in the last three weeks. oh, did you know that someone "hates the new Facebook!" i guess i could probably just turn off the News Feed but i am much too lazy.

so this blog is to serve as a notice to all the people that i am officially going to go on strike against FS and i encourage my readers to do the same. i will tell the world about my strike... by going and updating my status on Facebook.

Browns lose to Pittsburgh, world may be ending

dear Romeo Crennel,

this is a watch. i suggest you start using one because, let's face it, your time management and ability to properly use timeouts kind of sucks. once again, those skills were on display during the first half of Cleveland's 10-6 loss to Pittsburgh on Sunday night and that great job led to a horrible interception by Derek Anderson, who is doing an even better job of reminding the world that he's Derek Anderson. Romeo, this was the worst clock management job... since the last game we played against the Steelers. good job on being consistent.

could you also explain why K2, our best receiver, was on the sidelines for the final few plays? and would you mind telling me why there are high school secondaries that are more fundamentally sound that Cleveland's? finally, please tell Braylon Edwards that the ball isn't going to hurt him and he can try catching it. tune in later this week Romes to TYC and i will tell you my plan to cure all his problems.

an 0-2 start with one of those losses coming to Pittsburgh isn't the end of the world but it's close. us Browns fans are used to disappointment and losing but last season spoiled us. please get your team in check because if we lose to Baltimore next week, you are likely going to make me (and thousands of other grown-ass men) start crying. and these will be like full-out dumped-on-Prom Night tears. check yourself before you wreck yourself.

love,

danny

ONE DAY ONLY: TYC's longest sentence ever!!!

i was planning on holing myself up in my apartment all weekend since because of Hurricane Ike it was supposed to rain so much that we were going to build arks which was going to suck for all the people on the highways because traffic was supposed to be ridiculously congested. well, turns out that Ike brought very little rain (more on that later) and i personally didn't notice any change in the traffic flow. Ike did some damage down south but i think it's safe to say that we overreacted a little bit in Austin.

so, thus far, i have had a fairly busy weekend. on Friday, i covered a game out in Marble Falls and met some teammates downtown for some drinks and people watching. and by people watching, i just mean me watching these three people awkwardly try to freak dance at J Blacks, less than 10 feet from my table.

Saturday was a bit more exciting. i woke up and killed a spider in Erika's car, ate one too many breakfast tacos, finished off the DVDs of The Office's fourth season, washed my sheets, went to a friend's baptism dinner where i got through half of my meal before giving up on the chopsticks, watched the second half of the Ohio State-USC slaughter, sang some Disney tunes, harassed MK with disturbing texts from Avery's phone (which for some reason she didn't have his number), watched the only funny skit on the SNL premier a few times, went back to the Ranch to meet Max's lady, barely avoided the only rain we had this weekend (but since i was in a bar that has a large patio deck, it got very crowded, very quick when it started raining), got back to my car and realized that i didn't have my keys, figured out where my keys were, got home and realized my sheets were still in the washer and finally had to wait another 60 minutes while they dried. whew. what a long sentence and what a long day.

not really sure what's on the plate today. obviously, i will be watching the Browns game tonight while trash talking with Christa, Kyle, Delmoe, Benjamin and any other Steeler fan I know. at least until the end of the first quarter when we're down 38-2 and it's starting to get a little out of hand. this could be a long season for us, that secondary needs to grow up fast.

good picture of 12-year-olds, don't be a perv

this is just a great picture. NY Times story about the photo can be read here.

supposed disorderly conduct at a football game

i covered probably one of the best games i've seen while i've been in Texas last night over at House Park. final score: Westwood 34 Austin High 31, read about it here. but the game itself isn't what i am going to remember in a few months, no, i am more likely to remember my confrontation with a cop on a power trip.

usually when i cover games, i spend most of the time up in the press box but i usually go down to the field with about five minutes to go. this allows me to grab kids and coaches really quickly because (a) i am on deadline and (b) there is usually only a 10-15 minute window before these kids disappear for good into the locker rooms so every second counts. it is what i have done for every single game since i was hired and no one has ever had a problem with it. until last night.

because of the back-and-forth nature of the game, i actually was in the press box until Westwood called a timeout with 12 seconds to go. then i scampered down the stadium stairs and opened the fence to the Westwood sidelines and was set to begin my normal routine. then some lady cop comes running over to me and demands me to tell her what i am doing. i show her my badge and she looks at it and tells me i can't be here. i simply told her i could but she insisted that i couldnt be anywhere near the sidelines until after the game and i wasn't in a mood to argue since there was a tight game going on so i went back into the stands.

after another timeout i realized that i shouldnt be trying to cover a huge play among a bunch of rowdy fans and i wasn't going back to the press box. i decided that maybe the cop didn't want me in the actual sideline area where the players are at which was a bit strict but understandable. so i went back on the field and stood in the area that is designated for the press. they are on each end of the sidelines and on the other one, by the Westwood end zone, there were about 5 or 6 photogs.

the cop saw me and freaked out again and came over to yell at me some more. this time i wasn't going to move because i wasn't doing anything wrong. she told me i had to leave, i told her i wasn't. she told me i was disobeying an order from a cop, i told her she didn't have any right to make that order. i pointed out there were a handful of photographers and press members in the other press field box and she said she didn't see any. i told her i was doing my job and i wasn't leaving and we continued our argument which was going on as the final play was played, so i was essentially multi-tasking: arguing while writing.

the game ended and i started to walk away and she threatened to get her supervisor. i told her she was more than welcome to and that i wasn't going anywhere, she could find me interviewing players. i wrapped up my interviews and, while i saw her whining to some other officers and pointing to me, i wasn't bothered again. point, Davis.

i would love to say that this was my first police altercation at the job but it definitely wasn't. last year for the story we ran when Johnston began to forfeit football games, i got into an argument with a cop over whether or not i was leaving a public meeting that the school had said they wanted closed to the press. the argument ended up involving another cop, a district administrator and me saying that if the officer wanted me to leave, she was going to have to arrest me.

now usually i try to always be very respectful if i ever have to talk with the police and i try to say "thanks" and i am that guy that waves at the cop cars when they drive by. but i can't stand people that try to abuse their badge to further inflate their egos. i am very cautious of the rules and regulations of the area high school stadiums and as long as i am not on the field trying to catch passes, then i am good to go so back off. i know my rights, don't get in the way of me doing my job.

bracing for a disaster while recalling another

i live about 3 1/2 hours from the Gulf Coast but for the past couple of days, Hurricane Ike has been kicking my butt. i guess Austin is supposed to see some rainy weather and evacuees this weekend so everybody is bracing for the chaos.

it has affected me because a good number of high schools have either moved their games from Friday to Thursday or bumped up the start time of their Friday games. i spent all of Thursday helping track the game changes and spent a good deal of time doing the same thing today. in fact, our game of the week was scheduled to be played tomorrow night but i will now instead be heading out to cover it in about an hour. crazy.

so traffic is going to suck this weekend and the high winds won't be a blast either. however, i will say (and this may sound awful) that i hope this hurricane actually does something because it would kind of suck for these people who have spent the last few days worrying to death to have fled the coast for nothing. there was big group of photos on the Statesman homepage today and it was kind of interesting. check them out.

also, if you hadn't looked at the calendar today, it's September 11. it's been seven frickin' years since those attacks which is kind of weird when you think about it. i remember when i first heard the news, it was my junior year and i was in the locker room before conditioning class. i went into the coaches' office to drop my wallet off in the safebox and it was on the TV. my first thought? why are they attacking Minnesota? (Twin Towers in my mind = Twin Cities). as the day went on, the worries of my me and my classmates ranged from gas prices that were supposed to soar (they didn't) to the thought that every man we knew over the age of 18 was going to be drafted by Friday (they weren't). a year later, i was interviewed by a TV station about the significance of 9/11 in our lives and i responded that it was our JFK assassination. my parents can pinpoint exactly what they were doing when they heard that JFK went down and i will be able to do the same for my kids when they ask me about 9/11. a sad memory indeed.

a blog that evolves from Batman to Noah's Ark

i read this morning that Johnny Depp and Phillip Seymour Hoffman have signed on to play, respectively, the Riddler and Penguin in the next Batman movie. it's going to be pretty damn tough to beat The Dark Knight but i guess signing Depp and Hoffman is a good start. in other superhero news, which is good since i often have dreams that i am Spider-Man, Tobey Maguire has signed on for another movie and the next flick is expected out in 2011. so... far... away.

i am listening to the radio right now and they are arguing about evolution on The Bobby Bones Show. the callers are chiming in with their great opinion and it's such a boooooooring discussion. now somebody is talking about four chambers or some nonsense like that. i will say upfront that i have a conservative viewpoint of evolution but it's not overly conservative. do i believe that i evolved from five monkeys having butt sex with a fish squirrel? absolutely not, the concept just seems ridiculous and my belief in the Bible pretty much squelches those thoughts. but i've also read B.C. and seen Geico commercials so i would have to somewhat believe that the way humans look these days is not the way they looked/were formed in 2000 B.C. so we've probably evolved and matured a little bit over the years.

i also love the science lovers who debate that evolution is an absolute truth because it's "pretty much been proven." yea, wake me up when it's an absolute fact which will never happen because it's near-impossible to have an absolute fact in the field of science. i don't have a problem with people that believe fully in evolution because there are some compelling arguments for it and blah blah blah. people can believe what the Chuck Darwin says because that's their choice and whatever helps them sleep better at night, i'm not going to hate on it. i will have faith in what God says and the big guy says that i came from Adam and his apple-eating wife (and then, i guess, from Noah and his family after God wiped out the entire world). as ridiculous as those stories may seem, that's just what i believe in so tell your fish squirrel grandmother to get off my back.

shedding a tear for Will Smith

as i've posted before, i barely cry. it's not the i don't have emotions because as most people know i can be a very emotional person but i just don't cry all that often. in fact, i can pinpoint that last time i shed a tear and it been over 13 months. however, over the weekend we were talking about my job and the topic eventually led to Friday Night Lights (the book) which of course led to a conversation about Friday Night Lights (the movie).

FNL (the movie) is one of the very few things i have gotten overly emotional at. the scene where Tim McGraw gives his fictional son his championship ring was just stirring and just reminded me of all those tender moments that me and my father didn't share. i got a little emotional when i saw it at the movie theaters and while i wasn't crying like one of the girls that i saw the movie with (seriously, Dru was bawling), it was an "Awww" moment.

that got me to thinking if i have ever cried at a movie. i don't think i've ever started pouring out tears but i have gotten misty-eyed at two movies. can you guess which ones? judging from the title of this blog, one of the movies should be pretty easy to figure out (and it's not Men In Black 2).

my two movies (with the linked scenes that got me all misty-eyed) are The Pursuit of Happyness and The Green Mile. The Green Mile emotions were a bit shameless being as i was on a football bus sitting next to my friend Evan Joda when i saw the movie. the Pursuit movie was a little better because i watched it with my fellow Statesman interns. touching films.

Football and a love song for Sarah Palin

well, for the most part, the first week of the NFL season is over and assuming that Jay Cutler didn't become a good quarterback overnight i will likely go undefeated in my four fantasy football leagues (yea, i said four. i'm a bit sick). so yea, go fantasy football teams, earn me some money and some of that valuable respect... which i will need since i am obviously going to lose some for being in four leagues.

as for the Cleveland Browns... swiss cheese has less holes than our defense. and Braylon Edwards really needs to have more catches than drops. that's all i have to say, let's get ready for Ms. Christa Thomas and her Pittsburgh Steelers next week.

do you know what is moderately addicting? the iTunes store. when i got home last night, i intended to download one or two songs but i ended up getting nine before i had to force myself to exit the iTunes store. i got a good mix of songs ranging from an ol' school classic to a couple songs that are kind of a little dirty for my squeaky clean image.

i also downloaded a song that i already have. kind of. the version of Fabolous' "Into You" which features Ashanti is among the top five most-played songs of all-time on my iTunes. i downloaded Fab's version featuring Tamia because it's just better. so now i have to play that song on repeat for a couple hundred times for it to overtake that Ashanti version. better get started.

finally, i got the new Ne-Yo song which is titled Miss Independent, which i would love to dedicate to the wonderful Sarah Palin. in related news that must be true since it's on the Internet, Sarah Palin is a racist whose daughter has jungle fever and a black baby's daddy.

in all seriousness, this song represents a lot of what i want in a woman especially the line "Say, ooh is something about/ Kinda woman that want you but don't need you." Independence and self-reliance are incredibly sexy to me. maybe i should put this song up as my new MySpace song. might be better and more reflective of me than "It Wasn't Me."

so here are all the songs that i downloaded. enjoy:

1. Into You (f/ Tamia) by Fabolous
2. Dangerous (f/ Akon) by Kardinal Offishall
3. Body On Me (f/ Akon and Ashanti) by Nelly
4. Swing (f/ Soulja Boy) by Savage
5. No Letting Go by Wayne Wonder
6. The Business (f/ Casha) by Yung Berg
7. Mrs. Officer (f/ Bobby Valentino and Kidd Kidd) by Lil' Wayne
8. Miss Independent by Ne-Yo
9. You Got Me by One Block Radius
   

sinking or swimming with the Cleveland Browns

while i am glad the Griz won (well, got the game given to them by Cal Poly) and all, the football team that matters the most to me opens its season today. yes folks, it's Cleveland Browns football time. the Browns open their season today with an afternoon game against the Cowboys. luckily, since it's a Cowboys game, it will be on regional feed and i won't have to leave my apartment (or get dressed) to watch it.

i am not really sure what to think of this season. we went 10-6 last year and missed out on the playoffs only because Peyton Manning decided to take his last game off. we addressed some of our defensive issues and our offense is one of the most dynamic in the game. we're so titallating that the Browns will have five prime-time games this season which has to be the most we've had in the last eight seasons combined.

and yet i am worried. very worried. last season was a great season because 10 wins was about four wins more than any rational Browns fan thought we'd get going into the 2007 season and about 10 wins more than anybody thought we'd get after our first game. but now everybody expects us to succeed and when expectations are high, failure is just around the corner... especially with the teams i root for (see: 2008 Colorado Rockies).

our secondary is ridiculously thin and i'm sure Tony Romo-Simpson and the Cowboys will exploit that today. and we're also not very sure what kind of quarterback Derek Anderson is because, while he did get to the Pro Bowl last season, he was awful over the last four games and that cost us the playoffs.

so who knows? should the Browns be able to take the AFC North crown? yes because on paper, we are easily the best team. would it be possible that the Browns implode and go 4-12, crushing the hopes of Cleveland Nation? yes, that's how life goes when you're a Cleveland Browns fan.

Up with Montana boys, down with the foe...

although it technically started last week, the college football season kicks for me today because at 8:05 p.m. (CST) the ol' Alma Matter kicks of its 2008 season with a road game at Cal Poly. this will be my second season away from UM and i think that i am becoming disenfranchised enough with the program (lookng at the roster, i can say that i actually know/have conversed in some form with about 10 of the players) that i can become a fan again.

so now that i am becoming a disillusioned alum, i am going to just predict that Montana goes 16-0 and wins the I-AA (i will always call it that, screw the NCAA) national championship with a 58-3 win over some team from the East Coast like UMASS... or James Madision... or the New England Patriots.

so "Up With Montana Boys" and as always Fuck the Bobcats, go Griz go!

much love for a Child and one crazy chica

we haven't had an induction onto the Big Board of Beauties lately and since we've been talking so much about Sarah Palin lately... just kidding.

but yes, being inducted into the BBoB is the forgotten Child of Destiny: Michelle Williams. why are we inducting Michelle? because she was the most beautiful member of DC. Kelly was far too skinny and Beyonce was all hype. yea, the girl is good looking but Cover Girl? come on. Beyonce was alright, Michelle is gorgeous. plus i just need another excuse to link to this video because i know how much Robyn loves it.

we will also be inducting the Lindsay Lohan to the BBoB and truthfully, this is an award that's a long time coming. straight up, Lohan is bat shit crazy and that is incredibly hot. the less skinny she is and the more crazy and erratic she becomes, the hotter she becomes. i can't really explain it but it's true. yum. however, Lindsay apparently isn't so nuts to pose in an upcoming issue of Playboy but i guess we'll always have the New York Magazine homage to Marilyn Monroe.

so with the last members of the class of 2008 accounted for, the BBoB now stands at: Thandie Newton, Jarah Mariano, Ashley Alexandra Dupre, Marion Cotillard, Williams and Lohan. not a bad group to be stranded on a deserted island with.

when it comes to the election, i'm with stupid...

for another post on what seems to now be the Sarah Palin Appreciation Blog, i have to say that Sarah Palin's speech at the National White People's Convention last night was great.

she had humor ("they say the difference between a hockey mom and a pitbull? lipstick.") she defended the beginning of her poitical career ("i think a small town mayor is sort of like a community organizer except for you have actual responsibilities.") and talked about her political credentials. she reached out to a forgotten block of voters (families that have kids with special needs) and didn't hold back from attacking Obama ("there is much to admire and like about our opponent but listening to him speak it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law...). she talked up John McCain and told us that he husband is a word champion snow machine racer. whoo.

she should have touched on the Bristol pregnancy issue a bit and is it just me or does she have the worst imitation Canadian accent ever?

but overall, her speech was good. period.

i think my love for Sarah Palin has scared some people (well, Maura) about where my vote is going to go. i will state this again, my vote for president will always go Democratic. i am a conservative Democrat. i grew up with a very conservative base and i still hold a lot of those ties to be true. however, i do break from my fellow conservatives on issues like homosexuality (who cares who you are sleeping with? i don't), abortion (who cares if you kill unborn babies? i don't) and the war on Iraq (yea, that was a bad idea). pretty much i believe that what works for me doesn't necessarily work for other people and i believe that people have the right to choose the way they want to live their lives. the Democratic platform is a lot more accomidating to that train of thought than the Republican's... so the Democrats will always get my vote when it comes to commander in chief whether it's John Kerry, Barack Obama or Joe Democrat. not that it matters who i vote for since i have lived in the forever red states known as Montana and Texas (on another note, the Electoral College is a sham of a system. nearly as dumb as the way the dems run their primaries. they should just do it the Billings Senior High student council way: person with the most votes, wins).

i will also add that i am proud to vote for Obama because of the fact that he is an African-American and that means a lot to me. i have to pause and think about the fact that there were obstacles that my grandfather had to face to even vote and my dad grew up in a time where he couldn't eat at some places and i might have a black president before i turn 25. awesome. however, me saying that kind of puts me into the group of idiots that i am going to talk about.

the problem with voting for Barack Obama is that 90% of his supporters are idiots. yes, full-fledged idiots. i am all about being a big supporter of your candidate but we need to be real about our guy. he has flaws and he's not Jesus, which is something that some of us (especially black folks) refuse to accept. want to hear a secret guys? we can't criticize Sarah Palin's lack of experience when we are going to vote for Obama! Palin has actually been in charge of something. it might be small but it's something. Obama's experience includes less than four years in the Senate and most of that time, he's been kind of running for president. so let's get off the Alaska jokes.

i'm also sick of the Palin daughter slams because, honestly, the Jeramiah Wright deal is a lot bigger deal and we were incredibly defensive of Obama when that issue was coming out. we were also very defensive of Michelle Obama when she made those dumb comments about being proud to be an American. once again, if those things are irrelevant to Obama's ablity to lead a country than we need to back off the pregnant daughter story because no matter what way you spin it, Obama's issues are a lot more worrisome than a vice-president becoming a grandmother a little earlier than she wanted to. it's like the Cheney lesbian daughter story all over again. sheesh.

i am also convinced that 85% of Barack Obama supporters couldn't tell you three things he stands for and i think that's dangerous. and i understand that i just said that i will always vote Democrat, but i also have a decent understanding of what these candidates stand for and if i didn't somewhat like what Obama was doing, i just wouldn't vote. i'm not saying that i am an Obama expert and i could probably learn a few more things but i at least kind of get where the guy is coming from. so instead of developing a snoody attitude towards McCain voters, go educate yourself and do more than listen to a few speeches. read something. voting for Obama because it's the cool thing to do isn't any less excusable that George Bush getting voted into office again this last election because he was a war-time president and the Republicans felt they needed to stick with him because of that.

i guess what i am trying to say is cool it now with the anti-Republican Facebook status updates (Republicans, you can chill too) and let's try looking at the issues. if you are going to vote for Barack, vote for Barack. if you are going to vote for McCain, then vote for McCain. but enough of the candidate slams because honestly, your guy/girl has as many flaws as the next guy. Democrats preach open-mindedness and acceptance. it's about time they start practicing it too.

but enough about politics, i think the most intriguing match-up this election is going to be Piper (Palin's youngest daughter) vs. Sasha (Obama's youngest daughter) for the title of most adorable child ever. Piper's case was made last night when she was directing standing ovations and using her own saliva to mousse down her baby brother's hair. Sasha made her case last week when she kept interrupting her father's good-night message. i'm biased towards black children so i have to say the point goes to Sasha. we need to get a Gallop poll going for this one.

Montana Grizzlies: We're No. 7!!!

one of the last pieces of mail that i received at my old apartment was the program for the most recent Hearst Journalism Awards, which honors the work of college journalism. how big are the Hearst awards? they are the biggest award competition for college journalism, it's like the Oscars for college journalists but there aren't any red carpets or Joan Rivers/Ryan Seacrest sightings. this round of awards was for parts of 2007 (the end of my senior year) and parts of 2008.

and guess what folks? in the Hearst writing competition... THE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA FINISHED SEVENTH!!!!!!!!!! whoo!!!! now, seventh place finish is nothing to brag about in, well, the Olympics, but i think its pretty cool that we finished in the top 10 and ahead of schools with bigger names like Iowa, Indiana and LSU. of course we finished behind Missouri and Northwestern but where is the University of Texas? not on the list! the University of North Carolina didn't even make the top 10 in the writing competition and i've been told (well, just by Ashley) that apparently they're a big deal. well at least they have the Clef Hangers... and a third place finish in the overall competition.

i am especially proud of our finish because i helped us get it. i finished ninth in the editorial writing competition for my piece about the N-Word. Emma Schmautz got a 5th place finish in editorial and Jacon Baynham finished fourth in feature writing. so yea, we rule. go Griz and go Team Kaimin.

Sarah Palin is kind of awesome.

every day i am seriously falling more and more in love with Sarah Palin. why do i love the Palin? hotness? check. family drama? check. a saucy video of her past surfacing on the YouTube? CHECK!

now settle down. this video is supposedly only of Palin (then Sarah non-Palin) and her past life as a local sports anchor. how old is this video? Hartford and Winnipeg still had hockey teams. awesome.

Joe Biden, you know you're my boy but you are going to have to put a little more effort into this deal because by my accounts, it's the bottom of the 4th inning and Palin is up 5-2.

Sarah Palin will be a grandma and i don't care

i can officially say that the Republicans are trying to throw this election. it makes sense. coming in the wake of the eight years of Bush, i'm sure not even the staunch Republicans are all about their party ties right now so what are those geniuses doing? pretty much they have a non-Republican on the ticket with a vice-president who apparently wasn't vetted very properly and whose family problems don't necessarily preach the Republican way. so when McCain and Palin get routed, the Republicans can spend the next four years getting ready to re-energize their base... as if having a black man in office wasn't going to do that already to some of those nice and friendly folks down in the dirty South.

anyways, if you haven't heard by now, Palin's 17-year-old daughter is prego. if you clicked on CNN around 11:30 this morning, you would have found this startling headline in red: "BREAKING NEWS: Bristol Palin, 17-year-old daughter of Sarah Palin, is pregnant and will keep the baby and marry the father, a senior McCain aide confirms." and then underneath it was some crap about something called Gustav. yawn.

the NABJ STF board has been pretty vocal about this but i don't get it, i mean what's the big deal? so what if her daughter is pregnant? in Bristol's defense, she lives in frickin' Alaska and she probably has some animosity towards her parents anyways for naming her Bristol. i especially don't get why people care about whether or not the kid with Downs Syndrome is Palin's one one of her daughter's. the child wasn't aborted and he has a loving family. who gives a fuck whose kid it is? the left needs to just grow up because the same people who are ripping apart the Palin family were defending Bill in the 90s because it was just a blowjob and it wasn't like Monica was keeping him from doing his job.

and yea, yea, yea i understand that pre-marital sex is frowned upon in conservative households but as anyone who went to Rocky Mountain Community Church will tell you, its usually the conservative kids who are having the most sex. everyone has skeletons in their closet and its only a matter of time before some come out of the Democrat's closet. but hey, what i care about (silly me) is what these candidates are going to do about the economy, the war on terror and things such as affirmative action and Roe v. Wade. but hey, i guess if baby drama is your thing, then keep watching the news.

sometimes politics just makes me sick.

and just to humor some folks, here is a link to an article Maura sent me about the VP candidate's adorable children.