this is how the 406 does Halloween in the 512

in case you were wondering, this is what my Halloween costume will look like. Orange Iguanas, holla. come find me on Dirty 6th tonight!

my current life: high schoolers and Halloween '08

well, last night was a little hectic. as sportswriters with a deadline, you eventually have to start writing your story and more often than naught you begin your story before the game is ever over. and especially when the game seems essentially over or there is a blowout, you can have most of your story written before you even start conducting interviews.

that was the case last night when i was covering the Pflugerville v. Bowie game and its looked like Pflugerville was going to roll to a victory because Bowie was down by two scores and just could not move the football all night long. so the majority of my story had been written and i headed down to the field with about four minutes left in the game to grab some quotes.

then Bowie stormed back, scored two touchdowns in the final three minutes and won the game. this was good for me because i picked Bowie to win in our weekly pick-ems but bad because it was now around 10:15 at night and i was going to have to go hunt down players who were both now either incredibly dejected and pissed off (which is always fun with quotes) and incredibly elated and overly-pumped (which also leads to some interesting quotes) and then sprint back to the press box to write my story. the entire process took me about 45 minutes but i got a rough draft in by 10:35 and my final draft was in before 11 so i am going to mark it as a successful Thursday night. but then, the rough draft is the copy that made it online and i haven't seen the final edition so maybe the final 25 minutes was all for naught.

but that's high school football for you and that's why i love my job.

anyways, i will be working tonight and unfortunately my boss has informed me that if i want to wear a costume to my game tonight, i could go to House Park dressed as a sportswriter. but after i am done with the Westlake-Austin High game, i will be downtown as costumed up as a contestant from Legends of the Hidden Temple. Orange Iguanas, holla!

don't have a costume idea yet? take a tip from Maura Judkis and piss off the tree-huggers at the same time. trick or treat? an angry environmentalist is always a treat.

and here's some more tidbits for you... KXAN is back on in Austin, so i was able to watch The Office last night when i got home on the DVR which was awesome since the episode was good. and here is a list of the top 50 comedies of all time so that's interesting. The Cosby Show made the top 10 (holla!), The Office was at 14 (h to the olla!) and South Park checked in at 16 (holla again!). Reed's favorite show even got some love at No. 10 so i guess everyone can be happy.

want to spend quality time with your kid? text 'em

well, we have five days until that whole election thing and there is a celebrity-packed PSA circulating the world wide web encouraging people to not vote (best part about this video is the headline that mocks Zach Braff). well, if you do decide to go vote and you've just gotten out of a coma and have no idea what's going on, perhaps you can be educated by the children. this video rocks and the lyrics can be found under the "more info" tab on the right.

speaking of the children, let's talk about some of went down on my recent trip to Billings. i went there to go see my freshman sister play some volleyball for the BSHS sophomore team and although i have only been gone from the high school scene for 5 1/2 years, i've got to say this is a world that i no longer recognize.

sure there were the usual signs of teenage angst (a kid with his hair dyed red, others rolling around with all-black wardrobes) but these days, cell phones, not the principle, run the high schools. i had lunch with Little Girl on Tuesday and as i waited for her outside Senior High like a total creeper, i observed the kids filing out of the school to grab some food and at least 1 out of every 4 kid walked out of those doors on their cell phone. as i ate lunch with Noelle, instead of talking to me she spent most of the time texting a boy who was literally less than 100 yards from each her. i took my sister's phone from her twice over the trip and both times i was pretty convinced that she was going to start convulsing or something.

once again, it's only been about 5 1/2 years since i left high school but i am surprised that things have changed this much. i got my first cell phone in May of my junior year for my 17th birthday and it was one of those pre-pay phones so i rarely used it. i got my first real phone the following December but still didn't use it other to get in contact with the parentals or make an occasional plan or two on the weekends (i actually don't think there was much purpose to me having a cell phone in high school aside from Snake). i didn't get texting until my sophomore year of college and while i do text a lot now, i am quite convinced i send about as many texts in a month that my sister does in a day or two. i wouldn't be surprised that in 20 years or whenever i have a kid in high school, the children will just be given their reading materials in text message form, which might actually make "Heart of Darkness" bearable.

i also got a lesson in text messaging when i stole my sisters phone on Monday and decided to serve as her personal receptionist as she did her homework.

• first lesson, text message conversations never end. there was a thread of like six or seven texts between my sister and one of her friends and the last text message was something that was simple like "lol." now when i get a text message that has only three letters and those letters aren't "die," i assume the text conversation is over and i get on with my life. but apparently in high school, there is no end to the texting conversation and i got chewed out for not responding to the "lol." how am i going to respond to this? lol2? what!?!


• second lesson, there are certain people's texts you can't ignore. sometimes when i get a text message i just don't respond to it. sometimes when i send text messages, they aren't responded to. it happens. however, one of Little Girl's friends sent her a text message and i didn't respond but later said "oh, yea, Soandso sent you a text message but i didn't say anything back." her eyes got huge and she said "you didn't send her a text back!?! but she is a junior!!! you have to respond back to the juniors!!!" lesson learned.


• third lesson, forwarded messages are cool. if you ever text me a forwarded message, not only will i not read it and probably immediately erase it but there is a chance that i might erase your number too depending on where you fall in the friendship power rankings. the same thing goes with Facebook and e-mails although i will accept them for MySpace so forward away. that was not the case with my sister who got a text from her friend that had at least 15 "fwd" before the message and was so stupid that i don't even remember what it was about. but after reading the stupid message to my sister (who was doing health homework or something) i just closed the phone which got me a glare from my sister as well as a "why didn't you forward that?" comment. why didn't i forward it? because it's not necessary. seriously, if this girl is forwarding every text message she gets, i have to wonder what kind of cell phone plan she has... is it the 16 anytime minutes, 1,000,000 text message for $40.00 a month plan?

anyways, thats all i have to say about the children these days, so i will see you later. or, as the kids would say: l8r, lolz.

one of UM's finest gets his degree

i will keep this short and sweet but Le sent me a link to this article this morning and i feel that it's worth commenting on.

if you went to the University of Montana, you knew who Noah Ginnings was and if by some chance you didn't, you probably didn't get out of the house much. we'd always kid in the Kaimin office about a UM Power Rankings in which the Kaimin editor, ASUM president and quarterback of the football team would always be in the top 10 because people knew who they were. if there was a real Power Rankings, Noah would have to be in the top 5 because, as the article alluded to, he is one of the few people on campus who was on a one-name basis.

my dealings with Noah pertained mostly to basketball. we had played a couple of pick-up games together over the years but mainly we knew each other through UM basketball games. during my junior and senior year, i would attend the game with current and former residents and we would always sit with Noah who would then shower the opponents (boy or girl) with a slew of funny taunts and my residents would then follow suit. it honestly made the boys basketball games tolerable to attend and if by chance Noah wasn't there, it wasn't all that fun.

Noah is a great guy and i'm glad that not only did he get his degree but it was a degree that he earned. i'm not sure any of us really know what life holds for Noah in the next few months but i wish him nothing but the best.

B-Town trip opens up a busy week for the Danny

this is going to be a pretty busy week so i am not sure how often this thing is going to get updated this week. how busy is this week going to be? let me give you a lil' rundown...

tomorrow morning i will fly home to Billings on a 7:25 a.m. flight. on Monday, i am hoping to visit the grandma as well as deal with some family things and unearth some items of mine that have been lost in the Big Blue House. on Tuesday, Jen comes to visit so that means meals at Red Lobster and the Olive Garden. then, and this is the main reason for my trip, Noelle has a volleyball match against West (boo!) so i will be up there in the stands rooting and, of course, embarrassing Little Girl. i fly back on Wednesday and have games to cover on both Thursday and Friday. Friday night is also Halloween and Saturday afternoon is the monthly trip to the brewery with the gang. Ms. Bentz will also be in Austin so hopefully we grab some dinner on Saturday. plus i also have to solve the mystery of the missing Halloween costume helmet and the missing deposit check. whew.

so while i will be in and out this week, i will leave you with this song and this SNL clip. both are my new favorite things in the world and undoubtedly will remain so until at least tomorrow afternoon.

1st Kaimin Baby to not be named Danny. lame.

sorry that i am just getting to the blog but i had a pretty busy day working on this story in the newsroom and then another breaking story when i got home. that's the life of a journalist though, the news never rests and i say keep 'em coming.

so i don't have much to say but i'm sure you are wondering who the red-headed chick in the picture above is. well, that is the Swan (the other tongue about to attack her belongs to hubby Jeff) and she is having the first Kaimin baby (i'm sure other Kaimin alums have had kids but let's be honest, who matters more than the Class of '07?)... and we recently found at that baby is going to be a boy! holla! unfortunately, Swan has decided against naming the kid Danny. i'm a bit pissed.

how to dine, dash and then dance like Usher

i would like to take a second to talk to all the children about their dumb teenage tomfoolery. my message is simple kids: don't dine and dash, because it's a pretty dick move. but if you are going to D&D at the local dinner and leave your meal of kind of decent pancakes for your waitress to pick up, don't be this girl.

did you read the story? oh k, here's a quick quiz, just answer true or false.

1. When dining and dashing, it is wise to leave behind your pocketbook that contains your ID.
2. When dining and dashing and leaving behind your pocketbook that contains your ID, it is wise to also have illegal drugs in that pocketbook.
3. It is always wise to return to the scene of the crime to pick up the aforementioned pocketbook, ID and illegal drugs.
4. Dining and dashing with illegal drugs is a good pasttime for a supposed role model.

if you answered "True" to anyone of these questions you could become Miss Louisiana. then you can take the crown you no longer have and compete with this legend for the title of Dumbest Teenage Ever. idiot. hi-jinks

also, while i have you attention, i would like to give a message to the black children in the room, specifically the guys. little dudes, i know that musical artists like Usher and Ne-Yo aren't helping kill that stereotypes that all black guys can dance. but just because you have no rhythm and you don't know how to shake it to Calabria or follow the steps of the Cha Cha Slide, doesn't mean you should be scared to get on the dance floor. let me share a secret with you, i can barely dance and when i do go dancing i have to summon every last ounce of rhythm that i have in my bones to get the job done. hey, and do you know who else can't dance? Barack Obama and he's the most famous African-American of us all.

so don't fret lil' black child. just because you can't bust a move doesn't mean you can't dance. just go out there and make a complete ass out of yourself like everyone else.

politics is much more tolerable with a laugh track

i am being unable to sleep so i was thinking that Saturday Night Live should release a DVD of its best political sketches from this whole campaign (primaries and presidential run). i would buy that DVD. twice. anyways, here is my idea of the top 10 political sketches from the last year or so. if you don't like these, just watch this classic repeatedly.

10. McCain campaign ads
9. The candidates do Oprah
8. Hillary v. Hillary
7. Hall & Oates endorsement (about at the 2:20 mark)
6. Chris Rock talks politics
5. The Vice-Presidential debate
4. We journalist love Obama
3. The Palin/Clinton press conference
2. Obama on Halloween
1. Poehler's Palin Rap

screw the (Devil) Rays fans and screw Denver too

i woke up this morning and found out that Mr. Blackwell recently died. so i guess that means me and my awful Urkel costume (yes, those are pretzel sticks in my nose) will never be on Mr. Blackwell's Worst Dressed List. another dream of mine is shot down.

anyways, the World Series will kick off on Wednesday and it will pit (and raise you hand if you predicted this one) the Philly Phillies against the Tampa Bays Devil-less Rays. i'm predicting Philly wins in six games, which, with the way my predictions have gone all season, means the Rays will likely win it in four games.

now, i have ties with the Rays because of my association with the Sports Journalism Institute. during the summer of 2006, i spent 10 days down in St. Pete at the SJI bootcamp and one day we went to go "cover" Tampa Bay lose 6-2 to Toronto and Roy Holliday. we got pre-game access to the field (well, the dugout and playpen) and got to interview Don Zimmer, Joe Maddon (btw, if Madden isn't an unanimous selection for AL Manager of the Year, the people who didn't give him a vote should have their votes taken away). so it's cool to see a team that was that awful that year (league worst 61-101 record) get to the World Series a couple years later and although they were great to us... i have to root for Philly for one reason: the fans.

when we covered the Tampa Bay/Toronto game, there might have been six fans at Tropicana, which is easily the worst baseball stadium ever. it's gross. all through this season there were stories about the Rays' pathetic attendance and i was watching the Game 7 last night and the place was packed with all these damn bandwagon fans who were rocking Rays gear like they were lifelong fans. it reminded me of last year when everyone jumped on the Rockies bandwagon in the playoffs and made it impossible for us real fans to get tickets to the World Series games. seriously, i would have bought a plane ticket to Denver to see a game that i had been waiting dutifully for 13 years for but i couldn't because all these damn Denver jerks who wouldn't buy a $10 ticket during the season, scooped up all the tickets. i guarantee i had seen more Rockies games in person over the previous two seasons than some of those so-called fans did before the 2006 playoffs. jerks.

so i gotta go with Philly, just because they have some very long-suffering fans over there in Philadelphia. and those fans were actually selling out Phillie games in April.

really, how do undecided voters dress themselves?

a couple of political stories to get to so let's roll right through them...

first off, Colin Powell endorsed Obama a few minutes ago in a move that should have been a shocker to no one considering how he was treated during his time in the Bush cabinet. unfortunately, which sucks since i have so much respect for Colin Powell and one of the first books my parents had me read as a kid on a famous African-American was a biography on Powell, i think this can only hurt Obama more than it can help. sure, it is a big endorsement from a prominent African-American but Obama has been preaching the message of change for months and months and when one of your biggest endorsements is now coming from a guy whose biggest contribution to society over the past ten years is this mess, i can't see how this is a good thing. you can't keep trying to tie McCain to Bush when you have a huge backing from a former member of Bush's cabinet. it will be interesting to see if Obama and Powell are at any joint rallies together.

another reason i don't think that this endorsement will do anything is that it comes 2.5 weeks before the damn election. who on Earth is this going to sway? i truly believe that the people who say they are undecided are decided and are just looking for face time on TV or some love from the polls. how can you not be decided by now? McCain has literally been running for president since like 1998 and Obama has been at it for the last 20 months or so, people should have a pretty solid opinion on where they stand. if there are some actually undecided people out there, can i ask you something? how do you dress yourself in the morning? seriously, someone should make the decision that people who are still "undecided" should not be allowed in the voting booth because its only dumbing down this whole process. crap or get off the pot people!

in addition to "undecided" voters, i also don't believe that people who are influenced by endorsements should vote which is the third reason that i think (and really kind of hope) that the Powell endorsement means little. quit being lazy people and do your own work. i am voting for Obama but if you are making your decision off of what's written on this blog, you're an idiot. you're even dumber if you are voting for Obama or McCain just because of what your friends have said about their favorite candidate. who cares who Heidi from the Hills is voting for (McCain)? no one should really care for a second that a group of celebs is in the pro-Obama music video (even if that celebrity is Tatyana Ali who surely has grown up since those Fresh Prince days. damn...). and even if your favorite R&B singer rocks an Obama jacket on Letterman, that really shouldn't play a role in your decision. your vote should reflect you, so quit listening to everyone who isn't running for office, go out and do some actual research and make a decision based off what's best for you.

in other political news, after getting brilliantly mocked for weeks on SNL, Sarah Palin made an appearance on the late-night sketch show on Saturday. she actually did a pretty decent job and allowed the writers to make fun of her, which was very good. the Amy Poehler rap was great (the moose kill was hilarious and Palin looked just so damn adorable) and the opening skit was funny especially since it had a random cameo from a peeved Mark Wahlberg who isn't too happy about this skit (although he has apparently calmed down a bit). i'm sure Palin didn't win over any of those idiot undecided voters last night but in a campaign that has gotten more and more negative (and ps. holy crap those McCain/Palin rallies are kind of getting a little scary and its only going to get worse), it was nice to see some laughs being tossed about.

(on a side note, when did SNL become funny again? it's been great this season.)

and finally, Terry Tate (y'know, the Office Linebacker) is not a very big fan of Sarah Palin. who knew?

what's scarier? vindictive TV hosts or super rabies?

i was going to attempt to go to bed early but while i was watching my DVR'd copy of last night's CSI, i found out that John McCain was going to be on Letterman last night. since McCain had infamously ditched Dave's about three weeks ago to save the economy, i knew that i had to watch it. i will say this, i don't think that Dave has completely gotten over McCain bailing on him because that was a pretty harsh interview which was the complete opposite of the kiss-fest interview that Letterman gave Obama about a month or so ago.

i have no problem with talk show hosts being tough on candidates and i have no problem with them being tougher on one candidate than another. however, i have a huge problem with these talk show hosts turning on candidates who have been incredibly good to them. McCain has been to Letterman plenty of times and Dave has never been this mean or sharp with him. what changed for Dave this time?

the worst example of this though is being set on The Daily Show and i really haven't been able to watch it in the last month or so because it's annoyed me so much. John McCain has got to hold the record for the most appearances on The Daily Show and up until about the springtime, Jon Stewart seemed like he wanted to literally date John McCain. but then McCain got the nomination and although nothing really has changed in his policies, Stewart has been ridiculously blunt with his jokes on him (if you just got your news from The Daily Show, you might not even know that Obama, who may been on the Daily Show once or twice, is running for as little jokes that poke at him). like i said, i don't have a problem with people who don't like McCain or want to vote Obama (i'm voting for Barack!!!) but i do have a big problem when you turn your back on people that have been really good to you in the past.

Ne-Yo was on Letterman last night too (wearing an Obama jacket which was funny since he followed McCain) to perform Miss Independent and i think he has officially bumped Usher and R. Kelly off the list for my favorite R&B singer. the boy is good.

anyways, the reason i was watching CSI on my DVR in the first place was i went to a scary movie. now, i must first explain that i think scary movies are a joke. while i couldn't watch them as a kid i can't not laugh at them now because the premises are just so out there it's a bit ridiculous. i remember watching the original Saw movie with Shayla and some of her friends and laughing throughout the movie while Shayla covered herself with the blanket we were sharing because she was so freaked out. i don't think she enjoyed my laughs.

yesterday i went to Quarantine. i think there might have been a few times where i was startled but i didn't yelp or scream or anything. the annoying thing about the movie is you are supposed to believe that this is a lost tape found that chronicles the demise of a news crew and some other random folks (including Marin Hinkle who plays Judith on Two & A Half Men... and if she is the big-name actress on set that should tell you a thing or two about the quality of this baby) in an apartment that is infected with super rabies. since that's how they are playing off the movie, the entire thing is shot with one camera and since they are running all over the place and freaked out of their minds, the camerawork is incredibly wobbly and did make me queasy enough that i had to shut my eyes a few time because i thought i might puke.

the best part about the movie, of course, was my company. i went with Ailynn and Vanessa who were obviously not fans of scary things and they let it be know. Ailynn screamed at literally everything (including a preview) which was really cute. but the best part was during one of the final scenes, and although you could see this coming from four miles away, they both screamed at the same time (along with the other five people in the sketchy theater we were at) and they both screamed right into my opposing ears. i don't really know what happened the rest of the movie because i couldn't hear, ha ha. so yea, the movie was kind of blah (however, i am a little worried about super rabies now) but the girls made it pretty fun.

OH! and speaking of scary things, i bought my Halloween outfit a couple days ago. i will leave you with a pretty big hint as to what it is (think orange). holla!

the Texas heat has really turned me into a sissy

we start today with some important news. and by important news, i mean it's time for the fantasy football breakdown. through six games of the 2008 season here are how my four teams are faring (the Office Football League and SJI leagues are my two big leagues, i know you care).

• The Thandie Newton Appreciation Society (OFL): 5-1, first place in the Matt Jones Division
• Moral Victory (SJI): 4-2, fifth place in 20-team league
• Moral Victory II (The Champions): 5-1, first place in 10-team league
• Austin Moral Victory (Fire Sale 2): 4-2, second place in Division I

so to recap, i rock as much as a fantasy football nerd can rock.

oh k, now that i feel a bit more manly, it's time to take myself down a few pegs. over the years, i have discovered that i have become a bigger wimp in regards to the weather.

when i was in high school, it wasn't uncommon to see me walking the few blocks to Senior High in shorts with two feet of snow on the ground. boots? boots were for wimps, i would roll all day with the soggy socks and shoes. the days of snowpants and parental-mandated winter outfits that took 15 minutes to get out of when i got inside and another 25 to put on when i had to go back out were over. this hot high schooler defied his parents and Mother Nature (and general logic) with his wild winter wardrobe and never once got sick. i was hardcore. and awesome.

then college came around and although i occasionally started wearing pants in the winter, i still refused to completely conform to the demands of the winter months. i especially needed to be more intense than those damn California kids who were at the UM and were wearing winter jackets in September. however, i always struggled whenever i went home to Billings because if there is one thing to know about Montana, Missoula cold is not Billings cold (just imagine Missoula cold with a lot of wind). so while i could stand the winter, winter break was always a short trip for me.

flash forward to today in Austin, Texas (roughly 18 months after my college graduation) where we are supposed to get a high of 75... and i am sitting in the newsroom with a sweatshirt on. i left my apartment this morning and there was a stiff breeze going through and i nearly froze to death. i threw on a sweatshirt, sprinted to my car and then realized that my car thermometer was saying it was 72 outside. in the past week, i've had to turn on the heat in my car twice. honestly, the only thing that is keeping me from completely shaming my reputation is that i am wearing shorts right now although i did wear jeans twice this week (and its only Thursday!!!)

seriously, i am a Montana boy! i am supposed to believe that you close pools when the water begins to freeze! 50 degrees means ice cream, not hot cocoa! i am not even supposed to really notice if it snows five feet, let alone run from mid-70s weather.

Texas is ruining me and i am supposed to return to Billings in less than two weeks. yes, the same Billings that got a couple feet of snow last weekend. there is a good chance that i don't make it out of this alive.

Marsha, Marsha, Marsha!!! oh, and BBQ talk too

i got my haircut this morning but i had the mistake of wearing a white polo to work, so i've been swiping visible black hair follicles off my shirt all day... but that's another story. as i've previously posted, i'm a bit anal about the hair, just like i am OCD about brushing my teeth (i have a seperate toothbrush for work and i used to carry around a toothbrush in my backpack at school) and cleaning anything that belongs to me. in regards to my hair, i have it cut every Wednesday by the same barber at the same time. it's just how i roll.

however, in two weeks i will be traveling back to Austin from Billings on Wednesday morning so i had to reschedule my normal appointment. normally, i would just reschedule for Thursday but since the next week will be the first week of November, i decided to schedule my haircut at my barbershop for November 5. y'know, so i can have a celebratory haircut and in the process do my part to make a change (hair change is the exact same thing as social change! almost.).

after i am done celebrating one of the biggest victories in the history of Team Black America, i may go grab a bite to eat at Hoover's, which is celebrating its 10-year anniversary this Thursday. i've eaten at this place three or four times and let me tell you something, the food is delicious. if it wouldn't kill me, bankrupt me or balloon me to 400 pounds, i'd eat there every day. soul food, yum.

but today's topic isn't supposed to be about BBQ or barbershops... it's all about the Brady Bunch. more specifically Maureen McCormick who played Marcia Brady on the 70s hit show and is out on the talk show circuit promoting a tell-all book about her life. to give you a short rundown of the happenings, Marcia nearly lost her virginity to her TV brother, dated Michael Jackson and after the show ended started selling her body for drugs.

wow.

these story sadly seem to be pretty commonplace for these child actors and i remember watching the movie Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star where Dickie had this club whose members were a bunch of washed-up child stars. however, it was odd because i don't remember many black actors being in the club. i guess that's because all the African-American kiddos go on to live normal lives and never have issues. never ever. so quit asking.

another great example of so-called justice

in addition to this hot news about Hillary, there is lots of execution talk today in the news so let's break it down in the TYC.

i am not a big fan of the whole execution idea, mainly because i don't buy the whole eye-for-an-eye nonsense. how do you justify murder with another murder? it makes no sense. i especially don't think its fair to place the life of someone in the hands of people (sorry, "peers") who may not have the best intentions at heart. thus, was the case in an on-going controversy about a scheduled execution in Texas as the judge and the prosecuter, kind of used to be lovers (conflict of interest? what conflict of interest?).

then there is that whole thing called race which is best exemplified in the saga of Troy Davis. as of today, it appears that Davis has run out of appeals and it's only a matter of time before he's executed for the murder of an off-duty cop in the 1980s. the only problem is that is becoming increasingly obvious that Davis didn't kill anyone as seven of the nine witnesses in Davis' case have recanted their statements, some going as far as to say that they were pressured into fingering Davis as the gunman. if you didn't look at the story, let me tell you that Davis is black... and he's in Georgia. so pretty much, he's screwed. if this was some white guy, this wouldn't have ever gone to trial. if he wasn't in the South, he'd been freed 10 years ago. now all that awaits is when five years from now, Georgia announces that they messed up and issuing a half-hearted apology along with a middle finger to the African-American community.

crap like this is disgusting. and people wonder why black folks started celebrating like they won the lotto when O.J. got off... the first time.

Team Black America wasn't the only group dealt an execution blow on Tuesday as Team Fat America was also served by the justice system. apparently fat people can't get away with crimes anymore which, i guess, will postpone my plans on going on a bank robbery spree across the state of Nebraska. i'd have preferred a life sentence for Fatty McCriminal but i'm not as annoyed that this guy got executed (the crime that was committed was horrendous and he all but admitted to doing it) as i am with the pending Davis execution. however, i'm a little bothered that he committed the crime at the age of 19 but he was executed when he was 41. will someone explain to me why it takes 22 years to execute someone (a process that takes only a couple of minutes). if you are going to take 22 years to kill someone off, why don't you just give him life in prison and let him rot for his deeds? 22 years is absolutely ridiculous.

i will leave you with the execution scene from The Green Mile (it's second appearance on TYC) because, like Troy Davis, the fictional John Coffey got screwed over by the man. sometimes the South just makes me sick.

The Economic Crisis: The good, bad and the ugly

so this whole economic crash has been going on for the past few weeks and i am really unsure about how i feel about it. if the 450 front page pictures on cnn.com of some depressed stock broker slumped over a chair that have run over the past two weeks are any indication, this isn't a good thing.

honestly, this couldn't have come at a better time for the Democrats because an economic crisis all but guarantees Obama a win in November because if there is one thing that people care more about than strangers over in Iraq, it's their own wallets. and while this collapse can legitimately be blamed on both sides, Democrats have a better track record with the economy and this is just another stain on the past eight years of Republican rule. (speaking of Obama, this made me laugh today.)

i guess an Obama win is a good thing that can come out of this situation as is that fact that gas prices are dropping (funny thing happens when people aren't buying craploads of gas stock, let's try to remember that when the Market eventually rebounds). the above picture is of a gas station about a mile away from my apartment on Friday where i filled up and on Sunday, the price had dropped to 2.77 a gallon. so the era of sub-$3 gas is back which is a relief since at one point no more than two or three months ago, i was paying $3.99 a gallon and contemplating buying a skateboard.

the negatives to this crash is everyone reacting to the D-word (Depression!) and freaking out about their bank accounts. i feel fairly confident that my bank is doing alright since it just bought another bank. but if i wake up tomorrow and my money is gone, i am not going to be a very pleasant person to deal with.

however, i do have some worries. first off, i have to worry about my parents who have accumulated some debt over the years. are we going to lose the house? what is going to happen to the money they should be saving for Noelle's college education? with the market as it is, it is important as ever for my Dad to start getting his shit together because if he relapses at all, we could be really, really screwed. so i am very scared about the happenings back in Billings but maybe i can get some answers when i go back there in a couple weeks (btw, it snowed like two feet there this weekend and it's still in the 80s here).

my second worry has to deal with saving for my future. i make a pretty decent salary for my age but in my first year at the Statesman, i hadn't been very wise about retirement saving and although i think i may have a 401k, i haven't invested much money into it. but after recent conversations with Dianne and Ian, i decided to wise up and start looking into setting up some sort of savings plan at the beginning of the year but now i am a bit scared to. a friend who works for the same company that i do recently put on his Facebook that he had lost around $5,000 in his 401k because of this mess. 5k!?! why would i want to invest money that i am going to lose? part of my insecurities about all this come from the fact that while i have read up on it, i don't really understand most of this nonsense so perhaps i need to find a good financial planner to help calm me down... and then go find four more financial guys to help assure me that the first guy isn't full of crap.

i guess if all this continues to go to hell, i can just start going back to paper checks and start using the bank Danny's Mattress Inc.

A weekend with Cuuuuz, the Longhorns and MK

weekend recap: i went to lunch on Saturday with Cuuuuz and her husband (above) and it was really fun but as we sat and caught up and talked about our current happenings, i had one of those "you are actually an adult now" moments. odd. but i am very pumped that me and Cuuuuz are fellow Texans now and i think we're meeting up in a couple weeks again for lunch, so hizah!

other highlights included... Texas beats Oklahoma and jumps into the #1 spot in the polls. UT fans should be pretty insufferable this week until they likely lose on Saturday to Missouri... i will likely go 3-1 in fantasy football this week including wins in my two big leagues... Max and i got a front row seat when MK had her heart broken by the Arizona Cardinals special teams unit on Sunday... and the American-Statesman has a new commercial out and i saw it for the first time yesterday. i couldn't find a YouTube link but it was pretty hip.

closing out the season with a win. lame.

so my fourth season of softball ended last night with a... win. yes, that's right, a win. Danny And The Glovers avoided a 0-6 season with a 8-1 victory (yea, i pitched and only gave up one run) that likely cost the team we were playing a spot in the playoffs. the previous three seasons we went into the final game needing a win to get into the playoffs and we lost all three times. this season, we needed to lose our last game to get that elusive o-fer season and we won. odd. anyways, we finished the season 1-5 with four of those losses by a combined five runs. best 1-5 team ever.

in other exciting news, Caitlin will be in town this weekend and i believe the plan to to go to lunch on Saturday. i haven't seen Cuz since Grandma Beth's funeral in the spring of 2005 and i am still kind of bummed that i missed her wedding this past summer because of work. but it will be nice to see her and meet her husband so i am looking forward to Saturday.

Why is Heart telling a Maverick what to do?

Wednesday TV Recap: the South Park premiere was decent but i guess it would have meant more to me had i been interested at all in Indiana Jones. Ev's speech at the end of new episode of The Island (starts at the 37:05 mark of this link) made last night's show probably the best Challenge episode i've ever seen. balla.

but enough about TV, let's talk about the politics. this presidential campaign is representing everybody. Barack is holding it down for Team Black America and all the bitter young folks while Johnny Mac is reppin' the Double A-R-P. Palin is a triple threat (hockey moms, pitbulls and Tina Fey look-a-likes) while Joe Biden is giving his hometown of Scranton a voice which is good since i don't think Michael Scott is heard nearly enough.

even the irrelevant whiners are getting heard. unfortunately.

i saw this video this morning and it made me kind of annoyed that that whole first amendment thing exists... which is a big statement coming from someone whose entire profession centers around that amendment. i mean really? our economy is crumbling around us and you're upset because John McCain's nickname is the same as your last name? that is undoubtedly the dumbest thing i have heard in a while. the best part is that the lady says she has no problem with Tom Cruise's character in Top Gun but the love stops at John McCain. well Crazy Cruise thanks you for your generosity.

being as you have no legal right over your last name, just shut up. if you don't like it, don't watch the TV. ever. in fact, hole yourself in your house and never leave. honestly, this world has enough idiots, we wouldn't miss you.

the Maverick family aren't the only people that have a beef with the McCain campaign. the Foo Fighters aren't too happy that McCain has used their song "My Hero" (a good song) at campaign events and have asked them to stop (in case you are keeping track, this douchebag is allowed to rock the Foo, this actual hero isn't). rights to use music is a bi-party issue as Barack Obama's camp has been told to quit using work by Sam Moore. but the fight being waged by Sam Moore and the Foo isn't nearly as hardcore as the self-imposed one that 70s band Heart has gotten itself into with the Vietnam Vet. Heart was none too pleased that their hit Barracuda was used by Sarah Palin at the RNC Convention and let the world know all about it.

the thing is these campaigns aren't doing anything wrong. they have to pay to use these songs and all i hear is these bands whining about the song usage but i don't see them offering to pay these campaigns back the money they've pocketed for said song use. so until i see those checks being written, it's time to shut up.

back to the whole Heat issue, let me tell you something homies, when your greatest hit is better remembered as a character on Legends of the Hidden Temple, you could use all the publicity you can get. and don't worry about the legacy of that song being ruined, i am sure you already did that when y'all teamed up with Fergie to sing that song on Idol Gives Back. truthfully, if i was Heart, i'd be begging the McCain camp to use my work (i could see McCain addressing the economic crisis and telling it that he's going to go "Crazy on You"). when one of the 26 former/present members of Heart has enough celebrity status to make it onto a VH1 reality TV show (D-list status), then i might care about your gripes. until then shut up and go hang out in the Maverick household.

dating and making Facebook albums, Danny-style!

i was on the MySpace today and i saw this ad which made me want to laugh a little bit. but i stopped joking because that guy got THAT girl and, of course, they wouldn't put it on the Internet if it wasn't true. and i can't really mock the guy for being a loser because, well, i just spent two nights putting together my Chapter 30 photo album together on the 'Book. yea, yea, laugh it up but let me ask you something: how many of your albums got over 100 comments in less than 24 hours? yea, that's what i thought. point, Davis. greatest accomplishment of my life.

anyways, since this post is going to be more about dating than reaching unheard levels of Facebook Nirvana, i should say that i went on a date a few weekends ago. it was the first date that i've been on since i've been in Austin and it was pretty fun. we went to dinner, putt-putt golfing and finished off the night with drinks and the end of the UT game. it was a good time and i guess we'll see if it leads to anything.

dating is kind of a weird concept for me. like, i know how to be a good boyfriend (i rock) and how to treat women right (the benefit of having three sisters (two that share my last name, one who is white) but i guess i don't really know how to date. it's something i never really did before. take high school for example... a typical date in Billings, Montana for 17-year-old Danny and his crew consisted of going to the $1 movie theater with a special lady and making out in the grungy back seats. solid. if there was ever dinner and dancing involved, it was because it was the night of a formal dance. any other guy-girl interactions in public were done in big groups, thats just how we rolled.

now let's look at college... in my experience, both as a participant and spectator, boyfriends and girlfriends at the UM were made by "hanging out," not "dating." y'know, you would chill with each other on campus, watch a few movies, swap a kiss or two and presto, you were "together." then once that was established, you might go out to dinner every once in a while. i never went on a first date with Shayla and i was well into my relationship (or whatever you want to call it) with Jen before we ever went out to dinner or out on the town. i honestly think that the closest to a first date i ever got to in college was when me and a girl named Kelsey went clubbing. and by clubbing, i mean we stood in line at Club Cabo fo 45 minutes before getting bored and going home to watch a movie. once again, solid.

now that brings us back to today and my unfamilirity with this whole dating idea. asking a girl out was kind of nerve-wrecking because in addition to being petrified of girls and rejection, it wasn't something that i had done all the time. once again i'm used to "Yea, we should watch a movie and hang out sometime" (a proposal that leaves plenty of room for rejection for her while supplying me plenty of room to deny romantic interest if that rejection does come) not "Would you like to go to dinner with me this weekend?" (a lot more room for rejection for her, not much room for anything but vulnerability for me). in other words, i felt like i was 13-yards-old when i called Alli and my heart was beating probably three times faster than it should be when i asked her. it was a relief when she said "yes" and i was finally allowed to quit sweating off a cascade of nervous sweat on my patio.

so yea, i'm hoping for more dates with the aforementioned (eat it Bulger) girl but if that never happens, that's fine too. i've gained some confidence and matured a little bit throughout this whole process which is never a bad thing. single ladies of Austin, beware...

Obama had my vote but he earned it on Tuesday

i haven't blogged in a few days but i figured i would get into back into the internet sensation that is TYC by sending a little love to Tuesday night TV. and by Tuesday night TV i am not talking about Without A Trace, i am talking about the second presidential debate.

but before i talk about "Obama v. McCain II: The Town Hall Thrilla," i want to touch on a few quick things. first, both the teams i picked last week to make it to the World Series (the Cubs and Angels) were eliminated in the first round. after watching some SNL clips last week, i've got to say that Anne Hathaway chick is both incredibly sexy and talented. she is an early candidate for the BBoB in 2009.

let's get back to the debate/whinefest.

i've said all along that my vote was going to the Democratic candidate and although it was originally intended for Hillary, i had no problem voting for Obama. but i've never really been that sold on the guy and for a while felt that my vote was more for social responsibility than my like of Barack Obama. but i think i feel a lot more confident about my vote after Tuesday night. Obama just looked presidential up there. he was calm under pressure, let McCain foolishly play his game of finger wagging and just did his thing (although i still don't think he answered 75% of the questions asked). i mean i still think he is a car salesman with many political flaws and i am not ready to name my firstborn Barack like many black folk are but i really liked the guy tonight and i am getting excited to vote for him in four weeks... in a state that will undoubtedly go to McCain.

let's face it, debates are 90 minutes of bitchin' and moanin' so i liked that they switched it up a little bit with the concept of the town hall meetings. let the candidates talk face-to-face with the voters who are apparently undecided (seriously, you've had nearly two years to mull this over and you still aren't decided? how do you change your underpants in the morning?). the biggest loser in my opinion though wasn't John McCain (who seriously thought he was going to one-up Obama on domestic issues, come on) but Tom Brokaw, the moderator. what the hell is with this one-minute crap? you can't ask a politician to name his favorite yogurt in less than a minute let alone a complicated political question. Brokaw's whining about the candidates breaking the rules was worse than Obama whining about not getting a rebuttal or McCain whining about wanting the same chances Obama was getting.

anyways, the second debate is done and Obama is moving closer to his inevitable win (is there any way he loses this thing?) the good news is we're probably taking over in January. the bad news is the Democrats and its worthless Congress no longer have any excuses. but yea, while these presidential debates are a little sucktastic the VP one was pretty awesome... well, at least the VP one i watched on Saturday Night Live.

speaking of SNL, they raised some eyebrows (and nearly drove Blair to insanity) when they pulled its skit about the financial bailout on Monday. well, it's back up now so i guess you can see what all the fuss is about.

a new birthday to celebrate in the Davis house

this morning at 7:38 (my time), i became an uncle. world, let me introduce you to Blake Matthew Barnhart who came in a couple weeks early but still was a healthy 6 pounds, 10 ounces. i haven't talked to Alyssa yet because i'm sure she needs some time to herself (she looks a bit tired), Andrew and Blake but i'm sure she's doing well.

it's funny because over the past few days i had been struggling with some things but suddenly those things seem very trivial and insignificant when you consider the wonder of a newborn baby. so i was thinking about blogging today about the vice-presidential debate, the nonsense of KXAN going off the air or the fact that i forgot to put cheese on my eggs this morning. but i'm not going to because honestly, i just don't care.

Travis Henry loves himself some Billings

here is a short post that i am guessing only will entertain me. former NFL running back Travis Henry was recently arrested for trying to broker a drug deal. read the linked story for the juicy details but, in my opinion, the best part about this tale was that the car containing Henry's drugs (Henry was not in the car) was pulled over en route to Billings! yes folks, my hometown has NFL connections! granted, they're bad connections but they are still NFL connections.

my guess is these connections were gained because Henry has a child in Montana. but how down on your luck must you be, if you are (a) a former NFL star who has turned to selling drugs as a day job and (b) your territory includes Billings, Montana?

would i rather watch Pam Beasley or Sarah Palin?

i was hoping to come home from softball tonight and snuggle up on the couch i don't own and watch my DVR'd copy of the new Office. in fact, it was going to be a special night because this is likely the last time me and my TV are going to share quality time with The Office.

but no. i was talking this morning with Mr. Steven Stein and i kind of realized that, like all those hip major stations, Beauty and the Biden will be on tonight. my favorite show in the world (Without a Trace) will be not be shown on Tuesday for the McCain-Obama Whinefest II. but i can't be mad at Sarah Palin though for tonight's Office cancellation, she's just so damn saucy. but since i can't watch those crazy kids at Dunder-Miflin tonight, i will leave you all with this brilliant clip. this is a movie i'd watch.

anyways, as for the debate, this is how i see it: this is a no-win situation for the Democrats. if Biden wipes the floor with Palin, it's expected. if she performs decently and holds her own (which is probable since her expectations following the Couric interview are so low), then the debate is an absolute disaster for the Dems. this debate is about the Palin. don't get me wrong, it's nice that Biden is making the trip to St. Louis, but all eyes will be on the Alaskan. Sarah Palin is the star of her ticket, Joe Biden isn't.

here is a drinking game that Captain John posted on his Facebook to use in correlation to tonight's debate. i have to add another thing though. for every time one of your Republican friends whines that Sarah Palin is being treated unfairly by moderator Gwen Ifill because Ifill is black, take a drink. every time one of the Democrats in the house is whining that Biden is getting the short end of the stick because of the fact Ifill has lady parts, take a swig. should make for a great night.

an armchair quarterback's look at his picks

so here are two things i am somewhat bad about: prematurely touting my Alma mater and predicting the baseball standings. dealing with the first note, yesterday i said that the Griz were 4-0 and there hadn't been any arrests this season on the team. turns out that wasn't necessarily accurate... good job Griz. the sad thing is that it apparently took three football players to break a normal student's jaw. and they did it on camera too!!! we're raise smart criminals at UM!

anyways, the baseball playoffs start today so i figured now is as good a time as any to go back and look at my "Armchair Quarterback" series and see how my preseason predictions measured up. i got four of the eight playoff teams correct so that isn't that bad (batting .500 would win me a batting title) but if you need a refresher, here is what my predictions looked like with the team's actual finish in parenthesis.

AL East: Boston Red Sox (95-67, AL Wild Card)
AL Central: Detroit Tigers (74-88, last in AL Central)
AL West: Seattle Mariners (61-101, 4th in AL West)
AL Wild Card: Cleveland Indians (81-81, third in Al Central)
NL East: Philadelphia Phillies (92-70, first in NL East)
NL Central: Chicago Cubs (97-64, first in NL Central)
NL West: Colorado Rockies (74-88, third in NL West)
NL Wild Card: L.A. Dodgers (84-78, first in NL West)

so i missed out on four teams and here is how i predicted those teams to play out their seasons: Tampa Bay Rays (4th in AL East), Chicago White Sox (4th in AL Central), Anaheim Angels (2nd in AL West) and Milwaukee Brewers (2nd in NL Central). i think when you look at it, i didn't do too bad. i struck out badly with the Angels but who here thought the Rays or White Sox would even sniff the playoffs? what experts didn't have Detroit in the World Series instead of behind the Royals in the standings? i maintain that i did as well as any of those ESPN "experts" so get off my case, jack.

anyways, i predicted a Colorado-Detroit World Series so i guess i need to get a new prediction in since both of those teams kind of sucked this year. so let's go with Anaheim and Chicago with Kerry Wood blowing a save in the 9th inning of game seven to send a depressed Le into another off-season of self-inflicted torture. BARTMAN, BARTMAN, BARTMAN!