As if America needs one more thing to prove your child is going to be arrested, my beloved has taken a hit:
In March, The Journal of American College Health published a report on the link between energy drinks, athletics and risky behavior. The study … suggests that high consumption of energy drinks is associated with ‘toxic jock’ behavior, a constellation of risky and aggressive behaviors including unprotected sex, substance abuse and violence.
Ah yes, the ol’ “constellation” of risky and aggressive behaviors. Unprotected sex. Abuse! INAPPROPRIATE ACTIVITY! AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIORS VIOLENCE SHOOTING MARILYN MANSON! OMG I’M ABOUT TO OVERLOAD ON TEEN BEHAVIOR COLLOQUIALISMS!!
Alright, Journal of American College Health, you win. I drink a Red Bull, next thing I know I’m impregnating hookers while on a crack binge before crashing my car into an abortion clinic. I suppose I’ll lay off them for awhile.
Kiplinger, a company self-proclaimed “Timely, Trusted Personal Finance Advice and Business Forecasts,” honored this wonderful city of Houston as the number one place in America to Live, Work, and Play in the July 2008 issue of its on-line magazine:
It’s the city of big plans and no rules, beat-the-heat tunnels and loop-the-loop highways, world-class museums and wiry cowboys, humidity that demands an ice-cold martini and the biggest damn liquor store on the planet. How could you not love Houston?
Well, I’ll be damned if I couldn’t have put it better myself. However, I will maintain that usually the Houston “humidity” (also known as a wet blanket) is NOT a selling point to living in Houston, Kiplinger managed to find a way to praise it. I think one of the best things about Houston they mentioned just a bit later: “Not only does the Houston metro area lead the nation in job growth, but also its cost of living stands well below the national average.”
Now that’s the truth. Any city where whatever you’re making can buy you what you want—and whatever you’re making would NOT buy you what you want in another city—is a good place to live. That, and the Houston Astros.
Rounding out the Top 5:
Raleigh (Go Wolfpak!)
Omaha (College World Series!)
Boise (Really? Boise?)
Colorado Springs (I have a sweet shirt from there!)
The Top 5 feature is something I’ve been wanting to implement on this blog since its inception. So occasionally, we’ll be posting our Top 5 Whatevers on here for your reading pleasure. This is the first one.
5. Guns ‘n’ Roses — “Sweet Child of Mine”
Just hearing the intro to this song makes me happy. I know what’s coming, and the first few lines of the song are just awesome: “She’s got a smile that seems to me / Reminds me of childhood memories / Where everything was as fresh as the bright blue sky”.
No, it’s not about whether or not he should be playing. (He will always be a hero to me for his playoff home run off the Cardinals.) Recently, I noticed he was wearing an all black face mask behind the plate. This was seriously disconcerting to me; I loved his cow skull face mask (click on thumbnail to see the mask larger):
And then the other day, I saw him wearing an all black one. This just didn’t make sense. He went from the coolest mask in the biz to the plainest. Now I know why:
The change in Ausmus’ helmet is due to league rules. Wilson Sporting Goods paid Major League Baseball a fee for the exclusive right to use MLB logos on a hockey-style mask. Ausmus uses masks from All-Star, not Wilson. He was told he would be fined and/or suspended if all of the artwork wasn’t removed from his mask. … If Ausmus wanted to put an Astros logo on his mask, he’d have to use the Wilson version. He doesn’t like Wilson masks, so he’s sticking with the All-Star brand and using plain colors.
The New York Times recently launched their “TimesMachine”, a—wait for it—time machine that can take you back to memorable moments and show you the newspaper that ran for that day.
Seeing as I used to work for a newspaper, love layout and design as well as history, this is really cool to me. If you get a chance, wade through major events like Lincoln’s assassination or even the very first NYT from 1851.
It seemed like all season, the votes were getting put in the wrong place. As I mentioned before, it was just astonishing that Jason Castro made it to the top four. Michael Johns was booted early. So was Carly Smithson. It just didn’t seem like I was going to be happy with the outcome at all.
But finally the stars aligned and David Cook was crowned the winner of American Idol. It’s about time. I never really even liked David Archuleta. His voice was too thin for me, just not strong enough. (Although my roommate Zane would greatly disagree with me.) Not say he couldn’t hit notes—because he can. But he played so incredibly naive, willingly falling into his 17-year-old stereotype.
But David Cook was always a performer. He was marketable. He’s only 25. He proved he had the ability to at least change a song to be his own which could prove to be great for his songwriting career. He was hands down the winner of American Idol, whether the voting public made it so or not. If Archuleta won, he might as well have signed up to do High School Musical 4.
Former Arkansas running back and soon to be NFL god/bust (take your pick until Week 3 of next season) took his time to make sure his all-American sedan looked like it was, well, not an all-American sedan:
Now, if I weren’t so sure that regular sized rims were bigger than my face, I’d say his rims are bigger than my face. However, I’m positive they’re not only bigger than my face, but LOOK AT WHERE THEY COME UP TO ON HIM. Those rims might as well come up to my neck. Jumping over them would be like a physical fitness test in the Army. I’d need a rope to climb over them.
Now, I wonder where he got all that money from before he was an NFL player?
I came across a story from Uni Watch about how the “WNBA was becoming the McNBA”, in their words. That’s all it pretty much said, so I went to check it out because I thought there’s no way they’re going to change the name of the league—especially to that. I was right; it turns out they’re still the WNBA. But what Paul Lukas called “a joke” was referring to the new marketing campaign between the WNBA and McDonalds where all the uniforms for the first game of the season will have a golden arches patch on them.
While that’s an abomination to the people at Uni Watch (and for good reason), that’s not the funniest thing about the campaign to me. I kept reading, and came across this nice tidbit:
WNBA stars, including Los Angeles Sparks star Lisa Leslie, the Detroit Shock’s Cheryl Ford and Seattle’s Sheryl Swopes be among the players serving a new Southern Style Chicken Biscuit and Sandwich from McDonald’s in pre-season personal appearances at restaurant locations today.
Like I said, as if the WNBA doesn’t have enough publicity problems, this sounds like a stunt most minor league teams would pull. I don’t think you’d ever see Tony Parker shelling out Wendy’s .99 cent chicken nuggets or Kobe Bryant handing you your order of Jack in the Box tacos.
Our puppy of over 14 years had to be put down yesterday. I don’t do well with this kind of thing—I’m never exactly sure how to express my feelings. But my sister does. And she did a perfect job of capturing Mollypuppy’s life.
As with most of the people close to me in life, I hardly ever call them by their names. Molly was always Pretty Girl, and I like to think that she knew that was part of her name. She was definitely the prettiest. Sure, she was cute, but her sheen coat, regal, lady-like poses made her pretty.
It’s funny how the world goes ’round. I now have a puppy of my own who will hopefully grow to be old and gray with me, but Molly, Max, and Magic (our first dog ever) will always be with me.
Maybe you heard or maybe you haven’t, but Sofia Coppola’s favorite sprite ScarJo released a record totally comprised of Tom Waits cover songs. It’s called “Anywhere I Lay My Head” after the song of the same name. I was fairly skeptical at first (and some other famous people seem to have already written it off), but decided I had some free time at work to listen to it (well, not exactly “free time”; I was busy working while listening to it) and see how it was.
At first, I thought her voice was exactly like you’d expect it: mannish. But it started to grow on me, and as the songs progressed, the initial drag queen sounding vocals wore off and ended up coming into her own.
After the initial first run through I wasn’t incredibly impressed, but it’s fair to say anyone that comes into listening to an album from a really young, A-list movie star is going to be skeptical. However, the more and more I listen to it, the more and more I actually like it. It’s incredibly ambient—if you’re looking for any semblance of pop music here, you’re not going to find it. I kind of think of it like Sigur Ros mixed with, well, Tom Waits. Lots of reverb on the drums; lots of repetitive (not in a bad way) beats; low, brooding vocals; minimalist instrumentation with heavy, echoed overlays.
I’m going to go head and assume that the sound is due (probably more than a lot) in part to the producer, Dave Sitek, a member of the band TV on the Radio who are known for their use of noise and sounds and push-the-envelope mantra in making their music.
If you’re a member of imeem, you can listen to the whole thing. If not, see the Soundtrack to this Post section below for a sample of one of the songs.
