Temp Post

Just needed to post a picture for my profile.

Merry Christmas

I'm too lazy to write much, but I'm bouncing out for a few days. I hope all my friends and enemies (if I have any) have a very good Christmas and New Years. I may be back before then if the white boy LSU has playing at QB next week has a bad game. Hopefully not, I can't be sitting in the back of the church next Friday night at Scott and Shelley's wedding with my walkman in my ear listening to Miami (I refuse to call them the U) beat up on LSU.

The Case of Corey Maye

First, I made a few changes to the blog. I changed the color of some of the headings; I just chose a random HTML color code I though looked ok, now I got some inadvertent LSU purple and gold action going. I also added a few links included one for “The Boondocks”, my new favorite TV show, and one for a blog, “The Agitator”.

Speaking of, I sent this to a few people by email, wanted to post it up here also:

I hope some of you are familiar with this case, I was not until yesterday. I can't even describe how reading this makes me feel. I don't know all the details, just what I read here, but from what I gather this man, Corey Maye, is on death row for defending his home. Like Nathan McCall wrote, "Makes You Wanna Hollar".

http://www.theagitator.com/archives/025962.php#025962

The Agitator has many updates on his case right now.

Stanley Williams and the Death Penalty

I wasn’t planning on it, but I sit here now writing a few words about Stanley Williams, who as of this moment, will probably be executed by the state of California in a few hours. If I was the governor I would commute his sentence to life in prison.

In a roundabout way The Underdog and I shared on the topic on this post a while back. In very, very, limited circumstances (which I can barely think of), I do not disagree with the application of the death penalty. I personally think such a situation would have to first include an indisputable preponderance of evidence showing malice intent and guilt. Of course the argument can be made that the legal and judicial systems do not require this, all an individual is legally entitled to have is a fair trial and competent defense. I believe for the sentence of death by the hands of the state to be given, the standard should be much higher than just a fair trial. If even one innocent person is murdered by the state, the entire system has failed, and I refuse to believe in the infallibility of death sentences handed out in the country. So until you can prove to me there has never been an innocent individual killed, I really cannot support the death penalty. I heard a preacher recently talk about the application of the death penalty in the Mosaic Law (which I think serves as the basis of much of the law today). He said in crimes where the sentence of death could be given, there had to be at least two eyewitnesses to the event in question. If this was not the case death was not an option. Now all that being stated, I would not pardon Mr. Wilson based on my doubt in the death penalty. I would commute his sentence based on grace and mercy, hopefully the same grace and mercy God has afforded to me many times.

To be honest I always feel a mixture of emotions at times like this. I’m not going into a lot of detail, but my grandfather, an 80 year old African Methodist Episcopalian Minister was brutally murdered. The man who did this is in prison, but I couldn’t imagine the man being sentenced to death. For our family it was a lot easier to forgive and pray for the man than wish for his death. Mr. Stanley Williams I’ll do the same for you, may God rest your soul. I can't condone the evil things you have done, but I do applaude the positive steps you have taken in remodeling your life to become among the best of humanity. Again may God rest your soul.

You're Stupider Than I Am

My last post was about a pretty cool woman. This brief post is about a not pretty cool lady. Now I’m all for free speech and I think the audience should have been more respectful, but I can’t say reading this didn’t cause me to smile a little this morning.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/12/08/coulter.row.ap/index.html

While chatting on IM about this with Megan, I wrote the following, “I know some say it but I don’t think she is even really hot" (sorry, total guy observation, like that has anything to do with the inanity and lunacy of some her statements). Megan made a tremendous observation about Ms. Coulter I can’t help but agree with, “all that ugliness inside comes through on her face”. I’m not trying to be mean, but I think that observation is right on point.

Susan Tedeschi

http://www.susantedeschi.com/

Heard about this lady on NPR this morning, I mean she can sing, has an outrageous voice. I hate to say it, but when I first heard her sing I thought, “Can’t be a white woman blowing like this.” As one of the kids I tutor from time to time would say, “she put some stank on it.” Well white and from New England, you would think at least she would hail from down south somewhere; she even plays a mean electric guitar. I missed some of the interview when I stopped to grab some breakfast, but the lady was very, very cool. I think I may have to check out her new album, she covers some great songs. Maybe during the return of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival they could have her perform, she would fit in perfectly, anywhere from the Sprint Stage to Congo Square to the Gospel Tent. Good Stuff.

View From The Roof

I mean to write more on this blog thing, but just haven’t quite found the time or motivation lately. I should just write down things that pop in my head so I can expound on them here, I may get to that at some point. I guess I could just write about random things.

On a political tip I could write about the Bush war in Iraq, or about the stumbling and bumbling of this administration, or about the trifling response to the hurricanes down here on both the state and federal level.

In sports I could write about the bull…. that is the BCS, Southern getting killed by a 458lb quarterback in the Bayou Classic, my Saints finally winning a game, LSU winning the SEC West and hopefully the conference championship game in the ATL this weekend, or even my two disparate performance so far in the NBA fantasy leagues I am in (first and almost last).

I could write about the fun I’ve had the past few months getting to see a lot of friends and making some new ones. I could also mention how much I enjoyed Thanksgiving and how valuable those moments are I was able to spend that day with my family (not counting the two hour and half naps I took).

I could also mention how this past Friday I woke up at 6:30 to tailgate, then maybe 3 hours after the game somehow I ended up on the roof of the Pete Maravich Assembly Center with some friends. We had an absolutely great time, that is until LSUPD found us, and they were not nearly as amused. So after a little small talk while they called in our info, the cops told the old, graduated, ones among us we were banned from campus. Now before I could launch into my “…..all the money I’ve given this school, all the sporting events I’ve paid for (wait, a lot of those I went to free), all of the student organizations I was involved in and the service I’ve put in helping the university, not to mention my degree(s), I’m even in one of the recruiting videos LSU produced, and you wanna tell me I can’t ……” diatribe one of the 10 LSUPD officers present said we could be on campus as long as we had a legitimate reason, like class, attending an event, meeting someone, etc. However late night explorations of closed campus buildings are over. I guess I can live with that.

And last I could write about the Roger Federer level a..whooping Chris put on me in tennis last night at the LSU Rec Center. But I’m just gonna pretend that never happened.

Bayou Classic

Katrina and Rita have changed a lot of thing around here. But it really hits home this week, over something very insignificant in the big picture, but for Louisiana a reminder of how different things are. The week before Thanksgiving is always a big football week in South Louisiana; my beloved and #3 ranked LSU Tigers play Arkansas Friday for the “Boot” and a trip to Atlanta for the SEC Championship, high school football playoffs quarterfinals, and last, but not least, the Bayou Classic, aka the Black College Super Bowl; other than Mardi Gras the wildest weekend of the year in New Orleans. Except this year the game is being played in Houston, TX, not New Orleans.

Attending the Bayou Classic was a childhood ritual for me, although I admit I have not made the trip to New Orleans for the game in probably 5 years. But it was always fun, especially considering my family is split fairly evenly between SU and Grambling grads and fans (although the past 5 years I’ve had probably 8 cousins attend Grambling). This year ESPN College Gameday will broadcast live from Houston. Now that has to be a first, Gameday broadcasting from a HBCU game. On this LSU message board I occasionally peruse there was a thread with a lot of booing and sarcastic (borderline racist) comments about this. Screw them people, I love it. Chris, Lee, and Kirk (the crew) are gonna have a great time, see some fly females, hot step show, amazing band performances. And Desmond Howard (another crew member of UMichigan heisman fame) will probably get so wild he will lose his mind. Too bad I’ll have to watch from home this year. Just make it back to the NOLA next year with Gameday again and I’ll be cool.

Softball Update

Right now I’m sitting here at work drinking tons of water and trying to overmedicate myself with anything from the medicine cabinet that looks like it could remotely help with a cold. On top of that I’m kinda sore, sliding into bases and diving for balls was easy as a kid, now it sucks. But on the bright side, Second String softball club, still down a player, pulled out the win last night, overcoming an 18-6 deficit in the top of final inning to take a 19-18 lead, then keeping the other team from scoring the game winning run when they had bases loaded and no outs. We then scored 5 runs in the extra inning to win 24-19. Amazing game, we all had a great time. Plus we had a great group of fans out there last night, and the post game trip to Bennigans was fun as well. So if any of the 3.34 people who read this blog doesn’t have plans for next Thursday night about 6:30, drive out across town and come watch us play. I can’t guarantee we’ll always win, but we will definitely be entertaining.

Still My Team

Just to say it, the ribs from Saturday were amazing.

I think I’m catching a cold; apparently that is what watching the New Orleans/Baton Rouge/San Antonio Saints in person can do to you. And Tom Benson still sucks.

I missed the Miami-Nick Saban return game last week, but I did make it out to see the Saints lose to the Chicago Bears. Despite the small crowd I had a good time, and got to see a really good halftime performance by Southern University’s famed marching band, The Human Jukebox.

Someone asked me how it felt to watch the Saints play in Tiger Stadium. It felt like watching football. But one thing was different, at LSU games 95% + of the crowd is composed of white folks. Not saying anything is wrong with this, most of LSU’s alumni are white, which means most of the season ticket holders will be white. And though black students attend games on the same, if not better percentage than white students, from what I see I would have to image a very small percentage of LSU’s black alumni become season ticket holders after college (including myself, and I tailgate for almost every game and until this year attended most). Saints games in the Superdome always drew a very diverse crowd, a lot due to the demographics of the city I’m sure. Generally at Saints games the crowd is 30-40% black folks, maybe even higher, as was the crowd in Tiger Stadium Sunday. Again I’m not complaining about LSU’s crowd, LSU could fill the stadium with delegates from the National Redneck Convention and I probably wouldn’t mind if LSU beat everyone they played by 30, but it was good to see some black folks in the good seats in Tiger Stadium.

Other stuff, when I walked up to the tailgating spot Sunday one of the guys brought a Nintendo out and we were playing Mike Tyson’s Punchout. We remembered to code to get to Tyson, but no one there could beat him. I couldn’t even make one round. I think when I was 12 I beat the game once. Anyway we decided to have a little fun and we made the following sign (notice the fine print). Even had two challengers, but alas, they both fell short.

More game pics

Softball, Ribs, and Saints

This is a picture (Little League Style with the bats crossed in front) of the great diamond warriors know as Second String. We played with only 8 players last night which in slow pitch softball is generally not a good recipe for winning games, but we probably had our best hitting game of the year. And everyone had a good time, actually looking forward to playing next week. Thankfully I’m getting over the injury bug, I hope.

The beginnings of some good eats for Saturday. Give em a day a half to marinate, by Saturday should be good and tender. Last real tailgate of the year, should be good times for all.

And last, New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson is a punk (read here) In fact he has probably passed up Dick Cheney, Tom Delay, Rush Limbaugh, and Ann Coulter (work with me here) as the old white guy I dislike the most. I would and could say more, but I’ll just leave it at that, and this picture taken outside Tiger Stadium. More news from the alma mater, maybe not racist, but definitely not funny. (read here)

And, "Boondocks", definitely funny, premiere this weekend. (read here)

Have a good weekend, I will.

Online Quiz

I normally don’t fill this crap out, generally it takes too long and most people don’t really care to know extra stuff about their friends, but I had some free time today, so here ya go.

THREE SCREEN NAMES YOU HAVE HAD:
001. headliner
002. fastfreddy
003. fanjr77

THREE PHYSICAL THINGS YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF:
001. smile
002. body
003. my height

THREE PHYSICAL THINGS YOU DON'T LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF:
001. my left knee (doesn’t want to work right lately)
002. my right hamstring (pulled it playing softball)
003. nothing else

THREE PARTS OF YOUR HERITAGE:

(I cheated here a little, I just chose my religion heritage)
001. Missonary Baptist
002. African Methodist Episcopalian
003. United Methodist

THREE OF YOUR EVERYDAY ESSENTIALS:
001. email
002. food
003. exercise

THREE THINGS YOU ARE WEARING RIGHT NOW:
001. 10 year old doc martins
002. grey cargo pants
003. navy blue boxer briefs

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE BANDS OR MUSICAL ARTISTS [at the moment]:
001. Stevie Wonder
002. Rebirth Brass Band
003. Earth, Wind, and Fire

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE SONGS [at the moment]:
001. Do What Ya Wanna – Rebirth Brass Band
002. Midnight Train to Georgia – Gladys Knight
003. Amazing Grace

THREE THINGS YOU WANT IN A RELATIONSHIP:
001. Honesty
002. Excitement
003. :Love

TWO TRUTHS & A LIE [in no particular order]:
001. I love sports
002. I sing out loud a lot
003. My favorite professional sports teams are good

THREE PHYSICAL THINGS ABOUT THE OPPOSITE SEX THAT APPEAL TO YOU:
001. Smile
002. Legs
003. Eyes

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE HOBBIES:
001. Running
002. Reading
003. Going to hear live music

THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO REALLY BADLY RIGHT NOW:
001. leave work
002. go eat
003. start tailgating for Saturday

THREE CAREERS YOU'RE CONSIDERING:
001. public servant
002. proffessor
003. politician

THREE PLACES YOU WANT TO GO ON VACATION:
001. somewhere in the Caribbean
002. New York City
003. Southern California

THREE KID'S NAMES:
001. Fred III
002. David
003. Janelle

THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE:
001. live a life pleasing to God
002. Have a family
003. Watch the New Orleans Saints win a Super Bowl

THREE WAYS I AM STEREOTYPICALLY A BOY:
001. I hate shopping
002. I’m extremely competitive, especially with sports
003. I can watch football all day

THREE WAYS I AM STEREOTYPICALLY A GIRL:
001. I have a lot of clothes I never wear
002. I like to take long baths
003. I pack way too much stuff when I travel

THREE CELEB CRUSHES:
001. Halle Berry
002. Gabrielle Union
003. Mariah Carey (1990-1998 only)

Becoming An "Old Guy"

I’m now officially one of those “old guys”. When I used to run a lot of pickup basketball games in college at the Rec center, there were always a number of older guys who would play. Now in most cases they weren’t really old, they just were past college age (except for Mr. Henry, who plays softball on the same night I do but in a different league, he has to be at least 65, but he told me he still plays basketball in the rec 3 or 4 nights a week, I hope I’m like that when I get that old). Two things stood out about this group of guys; first, they were cool to play with. They didn’t call fouls every time someone blew on them, and real biggie here, they didn’t throw fits and hold up games for 10 minutes at a time because they felt someone made a bad call. Nothing ruins a pickup game faster than some idiot screaming at everyone on the court and refusing to give the ball to the other team over a dumb call. Second, all these guys wore either ankle or knees braces, or they had other body parts bandaged or wrapped. Consequence of getting old and staying active I figured, well…

One night this past week I played tennis, I looked like on of those old guys (and I’m only in my 20’s). On my left knee I had a brace for my knee that doesn’t want to act right. I had my right thigh wrapped due to a hamstring injury. And I had an elbow support on my left arm. And I actually needed them all. I guess I’m learning there is no shame in that, besides I’m thankful I can still be active and athletic.

Small stuff:

Good thing football teams don’t lose points for ugly uniforms, because if they did Virginia Tech couldn’t score enough to beat a pop-warner team of 10 year olds.
picture link

On the Purple and Gold Confederate Flag issue from earlier (here), very good to hear some of the players speak out (here). Often times we stereotype college athletes as dumb jocks, but in most cases they are as intelligent and well-spoken as everyone else, basketball and football players included.

Now facebook has picture albums. They must be trying to get me fired, between emailing friends and facebook they will have to pay me overtime to get all my job stuff done.

Going to watch LSU and the Saints this weekend, LSU has an easy game, the Saints play the Miami Dolphins, St. Nick’s return to Tiger Stadium (article). Should be interesting to say the least.

Speaking Up Cause I Can't Stay Quiet

http://www.lsureveille.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/10/24/435c4d3a8ba3c

I gotta speak out on this. Way back in 1999 when this flag first started to appear I wrote what as far as I knew was the first letter to the editor in the student newspaper about the purple and gold confederate flag. Now it’s a yearly debate on campus, and it seems to get hotter each year. If you check the article this past Saturday the LSU chapter of the NAACP led a march around campus before the game for the purpose of encouraging LSU to ban the flag from campus. I definitely applaud the effort.

I have this debate with myself yearly during football season, is it worth it to go to the games when I invariably observe some stupid redneck behavior (waving purple and gold confederate flags qualifies) that infuriates me to no end. But I always come to this conclusion; I have just as much, if not more of a right to go to campus on Saturday, tailgate, and watch my alma mater play football. I’ve also learned most of those knuckleheads aren’t alums; they just come out to drink beer and watch football.

A few points:

My comments only refer to the “Purple and Gold” flag unless otherwise stated. I don’t like the original confederate battle flag, but fly it if you want; it’s your world…

But in my perfect world no one would be ignorant enough to fly this stupid purple and gold flag, and the also the New Orleans Saints would be a good football team. Well obviously we don’t live in that world. LSU is notorious for dragging its feet in racial matters (like most Southern institutions), but they have taken a stand against this particular flag by stating the university does not endorse it and also by punishing any retailer who would try and sell the flag by prohibiting them from selling authorized merchandise. In fact, short of bootleg sidewalk stands you can’t walk into any store around here and buy it. And if you find a store selling it let me know the name of the establishment, I got some connections, it will be stopped.

Now I would love to see LSU ban that flag from the stadium, I think that could be done, a la Ole Piss, um I mean Ole Miss. But I’m not sure if LSU can legally ban this flag from campus. I would like to see the chancellor and athletic and school administrations have a press conference repeating the school's policy and condemnation of the flag. If that happens, count me as happy.

As far as the debate about the original confederate battle flag, talk about heritage all you want, no one flew the damn flag in the south till 1954 and Brown vs. Board of Education, that’s all I need to say.

Big Wes, keep up the good work LINK raising hell on campus is the best thing you can do (and its pretty fun also). I do have to admit instead of joining I stood by watching and eating a hamburger. But in my time I fought my battles, now it it’s your turn. Keep trying to bring LSU up.

One more note on the whole thing, I won’t kick your a.. for flying a confederate flag, but I would kick you a.. for doing something like this to the Alpha house. LINK If you don’t know Alpha Phi Alpha is the oldest historically black fraternity and the only one with a house on campus.

Boy the joys of living in the South never end, but I still love it here, my people, we just gotta keep moving up. Now that I’ve said my peace I can get to talking about football and other stuff.

Crazy Football Fall Saturdays

Saturday was one of those crazy fall football days, woke up at 6:45, eating Krispy Kreme donuts and tailgating by 8:30, getting ready for a 2:30 game.
After tailgating all morning I was walking to the stadium with a friend, Mike. I acquired a student guest ticket, Mike’s ticket was in the North end zone, we figured we would probably meet up later, most likely in the student section, because generally the student section is more fun and has hot college chicks. Now I had 2 ziplock bags filled with, ummm, stuff, in the cargo pockets of my shorts. At the student gates there are normally a fleet of police officers searching mostly innocent students for intoxicating beverages. I walked by them with no hesitation, because they are looking for obviously drunk, polo-wearing, white frats boys and sorority girls with their pearls and Louis Vuitton purses to check for alcohol. Yes, I’ve found the one spot where a brother can get by without getting harassed by the police, walking into the student section in Tiger Stadium, ok moving on…..The Tiger Stadium student section for big games is a standing room only, packed, mass of loud, crazy, young folks. Right as I walk into the lower section I run into some old friends, Jen and Beth, like me old, graduated, but still fabulous. After a happy reunion we stood together in one of the aisles as the game begin. Well the Tigers start off great, early TD, the crowd is really in the game, and my ziplock bag starts to leak. Generally that means time to get a coke and get to mixing. So I come back with coke, and Jen reveals her hidden stash.

Despite the lubrication, I managed to pay attention to the game pretty well. With about 6 mins left in the 1st half, Jen and Beth went to get another coke and to the bathroom. Twenty-five mins later (its halftime now) still no Jen and Beth. So instead of going to look for them (the sober thing to do), I decide to go find my friend Ashley who was sitting in the next section over. I walk over to the section she is sitting in, still don’t see her, but I do run into Jeremy H. Talk to him for a bit, ask if he knows where Ashley is sitting, he says, “Fred, you don’t see that girl with the curly hair sitting over there, are you drunk.” Of course not, Jeremy, so I refocus and rebalance, spot Ashley, walk down the row, stumble over some random white folks, go talk to Ashley for a minute. I then see Jen and Beth in the aisle, apparently lost. So get up, stumble over the same random white folks again, go get them and find the 2 seats on the other aisle we were using for 4 people. Mix some more drinks, cheer, yell, scream, etc. Yep, good times all around, by midway thru the 4^th quarter we emptied the flask, my ziplock bag, and mike’s ziplock bag. LSU did try to give the freakin game away, but the Tigers pull out the win at the end. Good game, waited about 15 minutes after the game, sang the alma mater, headed back to the tailgate spot.

Random Notes:
Mary Lou Retton was at the game, I don’t know why that was cool (probably because I was drunk) but she was still kinda cute, would be even cuter if she was taller than 3 ft 8 in.

Becky from Florida graced us with her presence, she was much hotter than Mary Lou Retton, (I bet she has never gotton that compliment before). Becky was a great sport before and after the game, if more gator fans (and LSU fans too) were like her the world would be a better place.

When I got back to the tailgate spot some had thrown the dominos all over the place. But that’s my bad, I shoulda packed them up before the game. Hopefully they found them all before leaving.

I think “Midnight Train To Georgia” is gonna become one of our official tailgating sing along songs. Jeremy, Cesar, and myself are gonna get it together and bring it even stronger next week.

The dart board is a great idea, however after “losing” the board late Friday night off Nicholson Rd, the stand needs a few physical repairs. Should be ready to go for Auburn.

Sunday night I watched a lot of the Southern – Jackson St. game replay. Southern won, 20-7, played a good game. However when SU and J-State get together everyone knows the big event is the battle of the bands between the Human Jukebox and the The Sonic Boom. I think the Jukebox got em’ this time, breaking out the “Tha Ratchet” and “marching like J-State” put them over the top.

About 10 am Sat, I’m throwing bones……for anyone with no clue what I just said we were playing the game called Dominos…….with Cesar and Joslyn, who is just learning how to play. At some point Joslyn asked if her “tile” was placed correctly. “TILE”, I’ve been playing dominos since I could walk and I have never, ever, heard anyone call a domino a “tile”. I could just imagine slapping down your bone and yelling out “tile, m…. f…..”, that just doesn’t work. It was her first time though, if we were playing with my uncles they would have probably made her leave the table. But you live and learn.

Overall it was good game, but can’t want till next Saturday, finally get a night game in Tiger Stadium, should be wilder.

Putting My Foot In My Mouth

I have a friend, Margaret, who I met at a music and arts festival in May at City Park in New Orleans (see here). She was in town for a dance performance, then she was going home to Kansas City. About a month or so later she emailed me, she was planning on moving to New Orleans in August/September. In July she emailed me the following:

....i'm so excited to

move to new orleans, lil nervous for the hot and humid

weather, and the hurricanes, but i'll deal.

A few days later I wrote back the following:

.....I'm happy for you, I could tell you really wanted to

move to New Orleans, its great you have an opportunity

to do it.  Don't worry about the heat or hurricanes,

the great food makes up for it.

Boy did I miss it big time. I did hear back from Margaret, she is doing well, was in Chicago at the moment and planning on moving to New Orleans in January. I do still believe in the future the awesome food (and people, music, culture, etc.) will make up for all Katrina has taken from us.

Night Out On the Town

Last night I was planning on going out to meet a few people at this restaurant/bar in town, Champs, to get some food, maybe a beverage also. On the way there about 8:30 I called one of my friends who had planned on going, well it turned out she wasn’t really feeling like going out so she decided to stay at home. No biggie there, I definitely understood how she felt; in fact I wasn’t really excited about going myself. If I would have called her before leaving I probably would have decided to stay at home also. However I was already on the road (I had to stop back by the gym, forgot my pants in the locker room which had my pass-card to get around the building at work) and I was only 5 minutes from the place. I did know a number of people who would be there, most of them astoundingly cool including some fellow members of the best slow pitch softball team around, Second String. But I just didn’t feel like going to Champs last night. Maybe it was the fact of it being karaoke night, I didn’t really feel like hearing the croonings of the talented (like Ebony who totally blew the roof off the place last week with The Fugees version of “Killing Me Softly”), or in most cases the entertaining but untalented.

My decision, since I was already out, I was going to try and call up someone to go out and grab a bite to eat somewhere else in town. So I pulled out my cell phone with probably 200+ numbers in it, and pondered for a minute who I should call. And just to clarify it wasn’t a booty call type of night, I was just going to try and call someone to hang for an hour or so, grab some food and beverage. Back in undergrad, even for a few years later, this would have been no problem, I have a decently large friend set and in college people are always up, out, and looking for something to do. But now, it’s a lot harder, I go thru names in my phone and I see: friends who don’t go out past 7:30 on a weeknight, friends who live in other places now, friends who are married, friends who are not married but act like they are, somewhat undependable friends who would say they would meet me, then show up 2 hours later, and a few crazy chicks whose numbers I have but I would never call under any circumstances minus lack of sobriety. After making a few unsuccessful calls, I ended up going home, probably the best decision for that night. A few years back I would have probably despaired, but as I get older I realize its no big deal, can’t be out every night anyway. Besides I need to rest up for the weekend, starting Friday afternoon, it will be crazy, Live After Five, a friend’s going away dinner, very brief appearance at Natty Night, a planned 8 am (if not earlier) tailgating start, LSU-Florida at 2:30 in Tiger Stadium, then after party at the tailgating spot. Should be fun.

Good Music, Good Times

If you don’t like New Orleans music, you may not like Deacon John. If you don’t like good music in general, then you probably won’t like the music of Deacon John. If you don’t like dancing and having a good time, you probably won’t like going to a show by Deacon John. Baton Rouge has these concerts downtown on Friday afternoons in the fall and spring called Live After Five. In my opinion there is no better way to start the weekend than getting together with a few friends at a street party with great music. I even forgot about my pulled hamstring and got my boogie on. Of course my hamstring felt horrible the next day, but it was worth it.

Deacon John's Website if your interested.

I Still Believe

I’m back to writing about football for a quick minute. I took a few weeks off, had some other things to focus on like actually doing work at work. But I’m back to goofing off, here are my thoughts on my favorite NFL team, the sort of New Orleans Saints. One clarification here, these were my thoughts up to 2 pm today.

The Saints remind me of this cat that I used to run track with in high school. He was very talented, easily one of the most talented guys on the team. But you never knew what he was going to do, would he come to practice? Would he run hard? Would he show up for the meets? Would he run hard thru the exchange zones on relays? He ran some very good times, but he also dogged it just as much. When he was on he looked great (in a totally heterosexual way) flying around the track. But when he didn’t feel like running it was bad. That is my New Orleans Saints this year. When they are playing well they look great, so good your start to think, “Man, if this team can keep it together they’ll cause some damage and if they make the playoffs, watch out.” A good example of this is the last 4 games of last year, and game one of this season against the Panthers. But when they are bad….. you get 52-3 Green Bay or Peyton Manning throwing 6 TD’s against them in the dome. My prediction for Saints next 11 games, of those 11, 8 will be “who knows” games. Either the Saints will come out and dominate, or they will get blown out. I think they will go 4 and 4 in those games. The other 3 will be the key games. These will actually be regular games where the Saints play ok and the game is decided in the 4^th quarter. If the Saints can win 2 of those 3, they end up at 9-7 and probably make the playoffs in NFC.

Now…. I just found out running back Deuce McAllister is out for the year with a torn ACL (Link). My initial reaction, 3-13, season over. But after thinking about it for a few minutes, I changed my mind. I still have faith in the Saints, but only if they do the following …….. go to the Run & Shoot the rest of the season. I mean the old school, Jerry Glanville, Run & Shoot I learned from Tecmo Super Bowl. All the Saints need to do is get Aaron Brooks to channel Warren Moon for a season. Maybe they could find the same witch doctor that put that three year spell on Kurt Warner when he was lighting up the league with the Rams a few years ago (or maybe just trade for a 28 year old Marshall Faulk). Screw the defense, they won’t stop anyone, let’s just try to outscore everyone else. The key is Joe Horn, if he can stay healthy it could work. Just my idea. But if it doesn’t work, I already gave the Saints a pass for this year. Too much going on, I have no real expectations. I gotta get back to work, Brandon I may expound on this later. Also good to see LSU play some defense again this weekend.

Motown Remixed

So I brought this new CD, Motown Remixed (you can listen to songs on the website). I heard about it listening to NPR driving to work one day this past week. I had not purchased a new CD in probably 2 years for myself. I used to be a self proclaimed hip-hop head, but since about 1998 my interest in the genre has steadily declined. I still consider myself part of the hip-hop generation, but to be honest I relate more to cats like EPMD than I do to Lil John. But my love of 60’s and 70’s R&B has never waned cold. Given a choice I would rather go see the Gap Band than I would any current R&B group. I know Gladys Knight and the Pips would sing and perform circles around Destiny’s Childrens. And I love the classics, especially the Motown songs. That being said I really like the Motown Remixed CD. A lot of the songs have a very jazzy and bluesy feeling. A few of the songs seem to lose too much of their original feeling in the remixes, but overall I enjoyed the project.

Falling Apart

Physically, this has been a rather painful past few months. I hurt me left knee again in June. In August I had a blister on my toe that caused my entire right foot it to swell about twice its normal size. My elbow has also been bothering me lately; I probably have a little “tennis elbow”, although I wouldn’t mind this as much if I could actually play tennis better than I do currently. And yesterday while attempting to play softball I pulled my hamstring. But I played the rest of the game and I made it to work today, on pure willpower and Advil. I feel like the habitually injured but always effectual Tennessee Titan’s OB Steve “Air” McNair. Of course when he goes to work hurt he makes six figures a week, needless to say I don't make that much. A few of my fellow Saints fans at work have made a few Donte Stallworth hamstring jokes, but I won’t go there because he has been playing well so far this season. Anyway it’s still good day, I just gotta make it to 5, then I’m going downtown to hear some good music, courtesy of the great New Orleans music man, Deacon John.

August Wilson

http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/10/02/wilson.obit.ap/index.html

I direct this first statement to a dear friend of mine; see today is a Monday and I am capable of writing about things other than football. On Sunday August Wilson, arguably the greatest Black American playwright of the 21^st century, passed away. Although I can’t claim to be much of a connoisseur of theatrical works I attended a number of performances during my college years and later, mainly to watch friends perform. I remember attending two of his plays performed by professional companies, “Fences”, and “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”. Both plays were amazing experiences, not just for the acting which was superb on its own, but mainly the quality of the plays. I also remember reading part of Fences in an African-American Literature Class (I also remember this really fine young woman who I would sit next to in class, we would talk sometimes after class but we never really did more than that, I think I was halfway dating someone else at the time, but man, if I would see her now I would ask her out in second, no doubt). Getting back on subject I just wanted to take a short moment out of a busy day to salute the great August Wilson, thank you for your work and your life which has inspired many including myself.

Hurricane Les

First, thanks to Straight Bangin' for the shout out.

No I didn't write this, but I nearly feel out of my non-leather chair at work laughing, and crying.

Hurricane Les continues to strengthen over the LSU campus. This is an extremely dangerous storm. As of 10 amcdt Les has strengthened to a Category 5 and his winds are affecting almost every part of the state. The storm is stationary at this time but is expected to make a northeast turn Saturday morning. Although the storm will be centered over the Starkville the damage will likely be done to Baton Rouge. This hurricane has already destroyed most of what has been built in the last 5 years and horrified 90,000+ that were trapped in Tiger Stadium as the storm strengthened.
To make maters worse Hurricane Les is accompanied by Tropical Storm Bo. The future path of these storms is uncertain at this time. It appears they will continue to cause widespread damage to southern Louisiana. Without a steering current and the fact that neither one of these storms have a clue they could cause widespread destruction for the next 9 weeks. The longterm forecast has the hurricane centered over Nashville in 2 weeks before looping back to Baton Rouge. There is no high in site to get rid of these lows.A tropical depression has also appeared over the LSU campus.......If it becomes a storm the name will be Skip.

Public Enemy and Hurricane Katrina

I need to write more, but work has been wild lately, LSU is down (but hopefully not out), and my email buddy from NYC has been taking up the rest of work BS time.

Check out Public Enemy’s new song about Hurricane Katrina (click on the album cover):

http://www.shutemdown.com/

This is what I’m talking about, Public Enemy, back with a vengeance. About time they came out with something new, I like the song. Of course I’ve always been a Public Enemy fan, even at their wildest. Will this song change anything, probably not, but it needs to be said, and who better to say it than Chuck D, the voice of conviction.

Disappointment

Tennesse 30 - LSU 27

I feel for the fans mostly, but I throw the players in there too. They are the ones who are on the field battling for 60 minutes, although in this case more like 30. But mostly for the fans. Fans that have craved a home football game in Death Valley for weeks now. Fans that lifted there heads from wreckage left by the storms hoping to have their spirits lifted for at least a short time. And they did I guess. For a half, 30 game minutes, about 2 hours real-time, they were on top of the world. Then reality set in. The final 30 minutes were played and people went back home to their dishoveled lifes heartbroken, angry and disappointed. Will victory come again? Yeah, probably next week in Mississippi. But this one will linger. I hope it lingers as a reminder: To the team, you don't want to feel like this again. To the fans, make sure your priorities are straight. There are too many ups and downs in things you cannot control. Make sure your life is good and the pain will only linger for a short while. Until you get something to eat and prepare for bed. Until you watch two episodes of Alias to get over the pain (that's what I did). Until you talk yourself dry until the next game. Disappointment may draw near, but victory will come again.

Black Head Coaches

I need to write about more than football, I will at some point, but…

Monday I wrote this in regards to UCLA, “Plus I also rooted for UCLA because their coach is a brother”. Currently there are three black head coaches in Division I football. Over half of the players are black. I could give you all the grisly details, but if you have the time read this: http://www.bcasports.org/- Black Coaches Association Hiring Report Card.

I’m fairly certain I’m not the first to say this, probably someone has written some fancy graduate thesis on it, but in my own words I’ll call it the “Jesse Jackson/Marion Berry Corollary”. I think to some degree black folks have the utmost respect for any black person who can succeed in any venue traditionally limited to white folks, especially when qualified blacks get passed over and over again for the same position (note: I would put OJ in there, I mean he did get away with killing white folks, but nah, most black folks think he is a quack). If you examine the numbers, or just look on the sidelines this Saturday, head football coach of a major D1 program or NFL head coach is basically limited to white folks. So according to the corollary, yes, I’m gonna cheer for any brother who is a head coach and is doing a good job with his team. Now I won’t go as far as to condone cheating, running a program with academic problems, or a lack of discipline, i.e. the 1980’s thug units of Oklahoma and Miami. Throwing in a LSU reference, the main thing I like about Saban was that his players stayed out of trouble and performed in the classroom. Winning helps, but off the field matters just as much in my opinion. (PS. If any of my tailgate buddies read that last sentence, no I haven’t lost my mind).

On the positive I guess progress is being made on some fronts, I remember back in the day when Randall Cunningham, Warren Moon, and Doug Williams were the only brothers throwing the rock. Just off the top of my head there have to be at least 10 starting black QB’s in the NFL. It used to be said that blacks didn’t have the mental aptitude or leadership abilities to manage the game from the QB position. Well obviously that has been proven wrong. Maybe I’m just impatient but I’m getting a little tired of waiting to see some more Black head coaches on the sideline.

Addendum to Monday Football Musings - 9/19

Saints
Song – Don’t Take It Personal - Monica

“Just one of those days, that a team goes thru…..”, yep thats about it. I really don’t want to discuss the game; basically the Saints just didn’t play well. It happens in the NFL at times. And considering the circumstances the Saints are playing under it will probably happen again this year. However I was getting tired of the NFL shenanigans about this being a Saints home game, who cares if you painted the field or had N.O. musicians play before the game or even if the crowd cheered for the Saints when they came out, it was still a NFL road game for the Saints. Aaron Brooks said it best I think,

“People are making [decisions] and we don't have no say so. We didn't want to come out here. Don't get me wrong. They beat our [butts]. But who the hell in our organization would agree to a home game in New York?....I hope they raised enough money for the city and the evacuees. But don't patronize us though, try to make us feel good. Don't do that. That's all it was about. It was a bigger stage than the Super Bowl damn near. We start that game, 60,000 people rooting for the Giants. Don't get it twisted."

Good stuff Aaron, I’m even gonna let those 3 interceptions and that horrible fumble slide, at least for this week.

Also, the Sunday Night ESPN crew that worked the game is horrible. We’ve all known this for years but I just wanted to state the fact again. Actually there is one exception, I think Suzy Kolber is pretty good and she’s really cute, just ask Joe Nameth.

Monday Football Musings - 9/19

I was debating whether to wait until Tuesday, but I’ll go for it anyway.

Saints – playing a home game tonight against the New York Football Giants. I’m picking the Saints, because, well I always do.

LSU - off this past week, big home game against the U of Tennessee this week. Should be fun, can’t wait to tailgate. ESPN College Gameday is coming, hopefully this new storm, Rita won’t head this way. I hate to sound selfish and insensitive to those caught in Katrina’s vast matrix of destruction, but I need some LSU football in Tiger Stadium, ASAP.

Southern – (game recap) I was going to attend this game, but the combo of having to work all day Saturday and shady weather kept me from making it across town to the yard to catch the game. Besides, they were playing Prairie View, they have not beaten SU in about 30 years, well actually they haven’t beaten a lot of people in a long time. But they are getting better, so they say. Anyway the score was 3-0 at halftime. Now SU did finally win 38-0 and I’m happy they won but I do have 3 concerns: 1) At home you generally should be able to drop more than 3 points in one half on a school like Prairie View, 2) only running for 51 yards on PV isn’t very good, combined with 30 yards last week and the running game has to get better, and 3) Apparently Grambling just got facebook, my cousin out there sent me a message…so when is Southern gonna get hooked up with facebook, ok so its not related to Southern football but I just felt like putting it here. On the good side, sophomore QB J.C. Lewis had a good game.
song: because I've been working my butt off today and I'm freakin tired, same song from last week, come on Jags, "Let's Straighten It Out"

Random Football Notes:
I watched about half of the Florida St. – Boston College game. BC showed out well in their first ACC game, I’ll attribute the loss to “growing pains”. This week is gonna be hectic but I may write more about it later. BC right now reminds me a little of LSU’s 1996 and 1997 teams under Dinardo and the 2000 team under Saban.

I don’t like USC, but dayymmee, they put it down on the Razorbacks, dropped 70 on ‘em. 28-0 like three minutes into the game, that’s nasty.

I checked out a little OU-UCLA. OU’s gonna struggle this year. I know he caught a lotta hell for bad championship game performances vs. LSU and USC in consecutive years, but I bet most OU fans would love to have no-knees Jason White back. As far as UCLA, beat USC this year and I’m on the boat. Plus I also rooted for UCLA because their coach is a brother. Is that good or bad? I need to write more on this at some point.

Didn’t get to watch much NFL this week, but gonna try to catch both games tonight.

AstroWorld, I'll Miss You

"Now after 37 years, the landmark Six Flags AstroWorld theme park will close at the end of this season, the victim of rising land values that overshadow its worth as an entertainment venue."
rest of article

Most folks will yawn at this, but AstroWorld/WaterWorld in Houston is closing this year. Other than a horrifying experience as a 5 year old on Space Mountain in Disneyland (I had to use the bathroom and I was told to get to all of the restrooms you had to get on the ride), AstroWorld is where I really started to love riding roller coasters. I admit it was a little run down, but it was still fun. We would normally go on a weekday when it wasn’t crowded, on days like that the longest line was only about 15 minutes, some coasters you could ride over and over again with basically no wait. I could probably navigate the park with my eyes closed if needed. I would say Greased Lightning (sp) and the Texas Cyclone were my two favorite old coasters; I was also partial to the Batman coaster. Growing up I probably made at least one trip there each summer. When I was a little kid I also liked Looney Toons Land. We would normally stay in the Marriot, now Sheraton across the street, then catch the shuttle to the park. Going to Houston, AstroWorld and maybe WaterWorld, then if the Astros were in town catching a baseball game in the Astrodome was pretty much a summer ritual. I’ll miss that old park right off I-610. Maybe there will be a silver lining in this, if the New Orleans Six Flags ever reopens maybe they could move some of the AstroWorld rides there.

Monday Football Musings

I’m gonna try and start doing this each Monday, write a little bit about each of the three football teams I constantly follow and maybe a few other random bits. At the end I’ll put a song that I think about when writing for each team. I my even name this piece of writing if I can think of something snappy.

LSU – first off, I hate watching games like this, they seem to take years off your life. That being said, it was a great win. Now a lot of LSU fans were upset about the game, but I look at it this way, less than a week before the game LSU found out they had to travel 1400 miles for a home game, then they were playing a top 15 team (which I think Arizona St. proved they are) basically on the road, who was actually the favorite. I don’t have the time to look it up but I would imagine when higher ranked teams (LSU was #5) who are underdogs according the line play top 15 teams on the road, the higher ranked team normally loses. Adding into the mix this was LSU’s first game of the season, it was a great win. Yeah the defense got lit up, but I prefer to focus on the positives, really good special teams play, great effort throughout and a really good game by the young QB, Russell.
Song: I Won’t Complain – Rev. Paul Jones

Southern – Almost similar situation to LSU, SU was the better team, but they were playing on the road after their opener was postponed. SU played Mississippi Valley State U., in Itty Bitty, Mississippi, well actually in Itta Bena, Mississippi, but Itta Bena, Mississippi is a very Itty Bitty city in Mississippi, so I call Itta Bena, Mississippi, Itty Bitty, Mississippi. (try saying that sentence 5 times fast). Now I didn’t see the game (ESPN generally doesn’t generally jump to cover black college football) and I missed the replay. I did catch about a quarter on the radio. And like LSU, this was a close game, but the Jags came up short in the end. MVSU’s QB is as Miss St. transfer, very talented, and he had an amazing game. That was the difference; SU couldn’t stop him when it mattered. PS. I’m sure Southern’s band, the “Human Jukebox” showed up, they always bring it.
Song: Let’s Straighten It Out – Kenny Latimore although I think BB King broke it out first

Saints – yep, they did da thang on Sunday. Not only did they win, but they looked going doing it. Deuce ran hard, Aaron was very consistent and he made plays when had too. That’s all I ask, play hard, and make plays when you can. I don’t want to get too high on them yet, I’ve been through this drill before, but they beat a good team (Carolina) on the road. Much love to the Saints. Just keep it up fellas.
Song: They All Ask For You - Meters

Random Thoughts:
-Good job Miami and Nick Saban, although we miss you in the Purple and Gold.
-Texas played a good game in beating Ohio State, but you gotta beat Oklahoma before I get excited.
-Speaking of Ohio State, Big 10 is not looking very good, the 3 best teams in the conference all get beat, all basically playing at home, not good.
-Tamara, your Browns are gonna be ok, just give’em some time. I promise.
-UMichigan, great performance against Notre Dame, keep this up I'm and I 'm gonna jump off the 20 year Maize and Blue bandwagon I've been on.

Letting It Out

I will preface this post by saying I truly have nothing to complain about compared to many of my South Louisiana brethren without shelter, food, employment, or loved ones. But I must say this storm has profoundly affected my life. I normally don’t write all personal like this, it makes me feel too self-conscious. But here I go, just me, no humor (not that there ever is much anyway):

- I’ve felt like breaking down and crying a number of times the past week, I’ve been feeling overwhelmed, I feel for those displaced and I love the city of New Orleans, at times it feels like I’ve lost a family member…
- I had to stop watching most of the news stories about New Orleans. I still keep up in the paper and online, but the images started to affect me too much…
- Volunteering at an evacuee shelter is a great idea and very appreciated by those in need, on other hand it is a gut-wrenching scene that stays with you……
- On the same note its weird watching people who have been culturally sheltered deal with trying to help those who are in need, but at least they try…
- With the BR population exploding in the past week I now have to get up earlier to deal with traffic, its insane, I feel like I’m in Houston or ATL all of a sudden…
- Work has been good and bad. With all of the relocated people here we will have a lot of new business; in turn I have worked everyday since last Tuesday and some days 10, 11, and 12 hours. I generally like my job but I’ve been here too much…
- I’m still trying to get by the gym when I can and I’ve managed to play tennis a few times the past week, but I seem to wake up always feeling tired and moopish…
- My most recent romantic adventure has ended, it was a very amicable split, but it leaves me wondering if I’m capable of dating any women for more than a few weeks…
- The main way I know things are different is that I’m not into football season yet. I live for this time of year (see here), but I just can’t get into it so far. It doesn’t help that LSU has not played yet and doesn’t have a home game until maybe September 24^th (well technically this weekend is a home game, just 1400 miles from campus) . On top of that I can’t even tell you who made the Saints final roster. Maybe it just takes time, I’m sure I’ll get back on the boat soon…
- And last, I’m making it ok, God is good, I have a great life and some awesome friends – you know who you are

Report From New Orleans

I received this email from my friend Stacy, who is a LSU Medical School graduate and is in residency in New Orleans. Quite an amazing report, great job Stacey.

hey all.
very exhausted this afternoon after my first good sleep in 6 days.
i had the privilege of taking care of my patients at university hospital during the hurricane and that was truly an unforgettable experience. after 4 days without A/C and 3 days without running water, I can gladly say it is good to be home.

we delivered babies by flashlight and sat around watching the helicopters pass us by as we comforted new moms and held newborn babies to keep them warm.

supplies got low, antibiotics ran out, but somehow we finally got everyone out on Friday. The most scary experience I have ever been through...thankful to be alive.

University and Charity Hospitals are a disaster...an island in the middle of a sewer about 9 feet high. The campus is just destroyed....it was an unbelievable site to see as I was carried out by airboat on friday.

will keep all of you posted. please stay in touch and keep everyone who lost homes and lives in your prayers. John and I's house survived and we are very thankful. we look forward to seeing any of your faces in the coming weeks as the relief effort in BR and surrounding areas will be a tough one.

miss all of you-
stacey

Keeping Things In Perspective

Good Afternoon, I feel ok today. Not great, but ok is more than good enough considering the circumstances. First, if anyone around the BR reads this, go to LSU to volunteer at the shelters. From what we are hearing they can use all the help they can get.

Now, I was in a horribly foul mood yesterday. I rarely, rarely ever get this way. But the circumstances were just too much. The disaster scene in New Orleans, working 11 and 12 hours days only taking trouble calls, not having electrical power at home, worrying about friends, it just can pile up. And I was extremely aggravated, I would actually say pissed about the news coverage of events in New Orleans. I know a lot of people are still in the city and there is some crime and looting going on, but those people are only a small minority of the people left in the city. Most are just trying to do whatever they need to do to survive. But the media is scaring people with the images they constantly show. And this suggestion some people chose not to leave so they could loot afterwards, yeah there may have been a few, but most who stayed did so because they had no means of transportation to leave, or they had nowhere to go. There are some serious social and economical paradigms that have been at work over the past 50 years in New Orleans that have to be considered in this situation. Basically what I am saying is most of the people still there are law- abiding citizens, they are just scared and upset because they are trapped. We need to understand this. Now I am in not way justifying shooting at cops or even looting, but these people are trying to stay alive. What would you do in the same situation? Nuff ranting for now.

By the time yesterday afternoon rolled around after 10 hours of work I was worn out. I have two friends I generally email at least once and day and another I exchange IM’s with, but I didn’t even feel like writing these individuals, I was in such a negative mood. About 5:30, I get a call from one of our customers from New Orleans, a woman from Ohio who worked conventions in the city. Apparently the only possessions she was able to bring with her were a purse and cell phone that didn’t work. She was staying with some friends in Baton Rouge who were still out of power and she had not been able to contact her family. I could tell she was about to breakdown, technically I shouldn’t have done this, but I got with my boss, used some top secret stuff :) to find her aunt’s phone number in Ohio. I then called her aunt in Ohio, then put them in a conference call and let them talk. It was the first time that she had any contact with her family since the hurricane. I’m generally not an emotional dude, but they were crying and I started to tear up at first. I didn’t stay in the conference to listen, that may have opened the gates. I know it was only one small thing, but after than all my negativity just washed away. The smile was back. And about 10 minutes later I found out my power was back on. Its amazing how one event can turn a crappy day around. The rest of my evening was much better, went to the gym, worked out for bit, then got on the bike and checked out this one girl with the most amazing legs and another girl that is a promo model for Budweiser (I’m a guy, I should have this liberty every so often, and I know both of them so that helps). Then I went and played tennis with a friend. Lastly went home, with power and AC finally. I’m blessed, still mad about some things and still saddened about the hurricane, but still blessed. Oh, pretty much all of my friends from the N.O. area are safe as are most of their families. I’ll say it one last time, I’m blessed.

Good Site for New Orleans Updates

I added a new link under other blogs for a New Orleans Metroblog. Metroblogging seems like a good concept, if you look on the site they have links to blogs for other cities. After reading some of the post a few are kinda negative and harsh, but the information and updates are better than anything on FoxNews, CNN, and most of the local stations.

http://neworleans.metblogs.com/

In Death Valley

Don't tell anyone about this photo, it was taken about 12:45 am Monday morning.

New Orleans, Where Are You

This is becoming sickening. I’m almost getting the feeling the New Orleans I’ve grown to love is disappearing before my eyes. We’re also hearing reports Grand Isle has vanished. I guess all we can do is pray. I was going to write about my exploits from Sunday night, but just not in the mood at the moment. Work has been hell also today. I’m gonna work about 11 ½ hours today, need to stop by the gym after work, blow off some steam. And prepare for another night without AC. But at least I do have a roof over my head and dry ground to walk on. Thats enough to help me work out a little smile.

We Survived Katrina

My family and I are ok. I lost power about 10 am yesterday, but that’s just a minor inconvenience right now compared to a lot of people along the gulf coast from Mobile to New Orleans. My heart aches for the people of South Louisiana and the city of New Orleans. I’ve lived there, I still visit the city often, and many of my friends and their families reside there. It will take a while for the city to dry out, but in the long run the city will recover. The resiliency of the people here will amaze you. What they show on TV is complete devastation, but people will pull thru.

When I have time I will try to relate some of my experiences over the past few days.

Hurricane Katrina Update

It's windy, rained some earlier but no rain at the moment. Of course I really don't care. I would guess one hurricane drink, a six pack of beer, a shot of Patron, a shot called a New York M..... F....., and a shot called a Scobie something will do that to you (not saying I did all that, but if by chance I did). I'm about to go to Tiger Stadium. No reason why, just meeting some people there. Have a great day.

Louisiana Hurricane Season Notes

And now a little humor, if anyone knows who wrote this let know and I will give them credit.

To ex-Louisianaians, present Louisianaians, and future Louisianaians:

We're about to enter the peak of the hurricane season. Any day now, you're going to turn on the TV and see a weather person pointing to some radar blob out in the Gulf of Mexico and making two basic meteorological points:
(1) There is no need to panic.
(2) We could all be killed.
Yes, hurricane season is an exciting time to be in Louisiana. If you're new to the area, you're probably wondering what you need to do to prepare for the possibility that we'll get hit by "the big one.''
Based on our experiences, we recommend that you follow this simple three-step hurricane preparedness plan:
STEP 1. Buy enough food and bottled water to last your family for at least three days.
STEP 2. Put these supplies into your car.
STEP 3. Drive to Nebraska and remain there until Halloween.
Unfortunately, statistics show that most people will not follow this sensible plan. Most people will foolishly stay here in Louisiana. We'll start with one of the most important hurricane preparedness items:

HOMEOWNERS' INSURANCE: If you own a home, you must have hurricane insurance. Fortunately, this insurance is cheap and easy to get, as long as your home meets two basic requirements:
(1) It is reasonably well-built, and
(2) It is located in Nebraska.
Unfortunately, if your home is located in South Louisiana, or any other area that might actually be hit by a hurricane, most insurance companies would prefer not to sell you hurricane insurance, because then they might be required to pay YOU money, and that is certainly not why they got into the insurance business in the first place. So you'll have to scrounge around for an insurance company, which will charge you an annual premium roughly equal to the replacement value of your house. At any moment, this company can drop you like used dental floss. Since Hurricane George, I have had an estimated 27 different home-insurance companies. This week, I'm covered by the Bob and Big Stan Insurance Company, under a policy which states that, in addition to my premium, Bob and Big Stan are entitled, on demand, to my kidneys.

SHUTTERS: Your house should have hurricane shutters on all the windows, all the doors, and -- if it's a major hurricane -- all the toilets. There are several types of shutters, with advantages and disadvantages:
Plywood shutters: The advantage is that, because you make them yourself, they're cheap. The disadvantage is that, because you make them yourself, they will fall off.
Sheet-metal shutters: The advantage is that these work well, once you get them all up. The disadvantage is that once you get them all up, your hands will be useless bleeding stumps, and it will be December.
Roll-down shutters: The advantages are that they're very easy to use, and will definitely protect your house. The disadvantage is that you will have to sell your house to pay for them. "Hurricane-proof'' windows: These are the newest wrinkle in hurricane protection: They look like ordinary windows, but they can withstand hurricane winds! You can be sure of this, because the salesman says so. He lives in Nebraska.
Hurricane Proofing Your Property: As the hurricane approaches, check your yard for movable objects like barbecue grills, planters, patio furniture, visiting relatives, etc.. You should, as a precaution, throw these items into your swimming pool (if you don't have a swimming pool, you should have one built immediately). Otherwise, the hurricane winds will turn these objects into deadly missiles.

EVACUATION ROUTE: If you live in a low-lying area, you should have an evacuation route planned out. (To determine whether you live in a low-lying area, look at your driver's license; if it says ``Louisiana,'' you live in a low-lying area.) The purpose of having an evacuation route is to avoid being trapped in your home when a major storm hits. Instead, you will be trapped in a gigantic traffic jam several miles from your home, along with two hundred thousand other evacuees. So, as a bonus, you will not be lonely.

HURRICANE SUPPLIES: If you don't evacuate, you will need a mess of supplies. Do not buy them now! Louisiana tradition requires that you wait until the last possible minute, then go to the supermarket and get into vicious fights with strangers over who get the last can of SPAM. In addition to food and water, you will need the following supplies:
23 flashlights
At least $167 worth of batteries that turn out, when the power goes off, to be the wrong size for the flashlights.
Bleach. (No, I don't know what the bleach is for. NOBODY knows what the bleach is for, but it's traditional, so GET some!)
A 55-gallon drum of underarm deodorant.
A big knife that you can strap to your leg. (This will be useless in a hurricane, but it looks cool.)
A large quantity of raw chicken, to placate the alligators. (Ask anybody who went through Camille; after the hurricane, there WILL be irate alligators.)
$35,000 in cash or diamonds so that, after the hurricane passes, you can buy a generator from a man with no discernible teeth.

Of course these are just basic precautions. As the hurricane draws near, it is vitally important that you keep abreast of the situation by turning on your television and watching TV reporters in rain slickers stand right next to the ocean and tell you over and over how vitally important it is for everybody to stay away from the ocean. Good luck, and remember: It's great living in Paradise!