The Highland Road Blog

Top Whatever

2006-10-08T15:44:00.000-05:00

1. Ohio State
2. Florida/the team playing LSU's special teams
3. Michigan
4. Tennessee
5. USC
6. Texas
7. Louisville
8. Cal
9. Arkansas
10. West Virginia
11. Auburn
12. LSU
13. Notre Dame
14. Clemson
15. Missouri
16. Iowa
17. Georgia Tech
18. Oklahoma
19. Georgia
20. Oregon
21. whoever

Thoughts

2006-10-08T13:51:00.000-05:00

Pathetic. We simply weren't ready for this one. THe players weren't ready. The coaches weren't ready.

Offense:
-Where the fuck was Charles Scott? Why was he on the bench while our three headed monster of Hester/Broussard/Vincent were opening up the field with gains of 1, 2, and 3 yards? Its the same thing that bothered me after the AU game... if what we have out there ain't working then why not mix it up? The worst part is that Scott is obviously our best back this year.
-JaMarcus- where yo head at? Not a terrible performance... he just didn't really perform at all. There's no excuse for the fumble on the goal line, and the last interception was inexcusable... the ball shouldn't have been so high and so far behind our WR.
-Is it just me or does anyone else think Russell audibles into the worst plays ever. I swear LSU averages 1 yard a play on audibled plays.

Defense:
-We had tackling issues. Landry and Daniels both were inconsistent in their tackling. One play they'd be great, the next they'd miss crucial tackles.

Special teams:
-I fail to understand why we have Chevis returning punts. Its obvious he ain't a great returner, and we saw once earlier this year that he drops balls... Not only that, after the muffed punt he would fair catch other punts over his shoulder while running backwards at our own ten-yard line. Jackson is a great cornerback, but he's not the man for the punt return job.
-I think Early is a good returner, and he played a great game at WR, but we can't afford idiotic mistakes like that. BTW why was the UF player down the field that damn fast? What were our blockers doing?
-Our punt formation is unnecessary and cost us. Line up like a normal team and punt the damn ball.
-I don't mind that Colt David missed a FG. It is plain that he is out best placekicker.

I don't understand the hype about Tim Tebow. His passes weren't exactly pretty. It isn't that he is a great player per se (he seems like a glorified full back)... the coaches just use him in very smart ways. That was good playcalling on his two TD passes. But as far as Tebow himself goes... I'm not that impressed yet.

El Weekend

2006-10-05T13:22:00.000-05:00

Well we have today and tomorrow off from class so I am back at home in good ol' Mandeville for the weekend. This means I probably won't be able to post much until Sunday when I get back to BR.

The game this weekend is huge. LSU HAS to have production from the run game to keep the Gator D on their toes. On defense don't fall for the Tebow stuff... he runs a QB off-tackle draw 75% of the time, don't let him surprise you. I think we are the better team, but we can't let the game be close enough where the refs make a huge difference like at Auburn.

My prediction: LSU 24 Florida 16

Geaux Tigers.

Footy Time

2006-10-02T19:43:00.000-05:00

The same thing happens every year. I look forward to the start of the new EPL/Eredivisie/La Liga/Serie A/Champs League season all summer long and then forget all about it once it gets here. I take that back... I usually pay attention for the first couple weeks but then forget about it for three or four months.

With college football arriving in September whatever is happening over in Europe becomes an afterthought until January or February when the games are played in earnest all over Europe. Just like every other year that I've paid attention to the other footy I've forgotten about it during September and October.

Neither of my two teams have performed like I had hoped. West Ham is lurking near the bottom of the EPL table in what has been a very disappointing start to the season, and AJAX lost to FC Kobenhavn in the 3rd Qualifying Round of the UEFA Champions League. However AJAX is currently topping the Dutch table and I think they can hold that top spot all year. I think they are the class of the Eredivisie. West Ham I think will resuscitate their performance very soon and get back on track. I see the Hammers finishing upper-mid table in May.

Anyway I'm supporting Olympique Lyonnais to finally win the Champs League this year.

Thoughts on the Weekend

2006-10-01T22:19:00.000-05:00

I have to admit... Saturday was one of the worst gameday experiences I've had at LSU. The 11:30 kickoff just threw everything off and made most of the day pretty forgettable. I enjoyed zero tailgating and went home to watch football until about halftime of the UGA-UM game. Its great that I actually got to watch more than two games... but ideally home games involve hours of tailgatiing leading up to the game. Anyway I left the LSU game when it was delayed... that game wasn't worth sitting through the rain.

A couple of things:

-The run game needs to improve. Thanks to our seemingly unstoppable passing attack we can usually play well without a great rushing attack... but with a tough test in Gainesville coming up I don't think we can rely on our passing attack the whole game. Charles Scott is the best back we've seen this year, so I think we should stick with him and make sure the playcalling is inteligent.

-I still think we need to get Flynn and Perilloux more reps. JMR is playing amazingly, but we don't need him playing as late into blowouts as we have him playing.

Top whatever:
1- Ohio State
2- Auburn
3- USC
4- Florida
5- LSU
6- Michigan
7- Texas
8- Louisville
9- The University of the South
10- West Virginia
11- Oregon
12- Tennessee
13- Notre Dame
14- Georgia
15- John Curtis Christian School
16- California
17- Clemson
18- Georgia Tech
19- whoever you think is next

Georgia dropped, and probably should be lower than 14. I think everybody between 2-7 is about the same. John Curtis moves into this week's Top Whatever because they beat Hoover at Hoover. Virginia Tech drops out because they beat us in 2002.

Overall this weekend was pretty lame. A bunvh of teams (UGA, UF, AU, USC) almost dropped the ball to lesser foes. Only VPI actually lost. Miami still sucks though. Coker is done if you ask me.

This week will be a big 'un.

may we never go mental

2006-09-26T18:36:00.000-05:00

song clue: outback

The Saints won last night, but unfortunately I missed it because I was out working on a story.

Anyway things are getting interesting at the Reveille. For the past couple of months there has been a fight between the Reveille and LSU Student Government and it is starting to escalate. SG recently requested the Reveille's budget (which anyone can do- its a public record). I don't know what they are planning on doing with it though... its not like they can have it printed in the campus newspaper...

But I don't really care about SG. I discovered last year- not long into my freshman year- that SG is pretty useless. It would be nice if they could just be shut down altogether, but that isn't going to happen. As far as Reveille coverage goes... well I mean I don't know how many students actually care about SG.

I think I'll pack it in and buy a pickup

2006-09-24T16:15:00.000-05:00

song clue: ohio

So here's a top 14 or whatever I guess

1- Ohio State
2- Auburn
3- USC
4- Florida
5- LSU
6- Michigan
7- Texas
8- Louisville
9- University of the South
10- West Virginia
10 (tie)- Georgia
12- Virginia Tech
13- Hoover High School
14- Cal
14 (tie)- Oregon
14 (tie)- Tennessee
14 (tie)- Notre Dame
18- Clemson

whatever

is there a lock on your back door?

2006-09-23T23:09:00.000-05:00

A quick post before I head out on the town aka get stuck in traffic on highland/east fuckin boyd/brubank/nicholson...

Why didn't we play Charlie Scott against the 'Barners? I get the feeling that he is this year's version of Justin Vincent (as he was in 03). Where were all the other backs?

Good game for Early D but he still dropped a couple balls.

Best plays of the game were by Steltz on the interception return and TU's punter in the first half dodging LSU players and still punting the ball after the long snapper put the ball over his head and on the goal line.

Geaux tigers!

uncivil war divides the nation

2006-09-21T00:54:00.000-05:00

song clue: the river

I think reading Signposts put me in an almost apocalyptic mood for the last couple of weeks. The longer I think about today's suburban and exurban society the more I wonder about the direction of American in general. I don't mean that as a political statement, but essentially everything is political.

Other things I've noticed:

I become increasingly aggravated when politics is discussed on the left/right spectrum, especially when people refer only to terms such as "conservative" and "liberal". It is a major flaw of our current political system that two parties dominate the proceedings. The idea of a party masks the issues and the people we select to run our governments.

I've become much more appreciative of rain over the last few weeks. No, I'm not depressed. Actually I really enjoy the energy in the air, the negative ions (as I like to call them) in the air just before a storm hits.

I really don't agree with the way college has turned into a glorified tech school. I think the concept of developing ideas has become lost among the shuffle for higher gpa's and better paying jobs. What does gpa really show anyway? That the higher the gpa is the higher the tolerance level for irrelevant bullshit is?

I really disagree with the characters who are putting almost all the blame for the LSU loss on the refs. I have always thought that we should always perform well enough to offset the refs... no matter how bad they are. Bottom line, it ain't the refs fault we lost. We had our chances. Get over it. Beat Tulane.

By the way, I hate Public Relations and Advertising. That is my worst class hands down. They should rename the class to "How to sell your soul."

AP style is gay and irrelevant to how good a writer is.

Just thought I'd throw that in.

f au

2006-09-19T01:14:00.000-05:00

song clue: that ain't no song

So I've been a bit awol lately... I apologize. Truth is, I like posting whenever the hell I feel like it instead of setting myself to a rigorous schedule to suit the season or anything else.

But yeah, I've been a little busy lately working and other stuff.

Anyway, fuck Auburn.

Why is Justin Vincent still in our main RB rotation? Why are we running toss sweeps and other speed run plays with slow-ish backs? If the running isn't on then why aren't we gunning it more?

Just questions I guess.

So uh top ten I guess:

1- OSU
2- USC
3- Auburn
4- Florida
5- LSU
6- Michigan
7- Texas
8- West Virginia
9- Georgia
10- Louisville
11- sewanee

My Morning Jacket is playing at the House of Blues in New Orleans on Nov 15. I WILL be THERE.

I'm glad that ESPN's Gameday selection turned out to be the least interesting (major) game of the week. At least if they had been in South Bend they could have talked more about ND fucking it all up.

BTW when is it going to hurry up and cool down just a little bit?

what has happened down here is the winds have changed

2006-09-11T22:51:00.000-05:00

song clue: Katrina (pretty easy song)

I've been musing on the song selection in Tiger Stadium before games over the last few weeks. Currently three songs are played over the pa before games: the vile shitfest known as "Evo Devo (Welcome to the Now" by local band The Terms, "Calling Baton Rouge" by Garth Brooks, and "Louisiana Saturday Night" by Alabama.

Now the first song HAS to go, simply cannot stay.

"Calling Baton Rouge" is a pretty bad song... but at the same time it seems to fit for the three minutes it is played in Tiger Stadium. However, for the sake of decent music I say give it the axe.

I actually like the song "Louisiana Saturday Night." I think its key that it doesn't take it self way too seriously like "Calling Baton Rouge" and lacks the smooth sound of Brooks. The lyrics are histerical and fun. I think "Louisiana Saturday Night" deserves to be played in Tiger Stadium.

So if I am kicking out the first two songs then what should replace them? Ideally I'd say that "Rednecks" by Randy Newman would be perfect just for the line "College men at LSU, went in dumb, come out dumb too" but I bet most people would misunderstand the point of the song in general.

Other than that I think the most obvious answer would be "This Time of Year" by Better Than Ezra since it is about travelling to an LSU away game. To be honest with you I don't know why it wouldn't be played.... I guess its not fast enough to fire the crowd up?

If you have any other songs you think would work well in the Tiger Stadium pre-game selection mention them in the comments.

I'm a fast talkin hell raisin son-of-a-bitch

2006-09-10T18:19:00.000-05:00

So yeah, I'm on a R Adams kick right now.

I'm reading Signposts in a Strange Land right now and its definitely making me think. Not only that, its definitely affecting me on a more emotional level. In many respects it reminds me of the DBT song "The Southern Thing" and "the duality of the southern thing" as they sing.

Like many southerners I am very torn about the nature of the south. I'm damn proud of the south and absolutely love the south with all my heart... but at the same time there are several issues which make me sad and disappointed in the nature of the south.

This is also tied into the Confederate flag, something that has become a hot topic at LSU. The purple and gold stars-and-bars is regularly flown by LSU tailgaters and decried by others. I personally don't have a problem with it. My feelings over the purple and gold stars-and-bars is the same as my feelings about all Confederate flags in general.

I'm more upset that the KKK types have ruined the flag by making it a symbol of their agenda rather than honoring the flag for what it really stands for: the honor and courage of thousands of brave soldiers who fell in the War Between the States.

In relation I think its interesting how in this country slavery is seen solely in terms of the south and the oppression of blacks rather than something that had existed thousands of years before the first slave was imported into the south.

Going back to Signposts... I love that Percy starts off by talking about Covington. Now I am from Mandeville but I went to high school in Covington and I love Covington immensely. While I wouldn't necessarily call Covington a "nonplace" simply because the area in and around my old school means so much to me, I would say that Covington has all the charm mentioned by Percy.

Unfortunately Covington, and much of the south, is becoming homogenized in the name of "progress". I don't understand how towns continue to sell their identities in order to attract the big box stores and developers. While these developers are developing land and economy they are sucking the life and culture out of the towns. I cringe at the thought of what Covington could look like in ten years.

drink your coffee in the morning, at night go and drink your beer

2006-09-10T15:21:00.000-05:00

Clue: Jacksonville

I've come to find that most people are stupid. Even the people that are smart, really smart... find ways to be really stupid. I'm going to be purposely vague but let me just say that some people completely misread situations.

LSU won last night. Alright already lets play fuckin Auburn.

They didn't play Tiger Rag last night. Until they play Tiger Rag I will continue to hate the institution of LSU. Depriving people of part of the spirit of LSU is downright disgraceful.

how can they control ya bernadette

2006-09-06T19:45:00.000-05:00

You know what? I probably shouldn't post that.

At dawn they ride again

2006-09-04T21:55:00.000-05:00

Song clue: Elizabethtown

Well I'm over that mediocre-fest in Miami even though its tied right now.

LSU won over the weekend. Tigersmack has a pretty great roundup of the events. Really the only thing I want to add is that LaRon Landry is a badass. So is Alley Broussard.

Also I know that Tigersmack points it out... but ULL had a GUY on their dance team. Give me a break.

By the way, that first ULL field goal miss... I called a miss before the play started. LSU opponents have now missed a field goal in Tiger Stadium five games in a row. This goes back to Auburn's 1-6 disaster. Arizona will miss one this Saturday, I'm calling it now.

Alright well I was an idiot for taking Cal. Can we officially say that the Cal phenomenon is over for this year? Way to go guys.

College football blah blah blah.

Anyway so some girls tried to make me watch Sex and the City at their apartment the other night. Needless to say I told them that if I had to see any of those whores on the screen I was going to a different apartment. We didn't watch Sex and the City.

Also my friend saw Shaq in the Circle K on Highland Saturday morning. He was sitting down and was as tall as she was.

I've begun to realize that I have a love/hate relationship with LSU. I love the spirit and the soul of it. But I hate the institution... the whole operation makes me sick. People in general make so much money off of college students its sickening.

By the way ULL's "LS Who?" t-shirts were stupid and unimaginitive.

But the worst part of the weekend: NO FUCKING TIGER RAG!!!!!

Give me a fucking break, its one of the traditional LSU cheers and they don't play it !! I don't understand why its a big deal that the students yell "Assholes" at the opposing players and fans during the cheer. I mean half the crowd yells "Kick their ass" during the "Geaux Tigers" cheer. I just pisses me the fuck off. Give me back my Tiger Rag.

I lost my boots in transit babe

2006-08-29T23:06:00.000-05:00

song clue: Ken Kesey

I find it interesting that all of my favorite books feature the same sort of main character- the young man who is a bit lonely in the world and is searching for something. These are usually what I consider my favorite books:

-The Moviegoer- Walker Percy
-A Confederacy of Dunces- John Kennedy Toole
-The Grandissimes- George Washinton Cable
-Waverley- Sir Walter Scott
-Catcher in the Rye- JD Salinger
-Foucault's Pendulum- Umberto Eco
-On the Road- Jack Kerouac
-Wind, Sand, and Stars- Antoine de Saint-Exupery
-Into the Wild- Jon Krakauer

In each of those books to varying degrees the main character is a young man searching for something... usually truth. I wonder what that says about me?

Am I searching for truth? In a way I guess... I kinda think that's why I enjoy Wikipedia so much. I also have a natural aversion to commercialism, advertising, public relations... that sort of thing. I enjoy political discussion in the same way I enjoy musical or sports discussions. On the other hand I can't stand the art of politicking. Maybe that is why I am/will be a journalist.

I find the same qualities of authenticity in my music selections. Whether its The Grateful Dead and their love for the moment and the experience of the live show and their songs being so much about America in general, or its Dylan and his troubadeering.

I don't claim to have some obsession with the idea of truth, in fact I think people use it far too easily, much in the same way people use the word "real" way too often. But I guess that "realness" is something I look for in life, literature, and music. Something that isn't pre-fabricated or corrupted to meet the demands of the dollar sign. Whenever I think of the book Into the Wild and Chris McCandless burning all his money in the Arizona desert I almost always think he is an idiot. But every now and then I get it- I mean I really get it.

Cheers

If I don't do it, ya know somebody else will

2006-08-28T23:15:00.000-05:00

Song clue: Bonnaroo

Today was the first day of class. What can I say? A ton of very cute freshman girls. Anyway I'd like to git to the perdicktchuns...

Week 9 (October 28):

Byes: LSU (7-1, 3-1)

No Brainers: Florida International at Alabama (6-2, 2-2); ULM at Arkansas (4-3, 2-2); Buffalo at Boston College (3-4, 0-4); Florida State (5-2, 3-2) at Maryland (4-3, 1-3)

Auburn (8-0, 5-0) at Ole Miss (5-3, 2-3)- The Rebs will scare the Plainsmen here and AU won't win until late in the game. Auburn won't be able to afford such slip-ups against Georgia.

Clemson (7-1, 4-1) at Virginia Tech (5-2, 2-2)- The Tigers will slip for the second week in a row and lose important ground in the race to the ACC Championship.

Vanderbilt (2-6, 0-5) at Duke (1-6, 0-5)- Vandy wins on road to keep bowl chances alive...

Kentucky (2-5, 0-4) at Mississippi State (2-6, 0-4)- I think the Mildcats will win in this battle of teams lacking SEC wins.

Wake Forest (5-2, 1-2) at North Carolina (5-2, 2-2)- The Demon Deacons will come out strong and the Tar Heels will drop a crucial game.

NC State (4-2, 3-3) at Virginia (6-2, 3-1)- The Cavaliers know they can't afford to lose this game with FSU, Miami, and Virginia Tech finishing off the season. NC State wins anyway.

Tennessee (4-3, 1-2) at South Carolina (5-2, 3-2)- Spurrier has Fulmer's number. Cocks win.

ACC Game of the Week: Miami (6-1, 3-0) at Georgia Tech (5-2, 3-2)- The Yellow Jackets will lose this one in order to maintain mediocrity.

SEC Game of the Week: Florida (5-2, 3-2) vs Georgia (8-0, 5-0)- The Gators will once again derail a UGA dream season with a ten-point win in Jacksonville.

Week 10 (Nov 4):

Byes: NONE

No Brainers: Mississippi State (2-7, 0-5) at Alabama (7-2, 3-2); Arkansas State at Auburn (9-0, 6-0); Maryland (4-4, 1-4) at Clemson (7-2, 4-2); Navy at Duke (1-7, 0-5); Florida (6-2, 4-2) at Vanderbilt (3-6, 0-5); Virginia (6-3, 3-2) at Florida State (6-2, 4-2); Georgia (8-1, 5-1) at Kentucky (3-5, 1-4); Northwestern State at Ole Miss (5-4, 2-4); North Carolina (5-3, 2-3) at Notre Dame

Arkansas (5-3, 2-2) at South Carolina (6-2, 4-2)- The Hawgs will deflate Spurrier's Cocks with a win on the road.

Boston College (4-4, 0-4) at Wake Forest (6-2, 2-2)- BC finally finds an ACC win in Winston-Salem.

Georgia Tech (5-3, 3-3) at NC State (5-2, 4-3)- The Yellow Jackets score an important victory in overtime.

ACC Game of the Week: Virginia Tech (6-2, 3-2) at Miami (7-1, 4-0)- The ACC continues to beat each other up. The Techsters win by two td's.

SEC Game of the Week: LSU (7-1, 3-1) at Tennessee (4-4, 1-3)- LSU wins close and Fulmer's season continues to slide into the abyss.

We made love like a pair of black wizards

2006-08-28T00:51:00.000-05:00

Song clue: Athens

Back to el predicciones:

Week 7 (October 14):

Byes: Georgia Tech (4-2, 3-1); South Carolina (4-2, 2-2); Tennessee (3-3, 0-2)

No Brainers: Southeast Missouri State at Arkansas (2-3, 1-2); Clemson (6-0, 4-0) vs Temple; Florida State (3-2, 1-2) at Duke (1-4, 0-3); Vanderbilt (2-4, 0-3) at Georgia (6-0, 3-0); Kentucky (2-4, 0-3) at LSU (5-1, 2-1); Florida International at Miami (4-1, 2-0); Jacksonville State at Mississippi State (1-5, 0-3)

Ole Miss (5-1, 2-1) at Alabama (5-1, 1-1)- They will both have the same records but there is no question that Bama is the better team.

Maryland (3-2, 0-2) at Virginia (5-1, 2-0)- The Cavs pull out in overtime. Despite being 6-1 UVA fans have a long way to go and may have used up all their luck.

South Florida at North Carolina (3-2, 1-2)- The Tar Heels bounce back after the Cane loss with a close win at home.

Wake Forest (5-1, 1-1) at NC State (3-2, 2-2)- The in-state rivals will battle closely but in the end NCSU gets the W.

ACC Game of the Week: Virginia Tech (3-2, 1-2) at Boston College (3-2, 0-2)- The Hokies get an important road win while the Eagles remain winless in the ACC.

SEC Game of the Week: Florida (5-1, 3-1) at Auburn (6-0, 4-0)- The Gators' schedule keeps taking a toll on them as they fall for the second week in a row. Auburn keeps improving their resume in front of the nation's watchful eye.

Week 8 (October 21):

Byes: Florida (5-2, 3-2); Kentucky (2-5, 0-4); Wake Forest (5-2, 1-2)

No Brainers: Tulane at Auburn (7-0, 5-0); Miami (5-1, 2-0) at Duke (1-5, 0-4); Mississippi State (2-5, 0-3) at Georgia (7-0, 4-0); South Carolina (4-2, 2-2) at Vanderbilt (2-5, 0-4); Southern Miss at Virginia Tech (4-2, 2-2)

Ole Miss (5-2, 2-2) at Arkansas (3-3, 1-2)- The Rebel woes will continue as they get into the meat of their schedule.

Boston College (3-3, 0-3) at Florida State (4-2, 2-2)- BC will keep it close as they continue to search for their first ACC win of the season but FSU is just hitting their stride.

Fresno State at LSU (6-1, 3-1)- Fresno will cause lots of problems in Death Valley but ultimately Ole War Skule prevails by ten.

NC State (4-2, 3-2) at Maryland (3-3, 0-3)- Yawn. Terps win.

North Carolina (4-2, 1-2) at Virginia (6-1, 3-0)- The Tar Heels knock off UVA in one of the south's oldest rivalries.

ACC Game of the Week: Georgia Tech (4-2, 3-1) at Clemson (7-0, 4-0)- The Techsters will once again play spoilers here. Bowden's team will fall at an October hurdle yet again. Tech wins by 17.

SEC Game of the Week: Alabama (6-1, 2-1) at Tennessee (3-3, 0-2)- The Vols will finally get the win they were looking for to truly jump start their season. UT will hit a field goal at the death to get the W.

Tennessee is a brother to my sister Carolina

2006-08-28T00:29:00.000-05:00

Song Clue: Summer of '69

Tomorrow (Monday) is the first day of class. I think I am excited. I'm not sure though... it could be a bunch of work.

I went and picked up a few used cd's today:

-No Depression Volume 1- What it Sounds Like
-Randy Newman- Good Ole' Boys
-Rush- 2112 (guilty pleasure I guess)
-R.E.M.- Fables of the Reconstruction
-R.E.M.-Document (for $4.99!)

Also I added to the ol' blogroll:

-ACC/SEC Blog- I like how they cover the almost the entire southeast. I mean I would love coverage of Sewanee but I'll take what I can get.

-Carolina March- I'm becoming more of a Tar Heel fan, and not just one of those guys who likes UNC cause Jordan went there. Anyway this is a pretty good blog so check it out.

-Hogs, Hill, and the SEC- A nice blog covering the exploits of the Hawgs. I'm not much of an Arkansas fan but that doesn't mean he doesn't do a good job on this blog.

-Alabama Ass Whuppin- Covering all things Drive-By Truckers over here. Also some political stuff. Maybe I should start a My Morning Jacket blog?

By the way its officially game week and you can tell it on campus. The traffic and tailgating signs are up, there's roped off areas for parking, and there is just something in the air. You know its football season... you know its time for the Tigers.

Across the pond this weekend Arsenal lost and Chelski won. I mean did I not say what was going to happen last week? Also West Ham fell this weekend so that is unfortunate. Over in Amsterdam Wesley Sneijder scored two to give AJAX three points. Feijenoord drew and PSV lost so that definitely helps AJAX. In Spain Villareal drew Real Madrid 0-0.

I have two more weeks of predictions coming up for tonite so stay tuned folks.

I've got a girlfriend with bows in her hair

2006-08-27T19:11:00.000-05:00

Song clue: big suit

My predictions for the SEC and ACC continue:

Week 5 (Sept 30):

Byes: Arkansas (2-2, 1-1); Florida State (2-2, 0-2); Maryland (3-1, 0-1); North Carolina (3-1, 1-1); North Carolina State (3-1, 1-1)

No Brainers: Maine at Boston College (2-2, 0-2); Louisiana Tech at Clemson (4-0, 3-0); Virginia (3-1, 1-0) at Duke (1-2, 0-2); Central Michigan at Kentucky (1-3, 0-2); Mississippi State (1-3, 0-2) at LSU (3-1, 0-1); Houston at Miami (2-1, 0-1); Tennessee (2-2, 0-1) at Memphis; Temple at Vanderbilt (1-3, 0-2); Liberty at Wake Forest (3-1, 1-0)

Auburn (4-0, 2-0) at South Carolina (3-1, 1-1)- The Cocks will keep this one close during the first half. Auburn simply has too much talent for VisorBoy's gang... Auburn wins by twenty-ish.

Georgia (4-0, 1-0) at Ole Miss (4-0, 1-0)- I said before that I was bullish about Ole Miss this season. With that being said I don't see any upset happening here. Expect the Dawgs to bring UM back down to Earth.

ACC Game of the Week: Georgia Tech (2-2, 1-1) at Virginia Tech (3-1 1-1)- As usual I think Georgia Tech will be all over the place this season. Therefore I think they will bounce back from the UVA loss with a surprise win over their fellow Techsters.

SEC Game of the Week: Alabama (4-0, 1-0) at Florida (4-0, 2-0)- Both teams will be undefeated in this one. The Gators will be seeking revenge, and I think they will get it. The season will get a whole lot more interesting after this week.

Week 6 (Oct 7):

Byes: Boston College (3-2, 0-2); Virginia Tech (3-2, 1-2)

No Brainers: Duke (1-3, 0-3) at Alabama (4-1 , 1-1); Vanderbilt (2-3, 0-2) at Ole Miss (4-1, 1-1); West Virginia at Mississippi State (1-4, 0-3); South Carolina (3-2, 1-2) at Kentucky (2-3, 0-2); Virginia (4-1, 2-0) at East Carolina

Arkansas (2-2, 1-1) at Auburn (5-0, 3-0)- The War Eagle train will keep on rolling as they dismiss the Hogs without any problems.

Clemson (5-0, 3-0) at Wake Forest (4-1, 1-0)- At some point Clemson will falter, and though the Demon Deacons will provide a lively test... it won't be here. On Clemson!

Florida State (2-2, 0-2) at NC State (3-1, 1-1)- The Wolfpack have traditionally given the Seminoles trouble in Raleigh. Despite that I think the Seminoles will get their season back on track with a big win.

Tennessee (3-2, 0-1) at Georgia (5-0, 2-0)- Tennessee will be looking to jump back in the SEC East race. Georgia will be looking to enter the national title hunt. I think the latter will happen as the Silver Britches win by two touchdowns.

Maryland (3-1, 0-1) at Georgia Tech (3-2, 2-1)- Maryland won't have enough to stop the Yellow Jackets and their decline will begin here.

ACC Game of the Week: North Carolina (3-1, 1-1) at Miami (3-1, 1-0)- The season will get a whole lot rougher for the Tar Heels. Miami will want to start rolling on towards the ACC Championship. The Canes win this win big.

SEC Game of the Week: LSU (4-1, 1-1) at Florida (5-0, 3-0)- A loss here could see the end of LSU's SEC West bid. Florida will fight but ultimately it'll be the LSU D that delivers a win back to Baton Rouge.

We don't know our ass from a hole in the ground

2006-08-27T16:49:00.000-05:00

Song clue: Look at my subheader

Week 3 (Sept 16):

No Brainers: ULM at Alabama; Arkansas at vanderbilt; Duke at Virginia Tech; UAB at Georgia; Troy at Georgia Tech; Tulane at Mississippi State; Furman at North Carolina; Wofford at South Carolina; Western Michigan at Virginia; BYU at Boston College

Ole Miss at Kentucky- This would be a great JP game. I'm going to take UM by 10.

Maryland at West Virginia- I really don't think the Terps will cause too many problems for WVA.

NC State at Southern Miss- This has all the makings of a trap-door game. I expect NCSU to be trapped.

Wake Forest at UConn- I think the Deacs will pull out the W in Connecticut.

ACC Game of the Week #1- Clemson at Florida State- I think Baby Bowden can get another W against daddy here. I'm not expecting a lot out of FSU honestly.

ACC Game of the Week #2- Miami at Louisville- The Cards get the home W in this one.

SEC Game of the Week #1- Florida at Tennessee- Fulmer will drop this one.

SEC Game of the Week #2- LSU at Auburn- I think we will see a crazy game which will live up to expectations. Unfortunately I think the 'Barners win in overtime.

Week 4 (Sept 23):

No Brainers: Buffalo at Auburn; Kentucky at Florida; Rice at Florida State; Tulane at LSU; Florida-International at Maryland; Florida Atlantic at South Carolina; Marshall at Tennessee; Tennessee State at Vanderbilt; Cincinatti at Virginia Tech

Boston College at NC State- I think the Wolfpack make up for the USM loss by beating Boston College.

Colorado at Georgia- I don't expect the Buffs to be too much of a problem for UGA.

Virginia at Georgia Tech- Ball and Tech slip up here against the Cavaliers.

Wake Forest at Ole Miss- Ole Miss continues their surprising start with a close win.

Mississippi State at UAB- UAB scores a modest upset in this one.

ACC Game of the Week: North Carolina at Clemson- The Tigers get a three touchdown win to continue their rise.

SEC Game of the Week: Alabama at Arkansas- Bama pulls out late against the Hawgs.

Is her sweet expression worth more than my love and affection?

2006-08-26T23:55:00.000-05:00

Awright, because I am in the mood I will proceed to pick the SEC and ACC schedule. Let's get to it...

Week 1 (Sept 2)

No Brainers: Hawaii at Alabama; Boston College at Central Michigan; Florida Atlantic at Clemson; Southern Miss at Florida; Western Kentucky at Georgia; ULL at LSU; William & Mary at Maryland; Appalachian State at NC State; Vanderbilt at Michigan; Northeastern at Virginia Tech

USC at Arkansas- The Hawgs may cause a few problems but without Darren McFadden this one shouldn't be too much of a problem for the Trojans.

Washington State at Auburn- WSU could play like Oregon State played LSU back in 2004 but I think Auburn will bury this one.

Richmond at Duke- The Blue Devils will struggle but in the end they'll pick up a W.

Notre Dame at Georgia Tech- I think the Techsters have another giant-killing up their sleeves but it won't be here. The Fighting Irish get a W with a late FG.

Kentucky at Louisville- The first half will be close but I think the Cards will blow the doors open in the second.

Memphis at Ole Miss- Memphis traditionally gives the Rebs problems but I think Coach O will have his team ready to fight.

Mississippi State at South Carolina- Each team will have a few early jitters but frankly I don't think MSU will win an SEC game this year.

Rutgers at North Carolina- UNC's year will be one of many questions but I think they will win the opener.

Virginia at Pitt- UVA will have a down year in 2006. This one will be close but Wannstache gets the W.

Syracuse at Wake Forest- The Cuse are in for another long year, Wake will need all the W's they can get to get bowl eligible.

ACC Game of the Week: Florida State at Miami- I don't think FSU is going to have a great year. I think the game will be close like always but Miami will get the last TD and the last laugh.

SEC Game of the Week: Cal at Tennessee- I keep going back and forth on this one. Ultimately I don't think UT will have it all together this early in the season. Cal wins by ten.

Week 2 (Sept 9)

No Brainers: Vanderbilt at Alabama; Utah State at Arkansas; Auburn at Mississippi State; Central Florida at Florida; Troy at FSU; Samford at Georgia Tech; Texas State at Kentucky; Middle Tennessee at Maryland; Florida A&M at Miami; Akron at NC State; Air Force at Tennessee; Wyoming at Virginia

Duke at Wake Forest- Duke will give their fellow devilish North Carolinians problems... but not too many.

Arizona at LSU- Arizona won't be able to keep up with LSU in the second half.

Ole Miss at Missouri- The Rebs will keep this oneclose... and win it in the end. I'm feeling bullish about the Rebs this year.

Virginia Tech at North Carolina- The first upset of the ACC season comes here. The Tar Heels win close at the end.

ACC Game of the Week: Clemson at Boston College- Clemson is the trendy pick in the ACC this year. I'm not sure how the Tigers will do in the long run but I think they will win this one.

SEC Game of the Week: Georgia at South Carolina- This is a traditional trap-door game for the Dawgs. Nevertheless I think they will pull out the W at the death- Tereshinski to Massaquoi style.

2006-08-25T23:02:00.000-05:00

Wilco - Muzzle of Bees

Yesterday I bought tickets to go see Wilco in Oxford, MS on October 10th. This will be my second Wilco show. I'm taking a couple of Wilco virgins. I'm really looking forward to it. If you ever get the oppurtunity to see this band then definitely geaux!

Let me tell ya 'bout a place

2006-08-25T22:50:00.000-05:00

So I feel like posting my SEC rankings on a 100 point scale before I head out to cover an event:

1. Auburn- 91
2. Georgia- 88
3. LSU- 87
4. Florida- 86
5. Alabama- 83
6. Tennessee- 78
7. South Carolina- 76
8. Arkansas- 75
9. Ole Miss- 69
10. Kentucky- 61
11. Vanderbilt- 59
12. Mississippi State- 55

So there it is. I think the SEC will be VERY tight this year. It should be a whole lotta fun. Perhaps I will expand on those later this weekend...

2006-08-24T00:25:00.000-05:00

LSU vs UGA 2003

An amazing win for LSU football.

I think we are the right age to start our own peculiar ways

2006-08-23T23:38:00.000-05:00

Jaw meet floor. The Boro took down Chelski today. Jaw you've met floor right? FC fucking Kobenhaven knocked AJAX out of Champions League with a 2-0 victory at the Amsterdam ArenA. I'm glad Chelski lost but I can't stand Boro. Oh well, I guess its a bit like cheering for Arkansas to beat Auburn. Vermaelen scored an own goal for FCK to beat AJAX today and from what I've heard AJAX should have won but didn't capitalize on opportunities in the first half. This can't be good for new AJAX boss Henk Ten Cate. Hopefully AJAX can make a run in the UEFA Cup and challenge PSV for the Eredivisie title.

Last night I had the idea that the top 25 could be viewed as a ranking of all time programs. Last night I knew perfectly how to explain it, but I am struggling for the words now. If you look at college football as not each season seperate but as a collective body, an ongoing progress it is conceivable to look at the top 25 from last year to be the all-time top 25. I know the idea sounds crazy but ultimately its all about The idea of it sounds a bit ludicrous now but I think if you bent your mind around viewing college football as being a sort of one never-ending season with long breaks. Maybe sometime when I have more time to think I can explain it better.

In any event I think LSU fans don't need to be as worried about our RB situation as they are. Even when our starters and veterans have faltered LSU's younger RB's have always stepped up to perform.

Mama said a pistol is the devil's right hand

2006-08-23T00:54:00.000-05:00

Deadlines make life much more interesting. Today we had our first deadline at Le Reveille. In other news LSU is ranked #8 in the latest rankings of top party schools.

Also I wish I could find it but there was a wonderful piece of asininity in some Lafayette publication about 5 reasons why that particular artist hated LSU. My favorite part was when the author scoffed at LSU's athletic prowess and claimed that ULL combined athletic tradition with academic excellence. Ah yes the athletic tradition which doesn't exist and the academic excellence of a school that is the second-rate (for the most part) state university. The author also wonders how LSU has the money to pay for Mike the Tiger's cage upgrade which cost a whole lotta millions when the state is dealing with Katrina while completely ignoring that the Mike cage was completed BEFORE Katrina and was paid for with Tiger Athletic Foundation DONATIONS.

I had a much different post planned on re-thinking the way college football polls are looked at and the way college football history is interpreted but I'm not in the mood to do that now so that can wait. Amazing how I get this great thought when I should be previewing the season rather than in the middle of May when it would have fit in perfectly with the time of nothingness in the college football world.

Song title clue: Guitar Town

I can hold my breath til' next Wednesday

2006-08-22T00:06:00.000-05:00

I'm sure many of you CFBheads already know that Sam Keller- the guy who torched LSU for like 4,361 yards and 13 touchdowns will no longer be quarterbackin' the Sun Devils. When I saw Keller play us last year I thought he had a very bright future... now its all up in the air. Best of luck to Sam though.

I tried to make game-by-game predictions for the SEC season but I don't like the way they came out. I can't really explain why I was so dissatisfied with them- I mean I ended up with Bama going 10-2 but I know that I don't think they will go 10-2. So I'm just going to make it a lot easier. Auburn will lose to UGA during the season but beat the Bulldogs in the SEC Championship. LSU will lose at least two but no more than three regular season games. My gut says at Auburn and Alabama at home. At least eight SEC teams will make bowls (Auburn, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, LSU, South Carolina, Arkansas, Tennessee) and Ole Miss will be right on the edge, I can't decide if they do or they don't. Either Mississippi State or Vandy will finish the season without a conference win. Auburn will be in contention for the national title (I don't think anyone will finish undefeated). McFadden, Darby, Irons, Little, and Foster will all rush for over 1,000 yards. However the most potent rushing attack will play for Georgia. Perilloux will start by the end of the season for LSU. LSU at Auburn will be the game of the year.

Alright, enough stream predictions. I have to say that I don't agree with this whole Maxwell Pundit thing. I mean I guess its sorta fun but its disdain for the Heisman is the source of its own problems. I don't particularly like the whole individual award outside of a positional award (Doak Walker yes, Heisman no). Too much apples and oranges between positions. I also find it wonderfully ironic that they claim to look for the best/most outstanding player no matter the position when the only time the Heisman has picked a defensive player to break the boundries/mold was the one time they were obviously wrong. But then again that may be the point. In any event I don't really like any individual awards in college football since the game is so dependant on the collective effort. I mean honestly most years we don't have any candidates close to the caliber of Vince Young and Reggie Bush. They are really two of the only players I have seen the last few years (I'm not exactly scouring my brain though) who have fascinated and defied conventions the way they have. I think sports like basketball, hockey, and most definitely soccer are perfect for individual awards because they are all sports which allow for a high level of individual brilliance. I think in many ways football is such a rigid game depending so much on a team performance that it hinders any unbelievable individual performance. I'm pretty sure that was clumsily written and that I didn't explain myself at all but I don't really give a damn. Honestly I don't read this except for when I am typing it as the letters appear on the screen.

In the week or so I've been working for the Reveille I have discovered just how much newspapers and media in general are driven to create the story. I don't mean make the story up per se, but journalists definitely want people to make drastic actions, do things that don't make sense, cause problems, etc. I know its something everybody knows, but I wasn't fully aware of just how much the media craves the story. The media can never be fully objective because they always need a story.

Ian had a very interesting post today about pop music and music in general. I think its interesting that Iam only discusses the sonic parts of music and never really addresses songwriting itself. Also its interesting to note just how much of all music is essentially an assembly line production. At the moment I feel very pessimistic about the future of music just because of how much of it is slaved to the entities like MTV and ClearChannel. There's no real way to discover new stuff that isn't just run-of-the-mill because even the blogs inundate us with stuff that is essentially decent and unremarkable. I don't know how to explain myself in terms of how I feel about music but its just struck me how unbearably fake 95% of music is. We need a Woody Guthrie "This machine kills fascists" revolution to kill the fakeness.

Why do people listen to fake music?

I've prolly convinced all of you that I'm crazy but the music industry and the sports industry and the news industry are all driven by the dollar sign and the hunger for the story. The story makes the world go 'round.

Maybe I'll join the seminary.

I'd like to love you

2006-08-21T01:26:00.000-05:00

By the way before I retire for the nite I'd like to point you over to Brian Jonestown Massacre. You can download all of their music from their site which is really great. I'd check out Thank God For Mental Illness and anything with the song "Jennifer" on it.

Cheers

2006-08-21T00:07:00.000-05:00

REM - So. Central Rain

Here's some nice youtube fun from a very early performance of So. Central Rain by R.E.M. Enjoy.

Edit: Well I was going to post a link to a very awesome show from 1984 that rbally had posted a while ago but the mp3's have been taken down. So instead I will link to a later show (1995) which I haven't listened to yet: Part 1 and Part 2.

listen podnuh I ain't no cheap thrill

2006-08-20T23:38:00.000-05:00

Back again fellas. So this is how I'm going to blog for a while. I plan on using a lot of Reveille stories to help keeping the site updated since I'll be over at the office so much. I'll still be hanging around to comment on football once the games start coming and to talk about a few other things. I promise that once Aug 31 rolls around you'll see more activity 'round here.

On that note I'd like to point you to And the Valley Shook. The Sports Blog Network has finally added an LSU blog to their ever-expanding network. I was contacted about starting one over there but that really wouldn't be my thing. Plus I haven't decided if I actually like Sports Blog Network or not. Anyway the new LSU blog looks great.

AJAX hit five on RKC Waalwijk to open the Eredivisie campaign. Despite the stomping AJAX is still behind AZ Alkmaar. AZ put up eight goals in their first match of the season.

The EPL also commenced this weekend. Surprisingly Chelski is already two points ahead of Arsenal. I can already tell this is going to be a long season for those not at the Bridge. Oh well at least my chosen team for this year West Ham United got out to a cracking start with a win over Charlton. Also Bobby Convey, Marcus Hahnemann, and Reading came back from 2-0 down to defeat Middlesborough. Hopefully West Ham and Reading can keep the chase on Chelski.

Adios, for now.

I'm Holdin' Out For That Teenage Feeling

2006-08-13T01:08:00.000-05:00

So I just got my beat assignments for the Reveille and I think its hilarious that I'm assigned to residential life. I don't mind it necessarily its just that I've never lived in the dorms and in general don't know much about any of them other than names really. Whatever, I'll take it.

By the way that last post was the flag of the Republic of West Florida. The flag is simply known as the "Bonnie Blue Flag" and was the inspiration for the Texas "lone star" flag. "Bonnie Blue Flag" was a popular Civil War tune for Confederate soldiers, in fact when Mississippi seceded they ran the Bonnie Blue up the flagpole at the statehouse.

Also feel free to have fun figuring out what songs or bands I reference in my post titles. I'll even give you a clue for this one: New Porn

2006-08-12T21:22:00.000-05:00

"We are a band of brothers and native to the soil,
Fighting for our liberty with treasure, blood and toil;
And when our rights were threatened, the cry rose near and far,
Hurrah! for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star."

I Hoped to Find You This Mornin' Talkin to the Trees

2006-08-12T20:25:00.000-05:00

Alright time for some football talk. At some point over the summer I was contacted about starting an LSU blog over on the sports blog network where the Kyle and Nico have their homes. As much as I love what those guys do over there... that ain't for me. First of all Dandy Don already is the King of LSU bloggers in my opinion. Secondly I don't have the kind of drive to post every day about college football. I like what I have going on here where my blog can flow to my own rhythm, whether that's falling off the face of the Earth for three months like I did this summer or getting excited for the Champs Leagues Final or the college football season.

Anyway to start things off here is my top 10 going into the season:

1- Ohio State
2- Auburn
3- Texas
4- USC
5- Notre Dame
6- LSU
7- Georgia
8- West Virginia
9- Miami
10- Cal

-Now just cause I rank Ohio State at the top doesn't necessarily mean I think they will capture the title. Really this may be the hardest season to pick in a very very long time.

-LSU's schedule is obviously not favorable. I know a lot of folks are talking about our eight home games, and to an extent I agree. I don't think we should be playing eight home games a year, but considering we lost a home game last year and we have a home/home with Tulane and we are completing a home/home with Arizona this year it is certainly understandable.

-JaMarcus Russell will be starting on September 2, there are no doubts in my mind about that. However, I don't think he should have too much room for error, very little room for error really. He'll start the first two games, and if he doesn't do what he's supposed to in those two games then I think Flynn or Perilloux should take the helm for the game against the 'Barners.

-My goal for the season is SEC Championship and top-5 finish. Honestly that is what we should have had last year but our no-shows against Georgia and Tennessee in the second half didn't help us at all.

More shite later!

My Heart, It Was A Gun

2006-08-11T15:31:00.000-05:00

So here are some new sites I've been perusing lately:

-LSUnpredictable- I mentioned this one earlier. Lots of football fun here.

-Hickory Wind- Hickory Wind is one of my new favorite music sites. HW has been up for a while now (almost 4 years) but I've just discovered it. Anyway they cover Americana music from many different angles and they especially dig guys like Uncle Tupelo, Ryan Adams, and of course Mr. Gram Parsons- some of my favorites.

So there you go fellas.

Also I've been getting a ton of shows and downloads from An Aquarium Drunkard and R Bally- my two favorite mp3 blogs for the past 3 months or so.

I Got You (At the End of the Century)

2006-08-11T12:25:00.000-05:00

Well today I discovered a new LSU-ish blog: LSUnpredictable. The blog looks pretty good, I definitely like their sense of humor. By the way I saw an interview with ol' Leslie the other day and his hat was definitely back to its early-2005 stylings. Maybe Les needs to read a little bit more Tigersmack.

While I'm on the subject of LSU blogs I have to ask: How does DandyDon manage to post EVERY single day about LSU athletics?

So my insiders are telling me that the team looks really great right now and will definitely be ready in a few weeks. A few names that have been dropped with high praise attached: Ryan Perilloux, Justin Vincent, Trindon Holliday, and Dwayne Bowe. Supposedly they all look great early on.

Back in Baton Rouge

2006-08-10T17:50:00.000-05:00

Well I just got back to Baton Rouge today and I am definitely ready to get started. To be honest I almost exited off of I-12/I-10 and on to Airline Highway/Highway 61 to keep going straight up to Memphis and St. Louis and on and on all the way up to Hibbing, Minnesota (VERY appropriate run-on sentence). But alas I stayed in Red Stick. In a bit I will hopefully get around to writing about some of this stuff but here is a nice rundown of the cd's I bought this summer and the books I read:

CD's (a lot of this was less in order of discovery and more in order of fleshing out my collection):

-Ryan Adams- Gold
-Ryan Adams- Cold Roses
-Beck- Odelay
-Big Star- #1 Record/Radio City
-Black Rebel Motorcycle Club- Howl
-Blur- Parklife
-Drive-By Truckers- A Blessing and a Curse
-Bob Dylan- Highway 61 Revisited
-Elvis Costello & Allen Toussaint- The River in Reverse
-Gram Parsons- GP/Grievous Angel
-The Jayhawks- Hollywood Town Hall
-Jerry Garcia, David Grisman, and Tony Rice- The Pizza Tapes
-Matisyahu- Live at Stubb's
-My Morning Jacket- It Still Moves
-My Morning Jacket- Z
-Bruce Springsteen- Seeger Sessions
-Toots and the Maytals- The Very Best Of
-Uncle Tupelo- No Depression
-Uncle Tupelo- 89/93 Anthology
-Whiskeytown- Faithless Street
-Wilco- Being There
-Neil Young- Harvest

Books:
-On the Road- Jack Kerouac
-Into the Wild- Jon Krakauer
-Wind, Sand, and Stars- Antoine de Saint-Exupery
-Chronicles vol. 1- Bob Dylan

I'll write more later but I can tell you that each of those four books really left a huge impression on me. More to come later, including football stuff.

Back Into the Fold... Soon

2006-08-05T16:32:00.000-05:00

Well the end of summer break is coming and it is definitely a sign that I need to return to posting. Sometime next week (Wednesday? Thursday?) I will be moving back to Baton Rouge and on August 14 I start at the Reveille. Class resumes on August 28th and LSU plays UL-Lafayette on September 2nd.

Truth be told I haven't been as excited as usual for the return of college football but this morning the fever hit me and I'm itching with excitement. I think my lack of fervor for the past few months was due to the World Cup and the amount of work I've been doing (I clocked in 60 hours during my last week of work, which ended yesterday).

The World Cup was definitely an exciting adventure but I can't help feeling disappointed in some ways. There were very few revelations or real surprises and neither of my teams (USA, Holland) really impressed in any way. I don't think any of the young guys captured my attention the way the now-retired Zidane did (although I was VERY impressed with Ribery). I thought France should have won the Final but didn't necessarily deserve to after Zidane's red. The new seasons are starting as I click-clack away so I offer up my predictions for the coming season in the major leagues:

Premier League: Chelsea by a long ways
Bundesliga: Bayern Munich
Eredivisie: AJAX! slightly over PSV
Ligue 1: Olympique Lyonnais for the 6th year in a row
La Liga: Barcelona
Serie A: Inter

Anyway once I do get back to Red Stick I'll run down some of the stuff I've been mulling over this summer. Also I'll start doing a little bit of writing on LSU football and the SEC.

Cup Predictions: Part Two

2006-05-30T13:15:00.000-05:00

Here are my picks for the games between June 12 and June 14:

June 12 (8 AM, F)- Australia-Japan: The Aussies will try not to ruin their campaign in the first match and thus will play the first half cautiously. Japan will be seeking to prove they weren't just a one-hit wonder. Chances will be there for Viduka and Takahara but in the end nothing will come of it. I expect a rather dour display here. Final score: Australia 0 Japan 0

June 12 (11 AM, E)- Czech Republic-USA: We will come out with a bit of caution going against the Czechs and the first half will be a little bland as each side seeks to feel each other out. Nedved will cause a few problems and Poborsky will make some nice plays but nothing will come of it. The second half will see USA start to move forward and take advantage of the Czech's age. But just as Donovan is linking up with McBride and sub Johnson the US is crushed as BAROS puts the Europeans up on a counter-attack. But as the match moves into the last fifteen minutes age starts to catch up to Czech Republic. Subs Dempsey and Convey will start to push the Czech backline farther and farther towards Cech's goal. Finally the equaliser comes for MCBRIDE in a goalmouth scramble after a Convey shot is deflected. Final Score: Czech Republic 1 USA 1

June 12 (2 PM, E)- Ghana-Italy: The Italians come in with a distracted mentality as the scandal clouding Serie A and Juventus is on their mind. Ghana starts to make daring runs through Appiah, Amoah, and co. Meanwhile Essien in the middle doesn't let Del Piero get a feel for the game. A Ghanian goal through MATTHEW AMOAH after a nice ball in from Muntari always seemed inevitable and the Italians are shaken to the core. They are down by that one goal at half time and in the second half they seek to take control of the middle of the pitch. PIRLO gets the equaliser early in the half on a wonderful free kick, and LUCA TONI finds the winner at 70 minutes. Ghana tries to find their attacking flair of the first half but the Italian defense is much more aware and the Ghanians can't find an equaliser. Final Score: Italy 2 Ghana 1

June 13 (8 AM, G)- South Korea-Togo: Togo begins a shocker early on as ADEBAYOR gets through on the Korean defense and hits one in the first five minutes as Togo announce themselves to the world. Twenty minutes later and the Koreans are still reeling when ADEBAYOR adds a second on a wonderful solo effort. But the Togo defense and midfield cannot hold up all match and the Koreans start to show some of the flair they displayed four years ago. LEE-CHUN SOO puts the Koreans on the board shortly before the half and PARK CHU-YOUNG equalises on the hour mark. Togo doesn't want to lose the precious point and the game gets dirty and ends in a violent but scoreless thirty minutes. Final Score: South Korea 2 Togo 2

June 13 (11 AM, G)- France-Switzerland: These two neighboring sides are used to drawing and throughout the whole match a draw seems inevitable. Chances for Trezeguet and Henry for France and Frei and Cabanas for Switzerland don't fall and the two European sides end in a scoreless draw. Final Score: France 0 Switzerland 0

June 13 (2 PM, F)- Brazil-Croatia: Well finally the hosts take the pitch to defend their title. Croatia wants to be giant-killers but they know its unlikely. Brazil sets the pace early on as Kaka sets up a simple strike for RONALDO after only twenty minutes. Croatia tries to control possession but it only leads to a Ze Roberto led counter attack that ends in a header for ADRIANO that finds the back of the net. At the hour mark DADO PRSO pulls one back for Croatia on a set piece but a LUCIO header off of a corner gives Brazil a two goal lead again. Final Score: Brazil 3 Croatia 1

June 14 (8 AM, H)- Spain-Ukraine: Each team starts off cautiously as Spain take the pitch with the tried, tested, and criticized pair of Torres and Raul at the top. A scoreless and dull first half leads to Raul going off for Villa and play starting to open up. Ukraine however get the opener through the one-and-only SHEVCHENKO. Villa, Torres, and Xavi each have their chances late but Ukraine effectively kill the match. Final score: Ukraine 1 Spain 0

June 14 (11 AM, H)- Saudi Arabia-Tunisia: Tunisia gets three crucial points from the lone strike of the game through ZIAD JAZIRI in the first half-hour. Final Score: Tunisia 1 Saudi Arabia 0

June 14 (2 PM, A)- Germany-Poland: The first half starts off with Germany playing cautiously again against their neighbors. But as the match wears on the Poles don't look up to the task and two second half goals for the Germans through BALLACK and KLOSE go unanswered by the Poles and the Germans are atop the group. Final Score: Germany 2 Poland 0

More to come later!

Concerts of the Past Year

2006-05-29T13:21:00.000-05:00

Living in Mandeville I never really got too many oppurtunities to see good shows. I mean yeah, New Orleans was right across the way but it took more than you might think to get over there for a show. Anyway I saw a few good ones in my Freshman year. Here is the rundown:

-Robert Earl Keen (October at SoGo Live)- This was a really great show. Keen is traditionally defined as "Texas country" and that is about right. Keen's style is much different from the pop-country played on country radio today and hearkens back to Terry Allen, Willie Nelson, and all the other greats of country's past. REK nearly came to blows to a kid in the crowd after the kid's drink went flying all over the stage. I was on the front row, essentially at REK's feet and got a drumstick, which was cool. Best songs: "Gringo Honeymoon", "Feeling Good Again"
Final Grade: 8 out of 10

-Pat Green (October at Varsity Theatre)- When I first got to LSU I went on a Pat Green kick. I still like him more or less but I don't listen to him anymore. Anyway Green is much younger than REK and in fact is heavily influenced by REK. Pat Green lost many of his fans when he "sold out" and signed with a Nashville label. The concert was alright, I mean I had more fun at the show than I would if I hadn't gone.... but it didn't quite live up to expectations. I've heard some live recordings from other shows and the energy just wasn't there. Everything was just very average and there really weren't any standouts. Best songs: Like I said there weren't any standouts but I'll suggest "Take Me Out To a Dancehall" and "Southbound 35" since they are his best. Final Grade: 5 out of 10

-Of Montreal (January at Spanish Moon)- This show was pretty amazing. OM's style just makes you so happy and energetic and just makes you feel sublime I guess. I really only started listening to them a couple days before the show and was surprised. Then I went to the show and was just blown away. The whole band just connected with the crowd. They debuted their "marriage to the crowd" act since Baton Rouge was the first stop on their tour. They absolutely took control of the crowd. The place was packed but it was wonderful. Best songs: "Rapture Rapes the Muses" "Chrissy Kissed the Corpse" "Oslo in the Summertime" "The Party Crashes Us"
Final Grade: 9 out of 10

-The Hold Steady (February at Spanish Moon)- I was really anticipating this show, and to be honest it didn't really live up to expectations. For starters it was almost empty and the band didn't seem hugely into it, which I perfectly understand. They sounded great or whatever but I could tell that it wasn't their best. Final Grade: 7 out of 10

-Wilco (March at Meridian's Temple Theatre)- The best show I've ever been to. It was everything I expected and more. Simply put Wilco is the best band in America. They played some new stuff ("Walken", "Maybe the Sun Will Shine Today" "Is That the Thanks I Get?") and it was great. Best songs: All were amazing but "War on War", "Kingpin", "Heavy Metal Drummer", and "Is That the Thanks I Get?" were especially great. Final Grade: 10 out of 10

-TV On the Radio (April at Spanish Moon)- Another fantastic show. TVOTR really made their sound convert well to the live atmosphere and they seemed really into it. Seeing them live was a very unique experience and I got a picture with one of the guys after the band so that was pretty cool. The only disappointment was that they played a relatively short set. Final grade: 8 out of 10

-Jimmy Buffett (May at Jazz Fest)- What can I say? Ever since I was like 8 years old I've wanted to see Buffett. Seeing him at the Fest in 2006 only months after we didn't think a Fest was possible was just amazing. The atmosphere was amazing and even though Jimmy couldn't play a full set the show was brilliant. Best songs: "A Pirate Looks at Forty", "Southern Cross", "Scarlet Begonias", "Pencil Thin Mustache" Final Grade: 8.5 out of 10

Cup Predictions: Part One

2006-05-28T14:08:00.000-05:00

Alrighty time for some WC predictions! First I'd like to point you to where I've been getting lots of great information:

-Big Soccer- Tons of information- you usually have to sort through some of the over-hyping or Euro-snop, etc. riff-raff but the content can provide information you don't find anywhere else.

-World Cup Blog- Great site that is fairly easy to navigate. Lots and lots of info on each team. Good place to find info on individual players, teams, etc.

-Soccernet- Great place for general news.

-Gunslingers- Intelligent and entertaining predictions with a nice geo-political slant.

Now to the predictions (All times US Central):

June 9 (11 AM, A)- Germany-Costa Rica: The opener sees a bright Tico side looking to shock the world but Germany's traditional style stymies them for the most part of the match. Germany looks nervous and cautious, something that is completely understandable given that the tournament is in Germany and they have so much pressure on them. The Germans get a goal on a counter-attack early in the second half for PODOLSKI. KLOSE adds the second on a set piece in the last ten minutes. Costa Rica's valiant efforts mean they deserve more after providing hope for a thrilling Finals but ultimately the hosts are too much. Final: Germany 2 Costa Rica 0

June 9 (2 PM, A)- Poland-Ecuador: Each team knows they need three to start themselves off here. Ecuador looks more the side we saw away from home during qualifiers rather than the dominant force at home high in the Andes. Poland is cautious at the start as they seek to feel out their opponents. The first half is a sleeper but as the second half gets on each of these squads will look to get a winner. Ecuador will come close through Delgado and sub Cristian Lara before getting a goal from a powerful strike by winger EDISON MENDEZ. Poland immediately pushes forward and gets the equaliser from ZURAWSKI just before injury time sets in. Final: Ecuador 1 Poland 1

June 10 (8 AM, B)- England-Paraguay: England have a mess in attack on their hands with Rooney out going into their opener with the South Americans. Crouch partners Owen up front to start the match out. In the beginning each looks tentative but gradually Gerrard and Lampard start to take their hold in midfield. But a foul in their own half leads to a well-struck ball by EDGAR BARRETO which beats Paul Robinson. The second half leads to a frantic England side who know they cannot lose their first match. Joe Cole starts to get forward but Crouch is anonymous up front and Owen is lacking a partner. Eventually about half-way through the first half a run by Cole leads to a chance for Owen which is saved but bounces right back to LAMPARD who cleans it up. Initially England presses for a winner but a sublime chance for Julio Dos Santos is missed on the counter and England are lucky to still be even and feeling lucky decide to kill the match. Final: England 1 Paraguay 1

June 10 (11 AM, B)- Sweden-Trinidad & Tobago: Sweden come out with confidence against the Carribeans and immediately make their mark on the tournament. The first-half sees goals for IBRAHIMOVIC and ANDERS SVENSSON. T&T get back in the match early in the second with a STERN JOHN strike and briefly they are rejuventated and look to equalise. But a LARSSON strike quickly ends that. Sub and Championship Manager favorite KIM KALLSTROM adds a fourth late in the match for the Swedes. Final: Sweden 4 Trinidad & Tobago 1

June 10 (2 PM, C)- Argentina-Cote d'Ivoire: One of the most anticipated first round matches gets underway with the African side pushing forward Akale, Drogba, and Kone. But Sorin and the Argentine defense manages to keep the Elephants in check for the whole of the first half. The second half starts with a bang as Argentina finally starts to get in an attacking groove. Riquelme, Tevez, Gonzalez, and sub Messi lead the attack against Eboue, Toure, Toure, and co. At the hour mark the Argentines finally find their way through as a wonderful pass from Riquelme sends TEVEZ through and the Corinthian makes it a lead for the South Americans. The Elephants immediately throw on Bonaventure Kalou for a more attacking outlook and are rewarded when he provides DROGBA with a rebound chance and the Chelsea man equalises. Late efforts from Messi and fellow-sub Aimar as well as Riquelme and Cambiasso don't find the back of the net and Group C opens with a draw. Final: Argentina 1 Cote d'Ivoire 1

June 11 (8 AM, C)- The Netherlands-Serbia & Montenegro: ORANJE takes the field against newly seperated S&M in another intriguing Group C match. The match opens with Oranje seeking to impose their attacking style through Van Der Vaart, Robben, Kuijt, and Van Nistelrooij. S&M tries to keep the attack at bay with their very strong backline led by Vidic and Kristajic. The Netherlands open their account half an hour in with a Van Bronckhorst cross finding the head of VAN NISTELROOIJ. Ruud's shot beats Dragoslav Jevric and Oranje have the lead at 45 minutes. The second half starts with The Netherlands feeling more complacent and this leads to Stankovic, Djordevic, Kezman, Zigic, and sub Vucinic all go close. Marco Van Basten subs in Landzaat, Boulahrouz, and Van Persie but the close calls lead to Oranje going back to an attacking game. Van Persie and Van Nistelrooij come close but the match remains at the same scoreline. Final: The Netherlands 1 Serbia & Montenegro 0

June 11 (11 AM, D)- Mexico-Iran: Two teams I won't be cheering for open up Group D play looking for three crucial points. Mexico scores a quick goal through BORGETTI and adds a second from LUIS PEREZ just before the break. Iran fights their way back in with a strike VAHID HASHEMIAN off a Mahdavikia pass early in the second half but Marquez and co. kill off the rest of the match. Final: Mexico 2 Iran 1

June 11 (2 PM, D)- Angola-Portugal: The Portuguese take on former colony Angola to open their account. Most Louisiana residents watching will no doubt make clever jokes about that other Angola, but unlike the Angolese we are most familiar with in Louisiana we should definitely cheer for THIS Angola. Anyway the match starts off with a stunner as AKWA gets the opener within five minutes. Surely the Portuguese aren't reliving the humiliation of World Cup 2002? They figh back though and DECO evens it up before the half. CRISTIANO RONALDO gives Portugal the lead at the hour mark and sub HELDER POSTIGA adds a third late to give Portugal the victory. Final: Portugal 3 Angola 1

More predictions coming later!

Barcelona 2 Arsenal 1

2006-05-18T13:22:00.000-05:00

Overall the game was exciting, I was particularly impressed by the way the teams were able to move the ball up the pitch. Ronaldinho and Henry didn't necessarily live up to the hype considering they each had their oppurtunities but their teammates stepped up to create an exciting match. I do wish Messi had played though.
As far as the Lehmann red card goes I don't think Hauge should have given it, I would have played the advantage for Barcelona. Also Hauge was completely fooled by Eboue's dive at the edge of the 18 which set up Sol Campbell's header off the Henry free kick. Larsson was definitely the crucial sub, and ultimately so much attacking flair was going to penetrate especially since the Arsenal back line was being pushed farther and farther back.

What does this mean in terms of my two teams at the WC (USA and ORANJE)?
Well it didn't mean too much for USA considering neither team had anyone who features in any of the Group E squads but we could face several of the featured players in the 2nd roud against Brazil (Gilberto Silva, Ronaldinho, Belletii, Edmilson). ORANJE however had Gio Van Bronckhorst and Marc Van Bommel starting for Barcelona and Ivorian opponents Eboue and Toure started for Arsenal. I have mixed feelings about Van Bommel, I like that he pushed forward at oppurtune moments but ultimately he was just a little inconsistant. He seemed a bit anonymous at times- there is still some questions about who will start in midfield with Cocu and Van Der Vaart but regardless of whether or not he or Landzaat starts against Serbia & Montenegro Van Bommel will get his chance. As far as Gio goes I think he played pretty decently, I mean I can't really say much since Gio is practically our only option at LB. I just hope he doesn't push up as far as he does for Barca, especially against a team like Argentina. I thought Eboue played a similar type game against Barca to which he will play against Holland. His famous runs were largely kept in check by Eto'o, and I expect Robben and Kuijt will keep Cote d'Ivoire largely in check on the flanks. Toure was pretty solid, I expect him to give Van Nistelrooij a tough time but I am still largely optimistic about the Dutch chances. Ruud will always score goals.

Other WC notes: Giuly should be on the French squad, no doubt about it. Its a shame Eto'o won't be there either. Also we saw a good bit of the Espana squad with Puyol, Iniesta, and Cesc all playing. I think Henry could be a disappointment in Germany much like he was in SK/Japan and Portugal.

Only three more weeks!

Impressions

2006-05-18T13:04:00.000-05:00

Well I've been a bit inactive but with the end of the school year coming 'round and the World Cup kicking up in three weeks I figure its time to get down to business. First I wanted to start off with some of my impressions regarding LSU and college in general after my freshman year.

The strongest impression that I get of my first of year was that it was a huge waste of time. I took one Mass Communications class in my two semesters, and that one class was a completely generic survey class of the media. Most of what was taught was throwaway information like product placement in movies and the history of radio. As far as the other classes go I took two semesters of Math (algebra/trigonometry) and two semesters of biology. Both of these were complete wastes of time. The math I learned has absolutely no use in the rest of my life. Likewise the biology is largely irrelevant. Even if it was important information the teaching style (power point readings in class, power points available on the internet) meant that actually learning the information wasn't the point- regurgitating it every three weeks was the point. In my opinion making students take courses that don't have any use to them or have to do with their major is a mistake. If many of these surplus requirements were eliminated students would possibly be able to double major. Whether or not the Math or Chemistry or whatever is difficult isn't the point... the complete meaningless of several of the classes I took definitely took away my will to actually learn the information.

Also I came into the year thinking that Student Government was important but as time wore on I started to realize that they did little other than debate procedural rules. When they weren't debating procedural rules they were spending money unnecessarily on blackberries and dinners (for the SG) and making rulings on issues that have nothing to do with SG (voting to not allow Iran to manufacture nukes for example). That along with the fact that the race for positions was almost non-existant makes SG like some kind of elaborate joke.

Those were my two of my main impressions from Freshman year, I will be posting a bit more about some of the games I saw, concerts I went to, etc. in a bit.

Pass That!

2006-05-08T12:47:00.000-05:00

I interupt my studying to tell you the shock news of the day.... England national team manager has decided to include Theo Walcott in his provisional squad for the World Cup. For those who don't know.... Walcott is a 17 year old at Arsenal who has NEVER played a Premiership game! Walcott was chosen over the likes of Darren Bent and Jermaine Defoe to join injured Wayne Rooney, an unfit Michael Owen, and Peter Crouch in the England attack line. Sven has balls, I mean I realize he is leaving the job after the World Cup but I mean this is England.... and Walcott is so completely untried its crazy. I mean granted Walcott is a prodigious talent but he has NO experience. Crazy.

Noosy

2006-05-05T10:50:00.000-05:00

Had my last class today, exams are next week. I've been gearing up for next week so I haven't had much time to post. Anyway I just found out that I will be a writer for The Daily Reveille, LSU's student newspaper next semester. I didn't get a chance to attend Jazz Fest last weekend due to various circumstances but I will be at the Fairgrounds tomorrow to see Jimmy Buffett and others. I really want to see Yonder Mountain String Band Sunday but I'm not sure if I am going to be able to make it. Anyway enjoy the weekend, and as my favorite string bad would say: "Keep on goin' ya'll."

Arselona/Barcenal

2006-04-26T16:53:00.000-05:00

Look, I haven't seen the Barca-Milan match, I imagine I will watch it tomorrow when it is replayed on FSC... but what does it say about the state of football when teams littered with an embarassment of attacking riches such as Henry, Reyes, Van Persie, Cesc, Ljungberg, Pires, Bergkamp, Riquelme, Forlan, Shevchenko, Inzaghi, Kaka, Ronaldinho, Eto'o, Deco, etc, etc, etc can only manage 2 goals in 4 games? Ridiculous, pathetic, and embarrasing. At this level of play (Champs League semifinals) attacking football should be on display, especially amongst teams with such bastions of beautiful football.

Arsenal Advances

2006-04-25T21:25:00.000-05:00

Well despite a mostly lackluster performance Arsenal advanced to the Champions League final earlier today by drawing Villareal. Villareal had several chances most notably an open netter for Forlan and a penalty for Riquelme but could not take the advantage. Its unfortunate too because Villareal in the Final would have been a great story considered Villareal is only a town and how they are built around Riquelme, etc. Anyway despite a mostly vanilla performance from Juan Roman Riquelme I feel obliged to add him to my list of players who I can't help but cheer for (I also really liked Javi Venta):

-Rafael Van Der Vaart (Hamburg)
-Juan Carlos Valeron (Deportivo)
-Hedwiges Maduro (AJAX)
-Cesc (Arsenal)
-Kaka (Milan)
-Florent Malouda (Lyon)
-Urby Emanuelson (AJAX)
-Riquelme (Villareal)
-Juninho Pernambucano (Lyon)
-Sneijder (AJAX)
-Huntelaar (AJAX)
-Jamie Carragher (Liverpool)
-Ledley King (Tottenham)
-Raul (Real Madrid, my first football "hero")

Anyway I hope Barcelona win tomorrow even though I always cheer for Kaka... Ronaldinho deserves to play in the final nad I would love to see him face off against Henry.... the two most exciting players on the planet I think.

Anyway as for other topics.... well LSU's SG is taking themselves WAAAYYYY too seriously. If I get around to it I will talk a bunch about that tomorrow.

Update

2006-04-24T11:45:00.000-05:00

I have a lot to write about including the election in New Orleans, the book I Am Charlotte Simmons, the TV on the Radio concert which I attended Friday night, the usual LSU stuff, the arrival of Jazz Fest, and LSU' baseball team sucking. Unfortunately I have reached another busy patch. Today I schedule classes for next semester and take an application test for the student newspaper The Daily Reveille. I have a test tomorrow and on Wednesday and after that I will be able to get back to business here. Be sure to watch the second leg of the Arsenal-Villareal UEFA CL semifinal tomorrow. I'm hoping the winner of this tie wins the Final in Paris in a few weeks. Cheers!

Mandatory Joint Committee Meeting

2006-04-20T11:32:00.000-05:00

Fire one up, you know what day it is. Yeah I should be celebrating tonight at SoGo at the Galactic concert. Unfortunately if I do go tonite I prolly won't go see TV on the Radio tomorrow nite. We'll see how that goes. Sorry for the lack of updates- I'm still struggling to get into the routine and I'm reading a book right now which is occupying my time (I Am Charlottes Simmons). So happy 420 to all.

Shifty Hours

2006-04-17T20:45:00.000-05:00

Well I'm back from South Padre (I stayed in Port Isabel, Tx actually) and I'm having trouble readjusting to normal life. It didn't help to come home and find out that my internet was down again. Yeah well Spring Break was fun, we stayed on a house on the Bay which was cool. It was about 30 or so people there and it was pretty crazy. We went to Matamoros, Mexico one day and that was a lot of fun. I bought a pair of fake Ray-Ban's for $6 and smoked Cohibas. I think 90% of the people I saw in Port Isabel and South Padre were Mexicans. Actually at the Denny's in Padre we were adressed in Spanish when we sat at our table. I'd go into much more detail about daily activities like joint commitee meetings and beer runs and dance-off's but I can't remember what was legal and what was illegal.

Absentand Lazy this week, Spring Breaking this weekend

2006-04-07T19:32:00.000-05:00

Apologies for the lack of updates. My internet was down for almost two days and I've been feeling lazy for the better part of the week. Spring Break has started so tomorrow I will be leaving in the AM for the 12-14 hour drive from BR to South Padre Island, Texas. I'll be away for about a week so have fun while I'm away.

Wonderful

2006-04-02T12:39:00.000-05:00

Sooooo... when does football season start?

Hot Buttered Rum String Band blogging (part 2)

2006-04-01T13:20:00.000-06:00

So a few things to make note of:

-Nico at Eccentric Southern Gentleman claimed today that he will attempt to see a football game in every single D-1A football stadium. Well bravo to him- I think its a great idea. I've often thought of attending a game in every SEC stadium in one season and I may even try it somewhere down the road. Whenever Nico comes to LSU to see the Tigers beat the Tide I'll be sure to tailgate with him and do that whole thing. Here's to Nico attending a game in every stadium.

-MLS season XI starts today. I always get excited for the start of the MLS season but as the first couple of months wear on I usually get bored with it. By the time August and September roll around I usually don't care. However this year I hope to change that. But there are more important things afoot in the footballing world. Champions League is winding down and Arsenal is looking spectacular in Europe. Also the World Cup is this summer of course. Other than USA I will be cheering for the Netherlands and Spain.

-Final Four starts today. Predictions:
Florida 74 George Mason 68
LSU 63 UCLA 55

GEAUX TIGERS!

Hot Buttered Rum String Band Blogging (part one)

2006-04-01T12:57:00.000-06:00

You Can't Get Drunk On 3.2

If jam bands or "jamgrass" is your thing then I suggest you check out Hot Buttered Rum String Band if you haven't already.

Also David Byrne provided another interesting posts in his journal about Mexico and the Mayans:

So, it’s proposed that given the weird water situation, and the fact that limestone and its soil are notoriously limited for agriculture, the Maya did amazingly well, given the extreme physical limitations of their environment. As they mastered field and crop rotation, water and irrigation, and plants that could grow in the poor soil, their population grew — to the millions, it is estimated. So many survived on such a fragile ecology that when the scales tipped — there was a drought that lasted for years — the civilization began to fracture. This was all well before the contact with Europeans… and one wonders at possible contemporary parallels — economies based almost entirely on oil, for example.

He makes an interesting point with the crop/oil comparison but I'd have to think that our economy today is much more complex.

Others followed. Though the subjugation of the Maya didn’t happen as quickly or easily as the Spanish in particular might have hoped. Shades of George Bush and Co. Murderous priests intent on destroying the local culture and Christianizing the Maya, gold seekers, conquistadores and others all made inroads, but couldn’t conquer the little people.

None of the Europeans at first could believe that the little people around them, living in tiny villages of thatched huts with dirt floors, could have possibly built the massive complexes that surrounded them. How could these people have done this? And then how could they have no recollection of it?

Always intent on Bush cheap shots huh? The Europeans knew almost nothing of Mayan culture however and didn't know what to expect. When planning for the War in Iraq it isn't as understandable- the people in position to expect what is happening should have expected it and planned for it. But I'm not really into debating the war so if you want a more detailed look at the war you won't find it here.

I asked myself, “Where are the contemporary ruins? Where are the ruins in progress? Where are our once great cites that are being abandoned as these ones were?”

I came up with Detroit. (Sorry, sports fans.) Vast stretches of the city are already uninhabited, crumbling. The central temples, yes, are still in use — the temples for sports, conventions and ritualistic music concerts — but for how much longer? Will the beautiful deco buildings erected as working shrines by what were once the largest companies in the world (GM, Ford) soon be abandoned? They’re already surrounded by a no man’s wasteland; it seems only a matter of time. And then how long before people wander into that zone and ask themselves, “Who built this incredible building?”

Or New Orleans, possibly, the first urban victim of global warming.

I can also imagine formerly vast Soviet cities in the Russian heartland that may have already been abandoned. Cities, like Detroit, of steel, industry and manufacturing. With temples to the Party and the Worker, now derelict — filled with grass and stray cats, like the once great factories of the Ruhr valley.

Now I'm inclined to believe that Byrne is right about Detroit. We all know Detroit has been deteriorating for years and is now one of the worst parts of America. And I can't really disagree with him regarding the Ruhr or parts of the Soviet Union. But he is dead wrong on New Orleans. Claiming New Orleans was the first modern victim of global warming is idiocy. New Orleans was a victim of ill preparation, bad leadership, and lack of judgment. The city obviously was not prepared to handle the physical effects of the storm which wasn't the monster it was in the Gulf when it hit New Orleans (in fact Katrina technically didn't hit New Orleans). I know I've seen some scientists say New Orleans only got hit by Category 1 force winds. What happened wasn't a result of global warming, it was poor preparation to defend against a storm, lack of leadership at local, state, and national levels, and poor judgment by the people who stayed.

The rest of Byrne's post deal with Mayan mythology and the likes and is very very interesting. I definitely think you should check it out.

Exactly

2006-03-31T16:20:00.000-06:00

This post from C.B. Forgotston is spot on:

I realize that teacher pay is an important issue to teachers. However, I have yet to see a study that shows a direct relationship between higher teacher pay and educational achievement by the students. In fact, just the reverse seems to be the case. Jesuit High School in New Orleans is one of the top schools in the country yet its teacher pay scale (non-religious teachers) is below that of the New Orleans Public Schools.

I went to a school that is fairly similar to Jesuit, and like Jesuit St. Paul's is a much better school than the public schools in the parish. Also like Jesuit the teacher pay scale (non-religious) is lower than that of the public schools. Higher wages does not equal higher performance.

Please Explain

2006-03-31T15:55:00.000-06:00

I've been busy not paying attention to the so-called "Mommy Wars" that have become a sort of public issue. I think this is one of the stupidest issues in today's society. Why do I think that? Well I just think that its not impossible to be a working mother who has her family first ya know what I mean? Settling down and having kids doesn't mean leaving the office and spending all day at the house, it means having a job AND having kids. I know its not as simple as I make it sound but too often people act like if you are a mother you can't have a job and if you have a job you can't be a mother. Can someone please explain why this is such a big deal in American society?

Brain Drain- Sucking Out Louisiana's Brightest

2006-03-30T21:36:00.000-06:00

Today I read an interesting article in the Reveille. I'll quote some of the more interesting aspects:

As a result of many students leaving Louisiana, the state is experiencing what many refer to as a Âbrain drain,Â a term used to describe students who receive an education in Louisiana but leave the state in search of better opportunities.

Many students coming out of high school in Louisiana know this also. Its been understood for a while now- I certainly knew the concept of grads leaving the state for jobs back when I started high school. I'm not sure how it will apply to me but I'll talk about that further on...

The notion that Louisiana does not have enough high-paying jobs has become all too real for many students.

Rhett Rentrop, 2002 landscape architecture graduate, said he had trouble finding a job in Louisiana when he graduated.

Rentrop said there is not much work in his field in Louisiana, but he found a lot of opportunities in Texas.

ÂThe economy at the time was better in Texas and still is, which translates to more work,Â Rentrop said.

I know a few people who are definitely going to be working in Texas when they graduate.

Jim Richardson, director of the Public Administration Institute and former University economics professor, has been watching the trend of brain drain in Louisiana.

ÂIf you graduate from this state, and youÂre not bounded here, there are probably a lot of reasons to go out of state,Â Richardson said.

Richardson said LouisianaÂs population is not growing as fast as many other states, and the stateÂs economy reflects the population shortfall.

ÂThe interesting thing is, if you compare Louisiana in terms of population growth from 1990 to 2000, is that our population grew by about 6 percent, but if you look at other states such as Arizona, North Carolina, Texas and Georgia, these states grew by 20 to 40 percent,Â Richardson said.

And many of the states whose populations increased dramatically over the past 15 years are in the South.

ÂThe growth has been in the South and Southwest, and thereÂs not one reason for that,Â Richardson said.

If you aren't from Louisiana why would you stay? I love Louisiana but I can certainly see why people aren't moving here. Certainly we have some very nice areas (like where I am from- Mandeville) but for the most part the state ain't exactly stunning when it comes to living quality. A lot of the problems are directly related to the lack of progress created by our government- the leadership in the Gov's Mansion hasn't been spectacular since... I dunno- before I was born?

Richardson said the hurricanes increased the brain-drain effect on the state.

ÂKatrina probably will contribute to that brain drain because a lot of the professionals in New Orleans had to leave,Â Richardson said. ÂAnd thereÂs an enormous opportunity for them elsewhere.Â

While Richardson said the hurricane has increased the brain drain, it is still possible to reverse the effects.

The hurricane's made "brain drain" worse? How shocking.

Roderick Hawkins, Gov. Kathleen BlancoÂs deputy press secretary, told The Daily Reveille the governor recognizes there is a brain drain in Louisiana and is responding accordingly.

ÂThe governor is trying to make sure thereÂs a valuable education experience and of course a good economy, which means good paying jobs with benefits that students can go into once they finish their college,Â Hawkins said.

Hawkins also said Blanco is working to improve teacher and faculty pay, to ensure that the workforce and business growth Âare happeningÂ and to entice more businesses to come here.

But for now students are still looking for jobs outside Louisiana, and until industry grows, they may continue to move away.

Hawkins didn't even answer the question- or really address the problem I should say. Look- I am only a Freshman in college- I don't know how to fix this problem. I do know that having a strong leader in Baton Rouge wouldn't hurt. Theoretecially I would love to stay in Louisiana after I graduate. But realistically if I can't find a job... what can I do? Also I am pretty sure the average LSU student doesn't have as much affection for Louisiana as I do and probably would not be inclined to stay under the current circumstances. People just getting out of college can'opportunitiesass up good oppurtunities- and if they are out of state then so be it. I like to say that I won't move out of Louisiana but if I have to then I have to.

Its The End Of The World As We Know It

2006-03-29T17:22:00.000-06:00

Every couple weeks I head over to David Byrne's website to see what the former Talking Heads frontman has been up to. I'm a big fan of Byrne and he is probably the only musician whose political commentaries I will take seriously. I like Byrne because he sometimes produces dandies like this post:

I’m wondering what’s with the pepper grinding ritual that invaded U.S. restaurants a decade or 2 ago? I agree that freshly-ground pepper is a nice addition to many foods — like salt, it seems to bring out the flavor, to stimulate the palate. But that’s obviously not the point of this ritual — the point is social, economic, and psychological. How and why did it become a little ritual to have the food arrive and then be quickly followed by a man (usually a man) who asks, “Do you want some pepper ground over that?” He wafts the phallic object over your food like a wand and waits for you, the master, to tell him “when”. Then he is gone and may never return.

Wouldn’t it be easier to have a little pepper grinder on every table? It wouldn’t be harder than keeping all those refilled saltshakers out there, would it?

But that’s not the point, I suspect. What’s important is the ritual and the relationship. The servant and the implication of service… the feeling of being pandered to and pampered in a customized manner. One hopes that this little ritual assuages any impulses by the client to imperiously order the staff around, and sometimes it does seem to absorb these impulses, though not always.

I don't give a shit about pepper grinding but I think its great that Byrne wrote three paragraphs considering the relationship created by it and the social meaning of pepper grinding.

In the past week Byrne has been posting about his trip to Mexico, specifically the Yucatan Peninsula. Each of his three posts are extremely interesting.

From the first:

Here’s a postcard-style view of the Uxmal ruins. At times one can sense how they must have appeared to Stephens and the other Westerners who first came upon them — massive mysterious things looming out of the thorny tropical forest.

Of course I adhere to the “tradition” of not showing the various tour group members who were lurking around the site. At certain times of day the busses pull up and Italians, Germans, Mexicans and Yanks scramble over the stones. But then, after a while, they all go away. There are times, and there are parts of the sites, where one is left alone with one’s romantic thoughts of ruins and the rise and fall of civilizations (more on that later.)

From the second:

In the Borges story “The Circular Ruins” a man sleeps in a secluded Mesoamerican structure and has strange dreams. He awakens to find his wounds have healed…his obligation was to dream….he attempts to dream a man…to model the stuff upon which dreams are made…like trying to weave a rope out of sand…or mint coins from the wind. He succeeds — first he dreams a heart, then a whole man…and eventually he, like the magicians millennia before him, succumbs to death, realizing that someone dreamt him, too.

Also from that post:

The Maya count years in what is currently called the Long Count. They believe time doesn’t exclusively run forward, as we do. They sense that it is circular, that it runs in a series of cycles — as do the Hindu. There are short cycles and there are very very long ones. The current Long Count began in 3114 B.C. (that’s early Egyptian, Sumerian and Babylonian times for handy reference — civilization in the middle east was taking shape) and the Long Count will end…get this…on Dec 23, 2012! Save the date.

At that time the “universe” (our world) will be annihilated by a flood (always with the floods!) and then the sky will fall upon the earth (an asteroid?) and darkness will cover the earth (dust from the impact?)

From the third:

My reading material tells me that the Maya took hallucinogenic enemas. Amongst the materials found at digs and matched to images on walls or codexes were leather and/or rubber tubing and narrow bone funnels for inserting up the bum. Through these would flow pulque (a fermented agave brew) or chih (dunno what this drink is)…or hallucinogenic teas. The Huichol (central Mexico) still do this with infusions made from Peyote buttons. No pictures available.

Also:

The Maya were possibly the last large “civilized” group of indigenous people in the new world to capitulate to the European invaders. Yes, there are still small scattered groups in the Amazon, and the Lacondon (a Mayan subsidy) in Chiapas have preserved some of their way of life, but the Maya were still fairly organized in large cites when the Spanish arrived — though their massive empire had dwindled a lot. (It's estimated there were millions in the larger empire, which may have been part of the problem.) They were still worshipping at the pyramids in 1930 when the Mexican government took control of some of the sites and instituted tourism and conservation programs. That makes 5,000 years (at least) of continuous culture — some kind of record.

I find all of the history of the Mayans that Byrne mentions to be very intriguing. I hadn't realized that some of their culture has survived for such a long time. There are certain parts of their culture like the enema (no thanks) and their beliefs regarding dreams are pretty fascinating. Most interesting is their Long Count and prediction that the current "era" will end in about six years. Probably Bush's fault.

Anyway I think Byrne's posts are intriguing and he talks a lot about things that would never occur to me or interesting facts and trivialities about different places (a couple weeks ago he wrote a bunch on New Zealand and Australia) and their culture as well as American society. Very interesting stuff.

Election Stuff

2006-03-29T11:44:00.000-06:00

There are two elections that have caught my attention over the past couple of weeks. The first has already happened, and that was for LSU SG President. The second will occur on April 22nd, and that is for Mayor of New Orleans.

My thoughts on the election can be summed up by this Reveille editorial: Thoughts On Student Politics. I voted but with very little knowledge of the Presidential candidates. The fact that LSU only had one serious candidate for President is definitely something that needs to change for next year.

As far as the Mayoral election in New Orleans... well I'm feeling very ho hum about it. I have yet to be dazzled by any of the three major candidates: C. Ray, Mitch Landrieu, or Ron Foreman. Peggy Wilson is the "Republican" candidate and she seems to be one of the only ones with fresh ideas.... but her fresh ideas, which mainly centers around the tax free New Orleans plan, seem like they would have no chance of going in effect or working at all. At this point I kinda like Rob Couhig but as for the other candidates I haven't been too impressed. Looks like more of the same in NOLA.

Pretty In Pink

2006-03-29T00:25:00.000-06:00

So I saw this 80's teen classic for the first time today between finishing a paper and studying for a Trig test I would eventually fuck up. I realize this is kind of a girly movie but it still surprises me that this was the first time I had ever seen this movie. For the record I still haven't seen 16 Candles but I've seen Breakfast Club about seven hundred times.

I've mentioned a few times that my parents were in college in the mid-80's and I inherited a lot of their 80's tastes in music and such. There are a few movies that I have seen countless times solely because my parents were in high school and college during the 80's. Examples would include Weird Science and Breakfast Club.

So yeah anyway I saw Pretty In Pink for the first time today and I was unimpressed. I mean I enjoyed the soundtrack throughout the movie and their selection of New Order tracks inspired my Album Cover of the Week choice. But aside from the soundtack I have a few bones to pick.

The major issue was that I didn't relate AT ALL with the characters, and I don't think its cause they were eighteen twenty years ago. The main example of this is the horrible divide between cliques in the school. The "richies" and the "freaks" or whatever. I attended an all-boys Catholic school in a suburb. At our school there were no cliques. I mean people had groups of friends they hung out with at lunch or whatever but in general everyone mingled pretty easily together on weekends. I never really saw any rivalries of sorts between groups and the only insulting between groups was the light-hearted banter involved in skits performed on Senior Retreat. I imagine the "cliquiness" was much more prevalent at the all-girls Catholic school down the street from Saint Paul's, but I can honestly say that much of what was shown in Pretty In Pink wasn't part of my high school experience. Maybe I just had it good?

In connection with the last point I thought Molly Ringwald's character made too big of a deal over Blaine being rich and Spader's character made too big of a deal over who Blaine dated.

The other thing that bothered me enormously was the way the characters dressed. I thought a Polo/t-shirt and a pair of Levi's was your standard high school attire. Apparently I was wrong. I didn't understand why all the main characters were either uber-indie-trashy-artsy (especially Ringwald) or dressed like they were headed for a day of work at the law firm (Spader's character and Blaine). Honestly who the fuck wears a white linen suit or whatever the fuck it was to (high) school like Spader's character does? I spent five years being told I was over-dressed by public schoolers cause I wore a Polo and khakis everyday. I couldn't imagine wearing a blazer or a suit. And how come Ringwald looks like a librarian when she and Blaine go on their first date? Why is her prom dress so gawdawfully tacky looking?

I know I sound like a girl but I was raised with Breakfast Club-16 Candles-Pretty In Pink being my mom's holy trinity of 80's flicks and I was completely underwhelmed by Pretty In Pink, especially since I really like Breakfast Club.

Album Cover of the Week

2006-03-28T23:58:00.000-06:00

This week's selection for album cover of the week is "Power, Corruption, and Lies" by British band New Order. I personally think this is one of the best album covers of the 80's. It makes me think of something very dark and beautiful... the War of the Roses meets Kate Beckinsale or something along those lines. It helps that the music is some of the best from the 80's also. I'll be talking about what made me choose this album in a little bit...

Allmusic: Power, Corruption, and Lies
Amazon: NO- Power, Corruption, and Lies

Breaking Concentration

2006-03-26T13:28:00.000-06:00

So a couple hours ago I was on a roll typing my paper on why the New Orleans mayoral election should not be postponed any further than it already has been when I get up to get some lunch. On my way to the kitchen my roomate asks if I want to go to the store. Since we have nothing to eat I agreed and off we went to wonderful Winn-Dixie. So we went to the store and got the essentials (coke, coffee, milk, cereal, ramen noodles). So I get back and sit down to type... and I have completely lost my drive to write a masterpiece. Dammit.

"Didn't you learn that in high school" note #31: Don't EVER leave the room for more than five minutes while typing a paper.

Baby Love, My Baby Love

2006-03-25T18:37:00.000-06:00

I figured I'd throw in a pic from CBS
to indicate that yes, I am fucking celebrating. But I have like 47 tests in the next three days to study for. So I'm gonna get back to my studying, reading of Watership Down, listening to Diana Ross and the Supremes/Rebirth Brass Band/Drive-By Truckers/Dinosaur Jr./The Jesus and Mary Chain.

By the way.... I've got tapeworms in my belly. I'm still hungry. I think I have a man-crush on Tyrus Thomas.

!!!!

2006-03-24T11:50:00.000-06:00

From ESPN.

LSU

2006-03-23T22:40:00.000-06:00

If God played basketball he would be Tyrus Thomas. LSU is going to win it all!

Concert Review- WILCO

2006-03-22T19:42:00.000-06:00

Band: WILCO
When: March 15, 2006
Where: Hamasa Temple Theatre, Meridian, Mississippi
Price: $27
Drive: 4 hours to Meridian from BR, 3 hours from Meridian to Mandeville
Seat: Row 10

Set List:
1. Hell is Chrome
2. Handshake Drugs
3. Hummingbird
4. I Am Trying to Break Your Heart
5. Maybe the Sun Will Shine Today
6. Muzzle of Bees
7. Spiders (Kidsmoke)
8. Airline to Heaven
9. Walken
10. Jesus, etc.
11. Ashes of American Flags
12. Theologians
13. Heavy Metal Drummer
14. The Late Greats
15. I'm the Man Who Loves You
16. A Shot In the Arm
BREAK
First Encore:
1. War On War
2. Kingpin
3. Hoodoo Voodoo
BREAK
Second Encore:
1. I'm a Wheel
2. Passenger Side
3. Is That the Thanks I Get?

Well what can I say? I had been excited about the show for weeks and I was shaking with excitement when I left my History test on Wednesday morning to head home to get ready to leave, and I was shaking with excitement when I walked into the beautiful Temple Theatre, and I was shaking through the whole show probably.

I had raised some questions as to why they were playing in Meridian of all places. Well apparently one of the members of the band (Pat Sansone) is from Meridian and his father was the guy who had booked all the shows for the Temple Theatre for years and years. Between the full set and the first encore Pat went on stage and read a "love letter" to the theatre. He talked about seeing The Four Tops, Ray Charles, The Commodores, and many more. The whole letter to the theatre and his dad was very touching.

As for the show itself... well I started off feeling very average. I mean everything up to "Spiders" was played efficiently like you would expect from a band as technically brilliant as WILCO but I don't think they had really connected with me yet. But after "Spiders" everything really started to pick up.

The highlights of the first set were "Spiders", "Theologians", and "Heavy Metal Drummer". But as I said- everything was pretty amazing after "Spiders". With "Spiders" I really felt connected.

The first encore was fantastic- better than the second half of the first set I might add. "War On War" and "Kingpin" were two of my favorites for the show actually. "Kingpin" may have been the best of the night.

The second encore featured a variety. "I'm a Wheel" is an energetic rocker and it really got the crowd going. "Passenger Side" goes back to Wilco's infancy and evokes images of a bar on the rough side of town and whatnot. I was surprised to see them play this actually. It was very cool to see them do this song. I got really into the "Passenger si-ide I-i don't like ridin on the passenger si-ide..."

The last song made me feel the best. Apparently its a new song called "Is That the Thanks I Get". Now that I listen to it it really is a very catchy song. At the time I was surprised they were playing this last as it was a song we hadn't heard before. But they really made it work with a call-and-response of the chorus between Tweedy and the crowd. Tweedy would yell "We can make it better!" and we all yelled "We can make it better!". It was exciting and beautiful at the same time. It was a great way to end the show contrary to my thoughts at the beginning of the show. I was still humming the song and singing "we can make it better" hours later.

Grade:
Was it worth the ticket price and drive? ABSOLUTELY
How does it compare to the other shows I had seen so far this year? The BEST of the year.
How does it rank in terms of ever attended? This was the best non-Jazz Fest show I'd ever been to.
Do I want ya'll to check WILCO out? You better believe it. Seriously, if you have the chance to see this band- the "best group in the country" as the Mayor of Meridian" put it, GO TO THE SHOW.

Dancing Shoes- Upcoming Shoes

2006-03-22T19:19:00.000-06:00

Here are some upcoming shows in the BR area. I will definitely be attending Galactic and DBT and will probably be at TV On the Radio. The Wailers would be fun to see also.

March 23- Centro-Matic- Chelsea's
March 29- Charlie Robison- The Varsity Theatre- Texas Country
April 6- Roger Creager- The Varsity Theatre- Texas Country
April 10- The Wailers- SoGo Live- Reggae
April 13- Afroman- Chelsea's- Rap
April 20- GALACTIC- SOGO Live- Funk
April 21- TV On The Radio- The Spanish Moon- Indie
April 21- Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk- Funk
April 27- DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS- Southern Rock

Album Cover of the Week

2006-03-21T23:03:00.000-06:00

In accordance with the postings on southern music I offer the album cover of the week. This one comes from The Band's Northern Lights-Southern Cross. Especially phenomenal from this album are the songs "Acadian Driftwood", "It Makes No Difference", and "Ophelia".

September 2... how far away?

2006-03-21T22:49:00.000-06:00

When does football season start? I mean there is a whole lot of exciting shit going on before September but it all pales in comparison to September 2 in my opinion. LSU plays the Dookies in a couple nights, hopefully we'll play like a team of Pettit, Jackson, Maravish, Swift, and O'Neal and beat Coach K and Redick and co. In a few weeks I head down to lovely South Padre Island for Spring Break. Oh and before that is the greatest golf tournament in the world in Augusta. In the end of April and beginning of May is the musical and cultural orgy of Jazz Fest as well as the political spectacle of the NOLA Mayoral elections. In June I get the World Cup, Bonnaroo, and my 19th birthday. July is the family trip to Destin which is always exciting. At some point is a week long fishing extravaganza in the Gulf of Mexico which I am anticipating. August brings the return to Ole War Schooling. But none of these events- except MAYBE the anticipation of Bonnaroo or the rumored goings-on in Mexico, just across the border from Padre- stirs my heart or piques my interest as much as starting off our run for an SEC title and Fiesta Bowl trip in September.

Quick- Where's My Pistol?

2006-03-20T14:00:00.000-06:00

Ah next week should be FUN.
Mon 7 PM- TEST
TUE 10 AM- TEST
TUE 7 PM- TEST
TUE 8 PM- BIGGEST PAPER OF THE SEMESTER DUE

The paper shouldn't be much of a problem as long as I don't procrastinate. I'm arguing for why the NOLA elections should not be pushed back any further.

More Musings on Southern Rock

2006-03-20T13:30:00.000-06:00

A week ago I posted some thoughts on Lynrd Skynrd, The Allman Brothers, and southern rock and roll in general. Finally I am back today to wrap up some of those thoughts.

There are multiple ways to look at southern rock, I subscribe to two main views. The first is rock bands from the south who infuse their culture into their music. This is like Skynrd, Allman Brothers, Marshall Tucker Band, Drive-By Truckers, etc. The second view is rock bands not from the south who have a very southern sound. Examples are Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Grateful Dead (at times), and THE BAND.

I wanted to mention THE BAND because they have some of the best examples of southern rock. Four members of the band (Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko, Richard Manuel, and Garth Hudson) are from Canada, but one (Levon Helm) is from Arkansas. But despite their Canuck heritage much of their music has a distinctly Dixie flavor to it. Off of their second album (The Band) many of the songs exhibit a very southern quality. The best examples come in "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down", "Up On Cripple Creek", "Whispering Pines", "Jemima Surrender", "Rockin Chair", "King Harvest (Has Surely Come)", and "Rag Mama Rag".

Each of these songs blends folk, rock, and blues to give THE BAND a very old-timey sound. In an earlier post I remarked that they sounded like they could have been from 1930 or 1860 as much as from 1970. Much of THE BAND's music I find to be more true to the southern spirit than the indulgent music of say... Skynrd. For your "Freebird" look at "I Shall Be Released", for your "Simple Man" look at "King Harvest (Has Surely Come)", for "Sweet Home Alabama" look at "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down". In fact you can put any song ever recorded in the south or about the south next to "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" and you wouldn't top it for a more southern feel.

Basically what I am trying to say is that southern music isn't exclusive to southerners. If I am looking for a song to base my southern identity on... Skynrd ain't that good. In fact Drive-By Truckers are equal in that aspect in my opinion, and DBT are heavily influenced by Skynrd. If I am a Cajun like Nick then I would take a song like "Acadian Driftwood" by THE BAND to heart as a beautiful tale on the Cajuns.

While I consider the Allman Brothers to be the "ultimate" southern band I think that you can't go wrong with the southern feel and flavor of much of THE BAND's work. You won't find such beautiful finely-crafted songs in many other places. Skynrd is okay, but its such a cliche to be a Skynrd fan. At least with THE BAND the sound is unique and there aren't a million other bands trying to replicate their sound. So if you want southern rock-blues-folk look no further than Canada.

Lord Only Knows Where I'm Goin

2006-03-19T22:51:00.000-06:00

Got this meme from Ian at Sexy Results! If you are one of my crossover readers from the Louisiana blogs or whatever I'd suggest you take a look at Ian's blog. The college football guys will already be familiar with Ian's stuff. Anyway if you like clever references and allusions Ian's got plenty o'that. One of the funniest blogs I've read.

Favorite Political Track...
Well I don't know if it counts as a political track since its more of a satire but I'll say Randy Newman's "Rednecks". I love his crack at LSU and the chorus ("We're keepin the niggers down") is classic. Its a lot of fun to put this song on for the couple of people who haven't heard it before and first see shock and misunderstanding and then see them laugh or whatever.

Others (some of whose level of poltical content is debateable):
-"War on War" and "Ashes of American Flags"- Wilco
-"Let Your Mind Be Free"- Soul Rebels Brass Band
-"A Change Is Gonna Come"- Sam Cooke
-"Ohio"- Neil Young
-"Throwin Stones"- The Grateful Dead
-"A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall"-Bob Dylan

I've never been into the political song though so its not a big deal to me. First I tend to be more conservative- so in general I disagree with most political songs. Also while I'm certainly not against artists' expressing their opinions I think you are dumb as fuck if you actually take them that seriously. A stupid song shouldn't change your opinions- do some research on issues- don't be an idiot because of something you heard in a Black Eyed Peas song.

One of those tracks that will make you dance on the dancefloor no matter what...

Well I hold the B-52's very high up in terms of dance, funk, and alternative music. There might be other dance-ier tunes of theirs but for me "Dance This Mess Around" always makes me want to get down. The chorus of "Shake! Bake!" and the recitation of 50's dance crazes plus the line "Why don't you dance with me? I'm not no limburger!" makes me want to hit the dancefloor every time.

Others:
-the rest of The B-52's stuff
-"Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games" and "Party Crashes Us"-Of Montreal
-"ABC"-Jackson 5
-"Girls and Boys"- Blur
-"Hey Pocky Way"-The Meters
-New Order always makes me want to do the whole dark-lit British club dancing and The Grateful Dead always make me want to do the hippie dancing thing.

The song you'd use to tell someone you love them...
Uh... "Via Chicago" by Wilco? Right. Seriously... probably "Second That Emotion" by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. I love Motown so there would be a healthy bit of that type stuff.
Others:
-"Just Like Heaven"-The Cure
-"Blue Sky"-The Almman Brothers
-"The Waiting"-Tom Petty
-"I'm The Man Who Loves You"-Wilco
-"I Can't Help Myself"-The Four Tops
-"Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing"-Marvin Gaye

A song you know would sell a lot of...
"Mud On the Tires" by Brad Paisley is a truck commercial waiting to happen.

A song that forced you to sit down and analyze lyrics...
Anything R.E.M. Stipe's voice is often so mumbley you have to read the lyrics and thus analyze a lot of them. I also analyze a lot of Wilco's lyrics- specifically Yankee Hotel Foxtrot stuff. Seriously what does "I am an American aquarium drinker" actually mean? I analyze a lot of The Band's lyrics since they contain stories of "American life" as you could say.

A song you like that a two-year old would like too...
I'll go with "Rock Lobster" by The B-52's. How could you not like that song? Its completely crazy. Also I'll say "They All Asked For You" by The Meters and "Iko Iko" by Doctor John/The Dixie Cups/many others.

A song that makes you drive too fast...
I like to drive real fast whenever I hear Rush. But "Runnin On Empty" might be the ultimate speeding song.
Others:
-"The Road Goes On Forever (And The Party Never Ends)"-Robert Earl Keen
-"Already Gone"-The Eagles
-"Truckin"-The Grateful Dead
-"American Girl"-Tom Petty
-"Coyote"-Better Than Ezra

A song that makes you feel like kicking someone's ass
What's the rap song that goes "Get back! get back! you don't know me like that!" That one I guess.

A song that both you and your grandparents (probably) would like...
Any Allman Brothers.

The song you'd send to someone you hated...

I don't hate too many people. I don't know really... maybe Lindsay Lohan shit. Or something like "Don't Stand So Close To Me" by The Police or the mandatory "Via Chicago".

A sad instrumental song that would be on the soundtrack to a movie about your life...

Not sure.

The peppy song that would start the opening credits on the soundtrack to the movie about your life...

I'm not quite sure about this one. Well see I don't want to use Wilco on every single category. So I'm not going to use Wilco, I swear. Actually I think I'd like "Eyes of the World" by The Grateful Dead. That song is just so peaceful and it always makes me feel so good. Naturally it would be one of the longer versions, perhaps with a horn section. I have one version on my ipod- not sure where it came from- but its amazing. I think this one would be a pretty good fit.
Others:
-"Learning to Fly"-Tom Petty
-"This Must Be The Place"-Talking Heads
-"Hurry Up Sunrise"-North Mississippi Allstars
-"Margaritaville"-Jimmy Buffett
-"Time To Kill"-The Band
-"Santa Maria de Feira"-Devendra Banhart

An a cappella song...

No answer I guess.

A good song from a genre of music that no one could guess that you liked...

Lets see... there are two ways to answer this. I've considered Diana Ross & the Supremes to be some of the best music out there. I mean I'm not into her whole DIVA thing but songs like "You Can't Hurry Love", "Where Did Our Love Go?", and "Baby Love" are pretty damn good. Ross' voice is one of the sweetest I've ever heard. I also have a weird spot for songs like "Lucky Star" by Madonna and "We Got the Beat" by The Go-Go's.

Also I don't think most people realize how into string bands like Yonder Mountain String Band or Hot Buttered Rum String Band I am. The same can be said for New Orleans brass bands like Rebirth, Dirty Dozen, or Soul Rebels.

A song you think should have been playing when you were born...

Not sure... how about "When You Wake Up Feeling Old" by Wilco or the already mentioned "eyes of the World"? "Porch Song" by Widespread would be a nice song to come out to, as would "Blue Sky" by the Allman Brothers.

A favorite artist duo collaboration...

There are a lot here. For starters I have to go with Bob Dylan and the Band playing together. Also Billy Bragg and Wilco. I listen to a lot of concerts that I have downloaded. Many of them feature special artist collaborations. One of my faavorites is the North Mississippi Allstars Hill Country Review from Bonnaroo 2004. Also I have a concert where moe. plays with Trey Anastasio, Sam Bush, John Medeski, and others that is awesome.

A favorite song that you completely disagree with (politically, morally, religiously, etc.)...

Any of the aforementioned political tracks. Also stuff like "Copenhagen" by Robert Earl Keen.

Your smooth song for relaxing...

Most jam band stuff is good for this. I'm going to say The Grateful Dead's "Scarlet Begonias" and Yonder Mountain String Band's "River". You could throw in most other jam band stuff and the non-suicidal Wilco stuff.

A song that you don't like but would play loud to annoy the neighbors...

"Less Than You Think" by Wilco. And if I wanted a real song then I'd go with "Spiders (Kidsmoke)".

A favorite song that's about sports or a sport...

Buffett... any of his songs about sailing or fishing.

A favorite track from an outfit that's considered a "super group"...

I like most of the Travelling Wilbury's stuff so I'm going to say their stuff. I'm going to see Oysterhead this summer so that should be fun.

The song that makes you want to drink more beer...

Anything by: Buffet, Drive-By Truckers, Allman Brothers, Widespread Panic, Robert Earl Keen, Tom Petty, Jackson Browne, The Grateful Dead, etc.

So let's see.... basically I can take Wilco songs and apply them to any situation.

Stag-nation

2006-03-18T13:18:00.000-06:00

Well I am going to end a very stagnant posting week with a very stagnant posting weekend. This is going to sound crazy to a few of the readers but my dad's 40TH birthday is this weekend (yes he's only 39/40) and we have family coming in. So I will be living the suburban life all weekend. Yawn. For tonight's game: the nu,ber of minutes played by Voogd will be directly proportional to how much we win/lose by. For instance if Voogd doesn't play its a blow out. If he plays half the game we lose.

LSU and NSU advance

2006-03-17T14:03:00.000-06:00

LSU beat Iona last night and NW State beat Iowa today on a last second three to make Louisiana schools 2-1 for the tourney so far. Last night Southern played pretty fucking great against Duke considering Duke is the top dog in thr tourney. They had the Devils to just a four point lead/deficit at one point in the second half. Honestly I think Southern definitely had a chance to take the lead there but they just couldn't finish. LSU plays A&M tomorrow and NW State plays WVA/Southern Illinoise! Sunday.

Mediocre Update

2006-03-14T22:36:00.000-06:00

Hey folks- I've neglected to update today but I PROMISE that I will update on Thursday with follow up posts on the SEC and southern music. I have a test tomorrow morning that I am currently cramming for. Plus I am planning various rendezvous which will take place tomorrow before, during, and after the WILCO show in Meridian. I'm planning on making it worth the trip to lovely Meridian (ha!). Thats it for my mediocre update- if I stay on the computer any longer I will log into Phacebook without realizing it and blow an hour stalking and not putting a picture up. Cheers.

Drive-By Truckers/Skynrd/Allman Brothers/Levon Helm Blogging

2006-03-13T22:49:00.000-06:00

So the long title will leave no doubt in your mind that this post will be another foray into my belief in "southern" music. I posted on this a few weeks ago with my Regionalism post and the subject was brought to my attention by Nick's love for Lynrd Skynrd.

I will start off by making two statements:
1)The Allman Brothers are THE band when it comes to southern rock.
2)I am not a fan of Lynrd Skynrd.

The first I will explain by saying that they were the most talented of all the bands who are labelled as "southern rock". Not only that but they infuse more of southern tradition in musical terms into their music than most of the other bands commonly known as "southern rock". It is not uncommon to hear elements of rock and roll, jazz, funk, blues, soul, and country in their music. In addition the Almman Brothers were known for their originality. Not only did they combine all of these different styles they also were one of the first jam bands.

The second I can only explain by saying that I just never really got into Skynrd. The three songs most usually associated with them never really impressed me that much. I can't stand "Sweet Home Alabama" for the fact that its thepersonal anthem for so many of that state's rednecks. Not only that but I think "Southern Man" is a better song. I also don't like how its such a cliche to like this song. I can't really explain why I don't like "Simple Man". I think its just because I don't really identify with the song at all. It isn't that it is a bad song, it just never drew me in or made me feel anything for it. I also hated the beer commercials a few years ago that used this song. As for "Freebird"- well I like the song. I mean I'm never going to select it or anything like that on itunes, but if its on the radio I will enjoy listening to it. Really my only problem with the song is that the guitar solo that everybody goes crazy over isn't that exceptional. I mean- I couldn't do it and its enjoyable- but mainstream listeners give such credit to that "guitar powerhouse song" but completely ignore the incredible mastery of the Allman Brothers on songs like "Mountain Jam". And I know "Freebird" is supposed to be powerful- and it is. But so are songs like "Sweet Melissa". I guess its just personal opinion but I never really got into Skynrd nor understood their huge following. Yeah- their good, but they aren't as good as many southerners make them out to be.

I have more to say tomorrow, including why one of the best southern bands was actually Canadian.

Musical Photo of the Week and blah blah stuff

2006-03-13T20:49:00.000-06:00

I pulled this one of Athenian lads R.E.M. from allmusic. I always like to see what artists and musicians looked like when they were young. When they get older its not as genuine... their act, their look, you know? For instance with Mick Jagger if he was 18 it would make sense to see him strutting around in tight jeans. Today when he's 87... not so much. Anyway Rapid Eye Movement is usually in my top five. I mean they haven't made an album since Automatic For the People that I would spend money on... but Reckoning, Murmur, Eponymous are all fantastic listens. My dad got to see R.E.M. a couple times back in their heyday- once in NOLA and once in BR. I envy him for this. R.E.M. would be an all-time highlight for me- not as big as seeing Professor Longhair's ghost playing a midnight show in Tipitina's in New Orleans or Phish reunion at Jazz Fest big, but it would be pretty awesome.

Speaking of amazing concerts- on Wednesday I'm going to Meridian (of all places) to see Wilco. Should be hours of clean guitar-feedback phun.

My roomate claims I am betting against LSU by not picking LSU to win the whole dance. I say the rules of betting against one's team doesn't apply to the NCAA tournament since picking them to lose in the tourney can be fairly meaningless overall in the picture of the tournament but he claims I'm a traitor. So I ask you- what are the ethics of bracketology involved when one's team is part of the tourney?

I'm feeling very.... apathetic right now so I'm going to wait til later to post more shite.

Please Explain Part Monday

2006-03-13T11:59:00.000-06:00

So can someone explain how Tennessee got a number 2 seed? They lost in the QF's of the conference tourney to a team that didn't make it to the NCAA's and won neither the regular season nor the postseason titles. Doesn't make sense to me.

Anyway my picks:

1st Round Upsets:
San Diego State over Indiana
Bama over Marquette
UAB over UK
Utah State over Warshington
Seton Hall over Wichitar

Sweet 16:
Atlanta:
LSU over DOOK
IOWA over UC-ACLU

Oakland:
Kansas over ARkansas
UCLA over ADAM MORRISON

Minny:
NOVA over Nevada
Florida over G'Town

D.C.:
UCONN over Illinoise!
Petey Pablo (North Carolina come on and raise up...!) over Bruce Pearl didn't win the SEC and thus isn't the coach of the year, John "I can't coach and usually look drunk" Brady is coach of the year

ELITE EIGHT:
IOWA over LSU
KANSAS over UCLA
NORTH CAROLINA over UCONN
VILLANOVA over FLORIDA

FINAL FO:
KANSAS over IOWA
VILLANOVA over NORTH CAROLINA

CAMPEON:
VILLANOVA over KANSAS

Sunday/Widespread Panic blogging

2006-03-12T13:24:00.000-06:00

I had to drive home for today cause my dad is borrowing my car for the next couple days while his gets pimped out by the ghettoest body shop in Mandeville. Well not really- and anyway the ghettoest body shop in Mandeville is to ghetto body shops what Fall Out Boy is to alternative music.

Anyway I told him I didn't think he could drive a car with a Widespread Panic bumper sticker. He said he'd deal with it. Whenever I get around to getting a Dead Steal Your Face sticker I think he will no longer be interested in driving my car. He's in to alternative music or whatever since he was at LSU in the mid-80's but he doesn't have the thing for jam bands that I do. Thats alright he made me a fan of Better Than Ezra, REM, New Order, The Cure, The Police, Jimmy Buffett, Tom Petty, Jackson Browne, Sting, Squeeze, Rebirth, Soul Rebels, Dirty Dozen, Professor Longhair, Dr. John, The Clash, The Rolling Stones, etc. Too bad my cd player or tape player doesn't work in my car otherwise he could rock out to "Barstools and Dreamers" though.

LSU lost. Yawn. Who are we playing in the tourney?

That comes at 5, and I'm shaking with excitement. Well not really but I can't fuckin wait.

Two people I have to point out in the "blogosphere": Kyle at Dawg Sports has been covering my suggestions for the Top 25 SEC days from nearly every angle. I commend him for the work he has put in. I made a comment about Champ Bailey's performance against the Tigers a few years ago without logging in and he assumed I was a Dawg fan. Which is fine I guess. Honestly if I had to choose an SEC school to attend besides LSU I'd probably go to UGA.

Also I want to mention Josh Britton. In addition to being a columnist for the Reveille he also has a wonderfully-run blog which covers mostly political things I guess. Anyway he is a MC student like me and has also been very interested in the LSU System President saga like me. The whole issue seems very... skechy I guess (although not as skechy as Hack's apartment complex).

Oh yeah- Tiger Smack is back up and running and I gotta say- I love it. His Suck Awards are dead on. If I had any suggestions for awards I'd give them to the entire Baton Rouge road system and Lone Star Steakhouse on Acadian. I ate there one time and hated every second of it. The food wasn't good, the service was bad, the music wasn't loud enough, and the other customers were of a completely different section of the population than me and my buddies (as in upper middle-aged). It was basically over-priced bad Outback.

LSU Photo of the Week

2006-03-11T15:21:00.000-06:00

This one comes from the LSU Sports Gift Shop and I chose it in honor of the SEC tournament which is going on this weekend of course. It is of the one and only Chris Jackson aka Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf.

Please Explain

2006-03-11T14:22:00.000-06:00

Can someone explain how Jefferson-Pilot can get away with using Tim Brando and Joe Dean Jr. to commentate the LSU games? I feel like I am listening to Eagle 98.1 or WWL 870 when I am watching Brando and Dean. Doesn't that sacrifice journalistic integrity? I mean Brando is from Shreveport and his daughter is a student at LSU right now and Joe Dean Jr's dad is the former Athletic Director at LSU. Shhh... I think they're biased.

11 Things to Change in SEC Football (Part one: #'s 11-6)

2006-03-11T11:57:00.000-06:00

11 Things to Change in the SEC

11. “DIXIE”- I originally only had ten for this but when I was coming up with the ten ideas I was walking back from class and whistlin’ Dixie when it hit me that one of the greatest songs of all time isn’t played enough. In fact the only team that still plays Dixie is Ole Miss (and The Citadel, but they’re not in the SEC). I believe Georgia used to play Dixie.... but shouldn’t many of the schools in the SEC play Dixie? “I wish I was in Dixie hooray hooray...” It makes you feel so happy to be a southerner.

10. Rebirth of the Mississippi Schools- While I don’t have any love for either Ole Miss or Mississippi State it is certainly in the best interest of the SEC for those two to improve their game. Ole Miss is quite frankly still rebuilding from the end of the Eli Manning term and are only just getting settled into the “O”. Coach O looks to be doing a good job in capturing coaches and recruits. He procured the services of several former U assistants, and he had one of the best recruiting classes in the SEC this year. It might take a few years but it looks like the Rebs could be making the climb back into mediocrity. The Croom experiment hasn’t exactly been a success. He has had solid defensively play both years but he has yet to really find an offensive flow. This year is essential to Croom and the Bulldogs if he is to keep the faith and support of the Bulldog faithful. Another 3-8 season will put Croom in a tight spot for the 2007 season.

9.A Heisman Winner- I don’t particularly give a damn about the Heisman but it would certainly be nice if an SEC player could get the first Heisman since Wuerffel in 96. Potential candidates: Darren McFadden, Tyrone Prothro, Kenny Irons, Alley Broussard, LSU’s QB, Chris Leak, UGA RB’s, and some other people I’m forgetting I guess. I don’t think it will happen this year though.

8. Vanderbilt in a bowl- Last year was their best shot. I still don’t understand how they blew it either. They were undefeated and lost to Middle Tennessee. Inexplicable. I don’t think thus year is the year though. They have some returning players from last year who featured heavily but the onus is on the OL to protect whoever Bobby J puts on the field at QB for the Commies. Sooner or later they will make a bowl- maybe. I hope its this year but it probably won’t be.

7. Gunslinger QB’s- For some reason it seems like forever since the SEC had a gunslinger QB. Yeah I know Leak threw for 3,000 yards two years ago, Eli wasn’t that long ago, and Cutler is a first round pick. But we still haven’t had that asshole cocky QB that throws for 500 yards and 3 td’s on your ass and lets you know it. Leak can produce those kind of numbers, but how he will play this year is up in the air. Erik Ainge has the talent, but last year was a complete failure for him and we don’t know how he will bounce back. Georgia’s job hasn’t been won yet, and South Carolina’s Cock n’ Fire offense is still in its infancy. LSU has three guys who have the potential to be a gunslinger- but who is going to win the job? Is Brandon Cox that type of QB? How will JP Wilson play? Does Archie have a son we don’t know about?

6- Eliminating “the element”- I’m talking about fan bases. Now LSU is known for having some of the craziest fans in the western hemisphere. There is no doubt that SEC fans take football much more seriously than fans of any other country. However, and this is a BIG however, some fan behavior is simply inexcusable. I remember reports of LSU fans throwing things at Tennessee’s bus and throwing things at the bus, etc. I’ve also heard about the obnoxious barking UGA fans, and nobody likes the redneck Auburn fans, and its certainly hard to deal with some of the “element” portrayed in RJYH. Look- I don’t care what the UT players said to our fans- there is a fine line between supporting LSU without reservation and acting like neanderthals. There is a small but terribly noticeable minority of SEC fans that need to stop acting like neanderthals.

Part 2 coming tomorrow (hopefully).

Friday Linkfest

2006-03-10T15:58:00.000-06:00

High quality stuff:

Wilson claims she was snubbed
-Yeah she should have been invited, and I DO agree that NOLA shouldn't be "color bound" per se... but I don't see how there is anyway that she would be able to get this tax break she is suggesting. How will the city spend money? How would that impact the state's finances? Would legislators actually allow that?

Gandhi on the Bayou
-Fantastic column about Kim "Prison Vote" Butler.

Party will back Blanco
-I have more to say on this later.

Oyster on the Interstate
-I thought this was a very interesting article. I have to say I couldn't imagine living without the interstate...

A Stupid Killer Could Not Get Caught
-A pretty interesting post on the Derrick Todd Lee case and that whole deal.

LSU and standards

2006-03-10T12:07:00.000-06:00

Let me start by thanking the folks at Mollylea Drive 70815 for adding me (Centenary Drive 70808 as the case may be) to their blogroll. Dale posted recently about my controversial Procrastination post. Like always the quotes are in italics.

So one thing I never understood was in a state where over and over again the media bashes us for poor public schools why would anyone want to elevate admission standards for our public colleges or even try to set one apart as being better than the rest.

The public school systems need to push to meet the academic standards of the state institutions. Think of it as an incentive to improve the school systems. Also the reputation of the colleges in today's world would be in the toilet if the admission standards went back to how they were. Just because the public school systems are dismal doesn't mean the Universities have to succumb to those standards.

Far below LSU? By what unit of measurement is this alleged factoid derived anyway? How much money graduates make on average? Professor salaries? Cost of tuition? Athletics? What? Oh it must be the higher admission requirements. Just sounds plain lame to me the other measures actually make more sense. Professor salaries LSU wins there. Cost of tuition chalk up another win.

I was basing that mostly off of admission standards. Tuition I find irrelevant... honestly I don't know what tuition is at LSU. Its nearly impossible to be from Louisiana, go to LSU, and not be on TOPS when you start off. Also I was basing it on the fact that LSU's program in general is much broader than that of UL... I mean sure they might have all the same programs as LSU- but they aren't on one campus (or three really). They are scattered all over the state. And I think you are being naive if you don't think more of the state's best and brightest attend LSU-BR than attend the rest of the state colleges.

Then again I think that the whole admission process in Louisiana is backwards anyway considering as I mentioned before the overall ranking of the states high school graduates when compared to other states.

Personally I find state high school rankings misleading considering most of the state's best and brightest end up at private high schools rather than public schools. Even in the state's best parish in terms of schools there is only two public schools I would have considered attending (out of like 7). But that may be because I am fanatical to the core about supporting anything my high school does.

Also Dale mentioned the idea of LSU becoming a "tier-one" school. LSU becoming a tier-one school is the administrators' wet dream. In addition they are going about "the flagship agenda" the wrong way. They seam to think a "party school" reputation is holding us back considerably even though the #1 party school in the country is Wisconsin-Madison- a tier one school. They also have an infatuation with the word "diversity" and seem to think that merely mentioning it in every speech will solve the issue- whatever that is. Sure there is an issue of diversity- but its not about race or sex or that kind of thing- its more about ideology than anything. Consider that the campus is OVERWHELMINGLY conservative (when College Republicans are milling around in Free Speech Alley or whatever they have like four tents, music playing, and like 100 people shooting the political bull, when College Democrats are milling around they have a table with a poster hung over it that says "College Democrats" and they have like 7 people hanging out). But you can't discriminate on party preference can you?

Look- LSU is trying to remain on par with similar schools across the south. I know people who go to UGA, Alabama, Ole Miss, Clemson, Auburn, etc. I never thought about that kind of thing since I thought going to those schools wouldn't make much sense. LSU and each of those schools are pretty comparable to each other and the only REAL difference would be location and the fact that I'd have to pay to go there. LSU is going to be closely tied to those schools in terms of standards- and its no accident that most of those schools have similar standards as LSU.

Butler solidifies the convict vote

2006-03-10T11:25:00.000-06:00

Too bad the nuts at Angola don't get to vote for New Orleans Mayor: Butler compares herself to Nelson Mandela. Honestly, if you thought YOUR state's politics were crazy. How absurdly hilarious is this?

Anyway from the story:

The stint in jail solidified her as "the people's candidate," Butler said, particularly among people who have been incarcerated. While in jail, Butler had a cell to herself, a Sheriff's Office spokeswoman said.

"I represent every person who feels that their voice hasn't been heard, every person who has been incarcerated, right or wrongly," said Butler, dressed in the same red suit jacket and black pants she wore to court on Monday, when deputies hauled her away to jail on a contempt of court charge. "I can rank myself among many heroes: Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi and Nelson Mandela."

You can also rank yourself among countless thugs, rapists, crackheads, pedophiles, murderers, and aspiring rappers. This is outstanding publicity. I hope a Presidential candidate- maybe Hillary goes to jail for three days. It would make the campaign so much more exciting.

At the height of her popularity after the 2003 election, Butler's name was once thrown about as a viable candidate for mayor, but her political stock has since fallen sharply, political analysts said last week. In the September 2004 election, Butler's office failed to deliver voting machines on time to more than 90 precincts, causing voters to wait in line for hours on end and embarrassing the city nationally.

Butler now has little money in her campaign account to finance her mayoral bid, according to campaign finance reports, and most observers do not consider her a serious contender. She was invited to appear in Monday's televised debate on ABC 26, but did not attend because she was in jail.

Nice: 90 precincts. Butler is the hallmark of efficiency. I can't stop laughing over that last sentence.

Her comments vowing to press on as the city's chief elections officer came in response to statements Monday by Secretary of State Al Ater, chief elections officer for the state. Normally reserved in his public comments, Ater blasted what he described as Butler's selfish sideshow and called for her to resign as clerk of court. Ater said Butler's political game-playing and management failings have impeded preparations for the citywide elections "from day one" after the hurricane.

Her failure to recruit election commissioners and consolidate polling places quickly, he said, almost single-handedly caused the elections to be delayed from February to April.

Ater asked Butler to "resign tomorrow as clerk and let the professional election people do our jobs," vowing to pursue any legal avenue to have her removed for elections management.

On Thursday, Ater said he spoke to state Attorney General Charles Foti, but to date knows of no way to keep Butler from managing the elections. Foti's staff, he said, will continue to research the matter.

"To be quite candid, I don't know what the options are," he said. "We're kind of plowing new ground here."

He put his request that Butler resign in writing. "Based on your recent public demonstrations of disrespect for the law, I am asking you to resign your position . . . for the good of all," his letter reads.

"I truly do not believe that you can campaign for the office of mayor and take care of the extra challenges that this election promises for all of us as election officials," he wrote.

Would anybody be shocked if she somehow ended up winning? She probably has the whole thing fixed already. How can I Kim Williamson-Butler yard sign?

I hate it

2006-03-09T15:26:00.000-06:00

Facebook- I hate it. There- I said it. I hate it. The worst part about Facebook is that I will log in and burn half an hour easy without actually realizing that I have even logged on.

March Madness

2006-03-09T13:44:00.000-06:00

I remember why I love March so much. I just watched UCONN and Syracuse play a FUCKING AWESOME game. The 'Cuse get the upset and seal their berth in the NCAA tourney. Fucking fantastic.

Phone Went West

2006-03-09T00:15:00.000-06:00

3 quick things before I go lay in bed and listen to sleepy music on the ipod and geaux to sleep:

-The Metro Council pushed back the vote on the CCCC Ordinance to band drink specials after 8 PM ANOTHER two weeks. The vote had already been pushed back 6 months. The good news is that the vote won't take place during midterms like it would if it were today. The bad news is that some of the support against the ordinance created among students like yours truly will die off in the next two weeks.

-The head of the LSU Board of Supervisors Bernie Boudreaux has resigned. Boudreaux was under some controversy because the board is currently searching for a new LSU System President and his girlfriend Dr. Sally Clausen, the President of the UL System is one of the primary candidates for the job. Regardless of who his succesor is and who is selected for the LSU Presidential position it was the right thing to do.

-Oh yeah- the BOSS is playing Jazz Fest.

And because I mentioned it:

Sleepy Music:
Charlotte Sometimes- THE CURE
A Forest- THE CURE
Hey Mama Wolf- DEVENDRA BANHART
Luna de Margarita- DEVENDRA BANHART
Perfect Kiss- NEW ORDER
You Can't Hurry Love- DIANA ROSS AND THE SUPREMES
Jamaica Say You Will- JACKSON BROWNE
Helpless- NEIL YOUNG AND THE BAND
Don't Think Twice Its Alright- BOB DYLAN
I Was Young When I Left Home- BOB DYLAN
Stella Blue- THE GRATEFUL DEAD
Terrapin Station- THE GRATEFUL DEAD
Bird Song- THE GRATEFUL DEAD

Wrong

2006-03-08T23:30:00.000-06:00

So I was wrong in some of my predictions. Here are the final scores from Champs League action earlier:

Arsenal 0-0 Real Madrid (1-0)- Well I thought there would be some goals but I was correct in predicting the Gunners to go through. I'm happy Arsenal made it through- Real Madrid sort of drag the competition down- there is nothing "good" about them this year. Everything with them is mostly centered around Ronaldo's lack of effectiveness, Zidane's age, etc.

Milan 4-1 Bayern Munich (5-2)- WOW- I certainly was not expecting this. I expected Bayern to get through- but I am not disappointed. I think Ballack is one of the top 10 players in the world right now- but he can't be the whole team. Kaka is one of my favorite players so I am happy to see the Rossoneri through.

Liverpool 0-2 Benfica (0-3)- Again I am surprised. I'm not really sure what to make of Benfica.

Lyon 4-0 PSV (5-0)- I was shocked at this scoreline also. I think Lyon have a legit shot at the title- they are a very strong side and could surprise some clubs.

So that leaves:
-Barcelona
-Juventus
-Villareal
-Arsenal
-Lyon
-Benfica
-Milan

AND:

Inter and AJAX still play next week in Milan. Here's to hoping Huntelaar, Maduro, Sneijder, etc. pull off the upset.

My ranking of most likely to win:
1. Barcelona
2. Juventus
3. Milan
4. Inter
5. Lyon
6. Arsenal
7. Villareal
8. Benfica
9. AJAX

Top 25 Days In SEC Football History

2006-03-08T13:11:00.000-06:00

Kyle posted his top 15 and then 5 more this week and invited suggestions for the next five. Well I think I have a few that could fit in.

-November 9, 1899
-While not truly part of the SEC one of the greatest feats in southern football history began on this date. The University of the South (Sewanee, charter member of the SEC) beat the University of Texas for the first win in a string of five wins which they accomplished in six days. In that six day period they beat Texas, Texas A&M, Tulane, LSU, and Ole Miss- all national powers at the time- by a combined score of 91-0. Sewanee went on to finish the year 12-0. In his book Southern Fried Football Tony Barnhart ranked this Sewanee team as the greatest southern football team of all time.

-December 2, 1989
-This was the day in which the Iron Bowl finally returned to Auburn. It was also the first time the second-ranked University of Alabama had ever played in Jordan-Hare Stadium. The Tigers won the game 30-20 in front of 85,319, the largest crowd for a football game in the state of Alabama.

-September 30, 1967 and September 4, 2004 (joint)
-The first date is the date in which Nat Northington made his debut for the Kentucky Wildcats against Ole Miss. Northington is significant because he was the first black player in SEC football history. The second date is significant because Sylvester Croom made his coaching debut at Mississippi State that day against Tulane. He was the first black head coach in SEC football history.

-Various Individual Performances
-I think one of the last two dates ought to be an "open" one per se. It should be open to the reader's interpretation of the greatest individual performance in SEC history. For instance LSU fans will always hold Billy Cannon's punt return against Ole Miss on Halloween 1959 as one of the greatest plays in CFB history. Fans of other schools will always remember their own treasured performances. So there should be no specific date picked but rather the date should be open so that all the amazing individual performances can be honored.

-Various Team Performances
-See above. LSU fans will never forget October 1997 and knocking off #1 Florida or winning the National Championship on January 3, 2004. This one should be open for all the great upsets and victories.
-

Champs League

2006-03-08T11:51:00.000-06:00

There was some drama yesterday across the pond in Champions League action.

Newspaper Hack's beloved Chelsea drew 1-1 with Barcelona in Spain. However since Barcelona won the first leg they move to the QF's 3-2 on aggregate.

Villareal and Rangers also drew 1-1 but since Villareal had more away goals (2) they move through on aggregate 3-3 (2-1)

Juventus also advanced after defeating Werder Bremen 2-1. They ended up tied on aggregate at 4-4 but Juve's 2 away goals were better then Werder Bremen's 1.

AJAX and Inter have been postponed until next Tuesday.

PREDICTIONS for today:
Lyon (1)-PSV (0)- I think PSV will only get a draw on the French champions. Lyon scores in the latter stages of the second half to see them through. DaMarcus doesn't play much I don't think. Prediction: Lyon 1 (2) PSV 1 (1)

Milan (1)-Bayern (1)- I think this one will be 1-1 after 90 and thus end up in extra time. Ballack gets the winner on a typical header in extra time. Prediction: Milan 1 (2) Bayern Munich 2 (3)

Arsenal (1)- Real Madrid (0)- Two weeks ago Real came out flat. I don't think they will be flat this week- but Arsenal will hold on. Goals to Henry, Cesc Fabregas, and Zidane. Prediction: Arsenal 2 (3) Real Madrid 1 (1)

Liverpool (0)- Benfica (1)- I think Fowler and Luis Garcia both score for the Liverpudlians to send them through. Prediction: Liverpool 2 (2) Benfica 0 (1)

Thar ya go.

The CCCC

2006-03-08T11:39:00.000-06:00

Well the big story in Baton Rouge today is the ordinance which will be voted on later today by the Parish Council.

The Reveille had heavy coverage on the issue today:

-Metro Council to vote on CCCC ban

-Last call for us all

-They cannot take our freedom!

-Drink special ban will solve nothing

-Ordinance fails to address problem

Basically they are trying to put a ban on drink specials at drinking establishments after 8 p.m. This is an attempt to curtail student drinking which will SURELY fail. Bars aren't the only places to get drunk obviously- just the most popular. If the ordinance does have an effect on drinking in bars it will only be because students are now at house parties and other non-contained environments. Ending binge-drinking is certainly an important priority but the way the CCCC is trying to end binge-drinking will not solve the issue.

I Went Down to the Crossroads...

2006-03-07T13:50:00.000-06:00

In addition to what I just posted I'd like to make a few things clear.

-I really would appreciate it if I was referred to as Ryan, not Tiger Boy.

-I was wrong in labelling the other La Public Colleges as "shitty".

-LSU(BR) has tougher admission standards than any other state school.

-The programs taught at LSU are my diverse (in terms of fields) than any other school in the state.

-Many schools have programs that others in the area don't. Examples are ULM and pharmaceuticals and NSU and aviation sciences.

-Some students prefer to remain close to home for college.

-The people I know at state schools besides LSU are people who A)Didn't get into LSU B)Failed out of LSU or C)Studying something not offered at LSU.

-The majority of those students fall under A and B.

-Those students have almost always told me that their college was easier than high school was.

-Essentially the argument doesn't matter because college, like high school, is what you make of it. You may have come through a program that wasn't as strong as another but have worked hard and taken more from it than somebody else in the other program. I know people who wasted $5,000 on tuition to go to Saint Paul's every year for five years and didn't take anything out of the experience because they didn't TRY to take anything out of the experience. So regardless of which school is better than the other or whether they are equal it is ultimately down to the student to get out of it what they need to get out of it.

Hah

2006-03-07T13:11:00.000-06:00

So now is as good a time as ever to respond to the various posts that have been made about my statments from yesterday.

I'd like to start off by saying that when I checked out Conservative Cajun I was happy to see he had addem my blog to his blogroll. Then I read his post about me. Then I looked at his blog about half an hour later and saw my blog was no longer on his blogroll. I thought that was pretty funny.

Anyway to the actual responses.

From Conservative Cajun's post:

My question is, why do so many Baton Rouge and LSU people feel like they have to constantly put down Lafayette and UL-Lafayette? Do we worry ya’ll? Anyhow, Baton Rouge people like to always boast about living in Cajun Country, but in fact being so close to towns such as Clinton and St. Francisville, many of them are closer to hicks. Acadiana is REAL Cajun Country.

First- I'm not from Baton Rouge and I have never once in my life claimed to live in Cajun country. In fact I'm from Mandeville which is more watered-down New Orleans culture or boring no-culture suburban America culture than anything. I'm not a Cajun and I don't ;ive in Cajun country- therefore I don't claim to be one or live there.

Saying that Governor Blanco is “more concerned with boosting her alma mater” shows how little this guy actually knows. One of the first things Blanco did when she got into office was cut funding to UL-Lafayette. That’s really helping her old college. Also, remember this, Blanco didn’t even win Lafayette Parish, but if my memory serves correct, I believe she won both East and West Baton Rouge Parishes, so Baton Rouge voted her in anyway.

Fair enough.

Tiger Boy then goes on to say that any non-LSU Louisiana colleges are “shitty” and in his great wisdom explains that people who go to or went to ULL didn’t have the qualifications for LSU. Well, in the words of Toby Keith, “I wanna talk about me.” I had every qualification to attend LSU and then some. Through Louisiana’s TOPS program, I could have gone to any Louisiana State college tuition-free. I also had a scholarship for an extra $500/semester at ULL and am sure that I could have received similar had I applied for something at LSU.

Same here. Actually its harder to get into LSU than it is to get TOPS> Theoretically all incoming freshmen at LSU from Louisiana have TOPS. Which is a flaw in the system.

Yes, LSU’s athletic program is one of the best in the nation, and their track teams have won numerous national championships. That being said, I took great pride my last Cross-Country season, when at the big LSU Invitational at Highland Park, where many thought LSU’s team could possibly sweep the meet by placing their runners 1-5, I ran down every single one of their guys throughout the course of the 8k race except their top man. So I guess this “shitty” Ragin Cajun did pretty well holding his own against the almighty LSU Tigers.

What I find amusing about this is that A)I'm not talking about athletic programs and B)LSU's top runner for the past few years went to my high school and his mom was my English teacher Junior year. Also the top runner now at LSU I believe also went to my high school.

Why? Because, Tiger Boy, in the real business world, 95% of smart professionals don’t give a damn where you went to school. What they do care about is what kind of professional you are, how competent you are, and how you relate to other co-workers and clients. Believe me, being a stuck up POS because you went to LSU isn’t going to get you very far, other than a few free beers from immature 40 year old losers hitting beer bongs at a football game. Just because you go to a certain school doesn’t make you better than anyone else. Some of the best schools in our country produce idiot graduates, just look at the two main presidential candidates from the last election. Also, I ended up not majoring in engineering, and the degree I did receive that has benefited me is offered by only 5 universities in the country, UL-Lafayette being one of them.

People don't look at where you went to school during the hiring process? Give me a break! Some schools look better than others on the resume, that is commonly accepted. Also what are these personal attacks for? I'm not stuck up because I go to LSU- LSU isn't a great school. Our administration is comprised of people who don't always know what they are doing. Saying that LSU is the best school in the state (besides Tulane) doesn't make me stuck up- it makes me the average citizen in Louisiana. Also if I might ask- what did you get your degree in?

As for Tiger Boy’s comment that LSU needs to look higher than UL people to fill positions, LSU’s athletic department sure as hell wanted UL-Lafayette’s softball coach fives years ago. They threw more money at her than she had ever seen in her life, and she took the LSU job. Believe me, LSU would probably love to have our baseball coach right now too since Skip Berkman’s replacement hasn’t done much with the great team he inherited.

Like I said before- I wasn't talking about our AD. Besides Head Softball Coach and President of the ENTIRE LSU System are two completely different things. Also where did Bertman's replacement come from? Oh yeah that's right: ULM- a UL school. That isn't my point- I'm just saying.

I am proud of where I went to college. I drive a red truck, as vermilion red is the primary color of the Ragin Cajuns, and I proudly display my Ragin Cajun Track & Field sticker in my back window. I will be buying the best season tickets available to watch our football team, and I will proudly be at the LSU-ULL football game this fall, despite the fact that we probably will get our ass kicked. Another thing, I really love those LSU diehards who spend their time yelling to us at the games, “Ya’ll school sucks. Ya’ll football team sucks. All ya’lls athletes suck,” because 99.5% of them don’t and never did have what it took to be a college athlete in the first place, so they really have no idea what their talking about.

Look- I don't really know what you are talking about. I never said anything about ULL's AD. Our football teams are irrelevant here. I'm talking about the schools themselves.

Also, let’s take a quick look at recent players who graduated from the two schools and are now playing in the NFL. LSU probably puts at least 10-20x’s more players in the NFL than UL-Lafayette. However, the best LSU of the past 10 years are Dominick Davis, a good running back that can’t stay healthy, Michael Clayton, a good wide receiver who can’t stay healthy, Kevin Faulk, a backup running back, Tory James, a good cornerback who I think went to LSU, and some punter. Now, UL-Lafayette: Brian Mitchell, possibly the best return man ever with around 20,000 total yards, Orlando Thomas, former NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year, Jake Delhomme, a Pro-Bowl QB who with 3 TD’s- 0 INT’s out played Tom Brady in Super Bowl XXXIII, Brandon Stokely, who with one play was big in helping his team win a Super Bowl and is one year removed from playing in the Pro-Bowl, Charles Tillman, a very good cornerback for an excellent Bears’ defense, and Ike Taylor with a huge interception in this year’s Super Bowl. The few guys ULL put into the NFL make a real difference.

How is this relevant?

Now to responding to McGibboney's post:

2) my major, mass communications, has a solid program comparable in many ways to LSU's solid program;

I'm not familiar with the MC program at ULL but I do take a certain pride in the MC program at LSU which is one of the best in the country. The Reveille was National Collegiate Newspaper of the Year or something like that and we all saw the capabilities of the broadcasting program during the events of Hurricane Katrina.

And lest you think we can't drop the regional designation, officially or otherwise, I'd suggest you look up the official name of your own university, Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge. LSU has set the precedent in that regard.

Yes, yes I know that LSU is LSU-BR A&M.

Not that you guys at LSU have anything to worry about. You do and will continue to receive as much funding as every other state school combined. With as much funding and national recognition as the school gets, it should be at least as good as it is.

If you wish to show your educational prowess, then do it academically. In the end, that'll take you much further in life than cutting down those around you.

I agree with you. LSU students need to do a lot more to improve the school. So does the Administration.

I have more to say in a minute.

Tuesday Random Three

2006-03-07T09:51:00.000-06:00

Here are three randoms before I head off to class for the morning:

1)Play With Fire- The Rolling Stones
2)Peggy Sue- Buddy Holly
3)Live Again- Better Than Ezra

Where's My Coffee

2006-03-07T09:29:00.000-06:00

My heated post on the LSU situation yesterday garnered a couple responses from down south. The Conservative Cajun called me an idiot and Ian McGibboney basically said the same thing.

My post was flawed because of the sheer number of blanket statements I made, and those type of stereotypes are never supportive to one's writing. Also I should have made it known that I wasn't someone who thought LSU was perfect. In fact its far from it, my last English paper was focused on blasting the Administration for its idiotic Welcome to the Now campaign.

Regardless I have to post some sort of response in between studying for weed-out classes that I don't go to. However I DO appreciate that they responded.

Procrastination II

2006-03-07T01:54:00.000-06:00

Well I had some momentum going in the studying sphere but then I got into a three hour discussion with my roomates on politics, political theory, theology, philosophy, rhetoric, personality, and speech. So now I am thoroughly burned out on deep thought- but not sleepy.

But in the meantime I would like to point you to one of my favorite bloggers T. Kyle King and his new passion for lists. He originally posted a list of the 15 Most Important Days in SEC Football History. But due to some comments and discussion left by yours truly and Paul Westerdawg Kyle had to revise his list. Now he has a Top 20 list and is considering an addition of five days to make it to the Top-25. So I posed a few suggestions... but this leads me to wonder- should Kyle just go all out and create a 365 Days in SEC History? Each day he could post about a new milestone in SEC Football history. Or if need be just SEC in general history.

In any event I feel like I have been negligent in posting lately. Since Signing Day oh-so-long-ago I haven't really posted anything regarding college football- which is what got me into this blogging business in the first place. Well have no fear- I am working on something about the upcoming football season. As you can see from my last two posts and my delay in posting other things like my discussion of The Moviegoer that I love to procrastinate. However I will make every attempt to have this up by the end of the week.

Procrastination

2006-03-06T21:03:00.000-06:00

Well since I am procrastinating from studying for the Biology test on Wednesday I figured I might as well post. Today I read an interesting article which was posted last Tuesday in the Greater Baton Rouge Business Report.

I agree with much of what has been said here. I am pretty down on KB Blanco and I STILL don't understand how somebody could possibly vote for her over the very talented Bobby Jindal for Governor. Her handling of the Hurricane certainly sealed the deal for me. But anyway I agree with the article in that she certainly is way too concerned with propping up her alma mater (the self-titled University of Louisiana) and its other campuses. Of course they aren't really UL but rather ULL- but many would like to change that.

But in my mind that is completely absurd. Louisiana has enough problems in dealing with one major university- to act like the University of Louisiana system (I am referring to the whole system, not just ULL) is suddenly on par with LSU is ridiculous. Appointing the head of the UL system: Dr. Sally Clausen President of the LSU system would be another move to try and equal the two systems.

I don't see the strength in Clausen. She is the President of schools like Grambling State, ULL, ULM, UNO, SLU... in other words shitty schools. At my high school and around my hometown SLU was called Slow Learners University and the people who went there from my high school were often given a "Wow, I'm sorry" type response (not spoken, more of a thought) when they told other students they were going to SLU. The same goes for ULL, if you were going to ULL you knew they didn't have the qualifications to go to LSU (in the majority of the cases).

The fact is that the people who go to the schools in UL system are the ones who couldn't get into LSU or failed out of LSU. LSU isn't a hard school to get into, and we don't necessarily produce world-beating students either. I don't understand why people would want the President of a school system that is even more mediocre (or below average) than LSU with students who for the most part didn't qualify for LSU to be the HEAD of LSU.

If LSU really does have wet dreams about becoming a tier-one school then I think it should look higher than the President of a school that is far below LSU.

Monday Reveille Blogging

2006-03-06T19:10:00.000-06:00

I have taken a liking to the cartoons of Pike Barkerding which are featured every Monday in the Reveille. Today he hits on an important issue about the CCCC. The CCCC (I think it stands for the Campus Community Coalition For Change or something of that nature) has been trying for months to get rid of drink specials in the area of LSU. This- they say- will bring about a drop in drinking among students. Anybody who has ever gone to school before knows that drinking is going to happen no matter what. At least if its at a bar and not somebody's apartment its in a somewhat controlled environment.

Also featured in today's edition of the Reveille was an op-ed on the music industry. I like this article a lot and agree that the music industry is greedy (obviously). Anyway check it out: Silencing the Music Around Us.

Downloadables

2006-03-06T13:35:00.000-06:00

Some stuff you ought to check out on the blogging web:

-Justin's My Morning Jacket Podcast

-Drive-By Truckers A-to-Z at Berkely Place

-Aquarium Drunkard has Beach Boys Rehearsal Demos from 1967 and Wilco (9 Dyas til Meridian) Yankee Hotel Foxtrot demos 1 and demos 2

-rbally.net has My Morning Jacket's 2004 Bonnaroo performance

-EarFarm's Weekend Live Music segment featured Johnny and June Carter

-Also from Aquarium Drunk is some live Meters action

I may have some more downloadables for you later. Stay tuned.