Wednesday, January 16, 2002

 
So it seems a Florida town wanted to honor James Earl Jones at its MLK celebration. Problem is, the company that printed the plaque for Mr. Jones allegedly accidentally printed his name as James Earl Ray. Reading this really brightened my day. You can read the whole story here.

Movie review: Wet Hot American Summer. If you weren't a fan of the mid '90s MTV sketch comedy show The State, don't bother. But if you were, then prepare to get your State fix that is long overdue (unless you're like me and have every episode on tape). The movie itself is average, but it has five or six parts that are basically The State sketches, and I was on the floor at each one. There are six cast members from the show in the movie. It was written, produced and directed by them as well. Other notables include David Hyde Pierce, Molly Shannon, Janeane Garofalo and Amy Poehler. It came out on DVD and VHS yesterday.

What's up with Comedy Central showing Absolutely Fabulous at every available opportunity? Is it just me? Am I missing the funny aspect of that show? I mean, Comedy Central is pretty high percentage. Other than the sports networks it's probably the most watched channel in the Berry household. But I just can't handle that show. I accepted BattleBots as a necessary evil, and Sports Night was mercifully cancelled, but damn. And now this Black Books show? Aaaaahhhhh! Too much with the Britcoms! Thank God for TNN showing Star Trek TNG twice a night, and ditto for Nickelodeon with Cheers/Family Ties.

Speaking of BattleBots, there are now FOUR such shows on the tube. Haven't we reached market saturation yet? Comedy Central, TLC, TNN and some other network all have virtually identical build-a-robot-and-let-it-fight-other-robots-oops-watch-out-for-these-flames! shows.

So Nilk misleadingly reported that I like new country, and invited the criticisms to begin. Fortunately, all of you have too much class, panache, and dare I say savoir faire to even consider it. The truth is, I jumped on the country bandwagon in the early '90s with everyone else, but I asked the driver to drop me off a couple of Rocktobers ago. It started with the songs being played on the pop stations, which wasn't too bad. But now, 90 percent of country is indistinguishable from pop, save some minor instrumentation differences. I still love George Strait and Clint Black, but they're the minority these days. Not to say that country is bad. Either Brooks or Dunn made the good point that 50 years ago someone first plugged a guitar into an amp at the Grand Ole Opry, and the country purists said that's it, that's the end of country. But it wasn't. I just choose not to listen anymore. It's all sports talk and oldies for me these days. In fact, the radio in my truck (By the way, I'm the new Mayor Of Truckville) rarely sees FM.

SEC Basketball. So far, I don't remember a more competitive year for it. I am actually enjoying the games, even the ones without LSU. I like that everyone is beating the hell out of everyone else. But it's no substitute for football......War Football Tigers in 2002.

G E A U X
posted by Jacques Berry 11:10 AM

Tuesday, January 15, 2002

 
Has anyone seen this controversy over the WTC memorial? They want to make a statue out of the Iwo-Jimaesque photograph of the 3 fireman raising the American flag. That sounds good to me, except now there's pressure to have the 3 fireman in the statue be 1 white, 1 black and 1 puerto rican. How the hell do you reflect race in a bronze statue? I guess they will have to put a huge, flat nose on the black one, and some facial scars from a knife fight on the puerto rican one. I'm sure everyone will be happy then.

Here is my idea for a statue we can all feel good about:

I read somewhere that Black Santa died in the second collapse.
posted by Nick Lilero 12:18 PM

 
Survivor

I think Ethan should have lost just because of how stupid he was when he picked the number from 1 to 1000. Kim immediately said "3". Obviously, Ethan should have said, "4", but instead he said "888". Kim saying "3" was equally stupid, but she actually lost.
I think I finally decided that I kind of like Lex. He was too much with some stuff, but he at least walked the walk that he talked. He didn't want someone lying to him, and he didn't lie to anyone else. However, I agreed with Kim when she said it seemed like Lex had a sense of entitlement to the prize. Maybe I would too if I had won that many immunity events. It seems like no-one likes the "stealth" tactics of Kim, but I don't see how it's any worse than anything else. Hell, she actually won the final 2 immunity events.
I think we can all agree that the stupidest thing of all was the "rebirth" where they had to be smeared with goat fat and then jump around like wild indians. They always act like they actually got something out of such stupidity. I wish one of them would say "Wow! That goat fat thing was a real affirmation of my stereotyping of Africa as a tribal tar pit whose intellectual exports rank just behind those of Antarctica".
posted by Nick Lilero 12:10 PM

 
Dammt, so many of your links didn't work for me. I was all fired up to be reminded of what I had for me too.
posted by John Chapman 3:40 AM

Monday, January 14, 2002

 
Don't forget to check out what Chapman has for you- you might be surprised to learn that it isn't strictly limited to wicked bass.
posted by Nick Lilero 11:53 PM

 
Past Trip Photos

Click Here to see the greatest picture of all time. We were in California when Nick KF captured this near-death experience on film.

The rest of these are from the Killington trips and the rafting trip from the summer of 2000:
Mark and Chapman are too cool to look at the camera.
Yeah, Martin hasn't aged a day.
Muse- lazy as ever.

Poker.
This one is from back when KF suffered from extreme monsterism.
I can't quite put my finger on what's wrong with THIS ONE
posted by Nick Lilero 7:20 PM

 
lyrics

I agree that lyrics don't generally make or break a song unless they are extremely good or horrible. Words don't even have to make sense rhyme or anything just so long as they don't completely dork it out.. I do however hate it when dudes try to rhyme a word with itself. eg Warpigs by Black Sabbath:

Generals gathered in their MASSES
Just like witches at black MASSES

Try again.
posted by scott tully 5:47 PM

 
Orange County

Me and Kathryn saw Orange County last night. It was quite entertaining. I guess along the same lines as Road Trip. It was not a typical "teen movie", I forgot entirely that some of the characters were teens at all. Jack Black is one funny guy. He's such a sight gag. When he appears in a scene, his very appearance is funny, but they don't really play that up too much. Chevy Chase actually appears in one scene. He doesn't really have too many lines, but the expressions on his face are awesome. John Lithgow is a main character too. The main character's girlfriend looks like some chick I know, I spend the whole movie trying to figure out who, but I never came up with it. Anyway, I give the movie a B+ overall.
posted by David Muse 9:31 AM

Sunday, January 13, 2002

 
I'm suprised you could even tell they were doritoes. When i look at that pic they look like sick flesh flaps.
posted by scott tully 12:13 PM

Saturday, January 12, 2002

 
Candlebox is almost as pathetic as the obviously staged pic of Nick on Scott's page. The Doritos on the chest were a nice touch though.
posted by John Chapman 10:57 PM

 
Trash Hole

In my apartment building you're supposed to throw your trash down. a chute to the basement where Mexicans come and take it away. This would be a sweet set up except the hole they want you to stick it through is impossibly small. There is no way you can get a full bag of trash in that thing. I wind up pushing and smashing and ripping the bag and spilling shit everywhere. Every single time I get so pissed without fail. Why the hell don't they make a reasonably sized hole? What possible reason is there for not having a big hole. I can't think of one. Seems to me building designers are just jerks.

In other news, I put up some pictures of the Maxwell's gig on my website.
posted by scott tully 7:01 PM

 
Candlebox

I always thought of them as kind of low-octane but not bad. I saw them live at some multi-band concert in New Orleans. I basically just surfed the crowd the entire time so I didn't get to really listen to them but they rocked enough to have fun. They were definitely higher octane live than on their albums. I remember one of their guitarists looking a lot like somebody else but I don't remember who. Strange thing to remember about a band, huh.
posted by David Muse 6:55 PM

 
Candlebox

John Chapman and I have had this ongoing Candlebox argument for as long as I can remember. I personally think they were one of the only good Seattle bands. Virtually every band I can think of does "soft verse, hard chorus", so I never understood why he singled them out. However, if John had ever listened to the entire first 2 albums, he would have known that they have plenty of songs that are beautifully hard all the way through. As far as their lyrics go, I never thought they were trying to be soul-searching. Also, the guitarist had the sweet, sweet Les Paul through Marshall sound. See, what happened to Chappie is that I introduced him to Pantera and Corrosion, and now his soul is forever lost in a spleen-bruising orgy of mayhem.
posted by Nick Lilero 1:04 PM

 
Concert Review: Bastards of Melody

The band that Scott is a hired gun in played a gig in Hoboken last night. It was at this place, Maxwell's, which is where John Chapman and I saw Shades Apart play a while back. The stage is about the size of the Caterie stage. I got like 10 Amex peeps to show up, including Caleb and sweet-smelling Cindy. (Paul, they are actually engaged now). The Bastards are pretty good, but they play way, way too loud. Most of the people I came with complained about this fact. Out of the 7 or 8 songs they played, Scott's "Rescue" was by far the crowd favorite.
Before the show, Scott told me that he wanted to be pelted with debris while he was performing, so I happily obliged him. I threw a bunch of ice at him and some cherries. This bad blood culminated in me and Scott coming to blows during one of their songs. I pushed him, and since he was up on a stage, he was able to place his foot on my chest and push me away that way. I think that some people in the crowd may have actually bought it. Later on, Scott expressed disappointment that I hadn't rushed onstage and tackled him.

posted by Nick Lilero 12:53 PM

 
My 2 cents on the lyrics thing

Lyrics are the icing on the cake. Good lyrics can make a good song great or a decent song shitty. My favorite example of this is Candlebox. I can't believe that people don't see these idiots (well, theyre long gone now I guess, but still...) for what they are. Their attempt at deep, meaningful, soul-searching lyrics came off so pathetic as to be laughable. I further can't believe that you never heard the "I liked them better when they were called (fill in every other band here)" joke about them. They truly brought nothing new to the table. OOOOOhhhh soft verse, hard chorus? That's original! Let's do it in every song and throw some cheezy lyrics on top. Candlebox is when that whole era jumped the shark, ala Jackyl, etc. for 80's hair metal bands.
posted by John Chapman 4:29 AM

 
oh,BYUUUUUU exists, believe me. EX. Let's ask Kirk, he'll have a concise answer. BYUUUUU.

michael jackson, weirdest person ever. he has gone from n-bomb on cover of thriller to white female. why so stupid? i was flipping channels the other night and i came upon mj's award show. i stopped because they said next brittany spears and she looked crazy hot. oh the level of sexiness she devastates me with. but i watched a long time and they never showed her, i hate when they tease you like that. did anybody see her performance. was it as hot as i imagine? anyway the part of the award show i watced sucked it up. but im glad they are heaping praise on and awarding trans-gender, trans-racial pedophiles. you know they have a hard time of it.

tomorrow i get to wake up at the crack of noon for arkansas-lsu basketball telecast. then 6 straight hours of playoff football. life gets no better.
shafer, i was under the impression that the hockey dad guy just went crazy and beat the shit out of the guy and they are trying to cover it with this self-defense story.

lyrics cant ever understand, how could anybody possibly care what they are?
posted by Paul Moses 1:09 AM

Friday, January 11, 2002

 
If I've ever heard of BYYYUUUUU, then I don't remember it. Can the rest of you guys corroborate it's existence? Jacques, hook me up with a sentence for that word, I'll put in in the lexicon.

Country music is a good example of individual words ruining a song for me. On the way to Killington, Nick KF argued that some Garth Brooks song was good because it was about something cool. My argument was that it was a poor treatment of a good subject. I think most contry music is like that. I just can't listen to it. My brother Daniel used to make me listen to it a lot though, and there are lots of good country songs, even NEW country, but just like pop/rock, the best stuff is not mainstream. Some country jams. I'm all about that. Then there's Johnny Cash who's just cool as hell. Anyone ever heard his cover of Soundgarden's Rusty Cage?
posted by David Muse 10:12 PM

 
I forgot to mention that I actually do like to listen to country lyrics. Often they tell a funny/sad story. I also like when they talk of real life past events in the country community. I try to piece together who slept with who and who drank what when. They really like to have every major person connected in some kind of way. I'd also like to point out here the Jacques actually likes NEW country. Let the criticisms begin...
posted by Nick Lilero 8:47 PM

 
I agree with what appears to be the emerging consensus: i.e., Michael Jackson was great back in the day, but just too much now. Not to say that his old stuff still doesn't kick ass now just because we're older and know better -- not true. It's still just as crushing -- more so when you look at how innovative it was. And I agree with Mr. Pugh. Weird Al is by far one of the most rewarding effects of the MJ era.

Lyrics are of tertiary importance to me. They rarely make or break a song for me. For example, I can like "Take The Money And Run" by Steve Miller, despite his attempt to rhyme Texas, facts is, justice, and taxes in one verse.

I can't lay claim to listening to Stryper independently of the rest of you today, but the mere mention sent me into a fit of nostalgia. I have since downloaded about a gig of cool songs from my middle/high school years. They can call them hair bands, they can call them cheesy metal, they can call them silly, but I call them the music that I grew up on and made me want to become a musician, if only lack of talent didn't hold me back. Wanted Dead Or Alive still does a better job cheering me up than does my own religion (not to open up a can of worms with Nilk and Paul here, but it's true).

So I'm scrolling through the Lexicon, and I'm surprised not to find BYYYUUUUUU anywhere on there. What's that all about? This is the most effective argument stopper in history, whether it's valid or not, and it's not listed.

Josh Reed does indeed have a kid, who by the way is 3/4 white. He only dates white women (Josh, not his child), and I believe he is half-white, which accounts for the kid. No matter -- he's about to be RICH. I heard on the radio this morning that Corey Webster would be the one to step up into Reed's position. This surprised me -- I thought Myers clearly would now be a slot receiver. But no, apparently Jimbo Fisher believes that with practice, Webster will be great over the middle. He did play some flanker this past season. And of course Michael Clayton is obviously at his best running outs and posts. That boy could end up with better career numbers than Reed -- he has the natural advantage of not playing in the slot. He'll rack up more yards that way. Of course, he won't get the touches that Reed got at first.

G E A U X
posted by Jacques Berry 6:32 PM

 
Rink Rage Jury Returns Guilty Verdict

I'm not sure if any of you have heard of this case but basically 2 fathers got into a fight at a kids hockey game and one of the guys ended up dying. Thomas Junta(the convicted) claimed self defense because the other father attacked him first(while wearing hockey padding and kicking at him with ice skates).

From what I heard in the case, Junta(who outweighed the other father by about 100 pounds) only threw 3 punches. Unless one of those was a vicious finishing move ala Mortal Kombat, I think the jury is dead wrong in convicting him of involuntary manslaughter. Unless you catch someone with a haymaker at the start, its going to take at LEAST 2 punches to make an attacker back down. He just unfortunately hit the other guy in the wrong place. The jury must have been made up of a bunch of wusses who either have never been in a fight before, or always got their asses kicked.
posted by Schafer Pugh 6:13 PM

 
I DO have the utmost disdain for MJ. And it is extremely annoying how this "King of Pop" thing has become a self-fulfilling prophecy of fame and fortune. Madonna is the same way- she's famous now just for the sake of fame, and the media follow her around as if what she thinks really matters. However, if we are going to start listening to various things based on the character of the artist, we can pretty much just never listen to the radio again. This goes for classical music too. Pretty much the only time I won't listen to something because of outside factors, is if there is plagiarism involved. The best example of this is wretched, wretched Shaggy; that song he had ripped off the bassline from "The Joker" and the melody line from some other song I used to hear a lot. It wasn't even a cover song- it was just him stealing other stuff. And then he gets all honored at these award shows. Can't take.

Mark, I guess Strypertown has a population today of 2- I was rocking that shit out earlier. I couldn't care less what they look like. The music is just sweet.

I remember how the Muse didn't want FACE to cover the Offspring's "Self-esteem", just because of the line, "I may be dumb, but I'm not a dweeb". While I agreed with him that it was an incredibly stupid sentiment, I couldn't understand how that would mean he didn't want to play the song. I mean, any time you cover a Rage song, you are advocating communism. I also remember KF and the Chumbawumba deal. He seemed to take the whole thing really seriously- he was like "That's right, man! I can drink as much as I want, and I'll still get up". Soooo stupid.

On an unrelated note, did any of you know that Josh Reed had a 2 year old kid?
posted by Nick Lilero 3:25 PM

 
OK you guys win. My main dislike for MJ's music is that is sucks ass. I dislike him as a person for all the other stupid crap. Oh, and I can't believe no one brought up the fact that he molests little boys right up thier nambla ass-butts. If that doesn't qualify someone for the utmost disdain I don't know what does.
posted by scott tully 2:16 PM

 
I truly could care less about lyrics. Sure I like good lyrics when I hear them, but its not necessary for me to like the song. The music is what its all about. Now if their voice or style of singing annoys the hell out of me, then yes it starts to ruin the song for me. But if the music is high quality I generally can look past it. For instance, I think the band Stuck Mojo is one of the most underrated bands of all time. They're rocky metal and the lead singer raps and sings some...but soooooo much better than limp bizkit and the like. They've been around for ever but never really made it huge. the leader guy's voice is pretty annoying and the lyrics sometimes are borderline retarded. I think he's the major reason they aren't more famous than they are. But people, the guitar is unreal and the drummer can rock it up. The guitar is brutally distorted and Pantera-esque and they just plain write good songs. I'd recommend all you fools to pick up Snappin Necks, Declaration of a Headhunter, and Rising...dey hot. They're from Atlanta, Muse you might have heard of em.

Now, if the music is lacking and the lyrics are great, I almost never likey, no matter how great the lyrics are. Unless its rap. If a rap has a horrible beat but the lyrics are funny as shit, I don't care about the music because I don't really consider rap it music unless it has a good bass line or something. An example of this is once when KF told me he liked that song that goes, "I get knocked down, then I get up again, no their never gonna keep me down." I was like Byyyyuuuuuuuuuuu, because I can't stand the music, I just get nothing out of it. But KF was like, "Its not really the music, the lyrics just pump me up, I mean they ain't gonna knock ME down." So I can dig that if it does something for you.

Let's face it. I'm listening to Stryper right now at work. You know, that 80's christian rock/metal band? I don't care about the lyrics, but damn that distortion and album production are too much...and some of the solos are brutal. I don't care that the drummer wore tons of makeup and a yellow and black spandex jumpsuit that opened up down to his bellybutton all hair flying out of it. Thus, I don't care how MJ looks when it comes to his music. Now I wouldn't hang out with the guy to enjoy his company but he sucks, but musically (at least back then) he had some pretty good stuff.
posted by mark graham 11:45 AM

 
I heard on the radio today that some guy tried to ride a jetski from Ft. Lauderdale to the Bahamas. The coast guard picked him up drifting about 15 miles out when he ran out of gas. He though that the Bahamas "looked pretty close on the map".

Me and Nick used to argue about whether lyrics are important or not all the time. My taste requires lyrics that are goot or unintelligble (so that I can't tell if they're good or not). What is "good" is of course subjective. For me, a few wrong words can ruin an entire song. In high school I used to accuse Emily Dickinson of ruining everything she ever wrote with one wrong word. I envy people who can ignore lyrics because then they can get to appreciating music that I can't force myself to listen to.

Michael Jackson is still great. I love all the "Da dada dada dat Woooo!" shit he does.
posted by David Muse 10:11 AM

 
I still do not understand the MJ phenomenon. The King of Pop(who would want that title anyway?) hasn't put out anything good since Thriller, yet he still has legions of fans as if he were part of a boy band(the Jackson 5 does not qualify as a boy band because they actually had musical talent). His 2 best songs are Beat It and Bad because they allowed Wierd Al to make some great parodies. I'm Fat may be the funniest video ever.

Nick is absolutely right about the sound being more important than the lyrics. Look at Tori Amos, a good song like Bliss(which she mispronounces) starts out "Father, I, Killed my monkey, I" WTF?

My favorite album of 2001 was Shakira Unplugged(it actually came out in 99 but I didn't get it till this year when MTV aired the unplugged concert). The entire performance is in Spanish, which I don't speak, yet I absolutely love the album. BTW, if you like live acoustic stuff and do not have Shakira Unplugged I highly recommend it.

If this posts twice, it's not my fault, blogger was being ornery
posted by Schafer Pugh 9:46 AM

 
I just don't understand how gloves and glitter affect the sound coming out of the speaker. "Beat It" is just really awesome- the solo is too good to be true. Also, I just thought of something for all you "Creed-is-too-serious" people. Weezer is comically full of itself and serious about stupid shit. "Oh, look at us...we can't get the girls...boo hoo...they pick on me because I'm dorky...I caught a butterfly in a jar...dear daddy...the sun is drowing in the flood...I don't wanna die, even though I have to...Only in dreams (the gayest lyric of all Weezer stuff)...ohhh Mykel and Karli got run over...". Lyrics and looks don't matter at all. If it sounds good coming out of the speaker, it's good. Rage Against the Machine is a good example of this. Their lyrics are horrible and they are extremely full of themselves. Still, they rock sometimes. If anything, I don't like the bands that try to be quirky and funny. The perfect example of this is King Missile- that detachable penis song is absolutely horrible and falls about 20 miles short of humor.
posted by Nick Lilero 12:15 AM

Thursday, January 10, 2002

 
yeah well thanks to my parents I am the only straight male in the world who knows the entire score to Music Man, Mary Poppoins AND Brigadoon by heart. We did have radios of course and I knew even then that MJ was a fuckup. I couln't take his stupid one glove getup and all that trashy glitter and gay crotch grabbing. I was really into the Beatles and Joan Jett back then.
posted by scott tully 11:34 PM

 
It's Official

click here: JOSH REED
posted by Nick Lilero 4:59 PM

 
Scott, the only reason you didn't listen to MJ is because your parents forced you to listen to musicals and folk songs. Did you listen to ANY radio music? They banned you from TV when growing up, did your family even own a radio? I know your sister had that Europe tape, but all I remember about your music childhood is musicals and sitting around the campfire folk songs. You were deprived.
posted by mark graham 4:59 PM

 
no
posted by scott tully 4:31 PM

 
Come on, Scott
What about 10-15 yrs ago? You weren't rockin to his stuff and trying to moonwalk and all?
posted by kathryn muse 4:26 PM

 
Y'all wrong. micheal jackson is complete shit. only entertainment value is freak show angle.
posted by scott tully 4:07 PM

 
This MJ discussion reminds me of a joke I heard on the radio:

How do you know when it's bedtime at the neverland ranch?

When the big hand touches the little hand.

Hah.
posted by David Muse 12:52 PM

 
Thriller was clearly his best album and had some good songs on it. I used to listen to Beat it non-stop when I was a kid. When I listened to it again years later, I realized that Eddie Van Halen wrote one of the best solos of all time for that song. Supposedly he recorded it in one take, which may be an urban legend...damn its sweet. I was waiting for Slash to try it but I knew better. It was a pretty crunchy distortion though.

The thing I hate about Mikie is that he's soooooooo full of himself. Martin has pointed out as an example one of his videos that has this enormous statue of him with all these peeps and kids at its feet crying and worshipping it. I mean come on dude, that's your video?

And what was up with the crying right before that song ended last night? It looked so fake wiping his eyes on his sleeve, "look at me! I truly AM crying!!". Makes me sick.
posted by mark graham 9:42 AM

 
I love Michael Jackson. At least I did when I was a kid. I'd love to be in a band that played covers of his songs all hardcore. I guess I don't really like his versions of the songs as much as I like the idea of crushing up my own versions. Slash played guitar on "Black or White" and "Beat-it". I guess that was cool. Dammit, GnR needs to get back together so I can hear that Slash-action again. I think I like him more than Michael Jackson, but that Snakepit crap just didn't cut it. I need quality lyrics like "ain't that fresh" and "take your credit card to the liquor store".
posted by David Muse 1:54 AM

 
Ripleys and MJ

Did anyone see Ripley's Believe It or Not on TBS tonight? They had this girl that shot a bow and arrow with her feet at a balloon. The weird part is that it was at Tiger Stadium before an LSU game, presumably this season. Does anyone know anything about that? Were any of you there? It must have been pretty close to game time, because the crowd was near capacity and going nuts.

I agree that Michael Jackson is the weirdest person ever, but I still think he might be the greatest dancer of all time. When he does the moonwalk, it truly looks like he's gliding on air. The part of that thing that I saw tonight wasn't so bad- 2 of the brothers were playing guitar and bass. It's always refreshing to see some actual instrumentality. I thought that the show must have been filmed in another country because of how nuts the crowd was. Why were they so excited?
I like MJ songs all the way through the "BAD" album. After that, I guess it was kind of cheesy, but he had a lot of good stuff before that.
The thing I would like the most would be to sit down with that freak, and have him give me an entirely truthful, in depth account of how he got to be so screwed up. The guy I saw tonight did not even bear a vague resemblance to the jherri-curled black guy on the cover of my "Thriller" vinyl.
posted by Nick Lilero 1:08 AM

Wednesday, January 09, 2002

 
people are actually clapping for him. holy shit. what the fuck is wrong with people. this is a concert taped in america where people should know better. That's it. I'm gonna write the most cheesy terrible songs ever from now on. that seems to be what every one likes. I don't get it but what the hell?
posted by scott tully 10:06 PM

 
Michael Jacksons concert is on TV and I am beside myself. How the hell can anyone even slightly like that fuck up? I can barely stand to look at him. What the hell? IS a large portion of the population retarded? He doesn't even look human. I really don't get it. Why can't the world be a perfect place and everybody hate him. Good God he sucks.
posted by scott tully 10:03 PM

 
Book Review

Everyone has probably read this in high school but anyway.. My favorite book of all time is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Its funny, it gives thoughtful commentary on society and humanity and it is a good, interesting story. My favorite parts are the exchanges between Huck and n-bomb Jim. One of the few books that actually makes me laugh out loud.
posted by scott tully 8:40 PM

 
I wish New Orleans had gotten the Grizzlies- at least that way Stromile could be a hometown boy. He still does that bird thing, by the way.

Why did they get Zook? I assume he's the highest paid coach of all time now, right? They were talking like $3 million.

Did you see where Dinardo was hired on at Indiana as head coach? I'm glad he was able to find something. I agree with Jacques- the Big 10 is probably a good place for him. Do you think Saban is going to leave LSU?

DandyDon is reporting that Josh Reed is announcing his pro intentions today from New York. Why New York?

I still lay claim to the most obscure Star Wars toy of them all- The Droid Factory. You could assemble all types of robots (including vehicles). My best Star Wars memory was in 1983. My family had gone to see Return of the Jedi at Cortana Mall (remember they had the movies there). It was a mob scene with huge lines. When we got up to the window and bought our tickets, the guy came out from behind the glass and screamed to the hordes behind us "Return of the Jedi is now sold out- please go home". I'd like to think that my dad turned to me and said (in reference to the crowd) "NEXT!"; but of course, parents are seldom funny.
posted by Nick Lilero 12:52 PM

 
Maybe I won't have to become a Hawks fan after all

Another NBA team is rumored to be headed to the Big Easy, this time it's the Charlotte Hornets and this USA Today article makes it sound like a pretty good possibility.

In more sports stuff hopefully Ron Zook will take the Saints problems with him to Florida.

Nick's right about the nostalgia factor and Star Wars, it was just in the right place at the right time. If we all didn't have the toys, we wouldn't have enjoyed the movies nearly as much. I personally have low expectations for the prequels because I know they will never have the same impact for me as the originals. I have no desire for an Obi-Wan action figure now, where when I was younger I had about 4 or 5 action figures just of Han Solo(Hoth Battle Gear Han was the best by far) in addition to lots of other action figures and vehicle's (the AT-AT kicked ass).
posted by Schafer Pugh 12:40 PM

Tuesday, January 08, 2002

 
Well, I would characterize your associations as pretty general, but I will grant you this: One of the reasons Tolkein is so incredibly popular despite being originally published in 1953, is that it was basically the FIRST great fantasy/sci-fi Epic. Essentially all fantasy fiction is based on his work to some degree. I'm pretty sure I read that the guy who created the whole dungeons&dragons thing said that his inspiration was tolkein. So in some sense, every piece of imaginative fiction will have some connection to Tolkein.
posted by John Chapman 6:31 PM

 
Seems Like Everything is Tolkien, Not Just Star Wars

Luke Skywalker= the greenhorn kid who has greatness/duty thrust upon him= Frodo/Bilbo

The Empire= the evil forces who were once powerful, then supposedly vanquished, and now rebuilding= Sauron

Han Solo/C3P0/R2D2/etc.= entertaining troupe of crusaders, some of whom actually seem more able than the chosen one himself= the dwarves/the fellowship of the ring
* C3P0= Samwise Gamgee, the fawning servant

Annakin Skywalker= Bilbo- Frodo continues to uncover the heroics of his father figure, and so does Luke.

Anyway, Star Wars isn't the only series to be like this. I would argue that Harry Potter and the Stephen King Dark Tower Series are even more like Tolkien than Star Wars.
The Empire Strikes back is definitely the best one of them all. It's really hard to divorce yourself from the nostalgia, though. I just have a really hard time believing that any of you would really think Star Wars was great if you saw it for the first time today.
The Raiders of the Lost Ark series is much better.

posted by Nick Lilero 12:24 PM

 
Star Wars, Let's Not Go Crazy

There are very few films I enjoy re-watching, and I've seen the first trilogy a great many times. The first trilogy is simply a great story, and great in its simplicity. Good vs. Evil, there ya go. Lucas has openly said that he took the best parts out of every genre he loved and wrapped them all into a futuristic setting (Farm Boy makes it big = Luke, Errol Flynn swashbuckler = Han Solo, etc.), but I'm not convinced I see Tolkein in there. Feel free to explain that. Episode I was obviously weak, but it had to do a whole lot of setting up for what is to come. Lets not forget that Empire was all about plot twists, and arguably the greatest of the three movies. And Lucas is a huge believer in connecting things together. My hope is that #2 will follow suit.
posted by John Chapman 4:27 AM

Monday, January 07, 2002

 
There it goes.
posted by scott tully 10:43 PM

 
My last contibution won't go up. What's going on?
posted by scott tully 9:23 PM

 
Fox

Fox has a new show coming out called That 80s Show and I already hate it. I would probably give it a chance but the guys at fox have to show the same damn ad thirty times a minute. Seriously, I try to watch the Simpsons in peace but every ad break I have to watch that dumbass scream "IT"S A PORTABLE PHONE" over and over and over. How stupid do these fox dudes think peole are? Alright, I know you have a crappy new show coming out, shut up already. BIJOU.
posted by scott tully 8:37 PM

 
Paul, click HERE if you want to read the prologue to the Dark Tower 5 book. They say now it's coming out early next year.
posted by Nick Lilero 1:34 PM

 
Life Now Divided into Pre and Post Schafer Video Eras

Find a way to watch it.
posted by Nick Lilero 11:14 AM

 
Books

Tales from Watership Down was written in the early 90's, I think. I get the idea that they brought Adams out of retirement with the proverbial dumptruck full of money backed up to his door to write this.

Nick K-F turned me on to a really good book from the 50's entitled The Ugly American, by Lederer and Burdick. Chris, I think this one would be perfect for your club, because it's pretty short, yet it leaves a lot of room for discussion. The book was basically written to address the US's shortcomings in fighting the Cold War.

Black Hawk Down is a must read.

Does the club read only fiction? I have tons of non-fiction recommendations.

Star Wars

I agree with Chapman- that title really sucks. But, then again, this shouldn't surprise us. Star Wars has to be the most overrated movie franchise in history. The last movie was not good at all. And the 1st 3 are nostalgiacally pleasing at best, and plagiaristic of Tolkien at worst. Once the special effects community caught up to Lucas, they really exposed his weaknesses as a filmmaker.

Scott

The Muse added a link to Scott's site over there in the left margin; don't forget to use it frequently. Scott updates the shit out of that site.
posted by Nick Lilero 10:57 AM

 
This will be on the fall TV schedule for sure

While cleaning up my hard drive I came across this gem. It's a Japanese family sitcom skit called Tokyo breakfast where the family members drop n-bombs like they were black. If you have a fast net connection it is definitely worth the download, but it is 13 MB so be warned. Also, this isn't the most PC movie so take the appropriate precautions if you are at work. The file's in asf format so you will need windows media player to play it. To download just right click on the link above and choose "Save Target As" The best part of this clip has to be the interaction between the father and daughter.
posted by Schafer Pugh 10:44 AM

 
the "new kids on the block" are just extras in the movie, not real parts. the star wars series has always had real simple names: empire strike backs, return of the jedi. what is so bad about attack of the clones?

i just read a really good book called the ice harvest. i havent read tales from watership down, but i want to.
posted by Paul Moses 10:20 AM

 
Book Reviews Appreciated

A bunch of the clerks on the Fifth Circuit started a book club a few months ago. It's hard for us to choose good books that none of us have read, so whenever y'all read something that is worthy of note, I'd appreciate hearing about it. Richard Adams has written a book called Watership Down and another book called Tales from Watership Down. Is this a series of books? Has anyone read both of them?
posted by Chris Popov 9:53 AM

 
Dammit Scott

You ruined my post on the hilarity of the India/Pakistan border guards flag lowering ceremony by posting about it first. You only *think* its the funniest thing you've ever seen until the flags are down and then the guys do the ultra high speed goose-stepping thing as though to get away from the other wretched country as fast as they can without actually running. It really looks like its a big joke, like maybe it started out as one guard goofing off a little, then a one-upsmanship thing took hold and the rest of the guards went crazy with it.

I'm now TOTALLY disgusted with the way Star Wars is ending up. The only thing that kept me from laying down on the train tracks was waiting for these movies to come out. I'm beginning to regret that. The fucking new kids on the block are going to be in the next one. How stupid is that? And 'Attack of the Clones'? Was that seriously the best name they could come up with? Great fuck that name sucks. The only saving grace is that, as with the first trilogy, Lucas has handed over the producing reigns, and HOPEFULLY the directing reigns.
posted by John Chapman 1:44 AM

 
i thought he hate me meant that the "man" hated him. anyway that guy has got a little celebrity. he played in three leagues last year: xfl, afl, nfl. he actually made some nfl team and got a very little bit of playing time.

i read some article about that movie a beautiful mind. i guess in the movie a guy fights schizophrenia through intelligence and support from his wife. but the medical guys say the disease is caused by chemical inbalances and shit so it is giving people false hope that you can expect to cure the disease by really trying. and the article said the actual guy is much more wretched than in the movie and still has problems.

posted by Paul Moses 12:25 AM

 
Life Review: Nick Lilero

Needs to get one.
posted by Nick Lilero 12:25 AM

 
Book Review: Watership Down

I finished this one several months ago, and it was extremely awesome. I found out after I read it that Scott had read it and loved it also. Paul and Mark read it on my recommendation, and both professed their love for it. For those of you who don't remember, this is the one starring the rabbits. It sounds so stupid when you try to tell someone about it, but once you start reading it, it's just beautiful page after beautiful page. Back during the Killington Cup, before I had even read it, Mark and I laughed at the quote on the cover which highly praised the book: "Anyone who can read English should read this book". Ironically, I pretty much agree with this statement.
This book has everything: happiness, sadness, adventure, violence, love, politics, economics, etc. In my opinion, the whole tale is a crippling condemnation of communism/naziism/collectivism. The author claims he just wrote a story about bunnies for his little girl, but I don't believe it.
posted by Nick Lilero 12:22 AM

 
Movie Review: A Beautiful Mind

2.75 stars. I don't want to give anything away, but basically, the first hour of the movie shows you a series of events. Eventually, it becomes evident that there are 2 possible explanations for these events. I thought the movie was great until I became certain that the actual explanation was not the one I was pulling for. The movie revives itself a bit at the end, but is still fairly disappointing. Furthermore, I just went online and read a short biography of John Nash (the guy with the "beautiful mind"). As it turns out, enormous liberties were taken in depicting his life. Not surprisingly, the movie leaves out bad stuff and enhances good stuff. It's not as appalling as how much they did this same thing with "The Hurricane", but it's pretty bad. The best thing about the movie was how they really recreated 1950ish Ivy League campus life.
This movie is not for those who don't like "self-seriousness" in entertainment.
posted by Nick Lilero 12:04 AM

Sunday, January 06, 2002

 
Weak Laughter

I have a wieght bench outside that I use to wail on my pecks. whenever I do martin comes out and makes me laugh by doing something that would generally never make me even giggle, like make a goofy face. Of course, as soon as he does this I can no more lift any amount of wieght than I could get a date with Rosie O' Donnell. So there I am stuck with a ridiculous amount of wieght on my chest, laughing my ass off, in serious pain and in danger of suffocating. And even though the thing I would most like to do is stop laughing and throw this chunk of iron off of me, I can't because the idea of dying because I was too happy to take a crushing load off of myself is funny too and it's all I can think about.
posted by scott tully 2:07 PM

Saturday, January 05, 2002

 
So I started a very low level website. So far the only good thing about it is that I put some pictures on it. Other than that I haven't figured out anything to do with it.
If you want ot look at it the address is scotttully.com
posted by scott tully 8:19 PM

 

posted by scott tully 8:19 PM

 
Nick, He Hate Me is your basic trash talk sewn on a jersey. "He" referring to the defenders that guy would burn. I forget his name but I want to say he got picked up by some NFL team.

If Josh Reed had played in the XFL, his jersey would have read "Oh shit! Where'd I go?" or maybe "Isn't anyone covering me?"
posted by Schafer Pugh 8:43 AM

 
My brother and I were watching TV when that india-pakastan border shit came on. We laughed hard for at least ten minutes. It was like they had a whole crew of comedic genuises working in shifts like coal miners to come up with the most stupidly funny marching scenario ever. These dudes could teach the southern drum major a thing or two.
posted by scott tully 12:19 AM

Friday, January 04, 2002

 
Funny Thing Deserves Re-remembering

I saw a year-end Hi's and Lo's show. One of the things they talked about was how wretched the XFL turned out to be. Be that as it may, it sure didn't stop that guy from having the funniest thing possible on the back of his jersey where the names would normally go: HE HATE ME.
I never got the explanation for that one, but it makes me laugh hard every time.

Has anyone seen the stock footage they have of the Pakistani and Indian military guys along that Kashmir border? It's beatifully funny. They look like a bunch of Mark Grahams parading around for our entertainment. They have these ridiculous robes on instead of hardcore military outfits. They step sssssssssuper high up on each step. I would say their feet come up to about shoulder level. It really does look like Mark doing a funny dance for our benefit. Why is everything involving Ayrabs, Hindus and Buddhists so absurd?
posted by Nick Lilero 11:10 PM

 
Movie Review: Black Hawk Down

3 1/2 stars. I definitely thought that having read the book helped me out a lot, and it didn't ruin it at all. This has got to be the best thing Jerry Bruckheimer has ever attached his name to, with the obvious exception of "The Amazing Race". The Ridley Scott direction crept in a bit much towards the end, but it was still alright. It was so realistic-core I couldn't believe it. I'm assuming they didn't film it in Mogadishu, but it sure looked like they did. The first black hawk that went down looked awesome. I don't understand how it isn't real.
posted by Nick Lilero 11:05 PM

 
Hot Reed, Cold Rain and Steve

Amazingly talented is the only explanation. He's not overly big; in fact, he's on the small side. His hands are probably the size of Paul's. He's not thatfast -- probably average for a college WR. Josh Reed is just a playmaker. He plays big and he plays fast. The people that do catch up to him bounce off of him. He's the best receiver after the catch I've ever seen at any level. He's never afraid to get hit. He always lines up in the slot. Huge things happen when he gets the ball. I sat in the end zone for the Sugar Bowl, the first time in recent memory for an LSU game. I actually liked it more for that game. I got to watch patterns and coverages. I got to see the holes that Domanick Davis saw. I got to watch Reed, Clayton, Myers and Webster all run toward me then cut to their pass patterns. It was a welcome way to watch the Tigers' biggest game in decades. Except for the middle-aged man in front of us who called the state trooper on us for cursing, twice, it was my favorite game ever.

I hate the winter. Not just because I hate the cold weather, etiher. As Paul and Nilk both pointed out, it sucks walking from unbearably hot room to unbearably hot room with frigidity in between. But I do hate the cold weather. I wish it were cold from Thanksgiving to New Year's, then brisk until Mardi Gras is over, warm till May then hot till Thanksgiving. But since snow is such a novelty, I like to see it. Damned if I wasn't in New Orleans the first time it snows in Baton Rouge in 14 years. We compensated by having a snowball fight with the snow that was remaining on our cars when we returned the next afternoon.

Now Spurrier is gone. Where does that put LSU? I have to think LSU is among the top two or three in the SEC now, and now will be perennially. No one can dispute that Spurrier was the reason for at least 80% of his teams' success. No question about it, this can only mean good news for LSU, both in gridiron play and recruiting.

G E A U X
posted by Jacques Berry 5:36 PM

 
Kipps' dad didn't say much about Denise. I wasn't sure if he actually remembered her, so towards the end, I asked him specifically if he knew the girl I was talking about. He said that he did. He no longer coaches- he does that 3D resonance stuff for some oil company. He was flying to Kansas to go straight back to work. I guess he's hoping that Kyle will get a fat contract. He says that he thinks Kyle will definitely play tight-end in the NFL. He expects he'll go somewhere towards the end of the draft. We talked about how Rondell Mealey went 2nd to last in the draft, and he still plays for Green Bay. That might sound shitty, but he still makes 3 or 4 hundred grand per year. Kipps' dad was a defensive line coach. He is from the Va Tech area, but he played for Richmond. He was a coach on Clemson's national title team in 1981- I thought that was pretty sweet. He says that the inside word is that Reed is definitely gone, and that one of the 2 linebackers is gone. I'm guessing that that is Trev Faulk.

Paul, I think you missed the most remarkable part of first class- the beautiful hot roll service that seemed like it would never end. In my mind's eye the whole time, I was one of those Greek guys lying around in the bathhouse with 5 beautiful maidens lowering the breadvine into my mouth without my having to move a muscle.
posted by Nick Lilero 12:38 PM

 
Cold Weather and Colds

I have been telling anyone who would listen that cold weather is irrelevant since the 4th grade. Teachers used to yell at me when I would encourage other students to leave their jackets behind when it was time to go outside for recess.

Firstly, I couldn't agree with Paul more. The number one thing I associate winter with temperature wise is being way too hot. Anywhere you go inside they have that shit cranked up way too much. (go back and read Scott's post about how absurdly hot the theater was when they saw LOTR). On this most recent trip to BR, I didn't even bring a jacket. Oh how wealthy I would be if I had a fraction of a cent for every time someone said "...no jacket?".
What really sucks is when you must wear a jacket. For instance, I have about 12 minutes of walking to do for my commute to work. If the temperature is below, say 30 degrees, then I simply must wear a jacket. But of course it's cold and windy, so the tendency is to walk fast and just get it over with. By the time I get to work, I'm somewhat sweaty underneath. And the AMEX is nothing short of a furnace in the winter, so I stay uncomfortable for a long time.
Paul is right about how much it sucks to be responsible for a jacket once it's no longer cold.

Secondly, being in cold weather without warm clothes does not cause you to contract a cold. The only time it will is if your body temperature actually drops an appreciable amount- this will depress your immune system. It's very unlikely that any of us have had a temperature drop such as this. I'm talking about going from 98.6 to like 93 or something.
Colds are viruses. Viruses are spread person to person. During cold weather, people are more likely to be together in confined spaces. Thus, transmission becomes much easier for the viruses. Does anyone know when cold season starts in this country? It's September- coincedentally enough, that's when school children head back to the classroom. Paul also points out that cold weather actually hinders viruses physically, so, if anything, they are less potent during cold weather.
Some people further believe that the fake kind of dry heat that exists indoors dries out the mucus membranes and provides a better place for the germs to spread. The scientific jury is still out on this one, although it doesn't seem altogether far-fetched.

Dave and Kathryn, I'm begging you not to imprison Iz in the atavistic world of "you have to wear a jacket". I have already promised myself that my kids will never be told what kind of outerwear to put on. People like to be comfortable. They are their own comfort regulators. That's what I always tell everybody when they keep bothering me about not wearing a jacket- "Look- I'm an adult! I know when I'm cold. Why would you assume such a low level as to think that I am such a dullard that I don't know how to achieve my own baseline comfort?". The worst thing you can do for a kid is to instill in him this irrational fear of cold weather. Since he is in no danger of catching a cold, he should be allowed to do as he pleases. And the best possible thing is for him to learn on his own- if he doesn't wear a jacket and he is miserably cold at the football game for 3 hours, then next time, you can bet your ass he will wear a coat!

I'm to the point now where I equate a person thinking that having a jacket on for the 5 minutes of outside time will help them from getting a cold with the beliefs of the retarded toddler population of Turkey in the 5th century. It's complete an utter intellectual laziness for people to continue believing these old wives' tales.

Number of times I have worn more than a windbreaker this fall/winter: 0.
Number of times I have been uncomfortably hot inside, despite dressing lightly this fall/winter: infinite.
posted by Nick Lilero 12:26 PM

 
cold weather and germs

I always believed that people got colds more often in the winter because the cold weather stresses out their bodies and knocks down their immune systems. Then the bacteria that is either already in their bodies or is just floating around can get a foothold. A friend of mine claims that current research indicates that people get sick in the winter because they stay inside and are exposed to each other more and pass around germs more.

I don't know though, I still think that my original hypothesis has some merit. When I used to keep fish, whenever they'd get stressed (like if the water was too cold), they'd get diseased then you remove the stress and they get better. Also, if I put in some really hard miles on my bike several days in a row I'll get a minor cold afterward almost every time.

I'm the same way with the jacket. I just get used to cold weather in the winter, then I don't have to worry about the bulk monster jacket action. Paul, just wait until you're married and Denise is like: "Let me borrow your jacket, you don't need it, you're never cold. I just brought this light pullover because I was hoping that it would be enough and I assumed that you would willingly pay the price for my bad decision if it doesn't work out."

The first year of marriage is so lame. You find out how much you both suck in ways you never realized. During me and Kathryn's first year, my hatred of her lameness was only surpassed by my hatred of my own.
posted by David Muse 10:37 AM

 
oh, the sweet sugar bowl. or as i refer to it the tear bowl. my love for josh reed cant be taken any more. no pro.no pro. i dont see how teams continue to let him light them up. arent they double teaming him, shit. i guess maybe lsu has enough weapons where they cant concentrate on him. even with all the beautiful plays in that game, the sportscasters during the game picked the shovel pass that josh reed had for play of the game. just because it was representative of his play. how can one person contain such beauty?

so was it sweet being in the presence of such a beautiful game, nick and jacques? tell me stories? denise asked what kyle kipps dad said about her. is he still coaching somewhere? does kyle think he has pro chances?

so i leave br for a few days and it starts snowing? what the fuck? people love the weather. all i have heard this week from my sister, her husband and denise is put on a jacket its cold. first of all i resent that they think that i am so stupid that i can just never realize what the temperature is. i dont know, i just walk around ignoring my senses. second of all no matter how cold theres no need for jacket. its always one minute from house to car heater that immediately is way too hot, from car immediately to crushingly hot other place (store,movie, restaurant) so now you have this jacket burdening you for the rest of the time. but im the crazy no coat wearer. so we go to the store (which of course is absurdly hot) and immediately denise is asking me to carry her coat while she shops cause it is burdening her. im like this is exactly what i was telling you coats too much why wear. but of course there is no way there is any understanding or changing. then they always break out the youll get sick if you dont wear a coat. im always like germs cause sickness not cold weather. people can just never accept this.

first class sounds sweet. they had various video games you could play? such a sweet image pawpaw and mike sitting on white trash guy's bed. what did yall talk about mike? was there uncomfortable silence?
posted by Paul Moses 2:06 AM

Thursday, January 03, 2002

 
I took a hit off of that first class goodness back in 98. Damn, that shit got with this pimpin. I got stuck in Salt Lake City because of delays. The airline paid for a hotel room, dinner, breakfast and a first class upgrade for all of us involved. Ahh, el luxurio. I think the guy next to me was a college football recruiter. He had a breifcase full of photocopied newspaper clippings and lots of handwritten stats, all of which appeared to be about high-school football players. So much extra leg and arm room in first class, it was like flying in a lazy-boy. We got no special food though or tetris.
posted by David Muse 11:26 AM

Wednesday, January 02, 2002

 
Life Now Divided into "Pre" and "Post" First Class

I just recently attained Silver Elite status in Contintental's frequent flyer program. This trip to Louisiana was my first since that had happened. The best part of being elite is the automatic upgrades to First Class whenever they have room. For this particular trip, I actually was emailed the confirmed upgrades days before the trip even happened. The long leg of the trip was on a 777- it has a huge first class area. I couldn't believe how good it was. Every person basically gets a recliner all to themselves with so much leg room that Shaq would be perfectly comfortable. They served us drinks before we even took off. Then came the beautiful hot towels. The meal was served in courses, with actual plates, silverware and glassware. They started with a beautiful Greek salad. Then the pasta entree. The whole time, they had one person circulating around with a basket of piping hot rolls of different varieties. Then, they served a separate dessert. After I was done gorging myself, I settled back for a leisurely game of Tetris on my personal video screen. And, of course, when the plane arrived, I was the first person off, which was very relevant, because I had to run to catch the connection. The plane to BR was smaller, but I ended up being the only person in First Class, waited on by 2 beautiful serving wenches.

How can First Class be so good? This definitely puts a whole new paint job on everything...
posted by Nick Lilero 7:14 PM

 
Kyle Kipps' Father Makes Affable Travelling Companion

This morning on my connecting flight to Houston, I ended up sitting in an extremely small airplane row with an extremely huge Kyle Kipps father. (for those of you who don't know, Kipps' last game was last night- he was a 5th year senior who started at tight end and eventually moved to defense). He was pretty nice, and he had lots of inside info to give me about LSU football. The weird part about this story, is that we ended up talking about Denise (Paul's fiancee), because I remembered that she used to babysit Kyle when he was little.
posted by Nick Lilero 7:08 PM

 
Sugar Bowl Snow

I had to drive back from the Superdome to Baton Rouge last night after the game, and I doubted the tales of snow up until the time I actually saw the stuff on the ground. It was like it snowed exclusively in Baton Rouge. The collection was pretty good- all the yards, houses and cars were covered. By the time my plane took off this morning at 11, you could only see it on the rooves. It was pretty much gone from the ground. Still, it was pretty cool to see. The stupid part was that all the interstates in BR were closed, even late this morning. It was like 35 degrees outside. Man, they really overreacted to that one. A bunch of people couldn't get home to Lafayette because both bridges were closed. I didn't really understand it too much.

The really big snow in Baton Rouge was in February of 1988, when I was in 8th grade. I remember how everyone at McKinley Middle just jumped up and ran outside in the middle of class. That time, there was a pretty thick collection on the ground, but it was really wet. I remember when I went sliding around in it, it was just like jumping into cold water. The snow last night was a bit more powdery.

In March of 1993 when I came home from Hamilton College for my spring break, it was snowing that night at the New Orleans airport. Mike and my grandfather had come to pick me up, and our battery went dead right as we exited the airport. This story is pretty long, but the upshot of it was when the white-trash guy whose help we had enlisted begged Paw Paw and Mike not to steal from his apartment as he and I left them there while we went to look for a battery. It was quite sick.

Also, last year, as me, Kirk, Paul and Marta came out of the Varsity around midnight of Jan 1, it was lightly snowing.
posted by Nick Lilero 7:05 PM

 
snowmen

It snowed in Ruston, LA in 92. I think it snowed in BR that year as well. It also snowed many years prior to that when I was in 8th grade, so I guess that would have been 83/84?

The best part about the snowmen from that last time it snowed was that they were about 60-70% dirt. So, as the snow melted, there were dozens of giant dirt balls piled up all over my neighborhood. They weren't quite as charming as a snowman but a lot funnier to look at.
posted by David Muse 3:30 PM

 
oops. I meant 88 not 92. Whenever the hell it was.
posted by John Chapman 2:30 PM

 
Blizzard Reports Exaggerated

I flew in at the height of the alleged snowstorm last night. At most there was 1/2 an inch on the ground. None stuck to the streets, and it was all gone by the time I woke up this morning. It was hardly the level of the dumping we got in 92, when we there was enough for snowmen.
posted by John Chapman 2:26 PM

 
snow

Kathryn's mom reports that it "snowed a little" yesterday morning. We've got light flurries this morning in Atlanta. You'd think it was a class 3 kill-storm though, the way people are going on about it.
posted by David Muse 10:23 AM

 
8th grade revisited?!

So my mom calls me this morning and tells me that it has snowed in BR like it did waaayyy back when most of us were in middle school. So is she exaggerating, or am I missing that rarest of occurrences, the Baton Rouge blizzard?
posted by Schafer Pugh 9:49 AM

 
Added a few new terms to the lexicon, including "action" which I cannot believe was never added in the past.
posted by David Muse 1:14 AM