Southern Drive

Heartbreak in Alabama

2007-11-04T21:03:00.000-05:00

Heartbreak in Alabama

Alabama's Rashad Johnson (49) and Simeon Castille (2) tackle LSU's Matt Flynn (15) during the first half of the Alabama - LSU football game Saturday Nov. 3, 2007, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

Two weeks of hype have lead up to another nail biter in Tuscaloosa. We've all read the comparisons between Les Miles and Nick Saban. We've read about the questions of whether Miles has been winning with Saban's recruits or if he has been winning with his coaching prowess. Saturday's game left nothing but more questions for the LSU faithful and broken hearts all over Crimson Nation.

Watching LSU jump out to a 17-3 lead had me worried that the game would be a blowout. Since the UT game, I had known this game would be a good one, but doubt started to creep into my mind.

However, the Crimson Tide showed the scrappiness they been come to be known for and took a promising, yet perilous, 20-17 lead into half-time on the strength of a 67 yard bomb from John Parker Wilson to DJ Hall and another 29 yard touchdown strike from Wilson to Keith Brown.

At his half-time interview, Head Coach Nick Saban showed a poise Alabama's coach has missed since the days of Gene Stallings. When I was jumping around and celebrating what I wanted to be a wonderful lead going into the half, Nick Saban brought it all back to reality telling us the truth about our team. "We need to calm down and play more consistently" is what he said in so many words.

And he was right.

The team was playing well, but with too much emotion. He even mentioned that the team had got to caught up in the media hype of "Saban vs. Miles" and he could tell that from the pre-game warm-ups. He knew that to win, Alabama would have to play the way they came to play and not rely on the emotion that had been built up over the past two weeks.

The Crimson Tide came back in the second half with the composure needed to win the game. After non-scoring drives back and forth between both teams for most of the third quarter, Wilson completed another touchdown pass to one of the forgotten stars of the 2006 season. Keith Brown pulled down a 14 yard touchdown to make the score to 27-17 Bama.

After that catch, ALL the momentum was on the side of the Crimson Tide. Sitting outside watching the game on the porch with a Seven & Seven in hand, I made the star-crossed comment that LSU would need a deep shot down the field for a touchdown the equalize the momentum.

What a terrible thing to say. Should've knocked on wood, I guess.

On the second play of the subsequent LSU drive, Matt Flynn dropped a perfect pass into the hands of Demetrius Byrd for a 61 yard touchdown that did indeed equalize the momentum of the game to make the score 24-27 Bama.

After a LSU field goal by Colt David to tie the score, Javier Arenas showed why he the most feared return man in the SEC. A 61 yard return for a touchdown ignited the ire of the Bama fans in Bryant-Denny Stadium and gave Alabama a 7 point lead.

That lead didn't last long.

John Parker Wilson was sacked on the Alabama 16 and gave up a heart-breaking fumble recovered by LSU on the Alabama 3 yard line. Jacob Hester punched the ball in from the from the Alabama 1 yard line to give the LSU a 41-34 lead.

With about a minute and a half left, memories of the last minute drive against Arkansas fluttered through my mind. Would John Parker lead the 2 minute offense to another cardiac kid touchdown and an overtime showdown against number 3 LSU?

Well, you all know the answer to that question and I don't want to rehash it here. Overall, it was obvious that LSU has more raw talent than Alabama has had in years. But no matter who you are, you cannot argue that coaching on both sidelines kept Alabama in this game throughout.

If Les Miles had kept the LSU offense passing into the middle of the field in the soft underbelly of the Alabama secondary and rushed Hester up the gut all night, the Battle for The West likely would have been a blowout.

Inexplicably, Miles relied on trick plays all night much to the demise of the Bayou Bengals. Some trick plays, such as the reverse pass, worked out and burned Bama, but why try a trick shift on fourth and inches that caused a false start penalty followed by a personal foul that backed LSU up 20 yards and resulted in a Bama score?

Answer?

Les Miles is exactly what most people have made him out to be - a crazed idiot. This LSU teams has so much talent, they should be man-handling every team they play. Instead, Miles feels the need to call on trick plays to beat teams. I have no explanation for this, but I do have an opinion: Miles is actually winning with Saban's recruited talent and not with his coaching skill.

The Bayou Bengals proved why they are they are the most penalized team in the SEC. 14 LSU penalties for 149 yards and 3 Matt Flynn interceptions kept an over-powered Alabama team in the game all night and gave Alabama an opportunity to win a game that should never have been close.

All in all, this game lived up to the hype built up by the media over the 2 weeks since the Tennessee game. There were ups and downs and glimpses of greatness from Alabama like we have seen all season. The Crimson Tide showed the trademark "never give up" attitude that Coach Nick Saban has instilled in this team. They showed heart and grit and played tough for 4 quarters. I'm sure that Coach Saban will say this was not a complete game (and I would agree with him), but with a different coaching staff on the Alabama sidelines, this game likely would have been totally dominated by the Bayou Bengals.

The LSU fans will gloat and rub this win in our faces for the next twelve months, but don't forget what we saw in this game. We saw what we want this program to become. We saw a team that never gave up and played better than their talent should have allowed them to.

Like I said last weekend, the ride may be a bumpy one, but the light at the end of the tunnel is looking brighter and brighter. Let's remember the 24 hour rule and start looking forward to the tough matchup against Mississippi State next weekend. Roll Tide and tell all the Corndogs and the Barners to start numbering their days. The Tide is on the Rise.

The Crimson Tide is on The Rise

2007-10-28T18:37:00.001-05:00

The Crimson Tide is on The Rise

As I have mentioned before, I have been an Alabama fan as long as I can remember. In that span, unfortunately, good memories have been few and far between. I remember the 1992 National Championship game, beating Michigan in the 1997 Outback Bowl, winning the 1999 SEC Championship and beating the snot out of Florida in 2005.

Those are some great memories no doubt, but there is something missing from all of them but one - recent relevance. The memories that are most fresh in my mind are the NCAA probation years, the losing streak to Auburn, the crappy bowl games and Alabama teams that never seem to improve over the course of a season. OK, so that does sound pretty dreary, doesn’t it?

Well, it is.

It’s sad those are the memories that most of us younger fans have. But dang if things haven’t changed dramatically over the course of a ten month period.

Ever since Nick Saban arrived in Tuscaloosa to a Crimson throng of well-wishers, there has been a new found sense of pride and hope in the University of Alabama football program and in Crimson Nation.

Beginning with the Fourth Quarter Conditioning program, this year has been an exciting preview into the future of Alabama Football. No longer is the fourth quarter a time to get nervous because the team is getting tired. No longer is the fourth quarter a time to worry because the team is starting to give up on themselves.

With already committed high school seniors like Tyler Love, Burton Scott, Star Jackson and possibilities of others like Julio Jones, we already have a recruiting class ranked in the Top 5 for the first time in many years. Based on recruiting alone, Bama fans have more to look forward to than we have since the Gene Stallings era.

Not only has our recruiting prowess increased exponentially in the course of ten months, but we’ve won some games that arguably would have been losses in years past. Not only that, but we have also won the games we were supposed to win in convincing fashion. No more trailing Duke at half-time. Without Coach Nick Saban and his coaching staff, I could see our record easily being 4-4. In fact, a close friend of mine who is a UGA fan and I were talking last night about the difference in Alabama from this year and last. He had essentially stumped himself trying to figure out what the difference is, and it came to me.

I said to him, “Fletcher, the difference is coaching, plain and simple. Saban is squeezing talent from those kids that they didn’t know they had. He’s getting them to believe in themselves.”

After what I’d said sunk in, he realized what I said was right. In the post UT game interview with Coach Saban, his emotion showed that he was proud of these guys and things were finally starting to sink in for him and for the players. He is beginning to understand Alabama Football and the players are beginning to understand Nick Saban football. It’s a beautiful thing, really.

This year has given me the good memories that I have missed over the past few years. The Arkansas game will be one that I am not likely to forget anytime soon and whipping Tennessee the way we did last weekend will be a sweet victory for years to come. John Parker Wilson and DJ Hall finally finding a rhythm is an improvement that I hope continues and it even looks like we have a good stable of running backs that the coaches know how to utilize to their best potential.

If this first part of the season is any indication of what the Nick Saban era will bring over the next few years, we have some great things to look forward to. Hang around and enjoy the ride Crimson Nation. It may be a bumpy one, but the light at the end of the tunnel is looking brighter and brighter. For the rest of you in the SEC, don’t get used to being on top of Alabama - The Crimson Tide is on the rise.

State Rep Shows Nude Pictures in School Presentation

2007-10-05T09:16:00.000-05:00

From BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7028389.stm?lsm

Nude images shown in school talk

Mr Barrett was elected in 2006

Schoolchildren in the US state of Ohio were left bemused after images of nude women were shown in a politician's lecture on the legislative process.

State representative Matthew Barrett was giving a computerized presentation at Norwalk High School when the images flashed up on the screen.

He said he had no idea where the images came from, adding that he took them down after a few seconds.

Mr Barrett was "embarrassed and apologetic", police said.

"I believe this was an unfortunate and unintended incident,'' Superintendent Wayne Babcanec told local media.

Mr Barrett, a Democrat elected to the state house of representatives last year, was giving a lecture on the US government.

It took me probably a second or so to look at it and say: 'That's not the Power Point'

Matthew Barrett
Ohio state representative

He inserted a memory stick into his computer which he thought contained graphics showing how legislative bills became law.

Instead, a series of pictures of topless women appeared on the screen, although Mr Barrett said he shut down the computer within seconds.

He said several students chuckled when the images went up.

"It took me probably a second or so to look at it and say: 'That's not the Power Point,'" Ohio's Morning Journal newspaper quoted Mr Barrett as saying.

"It was extremely embarrassing and we had no clue that anything like that was on there."

School staff and police later examined the memory stick, which was found to contain a directory of nude images as well as the presentation.

Democrat spokesman Phil Saken said it had been a present to Mr Barrett from the state library.

It is not clear how or when the images were added.

Not clear how they were added? Come on now.

Respecting the Process

2007-09-24T19:10:00.000-05:00

The Crimson Tide came in to this past weekend ranked in the national polls for the first time since the 2005 campaign. Making the jump from unranked to 16^th is quite a feat and I’m not sure that we really deserved the ranking to begin with, but it still feels pretty damned good to be recognized on the national scene again, huh?

At my humble abode this weekend, we did College Football Saturday Night in the best way possible. We smoked ribs, hung up a queen sized sheet on the back patio, hooked up the projector, cracked open a cold one (or twelve) and watched the game in real South Georgia redneck style. I even invited my saner UGA friends over to watch the game and I have to compliment them because we were all very civil to one another for the entire time. I think I even got a hug or two in comfort following the game - though that was probably just the brews acting their emotions out. Don’t tell them, but cold brews tend to get extremely emotional during and after football games.

Alabama came out flat in the first half and I can’t say that I was particularly surprised. Disappointed? Yes, but not surprised. After such an emotionally and physically draining game last weekend against Arkansas, I knew there was going to be some hangover. Couple that with the fact that Bama was ranked 6 spots higher than UGA and a 3.5 point favorite to win the game and I imagine those young men had a harder time getting pumped up than normal. Granted, Coach Saban is responsible for getting the team ready, but he admitted he didn’t have them ready and accepting responsibility makes me feel better. And not to be superstitious or anything, but ESPN Gameday is apparently not good for the Crimson Tide. Coming into the game, Alabama was 0-4 when Gameday was in Tuscaloosa. Thanks to Mark Richt and Co., we can now move that record to 0-5. Thanks again to the guys from Athens!

Even in the face of a loss, there was a silver lining or two this weekend for all of Crimson Nation. Keith Brown made a real difference for the first time this season. After being suspended for the opener against Western Carolina, not catching a pass against Vandy and then only accumulating 18 yards in the Arkansas game, Brown caught 3 balls for 73 yards Saturday against the Bulldogs. He showed his big play capability with a 43 yard bomb on Alabama’s final touchdown drive and hopefully redeemed himself in the eyes of the coaching staff.

Though the box score won’t show it, the offensive line actually looked pretty good in pass protection and allowed the running backs to accumulate 164 yards. John Parker Wilson had plenty of time to make throws and if memory serves, we didn’t give up a sack all night. (Correct me if I’m wrong on that).

There were no 100 yard rushers this week, but Terry Grant had 80 yards on 11 carries (7.3 yard average) and Glen Coffee had 62 yards on 16 carries (3.9 yard average). Although Wilson overthrew many a pass that could have made for a much different game, he threw no interceptions over 35 attempts.

Our own defense picked off two of Matthew “Keg-Totin” Stafford’s passes, and that’s also a promising stat. He’s a good quarterback and even though we didn’t sack him, the d-line put enough pressure on him to cause a few mistakes, and that’s what a good d-line in the making will do. By the way, Leigh Tiffin seems to have exercised some demons as he was 3 for 3 from field goal range (pardon the b-ball reference) and booted one from 42 yards out! Way to go Leigh!

Sunday and Monday, I perused the various message boards I frequent. Overall, I was satisfied with the game. I hate to lose, but I know that UGA has a more talented team and has a coaching staff that has been in place for six years. I also know that Coach Saban is squeezing everything he can from his team and probably getting the Tide to play over their collective heads by simply getting them to believe in themselves.

I knew there would be some “doom and gloomers” and Chicken Littles out ranting about the various reasons why we lost and how the world was coming to an end, but I have to say that I am a bit surprised and very disappointed in what I actually saw from Tide fans as they cried over their keyboards.

Seeing people comparing this offense to Coach Mike Shula’s offense (there were some runs up the middle on first down, but anyone that complains about that fact obviously knows very little about football) and reading other posts slamming John Parker Wilson truly made me ashamed to be associated with some of our fellow Bama fans.

Don’t get me wrong here, Major Applewhite’s play call to pass on 4^th and 1 wasn’t the best idea in the world and Wilson clearly has some issues to work out at the quarterback position, but we have to remember as fans that this is a process of rebuilding a program that once was the mightiest in the nation.

If there was ever a task-master who could whip this sleeping giant into shape that we all like to scream and yell about - and spend way too much time on the internet talking about - it is Coach Nick Saban. I guarantee you this man and his staff know more about football than any fan forum football flunky could hope to ever know. That statement may or may not have been true of the former coaching staff, but there’s no question about this one. So, don't pick up your cell phone and call an assistant after the game or throw cups on opposing players. If you do Coach Saban may karate chop you.

Coach Saban has been to the top and knows how to get back there. His LSU teams and Les Miles’ teams that have followed were no fluke. Major Applewhite’s offense at Rice was no fluke and Wilson’s 2 minute drills are no fluke. So, let’s get behind The Tide, respect the process, don’t dump on 22 year old amateur athletes and let’s kick Free Shoes University right into the St. Mary’s River this weekend!!

Roll Tide!!

Back in The Saddle Again

2007-09-19T09:40:00.000-05:00

So, it's been a while since I've written anything here. I have to admit that I feel pretty guilty about it, but I'm not sure why. I'm pretty sure no one reads this thing, but I still feel like I should be posting. I hate to give up on anything you know.

I've been pretty busy with Chimneyfish Jones and Fat Jackson lately. Both bands have had some shows in the past few weeks and I have to say that I am pretty pleased with them overall. We got some good crowds and put together some damned good sets. Of course, it rains at some point whenever any band that I'm in has a show. Fat Jackson even got rained out last Friday at Rivers Rock, but it's still fun to get out there and give it a shot. Like Josh said, I've got a rain magnet in my pocket. Hmmm, that could be a good line for a song. I'll have to get to work on that.

Alabama is off to a rip-roaring start to begin the Nick Saban era. 3-0 with a helluva win over the Razorbacks isn't a bad way to begin for Saban. I would even say that it truly couldn't get much better. Even the media who ripped him so hard all year are seeming to take a softer approach to Bama and Saban. Hell, even the AP voter from San Jose, CA ranked Bama in his top 10. I don't know if we're that good, but seeing some love from the Left Coast is a refreshing change.

Personally, I am tempering my jubilation with a little common sense. I hope all of Bama Nation is too, but I have a feeling that there will be some that will lose their minds when we drop that first game. It could easily come this weekend against UGA if they come in clicking on all cylinders offensively. If that happens, I'm sure the message boards will be on fire with the Chicken Littles of the world. There will be claims that JPW isn't good enough and rival fans will start with the $4 Million jokes. I love Alabama football just as much or more (probably more) than the next Crimson Tide Fan, but some people amaze me at how bent out of shape they get over a loss. Everyone has an idol they worship I guess, some people just make poor choices.

Dale Murphy's Take on Barry Bonds

2007-08-08T15:11:00.000-05:00

This is directly from the Atlanta Journal Constitution, but I think that it deserves posting.

AJC Original Article

Dale Murphy: Bonds 'terrible example for our kids'

The Associated Press
Published on: 08/08/07

Salt Lake City — Two-time NL MVP Dale Murphy thinks Barry Bonds is a "terrible example for our kids" and that the San Francisco Giants used performance-enhancing drugs "without a doubt."

"Barry's a great player, there's no question about it, but he put an asterisk by his name on his own," Murphy said Monday on AM radio 1280 The Show. "He's deserved all the negative publicity that he's getting. I mean, people are calling up and complaining, I've heard the last few weeks, that that he's being treated unfairly. You know, life just usually isn't like that. You don't usually get treated unfairly. You usually get what you deserve. This is what Barry deserves. He's a hard guy to like. He's a hard teammate to have and, you know, he's set a terrible example for our kids."

Murphy, who hit 398 homers in 18 major league seasons before retiring in 1993, said he refuses to watch Bonds' games.

"That's what you say to your kids. You say, 'This is what happens when you take steroids. Your dad doesn't want to watch this, because this is stuff that's drug abuse, basically, as we know," he said.

Bonds, who broke Hank Aaron's record Tuesday night by hitting his 756th home run, has denied knowingly using performance-enhancing drugs. A federal grand jury in California has been investigating Bonds on possible perjury and tax charges.

"Even in a court of law you can have ... a preponderance of circumstantial evidence to convict somebody," Murphy said. "Now, maybe I'm wrong, but when you get enough stuff on a guy, you can make a decision and it's just really a no-brainer. The guy would have become one of the great ones, anyway. ... But now, he sucked the fun and the life right out of it. I mean, there is enough evidence to me to say without a doubt he used performance-enhancing drugs. He hit 73 home runs when he was 37. I mean, Hank would have hit 855 if he had the same advantage."

Popular Rock Disgusts Me

2007-07-31T16:30:00.000-05:00

Alright, this is my problem with most new rock music of today. Popular rock (and I stress popular) music has become a product of the corporate money-making machine. Everything that rolls out is some sort of copy of what Nickelback has been doing for the last 5 years. That would be OK, except that there is really no shining musicianship that come from these bands. There are no great singers, no great guitarists, no great drummers or anything of the like. That Daughtry guy is one exception. He can sing, but that's about all that band has going for it. But, that's what happens when you just throw some people together to sell records and don't actually have any band chemistry or innovative minds.

When was the last time you heard a screaming guitar solo on the radio that wasn't 20 or 30 years old? None of these punks putting music on the radio today seem to have a grasp on what making real music is all about. Why can't someone put together a song that doesn't consist of someone chugging away on a distorted guitar the entire 3 minutes with a bass line that just follows the chugging guitar around? They can make a hook and a 3 minute song, but where are the "Strangleholds" and the "In Memory of Elizabeth Reeds" of today?

I'll tell you exactly where they are. They are toiling away on the live music circuit playing small time gigs and festivals. Bands like Drive By Truckers, Gov't Mule, North Mississippi Allstars, Rose Hill Drive, Perpetual Groove and others are making some incredible music, but they aren't getting any radio play and I guarantee you they would blow Hinder, Nickelback or Shinedown out of the water just by tuning up their guitars.

I will say that Incubus and Red Hot Chili Peppers are putting out some music that is pretty damned good that gets radio play, but that's about it. Audioslave was doing some good stuff, but they couldn't keep the group together.

Maybe what it all boils down to is the fact that the big record labels are in bed with the radio conglomerates that seem to be taking over the airwaves. The suits in their big record label offices know they can sign these bands that all sound the same and sell records. I understand they want to make as much money as they can, but why is the majority of the American public eating these records up? Is it because MTV has numbed our brains to what good music is really all about?

Maybe The Buggles were right when they said "Video killed the radio star." It just makes me sick that people today are so focused on image and "sexuality" (as defined by the media, btw) that we'll settle for a lesser product.

Does anyone see where I am coming from here?

How To Make the World's Best Jell-O Shooters

2007-07-30T09:30:00.000-05:00

I have been experimenting with Jell-O Shooters for a long time and I think that I have come up with the perfect recipe. If you don't believe me, just ask any of my many party guests. They should at least remember the first couple of shots, so you can believe them. This is the way that I have been doing it for a couple of years and everyone seems to be in agreement that they are the best. I always make a double batch (two boxes) at a time and remember that lemon and/or lime jello is a not a good choice of flavors. For some reason, those two are just too damned strong no matter what you do. Anyway, here's the recipe for the World's Best Jell-O Shooters:

Here's your supply list:

Jell-O (buy your favorite flavor and always buy two of each flavor)
Your favorite cheap vodka or rum (I generally use Barton's vodka)
Tap Water
Some sort of small portion cup (I like these, but I get them from a restaurant buddy. You may want to pickup some of these little bathroom cups)

Once you've got all your supplies, start by putting your vodka into the freezer. Then get a pot of water boiling on the stove. Next, setup your cups on trays or sheet pans for easy transportation into the fridge. I use a tea pitcher as my mixing vessel, so go ahead and get that ready too.

Take your two boxes of matching Jell-O (or a combination if that's what turns you on) and empty the contents into the pitcher. Once your water is boiling, you will need to use a measuring cup with a handle to measure out two cups of boiling water from the pot on the stove. You need to be extra careful with this step because it is very easy to burn the piss out of yourself with boiling water.

Once you've got the water measured out, go ahead and mix it with the Jell-O powder in your pitcher. All the powder needs to be completely mixed in, so be vigilant with your mixing. Now, we come to the tricky part.

Normally, this Jell-O recipe would use two cups of boiling water and two cups of cold water, so people just assume two cups of cold alcohol should be substituted for the water. Not so fast my friend!! This is the mix that I have developed and it has just the right blend to give a bit of alcohol flavor, but not so much as to make you want to vomit immediately. First, I measure out 1.5 cups of vodka and then add a half cup of water to the vodka giving me two cups all together. Next, I use my cocktail shaker to chill the liquid as much as possible. For you non-bartenders out there, you add ice and your liquid into the shaker and shake vigorously. Then you strain the chilled mix into the pitcher of boiling water and Jell-O mix and stir again.

After you have mixed the ingredients well, you can commence to filling up those little cups of joy that we setup earlier. Once they are all filled, they go into the fridge for about 3 or 4 hours. When the Jell-O Shooters start to firm up, you are ready to go. These things make bad parties better and great parties legendary. You can trust me on that!

Electric Souls?

2007-07-05T10:09:00.000-05:00

I don't know if any of y'all are Time Magazine subscribers, but a little while back they had an issue with some scientific breakthroughs that pretty much broke human beings and their souls down into electrical impulses and chemical reactions. I didn't really think about it again until I read one of my buddies' blogs on MySpace and it all came flooding back. You can read his blog entry HERE.

Here is my response to his entry:

I read that Time as well and I also came to a similar conclusion. However, I think that it unsettled me so much that I pushed it right out of my brain and didn't think about it again until I read this little blurb. 'Preciate that, dude.

I remember reading that magazine and thinking, "How can everything that I am be broken down into a series of electrical pulses and chemical reactions?" It makes everything way too simple. How can love and music and emotional pain and everything else be nothing more than neurons clashing together and driving me to react because electricity says that I should? I'll never be satisfied by that explanation.

The whole thing reminds me of religious zealots and scientific lab rats (not the white furry kind). I don't understand people who believe the Earth is 10,000 years old and will argue with you until your brain is numb and bleeding. These scientists that can't see anything except for sterile theories that can be proven in the lab also dumbfound me. Everything has to be black and white and have some mathematical argumentative formula that makes it true.

To me, life is a blend of all those things. I can accept that the Old Testament was written by people who were trying to explain the origins of life the best way they knew how and maybe things didn't really happen exactly as the Bible describes. I can also accept that there are things we can't prove exist, but are out there. It amazes me that some of the most brilliant scientific and religious minds in the world are so blinded by their own selfishness.

How Lazy Can People Really Be?

2007-05-25T10:29:00.000-05:00

Let it Ride on CNN.com

I was reading CNN.com today and came across this story called "Able-bodied gamblers let it ride in Vegas". I was thinking this would be some sort of good article about hot women gambling in Vegas. Oh no, it was about perfectly healthy 20-somethings renting motorized wheelchairs to motor their lazy asses around casinos and hotels in Sin City!

This is the quote from one of the people doing this:

"It was all the walking," 27-year-old Simon Lezama said on his red Merits Pioneer 3. Lezama, a trim and fit-looking restaurant manager from Odessa, Texas, rented it on Day 3 of his five-day vacation, "and now I can drink and drive, be responsible and save my feet."

Are you kidding me Simon? I mean really, how lazy are we becoming as Americans? You're in Vegas, gambling, drinking and living the life, but you can't even carry yourself around on your own two feet? The guy works in a restaurant for Pete's sake! He's got to be used to standing all day.

It's bad enough that we even need these motorized things for people that are so obese they can't even get themselves around without a motor. Now we've got people so damned lazy they will sacrifice their dignity to avoid a little exercise to offset the pure gluttony of Las Vegas. Makes you proud to be an American, doesn't it?

Facebook to Integrate Music and Betting Widgets

2007-05-25T08:58:00.000-05:00

I've always liked Facebook much more than MySpace because it's faster, more organized and just easier to navigate with a lot less ads. The allure that MySpace has is the ability to totally customize your own page with pictures and backgrounds and being able to add music to your profile. I really like the music part of MySpace and I have always wished that there was some kind of music aspect to Facebook.

Well, it looks like Facebook is trying to make a move on the music section by integrating with a company called iLike. The plan comes from Ali Partovi of iLike a music community and recommendation system that is being rebuilt as a service that lives completely inside Facebook. Facebook is also going to be adding a service called PicksPal that is for making "picks" for sports and entertainment...all in the name of bragging rights and fun of course. It will be interesting to see what comes of this new service.

Here is a more in-depth article regarding the new services: Webware

*EDIT*

Here is another article a blogger (Michael Arrington) posted from the meeting where the announcement was made. It looks like Facebook's photo application is also going to be opened to developers: TechCrunch

SEC Football Breakdown

2007-05-24T16:59:00.000-05:00

As much as I have grown to dislike ESPN in the past few years, there are occasionally good and informative articles posted by their writers. Here is a good one breaking down the teams of the SEC. The University of Alabama is first in line, of course. (don't tell anyone it's because the list is alphabetized)
SEC Breakdown

FujiFilm S6000fd

2007-05-24T14:00:00.000-05:00

I've always had some interest in photography starting back as far as I can remember. In fact, my initial interests were probably to the chagrin of my parents now that I think of it. My Dad had a Canon AE-1 35mm camera from back in the 80s and I can remember thinking how cool all the lenses were and playing with the little arms and openings trying to figure out what they did. Now that I have that camera and have burned up some film with it, I now know why I was chastised at length for being so curious. A 5 year-old's touch isn't so great for a $500 zoom lens!

Now that I have gotten a little more advanced with my photography skills, I have moved on from building castles with lenses to actually purchasing my own cameras and taking good care of them. I was the proud owner of a Sony DSC P200 for a long time. For a compact P&S camera, that thing took some amazing pictures. I would probably still be using it now if it wasn't for an unfortunate deadly encounter with a bottle of Zephyrhills water. After the death of Sony, I took up with the Canon AE-1 for an amount of time, but developing film proved to not be worth the dent that it put in my wallet. I guess I'm a little spoiled by never having had to develop film before.

After much research and forum lurking, I decided that the FujiFilm S6000fd was the camera for me. I like taking pictures at the concerts that I attend and the S6000fd has a Super CCD sensor that is capable of ISO levels as high as 3200! Admittedly, 3200 does produce some noisy images, but the 1600 level is great for capturing fast action shots at full zoom. Along with full manual control, aperture priority, shutter priority, program, scene presets and movie capability, this is one of the best so-called "bridge" cameras that link between compact consumer P&S cameras to professional dSLR cameras.

The "Face Detection" software seems gimmicky at first, but it actually works quite well. It is based on a complicated algorithm that detects the human face based on two eyes and a mouth. I have read that it will not work on animals, but I have seen my camera do it and I have only had it a week.

Here are the tech specs:

Number of effective pixels	6.3 million pixels
CCD sensor	1/ 1.7-inch Super CCD HR
Number of recorded pixels	Still image : 2,848x2,136 / 3,024 x 2,016(3:2 format) / 2,048 X 1,536 / 1,600x1,200 / 640 X 480 pixels Movie : 640 x 480 pixels ( 30 frames/sec.), 320 x 240 pixels ( 30frames/sec.)
Storage media	Internal memory (approx. 10MB)/ xD-Picture Card™ ( 16MB - 1 GB )
File format	Still image : JPEG (Exif Ver 2.2 ) CCD-RAW (Design rule for Camera File system compliant / DPOF-compatible) Movie : AVI (Motion JPEG )
Lens	Fujinon 10.7 X zoom lens , F 2.8 - 4.9
Lens focal length	f=6.2-66.7mm Equivalent to 28 - 300 mm on a 35 mm camera
Focus	Mode : Single-AF , Continuous AF, Manual Focus, One-touch AF(when using Manual focus) AF system : TTL contrast-type , AF-assist illuminator AF frame selection : AF(CENTER), AF(MULTI), AF(AREA)
Focus distance	Normal : approx. 40 cm / 1.6 ft. to infinity(W) approx. 2 m / 6.6 ft. to infinity(T) Macro : approx. 10 cm /4.0 in. to 3.0m / 9.8 ft.(W) approx. 90 cm /3.0 ft. to 3.0m / 9.8 ft.(T)
Shutter speed	30 sec. to 1 / 4000 sec.
Aperture	F 2.8 F11Up to 13 steps in 1/3 EV increments Manual /Auto selectable
Sensitivity	AUTO / Equivalent to ISO 100/200/400/800/1600/3200
Exposure control	256-zone TTL metering Multi, Spot, Average
Exposure modes	Programmed AE(When using P mode : Program shift is enable), Shutter-priority AE, Aperture-priority AE, Manual exposure
White balance	Automatic Manual (Fine, Shade, Fluorescent light (Daylight), Fluorescent light (Warm White) Fluorescent light (Cool White), Incandescent light
Viewfinder	0.33 inch low-temperature polysilicon TFT (approx. 115,000 pixels) , approx. 100 % coverage
LCD monitor	2.5 inch Amorphous silicon TFT ( approx.235,000 pixels), approx. 100 % coverage
Flash	Auto Effective range (ISO 1600): Wide angle: Approx.0.6 m - 8.3 m / 2.0 ft.- 27.2 ft. Telephoto: Approx.2.0m - 4.6m / 6.6 ft - 15.1 ft. Flash mode : Auto, Red-eye Reduction, Forced Flash, Suppressed Flash, Slow Synchro. Red-eye Reduction + Slow Synchro.
Self-timer	Approx.10sec./ 2 sec. delay
Video output	NTSC / PAL selectable
Digital Interface	USB 2.0 High-Speed
Power source	4 AA type alkaline batteries (included)/4 AA type Ni-MH rechargeable batteries (optional) or AC power adapter AC-5VX(optional)
Dimensions	130.9 (W) X 97.5 (H) X 128.0 (D) mm / 5.2 (W) X 3.8 (H) X 5.0 (D) in.
Weight	Approx.600 g / 21.2 oz.(excluding batteries and xD-Picture Card )
Digital zoom	Approx 2x
Shooting modes	Normal : Auto, Anti-blur, Scene Position ,Macro, Movie, Continuous, SP: Natural Light, Natural & Flash, Portrait, Landscape, Sport, Night, Fireworks, Sunset, Snow, Beach, Museum, Party, Flower, Close-up, Text Continuous : 1.Top-3 ( max.2.2 frames/sec., up to 3 frames) 2.Final-3 ( max.2.2 frames/sec., up to 3 frames) 3.Long-period (max.0.7frame/sec. Up to memory card size)
Colour modes	B&W / CHROME / STANDARD
Movie recording	640 x 480 pixels, 30 frames/sec. 320 x 240 pixels, 30 frames/sec. With monaural sound, AVI format (Motion JPEG)
Voice Memo	Up to 30 sec. WAV format
Playback functions	Single frame, 9 Multi-frame, Sorting by date, Image rotate, Post shot Assist window (3 frames), Voice Memo, Trimming, Automatic playback
Accessories included	4xAA type Alkaline batteries Shoulder Strap USB cable A / V cable Lens cap Lens cap holder Lens hood CD-ROM FinePixViewer RAW File converter included) ImageMixer VCD2 LE for FinePix RAW FILE CONVERTER LE
Optional accessories	xD-Picture Card™: 16MB, 32MB, 64MB, 128MB, 256MB, 512MB, 1GB, 2GB PC Card Adapter DPC-AD CompactFlash™ CardAdapter DPC-CF 4 x AA type Ni-MH 2700Ah batteries Wide conversion lens WL-FXS6 Premium and mini multi-purpose leather cases Worldwide Travel Charger (including 4x AA Ni-MH rechargeable batteries) Wide Conversion Lens WL-FXS6 DPC-AD PC Card Adatptor (xD Picture Card and Smart Media) DPC-CF CompactFlash Adaptor for xD-Picture Card DCR2-161 16 in 1 USB 2.0 multi-format Digital Card Reader and 3 portUSB 2.0 Hub DCR2-xD USB 2.0 Memory Card Reader for xD-Picture Cards AC-5V Car Adaptor

Here is one picture from my first outing with it I took with the camera the day after I got it. The colors came out really well and the big LCD and the EVF make framing and composing shots a breeze.

All in all, this is a spectacular camera for the budding photographer looking to learn the ins and outs of full manual controls, while also having the ability to capture stunning photos. The low price tag is also a major plus. Look for prices around the $300 range from online retailers.

Son Volt - The Search (Deluxe Edition)

2007-05-17T10:45:00.000-05:00

Son Volt - The Search (Deluxe Edition)

Formed in 1994 by Jay Farrar after the breakup of Uncle Tupelo, Son Volt has been successfully making music for over thirteen years. Their latest album is an eclectic and ever style-shifting alternative collection of tunes that evidences the many musical influences that have played a part in Farrar’s life.

The album’s first track “Slow Hearse” is a slow and melodic tune that reminds of an old Irish battle hymn, except for the fact that the only lyrics are “Feels like driving ‘round in a slow hearse.” The steady ratt-a-tatt-tatt of the snare drum gives a vision of marching a fallen comrade to his final resting place, and maybe that’s what Farrar is trying to convey to the listener.

The second track, The Picture, makes an instant shift from slow and mournful to joyful and swinging and is a great mix of horns and rocking guitars. The track is even slightly reminiscent of Jakob Dylan’s The Wallflowers. Don’t let the beat fool you though. As always, Farrar sings cryptically and the lyrics are dark and foreboding. Farrar sings “A heart of darkness, facing a thousand bloodshot eyes. We’ll know when we get there, we’ll find mercy.” It’s hard to imagine the sound that the song projects when you read lyrics like that, but Farrar seems to be almost intentionally hiding the true meaning of his lyrics behind the happy go-lucky feel of the song.

Circadian Rhythm harkens back to the “Automatic for the People” days of R.E.M. Farrar wails in a style that Michael Stipe would be proud. In another cryptic set of lyrics, Farrar seems to be protesting the war in Iraq and the decisions made by the Bush administration regarding the conflict. The lyric “Carrying on so far under the cross, manifestos to keep us sane. The times so weary of conflict, solid answers, solid blame” is really the only thing that gives this song away as a wartime protest.

Later in the album, Farrar duos beautifully with Shannon McNally in the mournful and poetic Highways and Cigarettes. This track contains perhaps the best and most American lyric in the entire album. “Still out there with the coffee stains and putting miles on shoes. Can’t escape the smell of cigarettes, still living out these American midnight blues” is a haunting and striking lyric that romanticizes the never ending trek of the American big-rig driver.

The Search is available from iTunes and your local record store. However, the Deluxe Edition is only available through iTunes, which is a shame because it is impossible to get the lyrics to the album through iTunes, and this is one of those albums that having the lyrics can really change your view of the whole work.

All in all, Son Volt’s latest album is a mournful and, at times, heartbroken collection of great tunes. There is a little bit of something for everyone with great steel guitar, hard rocking guitar effects, mournful piano and beautiful duets. With track titles like Coltrane Free, Adrenaline and Heresy, Automatic Society and Bicycle Hotel, there is plenty of exploring to be done with this album and you could spend months on end trying to parse the lyrics of the album. I think that’s how Farrar meant for it to be and I invite you to do the same. I give this album 4 out of 5 peaches.

Stevie Ray Vaughan - Live at Montreux 1982 & 1985

2007-05-17T10:31:00.000-05:00

Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble
Live At Montreux - 1982 & 1985

If you asked any lover of blues and rock guitar to name the top five guitarists of all time, you would be hard pressed to find someone who would not mention the live and legendary Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Growing up in Dallas, Texas, Stevie was influenced by some of the greatest musicians of all time. At the hand of his parents, he and his brother Jimmie witnessed such legends as Fats Domino, Jimmy Reed and Bob Willis early in life. Fats’ and Reed’s bluesy guitar styles clearly influenced Stevie’s own guitar style as is evidenced by the common blues riffs that were incorporated into nearly every single song that Stevie composed and subsequently ripped to pieces on stage. Willis also exerted his own influence on Stevie with his Western Swing and scat style that is showcased in Stevie’s “Collins Shuffle.” As he grew older, he was also greatly influenced by later guitar and blues gods such as Jimi Hendrix and Buddy Guy, whose influential style is very prominent in Stevie’s soulful guitar play.

One of SRV’s most important albums is Live at Montreux - 1982 & 1985. Up to that point in his musical career, no other show had been as big and important as that one. Montreux Jazz Festival is an annual occurrence that takes place in early July in Switzerland on the banks of Lake Geneval.

The festival’s roots included such acts as Keith Jarrett, Bill Evans and Ella Fitzgerald and it was originally a strictly jazz festival. When Stevie Ray Vaughan took the stage for the first time in 1982, his songs were greeted by many boos and hisses which are very evident in the tracks of the album. Concert goers apparently expected much more of a laid back jazz style with less rock and roll from Stevie.

Thankfull, those people were sorely disappointed and Stevie put on one of the best shows of all time in Montreux. His opening song, "Hide Away" has a classic rockabilly style that I’m sure the Swiss people of Montreux were not ready for. The song is more reminiscent of Texas style swinging country than it is of Stevie’s most popular songs, and the crowd’s reaction is an unpleasant reminder of that very fact. Even when SRV and Double Trouble moved into such classics as “Pride and Joy” and “Texas Flood”, the crowd’s reaction reflected their expectations for a more jazzy style than Stevie was delivering. Stevie’s experience as a honky-tonk act in Texas paid off, however. No matter how much flak he received from the audience, he rose above the abuse and flat out played that guitar in such a style as to make Hendrix proud. Even in the face of a hostile crowd, Stevie and Double Trouble continued their assault of their set with such swinging songs as “Give Me Back My Wig” and “Collins Shuffle”.

So impressive was SRV’s set that fellow performers David Bowie and Jackson Browne approached Stevie after the show and offered him gigs as touring and studio guitarist in their upcoming albums and tours

Included in this album is the 1985 version of the same performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival. By this time, Stevie had achieved legendary status as a guitar god and received a much warmer welcome.

All in all, this album, although not that well known, is one of the best live recordings of all time. Certainly it is the best live recording of SRV and Double Trouble, and is only amplified even more due to Stevie’s untimely death.

This album is available from iTunes or your local music store and is also available on DVD. I would personally recommend taking the time to watch the DVD because it gives you a much greater appreciation of Stevie’s guitar prowess and most importantly, his passion for music. Out of a possible five peaches, I have to give this classic a five!

What It Means to Be Crimson Tide

2007-05-17T10:30:00.001-05:00

It’s hard to pinpoint the exact time that I became an Alabama fan, and I think it’s because there was never any real beginning to my fandom. It’s more like the existence of God. You know - no beginning, no end? I’m pretty sure I was born a kicking and screaming Alabama fan and never looked back. My Dad, who also bleeds Crimson, even gave me a fair chance to make a switch when I was but a youngster. He bought me a UGA trash can years and years ago, and even though I have lived in Georgia my entire life and I still have that trash can to this very day, I never even thought about being a Bulldog fan.

My great-grandma and great-grandpa were both professors at the University back in the 60s and 70s, and that pretty much sealed the deal for me before I even produced a conscious thought. Grandma was a math professor and Grandpa was a physics professor and the dean of the graduate school. They even tutored “Broadway” Joe Namath at their house in Northport when he was a struggling student-athlete at The Capstone. My Dad tells the story of Namath having Thanksgiving dinner with them one year and playing in the Annual Turkey Bowl after dinner. I know that was a special time and I have to say that I am a little jealous of that memory!

Unfortunately, I never got to meet Grandpa, but I spent a lot of time with Grandma as a child in Tuscaloosa where I learned about the University of Alabama. Some of my earliest memories of Tuscaloosa are going to the Children’s Hands on Museum in downtown and spending all afternoon there with my Grandma and then riding through campus with her and taking in all the scenery and grandeur of The Capstone. Perhaps my most special memory of Grandma and the University was at the ground-breaking ceremony for their library, the Eric and Sarah Rodgers Science and Engineering Library. Our entire family was there for the dedication and it’s something that is a huge source of pride for me and was perhaps the real beginning of my realization that there was this big school in Tuscaloosa that would always mean a lot to my family and me.

As I grew older, we spent more and more time on Lake Tuscaloosa every summer skiing, swimming and spending time with family. I remember one summer, my sister and my cousin were struggling to learn to ski. If you’ve ever tried to learn how to water-ski, you know exactly how excruciating it can be having water skeet up your butt 17 times in a row at 25 miles an hour because you can’t seem to stand upright on these two skinny planks on top of the water. Well, this guy in a MasterCraft happened along our slough and the gentleman inside the boat offered to help teach the two. They jumped in the boat and immediately began popping right out of the water! Well, turns out this wasn’t just some loon looking for struggling skiers on the lake, but Tom Strong himself, the long time ski-team coach for the University of Alabama! I doubt that he remembers my sister or that day on the lake, but it’s a special memory for me that only serves to solidify me love of the Crimson Tide.

We lived in Brunswick, Georgia until I was 10 and my mom was a school teacher, so summer travel was our thing and we rarely, if ever, made it to T-Town for ball games. I think the first memory that I have of really watching a game on television though was the 1992 National Championship game. The reason that I remember that game so vividly was that my Dad, who is a die-hard fan like me, had on the most ridiculous get-up I had ever seen up to that point. Come to think of it, I can’t think of many more ridiculous outfits in all my years since then, and I have been to some UGA games in Athens where people favor tight red pants and suspenders on game day. He was wearing a white Crimson Tide straw hat, white long johns, red University of Alabama suspenders and a pair of University of Alabama boxers on top of his long-johns. I’m pretty sure that he had some kind of ridiculous button on too, but those suspenders and the boxers on top of his pants kind of block the details out. Now, this might not seem so bad in the privacy of your own home, but imagine going to the store with your pie-eyed Dad dressed up like that as an easily embarrassed nine year old child. It was appalling at the time, but I have to say that it makes for a good memory, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

As I started getting older, I started working weekends in restaurant kitchens and Alabama was in and out of trouble. I missed a lot of games between the time I was 15 and 21, but whenever there was a chance to catch a glimpse of the game on the bar TV or listen to it on the kitchen stereo, you better believe I was tuned in. I specifically remember the 1999 SEC Championship game when Alabama whipped Florida 34-7!! The reason that I remember this game so well is because there was a guy that worked with me at one of the restaurants and he was one of the extremely obnoxious blue-jean shorts wearing Florida fans who had been talking all kinds of trash before the game. Well, me being the humble and gracious person that I am, I hooted and hollered and generally rubbed it in his face until I lost interest months later. Ok, maybe I’m not so humble and gracious, but you know what they say: It’s had to be humble when you’re from Alabama!

As much fun as all those early memories were, the last few years haven’t been so kind for us Crimson Faithful. I remember exactly when this losing streak to Auburn began. I was out deer hunting and listening to the game on the radio. I don’t remember a whole lot about the game (I tend to repress bad memories), but I do remember just being sick and not wanting to face any of my Barner friends. But, I knew that it would only last one year and we would be back on top by next November. Well, 5 years later I was in Tuscaloosa for my first Iron Bowl live in person, still waiting to be on top again. All those feelings came rushing right back in just like they had 4 years ago, except they are much stronger when you’re actually a part of the atmosphere in downtown Tuscaloosa. Not to mention that it felt like a knife had been festering for 4 years and was just twisting deeper and deeper into my gut. I’m getting a little sick to my stomach right now just thinking about it.

Thankfully, Pepto-Bismol started making this new cure for Alabama fans. In case you hadn’t heard, his name is Nick Saban and it seems to work pretty well so far. I don’t know what it was like when Coach Bryant got hired back in the day, but I have been told that there was jubilation in Crimson Nation on a scale similar to what we are experiencing now. I know everyone says (well, at least hopeful/jealous rival fans), “Ahh, y’all will have him for 3 years and he’ll leave you too.” Well, he may very well do exactly that. But for right now, 3 years of this kind of feeling will push these last 5 right out of my mind, and that’s worth $32 million to me.

What it means to Be Crimson Tide means remembering exactly how we got to this place today (not only the good times, but also the bad) and knowing what it takes for us to get back where we belong. It means following the leadership of Coach Saban and being patient; expectant and demanding, but patient nonetheless. So, here’s to the next era of Crimson Tide Football.

Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer, Give ‘em Hell Alabama! Roll Tide!

Welcome

2007-05-17T10:19:00.000-05:00

Well, I kinda put this thing together on a whim, so I'm not sure what is going to come of it. However, I'm sure that I will be posting little things from time to time, so check in and see what's happening!