Go Vote!

It is now time to take action. Early voting in the State of Texas has started. It is important to take this time to go vote to let your voice be heard. The key position being fought for this season is the coveted Governor for the Great State of Texas. You have read about them, heard about them, watched the debate that they participated in, and now it is time to take action and let your voice be heard. Below are links for the blogs that I wrote about each candidate, read over them and check out their website to refresh your memory and then go vote:

Perry : http://dlm0078.blogspot.com/2006/09/part-4-of-4-gov-rick-perry.html
Kinky: http://dlm0078.blogspot.com/2006/09/part-3-of-4-kinky-friedman.html
Strayhorn: http://dlm0078.blogspot.com/2006/09/gubernatorial-election-part-2-of-4.html
Bell: http://dlm0078.blogspot.com/2006/09/blog-special-gubernatorial-candidates.html

For voting locations, google your specific county and then look for their Elections page. If you are in Denton County, their website is : http://elections.dentoncounty.com/go.asp?Dept=82&Link=894

This page gives dates, times, and locations of polling places. This week, you can go to the Carroll Building (right off of the Square) between 8 and 5pm to vote Monday - Friday, and you can also go 7am-7pm on this Saturday and 1-6pm on Sunday. It is located at the corner of Carroll and Mulberry.

This is an important time in Texas politics. There are some changes that could stand to be made and the only way that WE can do anything about it is to take this time to vote.

When you go to vote, you can take your Voter Registration Card or just your Drivers License. It is that simple.

Remember, we have people out there fighting for this right to vote and we should respect them by practicing this right.

Diane Sawyer is CRAZY!!

I don't know why they chose to do it, but ABC decided to send Diane Sawyer, from Good Morning America, to North Korea. She did her first broadcast from there this morning and will do reports for GMA and World News Tonight at 530pm. She is one of 300 foreigners in a country of 23 million. When she got off of the plane, she had to give up her cellphone, BlackBerry and any other device that can be used to communicate with the outside world. They were issued North Korean cellphones, but I am sure that they are bugged. This is one of the few times that a Western journalist has been allowed into the country.

This all comes at a bad time because over the weekend, the UN has issued sanctions on North Korea and today, Kim Jong Il has considered these sanctions placed by the UN are an act of war. I would not want to be there during all of this.

You can watch her reports on ABC from 7-9am (on Ch 8 here in the Metroplex) and at 530pm on World News Tonight. She is also keeping a blog and will be posting reports online.. check out the GMA website here. Good luck to you Mrs. Sawyer... you will need it..

Picture credits: GMA website.. behind Sawyer is a statue to Kim Jong Il's father...

SWA is now free to move about the country from Dallas LUV

This is an exciting event for my friends over at Southwest Airlines. President Bush has signed off on the repeal of the Wright Ammendment and also they received the nod from the FAA, which now allows them to start selling thru-tickets for flights from Dallas Love Field to destinations outside of the 9 Wright states. Starting this Thursday, October 19th, they will add 25 destinations from Love Field (with an introductory fare of $99 with a 14-day advance purchase) that will be a single stop, thru flight. Some of these cities will include:

Phoenix, Baltimore/Washington DC, Las Vegas, Chicago Midway, Los Angeles International (LAX), Orlando..

They will also be using their codeshare with ATA Airlines to have flights from Love Field to NY LaGuardia, Maui and Honolulu, HI.

100 new destinations will be added over all. Schedules have to be adjusted and modified to allow for all of this expansion at Love Field.

Also, Rapid Rewards members (their Flyer Miles Program) will receive double credit for any travel that either begins or ends at LUV.

The SWA PR representative also said that they will be working with the City of Dallas to refurbish the Airport and add new amenities.

He also said that SWA has enought planes to take on the load right now, but they will be looking to add 8% more planes (35 total) to their fleet to accomodate this new addition pending customer demand.

They are stressing that they are the leaders in low prices in the airline industry and that when a customer is considering flying anywhere, they should choose the Leaders in low fares opposed to those who follow the industry in low fares (this was in direct reference to American Airlines).

They will have more information on their website and will start sales to these new destinations on Thursday, so you will be able to see what schedules are available then. Their web address is: www.southwest.com Check them out!

Congrats SWA!!

SWA News confence live...

SWA is announcing their new schedules from Love Field.. you can watch live on www.wfaa.com and get more info.. I will bring more after the news confrence...

Beware Fellow Native Houstonians....

Dallas has a new DJ on 106.1 KISS-FM. Drum roll please...... It is Atom Smasher! YAY! (sarcasm). I was scrolling through the stations one day last week, and I heard a familiar voice on KISS. He was hitting on a girl on air, looking at her info on Myspace and then trying to get her to be his "friend" on Myspace. He has made the move north to the Metroplex after being canned from the Morning Show at 104.1 KRBE. Check out McGuff for the details... Basically, Cumulus, the company that owns KRBE was done with Atom and Maria and wanted to participate in the DJ switcheroo by replacing them with former KHMX DJ's Roula and Ryan who were replaced by former KRBE DJ Sam Malone. I know, it doesn't make much since does it? Rather confusing yes, but I guess that the radio market is really fluid... It happens.. I just thought that I would share this if there were any Atom fans out there...

Cold War Part II?

If you haven't heard what has been going on in North Korea, then you apparently have been hiding under a rock (which still won't do you any good if there is nuclear war). On Monday (Sunday night our time), Kim Jong Il tested his nuclear warheads underground in North Korea. They were not that powerful, only causing an earthquake that registered a 3.6 on the Richter scale and it was only estimated to have the power of 550 tons of TNT.

Upon hearing of it, almost every country has criticized North Korea and Il for performing these tests. President Bush is trying to work with the UN Security Council to create sanctions on North Korea because of these tests. Ironically, fellow Communist state China is condemning these acts. However, they are just worried about the fallout of people who will immigrate to China for safety if North Korea does end up going to war.

After hearing of all of this, I am reminded of the Cold War when the United States was in an arms race with the Soviet Union. Images of children practicing air raid drills in schools popped into my head. Is this something that the people of my generation will have to deal with? It may. Will World War III break out because of all of this, amidst the Battle on Terror? It may.

The more that I think about it, the scarier it gets because there is nothing that we can do to protect ourselves from a nuclear attack. There really isn't. We can dig a hole in the ground and surround ourselves with concrete, until the area clears, but is it even reasonable to put people in the ground like that and have them survive like that? I know that I would go stir crazy after a day or two. I go stir crazy sitting in an office building for 8 hours a day.

If World War III occurs, will there be mass callups like there was with the preceding global wars? Will the nation actually stand behind the President if we were actually to go to war with North Korea?

These are all questions that we will possibly facing if anything else major develops with this situation. It may not be soon, but it also may not be that far away. It will just depend on how Kim Jong Il pushes the issue of nuclear testing and he resists the controls that will be placed on him for his actions.

In this instance, can we look upon history for help? I am not sure. We can see what happens when 2 countries compromise (with the help of a change in government), but with this situation, I don't think so.

We put the D in D-DFW!

Yesterday, WFAA CH-8 was in town doing live reports from the Square. It is a part of their "covering our community" attempt to ensure that they do not leave out all of the important communities that make up their audience. I wish that I could have gone down there to watch them go live, it would have been cool, but I had other things going on..

While they were here, they interviewed the new Mayor of Denton, Perry McNeil. He was recently elected in May. He told WFAA that the City of Denton has experienced a great period of growth in the last 20 years; 70K people in 1980 to 108K now in 2006.

The City of Denton is also growing in other ways too with a new hospital (Presby Denton), a new retail shopping center on Loop 288 and a new development at US 380 and IH-35. In addition, there have been a lot of new neighborhoods sprouting up across the area which will keep people in our area.

One thing that we are having a problem with is traffic and mobility. This past may, the DCTA (Denton County Transit Authority) of which the City of Denton is a member, has started a bus line that departs from various points in the city (primarily UNT and a stop at Cinemark) that makes stops in Lewisville, Carrollton and has 8 stops in Downtown Dallas. The city is also working on a new train line that will be apart of the DCTA system and will give us with a light rail system that will also connect us with the DART system in Dallas County and with the TRE, which connects Dallas with Fort Worth. The City also has its own bus line, which hopefully will become more popular as we try to reduce the amount of gas being used. It should be noted that the DCTA buses the new biofuel that is made in the City of Denton with the trash produced by the citizens along with the grease from our local favorite restaurants.

One thing that I thought was cool was that McNeil wants to add an additional "D" to "DFW." He said that if we continue on our current rate of growth, we will be the 3rd largest city in the Metroplex. We are no longer a bedroom community, as there are more companies that are opening for business in Denton and more people are living here and also working here too.

I think that it is a great time to be in the City of Denton because we are getting to watch this "small town" grow into a great city. The City Council should be applauded for their great planning with this transition. They are making great strides to make sure that we have the infastructure to be able to handle the influx of new people and new services that are being provided to the community.

For more info on the City of Denton, you can go to their website at www.cityofdenton.com and for the WFAA bustour, go to www.wfaa.com/bustour. Today they are in Lewisville and will be in Southlake tomorrow..

Record Breaking 7 OT's!!

This weekend, the Mean Green played Florida International at Fouts Field. It was our Homecoming and it was a great day. The weather was beautiful! The game started out great, we got a safety in first few minutes and a touchdown not soon after. We got another and FIU finally caught up. At the end of the game, it was 21-21. In the final minutes of the fame, FIU got to the endzone and initially, the ref's called a touchdown for FIU, but the guy went out at the 1 yard line. They reviewed the play, and the ref corrected his mistake. So we went into over time and I thought that it was kinda cool because I have never been to a game where we had to go into over time. I did not really know how it all played out, so it was interesting to see. After the 4th OT period, I was annoyed. They both kept kicking field goals and missing them. It was crazy. In the last OT period, FIU almost got it in, but thank the big guy upstairs, our kicker finally made it in winning the game and ending the never ending game (it lasted 4 and 1/2 hours!). Afterwards, I marched with the Talons over to the Clock Tower where we counted down the bathing of the clock tower in green light. We sang the Fight Song and the Alma Mater. It was a good time. I am glad that we won.. It would have been really sad if we would have lost our Homecoming Game.. You just don't do it..

Friday's Debate

Last Friday, Belo hosted a debate with all of the Gubernatorial candidates. It was moderated and led by anchors from Belo stations from Houston, DFW, San Antonio and Austin, and a reporter from the Dallas Morning News. It was a good debate. If you weren't really sure about which candidate, I feel that it pretty much solidified how you felt about your candidates. At least, that is what happened with me. I was wavering on either Bell or Strayhorn. I think that I am going to settle with Mr. Bell. I was really pleased with his performance.

If you watched it, you saw how Kinky pretty much avoided a lot of questions and seemed unprepared. One of the things that I remember from his rants was that he wanted to declare Martial Law in the counties that surround the border. That is just crazy, and although may help with the immigration problem, what will happen with the citizens of that area? I know that if I were living in that area and Martial Law was instituted, I would freak out. Those riles should only apply in a time of war with another country, and although this is kinda true, I think that it is a little too radical of a move.

I really enjoyed the period where they asked the candidates Jeopardy style questions like : When was the battle at the Alamo, How much is a semester of tuition at UT, How long do unemployment benefits last, etc. It was great to see the response. I did not like however how certain candidates took this 15 seconds to throw more rhetoric at us. That was not the purpose of that time and they wre just looking for the answer, nothing else.

I also enjoyed the direct questioning of Gov. Perry about TTC (Trans-Texas Corridor). I don't think that he has ever been asked directly about it and forced to answer. Sarah Lucero from San Antonio asked him why voters did not get to vote on it, and he said that we did. I don't buy that answer and it was probably hidden in some other parts of legislation. Strayhorn said that voters only voted on the discussion (or something like that) and that it was not for the corridor itself (I didn't understand what Strayhorn was talking about).

But like I said, it was good to see where the candidates stood and see how the reacted to questions from reporters and from voters. It is jsut too bad that there will not be any more debates so we can try to get a better feel for our candidates. I guess we will just have to rely on the print media to take care of that.

For more details on the candidates, please click on the month of September and read the blogs about each candidated and their stances on hot topics.. To watch the debate, click here

UNT Traditions Part 2: Bonfire

Bonfire is deeply rooted in our traditions as it has been around since 1927 when a bonfire was first built for the ETSU/NTSC game. It was initially on Avenue A on the pavement. The Eagles won the game that night. During the War, bonfire was not held due to the lack of men on campus. In 1950, the bonfire was moved to Fouts to commemorate the opening of the stadium. NTSC President at the time, WJ McConnell (for which McConnell Hall is named) lit the bonfire.

In the 1960's, the University gave Bonfire duties to the Talons, the Organization that preserves the spirit of NT. It is then that they start having Talons stand guard at the bonfire site because in 1960, pranksters lit the stack on fire early. The Talons rebuilt a new stack the next day in time for the festivities that night. In the late 80's, they had additional early firing attempts and also "tagging" by a Greek organization because they put their letter on the stack along with a chair.

In the 70's, Bonfire was moved from Fouts to the Eagle Point site where it is still held today. It is a major part of the Homecoming festivities and is lit on the Friday before the Football game right after the Yell Like Hell competitions and a speech from the team.

It is quite a sight and can create great memories when you add a good group of friends into the mix.

And that is your UNT Traditions lesson for today... Discover the Power of Green!

Source: Talon's Website

As Independent as Texas

Well, there is a new station in town. Early in September, with the oncoming of the CW, which replaced the WB, UPN was wiped from the networks and our local UPN affiliate, KTXA CH 21 in Dallas, is now an independent, or as they like to say, As Independent As Texas. This means that they do not have a network affiliation. As true as it is, it is still kinda not, because they are CBS O&O (Owned and Operated) and while I was watching the Prime Time News last night, I saw the CBS Eye logo in the background, which I thought was weird, being that they are supposed to be "independent." It was a good newscast from what I saw of it. It was a very laidback newscast though. It was professional, but with a laidback feel to it. They have the anchor desk and all of that, but for the intros to the segments, it was pretty casual.

This is the first Independent Network that I have watched before. Not to say that I am an avid Ch. 21 watcher, but usually all of the networks that I flip through have some affiliation to a major TV network. It is kinda cool, but all they show besides locally produced news is syndicated TV shows, so there is nothing special about it.

It will be interesting to see what will happen with KTXA in the future. CBS owns 3 other independent stations (which I am sure came about after the fallout of UPN and the whole CW business). However, it is interesting to note that prior to becoming a CBS affiliate, KTVT-CH 11 was an independent itself, so I am sure that some staffers from there can help out KTXA if needed (if people from that time period are still around being that happened in 1995). We shall see what happens..

Dallas the Movie and the REAL Bobby Ewing

Patrick Duffy was on the Christian O'Connell Breakfast Show on Virgin Radio this morning promoting his theater performance in London. It was an interesting interview. You can go to the website to listen to it... Click on the Christian O'Connell link above and go to Daily Bits and it is about 45 minutes into the show. The highlights from the interview include:

Calling himself a slut.. in terms of acting, taking a job, getting paid and then being kicked out the door

Confirming that Shirley MacLaine would be Ms. Ellie Ewing in the upcoming Dallas Movie

Luke Wilson will be taking the role of Bobby Ewing

When asked if he would make an appearance on it, he said no and that it shouldn't be that way..

John Travolta received the approval from the Original JR, Larry Hagman

He is playing Baron Hardup in Cinderella at the New Victoria Theatre in the South East of England (basically London). It was interesting to hear him on a British Radio Station..

In other Dallas related news, IMDB has it rumored that Marica Cross is to play the role of Pamela Ewing. I don't know if she is the right person to play Pam. Pam requires somebody soft and gentle, and going from her Desperate Housewives role, I think that it would just be weird to she her play something so extremely opposite of what she normally plays.

That's all I got for now..

KLTV GM says Buzz off to Rosie...

KLTV, the ABC affiliate in Tyler-Longview (DMA 111) is protesting against The View and Rosie O'Donnell because of a statement that she has made about Christians:

"radical Christians are as dangerous as radical Muslims"

The General Manager has gone on air with an editorial asking viewers to write into the Station and into ABC to proclaim that she is being a bully and request that they take either her or The View off of the air. (Interestingly, there was a similar issue last night on NBC's Studio 60).

This is a little crazy. Last time that I checked, this is still America, she is an American, and she has the right granted by the 1st Amendment of the United States Constitution to say what she did. I am not saying that she was right in her statement, nor do I agree with it directly, but they should not pull a show off of the air because of such a statement. She has the right to say it.. That is her opinion. These people in Tyler/Longview should take this "View" and accept it as such and move on. It is OK to hear what other people have to say. You do not necessarily have to agree with it, but as Christians, we should listen to what other people have to say and then talk through the thoughts and find out why they think that way and then try to come to some understanding with each other. It is just that simple. Just because she made a controversial comment does not mean that huge changes need to be made. If you are offended that much, I have one solution for you: change the channel. Stop trying to "protect" everybody from other people's opinions that they have the right to listen to.

Thanks to Nathan and Diana for the tip!

Update!! Bush to sign Wright repeal bill on Fri!

Bush has said that he will sign the Wright Repeal bill that was passed by both the House of Reperesentatives and by the Senate. This means that as soon as he signs the bill and it gets a nod of approval from the FAA, then SWA can begin selling tickets for destinations outside of the Wright States. Behind the scences now, SWA is beginning to establish new routes and flight numbers that will begin this new process of flying longer distances from Dallas's Love Field. The rule says a flight must make a pitstop first in a "Wright" state before they can continue onto a "non-Wright" state. The main cities that SWA is looking to expand to right now are Las Vegas and Florida (Mainly Orlando for Disney World). They will be doing this through other hubs, Houston Hobby, Austin Bergstrom and San Antonio International will be the big dogs in Texas. For the Southeast, Armstrong International in New Orleans will be a major gateway, Alberquerque will be the gateway for the West and Southwest, KC and St Louis will be the gateway for the Midwest and for the Northwest, DAL travelers will have to go through either Houston Hobby or KC/St Louis to Chicago Midway and make another connecting fight to the Northeast. It is all exciting and I cannot wait for my first flight on SWA on destinations outside of the oppessed and outdated "Wright" states.

The Office Season 3 Notes (so far)

Let me just say that this season of The Office has been great so far. I will have to admit that I am really sad that Jim and Pam and separated from each other and have not been in contact with each other. That relationship was one that really drew me (and many others) to the show. I kinda can connect with Jim on some levels. And I will miss the pranks that he pulls on Dwight. In the first episode, there was a long distance prank (only Jim and Pam knew) because Jim sent Dwight a "Gaydar" which was actually a metal detector and he tested Oscar to see if it would work and it did. He then checked himself, and it went off and he then got worried... It was funny, but also sad because Pam watched the whole thing and then they show her quietly chuckle to herself and it was just sad that she couldn't really share that experience with Jim.

I know that the show's writers did all of this on purpose. If Pam and Jim got together, then it would have been too easy and they wouldn't have a lot to go with the other story lines. This allows their story line to go farther instead of getting together and then allowing for them to fade into the sunset of love. I will definitely keep watching to see what happens to our favorite Dunder-Miflinites. It will be interesting how they work with the 2 different offices and try to cover them both. I wonder if there will be an impending merger of the 2 offices in the future? That would be interesting to see how they work with that.

I am not sure if anybody else noticed, but there are some rather large differences with the Scranton and the Stamford offices. The Stamford Office was NICE. It was a real office and was very classy. The Scranton office, you can definitely tell is in a warehouse. It is not all that. You would think that the Stamford office is in New York because of the classiness of the office. It is like Dunder-Miflin cares more about that office to keep it nicer than they do the Scranton branch... Oh well, but that was something that caught my eye. You would just think that they would be somewhat similar, not as different as they were.

P.S... It was awesome when Jim walked into Dwight's room and only saw Angela's legs and thought that he had a hooker in his room.. It was hilarious to see his expression as he was running away from the room. And yet sad again because he had no one to share that with..

Traditions Lesson: Mean Green

We are the Mean Green. The Official mascot of the University of North Texas is an Eagle, so officially, we are the Eagles. However, we have a secondary moniker; The Mean Green. This stems from one of our famous alumnus: Mean Joe Greene. Many people may know Joe Green from his great playing with the Pittsburg Steelers. Those who know him, should also know that he attended what was then North Texas State University. He was a defensive tackle and that is how he earned the name of "Mean Joe." In the late 60's, we (the University) asked Joe if we could use the combination of his name, "Mean Green" because of his great skills and the service that he provided to the defense of the football team and he obliged. So now in addition to being the UNT Eagles, we are also the UNT Mean Green and have been proud to sport the additional moniker since the late 60's. And this is why we are the MEAN GREEN!

Pictured above is Mean Joe being presented his UNT Football Jersey in 1969 by UNT Officials, one likely being President Kamerick..

Game time!

Well it is that time of year.. Football season! This weekend, the Mean Green is playing Middle Tennessee State (MTSU). This game will also start our Sunbelt Conference Play. In the past, we have won 5-0, so hopefully we will repeat history. There is a pep rally tonight starting at 7pm in Clark Park. It was pretty fun for the SMU game, so it should be just as fun tonight. Be sure to get out your claws and Green shirts and get ready to cheer on our Mean Green team to VICTORY!
The game is Saturday at Fouts and starts at 6pm. You will notice that there will be an influx of people in the stands and this will be attributed to all of the families in town this weekend becasue it is Family Weekend. Stay away from 288 because it will be bad this weekend with all of the extra people in town!

Senate passes Wright Bill!!!

This is freaking awesome. Maybe thing will finally change at Love Field after 30 years of oppression by the Wright Amendment. It still has to pass the House of Representatives, but if it does, then immediately Southwest Airlines is allowed to sell tickets for continuing flights for outside of the "Wright" states. I assume that this will not be too long after it is passed through the House. It still sucks because about 15 gates will have to be destroyed at Love Field (they are unused as of now) because that was a part of the agreement. I will keep you blogsted... (get it.. posted + blog).. ha...

This is why being a teacher is difficult

An elementary Art teacher in Frisco is being reprimanded for what a child saw on a field trip to the Dallas Museum of Art. A 5th grader told their parents that while on the trip, he saw a nude body. When the parent heard of this, they complained to the school district. I should say that the parents were required to sign a permission slip before their child was allowed to go on the field trip. Personally, I don't understand what the big deal is. It is just Art... And it is not like the teacher can control what is put on display. As long as it was not falic, I don't see the big deal. At this point in life, 5th graders are learning about their changing bodies and they show videos about these changes and they are graphic too. It is time that our society stops being so sensitive to things of that nature, especially when it is art. If it was something else, like a movie with sex or something of that nature, that is one thing, but this was ART... GET OVER IT.. The teacher is now on paid leave and Frisco ISD has made the decision not to renew her contract at the end of the school year when it expires. It has not been said if she will be taken off of paid leave or not. It is just ridiculous and this is one thing that makes teachers quit and not teach, because they always have to walk on eggshells to not to offend anyone in order to avoid loosing their jobs. And we wonder why we have issues with teacher shortages....

Source : Dallas Morning News

Part 4 of 4: Gov. Rick Perry

In the final part of the gubernatorial election series is the current Governor Rick Perry. Prior to becoming Governor, he was Lieutenant Governor for former Governor George W. Bush. After Bush left to run for President, Perry took over for him and has won re-election in the subsequent elections. Here is his information below.. as always, visit his website for more details... http://www.rickperry.com/

Experience: Lieutenant Governor, Commissioner of Agriculture 1985-1991, Texas House of Representatives

Issues: (Instead of listing what he will do for the people of Texas, he has listed what he has done for the people of Texas...)

Education: His highest priority... Required schools to spend 65% of every dollar on classroom instruction, signed $2,000 teacher pay raise, require all Texas HS students to take a college-preparatory curriculum..

Health Care: Established Children's Health Insurance Program, instituted medical liability reform, required parental consent for minor abortions, improved Texas mental health system..

Transportation: increased road funding without raising taxes, improved highway safety, created the TransTexas Corridor plan, relocated urban freight rail lines...

Once again, I was a little disappointed with the website. All it had what what he has done for the people of Texas. Being a resident of Texas, I ALREADY KNOW WHAT HE HAS DONE! (sorry) I really wanted to know what he WILL do for the people of Texas. To see for yourself, please check out the website at http://www.rickperry.com/. Also, feel free to use the comments section as a place to list more information that you may know about a candidate or any debates you may have.

I hope that this has been helpful for you as you make a decision about the candidate that you will choose for our elections on November 7. Please remember to register to vote by October 7th because according to state election code, you must be registered 30 days prior to an election to vote.

Desperate times call for desperate measures...

After years of declining sales in the American market, auto makers GM and Ford are possibly discussing a merger of the two companies. Lately, they have had to issue pink slips to many employees because they are not making any money domestically. Their main flaw is that they are still trying to push gas-guzzling vehicles onto the consumer and consumers do not desire these types of vehicles due to the current issues with gas prices. Also, dependability and consumer confidence in the product does not help the situation. Everybody knows the old addage that Ford is an acronym that stands for Found On Road Dead. Unfortunately, Asian auto makers know how to make a good, dependent vehicle that are fuel efficient. The American automakers need to take this idea and run with it. They have made some improvements in the last few years, but they are not good enough. They also need to start developing alternative fuel vehicles because there will be a day where oil will be non-existant.

Story source: Houston Chronicle, Sept. 18, 2006

Part 3 of 4: Kinky Friedman

Next up is Kinky Friedman. Over the past year, he has stirred up a lot of attention for his run for Governor. He had a reality show, has done many interviews, has an action figure, and has been making his way around the state making speeches (making a pitstop here at UNT for a speech). It seems to me that his main audience is college students and those "non-traditional" voters. If you want more specific details, visit his website at www.kinkyfriedman.com. Here are his stats:

Experience: Writer and Musician

Issues:

Education: Raise teachers pay, legalize casino gambling to fund education, stop the practice of "Teaching to the test".

Healthcare: Does not agree with the cancellation of the CHIP (Children's Health Insurance Program)

Energy: Wants to encourage development of new methods of energy generation, really pushing for the use of biodiesel.

Visiting his site, I was a little dissapointed with the amount of information provided for his stance on issues. They are really scant and sketchy at that, where you have to interpret his stance instead of reading it directly and knowing exactly. As I said before, please consult his website for more details... www.kinkyfriedman.com

Gubernatorial Election Part 2 of 4: Carole Keeton Strayhorn

No matter how you know her, Carole Strayhorn, Carole Keeton Rylander, Carole Keeton Strayhorn, one thing that she wants you to remember is that she is 'One Tough Grandma'. Strayhorn, our State Comptroller, is running for the governors office. She is going about things a little differently, as State Comptroller, she was elected as a Republican. For Governor, she is running as an Independent candidate. Being that Rick Perry is running for re-election, she cannot run as a Republican, because things just don't work that way. One of her biggest soapbox issues deal with education, which as Comptroller, she has seen many of the in and outs of education funding. Here is how she stands on key issues per her site www.carolestrayhorn.com :

Experience: First woman elected as State Comptroller (1998-current), Austin ISD Board of Trustees, Mayor of Austin (1977-1983), State Board of Insurance, Texas Railroad Commission

Public Education: Improve public schools and ensure students knowledge retention, Recruit/Retain quality teachers, Provide long-term reliable funds for schools, Make Higher Ed more affordable and accessible.

Transportation: Stop TTC(TransTexas Corridor), Increase capacity on IH 35, improve state rail system, against new toll roads.

Health Care: Fully restore CHIP (Childrens Health Insurance Plan), creation of "Affordable Health Care for Texans" plan.

Miscellaneous Issues: No Income Tax and repeal of New Business Income Tax, end of wasteful spending, fully fund and expand the State Parks System, property tax relief, stop fast tracked 'dirty' coal plants

There is the information about Carole Strayhorn. For more details about specifics please check her website : Carole Strayhorn.. Also feel free to use the comments section to post any thoughts about Carole.

Wright Fight Continued.....

Today a US House panel reviewing the proposition that a consortium of the Cities of Dallas and Fort Worth, American and Southwest Airlines, and, D/FW and Love Fields wrote to propose an end to the Wright Amendment. They have approved all parts of it, but they have taken out the language regarding the anti-competition laws. From my understanding of all of this, this would allow Southwest Airlines (SWA) to be the sole airline at Love Field. Personally, I do not care if there are other airlines at Love. I just think that the Wright Amendment should be revoked. The Wright Amendment, written in 1979 by House Speaker Jim Wright, was put in place to protect D/FW International Airport in its time of growth. Basically the Wright Amendment places a restriction on where SWA can fly from Love Field (the 8 states that surround the State of Texas). With its repeal, SWA would be able to fly anywhere within the contiguous 48 states. Wright is wrong because D/FW is one of the largest airports in the nation and they do not need the protection anymore. SWA is being penalized because they run their business efficiently and can afford to charge consumers less than the traditional airline. This proposal needs to be passed soon because the agreement that was signed by the consortium expires at the end of this year. Hopefully this removal of language will not put a snag in the effort to repeal Wright.. More to come... Source: WFAA-TV

Blog Special : The Gubernatorial Candidates Part 1 of 4, Chris Bell

Well, it is getting to be that time again.. We are in an election season and the fights are fixing to become heated. In Texas, we have a coveted spot up for grabs (so to speak), Texas Governor. There are a lot of candidates this time around, 2 Independents, a Democrat, and the incumbent. Politics is usually not my thing and I keep at least a good arms length away from it because sometimes politics can be really retarded. However, I feel that this election is important because I feel that we need a change in leadership in the Governor's Office. We as a state have many issues and they are not being addressed by the current administration. In my quest to research candidates for myself, I will share a condensed version of the candidates stances on important issues. FYI... The information is coming directly from the horses mouths, via their respective websites and I will include links to their websites so you can investigate them for yourselves. This year, Election Day is November 7, 2006. In order to vote in this election, you must be registered to vote in the county that you reside in 30 days prior to the general election, which would be October 7, 2006, so please register to vote before then. You can get information about registering to vote here : VoteTexas.

Chris Bell (D)- Houston -- website : ChrisBell.com

Past Service: Houston City Council Member 1997-2002, Congressman 2002-2003 (ousted due to redistricting)

Solutions to problems:

Education: Create a Bi-partisan commission to work on education problems instead of working separately, create some type of tax to assist with School Finance

Higher Education: End tuition deregulation, tax-free textbooks, increase funding to public universities, defend the Texas Grant program to make college more accessible for disadvantaged students

Environment: Strengthen environmental regulations, protect air quality, develop new energy solutions (alternative energy sources), protect water quality, push for smarter land management and conservation

Toll Roads: Stop TranTexas Corridor in its tracks

Immigration: Secure the border with National Guard, crack down on illegal hiring practices

For more information, please visit his website : www.chrisbell.com. You can get more details on plans listed above and how you can get involved in his campaign if you choose to do so.. Please feel free to use the comment section to participate in debates..

ABC is stupid

Ok.. So I just got done watching the ABC dramatization of the events that lead up to the events of 9/11. I was not able to watch the first part last night, but I do have it taped. After watching the conclusion of the "drama," I do not think that I need to watch anymore. The whole thing just reaks of nastyness and I think that ABC made a bad move in putting this crap on the airways. When they returned from the Presidental address, and before it initially started, they had a loooong notice stating that this was a dramtization of events listed in the 9/11 Commission's report and that it was not a documentary. Going on my own knowledge of the movie and television industry, documentaries are to be informative and dramas are to be entertaining. I was NOT entertained. Also, with all of the hype about it and their own proclaimation that it was a dramitization, I could not it seriously. If it is not factual, then why put it on the air? Especially on a day such as today when we are supposed to be reflecting on and remembering these people who were the first responders to the attack on our freedom. That was without taste and I personally am dissapointed with ABC. They should not have used an event such as this as an opportunity to cash in on ratings. I have lost respect for this organization. I really do not want to watch ABC anymore, which sucks because I enjoy Grey's Anatomy and I really respect the local affiliate's news and weather departments, but as for a network, I am disheartened by their actions. It was just another opportunity to politicize another eveny that has touched our hearts and another chance for a company to take advantage of their fellow man while they are down..

We Won!

This weekend, the Mean Green played the ponies of SMU. It was a great game. Johnny Quinn kept us afloat by receiveing some great passes from our new QB. Jamario tried to get some plays, but everytime that the ball was passed to him, he was tackled immediately. It is like everybody knows to take him down after a pass. The same thing happened with Patrick Cobbs.. The score, by the way, was 24-6. Great 4th quarter. I am still horse from Saturday night.

I was very suprised and excited about the amount of people in the stands. The student section was filled with a sea of green, which is unusual because it is hard for our campus to come together due to our status as a commuter school. I just hope that this new attendance will stick and more people will come to the game to root on our team.

---Update--- The attendance was 25,231, the 3rd largest crowd to ever watch a UNT football game... Keep it up!

Facebook Changes

This week, Facebook has made changes to their website. Now when you login, you are bombarded with EVERY single change that any of your friends have made on their site, or who they have friended, or messages that they have sent. Reading the Dallas Morning News this morning, there was a story about it... this is just wild that a change like this can make the newspaper. I am in agreement though, the changes suck! Why can't they just leave things alone? It was just fine the way that it was.. I mean, I love Facebook...more than Myspace and I don't want to have to have to switch to Myspace because it is just not as good as Facebook... I just thought that it was interesting to find a news article about a change on Facebook.. it just shows how much technology really envelops our lives...

Update: No Action from FB City Council

This is in response to my original post about Farmer Branch City Council taking action against illegal immigrants within their city limits.. (click link for original post)

The City Council met last night and they decided that they are not going to take any action against illegal immigrants at this time. They did, however, promise to take action this fall if the US Senate does not begin the process of dealing with illegal immigrants within the U.S. They suggested that they would write letters to Senators Kay Bailey Hutchinson and John Cornyn in addition to each city and school district within the State of Texas. Source : Dallas Morning News

I agree that something needs to be done with illegal immigration, but I do not think that it should be up to a city to make that sort of determination. Yes, employers should be fined for hiring illegals, but I don't think that a city should restrict these people from living within their city limits, unless they are causing problems and crime, and at that point, the police should do a proper investigation and alert the INS or ICE (whatever you want to call it these days..) I just think that it is not the place for Farmers Branch or others cities for that matter to meddle in Federal issues..

Update: Farmers Branch Debacle

The City of Farmers Branch is meeting tonight to discuss the controversies that one City Council Member has brought up about making it harder for Illegal Immigrants to do business in the city of Farmers Branch. Tim O'Hare, the council man who proposed the new ordinances disallowing illegal immigrants to live in or own businesses in Farmers Branch is supposed to be meeting with the LULAC President to discuss the proposed rules after the council meeting tonight. Some residents in FB have cheered on O'Hare and some are calling for his removal from office. The Mayor of FB is saying that everything is being blown out of proportion and that the city council is supposed to just discuss the legalities of such ordinances... More to come on this issue.. See the Dallas Morning News article for more info...

UPDATE: Katie was awesome!

"Hi, everyone. I'm very happy to be here with you tonight," was how a new legacy of CBS network news began tonight. With the exception of a small word fumble, it was great! Despite all of the critics, I think that she will do an awesome job. The show did have a new and fresh feel to it, comparing it to the old days when Dan Rather used to be the host. The theme music was good, but it did not sound exceptionally special, even though it was created by James Horner. It was very apparent that it was the first show because she made several references of "newness." I liked the "Snapshots" and the "Freespeech" segments. This one was with Morgan Spurlock, of Supersize Me fame. She brought a personal touch to the newscast, which is very important to it because that is something that viewers want, a personal touch. She invited viewers to interact, read her blog, etc. She even asked for help in determining a proper signoff. They played a montage of all of the CBS Evening News signoffs and one of "Anchorman's" Ron Burgandy. She just ended it with the standard "Thank you for watching, I hope to see you again tomorrow."

I have been a long time NBC newswatcher, but I think that I will now have to split my time between the two just to see what is going on with each. Brian Williams had a spirited sign off tonight wishing Katie welcoming her to the time slot and good luck, but not too much. I am interested to see what will come in the future and will have to keep tabs on it. I just may add her blog to the list of blogs that I read in the mornings.

TV History Happening Tonight

Tonight, Katie Couric will be making her hyped up debut on the CBS Evening News, replacing Bob Schieffer, who replaced the old block Dan Rather last year. Katie will be the first woman to be the sole anchor for a national evening news program. Last year, Elizabeth Vargas with ABC started the "trend" by co-hosting ABC World News Tonight after long time anchorman Peter Jennings passed away from lung cancer. With her new presence on CBS, they gave her a new theme song, and they will be the first network to offer a live simulcast of the evening broadcast. In addition, she will be offering a "Free Speech" period for viewers to speak their mind and also she and her "company" will be maintaining a blog talking about issues or stories that they were not able to put on the Evening News or that they could not elaborate upon. They want to just make the show more personal and seem more accessible for viewers. Couric is now joining the ranks of Walter Cronkite, Edward R Murrow, Tom Browkaw and numerous of others in Broadcast TV history. It just sucks that whenever they first started talking about Couric joining the network that there were those out there who doubted her abilities because she did some "fluff" work while she was on NBC's Today Show. She has an excellent resume and I thing that she will do a great job at CBS. It will just be weird seeing her in the evening instead of the mornings.. I am excited to see this history making broadcast...

Small town affiliates share with the big dogs..

Fellow blogger Mike McGuff made a post about Fox O&O's (Owned and Operated) sharing their news coverage with nearby smaller market affiliates. That is just weird. Personally, I would prefer my news coverage to be covered by a local team who knows my community, not somebody from a few hours away trying to talk about things they don't really know about.. Also, it is cool to watch the news of a different city, but, then again, I would prefer my local news over some cities news from several hours away. In areas that surround North Texas, like Sherman and Tyler/Longview, they some of their own affiliates of ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox, but on cable (and over the air in Sherman), they can get the D/FW version of their network station in addition to their localized station. I would think that residents of those areas would not appreciate their local stations shutting down and switching their signal to the DFW station. It would help those bigger affiliates, because they would make more money in advertisement sales and would have a better opportunity to do well with ratings, but it is still a little crazy...

Just nod your head in agreement...

After going on my trip, I think that it would be cool if I could live in the UK for a couple of months. What better way to do that than to Study Abroad again, except, it would be for a semester. With my graduation in December, it will make it harder to do a study abroad. Masters programs are not set up to accept transfer credit, so I don't know how all of it could work. I could take some undergrad classes there and just take some of my masters classes online. I don't know how all of that would work out.. It is possible, but I don't know how. Also, there is also the thing about a job and bills and money to spend while I am there, and I don't know how all of that would work out. I think that it would be easier to live over there if I did a study abroad program because otherwise, I could only live there for like 2 months, and it is not worth it to find an apartment for that amount of time and also it would be really expensive to live in an accommodation for that period of time. Whatever I do though, it will be really expensive, so I don't know. I definitely need to go back so I can explore those places that I missed, like London and the southeastern portions of the UK. I already have priced flights, and the prices are not bad. Just all together though, it would be a very costly trip...

We Scored!!!

Yay!! The Mean Green played the National Champion Texas Longhorns this weekend. Last year when we met up with the Longhorns, they totally clobbered the Mean Green 63-0. This weekend, we made a good effort and scored 7 points. I was excited to hear this. On Saturday, we will be playing SMU at home. This should be a good game because SMU and UNT used to be rivals back in the day. SMU played Texas Tech this past weekend and they only scored a field goal, so this is promising for a Mean Green win this weekend.. I CANT WAIT!

Weekend in Aggieland

This weekend, I went to College Station to get a taste of the culture at Texas A&M and to take in a football game. It was really cool. Everybody there was proud to be an Aggie and they had no problems showing it. The campus was really cool. It is huge. It takes about 20 minutes to get from one side of the campus to the other. While walking around on Saturday, we visited the Bonfire Memorial. It was a nice site. It looks somewhat similar to the Murrah building memorial in OKC. They did a great job with it. When they have football games, they have yell practice the night before called Midnight Yell. At A&M, they do not have cheerleaders. They have Yell Leaders. Whenever they want the crowd to do a yell, they start giving signals to the crowd (that you learn during orientation and at Yell Practices) and based on that signal, the crowd knows which yell to perform. So on Friday, we practiced all of the yells and the yell leaders told stories to inspire the crowd and to get the crowd pumped up for the game on Saturday. They were the most random stories that I have ever heard. One had to do with Canadians and the Citadel. I hoped that there weren't any Canadians in the crowd because I am sure that they would have been insulted by the story. The game was an interesting experience all in itself. First off, you have to stand the whole time because of the spirit of the 12th man. If a player were to be injured, then you have to be ready to go play. This came about back in the early 1900's when TAMC (at that time) only had 11 players total (just enough for a team) who had to play both defense and offense. A player got hurt during the game and they faced forfeiture if they could not get anyone else to play. A guy in the stands jumped up from the stands, suited up and joined the game. So at every game, all spectators (or really hard core fans) have to stand up and be ready to join the game if needed. Also, there was a lot of people there. The count for the night was 70k people. It showed it, but I was a little disappointed because I figured that they whole stadium would be filled to the brim like I hear that it usually is during games. They also had a jumbotron built. The picture was great and you could see everything in good detail, but every single video on there was "Brought to you by..." and it was just a little annoying. Overall, I had a great time. It was cool to see what happens at a different university. It kinda gave me an appreciation for my own...

I Bleed GREEN!

So this weekend, I am going to Aggieland to watch the A&M/Citadel game on Saturday. Nathan and I will be leaving on friday and we probably will arrive just in time for Midnight Yell. This is going to be an interesting experience becasue everybody will actually be excited about going to a pep rally. A&M is very serious about their pride. Maroon and white all the way and to your grave.. I like that kind of spirit. At UNT, there are only small sections of people who actually contain a small, but similar level of pride as Aggies do. I am excited to see this event. I have never really been on campus before at A&M so that will be awesome too. At one time, I considered going to A&M becasue they have an excellent meteorology program, and also, I felt that I would fit right in with the Aggie traditions and pride. But I chose UNT instead, becasue my heart was (and still is) telling me to go teach and we (UNT) have a great education program. Plus, UNT is substantially cheaper to attend. I LOVE UNT and I am glad that I came here because I have made many great friends and I have made some great connections that will definately help out in the future.. There have been a lot of great times and experiences that I will not give up for the world.. and even though I will be rooting for the Aggies, I STILL BLEED GREEN

Memories from 9-11

On the Dallas Morning News website, they were asking for personal reflections about 9/11, so I decided I would incorporate it into today's blog...

On 9/11, I was in second period, Choir. Ironically, we were practicing the National Anthem for a special performance that we had in a few days. I remember our principal, Dr. Hebert, coming on the announcements... "May I have you attention please... [pauses for a moment] Today is one that will be recorded in the history books and you will remember this day for the rest of your lives.." He told us about the tragedy in New York and the Pentagon. He told us that we could go to the Counseling Center if we needed to speak with counselors about the tragedy and that he was also canceling any after school events: practices, auditions, etc. "This is a day that we all need to be with our families," he said. After that, I went to my English class, where the teacher refused to allow anyone to watch TV news coverage, which made me mad because I had not been able to get any information beyond what Dr. Hebert gave us. At lunch that day, I remember my friends and me talking about what happened. One of the things that I was brought up was gas prices. My friends and I were worried that the event would cause gas to increase in price and run short. We advised each other to fill up our cars before we went home from school. Another interesting reflection was that we all were glad that George Bush was in office instead of Al Gore. For some reason, we felt that Al Gore could not a good job in handling this tragic event. (Boy were we wrong!)

Looking back five years later, 9/11 changed the way that I look at the rest of the world. I actually try to understand other cultures and try to learn why they feel and do the things that they do. I was only 17 at the time of the tragedy and did not really have an appreciation for other cultures. Now, I try to learn as much as I can about other cultures to have an understanding about where they are coming from. Also, I have lost my sense of security. I guess before that time, I was innocent in the fact that I could be safe from anything. I felt that my mom could protect me from anything bad that could happen. When I went to bed on that Tuesday night, I no longer had that feeling. I felt that I was "on my own." Even though I knew that she would be there, I felt that she could not really protect me anymore and that the only person who could protect me was me. At the age of 17, that is not a cool feeling to have because at that age, there is still a lot of learning to be done. I do not have that feeling much anymore, but, there are sometimes when I could just have that underlying, unspoken sense of security again...

Katrina Remembered

Today is the first anniversary of when the worst hurricane in recent history hit the LA/MS coastline. Belo's New Orleans station, WWL-TV is doing all day coverage of this event and remembering the people lost and commemorating rebuilding. I remember this time last year, it was the first day of school at UNT and while I was working, I had a screen with WWL in one corner and WDSU (the local NBC station) in the other listening to their coverage of the event. Right before I had to go to class, I remember one of the stations reporting that there was a hole developing in the roof of the Superdome. I remembered going to the Superdome for the New Orleans bowl back in 2004 and I couldn't fathom so many people in that stadium. It was already in bad shape compared to other stadiums that I have been to, so that certainly did not help their situation. It was such a horrible situation. It was very sombering to watch people go through loosing their homes and personal possessions and sometimes, even family members. I have never been in that situation. When I lived in the Greater Houston area, we experienced many tropical storms and minimal hurricanes, but we were never in a position where our property or face any type of evacuation. I think that Tropical Storm Allison in 2001 was the worst that I had been through, and even then, we did not have any storm damage in my area. The worst that I had to deal with that was when I was working and trying to check out the long lines of people who depleted supplies at the grocery store.

This former hurricane will be remembered forever and will always be used as the comparison, similar to how people used to compare Hurricane Andrew in 1992 to every other storm for the longest time. Prior to Katrina, Andrew was the most costliest weather disaster to date. It will also be used as the reminder to people that it is important to evacuate when it is needed. It is sad that people need that push and reminder of what happened with this storm to take the situation seriously. Katrina also has given citizens more reason to be suspicious of their governments. Some people hold the government responsible for the lack of response to this disaster, and as they should. The government was not quick to respond to this disaster, and this could be partly due to the movement of FEMA under the Department of Homeland Security. That movement just added an extra layer of bureaucracy that is just unnecessary.

With all of this rememberance going on, there is a minimal tropical storm heading towards the Miami/South Florida area. It only has 45 mph winds which is a minimal tropical storm. They should get a good rain with some gusts of winds. However, experienced Floridians are preparing for the worst, which is the smart thing to do.

What is this water from the sky??

It is finally raining!! YAY!! It is about time that we got a good drenching. It will do nothing to releive the drought conditions here in North Texas, but it will do good for the greenery and the soil. The last time that I remember a good drenching rain like this was in May. An inch today will do us good, but it is unfortunate that we cannot have more..

Of Wheels and Fortunes

Today I went to a taping of Wheel of Fortune. It was pretty cool. They taped it at Nokia Live in Grand Prairie. It was a special "North Texas/Dallas" edition. Instead of calling it one or the other, they used both. In the title of the show, they called it "Wheel of fortune Dallas," however, when Vanna was doing her spots and doing her segways to and from commercials, she would say "North Texas." So as a viewer and resident, I was confused about from where that actually were coming from... But it was really cool. We got to sit through 3 tapings for 3 different days worth of episodes. It was "Family Week," so there were 2 players for each color. Only one team, a mom and son team from Lancaster, won the final puzzle and walked away with 30K and the money that they won from the previous puzzles. It was a great time, there was only one time that they had to redo something, when one guy spinned the wheel when there was only vowels left in the puzzle. Vanna and Pat were really nice. Pat came out during one break and sat in the audience, spoke with a kid, and let him go on the stage and spin the wheel. Vanna came out for a while and did a quick Q&A session. She was really cool and tried to get everybody's questions answered and she even signed a few autographs for a couple of girls and a guy who had his picture taken with her 17-18 years ago.. It was just a really cool experience. Now I can say that I have been apart of a studio audience and that I have seen a tv show being taped live. Now I am going to split my time between the Emmy's and Katrina Documentaries on the Weather Channel until Entourage at 9! Oh, by the way, Pat and Vanna aren't that tall. Also, the stage and the wheel were a lot smaller that I expected them to be. When you watch it on tv, things are a lot bigger than they actually are..

My Very Educated Mother Just [cant] Serve Us Nine pizzas...

Well it is official, Pluto is no longer a planet. It has been demoted to a "dwarf planet," which has been defined as similar to a planet but had not cleared the "neighborhood" around its orbit. As we all know, Pluto has an irregular orbit which is not the same as the other 8 planets. Pluto's is egg shaped and is just weird. Now, we will have to re-learn the planets, subtracting Pluto from the equation. New neumonics will have to be created to make this memorable for students in elementary school. I like some of the ones that the Quick came up with:

• "My virtual enemy, Mommy, just surves us nothing."
• "Meek villains expecting malice just stew until noon."
• "Monkeys vary enthusiastically; meanwhile, jackalopes stare unhappily now."
• "My very efficient Mary Jane shares unlimited narcotics." <-- The funniest

I bet that textbook publishers are loving this.. They will be making heaps of money as school districts all over the world purchase their updated science books, laughing all the way to the bank. It shouldnt be a major adjustment for students though because we knew all along that it was teetering whether or not it was a planet or not to begin with due to its inconsistencies with the other planets.

Less than 72 hours left!

Less than 72 hours left until the official start to the Fall 2006 semester.. I am always excited about the start of a semester... new classes, football season, a sense of newness on campus.. It is pretty cool... However, sometimes it feels like, I never had a break between semesters. This will be a good semester though because it will be my last as an undergraduate. In December, accompanied by several friends, I will be walking across the stage in the Coliseum getting a piece of paper that says that I know something and will begin a new chapter in my life, "After College." I totally wont be "out" of college though becasue I will still work for the University and will also be attending Grad School in the Spring. This semester will be loads of fun consisting of Music in Pop Culture, Japanese History, African American History and Short Stories. I am just waiting for the SMU game on September 9 so I can hear the Green Brigade...

Its the end of the 'Dome as we know it..

All native Houstonians have that one happy memory of their trip to the Astrodome, most of them are associated with an Astros game or the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo (or now known as Rodeo Houston). Ever since Reliant Stadium was built right next door (and Enron/Minute Maid Park in downtown), everybody has vacated the old domed stadium. Harris County has been wondering what it would do with the building ever since HLSR, the Astros and the defunct Oilers moved out of the stadium. The only recent activity that it saw was as a shelter for victims of Hurricane Katrina (who were quickly whisked away due to Houston's own evacuation with Hurricane Rita). Initially, they [Harris County] talked about demolishing the building. Now, it seems that they are supporting a new project that entails turning the insides of the 'Dome into a hotel. It is just sad to see it being something other than an event arena. I suppose that it is better than it being leveled to the ground. I just hope that the developers pay appropriate homage to the building, because it definitely deserves it. It does not necessarily have a place in Houston's skyline, but it still holds a special place in its heart. There is a lot of history there.. Selena's last performance, millions of dollars in scholarships given away from HSLR, many sports games (although not any worth a coveted pennant), Nolan Ryan played there... the list goes on.

A Short History:
The Astrodome opened its doors on April 9, 1965, as the first domed, multi-purpose stadium. It was given the title of "The Eighth Wonder of the World," for its unique design for its time. It had a futuristic look and feel to the building. Inside, they had concessionaires that wore "space" clothes and sold "space dogs" and other such futuristic items. The Astrodome inspired the name for Astroworld, the awesome Six Flags amusement park that just closed a year ago this October. Interestingly enough, the Astrodome not the first domed structure. The local ABC affiliate, KTRK, commissioned a new building for its studios and it was a domed. The architect who worked on that project later designed the Astrodome..

When the Levees Broke

Last night I watched the first 2 acts of Spike Lee's 'When the Levees Broke' on HBO. It was very good. Reading about it at the end of last week, there was a lot of controversy being discussed about "He only featured black people," or "He did not tell the whole story." I think that he did a good job getting a view from all New Orlenians and surrounding community members. This is good to see becuase it allows those who were not there, in the area, to have a greater understanding of what really happened, more than the networks can cover. There were a lot of first hand narratives and a lot of pictures of destruction. The ending was very sobering because Lee chose to show many pictures of bodies that were just lying there in the water. It was hard to watch. They all were laying in the same position. It was just very sad. I am excited to see the rest of it tonight. I remember the whole thing as it happened. Right before it hit and afterwards, I was tuned in at work and at home online watching the local tv stations directly because they were broadcasting their coverage online, which was great for those like me who are nerds and also great for those who were from the area and wanted to stay connected to the news from their hometown. WDSU (Hearst-Argyle owned and NBC station) and WWL (Belo-owned and CBS station) provided great coverage online. It was interesting to watch them as they improvised and tried the best to stay on the air while they evacuated themselves to different parts of the area. Both stations had to go to different places to base their broadcasts. WWL broadcasted from their transmitter site and from LSU for most of their broadcasts and WDSU moved all of their staff to a Hearst-Argyle sister station in Jackson, WAPT, which has really interesting, because that is the first dual broadcast that I had seen. H-A also committed a first when the News Director in New Orleans decided to shut things down in New Orleans and handed their broadcast over to staff at the A-H flagship station in Orlando, FL, WESH, which provided coverage for both Orlando and New Orleans (people in Orlando were probably like, what is this doing on my station? This is not affecting my area!) which according to what I have read, that has not been done before. There is a great video that H-A produced explaining what happened on the H-A website and how everything worked. It is really interesting. It was definately a new situation for the TV news industry..

Entourage and others

Well, the season finale for Entourage is next Sunday. This is a bitter-sweet day for Entourage fans. We are excited to find out what will happen next? Will Ari really get fired? Will Ari's new agency fail without Vince? Will Vince be able to survive after paying $20k for a pair of shoes? And then it sucks because we have to wait a whole year for a new episode.. Entourage has a weird time for is season. I guess that it is pretty convenient because they play the episodes in the summer, and is easier for people of its demographic (18-30's) to watch it because they are either out of school or their work schedule is adjusted somewhat for the summer and it is easier to catch the episode? But it shouldn't matter anyways, because it comes on at 9pm on Sundays.. Who knows.. It is just another show that I will have to patiently wait for new episodes for. The Office is killing me.. I have to find out what happens with Pam and Jim! My little Office-a-thon is now over, so I am all caught up, but, I am still wanting more.. I have now switched focus and now watching The Real World - Las Vegas, which is not the best season, but I only have LV and the original New York season on DVD.. I have not seen many episodes of this season's Real World - Key West. From what I have seen, it is not a very riveting season. It is the same 'ole mess that it always is.. No surprise..

Farmers Branch goes crazy over illegals!

Today, the Farmers Branch City Council is meeting to consider creating policies that would restrict illegal immigrants within their community. They will fine employers who give these people jobs (which should be done in the first place) and will make it illegal for property owners of homes or apartment complexes to rent to illegals. In addition, they will be printing all city documents in english only and will eliminate subsidies for illegal immigrants in the city's youth programs. I agree that employers should be fined and that the city has the right to only produce documents in english only, but I think that it is not right for them to take money away from youth programs and to restrict where illegal immigrants can or cannot live. Is there not a law out there that prevents discrimination within the housing industry? If they are able to pay the rent, why should their status matter? Yes, they should not even be here in the first place, but still, they still need a place to stay, and if the rent is paid, then so what? Also, it is not the children's fault that their parents made them come to the states illegally. Why should they be penalized for something that they have no control over? These programs are there to benefit all children and if they are illegal, then it could help them accumulate to the culture and learn how to be a good citizen. I just think that FB City Council is just being a little drastic. Yes, the United States, Texas in particular, has a problem with illegal immigration, but is this really a necessary step?

Blogging and The Office

It is weird.. I have a blog, and I am just now getting into reading other people's blogs (religiously). I have read some before, and I have had one that I read really regularly, but I am not gaining more that I am starting to read on a more, religiously/regular basis. Yesterday, I stumbled upon a blog that is maintained by the actress who plays Pam from NBC's The Office. It is on Myspace and it is pretty cool. She maintains it herself (not by her assistant) and she shares information about the upcoming season and also other projects that she is working on. She will also answer questions that fans email to her about the show/her life/other projects. It is really cool. She even accepted my friend request! After reading her blog and another blog that is maintained by the actress who plays Angela, I was on an Office high and wanted to watch The Office. I got through the first season, maybe I can make a good dent in the second season tonight... It is a really good show. I am really wrapped up (along with the rest of America) with the Jam (Pam/Jim) relationship and its possible outcomes. That whole situation is a hard situation. You have Pam who is engaged to her high school love who has been playing around and not ready to commit (they have been engaged for 3 years) and then you have Jim, who is her co-worker and partner in crime that they commit in the office (office pranks, not literal crime) and over time, he has developed a crush on her. He tells her his feelings (something that he has been wanting to do for a long time) and then she says no, which is dumb because it is obvious that she cannot get anywhere with Roy, her fiance. I really want them to get together, becasue they will make a better couple than her and Roy... Grrr... I just have to wait until September 21 to find out... I cant wait!!!!!

To XM or Not to XM... That is the question.....

So Nathan is deciding to get XM Satellite radio again and has asked if I want to join onto his account. I said yes initially because I really like XM, I have had it before and really enjoyed it, however, I am not in my car enough to really justify spending the money every month for it and to spend up to $120 for a new receiver. I had one, and then some jackass came and broke a window out of my car, tried unsuccessfully to steal my car and then and then decided to steal my XM receiver. The only way that I can justify getting XM again right now is if I get a portable receiver, the XM MyFi, which currently is running for $129 with a $30 mail-in rebate. That is a lot better than what it cost when they initially came out 2 years ago, but it is still a lot of money now and that could go to something else like bills or other things being that Finaid is not going to be good this year. However, I do have a birthday coming up, and with a birthday comes birthday money and if current trends stay the same, I could use that money to subsidize the purchase where I would only have to contribute a small portion of my own money. I would like to have it again becasue I enjoy listening to it, but I just have to make sure that it is really, truely worth the time and effort and cost to go for it and get it....It is definately something to think about..

Ready to go again...

Ok.. I am ready to go back abroad again.. It is weird.. On the last day in Edinburgh, I was really antsy to get home. At the airport, I practically ran onto the airplane. Now that I have been back home and returned to my routine at home and work, I am ready to go across the pond again to go exploring. Despite all of this worry about terrorism, I think that I would be ok. They have lifted the restrictions for carryons to and from the UK, so that is better and both nations have lowered their security risk levels, so all will return to some form of normalcy (except the whole ban on liquids thing). When I went to World Market this past friday, it was cool to see some of the products that I encountered while in the UK. I now have a place to buy tea that I liked. I just need to find a place that carries the bottled water that I really liked (Volvic) and Rebel Red beer that I really liked from Cork. I found some Dutch beer that I had while I was there, so I guess that that will do for now (but it is really expensive).. It would be really cool to do another study abroad or even cooler would be to do a semester abroad, but with graduation knocking on the door, there is no opportunity to do it now, and I am sure that I will not be able to do it as a graduate student. I will definately go back though. I looked at prices for travel to London Gatwick and London Heathrow, and it seems that if you book well ahead of time, you can get tickets starting from $563, which is alot cheaper than I initially thought... That makes a return more of a reality because I thought that round trip tickets were around $1000 or more... I will definately have to go to London and stay a few days there to explore.. Ireland will definately have to be on the itinerary also...

Home Again

Well, it is good to be home again and back to the old routine of work, chill, sleep and work again. The trip was awesome and I had a great time. Everybody was really cool and I was worried for nothing. Being in that kind of situation where you are forced to be with 11 other people in very tight quarters with a tight schedule will help speed things along and help develop friendships quickly. If I had the opportunity to do it all over again, I would. Now I just have to take a break and relax before Fall semester starts back up again on the 28th. A lot of TV will be watched and I am hoping to get through the book that Brandon lent me, The Loch. Work is really slow right now so I am getting to do a lot of surfing, which is good, but I feel guilty because I am just getting paid to surf, but oh well.. Not much that I can do when there is no work to preform..

Trip Pics

Hey Guys,

 

Here are some pictures from my trip that I have uploaded. This is not all, but alot of them are redundant landscape pictures, so I just chose the best ones from each place. There should be a description of each of them at the bottom of the picture.. Let me know if you cannot access the website and I will try to get them to you another way...

 

http://unt.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2052629&l=87983&id=23901764

My camera did have issues with me, so I am missing the first week of the trip, but I will share those with ya'll later when I steal them from my other classmates...

 

Have a great afternoon!

Dustin
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Do you bleed GREEN?!?!?!?!?!?!

Edinburgh

Hello from Edinburgh, Scotland! It is really hot here today. The sun is beating down harshly and it is quite unusual for this area. I figured that being that we were much more north it would be cooler, but oh well. Today we climbed up extinct volcanic structures and were studying them. The father of geology, James Hutton studied this volcanic structure in Hollyrood park and used it to come up with some of the basic principles of geology. From the top, there were cool views of Edinburgh... you could see the whole city from that one spot. It was pretty awesome. Tomorrow, we are supposed to be going around the city looking at buildings and structures and after that we will have our free day. I am going with my friends to see the Scotch Museum where they give you a sample at the end of the tour, Edinburgh castle and then at the night, we will be exploring the underground of edinburgh. Supposedly, the city started down in this underground area and then they decided to build on top of it... i can explain more about it later.. Well all is well.. I am ready to come home now.. All of this activity and constantly moving is starting to wear on me and it will be good to return to my normal setting and reestablish that since of normalcy.. I will be back on the states on monday, so this will probably be my last update. Have a great morning yall! (It is 3 pm right now, 9 am Texas time..)

 

Dustin

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Do you bleed GREEN?!?!?!?!?!?!

Hello from Cork

We are now in Cork Ireland. We arrived last night from Plymouth. Today we went out to Ballycotton Bay to study costal erosion. It was pretty interesting. Tomorrow we will be doing a study of the city of Cork itself, monday will be a free day and Tuesday, we will be heading to Galway, Ireland. In Ireland, the people are really friendly. In plymouth, we encountered many people who would not really acknowledge you when you were walking down the road way and say hello. It is quite interesting. Everybody in the group is getting along quite nicely. We are all accomodating to each other and in some aspects are really acting like a family by looking out for each other and such. I must say that is it really weird for me to be wearing a sweater and jeans on a sunny day in July. We are at 51 degrees North latitude, so i guess that it is to be expected, but all of yall in texas are sweating like crazy. Our accomodations are student dorms. The ones in plymouth were pretty small, but the ones that we have currently are really big. It is like an apartment with 5 bedrooms and a shared commons area with a living room and kitchen and 3 different bathrooms. It is quite spacious. I will have pictures to share with everybody when I return. The country side is so beautiful. There is so much greenspace it just amazes me. Also there are alot of cattle and sheep. The cattle are so different here; they are really lazy. THey lay down alot. In the states, i rarely see cows laying down (however, this may be because i dont go looking at cows all of the time). Also they spray paint their sheep over here. It is used as an identifyer so each owner can know whose sheep is whose... Well I am going to run for now.. Sorry for all of the random topics, it is just how my train of though has been working here lately :) I hope that this message finds all of you well....

 

Cheers!

Dustin

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Do you bleed GREEN?!?!?!?!?!?!

Hello

Hello all! What is going on? It is day 3 on this trip.. we are all getting along great and having a great time. we are currently in plymouth. today we did a project that took us around the city going all over the place looking at differences between now and the 1950's. excuse spelling and other errors, i have only 15 min total.. lady at the public library not very nice... the weather is great.. it has only been around the middle 70's for the highs and lower 60's at night. i keep my window in my room at the dorm open all day to keep cool air in. they have no air conditioning in the halls or anywhere else for that matter. it has been interesing using the british pound and it has not been very nice to my wallet. but it is all fun. i have taken about 60 pictures so far and am excited to share. the lady at the library is yelling at us, so i have to go.. Cheers!

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Do you bleed GREEN?!?!?!?!?!?!