KTBZ and KLDE did a flip too...

Last night as I was thinking about other things to write about, I remembered that I could write about another radio change that I vaguely remember. Back in 2000 in Houston, 2 radio stations swapped frequencies due to a merger between Clear Channel Radio and AMFM, Inc. Both 107.5 KTBZ (The Buzz/same as the Edge) and 94.5 KLDE (Oldies) were owned by Clear Channel and with the merger, the FCC said that Clear Channel had to dump a station. They chose to get rid of 94.5 KLDE and sell it to Cox Radio. Included in the sale was the frequencies. So they started to advertise the swap. I remember commercials all over the radio and on tv. It was pretty cool. Initially, it was said that KTBZ (The Buzz) was going off the air. This caused outrage by the public because there were a lot of new alternative listeners out there and there was/is not another station like it in Houston. Clear Channel even held a press conference about it and started a campaign to "Save the Buzz". It was later leaked that the swap was going to happen and the campaign sizzled away with the Houston heat.

On July 18th, 2000 at 8 pm, the swap happened. Each station was unique with their transfer. KLDE chose as "space" theme where the DJ's took a space ship up the dial from Oldies 94.5 to Oldies 107.5. KTBZ took a different approach and threw a party to celebrate their new frequency. They enlisted the help of the Stone Temple Pilots at the Ariel Theatre (Now Verizon Wireless Theatre) and just played countdown music as they faded away from 107.5 to 94.5. They broadcasted the enitre concert as their introduction to the new frequency.

You can find some cool audio with all of this action at FormatChange. I found these earlier and downloaded them from another website, but this one includes a statement from KTBZ's general manager from the period where they were still campaigning to "Save the Buzz". It is pretty cool and like I said yesterday, it is not everyday when radio station change formats, so take a listen.

Today, things still are the same over at 94.5. The Buzz still lives there and is as strong as ever. Over at 106.9, they have changed things up a little bit and are now 107.5 KHTC, K-Hits playing 60's and 70's music. The old KLDE staff is gone and is now staffed by old friends in Houston radio including Scott Sparks formerly of KRBE (104.1), Dave E Crockett of KKBQ (92.9) and KIKK (95.7) and Paul Christy of KHMX (96.5).

More terrorism in the states?

Today on Good Morning America, they reported that the possibility for more terror attack within the United States is possible and that this may be the calm before the storm. The Department of Homeland Secretary Michael Chertoff says that he has a "gut feeling" about possible terrorism in our nations future. There has not been any reports of any specifics, but with the recent events in the UK with the attempted car bombings, they are definitely on alert.

My question is : As a nation, are we ready for another attack? I know that it is not something that you can necessarily prepare for, but unfortunately in this day in age, we have to know that it is possible anywhere. Our police force and military are doing a great job to protect its citizens from terror, but sometimes somethings slip through the cracks. Can we, as citizens, react in a way that will not give into the terrorists desires or can we have an attitude that some of the British have adopted where they just take things day by day and live vigilantly without letting terror run their lives. I know that with the way that our media treats us, there will be some who totally freak out and say that the sky is falling, but can we as a whole react with vigilance and not let it affect our everyday practices?

What do you think? Can we be like the British and not let it affect our daily life or will it be another nationwide attack of daily practices?

Image : Department of Homeland Security

Oldies radio is returning to NYC

CBS-FM is returning to the airwaves in New York City and it is replacing the Jack-FM format. This change will be taking place at 1:01 pm EDT (12:01 PM CDT). For those who are not in the know, CBS-FM is an oldies format radio station that was replaced in NYC abruptly by the Jack-FM format back in June of 2005. CBS-FM was a hit amongst listeners as it played "good time" music from the 60's and 70's. After the switch, listeners had to log on to the Internet or have a HD radio to tune into the station. Recently, the station staff made the decision to return to its Oldies roots and has made a quiet decision to change formats. Jack will still be around, but it will now be found on the web or on the HD station.

It will be cool to listen in as the station makes the switch. It is not everyday that a radio station makes a format change. Usually, close to the time of the switch, there are songs that "define" the station or goodbyes from DJ's (in this case, there will be no goodbyes, because there are only 2 DJ's for the Jack format and they only do traffic and news for the station). When CBS-FM converted to Jack, the last song played before the intro to Jack was Fontella Bass' "Rescure Me" and the DJ maid a comment that he may need rescuing because of a meeting that he had to go to after his show (which ended up being one that informed them that they did not have a job anymore due to the change..)

To listen in, go to http://www.ilikejack.com/ prior to 1pm EDT or 12pm CDT tomorrow morning. After the switch, you may need to change tuners and load the player for CBS-FM at http://www.wcbsfm.com/. I would load both just to be on the safe side and just mute one. If you are in the New York City DMA, just tune the radio dial to 101.1 FM and enjoy!

Image: www.ilikejack.com - WCBS-FM

So I have obviously made some changes...

What do you think? I have been thinking about making some changes to the good 'ole blog. I was not quite liking the old face. I love the background, but they layout was just not working out.. Sometimes the titles would not show and the text was not aligned properly.. Now everything looks pretty normal..

I am also trying to come up with more ideas for content.. I am not sure what, but something.. I am sure that it will be totally random like everything else has.. :)

Let me know what you think...

Will a reality show compromise journalistic integrity?

This summer, a reality show was filmed in Tyler, TX at CBS affiliate KYTX called "Anchorwoman". It was about an actress from Los Angeles trying to make it as a reporter and anchor at a local television affiliate. She had no journalistic abilities or training and has been trained buy the television station as she worked at the station. It has caused all kinds of a fuss with the people within the television industry and in East Texas itself. One thing to point out about the East Texas region is that this region is an extremely conservative area. I am talking about deeep in the heart of the bible belt.

In an effort to advertise her arrival in the region, the production company for the reality show purchased ad space on billboards with her picture in a swimsuit inviting viewers to watch CBS 19 news at 5pm where she would be participating in that broadcast. That received a lot of backlash from viewers because she was only wearing a swimsuit (however, all you could really see was her face). The television station received many phone calls and emails. The station management did not avoid viewer's complaints and the General Manager did face the music per-se on one of their morning news broadcasts (of which, you can watch at KYTX's website) Even other Tyler affiliates joined in with the complaints. Local ABC affiliate, KLTV, which has been vocal with other events (see Rosie vs. KLTV), jumped in criticizing KYTX :

"One of the last sacred grounds of integrity in local television is the local newsroom, so I guess I would say I'm disappointed to see a station, much less one in our own community, that has evidently sold its integrity," said Brad Streit, vp and GM for KLTV-TV, the ABC affiliate in Tyler. (Source: Hollywood Reporter)

The national media has also attacked them with reports on this new show. ABC's Good Morning America has done several reports as has Fox News Channel.

Does this show compromise journalistic integrity? Must somebody have a degree in Journalism just to report the news? What about those people just starting out in TV journalism? If television stations require experience before they hire people, how will anybody be hired in the first place? Where does anybody start?

Regarding KYTX..What will this do to their ratings? Will their ratings decline now that that "Anchorwoman" has now left the station? KYTX has only been operating since 2004, are they strong enough to survive the strife or will Dallas CBS affiliate KTVT be making a return to the Tyler/Longview DMA?

I guess only time will tell...

"Anchorwoman" will be airing on Fox this Fall beginning in August. It will be interesting to see what they show and what kind of local reaction they present to the "Anchorwoman" audience.

Photo Credit: (KYTX Website)

Update: Here is a clip of a news cast with the "Anchorwoman" from the Dallas Morning News

A Houston Legend's Battle with Cancer

It is rare for a whole city to support a local television reporter, especially in the nation's 4th largest city. These days, some reporters are seen as people who are just fighting to get the story, not ones that you would generally call friends or truly trust. This is also a day in age where TV news is over hyped and filled with drama. However, in Houston, viewers will be supporting a local TV personality in a battle for his life. Consumer reporter for local ABC affiliate, KTRK-TV, Marvin Zindler announced yesterday that he has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. This comes from a man who has battled prostate cancer, has had open heart surgery and his gall bladder removed, along with many cosmetic procedures that he has shared with the viewers for many years.

For those of us who have grown up or lived in Houston, Marvin is a character that we all know and love. We can all mimic his legendary tag-line, "Maaaaaaarrvin Zindler, Eyyyeewitness News.." We know him for his Slime in the Ice Machine and can sing that goes along with that. We know him for his work helping out the little guy against companies who try to cheat their customers. We also know him for his charitable work connecting doctors who want to do pro-bono work for children in foreign countries: cleft palates, heart transplants, the whole lot.

Nationally, he is is know for being the only person with a lifetime contract with ABC/Disney for his reporting where he brings in $1 million each year. Also he is well known as being the reporter who broke the news about the Chicken Ranch in La Grange, TX, also known as The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. There have been several movies and a musical made about the event.

Already on KTRK's and the Houston Chronicle's websites, there are messages of well wishes and love for this reporter who has been on the air in Houston since 1973. He is a great reporter and good man. The whole whole city will be pulling for him.

Photo Credit: The Houston Chronicle

To Victory and Beyond!

So last night, some friends and I went to Victory Park to watch a broadcast of WFAA's 10 newscast. It was pretty cool.. We did not hear what they were saying, but we could see all of the behind the scene's actions. There was a cop outside of the studio doors, making sure that no deranged lunatic tried to get into the station.

Inside, the floor crew was preparing, getting cameras where they needed to be and then the talent started to appear and get themselves ready. Brett Shipp, a reporter, walked up and into the building while we were waiting. We saw him go inside, put on his tie and then start memorizing his lines for his (virtually) 2-second talk-up to his taped story. Then Macie Jepson and John McCaa took their places at the anchor desk. Macie Jepson is really tall! Despite the 3 inch heels that she was wearing, she is a tall lady. She seemed really nice. As she was walking out to their van, she waved to goodbye to us.

Pete Delkus appeared and walked over to the weather center to start prepping for his segment. He even came outside and did a little stand up giving the viewers a tease for weather. He told us all to come closer so we could be on TV. I did not choose to do so, but still managed to make it on TV. You could see my arm in the background as they went to break. He was pretty nice.

Watching the weather segment was pretty interesting. As Pete was talking, he walked over to the computers and started to manipulate the radars to try to demonstrate what he was talking about and after that, he walked over to the green screen. He then did his thing and then walked back over to the desk. This was as I expected, nothing out of the ordinary in my opinion. It was just cool to see it in person.

If you are in the Metroplex and are somewhat curious about how a TV newscast works/happens, I would suggest checking it out.. If not for that, just for the whole plaza because it is just pretty cool..the TVs and all of the colors that come from that square.. and just looking at the skyline at night...I could spend many hours just staring at the AAC...it is just an awesome style... but I digress...

An Ode to HEB

So I heard a rumor that my favorite grocery chain is looking at joining the North Texas market. In response, I let them know how I really feel about them:

I just wanted to tell you what a great shopping experience that you provide and how sad I was when I came to North Texas for college and how I miss HEB. Every time that I walk into an HEB when I am at home (my hometown HEB is the Clear Lake store) I am always greeted with friendly smiles and a pleasant shopping experience. I also enjoy the quality of goods that I find there and excellent prices. When I go home for a visit, there are a few things that I stock up on to hold me out until my next visit; HEB Contact Solution and HEB Root Beer and Dr. B. I have been to the Central Market in Plano and was disappointed when I did not find these items, but was not too shocked because I understand that these items do not "fit" the Central Market scheme. I just want to let you know that I think that the HEB brand can work here in North Texas. Walmart is #1 in this market, but with the type of products, service and prices, you can sure give the nasty Wallyworld a run for their money. I have heard a rumor that ya'll may be interested in starting in small towns in this area, and if that is true, I will be really excited. I was on an HEB high for 30 minutes after I heard of the rumor. I am not kidding, I have references if you need to check. I am just asking that you please enter our market and bring me a little taste of home, the taste of HEB Rootbeer and Dr. B, the taste of a pleasant shopping experience and the taste of an awesome company that I am proud to be a customer of.

Here is what HEB had to say in response:

Dear Mr. Mayfield:

Hello and thank you for contacting us at our H-E-B Web Site. We always appreciate hearing from our Friends and Customers.

Thank you for requesting a store in North Texas. We will share your suggestion and comments with our Real Estate Department for their information and consideration. We are continually evaluating where to build new stores and where to expand. Unfortunately, we can't give you an exact answer as to when something might be done in this area. Thank you for your feedback.

H-E-B is proud to serve you as our Customer and we will look forward to all future opportunities we may have to serve you. We genuinely value your comments and your business. As we strive to deliver superior Customer Service, we encourage you to continue letting us know how we can serve you better.

Sincerely,

Cathy

Customer Relations Specialist

H-E-B Grocery Company

She was quite vague, which is standard for any company, but there is still hope! Next step will be a petition drive. I know that the South Texans for an HEB in Denton group on Facebook will be a good base to start with. Let's start the fight. The fight for our right to an HEB. Our motto will be "Give me HEB or give me death!"

Quote of the Day...(Awesome!)

AP questions to the 2008 Presidential Candidates:

"What is the last work of fiction you've read?"

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson: " The administration's energy plan."

Its almost that time again!

Yes, that most exciting time for a hunter of sorts is almost here. Can you guess what it is? Hurricane Season! Oh yeah! This past year was a quiet one, which was fine with the people of the United States after a busy season in 2005 with the total destruction caused by Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma. The reminder of the Hurricane season comes today as a sub-tropical system forms off of the southeastern coast of the United States. The Hurricane Season does not start until June 1st, so this is quite out of the ordinary. Meteorologists are calling this a subtropical storm, meaning that it is not quite tropical storm, and not quite a frontal storm. The National Hurricane Center in Miami sent out a Hurricane Hunter plane today and verified that it does have the qualities of a "sub topical cyclone" and that if it continues to develop and stay on track with "subtropical" trends, they will start issuing advisories on "Subtropical Storm Andrea." And this is with 22 days still left before Hurricane season starts!

The reason that it is not an outright tropical storm is because the highest wind speeds are away from the center of the storm, whereas in a tropical storm, the highest wind speeds are found in the center near the "eye" (if it has one).

If it does "hit" the coast, it would be good because GA and FL are having some fire issues because they are experiencing a drought right now. It is moving 5 mph in a westward direction, but as far as it making an impact on that situation, I do not think it is favorable.

Is this a sign of what is to come this Hurricane season? It may or it may not. Only time will tell. Remember, if we do run out of names for this season, we go GREEK! "Party on Wayne, Party on Garth!"

Yeah, I know.. they were not Greek nor was that very funny.. I have to try sometimes though..

Grr....

I am so tired of hearing about people with guns and buildings! Right now, some idiot is holed up at JSC (Johnson Space Center in Houston) with a gun. Due to all of this, Clear Creek ISD had to lock down Space Center Intermediate because they are on the JSC grounds, practically right across the street from the building where all of this mess is happening.

Why can't we use our words? Why is it that people choose guns? Why is it that we are the only country in the world that has these types of problems?

If you go back and look at the United States Constitution, at the 2nd Amendment, and read the true content of the amendment, it was only written to allow states to have militias. It was not written for the intent of people having guns. Just for the ability to have guns to arm the militias. Unless you are a part of your local state guard, military or public safety, nobody else really needs a gun. They only ask for trouble. If a student was packing heat at VA Tech when the crazy dude came in, would it really have helped or stopped him earlier? No. There probably would have been more injured, or even dead.

Do we need more gun control? Yes. Is it ever going to happen? No. Why not? Because it is too controversial and nobody would ever agree on a single piece of legislation. How did the Brady Bill get passed? I have no idea. I wish that it was not allowed to expire, because now that it has expired, assault weapons are more readily available than before the Brady Bill. If the Brady Bill were still in effect, the gunman from VA Tech would not have had the gun that he used and also it would have slowed him down and possibly preventing him from harming others. What's going to happen in the future? Who knows....

Virginia Tech Tragedy

Another school was under attack today. School shootings have now migrated to higher education. As of now (130 pm CDT) 31 students have been either wounded or perished, including the shooter. It is just a sad day. The last time that there have been a great tragedy at a school was Columbine in 1999. The last incident like this at an institution of higher education was in the 60's at the University of Texas with the bell tower shooter with approximately 90 minnutes of terror and 16 students dead. It is now the deadliest shooting incident in US History.

This is the second incident at Virginia Tech in the past 6 months. In August, on their first day of class, classes were cancelled and buildings put on lock-down because an escaped inmate came on campus and killed a sheriff's deputy. What would it be like to be a beginning freshman through all of this? This would be a hard introduction to independent living.

Why do we have to face this in our society? Why are people going against others in mass casualties like this?

It is sad because many students are part of Generation Y and have already experienced school shootings at the terror that it can cause at school. After hearing things like this, it makes you a little uneasy and makes you re-evaluate the safety situation at your respective homes and campus.

Here is a first hand prospective of the situation: http://icantread01.livejournal.com/103060.html

It is also interesting how technology has affected this situation. When the phone systems failed, people turned to websites, blogs and social networks like Facebook and Myspace to find news about their friends and about what was going on around them. The link above is a prime example of this. Here is another link with information and other blogs : http://www.cybersoc.com/2007/04/virginia_tech_s.html

This situation is quite unfortunate and our prayers are with the students and families of this situation.

Is change really good?

I was surfing on my favorite radio station's website, and I encountered a piece of news that I did not know about. Virgin Radio has a morning show called the Breakfast Show. I usually listen to it via podcast because I don't really want to stay up all night so I can listen to it as it comes on at 12 am here in Denton. Well, one of the DJ's (Chris Smith) took a leave of absence so he could attend to his wife while she had a baby. This was like 2 weeks ago. Well, while he was gone, the station played around with having Christian O'Connell (the main DJ) go solo and then they added a producer to the mike and tried that. They tested around and found out that they liked the show better without Chris Smith (the new daddy) who was out on leave. Now, Chris was an awesome sidekick. The main DJ is a little childish and is really evened out by Chris. They have worked together for a while and even switched radio stations this past year.

The news that I read last night was that he was canned. The main DJ never made any mention of the demise of Chris Smith. There was no statement and they deleted all of his pictures and anything that had to deal with Chris. The team was now broken up.

I just think that was a bad move. It would have also been nice for them to give him a proper send off and explain everything to the listeners. Not to mention, he was on a leave of absence to attend to a new member of his family. Is that a kick in the balls or what?

Why is radio so fickle like that? They did the same exact thing here in the Metroplex at Mix 102.9; canned Cappy from the Morning Mix with Tony and Cappy. Which is better? Running away old listeners from a radio show or trying to gain new ones? I know that it is easier and cheaper to gain new customers for a business, but shouldn't they work harder to keep old customers around?

Picture: To the left, Brian The Producer, to the right: Newly canned Chris Smith

Joel Osteen: Is it all necessary?

Ok, so if you are from Houston, know somebody from Houston, watch Christian TV, read Christian Books, anything besides live under a rock (and maybe not even then), you have definitely heard of Joel Osteen. He is the pastor of a little church called Lakewood Church. You can catch his sermons on TV on Sunday mornings and he is that guy on the cover of that book that everybody is reading, according to the NYT best seller list: Your Best Life Now. Now, according to fellow Blogger Mike McGuff and Christian Today, Joel Osteen has the #9 most listened to podcast online. In addition, he also has a board game based on his book.

My question is: "Is all of this necessary?" Yes, one of the points of Christianity is to spread the word. I am not against that. Not at all. However, I think that there is a point in which you can take things too far. I can understand the podcast thing and maybe localized distribution of his weekly sermons; Lakewood is a big church (so big that they had to take over the old home of the Houston Rockets) and these methods are a good chance to keep the local congregation in touch with their massive church. I can even understand the book. I have not read it myself, but from what I understand, it is a self-help book; with all that is going on in our world, why not? But is there a point of over saturation? TV, podcast, book, board game, all kinds of interviews.. That is a little much. Simplicity is enough to spread the word. What happened to just talking to your local parishioners or people in the community? That is what God would have done, not gone national or even global. One big issue is that I have a problem with the game. I don't understand the need of the game. There is just no need. If it were one of those games that was like a bible quiz game, I would understand it a little more, but I don't think that is it. It just makes me wonder...

Now don't get me wrong. Lakewood has done great things for the people of the City of Houston and worldwide. Back in 2001, they organized a huge food and clothing drive to help those who lost all in the horrible 100 year floods from Tropical Storm Allison. I just sometimes wonder if John Osteen, Joel's father, would be satisfied with how the church has evolved and what Joel is doing with it since his death. I remember the day that he passed away in 1999, The whole City of Houston mourned is death.

But a game about the book? I just don't know about that.

Photo Credit: Houston Chronicle

Random Thoughts (sorry its boring)

So I have been thinking about going abroad and taking classes in the UK. I've got a bug and something has to kill it. However, there are a lot of factors that come into play if I were to do this.

Cost is key, but if you read a previous posting, there are some possibilities. Another thing would be what would I study? The only subjects that make since is Education and American Studies. If I were to do Education, I would still have to take some certification tests once I came back here to start teaching.

However, I am already starting classes and preparing to take my subject test at the beginning of next month. With the American Studies degree, my first instinct says "Why study America in the UK? It doesn't make since." The only logical thing that I can pull from it would be that I could study it and see how foreigners construe the US while teaching about it. Also, it would be a good chance to live abroad (something that I have always wanted to do) and to take in some UK culture (no, it is not too different from ours, but there are some differences). I just think that it would be awesome. I know that I just came back from a study abroad trip, but that is not the same. We did not stay in one place for more than 3 days and it was not like a typical study abroad experience (it was still awesome!).

Additionally, I have bills here that I have to pay, take care of my new car that has a 3 year lease on it, stuff like that. I just don't know what to do. Should I continue what I am working on and forget about it? Should I just do this after I get my Masters and then go and study abroad?

I think that I will still investigate the options, but I don't know what I would do.

What would you do?

Why mess with a good thing?

I know that I have probably told all of y'all about the recent 'news' with Grey's Anatomy... The business about how they are going to have a spin off with Addison Montgomery as the lead character. Personally, I think that this is a bad move. The show is great as it is. There is a great dynamic as it is with all of the characters. If they remove one, I think that it will mess up the dynamic and take away from the show. This is a really popular show, it does not make since. I don't think that Addison is strong enough to actually be on her own. They are bringing in all kinds of people who had shows that eventually failed so who knows how that will pan out.. A lot of shows have had spin offs: Friends had Joey (which only lasted a season and a half) the Cosby's had A Different World (I'm sure that did not last long..) etc. You get the picture. They rarely work. Maybe ABC is trying to give these actors a second chance, or maybe they had contracts with some of them. I just call it a bad move. They will figure it out this fall when they see a decline overall ratings with Grey's Anatomy.

Scholarship Opportunities

This is a good tidbit of information if you are interested in continuing your education beyond a bachelors degree. Personally, I should have investigated this more before I started my course work, but I may still be eligible. I will have to see. There are several opportunities for Study Abroad and stateside study as well. These are highly competitive and world renown scholarships, so they are pretty cool and extensive. A couple that I am investigating are the Rotary Ambassador Scholarship, the James Madison Scholarship and the Marshall Scholarship. Dr. Duban from the office of Nationally Competitive Scholarships is holding a workshop on March 28th from 3-4pm in the Lyceum if you are interested. You can get more information about the different types of scholarships available at this website : http://www.opgf.unt.edu/ You can also contact Dr Duban with specific questions at jduban@unt.edu.

The James Madison Scholarship is for those who are interested in teaching Secondary American History. They will pay for your Masters degree and all you have to do is teach for the amount of years that you receive scholarship money from them (which you would be doing anyways). The deadline has already passed, but worth looking into for the next go around.

The Marshall Scholarship allows you to study in the UK for 2 years at most UK universities. It will pay for room and board, books, round fare ticket from here to there and a Masters Degree. There is no obligation with this one except for completing your program.

The Rotary Ambassador Scholarship allows you to study almost anywhere on the globe and they will pay for tuition and housing. All you have to do is be an ambassador for your country in the place that you choose to study. for Rotary International.

If you are interested, check out the website to get more details on the programs.

Is it child abuse?

Connor McCreaddie of Wallsend, England, is 8 years old. He is also 218 pounds. On Tuesday, Connor and his mother had to meet with the County Council (equivalent to our court system) to determine if Connor was facing harm at home due to his diet. Ms McCreaddie was worried about loosing custody of Connor. However, the North Tyneside County Council determined that Connor could stay with his mum but they all needed to watch over him to ensure that this situation does not get out of hand.

Recently, ITV, a British televison network, followed Connor around for a month watching his every move. He would eat snack every 20 minutes, usually comprising of chips and cookies (or in British, crisps and biscuits). He can put away 8 lunch sized bags of chips and 3 packages of cookies a day. For dinner, his mother would prepare french fries, buttered bread and other bad things. She tells Connor to stay out of the fridge between meals, (which he ignores) and refuses to put a lock on the fridge. She admits that he was a big baby. At age 2 1/2, she could not pick him up anymore and at age 5, he was 126 pounds.

Is this abuse? I think that it can be if the mother is not doing anything about this situation. She is not forcing him to exercise and it is aparent that she is not changing the diet. I am sure that she is not deliberately trying to fatten him up like the witch in Hansel and Gretel, but in this age, it is necessary to be more cognizant of diet and weight. It is all just sad. I can understand that she is a single parent of 2 kids and that it is hard, but if she were to put a little bit of effort into it, it could go a long way. Maybe take the kids to the park every other day. Throw in some salad instead of bread. Try some vegetarian dishes. GET A LOCK FOR THE FRIDGE! He will not starve to death, he will just gripe until the next meal time.

I think that the County Council made a good move in not removing him from his mothers custody. That probably would have been detrimental to him and caused depression which leads to even more eating. They should just help his mother construct a diet and exercise plan for him. That is all that he can do for now. Maybe they should also check him for a disease that may be causing him to be obease.... Whatever happens, a change needs to be made immediately before it causes long lasting effects that will be with him for rest of his life..

Denton Apartments Suck!

Recently, my roommate and I have been shopping around for a new apartment. That is just something that you do around the time that you lease is up. We were interested in looking for a new place, some place that was more modern and had a few specific features that we were looking for. As we were driving around on Saturday to these newer apartment complexes in town, we quickly discovered that we could not move into any of them. Why you may ask? They are all Federally subsidized and subject to income restrictions. WHAT!?!?!?!?!?!?! I was livid, especially after the 3rd place that we went to told us that. These are all brand new apartments, all built within the past few years and are the nicest apartment complexes in town and they are out of reach because our incomes equal over $31,000. The only choices that we have remaining to us are some dumpy apartment complexes or ones that we cannot afford altogether. Where is the logic in this? One apartment manager put it eloquently, "You are being penalized for actually having a job."

My question in all of this is why is there such a need for low income housing in the City of Denton? Denton is not that poor in my opinion. Yes there are some parts of town that seem poorer than others, but over all, we as a city are not doing that bad economically.

So I thought.... Then I checked with the Census Bureau. According to the 2000 Census the median household income was $35,422 for the City of Denton, comparing to 63K for McKinney, 54K for Lewisville, 62K for Carrollton and 78K for Plano. I just cannot believe this. I don't understand why the median household income is so small for Denton. We have a lot of industries here, Peterbilt, national headquarters for Sally Beauty Supply, UNT, TWU, Denton ISD (it is a big school district) and other big employers. I guess what this number shows is that a lot of people are not making that much money from these employers (I know that I'm not) or that they are living in other communities outside of Denton.

Maybe the fact that we have a large population of college students living in Denton has something to do with how low our median income numbers are. I don't know. You would think that the Census Bureau would account for this though. Who knows? It is just a major shock to me and my roommate. Now we have to decide if we want to stay in our current complex or possibly pay more and live in another complex a little more out of the price range. I just seems a little unfair for those who are actually starting off in their adult lives and want to continue to live in Denton.

Maybe I should be complaining more to the City of Denton for not enticing other complexes that could cater to a customer such as myself. Yes, we have a lot of complexes already in Denton, but if you really look at a lot of them, nobody would really want to live in them. Ah, and that is another thing. Maybe I should complain to all of the management companies for not keeping up with their properties and making them appealing to people. Curb appeal says a lot. If it does not look good on the outside, that is definitely an indicator of what you will find on the inside.

I am still boggled by the income numbers for Denton. I just don't understand. Even if these incomes were for 2 people, they would still be too high for these low income complexes. There are a lot of variables and would be a good topic of study for somebody who needs an economic or business project...

What do you think of all of this? Post your thoughts below...

They JUST changed the rate!

Is it just me or didn't the Postal Service just raise the rates for the 1st class stamp? I can remember when it was a quarter to send a letter in the mail. My mom remembers when it was a dime to send a letter. What is the deal? The postal service has just announced that it wants to raise rates for a stamp from 39 cents to 41 cents, a 2 cent increase. I know that it is needed because of the increase in cost of gas and labor, but it is just crazy! This will be another reason for people to start paying their bills online and stray away from the paper and pencil method of paying bills. Our generation is starting to abandon this old method and I think that this will force others to abandon this method as well.

The postal service is talking about implementing a "forever stamp" which would lock in prices at the time of purchase, but you will still have to buy those stamps at the 41 cent price. It is a good concept, because it will save money over a period of 10 or more years, but then you will have stamps coming out of your ear for that period of time. It will save a trip to the Post Office or Kroger to get stamps, though, which is good too..

My plan to help the Postal Service earn more money, charge those advertisers who send junk mail that nobody ever reads a dollar or more just for being annoying..

What do you think?

WTWO Fights back!

This is a follow up to a blog that I wrote a looong time a go.. http://dlm0078.blogspot.com/2006/05/thats-right-biotch.html

Basically, WTWO, local NBC affiliate in Terre Haute, IN, made a promo talking about the greatness of their weather department and how their CBS competitor sucks. Here is the video :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJH-nvnCqLI

John Stewart got wind of this and called WTWO out on making fun of their competitor and he made fun of them.. Supposedly, (I say that because this happened quite some time ago and I am now just reading about it..) there was a bunch of controversy between WTWO and Stewart. In response to Jon Stewart, they made this great gem: http://www.ifilm.com/video/2753363. Obviously, it is probably safe to assume that this was never aired on WTWO. Supposedly it was an internal film.

It is all just freaking hilarious! I would love to see some of this kind of action between WFAA (ABC-8) and KXAS (NBC-5) in Dallas or KTRK (ABC-13) vs KHOU (CBS-11) in Houston.

Sign of the times?

Is it a sign of the times that Americans depend too much on Fast Food and a high fat diet? I have an interesting example for you...

I am 22 years old. I am a good weight for my stature. I am not bouncing off the walls with activity, but I am not totally stagnant either. I am moderately healthy. I am a semi-moderate consumer of fast food or dining out (about 2-3 times a week), but I do not do it all of the time. I would rather cook at home most of the time. With all of that said, I have recently been diagnosed with High Blood Pressure and High Cholesterol. When I learned of this, I was shocked. I am pretty healthy. My previous physical showed great results. And now I have high blood pressure and high cholesterol and the medications that accompany such conditions.

Now granted, my doctor said that alot of this had to deal with family history, and yes, I do have some history. But still, is this an indicator of what will happen to others in my generation who h ave grown up in the age of Fast Food and high fat diets?

Are there others out there from our generation who are experiencing this? It would be interesting to see the numbers on this.

I could be blowing all of this out of proportion, but I think that there could be an interesting correlation. What about others out there from my generation who are heavy eaters and eat out at least once to twice a day?

Abolition of the N Word in A Southeast TX Community

The Houston Chronicle is reporting that Brazoria, the county seat of Brazoria County, is working on outlawing the "N-Word". The law is not on the books yet, but they mayor is going to hold a few public sessions about this law and try to get a consensus of what the public thinks of this proposed law. If they agree with it, he will take it to the city council and if they agree with it, then they will pass the law.

It will not prevent you from saying the word, but makes it a criminal offense if the word is used in a derogatory way. The fine will be around $500.

When asked why he wanted to implement this new law, the mayor said :

Corley said he got the idea while watching two black ministers talking on television about how offensive that word is. "I just think it would be great if this little town of Brazoria, with 2,800 people, leads the way in fighting against this offensive language," said Corley. "It's not a particular problem in Brazoria," Corley said, "but it's a national problem."

There are questions about the legality of this new law. Usage of the word is protected by the First Amendment and the law maybe over turned if it is ever questioned.

I think that this is a good idea. There is no need for ANYONE to use that word, Black or not. There is so much history with that word and all of it leads to many years of oppression. If the true connotations of the word were understood by all, I think that some would think twice about using it. There are other ways that we can address each other.

What do you think? Would this be a good law to have on the books? Post a comment below....

Do You live in a foreign country? They Do!

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. Work has been crazy busy and I have not really had much time to do anything but my actual work... weird huh?

I do want to share 2 blogs that I have been reading lately.. They are pretty cool. They are written by Americans living in Africa. One is a Peace Corps volunteer and the other one is a former Peace Corps volunteer working for a non-profit organization.

It is interesting to read about their lives in these foreign countries and about how things are much different in their respective countries : Togo and Angola.

They are good things to read if you have been or are interested in the Peace Corps or living in a foreign country, which both of these are things that I have contemplated..

So here are the websites as promised:
Aaron in Africa (Peace Corps Volunteer in Togo)
and
Back in One Piece (Non-Profit)

More Fry Street Evictions

This is from the Save Fry Street Organization....

"Yesterday, members of SFS confirmed with business owners on Fry Street that yes, they have received eviction notices. The Tomatoe, Bagheri’s, and other businesses have been given until Jan. 31 to vacate their homes.

While we understand that even with renovation, this would be part of the process, we wish the tenants had been given more notice. We are sad to see such great businesses leave and hope that no matter what the outcome, they can and will come back to Fry Street.

Also, this is not over. We are still planning to meet with the developers again to discuss options. The developers still need variances to make plans and changes. We still have input so do not give up on Fry Street."

(More updates to come…)
SFS - Save Fry Street

Happy 150 City of Denton!!

This year, the City of Denton is celebrating its 150th Birthday! The City is celebrating by hosting exhibits, workshops and lectures that pertain to the City of Denton. This month, there will be talks about how the city was created, what life was like during the frontier days in Denton, and how the 1st Methodist church has affected the City.

A kick off celebration was held tonight at the Emily Fowler Central Library to get it all started. The next will be a lecture presented by Nita Thurman called "Going, Going, Gone! The Auction that Created Denton." It is Tuesday, Jan. 9th at 7pm at the Emily Fowler Library. I am excited to go listen to this (hopefully I will be off work in time...)

To find out about all of the events, go to www.denton150.com and click on Calendar. There are also pictures and videos about Denton and also some cool facts and timelines.

An interesting fact about Denton is that back in the late 1800's, there was a small community that is where the Civic Center resides today that was called Quakertown. It was named for the Quakers who helped the freedmen in the early years of the Reconstruction. In 1922, the City of Denton bought out the land and annexed it into the city limits and turned it into a park and later a Civic Center, as it is today. (Some information from Texas State Handbook Online)

A New Year, A New Semester

Well all of the tests have been taken, gifts unwrapped, and champagne has been consumed. We are now in the newest year of the Millennium and it is definitely different. The new semester is about to start and I will be a Grad Student. It is so weird to think about it. I have to keep reminding myself that I have graduated and that I am an Alumnus. Maybe it is because I am I will still be at UNT taking classes and working just like I have been for the past 3.5 years. It is crazy...

I am kinda excited about the new semester because I will only be taking 2 classes and one of them will be my very first education class. I have not taken one before, so it will be interesting to see how it works out. I will also be continuing my African American history class. I am excited for that because it is modern history and I really enjoy that period. It will also be a little hard because it will be for Grad credit, which means doing more work that the rest of the class. I still have to meet up with my professor and see what I will have to do. I am thinking of suggesting an additional paper. Maybe writing about Barbara Jordan, Jim Crow effects in Texas or desegregation in Texas. If you have any cool ideas, let me know!!!

Kudos to WFAA and KDFW

As we speak, there are areas that are under Tornado Warnings. Johnson County currently has a severe thunderstorm that is attacking the county and has a history of spawning tornadoes. It spun off a tornado in Hill and Bosque Counties.

What do citizens need in this dire time? Late breaking news about the storm. This is important because some places do not have storm sirens and they need to know if something is coming their way. Since 3pm today, Pete Delkus has been on-air giving viewers the latest information that they need. I have been flipping around the different local affiliates to evaluate the coverage and I have been happy with some and disappointed with others.

WFAA Ch-8 and KDFW Ch-4 has stepped up and have been providing great coverage. KXAS Ch-5 has been doing a great job as well. They finally broke into regular programming after a while. Even KTXA Ch-21, the station that is as Independent as Texas has even broken into their regular programming to provide weather coverage.

However, KTVT, CBS Ch-11, has provided very little coverage. They feel that the football game is more important than the severe weather. They have done the split screen business, but they have not taken on the full fledged coverage as they should.

I know that some these storms have been in areas that have not been in the immediate DFW viewing area but they have moved into our area and some of those people can pick up our signal and pickup the major market tv stations on satellite tv. I feel that KTVT has failed their viewers, on the other hand, the viewers of the immediate area that have not been affected and their shows being pre-empted feel that the stations have failed them. But to each their own. This will allow viewers to see how the stations really feel about viewer safety to choose the "Coverage that they can count on.."

I am just glad that I got back to the Metroplex before all hell broke loose.. I would have been upset having to watch this from my car or from Houston....

Christmas Panto

On Virgin Radio yesterday, they did a Christmas Panto. For those who are unfamiliar, a Christmas Panto is performance that is specific to the UK. It is a very interactive show between the audience and the actors and also the show has a lot of current topics/people in it. For example, they take Cinderella and put a Virgin Radio spin on it by talking about things from the radio show and using DJ's in the Panto. Also included in this version is Thandi Newton and David Tennant. Thandi was in Crash and David Tennant is on BBC1's Dr. Who TV show.

As I said before, the Virgin Radio Panto is Cinderella. It is very funny. A little obscene, but hilarious nonetheless. It is definitely worth a listen.

There is a podcast version here : http://podcast.smgradio.com/oconnellweekly/061221_Christmas_panto_special.mp3

or, even better is the video version : http://www.virginradio.co.uk/djs_shows/shows/breakfast/features/christmas_panto.html

Even though you may not know who the DJ's or actors are, it is still worth watching/listening to. It is a good chance to experience another country's traditions at this time of the year.

Panto's are big business in the UK at this time of the year. Patrick Duffy from TV's Dallas is even performing on the West End (London's version of Broadway) in a Christmas Panto, ironically, the same as the Virgin Radio's Panto, Cinderella.

Just check it out. It is awesome!

Merry Christmas to all of you out there in the World Wide Web!

Does the Metroplex need another passenger airport?

It has been in the talks and now they are doing a study on it. WFAA's Dan Ronan reported that the officials at the McKinney Regional Airport are considering opening the airport to regional passenger traffic. If they did this, that would mean that in addition to flying out of D/FW International and Love Field, you would also be able to fly from McKinney to certain places that would be determined by the airline and FAA officials.

This would be great for those citizens living in McKinney or Collin County who do not want to make the commute to DFW or Love, but I don't feel that it is really necessary. It is an expensive job to begin with, you have to build a terminal, hire security, make it Homeland Security approved and such and that takes a lot of time and effort. In addition, it would add to the neighborhoods who already complain about the noise near their homes; IE: Love Field (my case for this is, DONT LIVE NEXT TO A MAJOR AIRPORT!) Ahem, sorry.

So what do you think? Is it worth all of the effort? Who would come in? Southwest is already stationed at Love Field and will not move its operations. Would this be something that American Eagle can handle or another small regional carrier? It will be interesting to see how all of this pans out..

The Dutch are Digital!

The Houston Chronicle had an article about the big switch in the Netherlands. They switched from an analog TV signal (bunny ear type signal) to a digital signal (like our HDTV signal where you need a special box and tv antenna to receive the signal). The US will be making this switch in 2009, meaning that all of us will have to get new tv's that are able to handle this, subscribe to cable or satellite tv, or we will have to get equipment to 'retrofit' our tvs to be able to read this new signal.

Many of our local tv stations already have the capability to broadcast in the digital signal, you can notice those station when they say to check them out on their channel on x.1 or x.2, for example, here in the 'Plex, we can watch NBC on 5.1 and we can watch their Weather Plus on 5.2. Same with Channel 8, regular tv on 8.1 and on 8.2, you get their Doppler radar and the NOAA weather channel audio.

What do you think about this change that will be occurring in 2 years?

There are many pros... Clearer pictures and audio, no need to adjust the bunny ears for a clearer signal and picture, ability to watch additional channels (8.1,8.2) (some smaller markets use this to bring other stations to the market, ie: Sherman/Denison, KXII, a CBS station uses their digital signal to bring those viewers the MYTV network along with a FOX Network)..

The only cons that I can think of would be the cost of retrofitting the tv to make it able to receive the new signal. Stations would have to foot up the money to convert, but many of them already have, so it is not that big of a deal. My concern is about the people in smaller markets who cannot necessarily afford to convert their tv's or to purchase a new tv. Will their screens go blank?

Let me know your thoughts....

And off they go!

It is that time again, time for #2 pencils, scantrons and blue books. Blue books will be my enemy this semester because that is all that history professors use. They have abandoned the scantron a long time ago. For some reason, all of the upper level professors want you to write essays.. I am not quite sure why...

For some of us, this will be our last time to combat our enemies mentioned above, and for some of us, we still have some opportunities to combat these foes.

To all of those out there with final enemies, good luck to you in your battles! Make it Legendary!

Fruit Pizza!

This weekend, I had a most interesting and delightful mixture of dough, cream cheese and fruit... Can you guess what it was? Fruit Pizza!

The crust was crusty and sugar cookie like and there was a nice layer of cream cheesy goodness that acted as glue to "glue" the fruit to the pizza. Among our fruity friends were grapes, blueberries, bananas, kiwi, and strawberries.

It was very good. I have heard about this for a while now and it was the first time for me to have it, so needless to say, I was very pleased!

Mad props to Laura who made this yummy yummy goodness...

Pictured above is an example of what it looked like...

So I Have a New Show Favorite

It is called How I Met Your Mother. It is on Monday nights on CBS, for those of us in the 'Plex and H-Town it is on Ch. 11 at 7pm. The basic premise is that it is a story about this father who is telling his kids how he met his mother, and he started from the very beginning, even before he met his wife. The voice over is done by Bob Saget, aka Danny Tanner for those of us Gen Yers, who is the voice of Ted, played by a great actor named Josh Radnor. It is a hilarious show. Also included in the cast is NPH or Neil Patrick Harris and Alyson Hannigan who we all know and love as Michelle from the American Pie Trilogy.

The one thing that I love about this show is that there is a lot of opportunities to relate with the characters. Everybody that I know who watches the show can easily identify with one of the characters. If you can emotionally invest in a character, it makes the show that much better. It is probably not too much of a good thing, because you should be living life and not watching tv, but that is just how the ball rolls sometimes.

It is also really funny. It seems to have a lot of smart comedy and the writing is just great. I watched the first season on DVD and I was left wanting to watch the beginning of the first season again so everything could make sense.

I wish that I started watching it from the beginning because I started watching it at the beginning of the 2nd season and I really didn't have any idea of what was going on. After watching the DVD of the 1st season, it all made sense.

If you have free time on Monday nights, I suggest that you check it out. It is definitely worth the time.

You can check out for weekly updates at my favorite TV website, www.givememyremote.com and you can also check them out directly at CBS's website at : http://www.cbs.com/primetime/how_i_met_your_mother/ .. you can also watch the latest episodes for free on the Intertube feature, just find it and click!

Thanks to Nathan for introducing me to this new AWESOME show....

BTW... its Legen...dary... (Watch the show and you will get it...)

The Preliminary Plans are here...

United Equity has released preliminary plans for their new property here in Denton. Amoung the new things that they want to do is bring in a drugstore (they are talking with CVS, as if we dont have any in town), a 3 story parking garage, and 2 restaurant along with some leased space and a new road to go through the property to connect Hickory and Oak. They are wanting to make it like a village with plenty of trees and walking space and benches. It sounds nice in theory, but it will not be the same and those of us who know and love the REAL Fry Street will not be so quick to warm up to these new businesses and areas.

Click here for the story from the Denton Record Chronicle and the PDF of the plans

As always, you can go to www.savefrystreet.com for the most up to date information

Get Ready CAS & SLIS Graduates!!

From what I hear, graduation is going to be a doozy. My friend who works in the College of Arts and Sciences said that our graduation is supposed to be 4 hours long. Not only is it for the College of Arts and Sciences, but we will also be graduating the School of Library Sciences. Now, we do have 2,000 someodd students to get graduated, but from what we are hearing, Dr. Bataille, UNT's new President, has changed up the way that graduation is done, but we are not sure about the details. All we know is that we have to be there bright and early at 8:00 AM. for lineup. Whoop!

The speaker this semester will be none other than.....drum roll please.... Dr. Kamman from the History Department and my departmental advisor!

I can't wait! I will have to make sure I get the Gameboy all charged up so I can have something to do while I am waiting... j/k

You can watch the ceremony online at www.unt.edu and there will be a link on the homepage if you are inclined to watch from home, which YOU BETTER NOT!

Tornado in London

Now this may not seem too out of the ordinary for our part of the world being in "Tornado Alley," but they do not get many these in the United Kingdom.

It affected about 150 homes in the Kensal Rise neighborhood of London. Displaced people are staying in a local church tonight until they can find more permanent accommodations. A Sky News weatherforcester (which from the weather features that I saw on Sky this summer, I did not know existed..) estimated that the winds were about 100 MPH which would put it as an F1 on the Fujita Scale which says that the tornado will rip off tiles off of roofs and will move automobiles, which happened in Kensal Rise.

This year, the UK is experiencing above average rainfall amounts, which I guess makes sense due to El Nino..

It was just really interesting to hear about the Tornado in London on Virgin Radio because I just assumed that it was a really rare occurrence, but comes to find out, they have about 30 tornadoes a year.. weird...

What is it with viewers?

Sorry again for the big gap.. work has been crazy and I have not been able to get a word in...

I have been wondering for quite a while why NBC 5 has been doing so well in their ratings. If you go to Uncle Barky and read any day's descriptions along with the ratings, NBC 5 is always on top. This is coming from the station who always leads with shootings as their lead story. Who really wants to watch these kinds of stories? Their other story are about the same. There is no real intellect, I feel, in their newscast. When I first arrived in the Metroplex, I used to watch NBC 5 all of the time, but then I found another station. They have a real professional looking newscast and they do not follow the old adage that says, "If it bleeds, it leads."

I guess the reason that NBC is in the lead in ratings is that they have good lead-ins to their newscast: Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, and many other shows that bring in high ratings all on their own. Maybe people just leave the tv on to take a shower after they watch these shows. I do not know, but it does not make sense.

The only other conclusion that I can make is that those viewers enjoy watching those types of stories. If that is the case, that is just sad..

Get ready!

Our first wintry-hard freeze day is coming on Thursday. Unfortunately, there will not be any sticking of the cold stuff because:

1. It will be 42 degrees outside, not cold enough for freezing
2. The day before the high temps will be in the high 70's, low 80's and the ground will be too warm to allow the ice to stick (which really sucks, because it would be awesome if school and work can be cancelled!)

But is still exciting nonetheless. In the northern counties, there is a chance for sleet/freezing rain to fall, so that is still awesome. I just need to obtain a nice, thick winter coat :)

Happy Monday!

RIP Chopsticks

Today bulldozers are demolishing a beloved Denton icon on Fry Street: Mr Chopsticks. Also set for demolition today is the old building that housed Uncommon Grounds that is on Oak St. Yesterday, they gutted the insides to prepare it for the bulldozer today. A candlelight vigil was held last night in memory of one of Denton's favorite eateries.

Click here for Debbie Denmon's report (WFAA-TV)

Click here for Raw Video from KNTU and the Denton Record Chronicle

And, as always, you can get information about the Fry Street debacle at www.savefrystreet.com

To Chopsticks : We will miss you in your original state... we, the students of the University of North Texas will be back in full force when you make your return to Fry Street.

To the Houston Investor : You are an idiot.

Fox pulls the plug on the Juice

Unfortunate for OJ, the publishers and FOX has pulled out all of the plans for the book written by Simpson which was to detail how he would have committed the murders if he had did it. It was stupid for him to write it in the first place and even stupider for a publishing company to back him on this venture. Now from what I have heard in the media for the last few days, it was the publisher who made him to do it to "realize" his guilt, but even still, this is OJ's way to say "haha, you never convicted me!"

It is unfortunate that despite all of the evidence that a California jury did not find him guilty. I know that if this would have happened in Texas, he would have already faced the fate of infamous needle in Huntsville.

The people of California failed the families of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.

Shame on you Mr Murdoch and Mr Simpson for trying to make money on this sad event in American History.

Resurgence of the Draft

A Democrat from NY, Charles Rangel thinks that it would be a good idea to stop the temptation of starting wars by reinstating the draft for men and women from the age of 18 to 42. What the heck is he thinking???

Yes, I understand that there is a need in the military because numbers are dwindling, a lot of that has to do with the fact that many are loosing their lives for an unjust and unwinnable cause, however, a draft is not the answer. Even the Department of Defense says that it does not want a draft. Why would an organization want a bunch of people in their organization if the people do not want to be there in the first place.

A draft could be very counterproductive. There may be people who would do stupid things just to get out of having to go to a warzone. Unfortunately, I do not think that a draft is a part of the answer.

It is a very honorable privilege to serve one's country, but I think that you should want to do it and not be forced to do it. Not everybody is cut out for military service.

Also, when all of this happened with the Vietnam war, there was a backlash, and there will be another one again if it is passed by the House.

Additionally, (I just keep thinking of things..) this Representative thinks that being that the House is of a Democratic majority, he thinks that he will be able to pass his bill a lot easier, but I have to break it to him now, I do not think that the Dem's are going to back him on it. There is a lot of argument about the war to begin with and I think that it would not be productive to any representative's career to agree to a draft bill. If they do that, they should kiss their job goodbye...

Been in Office 2 days and already causing waves...

Shelly Sekula Gibbs, now Congresswoman in the 22nd TX Congressional District (Tom Delay's former district) is thrusting herself into the limelight in our Nation's Capitol. On the first day, her staffers walked out and left her high and dry. Supposedly she was mistreating her staffers..

"Never has any member of Congress treated us with as much disrespect and unprofessionalism as we witnessed during those five days," said the former Chief of Staff

Before they left, they deleted some of the files on the office computers and now she is starting an investigation into why they were deleted.

All I have to say is, it is probably best that she was not voted in for the full term. The people of the 22nd district needs somebody who is willing to work hard for them and fight for their needs, not to be picking little fights here and there for arbitrary causes. There has been enough controversy with that district and the people of the 22nd district needs some peace and quiet.

Shelly just needs to take a chill pill. Being that she is a MD, she can just prescribe some to herself. It will be interesting to see what other sparks that she can cause in the next 6 weeks that she will be in office...

P.S. The Washington Post has called her a "Lame Duck." That is just hilarious.

P.S.S. I was reading about all of this yesterday, and I can't remember where I read it, but I read that she was upset that President Bush and VP Cheney did not come wish her well at her introduction party. In attendance was Kay Bailey Hutchinson and fellow Rep and Houstonian Ted Poe. My first thoughts were : "what makes you think that you are that special? You are only going to be there for a short time, so what does it matter?"

Clear Channel Merging and diffusing...

Today Clear Channel has been acquired by 2 investor groups. They are doing this to become a private company (not traded publicly on the NYSE). They have raised the price of the stock to "buyout" their shareholders.

We all know Clear channel from the outdoor billboards that we see on the roadways everywhere (I even saw some in the UK), radio stations, and Television stations (there is only one in Texas, San Antonio's NBC station).

As a result of this merger, they will be selling off some of their radio stations and all of their TV stations. Not to worry though, they are only selling off the stations that are outside of the Arbitron rated top 100 (which included all of the major TX radio markets).

I am really interested who will pick up the TV group. There isn't a TV company really looking to buy right now, but I am sure that somebody will pick them up.

The only thing that is a little sad is that WOAI in San Antonio is the anchor station of the Clear Channel stations, and I will wonder what will happen to it once it leaves the arms of Clear Channel...

Tesco in the US!

Sorry it has been so long since I have last written... school and life has been crazy with something always going on.. to my avid readers, I thank you for your patience... :)

So now on to business...

Tesco is coming to the US! Tesco is the major grocery chain in the United Kingdom. They are like the Kroger of the UK. While I was there, I got the privilege to shop there, and I had a great experience there. They had a great selection of foods from all over the world, really high quality produce and their private label (store brand) products were superb. They also had a great wine and alcohol section too. For the most part, they were mainly grocery stores, but some of them had general merchandise in them too, such as movies, TVs, clothes, stuff like that.

Right now, they are looking to start out on the West Coast of the US and are going to start things out by bringing over their Express style store, which is projected to compete with 7-11's. It has not been said if they will sell gas (or petrol in the UK) but I would not think that they would. A lot Tesco's sell petrol in the UK, but they have not really said anything about that.

I hope that they will be successful. I would fly out to California or the Left Coast to visit one of these stores. However, the grocery market is really competitive in the United States due to Walmart and there is no telling as to what will happen until it happens.

Tesco is the 5th largest grocery chain worldwide and they already have stores in Eastern Europe and Asia, so with that kind of experience and a base, they have a really good running chance.

New form of Voting in Denton County

Attention Denton County Voters!!

The County has updated the method of voting. They are now using the electronic voting machines. They are basically just big computer screens with a wheel and a couple of buttons on it. When you first walk into the voting site, you will be able to test it out, and if you have not used one of these machines before, then I definitely suggest that you go play with the demo first before you walk into the booth. Once you go in a sign in, you will be issued a pin number that will get you into the voting machine. From there, you will then be able to vote for your candidates using the wheel and the accept button. If you click here, you can go to the manufacturer webpage and test out a sample online version of the machine.

It is basically a very simple process and it intended to be, but you just have to be aware...

Happy Voting!

Chopsticks in its final hours

Buster Friedman, the new developer of the "New Fry Street" has just applied for a demolition permit to commence demolition on the buildings of the former Mr Chopsticks and Uncommon Grounds. It will be a sad day in Denton when this starts.

Many UNT students can remember their first visit to Chopsticks. Mine was my first semester with my roommate and our Maple friends. We walked over there and I feasted on Beef Fried Rice. We sat in the "outer section" that looked like it used to be a garage or something like that.. Good times..

The Save Fry Street organization (where I am getting this information from) wants to know when demolition actually starts. Contact them at 214-437-2948 and contact Dawn Cobb at the Denton Record Chronicle at 940-566-6879 or by email at dcobb@dentonrc.com

Be sure to stop by Fry Street to get your last glimpses before the whole district is changed forever.

Leave your comments about your favorite Chopsticks/Uncommon Grounds memories...

SMU and Playboy?

Playboy is currently going around to all of the conference USA schools a clicking photos to create a "Girls of Conference USA" montage in the magazine. Yesterday, they stopped at SMU in Dallas. For those of you who don't know, SMU stands for Southern Methodist University. It is a private university tucked into the heart of University Park neighborhood of Dallas.

Playboy put an ad in the student newspaper calling for ladies to meet up at a hotel across the street from the campus to pose for shots to possibly be placed in the magazine. The University itself is not associated with this at all.

With that said, I think that it is a conflict of interest. They are a religious school and they are required to be held to a higher regard and posing for a magazine like Playboy definitely conflicts with morals. With our culture surrounded with sex as it is, I do not think that students of a religious institution should participate in an activity that promotes sex. The Bible says that we should not have sex before marriage and I think that we should uphold that, especially those who represent a religion, ie: members of the church and students who attend religious institutions such as SMU.

Baylor agrees with this argument and has promised to expel students who participate in these photo sessions. Baylor, a private University in Waco, is affiliated with the Baptist denomination. Their student handbook says, "expression that is inappropriate in the setting of Baylor University and in opposition to the Christian ideals which it strives to uphold." Playboy was going to be at Baylor in 2002 when Playboy was going to do a montage of the "Women of the Big 12."

Let me know what you think...

Loving the cold weather? Thank the Child!

In the past few weeks, the citizens of North Texas (and the South Central Plains) has been experiencing cooler than usual weather conditions. I think that this is the earliest that I have had to crack out the sweaters from my closet in quite a while. Also, we have received more rain in the past month than we have in a looong time.

This is all thanks to a weather phenonmenon El Nino (translated into english as "The Child" and refers to when Christ was born). El Nino is a major warming of the equatorial waters in the Pacific Ocean. El Nino events usually occur every 3 to 7 years, and are characterized by shifts in "normal" weather patterns. The last time that we had an "El Nino year" was 1997-1998.

Researchers are still learning about El Nino. NOAA has put bouys in the waters in the Pacific to gather more data and watch the temperatures to be able to predict this major weather event.

When it comes to linking both La Nina and El Nino (La Nina is the exact opposite of El Nino where the waters are cold in the Pacific and brings a wamer than normal winter to Texans) the jury is still out. Researchers have not totally "figured out" global warming, but it may be possible to link these in the future.

All of this probably doesn't mean a lot to many of you and are totally bored by now, but it is something interesting to know and you can impress all of your friends by explaining why it is colder sooner than usual.. FUN!