My First Attempt

My Religious Disappointment

2006-05-03T22:48:00.000-07:00

Last week, a group of clergy members gathered in D.C. for a prayer vigil.

Were they praying for peace in the Middle East? No.

Were they praying for the end of the slaughter of Christians in Darfur? No.

Were they praying for an end to the poverty in the U.S. that was highlighted during Katrina? No.

They were praying for lower gas prices.

Now, I hate $2.80 gas too. I long for the days when I was 16, learning to drive, and gas cost 75 cents.

But I have missed the religious outcry over other matters that seem more pressing. Instead, seeing them pray for the end of gay marraige and lower gas prices.

My Blogging Portfolio

2006-05-02T10:22:00.000-07:00

With the end of the class fast approaching, I have been asked to create a portfolio of my blogging this semester.

This blog has gone through several changes since its inception. In the beginning, the blog started as a commentary of current events set to music. Over time, I dropped that idea as I was struggling with it and others were doing it better.

Also, I did attempt a name change at one point. I was considering changing the name to G.R.I.M. (the Guilty Ramblings of an Innocent Man). However, My First Attempt, originally a place holder name, fit more as all of my titles began with My...

The origin of the My... titles began as a "mistake." After the first post, The Beginning, my next two posts happened to start with My... After that, I kept up the string as most posts were my commentary on current events and different forms of media.

Some posts, I liked and, perhaps, didn't get the response I wanted. Some, I was surprised at the high number of responses. And some, were intricately crafted and got a response that I particularly enjoyed.

My Drug of Choice

First, I would like to highlight an early post that got a strong reaction. My Drug of Choice began as a post about my favorite coffee but became something larger as I discussed the small ways that New Orleans was coming back after Hurricane Katrina.

We discussed in class the nature of blogging is that many times the "best posts" do just that -- use a small item to expound upon a larger topic.

However, this is early blogging for me and as you can see there were only two links in the post. Later posts used far more links and graphics. (Hey, looky there, I'm demonstrating my growth!)

My Career Aspirations

I was really proud of a very recent post that, unnfortunately, didn't recieve the attention that I desired -- although I'm not sure what I expected. My Career Aspirations was designed as a link-laden post to discuss my three favorite journalists (perhaps, I need to do one about my literary favorites).

The origins of blogging began as a compilation of links and, I believe that this demonstrates that relatively well. The links were more informative than "cool."

My Mixtape Experiment

The last post of the "best of" that I would like to highlight is one that made me particularly proud. My Mixtape Experiment was a response to a assignment in which we were asked to push the limits and do something that we wouldn't normally do.

My blog began as a news commentary or personal commentary, this post change the blog. From this point on, I attempted to invent new content and push the envelope.

The posts took me nearly two days (not consecutively) to finish due to my relative lack of experience.

I was able to mainpulate photo sizes and provide links and commentary on each song or artist.

This post was well-recieved, and I appreciated that based on the work I put into it.

As a side note, my experience is such now that my blogging was sped up so that I won't take two days anymore.

The aforementioned blogposts represent what I feel is my best blogging, as well as my technical growth as a blogger. However, it was not all greatness.

The Spanish Post

This was one of the posts that I tried to create something outside the box. I attempted to make a statement by putting my thoughts on immigration into Spanish. At the end, the translators link didn't work, and no amount of my work could fix the link so the post sits there.

I am proud that I tried something new, but for most that one broken link takes what could have been a very good post, and turned it into a post that goes here.

Some of my favorite comments came out of some of my favorite posts over on The Hamster's Wheel.

Hey, Red!

This post was outstanding and I was eager to post a comment. I hoped to add from my own experience.

The Electricity Post

Once again, I thought something from my own experience would add to the conversation. In most of my comments, I'm not sure they really expanded the convversation, but I tried.

All in all, I am proud of my blog and look forward to any comments I recieve on my new posts and ideas as they come up.

My Literary Addendum to a Journalistic Post

2006-04-27T12:57:00.000-07:00

After writing about some of my journalistic "heroes," I thought that, perhaps, I should maintain some balance and look at some of my literary favorites.

Then I began to really start to think that this sounded stupid.

If I made a list of three writers then I would obviously leave some out.

Also, Bill would seem a little out of place with some of the more contemporary writers I enjoy.

Besides, how cliched is it to name Shakespeare or Hemingway as your favorite writer. I don't want to do that.

So, I've decided to stay focused on more recent -- and breathing -- authors.

In no real particular order:

Michael Chabon -- The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay Okay I said no real order but this may be ordered, slightly. Chabon wrote an exceptional book that became an exceptional movie with Wonder Boys. The book deals alot with unrealized talent and a writer that cannot produce a second book. That wasn't a problem with Chabon. He followed up Wonder Boys with the Pulitzer winning Kavalier and Clay. The book touches on comic books, Harry Houdini, Jewish fear and anger at Nazi Germany and the American Dream. This is probably my favorite book.

Dave Eggers -- A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius The title alone makes this book a worthy read. This is Egger's first book. The book is a memior that contains some embellishments. But not James Frey type embellishments. Egger's tells the reader where to look for the fiction in his numerous prefaces and forewards. Egger's is also the founder of McSweeney's.

Johnathan Safran Foer -- Everything is Illuminated This book is excellent. Three intertwined storylines criss and cross without once becoming tangled. The three distinct voices achieve this trick as the story slowly unfolds toward an unexpected twist that does not upset the beautiful story before it. I recently watched the movie adaptation that is a merely adequate portrayal of a nearly impossible book to adapt.

I think I will stop at these three as I only used three journalists. And these are sufficient. There are, of course, others, like David Sedaris, but I think the three above highlight the bright crop of relatively young authors in this time when some insist that the written word is dying.

My Big Free Blunder

2006-04-26T20:56:00.000-07:00

After several non-announcements and spurned offers, The Big Free Music Fest finally announced a headliner -- and secondary act.

Just over a week before the show, DSA announced that Three 6 Mafia will headline the concert.

As proof that the Oscar-winning group has no idea what they are getting into, this is an exact quote from Nick Trusty, DSA director:

“We’re ecstatic. They’re pimptastic,” he said.

"Pimptastic?" You've got to be kidding me.

To make the whole event stranger, DSA added a country act, Tracy Lawrence, to the concert.

Said Andrew Ledbetter of the 4 hour gap planned between Lawrence's 5:45 start time until Three 6's 10 pm start:

“We decided that it would flow better if we didn’t put country right back to back with hip-hop.”

You don't say.

Now, I know that I, perhaps, sound bitter about the selections made for the concert. And, perhaps, I am a little disappointed.

Initial word leaked that the festival was reaching out to Wilco to headline, and I have already expressed my appreciation for Wilco on this Blog.

However, Wilco turned down the offer due to a previous engagement.

In fact, I think the planners did a very admirable job considering that they were planning a free music festival in Columbia, MO when a chunk of the music world will be spending their weekend in Indio, California at:

www.coachella.com

It tends to pose scheduling conflicts when you try to compete with one of the largest concerts of the year.

Mi Problema con la Legislación Propuesta de la Inmigración

2006-04-25T22:32:00.000-07:00

I'm attempting something here, for translation help see here.

Mi familia ha estado en este país por muchas generaciones, pero para esto no significa que yo no tengo interés en la inmigración.

De hecho, mi cuñado es inglés y es actualmente en el proceso arduo (and that is for marriage or family, which is "easy") de completar el papeleo necesario para obtener una tarjeta verde.

Los pasos que uno debe aceptar este país para ganar la ciudadanía es prohibativo costoso y difícil.

La inmigración es un factor increiblemente importante mas polémico en la historia Americana.

Los inmigrantees son lo que construyó este país, y todavía a través de historia la población más nueva de inmigrante era el objeto del odio y la irrisión.

Cuando Americanos, nosotros nos preciamos en nuestras libertades civiles, mas procuramos crear la legislación para mantener a esos inmigrantees fuera de nuestro país.

Creo que esto se legisla el racismo dirigido en las personas mexicanas, disfrazado como seguridad de patria.

My Career Aspirations

2006-04-24T21:36:00.000-07:00

The three people whose careers I would give anything to have, in no particular order:

1. HUNTER S. THOMPSON -- The most feared journalist in j-schools throughout the country, he embodies the opposite of almost everything they teach here. Or is he? He is, first and foremost, a seeker of the truth, even if it was not the truth he was sent to find. Also, there is perhaps not a more transparent writer in journalism. As he was a prominent character in almost all of his stories, -- another no-no -- he gave the reader the distinct advantage of not looking to far to find his reporting methods. While his cult fame and more palpable notoriety made for a legendary career, there are important factors that makes the Good Doctor completely different than the gentlemen to be named later. A) The drugs aren't important to me. They were important to him, the 60s were clearly a different time. B) There cannot be another Hunter. He was clearly a one of a kind, and trying to be Hunter is to be doomed from the start. It is his staccato beat and distinct word usage is intriguing. You can report the news without sacrificing style.

2. TONY KORNHEISER -- Mr. Tony to his fans, has managed to report on sports and lifestyle throughout his career. He wasn't stereotyped as just a sportswriter; he was a good enough writer to move throughout the journalistic world. Mr. Tony is an outstanding columnist who can blend comedy into his sports columns. Perhaps, the Dave Barry of the sports world, another writer I enjoy thoroughly. Mr. Tony also has parlayed his writing into, first, a successful syndicated radio show, then the ESPN hit, Pardon the Interuption. Kornheiser has been a success in all forms of the media.

3. ANTHONY BOURDAIN -- In yet another piece of personal information divulged, I love to cook. I get more joy out of cooking for others than I do eating the food. I've been told I'm pretty good. If I weren't in j-school, I'd be in culinary school. Bourdain is a surly chef who has had the best of both worlds. He has a successful restaurant in New York. But he doesn't just sling fries, steaks and tuna tartar, he is also a excellent writer. He has turned his love of food into a column about food. And that column inspired a book, a failed TV sitcom and a more successful TV show on the Travel Channel. The show, called No Reservations, has Bourdain travelling the world tasting local delicacies. Not that I want to travel the world eating reindeer blood sausage in Sweden and washing it down with bear bile in China, but the Sweden and China part would be nice. Someone once suggested that I become a food critic, and use both my cooking and writing. I laughed and scoffed that food critics are only a lowly steeping stool of journalism. And let's be honest they are. I would hope to avoid such a fate. But someday, when I'm not chasing the story anymore, and have hopefully settled into my column, I hope that I might still feel up to cooking on a larger scale. Or at least, travelling the world seaching out the food like Bourdain.

My Government's Spring Cleaning

2006-04-19T22:09:00.000-07:00

Why is this man smiling so much? His life just got alot easier.

No more waking up every morning only to learn what he had to try to cover up that day.

A room full of people tired of feeling like they have been lied to attacked him constantly.

The man, pictured here with the puppetmaster, is Scott McClellan, and he "resigned" today in a continuing shake up of the White House.

The question here is, Is he out merely because of his confrontational relationship with the White House Press Corp? Are the executive branch's messages no longer being heard?

If this is the problem, who will the president tab to take on this job? Who would take the job of standing up everyday and being thrown to the wolves for a lame-duck president, any lame-duck president, much less one with Bush's approval ratings?

It is a thankless job, but sooner or later someone will have to do it.

My Technology Presentation

2006-04-18T11:09:00.000-07:00

No more suprises.

My presentation is a hack that creates a list under your posts on the main page that lists those who have commented.

Directions are here.

My Star Chasing Society

2006-04-17T23:27:00.000-07:00

It always struck me as odd that people would dedicate "news" shows to celebrities in our culture.

I'm not really a person that goes around chasing celebrity. Not only am I not awed by celebrities, many of them just upset me. Especially the ones that are celebrities merely on the fact that they won the genetic lottery.

Some people do really get into following the every move of their Hollywood idols.

But this appearently pales in comparison to the devotion that movie fans in India give to their Bollywood idols.

Bollywood is much like our Hollywood, but its in India. It is said that they produce more movies than Hollywood, and according to recent news creates a much more loyal fan base.

Rajkumar starred in over 200 films in his Bollywood career. He died April 12 of a heart attack at the age of 77.

Bangalore rioted on Saturday.

Yes, a major city in one of the most populus countries in the world rioted after being denied the opportunity to see the coffin of the movie star.

I suppose it puts our star attractions into some perspective. While I'm not really that interested in the daily Brangelina report, it's facinating to see a large population out in the world more star obsessed than our culture.

My Unwelcome Growth Spurt

2006-03-09T12:56:00.000-08:00

Growing up in Charleston, South Carolina, I thought I lived in a big city.

It wasn't as though I had never seen a big city. I visited my father in Charlotte, Atlanta and Chicago.

Somehow, though, I would walk through the streets of Charleston with my friends (perhaps a first sign that it wasn't a big city) and think I was someplace where something was happening.

I was partially right. Charleston (at the time, population - about 100,000 plus its suburbs) was a metropolis. Unfortunately, it was a metropolis from about 1720-1861 and then, after, only it its mind.

Charleston had laws set up to keep it from modernizing. No building could be built higher than the church steeples.

In Mount Pleasant, the "burrough" in which I lived, no building could be built higher than the tree line.

The one structure that reached out above these rules, was the Cooper River Bridges. Two twin bridges, which connected Charleston and Mount Pleasant, were only allowed the exception so that the city could maintain a viable port.

from Charleston.net

Now, the rules that kept the city stuck in 1861 have been forgotten.

from siteselection.com

Almost one year ago, the new Ravenel Bridge opened. The road bed of the bridge towered over the obsolete bridges of my youth.

The city was dwarfed by its newest skyline feature. The bridge doesn't fit in the 1800's image that it tried to maintain.

from ravenelbridge.net

The city tried to grow up 160 years after it had decided to stop, and it now appear to have gotten to old.

It was a planned growth spurt, something that people don't really have the ability to do.

After you finish growing physically, you still have some growth spurts to go through. Some are good, some are not good.

That morning you wake up and your body hurts from just being you.

When you can no longer shake off that night out as quickly.

Sometimes you wake up one morning and realize you got old last night. And that is never a welcome growth spurt.

My National Pastime

2006-03-07T11:52:00.000-08:00

I watched the ball leave David Ortiz' bat and shoot out over the wall. Homerun. Dominican Republic leads Venezuela 1-0.

Johan Santana was distrought. So was every Venezuelan fan in the stands.

Ortiz was esstatic. So was every Dominican fan in the stands.

In the first game of the World Baseball Classic to take place on North American soil (the Asian pool already took place in Tokyo), something became appearent. This interesting oddity that has angered some major league managers and owners, and only midly interested most American fans, is already a huge hit.

Not because American fans have taken to it, but because the rest of the world has.

The stands, filled to capacity, erupted with each ball and strike called. These players, culled from different baseball teams from all over the world, had joined together under their national flags, and the fans had joined them.

These games aren't a curious oddity to these international fans. These games are a matter of national pride.

The lesson in all this is about patriotism.

Patriotism has nothing to do with magnets on your car. It has nothing to do with political affiliation. Patriotism is not accusations.

As Americans, I feel we have confused displays and acts of patriotism with actual patriotism. We confuse nationalism with patriotism.

What I saw today in the stands and on the field was patriotism to me. The Dominicans didn't hate the Venezuelans. The Venezuelans weren't cursing at the Dominicans. They were cheering for their team, not against another team. That is pretty patriotic to me.

My Midterm

2006-03-07T10:34:00.000-08:00

After having been asked to reflect on this blog, and the blogs of my classmates I have come up with the following thoughts:

Of my own blogposts, I think My Mixtape Experiment and My Drug of Choice demonstrate some of my best blogging.

My Mixtape Experiment came out of a assignment from but I was absolutely happy to do something a little different.

My Drug of Choice combines a personal experience of buying coffee with the situation in New Orleans. I have seen some of that in other "more professional" blogs.

As for my classmates, Megan's I Miss Field Trips was good. She conveys the point she wishes, in this case information about an exhibit, and includes some great visuals.

Steve's NERD post is really good as well. It's funny and sort of a combo post.

My Mixtape Experiment

2006-02-24T18:51:00.000-08:00

In response to a class project, I have created this little experiment in blogging to test some of the other features available to me. The idea is to do something different than my norm.

So I have delved into my iPod looking for some of the music that I'm listening to now.

1. Bright Eyes - Road to Joy I know Holly already dedicated a bloggpost to Bright Eyes. However, this album is outstanding and deserves another mention. "Road to Joy" closes his album, but I think it fits well at the beginning of any mix with the crescendo of the music. Conor Oberst was a child prodigy that exploded on the scene with this album and, to some extent, the other album he released simulteaneously, "Digital Ash in a Digital Urn".

2. The Beatles - Happiness Is A Warm Gun The Beatles have long been one of my favorites. They were, hands down, the most influential band in rock history. One of the great things about the band was how much they grew up during their time together. Meet the Beatles is the Brit Pop that came across the pond and hit the Ed Sullivan Show. The White Album developed a harder edge with songs like Revolution 1 and Happiness...

3. The Shins - Mine's Not A High Horse This New Mexico band gained some popularity when they had two songs, "New Slang" and "Caring is Creepy," on the soundtrack for the movie Garden State. This song is on their more recent album, Chutes Too Narrow. The band's sound is pretty unique and very complicated. They can do things with music that not many other bands these days can. One of my favorites.

4. Billy Bragg - Waiting For The Great Leap Forwards Bragg is great. A folk rocker with a socialist slant. He's been around for years, but never really caught on over here. The only exception to that is his joint effort with Wilco, titled "Mermaid Avenue." Mermaid Ave. is a collaberation with Wilco and Woody Guthrie, who had been dead since 1967. Bragg and Wilco found some unpublished lyrics and set them to music. This song is a Bragg original. It's a great song to start a revolution.

5. The Futureheads - Hounds of Love This is a cover of the Kate Bush classic. The song begins with a haunting call and echo that breaks into the heavier than original riffs. This classic make-over really demonstrates what the British are doing right in music these days. The Futureheads, Kaiser Chiefs and Arctic Monkeys made my list. Bloc Party and The Libertines very well could have made the list.

6. Arctic Monkeys - When the Sun Goes Down (Scummy) The Monkeys had to be included after I already included them in a previous blogpost. The album has now been released in America. The band will tour in America to support the album later this year. The chosen song shows off some of these guys high-energy music and lyrics sung with a thick accent. It is an album worth checking out.

7. Wilco - Passenger Side This is the song that introduced me to Wilco. However, I had known, frontman, Jeff Tweedy's music from his work in Uncle Tupelo. Uncle Tupelo collapsed when the working relationship between Tweedy and Jay Farrar did. "A.M." is an impressive album. This led to several more great albums including the aforementioned "Mermaid Ave." and 2002's "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot". Rock music with a little bit of "twang."

8. Son Volt - Windfall Jay Farrar's answer to Tweedy's Wilco never took off like Wilco, but that doesn't mean that the music wasn't good. "Windfall" was the perfect song to roll down your windows and drive. The song's chorus wishes you the same, "May the wind take your troubles away." The music has alot of the same alt.country feel as Wilco, but is just a little more raw. That seems to be exactly the point, though.

9. Bob Dylan - Subterrainean Homesick Blues This is one of those songs that you know it when you hear it. Bluesy and fast-paced, the song is known for giving a name to the '60s radical group The Weathermen. The group used the line, "You don't need a weatherman to know how the wind blows," in order to attract some more attention to the group and its ideals. Dylan is well-known for his attention to social justice in his music. But, if you don't listen to him for his political views, then, he is simply a great introduction to folk music.

10. The Walkmen - The Rat I can honestly say that I don't know much more about this band than this song. But, it could be a sign of good things out of this band. "The Rat" is loud, fast and hard. Hamilton Liethauser's vocals scream out over the music, but he manages to clearly enunciate every painful word. "Can't you hear me, I'm beating on the wall."

11. Sufjan Stevens - Chicago In perhaps the strangest musical endeavor ever, Sufjan Stevens has made it his intention to create an album based on each state in the union. Illinois is his second attempt. Choirs, orchestras and banjos create some really cool musical accompaniment to the lyrics that are interspersed with a history lesson of the state. I can't tell whether to be inspired or depressed by "Chicago," but it is impressive.

12. The Rolling Stones - Sympathy for the Devil Another British Invasion Band and another generation's band that has crossed into my library. "Sympathy..." debuted on the 1968 album "Beggars Banquet". It quickly hit number 1 and became one of the Stones greatest hits. The Stones have continued to produce new music and tour throughout their over 40 years together.

13. Kaiser Chiefs - I Predict A Riot The Kaiser Chiefs are yet another British band on the indie-rock scene. The band is high-energy and this song is a good example of that. There is alot of good music coming out of the indie-scene recently that has been pushing into the mainstream. The Arcade Fire, The Postal Service, Death Cab for Cutie and Modest Mouse have all had success in the mainstream.

This took longer than I thought it would when I started it, and I know it's pretty long. But, my mind and technology got the better of me. So here it is, my attempt at "growing my mind" and expanding my use of bloggging technology.

My Blogging in the News Presentation

2006-02-23T14:00:00.000-08:00

The 2006 Winter Olympics end this weekend. As part of my "Blogging in the News" presentation, I have chosen to focus on blogging about the Olympics.

The Davis-Hedrick Feud and the Dutch Curling Team

Bode's Newest Bonehead Move

Canadians Are Mad

The AP Is Bloggging, Too

My Shameless Self Promotion

My $22.1 Million

2006-02-22T21:03:00.000-08:00

15-17-43-44-48 and 29

If only I had the magical ability to overcome overwhelming odds then I'd be $22.1 million richer.

Appearently, not only do you have a better chance of being struck by lightning, but also you have a better chance of giving birth to quadruplets or finding a pearl in the oyster you are eating than you do of winning the lottery.

In fact, some economists refer to the lottery as a tax upon the poor. A disproportionate number of lower income families play the lottery in order to find an escape from poverty.

However, eight people in Lincoln, Neb. are $22.1 million richer after splitting the $365 million jackpot. And despite how much money they have spent on the lottery to this point in their lives, and no matter how much they spend from here on out, they will end up ahead of the lottery odds in the end.

This is why people keep playing.

Until you win, it can be interesting or fun to talk about what we would do with $365 million -- or even just your $22.1 million share.

So, here are 3 things I'd do with my $22.1 million cut:

1. 5 words: swimming pool full of nickels -- Does that work?

2. Step 1: Buy hybrid. Step 2: Get Xhibit to "pimp" it.

3. Buy the Kansas City Royals at market value, use remaining $22 million investing in talent.

My Southern Heritage

2006-02-21T11:10:00.000-08:00

I was born in Knoxville, Tennessee. I grew up in Charleston, SC. I went to high school in Atlanta, Ga. I moved back to Charleston, SC.

So I'm Southern.

Upon relaying this bit of information, I find it important to say that I do not drive a giant pickup truck. Also, I don't listen to country music. Finally, and this is important, I don't think NASCAR is a sport.

I realize that I may be upsetting some people, especially considering my proximity to the boyhood home of Carl Edwards.

However, while I am not a NASCAR fan, I was drawn to some of the Daytona 500 this weekend.

I still can't bring myself to watch 40 some odd grown men drive in circles for 500 miles, but I did tune in and out occasionally. (By the way, the only thing worse than watching cars go in circles is listening to cars go in circles on the radio.)

My friend, Dave, says that watching the races on Sunday is a good excuse to nap for 450 miles and then watch the last 50.

I don't know whether I was drawn by my gender, my Southern heritage, or some desire for the wrecks. But, I did see it, and I feel the pull of my heritage again.

Jerry was a racecar driver
And he drove so goddamn fast.
Never did win no checkered flags,
But he never did come in last.
-Primus, "Jerry Was a Racecar Driver"

My Olympic Disappointment, My Olympic Redemption

2006-02-14T18:07:00.000-08:00

Two stories stuck out to me today from Turin, Italy. Two members of the U.S. Olympic team were in the news, but for opposite reasons.

The first story was that of U.S. Skiing's posterboy, Bode Miller. Miler's disappointing finish in the downhill event was blamed on poor equipment decisions. Today, He was going for redemption in the Alpine Combined.

The combined event takes the total time of an downhill run and two slalom runs. Miller led after the downhill portion and was in good position to win the event. However, Miller missed a gate in his first slalom run and was disqualified.

My disappointment has nothing to do with his race. Sometimes you are going to miss a gate, others did. What disappointed me was Miller's answers after the fact.

"I don't really intend to get that disappointed," Miller said. "I mean, at least I don't have to go all the way down to Torino tomorrow."

I realize that what makes Miller so popular is his "who cares" attitude, but in the Olympics may not be the time.

In the first few days of competition, Miller has shown, as the iDLEWild song (The Bronze Medal) goes, "nothing but determination to come in third place."

Before the Alpine event, Miller was spotted out drinking until midnight. After all the press he took for admitting to skiing drunk, one would think Miller would go to Italy and give a full effort. Thus far, it appears he has not.

Despite the news of Miller's actions, one U.S. Olympian showed true spirit on Tuesday.

Joey Cheek won speedskating gold on Monday. Tuesday, he pledged to donate the $25,000 in prize money to a charity helping the Darfur region of Sudan. Cheek's story gives some redemption to that Olympic spirit that many athletes forget.

My Long Layoff

2006-02-13T15:27:00.000-08:00

Dear Blog,

I have neglected you over the last few weeks. Don't think that I haven't thought of you during my time off. As Willie Nelson (not to mention Brenda Lee, Elvis, etc.) said, "You were always on my mind."

Recently, I have begun to feel the effects of an overloaded semester. Unfortunately, I prioritized and I feel that you were left behind, and that wasn't the way I should have treated you.

Blog, I have thought of you constantly. I was going to tell you about my Super Bowl experiences. I was going to tell you about the Arrested Development series finale. I was going to tell you about our Vice President shooting someone in the face. There were so many things I wanted to tell you about, yet, admittedly, I was concerned about the nature of our relationship.

I wasn't sure if we were doing okay. There were things about you and I that I wasn't sure were working. But, I've decided that in order to make our relationship stronger, I would have to be the one to put in the work, not you.

As I look back at the last 10 silent days, I realize that I have to commit myself to you. This is my pledge to you, Blog.

Maybe I didn't treat you quite as good as I should have...
But you were always on my mind, you were always on my mind

Look for more from me very soon.

Your only admirer,

Tanner

My Drug of Choice

2006-02-04T23:02:00.000-08:00

I have to admit to an addiction. I can't live without caffine.

They say that the first step is admitting you have a problem. That is the purpose of the K's Choice song, "Not an Addict."

I assure you they weren't talking about caffine.

At any moment, if you were to dig in my fridge, you would probably find a 12 pack of either Coke or Dr. Pepper.

My true cafffine intake comes from coffee, though.

Unfortunately, I have not had a really good cup of coffee since I moved here. One reason is that I haven't found a good independent coffee shop in the area yet.

I refuse to go to Starbucks, so that is not an option.

However, this week, I have finally fixed my problem with the help of the Internet.

I have moved all over the country, although I have mostly centered in the South, until now. Despite moving around the country for 24 years, I had not had the chance to visit New Orleans until August of last year.

New Orleans is a cool, quirky town that I feel is unrepresented if you spend the entire trip on Bourbon Street.

The food in New Orleans was well worth the entire trip. As a coffee lover, I found myself drawn to Cafe du Monde. The open air coffee stand in the middle of the French Quarter is world famous for coffee and beignets, which is all they serve.

This was the coffee I had been looking for. The coffee is roasted and brewed with chickory, which smooths out the coffee so it can be brewed stronger than most coffees.

That means more caffine.

The traditional New Orleans coffee drink is cafe au lait. The coffee is mixed with an equal part of warm milk. You can drink it black. My friend, Matt, did the other night and got woozy.

I ordered 2 lbs., straight from NOLA. I finally get that coffee that I loved so much while I was there.

I loved New Orleans. Someday, to get back there and maybe work for the Times-Picayune would be great.

I know that city will never be the same as it was when I was there two weeks before Katrina hit. It was a beautiful city that I hope it makes it back.

You can tell it's on the way back because, at least, they are sending out their unbelievable coffee to those of us still addicted to it.

I'm not an addict,
Maybe that's a lie. -- K's Choice

My Political Corrections

2006-02-01T22:46:00.000-08:00

Can anyone tell me why I thought of the classic Pulp song, Common People, while watching the State of the Union last night? Anyone?

I watch these politicians try and connect with the common American and realize the biggest "duh" statement of all-time. These folks don't really know what we are thinking.

Clearly, this was not going to be a dynamic speech that unveiled a mass of social reforms, but all the president announced was that he was willing to talk about some issues.

He wanted to talk about ending the nation's "addicition to oil" in 20 years. Twenty years? Recent reports have surfaced that Kuwait -- and perhaps some other countries -- have been over-reporting oil reserves since 1984.

In 20 years we may not have to worry about that pesky foreign oil.

The proper course is to finally start investing heavily in alternative sources of energy. Brazil has proven that pushing for pure ethanol can significantly lower gas prices in the long term.

Another highlight of the evening was President Bush's initative to stop animal-human hybrids.

Overall, the speech was lacking in shocking moments. This was the point, however. Welcome to 2006. It's an election year and last night was the campaign kickoff.

As it is an election year, the most interesting moment of the night was the Democrats' standing ovation when the president mentioned their killing of the privitization of social security.

It was not parisan politics that defeated the measure, but, instead, an overwhelming public outcry against it. Even still, that one will probably be brought up again on the campaign trails.

Neither side of the aisle can really grasp the ideology of the "Common American." Sure, they like to slum a little every few years. They shake hands and campaign as the common man/woman, but in the end, they return to to their pedestals shortly thereafter.

You can, therefore, expect to see politicians pretend for the next nine months "that poor is cool."

My Blog Idea

2006-02-01T21:45:00.000-08:00

We now embark on the great journey of blogging. For some of my classmates, these blogs will last the remainder of the semester. However, for others, this may last a bit longer.

Time will tell how long this blog will last. But, at the very least, it exists now.

It also now has a focus.

This blog will join many of the others in cyberspace that gives some idiot a soapbox to spout their idiocy. However, now that idiot is me.

My commentary will cover politics, world events, sports and music.

I will attempt to put the story in a musical framework, using musicians and songs that fit with the story. Hopefully, this concept will become clear as it develops.

EDIT: I thought this could be better explained. The thought here is that when you are watching a movie or TV show, the right song for the moment begins to play and really adds to that moment. Thats the theory here. I want to attempt to find the right song for the commentary so that it will bolster the commentary if you hear it or know it. Admittedly, most of the music will come from music that I know and like -- usually rock or folk -- however, I will try to expand as well and occasionally use some R&B, jazz, and maybe even classical.:END EDIT

As I start blogging in earnest, I would like to begin with an example of the power that blogging has shown in the world of music.

The Arctic Monkeys are a rock band from Sheffield, England. The band passed out bootleg albums at their shows and promoted illegal music downloading sites to spread the word about thier music.

Word did, in fact, spread. The Arctic Monkeys became an incredible hit in the U.K. Blogs -- and the rest of the Web -- exploded.

My brother-in-law, Jamie, is a Sheffield native and gave me the bootleg at Thanksgiving. It has found a secure place in my iPod since that time.

On Jan. 24, 2006, the 'Monkeys' debut album hit stores. Despite the proliferation of free music, the album "Whatever You Say I Am, That's What I'm Not" sold nearly 120,000 albums on the first day alone.

The renowned Brit music magazine, New Music Express, named the debut album the 5th best British album of all-time.

The 'Monkeys' album debuts in the U.S. on Feb. 22, and it has already generated interest stateside. The New York Times printed a feature story on the band in the Arts section of Monday's edition.

It is not yet clear how the band will fare in the U.S., but there is no denying the influence of blogs and the Internet on the U.K. success of the band.

My Quoting Practice

2006-01-27T11:01:00.000-08:00

The latest assignment asks us to block quote a reading from the week's readings. The most interesting reading I found was from Meg Hourihan:

Weblogs simply provide the framework, as haiku imposes order on words. The structure of the documents we're creating enable us to build our social networks on top of it -- the distributed conversations, the blog-rolling lists, and the friendships that begin online and are solidified over a "bloggers dinner" in the real world.

Blogs are simply internet conversations in a software's framework. She talks about a communication revolution and that blogs are an extension of that revolution. The conversations on the web have existed since nearly its beginning. Blogging makes it easy for new users to start all the time.

My Week 2 Readings

2006-01-24T13:05:00.000-08:00

Zuiker's Ideas on Blogging and Journalism

This short excerpt from this class blog from UNC was very interesting to me considering my major is journalism. This question of whether blogging is journalism is what brought me to thiis class in the first place. Whle it is only a small piece, it is interesting to see that the question is being discussed in other j-schools like UNC.

Rebecca Blood's Link

This link actually takes you to an entry by Biz Stone. This is more in deph than the bit that Ms. Blood started, but it is a very interesting question. "How Do You Not Get Fired Because Of Your Blog?" With blogs gaining more of a foothold in the world, this is a question that I have seen. Some people publish their innermost thoughts on a blog and the problem with that is that it is published where other can see it. This has caused clashes in the business world and, in my opinion, will probably show up more and more in the future.

"The Democratization of Ideas"

This articles touches on what I saw in the first article -- a discussion of blogging and journalism. It is true that there are times when a news organization will underreport important news. Sometimes items get lost in a 30-minute newscast or pushed back a few pages -- or even below the fold. The idea of using blogs to shed light on those stories is an interesting option. It is unfortunate that with the growing number of available sources of news, that there are cases where valid news is left out.

My Blogging Assumptions

2006-01-24T12:09:00.001-08:00

As I begin to establish and think about what this blog will look like, I find that my ideas change everyday. Before my first readings in this class, my assumptions were that blogs essentially fell into two categories. The first of those categories was legitimate blogs that were often linked to major newspapers websites -- the Washington Post seems to be particularly good at this.

The second category, in my estimation, was comprised of the ramblings of people who had much more time than myself. I think this still holds somewhat true. However, my opinion has changed in that I have found several very interesting blogs with no affiliation.

The difficulty of blogs are that they are spawned by and on the Internet, which still has no established filter to help a user wade through the overwhelming amount of information in order to find a place in cyberspace that might catch ones interest. So far I have been able to find several blogs that I am interested in and this is helping me to develop the framework of what I would like to have in my blog.

While my experience with blogs was limited before last Tuesday, I did have some experience with Internet message boards. I have decided that in many respects they are very similar. Finding a good message board is hard to do, due to the overwhelming numbers available on the Web. Once in a while you can find a good board or blog that really comes together as a community. They are brought together by some common trait or idea, and they will fight bitterly over that common bond. However, at the same time, they are also supportive. A good example of this that I have found over the past few years is The Smirkin Chicken. This is a fan board of the Atlanta Thrashers of the NHL. Blogs are far more formated, as the ideas usually come from one person and commented on by the community, instead of the free for all that may occur on message boards.

My ideas on blogs have changed since the beginning, as I no longer think a blogs legitimacy is based on its content or traditional media backing. In fact, its just a place on the Web for a community and the free flow of information. Hopefully my blog will resemble that as well.

[cross-posted on We Blog]

The Beginning

2006-01-17T12:52:00.000-08:00

Welcome to My First Attempt. My name is Tanner Flowers, and I am a student at the University of Missouri. This Blog has been set up as my class project. Hopefully this will develop appropriately over time.