September 2005 Archives
30 September 2005
Boys From Oklahoma
There's good music tonight at the Firehouse for folks who like the Oklahoma red-dirt sound.
Stoney Larue is opening for Jason Boland.
Cover is a little steep ($15). I imagine there will be a decent crowd. I'm probably going, although it's not certain just yet.
Tomorrow, another Okie band (No Justice) will be opening for the great Billy Joe Shaver. That's an excellent twinbill, and definitely where I will be if I stay in town Saturday (doubtful).
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/30/05 07:35 | Music | Technorati | Comments (9)
29 September 2005
That KevinWhited(tm) Buzz
Damn, there's another pesky gnat buzzing of late.
I sure hope it finds some nachos soon. I'm starting to feel kind of embarrassed for it.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/29/05 23:02 | Other | Technorati | Comments (3)
Senators No
Bayh says he won't support Roberts nomination (Maureen Groppe, IndyStar.com)
Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh said Friday he will vote against the nomination of Judge John G. Roberts Jr. to be the next chief justice of the United States because not enough is known about how Roberts will act.
[snip]
Bayh was the last Senate Democrat considering a 2008 presidential run to announce how he will vote.
Delaware Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. voted against Roberts and Wisconsin Sen. Russell D. Feingold voted for him when the Senate Judiciary Committee endorsed his nomination Thursday. New York Sen. Hillary Clinton announced her opposition after the committee vote and Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry has also said he’ll vote against Roberts when the full Senate takes up the nomination next week.
Free trade isn't free of partisan politics (Daniel P. Erikson & Eric Jacobstein, LA Times)
The White House deservedly claims CAFTA as an important triumph, but the nature of the victory confirmed the near-total collapse of a bipartisan trade consensus in Washington. CAFTA was passed by Congress on July 27, but only after House Majority Leader Tom DeLay stayed up past midnight twisting arms to produce a 217-215 vote. More than 90% of Democrats united in opposition to CAFTA; only 15 broke ranks to support the agreement.
[snip]
In the case of CAFTA, most Democrats followed the lead of the AFL-CIO, and both parties came under pressure from the U.S. sugar lobby to oppose the agreement.
Feingold isn't a serious presidential candidate, and Sen. Lieberman's announced plans to support Roberts indicate he will not be running in 2008. All of the serious presidential candidates have announced plans to vote no on Roberts today, just as they voted no on trade. It's necessary to their primary aspirations, but it's neither good policy nor good general-election politics.
UPDATE: Roberts wins confirmation, 78-22.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/29/05 10:21 | American Politics | Technorati | Comments (3)
28 September 2005
Oooh, A Food Fight
'Food fighter' Bell throws his onion into the gubernatorial ring (John Kelso, Austin American-Statesman, via BOR)
Which brings us back around to former U.S. Rep. Chris Bell, whose nickname ought be "Who's He?"
Bell, who seems like a really good guy, and that might be the problem, is a Democratic candidate for governor.
Bell has all the name recognition of, uh, of, uh . . .
Bell is so hard up for press attention and name recognition that last week he took me on a tour of his old college haunts back in the late '70s at the University of Texas.
And his people called me to set this tour up. This wasn't even my idea.
Among our stops was the Burger King at Guadalupe and 27th streets, where Bell got busted for being involved in a food fight with a bunch of other frat rats and spent the night in jail.
[snip]
"People are a lot more likely to read about a food fight than his position on taxes," said Jason Stanford, Bell's press guy. "This could go down on my record as one of the dumbest things to do in politics, but it should make for a good column."
It was a good column -- good for quite a few laughs, which I guess is what a newspaper wants from a humor columnist. But generally, I think most political strategists would prefer people laughing WITH their candidates, not AT them.
Of course, the Bell people have to take some chances. They have a lackluster candidate with no name ID. Kinky Friedman is raising more money. And as Evan at PvW recently pointed out, a guy by the name of Felix Alvarado enjoys numbers comparable to Bell's in at least one poll.
None of that is good news for Team Bell.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/28/05 08:08 | Texas | Technorati | Comments (3)
27 September 2005
Remembering "Load Left"
Victory obscures Parcells' big blunder (Jim Reeves, FWST)
It was the worst call by a Cowboys' coach since "load left" in Philadelphia -- which takes in some territory, since Dave Campo wasn't exactly stellar in clock management -- but you expect that from Barry Switzer. You don't expect Parcells to make calls that can get you beat.
And you don't expect to have to mention him in the same breath as Switzer and Campo, either.
That fake punt was as bad as anything Campo or Switzer ever pulled and could well have cost the team a needed victory. I hope not to see many more calls like that this season.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/27/05 08:30 | Dallas Cowboys | Technorati | Comments (2)
A Little Geekery Over Two Unexpected Days Off
Before we abandoned the townhouse for Sharpstown during Rita, I made a point of disassembling various stereo and computer equipment and stowing it.
Since our office is closed until Wednesday, I got all that stuff back out yesterday and started tinkering.
In the main stereo array, I ditched the Squeezebox and brought the old box I'm using as a music server out to be a part of the whole assortment. I'm still running SlimServer, since it has some nice capabilities (like remote streaming of your music collection to anywhere with an internet connection, and the ability to set playlists and control the player from another computer, via web browser), but I just cut out the middleman. I attached one of these devices to the box (the hifi link was buried in a box -- I haven't used it in ages and had honestly meant to sell it on ebay), because usb sound out is far superior to the typical sound card; I'm running SoftSqueeze to emulate a Squeezebox, and it works fine. And the computer even has an s-video out jack, so it's now hooked to the television. It looks like crap, frankly, because it's just your standard, non-highdef television, but it's good enough that the machine can be manipulated if need be. And the video looks decent enough that I can run other stuff (iTunes, MusicMatch, Yahoo Music, etc) if I want.
I left messes everywhere after coming up with old cables and usb devices and moving things around. I guess I should clean up today. :)
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/27/05 07:47 | Other | Technorati | Comments (0)
Big 12 Wrap: Week 4
I didn't manage to watch any college football during the Rita excitement, and never put up a review of Saturday's games in the Big 12. It seems kind of pointless now.
Here's a list of the action. Quite a few teams were off this week. Otherwise, everyone who was supposed to win/lose pretty much did, and Texas Tech failed to drop 100 points on their I-AA opponent.
There. That's a sucky review, but at least there's a placeholder now for Week 4. :)
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/27/05 07:37 | Big 12 Football | Technorati | Comments (0)
26 September 2005
Pathetic
Is this.
Jason Heller doesn't get it.
I guess if he had actually listened to the CD, I wouldn't mind.
But I don't think he did. Because there's no "the" on the CD. It's in the liner notes, but not on the CD.
On the CD, it's just "Words of Woody Guthrie ringing in my head."
Mainstream effing music media may be worse than mainstream effing regular media.
Idiots.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/26/05 23:45 | Music | Technorati | Comments (0)
It's Time For A Party
When you're not really trying, and your booze/food ratio at Cyclone Anaya hits 3/2, that's not a half bad start to the night.
Sadly, our crew followed up at a nearly deserted Icehouse.
What is up with that?
I agree with this guy -- it's time for Houston to hold a party.
Any suggestions?
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/26/05 22:46 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (2)
25 September 2005
Time Warner Outage?
Here's a question for you folks in Houston on Time Warner Cable....
Is yours out?
At some point after the Cowboys somehow pulled a victory out of their ass, I went out to do some grilling, and the cable went out. It's been out ever since. It's out over in Sharpstown.
The service line was busy earlier, so I'm assuming this is widespread and everyone's calling. I'm stealing a neighbor's wifi right now (SBC), so at least I have innernut access.
It'll be kind of funny if we missed out on any real damage from Rita, but some dumbass in a backhoe cut of cable for half the city. :)
UPDATE: TWC is back. KTRK-13 reports that TWC had a power failure, and their backup generator failed. Nice.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/25/05 20:46 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (4)
This Post-Objectivist Doesn't Stray Far
I took this fun political quiz, and got the following results:
You are a
Social Moderate
(41% permissive)and an...
Economic Conservative
(80% permissive)You are best described as a:
Capitalist
You exhibit a very well-developed sense of Right and Wrong and believe in economic fairness.
loc: (-32, 112)
modscore: (48, 25)
raw: (4528)
Here are a couple of the fun graphics with my location plotted:
I have no real problems with my plot (it's kind of fun to see where a self-described post-Objectivist winds up), although I do LOVE the placement of John Kerry right there in the middle as a centrist/moderate. *wink wink*
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/25/05 09:20 | Other | Technorati | Comments (13)
Ah, Sleep
Although it was kind of fun chilling with Callie's family, I must say that it was nice to return to midtown and my own bed.
We made a detour to the Stag's Head Pub last night, one of the few places in town that was actually serving food. It was slow, but good. I hear Kenneally's and Demeris BBQ were also serving food last night. I've never seen this huge city so completely shut down as it was yesterday. It was very weird.
But, normalcy returns. I'll be happily turning to unpacking a few things I had stowed over here before the storm, and watching a little football today.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/25/05 08:16 | Other | Technorati | Comments (0)
24 September 2005
Morning
We rode out the night with the television on, sleeping some and watching the coverage some.
Obviously, since we rode out the night with the television, that means we didn't lose electric or cable in this area of Sharpstown.
There were gusts at time, but the winds were not significantly worse than the worst thunderstorms I've been in (although I have been in a some good ones in Oklahoma), and the rain was far less than I expected. The house suffered no noticeable structural damage, and the immediate neighborhood seems fine.
With the hurricane's move to the east, we were lucky just to get a glancing blow, although a glancing blow can still do a lot of damage and I'm sure parts of the city were not as lucky as us.
We're going to let these gusts die down a bit, then we'll drive over and assess the townhouse. If everything is okay, we'll come back over here, load up our gear, and head back.
We're very thankful today that Houston was spared the massive blow that seemed to be coming, although we're concerned for our friends and neighbors to the east. There's no doubt that our community will come to their aid, just like we responded to Katrina, just as soon as we get an assessment of what's needed.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/24/05 09:10 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (1)
23 September 2005
One Of Many Reasons I Like Scott Chaffin
Okay, we've all had moments where we've said, "I'd like to shoot this damn computer."
Scott did it.
I can't really express just how much I think that rocks.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/23/05 19:32 | Other | Technorati | Comments (0)
Cycling Down Westheimer
Callie's brother Frank has taken up cycling as a fitness thing. I think his new wife has had something to do with it.
Further to the "this town is deserted" observation from earlier....
Frank told me earlier they went biking right down Westheimer all the way to the Galleria from out around Fondren, and didn't really see much in the way of cars or activity.
Westheimer sounds like a great bike trail, just before a hurricane strikes. Woo!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/23/05 15:49 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (2)
Chilling At The Spiti Markantonis
I'm hanging with the Greeks, so I guess I have to use the Greek word for house.
So, we're settled in to Callie's mom's place. The drive over was wild -- the city was damn near deserted on a Friday. Except for Chinatown over this way. There was actually a Chinese cafe still open, so we grabbed some grub and came over here. There was also a Chinese bakery open, but we didn't stop there. I love this city.
Assuming we lose power, the backpacking gear I loaded in the Jeep should be handy. I have freeze dried meals and a stove and a water purifier. And, of course, plenty of wine. And water. We're ready for this thing.
I see some partisan gnat bloggers are busy segregating Houstonians into partisan camps. Thankfully, we've thrown up modest mosquito netting and hope to keep the pests out. Buzzing and biting isn't blogversation, it's just buzzing and biting. Now isn't the time for petty partisan nonsense.
As I'm watching the latest press conference, I couldn't be prouder of Houstonians White and Eckels. They've done and continue to do an excellent job. And so have countless other people whose names don't get mentioned so prominently.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/23/05 15:32 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (5)
Post Your Rita Observations
If you're a Houston-area resident in the path of Rita and find yourself with power/internet access, please feel free to post your accounts of the storm on the message board thread I've started at blogHOUSTON.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/23/05 08:31 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (1)
22 September 2005
That Bitch Rita
I've been so glued to the local television coverage that I just haven't felt like blogging about the goings on here.
About midnight last night, most of the models showed Rita shifting, with Galveston/Houston square in its sights. That prompted rapid packing and serious thoughts of hitting the road last night, but the freeways are just too clogged.
Thankfully (for us, at least), the eye is now projected to hit slightly east, and subsequent releases keep pushing the estimate a little more to the east. If we get the west side of the storm and don't catch it head on, that will be much better.
We're going to abandon the townhouse in midtown for Callie's mom's home in the Sharpstown area. Their family weathered Alicia in that house, and it came through just fine. I think she's got one more good storm in her, and I think I prefer her track record over the unknown in this new Perry construction we're in.
Just so folks will know, neither of these places is in much danger of flooding, other than the usual localized flooding we would get with any heavy rain. Points west and far south of us are looking at a storm surge. My bigger concern is wind, which is why I've glad that damn storm has weakened somewhat, and that it's looking more like we'll get hit by its western edge, instead of head on or by its wicked eastern edge.
When we make the move, I'll be forced to dialup and will probably blog a bit so long as the phone lines last.
I have lots of frozen meats in my freezer, which I've loaded with water bottles that I hope will freeze and save the meat for a few days (ice chest effect). Assuming the roof and refrigerator alike aren't blown away and I can get back to midtown, anybody who's in the inner loop and can get by is welcome to drop by for a big BBQ when this is all done. :)
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/22/05 18:20 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (7)
21 September 2005
Batten Down The Hatches
I've heard from lots of friends and family today and still owe some of you phone calls.
Yes, we are planning on staying in town and riding out the approaching storm.
Aside from needing to make a trip to Spec's, we're stocked up and almost ready. We'll spend tonight sorting out various gear and supplies. Tomorrow, we'll probably make a pre-storm trip for margaritas and Tex-Mex.
South and east of us, the evacuations seem to be proceeding well. The political and emergency leadership in Texas seem to have a good grip on things here, and more importantly, individuals seem to be taking responsibility for themselves.
There's not much left to do at this point but wait. I'm planning on a trip to the gym momentarily.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/21/05 15:30 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (12)
20 September 2005
Byzantio
I hung out at Byzantio for a while tonight.
Despite MANY cars parked at the place, there were hardly any patrons at the bar.
How strange.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/20/05 23:23 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (3)
19 September 2005
Rita
This isn't looking good. Not good at all.
Blar.
UPDATE (09-20-2005): They've slid the center of the strike path to the south just a bit this morning. Maybe Houston and Galveston aren't going to take a direct hit. We'll see.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/19/05 23:56 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (1)
Cowboys-Redskins
Watching the Cowboys dominate the Redskins for 56 minutes and then p!ss away the game at the end on the night Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, and Michael Irvin were inducted into the ring of honor was certainly something.
Is it too much to ask for Roy Williams to cover deep passes capably, at least when the Cowboys are in a prevent defense? I mean, if he's gonna make the Pro Bowl, is that really too much to ask?
Apparently so. It has been his entire career.
Oh well. Having the teams I follow underperform this year potentially frees up a lot of time for other things!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/19/05 23:32 | Dallas Cowboys | Technorati | Comments (14)
Sooner Backup Quarterback To Play Receiver
Thompson moving to wide receiver (George Schroeder, Daily Oklahoman)
Oklahoma quarterback Paul Thompson is headed to wide receiver, at least on a part-time basis.
Coach Bob Stoops announced the move Monday morning during the weekly Big 12 coaches' teleconference. Stoops said Thompson would continue to work as the Sooners' backup quarterback, but would also play receiver.
"This move is because of how hard Paul's worked here," Stoops said. "We want to give him opportunities to get on the field."
Thompson, a fourth-year junior, won the starting quarterback job for the season opener against TCU. But Rhett Bomar supplanted him in the lineup for the second game, and appeared to solidify his hold on the position in OU's 41-24 loss at UCLA last Saturday.
Stoops said Thompson "is excited about it. He sees opportunity there and is happy about it."
This is probably a good move, as Thompson is too good an athlete to have sitting on the bench. Still, they're heading into the fourth game of the season. One can't help but wonder what exactly Bob Stoops and Chuck Long accomplished in spring and fall practices.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/19/05 23:28 | Big 12 Football | Technorati | Comments (0)
A Free ID Card Is A Modern Day Poll Tax?
Carter-Baker Panel to Call for Voting Fixes (Dan Balz, Washington Post)
Warning that public confidence in the nation's election system is flagging, a commission headed by former president Jimmy Carter and former secretary of state James A. Baker III today will call for significant changes in how Americans vote, including photo IDs for all voters, verifiable paper trails for electronic voting machines and impartial administration of elections.
[snip]
The most controversial recommendation calls for all voters to produce a standard photo identification card before being allowed to vote. The commission proposes that, by 2010, voters be required to use either the Real ID card, which Congress this spring mandated as the driver's license of the future in all states. For about 12 percent of eligible voters who do not have a driver's license, the commission says states should provide at no cost an identification card that contains the same key information.
Critics of voter ID cards say the requirement could raise privacy issues and intimidate or discourage some Americans, particularly the elderly, the poor and minorities, from participating in elections. To alleviate those concerns, the Carter-Baker commission urges states to make it easy for non-drivers to obtain such cards and seeks measures to ensure privacy and security for all voters. The commission report states that by adopting a uniform voter ID card, minorities would be better protected from shifting identification standards at individual polling places.
Still, the proposed ID card drew sharp dissent from some commissioners, among them former Senate Democratic leader Thomas A. Daschle (S.D.). In a dissent joined by two other commissioners, Daschle likened the ID to a "modern day poll tax."
If states provide the ID cards at no cost, then how is it a modern day poll tax?
Still, expect lefty bloggers to run hard with that phrase. It's catchy.
Honestly, the recommendations for voting machine paper trails and positive identification to vote seem like no-brainers.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/19/05 20:43 | American Politics | Technorati | Comments (8)
Steady Diplomacy Pays Off
North Korea 'to give up nuclear aims' (BBC News)
North Korea has agreed to give up all nuclear activities and rejoin the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, in a move diplomats called a breakthrough.
In return, the US said it had no intention of attacking the North, which was also promised aid and electricity.
The agreement came during a fourth round of six-nation talks in Beijing, aimed at ending a three-year standoff over North Korea's nuclear ambitions.
[snip]
Correspondents say the US was on the verge of walking out of the talks and heading home - a fact that may have been the clincher which forced North Korea to back down.
In Monday's statement, the North "promised to drop all nuclear weapons and current nuclear programmes, and to get back to the Non-Proliferation Treaty as soon as possible".
This latter detail is crucial, as it will allow United Nations inspectors to return to the North's nuclear sites.
Guerrilla Negotiating: The North Korea talks are in trouble—and this time we can't blame George Bush (Frek Kaplan, Slate, 16 September 2005).
The North Korean nuclear talks may be headed toward a collapse, and this time anyway, it isn't George W. Bush's fault.
What's the problem? And can anything be done to solve it?
After a promising resumption two months ago (which followed a yearlong hiatus), the "six-party talks" seem to be breaking down over the North Koreans' sudden declaration that they won't give up their nuclear-weapons program unless the other five powers—the United States, Russia, China, Japan, and South Korea—give Pyongyang the money to build a light-water nuclear reactor.
[snip]
The big question is whether the North Koreans really mean it when they say they won't budge on their nuclear materials unless they get a free nuclear reactor—or whether this is just a negotiating position. And if it's a negotiating position, do they intend at some point to cave in—or are they just stringing us all along while covertly proceeding with their plan to build bombs?
Jack Pritchard thinks it's a negotiating position. Pritchard was the chief U.S. negotiator on North Korean affairs until he resigned two years ago (in protest of Bush's refusal at the time to negotiate). As such, he's one of the few Americans to have seen Pyongyang's bargaining style up close, and he says this is, alas, par for the course. "They've got nothing else to bargain with," Pritchard said in a phone conversation Friday. "So, unfortunately, they're going to hold on to this position for as long as they can."
Fred Kaplan seems to have impeccable timing in getting things wrong.
However, he inadvertently got something right in the last two paragraphs. He absolutely nails the North Korean approach to negotiations. That's why so many liberal critics of the Bush Administration were absolutely wrong when they lambasted the President for insisting on the multiparty negotiations, rather than taking their advice and giving in to North Korean demands for direct bilateral negotiations. Caving that way would have simply indicated to North Korea that the United States would cave on more important issues. Instead, it paid off to insist that those regional actors with the most at stake remain active participants in these negotiations.
There will be starts and stops along the way, but this is definite progress, and a definite "win" for American foreign policy. Insisting upon a tough verification regime will be the next test for (American) negotiators.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/19/05 19:58 | International | Technorati | Comments (0)
18 September 2005
Big 12 Wrap: Week 3
The Big 12's best teams romped against pitiful opponents this week, and most of the teams in the conference posted wins. Here are the games:
Texas 51, Rice 10
The class of the Big 12 this year romped past an overmatched Conference USA foe. Jamaal Charles ran for 189 yards 16 carries. Texas could have named its own score in this one, but pulled back after the half.
Texas Tech 80, Sam Houston 21
Texas Tech gets close to the century mark against the first of two Division I-AA opponents on the schedule. Mike Leach has the offense to compete effectively in the Big 12, but competition like this won't prepare the rest of the team for Big 12 teams, even in a down year for the conference.
Texas A&M 66, SMU 8
It was the Reggie McNeal show as A&M also romped past an overmatched Conference USA foe. A&M rolled up 714 yards of total offense, with McNeal accounting for 449 yards himself.
Oklahoma State 20, Arkansas State 10
The Cowboys have been winning ugly against inferior opponents, but their 3-0 record in a rebuilding season is better than a certain more celebrated team in Oklahoma that's also rebuilding.
UCLA 41, Oklahoma 24
The Sooners continued to impersonate teams of the John Blake era, as football basics like snapping the ball to the quarterback and fielding punts continue to elude the Sooners. Offensive coordinator Chuck Long did open up the offense somewhat, and Rhett Bomar looked better than he did last week (that wouldn't take much), but mostly the results were disastrous. The defense put up a hard fight for three quarters, but seemed to run out of gas by the fourth quarter.
Missouri 52, Troy 21
Last year, Troy's upset of Mizzou early in the season seemed to send the Tigers into a tailspin. This year, it was never really close.
Kansas 34, Louisiana Tech 14
Mark Mangino's crew finally put this one away in the fourth quarter, to move to 3-0.
Nebraska 7, Pittsburgh 6
Pitt had two chances to win in Lincoln with a field goal at the end, and blew it twice. The good fans of Nebraska must have had a tough time watching this stinker between programs headed by two coaches who couldn't get it done in the NFL and don't seem any closer to getting it done at the college level.
Baylor 20, Army 10
Any win is a big one for Baylor, which has started the season 3-0. It gets tougher in two weeks, when the Bears travel to College Station.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/18/05 20:42 | Big 12 Football | Technorati | Comments (0)
Stalking Son Volt
We went on the road to catch Son Volt again this weekend, this time in Texas.
The Saturday show in Dallas at the Gypsy Ballroom featured a similar set, although the order may have been a little different. All the same songs were done, and the encore was the same. We managed to hang out with buddy Scott Chaffin, who pointed us to a good rib/bbq shack beforehand. I'm not sure yet if I've won over Scott to the Genius of Jay, but I keep trying. It was a good time, even though it was smoky and crowded and we had to stand the whole time. I didn't bother with the recording gear for this one, instead preferring to carry on with TFG.
Anyway, that will probably end our stalking of that band for a while. I highly recommend seeing 'em if they get to your neck of the woods.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/18/05 20:10 | Music | Technorati | Comments (1)
17 September 2005
In Over His Head?
UH's extra work fails to produce win (Michael Murphy, Houston Chronicle)
Would have. Could have. Should have.
Didn't. Again.
That's the sad lament of the Houston Cougars, who saw another hard-fought game slip away Friday night. This time, it was the Texas-El Paso Miners who managed to pry the game out of the Cougars' fingers, escaping with a tingling 44-41 double-overtime victory in the Conference USA opener.
Although the results in the first season were encouraging, more and more UH football looks like a product of an athletics department that put a college football coaching staff together on the cheap with a collection of high school coaches. I saw a stat that under Art Briles, UH had yet to beat a college team with a winning record. Although Briles runs an interesting and productive offense, it's beginning to look like the jump from high school coach and one year as a college assistant (not offensive coordinator) to college football head coach may have been too much of a jump for Briles.
He'll get more time to try to grow into the position, of course, because Dave Maggard doesn't really have any other options (and honestly, I thought at the time and still think this was probably about the best hire Maggard could pull off, given the state and finances of UH athletics these day). Unlike John Blake, perhaps Briles will grow into the position.
On the other hand, UTEP looks to have hired a sure winner in Mike Price, who has turned around that program. They may not be able to hang on to him after this season, though.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/17/05 18:19 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (0)
Sooner Stinker
I don't care how many players went to the NFL.
Bob Stoops has had too many good recruiting classes (and the Sooner coaching staff is paid too well compared to other staffs around the country) for the Sooners to look so bad disorganized against an average UCLA team.
The defense has been bringing it most of the game but they're pretty much worn out at this point. Special teams are not special at all. And Chuck Long's offense looks as bad as anything John Blake ever put on the field.
It's really a damn shame that former offensive coordinators Mike Leach and Mark Mangino both got head coaching gigs, and Oklahoma got stuck with Chuck Long. :)
I bet a lot of teams in the Big 12 are starting to look forward to getting a little revenge on Long after some lopsided scores in recent years, though. A losing record is a distinct possibility likely for this group of Sooners, since they face any number of conference teams better than TCU and UCLA.
At this point for me, it's almost like watching the Dallas Cowboys last year or the Sooners during the Blake Error -- you don't quite know what bad thing they're gonna do next, which keeps it kind of fun.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/17/05 17:49 | Big 12 Football | Technorati | Comments (4)
15 September 2005
Zellweger No Longer Thinks His Tractor's Sexy
Renee Zellweger and Kenny Chesney split (AP)
Bridget Jones is untying the knot. Renee Zellweger, who played the lovelorn Brit in "Bridget Jones's Diary," and country music star Kenny Chesney will have their four-month-old marriage annulled, Chesney's publicist, Holly Gleason, and Zellweger's Los Angeles-based publicist Nanci Ryder, confirmed to The Associated Press on Thursday.
People magazine first reported the breakup, which brings to an end a whirlwind romance that began shortly before a surprise wedding in May.
The 36-year-old actress and Chesney, 37, wed in a small ceremony on the Caribbean island of St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands. It was the first marriage for both.
Photos of the couple barefoot on the beach were widely distributed.
Like his "music," Kenny Chesney just isn't very appealing for very long, I guess.
Thanks to everyone who sent me versions of this story. :)
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/15/05 23:02 | Music | Technorati | Comments (6)
What Steyn Says
Flight 93, re-hijacked (Mark Steyn, Jerusalem Post)
Flight 93 is about what happens when you understand that some things can't be embraced. Perhaps Beamer and the rest did indeed "look them in the eye" and saw there was nothing to negotiate, nothing to "embrace." So they acted – and, faced with a novel and unprecedented form of terror, they stopped it cold in little more than an hour. Todd Beamer asked that telephone operator to join him in reciting the 23rd Psalm: "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death..." He knew there would be no happy ending that day, but in their resourcefulness and sacrifice he and his fellow passengers gave their country the next best thing: a hopeful ending. That's what the Flight 93 Memorial should be honoring.
Instead, in its feeble cultural cringe, the Crescent of Embrace hands the terrorists of Flight 93 the victory they were denied on September 11. And it profoundly dishonors Todd Beamer, Thomas Burnett, Jeremy Glick, Mark Bingham and other forgotten heroes of that flight.
Most of us are all but resigned to losing the Ground Zero memorial to a pile of non-judgmental if not explicitly anti-American pap: The minute you involve big-city politicians and foundations and funding bodies and "artists" you're on an express chute to the default mode of the cultural elite. But surely it's not too much to hope that the very precise, specific, individual, human scale of one great act of American heroism need not be buried under another soggy dollop of generic prettified passivity.
As usual, Steyn nails it.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/15/05 21:39 | American Politics | Technorati | Comments (0)
How Quickly They Forget The John Blake Error
Oklahoma isn't OK just yet (Brian Davis, Dallas Morning News)
Bob Stoops is just as perplexed with Oklahoma's 1-1 start as OU fans and the rest of the college football world.
After years of playing for national championships and winning Big 12 titles, how could this Oklahoma team be so mediocre?
It appears Stoops, in his seventh season at OU, faces his first major rebuilding project. He's trying to teach young players how to play tough, winning football. The 45-year-old openly admits this is the toughest challenge he's ever had as a head coach or assistant.
First major rebuilding project?
What the hell would would the writer call that mess of a program that Stoops inherited from John Blake?!
The rest of the article is a decent look at the state of Soonerland, but that third paragraph is goofy.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/15/05 21:17 | Big 12 Football | Technorati | Comments (2)
Good sports analysis
All aboard the Bledsoe Express (Fran Blinebury, Houston Chronicle)
When he first arrived in camp, the head coach labeled him as nothing more than a competent bus driver.
Maybe that was supposed to be a compliment by Bill Parcells after the previous seven players to sit behind the steering wheel of the Dallas offense had more closely resembled Ralph Kramden.
But on a sun-splashed afternoon in a game that easily could have slipped through their fingers, Drew Bledsoe made the Cowboys his passengers and efficiently carried them home to a 28-24 season-opening victory over San Diego that was all about veteran leadership and poise.
This was a surprisingly good piece on Bledsoe and the Cowboys coming from the Chronicle. The use of quotes and knowledge of the team are more what I would expect from a local newspaper (DMN or FWST), not a Houston newspaper. Good for Blinebury and good for the Chronicle.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/15/05 17:13 | Dallas Cowboys | Technorati | Comments (0)
Bledsoe Wins Honor
Bledsoe named offensive player of week (Rick Herrin, FWST)
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Drew Bledsoe has been named the National Football Conference’s offensive player of the week.
Bledsoe completed 18 of 24 passes for 226 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions in the Cowboys’ 28-24 road win against San Diego.
Bledsoe, who had a 143.4 passer rating in the game, also became the 10th player in NFL history to throw for 40,000 yards. He has 40,034.
Bledsoe had a nice first game as a Cowboy, doing something Cowboy quarterbacks since Troy Aikman haven't been able to do: find and hit open receivers consistently. At times, he still showed the tendency to stand in the pocket and hold the ball too long, but Bill Parcells reportedly rags on him in practice to get rid of the ball, so perhaps that will not be a major problem as the season progresses.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/15/05 08:37 | Dallas Cowboys | Technorati | Comments (1)
13 September 2005
Farrar Talks About The End Of Uncle Tupelo
The long cut (Anthony DeCurtis, Relix Magazine)
"I haven't really said much about it," Farrar says of the breakup, as he takes a sip of water, "because I felt that Jeff and I deserved a fresh start. We were essentially kids back then, and we both made mistakes. It was a traumatic thing that I didn't completely understand and that I didn't
really want to revisit. It was such a liberating experience for me to be away from that situation with him, and it never occurred to me that my life during that period would be put under a microscope. But
at this point there's a lot more discussion of Uncle Tupelo. And Jeff has been talking about it since day one. So now I feel I have to talk about it."[snip]
While the trajectory Uncle Tupelo traveled is essentially the same in Farrar's view, he reveals a deeper reason for the breakdown between him and Tweedy. He describes an incident that occurred about a month or two before the band traveled to Athens, Georgia, in 1992 to work with R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck as producer on March 16-20, an album of acoustic country-folk that is regarded by many as Uncle Tupelo's best work. "The most divisive incident occurred one night after a show," Farrar recalls, his voice trembling as he tries to remain calm. "I was driving. My girlfriend of seven years (Monica Groth, now Farrar's wife) was in the van, and another friend of ours was in the front seat. My girlfriend was sleeping in the back seat and Mike was sleeping on the floor or something. "Jeff went in to get paid, and came back out," Farrar continues. "Then we were ready to go home. As I was driving, Jeff woke my girlfriend up and I saw a situation develop that I'd seen before. It was common knowledge that Jeff's pick-up routine was to start crying to elicit sympathy from whatever female he was attracted to. To any outsider it would have been a tragicomedy, because I'm punching on the brakes and punching the gas. "I found out later that he was telling her stuff, like, he loves her. He's always loved her. He thinks she's beautiful. In the rear view mirror I could see him stroking her hair. It was a nightmare. It was an affront to everything I considered important at that time. My girlfriend of seven years and the band. He was destroying all that in one stroke. And he was literally doing it behind my back and right in front of me at the same time. "Ever since that episode, every other issue between us was exacerbated by that. That was probably when I should have broken things up. After that I didn't have any respect for him. I felt that I couldn't trust him."
Farrar says that he confronted Tweedy when they got home, but didn't get a satisfactory response. "He was lucid and defiant," Farrar recalls. "But he also seemed kind of out of it. So at that point I told him to fuck off, and I quit the band. The next day, his parents called mine and said that Jeff 'wanted to be me.' I struggled with that. I didn't know how to take it. Then every other day for about a week he would call. He was more contrite, and after a week of sitting around Belleville with no prospects, I decided to continue. "From things he told me later, there's still a lot I don't understand. He's admitted things like he'd looked through my mail. That coupled with the idea that he 'wanted to be me,' I'm still perplexed by that. I don't understand it."
The lifestyle differences between Farrar and Tweedy began to manifest themselves more starkly as well. In an email he sent me last March, Farrar responded unperplexed to a comment Tweedy had made about him in Kot's book. "Jeff relates some anecdote about me being reluctant to talk about sex and somehow being out of step because of that," he wrote. "I never did feel that indulging in what I felt was a misogynistic pastime of boasting of sexual exploits was anything to talk about. Not then or now."
That certainly is a bit different than the Tweedy version of the story, the version that's basically gone unchallenged all these years.
From Farrar's account, Tweedy sounds like one strange dude.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/13/05 22:40 | Music | Technorati | Comments (3)
Talkin' With The Boys From Oklahoma
Cross Canadian Ragweed Q&A (Rob Patterson, LoneStarMusic.com)
There’s a common sentiment down this way of “F*ck Nashville.” Is it safe to say that you don’t share that feeling?
I’m not going to mention any names, but we’ve seen people preach that for 10 years and then succumb to that. We’ve been guilty of saying things before, but we’ve got a lot of friends in Nashville. About 75 percent of the music coming out of there I can’t stand, but that doesn’t mean that the person doing it is a bad person. There’s about two percent of them where I don’t care if they’re Santa Claus, I don’t want to meet them because their music is so bad. But it’s not really the artists up there, it’s the machine. I remember when The Great Divide signed with Atlantic, I told this fellow Okie that’s on the scene that used to play with Garth Brooks: Man, I think something’s really fixing to happen. He said, I’ve been hearing that for 20 years. And that was about nine years ago. Then once we got to poking around and getting to know people in Nashville, I saw that they know what’s going on and they look at this stuff in Texas and Oklahoma and see the big crowds and stuff, but they’re too afraid to change. I mean, God forbid you go back to singing about Merle Haggard and speaking the truth. Nobody wants to hear about you being drunk and losing everything. They want to know how snappy you dance. Horseshit! Some of that music — the majority of it, I guess — just doesn’t have traction. I’m about to have a kid, but if I write a song about sippy cups and being Mr. Mom, shoot me.
I always say on stage that there’s four people that still keep it alive for me: George Strait, Gary Allan, Dierks Bentley and Lee Ann Womack. To me, they’re country, Even Gary Allen’s Vertical Horizon song [“Best I Ever Had”]. For the spot that that guy’s at in his life, that song is perfect. And it’s country. It’s sad, and if you want to pigeonhole country, its sadness and losing things.
The thing is with Nashville, you go out there on a Monday night and you go to three or four bars, and you find the right ones, you’re going to hear some really good music. They’ve got some music. F*ck Nashville is a big one amongst all of us. But the more we got into it, the more I realized, you know, it’s more the industry. I’m not saying this about our record label, but there’s a lot of labels up there that have been doing so much for so long that, I think — and they’ll probably grill me for this but I don’t care — they just don’t know what’s going on out here on the battlefield.
The entire interview's worth reading, but the bolded parts relate to what I've described as the Nashville Musical Shite Factory. There's tons of talent in Nashville, and then there are some (many?) commercial acts made by the factory that are just embarrassing. And a town that insists Pat Green drop the band he's toured with all over Texas to record a CD with studio musicians just isn't my kind of music town. Sorry.
That's one reason I love the stuff Jay Farrar just did in the studio with the band that he's bringing to Texas this weekend. That's my idea of how music ought to be done. And Nashville wouldn't have a clue what to do with him. Nor he Nashville, thankfully.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/13/05 22:27 | Music | Technorati | Comments (1)
12 September 2005
Maybe Capers Should Take Over Playcalling
Coaches not on same page as familiar story unfolds (Richard Justice, Houston Chronicle)
The Texans apparently haven't really changed, at least not in the ways they promised. They may not even be capable of changing if, as it seems, head coach Dom Capers has one offensive philosophy and offensive coordinator Chris Palmer another.
The Texans may not be different until the men holding these jobs see things the same way. Because Capers sets the tone and establishes a philosophy. Because Palmer calls the plays.
Because Capers believes in running the ball, conservative pass protection and play-action passes. Because Palmer believes in a light-up-the-sky offense.
The Texans may — I stress may — have the personnel to play the former. They're incapable of the latter until their offensive line gets better.
OK, maybe I'm oversimplifying their differences. But their backgrounds and histories in the NFL suggest they see offense differently.
Interestingly, KTRK-13's Bob Allen asked Dom Capers on the air tonight about Justice's column specifically, and whether he and Palmer were on the same page offensively. Capers never really answered that question, instead speaking in platitudes about his wanting to win, and Palmer wanting to win, and sometimes that requires passing, and sometimes that requires running.
It's hard to be impressed with any facet of the Texans operation after that Sunday stinker. That offense was putrid.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/12/05 22:55 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (3)
Playmakers Come Through For Dallas
Defense comes up big, but it wasn't pretty (Jim Reeves, Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
The Chargers had scoring drives of 11 plays, 67 yards; 14 plays, 68 yards and 8 plays, 51 yards , all of which ended in touchdowns. Yet, quarterback Drew Brees finished with only 209 yards passing.
"We gave up two touchdown passes there just on mental errors, simple, simple stuff that we've done for a long time," Parcells said. "It wasn't rookies either.
"It's just [doing] fundamental things poorly in some respects. The first game of the season, you've got to expect some of the unexpected. We didn't do a very good job of that."
But Parcells, remembering the final score, stopped short of jumping off the nearest bridge.
"I'm just happy to come in here and get a win," he said, seemingly as mystified about how that happened as the rest of us.
Here's one theory: It happened because the Cowboys, for all their defensive warts, accomplished exactly what Parcells spent the off-season saying he wanted to see happen.
They made big plays when they had to have them.
"Greg Ellis had a sack, I had a sack and we had a couple of huge interceptions," Glover said. "Those are the kinds of plays that win games."
Especially games like these, which seem to hinge on big plays.
I love that bolded part.
Last year's dreadful team really did lack playmakers. It's much too early yet to get overly excited about this year's team, but the Cowboys significantly upgraded the talent in the offseason, and got much younger. It will take a few more games to see if they added enough playmakers, but certainly there is some potential among the new guys.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/12/05 22:50 | Dallas Cowboys | Technorati | Comments (0)
Gatemouth Brown, RIP
Versatile musician "Gatemouth" Brown dies in Texas at 81 (Doug Simpson, AP)
Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, the singer and guitarist who became famous with juke-joint stomp numbers and built a 50-year career playing blues, country, jazz and Cajun music, died Saturday in his hometown of Orange, Texas, where he'd gone to escape Hurricane Katrina. He was 81.
Brown, who had been battling lung cancer and heart disease, was in ill-health for the past year, said Rick Cady, his booking agent, in a telephone interview Saturday. Cady, who received a call earlier Saturday from Brown's manager Jim Bateman, said the musician was with his family at his brother's house when he passed away.
Brown's home in Slidell, La., a bedroom community of New Orleans, was destroyed by Katrina, which wiped out much of the Mississippi Gulf Coast and New Orleans, Cady said.
"He was completely devastated," Cady said. "I'm sure he was heartbroken, both literally and figuratively. He evacuated successfully before the hurricane hit, but I'm sure it weighed heavily on his soul."
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/12/05 11:24 | Music | Technorati | Comments (1)
11 September 2005
Big 12 Wrap: Week 2
This week, ya'll get a real Big 12 wrap, although I'm wondering if it shouldn't be renamed The Big One and Little Eleven.
Texas 25, Ohio State 22
This may well be Mack Brown's biggest victory, because it was a victory that mattered against a Top Ten team. He doesn't have many of those in his career. And maybe it was Vince Young's coming out party. The guy's passing technique is horrible, but that didn't seem to matter much in the fourth quarter when he strapped the team on his back and drove them down the field to win after Ohio State missed a long field goal that might have put things out of reach. Texas is clearly the class of a weak Big 12 this season. Mack Brown's beaten the toughest team he'll face this season, but can he beat Bob Stoops even when OU is down? I'm thinking probably so, after....
Oklahoma 31, Tulsa 15
The final score is misleading. This was a one-possession game for almost the entire game. In the second half, the Sooners turned it over to their own superman, Adrian Peterson, and he was good enough to beat Tulsa pretty much by himself. The Sooner offense remains in a grand funk. Three freshman played on the offensive line, and Rhett Bomar was so shaky that the coaches didn't let him throw a pass in the second half. He went all the way, finishing 5 for 13 for 42 yards and 2 interceptions. Afterwards, Bob Stoops suggested that they have to come up with a passing game the players can execute. One would have thought offense coordinator Chuck Long took care of that in spring and fall practices, but then this is Chuck Long we're talking about.
Texas Tech 56, Florida International 3
Mike Leach's teams are going to move the ball. It doesn't especially matter who is running the offense or lined up on the line (maybe Chuck Long could break out some of those old tapes and study up!). Up next are Sam Houston and Indiana State. Leach could probably break 100 points if he really wanted to.
Colorado 39, New Mexico State 0
Colorado starts the season 2-0. It's not clear that New Mexico State is much of a football team, but Colorado fairly well manhandled them. Things get tougher at Miami in two weeks.
Kansas State 21, Marshall 19
Marshall might have won this game with a field goal, aside from trying to get in one more play with nine seconds and turning the ball over. Oops.
Iowa State 23, Iowa 3
Iowa State and nice guy Dan McCarney ride turnovers to a big win over their in-state rival. They get a week off before heading to Army.
Nebraska 31, Wake Forest 3
The Nebraska offense remains inept, but turnovers let the Huskers cruise to a fairly easy win. They get woeful Pitt next week in what is likely to be the Big 12 Ugly Game of the Week.
Kansas 36, Appalachian State 8
What an exciting win against a I-AA opponent. *yawn*
Oklahoma State 23, Florida Atlantic 3
[Edit] Initially, I thought this game was in Stillwater, so please disregard the earlier version of this blurb. The Pokes didn't have much trouble with Howard Schnellenberger's new I-A program.
New Mexico 45, Missouri 35
Turning the ball over three more times than your opponent is a good way to lose.
Baylor 48, Samford 14
Baylor beats the hell out of a I-AA team to move to 2-0 on the season. Sadly, such "big" victories are progress at Baylor.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/11/05 23:23 | Big 12 Football | Technorati | Comments (0)
Remember
Anne pointed out to me earlier that the same insipid media that refrains from showing people jumping to their deaths from the World Trade Center nonetheless are suing so they can show the floating, decaying corpses in New Orleans.
Quite a few blogs, on the other hand, are choosing to remember 9-11 graphically, including this one.
May we never forget, and never sanitize, the horror of that day.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/11/05 13:51 | Other | Technorati | Comments (0)
Danger Train: Collision #107
I missed what appears to be Danger Train collision #107 when I was out of town:
An evacuee who was reportedly listening through headphones and looking at the ground while walking toward the Astrodome was struck by a Metro light rail train this morning, officials said.
The unidentified man, in his late 40s or early 50s, apparently didn't see the dropped crossing arms or blinking caution lights or hear officers screaming at him as he tried to walk across the tracks at Fannin and Naomi around 11:30 a.m., said Metro spokesman George Smalley.
"He walked right into the path of the train," Smalley said. "You don't ever want this to happen to anybody. But it's especially painful to someone who's already gone through such trauma."
The man was taken to Ben Taub General Hospital, where he was being treated for an injured spleen and other non-life-threatening injuries, he said.
I think we all knew this was coming.
I'm surprised we haven't seen more collisions with the influx of people in town. We'll have to wait until one of Tom Bazan's regular public information requests to see if there are additional collisions that have gone unreported.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/11/05 09:46 | Danger Train | Technorati | Comments (2)
10 September 2005
Three Nights of Son Volt
As I mentioned in an earlier post, Callie and I are back in town from chasing Son Volt around the Pacific Northwest.
We caught three shows by Jay Farrar's reconstituted band. I'd never seen Farrar or Son Volt or Uncle Tupelo, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect, aside from the fact that I really like Okemah (and all of Farrar's work, really), and the production approach taken by Farrar. That approach -- and Farrar's quirky perfectionism -- led me to believe we'd be seeing some good shows in mostly small venues.
That's exactly how it played out.
The first night was a place called the Nightlight in Bellingham, WA, a quaint town that's home to Western Washington University. The venue was slightly larger than the Firehouse here in Houston(but only one level), with a main floor and quirky offshoots. Capacity according to the waiter is 500. We were seated about 30-40 feet from the stage. The view wasn't great because the place was PACKED to capacity. But the sound was SWEET -- that venue has the best sound system of any venue of its size or smaller that I've been in. The guys played a really tight set heavy on Okemah. An encore followed that was heavy on Trace.
There's not much to say about Farrar's stage presence. He says hardly anything. He just plays. Every once in a while he say "Thanks" or "All right." That's fine. I'd rather have more music. Farrar is a fine guitarist, and swaps guitars frequently to get the sound he wants for each song. The current iteration of the four-piece band is the one featured on Okemah: Farrar handling vocals and wielding a mean guitar and occasional harmonica, Brad Rice on guitar (playing some very nice slide), drummer Dave Bryson and bass player Andrew DuPlantis. There's nothing flashy about this band, just good, solid tight play. It was about 100 minutes' worth in Bellingham, with the encore. And it was quite an introduction to Farrar and Son Volt.
We did see the band's van parked outside the venue before the show. It was nothing fancy -- just a stretch van, not a tour bus, with a small rented trailer attached. We guessed (rightly) it was Farrar's because of the Missouri plates and St. Louis rental info on the side.
The third night was Vancouver, BC, another new city for me (Callie had been there some years ago and caught a Counting Crows show). It's a gorgeous drive from Seattle to Vanouver. It was also somewhat of an amusing drive, because as soon as we crossed the border, we noticed the band's van parked at customs, and Farrar sitting outside reading a book (photo below).
Obviously, we pulled over and debated saying hello. Normally, it wouldn't be much of a debate, but Farrar is notoriously introverted and we try to respect the privacy of band members. We did finally go over. I told him we'd seen the last two shows and really enjoyed them, and that we didn't want to pester him, just wanted to say nice job. He smiled and said thanks (I think). The band seemed amused by it all. Having said hello, we went back to our car, snapped a photo, and got back on our way.
Vancouver is a great city, and we wound up there with plenty of time before the show. We checked out the venue (Richard's on Richards, my favorite of the three venues), wandered around a bit, and stumbled into a pub near where we were staying in the Davie Village area (Vancouver's gay/eclectic part of town, a little less touristy than other areas). We weren't there for an hour, and who goes walking by talking on his cell phone but Jay Farrar. He didn't stop at the pub, unfortunately. Small world.
There was one interesting "glitch." Farrar's stage guy handed him the wrong guitar for one song. As the song got underway (can't remember the song), the band all seemed to realize it. The bass player looked horrified. Farrar just calmly unplugged and swapped guitars WHILE SINGING, without missing a beat. I'm sure when I check out the recording, I won't even be able to figure out the song. Farrar is one cool customer.
Anyway, that was that. The Vancouver show was my favorite overall. The Bellingham show featured the best sound system of the bunch. The Seattle show had less crowd noise and should have produced a better live recording (we'll see). Overall, we couldn't have asked for three better shows to introduce ourselves to Jay Farrar live.
I've long thought the dude was a musical genius. My appreciation has only grown after seeing him live, finally. I can't wait to roadtrip to Austin and Dallas next weekend for those shows.
I see that they've added a Birmingham date to compensate for the now-cancelled New Orleans date that followed the Texas gigs. It's a shame they couldn't have added Houston or Gruene. Gruene Hall would have been sweet.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/10/05 14:29 | Music | Technorati | Comments (4)
Disarray In Soonerland
It looks like Bob Stoops is going to earn his millions as head coach of the Sooners this season.
Up to now, everything has been pretty smooth sailing for Stoops.
This season, the water is already choppy.
There was the loss to TCU, of course, but that only confirmed for Stoops what he said was a suspicion during voluntary workouts -- that this group of Sooners hadn't worked as hard as previous groups, particularly with Sooner strength and conditioning guru Jerry Schmidt.
The offensive line has troubles, including the fact that several o-linemen (one projected starter) quit the team, then rejoined it, then quit again:
Two days after his return to the team, the sophomore offensive lineman quit again. Millington was joined by junior lineman Brandon Keith, who also left the team for the second time in less than a month.
Neither player could be reached for comment. Neither will be allowed to return, coach Bob Stoops said. “They’ve been back and forth,” Stoops said. “They’re gone. That’s it.”
Millington was slated to start the season opener against TCU at right tackle, but quit during practice Aug. 30. He returned to the team Monday after meeting with coaches, but was relegated to duty with the scout team.
Keith, from McAlester by way of Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, went AWOL after three preseason practices. He returned a couple weeks later and was expected to redshirt this season.
Millington didn’t return to practice Tuesday, according to co-offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson, who coaches the offensive line. Wilson said Millington told him he “doesn’t want to play.” He said Keith expressed similar sentiment by sending a text message to his cell phone.
This is how Top Five recruiting classes sometimes turn into major headaches.
Then there are the injuries on the defensive line:
Take a long, hard look at defensive end.
OU had already lost Larry Birdine, making depth and playmaking an issue. But Saturday, John Williams appeared to be emerging as a potential force at the position. Then, he tore his ACL.
Now, redshirt freshman Alan Davis will move into a three-man rotation with C.J. Ah You and Calvin Thibodeaux. A true freshman or two might also play.
If OU doesn't get production, it wouldn't be surprising if a player moved to end from another position. Defensive coordinator Brent Venables said no such move is imminent.
And finally, there's the quarterback position. After the TCU loss made it apparent that Oklahoma is indeed rebuilding and not reloading, it made all the sense in the world to get on with the future and name Rhett Bomar the starting quarterback following Paul Thompson' shaky performance in the opener. However, the coaches may now need to rethink whether Bomar is mature enough to start at the position manned ably by Heupel, Hybl, and White during the Stoops era:
Oklahoma quarterback Rhett Bomar was cited for possession of alcohol by a minor last Saturday night.
The citation, which includes a $90 fine, isn’t expected to affect his status for the Tulsa game. Bomar, 20, was named the Sooners’ starter on Monday.
Kenny Mossman, OU’s associate athletic director for communications, said coach Bob Stoops was aware of the citation. Mossman said the situation “would be handled internally” and suggested Bomar’s status for Saturday’s game against Tulsa has not changed.
Bomar could not be reached for comment. His father, Jerry Bomar, said Rhett informed Stoops and offensive coordinator Chuck Long on Monday morning.
After practice Monday evening, Stoops announced Bomar would start against Tulsa, replacing junior Paul Thompson.
The incident allegedly occurred at a party in the 400 block of Castro Street, according to Norman police. Bomar was allegedly found in possession of an alcoholic beverage and issued a ticket.
Bomar has a court appearance set for Oct. 5.
“Rhett’s got to learn,” Jerry Bomar said. “He’s got to be smarter than that. He’s learned a lesson.”
I'm surprised he's still starting today after that revelation.
But, Stoops has to get him ready, I suppose. After Tulsa today, there's what now looks to be a tough roadtrip to UCLA, always-scrappy Kansas State in Norman, and then the Texas game. All of those will be losses if the Sooners don't improve on the first week's performance -- but here's guessing that they will.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/10/05 10:21 | Big 12 Football | Technorati | Comments (2)
Big 12 Wrap: Week 1 (Catchup Edition)
I was travelling during the first week of Big 12 action, so this is more of a placeholder post than a real wrap.
The scores from Week 1 are here.
Obviously, Oklahoma laid a big egg, although TCU deserves full credit for stopping an Oklahoma team that, while loaded with talent, is obviously not reloading instead of rebuilding. Paul Thompson won the starting QB job not because he'd make spectacular plays, but because he was steady. He's now lost the starter's job to Rhett Bomar (as I suspected he would early in the season, although not this early) by being unspectacular and turning the ball over. Bomar wasn't much better in the game, though, and the Sooners offensive line had major problems. In what looks to be a down year for the Big 12, though, the Sooners still look to finish high if they can rebound.
Texas, of course, rolled in its opener against a nobody opponent.
Texas A&M isn't ready to join the big boys in the conference after a disappointing loss.
Oklahoma State, Kansas State, and Kansas all struggled to put away inferior opponents, but managed to do so.
Nebraska didn't exactly blow away Maine. Colorado gets the big win over in-state rival CSU. Iowa State and Baylor start the season with wins. And Mizzou pounded Arkansas state.
The big game this week, of course, is Texas at Ohio State. Texas has a shot at being the only elite team of the Big 12 this year, but this is going to be a tough roadtrip for Mack Brown.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/10/05 09:42 | Big 12 Football | Technorati | Comments (0)
09 September 2005
Back
So, I'm back in town.
During my down time, I was actually off in the Pacific Northwest on vacation, chasing around Son Volt for three shows and finally taking in Vancouver for a few days.
I'll post more on all of it at some point.
But for any of you who have a chance to go see Jay Farrar The Friggin' Musical Genius in his current incarnation, I highly recommend it. I'll be tripping out to catch Son Volt again in Austin and Dallas after this weekend. That Okemah CD is outstanding, and he's performing pretty much the whole damn thing live. And plenty of Trace. And plenty of other good stuff. His band is excellent, and Farrar -- well, he's Farrar The Friggin' Musical Genius.
Anyway, it's good to be back in town. I felt a little guilty running off to play last week with all the Katrina stuff hitting Houston, but this trip was long planned and wasn't going to be canceled. There will be opportunities to help out locally for a while, I'm pretty sure.
And yes, expect comments on the OU upset at some point, although I haven't even watched the thing yet (it's on the ReplayTV). But I will sometime....
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/09/05 20:08 | Other | Technorati | Comments (2)
02 September 2005
A Little Bit Of Down Time
I have some commitments that are probably going to keep me from blogging here for about a week, and I'll be turning on comment moderation and disabling trackback (spam) shortly.
It's almost certain that I'll miss posting my first Big 12 Wrap of the season, but I do plan on doing the wraps again this season. They keep me tuned in to the teams in the conference I don't follow closely, and a few readers seem to like 'em.
I'll probably do some posting over at blogHOUSTON over the next week, but even that will be limited.
I'll be checking emails, so drop me a line if you need to be in touch. Activity here will resume in about a week. :)
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/02/05 13:21 | Announcements | Technorati | Comments (2)
A Tough Season Coming For OSU?
Uncertainty hovers over Cowboys (John Helsley, Daily Oklahoman)
The most madcap preseason in Stillwater since academic ineligibility cost Bob Simmons six players one August day in 1997 -- Black Friday, it became dubbed -- has left uncertainty dangling over these Cowboys even as the season opener fast approaches.
Surprises kept coming:
Player dismissals, numbers six and seven if you're counting.
Turf issues that sent the Pokes scrambling on the road to "Camp Ponca" for practices.
A quarterback controversy, not inside the program, but out. Coach Mike Gundy's teasing take on the position left fans and media alike to speculate and debate on who would take the first snaps of the season and beyond.
Then there's the ongoing concerns of who -- or how many -- will take a shot at maintaining Oklahoma State's Tailback U. tradition; the rebuilt defense; a radical new offense ...
[snip]
So what about this spread offense, which has hardly lit it up in the preseason?
Coordinator Larry Fedora's attack revolves around rhythm and tempo. Expecting the Cowboys to transition seamlessly from their run-based offense of the past four years into this no-huddle, spread scheme is asking a bit much. It'll come. There's still a search for playmakers, but part of that must be attributed to the inexperience that rules the tailback and wide receiver spots. With a soft September schedule, there's no reason for panic. Besides, even OSU's most recent offenses, some of the most potent in the program's history, failed to forecast much in the preseason. The guess here is the offense will eventually click and -- because of its uniqueness -- prove effective.
Will the defense be better than the low-ranking units of former coordinator Bill Clay?
Because of all the youth forced into play in the secondary, mistakes are guaranteed. So don't set expectations too high. What you can expect, however, is a more exciting brand of ball. Coordinator Vance Bedford believes in pressure, from all angles and any position. The blitz is on, passive play is out. Count on big plays -- both ways.
I hate to say it, because this Sooner fan roots for OSU every game but one each year, but I'm starting to think Les Miles' timing in taking a top-notch SEC job (LSU) was just about right. I think this Cowboys' conference season could be disastrous, although they may have an overall winning record considering the nonconference schedule (Montana State, Florida Atlantic, and Arkansas State).
But who cares what I think? They'll start playing 'em soon enough.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/02/05 13:17 | Big 12 Football | Technorati | Comments (3)
01 September 2005
Different Season, Same Story
Does it really matter all that much whether Houston's defense lines four men up on the line, or three?
Not especially. The other team still runs right through it like nobody's even there.
It's impossible to learn anything from games like this. Houston has hardly any chance against better BCS teams, yet Dave Maggard can't wait to schedule 'em.
The good news is, this is the best team UH will likely face, and they didn't embarrass themselves.
Sadly, that's what passes for good news most of the time over on Cullen these days.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/01/05 22:52 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (0)
What, My Fifteen Minutes Are Up?!
Sheehan breaks camp, takes to the road (Janet Elliott, Houston Chronicle)
Joking that she'd like to come back and run for mayor, anti-war protester Cindy Sheehan made the Texas capital her first stop on a cross-country tour to promote her mission to end the war in Iraq.
[snip]
Sheehan will be in Houston today, where she will visit the congressional office of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land, and speak at a 6:30 p.m. rally at Resurrection Metropolitan Community Church, 2025 W. 11th.
She said her bus would deliver more than 5,000 pounds of supplies left over from Camp Casey to the Astrodome for New Orleans hurricane evacuees.
This lady's fifteen minutes are long past.
It's all well and good that she's bringing her leftovers to Katrina refugees, but most of us (but the fringe moonbat left and David Duke) are really more concerned about the Katrina disaster right now than celebrating this disturbed woman's antics at a "rally."
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/01/05 11:16 | American Politics | Technorati | Comments (16)
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