Chicago recently experienced an especially violent weekend, even for a city historically (and internationally) associated with gangsters: 49 people shot and 10 fatalities (source). Just a few days ago, Chi-City endured its 100th homicide of the year (source). It's March.
I've got nothing profound, controversial, or interesting to say about these facts. I just thought that they deserved to be publicized.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Things on Cars
"Keep Austin Weird" is my current hometown's unofficial motto, and one way Austinites do so is by adding some individualism to their vehicles. I try to snap some pictures (using my low-quality phone camera) of the more interesting ones. Here's some of what I've seen over the past few months.
Dirt McGirt a/k/a Osiris a/k/a Ol' Dirty Bastard
I couldn't get a great photo of this, but if you look closely, that's a brake light in the shape of a Texas longhorn. Hook 'em.
Nothing like some good ol' Texas nationalism.
Friday, March 16, 2012
...which is nice.
This blog has been a bit negative lately. (I blame everyone but myself.) So, to right the ship, here are some things I'm happy about:
- Spaghetti and eggs are cheap. Antonio Alfonseca can count on one of his hands the number of things I know how to cook. Fortunately, two of these meals are very inexpensive to make. Eggs cost what, $1.25 for a dozen, and spaghetti costs about the same for a package. Even when you factor in the price of marinara sauce, some frozen meatballs, and some garlic bread, you're still saving yourself a bunch of money. If these foodstuffs cost more, I'd be a lot poorer.
- Daylight Savings Time. Yes, missing that hour of sleep is never fun, but it's worth it. It's so nice to run errands after my job and still have some sunlight. Plus, now it's easier to squeeze in 12 to 15 holes of golf between work and dusk.
- Paying Bills Online. What a hassle it must have been to get statements in the mail, to send out checks, to buy stamps, to balance the checkbook, etc.
- Every restaurant in Texas offers Dr. Pepper. This one is self-explanatory.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Postscript on Northwestern
Well, unlike Anelia (who left her blog's readers in suspense for months about whether she had a baby or not), I'm not one to leave y'all in the dark. Unfortunately, I don't have good news to report. NU lost its game against Minnesota (in overtime, no less), which sealed its fate. They're currently alive in the NIT, which is essentially a giant consolation tournament.
NU fans console themselves by reminding themselves of their lofty academic standards for athletes. (How lofty is a question no one outside of Evanston can say for sure.) Here's a story that may not be true, but let's just pretend that it is so we can feel better.
"[The Northwestern head coaching position] was not a plum job. Seven years earlier, in 1993, 27-year-old Duke assistant Tommy Amaker was interviewed for the same position. The school made him an offer after two meetings, but Amaker turned them down. The rumor that’s been circulating around Evanston for years is that at the very end, Amaker handed the interview committee two résumés, without names, and asked if he could get those players into the school. The interviewers looked at the transcripts, discussed among themselves, and said no. What they didn’t realize was that they’d rejected Bobby Hurley and Christian Laettner, the duo that had just led Duke to two straight national titles. That was enough for Amaker. He went back to Durham." (source)
I'll be back soon with a new post so we can all move on.
NU fans console themselves by reminding themselves of their lofty academic standards for athletes. (How lofty is a question no one outside of Evanston can say for sure.) Here's a story that may not be true, but let's just pretend that it is so we can feel better.
"[The Northwestern head coaching position] was not a plum job. Seven years earlier, in 1993, 27-year-old Duke assistant Tommy Amaker was interviewed for the same position. The school made him an offer after two meetings, but Amaker turned them down. The rumor that’s been circulating around Evanston for years is that at the very end, Amaker handed the interview committee two résumés, without names, and asked if he could get those players into the school. The interviewers looked at the transcripts, discussed among themselves, and said no. What they didn’t realize was that they’d rejected Bobby Hurley and Christian Laettner, the duo that had just led Duke to two straight national titles. That was enough for Amaker. He went back to Durham." (source)
I'll be back soon with a new post so we can all move on.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Wildcats and Wheels
Northwestern just had a huge win today over Iowa. (For those who don't know, NU has never made the NCAA Tourney. They've been on the precipice for the last few years but have always fallen just short.) Conventional wisdom says that they needed to beat Iowa and win their next game in order to lock up a spot in March Madness. A loss today would have been fatal. After letting Iowa climb back into the game near the end of the second half, it felt like NU was going to rip its fans' hearts out one more time. Thankfully, Iowa missed a go-ahead three-pointer with a few seconds left and NU held on for the win. They're one victory away from breaking one of the most embarrassing streaks in college sports...ONE TIME!
On an unrelated note, I saw a thirty-year-old guy wearing these shoes and wheeling around in 'em:
On an unrelated note, I saw a thirty-year-old guy wearing these shoes and wheeling around in 'em:
Props to this guy for not caring what society thinks. Who cares that Heelies are for pre-teens (and went out of style a few years ago)? If it makes you happy and it doesn't hurt anyone else, do it.
Friday, March 2, 2012
Quote of the Day
Aight, I admit I'm starting slowly, but slow motion's better than no motion.
Here's the quote of the day. It comes from Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. You may remember hearing about this guy because he's been one of the main enforcers of that unpopular Arizona anti-illegal-immigration law. He's generated controversy in other areas as well, but that's outside the scope of this blog post.
I'm not a huge fan of talking about political issues here, because I usually find that both sides have persuasive arguments and to give each viewpoint a fair shake would result in an incredibly lengthy post that would ultimately resolve nothing. Besides, I can't compete with the New York Times or the Chicago Tribune. Some political issues are so ridiculous, however, that there's really no argument. A prime example is this idiotic Birther movement that attempts to verify beyond all doubt that Barack Obama was born in the United States. At first, there were rumblings that Obama should release his birth certificate to the public in order to prove he was born in Hawaii instead of Kenya (or Indonesia or Mars). Remarkably, this fringe group did eventually manage to convince Obama to do so. Unsurprisingly, this didn't satisfy the Birthers.
As you probably have reasoned out for yourself by now, Arpaio is a prominent Birther. Today, he came out with this quote:
"A 6-month-long investigation conducted by my cold case posse has led me to believe there is probably cause to believe that President Barack Obama's long-form birth certificate ... is a computer-generated fraud." (source)
Uhh, what? There's cause to believe that Obama released a fraudulent birth certificate? Are you insane? More importantly, though: you have a cold case posse? That's awesome.
Here's the quote of the day. It comes from Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. You may remember hearing about this guy because he's been one of the main enforcers of that unpopular Arizona anti-illegal-immigration law. He's generated controversy in other areas as well, but that's outside the scope of this blog post.
I'm not a huge fan of talking about political issues here, because I usually find that both sides have persuasive arguments and to give each viewpoint a fair shake would result in an incredibly lengthy post that would ultimately resolve nothing. Besides, I can't compete with the New York Times or the Chicago Tribune. Some political issues are so ridiculous, however, that there's really no argument. A prime example is this idiotic Birther movement that attempts to verify beyond all doubt that Barack Obama was born in the United States. At first, there were rumblings that Obama should release his birth certificate to the public in order to prove he was born in Hawaii instead of Kenya (or Indonesia or Mars). Remarkably, this fringe group did eventually manage to convince Obama to do so. Unsurprisingly, this didn't satisfy the Birthers.
As you probably have reasoned out for yourself by now, Arpaio is a prominent Birther. Today, he came out with this quote:
"A 6-month-long investigation conducted by my cold case posse has led me to believe there is probably cause to believe that President Barack Obama's long-form birth certificate ... is a computer-generated fraud." (source)
Uhh, what? There's cause to believe that Obama released a fraudulent birth certificate? Are you insane? More importantly, though: you have a cold case posse? That's awesome.
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