Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Obama Inaugural Address

The first Presidential Inaugural to be YouTubed. An inspiring plea to all Americans. Contrast with the Cheney interview with PBS' Jim Lehrer. RIP Mr. Cheney.



Saturday, January 3, 2009

Litter In Many Forms



On a recent trip to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, we crossed the Tuckaseegee River near Bryson City, NC and noticed crushed cars stacked on top of each other in the side of the river. Apparently, it's some sort of redneck erosion control. Notice the Apollo Creed doll in the foreground. Photo from a "traveling Apollo Creed" website.











The front yard trampoline. Karma will see it that Emery demands one when he's five.











Out of control development. Vegas style and closer to home in Buncombe County.




The ubiquitous billboard. Most commonly found along interstates, suburban mall highways, or near heavily commercial tourist traps. Places author James Howard Kunstler referred to as the
Geography of Nowhere, USA.









This, just because it happens to be Wild Card weekend in the NFL playoffs. A decent chunk of NBC's broadcast team is simply awful. John Madden and Chris Collinsworth...make it stop. And what kind of football credibility could Matt Millen possibly have? Someone should lose their job as a result of putting this group together.




Just for you, Jackie.











Greer, South Carolina is located about 45 min. south of
Asheville in an area of SC referred to as the Upstate. There is a Kia auto dealership in Greer that puts out painfully annoying TV and radio ads. Besides the repetitive shouting of "Kia of Greer" throughout the spot, the viewer is also bombarded by the volume of these commercials which is at least twice as loud as whatever show you happened to be watching at the time.



Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Schmidt Family Trivia 2008: The Results

This Christmas Eve, the Schmidt siblings and extended family had occasion to demonstrate their knowledge of each other and various Schmidt family facts in Trivia 2008. Thank you all for your help contributing questions and memories. I had a great time putting the game together. Maybe it was the fact that we were spread out a bit this year, maybe it was my yearning to reminisce in the wake of turning 40, or maybe I was just looking for something for us to do other than eat.

Congratulations go out to SFT winner Jen, who was essentially playing alone from a remote Atlanta location. With no ability to overhear the hushed responses from mom, or glean some knowledge from the faces of her competitors, Jen narrowly edged brother Jim 49 pts to 48 pts. to claim victory.

Initially, I thought it was Jim who took top honors, but upon further review, an error was spotted in his ordering of mom's siblings. I think he had Uncle Ron and Uncle Herb reversed. (My answer key was wrong on that one, sorry Jim) As a result of this two-point mistake, Jim dropped from 50 to 48 points, sealing Jen's win.

Here are the rest of the results:

41 points for Darryl
38 points for Kate
37 points for Claire
24 points for Dad
20 points for Donn
14 points for Teri
13 points for Jim Sommerville
11 points for Kathy
6 points for Michael

Claire's impressive score begs the question, how in god's name did she know this stuff??? Especially without the Cliff's Notes and study guide the rest of us had, i.e. mom. That Ph.D is no fluke, Claire!

Clearly age and wisdom did not go hand in hand in the case of Dad. What happened old man? You lived through this stuff, for chrissakes. Dad's pitiful result in SFT was mirrored in the Spreadsheet NFL football pool for this past season. Have you at least been able to defeat mom in cribbage after dinner? I expect better in 2009.

Thanks for the comments and suggestions for next year. Expect a challenging set of questions with a new wrinkle or two. Happy New Year, all y'all.

Friday, December 26, 2008

Littering in the News

Teen who put bra on antenna faces litter charge

Undergarment ultimately flew off, led to accident in which 2 men were hurt

TOLEDO, Ohio - A teenager who put her bra on a car antenna before it flew off and led to a highway accident will be charged with littering, a prosecutor said.

Emily Davis, 17, of Bowling Green, told investigators she took her bra off while her friend was driving on Interstate 75.

James Campbell, who was driving behind the girls, said he swerved to avoid the bra and his car flipped several times. Campbell, 37, broke a vertebra in his neck during the Sept. 26 accident. His passenger, Jeff Long, 40, broke several ribs.


Man accused of laundry littering

A man was charged in 3rd District Court on Tuesday for dumping the contents of a well-used cat box into a washing machine containing another man's clothes earlier this month.

The 49-year-old man told police he performed the act "in spite" of the other man after his wet laundry was removed from a commercial washer at a South Salt Lake laundromat. Court documents state the other man removed the clothing so he could wash his own clothes. He told police the wash cycle was finished.

The used cat litter caused nearly $600 in damages to the washer and destroyed the man's clothes, according to court documents.

The 49-year-old man was charged with two misdemeanor counts of criminal mischief and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

Katherine Heigl Caught Littering

Katherine Heigl is a litterbug.

After lunching with her mom at P.F. Chang's in Santa Monica recently, the actress had to sweet-talk her way out of a ticket for tossing her cigarette on the ground right in front of a policeman on a bike.

"The officer told Katherine to pick up the butt and throw it away in the trash, 10 feet away," the source says. "He added that he'd fine her next time he catches her tossing trash on the sidewalk."

And to think, I spent hard-earned money to rent "Knocked Up"

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Chris Wins Mamacita's Bowl 2008



My three-person college football pool, Mamacita's Bowl, ended earlier this month, but for all intents and purposes, it was over for Jim Schmidt and Mark C. sometime shortly after Halloween. As the winner, I'll be treated to dinner anywhere in Asheville and needless to say I will be going deep into the drinks and apps menus.

We picked 5 college games each week against the spread. Each win was worth a fictional $100. Final standings are as follows:

1st Place: BROTHER CHRIS (3-2 wk15; 50-25 overall, +$2500)
2nd Place: JIMBO (4-1 wk15; 39-36 overall, +$300)
3rd Place: MARK C. (5-0 wk15; 34-41 overall, -$700)


That's not a misprint my friends. 50-25! And yes, I've been wondering why I didn't place real money on these picks. It's a record not likely to be matched.

Picking college games against the spread this season changed the way I watched football. First of all, who won and who lost was of little relevance. Of course, it was all about the spread, who covered, who was likely to score another 11 points in the final 8 minutes of a game. An otherwise meaningless missed extra point, a mop-up TD, or a coach deciding to "take a knee" in the final seconds could become the defining moment of a game I had picked.
Against the Spread Rankings-- (Thanks Vegas Insider!)


ATS RANKINGS

Straight-Up Against The Spread Over/Under
Team Total Home Away Total Home Away Total Home Away
Air Force 8-4 3-3 5-1 10-4-0 3-2-0 7-2-0 5-4-0 4-1-0 1-3-0
Akron 5-7 1-4 4-3 6-6-0 2-3-0 4-3-0 3-1-0 2-0-0 1-1-0
Alabama 12-0 7-0 5-0 9-3-0 4-3-0 5-0-0 3-6-0 0-3-0 3-3-0
Alabama-Birmingham 4-8 2-3 2-5 6-4-1 2-1-1 4-3-0 3-4-0 1-2-0 2-2-0
Arizona State 5-6 4-3 1-3 4-5-1 2-4-0 2-1-1 4-5-0 3-2-0 2-2-0
Arizona 6-5 4-2 2-3 5-5-1 4-1-1 1-4-0 3-7-0 1-3-0 2-2-0
Arkansas 5-7 3-3 2-4 6-4-1 3-2-0 3-2-1 4-3-0 2-2-0 2-1-0
Arkansas State 6-5 4-1 2-4 3-7-0 2-2-0 1-5-0 1-1-0 0-0-0 1-1-0
Army 3-8 2-4 1-4 6-4-0 2-3-0 4-1-0 2-4-0 1-3-0 1-1-0
Auburn 5-7 4-3 1-4 2-9-0 2-4-0 0-5-0 2-5-0 1-1-0 1-4-0
Ball State 12-0 6-0 6-0 9-2-0 4-1-0 5-1-0

I've always been a fan of the college game, but getting involved in Mamacita's Bowl transformed my interest in Saturday football. For example, I found myself engrossed in Duke football on more than one occasion. I came to feel I truly understood the play of the last remaining independents, namely Army, Navy, and Notre Dame. On a week I picked a high score "under" watching, say Rice, Tulsa, or anyone in the Big 12 play defense became a gut-wrenching experience. Doesn't anyone wrap up anymore?

Unlike Jim and Mark C. who usually took points as a rule, I tried to find some balance in my five college picks each week. I liked at least one over/under game, one 'large spread' game, and a mixture of big and small conference games.

At the beginning of the season, I felt it was important to remain free of emotion or team loyalty when picking games. Stone-cold reason, statistics, and logic should rule each decision. That certainly didn't last. My fascination with Troy and teams in ESPN's Bottom Ten, as well as my skepticism of the Scott Van Pelt theory of always taking points resulted in some ill-advised choices come Saturday. And while my success (two 5-0 weeks!) bred confidence in each subsequent week's picks, it was really mostly about luck.
.

Thanks again to Jim and Mark for inviting me to participate in Mamacita's Bowl this year and thanks to my sports-hating wife for listening to me ramble on about the minutia of the whole affair. Now, will it be Scratch, Table, or Cucina 24?

Friday, December 5, 2008

Emery Goes Pee on the Potty!

For a few months now, Emery's been climbing up on his Elmo Potty Seat, assuring us he was ready to pee like mama and dada. While none of these attempts led to a successful tinkle, we've been so proud of the boy for happily giving it the ol' college try, at the same time figuring he's just readying himself for actually going one day soon. Then, just a few days ago, there he was, back on Elmo, and this time we finally heard the blessed sound!

Needless to say, we're all pretty thrilled here, most of all Emery. It was exciting to see him up there, proud of himself, yet giggling uncontrollably. (Like when he farts in the tub) He couldn't wait to go again! And he has, each day this week. So it looks like we've started down the path towards diaper liberation.

A couple of stickers and cookies later, we were making plans to call grandparents, and share the news with Ms. Ryan and Ms. Liz, Em's teachers. After Emery went to bed, I went out to empty the car from that afternoon's trip to Target, which included two giant boxes of #6 diapers. The path's a slow one.

some toonz for yoose