Wow

two points converted.

There's still some game left.

What a great one!

Maybe not...

19 seconds left. Texas just went up by one, and they're going for two after this timeout.

The Game

I'm writing this as Vince Young is running for a long stand-up touchdown to bring the score within 6 points. The PAT now brings it within five after .

But, saying that, USC has finally faced a team with a great defense, and they are (barring a miracle for/by Texas) about to prove once again that they are the best team in the country. At least it's been a good game.

3rd and 7 with 2:22 left. Texas can still get the ball. This is fun stuff.

I still don't think the Pac 10 is the toughest conference in the country, though.

Sugar Bowl

Wow, this is depressing so far (0-14 with 6:14 left in the first), but just saw a close-up of this guy. Too funny. Now I'm waiting for him and her.

Happy New Year ... OUCH

Well, New Year's Eve was fun. Today wasn't so much, though. There was supposed to be food at the bash, but I never saw it. I had a bowl of chicken soup at about 7 before leaving, and then got to the party and started drinking. And drinking. And dancing. Lots of dancing.

Boy, did I hurt today. One of the top five hangovers in my life. So that sucked. That's not so bad. The worst part is that I was that person last night. I fell on my ass. Then a little while later, I fell flat on my back. I'm lucky I didn't crack my head open, because I was close to the stairs. Seriously, I fell twice. How embarassing. Oh well. Nothing to do about it now.

Some pictures ...


The place was packed


And everyone was having tons of fun.


Brett, Bryan, and Russ


The Boys


Stace and I

George W. Bush hates white people

As more and more people dig into what happened before, during, and after Katrina in New Orleans, those things we were told are being exposed by the light of the truth. Now, I understand that in the chaos that followed the hurricane it was difficult to discern the details and nuances of every situation and fact. And reporters have to report what they are seeing; it's their jobs. But jumping to conclusions of opinion, based on pre-conceived expectations when there are no facts that support or refute your opinion is a whole other story.

We've found out that no, 5,000+ people didn't die as was expected, and seemingly wished for by those hoping to hold the federal administration responsible for something worse than that which was already so terrible (so far, it's 1,095 in Louisianna) - only to justify their own hatred.

And, now, we're finding out from a study by the LA Times.that the demographics of those who died are pretty spread out among economic and racial lines. As a matter of fact, it seems that while NOLA's (city) population is 28% white, 33% of the dead are white.

Admittedly, the sample is unreliable because of the difficulties of this job, and 19 bodies were pulled completely from the numbers because of inability to identify where they came from. So that 5% difference is probably not exactly accurate. And it could be 5% in the other direction.

The information used in The Times analysis was incomplete, due to difficulties in gathering data in the days after Katrina struck and to bureaucratic problems that followed.

The private company that was contracted to collect bodies was supposed to mark the GPS coordinates of each recovery, but state officials said they soon determined that data was "worthless." They had to reconstruct the locations where bodies were found but in some cases could provide information no more specific than "Canal Street." Although it is the most comprehensive data they have released on storm fatalities, state officials acknowledge that the information is still riddled with errors and probably will be corrected constantly in coming months.

The state data also include locations such as the interchange of I-10 and I-610 where rescuers in motorboats were directed to deposit bodies they found floating in the floodwaters. There is no way to determine where some of those 19 bodies came from, and all have been excluded from The Times analysis.

"The data you have leaves a lot to be desired," Cataldie said in an interview Friday. "I don't know if it'll ever be 100%."

Of the 1,095 people killed by Katrina in Louisiana, the state has formally identified and released demographic data on 535. Many other victims are tentatively identified, though 93 remain unidentifiable. A couple of bodies are recovered every week, and officials say other victims may have been swept into the Gulf of Mexico, never to be found.

Taking all that into account, though, it's interesting to see. A difference like this is often screamed from the rooftops as evidence of sexism or racism in other situations, using no other factors in the consideration. Women are 53% of the population, so if women don't make up 53% of any industry, it's obviously an industry rife with sexism. Same for ethnic representation. Well, if that's the case, then George W. Bush clearly hates white people.

"The affected population is more multiracial, multiethnic and multicultural than one might discern from national media reports," said Richard Campanella, a Tulane University geographer who has studied which parts of the city were hit the worst by flooding. His research showed that predominantly white districts in the city were almost as likely to flood as predominantly black ones.

And he hates the middle class and the rich just as much as he hates the poor - because, turns out, it wasn't only the poor who died because of Katrina.

The analysis contradicts what swiftly became conventional wisdom in the days after the storm hit — that it was the city's poorest African American residents who bore the brunt of the hurricane. Slightly more than half of the bodies were found in the city's poorer neighborhoods, with the remainder scattered throughout middle-class and even some richer districts.

"The fascinating thing is that it's so spread out," said Joachim Singelmann, director of the Louisiana Population Data Center at Louisiana State University. "It's not just the Lower 9th Ward or New Orleans East, which everybody has heard about. It's across the board, including some well-to-do neighborhoods."

... The state official in charge of identifying Katrina's victims, Dr. Louis Cataldie, said he was not surprised by the findings. "We went into $1-million and $2-million homes trying to retrieve people," he said.

Finally, it really makes me sad that the writer felt the need to include this sentence, "Not all white residents who died in the storm were well-to-do; not all African American victims were poor." Well, no kidding Sherlock. Don't they have rich black people in LA? I thought I'd seen a few on TV. Maybe they don't have poor white people there, and that's the confusion.

Yeah, I know I've built something of a strawman here, but my strawman can beat up Kanye's any day.

Hat tip Opinion Journal Best of the Web

Good Stuff

From Morgan Freeman. Good for him.

The only people who insist on continually hyphenating Americans are those who profit from racism - in money, power, or both.

Hmmm

Flipping channels this morning, I caught a woman saying this, "radical, pro-choice, lesbian feminist," and I started to turn the channel. But she followed that with something about the power of the individual. I was intrigued, so I didn't turn the channel. Then I find out it's Tammy Bruce, a woman I have never heard of. And she's talking about her book The New American Revolution.

I know nothing about this woman, but I think I'll do some more investigating. She seems interesting.

Another death penalty case - from another angle

The Cory Maye story one is worth watching.

The War on Drugs is, at a minimum, pointless and at its worst, tyrannical. I'm not overstating it.

Tookie

Well said response to "Tookie" Williams story.

Pastel Sport Coats and No Socks

Ahhh, I just love this tv schedule. Miami Vice 24 hour marathon! Caught Smugglers Blues this morning. Fantastic. Too bad I actually have stuff to do today. Not too much of a loss, though, since I already own this, and season two is due out soon.

While I'm stuck in the 80's today, I should watch this, too.

And, yeah, both shows are dated, especially Miami Vice, but they're still so entertaining.

I can be girlie, too ... sometimes

Got this dress a couple of weeks ago for the company Christmas parties. Yay! I LOVE it!

OK, so there's not a link. Sorry. I found pictures online the other day, but now they're not there. Oh well. You may have to take my word for it, unless I can find them tomorrow. Anyway, it's a fabulous dress.

Update:
Found it! The one I got is a bright royal blue, not this lavendar. Anyway.

Something especially for ...

Stacy.

It will freak you out, so just be warned.

New Phone

So, I'm really interested in this phone. It gets great reviews, and most are already set up for service with Schmingular, which happens to be my provider. The problem is that this phone is no longer listed as an available phone on the company's site, and even on eBay, they're about $250.

One thing I don't know: If I get one of these phones on eBay (some are locked, some are advertised as unlocked), how much will it cost me to take one of those lovely little phones to a shop and have it activated as my phone on my current plan? The hubby already got a new phone in July, and renewed the plan for another two years, too, so I won't be extending our plan.

Second thing I don't know: I hear that the provider has these phones refurbed for much much cheaper, but I can't find anything about that anywhere. Is this true?

Is there someone out there who can help me with this info? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

What's in a Name

You know, I love my name. Always have. It's a pretty name, and it's different. And up until about 10 years ago, I didn't mind sharing it with this person.

But then, on Tuesday night, I'm watching a show about a certain hotel-owning family. How Conrad was married to Zsa Zsa, and how Conrad's son Nicky was married to Elizabeth. And how another son Rick and Kathy Richards started dating and got married young, and have a happy marriage almost 30 years later. And in 1981, Rick and Kathy had Paris. Well, at least she doesn't go by her middle name.

I don't go by mine, either. But maybe I could start.

Very Exciting News

No, I'm not pregnant. At this stage, that would NOT be listed as VEN.

Anyway, there is now a Wild Wing in Alpharetta. And this band plays there twice a month on Thursdays. I plan to be there next Thursday night. See you there?

Maybe this band can play there soon, too?

Walk the Line

Yep, saw this last night. And I like it even more today than I did last night. Biopics aren't usually my favorite types of movies. Trying to fit someone's life into a standard plot formula doesn't usually make for great fare - more movie of the week than blockbuster. While I think Jamie Foxx did an incredible job as Ray Charles and I found the story interesting, I didn't really find it compelling. Interestingly, though Johnny Cash's story very much parallels Ray Charles' around his relationship with music, drugs, career, and women.

The funny thing about this one is that I was on the edge of my seat, waiting to see what happened next, even though I knew. As you've no doubt heard already, Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Whitherspoon are fantastic. He picked up the voice (so did she), and he even picked up the way Cash sings out of the side of his mouth, and the stage mannerisms. It's all there. Even though I went in expecting the acting from the two of them, what I didn't expect was the chemistry. They had fantastic chemistry. I wanted to cheer when they kissed the first time, even though he was married.

It does take some getting past the fact that he was married with daughters at home while he's trying to get June Carter to be with him. Looking back, you can see that he and June were "meant for each other," but at what point does that justify how you treat someone you once loved? I don't know that it does, and the movie doesn't even try to say that, which I applaud. It just puts the story out there for us. But it is hard for me to watch a man, even an incredibly charismatic and talented one, cheat on his wife and get upset over her frustrations by explaining that he's bought her the house of her dreams, and asking what else she wants. I certainly felt her frustrations at times, and think this woman was nothing but justified in her own reactions.

But I guess that's the thing about biopics, they are warts and all. And even after seeing the warts, you really can't help but root for Johnny and June to finally get together and live their happily ever after, in spite of the woman he left behind.

PS On a more selfish note, three cheers for a movie that portrays the south and southerners with all heart and zero cliche. The Thanksgiving scene brought me to tears, not only because of the strained relationship with his father, but when Mother Maybelle Carter tells of learning music in church and reading shape notes. There are so many things about the way I grew up that my own children won't experience: sitting around the piano while my grandmother played and sung hymns, heading to a local pond to go fishing after digging up your worms in the back yard, and walking railroad tracks by the cotton mill. Kids, don't roll your eyes when your parents wax nostalgiac about how they grew up.

Oh, the irony.

Or is it ironic? I don't know anymore.

Reading one of my daily work newsletters, I came across this tidbit...

Blogging: About one in four workers average 3.5 hours a week reading online blogs that are not work-related, according to analysis by Advertising Age. All told, U.S. employees this year will waste "the equivalent of 551,000 years reading blogs" that have nothing to do with their jobs. Also, a white paper on blogs by public relations firm Edelman and Intelliseek reveals that "nearly 70 percent of companies have no policies or guidelines" for employee bloggers, raising liability questions. And while employee blogs have "helped enhance the reputation" of companies like Microsoft and Sun Microsystems, they also have "hurt reputations in the case of several high-profile firings" at Google Inc., Delta Air Lines, Waterstone's and Friendster, according to the Edelman-Intelliseek research. Even so, IBM is giving employees "blogging tools" and views blogs as a way to forge new relationships with business partners, as well as market new products.

So, naturally, I decided to blog about it.

The Trip

By singular demand I am posting the trip.

I don't know if I do summaries very well, but I'll try it - enter the joys of a one-week trip to the other side of the world.

Saturday morning we flew from Atlanta to LA, then LA to Sydney. The best part is that because of the time change in the States and Australia, instead of flying over night as is the usual itinerary, we were able to fly "during the day" and land Sunday night Sydney time. This allowed us to get there, and pretty much go straight to bed and get a full night's sleep, rather than having to start in the morning. I think this was the key to the fact that neither one of us experienced any jet lag in Austrlia. Upon check-in at our hotel, this was our view.


Not bad, I say.

The next day was Monday, and I worked from 10-5 while Dave walked around Sydney and figured out where things were. After work, we walked around and went to dinner. Some of the sites:





Seriously, we were really there. At the Sydney Opera House. I still don't know if I believe it.

On Tuesday, I worked 7-12, and Dave went to the aquarium. Then we met my colleagues at a pub to watch the Melbourne Cup. This is a horse race that shuts down the country. Think the Kentucky Derby's influence on Kentucky, and apply that to Australia, which is the size of the US's lower 48. I looked out the window of the pub during the race, and there was no one on the street, not even cars. Well, unlike the Derby, these horses can race multiple years. And the favorite was on her third race. We picked her, and she won. This is the first horse to win three in a row. We won $37 on a $10 bet. Good times.

Then we went to the airport to fly to Melbourne - a one hour and 20 minute flight south. Since the cup was there just a few hours earlier, and the week-long Carnival was still going on, things were crazy in Melbourne. Our hotel was a few miles outside of the city - probably similar to Decatur, if you have to compare it to Atlanta. We were about two miles from the Italian area, and that's where we ate. I've never seen anywhere like this. All the restaurants are right along the same street, one right after the other. They all had their sidewalks full of tables and chairs. We had about five feet to walk between the restaurant and tables along with everyone else going in our direction and the other. Meanwhile the restauranteurs were accosting us to come into their restaurants. Bizarre. So we went across the street to one that didn't attack us.

Wednesday was another 7-12 day, while Dave walked around. We ate on the river



and then took a tram for about 45 minutes to this little beach.



Something we started to realize is that modern cities are modern cities. Outside of something like the Sydney Opera House, if we had been dropped off without knowing where we were, these could have been pretty much any city in America. Well, ok, and driving on the left side of the road. But still, the buildings could be just about anywhere. The key is getting outside of the cities. And we got to do that when my boss gave me Thursday off, and directions to Mooloolaba beach about an hour outside of Brisbane. Turns out, this is where he was a member of the Mooloolaba Beach Surf Lifesaving Club. These are lifeguards, but they also participate in competitions.

The drive was beautiful, with these cool mountains that would pop up. Then the beach was incredible. Blue, cool water, nice sand, and huge waves. Huge waves. Waves like I've never seen in my life. I couldn't stand up in them. They knocked me over until I figured out that I better go under them or get out entirely. The pictures don't do them justice because there's no context, but they were at least five foot breakers. We had such a good time. This is somewhere we hope to go back to.

The beach




Apparently this is a protected beach, and the waves "aren't that bad." Thank you to my boss for sending us to this one.

Brisbane was a short day, and our flight left at 3pm. We then headed to Auckland, through Sydney. The flight created some cool shots. We could see how big Sydney really is. This shot is only one part of Sydney.


Ah, and then there's Auckland, New Zealand. We actually had a good bit of free time here, so this was great. Kayaking, driving around hills and beaches in a Suzuki Samarai, and then a visit to the Auckland Museum.

Some Auckland shots...
From the ferry







Waiheke Island Kayaking and Driving










A beautiful park in the heart of the city.




A different park, also in the city.


I guess that about sums it up.

The flights? Long - 14 hours LA to Sydney. 11 hours Auckland to LA. The jet lag? None going over. At first it seemed there wouldn't be any coming back, either. Ah, but there was. And has been all week. I'm still wiped out at about 3pm every day.

All in all, an amazing trip. I was ready to get home, but I definitely want to go back. We'd like to see more of the Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast in Australia, plus more inland. And we definitely want to go back to New Zealand and hit the south island. That's where the truly amazing stuff is supposed to be. I can't even imagine.

RIP

Someone else I know will be sad about the first one, but my day has been marred by the announcement of the cancellation of Arrested Development.