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Thursday, May 31, 2007Charleston HistoryYesterday Mikah and I drove into downtown Charleston to walk around and visit the "festival". I put that in quotes because it wasn't really a festival. It was just some week long event that takes place at 1000 different places downtown; effectively making it impossible to see any of it. (we did get to see a bad art gallery which was calling attention to global warming and the pollution I caused while driving there. I might have been more convinced if the art was better than my 6 year old cousin could do.) After we walked down Market Street, which is a place where vendors hawk their trinkets (think Traders World flea market -- but in a nice locale), we headed over to Calhoun Street (John Calhoun that is!) and embarked on a 1.5 hour walking tour with 3 other people and Dave the Tour Guide. We gave Dave $40, which apparently allowed us to listen to him as we walked around the block. Dave asked where the two groups were from. The other group was from Sommerville, a city right up the street from Charleston. We replied, "Cincinnati". He asked how cold it was up there (umm...85 and humid...it's not that far north), then called us "bad Northerners", and reflected how we started the "War of Northern Aggression". So obviously the sides were divided. The Southerners vs. The Northerners. No wonder the Civil War happened. I just met this guy and he is already being divisive! As we embarked on our tour I could feel the 4 southerners glaring at me...hating me because I voted for Lincoln. It was palpable...I COULD FEEL IT! Actually, Dave the Divider was very informative on the history of Charleston. We briefly stopped by a building that had "Earthquake Posts" in it. These were posts that ran through the entire building, horizontally, to help keep the building standing during an earthquake. Apparently because Charleston is at sea level, and built on a marsh, it is susceptible to those. Dave then informed us that before the Richter scale was invented Charleston was hit with an earthquake two points higher than the San Fran quake of '87. This would make the Charleston earthquake a 9.1 on the Ricther Scale. This is a MASSIVE earthquake. Of course there is no way to check Dave's accuracy...I think he is aware of this. I could ask him what they used to measure it way back then. Maybe later once the Ricther scale was invented, some guy went back and looked at some video from the Charleston quake and deduced it was a 9.1. Or maybe he used before and after photos of the damage. Or maybe they had a soothsayer and he predicted it would happen. I thought about challenging him on the veracity of his statement, but a look from Mikah convinced me other wise. Still...I decided to keep a close watch on him for the rest of the tour. Later Dave the Liar walked us around commenting on how much money was in Charleston. He said it was the wealthiest city in early America. I believe him. He continued to comment that the wealth was due to ingenuity and smarts (the first American college is in Charleston). I don't recall him mentioning SLAVERY as a gigantic aide in building wealth. Free labor is neat like that. Actually I think he did mention slavery at one point. I don't remember everything he said. My guess is that when he did finally did mention it, he talked about the glory days of the "Peculiar Institution" and deviously grinned. Later he did mention how "black folk" did help with the local economy, seeing how "they" outnumbered "us" 2-1. I sense a hint of racism. But Dave wouldn't be a liar AND a racist would he? Apparently yes...as the tour ended (which was an interesting tour by the way) we asked Dave where a good place to eat was. He recommended "California Dreaming" and some other place "where they serve you great lowcountry food...COOKED BY REAL BLACK FOLK" (emphasis added by me...but only because I know he would want me to). We weren't sure if these cooks were being employed against their will or not (SLAVERY!) so we decided on California Dreaming, which had no obvious racism and excellent food. Overall, it was a good day. I'm glad I met Dave the Divider/Liar/Racist. I do wonder if the rest of South Carolina feels the same way. Probably. Labels: Charleston, Mikah Wednesday, May 30, 2007Charleston River DogsLast night Mikah and I went to a Charleston River Dogs Single-A baseball game. The River Dogs are the Single-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. They played the Columbus (GA) Catfish, who are the Single-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. I left my camera at the house, so I don't have any pictures. My exquisute useage of the english language will have to suffice. The stadium was very nice. It holds 5500 people and there isn't a bad seat in the place. It seems like every single seat was up close. Our seats were the 4th row behind home plate. These were excellent seats for scouting the players. I know this because the scouts were sitting right behind us. No one particularly stood out at the game, as the play was boring. Not a lot happened, except for one inning where the River Dogs put up 5. This was mostly due to the fact that the Catfish pitcher was TERRIBLE. He started every hitter with a fastball. He could not throw his breaking ball or change up for a strike. A lot of his fastballs were high. So basically the hitters just waited for the inevitible 3-1 fastball to crush. Last night was "Talk like a Pirate" Night, which was cute for about 15 minutes. But the announcer KEPT DOING IT. They also had mini pirate skits taking place in between the half innings. This grew tiresome as well. I commented to Mikah that the whole operation seemed "a bit minor league." Oh. Oh yeah. It is minor league. Now...on to the important stuff...the food was delicious! We had 2 hot dogs and 2 pretzels. Both very good. The hot dogs were the best I have had at a ball park. The prices were very good too. The whole night, including tickets, food, and parking cost us $25. Not bad for a fun night out! Also, Bill Murray stood in front of us in line for the concessions. He looked exactly what Bill Murray always looks like. He even wore his famous Cubs shirt. He also tipped the concessions people a rather large amount, although I don't know exactly what it was. I am guessing it was about $4,000. Or maybe a $20. Overall...a fun night. I'd reccomend it to anyone. Labels: Baseball, Charleston River Dogs, Mikah Friday, May 25, 2007Marvin Lewis v. Cincinnati PoliceSo the other day Marvin Lewis went on the Dan Patrick show and commented that the Cincinnati Police are profiling the Bengals. I don't know if this is true or not. I wonder if Carson Palmer has been pulled over recently. What about Rudi Johnson? I doubt it. Anyway - Lewis complained that "something is wrong if you get pulled over for not turning on your turn signal" (Maybe I shouldn't have used quotes there, because those aren't his exact words. I just don't know how to signify that. And I don't want to look it up. so there.) This is such a stupid argument and a stupid thing to say. YOU HAVE TO USE YOUR TURN SIGNAL...THAT'S THE LAW. They have every right to pull you over for that. About a year ago I got pulled over for not making a complete stop at a stop sign. The cop got my information and came back to my car and gave me a warning. But let's pretend she gave me a ticket. Would I have any right to complain at all? No, of course not! I broke the law! I would be mad...but unjustifiably so. Now let's pretend the cop asked for my license and I didn't have one because it was suspended. I would get arrested. Because that is what happens in those situations. I would not feel like I was being profiled against at all. So let's summarize for Chris Henry.
Sounds like everything went about normal there. If you have recent vehicular related offenses...you can't afford to not follow the rules! You will get busted. I didn't get busted because I have no past offenses. It's pretty simple to me. That said - What the Kenton Country prosecutor did is horrible and he should be punished for it. It is not right to publicly chastise someone without knowing the whole story. Of course, today the prosecutor refused to apologize and called Henry a "lowlife". This is a classy guy...I'm surprised he has been able to get an elected position like this. What? Kenton County is in Kentucky? Oh. Never mind. Labels: Chris Henry, Cincinnati Bengals, Marvin Lewis Wednesday, May 23, 2007Random Thoughts - 5.23.07Howdy, I haven't posted in a while. I feel bad. So here is a collection of random thoughts.
Labels: Random Thoughts Thursday, May 10, 2007Wise BreadThere is a really great blog (linked over there on the right) called Wise Bread. They have a number of writers and they are all funny and thoughtful. They point out a lot of interesting things, like how to get an external hard drive for under $90, and advice on careers, and a bunch of other stuff. They add a bunch of posts every day, so there is always something new to read. About a week ago Andrea Dickson (one of the bloggers) wrote a very funny letter to Capital One. I laughed out loud reading it. Hopefully you laugh too. I recommend adding Wise Bread to your daily reading list...you won't be sorry! Labels: Blogs, Wise Bread Friday, May 4, 2007Bengals Draft ReviewThe NFL draft has come (yea!!) and gone (boo...by the way, is there a way to punctuate a sad feeling? Exclamation marks represent happy or excited...what represents sad? Besides the frowny face thing? Anything? Where was I...oh yes...the draft). The Bengals made their picks and I am sure you have been waiting for my thoughts on them: Round 1 - Leon Hall, Michigan, CB Leon Hall is a good player and I am surprised (and happy!! see, there they are again) that he fell to the Bengals at 18. He is a solid solid player and won't make a lot of mistakes. I am a bit concerned that he gets run past (apparently) and that he is from Michigan. I am a Buckeye...so that's no good. Also, the last guy we got from Michigan has bones made from ________ (insert easily broken material). Round 2 - Kenny Irons, Auburn, RB I was surprised at this pick at first, but all the defensive players we wanted were taken right before. So this pick makes sense. Mostly because we need it to replace Chris Perry, whose bones made from ________ (insert easily broken material. A different material if you want to be clever and/or witty). Round 3 - Nobody We used this pick to draft Ahmad Brooks in the supplemental draft last year. He is now our MLB. Round 4 - Marvin White, TCU, S Apparently this guy is good at tackling and hitting hard. Otherwise I don't know much about him I don't remember rounds 5-7. I doubt they have much of an impact on the team though. I guess there is a chance that we find another T.J. Houshmasklnsadfibiasfdah (7th round pick), but I doubt it. So there is my review. Mini-camp and training camp coming soon. Then we can get really excited about how good these guys look in practice. SUPER BOWL HERE WE COME!! Labels: Cincinnati Bengals, NFL, NFL Draft
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