Proof That We Need A Test To Have Children

6-Year-Old Drives After Mom Smokes “That Stinky Stuff”

I am not sure what would be on the test but it needs to be put to a government commission.

September 11

Eight years ago today, America was attacked as the day got going.

I was a senior in high school and I was in my second period percussion class. My band director came into the band room after having gone to the office for something and said something bad had happened.

There was a joke or two made but the look on Paul's face displayed the gravity of the situation. I could try and be the next Tolkien and describe the silence that fell on that large space with its great acoustics but that would be pointless.

He flipped the t.v. on and there was the coverage.

The second plane had went into the towers moments before and people were speculating about what had happened.

The thing that surprised me the most was the fact that school did not come to a halt.

I went to the rest of my classes that day and did my work like it was any other day.

Hell, we had band practice that afternoon. It went off without a hitch. We even went to a competition two days after it happened. The flag was at half mast for the entire contest but it went on.

I have read several accounts of what the government was like on that morning and it all seems like it would be a huge cluster fuck working in an agency when an event like this occurs. But it all went on.

When someone asks me what it means to be American, that resilience that we displayed as a nation comes to mind.

There are several nations across this world that are on the brink of collapsing in the next 36 hours (trust me, it's what my thesis research is on), but we took the hit and came back.

God bless those that gave the ultimate sacrifice in defense and aid of their fellow Americans and God bless the United States of America.

Web Comics: I Have Finally Given In.

I think this image says how me and many of my friends who are in school feel.

I finally found the urge to start writing a paper that I needed to have finished to pass, at 2am.

Same thing happened in graduate school. Huge project due? Psh, start researching the country and its government at 2am. No better way to do it.

So, imagine how surprised I was when I found a webcomic that dealt with the strife of being a student, especially in graduate education.

Piled Higher and Deeper (PH. D) comics are amazingly written and has a cast of characters that you will likely encounter on a daily basis in your department or a study group.

Apart from a massive archive that goes back twelve years, there is also a store where you can buy merchandise related to your favorite characters. Or you pick up a shirt that expresses your genearl malaise for the graduate education process.

















Those of you who read my blog consistently, you will know how much I love the sport of soccer. So, when I found a web comic for it back in June, I was highly excited.

Studs-Up is a witty insight into the players, the teams, and the random things that get done throughout the global game of soccer.

The archive for Studs only goes back to 2008 but it is still worth reading.

The Champions League Moving To Fox Is The Best Move Ever

I heard the devistating news back in April as I was on my way to the FBI Academy that the bidding for the rights to the Champions League broadcasts here in the US.

I have been watching the Champions League on ESPN2 for the last four years now. It's because of the Champions League that I became a fan of Chelsea.

So to see that the broadcast rights to the premier club competition in the world were going over to Fox Soccer Channel, a station that I don't have, I almost cried.

So imagine my surprise that when I flipped it over to TV Guide Channel to see if Sports Science was coming on, I saw those sacred words, UEFA Champions League.

I have the kettle on, getting ready for my tea and ready to watch Arsenal take on Celtic as they play for their right into the group stages.

So I know have the best of both worlds. I have the EPL on ESPN2 on a weekly basis and now I have Champions League football as well.

Late Summer Saturday Date: Yazoo Brewing Company

It was a hot ass day here in Music City USA but me and my girlfriend had a plan to cool things off just a bit.

We did not hit up the Titans game down at LP Field. Nor did we head over to the Bicentennial Mall and play in the fountains.

Instead, we headed down to the Yazoo Brewing Company to take the tour of the brewery itself and taste the beers that they had on tap.

From the outside, the building that houses the brewery looks like another abandoned factory of Nashville's yesterdays. But once you enter the doors of the old Marathon Motors Co. and take a right, you find yourself in a beer lovers paradise.

The anti-room to the tap room itself is semi-spacious, with chairs, tables, and a rather nice bench. Off to the side of the anti-room is a beer garden that was hosting a party for Vanderbilt alumi. Being an alumnus of UT, I steered clear of their party.

While the area described above is small, the tap room itself is smaller than that. I counted, at most, six tables that can seat four or so people a piece. There is also space at the bar for about six or seven. We happened to show up in the middle of someones birthday, so the spots at the bar were secured.

While the wait to purchase our sampler tray of beers was roughly thirty or so minutes, it gave me the chance to really get a feel for the customer base and the people serving the beer.

I have been to bars with crappy service and bars with good service, stepping up to the bar at Yazoo was like stepping up to my favorite bar from my college days. The service was quick, fast, and to the point. Apart from a few people that were ahead of me, their was no poking or prodding to get up to the bar.

I personally recommend the Nitro Stout. It was by far the best beer that I had out of the sampler tray. It was not as thick as Guinness but it had that wonderful stout taste and texture that hooks the dark beer lover.

My least favorite was the Hopps Project IPA. I'm not really an IPA kind of guy and this IPA surely had enough hopps to last me until next year. However, if you are a fan of IPA's, there is no reason that you wouldn't love this beer.

The culmination of our evening out was the tour of the facility.

Our amazing tour guide walked us through the process by which they made the delicious beer that we got to sample at each step of the way and for a low price of just $6, the tour is truly worth it.

Not only do you get beer samples, but you get a pint glass that you can keep, for tasting your samples.

Pros: Quick tour with multiple times offered (check the website for specific times), decently priced pints and growlers ($4 and $11 respectively), great staff.

Cons: It is balls ass hot in that building.. if you do not like to sweat while waiting for a beer, you may want to wait and make this a fall/winter/early spring outing, if you aren't use to a more trendy crowd then the brewery may not be the place for you.. I know I mentioned this point to my girlfriend and it brought a laugh, it's really cramped at times.. so if you have a problem with crowds you may want to try and schedule an earlier trip and possibly not on a weekend.

Overall:4 out 5

Oooh Look! A Pretty Girl

Boy, she sure is pretty isn't she? I certainly got off the Asian push years ago and therefore, I doubt that I would accept a download from one of my friends who decides to send an image like this to me.

Would you have the ability to resist?

I think most would but there are a select few individuals who would continue to download the image of what they think may be a beautiful girl.

So, lets run through a scenario before I go explain this post.

You are a young guy who is about to leave for college. Got your new HP Netbook or laptop to go with all the essentials of moving into your dorm.

You get to school and unpack your room. You get everything set up on your desk and around the room and before you head out to the Freshman picnic, you log onto your email account and see that your buddy back home has sent you the file containing the picture above.

"Hot Asian girl... I love Asians," you think to yourself and you click on the link. You get the picture and hurriedly send it off to your friends.

A few weeks later at noon on a Tuesday (your only class is at 4pm (you totally scored that sweet time slot for the class)) your dorm phone rings and you roll over and answer it.

It's your mom... and boy is she pissed.

Somewhere over the course of the first three weeks of school used your credit card that your parents have linked to their account (it was for gas and emergencies only) to download $200 worth of music from itunes and you also subscribed to a handful of small porn sites.

What happened?

You were attacked by a Trojan Horse virus.

And according to an post by my friends over at The Dark Visitor, this was common back in the day in the form of the "Maritime Girl."

Read the post. It's good knowledge to pass on to your less web savvy friends who don't really know that the hot Asian is anything but.

What About Bing?

I have seen the commercial for the "discovery" engine Bing, by Microsoft.

I think they over exaggerate the concept of the search engine. The average search will return some pretty oddball stuff. To truly get something out of a search engine, you need to have a nuanced query.

In my project work, I have had to root out some pretty arcane knowledge. In doing so, I've had to wade through a bunch of information that wouldn't normally come up.

I doubt Bing can really offer you a search result that is more nuanced than Google. But I am sure time will tell.