The daily news in 750 words or so

Today's news seemed to sway towards entertainment and sports more so than towards matters that actually affect people. It was that or my attention just picked up on these stories. This might have had something to do with my rush to judgment in the O.J. Mayo arrest. It might have been Greg Oden's announcement that he might stay for one more year (although he still won't graduate from Ohio State). It might have been the blurry head I woke up with this morning. However, this is the lineup of what's going on today.

In front page news, President Bush continued his persona non grata tour of Latin America, meeting with Mexican President Felipe Calderon. Probably the best part of this article, besides the "Could I throw this pinche gringo over this ledge and get away with it?" look on Calderon's face, is the contrast of the headline "Answering Latin Left, Bush Pledges to Help Poor," with the photograph caption that begins " President Bush and President Felipe Calderón of Mexico met for three hours at a luxury hotel." My first suggestion would have been to have the meeting in the Hotel Prim, which according to Expedia, is a steal at $43 per night. But you can't win them all.

Suicide bombers in Pakistan have started to focus attacks on civilian targets as well as military targets according to a New York Times report. President Musharraf refers to the increased attacks as a Talibanization. Whether this is true or not, this would definitely make a great title for Justin Timberlake's next album.

Also, after using Expedia to get hotel rates in Mexico, I can tell you without a doubt that Mexico is a far better vacation destination than Afghanistan. The best hotel rate I could get in Afghanistan was a double room with satellite television for $175 per night. The only real benefit to the vacation is the fantastic exchange rate between the dollar and the afghani. However, the margaritas are far more difficult to find in Kabul than they are in Ciudad de Mexico. At least the opium is plentiful.

As a trifecta from the Times, the civil rights group Council on American-Islamic relations has come under scrutiny for purported links to Hamas and Hezbollah. Yes, America--fighting terrorism one civil rights activist at a time!

On the health front, USA Today cited research that states that cancer rates will swell 55 percent by the year 2020, and that the increase in oncologists will not be able to keep up with the demand. This comes on top of a previous New York Times report that predicted a similar shortage in geriatric practitioners based upon the aging population. One Dr. Gregory Rutecki performed clinical research on this topic and correlated career choice with controllable lifestyle, suggesting the trend will continue. This is all the more reason for me to keep drinking and practicing irresponsible sexual behaviors--so I can beat cancer and the shortage of old people doctors in the future!

At least the Onion has the right advice for the Hillary Clinton Presidential campaign.

Domestic news stories are slightly less depressing, but equally noteworthy. New Yorkers are outraged by some maniac who beat up a 101 year old woman and robbed her in front of a surveillance camera. I haven't seen New Yorkers this upset since the Red Sox came back from an 0-3 hole to beat the Yankees in the 2004 ALCS.

On a lighter note, Colorado state legislators are fighting a battle to get John Denver's "Rocky Mountain High" declared the state song. Opponents believe the "High" is a drug high, while Sen. Bob Hagedorn believes it refers to endorphins. Hagedorn is a Democrat from suburban Denver, a city that decriminalized marijuana in 2005. Whether the song is about being high off pot or life, it is certain that the majority of the population of Boulder is still high off one of the two from the last John Denver concert in the late 1990s.

Now it's on to depressing sports news. The New York Times features a story about dementia amongst former football players. The increasing problem has united wives of the players who often need assisted living that can sometimes be tough to come by with the fickle nature of the NFL retirement plan.

The problem of not remembering who a player played his football with is more common than one would guess. Michael Irvin did so much coke he can't remember if he belongs in the Hall of Fame or not. Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson used drugs on the sidelines. Steve McMichael and Dan Hampton were so drunk when the Bears were so drunk in 1985 that they probably barely remember winning the Super Bowl. Luckily, their retirement plans will allow them to keep living this way, while older generation superstars who can't remember their past are trying to figure out the future.

In cheery, happy sports news, the Chicago Bulls out-Irished the Celtics 95-87 last night. Tyrus Thomas was decked out in St. Patrick's day garb which may or may not have helped him drop 23 on the hapless team named after the Irish.

In the category of everything else interesting, Slate featured an article that suggested NCAA bracketology as being the preferred method for people to create their own "Best of" lists. Using this methodology, one can easily determine that Rush Limbaugh is the world's worst pundit, defeating Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity and Ann Coulter in the Final Four.

In the meat is bad/organic and fair trade is good department, a Times editorial criticizes treatment of animals as food while a Christian Science Monitor article cites fair trade and organic food as a growing market in Britain. Hooray on both fronts!

Arts news allows me to continue being an a%$hole. Social scientific research using factor analysis has identified music choice as an indicator of personality type. Despite the questionable value of factor analysis in certain situations (i.e. psychological research on deeply rooted cultural phenomena like music), the article led me to some interesting conclusions. Mainly, my conclusions are that people who listen to Fall Out Boy are emotionally shallow, intellectually deprived suburbanites, people who listen to Fergie are easily fooled by slight of hand tricks and that people who listen to Justin Timberlake are extremely stupid, American or both.

I don't know what that says about the codgers who were treated to a one song Who concert in Tampa last night. Maybe they won't be fooled again. I don't know what this says about my generation. I guess the kids weren't all right.

New House (o Casa Nueva)

Wall art from Casa Nueva















So I left the apartment with one plan and ended up enacting an entirely different plan. But hey, at least I got to test out my camera so I am not complaining.

I left the house planning to enjoy some Spanakopita at Salaam. However, since this restaurant is only open for dinner from Wednesday through Saturday (lunch is Monday through Saturday), I got shut out! Oh well. For better or worse, they are BYOB, so I went down the street to an establishment that could sell me alcohol that they provided rather than the hooch I brought off the streets.

I took the 100 foot long stroll to Casa Nueva. This place is a vegan/vegetarian/anybody with tastebuds paradise. There is only one problem with Casa Nueva. The food is great. The drinks are great. The people who work there are great. The wait from when you show up to when you get served is...not so great. Whenever you show up, plan on drinking and/or eating appetizers at the bar. The minimum wait seems to be 30 minutes.

That being said, I wait time and time again. The specials are always interesting. Tuesday specials involve King Family Farm meat, which is not in the realm of things I eat (although I applaud their commitment to quality). However, there are more veggie items here mixed up for vegetarians of all shapes, sizes and adjectival characteristics than I can eat in a seasonal menu period, so Casa is muy bien (see pictures of Salaam and Casa Nueva in link below).

casa

The place is a cooperative, meaning all of the employees own it. This is a fantastic thing to note for the Marxist horde reading this right now.
















The specials are always interesting. Casa has offered specials on fusion night that include an Ecuadorean styled empanada with Indian curried potatoes and a huge plate of seasoned rice and vegetables. That previous experience led me to get the special with artichoke heart empanadas.

The combo platter (yeah, I'm really falling off, aren't I?) features a rolled artichoke heart and onion enchilada topped with salsa verde and the artichoke heart empanadas served with a side of jasmine rice and black beans.



















The food is really only one reason to fall in love with the Casa. The commitment to organic, sustainable local products is impeccable. Check the end of the menu...it is impressive. Organic produce, non-irradiated spices, fair trade organic coffee and a wide assortment of infused vodka drinks that work cohesively with the food are some of the many reasons it feels good to eat at C. N. In addition to the infused vodkas, Casa features a number of Ohio brews on tap. Casa Nueva also features music most nights.

Who said what about whom?

On my daily news sojourn, I end up checking out half a billion sites so that I seem half informed while discussing whatever idiosyncratic anomaly is causing the e-mail boxes of America's net-izens to shoot messages back and forth. Today was a tremendous day for news.

The newest Washington scandal involves White House ordering Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to terminate eight federal prosecutors who were not actively pursuing voter fraud cases. This was one of many charges levied behind the scenes at the White House. It's good to see the Bush White House get serious about voter fraud in his final term. Better late than never.

This comes on top of a number of reports that have begun to identify combat veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan as returning with a noticeable mental health problems. The ratio of troops returning with mental health problems is as high as one out of three. Well, at least they can receive treatment at Walter Reed. Err, I mean...

On top of all the other positive vibes emanating from the armed forces comes this little nugget. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Peter Pace has called homosexuality "immoral" in a Chicago Tribune interview. This is obviously going to be an enormous setback in my campaign to help Andy Dick by allowing a military experience to help him maintain a little discipline.

In international news, the Sudan is still a mess. Now, not only are government troops a problem. Now the rebels are causing problems. Both SLA and janjaweed troops are gunning down aid workers. Mark Sudan down as a fantastic place for a reporter to make their career, and an equally fantastic place to dodge gun fire.

Media reports were blowing up all over the place. The big money story involves Viacom filing suit against YouTube and Google for $1 billion. Viacom wants compensation for what it claims are over 160,000 unauthorized clips posted on the video sharing site YouTube. If you would have asked me two years ago to put a cash value on Carlos Mencia and My Super Sweet 16, I would have offered you all of the change in my pocket and the red pepper hummus in my refrigerator. But what do I know?

Although this isn't news per se, it is a fantastic journalistic tool. The Project for Excellence in Journalism's News Coverage Index is a large project that analyzes 48 or more news sources in order to paint a picture of what the American media are covering in a given week. This week, Scooter Libby is the big topic, followed by the 2008 election and Iraq. The index breaks down different media separately. They also do a talk show index in case you want to know what Papa Bear O'Reilly has to say. This is an excellent resource and it is well worth checking out.

In freedom of information news, the state of Texas is expected to file more than 400 bills that involve freedom of information issues. These bills are expected to remove documents that are currently available from a Freedom of Information request from public access. I expect all of the journalists in Texas, the major legal defense groups in the field and all of the hippies in Austin to battle this one out.

In the list of hirings and firings, ESPN has hired NFL Hall of Fame Running Back and Dancing With the Stars champion Emmitt Smith as a network analyst. Smith is replacing former teammate, loose cannon and jailbird Michael Irvin. Way to be a team player Smitty!

Where Emmitt Smith goes, Sports are sure to follow. The Pittsburgh Penguins will keep playing in Pittsburgh according to a report in the Post-Gazette. This should be extremely good news to both National Hockey League fans in the city.

Again, however, college basketball is the story of the day. Instead of being stories about impressive athletic performances, however, today's stories focus on overwhelming failures. The New York Times profiled suspended Gonzaga power forward Josh Heytvelt, a sophomore who was arrested with an ounce of psychedelic mushrooms earlier this season. I always thought Adam Morrison looked stoned with that ridiculous mustache. However, it is fairly obvious in most instances that the only way to watch West Coast Conference basketball is with an ounce of mushrooms in hand. It makes all the other schools look competitive with Gonzaga, who is in the NCAA tournament.

Also in the same department of overwhelming college basketball success stories coupled with indubitable failure comes the report in the Sporting News that 10 percent of Ohio State basketball players graduated with degrees from Ohio State between 1996 to 1999. It is sometimes difficult to criticize a school where academic stalwarts like Andy Katzenmoyer roamed the sidelines and excelled in the classroom.
Hopefully Greg Oden's 11 teammates get a degree before he bolts for the NBA in a month.

An emphatic happy birthday goes out to Twins pitcher Johan Santana. Santana wants the Twins to give him a contract extension. They should give him anything he wants. If I had been smart enough to trade that pocket change and hummus for Comedy Central and MTV stock, I'd chip in and send him to the Cubs and mail Mark Prior to Peoria myself.


Speaking of the Cubs, I believe that Carlos Zambrano should walk, not run, when he puts the ball in play.








Cleaning up the leftovers, today marks the 226th anniversary of William Herschel's cataloging of Uranus as a planet. In local oddities, the Dayton Daily News reports on a person being arrested with 350 pounds of marijuana, basically ruining John Popper's plans of doing a special impromptu event in Columbus. Finally, California Congressman Pete Stark is the highest ranking U.S. official to come out as an atheist. God bless him!

New local Organic Nut Brown

Jackie O's started offering a new beer that was very very good! The Organic Nut Brown Ale (with the little peep hole cut into the tap handle) is so good, it's almost great. It's very chewy with roasted notes and a long, tapered finish. This beer is a seasonal, which means you should head down there this evening and take advantage of the $7 pitchers before its all gone. (Actually, it'll be around for a little bit. Don't get too worried. It can be bought today.)

Not that I did that earlier tonight or anything. But I've heard that their IPA and the Wilford Brimley Oatmeal Stout are quite good as well. The bar has a pull out stage where bands perform live music on a regular basis. They feature open mics, Irish music and good old fashioned hippie jam bands in addition to hip hop nights and everything else in between. I'm hoping I'm on call with Ekoostik Hookah lyrics when my friends' band plays next quarter.

Block News for 12 March

Your national story of the day is the continuing Walter Reed hospital public relations fiasco. Today the highest ranking medical officer General Kevin C. Kiley resigned. He is the third person to resign in this scandal that combines politics with medical ethics for a story that ends badly for all involved.

However, in terms medical coverage about other hospitals, I am convinced that no medium covers medicine in a more interesting fashion than the Los Angeles Times. In terms of the importance of the stories that the Times has covered, today's story might not even be the best. But their tenacity is fantastic.

This article tries to link a drug overdose to shortsightedness by military hospital personnel in Los Angeles in a similar backdrop to the Walter Reed story that involves a recovering drug addict. Some of these ethical dilemmas make for great theater. March 2 they ran an article about a doctor who deliberately overdosed a patient with sedatives and pain killers while six staff members watched and did not intervene. The doctor was a transplant surgeon, and used the drugs to hasten the death of an organ donor.

This is another in a long line of stories the L.A. Times has run about transplant centers gone awry, as each of the links in this sentence will demonstrate. The names that seem to come up for reporting the stories is Tracy Weber and Charles Ornstein. Hopefully the medical community will applaud your efforts. These are great stories.

On other pages of the L.A. Times (namely the front page), the fallback plan for Iraq was detailed. The plan is based upon the pullout from El Salvador in 1980s. It is good to see that Plan G is in place if the troop surge Plan F doesn't work. Plan F is naturally the good natured but problematic follow up to the failed Plans E,D,C,B and A. Glad to see some planning and scheming going on behind the scenes.

Sports news involves one topic and one topic only today. Go March Madness or go home. It's that simple. Every commentator on the planet is crying about who could've, should've, would've been in the tournament. I can't decide who to put in my pool final four. This year, I'm going front runner with two one-seeds and two two-seeds in my Final Four. I'm traveling through the pool with a Salt Lake City conservative approach.

Of course, criminality and sports keep boiling in the background. Chris Simon got suspended for teeing off on Ryan Hollweg's face with a hockey stick. In the WWE, that might get him a title belt. In the NHL, it gets him a 25 game suspension.







Also, former North Hill basketball player O.J. Mayo was arrested for marijuana possession. The 6' 4 point guard is the highest (no pun intended) rated player in high school basketball. He is projected to go from one year of NCAA basketball to the NBA fast lane. Mayo, who committed to USC, is a Cincinnati area youth. He was apparently strongly influenced by the behavior of his hometown football team the Cincinnati Bengals.

Lastly, in entertainment, the House of Representatives subcommittee on telecommunications and the internet is having a hearing tomorrow with video archive of the discussi0n available. This is an important issue involving music, radio and Web communication. Stay tuned and make sure this ends well.

Great Beers

My favorite American brewery has a few new brews on the horizon, and I figured why not rep the Fish?

Dogfish Head is a brewery/brew pub in Delaware. I visited a few summers ago. The restaurant is good and the beer is divine! The brew pub features a number of beers that aren't typically available at the liquor store. Check state listings for details.

If you can get them in your state, get the Fish. DFH appears to have a color fixation. The newest beer is Red and White. This is a 750 mL of Wit flavored with coriander, orange peel and pinot noir wine. It is aged in oak staves and used pinot noir barrels with the two being blended together before bottling.

In April, the colors are Black and Blue. They come in the form of a 10 percent alcohol by volume Belgian style strong ale flavored with blackberries and blueberries.

Another interesting beer is being released later this year. It is in the tradition of Dogfish Head to pursue whimsical fancies and interesting projects. From the brewery that birthed Pangaea (the beer with ingredients from all seven continents) and Liquor de Malt (bottled conditioned malt liquor 40 ounce) comes another project in restoring ancient brewing techniques.

On the heels of a beer that was brewed from a recipe found in the tomb of King Midas comes a brew rooted in Asian history. Chateau Jiahu is brewed with a recipe reconstructed from pottery from 9,000 years ago in Jiahu, Henan, China. The brew is made of pre-gelatinized rice flakes, wildflower honey, muscat, barley, hawthorn fruit and Chrysanthemum flowers. It is boiled, cooled, fermented with sake yeast and aged for a month.

This place makes great drinks. The liquors are great, the beer is great. If you are in Delaware, I recommend visiting. If not, take a bottle home with you and drink something different.

Fake Sports and Avalanche Pizza

I am consumed with fake sports. There, I said it. I play sports video games. I have a fantasy baseball team during my fantasy football off-season. I am in 57 different NCAA Basketball Pools. I even worked as a sports editor in college. Yet the last exercise I got was carrying beer down Jeff Hill. I work at fake sports but avoid physical exertion. Ironic, no?

However, at least I can ponder these things while eating a cheesy, pesto-encrusted masterpiece. I'm not going to lie. I just keep going back to Avalanche Pizza. The Veggie Rainbow pizza is outstanding! Broccoli, zucchini, sweet corn, roma tomatoes, spinach, swirled pesto and marinara sauce alongside provolone and mozzarella cheese make me smile like the fat, cholesterol-laden sod I am.

However, those looking to avoid the LDL rush can also be avoided with the I Was A Teenage Vegan Werewolf Pizza, with its whole wheat crust topped with marinara, red onions, spinach, artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers and mushrooms. You can get many other vegetarian options or build your own pizza out of animal flesh.

Free Concert at OU -- So That's Where My Taxes Are Going!

The Wrens say everyone chooses sides. Here's me trying to be a little less biased.





Last night, I decided to go to the free ACRN show at the newly renovated and utterly spectacular Baker Center. ** This group has put on some good shows throughout my year in the Appalachian wilderness. I saw the Mountain Goats last year with dear friend and fellow Ohio University grad student Anne Corrigan. I was also shut out of the ACRN Girl Talk show at my favorite spot for imported micros, margaritas and tofu and seasonal vegetable burritos Casa Nueva. In future, ACRN should host all artists that have been fellated by Pitchfork at larger venues like the Big Bad Baker. That's my friendly advice.


But back to the Wrens. Enjoy this lovely acoustic video of the Wrens as a bit of background material, replete with Cap'n Crunch percussion and vocal harmonies in order to get you familiar with that one Wrens song you know but couldn't quite name.



The opening bands were hometown favorites Southeast Engines (caught the last 15 minutes. My analysis is...ehhh. Some things are better left unsaid.), As Tall as Lions and the Dear Hunters. But I'm not there to see those wankers. I had dinner provided to me by fellow social scientist Zach Thomas so I could have the energy to last through the Wrens. We grabbed some seats and enjoyed the set, which lasted a pinch over an hour. It ended around midnight. A multimedia link is hosted below.

Wrens

The set was very good. Their weird enough that the pop elements of the music weren't too much for my delicate musical palate. There was loads of unintentional feedback at first, and they couldn't get the vocal mics straight for the first bit. But as the set went on, the vehicle was shifted into overdrive. This was the best zero bucks I spent all quarter. But why take my word for it? Check the video clips in my photo album, or enjoy some of the links below so it seems like I'm not just completely wasting my time here.

Here is a lovely video of "Everyone Chooses Sides" that I saw.

Here's more video for your graphic pleasure.

You thought that's all there was? Guess again!

At certain points, the concert was so out of control that the band was actually jumping around. I kid you not. Here is the proof.

The OU Percussion Ensemble also provided backing percussion with hand claps and water bottle polyrhythm.

And it ain't a rock show if the band doesn't start tossing guitars around like their A&R has the instruments insured.

The encores continued the craziness.

And for the love of god, is there anything on this Earth that makes a guitar cooler than a vocoder?