2011 archive
Birth of a Rivalry? 0
Today, the two major local universities, Norfolk State and Old Dominion, play each other in football for the first time. There is much buzz about it, with many pointing out Old Dominion has had a football team for only three years.
(It’s a playoff game; regular season games were already slated to begin in two years.)
I don’t follow either team closely, though I know persons who have attended both schools, but the coverage has been hard to escape.
One thing I haven’t heard mentioned is that, even had ODU had a football team for the duration of its existence, this still might be the two schools’ first meeting, for historically Norfolk State was an all-black Jim Crow college (“separate but equal” and all that) and ODU began as an extension campus of an all-white college up the road a piece.
What It Was, Was Football 0
At Science 2.0, Michael W. Taft explores why, to fans, it’s not “just a game,” theorizing that fandom goes deep in our evolutionary roots. A nugget:
Stray Thought 0
The sincerity with which someone believes something stupid does not make the stupid any less stupid.
Core Sample 0
Walking It Off 0
The local rag reports that the average “all-American” Thanksgiving dinner equals 4500 calories per glutton person.
Get cracking.
Bargain-Hunting Strategies 0
I understand that UC-Davis is recruiting her for the campus police force.
The Shopping Lists 0
Lists as in joust, that is, at Comically Vintage.
Remember To Eat Some Pizza with Your Left-Over Turkey 0
Everyone needs vegetables.
The Meaning of Thanksgiving 0
Shaun Mullen considers what should have been, while Hadley Freeman considers what it could become.
Light Bloggery 0
I’m taking a break for a couple of days; QOTD will keep an eye on things.
In the meantime,
Remember Summer
Lies, Damned Lies, and Republican Campaign Commercials 0
Steve Benen comments on Mitt Romney’s prevaricating advertisement:
In light Mitt Romney’s obvious and glaring falsehood in his first television ad, take a wild guess which camp the Republican’s presidential campaign falls into.
Mitt the Flip. There’s no there, there.
Thanksgiving Tips 0
The Chicago Trib’s Mary Schmich offers hints to make your tomorrow go more smoothly.
You probably can’t.
At the Thanksgiving dinner I host, I’m always popping up and down because the slugs at the table keep asking for things. How can I relax?
You are the host. You will never relax. But when one of the slugs says, “Are there more lumpy mashed potatoes?” you might smile sweetly and say, “Why, yes. Would you get them?”
The Return of the Phony War on Christmas 0
Honestly, wingers aren’t happy unless they are picking fights. If they can’t pick one, they just make one up.
If there is a war on Christmas, the primary combatants are the axis of advertisers, the multitudes of marketers, and the herds of hucksters equating Christmas with gadgets, geegaws, and gear.