The Counterfeiters

The Counterfeiters is a very good movie. Difficult to watch.

Middle Age White Guys

No matter who wins - we'll either have a black President or a woman Vice-president.

Finally, it's no longer presumed that our leadership will all be middle age white guys.

ESPN 7:30 PM +Addendum

Things aren’t looking so good for the Wolfpack for tonight’s game.

We haven’t even started the season yet and our top 2 running backs and our top wide receiver (Jamelle Eugene, Toney Baker and Donald Bowens) are out with injuries. We were supposed to have a good running game - until now.

Our offensive line is so weak that Coach O’Brien had to move 2 defensive guys over to the offensive line. And to top it all off, senior guard Curtis Crouch came down with a case of cranial rectal syndrome* and Coach is letting him sit this one out in Raleigh.

We haven’t even taken a single game snap and we’re already beat all to shit and the team’s half depleted.

Quarterback Russell Wilson will be making his first college start tonight. They say he’s very mobile. Well, he better be. If I were South Carolina I’d be blitzing the hell out of him.

Run Russell run. Run for your life!

LOL


*head stuck up his ass

Addendum

34 to ZERO.

In spite of the score - our defense is very much improved over last year. But they had to stay on the field far too long as the offense couldn't sustain any drives. Sad to say - our offense is inept.

I had thought we would go 6 and 6. I'm revising that to 3 and 9.

What It Was, Was Football

NC State University at the Univeristy of South Carolina, Thursday, 19:30, ESPN.

What It Was, Was Football was recorded in Raleigh in 1953 for Capitol Records.

NC State at South Carolina

South Carolina and NC State have a lot in common when it comes to football. Actually, a good argument could be made that NC State aspires to be South Carolina.

What I mean is - the culture, the desire, the aspiration, the need to be a big time football program.

South Carolina has been on a football quest for decades.

Some trivia – NC State has been to over twice as many bowl games as South Carolina. And here’s something that would surprise a lot of people – South Carolina had ZERO bowl wins until 1995 when they finally squeaked out a win at the Outback Bowl.

For years and years South Carolina had been an outcast independent school. They left the ACC and decided to try and emulate Notre Dame.

Yeah – that was a good decision.

So then, South Carolina joined the SEC where they were the doormat school year in and year out. Think Duke in the ACC.

Yet in each of those dismal years, including 0 – 11 just a few years ago, the South Carolina faithful filled up Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia. Not some rather wimpy sized stadium like Wake Forest, Duke, East Carolina or Boston College – Williams-Brice Stadium holds 80,000. And it was filled up every losing Saturday.

South Carolina has always had a big time football school mentality. They just didn’t have the big time program.

But that never stopped them from trying. Finally, this millennium, they hired Lou Holtz to work his magic. Which he did (along with leaving them in a bit of an NCAA cheating mess).

Instead of overreacting to the cheating, South Carolina decided to buckle down, fix the problems, and still go after a big time coach.

They got National Champion Steve Spurrier.

Spurrier is a lot of fun. He’s bright and energetic. He’s got a real big mouth. And he’s got an even bigger ego.

He’s probably the best college football couch in the whole country.

It’s probably tougher to win the SEC Championship than it is for a school in another conference to win the National Championship. If South Carolina is to ever have a chance at the SEC Championship or beyond – Steve Spurrier has got to be the best shot.

NC State opens the 2008 season Thursday night at South Carolina on ESPN.

At one point last year, South Carolina was 6 - 1 and ranked 6th in the Nation.

Then - they dropped their last 5 games to end up 6 and 6 (Which is alluded to in the video below).

Reading the preseason predictions - South Carolina is anywhere from a possible top 25 to a losing season disappointment.

My guess is that South Carolina should be favored by 10 to 14 points.

This is going to be a tough game. Two programs with aspirations and dreams. A rocking stadium filled with 80,000 screaming fans.

Southern college football as it should be.

The Downfall

This was put together by a Clemson fan. I’ve linked to it before. This scene from The Downfall has been used in numerous spoofs. But frankly, none has the meticulous attention to detail as this one.

You’d have to be well versed in the history of South Carolina Football AND South Carolina Basketball AND ACC basketball (Georgia Tech is alluded to but not specifically mentioned) as well as know a little about Southern Drag Queen tradition to get all the inside jokes. It sums up South Carolina football ego perfectly.

So, without further adieu -

Hitler – Fascist Dictator and Number 1 South Carolina Fan

Sunday Morning

Entry about nothing really. Just a couple of photographs.

I went to breakfast at Mac's Restaurant. This 1947 Mercury was parked outside.

 

Cool ride, huh?

On the drive home, the sky was full of pretty clouds.

 

What a nice day.

Odds and Ends

Joe Biden? A good guy I’m sure. But he would not have been my first choice. Early on I was leaning towards former Virginia governor Mark Warner. But he took himself out of the lineup.

I’m not really sure who would have made the best choice. I think Evan Bayh from Indiana would have been a better choice.

One thing I know, it would not have been Hillary Clinton. Not only would she be divisive (as both a president or vice-president) – it seems she does not possess leadership abilities.

I have just finished reading an article in The Atlantic about how her campaign for the nomination failed. In addition to totally screwing up her campaign, (which shows mismanagement) - here, a direct quote from the article shows a lack of emotional equilibrium.

“. . . her advisers couldn’t execute strategy; they routinely attacked and undermined each other, and Clinton never forced a resolution. Major decisions would be put off for weeks until suddenly she would erupt, driving her staff to panic and misfire.

Clinton ran on the basis of managerial competence—on her capacity, as she liked to put it, to “do the job from Day One.” In fact, she never behaved like a chief executive, and her own staff proved to be her Achilles’ heel. What is clear from the internal documents is that Clinton’s loss derived not from any specific decision she made but rather from the preponderance of the many she did not make. Her hesitancy and habit of avoiding hard choices exacted a price that eventually sank her chances at the presidency.”

We are about to finish 8 years with an incompetent frat boy dumb ass. I certainly wouldn’t want to trade for 4 or 8 years of incompetent psycho bitch.

I’m looking forward to seeing who John McCain chooses.

Football

Football starts Thursday - NC State at South Carolina. Russell Wilson is going to be our starting quarterback. I was surprised. I figured it would continue to be senior Daniel Evans. I don’t think it really matters – we’re probably looking at 6 and 6 with either of them.

Mike Glennon will get to red shirt which is a good thing. He’s the future quarterback but he’ll clearly have to fight for the starting job next year or the year after.

Movies

Watched The Constant Gardner. Pretty good – not great – but pretty good. Also watched Brick – OK – not really that good – but OK.

I Want My 2 Hours of Life Back

After all these years, I finally got around to watching Unbearable Pretentiousness of Boring on DVD. Special Edition no less. How did this crappy movie get such critical acclaim?

Probably the same critics that got all excited and wet themselves watching The English Pomposity.

Dude, Where's My Truck?

I’ve been thinking about getting a riding lawn mower for a couple of years. When Nuke was here pretty much full time, it wasn’t a pressing issue as he cut the grass. Grass cutting was part of his ‘rent’. Now, he’s overseas 70% of the time and getting a mower is becoming more of a serious possibility.

I’ve been looking at what’s available.

Basically it comes down to something in the $900 to $1,500 range for a good solid lawn mower of the MTD / Honda range. Or going all out and getting a John Deer or Yazoo lawn tractor and spending upwards of $3,000 or more.

After reading reviews and commentaries – I’ve decided that with my, relatively speaking, small amount of grass – the less expensive lawn mower (vs. lawn tractor) will do just fine. Something in the 36 to 48 inch mower deck range.

The best thing to do is to look for sales and such and get one at the end of this summer season.

Another option I am looking at is a second hand mower.

I got on line last night and started looking at the on line classifieds and Craig’s list.

If I find something in the $200 - $400 range and under 5 years old – I’ll look at it. Possibly from moving sales and such. Any more $ and I’ll just pony up the extra and buy a new mower with warranty.

So – last night I found 3 that looked promising. I figured I’d look at them this weekend and if one of them jumped out as a great deal – I’d buy it.

Just as I was getting the phone to call to set up times to look at the mowers – I remembered – I DON”T HAVE MY TRUCK TO PULL MY TRAILER TO GET A MOWER!

My SUV is in NoVa at my sister and brother-in-law’s house. They drove it home when my brother’s truck broke down while they were here in NC.

Brother’s pick up truck is fixed but I don’t really have anyone to go with me to pick it up from the shop.

It might have the right size hitch for my trailer but it might not. I don’t know.

Frankly, I’d rather use MY truck to haul MY trailer for which I KNOW everything works and fits and the lights and brakes hook up, etc..

That’s why I have that stuff.

Sister and brother-in-law are coming down to return my SUV to me on the weekend of the NCSU – William and Mary football game – which is next month.

So, I can’t realistically buy a used lawn mower until then. So, no point in calling these people to look at what they have for sale.

Come to think of it – I can’t buy a new lawn mower either – unless I want to pay extra for delivery.

Grrrrrrrrrrr

Post Script Saga

Let's see - truck broke down in June.

Found a local mechanic.

Repairs are going to be a bit more extensive than initially thought. And by extensive - we mean expensive.

The game plan was to have the truck repaired and to make the SUV / Pick Up Truck switch when the sister and brother-in-law came down for Uncle Raymond's birthday party. Best laid plans of mice and men.

From June to the September football game - yeah - that works.

I just thought of something else. Sister and brother-in-law are driving down on Saturday the day of the game. They plan to get a hotel room in Raleigh so they can get an early Sunday morning start back to NoVa.

Which means I will have to somehow make arraignments to get the Pick Up Truck to meet them in Raleigh.

I'd already decided to mail the tickets to them so they can just meet me at the game as they are always late. Always.

Last time (last year) they met me for a game - my sister insisted that it become an 'event' with tailgating. Which I don't do. OK - Fine. She wants it special for them so I'll go along with it. Putting up with that every few years is OK.

So I went way the hell out of my way and put together a pretty nice spread - not just some crap from KFC. I'm talking about real plates, special morning trip to a local brewery for fresh brewed beer - home made bread and cookies - the works.

Naturally - the calls start a couple hours before they are supposed to meet me at the stadium. Late start, traffic, blah, blah, blah, yap, yap, yap.

They ALWAYS have an excuse.

Bottom line - missed the first half of the football game. First time in at least a decade that I've missed kick off!

So last night I emailed the sis to tell her I was mailing her the tickets so we can meet up at the seats. I said I wanted to get to the game early as there are going to be some events going on. Which is true. It will be military appreciation day and they'll have some displays along with an F-18 fly over before the game.

And, I vowed after last time never to rely on them to meet me at a game on time again.

Of course, LOL, she emails me back to suggest that since something is going on before the game - we could all meet up early for it.

Yeah right.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me - ahhhh no - not gonna happen.

Tickets go in the mailbox this weekend.

And I still won't have a riding lawn mower.

:-)

Critter Update

Cats

Feral cats live in the country. There's a solid black cat that lives in the neighborhood which sometimes eats the raccoon food (which is actually dog food).

The black cat showed up with kittens last week. They are already wild and will hiss and run if you go out on the back deck. One was longish white hair with gray, one all long grey hair and one short hair tabby. Of course, I've been feeding them some milk for treats and have fed them some peanut butter from a spoon. Like the raccoons, they are wary and mostly wild.

They show up now and again - but not every day. Night before last I was sitting in the chair by the window reading when I heard a noise. Looked out the window and it was the gray kitten hissing at me. In it's own weird way, it was asking for food. I guess it hasn't learned any other way of communicating with humans.

So, I put out a little food for them and watched them play until I went to bed. The white with gray kitten was not with them.

Raccoons

I hadn't seen the raccoons for several days.

I keep dog food in the bowl but nobody has been by to eat for a couple of day.

Last night, around 10 PM, I went out to test the hot tub water.

Startled the dickens out of the raccoon who just happened to be coming up the deck steps at the same time. She froze (as we stared at each other from about 5 feet apart) and then when she realized it was "just me", she casually went on over to the food bowl while I went about getting the cover off the hot tub and testing the water.

Didn't see any little raccoons.

Prague Spring

"This is not 1968 and the invasion of Czechoslovakia where Russia can threaten a neighbor, occupy a capital, overthrow a government and get away with it. Things have changed."

- Condoleezza Rice

"Oh Yeah? Watch me."

- Vladimir Putin


Friday Addendum

One of the comments to this entry asked "When did Rice say that?"

In a press conference Wednesday afternoon.

ACC Football Schedule