Blogging

I realized something today: I'm not a good blogger.

NCAA Tourney

So I guess I took a little hiatus from the whole blogging thing. I know the blogosphere is in bad shape because of this. As a result, This is my second post for the day. This should completely make up for the almost two years of silence. Of course, I really have no meaningful thoughts after watch close to 24 hours of basketball over the last two days. I will share one huge pet peeve of mine and that is the annoying way that refs in basketball get so emotionally involved in the games. What ever happened to the days when the officials were supposed to be impartial observers? Nowadays they get more fired up than the players or coaches when they make a charging call or someone steps out of bounds. They run and fire their arms whilst making the calls. It's pretty ridiculous. I can just picture many of them practicing their key travel calls in front of the bathroom mirror each night to make sure they're prepared for the Sweet 16. It's bad enough that their calls can be so subjective but they don't have to show how much they enjoy crushing the spirits of some 18-22 year old players when they make a crucial call in a big game.

I need a new car

08-060718

Dipthongs

There are few things in life that inspire one quite like a dipthong. If I had a nickel for every time I was brought to tears by a gliding vowel sound I would be a rich man. Thank you , Dipthong, for making life worth living.

P.S. I haven't forgotten you, 'W' used as a vowel!! You mean a lot too....

I Love Alpacas

Ten Seconds

Even Baptists Agree....

Ask A Ninja

I think we all have unanswered questions. I did and found all the answers...

Edgar Stiles

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~24 SEASON 5 SPOILER~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

March 6, 2006

Edgar Stiles, 36, of Los Angeles, CA died today due to inhalation of nerve gas while serving his country. Edgar worked at CTU, Los Angeles where he helped save the country from terrorist attacks and tried to fend off snappy remarks from friend and co-worker Chloe O'Brian. He was well liked by many and was always good for a quick laugh or a slow response on critical issues. Outside of work, Edgar enjoyed stuttering and eating lots of fattening foods. Edgar would be survived by his mother, had she not been killed by radiation from a nuclear attack by terrorists that Edgar was unable to prevent 18 months ago. Because of this, Edgar is now survived by only his home PC and a box of Cheese Nips. Funeral arrangements are pending due to the fact that CTU is still in lock-down after said nerve gas was released in the ventilation system since Edgar failed to properly heed the suspicions of a co-worker. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the Counter Terrorist Unit Orphan Fund in the name of Edgar.

Daily Dancer

Zac pointed out this great blog. You need to check it out. I must say his moves are quite dazzling. I also must admit that I'm somewhat of a closet dancer myself, although I doubt you'll ever see any videos on my blog.

Coldplay

Let me just take a moment to say that Coldplay is one stinking amazing band. I had the pleasure tonight of going to see them put on one awesome show. They are amazing. If I could be anyone for an hour and a half, I think I'd choose Chris Martin. The set list as best I remember it was:

- Square One
- Politik
- Yellow
- Speed of Sound
- God Put A Smile Upon Your Face
- X&Y
- Not sure. Maybe How You See the World?
- Don't Panic (w/ Johnny Buckland singing a whole verse by himself)
- White Shadows
- The Scientist
- 'Til Kingdom Come
- Ring of Fire
- Trouble
- Clocks
- Talk

Then the encore was:
- Swallowed in the Sea
- In My Place
- Fix You

A couple of notes that stood out Chris Martin played the first couple of songs with his fly open and then let the crowd know that he had a "wardrobe malfunction" and apologized. He then changed some lyrics in "God Put a Smile Upon Your Face" to something to the effect of "God gave you style and made you frown. He let me play some songs with my fly down" which was pretty hilarious. Also, he referenced OKC as being the home of the Flaming Lips and said Wayne Coyne took them on a tour of town today. Wayne also happened to be at the show tonight as well. Chris mentioned that the four greatest American singers were Elvis, Bob Dylan, Wayne, and Johnny Cash right before singing 'Til Kingdom Come and Ring of Fire. Oh and during In My Place he ran to the back of the arena and stood in the stands to sing the end of the song. It was just a great and memorable show....


*If you were there and would like to remind me of the proper order of the set list or anything that I left out, just let me know and I'll update

What's your name?

Update 2-27-06:
Puddin Tame. Ask me again I'll tell you the same.

Twenty Freaking Four

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Warning! 24 Season 5 spoilers~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ok what in the stinking world! First off Palmer gets popped in the throat, then Michelle gets blown up in a car bomb and Tony is on his death bed, and now that Jack has saved the day we have Samwise Gamgee running the show in CTU! This is ridiculous! It's not like I was standing on my couch during the rescue scene tonight or yelling "WHAT IN THE FREAKING WORLD!" at the top of my lungs when Jack gave himself up to save Derek. I mean, come on! Who do they think they're entertaining? Like I really wanted to wait another week to find out what happens next. Yeah, let's see if you can kill off someone else with as much character as David Palmer while leaving Logan alive and well with his idiotic self-centered agendas and with a stinking mole thwarting everything. This is show drives me crazy. Oh and how I love it...

Question of the Minute

Coke or Dr. Pepper?

Google Earth

If you haven't checked out Google Earth yet you should. It is official and no longer in beta which makes it cooler than ever. So if you downloaded it before you need to do it again to get the official version. If Amy McRee knew I had this I would probably have received more than just an email from her!!

Response from Amy McRee

I've finally made it! Amy responded to my email. Who said celebreties are out of touch with their fan base?! Try to contain your jealousy.....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi Matt,
Thanks for taking the time to pass along such a kind email!
There are some wonderful people running the Oklahoma City Hispanic Chamber.. I am truly proud to be a part of it.
The Chamber has grown so much.. and the members are so diverse.. it is really nice to see!

I hope you continue watching!
I truly appreciate your words of encouragement.. it means a lot.

God bless,
Amy McRee

Death Penalty

Regardless of your stand on the death penalty, you need to read this post by JD. As he states, it obviously isn't light reading but is most definitely something we all need to hear. This is one of the most touching blog posts I've personally ever read.

Letter to Amy McRee

So I guess I'm stealing a page out of my friend Blakewell's book (and I obviously can't live up to his high standards), but I was sitting here tonight with Holly, Lindsy, and Jamie when we got on a discussion of Amy McRee, who works for News 9 here in OKC. Actually they were a little more interested in Jed Castles but that's another story.... So anyway we were looking at Ms. McRee's profile on NewsOK.com and we were quite touched by her well-rounded life so I decided to type up a quick word of encouragement for our fine anchor. I can't wait for her reply!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ms. McRee,

I was just browsing the NewsOK website while doing a little research on Zach Daniel with 3 of my friends Lindsy, Holly and Jamie (who think he's hot by the way but not as hot as his partner in crime, Jed Castles) when we stumbled across your profile. I know this is coming out of left field but I'd just like to say that we all think you do a spectacular job on Channel 9 and it's really inspiring to know that you are a true Oklahoman, through and through. Holly said, "I knew I liked her!" when we read the part about you being on the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. I think it really touched us all to realize that despite your busy schedule, you still make time to look out for the best interest of other Hispanics such as yourself. You are to be commended for this! In closing, I would like to say that we are all honored to be able to watch you on News 9, and although the slogan has long passed, you really are "The Spirit of Oklahoma!"

Your Loyal Viewer,
Matt

Sooners Win Holiday Bowl

Well, tonight OU pulled it out over Oregon winning the game 17-14. I'd like to say that I'm ecstatic over the win but in reality I'm just relieved it's over. This team did everything it could do to lose the game but thankfully Clint Ingram saved the day with an interception in the final minute. For the most part it was a pretty slow game until the third quarter when the offense got things rolling. It was pretty typical of the season however as we left a lot of points on the field, but at least we won. Had Peterson not fumbled on the goal line things could have turned out quite differently.

On the bright side, I really liked some of the plays we ran out of the spread and there are a lot of things to look forward to in the future. The offense looked good overall, and I must say I am excited about not having Chuck here anymore. It's too early to say that Wilson is going to be a great improvement, but things looked much better tonight. Also, I'm not about to start proclaiming a run at the MNC next year but this team has a chance to be good. There is a lot of young talent on this team and if they can learn to actually put people away it could be really good. It would also be a bonus if we learned to play special teams, but that can wait until next year I guess. Until then I can just root against Texas next week and wait eagerly for spring ball.

Boomer Sooner

Good Ol' English

Sometimes the English language really intrigues me. I don’t profess to have a vast knowledge or great grasp of this fine language, as I was always more of the math and science type, but there have always been little things that just fascinate me.

So today I was doing a little browsing of Dictionary.com and I came across a word that I’ve always thought to be quite interesting.

wan·ton
adj.

1. Immoral or unchaste; lewd.
2. a. Gratuitously cruel; merciless. b. Marked by unprovoked, gratuitous maliciousness; capricious and unjust: wanton destruction.
3. Unrestrainedly excessive: wanton extravagance; wanton depletion of oil reserves.
4. Luxuriant; overabundant: wanton tresses.
5. Frolicsome; playful.
6. Undisciplined; spoiled.
7. Obsolete. Rebellious; refractory.

Ok. How exactly can a word mean both immoral or unchaste and frolicsome and playful? What in the world? I mean, I would hope we don’t get the meanings of those two mixed up due to a lack of context in a sentence. I’d hate to tell a friend of mine that “I was out with that wanton lass from Sedgewick County the other night.” while quite intending to convey the idea that she was a spoiled girl or even quite playful, yet he is sitting there thinking I’m hanging out with some lewd woman. That could make for quite an uncomfortable situation for some.

Another one that strikes me as interesting is one that my brother pointed out to me a few years ago:

moot
adj.

1. Subject to debate; arguable: a moot question.
2. a. Law. Without legal significance, through having been previously decided or settled. b. Of no practical importance; irrelevant.

Once again, how can something mean arguable and irrelevant? I would think that those are somewhat conflicting ideas. I certainly wouldn't want to argue about something that is irrelevant. And just like the aforementioned word, I would definitely hate to tell someone that I had a moot question intending to convey that it was debatable yet they think I’m telling them it’s not important. No one would ever understand me. Come to think of it, maybe I’m already doing this as people tend to fail to grasp what I’m saying a majority of the time anyway.

In closing, I’m sure this entire post is quite moot. I hope all you wanton readers have an ambiguous day.