Deep Ellum

Ahop lives right near an area known as Deep Ellum in Dallas.  I thought this area of town was pretty cool.  There was a ton of interesting art in the area as well as bars, restaurants, night clubs, and art galleries.  The night life scene has unlimited potential in the area but needed a lot of work in my opinion.  It was like UT's 'strip' except about threes times bigger.  Imagine putting three of the strip back to back to back.

There is a lot of history in the area which leads to a pretty eclectic vibe.  The crowd of people that hang out down there currently is a little different.  Lots of the 'goth', 'emo' kind of people.  Also a lot of the biker type of folk.  I felt a little out of place but everyone there was cool, even when Ahop and I were the only non-bikers at a biker bar.  Was there an episode of 'Gangland' that was about a biker gang in Dallas??  If so, that's who we were hanging with, kinda scary.

I should have taken my own photos, but check out some of the art.  Good Stuff:

Pretty sweet sculpture park under the I-45 overpass near Deep Ellum

Wall Murals/Graffiti

 

My personal favorite:  THE TRAVELING MAN SCULPTURES

From what I have read about Deep Ellum, it seems that they are currently trying to revive it back to the urban hotspot that it was in the early-to-mid 90's.  It looked like there were a lot of bars and restaurants that had recently closed in the area (I assume they were closed.  The signage was still up but they were closed on a Friday night?).  There appears to be a lot of newer apartment/condo complexes in the area that could easily utilize the area but currently don't.  Hops and I had the brilliant idea to open up a few places down there that would attract the people living close by that currently go out socially in 'Uptown'.  Its a genius plan.  We just need someone to finance our ideas. A fail-proof plan guarenteed.  Who's down?

25...

"We are still Tennessee and they are still Kentucky" - Lane Kiffin

BOOM.   Kentucky the Vols will always own you.

Hardesty is a moose.  179 yards, 3TD's.  I have no clue how he didn't get any PT before this year.  This kid is a stud.  I know he was hurt a lot but did he just get that much better this year or was the old coaching regime just that dumb?  I'm guessing the latter.  I wish he was around for another year or two.

Important win for the Vols program.  Looks like that could be headed to either the Cotton or Outback bowl.  Very successful season under the new head coach IMO.

BR to Dallas

Just got back from my trip to Dallas not too long ago.  That drive was exciting let me tell you.  There were about two things worth seeing the entire trip.  The Mississippi River leaving BR and the cityscape of Dallas upon arrival.  The rest of the trip I would call a cultural experience.

The entire state of Louisiana is odd to me but the areas that I drove through was a completely different society.  My Garmin took me off the interstate onto the backroads between BR and Alexandria to save about 30 mins on the trip.  These people live a different life.  It looked like the majority of people living on I-76.  Some things I saw on this 100 mile stretch of road:  swamps, cypress trees, bridges, waterways, levees, more single and double wide trailers than should be on the entire planet, front yards of houses filled with at least 10 cars that havent run in easily 10 years, a possible dog fighting ring, $9 deer rides, lots of LSU flags, at least 1000 tires lying on the side of the road, people riding on horses down the highway, and an assortment of people walking down the road trying to bum a ride.  Really a strange road to be driving on but it kept me entertained for a while.

It was very obvious when I crossed into TX.  The amount of huge F250 trucks on the road easily doubled and the 50% of people on the road were wearing cowboy hats.  Keep in mind this was out in the 'countryside' of east TX.  Coming home today, at the state line crossing back into LA, I immediately started seeing LSU signs; 'This is Tiger Country'  (3 hours away from BR).  There was absolutely nothing to see between Shreveport and Dallas.  Terrible stretch of road.  This is all I saw for 3 hours:

Trip Stats:

6.5 hours and approximately 450 miles  Not a very fun ride to make by yourself but I had a good time in Dallas.

CD Rotation:
1.  Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds -  Live at Radio City Music Hal-Disc1  (3 plays)
2.  Robert Randolph - Colorblind (3 plays)
3.  OAR - 34th & 8th  (10 plays, great album!)
4.  Dave Ramsey - Financial Peace University (discs 1-6 of 12)

Highlights:
Dallas Skyline at Night (not my picture, obviously)

Small town LA

 Horace Wilkinson Bridge crossing Mississippi River, BR

 

Thanksgiving

Just got done eating Thanksgiving dinner here in Dallas with Ahop and Carrie a few hours ago.  Great meal.  We made enough food for about six people instead of three.   Did things right:  Turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, cornbread, mac 'n cheese, and corn.  Good times with good people.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING to everyone!

New Neighbors

Just spotted these two guys next door a little while ago.  It appears I have a couple new neighbors.  No names yet.  Any suggestions?

Also,  I think Rex has gone missing.  Maybe they traded him off to get these two guys?  Hope not.

Football: 11/22

I barely got to watch any football this weekend due to preparations for final review today (which is extremely irritating but hey it’s finally over), but what I did get to watch was a couple of the most unique things I have ever seen happen in a football game. I got to watch the fourth quarter of the UT game and the fourth quarter of the LSU game. They can be broken down quite simply into two plays.

The Good:

This has got to be one of the coolest ways to possibly end your career as a TN Vol. He has battle through injuries his whole career. To end like this in front of the home crowd is awesome. He carried the defender 8 yards! Do you think he wanted to score? Warrior.

The Bad:

The ending to the LSU game was one of the worst endings to a game I have ever seen. Worst clock management in history. Spiking the ball with 1 second left on the clock, seriously? Does anyone on the team know what is going on in the game? Get your kicker on the field and kick a field goal to win the game. There was plenty of time. If you’re not going to get your kicker in the game, RUN A PLAY!!! The whole scenario doesn't make sense. Les? Jefferson? Anyone have a clue?

No NFL for me this weekend but what do you know the Bears lost again, great. At least I won my fantasy matchup (unless Rob Bironas has a 30pt game. I'm feeling pretty confident).

Oh yea. The Blackhawks have won 7 games in a row, the last 3 being on the road, shooting themselves up to the top of the ESPN Power Rankings. They’ve got a date with San Jose on Wednesday to see who the best in the Western Conference is early on. Hopefully Marian Hossa, one of the best players in the league who hasn't even played yet this year due to injury, will be back on Wednesday. Things are looking good for my Hawks.

BasketVols 2010 Signing Class

The Vols got a huge commit yesterday from Tobias Harris, the #5 rated high school senior in the country.  Bruce Pearl had a huge signing class in the early period.  A recap of the players from Rivals.com and Scout.com:

TOBIAS HARRIS #5 Overall #1 PF    5*
'Still physically developing, Harris has an advanced skill level as a hybrid forward. He handles the ball at a high level and can score it with touch from the outside and also score inside with more of a power game. Best suited to guard a four man, Harris is a difficult match up for opposing four men with his versatile skill set.'

JORDAN MCRAE #42 Overall #9 SG    4*
'Fine wing athlete who can get himself to the paint. Shooting it better than he did as a youngster. Needs to become rock solid from the line. Great body. Sometimes could stand to slow down and let the game develop.'

TRAE GOLDEN #55 Overall #12 SG    4*
'Big time shooter and stud student in the classroom. Known for his ability to knock down jumpers, he wants the ball in his hands at crunchtime. Needs to improve his handle in traffic. Weapon behind the arc and he makes them off the dribble pull as well.'


The signing of Harris yesterday catapulted the Vols to the #4 signing class according to Rivals after the early signing period.  Big time.  Jayvaugh Pinkston was ready to sign and changed his mind at the last second.  Hopefully we will still be able to pull him in the spring.  A commit from Josh Selby AGAIN would also be nice but I'm not sure Bruce Pearl and Co. are going to pursue him a second time.  Big things are ahead for the Vols.  Bruce, you are a stud.

KKK Rally @ Ole Miss

I picked up LSU's newspaper this morning and this is what I saw on the front page:

 
CLICK HERE for story from LSU Reveille

Evidently, the KKK is planning a rally on Saturday in Oxford during LSU/Ole Miss game to protest the ban of the 'Dixie' song at Ole Miss.  The are going to protest in full robes all day long on campus and Ole Miss has given them the OK to do this on campus 'as long as it doesn't interfere with university activity'.  This is absolutely outrageous to me.  I understand the right to free speech that the American people have but why would any good-willed person want this hate group on their campus?  It is a real shame that these people claim Christian ideals behind their beliefs because they couldn't be any farther from the truth.  What is this world coming to?

D-Rose the Actor?

D-Rose and Dwight...the dynamic duo.

The Circus Is In Town

Well it's that time of year again for the Bulls and Blackhawks, the annual Circus Trip.  The Ringling Bros. circus takes over the United Center for the next two weeks so both teams get to go on extended road trips.  I don't know the specifics of the contract that the United Center has with the circus but common sense tells me that both the Bulls and Blackhawks organizations would want to fight it because they rarely fare well.  Update on the teams:

The Blackhawks are playing great this year so far.  They just beat the Sharks, who had the best record in hockey, last night 4-3 in OT.  They have won four games in a row at home and are now 12-5-2 overall tops in the Central divison.  Their road play hasn't been too stellar so far this year though.  They are 10-2-1 at home and 2-3-1 on the road.  They've got 6 games in the next 10 days on the road.  All six games are in conference so they are all big games.  If they come out of the road trip 3-3 it will be a huge momentum boost for the rest of the season.

I like the Hawks chances this year.  If they play up to their potential they should be able to secure the division and hopefully secure a top 2 seed.  The Hawks are solid in all facets of the game as long as Huet can play solid in the goal.  He got off to a slow start after playing poorly last year but has picked up his play in the last couple of weeks.  Jonathon Toews, Patrick Kane, and Patrick Sharp are studs.  Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, and Brian Campbell are beasts in the back.  The Blackhawks will be getting a lot more love from me on here from now on.  Stanley Cup or bust IMO.

On to the Bulls...They haven't fared well on this roadtrip since MJ's days.  They are currently 5-4 (4-1 at home and 1-3 on the road).  The Bulls have an extra heavy load on the road trip this year.  Five of the six teams that they have to play are above .500 and have an overall combined record of 36-21.  Ouch.  The Bulls are a better team overall than last last year but this roadtrip could be real tough.  I would like to think they could win 3 out of the 6 but going 0-6 is never out of the question for the Bulls on this trip.  Here's to hoping the Bulls at least win a couple:



Best dance of all time? Absolutely

"Why do they always call it the circus trip?" Noah asked with a straight face after practice at the Berto Center. "What's so circus about it anyway?"     Yup. New favorite player.

Everlasting

'A thousand times I've failed
Still your mercy remains
And should I stumble again
Still I'm caught in your grace'
 
Hillsong United has some amazing stuff going on... 

Check it out:
http://i-heart.org/
http://www.hillsongunited.com/

Baller Vols

GBOB. Expecting big things this year. It all starts in about 30 min...LETS GO

Posterized

Wow!! One of the biggest posterizations I have ever seen! Couldn't have happened to a better person. Varejao you sir are a clown. Awesome

Bears/49ers

 
Thursday night football.  Good for people with the NFL Network, worthless for those who don't.  Luckily for me, I do, and the Bears (4-4) are playing against the 49ers (3-5).  This is one of the few Bears games that I will actually get to watch in its entirety.  The Bears have been playing terribly.  The defense is awful, which the media has made pretty obvious this week, and the offensive line is just as bad. Time to see for myself.

Keys to the game:  Give Matt Forte the football & figure out how to not allow 40+ points.  Bears have to win to stay in the Wild Card race.  Here we go....

7:20 CST:  Kickoff.  Bears get the ball first.  Let's do this.

7:23  Three passes, Cutler pressured all three times.  Three and out.  Chris Williams (#74) just got embarrassed.

7:33 Nick Roach just got trucked by Vernon Davis.  The man talks smack about the Bears D all week and then runs a LB over on his first touch.  Impressive.

7:40  Missed 39 yard field by Nedney.  Not a great start for the D. 2 offsides, one hurt linebacker but got out of it without allowing any points.

7:43  Another 3 and out.  Reports are true, offensive line is needs help.  10 yards on 6 plays.

7:48  The Bears just got their first third down stop in three games.  Congrats

8:06  Bears put together a nice drive 18 plays, over 9 minutes and then Cutler throws an interception on the goal line.  His 4th of the year.  Ouch.  The ball could have been intercepted by three different guys.  At least the pride of Science Hill High School got it:  Aubrayo Franklin. 

8:15  Interception Zackary Bowman.  Defense is looking good so far.  It helps that Alex Smith is the QB.

8:23  Interception #2 for Cutler with 2:00 left in the first half.  Returned to the CHI 14.  Hester slipped on the play.  Easy pick.

8:24  Touchdown Frank Gore.  7-0 49ers

8:41  Nice 2:00 drive for the Bears.  50 yd field goal by Gould.  7-3 at half.  Some observations:  Matt Forte doesn't get a lot of help from the line but he needs to quit dancing around in the backfield.  Get down the field pal.  He does have close to 100 total yards for the half though, nice half.  The Bears have 200+ yards for the half (there best 1st half of the year) and only 3 points.  Endzone turnover's are killers.  The Bears D is playing well.  If they keep it up there is no doubt in my mind the offense is going to score some points in the second half and win this game.

9:01  Good start to the second half for the defense.  Forced a three and out.  Bears ball at the 50 yard line.  I feel a quick score is about to happen.

9:04  WRONG.  Cutler interception #3.  Glad I didn't start him in fantasy this week.

9:08  Interception by Lance Briggs negated by offsides by Ogunleye.  Their seventh penalty of the game.  I am starting to notice a theme:  this team is not well coached.

9:11  HUGE STOP after the almost interception.  Bears make a stop on 4th and 1 at midfield.  Tommie Harris is having a good game after being ejected last week.

9:16  38 yard FG by Gould.  7-6 49ers.

9:34  End of third quarter.  Bears D still playing tough.  Only allowed 140 total yards.  Bears running game can't move the ball (17 carries for 37 yards).  Looks like this game is on Cutler's shoulders.  Hopefully he can redeem his 3 turnovers.

9:43  Interception #4 for Cutler.  This is becoming laughable.  His second 4 interception performance of the season.  How is this game still close?

9:48  Bears defense allows a field goal.  10-6 49ers.  Bears are still in this somehow.  10 minutes left in 4th quarter.

10:03  49ers are quickly running the clock down.  3:40 left in the game.  Need a stop fast.

10:06  Bears finally get the ball back.  2:30 minute drill

10:11  4th and 10 on own twenty...FAIL...wait.  Illegal contact on defense automatic first down!  Still alive!

10:16  Penalties!!!!!  First holding now, personal foul.  No way to execute a final drive.  2:00 warning 2 and 20 on own 15.  Long way to go.

10:20 On the move....down to 10yd.  13 seconds left.  Please Jay, fingers crossed.

10:23 Interception #5.  10-6 Final. No comments. I'm pissed.

UT's Dumbest

Everyone has heard about the overnight attempted robberies by three of the UT freshmen football players.  I'm not even going to mention their names because there is no need to.  This act was so incredibly dumb I can't even wrap my head around it.  Here are some reasons why:

1.  You tried to rob college students.  Good choice, what were you hoping to get from them, $5?
2.  You picked a gas station on the busiest road in Knoxville to commit a crime at.
3.  Gas stations have constant surveillance if I'm not mistaking.
4.  You were wearing your UT gear, brilliant.
5.  You continued to drive around campus without dumping any of the evidence.
6.  You are riding around at 2AM smoking weed with a pellet gun in a PRIUS.
7.  We are no longer the coolest team in America due to your stupidity.  Thanks.  Lil Wayne will never rap about the Vols again because of  the weakest attempt to rob someone in history.
8.  Two of the three players have been in trouble with the coaches in the PAST WEEK.
9.  WHY?????????????????????????????????  NFL careers could have possibly just been lost due to one stupid decision.
10.You are a student athlete.  You basically get paid to play football.  WHY DO YOU NEED TO ROB SOMEONE??  You are handed everything that you could possibly want as a student athlete.  It makes absolutely no sense to me what was going through their heads.

The whole situation is kinda laughable to me now.  There is no way people could be this dumb.  All three of these clowns need to be booted.  I don't care if any new details come out about what happened.  The whole situation is a joke.

Ninth Ward

My ecology class made our final trip of the semester yesterday.  This trip was a little different from the others.  We went to the Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans.  This was a very eye opening trip.  The Ninth Ward is still in pretty bad shape over four years after Katrina decimated the area.  There were over 1,000 fatalities in the Lower Ninth and over 3,000 homes were lost.  Most of the homes in the area were flooded for over a month.

Large areas are still like ghost towns.  It's really kinda creepy.  There are a lot of homes like the one in the picture that look like they have not been touched since Katrina came through.  Many of the other homes have been torn down and only the concrete foundations remain.  Very few businesses have come back into the area (mainly because there still aren't many people back) so the people have to go across the bridge to NO for simple tasks like getting groceries.  The people that are back clearly feel as though that the Lower Ninth is there home or there is no way they would have come back with all the devastation that is very prevalent.  The area still has a long way to go but progress is being made in many areas. 

Brad Pitt has been very influential in a program called Make it Right.  He is helping to rebuild homes in the neighborhoods especially in the area right where the levee broke flooding the entire Ninth Ward.  They are building highly sustainable and architecturally green, storm resistant homes for the owners of land in the surrounding neighborhoods.  These people have the choice of selecting from a variety of different architectural styles for their homes, all of them being very contemporary looking.  They are hoping to bring 150 families back to the Lower Ninth through the program.

In addition to the homes they are also trying to rebuild the community with native landscaping, micro-farms, rain gardens, and new streets.  The goal of all the new construction is to make a community that will be more storm resistant if a situation similar to Katrina happens again (which it shouldn't if the Army Corps of Engineers got it right this time!). 

Check out the websites that I linked for some more info on the programs that are happening to rebuild the Lower Ninth Ward currently.  It's all about sustainable design.  Sustainable design is the future, hopefully it will get be a job when I am done being abused by school. 

http://www.makeitrightnola.org/ 

http://www.globalgreen.org/neworleans/holycross/

Pretty cool view looking across the Mississippi to downtown New Orleans from on top of a levee in the Lower Ninth.

Thank You

I'm not sure if I have any Veteran readers or not but if I do THANK YOU FOR ALL THAT YOU DO.  Take time today to thank any veterans that you know, or don't know.  What they volunteer to do so that America can have the freedoms that we have is incredible.  

Thank you for all of your bravery and sacrifice! 

Campus

I completely forgot that I never posted any pictures of LSU's campus. So here are a few that I have taken over the last couple of months...

 

Like I said...nice place.

Savior, Please

Some inspiration for this Sunday morning...

SEC Officials

The Alabama, and Florida for that matter, love fest continues for the SEC officials.

Time to rant.  The SEC Officials are a complete joke.  I think about 80% of SEC fans feel as though there is some kind of conspiracy happening.  There is no possible way that the replay guys could have missed the Patrick Peterson interception call.  He had both feet down.  What is the point of having replay if these dipshits still can't even make the right call?  Three or four times today LSU got terrible spots as well.  It's incredible.  There are so many times calls are made or 'missed' that end up making big differences in the game.  Florida gets blatantly saved by the refs against Arkansas.  Alabama gets a load of favorable calls against UT and LSU.  Unbelievable.

I hope Les Miles goes in and immediately starts bashing the officials.  Take the fine.  Call out the entire operation please.  Take the suspension, LA Tech is next week.  Hopefully everyone will jump on board and something will get changed.  Mike Slive, you are a joke.  I hate refs.

From Tiger Droppings...SUMMARY OF BOGUS CALLS IN GAME

Good luck Vandy, you won't be getting any help.

I guarentee you the first time that Kiffin makes another comment he gets fined well over the 30K that Meyer got.  Will probably even get suspended.


On another note.  Check out this guy:

There is no way this guy should be allowed to do the fourth quarter sign.  No pinky?  Wow, Bama

Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge

The National Geographic Traveler magazine recently named the Great Smoky Mountains NP as one of their "Places with Trouble".  Looks like somebody else thinks that Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg is as big of a dump as I do.  That place is such a toilet it is unbelievable.  I hate it.  Here are a few quotes from some of the 'well traveled experts' that compose this list of the top 133 destinations in the world..

"A national treasure surrounded by ugly, unplanned development. Gatlinburg, Tennessee, has done a good job of improving itself over the last decade by undergrounding utility wires, limiting the size of signs, and setting the standard in building design. The North Carolina side of the mountains is better, but here too one will find many billboards and tacky tourist crud."

"Heavily visited region of natural beauty that has been degraded by visual pollution. But the worst excesses of mass tourist development are apparent just outside the national park, in Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. Asheville, NC, is a town of much greater aesthetic appeal and has the notable attraction of the Gilded Era Biltmore Estate with gardens."

"Communities in need of encouragement, incentives, and plans to rehabilitate and maintain their historic character. Much of the development detracts from the area's appeal as a tourist destination and as a place to live."

Why people enjoy these places is beyond me.  Most of it can be contributed to the prominent redneck population of the Eastern TN area, but many people ask me when I tell them I am from East TN if I know where Pigeon Forge is.  WHY????  It's ridiculous, why do people enjoy it?  It detracts from the beauty of the Smoky Mountains terribly.  That place can be leveled in my opinion.

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVEL

London 2012

The project director, John Hopkins, for Parklands and Public Realm for the London 2012 Olympics gave a lecture yesterday to my program on the planning and design that is in process at Olympic Park in London. It was pretty interesting and awesome stuff for me to see to say the least.

Glenn Allen, a professor in my department, is a principle for the design firm that did most of the design for the park. He is a big time person to have on faculty in my program. He is a LA genius.

The Olympic Park is located in London's East End in the Lower Lea Valley. This area of London is one of it's poorest communities on all levels; social, economic, and environmental. The site was chosen to extend the epicenter of London farther east after the games are over to form a new thriving urban center of London .

The entire concept for the parklands plan, which is everything in Olympic park not including the permanent stadiums and structures, is for sustainability and leaving a legacy after the Olympics games are over that will greatly enhance the landscape of East London. They are implementing a 'environmental infrastructure' plan. This means that every move that a make is a strategic one that will have the lowest impact on the environment and that will turn into an ecologically and socially productive region of London.

"The Olympic, Paralympic and Legacy Masterplans build on the existing characteristics of the Lower Lea Valley, especially the waterways and the interesting and varied topography. The area features a number of level changes, creating an undulating landscape of gentle hills and ridges rising above and falling back down to river and canal edges. Although some areas require re-grading, the Masterplan takes advantage of the level changes to assist crowd movement, create obvious landmarks and routes, and accentuate dramatic views into, from and through the site."

CLICK for a PDF with all kinds of information on the design and implementation of the Olympic Park plan.  Very, very interesting and innovative stuff going on in London.

Sweetness

10 year anniversary of #34's passing.

16,726 rushing yards, 110 rushing TD's, 125 total TD's. 6X All Pro, 9X Pro Bowl. STUD.

Greatest of all time? FACT

Goodbye Tribune Co., Hello Ricketts

The Cubs are officially under new ownership as of last Tuesday.  The Tribune Co. sold the franchise to the Ricketts family for a cool $845 million.  Just a small chunk of change.  Also included in this deal are Wrigley Field and 25% ownership of Comcast Sportsnet.

Joe Ricketts is the founder of the online broker TD Ameritrade.  This family has been Cubs fans for their entire life.  Hopefully they will start shelling out any kind of money that they have to get the Cubs a World Series.  Hey, might as well turn into the Yankees.  Why not?  It's about to work for them, again.



Since I know no one will actually watch the video, here are the key points:
- "Our main goal is to win a world championship"
- They plan to preserve and improve Wrigley Field.  Look for lots of advertising to be brought into the old ballpark.  IE:  Fenway Park.
- "We are fans"
- "Hope is not a strategy anymore.  We are going to make decisions to get us to the World Series"
- Family ownership > corporate ownership

Sound like good people to me. Hopefully these owners will have a little more success than the last. It would be hard not to.