Docu-drama

As I near the end of my twenties (I have about 14 hours to be immature), I have tried to prepare myself for life in the thirties. Supposedly I am told to act my age, not get crazy at pool/beach parties, be able to hold conversations about wine, politics, economics and the arts, and cut out all the slang in my vocabulary. Yea, whatever.

One of the ways I have been saving money is that I watch TV the old fashioned way...via antenna. I don't have cable (which apparently is the WORSE thing in life because all of my friends introduce me as: hey, this is Shane...he doesn't have cable!!). My channel selection is limited to the basics but I can view most shows online via my laptop hooked up to the TV. I think the best channel ever in the Houston region is channel 55.2...the Vietnamese channel. Sure you can't understand it, but it challenges you to come up with your own story line. The Vietnamese music videos are just incredible. Yea, let me blow your mind about those mature talks concerning the arts when I bring Vietnam Idol into the convo!

I am not much of a movie guy but just recently I joined Netflix. They had a free month trial membership so I figured it couldn't hurt. The movies available for viewing online are a little limited but I have been discovering some really cool documentaries.


Food, Inc. - This goes into the food industry and discovers how the government and big business have monopolized the industry. It was shocking to see how the gov't is pushing corn and now a corn bi-product is in about 85% of all of our foods. It really did promote organic, locally grown foods. Of course I watched it while eating my processed dinner and decided I better shop at Whole Foods from here on out.


Restrepo - The creators follow a platoon in the deadliest valley in Afghanistan. The guys look so young and are immediately thrown into fire fights with the Taliban. They struggle when one of their friends is killed but find ways to make it through their 15 month deployment. I know the Iraq war got most of the attention during the Bush administration, but Afghanistan looks to be the most intense.


The Devil Came on Horseback - Darfur. I never really understood the magnitude of the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan...or why stars like George Clooney were so vocal about this area. An ex-marine was sent to monitor a cease-fire going on in Sudan and then started hearing reports about the mass killings in Darfur. The Sudanese gov't is basically using Arab rebels to wipe out the villagers in Sudan. All the villagers want is economic growth, a voice in the government, etc. If you can sit there, watch the movie, and not feel motivated to help then you might be a robot.

If you ever find yourself wanting a change of pace in your movie picks, look up some documentaries. Yes, they sound really boring, but I like them better than tween comedies or movies created by 5 year-olds (Fast and Furious series).


Nummerical Summary for the Week:

20 - average wind speed here in Houston over the past month. Absolutely kills your mental state on the golf course when it seems like every hole is into a strong head wind.

4 - wine bottles purchased at the grocery. That is 4 more than my all-time high. I will see what this grape drink is all about before making my final decision.

100 - SPF I use out at the pool just in case I manage to fall asleep in the sun. Sure you have to give it a good scrub in the shower to wash it off and sure it seeps into your blood stream once you apply it...but by golly, that stuff works!

30 - years on this here earth. God has given me quite a roller coaster but I have no regrets. I am a better person than where I was a month, a year, a decade ago.

Capitol Hill

I've never made it to our nation's capital. Having access to PBS, I get all the sight seeing I want from the comfort of my own couch! However, a good family friend has lived in DC for the past 7 years and she turned 30 this weekend. She sent me an invite a few months ago and I figured this was my chance to go. Free flight (using miles), free lodging (staying on the birthday girl's couch) and free transportation, heck even my frugal grandpa couldn't pass up this opportunity.

When I left Houston on Friday, it was 83*, sunny and my friends were headed to the pool. Upon my arrival to DC, it was rainy, 48* and just nasty.
The city was crazy with the potential government shutdown. I was even shuttled to capitol hill (the house side) because my friend was about to be put on furlough and had emergency meetings all afternoon...as you all know, congress reached a temporary agreement so the stress was quickly relieved.

As I waited in an office while the meetings were proceeding, I found my favorite beer in a fridge: Yuengling. This stuff is absolutely incredible but only sold on the east coast. When my friends take trips to the east coast, I pay them a premium to bring back Yuengling Lager. Oh, I definitely had 2 beers in the congressional building. How many of you can say that?!My friend lives just northeast of the Capitol building in a very cool, very old neighborhood. Most of the homes were built in the late 1800's/early 1900's. The neighborhood had lots of small parks for the insane dog population. Just about everyone I saw walking around had a dog on a leash.
So Friday night was a small dinner with the birthday girl, her mom and her mom's friends from Tyler. We went to Rosa Mexicano and had some really outstanding food. I went in with a snobby Texas attitude thinking that they wouldn't compare to the food in Houston. Well, I was humbled right off the bat. If you ever find yourself in DC and want some great Mexican food, I say Rosa's without a doubt. I ordered the Pork Chamorro (similar to carnitas)...which they should have labeled the leg of a T-Rex.After dinner, we ventured to a few bars with all of her friends. Most were cool people but I never met a single person that was born in DC. All were imported from around the country. At around 2:30, we decided to call it a night, but not before stopping at a local food landmark: Ben's Chili Bowl. At 3am, I scarfed down a chili dog and chili cheese fries. Absolutely incredible food. The line was out the door.
So Saturday was spend digesting the late night snack and walking around the Georgetown area. We finally found some time to relax and watch the Masters. That night was spent at a family style Italian restaurant and grabbing drinks at a really good tequila bar...my favorite kind of establishment!

So it's Masters Sunday...the absolute pinnacle golf day every year. And where am I? On a bus...heading through Virginia...to a couple of wineries...for the ENTIRE DAY! It was brutal but once I came to the realization that I wouldn't watch one of the most exciting Masters in years, I just slowly sipped on really bad wine. I am still trying to recover from missing out, but I think I will pull through..maybe.

I had a great time in our nation's capital and hope to return very soon...but only when the weather is a lot warmer.


Numerical Summary for the weekend:

62 - warmest temperature experienced this weekend. I had to bust out the warm clothes for this trip and they will be going right back into storage once I get back to Houston.

4 - pounds gained (estimated) this weekend eating insane portions...oh and the beverage consumption didn't help either. I was hoping that walking around town and at the wineries would help. Darn chili cheese fries!

2 - hours spent watching the Masters this weekend. A personal all-time low. Please forgive me golf gods.

Final Four Bonanza

For the past few weeks, the Lord has really blessed me with opportunities to experience things so few sports fans ever will. I went toe-to-toe with the PGA guys and the past few days, I worked courtside at the Final Four here in Houston. The announced attendance for the Championship game was just over 70,000. This included the general public and members of the media. Of that total attendance, about 3 dozen folks had court access. Yours truly was in that small group. It was nice being able to walk up on the court and guys like Jim Gray (NBC Sports), Andy Katz (ESPN), and Pat Forde (ESPN) were stuck looking from afar.

It didn't hit me what I was about to experience until I was walking up to Reliant Stadium Saturday afternoon around 2pm (3+ hours before tip-off). As I walked into the stadium, I found myself on the court. Hey, photo opportunity, right?
The first few hours were spent helping out the photographers, learning the ropes and then figuring out which locations we were going to work. My job was a photo runner. Most photographers were wired into an editors computer so every picture they took, immediately popped up on their editors' computer. Some still needed memory cards to be run at every timeout. I volunteered to work up in the stands the first game, but I got to run down on the court when I had to deliver the cards to the editing room. It was fun, but the running up and down the stands was getting old. I eventually moved to the court side spot for the second game between Kentucky and UConn.

I did manage to see the following athletes as I quickly scanned the crowd:
Warren Sapp (Former NFL)
Eric Gordon (Ex-UConn Husky, Now NBA)
Tubby Smith (Ex-Kentucky, Current Minnesota coach)
Charles Barkley (Duh)Tom Izzo (Michigan St. Head Coach)
Wally Szczerbiak (Former NBA, now CBS Analyst)
George Smith (ESPN Reporter)
Robert Wuhl (Actor, From Arli$$ on HBO)
Owen Daniels (Houston Texans Tight End)
Adrian Peterson (Vikings Running Back)
Hasheem Thabeet (Ex-UConn, Current NBA center...7'3")
Ashley Judd (Actress...however the photographer I was working with took pictures of her, didn't recognize/know her and then asked for her name to put in the paper. His man card was quickly revoked)

But my favorite athlete I ran into, and had a fun conversation with, was Matt Kuchar, PGA Tour member. Possibly the nicest, most down to earth guy I have ever met. He even asked what my role was for the media and he volunteered to run for me. I told him if he got me on at Augusta, he could take my spot.

So that was Saturday. Come Monday, Championship night, I was pumped. Security was ridiculous. Numerous times I was approached to show credentials, explain my duties and then they finally left me alone. Want to know where I stood for the game?
And while UConn was celebrating and most of the media had to wait off the court, where do you think I was at? Oh yeah, exploiting my court access:
I stood off the court during the actual game play but before the game, during timeouts and after the game, I was allowed on the court. Sure the game was boring, but it was still and electric atmosphere!


Numerical Summary for the Final Four:

16 - hours spent at Reliant stadium Saturday and Monday.

40 - percent of the allotted student tickets filled by UConn. It was a bad student turnout. Heck, even VCU and Butler far outnumbered the tradition-rich Huskies.

5 - years until Houston hosts the Final Four again. Don't worry, I have already started my campaign to be a runner when it returns!

Smash It Up!

So instead of blogging about golf this go around, I figured I would reach out to my music lovers. I fly solo and live on my own so in my free time, I listen to a ton of music. There is something about finding new genres, new artist etc that helps grow my ever-expanding music library. A co-worker of mine is very well connected to the indie/electronic scene. She gave me a couple of links for me to pass along.

Oh, and these sites all have FREE (and legal to download) music.


Hood Internet
I fell in love with Hood early last year with their 'mashed' tracks. They take a couple of songs and mash them all together. For example, they take the lyrics from a rap song and mix it with the melody from an alternative rock track. Check out how they mixed Warren G's Regulators and Toro y Moi's latest.
The Hood Internet - Still Regulating (Warren G & Nate Dogg x Toro Y Moi) by hoodinternet

You can download their latest Mix here.
Also, check out the free mash up from Girl Talk here

RAC Remix
These remixes take the original songs but tweak them just enough to make them unique. RAC (Remix Artist Collective) has a website that allows you to listen to about 100 songs and about 90 are free to download. The CSS - Let's Make Love and Listen From Above is by far my favorite RAC remix.
RAC Portfolio by RAC


RCRD LBL
This website is Indie heavy but also feature some really great remixes. They update their site regularly with free songs to download. This site definitely is one of the best if you want to a diverse group of featured artists and genres. I spent a couple of hours on this site sampling and downloading once I heard about it.


MySpoonful
I love this site because it features artist that most of the general public have never heard. What I like about the site is they give you both the genres and who they most resemble in mainstream music. This is definietly a portal for the unknowns to get their music out to the fans.


Also, my co-worker told me about this site that features the top 10 sites for free music downloads. Some of the sites are in this post, others are not. Happy downloading!



Numerical Summary for the Week:

7- meals consumed this week that were of the Mexican cuisine. I always told myself I could never get tired of tortillas, meat, cheese, rice and beans...but I am pushing it!

8.5- hours expected to work at the Final Four today. I am to arrive at 2:30 and then probably be able to leave around 11. It will be a great experience, but I WILL be tired tomorrow. If you see a sun burned fellow in the media area, underneath the baskets, on TV (probably wearing a bright shirt)...that's me.

0- common sense used by yours truly at the pool yesterday. Sun? Check. Pale Skin? Check. Suntan lotion? What's that?!?! Lobster red on the chest and stomach? Check. Pale Back? Check. It's officially pool season!