Quick Movie Revue

I recently saw Superbad, (this is a little off because I accidentally snuck in too much booze) but I found it quite enjoyable. Yes it has its fair share of token fart/boob humor, but it also has this crude vulgarity that really does exist in today's youth, that usually gets chopped out, and is hilarious. It was the first time in a while I laughed, genuinely, until it hurt. But you don't have to take my word for it.

College Football is Here!!!

And I can barely contain myself. If you can't tell.

This weekend's games of 177 interest:

--NU vs. Nevada, obviously
--CU vs. CSU, Buck the Fuffalos.
--Wyoming @ Virginia, Bobo's Cowboys take on the Cavaliers.
--Idaho @ USC, North Platter Nathan Enderle is the starting QB for the Vandals...it's too bad he's up against the trojans. He might have a rough day.

How about some Husker score predictions for tomorrow?

Railfest? No, you're not dreaming.

September 21st - 23rd marks the first ever RAILFEST in the good 'ol NP. Apparently, it's attracting train enthusiast from all over the country, which means the Overalls-to-female ratio is going to skyrocket even further to 1,000:1.

They did manage to pull the Rumbles for a Saturday night pavilion dance. So that's promising. Overall I think this COULD be a cool event, if ran properly. But most likely, it won't be. Thoughts?

Telegraph Article

Danny Woodhead in NY Times

Danny Woodhead was recently featured in a NY Times article. It's pretty sweet. Check it out.

(Thanks to Pete over at Heavy Soul for posting this initially.)

Colorado in the News

Yes. James and I watched intently as Louisville, Colorado native Hilary Carol Cruz beat out Miss New Jersey for the crown of Miss Teen USA. (I'll admit I though New Jersey was hotter. Thankfully for Google you can make your own decision(Alyssa Campanella)). Still, we were pumped. This morning we found a crowd of women that we believed to be celebrating the same triumph, only to discover it to be a tribe of lesbians tamborinning aimlessly in the park. Not even close. The following picture accurately describes our enounter. (Yes, that is a rainbow flag.) (Yes, that is a lesbian motorcycle gang.) (No. We didn't make this up.)

Happy Birthday J-Stock...Shelly Long, Rick Springfield, Rik Smits and Rex Grossman

Cheers to our friend James who celebrates his birthday with these other fine American Icons.

From his website...

"Wilkinson Development, Inc. was founded in 1986 on the basis of three core values:

• Honesty


• Fairness


• Quality "

Something like that...

Now here is an awesome site...

...with a fantastic name.

http://straightcashhomey.net/

To Travelers: I Know the giant Buffalo Bill draws you in, but don't fill-up in NP.

Well, the Planet made Nebraska-wide news today. Nebraska Attorney General, John Bruning visited the fine town to investigate complaints of gas prices. And what did he find...the Conoco and BP right off the interstate were practicing "Bait and Switch" pricing. The best line from the Bulletin Article:

"Bruning said not all North Platte stations practice deceptive pricing. He said stations in town, off the interstate highway, were not the problem. But he said the deceptive pricing, which he witnessed first hand Tuesday, gave the entire state a black eye with out-of-state visitors."

Beautiful.

Here's the JournalStar article.

Apparently Elvis used this...

in the deep back country snow of the hottest city I have ever been to.

Its a Sailabration. Seriously. Sails, and bration.

This is what you see when you walk about 200 feet south from my apartment. Its called Lake Merritt. And it will host the Fourth Annual Fall Fun Fest's newest event; "The Statesmen Aquatic". (click on the pic for a link, you can discover mind-fucking facts like, "Did you know, Lake Merritt was the first federal wildlife refuge???") We'll be renting boats (still trying to decide which vessel will be most appropriate, several to chose from) and racing. If there are any "experienced sailors" in the group, we'll be able to rent a small, proper, sailing vessel and socio-economically-chest-bump those East Bay land lovers.
Hope this is great background for your flight-booking internet time.

I Hella Love Oakland

I wish I could have set this scene up...(stepped over it on the street the other day)

Zack Bowman, back up in the a** with the resurrection.

Zack Bowman practiced in full pads today...rumor has it he'll be ready for the USC game.

Rock. Here's the article.

2007 Elvis Presley Int'l 5K

So I was at a friend from church's 30th birthday party last night several margaritas and several more glasses of sangria deep at about 11 pm when another gal mentioned that she was running in the Elvis 5k at Graceland the following morning. Somehow after not having really trained for any such event I decided that it was a good idea. I think I left the party sometime after midnight and was asleep around 1ish with the promise that I would receive a 6:30 am wake up call to be at Graceland to register before 7:30 for the 8 am start.

Somehow that crazy idea worked and I was able to run the 3.2 miles through the neighborhood around Graceland with several thousand other folks, many of whom donned full Elvis jump suits, though there were many with the trademark gold sunglasses and sideburns. Many discarded their wigs and parts of their costumes along the was as it was quite humid. It is now 10:30 am and the heat index is around 95, so I'm guessing it was near 90 at race time. Many of the neighborhood's residents were out cheering us on and some even had their garden hoses out spraying people down to keep cool.

My $25 dollar donation got me the sweet t-shirt (pictured) a pre-race banana and a post race beer and a couple hot dogs. There was a live band playing the post race festivities and a delightful cover of "Walking in Memphis" really completed the experience. In other news, some 80,000 fans took part in the Thursday night vigil at Graceland and battled the triple digit heat to pay homage to the King. Somehow, Elvis also played at the FedEx Forum that night as well to a raucous crowd with a full orchestral arrangement. He was video-conferenced in on the big screen.

"Dead Week" in the big M

An exciting week in rock history and pop culture is upon us and blatantly so in Memphis. The "home of the blues and birthplace of rock and roll" is alive and abuzz with Elvis Impersonators performing, roving the streets, and popping up all over the place to honor the day the king passed away (aka J-rod & Rene's b-day). Sunday afternoon I saw two impersonators clad in the trademark white jumpsuits, capes, giant gold sunglasses, go whizzing down the sidewalk on Segways no less. There is a noticeable increase in the number of tourists for the special performances and I believe there is an all night vigil planned at Graceland. Hopefully I will have some pictures to post in a later installment this week to document the strangeness.

In other Memphis music news, Justin Timberlake performed a week ago yesterday at the FedEx Forum and received his very own gold star on Beale St. I was not in attendance.

Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals Live From Mars

I just recently purchased this 2-disc live album from a local music shop used for $10 and it reminded me just how blown away I was when I saw Ben Harper live opening for Dave Matthews way back in the old Mile High stadium. The disc includes 23 live gems of live spiritual slide guitar and soulful Ben vocals. They're touring under a new album "Lifeline" and some old favorites in a sit down dressed up mostly acoustic set in Orpheum and theater shows. There are dates near most of you and though it is a bit pricey ($42 at the Orpheum Memphis) it's worth it in my opinion. You will seldom feel happier while listening to music.

There are shows near most of us so check it out, and for a full calendar go to:

http://www.benharper.net/lifeline/

9/1 Boulder, CO
9/2 K.C., MO
10/29 Memphis, TN
11/5 Dallas, TX
11/8 LA, CA
11/9 LA, CA
11/10 Oakland, CA

Enjoy!

FFF

James, or somebody, throw out a FFF agenda statement.

A roundup from the North Platte Bulletin...

1. Keith Richardson is mayor again. When the F did this happen? And how? I assume its because most people in NP who actually vote are either a. too young to remember the 90s or b. too blacked out from alcohol/drugs.

2. The North Platte City Council debated whether to deny a bar tentatively named "Jiggers" its liquor license. The bar is in the former NP Bakery location (the former home of excellent donuts) and apparently too close Lincoln school.

About the name "Jiggers," I don't even have a joke here.

How they expect anyone to endure K-5 at Lincoln school without the occassional beer and sidecar of Southern Comfort is beyond me, however.

3. Cal Robinson, yes the guy who read the stock markets on the radio for all those years and died in 2004, was honored. I always thought he was a really nice guy and this is in no way meant as disrespectful, but he was described as a humorist. I don't remember him being all that humorous, but I suppose. What entails being a humorist? Anyone?

(Edit: This roundup is in no way affiliated to The Weekly Roundup, still NP's home for garage sales, used appliances and personals: one time JimStock and I pissed our pants reading the Weekly Roundup at the KFC Buffet because one inexpicably single male listed his hobbies as beer and deer jerky. He did not specify whether it was making or consuming the deer jerky. Your pick.)

Cheers to Bad Banana!

Just a little congratulatory post for The Bad Banana Blog. It's run by a good friend of mine (same guy who wrote the letter to LA Times) and it was ranked at 372nd in the Ad Age Power Blog Rankings.

Maybe someday the 177 will be there as well.

But probably not.

Response to L.A. Times Column

Remember that insane L.A. Times article bashing Nebraska? Well a friend of mine has given the 177 permission to post his REAL response. Apparently, the Times edited the heck out of this before it ran on Sunday...So again, here is the real deal. Buckle your seatbelts, this is hilarious...and so true. PASS IT ON!
____________________________________________

Dear Sports Editor,

I would like to invite T.J. Simers to stay at my house in the days leading up to the Nebraska/USC football game. (I know sportswriters don't make much money and the L.A. Times, especially, is struggling through a difficult financial time, so I'm glad to help.)

To make Mr. Simers as comfortable as possible, I will need some additional information:

What gang does he belong to? I would hate to have the wrong color bedding in the guest room. I wouldn’t want a capper popped into my side. (Is that the right lingo? I’m hoping to learn such things from Mr. Simers.)

Will he be bringing his own smog for breathing? Our clean Nebraska air is not for everyone. Should I arrange for him to sleep in the garage with our cars running?

Is Mr. Simers easily confused or disoriented? I say that because his columns are not particularly funny or well written. The vision of a clear sky with bright stars and a moon may be especially confusing to an adult man of meager intelligence who has never seen such sights. A baseball cap with a long bill might help.

Will Mr. Simers have any special dietary requirements? As a sports columnist I know he eats a lot of crow. Anything else?

Is Mr. Simers sensitive? If so, we won’t bring up the cultural bankruptcy of the city of Los Angeles. And by all means I won’t mention Lindsay Lohan or Paris Hilton. Or New York City (have you been there?...it’s awesome!!!).

I’ll be sure to arrange everything else in order to make him feel at home. I can have the local news helicopter buzz our house and shine lights into the windows every night. I’ll drag each fifteen minute commute into a three hour drive. I can rent a copy of Kindergarten Cop so Mr. Simers can be comforted seeing his governor while away from California. I can ask neighborhood kids to dress like hookers and drug dealers. Am I forgetting anything?

Oh yeah, will USC alum O.J. Simpson be coming along, too? If so, I might take a few extra precautions.

I look forward to hearing back.

Tim Siedell
Lincoln, Nebraska
(402) 770-4262

P.S.: I also look forward to showing Mr. Simers a true blonde. They really do exist!

The Official Beginning of Husker Football

Well Kids, today is the first day of fall practice for the Huskers. So in tribute to the official beginning of the season, I give you the one of the best Husker videos ever:

Top 10 Lists

I remember the days of Q street when we would hang up TOP 10 LISTS in our kitchen which were comprised of thoughts/ideas/comments etc from everyone, then we would all vote which should be 10, 9, 8 down to 1. I think that was a marvelous idea, and one we should bring back.

So I will throw out the first topic and we will hopefully get some comments and maybe, just maybe a top 10 list will come from this.

TOPIC:

THE BEST MOMENTS DEALING WITH A HUSKER HOME GAME
(this could be Pre-game, transportation to the game, during game, or post game).

BEGIN

By Request from Jack-O

This is some throwback shiznit. The .gif was maticulously created by Palmer.

If Scott Hales Had a Cooking Show

Everytime I watch Good Eats on the Food Network, I can't seem to avoid thinking that Alton Brown is some relation to Hales. Intelligent, eccentric, funny, etc. Watch this clip and you'll see what I mean. And if you've never seen Good Eats, you'll see how awesome this show is.

Nicole Richie

It was confirmed yesterday that Nicole Richie is pregnant with her first child. This means that the latest Hollywood fashion trend will no longer be small puppies, but babies. And for the first time in the history of the world, North Platte beat them to the punch.

Congrats ladies of NP. You can finally consider yourself "fashion-forward."

p.s. What do Nicole Richie and a homeless person have in common?