So I got my algebra exam back today and I could barely croak out my score when asked by the ladies that sit around me. (I'm gonna miss them!) So I had to write it down. "+1". (My professor writes down the points out of 100 missed...so my first exam was a -5 aka 95%)

WHOA!

I actually only missed 1 point after switching to ink (and I got all of the bonus points)...and the silly points I missed (in pencil) were kinda embarrassing. Example: I know 20/5 (20 divided by 5 is FOUR but I decided to write 5 instead)...*insert laughter here*

So the moral of that story is....if it isn't broke, don't fix it. I might have to do my next exam in ink as well. Or maybe not.

OH!

Today in my Oral Comm class I felt as if I was on the show: Who's Line is it Anyway? You know the part near the end of the show where the comedians get random objects and have to come up with a new and interesting (and funny) use for said random item.

Well, we were divided into groups and given everyday kitchen tools and we picked our "audience" out of a bowl and then we had to formulate a persuasive speech (and present it) and the class had to decide WHO our "audience" the speech was directed toward...

Our group had to give a speech to "medical workers" (nurses, doctors, etc.) and we had these really red, really plastic set of salad tongs. So we turned our salad tongs into the newest surgical device that can be used in place of several operating instruments. It was the "3-in-1 sterile scissor scooper 2007 deluxe" or something like that and tried to "sell" it to our "medical audience."

Pretty cool! I'm gonna miss my Oral Comm class as well.


~~JContinue Reading »

Continue Reading »

Well, it’s about time.

Today, U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) introduced a bill along with co-sponsors Amy Klobuchar, D-MN, and Joseph Lieberman, I-CT, that would set up a rotating schedule for state primaries and caucuses in future presidential election years.

With so many states jockeying to be among the first to hold primaries, I was starting to worry that the primaries for the 2012 election would commence sometime in 2009…

Continue Reading »

If you haven’t been paying attention, the Memphis Roller Derby season is in its final stretch, with just one match remaining before the playoffs. Don’t miss the Aug. 18 doubleheader pitting the Legion of Zoom against the PrissKilla Prezleys, and the Women of Mass Destruction against the Angels of Death. I’ll have more details about that soon.

In this past weekend’s competition, the Angels of Death appear to have taken the Legion of Zoom behind the woodshed. Here’s the official match recap from MRD HQ.

With the grace and speed of a skilled running back, the jammer in black slipped past the defenders of the Legion of Zoom untouched. Then she did it again and again and again and again. In just one two-minute jam, Lil’ Cinner of the Angels of Death put an astonishing 20 points on the scoreboard early in the first period of the July 28th bout at the Collierville FunQuest.

It was a new record for a single jam in the inaugural season of Memphis Roller Derby and more points than the Legion of Zoom would score in the entire 20-minute period.

MRD announcer Doc Derby called the feat “unbelievable.”

The Angels of Death continued to pile on the points, building a lead that proved insurmountable as the team won 181-56 over the Legion of Zoom and improved to 5-0 for the season.

The Z-Girls fell to 2-3 and into a second-place tie with the Women of Mass Destruction.

After the bout, Lil’ Cinner, the top jammer in MRD, was modest about her accomplishment, saying she wants skaters across the country to know about MRD.

“I’m having the time of my life,” she added.

Lil’ Cinner wasn’t the only jammer for the AODs who exploded against the Z-Girls.

In one jam in the second period, Gwen Reaper put 9 points on the board. Then in the third period, Wheelie Wonka scored 12 points in a jam and Memphomaniac amassed13 points in another.

Despite the margin of victory for the AODs, the Legion of Zoom played tough until the final buzzer. With Machine Gun Kelly out of town, the Legion of Zoom was short a jammer. As a result, Z-Girl blockers Angelina Rolie, Envie, Moxie Dynamite and Robin n’ Stealin’ joined Rolls Royce and Kel Diabla in the jammer rotation. And getting through the AODs’ wall of blockers was no easy task.

Still, since the WMDs scored just 12 points against the AODs in a two-period bout on May 26, the Z-Girls were happy to score 56. “The object of our game was to put as many points on the board as we possibly could,” said Coach Whorecules, who praised her team for doing a better job working together to usher the jammer through the pack. “We played more like a team than we ever have.”

Continue Reading »

According to MemphisRap.com, the Premier Nightclub on American Way is shutting down. I only made it down there once a few years ago, for a Camel promotional party featuring Biz Markie, Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh. That makes two big venues for the urban party scene that have shut down recently, the other being the Isaac Hayes spot Downtown.

In other closings news, The Complex has also closed. This isn’t completely unexpected, given — and not that this is the immediate reason — the significant legal problems of one of its proprietors.

Continue Reading »

One of the eerier and more memorable moviegoing experiences of my life was watching a revival of Michelangelo Antonioni's "La Notte" (translation: "The Night") about a decade ago at the Charles Theater, a then somewhat needy art house cinema in the middle of Baltimore.

The movie's story of dead love, the icy beauty and clarity of its black-and-white images and the ultra-cool of its stars (Marcello Mastroianni and Jeanne Moreau) and of its 1961 Italian decor and fashions combined with the lonely feeling of being in a nearly empty and strange cinema in a strange town at night to create an almost out-of-body sense of alienation that could be labeled Antonioni-esque.

Antonioni, 94, died Monday at his home in Rome. The death was announced today (July 31), a day after the announcement of the death of that other great master of international cinema, Ingmar Bergman.

Continue Reading »

 Tom and Carol Neeley spent several days at Atlantis on Paradise Island to celebrate their 24th wedding anniversary.  Gracie Brown, 3, of Atoka, with her friend “Giraffe.”   Gracie spent her summer vacation in Panama City on the beach with friends and family.  Her favorite thing of the whole trip was a free stroll through Putt-Putt to see all of the huge animals.  She kissed and hugged every single one of them ! 

Continue Reading »