Category: Uncategorized

I just thought I would take a minute or two to offer my congratulations to the University of Florida Gators men’s basketball team on winning the NCAA Division I championship.

Having a friend who lives in the Gainesville, FL, area, has led to my becoming somewhat of an honorary Gator fan. Also, because I saw the Gators play while I was down in Florida for my friend’s wedding in November, this year marks the first time since 1996 that I went to a game in which the eventual national champion played during that season. Ten years ago, it was Kentucky, which played Rider in the December 1995 en route to beating Syracuse in the ’96 NCAA Tournament final at the end of that season.

Another reason I’m happy Florida won? Well, the Gators’ Joakim Noah played his prep school ball at Lawrenceville School, just down the road and across the street from Rider’s main campus. Now, I just wish I had gone to go see him play while he was there.

Anyway, the pic above is one of me cropped out of a group shot taken after the Gators’ second game of the 2005-06 season. Below is a pic I took during the game.

This is a club around the corner from the Loews Vanderbilt Hotel…

…as you can see, former King Crimson guitarist Adrian Belew played here on March 25…just missed him!

Vanderbilt Stadium, home of the Commodores.

Fraternity row on the campus of Vanderbilt University.

A castle-like frat house at Vandy.

The Parthenon at Nashville’s Centennial Park…a full-scale replica of the original.

Details of The Parthenon’s façade.

Columns…

…and more columns.

NOTE: I actually recorded and posted this around 12:30 p.m. Nashville time before I went to the CASE Editors Forum. However, I had my AudioBlogger settings set to go to the wrong blog. Hence, I have moved it over to this one. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to modify the time stamp because that isn’t showing up when I go to post a new entry. Don’t know what that’s all about, but here is the audio post:

As I type this, it is 5:40 p.m. local time and I am getting ready to go out to the Editors Forum reception at the Wildhorse Saloon. Then, I am having dinner with about 30 other conference attendees, including at least two from the University of Florida. Hopefully, I can help my Gainesville, FL, area friend Cliff get a foot in the door if any UF jobs open up.

…Nashville style.

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Well, I’m not the biggest fan of country music, but I wasn’t going to let a trip to Nashville go by without a trip to one of the hallowed halls of American music history, the Grand Ole Opry House.

So that is what I did my first night in Nashville…and I must say, it was surprisingly very fun. Considering it was a Tuesday night show, I was surprised to see two acts that I have at least heard of in country music circles, Craig Morgan and Trick Pony (Trick Pony’s bass player has this ridiculously pimped-out upright that is a purplish chrome color and has flashing headlights built into the body). And both of those acts were very entertaining…probably because they are younger and have a more modern sound.

But the “funnest” act of the night has to go to family bluegrass band, Cherryholmes (the family’s last name). There was one song in which every member of the family–except for the bearded patriarch who plays upright bass–started clogging. How often do you see a family band do that?

Another peformer was Australian native Jamie O’Neal.

Sorry the pics are so dark. I have just resigned myself to the fact that my camera sucks taking photos in dark places.

Grand Ole Opry members who performed Tuesday night included Porter Wagoner (performing in the picture above), Jeannie Seely, John Conlee and Jim Ed Brown.

Cherryholmes on the Opry stage.

Trick Pony on the Opry stage.

Well, I am in my room at the Loews Vanderbilt Hotel in Nashville and just thought I would say hello. As I often do, I took some pics of the view outside my windows. I think this may be the first hotel room I have stayed in that as windows facing more than one way. Because I am at the end of the hallway, I have a view towards downtown (first pic below) and of Vanderbilt University (second pic below) across the street.

I don’t think I have ever been able to see two different directions from a hotel room before…then again, I don’t really travel much. And when I do, I’m usually not staying at a Loews…it’s more like Low, as in low-priced.

For as much money as this place charges, you would think Loews could put better signs up at the front entrance. It took me three tries to find the right driveway–and even then I wound up going the wrong way for about 100 feet. During one of my attempts, I noticed a small club around the corner that said “25 Adrian Belew” on the marquee. I can only assume that means Adrian Belew played there on March 25…that stinks because I would have loved to have seen that show.

Who is Adrian Belew? He is an experimental guitarist mostly known for his work with King Crimson, but he has worked with a number of artists, including Talking Heads, Nine Inch Nails, Tori Amos and — I just found out — Ben Folds and WIlliam Shatner on Shatner’s Folds-produced “Has Been” album.

Adrian Belew on Wikipedia

Anyway, here are the two crappy pics from my hotel room. I’m going to see what’s around here and then try to see some bluegrass at the Grand Ole Opry.

A phone pic from the smallest plane I’ve ever been on.

Well, don’t expect much new content on the ol’ blog for the next couple of weeks.

Currently, I am in the middle of volunteering my time as a press conference microphone holder during the first- and second-round NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament games being played at Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton, NJ. I’ll be one of two people passing around a handheld mic to the reporters during the press conferences held on practice days and after the games today and Tuesday. I’m also going to be helping out in getting the quotes together for the media.

Later in the week, I’ll be busy tying up loose ends at work before flying down to Nashville on March 28 to attend a conference for college and university alumni magazine editors.

It will be nice to come back, though, and see another kick-ass show from Transfusion M at The Saint in Asbury Park, NJ, on April 1.

In celebration of the March 17 debut of “Doctor Who” on SciFi Channel, I thought I would post one of the teasers SciFi has been running for the show.

SciFi has also decided to run “Doctor Who” as a two-hour premiere with back-to-back episodes starting at 9 p.m. ET. The series debuts with “Rose,” which introduces us to the new Doctor and his soon-to-be companion Rose while battling the Nestene consciousness that is turning plastic shop dummies and dust bins into living, evil creatures. “Rose” will be followed by the second episode, “The End of the World,” in which the Doctor takes Rose five billion years into the future to a space platform designed to give the universe’s rich and influential lifeforms a front-row seat to Earth’s final seconds of existence…but something goes horribly wrong on the space station, threatening the lives of all on board.

Open Video in New Window

(Photo: SciFi Channel’s “Doctor Who” logo, reminiscient of the one used by the classic version of “Doctor Who” that ran on PBS and UHF stations in the 1970s and 80s.)

As much as I, as a Philadelphia Flyers fan, hate the New Jersey Devils, at least I respect them for identifying themselves as playing in New Jersey.

Meanwhile, the New Jersey Nets are looking to bolt for Brooklyn and the Jets and Giants continue to use “New York” in their names even though both teams have played their home games in New Jersey for several years.

And then there are the awkwardly named New York-New Jersey MetroStars of Major League Soccer. The MetroStars currently play in the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, NJ—same as the Giants, Jets, Devils and Nets. However, the MetroStars are hoping to build a soccer-only stadium in Harrison, NJ.

You would think that by choosing to remain in New Jersey, the MetroStars would remain committed to keeping “New Jersey” in their official name. Well, thanks to the team being sold to the makers of Red Bull energy drink—a move including naming rights for the new stadium in New Jersey—that won’t be the case.

Instead, Red Bull has renamed the MetroStars as the even more awkward—and geographically inaccurate—”Red Bull New York.” Yup, the team’s name is now the same as the drink…and so long to New Jersey…even though the new Red Bull Stadium will be in Harrison, NJ.

Fortunately, this is American soccer were talking about here and nobody cares.