It’s the day before Thanksgiving, and I spent it tooling around on the bike running teensy errands and finding pleasant places to grade a few papers. It got cold by the end of the evening, and I suddenly realized I was not dressed appropriately to comfortably ride home. Whatever–we’re on holiday! You can absolutely tell it’s closing in on Christmas, even though the days are still warm enough for me to ride around in a skirt, t-shirt, and flip flops. The holiday wreaths are up, the fancy lights are on, and the French Quarter carriages have their pine boughs attached. After riding around and having dinner with K., I biked back down to the Treme to see see friends. Then we headed out to Allways, where I snapped this picture while sitting in the courtyard, chatting with J. “It’s so particular,” she said of the tin cut out. She’s right–it’s a shirtless cowboy in bleached denim, stretching back like a pole dancer!I found him quite soothing today, a day when I felt a little off my game. As many years as I go without spending this holiday with family, sometimes I still feel a little down to not be with the family. But I’ve got a different sort of family, the sort of family that wants to sit outside in the cold and wonder, collectively, what this tin cowboy’s been up to. Afterward I rode home, happy that this is my home.

Thanksgiving is as foreign to Argentines as tango is foreign to Americans. They are traditions that need to be learned before they are understood and adopted. For Americans Thanksgiving Day is a time to sit down together, count their blessings, and give thanks for their families and their loved ones. Families in America are a reflection of the diversity of this great nation. No two are exactly alike, but there is a common thread they each share, and the traditions and rituals of Thanksgiving have been passed from generation to generation.

Tango is not that sacred for Argentines, but for those who consider it their way of life, it is a sociocultural phenomena rich in rituals and traditions that is celebrated all year around with the extended families that are formed with those who share the same love and passion for the music, the poetry and the dance. Likewise, the rituals and traditions are passed from generation to generation. Thanksgiving has not transcended to Argentina the way tango has been inserted into the American culture. But it ever does, you can rest assured that the traditions will be respected and preserved, and no turkey will be replaced with ostrich for an alternative Thanksgiving dinner. No High Five Giving Day either.

Imagine if you can, one who makes the decision to become an American as an adult. The discovery of a tradition such as Thanksgiving Day takes time to absorb and understand, but when it does, it takes on a special meaning of its own. Blame it on worn out neurons but I have little recollection of Thanksgiving Days before 1995. This was the year Valorie and I spent our first Thanksgiving together, less than a week after she moved from New York to Sunnyvale. We were the guests of an Argentine couple in San Francisco. The turkey was cooked in brandy. Then we danced tango.

The next year I was in Los Angeles and Valorie in New York. The year after we both were in New York, and in 1998 we gave our first Thanksgiving Grand milonga with turkey and all the trimmings at the Dance Spectrum in Campbell, CA. Then in 1999 we spent Thanksgiving in a corn field outside Champaign, IL. This started a tradition that continued in New Orleans, first in the French Quarter, then Uptown and the Irish Channel. Our devotion to the spirit of the holiday has been super sized by our love of the tango and everything good that it inspires.

Valorie and I are busy preparing Thanksgiving dinner, and setting the table to share it with loved ones. We’ll remember everyone who took us into their homes and those who came to ours over the years, and be thankful for the memories. We will toast to all of you, count our blessings and give thanks for having you all in our lives.

A Thanksgiving to Remember

Tessa and I are spending a few days in western Pennyslvania to celebrate Thanksgiving with her family. 10 days in the same zipcode! On Dec. 1st we begin our return trip to Oregon. Along the way we’ll visit OH, NC, GA, AL, LA, TX (5 shows!), NM, AZ, CA (6 shows including San Francisco!) Visit the SHOW’s page for the finalized tour dates. We can’t wait to see our our South West and West Coast friends – it’s been too long.

Tour has been amazing, we’ve played over 120 shows in around 40 states. We’ve made all sorts of new friends and played loads and loads of rock n’ roll. Our music has become more theatrical, audience involving, physical and we’re scaring a few people in the process. Yes, we’re having that much fun!

When we get back to Portland, Tessa will once again start tax season & I’ll again take classes @ PCC! If you know anyone that could help me out with a part time job, I’m interested in anything! We’re looking forward to being in the same place for a while and seeing all our friends. We’ll be living in North Portland this time close to Missisppi street.

If you haven’t heard our new record yet, Perfect Recipe For A Smile head over to DESTORYNATEALLEN.bandcamp.com to stream or download the record for FREE or DONATION!

Hope all is well.

Nate Allen

Painting of Mardi Gras Indian

They call it the City that Care Forgot, the Crescent City, the Big Easy–it’s a great city for both saints and sinners. I lived there for 15 years and experienced a lot of life in many different ways. I hadn’t been back in 5 years and was a little apprehensive. My visit was short–only 5 days, and most of it was spent catching up with old friends I had known for 23 years, 17 years, 15 years. As usual, the city graced me with its amazing sensory complexity–architecture, food, personalities, celebration, and a little sadness walking those old familiar streets with so many memories. I was treated like a queen by my friends. There is almost no city I can imagine that has more joie de vivre than does New Orleans. I was hosted by friends Kathleen Turpel and her partner Alessia, (an Italian goddess ) at Nona Mia, and wined and dined by my darling “adopted daughters” Kimmie Kiviranna and Julie Pieri at restaurant August. My brother and his wife took us out to Marigny Brasserie and I got to see my nephew Val who has lived in New Orleans since he arrived to help with the Red Cross and eventually other agencies after Katrina. He was also born there–and that is another story for another post. One of my oldest and dearest friends, Cheryl Gautier and her lovely family greeted me with love and warmth and unsurpassed friendship. So that’s what I mean by rich and bittersweet. It’s hard to live so far away from long time friends, and from the very extraordinary city that is New Orleans.

I love these images of a post-Katrina abandoned amusement park in New Orleans by Californian Jason Andrew.

This NFL season there has been a lot of hype about the final two “unbeaten” teams. And while it would be Super to have two undefeated teams duking it out in the last game of the season, the probability of this happening is 0.00152% with 8 total games remaining for both. I’m all for improbable things happening but those are odds that no one with any sense of gambling knowledge would ever take. But who knows, if Drew Brees keeps playing the way he is and Peyton keeps miraculously coming up with the W, the odds in reality seem a little better. It would be an unforgettable matchup.

As a fan of the Colts, is it really in the best interest of my team to go undefeated this season? I’m not wishing the Colts to lose, trust me I love a win no matter how late in the game it takes to secure it. But I’m more concerned about the most important win of the season, which for undefeated teams has unfortunately rarely happened. Only one team in the modern NFL era, the 1972 Dolphins, have gone undefeated in the regular season and taken home the hardware. The Patriots attempted it in 2007 only to lose to the other Manning brother (poor Brady, he must have nightmares about the Oreo dunking duo). In the Pre-modern Era, the 1935 and 1942 Bears, as well as the 1948 Browns were undefeated in the regular season but only the Browns came away as champs. These aren’t the kind of odds that I’m looking for this season. I want another win in Miami for my team. I’ll take the odds that have been shown by one loss or two loss teams. The pressure is less after one loss; the focus is not on the chase of the goose egg at the end of the record and more on the “bling” on the finger.

Don’t get me wrong, these statistics aren’t going to stop me from cheering my team to victory every week. I just hope the guys are focusing their energy on improving our tackling and catching abilities more than all of the hoopla of the “Perfect Season” so we can display another Lombardi trophy in Indy. A win in Miami is what we want; bring home the hardware Colts!

Mark Farina @ Moloko Lounge New Orleans, Louisiana

Mirror

Mirror

I often don’t know how to handle strong emotions. Realizing that I’m hurt, angry, or overwhelmed, I remain stationary, wishing for a guide-book. In self-defense, my body resigns to sleep and never fully processes the issue. When I awoke this morning, the anger still haunted me and I knew that for me to function, it needed an outlet.

Buying my rare pack of cigarettes, I was carded, as often occurs when I’m fresh-faced, and I walked smoking to Lafayette Cemetary. This specific block of uptown New Orleans is my favorite in the city, and I wandered through it, resigning to the crunch of dry magnolia leaves beneath me. Of all NOLA cemetaries, this one is most private and soothes me not with its morbidity, but with its sense of hushed, paused time. The names carved into the stone flow through me like mantras: read, repeated, and immediately forgotten. I glance at dates, noting generations of families at rest within a single cement box, and occasional incantations (“Daddy,” “Lonesome is the home without a mother,” “Aged 20 years, 5 months, 8 days.”) There is a placard with my name on it (legal first name), which I’m never seen on a grave because it is so unusual. The fourteen-month-old infant it belonged to likely died of Yellow Fever, according to dates. There are entire crypts of children who perished from the malady, including an enormous one marked “Society for destitute orphan boys.” Rumor tells me this cemetary was the first desegregated graveyard in the city, containing rich and poor, Christian and Jewish, black and white, and even a small platoon of Confederate soldiers. The graves of veterans are marked with the war they fought in, and whether they died peacefully of old age or they were mowed down on the beaches of Normandy, they lie together in this single city block.

Because families own the crypts, some are active, and I came upon a very old woman weeping at a grave. The dead are strangers to me, gone long before my birth, but to somebody, they meant something. I leave with the sense of peace that yoga classes instill in me: an awareness of my place in time, my breath, my mortality, and that no matter whether we die as newborns, in France of Nazi bullets, or surrounded by generations who carry our genes, we return to the soil together, quiet beneath the Autumn leaves.

It is only after this that I’m ready to begin my day.

Bruce Schultz - an oldie taken in Lafayette, LA

You have to love a holiday that is primarily about eating and drinking whatever sort of civics class fatherland malarkey They have tried to drape the table with. Thanksgiving is the holiday (I will bet you a bottle of wine) at which you will find yourself trying to remember the grape-and-grain rule and will as well at some point change your clothes not because you’ve spilled the gravy but because you have eaten like a Roman Senator on holiday in Pompey.

My wife takes the whole thing a bit more seriously, will brook no discussion of the Pilgrims as a American proto-Taliban and insist someone Say Grace. It will likely fall to me, who has no use for modern Christianity in any flavor and who is hosting an old friend who is a devout Pagan, to come up with some suitable words. As I sit in a bank all day juggling project schedules I should be thankful that most of a degree in English Literature and a houseful of books is of some small use, not to mention twelve years of Catholic education (we coasted through our pre-Cana interview on the strength of all that catechism, and by my early discovery that Monsignor Murphy was Archbishop Phillip Hannan’s roommate in seminary turning the entire hour into a comparative discussion of New Orleans’ better restaurants), but I digress. Consider it rehearsal for conversation at the table.

At some point my wife, dear girl, will also insist we go around the table and enumerate that for which we are thankful, a prospect that to me is like passing around that canned green bean-mushroom gloop-friend onion casserole your Aunt Martha always brings. I shouldn’t be such a Scrooge so soon before Xmas, but it seems a distraction from the critical business of passing around a dozen bowls and platters and getting down to the real reason for the season: eating. Finding things to give thanks is not so hard, given I will be sitting with my family in a dry house in the only place I’ve ever wanted to live, that my mother of 87 will be with us and an old friend as well, that I will be looking at enough food prepared with enough petro-chemical energy to sustain an entire Andean village for a week. It will be a much easier task than a suitably ecumenical prayer (thinking I had best work Jesus or some other suitable father figure into it, who probably should not be Odin or Ganesha, and that a Native invocation of the directions will likely not go over terribly well.)

Reading the paper lately makes the entire idea of thankful a bit challenging until I remember those ne’er-do-well Protestants–sitting in their little stockade, in a place as alien as any distant planet, starving their way into winter–managed to have themselves a good time, after their fashion. Still, the challenges of living in New Orleans gives me pause when I stop to rehearse my thankful list. I will be grateful for the home my wife found and furnished for us here in a city where vast areas are full of gutted houses (and some untouched for over four years). I will be thankful my children are in good schools in spite of the city’s school system devolving into a charter nightmare of Ayn Rand: The Board Game. I will be suitable obliged we all well and have health insurance, after a fashion (no, maybe I’ll skip that. An hour of politics is not good for the digestion).

As I finally pull out the Christmas music my wife will insist we start playing as we wash the china, I put my foot down and point out that it’s too damn early for Charlotte Church and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. I will put on Xmas In New Orleans instead. This will remind me that I am most thankful to be home, that my children who were not raised here never say home when they mean Fargo, that there were both oyster and merliton dressing on the table, that to entertain our visitors there is every possibility of heading out to hear the Rebirth Brass Band Thursday night if we can overcome the post-holiday lethargy.

And here maybe is a bit that will work at least as a launching point for grace. The whole song is sufficiently ecumenical (notice references to your Maker and the Wheel) but will only a little bit of imagination on the past of the listener you should clearly be able to pick out the obvious Xian references. If you don’t then I’m sending your back down for another year of Catechism and Eng. Lit. with the Sisters.

Now be thankful
To your Maker
For the rose
The red ose
Blooms for all
To know.

Join the famous Inspector Jacques Lamont as he pursues a dastardly gang of jewel thieves through the streets of the Big Easy in this exciting Hidden Object game! Scour the city of New Orleans for clues, from the haunts of the rich to gritty back alleys, to catch the crooks. Use your keen wits to bring these clever gangsters to justice as they attempt to cover their tracks and escape from Cajun Cop!

Perplexing puzzles and minigames

Unique atmosphere

Catch the jewel thieves!

System Requirements:

OS: Windows XP/Vista

CPU: 800 Mhz

RAM: 128 MB

DirectX: 8.1

Hard Drive: 96 MB

It Takes Just A second To Say Thanks,

It Takes Longer To The Work On This.

Cajun Cop: The French Quarter Caper

I used to live in New Orleans, LA. One of my favorite things about that mesmerizing and forsaken American city was the fact that alligators, large alligators, lived in City Park.

City Park was a huge area, a favorite of walkers and joggers and people with dogs. It contained several attractions, but my favorite part to walk in was a section known as the Arboretum, which used to house a collection of plants and trees before Katrina flooded it all and killed most of them. The Arboretum I knew began as dirt paths, twisting through broken trees and bracken, with rooted up places and small foot paths that the wild pigs used. By the time I left New Orleans, trees were marked with identifying cards, trails were neatly covered with woodchips, and nature had begun to recover from the beating it had taken during the storm. Birds and insects steadily returned as the foliage came back. The Arboretum became more crowded with people and fishermen. The feral cats and chickens seemed to disappear as the place became more popular.

And of course there were the alligators.

My favorite one was a big bull alligator. I knew that there were alligators in the park, but the ones I usually saw were around 3 or 4 feet long and very shy. This one was BIG. He was longer than I am tall, well over 5 feet. I became aware of his existence one day when my mother from “up North” was visiting me. I wanted her to see the alligators I often saw in City Park, before she went back to the land bereft of beasts that had eaten dinosaurs. Thinking this, we took a special trip out to the Arboretum specifically to see the little gators. I had no idea what we were about to run into that day.

“RRRRrrrrrrrrrrrroooooooaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhrrrrRRRR!”

We stopped dead in our tracks.

“Was that a wild pig?” my mum asked, amazement in her voice. At the time wild, furry black pigs with pointy ears still ran in City Park, heckling dogs and unsuspecting joggers.

“No–” I said, goosebumps breaking out over my skin.

Carefully and quickly, I made my way towards the sound and my eyes widened in amazement. There in the water just a few feet from me was the biggest bloody alligator I have ever seen. His back was arched, his head was pointed up in the air, and two smaller alligators were nearby. Evidently the big alligator had been serenading the two ladies and we had interrupted their courtship.

I moved back several steps and the big alligator dropped his head. He eyed me and then all three alligators slipped beneath the water without a trace.

Afterwards, I would occasionally see the Big Guy and his two ladies around the same spot. Evidently I wasn’t the only one to see him. A year later I was saddened to learn that Animal Control had found him in City Park. They had been wrangling the gators and releasing them into less populated areas “for the safety of the public”. The story goes they couldn’t catch the Big Guy, so they ended up shooting and killing him instead.

Now writing this, I wonder if any of the Big Guy’s ladies somehow managed to keep out of reach, and if they still lurk within the untroubled pools of City Park. Then I wonder if they made their nests, and if the eggs in those nests ever hatched. I like to think that at least a small piece of the big alligator survived in a place where so much has already been lost.

It’s like Ray Nagin meets Kwame Kilpatrick.

BOOM!

I spent the afternoon riding my bike around, posting posters and flyers about the upcoming Bicycle Film Festival. I rode over to the Gambit offices to drop off a screener for review and then back up Carrollton to Oak Street to drop flyers at all the lovely shops over there. Carrollton on a bike sometimes feels like a death wish, especially when riding under the freeway. You’ve got to make sure you beat the cars merging on to I10. It’s ugly–Elysian-Fields-By-Lowe’s ugly. The street is also bumpy as all get out, and lo and behold, on my ride back toward the river, I flatted out, sans tube repair tools. Fortunately I was near Oak, and near a newly-opened bike shop–New Orleans Bike and Board Shop (NOBS). The store is incredibly clean and tidy–it isn’t a greasy box stuffed with bikes and bike parts. They were perfectly happy to toss Rhoda up and fix her flat (see her in the picture, in the doorway? so pretty!). They even secured my floppy front fender and put another bolt on my basket, all for ten bucks. I have to say, I love new bike shops. I needed this place today, and I enjoyed chatting with the owners and the father of another of the owners about riding bikes, fixing bikes, shopping for bikes, watching movies about bikes. I continued on my merry way, dropping flyers and posters all over the place. I stopped in at Mike the Bike Guy–something was sticking, my wheels weren’t rolling quite right. He tightened my other fender and sent me on my way. Thank you, bike shops everywhere, for keeping us on the roads.

Ever been to New Orleans?

There’s something about it…

I made it back from New Orleans with all my luggage, loot and plunder intact (if not my nerves).

It all started very early. I left for the N. O. airport around 6:00 this morning and got in my door around 8 this evening (9:00 N. O. time). The first leg of the trip, to Denver, was fine, but I had a 4 hour wait there. Then the damn airplane (“Untied Airlines”) broke, but we know the REAL reason:

Had to wait an extra hour and half, or so, which really cut into the time I had in Calgary to get through customs and get onto the flight to Lethbridge. As it worked out, I didn’t have any time to eat in Calgary, but I did make my plane back home. Of course, the Denver-Calgary flight passed right over Lethbridge, and I could make out my street. That was just about the time I was really worrying about missing my connecting flight. So near and yet so far!

Tom and Sharon Robinson met me at the airport and drove me home. And what did I find when I stepped in the door? Three cats happy as can be to see me?

moar funny pictures

moar funny pictures

Well, the house is still standing, but the little beggars knocked over their giant can of Kittie Treats, spilling a gallon of dry cat food on the floor (according to Sharon, this was nearly a daily occurrence). They also tipped over my document shredder. I must remember to empty its basket after every use. Shredded paper all over my office.

moar funny pictures

Other that that, all is will. I had a great time at the conference. Met some good people like Roland Boer and Jim West, drank my fair share of Abita, at a lot of nice fish in a lot of nice restaurants, heard some good jazz, and found a great record store that now has a lot of my money. And I got myself on the steering committee of the Isrealite Prophetic Literature section.

As Hector Avalos predicted, there were a number of different perspectives at the secular biblical scholarship meeting, but I think a productive way forward can be found. I also met a lot of people who were interested but couldn’t make the meeting. Thanks to Hector for chairing it.

Looking forward to Atlanta!

More later.

Some Festive Games and Some Turkeys

We’ve arrived at Thanksgiving week, and the NFL season has become one of haves, have-nots, and mediocre teams.  The haves (New Orleans, Indianapolis, Minnesota, Cincinnati, San Diego, Arizona, and New England) figure to be the eight teams playing in the second round of the NFL playoffs. 

 The have-nots (Cleveland, Detroit, Tampa Bay, St. Louis, Washington, Kansas City, Oakland, Seattle, and Buffalo) have nothing to play for at this point.  To wager on these teams, one must find a reason to believe these teams’ players will have a reason to give everything they’ve got.

 The 15 mediocre teams remaining are the ones competing for the final four playoff berths.  These are the teams that must be watched carefully as the stretch drive begins.  Be careful playing against one of these teams when they are playing a have or have-not.  They can be dangerous.

 This week presents some interesting contests.  On Thanksgiving night, the Denver-New York Giants game features two of the aforementioned mediocre teams.  A match-up of two mediocre teams in essence becomes a playoff elimination game.  The loser of this game has very little chance of recovering to make the playoffs this year.

 Indianapolis plays at Houston, and the Texans find their backs up against the wall.  After losing a close Monday night game, Houston is in a must-win position.

 Arizona plays at Tennessee, and if the Titans win this one to get to 5-6, they would have to be considered a dark horse candidate to finish 9-7 and sneak in as the final AFC Playoff team.  No NFL team has ever started a season at 0-6 and finished 8-8 must less 9-7.  The 1970 Cincinnati Bengals began the season 1-6 and won seven games in a row to win the AFC Central Division at 8-6.

 Baltimore and Pittsburgh face off in a blood and guts battle that could easily be a playoff elimination game.

 The Monday night game is the best MNF game of the year.  New England plays at New Orleans.  It could easily be a preview of the Super Bowl.

Rivalry Week

Throw The Stats Out The Window

This is the college football week where more money is lost by those who don’t know what they are doing and more money is made by those who do know.  Certain rivalry games are just that—real rivalries.  Others are nothing but an annual beating on a little sister.

There is another bigger factor to this week’s games.  It’s the bowl factor.  Several teams are still looking for one final win to become bowl eligible.  A 5-6 team hosting an 8-3 team must be looked at quite differently than a 2-9 team hosting a 4-7 team.  The desire to get to 6-6 far outweighs the desire to avoid a 10-loss season.

Let’s look at the bowl eligible teams by conference as well as the teams needing to win this week to gain bowl eligibility.

Clemson and Georgia Tech have already clinched their divisions and will meet for the ACC Championship.  Tech edges the Tigers in Atlanta in September, but Clemson gave the game away.

Duke needs to beat Wake Forest this week to earn their first bowl in 15 years.  David Cutcliffe is one of the most underrated coaches in the country, and he should receive some national recognition in the Coach of the Year balloting.

The ACC has nine automatic bowl bids, and only seven bowl eligible teams as of now.  The GMAC Bowl will need to find an at-large team to fill the vacant position, and if Duke loses this week, the Eagle Bank Bowl will look to the MAC to fill that vacant slot.

Regardless of what happens in the Backyard Brawl in Morgantown this weekend, the winner of next week’s Cincinnati-Pittsburgh game will be Big East Champions and automatic BCS Bowl representative.  Cincinnati could still conceivably earn an at-large BCS Bowl bid at 11-1, but that chance is slimmer than slim.

Connecticut can gain bowl eligibility with a win at home against Syracuse this weekend, and they would get another chance next week against South Florida if they faltered against the Orangemen.  If the Huskies get that win, then the Big East will have six bowl eligible teams for six guaranteed spots.  Notre Dame could still possibly steal the Sun Bowl/Gator Bowl spot that goes to a Big East team if the Irish beat Stanford, but it would be a disgrace for them to steal a post at 7-5.  We believe Stanford will take care of business and keep Notre Dame out of the bowl picture altogether this year.

The Big 10 season is basically over.  Illinois has a couple of non-conference games remaining, and the only important factor in that is they play Cincinnati this weekend.  Wisconsin goes to Hawaii in two weeks, and the Outback Bowl bid could be riding on them winning the game.

It is almost a foregone conclusion that a second Big 10 team, either Iowa or Penn State, will receive an at-large BCS Bowl bid.  So, there will be seven teams available for eight bowls.  The Pizza Bowl (formerly Motor City Bowl) will have to look elsewhere and may be forced to invite two MAC teams.

Nebraska and Texas will face off in the Big 12 Championship Game, and the Cornhuskers may have a shot at pulling off a huge upset.  We give the ‘Huskers about a 15% chance of frustrating the Longhorn offense and win ugly.  If so, then another team from the Lone Star State will benefit.

After beginning the season at 5-0, Kansas finds itself in a must-win situation against Missouri at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.  They must earn The Brass Drum to earn a bowl bid.

The most important game though will be the Oklahoma and Oklahoma State game in Norman.  If the Cowboys beat the Sooners, they will more than likely earn an at-large BCS Bowl Bid at the expense of Boise State.  The Sooners must win to guarantee themselves a winning season.  The PiRate Ratings have had a devil of a time with OU this year.  Even at 6-5, their power rating keeps them in the top 10.  It’s hit or miss with them, as they showed how strong they are when they took Texas to the final gun.

If Kansas wins over Missouri, there will be 10 bowl eligible teams for eight guaranteed bowl spots (nine if Oklahoma State beats Oklahoma).  Look for Iowa State to be the odd team out of the mix.

Welcome to the conference where everything changes weekly.  With SMU losing to Marshall, the door opened once again for Houston to ascend to the CUSA Championship Game.  A win over Rice is all that’s needed, but all of a sudden the Owls have found their way.  It could be an interesting game—at least for a half.

The East Division championship will be decided this weekend when Southern Miss visits East Carolina.

UAB can gain bowl eligibility with a win over  Central Florida, but it may be a moot point.  There are only five guaranteed bowl spots with a sixth if Army fails to earn the Eagle Bank Bowl bid.  Six CUSA teams are already bowl eligible, and the Blazers cannot compete with Marshall or SMU in fanbase.

All three independents are still in the bowl mix, but as of now, only Navy is guaranteed a spot.  Notre Dame must beat Stanford to get to 7-5 and earn priority over every other possible at-large team.  At 6-6, they more than likely will find themselves out of the picture as there will be enough seven-win teams to fill the at-large spots.

Army must beat Navy to earn the Eagle Bank Bowl bid.  Navy has won seven in a row in this series, so it should be one of the best in this series in many years.

Central Michigan has already clinched the West Division, and the Chippewas will play the winner of this week’s Ohio U-Temple game in the MAC Championship Game. 

Two teams will be playing for that important seventh win this week.  Bowling Green hosts Toledo, and Kent State hosts Buffalo.

The MAC gets three guaranteed bowl bids and will get a fourth if Duke fails to beat Wake Forest and earn an Eagle Bank Bowl bid.   That’s where the Bowling Green and Kent State games come into play.  Both could earn bowl bids with wins, and one could even play in the Pizza Bowl against another MAC team.

TCU will manhandle New Mexico this week and then hope that either Texas A&M or Nebraska can upset Texas, Florida State can upset Florida, or Auburn can upset Alabama.  The Horned Frogs need two of the big three teams ahead of them to lose.  The loser of the SEC Championship Game means that either Texas must lose this week or next or the winner of the SEC Championship Game must lose this week.  If one of these events happen, then TCU will be playing for the national championship in January.  It’s hard to believe that this program was once as weak as Syracuse, Vanderbilt, and Washington State are today.

The one team still trying to gain bowl eligibility is Wyoming.  The Cowboys must beat Colorado State in Ft. Collins this week, and these two teams truly put the “war” in “Border War.”  It’s not a given that Wyoming can top the 3-8 Rams.

For the first time ever, the winner of the “Civil War” game between Oregon and Oregon State will earn the Rose Bowl bid.  The Ducks and Beavers are one of the best rivalry games in college football, and I’d love to have a 50-yard line seat next week in Eugene.

The Pac-10 receives six automatic bowl bids, but there are seven bowl eligible teams.  It looks like UCLA will miss out this year unless they can upset USC.  Arizona must beat either Arizona State or USC to get to seven wins.  If both the Bruins and Wildcats win seven games, then expect to see the Pac-10 receiving an extra bid to a western bowl.

This is a monster conference!  With Alabama and Florida headed to Atlanta to play what will be the “Game Of The Decade” (assuming both win this week), it is a given that the loser will still play in a BCS Bowl.  It isn’t completely out of the realm that if the SEC Championship game goes to overtime or is decided in regulation by a point, and if Texas loses to either Texas A&M or Nebraska, that Alabama and Florida could meet in a rematch for all the marbles.

With 10 bowl eligible teams, the SEC will place all 10 in bowls.  There will be a lot of last minute shuffling because there isn’t much difference between team number three and team number 10.

This league is almost assured of earning a second bowl bid this year.  Troy will play in the New Orleans Bowl, but Middle Tennessee will get an at-large bid somewhere.  Both Louisiana-Lafayette and Louisiana-Monroe can get to seven wins, but it will take big upsets for both to do so.  ULL plays Troy, while ULM plays MTSU.

Here’s where things should get interesting.  Boise State is a win over Nevada away from being 12-0 and the proverbial odd team out.  If Oklahoma State beats Oklahoma, the Cowboys will steal the last BCS Bowl bid at the Broncos’ expense.  Then, watch for the United States Government to put their messy fingers into the college football pigpen. 

Before we get into this mess, Boise State has to beat Nevada.  The Wolf Pack is not a pushover, and it could easily take 50 or more points to win this game.

Of course, if the Sooners win over OSU, then it looks favorable for BSU getting into the field.  Then, they would be competing against a one or two-loss Big East team and maybe a two-loss Georgia Tech team.

If Boise State moves up, then the WAC is safe with four bowls for four bowl eligible teams.

Hawaii could still sneak into the mix, but they would have to beat Navy and Wisconsin.  We don’t see that happening.

Bowl Speculations

New Orleans Part 1

New Orleans Part 2

In 2006 we contacted Operations Helping Hands Program of Catholic Charities – New Orleans  and put together a  project quickly.   Since Jack (@Jackventures) had access to over 200 college students each semester, a notice was sent out about our project in New Orleans.  We were able to obtain free food and lodging via Catholic Charities for everyone participating in the project!   Nearly 30 students volunteered to  join our little family on the Operations Helping Hands Project.

Jack made this into a service learning class project where students have the choice to participate if they choose.  Part of their assignment was to write a report about their experience after the trip.   These reports really wowed us but I’ll get to that a little later.

I always wondered why somebody didn’t do something about that. Then I realized I was somebody. ~Lily Tomlin

The truth is we knew deep down that New Orleans needed more than the French Quarter and the Garden District.   It needed it’s people, it’s neighborhoods back slowly, one day at a time.  We also knew what we could do was small compared to the scope of need in New Orleans.  However,  we prefer to have touched a life than none at all; we preferred to have given a helping hand, no matter how small of a gesture, than none at all; we preferred to have planted one seed in the mind of a student than none at all!

We ventured out on our 6  hour road trip to New Orleans on a Tuesday evening before Thanksgiving 2006.   We braced ourselves since we were traveling with teenagers (all over 18) and some have never been to New Orleans.    We all arrived in one piece and safely!  Wheeeewww!  Once we arrived the coordinator gave a quick orientation of where everyone will sleep, shower, eat, etc.

TV and Game Room

Dining Area

Sleeping Area- a messy one at that - what can we say, they're teenagers!

Students making sandwiches to eat at the worksite!

Bundled Student-- Burrrrrrr

The Team got up early each day and worked on Wednesday, (half day) on Thanksgiving day, and Friday gutting homes that belonged to two elders.  It was hard physical labor.  By the end of that Thanksgiving holiday weekend, as a team,  we volunteered close to 600 man hours in 2.5 days. We learned that gutting of the home alone would cost about $6,000 in labor. Essentially, volunteers saved these home owners a lot of money.  Everyone felt good knowing that their hard work made a difference.

One student in particular interviewed one of the home owners as a class project which she presented later in the classroom.

@ the headquarters gearing up, gathering tools, receiving instructions before heading out to the work site

The Three of Us!

Receiving instructions from the Site Coordinator

Sadly, during the gutting, students found personal items such as pictures, clothes, albums, & other household items as the owners had to flee for their lives leaving everything behind. It was truly an eye opening experience for all of us.    They conversed amongst themselves throughout the day and tried to place themselves in the shoes of the survivors.

Personal items found inside the home

one of the many items we found inside the home

Sign of the times

This was our first large scale Service project with college students, and what the students learned went way beyond our expectations.  In their presentations and papers, they talked about how this experience related to concepts in their Intro to Psychology class (a goal of “Service Learning” is more than the service, it’s about hands on learning of course concepts); most importantly it taught them compassion, empathy, and even though many of the survivors lived in another state, we were connected.  They realized how much of everyday life they took for granted, and learned that they themselves could easily be in their predicament (and some of us were, as Hurricane Ike pummeled Houston in 2008).

Operations Helping Hands is an ongoing project of Catholic Charities in New Orleans.  Please visit their website and learn how you could  help rebuild New Orleans!   As of this post, November 25, 2009, they are currently looking for long-term volunteers (3mo-1yr).   Aye actually thought about doing this as of today,  but surprisingly she exceeded their age requirement!  She missed it by 12 years!  Sigh….!!

If you have participated in the recovery of New Orleans after Katrina, please share your comments below.  We would love to hear from you.

“People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.” -John C. Maxwell

We respectfully dedicate this series of blog posts to the Men and Women who tirelessly participate in recovery efforts during many natural or man-made disasters in the USA and abroad–and to the victims and survivors of those events.  You are our heroes and your work  inspire us to take action, and be a part of the solution, not the problem!