Big Ben was big man on campus, at least until a pair of sexual assault allegations put a damper on his social life. And now the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback is getting hit where it hurts, serving a six game suspension for his actions. But is serving a six game suspension (38% of the season) based on allegations alone a fair punishment for the alleged crime? While I applaud the move to clean up the image of the NFL, the new personal conduct policy seems to lack not only transparency but also a defined metric for determining just what is good conduct. But then again wouldn't it be great if the commish could extend his reach outside of the world of football and suspend your local politician, used car dealer or catholic priest?
In his letter to Big Ben, commish Roger Goodall stated that as an NFL player he should be held to a higher standard. Perhaps some of these guys should also be considered under the Personal Conduct Policy;
3) Tiki Barber: OK, Tiki wasn't technically in the NFL when he left his pregnant wife (with twins) of 11 years for a 23 year old NBC intern. But the former New York Giant is a broadcaster and is invloved in the NFL, and certainly will not get my vote for husband of the year.
2) Antonio Cromartie: At 25 Antonio is one of the leagues top cornerbacks and is currently the active leader in illegitimate children. The New York Jets standout has produced 7 children with numerous women in 5 states. But it could just be because he can't read the directions on the condoms. A former tutor at Florida State University alleges that he read at a grade 2 level while playing there.
1) Chris Chambers: According to a number of online sources Chris Chambers of the Kansas City Chiefs was married to the woman he accused of stalking him only two days after the ink was dry on his divorce. Chambers reportedly filed eleven charges of stalking against his bride before finally giving in and marrying her.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Friday, September 3, 2010
Forgetable Places #1 - Fox Creek, Alberta
Have you ever read a travel book and been awed by the details of some magnificent or mysterious place. But do those same books ever tell you about those forgotten an lonesome places located down the highway from the really cool places? Well these are the places that I so often seem to work in. I travel alot for my job and these forgettable and often indistinguishable places seem to be the lifeblood of my work. And of all the places I have visited Fox Creek, Alberta is by far the loneliest and least favourite of all my trips and deserves a fitting tribute.
The beginnings of Fox Creek are entirely dull, yet somehow reminiscent of the current state of the place. Apparently the town started with a single service station located along a quiet country road. The Town of Fox Creek website boasts that the area now has apparently 7000 vehicles passing through on a daily basis. But it is not like they have a choice as the town is located immediately adjacent to Highway 43, roughly between Grande Prairie and Edmonton. I will hand it to the town planners however, as they graciously did not lower the speed limit on the highway as it passes by Fox Creek.
As far as amenities go I have a few recommendations. For fine dining I would suggest Subway or the Sobeys grocery store as the safest choices. For entertainment the choices are a little bit slim, but there are a few viable options. Free Playboy Television at the Foxwood Inn almost never disappoints and throwing rocks against the wall at the Winks convenience store is probably more entertaining than you would think.
On my last visit to Fox Creek I asked a local contractor about living in the Town. He was originally from BC and I was surprised to hear him say that is wasn't too bad living there. But he proceeded to follow up that statement with "if you don't mind working every day and having absolutely nothing to do".Perhaps the best description I have heard of Fox Creek is that is was a glorified truck stop. So next time you think your neighbourhood, town, or job sucks take a trip to beautiful Fox Creek, Alberta! Or if you are bored check out this stunning gallery of images from the Town located here and I promise you will promise to never say you are bored again.
The beginnings of Fox Creek are entirely dull, yet somehow reminiscent of the current state of the place. Apparently the town started with a single service station located along a quiet country road. The Town of Fox Creek website boasts that the area now has apparently 7000 vehicles passing through on a daily basis. But it is not like they have a choice as the town is located immediately adjacent to Highway 43, roughly between Grande Prairie and Edmonton. I will hand it to the town planners however, as they graciously did not lower the speed limit on the highway as it passes by Fox Creek.
As far as amenities go I have a few recommendations. For fine dining I would suggest Subway or the Sobeys grocery store as the safest choices. For entertainment the choices are a little bit slim, but there are a few viable options. Free Playboy Television at the Foxwood Inn almost never disappoints and throwing rocks against the wall at the Winks convenience store is probably more entertaining than you would think.
On my last visit to Fox Creek I asked a local contractor about living in the Town. He was originally from BC and I was surprised to hear him say that is wasn't too bad living there. But he proceeded to follow up that statement with "if you don't mind working every day and having absolutely nothing to do".Perhaps the best description I have heard of Fox Creek is that is was a glorified truck stop. So next time you think your neighbourhood, town, or job sucks take a trip to beautiful Fox Creek, Alberta! Or if you are bored check out this stunning gallery of images from the Town located here and I promise you will promise to never say you are bored again.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
The Beautiful People
On a whim, I typed the words "beautiful people" into google and although I did not know what I was looking for, I was surprised at what I found. The first entry in google was a dating site called beautifulpeople.com. I am in a relationship and even met my partner on the Internet, so I was not looking to join a dating website. But I was compelled to see if the site was as shallow as I feared it would be. And I was not disappointed. It turns out there is a club for the beautiful people and they even have a website.
Billing itself as the largest network of attractive people in the world, the concept is that members decide through online voting who is considered "beautiful" enough to be granted access to the website. In their own words "BeautifulPeople does not define beauty but gives an accurate representation of what society's ideal of beauty is". While the application process does allow you to include profile text, the overall feel of the website does not make it seem like Mother Theresa exemplifies the kind of beauty they are talking about.
The website even allows you to view those peoples profiles which did not make the cut. Browsing a few of the rejected profiles, purely for research purposes, I did not notice anywhere for the applicant to include details such as volunteer service, recent random acts of kindness or number of infectious diseases cured. Although I can only speculate as to why they were not approved for entry I can only assume it was because they were not good looking enough.
Perhaps I prescribe to a different definition of beauty, but I also don't think I could get access to the website on my picture alone. While no one can tell another person who to be attracted to, I hope that it is more complicated than BeautifulPeople makes it seem. But then again, greatpersonality.com does not make for the catchiest website. All I know is that a thumbnail picture could never summarize the worth of the beautiful people in my life.
Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it. - Confucius
Billing itself as the largest network of attractive people in the world, the concept is that members decide through online voting who is considered "beautiful" enough to be granted access to the website. In their own words "BeautifulPeople does not define beauty but gives an accurate representation of what society's ideal of beauty is". While the application process does allow you to include profile text, the overall feel of the website does not make it seem like Mother Theresa exemplifies the kind of beauty they are talking about.
The website even allows you to view those peoples profiles which did not make the cut. Browsing a few of the rejected profiles, purely for research purposes, I did not notice anywhere for the applicant to include details such as volunteer service, recent random acts of kindness or number of infectious diseases cured. Although I can only speculate as to why they were not approved for entry I can only assume it was because they were not good looking enough.
Perhaps I prescribe to a different definition of beauty, but I also don't think I could get access to the website on my picture alone. While no one can tell another person who to be attracted to, I hope that it is more complicated than BeautifulPeople makes it seem. But then again, greatpersonality.com does not make for the catchiest website. All I know is that a thumbnail picture could never summarize the worth of the beautiful people in my life.
Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it. - Confucius
Friday, August 27, 2010
So what is it all about....
No I am not able to provide answers to life's infinite mysteries but I can try to tell you what my blog is about. And I am formulating the concept as I am writing this sentence. At this point I will call it eclectic and insightful, a whirlwind tour through topics you didn't know you cared about. And when it fails I will never admit I ever had a blog, delete this account and I will tell anybody who asks that I think blogging is for woeful slackers who have too much time on their hands.
I have no concept of what a blog should be, but at this point it is just my personal space to write about all the things that I wish I had wrote about. The goal is to get one reader and from there maybe two, but even without it I already feel like I accomplished something. Besides, I am kind of interested in woodworking too, so this might run out of gas in a week or two!
I have no concept of what a blog should be, but at this point it is just my personal space to write about all the things that I wish I had wrote about. The goal is to get one reader and from there maybe two, but even without it I already feel like I accomplished something. Besides, I am kind of interested in woodworking too, so this might run out of gas in a week or two!
Thursday, August 26, 2010
The Just One Reader Project
Perhaps my ambitions are ruefully low, but with just one reader I feel like I will have joined the modern age. I have a facebook account (complete with "friends"), I have seen twitter (but never twitted), and I have held an e-reader in my hand. I know that I may never be fully evolved in this right, but it seems that having a blog should rocket me into the world of hipster superstardom.
So here it is, my blog. And I assume at this point you are more than just a little underwhelmed. And I know why:
So here it is, my blog. And I assume at this point you are more than just a little underwhelmed. And I know why:
- I have no idea what people normally blog about. I have lots of ideas, most of them come to me in times of intense reflection (while using the bathroom) but they are fleeting at best.
- I have no idea if people are looking to find "another" blog. As much as I would like to think there are directionless masses just waiting for inspiration, I am sure that this is a little idyllic.
- You can't write a successful blog just because you watched "Julie and Julia" for free on your parents satellite dish while you were visiting for the weekend.
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