Ben and Jerry

Ben and Jerry
Originally uploaded by jesusluvsjessie.

I was browsing around on the CNN website about the happenings in Darfur when I found this picture with the caption, "The founders of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, Jerry Greenfield, left, and Ben Cohen, protest in front of Sudan's embassy on July 29 in Washington. Protesters urged an international effort to rein in the Arab militias killing black Africans in Sudan's Darfur region. Cohen and Greenfield were later arrested on the steps of the embassy." Now I have always liked Ben and Jerry (for the ice cream and all), but now I respect them for 1) being aware of the happenings outside of their little corner of the world (which we are all too often guilty of) and 2) being willing to risk reputation for something they care about.

hitler or chandler bing?

During the fall semester of my freshman year at Harding, I had Dr. Elrod for International Relations. While the class was mostly foreign policy, Dr. Elrod had a Link of the Month. Most of the links were something random like Norad's Santa-radar, but one month it was Guess the Dictator or Sit-com Character. We played during class, and I now I use it to relieve stress when the long day at work is a little boring. I'm sure that some of you out there are aware of this wonderful tool for procrastination, but for those of you who aren't - think of an obscure dictor/sit-com character and prepare to be entertained (or at least have 5 min of your day sucked away). Enjoy!!

Blue suede shoes

I'm from Memphis, home of the blues and birthplace of rock-n-roll. For those of you who don't know much about Memphis - it's rainy, humid, and has a feel of its own. I think if you can sum up Memphis in a song without words it would be Memphis Soul Stew (Solomon Burke) and Walking in Memphis does an adequate job of describing most of things about Memphis that make it my beloved home. We have great music (B.B. King, Isaac Hayes, and Three Six Mafia), good BBQ, and an accent all our own.
I don't know if it is the dreary weather, the stress of the semester, or a hiccup in a relationship, but I'm homesick. Not the "I want my mommy" kind of homesick, but the "I miss my town" kind of homesick. I'm in a blues kind of mood, I want to sit back and listen to B.B. wail away on Lucille. I even miss Elvis (whom I don't even like). I'm a peppy person, but today I'm mellow - I want to put on my blue suede shoes and board a plane. So I'm going to go listen to B.B., drink some coffee, and imagine Reverend Green, the Memphis skyline, and Ole Man River. Here's to hoping for sunshine, playing outside, and a cheerier me.

The commercials sucked

Okay - so it's obviously been a while since I've done this, but I've been inspired to start this up again. Yesterday was the Superbowl (I won the pool for closest guess of the score - woo hoo). I normally thrive on the commercials from the Superbowl - but this year sucked. In years past we have been graced with the Budweiser frogs (and other reptiles), the infamous Mac commercial from the early 80's, and many other attempts at selling a product without actually showing the product in the commercial. This year however, I was painfully disappointed. With the exception of FedEx/Kinko's self-reflective commentary on the Superbowl commercial industry, the Ameriquest commercials were some of the funniest of the evening. I was dissapointed with the overall showing from the beer companies, shocked and disturbed by the Degree commercial, and frustrated with the sizeable number of repeat movie commercials that we've all seen before (if you're gonna pay that much money for 30 seconds - come up with something new). Whew!!! What a relief to have that off my chest. So - any thoughts on Superbowl commercials past or present - or the game?