Louisiana's Gas Rush

Because I know you're all curious about what's going on in Northwest Louisiana, I thought I'd link to an article in today's New York Times. There's a bit of a modern-day gold rush happening here and the magic words are "mineral rights."

Possibly the country's largest natural gas deposit is believed to be right under our feet. Too bad I don't own a few acres of land in Mansfield. Alas, it's interesting to see some national press attention on our area that isn't centering on hate crimes, Josh Brolin bar brawls, or extreme weather conditions.

The other thing that caught my attention about the article is how they describe the region: Shreveport is "down-at-the-heels" and a "long-suffering city" with a "semiabandoned downtown" and "tomblike quiet after 5 p.m." Well (and I can't believe I'm about to say this, but) it ain't all that bad. Matthew and I have found great restaurants, there's some cute shopping, and lots of neighborhood activities and festivals. Do I wish the airport was larger and Dallas was closer and UGA fans were a little easier to find? Yes, but there are some good things about Shreveport, and hopefully the money, jobs, and attention that this natural gas deposit will bring will make it even better.

How hot is it?

It's so hot that ... well, it's so hot I can't think of anything funny to say about it. Yesterday's high temp was 103 degrees, breaking a record that's stood since 1934. Today, we're expected to hit triple digits again.

So who's ready to come visit? (At least our AC works now.)

By the way, check out our new widget (I'm learning more blog terminology) highlighting the top UGA-related stories from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Life in S'port: What You're Missing

Saturday night I had a little trouble sleeping so I was up earlier than normal on Sunday morning. Frustrating, yes, but during my early morning channel surfing I uncovered a gem of local programming that's worthy of comment.

While perusing the Dish Network directory, I saw a listing for a show called "We Just Talkin" on one of the local affiliates. Was the name abbreviated? Is it a misprint? I had to investigate. Uh, no mistake here. The show is really called "We Just Talkin" and is one of those locally produced kind of shows that brings on guests from the community to talk about whatever they are promoting. Last week's show, which I must admit I missed the majority of, had a local sheriff giving helpful advice to our Shreveport citizenry. The tip that I tuned in for: When visiting loved ones in the local jail, make sure you don't have any warrants out for your own arrest. If there's a warrant out for you, don't visit or you'll be locked up too.

Does this really need to be said? And honestly, I'd rather that tip be our little secret. If you're too dense to figure that one out on your own, I'd feel much safer with you behind bars.

I'll be tuning in again this week for sure. Oh, yeah. I be watchin.

The Countdown Begins

You may notice I've added a countdown to UGA football on the blog. Yes, it annoys me that it hangs over the white sidebar background, but I'm not patient enough to figure out how to fix that. I'm also not entirely sure that the countdown is accurate. The game is August 30 at 12:30 eastern (adding an additional challenge is the fact that I'm in the central time zone). Can someone with some math skills and the ability to tell time check it for me?

No, I am not making this up.

Actual headline: Georgia Tech Student Places Ad on Craigslist to Learn How to Kiss

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,377121,00.html

And even if you had to resort to placing an ad, would you degrade yourself further by agreeing to a media interview? Sheesh, Techies.

Everyone in the pool!

We hosted a pool party on Sunday for our Life Group (sort of like a Sunday School class, but it meets on Thursday). Matthew grilled some terrific burgers and hot dogs, and we had apple pie and ice cream too. (Yes, we are the only ones in the group without kids.)

Fireworks on the Red

So after watching the Hot Dog Eat Off, we met up with some friends for dinner on the Fourth. George, a fellow ortho resident (who's in his last year), has a boat and he was kind enough to take us out onto the Red River to watch the fireworks. We had a great view!

Then we headed back to George's place, where he and some friends put on their own fireworks show. I didn't really get good photos of that because I was trying to stay alert in case I needed to run for my life (which I did a few times) or dial 911 (fortunately, I didn't have to).

In Louisiana, there are fireworks going off everywhere you look on the Fourth of July, but I do wonder if it's a good idea to have the laxest firework regulations in a state with some of the lowest education levels.

Riverblast 2008

How bad are my picture-taking skills? REALLY BAD! (sorry Phillip)

Melissa and me

Hot dog! (and bun)

Okay all you Fourth-of-July goers out there enjoying your parades and barbecues and mountain getaways, here's what you missed by getting out and celebrating and not enjoying the truly American pastime of sitting in front of a television with remote in hand: The 93rd annual Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest at Coney Island airing live on ESPN. Oh, and it was a good one. In fact, for the first time in the history of the eat off, there was overtime. A five-dog eat off. Now aren't you sorry you missed it?

Lest you think I'm overstating the significance of the event, the announcers themselves called the eat off "the epicenter of patriotism" and referred to this year's contest as "the most evenly matched game in the history of the Coney Island hot dog eat off." The bevy of competitors included a man named Bertoletti who started off his career, they say, in the deep-dish pizza eating circuit and a young woman, whose name I didn't catch, who currently holds the cranberry sauce eating record of 13 pounds.

But the fans were there to see the headliners: Joey Chestnut (representing the United States) and Takeru Kobayashi (representing Japan). Chestnut won last year, though some say it was a fluke as Kobayashi, who held the record for six years and ranks as the third best competitive eater in the world, suffered from a bad jaw.

As the 10-minute eat off kicked off, the competitors attacked the dogs "like Lindsay Lohan attacking a minibar." And in the final seconds the announcers observed that perhaps Kobayashi had an edge: "He has the throat power--it's almost reptilian." (Me thinks the B-team called up to cover the eat off really wanted to dazzle with their play-by-play.)

United States vs. Japan. So who would win the coveted mustard yellow belt? At the end of regulation, Kobayashi and Chestnut were tied at 59 hot dogs. But after the five-dog eat off, Chestnut comes out the winner. And isn't it fitting on this July Fourth? God bless America!

It's Official

Matthew is no longer an intern. He received a certificate of completion for his intern year at the annual "Hello/Goodbye" party the other week, and today he officially starts full time on ortho where the hours will be a little longer and the responsibility a lot greater, but I know he'll do great!

Our First Tomato

Matthew has been taking such good care of our tomato plant for months now, and we finally had one...ONE...that we could pick. How many sandwiches do you think we can get out of it?

NOLA

My most recent work trip was to New Orleans, where I stayed at The Soniat House in the French Quarter. I didn't dine near as well as I did in Charleston, mainly because I was too nervous--probably unjustifiably--to head out for dinner by myself. Plus the Bulldogs were playing in the College World Series each night, and I was happy to have take-out and watch them.

The Soniat House does not have room service, but does have delicious buttermilk biscuits and homemade strawberry preserves, which they will make on demand. As in, when I demanded a snack at 11:30 p.m. because the wireless in the room was out and I had to spread out all my stuff in the lobby in order to work on a story that was due, they brought me some right away.

I'm really pleased with all of the shots we got. Megan Thompson, the photographer, grew up in New Orleans, so I also got bits of inside scoop from her. She toured me by the house where Jude Law's "nannygate" took place, showed me where the Mannings (yes, Peyton and Eli) grew up, and drove me to the Ninth Ward. Remember the most awful scenes from the Katrina nightmare? They were in the Ninth Ward. A ride through the area probably wasn't the smartest decision I've ever made, but I wanted to see what it was like for myself. And it is, for the most part, still pretty awful looking, but there are new homes going up and people living there. Much of the city, though, is humming along, including the Quarter, which was busy even on Monday night.

Of course people are still talking about "the storm." (They don't really call it Katrina.) And everyone has their own story. Julia Reed, a writer for Vogue, Newsweek, and sometimes Southern Accents, just published a book about her own New Orleans' storm experience. She was having a book signing while I was there, and I got an autographed copy.

Here are some shots from the trip.

In Jackson Square.

A courtyard at The Soniat House.

Julia Reed's book signing.

Beignets at Cafe du Monde.

The Mannings' residence.