March Madness

Crazy Americans in San Antonio for the 2008 NCAA Final Four Championship

It's that time of year again. In a little over 2 hours the biggest and best tournament in all of sports will begin. Who is this year's Cinderella? Which team will live up to expectations? How will the mid-majors fair? Who will step up and become this year's Most Outstanding Player (MOP)? These questions and more are about to be answered in the next three and half weeks.

Is your bracket finished? I hope so. It doesn't really get more American than sports, all day, on CBS. 16 games today and tomorrow to start the Madness.

Last year's finale was an epic one. Two of my friend's were lucky enough to be there and share in a piece of history -- see above. What an American experience. They actually drove from Iowa on Saturday night after KU knocked off North Carolina. Drove all night and all day for the game on Monday night. They were in attendance when Mario Chalmers gave a metaphorical "Rock Chalk" to the Tigers of Memphis.

Let the fun begin for the 2009 tourney!

The Pet Rock

Uh-merican Product Line
(Does NOT have to originate in America, just bring joy to Americans)


The pet rock started in the 1970's by an advertising executive named Gary Dahl in California. The stones were from Baja California, Mexico and marketed as actual pets, complete with a training manual on how to care for the non-moving, non-living "pet." The cost, a mere $3.95. In just over six months Dahl became a millionaire.

Only in America could a guy like Dahl take advantage of so many people. I know I have probably paid for dumb things in my lifetime, like Keds shoes or canned beets, but seriously, a rock?

In art class in 3rd grade we made our own pet rocks. The exercise was fantastic because we were responsible for bringing in our own rock. For the guys, this set-up two things 1) we competed to find the coolest, most unique rock and 2) we talked trash to each other when we did. Friendly competition. After a couple days of searching we brought our rocks into art class and added characteristics with paint, markers, chalk, etc. My rock was red with those eyes that bounce and forth, forcing my rock to be cross-eyed half the time. Similar to parenting, there is no correct manual for raising a pet rock, I had to learn on the fly.

Much like my rock from the 3rd grade, only better

"Hey, youuuuu guuuuuuysssssss"

Boston Terrier pet rock; this is creepy

Kenny Powers

...is a pretty American dude.

New US Citizenship Test

This was sent to me by my friend Erik. It is 30 questions, and they tell you immediately if your answer is correct or not. Some are tricky, so watch out. I missed 5. After this post I will immediately re-watch Rocky IV to see Rocky fend off the USSR and Wrestlemania III to witness Hulk Hogan defeat the biggest man in the world, Andre the Giant. This should raise my American stock to a livable level once again.

http://noticias.aol.com/inmigracion/quiz/citizenship

NJ & NY

After our DC escapades and fighting traffic outside of Baltimore thanks to a pretty fierce accident, we rolled on to south New Jersey. There, in Toms River, home to the 1998 Little League World Series Champions, lives my Aunt T and Uncle Mark. They housed us for a night and took us to a solid meal at Benihana. The always interesting Aunt T now has a Facebook. Check her out. Please add her.

From there,we went up to Manhattan to celebrate our friend Nolan’s 23rd birthday. We met up with another Arizona girl back in New York for work, Ashley, and took off for some food and drinks.

After some really excellent margaritas we met up with some more of Nolan’s friends and headed out for the rest of the night. No more than a block from Nolan’s apartment we encountered an interesting situation. Nolan of all people, on his own birthday, attempted to walk around a corner while another patron of the city continually shoved and rod him into a wall. Nolan got a little mouthy, but none of us were prepared for what this crazy fuck did next.

And I quote, “You think you’re a tough guy? How about I cut your fuckin’ throat?”

Then he reached in his jacket and pulled out a swithblade with a blue handle. Nolan’s friend Greg pulled Nolan away while the crazy fuck’s friend did a karate move to my left. Yes, karate. This was the most humorous part once we reflected on the situation later. He squatted, crossed his arms like a disabled, aged Bruce Lee, said “You wanna fuckin’ go?”, but then forgot he still had on his shitty track jacket. So, he uncrossed his arms to take his jacket off while his silver over-sized chain hit him in the face. Classic.

Although that part was purely hilarious, the situation could have gotten a whole lot worse. Thankfully, our clear heads prevailed and we enjoyed the rest of our night. Excitement never seems to leave us alone.

DC

Our 3 days in DC started off with the “We Are One’ concert on Sunday. This concert featured many well-known artists and actors, such as Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi, John Legend, Tom Hanks, Samuel L. Jackson, Denzel Washington, U2, and Beyonce. The concert took place on the Lincoln Memorial with fields of observers stretching to the Washington Monument. For those unfamiliar with that distance, its approx. 4,000 ft. I personally could not see any of the live action from my vantage point, but I had a great view of a monitor. Many great Presidents of the past were quoted, slideshows of our nations history were presented, and of course music acts performed sparingly.

President Obama got up on stage at the end to a rock star’s welcome and spoke for a couple of minutes. Personally, I felt that the concert was the highlight of the inauguration events because influential artists were supplemented with speeches rooted in our history. And to be honest, we were witnessing history. This event was very fitting and started off a wild couple of days.
The day before the inauguration was also a busy, intense day down near the capital. People were everywhere – historical monuments to all of the Smithsonian’s. However, the atmosphere was very electric. Vendors lined the streets showcasing their custom Obama gear. Hot dog carts staked out the busiest corners to increase revenue. Every five feet there was a picture being taken by a visitor/Obama fan. People of all different ages, races, and sexes lined the blocks, disobeying traffic laws and sightseeing before the epic Tuesday swearing in ceremony.

Erik and I were staying with Brian Stoffel, a 2004 Grinnell graduate who lives in DC. We had planned to wake up about 5 o’clock, hit the train down to the mall area, and brave the elements for the ceremony. At about 10 o’clock Monday night we received word from another Grinnell grad, Stacie Kossoy, about possibly receiving 3 tickets for the inauguration parade – one for Brian, Erik, and myself. Stacie had tickets to all three events, the ceremony, parade, and a ball. The “superiors” in charge stated that it would be nearly impossible to get into the inauguration ceremony and parade due to the addition of 2 million people to the area and intense security restrictions. We debated for a while and decided that having tickets was definitely more secure than trying to maneuver our way through those 2 million people.

On Tuesday, we got up about 8:30, ate breakfast, showered, drank some beers, and walked about 20 minutes down to our parade entrance. We got to the area around 11 am and watched Obama getting sworn in with about 200 other people, mostly parade go-ers, on a mall food court television. The venue didn’t matter; we were witnessing history. We entered the parade at 1 pm, with the scheduled start to be at 2:30. A delay due to the Ted Kennedy having a seizure did nothing more than allow us to meet some other parade go-ers, such as a lady from Dallas, two ladies’s from California, and two younger girls from the DC area.

The parade floated by soon enough and the excitement built as we heard Obama and Biden were in the front of the parade and on foot. With security holding up their end of the bargain, the stands were fairly empty. We pressed the guardrail that was patrolled by Seattle’s finest. Unfortunately, Obama got back into his limo for our stretch of the parade. Biden was still out on foot and gave us a generous wave as Stoffel yelled, “HEY, JOE!!!”

Being in DC for the inauguration of Barack Obama was something pretty special. My excitement level was sheer giddiness. The environment was spectacular; everyone had a positive outlook on America’s future beyond this historic moment. You could easily strike up a conversation with anybody, knowing you had strong common ground. The attendees were enthused, happy, confident, and ready for this change. I was more than glad to be physically in attendance; something I will never forget.

Us at the parade

Obama speaking at the concert

Some neat Obama art on our way to the parade

History

Today we as Americans are witnessing history. Fortunately for myself and friends, the late addition of 3 tickets has secured our attendance for the inauguration parade this afternoon. I hope everyone enjoys today's inauguration speech, parade, and other events. Thank you America for democracy.