"Get on your feet"

This weekend in college football, [The] Ohio State University (#1) defeated Michigan (#2) 42-39. It was a very exciting game. With an audience of 21.77 million viewers, it was the most-watched regular season football game since 1993. Alternatively, one could say it was the most popular regular season football game broadcast in HDTV ever.

[The] Ohio State University’s Marching Band was a major [no pun intended] part of my overall viewing experience. I found their song “Hang On Sloopy” particularly catchy and with good reason. According to the band’s website, it has been an Ohio State phenomenon since its debut in 1965.

• The ability of the song to bring the crowd to its feet has been noted by university officials, particularly in the pressbox…Dr. Paul Droste confirms this rhythmic power, noting that Sloopy was used on several occasions to test the structural integrity of the stadium.

Audio and video links for your entertainment:
http://tbdbitl.osu.edu/media/audio/hang_on_sloopy.mp3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oPiBSktp6M
(Anyone notice the key change?)

However, let us not forget [The] Duke University Marching Band and1966 favorite “Devil With A Blue Dress On.” [Also notable for those particularly attached to 1965, “Can’t Turn You Loose” builds the excitement whenever the team enters.] I won’t even attempt to explain the intensity this song brings to Cameron Indoor Stadium’s critical moments. Next time you’re in town for a game, I’d highly recommend checking it out.

Houston, we have a problem

My hard drive crashed this morning, and I spent the better part of today trying to recover my data. I was quite unsuccessful. Frustration levels rose, but I’m handling it well. Luckily, nothing work related was lost. I’ve got a couple more recovery avenues to investigate, but the prognosis doesn’t look good. I can certainly remember a time when I would have been furious, but I believe I’ve matured since then.

I don’t remember who first said this to me, but you can learn a lot about a person by the way they handle lost luggage. In many ways, lost data is analogous.

Election Day

Midterm elections were yesterday. The Democrats gained control of the House of Representatives, although the word is still out on the Senate. Even in the information age, Virginia is still having trouble counting ballots.

In local news, Mike Nifong won the Durham District Attorney election. He captured 49.10% of the vote, while two challengers Lewis Cheek and write-in candidate Steve Monks received 39.25% and 11.64% respectively. Please notice 39.25+11.64>49.10.

Also interesting was my polling location, the River Church. Apparently, North Carolina isn’t too strict about that whole separation of church and state. Remember: God’s watching you cast your ballot!

Some states voted on issues ranging from abortion to same-sex marriage. Hopefully not as controversial, in other news, Arizona rejected the $1 Million Voter Reward proposition, an incentive designed to increase voter turnout, by randomly drawing one lucky voter’s name.

And for all those Classic Portnoy fans out there, I leave you with this story: After feeding my ballot into the electronic scanner, I commented to the attendant, “Gee, I hope this gets counted.” I don’t think she got the joke.

Counting Carbs

Today’s adventure begins at The Refectory Café, advertised as an environmentally friendly eatery supporting local farmers and living wages. I had the Sheppard’s Pie for lunch, and while it may have been a little pricy, the portion was quite large.

In an effort to validate my beliefs that I ate healthy today, I inquired about my meal’s nutritional value. Unfortunately, no statistics were available. However, I was reassured that they are working on the issue and it may be resolved in about a month.

One must take the time to applaud McDonald’s for publishing its nutritional information on the Internet. Within a few seconds, I was able to learn that the Big Mac contains 560 calories, 30 grams of fat (including 10 grams saturated), 1010 milligrams sodium, 47 grams carbohydrates, and 25 grams protein. It may be unhealthy, but at least it’s transparent.

Now, I do believe that the food at the Refectory Café is much healthier than McDonald’s. However, I hope this claim can soon be verified quantitatively. One can not expect consumers to make educated decisions about their diet if they are not given access to the nutritional facts about the food they eat. [See also: “Super Size Me”]