Highway nights

So much is going on in South Dakota.  My goodness!

First off, great news!  Roads are in good shape!

Now, the bad news.  The roads totally suck!

Yes, I found both stories today, and they are both new.  Talk about a case of the pothole being half empty and the pothole being half full.  For what it’s worth, I can’t think of a road I’ve been on in South Dakota lately that was really bad, but I haven’t been on a lot of South Dakota roads lately.  I will be in a few weeks, so maybe I’ll have a better opinion to give on this topic.  Feel free to add your road reports to the comments section.

Meanwhile, in non-asphalt news…

Burt Gummer won’t be moving to South Dakota.  Curse you eminent domain!  If you don’t know who Burt Gummer is, rent Tremors already.  It’s only been out almost 20 years.  You’ll find no finer movie with Kevin Bacon, Fred Ward, Finn Carter and Michael Gross.

Yahoo had a story about the top tech states, and South Dakota was in the bottom ten.  Take this yahoo!

The next two towns in South Dakota to do the consolidation tango are Emery and Bridgewater.

Tim Johnson wants to drill off the coasts, and John Thune is still riding the waaaambulance about ANWAR.  Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin’s views are oddly absent.

Huron residents are done letting their foliage go, or so the city sayeth.

This is a story we don’t see often.  Early?

Seriously, there is a street in Rapid City called Disk Drive?

My hometown might soon be handling 15 % of the state’s dairy production.  Go us!

One of Pierre’s new features this summer is that hot book smell. 

South Dakota opponents of NAFTA won’t be happy to hear we’re importing our wildfire smoke from Canada, rather than using U.S. made California wildfire smoke.

Finally, this week’s birthday report goes to Gettysburg, which oddly transitions into what I’ve been thinking about lately.

In a few weeks I’ll be travelling back to South Dakota for a few days.  Kate and I will be spending a few nights in Veblen, then we’re taking my mom on a road trip to the state capitol for my nephew’s wedding.  We’ll be in beautiful downtown Pierre for two nights, with world class accommodations at the AmericInn.  After that, we’ll be taking historic Highway 14 back to Minnesota, while my mom gets a ride from some other relatives.  I’ve taken to studying my new atlas for a route from Veblen to Pierre that is both somewhat new and not too out of the way.  I’m happy to report the route I’ve chosen not only adds just five miles to the drive, but it is full of road that I have not seen in maybe 20 years, and some that I’ve never seen.  Our trip will roll through exciting diversions like Lake City, Britton, Groton, Aberdeen, Mina, Ipswich, Roscoe, Bowdle, Hoven, Gettysburg, Agar, Onida, and finally Pierre and Fort Pierre (hotel in one, wedding in the other).  I might bone up on those towns thanks to this book that I’d recommend, but the price seems a lot higher than the forty bucks I paid a few years ago.  I really hope someday Kate and I can do something like that, even without publishing a book about it.  Granted, selling a book that expensive might be the only way to pay for gas by then.

What’s your favorite stretch of South Dakota asphalt, or even gravel?

Filling up at Exxon might be more like filling up at Enron?

A friend of mine and I often discuss policy and politics.  One thing he likes to talk about is how gas is affected by the oil futures market.  Griperblade’s blog today points out how changing the rules might drop gas by two bucks a gallon.  Would this work?  The Wall Street Journal thinks it might.  All I read was how oil markets are regulated by the same lack of rules that caused Enron.  That told me all I needed to know.  If the analysts are wrong, then gas stays where it’s at or goes up a bit more.  If we don’t do this, the same result.  I say we try it because they might be right, and there doesn’t seem to be any risk besides to those who are in the oil futures market.  This is the kind of information that could be dangerous if large masses of people knew. 

So, spread the news already.  My 1989 Oldsmobile doesn’t get 29 MPG like it used to.

If this blog was a car, it would be an AMC Pacer

It’s another Sunday, but the news takes little notice of the day.

The fine folks at the Yankton P & D once again provide a bizarre story, but it involves Nebraska.  In a way, I’m relieved.

I’m usually surprised to see an RV parked at Wal-Mart, but I shouldn’t be.  The numbers in this story kinda blew me away.  Sixty-four in a week at Wal-Mart?  I think I’m with Spearfish on this one.

South Dakota’s education system gets a bad rap, but this new requirement is a great idea.

Last week we wished Ipswitch a happy 125th, and this week the honor goes to Alpena.

i kid you not on this one.  I clicked on Rapid City’s local news, and this story was at the top.  The breakneck pace of Rapid City would be too much for me.

I haven’t heard the term “poetry slam” in a while, but Vermillion slams it down on the 26th.

Luckily, Eden doesn’t lose about two per cent of their population.

High gas prices are making one Sioux Falls business boom, but it is not a gas station.  I’ve driven in Sioux Falls enough to realize I would never go that route in that town’s traffic.  Yikes.

Twin Brooks is losing their only church.  Stories like this make me wonder how much longer Veblen will have three churches.

It looks like the “thinking Arbys” campaign is working its way into headlines.

Meanwhile, across the river and time zone line, Fort Pierre is ready for something fresh and new.

I’m not sure what the Brookingspaper was going for with this headline.

One does not mess with the South Dakota Department of Public Safety.

De Smet may lose their priest to a paperwork foul-up.  Hopefully this gets straightened out.

I DVR’d FNMTV from Friday, but I didn’t get time to watch it yet.  I opted instead to watch the first DVD of season one of “The Venture Bros”.  I’ve been watching season three, but I’d only seen a handful of the previous episodes, and I’ve had the DVD sets for over a year, and until last night I hadn’t even opened them yet.  The only downside of watching that much is the threat of burnout.  In my case, it was the opposite.  All day I’ve wanted to watch the next DVD, but due to a headache, company and going to work early, it wasn’t in the cards.

OKay, I just laughed really hard at something on the Rick Dees countdown.  Is that a sign I’m getting older, I’m too tired, or what?  The odd thing about the bit was that it was identified as a call from Lander, Wyoming.  My brother used to live there, and that’s the town I saw my second ever movie at a movie theater, Raiders of the Lost Ark.  The movie freaked me out to the point I have yet to see another Indiana Jones movie.  I was hoping to see Crystal Skull to help get back into the swing of them, but now I’m more apt to see Hulk or Get Smart.  I really hope the reviews of Get Smartare a bit harsh.  I had such high hopes for a relaunch of that franchise, and from the commercials seemed like Steve Carrell was a great choice for the role.  Have the reviews been harsh, or is it bad?  For that matter, is Love Guru really as bad as I’ve heard?

I hate to keep it short this week, but it has been a long week, and a short weekend.  Here’s to a slow week.  I could use one.

Hands down, my win moment of the year

Last night after work, Kate had “The Next Food Network Star” on.  Ordinarily, I’m not a big fan of reality shows, but this one sucked me in.  One of the contestants is named Lisa Garza.  There was a close-up of her at one point, and Kate remarked at how she looked “different” or “odd”.  I didn’t think much of it at the time.  A few close-ups of her later, Kate asked me “Doesn’t she look like a Romulan?”  This is the same Kate that once said “I hate Star Trek” and “You’ll never get me to watch Star Trek” and “Star Trek is stupid” and other gems.  Thanks to Voyager, with a few pinches of DS9, Enterprise and TNG, she beats me to the punch in noticing that Lisa Garza does look a bit Romulan.  For comparison:

  

Watch yourself Bobby Flay.  Romulans are quite treacherous and deceptive.  Also, don’t be surprised if a few contestants “withdraw” before the show is done.

Also, thanks to Kate for a moment that still has me laughing when I think about it.  Now if only I could get her into cartoons…

If MTV was a sign in South Dakota, I’d shoot it

First off, I hope everyone had a happy Father’s Day, no matter what that might have involved.  Now, onto the business of South Dakota, the state I’d move to if this one kicks me out/axes my job/starts taxing Taco Johns and other fast food joints.

The economy is down, but South Dakota’s courtroom sketch artist industry is alive and well(for now).

I may need to take a few notches off my South Dakota cred, because I totally didn’t know this existed.  If I ever get my pudgy butt in shape, I think this would be a smashing good time.

I wish you all could hear how my mom pronounces “mosquito” because she’s going to be saying it a lot.

South Dakotans, set your VCR/DVR to record this, unless it isn’t your cup of tea.  I’m going to set it to record as soon as I get home.

Is your South Dakota home a South Dakota disaster?  You could complain, or send a quick email and then get back to complaining.

Dog bites woman, then starts a pitbull argument in the comments section.

South Dakota still doesn’t pay their teachers enough, but they are sending four to Turkey.  Well that takes care of that.

This headline actually tricked me into thinking it was about eagles.  WTFis wrong with me?

Winston Rothchild III would disagree about the first part of this headline.  If you don’t know who Winston Rothchild III is, get ye some Red Green DVDs.

This week’s “feel good” story is wishing a Happy 125th Birthday to Ipswitch.

This week’s “roll your eyes at the state” story is the number one hobby of bored rural kids with firearms of course.  I was a bored rural kid at one point myself, but I never had much access to firearms.  I used to joke a lot about this with my friends from far off lands like Massachusetts, but I haven’t thought about this in a long time.  Shot up signs in the middle of nowhere is just something I’m used to now.  The worst I can remember doing is throwing ice out of the car to try and hit one.  Well, maybe a pop can or bottle here and there during the high school years.

Friday night was the premiere of MTV’s new “video” show “FNMTV” hosted by Pete Wentz.  After all of Pete’s complaining about MTV not playing videos, here was a new show that was going to premiere “new videos in their entirety”.  How sad is it that Music Televisionneeds to create a show to play videos.  I liked the old way better, which was to “play videos”.  I’m sensing you’re thinking this will be one of those rants about how MTV went down the tubes thanks to reality and dating shows and other junk that the kids love so much.  I love a good rant about “millennials” as much as anyone, but I am a Gen-Xer, and I’m here to say…

It is our fault.  It might be partially our fault.

We’re the ones who made Beavis and Butthead a household name and made Mike Judge a rich, rich man.  We buzzed about Liquid Television even before that.  We watched Singled Out, The Real World, MTV Sports, Lip Service, Buzzkill, You Wrote It, You Watch It, The John Stewart Show, Lip Service and probably others I’ve forgotten.  Most of these shows didn’t last long, but enough people watched them to send the message that MTV that non-video programming might be the future.  If only we’d watched more 120 Minutes, Headbanger’s Ball, Alternative Nation, Yo! MTV Raps, Dial MTV, and other video-based programming maybe this wouldn’t have happened. 

I crossed out my initial theory because of shows like FNMTV.  Young’uns are complaining about MTV not playing videos too, but The Hills, Shot of Love and other shows keep pulling in more viewers than videos ever did.  MTV2 was supposed to be the all-video channel, but either I always check when they’re doing something else, or that channel has become totally unnecessary.  Even the digital cable channels I have seem to be drifting.  MTV Hits sometimes plays other shows, and MTVU even does it now and then.  FUSE has gone from being the “anti-MTV” in terms of shows to being a clone.  I’d say I long for the days of MuchMusic from Canada, but my brief time watching Much while in Canada last year revealed more shows (but I give them props for the one video I caught, from the band IllScarlett).  I am willing to admit the times I try to watch these channels might not be giving me the appropriate view on what they show.  Now back to ranting about FNMTV.

One of the things I was looking forward to most about the show was finally seeing James Montgomery, who writes a weekly column on MTV’s website (Bigger Than the Sound) that I usually enjoy.  I was actually rather surprised to see he looks a bit like the “hipster” that he’s made fun of in several columns.  My wife thought he looked more like a “poindexter” which amused me on so many levels.  If he was going for a “hipster poindexter” he succeeded in our household.  I was really surprised that they were taking a poll of what people thought of the videos.  They’re asking for trouble like on the old show 12 Angry Viewers where videos could be voted off MTV “forever”.  Or, at least until they voted off a song that wound up being a big smash.  There was a moment where something that James said was censored, which really threw me for a loop.  I don’t expect this show to last very long.  The garish production and stage set-up, four (yep only four) new videos per hour, overselling of the fact that videos are being played on a channel built on them, and Pete Wentz’s love affair with his own voice won’t help it in the long run.  I had not anticipated a show to make me long for the days of Matt Pinfield, Kennedy, or Rikki Ratchman sitting on a box on a sound-stage just talking to me about videos and bands.  FNMTV did that.

If internet petitionsweren’t so worthless, I’d start one to get MTV to turn in their name.  It’s time to change the name of the station to something else, like NOW TV or GEN TV.  MTV needs to have their name revoked and given to a new channel that maybe actually does what the name implies.  Wouldn’t that be a fun time in TV Land?  Requiring stations to do what their name implies?  If they fail they get stamped with a new name like “Generic everything cable network 58″.  While that might be a pipe dream, maybe TV can finally start getting comfortable in its own skin and stop worrying about growing and audience and instead stick to what made their name buzz in the first place. 

Or, thanks to DVR, YouTube, Hulu, BitTorrent and more, we already have our own networks, cobbled together from all the channels.  If that is the case, why did I just type all that?   Maybe I’m still bitter about missing their golden age because my small town cable provider didn’t carry the station.  When I finally got to college, the only video I ever caught was “Jeremy” by Pearl Jam (this went on for months, sheesh).  Maybe I hold on to the old notion that reality shows shouldn’t be on MTV, movies shouldn’t be on ESPN, wrestling shouldn’t be on SciFi, and anything but forecasts and updates shouldn’t be on the Weather Channel.

Or, I maybe probably definitely just like to complain once in a while.

For those about to shop, we salute you?

In case you missed the news, the Wall Street Journal leaked a report about AC/DC selling their newest CD as a Wal-Mart exclusive. Some response has been quite negative, and my initial feelings weren’t the best. Wal-Mart is a store I try to avoid, even before avoiding Wal-Mart was the thing to do (or not do). I spent the summer of 1994 working as a stockman at the local location. It wasn’t a bad job, but it was by far my least favorite job. It probably didn’t help that I was living in a dorm with no air conditioning, my roommate bailed on me, I was making minimum wage, and I was by far the lowest rung in the Wal-Mart ladder, if being a stockman (stockperson nowadays?) is even a rung. I couldn’t wait to stop doing it, and I’ve tried to avoid the place ever since. The majority of my bosses weren’t the best either (one was actually pretty nice) and my only fond memories involve me putting together a display bookcase.

I could go into the other reasons the store gets a bad rap, but any google search worth its salt can find those. The complaints I’ve been seeing about the AC/DC thing involves a few online commentators claiming the band has “sold out”.

Are you kiddin’ me?

I’m probably the biggest AC/DC fan I know, and this notion blows my mind. “Selling out”, besides being a tired term that few use anymore, implies that a band had artistic integrity. We’re talking about a band that has songs like “Big Balls”, “Sink the Pink”, “Ballbreaker”, “That’s the Way I Wanna Rock and Roll”, “Cover You in Oil”, “Bedlam in Belgium”, “Given the Dog a Bone”, etc etc. This is a band that when accused of making the same album nine times, rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young said “I thought it was ten?” (I probably butchered that story, but you get my meaning). Their bass player, Cliff Williams, called their music “deep and meaningless”. I have a hard time believing that AC/DC is in this for the artistic merit of their music. I don’t presume to speak for the band, but it seems to me that they’re in this because they seem to enjoy doing it, and the money isn’t bad either. That’s not to say they haven’t done the odd thing to indicate otherwise (when they denied permission for the Beastie Boys to sample their music comes to mind).  When the Eagles can get the sales numbers they did from partnering with one of the top music retailers in America (now second to iTunes of all things) (BTW, AC/DC is one of the last iTunes holdouts), I would think a band that’s been away this long (eight years) and is coming off a so-so album (Stiff Upper Lip) needs a bit of an assist in promotion.

What does blow me away about this news is that WAL-MART CAME TO AC/DC(supposedly). Wal-Mart, the store that doesn’t sell albums with naughty words and tends to put themself on a pedistal of being “family friendly” is selling the new AC/DC album. I remember the “Night Prowler” bru-ha-ha. I remember people claiming it stood for “Anti-Christ/Devil’s Child”. Let’s not forget all the protests about “suggestive” and “obscene” lyrics in the 1980s by the almost-forgotten P.M.R.C. Without changing anything AC/DC has gone from being “devil music” to being sold as a Wal-Mart exclusive. Heck, I’ve bought my last three AC/DC clothing items at Target and Pamida. I’m looking at getting AC/DC baby clothing. Has society really gone that far since the 1980s? It doesnt’ feel like it to me.

I just whipped this up in MS Paint. I wonder if we can get a chunk of the stores to change their signs this fall?

Oh, just for fun, let’s look at other bands if they did the Wal-mart exclusive.

Feel free to add/suggest your own.

Didn’t I just do this a few days ago?

Ah, the pratfalls of postponing a blog.  The Brookings Register had barely any new stories since my last look at happenings in my old home state.  Luckily, the rest of the links picked up the slack.

First off, it has been raining a bit.  There’s no shortage of places to find information online.

Even with all the rain, it wasn’t wet enough for one barn.

This isn’t a big limb for our distinguished Congresswoman to go on, but she goes on it.

Aberdeen is worried about flashing signs.  Not that worried however, since the story is from the Yankton paper.

This was always a big todo around my home turf, but I never did go and check it out.  Maybe someday I’ll get up there and see what the big deal is.

South Dakota is losing Republicans in name, but not necessarily in voting.  Another thing my state decided to do is not lower teen smoking rates, but to wait for everyone else to catch up.  Nice.

Another tourist trap on I-90?  The Wall Drug goon squad will be putting an end to this but quick.

I don’t know of any tourist traps on US-212, but hopefully this stretch doesn’t have any.

This is one way  for South Dakota schools to get more funding, but I really would like to see it happen another way.  Based on the rap the state gets education-wise, I feel quite lucky and privileged to have gone to the school I did.  It may no longer be with us, but it served me very well.  I was going to link to something online that mentioned my school closing, but I couldn’t find anything.  I don’t even remember what year the high school closed the doors anymore.  I just know every time I go to Veblen I drive by it, and think back on all the time I spent there, both good and bad. 

I’m not sure what is going on in my head lately.  I’ve had quite a few peaks and valleys in my moods, sometimes in the same day.  Some of that is expectant father nerves.  Some of it is the economy and wondering how to make ends meet pre-kid (don’t even ask me about post kid yet).  Those two are significant, but there’s something else.  I don’t know what it is.  Also, lately odd things remind me of odd things that aren’t really connected.  I’m getting random flashbacks of past failures, childhood memories long forgotten, past triumphs (although fewer than the failures), and feelings about people, places and things I had either forgotten about or thought were long gone.  It’s almost as if my brain’s filing system is on the fritz and it’s spewing files at odd times with no rhyme or reason. 

That’s not even the weirdest thing.  Have you ever had a phrase in your head?  Not a song lyric, but a phrase?  I’m talking about a line from a movie, TV show or web cartoon sort of phrase.  It has happened to me before, and from people I’ve talked to it has happened to them as well.  The weird thing about the phrase in my head is that I don’t remember hearing it anywhere, and the voice isn’t one I recognize.  Sometimes the phrase repeats as a person in shadows (in my head) reaches a hand out.  The line is:

“This is the end of all that you know”

Kate’s theory is that it has something to do with how much our lives will change when we welcome our newest arrival.

I hope she’s right.  I try not to look into it too much, but if you know me, you know that’s fair to impossible.

Turn out the lights, the party is hoping for unity

All the stories tonight say Hillary is going to concede on Saturday.  Granted, once I hit post this might have changed.    While trying to find out the exact numbers, I found this link to the BBC.  The three South Dakotans they picked shouldn’t color (or in this case colour) the Brit’s feelings about our fine state.  Yahoo’s political dashboard gave me the breakdown of 55-45 per cent for Clinton.  What surprised me was the 70-17 split for McCain/Paul.  If John’s health declines, the Huckabee/Paul/Romney scrap at the Republican convention will make Clinton/Obama look like slap fight.

It looks like Tim Johnson has some competition.  I’d be more interested if it was Lenny Dykstra.  That guy is nuts.

Union County made a decision to welcome Hyperion with open arms.  Well, at least a slight majority of open arms, and a sizable minority of protesters and lawsuits.

South Dakota’s Children’s Museum has a mascot to be named later, and you can help.  Just don’t tip off Stephen Colbert’s people.  Actually, somebody should.  South Dakota doesn’t get many mentions on his show.

I’m not sure exactly what is going on with Brookings and the downtown project, but if the guy I buy role-playing games, comics, board games, dice and pet supplies is against it, I think I might have to agree.  By the way, if you’re ever in Brookings, check out Brost’s Aquarium and Hobby.  It is in my top five stores of all time.

The good news in Pierre?  There was plenty of live bait to be found.

If you’re spending the weekend in Brown County, you might as well leave your siphon hose at home.

The primary season is over, just in time for the West River Democrats to call it a season (and they even had their picture taken…I’m surprised there were this many ;p ).

Huron is spared the tyranny of traffic control again this year, but the fight will continue next year.

An old friend of mine is taking the furniture biz to Mitchell.  Kudos Rich, if the rumors are true that is.  Those Econo Foods have big ceilings, so you can really stack those ottomans.

No big news in Marshall County this week, and no really minor news either.  That’s the way my mom probably likes it.

I had bigger plans for this post, but it’s 1:30 AM and I’m about ready to fall head first on the “z” key.  Keep it real.  Really what, I don’t know.

PDD

Read this figure’s history on this very informative website.

My South Dakota update should be up sometime in the next 24 hours. I might postpone it until the night of the Primary. Woo! Primary! Woo!!!!