A Few Thing I Miss About New Mexico...

1.  Decent chili rellenos
2.  Having a yard
3.  Seeing Breaking Bad being filmed

Of Course You Were Arrested, Ryan Leaf...

HELENA — The West Texas district attorney who prosecuted former NFL quarterback Ryan Leaf in 2009 said Saturday that he'll file a motion to revoke Leaf's probation following his arrest in Montana.
Leaf was arrested Friday in his hometown of Great Falls on burglary and drug possession charges, police said.
James Farren, the Randall County district attorney who prosecuted Leaf in Texas and negotiated a plea deal with him in 2010, said he would file the motion Monday to revoke the 10-year probation Leaf got in the agreement.
"I think it's sad," Farren said of the allegations against Leaf in Montana. "While I hoped for better results I'm not surprised it happened."
Leaf did not immediately respond to text and voice mail messages left Saturday.
The circumstances surrounding Leaf's arrest were not immediately clear. Great Falls Police Sgt. Dean Bennett, who confirmed Leaf's arrest, said Friday night that he had not seen a report detailing the allegations against the ex-football player.
Leaf was booked on felony charges of burglary of a residence and criminal possession of dangerous drugs, plus a first-time charge of misdemeanor theft, Cascade County Detention Center Officer Robert Rivera said.
Leaf was freed on $76,000 bond and is scheduled to make an initial court appearance Monday.
Leaf's defense attorney in the Texas case, Bill Kelly, said Saturday that he hadn't spoken to his client. Leaf's father, John Leaf, called Kelly on Friday to tell him about the arrest, he said.
"His dad was pretty upset, of course," Kelly said. "People get hooked on these things and it's hard to get off of them. It's just a sad, sad deal because he was doing so well."
Leaf, a former standout quarterback for Washington State, was the No. 2 pick in the 1998 draft behind Peyton Manning. But Leaf flamed out as quarterback for the San Diego Chargers, gaining a reputation as one of the biggest busts in NFL history.
A message left at his parents' house was not immediately returned Friday night.
Leaf released a statement through his publicist, Wendy Ogunsemore on Friday night.
"I've made some mistakes, and have no excuses," the statement read. "I am using the tools I've learned to move forward rather than backwards, and will be open to talking about the details in the days to come. I am confident that there will be further understanding when the facts are revealed, and feel very blessed for all of the support, especially from my friends and family."
Last year, Leaf had surgery to remove a benign tumor from his brain stem and later underwent additional radiation treatments.
On March 21, Leaf told an Associated Press reporter in an email exchange that he had struggled through treatments and had an MRI scheduled for the end of the month, but "I'm doing/feeling much better and am excited for the rest of 2012."
Farren said if the judge revokes Leaf's probation he could go to prison for longer than the probation term. The judge could treat each of Leaf's drug charges in Texas — seven counts of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud and one count of delivery of a simulated controlled substance — separately because that's the way the plea deals were done, he said.
Some of the charges carry a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
"The judge could stack them," Farren said.
In 2008, when Leaf was a quarterbacks coach for Division II West Texas A&M, he was accused of burglarizing a player's home. An investigation turned up that Leaf had obtained nearly 1,000 pain pills from area pharmacies in an eight-month span.

He resigned that year, was indicted in 2009. Besides the 10 years' probation, he was fined $20,000.

Last year, he wrote a book titled "596 Switch" — the name of a passing play in the Washington State playbook — that focused on the 1997 season when he led the Cougars to their first Rose Bowl in six decades.

Seattle communications consultant Greg Witter, a friend of Leaf's who co-authored the book with Leaf, said Saturday that Leaf has been "diligent" about fighting his addiction, including admitting himself to rehab around Christmas 2010 when he saw inklings of his old behaviors surfacing.

"I'm hopeful this is a misunderstanding of some kind and that Ryan can continue making the great strides in his life that we've all seen over the last three years," he said.


Ex-NFL quarterback Ryan Leaf arrested; Billings book signing canceled:

'via Blog this'

It's A Great Day to Live in Maryland! Let Freedom Ring.

Thank you Maryland legislators!

Hometown Snow Down!

I love Montana!

shhRed Lodge - Best pow in the Rockies from Bomb Snow Magazine on Vimeo.

"The Wire" Monopoly Board

"The Wire" Monopoly Board:
I have literally never wanted anything more than I want this. Someone at Parker Brothers better make this a reality. Tagline: It's all in the game.

Via: flavorpill

Not Only Did This Happen, It Happened Here

So This Happened of the Day:

So This Happened of the Day: The President and First Lady chat up ubiquitous actor Bill Murray ahead of today’s Tigers-Beavers game at Towson University. (Associated Press Fun Fact: “Obama’s brother-in-law, Craig Robinson, is Oregon State’s head coach.”) They’re lucky the AP’s Patrick Semansky snapped this photo, otherwise no one would have believed them. [ap / h/t: @alex_ogle.]

Here's To Montana Girls, Everywhere: SV Edition

Sarah Vowell Tells Us About the True Meaning of the Day After Thanksgiving

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Sarah Vowell, history geek humorist extraordinaire (and the voice of Violet Incredible), has a very important lesson on history that we have probably never really acknowledged in our lifetimes. As she described on The Daily Show — as its newly minted Senior Historical Context Correspondent — November 25 is Evacuation Day, the day that British troops finally left New York after the end of the Revolutionary War after imprisoning American POWs in prison ships where many, many, many of them died and/or ate maggots to survive. But the good news is that, as we all know, the British finally left in 1783, years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence and those surviving prisoners were freed! Some of us will be taking advantage of sales this Black Friday. But some of us will be celebrating history by not eating maggots.

(via Time)

Occupy Karl Rove's Speech: Who Knew Karl Rove Was Even in Town?

Occupy Baltimore Interrupts Karl Rove Speech:
To the GOP braniac's credit, he had the cohones to not leave the stage and snap back at the protesters ( unlike Scott Walker ). Best line of the night: “This is actually the most fun you can have on a Tuesday in Baltimore.”

Via: reuters.com

NFL Searching For Any Unused Harbaughs

NFL Searching For Any Unused Harbaughs: NEW YORK—After noting the respectable performance of Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh and the excellent record of San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh, the National Football League announced Tuesday it is actively seeking any and all...

Go Ravens!

Montana Hutterite colony subject of new documentary

Montana Hutterite colony subject of new documentary: GREAT FALLS — A National Geographic crew is filming a
documentary about a Hutterite colony in central Montana, hoping to
give viewers an inside look at one of the country's most
misunderstood people.

I've tired to explain this community to people here in the East.

"Oh, so like the Amish?"

"No, they use modern conveniences, but the do speak their own dialect of German."

"Oh, so like Mennonites?"

"Hmmm... they kinda dress like that, but they also like to party."

Let's see if National Geographic can do a better job of explaining than I can. I think they have a good chance.

Behold: Future Alum of Montana State Univeristy

The Great Infestation of 2011

After my recent trip to the great Brick City, aka Newark, NJ, I kinda feel like Frank McCourt in Angela’s Ashes just without the Consumption, hopelessly alcoholic and absent father, and starvation.  Hopefully I left all my new friends, the bed bugs, in Newark.  However, I think I am forever damaged by this experience that can only be described as fucking gross.

Some facts about bed bugs:

• The first person to get bit will continue to be the BB’s preference and they will continue to feed from that person. 
• They will choose hairless skin over skin with hair, and prefer the scent of women--another example of male privilege in our society.
• Bed bugs will make you feel like you losing your mind.
• Bed bugs are nearly impossible to eradicate.
• Bed bugs are fucking gross.

If you want to see the pics... you can see it here (warning it's fucking gross).

Best Local Baltimore Story in While

Although I originally saw this on the local news, I was pretty excited to see it also featured on Gizmodo:

Feuding Women Inadvertently Create Toxic Gas In the Middle of a Wal-Mart

Hey, did you hear the one about the two women fighting in a Wal-Mart? It's a real gas! No, really, that's not a punchline. Two women threw ammonia and bleach at one another and created poisonous gas in a Wall-Mart:

Two woman involved in an altercation at southern Baltimore County Walmart store threw bleach and another chemical on each other, causing possible injuries for other customers on Saturday, police and fire officials said. Baltimore County Fire Department's hazardous materials units responded to the scene around 11 a.m., and at least one patient has been transported to Wilmer Eye Clinic, spokesman Glenn Blackwell said in an email. Two additional people were taken to Baltimore Washington Medical Center, police spokesman Shawn Vinson said in an email.

So far one person has been arrested. And, in case you were wondering about what happens when you combined ammonia with bleach it's pretty nasty—and potentially deadly!

Mixing bleach and ammonia is extremely dangerous, since toxic vapors will be produced. The primary toxic chemical formed by the reaction is chloramine vapor, with a potential for hydrazine formation

The fumes are what get ya, although with a little extra ammonia the concoction gets explosive. Stay away! In the event of contamination, move in the opposite direction from the chemicals and call 911. Also, don't get in a chemical fight in the middle of a Wal-Mart. Falling prices? Cool. Falling dead people...not so much. [The Baltimore Sun]

The Capital of Montana is Not "Hannah"

The Hardest Part is Finding the Geeks

Here is my reflection of the day about moving from a tiny, rural community to a large, urban community:  It is just as hard, maybe harder to meet people.  People still move away.  Over the course of the last year I have lost everyone that filled that spot of "hit me up anytime".  And, just like in middle of the New Mexican desert, I'm starting over.
The hardest part isn't finding just any friend.  If I really wanted to get out and make friends, it would be hard.; but there are good social places: kickball teams, soccer teams, flag football teams.  I'm doing those and I have a good time playing around and having a beer afterwards.  But, what I am craving is some good ol' geek time.  And that isn't easy  to come by.   Where the hell do you find the geeks in a new city?  Answer:  The Node.  So, today, I put in my application to join the Baltimore node.  Fingers crossed, one footstep forward.

Baltimore Grand Prix-- Getting Out

I wasn't sure if I wanted to get the hell out of Baltimore this weekend for the Grand Prix, or be in the VIP sections.  I mean, the track runs right by my house, through some of the best parts of Baltimore, allowing me to relive my childhood love of Poll Position.  Then I tried to grab a cab on Thursday.  Races didn't start until Friday, but that didn't stop the flood of people causing more havoc than Irene.
Being a prepared person, I called for my 5PM cab early.  At 11 AM the cab company said it would be a 60 min ride from Federal Hill to Charles Village (normally 15).  At 4PM they called and said they couldn't come because traffic had come to a complete standstill.  So, I was happy with the decision.  Then, I saw this:

...Poll Position...

In the Path of the Hurriquake, Google CR!

Remember when I gushed over how Google was producing some of the most important tools in response to the Japanese quake? No?  How about when I wrote the Street View Car this love letter?  Well, they are already preparing us all with the Crisis Response Center where you can track Irene, and the location of shelters near you.  I stand by my statement.  Google Maps is best gift to humanity in the 21st century.  'Til, the sky dries, xoxo Google.

Earthquake Madness!

This about sums it up:

DC Earthquake Devastation

via famousdc.com

Thanks to all of you for your kind words of support, as we look to recover from the devastation of today's quake!

There were a few casulties at our place.  A tiffany lamp my mom gave me, some picture frames and a shelf and the kind of stuff that sits on shelves.  My favorite part, though, was that anything nailed to the wall is about 15 degrees off center.  All of our pictures and paintings are symetrically crooked.

Otakon, You Have No Idea

It was about this time last year that I nearly stopped dead on Charles with a WTF? Seeing all kinds of brave and gangly teenagers walking down the street in full CosPlay.  Little did I know, they were coming to the anime Mecca, Otakon.  Last year, there were 25,000 people that attended the con and trust me when I say nearly all of them were in full regalia.  Baltimore, in ways, seems an odd location for this geeky get-together, but for a city that doesn't really fit in with the rest of the East Coast, it's also kinda perfect.  Check out the whole gallery at Geeks Are Sexy.