Driving

According to the Department of Transportation, Americans drove 11 billion fewer miles this March than in March 07.

[Calculated Risk, Marginal Revolution]

Yo Noid

Anybody who even cares enough to read this blog probably reads Kottke.org already. But, I still find it necessary to re-post some of his stories every once in a while. This is one of those times.

In commercials for Domino’s Pizza, the chain’s employees wage a never ending battle against the Noid, a gremlin who delays deliveries and carries a gun that can turn a pizza ice cold. Many viewers are amused by the Noid, Domino’s says, but one of them took the advertising campaign personally. Last week Kenneth Noid, 22, walked into a Domino’s Pizza shop in Chamblee, Ga., with a .357 Magnum revolver and took two employees hostage. When police arrived, he demanded $100,000 in cash, a getaway car and a copy of The Widow’s Son, a 1985 novel about secret societies in an 18th century Parisian prison.

All Noid got was the pizza he ordered. After a five-hour siege, the two employees slipped away and Noid gave himself up. According to police, Noid has “psychological problems” and believes that he has an “ongoing dispute with Tom Monaghan,” the head of the Detroit-based Domino’s chain.

Time Magazine, you’re making that shit up. (via lonelysandwich)

(link)

Emergency Calls Only

[Source]

Stonehenged

I’m going to start using this term: stonehenged. It stands for purposeful damage inflicted on a significant object. Ugh, our petty arguments were no reason for her to go ahead and stonehenge my car. Argh! He tried to mug me so I stonehenged his face.

According to the AP, two guys took a hammer and chisel to the Heel Stone of the ancient monument yesterday, breaking off a coin-sized chunk of rock before security guards chased them away. From TIME’s Richard Lacayo: “If it turns up on eBay, don’t bid on it unless you plan to send it back where it belongs.”

Eisenman’s Six-Point Plan

Renowned American architect Peter Eisenman used the latest RISA convention to outline his newest controversy-in-the-making: a six-point plan that denounces the “state of passivity” we live in. This has to be a joke. Instead of doing some reading for class that I’m behind on, I’m putting together a piece on this for Britannica.

Court Appearance

I got to take the day off of work today. No, not spring break fun. No, not sick or sleeping in. I had to roll out of bed at 5:20 a.m. and make myself presentable so I could drive nearly three hours to the town of George West, TX, for my court appearance. For those of you that don’t know yet, I was arrested last month and spent 26 hours in jail for “reckless driving.”

Thanks to the father of a good friend, a public defender in California for the past 30 years, things went fairly smoothly today. About $1,200 later, I have been released and will have the offense struck from my record if I don’t fuck up in the next thirty days. That means a long, slow drive back to Chicago in two weeks when my time here in Austin is up.

I’m working on a longer entry about the arrest. Expect more soon-ish.

Earth To McCain

Check it. McCain’s latest advertisement. I thought this video, complete with Star Trek background music, was a joke — some nerdy will.i.am wannabe trying to influence political discourse with his Final Cut Pro skills — but I was wrong; It did come out of the McCain camp. I keep falling asleep halfway through so if you can make it past the first minute, let me know what happens.

• Originally published: Texas Monthly 2008.03.10

Sharpton Threatens Lawsuit

The New York Sun reported this morning that the Reverend Al Sharpton is in Florida today putting together a list of residents that skipped the January primary because the DNC promised not to seat the delegates from that state.

He plans to have those residents sign affidavits saying they would be disenfranchised by the seating of the Florida delegation, in the event the Democratic Party allowed that to happen.

Sharpton hasn’t officially endorsed either candidate.

• Originally published: Texas Monthly 2008.03.10

It’s 3 a.m. And Your Kid Is Out Voting For Obama

The New Argument broke the news today that the small child in Hillary’s now infamous phone ringing ad is an active Obama supporter. The footage is old, real old, and that child is now 18 years old and not only voting, but also leading caucuses.

“Its hilarious and ironic that the child in Hillary’s ad is now of voting age and not her supporter. I’ve been campaigning for Barack since October and was a caucus precinct captain. I’ve been a very avid advocate of his and recruited a lot of folks to caucus for him in January. He’s inspired and mobilized so many already, he’s refreshing and quite simply the best option for people who want to change this country.”

• Originally published: Texas Monthly 2008.03.09

Crist & Rome: A Match Made In … Time?

Amid speculation in the office last week, I tossed my hat into the ring saying that, despite McCain calling Crist one of the best governors in the history of time, the Floridian wouldn’t even be on the GOP nominee’s short-list for potential Veep candidates because of wild rumors concerning his heterosexuality.

Well, today we get this from the St. Petersburg Times:

For months, Gov. Charlie Crist has insisted that New York socialite Carol Rome is just “a friend,” but Tuesday night at a soiree in the Governor’s Mansion, he introduced her as “my girlfriend,” says the Tallahassee Democrat, which snapped the picture above.

In November, the New York Post reported that Rome, in the midst of divorcing Bluestar Jets CEO Todd Rome, was dating Crist. Then, the governor’s staff said Rome, a mother of school-age girls, was just “a friend.”

Still, last month Crist took Rome to the White House for a dinner with President Bush. So far, that’s two high-profile dates for just a “friend.”

I don’t know if I believe him. I don’t know enough about Charlie Crist to lean one way or the other on this issue, but could it be a first step towards jumping on the McCain train? Either way, Karl Rove predicted on FOX during the primary coverage on Tuesday that we shouldn’t expect an announcement from McCain on this subject for quite some time; the senator from Arizona will need to make his plans known much later in the game to stir up some excitement.

• Originally published: Texas Monthly 2008.03.07