Tailgate Facebook Invites Greatest Hits Edition

After the mind-blowingly staggering response to my last couple posts I thought I'd follow up with another college football related post.  (Oh, if you hadn't heard, RJ5K helped to generate a 25% increase in Google Maps reviews for Spartan Stadium. Who's kidding who?!)

In case you don't know, I help to maintain a Facebook group for a bunch of Michigan State tailgaters.  If it sounds like a big deal, it's because it is.  OK not really, but administering the group does make me feel less guilty when I don't bring cheese dip or I steal somebody else's canned refreshments.  And by "administering", I mean I send out an invite to the tailgate as if it wouldn't happen unless it got mentioned on Facebook.

Well, if you've read this far you must be a lot like me and that is: you find the things I write and say edge-of-your-seat interesting.  So without any further self-important blusterity here is the greatest hits from two years of tailgate invites...

2009 Tailgate pt. II - Spartans vs. Central Michigan Chippewas

September 12, 2009

Join us again for the last home tailgate until October. It's sure to be a rowdy time with lots of Chips joining the party and several Spartans returning from holiday for their first tailgate of 2009. Highlights from last week include Rock & Roll Matt's omelet station/ turntable, kids getting hit in the head with footballs, RJ falling down (twice) and puppies, lots and lots of puppies. What will happen this week and more importantly, will you remember it?

The Great State Tailgate - Spartans vs. UM Wolverines

October 3, 2009

If you only come to one tailgate all year, make it to this one. We are going to tailgate the crap out of this tailgate. In addition to the usual assortment of beers, sausages, chips, dips, chains and whips, there will also be a round table discussion on how awesome it is to be a Spartan as well as a beer shot-gunning workshop. Bring it. UM fans will also be tolerated provided they either 1) Attended UM's Ann Arbor campus for more than one semester or 2) Have the last name "Schembechler".

Tailgate Under the Stars - Spartans vs. Iowa Hawkeyes

October 24, 2009

Alright peeps. Last week kinda sucked. That's OK. I get it. You were saving up your tailgate energies. Because THIS is the big one. Yeah, it's a big game for the team. This will decide which way the season goes. Seven and one in The Big Ten and a trip to Pasadena or four and four and Motor City Bowl, here we come. It's also a big game for us, the tailgaters. It's a night game, FFS. We only get one of these every couple years. This is the day we don't have to wake up at five bleeding o'clock to get out there by seven am to drink Keystone Light in the dark. Let's do it right.

Yep. We're Doing This - Spartans vs. Western Michigan Broncos

November 7, 2009

Ouch. What a couple weeks for the team. Luckily however, the Broncos are coming into town to get us one step closer to bowl eligibility. As in, Little Caesar's Bowl or bust (who called it?). But who knows? Anything can happen... and that is why we tailgate, for the randomness (kinda like this description). So come on out, have a donut, drink some cider, drop your cell phone in the port-o-let or maybe even give a Bronco a noogie. It'll make you feel better. Promise.

Season Finale - Spartans vs. Penn State Nittany Lions

November 21, 2009

Yo, yo, yo, Spartans! Get fired up because this one is going to be huge. HUUUUGE! It's the last tailgate, we can rock it til 3:30 and the game is against our hated and despised rivals, Penn State (if you believe everything the B10 conference tells you; and I do). And oh yeah, we're bowl eligible so we're trying to build on that too. And that ain't Nittany lyin' that's Nittany tellin' the truth. Rumors are circulating that there will be some sort of chili cook-off but it's BYOB (Bring Your Own Beano). Clever right? Whatever... COME TO PENN STATE!

2010 Season Opener- Spartans vs. Western Michigan Broncos

September 4, 2010

This year's tailgate season picks up where last year's left off. We Spartans hosting our equine buddies from the west, the WMU Bronco's. We'll be at our usual location so come on out and see us. If we don't see you, we'll just assume you moved, died, own a lake house or had a kid (in any case, thanks for calling jerk!). Anyways.... As always, hopes are high, expectations are low and BACs will be somewhere in between. Go Schtayte!!

Way Late Tailgate- Spartans v. Notre Dame Fighting Irish

September 18, 2010

Bring a change of clothes and a toothbrush because this one is going way late. Festivities kick off at 1pm at the usual spot, game starts at eight at the stadium. On the agenda are beers, tacos and bad decisions. See you when I see you.

Best Tailgate This Week - Spartans v. Northern Somethin-or-Another

September 25, 2010

Spartans are trying to build on one of the greatest games in school history. Will this be a let down game or another classic? Only this tailgate will decide it. You best come correct. PS- get well soon, coach.

Super Huge Tailgate - Spartans v. Wisconsin Badgers

October 2, 2010

Thanks to those that kept the home-fires burning last week. Tailgate is coming back in a big way this week. Spartans are ranked, so is Wisconsin. Spartans are undefeated, Wisconsin dido. And it all goes down at 3:30. All of those factors were statistically significant in a regression analysis conducted on tailgating awesomeness. So bring your A-game. We don't need no stinking Badgers.

Oh Yeah! There's a tailgate - Spartans v. Illinois Fightin' Illini

October 16, 2010

It's gonna be hard to top last weekend for most Sparties but we'll at least give it a go this Saturday when the Illini (Illinis?) visit colorful and picturesque East Lansing. No let-downs. Go, fight win. And stuff

Tailgate Finale - Spartans v. Purdue Boilermakers

October 20, 2010

So I typed out a long (and hilarious) thing about this week's tailgate and FB F'd it up. So... there's a game. The Spartans are awesome. Yada. See you bright and squirrely.

Support Spartan Stadium on the Internets!

Spartan Stadium only has NINE ratings and reviews on Google Maps! 

To show your love for this great place, click the link in the bubble to rate and review Spartan Stadium. Then if you want, paste your review in the comments of my blog. I will be sending a small gift out to the poster of my favorite comment.


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Show your further support for Spartan Stadium on the Internets by either

A) Reposting the link to this blog:
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or

B) By telling your peeps to rate and review Spartan Stadium at this direct link to the Spartan Stadium Google Maps page: http://bit.ly/q9CrG1

Also be sure to check out a few facts and photos about Spartan Stadium on this blog, here.

On the Banks of the Red Cedar...

Just a few facts and photos on the history of Spartan Stadium.

Click here to support Spartan Stadium's internet rep.

 An early picture of College Field and the marching band with some agricultural buildings directly to the southeast.

Another picture of College Field and the marching band (presumably before it had been renamed to Macklin Field in 1935).  Beaumont Tower can be seen along the tree-line as well as a since-demolished smokestack.

The 1924 meeting between Michigan Agricultural College and the University of Michigan.  Michigan won 7-0.

Spartan Stadium in 1952.  In 1948, after being admitted to the Big Ten, the stadium was expanded to a capacity of 51,000 and renamed Macklin Stadium. Another 9,000 seats would be added in 1956.

Arial shot of Spartan Stadium and surrounding area in 1962.  The east and west upper decks were added in 1957 increasing capacity to 76,000.  Macklin Stadium was renamed Spartan Stadium that same year.



Photo credits go to "On the Banks of the Red Cedar" collection which is part of the University Archives & Historical Collection.

West Memphis Three Released

So I just read that the "West Memphis Three" have been released.  If you're not familiar with the story, in 1993 three boys were gruesomely murdered and left in a drainage ditch.  When no better suspects could be found, suspicions fell on three teenage boys, Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley who were subsequently convicted of the murders despite shaky evidence and alleged jury tampering.  For more information on the crime and trials see the recent article on their release, the WM3 wikipedia entry or check out the movie Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills.

I first heard of the story through the 1996 movie which does a great job of capturing all sides of the story including the fear, outrage and prejudice felt in the small town and the mounting realization that the suspects were being steamrolled.  Paradise Lost was followed by a sequel Paradise Lost 2: Revelations which I have not seen but will soon.

Spurring the release of the WM3 were their mutual guilty pleas to the three murders.  It seems odd that a guilty plea to first degree murder would lead to freedom.  You might think that this would lead to closure for all of the involved parties as well... except the pleas, of the little known "Alford plea" variety, allow the WM3 to maintain their innocence but admit that their was sufficient evidence to convict.  Which is where I get confused; weren't they already convicted of the crimes back in 1993?  The only explanation I have is that the prosecutors perhaps saw a chance to stop fighting the appeals, ease their collective mind of a potential miscarriage of justice, log a conviction and save face by not admitting any wrong-doing.  The WM3 and the victims' families meanwhile are respectively no closer to exonerating themselves or feeling safer that the true perpetrator(s) has been identified and taken off the streets.

Smoking is bad for you (and other tidbits)

Check out the new look of cigarette packs:

A little while back the "Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act" was passed.  The law enabled the Federal Drug Administration to more strictly regulate the cigarette industry.   The teeth of the law (among other things) require FDA approval for such modifying words as "light" and "mild", ban flavored tobacco in anything defined as a cigarette and require tobacco packaging to cover 50% of the front and rear of the pack with warnings such as the one seen above. Or this one:

*Smoking also kills puppies.

The thing about the flavoring was aimed to eliminate flavored cigarettes that would appeal to children such as root beer, grape and bubble gum.  This part of the law however also banned blended cigarettes containing ingredients such as cloves and other niche varieties of cigarettes clearly not geared towards children.  There was one flavor of cigarette however that wasn't banned.  Mint.  Yes, menthol cigarettes somehow passed muster as unflavored.  Whatever.

I find these new warnings extremely insulting.  It's no secret that the law has increasingly infringed on business' right to sell an otherwise legal product through regulation and taxation.  (I recently learned that a pack of smokes in NYC will set you back $12. Twelve bucks!)  But these new warnings clearly indicate that anything is fair game.  As a consumer and an American though I don't want to be treated like a freakin baby.  If something is legal, let me buy it and enjoy it how I want, free of guilt-trips and gross-outs.  Why can't all this effort spent on de-incentivizing cigarette use (E.G. scare tactics, exorbitant taxation, etc) be spent on incentivizing non-use?

Let me get this disclaimer out there.  I don't smoke.  It never really did anything for me.  Occasionally, I'll bum a smoke, smoke it half way and remind myself that I'm not missing anything.  The lingering odor of cigarette smoke in my parents' garage reminds me of the holidays and fresh cigarette smoke in a hot car takes me back to summer visits at my grandparents.  One of my grandmothers died of lung cancer at 75.  It's bad, for everybody.

*Although cheese steaks and combos killed this guy.

My Hip-Hop Movie Mini-Marathon

With Netflix I like to do film-marathons where I watch a handful of movies on a general topic. The last week or two, I watched a few movies about early hip-hop culture. The Freshest Kids is a 2001 documentary about the early days of b-boyin, rap and graffiti art. The story is told through interviews with hip-hop originators and super old film footage from dance battles, playgrounds and clubs.



Wild Style, the only fictional film here, follows real-life graffiti legend, Lee Quinones as Zoro as he tries to validate his art and win the girl. Don't watch this one for its film-making virtues but it is fun trying to name faces and place the sampled dialogues in the songs you've undoubtedly heard before.



I wrapped up the trilogy with Style Wars a PBS documentary from 1982. Style Wars focuses on the graffiti art culture of the time.

Unlike the other two movies though, Style Wars does not glamorize the culture. Interviews with NYC Mayor Hoch, other transit officials and concerned citizens give a fair (if not humorous) view to the other side of the argument. Still the film makers remain sympathetic to the artists.

Negatives from the work of Henry Chalfant, Style Wars co-director

1970's NYC

Mr. Wave, obv!

Way before its time. Can't believe I'd never heard this.

New School. Wait for the kid in orange. You'll never be the same.

The Week in Stock Photography

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

eBay, MTV & Netflix

I got an email a couple days ago commemorating my ten-year eBay anniversary. Having no precedent for ten-year internet anniversaries, I wondered what I might receive in recognition. Well, I didn't get crap except a subtle reminder that eBay was still there hoping to conduct business with me. Considering my ten years on eBay only reminded me what the site used to be for its very passionate users. All auctions, all the time. Bidding on random scraps. Selling random scraps. Running to the post office. Getting money orders and cashiers checks. Waiting for checks to clear. And buyer beware. It wasn't efficient but it was fun. Then slowly trickled in the Buy-It-Nows and the PayPals and the Super Sellers and of course the fees. Wired recently ran an article on eBay titled Going, Going, Gone: Who Killed the Internet Auction?. It attempts to explain how and why eBay has changed from its original incarnation to what it is now.

Monday marked MTV's 30th anniversary. Yep, thirty. I celebrated by watching a VHS (yep) tape I bought in 1995 for $4.99 titled I Want My MTV. The video is 45 minutes of MTV promos and other awesomeness. MTV has long been lain to rest so this kind of reminiscence isn't too painful but one detail regarding the occasion kinda irked me. MTV didn't even acknowledge the date on tv or online. This post with a hilarious title expands on the details: MTV Apparently Wants To Be 29 Forever.

Another business that seems to be going the same route is Netflix. Netflix recently announced its second pricing revision/ increase this year. Netflix' last move effectively separated its DVD-by-mail and streaming services and also attached a small price increase to both. For the users of both services, that sucks. If, like me though, you think the streaming selection sucks, it was actually a nice surprise. But whatever Netflix reasons for the moves (and many others), they are obviously an effort to divide and conquer their customer base and they leave even more early adopters alienated or in the dust altogether.

Do-over

Well, here is another attempt at creating my blog. I've had a couple of false starts over the years. Those fizzled when I got bored after a couple posts. Bored, I believe, because I put too much thought into the posts. Too much analysis. Too much revision. It just felt like work. So this is an attempt at less effort. Less censorship and less meaning. Just stuff that grabs me.

With that said, what I intended for my first post as a brief rant has kinda grown into something more. Slightly more.

Also, I am fully open to comments, questions, concerns and criticisms regrding the lay-out, look & feel and even the name of the blog. At this point it's just all out there in the interest of not getting hung up on the details.