R.M.S. Tressel

The sad voyage of Ohio State coach Jim Tressel



(HT: WLA for the 'copter 'shop)

Time to get new plates, dude

So you're a huge Buckeye fan living in New Jersey.  You get the scarlet Mercedes.  Add a Buckeye license plate holder.  Now, you need just one final thing to make this the ultimate Buckeye mobile: a Tosu-centric vanity plate.

Since you live outside Ohio, you have more choices.  You come up with the perfect one (no, "FUCK MICHIGAN" doesn't fit and isn't acceptable - even in Jersey).  Yes, it's available!

You wait.  And when the plates finally get there, you can't get them on fast enough.

Until today.

Oops.

Now the man's wife and entire family - who went to Michigan - are having the last laugh.

No, this isn't Terrelle Pryor's latest discounted ride

(HT: Andrew)

A to Z music challenge: Mission accomplished!

 I began this month with a challenge to myself: Pick out a favorite artist for each letter of the alphabet and post a corresponding music video.

It was a fun exercise and now it's complete, with a couple of days to spare. I came up empty on the letter "X" but otherwise I'm done. Here's the list in reverse alphabetical order.

I welcome any feedback -- corrections, additions, condemnations, whatever. Even if none is forthcoming, I've now got a little archive to call up anytime.

Z is for Led Zeppelin
Y is for Neil Young
W is for Lucinda Williams
V is for Stevie Ray Vaughan
U is for U2
U is Keith Urban
T is for Susan Tedeschi
S is for Sade
R is for the Rolling Stones
Q is for Queen
P is for Pink Martini
O is for Joan Osborne
N is for Stevie Nicks

M is for Joni Mitchell
L is for John Legend
K is for Alison Krauss
J is for Norah Jones
I is for James Ingram
H is for Mayer Hawthorne
G is for Patty Griffin
F is for Fleetwood Mac
E is for Earth, Wind & Fire
D is for The Doobie Brothers
D is for Duffy
C is for Camera Obscura
B is for Anita Baker
A is for The Allman Brothers Band

Image by Pixomar

MZone Exclusive: New Ohio State Logo

In the wake of Tressel's resignation and the ongoing scandal swirling in C-bus, the MZone has learned that Ohio State will be changing their traditional logo - "Ohio State" across a block "O" - to something a little more honest.

Central Oregon rewind

Looking west toward the Cascades from Pilot Butte / City of Bend photo

I would be hard pressed to say exactly when was the last time I was in Central Oregon. I'm guessing it was something like a decade or more. But, finally, Lori and I had a reason to cross the mountains on Saturday: an invitation to stay with friends at their new townhouse. We drove through off-and-on rain the whole way and we even got a few snow showers as we passed Timberline Lodge.

So it was appropriate, I suppose, that we encountered overcast skies as we approached Bend, a former mill town that's become familiar to readers of Sunset and The New York Times as an upscale community that's home to an inordinate number of doctors, lawyers, skiers and others who are into winter sports. I say appropriate because the slate gray skies that obscured the normally majestic view of the Three Sisters and Broken Top was a metaphor for the barely recognizable town where we made our home for two years in the late Seventies.

We were in our mid-20s then, still a couple years away from becoming parents, and we mostly hung out with other reporters who worked with me at The Bulletin, as small daily newspaper known as a great training ground for ambitious young journalists.

Drake Park / Jennifer Clark photo

Back then, Bend had maybe 16,000 residents and the local mill was still the largest employer in town. We learned to cross country ski and ice skate on an actual frozen pond; climbed the South Sister and nearby Black Butte; and thoroughly enjoyed the crisp, clean high desert air and panoramic views of the Cascade Mountains. Downtown, such as it was, offered a mishmash of forgettable storefronts, mediocre restaurants and very little night life.

And now?

Well, as surprised as we were to see the growth in Madras and Redmond, two no-longer-so-small towns north of Bend, we were blown away by the scale of change in the former timber town. The big-box retailers have moved in with a vengeance on U.S. 97 at the north end of town. Drake Park is still a jewel in the historic city center, offering a central gathering place alongside the Deschutes River.

But downtown looks as though someone picked up the old shopping district, turned it upside down and shook everything out. Now, Wall and Bond streets offer a collection of boutique shops, sushi bars and trendy restaurants, a refurbished theatre and the obligatory Starbucks. In place of antiquated equipment and shabby housing south of town, the Old Mill District now offers a tourist-oriented shopping experience similar to what you'd find at any regional shopping mall -- i.e., lots of national retailers and a multiplex theater.

Three Sisters at sunset / Robert Gustafson photo

Nearby, across a footbridge, the Les Schwab Amphitheater now offers some great bands, typically before or after they've played a show in Portland or Seattle. Recent acts: Death Cab For Cutie, The Decemberists, Iron and Wine, Alison Krauss & Union Station.

Nothing, though, prepared us for the complete transformation of the west side. A cluster of upscale subdivisions extending away from town offers a mind-boggling array of townhouses, massive single-family homes, even a gated subdivision for those inclined to buy an extra layer of privacy. Summit High School lies in the midst of this affluence, with state-of-the-art buildings and athletic facilities and, no doubt, a student body demographic resembling that of Lakeridge, Lincoln or Jesuit high schools here in the metro area.

With so many for-sale signs on so many properties and so many structures under construction, it's hard  in some cases to tell what's still being built versus what's been abandoned. But it's very easy to see how the Bend housing market overheated and then crashed big-time in recent years.

The city now has a little over 80,000 residents. The Bulletin has a fancy new home on S.W. Chandler Avenue, which I presume is named after its legendary editor-publisher Robert W. Chandler -- the gruff old guy who hired me way back when and left a towering journalistic and philanthropic legacy when he died in 1996.

If  Thomas Wolfe were born here, he'd certainly have every reason to say, "You can't go home again."

Even though I lived here a scant two years, the Bend of old and the Bend of today might as well exist on different planets. The change is simply breathtaking. I imagine the mountain views are as gorgeous as ever, but it'll take another trip -- with clear weather -- to confirm that.

Spring thunderstorm / Jennifer Clark photo

The Best of Tresselgate

In the wake of Ohio State coach Jim Tressel's quitting before he got fired resignation, we put a few of our favorite posts about the scandal in one convenient place for all your linkage needs.

You're welcome.

Sincerely,

The MZone

SCRIPT O-LIE-O!

TRESSELGATE DOUBLE FEATURE

And back for a special return engagement:

TRESSEL-I-AM

Two weeks ago - before Yahoo! Sports posted a story claiming that Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel knew about Buckeye players trading merchandise for free tattoos more than eight months before the school said it was made aware of the allegations - The Vest was photographed reading Dr. Seuss books to a group of school children in Ohio:

Well, in light of the recent allegations in C-bus, may we suggest the following for The Vest's next reading to the kids:

 An excerpt:

We looked!
Then we saw him step in on the mat!
We looked!
And we saw him!
Terrelle and his tats!
And he said to us,
"Why do you sit there like that?
I know it is wet
And the sun is not sunny.
But we can have lots of fun
Lots of fun with booster money!"


"I know some good bars to go to,"
Said the QB.
"We can drive in the new car
The new car dealer just loaned me!
We will take the car, take the car out for a ride.
My coach
Does not care, so I have nothing to hide!"


Then Sally and I
Did not know what to say.
But Terrelle said Coach Tressel
Would look the other way.


But our fish said, "No! No!
Make Terrelle go away!
Tell that Cat with the Tats
You do NOT want to play.
He should not be here,
He should be on probation!
He should be suspended
With the rest of Buckeye Nation!"


"Now! Now! Have no fear.
Have no fear!" said the QB
"I won't get caught
Since my coach just ignores me.
Why, we can have
Lots of fun doing my thing
With a game that I call
Selling my championship ring!"

An excerpt:

I do not like the game's laws and its rules
I do not like them, they're only for fools
I did not like them during the days of Clarett
I do not like them nor have been busted just yet
I let Terrelle Pryor get his free tats
Then claimed, "Oh, I did not know about that!"
I do not like the rules they have about class
The N-C-A-A can kiss my Vest-wearing ass
I do not like the rules out on the field
And if we get busted, I'll surely appeal
I do not like the rules here in the 'Shoe
And our fans do not care as long as I beat the Blue
I do not like rules here or there
I do not like them ANYWHERE!


REDLINED FIRST DRAFT OF OSU LETTER TO NCAA

Yesterday, we printed in full Ohio State's letter to the NCAA regarding Tresselgate.   Since then, portions of an earlier draft of the letter have been leaked.  Initially, in addition to missing the first two games of the 2011 season and paying a $250,000 fine, Ohio State officials considered banning Coach Jim Tressel from spring practice and summer camps.

And that's not the only shocker.

In the MZone exclusive below, we have obtained a copy of the heavily edited rough draft of the last "Conclusion" paragraph of that letter.  As you'll discover, significant changes were made before it was submitted.

The institution was wondering when the other shoe was gonna fall regarding the charade that is Cheaty McSweaterVest.  How the hell it took this long is beyond us is very surprised and disappointed in Coach Tressel's lack of action in this matter.  His behavior in this situation is par for the course out of character from him and is contrary to his proven history of saying one thing in those bullshit self-righteous books he pawns while doing another behind the scenes of promoting an atmosphere of NCAA compliance within the football program.  Since this shit has been going on ever since his hiring as the head football coach in 2001 (i.e. Maurice Clarett, Troy Smith, etc.), he and his staff have ignored attended the NCAA rules education sessions on a consistent basis, regularly made up sought interpretations, and self-reported an almost laughably huge fuckload of nearly 400 secondary violations.  His lack of truthfulness action in this matter appears to have been the result of thinking he was above the rules and wouldn't get caught as usual indecisiveness regarding the appropriate actions to take in this specific situation in which he was placed if you can even begin to wrap your head around what a huge set of stones it took to even try to pass that nonsense off as a plausible excuse, as opposed to a blatant disregard of NCAA legislation stretching back to his Youngstown State days.  Nevertheless, we recognize that because he wins a lot of games and beats Michigan, we look the other way when we can and offer the insulting slap on the wrist punishment in this letter now  that he should have forwarded this information in some manner to appropriate institutional officials.  With the exception of this mistake that you know about, he is a man  of integrity and high moral standards if you set the bar somewhere between, say, Pete Carroll and the SMU program during the Eric Dickerson years. 

This institution really hopes you'll buy the ginormous load of horse shit in this letter in the same way you shockingly believed the whole 'Cam Newton didn't know' steaming pile appreciates the cooperation of your staff in this inquiry.

Suckers, Sincerely,

Larry Gordon Gee, President

Moe John Bruno, Faculty Athletics Representative

Curly Gene Smith, Director of Athletics

cc: The assclown who tried to fuck with The Game 

    Mr. James E. Delany

Vestidos amarillos de tirantes

Nada para lucir mas bella que un vestido amarillo de tirantes, lo puedes llevar a una fiesta o una cena de gala, lucirás elegante y sofisticada.

A las mujeres que enloquecen por el color amarillo que les parece este vestido de tirantes amarillo, es perfecto para llevar puesto en cualquier evento, nos hará quedar estupendas.

Te recomendamos los vestidos de tirantes amarillos le van a todo tipo de chicas aunque no lo creas el usar un vestido de este color te hará lucir radiante.

No olvides en tu próxima visita a las tiendas de ropa adquirir este vestido de tirantes amarillo, sera la mejor elección, no dejes de comprarlo.

Que les parecen estos vestidos amarillos de tirantes no se les antoja para una velada romántica.

Cue the Munchkins

Tressel resigns

"After meeting with university officials, we agreed that it is in the best interest of Ohio State that I resign as head football coach. The appreciation that Ellen and I have for the Buckeye Nation is immeasurable."

CoolCop Keeps Cops Cool.

Being a cop is literally a hot job. From wearing that heavy and dark uniform WITH a bulletproof vest underneath it is literally a really hot job. Your normal and plain air conditioning unit is simply not powerful enough to keep a hot copper cool. All of the wonderful cold air is flowing right into the back of your car. Coolcop is here to change all of that. Coolcop is basically a giant vacuum cleaner type hose thing that runs directly from the passenger side air vent in your police car and it goes right into your shirt. The hose actually attaches right beneath your bulletproof vest to keep your shirt ice cold. It funnels the air right from the air vent to the cop. Let the back seat criminals sweat it out!!! :)

-Barbara McGuire

Memorial Day 2011

Staff Sgt. Sal Giunta

As Americans prepare to observe Memorial Day, I imagine there will be plenty of people who don't give much thought to the meaning of the holiday.

How I wish I could sit them down in front of a TV or a computer and have them watch a "60 Minutes" special that aired tonight: "Honoring Our Soldiers"

The first segment profiled Army Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta, a self-described "average" or "mediocre" soldier from Iowa who was awarded the Medal of Honor last November -- the nation's highest combat honor -- for his extreme bravery in a firefight with the Taliban in 2007 in Afghanistan's notoriously dangerous Korengal Valley.

The second segment took viewers to the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, where an Army captain and his troops at a small base are trying to hold their own against a relentless wave of insurgents, many of them foreign fighters who pour over the international border in one of the most hostile environments on the planet.

In both cases, you're left admiring the soldiers' professionalism and their absolute dedication to each other and their mission. You also can't help but plead for President Obama to pull the plug on our involvement there and bring the troops home. But for one night, those geopolitical considerations were secondary to Sgt. Giunta's story and what it depicts about the courage and heroism that spring up in the most ordinary of American servicemen.

Giunta was a teenager working as a "sandwich artist" at a Subway shop when he decided to enlist. Four years later, he ran directly into enemy fire at close range to drag a wounded sergeant to safety and then ran back a second time to kill a Taliban insurgent and prevent another wounded soldier from being taken captive.

For his actions, Giunta became the first living American soldier since Vietnam to receive the Medal of Honor. And yet he comes across as the most humble person you'd ever want to meet, insisting he had done nothing special and was, in fact, uncomfortable being singled out.

"This is only one moment," he said in the interview. "I don't think I did anything that anyone else I was with wouldn't have done. I was in a position to do it. That was what needed to be done. So that's what I did."

Of course, I thought of my son Jordan and his buddies. This weekend, they're away from base, in the midst of three weeks of field training designed to prepare them for deployment if and when it ever comes. I understand that Jordan wants to put his military training to use -- it's only natural to want to follow through and test yourself on the things you've practiced over and over. But as a father, I pray he never has to be put in harm's way.

If that day comes, I'm confident he'll serve honorably. For me, it's not that much of a stretch to see that Spec. Jordan Rede has a lot of the same qualities and values as Staff Sgt. Sal Giunta: Humility. Loyalty. Dedication to the team and the task at hand.

I'm equally confident that parents all over this country would say the same about their own son or daughter serving in today's volunteer Army.

Z is for Led Zeppelin

If I were a stickler, I'd put ZZ Top in this slot. But because it's my list and this is the last letter of the alphabet, I'm giving myself some leeway to go with Zeppelin, a far better band that left a hugely influential footprint in the world of rock music.

A quick word about ZZ Top. Guitarists Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill brought a free-wheeling, fun-loving style to the stage, for sure, and they're fun to watch. ("Sharp Dressed Man" captures their energy and hard-driving sound.) But the chest-length beards and sunglasses screamed "shtick."

On the other hand, Led Zeppelin burst onto the scene in 1968, when I was still in high school and the first notes of  the first track ("Good Times Bad Times") just grabbed you by the throat and demanded your attention.

With Robert Plant on vocals and Jimmy Page on guitar, they were superb showmen who performed with manic energy. They had a great bluesy sound that intersected nicely with hard rock on songs like "Heartbreaker," "You Shook Me," and "Dazed and Confused."

Of course, it was "Stairway to Heaven" that shot them into the stratosphere. I still remember seeing them do it live during a show at the Oakland Coliseum, just a few rows from the stage. Mike Myers and Dana Carvey gave the song a second life with their homage in "Wayne's World."

I'm still trying to figure out how T-Bone Burnett came up with the idea of pairing Robert Plant with Alison Krauss on the Grammy-winning album "Raising Sand." Sheer genius.

But back to Zeppelin. Here are a couple of clips from the band's early days.

A little bit o' this, a little bit o' that

A post of randomness, but then again, this long weekend, as focused as it's been on the upcoming wedding, has been so wonderfully full of happenings. Time with Harleigh, probably more one-on-one time than we've shared in a while, long talks at the kitchen table in the early mornings over coffee. Lots of episodes of Parks & Recreation because we love laughing with each other as much as we love our gabbing. A long overdue trip to Target (I honestly haven't been there in for-e-ver) where we stocked up on summer sunscreen and goodies for her campers. Grocery shopping and then cooking dinners together. Working out together, our earphones on as we catch up on the Bravo Housewives. Tomorrow for Memorial Day I will be at church for a good part of the day painting scenery for Vacation Bible School.

Here is a small sampling of my hydrangea cuttings 

(I so need to add some other colors to the purple blue ones I have). 

When Gideon was younger, he loved to move furniture and pillows.

We'd come home and find a chair pushed to a new location, the pillows

rearranged on the sofa. A would-be interior designer?

Whatever the case, this poor boy, living in a house with two girly girls,

is bound to appreciate beauty in his surroundings. 

His bed is no exception. He loves to sleep with his head resting on something.

And so we added these pillows to his bed.

Big spoiled boy. Adore him.

Mandy, the bride stopped by today to drop off more stuff that I'll need to transport to the 

reception site. The living room and study are covered in boxes and bags.

Keeping my fingers crossed that everything fits in my SUV.

Here are just a few of the items I've crafted. Mandy and Tod are doing a cookie bar, with homemade cookies for the guests to take home in sweet little paper envelopes. I took one of her fabrics and decorated the jars; each will have a label with the type of cookie on it. They are also having a photo booth which we've created using a camera on a tripod, her signature yellow fabric as the backdrop, and enough props, hats and chalkboards to make for some fun picture keepsakes.

The fake gift that I created for the gift table is made especially for them (despite the fact that it's empty). The coral paper fits in with one of the main colors of her wedding, and the shells on the paper and as a topper are reminiscent of the beach where they got engaged (literally on the beach!).

Vestidos dorados largos

Los vestidos dorados largos son perfectos para llevarlos puestos para una fiesta de noche en donde tienes que desbordar glamour.

A todas las chicas nos encanta lucir brillantes y con este vestido dorado largo lo lograras, si estas en duda que vestido sera el mejor para esa fiesta no lo pienses mas esta es la solución.

Te recomendamos tener en el guardarropa un vestido dorado largo para que estés preparada en cualquier momento y saber que ponerte.

Elige vestidos dorados largos son bonitos harán resaltar tu belleza, pueden ser de tela metálica, satín no dejes pasar la oportunidad de lucir un vestido como este.

Los vestidos dorados largos tienen una amplia gama de diseños para que tu decidas cual es el mejor para ti.

Restocking!

We're having soo many demands for these pieces. :)
So, we're restocking them this coming weekend.
Interested?
Email us at masquerade.wb@gmail.com for more info!

Limited stocks, so hurry! 

1. Black Pearl Top RM42 (Also restocking in white)

2. Semi High Waist Shorts in Dark Blue and Light Blue RM45 

3. Basic Black Panel Skirt RM40

The Way It's Supposed To Be

(Photo:CyclingNews)

Dave Z has gotten rid of his porn 'stache, his hippie attitude, his fifth-place finishes, and replaced them with a serious focus on winning races that we haven't seen in years. Though Mongo is a big fan of both porn and hippies, I am happy to see DZ doing what he does best...having the best TT position of anyone in the world, and representing the USA as National Champion.

Last Minute Wedding TO DOs

Taking these next few days to wrap up all of the wedding decor for Mandy and Todd's June 4 wedding. Gideon has a favorite napping spot underneath my craft table.

Found this miniature hutch at the thrift store and think it will be nice to hold my smaller sized scissors. It needed something to warm it up so I made this fabric banner cutting up an old lace-edged hanky and stringing them onto embroidery floss. My idea of taking a break . . . tackling a little, just a little, craft project.

FC Barcelona vs Manchester United Final 2011 | GOLD AND SILVER MARKET

FC Barcelona vs Manchester United Final 2011 | GOLD AND SILVER MARKET

The scandal of child marriage

Through the ages and across cultures, marriage endures as a bedrock institution. Yet there are profound variations in the practice; political movements seek to expand or limit who can marry; and several studies here in the United States confirm that people are waiting longer to wed, interracial marriages are becoming more common and divorce rates are rising.

Around the globe, some societies are more tolerant than others in permitting a man to take more than one wife. As well, the age at which people are legally able to marry seems somewhat elastic.

When the latest issue of National Geographic arrived in my mailbox, I flipped through it and was drawn to a jaw-dropping report called "Too Young to Wed -- The Secret World of Child Brides."

The author, Cynthia Gorney, is a veteran magazine writer and member of the faculty at UC Berkeley's highly regarded Graduate School of Journalism. She's also someone I've come to know as a friend. The photographer, Stephanie Sinclair, has been documenting the practice of child marriage for a decade.

Gorney weaves several contemporary cases together with historical context. She presents the proponents' case for child marriage but doesn't shy away from the dark side involving rape and childbirth before the girls are physically ready.

Sinclair's photos are riveting and revolting. Starting with an 11-year-old girl in Yemen made up to look twice her age and ending with a 5-year-old (yes, 5) in northern India, Sinclair presents a collection of portraits that make it oh-so-clear that this is oh-so-wrong.

One photo portrays a 14-year-old girl bathing her scrawny newborn while her 2-year-old daughter plays beside her. Another (above) shows two girls starting forlornly at the camera as they stand beside their husbands. One of them, now 8, was married at age 6 when the groom was 25. And the 5-year-old? She's roused from sleep and carried to her wedding on her uncle's shoulder. Half her face is covered by a yellow garment, so we see only one bleary, brown eye.

I like to think of myself as tolerant in most respects. But the practice of marrying off girls before they even hit double digits strikes me as obscene. I realize the practice goes back centuries and in some cases are seen as business transactions -- as a way to settle a debt or as a wise investment by parents seeking a stable future for their daughters. I realize, too, that the practice persists because girls in many societies have little or no access to education, and virtually no local prospects for employment. Those things would have to change for families to consider deviating from the practice.

Fortunately, there are "positive deviants" like Nujood Ali who give some hope. Nujood generated worldwide headlines in 2008 as "the 10-year-old Yemeni girl who found her way alone to an urban courthouse to request a divorce from the man in his 30s her father had forced her to marry." Her story has been made into a book, translated into 30 languages, "I am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced."

The National Geographic report is chilling. My hearts breaks at the sight of these too-young girls forced to assume roles long before they're ready and which they never asked for in the first place.


Photograph by Stephanie Sinclair

Y is for Neil Young

A man and his guitar. Spare, meaningful lyrics and simple melodies.

I've always thought Neil Young was at his best as a minimalist. Sure, he was an important part of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and he rocked it with Crazy Horse. But he's always played with passion and excelled as a songwriter, as epitomized by his classic,  "Old Man.".

Wish I could have found "Here For You" from the concert film "Heart of Gold" but I'll settle for "Four Strong Winds" -- a song by fellow Canadian Ian Tyson that he said he played all summer long as a teenager. Love the sense of community among all those on stage

Other classics:

"Harvest Moon"
"Heart of Gold"
"The Needle and The Damage Done"

Osama Down. Mrs. Jones 2 Go!

As you all know Mrs. Jones is not the biggest supporter of President Obama. Recently war has ensued between Poston and Jones. It all (supposedly) began when a few of Poston's students placed several photocopied pictures of President Obama around her room while Poston was distracting her in the hallway. Pictures were placed on the chalk boards, in the book shelf, and even in the printer. Today Mrs. Jones decided to get even. She brought out the big guns and employed some very willing students to put up pictures in Conceptual Physics of a page showing a creepy little girl in a yellow sweater. They plastered his room with these photos during lunch and were almost caught. They wrote REVENGE!! on the board (I wonder if it was for them or for Mrs. Jones? :D). Now it was Poston's turn to get even...




Poston's 6th hour Chemistry class (allegedly) made the above flyer (one similar to not exactly the same no evidence). And printed the flyers off on Mrs. Jones' printer. Now the feud goes on ... no telling what will happen next!

Hailey Bushue

(The Red Skittle ;) shall be credited with the coining of the phrase "Osama down. Jones 2 GO!")

Latest Collection 28/5/2011

#69 Toga Dress

INFO

Greek goddess (with flattering curves hehe)!

Made from soft light cotton material.

Available in
light grey (ALL SOLD)
earth brown (LAST PIECE)
dark grey (ALL SOLD)

Slightly stretchable.

Best fits UK4-UK8.

'Un-Masqued' it @ RM48.