High School of the Week- Daniel Boone HS in Gray, Tennessee

We conclude our High School of the Week series today with a profile of Daniel Boone High School in Gray, Tennessee, near Johnson City, Tenn., where Eastern Tennessee State University is located.

The school nicknamed the Trailblazers won the 2010 Tennessee High School Women's Softball Championship in Murfreesboro; the team had a 41-9 record.

Daniel Boone HS has an enrollment of 1,300 students. The school principal is Roger Jackson. On Monday, the school serves a choice of a fresh deli sandwich (ham or turkey) or a turkey corn dog...........hmm?!

This reminds me an entry in the "Things We Learned on Twitter" today series we had here a few months ago about a San Francisco restaurant that was serving lobster corn dogs!

There is also a Daniel Boone HS in Birdsboro, Pennsylvania.

SIDEBAR: The BBC had a somber story about a zoo fire in Karlsrule, Germany, that killed 26 animals, including Shetland ponies, sheep, goats and a llama.

SIDEBAR TWO: On a lighter note, the satirical publication "The Onion" is 'reporting' that Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick is feeling confident enough to do something terrible again. Vick, as everyone probably knows, is a convicted felon who bred pit bulls for the sole purpose of raising them to engage in dog fighting. Vick is an alumnus of Virginia Tech which is playing a big ACC game on the road against UNC today, kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. eastern time. Paul the Octopus is apparently picking the Hokies (that is a joke!)

Things We Learned on Twitter Tonight- NC State Wins in College Basketball

Since I did not attend either the University of North Carolina or their rival North Carolina State, it's only fair that I cover the Wolfpack as well as the Tarheels on this blog. Of course, this will still irk alumni of Duke and Wake Forest!

I must profess with college football season is full-swing, it's hard to believe that college basketball season is getting underway as well. Of course, in places like Lawrence, Kansas, and Lexington, Kentucky, folks are fully aware of this.

Tonight, in Raleigh, NC, the NC State Wolfpack won a surprisingly competitive game with Tennessee Tech by an 82-69 count according to a tweet from WolfpackWire.

C.J. Leslie lead the Wolfpack with 21 points, and his teammate Scott Wood added 11 points to help NC State prevail.

Zac Swansey scored 13 points for the losing Golden Eagles.

The Wolfpack only lead 37-34 at halftime, and the Golden Eagles were winning the game early in the first half.

The Wolfpack's chief rival UNC (ranked #8) beat Lipscomb 80-66 in Chapel Hill tonight as well.

Silly Photo to Fill Space- UNC Mascot

For those of us who live on the North Carolina-Virginia border, the annual football game between the Virginia Tech Hokies, where my late father and sister went to school, and The University of North Carolina is perhaps more exciting than the in-state rivalries, especially since Wake Forest, Duke and The University of Virginia have weak football programs at the moment.

The game takes place on Saturday afternoon in Chapel Hill, and I know my friend Greensboro, NC, folk singer Bruce Piephoff will be rooting for his beloved Tarheels. We should also mention that Bruce is actually performing in Aberdeen,NC (not Southern Pines, NC, as we stated in our 'Easy Rider' entry yesterday; we are too lazy to make corrections) at The Rooster's Wife on Sunday at 6:30 p.m.

SIDEBAR: Our beloved Ragsdale Flying Tigers in Jamestown, NC, (not my alma mater) beat rival Glenn HS 49-21 to advance in the North Carolina state high school football playoffs tonight.


Other state scores are as follows:

High Point Central 28 Smith 22

Eastern Alamance 36 Rockingham County 10

Randleman 36 Reidsville 35

Carrboro 55 Whiteville 33

Happy Veteran's Day; I'm Hittin' the Road

Since today is Veteran's Day and I am hitting the road, we thought an image from the iconic 1969 American biker film "Easy Rider" (Peter Fonda is pictured here) was in order even though the film is not a war film and it politically expresses vehement opposition to the Vietnam War. But, hey the Democratic Party lost seats in Congress last week, so how much more damage can I do?!

In all seriousness, I want to take a minute to thank all veterans for their service.

And, if anyone residing anywhere near Southern Pines, NC, wants to celebrate Veteran's Day Weekend, I can't think of a better way than to see my good friend Bruce Piephoff, a Greensboro folk singer, perform down there at the Jefferson Inn on Sunday afternoon.

50 Beers from Around the World_ Gallo (Guatemala)

Today, we focus our attention to the Central American nation of Guatemala, which is home to Gallo Beer (or Rooster Beer) as it would be in English.

The beer is brewed in Guatemala City, and beer in Guatemala dates back to 1896.

Gallo Beer is also served in aluminum cans, and it's also available as a light beer. The brew can be found in Mexico, France and here in The US of A. Though it seems a bit hard to find in les etats unis, but an Internet poster said he found the beer somewhere in San Francisco.

I had the chance to visit Guatemala in 2005, and I really liked the city of Antigua. Since we spent only a limited there on the tour, I was unable to get into Frida's (named after famed Mexican artist Frida Kahlo), a popular restaurant in Antigua located near the famous Arch of Santa Catalina.

Antigua is also home to a movie theatre called Cine Sin Ventura. If it's the same place (though I recall it as being called Cinema Maya; they were showing "Kinsey") that I stopped by and visited back then, I do have to wonder what they are showing right now. Yeah, I imagine it's either "Mega Mind" or "Due Date" too!

Quote of the Week- George W. Bush

Yes. I know since I am a fairly partisan Democrat who would proudly be considered a socialist in Provo, Utah, this might come as a suprise. But, everyone from NPR to perhaps the Turkish newspaper "Zaman" is talking about George W. Bush's new memoir "Decision Points," which sold 220,000 copies today_ its first day of release.

Bush makes no apologies for being a human rights violator as he said he firmly stands by his decision to use waterboarding on terrorist suspects at Gitmo (slang for the U.S. naval base in Cuba) even though the decision was even criticized by conservatives like Andrew Sullivan of "The Atlantic."

The memoir apparently illustrates other aspects of Bush's 'black and white' Chuch Norris movie view of the world which makes me wonder if the former president will stop by Cinema Overdrive in Raleigh, NC, which is screening Norris' 1984 film
"Missing in Action 2: The Beginning" at 8:00 p.m. tonight. (We heard about it thanks to a blurp in 'Independent Weekly' from their film critic Zack Smith).

Of course, Katrina vandan Heuvel of the liberal journal "The Nation" has publically stated that Dick Cheney was the real American president from 2001-2008, which we presume may not make her a welcome guest at the Bush Childhood Home in Midland, Tex.

But, irregardless of where you or I (or Chuck Norris and Katrina vandan Heuvel) stand politically, one has to admit that the Bush Childhood Home (which is actually open to the public) has a great event on Nov. 18. On that day, the museum/home is sponsoring the Laura Bush Literacy Program with readings fom 4:00-5:00 p.m.

High School of the Week- Acadiana HS in Lafayette, Louisiana

Our High School of the Week is Acadiana High School in Lafayette, La., where Martha 'Nikki' Broussard is principal. The school of some 2,000 students, nicknamed the Wreckin' Rams, was (according to Wikipedia) an early political battleground for the debate over whethe evolution should taught in the classroom in the late 1980s. Louisana's current Republican governor Bobby Jindal has supported initiatives to teach creationism in the state's classrooms, which is also a point of contention for those who agree with the findings of Darwinism.