nodak in the news s'more!

its that time again, folks!  yes, time for me to get my butt in gear and get back to rambling.  but what i really mean is: time to summarize north dakota in the news!!

• so this became news a few weeks ago - grand forks olive garden's review.  wait.  thats not right.  the review of olive garden in grand forks.  or grand forks olive garden.  yeah, that works.  i have a headache. anyway, this was the best summary, in my part.  i mean opinion.  what is wrong with my brain?????  aggghhh!!!  anyway, this was really big - a client in ohio emailed me to say that this woman writer was his aunt's best friend or something like that.  how crazy is that??
• this article is about the housing boom in nodak and compares it to living in large cities.  
• housing in nodak is big!  cnbc says it is the best market in the country.  check it out here.
• i had a weird trip to nola a few months ago and met a guy who can only be described as a d-bag.  he made fun of me being from north dakota after knowing him for like 2 minutes.  then he said "its too bad you're from there - no one ever talks about that state."  au contraire, monsieur le douche.  au contraire.  just check out this article that talks about how great nodak is numbers-wise.  so there.

i think thats all i've got for now...

nodak in the news

once again, i've been saving articles and various things about my homestate. as such, here they are:

• audio (and transcript of audio, actually) on npr about the oil boom in western north dakota - fracking, the lack of housing, etc.
• audio (and transcript, again) on npr about honey bees and nodak
• america's 25 coldest cities - as a side note, i was in ohio last week and it was in the 20s.  i FROZE.  i was sooo cold.  it was soo embarrassing.  i felt like i was an imposter.  a non-north dakotan.  maybe i shouldnt be living in boston anymore.  its taken my edge away.
• the first article about a guy cycling through nodak
• article number two he's in medora or so
• another article by the same cyclist in more eastern nodak.
• i dont know what to say about this ad... i wouldnt' have looked twice but a lot of people think its dorky.  thats sad.  a friend in boston tweeted me and it at the same time.  someone from ENGLAND sent it to me.  how did they see it??
• another sad/weird thing: a lot of people were talking to me months ago about nodak not being a state.  how weird is that?? i'm from no country!!!
• et... finalement... le piece de resistance!  nodak is the best place to live!!

why not, minot?

things are pretty serious in minot. (pronounced "my-not" not "min-aught") i haven't even paid as much attention in the past few days, but i have been collecting articles about the flood for the past week and figured i would post them here for you.

link to minot daily news website

article about evacuees looking for a place to stay

rains from last week hurting flooding

if you'd like to check out live coverage, check out this link

this is a slightly dated photo now, but this was after just the first news of flooding

here are some incredible pictures of the floods in the region

josh duhammel, local celebrity, asks everyone for help on ET

article from last friday about waiting

another article about flood levels rising

here is an article about preparing for whats next

finally, an article about the flood moving into canada

and here is a video about the people in minot:



from here in case that video doesn't work.

moss grows fat on a rollin' stone

i suspect as you read this it is sunday. if its not that means you are not obsessively checking my blog every day and that bothers me. you are OFF the list! what list? i dont know! but your'e off!! ha. jk. OBVIously.

so, back to it being sunday. my parents are selling their house. did i mention that? they bought a new house and are looking to sell the house i grew up in (from 4th grade on). i'm not really sad about it since they kicked me out of my bedroom after freshman year of college (how rude!) and i'm back in the small bedroom that i lived in when we first moved into the house. its purple now and i like that. oh! you can see it here. it looks really really different to me. i dont know why. these pictures really freak me out. anyway, i'm fine with moving in to a new house although i wonder if it will take us longer to get to the airport than it does now... i will NOT like that when i am on the 5:15 am flight to MSP.... maybe you should rethink this move, mom and dad... :)

anyway, they were supposed to have an open house today but since the weather is crappy and there is still a flood, they have pushed it back 2 weeks (apparently they dont have open houses on easter sunday - i feel like that is not an impediment here in bos. def not in brookline anyway). i thought i'd post some videos/links/articles that i've been saving about the flood... so here is some info for all you who are so consumed with flood questions and don't know where to look... enjoy!

first things first, here is an update on the flood fight in fargo. this guy has been doing some cool videos and here is a summary of the week. fargo is safe (so far) and that is good news, but neighboring towns are being evacuated. its scary.



this is an article that a guy i used to work with sent me that was in the nyt. i'm not sure how long it will be avail online, so i am pasting it here (and not making any money off of it! but if you want me to take it down, just let me know).

April 8, 2011

Shovel, Strain, Stack No More in High Water

By A. G. SULZBERGER

The lowly sandbag has improbably — and seemingly eternally — remained the back-breaking brick of choice for anyone in a hurry to erect makeshift barriers during flood season.

But now there is growing competition.

As Fargo, N.D., confronts its third major flood in three years, local governments, businesses and residents are shifting to a number of modern alternatives to hold back the waters of the Red River.

“I’ve seen enough sandbags for a lifetime,” said Alan Kallmeyer, who enlisted dozens of friends and co-workers the last two years for a full day of this grueling masonry, filling and stacking thousands of sandbags around his riverside house.

This year, Mr. Kallmeyer bought a device, already used by several of his neighbors, that rings his house with a four-foot-tall tube of water. The device, known as an AquaDam, cost nearly $8,000. But it took just a few strain-free hours to set up and will be just as easy to take down.

The flood is already the fourth largest on record. The river is expected to crest this weekend at close to 40 feet and remain high for more than three weeks, according to the National Weather Service. But city leaders said that recent experience, mitigation efforts and ample warning have left the city well prepared.

Indeed, Fargo seems braced to repel an invading army. Once again there are plenty of the usual sandbag piles and earthen levies. But this year, for the first time, less of the city will be protected by sandbags than by alternative barriers, like the braced L-shaped walls of the AquaFence, industrial-size sacks of sand known as TrapBags and the earth-filled wire cages of the Hesco bastions.

“This is pretty new to have this many products,” said Tim Bertschi, a flood engineer for the Army Corps of Engineers.

Mr. Bertschi added that the federal government would be watching closely to see how well these systems worked in coming days.

“It’s a real-life test. This isn’t laboratory stuff,” he said. “But it wouldn’t be out there if they didn’t think it worked.”

The city used about 3 million sandbags in 2009, the year of its worst recorded flood. Last year, the fifth worst, the city filled and stacked 1.5 million. But now, even though an army of volunteers began working earlier than usual at Fargo’s “Sandbag Central” and filled nearly 3 million, the city has used only about 500,000 sandbags.

The city decided that reducing the need for volunteers was worth the extra expense of new systems that could be set up quickly by smaller crews of trained workers.

“People are getting tired, really tired, about the use of sandbags,” said Dennis Walaker, the mayor of Fargo.

In all, there are 3.4 miles of sandbags, down from 5.5 miles last year. The alternatives will stretch more than 4 miles, up from one-tenth of a mile last year.

“We’re doing our best to try to get to the point where we can eliminate sandbags,” said April Walker, an engineer who is in charge of flood control for the city. “We’re not at that point yet.”

Everett Waid, the Florida-based inventor of TrapBags, said he sold over $1 million worth of them to the city of Fargo and Cass County right after showing his product at the Fargo Flood Expo.

Helge Kroegenes, chairman of AquaFence, in Norway, said that Fargo placed such a big order that he could only fill a quarter of it.

And David Doolaege, the California-based inventor of AquaDam, said he spent several weeks traveling around the Fargo area delivering his devices to more than 50 private homes.

All three men, not surprisingly, were dismissive of the humble tool they were trying to replace, and described sandbags as messy, cumbersome, prone to leaks and requiring an unsustainable amount of brute labor.

“The cavemen did that,” Mr. Doolaege said. “They put some dirt in a deerskin and blocked off their cave. That was the first sandbag. And it’s still the same premise — fill a container and stack them up.”

But Ken Hellevang, an engineering professor at North Dakota State University who wrote a training manual on the use of sandbags, said they are often the best option. They require little training to use; can be put in small, uneven or hard to reach places; and can be quickly stacked higher as river levels rise.

The owner of Sandbags Warehouse in Fargo, E. John Carlson, said he has turned down offers to sell the newer alternatives because he believes they are untested. This year he sold nearly two million old-fashioned sandbags.

“It’s a simple, proven technology that works,” he said.

i thought i had more articles on the flood, but now i can't find them....

well, i know that you're in love with him

just like i'm in love with being from north dakota!!! (see! i could totally get the american pie lyric to relate to my post)

so my friend k of kc and the sunshine band fame was telling me about this video that michael moore did years ago. turns out it was something like 20 years ago. back when karen duffy was on tv. (whats she doing these days??) i'm not sure what other people think of this video, but i find it Hi-LAR-ious. its great. cute. theres a reason why people live there. its just sooo NICE. :) i wish there were more things to do , but that means more people and they might not all be nice people, so not sure how i feel about that. anyway, check out the video:



then there was an article online the other day about fargo. 'twas gut.

The 'New' Fargo North Dakota

Sheri O'Meara

Minnesota Meetings + Events

Issue:

Spring 2011

Ladies and gentlemen, meet the new Fargo.

For the past couple years, the Fargo-Moorhead area has enjoyed a wealth of stellar national press: In 2011, Men’s Health and Women’s Health both named Fargo the second-best place to live in America. Bicycling Magazine ranked it among the top 50 biking cities in nation. In 2009, Forbes called it one of the nation’s best places for jobs.

Children’s Health magazine said Fargo was the third-best place to raise kids. Last year, U.S. News and World Report listed Fargo among its best places to retire. But it was the July 2010 Newsweek story “The Great, Great Plains,” that was the stereotype breaker, showing Fargo as a hip, trendy place to be: “On a drizzly, warm June night, the bars, galleries, and restaurants along Broadway are packed with young revelers. Traffic moves slowly, as drivers look for parking. The bar at the Donaldson, a boutique hotel, is so packed with stylish patrons that I can’t get a drink.”

That’s quite different picture than the one painted in the 1996 Coen brothers’ film “Fargo,” which catapulted the city to dubious fame as Hicksville on the tundra.

The truth is, this area is evolving, and its economy is strong. North Dakota was recently ranked third in the nation for hospitality growth—the state’s leisure and hospitality sector adding 3,400 jobs between 2005 and 2010, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (Minnesota ranked 20th.) That’s good news for meeting and event planners looking for an option on the Minnesota-North Dakota border.

The Fargo-Moorhead area consists of two cities in two states, with a total metro population of more than 200,000. Located on the upper Northwest Minnesota border, it is the largest metro area and shopping destination between Minneapolis and Spokane, forming the region’s agricultural capital and its most important shipping and processing center. The two cities are divided by the North-flowing Red River.

>>Hotels and Event Spaces

Home to the Fargodome, eight convention hotels and more than 4,100 sleeping rooms among all hotels—the cities can service conventions up to 2,000 people. The Holiday Inn Fargo is the largest hotel, with 310 sleeping rooms and total meeting capacity of 2,300. It also offers a 13,500-square-foot waterpark, a casino and 20 meeting rooms (including a great hall that can seat up to 1,250).

Best Western Doublewood has 172 sleeping rooms, 11 meeting rooms and 1,150 total meeting capacity. Ramada Plaza Suites & Convention Center offers 185 sleeping rooms, 13 meeting rooms and 1,800 total meeting capacity.

Non-lodging event spaces range from the vast Fargodome to the Avalon Event Centers, built in 1908 (meeting capacity of 325). But there are a plethora of other top-notch choices. The Fargo-Moorhead CVB has the gamut of options on its website, and is happy to assist.

>>Activities

The city is spending money to revitalize the downtown, and visitors should investigate. Walk down Broadway, and you won’t find chain stores, but chic shops and bistros and the beautiful Art Deco-style Fargo Theatre (which recently opened a new 76-seat theater within the building, available for rentals, and also houses a restored theater pipe organ, the “Mighty Wurlitzer”).

ECCE Art + Yoga exhibits talented regional artists and showcases diverse international design. The century-old Hotel Donaldson is one of many great spots for happy hour on Broadway, while upstairs in the hotel, each of its 17 sleeping rooms showcases regional art.

For mall shopping, head across town to West Acres Shopping Center, located conveniently across the street from the Holiday Inn. For regional art and culture, visit the Plains Art Museum, a 56,000-square-foot facility accredited by the American Association of Museums that celebrates Native American and traditional folk art (and also has meeting room capacity for 250); the Historical & Cultural Society of Clay County; Bonanzaville, USA, a reconstructed 19th century farm; Heritage Hjemkomst Interpretive Center, which houses a replica Viking Ship that sailed to Norway; and the Fargo Air Museum.

Outdoor options include scheduling a boat tour on the Red River, renting a kayak, golfing at a range of courses, or watching horse racing at North Dakota Horse Park.

Whatever the activity or the season, the Fargo-Moorhead CVB would like you to know that Fargo-Moorhead is “always warm,” as its tagline goes. According to the CVB website: “When you get out and experience our community–and our people–you’ll find that Fargo-Moorhead is one of the warmest metro areas in the nation."

basically you should all host a convention there or something.

or just visit.

i guess sissy's growing up

if all goes well, fargo is plugged up and not flooding right now. the river was meant to crest last weekend, and despite the fact that i haven't written about the flood much this year, there is still a massive flood in fargo. again. apparently some other parts of north dakota are flooding worse this year than in 1997 (the past really bad flood). not good.

here is an excerpt from an email my mom sent me exactly one week ago:

Flood mode is reving up here in Fargo, although a ton of preparation has already been done. There are huge sandbag thingys at Edgewood. They have already diked behind Riverview Place. They are starting to put clay dikes in on 2nd street. That will take 4 days around the clock because it includes diking by Dike East. Sandbags are being delivered to neighborhoods tomorrow by police escort. Volunteers start on Wednesday. Kids are getting out of school. The forcast is for a warm up so the temperatures are a rising and the river will follow. It is a bit scary. The flood diversion is being met with many obstacles. People upstream and downstream are now meeting to try and stop the diversion. What a complicated mess. The $$ it takes to prepare PLUS the man hours is incredible.

by now, all the sandbags have been laid and now the main item in fargo is to monitor the dikes. people will be patrolling the dikes for weeks - walking up and down to make sure there are no leaks. the dikes are holding back a ton of water. its kind of scary to think.

in other news, fargo won the competition on the weather channel for toughest weather city. i was really excited and proud and telling everyone at work about it. one of my brothers' friends was upset with the nomination. to me, its a badge of honor. it says "despite it being horrible weather here, we're tough, we persevere, AND we're nice, good people." here is a video about winning it:



h/t here. i think its probably a good thing that i haven't been worried about the flood this year. there are other people monitoring it more closely than i.

i just had a great idea - we should get areal pictures of the river before and after the flood. that would be impressive to see.

[song is what is on right now as i write this. who sung this song? i can't remember. used today because i feel much more grown up about the river this year.]

tightrope

happy march! super busy day at work - only because there is a lot i can get done and i'm really looking forward to that. i love being busy and productive. it makes me happy.

so, this was a cool article in the fargo forum last weekend. it was the 40th anniversary of the opening of the bison sports arena in fargo. my dad was playing basketball at ndsu at the time, and he was interviewed for this article in the local paper. i thought i'd put it here so it lives on in infamy and because i don't often have a shout out to my old man. yo, pop!

Published February 25, 2011, 12:11 AM
Kolpack: Path together comes full circle for 1971 squad
By: Jeff Kolpack, INFORUM

The place was officially called “The New Fieldhouse” and it was a beauty when it opened in 1970. The walls were white, the tartan surface was state-of-the-art and the locker room complex was considered modern.

The men’s basketball team that was the main tenant was also state-of-the-art. North Dakota State had the inside game with John Wojtak, Brad Klabo and Mike Kuppich and the brotherly backcourt of Tom Driscoll and Pat Driscoll. The bench was deep, and good, with Scott Howe, Tom Assel, Tom Erdmann, Mark Refling, Bob Vogel and Phil Dranger.

Wojtak still holds the school career record for rebounding average at 10.8 per game. Most of the players and their coach, Bud Belk, are having a 40-year reunion of sorts tonight at the Bison and South Dakota State game, at what is now the Bison Sports Arena.

The BSA, of course, is scheduled for urban renewal whenever every penny is raised. (If they wait much longer, there may be no choice but to condemn some parts of the building). But in the early ’70s, and it’s laughable to think about it in this way today, it was a major recruiting tool.

“That was one of the main reasons I went there,” said Fargo’s Tom Erdmann. “I remember playing in the very first game there. That was a big thrill.”

The biggest thrill was a North Central Conference championship in 1971. They had it all: a league ring, a deep team, a brand spankin’ new facility and a team that has some gusto.

“They were fighters to the end,” Belk said. “They were just great competitors.”

They even landed Villanova at home, a Wildcats team that eventually lost in the NCAA championship to UCLA. It was the only time a future NBA second-round draft pick, Villanova’s Howard Porter, played in the BSA. In today’s dollar, that would be like NDSU hosting Butler, last year’s NCAA runner-up.

The reunion got some legs in the last few weeks. They’ll remember the good times –
and the 6 a.m. practices. When the team wasn’t playing up to capacity, the players were up well before the sun.

“They say they love me now,” Belk said. “They didn’t love me at 6 a.m. back then, especially if they went out the night before. We did that a few times.”

At least the BSA looked better at 6 a.m. in 1970-71 than it will tonight.

“It was beautiful,” Belk said. “It was supposed to seat 11,500. I think I still have the blueprints.”

Forum reporter Jeff Kolpack can be heard on the Saturday Morning Sports Show,
9-11 a.m. on WDAY-AM (970).
He can be reached at (701) 241-5546.

my mom was telling me about lsat weekend. there was a reunion friday night and my dad and his friends got to see people they used to go to college with and his old basketball coach. and then one of his old friends even went to bismarck the next day to watch player play ball! so thats fun.

[song by janelle monae because it features big boi]

wildflower

so this article had a listing of the world's prettiest airports. i have to admit, i've been to 4 or 5 of those included on this listing and i can't remember being in any of them and thinking "wow. how pretty." if i had to pick one, i guess i'd pick cdg in paris (pictured above for you), but i can't really give good reasons. maybe i just like going to paris?? in any case, i now think i should go to all these airports. mental note: to do.

and the article actually forgot a pretty airport:


that's right, baby! fargo hector international airport.

[song by cmb bcs thats what i'm listening to as i type this]

retirees and refugees

i'm not really in the mood to write a lot right now, but this totally upped my mood this morning: i updated my podcasts and saw that there was an npr story on fargo. ! so here is a link to the story. you can read it on this site or listen to it. i was excited that it takes place in fargo, and then - shock! it actually takes place in the very retirement community that my grandma lives in! i was completely shocked. it makes sense that i've never heard of it. my grandmother rarely leaves her apartment let alone gets involved in activities. that would be a shocker.

ok, thats all for today.

live-blogging the umary game - part 2

oops. game started again. almost missed it. i'm tired. and halftime was really quick. foul #2 on player. not good. they can happen fast. 33-49. 18:37 left in the game.

player just had the ball and passed it to willy. willy passed it to someone else. shot clock is 5. player got an easy 2. signature fadeaway. why are people less interested now? and why hasn't homie responded?

someone else just scored. i missed it. 36-51. 17:28 left. so i never know what way to set up for when the ball is coming in. how do you know if you should be in one line or spread out? and do you have to freeze like simon says or can you be moving when the whistle blows?

yellow just keeps missing shots. i hope that stays the same. knock on head. 36-53. player just spun but was unable to bank it in.

anotehter thing i dont get is how men are able to remember games so well. i thik this guy just head-butted my brother but there was no call. so yeah. i feel like player has played hundreds of games in his career and i bet he could say "oh yeah, thats when...." and i'm like "hmmm... what color were the jerseys?" player just shot again. and scooooored. woo hoo. not ajump ball. 36-55. 15:36 min left. long timeout. the commercial on the radio is with my 8th grade government teacher.

oh wow! for once, the radio is ahead of the internt. by at least a minute. crazy. oh wait. no, they're always ahead. i have to mute it.

36-59. biggest lead continues to grow.

39-59. i'm tired.

39-61. clutch shot for the other team. 41-61.

when you're shooting free-throws. can you stand there for as long as you want? would it be in your best interest to stand there and catch your breath? or are you just hoping the game will be over soon?

timeout for mary which is good bcs the dude was TOTALLY STUCK. double-teamed.

player just had an AWESOME block. and then he got the ball in a different way. thats awesome. good game. 13:14 min left. only the 2nd turnover. limiting minnesota state to the fewest possessions possible. umary was one of the best teams last year in turnovers. (jas in, not a lot)

43-62 with ... some time left. its a replay so i can't tell. 12:50. umary without a center. moody just shot an awesome three. i think player had the assist. is there over and back in college basketball? 43-65. like where you can't cross the midcenter line and then go back? something like that...

the just recapped and player has 14 pts. woo hoo.

same score.

oops. 47-68. 10:37 left.

something happened that i dont understand. coach looked upset.

ok. i forgot to type. they just replayed a ... something under the basket where a few players fell. i still couldn't tell what happened.

we have a few ppl almost in foul trouble, so thats troubling. get it? trouble is troubling.

why is being the pt guard and the 2nd leading rebounder so surprising? theres something about that that i dont know. apparently the yellow team isn't interested in playing defense. doesnt bother mer! 50-71 with 9:09 left. we just shot an in-and-out. those suck. what i like about basketball is its technically all angles and velocity and whatnot. mathematics. i dont know the math, but its there.

55-74. im almsto falling asleep. 5min left in the game. it would really suck if we lost this game at this point. its 11pm. my bedtime. 16-pt lead at the half. if marauders winthis game tonight, they'll have won 7 of the last 8 games and the one game they lost, they lost by 1 pt. i missed something - the crowd just went wild. oh wow! they're cheering "ov-er ra-ted!" ouch. i would feel bad if someone were chanting that about me.

2:34 left. 59-82. mary is bringing in 2nd string. ist hat what they're called?

oh wow. cam lee has a pretty bad twisted ankle. they just showed player - hes on teh bench because we're so far ahead. i wonder what happened to the other team tonight. we're probably also just underrated.

half a minute to go. the marauders will take down the #1 team in the conference.

69-84 is the final score. woo hoo. is player limping? i hope not. i would not be very happy about that. oh the coach went around and shook his own players hands. that was nice.

not quite as long this post. thats probably good. i just can't keep up. i feel like i'm grandma or something.

the funny thing about this broadcast is that you keep hearing the announcer or something. ok. i think it might be over. i just heard a guy say "are we gonna try and pump out the stats?" WHILE the stats are on teh screen being updated.

ok, well they just shut off the video and the espn radio isnt up, so i guess i'll shut 'er down. congrats player!

live-blogging the umary game - part 1

eric just scored the first point for his team! am watching player's game tonight and i've decided to "live blog" the game. its 18:21 left and i just decided this. i'm hoping it will help me follow the game better. i got home a little after 9.

crap. player just got his first foul. NOT GOOD. during chalk talk (which, yes, i watched), coach herbst said that is one of the keys to the game - making sure they don't get to the foul line because they score more free throws than most teams get to the line. and players been sitting on the bench a lot bcs of foul trouble. so thats not cool. the dude hit one free throw. oh. player just hit a fadeaway. i now know what they are. wait. he didn't make it. so it was an attempt at a fadeaway.

anyway, got home a little after 9. was at a friends birhtday. i only stayed for drinks because of this game. i'm glad that the woman's game ran long. it allowed me to watch the pre-game of this game. thats cool. oooo close up on player taking the ball out. #32. woo hoo. moody just scored. 32nd 3 pointer of the year.

the game is being broadcast on - hey! the score is wrong! oof dah. they had 6-2 when it should be 3-5. they fixed it. i'm paying attention. anwyay, the game is being broadcast on nbc in north dakota. i hope a lot of ppl are watching. my cousin amanda is having people at her house watching it outside of why-not minot. thats pretty cool. homie is at the game and i am really glad about that. crap! the game just froze right after player scored. and theyw ere talking about him. NTO PLEASED. i have to go fix this.




ugh. so annoying. i missed like 2 minutes of the game. i had to refresh. i'm watching the game on my work computer (a PC) and typing on my macbook. what was i saying? oh yes. homie is at the game (as are my parents, of course, who are always there) and @hassie is with him, too. i gave hassie a hug from afar. he appreciated it. so there is a commercial break so i hope i'll know when the game has restarted. the screen is black right now.


hmmm

hmmm

oh ok. its coming back. guys with blue body paint on. i can see them.

ok. game's back on. i had to open the window. its mad hot in here.

13:50 left in the first half and the score is 10-12 mary. is that how you say the games? ji mean scores. i've had a glass of wine. now 10-15 mary. for some reason, msu is shown first on the screen, so thats what i keep looking at. this is a pretty fast-paced game. player takes the ball out and he doesn't pause while he's out of bounds. ooo. replay. willy just hit a 3pointer. score is now 10-18. they called a timeout bcs mary is on a roll. they should've let them open up a bit more. player is #8 of all-time scorers at mary. he has scored over 1400 pts in his college career - congrats! that was awesome.

some dude in yellow (the other team - LAME color!) just FLEW through the air. white man can jump. sometimes the game is faster than i can type. and i'm not looking at the keys, so not really sure whats going on. (with the yping, that is). ooo. an almost travel during the last bit. the yellow team looks short but i think its just because their shorts are so long. i dont like it. player has the ball. 11 minutes left. willy just scored. if player throws to someone who throws to the person who passes - does player get an assist? he assisted the person who assisted the scorer. i think that should count as an assist. he's obviously sharing the ball. ooo. yellow team just threw the ball out. under the 11 min mark, idiot. the dude just said "under the 12-minute mark." another timeout. i can catch up.

so mary is in orange and blue. i was kind of not in love with their colors, but now they have grown on me. they look really sharp against a white shirt. and they didnt look bad against a gray sweatshirt that i used to own. my mother lost it in florida a few months ago so i no longer own it. i guess i shouldn't be upset since she probably bought it for me. ok, close up on some girl at the game. and some other people in the crowd. show my family!!

ok, can't tell you the time - its not on the screen. come on, nbc. ok, 10:48 left and the score is 14-21 mary. moody just had an awesome steal and then a foul. he's super quick. i bet i could guard him. i'm totally sure. he's from wisconsin by way of devils lake. he just scored. 14-22. i'll always put mary's score 2nd just so you know. yellow team keeps hitting the rim (and not going in). thats good for us. i bet that would suck to shoot a lot and not make them. thats why i dont play. player just scored! woo hoo! he's so cute. 6 points he has. something called a head-fake. not quite sure when he's going to shoot it the dudes on tv are saying. i always know when he's gonna shoot it. call it sibling intuition.

wow. this is long. people are going to be annoyed.

oo. mary missed. got a rebound and just made it! woo hoo. my computer can hardly keep up with my fast fingers. the good thing about this is that my hands are not free to lift wine glasses to my mouth. i'll probably actually be sober by the end of this game!

something about someone's versatility.. not really sure who they're talking about.

game is slowing down. we're only ahead by 10. i prefer 20+. oh, in case i didnt tell anyone - this is a big game. the yellow team is #1 in our conference and #10 in the nation. they're throwing the ball a lot. trying to take up time. wear our team down. set up plays. they just hit a three pointer. 19-26. i like the sound of shoes on a basketball court. i wonder what a basketball court is made of. the floor that is. not really interested in the brick and mortar. moody just stole and missed an assist. crappy. taking a break. mary is up again by 10. oh. eric was out. i missed that. when did he get benched? and why? to rest? how many fouls does he have. man, i suck at paying attention to this.

another commercial break. biggest lead for us has been 12 but is now 10. 19-29. yellow has the ball. some dde was open. an offensive foul. thats good since we were defense. da fence. nw tire replay. i want some arm warmers. mason guarding my brother. not sure who that is. i bet its the guy stalking my brother on the court.

oh wow. total air ball. maybe not because the shot clock restarted. 6:45 left in the game. this might be a 2-parter because its gettin loong.

player missed a fadeaway. is that one word?

hmm... an interesting story about some D1 players on the msu team for the first part of the year and they were "pushed out" the door... wonder what happened there!

yellow team gets a free throw. miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiisssss. crap. he made it. he wouldn't have if he had heard me. just made the 2nd as well.

holy crap! moody just had a great 3! that was really good. i'm not kidding when i say the score said 232. that would've been awesome. it is only 32. too bad. 21-32. player is the leading rebounder. i like that. especially since they practically didnt know what rebounding was last year. moody just hit another. 19 pts. 21-35.

lee is coming out with 2 fouls. who is going in?

willy just scored! 22-38. 4min left.

ummmmm. lots of stuff just happened. too fast. can't keep up.

dude! the dude just fouled my brother! he fell to the ground!!! NOT PLEASED. don't push my brother around.

a break. i need some wine.

phew. this is tough work! moody just scored again. 22-40 with 3:28 left in the first half. they just need to score 2 more pts and i'll fell slightly safer. then they should have a goal of being ahead by 30. i feel like this geam will come out fighting after the half. not liking that. just texting homie that i was live bloggina nd he said "this is awesome." i'm still nervous. they should get ahead a LOT.

25-40. thanks to free throws. player just got fouled again. the dude should've just let him shoot. might-should've been an offensive foul, but i dont mind that the other dude got it. 76% he makes it. player just missed a free throw. he normally gets those. 27-41. we haven't scored in a while. just missed another shot.

"[player] close to picking up his 2nd foul."

you know what i wonder about people who play sports? if they care about getting dirty. i think they probably don't. you get sweaty and sticky and you share a ball with people without washing the ball or your hands in between. i think there is a reason i dont play sports.

the yellow team is the highest scoring team in teh conference. says mary is playing well defensively. 27-43. i'm quite pleased player hasn't gotten a 2nd foul. he just got benched. to protect him? hmm... not sure how i feel about that. i guess he could have a break. someone should give him a quick shoulder massage. another point for us. 27-46. they're running the clock down.

de-fense. de-fense. de-fense. 3 seconds left and a foul. offensive put-back. obviously i have no idea what these things mean. i'm just retyping what the dudes on the internet tv are saying.

woo. just tried for a decent 3pointer. missed it. thats the end of the half. 30-46 at the half. decent, but still slightly nervous. can't hear the interview. just turned on jack on espn radio and its a commercial. interested to see what he says. oh! i see homie! and hassie! they were on tv. standing in the stands behind the coach who was being interviewed. i texted him to wave, but he didnt get it, i guess. crappy.

ok, just pulled up jack again. let's see what he says. wait. is this mankato or msu? oh. not moorhead state. hmm... ha ha. ok, they're talking about mary women, so i'm going to post this and will post part 2 later... who will win??????
oh, quickly... not sure how long it will be up, but if you click on this link - its a pic of player shooting and homie and hassie and mama bear are in the background!

i love you the best

well it appears i am officially stuck in fargo. its wednesday and i have two more days of working at my parents house since i can't get back to boston. originally, i was rescheduled to fly back to boston on thursday night. now, there is apparently a storm in the dakotas on thursday and potentially friday. it might even start today. who knows? anyway, i called delta to avoid the storm (which is moving to the east - ergo, over minneapolis when i'm trying to go there). plus, remember that i need all these stupid miles before the end of the year. so, now i am going from fargo to salt lake city on friday morning and then flying from there to boston landing around 5pm on friday. i actually kind of prefer this whole thing because 1) i am flying less and 2) i'll be in boston on friday night. i have plans to do absolutely NOTHING, but that alone sounds really fun. it'll be a busy week next week and the week after, i am going to be in columbus.

so, assuming i actually get out of fargo on friday morning (fingers crossed, knock on wood), everything should work out in the end. but we'll see...

anyway, here is some nodak news for your enjoyment.

• i heard about this movie called prairie love making its world debut at sundance. here is the trailer. apparently it was filmed in why not, minot, where i was born. looks intriguing, eh?
  

Prairie Love trailer from Dusty Bias on Vimeo.

• apparently north dakota is #4 in the rankings of states where home prices have increased in the past year. for all the others, check this out.
• its also a state with one of the lowest divorce rates (MA was numero uno, which kind of surprised me)
  
• this article is about how there are lots of jobs in nodak, but not enough places to live. ironic, eh?
• seems like nodak is diversifying and making it attractive to incorporate your business here. im actually not sure how i feel about that because of this...
  
• don't read this story if you're afraid of the "s" word, but if you're not, its excellent to explain why the bank of north dakota is doing so well. and there is a clip from michael moore's video, as well
• on the same note as above, this article also discusses the bank of nodak, which is doing quite well. thats a good article to explain how it all works
  
• and here is the final article explaining about the bank

ok, enough about that. i have to get back to work.

[song by jonny lang since he's from nodak]

early winter

i love me some stories about north dakota. if you flew delta in october, you would've noticed the 20-page article on how great north dakota is. basically, the best place ever. i think i'm going to PDF the document and post it on here. its really cool. i didn't read it all, but thats because i already know it. and here is another boost for nodak (from in-forum, but they don't let you link unless you pay for it so i'm copying the text):

Published October 29 2010
North Dakota tops competitiveness list
By: Marino Eccher

A burgeoning budget surplus, a rock-bottom unemployment rate, short commutes and clean air: all reasons North Dakota leads the nation in economic competitiveness, according to a new report.

The study, released Monday by the Beacon Hill Institute at Suffolk University in Boston, ranked all 50 states on their ability to create and sustain income and growth.

In taking the top spot, North Dakota earned a smattering of No. 1 rankings in key economic categories. The state’s budget surplus, projected to be about $1 billion next year, is easily the nation’s best at a time when most states are facing shortfalls. Its 3 percent unemployment is the lowest in the nation by a comfortable margin.

The state also led the way in less-direct measurements of success: North Dakotans enjoy the shortest commutes (about 17 minutes, according to census data) and the highest air quality in the country.

Shane Goettle, commissioner of the state’s Department of Commerce, said those factors are important to maintaining worker happiness.

“Things that are in this report – short commutes, low crime rates, high air quality – all of these are things that factor into overall quality of life,” he said.

Goettle said the study validates the state’s economic approach. When he became commerce commissioner five years ago, North Dakota was ranked No. 5. It’s gained steadily since then, climbing one spot a year.

“To come out No. 1 reinforces what we’ve been doing in North Dakota to maintain a strong business climate,” he said.

North Dakota ranked highly in a number of categories tied to education, finishing in the top five in college enrollment, science and engineering graduate students, and academic research and development.

Philip Boudjouk, vice president for research, creative activities, and technology transfer at North Dakota State University, said a strong research and technology base is a must-have for economic success.

Boudjouk said about 75 percent of NDSU’s $100 million-plus in annual research expenditures are spent in the Fargo-Moorhead area, giving the local economy a considerable shot in the arm.

There’s still a lag between the state’s academic prowess and high-tech business sector: North Dakota ranks No. 3 in science and engineering degrees per capita but No. 42 in scientists and engineers in the labor force. And the state came in No. 3 in research and development but No. 24 in patents per capita.

Boudjouk said if the state continues to produce high-level intellectual talent, the business side will catch up.

“It’s about getting word to the private sector that there are these opportunities here,” he said.

the only thing to keep in mind is the really really cold winters. i only sometimes miss those.

[song by good ol' gwen]

dream, dream, dream

so i have figured it out. after reading the news the past few months, it's clearly obvious. for ever-lasting happiness for all of you loyal followers, you just need to do one thing: move to north dakota. its clearly the best place in the world! and here is proof:

1. senator byron dorgan talking up the peeps
2. job losses in 48 of 50 states. one of the two with job creation is north dakota.
3. i forgot the third reason, but here is an EXCELLENT article about the dumbing down of america. not speaking about nd, of course.

so what do you think, folks? should we create a bandwagon and move to nodak??