“The Face of Kinston”

Thanks to Horns for alerting me to this: A slightly cheesy promotional video for Kinston …

Some highlights:

• 0:23 — Kinston grows up before your eyes … in 3D!
• 0:40 — “Located halfway between New York and Florida”; technically, that describes North Carolina, doesn’t it?
• 1:00 — “Multi-mode distribution center?” Wow!
• 1:17 — “Right to work laws”. Translation: You can fire their butts whenever you want! No unions here!
• 1:25 — “Kinston is a recognized leader” … in what? There was no explanation of what Kinston is a recognized leader in…
• 2:11 — Come to Kinston if you want to see the Blue Angels … hmmm, I’ve been here six years and still haven’t seen them fly over?
• 2:34 — Kinston, North Lenoir and South Lenoir props!
• 2:42 — Love to Lenoir Community College!
• 3:17 — A nice shot of the Lenoir Memorial Hospital walking track
• 3:38 — Should a house on fire be one of your selling points to bring people to Kinston? (“Hey! We have houses on fire! They’re hot!”)
• 4:00 — With a woman now narrating, we meet some of the best looking bitches in town! (You have to see it to believe it!)
• 4:08 — Mmmm, squash!
• 4:12 — Can’t those poor kids afford a REAL Slip N’ Slide?
• 4:31 — It took more than 4 1/2 minutes to get to the Kinston Indians?
• 4:40 — Richie Sexson and Willie McCovey are two of the biggest stars to play for the K-Tribe? Ever heard of Manny Ramirez or C.C. Sabathia?
• 4:53 — Thurman Pate!
• 4:58 — Someone please help that old guy with the Stairmaster! Please!
• 5:14 — “Brand new performing arts center”? This means this video was made in like 2001 or so?
• 5:24 — The planetarium is shown. An aside: I am yet to go there. Is it pretty cool?
• 5:42 — If you’re going to show Crystal Coast action, I suggest you get a hottie or two in the shot. That’ll make people come here!
• 5:58 — The Kinston water tower! And it doesn’t even have my spray-painted adoration to the hot blonde on it!
• 6:06 — OK, Lee, cut it off before you get here: they’re showing churches and talking about religion
• 6:27 — “Kinston welcomes you home”
• 6:28 — Fade to black … where it stays for 100 more seconds. Huh?

Not a bad video; any idea who put this together and what year it happened?

Josh Howard doesn’t like the National Anthem

Thanks to the boys in a thread below for pointing this out: Josh Howard of the Dallas Mavericks is evidently not a fan of the National Anthem; he goes off on a short rant during the NA before a charity football game.

Here’s the video (Howard’s rant starts at 1:42); be warned, this is EXTREMELY NSFW, with lots of N words and cursing…

My take: What an idiot. This is a free country and you can do and pretty much say anything you want, but this is ridiculous. Josh Howard was — once upon a time — a feel-good story in the NBA; a player who came out of nowhere to become a star.

You’d think he’d appreciate the country he lives in that has made him a millionaire. Guess not.

But, as a good American, I don’t have to support him or the Dallas Mavericks, either.

Morning News Report; Sept. 12, 2008

PALIN APPEARS IN FIRST ON-AIR INTERVIEW

Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin talked to ABC’s Charlie Gibson in interviews aired by the network on the nightly news and Nightline last night. She said she’s ready to lead the nation, if called upon, and seriously called out Russia a couple of times.

My take: To a degree, she’s media-savvy, I’ll give you that. But call me an idiot — and I know many of you will — but I don’t know how ready I am to hand over the keys to our nuclear arsenal to someone who was a mayor of a town of 9,000 just two years ago. Especially someone who hasn’t had any foreign policy experience.

And no, I’m not assuming John McCain is going to die soon — I hope he lives to be 100! — but you know the possibility is there.

Let me say for the 1,000th time — couldn’t we have better presidential and vice-presidential candidates than the four we have today?

PHELPS READY TO HOST SNL

He can swim, but can he be funny? Olympic mega-star Michael Phelps will host Saturday Night Live tomorrow in the season-opener for the series, which is beginning its 34th year on NBC.

My take: Something tells me this is going to STINK. He’s wooden in his interviews; how’s he going to miraculously be better in live sketches?

Let’s hope Phelps is half as funny as this:

IT’S ON! 45TH ANNUAL PIGSKIN CLASSIC IS TONIGHT

North Lenoir and South Lenoir face each other tonight for the 45th time in a game that I think is going to be memorable.  It’s not the only good game, though, as undefeated West Craven and unbeaten Kinston play, Ayden-Grifton visits Greene Central and Jones Senior welcomes Southern Wayne.

My take: This might be one of the best Football Friday Nights of the year. It’s supposed to be a nice night, too, so get out there and support our kids!

The iPod shuffle

… Baby One More Time — Britney Spears

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road — Elton John

Bell Bottom Blues — Derek & The Dominoes

Alright For Now — Tom Petty

Fantastic Voyage — Coolio

Statements from the Kinston Police Department and ECU Police regarding post-game activities on Saturday (with WITN/YouTube video links)

Here you go:

The following statement has been released by the Kinston Department of Public Safety:

 

The Kinston Department of Public Safety has initiated an investigation into the events surrounding the incident involving Law Enforcement Officers that occurred at the completion of the ECU Football Game.

The Kinston Department of Public Safety has provided support to the ECU Police Department for a number of years and has done so without incident. The investigation will be thorough and will include the actions of the Officers and events leading up to the confrontation.

It is the policy of the Kinston Department of Public Safety to investigate officer actions in a fair and responsive manner. The professional conduct of our officers reflects on the entire organization and is held to the highest standard.

Additional information will be released upon completion of the investigation.

John Durham of East Carolina University provided the following press release:

East Carolina University officials are investigating complaints of unnecessary force exercised by law enforcement officers as thousands of people stormed the field at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium Saturday to celebrate the Pirates’ win over West Virginia University.

ECU Police Chief Scott Shelton said university officers are interviewing witnesses and analyzing photos and videotapes. The complaints are varied and include assertions that officers punched a fan and threw another to the ground. Shelton said, “Preliminary investigation indicates excessive force was used in an incident of most concern by complainants.”

ECU police are assisted at home football games by officers from a number of jurisdictions, including the City of Greenville, Pitt County Sheriff’s Department, the City of Kinston, and Lenoir County. Shelton said he will meet Monday with Greenville Police Chief Bill Anderson to seek his assistance in the investigation.

Shelton said that at a briefing before the game, all officers were told that if ECU won the game and fans attempted to come onto the field, officers should try to deter them by making themselves visible. But if that failed, he said, officers were instructed to step back and focus on making sure that those on the field stayed safe.

“Obviously, the safety of the students, fans and athletes at the game is our first concern,” Shelton said. “It is simply unacceptable that anyone at a game is the victim of excessive force.”

Shelton said he hopes to have at least a preliminary report on the complaints within a day or two.

Click here for WITN’s video link of the incidents.

Click here for a 4-second YouTube.com link.

My take: Heelatious has already alluded to it in his comments — and believe it or not, I agree with him. While I think the video is pretty damning (especially the WWE body slam), we don’t know the whole context of what went on. Did the kid run over the cop? Did the kid hit the cop? We don’t know and won’t know until the investigation is complete. I hope no one jumps to any unnecessary conclusions here about the police or the kids. Let’s allow the system to sort this out first.

Kinston on GMA

Click here to see the Kinston Indians feature on Saturday’s broadcast of Good Morning America Weekend.

My take: Check out my column for my take.

Morning News Report; Aug. 27, 2008

HILLARY ADDRESSES DNC; PLEDGES SUPPORT TO OBAMA

Hillary Clinton addressed the Democratic National Convention last night and asked her 18 million supporters to line up behind Barack Obama in November’s presidential election against John McCain.

My take: It was a pretty powerful speech that was well-delivered by a pretty good orator. Some points that caught my attention, though:

• I could understand cutting to Bill Clinton three, four, maybe even five times. But there were at least 30 (or maybe more?) shots of Clinton getting “teary-eyed” and mouthing “I love you” to Hillary. Or was it to Hillary?
• I’m used to Chelsea the kid, not Chelsea the grown-up. It was a bit shocking to see her as an adult.
• Hillary really is a good speaker, and I think that is something folks don’t realize until they hear her. Is she as good as Obama? No, but she’s still strong.
• I’ll say it again — Obama messed up by not picking Hillary as his running mate. Joe Biden is the personification of “Old Washington” for someone who is trying to be an agent of change.
• Hillary said something about her “35 years of service” to her country. What? She was the First Lady for God’s sake and a New York senator for 8 years. Where the hell does 35 years come from?

LPGA TO FORCE GOLFERS TO SPEAK ENGLISH

In an effort to help its sponsors, the LPGA is going to make its golfers be conversant in English by 2009 — or face suspension.

My take: Finally, some common sense in sports — and life. I’m not xenophobic by any means, but it’s bugged the hell out of me for years that immigrants come to America and are forcing us to learn their language. If I go to Mexico to live, by God, I’m going to learn to speak Spanish; it shouldn’t be the other way around.

Our government could learn a lot from the LPGA in this case. Good for them.

NICOLLETTE SHERIDAN FINALLY COMES TO HER SENSES BREAKS UP WITH MICHAEL BOLTON

“Desperate Housewives” hottie Nicollette Sheridan and d-bag singer Michael Bolton have called off their engagement.

My take: What took so long? She was way, way out of his class anyway:

While I’m at it, one of my favorite “Office Space” moments involves Michael Bolton (it’s in the second half of the clip, around the 1:35 mark):

My favorite line: “For my money, I don’t know if it gets any better than when he sings ‘When A Man Loves A Woman.’ ” Priceless!

The iPod shuffle

Rock Of Ages — Def Leppard

Church Of The Poison Mind — Culture Club

State Trooper — Bruce Springsteen

I Can’t Tell You Why — The Eagles

Wonderful Tonight — Eric Clapton

Morning News Report; Aug. 13, 2008

LET IT RAIN?

A politically-active religious organization that opposes Barack Obama made a video that asked folks to pray for rain on Aug. 28 in Denver — right before Obama is set to take the stage to accept the Democratic nomination for president.

The video has been pulled from the site, however, after a bunch of complaints.

Here is the video:

My take: I think it’s kind of funny (although it goes on about a minute too long; it’s two and a half minutes). People get their panties in a wad too easily and I think this is one of those cases.

JOHN LENNON’S KILLER DENIED PAROLE FOR FIFTH TIME

Finally, a prison sentence that has stood the test of time: Mark David Chapman, the man who murdered John Lennon 28 years ago, was denied parole for a fifth time. Chapman was given a sentence of 20 years to life for the 1980 murder of the Beatles star.

He is up for parole again in 2010.

My take: Good for them. Too often, people who are sent to prison for 20, 25 and 30 years get out in mere fractions of that amount of time. He should’ve gotten the chair but as along as he’s stuck in prison with Bubba for — at least — the next two years, that’s good enough for me.

BURGER KING EMPLOYEE FIRED FOR BATHING IN THE RESTAURANT’S SINK

Um, yeah, you read that right.  A Burger King employee in Xenia, Ohio, was fired after shooting a YouTube video while he was taking a bath in the restaurant’s sink.

The video:

My take: Disgusting … but I found it strangely hilarious, too. I’m embarrassed to say that I’ve known some guys — especially when I was a McDonald’s employee in the mid-80s — who probably would’ve done this, too.

The iPod shuffle

Sleeping Bag — ZZ Top

I’ll Be Alright Without You — Journey

I Shot The Sheriff — Eric Clapton

I Wanna Get High — Cypress Hill

In Bloom — Nirvana

Morning News Report; Aug. 11, 2008

IS JOHN EDWARDS STILL LYING?

According to this ABC News report, he is. After being forced to admit (by the National Enquirer, no less!) that he was having an affair, the former North Carolina senator and U.S. vice-presidential candidate still isn’t telling the whole truth, says a former friend of the “other woman.”

My take: As Heelatious said in the comments section of my original post, how can we believe him now?

What I also find funny — as did you guys — is that his whole campaign was based on honesty, family and related themes. Hilarious.

Someone also brought to my attention the fact that he ended his School for Everyone plan at Greene Central mere days before this story broke. Think there’s a connection? I wouldn’t be surprised if there was.

A classy dude, that John Edwards. He deserves to live in political purgatory for the rest of his life — although, as forgiving as we Americans are, he’ll probably end up a front-runner in the 2012 presidential race.

Then again, whatever happened to Gary Hart after his Monkey Business in 1987?

ISAAC HAYES DEAD AT 65

Isaac Hayes, who had a deep, baby-making music voice, died yesterday at the age of 65. He sang the theme song to “Shaft” but was better known in the past decade as the voice of Chef on “South Park.”

My take: I know you’re not supposed to speak ill of the dead (my grandma taught me that), but the way he and the guys at “South Park” split was totally his fault. After years of making fun of Christians, Jews and every other religion, when South Park took a shot at the completely made-up religion of Scientology, he quit the show/was fired.

It made it all that much funnier the way South Park got rid of him (warning, it’s a little rough, although it’s funny as heck):

Still, R.I.P., Chef, errr, Isaac.

TAKE THAT, FRENCH!!!

The American 400-meter freestyle relay wiped the smirk off the French team’s face with an amazing, improbable victory early this morning in the Olympics. A member of the French team had guaranteed a victory over the U.S.

ESPN’s Pat Forde has a well-written column on the win here.

My take: Ha! Other than French toast and French kissing, what have they given us? And what have they ever won? If it weren’t for us, they’d be heiling Hitler every morning and be forced to eat German chocolate cake every day.

I stayed up to watch it and it was awesome. When the final leg made the turn for the final 50 meters, he was still a good 2 or 3 feet behind; how he made it up was amazing.

I tried to find a youtube — or even NBC — video to post here, but evidently there’s some sort of copyright laws that prohibit it. Oh well, watch SportsCenter — they’re showing it every 30 seconds.

The iPod shuffle

Fortunate Son — Creedence Clearwater Revival

Drop It Like It’s Hot — Snoop Dogg featuring Pharrell

In Da Club — 50 Cent

You Oughta Know — Alanis Morissette

Holiday — Green Day

Morning News Report; Aug. 6, 2008

PARIS HILTON REACTS TO MCCAIN AD

Like you didn’t know this was coming: Paris Hilton made a tongue-in-cheek video response to John McCain in which she says she’s “like, totally ready to lead.”

The ad:

See more Paris Hilton videos at Funny or Die

My take: I think it’s funny! My favorite line? “See you at the debate, bitches!”

PROTESTS BEGIN AT BEIJING OLYMPICS

Protestors are beginning to use the Beijing Olympics as a public ground for protests. Earlier today, protestors hung a banner with “Free Tibet” while U.S. (hottie) swimmer Amanda Beard also made a public gesture about animal rights.

My take: Good for them! I bet China doesn’t use any tanks this time to stifle unrest as they’ve done in the past…

“THE DARK KNIGHT” CLEARS $400 MILLION

Continuing to break box office records, “The Dark Knight” made $400 million in only 18 days, smashing the previous record — “Shrek 2” — which did it in 43 days.

My take: Wow. I knew it was a good movie, but at this pace, it’s going to break all the records.

Our good friend, Drew Loftis — who I consider a bona fide movie expert, said he thinks TDK is the best movie he’s ever seen. I’m not quite ready to call it that yet, but it’s certainly the best one I’ve seen this year.

A POST-SCRIPT TO YESTERDAY

Rob Bizzell let me know that, indeed, Bev Perdue was in Kinston in May and June. My bad. As I said to him in my response, I need to realize that “news” happened in Kinston before I got here! Thanks, Rob.

The iPod shuffle

Won’t Get Fooled Again — The Who

Side Of A Bullet — Nickelback

You Oughta Know — Alanis Morissette

This Time — Bryan Adams

Never Again — Nickelback

Morning News Report; July 24, 2008

HOGS, HOGS EVERYWHERE!

A hog truck turned over outside La Grange last night, creating a surreal scene for everyone involved. Around 30 hogs died in the accident and officers from several different agencies found themselves not only directing traffic, but herding hogs.

Here’s a great picture by Free Press photographer Janet Sutton that didn’t make the paper:

My take: Our reporter, David Anderson, will be doing a follow-up on the location of the crash, N.C. 903 and Jenny Lind Road. Evidently, there have been quite a few accidents there. If you know anything about it and you’d like to comment on it (or be quoted in David’s story), call him at (252) 559-1077.

WNBA BRAWL GRABS (YAWN) ATTENTION

Yes, it must’ve been an extremely, extremely slow news day yesterday as the WNBA brawl between the L.A. Sparks and Detroit … hell, I don’t even know the Detroit team’s nickname … took center stage on Tuesday.
My take: At least there were more punches thrown in this fight than a typical MLB “brawl”. The WNBA — one of the worst ideas that is still being funded by the NBA — will surely dry up and simply go away one day, won’t it?

FORD TAKING A HIT … AGAIN

Ford Motor Company reported a (gasp!) $8.7 billion dollar loss in the second quarter of 2008. The company is attempting some cost-cutting measures.

My take: Wow; $8.7 billion is a lot of money. How much longer before Ford disappears into the horizon?

The iPod shuffle

Ask The Lonely — Journey

Little Wing — Jimi Hendrix

Whatcha Gon’ Do — Missy Elliott

Gimme Three Steps — Lynyrd Skynyrd

The Ocean — U2