This Weekend

I have a doozy of a Labor Day weekend coming up. Lots to do, but I'm looking forward to them all. They include:

• CAL v. Tennessee - Saturday The season opener for both teams, this game is a rematch from last year's opener where we got our asses handed to us. This time, the game is at Berkeley, and we're ranked three spots ahead of the Vols (#12 v. #15). I'm looking forward to seeing Nate Longshore begin his development into possibly the Pac-10's best QB, and DeSean Jackson begin his Heisman campaign. GO BEARS!
• Family Reunion - Saturday I'm more excited about this one than in years past for a couple of reasons. One, this is the first year of a new format, where we're only going back two generations before mine. We have a larger reunion every year that goes back to the original ancestors who came over here on the slave ships from Africa. And seeing as those original Grays had 13 children, let's just say there are too many branches on the tree. So this year we begin a new reunion that starts at my late grandmother's generation. Because it will be smaller, more people I actually know are making the effort to attend. Which brings me to the second reason I'm excited. All my cousins that I grew up with (running around in our grandparents' house) are flying in from all over the country to attend this event. We haven't been all together at one time since I was about 13 years old. It'll be good to see them all, and reminisce a bit.
• Block Party - Sunday On the street I grew up on as a kid, we have a new tradition that started a few years ago, where every first or second week in September, we have a block party to celebrate numerous birthdays, one of whom is my brother's (Sep. 3rd). And it's not just that about 4 of the kids all have birthdays within a week or two of each other, they were all born in the same year. I'm thinking, maybe there was one hell of a block party in early December of 1978.
• Birthdays - Monday Will probably do something for my brother on his birthday, and I'll also be attending a bday dinner for my pal Cynthia. I haven't seen the "Berkeley" crew in awhile, so it should be fun to drink, eat, and then be annoyed by all their incessant yapping. Just kidding girls... but you do talk a lot. A LOT.

I'll try to give an update as to how the weekend actually went. Later.

Huh?

I know everyone has seen this by now, but man I had to put this on here. Wow. I mean, wow. And to be honest, I can't even look at the screen while it's playing. It's hard enough listening to it. Man, this hurts.

Follow up: Of course, since this clip is the hit of the internet, there had to be numerous follow-ups and satires mocking this poor girl. But the beauty of it all, is that some of the people mocking the clip, are in their own right, just as funny (re:stupid) as the girl herself. I give you Exhibit A:

Doggy Style

So being the dog-lover that I am, you know sooner or later I had to vent on this whole Michael Vick/dogfighting scandal. My first thoughts are, "Fuck Michael Vick!" Actually, my only thoughts on the matter are, "Fuck Michael Vick!" When I was a kid, there were a couple of neighbors across the street from me that had pitbulls and raised them for fighting. They weren't as cold-hearted with their treatment of them as we've heard the Bad Newz Kennels were, but still, I was witness to some of their training between two dogs. Of course I was appalled that anyone would allow innocent dogs to be treated like that, and let's just say there were a few "anonymous" phone calls to the Santa Monica police department. Long story short, I've seen a bit of the ugly side of dogfighting, and the issue still hits home today. For an athlete, who's worth millions and is the face of not only a professional franchise but of an entire city, the decision to oversee and bankroll this endeavor is simply stupid. But the real travesty comes from realizing this athlete, who might have been on your wall or whom at least you're jaw has dropped from numerous appearances on Sportscenter, is quite simply and evil man. EVIL. There's no other explanation. This wasn't a one-off mistake. It's not ignorance. And despite what some members of the media have said to try and offer some background, it's not cultural. Blacks do not enjoy torturing and killing innocent animals. Southerners do not enjoy it. It's evil men who somehow think this is acceptabe entertainment. I hope Vick and the others involved in this dogfighting ring are given maximum sentences. I don't believe in sentencing in order to "send a message", I just believe that the nature of this crime (and the pre-meditation that went with it) deserve a hefty punishment. I am happy that he has lost all his endorsement deals. And I also believe that Vick should be allowed to play football again after he has completed his punishment. But I won't shed any tears if he doesn't. People have stated that after he's served his time, he should be allowed to make a living. That is true, but playing in the NFL is a privilege, not a right. As Judge Smails from Caddyshack said, "Well, the world needs ditch diggers, too."

Catching Up

Ok, for the few people that actually read this and were expecting me to keep up with this blog thing, I apologize. But I have two good excuses. One, the internet café options in Utila were a bit sparse and expensive. And two, I'm lazy. You all know this. So obviously, this update won't be a rehash of each day, but instead, I'll just offer some highlights in list form.

• Suchitoto, El Salvador Spent two nights in a quiet colonial town called Suchitoto. The people were amazingly nice, and the great thing about it was the locals actually run the businesses and profit directly from the tourism. Bad thing was the mosquitos ate me up. About 25 bites on each leg.
• Border Crossing After staying in La Palma for a night, took a bus to the Honduran border, walked across, and then took another bus to La Entrada, where we then took another bus to Copan. About a total of 6 hours on the bus. My back hates me.
• Ruinas Copan Have to say, the ruins were a bit of a disappointment. Lots of cool stuff there, but I guess I was expecting to be "wowed" a bit more. Got some photos of some temples and statues and all that good stuff. Still glad I went though.
• Another Bus So to get to northern Honduras, we need to take another bus from Copan to La Ceiba. Total time, 9 hours. Fuck that shit. We go chartered bus. Our first "splurge" of the trip.
• La Casona When we arrived in La Ceiba, we went to this nightclub called La Casona. And apparently, we went on ladies night, girls in free. Nice. I'll just state that this club beats anything Hollywood has to offer.
• Utila, Bay Islands, Honduras Best part of the trip so far. Utila is a small island off the northern part of Honduras. We spent the week getting scuba certified, by two hilarious and cool British women, Toni and Chavon. We also got lucky, because we happened to arrive on the island during their Carnaval. Party, party, party!! Oh, and Toni's boyfriend Dick happens to be the real-life version of Popeye. Seriously.
• Back to La Ceiba After the great week on Utila, we took the ferry back to La Ceiba. In the early morning. With a hangover from partying with Toni and Chavon all night. So what do we do? Head directly into the jungle to go river-rafting. Needless to say, I did fall in the river and had to be "rescued". Fun times. And since this was a Thursday, that means it was Ladies Night again at La Casona, so we headed there that night. Great times.

So that's pretty much it. I know there's stuff I'm forgetting, so I'll try to do a better job of keeping up with the journal, and getting to a computer. See you guys in about two weeks. PS: When I return, I might be unrecognizable. I'm as dark as midnight, and I have a beard. And not a smooth James Ingram-type beard, but one of those nappy rastafarian beards. I definitely got the wild-style thing going on.