Dribbling Ink

Somehow I got behind and missed the first two episodes of The Walking Dead Season 3. Last night I decided to catch up and watch the newest episode, “Walk with Me.” Like everyone else in the world, I’m glad the crew finally left Hershel’s farm, the prison looks promising (although it could turn into The Farm 2.0), and it’s nice to see a little more action after last season bogged down—although I am a fan of an in-depth exploration of the philosophical questions raised by a zombie apocalypse. Episode 3 summary (not really any spoilers): A new villain, The Governor, and a new location, Woodburry, are introduced. Both are hiding something that the audience will learn in time. Andrea is into The Governor, Michonne just wants her weapons back, and Merle finally makes his long foreshadowed return. There are a few more details, but this covers the essentials. It was kind of a boring episode that was essential for setting up the rest of the season. However, instead of offering an a...

Welcome to your Tuesday viewing update—better known as the night after baseball died in Arkansas for 2012 (the Cardinals got beat down by the Giants in Game 7), the night after the final presidential debate (this election can’t be resolved quickly enough), and the night of crappy singing and dancing shows like The X-Factor , Dancing with the Stars , and The Voice . Without Sons of Anarchy and Pretty Little Liars , Tuesdays would be a lost cause. However, don’t fret; it’s Arkansas State’s night to be on primetime on ESPN . The Red Wolves (4-3 overall, 2-1 conference) travel to Cajun Field to take on LA-Lafayette (4-2, 2-1) for a key matchup in the Sun Belt. Both teams are chasing those mighty Warhawks of ULM, who are undefeated in Sun Belt play. The game will be aired on ESPN2 , beginning at 8 PM ET. I believe I read that ULL is a 4.5 point favorite. I hope my alma mater has a solid showing—it’s very important to take advantage of these situations. With that being said, I expect ...

Tonight is Game 7 of the NLCS between the St. Louis Cardinals and the San Francisco Giants. Winner takes all—all being a trip to MLB’s greatest prize, the World Series. Neither of these teams are strangers to postseason play: the Cardinals won the World Series last year and the Giants the year before that. It’s the Rally Squirrel versus the Rally Monkey. The Midwest versus the West Coast. A violet state versus a blue state (don’t worry if this political reference makes no sense). One team’s season will end tonight. The losing team will be banished for five months, unable to call itself the champion, until the quest starts anew in 2013, when the season begins in April. There is nothing more exciting in sports than an elimination game. Every aspect of the game is exaggerated. Nothing goes unnoticed. Every detail matters. Hyperbole abounds. First pitch is slated for some time after 7 PM central time. (Via Forbes.com) Fittingly, the third and final presidential debate is...

(Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images) It’s finally that week, the one that rolls around once a season in college and professional football: the bye week. Coming off a 49-7 beat down of Kentucky, the Arkansas Razorbacks have a free week to get healthy and prepare for a critical stretch of games. (If the Hogs want to salvage 2012, they have to win their next two games against Ole Miss and Tulsa. Assuming they win those games, the Hogs would have to beat one of three top-12 ranked teams remaining on the schedule—at #7 South Carolina, at #12 Mississippi State, and home against #6 LSU—to be bowl eligible.) Usually during bye weeks I pay special attention to my secondary team, Arkansas State. This year, however, provides Arkansans with a special twist: the dreaded double-bye weekend. A quick thought: Maybe ASU should schedule a game at War Memorial during Arkansas’s bye week each year. I’m not trying to be facetious; I actually think this is a good idea. There are a lot of football f...

My red-headed friend—his name’s Justin, by the way (he told me he was going to dye his hair after he read my blog), so let’s call him by name instead—isn’t giving up on his argument that the College Years is actually better than the original Saved by the Bell . (If you have Netflix, you also know the show had another previous incarnation, Good Morning, Mrs. Bliss— there’s no defending this show.) After defending his position to his wife—if a man can defend himself to his wife, I ain’t got a shot—he reiterated his claim to me. I have to admit that he has a point: the unresolved storylines in the original SbtB are maddening. With Justin’s help, I’ve decided to examine all the unresolved storylines that we could remember and try to make sense of them. Jessie Spano was a drug addict… for one day. As Justin pointed out, I think it is impossible to be hooked on prescription or illegal drugs for just one day. Of course, like my knowledge of gambling and wild animals, my knowle...

I spent this morning like I did so many mornings before high school: watching a combination of SportsCenter and Saved by the Bell . Unlike those bygone mornings, by morning today I mean 11:00 o’clock, not 7:00. However, the combination of terrible one-liners and wretched 80s fashion does just as much for the soul as it did a decade ago. I only have one question: What about that kiss between Zack and Lisa? Whatever happened after that? I demand an explanation. Maybe you don’t remember this. Let me quickly bring you up to speed. In the final season—the gang’s senior year of high school—Zack decides to put on a fashion show to help Lisa get admitted into fashion school in New York. After days of preparation, Zack and Lisa kiss at her house. Eventually Screech finds out, sabotages the fashion show, and challenges Zack to a fight for Lisa’s love. Zack and Screech work through their problems when Lisa convinces Screech that she will never date him—a heartbreaking scene. Zac...

(One of my cousins asked me if  “roaming around Northeast Arkansas” meant I was driving around and parking in random driveways looking for free Wi-Fi to upload my blog. Of course not—I only did that this summer when I was looking for a place to live in Little Rock. I have some dignity, guys. I’m at my third different house in three nights to upload my blog [and I’m being harassed by my hostess]; I’m like the Julian Assange of Northeast Arkansas blogging. I have to quit starting blogs with these ramblings.) After thinking of ways to solve the mystery of the tarp beside my house for the last few weeks, I thought I had a breakthrough recently. I was looking at the Google Street View of my address and realized a few things. The house didn’t look the same as it does now, I thought. That’s because most of the images on Street View are older. Duh. The image of our house online is from 2007. Eureka! I could zoom in on the side of the house with the tarp and see if it was ther...

(Caption: OMGosh! It's a giant tomato rolling at breakneck speed! Uphill!) Lists are dangerous. Write a list and the next thing you know it's the only thing you can do. I'm not much of a list person, especially "To-Do" lists. The most important lists to me are grocery lists. Of course, as my wife can attest to, food consumes me (Nope, not the other way around: "Food consumes me" is exactly the reason that studying English is useless. Any string of words makes perfect sense). The only reason I'm saying this is because I have an insatiable desire to post another list. I just posted a list on Monday. See...it's unstoppable. It's like those killer tomatoes in Attack of the Killer Tomatoes -- they just roll over you and squash you--well, tomato you (I think I just made a vegetable joke. Dang, this blog is going downhill quickly... like those evil killer tomatoes !). Whatever. You get the point? Next, I'll be trying to write my papers...