To Watch a Man With a Face Like Mine

Congratulations to Mr. Ben Grant for naming "Yellow Ledbetter" by Pearl Jam as the Thursday. Ben, I'm sorry, but Thursday was not one of the days where the contest yields another Harley-Davidson. Hold your head high though, you never know what's coming around the bend.

Even though I am but one of many pundits today on this subject, I had to weigh in on the Texans' decision in the NFL Draft. One day, how would you like to be known as the GM who passed on Reggie Bush, Vince Young, and Matt Leinart in order to pick Mario Williams? Williams may turn out to be a great player, but even the selection of D'Brickashaw Ferguson as a protector for David Carr would have made more sense than the selection of Williams.

This may not turn out to be a Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan moment, but it could take on a Darko over Dwyane Wade/Carmelo Anthony appearance. Looking back over the years, it seems that drafting players is such a shot in the dark anyway, and it seems that most of the players who do well in the realm of professional sports were those who did well in college and not those who draft stock rise simply because of outstanding workouts or individual tryouts. I have to agree with Chuck Klosterman, when he wrote yesterday that NFL teams just think too much about things before they make their decision and end up psyching themselves out of the "right" pick.

Can You See Them Out On the Porch?

Congratulations to Mr. Ben Grant for correctly naming "Learning to Fly" by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers as the Wednesday Song of the Day.

Many of you might be wondering what anyone actually wins in the Song of the Day Contest. Well, look at this beauty...
The secret, my friends, is not necessarily naming the most songs, but naming the right songs. My Dad won this brand-new Harley-Davidson Heritage Sof-Tail for naming "House of the Rising Sun" this week. Stay on your toes everyone, and you could be a big winner as well.

The Rocks Might Melt and The Sea May Burn

Congratulations to Mr. Joel Weckerly for correctly naming "Santa Monica" by Everclear as the Tuesday Song of the Day.

Is it just me, or can anyone else sing along to Tom Petty in the car without feeling as if they are recreating a seminal moment from a Cameron Crowe movie? The other day I was driving down the road (probably to Harold's) singing along with "Free Fallin" and I realized that I was in the same position as the world's leading Scientologist and the father of Katie Holmes' child. Granted, I had not just torched my career as a sports agent and begun a relationship with Renee Zellweger, but it was bizarre nonetheless.

Swim Out Past the Breakers, Watch the World Die

Congratulations to Mr. Danny Scott, my dad, for correctly naming "House of the Rising Sun" by the Animals as the Monday Song of the Day.

The NYT recently had a very interesting story about a push from a group of Cornell alumni who are seeking to enhance the image of their school through the promotion of more traditional Ivy League apparel and memorabilia.

There is nothing wrong with the idea of promoting one's alma mater and seeking to enhance its image, but there is one quote in the story that I find incredibly troubling and pitiful.

"Their fear is being viewed as a country cousin to Harvard, Yale and Princeton, more like a Midwestern flagship state university than a core member of a prestigious club. "Because of when most people go to college, their identity becomes closely associated with the identity of their university," said Peter Cohl, a committee founder who graduated last spring and is now working on Madison Avenue. Let the college's standing drop in publications that rank universities, he said, and "my value as a human being feels like it's dropping.'"

Peter, come on buddy. Your alma mater was recently ranked 13th nationally by U.S. News and World Report and you have something to complain about? What about somebody who attends South Central South Dakota State University? Is their value as a human being any lower than yours because they did not attend Hahvahd, Yale, or Princeton?

How about you learn to find your innate human worth or value in something really meaningful like your favorite NASCAR driver, band, or talk show host? Trust me, that's where the answers lie.

Mothers Tell Your Children Not to Do What I Have Done

Congrats to Mr. Ben Grant for correctly naming "Rocket Man" by Elton John as the Friday Song of the Day.

A Saturday night spent playing miniature golf and watching Homer Hiccolm and the Rocketboys at Play Faire Park is undoubtedly time well spent. I wanted to use whatever platform I have on this blog to promote Homer Hiccolm and the Rocketboys in their bid to play on the main stage at the Cornerstone Festival. Follow the instructions at their MySpace page to vote for HHRB at Cornerstone.

A few days ago I provided a link to an editorial in the NY Times advocating the re-instatement of a "peacetime" draft for the United States in the face of a possible conflict with Iran over their development of nuclear weapons. In today's Washington Post, former Kennedy advisor Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. provides a strong warning to the Bush Administration about a possible conflict with Iran based on the executive standard of "Be silent; I see it, if you don't."

I don't want to speak too soon, and I realize that they are only 10-9, but the Rangers have won 8 of their last 10 to move into a first-place tie in the American League West. My only hope is that one day I won't have to sound like a New England baseball fan a few years ago who said,"The Red Sox killed my father and now they're coming after me."

Zero Hour Nine A.M.

Congratulations to Mr. David Sessions for correctly naming "Strawberry Fields Forever" by the Beatles as the Thursday Song of the Day. Dave, it is good to know that you are still a purist about the Song Title Contest. If the rest of you simply resort to Google in order to get ahead, shame on you. Welcome to becoming Barry Bonds you cheaters. Sorry, that was too much. I'll move on.

I ran across this piece in the NY Times today about property taxes, which would not normally catch my attention, but the people not paying the taxes are a very interesting group.
Last year my Dad and I read Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith by Jon Krakauer which talks about the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and their fascinating subculture. Now, they have reappeared on my radar after becoming involved in a dispute with the Utah State Government over the payment of property taxes.

The most interesting aspect of Krakauer's book in my mind is his ability to make me step back and look at my own beliefs and the way that those beliefs and practices might be perceived by the society that I live in. I know that when I read about the practice of polygamy by the F.L.D.S., I am shocked that such a practice continues in America, but I am also curious about a culture of belief that draws people in so strongly that they are willing to lead lives that strike us as incredibly anachronistic.

Living is Easy With Eyes Closed, Misunderstanding All You See

Congratulations to Ms. Heather Norman again for naming "Hey Now" by Oasis as the Wednesday Song of the Day.

I think almost everyone would agree that there are some interesting things going on in Iran these days, but I'm not sure if this is the best solution. I recognize that Mr. Kane has a unique perspective on the idea of service and sacrifice for one's country because of his experience with the Marine Corps in Iraq, but it seems as though he is arguing for an idea that is better suited to the past.
As geopolitics and warfare have moved into the 21st century, it does not seem that the mobilization of the armed forces through conscription is the best method to address situations that we do not have all of the answers to at this time. It seems that the current Iranian leadership would not be cowed into abandoning their nuclear aspirations simply because the United States decides to re-institute the draft.

Instead of trying to solve the problem of Tehran with the resurrection of the solutions from the past century, perhaps the international assembly should use the institutions and structures that already exist such as the International Atomic Energy Agency and the United Nations Security Council.

I understand the resentment that exists towards some of these institutions and would admit that they have not always handled situations with the greatest care in the past, but this does not mean that these institutions are not capable of correcting the conflicts that arise in the global setting.

And Time as It Stands Won't Be Held In My Hands

Congratulations to Ms. Heather Norman for correctly naming "Two Step" by the Dave Matthews Band as the Tuesday Song of the Day.

Earlier this year I provided a link in this space to The Sports Guy's conversation with Malcolm Gladwell in his "Curious Guy" Series. Today, Bill brings us a closer look with the men who introduced us to Mike McD and Teddy KGB. Enjoy the column and don't forget your oreos.

We Climb Two by Two to Be Sure These Days Continue

Congratulations to my father for correctly naming "The Pretender" by Jackson Browne as the Monday Song of the Day.

At the risk of being overly sentimental, Jackson Browne always makes me think of my Dad. Growing up with a music lover like my dad, I was exposed to many different styles and genres of music, but two bands really stand out of the crowd: The Eagles and Jackson Browne. Whennever we would listen to Browne, I could always sense that my father found an interesting connection with the lyrics that Browne wrote.

The opening lines of "The Pretender" always seemed to strike a chord that is often rare between an artist and a listener.

"Im going to rent myself a house, In the shade of the freeway, I'm going to pack my lunch in the morning, and go to work each day, and when the evening rolls around, I'll go on home and lay my body down, and when the morning light comes streaming in, I'll get up and do it again
Amen, Say it again, amen."

At the risk of making assumptions about why my Dad loves this song so much, I instead choose to find joy in what he finds joy in.

We'll Fill in the Missing Colors in Each Other's Paint-by-Number Dreams

Congratulations to Mr. Kalum Tuggle for correctly naming "Dreadful Selfish Crime" by Robert Earl Keen as the Sunday Song of the Day. I should have known that out of all the potential blog readers out there, Kalum would have been the one to nail the first REK lyrics.

I know that I have mentioned from time to time that I wanted to talk about my thoughts regarding The Assassins' Gate. If anything, reading Packer's work was made even more difficult this past weekend when I spoke with Blake McGee. Blake and I grew up in the youth group together and after graduating from high school he joined the Marines. He was wounded twice during his service in Iraq and returned home to Tyler this weekend.

I cannot even imagine how unsettling it must be to make the transition from combat to anything else. To Blake, it must seem that everything here is running in slow-motion, as if the world has been muted, and no one here knows what he has seen on the other side of the world. That type of dichotomy is discussed throughout The Assassins' Gate and seems to be one of the leading causes of the problems that threaten to rip Iraq apart to this day.

In my mind, one of the most troubling aspects of the entire conflict is not focused on the discussion regarding weapons of mass destruction or connections with Al Qaeda. It has to do with the fact that we undertook the reconstruction of a country that had existed as police-state for 35 years seemingly on the fly. The evidence of statements from figures such as Donald Rumsfeld and Douglas Feith that the U.S. Government expected that we would be in Iraq for only 3 months after the invasion and then control would be passed to the Iraqi people is troubling to say the least.

One of the most difficult truths to learn about life is that human beings are capable of inflicting terrible damage on each other. When one man took control of the country of Iraq for over three decades and imposed his cruel will on all of those who dared to defy him, those negative effects cannot be undone in 3 months.

For the United States to believe that we could enter a nation in the volatile Middle East, upend all of that country's governing structures and power sources, and then leave that country within 3 months in the hands of people who knew nothing of living as free members of democracy, is a an act of supreme hubris.

Please do not read that I do not think that early Iraqi control or participation in the process of nation-building was not vital, but it seems that we confused the idea of the Iraqi people's desire for a democratic state with their ability to create such a democratic state in an extremely limited period of time.

It has become the vogue point of view to suggest that there is nothing that could have been done to avoid the situation that now exists in Iraq, but I do not believe that to be true.

"The deadly chaos that followed the American invasion of Iraq is a story of abstract terms and concrete realities. Between them lies a distance even greater than the eight thousand miles from Washington to Baghdad, yet the ideas of the war's architects produced consequences as tangible as gutted offices and homemade bombs. Those consequences must be understood above all in the lives of human beings, Iraqis and Americans, thrown together by the fierce history of a war."

It seems that learning to establish a connection with the realities that existed within the nation of Iraq at the time of our invasion in April 2003 and the hypothetical nature of our planning on how to go about reconstructing the country would have gone a long way towards creating a different situation than the one that we find ourselves in.

I Had My First Gig Here in This Neighborhood

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes may be preparing for the birth of their first child, but that doesn't mean that Tom cannot make it to events in the community. Thanks Tom, from the bottom of our hearts.

We Had a Little Band I Thought Was Good

Random Thoughts while driving from Whitehouse to Abilene

• Whatever happened to the middle sister, Judy, on Family Matters? She was there one year, gone the next, and they never devoted as much as an episode to say goodbye. I mean, I don't think she was an integral part of the show, but her absence was noticeable. If anything, it bothered me as a young child in the 1990's, that kids could go missing and no one would even give it a second thought.
  

Just look, she's not even in this picture. In my opinion, this is one of the great unsolved mysteries of the 20th century, along with the Lindbergh baby and Amelia Earhart.

• Why did the advertisers at Geico have the gecko speaking in a British accent?
  

Is it not enough that an animal is speaking a human language? Do we really have to make him seem that much more sophisticated by letting him speak as though he is from Devonshire and not the lower Amazon?

As you have probably noticed, the haughty air with which he speaks does nothing to connect with other members of the amphibian world. Personally, I think the representatives at Geico would have acted with much more foresight if they had selected someone like Dave Chappelle or John Stewart to provide the voice for the Gecko. A much more down to earth, grass-roots campaign if you get my drift.

Pull Me Out of the Lake

Why is it that when I come home it is easier to keep track of what's being built around town than to keep track of what is being built in the lives of those around me?

It's funny, but I almost suffer from some sort of object permanency disorder. Maybe we all do to some extent. From what I can recall from the limited understanding that I have of child developmental psychology, object permanency deals with the fact that infants are not able to rationally understand that objects that leave their field of vision still exist. As we grow, we are able to understand that even though our parents leave the room, this does not mean that they have been completely removed from our realm of existence.

Sometimes when I return home, it is almost as though I believe that all life and growth here has been in a state of suspension while I have been gone and suddenly resumes upon my arrival. I guess that I am learning one of the great lessons of life: people and time continue to move whether or not we are present to witness those events.

This seems like an elementary point, and it probably is, but it is one that I learn again each time that I return to a place that is booming like Tyler.

Pull Me Out of the Aircrash

I'm not sure when it dawned on me but I think that Wal-Mart makes me ill. I'm not talking about ill in the Beastie Boys sense of the word, but it actually makes me a little bit nauseous.

Perhaps I am bothered by the fact that I can now walk into the store, find the precious items that I need, pay at a self-checkout station, and then leave the store without ever talking to a human. Some may think that such a situation is positively sublime, but something about it seems wrong to me.

Maybe it is the Orwellian image of people walking around a giant warehouse filled with the latest items from Great Value (quite an oxymoron in my opinion) while cameras watch overhead that does not sit well with me. I'm not quite sure what it is, but the beast that Sam Walton created is headed after all of us.

This Was My Big Secret, How I'd Get Ahead

Congratulations to Ms. Heather Norman for correctly naming "Bittersweet Symphony" by the Verve as the Tuesday Song of the Day.

Richard Ashcroft, where ever you are, I'm sorry that you could not be on stage with Coldplay in Dallas to perform "Bittersweet Symphony" like you did at Live 8 this summer, but I guess that's the difference between London and Big D. Well, I guess there are a lot of differences, but that's the main one on my mind right now.

I'm headed home this afternoon for the first time this semester and it should be really good to spend Easter weekend with the parents. I'll try to check in tonight with some more thoughts on The Assassins' Gate but there are no guarantees.

I Let the Melody Shine, Let it Cleanse My Mind

One of my favorite developments over the past year has been Chuck Klosterman's monthly essays for ESPN the Magazine. This month, Chuck weighs in with his thoughts on Barry Bonds' impending passage of Babe Ruth in the baseball record books.

One of the most relevant points that Klosterman makes in his essay is that historians in the future will use Bonds' steroid-fueled performance over the past few years to frame the debate over what baseball was like at the turn of the 21st century, and the substance of that debate will feed into the larger debate over what American life was like at the turn of the 21st century. It might be a significant stretch to compare Bonds' chemically-altered records to the financial reports that were produced by corrupt figures at Enron, but the motivation behind those actions were probably closer than you think.

When historians look back at American history and culture in 200 years, what are they going to say? Are they going to look at the turn of the 21st century and see that the actions of CEOs at Enron, Tyco, and WorldCom were anomalies or were they simply a harbinger of things to come? Were the similarly selfish actions of baseball stars such as Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, and Barry Bonds another avenue of self-promotion and disregard for the established mores of a game another reflection of the human drive towards individual recognition and triumph?

I'm not sure what the historians are going to write, but the only ability that we have to influence history is by recognizing what our actions look like today.

You Just Need to Breathe

Well, well, well. So we meet again. Sorry for not writing, but the past few days have been quite crazy. I'll try to provide some sort of summary in a hodge-podge of bullet points, short essays, and photos. Here goes....

• I received the following email on Saturday afternoon
  

Dear Mr. Scott:
Congratulations! On behalf of Baylor Law School, I am pleased to extend to you an offer of admission to our Fall 2006 class. Our entering students are among the best and brightest seeking admission to law school. We want you to be one of those students! In addition, I am delighted to inform you that the Baylor Law School Admissions and Scholarships Committee has awarded you the Dean's Academic Excellence Scholarship. This is a one-half tuition scholarship. This scholarship is based on your outstanding credentials and our belief as a committee that you will do well academically at Baylor Law School.

As you can imagine, I was thoroughly pleased to hear from Baylor and even more pleased that in addition to the possible scholarships from Baylor through ACU, I also received the Dean's Scholarship. All of this combined to make my decision about the next three years very easy. Waco here we come......

• I had a fantastic trip down to Austin on Friday with the 4th graders from Fannin Elementary in Abilene. Here are some of the highlights:
  

Adrian was my buddy for the day.

Adrian loving it in his future chair.

• Saturday was the final Formal that I was able attend as a member of Gamma Sigma Phi. Good times all around as you can see by these photos:

Joseph and I

Erin and I

Blake and I. Bob Barker eat your heart out!

A special photo-op with the Champ!

These penguins looked rather sickly.

3 Generations of Big and Little Brothers in Gamma Sigma Phi.

The SA Office unites at GSP Formal.

Miss Norman and I.

Let My Love Come Running In

As I have been reading through The Assassins' Gate, I have re-learned an old truth that is probably so fundamental to the world that it is often easy to forget. That truth is that ideas matter. It is often easy to dismiss those who place ideas in a lofty place as irrelevant intellectuals who do not understand the true workings of the world, but this view seems to be terribly narrow and misses so much of how the evolution of human thought has done so much to shape the world that we live in today.
In the book, Packer has spent almost the first one hundred pages simply looking at the growth of the various schools of thought that shaped the debate regarding the current war in Iraq, with special focus on the neoconservative movement. As Patrick and I talked about on Monday night, there is no hope in understanding someone unless you are also able to look at their philosophical and moral grounding and the principles that form their beliefs.

Perhaps there is another great lesson that I have learned once again in the early stages of reading The Assassins' Gate. The way that a situation or conflict is handled differs greatly based on the amount of abstraction that occurs. In a large-scale that is fraught with complexity, it is often very difficult to see individuals as more than mere specks on a massive canvas, but the moment that you realize that each one of those "blips" has a family and life story just like you, it becomes much more difficult to dismiss the claims and desires of that "blip".

This is the tension that exists in many different arenas throughout our life. Where do the desires and rights of individuals come into conflict with the values and desires of the collective? I do not have the answers at this moment, but the important piece of the journey towards answers and yet again more questions is to remember that ideas are important in our world and their effects can never be underestimated.

My Old Man Told Me One Time

So Tom, your lawyer says this has nothing to do with the fact that you are currently awaiting trial on federal money-laundering charges.
Come on Mr. Delay, I didn't fall for the oceanfront property in Arizona trick, please don't try to fool me again.

Quick Hits on a Tuesday Afternoon

• Is there anything more enjoyable than "One Shining Moment" on CBS at the end of the Final Four? Well, besides each and every movie ever made starring Jim Varney.
• Starbucks Frappuccinos are still not listed under the "addictive substances that should be banned" list by the Surgeon General. Shouldn't someone from Dateline get on this? Wake up Stone Phillips for goodness sake. If they can't do it, please find John Stossel. This needs to be addressed people.
  

I'm Lucky This Far, Maybe It's Karma

Well, I suppose it happens a lot these days in professional sports, but it's hard when your team trades "your guy". For my favorite pro-team, the Texas Rangers, outfielder David Dellucci was my guy. I say he was "my guy" because the Rangers traded Dellucci to the Phillies on Monday.
Sensing that part of following your favorite team is having a player that you rally behind and support without question, I began to search for a new "my guy". Some of my friends suggested the ever-lovable Kevin Mench, others offered the slugging Mark Teixiera, but I settled on another. I decided to follow the loyalty of my most recent Rangers paraphanelia purchase by going with third baseman Hank Blalock.
We'll see how Hank performs this season under the immense pressure of being "my guy", but I think he'll do alright.

You Never Get Wise, You Only Get Older

Congratulations to Ms. Heather Norman for correctly naming "Gravity" by Embrace as the Sunday Song of the Day.

It seems that more and more, the amount of information in our world is simply staggering. This tidal wave of data, writing, and commentary has caused the citizens of the world, and particularly the information-mad United States, to each become specialists in a given area. We don't really know a lot about anything outside of our specific area of interest, but if you hit the topic that really piques our interest, we are capable of holding forth with our opinions for hours.

My question is: How does someone cut across these lines of specialized interest to provide commentary on the subjects that should matter to all of us? Perhaps I am expecting too much, but this is the significant question that I have in mind as I begin George Packer's last book, The Assassins' Gate: America in Iraq.
Perhaps this is not a fair expectation to hold for Packer's book, but I am eager to see how he is able to handle an issue that has been divisive for so many in our country and around the world. It seems that we all bring certain expectations and anticipations into any experience that we have in life, whether those are explicitly stated or not, but this is one of the first times in my life that I have gone into a book looking for something so strongly. I'll check in from time to time as I read to provide you with what I find.

Do You Hear My Heart Beating?

I realize that I am checking in with any sort of commentary on the NCAA Tournament at an incredibly late date, but I guess it's better late than never. Anywho, I think I will be rooting for UCLA on Monday night. I realize that the Bruins might be the basketball equivalent of Notre Dame, but I think it will be very difficult to root against the "Cameroon Crazie" Luc Richard Mbah a Moute simply because he has the best name in college basketball.
I don't have any type of intricate theory based on past championships played on certain American rivers like I did last year, but I feel good about the Bruins on Monday night. Any money lost on friendly wagers because of my prognostications/guesses is lost at your own risk. You have been warned.