You Learn Something New Everyday
Looks like my current neck of the woods (Upstate South Carolina) is also Snoop Dogg's true hood. D-O-double-G is from Union, South Carolina! He even came by last year to visit Grandma and Grandpa Dogg.
If the town of Union sounds familiar, you may recall a certain mom-who-drowned-her-sons a decade back who also called Union her hood. She no longer lives there.

Since I've Been Gone...
Regular 67 Degrees features MOTW and SFS will take a break this week so that I may bring you a random update of "what's happening" (in Bill Lumberg voice).

-- Sweeps starts Thursday night. You probably already know because you're either a.) in TV news or b.) formerly in TV news or c.) already sick of the gimmicky promos on local television.

-- I spent the weekend in Houston, but didn't do anything because on the way there I became violently ill. Will spare y'all the details.

-- Photographer Dennis and I will be running the Disneyworld Marathon next January with the Greenville PD. (They run a marathon every year.) Training officially starts in September but methinks we should start exercising now.

--New pet peeves include: Subscription cards that fall out of magazines, when "congratulations" is misspelled as "congradulations" and, I'm just gonna say it, sweeps promos.

Scorecard
The Folks Behind Fire David Gregory = 0
The Folks Behind Fire Scott McClellan = 1

(In Scott's defense, if Carole Keeton Strayhorn was my mom, I'd be fucked up too.)

Monday Men of the Week
Dad (Happy Birthday)
Immigrants
Jean-Claude Van Damme

Your Weekly Snippet from Stiles
"How many times do I have to tell you, don't interrupt me when I'm singing!" (Seriously, don't.)

Signs of the Times
I covered Greenville's big immigration rally on Monday. Across the street, half a dozen counter demonstrators stood with signs. One of them read "Not All Cultures Created Equal". That's the spirit, folks.
My black photog and my Asian self were walking over to talk to them when he said, "I bet we're gonna be real welcome on that corner."

Leave it to Plano
If you grew up in a suburb, the place I grew up looks a lot like the place you grew up. In Plano, Texas, you'll find the streets all meet at right angles, four Starbucks locations at each intersection, and Hummers driven by high school students. So of course, when Sam Walton's superstore wanted to open it's first "high-end" location, it chose the sprawling suburbia I called home. 75024 represent!

(High-end Wal-Mart may sound like an oxymoron, but I it's guess not.)

My favorite writer at The Washington Post pens a piece about the wonder that is Wal-Mart-for-Snooty-People.

Cravin' Crave... Like Flavor Flav, Only Without the Clock
As a public service, longtime 67 Degrees friend J0hn Craven translates some popular rap lyrics for those born uncool.

Artist: Notorious B.I.G.
Album: Ready to Die
Song: One more chance (remix)

Lyrics:
And my jam knock in the Mitsubishi
Girls pee pee when they see me, Nava-hoes creep me in they tee pee
As I lay down laws like I lay carpet
Stop it - if you think your gonna make a profit

Cravin' Crave's TRANSLATION:
I enjoy playing my music loudly on my car stereo. Apparently, women enjoy this also because they become sexually aroused when they see me driving. Oddly enough, when I visit the Native American reservations, some of the more sexually promiscuous Indian women attempt to seduce me in their homes. Their intent is to divest me of my earnings. Such actions are unacceptable.

Many thanks to Mr. Craven for his services.

If Only...
TV Newsies could win awards for their online bios.

--Christopher covered news on both sides of the Red River, working on such stories as... the 6th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing.

--During a decade in Ireland, Jackie became a proficient performer of Irish folk song and dance.

--His full name is Robert Jeffrey Ballou… making Bob Ballou **NOT** a stage name.

Send in your favorites as you find them!

Gentlemen of the Week
Phil Mickelson
Leo McGarry, (America has lost a giant tonight)
S-Deep Reddy, roving reporter giant
Harry Taylor, thank you

Stiles Snippet of the Week: Not-So-Gentlemanly
MS: They had weird butts.
Me: What?
MS: They had weird butts. They had low centered hips or something so their butts were fatter on the sides. So when they walked, they looked like they had goat legs.

Tumbling into Sherman, Texas



Longtime 67 Degrees readers will remember Alexa C0nomos, traffic reporter at WFAA-8 and my nemesis. (I got bored with her sometime in 2005 and made Rita Cosby my nemesis, instead.)

During more frequent reporting of Nemesis-related news, I blogged about how Alexa's coworker on the Daybreak show, anchor Scott Sams, got suspended for calling her a "Greek Bitch" in a meeting. Months later, his contract was not renewed.

Two years later, Scott's found himself a new job. This time, in DMA #161, serving the viewers of far North Texas and some of Southeastern Oklahoma. Hope he steers clear of the Greeks.

Work it Out
It's online sexual harassment training week at the workplace! We get to read through several "scenes" and then make a decision about whether it constitutes "environmental harrassment".

Here's a sample from a "scene":

"I just started going to a salsa club downtown. The dancing is totally off the hook. Are you working late Friday?" said Bob to Jessica.

Okay, now I'm not sure that this constitutes calling HR. But using "off the hook" has got to be some sort of workplace violation, right?

Men of the Week: Too Fast Too Furious
Andre Bauer
Henry Jordan
Paul Dana
Patrick Sullivan, newlywed

Snippet from Stiles
"I need subtitles for all these conversations." (as I speak Mandarin with Mom and Dad)

Heart of Darkness
ST. LOUIS - Mr. Stiles and I are town for a wedding. The Weather Channel says several tornadoes are expected this afternoon. Not remembering how to deal with a tornado, I got the canned goods, bottled water and duct tape ready. Or is duct tape for protection against the bird flu? I can't remember.