Jun 142006
Jun 132006
An e-mail went out yesterday to the EFF-Austin list about Tamara Hoover, who’s apparently under paid administrative leave and being considered for termination by the AISD school board for artistic nudes of her on a flickr site. A search reveals over 600 pictures of her, only about 10% of which involve nudity, and from what I can see, it’s usually just an exposed breast, clearly nothing in the school board’s definition that would warrant termination. The Statesman has a story this morning as does Austinist. Ms. Hoover (I seriously thought that was a joke when I saw the URL. Simpsons, anyone?) has a MySpace page where she’s posting some of her side of the story, she’s holding back some since she’s exploring legal proceedings.
The comments on the Statesman and her blog seem overwhelmingly supportive of her. I have to agree with some comments that the discipline should be reserved for the other teacher and student who brought up the page in class. It sounds like the other teacher had it out for her and showed poor judgement by following up on the student’s initial comment. If the board does fire her, it’s another reason in the growing list that are causing me to seek alternatives for my own children. Let’s hope they come to their senses and keep her.
Update (2006.06.13 21:36 CDT): The Statesman has printed a statement from AISD General Counsel, which pretty much just says that they think she should be fired and they’re not going to comment until they make a decision…which will be to fire her.
Update 2: (2006.06.14 14:07 CDT): Fleshbot has also picked up the story (don’t click on that one if you’re easily offended as they cover the pr0n industry among other things).
Jun 132006
Jun 132006
I’d probably only heard of Ann Coulter in passing until I read Al Franken’s Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them. I still don’t really care what she has to say. She’s one of those people that says completely outrageous things to get attention and, of course, make money. I’m not linking any of her crap because I don’t want to give her traffic. You can google her yourself if, by chance, you haven’t heard of her by now. Anyway, I bring her up for two reasons:
- She’s apparently going to be on Tonight Show with Jay Leno
tonightWednesday to plug her most recent book. George Carlin is also going to be on plugging Cars. He’s the voice of Filmore. There’s no guarantee that they’ll face off, but it’s worth watching in case they do. As Kevin Seconds notes, Carlin should be able to put her in her place. Speaking of Carlin, Pharyngula linked a skit of his from MadTV yesterday that I’d never seen. - Somebody else linked a YouTube posting of the “Letters from Henry” segment from the third episode of The Henry Rollins Show on IFC. There’s no reason to resort to YouTube though. IFC allows access to segments from all of the shows on the site in addition to web-only extras. If you’re not watching this show, you should be. It’s been pretty solid so far. I’ve yet to miss an episode.
Mary Cheney is still trying vain to plug her new book, but it appears that no one gives a shit. I’m not surprised. There’s a wide swath of members of her own party who’ll avoid the book because she’s a lesbian. The lesbian and gay community will avoid the book because she’s seen as a traitor. And, honestly, in the end, who really cares what the vice president’s daughter has to say? Shuffle her off to current and former presidental offspring camp with Amy Carter, Chelsea Clinton, and Ron Reagan Jr. Can anybody even name the offspring of previous vice presidents? I can picture Gore’s kids and remember that one of them was hit by a car, but can’t come up with names.
Anyway, speaking of possible sparks, Cheney will be on Fresh Air with Terry Gross today. I doubt we’ll get anything on the scale of the Gene Simmons or Bill O’Reilly interview, but ya never know.
[tags]henryrollins, anncoulter, marycheney, georgecarlin, tonightshow, freshair, ifc, npr, kevinseconds[/tags]
I-35 closed both directions in Buda – Possible hazmat spill
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Jun 122006
I just got a breaking news alert from News8Austin. Traffic on I-35 is bound to suck for the next several hours. If it’s bad enough, it’ll affect downtown Austin as well as those travelling anywhere between Austin and San Antonio. All you Buda, Kyle, San Marcos, New Braunfels commuters are in for a fun afternoon. Let’s hope nobody gets hurt and they get it cleared up in time for rush hour.
Update (2006.06.12 14:02 CDT): K-EYE reports a vehicle carrying radioactive material rolled over at Exit 221 near FM 1327 in Buda. The closing is a precaution, nothing’s actually escaped or leaked or whatever the appropriate term may be.
Jun 122006
Jun 122006
Sadly, one of our first posts concerned the news that Ikea was considering a Round Rock location. More speculation followed once the news was official. Well, the wait is almost over, Ikea junkies.
The new Ikea location at University and I-35 is apparently ahead of schedule and will open this fall instead of the original target date of Spring 2007. So now you all you know what you’re getting for Christmas this year.
Jun 112006
Jun 102006
Red River Rock Revival
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Jun 092006
Red River will be lousy with 90’s rock aficionados and purveyors tonight, both local and national. We’ve got The New Year and Shellac at Emo’s and Sons of Hercules and Jesus Christ Superfly at Beerland.
The New Year is the most recent project from the Kadane brothers of mid-late 90’s act, Bedhead, whose three albums were recently re-released by Touch N Go, but were originally released on Austinite King Coffey’s awesome Trance Syndicate label. This is Shellac’s first appearance in Texas. Rumor is that Steve Albini hates playing the South. I’m still kicking myself for missing a chance to see them in 1995 in NYC, so this is my chance to redeem myself. They haven’t released anything new since 2000’s 1000 Hurts, but no matter. I’ll be interested to see if there’s new stuff mixed in with material from that and the two previous albums, At Action Park and Terraform.
It’s a 15 year anniversary show for Jesus Christ Superfly. The Sons of Hercules have been around for roughly the same amount of time with various line up changes, though the Sons have had the current line-up for quite some time. I’m not sure who’s in JCS at this point, but I’ll probably stop by after the Shellac show as it appears it’s going off early, 10pm for The New Year and 11pm for Shellac. Is Steve still drumming for them?
We can all compare how many pounds and wrinkles we’ve added since the Cannibal Club days. Who’s with me?