Where Does Your State Reside In The Well-Being Index?

This time Mississippi didn't get last! Instead, for this particular survey, the 'sippi sits in third to last while West Virginia takes the bottom spot. Hawaii reigns supreme.

From January - December 2010, Gallup conducted surveys and used the data to form a well-being index, an index comprised of sub-indexes based on life evaluation, emotional health, work environment, physical health, healthy behaviors and basic access. The results are based on 352,840 phone interviews with adults 18 or over. Samples are weighted by gender, age, race, Hispanic ethnicity, education, region, adults in the household, cell phone-only status, cell phone-mostly status, and phone lines.

The results follow mostly along the lines of what you'd expect: Southern states sit in 5 of the bottom 10 spots for well-being while Western states have 5 in the top 10. Vermont and Massachusetts scored highest in the healthy behaviors and basic access categories, respectively. The whole release is here. Drill down on as much data as you'd like.

Dude Butchers National Anthem. Chiefs Fans React Unfavorably.

I feel bad for this guy. I really do. I'm sure he knows the Star Spangled Banner, practiced it hundred's of times and has probably performed it in front of large groups of people before. Welp, yesterday just wasn't his day. This guy mangled the National Anthem and the fan's did not attempt to ignore his lyrical fumbleruski. Actually, this was impossible to ignore. I don't know what the hell I'd do if this happened to me. Luckily, I have an awful voice.

The Chiefs should have ponied up and hired HLN for the anthem.

Bateman to Broadway

Lots of deal making over the weekend. The Sox sign Gonzalez. The Bombers re-up with Jeter. Werth is taking his talents South on I-95 to the Nats. And Patrick Bateman to Broadway?

According to the New York Post - and let it be known that all things printed in the Post are fact until otherwise noted by the TCD editorial board - a musical adaptation of the 1991 Bret Easton Ellis novel "American Psycho" is en route to the Great White Way. It sounds like the Broadway marquee will channel much of the 2000 film version that starred Christian Bale as the Pierce and Pierce VP Patrick Bateman who just happens to be obsessed with everything from designer overnight bags to Phil Collins to rape and murder.

According to playwright Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, who has already written the first act, "There are murders, and they are on stage in full view of the audience. An ax and a chef's knife will be used. I think there's going to be a lot of blood."

Rigtheous.



Thanks to TCD fan The Boz for the look.

How Stupid is America?

This Stupid:



30 Rock is the best comedy on TV right now. S#*! My Dad Says is by all accounts one of the worst.

Thanks to Whatevs.net for the depressing infographic of the day.

Trending: Huey Lewis

I was just rocking a Twitter sesh and noticed that Huey Lewis was trending. Why the hell would Huey - master of the '80s - be trending on Twitter - master of the not '80s? A little research revealed that Huey sang the national anthem at tonight's NLCS game in SF. Disappointed I missed it, I checked to see if it was available on youtube. No dice. However, I did stumble upon this piece of solid gold. 1985 World Series: Huey Lewis And The News doing a humble rendition of The National Anthem. Hearing Huey's feel good rasp come in at :50 mark and the accompanying visual forced me crack a Budweiser. This is the culmination of many things good.

UPDATE: This is one of those gross, Embedding disabled by request, videos so there will be no video on TCD. Check out the video here for yourself.

Weekend Inspiration

Don't let the USA catch you snoozing!

Classic shot, courtesy of Poulter's twitter feed, of Paddy Harrington taking a little nap.

Buckets of rain in Celtic Manor today but they're determined to squeeze everything in by the end of the day Sunday as scheduled (Shheduld). USA has a slight edge in the opening matches which are currently suspended due to darkness, but set to resume tomorrow morning at 8am local time. If you're up at 3am in the states, you can catch them on ESPN.

TCD friend, The KC, is our man on the ground and he'll be keeping you abreast of all the happenings in Celtic Manor, including Sun Mountain (and Team USA) really embarrassing themselves today in the rain-gear department. We're not talking about aesthetics (although they look absolutely horrid) here, we're talking about some major functionality problems. Hopefully it won't translate to the game. Give it to 'em, boys!

Lots of golf this weekend

The Ryder Cup will get plenty of live TV coverage starting in the wee hours of the morning on Friday and finishing up on Sunday afternoon. I know that many TCD staffers and readers will be watching. I think that for the U.S. to make some noise, they are going to need some sort of contribution from TW; I just think that the U.S. does not match up as well this time around as they did at Valhalla and they are going to need every edge they can get.

2010 Ryder Cup TV Schedule - Tours & News - Golf.com

This used to be one of the best shows on TV

Weekend Inspiration

Patriots of the day

Airwolf

One More From the Pages of History

Ageless Humor

Not long ago - as in earlier this morning - I had the auspicious pleasure of beginning the process of sorting through my recently deceased grandfather's belongings. He and I were really close, so it was obviously difficult, but also oddly entertaining. He was the man and had some pretty incredible things. Among them were these two gems I share with you now. Classic high brow humor. Gotta love it.




PS - Being in grad school and having time off prior to my summer internship is amazing. Today so far I slept in and hung out with grandma. Right now I am watching the French Open. When coverage ends in an hour I think I'll go for a long run. Then dinner tonight with a buddy in town from LA. Tomorrow I head to the beach until next weekend.

How's work, guys?

Wall Street Goes to Washington

Lots in the news today about Goldman Sachs's CEO Lloyd Blankfein's trip to DC and the Senate battle over financial reform. Offering two surprisingly rational views on issues ranging from the housing bubble, Goldman's sneaky investment vehicles, stupid investors, smart investors, government mismanagement and pending financial reform is the New York Times. Not as surprising is that the two centrist views are furthered by one of the Times's more conservative Op-Ed columnists - David Brooks - and a contributing editor from Vanity Fair named Bethany McLean. Brooks talks about the gross pervasiveness of group think in Washington, which as far as I can tell has been going on since the term was coined during the deliberations of the Kennedy Administration over Bay of Pigs. Bethany McLean attempts to spread the blame a little more liberally, claiming that no one comes away clean in this mess, but ultimately - and compellingly - ends up dumping the blame on Congress.

I say Washington should clean house and put the TCD staff in charge. Or at least Senator Woodcock.

Feel Good Vibes

Opening Day is upon us with the Yankees in town. First pitch at Fenway is in about 30 mins. Just popped up to the roof deck to see the lights on at Fenway, blimp overhead, people grilling, and its about 75 degrees out. I have no complaints. Let the Scuataro Watch begin.

UPDATE - Also just saw a sweet F-16 flyover. America.

Merriment and Madness

Great article in the WSJ today on the relentless annual lineup of American holidays and the inevitable religious, political, social...pretty much any sort of social construct with the suffix -ious or -al...conversational controversies that arise between family members over Easter brunch or the equivalent. According to the author, safe conversation topics this year include the chemical properties of Easter-basket grass and which celebrity scandals we should be most grateful for. As for the latter, I plan to explain to the female members of my family why Tiger Woods will win the Masters next weekend. Should go over well.

Oh, $%&# Canada

I am sure at some point in the not-too-distant future I will look back on this afternoon's gold medal tilt between the US and Canada and appreciate the game for what it was - absolutely epic. But, when your least favorite player on your nation's most bitter hockey rival scores the winner in OT in a game your team should have stolen, it's tough to bask in any existential sporting glory. Although I watched the 100% terrible Closing Ceremonies with amusement, it did little to lessen the blow of this heartbreaking loss. The young US team was a lot of fun to watch and it was fantastic to witness their relentless drive overwhelm some of the world's best goalies in this tournament - Broduer, Kiprusoff, Backtrom, Luongo. And speaking of goalies, the US would have been miles from this game and that overtime if it was not for the incredible Ryan Miller. What an outstanding performance from a classy guy.

Now, rather severe Olympic withdrawal sets in. It's hard to think about life without incessant curling, skiing and hockey. These particular Winter Games saved itself in the end and was really quite fantastic. Except for the hockey result. This one will sting. At this point, March Madness cannot come soon enough.

In other news, I leave tomorrow for China to represent TCD and our country in a campaign to spread Freedom at an Olympic level. If China doesn't close the interwebz while I am there, I will hopefully be able to provide some color on what should be an interesting experience. Until then, even then, and always - Stars and Stripes Forever!

Nation's Mascot Patrols I-91

For the second consecutive weekend, I saw a bald eagle patrolling the thermal air waves above New England's highway artery, I-91. Last weekend's sighting occurred in northern Vermont and today's baldy was spotted just South of Springfield, Massholeville. The more recent natural history of the United States' mascot is an impressive (and very American) story of rebounding from adversity given the massive population decline over the course of the 20th century that was the result of a classic culling and chemicals duo. Indeed, spotting such an impressive animal just outside of an absolute craphole of a city is a great sign.

The sighting prompted some investigation into the history of the bald eagle as our mascot. Not surprisingly, the Founding Fathers were struck by the bird's majesty, beauty, size, stealth killing abilities and its place among eagles as the only breed native to North America.

Very surprisingly, Ben Franklin was not cool with the selection of the bald eagle as our nation's symbol. According to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Benjamin wanted the turkey to represent our country. As a result, Mr. Franklin has been taken down a peg or two on my list of epic all-time Americans. Obviously still a solid dude. But a turkey? Come on, Ben!

Other interesting bald-eagle-as-mascot facts:

The bald eagle first appeared as an American symbol on a Massachusetts copper cent coined in 1776. Since then it has appeared on the reverse side of many U.S. coins, notably the silver dollar, halfdollar and quarter, as well as the gold coins which were christened the eagle, half eagle, quarter eagle, and double eagle.

“Old Abe,” the mascot of a Wisconsin regiment during the Civil War, was a constant target of enemy riflemen, but survived 42 battle engagements relatively unscathed.

The American bald eagle is protected under the National Emblem Act of 1940

And finally, a very solid JFK quote related to eagles that illustrates the dire straights of the bird's population in the 1960s:

The Founding Fathers made an appropriate choice when they selected the bald eagle as the emblem of the nation. The fierce beauty and proud independence of this great bird aptly symbolizes the strength and freedom of America. But as latter-day citizens we shall fail our trust if we permit the eagle to disappear.

TCD Olympic Impressions: Day 1

TCD loves the Olympics. Especially the winter ones, even when hosted in America Jr. So far, impressions, and predictions free of charge, are as follows:

Obivously the death of the Georgian luger is a tragedy and has cast an ominous shadow on an already weather-suspect Olympics. Enough said.

Speaking of luging, why is it that athletes from countries that represent the extreme ends of the political spectrum (communism v. facism) dominate the sport?

People we're surprised are Canadian include Donald Sutherland. People we are happy are Canadian include K.D. Lang.

Where are the 2014 Winter Olympics? Russia?

Bode Miller will shut you all up and win downhill Gold when the event finally runs. Ted Liggety will bring home the slalom Gold. Both upsets.

Lindsay Vonn might not race, but will always be a babe.

Russia will "upset" America Jr in hockey. Ovechkin. Kovelcuk. Datsyuk. Malkin. Semin. They'll each get their goals, and there will be a lot of them.

The US Women will bring home hockey Gold behind the firepower of former college teammate B. Duggan's sister (note: assuming she knows what net to shoot on).

Apollo Ohno got lucky and should go back to dancing. And who knew the Koreans could skate?

The NBC Olympic jam is the best network sports song of all time.