Greetings to one and all. My name is Aaron and I'm a 24-year old semi-post-grad currently living in Sandy, Utah. I blog every Tuesday and, well, this is it. Topics to be discussed today: Resting in peace, the infiltration of my alma mater, returning to the dance floor, my bracket sitting pretty, my bro-date with a rock star, and the third anniversary of this blessed publication. On we go!
Well, let's just get this over with once and for all - on Sunday and Monday, we kissed the Jazz's playoff hopes goodbye. It's sad, really. I really hoped they could do it. Just three days ago, we were a game out of eighth place and now we're three games out after costly losses to Houston and Memphis. The Jazz have a really tough schedule in front of them for the remainder of the season and I don't see much of a point in dedicating too many evenings to watch them get blown out. I mean, if we lose by 20 to Memphis... MEMPHIS?! - why on Earth would I sit through what will inevitably be a pair of 20-point shellackings at the hands of the Lakers? Not happening. This was a rough season for my Jazz. We'll have a couple new draft picks this summer and it will be really good for our rag-tag team that was stitched together for the final 30 games of the season to have an offseason and training camp together. I think we'll eventually be a solid squad, but it is just too hard to lose your head coach unexpectedly in the middle of the year and then trade away your so-called best player, so-called court general, and so-called leader two weeks later. Too tough. Al Jefferson really stepped up this season, though. Al is awesome, Millsap was great when he wasn't hurt, and Andrei was (in my opinion) our most valuable player this year. I wouldn't be surprised if Andrei's injury-ridden NBA career came to an end this summer. There is one good thing about the Jazz missing the playoffs - I get to stop watching basketball two months earlier. That's a good thing. So now we just cheer against the Nets. And the Bulls. And everyone else. But mostly the Nets and the Bulls.
Sad day.
News broke last night about a junior at Alta High School, my alma mater, recently donned a KKK hood and taunted an African-American student at Alta's most recent Spirit Bowl. At the yearly Spirit Bowl, a competition between sophomores (adorned all in red), juniors (in white), seniors (donning all-black garb), and faculty is a plethora of ridiculous competitions to see which class is superior. Despite every 18-year-old that claims otherwise, the Spirit Bowl is rigged so that the seniors always. It's tradition, you see. The assembly is a lot of fun. It's a great way to help each grade bond together against their upper- and lower-classmen. It is not a place - and, really, there is never a place - for racism - especially in public high schools. Allegedly, the white-hooded teenager came out with his costume, mocked his African-American peer, and returned several minutes later with his hand in the air like a Nazi. That's more than P.M.U.!! - that's just plain messed up. Why would you do that? That's not funny. At all. According to some sources, the student has been suspended from school for three days. In relation to other offenses worthy of suspension, I don't know where this ranks, but I'm glad the school punished the idiot. What needs to happen is that the school needs to keep an eye on that kid. If you've got the "intestinal fortitude," as they say, to do something like that in front of your entire school, I don't believe it's likely that he'll just come back to school and be a normal kid right away. There's a chance that he'll act again and do something else stupid and, perhaps more likely, there's a chance that African-American students will find the kid and beat the crap out of him (which I'm not going to say is unreasonable). ABC News interviewed the student that was allegedly taunted and he seemed to be very well-spoken and seemed like a very nice young man, so I hope everything gets worked out smoothly with this situation. This is not the way I like to see my high school portrayed in the news, so I deem this little incident worthy of a Boo Box entry. Everybody together now - BOOOOOO!!
**QUESTION TIME!!**
Q. "Hey A-Town,
You were reluctant to make a pre-season pick for 'Dancing with the Stars.' Do you have any predictions after watching this season's first episode?"
Love,
- Your Mom
A. You all know my storied career of making DWTS picks. I have retired from making predictions and I refuse to make predictions because I know how much all of you love seeing me fail, so that's not going to happen again. However, as per your request, I have taken to the couch this morning to watch the first episode of the latest season and I'll let you know what I think. Tom Bergeron is just as annoying and obnoxious as ever. I think that Disney girl is a hottie. Wendy Williams should be the first one to go. Kendra Wilkinson is this year's "supermodel" contestant, meaning they'll try to keep her in the competition as long as possible, despite how talented she is, just because of how she looks (i.e. Pam Anderson, Joanna Krupa, etc.). At least she only got sixes this week. After a deceivingly rough pre-performance video package, the Karate Kid showed flashes of brilliance (if you ignore a bit of awkward and sloppy footwork), but I think he could be really good here in a couple weeks. Oh, Chris Jericho... THE LIONTAMER!! Jericho cracks me up every time I see him. That guy is awesome. Jericho is the kind of guy I'd normally pick: He's used to performing tightly choreographed moves in front of huge audiences and he's extremely charismatic, but.... Carie Ann nailed it in her critique - he needed more content in the dance. Cheryl didn't give him much to do in the dance, and the stuff that he did made him look a little like a pansy. A bit of a disappointment this week, but, no bones about it, I'm Team Chericho this season. (That is not not not a prediction. This season is just for fun). And... Kirstie Alley... This year's Bristol Palin. This year's Kate Gosselin... The ratings darling... But the difference between those two and Kirstie is that she was actually pretty good! Can't believe she's 60. Wow. Plus, I think Maks is the coolest pro dancer. But the absolute best thing about this season so far is that there is no Derek Hough! YES!!!!!
"Come on BABY!!"
Q. "Dear Aaron,
How is your bracket looking at this point?"
Just Curious,
- The Junior Mounties
A. Much, much better than last year, at least! (SALUTE!) Last year's bracket was just a mess for everyone involved. At this point, headed into the Sweet 16, I still have 10 of the 16 left and all of my Final Four (UNC, Duke, Kansas, and Wisconsin) are still intact. At this point, with all things considered, I'm wishing I had taken BYU over Florida. They looked really good against Gonzaga. The upsets have been fun to watch and there seems to be much less animosity toward Cody this year. (Cody won last year and nobody was happy about it.) Currently, my dad is winning with number of correct picks, but I am leading with the number of possible points. We'll see what happens in the next three rounds - and, as we all know, anything can happen in March Madness.
Tonight is a night I've been waiting for since November. Here's the backstory. I missed out on the (cancelled) U2 show last June due to EFY. They rescheduled for this summer, but because all previous tickets from last year are still valid, I doubt there are many good seats left for that concert. I decided that I needed to make up for that by going to a big concert this year, so, naturally, the day after I heard that Bon Jovi was coming to town in March, I purchased tickets. Bon Jovi will be in Salt Lake City tonight and I will be there! I figured I had probably better go see them live before he croaks - and who knows when that will be? Bon Jovi was one of my favorite classic rock bands growing up so this should be an awesome concert. I've been cranking Bon Jovi for the last couple days to prepare me for the show. I decided about two months ago that in order to avoid all the girl-drama that I've become so accustomed to in the last year and a half, I'll be going to EnergySolutions Arena with my EFY buddy, Ed Rothlisberger. Yes, indeed, this will be the most extravagant man-date of my life. We've both experienced our share of ups and downs (mostly downs) in the dating world, so tonight should be stress-free, drama-free, and a sweet night out on the town for EFY's most eligible bachelors. Definitely looking forward to it and, of course, you can expect pictures and maybe a video or two to be posted on Facebook in the next day or two.
See you soon, brethren.
And finally, for the Shoutout of the Week. This week is a special one. Happy third birthday to "Signs of the Times." Three years ago this week, on March 25, 2008, I published the first Issue of this Newsletter. It's been a long, relatively-eventful three years and I have mostly enjoyed sharing those events with you through email and blog. Three years is a long time, my friends, and it's hard to believe that I've actually taken time each Tuesday to do this. As I've pondered previously, I don't know how long I'll keep it up. I don't know how long the Newsletter will last. But, for now, you continue to read, so I continue to write. Happy birthday, "Signs of the Times"!!!
Save me a piece for later?
That's all for this week. I don't have anything else awesome to say. Have a nice week and, Mr. Bon Jovi, I'll see you in a couple hours.
Until next Time,
Move It! Sell It! And Leave the Door Open!
Aaron
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