February

My, it's been a while. Where has the time gone? Ah, but what am I saying? It's not the time that's important, but the events and people washed over by time's relentless tide. What's been going on?

February 7, National Signing Day.

Christmas in February for college football fans. The day high school football players declare what college they'll be attending. I call it the "Feast of a Thousand Refresh Buttons".

From top to bottom, LSU brought in one of the best classes in the country and one of their best ever. Consider what was supposedly on board two days before NSD (I say "supposedly" because verbal commitments aren't official, and nothing's really decided till the kid signs on the dotted line):

--Four solid offensive line prospects who could have the potential to develop into really good players. Including T-Bob Hebert, son of former Saints QB Bobby Hebert (an NSU alum, I might add)

--Six athletic players with playmaking ability at wide receiver and in the secondary, some of whom could play multiple positions or help out as kick returners.

--Three solid tight ends, not glamourous but filling a need

--Two of the top ten or so placekickers, ditto. (seriously, it's a mark of how good the class was across the board that there are three tight ends and two kickers, yet still managed to be thought of so highly)

--And maybe the strength of the class, five defensive linemen who can provide immediate and talented depth, each with a good shot of being part the nasty continuum of front fours LSU has put out over the last few years.

These players alone would have been enough to land one of the ten or so best recruiting classes in the country.

The day before NSD, two more highly recruited players on a national level hopped on board. Stefoin Francois at safety and Terrance Toliver, who may have been the top WR recruit on just about everybody's board. As strong as the defensive line group is, the secondary and wide receiver positions are loaded with talent as well.

On NSD, LSU got a commitment from Chad Jones, another top safety, if not THE top safety. He's got linebacker size in a DB body. He's also a baseball player, so he may not even set foot on a football field if he gets drafted high enough.

The big letdown was Joe McKnight picking another school. Mostly a running back but able to score from anywhere on the field, he was the most sought-after player of them all. If you're and LSU fan looking for consolation, you point out that running back wasn't a real need, since LSU pulled in three good ones last year. But still, you'd love to have him on your side.

Let's talk about my favorite guy in this class for a second: Joseph Barksdale. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 6-6, 325 at DT. Graduated early so he could enroll for the spring semester at LSU. Wants to major in engineering. He strikes me as someone who could be a leader in the future as well as a talent. Plus, he's from Detroit, boys and girls. When's the last time LSU went up north to get a player? We may not see him on the field too soon, because cracking the defensive tackle rotation at LSU right now is one of the more difficult tasks in college football.

Valentine's Day

If memory serves me correctly, I wrote "There's a problem with Bringing Up Baby, and it's not a problem with Bringing Up Baby." The problem was due to so many movies that came after and copied it, that seeing it after those others makes it seem cliche and unoriginal. Valentine's Day finds itself facing a similar problem. I was amazed at the amount of negativity thrown at the holiday. I can understand why a single person without a Valentine might feel down on a day celebrating couples, but some people really go overboard. Yes, there's a lot of marketing that accompanies the event, but do they really believe that evil corporations created it so people would spend money? Take a look at some of these definitions on urbandictionary. I tend to think the spending came first, then the companies saw there was money to be made and jumped in with both feet. That doesn't diminish any of the romance of it for me. Valentine's Day is a good thing, I think. As long as you're able to keep it in perspective and don't fall into the "money equals love" trap, I see no reason not to look forward to it every year.

February 17

Sometimes it's nice just to have a day. Saturday was that day. I wandered over to Ballston and got a haircut. Then went downtown and had lunch at McDonald's while listening to teenagers talk about death and how they want to die. One of them looked like he was dressed like Ed from "Full Metal Alchemist", if Ed were wearing cat's ears. I cut through Natural History on my way to the African Art museum and took some pictures of the orchids exhibit. I like orchids.

Then it was over to the African Art museum to see some masks and doors and all sorts of really good stuff. After that, the new light works exhibit at the Hirshhorn. This featured two pretty cool displays: a light focused on a slowly spinning metal ring suspended from the ceiling. The refractions off the ring were neat; and a dark room with only a hazy red projection against one wall for lighting. It was very strange and eerie until my eyes got used to it. I may go back to see it again.

I left there and walked over to E Street Cinema and saw Pan's Labyrinth. It's good. A little dark, a little gruesome and brutal, and not funny at all. But good. I'm not sure I cared about the story itself or the characters, but it was very well done through and through.

Then I had a burger and some drinks at Whitlow's on Wilson. It's nice to go to a place that doesn't skimp on the Crown. However, something someone said a few days earlier came back to me. For all the people that were in the place, it really didn't seem like there was a lot going on. It actually felt kind of dull. But the day as a whole was very nice. I did whatever I felt like, whenever I felt like it. I wouldn't have said no to some company, but that bit of freedom is nice too.