Since this got removed from my actual story in print, I will say it here.

Noodling is basically one big ‘That’s What She Said” Joke.

Ah! Ok, I can breathe now.

Seriously though, when I got a hold of the noodlers that fellow intern Zach Gray and I would be following around, I couldn’t even imagine what would be in store for us for the weekend. I’ve  been to the Okie Noodling Tournament in Paul’s Valley before, but to now be in cahoots with two guys who are allowing us to go watch the process of catching these river (and lake) monsters, I was more than just your average excited.

Zach and I met Tell and Chris in the parking lot of Mazzio’s Pizza in Stillwater, and we set off toward lake McMurtry in Payne County. Arriving just before 7 p.m., which was the start of the actual alloted time for the tournament, Zach and I climbed into the boat set off with Tell across the lake just as the sun was starting to set.

The actual process of getting in the water with thousands of dollars in camera equipment was much, much trickier.

With no water protective housing to aid us except for a camera that wasn’t producing the pictures Zach wanted, we both used the strategy of keeping one hand dry and praying to God that the tricky lakes of Oklahoma didn’t surprise us with some massive drop off.

Only once did things get hairy and that happened when I tripped over a fishing line that was left from a previous fool… but thankfully I had four feet of monopod to hoist the camera into the air while I took in too large of a gulp of tasty Canadian River.

No fish were caught the first night we went out, which was a real shame as the light was beautiful and the water felt great. Upon our return to shore, we struck up a deal with Tell that we would meet him and Chris the next morning in the hopes that we would find an unlucky fish or two along the Canadian River.

The whole experience was amazing and while I was riding in the boat under a setting sun with way too many people in it, all I could think about was how lucky I am to be in this funny profession of journalism where I can go and hang with guys that just like to have a good time and stick their hands in holes so catfish will bite them… seriously they want to do this!

Noodle on noodlers.

Stillwater’s Other Lives apparently impressed Mates of State when they opened for the group during a show in Norman this past spring.

Other Lives is set to open nine shows for the San Francisco native Mates of State, starting with a show in Columbus, Ohio in October.

For a full list of shows with Mates of State, click here.

Those shows will come after the band plays six shows with Indie Folker Bon Iver in September.

Other Lives released its second album, Tamer Animals, on May 10 and so far has drawn positive reviews from music sites Pitchfork and Paste Magazine.

Plus, the band made perhaps one of the greatest music videos in the history of music videos that take place in space… (Probably only edged out by Michael Jackson’s Scream video. You just can’t beat Pong in space.)

With a rich history of a little more than 230 years,  the TOP 3 events isn’t an easy task, but why not go for challenge?

The single most important event in U.S. history is:

1.) The Declaration of Independence  in 1776

Without the Declaration of Independence, the U.S.A. — as it exist today– probably would have never  been… I would dare to say that this was the time when Democracy existed in its purest form. Not that Democracy doesn’t exist today, but I strongly believe the nation has strayed far from democracy and what the “founding fathers” intended it to be.

2.) The Civil War

The Civil War should be in any list about historical events considering the fact that it was the Civil War that United the States. Without the War The USA may have easily been known as  the DSA – The Divided States of America.

I wonder if the U.S. would be like N. Korea and S. Korea today?

Many people believe  the Civil War happened as a result of slavery. However, The Civil war was no more than a power struggle between two competing economies, two competing viewpoints and two competing presidents who wanted to  be on top…For the record, the Emancipation Proclamation did not free all states in South. In my opinion, the slaves became free because the war devastated the South leaving them with very few means to continue to enforce slavery to the same degree they had before the Civil war.

3.) The Civil Rights Movement

I shutter to think about what the America we know today would be like without the Civil Rights movement.  In spite of what many may think the Civil Rights was not about race. It was about obtaining the very rights that were sought for all citizens of the “new world.”  The “unalienable Rights” of  “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness,” as stated in the Declaration of Independence.  Those unalienable rights were sought for every U.S. citizen regardless of  gender, race, religion, creed, etc.

P.S.  Its hard to analyze events that have occurred within the last 20-30 years or so because I don’t think  we can even begin to grasp the magnitude of just how those events may have changed American History. So I did not include any events that occurred within that decade.

Other events that I thought about choosing from include:  WWI, WWII, Pearl Harbor,  the Womens Rights Movement, the assassination of former president Kennedy, the Louisiana Purchase, the Moonwalk, the Industrial Revolution, the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl,the Vietnam War, the Mexican American war…there’s so many events that could be listed here this list is by no means exhaustive.

Looking for something awesome to do on a Tuesday night?

Then gallop on over to the Conservatory tonight and catch Horse Thief  open up for J Roddy Walston & The Business.
Horse Thief is made up of students from the Academy of Contemporary Music of The University of Central Oklahoma. Originally from Denton, Texas, Horse Thief then moved to OKC to attend ACM @ UCO and has since been playing around the state as well as SXSW and Norman Music Fest (Where they were unceremoniously kicked off stage by a terrible venue operator).Plus, their song Warrior is awesome!

http://horsethiefrock.bandcamp.com/track/warrior

Go see Horse Thief tonight at the Conservatory, doors open at 6 p.m. and the cover is $12.

USA national team members Landon Donovan, left, and Oguchi Onyewu, artistically out of focus, face Italy at 1:30 p.m. today in Pretoria, South Africa (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell).

I haven’t missed a USA national soccer team game in four years.

It’s a streak more important than Kobayashi’s six-year hot dog eating run.

Although people might be afraid that modern technology might eventually take over the world, I’ll happily accept our new robot masters, for that modern technology is going to keep my streak alive.

My digital video recorder will be humming away as the USA faces Italy at 1:30 p.m. today (ESPN, Galavision) in Pretoria, South Africa on the second day of the 2009 Confederations Cup, held the year before each World Cup as a dry-run of sorts.

Eight teams compete, including the six regional champions: Brazil, Egypt, Iraq, New Zealand, Spain and the USA. The hosts, South Africa, and the reigning World Cup champions, Italy, make up the rest of the field.

Thank you digital video recorder. While I’m trying to track down that last piece of information for a story, Landon Donovan and the boys will be facing Italy in a rematch of their 1-1 draw during the 2006 World Cup, a game that saw three red cards and is still fresh in the minds of American soccer fans.

It might be a little Big Brother-esque, but all their actions will be recorded and saved on a cute, inconspicuous black box next to my TV.

I’ll see you tonight, Landon and company. Until then, I work.

I’m loving it more than McDonald’s.

Credit: icanhascheezburger.com

This week has been chock-full of lessons.

I’m writing this story that uses these “model citizens” as an example. My editor suggested I run a background check on them to make sure their story checked out (thanks Matt!).  And the results were quite surprising. Let’s just say that if they were on “Parental Control” (the MTV show where parents pick out dates for their kids, I blame Ashley for my knowledge of this show), they would be eliminated as a good pick by any sane parent. Then again they might be kept for drama purposes.

We were told during orientation (and many, many times during j-school) that journalists should be skeptical and that if your mom says she loves you, to check it out.

Well that lesson was reinforced today. And I’m back to searching for more model examples.

Tweeting on Twitter? Taking over the world? Please, no.

Tweet, tweet. Tweet, tweet.

Did you hear something? That sounded an awful a lot like someone screaming in pain from social networking ruthlessly taking over their lives. Oh, it was just someone updating their status about life or sharing a TwitPic of a cute little puppy.

My mistake. But wait, isn’t that kind of the same thing?

As you can probably tell, I’m not exactly the spokesperson for Twitter, or social networking, by any means. I’m generally concerned that intimate relationships/friendships are drastically depleting every single day. With texting, emails, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, AIM, Google Chat and every other form of virtual communication, face-to-face contact is becoming a thing of the past. Funny too this comes from someone who didn’t live that long without a computer-based world, isn’t it? What really got me was an instance that took place a few weeks ago at a bar back home in East Lansing. A friend of mine wanted to approach this girl he knew from a class but couldn’t muster up enough courage to do so. What did he revert to? Texting. After an hour-long conversation via BlackBerry Messenger, he ran into her at the bar and began to talk there. Is this world we’re living in pathetic or simply a means to an “in”?

Girls, is this not creepy? Or is it a way to make things happen?

Sure, it doesn’t always work out that way and it’s not always in regards to picking up someone of the opposite sex. But whatever happened to approaching a girl and getting shot down like old times? That’s the world I want to live in. Ha!

I learned this my first day on the job. When I arrived in the press box at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium to cover the Women’s College World Series, writers Berry Tramel, Jenni Carlson and Scott Wright were already there. I was a little nervous (my first day and all) and a little intimidated (I’ve been reading those writers’ work for years), so I listened a bit to see what I could pick up.

It didn’t take long before I discovered Berry likes to give nicknames. A few examples: MKB, Miss Saigon and, my personal favorite, J.G. Whitfield.

Each nickname makes sense when you get him to explain the thought process that went into it and each is acceptable in all references to the person for Berry. I wondered how long it would take before I received a rite-of-passage nickname from Mr. Tramel.

Three days.

I arrived at the stadium on Sunday and was greeted by a shiny new nickname: Corleone. The nickname makes sense in and of itself to anyone who has seen Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather” because my last name is Corley. But the explanation goes deeper, like it usually does with Berry. Apparently–and I have yet to check this out for myself–on the first day my work with The Oklahoman went in print, there was a column in the paper that mentioned either the Godfather or Don Corleone himself. It was meant to be.

Welcome to The Oklahoman.