Tazing Is So In Right Now

So there are people getting tazed at political rallies, baseball games and just out in the street but I have officially found the greatest police tazing of all time captured on glorious videotape—actually I don't think anyone really uses tape anymore.

I hope everyone gets as much laughter from this as I did. Poor Steve.

Freekbass Is Not ND

WARNING: The following video contains images and sounds unbecoming a Notre Dame alumnus or fan.

The University of Notre Dame released a video on its YouTube channel, NDdotEDU, yesterday for what was initially only intended for viewership at the Outstanding Student-Athletes Celebrating Achievements and Recognition Showcase (O.S.C.A.R.S).

In a statement released on Facebook yesterday from the University's Office of Public Affairs and Communications Julie Hail Flory said the video was released to the public due to its positive response at the O.S.C.A.R.S.

Its primary purpose was to be shown at the O.S.C.A.R.S., an awards event for student-athletes that was held on campus earlier this week, where it received a very positive response. It was shared here and on the ND YouTube channel because we thought other fans might enjoy something a little different.

Indeed, something different was born with the creation of the song "We Are ND" by the band Freekbass and video produced by Ted Mandell, a 1986 Notre Dame alum and faculty member for 22 years in the Department of Film, Television, and Theatre (FTT) at the University.

Within a mere few hours after the video was released online thousands of embarrassed and distraught alumni, fans, and critics offered stark denunciation of the film.

In response to the harsh reaction Mandell issued a statement on the FTT website to explain the meaning behind the video.

It was a grass roots effort to produce. I got some help from Music Dept. faculty member and blues musician Don Savoie. I contacted Freekbass. We’re both Reds fans. We hit it off. Sure, let’s put together a funky song to celebrate the silliness of fans and the passion of ND Athletics.

"Funky" is a bit of a stretch in terms of musical genre associated with "We Are ND." In fact, Freekbass may have unveiled an entirely new genre: Sucky.

Additional clarification from Mandell about the intent of the video production is offered below.

It’s not a recruiting tool. Not a contrived, underground marketing attempt to make ND look hip. Just a fun video shown at a student athlete banquet.

It’s freekin’ Freekbass.

September 4th, I hope the students wear wacky facepaint, and crazy wigs, and dance, and sing, and rock Notre Dame Stadium, and party in the parking lot. And get all ‘70s again.

Because WE ARE ND.

He did get one thing right. We are ND and we are all very proud of what that statement means. Every member of the ND community is brought together as one family.

Where he failed was in his assessment of the passion exerted in support of ND athletics. He underestimated the degree to which ND followers express their acceptance or, in this case, disapproval of something.

One thing he could serve to learn from this ordeal is that not all pro-ND creative expressions will be as well-received as John Scully's "Here Come The Irish" set against the incredible footage below.

Why does Mandell's piece not stack up? It seems as though he already knows the answer even though he has yet to come to terms with it. Because, after all, "It's freekin' Freekbass."

Broken Bells

Ordinarily, I consider "supergroups" or bands formed with members from other established bands to be pretty mediocre (except for Audioslave's first album, that was cool).

In this case I must make an exception because Broken Bells are amazing.

The group is headlined by Brian Burton, better known as Dangermouse of Gnarls Barkley fame and James Mercer, frontman and pseudo-dictator of the Shins.

The two co-wrote the eponymous debut album while Mercer took a break from The Shins with Burton producing—and doing a masterful job— and playing a myriad of instruments in the process.

The album blends Mercer's uniquely haunting vocals and indie sensibilities with Burton's wide range of hip-hop influences. It makes for a very pleasing sound, highlighted in my opinion by lead single, "The High Road".

Sure the video is weird, but the music is just so cool I barely even notice.

2010 NFL Draft: Hokies and Irish Have Big Weeks

As always, there were plenty of surprises during the NFL Draft and several of them happened to involve the schools we follow here at Stars & Slights.

The biggest news was certainly Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen falling all the way to the Carolina Panthers who selected him with the 48th overall pick.

This will be viewed by many as a bad thing, but I see some positives in the fall for Jimmy. The biggest knock on him is his perceived "cockiness" and this will certainly take him down a peg or two. It's important to be humbled (though the many sacks he took in college certainly helped) and there's no doubt Mr. Clausen now has a very different perspective from which to learn and work.

Also, Carolina is a very talented team. The big problem for them was an oft-injured Jake Delhomme. With the Rajun' Cajun' now in Cleveland, Clausen has a shot to be the guy in Charlotte once he's ready.

For me, the most exciting moment of the draft came four picks later when Brian's Pittsburgh Steelers selected Virginia Tech defensive end Jason Worilds, who will move to outside linebacker in Pittsburgh's 3-4 defensive set.


Worilds was the first Hokie drafted and will take his relentless motor and strong work ethic to an organization that values those things perhaps more than any other team in the NFL.

Some other surprises included Irish wide receiver Golden Tate slipping to the 60th overall pick (far lower than I would have taken him) and former Hokie walk-on Cody Grimm was selected in the 7th round.

Grimm is an undersized linebacker who has worked extremely hard and made himself into one of the Hokies' leading tacklers and an NFL safety prospect picked up by Tampa Bay. Truly inspiring.

Here is the complete list of players drafted from both schools. Best of luck to all of those drafted and to everyone signing free agent deals as we speak (type).

Notre Dame

QB Jimmy Clausen- Carolina, Round 2
WR Golden Tate- Seattle, Round 2
OT Sam Young- Dallas, Round 6
C Eric Olsen- Denver, Round 6

Virginia Tech

LB Jason Worilds- Pittsburgh, Round 2
S Kam Chancellor- Seattle, Round 5
OT Ed Wang- Buffalo- Round 5
P Brent Bowden- Tampa Bay, Round 6
S Cody Grimm- Tampa Bay, Round 7

Remembering April 16th

By Nikki Giovanni


We are Virginia Tech.

We are sad today, and we will be sad for quite a while. We are not moving on, we are embracing our mourning.

We are Virginia Tech.

We are strong enough to stand tall tearlessly, we are brave enough to bend to cry, and we are sad enough to know that we must laugh again.

We are Virginia Tech.

We do not understand this tragedy. We know we did nothing to deserve it, but neither does a child in Africa dying of AIDS, neither do the invisible children walking the night away to avoid being captured by the rogue army, neither does the baby elephant watching his community being devastated for ivory, neither does the Mexican child looking for fresh water, neither does the Appalachian infant killed in the middle of the night in his crib in the home his father built with his own hands being run over by a boulder because the land was destabilized. No one deserves a tragedy.

We are Virginia Tech.

The Hokie Nation embraces our own and reaches out with open heart and hands to those who offer their hearts and minds. We are strong, and brave, and innocent, and unafraid. We are better than we think and not quite what we want to be. We are alive to the imaginations and the possibilities. We will continue to invent the future through our blood and tears and through all our sadness.

We are the Hokies.

We will prevail.

We will prevail.

We will prevail.

We are Virginia Tech.




Also, here's a link to a typically beautiful article remembering our worst day by Coleman Collins.

GO HOKIES!

Collateral Murder

I'm not ever really sure what to say about this.

First, WikiLeaks is an extremely important website that you should familiarize yourself with. It gives whistleblowers a safe and secure way to get out information in the form of documents and video that wouldn't come to light otherwise.

You know it's a useful tool when a 32-page U.S. CounterIntelligence report stated they wanted to marginalize the site so it would cease to be. They justified the thinking in part, because countries like China, North Korea and Russia have already blocked the site.

Yeah we should follow the lead of nations that don't allow a free press. That seems American.

That being said, on to the main point. The video below has been making the rounds and everyone should see it.

Be advised, this 17-minute video has been edited down from raw footage and contains harsh language, along with a few comments from our soldiers that is quite embarrassing.

I'm supportive of our troops, but the proper comment after firing upon a group of unidentified people and realizing two children are wounded is not, "Well, it's their fault for bringing their kids to a battle".

To boil things down (which does the story a disservice, but you can read the details in several places) a U.S. helicopter crew fired upon and killed a group of Iraqi "insurgents", among them 2 Reuters cameramen.

For a very interesting and enlightening interpretation of the video, check this link to former infantry sergeant Anthony Martinez's blog

Ultimately, while this video makes me angry I'm taking it with a grain of salt. Certainly tragic and food for thought. Again, the video is pretty disturbing so watch with care.