Ten minutes til kickoff...

...the anthem has been played, the alma mater too. And we had prayer.

I recommend the press box chicken spaghetti and the green beans, which have tiny onion bits in them, and bacon. And they have sweet tea. You don't even have to ask!

Cool, comfortable evening. Not much of a crowd on the students' side as the quarter break began Friday. Which means. . . more chicken spaghetti for us.

Live from Aillet Stadium in Ruston...

Hey everybody. This is Teddy Allen at Joe Aillet Stadium's pressbox where i am about to go eat some green beans and banana pudding. They have good food here.

Down on the field, Louisiana Tech is 28 minutes away from a play date with San Jose State. Both teams have 4 wins and need to win tonight to keep alive their hopes of a .500 season and bowl eligibility.

i'll keep you posted on the game. i can tell you already that the banana pudding is good; i've had it before. It's Division I-A banana pudding.

It's Always Something: Sausage rolls not on a roll

Texas company recalls 98,000 pounds of frozen sausage rolls

MERIDIAN, Texas (AP) — Double B Foods Inc. is recalling about 98,000 pounds of frozen sausage roll products because of concerns about potential listeria contamination.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the company’s voluntary recall Thursday. The frozen sausage rolls were produced on various dates between Oct. 25 and Nov. 6, the USDA said. The company found the potential problem during an in-plant testing program.
The company said there have been no reports of illness.
In addition to being sold in Texas, the products were distributed to institutions, catalog sales and distribution centers in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania.
Consumption of food containing Listeria monocytogenes can cause listeriosis, a rare but potentially fatal disease.
Listeriosis can kill babies and people with weakened immune systems and cause miscarriages in pregnant women. Symptoms include fever, headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea. (Ouch...)

It's a 'Dogs play 'Dogs world...

Tech to Host Mississippi State in Ruston

RUSTON – Louisiana Tech Athletic Director Jim Oakes announced Thursday that he has signed a contract for a two-game football series with Southeastern Conference foe Mississippi State starting next year.
Tech will open the 2008 season Aug. 30 with Mississippi State at Joe Aillet Stadium in Ruston. According to the Tech record books, it will be the first time a current member of the SEC has played in Ruston since the Bulldogs hosted LSU in 1913.
“We are extremely excited about bringing Mississippi State to Joe Aillet Stadium for next year’s season opener,” Oakes said. “This will be a great opportunity for our fans to help break the home attendance record and sell the stadium out. It should be an incredible atmosphere.”
Louisiana Tech set the single game home attendance record of 28,714 in a 17-16 win over UL-Monroe at Joe Aillet Stadium on Sept. 13, 1997.
Tech will return the trip to Starkville on Sept. 5, 2009.
Mississippi State leads the all-time series between the two programs 7-2, although Louisiana Tech defeated State 38-23 in Starkville in 1996, the last time the two teams played.

All-Time Series
1904, MSU 32-5
1908, MSU 47-0
1927, MSU 14-0
1938, MSU 48-0
1968, Tech 20-13
1980, MSU 31-11
1987, MSU 14-13
1988, MSU 21-14
1996, Tech 38-23

* From Tech Sports Information Office

T-Mail: Comet Holmes

From my friend and local photographer whiz, Shreveport's Terry Atwood...

"Here are two images I shot of Comet Holmes showing what light pollution from the city does to astro photos. The first image was taken from my driveway in Shreveport near Youree/Kings Hwy. The second images was taken atop Winding Stair Mountain in the Ozark Mountains of northern Arkansas near Boxley.

"Both images are taken with the same lens and exposure time: a 30-second exposure using a 300mm f2.8 lens with an Exposure Index (ASA) of 800."

The top photo was taken Nov. 6, the other on Nov. 10.

TO SEE THE COMMENT ... again, this is from the T-Mail bag, from Terry Atwood, today...
The comet is between the sideways "M" of Cassiopeia which is overhead about 9:30 pm and the Pleadies (Seven Sisters) to the right. It is next to the brightest star in that area (Alpha Persei or "Mirfak"). It is not much to look at for the novice viewer. It looks like a round fuzzy star and does not have a long tail like Comet Hale-Bopp had a few years ago, or Comet Hyakataki of about ten years ago (which had a tail about 100-degrees long--about 2/3 of the overhead sky). Visually it looks about half the size of the full moon, even though physically it is larger than the sun. I can see it from my driveway here in town in Shreveport if I look carefully. It is easy to see in any binoculars.
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Why do elephants drink? To forget...

Drunken elephant activist Paris Hilton stifles a tearful, perhaps even hopeless yawn as two pacyderms, including one under-age, play a bar game called "Pass The Leafy Limb."

The Associated Press

GAUHATI, India — Paris Hilton is being praised by conservationists for highlighting the problem of binge-drinking elephants in northeastern India.
Activists said a celebrity endorsement such as Hilton’s was sure to raise awareness of the plight of the pachyderms that get drunk on farmers’ homemade rice beer and then go on a rampage.
“The elephants get drunk all the time. It is becoming really dangerous. We need to stop making alcohol available to them,” the 26-year-old socialite said in a report posted on World Entertainment News Network’s Web site. Her comments were picked up by other Web sites and newspapers around the globe.
Last month, six wild elephants that broke into a farm in the state of Meghalaya were electrocuted after drinking the potent brew and then uprooting an electricity pole.
“There would have been more casualties if the villagers hadn’t chased them away. And four elephants died in a similar way three years ago. It is just so sad,” Hilton was quoted as saying in Tokyo last week. She was in Tokyo to judge a beauty contest. Her publicist couldn’t immediately be reached for comment Tuesday.

T-Mail: If you're a squirrel, read this, and be careful...

(The squirrel pictured here, formerly a pitcher for the LSU baseball team, is not one of the squirrels mentioned below...)


From the T-Mail bag, in response to a column titled "City varmits bring out the animal in him," about a local hunter/home protector ticketed for shooting squirrels who were eating his house in the city limits...



I enjoyed your column on the "squirrel killer"...I am the momma of another Broadmoor shooter. My squirrel killer graduated from CE Byrd in May...

Around seven years ago I pulled into my carport and saw seven squirrels in various poses in the vacant spot next to mine. Some of the deceased were posed sitting up while others were laying on their stomachs with their little arms propped underneath. And out of the house came the killer just a proud as he could be for shooting them. I knew that my son's father had purchased him a pellet gun but I was unaware that he had brought it home. After I quit laughing and quickly disposed of each of the victims in a ziplock type bags and placed them in the trash can, I had to sit down and explain why this is wrong and that he could be arrested even as a fifth grader. I did have to admit he apparently had better aim than his parents.

I glad that your neighbor's pile went unnoticed. I guess he is smarter than a fifth grader but equally as proud.
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