Snow, Chia Obama, 24 and UNC, aka things that are baffling me

It is snowing.

In April.

In Kentucky.

My mind is not equipped to handle this, so I’m offering a few quick thoughts:

This morning, cnn.com reported that some stores are pulling the “Chia Obama” off the shelf after concerns were raised about potential offensiveness brought on by the novelty plant. I couldn’t access the sound to the news clip, but I’m guessing it has to do with the afro-ish nature of the plant’s growth on top of the president’s head.

At first, I thought this was a joke, but no, this thing exists at such major stores, like Amazon.com.

Words fail me.

* Since 2001, I have watched 24 with a ferocious intensity (well, except for the last season, which I watched in stunned disbelief that something once so good could turn so rotten). Over the course of my fandom, I’ve learned that every season has a few clunker episodes, but so far, this version of 24 has managed to stay away from such nonsense.

Correction. “Had” managed to stay away from such nonsense.

Spoiler alert: I was always on the fence regarding the decision to expose Jack Bauer to the chemical weapon, knowing that they’d have to have some way to explain it away and save him. I went with it, though, putting some trust in the show’s runners.

Bad move.

Now, I’m faced with watching Jack take part in an experimental drug treatment (which is not riveting television, at least outside of House, I guess), that will involve help from a family member. Since Jack has watched most of his relatives get killed off by his hand or another, that means we get the return of his daughter, Kim, who most fans wish had been mauled by the cougar in the early years of the show.

* Speaking of Jack-related things, I visited CD Central this past Friday evening to find some vinyl (walked out with the latest Kings of Leon album; really, I’m addicted) with my friend Jeff. We browsed through the collection of local CDs before leaving, and I randomly found a disc from a group called Jack. The album, The Giants Newground, featured drawings from the book The Jack Tales, on the front and back, a move that captured my attention. That book, a collection of Appalachian folk tales based on Jack and the Beanstalk, had a profound impact on me as a child. Our librarian at Stanton Elementary, Ms. Chaney, would read from it every week it seemed, and I couldn’t get enough of its stories, humor and style. I still like to pick it up from time to time, always marveling at the tales.

I figured the album would, at best, be a singer/songwriter folksy number.

I was wrong.

It’s an ambitious concept album that uses The Jack Tales as a starting point before weaving a complex world behind haunting vocals and some stellar musicianship.

I am, simply put, impressed.

* Along the lines of random music from small indie bands, Cory pointed me in the direction of Fights Like Apes, an Irish group that’s kinda pop, kinda rock, kinda dance, kinda a lot of things, but always really, REALLY good. The album Fight Like Apes and the Mystery of the Golden Medallion will be getting heavy rotation on my iPod, making me probably one of about five people, at most, in this state to do so. I hope that number grows, though, so we can lure the band this way on a tour.

* Finally, I hate, hate, hate that North Carolina won the NCAA tournament, but at least I’ll never have to see that stupid Tyler Hansbrough, he of the wide birthing hips, play another game on the college level.

Good riddance.