I hope none of you were alarmed by Athens’ sudden increase in middle-aged men wearing ugly sportcoats earlier this week. It was just the Biennial Institute, a three-day conference where University of Georgia professors try to teach state legislators how to not mess up Georgia any worse than it already is.

NABF: All about the cheddar

One of the nice things about the conference is that everyone who’s anyone in state government is all in one place, so it’s a great opportunity for some very interesting conversations.

That’s what we are
Trying hard to hide the way we feel

I’ve got nothing to blog about today. Here’s an open thread about As GDOT Turns, starring Mike Evans and Gena Abraham.

Think those two crazy kids can make it work?

In the Hoop

The NBA: Where my girlfriend asking me every day if this is the finals happens.

Picks:

L.A. over Denver: Hey Carmelo, basketball’s not like bowling. You don’t get better at it when you’re drunk.

New Orleans over Dallas: You know who’s quick enough to guard Chris Paul? Devin Harris.

Phoenix over San Antonio: This is the reason the Suns got Shaq. Also, Robert Horry and Michael Finley are so old, Dikembe Mutombo went to their basketball camp.

R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe is jumping on the Mike Huckabee bandwagon.

The part-time Athenian, known for his liberal politics, said on Jane Pratt’s Sirius satellite radio show that he was shocked when he tuned in to a late-night interview with Huckabee and liked what he heard.

"Because he’s a creationist, he’s a Baptist minister, I can’t think of probably a single issue in which I am even remotely in the same universe as that guy,” Stipe said. “And yet, he was kind of charming and self-deprecating. … He was actually kind of a good sport, and funny, and I don’t know, anyway, I don’t know what that means.”