Mailbag: Girls in Bikinis, Jenni Carlson Columns, David Payne and more

Before I get to this mailbag, I want to touch base on some things…

1. The image above is from last night’s Critics’ Choice Awards. I’ve never heard of the Critics’ Choice Awards, but apparently it’s a big deal because it’s on TV. Granted, that TV in Oklahoma City was CW Channel 34, but that still counts.

Anyway, our very own Spencer Hicks had one of his tweets featured on last night’s show. That’s almost as cool as making the Lamar billboard. It’s also very creepy. Notice they showed his tweet while a 14-year-old bizarro Spencer was speaking? I’m not sure if that was planned, a coincidence, an omen, or just simple proof that Spencer is a Highlander or Benjamin Button who writes movie reviews on the side.

2. You may notice we haven’t had a mailbag in a while. This is because we don’t get nearly as many good emails as you think, so instead of pulling a Bill Simmons and writing my mailbag questions, it took a little hiatus. Because of that, we’re going to have more emails than normal this week and I’m doing away with the whole voting and giving away a prize. The point of that was to encourage people to send good emails. I guess that didn’t work so well.

3. Even though we’re doing away with the prize, I’m still going to brown-nose a little and promote our advertisers and sponsors that we like. This week I’m going to tell you about the new Yucatan Taco Stand in Bricktown. They’re located above Bourbon Street Cafe, have amazing food and tacos, and great happy hour specials, including ones before and during Thunder games. They also do the Taco Tuesday thing with $2 tacos and Tecates every Tuesday. I’ve already gone there a few times on my own and love their food, so be sure to check them out.

Anyway, to the mailbag!

Erica sent me this picture of her standing in the snow in a bikini:

Yes, random girls are now sending me pics of themselves standing in snow in a bikini. Of course, the reason she sent this was because I asked for girls to do this via Twitter and Facebook. Social media sure is magical, isn’t it?

I asked Erica for the story behind the photo. This is what she said:

Just the reprocussions of boredom. We took a bunch of pictures out there eating popscicles and ice cream too but I can’t find them. After awhile my body was so numb the cold wasn’t bothersome! Thanks for posting it!

No problem, Erica. And by the way, if you’re a girl and feel like emailing us pictures of yourself in a bikini, I’ll buy you a taco and a margarita at Yucatan Taco Stand.

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Randy writes:

Saw this at news9.com this morning. Thought the fact that the home belonged to a hoarder was interesting. Is there a database you check to determine if you’re dealing with a “hoarder house” or is this just an example of excellent journalism?

I don’t know if there is a hoarder database, but we definitely need one. Also, if you’re a hoarder, doesn’t it make you five times more likely to own a lot of cats and have an eHarmony profile? Just wondering.

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Ryan writes:

I guess channel 4 has gone to advertising jobs on their phone app now. I snapped this screen shot knowing it would be taken down later.

What’s funny about this is that they don’t have a job opening for a new social media coordinator. After asking if it’s “okay to rape a child” and “if more teens with STD’s is bad thing,” you would think they’d be hiring someone to fill that position. I wonder why that hasn’t happened yet…

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Sean writes:

It is my understanding from talking to a friend that works at KFOR that the person in charge of social media is Ashton Edwards. Who as it turns out is also the daughter of the news director. Therefore the liklihood of her ever getting fired is nil. I was told after the rape mishap December that they gave her an assistant to try and keep things like that from happening again. Perhaps she needs two assistants.

Now, I have no proof of any of this, but it did come from someone with direct knowledge of the situation…for what thats worth.

Well, I’d like to thank Sean for answering my question, although I think Ashton’s dedication to her Frugal Friday segment helps her cause.

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Betty writes:

What is this about David Payne coming to news9 to be the Gary England “heir apparent”??? I thought Jed Castles was on his way to the top… Now they bring in smart mouth David Payne and announce that he’s coming in to be the #2… boo-hiss. Jed Castles should go on a job hunt!

Thank you.

Nicholas writes:

Subject: David Payne

Sure happy to see you on Channel 9 ; makes weather sooo much better ; Gary England & the staff ;could not cover all 24 hours ; You are comming through loud and CLEAR ; you and
Mr. England just keep up the Great work ; the entire weather staff is a pleasure to watch!

This was David Payne’s first week on the job at Channel 9, and I’m kind of ashamed to admit this, but I think he actually did a decent job. He breathed some much-needed life into the a very boring and stale studio.

Also, I’ve mentioned this several times, but this is Channel 9′s line-up for this spring’s severe weather coverage:

- Gary England
- David Payne
- Val
- Jim Gardner
- Jed Castles
- That British stormchaser
- The Severe Weather Babes

The 1927 Yankee’s think that’s a bit extreme. Whenever Mike Morgan reads that list, he shows himself his own balls.

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Ryan writes:

So now that it looks like Seattle is stealing Sacramento’s NBA team, should we pull a Bill Simmons and call the soon to be new Sonics the “Zombie Kings”?  I’m looking forward to trolling Seattle fans on message boards.

Chris writes:

I don’t know if you heard, but Sports Illustrated is all hot and bothered that the Sacramento Kings might be moving to Seattle at the end of this season.  If that’s the case, should we call them the Zombie Kings?

If not, I would love to see TLO’s top 5 nicknames for the new Seattle team if they more.  Because fuck that guy who kept calling the Thunder the Zombie Sonics.

I’ve written this several times, too, but I don’t get all the animosity Oklahoma City fans have towards Seattle fans. I don’t blame them for hating us. How would you feel in 30-years if the Thunder suddenly packed and left for Des Moines because the Ford Center was outdated. You’d probably dislike Des Moines quite a bit, right?

That being said, I do think the hypocrisy of Seattle fans is kind of funny. For as much as they hated Clay Bennett and whined about losing their team, it is kind of funny to see how gleeful they are that one of their local businessmen stole a team from another NBA city. Also, this is good for Thunder fans because the new Seattle team will get to keep their stupid Sonics history. That means no more awkward Seattle records or stats will be shown during Thunder games.

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David writes:

Patrick,

If you’re still feeliing sick, read Jenni’s article on Bill Young leaving OSU at NewsOk and the accompaning comments.

David,

Why would you intentionally email a man struggling with the flu a Jenni Carlson column and then tell him to read NewsOK comments? Are you trying to kill me? Why don’t you email me some cigarettes, a bottle of vodka and candid photos of Kate Upton taking a bubble bath while you’re at it.

Anyway, I tried reading Jenni’s column and made it to this point before stopping:

Young said that upon Gundy hiring him, the head coach believed Young would coach a few years, then retire. Did Gundy say as much, and Young just went along with it? Did Young dispute it but have his words fall on deaf ears? Or did Gundy just assume that retirement was surely around the corner since Young was already past his 60th birthday?

We don’t know.

That’s all I could handle. God she’s terrible.

Clever people like to point out the odd similarity that Jim Traber and I both dislike Jenni Carlson columns. That’s true, although here’s the big difference. I rarely, if ever, read a Jenni Carlson column. Seriously, when I see a NewsOK article with an interesting headline, click on it, and then see her face at the top of the page, I usually block my eyes and frantically hit the back button. If I were to read her column everyday, I’d probably go blind.

Also, for what it’s worth, Gundy made a good decision in firing Bill Young. The guy was old and as average as you could get. He’s like a 60-something Brent Venables.

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Jim W. writes:

I would love to see you guys do a report on Bill Howard, who was the man who played Pokey the Puppet.  He passed away Wed.   He was a funny and loving guy

Lets review here.

Ho Ho the Clown – Dead
Pokey the Puppet – Dead
Ranger Roger – Dead

If I were Danny Williams, I’d be pretty damn scared.

Also, I was hosting trivia at the Speakeasy with Ryan Drake last summer and I made a HoHo the clown reference. Ryan, a 24- or 25-year-old lifelong OKC resident, had no clue who I was talking about. If you’re a young uneducated asshat like Ryan, here’s a clip from a Ho Ho the Clown Show from 1978 (the year I was born). Pokey the Puppet was his sidekick. RIP Pokey!

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Linda writes:

Subject: LOST DOG AUTO ACCIDENT

I HOPE THEY REALLY CHECKED THE CAR OF THE COUPLE THAT CRASHED IN CLINTIN NEWS YEARS EVE..A YORKIE IS SOOO VERY SMALL!!!!!THEY LOVE THEIR LITTLE DOG==PLEASE CHECK THAT CAR!!!

On that note, it’s probably time to end the mailbag. Thanks for reading!