1. Kayak.com
Thanksgiving break will soon be upon us and that means most of you will be booking flights home. Want to find the cheapest airfare in the shortest amount of time? Look no further than Kayak.com. Although I still haven’t figured out what the name means, this Web site has saved me considerable time and money. Just type in your destination and Kayak.com will search every single airline and travel deal Web site at once and compile a list of the cheapest deals. The days of searching airlines individually are over.
2. The Colorado Rockies
Who? What? The Colorado Rockies? When have they ever done anything? I thought all they were good at was drinking Coors and getting high on the thin Rocky Mountain air. Well, if you haven’t followed the Major League Baseball playoffs this season, the Colorado Rockies have made it to the World Series for the first time in franchise history. After winning the wild card tiebreaker against the San Diego Padres, the Rockies went on to sweep the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLDS and the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NLCS. Since my beloved St. Louis Cardinals aren’t in the playoffs this year, my money is on the Rockies.
3. SMU Men’s Soccer
Can somebody tell me why one of our best sports teams gets less attendance than a Hanson concert? The men’s soccer team is currently ranked No. 6 in the nation and we still can’t get more than 300 people at a game. Maybe soccer just hasn’t come to America yet (thanks for nothing, Beckham). If you have already given up on the football team, our soccer team is there for your support. If you can muster the strength to overcome your hangover from Saturday night, go to Westcott Field and see the Mustangs take on Florida International on Sunday at 1 p.m.
4. SMU Outdoor Adventures
The SMU Outdoor Adventure program is one of those hidden gems at SMU that not enough people know about. With outdoor trips ranging from hang gliding to backpacking the Grand Canyon, SMU Outdoor Adventures offers an extremely affordable way to get away from Dallas for a weekend and into the outdoors. If organized group trips are not your thing, there is a storage room full of anything and everything you will ever need to go on a camping trip yourself. Next time you are at the Dedman Center, check them out on the lower level.
5. Milo Butterfingers
Located just a short stumble from SMU’s campus, Milo Butterfingers has become one of my favorite bars this semester. The fact that I barely knew it existed for the last three years makes it even better. Milo’s is the kind of bar where you can watch the game on multiple plasma screen TVs, drink a pitcher of beer and play a game of darts. Adorned with neon signs from the early ’90s, plywood ceilings and a statue of Jack Daniels painted in Mavs regalia – this bar has grit and atmosphere.
6. The State Fair of Texas
Not to beat a dead horse, but you really should visit the state fair at some point in your time here at SMU. Where else can you eat fried cookie
dough, see statues made of butter and go on rides that are waiting to collapse into a heap of metal? I even saw a two-headed rattlesnake there last year. If you have been waiting to go, this weekend is your last chance to see what makes Texas the greatest (or should I say one of the fattest) states in the nation.
7. Dallas Weather
Only in Dallas can it be 95 degrees one week and in the 70s the next. I actually welcomed the rain, considering I got just as drenched walking to class in 90 degree heat. It’s the middle of October and it’s time for things to cool down, damn it! As a Yankee northerner, I also like watching native Texans dawn down jackets and scarves whenever the mercury drops below 75 degrees. For even more excitement, I can’t wait until it snows an eighth of an inch. Grocery store shelves will empty, the news will report nothing but the impending weather and everyone in Dallas will go into their respective bomb shelters. All the better though, it makes it easier for me to get to class in the morning.
8. Stephen Colbert
Like a scene straight from the Robin Williams movie “Man of the Year,” a comedian is running for President of the United States. Stephen Colbert officially announced this week that he will run for office in 2008 as both a Democrat AND a Republican. He gets a tip of my hat. If you think George W. Bush’s speeches are funny, imagine what Colbert could do. The scary thing is, I think people will actually vote for him if he really goes through with it all. Even scarier, I think I would vote for him.
