On April 24, I wrote a story about local dancer Joey Falcon, who was trying out for the MTV show "America's Best Dance Crew." Falcon is a member of the Houston dance studio Planet Funk, and was chosen along with six other dancers to represent the studio in the competition.

Hopes were high that the team would make it all the way, potentially even winning the entire competition.

Unfortunately, earlier this week I received a call from Joey's father, Joe Falcon. One of the Planet Funk dancers is from Russia and was having visa problems. And although the team did extremely well in try-outs, MTV said they couldn't wait for the visa problems to be straightened out and they dropped them from the show.

Mr. Falcon added that Joey and the rest of the team is devastated but hopefully they can come back again next year even stronger.

So here's to hoping for next year, Joey. Victoria is behind you.

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Ah, the prom. I remember mine well. I wore a dress that my mom repeatedly reminded me was $200 over the limit she set for me. My updo was so high I kept hitting it on the car roof. My friends and I all promised we stay BFF's as we sang at the top of our lungs to "Time Of Your Life" by Green Day.

And Roger Sherman puked in the corner from the Peach Schnapps he snuck in.

Good times.

And it's memories like these that every teen should take away from their prom (although the Roger Sherman puking part you're probably better off without).

Unless, apparently, you want to go stag, in which case you and your dateless behind can sit at home and mope.

According to a video report on wcbstv.com, the interim principal at a New York all-girls school has banned girls who don't have dates from going to the junior prom. Why, you ask? Well, the principal refuses to make a comment so it's anybody's guess at this point.

But if she's trying to send a message that being without a man is unacceptable for a young lady, mission accomplished.

What's wrong with going stag to a prom? Most of my friends did it or just went with a big group of friends, myself included. And we had a mighty fabulous time without a "date."

And I can only imagine the poor girls who are trying to scramble for a date. Cousins throughout the state of New York I'm sure are getting frantic phone calls even as we speak.

So thank you, Mr. or Ms. Interim Principal for teaching our female youth that it not okay to be single and happy (insert giant dose of sarcasm here).  

With the recent Advocate story about GLBT of Victoria holding a gay pride celebration this Saturday blowing up the discussion forums, I thought I'd pass along this story from the Los Angeles Times.

The Calif. Supreme Court ruled 4-3 today that same-sex couples should be permitted to get married and stating that state marriage laws are discriminatory. The ruling affects more than 100,000 same sex couples in the state, about a fourth of which have children, the article said.

However, the article also states:

"The state high court's 4-3 ruling was unlikely to end the debate over gay matrimony in California. A group has circulated petitions for a November ballot initiative that would amend the state Constitution to block same-sex marriage, while the Legislature has twice passed bills to authorize gay marriage. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed both."

So far, 27 states have passed constitutional amendments banning gay marriage. Before today, only Massechusetts top court has ruled in favor of permitting gay marriages.

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I have to admit, when contemplating what I should get for my next tattoo, an image of Shakespeare or my favorite quote from "For Whom the Bell Tolls" never crossed my mind.

But that's what makes America so great, folks. The fact that it did cross someone's mind.

Yes, the latest rage in permanent ink? Literary tattoos. (Check out a whole stock of pictures here).

Being an avid reader, almost to the point where it's a sickness (seriously, I once read for 10 hours straight...darn you "Da Vinci Code!"), I actually think this is a pretty cool idea. I mean, a quote from the Bible or a portrait of Edgar Allen Poe is definitely more meaningful than having Tweety Bird resting on your forearm.

And besides, often times books, really good books, can help us as humans to evolve and grow, to think and change. I can't recall how many times I've been deeply moved by something someone wrote and have carried that with me wherever I go.

Now the only question is, do I literally want to carry that around with me wherever I go (Bah-dum-Ching!).

Well, I guess we'll see. I have been in the market for a new tattoo and I think an image of Dave Barry standing by an exploding toilet may look nice splayed across my back. Or perhaps Dorothy Parker drinking a martini on my shoulder? Or maybe Nick Hornby on my rear? Ah, decisions, decisions...

Sidenote: While I'm all for tatting it up, there is one new tattoo trend you couldn't pay me a million dollars to do. According to the mom-friendly Web site, Mom Logic, the latest rage in ink is getting the inside of your lower lip tattooed. Oh, trust me, you read that right...the INSIDE of your lower facial lip (just clarifying for all those with their minds in the gutter). I don't think I could have come up with a more disturbing and painful place to repeatedly place a needle in than that location. Let's just hope that inner eyelid tattoo doesn't become big any time soon ("But Mom, since I got my eyelid tattooed, every time I close my eyes I can see Kermit the Frog").

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Let's face it: Blogging has become a cultural phenomenon. It seems everyone is blogging these days. Heck, just last week I'm pretty sure I read a blog written by my grandmother about her new tattoo (we're a modern sort of family).

In fact, blogging has gotten so big, there is now such a thing as blogging etiquette. Yes, there are approximately 82 bah-jillion blogs out there devoted to this topic (wait, scratch that, 82 bah-jillion and one).

Having been blogging on the Advocate site for awhile (Warning! Warning! Shameless self promotion ahead!) and even winning a Texas Associated Press award for my blog (I warned you), I thought I'd throw in my two cents on what constitutes good form in the blogosphere.

Now these are just my own rules I've developed for blogging and are in no way endorsed by the actual Victoria Advocate (just like pretty much everything else I do at work...Bah-Zing!).

And so, here we go:

1. In general, I'm not really finicky on the good spelling and grammar like some out there in Internet land are. However, I would like to understand you without straining my brain (Lord knows I lost enough brain cells in college and I'd like to keep the ones I have left stress-free). So please write above a 2nd grade level and please refrain from such delightful Internet speak and shorthand as this:

"INOSHO, it's str8 FUBAR how Bush is like doing stuff in the WH. NEway, it's TG2BT. 4COL, we're America."

2. DO YOU FIND THIS ANNOYING? HUH? DO YOU? ALL THESE CAPS RIGHT IN A ROW? FOR NO APPARENT REASON? DOES IT FEEL LIKE I'M SCREAMING AT YOU VIA THE INTERNET?

It does? Well, then, stop writing in all caps. I don't care how mad you are, how much you want to make your point or how much you want your blog read, stop, I repeat, stop posting in all caps. It's like you're reaching out through your monitor and punching everyone who reads your blog in the cornea.

3. If you have a question, one simple question, please do not use a blog to ask it. Or if you must, at least write more than just "What's everyone think about Iraq?" That is no way to get a conversation started, folks.

4. If you have a beef with someone, please don't write 17 blogs in a row about that issue. Keep it all on one nice thread. The last thing anyone wants to see when they are searching the newest blog posts is consecutive titles all by the same person that go like this:

"Sally Sucks"

"I hate Sally"

Sally is a liar and did I mention she sucks"

"Reason 39 why Sally sucks"

"Sally Sucks Part II"

Yes, we get it. You #$@! hate Sally. Now stop and walk away from the computer. Go and get your aggression out on Grand Theft Auto 36 (or whatever version they have out now).

5. Please post original stuff. None of this copying and pasting a 112 inch story from the New York Times on your blog. Link it all you want, but I didn't go to your blog to read the NYT.

6. And lastly, for those of you out there that comment on blogs, please do not use the comment box to endorse your own sorry behind, or your sorry behind product, or your sorry behind blog. You know who you are. Those people out there who respond to a blog with:

"Great post, Tim. If you like Tim's blog, you should go check out my blog at IdiotWorld.com."

Now granted, even I myself have probably broken a rule or two of my own from time to time. It happens. But as an avid fan of blogs and many of the Advocate bloggers, I think if we could all adhere to these rules a little more, the blogosphere will be a better place for all.

Sorry...just couldn't resist using a random pop culture phrase from the TV show "How I Met the World's Longest Title for a Television Show."

Okay, moving on.

In generational news today (is that even a word?), it seems one kid from the Midwest is single-handedly trying to discredit all those Baby Boomers and Gen X-ers who call us young'uns the lazy generation (also known as Generation Y and Generation Anyone Born After a Randomly Selected Year).

An Iowa teen has just graduated from high school this week. No big whoop, right? Oh, did I also mention he also graduated from college this week as well, with not only one but count 'em, two degrees?

Yes, according to a story by KCCI 8 in Des Moines Mattias Gassman (who probably had to excel to escape his unfortunate last name), is wicked smart and managed to take high school and college classes at the same time. And we ain't talking no Bowling 101 kind of classes (oh come on, you know you signed up for it your first semester, don't lie).

How you like them apples, Matt Damon?

This story, and a couple of others that shed light on Gen Y-ers determined to shed the negative stigma teens and 20-somethings have been stuck with, has inspired me to focus my Life Happens column on this issue. It doesn't run until Saturday and in the meantime, I'd love to get your feedback on what I call the Generational Wars.  

Why is it we as a society are determined to classify an entire age group strictly by a few characteristics? For example, when most people talk about generations not their own, they say:

The Baby Boomers are all getting cranky in their old age and expect younger generations to fix the problems they caused.

The X-ers are still loafing on their couches listening to old Nirvana CD's and busy not caring.

And the Y-ers are all going to save the world right after they finish blogging on Myspace, play a round or two of Grand Theft Auto and disrespect their parents.

Have an opinion on this? Feel free to comment below or shoot me an e-mail at abrandon@vicad.com.

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Well, it's official. Hell has frozen over, those pigs are flying and people everywhere are stepping over my dead body.

Someone has written an "Essential Guide" to the Emo Culture. I wish I was kidding, folks.

Although it shouldn't be too surprising. Emo, in my oh-so-humble-opinion, has been dead for years, so it makes sense that only now is the corporate machine trying to cash in on it. Kind of how like by the time people caught on to the grunge phase, it was already over (and most never truly got the spirit of grunge...buying wide leg jeans with manufactured rips and buying torn T-shirts at A&F for $50 a pop was not "grunge," my friends).

But while Emo is finally having its mainstream 15 minutes, another subculture fashion fad is quickly rising through the ranks of cool (although by the time you read this it will probably already be...oh, yep, sorry, it's already over).

According to an article in the Contra Costa Times, the new style has been dubbed "the scene" and is full of "bright colors and goofy 'look at me' style points, like tiaras, ballet tutus and tattoos. Scene girls wear glitzy makeup or fashion their style after 1960s David Bowie."

Basically, It's kind of like being covered in tattoos but those tattoos are of rainbows and cupcakes.

Leading the way on this new post-emo look is Audrey Kitching and Hanna Beth, two models based out of L.A. According to the article, these ladies are causing a splash among teens through social networking sites like Myspace.

Having checked out these girls for myself, I gotta admit, I dig this style. In fact, it reminds me a little of my own style, only a bit more "out there" (it's awkward enough to interview people with my nose ring, let alone plopping a tiara into the mix).

And let's be honest, I hated Emo since the day it crawled out of the gutter and onto the street. Society has needed a good, funky, new trend to emerge and "the scene" is pumping life back into the  "mini-skirt and come get me stilettos" fashion craze that the likes of Paris Hilton and La Lohan have been jamming down our throats.

To see more photos of "the scene" click here.

R.I.P. Emo. It's been nice to...er...well, we knew you.