Image of the Day/Week-Vanilla Latte

Today, we feature an image of something we all love at the office here in Oshkosh, Wisc., (not really where we are at), and that is the vanilla latte. We usually prefer the hot vanilla lattes when the weather is cold or in the morning, and conversely the cold version goes better when the weather is hot or in the afternoon.

A great place to have either version of the beverage for those in the Tarheel State is the Green Bean in downtown Greensboro, NC, an independent coffee shop, which actually has its own blog! (www.thegreenbeancoffeehouse.blogspot.com).

SIDEBAR: We just adored this story in today's edition of "The Onion," a satirical fake news publication which once got in trouble for a story that said American women's Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson from Des Moines, Iowa,www.theonion.comwww.greensborobean.comwww.thegreenbeancoffeehouse.blogspot.com had died from complications due to a gymnastics accident. Of course, we should point out to anyone not reading this carefully, that Johnson is alive and well. Oh, back to what we were talking about; here is the headline: 'Human Feet Originally Used for Walking, Anthropologists Report' the story cites 'sources' from Oxford, England in its current 'story.'

Bonus Road Trip (7 of 10)- Columbia, Mo., to The Indepence Bowl

Since we originally started the Road Trip series back in the spring of this year, we set out to try and cover every state, including Alaska and Hawaii (for the Aloha State, we used a short drive on the island of Maui). And, we think got all the states except for possibly Missouri.

So, we are including the Show Me State here just to be 100-percent certain. Since we are sort of based in North Carolina, this may seem like high treason as the University of North Carolina Tarheels will face the Missouri Tigers for the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La.

This is actually an early bowl as it will be played on Monday, Dec. 26, at 5:00 p.m./Chapel Hill, NC, time.

For this entry, we chose two Mexican restaurants as our points of destination. La Siesta on North 9th Street in Columbia, Missori, the city where the Tigers are based, is the Mexican restaurant for Mizzou. And, for Shreveport, we have chosen Superior Grill, which also has three other restaurants in Louisiana and one in Alabama. In Sheveport, the restaurant can be found on Lime Avenue.

If you are in Chapel Hill, NC, we saw that our friends at the Turkish restaurant Tallula's on Franklin Street about 15 hours and 30 minutes from the Superior Grill in Shreveport, La.

But, we are looking for the distance between Columbia and Shreveport; and the answer is:

A) 9 hours, 45 minutes

B) 10 hours

C) 10 hours, 15 minutes

D) 10 hours, 30 minutes

E) 10 hours, 45 minutes

SIDEBAR ONE: Lots of books with very long titles are out these days, including this one we saw mentioned in "Rolling Stone" and later at a book retailer in Washington, DC: "Free Ride: How Digital Media Parasites Are Destroying the Cultural Business, and How the Culture Business Can Fight Back" by Robert Levine, who is also a contributing editor to "Rolling Stone."

SIDEBAR TWO: We love headlines from the satirical news publication "The Onion," and this header from today's edition was as always quite funny and very dark: "(Detroit) Tigers Sign Jim Leyland Through His Death in 2012."

It should be pointed out that the legendary baseball manager Jim Leyland is alive and well; in fact, he turned 67 on Dec. 15th.

Sports Desk_ High School Football in Va and NC

For those hoping to see scores from games in Richmond, Va., or Charlotte, NC, I should point out that these scores are for games in the Roanoke, Va. region, and the Greensboro, NC region. Hmmmm....I sense we lost some sponsors in Mecklenburg County (where Charlotte is located), oh well!

For starters, it was not a good Friday night for the two high schools in my hometown of Salem, Va. My alma mater Glenvar High School lost on the road at Radford High School by a 21-14 score. The visiting Highlanders were up 14-0, but according to "The Roanoke Times," the home Bobcats were helped by when the team's quarterback Hunter Marshall put the 'Cats ahead for the remainder of the fourth quarter with a three-yard touchdown dive.

But, it was also a bad night for the Salem High School Spartans (pictured) as they faced the emerging powerhouse Christiansburg High School Blue Demons, a team that is now 8-0 on the season, on the road. The Demons pulled off a close 42-36 victory with two touchdown runs and TD passes from quarterback Brenden Motley. Though Marty Bishop of Salem rushed for 244 yards and five touchdowns despite the loss.

In other Roanoke action, the Northside High School Vikings edged out the William Byrd High School Terriers 21-20 thanks to outstnading play from Tyler Fisher. And, the Partick Henry Patriots won its homecoming game over the Halifax Count Comets, a team that had to put up with a two hour-plus bus ride back to South Boston, by a 41-0score.

In Greensboro, NC, the Page High School Pirates (yes, they are the reason why we posted an image of the Captain Crunch cereal) decked cross-town rivals Dudley HS 21-0 thanks to two touchdowns from Drew Rogers, according to "The News-Record."

And, the Western Guilford Hornets made the playoffs by upsetting the Southeast Guilford Falcons 20-10 while the East Forsyth Eagles topped the Northwest Guilford Vikings in a surprisingly easy 35-6 victory (given that both teams had similar records).

Here is the scoreboard:

Virginia

Radford 21 Glenvar 14
Christiansburg 42 Salem 36
Northside 21 William Byrd 20
Patrick Henry 41 Halifax County 0
Hidden Valley 13 Pulaski County 10
Franklin County 34 George Washington (Danville) 20
Martinsville 46 Bassett 34
Tunstall 21 Patrick County 13
James River 14 Parry McCluer 13

North Carolina

Page 21 Dudley 0
Western Guilford 20 Southeast Guilford 10
Northern Guilford 49 Morehead 8
East Forsyth 35 Northwest Guilford 6
Ragsdale 21 Glenn 0
Northeast Guilford 36 North Forsyth 26
Western Alamance 32 McMichael 21
Reidsville 42 Providence Gap 7
Eastern Alamance 16 Rockingham County 12

SIDEBAR: Yes, it can be quite challenging to know if the satire newspaper/news organization "The Onion," which now has weekly 'newscasts' on IFC here in the United States is actually being serious or taking things a bit too far.

Today, "The Onion" actually had the following headline: "Al Qaeda Also Fed Up with Ground Zero Construction Delays." Anyway, we are just relaying the news, or in this case, the fake news, not actually reporting it.