Sunday, December 27, 2009

USA 2010 - Rise Up

My wife and I are just starting to plan logistics for our trip to South Africa this summer for the World Cup. We are registered for game tickets, investigating travel packages, and in general momentum building phases for the trip of a lifetime.

This video is a great way to start off the 2010 countdown as we enter the new year.

Rise up.


The Snake's Hip and The Bee's Knees

One of my player's introduced me to the phrase "the bee's knees" about 4 months ago or so. You have probably seen it on recent Geico commercials. I had never heard it before and thought it might have some sort of origin from a rap song or other pop culture source. Randomly decided to look it up tonight and came across this:

The phrase "the bee's knees", meaning "the height of excellence", became popular in the U.S. in the 1920s, along with "the cat's whiskers" (possibly from the use of these in radio crystal sets), "the cat's pajamas" (pyjamas were still new enough to be daring), and similar phrases which made less sense and didn't endure: "the eel's ankle", "the elephant's instep", "the snake's hip". Stories in circulation about the phrase's origin include: "b's and e's", short for "be-alls and end-alls"; and a corruption of "business".
Be on the look out for me dropping the phrase "the snake's hip" or the "eel's ankle" in the upcoming weeks.

Saturday, December 26, 2009

Christmas in Arkansas

Tonight is our last night in Arkansas, celebrating Christmas with Carlee's family, enjoying the cold weather, playing frisbee golf, pickle ball, and fetch with Jozy at the lake. Here's a couple photos of the family.

Friday, December 25, 2009

Merry Christmas!

Tie up your boots
Jump off the ladder
Pack up your clothes
Nothing's the matter
Mistletoe hangs
Up in the bedroom
Your sister's bangs
She cut them herself
Santa is here
Sleighbells are ringing
Twenty-one elves
They are all singing
K-Mart is closed
So is the bakery
Everyone's at home
Watching TV

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope you are all having a great holiday!



This song still sits at the top of my list of modern Christmas songs and has yet to be dethroned.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Jozy carries a Shammy in a Soggy Paw

Christmas came two days early in Arkansas today and Jozy was able to open two presents since it was raining all day and she got really wet. Turns out that two different people bought everyone's favorite dog some sort of tool to help her get dry after swimming or playing in the rain. One of them, Soggy Paws, happens to sling over her back and look like a back pack. Here is Jozy sporting her Soggy Paws with her Planet Dog Shammy in one pocket. The other pocket has the product flier/cover label.

Jozy loved it so much that she had to pull it off and see what it tasted like...

Making the official 2010 FIFA World Cup Match Ball (Jabulani)

This is an interesting video to watch that shows the making of the official 2010 World Cup match ball, the Jabulani. Hoping there is one of these under the tree this year!



Eleven different colors are used in the adidas “JABULANI,” the eleventh adidas World Cup ball. These 11 colors represent the 11 players in every team, the 11 official languages of South Africa and the 11 South African tribes that make the country one of the most ethnologically diverse countries on the African continent. The colorful design brings together the tremendous diversity of the country in harmonious unity. Four triangle-shaped design elements on a white background lend the ball a unique appearance in African spirit.

Monday, December 14, 2009

Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band - Worn Out Shoe

Speaking of worn out shoes, check out this tune from Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band called Worn Out Shoe. Pretty unique cool song.

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Well Traveled....

So I recently hopped on Nike ID and designed a new pair of sneakers for myself. They were shipped this past week and are currently in Anchorage, AK. I had a little bit of buyer's remorse at some point because I did not spend as much effort into designing these as I did my last pair...which involved voting on this same blog. Granted, I spent days and weeks stressing over the last pair, so nto spending as much time on this pair of shoes was probably healthy for me.


I wonder how these will turn out. Each time I look at this design I have a different opinion. Sometimes I think they look pretty damn cool, sometimes I think someone in China might be laughing at this silly American. Take a look at the UPS tracking. Pretty amazing to see how far my shoes have run already (China, Hong Kong, Korea, Alaska).


In related news, I just completed 6 weeks of back to back travel (except for Thanksgiving) for my job. At this point, I will be settling into a steady and manageable pattern moving forward with no more travel until January. The last 2 months have been busy...and these sneakers are not the only well traveled pair of shoes that I own at this point - I just hit Platinum status on Continental this past month.

Friday, November 27, 2009

Assists of the Week

Just stumbled on this over at 101 Great Goals - the best assists of the week ending 11/22. I love these just as much as great shots. The vision and distribution that leads to these goals is phenomenal. I think number 3 (Giorgos Samaras, Greece) is my favorite out of this batch but honestly, it is hard to pick a favorite.



1. Andres Iniesta, Spain
2. David Silva, Spain
3. Giorgos Samaras, Greece
4. James McFadden, Birmingham
5. Xavi Hernandez, Barcelona
6. Aaron Lennon, Tottenham
7. Wilson Palacios, Tottenham
8. Diego Milito, Inter
9. Carlos Marchena, Valencia

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Amaretto Whipped Cream

One of my two contributions to Thanksgiving Dinner: Amaretto Whipped Cream. Turned out awesome...may or may not be any left by the time the apple pie is broken out.

Fanfarlo - The Walls are Coming Down

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We have family in town and are just spending time together, lazing around the house, playing with the dog, cooking and watching football. Here's one of the more popular songs on the stereo in our house these days. Fanfarlo is from London and was formed by a Swedish guy named Balthazar. In addition to the regular compliment of drums and guitar, they also lace trumpet, violin and mandolin into their songs. If that doesn't cause just a little bit of curiosity...I am not sure what will. Enjoy your holiday!

Sunday, November 22, 2009

AFC Goes Undefeated!


With our win today, our coed team took our 9th league title and did so with an undefeated season (10-0). The 1972 Dolphins are officially uprooted as legends of sport, replaced by AFC. Congrats to the team!

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

August Rush and the IMPACT Repertory Theatre

Watched the movie August Rush tonight. I really enjoyed this movie a lot. I think that being away from home, traveling for work so much makes me more susceptible to sappy movies. Regardless, this portion of the film's score was awesome so I thought I would share it. Enjoy.



This tune from the movie was also really cool (Raise It Up by the IMPACT Repertory Theatre). I like this tune a lot and its different from most music I listen to. This is the IMPACT Repertory Theatre performing the song at the 2008 Oscars.


Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Monday, November 09, 2009

Gary Lee LaBar Sr.

We spent the last two days in Nacogdoches, TX, celebrating my Uncle Gary, who passed away this past week. Uncle Gary would call us up every time a hurricane was coming for Louisiana and tell us to get out of dodge and come visit him. I can still hear his voice on the phone.
"What are you still doing there? You better get outta there William."
Gary loved his family, worked hard, had a great sense of humor and will be missed by all of us. The ceremony was beautiful and lots of his family and friends got up to say a few words. You can read his obituary here. Also, you can go view a slideshow made by his family here.

Here's to Gary, my father's brother, our shelter from the storm.

Sunday, November 08, 2009

Drive By Truckers in Austin


Here's a photo taken by my friend when we went to the Drive By Truckers show 2 weeks ago in Austin. We were only a few feet from the stage and the show totally rocked. These guys are great live. If you have never heard of this band, they are totally worth checking out.

Here's a tune called Marry Me from Decoration Day. Enjoy.


Austin Signs: Never Handle Grounded Bats

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Happy Halloween!


After making sure Jozy got to terrorize a few ghosts and ghouls who came to our door, we went out to dinner tonight and then took this family portrait after we got back. As you can see, both Jozy and I were decked out in orange, with Carlee in the complementary black to celebrate the holiday. Happy Halloween!

Where is the Money Going?

Recovery.gov has a great GIS interface to help you explore where ARRA funding is going within the US (Where is the Money Going?). You can zoom into your hometown, choose the type of funding source you want to see, and examine each individual award to see the amount, jobs created/saved, and the recipient. Here is a snapshot of my hometown with a specific award selected and stats being displayed.


Here's a view of Lafayette Parish in an aerial satellite view with the recipients of the $44M in funding that has been distributed to the parish to date.


This set of data was recently used by Sunlight Labs to feed into the iPhone Layar app to create an augmented reality application that displays recovery.gov data on your iPhone.


What an awesome example of how data standardization and transparency can combine to create new ways to view and share data. Just think of the possibilities of being able to stream environmental and public health data into applications like this in the future...the data could be sent to regulating agency staff out in the field, surveying companies, construction companies or the general public.

Google Wave Testing


Testing out Google Wave as I chill out out the couch today. Looks like it might be a really effective collaboration tool. As a result, I sent out some invitations to some people I work with to see if it helps with communication for some of the teams I am on that are geographically dispersed. Playback features, inline editing, the ability to respond to mid-stream thoughts, and the option of adding new participants to a dialogue...all pretty sweet. Anyone else playing with Wave?

Listorious

Follow-up to my last post - check out Listorious if you are interested in exploring Twitter lists. This site has them broken down by category including: News, Media, Marketing, Charity, Food, etc...

Twitter List: Non-Profit Technology

Posting this for my friends (and especially my wife) who are involved in non-profit work and are interested in how technology can be used to help with their missions. Looks like a decent twitter list for those interested in this theme.

Non-Profit Technology Twitter List

Sunday, October 25, 2009

adidas World Cup Historical Soccer Ball Set


adidas has released a package that includes genuine soccer balls from the last 10 world cups. Holy cow. Pure awesome. Good thing my birthday is coming up so that I can buy this for myself and use them all at my next practice. I mean, its only $900. So worth it.

Found on The Original Winger

Back on the Field

Well, today was my first day back out on the coed soccer field in about 3-4 months. My first touch went to the other team with a bad trap. My second touch went in the back of the net to tie the game 1-1. It was a great start, followed by me missing at least 3-4 other golden opportunities. In the end, we beat the BJ/Monarchs 3-2, and are headed into the playoffs undefeated!

These photos are from last week. Jozy is clearly excited about the success of the team. Giving high 5's to everyone she can.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Harvest Time at EarthShare Gardens


Today was our first weekend of harvesting at EarthShare Gardens in Lafayette. EarthShare is a community supported organic garden that we just recently joined (after being on the waiting list for about a year). It was pretty cool. We showed up and were directed to a pile of produce, picked out which pile we wanted and then browsed through the stocks of fresh herbs and other vegetables that were ready to take home. Our booty consisted of:
  1. Butterut Squash
  2. Okra
  3. Some sort of Pepper Basil
  4. Habenaro peppers
  5. Lemon balm
  6. Garlic chives
  7. Green eggplant
  8. Purple eggplant
  9. Orange Mint
  10. Onion tops
So now we get to try and figure out all of the cool things we can make with this stuff. We're looking forward to many more weekends at EarthShare!

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Spoon


Fall has arrived in Lafayette and with our windows open in order to relish the cool weather, our house has dropped to chilly 64 degrees. Women and dogs have nothing left to do but huddle together for warmth in the face of the elements....

Coach (3 year olds)

Coach: Alright kids, let's get ready to play some soccer!
Kids: Yea!!!
Coach: Ok. My name is Coach Will.
Coach: (turning to one child): So what's your name.
Player: (eyes wide in terror) ...
Coach: What's your name?
Player: I...don't...know...

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Liverpool Loses via a Beach Ball

When you take a Rules of the Game test for soccer (either to be a referee or for coaching), they always ask some crazy questions about what the ref should do if the ball pops or if a bird somehow intercepts a shot and scores a goal. This is right out of that play book. Here is what happens:
  1. Liverpool fan hits beach ball on field.
  2. Sunderland player takes shot.
  3. Liverpool keep is well positioned to make save.
  4. Shot hits beach ball.
  5. Deflection causes goal.
  6. Liverpool loses.
It will be super hard to find a video of this. I found this animated gif over at Dirty Tackle. Check it out by clicking the link. The picture above is a view from the goal just as the shot was about to be taken. Crazy!

Update: I added two more photos that show the same view behind the goal as the ball goes in.



Charlie Davies Tribute

Check out this Charlie Davies tribute. Relive the Costa Rica tie at the same time.

The Drifter & The Racontuers

This movie looks pretty cool...appeals to the vagabond streak in me. And just went and downloaded The Racontuer song (Carolina Drama) in the trailer. Cool tune.

Drifter Trailer from Poor Specimen on Vimeo.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

in little waves


It's been a little while since the last mix. This one is one of 2 that could come from the recent set of music that I have been listening to the last month or so. As always, if you are not a regular, let me know if you want a copy.

1. Intro - The xx
2. Dominos - The Big Pink
3. All Is Love - Karen O and the Kids
4. Joy - Phish
5. Born to Be Your Man - Birdmonster
6. Forgive Me - Le Loup
7. Silence Summons You - Animal Kingdom
8. Kandi - One eskimO
9. Faith - Joseph Arthur & The Lonely Astronauts
10. Just Breathe - Pearl Jam
11. Run - Ben Kweller
12. Traffic Jam - Vega4
13. No Surprises - Radiohead
14. The Fixer - Pearl Jam
15. Stanislaus - Sea Wolf
16. Day to Day - Birdmonster
17. Penn Station - The Felice Brothers
18. Argentina - The Jones Street Boys
19. Crystalised - The xx
20. Tennessee - Cory Chisel and the Wandering Sons
21. Together - Rabbit
22. How It Ends - Devotchka

Saturday, October 03, 2009

Sky Mall

Me: Jozy, you're such a good dog.
Jozy: ...
Me: I wonder what kind of dog you are? Maybe we can get a doggie DNA test for my birthday.
My Wife: Have you been reading Sky Mall?
Jozy: ...

Gandhi - Google


Always a fan of the Google banner...

Monday, September 28, 2009

Le Loup - Planes Like Vultures

I know this is strange...but there is something about this that I just like.


Ze Frank on Respect

I shared this directly on Facebook and at the known risk of duplicating content in two places, I wanted to post this video on this site as well. One of the reasons I miss The Show due is Ze's ability to whip through topics and narrow down to a succinct point in a way that makes a large number of people (and Kanye) look downright silly.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Pearl Jam - Just Breathe



US U-20's Kick Off in the 2009 U-20 World Cup

The 2009 U-20 World Cup is underway and the US U-20 team has its first game today (Saturday) at 10 AM Eastern. We play Germany so it should be a tough match. Other teams in our group include Cameroon and South Korea. Tune in to ESPN360.com, ESPN Classic or Galavision in the morning to cheer on the nats.

Here's a video about the guys preparing as the first game approaches.

Twones

Interesting: Twones lets you tie all your music from across the web to one place, and share it with friends in real-time.

Pearl Jam - Backspacer


By the way, in case you didn't hear, the new Pearl Jam album (Backspacer) was released a couple days ago. If the rest of it is as good as the first single, The Fixer, this may be one of the better PJ albums in a while.

DeVotchKa - How It Ends

Good song for a late Friday night after a long two weeks of travel.



DeVotchKa is a four piece multi-instrumental and vocal ensemble that fuses Romani, Greek, Slavic, Bolero, Mariachi music with American punk and folk roots.

Monday, September 21, 2009

The Jim Carroll Band - People Who Died

Jim Carroll passed away on 9/11. Jim was an inspiration for me when I was in college, his poetry helping me get through some really tough times. I haven't read his work in a while and I wonder if it would have the same appeal to me now that I am older (my favorite poet these days is Pablo Neruda). Regardless, here's a punk rock tune by The Jim Carroll Band that you may or may not have heard in the past.



Mary took a dry dive from a hotel room
Bobby hung himself from a cell in the tombs
Judy jumped in front of a subway train
Eddie got slit in the jugular vein
And Eddie, I miss you more than all the others
And I salute you brother

Those are people who died, died
They were all my friends, and they died

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Media Convergence

Came across the following video late tonight as I was getting some work done and it made me do a little research into the conference it is advertising, The Economist's conference on Media Convergence, subtitled The Moment of Truth: Consumers, Technology and Commerce.

I would love to go to NY and attend this. Confirmed speakers include thought leaders from IBM, Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), Craigslist, The Economist, Google, PBS, Sony, Starbucks and more.



Unfortunately it costs $3000 to register. If you want to sponsor my registration, let me know.

From the conference site:
The surge of new technologies and social media innovations in today's environment is significantly altering the future media landscape for marketers. Consumer behaviour is changing and the way marketers reach their audience must also change. Marketers are searching for new ways to not only reach their customers, but to understand them, to peer inside their minds. As the level of consumer understanding increases, so can the knowledge of how best to reach them. However the plethora of tools at a marketers disposal is not easy to navigate and real learning comes from a real understanding of the future of media convergence.

Media Convergence forum gathers a unique speaking faculty of thought leaders, marketing psychologists, technology experts, futurists, media and marketing professionals to look into the future to consider the ideas, technologies and tactics that tomorrow's best organisations will adopt.

Wayne Rooney - Make the Difference

So I made the claim a few days ago that I shaved my head and since I did so using a "6" guard I was criticized for being dramatic. I guess I can agree with that after watching this video of Wayne Rooney.


Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Butter

Been meaning to post this for a while. Jozy stumbled on some butter the other day and had an interesting reaction...watch.


Friday, September 11, 2009

Maker's Schedule, Manager's Schedule

I stumbled on this article a while back and have been meaning to share it via this forum. This is a quick essay on two different methods for scheduling/organizing your work day - centered around the role of a manager or a "maker." If I were to think about the maker/manager question along a continuum, I would definitely be weighted towards the manager end. However, since I come from a programming background, the impacts described related to how a maker is impacted by meetings definitely manifest themselves in my day as well.

Pretty interesting read. Here is a snippet or two:
There are two types of schedule, which I'll call the manager's schedule and the maker's schedule. The manager's schedule is for bosses. It's embodied in the traditional appointment book, with each day cut into one hour intervals. You can block off several hours for a single task if you need to, but by default you change what you're doing every hour.
...
When you're operating on the maker's schedule, meetings are a disaster. A single meeting can blow a whole afternoon, by breaking it into two pieces each too small to do anything hard in...For someone on the maker's schedule, having a meeting is like throwing an exception. It doesn't merely cause you to switch from one task to another; it changes the mode in which you work.

Sunday, September 06, 2009

911

911: Hello. 911.
Me: Hi. I am on I-20 eastbound between Dallas and Louisiana. At mile marker 505 there is a cow on the road.
911: On I-20?
Me: Yes.
911: What color is it?
Me: Black.
911: Ok. We already know about that one.

Plano Labor Day Invitational XXIX Update (3)

We had a tough time of it today and lost 2-0 to FC Dallas. While the result was not what we wanted, the guys played with the fire and intensity that I was looking for. I see the potential for sure, we'll take one step at a time.

Saturday, September 05, 2009

Coach

Players 1, 2 and 3: Coach, can we go to the bathroom real quick?
Coach: You better hurry. And next time, take care of that before we start warming up.
Player 4 (with hand raised): That's what I did. I went to the bathroom right before we started!
Coach: ...and there's no need to brag about it.

Plano Labor Day Invitational XXIX Update (2)

We tied our second game 2-2. Went up 1-0 and gave up a goal immediately after. Then we went down 2-1 but the other team ended up scoring an own goal with 5 minutes left to give us a glimmer of hope to advance. If we win our game tomorrow we have a chance of getting through via a wildcard spot. Wish us luck!

Plano Labor Day Invitational XXIX Update

We dropped our first game 2-0 this morning. For some reason the guys came out without the intensity we needed and the referee gave the other team a cheap PK in the first 7 minutes. We ended the first half down 1-0 and finally came out to play in the second half. With about 12-15 minutes left we pushed more guys forward in an effort to tie the game. It almost worked but the other team managed to sneak one in first. Next game is at 3 pm.

Friday, September 04, 2009

Ze Frank and the Health Care Debate

It doesn't matter where you fall on the health care debate, I think you can watch this and appreciate it. I love the comparison to running it like a business (at 1:59). "It's business-like but it is not like an ordinary business." Nothing like a simple analogy to drive to the core of a problem. Health is fundamental.



via my friend Cool Hand Luke, Ze Frank on the health care debate.

The other thing that hit home about this clip is the reference to the fact that what Ze would like is a politician who has his best interest at heart rather than trying to scare him - like a doctor should have your best interest at heart, rather than trying to scare you. So why did this hit home? Well, when my doctor admitted me this past week to check out my ankle, he had a flyer plastered all over his wall criticizing the proposed health care reform. His political views don't bother me...but using that platform to force them on me? I'll be finding a new doctor moving forward.

Plano Labor Day Invitational XXIX


We pulled into Plano, TX this evening for the annual Labor Day tournament here. It has been 2 years since I've been to the tournament and this arrival comes with a brand new team for the fall season. Here is the schedule for the weekend. Wish us luck and check back soon for updates! We take on the Houston Galactics tomorrow at 9 AM.

Friday, August 28, 2009

Proof

A few days ago on Facebook, I decided to make a joke about my wife mowing at night while I hung out on the couch. It was a piece of exaggeration as I was actually at soccer practice and then cooking dinner while she mowed. Anyway, the Facebook exchange was pretty funny and I think I had my fair share of doubters in the fact that I actually made dinner. So here is proof:


And here is a snapshot of the exchange on Facebook. Pretty funny stuff.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Altidore's First Touch

As a coach, you preach about first touch. Jozy Altidore must have taken those words to heart because his first touch in the EPL was an assist. Literally. First touch on the ball, leads to goal. To top it off, the pass was some sort of bicycle/scissor kick thru pass. Check it out.



That happened this past weekend. Today, Jozy scored his first goal (have yet to find the video). He is off to a good start.

Monday, August 24, 2009

US Soccer SC Founding Member

Jozy is an official founding member of US Soccer SC. Here she is sporting her team scarf.


Ok...actually, my wife and I are founding members and Jozy is just passionate about the game. The primary benefit of being a member is that we will get early access to World Cup tickets for US MNT games (if they qualify).

Donovan Back From France?

...ummm...meaning it was a all a rumor at this point, or so it seems. Looks like Donovan's trip to Paris is not something to get too excited about just yet. Damn.

Friday, August 21, 2009

Donovan Headed to France

Looks likethat PSG t-shirt I bought in Paris just became a little more relevant to US fans. Landon is rumored to be headed there in the winter. I wonder if he will succeed in the French league. And if so, what in the world would happen to our friends out in LA? Watch Landon in action right around 1:23 in this video below. By the way, that shot is not deflected. That is just a wicked bend on a volley as it sails upper 90.


Kiss My Massachusetts

I've stayed away from the health care topic but this was just too much humor to pass up. Watch Jon Stewart provide some Town Hall Snaps based on Barney Frank's recent confrontation with a Nazi name-calling protester at a health care reform town hall meeting.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Barney Frank's Town Hall Snaps
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show
Full Episodes
Political HumorHealthcare Protests


Life of Mark has the literal town hall scene for your viewing pleasure.

And for a nice double header, watch as Colbert has his way with the insanity of punditry in this modern day and age.

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
The Word - Must-Be TV
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full EpisodesPolitical Humor

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Ice Cream Kid at the Confederations Cup

Not sure if this has become as popular as it really deserves to be. So if you haven't seen it elsewhere, be sure to refer it to all of your friends. His stare is uncanny...


Credibility

I've been doing a lot of reading and self-study on coaching recently. In addition, I am starting to audit practices of other coaches and actively looking for forums to continue to grow and learn in what has become one of my passions related to the game. Today I read a short article by Sean McCann, from the U.S. Olympic Committee (found here). I specifically appreciated some of the basic observations related to coaching and general leadership skills. The article is simple, two pages on the importance of credibility in any leader.

One of the key themes in the article that I always try to be cognizant of is consistency. Here is a brief excerpt:
Increasing consistency...is easy to say but often difficult to accomplish. One common mistake is to make a rule that is applied strictly for some athletes and less so for a star athlete. This is a classic example of the kind of inconsistency that leads to a loss of credibility...I have frequently advised coaches not to establish rules or expectations that they are unable to enforce. If you know that you can't be consistent in your behavior, don't pretend or you will lose credibility with your athletes.
Establishing rules and expectations that are unenforceable has always bothered me. If you are going to establish a rule or a policy, be ready to apply it - whether it be to your best player or your least talented. Most importantly, be ready to do it when you need that player most. Otherwise, your credibility is shot.

Personally, anytime I catch myself starting to elaborate on a policy or rule related to my team, I make sure to focus on the concept of how I will allow for the uniqueness of each situation, keeping the door for an adaptable response that fits the nuances of whatever the context may be. In my opinion, it is possible to do this and still maintain discipline and provide adequate direction for a team.

Coach

Text message exchange regarding practice:
Coach: Guys, practice today at 6:30, Field 22. Wear Grey.
Player: Coach, I can't make I have the swine flu.
Sometimes kids joke around with me about missing practice, but that was primarily last year's team (so far). This particular exchange is dead on serious. I'll be watching for additional symptoms on the team pretty closely today. The last thing I need is a whole team with swine flu as I head into the last couple weeks before our first tournament.

Long Day


Jozy and I both got up way to early yesterday (5:30) so as evening came around we crashed pretty hard. Today was really hard to start.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Nick Cave - Into My Arms

Nick Cave is hit or miss for me. Every once in a while I stumble on a song of his that really resonates. Into My Arms may not be one of the most energetic songs you have heard, but the lyrics combined with Cave's distinct voice are moving throughout these 4 minutes made up of solely him and his piano. Layer into this some extremely emotional footage and this is an impressive piece of work. Another version, being played live and with excellent sound quality can be found here.



I don't believe in an interventionist God
But I know, darling, that you do
But if I did I would kneel down and ask Him
Not to intervene when it came to you
Not to touch a hair on your head
To leave you as you are
And if He felt He had to direct you
Then direct you into my arms

Saturday, August 08, 2009

Not Good

It's never good when your wife reacts to your last statement with:

"That's one of those thoughts that are best left to yourself."

Friday, August 07, 2009

Coach

Coach: So I hear that some of you guys do yoga?
Players (group of):
Yoga rocks!
I love yoga.
Yup! at Reds!
Coach: I just went to my first class at Reds the other day.
Player 1 (to Player 2): You really do yoga?
Player 2: Yeah man, yoga rocks cause there are hot girls there!

Wednesday, August 05, 2009

Yoga

I'm headed back into the classroom for my second shot at Yoga today. I tried it last year and didn't last more than one class - probably didn't give it a fair shake. With that said, I am committed to attending more than one class in order to see if a few tries it what it takes to get hooked. I need the flexibility and outlet that I expect something like yoga to provide so I really do hope that the class is productive.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Morning in Baltimore

So I drastically overestimated the time it takes to get from Fairfax, VA to Baltimore for my meeting this morning. So much so that I had approximately 2 hours to kill. As a result, I decided to have breakfast at Baltimore's inner harbor. Makes me realize how much I love the water.

(This is one of those times when I really wish I had a camera phone. Damn Blackberry...)

Monday, July 27, 2009

Vincible



I promised myself that I wouldn't post about the next mix I made until I finally got to the post office to mail some out. In about 30 minutes or less, I am headed to the post office on my way to the airport so I figure I am safe at this point...

1. You & Me * Dave Matthews Band
2. Last Time * The Jones Street Boys
3. Satellite * TV On The Radio
4. Daylight * Matt and Kim
5. The Runaway * The National
6. One Red Thread * Blind Pilot
7. Your Ex-Lover Is Dead * Stars
8. I'll Fight * Wilco
9. Don't Wanna Cry * Pete Yorn
10. Sanitarium * PT Walkley
11. A Lot of Moving * The Avett Brothers
12. Buildings & Mountains * Republic Tigers
13. Oh Night * The Jones Street Boys
14. Autumn Beds * Modest Mouse
15. So Far Around The Bend * The National
16. Nights Like These * Lucero
17. Quiet Little Voices * We Were Promised Jetpacks
18. Off I Go * Greg Laswell
19. Daydreaming * PT Walkley
20. Girl in the War (with String Quartet) * Josh Ritter
21. Hurt Feelings * Flight of the Conchords

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Bumper Stickers

"I'll keep my money, my freedom, & my guns...and you can keep the 'Change.'"

Saw this bumper sticker on the back of a Hummer today. Funny to see money and guns as equally as high on the priority list as the freedom that our current administration is apparently stealing.

I think bumper stickers are a key factor in contributing to my road rage. My neighbor has this one on two of his cars:

"Annoy a liberal."

Nice.

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Portrait


I really like this photo taken of my wife in Paris. The expression on her face is one of her classics. And there is something about the tone/colors of the photo that I just really like as well.

Friday, July 24, 2009

Eating Out: Johnson's Boucanière

It occurs to me that getting out to eat lunch everyonce in a while is good for my sanity as a telecommuter. Thus, over the course of the last couple of weeks, I have started to build some time into my day for going out to grab some lunch food and take a mental break from the laptop. I have decided to combine this idea with my spirit of exploring and will be trying to get out to as many different local lunch places as possible to try them out.

Today's choice was Johnson's Boucanière. What is a boucanière? It is a cajun term for a smokehouse. Johnson's has been open for about a year in Lafayette and carries on the tradition of Johnson's Grocery which used to operate out of Eunice.

I just randomly picked this place out to go to today based on a quick search for plate lunches in town online. And it was a great find. First of all, the food was great. I had a pulled pork sandwich with two sides and a piece of bread pudding for desert. All for under $12 I think. Great homemade bbq sauce on the sandwhich and the service was super friendly.

I am not 100% sure how much the food was because as it turns out, Johnson's also carries CD's from local mucisions in town so I added that to my lunch tab. Picked up this disc from Linzay Young and Joel Savoy. You know you are in a local place when you grab the CD and the woman who serves you food says, Joel dropped off those copies himself!

I'll be headed back to Johnson's Boucanière in the future. The owner Lori tells me that throwing some smoked sausage on top of the pulled pork is to die for (still trying to figure out if I heard that right). Johnson's Boucanière is located at 1111 St. John's Street and is open from Tuesday-Friday 10:00 A.M. - 5:00 P.M and Saturday 7:00 A.M. - 3:00 P.M.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Coach

Introducing myself to my new team in our first pre-season meeting....
Coach: Hello everyone! My name is Will and I am the coach of the team for this upcoming year. Let me tell you a little about myself. I am 35 years old...wait, is that right?
My Wife (shouting from the back of the room): You're 33!
Coach: Right. ...and I forget my age and am bad at math.
Talk about first impressions.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

xkdc: Estimation



Love their disclaimer at the bottom of the website:
Warning: this comic occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children), unusual humor (which may be unsuitable for adults), and advanced mathematics (which may be unsuitable for liberal-arts majors).

Therapy

Me: So my ankle has been hurting to the point where I cannot play soccer lately.
Therapist: Ok. I'm going to check your lateral movement.
Me: Ok.
Therapist: Interesting. You don't have a lot of left to right movement in your ankle.
Me: In a good way or bad way?
Therapist: Well, most soccer players have good lateral movement. It helps their touch on the ball. Maybe you just aren't very good.

The Kitchen Project: The Scope


As some of you probably know, my wife and I have been talking about renovating our kitchen for the last 3 years. Well, we are finally breaking through our lack of momentum and moving forward. The project has turned into a much bigger deal then just the kitchen. Here is the defined scope at a high level:
  1. Tear down the wall between our kitchen and living room and leave a island (or peninsula) in its place. Essentially, this makes 2 rooms into one space and will open up half the house.
  2. Tear down all wood paneling in the kitchen and living room and float sheet rock.
  3. New cabinets.
  4. New kitchen floor.
  5. New counter top.
  6. Tray ceiling in the living room.
  7. New stove top and double oven.
  8. Redo the laundry closet - add laundry sink, new walls, new cabinets.
  9. New lighting all around.
  10. New molding, painting and lots of odd jobs throughout. I am thinking about trying to move our air conditioning unit to the attic since it is so loud.
I probably forgot something, but you get the gist. We are gutting two rooms and starting from scratch. It is a huge project. We have our contractor and cabinet maker picked out and are picking out materials for all of the pieces. Check back for updates!

Odd Habits

Jozy has started to adopt a few odd habits as she progresses through her teen years. For example:

1. New sleeping positions such as this one.



2. A more relaxed posture as she stares out the back window (previously she used to be fully alert).


Note the contrast to her pre-teen posture...