Awesome NYC Dempsey Ad

Just saw this on Objectivo - World Cup Fever hits NYC. This is an awesome Nike ad outside the front of Niketown.

World Cup 2010: Fan Fests

Fan Fests were one of our highlights of our trip to Germany in 2006. No doubt about it, the Jo'burg fan fest is on our list of places that we'll be spending time at while in South Africa. 43 days and counting!

Foosball: Pele vs. Zidane

I played foosball for hours a day back in college and was the undisputed champion of Bray Hall at RPI. Granted we also had a life size mural of the original Star Trek cast in the same lounge as the foos table so the competition may not have been that stiff. Regardless, based on what I see here, I could take either of these guys.

World Cup 2010: United Commercial (with Bono and U2)

ESPN is in full gear for the World Cup - check out this awesome commercial featuring Bono's narration over U2's latest single called Magnificent. In other news, there are less than 45 days prior to the kickoff of the tournament. It is hard to believe that we'll be there on June 12th watching the US play England.

Mine wasn't this bad...

During our coed game this weekend I ended up missing what I would pretty much call a "sitter" from about 12 yards out with no defensive pressure on me...no excuses, I just over thought the shot and missed it wide left by a few inches. Sometimes you have too much time and thus miss the easiest of goals and then sometimes you miss something like this:

This is Kansas City Wizard's striker Kei Kamara missing the biggest "sitter" I have ever seen.

FIL 2010: Festival Scenes, Waiting for Mucca Pazza

Band members in the circus punk marching band Mucca Pazza wait for their set to start at this year's Festival International de Louisiane.

FIL 2010: Festival Scenes, Kinobe

Kinobe (pronounced “CHI-NO-BÉ”) is from Uganda - definitely one of the more laid back and cultural shows of the festival - the instruments, clothing, spirit and mood of the whole set was unique and part of the special atmosphere that you find in Lafayette this time of year.

FIL 2010: Festival Scenes, The Givers

Local Lafayette band The Givers blew away a crowd of thousands at the Festival last night. These guys sound like anything but local - some compare their music to Vampire Weekend (which is a decent comparison) but their is something distinctly different in their sound for sure. With the heavy drum focus and super positive energy I can actually see a comparison to Rusted Root as well. Last night they had a special guest performer and it turned out to be the entire drum line for th e local high school. The place went nuts. These guys are sure to make it onto an upcoming BOB mix.

Check out some a live clip from Austin's SXSW below.

FIL 2010: Festival Scenes, Your Pin is Your Ticket

Festival International is completely free. You support it buy buying a festival pin from designated "pinpals."

FIL 2010: Festival Scenes: BonSoir, Catin

BonSoir, Catin captivated the crowd at Scène Chevron yesterday, dissolving the line in front of the port-o-lets and soon everyone was two-stepping. Here is a shot of our friend Anya Burgess who plays in the band (AFC alum!).

FIL 2010: Festival Scenes, Making it Happen

FIL 2010: Festival Scenes, Accordian

FIL 2010: Geno Delafose & French Rockin' Boogie

Caught a couple of great Zydeco bands yesterday at festival - Geno Delafose & French Rockin' Boogie being one of them. Here's a couple photos from the show.



Here's a little taste of Geno and the band in action. Gotta love festival - where else can you see some Zydeco, followed by a band from Uganda, Nigeria, Canada and then a Latin band from Brooklyn all for free?

Coach

This morning I changed it up and hired a yoga instructor to come out and work with my U-16 team for our Saturday morning practice. The experience exceeded all expectations, the kids seemed really engaged and a few were genuinely excited about continuing on their own. The yogi was a 6 foot tall cajun man named James and he did a really good job of managing a group of 15-16 year olds.

Here was one of the more entertaining exchanges of the morning as James was walking up to the field:

Player 1: Coach, that is the yoga dude?!? He is huge!
Coach: Guys, yoga is for bad asses.
Player 2: That would make a great bumper sticker.
Player 3: I just wish we had more hot girls coming.

FIL 2010: Festival Scenes, The Lineup

Young and old checking out the line up to see what band to go see next...

Festival International de Louisiane 2010!

Festival International is back in Lafayette! Got of the plane from my conference today, ran to ractice, and then headed over to catch a little bit of Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings (from Brooklyn) and another band called Les Breastfeeders from Montreal.

Due to my wife's immense popularity in the local community, we have VIP passes that get us up on the side/back stage for all of the performances - which for Les Breastfeeders was a real treat. These guys lit up the stage. Here's a couple photos and a video so that you can get a flavor for their music - which is like French-Canadian punk rock.

For my wife....

My wife is obsessed with Tetris so I am posting this XKCD cartoon for her. Pretty darn funny.

A Little Boot Heel Down

Latest BOB Monthly Mix has couple of instant classics (in my book at least) from Rogue Wave, Vedder, and Ritter. This one is getting a lot of air time around the house these days.

1. Solitary Gun * Rogue Wave
2. Starting * matt pond PA
3. Great Big Mind * Josh Ritter
4. Moth's Wings * Passion Pit
5. Lisztomania * Phoenix
6. My City of Ruins [Live from the Kennedy Center Honors] * Eddie Vedder
7. I Will Live on Islands * Josh Rouse
8. Symphonies * Dan Black
9. Cornbread and Butterbeans * Carolina Chocolate Drops
10. Give it up * Diamond Rings
11. Something In Common * Free Energy
12. Last Song * Clogs
13. Rain Keeps Falling On You * One-Eyed Mule
14. I'll Never Leave You * Rogue Wave
15. Howl * Florence + the Machine
16. Ain't Nothing Like You (Hoochie Coo) [feat. Jim Jones & Mos Def] * BlakRoc
17. This Too Shall Pass * OK Go
18. Take It In * Hot Chip
19. Radio * Hackensaw Boys
20. Red Lights * Vib Gyor
21. Another Whiskey * Turley

Lake Martin on a Sunday Afternoon

Jozy, my wife and I went out to Lake Martin this afternoon to enjoy a bit of the local scenery. The rookery there is in full swing with hundreds if not thousands of birds nesting. Jozy was all over the place and had no fear of jumping in the water...although we didn't let her stay in long for fear of a gator deciding that she looked a little too tasty.

Jozy and I hunted for some of those gators but couldn't find any that were willing to play with us.


After hunting, the ladies relaxed for a it.

Here is a slideshow of some of the other pictures we took out at the lake. Check it out to see some cool shots of the lake, birds, and a few funny portraits...

Shuffleboard & Bread Pudding

My awesome wife has made homemade bread pudding twice over the last 2.5 weeks and it has tasted awesome. Here is a picture of her chilling on the cruise playing shuffleboard.

These two things have nothing to do with each other.

The Black Keys - Tighten Up

New song by The Black Keys called Tighten Up - yeah, the puppet is kinda weird but I like this video. The song itself is groovy. Try it out and try to deny it.

Here is a little promo for their new album called Brothers. Looks like a cool live show.

Jónsi - Go Do

I'm a big fan of the Icelandic band Sigur Rós, so when I found the new solo release by their lead singer Jónsi I was pretty pumped. When the drum hit me 17 seconds in I snapped to attention and knew I had to share.

Jónsi - Go Do from Jónsi on Vimeo.

Leave It

One of Jozy's cooler tricks these days is when she balances a treat on her nose and waits for the "Take it" command to try to flick it up in the air and catch it. She normally misses and just picks it up from the ground. Maybe one day she will have the move down from front to back. The "Leave it" part is cool enough for me. The photo above was taken last weekend as we were enjoying some play time in the back yard and right after she had gone swimming.

Check out the determination in her eyes as she waits for the "take it" moment.

The Whigs - Kill Me Carolyne

Liking this song by The Whigs (garage rock band from Athens, Georgia).

The Band Of Heathens - L.A. County Blues

A little bit of Austin combined with Hunter S. Thompson for you on a Friday. L.A. County Blues by The Band of Heathens.

A Proactive Wall

This was posted over at the World Cup blog today. I've seen it before but it still makes me laugh out loud every time I see it so I felt the need to share it. One day, if I am having a bad week, you just might catch me doing this at my next game.

Used...and not Cheap

So I was researching a book this past weekend related to warm-up exercises for soccer teams and found something that I thought was pretty funny. You might think warm-ups are easy: jog and stretch. However, there is an overwhelming amount of research related to dynamic stretching, which focuses on muscle groups and movement related to a soccer game vs. static stretching which is what everyone, including me thinks of when you think about stretching (i.e. reach down and touch your toes).

Anyway, I am working on learning more about dynamic movement and stretching and found this book: Warm Ups for Soccer: A Dynamic Approach. Looks good and is exactly what I am looking for.


Out of curiosity I researched the used book prices on Amazon. Click this link and scroll down. Someone has it listed for $999. Hey, I guess if you are silly enough to buy it for $1,000 rather than get a $14 copy...power to you.

Cruise Photos: Tulum Photos

I've been slacking and haven't posted photos from our cruise. So here is a set from our visit to the Mayan ruins of Tulum. These Mayan ruins are located on the top of 39 foot cliffs on the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula. These are the first Mayan ruins I have ever seen - it was one of the highlights of the trip.

The water there was beautiful. Made us want to go down to the shore and swim for a bit.


This a a view of the primary site. The cliffs and the ocean are behind the large temple you see here.


In this photo, you can see the Mayan artwork carved into the building. Do you see the face on the corner?

Jozy and the Anole

Beautiful day before Easter here in Lafayette so we spent some time out side doing some "yard work." Jozy's version of yard work consists of hunting. Here she is on the prowl for something in the cast iron. Wasn't sure what it was...


But whatever it was, she was transfixed...and intent on winning her prize.


Upon closer inspection I found this little guy. I've always thought these were geckos but as it turns out, I now think these are called Anoles. According to common knowledge "Anole lizards are frequently and incorrectly called chameleons or geckos, although they are not closely related to either of those groups. In fact, they are more closely related to iguanas." Regardless, this anole was prey, and just out of Jozy's reach.


Until that is Jozy made a pact with Carlee.


And the hunt resumed in earnest...until...


...Jozy snatched the anole from the cast iron as Carlee pulled back a leaf to see where he had run and hid. I refrained from taking a picture of the result. He may have lived...we are not sure. All I know is that I better be careful while I sleep since it appears I live with two ladies who like to hunt and kill.

Crawfish Robbery

Bet you don't have these in your town. $3,000 is a lot of mud bugs.