Maurice Edu vs. Motherwell

American Maurice Edu had a great goal this past weekend for the Rangers in the Scottish League Cup semifinal. Check out this amazing finish.

Cooking with your Kenmore

Still in the process of cleaning up post remodel and came across this retro user guide for the old stove that came with the house when we first bought it. Pretty awesome.

R.E.M. - Uberlin

This got me looking forward to the new R.E.M. album (Collapse Into Now) pretty quickly. It drops on March 7-8th. Learn more here.

Egypt Internet Traffic

"Just a second ago, about 10 contacts of mine all disappeared off instant messaging in unison. That cannot be a coincidence."
Mohamed Abdel Dayem, via CPJ

Check out these graphs of internet traffic into and out of Egypt between Thursday and Friday when the government shut down access. When I read the headline Egypt Cuts Most Internet and Cell Service I get it, but when I see the graph, I really "get it". Also, notice the rising peak of traffic right before the kill switch is hit.

Click on each image to be taken to the source article, from the CPJ or NYT respectively.

Taxi Yoga

"If you're driving in pain, you're going to be a nasty person."

My wife keeps pushing me to try yoga out and I'm sure that I'll give in some day. In the meantime, I guess I'll give her a little ammunition by posting this interesting article in the NYT on how NY city taxi drivers are starting to take yoga in order to manage road rage. Check it out.

And of course, the official Taxi Yoga website....

Rack of Lamb with Creole Mustard Crust

Pretty excited about tonight's menu. Got a rack of lamb ready to go with some rosemary garlic jus, some sugar snap peas and some red/yellow/green pepper slaw waiting in the wings. That and a glass of nice chianti. Good way to close out the weekend.

Showboat from SoccerAM

Some great show of skills in this collection from SoccerAM. The second goal on here, about 18 seconds in is phenomenal.

Cajun Signs: ...de la Ville-Paroisse

The city parish president is the equivalent of our mayor. This is the sign on the door to his office.

G. Love and The Avett Brothers

Nope. The title to this post is not some sort of cruel joke. Check it out and count down to February 22nd when the album drops.

Download the track above by going here.

And check out another song of the new album called Milk and Sugar.

Invincible

Watched the film Invincible tonight - based on a true story about a long shot for the NFL who gets to play for the Eagles. Pretty good film - feel good and get a little extra football in this weekend.

Read a little more about the real Vince Papale (who the story is based on) here.

Grilled Rustic Rub Red Fish with Rosemary Garlic Potatoes

Awesome dinner this evening. One of my wife's co-workers gave us some fresh caught red fish. I threw them on the grill tonight, basted in some garlic, butter and Emeril's Rustic Rub seasoning. I kept basting it every 3 minutes or so as it was cooking over the coals. We had some golden potatoes on the side, tossed in garlic rosemary and thyme and then baked for about an hour.

If anyone has any good place to go catch some more red fish, just let me know.

It's not space we need...it's balance.

Not sure where I stumbled upon this ad for National Geographic's upcoming focus on global population and the need for balance but I think the video is well done. It shifts focus about 1 minute and 50 seconds in with the conclusion that space is not the issue, balance (and I would use the term sustainability) is. Makes me think about subscribing...

King(s)

I've started to read Peter King's MMQB the last couple of weeks (yes I am late to the party) and have found it pretty amusing at times as well as simply allowing me to hold my own in conversations with my wife, who is a serious football fan. Well, she is a fan of any sport actually...and has an impressive array of stats about most players in the NFL, EPL, international soccer, you name it.

Back to King: In addition to a slew of interesting sports information, King's random reflections on various topics can be even more interesting than the latest tripping scandal in the NFL or the rantings of a team that doesn't know how to win with class. This particular reflection was an interesting one to me and I find the quote from Kennedy inspirational.

And I'll leave you with this last thing. Last week, I wrote about the Tucson shootings peripherally, and asked, in a naïve way I suppose, for people to stop yelling at each other in the media and in society. And I came across this nugget. Thursday will be the 50th anniversary of President Kennedy's inauguration. In his speech that day, he asked the countries America was in conflict with -- the Soviet Union and Cuba, without mentioning them by name -- to be able to start over in discussing how to control the arms race.

"Let us begin anew,'' he said, "remember on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof. Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.''

King's Twitter feed is pretty interesting as well sometimes. Voluminous all the time. Today it made me laugh to see the tweets come in that criticized his characterization of the "men in suits" who are negotiating the lockout in the NFL. I would say the argument was closed and won with this statement that he made but I am sure the banter will continue.

USWLeeann: Insulting. Women are probably brokering deal in back corner
SI_Peter_King: There's a slight chance I know more about this than you.

I would be remiss to not mention the whole reason I get to make a long textual blog post on a Monday morning. If you are looking for inspirational quotes to guide you along the way, these words will never fail.

Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.... Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.

Speed and Concussions

Been watching a lot of football these past few weeks - the American kind that is - so these two news articles caught my attention. Oddly enough, both come from design related blogs that I read and not sport sources.

New helmets to fight concussions? And they look kinda bad ass as well. Although, if you weighed 200+ lbs and were coming after me you could be wearing pajamas and I would think you looked pretty bad ass.

Now Oregon on the other hand, looked pretty awesome in their latest uniforms. Turns out there was a lot of design technology behind them to help accentuate the speed of the team.

Joe Pug - Hymn 101

Just picked up tickets to see Joe Pug open up for Josh Ritter in New Orleans. Very excited. Video of Mr. Pug found below, courtesy of BOB friend Cool Hand Luke.

Widen the circle of our concern...

"The loss of these wonderful people should make every one of us strive to be better in our private lives – to be better friends and neighbors, co-workers and parents. And if, as has been discussed in recent days, their deaths help usher in more civility in our public discourse, let's remember that it is not because a simple lack of civility caused this tragedy, but rather because only a more civil and honest public discourse can help us face up to our challenges as a nation, in a way that would make them proud. It should be because we want to live up to the example of public servants like John Roll and Gabby Giffords, who knew first and foremost that we are all Americans, and that we can question each other's ideas without questioning each other's love of country, and that our task, working together, is to constantly widen the circle of our concern so that we bequeath the American dream to future generations. "

- Barack Obama, 1/12/2011

A Delicate Negotiation

Spent a day this past at the soccer fields in Baton Rouge watching some of my club team players play on their high school team. Great to see them in action against some different competition. In between the JV and Varsity games we caught up with Jozy and got to play a little dogobie. My wife took this picture of us negotiating the next trick. I really like this photo for some reason. Looks cool as the background on my phone.

Tonight it will be close to 25 degrees and I'll be out watching another set of my guys play...it's gonna be cold!

Jon Stewart's Star Wars Analogy

You may agree or disagree with Obama but how can you not appreciate this analogy of his presidency by Jon Stewart? Love the Sarah Palin part. The Star Wars analogy begins about 2:30 into this piece. Nerd Slam.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Barack Obama Is Luke Skywalker
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog</a> The Daily Show on Facebook

Maw-Maw's Slaw

We've been loving the new kitchen and I've been rediscovering the cookbooks in our pantry. The two cookbooks on rotation for the last week have been from Emeril and Bobby Flay. One of the highlights by far has been the discovery of Emeril' s Maw-Maw's Slaw recipe. It involves making some homemade mayonnaise which is actually pretty easy to do. I normally like vinegar base slaws more than mayonnaise based, but the creole/whole grained mustard on this one makes it one of the best slaws I have ever had. A picture of the finished product from today's work in the kitchen is above. This is on the menu tonight along with some of Eggplant Crab Cakes from a recipe I found from Andrea's in New Orleans along with some homemade remoulade. Oh. And dessert? Blueberry cream cheese king cake from Keller's! Is it time to eat yet?

Send me to prison...in Denmark

Check out the winning design for the new state prison in Denmark on the island of Falster. Currently contemplating crimes that will get me a free vacation....

Mapping America

The NY Times has a really cool data visualization project that is built off of Census Bureau sample data available from 2005-2009. You can zoom in on your census tract and see statistics related to:

• Race And Ethnicity
• Income
• Housing and Families
• Education

For each of these categories there are additional ways to view the data. For example, in the Housing and Families bracket, you can view your tract from the following perspectives: Median Home Value, Change in Median Home Value, Mortgages Consuming 30% of Income, and Same Sex Couples. Curious about your neighbors? Definitely an interesting way to kill a little bit of time.

Fashion Forward or Fashion Faux Pas?

BOB friend Xularite waxes poetic on the merits of the Man Purse. Check it out by clicking here.

Joe Pug - How Good You Are

Looking for that next great song writer that you will track new music from this year? Let's try Joe Pug (Chicago based). Check out this great song called How Good You Are.

And if you like his music and want to spread the word even more, go to his website and he has an offer to ship you (for free) a 2 song sampler that you can give away to the person sitting next to you as you read this. To date he has sent out over 15,000 CDs to 50 states and 14 different countries (according to Wikipedia).

“Look, in the end, I just trust my fans, and the nature of people in general. I need to pay my bills like anyone else does. But I also don’t think it’s right to ask someone to pay $15 when they don’t know what they’re getting. So in a way by sending out these CDs, I’m wagering that they’ll like my music, and that if they do they’ll come to shows, buy CDs, and help me spread the word even further. And so far I’ve been proven right. Without question, the more sampler CDs I send out, the more music I sell.”

Poo Dat!

People get really creative with their ways to link products to the Who Dat! phenomena tied to the Saints. Dress your baby up in this diaper and they'll be the star on any given Sunday.

Andrei Arshavin v Wigan

I've been enjoying watching Arsenal this season int he EPL, and honestly, if you are a fan of soccer, not sure how you cannot enjoy the style of play of this team. Check out this pretty spectacular goal from Arshavin from their game against Wigan last Wednesday.

w1-0ar

Goaa | Myspace Video

Welcome to 2011!

Happy New Year to everyone! Last night was pretty low key on our end, spent a lot of time cooking and had dinner with some good friends. Success was definitely had in the food department, failures were definitely experienced in my attempt to make a good pre-dinner martini (I did not do my oldest brother any justice).

Thanks for being a reader in 2010 - and best wishes to everyone in 2011!

Check out this awesome set of photos over at The Big Picture to see the New Year around the world. The image above is one of many from the site (this one from Switzerland). Truly awesome set of photos.