US vs Mexico

US just left the pitch from warmups. Bradley gets all of his bad shots out early. Signing off to enjoy the game. Don't tred on me.

US vs Mexico

Sam's Army just entered the stadium to a chorus of boo's. Pretty cool.

US vs. Mexico

So it is amazing to see how many Mexican fans are here in comparison to the US fans. I expect it to round out as we get closer to game time...but still, the sea of green is growing fast.

US vs. Mexico

We're in Reliant Stadium at the US MNT game against Mexico! 90 minutes till kickoff. Go US!

Krewe of Bonaparte Mardi Gras Ball

Carlee and I had a blast last night at the Krewe of Bonaparte ball here in Lafayette. Our friends Mark and Karen invited us (Thanks!) and eventually got us into the Queen's area around the stage. When the night starts out with you not being on the list to get into the ball, and you end up sitting with the Queen...you know you're having a good turn of luck. What else is cool about the Queen's area? For one, less crowded. Food and drink on the house. Killer beads and sussies. And of course, our friends were there!

The theme of the ball was "Toonin' In" so all of the costumes of the royal court were cartoon characters of some sort. Here is a photo of Tweety and the Road Runner. At some point, the UL girls came out...not sure what that was about but I thought the photo was cool. If you want to see more photos, you can check out the slideshow on Flickr.

The Wireless Fence and the Bike

Jozy has had a few breakthroughs recently that I have been remiss in not reporting to the Jozy fans out there. You know who you are. So...Where to start?

The Wireless Fence

We have been training Jozy, slowly, on a wireless fence system in our backyard. Over time, it has been an up and down experience. Wireless fence system training works in the following way:

1. Place a unit in your house that broadcasts a signal in a specific radius from the central point.
2. If your pet leaves the defined radius (which occasionally fluctuates...not helping with consistent discipline), she starts to hear a beeping noise.
3. Your pet hears a beeping noise because the collar that you placed around her neck is starting to lose the signal from the base unit.
4. After a few seconds of losing the signal, the collar you have placed on your pet's neck delivers a "static correction." This is a euphemism for an electric shock that scares the shit out of your dog and sends her running for the back door. Soon, any beeping noise generates this reaction.
   
5. For 1-2 weeks, your dog will not leave the back porch without being offered food, even if she has to go to the bathroom.
6. Ask your wife to experience the "static correction" to make sure you are not being unnecessarily cruel. Ruling: It's not that bad. Apologize to your wife after finding this fact out.
   
7. Slowly rehabilitate your dog and start to associate the "static correction" with a perimeter of white flags around your yard. Wave the flags in her face every time she hears the beeping noise.
8. Slowly, your dog learns where she cannot go and stops urinating on the back porch.
9. Eventually...success. Evidence documented by playing 1 v 1 one with your dog in the back yard. Quickly, you find out she is better then you.
   

This past week, we are starting to let Jozy go out to the bathroom with no leash and we let her run around the back yard, fetching a frisbee and soccer ball, and she stays within the perimeter of white flags without incident. It is really a huge breakthrough for her. I am almost as excited about this as I am about the Giants winning the Super Bowl.

All that said, I am more excited about her most recent accomplishment then the Giants beating the Pats.

Check it out, Jozy is now going on bike rides with us. This picture is worth a thousand words.

Kings of Leon - Molly's Chambers

This is the first song I ever heard by Kings of Leon. They recently hopped back on my radar with a tune called Taper Jean Girl which has made an appearance in pop culture due to its association with Cloverfield. I figured that if I was going to post KOL, I needed to post the tune that introduced me to them - this song is great.

And since it is Friday, here is a live version of Taper Jean Girl.