Awesome Video Saturday CLXXV

Awesome Video Saturday CLXXIV

Miami Malaise

I'm sure that I've written about how the University of Miami football program had changed it's ways. It seemed that since the days of Butch Davis, compliance with NCAA regs was much improved.

Dupe that I was, I believed it.

My first impulse, on reading reports like this one, was that this Shapiro was a lying twerp out for vengeance. After reading more, and seeing some of the reports corroborated, Occam's razor would indicate that there is significant and disturbing truth to the allegations.

I took some pleasure in the recent troubles at Ohio State and USC. They seem penny ante compared to what seemed to be happening at the U.

It looks like that magic 2001 season was not a part of Shapiro's reign of improper activities. I suppose I have that memory to comfort me until all this is behind us, whenever happens. And of course, I have my chief love and alma mater, BYU.

This is a shameful story. For now, I'm done.

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On Quality

This post was prompted by an especially good package of cottage cheese. I imagine some of you have noticed variations in quality between different iterations of your favorite products. I have a specific preference for Breakstone's Cottage Cheese. Sometimes the cottage cheese is drier, if that makes sense, and sometimes there is more moisture in the package. I like it drier, and it tends to happen 1 time in 3 or 4.

The same is true of Frosted Mini Wheats. Sometimes the cereal seems fresher, crisper from the time the package is opened. There doesn't seem to be any pattern to when the best boxes will be there.

What's the reason for this? Is there one? Deep thoughts for a Sunday night.

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Awesome Video Saturday CLXXIII

A Ragnar Relay is a team race that is very long, usually around 190 miles. Some people I know (and don't know) ran the race dressed as characters from Lord of the Rings. It looks like they had some fun.

Awesome Video Saturday CLXXII

Lucasfilm (George Lucas' company) is behind a film looking at the story of the Tuskeegee Airmen. I was very enthused by the trailer.

Bet on Beck

John Beck is one of my all-time favorite BYU quarterbacks. His last-second win over Utah in his final season will forever be a treasured memory.

He is fighting for the starting quarterback slot on the Washington Redskins. From an effort standpoint, he would win it. But there is more involved. Washington is a tough market, with a difficult owner and little patience. We'll see what happens. If he gets a chance, he will have better tools at his disposal than he did during his abysmal season playing for the Dolphins.

Pyongyang Holiday

Ever been to North Korea? No? Few outsiders have. The Atlantic has some fascinating pictures from inside North Korea, and it shows an interesting and paradoxical place.

Tripping in Cali

We had a great trip to California to visit Lacy's family. For excellent photos, I suggest that you visit my sister Lillie's blog. She is a great photographer, and in this post, and several others, she shows a little bit of what we enjoyed.

I ate at Cafe Rio twice (excellent), In-n-Out once (excellent), Cheesecake Factory (excellent). Not very creative options, but still... excellent. The weather was great, as was the company. The ocean was cold. There were dolphins and snakes and children. All wild.

We toured the Reagan Library, quickly- at the kid's pace. It was impressive, a fitting tribute to the man. We ate superb, butter-filled pancakes in Du-Par's in Oxnard. I'd seen the place mentioned in books by Michael Connelly, a favorite author of mine, and wanted to give it a try. We ordered too much food.

We wanted to try a local burger place called The Habit (in Santa Barbara), but long lines and little seating made it a no-go for increasingly rambunctious Isaac. It was a great trip.

Here is a great photo of my beautiful Lacy, and of our family, taken by Lillie.

Justice Lost

Whether or not you thought the Casey Anthony verdict was a miscarriage of justice, this story from Mexico easily tops it.

A young man BEHEADED four people on orders from a Mexican drug cartel and got 3 years. THREE YEARS. And the creep was on his way to San Diego when he was apprehended. Read more of the news brief here.

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Giving Back

Jonathan Vilma is one of my all-time favorite Hurricanes. He was and is an extremely intelligent player, and he is making a significant contribution to his Alma Mater.

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Olympic Future

I've been on vacation for a while, but I hope to resume more regular posting.

The 2012 London Olympics are next summer. These are some fantastic photographs of some of the venues.

In the same vein, this is an interesting article about some of the names that you cared about three years ago, and will probably care about again.

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Awesome Video Saturday CLXX

Slipping this one in at the last minute- I am and have been firmly in the "Michael Jordan will not be surpassed" camp. Watch this video, and tell me what you think.

On Judgement

I, like many of you, have been fascinated by the outcome of the Casey Anthony trial. I didn't have the visceral reaction of many, and I'm not consumed with an overwhelming conviction that a miscarriage of justice has occurred.

If anything, the outcome of the case reassures my faith in the justice system. It seems that the jurors were very uncomfortable with the choice that they had to make. They simply felt that the evidence was not sufficient to support a guilty verdict.

I served on a jury for a case that was very simple. The deliberations were quick, and no one really doubted the choice to be made. Despite this fact, we all were impressed by the responsibility placed upon us to decide correctly according the the law and the facts as they were presented to us.

I agree completely with this op-Ed from today's WSJ, written by well-known attorney Alan Dershowitz. It is worth reading.

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Happy Independence Day

I am grateful for this great country. I had a fantastic day with my family, culminating in a great dinner with some new friends and our own mini firework show.

I wanted to share this delicious recipe for tacos de carne asada. the part I was most impressed with was the mojo or marinade. I grilled both flank steak and skirt steak on my trusty Weber One-Touch. I continue to be a charcoal user, and that grill is almost foolproof.

What's more American than tacos, right?

We are exceptionally blessed, and I'm grateful for 235 years of America.

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Transforming

Lacy and I went to see Transformers: Dark of the Moon last night and I found it to be extremely enjoyable. It is loud, visually noisy, often logically inconsistent and I think I was smiling the entire time.

This is one of those films that dramatically divides critic and common moviegoer. The lack of "quality" films is often lamented, as all of the money, hype and attention goes to support these kinds of blockbusters. In patronizing Transformers I become part of that problem, but as I Tweeted yesterday, it is the fun part.

The special effects were superb, with an extraordinary melding of real and virtual. As someone who has enjoyed FX-driven films since I was a very young boy, Transformers is high art. And this one was better than the 2nd film, by a wide margin, although in reviewing my blog I wrote very favorable of the first two.

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What the Frack?

Have you ever heard of fracking? It isn't a euphemism for something unmentionable on a family blog like mine. It is the name for a process used to release natural gas from once-thought-unprofitable deposits.

While at a meeting a few weeks ago, I heard an industry expert explain how a significant investment in improving the nation's natural gas infrastructure could significantly reduce our reliance on petroleum. This would have a tremendous impact on our economic and national security.

The method is not without its detractors, but as this WSJ editorial explains, the potential benefits appear to justify them.

The question for the rest of us is whether we are serious about domestic energy production. All forms of energy have risks and environmental costs, not least wind (noise and dead birds and bats) and solar (vast expanses of land). Yet renewables are nowhere close to supplying enough energy, even with large subsidies, to maintain America's standard of living. The shale gas and oil boom is the result of U.S. business innovation and risk-taking. If we let the fear of undocumented pollution kill this boom, we will deserve our fate as a second-class industrial power.

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Love Letter

This man's post reads like a love letter...to the A10 Thunderbolt.

It is a remarkable airplane, and although I've admired it for a long time, I didn't know anything about it's history or the specifics of its giant Gatling gun.

It's a quick read, and worth the time if you have the slightest interest in military aviation.

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Awesome Video Saturday CLXIX

I have been a lazy blogger lately. The AweVidSats have been the only thing I've been doing. I couldn't resist this video of an 8 month old baby hearing his mom for the first time with the use of a Cochlear Implant.



It is a beautiful moment.

Awesome Video Saturday CLXVIII

Two videos, one of a weird guy who walks into an interview, and the other demonstrating how creepy infomercials really are-