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8.31.2011 … my pets are acting weird … I don’t want to tell them they are a week late …

Tags: 2012 DNC, 9/11, BofA, college, college life, covered bridges, happiness, Hurricane Irene, icons, interdisciplinary world, internships, kith/kin, liberal arts, pets, prayers, random, science, travel, Vermont, Warren Buffet

kith/kin, pets:  They say animals sense big natural events before we do … Well, Bart Lisa and Fitz (2 ten-year old bassets and a black American short-haired cat) are clueless … last week, rather than the two weeks before when we had an earthquake and a hurricane in our region, my animals have been cling-y, bark-y , howl-ly, etc … and nothing.

9/11, prayers:  Some things you just do not think about.  Like a traditional war, there are children who never see their fathers, but here we have a concentration in one area of children without fathers.

They were the smallest victims of 9/11 – not yet even born when they lost their fathers on Sept. 11, 2001.

Today, they are bright and hopeful 9-year-olds who only now are beginning to understand their unique legacy. Their resiliency is proof that life goes on.

“This is something the whole world felt,” says Jill Gartenberg Pila, whose daughter, Jamie, was born six months after 9/11. “As Jamie gets older, she realizes the loss she had was also a loss that affected everyone.”

In many ways, they are typical fifth graders who skateboard, play video games and worry about schoolyard crushes.

Yet they are far from ordinary.

Gabriel Jacobs Dick, 9, releases balloons every 9/11 with messages for Dad to “give him an update on how life is going,” he says. “Mostly it’s like, ‘I miss you.’ ” September 11 Anniversary, Children of 9/11 : People.com.

Hurricane Irene, Vermont, covered bridges, icons:  Covered bridges are architectural poetry.

Perhaps it’s the simple, humble way that the Bartonsville Covered Bridge seems to say goodbye, bowing first at its far end, then slipping behind the trees while keeping its structure, and its dignity, intact until its peaked roof slips into the Williams River. Perhaps it’s the grief in the voices of the onlookers. We all know that tourists like to take pictures of Vermont’s iconic covered bridges; what this clip shows is the deep affection that Vermonters feel for these structures, and the terrible sense of loss when one disappears. Most bridges are simply crossings, a means from one place to the next. But covered bridges seem like dwellings. They give a sort of permanence to transitions, and impart to the otherwise ordinary act of driving somewhere a special texture and a mystery. Perhaps their claim on the imagination has something to do with that momentous crossing everyone makes, to death.

via News Desk: Requiem for a Covered Bridge : The New Yorker.

Lower Bartonsville Covered Bridge collapses into the Williams River in Vermont – YouTube.

Hurricane Irene, quotes:  Some of these are really good …

“Para todos, gracias, por los bomberos, muchas gracias por tu ayuda. Es suficiente?” —Michael Bloomberg, the mayor of New York City

via News Desk: The Crisis in a Nutshell: Floods and FEMA : The New Yorker.

college life, happiness:  I was very surprised by this list. It doesn’t seem that there is much correlation between the “party” schools and the “happiest” schools.

Happiness is subjective, but without a doubt some college campuses make life a little sweeter for students. Newsweek ranks the 25 Happiest Schools in America.

Methodology: To find the happiest schools in the country, Newsweek crunched the numbers for six categories, weighted equally using z-scores (a measure of how close or distant each school is to average): dining, housing, and nightlife grades from College Prowler, the number of sunny days per year, with data from Sperling’s Best Places, student-teacher ratio, and the average indebtedness at graduation, with data from the College Board.

via College Rankings 2011: Happiest Schools – The Daily Beast.

… and now the list … surprise anyone?

Happiest Schools






Pitzer College




University of California-Davis


Rollins College


University of California-Los Angeles











University of California-San Diego


college, liberal arts, interdisciplinary world: “One has got to be ready to think quick.”

It just goes to show that the liberal arts and sciences have a real, growing, and very practical place in the future of thinking through a day, a career, or a lifetime in today’s increasingly interdisciplinary world. Discrete “skillsets” are great—but least limiting when the person using them understands the big picture of where they came from and what shape they might shift to, next week, year, or decade. One has got to be ready to think quick.

via » Liberal Arts AND Sciences, Mmm’kay? A Sample Davidson Click-fest Offers a Peek To the Future.

2012 DNC, internships:  It will be interesting to see what Charlotte gains from having the DNC.  Summer jobs and internships for college students will be great.

Fall internships with the DNC have been posted!  The deadline for applications is September 12, 2011.

The DNC is seeking self-motivated, results-driven and trainable students for this opportunity. A DNCC intern will have a wide range of responsibilities, such as acting as the first point of contact for a Department head in the offices of the CEO, COO, or Chief of Staff. Interns may assist with special projects in various departments such as Intergovernmental Affairs or Communication and Public Affairs.  They may prepare correspondence, assist staff with requests pertaining to the convention, assist with IT network systems, or help prepare memos as well as research important legal topics.

via Internships with the Democratic National Convention | Office of Career Services Blog.

Warren Buffet, BofA:  I like Buffet, but he is definitely all over the plate these days.

in the 1930s, they called Roosevelt a traitor to his class. Some would say he saved that class. Oddly, Warren Buffett finds himself in a comparable position today. Some would say he’s saving capitalism. Others would most certainly not say that.

The Buffett story du jour is, of course, the $5 billion investment in Bank of America, initially trumpeted as a vote of confidence that will salvage yet another purportedly too-big-to-fail institution. It is, among other things, a powerful example of the obvious intersection of finance and reputation management. From the bank’s perspective, all their reputational initiatives were faltering absent a critical communications tool – namely, a third-party endorsement of significant impact.

“I remain confident that we have the capital and liquidity we need to run our business,” said Bank of America chief executive Brian Moynihan. “At the same time, I also recognize that a large investment by Warren Buffett is a strong endorsement in our vision and our strategy” [emphasis added]. The New York Times, for one, cited favorable responses by analysts and concluded that the Berkshire Hathaway investment “has helped allay concerns about Bank of America.”

Maybe, but it might not be the best medicine for the Bank of America C-Suite amid prominent headlines like “Brian Moynihan Got Fleeced By Buffett’s BofA Bet.” Nor might it infuse confidence in the bank itself amid conspicuous commentary that features taglines like “Sorry, Warren, Bank of America Still Stinks.”


Importantly, though, this story is not just playing out at a “purely business level.” Most striking in much of the commentary is an unprecedented ambivalence – if not antipathy and distrust – toward Buffett, who has historically played the role of folk hero for Americans of every socio-politicalstripe. The problem with being a folk hero is that your public image has to be clear and simple. You’re a leader among peers from whom every citizen can learn the lessons of success without being made to feel inferior for want of a billion or two in disposable income.


The lesson is that financial communications never occur in a vacuum. They can be driven to an important extent by extrinsic public affairs concerns that directly affect the perceptions of analysts, shareholders, and journalists – who, in turn, influence how transactions are received in the marketplace.

Life is no longer clear and simple for the Sage of Omaha. Welcome to our world, Mr. Buffett.

via A Rorschach Blot Named Warren Buffett: The Sage of Omaha in an Age of Ideology – Forbes.

travel, science, random:  I just wish one airline would try it for a week!

If Fermilab astrophysicist Jason Steffen is right, this could be quite the boon to anyone who has to fly commercially (assuming, that is, you’re not lucky enough to sit in first class or business.)

Steffen invented a model using an algorithm based on the Monte Carlo optimization method used in statistics and mathematics to halve the time it takes to board an airplane. According to Steffen, the best method is to board alternate rows at a time, starting with the window seats on one side, then the other. The people sitting in window seats would be followed by alternate rows of middle seats, then the aisle seats. Another of Steffen’s conclusions: Boarding at random is faster than boarding by blocks.

But he’s still a preacher without a congregation. Although he published his study in the Journal of Air Transport Management in 2008, the airline industry hasn’t taken much notice.

via Physicist claims faster way to board a plane – CBS News.

Apple, tablets, competition: War?

via ‘The Help’ by Jack DeJarnette | LikeTheDew.com.

physics, God particle, Big Bang: Big question!

book clubs, technology: Video chat with an author!

faith and spirituality:  Like this article!

cycling, green, NYC:

via The Bicycle Muscles In – NYTimes.com.

via The Mystery of Steve Jobs’s Public Giving – NYTimes.com.


‎8.29.2011 … Settling in to a Fall routine …

Davidson College, Davidson Basketball, Steph Curry:  Welcome home!

His weekdays go roughly something like this:

via eMoses – Burning Bush.


Team Bachmann says the line wasn’t meant to be taken seriously.

via Dangerous White Stereotypes – NYTimes.com. 

via Exhibits – The Holy Land Experience.


8.28.2011 ‎… Have i mentioned that the man can cook … :)‎… Heading to Amelie’s to see if American-made French macaroons are worthy of the drive … Scratch that, Amelie’s is always worth the drive :)

Tags: Amelie's, Apple, Asa Candler, business cards, Charlotte, Donna Morris, Dr. Martin Luther King, electric cars, End of an Era, food, Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, Former Vice President Dick Cheney, France, green, guides, heroes, home, Hurricane Irene, iPad, kith/kin, Libya Uprising, LOL, macaroons, Middle East stability, NATO, Neil Gaiman, Paris, private guides, Qaddafi, quotes, random, Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), standards, tablet market, twitter, World of Coca-Cola

home, food, kith/kin, Amelie’s, Charlotte, macaroons:  Last night John tried an old favorite (which I buy frozen) Chicken Cordon Bleu.  The kids actually rebel and call it Chicken Cordon Bleh … well, homemade by Chef JBT is definitely better.  And then today Molls and I headed to  Amelie’s French Bakery and Cafe for macaroons … they were good … but not as good as Parisian macaroons … pistachio was definitely better than raspberry.  I guess we are still on a French food kick. 🙂

Dr. Martin Luther King, Rep. John Lewis (D-GA):  I have never been a great fan of John Lewis.  I respect what he did during the civil rights movement, but in some ways he historically has ignored his white constituents in Atlanta … not completely, but that is another issue.  Nor have I ever thought he spoke well … too vituperative. But his commentary here is excellent.  And even if you do not agree, this is worth reading because it sums up MLK’s dream.

Among those leaders, I know he would take a special interest in President Obama — not only because he is the first African-American to sit in the Oval Office, but because Dr. King recognized the power of one man to transform a nation. He would say that the president has the capacity to unify America, to bring us together as one people, one family, one house.  He would say that a leader has the ability to inspire people to greatness, but that to do so he must be daring, courageous and unafraid to demonstrate what he is made of.


He would say that Obama’s election represents a significant step toward laying down the burden of race, but that this task is not yet complete. The election of 2008 was a major down payment on Dr. King’s dream, but it did not fulfill it. When one member of Congress calls the president a “tar baby” on a radio show and when another cries out “You lie!” during a State of the Union address, it is more than clear that we still do not understand the need to respect human dignity despite our differences.

Dr. King would tell this young president to do what he can to end discrimination based on race, color, religious faith and sexual orientation. He would say that righteous work makes its own way. … The people of this country recognize when a leader is trying to do what is right. Take a stand, he would say. Go with your gut. Let the people of this country see that you are fighting for them and they will have your back.

There will be opposition, and it might become ugly. … He often quoted the notion that “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” And the reason it does is because of the central goodness of humankind.

Martin Luther King Jr. believed that once people heard the truth, their tendency to bend toward what is right would pave the way for goodness to prevail. And it still can.

via What would MLK say to President Obama? – The Washington Post.

Libya Uprising, Qaddafi, Middle East stability, NATO:  Getting your arms around all the issues in the April Sring is very difficult.  This article is helpful with regard to Libya.

The toppling of Colonel Qaddafi—no matter whether he is eventually tried, killed or exiled—will be a boon to the Middle East and Western powers that supported the rebels. The implications for Libya itself are less clear and in part depend on whether Qaddafi loyalists will disperse and keep their weapons or agree to disarm. To become a rule-based democracy—the stated goal of all the various rebel groups—Libya must avoid an Iraqi-style insurgency, as well as disputes among the new rulers.

Helpfully, Libya has no sectarian divide. Its society is relatively homogeneous but grievances abound after four decades of oppression. Revenge killings loom, as well as tribal conflicts and large-scale looting, given the lack of physical security at the moment. The fall of Saddam Hussein in Iraq and the Taliban in Afghanistan showed that a temporary power vacuum can lead to long-term instability and undermine the formation of a functioning state.

The impact of Libya’s liberation on the rest of the Arab world looks clearer. What counts there is the dethronement of a tyrant. It will lift spirits in Syria, where another reformist revolt is under way. It will also give renewed drive to Egyptians and Tunisians who toppled their dictators several months ago but have since been grappling with constitutional change. Libya will inject new momentum into the Arab spring—raising hopes that decades of stagnation and repression can be ended.

Libya will have an impact on NATO too. The military alliance that faced down the Red Army might have been expected to crush the clumsy forces of Colonel Qaddafi in days. Instead it took five months of fighting and 17,000 air sorties. An embarrassment for NATO? Not at all. The alliance has had a good war so far (who said “stalemate” not long ago?) and is winning the best kind of victory given the circumstances: one achieved mostly by Libyans themselves. Rebels entered the capital without a single Western soldier visible on the ground (though there were some special forces). NATO air attacks, as well as weapons supplied by friendly Gulf states, aided the rebels. But they alone manned trenches, which will give them added legitimacy in months to come.

via End-game in Libya: Going, going… | The Economist.

Neil Gaiman, heroes, LOL, twitter:  Never meet your heroes!  But this goy got a retweet by his hero!

You might not have heard of Neil Gaiman. At least, you might not have heard of him if you’re deaf and blind, and have spent the last 20 years living in a ditch. On the moon. Just in case this describes you, here’s a quick summary of his career. Much more detailed information can be found on Wikipedia. You can also read Neil’s blog.

Neil Gaiman is very busy man. He has written adult novels, children’s novels, graphic novels, short stories and picture books. He has also written movie screenplays and scripts for TV programmes, most notably BABYLON 5 and DOCTOR WHO, as well as his own original series, NEVERWHERE, for the BBC.


It was only during the three hour drive home that I realised I’d made a mess of the little message I’d written to him inside the book. I thanked him for inspiring me to become an author myself. At least, that’s what I meant to write, but I’m pretty sure in my semi-coherent state I actually thanked him for ‘encouraging’ me to become an author, as if he himself had popped round my house back in the late 80s/early 90s and personally egged me on. After reading that, I’ll be surprised if he bothers going any further.

And that, I think, is why they say you should never meet your heroes. You’ll only end up making a dick of yourself if you do.

via Meeting Neil Gaiman | BarryHutchison.com.

Hurricane Irene, twitter, quotes:  Harsh! Re: NY … NC got in the way …

Apple, iPad, tablet market:  I like my iPad …

More than anything else, the announcement showed that the firm had finally seen the light about the tablet market—namely, that there is no such thing.

What exists instead is a rip-roaring market for iPads. Tablets based on Google’s Android, Hewlett-Packard’s webOS, Microsoft’s Windows, and Research In Motion’s BlackBerry operating systems—have failed dismally to capture consumers’ hearts and minds the way Apple has with its iconic iPad.

via Tablet computers: Difference Engine: Reality dawns | The Economist.

Paris, France, guides, private guides, Donna Morris:  Small is good; private is better … I found this website and it looked wonderful – France…Off the Beaten Path.  I will give a BIG plug for our private guide in Paris, Donna Morris.  If you need a great way to get oriented, give her a call … Best Friend in Paris France.

World of Coca-Cola, Asa Candler, business cards, end of an era, random:  Are business cards on the way out … I loved seing this old card of Asa Candler … and had not realized business cards had been around since the 1890s or before. Twitpic – Share photos and videos on Twitter.

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, Former Vice President Dick Cheney:  I like Colin Powell; I do not like Dick Cheney … enough said.

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell said Sunday that former Vice President Dick Cheney took “cheap shots” in his forthcoming memoir, and that he was taking his aggressive promotional techniques “a bit too far.”

Powell, speaking on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” targeted Cheney’s claim that the book, “In My Time,” would “make heads explode.”

“My head isn’t exploding, I haven’t noticed any other heads exploding in Washington, D.C.,” Powell pointed out. “From what I’ve read in the newspapers and seen on television it’s essentially a rehash of events of seven or eight years ago.”

In fact, Powell suggested, the most notable thing about the book was Mr. Cheney’s characterization of it.

“What really sort of got my attention was this way in which he characterized it: it’s going to cause heads to explode,” he said. “That’s quite a visual. And in fact, it’s the kind of headline I would expect to come out of a gossip columnist, or the kind of headline you might see one of the supermarket tabloids write. It’s not the kind of headline I would have expected to come from a former Vice President of the United States of America.”

He added: “I think Dick overshot the runway.”

Powell also took issue with Cheney’s claim that, during his tenure as Secretary of State, he declined to fully present his positions to former President George W. Bush.

“Mr. Cheney may forget that I’m the one who said to President Bush, ‘If you break it you own it,'” Powell said, referencing the administration’s actions in Iraq. “I gave the president my best advice.”

via Powell: Cheney “overshot the runway” in book – CBS News.

green, electric cars, standards:

Indeed, charging the car’s battery pack at home, or topping up at the office or shopping mall, will work fine for most drivers. But what about trips that are beyond the range of a single battery charge? Couldn’t a driver in need simply pull up to a charging kiosk and plug in for a rapid refill?

It’s not that simple.

Sure, there are already public charging stations in service, and new ones are coming online daily. But those typically take several hours to fully replenish a battery.

As a result, the ability for quick battery boosts — using a compatible direct current fast charger, the Leaf can refill to 80 percent capacity in 30 minutes — could potentially become an important point of differentiation among electric models.

But the availability of fast charging points has in part been held up by the lack of an agreement among automakers on a universal method for fast charging — or even on a single electrical connector. Today’s prevalent D.C. fast-charge systems are built to a standard developed in Japan by Nissan, Mitsubishi and Subaru in conjunction with Tokyo Electric Power.

Called Chademo, which translates roughly to “charge and move,” it uses a connector that is different from the plugs in most electric cars. As a result, a Chademo-compatible car like the Nissan Leaf requires two separate sockets.

Overcoming the limitation of a short driving range is vital to achieving acceptance by consumers who want uncompromised, do-everything vehicles. The potential solutions all have drawbacks. Larger batteries are expensive and saddle the car with added weight. An onboard generator turned by a gasoline engine, as used in the Volt plug-in hybrid and similar future models, are another possible solution, but such systems add cost and pounds — and compromise the emissions-free image that attracts consumers to electric cars in the first place.

via Electric-Car Makers’ Quest – One Plug to Charge Them All – NYTimes.com.


8.27.2011 ‎… Last night, Midnight in Paris … In Charlotte :( … Off to the WNC XC Carnival … Run, Molly, Run … Go Hawks! ‎… and I am feeling guilty because so many friends are in harm’s way … stay safe those in the path of Irene.

Tags: apartheid, Apple, Apps, ‎Midnight in Paris, bookshelf, CLS XC, college basketball, college football, Daniel Pink, dictators, followup, food, food - wine, FutureTap, Gadhafi, Game of Thrones, Hawkeye, HBO, Hendersonville NC, Hurricane Irene, iconic images, kith/kin, Libya Uprising, LOL, LSU, man's best friend, Mean Mr. Mustard's Cafe, megalomaniacs, movies, Navy SEALs, NC, oenology, Pat Forde, personality cults, pets, photography, photography apps, PSAs, REM, South Africa, Stellenbosch, Steve Jobs tribute, travel, tv, twitter, UGA, Urban Spoon, UrbanSpoon, viticulture, WNC CrossCountry Carnival

Hurricane Irene: Charlotte and western and central NC really got nothing.  I actually am feeling guilty because so many friends are in harm’s way … stay safe those n the path of Irene. My beloved OBX was hit hard.  🙂 This photo from the New York Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) shows something never seen – and certainly not on what should be a busy Saturday afternoon in August: an empty Grand Central Station. With all transit in the New York area closed, the terminal is a big empty barn. If you’re watching TV news they’ll probably call it “Death Central Station.”

via Hurricane Irene-emptied Grand Central Station looks like the end of the world.

CLS XC, WNC Cross-Country Carnival,  UrbanSpoon, Mean Mr. Mustard’s Cafe, Hendersonville, NC,  kith/kin: What a great race … very well-organized and wonderful park –  WNC Cross Country Carnival  at Jackson Park, Hendersonville, NC.  Afterwards, we used Urban Spoon app to find Mean Mr. Mustard’s Cafe in downtown Hendersonville … which was excellent.

‎Midnight in Paris, movies:  John and saw ‎Midnight in Paris on the recommendation of several.  I loved it and he enjoyed it.  He said if he had not read A Paris Wife and recently been there, he would not have enjoyed it nearly as much.  Molly adored seeing the Eiffel Tower lit up at 11 pm. Toward the end they showed the Eiffel Tower lit up and it  just made me smile.

apps, photography apps: Another interesting photo app.  Luminance for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad on the iTunes App Store.

twitter, Daniel Pink, Steve Jobs tribute, Apple:  Daniel Pink finds some really fun stuff. Art of Running – A Tribute to Steve: 21KM Apple Logo « Joseph Tame.

apps, FutureTap, Urban Spoon, travel, food:  We used the similar Urban Spoon, in  Hendersonville NC and found a great restaurant.  First time I have ever really had success with these apps.  Anybody tried this one?

Discover your next destination.

Where To? makes it incredibly easy to locate the closest steakhouse, bank branch, billiard club or anything else you may be looking for, at the drop of a hat! Finally you can find local businesses without any typing, using a slick, intuitive user experience.

via Where To? – Discover your next destination | FutureTap.

Navy SEALs, Hawkeye, man’s best friend, pets, followup, photography, iconic images, followup:  I actually did not post this story, but I loved it and wondered what would happen to Hawkeye (what a great name for a dog!) … now we know.  I think this photo may become an iconic image of the continued war on terror. Hawkeye — not a military dog, but Tumilson’s personal pet — “led the family into the gym” where the funeral was held, as the Des Moines Register reports. And then he lay down.

A poignant picture taken by Tumilson’s cousin, Lisa Pembleton, has gotten lots of attention since then. So too have video reports aired and posted by local TV stations and the news networks.

Our colleagues at KPBS’ Home Post blog in San Diego were among the outlets that helped spread the word about Hawkeye. Today, they write that many readers wanted to know what was going to happen to Hawkeye and wondered if they could adopt him. There’s good news: According to Home Post, “Tumilson’s friend, Scott Nichols, will be Hawkeye’s new master.”

via Navy SEAL’s Loyal Dog Now With Master’s Friend : The Two-Way : NPR.

Gadhafi, Libya Uprising, personality cults, dictators, megalomaniacs:  Unfortunately, those that choose this route can negatively affect international politics for years …

In contrast, Gadhafi showed absolutely no interest in fleeing abroad during the six months that elapsed between the start of the Libyan uprising in February until Tuesday, the day the rebels stormed into his compound in Tripoli.

For months, the rebels encouraged Gadhafi to leave, and it seemed he would have had relatively little trouble finding a new home. Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez was often mentioned as a possible host.

Now Gadhafi is presumed to be in hiding in Libya, and the rebels have put a bounty out on him. If captured, he is likely to be prosecuted at home or abroad.

Personality Cults

Absolute power, it seems, not only corrupts — it can also confuse.

“There’s a healthy dose of megalomania in these guys,” John Norris, a security analyst at the Center for American Progress, says of dictators who refuse to surrender power. “If I had to find one common thread, it’s a profound and fundamental miscalculation that the end is near.”

Dictators who rule unchallenged for decades — like Gadhafi or Saddam Hussein — have the hardest time accepting the fact that it’s time to leave, says Natasha Ezrow, a lecturer in government at the University of Essex and author of two books about dictators.

via A Dictator’s Choice: Cushy Exile Or Go Underground : NPR.

Game of Thrones, bookshelf, tv, HBO: A friend has highly recommended both the Game of Thrones tv show and the book.  Books are ordered from Amazon and will watch the show … Anybody read the books or watching the show?  HBO: Game of Thrones: About.

food – wine, viticulture,  oenology, Stellenbosch, South Africa, apartheid:  This is a great story.  We have been to SA’s wine country and Kwala-Zulu Natal, and the contrast is amazing.  What a wonderful story of post apartheid success.

via Black South African Goes From Never a Sip to Vineyard Fame – NYTimes.com.

UGA, PSAs, REM: Great PSA.  Thanks UGA and REM.

R.E.M., one of Athens, Georgia’s biggest rock exports, has lent their song, “Oh My Heart” from Collapse Into Now to the University of Georgia for a beautiful, new public service message. The University of Georgia reached outside the arches, teaming with an alumni group, to create the in-game public service announcement for the upcoming 2011 football season.

via R.E.M. Lends Song to University of Georgia for New PSA.

UGA_PSA_Skylabb.mov – YouTube.

twitter, college football, LSU, LOL, Pat Forde:


Pat Forde

Even Imelda Marcos is impressed by Jordan Jefferson’s shoe collection. Forty-nine pairs, nearly one for each week of the year.

via Twitter / @espn4d: Even Imelda Marcos is impr ….

college basketball:  I really do like college basketball

…25 consecutive hours of game action highlighted by Champions Classic doubleheader with College GameDay on-site; 17 men’s games; two women’s games for first time; and 11 ESPN telecasts

For the fourth consecutive year, ESPN will celebrate the opening of the college basketball season with a marathon of college basketball coverage across ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3.com. This year’s College Hoops Tip-off Marathon Presented by Disney Parks Tuesday, Nov. 15, beginning at midnight ET, will include 19 live matchups – 17 men’s and two women’s – in a minimum of 25 hours, highlighted by ESPN’s 11 game telecasts and a special one-hour College GameDay Driven by State Farm. ESPN3.com will offer two exclusive games as well as a simulcast of every ESPN and ESPN2 telecast.

The schedule will feature four of the sport’s winningest programs – Duke, Kansas, Kentucky and Michigan State – in the inaugural State Farm Champions Classic doubleheader, 14 teams that played in last year’s men’s NCAA Tournament, including Final Four participant Kentucky; and four women’s NCAA Tournament teams from last year, including defending National Champion Texas A&M.

via ESPN Celebrates Opening of Hoops Season with Fourth Annual College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon | ESPN MediaZone.


‎8.26.2011 … Meeting of CLS Sr. Parents … headmaster says he would like to come back as a CLS Senior … the good life … :)

Tags: Apple, BofA, cancer, Condoleezza Rice, Davidson College, Libyan Uprising, Moammar Gadhafi, Oracle of Omaha, Steph Curry, Steve Jobs, truth - stranger than fiction, Warren Buffet

Libyan Uprising,  Moammar Gadhafi,  Condoleezza Rice: Truth stranger than fiction ... That’s how the State Department is describing a surprising find inside the compound of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi: a photo album filled with page after page of pictures of Condoleezza Rice, the former secretary of state who visited Tripoli in 2008. The pictures were first highlighted here on PhotoBlog and went on to be published around the world.

The album is just the latest addition to a bizarre collection of loot discovered by rebel fighters ransacking Gadhafi’s Bab al-Aziziya compound. Earlier this week, PhotoBlog published images of the Libyan leader’s eccentric fashion accessories and his daughter’s golden mermaid couch.

via PhotoBlog – In the ruins of Gadhafi’s lair, rebels find album filled with photos of his ‘darling’ Condoleezza Rice.

Davidson College, Steph Curry: What a great Davidsonian … 🙂 🙂

Not even 10 seconds into a call with Stephen Curry, we were interrupted. It was his wife on the other line. She was calling to check in with him after his first Wednesday class of the semester.

“It’s going well — we’re still talking,” Curry said of his new marriage to his high school sweetheart, Ayesha.

This is the new Steph Curry: on-hiatus NBA player for the Golden State Warriors, born-again Davidson undergraduate and obeying husband for all of three weeks.

Curry is arguably making more out of the NBA lockout than any other player. And perhaps no other program is benefiting from the pros’ work stoppage like Davidson. That’s because Curry is taking advantage of an opportunity and fulfilling a promise at the same time. Upon leaving early from Davidson to enter the NBA Draft in 2009, he swore to his parents and his coach, Bob McKillop, that he would earn his degree as soon as possible.

“He’s walking the walk,” McKillop said. “Our culture in college athletics is going through a few hits right now, but here’s a great story.”


In that moment he saw his old player back on campus, one with the program and college again. There was the humble NBA player, son of Dell and Sonya, older brother to Seth, munching on a morning sandwich, stopping to give hugs and high fives to the longtime workers who clean the school’s laundry. Like time and marriage and millions hadn’t separated the boy from the college just yet. In most ways, they never did.

Apple, Steve Jobs, cancer: Cancer does not discriminate … I will miss this visionary genius … and his black turtlenecks.

“Steve Jobs is one of the great innovators in the history of modern capitalism,” New York Times columnist Joe Nocera told CNN’s Piers Morgan Wednesday night. “His intuition has been phenomenal over the years.”

But four decades ago, you might have been hard-pressed to spot clues to Jobs’ future success.

He dropped out of Oregon’s Reed College after one semester, although he returned to audit a class in calligraphy. He quit one of his first jobs, designing video games for Atari, to backpack around India and take psychedelic drugs.

Steve Jobs resigns as CEO of Apple Will Apple be OK without Jobs? Tim Cook new Apple CEO Apple’s future without Steve Jobs

But those early experiences, Jobs would say later, shaped his creative vision. The graceful brush strokes of the calligraphy class influenced his elegant Apple aesthetic. His LSD trips as a young man expanded his mind and helped breed Apple’s counterculture, “think different” spirit.

via Steve Jobs: From college dropout to tech visionary – CNN.com.

BofA, Warren Buffet, Oracle of Omaha: I always liked the old man …

B of A rallies 24% on Buffett’s $5 billion stake

Bank of America Corp. BAC +1.31% rallied 24% to $8.67 a share in pre-market trades on Thursday after billionaire Warren Buffett’s investment company Berkshire Hathaway BRK.A +0.98% BRK.B +0.99% said it would invest $5 billion in the financial conglomerate. Berkshire agreed to purchase 50,000 shares of cumulative preferred stock with a liquidation value of $100,000 a share in a private offering. The preferred stock carries an annual dividend yield of 6% and is redeemable by the company at any time at a 5% premium. “I am impressed with the profit-generating abilities of this franchise, and that they are acting aggressively to put their challenges behind them,” Buffett said in a statement.

via B of A rallies 24% on Buffett’s $5 billion stake – MarketWatch.


8.24.2011 … first day of school for my baby … senior year … that was quick …

Tags: 8/23 DC earthquake, 9/11, animal behavior, Apple, Apps, church v. state, DC, food fads, France, history, macaroons, National Zoo, outrage, photography, Steve Jobs, Tim Cook

9/11, church v. state, outrage:

“This is America, and to have a memorial service where there’s no prayer, this appears to be insanity to me,” said Mr. Washington, who has suffered severe medical problems connected to the time he spent at Ground Zero. “I feel like America has lost its way.”

City Hall officials, who are coordinating the ceremony, confirmed that spiritual leaders will not participate this year—just as has been the case during past events marking the anniversary. The mayor has said he wants the upcoming event to strike a similar tone as previous ceremonies.

“There are hundreds of important people that have offered to participate over the last nine years, but the focus remains on the families of the thousands who died on Sept. 11,” said Evelyn Erskine, a mayoral spokeswoman.

But the mayor’s plans this year have drawn increased scrutiny and some disapproval, as the event will attract an international audience and President Barack Obama will attend.

via 9/11 Exclusion Spurs Outrage – WSJ.com.

Apple, Tim Cook, Steve Jobs:  An Alabaman … and a Dookie …

While Steve Jobs’ announcement Wednesday that he was resigning as CEO of Apple may have come as a surprise to some, the company is already being run by the man tapped to replace him, according to most reports.

Tim Cook, the unflappable Alabaman, had been Apple’s chief operating officer since 2007, running its day-to-day operations, a role many expect him to keep as CEO. He has twice taken over CEO duties during Jobs’ recent medical leaves.

While most insiders say Cook is not the “visionary” that Jobs is, nearly everyone credits him as being a kind of business-operations “maestro,” according to a 2008 Fortune magazine profile.

Cook earned an M.B.A. from Duke University, where he was a Fuqua Scholar, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering from Auburn University, according to his official Apple biography. Prior to joining Apple, Cook had served in various executive roles at Compaq, Intelligent Electronics and IBM.

While Jobs and Cook are both known for their relentlessness, they largely operate in opposite ways, The New York Times reports.

Jobs is often described as mercurial and prone to outbursts, while Cook, who was raised in a small town in Alabama, is polite and soft-spoken, The Times reports. Whereas Jobs liked to focus on Apple’s products, Cook has largely delved into the minutiae of its operations.

via Apple’s new CEO, Tim Cook, a business “maestro” – CBS News.

8/23 DC earthquake, animal behavior, National Zoo, DC:

We know how humans first sensed Tuesday’s earthquake. We felt the shake, then the rattle, and then the urge to flee.

But what about the region’s animals?

Did they sense the rare 5.8-magnitude temblor before the shaking started?

We checked in with the folks at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo, one of the most popular attractions in the nation’s capital, to see what they could tell us.

(First things first: The zoo was open for business as usual Wednesday, and zoo officials report that there were no injuries, animal or human, as a result of Tuesday’s seismic event.)

And, according to zoo keepers and other eye witnesses, the animals did, indeed, sense the coming quake before their human compatriots, including Dr. Don Moore, the zoo’s associate director for animal care sciences.

“I didn’t have any pre-quake behavior,” Moore joked Wednesday morning.

But a quick Smithsonian survey indicates that many animals in his care did.

Behavior ranged from jumping into trees and “vocalizing,” to banding together.

via ‘Hearing Something We Can’t Hear’: How Animals Foretold The Earthquake : The Two-Way : NPR.

apps, history, photography: A new one for me to try!

And if you shake it, shake it, shake it, shake it, your phone will bring up some of the best photos from all over the globe.

via Historypin for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad on the iTunes App Store.

food fads, macaroons, France:  We loved the ones in France!  Now to find them in Charlotte, NC …

In the 1970s, it was Jell-O molds. In the 1980s, it was frozen yogurt. And for the past decade? Cupcakes, cupcakes, cupcakes. Trendy desserts have come and gone, and some foodies predict another treat is poised to be this decade’s defining sweet: Bonjour, macaron!

The fad for macaroons, as they tend to be spelled in English, first came to my attention with a post on Amanda McClements’ terrific Washington, D.C., food blog, Metrocurean.

“It seems the little French confections are partout,” she wrote.

I contacted McClements and asked her to be my macaroon muse, my guide to the best macaroons in our city. She took me first to Restaurant Eve in Alexandria, Va., where the macaroons are made by Chef Ed Jiloca, who trained in California. His macaroons are fat with buttercream, and they come in American flavors like peanut butter and jelly, and birthday cake (complete with sprinkles).

More traditional macaroons were on the menu at Adour, the restaurant at Washington, D.C.’s St. Regis Hotel. Macaroons have become so popular there that the hotel sells them in boxes for guests to take home, and chef Fabrice Bendano has started offering macaroon-making classes in the restaurant kitchen. They regularly sell out.

“Macaroons are the new cupcake,” said one young man in a Penn State sweatshirt at a recent class, as Bendano explained how to make rose-flavored white chocolate macaroons. “They’re now the fashionable snack. We’re trying to get ahead of the curve on that.”

via Move Over, Cupcake: Make Way For The Macaroon.





