Wasn't planning on posting, but had to...
LeBron James is simply unbelievable.
I quit watching the NBA after Jordan left, and LeBron's brought me back into it ... but even in rooting the Cavaliers to victory, I wasn't expecting THIS. I am in awe of what I just watched, and so glad I watched the game.
48 points.
29 of the last 30 points.
25 points in a row.
Across the 4th quarter and two brutal overtimes.
Playing great defense the entire time.
Easily the best player in the NBA right now. And here's the kicker...
HE'S ONLY 22 YEARS OLD.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Sunday, May 27, 2007
After that last post, I of course had to go to YouTube to see if I could pull up the old trailer for the 80's animated movie...obviously, it was there. SICK.
I didn't realize the movie was released in 1986. So I was 6 years old at the time.
The movie absolutely blew my mind. It took the characters I loved and put them through an actually extremely complex story that involved the death of Optimus Prime, the reinvention of Megatron into Galvatron, and the introduction of Unicron.
As a 6-year-old, watching scenes like this and getting introduced to the concepts of revenge and murder, as well as being introduced to the brand-new concept of indiscriminate, reasonless destruction (with Unicron) was pretty scary.
And can you imagine a 6-year-old watching THIS?? I remember this oh so clearly. I would have to imagine this was the most dramatic moment in a movie from my entire childhood, and I'm sure several readers of this would agree.
The creativity in the movie, from the wide-ranging use of the entire Transformers universe (even the Dinobots were in this thing) to the awesome soundtrack (bet you didn't realize Weird Al had a song in this movie...I completely forgot both about that as well as when his song was used in the film) really opened my eyes up to a new world of storytelling.
Also for anyone else who's really appreciating this post, check out Stan Bush's horrifying 80's music video for the Transformers theme, as well as Weird Al's typically genius Dare To Be Stupid video...he was just as lyrically brilliant 20 years ago as he is today with that Ridin' parody. "Put down the chainsaw, and listen to me..." LOL
I'll cut off my fanboyesque gushing over the 80's movie to reiterate:
THIS NEW MOVIE BETTER NOT SUCK.
I didn't realize the movie was released in 1986. So I was 6 years old at the time.
The movie absolutely blew my mind. It took the characters I loved and put them through an actually extremely complex story that involved the death of Optimus Prime, the reinvention of Megatron into Galvatron, and the introduction of Unicron.
As a 6-year-old, watching scenes like this and getting introduced to the concepts of revenge and murder, as well as being introduced to the brand-new concept of indiscriminate, reasonless destruction (with Unicron) was pretty scary.
And can you imagine a 6-year-old watching THIS?? I remember this oh so clearly. I would have to imagine this was the most dramatic moment in a movie from my entire childhood, and I'm sure several readers of this would agree.
The creativity in the movie, from the wide-ranging use of the entire Transformers universe (even the Dinobots were in this thing) to the awesome soundtrack (bet you didn't realize Weird Al had a song in this movie...I completely forgot both about that as well as when his song was used in the film) really opened my eyes up to a new world of storytelling.
Also for anyone else who's really appreciating this post, check out Stan Bush's horrifying 80's music video for the Transformers theme, as well as Weird Al's typically genius Dare To Be Stupid video...he was just as lyrically brilliant 20 years ago as he is today with that Ridin' parody. "Put down the chainsaw, and listen to me..." LOL
I'll cut off my fanboyesque gushing over the 80's movie to reiterate:
THIS NEW MOVIE BETTER NOT SUCK.
I haven't seen a movie in a theater since seeing The Departed back in Beaufort many months ago.
Prior to that movie, I hadn't seen a movie in forever.
But there's a movie coming this summer that will change that.
You know what it is.
TRANSFORMERS.
I saw the trailer for this thing and I think I probably fell over in disbelief. This is going to be INCREDIBLE.
For anyone my age who was in the 5-10 range when the life-changing animated Transformers movie hit the theaters (remember that 80's rock theme song???), or anyone in a wide range both older and younger than me that watched the cartoon series on a regular basis, this movie is highly anticipated.
Note to Michael Bay, the director of this movie that will draw me out of my humble abode and back into the theater for possibly the last time in 2007:
YOU BETTER GET THIS RIGHT.
Prior to that movie, I hadn't seen a movie in forever.
But there's a movie coming this summer that will change that.
You know what it is.
TRANSFORMERS.
I saw the trailer for this thing and I think I probably fell over in disbelief. This is going to be INCREDIBLE.
For anyone my age who was in the 5-10 range when the life-changing animated Transformers movie hit the theaters (remember that 80's rock theme song???), or anyone in a wide range both older and younger than me that watched the cartoon series on a regular basis, this movie is highly anticipated.
Note to Michael Bay, the director of this movie that will draw me out of my humble abode and back into the theater for possibly the last time in 2007:
YOU BETTER GET THIS RIGHT.
Saturday, May 26, 2007
I'm somewhat of a latecomer to eBay and buying stuff online, as I really only started paying attention to eBay and using it last year. (Which my wife would probably say is a good thing...)
As anyone who uses eBay knows, sometimes you run across items that just sort of leave you there speechless. Sometimes it's a "good" speechless, sometimes it's bad.
Today, I ran across one of those GOOD ones.
Dinner with Tennessee Titans Coach Jeff Fisher at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse on July 24
As I write this, no one has bid on this yet, but I would anticipate the auction to reach between $2,500 and $3,000. So, for four people to attend, divide the potential total by 4 and you've got roughly between $600 and $750 per person to attend dinner and the fundraising event. (The event by itself costs $300, for reference.)
Jeff Fisher is, without a doubt, my favorite football coach at any level and one of my favorite sports figures in any pro sport. I think he represents the city of Nashville with class and dignity, I think he's a brilliant tactician on the football field, I think he does a superb job with player development and in handling the day-to-day operations of the Titans, and his discipline with the media throughout his coaching career is almost too good to be true. He never says the wrong thing, he never ends up posterized in a news headline for saying something brash - he has been a great leader for the Titans for years.
My Seattle Mariners, in stark contrast, are led by a guy named Mike Hargrove who does none of these things well. He mismanages the roster, abuses relievers, constructs inefficient, bizarre lineups and ends up costing Seattle probably 2-3 games over the course of a 162-game season. So the coaches of my favorite teams definitely aren't sacred, by any stretch.
Getting back to the eBay auction - that's clearly a large sum of money for one night out. But it got me thinking: is there anyone else on the face of the Earth, alive right now, that I'd pay that kind of money to eat with? (That I don't see on a regular basis?)
Yes. Off the top of my head, in order of hastily-calculated relative priority:
1) Jeff Fisher
2) Patrick Stewart
3) Bill Gates
4) Steve Jobs
5) Bono
6) Donald Trump
7) LeBron James
8) Vince Young (who also has a dinner opportunity in Nashville in July on eBay)
9) Jack Welch
10) Harrison Ford
As anyone who uses eBay knows, sometimes you run across items that just sort of leave you there speechless. Sometimes it's a "good" speechless, sometimes it's bad.
Today, I ran across one of those GOOD ones.
Dinner with Tennessee Titans Coach Jeff Fisher at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse on July 24
As I write this, no one has bid on this yet, but I would anticipate the auction to reach between $2,500 and $3,000. So, for four people to attend, divide the potential total by 4 and you've got roughly between $600 and $750 per person to attend dinner and the fundraising event. (The event by itself costs $300, for reference.)
Jeff Fisher is, without a doubt, my favorite football coach at any level and one of my favorite sports figures in any pro sport. I think he represents the city of Nashville with class and dignity, I think he's a brilliant tactician on the football field, I think he does a superb job with player development and in handling the day-to-day operations of the Titans, and his discipline with the media throughout his coaching career is almost too good to be true. He never says the wrong thing, he never ends up posterized in a news headline for saying something brash - he has been a great leader for the Titans for years.
My Seattle Mariners, in stark contrast, are led by a guy named Mike Hargrove who does none of these things well. He mismanages the roster, abuses relievers, constructs inefficient, bizarre lineups and ends up costing Seattle probably 2-3 games over the course of a 162-game season. So the coaches of my favorite teams definitely aren't sacred, by any stretch.
Getting back to the eBay auction - that's clearly a large sum of money for one night out. But it got me thinking: is there anyone else on the face of the Earth, alive right now, that I'd pay that kind of money to eat with? (That I don't see on a regular basis?)
Yes. Off the top of my head, in order of hastily-calculated relative priority:
1) Jeff Fisher
2) Patrick Stewart
3) Bill Gates
4) Steve Jobs
5) Bono
6) Donald Trump
7) LeBron James
8) Vince Young (who also has a dinner opportunity in Nashville in July on eBay)
9) Jack Welch
10) Harrison Ford
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
If I could snap my fingers and have any musical act in front of me, here in this room to perform an intimate set of their songs of my choice for as long as I wanted, my first choice would be U2. Easily. Strongest rock band in my lifetime.
There's a tie for second, though, which is why I felt compelled to post. Prince and Imogen Heap are two of the most unbelievably creative individuals in the music world right now. They create entire worlds with 3 minutes of composition. I would happily do any number of horrific things if it meant I could sit one-on-one with either of these musicians and watch them perform for a couple of hours.
Prince begins a fairly long residency out in a smallish venue in Los Angeles this summer, playing each Friday night for six or seven weeks in a row. He's starting these shows at 11:30 PM local time, playing a couple hours in front of 250 or so people, and then turning the venue into his own eating establishment by opening it up to his own private chef until 4 in the morning. I am definitely watching to see if prices for that aren't too ridiculous to attend. That would be a once in a lifetime event.
Imogen Heap, on the other hand, is one of the most innovative female artists out there, period. I *highly* encourage anyone reading this to head over to her MySpace page (www.myspace.com/imogenheap) and give the live version of "Just For Now" a listen. That's just her sitting there with a computer, and it is a killer performance. Then listen to "Come Here Boy," a song I actually forgot completely about that she wrote for her first solo album, and is a total masterpiece.
We're lucky to have musicians like both of these people who are tied for #2 in my own personal wish list. Sometimes you have to just sit back and recognize incredible, awe-inspiring talent.
There's a tie for second, though, which is why I felt compelled to post. Prince and Imogen Heap are two of the most unbelievably creative individuals in the music world right now. They create entire worlds with 3 minutes of composition. I would happily do any number of horrific things if it meant I could sit one-on-one with either of these musicians and watch them perform for a couple of hours.
Prince begins a fairly long residency out in a smallish venue in Los Angeles this summer, playing each Friday night for six or seven weeks in a row. He's starting these shows at 11:30 PM local time, playing a couple hours in front of 250 or so people, and then turning the venue into his own eating establishment by opening it up to his own private chef until 4 in the morning. I am definitely watching to see if prices for that aren't too ridiculous to attend. That would be a once in a lifetime event.
Imogen Heap, on the other hand, is one of the most innovative female artists out there, period. I *highly* encourage anyone reading this to head over to her MySpace page (www.myspace.com/imogenheap) and give the live version of "Just For Now" a listen. That's just her sitting there with a computer, and it is a killer performance. Then listen to "Come Here Boy," a song I actually forgot completely about that she wrote for her first solo album, and is a total masterpiece.
We're lucky to have musicians like both of these people who are tied for #2 in my own personal wish list. Sometimes you have to just sit back and recognize incredible, awe-inspiring talent.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
This is my 150th blog post...still waiting on Blogger (or Google now) to come and pull the plug...
Headed to Birmingham within the hour to meet with Dave, John, and Steven on the iTest and talk over what will be happening over the rest of the year. On Monday, Steven and I will meet with the Protective Life Foundation regarding our funding proposal to them, and then I'll scramble back to Nashville to see the 24 finale.
June marks the beginning of the new fiscal year for the iTest and an obvious time to take inventory of how far we've come this year. The iTest website, the rapid acceptance of the Tournament of Champions, the successful deal with the Southern Company to sponsor the 2007 iTest...all of these things have been instrumental in us taking a big next step over the past year.
The next 12 months will involve continued capital inflow and the launch of "the next big thing," the iTest CS. Our annual computer science competition will diversify our organization (moving us beyond just mathematics) and will allow us to have some interplay between our math events and our new computer science event.
We'll also be evaluating how best to implement a new revenue stream in matching up students with willing employers for internships and jobs. We've got the right brand positioning to find students with both great academic qualifications and actual social skills and match them with employers looking to win the global war for talent. This will be a critical new piece of the cashflow that will turn us into a full-fledged, sustainable business.
Figuring out who does what for the iTest over the next 12 months starts tonight at this meeting. Time to hit the road.
Headed to Birmingham within the hour to meet with Dave, John, and Steven on the iTest and talk over what will be happening over the rest of the year. On Monday, Steven and I will meet with the Protective Life Foundation regarding our funding proposal to them, and then I'll scramble back to Nashville to see the 24 finale.
June marks the beginning of the new fiscal year for the iTest and an obvious time to take inventory of how far we've come this year. The iTest website, the rapid acceptance of the Tournament of Champions, the successful deal with the Southern Company to sponsor the 2007 iTest...all of these things have been instrumental in us taking a big next step over the past year.
The next 12 months will involve continued capital inflow and the launch of "the next big thing," the iTest CS. Our annual computer science competition will diversify our organization (moving us beyond just mathematics) and will allow us to have some interplay between our math events and our new computer science event.
We'll also be evaluating how best to implement a new revenue stream in matching up students with willing employers for internships and jobs. We've got the right brand positioning to find students with both great academic qualifications and actual social skills and match them with employers looking to win the global war for talent. This will be a critical new piece of the cashflow that will turn us into a full-fledged, sustainable business.
Figuring out who does what for the iTest over the next 12 months starts tonight at this meeting. Time to hit the road.
