Sunday, July 31, 2011

Michigan D

Mattison charged with fixing Michigan defense

New Michigan defensive coordinator Greg Mattison knows the numbers.

He knows how much the Michigan defense struggled the past three seasons. But he also told himself before taking the job that he wasn't going to look at a lot of film from 2010.

"The only reason I was looking at film was to see players, not schemes," said Mattison, who was defensive coordinator with the Baltimore Ravens. "It's not my place to judge what happened before. I've always taken that approach. I was hired to do a job, and my job is to get the defense to play up to Michigan standards."

Mattison's ability to do that will determine if Michigan is able to return to the bowl business and perhaps be a dark horse in the Big Ten Legends Division under first-year coach Brady Hoke.

It has been a while since the Wolverines were a serious Big Ten title contender, last winning a share of the crown in 2004. That was under Lloyd Carr, who retired after the 2007 season. Rich Rodriguez took over, and Michigan sank to depths it hadn't experienced since the pre-Bo Schembechler days in the 1960s.

At the root of Rodriguez's problems was a horrible defense, one that ranked last in the Big Ten in total defense (450.8 ypg), scoring defense (35.2 ppg) and pass defense (261.9 ypg) last season.

After Hoke was hired away from San Diego State, he reached out to Mattison to run the defense. The duo has a close relationship that dates to their days on the Michig
an staff as defensive assistants. Mattison was an assistant in Ann Arbor from 1992-96, while Hoke was there from 1995-02.

The rest of the article here.

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Red Pop



FAYGO: "Redpop" Commercial w/ Laurel & Hardy © 1970



FAYGO: "Faygo Remembers" Commercial © 1970



FAYGO: "What Flavors Ya' Got?" Commercial © 1970

Open Hands



To give unselfishly, to love the least of these
Jesus i'm learning how to live with open hands
All of these treasures that i hold will never satisfy my soul
Jesus i lay it at your throne with open hands

And i lift my hands open wide let the whole world see
how you've loved, how you died, how you set me free!
Free at last i surrender all i am with open hands
with open hands

To finally let go of my plans
These earthly kingdoms built of sand
Jesus at your cross i stand with open hands

And i lift my hands open wide let the whole world see
how you've loved, how you died, how you set me free!
Free at last i surrender all i am with open hands
with open hands
You took the nails and you wore the crown
You hung your head, your love poured out
You took my place and you paid the price
So Jesus now i will give my life!!!!!!!!!

And i lift my hands open wide let the whole world see
how you've loved, how you died, how you set me free!
Free at last i surrender all i am with open hands
Jesus i lift my hands open wide let the whole world see
how you've loved, how you died, how you set me free!
Free at last i surrender all i am with open hands with open hands

with open hands
with open hands
with open hands

Park Adventures

This morning Ry and I went for a long bike ride. We did a few errands (going to the post office to drop off some letters and pick up more stamps) and then decided to take some bread and cut-up apples to the park that we saw all the squirrel rats in a couple weeks ago. Ry brought the camera to get some action shots. We also fed the ducks. Ryan reminded me that ducks don't have teeth (who knew), so they couldn't eat the apples, but they loved the bread.








What a GLORIOUS (Ryan's favorite saying, don't ask why - I have NO idea) MORNING!!

Oh yeah, and on the way home we stopped by a piercing place to ask about a nose piercing and Ryan snapped this picture of me and my HUGE muscles :)

Yummy Apples



Ryan was video-ing the squirrel rat eating the apple

Dancin' Squirrelies

Image and video hosting by TinyPic

Ryan made the squirrels dance :)

Season 4 - SOA

I Like Turtles

Web Redemption - I Like Turtles Kid



Daniel and the I Like Turtles Kid head back to the fair dressed as his favorite animal. (04:20)

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Party Box

Yesterday I got a message from my mom ""be on the look out for a package-via mail man :^D"" When I checked the mail there was a postcard in the mailbox, meaning had to go to post office and pick up the package. Since I work the same hours the post office is open, I asked Ryan if he would go there after surfing and before work this morning. He picked up the box and brought home the goodies!

The box included:

Faygo Red Pop

Taco Bell Seasoning and Sauce

Animal Cookies (for Ryan)

Starburst

Skittles

A Dexter novel that my grandma actually found at the hair salon

Copies of the newspaper I was on the FRONT PAGE of when I was 2

A flannel of my grandpas for Ryan

And a Mickey wind spiral from my grandma for the porch


WHAT CAN I SAY?! MY FAMILY LOVES ME! AND KNOWS WHAT MAKES ME SMILE :)

Drive

I think I could watch him for another 2 hours :)

Ryan Goslings Stars In R-Rated ‘Drive’ Thriller Film

‘Drive’ is a definitive departure for romantic comedy/drama poster boy Gosling who not only roars across the screen, but brings the emotional latitude of a taunt thriller. The Red Band trailer for Ryan Gosling’s new film ‘Drive’ was released Thursday via IGN and we must say, it looks like a must see. Director Nicolas Winding Refn (Bronson, The Pusher Trilogy and Valhalla Rising) received much praise at the Cannes Film festival and “Drive” is already being regarded as one of the best films of the year.

The film has many dimensions to it, with Gosling’s character as a stunt driver for movies during the day and a get-away driver for criminals at night. It looks like one part mafia film, two parts fast and a furious driving, sprinkle in a love story and you get the makings of a blockbuster. It co-stars “Wall Street’s” Carey Mulligan and “Sons Of Anarchy’s” Ron Perlman who according to critics deliver charismatic performances.

Watch the trailer below and “Drive” hits theatre’s everywhere September 30th.



Tuesday, July 26, 2011

#12 Ain't Too Shabby

Too bad I'm not really using my ECONOMICS degree the way it was intended :) But still, at least my major is on the list (and the picture of the economist is HOT, hahaha).

The 13 Best-Paying College Majors: PayScale List

You've worked hard in your major, now how will your major pay you back? According to salary data site PayScale, engineers of many different stripes are poised to earn the most money over the course of their careers. At mid-career, the average petroleum engineer earns a whopping $155,000 per year (perhaps more if he or she went to Princeton). Below, check out which other majors pay off over time.

What did you major in? Has it paid off? Or do you wish you had done something else? Weigh in below.


The rest of the article (and list) here.

One Dollar

In 1993, the Red Wings acquired Kris Draper from the Winnipeg Jets for just one dollar.



What's the best dollar you've ever spent?

Comeback Kid

Excited to hear the whole album :)

Monday, July 25, 2011

Draper Retired

BOOOOOOOOOOOO! Kris is my favorite!!

Red Wings' Draper to retire

Longtime Red Wings forward Kris Draper is retiring, according to a source close to the team.

The official announcement will come during a Tuesday morning press conference at Joe Louis Arena.

Draper, 40, spent 17 seasons and won four Stanley Cups with the Red Wings. He also played briefly for the Winnipeg Jets.

Draper played in 1,137 regular-season games with the Red Wings -- No. 5 on the team's all-time list.

Draper, the 62nd pick overall in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft by the Jets, had 161 career regular-season goals and 203 assists. In 222 playoff games, he had 24 goals and 22 assists.

Draper won the Selke Award as the league's best two-way forward after the 2003-04 season, when he had a career-best 24 goals and 16 assists.


The rest of the article here.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Squirrel Rat Kingdom

We found a new squirrel rat kingdom yesterday! We decided to take our beach cruisers out for a trek yesterday and find some newly placed geo caches. One of the caches took us to a park we had been to a number of times before - Buccaneer Beach Park. While we were riding along the sidewalk back to the back of the park, we saw squirrel rats ALL OVER! It seemed like thousands of them! We found the cache and then decided to hang out a little bit. They were so fat compared to the ones we normally try and play with. But they were really friendly. They would come over and try to get whatever was in your hand (even if it was just a leaf). Ry and I decided we would have to go back with some food soon to feed them :)

Home Pipes

Ryan had his first home improvement job this weekend. I mean we did paint the place when we moved in, but he hasn't had to do any real repair since we bought the condo last year.

Earlier this week we realized the the right side of our kitchen sink is not actually connected... This may be hard to explain, but the disposal is on the left hand side. We barely ever use the right and side of the sink. Well, Ryan and I decided to put a 'disposal cleaning tablet' in the left hand side (it is supposed to clean out the drain, get rid of any gross smells, etc). Well, you are supposed to let it tun with water in it for about 2 minutes until the foam turns from blue to white. We did that. Some of the foam backed up and started coming out of the right hand side of the sink (no biggie, it does that occasionally if we have too many bubbles on the left hand side). Well, we ran water down the right hand side for a bit to wash the bubbles away. I went to put the extra 'disposal cleaning tablets' under the sink and noticed that everything was wet. We pulled everything out and came to find out one of the pipes was leaking. Well, Ryan found that it was the pipe from the right hand side of the sink that was supposed to connect to the disposal pipe WAS NEVER REALLY CONNECTED! Like the pipe is a good half inch too short. I don't know if we have just never run water down that side, or never checked underneath (so if it was leaking it was dry by the time we saw it the next time), or what.

Friday we went over to Lowes and got a new pipe and a hack saw. Ryan cut the pipe down to the right size and got it all fixed up. Dad - maybe he is a plumber in the making :)

Oh golly gee - the never ending joys of being a homeowner, huh?!

Best Rivalry



A hype video that I think captures a bit of this rivalry. Segments from the national cable series that ran in 2007.

[PS I would suggest stop watching it around the 5:55 mark]

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Kiva Detroit

Documentary short featuring Kiva Detroit launch!

Two weeks ago, Kiva launched "Kiva Detroit": a non-profit, community coalition to bring more than $500,000 in microloans to small businesses in Detroit.

On the day of the launch, the Kiva team met up with our coalition partners in Detroit to celebrate with the local community. Fortunately, this community celebration was captured on film by Rachel Cook and her Microlending Film Project, which has been documenting microfinance in the United States and around the world.

The Microlending Film Project has shared with us their footage of the event, so that the Kiva community can get a sense for what it was like at the Kiva Detroit launch!


Alkaline Trio

Yesterday was a fun day. After work we met up with Kurt & Cheyenne at the Encinitas train station so that we could carpool down to San Diego for the Alkaline Trio concert. When we got down there we grabbed some dinner at The Field (an Irish pub). One of Kurt's friend's (Adam) met us there too.

[This is a picture of the stain glass upstairs that Ryan had to photo]:



After dinner we went over to The Melting Pot for some drinks and dessert fondue. Adam works as a server there so we got some awesome hook-ups and some delicious stuff! Once we finished with the yumminess we headed over to the House of Blues for the show. We caught a couple of songs by the Smoking Popes. They were super cool - I give them two thumbs up.

[Smoking Popes]:



Then Alkaline Trio was the main event. It was a super fun show. The band was rockin'. I am so glad that they have made it 15 years (this was their like 15 year celebration tour). I thought it was super cool that they played some stuff acoustic (and it rocked the house too).





We definitely had a good time and many laughs. We saw two girls fighting, Kurt almost got in a fight with "Snookie", the Comic Con crowd was already starting to gather for this weekend, there was a stage diver that was too nervous to jump off the stage and then the band was mocking him and couldn't finish the song because they were laughing too much, and I am sure there were many more highlights (on top of the show of course). Today may be rough though. Wednesday night concerts down in SD mean not getting to bed till 1am.... Maybe I am getting to old for this :)

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Retirement

Red Wings' Osgood retires

After 17 NHL seasons, 14 with the Detroit Red Wings, goalie Chris Osgood announced his retirement during a conference call Tuesday.

“It’s taken me a long time to think about this, since two weeks after the season ended,” Osgood said. “There were a number of issues, one being the injury I had. Knowing that I can still play made this difficult.

“I wrestled with it every day, but I’ve decided to retire.”

Osgood will stay with the Red Wings as a coach, working with young goaltenders.

Osgood, 38, was a member of three Stanley Cup teams in Detroit and earned career victory No. 400 last season as a backup to Jimmy Howard. Osgood has 317 victories with the Red Wings, second only to Terry Sawchuk (352).

Osgood also played for the New York Islanders and the St. Louis Blues.

Osgood was a third-round pick (54th overall) by the Red Wings in 1991. He has 401 career victories in 713 regular-season starts, 538 with the Red Wings. He ranks ranks 10th in victories in league history, just two behind former Edmonton Oilers great Grant Fuhr and six behind former Red Wing Glenn Hall.


The rest of the article here.


Monday, July 18, 2011

Mackinac Island

Pure Michigan Mackinac Island TV, "Island Life"

Vinyl Robots

Robots Series Revealed



Disney has been pretty tight-lipped about its newest Disney Store exclusive series called Vinylmation Robots. The series will be released on July 22nd at Disney Store locations and on DisneyStore.com. Robots will consist of twelve 3" figures (retailing for $9.95 each) and three 9" figures (retailing for $39.95 each). VinylNation received an early look at each of the figures, with the exception of the 3" mystery chaser.



3" Love-Bot
Love-Bot is a Robot after your own heart. Proving Robots have feelings too! Designed by Disney Store Artist, Enrique Pita.




Check out the rest of them here!

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Lucas, 2 Weeks Old



The Toledo Zoo

In this clip Lucas can be seen moving about playfully, exploring his environment, and of course keeping up with his mom, Renee. This clip is a short version of a longer segment that is currently displayed on monitors near the elephant exhibit, and also in the Museum of Science.

Friday, July 15, 2011

Streamers

Tonight we went to dinner at Killer Pizza From Mars. On our way out, we saw the Dollar Store next door. I asked Ry if we could go in and see if there were any ribbons that I could use to make streamers for my bike - of course he said YES. We found the perfect ones - sea foam green and pale yellow. They match my bike almost perfectly - and for $2 total they will be AMAZING!

Ry told me to put them in my hair:



Excuse the blur, I was going too fast :)


Ry loves his 8mm app:

Monkeys are CUTE!

Baby silver leaf monkey

A one-week-old silver leaf monkey benefits from a little human care at the San Diego Zoo. The female named "Thai" was born on July 3 to a first-time mother. Unfortunately Thai's mother was not holding the newborn in a way that allowed her to nurse naturally, so animal care staff intervened and are bottle-feeding the baby several times each day.





The small, orange monkey continues to spend time with her family between feedings so that social bonds remain strong.




It doesn't get much cuter than this.