Salem elk

About 3 weeks ago, a heard of elk made its way onto a neighborhood farm in Salem. This farm is about two blocks from my work so I pass them every day. Daily several people stop on the road and park in a driveway overlooking the farm. It's a beautiful sight seeing several of these animals grazing on land that is usually empty. Seeing animals in their natural habitat is always an experience.

Marcos de Niza reaches state basketball final

My high school alma mater, Marcos de Niza, made it to the state 5A-II Basketball finals by beating top-seed Phoenix North High School. It's only the second time in school history that men's basketball has made it to the final and the only other time they won it. The Padres have been on a monster run in the playoffs after a not-so-great season. They are the first team with a losing record to make it to the state final. Crazy! I know I haven't been in high school for about 8 years but I still get excited about this type of stuff. It's good to see our school excel. Read about the game here and here. Go Padres!

Eduardo Da Silva - Get Better Soon

This past weekend Eduardo Da Silva, striker for the London-based club Arsenal, went down to a horrific injury severely breaking his ankle. The worst injury I've ever seen. To understand the severity of it, read here and here. We hope and pray for the best possible recovery for Da Silva.

The Dodos

I heard this song from the Dodos a couple of weeks ago and loved it. The name of it is Fools. It's catchy experimental. They kind of sound like animal collective but with more approachable vocals. More songs can be found here and here. Their new album Visiter comes out March 18th.

Throw Me the Statue Takeaway Shows in Seattle

Takeaway shows have traveled from the streets of Paris to the ferry's of Seattle. Very cool videos from a new band, Throw Me the Statue.

Throw Me the Statue - My valuable huntikng knife
Uploaded by lablogotheque

Throw Me The Statue - About to walk
Uploaded by lablogotheque

New York

While on Christmas break in Arizona we got this great documentary collection from dad. He had found it at a thrift store and was going to sell it on ebay. He sacrificed it so we could enjoy the history of one of our favorite cities. We've been watching it this week and have learned so much about the history of New York. It's really fascinating. The growth of the most culturally diverse city in the world is tragic and interesting, and in the end helped shape it. We love this collection and are looking forward to a future trip to the Big Apple. Thanks Dad!

Argentines in the Champions League

Yesterday in the Champions League, the best club tournament in Europe, the Argentine stars shined. Carlos Tevez, for Manchester United, saved the Red Devils from defeat with the 1-1 equalizer towards the end of regular time. Leo Messi, the young star for Barcelona, scored two goals in the club's 3-2 win over Celtic, vaulting him to top scorer in the Champions League this year. It's always good to see Argentine players excell in the best leagues in the world. It gives hope for another world cup championship.

Shaq debut tonight versus the Lakers

Here we go. Shaq's time in Phoenix will officially begin tonight against his former team, the Los Angeles Lakers. Not only is this the first game of the Shaq/Suns experiment but it is against his former team and teammate, Kobe Bryant. It's a great story, Shaq vs. Kobe again, Suns/Lakers rivalry. I don't know how much tonight's game will tell about the future of these two clubs but it sure will be entertaining. Click on the picture to see what the "experts" think about this game and the other issues in the NBA.

Fidel Castro steps down

Fidel Castro, today, has stepped down from the presidency and his brother Raul will be taking his place. Read an article here about it. Here's an interesting article about Raul as well. The future of Cuba is uncertain, and even though Raul has the same ideals and some of the same characteristics of his brother, we'll have to wait and see what happens to Cuba, Central and South America, and the world.

Crazy Night

After a few days break, the snow came back to utah county, and with a vengeance. We were on our way to Thanksgiving Point in Lehi from Orem and never made it. The traffic on I-15 halted and traffic was the worst I've seen it. It was almost 2 hours since we left and we then decided to take a surface street and maybe get there. The surface streets were backed up and after about 3 hours we decided to head back. The snow and wind made it difficult. It was very tiring and frustrating. We got home eventually at about 11pm, relieved to get out of the car. It turns out that there were several accidents and part of the freeway was closed for awhile to let snowplows on. Read about the storm here and here and how kids were stuck in school overnight.

Animal Collective Take Away Shows!

#82.1 - ANIMAL COLLECTIVE - Taste
Uploaded by lablogotheque

#82.2 - ANIMAL COLLECTIVE - Another White Singer
Uploaded by lablogotheque

I'm done with my applications!

I finished mailing my last two applications for graduate school yesterday. Now, it's time to wait. I've applied to BYU, Arizona, and ASU although the Y is the obvious choice and the best situation. I'll find out by the middle to end of March.

It's official!

Shaquille O'neal is now a Phoenix Sun. He flew to the valley last night for a physical and the
Suns had a press conference this morning to introduce him as the newest player of the team. Here are some articles about it here, here, and here. A lot of the articles have been negative but I've been able to fine some positive ones. The second link to the article by Scoop Jackson from ESPN is a good positive view of the trade. Here is a negative one.

All I have to say is that the Suns weren't going to win a championship the way they were playing and the way they were composed. The lack of interior defense against the centers of the West's elite was an issue that needed to be addressed. Plus, the inconsistency of Phoenix this year (2 losses to Minnesota and 1 to Miami) may have been in part to some lack of desire, focus, and locker room chemistry.

Let's just hope that Shaq can be a good role player and a good teammate and then the Suns may be enjoying their first ever NBA Championship.

Vampire Weekend Videos

The Vampire Weekend cd came out last tuesday and Beckie bought it for my birthday. What an excellent album. It's fun, smart, and very cool. Here are some videos of the band. The first one is the song A-Punk, Beckie and I's favorite from the album. The video is great. The other videos are live from the Letterman and one from the Bowery Ballroom in NYC.

Shaq - Suns trade?

I heard about this possible trade between the Suns and the Heat last night and was pretty surprised. At first I thought it was a horrible idea but now am looking at it differently. Read about it here and here.

Very Cool Birthday Gift

Among many great gifts was one I thought was quite excellent. The Flamenco Trilogy box set released by criterion includes 3 movies by the Spanish director Carlos Saura. It is part of the eclipse series which is a "selection of lost, forgotten, or overshadowed classics in simple, affordable editions". The movies are "Carmen", "Blood Wedding", and "El Amor Brujo". Read about the box set here. Thank you Vicki!

Crazy Week

This week has been quite a rollercoaster. Applications, a baptism, and snow snow and more snow. Yesterday, Joseph A. was baptized into the church and into the Orem Cherry Hill 5th Ward. The first convert baptism in about 5 years for the ward. Joseph is a young man from Ghana and came into contact with the church while living in Virginia living with his aunt. He literally walked into the stake center only a block away and asked to be a member of the church. 3 weeks later he was baptized. During the week I rushed to try to get a program together and to get the word out because the baptism was not announced in church. What an amazing blessing for him and for all of us. He was confirmed today in church and welcomed by the members of the ward. We're grateful that he is with us.

The snow just hasn't stopped. It's snowed about every other day starting last monday and just left us with about 4-5 more inches during the Super Bowl. We were at a friends house and had a very difficult time getting out of the snow when we left. I thought the car was going to be stuck for awhile. We hope it stops soon. Along with all of this, I've been working a lot with graduate applications. I finished my BYU application on thursday, the day before the deadline. This is really where we want to be for a masters and hope it turns out. I am liking my chances but am trying to cautiously optimistic.

After all of business of the week, I am looking forward to a nice laid-back birthday with Beckie and a not-so-crazy week.

How can people be this horrible?

A few months ago I read an article about a church that was going to protest a funeral of a soldier who passed away in Iraq. I was immediately sickened to my stomach that a group would promote their agenda in this type of atmosphere. Well, they haven't stopped. The Westboro Baptist Church will be picketing President Gordon B. Hinckley's funeral promoting their doctrine of anti-gay, anti-semitism, anti-christian, anti-catholic, anti-mormon, anti-black, anti-america, and pretty much anti-everything. In a way they are anti-God, even though they would deny this. And it's not just being anti or against but it is a deep hate for these people that they claim God expresses as well. I can't believe that people actually think like this. This type of religous fundamentalism is one of the reasons people are denying religion completely here in the United States in the whole world. Read about them here and see for yourself. It's truly scary what people are capable of these days.

Diego Maradona apologizes for "Hand of God" goal

In 1986 Argentina won the World Cup with brilliant play from the greatest player in the history of soccer, Diego Maradona. His infamous "Hand of God" goal in Argentina's game vs. England, which he hit a ball in with his hand but was not seen by the referees has been the disdain of England for over 20 years. This article here tells about Diego's apology to the people of England.

The videos here are of the "Hand of God" and also another goal in that same goal which is the greatest goal ever made.

Poetry Night

Tonight, the Instituto de Estudios Vallejianos is sponsoring an event of poetry and dancing. Like once before, I've volunteered to recite a poem, in Spanish of course. I'm reciting a poem by Chilean poet and former BYU professor, Gonzalo Rojas. I'm not usually one who likes to get in front of groups, but this has become sort of a way to help me overcome this fear of speaking in public. It helps that it is only a couple of minutes and I will have it memorized. Hopefully, things go well tonight.