Monday, December 14, 2009

fleet foxes


dont love this rendition of white winter hymnal but a good video nonetheless.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Thursday, 12/10

Here are some interesting things I came across today:

1. This bike made for Lance Armstrong to screw around on.


2.This intense 911 call featuring this quote from a 57 year-old woman: "I don't want to have to kill this man, but I'll kill him graveyard dead, ma'am."

Watch CBS News Videos Online

3. This espn story about Jeremy Lin, a Harvard basketball player who lit up UConn for 30 points in a loss. It contains an embarassing heckle from a UConn student during the game.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Artest...are you kidding me?

As if knocking a fan in the face, the MJ tribute, and "Afghan Women" weren't enough, Ron Artest just admitted to pounding Hennessy at half time in the past. This guy is a basket case.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Grand Canyon: Entry Three

11/22
Quote of the Day: (after seeing a 5 lb. Hershey Bar, our French counterpart, Julie said) "Long live America!"


10:25 AM (Arizona time)
Journal Entry: "The land has more character than we. The rocks and trees take their time to form, grow and ease into education. Their character makes human conflict pointless."

The expanse of land out West is incredible. Even at UConn, which is in the middle of nowhere, the buildings are confining. But out West there is so much land. Valleys and mountains.






2:30 PM We got Grand Canyon National Park and set up camp in Mather Campground on the Canyon's South Rim. By 3:30 we were set up and went to get our first look at the Canyon.


Walking out on this ledge was liberting but frightenting. As I stood there I was yelling for them to take the picture then I ran back to safety.




As you can see by this reaction, it was a jaw-dropping experience. Like me, she was speechless. For a moment I had to turn away as the vast complexities were too much to look at. Seeing Vegas, the Hoover Dam, the mountains and valleys on the drive and this in less than 24 hours was a sensory overload. No pictures do this place justice.

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Grand Canyon: Entry Two

11/21
The first day of my trip was all travel: Storrs to Boston to Vegas. We landed at 8:30 Vegas time and got our first view of the strip as we drove to our hotel, Circus Circus, which is apparently in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. There was some confusion with the location of our rooms and we finally got to them a few hours later. We walked through our hotel, got an idea of the endless casinos, and went to bed.

Sun. 11/22
Woke up at 4:30 AM for our ride to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. It was still dark out and the Vegas lights still on in all their obnoxious glory. 14 of us packed into two mini-vans and embarked on a 6 hour drive from Vegas to the Canyon. At 7:30 we passed over the Hoover Dam and stopped for some brief sightseeing.


700 foot drop. The dam is massive


Me in front of the bridge being built over the dam. Amazing sight.

The drive from the Dam to the South Rim was beautiful, like most everything I saw this week. Mountains spanned the entire drive. The terrain is obviously much different than New England. I'd planned on sleeping the entire drive but I couldnt because everything was new to me.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Grand Canyon: Entry One

This Thanksgiving Break is going to be a bit different than my normal one. Instead of going home tomorrow, I'll be staying at UConn getting ready for my week-long expedition from Connecticut to the Southwestern United States. Instead of eating Thanksgiving dinner over my Nana's house, I'll be in Las Vegas. But the main focus of the trip is the four days of backpacking inside the Grand Canyon.

A friend of mine, Craven, lured me into signing up for the trip and I'm glad he did. We're headed to the Canyon with 10 other students and faculty through the UConn Outdoor Center.

This will be the first of several entries covering my trip (likely one for each day). However, they won't be posted until I get back to civilization as I won't have a computer (or a cell phone for that matter). I'll be taking tons of pictures to document the experience and I'll post some here.



Above are all the items in my pack. I've got the following:
underwear - 2 pair
spandex - 1 pair
socks - 3 pair
shorts - 1 pair
running shorts - 1 pair
t-shirts - 2
long sleeve shirts - 2
fleece
rain coat
hat
winter hat
gloves
water bottle
Camelbak
headlamp
bowl
sunglasses
sunscreen
camera
contacts
moleskine
toothbrush/ paste
IPod
On the Road - Kerouac

This is my full pack:

I may have to do some rearranging as I just realized the fine print on my itinerary: "Only sleeping pad should be outside pack." Wretched. That's going to be tough to fit. Once we get to the Canyon, we'll go shopping and I'll have to fit some food in there too.

Usain Bolt Commercial


Pretty funny Sportscenter commercial with Usain Bolt