I am in mourning...for my NCAA tournament bracket, that is. I went chalk this year and pick all number 1 seeds to make the Final Four. What a stupid I am. All of my bravado from the weeks leading up to the tournament is haunting my dreams. Oh well, at least Michigan represented well. And as the 2nd youngest team in the field, we are poised to be wearing dancing shoes come March for years to come. As a season ticket holder during the years we absolutely sucked, I feel like I deserve some sort of compensation - a free t-shirt perhaps? C'MON MAN!
I've been catching up on my reading this month as well, and my past 2 titles have been exceptional. Fast paced, gripping, and accessible, both Unbroken and The Hunger Games are fun and fascinating reads. I highly recommend them both.
It's Opening Day and already the Tigers are in last place?! Let's go guys!
I've been back at the gym and work for a little over a week now, and it's like I never took that little 2.5 month break. I was a little nervous about being out of shape or out of the loop, but I was pleasantly surprised to find I am neither. I lost a little weight, about 9 lbs, so I am working on putting that back on, mostly via the cookie and donut diet. Yummmm.....
Baby elephants are the coolest.
This looks fascinating. Makes me want to travel to every country on Earth.
This was a definite highlight of our trip - in the weeks leading up to it, we watched all 7 movies (well, some of us dozed off) to get acclimated as to the ins and outs of Harry Potter, Hogwarts, Hogsmeade and everything else to do with this magical fantasy world. Our expectations were high, and I would say they were met: the park is small and I wished they would have tried to recreate more aspects of the books, but what is there is great and very realistic (it even drizzled as we were entering the park - almost thought I was in London for a second.)
A view from the ride, The Forbidden Journey. The best part is at the 39 second mark.
I'm not exactly nonpartisan when it comes to college sports. I can be as biased as they come. And so my fanhood/borderline obsession with all things Michigan Wolverines may be clouding my reaction to the recent discovery that Coach Jim Tressel, of The Ohio State Buckeyes, not only knew his players were selling memorabilia to a shady local tattoo artist, a violation of NCAA policy, but then lied about this knowledge to NCAA investigators. For someone who recently put out a book entitled "Life Promises for Success: Promises From God on Achieving Your Best” and cultivates an image so squeaky clean and distinguished he's nicknamed 'the Senator' to be caught in a lie as serious as this is astounding. And believe me, this is serious, more serious than the noise emanating from Columbus would let on. The self-imposed punishment (2 games suspension, vs. Akron and Toledo, big whoop!, and $250K, sadly pocket change for a $4 million/year earner) is nowhere near stringent enough; in fact, of the 11 coaches since 2006 found to be in violation of the clause in question, basically lying to NCAA investigators, all 11 were subsequently relieved of their coaching duties.
I don't know if Tressel will be canned; this story is far from over. But I do know, and am heartened by, the knowledge that that shady program down south is finally receiving a long-deserved comeuppance for a preponderance of rule-skirting (See: Maurice Clarett, and 375 self-reported minor rule violations since 2000, by far the most in college football.) Of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't acknowledge Michigan's own well-documented, recent rules violations. Anyone who lumps these two instances together in the same breath, however, is mistaken. Having a coaching staff member monitor stretching on an average of 30 extra minutes per week is not the equivalent of a pre-meditated cover up by your head coach of an NCAA violation by your star quarterback. That's not apples to apples - that's watermelons to blueberries.
(Steps off soapbox...)
Also this week was a fabulous documentary telling the story of Michigan's 'Fab Five'. Infamous and entertaining, provocative and scandal-inducing, the most famous recruiting class in college basketball history did more than nearly win two national championships, then have all their records wiped from the history books: they changed the culture, not only of college hoops but of America, and I'd say for the better. And they popularized baggy shorts, so I didn't have to wear short shorts growing up. Thank God.
Check out these before and after photos of the Japan earthquake and subsequent tsunami. Whole cities flattened into a kind of post-apocalyptic rubble - hard to stomach.
A domestic consequence to the impending nuclear fallout is the fate of our own nuclear reactors, and prospective nuclear projects. Increasing nuclear power output is something Obama and the Republicans agree about, but anytime there's a nuclear scare it seems to set back the industry years, if not decades. With the price of foreign oil skyrocketing amidst Middle East turmoil, and climate change a very real danger, nuclear power is an attractive alternative. It will be interesting to see if the political will can be maintained to make it happen. Because if Japan can't make a fail-safe nuclear reactor, what with their technological know-how and acknowledged history dealing with nuclear radiation, who can?
An 8.9 magnitude earthquake rocked Japan this morning, and aftershocks are rumbling the northeast part of the country, near Toyko. The quake is the 5th strongest recorded since 1900. Waves are expected to reach Hawaii and even across the Pacific to Oregon. It's said that the waves in the footage above are traveling near 500 mph. I can imagine nothing scarier.
On Friday night, after spending the day at Animal Kingdom, we went to the Orlando Magic vs. Chicago Bulls game in downtown Orlando. Thanks to a dear friend who will remain anonymous lest he get hit up for tickets 24/7, Mac and I sat courtside. I'm talking, on the actual basketball court.
Here's proof:
And here's the view from our seats. It's a unique experience being so close. For one thing, the court looks very small, and the players very large. It gives you an increased respect for the quickness and agility needed to drive the ball to the rim, because the space available amongst the giants is so miniscule.
Oh, and our seats were directly in front of that of Karl 'The Mailman' Malone, the second leading scorer in NBA history.
Also in the vicinity was LaDanian Tomlinson, of the New York Jets, and NBA legend Dr. J, aka Julius Erving. A thousand thanks to Mackenzie and his awesome camera for the creepy, paparazzi-esque shots.
Yannick Noah, 1983 French Open champion, was there too, to watch his son Joakim for the Bulls. Celebrities come out in droves on a Friday night in Orlando, it appears.
Here's my first report from our trip. Apologies for the shoddy camera work (some serious operator error) and the cheesy narration from our bus driver Bryce, but hey, it's the best I got. Highlights from our day at Animal Kingdom:
- 'Flights of Wonder', the bird show. Featuring the Andean condor and its 7 foot wingspan, and a bald eagle, it was fun to see exotic creatures up close.
- Porcupine!
- The Everest Expedition ride. As you can tell, Mac was by far the most enthusiastic explorer. (That's him in the navy shirt.)
Welcome to my life. I broke my neck at the C-5/6 level in July of 2007 while abroad in Spain. I have since graduated from the University of Michigan and am now engrossed in regaining the ability to walk. Come with me on my journey!
It's Opening Day and already the Tigers are in last place?! Let's go guys! 
