City Slopestyle

Every time a snowstorm hit as a kid, I always had ideas of ways that I could take that fluffy white stuff, use the surroundings of where I lived, and turn it into skiing\sledding playground. I remember one instance specifically where I wanted to create a ski slope out of my neighbors roof. It had a nice long slope, and would end in a nice little jump into my back yard. I rememberr telling myself that when a big snowstorm hit, and my parents where gone, I would make my make shift ski hill. 

Well, I am sad to say, that my "roof slope" never happened. But, the funny thing about this story, is that I don't think I was the only kid in the world that had these kinds of ideas. Whether it was a ski slope, sweet bike jump, or even a narley tree hut, I imagine at least everyone of you reading, had some sort of concoction built up in your mind at one time or another.

I imagine that as a kid, JP Auclair had similar thoughts, except, unlike the rest of us, he got the green light to do just that. He literally turned the city, into his own personal ski slope. Just watch the video, it will all make sense.

This clip is form the movie: ALL.I.CAN...Enjoy!!

Real tree or Fake tree?

It's that time of year again, when we go to the back of our storage rooms, attics, garages to pull out the old plastic Christmas tree. We put it up; decorate it and that is that! But, there are still a select few, who instead of going up into their attic, they go up into their mountains to search out that perfect tree to show off in the middle of tier house.

Now, this is a subject that I am completely torn on. It took everything I had this week to convince myself to go buy a fake tree. To me, there is just something about a real, live aromatic Christmas tree. But, when it comes to convenience nothing beats a fake tree.

Take a second and take the poll at the top of the page and tell me what you think... Real or Fake?

Do you know how to GOOGLE?

So, let me ask you a question. Lets say you have to write a narley paper for school on some crazy subject you've never studied...what do you do? Answer: Google It. Or say you had some extremely yummy pie last week for desert, and you really want the recipe...what do you do? Answer: Google It. And even when you have that weird growth somewhere on your body, do you ask a doctor? No, Just Google it. It sound crazy, but its true! "Google-ing" is quickly becoming something that all of us do on a daily basis for just about everything. So, you would think that we all have a pretty sound understanding of how to use it right? Well I thought so, until I was introduce to this really cool info-graphic explaining how to effectively use Google. It goes through some pretty cool techniques to help us find what we are looking for even quicker. If the link doesnt work, just Google it.

http://mashable.com/2011/11/24/google-search-infographic/

Surprises vs. Football

What's cooler than having a bunch of awesome friends? I'll tell you what, having a bunch of friends at your birthday party! Last Saturday, my wife planned an awesome surprise birthday party for me. I had no idea what was coming. As a matter of fact, all I wanted to do that night, was go watch football.

After a wonderful meal at the Mandarin, we made our way over to her grandparents house (my weekly BYU game destination). As we pulled up, I knew something wasn't quite right. The lights were off and one of my little cousins ran outside, saw the car, and bolted back in as quickly as possible. As we walked in the crowd erupted into "Happy Birthday".Talk about a WOW moment. It was so great to see everyone and some that I was SO surprised to see! It was easily the best surprise birthday party I had ever had. It was incredible my friends would travel up to an hour and a half  just to come tell me happy birthday. I really do have some of the most awesome friends and family a guy could ask for. Not to mention an amazing wife who put the whole thing together.

So, to all my friends that came together to make the most memorable surprise birthday ever, THANKS!! Oh, and who won  the football game? Who cares.

" Think Global, Drink Local"

Mmm... bottled water. It’s delicious right? And not to mention the simplicity of being able to grab a nice pure, chilled bottle out of the fridge, drinking it down, and once your done, just throw it away. This is indeed much easier than having to go to all the work of putting “dirty ” tap water in a glass,cleaning the glass, and repeating the process every time you want more water. Sure, anyone would admit, that bottled water is defiantly convenient for us. But is bottled water really that convenient for our health, our wallet, and our environment? I always thought it was, I would consume bottled water almost on a daily basis.

Then, one night, my wife and I sat down to watch a movie together. We decided to watch a documentary called “Tapped”. Tapped explores the bottled water industry. It examines where they get their water, the cleanliness of it, and the effect that it is having on our environment.

I really don't want to go into too much detail about the movie, because I really want you to watch it. It lasts about 1 hour and 30 minutes, but it really is time well spent. For me personally, I can honestly say, that unless I absolutely have to I will never consume another bottle of water. Many might say, what is the difference between bottled water, and say a Gatorade? I say,can you get Gatorade out of your tap?


All I can say is think about it "Think Global, Drink Local"

Here is the link to where you can watch “Tapped” online FOR FREE!!!

http://www.hulu.com/watch/192680/tapped

FLIGHT OF THE FRENCHIES

Are you scared of heights? I'm not going to lie, I am to a certain extent. I also believe most people are as well. Almost everybody has had the feeling when they are, for one reason or another, high above the ground. All of a sudden something happens, they lose their balance or their concentration, causing them to nearly loose their hold or footing. Only to, at the last moment, regain their composure to avoid tumbling down towards the impending collision with the earth. 

In this moment you realize you have saved yourself. Your body is filled with a rush of adrenaline, fear, and excitement. For me personally this feeling is not one I usually welcome. However, to some this feeling is as addicting as any drug and must be replicated in any way possible. 

I showed you a couple of weeks ago, a man named Jeb Corliss,  who fueled this need by suiting up in a squirrel suit and jumping off cliffs. These guys, the “The Frenchies” take the same route, but mix in slack-lining, and giant outdoor swings along the way. Not only are they out of their minds, but the cinematography and the shots captured in these stunts, are in my opinion, very WOW-able.

MEDIA SLAVE

What effect does media have in our lives? This is a question that I have often asked myself. Some will argue that Media controls everything we do. Others will say, that media has an influence, but does not control who we are. I believe in today's day and age, media has a larger influence on us than any other outside source does. But, how can I honestly say that I know of the effect that media has on my life, and on the life of others? Well, I guess I could sit down, put on my science cap and do some sort of large scale social experiment. But, I'm not a scientist. So, when we were asked to choose one of two options to either A) fast for three consecutive days, from all things media (cell phones, computer, TV, movies, ect.), or journal all of our media use for three days, I realized this was my opportunity to see for myself, how addicted to media I really am.

My adventure started even before I could choose which option I wanted to try. Deep down, I really wanted to try and do a fast for three days. I believe this would more accurately represent how much, I really need media in my life, but there where so many things that I could think of that I really “needed” (a.k.a. “wanted”) to watch, or do that involved media. The sad part about all of this is that I don't even need to write anymore for you to see that I am a media slave.

I found that during these three days, I sent a total of 79 text messages. I spent 7.5 hours watching TV, 2.5 Hours listening to the radio, 2.5 hours watching a Movie, and the most incredible stat is that I spent a whopping 24 hrs and 25 Min on the computer during those three days (Mostly because of work). After adding all of this up, (not counting the text messages sent) I had spent a 34.8 hrs, on some type of media device.

When I got through calculating this number I was astounded. That means that for almost two full days out of the three, that I recorded this information; I was using some type of media device. I was also surprised to see I spent almost a complete day on the computer in a three day period. I wonder what the difference would be if someone my age conducted this same type of experiment 10 years ago. I imagine that they would not believe me when I tell them that in a three day period I spent more time on a computer than I did sleeping during those three days.

In conclusion, this exercise has opened my eyes to the influence that media has on us on a daily basis. If my days are filled with about 11 hrs of media on a daily basis, no wonder why my parents’ generation is so worried about us. I believe that the future does not hold any type of respite from the grasp of social media; in fact, I believe that its hold and influence will just continue to grow and grow. As I said before, I did not even have to gather, record, and analyze this data to realize that I am truly a media slave. And if I am a media slave, that means most likely that you are too.