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.

RHINOS CAN'T FLY.

Have you ever wanted to know what it feels like to fly? I have. Everyone can relate to that child hood conversation with your friends which usually started out with the question, "If you could be any animal in the world, what would you be?" There where always the easy answers of lion, tiger, and for me personally, I would always try to push my opinion, that being a Rhino would be the coolest thing ever.  However, there was always that one kid who would have the right answer. He would say something to the effect of, "I would like to be an eagle so I could fly." No one could ever compete with his answer.


I think everyone at sometime in their life has had that dream where they are soaring above everything without a care in the world. I think it would be safe to say that Jeb Corliss has had that dream a couple of times. Jeb Corliss is a professional base jumper, skydiver, and wing-suit flyer. The things he does on a daily basis certifies the the human need for the feeling of wide open spaces, freedom, and space has fueled us to do anything necessary to get the feeling of flying. In this video Jeb has taken it to a completely different level. This WOW Moment is dedicated to you Jeb for proving to me that flying is way cooler than being a Rhino could ever be.

THE MORMON MAFIA?

Illustration by Brandon Bird

With all the opinion that has been past around in the past week surrounding the comments made by  Rev Robert Jeffress calling the Mormon faith, "a cult". I think it is  applicable to write about something that somewhat applies to the stew that mixes politics and religion.The basis of this post comes from articles that were written for CNBC’s website, and Business Week magazine. Even though the articles have nothing to do with Mitt Romney's political race, I do think that these articles could change the outlook that many have when it comes to  Mormons. I think its safe to say that many have a certain idea of what people think a Mormon is, and who Mormons really are.

One of the ideas portrayed in the articles,  is the tie between young men serving missions, and the adapting those skills into the business world. According to CNBC, in summer of 2010," 31 graduates of Brigham Young University (BYU), a Mormon stronghold, will work at Goldman and Sachs. That is the same number as those from the prestigious Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania." Those familiar with this group of Mormon businessmen jokingly referred to them as the "Mormon Mafia". Many influential people in business,and political sphere (John Huntsman, Mitt Romney, Jet Blue CEO David Neeleman, Jon Huntsman..among others)  can tie many of their successes back to having acquired skills on their LDS missions that would later help them become future political and business leaders. As the article states: “When you’re selling religion door-to-door,” one hedge-fund manager, who is a Mormon, told CNBC, “it makes every other business enterprise easier in comparison.”’

The article published in business week, states: “The Mormon Church is 181 years old, and its adherents compose less than 2 percent of the U.S. population, according to a 2009 American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS). Yet Latter-Day Saints hold, or have held, a seemingly disproportionate number of top jobs at such major corporations as Marriott International (MAR), American Express, American Motors, Dell Computers (DELL), Lufthansa, Fisher-Price (MAT), Life Re, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Madison Square Garden, La Quinta Properties, PricewaterhouseCooper, and Stanley Black & Decker (SWK).”

My hopes are that these articles, have at least in a small way, changed the public opinion as to who the Mormons are. In my opinion, we are a productive, hard working ,group of individuals who believe in God, and are not afraid to say it. With the upcoming political events, the next year will be an exciting time for us “Mormons”, and I can only hope that we will not back down from who we are and what we believe.


And as for us being a "Cult."... Come on, get it right we are a "Mafia"

The links to these articles are below:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/37872991/Mormons_Wield_Influence_in_Business
http://www.businessweek.com/magazin

The WOW within sports.

LES Photo Courtesy of dav.d photography

This weekend, I was a personal witness to an amazing WOW moment. This moment, was within the closing minutes of the game between USU and the BYU. I don't want to spend to much time talking about how the game ended up, and how it got to be that way, because i'm pretty sure that everyone knows exactly what went down, and how it went down. No, today I want to talk about the wow-ness that lies within the emotion of being a spectator of a sport, and a team, that you love. Whether it be Football, Basketball, Bad-mitten or Curling, there is always a turning point in every contest that brings out the emotion of the fan, good or bad.For many, this is defiantly a love-hate relation ship. In this particular instance on Friday, I was on the love side of the relationship. With only about 1 minute, and 30 seconds away from accepting the ensuing defeat to yet another one of our in-state rivals, the shame dissapointment was setting in, the fact that I was witnessing the defeat first hand was even more dis-heartening. But then it happened, The turning point that every fan hopes and prays for as the time is ticking away and their there team is down. The feeling in the stadium turned from disapointment and frustration, to pride and relief. The wishes of many where granted, while on the flip side, many fans hearts where broken as they where hit in the face with a right hook fist full of defeat. Sports are a medium in which the spectrum of emotion can be changed quicker than any other I know. For this reason I love it, but for the same reason, I Hate it . And that's why these types of finishes, good or bad, will always make me say WOW.