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adventures / Auburn / photo / Thursday — Comments Off
22
Dec 11

The Christmas card picture

It has come to our attention — mostly because one of my grandmothers brought it up today — that there might be some confusion about the Christmas card. So, if you received this lovely image on thick stock of our happy and charming faces, please allow me to explain.

To my family: this is not someone in The Yankee’s family.

To The Yankee’s family: these are not people from my family.

At a football game late in the year we saw Aubie Claus here taking pictures with kids.

He and Mrs. Aubie Claus let us take a picture, too. File this under one of those unique little college town experiences.

So War Eagle, and Merry Christmas, from Auburn.

adventures / photo / weekend — Comments Off
17
Dec 11

Catching up

The rare — as in it has never happened before — Saturday edition of the Catching up post.

Why? You might have noticed if you’ve been around this week that I’ve been a little under the weather. Not to worry, I’ve dutifully hosed the router with Lysol. Also, these are photos I’ve been hanging onto since last weekend. So they need to be shared before they disappear like some bad Back to the Future plot device. Also, tomorrow, where the Catching up post would regularly go, is already done.

We drove into the capital after the Army-Navy game last weekend. I’ve only been once and The Yankee has never been. We could see the Monument from the stadium. We were 12 miles away. It would be a shame not to see a little bit more.

So here are those pictures. First, a panorama of the Washington Monument and the Jefferson Memorial. This one might well be worth clicking to embiggen:

A side view of the Jefferson Memorial, which I did not get to see in my only other visit to D.C.:

Front of the Jefferson Memorial, as seen from the Potomac:

With the moon:

The Washington Monument, with the capitol building in the background:

The Lincoln Memorial. Also something I did not get to see in my first visit:

The great man:

One side of the new World War II Memorial. Each one of those columns represents a state and territory and the sacrifices made by the sons and daughters of that state. Alabama’s marker is over to the left in this picture:

The top of the Washington Monument, still closed after the recent earthquake, and the flag flying over the World War II Memorial:

Two pictures from this trip have also worked their way into the banners along the top and bottom of the blog, as well. As always, click refresh!

adventures / football / video / weekend — 1 Comment
10
Dec 11

The Army-Navy game

Attending this game was a birthday gift from my lovely bride. This video features two cheers from the cadets and the mids on the field during their march on. It also includes includes one of the finest, and sadly least utilized traditions in college sport, the singing of both alma maters.

And it was a historical day.

This was the first time the classic game had been played inside the Washington D.C. beltway. It was also only the second time that both the president and vice president attended. Navy extended their series-long win streak over Army to 10 games. The Middies chanted “Ten more years!”

Mike Lopresti, writing in USA Today’s special section on the game:

(H)ere come Army and Navy. In a restless sport of frequent doubt and tumultuous questions, they have more answers than anyone. They know what they want to do, they know why they’re there. And they know what’s ahead.

“Everybody on that field has chosen a very unique path in their young lives,” Army coach Rich Ellerson said last week at a news conference.

They will play Saturday with nothing on the line but pride and honor and a sense of achievement, and that will be quite enough. For these Cadets and Midshipmen, each and every day, that is enough.

[…]

It matters because how many other college football Saturday afternoons go untouched by money or excess or misplaced perspective?

It matters because, in an ego-driven sports world, the television screen is seldom so filled with men who understand selflessness.

Attending this game is a great experience. Go if you can.

adventures / Friday / iPhone / photo / video — Comments Off
9
Dec 11

Baltimore

We are in Baltimore. Or one of the suburbs. It is hard to keep all of this straight.

We visited the National Aquarium in the inner harbor this evening. Here’s some video I shot of some of their big attractions:

And a few pictures. Fair warning: there is a photo of a snake a little further down the page.

I sat next to the gentleman on the right on the plane ride up. He’s a graduate of the naval academy. We’ve read the same books. He told me of a time when he was stationed in Panama and reading the top secret dossiers on Manuel Noriega and Fidel Castro. It was amazing, he said, how much information that had been collected over the years.

The guy he’s talking to here, on the airport shuttle, is a graduate of West Point. He ran track at the military academy. They compared class rings and duty stations.

Frog! (Remember, there’s a snake coming up, right after this.)

This is a tree boa. They are non-venomous and can grow up to six feet in length.

Megalodon!

adventures / journalism / Samford / Tuesday / video — Comments Off
6
Dec 11

Leaving … what prints?

The Yankee came to campus today. I’d planned to give an extra credit quiz in my writing and editing class and she asked if she could do it. I’ve been telling my students how strict a teacher she was and today introduced them to Dr. Smith.

She picked out a bunch of spelling words from their list. The first three were easy, “See, I’m not so bad” and then she started giving them much more challenging words.

At the end of it all they decided they liked her quizzes more than mine.

That’s only because they know who’s grading them.

Speaking of the JMC department, check out the new promotional video:

I didn’t have anything to do with making that — the office of communication created that — so I can safely brag about it. Looks slick.

We visited Surin West for Thai tonight, which we haven’t been able to do in quite some time. It was a cold night and a big helping of chicken noodle bowl would have been wonderful, but that is only a lunch item. They will not make it in the evening for some reason. I’m guessing it has something to do with how they have to age the sprouts.

So I found a new dish: the pad woon sen. Sometimes you just have to grin, cringe and go with what the helpful waiter suggests. He did not disappoint tonight.

Tonight, the students are working on their last paper of the semester. I am grading. Always, always grading. Started this morning grading press releases. I’ll end the day grading broadcast scripts.

At least the stacks of papers are growing more manageable.

Just for fun, ABC 33/40’s Brenda Ladun, who is all kinds of awesome, struggled through this little story the other night:

Live television is tough, no buts about it.