Peter Corroon really chaps my hide

Can I just say, I hate Peter Corroon more than any other politician in the world right now? That would include Kim Jong "mentally" Ill and that idiot in Iran. Here's a post about it from KSL's site:

"[Stadiums] are a revenue source for the community that surrounds them. The E-Center is used for events other than hockey and it brings a good amount of money into West Valley. That's why West Valley supports it. Art centers and planetariums encourage learning, learning encourages invention, invention encourages business, business encourages tax revenue. Everything is about economics. Why did you get married? Love? I don't think so. Because two people working is more economical than one and there's a tax break for married couples. Why are we fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan? Because we were attacked by terrorists on 9-11-01? Yes. And how did that effect us financially as a nation? It was one of the worst times in our economic history since the 1930s. By controlling the regions where the terrorists come out of, we also control their ability to attack us and affect our economy.

People here seem to think that soccer wont bring in money because soccer has never been popular or because they don't like it. Soccer is growing and will continue to grow. David Beckham is more well known than Michael Jordan and he now plays in our 2nd largest city, Los Angeles. Ronaldo, who plays for Real Madrid and Brazil's national team has expressed interest in playing in New York for the Red Bulls. Did Michael Jordan sell tickets for the NBA and close TV deals and make advertising revenue? HELL YEAH! Will Beckham and Ronaldo do the same? Again, HELL YEAH!

One of my art teachers at UVSC, Perry Stewart said there are two ways of looking at something, you can either look directly at the object, or look past the object. It's when you learn to look past the object that your best art comes out. I think this analogy applies here, because people are focusing on what soccer has been, not what it will become. Look through the raindrops on your windshield and you will see the road ahead. Look past the money that is being used to fund the infrastructure and see the revenue that soccer Super-Stars and the world economy will bring to Utah.

Of course that's my opinion, I could be wrong."

South Pass and William Henry Ashley

I'm reading a book about the early exploration of the American West, before and after the Louisiana purchase. One of the most significant finds by explorers was South Pass, a pass that allowed relatively easy passage over the Rocky Mountains and the Continental Divide. I don't live too far away from South Pass but was never aware of its existence or importance until reading about it.

In 1822 Ashley and business partner Andrew Henry -- a bullet maker whom he met through his gunpowder business -- posted famous advertisements in St. Louis newspapers seeking one hundred "enterprising young men . . . to ascend the river Missouri to its source, there to be employed for one, two, or three years." The men who responded to this call became known as "Ashley's Hundred." Between 1822 and 1825, Ashley and Henry's Rocky Mountain Fur Company, did several large scale fur trapping expeditions in the mountain west. Ashley's men are officially credited with the American discovery of South Pass in the winter of 1824. Ashley devised the rendezvous system in which trappers, Indians and traders would meet annually in a predetermined location to exchange furs, goods and money. His innovations in the fur trade earned Ashley a great deal of money and recognition, and helped open the western part of the continent to American expansion. In 1828 he explored present-day northern Colorado, ascending the South Platte River to the base of the Front Range, then ascending the Cache la Poudre River to the Laramie Plains and onward to the Green River.

This One Is For Troy!

Troy says that every time he sees this he thinks of me. Personally, I'd like to know what you're implying Troy. Huh? Howz bout it? Anyway, here it is, a clip from Bedazzled where he wishes to be a world class basketball player, a player that moves and jumps like Jordan, that shoots like Hornacek and is as tall as Bradley. He doesn't count on the Devil having a sense of humor. He is lacking in one thing, well at least one thing. Enjoy.

You can't beat a band like this - George Harrison, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, and Jeff Lynne. Great song!

The revenge of Billy Ray Cyrus

Don't tell my heart, my achy breaky heart, I just don't think he'll understand, and if you tell my heart, my achy breaky heart he might just release his daughter to take revenge on the world!

Am I the only one that thinks Hannah Montana's (Miley Cyrus) music is just as crappy as her dad's awful one hit wonder?

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

The return of Hanson

Can you say Mmm Bop? I knew you could.

If you're a fan of Nickelodeon, and who isn't? then you have seen the promos and ads for "The Naked Brothers Band". I think they sound like Hanson and smell like Christina Aguilera (whatever that means).

So, we see, what goes around comes around; "The Naked Brothers Band" Hanson for Generation Y (or whatever you call this generation of kids.) I already feel more stupid for posting this.

The Purina Diet

I was in Wal-Mart buying a large bag of Purina dog chow and was in line to check out. A woman behind me asked if I had a dog........ duh!
I was feeling a bit crabby , so on impulse, I told her no, I was
starting The Purina Diet again although I probably shouldn't because I ended up in the hospital last time, but that I'd lost 50 pounds before I awakened in an
intensive care unit with tubes coming out of most of myorifices and IV's in both arms.
Her eyes about bugged out of her head. I went on and on with the bogus diet story and she was totally buying it. I told her that it was an easy, inexpensive diet and that the way it works is to load your pockets or purse with Purina nuggets and simply eat one or two every time you feel hungry.
The package said the food is nutritionally complete so I was going to try it again.
I have to mention here that practically everyone in the line was by now enthralled with my story, particularly a tall guy standing just behind her.
Horrified, she asked if something in the dog food had poisoned me and was that why I ended up in the hospital.
I said no.....I'd been sitting in the street licking my butt when a
car hit me.

I thought the tall guy was going to have to be carried out the
door.

And now a word from our sponsor!

Thirst Rockers is a proud sponsor of the Feeble Attempts at Humor blog since 1643. Thirst Rockers, when you don't want to quench your thirst, you want to rock it.

Thirst Rockers is not a sponsor of Real Salt Lake and their name will not appear on the front of their jerseys. Thirst Rockers is also not a sponsor of NASCAR. Thirst Rockers has been found to cause priapism in laboratory rats and irregular coloring of bowel movements in bovines. Drink responsibly.

Dog wisdom

Dog wisdom

There is more truth than poetry in some of the sayings


The reason a dog has so many friends is that he wags his tail instead of his tongue.
-Anonymous

Don't accept your dog's admiration as conclusive evidence that you are wonderful.
-Ann Landers

If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went
-Will Rogers


There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face.
-Ben Williams


A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself.
-Josh Billings

The average dog is a nicer person than the average person.
-Andy Rooney

We give dogs time we can spare, space we can spare and love we can spare.
And in return, dogs give us their all. It's the best deal man has ever made.
-M. Acklam


Dogs love their friends and bite their enemies, quite unlike people,
who are incapable of pure love and always have to mix love and hate.
-Sigmund Freud

I wonder if other dogs think poodles are members of a weird religious cult.
-Rita Rudner

A dog teaches a boy fidelity, perseverance, and to turn around three times before lying down.
-Robert Benchley

Anybody who doesn't know what soap tastes like never washed a dog.
-Franklin P. Jones

If I have any beliefs about immortality, it is that certain dogs I have known will go to heaven, and very, very few persons.
-James Thurber

If your dog is fat, you aren't getting enough exercise
-Unknown

My dog is worried about the economy because Alpo is up to $3.00 a can. That's almost $21.00 in dog money!
-Joe Weinstein

Ever consider what our dogs must think of us? I mean, here we come from a grocery with the most amazing haul, chicken, pork, half a cow. They must think we're the greatest hunters on earth!
-Anne Tyler

Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea.
-Robert A. Heinlein

If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you; that is the principal difference between a dog and a man.
-Mark Twain

You can say any foolish thing to a dog, and the dog will give you a look that says,
'Wow, you're right! I never would've thought of that!'
- Dave Barry

Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.
-Roger Caras

If you think dogs can't count, try putting three dog biscuits in your pocket and then give him only two of them.
-Phil Pastoret

FarCry Screen Shots

FarCry is a first-person shooter by Ubisoft. It's been out for a few years but has some pretty sweet graphics. I was about to finish it and ended up formatting my computer. I guess I should have backed up my game files. Here are some screen shots, again at different video levels. The later shots should be better quality:

Battlefield 2 Screen Shots

I was experimenting with my video settings (these photos are out of order by the way) and was able to get some really good quality. I have an NVidia GeForce 6800 Go for an Alienware Area 51 model 7700 laptop. Alienware hasn't updated their OEM NVidia drivers for two years and it's impossible to update them from NVidia's site because they're OEM drivers. But I found a workaround that seems to have done the trick. You'll notice that the first screen shots have better quality than the later ones.

Larry H. Miller disses Andre Kirelenko

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/basketball/nba/01/19/kirilenko.jazz.ap/index.html?eref=si_topstories

Michael Hutchense interviewed by John Stewart

Here's one of M.H.'s final interviews, just a few months before his death:

INXS - I Send A Message

I remember plugging my Walkman up to the P.A. system at my high school's seminary building and blasting this song. The amazing this is that I didn't get my tape or Walkman confiscated. This is a nice dance number.

Craig Ferguson on David Beckham coming to L.A.

I think he's got the soccer player voice down perfect. I've talked to both Clint Mathis and Jason Kreis and they sound just like Beckham, but without the English accent of course. Eddie Pope's the only one that's got a real man's voice.

INXS - Burn for You

My all time favorite INXS song. I saw them perform this song live at the BYU Marriott Center back in February of 1985. R.I.P. Mike.

INXS - Tight

Here's one of INXS' lesser known ditties, Tight. A funky little number that kind of reminds me of some of Prince's earlier work. It looks like this was put together after Hutchense's untimely demise. I can tell that the video is cut out of other INXS videos and concerts:

What are you doing in England?

The value of cover

The Late, Great Chris Farley

WHAT THE FREAK!!!!????

A South Park Tribute to Monty Python

All the Spanish I need to know I learned from Dora and Diego

Todo el español que necesito saber, aprendí de mirar la televisión por los niños; específicamente, "Dora El Explorador" y "Va Diego, Va". Ahora yo me siento suficiente seguro que puedo viajar a España y me hago entendido por el pueblo local. Uno no debe quitar importancia el valor de programas de televisión por los niños que enseñan el idioma extranjero.

Commodore 64 Text Adventures

Back in the early 80s I got a Commodore 64 for Christmas and I got a text-based adventure called Voodoo Castle. Thanks to the miracle of the Internet I can now play Voodoo Castle online, which is pretty cool because I never figured it out when I was a kid.

Play Voodoo Castle Here

Fractal Art

I discovered a freeware program called Apophysis that can be downloaded at apophysis.org
To read more about fractals, see Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fractal
Here are some fractals I created tonight. You can click on the thumbnail for a larger image. Feel free to use these as wallpaper if you like.

Red-letter day

Red-letter day

What Beckham's arrival will mean for MLS, U.S. soccer

Posted: Thursday January 11, 2007 11:18AM; Updated: Thursday January 11, 2007 6:23PM

	The first of many? David Beckham may not be the only star coming to MLS. AP

Mark it down: Jan. 11, 2007 will forever be known as the day that Major League Soccer truly arrived on the world stage.

David Beckham, the world's most recognizable soccer star, is leaving Real Madrid to join MLS' Los Angeles Galaxy in August on a five-year contract. And he's doing it the age of 31, it should be noted, not at, say, 35, when the world would simply scoff at a washed-up European star coming Stateside for a vacation and an easy paycheck.

Beckham's signing isn't necessarily a surprise. I wrote back in October that a team in MLS -- most likely the Galaxy -- needed to make it happen sooner rather than later. Here's what Beckham's arrival means:

• MLS just got noticed in the domestic and international realm. Beckham's signing isn't exactly the same thing as the Cosmos's signing of Pelé in the 1970s, but it's awfully close to it. Pelé was the greatest player the game had ever seen, while Becks has never been considered the planet's best player. But Beckham is a much better player than some of his critics are willing to admit -- while he has lost a bit of pace, he was still effective at last year's World Cup and remains one of the world's best free kick-takers. And let's be honest: the marketing opportunities here are enormous. Expect to see Galaxy jerseys with Beckham's name in every corner of the world.

• From a domestic perspective, landing Beckham gives MLS a credibility that it has never had with the American sports fan, who demands to see the world's biggest stars in the sports it cares about. Beckham is a great match for L.A., where Galaxy games will become A-list events with the celebrity sightings you usually associate with Lakers games.

• Beckham may not be the only star coming to MLS. Now that Beckham has decided to make the move, his stamp of approval for the league will make it much easier for other international stars to come on board. MLS's newly installed designated-player rule -- the so-called Beckham rule -- allows each team to pay an unlimited salary to one player. DP slots are tradeable, and the New York Red Bulls now have two of them. In other words, look for Bruce Arena's Red Bulls (and perhaps a few others) to create some major buzz of their own with a big-name signing or two: Ronaldo, the all-time leading goal scorer in World Cup history and Beckham's current teammate at Real Madrid, has long been rumored as a target.

• Will Beckham's signing make the soccer that much better around the league? Not on its own. He's only one player, after all, and MLS needs to continue making strides when it comes to youth development. But from a soccer perspective Beckham will be a useful player in the midfield of the Galaxy, which frankly needs the help after missing the playoffs for the first time in league history last season. The image of Beckham sending crosses onto the head of Landon Donovan for goals is the sort of thing that will be replayed on televisions around the world.

• Are there any possible downsides to bringing Beckham on board? Sure. Overspending on international stars is what eventually doomed the old NASL, and there's no going back for MLS after this move. At the same time, though, there appear to be more rules in place -- not least the league's single-entity structure -- which should prevent wild bidding wars between teams. As for other risks, is it possible that Becks could be a bust on the field here? I guess, but it's not likely. The league has a long ways to go, but it's still good enough that he won't be able to coast here. Besides, I also think that Beckham's pride will keep him from loafing. If I know him well enough, I think he'll try to show people in Madrid and in England that he's still worth something on the field.

Whatever happens, today is a red-letter day for soccer in America, for MLS and specifically for the Los Angeles Galaxy.

Find this article at: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/grant_wahl/01/11/beckham/index.html?eref=si_topstories

Legal Guide for Bloggers

Want to start a blog? Better read this first:

The Legal Guide for Bloggers

I wonder how many blogging faux pas I've committed.

David Beckham expected to sign with U.S. Major League Soccer

This is a HUGE deal!
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=2786923

It's official, he's going to play for the L.A. Laxatives, er, Galaxy

http://cbs.sportsline.com/soccer/story/9923369/rss

The Red Carpet is no longer safe

Punk´d Red Carpet Fun Watch Video Clip

A Riddle with 22 Legs

My kid brought home some math homework tonight. Here's the assignment:

A Riddle with 22 Legs
I counted 22 legs in my house.
All the legs were on cats, people, and spiders.

How many of each creature -- cats, people, and
spiders -- might be in the house?

See how many different ways you can
answer this riddle.

There are many possible answers.
How many can you find?

How do you know you have all
the possible answers?

So I start thinking to myself, okay a spider has 8 legs, a cat has 4 legs, and a person has 2 legs. I divide 22 by 8, by 4, and by 2 and find that I can't have more than 2 spiders, I can't have more than 5 cats, and I can't have more than 11 people.

So, I explain all this to my kid and explain to take the number of spiders and multiply that by 8, then the number of cats and multiply that by 4, and the number of people and multiply that by 2 to figure out the number of legs. I also explain that you'll never have more than 2 spiders, never more than 5 cats, and never more than 11 people, so find all the combinations within that range.

After about an hour of my kid finding the same combinations over and over. I think, maybe I can do this in an Excel spreadsheet but then I'm having the same problem as my kid, I can't keep track of all my answers. So I get thinking, this is why we invented computers, so we don't have to figure out mundane crap like this. So, here are the answers and the code:


Answers:












You cannot have more than 12 possible combinations (as long as you're using positive integers) because you can never have more than 11 people; (0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11)
there are 12 numbers in that sequence.

There is no way in heck I would have done that problem without writing code.
Why aren't they teaching my kid Java yet?!?

public class riddle22 {
   public static void main(String [] args) {
       int x;
       int y;
       int z;
       int total;

       for(x = 0;x < 3;x++){            
        for(y = 0;y < 6;y++){                
         for(z = 0;z < 12;z++){                    
          total = (x * 8)+(y * 4)+(z * 2);                    
          if (total == 22)                        
          System.out.println
          (x+" + "+y+" + "+z+" = "+total);                
        }             
       }         
      }     
   } 
} 

No. 2 Florida 41, No. 1 Ohio State 14

Congrats to Urban Meyer
The big story in this game is Urban Meyer. Nobody had even heard of Urban Meyer until he took the Utah Utes to the Fiesta Bowl to bust the BCS. I am happy for Urban, I just wish he had stayed with the Utes a little longer. It's nice to see a good guy win. Good job Urban!

Norm Chow interviews with the Arizona Cardinals

This may be of interest to BYU fans:

Click here.

Which bandwagon should you join?

My favorite team, the San Francisco 49ers, is out of the playoffs this year. The NFL has a site set up to help people, like me, decide which team's bandwagon to join. Based on the five questions I answered, they picked the Philadelphia Eagles as my bandwagon team. That's good, because I like Jeff Garcia and I think they have some former BYU players on their team too. Go Eagles! Find out who your bandwagon team is by clicking here.

Celebrity Gossip

Britney doesn't eat broccoli

My sources tell me that the "Princess of Pop", Britney Spears, refuses to eat broccoli. Spears joins former President, George Herbert Walker Bush as famous people and celebrities that refuse to eat broccoli.

Why I took most my videos off YouTube

You may or may not have noticed that I took all of my Monty Python and Battlestar Galactica videos off of YouTube. I took a closer look at their copyright warning and realized that even the stuff where I took the photographs myself but used someone else's music was a violation of copyright law. I realize that the likelihood of anything happening, other than YouTube removing the content, is probably quite slim - considering that most of the stuff on YouTube is in violation of copyright law.

So, from now on, when I stream copyrighted stuff on my blog, it will be a link to something someone else posted on YouTube. I will continue to take videos of my kids and photographs of the mountains and post the videos and slideshows on YouTube. It just looks like from now on I'll have to use music which I write on my own if I want to choreograph it.

SRV - Voodoo Chile

This is one of my favorite church hymns, too bad they took it out when they updated the hymnals. Is Voodoo Chile like some really killer Texas Chile? Is there a recipe for Voodoo Chile up on the recipe blog?

Real Salt Lake's main sponsor

Real Salt Lake will be the first professional sports team in the USA to have their sponsor's name on their jerseys. This is very common outside the USA but this is a a first in the USA. Who is the sponsor? A Lehi, Utah based multi-level marketing (MLM) company called Xango who apparently sells this stuff for $37 a bottle ($1.54 an ounce). I went looking for information on Xango and found this interesting article about their business practices. Take it for what it's worth. For my money, green tea has all the anti-oxidants I need and it's a lot less expensive. And for you LDS people, my doctor is LDS and he told me that green tea wont keep me out of the Celestial Kingdom.

http://www.amquix.info/xango/xango.html

Sweetness!

My kids are too young to have ever seen Walter Payton play. I think everyone in America was a Bears fan when Walter played:

Battlestar Galactica and Mormonism

Here's an interesting site that investigates parallels between Battlestar Galactica and Mormonism:

http://www.millennialstar.org/index.php/2006/02/12/ligbattlestar_galactical_ig_and_mormonis

Something good about radio in the Salt Lake market

I was turning through the radio stations in my car and found a station that was playing contemporary Christian music, 97.5 FM. I've been getting tired of listening to the same old depressing contemporary music with messages that contradict my personal values. I'm glad that this station has entered the Salt Lake market. They don't play just LDS music, they play inter-denominational music. They even stream online so if you're out of state you can listen too. Their Web site is http://www.975oasis.com/

Boise State - The Real National Champions

The BCS needs to be abolished. Boise State proved they should be playing in the National Championship game. They proved that they're one of the top 3 teams in the nation.

RGD

Read about it at http://sports-ak.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?confId=&gameId=270010201

Ding dong Saddam is dead

Ding Dong! The Saddam is dead.
Which old Saddam?
The Wicked Saddam!
Ding Dong! The Wicked Saddam is dead.

Wake up - sleepy head, rub your eyes, get out of bed.
Wake up, the Wicked Saddam is dead.
He's gone where the goblins go,
Below - below - below.
Yo-ho, let's open up and sing and ring the bells out.

Ding Dong' the merry-oh, sing it high, sing it low.
Let them know The Wicked Saddam is dead!

(Mayor)
As Mayor of the Baghdad City,
In the County of the Land of Iraq,
I welcome you most regally.

(Barrister)
But we've got to verify it legally,
to see.

(Mayor)
To see?

(Barrister)
If he.

(Mayor)
If he?

(Barrister)
Is morally, ethic'lly

(Father No.1)
Spiritually, physically

(Father No. 2)
Positively, absolutely

(Munchkins)
Undeniably and reliably dead

(Coroner)
As Coroner I must confirm,
I thoroughly examined him.
And he's not only merely dead,
he's really most sincerely dead.

(Mayor)
Then this is a day of Independence,
For all the Iraquis and their descendants.

(Barrister)
If any.

(Mayor)
Yes,
let the joyous news be spread,
The wicked Old Saddam at last is dead!

New! - World Record Blog

Come to my new blog. It's based on the Guinness Book of World Records.

World Record Blog

Osama Auditions

Gerald Ford - 38th President of the USA, dead at age 93

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/27/washington/27webford.html?ex=1324875600&en=a6bcff67250d2eff&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Help Me Oprah Winfrey

I'M ON FIRE!!!

Most idiotic petition ever

These people seriously need to get lives; and I thought Star Trek fans were geeks.

http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/ultimate_betrayal/

How to buy editted movies without trouble from the MPAA

Here's a good concept. You buy the unedited movie from them and they edit it for you, then you get both copies. This seems legal to me, but I'm no lawyer.
http://www.goodmoviesonline.com/home.php?Vl=6&Tp=2

How to do the degree symbol "°" on your keyboard

Hold down the ALT key and type in 248, then release the ALT key and the ° will appear.

Wettest Desert

I'm going to start posting little facts that I find in the 2007 edition of The Guiness Book of World Records. Here is my first one:


The Sonora Desert, Arizona, USA - where daytime temperatures may exceed 104° in summer - receives 4.7 - 11.8 inches of rain annually. This desert is unusual in that it experiences two wet seasons - one from December - March and a second from July to September.