Bron James

BYU Basketball: Missionaries in an Unusual Way

2011-03-05T21:41:00.001-08:00

The BYU Men’s Basketball Team has been making headlines this year with their great season and All-American guard Jimmer Fredette. With wins over some elite teams, this has been a spectacular season for them. As many know by now, the university unfortunately had to dismiss their starting post player, Brandon Davies for violating the school’s Honor Code. Although many have felt this has put a damper on the Cougars’ tournament hopes, there has been some good that has come out of this too.

Because this penalty was so drastic when compared with any other college, BYU has received a ton of publicity from the national media about their choice. Although there have been some negative opinions, I have also found many people to be supportive of BYU’s decision and impressed by their commitment to personal standards. It’s actually been a great opportunity for missionary work, as the national attention has caused people to investigate why BYU is so different from other colleges. Links are below to a few stories that show this and I have video from ESPN and NBC as well.

NBC Nightly News Report . . .

Honor Code Separates B.Y.U. From Other Teams

BYU puts principle over performance

Unrealistic was the topic, not what the analysts opinions.

Snow to Start Off Winter Break? Awesome.

2010-12-31T21:38:00.001-08:00

Winter Break is almost finished for me, but it hasn’t been without its excitement. I started off the break by finishing an English final at school, rushing home and gathering my things, followed by traveling with the family to Hermiston where my grandparents live.

The big surprise was every morning we woke up to fresh snow, and it just kept getting deeper. By the time we were ready to leave, there was almost 6” on the ground. Include a quad and some sleds, and you have yourself quite a winter experience. It was definitely a fun way to start off the Christmas Break.

Cross Country State Championships

2010-12-29T22:08:00.001-08:00

It’s the middle of winter already and it is crazy how quickly senior has gone by. I’m almost already done with my first semester, for crying out loud.

To start off with, I finished up the my cross country season. I don’t know if I will end up running for fun in college, so that may have been my last competitive cross terrain race. I doubt it though. The state championships were held at Lane Community College in Eugene, and let me tell you, it’s a very large community college. My coach dubbed it as “University of Oregon, South Campus”, due to the large number of students that end up transferring to Oregon.

We arrived the night before and tour the course, than enjoy a nice meal, and get a good nights sleep at our hotel. The next day was the race and it was a pretty neat experience, although I didn’t get the time exactly the time I wanted. I got a cool jacket and pin though, and it was a fun experience. I placed second from my team too, so that wasn’t so bad. After all that, I can’t wait for track to roll around. =)

My Race Photo

Life is Busy. Really Busy.

2010-11-02T19:59:00.001-07:00

It’s been quite a while since I have been able to update this thing. The end of summer was pretty hectic and I went into school with a full schedule that hasn’t let up for some time. When it slows down again is a mystery, or it may never happen, which isn’t all too bad since it has been an enjoyable last couple of months.

My school newspaper published their first edition of the year. I am Business Manager in my fourth year of taking the class. It’s gone pretty well but it feels weird being a veteran in the class. There is a link to the website so go check out the online edition. We even have videos this year on top of everything.

Astor Post

It’s also the state championship this Saturday for the Astoria High School Boy’s Cross Country team. We were able to clinch the Cowapa League title last week and I individually was able to place 7th in the race, which I was pretty satisfied with. Our goal is to try to place the highest we can as a team, and possibly getting a trophy along the way. It’s a lofty goal but we are going to try hard. The state championship takes place at Lane Community College, and with the season over, hopefully I will provide and update next week of how we did!

Cowapa League Championships

Puma Concordia Race in Portland

A Little Bit of Water

2010-07-19T13:46:00.001-07:00

A couple of days ago I and my brothers got the opportunity to go canoeing with a couple of other guys. When we got there was the sun was starting to heat up the day, and we launched into the Lewis & Clark River. It was kind of ironic to think that a few hundred years ago Lewis & Clark were doing the exact same thing, but probably with a lot better skill than we were. We passed Netul Landing, which was the canoe launch location while they stayed at Fort Clatsop, and even stopped there ourselves for a quick bite.

One of the great advantages to living in this area is the abundance of wildlife we can see each day. For instance, on this excursion I saw three bald eagles. Two were perched up on trees and the third is pictured below. He was eating a salmon he caught and cawed a little bit at us when we got too close. The fish was still flapping a bit, which was kind of funny.

The sun turned out for us and it was a blast. I have also gone on the Young’s Bay kayaking with a school class and that was a ton of fun as well. I guess one of the advantages to living here is having lot’s of water. It’s been a great summer so far and hopefully there is more to come.

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Nike Headquarters

2010-06-17T08:51:00.001-07:00

School’s out, so hopefully I will be able to keep this thing a little more updated. I ran into some account problems awhile back, but now things are all squared away and working out nicely.

A few weeks before school got out I had the opportunity to visit the Nike Campus/Headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon. Unless you know someone that works there, it is very hard to get into the place. My Business Leaders of Tomorrow club pulled a few strings and we were able to get in. Let me tell you, the campus is nice. They have a workout facility devoted to the employees, and each building is named after an athlete that has left a mark in the sports world. They have a Mia Hamm, Lance Armstrong, Tiger Woods, and Michael Jordan building, to name a few. It feels like a mini-college almost.

My goal going in was to see a super star athlete or score on some new Nike gear. While the athlete part didn’t happen, and I didn’t walk away with a new pair of shoes, I did get to experience some cool things. First off, in the Mia Hamm building, one of the murals on the wall featured the Oregon Ducks football team from a few years ago, with my track coach smack dab in the center.

My other big surprise came around lunchtime. The employees eat like kings at Nike. The food is delicious, and quickly prepared considering the quality of it. I thoroughly enjoyed my Tarheel Bacon Burger, and I could get used to eating there everyday. On one interesting note, the eatery employees looked like ones you would find anywhere else, except for the fact that they were wearing Nike hats.

Anyway, I just so happened to see someone that I recognized sitting at a booth alone, reading a newspaper. I had never met him in person, but I recognized his face instantly. It was Phil Knight. Knight is the co-founder of Nike, former CEO, a former runner for the University of Oregon, and current chairman of the board for Nike. Currently he is the 62nd richest guy in the world. To top it all off, I shook his hand and got a picture with him. 62nd may be somewhat down on the list, but I don’t know how many other guys I will meet who are above him. According to some of the employees, even though he is no longer CEO, his say in company decisions is still heavily listened to and followed.

We also got to see the business of Nike, and the strategy they use that has made them so successful. For example, the core focus of all their advertising is a seventeen year old high school athlete. I also got to see through some tinted windows some of their research rooms. They have half basketball courts, short rubber tracks, and everything else that is needed to test products that they are developing. In this portion of the company, sports really is a science. The have sensors on the athlete doing the testing, and use physics to help improve the product.

Towards the end of our trip, we were able to go into the building that housed the legendary waffle runner, and a bunch of Steve Prefontaine’s original things. The story goes that Bill Bowerman wanted to create a running shoe that would make his runners at the University of Oregon better. One day he had the inspiration to take his wife’s waffle iron and head out to the garage. There he created the solution used for shoe soles, and used the iron to create a innovative new sole. Nike was quick to point out in their presentation also that the Waffle runner was not their first shoe, but rather a football cleat was.

We ended the trip with a free shirt. It wasn’t the shoes I was hoping for, but it was still a generous gift. Thanks Nike.

Run Fast

2010-06-16T21:07:00.001-07:00

Track season has been keeping me busy the past few months. As such, I haven’t had the time to really update this much. It’s been fun to have ran and I have had a great season. Now that the track season has concluded I will be adding a few things. Check back soon!

New Track Coach

2010-03-08T20:53:00.001-08:00

I was at Lum’s Auto Center this summer while my parents were looking at cars when I decided to pick up a recent Sports Illustrated magazine while they were looking around. After flipping through the pages I came to an article about some members of the University of Oregon Ducks football team. Being a citizen in Oregon, I decided to read about a couple of lineman that were making a difference in their eating habits and weight. Little did I know that one of the subjects of the article, Cole Linehan, would end up making the journey to Astoria High School, first as a substitute teacher, and now as my new head coach for track.

I am glad to say that he does look a whole lot lighter than an Pac-10 defensive tackle, so the things that he did must still be working. The link is below.

I Want My Body Back

The ER. How much does it hurt?

2010-02-20T20:38:00.000-08:00

Friday morning I woke up and developed a terrible pain in my left abdomen. I thought that it would be just temporary, and I would still be able to go to school, but I was sure wrong. It at points reached level 7 intenseness in pain, and I could not make the agony go away. I ended up going to the ER instead of school, because it sure looked like learning wasn’t going to do me any immediate good. I laid on a hospital bed for around an hour and a half, while the hospital staff tried to figure out why the heck I was there in the first place.

Finally, after laying in pain, the were able to figure out from a cat scan that I had a kidney stone, something that usually only older people get. I was injected with narcotics, and then told I could leave while I was still drugged and unbalanced.

To top it all off, once I arrived home I took a nap and woke up with no pain. The stone had passed. Unfortunately, I decided I wanted to take a shower, because I was feeling grimy. Bad idea. With drugs still in me, and the fact that I was still weak, I ended up fainting. Halfway through my free fall I banged my head, and then nicked my back on the tub spout, which caused me to wake up. On the bright side I felt great after that and had the opportunity to go on a walk and enjoy the sunshine that Astoria has been experiencing. I felt rather chipper considering all things.

While in the ER, one of the things that came to mind while I was laying there was Brian Regan’s account of the ER. When they asked me to rate my pain, I couldn’t help but think back to how he had described it. Level 8 is a good number if you like morphine. The video is shown below.

A Special Parking Spot and Visit

2010-01-16T21:47:00.000-08:00

This past Wednesday our school had the opportunity of hosting a town hall meeting for our county, due to our auditorium being big enough to accommodate all of the community visitors that showed up. The reason for this meeting was the visitation of Oregon Senator Ron Wyden. Ever since he has been elected to office, he has held a yearly public meeting in each county.

A couple of students got to go to the meeting including me. My interest in going was to see a real live US senator, along with trying to learn more about what the political debate topics are right now. I didn’t really care what was going to be said or if anything got done, just as long as I learned something.

The discussion wasn’t too hard to follow, until people started asking questions about healthcare, insurance, and anything else that is medical.

When the meeting was over, people who didn’t get a chance to ask the senator questions crowded him for one last say. A fellow student and I decided to try to get a quick handshake from him, which turned out to be a whole lot harder than it looked. Even though the meeting had been fairly calm, a small crowd around Wyden started getting riled up and the assistants started escorting the senator out of the building. We tried to cut him off at the entrance doors but there were still people around him and his advisors were trying to speed up his journey to his car. Finally in the parking lot before he loaded into his car I was able to shake his hand.

Some people that must have felt they still hadn’t given him an earful were still muttering to themselves after Wyden had left. I even had one guy stop me as I was reentering the high school and telling me he wanted to apologize for politicians robbing today’s generation of something or the other. I said I was fine with whatever he was talking about and he said I shouldn’t be about whatever situation he was referring to. I then decided to head to lunch before he could complain more about whatever was keeping him irritated at politicians. I saw him standing in the hallway when I turned my back a few seconds later looking like he want to share his life’s burdens with another student or community member. What an experience. I don’t know if I could be patient enough to be a politician if I had to constantly meet people like him.

Due to community members coming to visit, the front row of our high school was roped off for visitors during that day. As an incentive to make sure students didn’t park in this zone, our principal left his personal parking space up for grabs. I didn’t expect to get it as I am usually not the first car or even the second to arrive at the high school. Imagine my surprise when after getting out of Seminary I pulled up to the high school with the principal’s space still open. I took full advantage of the situation and enjoyed being parked in a coveted spot for a day.

I Love My Ducks

2009-12-30T21:19:00.001-08:00

The University of Oregon Ducks football team are playing in one of the biggest bowl games in the history of the program on New Year’s Day. They go against the Buckeyes of Ohio State. A month or two back, when people started see that Oregon had a shot at the Rose Bowl, a group of college students from the university created a video to show the appreciation and support for the Ducks.

It has become a big hit and is the unofficial hit song of the season for the football team. Chip Kelly, the Oregon head coach even showed to it to his players because he liked it so much. Whether or not it gave the team an inspiration boost is still unknown, but the video ended up proving to come true. If you haven’t seen it yet, it’s worth a look. It’s an added bonus that the song’s got a catchy beat.

Oregon student group “Supwithugirl”.

A Touch of Fire

2009-12-21T20:57:00.001-08:00

One of the classes that I am taking this year at Astoria High School is a class called Chemistry and Cellular Biology. The class is taught by Mr. R., and he does a great job of making it interesting.

He recently did some demonstrations to show reactions that can happen with chemical compounds. The mixture of methane gas with water creates methane bubbles. Mr. R. would than show us his pyrotechnic skills and throw the bubbles into the air, followed by lighting them with a lighter. The end effect can be seen in the picture below.

The class is the second I have taken from this particular teacher. Highlights of the class for me have been making root beer, ice cream, and holiday suckers. I’ve also enjoyed experiments that have involved fire.

Chill Hits Astoria

2009-12-19T20:50:00.000-08:00

The chill that hit the Western states back in the first week of December hit us as well. Although we weren’t able to acquire precipitation like some of the places, it still got really cold for here. Because we didn’t get any snow, we decided to spray a few things to make it look like a winter wonderland. Hopefully the snow will come soon. Another white Christmas would be a great surprise.

Happy Holidays to everyone! Enjoy the snow if you have it!

Lincoln and Kennedy: Crazy Facts

2009-10-09T20:33:00.001-07:00

This year is U.S. History for me and we recently got done talking about President Lincoln’s assassination. My teacher gave me this fact sheet that I found really interesting describing the correlation of the assassinations of Lincoln and Pres. Kennedy.

Abraham Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846. John F. Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946.
Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860. John F. Kennedy was elected in 1960.
The names Lincoln and Kennedy each contain seven letters. Bother were particularly concerned with civil rights.
Both Presidents’ wives lost a child while living in the White House. Both Presidents were shot seated next to their wife. Both Presidents were shot on a Friday. Both were shot in the head.
Lincoln’s personal secretary, whose name was John (Nicolay), advised him not to go to the theater. Kennedy’s secretary, whose name was (Evelyn) Lincoln, advised him not to go to Dallas.
Both were assassinated by Southerners. Both were succeeded by Southerners. Both successors were named Johnson.
Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln, was born in 1808. Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, was born in 1908.
John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated Lincoln was born in 1839. Lee Harvey Oswald, who assassinated Kennedy was born in 1939.
Both assassins were known by their three names. Both names are comprised of fifteen letters.
Booth ran from the theater and was caught in a warehouse. Oswald ran from a warehouse and was caught in a theater. Booth and Oswald were assassinated before their trials.
Lincoln was shot in the Ford Theatre and Kennedy was shot while in a Ford Lincoln.

As you can see, there are a surprising amount of similarities between the two presidents and their deaths. It just goes to show that you will never know what you find in history.

Jelly Belly Factory

2009-10-04T20:36:00.001-07:00

Our last stop while in California was heading over to the famous Jelly Belly factory, home of the world-famous gourmet jelly beans. I was looking forward to the candy just as much as the tour, to tell you the truth. While I was expecting a great tour, what I got still surprised me.

This tour told the story of how the Jelly Belly candy company came to be and how the legendary jelly beans were made. Along the way we got to see the beans being made, which was a very interesting process. Their history includes how President Reagan’s liking of Jelly Belly beans led to them becoming America’s unofficial candy.

Due to trying to protect company secrets, or maybe to make the experience more worthwhile, we weren’t allowed to take pictures on the tour. Therefore, I don’t have any pictures of the tour.

After the tour we were handed a good size bag of jelly beans, to satisfy any cravings we may have felt on the tour. My family also went to the adjacent store and picked up some “Belly Flops”, which are reject jelly beans that were packaged because of their size. They taste the same. We also got some bags of different flavors and some souvenirs to complete our experience. Visiting the factory is worth the effort if you ever get the chance.

San Francisco and Fishermen’s Wharf

2009-08-17T20:29:00.000-07:00

The next stop of interest on our California trip was to San Francisco and more specifically Fishermen’s Wharf. Our travel to get there included going over several bridges, including the Golden Gate. Some of the others were just as fascinating in their structure and design.

Arriving in San Francisco, I didn’t realize how many skyscrapers it had. I knew it was a big city, but not in this sense. Downtown was as busy as any of the other cities you might go to.

We spent a fair deal of time trying to find parking at Fishermen’s Wharf, because of the fact that it is a crowded place in terms of both buildings and people. We were finally able to find a place to park and the first place that we headed was Ghirardelli Square, where the world famous chocolates originated. I was able to get a delicious mint chocolate shake from their ice cream shop. In addition they had a place where you could watch a basic process of how the chocolate is made and what makes Ghirardelli chocolate better than the rest.

After viewing the chocolate square, we started making our way up the street to see some of the other unique things that are featured along the wharf. There were plenty of boats in the marinas, mostly available for tourists who wanted to go on tours or charter fishing.

The amount of street vendors we saw was also amazing. They were everywhere. If you’ve ever wanted a SF T-shirt, there were multiple places to buy them for very little money. The area is a shopper’s dream with major stores and restaurants.

Our next stop was the Boudin Sourdough Bread factory. San Francisco is also known for its sourdough bread establishments. The most well known is Boudin. They have a big building down by the waterfront that features a cafe for eating various meals that make use of sourdough bread. There is also a tour that we went on. You get to see the history of the company, as well as the bakers working on making bread.

Our last stop for the day as the town across the bay called Sausalito. There we purchased the some San Francisco souvenirs. We also drove across the Golden Gate Bridge to get there.

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Six Flags Discovery Kingdom

2009-08-06T22:52:00.001-07:00

After driving through the Redwoods my family and I continued on our trek and headed down to the San Francisco area. We had several places that we planned on going to. Some were in San Francisco, and some were in surrounding cities.

For the duration of the stay we roomed in the city of Fairfield, at a hotel called Homewood Suites, one of the Hilton brand hotels. They offer both breakfast and dinner there, so it can be a bargain if you have a larger family.

Our first destination was a visit to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo. The park itself has been in the area for a while but hasn’t always been a Six Flags park. My parents have always known it as Marine World, which has been the name of the park until just a few years back. The theme for the park is Land, Water, and Air, as it features marine and land wildlife, as well as a variety of rides which are supposed to represent Air.

The marine portion of the park was sort of like a miniature version of SeaWorld in that they had water shows that you could watch. We were able to see dolphins, sea lions, tigers, and orcas. I don’t think that the shows are nearly as good as you would be able to see at SeaWorld, but they were still fun to watch.

We were able to spend a whole entire day just at Discovery Kingdom. The rides were pretty fun too. There is one that is called something along the lines of Whitewater Rafting. It is similar to the Disney’s California Adventure’s Grizzly River Run. I got very soaked on that ride and it took me a few days to get my wallet completely dry. I also enjoyed riding a completely wooden roller coaster called Roar. It was pretty rickety, but you go extremely fast. It’s worth the stop if you are ever in the area.

A Roller Coast Named ROAR!

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A Walk Through the Redwoods

2009-08-05T20:31:00.001-07:00

The last vacation of the summer got under way for my family recently. My parents served their church missions in Northern California, so they decided to take the time and take us back where they served, as well as a little bit south of the area.

So with that we took a drive along the U.S. Highway 101 from the southern Oregon border down through the northern part of California.

We were able to stop at the at several locations such as the Trees of Mystery and the Founder’s Grove. It is amazing sight to see the size of the California Redwoods, especially through the Avenue of the Giants. The Trees of Mystery is just off of the highway located in Klamath, California. It features several scenic trails (although there are many to try in the area), has a large gift shop, and looks like it can be the gathering place for some large events. They also feature a sky car that takes you through the treetops for an even larger breathtaking view. We didn’t actually ride it because of time and its cost, but we did go through the Indian museum that was there. It featured artifacts from different tribes and areas of North America.

Finally there were two large statues of Paul Bunyan and his trusty ox Abe. Paul is interactive too, meaning that he will answer in questions you might have, or just talk to you if your in the mood.

After driving for almost a whole day we stopped for the night in Arcata/Eureka, two towns that my parents served in for awhile. Eureka is a town that is somewhat similar to Astoria in that the logging industry is prevalent and the weather is often times overcast. It is also a town right next ocean. One restaurant that is renowned the area is called the Samoa Cookhouse. Despite its name, they do not serve Samoan food there. The Cookhouse is claims to be the last logger style restaurant.

The food there is home style cooking, with enough for the appetite of the logger. There is no menu but rather a three-course meal, with the dishes served changing each day. We had fresh bread, salad, and beef soup to begin with. That was delicious as it was, but then we got the main meal which consisted of roast beef, pork steak, baked potatoes, and peas. The pork was slightly dry, but everything was delicious. Although the price is slightly high, it is worth it. I also forgot to mention that it is all you can eat.

On our way through we drove the Avenue of the Giants, an alternate highway that takes drivers into the heart of the Redwoods. Looking up into the canopy really shows the height and size of the trees.

The last stop we had was through the legendary, world-famous Chandelier Drive-Thru Tree. There are several other drive-thru trees, but none are as good as the original. My family was able to get several pictures of the tree with us, including a few with our van in it. It was a tighter squeeze than we expected. I think it is also important to note that the tree is alive and well, and looks just as big and green as the rest of trees in the forest, if not bigger.

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Rainier Stake Youth Conference 2009

2009-07-13T11:37:00.001-07:00

The photos have come back from my youth conference that took place in June. Our theme for the conference was S.T.A.N.D. (Stay True and Never Doubt) , based on the mutual theme for the 2009 year (Be Thou An Example). It was an enjoyable two days, especially since our stake hasn’t done a youth conference in a while.

The first day we spent the afternoon doing a service project. That was followed by a dinner, brief fireside from our stake president, and a dance. The following day included various games and activities, along with classes from various adults in the stake, as well as some guest speakers. That night we dressed up for a formal dinner, and had a presentation where we viewed short films that each ward had made to illustrate different topics found in the For Strength of Youth pamphlet. I think that our ward had the best one by far. The conference ended with a great testimony meeting, and had all the youth already looking forward to next year’s.

A Day at the Beach

2009-07-02T15:22:00.001-07:00

Since it is summer and the sun is shining, we decided to spend a day at the beach, one of the advantages of living on the Oregon Coast. I took a few pictures while I was there, and also saw a few things that I had never seen before.

We occasionally have sea life wash up on the beach. I’d never seen anything that large until this visit. We saw a washed up sea lion. It looked like it had been there at least a day, do to the fact that it’s head was already a skull. Once in a while we will have a whale wash up too although I’ve never seen one.

Like I said earlier, it has been great weather for awhile. There has still been a breeze at the beach, but with a jacket it is perfectly comfortable.

I took this shot because this I thought it looked kind of cool. I don’t know much about professional photography.

We have some bald eagles that live near our house and there is a good sized population in the area. Two decided to use the sea lion carcass as a snack, so they got fairly close to where we were. They are fairly large birds and are an experience to see.

One in a million (Or thousand or even hundred.)

2009-07-02T12:05:00.001-07:00

You always hear about those stories where people find a fifty or hundred dollar bill just laying around. You never think that it will happen to you, but you never know.

I had something somewhat similar happen to me. My bank, TLC Federal Credit Union, has a program for teens that use the bank called Free 2BU. What it basically entails is that every time you deposit money into your savings account you get entered into a drawing. The prize of the drawing used to be an iPod, but recently they switched it to a $100 VISA gift card, good to use anywhere that VISA is accepted. Since the bank covers three different counties, (Tillamook, Lincoln, and Clatsop), the chances of winning aren’t too great, unless you make quite a few deposits.

Imagine my surprise when I got a call from the bank saying that I had won the card. I didn’t even know then that the prize was a card, but I was excited to hear about it.

I picked up the card when I made another deposit. It looks just like a normal card, and while I haven’t rushed out to spend the money already, it will be nice to have some more spending money for whatever I decide to spend it on.

Summer Job

2009-06-29T21:52:00.001-07:00

I was able to get a summer job recently, as a way to have a little extra spending cash and some money to save for future things like college and a mission.

I was able to get hired at one of the local Subways in my area about a week ago. I am working part-time, about three to four days a week, which allows for me to still have time for other summer activities. While my shifts including closing the restaurant and leaving around midnight, it still isn’t too bad of a job. It pays decently, especially since Oregon has the second highest minimum wage in the country. I also get a free six inch sub each sub, so I don’t go hungry.

It looks like it will be a pretty decent job, and while I probably don’t want to become a professional sandwich maker as my career, it will be nice to be receiving pay checks.

4A Baseball State Champions

2009-06-08T20:43:00.001-07:00

My high school has been at it again with the athletics, only this time it has been with the baseball team. It seems that our school has had all the success in the world lately. We have several athletes that are going to compete in the Pac-10 next year, and it has shown in our achievements.

This year going into the baseball season we were ranked number one in state at the 4A level, and one of the best in state at all levels. Only one loss occurred during the whole entire season, and it was at the last second to a 6A team.

We reached the championship game without to much difficulty. The baseball team as made it to the finals three out of the four past years after only have one playoff win in school history all previous years. This big leap has been in part from the arrival of coach Dave Gasser, who won the state championship the first year he was here. He is the most career wins as a baseball coach in the state of Oregon.

The Astoria Fishermen showed why they have been so dominate this season, and had control of the game for the most part. A late rally made it close for a little while, until we sent in our ace pitcher to close out the game. Below is links to stories, videos, and pictures from the game.

Astoria's Jordan Poyer closes career by closing out Baker in 4A title game

Fishermen reel in a title

Oregon Track and Field Championships

2009-05-24T22:10:00.001-07:00

This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend the OSAA (Oregon) State Track and Field Championships at the historic Hayward Field at the University of Oregon in Eugene. The reason for me going was that my 4x400 relay team qualified at the district meet, and since I was an alternate for that team, I went along as well. However, I wasn’t supposed to run, unless any of the starting runners got injured. It was a pretty exciting event to look forward to.

We left on Thursday in the afternoon, because the drive to Eugene is about four hours from Astoria. It was a tight squeeze into the school district Suburban that the six of us guys and two coaches rode in. There was leg space, and we were able to get down there without any problem.

Once we arrived at Eugene, the first thing we did was pay a visit to Hayward Field. Our head coach needed to pick up information for the meet the next day, and it was also a good chance for the team to take a tour of the track and get a feel for what we were going to be racing on. That night we were treated with visiting the Home Town Buffet, where we filled up on food for the next day. After that it was to the hotel for a nights sleep. We stayed at the La Quinta Inn, along with several other schools including La Grande, Sisters, and Hidden Valley. It really did feel like I was on vacation.

The next morning we woke up, ate a continental breakfast, and drove to the meet. It was the preliminaries day, so the races were to get into finals, and not to win medals. The girls on our team did fairly well, even if there was only two races they were in. Our relay team didn’t do to well though, as we didn’t make finals. The weather was great and was around 70 degrees. It was still fun to watch all the athletes compete, and we went to a Chinese buffet for dinner that evening.

Saturday was finals day. It was a great day with good weather and I was looking forward to watching some of the best athletes in the nation competing. Most of them are headed to the University of Oregon next year too, so they should be competing on that track for a long time.

We got there that day, and I purchased a sweatshirt as a souvenir. I then went over to the discus ring and watched Laura Bobek, a senior from my school set a state meet record at all levels in the discus. She is headed to Oregon next year and is ranked second nationally in her throwing events.

The rest of the day was spent watching the athletes compete for state titles. I watched the Crouser cousins win all of the throwing events. Sam Crouser threw the javelin the second farthest in the nation this year. I also watched Elijah Greer of Lake Oswego run. He won the 1500 M and the 800 M. Although he didn’t run his best times, he still blew away the competition and showed why he is the best middle distance runner in the nation.

The girls team from my school were able to acquire enough points to win third place at the 4A level. It may be the last time that they place that high for awhile. I also watched some fast sprinters, which was fun to see the amount of speed the possess, especially Matt Anthony of La Grande.

After the meet the girls team accepted their trophy, and then the team went to dinner at Olive Garden to celebrate the meet accomplishments and the end of the season. The 2009 track season has officially come to a close. I can’t wait for next years season already. It should be another exciting season when it comes around.

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COWAPA District Track Championships

2009-05-17T19:54:00.001-07:00

Track and Field season for my high school has almost come to a close. The past few days I had my district track meet. I was able to gain a new personal record in the 400 M, and enjoy the sunshine. On the second day too, our 4x400 M relay team made second place, which called qualified them for the state meet. Since I am an alternate for that team, it means I am headed for state. Next stop, Hayward Field, Eugene, Oregon. It should be pretty exciting.

Max.

2009-04-05T19:07:00.001-07:00

We got a new addition to the family almost two months ago now in the form of a puppy. We decided to call him Max. We don’t know his age or breed, but he is definitely a mutt. His mom was supposedly a husky/shepherd mix. We also think he has Labrador retriever in him but who knows. We like him so we’ll probably keep him for a while, whatever he is. :-)

He’s about 45 pounds and hasn’t stopped growing!

Sea Lion Caves

2009-04-05T19:01:00.001-07:00

My family’s Spring Break trip featured several visitations, including a car ride to go see the Sea Lion Caves in Florence, Oregon. Located south of Newport, this is home of the largest sea cave in the world, as can be seen from the picture below. I think I also remember reading that the Sea Lion Caves feature the largest sea lion habitat for the creatures off sure.

The visitors building itself was a pretty cool sight do to the fact that it is built on a cliff right next to the ocean. I also learned that whale sightings are common to see from this location, when the whales are migrating up to Alaska from Mexico.

The actual journey down to the caves is taken by an elevator in which you plummet over 200 feet. The actual caves we weren’t able to go into, due to the fact that it would disturb the hundreds of sea lions that lounge there. It was still a cool sight though, and is something worth visiting if you ever get the chance.

Once we pulled up to the center, this was the sign that greeted us, letting us know of our arrival.

Although the lighting wasn’t good, and the photo quality is poor, you can make out the many sea lions that were laying against the rocks. This picture doesn’t even show how big the cave was either. Imagine each of those animals are 500 pounds, and it will give you an idea of size.

It was a nice dry day, and the coast line looked great from our view point.

This was the entrance to the cave–-at least I think it was.

Another shot of the cave. We were behind a wire fence to let the sea lions have privacy.

Before the elevator was built and the shaft excavated, people had to take a long set of stairs to see the wonder. Talk about a long walk.

Oregon Coast Aquarium

2009-03-28T21:20:00.001-07:00

Spring Break arrived and my family decided to spend a few days touring the more central part of the Oregon coast. Although we live on the coast, we don’t go down south too often, and decided that we would take advantage of the time that we got off from Spring Break. Most of our time was spent in either Newport of Lincoln City.

One of the places that we made sure to visit was the Oregon Coast Aquarium. We visited it a few years ago, but it had been awhile, and so we decided to visit it again. It is a cool aquarium and is rated in the top 10 aquariums by USA Today. I snapped a couple of pics of the place.

There was a building that you could go into with a name along the lines of “In to the Deep.” It featured three giant tanks—that you walk right through. From this picture you can see the tunnels that you could walk through. Even the floor featured some glass. It’s pretty amazing to watch marine life swim all around you.

The tanks even featured some sharks. Not Great Whites, but they still had some that you wouldn’t want to be swimming with.

From here you can sort of get an idea of what the tunnel was like to be in. This was a sting ray swimming above my head.

The aquarium feature a bunch of exotic fish as well.

This isn’t your typical pet fish, though it would be cool to have one of these as a pet.

I found Dory, now only Nemo is left to look for. I keep forgetting what movie their from. :-)

Oregon Responder Tour

2009-03-07T21:15:00.001-08:00

Recently I had the chance to go visit the Oregon Responder with my Venturing Crew. It one of few select ships that are sent out to clean up the massive oil spills in the ocean that often make the news. I didn’t realize that the ship for the Oregon coast area was situated in Astoria.

It was a cool ship to tour, and isn’t you average boat. It is equipped with many special features to help aid it in its tasks. I decided to take a few pictures of the things that I saw. Below are the pics.

The boat had two cranes that could be used on board.

There was a boat that could be sent out for smaller items. It had a unique rail system that it was on. Because of this, it just slid off the boat and into the water.

As technology has advanced, it has slowly made its way over to the marine world. The new information computer shown right here is one such example.

A sign the sums up what this ship is all about.

The big hose and air piston boom used to suck up the oil. It was night when we toured the ship so that is the reason for the dark.

Every ship must have a eating area, no matter what type it is.

One of the giant generators used to give electricity to the ship.

The star of the show, the giant oil consuming hose, all coiled up.

The Picture

2008-12-22T16:28:00.000-08:00

When I had my cousins over for Thanksgiving we got to go to the beach, seeing as most people don't have the privelige of going there often. My cousin is currently taking a digital photo class for school, and so this was the perfect oppurtunity to get some quality pics including one with me in it. I have to say, I was a natural for the camera.

This was the star photo of me, with a great backdrop.

This was another good photo, with the shadow of cousin to catch the eye.

Oregon sunsets are a photographers dream, and you can see why.

The car tracks had a neat effect on this picture. (Oregonians can drive on their beaches :-). )

got Snow? We do.

2008-12-22T16:16:00.000-08:00

We got a good amount snow over the weekend from an Artic chill. For most people, snow is not that big deal. Of course, most people don't live in one of the top two rainiest cities in the U.S. either. So, out of pure joy, I had to snap a couple of pictures of the snow that we got, and show of the best snow of the year from Astoria, Oregon.

The snow actually stuck, which doesn't happen a lot with a warm humid climate.

When you see the snow, it sort of makes you think about what a "White Christmas" on the coast would actually look like.

Snow is definitely a nice change from the usual December rain.

4A Football Champions

2008-12-11T20:11:00.000-08:00

My high school (Astoria High School), has recently experienced a lot of success in the athletic programs, with strong showings in almost every sport, especially this season. Last week, I had the opportunity to go watch the football team win their first state championship in 106 years. Talk about a long time. Below is a video from the game.

Astoria punctuates perfect season

Pumpkin Patch Trip - Sauve Island

2008-12-04T19:54:00.000-08:00

This is completely old, about a month and a half, but I have just barely got around to posting these photos. Sometime in October, on a day off from school my family went up to Sauve Island in Portland. It is known for have some of the best land to grow crops with in the area. Because of this, there are numerous farms, including several large pumpkin patches. So we decided to check it out, and take up the challenge of going through a rather large maze. A couple of pics from the trip are below.

The corn maze was long, and rather muddy.

This picture doesn't even begin to describe the size of the pumpkin patch.

This was an aeriel view of the maze, the design changes each year.

Saddle Mountain Hike

2008-11-13T19:06:00.000-08:00

Currently right now in school I am taking a class called Recreational P.E. To put in simple terms, it is not your normal P.E. class. Instead of doing regular P.E. activities, you get to things like outdoor activites. For the semester, you are required to attend 5 outings, which are activities done on the weekend. About a month back, we went on a hike up Saddle Mountain. It was a nice, sunny day and the views were awesome. Here are some poor quality pics from the trip.

The sun was shining down and it was just a great day to be outside.

You gain about 2,000 feet of elevation on the hike, but it still wasn't that bad.

The view was great, you could see all of the surrounding area, including the ocean.

This was cool rock formation that we passed by.

Eagle Project

2008-09-30T18:17:00.001-07:00

It took me awhile, but I have finally gotten the chance to post photos from my Eagle Project. Below is a short description about what I did, followed by some photos.

The Eagle Project happened on the 30th, of August. My project consisted of four park benches, which I had placed at a school in my area, Lewis and Clark Elementary. The supplies I was able to get generously donated through local hardware stores. As you can see, the frames were made of metal, which was bent into shape with some help, by a design made by my dad and I.

This was the group photo of everyone that helped with the project minus two people, one of which was taking the picture.

The final product is shown here, with all of the benches assembled, in the ground, and concreted.

One of the benches being assembled by many helping hands.

We ran into a little trouble when we hit a sprinkler system that wasn't buried very well. It was able to be fixed though and everything turned out fine.

The first bench is shown at the beginning of the project.

Yea, there was food there.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

2008-07-31T10:25:00.000-07:00

The new Harry Potter movie is going to be ready view this November, and they have just barely released the new trailer for it. If you haven't seen it yet, you can view it here. I'm looking foward to see how it turns out, good or bad.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - Trailer

Dick Baker Invitational

2008-07-12T21:08:00.000-07:00

This is news from way back in the spring, but because I just barely got my pictures taken off my phone, you aren't seeing this until now.

The Dick Baker Invitational is a track invite for a select few Oregon high schools at the 4A level. My school happens to be one of them. Despite being an underclassman I had the chance to go this past year and it was pretty amazing.

As you can see from the photos that I took, this high school is hooked up with cash, allowing them to buy super nice track equipment. It rivals that of bigger school's equipment. This is all because of Nike's donations. I sure wished I lived a little bit closer to Beaverton so I benefit from their generosity.

The stadium itself was probably only a few years old, let along the track and field.

The field was made of turf, and not the bad kind either. It felt good just to relax on.

Our girls team was excellent this past year, losing state by half a point due to some misfortunes. This proves it here when the girls swept the top three places in a throwing event, with top competitors in the state throwing.

The track was so nice that I couldn't stop looking at it, and had to snap a picture of it finally.

The sand pit for jumping was just as nice as the rest. Soft and very silt-like.

Olympic Training Center

2008-07-12T14:38:00.000-07:00

While on the same trip that took me to Philmont, we stayed at my cousins for a few days in Colorado Springs. One of the things that we viewed while there was a tour of one of the U.S.'s Olympic Training Centers. The neat part was seeing where all the athletes train, especially with the Bejing Olympics coming this August. The training center focused on more indoor events, so a lot of the outdoor events train other places.

When we drove into the the parking lot this sign greeted us to state where we were.

A long sidewalk connected all of the buildings together. It also had every olympic sport portrayed with statues. You can see soccer on the right side.

This was the main training room for the wrestlers, who do two styles: Greco Roman and freestyle

There was a big pool where many of the water athletes practice such as the polo team or a lap swimmer. Unfortunately most of the big name swimmers train elsewhere, so we weren't able to glimpse Michael Phelps.

Inside the main building we could see an Olympic Hall of Fame made up of fabled Olympians from the US, like the 1980 Miracle Hockey team.

Outside you could see a statue of athletes holding up the world. It was very complex and detailed.

Here you can read "Amazing Awaits" which is the motto from the U.S. Olympic team right now.

This was a one of the gyms where the gymnists could practice. A basketball team could also use this facility, as there was a gym floor under the mats.

The weight room was huge, like it needs to be to build up an Olympian body.

Philmont LDS Mountain Trek 2008

2008-07-11T17:52:00.000-07:00

I recently had the oppurtunity to go to the Boy Scout's Philmont Ranch in New Mexico. I have to say that it is a once in a lifetime experience. While my family stayed at the base camp training center, doing activities and being trained in the Church there, I got to go on a mountain trek and explore what the mountains there.

The experience was neat in the fact that you had a backpacking trip, along with activities to do. I tried real rock climbing for the first time as well as working in a blacksmith's forge. That only scratched the surface. We also had LDS devotionals each night, and I got to meet General Authorities like Pres. Dahlquist and Pres. Neider. If you ever get the chance go! Below are pictures from the trek.

This was picture taken on the last day. You can see the valley from here.

This was the reservoir where we held our Sunday service.

This is the rocky area where I took the first picture. You can see one of my rangers (counselors) Brock.

This is where we camped one night. It was nice for us because we didn't have to do as many bear precautions, a must with all the bears around.

I thought that this picture looked great and showed a trail we were hiking on.

Another valley picture.

When you live in Astoria its nice to see blue sky.

This is usually what our tent area looked like.

There was always a scenic valley picture and this was one of the best.

You get to see me in this picture, of the same valley.

4A State Championship Pics

2008-06-06T17:16:00.000-07:00

When I went to the championship game, I happened to be featured in a couple of snap shots that were taken from various people, including newpapers. I was able to dig up these photos that feature me in the picture. A friend of mine told me that I was even featured on Fox 12 News, when they were giving a recap of the game. I guess that they zoomed on the area of the crowd I was in, and you could even see the cheesburger I was eating!

In this photo of Poyer batting, you can see me right of the bar. I am wearing a purple shirt to show support to the Fishermen.

In the this pic I can be seen almost center on the picture, clapping my hands while a play is being made.

This last photo shows me dead center, applauding as another big play took place.

Oregon 4A Championship Game

2008-06-02T20:41:00.000-07:00

My high school, Astoria, recently made it to the state championship baseball game. They put up a good fight and led for most of the game, but eventually fell. A video shows the highlights of the game.

Newport wins 4A baseball title

Defect Robots

2008-05-30T16:42:00.001-07:00

Here is a recent YouTube video that I saw called Defect Robots. It's pretty good for how long it took to make it.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

2008-05-22T19:56:00.000-07:00

I have been a big fan of the adventure-filled archaeologist named Indiana Jones. After having seen the first three movies put out, when I heard that a new movie was to be made, I was instantly excited about this news. To make the suspense even greater, I then heard news that many of the people that helped create the original films would help create this new one.

Because of this I recently saw the movie. I'd have to say that I wasn't too disappointed. The movie contained all that you can expect from a sequel. There was plenty of action, and the storyline itself wasn't too bad. For me, it was interesting to see how today's special effects helped create the film, compared to one of the older ones. I also liked I how you could see a few hidden references to past films.

Overall this was a good movie. If you haven't had the chance to see it yet, see it soon!

Adobe Photoshop Express

2008-05-20T20:05:00.000-07:00

Adobe has recently come out with this new program online called Photoshop Express. It is basically a scaled down version of Photoshop, with the ability to share photos online. So far I have been very impressed with the program. Below you can find a link to the site, as well as my own personal gallery of photos.

Photo Credit: Adobe.com

Bron James Photo Gallery

Astor Post

2008-05-18T20:15:00.000-07:00

At Astoria High School, I am currently involved in the Journalism class that is offered. I have put in a link where you can view online copies of all the editions from the past year. While my articles may not be the most interesting, you will be sure to find something that catches your eye.

Astor Post

Amazon MP3

2008-04-21T16:48:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure how many know about the new download store that Amazon has. It is called Amazon MP3. I have found it to be very good, with the prices on the music being less than 99 cents. Another plus side is that the format is MP3, meaning it works on any player. Below is a link to the website.

Photo Credit: Amazon.com

Deep Breaths and Short Steps

2008-03-21T18:52:00.000-07:00

My cousin, Justin Moss, recently came out with his own CD called "Deep Breaths and Short Steps". I have listened to his music and can tell you first hand that it is pretty good for what he had to work with. Click on the link below to go to the website for the CD. There, you can buy the CD. Also, by the beginning of May it will be availible on the iTunes Music Store.

Microsoft ZunePhone

2008-03-07T19:11:00.000-08:00

Here is a funny video that I saw making fun of a Zune version of the iPhone. If Microsoft were ever to decide to make a ZunePhone, it would probably be nicer than this though!

Indiana Jones

2008-02-29T20:31:00.000-08:00

After much waiting, Indiana Jones has finally put out a trailer. The movie, called Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, is scheduled to open on May 22. I hope to see it when it comes out. The movie stars a now old Harrison Ford, as well as Shia LeBouf. Below is a link to the trailer.

'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull' Trailer

JJ Ross's Dunk

2008-02-29T19:34:00.000-08:00

Hermiston High School sports I have always rooted for. After all, my dad graduated from their, having participated in track. When I saw this video on ESPN's SportsCenter the other night, I was really excited. Go Dawgs!

BYU vs. Portland

2008-02-22T18:02:00.001-08:00

I know it is almost four months old, but I have pictures from a men's college basketball game held in Portland. It was the University of Portland Pilots against the then ranked 23 Brigham Young University Cougars. BYU was able to win the game by around 20 points.

My seat was excellent for the game, being only three rows back from the score table. With that said, my pictures are still only somewhat decent since I used my cell phone. Overall it was a very fun game to watch, and I saw a very young BYU team play very well.

Note: The Chiles Center, home of the Portland Pilots, is where my high school's basketball team (Astoria) won the state champioship in 1998.

Miles, one of the centers for BYU, I met sinced he served a mission, where one of his wards that he served in was the Seaside ward. Let me tell you, he is tall.

Trent Plaisted, a talented center in the Mountain West Conference, is a fun, athletic center to watch.

Here is BYU during one of their timeouts.

Here you can see Plaisted taking a free throw shot.

Here is a much bigger picture of a BYU timeout.

You can tell how close I am to the score table from this picture.

This was the scoreboard with about five minutes left in the half.

Here is a picture of Plaisted during the warm-ups.

Jonathan Taverenari is another high scorer for the Cougars. Only a sophomore, he is making his mark already.

This is a picture of Taverenari leaving the game after a BYU win.

Air Museum (Cont.)

2008-02-18T19:55:00.000-08:00

Here is a continuation of photos that I took at the air museum.

I was very tempted into getting this shirt after I saw it in the gift shop.

This made me laugh. If you can't read what it says: Complaint Department - Please Take a Number. Behind this is a grenade with the pin ring, which has a number attached to it.

This is a shot of the Spruce Goose's propellers. They were just as huge as the rest of the plane.

I thought that this was a really cool plane.

Ever since I was a kid I've always liked the design on this fighter plane.

You can see the enormosity, (is that a word?), of the Spruce Goose next to this good sized plane.

A neat name for a plane, even if it is remote controlled.

Apparently, even though Evergreen International is a commercial company, they used to offer airfare. Here is one of their older planes, built by the Ford Moter Company.

Its always awesome when you come across sweet designs on planes such as this one.

This World War II bomber had very stylish propellers.

Here is the tail end of the much anticipated Spruce Goose. It's hard to capture the size of it on camera.

The cockpit of the fast jet in the world. All though it is no longer in service, it was still amazing to look at. Faster than the speed of sound.

This museum was rich in helicopters, and there were some pretty cool models.

As stated earlier, this museum had other things, such as this cool antique motercycle.

This reminds me of planes that you often see at the small airports.

I thought that this plane had a cool design.

Viewings of planes aren't complete without a seaplane, such as this one.

Air Musuem

2008-02-17T19:41:00.000-08:00

About a month ago our venture crew went to a air museum down in McMinniville. I think it is called the Evergreen Aviation Museum. There we were able to see the spruce goose, the biggest wooden airplane ever created. Below are some of the cell pics that I took.

This is a plane that is currently used by the US Air Force. Most of the outside pics that I have are of active planes.

This was another plane that was outside. You can see just how big it was, when it is sized up against a very big museum.

This was a cool shot that I was able to get looking straight down the nose of a jet.

The museum wasn't limited to airplanes though. Tanks, as well as other types of transportation could be seen.

Here is another plane that is still widely used by the services. Many will recognize it as a F-15 fighter jet.

With these type of signs, I've always wanted to see someone break one of these rules, when it is so obvious that you aren't supposed to climb on the plane.

Here is another shot at the F-15.

Another active plane, the Blue Angel, is one I recognized from the airshows that I have been to.

Here is a more detailed look at the logo

The name on the nose of the jet.

Not only could you see planes on the ground, but they had them hanging from the ceiling as well as helicopters.

Happy and Sad Time as a Fan

2007-11-19T16:46:00.000-08:00

This past week of college football has turned out to be a mixed emotion week for me as a fan. The Oregon Ducks played Arizona on Thursday and lost not only their national title spot and hopes, but their one-man wonder, Heisman candidate, and one of the last weapons on their offense, Dennis Dixon. Word is now that he is out for the season.

The positive note is that BYU has broken into the top 25, and Boise State has a chance at a BCS bowl game.

BYU is Becoming Another Strong Presence

2007-11-10T09:13:00.000-08:00

BYU is having another great year this year. By the way things are looking, they are going to finish undefeated in the Mountain West Conference for the second year in the row. A dominating defense is the reason this year, compared to the outstanding offense last year lead by John Beck. While BYU hasn't had the hardest schedule this year, they still have beat somewhat good teams like TCU and Arizona. There two losses are another set of close ones, bringing you to have the what if question pop into your head again. There season could have been undefeated right now. Oh well, they will still get the MWC championship. GO COUGARS!

Hooray Oregon, Ohio State and LSU-You Had Better Lose

2007-11-08T15:11:00.000-08:00

After a successful season gone wrong last year, no one expected the Oregon Ducks football to make any success in this year's college football season. My, how we all were surprised when the Ducks ran the tables, winning all but one game so far this year. That one loss, was a few mistakes from a win. Now Oregon is number 3 in the BCS standings. Part of the reason for the success in the transformation of Dennis Dixon. I've watched him play for Oregon the past two years and turnovers have been his woes, along with the football team. This year is another story. He has only thrown three interceptions this year, with two being in the loss they had.

This reason for all recap-Oregon is one of the best teams in the nation, and should go to the national champioship. Two teams stand in their way right now. One is Ohio State and the other is LSU. Ohio State is a pretty good team but should be ranked lower, because they have not played against any real good teams yet. LSU has had a tough schedule, but their are two reasons why they should'nt be in the championship. On is that they would have homefield advantage, literally. The other is that of the tough teams they have beat, they have only gained the lead in the last five minutes of the game, some less, on some very lucky plays. Eventually their luck will run out. To me that is not vey impressive.

MP3 Players

2007-10-05T18:18:00.000-07:00

This fall seems like it will be the year that every company is coming out with new designs and features. Here's what caught my eye this time around:

Apple iPod Nano-

Steve Jobs has come out with with a new line of iPods, and overall, the new ones are very intriguing. The iPod Nano is one such example. It has got a new design, with a shorter, wider look. The screen has been enlarged for a new important feature-video playback. It's finally on the Nano, and for that alone, it makes the Nano finally a worthwhile MP3 player in todays market. Other featres that are new include the new cover flow browsing, an updated interface, with album art and pictures shown as you scroll through the list. iTunes music store has always made this a plus. However, audio quality is starting to get behind in competition. It is not notibable enough to make too big of a difference. One negative is still, even with video, it is lacking in features. The player comes in a 4gb and 8gb version.

Apple iPod Touch-

The iPhone without the phone is finally here, and I can say that it will be the future of iPods. Design looks just like an iPhone, just a little bit slimmer. The great touchscreen interface is there from the iPhone, along with wireless interenet browsing. This feature is a plus. There is also wireless iTunes available with the WI-Fi. The rest of it is basically standard iPod/iPhone things. Audio is about the same as the others, a little below the leaders now. Video however is excellent. The only real negative for this right now is the size of the player. It comes in 8gb and 16gb. Hopefully they will improve this in the future.

Creative Zen-

Creative Labs newest MP3 player is just titled Zen, no names added to the end. This player in particular has really got me excited, with design, features, and quality. The design is a slim player, at the size of an credit card. Navigation now uses the 5-way tactile pad. The interface is much like an iPods, only brighter and more colorful. Features include the regular photo, audio, and video, along with FM radio. Another cool feature is expandable memory for an SD card. I think that all players should have this feature. Audio quality is excellent for this player. Another plus is there are many formats that it can read. AAC is now supported, as long as it is unprotected. This player comes in 4gb, 8gb, and 16gb. This is a little bit of a negative, but expandable memory helps.

Microsoft Zune-

Microsoft is releasing second generation Zunes, and I have to say, they are pretty cool. Although they probably aren't going to be the iPods downfall right now, they sure are going to give them a run for their money. Released in the second generation are player sizes of 4gb, 8gb and 80gb. The new design is similar to the old one, with a new twist and sleek look. All sizes are the same looking, with the largest being just a larger design of it. The interface is the same as the previous, and not much else has changed. Two big changes are the ability to sinc songs wirelessly now, and the navigation button. The navigation button has the traditional 5 way tactile layout, but their is a twist. If you slide your finger over it up and down, the menu will be scrolled through faster. This is a similar idea to the scroll wheel of the iPod, but in a way, I think that this is a better way to browse.

Motorola Antennas

2007-10-05T18:04:00.000-07:00

Have you ever noticed that whenever some wants to send a text message, they turn their phone upside down? Does this really help them get service, or is this just a theory?

Motorola

For those that have the RAZR, KRZR, W385, or anyother phone made by Motorola with the RAZR form, this is not a conspiracy theory. The antenna for these phones is actually located at the bottom of the phone, where the "double chin" is. The reason for this is unknown.

As for other phone brands, this may not help get reception at all, but if you think it does, keep on giving it a try.

So, next time you see someone flip their phone upside down, you'll know the reason.