MNF - Bears/Vikes

Abe and I got hooked up with MNF tix for Christmas.  Big surprise.  We thought all our gift receiving was done after our 'pre-Illinois' family Christmas.  Was very pumped to get to head to Soldier Field for MNF.

The tix that we got were great.  They were my cousins season tickets.  Outstanding seats about halfway up in the south end zone.  Soldier Field is different from any stadium I have ever been to.  They revamped the stadium in 2003 building onto the existing architecture.  It is a more modern design built on top of the old colonnaded Roman looking structure.  It looks a little strange from the outside but inside the stadium and the seating is really cool.  It was definitely Bears weather.  Very cold.  The announced temp in the second half was 16 degrees.

The game was outstanding.  The Bears played the best that they have in a month or two.  Offense moved the ball decently and the D did enough to get the job done.  Still a very ugly year for the Bears but I'm glad I got to see a great win against the Vikes.  The Bears got out to a 16-0 lead at half before the Vikes came back and tied it 30-30 with 15 seconds left in the game to push it to overtime.  I hate Brett Favre.  Somehow Robbie good as Gould missed a FG on the first possession in OT.  I thought the Bears were doomed at this point giving the Vikings a short field to get within FG distance but the Bears D stepped up huge sacking Favre twice.  Cutler then made a big pass for his fourth TD pass of the day on the following possession to win the game 36-30 (I'm not gonna lie, I cringed every time Cutler threw a pass but he ended up playing a great game).  Soldier Field went nuts.  It was a great time.

Great game, great experience.  Thanks Mom & Pops!

Side rant:  There were easily more Favre Vikings jerseys in the stadium than any of Vikings player.  Are these people serious?  Who is dumb enough to pay $100 for a jersey of a player who is only gonna be on the team for a year????  Especially a guy who has been on a rival team the last 15 years.  I even saw a couple Jets #4 jerseys.  Really??  Favre please go away, you are ancient.

Merry Christmas!

 Merry Christmas my people!

Much love to everyone...

Luke 2:1-20

Blackhawks/Sharks

Mom and Pops got Abe and I tickets to the Blackhawks/Sharks game two nights ago at the United Center. We had a blast even though the Hawks lost. Hockey is a great sport to watch in person. I would highly suggest anyone to go check out a game even if you're not a hockey fan.

The Hawks and Sharks are the top two teams in the Western conference currently so we got to check out a pretty big game. The Hawks completely outplayed the Sharks in the game but lost 3-2. They outshot the Sharks 47-14 which is just completely outrageous. It was a very exciting game with the Hawks coming towards our end 2 of the 3 periods. I can't believe they couldn't put more of their shots in the goal, they had the puck the whole game. That's alright though, they beat the Redwings 3-0 in Detroit last night and are gonna easily sweep the two game set with the Preds Friday and Saturday. A big lead is about to open up in the Central division.

Christmas Movies

'Tis the season...

My top 5 Christmas movies:

1. Home Alone
2. Home Alone 2
3. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
4. A Christmas Story
5. Elf

All CLASSICS

December Tunes

Here are some new tunes that I have been listening to the past month.  None of them are technically new just new stuff that I have found recently.  Ups to Ahop for most of the suggestions.

Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare

Carolina Liar - Coming to Terms

The Kooks - Konk

MGMT - Oracular Spectacular

Viva la Hova - Jay-Z/Coldplay (Mick Boogie & Terry Urban)

Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend

All good stuff...Must downloads.  You will thank me later.

NFL Survivor

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am a genius, but my NFL survivor picks finally came to an end yesterday when the Broncos couldn't figure out how to beat the Raiders.  I really thought I was gonna go all the way this year.  Here is a blueprint for all who are interested in winning.

Week
1.     SAINTS over Lions
2.     REDSKINS over Rams
3.     RAVENS over Browns
4.     BEARS over Lions
5.     VIKINGS over Rams
6.     STEELERS over Browns
7.     COLTS over RAMS
8.     CHARGERS over Raiders
9.     FALCONS over Redskins
10.   DOLPHINS over Bucs
11.   CARDS over Rams
12.   COWBOYS over Raiders
13.   BENGALS over Lions
14.   TITANS over Rams
15.   BRONCOS over Raiders

I had a good run.  I will be opening a consulting firm for next season for all who are interested.  Guaranteed wins.

Carvers Gap to 19E

Carvers Gap

View from atop Round Bald

View from Overmountain Barn

Camp atop Little Hump Mountain

Fog in Houston Ridge

Abe and I went on a little backpacking trip on Monday and Tuesday (12/14-15).  It was beautiful weather on Monday, about 45 degrees and sunny, great day to go.  Sara dropped us off at Carvers Gap near Roan Mountain and we hiked along the AT to 19E, approximately 14 miles (this is the same area I visited over Fall Break and said I would be back to).  The first day we got many incredible views of the surrounding  mountains from atop Round Bald, Jane Bald and Little Hump Mtn.  We hiked appx. 7 miles to the top of little Hump Mtn. passing Overmountain Barn.  This is a very cool shelter on the AT that can hold up to 20 people.  Our choice of staying atop Little Hump was a poor one as it got extremely windy once the sun went down.  I wasn't thrilled about staying atop the bald but I think views from atop clouded by doubts.  After the sun went down and we had laid in our tent for a while, the wind got so bad that we had to get up and move down the mountain at 9:30PM.  It was tough moving the tent with only my headlamp but we made it a to a new spot out of the harsh wind.  Not much sleep to say the least that night.

The next morning we woke up at about 7:30 to get moving again.  The weather wasn't great.  It was extremely foggy, and was all day.  Luckily though the rain held off and we stayed dry for most of the day.  We made the tough climb up Hump Mtn., after stopping at Bradley Gap for some water and to eat breakfast, and then the remainder of the days hike was down Houston Ridge in the forest.  Overall it was an excellent hike, ignoring the sleeping arrangements.  I would definitely do it again.

On Rocky Top

Just got finished reading this book by Clay Travis.  Very good and interesting read about the fall of the Phil Fulmer era of UT Vols football.  I would highly recommend it to any Vols or college football fan.  Great read.

Big Clay Travis fan.  Check out his COLUMN.

Snowman

Yup, thats right, it is actually snowing in JC.

Yup, we made the sweetest snowman in town.

Yup, we look incredible.

My Backyard.

Buffalo Mtn.

Pops, Abe, and I climbed up to the top of Buffalo Mtn. yesterday to check some views of Johnson City the beautiful.

Pretty awesome lookout towards JC, Elizabethton, and Unicoi from the White Rocks.  I Can't believe I have never been up there before.  Anybody in JC should go check it out.  Cool spot.

Drunk 4-Year-Old Steals Christmas Presents

YOU CANT MAKE THIS STUFF UP

Gingerbread Houses

 

Check out these beauties we made last night.  Skills

Which one is better?  Exhibit A (with Power T) or B (with smiley face)?  There was a third choice but it got taken home by Stocton and the little one before pictures could be taken.

I'll give you a hint, its clearly the one with the Power T, AKA mine and Sara's.

LA 1101 - Folio 1

Here is the project that I worked on for the first half of the semester in my representation course.  The goal was to reproduce and better understand a modern house and garden.  The exercise was designed so that we would understand the design theory that is associated with the design of a garden for a house as well as a for practice of basic drafting skills.

The house that I was assigned was the 'Villa Mairea' designed by Finnish architect Alvar Aalto. For more info:  VILLA MAIREA

 

All the renderings were done with pencil except for the montage at the end.  The images aren't of the best of quality where they were scanned.  Folio 2 will be coming soon after I get all of my drawings scanned into the computer.

LA 7001 - Studio

Since everything has wrapped up with semester one of my MLA program I figured I would post a short synopsis of some of the stuff that I have worked on.  Here is my semester long project that we did in studio.  The course was titled Introduction to Making_Assembly & Disassembly.

The Box:

 

The Slice:

The Datum:

The Site:

The Acrylic System:

 

 

It is pretty close to impossible to explain the project in way that people could fully understand it.  It is hard enough to explain to people who can see the model and work we have been doing all semester much less someone who has no idea and can't see the model.  In my best attempt to help everyone understand, here is what I wrote in my portfolio as a general description of the overall project:

'In this studio, the first of six core studios at LSU, the focus was on the making and unmaking of an object, more specifically a wooden box.  The wooden box and associated projects throughout the semester were used to form a solid understanding of one of the key aspects at the heart of the profession of landscape architecture:  one must make to unmake.  This was the core principle of the studio.  The language of the studio was limited to the basic words in the design catalog such as: space, volume, line, rhythm, solid, and void, in an effort to assemble a stable platform for understanding the fundamental language of design. 

The meticulous making of the wooden box was followed by an unmaking of the box through a series of extractions, voids, and slices.  These newly formed objects, two halves, were then adjoined by a datum to form an environment between the two boxes.  Site analysis was conducted on each newly formed site and then, as a studio group, combined together to form a large site, comprised of six different smaller sites.  Systems were then introduced to the site to form a highly connected and dynamic relationship between each individual model within the site.  The basic design language pushed all of the decisions made throughout the entire process.'

Goodbye...

The Beast finally sold today.  We've been trying to sell it since the summer.

Somebody got a gem of a ride.  Treat her well.

You will be missed.

I Feel Home

'There are few things pure in this world anymore,
and home is one of the few.
We'd have a drink outside,
maybe run and hide if we saw a couple men in blue.
To me it's so damn easy to see
that true people are the people at home.
Well, I've been away but now I'm back today,
and there aint a place I'd rather go.

I feel home,
when I see the faces that remember my own.
I feel home,
when I'm chillin outside with the people I know.
I feel home,
and that's just what I feel.
Home to me is reality,
and all I need is something real.

Feelin alright, headin out tonight,
maybe out to a dark driveway.
I say now some feel bored,
and some are lookin for more.
Well, we all just decide to stay.
We got nothin to do,
and I look at you
I see something that I know and love.
and with the crack of a smile we all stay a while
we know from home there aint nothing above.

Well in the end we can all call a friend
well that's something I know as true.
And then a thousand years and a thousand tears
I'll come back to my original crew

cuz to me throughout eternity
there's somewhere where you're welcome to go
I said it's something free that means a lot to me
when I'm with my friends I feel home.

I feel home,
when I see the faces that remember my own
I feel home,
when I'm chillin outside with the people I know.
I feel home,
and that's just what I feel.
because home to me is reality,
and all I need is something real
Home to me is reality,
and all I need is something real

I feel home.'    -OAR

Pretty pumped to be home...

Jimmy V

http://www.jimmyv.org/

'Don't Give Up...Don't Ever Give Up!'

WHO DAT

In honor of my last day in Louisiana for about a month, I will leave everyone with this:



I told you this place was a little odd.  WHO DAT

Can't wait to get home...

Timing...

This, ladies and gentlemen, is the actual magazine cover that Golf Digest is releasing for the month of January.  Could the timing possibly get any worse for the magazine???  The unintentional comedy in the timing of this and quotes on the cover is sky high.  Check it out.

I do not post this in an attempt to flame TW and the situation he has got himself in.  It is absolutely ridiculous what the media has done to him.  Does America really need CNN having 30 minute specials a couple of times a day about everything that is going on in the TW saga?  I feel like there are a lot more important issues going on in this country than that the national media can focus on (at least I hope so).  This episode just shows you the pedestal that people put professional athletes and famous people on. But guess what, at the end of the day they are just people like the rest of us.  Give it a rest, let the guy handle his problems with his family, in his own heart, and hopefully through God.

Grace!

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. Classic.

Grace? She passed away 30 years ago. ...THE BLESSING!

Hilarious

World Cup draw

Group A:

South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France

Group B:

Argentina, Nigeria, Korea Republic, Greece

Group C:

England, USA, Algeria, Slovenia

Group D:

Germany, Australia, Serbia, Ghana

Group E:

Netherlands, Denmark, Japan, Cameroon

Group F:

Italy, Paraguay, New Zealand, Slovakia,

Group G:

Brazil, Korea DPR, Ivory Coast, Portugal

Group H:

Spain, Switzerland, Honduras, Chile

SCHEDULE AND BRACKET

TEAM BY TEAM ANALYSIS

My Analysis:  USA is gonna do big things in South Africa, I've got a good feeling.  They got a nice draw, for once, and are gonna be ready to roll.  They really need to get Onyewu back from injury though.  He is a beast in the back.  I am pumped for June 12th.  Simple as that

Battle Studies

John Mayer's new album Battle Studies came out a couple of weeks ago. Pretty good album IMO, but not my favorite. I would put it second behind Continuum.  Some of my favorite songs:  'Heartbreak Warfare', 'Assasin', and 'Edge of Desire'.

And yes before you ask I like John Mayer. He is insane with the guitar. If you don't think so, you either don't have ears or don't have a brain. Check out this guitar solo:

Circus Trip Recap

Well the circus trips are finally over for both the Bulls and the Blackhawks.  Here are the recaps of both teams from the fine people at ESPN.

HAWKS RECAP

BULLS RECAP

For the record:
Bulls finished 1-5, almost as expected.  Yikes.
Hawks finished 4-1-1, better than expected.  This team is good, and Hossa is finally back.  YUP

Abita Fall Fest

BEER OF THE MONTH:

Abita Beer is brewed here locally in Abita Springs, LA.  They make quite a few good brews.  Somebody needs to help them with their labeling though.  I like to collect bottles and boxes and all of theirs are pretty weak.  The only one that I had seen before coming to LA was the Purple Haze, which is some fruity raspberry garbage.  They need to get the rest of their stuff up to TN.  My personal favorite right now is the 'Fall Fest'.  Good stuff, too bad its only out September-November.