My Stories

McCarty/Lemieux Interview

2010-03-29T16:40:00.006-04:00

The first interview with Darren McCarty and Claude Lemieux and they talk quite candidly about the various fights...very interesting to those fans that got to enjoy this rivalry.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

It's Hard to Kick Against the Goads

2010-03-02T10:01:00.003-05:00

A couple days ago I was reading the Bible and came across the Acts 26:14 where Paul retells about his conversion. The phrase that God said to him was

"Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads."

This immediately reminded me of the Johnny Cash song "When the Man Comes Around," which quotes part of this phrase.

"When the Man Comes Around" - Johnny Cash
It's hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
Till Armageddon, no Shalom, no Shalom

I knew before this morning how to use goad as a verb, but I did not know what it was as a noun. So this morning when I woke up with the song in my head I looked it up in dictionary. Turns out a goad (also called a prick) is simply a cattle prod...a stick to push cattle where you want them to go. So in Acts God was telling Paul to stop resisting "The Way" (early term used for Christians) as it is part of God's plan to use him.

Now with that knowledge looking at the Johnny Cash song I realize he was saying that he will not have peace until the end of time because he feels he is going against the path God had laid out for him. I hope that he stopped kicking against the goads and now has his peace.

2010 America Cup

2010-02-16T18:34:00.003-05:00

Congrats to BMW Oracle for winning the America's Cup for the United States this past Sunday for the first time since 1992.

Conan O'Brien

2010-01-24T19:27:00.004-05:00

Like Colt McCoy, Conan O'Brien showed some amazing class and character at a very difficult time. Here is his speech given in his final moments as the host of the Tonight Show.

Microsoft Office 2007 Update

2010-01-22T19:14:00.003-05:00

After months of giving Microsoft Office 2007 a chance and doing my best to learn how to use their stupid new settings....it still sucks. Clearly Microsoft decided that its users are idiots and the only way they can operate software is if the software can actually guess what the user will do. They constantly force their own formatting while making it extremely difficult to find "advanced" settings to change things. For example I have spent the last 20 minutes trying to add error bars to a plot...simple error bars. After trying to find info in the help I finally gave up and just decided to click on every tab available. Finally I found a button that said "error bars". Phew, finally the saga was going to be over...oh wait, for some reason it doesn't comprehend why someone won't want to put horizontal error bars. Furthermore, they don't even give me an option of how to specify how large they should be...they simply add vertical error bars that stretch between each point. If you haven't begun to waste your life trying to figure out Microsoft Office 2007 I highly recommend you go and find a different software package to use...it is garbage. I've decided to continuously send message to Microsoft reiterating how they completely failed at their "improvements" to the program.

Ok, rant over...I'll get back to work now.

Colt McCoy

2010-01-14T13:27:00.000-05:00

I've never been much of a fan of Texas and as a result I haven't paid any attention to Colt McCoy during is rather successful college career. However, I caught this interview of him after the National Championship game where his team lost and he was knocked out of the game in the first quarter. There are three things that impress me (1) he clearly cares that he didn't get to play but kept himself under control, (2) he's a Christian and apparently a mature one that understands that he is part of a bigger plan, and (3) he showed great respect for the champions (Alabama) never taking anything away from their victory because of his injury. Colt, you were a great example here...well done.

Smells Like Teen Spirit

2010-01-12T12:24:00.003-05:00

I recently became interested in searching for some covers of Nirvana songs, but this has proved to be a bit more challenging then I had anticipated. The problem is that today's youth have no idea why my generation liked Nirvana, but they know that they were something great. Unfortunately they were great not for any talent (poor singing and basic guitar playing), but because Cobain but such raw emotion into his songs and made songs that were for the most part nothing like anything else that was out there at the time. As a result if I go to YouTube and search for covers of Nirvana songs it's an endless supply of kids playing and singing exactly like Cobain did (or worse), which is nothing special. However, thanks to 107.1's Acoustic Brunch I have found a sweet cover of Smells Like Teen Spirit by Rhythms del Mundo featuring Shanade. If nothing else at least Rey should enjoy this.

Happy New Year

2010-01-06T00:57:00.000-05:00

Thanks to an infection (we believe) in a cut between two of my teeth that became incredibly painful on Dec. 31 we rang in the new year at home. I don't think either of us were too disappointed, but we did want to hangout with our friends. Fortunately a few hours before midnight the medicine we got from the doctors kicked in and the pain in my mouth finally went away. Thus allowing us to celebrate the new year in style.

Style = sparkling wing, cheese & crackers, penicillin, and Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve.

Oh...don't forget the summer sausage.

Yeah, that makes for a fun evening.

Go ahead Dick Clark...welcome me to yet another year.

Christmas 2009 - Part 2

2010-01-03T20:44:00.001-05:00

The second half of our Christmas vacation was spent in Pigeon with my parents. Once again the primary focus was on relaxation, but we squeezed in a few other activities. We went to church, played Sequence (congrats mom on winning the championship), went to the movies, did Jillian Michaels' workout, hung with family, went to my dad's uncle's 90th birthday party, toured my dad's future office, and opened some gifts (round 2). This time I only have pictures from when we got home from church.

Us all dressed up for our first Christmas as a married couple.

The parents looking sharp.

We decided to get some photos of me looking distinguished.

I wasn't sure what pose to use.

I think I'm getting farther away from the goal.

Christmas 2009 - Part 1

2010-01-01T17:49:00.004-05:00

The first part of our Christmas vacation was spent up north with Dem's family. The number one thing we did was relax...which we both enjoy very much and are plenty deserving after a busy year. We played games, did stupid Jillian Michaels' 30-day workout (its actually really good), hung with her family, and obviously opened some gifts. I only have pictures of the opening of gifts.

Dem excited about opening one of her gifts...I think that is what the look is.

Cal (the dog) got a chance to open up his gift....plus attempt to open up other's gifts as well.

By the end Cal was pretty tired.

Christmas Prep

2009-12-23T15:06:00.000-05:00

With Christmas just ahead I figured I would share a few photos, as usual, of Dem prepping for Christmas...the difference is now we are decorating OUR apartment. There are several key items that must be pointed out to illustrate why this is a great picture: (1) my beautiful wife, (2) our awesome green couch, (3) our Christmas tree up and ready to be decorated, and (4) the Red Wings young, good goaltender Jimmy Howard giving an interview after the game.

Me looking good in my Simpsons pants decorating the tree.

Our first Christmas as a married couple.

2009 APS Meeting - Minneapolis

2009-12-20T14:46:00.000-05:00

My yearly tradition of missing out on Turkey Lurkey with my friends and attending the APS-DFD meeting continues. This year I got to visit Minneapolis, which is a very nice city. Unfortunately since my schedule was pretty full I did not get to see much of the time. Basically I saw the Hilton hotel I stayed at, the Convention Center, a few bars/restaurants near the convention center, and any site that could be viewed from the Skyway that connected my hotel and the convention center. As a result I don't have much to share, but I did take a few pictures...unless anyone would like a recap of the talks I went to.

The Hilton hotel where I stayed...my room is the 5th floor corner room, which is the first visible floor in the picture.

Half of my room with the window facing where the picture above was taken from.

The other half of my room.

The Convention Center.

A Lutheran Church that I could view from the Skyway.

Thanksgiving

2009-12-17T02:05:00.001-05:00

Thanksgiving, as usual, was great. Dem and I went to my parents house for Thanksgiving Day and then the following day went up to her parent's house. It was great spending time with both families. Unfortunately I only have pictures from my family, which I got from my mom and sister.

Wife, parents, sisters, grandpa, and chad.

See caption above, replace Chad with Tom.

Rey and Tom brought the dogs...only have a picture of Rhino.

Tom got a couple deer over the break.

My grandpa did not...but he was able to get spent some time in the woods with Tom.

Still Got It

2009-12-15T01:42:00.003-05:00

For those of you, like myself, that have been wondering if I can still dunk, the answer is yes I can. I was starting to think that it might not be in me anymore, but tonight in spite of doing almost zero activity for the past few weeks I gave it a try. To my own surprise I actually managed to do it on the first try...there was no additional attempts.

FYI: My dunk tonight was not as good as this one.

Detroit Marathon

2009-11-14T22:16:00.005-05:00

I am so behind on my blogging that I am only now finding time to write about the Detroit Marathon, which took place a month ago. I went to my first marathon because Dem ran in it as part of a fiver person relay team. She ran her leg at a great pace that she would have been very happy with last year when she was running more frequently (good job dear). Unfortunately I forgot to take my camera with me, so I'm forced to steal pictures from our friends that we went with (thanks Betsy, Ali, and the Swishers).

It started the night before when a bunch of us crammed into a car and drove to Detroit to register for the race. We also went out to eat together, which was nice since these friends are ones that we don't get to see much.

Dem and Betsy in the back-back seat.

The next morning we all drove together in the same car early in the morning. The picture below is hard to make out but I'm glad we have it. After waiting in traffic for quite awhile my friend Colleen and I let the runners start running from the highway to their start point while we drove off looking for a place we could park. Dem and Dan (Colleen's husband) had to sprint from the car to a bus that would take them to their start locations...they made it with minutes to spare.

Dropping off the runners on the highway since the traffic was backup for miles.

Colleen and I found a parking spot close to the starting line (next to Comerica Park) and then realized we had many hours ahead of us with nothing to do. After wandering around in the dark for awhile we finally decided we would try and walk to where our spouse's starting positions were...4+ miles one way.

Picture of Detroit skyline in the early morning.

We made it Dem's starting position and said hi before she started, but then we decided not to go to Dan's spot since the extra two miles seemed a bit much for us. It was actually really fun walking around with Colleen since she really loves running. Spending time with anyone that really loves something always makes you appreciate it a little more. It was so great seeing people cheer on those struggling, kids joining their parents to finish the last mile, and the joy in the faces of those having a good run.

The lead group including the winner, Nicholas Stanko, whom Colleen knows.

Sadly after we walked ~11 miles we actually screwed up the timing and ended up missing Dan finish (as well as all our friends). After some confusion we finally found everyone and pictures were taken of the runners. Then it was time to head home.

Dem, part of her team, and part of a second girls team...good job ladies.

Interestingly on our walk back to the car we spotted these tanks...apparently they are shooting some kind of military movie in Detroit.

Productivity

2009-11-09T19:31:00.004-05:00

This most accurate Phd Comic strip I have seen.

Stupid Microsoft

2009-11-01T03:03:00.003-05:00

My brand new computer has a lot of pros, but what Microsoft did to both the operating system (i.e. Vista) and Office is absolutely horrible. I have used Microsoft products my entire computer-life and consider myself an expert user of Office products...well I'm totally lost trying to use Office 2007. Way to screw up the only things you really had going for you Microsoft.

My Wife's Art

2009-10-29T08:28:00.000-04:00

Dem recently made some art for our walls...she cut out the shape and framed it. I might be bias but I think its pretty awesome. Even though it is sitting on our floor in this picture it is actually on our wall now...one of the first items we put up.

Fun Times

2009-10-26T16:28:00.003-04:00

I have several posts that I want to make but my time is extremely limited right now...plus when I do have some free time I like just relaxing with my new wife. However, I will start posting things real quickly just so that I'm keeping my blog up to date. I'll start with a picture of Matt, his cousin, and I at the Tigers game (alright its a little old...this was the rain out of the 2nd to last game with the Twins). It was super fun even though the game didn't happen.

Dave Matthews Band & Willie Nelson

2009-10-08T14:22:00.003-04:00

Two weekends ago Dem and I made a one day trip to Chicago (actually Tinley Park) to see Dave Matthews Band (DMB). All summer we have looked for a chance to see them (by Michigan or Memphis). We really wanted to see them because this is the first tour after the release of Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King, which is their first studio album in 4 years and first performance since the death of their saxophonist LeRoi Moore...good chance this was going to be an amazing tour. Due to schedules we missed the chance in Michigan and were pretty sure all hope was lost.

Then one day we were watching football all day and they kept playing clips from the DMB tour (we actually thought it was a weird way to advertise bands...turns out it was the perfect method). This inspired to look over the tour dates once again and then we noticed a date at Tinley Park near Chicago...next thing we knew we had purchased obstructed view tickets to see DMB, Tim Reynolds, and Willie Nelson. All I can say is that I was in amazement for 3 straight hours...at one point the awesomeness level was so high I could only stare dumbfounded at the stage. From the first note to the last it was just impressive.

Fortunately someone just in front of us took some video and posted it on YouTube so we can share just how horrible our partially obstructed seats were...and by horrible I mean so perfect that if a security guard turned his back for a second I would have been on stage singing with Dave.

Willie Nelson opened but did come out to play Gravedigger with DMB, which was awesome.

We were so close that we could actually see the hole in Willie Nelson's guitar.

Willie Nelson's guitar, Trigger.

Oh what the heck, why not one more video :)

Big Ten Network Commercial

2009-10-03T15:55:00.003-04:00

Dem and I just think that this is really well done and you have to love Joe Pa at the end of the commercial.

Green Thumbs

2009-09-24T13:05:00.002-04:00

Dem and I moving into together after we got hitched also involved the combining of our plants. We each had quite a few and then with the addition of 4 tomato plants resulted in our porch being consumed with plant life. Below are just a small sample of our plants.

Aloe, yellow tomatoes, red tomatoes, Gerber daisy, etc…our plants.

The most exciting plants have been the tomatoes…the abundance of fruit has been astounding and still is continuing.

Dem with a handful of our yellow tomatoes.

We’ve really enjoyed watching them grow and every Friday when I would get back from Memphis Dem would always take me out there to show me there progress…we were proud of our little guys.

Dem, me, and a few of our red tomatoes…don’t they look healthy.

Sometimes I would just play with them and we would hang out…you know bond.

Other times they would hangout together and do silly things.

But most of all I enjoyed eating them…delicious.

Family Visit/Michigan Football

2009-09-22T22:44:00.002-04:00

This past weekend my sister Rey and brother-in-law Tom visited. They got to be our first overnight guests and were able to go and see the Michigan football game. It was very nice to have them visit and the dogs gave even a little more excitement to the visit. Rey already posted the only picture of the four of use at the game…see it here. So I’ll just post a few more pictures from the weekend.

Rey, Dem, and Tom before the game.

Proof that I was with them at the game.

The weather was beautiful (not a cloud in the sky) and the new luxury boxes I think are going to look really cool…as evidenced from this picture.

Hail to the Victors!

2009-09-12T23:16:00.003-04:00

Michigan still has some improving to do, but its so great to see them actually looking like a football team once again. Go Blue!!!

For Sherry: Good luck Nadal tomorrow.

Tate Forcier scoring one of his three touchdowns.

(AP Photo/Bill Fundaro)

I'm Back

2009-09-10T12:00:00.003-04:00

I've been back in Ann Arbor for just under a week now and feel like I'm starting to get my feet under me. It won't really be normal for another week since I have a lot to do before a meeting early next week, but its so much better to be busy in Michigan rather than Memphis. I'm sorry for not updating more frequently over the summer, but I promise I have some good things planned to posted on here.

Picture from my experiment this summer.

Visiting the LCC

2009-08-15T16:45:00.003-04:00

This past week I was a lucky guy and got to have my wife with me while I worked down in Memphis. The last day that she was there she came with us to the LCC to finally get to see the place where I do the vast majority of my experiments...we got a picture to remember the visit.

Class Reunion

2009-07-28T00:00:00.003-04:00

I haven't been updating due to being back in Memphis working on the Hiplate...this is Phase 7 for those that followed my previous posts recapping my experience with the project. However this past weekend I was able to attend my 10 year high school class reunion. It was a weekend full of travel but I think it was worth it. Friday night I flew from Memphis to Detroit, drove to Ann Arbor, picked up my wife, and then drove up to Pigeon. Saturday my parents and I were able to take Dem to the Farmer's Festival so she could experience some more of Pigeon...it was a lot of fun. Then that evening I went to my reunion, which was a lot of fun. It was nice getting to see and catch up with old friends. I really like my class and wish I could have talked with more people, but a little is better than none. After the reunion Dem and I went and watch the Pigeon fireworks with my parents, had a drink at the Pigeon beer tent, and got a little sleep. Sunday was church, a drive back to Ann Arbor, a little relaxing at home, few hours of sleep, and then right back on a plane to Memphis.

New Family Pictures

2009-07-17T12:01:00.002-04:00

I promised that there would be at least one more installment of pictures from the wedding...well here it is. Dem and I have a lot of work ahead of us to organize the wedding photos (over 3,000 of them), which means that I probably won't post anymore from them so that we can sort out what we are actually going to use. (Note: family members that will want a print of these pictures will have a chance in the future to request it, comments on my blog are not counted as a placed order, and these are raw images that are not even cropped). However, I want to give a sneak peak at two of the family photos showing the new families.

Fourth of July

2009-07-12T22:22:00.004-04:00

I'm going to take a break from the wedding photo posting, but I can guarantee at least one more post since we now have the wedding pictures back from Mike (though we really haven't looked at them much yet). Anywho, on the fourth of July Dem and I hung out with our friends Mike and Karen (you can check out their blogs for some other pictures from this evening...also of note is that every picture is from Mike's camera). Basically you combine fireworks/sparklers with a skilled photographer and bam, you've got sparkler art for everyone's enjoyment.

Joy, Dem, me, Karen, and Mike + 1 sparkler + camera flash + timer + long exposure
= AWESOME Group Photo

Dem's first work of sparkler art.

My second (and best) attempt at spelling my last night...I'm not very good at writing with a pen and paper when I can see it, so writing with fire in mid air was not a strength of mine.

With a little help from our friends...awwww.

It was then concluded with a pretty sweet firework show courtesy of Mike...well done.

Wedding - Part 18

2009-07-10T11:11:00.000-04:00

Wedding/Honeymoon Photo of the Day

Rick teaching us what we need at the rehearsal.

Wedding - Part 17

2009-07-09T11:11:00.000-04:00

Wedding/Honeymoon Photo of the Day

I think this photo was taken shortly after I just beat dad at chugging a beer...I'm pretty good at doing that.

Dad and I at Art's Tavern the night before the wedding.

Wedding - Part 16

2009-07-08T11:11:00.000-04:00

Wedding/Honeymoon Photo of the Day

Me and my new wife with my sisters.

Wedding - Part 15

2009-07-07T11:11:00.001-04:00

Wedding/Honeymoon Photo of the Day

We obviously took the picture of us cousins...sadly minus Paula but that reunion for us won't be for quite awhile.

The Cousins

Wedding - Part 14

2009-07-06T11:11:00.000-04:00

Wedding/Honeymoon Photo of the Day

The Wedding Site...pretty nice.

Wedding - Part 13

2009-07-05T11:11:00.000-04:00

Wedding/Honeymoon Photo of the Day

Remembering our parent's wedding days.

Weddint - Part 12

2009-07-04T11:11:00.001-04:00

Wedding/Honeymoon Photo of the Day

Happy Birthday United States of America...233 years and counting.

The Family

Wedding - Part 11

2009-07-03T13:15:00.003-04:00

Wedding/Honeymoon Photo of the Day

I haven't posted any pictures from the wedding because haven't picked up our photos yet and I actually did even have a camera with me. But since I believe there is a chance that I have some readers that weren't there so I'm going to post a few pictures stolen from my sister...thanks Rey.

Dem and I shortly after getting hitched.

Wedding - Part 10

2009-07-02T13:36:00.002-04:00

Wedding/Honeymoon Photo of the Day

Today's post is actually a stolen post from our mutual friend Ciara. For those of you at the ceremony she is the girl that introduced Dem to me. Ciara has had many friends and as a result she always has friends getting married. So she started on her blog a tradition of posting something about the wedding and then offering a sneak peak into the future of the married couple. She takes photos of the two, combines them to form a look at their future son and daughter. It is always a combination of creepy and humorous. So courtesy of Ciara here are her pictures of us, our future son, and our future daughter.

Our Daughter

Our Son

Wedding - Part 9

2009-07-01T11:11:00.000-04:00

Wedding/Honeymoon Photo of the Day

Yesterday I showed pictures of the beautiful layout of our hotel, so today I'll give some pictures of the animals that were around us. This sampling doesn't fully convey just how many lizards (quantity and variety) there are around there. This might sounds gross or creepy, but they really aren't annoying at all. They just hangout around the pools and grounds looking for some water to drink and a little bit of food to nibble on.

Wedding - Part 8

2009-06-30T11:11:00.000-04:00

Wedding/Honeymoon Photo of the Day

Today's I'm giving a special treat with several photos taken from around our hotel. These are all photos of the area between the back side of our hotel and the ocean. The pools are all connected to each other and positioned such that they appear to be connected to a small river that flows down towards the ocean (its not really though). Plus there is a rather large water slide on the one side that goes down to the lower pool (Dem and I would go down it a few times each day).

Michael Jackson

2009-06-29T14:10:00.004-04:00

I have decided to pause the wedding picture posting for a day because I wanted to post something about Michael Jackson. His passing away on Friday is sad, but in reality for the average fan of his music, like myself, it really just affords the opportunity to relive his music and great moments. It is his family and close friends that actually suffer. All weekend Dem and I have had songs like Beat It, Billie Jean, Man in the Mirror, etc in our heads, and one night I stayed up till nearly 2am watching a Michael Jackson biography and listening to friends talk about him on Larry King. Now that I'm back in Ann Arbor I will be busting out my Thriller cd (TC has the album...I only have the cd) and first chance I get my Dangerous cd as well (I think its in Pigeon). So to remember the original MJ I'm posting the performance where he first busted out the Moonwalk...

Wedding - Part 7

2009-06-28T11:00:00.002-04:00

Wedding/Honeymoon Photo of the Day

Today's photo probably isn't that interesting to most anyone that reads my blog, but its quite funny for Dem and I. The night that we had dinner on the beach in Aruba we took this picture from our table. You might be wondering why we snapped a picture of some dude wading in the ocean. Well this guy was truly taking in all that Aruba has to offer...he was enjoying the ocean while eating off a plate with silverware and dancing. It was quite impressive to see someone enjoying themselves that much.

Wedding - Part 6

2009-06-27T11:00:00.000-04:00

Wedding/Honeymoon Photo of the Day

Today's photo was taken of me at Smokey Joe's Island Grill where Dem and I had some awesome ribs. Now I still prefer Memphis ribs, but these were pretty great. Clearly from the picture I dug right into them. Photo highlights include (1) sauce smeared across my face, (2) showing my new bling - also known as my wedding ring, (3) sauce smeared on my hands, (4) the strip of meat hanging off my rib, and (5) showing off some chest hair for everyone (I normal wear a shirt under but turns out I forgot to pack any plain white shirts).

Wedding - Part 5

2009-06-26T11:13:00.000-04:00

Wedding/Honeymoon Photo of the Day

Today's photo is over Dem celebrating after winning ~$50 at the casino...I on the other hand lost most of the money I put in. However, like my parents, we balanced each other out. I think after going to the casino 3 nights (it was in our hotel so some evenings we would stop in there on our way to our room) we ending up winning either $3 or $13...can't quite remember. Either way three evenings of fun and making a little money is pretty good. As you can see Dem was really excited with her win.

Wedding - Part 4

2009-06-25T11:56:00.003-04:00

Wedding/Honeymoon Photo of the Day

Today's photo is brought to you courtesy of my Sister & BIL's camera, taken by my friend Joy, and stolen from Facebook. I really love this photo because its the combination of family (dad, g'pa, BIL), WMU friends (Nic & Matt), and UM friends (Nick - note how he is wearing my grandpa's hat). It was too bad that we didn't take the picture before Mike and Chas left though. Also if anyone was wondering, yes that is writing on my Art's Tavern shirt. Tom had the idea, Nic got the shirt and flirted his way into getting a marker, and then everyone in our group wrote stuff on the shirt. Perhaps one day I'll put pictures of just the shirt so everyone can read the stuff. Anywho, it was a great way to spend the night before the wedding.

I'm a Nerd/Wedding - Part 3

2009-06-24T11:51:00.003-04:00

I will include today’s "Wedding/Honeymoon Photo of the Day", but I have to share a story from last night . Late last night I was working on a manuscript and it was a little hot in my office area so I had the fan on. The fan was positioned such that it blew across the front of the window blinds. As a result, the blinds oscillated back and forth. I stared at it for a bit and pictured the turbulent structures that were rolling across the front of the blinds causing the oscillations and thought to myself “hey Brian I bet you can determine the size of your fan simply by looking at the blinds.” I first estimated the frequency by looking at a single blind and doing “one-Mississippi, two-Mississippi” – the oscillations were at ~1.5 Hz. Next I needed to get a convection velocity so I estimated a foot of blinds and estimated the time it took for the wave front to get from the start to the finish – convection velocity was ~1 ft/s. Thus the size of my fan should be approximately 8 in (i.e. {12 in/s}/{1.5 1/s}= 8 in). I busted out my ruler to find that my fan diameter is more like 9.5 in…oh but wait. There is a ring around the outer edge that would break up that large of structures and what was its diameter…oh that’s right…8 inches. And that is how you a fluids nerd spends his nights.

And now for the "Wedding/Honeymoon Photo of the Day"…

The view from our sunset dinner on the beach.

Wedding - Part 2

2009-06-23T17:38:00.003-04:00

I've decided that I will never share any pictures if I wait until I have time to do a real post. So instead I'm going to try and post a picture a day from the wedding/honeymoon. Today's picture was taken by Dem from the balcony on our hotel room in Aruba at sunset.

Wedding - Part 1

2009-06-21T14:47:00.003-04:00

Dem and I have been back in the real world (i.e. done with wedding and honeymoon) for a week now. I plan on updating with images and details from the wedding and honeymoon (both of which were better than we could have imagined). I haven't been able to do much updating because as soon as I got back from the honeymoon I went to Memphis to work. Dem joined me down here on Friday and will be with me for the week. So until I get some real time to give some details here is a picture of us on the beach in Aruba. This was taken by our waitress as we were having dinner on the beach at sunset...it was nice.

UP

2009-06-01T18:33:00.006-04:00

Dem and I took a break from all the wedding planning this past Sunday and decided to go check out Pixar's new movie UP. It was overall a very good movie, but in my opinion it was the talking dog Dug that made the movie.

"I was hiding under your porch because I was scared and because I love you"

Four More Wins

2009-05-28T17:44:00.002-04:00

Bring on the Penguins…once again. The entire postseason I have watched the Penguins and hoped that someone would knock them off. Well, I guess the Wings will have to step in and do it once again this year.

Honestly if it was any other year and someone told me that Osgood was playing great going into the Stanley Cup finals I would say why bother playing the series, just give the Wings the Cup now. Eastern Conference teams just don’t see the tough defense like the Wings have, and the Wings can score as much or more than Eastern Conference teams against the tougher defensive teams of the Western Conference. However, this year is a little bit different and I have to say it is certainly not a lock for the Wings (ESPN says the Wings aren’t even the favorite).There are four strikes against the Wings that make this much more of a challenge then the typical Stanley Cup Finals (earlier I thought if we beat Anaheim the Cup was ours…now I think it’s still up for grabs).

1) Penguins again – We have to play the same team two years in a row, which means they have a team full of guys that don’t want to go through the agony of losing again.

2) Hossa – He was their top player from last years finals (I think) and turned down a lot of money from them to play for us for less money because he said he wanted to win a Cup…while this is added motivation for Hossa, it is also a lot of motivation for the entire Penguins team.

3) Wings Injuries – Injuries are piling up for the Wings. We are deep but I don’t want to have to play the Penguins without Lidstrom, Datsyuk, Ericsson and Draper. The Wings are great and the young guys have really impressed me, but I don’t want to have to fight battle with both arms tied behind our back.

4) Schedule – The NHL has successfully created the worst possible schedule for the Wings. With all the injuries and three overtime games in the previous series the Wings now have to play the opening two games on back to back nights…well there goes home ice advantage. Oh and they are considering an earlier start than 8pm on the Sunday game, which would mean the first two games at home for the Wings will be played in less than 24 hours. What the What!!!

If it were any team besides the Red Wings I would say they didn’t have a chance, but since it is the Wings I’ll still say they’ll win it. However, I expect a really long challenging series…though if the Wings could do a solid for a long time fan and sweep them it would really help me since my wedding is during Game 5, thanks.

Better Graduation Photos

2009-05-26T15:50:00.003-04:00

I meant to post some better pictures from my graduation awhile ago but forgot. Unfortunately the camera Dem had used to take pictures was stolen so there are a limited number of pictures that I have. I feel kind of bad that I don't have pictures with the rest of the family that came, but I at least I have a few pictures.

I have to start with a picture of me with my parents since they are the biggest reason I'm where I'm at.

Then we have to have Dem since this moment is probably going to effect the rest of our lives.

Then I got to have a picture with Dr. Weber.

Me showing off my hood and Dem looking joy-filled.

G'pa trying to fix my hood...apparently it didn't want to show off its colors.

Goodbye Fortress of Solitude

2009-05-25T13:55:00.006-04:00

Michigan campus shortly after I moved to Ann Arbor...taken while showing my parents around.

Since I moved to Ann Arbor from Kalamazoo I have lived in the same building, termed the "Fortress of Solitude". Back in 2006 I moved from the first floor to the third floor, but that has been my only move since January of 2004. I realized a few days ago that since 2004 there have only been a handful of nights that I spent in Ann Arbor that were not slept in that building. The only nights I could remember (which actually Dem remembered when I told her that I never have) was a few nights after the Beachhouse was broken into when I slept on their couch. So since as of two nights ago I began sleeping in Dem's and my future residence, I figured I should post a short entry remembering building 20.

View of the sun setting from the parking lot...getting a picture of the sun setting from the place we are remembering...artistic?

Aww...little Brian in A8 (i.e. first floor) before he was broken from graduate school.

After about a year on the first floor I did some rearranging...I believe this was the arrangement when Sherry first saw my apartment.

The arrangement on the third floor was rather constant...though my little green chair moved around a little bit.

My baby bamboo...for those that have seen it recently you can see just how much he's grown up.

Red Wings & Lady Gaga

2009-05-20T01:19:00.004-04:00

Tonight the Red Wings got their 10th win of the Stanley Cup playoffs, which leaves six more needed. The Wings I think were out played for the most part. Samuelsson will get a lot of the credit for the win and rightfully so since he had a takeaway, resulting in a three on one, and ended with him shooting in a beautiful shot for the win in overtime. However, in my opinion the number one star has to be Ozzie...the Hawks had a ton of great shots on goal and Ozzie was a wall...OZZIE! OZZIE! OZZIE!

The Wings celebrate after the game winning goal in overtime.

Anyway, so why the weird title...well its a shout out to my friend Karen who not only has helped expand my music interests with artists like Rilo Kiley, Ladyhawke, and Lykke Li but has also helped me with my Red Wings reading. In a recent ESPN article it was noted that the Blackhawks hadn't won a Stanley Cup since 1961, which was before the world had heard of the Beatles. Then it mentioned that the Red Wings haven't won the Stanley Cup since June of last year, which was before the world had heard of Lady Gaga...oh yes I get that reference now and I recommend everyone just dance, it'll be ok...thanks Karen!

Game Seven

2009-05-15T01:17:00.004-04:00

Since 1996 the Red Wings have won more Stanley Cups then played game sevens. Tonight they played their third since then and just like the previous two they won. Honestly even as the game came to an end I had to admit to myself that this certainly wasn't the most exciting. However that says nothing about how awesome this was...its just how can you beat a 1-0 victory in double overtime with a shot from Yzerman or beating the Avalanche so bad that Roy got pulled from the game. This one had somewhat of a different feel...it was close throughout but somehow even after giving up the two goal lead it was clear that the Wings were in charge. Who would have thought that Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Hossa, and Franzen won't score but the Wings would never trail from start to finish in a game 7. I also have to give some recognition to Ozzie since he has been great throughout this playoff and I'll say it right now that he should be in the Hall of Fame.

1996 Game 7 - Western Conference Semifinals vs. St. Louis

2002 Game 7 - Western Conference Finals vs. Colorado

For Statue of Liberty Play in Game 6 start at 4:15
For Game 7 start at 4:45

2009 Game 7 - Western Conference Semifinals vs. Anaheim

Graduation

2009-05-06T15:23:00.002-04:00

This past Friday was my dad's birthday (happy birthday dad...as well as Matt O). It also was the official completion of my formal education. I was hooded, which is basically what is done when you receive your PhD. I was able to have my co-Chair hood me, which is nice since not everyone gets that opportunity. I don't have any pictures from it (though I assume some folks have pictures for me), but I was able to borrow some from the web and Sherry's graduation last year.

Hill Auditorium last year for Sherry's graduation...same look for mine.

Prior to the start of the ceremony the graduates (master and PhD) formed a processional from the Rackham Graduate School to Hill Auditorium. This gave the photographer an opportunity to snap a picture of each graduate.

Me enjoying the graduate processional.

The ceremony was very nice and I thought the speaker did a very good job. My co-chair told me that at one point he used a long technical term and the sign language guy just put his hands up indicating that he didn't know what to do with it. Once the master students were recognized (congrats Seth), the PhDs were announced individually. The master students were given the option to do a fist bump with President Coleman instead of a hand shake due to the swine flu. However the PhDs were just given hand sanitizer and everyone shook hands with her.

Shaking hands with President Coleman...I knew that my tassel was going to be in my face for this picture.

Then that was pretty much it besides another picture off to the side and a nice dinner with the family that joined me for the day.

The culmination of 23 years of formal education.

Our Future Home

2009-05-04T12:37:00.003-04:00

Piece by piece the details of Dem and my wedding/marriage are coming together. Recently we found where we are going to live and I think we are both very excited about the place. There are a few things about the place that we are slightly concerned about but overall its a good fit for both of us. I'm actually going to move in later this month and then Dem can start moving her stuff over as well so that when June 6th hits our home will be ready for us.

The community pool...there is also a fitness center that is available 24 hours a day.

The Buildings.

To-Do List

2009-04-27T01:33:00.003-04:00

I'm starting to think that my short term to-do list is looking much more like my life-time to-do list.

This week
1) Interview for an out-of-state job
2) Graduate with my PhD

Within a month
3) Business meeting in Memphis
4) Move (first move in the past 5 years)

Month plus a few days
5) Get married

Let's Go Red Wings!

2009-04-24T13:02:00.003-04:00

Well done Wings...4 down, 12 to go.

Jamie Sabau/NHLI via Getty Images

Life Update

2009-04-22T04:00:00.001-04:00

My lack of posting is directly related to my inability to find free time…I decided to post something tonight because Dem and I decided that to take Sunday and just rest. There is a long list of things that have kept me busy, but I think they can be summarized in to three categories: (1) Wedding preparation; (2) Experiment work; (3) Organizing life work.

(1) Wedding Preparations

While Dem has been doing the vast majority of the work (along with her parents) in preparation for the wedding, it is kind of like school in that even though you may or may not have something to do you always feel that you should be working on something else. We are making progress slowly but surely, but its really getting close and that means we have to make some major progress soon.

Dem works hard…I take the things she buys and try to stack them on top of each other. Yes, that is a roll of wrapping paper balanced on a mount of rolls of ribbon topped off with a pen, a knife and several spools of something.

(2) Experiment Preparations

I’m helping with preparations for the next experiment in Memphis. The majority of my effort over the past couple weeks has been the construction of a water flow loop that is quite large and experiences some very high pressures. It was suppose to be simple but like most things in the lab it has turned out to be much more difficult than expected.

Part of what me and Marc have been working on.

(3) Life Organizing

This area is harder to define then the previous two and is sort of a combination of the two. The wedding related side involves things like finding a place to live and how getting married, moving, and working in Memphis are all going to be handled. The work related side involves finding a real job and writing publications so I can get a real job. I think this is the area that I feel is the most important since its preparing a future for Dem and I, but currently the majority of my time and effort are on the previous two…which I suppose is necessary since they are the more pressing issues at the moment.

Happy Birthday to Brian

2009-04-20T17:50:00.001-04:00

Just chilling with my dad ~27.5 years ago.

It's Saturday

2009-04-11T13:21:00.000-04:00

...but Sunday is coming!

March Madness

2009-03-31T00:08:00.003-04:00

This year hasn't been my best year for picking the games...of the final four teams I got 1 correct and in the first round I managed to get 10 out of 32 games incorrect. In spite of that, like every year, it has been super fun to watch the games and have a team to cheer for in each game. Bonus, once again Dem and I are neck and neck with our brackets coming down to the end. I have a lead in points currently, but its still anyones game. We each have one team left. I have North Carolina and she has Michigan State. There are 5 possible scenerios that can play out in our brackets.

1) Both teams lose in the Final Four = Brian Wins
2) MSU wins and UNC loses in the Final Four = Dem Wins
3) MSU loses and UNC wins in the Final Four = Brian Wins
4) Both teams win in the Final Four = Push...championship game needs to be played
4a) MSU wins the National Championship = Dem Wins
4b) UNC wins the National Championship = Brian Wins

I'm not going to lie...I hope that Dem wins and that she wins with possibility 4a. I'm rooting for Michigan State all the way. I maybe a Wolverine, but I like to see any team in the State of Michigan do well.

Congrats TC

2009-03-23T01:11:00.002-04:00

So in my spare time (i.e. late night when I don't feel like going to bed) I google people I know's names. Tonight I found that the internet is finally catching up on the important news...that being the titles from the late 80s and early 90s earned by St. John's Berne. Here I found TC's MLS invitational basketball championship. Well done TC.

Red Wings vs. Flyers

2009-03-18T17:33:00.004-04:00

Last night I got to chance to go to the Red Wings game with a few of my friends...thanks Phil (and Jen). It was a lot of fun and we got to see Kirk Maltby recognized for having played 1,000 games in the NHL, Kris Draper recognized for playing his 1,000 game as a Detroit Red Wings (honestly thought there would have been more for joining the likes of Gordie Howe, Alex Delvecchio, Steve Yzerman, and Nicklas Lidstrom), and the Red Wings come back from a 2-0 deficeit in the second period to win 3-2. Here are a few pictures and videos taken before the game (fyi - our seats weren't this close...we just went down by the ice to watch warm ups).

Red Wings taking warm up shots.

Osgood getting warmed up.

Kirk Maltby Recognized for his 1000th game in the NHL.

Thanks Jay Leno

2009-03-12T12:42:00.002-04:00

I've never been that big of a fan of Jay Leno, basically because I think Dave Letterman is better. However, I have to say thanks to Leno for offering to come to Detroit and put a some free show for the area due to the extremely high levels of unemployment. This I think is a real class act of Jay and the entire state should be thanking him. Unfortunately, thanks to the city council of Detroit (Martha Reeves specifically), even this is making Detroit (and Michigan) look bad. How can she justify criticizing Leno for selecting the Palace of Auburn Hills for the shows...the home of the DETROIT Pistons. I get that its not in Detroit and there is a history of tension between the suburbs and the city, but why in the world would Jay Leno know that putting on a show at the home of the Detroit Pistons would not be considered in Detroit. I hope that Martha Reeves and the city council apologize to Leno and appreciate some charity given to the area...even though the damage nationally has already been done.

My First TV

2009-03-10T09:21:00.000-04:00

Well its not exactly my first tv, but it is the first tv that I have purchased. It is the fourth tv that I have owned. The first was my dad's college black and white that had a garage door opener wired to it as a remote control (thanks uncle Gerald). I had that until I was some where around 12 years old and my parents got me a color tv with remote...oh yeah. I still have that one and its sitting on the floor in my bedroom collecting dust, but still works (it might be Dem and my secondary tv). It was my primary tv until some time during graduate school when my parents got a new tv, gave their old one to my sister, and I received her old one that was handed down to her from our parents. It has served me well and still works, but there is a decent amount of uncertainty about how much longer she will be with us. So when Dem and I were registering for our wedding we saw some really nice tvs on sale at Circuit City, which after looking at a few places led us to decide to buy a 40" Sony Bravia HD TV...I have to say that it is pretty awesome.

A picture of the new tv with Jeff Beck playing at the Crossroads Music Festival.

I also took a video of the new tv...well the tv doesn't do a lot so its more a video of Jeff Tweedy playing "Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down." I don't think the video does the tv justice at all, but I really like this song and Jeff Tweedy so I'm posting it.

Valentines Day

2009-03-06T03:28:00.000-05:00

For Valentines Day it was my turn to make the traditional Valentines Day tacos. Highlights of our evening were tacos, comfortable clothes, and some relaxation on the couch watching tv. Dem was nice enough to come over later than planned so I could finish some cleaning I wanted to get done, which also allowed me to have things ready and waiting when she arrived.

Tacos with the fixings prepared along with some a couple bottles of sparkling grape juice, a rose, and a card.

Once she arrived we got her rose into the best vase I had available and starting our feast of tacos, which were delicious.

Us enjoying our Valentines Day evening.

Wedding Planning

2009-03-05T03:30:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned in my last post, Dem and I visited Traverse City last month to do some wedding planning type things. One of those items was visiting where the service and reception are going to be...now I have to be honest and admit that I didn't go to any of these places, only my camera along with Dem and her parents. I think I've already shown the first picture of where we are having the wedding, but I haven't shown the other pictures.

Location where the wedding will be held at...we can't actually rent it so we have to get there first.

Cool spot in Glen Arbor where I'm sure some pictures will be taken.

Our reception location...I think it looks super cool and how nice that there is a basketball hoop in case I get bored...joking.

A Chip Equals Half Burger

2009-03-03T03:06:00.004-05:00

I know I haven't been great with updates...turns out planning a wedding takes quite a bit of time plus my work seems that now that I get paid more I'm expected to at least do as much as I did before. Well I'm putting in some time on my blog to give some updates...I actually have four in addition to this one in the queue. They are just a bunch of small items, such as this one, that I wanted to post and haven't. So I'm starting with the oldest.

Last month when Dem and I visited her parents place to do some wedding planning tasks, we pulled into a vet on our way up...Dem needed something, but I can't remember...not from the vet but from the car and we had to stop to get it. So I'm sitting, waiting (wishing...at least Dem will get the reference) and checking out this places sign. Dem and I sat there for awhile pondering what might be meant by "1 chip = 1/2 burger". Just like our previous sign mystery (still unsolved) we would like to know where this conversion factor comes from...if you know what this means please share.

1 Chip = 1/2 Burger

Hilary Swank Sighting

2009-02-24T13:15:00.005-05:00

Today Sherry and I went to have lunch like we do every so often and we both needed to buy food so we went to Pierpont. When we walked in there we knew something was going on because there were way too many people for Tuesday of Spring Break...we thought it was a good chance to grab some free food (Sherry managed to get some fruit). It then became clear that a movie was being shot there, which is becoming somewhat common in Ann Arbor now...which is cool. We walked thru the scene they were setting up and I said "oh this must be the Hilary Swank movie that is being shot on campus," and Sherry said "I don't really like Hilary Swank." Then as irony would have it we had lunch and walked back thru the scene and sure enough we walked right by Hilary Swank. Now I had absolutely no idea what she looks like since I've never seen a single one of her movies so Sherry had to point her out to me when we were standing right next to her. My response was "who the plain looking lady?" Sorry Hilary Swank for not knowing more of your work, but it was super cool to be able to say that I saw you in person (you join the list with Justin Timberlake of famous non-athletes that I've seen in real life). Now I will finally see one of her movies because I have to see this movie (Betty Anne Waters) when it comes out.

Hilary Swank a little bit more done up than she was this afternoon.

P.S. Apparently Minnie Driver is also over there, but the set is closed now.

My Valentine

2009-02-14T14:40:00.001-05:00

For those interested my Valentine and I will be here come June 6th.

Happy Valentines Day Dem...can't wait for our tradition Valentines Day routine. Basically starting on our first Valentines Day three years ago I made dinner for Dem for the first time...I made her my classic homemade tacos. They are great. Beyond the tacos we have no formal plan...just tacos...man she is great for me :)

Playing at Chrysler

2009-02-13T14:22:00.008-05:00

Bringing the ball up at Chrysler Arena.

Last night my intramural team got its third chance to play at Chrysler Arena (this time not a championship game though). My first time playing there I played poorly but our team won the IM championship, and the second time I was in Memphis and couldn't play. So I was really looking forward to getting another chance to play there. Well as luck would have it yesterday was the first day I've been feeling ok in nearly a week. I spent the majority of time since Saturday really sick with a wicked flu...chills, fever, full body aching, coughing, congestion, headache, etc. In spite of that I decided I would try and play...well turns out I wasn't the only one on the team in this situation. The game was painfully bad.

Catching a pass with one hand because when it was thrown my left hand was being held.

Me and another guy scored over a hundred points in our first three games...we combined for probably 5 points this game. In fact I managed to score as many points getting kicked out of the game as I did playing the game. Well, I didn't actually get kicked out but I'm not sure I would have been allowed back on the court. During the game the other team was doing a lot of holding and pushing of our team, which I don't blame them since the refs weren't calling it. However, it was extremely annoying to me. So when I had to catch a pass with one hand because my left hand was being held, than got pushed when trying to shoot, and missed the shot, I was rather upset. So I decided to show how to really grab and push...I grabbed the guy closest to me and pushed him to the ground. I immediately walked to the bench and said I'm done. As luck would have it someone from the other team must have come at me wanting to fight or something because he got a technical and I got an intentional foul. I guess the rules give the other a team 2 points automatically when there is a technical foul and than the other team got two free throws for my intentional foul.

Me loosing my cool...moments before heading to the bench to end my night.

The good news is that Monday my co-ed team gets to play a Chrysler Arena so I get another chance to redeem myself...and hopefully by than I'll have enough energy to play hard.

Dartball

2009-02-05T19:16:00.002-05:00

From my list of random things I decided I should provide an introduction to the world of dartball for my readers. My dartball career started at about the age of 10 playing as a substitute on the St. John's Berne Team as part of the Thumb Lutheran Dartball League (not sure if that was actually what it was). I played my entire career for that ball club. I primarily only filled in when there was a home game and Berne lacked the required number of players, but later in my career (when I was allowed to stay up later) I would travel to away games as well and played more regularly. I wasn't a super star, just a role player...but I always gave my best and rarely missed the board. Its been many years since I got to play nine innings of dartball, but those early years provided valuable later on when cricket (the dart game) became a popular game to play amongst my friends. I actually had never heard of cricket until my roommate Matt got a dartboard for the house...turns out the skills learned in dartball make cricket quite easy to play (the board is much smaller but you throw the dart from like a quarter of the distance).

Well besides reliving my glory days as a dartballer, I need to give a brief overview of how the game is to be played...in case anyone is anxious to go out and give it a try. First you'll need to get darts and a board similar to the one shown below. This is obviously not the traditional style of dartboard. Besides having a different design it is also much larger, which means you throw the darts from much farther back (why cricket seemed so easy to me). With that you simply play by the rules of baseball with two teams and the dart thrower being the "batter". Three strikes the batters out, each team gets three outs per inning, and nine innings per game (if memory services me correctly we use to play best of three games each night). The only special rules involve how the base runners move...which basically if someone is on second and you get a single than the guy on second moves one base (i.e. he moves to the third base). Different boards have different special squares so the rules would have to be checked for that, but the basics are shown below.

white = hit (1 = single, 2 = double, 3 = triple, HR = homerun)
orange = out
green = foul
blue = ball
grey = strike
red (DP) = double play
red (SH) = sacrifice hit

And now you are ready to go out and give dartball a try.

My 25 Random Things

2009-02-04T23:56:00.006-05:00

Its a popular thing to do right now...I think because it results in people sharing interesting things that typically don't come up in everyday conversation. So here is my 25 random things...

1) I eat more salsa than anyone I know

2) I once had a pet turtle that smelled really bad

3) I once had several chameleons (actually green anole...I never knew the correct name and just called them chameleons) in my bedroom that often would escape from their terrarium and climb into bed with me…luckily I never rolled over on one.

4) I once had a pet snake that I named slithers and would often take for walks. After awhile he slithered away only to suddenly reappear a week or so later when I accidentally ran him over with my bike.

5) I have ridden pigs before…if anyone is going to attempt this I suggest getting on their back just before they are fed and to watch out for any low overhangs between you and their trough.

6) I enjoy growing plants and even had my own garden for a few years that produced some pretty good cucumbers.

7) My first paying job was scrapping steel (if I omit being paid by my grandma to pick rocks out of our fields)

8) My first non-paying job would probably be hoeing fields, which I started when I was about 6 years old. Our entire family would get up really early in the morning and head out in the fields until about noon…break…evening return to the fields. I started off taking 2 rows with a hoe that was sawed in half but eventually I work my way up to taking 8 to 10 rows at a time.

9) I have one of the largest collections of AC/DC cds…seriously its way larger than anyone really needs.

10) I know way too much about Days of our Lives thanks to my sisters and their love of the democratic process…voting everyday isn’t fair when it’s two against one everyday.

11) I have a large bump on my skull that has been there forever

12) For over a year I had a very obvious and large scar on my cheek that looked like lips from a kiss…I got it by popping a wheelie on my bike, jumping off the back while holding onto the handles, and the front tiring hitting my face

13) I keep track with graphs and spreadsheets all my bills and paychecks I’ve ever received…only recently have I started to destroy old bills

14) I can drink a full beer faster than anyone I’ve ever met…I was highly recruited during my undergrad years for flip cup.

15) There are several movies and tv series that I watch over and over: Gladiator, Good Will Hunting, Braveheart, Band of Brothers, Arrested Development, 30 Rock, The Office

16) Though lacking much in the area of musical ability I enjoy playing the guitar…I don’t get to play as much as I use to but still enjoy strumming at it before going to bed some nights.

17) I’m addicted to PS2 EASports Madden Football…I’ve played well over a decade in franchise mode and have proudly won the Superbowl every year (I think).

18) I was class representative my sophomore year of high school, which was a surprised because after being there only a year and half I didn’t even think people knew who I was. One of my classmates congratulated me after it was announced and I ask for what…I didn’t even bother listening to the names.

19) I have not had cable for the past 5.5 years.

20) I don’t drink much milk…but I love chocolate milk.

21) I always have a large bottle of vitamin C on hand just in case I feel a cold coming on.

22) During my senior year of undergrad I lived with 2 puppies, they both loved me and would run to my room frequently and get so excited that they would pee all over. Once the one puppy (who actually would just visit on the weekends) came in the door, ran upstairs and into my room, peed on my textbook, and ran away.

23) My junior year of college my roommate slept walked into my bedroom thinking it was the bathroom and peed on the side of my bed…I was extremely upset and from then on I always locked my door.

24) The first night I ever had to spend alone was devil’s night with a very bad storm. My parents and sisters were in Saginaw for the day and a really bad storm came in preventing them from getting home that night…I was a bit scared but made it thru. Most of the evening I watched tv with every light in the entire house on.

25) I use to play dart ball with my dad as part of a Lutheran church league…dart ball is the combination of darts and baseball.

Ann Arbor Folk Festival

2009-01-31T18:21:00.003-05:00

This past Friday Dem and I went to the Ann Arbor Folk Festival. We got tickets because we really wanted to see Jeff Tweedy (lead singer for Wilco). We like Wilco but always wanted to see is solo performance with just an acoustic guitar and as luck would have it he was performing in our backyard. His performance was even better than we had hoped for...we had amazing seats and he even played two songs without a microphone. However, the other bands we saw were really good as well. I tried to take some pictures and video but it was so dark that it just didn't work out. So instead I decided to just post videos from my two favorite bands that performed.

Carolina Chocolate Drops

Great band...probably the most entertaining group we saw. They basically play old time songs to current day hip hop all with banjos, fiddle, jug, clapping/stomping, etc. Its really cool.

Jeff Tweedy

He certainly did not disappoint with his performance. Great selection of songs that were performed flawlessly.

Bonus:

Today I got a haircut that was probably a month overdue...here is a picture from 10 days ago.

Words of Wisdom by Dennis

2009-01-27T18:22:00.003-05:00

I'm sorry I have been neglecting my blog of late. There was a period of time where I had tons of things going on and no motivation to write, but now it has shifted more to that I have nothing to write about. I'm just trying to get back into working in our research group (I've been on my own for quite awhile), writing publications, planning a wedding, getting in shape and hanging out with Dem. That is as good of an update as I could give for my life at the moment. So I'll post something Dem sent me today that makes me laugh...not sure if non-30 Rock fans will appreciate it, but those that watch the show will enjoy it and maybe others will as well.

"Let me tell you about 20 year olds, my friend, half of them are 16."
-Dennis Duffy

The Courage of Detroit

2009-01-19T14:45:00.002-05:00

A great article about Detroit was written in Sports Illustrated by Mitch Albom. The article, the courage of Detroit, chronicles the success, failure and spirit of Detroit and Michigan. If you are looking for something to read take a look.

Its Official

2009-01-16T16:17:00.006-05:00

After 22.5 years of education I am finally finished (at least with formal schooling)...as of 1:00PM on January 16, 2009 I have officially become a doctor of philosophy.

2008 Review

2009-01-14T18:37:00.056-05:00

I wanted to make this entry closer to the new year, but I've been just too lazy ever since I finished my PhD...well technically it'll be done tomorrow, but the hard work was done Dec. 10th. So the idea here is to make an entry to remember everything that happened over the past year. There has been some sad periods, but 2008 has been a year of blessings for me for the most part. Even the trials had some very positive outcomes and since it is so easy to forget our blessings I figured I would give a review of my year to remember.

January
1) New Years

New years was spent with friends relaxing at the beachhouse with a couple Newcastles and playing board games.

2) Dem's Bday

I couldn't remember what we did for her bday, but she reminded me that we had a dinner and went and saw Juno. If you haven't seen this movie give it a try...I think I can safely say that this is one of our favorite movies. Plus I think the soundtrack is pretty awesome.

3) Red Wings Game

My parents, Dem, TC, Chad, and I were all able to go to the same Red Wings game. Even though TC and Chad didn't have seats with us they were able to sit with us because two seats were empty next to us.

4) Aunt Deb Bday Party

Later in the month our family got together to celebrate my Aunt Debbie's bday...I won't say which one :) Everyone had a really good time...as you can see my dad and uncle Gerald enjoyed themselves.

5) Engagement

A few days after our family got together Dem and I got engaged. In spite of my lack of planning the proposal Dem still said yes...and come June we'll be getting hitched.

February
1) IM Bball Championship

February had less going on...mostly I just had some fun. Above is my 5-on-5 IM basketball team after our championship. My Graduate/Faculty/Staff team also made it to the championship game but lost that one. Sadly I was in Memphis and didn't even get to play in the GFS game that was played at Chrysler Arena.

2) Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes Puzzle

Then Dem and I spent our time working on the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore puzzle we got from her parents. We had a lot of fun putting it together.

March
1) Visited Stanford

During March I don't have much memory of what I did...because not much is on the blog and I don't really have any pictures. However, I did get to make my first ever visit to California. I went there to talk with some fluid mechanics researchers at Stanford.

April
1) Ordering at IHOP

There are probably a very large number of more significant moments that I'm not including, but I have pictures of this and I find it funny. There are actually three pictures we have of this. Dem and I decided to take some pictures of us so we set the camera on the opposite side of the table and set it up to take 3 timed pictures in a row. As soon as the first one was about to be taken the waitress walked up and asked to take our order. Trust me...it was funny.

2) Tigers Game

My sisters got me two tickets for a Tigers game, which was awesome. I decided to take Dem. Even though it was a night game and super cold the game was amazing. Our seats were in like the third row right along the first base line. Plus the Tigers were getting beaten really bad and then made a late comeback, which made it a really exciting game.

3) Wings/Avs (Playoff Game)

The game was awesome - fighting, Wings crushing the Avs, going with Dem and my parents, and our family made it on espn's website (see upper left corner for proof).

4) Sherry's Graduation

Sherry graduated...well she finished earlier, but as I'm learning right now you don't get to walk for like a half a year later.

5) Homer Puzzle

During April Dem and I worked on the puzzle Sherry got me for my bday....it was an extremely difficult puzzle of Homer from the Simpsons made of pictures from the show.

May
1) Mother's Day Weekend

For Mother's Day weekend Dem and I went up north and visited her parents. We spent the weekend up there and then visited my parents on Sunday on our way back to Ann Arbor and had a nice dinner in Bad Axe with them.

2) Karen Bday Party

For our friend Karen's bday we had a lot of fun with a dinner mystery party. Dem shown above was a debutente while I was a scuba instructor. Everyone had a really good time and surprisingly the murderer turned out to be the pregnant young girl with a knife.

3) Pyle Wedding

One of a number of weddings we attended this past year was for our friends the Pyles. A good time was had and Dem and her friends all matched...which was not at all planned.

4) Memorial Day

Memorial Day was spent doing some grilling and enjoying friends, food, Red Wings, the beachhouse, and fire...good work with the fire Mike.

5) Giving Blood

On the last day of May Dem and I went and gave blood together...suggestion to Red Cross: if you are going to take appointments they should take priority over any walk-ins.

June
1) Red Wings Win the Stanly Cup!!!

No matter how many times they win the cup it just never gets old. With the Pistons and Tigers being an up and down franchise, Michigan football sucking right now, and the Lions sucking consistently we should all be very thankful to have the Red Wings.

2) Lewis Wedding

Even though I have so many pictures from this wedding and our trip to Missouri, I really like this picture of Dem and I so I'm using it even though it has the photographer print over it. Dem looks so beautiful. The trip was a lot of fun with Dem and I getting to spent quality time together, seeing the gateway to the West, seeing the tremendous flooding of that area, and going on our first trip together.

3) My First JFM Paper

4) Wall-E

After waiting half a year Wall-E finally came out for Dem. We went and saw it and even with her extremely elevated expectations for the movie, it was not at all disappointing to her...even to this day.

5) I got a wii

I'm still loving it and just last week I got wii fit, which makes the wii even more awesome. This has really been great as we have spent plenty of time with family and friends playing it and having fun together.

July
1) 4th of July Vacation

For the 4th we visited Dem's family and stayed at a cabin on Long Lake. It was a lot of fun and a great time was had. Quite often when we spent time with hers or my family there aren't a ton of stories to tell, but we are never disappointed...in fact we love our time with our families.

2) Elbingfest

The Elbing reunion was a blast as always. It turned out to be more of a workout than anticipated, but man it was fun.

3) Matt Nathanson

We saw a concert of Matt Nathanson in Ann Arbor with some of our friends...Ciara is a huge fan. I had heard him on the radio and wasn't that excited about him, but he is really entertaining and would recommend anyone that gets a chance to go see him.

4) Paula Jo

While the list of blessings is long, there was the very large trial of 2008. Only a couple weeks after our family reunion we got word that my youngest cousin Paula Jo had pasted away. The lose has been hard on the whole family, but it should be noted that our family has also come together. I think we have a great family that gets along better than most, but this tragedy has made us pay a little more attention to our family. Rest in peace Paula and we'll join you soon enough.

5) Dem and I are a Match

Dem and I have a tendency to match even without trying. The first pictures of us after we started dating we matched (blue jeans and blue Michigan sweatshirts)...our friend Mike noticed it when I came over and went and got his camera and "secretly" took a picture. So when Dem and I met at Mike & Karen's place to hang out they got a kick out of how well we matched and took another picture...we didn't see each other until we walked in.

August
1) Olympics

Not sure what I did in August besides watch the Olympics...I suppose at least during them it was basically all I did. They are just so captivating, especially when there is such a historic performance like we saw during this one.

September
1) Labor Day Weekend

For Labor Day weekend Dem and I went up to Pigeon and spent some time with my parents. We had a good time that included watching a sunset over Lake Huron (above), having a nice 4 mile run, bonfire with aunts and uncles, and a well deserved Diary Queen run.

2) Stolen Steal

The story of some of our steal from the Hiplate project being stolen has made much more headlines then I had expected. It was on the tv and made it at least to the Chicago news. I'm not even sure what the status is on the trial...last time I heard anything about it I was told I might have to testify about it (just to "identify" the steal).

3) Ran a 10K

At the time Dem and I were glad we had done it, but actually it didn't feel like that big of a deal. Now that we aren't in quite as good of shape and less sure if we could still do it we find it much more impressive that we ran 6.2 miles.

4) Sherry Bday Party

That was really good cake...hey that is the same knife used in the murder from Karen's bday party...I think.

5) Michigan vs. Wisconsin Football Game

Dem and I went to one Michigan football game...actually the first football game we went to together. Turns out we got to see the highlight of the year for Michigan football. I think whenever Dem and I go to games together our team falls way behind only to comeback in very exciting fashion.

October
1) Guest Blogger

Since I was gone for awhile Dem stepped in as a guest blogger. She did a great job and we are still in negotiations to get her to do another guest post...she is just demanding too much money.

2) Trip to Japan and Korea

I was absent because of my trip to Japan and S. Korea for the 27th Symposium on Naval Hydrodynamics put on by the Office of Naval Research. Above is the group photo from the symposium.

3) IM 3-on-3 Basketball Championship

I got back just in time for the IM 3-on-3 basketball playoffs where I won my third championship.

November
1) Writing my Dissertation
There isn't much to write about in November because I spent almost the entire month sitting in my chair writing my PhD dissertation. Even for Thanksgiving I just went to Clarkston, had dinner, and returned to work in Ann Arbor.

2) Trip to San Antonio

The one thing I had to do in November was attend the Applied Physics Conference in San Antonio. This was my first visit to Texas and it was actually quite enjoyable of a trip. I was able to get some work done, relax, tour a little, and felt good about my presentation.

December
1) Defended my PhD Dissertation

I don't have any pictures from the defense but it looked something like this...but replace the podium with a conference table and the Mac with a Dell. I'm still very thankful to be past that point now.

2) Christmas Vacation...REST

My Christmas vacation was so great. I really did just about nothing besides either siding on Dem's parents or my parents couch. It was just what I needed so that when I returned and started 2009 I was ready to get back to work.

Scientific American

2009-01-07T14:08:00.008-05:00

In the December 30, 2008 edition of Scientific American a short article was ran about "Slippery Ships That Float on Air". In this article our group got a couple paragraphs about our research on the reduction of skin-friction for ships. They contacted us in November so I knew it was coming, but it's still really cool to have my work mentioned (though only Ceccio is named in the article) in a popular science magazine. There are rumors about making a real featured article if interest about the brief article is large enough. Hopefully that'll happen.

Happy Birthday My Lady

2009-01-04T03:00:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday Dem!!! Thanks for spending the majority of your time with me this past year...you're a peach. Love you.

Dem and I at the DIA for her birthday.

Christmas Vacation Recap

2008-12-31T13:56:00.012-05:00

My Christmas vacation was really nice with a lot of relaxing with Dem and our families. Since I'm still not interested in writing I will make use of my pictures to recap what we did over the vacation.

The only bad part of the trip was the driving...basically everyday that we had to drive the weather was horrible. I didn't actually get to drive the speed limit until we were driving from Pigeon back to Ann Arbor at the end of our trip. There was a ton of snow and quite a bit of wind during the drive, but we made it every where we needed to go safe and sound in relatively good time considering the conditions.

View of the snow piling up in front of Dem's parent's house.

While up by Traverse City we spent most of the time playing wii, watching tv (Freaks & Geeks, Red Wings, football, etc), celebrating Dem's mom's (dinner and bowling), and relaxing. We had an early Christmas at their house opening gifts. Not too many pictures were taken of this but I did capture Cal (the family dog) opening his gift.

Cal opening his gift.

The last night Dem's parents and us played a very close game of Scrabble.

For most of the game I thought I was totally out of it, but then I was able to go out first resulting in everyone else having to subtract their tiles and giving me those points. In the end I won by a very narrow margin...Dem's dad = 135; Dem and her mom = 136; Me = 137.

The Scrabble score sheet.

We then made the difficult drive to my parent's house. We got there in the evening of Christmas eve giving us just enough time to go to the Christmas Eve Service at St. John's Berne. I really wanted to go to that, but thought that with the weather there was no way we could make...in the end we decided that it was a miracle that we arrived when we did.

Dem and I after the Christmas Eve Service.

I don't really have any pictures from my stay there so there isn't much to recap. But the time was really great with us basically doing the same thing we did at Dem's parents. We watched a lot of tv (House, NCIS, Red Wings), went to church (got 3 services in), did some exercise (played some bball and ran at the gym), opened gifts for Christmas (with parents, TC, and Chad), spent time with family, played Wits & Wagers with my parents (super fun game) and got some wii playing in. Overall our time was very relaxing and enjoyable.

Dem I think had a good time...looks like she did.

In the end we got some well needed relaxation time, spent some quality time with families, and got some great gifts.

Some of the gifts I got, clockwise from top left: toolbox, wii accessories, Michigan football book, Wits & Wagers, and a new box spring for my bed (curtousy of my dad's gift).

My Weekend

2008-12-15T03:37:00.006-05:00

My first post-defense weekend was very relaxing and enjoyable, which was just what I needed. Plus I finally got my replacement battery for my camera, which means once again I can take pictures and post them on my blog. Thus it is only fitting that I have a picture post recapping some of the highlights from the weekend.

Friday - Dem and I finally setup my Christmas tree since it was due time and we were going to have a Christmas/Elf/Brian's done with his PhD celebration at my place on Saturday.

The naked tree

Me doing some tree decorating.

Dem putting hooks on some ornaments.

Finished product.

We then got to work on making additional preparations for the party.

Dem went to work in the kitchen making cookies and other goodness.

Including my favorite holiday snack...puppy chow.

I on the other hand disassembled my entire home entertainment setup...and then put it back together.

Saturday - In the morning we went to the funeral of the father of one of my best friends. It was pretty sad obviously, but quite impressive to see the strength of that family.

Once we got back to Ann Arbor we made the final preparations for the party (by we I mean Dem since I really did nothing). It was fun getting together with friends, watching Elf, eating deliciousness, and playing some "games".

Mike leading the dictionary game...he reads the definition we try to guess the word...its surprisingly more fun then one might think.

Sunday - not many pictures from this day. Highlights included sleeping in, attending a Christmas concert (which was really well done), and relaxing with my lady.

Isn't she cute.

Done

2008-12-11T15:43:00.003-05:00

I think I'm now UNOFFICIALLY a doctor...I have the thumbs up from the gatekeepers but I have to fill out paper work and what not before I'm officially a doctor. It is really nice to be done, but what made it super nice is that a good portion of my family was able to come and get to see what I really do and celebrate the completion of this phase of my life. Then the day was topped off with a nice quiet evening with Dem eating pizza, watching Arrested Development, and playing a little bit of tetris....oh yeah, life doesn't get much better. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures from yesterday to share due to the lack of a camera. However, today I got a picture from the talk I gave in Korea and as luck would have it I'm wearing the exact same thing (so just picture it in a much smaller room with less people).

Giving my talk in Korea wearing the same thing I wore for my defense.

Almost Time

2008-12-09T21:26:00.002-05:00

Showtime in 11.5 hours...can't wait.

It's interesting that I have the same feelings that I use to have the night before a big game in high school. It's a weird mix of anxiety, excitement and confidence. Anywho, time to practice the talk one last time, relax and try to get a good night sleep.

Looking Back

2008-12-07T01:02:00.009-05:00

I visited PhD Comics for the first time in a very long time (besides when Sherry passes a good one on to me), and it just captures the life of a grad student so well. So I decided to recap my graduate studies with several comics that I think capture something that can only fully be appreciated by those that have been through the fire...but I hope everyone enjoys them (click on images for larger versions).

The Early Days (years?)

Middle Ages

The Past Year

The successful representation of my past academic career gives confidence that we can use PhDcomic to extrapolate even into the future...

This Coming Wednesday

My Life as a Postdoc

PhD Defense Countdown

2008-12-05T16:51:00.004-05:00

5 days to go...I'm ready to be finished.

The month and a half of nonstop writing and thinking was so much easier (in terms of motivation to work) than this period of trying to make my presentation...motivation seems to have significantly dropped ever since I distributed my dissertation.

Another Hoop

2008-12-01T23:04:00.004-05:00

Today I made the leap through one of so many hoops necessary to obtain my doctorate. This was a very important one...I distributed my dissertation to my committee. Bonus, I got to learn how to spiral bind papers since my dissertation was too large for binder clips. I'm super exhausted and in need of a break, so I will take the next two days to do only like work before getting to work on making the presentation for defense in less than 10 days.

Family

2008-11-28T12:53:00.004-05:00

Since the holidays are a time to spend with the family I figured I would finally do some updating on my blog with some classic family pictures (actually slides that my mom digitized).

Mom and dad in 1978

Rey and TC hanging out in1979.

Me in 1982 having a pretty good day...apparently.

The siblings hanging out at Christmas 1982.

The family in 1981.

APS Meeting

2008-11-23T15:30:00.005-05:00

I'm sitting in San Antonio at the 2008 Applied Physics Society - Division of Fluid Dynamics (APS-DFD) conference and figured instead of going to more talks I would update my blog. The meeting has been pretty good and while I haven't gone to too many talks, the ones I've gone to have been good. More importantly I have been able to talk with a few people in person that I've tried communicating through email with minimal success. The highlight so far has been visiting the Alamo, which is right behind our hotel. It isn't super exciting, but its always cool to visit a historical site and from what I've heard its important to "remember the Alamo".

photos courtesy of Sherry

Eureko

2008-11-19T21:00:00.002-05:00

No I didn't invent the Tracy Jordan Meat Machine...but I did solve a problem that has plagued our research group for over four years...nothing like a good old diffusion length to help you out :)

Progress...

2008-11-19T00:12:00.003-05:00

I'm still alive even though I seem absent from just about everyone on the face of the earth...besides Dem who comes over to feed me, make sure I'm not living in complete filth, and keep me encouraged. The deadline is approaching and the continuous work has been completely necessary, but I'm glad to say that by the time I go to bed tonight I should have a working rough copy of my entire dissertation...cover to cover. There is still a lot of work to be done with it, but now its fine tuning and and trying to better explain some of the physics in the results. Several parts I think need to be improved and it would be nice to incorporate more results from other studies, but I'm getting there. Now back home (I left the apartment only because when I went to grade some homeworks I found out I didn't have to solutions...opps) where I will do the grading and then read the 70 new pages written for the final part of my dissertation.

Becoming a Doctor

2008-11-11T13:50:00.008-05:00

Sorry I haven't been updating much anymore. The reason is that I have neither time nor content to write. I'm in all out dissertation writing mode. Each week I have to submit a rough draft version of one quarter of my dissertation and each section is pretty much independent of the other sections...so its like write a publication each week. Anyone that has written a publication knows how crazy that really is. Typically a publication takes a few months of back and forth between two of the authors, and that is usually starting with like a conference paper or something. But I'm getting there now that I've submitted rough draft versions of 75% of my dissertation and 25% is pretty much in a final version. In order to get this done I've had to keep a rather simple schedule:

10am: wake up
10am-1am : shower, get cleaned up, read bible
11am-noon: go to the internet cafe, check my email, say hi to Dem
noon-7pm: think/analyze/write
7pm-7:30pm: find dinner (or eat what Dem has given me to eat)
7:30pm-11pm : think/analyze/write
11pm-11:30pm : talk with Dem on the phone
11:30pm-4am : think/analyze/write
4am-10am: sleep

That is the typical schedule though on Tuesdays and Thursdays Dem and I typically go running in the evening and Sunday I go to church and spend some time with Dem. Also I've been able to spend a little time with friends here and there (drove to Pigeon to vote, short visits for birthdays, hospital visits, taught some advanced fluid mechanics, and the Red Wings tonight!). Hopefully a week from now I will have a rough version of my entire dissertation, and if I'm able to do that then I have a reasonable chance of defending in early December...wish me luck.

A New President

2008-11-05T13:53:00.004-05:00

First, I have to thank President Bush for his past eight years of service and sacrifice for the United States of America. He has made unpopular decisions because he thought they were the right decisions and has lead us through a historic period of time. Perhaps now since everyone is weary of the war and concerned about the economy that we forget how well loved and respected he was after 9/11. So thank you President Bush and hope that your accomplishments aren't forgotten in history.

Also I say congratulations President-elect Obama. I find his views on abortion revolting and disagree with his economic policies, but I will never show him the disrespect that has been shown Bush over the past 6 years-ish. Furthermore I'm glad to be able to see the first black President elected and will always show in the respect he deserves as the President of the United States of America...even if I passionately disagree with his positions.

Asia Trip: Final Thoughts

2008-10-29T16:23:00.004-04:00

Well I think I've covered most of the major parts of my trip but to wrap things up I'll give a short list of random things I haven't shared yet.

1) The Conference

Yeah I didn't go to Asia for 10 days just to go but to attend the 27^th Symposium on Naval Hydrodynamics. I gave my 30 minute talk on the second to last day of the conference and was a little surprised how nervous I was. I think it was mainly because I hadn't actually practiced my talk out loud once before I gave it and by my estimate I had too many slides for the 30 minute time slot. So I got up there and started talking way too fast and actually finished early. Fortunately I was the only person giving a talk on drag-reducing polymers so no one in the audience really cared...perhaps that should be unfortunately since I really like the Q&A part when people are interested.

2) Friendly People

I was told to not worry about feeling welcomed over there and I see why now. In both Japan and Korea everyone was so friendly and helpful. Once at a Starbucks I was trying to get internet and could so one of the guys working there noticed and insisted on helping me. After working on it for nearly an hour with two Starbuck workers and some random guy that joined in we(they) finally got me internet access by purchasing it through the other guys computer and one of the workers phones and then having me pay the guy in cash...try having that happen in USA.

3) Beware of 2 Barber Poles

I was told (never went to any barber) that in Seoul if you go to a barber that has one barber pole in front it is a normal barber. However, if there are two poles on the front then it means that you get a haircut and a "happy ending". Specifics of what that entails I didn't ask but was amazed at how common knowledge this was...however I never saw one in Seoul, though there is a chance that there was one in the basement of the last hotel I stayed in...it was open at like 10pm, was in the back corner, and had frosted windows so no one can see in.

4) Korean Folk Music

We had a show of several styles of Korean Folk music, which I absolutely loved and kind of totally forgot about until I started writing this entry. Below are some samples of very similar music to what I heard...sadly I couldn't find anything that was like my favorite performance but this is a good sample of the rest.

Pansori

Nong-ak

Gayageum

Samul-nori

THE END

Asia Trip: Visiting the DMZ

2008-10-24T14:09:00.007-04:00

Sorry for the very slow recap of my trip, but trying to get caught up and hopefully graduate in the very near future severely limits the amount of time for blogging. I think that I will write this post and one more on the trip and that will be all.

Visiting the demilitarized zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea was the highlight of the trip for me. I was asked on the first day in Seoul if I wanted to visit it and at first I was indifferent, but the more I thought about it the more I wanted to go. Choi (one of my adviser's former students that lives in S. Korea) arranged for the trip and got us tickets to enter the DMZ. Unfortunately S. Koreans aren't allowed to go to Panmunjom because they claim that S. Koreans may try to defect to N. Korea if they get that close...to this Choi just laughed at the thought of a S. Korean wanting to do that. Also a problem with recapping this visit is that we were only allowed to take pictures in very specific spots. However, thankfully people that have broken the rules and took video have posted many on YouTube...including the video below from the border through Panmunjom with N. Korean soldiers marching quickly to the border.

The first place we went was on the south border of the DMZ where there is a bridge that connects North and South Korea and was built to exchange prisoners after the Korean War...well actually the war is still going on. There is no formal peace deal between the two sides and there has just been an informal truce for the past 50 years. It is called Freedom Bridge because S. Korean prisoners screamed freedom when they crossed it. However, interestingly Choi told us that they refer to it as the Bridge of No Return because which ever way you were heading on it you weren't coming back (click here for video I took of area).

Me on the observation deck to view Freedom Bridge.

We then drove into the DMZ and visited the third infiltration tunnel that was dug from the N. Korean side to the South to try and attack them. This tunnel was dug 70 meters (230 ft) below ground and dug through granite! There was a fourth tunnel dug that was 140 meters deep, but you can't visit it because its very difficult to get breathable air down there. The tunnel we visited was painted black by the N. Koreans because after they were caught they claimed it was just a coal mine. It was in this tunnel that I got the closest to N. Korea (about 50 yards from their border). The tunnel is barred off with three separate barriers as can be seen in the video I found on YouTube by someone who took the same tour (click here to view...embedding is disabled on this video). At the end of that video is the observation point over Panmunjom where I took the pictures below.

Me at the observation point over Panmunjom.

It is super difficult to get any decent pictures (or video) of the area because you are only allowed to take pictures from behind this yellow line that is back away from the edge. Luckily I'm tall and they don't care if you stand on your tiptoes, hold the camera over your head, and snap pictures...nothing too great turned out from it but I got a good view of the landscape along the border.

The best picture I got from the DMZ.

There are a ton of stories about this place that makes it such a weird place to be. Bill Clinton once described it as the "scariest place on earth" and after hearing some of the stories you quickly realize why. It is the most heavily fortified border in the world with watchtowers, razor wire, landmines (lots of these), tank-traps, and heavy weaponry everywhere...ironic for a "demilitarized zone". Earlier this year on a tour that allowed S. Koreans on the N. Korean side a 53 year old woman was shot and killed because she was in a restricted zone. They claim that she was running away but they shot her first in the leg and then shot her in the chest.

Asia Trip: Touring Seoul

2008-10-20T17:35:00.004-04:00

I saw a lot of cool things driving around Seoul, but unfortunately I was unable to find an English map while I was there and that significantly hindered my ability to have any idea what I was looking at. Because of that I really don't have all that much to share though I took a bunch of pictures from our car...but they don't look good and I don't know what they are of. The one exception is the picture below of Seoul Station.

Seoul Station

The one spot where we visited in Seoul that I actually have a decent idea of what I was looking at got some good pictures is Gyeongbokgung Palace. Basically it was the King and Queen's palace during the Joseon Dynasty, and on the back side of it is the current Presidential House, "The Blue House".

Me touring Gyeongbokgung Palace...we got headphones and a map that you just touch the spot on the map and it would tell us what we were looking at.

Video of the changing of the guard cermony at Gyeongbokgung Palace.

One of the buildings that is part of Gyeongbokgung Palace...shown is a reenactment of people taking the cival service exam for Korea in the 1400s.

A pond in Gyeongbokgung Palace with the "Blue House" located just beyond it.

I went running a few times through Seoul and for the most part saw nothing to interesting with the exception of a tomb of some 1400 king and queen. It was located about a mile or so from our hotel and I could see the big opening of trees from our hotel room (see picture below). So not having a map I just ran there (it actually took two attempts because I got turned around the first time I tried) and hoped to actually have a woods to run in. Sadly you have to pay to get in and I didn't bring any money with me on my run...so I was left to just run around the outer parameter of the tomb, which was still pretty nice.

Tomb area of some king and queen from the 1400s as viewed from our hotel room.

Asia Trip: Touring Tokyo

2008-10-17T18:22:00.003-04:00

I was able to do a little bit of touring around Tokyo during my short stay there. Ryo (Japanese student of Steve's) took us out to eat near the Tokyo equivalent of Times Square, Sheboya square (shown below), the second night that I was in Tokyo. This wasn't too bad, but it was one of those times during my trip where I was reminded that I really like non-crowded places. The dinner was pretty good...I had some kind of Duck/Noodle/Soup thing in the cheater sitting on the floor restaurant for Westerners (below the table was a whole which allows us to sight normally at the short table)

Sheboya Square in Tokyo.

The following morning I got up early (like I always did in Asia...I think 5am was the latest I ever slept in there) and went running. I wasn't sure where to go since I didn't have a map of the area and needed to be able to find my hotel without being able to talk to anyone. Fortunately there was a river that ran along the back side of our hotel (see picture below). So I just ran along the river mostly. Once I broke away from the river path and circled a block. When I did I saw a guy laying on his horn driving behind a truck. When he finally passed the truck he got in front, slammed on the brakes, stopped, and got out of his car to yell at the truck driver...that is a good way to get shot in the US.

River (blue arch is a bridge over the river) that ran behind our hotel in Tokyo.

After some breakfast and getting ready Ryo arrived and took Steve and I touring around Tokyo. We saw several locations with the main sights being a famous Buddhist temple, the Tokyo Tower (as seen in Godzilla), and the Emperor's Palace.

Steve and I in front of the Buddhist temple.

Tokyo Tower...location for numerous famous battles with Godzilla, King Kong, etc.

Emperor's Palace

One great story from our touring around involved Ryo running to get something. Basically since we were touring around Tokyo right before leaving for Seoul we stored our luggage in a locker in one of the many, many subway stations. We were at a different station after making a number of subway changes and Ryo took off to get something leaving Steve and I in the middle of this very busy station. It's at this point I noted that if Ryo has any hidden animosity for us this would be the perfect moment to exact his revenge...we didn't know where our stuff was (even if we found it Ryo had locked it himself and we didn't have access to it), had no idea where we were or how to get to the airport from it, and neither of us know Japanese. The only insurance we had in that moment was that Ryo doesn't have his degree yet.

Championship #3

2008-10-17T10:34:00.002-04:00

I have to give a short interruption to the Asia trip recap because last night I won my third intramural basketball championship (first 3-on-3). This one was the most surprising since of the 6 games before the semi-final game that I played in we had a grand total of zero wins. It was without a doubt the worst season I've had. In spite the poor performances before hand we played quite well in the final two games doubling our opponents scores and bringing home the shirt!

Asia Trip: Japanese Navy

2008-10-15T16:58:00.003-04:00

Since I'm trying to get caught up on work I figured I would make a bunch of short entries about my trip. Todays entry is focused on my visit to the Japanese Naval Systems Research Center, which is located in Tokyo, Japan. I visited this place on my first full day in Japan. We arrived the evening before and since the 14 hour flight had nothing to interesting to share I'll just jump to this visit. It was neat seeing their research facility since I am quite familar with the US Naval research facilities, which look pretty much the same. Below is a picture of the area and the main things I saw there: their headquarters, their towing tank, and the "junior" LCC. I'm dubbed it the "Junior" LCC because its smaller then the LCC (not by much), and we already have the mini-LCC here at Michigan. The towing tank was cool and there are two interesting stories about it; (1) this is the towing tank where the Japanese secretly designed Yamato before WWII, the largest and most heavily-armed battleship in history. (2) It was taken over by Australia and they drained it and used it for tennis courts, so to this day there are lines below the water for tennis courts. Then the headquarters is a very historical building. I've had a hard time finding out exactly what happened in there, but it was formerly the Imperial Japanese Navy Institute of Technology. I heard that this was the building where a lot of the Japanese planning for WWII was done. It was very weird to be having meetings in that building, but everyone we met were super friendly and welcoming.

Japanese Naval Systems Research Center - Tokyo, Japan