Notes from Norman

Round of Applause for the Oregon Department of Education

2010-04-28T18:10:00.001+02:00

Today, Google announced that the entire public education (K-12) system of Oregon will begin to use Google Apps:

Official Google Blog: Alis volat propriis: Oregon’s bringing Google Apps to classrooms statewide

This is an incredibly fantastic move by the Department of Education of Oregon for a few reasons. First, it will allow students the opportunity to use tools to collaborate with their teachers as well as other students for class projects -- or even just for studying for tests (e.g. making collaborative study sheets on Google Docs for a test). Second, it will give students real life experience using email, document editors, and much more in the cloud which is where all of their internet experiences will take place over the next 20 years. Finally, it will give students who have historically not had the chance to use internet or cloud technologies a fantastic opportunity to develop skills that will make them more successful as they (hopefully) move on to college and then into the "real world" where everyone uses technologies like these.

Mad props, Round of Applause, whatever you do to celebrate a great achievement should be hailed on the Education system in Oregon. Now, let's hope every student in the US and the world gets an opportunity to use these technologies while in the public school system someday.

How to import OU mail to Gmail in Two Steps!

2010-03-09T04:08:00.001+01:00

Hey fellow Sooner students, have a Gmail account and a OU email account?

Tired of having to check two different places for email?

Well, there's an easy way to get all of your OU emails into your Gmail inbox so you will only have to read one inbox.

Step 1

Go to 'Settings' in the right hand corner when you are at your inbox and click on the
'Accounts and Import' tab.

In the 'Check mail using POP3' click the 'Add POP3 email account' button

Enter your OU email address.

Enter your OU 4x4 for the username and your OU password.

The POP server name is exchange.ou.edu and the port number is 110.

Check the first box and the third box if you want the mail coming from your OU account to be labeled

Step 2
Go to 'Settings' in the right hand corner when you are at your inbox and click on the'Accounts and Import' tab.

In the 'Send mail as' section click the 'Send mail from another address' button

Input your name and your OU email address

Click Next

For this screen select the second option. (This will allow you to send mail as your OU email instead of for example "from saxplaya (at) gmail (dot) com on behalf of jcyr (at) ou (dot) edu"

STMP Server: asmtp.ou.edu
Port: 587
Username: OU 4x4
Password OU account password

Leave the 'Always use a secure connection (SSL) when sending mail' UNCHECKED

You will get an email in that account you want to send mail from, so be sure to check it in order to verify that you are the owner of that account.

That's it!

(This process works for other email clients, i.e. Yahoo, Hotmail -- but some of the port numbers and other details are different but those can easily be found by googling)

Let me know how it works for you and if you need any help!

-Jamie

Barcelona

2009-05-21T03:20:00.006+02:00

Sorry for such a delay for those of you who are still reading my blog, I've been quite busy since my return to the States and now I finally have a chance to sit down and write a blog post for the final trip I took during my Semester Abroad.

First of all, I would like to thank iAudioguide.com for their great podcast of Barcelona. The content covered the major sights to see in the city and it gave great history and background of each place. From all of Gaudi's work throughout Barcelona to the Camp Nou Estadio, where the famed Football Club Barcelona plays, the iAudioguide podcast gave me much more insight and understanding of each place, allowing me to appreciate the sights of Barcelona even more. One thing I would suggest to improve the audioguide is to provide greater detail about the interior of some buildings, but other than that it was a great audioguide. There are many cities (European and American) to choose from at iAudioguide. To learn more information visit www.iAudioguide.com

Thursday: my flight left at 18:10 from Madrid so right after school I had to eat a quick lunch and then make sure I had everything ready. I got to the airport just before the plane boarded - perfect timing. We got into Barcelona and arrived at our hostel around 10ish. We got into our room and put our baggage away and decided to plan out what we wanted to do for the next few days.

Friday: We woke up at 0800 in order to take advantage of the free breakfast and get ready to go explore Barcelona. We were going to take a free tour of the city but we got lost on the way so we ended up not making it there and we decided to get back to the hostel and then go to the beach. However, on the way to the beach it started raining and instead of trying to wait it out the group decided to go back to the hostel - essentially wasting half of the day doing nothing. After adjusting our plan of action and eating lunch we headed to the Montjuic park (where most of the 1992 Olympic games took place) and got a great panoramic view of the city! After that I met up with a friend I met in Ireland who has lived in Barcelona his whole life for a drink. He suggested some places for me to see and explained some things about Barcelona that the guide books don't explain. Once I was done meeting up with my friend, I headed to the magic fountains of Montjuic to meet up with the group of people I traveled here with. The magic fountains are one of the coolest things I have ever seen. It is a huge fountain with mechanized water spouts that shoot water off synchronized with music and as the sun went down, lights began to illuminate the water - it was spectacular. We were all tired after the show so we went back to the hostel to get some sleep.

Saturday: Once again, we enjoyed our free breakfast at the hostel in the morning and then had to change rooms for our last night. After that was out of the way, we went and visited a few of the more famous places in Barcelona, most notably the Sagrada Familia and Parc Guell. The Sagarada Familia (meaning Holy Family in Catalan) is the most visited construction site in the world. It started in 1882 by the famous Catalan artist Antonio Gaudi but he died before it was finished and it is still being continued today with an expected completion date of 2026 (read the Wikipedia article for more information). Parc Guell was also designed by Gaudi and has a very Dr. Suess feel to it with bright colors and strange architecture. Originally it was planned to be a neighborhood for the wealthy but that fell through because it was too far away from the city center of Barcelona. It eventually was opened as a public park and now it is a very popular tourist attraction and it even houses an elementary school. After those two famous sights, we looked at some other minor Gaudi designed buildings and then headed down to the beach (even though it was a very overcast day). We spent some time laying on the grass next to the beach (we didn't want to get all sandy, of course) and after a while we headed home so we could beat the approaching rain clouds. Dinner included sandwiches we made after buying supplies at the local grocery store (much cheaper than eating out) and we just took it easy until later. We had heard about a supposed "Stock Market" bar in Barcelona, so we ventured out to see if it existed -- and to our surprise it did! This very unique bar ("Dow Jones Bar") has a different way of selling its drinks. The prices are displayed on monitors above the bar just like stocks are and when a drink is purchased, the price will rise a few cents and when no one has bought a particular drink in a while, the price will fall. Quite an interesting concept and they even had ESPN America which was a great relief for my friends and I.

Sunday: I woke up, ate breakfast and split off from the group because I wanted to tour my church (AKA Camp Nou Estadio). It was amazing to be inside the biggest stadium in Europe, making my way from the locker rooms to field level, up through the stands, in the press box and through an amazing museum and trophy display. The stadium was absolutely gorgeous and I can't wait to go back someday to watch my believed Blaugrana play a game. After spending about 3 hours at the stadium, I headed back into the city center and wandered around the main street, Las Ramblas and got a good view of some more of Gaudi's famous architecture. I met back up with the group and we eventually headed to the bus station to catch our night bus that left at 11PM and we arrived in Madrid at about 6AM. It was quite a long trip back but we all made it to class and didn't fall asleep (at least not too many times).

Barcelona is a magnificent Mediterranean coastal city, with wonderful art, architecture, beaches, and football. What more could you ask for. I would rate this in the top 5 places I've ever visited (my list isn't that long yet, so take it with a grain of salt) and I would recommend a trip for everyone if you get a chance.

--Jamie

Semana Santa -- Rome

2009-04-28T11:45:00.005+02:00

Photo Albums:

Saint Peter's Square and Basilica
Roman Forum & Palatine Hill: 1 and 2
Colosseum
Vatican Museum: 1 and 2
Rome from above and the Pope
Random Rome: 1 and 2

We landed in Rome in the mid afternoon and paid 11 € (ouch) for the train into Rome. When we got to the main station, Termini, we had no idea where we were but we had directions to the hostel and we walked around the station for about 30 minutes until we found the street we needed. Finally we arrived at the hostel, checked in to our room and then got a little rest before heading out to walk around the city.

The weather was fairly good so we just decided to walk around the city for a while looking at some of the more "touristy" things in the city. We saw a bunch of really cool monuments but didn't have any idea what they were or what they symbolized but we finally saw something we knew about -- the Spanish Steps. As we were walking down the steps, we ran into my friends from Alcala just by chance! We all decided to grab some dinner together and then go to the Colosseum for the Stations of the Cross -- to see the Pope! The program was quite long, about an hour and a half, but it was quite worth it to see "Il Papa" even though I am not Catholic.

The next day, my friend Liz and I, got up very early to get out to Vatican City to avoid the long lines at St. Peter's Basilica. Our plan worked and we only were in line for about 30 minutes. We got into the Basilica and WOW it was absolutely amazing. The structure on the inside was beautiful with intricate sculptures and memorials for past Popes. After walking around the interior of the Basilica, we took an elevator then what seemed like a million steps to the top of the dome for an epic (yes, epic) view of Vatican City and Rome.

Next up--the Vatican Museum. The World's Richest Art museum does not fail to impress guests, with art from all over and it's centerpiece -- The Sistine Chapel. There was mainly religious art -- obviously, but I even saw a mummy! With so many different things, it's better if you just check out the link to pictures at the top of this page.

After we were done with visiting the Vatican City, we decided to walk around Rome and visit some of the random "cool things" to see around the city. We saw the Trevi Fountains and the Pantheon -- with it's perfectly spherical dome that architects still marvel at today. At this point, we were pretty tired so we decided to head back to the hostel to get some food and rest up for the next day at the Colosseum and the Roman Forum.

The Colosseum, the model for stadium architecture around the World and one of the most visited cites on the globe. It was very interesting to see the place where gladiators battled for their lives and the Roman Empire put on spectacles to keep the Plebeians entertained. If only walls could talk as history was just seeping from the grounds of the great building. The Roman Forum used to be the center of all things during the Roman Empire. With the old senate building, temples to all sorts of gods, and the burial mound of Julius Caesar. It was quite the experience to see the epicenter of the ancient world first hand. That was pretty much it for the day of sightseeing and after eating dinner, I lucked out and was able to watch the final round of the Masters on the TV in the hostel.

I didn't have any problems getting to the airport in Rome and made it back to Madrid. Once I returned, it was time to finish all the homework I didn't do during the week. Next update will come very soon about my trip to Barcelona.

--Jamie

Semana Santa -- Paris

2009-04-24T16:36:00.002+02:00

Since I have returned from my Spring Break travels I have had no time to sit down and write a blog but finally with a weekend of no travels I can tell the tale of my travels around Europe.

The first stop on my trip was to Paris to see the city of lights. I met up with my friend Liz from OU who is studying in the south of France. She had already been there for a few days with one of her friends from the States so when I arrived, it was time time for the the "touristy" places. The first day I was there, we went to the Arc de Triomphe and walked down the Champs Elysees then we walked up the Eiffel Tower (668 steps!!) to the second level but didn't go to the top because there was a very long line for the elevator.

The next day, we visited the Catacombs (an underground ossuary filled with millions and millons of bones of deceased Parisiens) in the morning and then the Notre Dame cathedral and some other monuments around the city. At night, we went to the Lourve because we thought there was student discounts on Wednesday nights but we found out it was only for EU students...urgh.

On Thursday, we went to the grand palace of Versailles but we had a little trouble getting there. The train system of Paris is extremely complex if you don't know what you are doing so instead of getting on the train to Versailles, we got on a train that branched to a north suburb of the city. We eventually got there but then had to wait in like for about an hour and a half just to get tickets -- the wait was well worth it though. The interior of the palace was breathtaking and the "backyard" was even better. The royalty of France had acres and acres of land at their disposal in which they could take a stroll around the man made lake or hunt for animals. It was quite impressive. When we got back to Paris, we went to the Montmarte (artsy part of town) area and saw the infamous Moulin Rouge, then walked up the giant hill to see the famous church of Sacre Coeur.

The next morning was our flight to Rome but we had a few problems getting to the airport and even getting on to the plane. First of all, the train system that runs to the Charles De Gualle airport was shut down for some reason or another so we had to go catch a cab, unfortunately so was everyone else who wanted to get to the airport. Luckily, there was a couple who had "illegaly" hailed a cab (meaning the cab driver had stopped for them even though he wasn't at the front of the line) and asked us if we wanted to go because the cabbie would only go if he had a full cab. So we reluctantly follow him to the cab but once we get in we realize everything is okay, because the guy's girlfriend is an American and she was even from Texas! We finally get to the airport, check in and get our boarding passes, and head to the gate but if you've ever been through security at CDG you know how much of a pain it is. The security gates are squeezed right in next to the gates and only one machine is operating -- by the time Liz and I got to security we had about 45 minutes until the gate closed, so we thought we would have plenty of time. Only 10 minutes before our plane left did the security people open up another gate for the about 30 people waiting in line to get on the same plane as us. Luckily we made it just in time but it was closer than I would've liked.

The plane ride was uneventful and we landed in Rome in the afternoon...that will be my next blog.

Time to study for my last final and write my last Spain paper!!

--Jamie

Paris and Rome

2009-04-17T23:24:00.002+02:00

I'm in Barcelona right now, but I will try to have a blog post up from my trips to Paris and Rome this week after I get back. Sorry for the long delay, I got right back from my trip and had to start working on my school work!

Bye from Barça!

Spain vs. Turkey - World Cup Qualifying Match; Mahou (Spanish Beer) Factory

2009-04-04T16:46:00.006+02:00

Spain vs. Turkey - 1
Spain vs. Turkey - 2

One thing I have always wanted to experience is an International Football match and last weekend I received my chance when Spain played Turkey in a 2010 World Cup Qualifying match. Since this game wasn't just a friendly game the atmosphere before, during, and after the game was electric. Spaniards have a passion for football and when "la seleccion" is playing, they get very excited for the game. Here's a video of the crowd singing the Spanish national anthem:

My friend Conner and I got to the stadium a few hours before in order to meet his friend (Russ) who came in from Granada to enjoy the match. We walked around soaking in the atmosphere and hung out in a few bars before the game. It was quite windy and cold so we decided to sit down inside Tony Roma's which was right next to the stadium. After a while, a group of Turkish fans sat down next to us and struck up a conversation with us. They were from Turkey but have been living in Boston for 15 years and they only picked up English from living there. It was really fun to talk about the match with opposing fans (in English too!) and they were extremely nice as well.

We got to our seats about 40 minutes before kick-off too get a glimpse of both teams warming up and watch the stadium fill up with crazed Spaniards (and a good portion of Turkish fans). The game was actually quite boring and defensive but there were certainly plenty of scoring chances. I got to see some of the best players in the world and my two of my favorite Spanish players (Fernando Torres and David Villa). The result ended up in the favor of Spain although I could tell the crowd wanted more goals and more action.

This is quite an experience that I will never forget and I hope I can see more International matches in the future (especially the World Cup!).

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Also, on Monday I went with my business classes to visit the Mahou factory! Mahou is a Spanish beer and is very popular throughout the country. I got to see some inner workings of the factory and the production line where the cans, bottles, and kegs are all made. At the end of the tour we also got all the drinks we wanted and some very tasty tapas. We also received gifts; two cans of Mahou and two drinking glasses. All in all, I'd have to say this visit was the best field trip of the ones I have been on!

I leave for Paris on Tuesday and then fly to Rome on Friday for Easter weekend, it should be lots of fun!

-Jamie

Family's Visit to Spain!!!

2009-03-27T13:36:00.004+01:00

Palacio Real Album

Sorry about the lack of posts, I really haven't done much so there was not much to write about, however, my family did visit last weekend and now I have a lot more material to write about!

My family flew into Madrid on Friday morning, which meant I had to wake up before the sun was up to go pick them up at the airport which is about an hours worth of train and metro rides away. Oh well, I got peanut butter and jelly out of it (which is very difficult to find here) so I guess I should not complain too much. Once I met them at the airport we hopped back on to the metro and took it to the hotel that we were staying in for the weekend.

We stayed at a hotel just a short walk from the "Plaza del Sol" which is the very heart of Madrid and is comparable to NYC's Time's Square without all of the advertisements and skyscrapers. Also, from above, the streets branching off from the plaza create the effect of the rising sun, quite cool city planning even centuries ago. After we got to the hotel, everyone decided it would be best to take showers and relax a bit before embarking on our tour of Madrid. We took a free tour (the same company as the one in Dublin) around Madrid and the tour guide was very informative and provided a lot of history of the city and country that I didn't know yet. After the tour, we were all pooped and we decided to get something for dinner and go back to the hotel and sleep...

...no one set an alarm so we all ended up sleeping for 11 hours! I'm pretty sure everyone needed it though, so it wasn't so much of a bad thing. It did take a while for everyone to get ready to leave (about 2.5 hours) therefore we got a late start to the day. We found a pretty decent pizza place for some grub then we headed over to the Palacio Real to take a tour. When we got there we found out there was free entrance for families larger than 5! Needless to say, my dad was pretty happy with that. We spent quite a long time in the Palace and all of us took a bunch of pictures and toured the exhibits and the rooms of the palace, it was quite impressive and apparently it's the biggest in all of Europe because it has 4 levels underground. Check out my pictures on the link at the top of the post!

After the palace, we took the subway over to the Parque de Retiro, Madrid's Central Park but bigger (I think). It was quite a lovely day, so the park was filled with families and sunbathers taking in the glorious day. We spent some time there looking at a few of the wonderful views the park provided before we headed over to the Prado art museum for their free entrance hours. When we go to the museum the line was incredibly long so we decided not to get in it and just wait to see how fast it moved. To our luck, the line moved very quickly and after we saw this we decided to get in line and within 15 minutes we were in one of Europe's best art museums. We meandered around until the allotted time of the free visit was up and saw some stunning masterpieces from French, Spanish, Italian artists and ancient Roman sculptures, among other things. Once we were done visiting the Prado, it was back to the hotel after a long day of sightseeing plus we had an early wake up call to go to the largest flea market in Europe...

...El Rastro awaited us as we woke up early (it still took us quite a bit of time to get ready but nearly as bad as the day before). If you can imagine a place where basically everything you want is in one place (for pretty good prices too) the Rastro is what you are thinking of. We meandered all the booths that lined the street blocked off for foot traffic only on Sundays looking for anything that caught our eyes. I ended up getting a knock off Liverpool soccer jersey and a Holland soccer shirt for 15 euros combined (let's see how long they hold up though). After we finished shopping, the boys decided to go up to the Bernabeu Stadium to see if there were any tickets available for that afternoon's game. We took the metro packed full of fans and started walking towards the stadium after climbing four flights of stairs to ground level. Once we found the ticket window, we were informed that the only tickets remaining for the game were 60 euros and they were not together. So we grabbed a few cokes and just sat outside the stadium watching the mass of people swarm to the stadium and then once the game started there was no one to be seen except for the police. We found a place to watch the first half of the game then decided to take the Metro back early in order to avoid all the crowds and we got back to the hotel and watched Barcelona score 6 goals on an ineffective Malaga team. Dinner was next on the agenda and then we all headed to bed early for our trip to Alcala in the morning.

We took the train to Alcala and met my host mom in the plaza and she took us to a place to have chocolate with churros. Mmmm, I think everyone needs to try chocolate with churros at some point in their life, it's well worth it. After churros, we went over the main university campus and took a tour of the campus. The tour guide spoke only Spanish, so I got to translate what I could understand (most of what she said) to English for my family. Although, we did use an audio guide in English so we could get a better understanding of each place. At noon, my mom, David, and I met my host mom to go over to my host sister's school to talk with the director of English studies about setting up a pen pal program. We went to two different classes where the kids asked my mom and I questions and English. I was very impressed by there level of English and I hope my mom can set up the pen pal program because I think it could be a great experience for her kids and the kids here. Next, we visited a palace/museum building here in Alcala which was quite impressive for its small stature. Once we finished visiting the palace we returned to the hotel in Madrid, ate some dinner, picked up some souvenirs and then I returned to Alcala to finish up my homework and get some sleep before class the next day.

All in all, it was a very fun weekend and I was very glad to see my family. Tomorrow I am going to another football game but this one should be way more exciting than the other two I have been to. It is a World Cup Qualifying match between Spain (FIFA #1) and Turkey (FIFA #11). If you are having problems viewing the photo albums, let me know and I will try to correct the problems.

That's it for now.

-Jamie

Ireland!!!!

2009-03-13T22:37:00.003+01:00

Pictures:
Dublin.1, Dublin.2, Dublin.3, Dublin.4

Ireland! What a beautiful place to be!

We got into Dublin at around 10PM, got our passports stamped (woo!!), and found a bus to get us to the city center. Our hostel, Jacob's Inn, was not bad for the money and location. Once we got settled in we walked around for a little bit and found an internet cafe where we all ordered and printed off our tickets for the Guinness Storehouse tour. Everything had already closed down for the night so we decided to just call it a night and get some rest for the next morning.

I woke up at about 830AM the next morning and took advantage of the free breakfast that the hostel offered (only toast and juice, oh well). Then we waited for the free tour to start! There is a company called New Europe Tours (link) that provides free tours in 9 of Europe's biggest cities. The tour guides work on tips only and inform you of that only once at the beginning and once at the end, besides that no more money talk. Our tour guides name was Ali from Northern Ireland (if I remember correctly) who did a wonderful job at describing the cool history of the city. He even played an Irish tune on the tin whistle for us! We saw the Dublin Castle, the Temple Bar district, Trinity College, Christ Church, and many other Dublin sites. After the tour was over we headed to find some good food to eat (for cheap, of course) and while we were walking, I SAW A GUY WEARING A STARS JERSEY!!!!!! I never thought I'd see a Dallas Stars jersey and Dublin, Ireland! Okay, sorry for that little sidebar -- after we had some (decent) pizza, we walked over to the Guinness Storehouse. It was a self guided tour through the museum which included the process of making Guinness, the history of the beer, history of Guinness advertising, and finally the Gravity Bar at the top of the Storehouse (the tallest building in Dublin) with 360 degree views of the entire city. I had never tried Guinness before, but I had a free pint in front of my so I decided not to let it waste. What a very bitter beer it is, I think I'll only be able to drink it if I am eating something or maybe I just have to get used to it. After the tour, we all did some souvenir shopping then met up with a friend of one of the people in our group who was living in Dublin. She showed us around some of the cool nightspots in Dublin but we didn't stay out late because we had a long day ahead of us.

The next morning we woke up early and headed off to the countryside of Ireland! We took a bus out to Enniskerry, which was about an hour outside of Dublin. Man was it green -- everywhere. I even got to see a Irish golf course! Then we trekked 7 Km to see this magnificent waterfall, quite worth the walk and the 4.50 to see it. I can't really say much else about the countryside because my words can not describe it's beauty, so check out the 3rd and 4th albums to see my pictures. Once we got back to Dublin, we picked up our bags and headed to the airport. Our flight didn't leave until 6:20 AM the next morning but the only way we could make the flight was to spend the night in the airport. So, we spent 7 hours in the very cold Dublin airport. The flight home was very uneventful and once I got back to Alcala, I slept for the rest of the day.

All in all, it was a fantastic trip and theres still some things I want to see, so I definitely have to visit Ireland again! That's all for now!

-Jamie

Midterms, Cuenca, and Futbol

2009-03-02T00:14:00.013+01:00

Cuenca Photo Album
Athletico Madrid - FC Barcelona Game

This past week, I had midterm exams for my classes and unlike classes at OU where teachers schedule their own tests, the university here has a certain week for midterms, therefore all of the midterms fall on this week. It was quite stressful! Aside from the stress of studying, I think I did pretty well on the exams, I shall find out soon enough.

Enough about class, lets talk about futbol! I joined a futbol siete (7) team through the school and we started playing games last week. We had just enough players to field a team and no substitues, so needless to say, we got our butts handed to us (5 - 0). This week we will have one sub so maybe we can get some fresher legs rotated into the game. Besides being beat so badly, it was quite a lot of fun and it was a great workout.

On Friday, I went on an excursion with the University to Cuenca, Spain which is about 2 hours away from Alcala. It is a quaint little town in the middle of Spain with some very cool art and architecture. We took a tour of the modern art museum (with some questionable looking art) and a cathedral (these are getting a little bit old, not gonna lie). Check out my pictures from the trip on the link above!

Today, (the best part of my weekend) I went with my friend Conner (a huge futbol fan like me) to see a match between Athletico Madrid and FC Barcelona. We got to our seats about an hour early to get some good pictures of a somewhat empty stadium and to catch a glimpse of our favorite players warming up. After a while, the fans started to fill the stadium and the excitement of ensuing game was building up. Our seats were right right next to "los Ultras" (they are the fanatical Athletico Fans for life) and the atmosphere was amazing for this thrilling game. In the end, Barcelona ended up losing 4 - 3 but there were some fantastic goals in this game (I will try to post a link to the highlights once they are online) and I got every cent out of the 80 Euro ticket!

Here's a video of the fans:

I also bought a few scarfs so I could act like a local when I go to games:

Of course, I had to buy a FC Barcelona scarf! The other one has a quote on it from King Juan Carlos I when he told Hugo Chavez to shut up (¿Por que no te callas?) at the 2007 Ibero-American Summit in Santiago Chile (watch the video here), when he kept interrupting the Prime Minister of Spain, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, while he was speaking. It's become a very popular quote in Spain, obviously, it's on a scarf!

That's it for now, I must get to bed and start another week of classes. I can't belive it's already March!

-Jamie

Real Madrid Football Game

2009-02-27T21:45:00.006+01:00

Pictures from the Real Madrid - Real Betis game
Even though I'm not a fan of Real Madrid, I wanted to go to a game at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in order to experience the atmosphere. We went back to the American restaurant (Foster's Hollywood) we went to last weekend and got some really good American food. Woo! After the meal we headed to the stadium to pick up our tickets and buy some souvenirs (of course not me, I'd never buy Real Madrid propaganda!!!).

We headed up to our 25 Euro seats, up in the nosebleeds of course, and found out we were sitting with the opposing teams fans!! I've known that football fans in Europe are extremely devoted and fanatics but I didn't know the extent of their fanaticism till after this game. The fans were screaming and chanting throughout the whole game (even when they were losing). Of course, there were the obscenities being yelled at the players but (from what I could understand) the entire section was yelling cuss words at the players, it was rather funny! They also had a chant that went along with Frankie Valli's Can't Take My Eyes Off of You "I Want you baby" (Te quiero baby...) and it was quite enjoyable to be surrounded by these great fans. Although the game turned sour for Real Betis, to the tune of 6-1 in favor of Real Madrid, their fans kept beating the drum and chanting for their team until the finals whistle. There were fantastic goals (I do have to admit that) by Real Madrid but I hope that they slip up some and give Barcelona some space at the top of the league!

This weekend, I get to see my team! Barcelona plays Athletico Madrid at the Vicente Calderon Stadium in Madrid and a friend and I are going to see them play. I'm really excited and even though I spent quite a bit of money on the ticket, we got seats close to the field, so I should have some good shots of the players! I hope everything is going well with everyone back at home.

-Jamie

¡Rellenos gratis! (Free Refills!) oh and some big stadium

2009-02-17T11:33:00.006+01:00

Estadio Santiago Bernabéu album

Last Saturday I visited the northern part of Madrid with my friend Kayla (she's from Colorado State University). We were starving when we got of the subway stop at the stadium and I knew there was a Hard Rock cafe around so we asked for directions and started walking towards it. However, we ran into another American restaurant called "Foster's Hollywood" that served all the highlights of a typical menu from America. When I opened the menu I couldn't decide what I wanted because I wanted everything! I ended up getting a classic hamburger which was very good but the best thing about this restaurant was yet to come. In Spain, restaurants don't believe in free refills, so if you down that tiny Coke for 2€ you get to pay 2€ more for another drink but at American restaurants they give free refills!! I know this may seem very trivial but if you are a Coke fanatic like I am, you probably drink at least two Cokes when you eat out. Now just imagine paying 2€ (about $2.50 UD) for a 200ml (about 7 oz) bottle of coke! So these free refills (albeit Pepsi, I still took full advantage of these free drinks) we're the highlight of afternoon!

After we indulged ourselves with American food, we walked over and bought tickets for the self guided tour of Real Madrid's "Estadio Santiago Bernabéu" for 15€ and then walked into the stadium. The first stop was a panoramic view of the stadium and the pitch, then onto a mini-musem of the history of the team, after that we saw some more of the stadium from a lower view. We were also able to see the numerous amount of trophies the club has amassed in the last century. It was quite impressie and while I'm not quite a fan of the team (well really I hate the club) I do respect their stadium and history. The tour alo allowed us to get down on the pitch, onto the team benches, into the the team locker room, and then into the press room. Overall it was quite a fantastic tour and worth every bit of the 15€ I spent.

This weekend, I'll be going to a game at the stadium and then the weekend after that I'll be attending the Athletico Madrid - Barçelona game in the other big stadium in Madrid (Estadio de Vicente Calderon). I'm very excited about these opportunities and I'm sure I'll take plenty of pictures (when do I not?).

That's all for now, it's time for class!
-Jamie

Toledo, why are you so cold? -- and more.

2009-02-11T13:09:00.009+01:00

Last Friday I went to Toledo on a group trip with the University. It seemed like it was going to be a great trip but that was before we got there and discovered the mini blizzard that was covering Toledo that day. We were taking to a viewing point to get a panoramic view of the city but we could barely see the city through the snow. The bus took us down to a plaza in the city and by the time we got down there the weather had improved, but only slightly. We visited a cathedral in they city and some other site but I couldn't really tell you the names because we didn't spend much time there. We came back early due to the weather so I don't have much to say about the trip but you can see my pictures HERE.

Tonight I am going to watch the International Football Friendly (basically an exhibition between two countries) between Spain and England. I'm hoping to go down to a bar and watch the game with some friends and maybe some Spaniards too, we'll see. This weekend I don't have any plans yet but I think I might go visit Madrid some more.

--Jamie

***********************************UPDATED****************************************

Toledo revsited album

I revisited Toledo last weekend and it was 100x better than the weekend before. The weather was gorgeous which in turn made the city fantastic. We took a high speed train from Madrid, which took about 30 min for a 55 mile trip (= average speed of 100mph) so that was a cool experience. I hope to take a high speed train somewhere else before I leave just to experience long distance traveling on a train like that. Once we got to Toledo, we climbed up the hill that the city was on and happened to stumble into a FREE musem of artifacts from the period of 1808 to 1814 ( I think that's the right time period). The musem had paintings from the time, royal dishes, navegation tools, and so much more. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take any pictures so if you want to know more about it just ask me.

After the musem, we went and had lunch at a pizza place (except the pizza here isn't close to what it is at home, so I got some pasta). Then, we explored the city some more and took picture of the Alcazar, the highest building in Toledo. It was once a royal palace for many different people but now it is being converted into a military musem. We found a nice panoramic view of the mountains, so we decided to soak in the sun for a while. That was a nice change from the cloudy weather we have had since the beginning of the semster.

Next up, we visited a small church that housed a very famous painting by the painter "El Greco". You can read up on him at Wikipedia. We saw this painting, El entierro del conde de Orgaz (the burial of the count of Orgaz). It was quite an amazing painting and I can't even imagine how much work it took to create it. He even painted himself, his son, and Cervantes into the painting. I guess he wanted to have a little fun while he was making the thing.

Overall, this trip was much better than my last trip and I would recomend a visit to anyone.

That's all for now
-Jamie

Granada!

2009-02-04T00:12:00.006+01:00

Last weekend, I went to the South of Spain to visit Granada, about a 6 hour bus ride from Madrid, and see the most visited site in Spain -- the Alhambra. We took the overnight bus so we could get to Granada in the morning and have an extra day to visit the city without having to pay for another night at the hostel. The hostel we stayed at was very chill and had a hippie feel to it. It had hammocks in the courtyard and a hookah tent, plus the staff were very helpful and really laid back. There are a few pictures in one of my albums from the weekend of the hostel. Speaking of pictures, I took over 200 pictures in Granada -- I think that is some sort of record for me!

You can see the albums here: First, Second, Third and Fourth.

After we arrived in Granada, we found the local bus to take us to the city center and then from there we took a smaller bus that took us to our hostel. The streets in the hills of Granada are about ten feet wide, now imagine a small bus getting through that, it was only slightly scary. Once we checked in, we found our beds and rested for a while. After our nap, we went out and walked around the city for a little while just to see what there was to do. We shopped for a little bit and then we went back to the hostel to get ready for dinner.

Since we booked out rooms so late in the hostel, I had to sleep in a separate room from the rest of the group which actually worked out pretty well. I got to meet some people who were on a "Semester at Sea" program who had just docked at the city of Cadiz which is about 4 hours away from Granada. They told me they left from the Bahamas and had traveled across the Atlantic and this was the first country they stopped in. That is a ridiculous itinerary but they do get to go travel all over the world, not sure if I'd want to do that though. Anyways, we all got ready for dinner and went out and found a Mexican restaurant. There wasn't any free chips and queso and the food size was small, but besides that it was a good attempt at Mexican food in Spain. We went and visited some tapas bars next and had some wine and a drink called "tinto de verano" which is red wine with lemonade, it's really good. After a few more places we decided to call it a night and get some sleep for our big day tomorrow.

But before I went to bed, I watched the latest Lost episode. WOW. That show is absolutely ridiculous, I won't go into it now but if you are the fan of the show you know what I'm talking about.

The next day we woke up early and headed towards the Cathedral of Granada. This place was absolutely gorgeous -- just check out my pictures, theres really no need for descriptions after seeing them.

After the Cathedral, we found a bus to take us up to the top of the hill where the Alhambra is. Good thing too because it was a very steep hill, even during the bus ride. The Alhambra was orginally built by Moorish rulers in the 1300s then was later taken over by King Ferdinad II of Aragon and Queen Isabel of Castile in 1492. It is a fortress of palaces where each different ruler, Moorish or Christian, built there own to make there mark. Also, right next to the Alhambra is the gardens of Generalife. These two places are magnificent and you should look in my albums for pictures because my words will not do it justice.

After our visit, we had some pastries and then went back to the hostel. Instead of having dinner, we just decided to go to different tapas bars and get tapas when we ordered drinks. We went to about 4 different bars and ended up hanging out with some locals who showed us a few cool places and got us into a club for free. It was an excellent night and we were out till about 4AM -- still 3 hours short of what a regular night for Spaniards is, eek. The bus ride back was uneventful and we ended up in Alcala at about 8:30 PM.

All in all, it was a fantastic weekend and I would not mind visiting Granada again when it is warmer and the flowers are blooming. Thats it for now, have a good week everyone.

-Jamie

Finally, an update!

2009-01-28T22:33:00.003+01:00

First - I've been absolutely swamped with stuff to do since I last updated thus there haven't been any new updates. But now I have found some time where I can actually relax and not worry about doing my homework!

Last weekend, I went to Avila, Spain, which is about a 2 hour train ride Northwest of Madrid. We left (the group was 18 people, 2 guys and 16 girls -- interesting experience) Alcala at about 830AM and got to Madrid but didn't know where we needed to go in order to catch the connecting train to Avila, so we were confused for a little bit and we missed the early train to Avila and ended up having to wait until 11AM to leave. Nevertheless, we made it to Avila in one piece, the train ride went pretty well and when we arrived we got a rude awakening with a shot of cold mountain air.

I took about 150 pictures and you can see them HERE, HERE, and HERE

In Avila, there is a giant defense wall that surrounds the old city. It is the best kept wall in the world and it has some spectauclar views. We went up on top of the wall and walked around taking pictures. After that, we ate some lunch and drank some wine then headed out to do some more sight seeing. We visited the Cathedral of Saint Teresa which was absolutely gorgeous. I couldn't tell you what she is the saint of or anything but I do know that she is a very important religious figure in Spain. After it got dark, we had some time to kill so the girls shopped while I waited around doing, well nothing. We had some pizza (it was four cheese with blue cheese on it -- ew, I just want some good ol' American pizza) and churros, then went to the train station to wait for our train. Now, here is where the disaster begins.

Our train gets to the platform about 10 minutes late (no problem) and everyone boards, but we sit there for another 10 minutes not moving anywhere before the conductor walks down the isles and tells us that we have to switch trains (okay, lets just get back to Madrid). After we switch trains, we wait another 15 minutes before the train leaves the station! Now, at this point we are about 30 minutes behind schedule and we're cutting it close to catching our train back to Alcala.

So we get to the Charmartin station (which is in the north of Madrid) and we have no idea where the train is to Atocha (in the south of Madrid, station where we connect to Alcala) and we keep asking people and they keep telling us different things. The girls start running (for the record, I never ran in the station) to different platforms until we finally get on the right train. We get to Atocha but we realize that we missed the last train by 20 minutes or so and now we have no idea what to do.

After asking around, we realize we can take the Metro up to the bus station and take a bus back to Madrid. We take a 20 minute metro ride while enduring a bunch of drunk people on the train scaring the girls in our group and make it to the bus station. The group wanders around for 15 minutes trying to figure out where the bus leaves from and finally we catch the bus just as it's pulling up. Luckily we got on the right bus and we ended up getting back to Alcala at about 2AM.

Besides the travel disaster there at the end, it was quite a fun trip! In other news, school has been going pretty well this week, I've given two presentations and written one paper (thus the lack of updates) and I've had plenty of home(busy)work to keep me occupied.

This weekend, I'm going to Granada or Sevilla, my friends and I haven't decided yet. I'll be sure to take a lot of pictures (I always do). I hope that everyone is staying warm and enjoying your days off of school!

-Jamie

Second Week

2009-01-23T23:47:00.003+01:00

Well, I've made it through the second week of my classes and the workload is starting to pick up. The only thing interesting I did this week was watching the Presidential Inauguration of Obama in a Spanish bar. It was quite interesting because I was in a bar with a bunch of Americans but the speech was dubbed in Spanish (obviously) and the voice of the translator was way to loud to hear anything Obama was saying. So, when I got back home I went online and found a video of the speech. There was quite a bit of coverage of the inauguration here, almost as much as there would be in the States. Most Spaniards seem to be excited about Obama if only for the reason that they just despised Bush. However, I think that the Spaniards (and Europeans) are putting way to much hope in Obama to change the world right away. I don't think they realize how much bureaucracy he will have to get through (in my opinion) just to change some very minor things. But, I don't want to start a political debate, that's just what I see over here.

My classes are going well, I already have presentations and papers due next week, so Sunday looks like a big homework day. Tomorrow, I am going to Avila, Spain. It's about an hour and a half to the Northwest of Madrid. I don't really know much about it except it has a huge wall surrounding the city from the occupation by the Romans. I'll be sure to take a lot of pictures and post the link to them on here tomorrow or the next day. That's all for now, take care everyone!

-Jamie

Second Day in Madrid

2009-01-17T23:50:00.004+01:00

For the second day, I went and visited Madrid. I met at the train station at about 10AM and rode the train and metro to the Puerta de la Sol. First we visited the Parque del Retiro which is like Madrid's version of Central Park but is much better (in my opinion). The park had so much to see and we only saw about half of it. There were street performers all around a lake situated in the middle of the park, fountains and statues could be found in every direction of the park. Just some absolutely brilliant sights. After that, we walked around some more and just took in all the great architecture that Madrid had to offer and looked for a place to eat.

We ended up eating at a restaurant called "La Cocina de Neptuno". I split a plate of chicken fajitas with my friend, they were okay but nothing to special. When we got our bill we were very surprised to see that they charged us for EVERYTHING. They charged us for bread (which we didn't really ask for), extra tortillas, and little butter packets. It was very bizzare but now I know to ask to not get bread next time. After lucnh, we wandered around and looked at a few vendors set up in the plazas and made our way to the Plaza Mayor to meet up with some friends.

We met our friends and deicded to go take in a movie at a local theater with the original version in Enlgish with subtitles in Spanish. We saw Milk, I highly recommend, which is about the gay rights movement in the 70's in San Francisco following the life of Harvey Milk -- the first openly gay person elected to a public office.

After the movie, we just meandered around for a little bit more and started heading towards our Metro stop. When we got to where we were going, we saw a huge mass of people and a lot of Palestinian flags and we realized it was a protest calling for peace in Gaza. Lots of people held up signs with "Paz" (Peace) written on them and others had cut outs of bombs stating "Made in Spain, Launched in Gaza". I had never seen a protest like this with my own eyes so it was very interesting to see how the people in Madrid could gather peacefully to protest the government's involvement in the fighting. There were even people burning an Israeli flag -- intense. You can find pictures of my second day in Madrid HERE and HERE.

Now it's time to sleep and today hopefully I can sleep in! Then watch futbol all day! (and possibly work on some hw)

-Jamie

First trip to Madrid

2009-01-16T16:56:00.004+01:00

What a day! We met at the school at 10 AM and then headed over to the train station and hopped on a train to Madrid. While we were waiting on the platform a high speed train came by and it didn't even slow down one bit and whizzed right on through the station. It was crazy! The train ride was about 20-25 minutes to the "Atocha" station then we got tickets for the metro and rode that to the "Plaza de la Puerta del Sol". Too bad public transportation doesn't work that well in most places in the US. Anyways, we took a two hour walking tour with one of our professors and he pointed out some of the interesting things in Madrid. I took almost 60 pictures and they are all online HERE.

After the tour, some people in the group stayed in Madrid while myself and about 9 others returned to Alcala by ourselves. Luckily we got on the right trains and made it back in one piece. We ate lunch at this Irish Bar called "La Pinta Media" (the half pint, I think). Everyone in our group got American food because we were all craving it since all we have eaten in our different houses is Spanish food. Now it is time for a siesta. Hasta luego!

-Jamie

First week of school is over!

2009-01-15T23:51:00.006+01:00

My classes are over for the first week! Woo hoo! Tomorrow I am going on a tour of Madrid with the university and I'm very excited to see the capital city of Spain! The tour was originally scheduled for last Sunday (before I was here) but there was a few inches of snow so they rescheduled it which is very good for me because now I can meet some more people and see Madrid! I will be taking a lot of pictures and I will put them up soon. Also, over the weekend I will take some pictures of the apartment I am living in so everyone can see what it looks like.

Yesterday, I went out and bought a dictionary (but of course today I left in my classroom, D'OH, hopefully it's either still in the room or someone turned it in to the office) and went to this bar called "Kingston's Pub", it was a pretty neat pub and they were even playing N*SYNC songs which was kinda weird but it made me feel like I was at home (kinda) here are some pictures (click to make them larger):

Today, during my break in classes I bought a SIM card from Vodafone and I now have a Spanish number! I also ran other errands like getting a passport picture for a student card that I need, purchased a workbook for a class, and then I went to McDonald's (I know gross) to get some American food! After lunch today, I helped Maitane ("my-taaaan-ey", my little host sister) set up her Nintendo DS to work on the internet and now she (or me) can play Mario Kart against my brother! How cool! Then, I took a 3 hour siesta, oh man that was so good.

Now, I am just getting ready for bed so I can wake up and meet at the school at 10AM for the tour. Please comment and let me know how the blog is and what else I should talk about and ask me questions about stuff you want to know!

Greetings from Alcala!

2009-01-13T17:23:00.004+01:00

Yesterday was an interesting day. Traveling on the plane was just fine to Madrid but when I went and found a taxi, he took me to Alcala but then ripped me off and made me pay 280€ instead of 40€. I got an "official recepit" but it didn't have any sort of ID number on it and I forgot to look at the liscense plate or anything that would have ID'd the guy. The only thing I could do, according to my host mom (HM) who called her friend from the police, is to go back to the airport and look for him and then call the police while I'm there and try to get my money back. It seems dangerous but I will think it over because that is a lot of money I lost.

After the drama with the taxi, my host mom (HM) took me down to the University so I knew how to get to and from the campus. It's about a 20-25 minute walk which wouldn't be so bad except the temperature hovers around freezing all the time so I'll probably be taking the bus until it starts to get a little bit warmer. My first day of class was alright, I woke up late because my alarm clock on my phone thinks it's still in US time so my HM woke me up at 8, thankfully, and I was just about 10 minutes late to class. Today, the classes I took were "Iconos y Tradiciones de España" (Icons and Traditions of Spain) and "La globalización y la economía de española". The teacher for my Icons class is the director of the study abroad program and the teacher for my business class was the former director and speaks spanglish which actually helps me because he says what he is saying both times once in both languages.

Besides that, my day was quite plain (save for the fact that I'm in Spain). My HM marked some places on the map where I can shop and do some other things, so I might do that tomorrow, or maybe I'll just lounge around the apartment some more. Thats all I have for now, I'll put some pictures up soon of the city and my apartment so you all can know what it looks like.

-Jamie

Frankfurt is Freakin' Freezing

2009-01-12T09:44:00.003+01:00

The flight over here wasn't all that bad. There were a few crying babies on board but they didn't cry for too long after take off. I wasn't able to get to sleep for some reason (not because of the babies), so I'm sitting here in the Frankfut airport about to fall asleep. At least I'm not outside where it feels like it is 5 degrees, there is snow covering the ground, and low clouds limit the visibility to -- well not much at all, it keeps changing as I look out this window. Hopefully the clouds will clear up and the precipitation will stay away so I can get to Madrid on time. If you want a post card or something leave your address in the comments or email me at saxplaya (at) gmail (dot) com. That's all for now, more when I get settled in Madrid -- and get Internet.

Back from Miami -- on to Spain

2009-01-11T06:48:00.002+01:00

I didn't get to update the last few days because I was without Internet. Anyways, the game was an awesome experience, except for the awful Florida fans (before the game at least) and the fact that we lost. The stadium was very nice and the crowd was probably 75% UF fans so it was basically a home game for them -- oh well, no excuses they beat us fair and square. After the game we sat in the parking lot on the bus for at least 2 hours and we were the last people to leave the parking lot --awesome!

The next day we left Miami, stopped in Tallahassee where we had dinner provided to us by the OU Tallahassee club which was very awesome. There is a little write up and some pictures about our stop here : LINK. Then somehow we got off schedule by 4 hours (!!!!!) and instead of getting home at 12:30 PM, I ended up not getting home till closer till 5:00 PM (ugh!). All in all, it was a very enjoyable trip but now I must repack and get ready to leave for Spain tomorrow!! (scary)

Only a Day Before the Game – Day 4

2009-01-08T07:05:00.001+01:00

11:34 PM

Phew, quite a long day. Early morning practice at Barry University (where the football team practiced), then drum major auditions, and crappy quiznos sandwiches for lunch. When we got back to the hotel, I relaxed for a little bit then went and sat on the beach for a little while. Then at night we went to a lame "fan fest" and waited around for like 20 minutes only to play like 10 minutes worth of music – it was so much fun. When we finally got back to the hotel, I headed back down to South Beach and went to the "Nexxt" restaurant then picked up some more souvenirs. Now we're less than a day away from being in Dolphin stadium and I am so excited!!!!

Livin’ the SoBe life (sorta) – Day 3

2009-01-07T19:04:00.000+01:00

8:27 AM
Early wakeup call this morning in order to fight through traffic to get to our practice site today. We’re practicing at “da U” today, apparently the current Athletic Director used to work at OU so he pulled some strings for us and we get to use their football practice facility for free. We’ll have a 3 hour rehearsal (gag), lunch, and then the rest of the afternoon/night will be free. Last night, Andrew paid the $10 to get internet which is good because we are all addicted to it, but hopefully when we get to the campus there will be free WiFi so I can update my blog.
On a side note: the build up to this game is getting kind of ridiculous and I wish we could just play the damn game already. The media is over exaggerating every little thing a player or coach says but I guess the media has to make their own news from time to time. Hopefully we can get away from the trash talk and settle everything on the field

1:02 PM
We just got done with our rehearsal at the University of Miami and it is very warm – at least for January. I guess I shouldn’t complain since it is apparently cold and rainy back home. Rehearsal was pretty typical but it seemed like it lasted forever. After rehearsal we picked up our uniforms and some KFC for lunch. Now it’s time to take a nap and then go down to the beach!!

11:37 PM
I took a nap earlier today instead of going to the beach; I think that was a very good choice and it made the rest of the night much better. Tonight was very fun – yet very expensive – we ate at an Italian restaurant where the food cost about as much as I would eat in two weeks in Norman. We then went to a gift shop and I got another shot glass to add to my collection. When we headed to the bus stop, we ran into this guy rambling about who knows what and then he found out that we were from Oklahoma he started talking about “The Game of the Century” and about how he was going to break our backs? Crazy south beach vagrants…when we got back to the hotel the Arkansas – Texas game was on and we got to see at least one team from Texas lose! Another long day ahead of us, with more rehearsals and pep gigs to get all the drunken fans even more excited for the game.

On the road - Day 2

2009-01-06T07:57:00.005+01:00

8:24 AM

Through the night we traveled through Mississippi and some of Alabama. I picked up a shot glass from Mississippi last night for my collection. I wasn’t awake for much of the ride but when I did look out the window all I could see was a dense fog, so I had no idea where we were. From what I could tell, we arrived in Tallahassee – our breakfast stop – around 4 AM this morning, way ahead of schedule so we ended up driving through to Lake City, FL to eat breakfast. There’s nothing like eating McDonald’s in the back of a Wal-Mart while looking for outlets to charge your phone.

"Smile when ya say MISSISSIPPI"

12:22 PM

Quick lunch stop in St. Cloud, FL, just south of Orlando, now on to Miami – about 4 hours away. It is very warm here but then again when is Florida not warm? At least we’re not in the cold like it is back in Texas and Oklahoma!

5:15 PM

We’re in Miami Beach! The views are beautiful and the hotel is pretty nice, although the Internet is $10/day which is absolutely ridiculous!!! So, I’ll have to go hunt for free Wi-Fi around Miami Beach and then I’ll be able to upload my blog posts! Tonight, we’re going to go find a place to watch the Ohio St. / Texass game. I don’t know who to root for…on one hand I don’t like Texass at all but then again I’m not a fan of Ohio St. / the Big 10. Hopefully it’ll be a good game and not another Big 10 suckfest.

11:52 PM

So, Texas won in a thriller – I guess it’s good for the Big 12 but how in the hell can Mack think no one in the country can beat them when they only beat Ohio St. by 3 points!!! So, we went down to South Beach tonight and ate dinner at Jerry’s Old Fashioned Diner (where the menu was really big and the choices were a plenty) to watch the game. I ended up splitting a large pizza with a few people and I had a cannoli while we watched the first half of the Ohio St. /Texass game which was actually kind of boring. So we left at halftime to go walk around South Beach which was pretty cool, but we didn’t really find anything just a bunch of shops which were way too expensive for me. Time to get to bed now because we have rehearsal at the butt crack of dawn.

We’re going to Miami! – Day 1

2009-01-04T16:40:00.006+01:00

9:39 AM
The day has finally arrived and the band is off on its 30-something hour bus ride to Miami to support the OU football team and to have some relaxing time off in South Beach. I am mostly packed but I think I will do one last look-through to make sure I have everything before I leave in 20 minutes. I'll try to update the blog at least once a day because I'm sure there will be plenty of stuff to write about while I am gone.

2:04 PM
Riding the bus is soooo much fun but we did get our per diem of $40 today and a personalized BCS National Championship luggage tags. They are pretty cool and I’ll have pictures attached later. Right now we’re stopped outside of Shreveport for a driver stop/bathroom break. It’s always interesting to figure out the logistics of moving 300 some-odd people halfway across the nation – in busses. Everything we do is planned down to an exact science but the question is, how well will we stay on schedule—I’ll keep you up to date on all the drama that unfolds…

6:35 PM
First food stop of the ride – West Monroe, LA. I went with a group of seven people to an IHOP that was painfully slow. The waitress was a female version of the Soup Nazi and it didn’t make the service any better. Apparently there was only one cook on duty when we arrived and some of the Pride kids didn’t even get their food until 10 minutes before the busses left. Somehow, my table was the first table served even though we were not the first to be seated. A cold front seems to be following us – when we got off the bus here it was warm and humid but by the time we left IHOP it was cold and windy – feels kind of like the weather in Oklahoma! We have a long drive left in front of us, about 24 hours or so until we get to Miami but our next stop is Tallahassee, FL. Oh and by the way, we are actually a bit ahead of schedule—for now at least.

OSU fan

2008-03-31T06:27:00.002+02:00

Philmont--Day 9

2007-06-09T22:19:00.000+02:00

Day 8, July 7

We wake up at 5:30 AM but of course no one would get up. Danny fell by the latrine, it was pretty funny. We left Ute Meadows at like 8:50 AM and started to hike towards Head of Dean. We made pretty good time and had time to chill. Played Risk & stuff. Saw a mule deer at Ute when we woke up this morning and it was like 10 feet away from our tents. Danny and J.C. pwned at Risk. Overall today was a pretty easy day. Campfire tonight and challenge course tomorrow at 8AM.

Deer at Ute Meadows

Me on the trail to Head of Dean.

We got bored and put Danny's Therma Rest up a tree.

Danny couldn't find his Therma Rest...until he looked up. So
naturally, he had to climb the tree to get it down.

Postcard-esque view from the Head of Dean staff cabin.

Campfire with both crews.

-Jamie

Philmont--Day 8

2007-06-02T21:39:00.000+02:00

Day 8, July 6

Got up at 6 AM, tried to wake the others up and went to get the bear bags down. The sick crew member wasn't feeling good again when we got back so we let him get better. Ate breakfast and finally headed for Mount Baldy at 9:15 AM. The hike to Baldy Town was pretty easy and we made it in 45 minutes. We stopped for 10 minutes in Baldy Town and then started the hard part of the hike. The first part had a lot of switchbacks so it was pretty easy but the second part was just a bunch of slopes and it was extremely hard. The trail became even harder once we passed the timberline. This part of the trail was at least 60 degrees straight up and it was terribly taxing on all of us. We finally summited the top of Mount Baldy around 1:10 PM. Ate lunch up top and took a bunch of pictures. The view was far reaching and beautiful. There was snow too, took kind of long to get back. Jamie slipped in mud and a guy from the summit was hurt. We ate oranges and got the food from Baldy town commissary. There was no showers at Ute Meadows camp. Oh well.

The trail up to Mount Baldy

(if you click on it you can see people hiking up the trail)

More Pictures from Mt. Baldy:

-Jamie

Philmont--Day 7

2007-06-02T21:07:00.000+02:00

Day 7, July 5

We tried to wake up at 5:30 AM but we got up at 6 AM because I slept past my alarm. One of the crew members was sick so we waited for him to get better. As soon as he was feeling better we left with our sister crew and started to hike with them. Their burro, Elmer (like the glue--heh), was tight but they went fast. We eventually split up at the Well of Baldy Skyline camp and the other crew went to Miranda while we went to Ute Meadows. Gorgeous sights and rainclouds. Got to Ute Meadows acround 5:30 PM set up at campsite 2 (kinda bad but we made it work). The view from the latrine was gorgeous (ironic huh).

-Jamie

Philmont--Day 6

2007-06-02T20:48:00.000+02:00

Day 6, July 4

Woke up around 5:30 AM to take nice hot shower but my shower head spewed water everywhere, so all of my clothes got wet, which really sucked because it was like 50-60 degrees outside. Ate the chuckwagon breakfast which was pretty good. Packed up gear/tents and picked up food, branded some stuff (like my wallet) and got some root beer. We were supposed to pick up a burro but we arrived to late so we had the choice o taking one or not--we chose not. We probably hiked 6 miles today, most of it uphill but we stopped too many times so it took longer. Got to Pueblano and the staffer tried to trick us into thinking it was another camp but he failed. Put tents up and ate dinner. Campfire was interesting but it got pretty cold, pretty fast. Star are awesome out here but so is sleep. Happy 4th of July, no fireworks for us.

-Jamie

Philmont--Day 5

2007-05-24T02:10:00.001+02:00

Day 5, July 3

Woke up at 5:45 AM this morning, packed all the camp gear, got the bear bags down. Left Indian Writings at 7:17 AM and started on the trail to Hart's Peak (this was the highest point of the trek so far), Danny went fast for the first time, and it was a long hike. Ate breakfast on the trail and the peak was cool. We reached the 7,979 foot peak at 10:15 and saw Mt. Baldy, Little Castilla, Tooth of Time, and the Spanish Peaks off in the distance. We had to wait for about two hours for one of the crew members to get better because he became sick from the altitude, we think. It was cool to chill on the peak and hack up there. We made it to the next camp, Ponil, after about an hour (around 12:45 PM). WE got to our campsite and pulled out our lunches and walked to the Cantina and grabbed some root beer. Then we went to ride horses, which wasn't very good but oh well. Chuck wagon dinner was okay, we hacked and saw some girls our age. Got some more root beer and rinsed clothes. Now time for sleep.

The Ponil camp is a large trail camp in Philmont and is known for its large horse stables and it's Cantina which serves scouts root beer for $0.25 a cup. A $0.25 well spent, the root beer was great. The girls we saw were apart of a Girl Scout group hiking Philmont, yes girls can hike in a Boy Scout ranch.

-Jamie

Philmont--Day 4

2007-05-24T01:45:00.000+02:00

To those of you who are intrigued by my adventures in New Mexico or for those of you that are just casual readers, I'm very sorry for being so slow at posting these things but here is day 4!

Day 4, July 2

Woke up at 6:45 AM (MST) this morning, packed, ate, and finally left camp at 9 (very slowly). The hike was short today, 45 minutes (without stops). Got to the Indian Writings camp and had a porch talk with the staff. Four our campsite, hung the food up in the bear bags and went to the Petroglyph tour. We saw Paotie Man and some other artifacts. Ate lunch, then went and did our conservation project. Straw was everywhere. Didn't play Anasazi ball, but drank sulfur water. Chicken and mashed potatoes for dinner. We get pound cake tomorrow!

The Indian Writings camp was our second stop on our trek and it had a bunch of artifacts and drawings from an old Indian camp that lived in the valley where the camp was. It was pretty neat and here are a few pictures:

Also here is some pictures of the beautiful scenery from the hike:

-Jamie

Philmont--Day 3

2007-05-21T06:57:00.000+02:00

Day 3, July 1

Another 5:30 AM (MST) wake up call. Got dressed in Class A uniforms and went to breakfast. We had our "shakedown" , cleaned out our tents, and put our packs atthe welcome center. Crew picture was next, then we "hacked" at the trading post. Talked at 6 gates, after car ride about Red Roof etc. Everyone bought hackeys! Danny led us on our first 2 miles. Went at a good pace saw rattlesnake. Yay, I'm tired. Spahgetti, corn, biscuits, and cookies for dinner. Attempted to put bear bag up--sucked royally. Purified water from a creek and it's not too bad. Campfire--"Thorns and Roses" and "Outdoor Stories". Time for bed.

Tent City and Red Roof Inns (AKA Bathrooms)

-Jamie

Philmont--Day 2

2007-05-21T06:36:00.000+02:00

Day 2, June 30

5:30 AM (CST) wake up call this morning. Put our sleeping bags and maps up, got dressed and all that jazz. Ate donuts and raisins, with OJ for breakfast. We left Amarillo a little after 7 AM (CST) and reached the TX/NM border a few minutes after 9 AM (CST). Made a gas stop and got back on the road to Philmont. Made it to Philmont 15 minutes after 11 AM (MST). Unloaded the packs and me out Ranger, <--Cory.He's really tight, and talked to this girl Nicole at the Trading Post. Today was a hurry-up and wait day. The bathrooms are nice and because of the thin air, our skin should clear up? Danny got an awesome hat. We played a name game and called our mommies. Camp fire is tonight. We leave at 1 PM (MST) tomorrow. Danny is stupid and whipped still, even after Haley broke up with him. We picked up food and gear today; tomorrow will be the "shakedown." Dinner consisted of Chicken Fried Steak, mashed potatoes, a roll, corn and one of the best brownie's ever (according to Danny). Went to a Catholic Chapel service (saw people from different states, including New Jersey). Went to campfire, it was decent. Then we went to the "cantina" (snack bar) chilled and "hacked" (played hacky sack) for a while with Cory. Took shower, now going to bed.

-Jamie

Philmont--Day 1

2007-05-18T08:28:00.001+02:00

In the summer of 2005, I trekked across northeastern New Mexico in the Philmont Boy Scout Ranch. Here is a bit of history behind the ranch: Philmont land was first donated to the Boy Scouts of America in 1938 from Waite Phillips who was a wealthy oil magnate and wilderness enthusiast who amassed much of the land from grants in the 1920s. Since then, the ranch has amassed about 127,000 acres of beautiful wilderness. Scouts travel in groups of 7-10 people and cover between 50 and 100 miles. I was apart of Trek 630H1 and hiked itinerary 3. We (Me, Danny Lutz, and J.C. Francis) traveled with a group of scouts from Troop 874 because our troop, 753, did not "win" a spot at Philmont. I will find a map and trace my route as soon as I can. I know it has been two years since then, but during the trek Danny Lutz (good friend and fellow Eagle Scout) and I kept a little journal of our daily adventures. So, here is the 10 day journal with all the details. I will differentiate Danny and myself with different colors.

Day 1, June 29

Got to the church a little before 8 AM (CST). Waited for everyone to arrive, then we loaded up and headed out. Danny, J.C. Francis, and I rode in a van so we were able to bring a TV and some DVD's along with us. Today, we watched Pulp Fiction and Old School About an hour or so (approx.) a tire on the trailer blew out. Luckily we had a spare, so the adult leaders quickly changed it and we were on our way. We stopped at a highway rest stop to eat lunch at about 12 PM (CST). At about 30 minutes after 4 PM (CST), we arrived in Amarillo and found Boy Scout Troop 80's "troop hut." The hut was a large room that serviced as a meeting room for the troop and they rented it out to other scout troops on their way to Philmont, because Scouting rules do not permit more than a certain amount of travel hours in a day. We ate dinner at Cici's pizza and then returned back to the "hut" where a fencing meeting was taking place. Since we had free time to kill, we watched the people fencing, played Foosball, air hockey, pool, and cards until about 10 PM (CST). Lights out was at about 10:30 PM (CST), so we all got ready for bed but most of us didn't get to sleep until after 11:30 PM (CST). That's all for today, bye for now.

More tomorrow. Thanks for reading.

-Jamie

Summer is here

2007-05-14T22:16:00.000+02:00

I am so glad to be out of school and back at home with nothing to do--for now. I am in search of a job right now. I could go back to Boston Market, but I would like to try to work somewhere else. I have applied for a job at the Angelika theater in Plano and that would be a very cool job for me to have. Besides trying to get a job, I don't have anything to do right now. Summer classes start the 4th of June and then end on the 3rd of July and it's M-Th for 2 hours, so it shouldn't be too bad.

Besides school and work, I'm gonna get a new phone this summer but I'm not quite sure which one I want. A smart phone would be nice because it'll let me access my email and the internet but some of the new "dumb" phones look pretty interesting. I need help, if you have a new-ish phone and you like it a lot, please tell me what it is so I can do some research on it. That's about it for now, summer is starting off slow, which isn't a bad thing because I'm sure it will start flying by before I know it.

-Jamie

Gov't Mule--Cain's Ballroom, Tulsa

2007-05-12T00:27:00.000+02:00

Sorry it has been so long since I wrote last, I was bogged down with finals and such. Well, the Wednesday before finals (5/2) Trevor (friend and next-door neighbor from OU) and I drove out to Tulsa to catch Gov't Mule's only show in Oklahoma. We arrived at about 7:20 PM and waited around outside till the doors opened up at 8 PM. There was hardly anyone in the ballroom when we went in so we got pretty fantastic spots on the floor. Before the show, I looked on the Cain's Ballroom website (link) and found out it was "college student night" or something like that and the band was gonna hand out a bag of free goodies if you presented a college ID. So, I went to the merchandise table and picked up my bag of goodies which included a Gov't Mule Koozie, Pen, and Post-it notes!! Here's a picture of the stuff:

Trevor decided to wait till the end of the show to get his bag, but unfortunately they ran out of stuff. However, he did get one of the drummer's, Matt Abts, drumsticks. So after I got my stuff, we watched as the ballroom filled up and waited until the band was ready to go. Finally about about 9:15 PM the band came out and starting to jam. This was my first concert experience ever so it was pretty amazing. Since we were so close to the stage I was about 6 feet away from the famous Warren Haynes. Here is the link to the wiki on Warren Haynes. I was able to take some great pictures of the show because I was so close to the stage:

Warren Haynes

Matt Abts

Andy Hess

Danny Louis

This was an awesome show and even with this being my first show I could tell it was pretty awesome. To those people who are concert veterans, I'm sure this show would have blown you out of the water, it was that good. All of this "new" music that I have been listening to lately has been pretty awesome as well. The Allman Brothers Band, The Grateful Dead and Gov't Mule are all spectacular performers and it is easy to hear in any of their live recordings. If you want any of their stuff live, it's free and I can point you in the right direction. We ended up getting back to the dorm at about 2:30AM but it was well worth it, I'm just now catching back up with sleep because the night after this concert I went and saw the premiere of Spiderman 3, which is pretty good btw--go see it. I leave with some more of my favorite pictures from the show, if you want to see anymore, just post a comment or whatever and I'll get them too you.

-Jamie

I like Digg

2007-05-02T09:13:00.001+02:00

I like Digg, please don't kill it. The founders have stopped taking HD-DVD stories so stop posting them. Why must people always ruin the good things in life?

Mayday

2007-05-02T08:02:00.000+02:00

It's already May and I have a week left of school. Again, the end of my first year of college is almost over. I can not believe how fast this year has gone by. Although, it has been a very great year and I have lots of memories to take from it. Oklahoma has been a great place for me this past year. The atmosphere around here is awesome especially for sports. This year I have turned into a Women's Basketball fanatic, who'd thunk it. I'm not gonna lie, I can't wait for summer but I think next year is going to be even better.

In other news, the Mavericks staved off elimination thanks to Dirk's two 3-pointers and a monster block at the end of the game. Can the Mavs stop the Warriors in the next two games? I think they can, especially after this game. This has been a great series no matter what, but seriously if the Warriors (8th seed) beat the Mavs (1st seed) I think I might cry and I'm not even a crazy, fanatical fan. Don't get me wrong I love the Mavs but I don't keep up with them during the regular season. For one, I'm in Oklahoma and I don't get to see many games. Second, the season is 80 games long and its so hard to keep up with everything that is going on, so I get my daily dose of Mavs from Sportscenter. I'm pulling all the way for the Mavs, lets see if they can do it.

Last Saturday, Adrian Peterson was drafted number seven overall by the Minnesota Vikings in the NFL Draft. I hope and think that this will be a great place for AD (Adrian's nickname "All Day") to start off is pro career. Some pro football analysts think that he will be the Rookie of the Year. That'll be a tough feat considering JaMarcus Russell and Calvin Johnson will be getting a whole lot of playing time. AD was a great player for OU and I know that he will be an amazing professional. The Vikings practically added the entire OU football fan base to their fan base, so good job Vikings--heh.

That's all I've got for now, I'll try to post more but with finals coming up it might be a while in between posts

-Jamie

New found music

2007-04-27T02:12:00.000+02:00

Recently, a friend of mine, Trevor, has led me to a new genre of music. A genre of jam sessions, kickin' guitar solos, and a medley of all great musicians. It started with the Allman Brothers Band, then it led to Gov't Mule, and now I'm hooked on the Grateful Dead. I am by no means a Deadhead but they're music is just so awesome. For some of you, this music may be old stuff but it is very new to me and I think it is just awesome.

The style of this music is just so laid back and easy goin', all you can do is sit back and enjoy the passion these guys put in their music. At the top of this page is a link to some video clips of a few of the Allman Brothers Band songs. The first album that my friend gave me was entitled "At Fillmore East" and he said the reason he lent me it was because it is considered the 'godfather' of all live shows. At first I was a little skeptical, but after listening to it I have to agree that it is a pretty great album. The most impressive song on this album is called "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" which is a 13 minute long jazz fest with an extended guitar solo by the famous Duane Allman that brought comparisons to famous tenor sax player John Coltrane. You can listen to this song for free here. Not only does this song feature an amazing solo by Duane but some masterful writing by Dickey Betts, especially the transition at around 2:30 into the song. For the last week this has been all I have listened to because it is pretty amazing. Go ahead, give it a try. It is definitely worth listening to.

Gov't Mule started out as a side project for the Allman Brothers Band but it soon took a life of its own. It is a jam band that fuses music from all genres into one big package. Gov't Mule fuses rock, jazz, bluegrass, folk, and many other types of music to create a relaxed but passionate style of music. My friend lent me a CD of theirs entitled "The Deepest End, Live in Concert" and features many of their famous songs along with famous guest such as Bela Fleck and the Dirty Dozen brass band. Great stuff. Here is some more info on Gov't Mule.

The last group I mentioned was the Grateful Dead. They formed in 1965 as one of the first jam bands and are considered one of "the pioneering Godfathers of the jam band world." The genre of music that this group created had never been heard before and this unique style of music has led to their popularity. Fanatic fans that followed the band around began to become known as Deadheads. When the Grateful Dead formed, The Beatles and the Rolling Stones had already been around, so their music had to differ from anything anyone had ever heard. The rich mixture of blues, folk, rock, and more gained interest in the music industry. This new style of music stayed popular for 40 years as the band toured from 1965 to 1995. The band broke up in 1995 after famous guitarist, Jerry Garcia, died of health problems. However, the legend of "The Dead" lives on in a group entitled Dark Star Orchestra. Formed in 1997, DSO was formed as a tribute band for The Dead and performs shows exactly as the original band, therein recreating history. The Dead will remain immortalized in history forever but if you've never heard their music I highly recommend listening to something right away. Info on The Dead and DSO.

-Jamie

Earth Day and going green.

2007-04-23T18:51:00.000+02:00

There is 16 days of left (including weekends) until I am completely done with school (I get done with finals on Wednesday). I can't believe how fast this school year has gone by but I still have a lot to finish before I can go home. Well, I didn't get that summer internship that I applied for, oh well guess I'll have to look for something else. Yesterday was Earth day for those of you who didn't know, so I've decided to give you my perspective on global warming and the issues surrounding it.

Many of you know about Al Gore's documentary/power point presentation "An Inconvenient Truth" that provides hundreds of facts on the global warming issue. Gore provides evidence that there are no dissensions in the scientific community that global warming is a problem for our world. However, in the media there is a split between journalists who believe it is a problem and those who don't. I personally think that there is a problem with global warming but I think it is becoming a little over sensationalized because of Al Gore's high profile status. We do need to reverse the trends that have been going on for the past two decades and this can only happen if everyone pitches in. Many activists will give you a long list of things to do that are environmentally friendly but sometimes they just aren't possible. For instance, many environmental activists tell us to start riding a bike or walking to work/school but for many of us that is just not possible. Even if school or work is less than 5 miles away we all enjoy sleeping so if you wanted to walk you would need to wake up an hour earlier! Then all the scientists who study sleep health would complain because the environmental scientists are telling people to get up an hour before they need to, imagine those fights.

There are some easy ways you can help the environment and I'm sure you've probably heard many of these. The easiest thing you can do is recycle everything you can. At my house, the city recently distributed recycle bins that are as large as the trash cans and my family has probably cut the amount of waste in half since these new recycle bins were available. Newspapers, plastic bottles, scratch paper, and many other things can be recyclable. You can also switch your interior lights for your house. They are a tad more expensive but they light rooms better, longer, and produce far less energy waste. One other thing that is very easy is to watch how long you keep your lights on. Whenever you leave a room and you know you won't be back for a while, turn off the lights to save money and the environment!

Here are some more tips on making your house "green"

Well these were just a few reiterations of tips that I have heard in the past. If you have any other tips, please share them because there is no harm in keeping the environment clean.

-Jamie

Mac vs. Windows vs. Linux--Part 4

2007-04-21T04:51:00.000+02:00

Sorry for such the delay between operating system posts I got bogged down with writing a speech and a paper along with the tragic events at Virginia Tech. Well here goes the last post, I think I'll talk about some positives and negatives for each system.

Lets start with Macs: Some complaints of the Mac are its expensive price tag. The cheapest Macs go for about $1100 while comparable PC's with Windows can be as low as $500. Another complaint is that some software is not always compatible for Mac as soon as it is for Windows. Also, Macs have had a problem of overheating laptop batteries (but this is also prevalent in some brands of Windows PCs). There are not many other complaints besides that, that I know of but there are probably more.

Windows: Because Windows is the most popular operating system in the world, there is a large amount of viruses, spyware, and adware. This is the biggest complaint of Windows because it slows down the computer, erases files from the hard drive sometimes, and even make the computer unusable. Another big complaint about Windows is that it can sometimes be very difficult to use. For instance, all of the programs inside Windows are tied to each other and if one program stops running, sometimes the system shuts down completely. Those are only the complaints I can think of now but I'm sure there are more.

Linux: The biggest complaint with Linux is that there is quite a bit of hardware and software that does not work at all with Linux. Also, there is not enough support for novice users to be able to understand how to use the system and that makes the operating system hard to use. Other complaints include diffuculty of installing the system and lack of music and video files supported.

My preference of systems is Windows, I like to use it because I have been using it for so long and I know exactly how to use it. I have not had a virus on my computer since I've had it. All it takes is the right tools to keep the viruses off and the computer will be fine. I do think that Macs have a very intuitive design and they are very easy to use but they are out of my price range for now. As for Linux, I have tried using it but with Windows it is very difficult to dual boot both systems (well it is for me, if you can help me, please do).

Well, thats all I've got for now. Thanks for reading this series on operating systems. Hopefully, I've made it somewhat informative to you non-tech savvy readers. If you disagree with anything I've said or have anything to add to the discussion please leave a comment. Have a great weekend.

-Jamie

Never forget Virginia Tech

2007-04-17T20:39:00.000+02:00

Let's keep them in our prayers and ask for the forgiveness of Cho Seung-Hui's soul. You may not agree with that right now but I think that is the way those that are grieving will only heal right now. Please do not try to put the blame on the government, the school administration, or anything else. It is only one person's fault. There are 93 schools represented in that picture, keep up the support the Hokies need it.

ABC Story
Yahoo Story-A look at the victims

Here at OU today, we had a minor scare this morning. At 9:50 AM, a mass e-mail was sent out from the University President, advising all students, faculty, and staff to stay indoors until an all clear signal was given. In an email sent at 10:19 AM President Boren stated:

"TO: All Students, Faculty, and Staff

The OU Police Department has made a saturated search of the area where a person carrying a suspicious object was spotted. No person with a weapon has been found. It is now believed that the person was possibly carrying a yoga mat which was mistaken for a weapon.. We should therefore proceed with the normal schedule. The individual carrying the items was described as a caucasian male of student age partially balding or with short hair and wearing a yellow shirt. If such a person is seen carrying a suspicious object it should be reported to the OU Police Department at 1911 or 325-1717 or blue phones should be used. If anyone feels that he may have been the person who was seen and was thought to be carrying a weapon that person should also call the OU Policy Department to reassure the community.

Thank you for your cooperation

David L. Boren
President"

Later on, the student that had been carrying the "mysterious object" had self-identified himself to the OUPD and told them he was only carrying an umbrella and not a weapon. Although this was not anything serious, I am glad to see that our university is taking everything seriously and not leaving anything to chance. The easiest way to prevent tragedy is over cautiousness, so I applaud the administration and OUPD for keeping all students, faculty, and staff safe. The time period right after this tragedy is the most vulnerable because of possible copycat attacks so be aware of anything suspicious. Again, please keep the VT family in your prayers, whatever religion you may practice.

-Jamie

Virginia Tech shooting leads other universities to take precautions.

2007-04-17T00:23:00.000+02:00

For those of you who don't know about the events that transpired today, turn your TV to the news or check out Yahoo!. The biggest news of the day was the Virginia Tech shootings, with 33 people killed and more wounded in the hospital. These horrible events that occurred today have prompted other universities around the country to take extra safety precautions.

Here at the University of Oklahoma, the president of the university has sent an email reading:

"As an extra security precaution in light of the tragic events at Virginia Tech University, the security doors in our residence halls will be locked 24 hours a day for the remainder of the semester and require an ID card or room key for access.

Sincerely,

David Boren
President"

Before now, residence hall floors were just locked from 10PM (12 PM on the weekends) until 7AM or 8AM but as the note says, the doors will be locked 24 hours a day for the rest of the semester. I believe that this is a necessary precaution for the university to take and I applaud them for their efforts. A friend of mine a Texas Tech told me that there was an increased security presence on campus and he believes there would be more precautions coming.

As a fellow blogger (link) says, this is a very scary situation because it is just one or two events away from occurring here or at any other university campus in the nation. Hopefully, other campus will take security precautions or any other actions that will prevent this from happening anywhere else. This is the worst shooting massacre in the U.S. (I believe) and worst on a university campus since the University of Texas shooting in 1966 (EDITED from 1964). Please keep the departed, the wounded, and families and friends involved in your prayers. If anyone at other universities has any other news about safety precautions, please let me know.

EDIT: I recently found this story from a few first hand sources at Virginia Tech. One of the students was in the class next door to the class that was shot and told a story of his teacher risking (possibly sacrificing) his life so his students could get out. Read the full story here.

-Jamie

Mac vs. Windows vs. Linux--Part 3

2007-04-16T06:41:00.000+02:00

This post will cover an overview of operating systems that run off of the Linux kernel. Operating system kernel's connects a computer's hardware to applications that run on the computer. Since all operating system's run off of a kernel you may be wondering what is so special about Linux. Well, the Linux kernel is open source (or free) which means that anyone can alter its code and anyone can use it without having to pay a dime. There are many distributions of the Linux kernel in the form of many different operating systems. A list of Linux distributions can be found here. Most times, Linux is used to run servers because it is the most reliable but I will talk about the distributions that are meant for desktop and laptop computers.

Linux

Since there are hundreds of different types of Linux it is difficult to discuss the features of just one system. So, I will talk about some of the applications that many distros use. Due to the open source aspect of Linux, all the applications are open source meaning there is no Microsoft Office, iChat, or iTunes. Instead, programmers from all over the world have created quite a bit of applications that make using Linux very easy. Instead of Microsoft Office many distros use OpenOffice.org which is very similar to Microsoft's product is free, many of you use Mozilla Firefox and since it is open source this is the web browser of choice for many distros. Instead of using AIM, you will often times find GAIM (which recently changed its name to Pidgin, because AOL was complaining) which allows you to connect mutliple IM services into one application, there is even a Windows version (not sure about Macs) found here. Linux has been long associated with computer programmers and techs but recently, there has been some good news for Linux.

Dell recently announced they would be shipping their computers with a pre-installed version of Linux on it. This is great news for people who are tired of using Macs and Windows but are afraid of using Linux because they don't know how. With Dell pre-installing Linux, customers will be able to get support from Dell instead of having to scour internet message boards for help. I have been experimenting with Linux lately and the distribution I have been using is Ubuntu (link). This is a really popular distro and has about 8 million users so far. It is quite easy to use but I have not had any luck with it yet possibly because I don't have enough time. Everyone should check it out, the company that makes Ubuntu will even send you a free CD so you can try it out!

Well, that is all I have about Linux. It is a very stable and reliable operating system that deserves more attention than it gets. Many of you may not be tech-savvy but know you sorta, kinda know what that Linux thing is that some of your computery friends talk about. The most important thing you should know about Linux: it is completely free and won't cost you a dime!

Thanks for reading this series about operating systems. I think tomorrow I will wrap it up and talk about my preference. I will also discuss some of the pluses and negatives of each system. On an unrelated note, The Big Event was a great success and I will post pictures up very soon. I got to paint a room in a Hispanic preschool in Oklahoma City. It felt great to help others out and hopefully I can get out to do more (and you too!).

-Jamie

Mac vs. Windows vs. Linux--Part 2

2007-04-14T05:51:00.000+02:00

Today I will continue the series discussing, well actually over viewing the separate operating systems and in the final post I will discuss the positives and negatives of each system. Anyways, this post will overview Microsoft's operating systems:

Windows (XP and Vista)

Most of you run a version of Windows and those of you who run a different system are probably still familiar with it from using it in places such as
schools and libraries. Microsoft holds about 90% of the market when it comes to operating systems and most business, governments (local, state, and national), and universities choose Windows. Like Apple, Microsoft began in the 1970s (1975 to be exact) when the Personal Computer industry was just a fledgling industry. Microsoft's first entry into the business was with DOS (Disk Operating System) in 1981 which was popular until about 1995. Besides operating system's, Microsoft has created a popular gaming console, Xbox (and Xbox 360), and a claimed "iPod killer" Zune but has not lived up to its name (more Microsoft history can be found here; link) Windows XP was released in late 2001 and about three months ago, Windows Vista was released and will soon become the major operating system from Microsoft. I have decided to overview both systems because XP is still the dominant system as many of you have not switched to Vista, therefore I will probably go into more detail about Vista.

(Windows XP Desktop, a sight very familiar to all of you)

Windows XP was designed by Microsoft for general use in homes and at businesses. Like OS X, Windows XP utilizes a GUI for users to quickly and easily access the computers inner workings. Older versions of Windows' operating systems were very prone to crashing and not very reliable, XP fixed most of these problem with increased security and reliability. Inside XP, you will find a powerful system that allows users to do more than ever. Multiple users can quickly switch accounts in XP without closing any programs or logging off. Another great feature of XP is its Remote Desktop function which allows system administrators to fix a computer without having to visit it (that is, only if it has a software problem). Windows XP allows users to listen to all of their favorite music in Windows Media Player, while Windows Messenger allows users to chat with their friends and family all over the world (detailed XP overview can be found here). While XP does not come with a word processing software, Microsoft Office is a very powerful (and valuable) tool that allows users to create, share, and edit documents like essays, spreadsheets, and presentations. XP is a relatively stable system considering the amount of users it has but Vista has certainly increased stability and security.

Windows Vista is similar in design to XP but has many enhancements ranging from security to visual appeal. Windows Aero, the new GUI, provides a more asthetically pleasing look to Windows and provides transparencies, live thumbnails, live icons, animations and eye candy. In Vista, there is a bundle of productivity and entertainment tools such as a Calendar, Address Book, DVD Maker, Web broswer (Internet Explorer), and Speech Recognition software. Vista also features Parental Controls which allow administrators (in this case, parents) to monitor what their children are doing and restrict access to certain programs and websites. A new Sidebar is present in Vista that allows users to personalize Gadgets that include clocks, weather reports, stock updates, news updates, and many others. Another very powerful and helpful tool in Vista is Shadow Copy, this program creates a daily backup of all changed files without the user ever having to worry about it. This is a useful tool in case something happens in the system and it crashes, the user still has all of their files available for use. There are many other features in Vista, but the ones I presented to you are the ones I think enhance usability in this system. A more detailed list and overview of Vista can be found here.

I hope this has given you a good overview of the old system, XP and the new system, Vista. If you notice any mistakes I made or think I should add something to the post, please let me know, I am open and willing to suggestions.

Next up I will cover the relatively unknown operating system (actually a kernel, which I'll discuss in the next post) Linux. The next post may be delayed until Sunday because I am participating in Big Event here at OU which is a campus wide community service event but I'll actually be in Oklahoma City at the Latino Community Development Agency. Thanks for reading my blog, I appreciate all of you who are back and I am especially thankful for all of you new readers. Let's hope for some good weather instead of all this cold! Have a wonderful weekend.

-Jamie

Mac vs. Windows vs. Linux--Part 1

2007-04-13T07:17:00.001+02:00

Today, I will start the discussion about the three main operating systems that most people in the world run on. There will be four parts to this discussion, one post explaining each operating systems good and bad points and then my opinions on all three for the last post. I will try to remain objective about each system. We'll see how that goes but I think I can do it. I know this discussion has been going on since the inception of all of these operating systems but I'd like to give my readers an overview of the systems before any arguments take place. Also, I realize I will make mistakes when talking about certain systems, so please comment and let me know. First up:

Macintosh (or Apple, Inc.)

Oh, the wonderful multi-colored Apple. It has changed to a single color since the early days of Apple, Inc. (which is a very good thing) but the company has also recently changed its focus. Apple Computer began by just selling Personal Computers in 1977. I will spare you from the long history of Apple, but if you would like to find out more check out this Wikipedia page (link). Apple has been innovating the Personal Computer industry for a long time and it is no doubt that many great things have come from the Computer. In a recent "top 10 best tech products of all time" list (link), Apple had two products on the list: the Apple II and the iPod. The Apple II was the Personal Computer that "ignited the industy" and theres no need to explain the iPod. After taking many shots at branching out from the Personal Computer industry, in 2001 Apple inserted itself into the portable music player market. Now that you know some of what Apple has done in the last couple of decades, let me tell you some of the specifics about its newest (with the next version coming out this summer) operating system: OS X .

This is the OS X Desktop, this picture is featuring the dashboard widgets that allow the user to quickly check stock quotes, weather, the time, and many other things (link to Dashboard widgets). The Graphic User Interface (GUI), which allows people to interact with computers with visual icons and other graphical elements (most of you probably use this everyday on your computers; Wikipedia link), on Macs is very friendly to users and provides an uncluttered and simple desktop space. OS X, has a number of tools to enhance usability. Some of these tools include: Exposé, which allows users to quickly tile all open windows on the desktop with a keystroke in order to get a quick overview of what is open; Spotlight, a search function that quickly browses all files and folders if find anything on the computer; Fast User Switching, allows multiple users to share a computer without having to logout or close programs when switching. Along with these features, OS X has a slew of organizational tools: Address Book, iCal, Sticky Notes, and others. Tiger also allows users to browse the internet and chat with friends quickly and safely with the Safari web browser and iChat Instant messaging client.

Along with allowing users an enjoyable expierence while using OS X, Apple has created an operating system that is powerful enough to compete with other brands and allows users to connect to each other quickly and simply. The Networking tool makes connecting Macs over a local network very easy but still provides enough speed across the network. Parental Controls are also a big plus in this system allowing parents to control everything that their children see on the computer. Security is second to none in OS X, with very few viruses and spy ware, allowing users to use the computer without having to worry about hackers or worms infecting their computer. Apple has utilized OS X to its potential, making it safe, secure, and fun for all users. The next version of OS X, Leopard, coming out of Cupertino, California (Apple Headquarters) is speculated to come out in early June(EDIT: It has been pointed out to me that Apple has recently delayed the release until October) and will enhance many of the features available and make the operating system even easier for the users.

I hope this post has informed those of you are not familiar with Apple's operating system and for those of you who are familiar with it, please comment on this post and let me know what else I should've included and let everyone else know the other features of this fantastic OS. The next post in this series will cover Windows' operating systems--a little bit of XP and a little bit of Vista.

Official information from Apple's website can be found here: OS X Overview

-Jamie

Dallas Stars--4 OT, postponed the OS posts

2007-04-12T08:50:00.000+02:00

Okay, so I said yesterday that I would have the first part of the three part series about Mac vs. Windows vs. Linux, but I lied. The Dallas Stars game is about to go into the fourth overtime and I really can't concentrate long enough while listening to the game to write a good post. Yes, I am only listening to this game because here in Oklahoma we didn't get it on TV, so I am forced to listen to the web broadcast. I will do my best to get the first part out tomorrow.

Even though I can't offer you a post about operating systems (OS), I did learn a neat trick for all of you Firefox users. If you've ever wondered if you can open up multiple tabs as your homepage (or even if you haven't) well I will tell you how to do that right now! First of all you need to open up Firefox. Then:

Go to the Tools Menu on the Menu Bar at the top of the page
Click on Options at the bottom of the menu
Make Sure the Main (it may have a different name in your browser) tab is open. This tab should have the homepage settings on it.
Place your cursor after the homepage you have currently and insert a vertical line "|"
The vertical line is a combination of (Shift+\)
Add another web page. You can add as many as you want.

Hope this has been a cool tip because I have always wondered if this was possible. Well now that you know that I hope by the time you have read this that the Stars have won! Keep on the look out for the first part of that operating system post! Take it easy.

-Jamie

A tweener post

2007-04-11T07:06:00.000+02:00

I am planning on writing a three part series about the Mac vs. Windows vs. Linux battle. I was going to write it tonight but I figured I could be writing forever and I should gather some thoughts and research before I begin this endeavor. I will definitely have the first part of this series up tomorrow, promise. If you have any thoughts on this subject before it hits the site let me know and I will incorporate it in my posts.

In other news, I am now the (co) Webmaster for the NSCS (National Society of Collegiate Scholars). I'm not even gonna link to the current website because, well I'll just say it needs some work. The website might not be updated for a while but when it is I'll let everyone see it.

So, while you're waiting for my fabulous future posts, please go read some fantastic poetry at my very good friend James Barger's website (link). Also, check out this new site that has become an internet phenomenon called Twitter. It is a mix between a blog and IM, it allows you to post what you are doing right at the moment. You can read more about Twitter and its other rival Jaiku (which I have not used) here at Rubennerd's Blog (link).
Okay, that is all for now. Don't forget about my posts for tomorrow! They will definitely appear.

-Jamie

The tax man cometh

2007-04-10T01:49:00.000+02:00

It's mid April and for all you working folk, this is one of the worst times of the year. Well, for those of you that only work summer jobs, tax time consists of five minutes of filling out a form and getting back anywhere from ten to thirty dollars. If you work full time and have money all over the place, well this is a terrible time for you. My father has always held the belief that if he is getting money back from the IRS he fills out his forms in January but if the IRS wants money, he waits till the very last day. This is obviously a good idea because you want your money from the IRS as soon as possible but when you have to give up your money to the IRS, keep it as long as possible. Personally, I did my taxes two weeks ago and got nine dollars back! Yet for some people, they wait until the very last day and stand in line for hours at the post office.

Why must people insist to wait until the very last minute? Is it the inherent procrastination gene found in most of us? I believe that when are raised as kids and we put off assignments or tasks to do until the very last minute and this carries over into our adult lives. Throughout our schooling, most of us have at one time or another put off that five page paper until the night before. Some of us are good enough writers to pull off the high B but many of us need the extra time to earn that quality grade. Therefore, we end up getting a C because we rushed through the paper so we could get to sleep. These values of timeliness and perseverance that we are lacking came from our school days. Most of the times, our parents try to instill these values in us from an early age but we just shrug them off and think we'll do stuff on our own. Very quickly do we learn how very wrong we were. Now that we are all grown (most of us), we should try to "re-learn" those values that will help us succeed later on in life. Taxes are due, so if you haven't done them, start out "re-learning" those values by getting those taxes in before the end of the week and don't wait till next Tuesday.

On a related note, I was doing my taxes online and came across a funny picture. It asks the user if they are blind. Now, I know that there is software that allows people who are blind to read websites but I really found this photo funny. Is it as funny as I think or am I crazy?

-Jamie

YouTube and the election

2007-04-09T07:25:00.000+02:00

Well, I'm back in Norman and have just a month left of school. First year of college flew by pretty fast, but it was also a great experience. Easter was just fine and dandy, I got Caddy Shack from the "Easter Bunny" which I will watch sometime this week. I have been taking time to post because I enjoy blogging but I also want it to be about something of interest. A topic that (hopefully) will not bore you away from my page.

On my way from Dallas to Norman I plugged in my mp3 player (an old school Creative 256MB) to a FM transmitter and found a station full of static, just what I needed. Before I left home, I loaded up some podcasts (for those of you who don't know, a podcast is sort of like a radio show but it can be downloaded and listened to whenever you like; Wikipedia Link) to listen to but to my dismay, my AAA battery was running out of life! Luckily there was just enough battery to listen to about three podcasts. The last one I listened to was a show called Cranky Geeks (Episode 57), a show hosted by long time tech journalist John C. Dvorak (dvorak.org/blog) and they talked about the internet being utilized in the upcoming election. On YouTube, a mash up of the 1984 Apple Super Bowl commercial (Original Commercial) was released with Hillary Clinton as the talking head and the girl with the sledge hammer wearing the Barack Obama logo (Link). This ad has caused a bit of controversy because the creator of the video mash up is unknown, so it could be anyone.

On Cranky Geeks, the panel discussed what they thought would happen with sites like YouTube and MySpace. I wrote about the primary elections on MySpace a few days ago which you can find a link to on the right side of the page. YouTube in the election seems very intriguing, could this be the election where we see the highest 18-34 year old turnout since the seventies? On many of the candidates MySpace profiles, videos have shown up of the candidates speaking to the viewer as if they were one-on-one. This provides candidates a way to speak to voters without the media being involved or having to explain their platforms in thirty seconds. YouTube videos also let regular people like you and I create video questions for the candidates to answer--and many times they will. Advertisers will also be able to advertise to a greater number of people for half of the cost. Will the Internet play a large role in the 2008 election? I think it will effect us in a way larger than any of us can imagine. So many people's lives in my generation (18-34) revolve around the Internet and thus far these candidates have done an exceptional job of tailoring to us. If you are 18 or older (or are going to be 18 or older) by November 4, 2008, listen to what the candidates have to say and vote for one that you agree with, not the one with the biggest fan base or money. Use the resources on the Internet and vote with your brain.

Here are some more thoughts from another blogger on the Election and MySpace: (Link)

-Jamie

British soldiers say they were put through a mock execution

2007-04-07T20:06:00.000+02:00

The other day I posted about Iran releasing British soldiers and that the soldiers had not been harmed (Link). Well yesterday, seven of the fifteen soldiers who had been captured and released held a press conference and told their story to the press. Some of the soldiers believed they would be executed at some point during the thirteen days. The soldiers told of being blindfolded and hearing gun cocks while one of the soldiers exclaimed "Lads, lads, we're going to be executed - do something." Lieutenant Felix Carman told about their ordeal:

"The following morning we were flown to Tehran and transported to a prison where the atmosphere changed completely. We were blindfolded, our hands were bound and we were forced up against a wall. Throughout our ordeal we faced constant psychological pressure.
"Later we were stripped and then dressed in pyjamas. The next few nights were spent in stone cells, approximately 8ft by 6ft, sleeping on piles of blankets. All of us were kept in isolation.
"We were interrogated most nights, and presented with two options. If we admitted we had strayed, we would be on a plane back to the UK soon. If we didn't we faced up to seven years in prison. We all at one time or another made a conscious decision to make a controlled release of non-operational information.
"We were kept in isolation until the last few nights when we were allowed to gather for a few hours together, in the full glare of Iranian media.
"On day 12 we were taken to a Governmental complex, blindfolded and then given three piece suits to wear. We watched the President's statement live on TV, and it was only then that we realised we were to be sent home."

It is a good thing that the soldiers were not killed but this is an awful thing for Iran to do. The soldiers even talked about how they were just doing a routine boarding patrol which was 1.7 nautical miles away from Iranian waters. 66 other patrols had taken place in the same waters where the British soldiers were captured. So, what was the Iranian Navy doing in Iraqi waters? Once again, Iran shows their defiance to any kind of rules governing warfare. How far will Iran have to go, defying rules of engagement, before anyone tries to stop them?

-Jamie

Snow in April--in Texas, Football, and DRM less music

2007-04-07T18:14:00.000+02:00

Today's Weather (4/7): High of 46 F with chances of snow. This is April, when was the last time it snowed in Texas at this time of the year?Well, this is some pretty crazy weather for Easter weekend. I'm back home for the holiday and luckily I don't have much to do besides relax.

OU is having their "spring" football game today in Norman and I know last year that it attracted 20,000 people. That's gonna be 20,000 really cold people today good thing I decided not to go. Although, I would be really interested to see the quarterback battle again. From what I've read in The Oklahoma Daily, OU's student newspaper, Sam Bradford has the edge in the competition but freshman phenom Keith Nichol is pushing hard at the starting job. The Running Back position is stocked full of amazing runners. Allen Patrick, the experienced senior who filled in when Adrian Peterson was hurt last year did an awesome job. Then we have DeMarrco Murray, another freshman phenom who has had some long runs in spring practice looks to be the next Adrian Peterson. Okay, enough about Oklahoma football for now--for those of you who don't really care.

The other day I talked about iTunes taking the DRM out of their music catalog (Link). I would like to encourage everyone to purchase at least one track from the store. This will show Apple that the consumers really don't like DRM and soon the price of the tracks will fall. DRM music tracks may cost less but they also limit who can buy the tracks. Right now, only iPod users can put iTunes music on their MP3 players but without DRM anyone can buy music and put it anywhere they want. Un-DRM music also makes it easier to share a couple of tracks between friends instead of them being locked out. So once again, if everyone could just spend $1.30 on a DRM less music track (not to mention the quality of the music has doubled!) Apple would reduce the price and other online music stores would take the DRM out of their music. One day it will happen, lets make it sooner rather than later. If you want some more information about this situation, check out Boing Boing's article here.

-Jamie

EDIT: News was released today that Microsoft will be taking the DRM out of their Zune music store! See, its already happening! (Link)

Summer internship.

2007-04-06T03:14:00.000+02:00

Everyone is searching for a job or internship this summer and I am not exception to this. I have been searching for an internship to gain some experience over the summer but haven't had any luck until yesterday. Most companies only have internships for juniors and seniors because they are more experienced than freshman. I got an email from OU career services about an internship at Site Selection Group, a company that helps large corporations find locations for distribution centers, call centers, and other things of the sort. They contact communities around the world and gather information from them. Information like:

Education
Demographics
Population
Tax Rates

This gives companies a good idea of what would happen if they moved some of their offices or other buildings to the community. So, I contacted the VP of this company and he set up phone interview with me. This was a very new thing for me because I have always done interviews in person. The interview went very well and the VP seemed like a nice person. He told me about what the company does and what I would be doing over the summer. My job would be to enter data into databases, it would be a good experience and I would be making $10 an hour and working 40 hours a week. I'm hoping to hear if I got this internship next week, so here's for hoping.

Here's a link to the company: Site Selection Group

-Jamie

Iran lets British soldiers free

2007-04-05T01:04:00.000+02:00

British soldiers who had been captured in Iranian waters 13 days ago were let go earlier today. Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called the release of the prisoners a gift to the UK. Many of the soldiers apologized for their actions and thanked the Iranian government for letting them go. They also said they had been treated well and no harm was inflicted on them.

This is very good news because it was taken care of politically and there was no need to use any military force. However, President Ahamdinejad's comment that the release was a gift was a little bit odd. I don't see it as a gift, I see it as good publicity for him so he doesn't look like the bad guy he has been portrayed as lately. In the end, it is a good thing that the soldiers were released so we can be thankful for that. Here's some more commentary on this situation: (Yankee Commentary)

-Jamie

Presidential Race goes high tech (again), Obama raises $25M

2007-04-05T00:12:00.000+02:00

Myspace. Love it or hate it, it is one of the most influential websites of the last couple years. It has more users than the entire population of Mexico and if it could be a sovereign nation, it would be the 11th largest country in the world. Next January Myspace will hold an online primary for the presidential candidates. Users will be asked to select one of the candidates on January 1 & 2, 2008. Many candidates already have Myspace profiles (check them out here).The turnout will be very interesting but as TechCruch says in their article (Link) a Facebook primary would be more legitimate because users are verified and there is less of a chance for candidates to create face profiles and stuffing the ballot box.

In other news, Barack Obama has raised $25M in the last quarter signaling him as the chief rival of Hillary Clinton and possibly the front runner for the Democratic nomination. With plenty of time to fund raise until election time, the nomination is still up for grabs but it is seems that Obama and Clinton are pushing the hardest to obtain the nomination. This election's Democratic party nomination process is far more interesting than the Republican party nomination process. While the Democrats have a fierce battle of old and new, the Republicans are lacking with any wow factor. Rudy Giuliani and John McCain are fine candidates but don't have anything exciting between them. Will the GOP try to fire up this race to garner more attention for the party or will the Democrats run away with the excitement factor (if you can think of political races as exciting) in the political races? Let the race begin.

-Jamie

Daylight Savings Time didn't help

2007-04-04T09:40:00.000+02:00

Today wasn't a very busy day, which was a good change of pace. Big accounting test tomorrow that I should've studied more for. Tennessee won the Women's NCAA Basketball Championship. That is not what I was hoping for but they certainly do deserve it. Congrats to them and hopefully OU can get there next year!

Everyone felt the affects of the Daylight Savings Time switch last month (if you didn't know, it was a three weeks earlier than usual) but the affects were not noticed by power companies. The purpose of the switch was to reduce power usage by Americans but there was not a noticeable difference. Most power consumption comes from appliances like washers, dryers, fridges, and TV's (especially plasma TV's). The DST switch did nothing to change habits of Americans using these appliances. The only affect the DST switch did have was on computer users scrambling to update their computer so the time would be correct and they wouldn't be late for any upcoming engagements. Lawmakers will make a final decision after a few years of the switch being in place, but ultimately it did nothing and should probably be switched back. Read more here (Link) from ars technica about the DST switch.

-Jamie

Un-DRM music from iTunes

2007-04-03T06:58:00.000+02:00

Today, EMI group and iTunes announced a plan to allow customers to purchase un-DRM (Digital Rights Management) music from the iTunes music store. For those of you who don't know, DRM locks in a music file to a specific media player and mp3 player. In this case, Apple's DRM locks music files purchase from the iTunes store into the iTunes media player and the iPod. At The Herald's blog (Link) you can read more about this major announcement in the technology and music industry.

I think that this is fantastic because it may start the beginning of the end of DRM (Link) which will be fantastic. No longer will you be locked into buying music from the iTunes music store and only being able to use it on an iPod! For those of us (myself included) who don't own iPods for whatever reason, this is great because the music store at iTunes is by far the most comprehensive store and we can now purchase tracks and use them on portable media players that aren't iPods.

Will we see other online music stores un-DRM their music? Hopefully very soon.

BBC Story

-Jamie

OU Swim Complex

2007-04-03T05:05:00.000+02:00

Today wasn't as bad as it could've been. My Spanish test was alright but I'll wait to see how the grade is in a couple of days. In Accounting today, there were two Jordanian men sitting in on our class. I have no reason why but they sat right behind me, was interesting. Our professor told us some facts about Jordan, from Wikipdedia of course, and then one of the Jordanians stood up and thanked us for having them and then addressed our professor by the wrong name! Only a few people noticed it and our professor had this look on his face like, "uh, okay..anyways," good times.

For those of you who don't attend the University of Oklahoma, there is a hotly contested issue on campus. The board of regents and the UOSA (University of Oklahoma Student Association, Link) have proposed a plan for a new swimming complex (Link) to replace an aging facility that will be demolished in a few years. On April 10th and 11th, the student body will vote to add $3 per credit hour to university fees beginning Fall 2010 to pay for some of the costs of the swimming complex. Some students are very against this because they believe the $38 million to build it is far too much and should be used on academic buildings throughout the campus. Students who are for this proposal believe the swimming complex is a great idea and would enhance the campus and provide more activities for students to do.

My stance on this issue: YES, the swim complex would be a great idea and will greatly benefit the campus. Although I may never use it, I believe it would be awesome for future students to get to use. $3 per credit hour over four years of education is about $360-$390, which is about the same as rent for an apartment in Norman.

If you go to OU, what is your stance on this issue? Do you think a swim complex would be good for the University or would it be a bad idea?

-Jamie

April Fools!

2007-04-02T07:13:00.000+02:00

Welcome to April. Just five and a half weeks of school left for the college kids, two months for the high school kids. I didn't have any pranks pulled on me today and didn't hear about any good ones. Anybody have a good story?

So, I have two tests this week: Accounting and Spanish. My Spanish test is tomorrow and I'm probably 60% ready. Maybe I should focus a little bit more and actually study. Hmm. The Accounting test is going to be pretty difficult but I have decided one thing from this class: I will never be an accountant. I could not stand classifying accounts and figuring deferred revenues and accounts payable all day. Blah.

Nothing else really to note for today (er, yesterday). Baseball started today. The Mets beat the Cardinals. Was pulling for the Cards but oh well. In the Women's NCAA Basketball Tournament, Tennessee and Rutgers will match up for the title. My pick: Rutgers. Just because I really don't like Tennessee or their terrible fans. On the Men's side tOSU and Florida will battle it out in Hotlanta tomorrow night at 8 PM on CBS. My Pick: Florida 87 - tOSU 83. Tell me your picks for the game. Okay, enough sports although more will come in the future.

That's all I have to write for now. Any comments are welcome and appreciated. Thanks for reading.

-Jamie

Starting back up

2007-04-01T06:10:00.000+02:00

So, I have decided to start blogging again. I'm not sure how many people will actually read this or what kind of topic I should make the blog about. Any ideas?

It is almost April, wow. Florida and Ohio State will be playing for the Men's NCAA Basketball Championship on Monday. Same teams as the football Nat'l Championship. Who's gonna win it this time? I need Florida to win so I can win my pool.

If you haven't heard, I have been in three movies, two which have been released up until now. Here is the link to the second movie: Shotgun 2. Hope you enjoy it and if you haven't seen the first movie, search around that website and watch it before the second one!

In other news, I was inducted to the Alpha Lambda Delta National Freshman Honor Society. Yeah, I had to wake up at 6 AM on a Saturday morning for a diploma and a pin. Well, I shouldn't be complaining because it is quite an honor and I am very pleased that I was accepted to it. I'm not sure if I'll get involved with it yet but I will think about it.

This weekend was parents' weekend and my family came to visit me. We went to the OKC Nat'l Memorial downtown this morning. It has almost been 12 years since it happened, my brother and sister didn't even know what happened so everything had to be explained to them. I feel older and older everyday. My parents also wanted to visit Campus Lodge, the apartments I am staying at next year. They were very impressed by the rooms and all the amenities that were provided, which is good because they are paying for it. Thats about all I did with my family, there wasn't that much to do but thats okay, they were all tired and my brother was getting crabby.

Thats all for now, I will try to write in this everyday. We'll see how that goes. Leave suggestions if you have any. Thanks for reading.

EDIT: I failed to mention that on Friday night after the tornado watch (or is it warning) was over, Sharon had dinner with my family at the caf (for free!) and shared a brownie with my mother. She also had a roll. That is all.

-Jamie

College Starts

2006-08-26T11:21:00.000+02:00

Since I've started a new chapter in my life, I've decided to start a new blog. I'll try to document my college life as often as possible, because its an interesting life for those of you who have not expirenced it. Its been over a week since I've been here at OU and life is grand. I didn't make the "Pride" but its all good, I don't have to wake up so early. The earliest I have to wake up at is 8 45 on Mondays and Wednesdays, awesome. Classes have started, I'm taking: Beginning Spanish, Microeconomics, Precal, and English 1. So far, the classes arent very difficult, but then again its the first week of class so, we'll so how it goes. What else? Oh, the cafeteria here is absolutely amazing, it even has a Chick-fil-a in it, all you can eat! I've made some new friends (Nicole, Elisa, Andrew, Jeff, Irish) and hung out with some high school friends as well (Andrea, Sharon, Drew). My roomate is pretty interesing, he works in OKC for a company called "pedicab," which is basically like a taxi on the back of a bike. He says he gets paid lots of money for it and probably wont be at the dorm during the weekend which is just fine for me. Well, thats all for now, I can believe I'm up so late, holy crap. Goodnight.