Tiger Woods commercial
I think I saw this once or twice a long time ago. It’s a great commercial, an even better movie, and definitely a better golfer.
@CV31 vs. @ChrisBosh and athletes on twitter
I joined twitter almost a year ago, and while there were certainly lots of people on twitter back then, I have watched the site grow immensely over time.
One of the biggest changes has been the additions of celebrities. Especially professional athletes. I personally follow many of these big name stars. From a journalism/marketing perspective, I think its brilliant. It allows players to reach out to their fans, doesn’t require a lot of work, and the fans feel closer to the players.
In recent days Chad Johnson or now Chad OchoCinco has said he will tweet during games, I think that may be a bit much, but that’s his decision to make, not mine.
Some athletes, like Shaquille O’Neal have offered tickets to the 1st person to find him after he tweets that he is at a particular restaurant.
Recently, two young rising big men in the NBA have started a challenge with each other. Let me say, its pretty funny to watch. Charlie Villanueva, who just signed with the Detriot Pistons, also known as @CV31 is in a competition with @ChrisBosh of the Toronto Raptors. They are racing to see who will get 50,000 thousand followers first. The loser will have to do a dance on YouTube. Here the video @CV31 posted about the competition.
Great Cardinals article
Anyone who knows me or has ever read these page will know I am a huge Cardinals fan. While I may love playing football more, the Cardinals are still my favorite team. In fact right now, as I type this post, I am watching the Cardinals game.
Earlier today I came across this great article featuring two out of my 3 favorite Cardinals. The article is both informative and humorous and features quotes from both Albert Pujols and Stan “The Man” Musial.
While I will admit he is not the best Cardinal of all time, Ozzie “the Wizard” Smith is my favorite player of all time. When I was first coming to consciousness he was the best Cardinal and instantly became my favorite player. I even attended his Hall of Fame induction, a great experience I will never forget.
Check out the great article here.
New disovery on FreeRice
A while ago I posted about Web sites you can visit to click and donate food to help feed the hungry. I even have a couple posted permanently in my sidebar.
This morning I was visiting my favorite of those three sites, FreeRice, when I made a discovery.
FreeRice is my favorite of the sites, because you do more than just click on a button to donate food. The site is also an educational tool.
For the past couple years I have always used the site to brush up on English vocabulary. I tell younger students to use it to prepare for their SAT vocabulary, while helping a great cause at the same time.
This morning I noticed this link right above where you answer questions
So I clicked on the link and discovered this page. Which has a list of subjects and languages you can use on FreeRice. Included on the list are World Capitals and World Geography, which I know my parents would love.
I was very excited and happy to see this because it gives me an opportunity to work on my Italian. While I already know English and Spanish (Plus a semester of Latin). The next language I am working on is Italian. Last summer I downloaded free podcasts and would listen to them after work, while I didn’t think I learned a lot, every time I hear others speaking Italian I’m always surprised at how much I am able to understand.
However, during the school year I have been too busy to work on my Italian, and this summer, I don’t know, until Today, I haven’t done much.
Either way I was really glad to see that great Web site has expanded, and now plan on using it even more to continue learning Italian.
Also if you find any more Web sites for donating food, please send them my way.
Billy Mays and the viral nature of the web
It is well known that in the past couple of weeks there have been a few celebrity deaths. I have intentionally been avoiding comment on these situations here on my blog, although I have certainly sent out some updates on twitter.
This morning I woke up early and decided to catch up on the Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien. As I was scrolling through old episodes I came across one from June 23, 2009 with Billy Mays. Mays died five days later.
There is nothing particularly moving or inspirational about the clip, although it is rather amusing.
What surprised me the most was that I had not seen the clip until now. With the viral nature of the Internet I just thought it would have been spread around the Internet more, especially on sites such as Facebook and twitter.
As someone who spends hours a day on the Internet, I have seen countless Michael Jackson videos, and even some Billy Mays videos, I just thought I would have seen this one earlier.
Also for a Catholic perspective on Billy Mays, check out this post on the Deacon’s Bench. Apparently Mays was a Catholic.
Here’s the video, like I said, it’s rather amusing:
A trip to the diner
Tonight I went to the semi-famous diner in Columbia with some friends. I had a wonderful time just laughing and enjoying their company.
In the last couple of months I have often thought after experiences like these, are you willing to give this up?
And the answer is always a very quick, and definitive, YES.
Not that I haven’t enjoyed my time here at Mizzou the last two years, but nothing is more powerful than the sense of peace I have felt ever since deciding to apply/enter the seminary.
Right now I just try to enjoy these types of experiences, knowing that sometime in the future I will be able to look back on these years and smile.
As my first day of seminary draws nearer and nearer I certainly try to cherish these moments with my friends. Some of whom I won’t be able to see as much the next couple of years.
The other day I spoke of simple moments that make life great, today that moment was my trip to the diner with my friends.
Press release?
In the last several years I have had a wide variety of journalism/media experience. One thing that I had never done before was write a press release. For whatever reason, it just hasn’t been something that I’ve had to do. I’m very used to reading them, just not writing them. Today I had the opportunity to write one. It was different than writing an article, newsletter, blog post etc. I gave it my best effort, and it required a lot of editing, but here it is:
RNA.org links with social media
A lot of the stuff mentioned about social media is what I have been working on all summer.
Caritas in Veritate
This morning Pope Benedict XVI released his 3rd encyclical, Caritas in Veritate or Love in Truth. This morning I got up early (5:15 AM) to start reading this new document. I made it about half the way through before I had to start getting ready for work.
To posted some short quotes I found particularly interesting on twitter this morning, although they may now be hard to find as I have posted many more tweets since that time. Tomorrow I will continue to read and tweet quotes. Eventually, I will compile the list of tweeted quotes in a post here on the blog, perhaps tomorrow night, depending on when I finish reading the text.
Simple moments
Sometimes the best moments of the day are totally unexpected and happen so quickly you barely notice.
Today that moment occurred when I was driving back from the famous Nickel Pavilion at Cosmo Park after spending the evening at a picnic/BBQ with the Knights of Columbus.
I turned on a 4 lane road, and was in the left lane, there was a slow moving car in the right lane that was swerving a little bit and drifting into my lane so I could not pass them. At first I was angry, I got frustrated and may or may not have muttered under my breath.
When I reached a red light I looked over to see who was driving so slow and drifting into my lane.
What did I see?
I saw an elderly African-American couple each enjoying large scoops of ice cream. I immediately felt like an idiot, and smiled.
Clearly this man driving the car had been enjoying his ice cream and was just trying to be cautious as he drove. I was so unnecessarily angry and jumped to conclusions.
I also thought about this couple who were elder and looked as though they couldn’t be happier in the world than to be together and have ice cream on a wonderful summer evening.
I think God provides us with these moments in our lives to remind us that no matter what is getting us down, life’s gonna be ok. These moments can make your day or they can just make it a little better. When I saw that couple tonight, I got a big smile on my face. That was an hour ago and I’m still pretty happy. The next time you have one of these moments, do me and more importantly, yourself a favor, and simply cherish the moment.
Happy 4th of July
Enjoy our nation’s birthday today. Eat some BBQ. At least that’s what I’ll be doing.
Also, pray for those who haved served or are serving in our Armed Forces.
