Well the election is almost here. All day long, I have been singing "It's time for some campaigning," created by the wonderful folks over at jibjab.com. Here it is, with special cameo appearance by the lovely Megan.

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The birth and death of a legend

When I finished up my mission, one of my goals was to at some point grow a beard. I have tried a few times, but I just get fed up with the itchiness. This most recent time was no different, but I did keep it considerably longer than past times. Below is a short chronology showing me in various stages of beard growth. Shortly after the final two pictures, (they were taken at the same time), the beard met its tragic end. Note that in the second photo, I may or may not be wearing a shirt.

Victory for LSU!!

So the other day (ok, a week and a half ago) I was wandering about the LSU campus on my way to the bus stop, and I happened to pass the fountain that is located in the quad. But this day, the fountain looked a little...odd. The following video resulted. WARNING: This video contains copious amounts of foam. Viewer discretion advised.



And for some reason it's not working. So just hop on over to http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8547293848221783947&hl=en to watch it.

A tribute to American Heroes

From whence does today's subject come? I refer today to the series of commercials produced by one Anheuser-Busch. The original spots were "Real American Heroes," but after a while switched to "Real men of Genius." They chronicle the great works of human achievement that have been accomplished by the unsung heroes of America. Perhaps you've seen or heard them; perhaps you haven't. But one thing's for sure: once you do, you'll never be the same again. Below is one I particularly enjoy. For a hundred of the radio spots, go to http://thefuntimesguide.com/2004/10/bud_light_real.php. For more videos, look on Youtube (or don't, if you're at BYU).



As I watch/listen and laugh, I am reminded of the kafafle a few months ago about Kirby Heyborne (of The Singles Ward and The Best Two Years fame). In order to support his family, he appeared in a Miller Lite commercial, and being a prominent member of the church, was subsequently lambasted throughout Utah for his decision.

I personally believe in the 11th commandment "Thou shalt mind thine own business."

Back online

We're back online! Now it's time to start looking to Ike.

Whistling in the Dark...

Well, it's been 5 days since Gustav hit us. It turned out to be a very destructive storm. The levies in New Orleans held, and that city is looking pretty good. However, other parts of the state were hit harder. Baton Rouge still has hundreds of thousands of homes without power (including ours), along with traffic lights, etc. We're feeling pretty blessed because our home was relatively undamaged and the city still has water and sewage running. A lot of our shingles were ripped off, though, so we had some water leak into our home (which means more damage in the walls and above the ceiling). But other than that (and no power), we're fairly well off. We have lots of food stockpiled so we're ok in that department.

The one thing we really needed was ice, so yesterday morning at around 6, we headed off to the nearest FEMA distribution center to pick up some. The line was already forming when we got there, though we were near the front. By the time they started distributing items a little after 8, though, the lines were probably a half mile or more in two directions, with two lanes in each direction. We were glad we couldn't sleep and so went early. The Army Corps was there distributing MREs, bottled water, tarps, and ice. They just loaded stuff into the back of cars, except for the tarps, which they asked if you needed. We didn't, so just took the food, water, and ice. I was never so excited to receive two bags of sleeping water (Malagasy for ice).

Right now we're holed up at school in my office, since there are lights, internet, microwave, and most importantly, AC. Geaux Tigers!

Power out

Our power went out for about an hour, but it's back on now. I'm going to post this, then work on getting some video up before it goes out again. We're fine, so far. The wind is gusting pretty well, and rain is coming down, though not torrentially. I'll try to keep updated as power permits.