She Will Go To The Moon

Rocky II. Rudy. Seabiscuit. Cinderella Man. Hoosiers. Jenni.

The ultimate movie underdog list (except for the last one). You have to the love the story of the underdog. Their stories are my favorite movies. I can watch Rocky II 100 times in a row and probably cry 100% of the time at the end of the movie. The same for Rudy. They are the stories of "no", but the characters of "why not?" They are cheesy and I know it, but I can't help it. I am a sucker this stuff.

This week with a little nudge, Jen has taken on the role of the underdog and has choosen to embark on an incredible journey. I give you the Jungfrau Marathon (http://www.jungfrau-marathon.ch/ws/en/). The marathon starts in the Swiss Alps at 1650 ft of altitude and ends at 6500 ft of altitude. The last 13 miles are basically switchbacks up mountainS. Notice I said, mountain with an S because there more than one mountain. For reference, Denver "The Mile High City" is roughly 5200 ft in altitude.

Now comes our part. In every underdog story, there is the supporting cast. In Rocky, there was Mic and Adrian. In Rudy, there was the maintenance man and the math tutor. They don't win the Oscar, but they make the movie:

Rocky II-

Rocky has stopped training because Adrian had the baby early. He has all but given up on the upcoming fight with Apollo Creed. She wakes up from the coma and says:

Adrian: There's one thing I want you to do for me.

Rocky Balboa: What's that?

Adrian: Win.

Adrian: Win!

After the fight:

Rocky Balboa: Yea, I love yous too. I just also wanna thank God. Except for my kid bein' born, this is the greatest night in the history of my life. I just wanna say one thing to my wife who's home: YO, ADRIAN! I DID IT!

Rudy:

Rudy: Coach I just wanted to thank you for letting be a part of this football program this year.

Ara Parseghian: Rudy, I never I thought I'd be saying this but it's been an honor.

Rudy: But I've come to realize that God made some people out to be football players and that I'm not one of them.

Ara Parseghian: I wish God would put your heart in some of my players bodies.

Rudy: [laughs] Yea, I have this wish to let my father watch one of his sons play football for the Irish and I was wondering if I could possibly dress for one game next season?

Ara Parseghian: Rudy the NCAA is really strict with this 60 player rule, and in some positions we only have one backup and you know that every year we are competing for the national championship. Is this wish just for your father?

Rudy: No its for everyone who told me that being a Norte Dame Football player would be impossible. My brothers, the guys I work with at the mill they can't come to practice and see that I am a part of this team.

Ara Parseghian: [sighs] OK.

Rudy: OK?

Ara Parseghian: You deserve it. You will dress for one game next season.

Rudy: [can barely hold in his excitement] Thank You Coach!

Seriously, I am emotional just reading these lines. I can do this all day, but you all have better things to do on a Saturday. The question is will you be the supporting cast in Jenni's movie? I hope that you will be. Notes, words of encouragement, and motivational quotes are welcomed for the next several months as she begins to train. The race is in early September (5th I think).

PS--Remind her to stretch on a daily basis for at least 45 minutes.

Outcome unknown, she has choosen to go to the moon.

Overpaying Never Felt So Good

We all have traits. Some of us are tall. Some of us are smart. I am a cheap skate. That being said, I just bought multiple pairs of sandals that are overpriced and I loved every minute of it. This started with a commercial that I saw. I then saw the documentary on CNBC. This is a great business and even better story. I emplore you to dive into the deep end and over spend.

http://www.tomsshoes.com/default.asp


Make it like Lays and don't buy just one.

Pass on the word.

Amongst the Trees

France missed on transparent meat substances, goose liver, and dryers. That being said, they hit it out of the park on tree house hotels. We had a great time in western France. We went to Normandy, Mt Saint Michel, and St Malo. The western coast of France was fantastic and offered some of the best scenery we have seen since our arrival. The highlight of the trip for the kids was the night that we spent in the trees. Jen's friend gave us a recommendation of a family friendly hotel and once we looked into it, we noticed that they had tree houses to rent. Our two bungalows were about 20ft off the ground and had room for five people. The kids loved it.

My favorite part of our trip was the day that we spent driving down the coast of Normandy. I had been to portions of the beaches before, but this was my first trip to the American cemetery. Typically, hype ruins something like this for me because it never measures up to the buildup. In The American cemetery at Omaha Beach was probably one of the most moving sites I have ever traveled to. The symmetry of the headstones, the perfectly manicured grounds, and to top it off the church bells going off in the background all accumulate to bring out an overwhelming array of emotions. Every American should make the time to visit this site. It is incredibly emotional and is what I consider to be the perfect visual example of sacrifice. At the age of 18, I had a fulltime job of being an idiot. When you see these headstones and see rows of 18 year old kids (because in truth that is what they were) you immdetialey gain a real appreciation for the WWII veterans. I don't know how an 18 year old can muster the courage to do this type of job. It really goes to show you that we need to introduce ourselves to this dying generation and learn from them while they are still here.

Just a few shots of our trip.

April Moments

This is my movie star pose in Cannes. As you can see, my fan base is somewhat limited.

This is the cast of Pinocchio. The cast is a group of real up and comers. I took Jen to this play. Funny enough, the theater looks a little like my flat.

No comment and possibly the main reason for my upcoming divorce.

My cool date for the day.

Heaven for a 3 year old.

It has been a long time since my last post. I have been really busy and we took a few days and headed down to Nice (on the Mediterrean Sea). I have put a few pictures of our trip for viewing. We stayed in Nice, but we took a car up and down the coast. If you ever get down to this part of France, I strongly suggest seeing Eze Village and St. Paul de Vence. Both places are a photographers dream. The weather is still a bit cool in Paris, but we are starting to get at least some sunny days here and there. May is going to be busy. Jen's Mom comes in this week and we have planned a trip to Normandy and Mt. Saint Michel. Later this month, I have a conference in London and I think the gang is going to tag along with me on this as well. Overall, we are starting to see some of the things that Paris has to offer and even getting out to see some different parts of France and Europe.

I am staying pretty busy with work. I went to Africa a couple times in April. All my travels were safe, but I went to Angola which is probably the worst country I have ever seen. Angola is one of the world's largest exporters of oil. They have the ability to export 2 million barrels a day of high quality crude. It does not take a PhD in math to begin to see the money that is flowing out of this country. Unfortunately, the living conditions are worse than terrible. No clean water, no normal electricity usage in the entire city of 5 million people (Luanda), terrible infrastructure, polluted, expensive (breakfast for two was $80 USD), and mosquitos fly around like no tomorrow to top it all off. It is simply the worst thing I have seen since going to Africa. This country has written the book on corruption. I was having dinner with a partner of ours one night and he was telling me how he and his family ran from the rebels in the south during the civil war. For reference, he was younger than I am. It is amazing that we live in a world that still has to deal with these type of circumstances. It was quite an eye opening experience to see poverty on this type of scale.

At the end of my trip in Angola, I went to Cape Town for another set of meetings. Cape Town is amazing. It is the most first world city I have seen in Africa. It is clean, beautiful, and there is a ton of stuff to do. I took a bag full of information back with me as we are looking at going back in 2010.

Overall, things are going well. We were having lunch in a cafe in Nice and they were playing Willie Nelson songs. It reminded me of home. It reminded me of home so much that I went to the hotel later that day and booked all of our trips back to the US this year. I think in 60 or so days we are going to need a taste of home. We think of our family and friends often.

I will do better on posting.