Best National Anthem Ever

This is almost enough to make me want to be a Red Sox fan.

If you've ever stood near me at a sporting event, you know that I'm a connoisseur of singing the the National Anthem of the US. I'm a firm believer that if you're going to have a live singer or singers performing the Star Spangled Banner, or ANY country's anthem, you should sing it in a way that allows the crowd to sing along. Not everyone has operatic voices, nor the ability to hold a note for ten minutes.

And it's not a song that you should be experimenting with bizarrely styled ad-libbing of the notes, either. It's a song that means a great deal to our country and its citizens. No matter whether you're a Democrat, a Republican, pro- or anti-war, etc., you can sing the anthem and it means something to you. America is a place of which to be very proud, as is just about every country for different reasons (yet, for some reason, the same reason when you get right down to it).

I have been known to heckle singers who play around with it and make it impossible to sing along - they have no business leading the crowd in singing a patriotic song. It's not meant to be a performance, it's participatory. You SING ALONG.

I also have no time for people who stand there and look around at everyone else, or talk, or just don't even try to sing during the anthem. We sing the anthem to honor our home. Get on the stick and be proud of where you live.

That being said, here is possibly the GREATEST singing of the Star Spangled Banner that I've ever experienced. And I wasn't even there. The description of the clip on YouTube reads:

It was Disability Awareness day and the folks at Fenway did a lot of great things for kids with challenges..here is one who sang and when he got nervous the Fenway Faithful helped him out

And help him out they do. Simply fantastic.

Nerd Tests

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New Addition!

Jennifer and I added a new member to the family over the weekend. Moira Torunn Fellrath was born on Friday morning at OSU Hospital. She's in great health and is cute as the dickens.

She's 7 lb. 6 oz., 19 1/2" long, and did I mention she's cute as the dickens? :)

Moira is an anglicization of the Gaelic Máire or Mary. Torunn is Scandinavian and means "Daughter of Thor" (and no, this does not mean I have delusions of grandeur).

Mom is also doing well, she came home from the hospital a day early.

I may be scarce for a while on the old blog, for obvious reasons. I'll catch you up later.

Ne'er Forget, Me Hearties...

Talk Like A Pirate Day is nearly upon us! Arrrr!!!

Here's Duncan talking like a pirate during breakfast on TLAPD last year. Cute guy.

Tax the Gas, Lose the Ass

A great post on the Sierra Club's Compass blog about how to push the results of the study regarding gas prices and waistlines. I had to share...

Worst Movie Trailer Ever

If you're wondering what Wolfpack's comments are about on this post, here's the story.

Wolfpack (my wife) and I were at the movies and this trailer came on. Keep in mind, I'm a HUGE Batman fan. And after Batman and Robin, I was feeling pretty betrayed.

The trailers came on, and this one starts with the Warner Bros. logo, and it started winding up through this creepy house, and the voice over was something like this (heavily paraphrased - I can't find the trailer online anywhere): "For decades, he has protected us from the forces of evil. He has prowled through the night, searching for evil and exposing it wherever it was found...." Meanwhile, the camera's still going up stairs, around corners, until it gets to an open window with the moon outside. And the camera stopped behind this very familar silhouette - what looked like a head with two bat-ears coming out of the top.

I was sitting on the edge of my seat, getting totally geeked out. I hadn't heard about any new Batman movie being in the works! How did this one get past me? Would it fall into the cartoony crap-trap that the original Batman movies did? Who was playing Batman? WHEN WAS IT COMING OUT? Meanwhile, Jenn was sitting next to me and shaking her head.

The voiceover continues: "And now, after years of waiting, to bring his justice to the night!" And then, just as you're expecting the Batman music to start, or something like that, the figure turns around... and it's FREAKING SCOOBY DOO!

I seriously let out a howl, right there in the movie theater! A soul-wrenching "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" Meanwhile, my wife, who's a big Scooby Doo fan, let's out with a "YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

So there's the story of the worst movie trailer ever. And now you're in on the joke.

Edit: "Thanks" to Matt: Here's the stupid trailer.

Scooby Doo - Batman Trailer
Uploaded by Leeowen

Makes Me a Little Bit Weepy

I don't even know what to say about this. It's absolutely beautiful. I'm already agog.

Save the Haka!

The NCAA is sticking its nose where it doesn't belong... AGAIN. This time it's in reference to the University of Hawai'i's practice of performing a Polynesian Haka dance before the game.

You may know if you've been reading this blog for a while that I love the Haka. I don't know how long Hawai'i has been doing it, but I love the New Zealand Rugby team's performance of it. They do it before every match, right in front of the opposing team, and it's a real great show of spirit and pride.

That being said, the NCAA wants to get rid of it because apparently someone got offended. Well, that person needs to shut up. No one has the right to not be offended in a land where we have a freedom of speech. You can dislike it, and not go to games where it's performed, but you can't ban it because you're offended. That's simply immature and ridiculous.

Keep up the Haka, Hawai'i! I hope you guys play ND soon so I can see it too!

Iron Man!

You know, I was never really a fan of this comic, but this looks really freaking cool!

Amazon.com's Mental Leaps

Here's the text of one of those "if you liked this, you'll like..." messages I got today.

James Fellrath,

As someone who has purchased or rated books by Alexandre Dumas, you might like to know that Finance for Sport and Leisure Managers: An Introduction will be released on September 21, 2007. You can pre-order yours by following the link below.

Finance for Sport and Leisure Managers: An Introduction Robert Wilson Price: $48.95 Release Date: September 21, 2007

Book Description

Sport and leisure managers need to understand the financial side of their industry in order to offer the most cost-effective facilities and to make sound business decisions. However, to the non-expert the language and practice of finance is often bewildering and perceived as complicated, difficult and impenetrable. This textbook guides the reader through the maze of financial terms and concepts, illustrating theory with examples drawn specifically from sport-based contexts to make this the most relevant, transparent and helpful handbook for students of leisure management available.

Written by experts in accounting and sport management, this book enables readers to work through the subject at their own pace, with case studies, ... Read more

Um...

Ah...

Er...

What exactly does my appreciation for The Count of Monte Cristo have to do with managing sports? I suppose there's some sword-fighting in it, which is sort of like fencing... which is a sport... no, even that's too much.

There's a High Rate of Exercise-Induced Asthma, Says Study. Jamie Says "Why?"

The results of a study was released recently by OSU's sports medicine department recently that speaks to the high rate of exercise-induced asthma in college varsity athletes. The department used a "eucapnic voluntary hyperpnea testing" procedure, where basically people hyperventilate themselves and then their lung function is measured. 42 of 107 athletes were diagnosed with the condition as a result. 39 of them had never had asthma diagnosed in them before.

Interesting study. It goes on to say that the rate of exercise-induced asthma (I'm just going to say asthma from now on, assume I mean this specific form of the condition) is probably higher than originally thought due to this test never having been used before.

But I think that what this test is failing to consider is that maybe the rate of asthma has actually increased, instead of just lying undiagnosed for all this time. This study could be a benchmark for a study of air quality in our city. All the athletes diagnosed were from OSU, and therefore are breathing Columbus air (which isn't the best in the world, by a long shot).

If they'd never been diagnosed before, it's possible that they come from a cleaner environment than Columbus and they didn't develop it until they got to OSU...

I'd like to see this study become a larger study - it really could be a great example of just how bad things are with air quality in the city (and around the country).

Daily Roundup: "Diet" Pop, Great Anti-Klan stuff, Miss Scarolina puts herself on the map

As I've been saying for a long time, diet pop doesn't do much for actual dieting. In fact, quite the reverse. See this article from WebMD. Drop the pop - drink water. Tap water will do just fine, too.

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Possibly the greatest anti-Klan/Nazi/Ignorant bastard rally I've ever heard of.

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Miss Teen Scarolina redeems herself in a big way. Sure, she looked silly here, but you have to give her props for learning from her gaffe. I consider myself knowledgeable about Geography, but I only got 6 out of 7 right on this quiz (which gave me the ranking of "Crown Cartographer!").

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John Edwards Starting To Set Himself Apart From Merlot Democrats

John Edwards is starting to show himself as the populist candidate he's claimed to be all along, after a speech in Hanover, New Hampshire where he called for an end to the corporate lobbying culture of America. Full text here of the speech is here.

I have to admit, I'd sort of bought the lines about Edwards being something of a vapid individual until now... but he's saying all the things I've been saying for years... and he's a presidential candidate with some pull. Perhaps not as much as Clinton or Obama, but he's been a VP candidate, he's getting money from donors, and he's in a position to make real waves.

I'm not saying I'm going to start pounding the Edwards drum, but I'm going to start paying serious attention to the beat.