Monday, January 24, 2011

It was a Soccer Weekend

Jenny and I earned our first "cap" this weekend and saw the US Men's National Soccer team play a friendly vs. Chile. Granted it was our "B" squad, as most of the first teamers are in Europe and weren't called back to the US to train. It was a great chance to see some our America's young soccer talent and a few of these guys are likely to be on the squad heading to Brazil in 2014.

JLV scored some sweet seats behind the goal about 10 rows up and had a great view of the only US goal scored by Sporting Kansas City's own, Teal Bunbury. Here's my video of the goal and the semi-failed "Dougie" celebration.



And if you haven't seen it by now here is the video that has gone viral of the Spanish language broadcast's goal call. I'm sure we will see some rendition of that call at the new KC soccer stadium this summer.



The game ended in a 1-1 draw, but the atmosphere was better than any soccer game I've ever attended. The only negative to the evening was the concession stands didn't take credit/debit cards. Do they not want us to buy beer?!? I don't understand how any large stadiums can still only accept cash. Lines at the ATM machines were 40 deep JLV reported.

On Sunday I continued the futbol weekend and helped out with the LA Galaxy physicals. I didn't do his physical but I was in close proximity to Landon Donovan, one of the most prominent US players in history. It was crazy to stand a few feet away from a national hero from this last world cup. He was just relaxing and catching up with teammates and acting like a normal guy - the clip below was anything but normal.



One of my great memories was watching the game in a packed Ragtag theatre and becoming friends with 100+ strangers. Our experience was like many others gathered in bars and plazas across the country unified by national pride.



I still get chills watching that.

Xtranormal

While reading through the latest issue of Fast Company I came across an article about Xtranormal.com. It is a site that provides automated animation and computer generated voices for whatever you type. Sounds a little confusing I know, but check out this video below made by a Best Buy employee and you'll see the creative possibilities that it can unlock.

WARNING: Contains some hilarious computer voice profanity.

Monday, January 10, 2011

Life as a Ski Doc

I've been calling Park City, Utah home for about a week now and I'm halfway into my stay here. For those of you who don't know, I'm up here working at a urgent care ski clinic at the base of Park City Mountain Resort. It's the tan double wide in the center of the picture.

Basically, they work me for 6 days a week and then I get to ski free on the 7th. Not too bad of a deal. I'm seeing all sorts of fractures, sprains, and dislocations. It's a great experience and obviously a beautiful setting.

I'm staying with a very nice couple in their early 60's who are kind enough to rent a room to a traveling fellow. The house is a quaint old mining shack that was moved down from the mountain when the ore business dried up. About 10 years ago they renovated the interior of the house while preserving the historical exterior. It's going to be on the market in the spring for a cool 1.5 mil if your interested. It's a perfect location to walk to the ski resort while just blocks from the shops and restaurants of downtown.


One of my favorite things about the clinic is that they have dogs trained in avalanche rescue that lounge around the clinic. The pups are part of Wasatch Backcountry Rescue Organization. They live with their ski patrol master and come to work when they are on duty. Sometimes I'm in a clinic room seeing a patient and in walks a dog. I'm also a sucker for giving them treats. How can you say no to a face like this?


I'm skiing again on Thursday and the weather is supposed to be nice with highs in the low 30's. I'll try to post some more pictures but until then here is one from last week. The summit gives amazing views for miles and miles and you can see some of the buildings of the resort from this picture at the base of the mountain.