Proud to be a U.S. American!

What is there to be said about the stunning performance turned in by Teen Miss South Carolina in the question and answer portion of the recent Miss Teen USA pageant? I know this happened a while ago, but I just saw it yesterday and haven't stopped laughing since. I do feel bad for her um-a, because-a, she will NEVER be able to live this down, but I also feel a bit ashamed to call myself a U.S. American after such a representation. In addition, I feel a bit ashamed to call myself a former Carolinian (North Carolina is now dirty by association). All I can say is, I hope she has no immediate plans to visit "The Iraq", South Africa, or "the Asian countries" like, such as. If you have not yet seen this video, PLEASE watch below! Even if you have, it wouldn't hurt to watch it again. And if any of you happen to be in contact with Santa, please pass along the message that there is a little southern girl out there who should get a map in her stocking this year.

Kim & I on the First Snow Day

Snow. Yes, it is full out snowing here today...in September. I know many will think me crazy for being shocked by this, much less excited, but I can't help myself. Too many years of living in Arizona can cause one to forget that it ever snows anywhere. I'm going to make a trip to the store for some hot chocolate, and I might even listen to a Christmas song on the way. Just one though. :) Utah is coming through for me in fine fashion!! To all you in AZ today who are probably sweating in your AC, I'll catch a snowflake or two on my tongue for you! So LET IT SNOW UTAH!! :)

The Fruity Humanitarian

So one of the costs of living with my aunt & uncle the past couple months has been that whenever they run out of fridge space, they overflow to ours. Such was the case with a certain watermelon a few weeks ago. They brought it down and asked if we'd keep it in our fridge until they could cut it up and eat it. Well, the days turned into weeks and after a particularly big shopping trip, my sister Kim & I decided that there was no longer any room in our fridge for this particular piece of fruit. So, we determined that aunt & uncle had forgotten about it or had no intention of eating it and that there could be only one fate for an old neglected melon -- to be thrown off something and smashed. Together we named the watermelon "Charles Bernard" and settled on performing the service the under shroud of night the next evening by rolling him down a nearby mountain. We wrote his name on his rind in Sharpie along with the phrase "Bust Must Plus", then took "before" pictures and left him out on the counter to await his fate. Well, the next day, after we all returned home from work, we came into the kitchen to find Charles Bernard missing. To our horror and shame, my aunt and uncle (the King and Queen of Waste-Not-Want-Notsville) had come downstairs, found Charles Bernard awaiting his doom, and conducted a rescue operation transporting him to their own over-stuffed fridge. To this day nothing has been mentioned between us about Charles' relocation. But to my utter embarrassment, my 65 yr old aunt has a watermelon in her fridge upon which is written "Charles Bernard -- Bust Must Plus"! I don't know that things between us will ever be quite the same.

AST Dew Tour

Salt Lake hosted a stop on the action sports Dew tour this year, which Layne and I checked out on Saturday. Pictured are Shaun White on the vert ramp, Nate Adams in MotoX and Ryan Sheckler on the street course. It was way under planned for, over attended and nearly rained out, but it was fun, and as usual, made Layne more than a little board crazy.

Jamboree Music Festival

Layne & I have had a lot of fun this summer going to different events around the valley. This was at the Jamboree Music Festival at Thanksgiving Point. We heard the Aqua Bats, Colbie Callait, Toad the Wet Sprocket, The Format and Dashboard Confessional. Good times, good tunes!

The CD

The East Carolina University Chamber Singers CD Greater Love, has officially been released! We recorded this in May of this year in St. Paul's Episcopal church in Greenville, NC with Gothic records. It's some great music from Great Britain and represents a great deal of my time and effort over the last year. You can purchase your copy now on Gothic's online catalog at www.gothic-catalog.com It's also going to be available soon on iTunes, Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other fine retailers. You can download and listen to some track samples by clicking below.

Here is the track listing:

1 Psalm Prelude Set 2, no. 3—Herbert Howells (1892-1983) (8:05)

“Sing unto Him a new song. Play skillfully with a loud noise.” –Psalm 33:3

Requiem—Howells
I. Salvator mundi (2:37) Listen! Click to hear music file
II. Psalm 23 (2:26)
III. Requiem aeternam (I) (3:32)Click to hear music file
IV. Psalm 121 (3:01)
V. Requiem aeternam (II) (3:52) Click to hear music file
VI. I heard a voice from Heaven (4:22) Click to hear music file

Tu es Petrus Robert Pearsall (1795-1856) (2:48) Click to hear music file

Five Negro Spirituals, from A Child of Our Time—Michael Tippett (1905-1998)
Steal away (3:03) Click to hear music file
Nobody knows (1:16)
Go down, Moses (3:02)
By and by (1:25)
Deep river (3:40) Click to hear music file

Rejoice in the Lamb, Op. 30—Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
Rejoice in God, O ye Tongues (chorus) (4:20)
For I will consider my Cat, Jeoffrey (soprano solo) (2:35)
For the Mouse is a creature of great personal valour (alto solo) (1:12)
For the flowers are great blessings (tenor solo) (1:55)
For I am under the same accusation as my Saviour (chorus) (2:30)
For H is a spirit and therefore he is God (bass recitative & chorus) (4:17)
Halleluiah from the heart of God (chorus) (1:27)

21 Greater love hath no man—John Ireland (1879-1962) (6:27)

22 Marianne—Folksong, arr. Philip Wilby (b. 1949) (3:48) Click to hear music file

She works hard for the money...

After a long & tedious search, and much interviewing and deliberation, I have finally accepted my first post college job! I'm now an official employee of the University of Utah's Biomedical Engineering Dept. I don't know what exactly my job title is, but I'm one of 3 people who make up the microfabrication team working on the research and development of neural prosthetic devices (specifically the Utah Electrode Array or UEA). This tiny chip (pictured below) is implanted in motor cortex and peripheral nerve and when a current is applied, has the ability to restore lost vision, hearing and even control of paralyzed limbs.

The project I'm currently working on is a Government grant from the Dept. of Defense to develop a bionic arm for all the amputee soldiers returning from Iraq "unarmed". Ok thats a HORRIBLE (and probably offensive) pun, but it just came to me and I can't help myself. Unlike any current prosthetic on the market, this arm (prototype due in '09) will be completely controlled by normal thought, just like a real arm, and will also provide sensory feedback. Despite having to spend almost all of my time in a clean lab, this kind of stuff really rings my bell. It doesn't get most people excited, but for those of you who are interested, I've put some links on my link list to articles about it.

It's Hip to Be Square

Square watermelons -- Yet one more shapely piece of evidence that the Japanese are smarter than we are. I thought this was so cool! Watermelons are so cumbersome to keep in the fridge because they are big and roll all over the place! But if they're grown on the vine in a tempered glass box, just think how many you could stack neatly in your fridge! The greatest inventions in the world have sprung from a need, and what could we possibly all need more than fridge space!