Grand Canyon- South Rim to North Rim: 11.5 hours

The Grand Canyon was incredible--It is enormous, quite the sight. This video was taken near the end. The total hike was 17 miles and we did it in 11.5 hours, which is actually really good time. At the restaurant after the hike a lady came up to our table and asked me if my name was Greg? I asked her "Do you want it to be?" She then laughed and said I looked just like somebody she knew (probably not very well), and thought I looked just like him. I then proceeded to explain that people have told me stuff like that about a dozen times in my life. I guess I just have an easily replicable face and physique, for better or worse... As the older lady left and all five of us at the table were laughing, she said she doesn't do stuff like that to pick up guys... True Story! It made the night for some people

No Habla Espanol at Food City

There is a chain of Grocery Stores here in Phoenix called Food City which caters primarily to people who speak spanish. They have a variety of Mexican foods and most products are labeled in Spanish as well as English. Most people there speak spanish- however I heard a commercial on the radio featuring the fact that they don't only speak spanish. So I finished my ultimate frisbee practice and didn't want to drive to Trader Joes so I stopped at Food City, I got some cheap grapes and strawberries and some Coconut Ice Cream (hecho en Mexico!).

Whenever I'm in a predominantly spanish speaking area or store, I use what spanish I know to communicate. So I did the same as I arrived in the checkout lane asking "esta cerrado?" (is it closed?) when I got closer she asked "How are You?" in perfect English, I responded "just fine", more than a little bummed that she didn't want to speak spanish with me. For me that's half the fun of places like that, but oh well.

LIPO-sUTAHTion

I was in Utah over the weekend for an ultimate frisbee tournament. I reserved an economy rental car to pickup at the airport on orbitz for about $15, but when I got there all they had left was a red dodge minivan. The minivan actually had some pickup to it which was nice on the freeway.
But really what I found most interesting while I was on the freeway in my red dodge minivan was the amount of Billboards around Salt Lake advertising various forms of lip-suction service. I guess liposuction is what is in utah?-- (or maybe it is what is out in Utah...)

Letters from Iwo Jima

I saw this movie last weekend, I had heard about it when it came out and wanted to see it, and I finally did. It's a very intense movie in many ways and deals with a very harsh battle towards the end of WW II. It is all in the Japanese perspective of the battle. I really like when war type movies are able to portray what it was like for the individual during the battle. While watching is at times rather depressing I wouldn't say the movie is a downer, the english dubbing is done rather well.

Harvard Style Update

I really don't have much to post here---Since I wrote last I went to Boston and visited the Harvard Business School (HBS). I went to Boston for a day last year and blogged about it, I think Boston is pretty cool town, especially for going to school. HBS has a very nice campus with nice buildings that are well maintained-- and with the most billions of dollars of any business school, it should. So many leaders in Business and Government have gone to Harvard (I can think of atleast 4 presidents)

I am pretty big fan of the Case Method in which students read a case about some type of business problem for each class and come prepared to discuss and argue what the protagonist should do given the information outlined in the case and any other research or theories each student can come up with. I was in a last semester class of 2nd year students, so most of their ideas were well developed and articulated with a high degree of fluency.

I also had lunch at the Kennedy School of Government- They are dealing with issues related to students taking jobs in the private sector which is contrary to the school established mission which is educate leaders to go into public service. Not sure where I stand on that issue, but I do believe the person who assumes the heaviest individual debt should have a say in what career path they ultimately choose. Tuition is around 30k per year, and international students need to have 60k per year

...And the clam chowder is good in Boston...

feeling 15

Listening to the Silversun Pickups in my ipod makes reminds me most of that feeling of being a teenager listening to alt-rock in the 90's. But the music has this sort of fresh feel to it that seems to set it apart from so much other music.

finally finished it

I got a book called Team of Rivals-- about the Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln- for Christmas. I just barely finished it. Written for more of a broad audience (ex: no footnotes on the pages) in a very comprehendable voice. It focused on the inside story of Washington D.C and more specifically the inner workings of Lincoln's cabinet during the Civil War.

Nearly everyone in Lincoln's cabinet was very intelligent, had studied law and had experienced tremendous amount of loss during their lifetime. The author paints Lincoln almost as a miracle worker in getting the most out of the people he appointed to assist him in cabinet positions.

On the final page it summarized Lincoln's ambition to achieve based on his disbelief in an afterlife and his desire to accomplish something his fellow men could remember him by.

Although it generally doesn't go very deep, there is a lot of information there to really digest and internalize to understand the timeframe and thought process of the President and Cabinet. It really makes life in Washington seem pretty swell.

Gelato, Panini and Rome

From top: 1) Colesseum, 2) Fresh Gelato closeup, 3) Inside the enourmous St. Peter's Basilica, 4) Trevi Fountain

St. Peter's Basilica-- very very large.

This place is where the Roman Senate and Government

headquarters was located, Ceasar was cremated around here.

Also it was all underground until the 1930's, when Mussolini used

dynamite to excavate it to what it looked like at the time of Christ.

Oahu

My favorite comment I overheard in Hawaii was while I was down by Waikiki, it went like this:
Woman: "No, I like Hawaii"
Man: "uh huh"
woman: "I would just like to change the people of Hawaii..."

Unfortunately I didn't catch the rest. But here a couple videos from last Saturday in Oahu:

These are what they use to practice with for when they twirl fire. I had it for a little while, it was pretty fun while a bit frustrating to balance the stick on your thumbs just right.

Sunset Beach-- Great for surfing, the sand pebbles were huge and so soft.

Viral comments

Alot of the comments I get to my posts lately appear to Spam or possibly some other type of virus. I thought the strange looking letters you type in to make a comment would prevent that.