Jay Can Get Awkward Too

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />Hola y’all! As we found out <a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2013/02/uninvited-guests-are-best.html" target="_blank">yesterday</a>, Matt-Man does awkward pretty well. Strange things to tend to happen to him from time to time but I tell you what kids, he doesn’t have the market cornered. Oh hell no. I’ve been known to wander aimlessly into the awkward a bit from time to time myself. In fact, I encounter awkward situations TWICE in two weeks!<br /><br />I had intended to tell both of these stories on the <a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/im-with-stupid" target="_blank">IWS Podcast</a>, but didn’t think the barbershop story fit in one show and was too busy sitting back laughing while Shirley and Justin went after each other like the Hatfields and McCoys on Saturday. So, instead I’ll share them both with you guys here.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbx6H1t-Yoc3OdWKMe7L5lEkOR7myp3wxArus6xbNyfeI4GvGNFkPHoXctTzHzB3xgg0vUtgtSG87roFmTJ58rdOuXjQuRGdQ5YB-z81F5dz8SNdYeol2kyY427wukPhkvSb1078bzwg0/s1600/hot+barber.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbx6H1t-Yoc3OdWKMe7L5lEkOR7myp3wxArus6xbNyfeI4GvGNFkPHoXctTzHzB3xgg0vUtgtSG87roFmTJ58rdOuXjQuRGdQ5YB-z81F5dz8SNdYeol2kyY427wukPhkvSb1078bzwg0/s400/hot+barber.jpg" width="176" /></a></div>I was at the barber shop last week and Sonja was whacking away on my hair cause sometimes I wait a week or two too long to get it cut and it gets super thick and wavy when a lady came in with her little boy. He looked to be maybe 2? Or 3? I’m not good at guessing ages. Anyway, mommy decided to involve herself in the conversation I was having with Sonja.<br /><br />That’s okay, I mean it’s a public place and it wasn’t anything personal or deep or anything. But, as often times happen the conversation actually became all about Mommy. Again, whatever. I’m just there to get my haircut and get out. I don’t even need to talk. So she starts telling us about being clean for 4 years after her meth addiction. Good for her! And then she tells us about her dad being clean finally. That’s great. And then she tells us about how after 26 years as a Pentecostal preacher and father, her dad ran off to California to get a sex change operation.<br /><br />LOLWUT?<br /><br />She even showed us a picture. How nice! Then Sonja made a very good point. She noted that it’s amazing how someone can spend decades walking side-by-side with the Lord and then just one bad moment JUST LIKE THAT … THE DEVIL GRABS HIM!<br /><br />That’s when it hit me. Your kids don’t have monsters living under their beds or in their closets. Hell, they don’t even have Evil Clowns under there. It’s EL DIABLO! Be sure to let them know.<br /><br />Fast forward a few days and I’m perusing the canned meat aisle at Walmart, trying to decide how many cans of Manwich Chili WITH BEANS! I needed. (Spoiler Alert: 2) when I heard someone coming at me in one of those little scooters. I turned and looked at him and then made sure that my basket was far enough over to give him room to get around and went back to the very serious business of canned meats.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGWbMMz_6Bc6PzmiokXwH9pHAZ3q4wgXPHLk5I-GRl0-amZXZAjKAeXb10YVqaPcxiwtXZLVqSuLT0nvc2HJhjnbHiwIDSVOo4unbxbTVpkhnQ4UffMUnvTSbaLCD2xuJhF-1noKPaR5s/s1600/Beef+Chunks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGWbMMz_6Bc6PzmiokXwH9pHAZ3q4wgXPHLk5I-GRl0-amZXZAjKAeXb10YVqaPcxiwtXZLVqSuLT0nvc2HJhjnbHiwIDSVOo4unbxbTVpkhnQ4UffMUnvTSbaLCD2xuJhF-1noKPaR5s/s200/Beef+Chunks.jpg" width="151" /></a></div>Instead of going around me, the guy stopped and the said ‘I THINK I WENT TO SKOOOOOL WITH YEWWWWWWWWWWWW.”<br /><br />At this point I let out an audible sigh, looked to the sky and said “WHY ME GOD? WHY ME?”<br /><br />I turned around, looked at him again and then awkwardly shrugged my shoulders and said “Sorry, I don’t think I recognize you.” He then said “I went to Redneck High, did you?” “Yeah.” He then told me he was the class of ’85 and I told him I was ’86 and he said “Yeah, I thought so.”<br /><br />I still didn’t recognize him so he told me that he was in the band. I told him that didn’t seem to help. So then he told me all about the guy who was the Band Director back then almost dying in a motorcycle accident and other small talk about school and he rode off into the sunset without ever telling me his name. I still don’t know who he is even though he seemed to know me.<br /><br />This is why I don’t like to go out in public.<br /><br />Jayman<br /><a href="mailto:Jayman3768@gmail.com">Jayman3768@gmail.com</a><br /><a href="http://www.twitter.com/jayman_iws" target="_blank">@Jayman_IWS</a><br /><br /></div>

Jay Can Get Awkward Too

Hola y’all! As we found out yesterday, Matt-Man does awkward pretty well. Strange things to tend to happen to him from time to time but I tell you what kids, he doesn’t have the market cornered. Oh hell no. I’ve been known to wander aimlessly into th…

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Monday, Monday

<span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.archidose.org/wp/">A Weekly Dose of Architecture</a> Updates:</span><br /><br />This week's dose features the <a href="http://archidose.org/wp/2013/02/04/fire-shelter-01/">Fire Shelter: 01</a> in Copenhagen, Denmark, by Simon Hjermind Jensen:<br /><a href="http://archidose.org/wp/2013/02/04/fire-shelter-01/"><img alt="this week's dose" src="http://archidose.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Feb13-04.jpg" title="This week's dose" width="640" /></a><br /><br />The featured past dose is <a href="http://www.archidose.org/Dec06/25/dose.html">Icehotel</a> in Jukkasjärvi, Sweden by Ake Larsson:<br /><a href="http://www.archidose.org/Dec06/25/dose.html"><img alt="this week's dose" src="http://www.archidose.org/Dec06/25/image01.jpg" title="featured past dose" width="640" /></a><br /><br />This week's book review is <a href="http://archidose.org/wp/2013/02/04/le-corbusier-redrawn-the-houses/"><i>Le Corbusier Redrawn: The Houses</i></a> by Steven Park (L):<br /><a href="http://archidose.org/wp/2013/02/04/le-corbusier-redrawn-the-houses/"><img alt="this week's book review" height="300" src="http://archidose.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/corbusier-redrawn.jpg" title="This week's book review" /></a> <a href="http://www.archidose.org/books/corbusier.html"><img alt="this week's book review" height="300" src="http://www.archidose.org/books/corbusier.jpg" title="This week's book review" /></a><br />(R): The featured past book review is <a href="http://www.archidose.org/books/corbusier.html"><i>Le Corbusier: in his own words</i></a> by Antoine Vigne and Betty Bone.<br /><br />: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">American-Architects <a href="http://www.american-architects.com/en/pages/50x50">Building of the Week</a>:</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.american-architects.com/en/projects/project-review-detail/39871_flip_house">Flip House</a> in San Francisco, California, by Fougeron Architecture:<br /><a href="http://www.american-architects.com/en/projects/project-review-detail/39871_flip_house"><img alt="this week's Building of the Week" src="http://c214210.r10.cf3.rackcdn.com/files/projects/39871/images/900:w/Fougeron_Wisconsin_1.jpg" title="Current Building of the Week on american-architects.com" width="640" /></a>

Monday, Monday

A Weekly Dose of Architecture Updates:This week's dose features the Fire Shelter: 01 in Copenhagen, Denmark, by Simon Hjermind Jensen:The featured past dose is Icehotel in Jukkasjärvi, Sweden by Ake Larsson:This week's book review is Le Corbusier Red…

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28 in 28 #4: Le Corbusier Redrawn

<i>February is Book Month on A Daily Dose of Architecture. The "<a href="http://archidose.blogspot.com/search/label/28%20in%2028">28 in 28</a>" series features a different book every day of the month.</i><br /><br /><a href="https://papress.com/html/book.details.page.tpl?isbn=9781616890681"><b><i>Le Corbusier Redrawn: the Houses</i></b></a> by Steven Park<br />Princeton Architectural Press, 2012<br />Paperback, 240 pages<br /><br /><img alt="28-28_corbusier.jpg" border="0" src="http://www.archidose.org/Blog/28-28_corbusier.jpg" title="Book cover" /><br /><br />See <a href="http://archidose.org/wp/2013/02/04/le-corbusier-redrawn-the-houses/">A Weekly Dose of Architecture</a> for my review of <i>Le Corbusier Redrawn</i>.

28 in 28 #4: Le Corbusier Redrawn

February is Book Month on A Daily Dose of Architecture. The "28 in 28" series features a different book every day of the month.Le Corbusier Redrawn: the Houses by Steven ParkPrinceton Architectural Press, 2012Paperback, 240 pagesSee A Weekly Dose of …

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'Fast & Furious 6' trailer debuts during Super Bowl XVLII: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Dwayne Johnson find extra gear

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px;">Surprise return of Michelle Rodriguez is most explosive part of clip that shows a tank and a plane crash.</span><span style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br />From: http://www.nydailynews.com</span><br /><span style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt=" From left, Brian O'Conner (PAUL WALKER) and Dom Toretto (VIN DIESEL) reunite for "Fast & Furious 6", the next installment of the global blockbuster franchise built on speed. " src="http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.1254444.1359939598!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_635/article-fastfurious6-0203.jpg" /><br /><span style="background-color: white;">From left, Brian O'Conner (PAUL WALKER) and Dom Toretto (VIN DIESEL) reunite for 'Fast & Furious 6.'</span><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></span><br /><div style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The "Fast & Furious" franchise just found an extra gear.</div><div style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Universal debuted the first trailer for "Fast & Furious 6" during Super Bowl XLVII, and judging by the half-minute of footage, Vin Diesel's Dominic Toretto and Paul Walker's Brian O'Conner still haven't figured out how to hit the brakes.</div><div style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">This time around, the gang is enlisted to help the U.S. government take on villains with some fast cars of their own - and a tank.</div><div style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"We've graduated to a whole new level," says Dwayne Johnson's federal module, who has seemingly found working with the former car thieves easier than trying to chase them.</div><div style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">They also have graduated to a whole new strata of special effects budget: This time around, the drivers manage to bring down a cargo plane.</div><div style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Back for another lap is the whole crew, including Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gison, Ludacris and surprise returnee Michelle Rodriguez, whose Letty was seemingly bumped off two films ago.</div><div style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"Do you believe in ghosts?" she asks Toretto.</div><div style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"Fast & Furious 6" peels into theaters on May 24.</div><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></div><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/wjy7RWV3JHw?feature=player_embedded" width="640"></iframe></div>

Fast and Furious 6 FF6 SPEED 'Fast & Furious 6' trailer debuts during Super Bowl XVLII: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Dwayne Johnson find extra gear

Surprise return of Michelle Rodriguez is most explosive part of clip that shows a tank and a plane crash.From: http://www.nydailynews.comFrom left, Brian O'Conner (PAUL WALKER) and Dom Toretto (VIN DIESEL) reunite for 'Fast & Furious 6.'The "Fast & F…

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‘Iron Man 3′: Super Bowl spot leads pack of Disney’s latest Marvels

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/XGc4r2dVfiw?feature=player_embedded" width="640"></iframe><br /><br /><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: georgia, times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Although “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” director Shane Black’s first entry in the Marvel series looks heavy on the action, the Robert Downey Jr. vehicle <a href="http://herocomplex.latimes.com/2013/02/01/super-bowl-xlvii-ad-spotlight-star-trek-iron-man-lone-ranger/#/1" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; color: #004abf; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">wasn’t the only upcoming blockbuster</a> to get airtime during the big game, with new spots debuting for “Star Trek Into Darkness,” “World War Z” and “Snitch,” among other films.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: georgia, times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In all, Disney promoted three of its new releases, with “The Lone Ranger” and “Oz: The Great and Powerful” joining “Iron Man 3″ as part of the promotional onslaught.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: georgia, times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">With its charging horses, chugging trains, wide-open vistas, silver bullets — Gore Verbinski’s “The Lone Ranger,” set to open July 3, has all the hallmarks of the Old West adventure series, plus a couple of very modern updates: Johnny Depp as Tonto and Armie Hammer as the masked Texas ranger.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: georgia, times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Depp’s unusual makeup alone is surely worth the price of admission.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: georgia, times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div></div>

iron man 3 ‘Iron Man 3′: Super Bowl spot leads pack of Disney’s latest Marvels

Although “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” director Shane Black’s first entry in the Marvel series looks heavy on the action, the Robert Downey Jr. vehicle wasn’t the only upcoming blockbuster to get airtime during the big game, with new spots debuting for “Star…

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Super Bowl XLVII: CBS drops the ball in Superdome blackout coverage by failing to press the NFL for answers

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px;">Not once during the 34-minute delay did a representative of the National Football League appear on camera to attempt to explain what caused half the Superdome to lose power. Why should they? No one from CBS put any pressure on them.</span><span style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><br /><h3 class="byline" style="border: 0px; color: #333333; font-size: 12px; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;">NEW YORK DAILY NEWS fROM: http://www.nydailynews.com</h3><h5 class="dates" content="2013-02-04T02:59:35" itemprop="datePublished" style="background-image: url(http://assets.nydailynews.com/nydn/img/static/bg/header.png); background-position: 0px -576px; background-repeat: repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 16px; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;">MONDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2013, 2:59 AM</h5><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt=" The Superdome goes dark for 34 minutes, and nobody from the NFL offers an explanation. " src="http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.1254675.1359964345!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_635/superdome.jpg" /><br /><span style="background-color: white;">The Superdome goes dark for 34 minutes, and nobody from the NFL offers an explanation.</span><br /><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></span><br /><div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The fans inside the Superdome were not the only ones left in the dark when half the building’s power went out in the third quarter of Super Bowl XLVII Sunday night.  Viewers were left with unanswered questions as CBS Sports’ sideline reporters, and the rest of the cast, failed to go into a reporting mode.</span></span></div><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">There was no outrage, no questioning how a thing like this could happen on the NFL’s biggest night of the year.</div><div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">At a time when they should have been aggressively gathering news, CBS’ crew was satisfied with the crumbs the NFL dropped on them. And they swallowed the scraps gladly. Not once during the 34-minute delay did a representative of the National Football League appear on camera to attempt to explain what caused half the Superdome to lose power. Why should they? No one from CBS put any pressure on them.</div><div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Instead of having anyone with a microphone express a hint of outrage, they accepted what was going down. “As soon as they know (what knocked the power out) someone (from the NFL) is going to come down and we are going to interview them to ascertain what knocked out the power,” said Solomon Wilcots, one of CBS’ sideline reporters.</div><div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">No, that ain’t the way it works. The idea is to find an NFL suit, stick a microphone in his/her face and ask the following question:  What the hell is going on?</div><div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Think about it. CBS pays billions for the right to air NFL games. Much of that dough is shelled out to secure rights to the Super Bowl. So, on the big night, there is a major screwup and the NFL won’t put  someone on the air — and CBS won’t push the league — to try to explain what’s going on? That’s mind-boggling.</div><div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">But not quite as wacked as CBS’ laid-back approach to reporting this story, which will go down as one of the more unusual moments in Super Bowl history. All the players were on the field, waiting, stretching. Why not take a camera and microphone on the sidelines for an interview? If they blow you off, fine — at least viewers would have something worth watching.</div><div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Instead of hearing from James Brown, Dan Marino, Bill Cowher and Shannon Sharpe (Boomer Esiason was working the radio) that the 49ers would benefit from the delay, why not ask players from both teams their thoughts on the matter?</div><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></span></span><br /><span style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="Niners" src="http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.1254676!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_635/niners.jpg" /></span></span></span></span><br /><span style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">Members of the 49ers can only sit and wait for the lights to turn back on.</span><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span><br /><div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">At one point, CBS had a shot of John Harbaugh screaming at some suit who we assumed worked for the NFL (we take that grand leap because CBS never identified who the gentleman was). Why not stick a microphone in Harbaugh’s face and ask him why he was angry?</div><div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Maybe he would have told you his brother’s team was going to benefit from the delay, which it did. At one point Steve Tasker, the other sideline reporter, said he had signaled for “John Harbaugh to come over,” but the Ravens coach had declined. That is the closest viewers got to a legit interview.</div><div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">For the record, Jennifer Sabatelle, CBS Sports’ VP/communications, said Tasker and Wilcots  “and our studio team reported on the situation as a breaking news story providing updates and reports while full power was being restored to the dome.”</div><div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Compared to what? In 1989, when an earthquake (duh, much more serious than a piddly blackout) hit Candlestick Park before Game 3 of the A’s-Giants World Series, Al Michaels and the ABC crew segued into full news mode and covered what was going down thoughtfully and thoroughly. Michaels and Co. showed how sports reporters can handle a news story by just asking the right questions.</div><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Instead of doing just that, CBS stayed in a total sports mode, replaying first-half highlights and getting insight from Cowher on what he would be telling his team under the same circumstance. Imagine if someone from CBS asked one of the Harbaugh brothers that very question? With CBS only updating viewers on when the game might resume, it is reasonable to wonder how many of them bailed out during the delay. CBS was fortunate the game tightened down the stretch, making for an exciting finish.</span></div><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">It’s doubtful Sharpe’s one-liners, like wondering who paid the Superdome’s electric bill, were holding the audience. Same for his other gem: “I’m not saying the fat lady is singing, but they cut the power off so she could warmup in the darkness.”</div><div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">CBS’ inability to report the news, dig into all angles of the story, is a direct result of how the NFL controls the media. If normal coverage is limited and restricted, it stands to reason that league suits would try to black out all coverage of a Super Bowl blackout.</div><div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The lights going out signaled a major embarrassment for Roger Goodell and Co. On the night of the league’s biggest event, a game that media and fans go gaga over for two weeks, the NFL came off looking like a minor league operation.</div><div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In the end, the league could have looked even worse.</div><div style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">If CBS had done its job.</div><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></span></div></div>

CBS NFL Super Bowl Super Bowl XLVII: CBS drops the ball in Superdome blackout coverage by failing to press the NFL for answers

Not once during the 34-minute delay did a representative of the National Football League appear on camera to attempt to explain what caused half the Superdome to lose power. Why should they? No one from CBS put any pressure on them.NEW YORK DAILY NEW…

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Ram resurrects Paul Harvey's 'So God Made a Farmer,' in Super Bowl ad

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">From: http://www.freep.com</div><img alt="Chrysler touts Ram truck with 'Farmer' Super Bowl ..." height="358" src="http://videos.usatoday.net/Brightcove2/640445561001/2013/02/640445561001_2135167109001_Ram-Farmer-914.jpg?pubId=640445561001" width="640" /><br /><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px;">Chrysler touts Ram truck with 'Farmer' Super Bowl ...: Chrysler resurrected Paul Harvey’s “So God Made a Farmer,” an ode to the hard work and dedication of farmers in a two-minute commercial that aired during the fourth quarter.</span><br /><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px;"><br /></span><br /><div style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 160px;">There were no pretty women, comedians, babies, barking dogs or monkeys in Chrysler’s second <a class="itxtnewhook itxthookactive" href="http://www.freep.com/article/20130203/BUSINESS0103/302030287/Ram-resurrects-Paul-Harvey-s-God-Made-Farmer-Super-Bowl-ad#" id="itxthook0" rel="nofollow" style="background-image: none; border: 0px none transparent; color: #00528f; display: inline; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxtnowrap" id="itxthook0p" style="border: 0px; bottom: auto; display: inline !important; float: none !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; height: auto; left: auto; line-height: normal; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto; white-space: nowrap !important;"><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxtnowrap itxtnewhookspan" id="itxthook0w" style="border-color: transparent transparent rgb(0, 204, 0); border-style: none none solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; bottom: auto; color: #009900; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; height: auto; left: auto; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px 0px 1px !important; position: static; right: auto; text-decoration: underline !important; top: auto; white-space: normal;">Super Bowl</span><img class="itxtrst itxtrstimg itxthookicon" id="itxthook0icon" src="http://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/icon1.png" style="border: 0px !important; bottom: auto; display: inline !important; float: none !important; height: auto !important; left: auto; margin: 0px !important; max-height: none; max-width: none !important; padding: 0px 0px 0px 4px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto; vertical-align: baseline !important; white-space: normal; width: auto !important;" /></span></a> commercial for Ram pickups.</div><div style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 160px;">Instead, <a class="itxtnewhook itxthook" href="http://www.freep.com/article/20130203/BUSINESS0103/302030287/Ram-resurrects-Paul-Harvey-s-God-Made-Farmer-Super-Bowl-ad#" id="itxthook1" rel="nofollow" style="background-image: none; border: 0px none transparent; color: #00528f; cursor: pointer; display: inline; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxtnowrap" id="itxthook1p" style="border: 0px; bottom: auto; display: inline !important; float: none !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; height: auto; left: auto; line-height: normal; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto; white-space: nowrap !important;"><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxtnowrap itxtnewhookspan" id="itxthook1w" style="border-color: transparent transparent rgb(0, 204, 0); border-style: none none solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; bottom: auto; color: #009900; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; height: auto; left: auto; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px 0px 1px !important; position: static; right: auto; text-decoration: underline !important; top: auto; white-space: normal;">Chrysler</span><img class="itxtrst itxtrstimg itxthookicon" id="itxthook1icon" src="http://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/icon1.png" style="border: 0px !important; bottom: auto; display: inline !important; float: none !important; height: auto !important; left: auto; margin: 0px !important; max-height: none; max-width: none !important; padding: 0px 0px 0px 4px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto; vertical-align: baseline !important; white-space: normal; width: auto !important;" /></span></a> resurrected Paul Harvey’s “So God Made a Farmer,” an ode to the hard work and dedication of farmers in a two-minute commercial that aired during the fourth quarter.</div><div style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 160px;">“God said, ‘I need somebody willing to get up before dawn, milk cows, work all day in the fields, milk cows again, eat supper, then go to town and stay past midnight at a meeting of the <a class="itxtnewhook itxthook" href="http://www.freep.com/article/20130203/BUSINESS0103/302030287/Ram-resurrects-Paul-Harvey-s-God-Made-Farmer-Super-Bowl-ad#" id="itxthook2" rel="nofollow" style="background-image: none; border: 0px none transparent; color: #00528f; cursor: pointer; display: inline; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxtnowrap" id="itxthook2p" style="border: 0px; bottom: auto; display: inline !important; float: none !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; height: auto; left: auto; line-height: normal; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto; white-space: nowrap !important;"><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxtnowrap itxtnewhookspan" id="itxthook2w" style="border-color: transparent transparent rgb(0, 204, 0); border-style: none none solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; bottom: auto; color: #009900; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; height: auto; left: auto; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px 0px 1px !important; position: static; right: auto; text-decoration: underline !important; top: auto; white-space: normal;">school</span><img class="itxtrst itxtrstimg itxthookicon" id="itxthook2icon" src="http://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/icon1.png" style="border: 0px !important; bottom: auto; display: inline !important; float: none !important; height: auto !important; left: auto; margin: 0px !important; max-height: none; max-width: none !important; padding: 0px 0px 0px 4px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto; vertical-align: baseline !important; white-space: normal; width: auto !important;" /></span></a> board,’” Harvey says in the stark, somber commercial as Ram aired as photos of tractors, combines, Ram pickups and gritty, hard-working farmers.</div><div style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 160px;">“So God made a farmer.” Harvey, a legendary radio broadcaster, died in 2009.</div><div style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 160px;">Last fall, Ram launched a redesigned Ram 1500 pickup. The truck has been named Motor Trend Truck of the year and also was named North American Truck of the Year at the Detroit auto show.</div></div>

Paul Harvey Ram resurrects Paul Harvey's 'So God Made a Farmer,' in Super Bowl ad

From: http://www.freep.comChrysler touts Ram truck with 'Farmer' Super Bowl ...: Chrysler resurrected Paul Harvey’s “So God Made a Farmer,” an ode to the hard work and dedication of farmers in a two-minute commercial that aired during the fourth quar…

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Transforming Your Résumé From Military to Civilian

<b style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span id="cbArticle_lblByLine">Beth Braccio Hering, CareerBuilder.com writer</span></b><br /><b style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><span><br /></span></b><br /><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">Duncan Mathison, co-author of "Unlock the Hidden Job Market: Six Steps to a Successful Job Search When Times Are Tough," recalls working with an ex-Navy SEAL who was trying to land a civilian job.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">"He realized that most people thought his skills consisted of landing on beaches and blowing things up. Impressive skills, but not really needed in the business world," Mathison says. "As a result, we reframed his experience to highlight his abilities to lead small teams as well as creative problem solving and planning in the face of uncertainty."</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">While civilian employers may respect military experience, they may struggle to see it as relevant to their workplace. The challenge for veterans is to present their background in ways that civilians can understand and appreciate.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><b>Talk the talk</b></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">The first thing that must go is military jargon. Job titles and codes that are second nature to military personnel are like a foreign language to many hiring managers, so translation is essential.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">Lisa Rosser, author of "The Value of a Veteran: The Guide for Human Resource Professionals to Regarding, Recruiting and Retaining Military Veterans," suggests converting military skills to civilian equivalents using a tool such as O*Net Online. "The service member can type in his or her Military Occupational Code and see what a civilian equivalent would be and some alternate civilian job titles. The civilian job description will also list skills, knowledge and attributes commonly held by someone in that position. So, for example, a 90A (army logistics officer) would be a logistician or, alternately, an integrated logistics support manager or a production planner."</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">Armed with this information, Rosser then recommends job seekers "get busy on a site like CareerBuilder and search on the very general and the very specific job titles." Reading through ads will give the applicant a better idea of qualifications needed for various civilian jobs and will provide insight about key words to use on a résumé.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><b>Putting your best self forward</b></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">"Military professionals are groomed to lead others and excel in a team-oriented environment," says Abby Locke, master résumé writer and personal brand strategist for Premier Writing Solutions in Washington, D.C. "Consequently, they find it hard to really market and promote themselves as effectively as they should in the job search process."</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">Experts offer these tips to help veterans sort through their experiences when creating application materials:</div><ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;" type="disc"><br /><li>Focus the cover letter on skills most pertinent to the given position; don't give a generic summary of everything you're qualified to do.</li><br /><li>Tailor the résumé to the specific job, and keep it to a maximum of two pages.</li><br /><li>Scour military performance reviews for relevant achievements (and to jog your memory).</li><br /><li>Use numbers, percentages, statistics and other concrete examples when possible to demonstrate competencies.</li></ul><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;" /><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><b>Education and training</b></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">Locke notes that military professionals often have completed hundreds of courses, training assignments and certifications. Instead of turning the education section of the résumé into a laundry list, however, she recommends "cherry picking" to make sure the training that is most relevant to the given position is apparent.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">Mathison suggests listing any training that is applicable to the job whether or not you have a degree or a certificate. "For example, you may have had one class in wireless communications and another in management out of 355 hours of training on a wide range of topics. In the résumé under a training or education heading, write 'More than 350 hours of professional development training including wireless communications and management.'"</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><b>Remember you're a civilian now</b></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">While a veteran's military background will always be a part of his identification, it is important to keep in mind that hiring managers encountered for civilian jobs may not have the same thoughts or experiences.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">"Everyone has an opinion about the war," says Michael Coritsidis, a career coach from Lido Beach, N.Y. "Keep emotion out of the equation, and stay neutral."</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">Experts generally recommend avoiding potentially charged words such as "war," "warfare" or "weapons" (unless applicable to the specific industry). Likewise, it is better to concentrate on your skills and why you are the best candidate for the position rather than focusing on the military conflict or combat.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">Remember, though, that military experience has helped you become who you are today, so bring confidence to the civilian job hunt.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">"Most, if not all, learned skills can be transferred to any company or industry, whether it is around the block or around the world," Coritsidis says. "The armed forces also instill the highly regarded qualities of being all that you can be as well as being a team player. What company wouldn't want to hire a person who can communicate how their military skills and qualifications can save time, save money or make money for their business?"<i>Get the latest job search news and advice on CareerBuilder.com's job blog, "The Work Buzz," and follow us on Twitter at Twitter.com/CareerBuilder</i></div>

Transforming Your Résumé From Military to Civilian

Beth Braccio Hering, CareerBuilder.com writerDuncan Mathison, co-author of "Unlock the Hidden Job Market: Six Steps to a Successful Job Search When Times Are Tough," recalls working with an ex-Navy SEAL who was trying to land a civilian job."He reali…

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OJ Brigance: Ravens Front Office Member Stricken With ALS A Source Of Inspiration

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><img alt="OJ Brigance: Ravens Front Office Member Stricken With ALS A Source Of Inspiration" src="http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2013/02/OJ-Brigance.jpg" /><br /><br /><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">OJ Brigance was seen as one of the toughest players on the Baltimore Ravens team that won the Super Bowl in 2000, but, when the Ravens again took the title on Sunday, the former linebacker watched from the confines of his wheelchair.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Stricken with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) since his playing days ended, Brigance became a rallying point for the team in his new front office role. He was the team’s honorary captain in the AFC title game against the New England Patriots, and, when the team won, Ed Reed presented him with a game ball.</div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">In the past season, OJ Brigance has been a behind-the-scenes force for the Baltimore Ravens, helping find and assemble talent as the team’s director of player development. But the former NFL linebacker took center stage as the Ravens defeated the San Francisco 49ers to win the Super Bowl.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Ravens players and coaches have looked to OJ Brigance as a source of inspiration throughout the team’s unlikely run to the Super Bowl, <em><a class="external" href="http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1514777-baltimore-ravens-dedicate-super-bowl-win-to-former-nfl-linebacker-oj-brigance" style="color: #cc0000; outline: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Bleacher Report</a></em> pointed out. He also provided one of the most iconic images of Super Bowl XLVII as he celebrated on the field in his wheelchair amid a shower of confetti.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">OJ Brigance first noticed symptoms of the disease in 2007 when he felt numbness in his shoulder. After noticing similar symptoms elsewhere, he looked into it and realized ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s Disease, could be the cause. Doctors later diagnosed him with the fatal and incurable ailment.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Brigance is now left with limbs that hang limp and muscles that no longer respond. He cannot speak and uses his lips and eyes to control a computer that speaks for him.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Even with the limitations, players still spoke highly of OJ Brigance and the work he did for the team.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">“There aren’t enough words to describe what that man means to me and to this team,” punter Sam Koch told the <em><a class="external" href="http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2013-01-28/sports/bs-md-oj-brigance-20130127_1_honorary-captain-nfl-teams-sam-koch" style="color: #cc0000; outline: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Baltimore Sun</a></em>. “Just seeing ‘Juice’ here with a smile on his face is inspiring. If I have to choose a word for him, it would be ‘powerful.’”</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Before the game, Brigance spoke highly of the players that propelled the team’s unlikely journey.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">“Super Bowl XLVII means so much to me,” OJ Brigance said though his DynaVox machine, “not because of the game but because of the journey it took to get here. That’s where the maturation comes. I predict a Ravens victory, of course. But there is no failure if you have done all you can do.”</div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div>

OJ Brigance OJ Brigance: Ravens Front Office Member Stricken With ALS A Source Of Inspiration

OJ Brigance was seen as one of the toughest players on the Baltimore Ravens team that won the Super Bowl in 2000, but, when the Ravens again took the title on Sunday, the former linebacker watched from the confines of his wheelchair.Stricken with amy…

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2013 MVP Named in Puppy Bowl IX

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><h2 class="article_subtitle" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">A rookie took this year's most prestigious puppy prize, while brothers battled one another to prove their pedigree.</span></h2><h2 class="article_subtitle" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 22px;">From: </span>http://www.ign.com</span></h2><h2 class="article_subtitle" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></h2><h2 class="article_subtitle" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">Marta, a 10-week old Schnauzer/Beagle mix playing in her rookie year in the prestigious</span><a class="autolink" href="http://tv.ign.com/objects/142/14233686.html" style="border: 0px none; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; resize: none; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Puppy Bowl</a><span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">, has been officially named the Puppy Bowl IX MVP. Hailing from Omaha, this scrappy, shaggy sweetie came out of the gate as part of the 2013 Starting Line-Up at this year's Puppy Bowl. She clawed and pawed her way to glory with dogged defensive plays against mutts easily twice her size in double-canine-coverage, and also put puppy points up on the board with a triumphant charge in the first half. This proud pooch become the ninth recipient of the coveted Most Valuable Puppy award and demonstrated why this annual event is the must-see sporting event of the year for pet lovers.</span><span style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 24px; text-transform: uppercase;"> </span></h2><div><br /></div></div></div><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/XlVndo5RBCQ?feature=player_embedded" width="640"></iframe><br /><br /><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-right: 6px;">This was a high-scoring puppy bowl, with nine terrific touchdowns in total. MVP <a class="autolink" href="http://stars.ign.com/objects/159/159749.html" style="border: 0px none; color: #003399; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; resize: none; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Marta</a>took it to the doghouse in a run that also put her in contention for this year's Subaru Drive of the Day (alongside Aurora the Husky/Retriever for an endzone run in the third; the winner instead was Basset Hound Sally, who drove the entire length of the field with an assist from teammate and "platonic" pooch pal Harry.) Slobbering siblings Eli and Tuck tore it up together with a joint TD, making news unexpectedly as teammates rather than rivals despite these two brothers being the talk of the town going into this year's big Bowl game. High-stepping hounds Sally, Agatha, Unity, Elias, Aurora, Chestnut, and latecomer Butterscotch also smelled victory (and plenty more) with puppy touchdowns for each one of these frisky dingoes.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-right: 6px;">Each and every one of these canine competitors left it all on the field. Officials had to step in early and often for unnecessary 'ruff'ness as well as excessive cuteness (in a highly-debated 10-yard penalty that was extended to 15-yards because, well -- doggonit -- twins Daisy and Peyton were just that cute!), and unfortunately a flag was even thrown for a poopie penalty against the stinker Shepherd Eli. Puppy Bowl IX was one for the Hound Hall of Fame. Stay tuned to IGN for more information on Marta as it becomes apparent.</div></div>

Puppy Bow 2013 MVP Named in Puppy Bowl IX

A rookie took this year's most prestigious puppy prize, while brothers battled one another to prove their pedigree.From: http://www.ign.comMarta, a 10-week old Schnauzer/Beagle mix playing in her rookie year in the prestigiousPuppy Bowl, has been off…

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Beyoncé Silences Doubters With Intensity at Halftime

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><nyt_byline style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"></nyt_byline><br /><h6 class="byline" style="color: grey; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1em; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.2em; margin: 2px 0px;">By <span itemid="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/c/jon_caramanica/index.html" itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person"><a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/c/jon_caramanica/index.html" rel="author" style="color: #666699; text-decoration: none;" title="More Articles by JON CARAMANICA">JON CARAMANICA</a> From: </span>http://www.nytimes.com</h6><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"></span><h6 class="dateline" style="background-color: white; color: grey; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1em; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.2em; margin: 0px;">Published: February 4, 2013</h6><h6 class="dateline" style="background-color: white; color: grey; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1em; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.2em; margin: 0px;"><div class="articleBody" style="margin-bottom: 1.7em; margin-top: 1.5em;"><nyt_text><div data-key="AmrIia" data-num="0" itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em;"><img src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2013/02/04/sports/SUB-halftime/SUB-halftime-popup.jpg" /></div><div data-key="AmrIia" data-num="0" itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em;"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="font-family: Simsun; width: 690px;"><tbody><tr><td align="left" valign="top" width="650"><div align="right"><br /></div><span style="font-size: xx-small; line-height: 17.600000381469727px;">Jed Jacobsohn for The New York Times. </span><span style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 1.467em;">eyoncé opened her halftime performance with a serious tone, singing her hit "Love on Top." Her voice was fierce and powerful for "Crazy in Love."</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div data-key="AmrIia" data-num="0" itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em;">A main requirement for a halftime performer at the <a class="meta-classifier" href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/s/super_bowl/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier" style="color: #666699;" title="More articles about the Super Bowl.">Super Bowl</a> is indestructibility. Too much is on the line for anything but. The halftime show is time-constrained, highly choreographed and responsible for keeping hundreds of millions of people around the world entertained between aggressive bursts of football and extremely expensive bursts of commercials. It is a show, but more important, it is the glue that holds the night together, the short money that keeps the long money flowing.</div></nyt_text></div><div class="articleInline runaroundLeft" style="clear: left; display: inline; float: left; margin: 6px 15px 10px 0px !important; width: 190px;"><div class="inlineImage module" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 12px; width: 190px;"><div class="image" style="margin-bottom: 2px;"><div class="icon enlargeThis" style="background-position: 0% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; margin-bottom: 2px; padding-left: 16px; text-align: right;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8896966065785019252" style="background-image: url(http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/icons/multimedia/enlarge_icon.gif); background-position: 0% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; color: #666699; display: inline; font-size: 1.1em; padding-left: 15px; text-decoration: none;">Enlarge This Image</a></div><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8896966065785019252" style="color: #666699; display: block; text-decoration: none;"><span itemid="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2013/02/04/sports/SUB-halftime/SUB-halftime-articleInline.jpg" itemprop="associatedMedia" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject"><img alt="" height="142" itemprop="url" src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2013/02/04/sports/SUB-halftime/SUB-halftime-articleInline.jpg" style="border: none;" width="190" /></span></a></div><h6 class="credit" style="color: #909090; font-size: 0.9em; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.223em; margin: 0px 0px 3px; text-align: right;">Jed Jacobsohn for The New York Times</h6><div class="caption" style="color: #666666; font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.2727em;">Beyoncé opened her halftime performance with a serious tone, singing her hit “Love on Top.” Her voice was fierce and powerful for “Crazy in Love.”</div></div><div class="columnGroup doubleRule" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/global/borders/doubleRule.gif); background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat no-repeat; border-width: 0px !important; clear: both; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 7px; padding-top: 12px; width: auto !important;"><ul class="headlinesOnly multiline flush" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><li style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-size: 1.2em; line-height: 1.25em; margin-bottom: 0px; padding: 0px;"><h6 style="color: black; font-size: 1em; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.25em; margin: 0px;"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2013/02/04/sports/04superbowl_ss.html?ref=football" style="color: #666699; font-size: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><span class="media icon slideshow" style="background-image: url(http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/icons/multimedia/photo_icon.gif); background-position: 0% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; font-size: 0.8em; padding-left: 16px; text-transform: uppercase;">SLIDE SHOW</span>: Super Bowl Replay: Ravens 34, 49ers 31</a></h6></li></ul></div><div class="columnGroup singleRule" style="background-image: none !important; border-top-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; clear: both; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 7px; padding-top: 8px; width: auto !important;"><h3 class="sectionHeader" style="color: black; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.2857em; margin: 0px 0px 8px;">Related</h3><ul class="headlinesOnly multiline flush" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><li style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-size: 1.2em; line-height: 1.25em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;"><h6 style="color: black; font-size: 1em; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.25em; margin: 0px;"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/04/sports/football/ravens-beat-49ers-in-super-bowl-after-lights-go-out.html?ref=football" style="color: #666699; font-size: 1em; text-decoration: none;">Ravens 34, 49ers 31: Power Fails and 49ers Surge, but Ravens Win</a> (February 4, 2013)</h6></li><li style="background-image: none; 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text-decoration: none;"><img alt="The Fifth Down" height="21" src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/blogs/fifthdown/fifthdown190.jpg" style="border: none;" width="190" /></a></h5><div class="runaroundRight" style="clear: right; display: inline; float: right; margin: 2px 0px 6px 6px;"><a href="http://fifthdown.blogs.nytimes.com/" style="color: #666699; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="" height="75" src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/blogs/fifthdown/fifthdown75.jpg" style="border: none;" width="75" /></a></div><div class="summary" style="font-size: 1.2em; line-height: 1.25em; margin-bottom: 5px;">The latest news, notes and analysis of the N.F.L. playoffs.</div><div class="refer" style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.182em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 2px;"><a href="http://fifthdown.blogs.nytimes.com/?8dpc" style="color: #666699; text-decoration: none;">Go to The Fifth Down Blog</a></div></div><div class="doubleRuleDivider" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/global/borders/doubleRule.gif); 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background-position: 0% 0.45em; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; font-size: 1.2em; line-height: 1.25em; padding: 0px 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://nytimes.stats.com/fb/teamstats.asp?teamno=20&type=stats" style="color: #666699; font-size: 1em; text-decoration: none;">Stats</a> | <a href="http://nytimes.stats.com/fb/teamstats.asp?teamno=20&type=rosters" style="color: #666699; font-size: 1em; text-decoration: none;">Roster</a></li><li style="background-image: url(http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/misc/bullet4x4.gif); background-position: 0% 0.45em; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; font-size: 1.2em; line-height: 1.25em; margin-bottom: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 8px;"><a href="http://nytimes.stats.com/fb/teamstats.asp?teamno=20&type=depthcharts" style="color: #666699; font-size: 1em; text-decoration: none;">Depth Chart</a></li></ul></div></div><div class="articleBody" style="margin-bottom: 1.7em; margin-top: 1.5em;"><div data-key="BtwVin" data-num="1" itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; margin-bottom: 1em;">But there was no way to anticipate that the reliably malfunction-free<a class="meta-per" href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/k/beyonce_knowles/index.html?inline=nyt-per" style="color: #666699;" title="More articles about Beyonce.">Beyoncé </a>arriving in New Orleans for her turn at immortality would be a vulnerable one. At the presidential inauguration ceremony last month, she sang the national anthem over a prerecorded vocal track, leading to a minor scandal, putting her on the defensive. Beyoncé, bionic, isn’t used to having her reputation impugned. Vulnerability is not her bag,</div><div data-key="SitSit" data-num="2" itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; margin-bottom: 1em;">She is, though, up to the challenge — in this case, the conundrum of how to make her Super Bowl XLVII halftime show, which she had been planning for months, not only a spectacle in its own right, but also a conclusion to the messy affair.</div><div data-key="AsfAat" data-num="3" itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; margin-bottom: 1em;">And so for 12 or so minutes at the center of the Superdome field on Sunday night, she balanced explosions and humanity, imperiousness with warmth, an arena-ready sense of scale with a microscopic approach to the details of her vocals. Amid all the loudness were small things to indicate Beyoncé was answering her skeptics, quietly but effectively.</div><div data-key="FtwAeo" data-num="4" itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; margin-bottom: 1em;">First, there was the voice, or rather, the myriad voices. After emerging on stage accompanied by a Vince Lombardi speech — “The spirit, the will to win and the will to excel, these are the things that endure,” and so on — she played with “Love on Top” like Play-Doh, stretching out some parts, tearing off little bits here and there, switching from fast to slow, all more or less a cappella.</div><div data-key="AteDBB" data-num="5" itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; margin-bottom: 1em;">At the end of “Crazy in Love,” she was virtually growling, giving that song a ferocity it has never before had. During “Baby Boy,” she maniacally screamed “dutty wine!” over and over again, and on “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It),” her voice turned grimy, burrowing into primal Bessie Smith territory.</div><div data-key="WmsAtb" data-num="6" itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; margin-bottom: 1em;">What’s more, she filled the television screen, a human pneumatic drill of intensity, constantly bouncing and whirring. This is part of what set her apart from some past performers, whose songs were big enough, but whose attitude and presentation weren’t. At the beginning of “Crazy in Love,” she dropped to one knee, then sprawled on her back, continuing her choreography for the cameras in the sky.</div><div data-key="SoESoE" data-num="7" itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; margin-bottom: 1em;">She opened “End of Time” with ferocious stomping, flailed madly during “Single Ladies” and, during “Baby Boy,” was accompanied by a screen full of Beyoncés, arranged in careful placement like a <a href="http://www.vanessabeecroft.com/frameset.html" style="color: #666699;" title="The artist’s Web site.">Vanessa Beecroft</a> installation.</div><div data-key="BicRti" data-num="8" itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; margin-bottom: 1em;">Beyoncé’s image-restoration campaign actually began days before the game. On Instagram and Tumblr, she posted photos of casual moments between what were certainly strenuous rehearsals, including one in which she <a href="http://www.accesshollywood.com/beyonce-dons-a-can-i-live-sweatshirt-while-rehearsing-for-super-bowl_article_75673" style="color: #666699;" title="News article.">wore a sweatshirt</a> that read “Can I live?” On Thursday, she divebombed into her official news conference with a<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUT05IeHu4s" style="color: #666699;" title="The news conference.">sterling rendition</a> of the national anthem, for which she made the accumulated reporters and photographers stand at attention and which she concluded with the primo dirt-off-her-shoulder taunt, “Any questions?” (Maybe just one. Regarding the inauguration, one brave, or comic, journalist asked, “Did any sound come out of your vocal cords?”)</div><div data-key="TaBSrw" data-num="9" itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; margin-bottom: 1em;">These are Beyoncé’s little pokes. She’s not the sort to resort to vulgarity, or subversion, or insubordination. She retaliates with intensity and fervor, and the sort of wink that doesn’t invite a reply.</div><div data-key="HswSwn" data-num="10" itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; margin-bottom: 1em;">Her show was never going to be scandalous, even if a scandal was hovering over it. Certainly she would never be as risqué as Prince, who played in 2007, and who she said was her favorite halftime performer <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pXHKkk6YYM" style="color: #666699;" title="The interview.">in an interview</a> with the NFL Network. She would never risk a malfunction, wardrobe or otherwise, that would recall the Janet Jackson-Justin Timberlake <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npF1lkKEM9o" style="color: #666699;" title="YouTube video.">imbroglio of 2004</a>.</div><div data-key="TyBTyB" data-num="11" itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; margin-bottom: 1em;">(That year, Beyoncé happened to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhrrGu2rcZ4" style="color: #666699;" title="YouTube video.">sing the national anthem</a> at the Super Bowl in her native Houston, when Destiny’s Child was still a going concern, and she had yet to arrive fully into her mojo.)</div><div data-key="TmuLih" data-num="12" itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; margin-bottom: 1em;">The most uncertainty she allowed was the will-they-or-won’t-they chatter about a Destiny’s Child reunion during her set, although by showtime, it was clear it was happening. Late in her set, Beyoncé was joined by Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams, her former sidekicks, for snippets of “Bootylicious” and “Independent Women Part I.”</div><div data-key="RaWRaW" data-num="13" itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; margin-bottom: 1em;">Rowland and Williams then helped Beyoncé out on “Single Ladies.”</div><div data-key="TwnTwn" data-num="14" itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; margin-bottom: 1em;">This was not only an act of generosity to her former group mates, and a bone thrown to longtime fans, but also a tacit admission that Beyoncé’s biggest hits as a solo artist — excluding “Single Ladies” and “Crazy in Love” — don’t have the caffeinated quality that makes for great halftime entertainment.</div><div data-key="DCbTts" data-num="15" itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; margin-bottom: 1em;">Destiny’s Child’s best songs were their most energetic, and the pyrotechnics the threesome had — both in harmonies and in the actual fire surrounding them on stage — were impressive. (Thankfully, they skipped the <a href="http://mashable.com/2013/01/11/destinys-chid-new-song-nuclear-listen/" style="color: #666699;" title="The song.">deeply temperate “Nuclear,”</a> the first new Destiny’s Child recording in eight years, which was released last month.)</div><div data-key="ARaARa" data-num="16" itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; margin-bottom: 1em;">After Rowland and Williams left the stage, Beyoncé brought the arena to a hush with “Halo,” the ethereal ballad that closed her set.</div><div data-key="HvsAmo" data-num="17" itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; margin-bottom: 1em;">Her voice sounded just a tad deflated here, but by design. After 10 minutes of extravaganza, she wanted to leave with something tactile.</div><div><span data-num="1" style="background-color: #f2f4f5; color: black; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px;">Beyoncé the machine had made her point.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px;"> </span><span data-num="2" style="background-color: #f2f4f5; color: black; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px;">This was proof of life</span><span style="color: black; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px;">.</span></div></div></h6></div>

Beyoncé Silences Beyoncé Silences Doubters With Intensity at Halftime

By JON CARAMANICA From: http://www.nytimes.comPublished: February 4, 2013Jed Jacobsohn for The New York Times. eyoncé opened her halftime performance with a serious tone, singing her hit "Love on Top." Her voice was fierce and powerful for "Crazy in …

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Jealous!

<p>So jealous of my twin sister!  She is currently snowboarding her little heart out in Austria.  She travelled over the weekend with her husband and a gang of friends.  She sent me pictures of the large hillside chalet they have rented - it looks amazing!</p><p>Can't wait to hear all about the snow, the apres ski and the Jaegermeister stories(!) when she returns in a week.</p>

Jealous!

So jealous of my twin sister!  She is currently snowboarding her little heart out in Austria.  She travelled over the weekend with her husband and a gang of friends.  She sent me pictures of the large hillside chalet they have rented - it looks amazi…

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Get help for children before the cute lisp becomes cumbersome

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKZ1GypMrms00_KSLn0fU0MgUbiEdwBh6K6EHnkFhYTmL7qovW6oQVEbvPZwHTOG_ZHgSAavCPfHtYYLmMmCx2OiZc7wfYYHbdjCQLDFYLpPihq7TbTW7QVuNxBuPqQcUfZ9HofOUpG0lC/s1600/2013-01-26+15.38.48.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKZ1GypMrms00_KSLn0fU0MgUbiEdwBh6K6EHnkFhYTmL7qovW6oQVEbvPZwHTOG_ZHgSAavCPfHtYYLmMmCx2OiZc7wfYYHbdjCQLDFYLpPihq7TbTW7QVuNxBuPqQcUfZ9HofOUpG0lC/s320/2013-01-26+15.38.48.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramblin%27_Wreck_from_Georgia_Tech" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech">I'm a Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech</a><br />and a heck of a teacher dear. ;-) My trip last week<br />to Atlanta has me thinking about the importance of<br />speech therapy and how I'm glad I got it for one of<br />my own children.</td></tr></tbody></table>Last week, I was at the Georgia Tech men's basketball game and sat in front of eight boys who were about ten. I admit, I'm a people watcher - but not really a people watcher but a people lover. Precious children with the world ahead of them just pull on my heart strings every time.<br /><br />As I sat down, the boys were getting settled and one of them commented.<br /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">"Hey, look, there's girls dancing."<br />"Hey, they don't have many clothes on."</blockquote>All at the same time all eight of them said.<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"><br />"coooooool"</blockquote><br />(I guess they were just getting to the age that it was ok to say that.) We were sitting in some great seats that my Dad got us because he supports Georgia Tech's fundraising program. At halftime, they were debating what they would do and said:<br /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">"What do we do? Sit in our seats and be bored, or get up and go eat desserts and drink drinks and tell stories and have fun?"</blockquote><br />They promptly got up and left. Because I work with teenage boys, it was just so like the teens (and grown men), that it made me smile. I love that about the men in my life... they love to eat and tell stories...and I love to listen.<br /><br />But the little, extroverted boy in the white T-shirt with the lisp just cracked me up. After his halftime during which he must have had quite a bit of the chocolate and Coca-Cola, he came back talking a mile a minute. First, there was the Zaxby's Foul shot.<br /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">"He got the 'thaxby's thoul thot!' The 'thaxby's thoul thot!!'"</blockquote><br />Then, when they were shooting shirts in to the stands.<br /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">"Pulease help usth! We need uh t-sthirt."</blockquote><br />Finally, near the end, he talked to his friend with the Wake Forest Tshirt<br /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">"Dude, wake foresth losth - there is no way they can sthore 30 poinsth in the lasth sthecond."</blockquote>I wanted to turn around and say,<br /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">"Oh, do you mean the last six seconds?"</blockquote><b>It was so cute.</b> But this conversation came back to me as I was talking to a person who was discussing when and if kids need speech therapy.<br /><br /><h2>Cute can become cumbersome.</h2>One of my own children had a lisp as a child. Sure, it was cute, but I knew if we didn't do something at a very young age, that it would no longer be cute, it would be cumbersome.<br /><br />So, in first grade we found a VERY GOOD <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speech_and_language_pathology" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Speech and language pathology">speech therapist</a> and by third grade, the lisp was gone. My child no longer has the lisp and I'm so relieved and sometimes don't even think of it. But this Mom was saying that she wasn't sure that she wanted to get her child help because it was 'cute." Another chimed in about an older child she knew who still had the lisp and it was no longer cute, in fact, it was limiting her in what she wanted to do but she couldn't "fix" it.<br /><h2>Speech Therapists are important</h2>All of this comes together to mention the importance of good speech therapist. Teachers come in all sizes and shapes and speech therapists are needed, valuable people -- especially good ones. I've watched speech therapists in action and it looks like they are playing games. The difference is that the good ones actually are able to get results and the others do not.<br /><br /><h2>Partnering with parents and teachers to help children is important to correcting speech issues</h2>I recall with my child that the speech therapist actually met with me and my child's teacher and we had cues that we'd give my child when he/she would revert into the bad habits. We were all partners to help the child move forward and speak articulately. Our health insurance even helped.<br /><br />I'm writing this to all of you out there who work with children or have children of their own. There is an age that children do need help with their lisp or their <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speech_disorder" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Speech disorder">speech impediment</a>... the tough thing is that age is just at the edge of cuteness turning into a problem. I'm so glad that we got my child help for this.<br /><br /><b>Physical therapists and speech therapists</b> - you are teachers too and my hat is off to you. If more parents would realize that cute turns into limiting very quickly and the longer you wait from "prime time" for helping children overcome such things, the harder it will be and more expensive it will be to help the child overcome the issues.<br /><br />Physical and speech therapists -- remember your noble calling. Work with teachers and parents and remember that we're all on the same team.<br /><br /><h2>Be the adult because kids won't know why they need to change</h2>Far too many parents care more about being popular than being a parent. From experience, when I've gotten my children tutoring, physical therapy or speech therapy, or even shots - my children were rarely happy about it.<br /><br />Kids complain about such things because they literally don't see or hear anything wrong with what they are saying or doing. It is our job to see the big picture and long term and do the right thing by our children when they become adults.<br /><br />Remember your noble calling, teacher... parent...therapist.  You are "coooooool" and important!<br /><br /> <div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/?px" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_c.png?x-id=39702500-564e-4e9f-89c4-0e88e1cd4265" style="border: none; float: right;" /></a></div>

parenting Teaching Get help for children before the cute lisp becomes cumbersome

I'm a Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Techand a heck of a teacher dear. ;-) My trip last weekto Atlanta has me thinking about the importance ofspeech therapy and how I'm glad I got it for one ofmy own children.Last week, I was at the Georgia Tech men's b…

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more news to come

I've got a secret wrapped in a riddle. What do upholstery, sparkles and a party of 20 have in common?<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiS3fOWXkLCcref0v9D7qN5XCIg3wWLohfVoXbKVA6TfJFBJSAFBCsg16I_rMbN3xLvlsi6TMwRJQv-oGHijBWd8wQQM_BGT3B3389vVicg_E1YWXf5AP2z9wXeI8ugue4hkDoaGTB2r1y/s1600/250579_208166459220561_132290533474821_530131_7231531_n_large.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiS3fOWXkLCcref0v9D7qN5XCIg3wWLohfVoXbKVA6TfJFBJSAFBCsg16I_rMbN3xLvlsi6TMwRJQv-oGHijBWd8wQQM_BGT3B3389vVicg_E1YWXf5AP2z9wXeI8ugue4hkDoaGTB2r1y/s320/250579_208166459220561_132290533474821_530131_7231531_n_large.jpeg" width="212" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://weheartit.com/entry/16870682" target="_blank">source</a></td></tr></tbody></table>Come back on Wednesday and find out.

more news to come

I've got a secret wrapped in a riddle. What do upholstery, sparkles and a party of 20 have in common?sourceCome back on Wednesday and find out.…

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