It's September 29

An important day. Not just because in 522 BC, Darius I of Persia killed the Magian usurper Gaumâta, securing his hold as king of the Persian Empire, but because Anthony Christopher Gunn entered mortality as a dark and hairy gift to his proud parents, David and Lorraine Gunn of Shelbyville, IL (it's a real place, look it up!)

Here are some other important things that happened on this date:

61 BC – Pompey the Great celebrates his third triumph for victories over the pirates and the end of the Mithridatic Wars on his 45th birthday.

1227 – Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, is excommunicated by Pope Gregory IX for his failure to participate in the Crusades.

1789 – The 1st United States Congress adjourns.

1916 – John D. Rockefeller becomes the first billionaire.

1942 - Marion Gawain Wells is born in St. George, Utah to George and Hannah Wells.

1943 – World War II: U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower and Italian Marshal Pietro Badoglio sign an armistice aboard the Royal Navy battleship HMS Nelson off Malta.

1966 – The Chevrolet Camaro, originally named Panther, is introduced.


Some important people born on September 29:

106 BC – Pompey the Great, consul of Rome (see above)
1321 – John of Artois, Count of Eu, French soldier
1912 – Michelangelo Antonioni, Italian film director
1935 – Jerry Lee Lewis, American musician
1942 – Madeline Kahn, American actress
1957 – Andrew Dice Clay, American comedian and actor
1963 – Les Claypool, American bassist (Primus)

Finally, the marriage of Google images yielded from searches of 29 and 32:

Birthday Collage

Here's a hearty happy birthday to Jed. Hope 32's even better than 31 was.

And to celebrate, here's a visual representation of 32 (I was going to do a collage of the term "fat guy", one of Jed's nicknames in high school {not because of his weight mind you, but because of his cool "fat guy" voice}, but that unlocked a scene of horror I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.)

Anyway, these were a few of the scenes unlocked by searching "32" in google images. Jed, I hope you find them as inspiring as I did.

Cool Cinematography

I thought ya'll might enjoy this.

Dancing Pigeons - Ritalin from Blink on Vimeo.

Let's hear it for the boys

Two things:

1. We went to a packed (and by packed, I mean, standing room only) theater last night to see the tour de force that was Brandie's EHHS kids' Much Ado... You wouldn't believe me if I described the ovation that Mr. Arnold got when he took the stage to introduce it.

2. Last week, Tone and I went to film Mikey in action in his classroom full of bright-eyed fourth graders, and it was hard for me to hold the camera steady at times because I was so inspired by Mr. Padeken's ability at the front of the room.

It's almost laughable to think about pimply, hormone addled teenagers putting together a feature film, right? Add Shakespeare to the mix and it's freaking hilarious. I'd say it's just as funny to imagine little Mikey Padeken, wound-up like a bag of rubber springs and loaded with his Cheshire Cat grin, growing into the frame of a respectable man, husband and father. Add "that one teacher who made the difference" to that frame and I'm losing my mind.

I know Holmes is teaching, too, and I hear Kevin Chambers is doing his share. I'm not sure who else is or was, but I want to take my hat off to all of you. I think if the kids of this world could learn from any bunch of guys, you'd be the ones to show them the way.

Police Corruption: the Adrian Schoolcraft Story

I follow a couple of blogs that document violations of citizens' rights by the police. At first it was shocking to me how regularly police trampled property, search and seizure and 1st amendment rights; but now I'm not surprised whenever I hear of the latest abuse. Nor am I surprised when police are given a slap on the wrist following internal, departmental investigations for things that would land the rest of us in jail.

Enter Adrian Schoolcraft. This is the story of an NYPD policeman who secretly recorded all of his activities on duty for several years. He initially started carrying a recorder to protect himself from false accusations by citizens. However, when his supervisor started to illegally push quotas onto officers at his precinct, the aim of his recording turned towards documenting bad behavior by the police. Contrary to what one would hope, the higher ups in the NYPD didn't try to solve the problem. Rather, they turned against Schoolcraft.

His story can be heard on This American Life.

This story doesn't appear to have gone national yet, but you can read about it at Village Voice and HuffPo. The New York Times has picked it up so I'm surprised I'm not finding more articles about it elsewhere. (Here's the NYT article.)

A Picture Says a Thousand Words

Government spending, from one of my favorite blogs Political Calculations.

Washington @ BYU 2010 Highlights

Enjoy.

BYU vs Washington from James B Ellison on Vimeo.

Our Independence Day!!!

So the news out of Provo that BYU is going independent in football got me more stoked for next year than this year.

We all must be pretty busy as no one has said ANYTHING on this blog since it came out last Wednesday.

My take. It's perhaps the gustiest thing BYU has done in a really long time. I love not having to play New Mexico and SDSU every year (though technically we might play even crappier teams). The Notre Dame connection is a fantastic move and I hope there's a day when we play every year and trade a trophy, might I suggest a 'True Claim to the Priesthood' trophy? ESPN gets us more money and exposure than that crappy mountain channel and I like the WCC for other sports. It seems like a winner all around.

What does every one else think? Has anyone heard any naysaying?

Air Pollution in the US

If asked whether air pollution in the US has improved or worsened over the last few decades what would be your  reply? Probably, "How the yewt should I know?!?" At any rate, it turns out it has improved--substantially! Here's the graph from the EPA and the data (h/t Cafe Hayek).