This past weekend, Parker, Amanda and I all went to downtown Charleston, South Carolina to see the Blue Angels perform in the Charleston Harbor. This was a replacement for the traditional airshow that is held at the airport each year because they are so busy sending troops and equipment to Afghanistan. We had never been to the airshow before because the traffic to get up there and get home is a nightmare, and there is no where to park.

Here is a blurb from the Blue Angel’s official website:

A Blue Angels flight demonstration exhibits choreographed refinements of skills possessed by all naval aviators. The Blue Angels’ C-130, affectionately known as Fat Albert, begins each demonstration by exhibiting its maximum performance capabilities during a ten-minute performance. Shortly thereafter, you will see the graceful aerobatic maneuvers of the four-jet Diamond Formation, in concert with the fast-paced, high-performance maneuvers of its two Solo pilots. Finally, the team illustrates the pinnacle of precision flying, performing maneuvers locked as a unit in the renowned, six-jet Delta Formation.

This performance was VERY loud. Throughout the show Amanda held her hands over Parker’s ears, but he didn’t seem to mind the noise at all. Here are some of the pictures I took:

We watched the show from Waterfront Park in downtown Charleston

Look close and you can see the swirls from the propellers

The “Diamond” Formation

He’s going pretty fast

Parker laughing at me

Note: I actually posted this on a Delta flight going in to Boston. I hope the pilot doesn’t think he is a Blue Angel.

Thanks to the folks at work, Amanda, Parker and I went to see the local Minor League Baseball team, the Charleston Riverdogs. Here is an excerpt from Wikipedia:

The Charleston RiverDogs are a Minor League Baseball team based in Charleston, South Carolina. They play in the class A South Atlantic League and are an affiliate of the New York Yankees. Their home stadium is at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park. The majority owner is Marvin Goldklang who also owns a stake in five other minor league baseball teams throughout the country (Fort Myers Miracle, Sioux Falls Pheasants, Hudson Valley Renegades, Brockton Rox, and St. Paul Saints).

Our seats were one row from the backstop on the Visitor’s side. There really isn’t a bad seat in the Joe, but these were exceptionally good seats.

I was amazed how much Parker stayed awake and seemed to be watching the game. There were a few times that loud music or the cracking of the bat even seemed to startle him. He’s two months old, and already a sports fan.

If you get a chance to come to Charleston and catch a Riverdog’s game, it’s a good deal of fun. We even saw local resident Bill Murray in attendance. I got a paparazzi style photo below.

Mom and Parker watching the Riverdogs

Batter Up!

Watching the Riverdogs

Charlie T. Riverdog

Matt and Sarah

Bill Murray at the Riverdogs

Here are some photos of my family from Easter Sunday in Parkersburg, WV.

Parker waiting on his Easter basket

Lily and Peepaw looking for Easter Eggs

Lily looking for that last egg

Picture time with Uncle Doug

What a crew on Easter (pick which one of us needs a tan)

Parker, Amanda and I took the long drive to Parkersburg, WV. This is where Amanda and I grew up.

Parker was a good boy all the way there, and only added about 40 minutes to the nine hour voyage to eat and use the restroom. While I was there I took the opportunity to drive around and take a few pictures in some of the usual spots. Next time I go home I’ll hit up some of the more interesting spots.

Also while I was home, I took advantage of some of the hills around town to get in some good exercise. The pictures directly below show the infamous, and newly renovated, Quincy Hill steps.

Quincy Hill Steps (from the top) – 175 steps total. I ran it three times.

Quincy Hill Steps (from the bottom) – When I was a kid we used to ride our sleds down that hill beside the steps. Someone would have to stand at the bottom to make sure no cars were coming after you took that ramp off the wall. Good times.

This is from the “horse shoe” in front of Parkersburg High School:

Don’t come to Parkersburg without getting thick crust pizza from the “The Pizza Place.” Best pizza in the country.

Daffodils on Quincy Hill

Click here to see the whole set – or here to see my entire collection.

My wife gets Runner’s World Magazine in the mail. Strangely enough, just having this magazine around the house inspired me to start running in late December. I ran a 10k in 2007 with my wife without training, which was a very bad idea, and I got very sick from doing it. So this time I’m going to actually train, and hopefully in that training lose a few pounds (40?). My ultimate goal is to run a half-marathon in Las Vegas in December.

Running for the sake of running started as difficult for me. I would just run for time with no real idea of how far or how fast I was running. Sometimes I’d get on the treadmill just to be able to track my progress. Having played 11 years of football, including four in college, I was used to having every aspect of my training measured. Be it a timed 40 yard dash or a measured benchpress, it was pretty easy to see increases. It was much more difficult with running. Enter: Nike+.

A gadget geek at heart (much to my wife’s dismay), I saw an advertisement for it somewhere, and knew I had to have one. Nike+ is a three part gadget: a pedometer like chip that goes into your shoe, your iPod, and a receiver attached to the bottom of it. The chip has an accelerometer that can determine when your feet are up, and when they are on the ground, and can tell you your speed and distance accurately (after calibrating to your running style).

With the device, you can set your race distance or time, and it will talk to you throughout the run about your pace, time and distance remaining. At anytime throughout the run you can push the center button and it will tell you time, distance and speed. What I typically do is set a distance, run away from my house until it tells me I’m halfway done, then I turn around and come back. There’s no way you can do this without a device like this. I tried to pre-map runs like this before I got Nike+, but I could never remember where to go once I got out there.

What I enjoy the most is sitting down after a long run and plugging my iPod into my computer. The iPod automatically uploads my run data, including second-by-second speed readings, to the Nike+ website through iTunes. You can use this data to track your improvements over a long period of time. It’s fun to see how many miles you’ve done over the month, how many calories you’ve burned and how fast (slow) you are. You can also track friends (which is motivating in that you don’t want them to see you loafing), set challenges for yourself (a specific number of runs in a specific amount of time, for instance) and upload your time and distance to your favorite social networking site.

As silly as it sounds, this device has definitely motivated me to run when I certainly didn’t want to. This month’s stats:

• 10 workouts
• 3:32 total running time
• 18.61 miles
• 11′24 mile average
• 3125 calories burned
• fastest 5k: 35:32

Not bad for my first month running, ever.

Check out the Nike+ website for more information or to buy your own.

Photo taken by me. See my Flickr feed here.

Inspired by my friend Lauren’s Website about Books I wanted to list a few of the books I am reading now. I’m typically a nonfiction book reader, but every once in a while I’ll pick up a classic. Mostly because it makes me feel smart. I also have a habit of reading more than one book at a time. So here is what’s in my “library” currently:

I’m on page 150 of 900! of Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged. This is one of those books that I’ve always wanted to read, and had heard great things about, but have never taken the time to pick it up. The story is great so far, the lessons (at least 1/6 of the way through) are timely and the characters well-developed. I’m looking forward to knocking this one off, as it was one of my New Years Resolutions to finish it.

Another one of my resolutions was to read the Bible. You can read my adventures of purchasing a Bible here. Instead of plowing through it from page 1, I found a great website that guides you through it depending on your interests. Go to Bible Gateway.com to choose your path. I am using this one.

I recently finished Glenn Beck’s Arguing with Idiots. Regardless of how you feel about Beck’s politics, his books are always humorous and well written. This book shines a very bright, conservative light, at subjects such as the economy, unions and the public school system. I believe it’s a strong read for folks on both sides of the aisle.

And, with only a week or two to spare, I’m reading Caveman’s Guide to Baby’s First Year: Early Fatherhood for the Modern Hunter-Gatherer. I’m only a quarter of the way through this book, but it is very informative and entertaining. It leans a little too much on the caveman history side, but the baby-content is very useful and friendly.

Lots to read, and coming soon, probably very little time or energy to read.

In an effort to write more, and my enjoyment of Top 10 lists, here is my first entry:

Top 10 Movies from 2009, I Need to See in 2010:

10. Zombieland
9. Paranormal Activity
8. Star Trek – This will be my first Star Trek movie, ever.
7. Taken
6. Nine – Simply for the star power.
5. The Blind Side – I hope the movie is better than the book.
4. The Hurt Locker – Super excited about this one.
3. Avatar – Despite James Cameron.
2. Saw VI – One of my favorite movie series.
1. Up in the Air

There are 100 reasons why the UFC and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) are overtaking or have overtaken the boxing industry. Here is just one of them, and possibly the most important:

The List of Current Boxing Champions
vs.
List of Current UFC Champions

I understand that this is a simplified look at MMA (it doesn’t include Strikeforce, WEC, or any of the other leagues). Even if you did include those, there are less than four (and really only one) major organization. Also, the divisions or companies have completely separate fighters, so there would be no cross pollination, as opposed to most boxing rankings.

For more information about the UFC see: How the UFC Works

The UFC Octagon

How Stuff Works is a great site. They have well written and well researched articles on subjects from all spectrums. They also have an excellent general subject podcast available on iTunes, including my favorite, “Stuff you Missed in History Class.”

The particular article I’d like to draw attention to tonight is “How the Ultimate Fighting Championship Works.” This article covers the basics including:

• The Octagon
• Fighting Styles
• How to win
• UFC Rules
• UFC today

Each section gives a broad overview of the sport and what to watch for in a pay-per-view, Fight Night or The Ultimate Fighter show. Unfortunately, there is no one in the UFC named “John Wilson.” However, when you put “John Wilson +UFC” into Google, my website is on top.

Other Resources for basic MMA
If you’re interested in learning more about MMA (mixed martial arts) or the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) research the following search terms:

• Jiu-Jitsu
• Muay-Tai Boxing
• Judo
• Freestyle Wrestling
• Official UFC Website
• Sherdog.com – news site
• MMA Mania – blog site
• Unofficial UFC rankings

The CD entitled, “Heartbreak Motel” has received great reviews so far. It includes 10 songs with future radio hits like Savannah, Let Me Let You Go and Love is the Hardest Thing. The music is probably categorized as a Country-Rock blend (Crock?) – but I’m not much of a music guy.

Songs from the band’s previous albums, Coney Island EP and Phonography will most likely also be on tap.

To get your copy of the CD autographed by the lead singer, Matt Megrue, be sure to contact the band via their MySpace page at: http://www.myspace.com/countylinestrangers
See you at the show!