The Love Boat Reaches a Milestone Friday, March 06, 2009

Sony and I have been rockin' the minivan ever since my brother totaled my green '94 Ford Escort GT. Some days I miss the old green machine, but when I start to think about the van, and all the travels and fun we've had in it (keep your mind out of the gutter), I can get a little choked up.

There she is in all her glory. Back in her home-state of Michigan, she was looking beautiful that evening as the sun-lit waves of Torch Lake reflected playfully off of her rusted and paint-chipped body. And check out that rack!

In all seriousness, the "Love Boat" as it was affectionately dubbed while we were at Harding, has been the best car ever. It's been to/through at least 15 U.S states that I can think of and we've finally reached a milestone. This is no bit of camera trickery that you are about to witness. Behold, we've reached a quarter of a million miles!

Can you believe it? It's been SO nice not to have any car payments over these past couple of years, but we know that someday, she'll travel her last mile. When that day comes, I think I'll hold a ceremony in memory of all of the good times we had together. Thanks little Love Boat. You'll always be my #2 girl (unless we have daughters someday).

If you have any special memories with the Love Boat, we'd LOVE to hear about them in the comments, below. Thanks!

Never In A Million Years Monday, March 02, 2009

Though this could quite possibly be the biggest rush ever, I don't think I'd ever try it. This video both left me in complete awe and also needing to change my underwear. Enjoy!

wingsuit base jumping from Ali on Vimeo.

Have you ever done any base jumping or skydiving? If so, where...and why did you do it? If you bungee jumped, don't even bother commenting. That's child's play you big baby!

Final Edition of the Denver Rocky Mountain News Friday, February 27, 2009

As most of you know, I work for E. W. Scripps, the parent company for over a dozen newspapers across the country. I am a project manager for the online department and help to manage and implement pieces of the dot com portions for each of their newspapers.

It is with a sad heart that I write this post. Many of my co-workers (though most I do not know personally) are losing their jobs after today. Back on December 4, 2008, Scripps announced that they would put the Rocky Mountain News up for sale. Unfortunately, a buyer never stepped up. Just yesterday in this press release, Scripps announced that the Rocky was going to publish its final edition today.

My heart goes out to all of these employees. I wanted to thank you all for the dedication to see it through and continue to bring the people of Denver (and the rest of the world through your website) amazing stories and integrity in your journalism. Thank you!

The following video is a beautiful piece put together by the staff at the Rocky Mountain News. I hope you enjoy it and realize the impact this has on SO many people. Not just the employees, but also the city of Denver and journalists across the country.

Final Edition from Matthew Roberts on Vimeo.

Comments From Garrison Keillor... Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Garrison Keillor's comments on Obama's election...

Be happy, dear hearts, and allow yourselves
a few more weeks of quiet exultation.
It isn't gloating, it's satisfaction at a job well done.
He was a superb candidate, serious, professorial
but with a flashing grin and a buoyancy that comes
from working out in the gym every morning.

He spoke in a genuine voice, not senatorial at all.
He relished campaigning. He accepted adulation gracefully.
He brandished his sword against his opponents
without mocking or belittling them.
He was elegant, unaffected, utterly American,
and now (Wow) suddenly America is cool.
Chicago is cool. Chicago !!!

We threw the dice and we won the jackpot
and elected a black guy with a Harvard degree,
the middle name Hussein and a sense of humor.
He said, "I've got relatives who look like Bernie Mac,
and I've got relatives who look like Margaret Thatcher."
The French junior minister for human rights said,
"On this morning, we all want to be American
so we can take a bite of this dream unfolding
before our eyes." When was the last time you heard
someone from France say they wanted to be American
and take a bite of something of ours?
Ponder that for a moment.

The world expects us to elect pompous yahoos,
and instead we have us a 47-year-old prince
from the prairie who cheerfully ran the race, and
when his opponents threw sand at him,
he just smiled back. He'll be the first president in history
to look really good making a jump shot.
He loves his classy wife and his sweet little daughters.
At the same time, he knows pop music,
American lit and constitutional law.
I just can't imagine anybody cooler.

It feels good to be cool, and all of us can share in that,
even sour old right-wingers and embittered blottoheads.
Next time you fly to Heathrow and hand your passport
to the man with the badge, he's going to see
" United States of America " and look up and grin.
Even if you worship in the church of Fox ,
everyone you meet overseas is going to ask you about Obama,
and you may as well say you voted for him because,
my friends, he is your line of credit over there.
No need anymore to try to look Canadian.

_____________________________________________

Mr. Keillor is great! To bad I couldn't find a clip of him saying this so you could just hit a "play" button and listen to his captivating voice. Unabashedly, I admit to looking forward to his variety radio show, A Prairie Home Companion, each weekend on NPR. I recently read a funny description of the mysterious appeal of Garrison Keillor, by Sam Anderson. Anderson describes Keillor's weekly News From Lake Wobegon: "Keillor delivers the news in a kind of whispery trance. When he speaks, blood pressures drop across the country, wild horses accept the saddle, family dogs that have been hanging on at the end of chronic illnesses close their eyes and drift away". Ha ha! Perfect description.

Knoxville Skateboarding Saturday, February 07, 2009

Today, I ventured out to the Knoxville Skate Park. The park is great and has a few bowls, some stairs, rails and hubbas. It's a perfect mix of street and vert! The temperature got up to 65 today and there were a TON of kids (and 2 old guys) rockin' it out. Check out my Flickr page for more!

After hitting up the skate park, I headed over to The Board Room in fabulous Knox-Vegas. Some good friends of ours opened the shop this past Fall and I'd be willing to put money on it being the best skate shop in Knoxville. Some of the kids that were at the skate park must have knew I was coming because they were playing on the Xbox 360 when I showed up. After teaching them a lesson in s.k.a.t.e, I had them give me lessons in kickflips. I was able to get my board to flip, but just couldn't land it. All in good time. Here are some pics of the kids hitting up a rail in front of The Board Room.

The rest of the photos from the skate session at The Board Room can also be found on my Flickr.