Best Front Flip Ever!

You've got to have some serious balls to pull this off - and he's willing to show he's got em!'


Teddy Berr massive 50 meter Front Flip at Nine Knights from headbud on Vimeo.

How Photography Kicked My Ass

Just for the record, I need to learn a whole lot more about photography. And I should do my best to learn it before the Navy sends me to Cambodia. I don't want good photos, I want incredible images.

I used to shoot a lot in my early Navy days and I was under the impression many of those images were pretty good. Now I'm beginning to think they were marginal at best. No matter what they were, I want my Cambodia stories and photos to be much better quality than the ones I shot last year in Thailand and even during my days back on the USS Abraham Lincoln. 

Lots of learning to do in very little time.

The New iPhone and What it Taught Us About Marketing

Well here it is in all its glory - Apple's unreleased iPhone 4G. What's the big freakin' deal surrounding this thing?

Basically an Apple employee left the phone at a bar near Apple headquarters in California. Someone found the phone, checked it out for a while spreading word across the internet like wildfire and then decided to sell it to the highest bidder - internet geek news site Gizmodo.

At first, my interest was to see what Apple thought the improvements to its pretty freakin' awesome iPhone should be vs. that of what independent developers came up with in several "jailbreak" options that void the warranty, but bring the device to a whole new level.

Here's a little backstory on the iPhone jailbreakhttp://gizmodo.com/5520155/gal-1//gallery/2 and why it plays a major role for me. Apple released the current 3G and 3GS iPhone models and labled them as super phones - and compared to any of its competition and predecessors, it definitely was. However, independent software developers got ahold of these iPhone 3G and 3GS' and started hacking away. What they found was a device even more incredibly capable than Apple touted it to be. These developers got their iPhones to wirelessly broadcast its internet connection via wifi, act as a data storage device, attach files to emails, edit files - basically tap the iPhone's real potential to literally be a small computer with the power of something you might have had on your lap about five or six years ago.

Why Apple insisted on restricting the iPhone's capability is beyond me and leaves me wondering. And that's my interest in this story. Did Apple finally unlock the iPhone's potential?

The answer is a loud and resounding no! The iPhone 4G barely taps the potential of an iPhone 2g. Interesting right? Is Apple stalling technological progression to make money on smaller improvements along the way? Are the cellular carriers' systems not strong enough to support all that information being sent/received? Do they feel consumers will be overwhelmed?

I'm beginning to wonder if the software engineer was drinking away his blues after all his great suggestions for the new iPhone 4G were not implemented - even though consumers like me would pay bookoo bucks to be completely at work from anywhere with just my phone.

Hooah!

It's an Army thing right?? BWAahahahahahaha!!

Found this on the ever-entertaining Failblog.org.

Crossing the Mind

I just finished my normal routine of looking for the perfect Ali photo to use as an alliteration to how I feel and what I'm about to talk about in my blog. It works every time but this time.

I saw this photo earlier today and it just kind of hit home. I'll go ahead and take the fun out of it for you. Kanye's sitting down here out of character just as himself - not the person he uses to alliterate on album covers and such. And something's brought his new life to a halt. Now there's something I can relate to.

People change as time goes on. There are plenty of folks who live where I did 15 years ago who are doing the very same thing in the very same place - just 15 years later. That's pretty common w/ a lot of people as well. But what about those people you met along the way - between where we started and where we are now? What if no one could stay where they were because that place is literally gone?

This is the life we've been making. And while a lot of people I know have a strong sense of connection to people they grew up w/ in school, I don't know many who feel a sense of connection so strong with the ones they met along the way. I'm different.

I've developed so many relationships with so many people. The numbers have to be in the millions. With the invent of things like Facebook and such, I've had to really scrutinize the degree of relationship I have w/ certain people. Bascically, if you don't bring something to the table, you don't sit at my table - except for a very few people who are always welcome. Whether present or not, no one may fill their seat.

One of those people just sat back down at the table a couple days ago after about ten years on the run. The life I've built since the last time we spoke came to a screeching halt. 

They're not in the same condition as the last time I saw them and I'm more worried now than I was while they were gone. I desperately want to know what's happened and what is happening. It's affecting my sleep and found its way into my daily thoughts. I think this kind of worrying tells me something isn't right.

Nonetheless, it's wonderful to have her back at the table.

What's Happening?

I’m not really sure.

In most cases if you’re not sure – it’s best to ask someone who is. Only problem with that rationale is the ones in this instance who are sure and know don’t wanna share what they know. It’s an interesting and incredibly trying position to fill.

In retrospect, I guess I’ve been through worse with more consequence. Doesn’t seem to help right now.

The Champ underestimated the opponent and didn’t strategize, work and train enough, if at all, on the correct areas. Imagine him getting caught w/ the same hook he knows is his weakness every time. He knows it’s not difficult for opponents to exploit that weakness because he’s terrible at hiding it.

Opponent lands the hook, and while the Champ is thinking about how he let it happen again, he didn’t pay attention to the opponent’s well-known killer uppercut – and he takes that right on the chin. Between the classic hook and getting nailed by the uppercut he never saw, he falls to the mat for a TKO.

He’s so tough he doesn’t knock out and he barely shows a sign of the terrifying blow. He’s been through enough shit and trained to build his tolerance. Too bad that’s not what matters in this fight.

TKOs are a real bitch. Let’s say you lose your footing like the Champ did early on and fall down like a dumb ass. Then maybe get caught by a surprise move – bam, bam. Like that, you’re done.

Is this training or the title bout? Every big match feels like the title match. And every time you can’t help but question if losing the match means you’re not cut out for the work.

Do champions ever visit that room in their minds?

Truth be told, the Champ can be as ruthless and dirty as the next man but never goes there. Maybe that’s the potential everyone sees in him. Sometimes it’s just within reach – teetering on that edge of making the full-fledged jump in to all-or-nothing mode. That’s a scary mode to be in because it makes for a lot of collateral damage.

All-or-nothing mode means your goal becomes your primary target and number-one priority. All else takes a seat. The Champ is truly at that point. Seems all the competition has crossed this point and decided to go forth. With his natural talent and more guiding and discipline, he isn’t only likely to succeed, but annihilate the competition.

Aaaaw No...

That's what Joe Pesci says when he comes to realize his "making" ceremony is actually his execution.

Now this is the first time I considered exercising restraint in my blog - but then I realized folks don't have to read this or look at it if they don't like it - and yes that includes you. This scene is priceless.

 He doesn't see it coming - even though he should after all he's gotten away with. The only really surprised people are him and his two closest friends. He gets executed by some senior associates of his. And when it's all said and done, there isn't much to say.

"And dat's dat," is all the supporting character says after the hit.

It's just business. But his friends don't see it that way - it's much more complex. Even the audience doesn't see it that way. We know he screwed up, but this was really fucked up. But then again - it's just business.

In the end there's not much any character feels they can reasonably do w/out aggravating the situation and making it worse than it already is. So everyone just moves on.

And dat's dat.

Social Purgatory

I've been pondering what made Muhammad Ali so intriguing to so many people - and across so many cultural lines. Furthermore, I'm wondering what makes boxing so appealing. Rather than just the brute and gruesome violence or even the strategy and training for competition - I think it has to do with the one-on-one format.

In real life our challenges and matches are hardly ever one-on-one - and even rarer face-to-face. Our opponents don't look you in the face and punch you. They smile in your face and cleverly and very indirectly inflict their damage. Life would be all that much easier if we knew who we were pitted against and vice versa. In all actuality, real life is more like all-out warfare and less like boxing. It's possible we love to watch boxing and see ourselves in the ring facing a single challenge.

The only similarity I see between boxing and real life is the individual. While you're not face-to-face with your opponent trading shots, you are just you. You might have a coach, but really it's just you facing a challenge w/ no real helpful allies. You have to possess both the talent and drive to succeed - even when you're shook and on the way down. No one can either hurt or aid you but what you see in front of you. Your senses don't lie.

I remember this line from Goodfellas. It's in the scene where Ray Liotta feels a gun to his head and immediately knows it's a cop. He knows it's a cop because a wise guy wouldn't have said anything - he'd have just shot you. And that's much more realistic than being in a ring w/ someone and duking it out until you have an undisputed winner. Matter of fact, life would be much easier that way too.

Truth is, life is not that simple and there's a very good reason. If someone tells you they're going to do you in, you can do something about it - therefore making it either more difficult or impossible all together. Sometimes you're just in the way and don't know it. You're just collateral damage for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. No matter the reason, no one's going to tell you anything - they're just going to hurt you. It's not personal right?

It's a game for sure. Either accept it and participate, or hang up and go somewhere else.

What ever happened to the guy who did neither? Did he end up old and incapacitated - or did he laugh all the way to the bank?