Today I walked into the dollar movie theater at the Briarwood Mall. Two hours later, I walked out in complete tears. No, I wasn't crying because I sat in spilled slushy syrup. No, it wasn't because the theater smelt like flatulence and Cheeto's. No, it wasn't because the top third was cutoff by the crappy projection angle. It was because August Rush is THE MOST POWERFUL movie I have ever seen, PERIOD. Without exaggeration, I was crying almost the entire movie. In fact, the ending was so powerful that I started getting concerned about bothering the other patrons.

Freddie Highmore, Kerri Russell, and Jonathan Rhys Meyers are absolutely amazing. Robin Williams plays a role I have never seen him play before, and is utterly brilliant. Not to mention, the soundtrack is incredible. If you love music, watch this movie. It'll take your heart and shred it into pieces like a dog with a cheap chew toy.

Last Fall Jo and I often got together with other Cal alums at UM to watch football games. It was so much fun that we decided to make ourselves official: Introducing the Cal Alumni Association of Michigan! We are now an official regional chapter of the Cal Alumni Association (CAA). Check out our website here. We plan to host picnics, seminars, and many more viewing parties.

Besides organizing glorified viewing parties, this group has introduced the opportunity to meet other Berkeley alumni in Michigan. Some of you back on the left coast are probably saying "big whoop," but consider this influential list of alumni: Jennifer Granholm (Michigan's governor), Bob Lutz (General Motors Vice Chairman), Larry Burns (General Motors Vice President of R&D), and Ron English (former Michigan football defensive coordinator) to name a few. It also begins what I hope to be a very involved membership with CAA.

P.S. Larry Burns is NOT Mr. Burns' deadbeat son. Sorry, bud.

Here's the scenario: I come home after an EXHAUSTING day, in which I took the final portion of my controls PhD qualifying exam. I was so relieved it was over, and looked forward to a quiet relaxing night at home. After I walk through the door and hang my jacket up, Jo says: "Scott, I need to practice taking blood. Give me your arm."

WHAT THE F!? Practice taking blood!? Why me!? For those that don't know, Jo works as a medical assistant, so it might not seem that bad. But what most people don't know is that Jo is the CLUMSIEST person I have ever known. Clumsy + needles = get me out of here!

Being the good boyfriend that I am, I capitulate. Without exaggeration, I'm literally giving up my blood, sweat, and tears. So she straps my arm down, pulls out a 3 inch needle, and jabs it into my arm. Then she pulls the syringe and nothing comes out.

J: "Aw, that's interesting."

S: [Look of panic, while sweating profusely and holding back tears]
"What the hell does that mean!?"

Then she pulls back a little bit and pulls the syringe again. Blood rushes into the vile.

J: "I just learned what it feels like when I go too far! Yay! Now give me your other arm."

S: [Shreaking in panic] "No way!"


[Side Note: I writing this as I hide underneath my bed. Someone call Jo to distract her, because she's searching for me, needle in hand...and NO, I didn't get a sugar cookie!]

For the past six months or so, I've been experimenting with different ways of collecting and processing news feeds to get a nice cross section of Cal Athletics News. Well I think I have my best product yet, thanks to Yahoo! Pipes. The idea is to deliver news items regarding Cal Athletics from national media, university publications, Bay Area newspapers, and online blogs to my website on a periodic basis. Now I don't have to scour the web when I'm aching to read about Tedford's staff changes. Check it out here, and let me know what you think.