Nike and Gatorade

The only connection Nike and Gatorade have with me is that they are both things that I happen to love very much. And I've had a couple experiences with them both in the past week or two.

Over the past two years, I have applied several times to become a Nike product tester. Each time I've gotten the exact same e-mail.

Dear you,

Your feet are too small. You're dumb for playing soccer on concrete. We'll reject you again in six months.

Really Nike, you can't make test products in more than a select few sizes??? I really like your stuff and I think it would be cool to test out the new stuff. But I guess my feet aren't the right size.

Now, on to the Gatorade. They've been pushing out a bunch of new products lately, but there's just one that has captured my attention. Clear Gatorade. Really? Just gonna confuse the kids between water and something full of sugar. It's has no color or artificial flavoring and tastes really good. Its just weird to be drinking something the same color as water, but doesn't taste like water.

Wavin Flag

Its been almost a year since I made a fateful discovery for my music tastes. Coca-Cola and a Somali born rapper changed my favorite song list forever. Wavin' Flag was Coke's promo song for the 2010 World Cup. I love Coke, but I discovered the song almost by accident. The pure joy put into the song, along with the drums and me hearing the Spanish version first stole my heart forever. It was my anthem to get through basic training.
I now have six different versions of the song to include several of the Coke versions, the much more somber but still inspiring original, and the Young Artists for Haiti version.
K'naan was a great discovery for me. I haven't gotten tired of the song yet and I don't plan on it.
This is at least the second time I've linked to this video, but I really love it.

Jet Lag

Natasha Bedingfield is probably my biggest idol. I've been in love with her music since she made the is cross over in 2005 with These Words; the single before the success of Unwritten.
There's also this fairly cool group known as Simple Plan who I remember as one of the groups of my middle school years. They're back with a new album this coming June, and they collaborated with my favorite artist. It's a lot less rock-y than some of Simple Plan's other stuff, but this is a pretty sweet song.

My Focus is Elsewhere

Last night, around 10 pm, the best battle buddy I ever had texted me to turn on a news channel. My half asleep brain decided it would be best to look outside the window to see if it was storming and then considered the possibility that it was storming back east. It was quite logical to me since it is tornado season.

Next move was to get on the internet. As always, first comes up Facebook, then UK Yahoo sports, then the news tab in my bookmarks.

Nothing interesting was on the sports and the news was still loading, so Facebook it was. And the news hit me in just about every form imaginable. Osama bin Laden was confirmed dead by President Obama.

I’ve had several reactions to this news. The first, and best, was my text back to my battle buddy. The basic concept was that it happened because I just finished reading Tom Clancy’s latest Jack Ryan/John Clark book. They got their bad guy captured and Clancy’s stuff can be eerily like real life.

My other reaction is one of pure frustration. To me, Osama has been just an ideal for a long time. Our beef may have started out just against him, but it is not the endgame. Our real battle is in the ideals, like how most battles in American history have gone. Osama was just the tip of the iceberg. It may bring closure to families who have lost loved ones, but Osama out of the picture does not mean the fight will magically go away.

My frustration also extends to the fact that I really, really, love soccer and with real summer competitions, this is the best time of year.  Arsenal beat Manchester United yesterday, Championship teams are finding out who will be promoted, and the Champions League is heating up with some INTENSE Barca/Real rivalry. To top it off, Arsenal just released photos of the 125^th anniversary home kit. It’s still growing on me, but I’d much rather focus on that than people debating and celebrating a dead guy that still has the possibility to cause as much damage dead as alive.

A Good Month

It’s May. My second favorite month for preference, but first favorite in terms of what happens in May.

May always has some of the best weather of the year. It’s usually when I get the most yard work to do, which means I’m outside a lot. When I was in school, it was always when I had the most schoolwork to do. I like being busy and I though I might say otherwise, I secretly enjoy being stressed and having to cram everything in.

May 19 is a very special day to me as well. First off, in 2002 I was baptized on that day. And then, in 2005, Star Wars Episode III Revenge of the Sith came out. I don’t think I should have to rationalize the day much more than that.

One more best thing about May, which I’ll miss this year, is Memorial Day Weekend. No Clarks Summit parade. No parent’s Sunday school picnic in the park to run around outside with friends eating, playing sports, and having fun in the splash fountain and creek. But it will still be good.

May has started off amazingly. Arsenal 1-0 Manchester United. At the Emirates Stadium. Arsenal beating the Manure might have happened since I’ve been a fan, but I don’t remember it. Not until today at least. I was so happy I almost cried. It certainly beats the poor form my dear Arsenal have had lately.

Yes, May is a good month.