Don't know Giac! (don't want Giac...)

Utah was embarrassed by BYU today, losing 76-66 at home. It's the first time that BYU has beaten Utah at home since 1994. Now, I've got to be honest, I didn't expect Utah to win - but I certainly hoped that they would. I did expect a close game, but this one really wasn't.

Utah had so many problems this game. The whole team just looked awful and there were very few bright spots. All of the problems that I saw tonight can be attributed to coaching. I have been slow to criticize Coach Giacoletti, but I'm not holding back anymore. We should be seeing improvements by this point in the season but Utah looked worse tonight than early in the season.

They couldn't run an offensive play, their defense got tangled up in the key, yet they gave up quite a few rebounds that should have been theirs and they couldn't defend the 3-point line. There were a lot of other problems as well. I've been arguing that Giac deserves another year, but I think that I am rescinding that statement. Maybe bring Kerry Rupp back?

Welcome Reese Bischoff!

My sister gave birth to a baby on Sunday night. Reese Bischoff was born at 11:01 PM (Las Vegas time), weighed 6 lbs, 15 ozs and was less than 24" long (I can't remember how long she was...). She is a cutie and I'm sure that her big sister is proud. Congratulations guys!

Super Bowl XLI - Who wants a candy bar?

The big show is set. It's going to be the Indianapolis Colts vs. the Chicago Bears in South Florida. I want to hear everybody's predictions. Leave them in the comments (How to comment) along with the name of your favorite candy bar. I'll mail whoever wins their favorite candy bar. In order to win you must pick the winning team and then be closest on the score. Good Luck!

Cheap Gas - Salt Lake City

That's right, I paid $1.99/gal of gas today. I got it at the Albertson's on the corner of North Temple and 900 W. in Salt Lake City. I can't remember the last time that I paid under $2 a gallon for gas. It's been a while.

New 4Gb flash Drive

I just wanted to brag to everybody that I just got a new 4Gb flash drive. It's pretty slick so far. I bought it off newegg.com for $37.99 (+ shipping) and it's already gone down in price by $3. It's pretty small, waterproof, and easy to use. It seems just a tad slow though. I'm working now on some software that will allow it to automatically synchronize any changes that I make to files stored on it with my computer.

New - Firefox Compatible!

You may have noticed a few small changes. I heard today that my blog looked like $*&% when viewed with Firefox. I don't know whether this was a new problem or not but after a little bit of tweaking, I was able to get it to show up nice both in Internet Explorer and Firefox. The other change that I made was to turn off the autoplay for the music player. Therefore, if you would like to groove to some tunes while you browse the blog, you've got to hit the play button yourself!

I actually prefer IE7 (Call me crazy...) to Firefox so I never noticed the problems and they may have been there for months. My apologies to those who have had to suffer - but why didn't you tell me?

download Firefox here.

The State of the Union

Although the State of the Union Address was 2 days ago, I just finished watching it. I was in class during the speech and I had to watch it in bits and pieces. For anybody that missed it, I would recomment watching, listening or reading to it here.

I actually thought that the speech was very well delivered and written. Aside from the lists of unobtainable goals (isn't that the theme of every State of the Union address?), there were a few parts of the speech that stood out to me.

The first thing that I liked was President Bush's call to end 'earmarks'. These are "little" projects that Senators and Representatives tack onto a bill after it has passed committee. We all benefit from them, but it is simply a slick way for a representative to get something nice done for their constituencies. This is a huge reason that the budget has spiraled wildly out of control. It is possibly my biggest pet peeve with Washington. This is one of the few truly 'obtainable' goals outlined by Bush.

President Bush quoted Luke 12:48 "For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required;" With that he talked about helping stop the spread of Aids, and poverty in Africa. He has mentioned this in speeches past and I have no idea if anything has ever come from it but it certainly is a worthy cause and one that I am willing to support.

Probably the biggest 'unobtainable' goal by President Bush was to curb our nation's oil usage by 20% within a decade. I certainly believe that the technology is there, but I do not believe that this country is willing to make the financial sacrifices needed to actually obtain this goal. I will still hope and wish it were true though.

President Bush was very respectful of the first woman speaker (Nancy Pelosi) and I think that she is always very respectful to the President - although we all know she hates him.

My favorite part of the speech was when President Bush introduced "heroes" of our "decent honourable country." He introduced Wesley Autry who is now commonly known as the "Subway hero" (Not Subway restaurant - that's Jared, this refers to the NYC Subway). In short, a man fell on the tracks, having a seizure, when a train was coming and Mr. Autry jumped down and help him down as the train rolled over them both. What an amazing, quick-thinking guy.

Bush also introduced Dikembe Mutombo and others (including the founder of Baby Einstein, not a hero, but obviously a big donater to the Bush campaign...).

Aside from the problematic failure of the Iraq war, which he also discussed, the speech made many good points - He'll ceratinly learn to compromise during the next 2 years or nothing will get done.

Ada is 6 Months Old!

You read correctly. Our little girl is now 6 months old. Its amazing how quickly the time passes by. She is sleeping well (usually) and is always happy to see me when I come home from school or work. That's one of the greatest things. Alison always says "You're so happy when Daddy's home." She's a Daddy's girl, what can I say? You can read a little more about her 6 month birthday on our space at http://tysqui.spaces.live.com.

5 Weeks and counting...

As many of you know, my younger brother Jordan is serving an LDS mission in Jacksonville, Florida. He is set to return home 5 weeks from tomorrow (see the countdown timer here). He was an AP for quite a while but recently he was transferred to Lake City, FL - where he will finish his mission. He seems to be having success. For example, here is a quote from his letter home today:

We had quite a few people to visit with and follow up with on Thursday. But the coolest day was definitely Friday. We had a bunch of things planned for the day and it all fell through, we had some backup plans and they also fell through. Because of some random turn of events we found ourselves in this neighborhood and decided we would tract. It turned out to be the best tracting on my mission. We knocked on 8 door and there were people home at 7 of them (amazing in itself). Of those 7 people we taught 6 of them the first lesson and got return appointments. It was amazing! We were definitly in the right place at the right time with people who had been prepared.

You can read any of his letters on his blog at http://eldersquire.blogspot.com.

American Idol...

Aside from all of the sports that Alison and I watch, there is only one show that I really enjoy watching and that is American Idol. I usually have to record it with Media Center and then watch it on the weekends because of school. I'm a big fan though.

This clip is from tryouts in Seattle. It is dedicated to my sister Rachelle - not because she looks like this lady (she doesn't) - but because she used to always be singing The Pussycat Dolls song "Don't Cha". (Alison also mentioned that this 'sexy' girl needs a bra) Decide for yourself.


Video: Don't Cha Wish...

***Isn't this a fitting post for my 100th?

Oh that poor woman...

That poor woman. Even though this happened 8 years ago, it certainly is still a tragedy. In protest, I will never pee on a plane again - Just in case.

The Best 12-Loss Team in the Nation!

Utah is without a doubt, the best 12-loss team in the nation. I know that is a really bold statement to make but let me back it up with some facts.

First off though, congratulations are in order for the Utes knocking off the 11th/13th ranked team in the nation, the team that was tied for the longest winning streak in the nation, the team that beat Colorado by 38, Waake Forest by 36 and Stanford by 34 - aka Air Force. It was a heck of a game. Utah did try and give the game away - that's the only thing they are truly good at this year but, They also shot 71% from the floor. This negated the costly turnovers at the end of the game. Now if only the students wouldn't have 'stormed the court' because I think that is retarded - especially when it is only your 6th win out of 18 games and there are only 200 students there. What dorks...

Now back to the best 12-loss team in the nation. First off, lets take a look at who they are up against for this coveted award.

Maryland-Baltimore County
New Hampshire
St. Bonaventure
Kennesaw State
Stetson
Sacramento State
Radford
Virginia Military
James Madison
Northeastern
Cleveland State
California-Davis
Ball State
Northern Illinois
UMKC
Centenary
Bethune-Cookman
Mount St Mary's
Southeast Missouri State
Lehigh
Elon
Citadel
Texas-San Antonio
Alabama State
Arkansas-Pine Bluff
Loyola Marymount
Louisiana Tech

That's pretty impressive company. Only 22 conferences even have a teams with 12 or more losses. Utah is taking the MWC to a whole notha' level. Of the 12-loss teams mentioned above, 9 have more wins than Utah. This is obviously because they have played more games.

Utah has three impressive wins. The first came against a previously undefeated Washington State. Even now they are the #21 team in the coaches poll. Their second (and most dominant) came against Virginia who has beaten Arizona, Gonzaga and Maryland. Utah's most impressive win came last night against Air Force. Air Force is one of the hottest teams in the country and before last night, their only loss had come at Duke.

Only four of Utah's twelve losses have come by more than 4 points (One by 6, one by 9, one by 16 and one by, ahem, 33). This is the stat that leads me to belive that they are the best 12-loss team in the country. Utah's lone 4 point loss came in overtime. All of the other 7 losses were by one possession or less. Unbelieveable. It may just be that Coach Giacoletti doesn't have any luck. Urban Meyer has luck (and now a ring). Coach Giacoletti needs to talk to him.

Therefore, unless anybody can shoot me down then I will continue to yell: We're number 268! We're number 268! (They're only that high because I'm assuming that they are better than 3 11-loss teams as well - Maybe that's cheating...).

Grandma Lisonbee

My Grandma Lisonbee (obviously my Mom's mom) died last Thursday. She has been really sick for quite some time so it was actually no surprise that she passed on. She had a stroke 20 years ago and has been a little disabled ever since. Because of this, I can't even remember her in any way except how she has been the last 20 years.

The funeral was held today. It was very nice. My mom, Cheryce, Rachelle and I sang "Be Still My Soul", and Alison accompanied us. I was a pallbearer - which was a new experience, but I certainly consider it quite an honor. It was a sad day but we were the saddest for my grandpa and my mom and her siblings. Here is her obituary.

Lucille Jane Gardner Lisonbee 1925 ~ 2007 Our courageous wife, mother, grandmother and great-grand-mother lost a valiant struggle with health to return to our Heavenly Father and the open arms of her loving mother on January 11, 2007. Lucille was born in Blackfoot, Idaho, on June 11, 1925 to Verda Price Gardner and Frank Gardner. Lucille was raised in her grandparents home with her aunts and uncles as siblings. She was married to Richard Gene Lisonbee in the Salt Lake City Temple by Harold B. Lee on February 21, 1947, passing away just six weeks short of their 60th wedding anniversary.

Lucille followed in the footsteps of her mother as an elementary school teacher, teaching kindergarten and 1st grade for 17 years. After her retirement, she volunteered many years in the school reading program. She graduated from the University of Utah and received her masters degree in education from Brigham Young University. Lucille was an accomplished vocalist and would perform at churches, weddings, and funerals throughout her life until the ravages of illness took her beautiful voice away. Lucille found great joy in camping and boating with her family and traveling throughout North America and Mexico with her husband in their motor-home. As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, she received her Golden Gleaners Award and served in many callings throughout her lifetime. She was an active member of the Daughters of Utah Pioneers. She and her husband served a full time mission to the New Mexico, Albuquerque Mission.

Lucille's greatest joy was raising a large family. She is survived by her husband, Richard Lisonbee; children, Jay (Maria), Gene (Carol), Karla (Mark) Andersen, Sheri (Larry) Adamson, Nancy (Kim) Squire, and Tammie (Scott) Rees; 28 grandchildren, 26 great-grandchildren; her aunt Elaine Engstrum and her step-mother, Gretchen Gardner. She was preceded in death by her mother, Verda Price Gardner Flint; her father, Frank Gardner; her step-father, Donald Flint and a great-grandson, Garret Lisonbee.

Funeral services will be held Monday, January 15, 2007, 12 noon, at the Springview Ward, 3151 South 900 East, where friends may call from 10:45 to 11:45 a.m. prior to the service or on Sunday evening at Larkin Mortuary, 260 East South Temple from 5-7:00 p.m. Interment, Elysian Burial Gardens. Online condolences to www.larkinmortuary.com

Bush and Iraq

President Bush gave a speech tonite about a change of strategy in Iraq. 'Stay the Course' has thankfully been placed behind us now. If you didn't get a chance to hear his speech, take a minute to read the transcript here. Here is what I thought of the speech.

First of all, I was glad to see him take the blame for the mistakes in Iraq. He said: "Where mistakes have been made, the responsibility rests with me."

I don't know whether or not I support the deployment of more troops to Iraq or not. I would much prefer the troops to be coming home. If I knew that more troops would really help bring peace to a country that has had sectarian struggles for hundreds of years then I would be all for the deployment. As it stands...

I hope that this war will end quickly. I hope that someday I will find out what the 'real' reason was for Bush starting the war in Iraq. Was it WMDs, Saddam, oil, al-qaeda, to redeem his father, to show the democrats who's boss, to be a hero or any number of other reasons. I don't believe that we have heard the real reason for the war from the administration.

Spring 2007 Schedule

boohoo. School starts today. It's always a little exciting to start a new semester but this is mainly because it means that I am getting closer to finishing. Won't that be nice? A snapshot of my schedule this semester is shown above. I am taking 15 credit hours. 6 graduate credits and 9 undergraduate credits. I was able to arrange my schedule so that I only have to go to school Tuesdays and Thursdays. This will leave the other days free to get my 20 hours in at work and do some homework.

The classes that am taking are:
ECE 4910 - Senior Thesis II
ECE 5325 - Wireless Communication
ECE 6730 - RF Int Circuit Design
PHYS 4060 - Observational Astronomy
RUSS 3560 - Russ & Soviet Culture

The Russian class is the last class I need to get a Russian minor. The Physics class counts as a technical elective for ECE and I've heard that it is easy in comparison with ECE classes. It looks like it will be a tough semester - that may mainly be because the classes will require time outside of class. Don't worry though, I'll let ya'll know soon enough!

Dear Urban:

Dear Urban,

I know that I should hate you. You were my coach, and I remember you telling me time and time again that you were a Utah man. I remember how you would go off about how it didn't matter whether or not you wanted to leave because your wife Shelley wouldn't let you because she loved it here so much. But the truth is, I don't hate you. I can't hate you. Although you left us high and dry everybody knew it was coming anyway. Most don't admit to that, but deep down, everybody knew that you would leave us.

Now that you've been gone for two years we still want to see you succeed. We all knew that you could beat the Buckeyes. You have proven time and time again that if you are given more than one week to prepare for an opponent, that opponent has no chance against your team. The Florida Gators played an awesome game. They handled Ohio State more easily than most teams handled their NCAA Division II opponents this year. Congratulations on winning the BCS National Championship. Don't forget about us mid-majors. Without us you wouldn't be where you are today. Please keep pulling for a playoff for us. It's the only way we may ever have a fair chance to win a title.

Most of us Utah fans want you to succeed. I think that we also want you to give Florida the shaft like you gave it to us. That would at least give me some satisfaction. With that said, I'll see you in the NFL next year and congratulations on your Superbowl win in 2009!

Fall Grades

I got may grades back for fall semester a week or so ago. It turns out that I didn't do too bad. In fact, it was my 3rd best semester ever. My GPA for the semester was 3.725. This actually brought my cumulative GPA up from 3.48 to 3.505. My goal now is to keep my cumulative above a 3.5. I'm not going to make any promises though...

Here is a rundown of my grades for each course:
ECE 5320 - Microwave Engineering I - A
ECE 5201 - Semiconductor Physics I - B
ECE 5211 - Semiconductor Physics I Lab - A-
BIOEN 1101 - Bioengineering I - A
ECE 6722 - Analog IC Testing - A

I also had a Sr. Project course for which I will not be given a grade until the end of spring semester. For my first semester with a new baby at home, I am quite pleased with the way that it turned out. It was a little lighter than my previous semesters and hopefully I'll be ready to work hard spring semester. It will probably be quite a bit tougher. At least I will not have any labs (In the fall I had three 3-hour labs each week).

Boise State and the Fiesta Bowl

If you missed the Fiesta Bowl last night, then you oughta be sorry. It was easily one of the greatest games that I have ever seen. 9th ranked Boise State played 7th ranked Oklahoma. Regardless of how close they were in the rankings, Oklahoma was favored by 8.5. Unbelieveable. Teams from the non-BCS conferences don't ever get the respect that they deserve.

Boise State played an amazing game. They had a 28-10 lead for much of the second half. With under two minutes to play, Oklahoma scored a touchdown and had to go for a two-point conversion to tie the game. After two tries and two penalties, Oklahoma finally converted on their third try. This tied the game at 28. On the first play after the kickoff, Boise State threw an interception which was returned for a touchdown. It was a good thing that this ball was returned or Oklahoma could have ran down the clock and kicked a field goal.

Boise State got the ball back and was stuck at midfield on fourth down and 18 with under 30 seconds to play. Boise State threw a 16 yard pass (I was yelling that's not far enough) but the receiver lateraled the pass back to another receiver and he ran it in to the endzone. The infamous 'hook-and-ladder' play, perfectly executed. This teid the game and sent it to overtime.

On Oklahoma's first possession in overtime, Adrian Peterson had his best run of the night and scored on the first play. Boises State strggled a little bit but was on about the five yard line for fourth and two. They could have had first and goal inside the five but they sent their quarterback in motion and thier backup runningback threw a touchdown pass to the tight end. They could have just kicked the PAT to send the game to double overtime but instead they went for two. They ran a 'statue of liberty' play perfectly and then ran the ball into the end zone to win it. What an amazing game.

Here is a video of the end-of-the-game highlights from YoutTube (I don't like the song either - I think that it is Jay-Z though):

Happy New Year!

Wow! 2007 is already here. That's great and all but it just means that I'm that much closer to having to go back to school. That certainly doesn't sound fun. Alison and I rung in the new year by celebrating at Spencer and Korrin's (Alison's brother). They have had us over for New Year's the last couple of years. It's always fun to spend time playing games and talking about who would die this next year (Interesting fact: last year Korrin predicted Gerald Ford would die and lo and behold he did, just in the nick of time). Alison and I are both leaning towards Dick Clark as one of the next to go. I'm afraid I'm not too knowledgeable of the elderly famous people. Anybody have any thoughts on who's the next to go?