St. Andrew's Day 2009

St. Andrew's Day is the feast day of Saint Andrew. It is celebrated on 30 November.

Saint Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland, and St. Andrew's Day is Scotland's official national day. In 2006, the Scottish Parliament designated St. Andrew's Day as an official bank holiday.

Although most commonly associated with Scotland, Saint Andrew is also the patron saint of Greece, Romania, Russia and the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.

In Germany, the feast day is celebrated as Andreasnacht ("St. Andrew's Night"), in Austria with the custom of Andreasgebet ("St. Andrew's Prayer"), and in Poland as Andrzejki ("Andrews").

Check out the article at Wikiedia.

It would really be nice to be able to make the trip over there to celebrate one of these years!

Check out today's Google art:

Nike Reveals Pro Combat LSU Uniforms!

BATON ROUGE -- The LSU football team will have a new look when they take the field on Saturday against Arkansas as the Tigers will be wearing the Nike Pro Combat uniform for the season-finale.

LSU, along with Nike, unveiled the uniform at a pep rally on campus on Monday afternoon. Nike worked closely with coaches and administrators at LSU and took great care to bring inspiration to the Nike Pro Combat uniforms that the Tigers will wear on Saturday. The uniform will be worn only for this week’s game against Arkansas.

The Tigers will sport a new look from head to toe on Saturday as the Tigers will be outfitted with a new look in everything from the helmet, to cleats, to the gloves. The jersey is white with purple numbers and gold accents, while the pants are white with a purple “L” on the hip along with a purple and gold stripe down each side of the leg.

The Tigers will wear the Nike Zoom Vapor Fly cleats, which are white and gold and feature a purple Nike Swoosh. The bottom of the cleats are gold in color as well. The Tiger receivers will be outfitted with the Nike Vapor Trail gloves, which display the eye of the tiger on the palm of each glove.

“This is a great uniform, both from the look as well as how lightweight it is,” senior running back Charles Scott said. “I think the team is going to like wearing these new uniforms for our final home game of the season. I wish I could be out there with them in this uniform.”

Scott, along with Richard Murphy, modeled the uniforms at the unveiling on Monday. Both players are injured and will not play against Arkansas.

Head coach Les Miles showed the team the uniform for the first time on Monday afternoon in a team meeting.

LSU joins 10 other schools from across the country to take part in this venture with Nike. Other schools include: Clemson, Florida, Florida State, Miami, Virginia Tech, Missouri, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Texas and TCU.

Nike designed the Nike Pro Combat uniform to address the evolution of the game: Today’s players are stronger and faster and the collisions are more violent and explosive than ever before.

Superior Lightweight Innovation

The Nike Pro Combat uniform is 37 percent lighter than current designs (23.7 ounces vs. 37.4 ounces). Nike utilized a four-way stretch twill that does not hold sweat or water and as a result, the new uniforms are 46 percent lighter than the current designs when wet. Overall, the Nike Pro Combat uniform, when wet, is still lighter than the teams’ current designs when completely dry.

Designed from the inside out, the Nike Pro Combat uniform begins with the Nike Pro Combat padded base layer. Strategically placed padding zones in the Nike Pro Combat Deflex shorts cover the thighs, hips and tailbone. The padding zones are composed of dual-density foam cells that absorb, deflect and disperse the impact of on-field collisions. A foam grid intersects the cells to maximize impact absorption and increase flexibility. A hard plastic shield covers the thigh padding where impact frequently occurs.

The Nike Pro Combat Deflex shorts are made with Nike Dri-FIT technical fabric to provide superior moisture wicking, helping to keep players dry and cool.

With the padding incorporated into the base layer, players gain greater mobility over traditional padding and the outer uniform becomes a lightweight, breathable shell with a sleek, explosive look.

“Players need their uniforms to be as light as possible so they can play the game at top speed,” said Kris Aman, Global VP and General Manager for Nike Athletic Training, which includes football. “The Nike Pro Combat uniform is a modern system of dress that is dramatically lighter while providing durability and protection.”

Nike scrutinized every detail of the Nike Pro Combat uniform with the goal of shedding as much weight as possible, right down to D-ring on the belt. Nike opted for a titanium D-ring, which is extremely durable and 66 percent lighter than the standard steel belt enclosure.

Engineered high-tenacity yarn inspired by Nike Flywire is incorporated into the high-impact shoulder area. The belt loops have been padded to provide added protection to the hip area without the bulk of traditional hip pads.

The new uniforms also feature improved ventilation and breathability. Side ribbed piping on the uniform pant has been replaced with sublimated Nike Dri-FIT mesh, which not only shaves ounces off of the pant weight but also aids evaporation in key areas. Nike Dri-FIT mesh wraps behind the knees, a key cooling zone on the body. By adding innovative evaporation and cooling zones, the player’s body expends less energy regulating body temperature, leaving more energy for the game.

Completing this true system of dress for football is the new Nike Zoom Vapor Fly cleat, which Nike customized for each team featuring their team colors, team logo and chrome-plated outsole. This incredibly lightweight cleat at just 10 ounces is available in 2010. It features Zoom Air cushioning in the heel and Flywire engineering in the medial and lateral quarter panels.

Check out the article at LSU Sports.

Cool uniforms!!! Now, time for the cochon de lait to begin!

Geaux Tigers!!!

Happy Thanksgiving 2009

Thanksgiving Day in America is a time to offer thanks, of family gatherings and holiday meals. A time of turkeys, stuffing, and pumpkin pie. A time for Indian corn, holiday parades and giant balloons.

So here for your entertainment are some fun Holiday things for you and your family. We've got stories of the Pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving, turkeys to take home, holiday pictures for the kids to print and color, tasty holiday recipes and e-greeting cards to send your friends and family. We hope you find something you like!

Thanksgiving is celebrated on the 4th Thursday of November, which this year (2009) is November 26th.

Check out the Thanksgiving page at Holidays.net.

Between all of the good food, good times, football games and afternoon naps... be sure to take a moment to give thanks!

Check out today's Google art:

Veterans Day 2009

For 90 years, the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month has been a remembrance of those who served America in time of war.

But the Nov. 11 Veterans Day commemoration began as a day to celebrate peace — the silencing of the guns of World War I, "The Great War," which claimed the lives of more than 15 million soldiers and civilians.

On that day in 1918, at the 11th hour, Germany signed an armistice with the Allied Powers — including the U.S., France, Britain, Japan and Italy — ending major hostilities in a war that nearly wiped out a generation of men.

A full peace was concluded the next year in France at the Palace of Versailles, and the first Armistice Day was proclaimed and celebrated by President Woodrow Wilson on the anniversary of the ceasefire: Nov. 11, 1919.

It was fully established by Congress as a legal holiday in 1938.

But Armistice Day honored veterans of only World War I, essentially ignoring millions of soldiers who served in peacetime or fought in World War II, Korea and other engagements.

So in 1954 Congress extended the holiday to honor all vets, giving it the name Veterans Day, which it has kept for 55 years.

Today, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are some 23.2 million veterans in the United States. That includes 2.6 million who served during World War II, 2.8 million who served in the Korean War, 7.8 million in the Vietnam War, 5.2 million in the Gulf War and about 1.7 million who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Nearly 120,000 are still stationed in Iraq, and about 68,000 will be deployed in Afghanistan by the end of the year, according to the Census.

Just one American veteran who served in World War I is still alive: 108-year-old Frank Buckles, who drove ambulances in England and France after enlisting at the age of 16. Buckles also fought in World War II and was taken prisoner by the Japanese.

Check out the article at Fox News.

Always honor our veterans... they have fought for our freedom and deserve our respect at all times!

For some more very interesting history and personal accounts of WWII, I highly recommend Band of Brothers, Pegasus Bridge, D-Day June 6, 1944, and Citizen Soldiers by Stephen Ambrose

Be sure to check out the Patriotic Fact Sheet at the Department of Veteran Affairs website.

Check out today's Google art:

Saban Bowl III

Around the Bowl and Down the Hole... Roll Tide Roll!

High on the list of strange but true facts about the LSU-Alabama series through the years, and especially this decade, is how little home-field advantage has meant.

Since 1970, the road team in this game is 27-11-1. The road team won every game between 1981-89 except 1985 when the Tigers and Tide fought to a 14-14 deadlock in Baton Rouge.

Since 1982, LSU is 10-3 against Alabama in either Birmingham or Tuscaloosa, with four wins in a row this decade in at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

LSU coach Les Miles has been the architect of the last two wins in Tuscaloosa — a 16-13 overtime thriller when the teams last met when both were ranked in the top 10 in 2005 and 41-34 in 2007 when the Tigers rallied with a pair of touchdowns in the game’s final 2:49.

“I think we’ve had good teams,” Miles said about the four-game wining streak at Bryant-Denny. “I think those guys know how to play on the road, play with poise, play with the confidence that they were going to be able to get it done and played well.”

As has Alabama. Two years ago the Crimson Tide was ranked No. 17 and on a three-game winning streak when LSU got to town.

The Tigers struggled when quarterback Matt Flynn got picked off three times in the first half, helping Alabama take a 27-17 lead late in the third quarter.

“I felt our team was very confident going into that game,” Miles said.

“I felt like certainly we recognized that was a great team we were playing. Every time we play Alabama — whether it’s on the road or at home — we recognize it’s going to be a very competitive game and matching two of the finest collegiate programs in college football.”

Alabama leads the series 44-23-5 and has a slim 9-8 edge in games played in Tuscaloosa. During Paul “Bear” Bryant’s tenure at Alabama, most games between the Tigers and Tide were played in Birmingham.

LSU and Alabama have also played occasional games in Mobile and Montgomery.

Check out the article at The Advocate.

Yeah, I know... the Saban vs. LSU hype is starting to die down a little now that it's been three years. But I don't care! To me, this game is Saban Bowl III... and it's going to be a tough one! If the Tigers can pull out a W tomorrow, they can go all the way!!!

Geaux Tigers!!!

USS New York

NEW YORK  —  The new Navy assault ship USS New York, built with World Trade Center steel, arrived in its namesake city Monday with a 21-gun salute near the site of the 2001 terrorist attack.

First responders, families of Sept. 11 victims and the public gathered Monday at a waterfront viewing area, where they could see the crew standing at attention along the deck of the battleship gray vessel.

The big ship paused. Then the shots were fired, with a cracking sound, in three bursts.

The bow of the $1 billion ship, built in Louisiana, contains about 7.5 tons of steel from the fallen towers.

"It's a transformation ... from something really twisted and ugly," said Rosaleen Tallon, who lost her firefighter brother, Sean, on 9/11. "I'm proud that our military is using that steel."

Tallon said her brother, who was also was a Marine, also would have been proud.

JoAnn Atlas, of Howells, N.Y., who lost her husband, fire Lt. Gregg Atlas, draped a flag-themed banner along the fence. The names of emergency workers who died were written on the red stripes.

"We have to remember. It's a way to honor them," she said.

Of the 361 sailors serving aboard the ship, around 13 percent are from New York state, which is higher than would normally be the case, Murphy said. There were many requests from Navy personnel to serve on the ship, which will carry some 250 Marines.

After the ground zero stop, the ship — ecorted by about two dozen tugboats and other vessels — headed up the Hudson River toward the George Washington Bridge. After a U-turn there, it was to head south to Pier 88. An official commissioning ceremony is scheduled for Saturday.

The New York will remain in the city through Veteran's Day and then head to Norfolk, Va., for about a year of crew training and exercises, Murphy said.

The ship is 684 feet long and can carry as many as 800 Marines. Its flight deck that can handle helicopters and the MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft.

It was scheduled to be built before the terrorist attacks. About a year later, the announcement came that the ship would bear the name New York to honor the city, state, and those who died.

It's the latest in a line of Navy ships to bear that name. The others included a Spanish-American War-era cruiser, a battleship that served in World Wars I and II and a nuclear submarine retired from the fleet in 1997.

The ship is technically known as a San Antonio-class amphibious dock vessel. Four vessels in that class are in service, the USS San Antonio, USS New Orleans, USS Mesa Verde and USS Green Bay. Four others are being built. Of those, two also have been named in connection with the Sept. 11 attacks.

The USS Arlington was named to honor the attack on the Pentagon. The USS Somerset was named after the county in Pennsylvania where United Airlines flight 93 crashed.

Check out the article at Fox News.

What an awesome ship... and an awesome tribute to those who perished in the terrorist attack. That steel will be put to good use fighting terror around the globe!

Check out these USS New York Links:

• USS New York website
• USS New York wiki
• USS New York photo gallery