May 26 2010

The Left Lane is for Passing Only!

The Camo
After recently completing a 7-day 4,000+ mile road-trip to Killeen, TX  (way-points included such tourist hotspots as Lordsburg, NM, Grants, NM and Kayneta, AZ)  I have the following unalienable observation I would like to share:

Driver’s Education in the state of California is not effective:  This is not new news to me.   I routinely traverse Los Angeles-area freeways (I have invented many colorful and profane colloquialisms that unfortunately cannot be published here to describe local driving habits) but even rolling deep through other states the odds were high that whenever I saw some unbelievable act of stupidity on the highway, said vehicle wore a CA plate.  As a result, I am going to impose some new rules for all of us…

May 23 2010

Nike World Cup Ad: Write the Future

Matt Andrus

I love the World Cup. Although I’m a big baseball and football fan, nothing quite compares to the penultimate event in international soccer. Every four years, the World Cup takes center stage. Wars pause and rivals join together to support their homeland. To wax poetic, the World Cup exhibits the beauty of humanity.

And as if I needed any extra help in getting pumped for the June 11th start, Nike rolled out their new World Cup advertisement yesterday during the UEFA Champions League Final between Bayern Munich and Inter Milan (Inter won 2-0). I don’t typically fawn over ads, but they’ve pulled out all the stops for this 3-minute masterpiece that features: Ivory Coast’s Didier Drogba, Italy’s Fabio Cannivaro, England’s Wayne Rooney, U.S.’s Landon Donovan, Brazil’s Ronaldinho (sorry dude…I’m shocked Dunga didn’t include him on the 23-man roster), and every lady’s favoritePortugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo.

Check out the ad right here and let me know what you think:

- Matt

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May 13 2010

Eric Byrnes Officially Retires

Matt Andrus

This morning I read that Eric Byrnes has officially retired.  I was going to ask him to join my softball team, Alan’s WolfPAC (an homage to The Hangover’s gregarious, lovable oaf), but as it turns out, his Dutch Goose team already plays on Wednesday nights.  Oh well, there’s always next season.  Here are some pics and a video of his first softball home run:

-Matt

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May 10 2010

Infrastructure and Institutions

Matt Andrus

While reading the introduction of Seth Jones‘ non-fiction In the Graveyard of Empires: America’s War in Afghanistan, I came across an interesting quote on infrastructure and institutions from Nobel-prize winning economist Amartya Sen, which I’d like to share:

“Political freedoms (in the form of free speech and elections) help to promote economic security. Social opportunities (in the form of education and health facilities) facilitate economic participation. Economic facilities (in the form of opportunities for participation in trade and production) can help to generate personal abundance as well as public resources for social facilities.”

You might find this either basic or esoteric, but it certainly deserves some thought. Although I think he was actually discussing nation-building, if there is a formula for what makes America such a prosporous nation, Sen’s idea has provided the most accurate and concise I’ve ever seen.

- Matt

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May 6 2010

What a difference a day/year makes…

The Camo

Those of you who have been following The National Hustle for the long haul (figuratively speaking) have probably noticed that Matt and I have been a little stingy with new posts.  As it is clear that we had not been spending much time informing our readers of current events (or anything for that matter) you are probably wondering what we have been up to.  Since you ask, I have been… Continue reading