Thursday, January 31, 2013

Let's Go Ravens


The Baltimore Ravens are heading to the big game Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers.  One obstacle the Ravens faced was San Francisco's read-option offense.  The Ravens believe they have found a way to conquer this, which was a big obstacle for them in the chase for the trophy.  Keep reading to learn more about what the Ravens are doing to bring home a trophy to Maryland.

The success of the read-option this season has sparked heated debate over whether it's a passing fad or something that's here to stay.

The Baltimore Ravens are charged with finding ways to combat 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick whenever he lines up in the pistol formation and runs the read-option Sunday in the Super Bowl.

Ravens middle linebacker Ray Lewis said the 49ers succeed so often using the read-option because defenses aren't well-prepared.

"They're doing a good job with it," Lewis said of the 49ers. "At the same time, when you do watch the film, a lot of people who played against them just never communicated at all.

"That's one of the advantages of what we have as a defense. We do a job of communicating very well, whether you have the dive, whether you have the quarterback, how are you going to play this, how are you going to play that?"

Lewis said something glaring stands out when he breaks down tape of how other defenses play the read-option.

"You can tell that a lot of people playing against the read-option just played as individuals," Lewis said. "It's really hard to play that type of package as individuals. You have to play it as a group.

"If you (want) to try to slow it down, that's the only way to slow it down is to really play it as a group and make sure before the snap that everyone is on the same page."

Ravens coach John Harbaugh said he is a big fan of the pistol formation first

Advertisement
implemented by Chris Ault, Kaepernick's college coach at Nevada.

"The beauty of it is, and part of the genius of it is, it's such a simple idea," Harbaugh said. "It goes back to Nevada and coach Ault out there. You can run your whole offense out of it. You're not limited to an option type of attack out of it. It's just a very versatile kind of offense."
Lewis sees plenty of similarities between the way he plays and the way 49ers inside linebacker Patrick Willis plays.

He also draws a comparison to the 49ers and some of the great Ravens defenses of the past 15 years or so.

"You see the youth of what we were like when we were younger," Lewis said of the 49ers. "They're just running around and they're making a lot of plays. They have a lot of young guys who just love playing the game.

"You can tell that they really enjoy playing, not just the game, but playing with each other. And that's one of the keys to playing great defense is just having that defensive chemistry."



For more information see the Mercury News.


Thursday, January 24, 2013

Quick Healthy Recipe for Dinner

Check out this great healthy recipe!.  It is delicious and only takes about 25 minutes to make total.  This will be a great dinner for you and your roommates after a long day of classes.

Lemon Chicken

Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray


Prep Time:10 min


Inactive Prep Time: -- Cook Time:15 min Level:Easy Serves:4 servings

 

Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds chicken breast or chicken tenders, cut into chunks
1/4 cup all-purpose unbleached flour
Coarse salt
2 tablespoons wok or vegetable oil, 2 turns of the pan (preferred brand: House of Tsang)
1 tablespoon (a splash) white or rice wine vinegar
1/2 cup chicken broth or stock
8 ounces (1 cup) prepared lemon curd
1/4 cup hot water
1 lemon, zested
2 scallions, thinly sliced or 20 blades fresh chives, finely chopped
Directions


Coat the chunked chicken lightly in flour, seasoned with a little salt. Heat a large skillet or a wok-shaped nonstick pan over high heat. Stir fry chicken until golden, 3 or 4 minutes. Remove chicken from the pan and return pan to heat. Reduce heat to medium.


Add a splash of vinegar to the pan and let it evaporate. Add stock or broth to the pan and scrape up any drippings with a whisk. Thin curd by stirring in a little hot water. Add curd to broth and whisk to combine. Add chicken back to the pan and simmer for 1 to 2 minutes to thicken sauce and finish cooking chicken pieces through. Remove the pan from heat, add the scallions or chives and zest, and toss chicken pieces well to combine zest and scallions or chives evenly throughout the sauce. Serve with Special Rice, recipe follows.


Cook's Notes: Wok oil infused with ginger and garlic is usually available on the International Foods aisle in many markets.


Chicken broths and stocks are available in resealable paper containers, making storage of remaining product easy and on hand in the refrigerator; they are found in the soup aisle.


Lemon curd is a sweet lemon spread available in most markets. It is on the jam/jelly aisle.


SERVES 4
Calories: 400
Total Fat: 9 grams
Saturated Fat: 1 gram
Protein: 40 grams
Total carbohydrates: 35 grams
Sugar: 16 grams
Fiber 0.5 grams
Cholesterol: 99 milligrams
Sodium: 349 milligrams 

For more information see The Food Network.

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Univerity of Maryland Alumni in Hollywood

Life of Pi the Movie
Check out this great story about University of Maryland Alumni Lee Berger from the Class of 1976.  Berger is president of Rhythm and Hues Studios that has created everything from the Chipmunks to Narnia. 

You may not know Lee Berger by name, but you may have seen the work of his production teams in many of 2012’s biggest movies: “Django Unchained,” “The Hunger Games,” “Life of Pi” and “Snow White and the Huntsman.”

Berger ’76 is president of the film division of Rhythm & Hues Studios, a Los Angeles-based company that does everything from animating the Chipmunks to creating fantastic worlds (“The Chronicles of Narnia”).

“This is a very competitive industry,” says Berger. “We don’t normally get to pick and choose, and we’re lucky that Ang Lee chose us (for ‘Life of Pi’).”

“Life of Pi” snagged 11 Academy Award nominations last week, including Best Picture, with “Django” receiving five and “Snow White” getting two. Winners will be announced Feb. 24.

Berger’s main role at Rhythm & Hues, where he’s been since 1999, is to nurture working relationships with movie studios. He’s also the chief executive officer of East Grand Films, an investment fund created by the studio to help finance and produce Hollywood feature films for the global market.

His career clearly pulls from his days as a Maryland radio, television and film student and includes stints as a cameraman, grip, film supervisor and director.

“I took at least 10 courses with Robert Kolker. He had a really big influence on me,” he says. “I still have a relationship with him 40 years later. It’s really about who your teachers are.”

Such a varied career prepared him for working with the creators of such disparate movies as those nominated. “Although ‘Django Unchained’ is not considered a visual effects movie, we wanted to work with Quentin Tarantino, so we were excited by the opportunity to contribute to the movie and build that relationship at the same time.”

Berger’s expertise is in digital filmmaking, so it makes sense that his favorite shot in “Pi,” whose Oscar nominations include Best Visual Effects, reflects that background.

Pi tosses O.J. the orangutan a life jacket in one of the many special effects that meld real and computer-generated images. The animal, for all of its lifelike detail and movements, is just pixels and code. The jacket was real until it got to O.J.’s hands.

“Then we took it over,” says Berger. “Our job is to make sure that the work is so seamless that it doesn’t take you out of the movie.” 


For more information see the University of Maryland.

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Helpful Calendar Apps for Your New Semester

 It is the New Year, which means it is time to get organized.  Calendar Apps on your smart phone can be a great organizational tool to keep your schedule handy and updated.  There are many apps to choose from, but these are some of the best apps on the market listed for all types of phones.  Make sure to share this article with your friends and family that want to get organized for their work or school in the new year.

My personal assistant (aka my smartphone) keeps me informed and organized. But while the calendar utility that comes standard is functional, I've discovered there is a myriad of more versatile and powerful calendar apps well beyond any phone's stock app. With so many to choose from, I've narrowed it down to some of the best for Android, iOS, and Windows Phone 8.
iOS2013-01-09 - Calendar Apps - iOS.jpg
Left: Week Calendar - Right: 2do: Tasks

Week Calendar
If you're the type to see your calendar through the weeks more than anything than I highly advise Week Cal. It's a colorful, concise and simple interface that makes it easy to see what the week has in store for you. Events can be color coded based on criteria that you set which results in a more real experience that you won't have to spend too much time on. Week Cal supports iCloud, Google, Outlook and Exchange calendars. $2
2do: Tasks
When you need your calendar to be more than just a list of events, 2do: Tasks is also a versatile taskmaster. This app is designed like a personal planner that not only allows you to add events to your calendar but integrates your impending tasks to it as well so deadlines can't possibly sneak up on you. If you have an iPad this app is a two for one syncing seamlessly across devices. $10 - Also available for Android

Runner Up: Fantastical
Quick mention for Fantastical, a quirky calendar app that creates events based on a small blurb. For example Lunch, Saturday at 2pm with Susan creates an event for the nearest Saturday for 2pm with the person and reason in the title. It's a clever little app that I find worth a mention. $4

Android2013-01-09 - Calendar Apps - Android.jpg
Left: Jorte - Right: Business Calendar

Jorte
A great app for a great price, Jorte is a personal calendar that can look any way you want and accepts your events with as much detail as you could possibly want. Jorte caters more to the individual and doesn't look as daunting or sterile as common calendar apps usually do. It's quirky, fun and advisable for people who just want to organise their lives. Can't go wrong for that price either. Free
Business Calendar
For the professional Android user, Business Calendar is a good choice. I personally love the grandeur widget that displays either a daily, weekly or monthly calendar on a home screen page, making it always accessible. Other than the standard event management features what does Business Calendar offer? More frequent events can be added with ease, events can be dragged and dropped and the multiple themes make this an app that pays for itself rather quickly. $5

Windows Phone2013-01-09 - Calendar Apps - WP.jpg
Left: Calendar[+] - Right: Beautiful Calendar

Calendar[+]
Calendar[+] is THE calendar app for your Windows Phone. It's versatile, fast, easy to add events, has room for multiple accounts and is well rounded. Events can be pinned to the home screen as a constant reminder or filter certain appointments off the calendar. Best of all, it doesn't cost a penny. 


Free Beautiful Calendar
For a more robust all in one calendar, Beautiful Calendar offers event creation and management as well as notes and taskmaster functionality. When it comes to the calendar it certainly lives up to the name with a nice, simple color scheme including special ones for birthdays, anniversaries and holidays. Another worthwhile option in Windows Phone growing app marketplace. Free


For more info see Apartment Therapy.

Twitter Delicious Facebook Digg Stumbleupon Favorites More