Good Conversations

Situation in the Gulf

2010-06-19T09:26:00.002-04:00

I have waited quite some time to comment on the situation in the Gulf. I wanted to develop a solid opinion on what is going on. At first it was annoyance with oil drilling in general then it was some sort of "who's fault is this" and then it went to panic and how do we stop this mess. That was the way I processed this incident. I think the media processed it in much the same way but on more regular intervals and putting emphasis on the blame as that sells. Ultimately, I think the situation in the gulf really shows the problem with our country right now. It also shows the impact the media has on who ultimately takes the heat for an incident like this. I've seen and heard many friends rip into BP for their part and demand a ban on BP gasoline from anyone who would listen.

Now for my stance which will certainly bring a few boos from the onlookers. I don't think it's entirely BPs fault. Nor do I think a ban on BP gas stations makes a ton of sense. I think they were criminal in their lazy procedures and attempts and clean up.

The bigger question to me is this. Why in the world would we allow any oil company to drill to a depth that we could not control safely. This has nothing to do with BP this is a comment on government and regulation. Here is my question to anyone reading to hopefully portray my stance. What if we had three oil rigs from three different companies that have a similar incident in along our coast at the same time? Would we be entering facebook comments to say ban the three companies? Possibly, but more importantly why did our government and the regulators and inspectors allow this to happen at all? Without the understanding of how to prevent leaks of this proportion beforehand what made us think this disaster wouldn't happen in the first place. In fact it is probably inevitable and most likely will happen again until we can figure out a prevention plan.

To think that our current and past president have no obligation to monitor such potential disasters is absurd. To think that they shouldn't have stepped in with the U.S. government is insane. The fact that the media is starting to get bored with the fact that the economy and wildlife are decimated in the region and that it's somehow more interesting to see the head of BP sweat is well our current biased media that we have come to know and not trust at all.

Why we have accepted the idea that because they failed for a week or two to plug a leak and think it's okay to wait MONTHS for relief wells is beyond me. They should be trying new and old techniques daily until the thing gets plugged. I'm pretty sure anything is better than the loads of nothing they are doing right now. We are currently at 90-151 million gallons.

When this mess started happening I was at the FDA with an M.D. and I asked him what can we do to stop a mess like this. This M.D. who likes to dabble in physics in his free time simply said well a nuclear device is the only thing I could think of quickly. I looked at him and laughed and said REALLY, and he just said well you'd melt the opening and would be sure of a closure and would have to deal with cleanup for a few years. I thought to myself at the time that's nuts. Currently the estimates of cleanup are around 30 years until recovery and growing. Now i'm starting to think that idea doesn't seem so wild considering the lack of concern these days to plug the leak and the larger concern to make sure someone burns at the stake for this prior to plugging the leak.

So back to my initial point. This is modern day U.S.A., rule #1 if the government has the media in it's pocket then the media will attempt to put the blame on a rich non-government official. If the media hates the government, then it's the presidents fault. Rule #2, if the population does not seem to relate to the media's view, then we will show sad pictures of animals next to the headlines to support the stance of the media to get public outcry. Rule #3 make sure someone pays for this horrible deed......so on and so on rule #(N) where N is some number unknown to anyone but certainly large in value Fix the problem.

It's frustrating at the thought process here. If the government and the company both think in terms of the casual onlooker then we are in bad shape. Their stance should have always been cleanup and fix and should always be that way. The blame and axe can come after the fix and during the cleanup since everybody is to blame.

Finally, since this has been a lengthy blog, where is the international community and the U.N.? I mean I am an American and the last thing I would want is some sort of penalty or sanction against my country but why should the international community sit back and allow any single country to kick out so much pollution in a short matter of time? The U.S. specifically should be penalized for such a large scale environmental mishap. To think that other neighboring countries will not feel the effects of this would be surprising.

Well i'm sure i'll be back once the well has leaked itself empty or in a month or two when the relief wells are dug and they go back to trying to cap this smaller leak.

Reflection on Understanding

2010-05-23T12:18:00.002-04:00

Well, coming down with one heck of a nasty cold/sinus infection has driven me to blog. That's okay because i've had a lot on my mind in the last month so it's good to have a forum to let it out.

I will just put down some things that I have learned or have been thinking about recently.

I'll start off with a general statement of truth.

One of the most important things to never lose track of, is that no matter what happens in life, it is absolutely critical to move forward.

This of course is applicable to learning of any kind, self growth, exploration, and really anything in life including love and the pursuit of happiness. It's the stagnant times in life that cause people to dwell too deeply on reflection. Reflection and remembrance are important for growth as well but to proceed without moving forward means risking bitterness, anger, and/or resentment instead of innovation, release, and forgiveness.

I have always realized this but growing our minds via culture is absolutely crucial and judgment of those that are unfamiliar is the practice of the naive and uneducated. It amounts to fear of the unknown and the unwillingness to grow and learn.

You can never go wrong if you follow what you know to be right. The immediate results may not be what you want but given time, the consistent practice of what is right will provide you with what you need.

When it comes to relationships, i'm convinced that unless a person can let go of past negativity and learn while moving forward. That person will never be successful with moving forward and often are doomed to repeat the lessons that they did not learn until either they understand, learn, and progress or come to stopping point.

Often, if situations do not feel correct, they are often not and it's best to attempt to resolve them or move on.

Finally, sometimes as with colds, in life you can prepare and do everything in your power to avoid those rough patches but generally tough/challenging times come anyway and they do not go until they have run their course. Just realize that these challenges are a part of life. You prepare to the best of your ability and then just settle in. Sometimes that by having a longer cold that has to run it's course we are forced to relax and focus on bettering ourselves.

Arts Scramble and Explosion

2010-04-25T09:32:00.006-04:00

It must be that time of the year again. The weather starts to warm up and suddenly the social calendars in the independent weekly and all similar papers across the nation expand in dramatic fashion.

I personally love it and often find myself getting sucked into it. I'll provide a few recent and near future examples of some things that I have either been to or plan on visiting. Just the tip of the iceberg really. There is so much more to come through summer and then a gradual fading in the fall to repeat the cyclic pattern. There is also so much more that I don't make it to. I know people that have gone to two or three different music festivals in the last week that clearly shows there are a ton of things out there to choose from.

Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival, Silk Hope, NC (near Pittsboro)

This festival ranges from Thursday 4/22 through Sunday 4/25. I went to see Rusted Root and Big Al and the Marching Rams. It's mostly a bluegrassy meets tribal meets jazzy type of thing. Definitely a love mother earth type of vibe and a few local vendors with self made art, pottery, candles, and various collectibles surround the grounds. Also some public awareness booths on conservation and various go green types of informational pamphlets. You can go to camp or to just visit for an evening. The camping seems to be like a great idea if you want to spend an entire weekend becoming completely immersed in the whole Shakori Vibe. If not then just pick a day/night and get a smaller taste of the festival.

I can personally say that I loved it. Of course I had some great company so I was probably destined to have a great time anyway. Rusted Root was incredible live and as darkness set in, the festival really came to life. Seriously, the experience was great. The festival provided a great sense of openness. I didn't feel like I was at just a concert. At this place people were just enjoying themselves and being content with the various music and art elements on display. Very laid back and all around a great time. I'll be back next year for sure.

(Found the above pic. Not Something I took. Really captures the nightly experience)

North Carolina Museum of Art - New Expansion of Art, Raleigh, NC

The NC Museum of art in Raleigh just expanded its collection to include a new 127,000 square foot building with plenty of amazing art. Everything from Rodin sculptures and sculpture gardens to modern and contemporary art exhibits all accentuated using natural light in a living building that adjusts to provide the appropriate lighting. This is definitely a must see for anyone that likes any kind of art at all. I could and probably should have written an entire blog around my short but great trip to the museum on opening weekend.

Some art that stood out for me is as follows:
Doors of Jerusalem parts I, II, & III by Jaume Plensa

Please take the link above to read more but I pulled an excerpt from it that identifies the sculpture and what is going on in the artists mind.

"The sculptural surface is “tattooed” with words—or as Plensa describes them
“an extension of our bodies, [intended] to expand our thoughts and ideas to the external world.” Plensa’s chosen text is an excerpt from the Old Testament Song of Solomon in which a woman runs the walls of Jerusalem tirelessly searching for her beloved. She dreams and imagines love as a door in the wall. The artist muses that “[p]erhaps this wall is another metaphor for the body and the doors another metaphor for the soul. Dream and desire melted in the prison of the heart.”

Pretty incredible and this is just the entrance!

Also my favorites(based on my quick scramble) include the Rodin sculptures, what looks to be a rock structure pulled from the earth but is in fact created from smaller wood blocks (pictured below), the picasso located in the modern art section, and the video capture of a computerized tree over a year time span fast forwarding on the wall near the gift shop.

As I can tend to get carried away, I will just list a few more places I will be and I will just need to blog about those once they pass.

Jazz Festival, New Orleans, LA
I'm not sure how much I will be able to take advantage of this. I will be down in New Orleans at a conference which tend to take up almost my entire time available in either preparation or attendance to various events. While I am there, the Jazz festival will be occurring so here's hoping that I can get out one evening and take advantage of being in the birthplace where much of the music we listen to today originates whether we all realize it or not.

Wicked, Durham Performing Arts Center (DPAC), Durham, NC

What can I say, I have been excited about this for quite some time. Again, will have great company and great seats. Lots of good reviews from others that have seen this and I simply can't wait. I'll be going on May 1 immediately after returning from New Orleans.

American Dance Festival (ADF), Durham, NC

Although this isn't happening until June and July, it's some of the best dance in the nation and it happens in Durham! Tickets go on sale in May. Definitely worth getting this on the calendar.

Well, more to come. Feel free to shoot me some great concerts and venues and i'll see if I can visit and blog them as well.

Darn you I-PRODUCTS!!!!

2010-04-11T13:20:00.004-04:00

I have always rebelled against main stream i-product purchases. I just never understood it. I-phone, I-pad, I-pod,.....I-soldout. It's true, I was tired of being the only person on trips or here there and wherever without some tunes in my ear.

I found a site that was selling pretty much all of the ipod products from 2-15 bucks with exception of the IPAD which was closer to 100 but still much cheaper than anywhere else. So I thought I would move past using the radio and being void of music at work and when I exercise to join everyone else that sold out for I-products. My after thoughts.....why did I sell out and what happened to Apple people?

I mean Apple people are supposed to be the artsy independent types that don't sell out for the next popular thing. Instead apple actually managed to get that type of personality to follow a main stream and become canned products like the rest of us. Cattle in a cattle line waiting for the next I-best thing. Notice that I associate myself with the people that traditionally sell out. I like gadgets. I can admit it. It's just that when gadgets make us all...well....dumber. When we have items that we no longer understand how they work and just assume they should, then I get a little concerned that we are being force fed stuff we don't need. Thus the reason why I will never buy a MAC/Apple computer.

Take the I-PAD for example. What's the hype about? I mean it really doesn't do anything. It is a glorified netbook. If you are even looking at the I-pad then you probably already have a phone that is capable of 90% of the I-pads abilities. You pay monthly for that, why pay monthly to have a kindle which is cheaper and has no monthly fee?

Why...well I know why. Americans have felt the need for two things.
1) The need for the latest and the greatest gadget. I mean don't we all start thinking around birthdays and christmas what the latest gadget is for some guy or gal in our lives? I'm pretty sure we all do.

2) The need to be different. The "Man" is out there and we don't want to succumb to being forced into anything. We want to be unique. All of us. So unique that we will all follow the other unique people into buying the same thing even if it's just a waste of money. Thus blindly doing what we didn't want to do in the first place. Oh that "man" is a tricky fella.

Ultimately, I think many of us don't have the cash or more likely the free time to go doing the things that we truly want to do like head to europe for months at a time. So we occupy our lives on a monthly level with gadgetry in a hope that somehow the next latest gadget will compensate and hold us over until we actually go out and accomplish that fantasy dream that we really wanted to do all along. Alas, big business figures us out and many will visit the ipod store this year instead of going traveling and a few unlucky folks will never accomplish doing their dreams but will probably obtain an entire room of I-products and 100's of dollars in monthly charges that we will continue to wonder what were we thinking. I-guess we weren't (thinking that is).

The Census

2010-03-21T20:24:00.000-04:00

I just filled out the Census. I don't know why I thought that it had some actual content to it. Maybe it is all of the advertisements stating that by filling out the Census our local areas are able to get more money and account for everyone. I don't really know what I expected but I can say what I received. A survey asking how many people live in my house. Oh and what race am I. Yep that's it. It cost billions of dollars for the government to send out a bunch of forms asking those questions. Yikes. What a waste. I did think about filling out a bunch of extra names just for kicks since there is no agreement that states I was honestly filling it out. Then I thought "oh well", checked my boxes and wondered (I didn't even get the 1 buck that other more relevant surveys give out....what a rip off). So here's hoping that filling out a form stating what they had to of already known to get it to me in the first place meant something.

Congrats Blue Devils One Down, One to Go

2010-03-14T21:59:00.003-04:00

Well what kind of fan would I be if I didn't at least mention that I was happy to see my favorite basketball team win. I mean if I don't blog about the college basketball season it will be all politics and random thoughts for the rest of the year and although that may be curiously entertaining, i'll feel that I have missed a window of opportunity. After all, my television stays either off or away from sports channels during the entirety of Baseball and Football season (snooze).

Of course, this also provides the chance to point out that the tar heels sucked in the tourney like they did during the year and send people to a great article mentioning this fact. Not to mention a great quote from Roy Williams stating that he can't survive another season like this. Could this mean that another bad season and Roy will leave. Duke and State (and Kansas?) fans could only hope.

In case you are reading this via facebook, check out
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/champweek2010/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=4987891

Sometimes the links don't transfer.

Back to Duke. In a sub-par ACC this year, Duke hasn't lost their competitive edge and to say that they were dominant would be an understatement. The only other team in the ACC worth mentioning that kept the same attitude was Maryland. The rest fought each other for mediocrity. As exciting as that is from the Duke fan side of me, that isn't much fun from the ACC fan side. I think that pretty much means that we should expect to get throttled in the NCAA tourney as a conference. Maybe I should stop getting off topic. Congrats to the Blue Devils, i'll say it because being in the triangle i'm one of the few that will. The Blue Devils aren't loved by most around here but the silent voices during basketball season (when people are usually going on and on) is pretty much the indication.

So what now, well if you've filled out your bracket already, you will see Duke (1 seed) in the south for the NCAA tourney. Looks fairly good for them if they play like they have been. A possible final four game against WVU and they might make it pretty far. I'm excited although I go into ACC mode now so i'll be going for all of the ACC teams. Good luck to them all and here's hoping that UNC doesn't get an NIT invite ;).

Cameron Crazies A Cut Above the Average Fan

2010-03-07T22:15:00.003-05:00

It's no secret that i'm a Duke fan when it comes to basketball. It's less these days about disliking UNC (shows that i'm not a true North Carolinian), but more about the energy that the fans have for their team. I mean even in the rough years Duke shows up to play. I think that's specifically why I couldn't ever be a UNC basketball fan. They only get excited when they are winning (or at least that's how it seems to me). Even when they are winning, if you have ever been to the dean dome, you will notice a crowd that forgets that they aren't in front of a television screen. It's a live game and unless someone is on a streak or dunking, the fans are sitting. Don't give me the whole "The fans are older, if there were more student seats then more people would be standing". That's simply not true. Upper level is all students and their ability to sit the majority of the game is just a much if not more than the older people with the padded seating down front. The truth is that the crazies have more energy to offer their team. At home the crazies show up to support their team. Their faces are painted even if they are losing. It's exciting. So let's get to the real reason for the post.

I just read an article here about the Presbyterian student that was booted from the dean dome for shouting that a UNC player should miss the shot. Yeah we all knew about that but the crazies invited this guy to the front row of the home UNC/DUKE game in which Duke smashed the tarheels. How cool is that. You got booted for simply being a duke fan and so we invite you to the best seats in the house. Roy has taken gobs of heat for being a jerk. I'm surprised he didn't get a lawsuit for kicking out someone who had a ticket for their own seat for yelling miss it. Roy is a hot head. Everyone knows it and maybe to some extent that's why his talented team isn't rallying behind him now. His anger makes him a great coach but it also makes him an awful coach. This is the guy who dropped the F-bomb against Carolina shortly before coming there to coach lol. Classic. Well as a Duke B-ball fan it's a great year. UNC quite possibly may not even make it to the NIT barring a miracle ACC tourny run and Duke has potential to make it a few rounds in the NCAA tourny. I'm excited to see how it goes and so is the Presbyterian fella i'm sure after receiving some serious respect from Crazy nation.

Making me Chuckle for the Moment

2010-03-07T17:48:00.006-05:00

Everyone has something that they can watch/look at on a regular basis and get a continual chuckle out of. For me it's a random mix of things. I wanted to throw a couple in this blog to be sure that everyone who might swing by gets some exposure to these things as well. Share the humor I say. I also feel that I should mention that the videos are of an adult nature and in some cases (like with tosh) can be a little on the harsh side. I know sometimes people visit this site at their work or have kids so just putting it out there. Watch at your own risk. Also need to put the note out there that I get a ton of laughs from these but don't necessarily agree with all of the commentary (my own disclaimer in case this blog comes across slightly less intellectual and more trashy than most I put on here).

First up is a group that has been around for a while but is always something that makes me smile. Thanks to Paul and Sham for introducing me to these guys some time ago.

Sweet Sugar Lumps Yeah! Haha

Aww Yeah That's right baby......lol

The next guy is a must see for all adults! In my opinion, talk soup now called the soup has nothing on Tosh.0 and Daniel Tosh is freaking hilarious.

Here is some of his pure standup but check out tosh.0 on comedy central to see some of his clips. Really funny.

Enjoy the videos. Leave a comment if you have some suggestions.

Of Cars , Servicing, and Waiting

2010-03-05T09:15:00.003-05:00

Car dealerships aren't my favorite places. I must admit that ever since I purchased my Land Rover, I have been extremely content with my car but the servicing and most importantly the waiting is costing me hours off of my life. Since this is the only dealership that doesn't work weekends and the closest one is in Cary, I have to take off from work just to get my car serviced. So here I am with my day off.....waiting. I have two hours to wait and stare off at cars that I will not buy and most likely can't afford. So I thought what to do when you have free time and access to only limited sites on the computer......hmmmmm blog say what?

I think that if you had to pick the coolest retirement job it would have to be the parts guy at a car dealership. Not the guy working on the cars but the guy that sits on his butt comes out and pretends to remember you, is sure to point out something he likes about your car and then makes the hand off to some random mechanic that you have not met and goes back to sitting until he needs to repeat the process. What a sweet job. I'm sure for a few hours there, the guy has absolutely nothing so he just sits and chats with his buddies until the next job.

Now for a tangent (because it's my blog and I wanna that's why :) ). My previous favorite retirement job was a substitute teacher for a high school. Why because you can pretend to be completely clueless and just act old and just sit there all day. No expectation to actually teach anything and the kids don't pick on you if you are an old retiree that doesn't get their criticism's anyway. Here was my ideal scenario:
Teacher(Retired me): "Hey kids, here is a worksheet for you all to work on"
Kids: "But this is english class and these are math problems"
Teacher: "Hey the questions are in english just do the damn worksheet"
Kids: "Blah Blah mixed with Whine Whine"
Teacher: ......pretends to have a hearing aid malfunction and just zones out for the remainder of the time.

Digression:
So that WAS my ideal retired position but now it's part mechanic sit on my butt guy (for a nice dealership). That way I get payed nice and they have good healthy treats in the waiting room that I can snag and not just some random stuff that has been sitting around.

Okay, so the older people in the waiting room are giving me a strange look for enjoying my time on the computer while waiting it out. Guess I better go back to sitting and looking bored ;). See life is what you make it, blogging/web surfing turned this waiting room from 2 hours of hell to less than 1 hour of hell.

Bluegrass Spectacular

2010-03-04T23:42:00.002-05:00

Just made it back in from a good random mix of fun. Went with a buddy from work to see a Cane's game. Then afterwards stopped into six strings to catch a bluegrass band. Yes Yes Apples and Oranges but who cares we had a blast at both. I want to emphasize the bluegrass aspect since I enjoyed myself tremendously and added another appointment to the ol' calendar that everyone else should be sure to add as well.

The six string venue was pretty empty but had a ton of potential. Lots of room with a small bar and good sound. Is it worth more than the 10 dollar cover, probably not at this time and i'm not sure that it will ever reach higher than 20 dollar tickets but its cool and in the middle of nowhere (somewhere in cary). We saw Big Al Hall and the Marching Rams. What a delight. Not to mention their skill level does not match their experience. They called themselves "Green" and new but frankly they sounded as if they had been performing for ages. Really cool sound and a great show. Everyone should check these guys out and watch the drummer put together some unforgettable beats not to mention a dancing stand up bass. All led by a classic banjo/bluegrass singer. Very cool.

They made an announcement this evening that they will be at Shakori Hills which is a music festival that I have been wanting to go to for years but keep missing for some reason. Check out the links for both the dates and to see more about the artists. Even if this band isn't your thing i'm pretty sure you'll see a couple of big names on the list that will cause you to consider the trip to Silk Hope (20 min. southwest of Chapel Hill). I'll be there and if you leave me a comment, i'll be sure to meet you there.

Olympic Obsession

2010-03-03T20:04:00.002-05:00

After reading some recent posts, I notice there is a negative element. I usually try to counter those posts with some positives. That's tough to do without high motivation but normally I have a billion thoughts pulsing through my head about life in general at any given time. So let's pluck one out and drop it in the pensieve that is this blog (I apologize for throwing out a Harry Potter reference but it did seem appropriate).

As the heading would suggest, the Winter Games have come and gone and what started out with an awkward beginning (minus 1 flame) and probably an awkward ending (inflated mounties, beavers, and at least one moose) was filled with a ton of memorable moments. In all honestly during a snowed in weekend, I found myself watching Shaun White's project X or basically is single handed dream to advance the sport of snow boarding (and of course to get a gold at the olympics ;) ). It was really inspiring. One man changing so much in what is technically such a short amount of time. What was great is that he did. By the Olympics everyone was doing the tricks and Shaun White nailed a gold medal run on the first pass and bettered it just for kicks on the second. That will stay as one of my favorite memories of any olympics. Still if snowboarding isn't your thing, well there was so much to choose from and each ended with a cool story. Is it the U.S. "Night Train" a.k.a. bobsledding team that won gold or the dedicated speed skaters that won gold. Maybe it was the hockey game between the U.S. and Canada that seem fated from the beginning. What wasn't awesome about this olympics (besides the start and the finishing show)?

The fall-out is terrific. Reports of kids wanting to do something other than play video games for a change and do something athletic (although it does happen to coincide with end of winter and the cyclic de-fattening phase of the year). Still it clearly left an impact. I think that is what the Olympics is all about and it helps us view our neighbors to the north in a more human way then just catch phrases like "Eh!" and associated with things like healthcare issues. Now we realize they are human and not just them but any of the teams that you might have found yourself rooting for.

A Return to the Rent vs. Own Argument

2010-03-02T18:39:00.003-05:00

Just when I thought I may never return to this awesome blog, something keeps pulling me back. To the long time readers of this blog site (which most likely equals the number of writers on the blog), you will know that I have written about the renting vs. owning argument on many occasions. My only flaw was that I was never writing from the perspective of the owner (meaning I had never owned a home previously and was making an opinion only knowing the renting side and having read some articles). Well i'm back and guess what, I bought a house. Against my better judgment, I purchased a great home in Durham naively believing the hype of tax breaks and possible obama tax credits and how good of an investment it is given the housing market. My better judgment said that the facts tell me that purchasing a home in this current market is a bad investment and obama is burying this country in debt and bad ideas that the media spins as "innovative".

So since it is tax season, I should reap the bounties of my new home and all that comes with being a new home owner according to the majority of older home owners I talk to. So thanks to turbo tax and itemizing my deductions (and throwing in a few donated items to soften any potential blows), I was able to put my better judgment against the people throwing "buy" at me for all of the past years and here are the results.

My previous judgment was correct and if anyone contemplating buying a home right now should stumble upon this blog then I say stick to your guns and just say not just no but HELL NO! I ended up owing money on my taxes but not a terrible amount. Still, I owed less when I was renting and didn't have the quadruple monthly payments. The obama tax credit has it's caps and thanks to the negativity that the government throws at single successful people, I once again get the big goose egg on any assistance. As for the house itself, I do love it but it's value has already dropped 10K since i've lived in it cementing the truth that now is a crappy time to buy a home. If you are looking, write down the costs of all of the homes you like right now and then come back in 6 months to the same houses(which will still be on sale) and note that they have all dropped their prices by at least another 10K. Wait until they start to turn around and then buy. That's what a smart purchaser would do. Avoid the itch and buy when they start going back up (heck at this rate it may be another year).

Now I did my research so I already knew that the Obama tax credit didn't help out many people. If I believed the rumors then I would be expecting to see another one coming this year for a wider audience (and possibly another bitter blog at that time). So technically much of the commentary above was for dramatic effect but it still goes to show you that real estate agents are really only looking out for their own interest when waving the "buy this home while the prices are low" or "you will definitely get that 8k credit so now's the time" line.

Really the moral of the story is that another person's logical reasoning is often not applicable to your own life so make the decisions that suit your own best interest and don't always listen to the majority. That's a good lesson for a lot more than just housing.

Stimulus Package........I don't get it

2009-02-23T17:20:00.002-05:00

Obama's first stimulus package was recently signed into law. Oh how exciting!! Wait...what does that mean? I mean I hear everyday on the news that it is some kind of big deal right and that it is going to help us get out of a downward-spiraling economy. The thing is, I have read so many articles on the multi-billion dollar stimulus, you would think that I would get some sort of clue on who and how it is going to help. The truth is, I don't. It just doesn't look like it does anything for pretty much anyone. How can that be? To be honest, the heck if I know....

Personally, I was looking at only one thing with the new package. Help a brotha get a house. I see people that make a third of my salary failing to pay on houses that I couldn't even afford. So help a brotha out. I looked and looked and well.....there was no help. All of that money and it is going to help people get less screwed by their loans....really. That's really not going to help at all.
So what I should have done was purchased a small mansion in grad school and get hounded by banks and threatened by foreclosure and i'd be sitting pretty right now.

It seems to me, like many of the recent political/financial decisions our country has made lately, that we are in the habit of bailing out the corrupt. Which equates to giving rewards to those that make dumb decisions. I'm sure there is some guy out there that has gone bankrupt multiple times by now that has a small fortune and is winking at someone after hearing about this package.

The thing that gets me is that nobody is saying anything.....crickets....chirp chirp. It's like we were just robbed of billions of our dollars and we are all sitting around with drool falling out of our mouths while we try to figure out how to switch over our HD cable hook-up for the new mysterious television conversion.

Another thing that I have noticed is that Obama is still being praised about the whole thing by a lot of Americans. This is tremendously counter-intuitive. I'm the kid at the school yard with the lemonade stand(that is struggling due to the increased price of lemons and sugar) and Obama is the guy that the kids playing dodge ball over in the corner elected who comes over and takes half of my lemonade profit and hands it to the bully beating up my kid brother. All the entire while, the kids keep playing dodge ball not realizing that my lemonade fund was really one of the only sources for funding replacement dodge balls.......see what I just did there. :) Hint: It's got nothing to do with lemonade or dodge balls much like the stimulus package has anything to do with helping you out.

Maybe i'm speaking too soon but I feel sick to my stomach about our countries current financial situation and decision making. I sit here actually paying after doing my taxes for the first time ever and I can't help but wonder. What is it that the U.S. people don't get about the fact that when it comes to an economy, the more negative values you throw at it, the worse it gets(not better).

It's okay, Rome used to throw out food in the main Colosseum when times were tough. We send out a couple of hundred bucks called a stimulus check to look the other way as our politicians rape and plunder our land. Actually now that I think about it, we compare pretty heavily to the Romans in their falling times. Now we just need a few barbaric tribes(check) and mix in a little greed(check) and backstabbing(check) ......hmmm yes.. I think we might just have the making of a great civilization collapse.

Okay okay, so i've gotten off course a bit and i'm exaggerating tremendously but i'm probably not too far off and although i'm not surprised that the media is still(and always will be) in it's pro-obama, pro-stimulus stance, I wonder where the local grumblings of the average joe are? I figured I would have heard some by now. Maybe people are scared to admit that they just don't get it either. It's okay, we have all learned to admit that we voted for an idiot in the past and don't understand why, maybe we should consider another(earlier) therapy session on the same topic.

The DPAC

2009-02-11T12:30:00.000-05:00

I went to the Durham Performing Arts Center last night with my girlfriend to see a branch off of Cirque de Soleil. It was the Jungle Dreams spin-off that won very positive comments from some of the harshest reviewers in the nation. I want to break down my experience by before, during, and after thoughts.

Before:
We purchased the tickets a few months back doing my normal choose the closest in the center routine. I like to be as close as possible for any performance. The DPAC offered only a few price variations(30-55 bucks). I picked the 55 dollar back of the orchestra as that was all that was remaining of the lower level high price tickets. I figure it would suck to be on the third balcony staring at ants on stage. In addition to the tickets I bought parking tickets from ticketmaster so we wouldn't have to worry about downtown Durham.

During:
I have to say that I had never been to the Durham Performing Arts Center before. I actually don't head to Durham often for events besides the occasional bulls game or a trip to a few of the newer bars/shops. I heard that the DPAC was right next to the stadium and was in a newly developed and growing area so I was pretty excited to go there.

I first threw the directions into the GPS for the parking deck. It took us to a FREE parking lot a block away from the DPAC. I was not happy about being taken for the price of the parking ticket when all of the lots around the DPAC are free parking lots. A lesson to learn I suppose.

From there we walked the block down the poorly lit streets to the new DPAC. It was definitely an amazing view. A modern MASSIVE building in the heart of downtown Durham. It was really cool looking with a modern design and floors for entry and then for each level(3 levels). Lots of glass and lighting showing you all of the people flowing up and down the stairs even a block away.

We went in about 10 minutes prior to performance time. There were long lines for the concessions(which served mostly cheap wine, cookies, water, and soda products). Not unusual for a performance I don't think. It was immediately obvious the bizarre mix of people attending the event. You had your professionals dressed up and your "unprofessionals" with people wearing anything from jeans and a tee to sweats etc. Not surprising in Downtown Durham but I had hoped a dress code could be implemented for the bare minimum standard. I mean even bars won't let people with sneakers and sweats in them.

In any case, we went to our seats which I payed extra for the comfort and view. We were not only in the back of the orchestra but were pushed under the balcony. NO description said that the cheaper seats in the balcony would be CLOSER to the stage. I couldn't believe it. We were really far from the stage and I was feeling really ripped off. I imagine the DPAC will need to explore price adjustments for the crappy orchestra seats in the back. They truly are worse than the balcony seats. The performance began and all of the lights were still on not to mention people were still getting to their seats everywhere. It was awkward to try and hear the show when people were flooding in. It was pretty much mass chaos and people were talking about and doing whatever they wanted. One thing was immediately obvious and very disappointing to me, the seats were not set on the normal bowl shape. Any modern day theater has a heavy bowl shape with a steep incline so you couldn't see the person's head in front of you unless they were 7 foot tall and then that would just be unfortunate. I had a short guy and his shorter girlfriend in front of me and they blocked more than 50% of my vision. Then to make matters even worse, the guy two rows in front of me blocked another 10% for no real reason other than he happened to be there. So I could see about 40% of the stage. This is nothing more than a design flaw of the theater. This is unacceptable for any modern theater. No way should you pay 50+ dollars and have your view blocked for no good reason other than design. I was super annoyed because it wasn't just me. I heard everyone talking about the layout and feeling ripped off.

Once my annoyance at the theater settled, I was able to watch the right side of the stage and really enjoy what part I could see. The performers were incredible. People in my row constantly ran to get drinks like it was a movie theater but otherwise the show was pretty good. There were a few mistakes by the performers that I would say were NOT trivial and very noticeable but they only perform one night as with most if not all of the shows at the DPAC so there isn't room for any mess-ups. It didn't really take away from it too much though probably just a scheduling flaw with the DPAC. Leaving was actually the easiest part since traffic wasn't really bad and there is so much FREE parking.

After Thoughts:
I think that the DPAC is in need for some serious improvement in their policies. Blocked views of expensive seats is unacceptable. Ripping people off when there is so much free parking is unacceptable. Honestly, only allowing performances to be shown once and opening up room for serious flaws is unacceptable. Not to mention the dress code thing.

The Cirque group was incredible! I recommend anyone who gets the chance to see them, go see them! Just not in Durham! The DPAC clearly has more than kinks to work out. They have to worry about the larger fact that all of the professionals paying the higher prices may just stick to Raleigh Memorial and leave the DPAC all together. I probably will give them one more shot and aim for the very front or the front of the balcony and if that is just as bad, will never be back again.

The DPAC was a symbol of hope for the city of Durham. They have a reputation of being thugs and gang based. It was a beacon of light that would attract youth and professionals but quite frankly I saw more catering to the city people. I know that an opinion can't be established from just one visit but my concern is that if the DPAC should fail to attract people on a large level like Raleigh more than the first two years, this "Arts Center" could turn into a symbol of a failing symbol. They need to put in a real effort, much more than I saw last night.

Digital Conversion

2009-02-05T11:09:00.002-05:00

Currently in the news, there is a ton of hype around preparing your television for the big digital conversion. Unlike the hype around Y2K or some doomsday prophecy, the digital conversion is the real deal. People will lose the ability to go by the old fashioned rabbit ear method to pick up non-digital signals. This means a few things for the average citizen. Either A) you need to have cable/satellite(a.k.a. pay for your television) or B) you need to have a set of new cooler rabbit ears that pick up the digital signal and a television that is HD compliant. The news said that over 12% over people in new mexico are not ready for the switch. Holy crap, that's a lot of people without television.

What I am curious about and frankly quite surprised not to hear about up to this point is what's really going on here? Do they really need the old signals for emergency use only? I'm not often lured in by conspiracy theories but I have to say. These forced conversions come at an unusually convenient time given the horrible down-swing with the economy. Shouldn't we all be thinking this very well could be an attempt to get tons of citizens to go out and purchase HD televisions and cable or satellite service. I get the feeling this conversions is just a way to get citizens to throw money into the local pot without asking for it first. It's as if the government told us we need a special filter on all of our faucets to filter out some new chemical or with some lame reasoning behind it. Oh the filter is only a few dollars and everyone is entitled to 1 free filter for their home just as long as you apply within a certain couple of months. Well......I guess we wouldn't have a choice but to go out and spend would we? That's pretty much my view of television. The government is preying on our dependency on television and forcing us to throw in a few extra bucks towards keeping the luxury. My personal experience is that time warner cable has removed almost all of their "free" HD channels and either left them dead or replaced them with foreign speaking channels. It makes me curious as to whether the intention is to get people like myself with basic cable to switch to the digital cable package which costs significantly more given you don't get many more channels. In general, it's not much of a gamble really for the government and they get a pre-planned bump in spending. Let's just not be surprised when we see this as intentional on the history channel 10-20 years from now.

City on a Hill Project

2009-02-04T19:37:00.004-05:00

I don't often throw religion on my blog. I share my thoughts about life and religion with those close to me and I tend to believe that throwing my beliefs out there often open them up for unwanted critique. Critique that frankly, I don't need or want. The exact kind of behavior many churches and religious groups do not want from their followers but really that's my point I think.

In any case, this blog isn't about me. I wanted to bring light to a local movement that I may or may not agree with(I don't really know, it's all new to me as well). All I know is that I know the person behind the movement and there is no ill will in this man's heart. He is truly out to do good and share love in the way he knows best. For that quality I want to mention the City on A Hill Project taking place in Chapel Hill. There is no doubt that this is a Christian movement lead by a good old friend of mine Matthew Leroy. Matt is inspired and brilliant in his innovation and his devotion to sharing.

You can check out the movement on lovechapelhill.com.

He has created a brilliant video to get the ball rolling. I wanted to post it for anyone crossing my blog to see.

If you are interested in getting involved in what is sure to become a life changing event (no matter who you are), check these guys out in the second floor of McCalister's Deli on Tuesday nights at 7:00 p.m.

Super Bowl "New" Oldies

2009-01-30T16:04:00.002-05:00

I was taking a trip down memory lane regarding past superbowl games and halftime shows today. On the EW website, there was a compilation of the 10 greatest halftime shows ever. I had my own thoughts about the greatest halftime shows and more specifically the worst shows. As I looked through the pictures, I realized that more times than not, the artists selected from the EW top ten were in my bottom ten. That made me chuckle a bit. I thought well I am sort of an oddball at times, I better read the comments and see whether people agreed. To my satisfaction, almost all of the comments agreed with me. They must have lost their mind. I mean how can the b. spears, n' sync, aerosmith, nelly combo be in the top 10. That halftime show had a ton of potential and ended up smearing together to become a huge pile of mess.

Worse than that show though have been all of the halftime shows since "the incident". You know, the boob incident that we all saw and thought it was lame and not that big of a deal until the networks freaked out and it changed live television from that broadcast on. Well anyways, since the nipple slip, we have been forced to watch old band after old band. I'm not the youngest person on the planet so if i'm calling them old then the young kids are completely clueless. I started wondering if the superbowl selection committee are just a bunch of middle age guys sitting around saying "You know who would be great", without realizing who they should be catoring to(younger generations that are still curious if a superbowl is worth the watch). I mean really lets see who we have seen since the incident. We saw the rolling stones, a shriveled up ex-rockband that looked like they might die on the spot as they pranced around the stage singing songs none of us younger people knew(This was in the EW top 10). We saw Tom Petty and the heartbreakers mimic zombies, and just stand still singing older hits as we wondered if the stoners were capable of putting on any kind of show that would require people to look at more than one segment of the stage(in the EW top 10). Then we saw Prince who surprisingly showed us he still had it and put on a rockin performance IN THE FREAKING RAIN. Still how many younger kids were like who? Prince of what? Not us haha. This year it is Bruce Springsteen. Really? Anyone noticing a trend? I know they want to be safe but maybe put a pulse into the crowd and mix it up a bit. If I hear Born in the freakin' USA, i'm probably going to laugh at the irony of the song and the current crowd diversity and flip the channel to the puppy superbowl or some mess. Really guys, it doesn't always have to be a singer and they don't have to be old. Or maybe they do and I didn't read the rule book? Maybe you need to be so non-exciting that you leave no doubt in the networks mind that you won't show your nipples or rip off the blouse of the person next to you. Maybe next year they can book kenny G to solo the halftime show. Seriously......I wish things would go back to high energy and youthful even if it means I have to listen to generations below mines favorite musicians.

A New Fascination with Music

2009-01-22T16:28:00.004-05:00

So thanks to Youtube, a casual search through the endless amount of random videos brought me to some pretty cool new music. Is it something that you want to listen to for long road trips. Definitely not! Trust me, I spent the entire day listening to this kind of stuff and although I was motivated I gradually became more and more depressed. For long term motivation, stick to total dance hits volume 2 or something like that where everyone will make fun of you if they see the cd case but will love you if stranded in a car with you for any extended amount of time. Okay back to the main topic. I have provided the following link to this new music. Try to think about what it represents to you. I was sort of surprised to see the tons of videos that used this music as a soundtrack to their homemade creations.

So now that you have heard the sound and besides thinking of the movie that this is the soundtrack for, what does it bring in mind? To me it brings in mind an epic struggle. Between what? Does it really matter. It just fits that sort of sound. I have posted one of the homemade creations below. Pretty neat stuff if you like that sort of thing. I think I have a lot(probably all) of the source materials used to create this(a compilation of newer and older pc games) so it's extra pleasing to my childish side. If you don't like, well then there is always the upper one again lol. I'm pretty sure if you look for it on youtube, you will find this song associated to any "struggle" you might be "fond" of haha. Still the sound is new to me so i'm enjoying it while it's fresh. Would make for a good ballet I bet.

The Art of Blogging

2009-01-16T18:00:00.003-05:00

Sometimes when I am at some sort of peak intensity in stress level from too many projects I vent via information. What I mean is I escape for a moment to read the news or learn something new. Generally the news is depressing and I find myself disappointed for having taken the break in the first place. No matter the kind of news though, each of these tidbits of information go into my memory banks and I use them to get to know someone at a later date and time. It is a handy trick for general chit chat conversation for those dull moments when complete silence just will not due.

Today, I didn't want to go into the news. I thought I would skim some of my blog archives. I found them really fun to read back on. More exciting than the blogs themselves are the inputs from readers in the past. So I guess I encourage the look backs via the archive folders. I some some excellent poetry, some intuitive reasoning, and quite a lot of accurate predictions and appropriate statements about the future. It was quite refreshing and encouraging for many future blogs to come.

The Unknown Recession

2008-12-23T08:30:00.002-05:00

So the analysts say we are in a Recession at the moment. They say that shoppers are holding close to their money and spending less than ever. This holiday season will be dull and painful for retailers "they say".

I have to say......who are they and where do they live? I live in N.C. one of those states that has a massive debt and random ridiculous taxes(like the sales tax online, one of the highest gas taxes, etc.). Honestly, I don't see it. Housing pricing is the same as it was or more expensive than when I looked earlier in the year. The mall is always packed with people and the stores are frequently shopped dry. Gas prices are down and the price for groceries although higher has begun to drop as well. So let me get this straight, people are out shopping in droves, housing values aren't changing, where is this major hit that we keep reading about? You mean those millions dollar P.O.S. houses in places like Boston are losing their value.....shocking. You mean the auto-industry that has been destroying the best looking cars, making the same hideous cars, and have been paying way too much to employees thanks to the unions is suffering......shocking. Why does our government want to keep these bad things going? I don't get it. I read the greatest article the other day. It was about "what does it mean to buy American". The misconception is that buying American means we should be purchasing a car from Chrysler, GMC, or Ford. This means you bought a car from a company in America technically. What do I mean by technically? Well let's look at parts. Did you know that companies like Toyota use more American parts than "American" car companies? I bet not. I haven't read an article on this but it wouldn't shock me if we learned that those cars that obviously last longer like Honda and Toyota with amazing resale values all probably use American parts(well moreso then the "American" companies).

Let's be realistic here. People that are losing their jobs are in areas of business that do bad business. The banks that are going bankrupt aren't the honest banks, they are the banks doing shady business and are finally getting caught. The auto companies have been sucking in money and allowing foreign automotive companies take over for years and years which is pretty shady in itself. I'm pretty sure where you see lay-offs, you have a shady business practice behind it. Give me a break. Our economy isn't in a recession. The government is fooled into helping out the shady business. It's a shame they just didn't weed themselves out and let the weak perish. The good practices would ultimately rule and we would all benefit in the long run. Yeah, I feel it for the automotive part guy but I don't have pity on the guy working a blue collar job who is making a hundred thousand and better benefits than any teacher with no degree or extra knowledge and only has a union to bully around the corporation into throwing money away. These practices need to be cleaned up. Good money and benefits should go to those that help out society and provide a positive service not those that know how to work/con the people and have a marketing degree with a specialty in B.S.'ing.

Restoring the Humor Balance

2008-12-18T09:29:00.002-05:00

I think a lot of times people look at me and wonder "I wonder what is wrong with that guy". Whether i'm stopping to contemplate what exactly certain things like the irresistible A-1 bold and spicy product is made up of or if i'm just staring off occasionally talking to myself and throwing a smile here and there. I'm sure they all wonder what my handicap is. Why is it that I show up to work with my own coffee(when there are about 5-6 pounds of it in the kitchen) or with a tub of TANG. They have to think "Doesn't he know that he is going to face ridicule" and begin to blahblah on about how it is soooo odd. The truth is, I think that we as a society have gotten lost. We constantly think about money and ourselves and how much life juice we can squeeze out with extremely minimal effort. We are day to day drones that worry about the ultimately inconsequential and like to talk and blog about what the news and media want us to think are the headline stories.

The realm of philosophy has died out. It is the age of inflated egos and the clawing quest for the "Big Buck". A world where everyone worships a human made god called the almighty dollar and it's queen, pride. This new world is such a dull place with 9 to 5'ers working 7 to 10 to keep a job on a daily basis. Only to get home and discuss the negatives of the day and the "unbelievable" events. A time where chivalrous deeds are no longer trusted as we as a people don't trust one another for fear of each others devious sub-conscious.

The process may not be reversible but I certainly know where we need to start. We need to learn how to smile again, to be spontaneous and quirky. To look past the highway and see the few remaining trees. To walk deep into a wooded area and take a deep breath and realize that it really is fresher in so many ways. So that's me...on a daily level I try to restore the balance. I want people to think that i'm treating them with the coffee I bring in(when in reality, it's probably cheaper and slightly more on the fresh side only). I want people to pick fun at the TANG jar and then think back about how such a silly thing can instantly revitalize so many memories. I want people to make a start. They will continue in their frozen state in worship of the dollar but maybe on the way they will thaw out a bit and remember that the meaning of life is to LIVE it. LIVE doesn't just refer to a beating heart(although that is helpful for sure). Life is more than just a 9 to 5, money, and a cool image. We are intelligent beings and are capable of brilliant thought but lets not get so focused on increasing brain capacity that we lose sight of talents like love and philosophical thought. These items are crucial to resetting our moral compass.

So realize that when you are reading my oddball quotes, this crazy blog, playing with the random toys I have spread about in my office or at home, pointing out my Nerdy office mug or quirky habits, or maybe it's that TANG tub in any case, your balance is being restored and you might not realize it but you are one step closer to a chuckle that you haven't had for a while and that's the entire point.

Ducking Shoes

2008-12-15T09:29:00.002-05:00

Recently our president was holding a press conference in Baghdad. A reporter was so angry with the president specifically that he called him a "dog" and provided him with a "farewell kiss" which consisted of flinging both of his shoes at "W" causing the president to duck and dodge.

I guess I just wanted to blog about my thoughts on how unusual this is. Not that I understand all that was going on in the guy's head when he threw his shoes at the current president of the united states but ummmm let me ask a question. Why exactly wasn't the guy shot or tackled or something? Sure we all can't stand our president's decision making skills no matter how personal they are/were. I can't recall any time a president had stuff thrown at him that the thrower wasn't immediately attacked and imprisoned for it though. In this current age, that farewell kiss could have killed the president. If the shoes had bombs in them or if they managed to hit the president with any unsuspecting force(no matter how unlikely). I just don't get this! Do we hate our president so much that it's cool to see people assault him? Let's face it, this was assault afterall. If an angry person started yelling at Obama and then threw an unknown object at him I would totally expect the thrower to either be shot or knocked out and obama to be shielded by a ton of secret service. If not, then I would suspect that we all better hope Biden has better security than Bush and Obama.

BAMA LAMA

2008-11-06T10:27:00.002-05:00

Like everyone else lately, I have had politics on the brain pretty heavily. I'm not going to chime in on current issues or give a rant about the negativity during the campaign process. I do think that is an excellent topic and we should all be discussing what kind of impact the media has on biasing an election towards or against a chosen candidate. What I do want to make this blog about is my current mentality towards our new president and how my thought process has been changing quite a bit lately.

Just in case this blog goes out of date, I'd like to give a reference time point. Currently, Obama has just won the election against McCain. Additionally, the democratic party has strengthened their control of the other branches as well. Today, the news is rampant with celebrations for Obama and the main negativity is aimed at showing bitter republicans and their distrust for Obama as well as their need to blame Palin for McCains loss.

I think that is a good general summary.

Now for the point of the blog. I want to give my personal view of the election. Using my blog in some ways to vent but more to express how disappointed in myself for getting wrapped up in some of the negative anti-obama ideas.

To start off, I will never be a fan of anyone who votes just because it is the IPOD thing to do. What I mean is just because you put fancy advertisements with a good marketing ploy, doesn't mean that the product should be bought by everyone in the entire world. Thus the IPOD reference. Another good blog for another day. Honestly I saw a TON of this with Obama. A man that really showed up throwing the word change around like it should(and ultimately was) the new catch phrase. Well heck I could run for president and generate millions of posters with the word change on it. The main point is to offer some alternative to current policy thereby instigating the change to occur. This is one of the areas where I went astray and I feel I need to admit it. It wasn't what got the snowball rolling though.

My anti-Obama mood was quite honestly sparked by the negative propaganda about his relationship with terrorists and rumors that he had a million dollar house(he calls himself the common mans guy). Is this a reflection on him personally, maybe if any of this stuff is true. What really made me anti-Obama though wasn't Obama. It was my lack of faith in the U.S. people and government. It was probably what a lot of McCain voters were thinking as well. What ifs. What if Obama destroys our relationships with our lifelong allies in an attempt to buddy up in a P.C. way to all of the other countries(including terrorist countries), what if one of many ignorant U.S. extremists decides to assassinate the new president thus destroying our image in foreign policy and ultimately showing that the U.S. is not READY for "change". I could keep going on and on about the what ifs(cost of new healthcare policy, relationship with an openly prejudice pastor, etc.). Where I failed myself is that I didn't put the judgement on OBAMA's actions. We already know the U.S. government and some of it's people are corrupted or confused. I should never have used the associations and the what ifs to influence my decision on the person. The same what ifs could be applied to any person and if they come true then well that just confirms we live in a crappy society and we aren't as sophisticated as we like to think we are. None of this would be Obamas personal doing though. His actions make up who he is. Not the looney toons that associate theirselves with him.

His actions after winning the election will ultimately show who he is and his capabilities. So far, he is still preaching change and his wife is preaching a focus on family values. This doesn't sound like some sort of corrupted politician with a personal agenda. This sounds like exactly what our country needs. We need a change because the old ways DON'T work. New ways are always risky but i'd rather give a new approach a shot then just sit and watch our great country and it's morale values rot away. For this moment I admit my faults and I have to say that I have been impressed. It will be the sum of the deeds though, not just the sweet energized beginning that will go down in the books. For this moment, I like what I see and i'm pretty ashamed for taking time to consider those negative notions mentioned previously.

Is Bigger Better

2008-08-12T10:07:00.002-04:00

I went to the IMAX last night. My first time ever! I didn't really know what to expect. To me the IMAX was this mysterious place where people went to watch movies and change their lives during the movie-going process. Sort of the Mecca of movie watching. I went to see Dark Knight, I had already viewed it at Southpoint Cinemas but I figured it was worth a second watch and not only worth it but I was willing to throw my hat in and go to the IMAX for the first time to see this specific movie.

Let me describe the setting. You walk into a room with an entire wall for a movie screen. You make a mad rush for the best remaining seat as these shows always sell out. Once there you notice that as far as atmosphere and seating goes, this theater is probably subpar to a regular mall movie theater. For the price and the small viewing room, you sort of expect nice comfy seats and a little room to spread out. At least one official food stand and not a cart that looks like a hot dog vendor happened to find a good spot to park. Well how about the main event you might ask. Well the opening is a long detailed bragging competition on how bigger is better. Describing the size of the screen, the amount of power going into the speakers, the number of speakers and so on and so on. Tim the tool man taylor is grunting in the back of your mind as you feel like this is gonna rock. After all, every techno geek has taken a moment to wonder what it would be like to design a mega movie room. Then the movie starts. You think "oh this is gonna rock and it will be so worth the double movie ticket price".

Well I have to put it this way. What the theater promoted was absolutely correct. There is a giant screen and a lot of speakers. All of that is true. As for those people talking about a life changing movie "experience". Ummmmm not so much. That movie is awesome but honestly I enjoyed watching it at southpoint more. Maybe it was that my butt didn't hurt as much since the IMAX seats were like rocks or maybe it was that It feels more like a movie with everyone walking around with popcorn and giant oversized drinks. I bet it might have been that my neck didn't hurt from having to stare up 10 feet to look at the center of the screen. Who knows. All I know is that the movie "experience" at the IMAX sucks. What could you do to fix it now that is the best question. Easy, put in a concession stand then put in super nice seats(we are paying double after all), finally abide by the laws of setting up the ultimate home theater. You want your vision to focus dead center of the screen to get the most out of the picture. The only way I see this happening is once the movie starts you put the seats on lifters and raise them about 10 feet giving the sensation of starting a great "ride". People would still be tiered so you could walk down to use restrooms and buy more food from that new concession stand. I think if you did that, I'd return to the IMAX. Only then though. Otherwise, you can find me at Southpoint cinemas with the average joes watching the same movie for half the price and with twice the satisfaction.

The Current Status of Religion in the United States

2008-02-26T07:09:00.002-05:00

I have always been curious about the status of the number of and type of religious people in the United States. For quite some time, my opinion has been that religion in general is on a decline. Of course I have read the previous surveys which basically point to the decline in certain branches of Christianity in the United States. These surveys never indicate where people are going and don't tend to poll enough people for me to really believe the results. I have always thought that a large enough poll would indicate that the majority of youth these days claim no religion. That's what I see in everyday life everywhere. So I assumed that the church has been in denial about the downward trend in religion.

Recently, a poll came out that interviewed over 35,000 adults in an attempt to document a diverse and dynamic U.S. religious population. The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life compared religion in the U.S. to a type of marketplace where churches need to remain competitive or else risk the potential for losing their flock to another religion entirely.

So let's start off with what you probably already knew. The U.S. Religious Landscape Survey estimates the United States is 78 percent Christian. It is mostly protestant but slipping at 51 percent and dropping.

More than one-quarter of American adults have left the faith of their childhood for another religion or no religion at all, the survey found. Factoring in moves from one stream or denomination of Protestantism to another, the number rises to 44 percent.

Personally, I don't really consider a change from one christian denomination to another christian denomination to be any less christian. Too bad some christians don't feel the same way. What I am interested in is the number that leave the religion entirely and opt. for none. Remember, my interest was in finding the number of youth that leave and decide no religion is better than religion.

Well the survey does mention some of the mystery to me. It states that "One in four adults ages 18 to 29 claim no affiliation with a religious institution." As a source of reasoning, the article quotes Penn State sociologist Roger Finke who indicates that "Right now, there is a dropping confidence in organized religion, especially in the traditional religious forms." The study finds that the non-religion group is the most beneficial from the constantly changing flow of religion. In fact, the flow of people into the non-religion group outnumbers the flow out 3 to 1. Still with this in mind, 12 percent of the overall population is unaffiliated.

The biggest hit has come to the Roman Catholic church. Losing more than anyone, roughly 10 percent of all Americans are ex-Catholic. Catholics have stabilized thanks to a particular ethnic group. Nearly half of all Catholics in the U.S. are hispanic.

The decreasing trend shows itself within the largest branch of Christianity as 10 percent of all protestants stand in the "Just a protestant"category which indicate vague denominational ties at best. Evangelical churches which aim to attract non-christians to their cause, the survey finds that the evangelical churches are attracting more protestants.

So what I take from this survey is that most of the country remains religious but the trend is showing that the hurricane caused by the constant need for change among americans is causing only negative responses to mostly all of the religious branches. My intention was not to spread doom and gloom about Christianity in the U.S. but to look into my feeling that organized religion is slipping. The survey provides strong validation for what I see in everyday life. It will be of interest to see how these numbers change of the next few years.

Dusting off the ol' blogger

2008-02-13T10:10:00.002-05:00

So I was recently asked......"What is with the out of date blog site". I thought for a moment and then I asked myself the same question. So as I do every year, i'll go ahead and give the blogger a little jump start and hope that spark will keep this verbal machine running for another year.

It is never easy to just start blogging again so I thought I would start off easy. No extreme rants or anything just a blog on valentine statistics.

Let's start off easy.

The top 5 ways to celebrate V-day are: 1)Cards, 2) Date Night, 3) Candy, 4) Flowers, and 5) Gift Cards.

Since Cards are number 1, it is important to note that approximately half of all cards purchased for V-day are purchased the week before showing the true procrastination of everyone on this fine holiday.

Funny Love

If you are looking for love, here is a funny stat, well from a guys perspective anyway.

There are 120 single men per 100 single women around the 20 age range.

There are 33 single men per 100 single women around the 60 age range.

I bet that would make for a fun graph. Guess all the ladies should be selective when they are young and single but as the years creep on up, grab the best you can get. Older single guys are few and far between.

Retail forecast in the past.

Previously, it was estimated that Guys planned to spend 135.67 on average and ladies planned to spend 68.64 on average.

Funny, it seems to me that 135.67 is a little on the low end for me personally and I have never had a woman spend anywhere near 68.64 on me. Generally its a card or a "what did you get me" waiting for me on V-day.

Okay so it wouldn't be a blog if I didn't throw in a little bit of bias.

Fun way to start.

Great Sound from a crazy band

2007-11-20T17:20:00.000-05:00

We have all seen the Dell commercial but what about the commercial minus the actual ad. I bring the great video to you all. I love this thing and could watch it all night. This is devo by the way.

Sharing a Good Forward(Pessimism at its finest)

2007-10-25T09:28:00.000-04:00

Sometimes you receive a good forward that just makes you go "That's how I view the world, it may not be enlightening but it's the damn truth". I have attached the forward below.

Freezing the Kicker

2007-10-09T13:54:00.000-04:00

From "The Lonesome Kicker" by Adam Sandler
"
Me, I'm the Lonesome Kicker
Extra points, field goals at your service
One might think it comes with glory
You might think different after you listen to my story

My helmet is equipped with a tiny face mask
What it possibly could protect, I do not know
The other guys on the team
Like to make fun of my little shoulder pads
And also like to hide the special shoe
I need to kick in the snow

People think it's so easy
To kick a field goal from the 30 yard line
They forget to add seven yards for the snap
And 10 more 'cause the goal posts are pushed way back

In 1974, the uprights were right on the goal line
But some of the players were running into them
And getting hurt
So screw the kicker
Who cares about the kicker?

But I kick that ball
And I pray it goes straight
If it does
The coach says "Good job, number 8"
He doesn't even know my name is
Andre Kristacovitchlalinski, Jr.
But that's the life I live
The Lonesome Kicker
"

So what is the point of that? Well if you have been watching any football recently, you probably already know. The leagues on both the college and the professional level are doing a real number on the role and stress of kickers. It seemed like kickers were becoming so awful that the 2 point conversion was going to totally eliminate the role of kickers but with more aggressive defenses lately, the kicker role is huge. Not for the normal 30-40 yard kicks but now for the 50+ kicks. Of course the only real reason a coach would have a kicker kick a 50+ field goal is because the game is on the line or it's a highly pivotal moment. No stress though.

Lately, the coaches have been calling timeouts right as the kicker is about to strike the ball. Essentially nulling out the first kick. It is within the realm of the rulebook. Some call it strategy. I call it crap. They should get rid of this rule. Why is it okay for the sideline ref to be hanging out with the coach along with the rest of the team on the bench waiting to annoy the kicker which is actually on the field playing the actual game. It's not right and it sucks for the kicking team. This means that if a team had a couple of timeouts left, they could essentially just freeze the kicker until his nerves get shot. Not only that but nobody on the field of play offense or defense would be the one controlling this. That is just retarded. Expect this rule to either go away entirely or for them to make a player have to call the timeout. At least that way the kicker has a chance to speed things up or prepare himself mentally to re-kick.

That's the life they live......the lonesome kicker.

Trip to VT

2007-09-30T16:25:00.000-04:00

I just made it in from a trip to the campus of Virginia Tech to visit my old buddy Jon. I have to note the trip on the blog not only because of the great time I had but the very very unique dynamic of the people in the town. My friend Jon has always had this ability to attract the most diverse friends(including myself I suppose) but this VT crowd is something else. More on that later.

To start, VT is on the blueridge parkway in blacksburg. A quick trip from my home to there and a beautiful drive through the mountains. With fast speed limits, this trip takes around 3 hours give or take 30 minutes. It feels like a lot less though. The campus itself is like a mega Boone or app. state. Mountain folk style with a lot more to do because of it's size. If I had known about that place for undergrad or grad school I would definitely have gone there. A solid science program with a great personality and a beautiful campus. Can't beat that.

Let's switch back to the people. In general there is more Spirit for the VT football team than there is for all of the football teams put together in NC I would imagine. They are crazy about it. Every car has something VT on it and everyone is wearing something VT. It's like they are all constantly dressed for a Thanksgiving dinner year round haha. On a more local feel, I met all of Jon's friends who all I had known previously about them is "It's complicated....". This was supposed to refer to one or two people but ended up referring to pretty much everyone I met. Usually I credit myself in being able to read someones personality rather quickly after I meet them for the first time. These people are smothered in drama with at least 2 or 3 interconnected back stories of relationships with each other. They are all connected in some way and none of them know each others "true" story. I think this is absolutely amazing. Not even the closest of friends know their buddies true secrets. Something i'm not really accustomed to around here. It makes it possible to make a judgement on someone within a day. It actually encourages getting to know each and every one of them over a long period of time and even then you probably will never know the whole story but at least the picture will seem less fuzzy. I fell in love with VT and its people because of this very unique trait. It doesn't hurt that I now have an entire handbook of quotes to use in the future and few very funny jokes thanks to one hilarious young lady. Here's hoping that this trip up isn't the last time I hear the continuing dramatic story line from the many people I met. That would be a true tragedy. For those of you that have never been to Hokey land, go check it out, you won't be disappointed.

A Housing Slump?

2007-09-18T16:05:00.000-04:00

I was told recently that I should be really excited by the housing market right now. The market is in a slump and i'm in a place to purchase a home. The news today reflected a similar notion. The thing that made me laugh was that....well.....it's not really true. There isn't a slump in my area. Maybe a more accurate statement is that areas that have a hard time getting to people to move to them are still having a hard time and big cities that charge 3 or four times the rate they should be charging to buy a house are in a slump. The average small city/ big town like Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill don't exactly fall into these categories. Which sucks for me. In fact houses in these areas are still selling like hotcakes. I've seen everything from 200,000 dollar homes to 1 million dollar homes flying off the market. No slump here. So what makes me wonder is if the nation realizes that there are probably tons of people like me out there wondering where this imaginary slump is happening. It would take twice as much of a slump for me to start to feel like our market is slowing down and similarly for people like me to jump into a house immediately. It should raise concerns for the troubled areas that there is probably more trouble coming than what is already here. This just brings me back to what I have always made comments on. Building all 400-500,000+ homes added to highest loans ever and high divorce rate/single parent families is a disastrous mix. Everyone wants the mega home. The only problem is that a mega home can generally only be supported by a multiple income family. A divorce, high loan rate, or just being single means a small home. In our area a small home is 250,000 or less. In Boston, a small home is probably 450,000 or less. Here is the problem. The difference in salary among regions isn't that much different. Definitely not enough to argue paying 200,000 for the same house in a different environment. So where is the housing slump? Obviously it's in the 450,000 cheap seats as opposed to my area. Where do you go if you are in the slump area. Well why not come here, just sell that 400K+ home and get the same place for 200K+ in the south and use that other money somewhere else. It's an old idea that is picking up more than ever these days. So sure there is a housing slump.....somewhere. Just not here and doubtful there will be one here. I'm not sure that the government understands the imbalance. Cutting rates may persuade a few people but there is a bigger problem. As for me, the single guy living in the booming community. Probably is the best time to buy a house. Not because things are in a slump but because either the other communities will need to have a market disaster of proportions never seen before or this thriving community will need to match up with the other communities(meaning a mega increase in local home values). That's probably more like it. So when discussing the housing "slump" maybe we should reword it to a housing boom in areas like mine and a stagnant period in the once thriving areas. That seems to be a little more accurate in description.

Detroit Photo Op.

2007-09-08T15:02:00.001-04:00

Building a Powerful Computer (For Now)

2007-09-08T13:55:00.000-04:00

Occasionally, I find myself wanting to build my own super computer. I usually give myself a week or two to convince myself that I don't need to be spending that kind of cash on a system that will probably be obsolete in the next 5 years anyway. In the process of thinking about the dream system, I usually learn a thing or two about where computers are going. Even though games and editing software hasn't really changed drastically over the last year, the components for computers have. As my boss recently pointed out, the components are highly advanced at the moment and the software is playing catch up. I think this is true across the board on all electronic systems.

The new options for the hardware of a computer are much different than that of just a year ago. Usually it's not the components changing as much as the speeds or cooling factors. Now we have a huge variety of things to choose from in almost every single aspect. Things like cooling and energy consumption will have to be taken into larger consideration than ever.

So what is the newest and the coolest? Well it's quad core technology or 4X4 technology. Intel has a new chip that basically compresses four chips into one. This chip gets a new kind of information bottle neck between the chips. It's fast and extremely powerful. Using Vista Ultimate as an operating system, you decrease the bottleneck by increasing the intelligence of the computer in dealing out work loads. So what about AMD. Anyone knows that until quad core technology, AMD has been the dominant producer of computer chips for the last three or four years i'd say. It's the selection that the average gamer uses for their notebooks and desktops. Their chips are generally more powerful, efficient, and cooler. As many articles have displayed, the quad core that intel has is just better than anything that AMD has had. Of course that's like comparing a PS3 to a PS2. It doesn't make much sense. Now, AMD has come out with their new FX - 70+ series. It's not a quad core per say. What it does is take an older Opteron server board and incorporate multiple dual core chips linked via Hyper Threading technology. So now you find yourself with four cores in two chips and talk about having as much as 4 chips so 8 cores total. Lots of processing power. Probably too much processing power. Still, from articles I have read by engineers discussing the differences in processing approaches. Most articles prefer the new AMD. I'm not sure if it is due to some sense of loyalty or if their point about this new style of multiple chips is the wave of the future. If this was confusing to anyone reading this, then now you know why I have chosen to wait to build my dream comp. yet again. I'd probably go with the AMD multiple chip approach for expandability, cooling, and confidence. My concern isn't performance for either chip. It's the power drain. The intel uses about the same amount of consumption as a normal multi-core chip but the amd process doubles the power consumption. This means more heat and a larger drain. Instead of just picking up a 500 - 800W power supply, to get an AMD with all of the PCI-E comps and fancy sata drives, you'll need a 1000 to 1200W supply. That's a ton of join and the potential for a lot of noise.

As far as the other computer components go, it's wise to wait on the new video cards with higher direct X support. I'm a little confused at some of the multi-processor(AMD) claims. They state that there is a potential for up to 4 video used together via multiple SLI connections. I don't get that too much. Why anyone would need the equivalent of 2-4GB of video memory over 4 video cards seems ridiculous. Probably the most useful computer part that both businesses and home computers should implement as soon as possible is to pick up the new RAPTOR hard drive. Basically, any 10,000 hard drive is a must for a modern day computer. They run faster and are perfect for speed loading any new operating system. I think that things haven't changed much in terms of RAM memory. DDR2 dual channel will be around for a while. Although new 8GB systems will require a 64bit OS and not a 32bit OS. This sort of sucks because there is a ton of compatibility issues with 64-bit OS. All of the articles say to stay away from them for a while. How long that will be, I don't know. Probably until someone manages to get everything running smoothly with a 64-bit system and 8GB of DDR2 RAM on a multiple chip board.

So what's the final message?
To me, it just says check back at the end of 2007 or the early to mid 2008 and see if manufacturers are developing new ways to handle the new equipment. See if compatibility issues with VISTA get resolved and if anything gets developed out there that is worth buying all of these high tech components. If intel can get their quad core processer within normal purchasing price(currently up near 1000), then maybe the entire story will change. Who knows. Probably a good idea to go out and get a new 10,000 rpm hard drive and make sure that you are updated with 1GB - 2GB of ddr2 ram on any computer that plans on processing any software or general programming. Otherwise, try to stay in touch with technology. It's easy to slip away.

Let's go to Canada eh!

2007-07-16T14:58:00.000-04:00

So I just made it back from my trip to Canada. Oh Canada..........
I had never been to Canada. Actually i've never been to the midwest. So the plane flight in to Detroit and exploring Detroit with my buddy Karl before Driving into Canada was a first as well. Neither of us really knew what we would get out of the trip but it was a good chance to go somewhere fun and have a good time, no matter what.

Starting in Detroit, we did the classic tour of all athletics stadiums and arenas, as well as the mandatory drive by 8 mile while playing the equivalent song. It is actually hard to describe Detroit. The stereotype that it is ghetto and is just an awful place to be is highly inaccurate. Don't get me wrong, the downtown isn't really a friendly place to be so no matter how proud the city is of it's heritage, I can't help but think that maybe it's a little overrated as a large city. The important thing is that people need to understand that it's a generally nice place to live. There is a lot of money in Detroit and the neighborhoods are awesome. Heck, i'd love to live in a place like that. Everywhere you turn there is something cool to do. A large contrast to Canada, but we'll get to that later. Detroit's obsession with american cars stereotype is very much a reality. Karl tells me that at least once a week he gets criticized by locals for not purchasing American. The rest of the country realizes that aside from the sports cars, american cars are ugly and are huge gas guzzlers. Not there though. Ugly isn't a factor as you see tons of these vehicles that are sort of mini-vans and sort of an SUV. The staple ugly american car. If that is their weakness, then it's not a bad weakness to have I suppose.

From Detroit, we crossed over the border into Windsor. I don't know why I have always thought of Canada as this artic atmosphere with huge American like cities. That just isn't the case. It was warm when we went. In the 80's and 90's. The towns like Windsor which I assumed would be huge being right at the border are comparable to a chapel hill or a small branch of greensboro but much less commercial and grown up. It's like northern exposure but two to four streets wide instead of one. Then onto the highway where everything is in km/hour and the max speed limit equals about 60 mph in the united states. This is a real drag as some stretches are nothing but miles of fields with a house here and there. There has never been a better place to have a much much higher speed limit. Yet that is what you are stuck with and although the Canadians don't want to waste their money on giving you any hint of where you are or where you are going on their roads(no regular signs distinguishing location and how far to go), they are huge on telling you exactly how much you will pay should you get caught breaking the law. Speeding ranges from 200 to 350 canadian which is basically the same as U.S. these days. This was a trend throughout all of the places we went in Canada. Regulations were very strict and a fine would be assigned for each of them. It was very bizarre being used to the American wait around style of criminal system. We tried heading to Toronto first but traffic was a nightmare so we decided to head up north to lake simcoe, one of the largest fresh water lakes in Canada. Online, this place looks exotic and exciting. In reality, it is a small town with hard working people. That's about it. We spent a good amount of time playing where is the boat rental with the locals. Apparently this massive lake only has one place to rent boats and it is in the basement of a restaurant in Keswick. We became very familiar with the little town of Keswick as this is where we decided we were going to go fishing. First, we decided that since we had been driving non-stop, we needed to get a beer and just relax in the local pub. We quickly realized that Canadians don't really like Americans all that much. Of course they don't say it but when you get the cold shoulder form a bartender and you are one of the only people in the bar, it becomes pretty obvious. My friend Karl met some of the locals while outside and came in telling me how we had to talk with these people from Keswick that frequently visit South Carolina. Turns out they were buds with the owner and all of a sudden the bartenders were more than willing to talk to the "Americans" as we were called. By meeting the owner, we had some kind of protective bubble that allowed us the ability of not getting in too much trouble with the locals. They were great people but were very highly opinionated of the U.S. and especially the south in the United States. Their views were quite interesting and fulfilled my curiosity of how the Canadian people thought of our country and similarly they asked us questions to see how we felt about Canada and the U.S. It was frustrating at times to hear some of their comments but they were nice to us and even hooked us up with the last room available to rent in the town on the lake. If you are curious what their opinions of the United States are well that can be summed up as follows. We have no control as a people over our looney tunes president, we aren't liked by the world because we are always trying to be the world police, and these people thought that most of the country especially southern Americans are heavily racist and they "hate the way we treat blacks in the south". I really didn't expect that last comment. The other comments probably reflect a lot of the opinions of most Americans. We went with these older locals to a hangout for younger locals which played a sort of techno hip-hop version of all of the latest American songs(of particular humor to me). This place came complete with black lights and glow in the dark beverages. For some reason, all of the mixed drinks came in separate cups for self mixing. I assumed that they had a date drug problem like the one in South Africa and by giving the ingredients separate, this increased confidence in safety but I never asked why. While here, we had a huge discussion on the use of the term "eh" pronounced "A". Apparently this term is used in replace of the American "You know what I mean" and also is used as a casual ya know or yeah depending on the tone. As we were picked on more as the evening went on, we picked on their slang and the use of eh. This bond made us close with the locals and we even received some familiar honks from people we had met that night when we went fishing the next day.

In order to go fishing, you need to purchase a license, of which there are 3 or 4 types. We were going for the cheapest so we went with the non-resident conservation license. A conservation license is like a hunting license in the U.S., you can only catch and keep X number of some fish. Some fish even require an addition license. We were informed that there is only one place that sold licenses in what turned out to be a 30 minute radius. The actually journey of getting the license was a cultural experience as we played the question game yet again and bounced around between people that might sell licenses until two hours later when we made it to the Sutton General Store that didn't really sell fishing stuff. Apparently they are the only store that sold non-resident licenses. Crazy. Along the way, we met ol' smokey who told us the latest and greatest lures as well as a ton of other locals that apparently don't fish. We finally make it back to bitter shop owner and it is not only cold but is getting ready to pour rain. The owner of the boats thought we were crazy but we were there to fish and fish we did. Going out in two foot waves in a john boat was an adventure in itself. We caught one fish each and got soaked. That is just about all we got out of that portion of the trip. Still, how many people have a story like that. With no place to stay and the need to keep moving, we took a drenched selves back to the car and prepared for our trip to the jewel of Canada, Toronto.

Before telling that part of the trip though, we need to mention some interesting news about the Native Indians in Canada. This is big news to the locals. Apparently, the natives are beginning to take a good deal of land back but are just running casinos and drinking alcohol and not paying money back. Yet they are gaining more and more land in regions of Canada. This was of interest to the locals because on the main lake, there are two islands owned by natives that sell items that come on there and there seemed to be some tension between the local Canadians and the Indians. That is some interesting news that not everyone hears I don't think.

On to Toronto. We were exhausted before the drive to Toronto but really were as we got closer and closer. It was a long drive. There was little in the line of places to stop and eat. They love KFC but the food isn't what is served in America. Let's just say their standards are slightly lower than ours in food preparation. We tried to stop at one place but upon spitting the food out, we were in search of an actual sit down place. Now remember we are still soaked from the fishing trip. We searched for another hour or two looking for an actual meal. We even asked the locals where we could get a meal with a vegetable and funny enough, they didn't know. Isn't that great! Well, we did find a place called the Rich Market. The name was appropriate as the customers were all wealthy and didn't stop staring at the two still somewhat wet americans in jeans and hats. At that point, we welcomed the stares with smiles and just ate our first healthy meal in Canada. From there the Toronto visit was rather easy to describe. An unimaginably large city with too few of hotels and even less to do as far as general attractions. We could barely keep our eyes open so we went to one of the hotels and payed the small fortune for their smallest room. Once we slept and cleaned up, it was late at night and we just went out on the town to see what the city had to offer. The city is unusually dark and poorly lit giving it the vibe of being really unsafe. The city is huge and there are countless little bars but aside from that, there really wasn't anything in the lines of music or attractions. It was boring for a small city but for one on this scale, it was eerie how boring it was. We ended up eating at Wayne Gretsky's restaurant which was very good and then called it a night. On the way out of Toronto the next day, we went by Lake Ontario which was the redeeming factor for the city. The lake and the area near the lake is pretty cool and looked like a lot of fun. We had a long drive back and I had a plane to catch so we just moved right on along. On the way back to Detroit, we stopped at one of the many conservational parks. It cost like 6 dollars for the two of us and it was really amazing. We were asking ourselves why we didn't just go hopping between each of these and just camp out. They were beautiful safe little parks with fishing available and most importantly, they were the only thing in Canada that wasn't overpriced. My suggestion to anyone going in the warmer weather is to just take the park approach and enjoy the beauty of Canada with out the expensive price tag. From there we made it back to detroit and here I am. So people ask me what I thought. Quite honestly, the country is beautiful!!! A must see for any hikers and fans of beautiful landscapes. Otherwise, it is a boring country. Just nothing to do really but enjoy nature. The people aren't exactly friendly and if you go, you will feel like you are in eastern europe or some run down slavic country. I DO NOT recommend this country for anyone that is going for history or a family going on a non-nature related family trip. There just is so very little to see. Better to fly in, see a concert and get out I'd say. No use doing the grande tour. Of course for the overall price tag, you are better off actually flying into europe for a week. Just my thought. If you do go by vehicle tell the boys at mclusky's in keswick that the Americans that came in the summertime said hello "Eh"! They will know who we are granted you go in the next 4 or 5 years. I'll never forget those crazy Canadians and no doubt they will find it hard to forget about the crazy Americans.

A PS3 Routine....

2007-06-06T09:23:00.000-04:00

It is no secret that I am a addicted to at least having video games at my place. I would say that I am actually addicted to the gaming portion but quite honestly, with the lack of PS3 games on the market, I am being forced to grow up a little as every day passes without an interesting new game.

Surprisingly though, this blog isn't directed at the playing of video games but how I have adapted the actual system in my daily routine. Even though the games are lacking at the moment(should change in the next couple of months), I still feel that the purchase of the PS3 is far superior. To have a blu-ray player/DVD enhancer/wireless computer/multi-media hub is really sort of nice. The mess of wires and players that I once had have all been replaced with one single unit. One remote is always a plus to having 3 in my opinion.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the DVD aspect and the online wireless aspect of the machine. It has replaced my home desktop. I never was much of a word processor type at home.

As far as the daily routine goes, what made me write this blog in the first place has been the folding home application. There isn't anything special to it. No social function or gaming utility. Basically, when you aren't using the system and you want to be of help to society, you just go to folding home and it connects your system with stanford university. Your system is automatically assigned a packet of medical information for your computer to process and it just processes the information instead of just sitting around. I like this aspect of the machine. I know stuff like this has been around for home computers but I always feel like I am going to get hacked while it sits processing. The PS3 gives the same helpful feeling without the hacking part. I set it to process every morning. Doubtful that one machine would have any influence by itself but maybe something big can come out of the many systems processing research information on a daily basis.

Stamps and Gas

2007-05-14T09:31:00.000-04:00

I just read an article on the local news website that polls the question "What are you more upset about rising stamp prices or rising gas prices". Yeah right.......

The response was 6 people out of hundreds said stamps and everyone else said gasoline. Shocking..........not really. I was shocked that 6 people said stamps. Mainly because I am surprised that people even use stamps anymore. I haven't mailed anything for over a year. I think everyone I know of pays their bills online and it seems that mailing correspondence is so outdated, it is rarely done. Shipping rates are flat fees if you use UPS or something similar. So who cares about a stamp going up 10 cents? That's what I would like to know. Is it older people that just don't use computers or pen pals that just don't use computers. Notice the similarity between these statements. Heck, they could raise stamps to 75 cents or a dollar even and I bet the answer to the above poll would be practically the same. Last I heard, we weren't running out of stamps in the world......no concern for that here.

This Ain't A Scene..........It's an arms race

2007-05-03T13:40:00.000-04:00

I wonder if anyone that reads this will recognize the subject heading...
Well, for those less informed, this is a song by Fall Out Boy. Starting to hit mainstream soon I imagine. As with many rock bands, this group decided to remix with a rap artist. What I have noticed is that the remade version of this song included Kanye West. Kanye's lyrics can be summarized as follows:
I don't know what this song is about..........
Whatever these white guys are doing, it's working and thus the reason why Kanye is on the song.
and that basically sums up his commentary. That's just great.....

What makes me laugh is that the mention of an arms race in this song makes one think about arms dealers and then when you start listening, it isn't immediately obvious what the song is about.

I originally wondered why fall out boy would intentionally put someone on their song that would make fun of them. I mean that is a strange thing for the normal artist to do. So then I took a whole minute or two to think about their lyrics. Then it hit me.... By even stating that he doesn't know what the song is about shows the true ignorance of recording artists such as Kanye West. He is notorious for dogging politicians and white people but this guy needs to get a little more educated.

Here is my summary of what this song is talking about.

It is basically saying that a musician today could be like an arms dealer in many ways. First of all, it doesn't matter who is listening, just that people are listening. More importantly, it is a direct comparison that lyrics in a song can be more deadly than any weapon.

As musicians such as Kanye West can ignorantly pollute 100's of thousand of listeners minds with their biased commentary, it is important realize the propaganda influence that an artist can have on his or her listening audience. To not realize this is much more dangerous. Artists in Hip Hop like Eminem start out talking up guns and violence but towards the end of their careers start to realize how much damage their songs have on children and especially teens and thus begin creating entire albums to combat the damage they already caused.

I like this song, but i'm afraid too many listeners out there may be like Kanye and say "I don't know what the hell this song is talking 'bout..........."

VT - What is going on?

2007-04-17T09:13:00.000-04:00

I'd rather not write about this topic but I feel obligated to hit on the topic that has become the Virginia Tech shooting. For the second time in less than 2 years, we see a crazed gunman on VT's campus.

My initial thoughts are of more outrage at the school. I think I am pretty desensitized to violence. We see so many psycho's in the media here that it has sort of become not uncommon to see something similar in the news on a weekly basis.

What really gets under my skin is the delayed reaction. If you are a VT official and you had a shooting event last august, and now you find out someone has killed two people in a dorm and the killer is on the loose. Who cares if they are on or off campus. You shut the campus down!! Anything else is stupidity. Instead the officials use stall techniques to gather more information. 2 freaking hours later, we see the same gunman walking into a classroom and killing practically the entire class. How is it possible that this person can wait two hours and walk into any given classroom? This is ridiculous. Information gathering in critical situations is important but the most important item is time. They screwed up.

If you think that 3 duke lacrosse players are going to show us the definition of lawsuit on a university, wait until 30+ families take their turn at VT. That school will have to lose an entire athletic team after paying the 100's of millions it should be paying. It was pure negligence on their part.

I'd rather not speculate about anything else involved(were there more than one shooter, were the bomb threats related, was the kid going to class, etc. etc.). I just wanted to stick to the obvious. This is a tragedy that is almost entirely the school's fault I think. The first two murders are what you would call a tragic event. The rest were just plain negligence on the school's behalf.

I just know that one of my good friends from grad school goes to VT and twice now I have had to wonder if he has been killed by a crazed student. This school needs to get it's act together.

300

2007-03-16T13:51:00.000-04:00

So I just went and saw the movie, "The 300" last night. I have heard many things about this movie, ranging from "It's one of the best movies I have ever seen" to "I hear it's a great date movie" to "It's revolutionary and things are going to change after this" to "It's okay". That last one, was me.
This is the story of the stand of Sparta against the mighty Persian empire at the battle of Thermopylae. It's sort of Sin City meets Braveheart.

What I liked:
The cinematography is incredible. First of its kind. Visually stunning as many of the critics normally say.

The acting isn't all that bad. How else do you expect a Spartan to act. Your guess is as good as mine and so is the movie producer's guess. I liked what they did. It is difficult to comprehend what a hand to hand combat lifestyle is like.

The influence of the supernatural with historical elements. It makes a fun story and gives people a reason to stay awake.

What I didn't like:
It was overly masculine. I know that living a life of fighting is about honor, duty, and the masculine way but this movie is just over the top. In fact, I would really have to state that every part of this movie is over the top. The fight scenes, the rape scenes, the sex scenes, the fill in the blank scenes. They are over done and some are completely unnecessary. The slow motion killing can make the movie feel as though the producers needed a reason to make the movie 2 hours so one day they go "Hey, let's just slow down every single kill in the entire movie(which technically is hundreds to thousands) and the audience won't realize that a fight that should take 2-3 minutes will drag on for 10-15 minutes". This is how the movie goes.

Double Meaning:
I have been told that this movie is amazing in that it is a double meaning for our current war situation and that it drives home the point that in order to have freedom, you have to shed blood and do what it takes to defend it. Well....hmmm. I'm not sure that this is an opinion that hasn't been seen in pretty much every mass battle movie. It's true. The good guys in any large battle movie are defending their home land. It's a basis for battles in general. One group is attacking the other, it's called war.

The truth is, if there is any double meaning in this movie, it isn't in favor of the United States. If anything, it makes us the Persians in this movie.

I don't really think that this movie is meant for that sort of double meaning though. I think it is trying to bring this battle that some of us have read and make it fantastic and imaginary.

I think it does the trick, it's fun. It's not great, but it's not bad. You aren't connected to most of the characters. You are sort of just trying to figure out when they will die. You sort of just want to see the obstacles they face and how they overcome them. If you go in with that simplistic mind set, it's a good time. Anything else may wish you had waited for the rental.

NASA - Priorities

2007-03-06T12:10:00.000-05:00

NASA has a budget of 16.8 billion dollars. In an article today, we are told that NASA does not have the funding to search for Earth killer asteroids by the year 2020. They say it will cost 1 billion and they know how to do it, they just don't have the funds. Is anyone else confused? I understand that the realm of space is massive. So much to see, so little time and money. I understand that. What I don't understand are their priorities. Seems to me, there are only two critical uses for NASA.

1) Preventing the earth from a catastrophic event.
It should be the largest priority for a space agency. We are vulnerable in that an event like a massive asteroid collision could wipe out a large number of people in an instant. The only people able to give warning at this time is NASA.
2) Travel and colonization.
This is the largest budget requirement as it encompasses most of what NASA does as we see it. This includes using knowledge from space to help explore life on earth more thoroughly.
3) Exploring the physics of the universe. Meaning, the last thing we should care about is winging satellites out into the galaxy to take pictures of planets previously explored.

Seems to me, this order makes sense. So maybe we won't get many cool screen savers to download. At least we will be alive. I'm sure it's all politics. I know a majority of the budget is military usage. Ah well, can't say I didn't blog about it if a big asteroid comes in 2020 that NASA wasn't aware of.

Global Warming - One View

2007-02-27T19:38:00.000-05:00

I have visited the topic of global warming on this site many times. In fact, the ironic thing is that I created this blog because of a discussion with my friend Mike about global warming. I have revisited the topic whenever the media gets really hyped about the issue. When I first started this blog my stance was simply that global warming exists and you can't deny it. I had no scientific backing of course, just a gutt feeling inspired by the media itself.

Since then, my stance has gone from that extreme to somewhere in the middle to where I am now which is closer to the other extreme. It's through debates with others that I have developed my opinions. Quite frankly, the people I have debated against had more scientific backing then I did and I eventually moved more towards their side. So here I am, my current stance is that the climate is warming and my gutt feeling now is that it is a cyclic occurrence and the media needs to stop panicking people when they run out of war news or nuclear arms scares. I differ still from the full extreme in that I think that humans are having an impact via pollution and that we should take steps to do something about it in everyday life. I don't believe that the pollution aspect is a large or even moderate portion of why our climate is warming however.

I want to share an article that sort of relates how I feel. It's a doctor from princeton who is a leading scientist in the field and happens to be the fella that created the instrument for measuring stratospheric ozone.
Check it out at the following link

http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=18881

For those of you who don't care to read this article entirely, i'll give a bit of a summary.

I won't deny that this scientist is a leading voice on the view that we shouldn't worry about global warming but given his credentials and knowledge of the scientific aspect, I think it is wise to listen. His point is basically that what we are going through is indeed cyclic but should be studied. He points out that scientific measurements(satellites and balloons) do not report the weather change that the climate models do. So actual observations aren't seeing a trend. He also states that in 1940 we had seen record levels of global warming and we still haven't made it to that mark yet. Something I have read from multiple other articles. He also states that the biggest myth about global warming is the rise in sea level. Humorously enough, this is why my boss is worried about global warming the most. To be fair, the article does say that there is evidence that humans have some influence but it's unclear and should be studied. One major point that made me chuckle a little bit is that the article states that there are more important things to worry about like disease, war, etc. I agree. Oddly enough, I think the media agrees as well. It's when there isn't much news around disease and war that the global warming hysteria kicks in.

The Truth About Hand Sanitizing Gel

2007-02-02T11:55:00.000-05:00

Have we all noticed the trend? More and more of these hand sanitizing gels showing up everywhere. On the way in to work, I heard the radio DJ saying that a new thing for teens these days is to drink purel hand sanitizer since it is mostly alcohol. Then he said they usually end up in the hospital shortly after. Now, I find it hard to believe that teens are sucking down the gooey substance for the next great high, it did get me looking into the facts about whether or not the hand sanitizers really do their job. Basically, should I believe the hype.

I tell this story to people that go crazy about hand sanitizers because it is reflects my thoughts on the matter to this point. On a morning show, I saw a test of hand sanitizers versus water and a rag. There was some sort of chemical that showed bacteria much like those tablets that we took as kids to show if you missed a spot when brushing our teeth. Anyway, the results of the morning show stuck with me. So many of the germs were removed when washing the hands and using a paper towel alone, it was silly to compare at that point. They did and found that washing your hands was the best way to go. Of course that was a while ago and these days the new gels market that they kill 99.9% of the germs so I looked up an article to see what the new results are like.

Here is an article that I found quite interesting:

Antibacterial hand sanitizers are marketed to the public as an effective way to "wash one's hands" when traditional soap and water are not available. These "waterless" products are particularly popular with parents of small children. Manufacturers of hand sanitizers claim that the sanitizers kill 99.9 percent of germs. Since you naturally use hand sanitizers to cleanse your hands, the assumption is that 99.9 percent of harmful germs are killed by the sanitizers. Recent research suggests that this is not the case.

How do hand sanitizers work?

Hand sanitizers work by stripping away the outer layer of oil on the skin. This usually prevents bacteria present in the body from coming to the surface of the hand. However, these bacteria that are normally present in the body are generally not the kinds of bacteria that will make us sick. In a review of the research, Barbara Almanza, an associate professor at Purdue University who teaches safe sanitation practices to workers, came to an interesting conclusion. She notes that the research shows that hand sanitizers do not significantly reduce the number of bacteria on the hand and in some cases may potentially increase the amount of bacteria on the hand. So the question arises, how can the manufacturers make the 99.9 percent claim?

How can the manufacturers make the 99.9 percent claim?

The manufacturers of the products test the products on inanimate surfaces hence they are able to derive the claims of 99.9 percent of bacteria killed. If the products were fully tested on hands, there would no doubt be different results. Since there is inherent complexity in the human hand, testing hands would definitely be more difficult. Using surfaces with controlled variables is an easier way to obtain some type of consistency in the results. But as we are all aware, everyday life is not as consistent.

Current recommendations for hand sanitation

Interestingly enough, the Food and Drug Administration, in regards to regulations concerning proper procedures for food services, recommends that hand sanitizers not be used in place of soap and water but only as an adjunct.

Likewise, Almanza recommends that to properly sanitize the hands, soap and water should be used. A hand sanitizer can not and should not take the place of proper cleansing procedures with soap and water.

Sooooo from this article, it's good to see that the daily show I saw so long ago is still accurate. Of course if you are terrified of that kid on the subway blowing his nose near you, feel free to use the Purel. Of course there is no assurance that it will kill the germs that he is blowing your way but it might make you feel better. Oh and whatever you do, don't drink the stuff. Doesn't sound too good for you. I'll stick to soap and water.

Hillary Clinton.....A Presidential Run

2007-01-29T10:30:00.000-05:00

Of everyone I have talked to, Republican or Democrat, nobody thinks Hillary can win the Presidential election. Everyone seems to have their reasons. Still, I started thinking about it, and is it really about her winning at all. It is easy to get pessimistic about presidential elections and candidates. It has become normal to focus on the bad qualities of the candidates that you may not prefer. The thing is, there is another story that goes along with Hillary and it's not about winning at all, but running. To make a solid run for president, even if she doesn't win, sets up the good chance for a woman president in the future. If Hillary can stay clear of the dirty politics and make a good case for her platform then she can get the inspiration needed for a future woman president. What is sad, is that statement attached to a man would have ended.......and he has a very good chance of winning. Hillary is up against prejudice and ignorance itself in this run. I don't think she has a good chance to win it all but her running is going to help people get more comfortable with the idea of a future woman president and will basically be a springboard for women of the future. So I hope she makes a solid run. Stick it through to the end and lower the ignorance level in this country a bit. Something we all desperately need in this modern world.

Trying to stay afloat in a techno-world

2007-01-19T11:19:00.000-05:00

I have always thought of myself as technologically advanced. People have always come to me with computer and networking questions and I usually have the answers. For the most part, this has allowed me to keep a sharp edge because it has me constantly searching the web for newer and more advanced understanding of the latest in electronic gadgetry.

Well lately, like many people, I have felt the water rising and that no matter how hard I force myself to learn, it's tough to keep up. This makes me a little uneasy. Mainly because if we should stop learning about things like this then we are subjecting ourselves to potentially relying on the "experts" for maintenance and connecting to the latest in entertainment and electronic luxury. Basically, we would have to pay people to come and hook up our televisions and maintain our personal computers and electronics devices for us. This always equates to paying more money and opening up to being sold all kinds of meaningless accessories.

This topic has been sitting on my mind pretty heavy as of lately. I normally don't care but I started to notice when I saw that HDTV is becoming the standard and people are craving the latest in flat panel technology. That's just on the t.v. side, but what about the computer side. I believe people gave up on that a long time ago. Most people have no idea what's inside their own computer. Like how fast their disk drives run, what size memory card they need, how much system memory is needed, and is their computer cool enough to run accurately. If there is a problem most people just ask a friend like me or pay for someone like geek squad to come out and just state what appears obvious.

Televisions:
With HDTV close to peaking and most households converting to flat panels over the next 10 years, it is vital that everyone understand the connection aspect of this crucial electronic device. It sounds stupid but I can't begin to express how often I see or hear about people getting these huge televisions with HD capability and then they just plug in the regular red white and yellow wires in the back and stop there. It just baffles me. What's worse is that no best buy type of company is telling people that in order to even see the high definition, we need to use component wires or more recently an HDMI hookup. I've probably already lost anyone reading this and that is the problem. You see to actually use the HD aspect of any device you need these wires and they cost more. On top of that, you will need a television source that has these hookups and most don't. That's really the interesting point to me. If you buy that HD package through satellite or the cable company you will just assume you are paying for the channels. Well not really. You are paying for the new box with the hookups. On the sound end, if you buy that huge 5.1 piece speaker set, there is no point in getting it if you don't plan on using an optical or coax sound hookup because you can't take advantage of surround sound. It's these things that are so crucial but people neglect to learn about. If you don't want to learn about them, my suggestion is just to open up the wallet and let the installers over charge you completely because at least then, you will know that you have what you need to view or hear your new purchase correctly.

On computers:
I can't offer much advice here. These things are constantly changing. All I can say is that we should look at computers now as mini-vehicle purchases. You can buy the clunker car a.k.a. the dell specials. Which claim advanced components and the newest needs and it may help you get around for about a year or two but when it breaks down, it will be completely obsolete and you will need to understand that you pretty much have to buy a new clunker every two to three years.

If you choose to buy the more expensive model. Don't skimp on anything. Go full memory, largest power supply, and coolest components. This will keep you competitive for 5-10 years before you need to repurchase. See, just like a car. You just get done making payments and then you are back purchasing a new one again.

Probably today with the understanding that change is so frequent, just get the moped of the computer world. A cheap notebook computer. Replace it every 3 years and don't do too much damage to your bank account.

Catchy Lyrics

2007-01-17T12:41:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I just hear some lyrics and feel so in tune with the music that I listen to the same song a few times back to back.

That happens to me with Regina Spektor.

It's just good stuff.

Here's those lyrics in case you are curious:

From "On the Radio"

This is how it works
You're young until you're not
You love until you don't
You try until you can't
You laugh until you cry
You cry until you laugh
And everyone must breathe
Until their dying breath

It's so obvious but it makes sense that this is how it works.

Kids of People

2007-01-12T12:47:00.000-05:00

So I went and saw the movie "Children of Men" the other evening. I had seen a preview. Basically all I knew going into it was that something has killed off and prevented any woman from having a child. This threatens the human race in a different aspect not thought of before. So it is really interesting despite the fact that people at work had told me that they or their friends hated the movie. Turns out, I don't entirely disagree with their reviews. The film is thought provoking and that is never a bad thing. Unfortunately, from my opinion, it is an obvious attempt at anti-war and anti-bush propaganda. It is also not so very realistic besides the harshness of the war scenes.

Let's start with the anti-war and anti-bush aspect:

Let's role play. It's the year 2027, over the last 10 years due to rioting and the extinction of the human child, you have seen rioting and violence climax. Multiple countries have turned to chaos and are practically non-existent. One such country is the United States and Asian Countries. You have seen your childhood towns destroyed and discrimination hit a high point.

Now, say you are the type of person that collects newspaper clippings and places them all over your windows. What do you have posted?

If it were me, it would be the evolution of infertility. Well as quickly as I caught on. It would also be the downfall of countries and favorite places. Maybe the destruction of monuments I once cherished. Maybe close research for a cure.

What was in the window in the movie?

Anti-Bush and Anti-Iraq war clippings from the year 2006,2007. Hmmmm.
Some clippings on winning reporting awards and the like. That's pretty much it.

So in this movie which essentially has nothing at all to do with Bush, the modern world, and the Iraq war, why is it a main theme in the backgrounds of the characters?

The answer is simple. Propaganda. The movie is worse off for it too.

Moving on to the reality of it all:
Humanity can be highly pessimistic. What makes us remarkable however is that we are very resilient and do not give up as a whole very easily.

So if faced with infertility, I would expect a little bit of panic. I wouldn't expect the end of the world. Not in a 20 year timeframe. You see, we would be looking into science. Even if we could figure it out medically, they for certain would do something with cloning to preserve humanity(thanks Cait for this suggestion). We certainly wouldn't give up. That's foolish to think about.

Say we did have chaos, it wouldn't be a major country/city that would be the final frontier of humanity(in the movie it is the UK). It would be some tribal village in a remote destination that would be the final frontier. Why, well they couldn't possibly be infertile unless it was just some sort of death sentence put on the planet by god. They wouldn't be subjected to the same viruses and mutation that larger countries would.

So there you have it. A politically motivated movie doesn't sit well with me and generally is pretty see through from a viewers perspective. This one isn't so transparent but still shoots itself in the foot by spending any time on anti-war topics or allegiances to certain countries.

The Media or World Movements.....The Truth Generally Confuses

2007-01-12T11:45:00.000-05:00

So what is it with the media? I have harped on the media's ability to pick a horrible event and find every occurrence of that event in the hopes that it will incite some sort of mass hysteria. Once the hysteria has peaked, the media tends to move on to the next thrilling horrible event.

I believe my previous example on this blog was airplanes. They started with one horrible crash then within weeks, we knew about every airplane crash in the world including jimmy bobs puddle jumper mishap in timbuktu(Not really). This principle can be seen in terrorism, cruise illnesses, storms(hurricanes to blizzards), and countless other topics.

So you might wonder why I am typing about this(if it has been previously discussed). Well quite simply, there is one element of this type of reporting that I have not previously discussed. What influence does this have on the average person's mind.

For me, the impact is simple. I learn to not only not trust the news but generally take it as an over reaction. This is a very bad thing. Why is that? It means that if say a nuclear strike should happen in California in the middle of the night. I would hear about it on the news the next morning. Probably head into work and discuss if anyone else heard about it, probably finish my day working, and somehow convince myself that it will all work itself out in time before the day had passed and then after one full day, maybe start getting some sort of resources. Maybe after a month of hearing about it everyday on the news. I would get annoyed with it and start ignoring it. What do I base this off of, well, its what happened during 911. It's also what happened with hurricane Katrina. It's what pretty much everyone else I know did as well. It's not how you would want people to react but it is how people in the United States do react.

Well back to the world news and what inspired this blog. Lately, we are in the strange news time. I'm not sure if the hysteria being implicated is global warming or some other eminent disaster. Have you noticed the number of articles about birds falling from the sky. How about the foul stench in New York. Why put these things on world news if you weren't trying to invoke hysteria about something. The dead bird thing was in texas. They closed a block because of a number of dead birds found. Then in world news, as if to confirm the dead bird scare, we now hear of 1,000's of birds found dead in Australia. Yes, that's right 1,000s. Nobody knows the cause......we should all run around screaming in fear. Not really. The media doesn't really give any advice. It is just saying there are dead birds. It's like I said we saw hundreds of dead deer this morning in North Carolina. I forgot to mention they were all ran over by cars but you didn't really want to know that did you... Maybe you thought it was global warming killing the deer. That would be more beneficial to the cause.

The thing is, this is how the media is today. Let's freak you out but let your imagination figure out why these things are happening. In that aspect it is more like a tabloid where you are allowed to speculate however you like. I'd like to see a little more fact in the news and a little less hysteria. Maybe then, when a nuclear missile hits the U.S. I might be more inclined to understand the severity of the situation and do something a bit more quickly to help prepare or help resolve the emergency at hand.

The Truth about kids sports

2006-12-04T10:48:00.000-05:00

I recently watched the episode of South Park called the "losing edge". It was mocking modern day baseball and how parents get into fights at each game. If you haven't seen it yet, pull up youtube and search south park and losing edge. You should be able to see the whole episode if they haven't been asked to remove it yet. It had me laughing so hard, not because of the fighting aspect which is humorous from the news but from the main concept that there are some points of sports that kids hate. In this case, it's dealing with baseball. The parents are really competitive and make all of their kids play the sport. In little league, you play against a mix of really bad and really good kids and the concept of "cuts" really begins to develope. It's the first time in a kids life that they hear, you aren't good enough, or more politely "try again next year". Which is repeated every year thereafter for a lot of kids that don't make the cut.

I remember playing baseball. I really enjoyed it!(for a while) I was pretty good. I played soccer, lacrosse, and baseball. One year, when the crazy mix of athletic talent mentioned above was obvious, the coach started try-outs and ultimately cuts. I remember making the cut one year and then hating how competitive the coach was and that a lot of the kids quit and just kept playing the other sports. Its the adults that push the urgency to win on the kids that just like to play the game. In the south park episode, I was laughing because the kids were trying to lose. Thus the title "Losing Edge". They had played enough and just wanted to have the summer off to play with friends and as one kid yelled out "I just want to spend a part of my summer playing video games". The problem was both teams wanted to lose so badly for the same reason. They just wanted "The boring sport" to be over. The truth is, when a sport is purely competitive and forced by the parents, that is the attitude. You would rather spend the afternoon watching television than standing still in the outfield watching other kids miss baseballs. Ultimately, that is why I liked lacrosse the most I think because I never had to just stand around an entire game wondering if there would be any excitement. Plus, I really enjoyed playing.

So I guess this is the lesson to parents and coaches. It is important(especially today) to get kids out of the house and playing sports but encouraging the children and letting them enjoy playing is much more important than striving for that championship trophy or competitive edge. There will be enough of that in high school, college, and possibly pro. In fact, the teams that win championships at any higher level are just that, "teams". I think it all comes from how you were taught as a kid.

High School Reunion-The First Ten

2006-11-27T11:53:00.000-05:00

So, it happened, my first high school reunion.

What can I say, I was pleasantly surprised. Most people stayed true to form. The drunken crazies were still drunk and crazy. The uptight and judgmental's were still uptight and still judgmental. Everyone looked the same or better. The ladies were lovely and the fella's were studly. Everyone is currently is some super successful career. Heck even the guy that had parties at his parents place actually had a party at his parents place at the reunion. Our superstar athlete still stayed true to everyone and showed up. Basically, nobody changed and it was just another day at high school. The same cliques as before. I had a blast, and I managed to reconnect with a few people that I am hoping to stay friends with this go around. Otherwise, one down and hopefully more to go.

Forced Charity

2006-11-13T16:24:00.000-05:00

Even though it isn't even Thanksgiving yet, christmas is upon us. It's in the mall's and on television. Now, even though half of my work is atheist, it is here in the work place. Today, I was approached to do forced secret santa. Not what I meant by charity, that comes later. Anyway, I am asked to do secret santa but since we were the last two asked and everyone else in the entire company is doing it, it's now forced secret santa. In addition, we are asked that everyone give an addition 15 dollars to the organizers charity. I know what you are thinking....it's only 15 bucks brian.

Let me fill you in on my work. Ever since I have worked here, I am subjected to at least 4 forced charity events on average per person with a charity that thinks theirs is the greatest. The number of people has risen from 1 or 2 to 3 or 4. That makes 12 to 16 non-christmas related charity requests that you are made out to be a heathen if you don't donate. It's called solicitation and it's supposed to be frowned upon in businesses but people happen to get away with it here. So let's just say that I have become hardened a bit. No more church charities like raffles(I know that I won't win and I don't know the church 99% of the time), no more kids funds(I don't have kids and don't want to fund someone elses)....well unless it's cookies. Everyone likes cookies, am I right? Moving on. Still if it seems special and important then I will donate, not because I have to but because I can and most of the time want to. At christmas though, I like to go to barnes and noble and buy a few books for the kid donation box. That way a brand new book goes to a special tike out there and I can pick the one I like. I also like to give to the children's miracle network. It's a tradition for me. So when approached to do the secret santa, I say yeah, what the heck. I'll buy a very thoughtful trinket and receive a 5 dollar gift card to a store where the tax is more on the average gift. When it comes to the forced charity though. I had to say no. So now I am the bad guy in a company where everyone else is doing it. I'm sure whatever church family that the organizer is doing this for will be happy with the other hundred people that are donating gifts and toys. I'm more worried about the kids that might not get a gift at all, nevertheless an entire trees worth. Sometime's it's just my opinion that if the bandwagon gets too big, why not go to more than one needy family. Just a thought. Still, I do encourage everyone to donate a little something to a charity that you feel confident might help someone in need out.

Could you pass?

2006-11-07T11:45:00.000-05:00

So if you haven't read the below blog then go ahead and read it.

Then take this quiz!

I'll be honest 60%. They said they were looking for 80% but i'm still a citizen.

So what did you get? Comment and let me know.

Higher Numbers = Better Voting?

2006-11-07T10:07:00.000-05:00

Not Necessarily!

The election process has always been very interesting to me. What type of people vote, what gets people out to vote, how educated are the people voting, how much influence do the voters really have and how much is chance.

These are things that I am sure political parties have been throwing millions of dollars into since they had that type of money to do so. Surely, the answer to these questions would be the answer to who wins an election.

In our state, the projected turnout is supposed to be less than 40%. Not all that shocking really. So here's what we have. 40% of people that I consider a group that cares or are educated. Meaning either or. The other 60% are un-educated or don't care or unable.

So what type of people vote. The educated people know who they are voting for. That's who you want. The people that aren't all that educated to who is running and what they stand for but still vote are just trying to do their duty and vote. Possibly like a young lady in my office that voted this morning.
Here is a conversation that we had that I wrote down and inspired this blog.
Did you vote?
"Yep"
Did you know who you were voting for when you went in?
"Not really, I just sort of circled the names".
Are you registered in Durham or Chapel Hill?
"Durham"
So then you got to participate in the whole Nifong thing.
"Oh yeah, that's right........I think I voted for Nifong"
Really?
"It's the only name I recognized".

And there it is right there. Person type number two. Not sure who to vote for so you vote for who you know and circle the names of the rest that seem familiar. Not necessarily voting the popularity vote. In fact, to those that don't know much at all about the platforms of politicians, you may voting for the exact person the community is rallying against simply because it is a name you recognize.

Question 2

What gets people out to vote?

It's a mystery to us all. Probably friends and family. Just getting people to head out together and slowly getting them comfortable with the process. Right now the process is intimidating to most i'd think. Since there isn't a requirement and you may not be registered, why bother with the hassle. I mean we sit in forced lines like traffic and the like to get to where we need to be. Why wait in line to vote? It's not like the fair, there isn't prizes and fried foods behind the door. Just a system that looks like high school exams. So maybe we drop the intimidation factor and make it easy to show up and vote. Give us a form to fill out before we get there then i'll drop it off and sign my name. Forget the intimidation aspect, why not get businesses to encourage their employees to head out together and vote. That would probably be enough there. Not really. Corporate america would rather the staff to not vote and crunch numbers. Hey the voting is under control.......right?

Simple solutions but changes needed to be made.

Question 3

How educated are we? Not very i'd say. Everyone knows someone that seems to know everything about the local and national candidates. For that one person, we all know probably >20 people that don't know who the mayor of their town is or who the governor is or who votes for our state or who the presidents cabinet is and maybe not even who the vice president is. It's shocking but true. That 60% that isn't voting today and probably an extra 20% that is voting would most likely do poorly on a citizenship quiz. Are we surprised turnout is low now?

Question 4
What kind of influence do we really have and how much is chance.

With education, we have a huge influence and can properly portray who we would like in office. Without education, the more people that just get shuttled in to vote, the closer the election resembles a slot machine. Right now, I think we are working under the high error stance. The more people that show up past the educated percentage, the more likely the election could go anywhere.

So what do you want as a politician? You should want everyone out there voting. Especially "your people" wink wink. Truthfully though......you want a ton of people that don't have a clue about politics to show up. Why? Well simply, you have just spent tons of someone else's cash to get your name on the radio, t.v., whatever. You may be hated but your name is familiar and that puts you higher on the list than any other politician that doesn't take the effort to get their name out there.

So i'm not going to be very shocked when those people that the "experts" say will be overturned is this election are still hanging out tomorrow wondering what all the fuss was about. I'd like to be pleasantly wrong though. We'll see.

Faith in U.S. Democracy and Government

2006-10-24T10:02:00.000-04:00

I was reading cnn.com and came across the daily poll. It simply asked "Do you have faith in the United States' democracy and government?". I clicked my normal pessimistic opinion of no. I never thought democracy worked in the modern world. To my surprise, out of 112095 votes(at the time of this blog), the majority(56%) said No as well. That was startling. I know everyone hates bush and congress is being dubbed as the most corrupt and most lacking in quite some time but I didn't think that most people would say they had a lack of faith in our democratic government. Maybe people are seeing the light a little bit. Theoretically, democracy works. On paper it's great but you throw in corruption and money, and you return what the general public calls "politics". You know the word that makes you cringe as if someone scraped their nails on a chalk board. Why is that our reaction? Simply, because the politicians have us conviced that it is a government for the people. In fact, it is a government for the politicians and the government. If you have a system of checks and balances where all sides disagree but are as equally corrupt, you no longer are checking or balancing anything. It is just a private club that has gained power over an entire nation and keeps re-electing more of its own kind. For those few good people that the people intelligently elect in, they are like nice pieces of filet walking into the lion's den that is corruption. So what history does tell us that one of three things will happen here. Our government will internally fix itself and go back to properly checking itself, the people will force change on their government, or we will continue to claim ingnorance until the rest of the world either passes us or forces us to change.

All of that from a little online survey.

Thought Provoking Television

2006-10-05T12:22:00.000-04:00

I never thought the day would come where my televisions only uses would be watching movies, playing games, and watching sports. Basically,that just means that there was so much nothingness on t.v. that I resorted to using the device for other purposes. Reality television doesn't do much for me, game show types or celebrity competitions are just as boring to me. Then if you move past that, you are left with hospital shows(grey's anatomy, ER, Scrubs, etc.) and police shows(law and order, CSI, etc). So basically, television has been poor to say the least.

Well, this new season looked promising based on various previews. I wanted to tune into Heroes in the hopes of getting connected to the characters and their mission. After two shows, I am already bored with it. Basically, like many movies, a hero is only as good as its villain. If you develop a show where average joes pick up special abilities to be used for good, you would hope that they would develop a group of average joes that are developed for bad. Doesn't appear to be the case. Maybe next season i'll tune back in when they pick that idea up.

It's not all bad though. There is one diamond in the rough. Check out the show Jericho. I tell you what, that show is a thought provoking version of lost that has real life implications. To be in an american town when full scale nuclear weapons are unleashed across the entire country. Talk about a show that everyone should at least watch to be aware of the what if situations. Again, they are probably developing the show to last for three or four seasons but at least studying human behaviour after such a serious incident will keep me watching. A plane crash doesn't have the same appeal(lost).

A show that I lost touch with because they tossed it to the kids is Smallville. They were doing so well then at some point the romances took precedence over the storyline and disaster struck. The new season seems to jump back into the storyline of superman. Basically, if you were disappointed with the superman movie, then just watch the series now. It's like watching the superman storyline while being directed by the people that made the latest X-men movies. More realistic to those that created the characters being portrayed I would say.

Otherwise, its all football, hockey, movies, and games as usual on the ol' tele.

Console Wars

2006-10-02T16:09:00.000-04:00

Check out this article on video game consoles(if you are interested in that sort of thing).

Console Wars

Basically, I disagree with this article. With my background in gaming and such I think I can confidently say not to base your investment decisions off of this article.

The only accurate statements made in the article were that the consoles are too expensive and most people will wait for the price to drop and that the three consoles in competition are the Wii, the PS3, and the Xbox 360.

What's the real truth. The truth according to me is that the Wii is nothing spectacular. It will need to be something absolutely spectacular to a) get people to try it out and b) to be competitive with the other consoles. The neat thing about the Wii is that it is more interactive and looks more futuristic then the other consoles but honestly, gamers are lazy. Some people may like the dance dance revolution type of game but for the average video game(like zelda), I don't think I would want to fight the thousands of bad guys swinging my actual arm around the apartment like a mad fool. It would get old and thus the problem with the Wii. Had they of opted for a multi-function system with the ability to turn on the interactive component or use a normal controller(for a mario kart type of game) then their audience would have been huge. Instead, they limit themselves to one style which is the equivalent of video gaming death in the normal world. Expect for the nintendo stock to plummet and the system to lose out completely.

This leaves us with the main competition. Xbox 360 versus PS3. Ahhh the age old question. Honestly, it is a tough one, but more simply "What was 360 thinking". I have blogged on this issue quite a while back. The 360 has had an entire year jump on the playstation. Had PS3 had this type of jump they would have obliterated the competition but the 360 not only hasn't done this but their lack of game development makes the average gamer question their ability to make games that can genuinely use the hardware they are bragging about. It is unlikely that sony will make the same mistake as their goal in a gaming system is primarily just that. Gaming. Faster and more exciting performance. So my money is on the PS3 to survive this potential fatal time delay. Given some big Final Fantasy type of titles, a halo type of game, and some decent kids games and they would be the clear champ. Sony's problem is that most of their developers have jumped ship. In my mind, sports games(EA), and square soft branches are the only thing keeping them afloat. Fortunately, that is a stronger base then what the 360 has.

Adam sessler from gaming television is simply wrong in the above article. The bias in the united states is clear. People that are extremely hard core are looking for a change and thus they think the Wii is that change but the truth is that change is going to be slow. The gaming market is still in Sony's hands. Otherwise, microsoft would have pumped in millions to try and take over the market. They don't, and there is a reason why. Nobody truly knows which way the sales will favor this season and more importantly next season. At 600 dollars a pop for systems and likely 60 bucks a game, the video game market will have a much larger influence on seasonal sales and the general economy now more than ever. Maybe microsoft should see this and take the initiative. If they don't, then like the car market, the U.S. will lose out another potential giant money maker.

Like I said, thus far, i'll be shelling out all of my money towards Sony. If that is any indication, maybe microsoft should begin doing more and less watching to see what happens.

A Vote of No Confidence in the High School Reunion Squad

2006-10-02T11:51:00.000-04:00

My 10 year high school reunion is this year. To some it makes me look old and to most it makes me look extremely young. I don't really want to go to it but may make an appearance. I think that chapel hill high, at least when I went to school, does a crummy job of introducing any sort of school spirit. The homecoming court was always voted more for the political correctness than for popularity, the student government was only setup of people that cared about the government aspect and less the student part, pep rallies were just times where people could skip class(not much different from the weekly bomb threat), and there was no elected prom king or queen. Don't get me wrong, high school was one of the most exciting times of my life. I had a blast. I just think the committees that ran almost all of the school functions needed a complete overhaul. Like most high schools, the social events(dances, pep rallies, etc.) were left to the "preppy ladies" that really cared about that sort of stuff, while the school organizations(such as student government) were left to those students that cared about that specific organization. The main disconnect with all of this is simple. No group succeeds unless you mix in multiple views into each organization. The S.G.A. could have used some people that actually cared a little less about how the school was run and political/judicial side of things and cared a little more about understanding the mindset of the student body they represented and the social event planning groups could have used a little more of the organizational side of things and less just being "cool".

I don't write about this now to rant on about events that happened in the mid 90's but to show that not only is there a direct reflection of this attitude in our modern day society as well as the fact that this attitude doesn't seem to be adaptive as people "grow up".

With my high school reunion coming up, I used the 5 year semi-reunion as my sort of pivotal study. The same groups that did the social interactions was to be organizing and I just knew that my instinct said it was going to be another crummy job. To the average individual, who needed to be at a reunion was a person specific concept. Mostly, just people that the committee wanted to be there. Unfortunately, our committee although considering themselves awfully "popular" only really knew a select number of people. This was reflected in the 5 year reunion when they relied on the primitive method of the phone book to try and get people to come. Sure people showed and heck I even knew about it(I felt priveleged, so much so, I didn't go) but given we had an enormous number of students in our class, I don't think 20 or 30 people could be considered a reunion. Now as the 10 year approaches, I would assume they would attempt something more advanced, maybe a location service or something to send out invites. It's October, so they have 1 month to figure something out. Basically, again, I have heard from word of mouth when it will be but no invite and no organization. The main reason I wrote this message is because of the email I received lately. It was from the committee and it detailed the list of names they had yet to find contact information for. As I looked at the over 100 names on the list, I couldn't help but laugh and think, these people really have no clue what the concept of a reunion is after 10 years. Ah well. What it did show me is that of the people I was closest to in high school, none of them had contact information available and thus would probably not be going to the reunion. Luckily, I have gotten to know many people from high school since then that I didn't know back then(if that makes sense).

So I think i'll show up for an hour, have a drink to say I had made it to the reunion then head somewhere else to chuckle about the lack of organization and wonder if the S.G.A. type of mindset was having a reunion that I might be able to hit up on the same night.

Sucks to be ______ right now

2006-09-22T13:39:00.000-04:00

I was just sitting here on my break thinking about this but instead of just kicking out news stories today, i'm going to drop the who it sucks to be right now line.

A spinach farmer: It's one thing to scare the crap out of people over bagged spinach and e. coli but what about the fear that will last for the next couple of years.

Clay Aiken: Is he gay, is he straight. Who cares. Sucks to be asked for so long. What's the obsession. I think he has refused to answer the question so much that we all know the appropriate answer. Why must he say it. Leave him alone.

State and Carolina Football: Some would say the whole ACC. Maybe so, but for now we can definitely note that both teams will have an entirely new coaching staff next year. I like how Duke is looking this year, so I didn't include them.

Israel: Hezbollah spent the day celebrating their "Strategic" Victory over Israel. Although, that is just plain retarded, israel did technically lose that war. The world rallied behind a rebellious mass.

The U.N.: The last couple of months have clearly showed that the U.N. is just lacking the power to do much more than talk strongly. That's sad.

The next president: Sorry Mr. or Mrs. future President but you are screwed. Their glory will have to be the ability to get us in a neutral position with the world which will be hard enough. Forget the fact that we are at war with everyone, our economy is in tough shape, and the lazy americans are becoming bitter on top of their laziness. We all know that there is nothing worse than a lazy bitter person.

Croc Hunter Conversation

2006-09-07T16:12:00.000-04:00

The Crocodile hunter was killed the other day by a stingray barb to the heart. The world was semi-shocked and it went across the news as a great man will be missed. I used to watch the crocodile hunter and get laughs from his famous sayings and death defying skills with snakes and reptiles.

I wondered about the other side though. Where are the people that weren't quite surprised at the death? Well yesterday, a author stepped forward to say that she thought the crocodile hunter had it coming. Stating that he claimed to be a conservationalist but went around invading the habitat of the creatures he claimed shouldn't be disturbed. To this point I sort of agree. Still it shows that humans clearly are still in the frame of mind that it is not only amusing but clearly okay to invade any other creatures habitat.

The bigger issue that noone has come out to state yet is the simple one. The crocodile hunter was a very poor father. Michael jackson dangles a kid off of a rail and for the rest of his life is considered insane in a freakish way. The crocodile hunter holds his son in one arm and a piece of meat in the other while feeding an alligator and is considered insane in a humorous/okay way. What is okay about that? What is okay about continue to risk your life when you have two kids that need a father. To me it's not okay. He died in what is really a work hazard death. The thing is, he could have retired with the millions he earned being wild and raised a family. He chose not to. His kids will grow up without a father now. Undoubtedly at times hating their father for making a foolish decision. Where are these important issues at? Instead we treat him as a hero. The man that amused us. He will surely be missed says the news people. They say that because we won't see someone wrestling alligators but the important truth is that his family will miss him, his kids especially.

What are traditional relationship views?

2006-08-30T12:27:00.000-04:00

Recently, there was an article in Forbes that made a very controversial statement. This article suggested that men should stay away from career women. Basically, it kept saying date whom you want, all shapes and sizes, just not a career woman. I'm not really looking to discuss this. What the article did get me thinking about is what is "traditional". I hear people say it all of the time. Traditional men, being the natural gentlemen. Opening doors for their ladies, ladies first. Being rugged yet romantic. Basically the guy that can fix his wifes automobile, while holding the door open for her, reciting a poem, and handing her a flower. The traditional woman, would be a true lady. Someone that supports her man through thick and thin, wants to have babies and be home to take care of them, all the while cooking, cleaning, and gardening(probably some sort of implied self educating going on in there somewhere). This is what I gather the genders to mean when they imply traditional.
My question is simple. Will that mentality truly work in the modern day age. The answer is also simple. No. A hybrid of the traits of a modern day person and the traditional relationship criteria are the best anyone will really ever get. Advances in women's(and men's) rights and freedoms make sure that the traditional values are minimized. Nowadays, what do women really expect from a man as they approach the whole ready for marriage stage? I think that they look at all of those traits above and some additional ones like job stability and family morals and take the guy with some of the traits that are most important to them. What I mean is, the average lady looks for a guy that is going to treat her right, then maybe looks for a romantic side, then maybe chivalry is a plus, then maybe...... The list keeps going and going for both men and women. The truth is that we pick whatever the N is that sets off the indicator light that says we hit our minimum. I imagine the N is set pretty high when we are younger. Afterall, we are young, we have the benefit of wanting it all and expecting to get just that. The realization is that as we get older there are less to choose from so the N drops. In some people you find that the N drops to just one thing. Money, or maybe just for someone to treat them with respect. Whatever, we are all different, so you can't put a standard on what a man looks for in a woman or what a woman looks for in a man.

So, should we keep our list of traditional values that we need met in addition to modern day needs(like having a wife that works full time making an equal amount in salary, or a husband that is able and willing to travel yearly). Well, yeah. You want to look for the great moral qualities that existed when our parents were thinking of traditional values. It is what keeps everyone from just deciding to date anyone and everyone. Realistically though, realize that your N is going to be minimized and that everyone has those expectations. Also that the modern world have requirements that contradict some traditional values. A perfect example is the average cost for a home. I believe last I checked it was like 500,000 or something. Well obviously, if one of your traditional values is to have your wife not work and take care of the kids then that one is shot unless you have a job that is forking out a few hundred thousand a year or you inherited the money. On a similar note, if a woman is searching for a man in a youthful and busy city, chances are she will have to ditch the mr. fixit value, simply for the fact that yardwork and automotive repair probably aren't high on the priority list for those gentlemen. In the housing example, either the woman picks up a job(probably lowering the number of children the couple has) to get that dream house or more realistically, the couple decides for a 200,000 townhouse and goes with their original plan but on a smaller scale. The woman in the city probably stops looking for the mr. fixit guy, assumes there will be a list of servicemen some day that she or her man will have to pay and replaces that value with another one, possibly a guy that will take her away from the city occasionally, or one that will open doors for her always, or both and then some. Like I said the combinations are too many and when I have reduced the selection criteria to just a few items for discussion purposes, the average person has hundreds of items on their checklist that they revise as society forces them to.

Being realistic but sticking to our values is really what it's all about.

Morality and Law Making

2006-08-28T17:16:00.000-04:00

Please take a look at this article regarding religion and politics.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/08/28/senate.harris.ap/index.html

I sent this to some people that I know in order to try and see if it turned the gears in their head in a similar as it did for me.

My Initial Thoughts

My thoughts after reading this article were mixed about this political figure. I'm not a big fan of politicians using their religion to try and boost their popularity in a political race. Still, this article made me wonder. Did the founding fathers assume that political leaders would have some kind of moral background. I think they did. I think that most likely that the original founding fathers had your average church going person in mind as a given before the fact that they knew a great deal about law and government. I think this is a flaw that this politician points out. The seperation of church and state was to control the power, so the two do not interfere with each other. The best point in this article is the controversial one. "If you're not electing Christians, then in essence you are going to legislate sin". Hmmmm, well I'm not sure this is true only about christians, but what about moral people. Spiritual people. A true atheist may have a strong belief that its okay to go out in the street and shoot at each other to settle an argument. Morality to an atheist could be skewed as the concepts of "good" and "evil" may not come naturally to someone that does not believe in a god. So, to elect a group of lawmakers that have a poor moral mentality established, then law making could very well be just that "legislating sin". It is something that I never really thought about before. To an atheist, the idea of a gay union is probably just fine. There are no crimes against being gay, bi-, animal loving(not comparing each of these), or what have you if you don't believe them to be wrong. A lawmaker without these views may actually want to allow tax breaks and award people that don't take part in marriage or encourage abortions. The ultimate form of legislating sin is one that I personally think is taking place now. I believe that lawmakers may be separate from church but have the power to change the government to one based on atheist beliefs. If you can't control the church then just remove their power, and in essence you control it. This has been obviously happening for years and this woman is indirectly pointing it out. I think that this particular politician appears to have personal political motivations to make these statements but I really see that her thought process is quite interesting.

I wonder if the government can successfully get its citizens to make their decisions based on its laws only and not moral judgement. If so, what becomes of our society? I think we stop using our hearts and become willing slaves to those in power of regulating laws.

Karl's Initial Thoughts
Well, where should we begin? I will state for you what I think my view and interpretation of the Bible on this subject is and maybe that would help with your blog.

Seperation of church and state was NOT set up to protect the garden variety village idiot atheist from having religeon forced down their throat as your local atheist would have you believe. Actually, it is quite the opposite. The founding fathers were of a Judeo-Christian background. They weren't protecting the athiest... they were potecting themselves and their own best interest. By having seperation of church and state, they WERE protecting the church from from the influence of the government. If the state could have a say in church politics, for example making church officials have to honor and distribute gay marriages and abortions than imagine how upset JC would be.

The Catholic church, as well as European monarchs, has had a history of control issues with politics, money, and influence. All of these things lead to people's faith being misguided and basdardization of the Bible. This is bad.

The very clever and revalutionary idea behind the setup of the U.S. of A. is that we get around it all and protect faith from those that would just assume spit on it and move on their way.

Jesus was once asked a tricky question by a Jewish priest who didn't appreciate Jesus' popularity. They asked why Jesus pays taxes to Rome if everything is God's (if Jesus said not to give money to Rome then he would no doubt be brought up on charges). Jesus replied that the mark of the Ruler of Rome is on the coin of Rome. So give it Rome what is Rome's. But the mark of God is on your heart. So give your heart to God.

This is to my knowledge the first example of the idea of seperation of church and state. It is not a new concept. You can pay allegiance to a secular government and be right with God if your actions are heart are right with God.

In this system, it is important for the Christian to make sure that they vote with Christian ideals. It is important that Christians who vote for Christian issues represent themselves with honesty and don't fall away from these principles.

What is ashame is Christians are afraid to stand up for their beliefs in a secular world. It is not popular. But let me ask you this. Do you think God will stand up for you, if you don't stand up for him? Do you think justice would be served if we get into Heaven by being wormy on earth.

Jesus said if you are hot (a great stand-up Christian) for me great! If you are cold (athiest or some other religion) for me, you will perish. If you are luke-warm (know Christ but don't live it), that is the worst of all and I will spit you out of my mouth. To know God and not stand up for him is the worst thing ever (the ultimate smack in the face).

She is wrong and right. We must elect Christian leaders but keep seperation of church and state.

Sam's Thoughts
I think she is onto to something in that many of our founders were Christian and they didnt really have any strong intentions for us to become as politically correct and secular as we've become. However, she takes an underlying tone and goes to the extreme with it. I think they were realists and knew that one day- when the nation was ready for it- there would be leaders of other religions, races, etc. they had to lay the groundwork for that to happen. America was founded on the precept that everyone deserved the ability to seek happiness and live a good life despite their political or religious beliefs (in the north) and for that agricultural trade and prosperity and manifest destiny that characterised the founding of the southern colonies and western territories. I dont beleive anything was founded on the principle of worshipping a particular deity. Though, God (the Christian God) plays a very important role in our American society. The signs of which are everywhere. Our founders, generally, were free thinkers but also God fearing men who beleived that it was important to include some mention of Him in their works. You made a comparison to Freemasonry. Its similar- we are here and were founded many hundreds of years ago for many different purposes. But, similar to a government organization, are not a religious organization. BUT, we, just like the government, would be remiss not to at least mention that the good fortune that we have been able to enjoy by being a part of this great organization (be that America, Freemasonry, Theta Chi, etc), is because of our ultimate authory- God. I dont beleive, however that He choses our leaders or frankly cares that much about our politics. I think to think that one is devinly chosen is actually not Christian and is border line ancient Egyptian.

So far
So thus far it seems that even though the article invokes different lines of thinking among each of us, it brings up good and much needed conversation about church and state.

Because I will always be a math Geek

2006-08-23T16:40:00.000-04:00

Math and Religion

A ten year old boy was failing math. His parents tried everything from tutors to hypnosis, but to no avail. Finally, at the insistence of a family friend, they decided to enroll their son in a private Catholic school.

After the first day, the boy's parents were surprised when he walked in after school with a stern, focused and very determined expression on his face, and went right past them straight to his room, where he quietly closed the door.

For nearly two hours he toiled away in his room - with math books strewn about his desk and the surrounding floor. He emerged long enough to eat, and after quickly cleaning his plate, went straight back to his room, closed the door, and worked feverishly at his studies until bedtime. This pattern continued ceaselessly until it was time for the first quarter report card.

The boy walked in with his report card -- unopened -- laid it on the dinner table and went straight to his room. Cautiously, his mother opened it, and to her amazement, she saw a bright red "A" under the subject of MATH. Overjoyed, she and her husband rushed into their son's room, thrilled at his remarkable progress.

"Was it the nuns that did it?", the father asked. The boy only shook his head and said, "No."

"Was it the one-on-one tutoring? The peer-mentoring?"

"No."

"The textbooks? The teachers? The curriculum?"

"Nope," said the son. "On that first day, when I walked in the front door and saw that guy they nailed to the 'plus sign,' I just knew they meant business!"

A Joke after my own heart
A physicist and engineer and a mathematician were sleeping in a hotel room when a fire broke out in one corner of the room. Only the engineer woke up he saw the fire, grabbed a bucket of water and threw it on the fire and the fire went out, then he filled up the bucket again and threw that bucketfull on the ashes as a safety factor, and he went back to sleep. A little later, another fire broke out in a different corner of the room and only the physicist woke up. He went over measured the intensity of the fire, saw what material was burning and went over and carefully measured out exactly 2/3 of a bucket of water and poured it on, putting out the fire perfectly; the physicist went back to sleep. A little later another fire broke out in a different corner of the room. Only the mathematician woke up. He went over looked at the fire, he saw that there was a bucket and he noticed that it had no holes in it; he turned on the faucet and saw that there was water available. He, thus, concluded that there was a solution to the fire problem and he went back to sleep.

The Death of Netflix

2006-08-21T14:51:00.000-04:00

I think Netflix is a great idea, there is just one thing about it. You get movies in such a constant stream that you either have rented everything after a month or you just pay the membership and go back to watching around one or two a month which isn't worth the price of the membership. Still it is way cheaper then anything that blockbuster could offer. So what could pass netflix? Well that is simple. Redbox. Oh you don't know what redbox is? You soon will. I recently had the chance to take a look and use one of the redbox vending machines at a harris teeter in raleigh. Apparently, these vending machines are sort of scattered around in more of a trial phase at the moment. The thing is, they work! 1 dollar is all it costs. You swipe your card and pick your movie, it vends it to you and you return it the next day to any vending machine that you know of that has them(right now, the supermarket you bought it from). Its one dollar. No membership needed and you get it while you are picking up groceries. You can't beat that. I think it is the neatest idea and it totally blows away netflix or blockbuster. Just wanted to make everyone aware.

One of the many "Dreaded Haboobs" in the world

2006-08-21T12:33:00.000-04:00

Haboob

A haboob is just a another name for a phenomena. Just so you know what the guys in Iraq are going through, check out their kind of haboob(the sandstorm variety). Click on the link to learn more.

Modern Day America

2006-08-18T15:09:00.000-04:00

I have been having an interchange in dialogue between my friends Sam and Karl on the discussion of illegal immigrants coming to our country.

It all started with the following forward:

Let's say I break into your house. Let's say that when you discover me in your house, you insist that I leave. But I say, "I've made all the beds and washed the dishes and did the laundry and swept the floors; I've done all the things you don't like to do. I'm hard-working and honest (except for when I broke into your house).

According to the protesters, not only must you let me stay, you must add me to your family's insurance plan, educate my kids, and provide other benefits to me and to my family (my husband will do your yard work because he too is hard-working and honest, except for that breaking in part). If you try to call the police or force me out, I will call my friends who will picket your house carrying signs that proclaim my right to be there.

It's only fair, after all, because you have a nicer house than I do, and I'm just trying to better myself. I'm hard-working and honest, um, except for well, you know. And what a deal it is for me!! I live in your house, contributing only a fraction of the cost of my keep, and there is nothing you can do about it without being accused of selfishness, prejudice and being anti-housebreaker. Oh yeah, and I want you to learn my language so you can communicate with me.

Why can't people see how ridiculous this is?! Only in America....

Brian's Response #1
This is very funny indeed. A good conversation if you guys would be up for discussing. I'd like to add a thought if I may. What would be confusing to the intruders in the stories below, is one simple fact really. We, as the house owners, would not simply be living in a nicer house. We would be living in the nicest house on the nicest street. The intruders, and intruders like them would be accustomed to breaking and entering and doing all of the mentioned below in other houses that were both not so nice and almost as nice. The difference is simply that none of the other houses kicked them out. None of them even made a stink about it. If they made a stink about it, they were the types of houses that had no trespassing signs outside of their trailers and shot at both friends and trespassers alike.

A similar thought is that of already employed servants. They are fat, lazy, more knowledgable but less willing to work. They have been our servants since day one and we feel this instinctive obligation to protect them and keep them fat and lazy. The honest truth is that the label "intruder" is more accurate then we realize. These "intruders" are harder working and motivated but they are foreign and unfamiliar so we label them as such, "intruders".

What needs to be discussed is this, do we turn our nice mansion into the worlds biggest trailer and stick no trespassing signs in our yards while the rest of the "neigborhood" allows for this new type of visitation change and their homes get bigger.
To come out of this story for a moment, it was noted "Why can't people see how ridiculous this is". I say that why can't we see that change will happen. History shows us this. If you see the flood of change coming your way and you have time to prepare. Do you just sit around placing sand bags for years hoping to null the entire flood or do you adapt your strategies around it?

Just a thought.

Karl's Comments #1
A lot of insightful thoughts but I wonder... if we allow people to illegally (not paying their taxes and being properly registered with the authorities) come into the US and live, then we have to be willing to accept that Americans will lose jobs, Americans will foot the bill (this will become a welfare state), and eventually jobs will fill up to the point that there will be none (crime will ensue, and not just by an American but an uncounted for illegal alien, potentially very desperate). It will go down hill from here if we are too open and giving. The question is, are we loyal to "our own" who obey the rules (not descriminating on weight) whose protected this country and built the infrastructure with their tax dollars into the great country it is... or.... do we back the people that are breaking the rules (working hard yes but not paying the bills).

That is like backing a kid who steals newspapers to work hard selling them on the next corner. It just isn't right. It isn't loyal and it isn't American. If they aren't legally earning the American dream then they are stealing it. And in my book that doesn't count for $h**.

You must admit, it is pretty funny how people get pissed off when the school system needs to build 20 new schools and everyone complains but when an 15 million dollar art project is going in downtown Raleigh but when the subject of illegal aliens comes up, people keep quiet b/c it is not politically correct. I think people are froogle (sp?) with their own money but love giving away other peoples. I think all liberal AND CONSERVATIVE (they are just as bad) should cast a percentage of money out of their own private pockets for those things that they want to pay for when they vote for a specific bill or legislation. That would sober people up pretty quick.

No... no one wants to put their money where their mouth is. That just isn't as fun as speaking PC and then looking down on the person who wants to enjoy the benefits of their labor. It is too easy to be a bleeding heart and not back it up. For some reason our society has put up with that kind of mockery. People have been getting away with that method of smuggness for too long. THe problem is is that those are the type people who are getting abused by politicians and lawyers.

Aswer me this. Why does a person from another country who chooses to seek the American dream, who illegally stays here (steals from the services you pay for blah blah blah...), wave a flag other than the American flag.

The answer: Because they take you and your country for granted. Peoples actions cut through all the bull$h**.

People who seek the American dream wave the American flag and cry over the hardships that they overcome.

I say stay in your nice house and invite the person in for lemonade on an announced visit and if there is work they can do then they are welcome to it. Take care of them legally with proper pay and benefits. It will force the cost of living to increase but not to the degree that it costs for them to live here off of your pockets. Plus, guess what, they are contributing to the infrastructure and will be better Americans for it.

Sam's Comments #1
I agree. I have no problem with imigration and in fact we are all decendents of imigrants. I am not that far removed. My great grandfather came over on a boat from sicily. This nation was built on it and to not be willing to change and adapt to new waves of people is silly. HOWEVER, there is a difference and there is doing it the right and wrong way. There is a proper process for becoming a citizen and I respect that. I think the people that do it right have a better understanding of what being an american is all about even better than many of our citizens whose families have lived here for generations. To continue with the analogy, I say: If there is a knock at the door, we should always answer it. If someone breaks in, we have the right to defend our property. Shoot them. :-0

Brian's Response #2
Thanks for the comments karl and sam.

The funny thing is that internally I agree with the forward and your emails. I was arguing for the sake of arguing and pointing out that we can't stop people from coming in illegally. Unless we start shooting people(as sam hinted) that come across the border(and since my brother has patrolled it, I know that they barely lay a hand on those guys), they will continue to come over illegally. We can't stop them. I'm surprised they haven't flown into canada and snuck down by now. I agree completely that a massive in flux of illegals into our country would destroy our economy, health system, and culture in a rather short period of time. We just aren't set up that way. Our biggest problem is that while our law makers continue to argue, nothing changes and the slow downfall of "America" and what it stands for continues on. That is the whole reason for replying to the email. It is too closed minded. It's a clear lash out by people in our society that it's unfair. Why it's unfair is because we like our money. All of us are the "fat lazy americans" that I referred to in my previous email. Maybe in our case it won't be a hispanic worker, but for me it could be a statistician consulting from India that will work for a 30,000 dollar yearly salary because that will allow him to live more comfortably in his country. My point is that it's about time that americans realized that there are actually physical masses out there with millions of people like us called countries that are living like we do everyday but cheaper and steadier. Those masses are getting smarter and smarter and the jobs are here and other major countries in the world. As of right now, we know it but we don't "know it". We all need to pick up two or three languages, because guess what, they already have and english is one of theirs. Is spanish, german, or chinese one of ours? You better believe it will need to be for our children. We need to realize that if we as "America" don't start getting motivated internationally as a whole(meaning more than just the donald trumps and bill gates of us) then we will get lost and fall behind and having hispanics come in to cut our grass and build our houses will be the very least of our problems. You hit the nail on the head karl when you posed the question "are we loyal to "our own" who obey the rules....." and my response to that is NO. Definitely not. We haven't been for some time now. All business owners could give a crap about their local economies. They have become closed minded. Noone these days are attached to our government and understands their duties as citizens. Mainly because it is solely about money to the business owners. The cheaper the labor, the more money in their pocket. Screw the middle aged american (lets call him ted with a post graduate
degree) that hasn't adapted to the world and can be replaced by the next generation of undergrads because of advances in technology and science or by a foreign laborer that can do the same things without the need for retirement or a salary increase. I know that I have strayed from the original discussion that referred to our borders directly and we can get back to that but I think this needs to be kept in the back of our minds. It seems that the discussion about illegals from our borders is more simply, they are coming in. What is our plan once they are here illegally? Our government will discuss ways of keeping them out but they are still coming. Water sneaking around the cracks of those sand bags(previous email). What do we do with them when they are here. We need to complete a new strategy that will make them quasi-citizens so that some of that money is invested in our economy and will begin to bring out a patriotic side to illegals. Our modern plans need to be more innovative then "We need to stop them".

P.S. and just to be a smart @$$(I couldn't resist) think about this:

Aswer me this. Why does a person from "The South" wave a flag other than the American flag.

The answer: Because they take you and your country for granted.

Sam Comment #2
Hetz, you are right to consider a change in the global economy and that in America we will one day be a nation of managers. Managing people in other countries or here at home. The middle class is shrinking. The poor and rich are growing in numbers. But that's not corporate america's fault. And we don't want the government involved in balancing it out either. They tried that in russia, called it communism and it failed miserably. :-) Its just our society growing and transforming to meet global demand based on certain historical facts. America won the world wars and the cold war. We are at the top of our game, as the Brittish Empire and Rome before us. We will fall from grace. Its inevitable. BUT, we can do it so as to maintain our tradition and remain on the global scene (read GB). We can also slow this trend by fixing things like border security. No, we cant stop it. But we can gracefully and legally cultivate a new society. I think we are probably saying the same thing in that regard. Hehe.... I will encourage sammy to learn madarin chinese. As far as waving a different flag in the south.....well, that's comparing apples and oranges with elsalvadorians waving their flags in downtown LA demading the rights of an American. Waving a flag of southern heritage is like waving the american flag. We can get into the history and politics of the past 250 years, but my fingers will get sore. :-)

Saying Hello

2006-08-15T20:23:00.000-04:00

When I went to college from high school, I remember having to explain to all of my newly met friends that in chapel hill walking by random people on the streets is similar to prison. No eye contact and greetings only if you know who they are. I remembered the first time a random person threw me a smile and said "what's up" walking on the side walk in wilmington, I sort of didn't know how to react. Did they want to start something, did a bird just poop on my shoulder, what could be behind this odd occurence. Its just how people were in wilmington nice and friendly. The people in wilmington didn't believe me when I told that story. I actually had forgotten all about that thought process some time ago. I think at some point I sort of just assumed it to be a difference between high school and college and not a difference between chapel hill and wilmington. This evening, I had to head to the library to pick up some journals for some work discussion that has been going on. I thought since I have an interest in taking classes at carolina, it might be fun to park in the parking deck and walk over to the public health library. I think that would probably be how it would go if I were to take classes. It's a bit of a walk, especially since I was still in work clothes and dress shoes and its hot out. In any case, I walked by person after person and I would smile and say hello. Then it all came flooding back to me. Nobody smiled back or said hey or anything. I had to of said hello to at least 15 to 20 people, and sometimes the sidewalk became so narrow that you had to stand face to face with the person. Nothing. Like I said, it all came back to me. The whole prison system feeling. Everyone I passed didn't want to make eye contact and acted offended that I would say hello to them. I sort of just smiled thinking that was an ailment that I had at one point in my life. I'm all better now.

Terrorism Creating Trends

2006-08-11T09:25:00.000-04:00

All of this recent terror in the airport revisited stuff has me thinking. I know, that can be a dangerous thing, me thinking. Isn't the future of this airport screening thing obvious. What we have is an invasion of your privacy by searching your person or an invasion of privacy by looking through your stuff. So which is going to win out here. No matter what people may or may not want I think the airport solution is obvious. In order to get things moving more smoothly or appearing to run more smoothly, the airport is going to need to make a change.

Currently, they live in fear of screwing up. Missing that one bag that may blow up and be the next catastrophe. Since carry on bags are just that carry on, that fear is shown when we walk through the various blinking lights, x-rays, and ummmm puffers. Ha Ha. Seriously, the future of all of this is quite obvious. Option A is that technology in surveillance has to both catch up with and surpass technology in stealth, which is highly unlikely. Option B is that all carry-on bags one day will have to be eliminated. This way airlines will be able to panic behind the curtain and will be able to thoroughly search all of our bags since we won't be watching them do it. It makes business travel a nightmare but that is the way that it is. Maybe they can offer higher risk business flights that allow baggage carry ons but that is up to the airlines and the government I suppose.

All in all terrorism has one aim, to cut off our freedom. Do I think that is what is going on here. Not really. In this day and age, we all realize that the world isn't at peace. Bad things happen. We shouldn't be so naive to think that we will have to give up some freedoms to enjoy in luxuries like air travel in order to help with our own safety.

A New Train Of Thought

2006-08-09T11:18:00.000-04:00

I've decided to stop procrastinating. I'm going to actively attempt to add to my academic knowledge and in addition put some of my thoughts down on paper. So if you are out trying to figure out where I am these days, chances are i'm at the local caribou either reading Stat articles or making an attempt at writing my first book. The stat review is only about time constraints but the amount of dedication to writing a book that someone else may one day care to read is going to be a challenge. I'll also be applying to the DrPH Stat program at UNC. That doesn't necessarily mean that I am going to be a student but it is the initial step to jumping in and finalizing my stat education. Just thought I might share. I know that there are a lot of people that visit my blog that I don't have day to day or possibly even monthly contact with.

Bruce Lee beat the mess out of Chuck Norris.....

2006-07-21T15:27:00.000-04:00

And I'm glad he did. Chuck Norris is and always will be in my mind two people.

A) The guy who was completely destroyed by Bruce Lee. He was beaten up like the black knight in monty python's search for the Holy Grail.

B) Walker Texas Ranger, a less cool Macgyver that no one watched but we all recognize who he is for whatever the reason.

So with that being said, anyone around these parts know where I am going with this. I'm pretty sure it is nation wide thing but just wanted to cover myself just in case.

WHAT IS THE DEAL WITH THE INVINCIBLE GOD-LIKE CHUCK NORRIS EMAILS.

If you don't know them, then let me write a few of the ones I got from friends.

The “C-section” is named after Chuck Norris, for when he roundhouse kicked
himself through his mother’s stomach.

Chuck Norris eats Transformer toys in vehicle form and shits them out robot form

Chuck Norris only masturbates to pictures of Chuck Norris.

There is no theory of evolution, just a list of animals that Chuck Norris allows to live.

The leading causes of death in the United States are: 1. Heart Disease 2. Chuck Norris 3. Cancer.

Chuck Norris does not sleep. He Waits.

There is no chin under Chuck Norris' beard. There is only another fist.

You get the point.....

So why did I find myself laughing at the theory of evolution quote as I wrote it down. It's not because I like Chuck Norris but that someone came up with something as creative as that to describe the awesome power of another human being.

So here are a few comments about our president, I shall refer to him simply as W.

When the Boogeyman goes to sleep every night, he checks his closet for W

W doesn't read books. He stares them down until he gets the information he wants.

Outer space exists because it's afraid to be on the same planet with W.

W is currently suing NBC, claiming Law and Order are trademarked names for his left and right legs.

See how easy that was.....and funny.

Randomness from the mind of me............

2006-07-20T17:57:00.000-04:00

Why, because its my blog and I haven't posted in a while. So bring on the randomness.

On gas prices:
Whenever people are asked about gas prices they always say they are too high. Duhhhh. Why not make a statement about how oil companies are making a killing and aren't being regulated. Of course if the high value of the gas is really on your mind, then just state the obvious. "I bet they will be at 5 dollars a gallon sooner than you think....". So bring on the hybrids which still use some form of gasoline and lets all sit back and watch the prices shoot for the moon. After all, the sky is the limit. Hmmmm thats a contradiction isn't it. Shoot for the puffy clouds it is then.

On War:
War......what can we say. It's war. People will continue to fight. The moment a country goes completely for peace and disarms entirely is briefly before the moment where that country gets conquered by someone who decided not to go for peace. We are humans, it is built in. Even if someone were to conquer the planet and then push peace, the cycle would start from within at some point. Peace then by definition is actually the happy medium between all war like groups. So by that definition, most of the world has been at peace for a long time being. Current events is technically just an imbalance in the happy medium. If we weren't at war our citizens would complain about not helping the needy and as soon as we went, they would complain about using too much force. It is how war is.

On growing up:
Don't ever do it, its over rated. What society calls "growing up" is to be boring and no fun at all. All the while knowing what it was like to be fun so you can teach it to people younger than yourself. Life is too short, act like a kid. I'll be playing video games from time to time at the age of 60. If I go out with complete VR equipment on, at least I will have a smile on my face.

On myspace:
If you are a kid, don't let it consume you. If you are not a parent yet but not a kid, don't let it consume you and use it as a way of catching up with people. If you are a parent, don't let it consume you, use it as a way of catching up with people, and watch out for your kids on there. Its both cyclic and repetitive but should help you navigate through the process safely.

That concludes this session of randomness...........

Law and Politics....Confusing

2006-06-29T12:57:00.000-04:00

I was reading online that an Iowa senator wanted to try and create a tax on prostitutes and pimps. I have never made a claim that I understand politics or law very well, in fact I doubt I would pass the U.S. Citizens test. What I always assume is that senators and elected officials understand law and politics.

So lets think about this senator's idea(not for too long though). In Iowa, prostitution is illegal. Similarly, a pimp could be arrested for aiding in selling sex. So.....is it just me. How do you tax something illegal AND if you could tax it, how do you threaten those that evade the taxes with jail time. I mean they are doing something illegal that they could go to jail for as is.

This type of stuff just makes me like politics less. A bunch of people babbling on and on and actually doing very little. I mean isn't it the equivalent of saying we are going to call cocaine(since marijuana is legal for some) a very expensive luxury item that should be taxed. If you don't pay the tax(meaning we caught you doing it long enough to know to tax you), we will put you in jail for tax evasion along with the fact that you are going to go to jail for longer due to the fact that you are dealing with an illegal substance. Its nonsense.

This is a public figure that represents his state. Unbelievable.

I understand that pimps and prostitutes are a problem but it has always seemed to me that if you wanted to clean it up and limit it, just make it legal. Why, because then the government could tax it, over-regulate it so much that pimps would be obsolete and prostitutes and their clients would have to face new management. Heck making client records public would reduce the behaviour to lower levels then our current criminal system could/would ever enforce.

Go Canes

2006-06-20T08:50:00.000-04:00

Congratulations to the Carolina Hurricanes!!

These guys played their hearts out. They thrive off of the fans and ultimately proved all of the skeptics wrong. They were the better team in the playoffs and deserved to win the cup. There was no better person to get the MVP then Cam Ward. What a job he did in the goal! I was impressed by the whole effort across the board. Only wish the parade for them was over the weekend so I could stand in show support of those guys. They are big for the state of N.C. and the sport of hockey in general.

Evening Blogging

2006-06-18T22:38:00.000-04:00

Temporary Boredom set in on me this evening. What a better way to get past it then to blog about random nothingness.

To start off, how about a myspace update. I am shocked at the number of responses I have gotten from old high school and college friends. The humorous part about the site is that most of the people that write me to say hello add in the caviate that they don't really do the myspace thing or it is a temporary thing. I think that is funny because that makes me believe that they feel the way that I do. That myspace is not meant for my generation. Somehow by announcing that we do myspace, leaves an image of immaturity. Probably does, but I don't think most of the people I know do enough immature things.

On to sports. How about those Canes. Yeah I know, they are sucking it up. I have developed a position of being a big fan of the sport and the team so it won't make a big difference either way. Yeah right, who am I kidding. I'll be devastated if they lose after taking such a commanding lead. I found myself watching the last game and blaming their losing on everything but the kitchen sink. I thought well it must be the refs. Then I thought well maybe they are tired. I moved on to thinking it could be a N.C. curse or something(no professional team titles), then I left where I was watching the game because I thought they might have better luck if I moved locations. Then I thought. Thats just plain out silly.

How about the U.S.A. soccer team! Still haven't scored a real goal yet but have a chance to move on to the next round if they defeat the next opponent. Here's hoping the other team scores on themselves like Italy. We discussed the U.S. soccer team at work. Basically, we don't want to see them win it all. We just want them to beat the popular teams to shut up the annoying fans that make fun of the "yankees". I just don't think that the commercial that plays the cracker jack song associated with baseball while showing soccer is at all accurate. I mean I know people that still play soccer but they could care less about the sport professionally. That is just the way it is in the U.S. Now if only I could get people to shift that attitude towards baseball hmmmmmmmmm(Yeah that will never happen).

Alright well that seemed to appease my boredom enough for me to want to leave the computer screen in favor of finishing up a good book.

One confused customer

2006-06-16T09:51:00.000-04:00

I hear a lot from people that I know that they like to give their money to the local businesses and stay away from the corporate behemoths. This statement in itself has always confused me. It isn't like one day a corporation appeared and destroyed the little guys. All larger businesses begin as smaller businesses. So when you go to a smaller business as an alternative. Don't be shocked that you may be contributing to the next big money hungry corporation. Which makes me wonder why you wouldn't go to the big guy in the first place. Chances are they are more affordable.

Maybe it is a question of quality. In the case of coffee, I hear the comments of friends that say "I will not buy from Starbucks!". Well I say if their coffee is good, buy it. I get caribou. It is the best in my mind. It's a chain and will no doubt become a large business one day selling frozen goods in our local harris teeter. I don't care, the coffee is good.

This brings me to what originally made me write this blog. The grocery stores. Grocery chains are in abundance these days. I am beginning to think that the level of how spoiled americans are is ridiculously high. My main focus here is whole foods. Why do people shop at whole foods? I don't have a clue personally. The people aren't nicer(or cleaner for that matter). In fact employees are encouraged to be themselves. Maybe in the area of serving food to customers, "being yourself" isn't the wisest of ideas. So maybe its the small chain thing. You know give it to the people. Well that certainly isn't the case with whole foods as it grows into a massive international chain. Is it the price then? Well the price seems to me to be at least 30% higher at whole foods. So what is it. I think the positive side of this store is their selection of alternative foods(like vegetarian) and maybe the open market style design of the place. In recent news, we see that whole foods is cracking down on inhumane treatment of the food that they plan on killing and serving up. Hmmmmm, so let me get this straight. We don't mind them killing the chicken, lobster, fill in the blank, and then eating them. We just don't want them to be treated unfairly on their trip to the chopping block. Fair enough I guess. This doesn't explain to me why so many people shop at these type of stores. My guess is that it makes them feel better. By somehow paying twice as much, they feel better about themselves by traveling the extra ten minutes past their local harris teeter to get similar products but possible fresher or with a guaranteed label that says the food is organic/humanely treated. I bet that if harris teeter would put organic labels(oh right they do that) and humanely treated labels(oh they do that too) then people probably wouldn't notice because they were accustomed to what they assume is better than the other chains. Well here is the reality check and ultimately how any corporation comes into place. Stores like whole foods suck their customers in. They claim a large difference as an excuse for their much higher prices. This suckers in a normal customer base which keeps growing. Although, there may be other stores out there that show up and are fresher or stick closer to what the whole foods ideals originally intended, the customer base stays at least the same and most likely grows. At some point, you have to realize that as a customer, the store you are at is the newest "Starbuck". If you want to eat fresh and you want to feel good about giving back to the people and all that I have mention previously, then just go to the local farmers market, local seafood market, etc. This would be the freshest, cheapest, trusted foods available.

Soccer and Hurricanes

2006-06-12T14:15:00.000-04:00

With the World Cup started and the USA just finishing up, I have to write a blurb about soccer. I used to play soccer, but never really got into it. Heck, I even worked for Eurosport selling soccer products for a while and honestly, I still didn't care about it. Seemed like something that just wasn't meant for the US. This year for whatever the reason. Maybe it is the commercial that claims the sport has done something no politician could ever do(which I personally agree with) or possibly the fact that I dislike baseball so much that it gives me something else to watch on television(besides the alternating canes games). I'm not sure what it is, but I am addicted to the world cup this year. I find myself picking a team and just staying glued to the television as if I was always a life long fan of not only the team but the sport. Why else would I do anything to watch the US game against a far superior czech team today. My only advice is watch one of the games and try not to get sucked in like myself. Everyone should watch at least one match, if only to broaden their minds a little and watch something that is bigger than america for a change.

As for the hurricanes, I guess I could point out the beginning of the actual hurricane season and write some comments about how lousiana could get smacked again and they would still be completely unprepared. I could also make mention that there are potential plans for an international port at the mouth of the cape fear river which would make wilmington and the local area a booming community. Nah, i'll just support the Cane's hockey club in the hopes that not only will they win tonight but finish the series at home in carolina. After all, I get the feeling that the only sport,with a local team, that I will be actually yelling out gooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaal to will be hockey.

Go Canes!

Trying out My Space and News Updates

2006-06-09T08:21:00.000-04:00

Apparently the blogger service is all repaired and I go on about my blogging way.

To start off, I want to give a mention that my brother(Allen) is off to Iraq for 3 months. He switched from flying helicopters to planes a while back to we all feel a little better about not knowing someone cruising around in a blackhawk. Hopefully, he will be able to pick up the Hurricanes hockey games. He is a big Philadelphia hockey guy but apparently they are going for the Canes in the finals.

In other news, I was checking out myspace.com and getting a feel for what all of the hype is about. My initial impression is that it is primarily aimed at people that are either younger or want to keep in touch with people that they haven't seen for a while or that live a distance a way. To make any decent use of the space however, you need to know something about HTML or else you are stuck if the blah basic template. That would be me. Stuck with the basic blah template. The HTML code that goes into the blogger sites seems to fit me a little better as it represents a more formal structure of code. Basically, I like to see where everything else on the page is in code and then just add in little tidbits of new code here and there. The myspace site seems to just want you to dump in some code in their comment boxes which i'm not a huge fan of. To it's credit though, if you want to find all of those people from high school or college that you haven't seen in forever, it is quite simple. Just enter your school and search on it. Unfortunately for me, most of the chapel hill folks don't do myspace. I have been able to find information on fraternity brothers from college who otherwise remain hard to find. I think it is a system of communication that I have to say "I sure wish I had that as a kid".

Finally, I feel obligated to make a quick comment about a book that I am reading. It is called born in blood by John Robinson. I have to admit, it may be strange to approach this book since it has the subtitle "The Lost Secrets of Freemasonry", which were never lost by the way. It does start off a little slow, I have to admit but what it gets into is the historical aspects of the templar,hospittaler, and metions the teutonic knights from the crusades. It follows the templar's specifically as they are becoming more and more associated with freemasonry(and are more popular thanks to the recent media). It then jumps into the ideals associated with freemasonry. Definitely a great read simply from a historical aspect.

Innovative Thinking

2006-05-16T14:43:00.000-04:00

I had a random thought.... Let me know what you think.

I get sick to my stomach when I think about how much professional athletes get paid. Sure they are entertaining and all but are they vital? Is our entertainment more important than say our health. Does it make sense that the best surgeons only get a fraction of what the best athletes get?

What it came down to is quite simple. These athletes provide a service, one in which they have numerous clients at one time per service. In the case of athletes and say the movies(actors/actresses specifically) there are thousands, potentially millions of customers per service(a movie or event). This brings in a massive amount of income which, in the case of sports, a large portion of the return is handed to the athletes.

How about a new idea that will revolutionize how we see sports and the money around it. I mean currently it is corrupt and sort of dirty. The athletes come across as spoiled and whiny. Here is my idea.

What if I created an athletic team, say baseball. I created in a random state, say IOWA. I told the players that instead of millions they would only get around 400,000 to 500,000. Basically, we would create a team of players that were underpayed(willingly) knowing that they would leave probably to another team at some point but that wouldn't be the point. The point is that this team in IOWA would play pro baseball with all of the other teams. Against players that are making millions. They would get a large stadium and things like jerseys and plane fees and all of that would be paid for like all of the other teams. So what you have is players that in my mind are still overpaid but not as much and generating the same kind of income to the overall team. Now the innovative idea here is to take the millions that would normally go to players, and whatever else the other teams waste their money on and spend it on things that need help in IOWA. So the team has players that are paid more than the average joe, the stadium still gets its fees paid, still have large crowds and competition but all of that excess is pushed to the state that the stadium resides in. So now you have IOWA making millions of dollars from their athletic program. Put that towards roads, schools, and many of the other programs that need it and you have an idea. What is even more interesting is if it would work. What I mean is, if the team was competitive, the players may not be the best but are still good and making an extremely large salary from the average persons perspective and the state and local community reaped the benefits(more than just entertainment), it is hard to believe that other states wouldn't follow suit. Plus if it worked, then if you add multiple professional sports under the same concept and you could potentially generate 100's of millions for any given state. What an amazing thought really. People would still kill for a shot at making 400,000 just to play professional sports.

The catch is that like sports, the government is corrupt. The politicians would find ways to get their hands on the excess and divert it from education or whatever good overall use and aim it at their next pet project. Well, I guess the main point is what if you could prevent them from getting their hands on(like the lottery claims) and produce this massive amount of money for your state or city just by lowering the obvious excessive salaries of most athletes with the reason that you could do a lot of good with that money.

This is the kind of thinking that I wish to see more of. Someone saying "Hey, why is this so obviously wrong. Let's modify this to help out everyone."

Remembering the fans that keep the wind beneath the hurricanes

2006-05-05T13:20:00.000-04:00

If you watch hockey or sports in general, you probably know that the carolina hurricanes have made it past the first round of the playoffs in what has been a great conclusion to their season.

As much as I enjoy going to hockey games, the truth is I rarely see games. Either on television or in person. I'm not sure what it is exactly but I still know a few things that are worth blogging about. With the whole lockdown of hockey, the fans are what brought the hurricanes back to life this season. In fact, I hear that they say that at a lot of the games. Thank you fans for the support. What they mean is "You fans saved our butts". It's no secret that the hurricanes owner lost a bunch of money. What gets me is this. It is the end of a great season. Since they are in the playoffs, they are getting additional cash from the fans. So why turn your backs on the fans that helped bring you back to life? I don't get it. People bought season tickets, paid the big bucks for the first round of the playoffs and how does the hurricanes repay the loyal support of the fans? They triple the ticket value for the next couple of rounds of the playoffs. No bonus or discount is given to the season ticket holders or the people that bought packages to be able to buy playoff tickets. That just plain out disgusts me. So now, you lose your loyal fans and replace them with rich or priveleged fans. I'm not sure this is a rewarding strategy. The hurricanes may actually lose season ticket holders due to the dirty marketing campaign. It seems to me that if they were really as thankful as they had said all season, they would only raise the prices minimally in an effort to keep the same fans in the arena that they have had all year.

How Knowledgable about the World is the United States

2006-05-02T15:39:00.000-04:00

I actually laughed when I read an article on CNN about a recent geography survey of young adults between the ages of 18 and 24.

First of all, read it for yourself here.

Basically, I laughed not because it seemed silly to me, but the opposite. I have always thought it funny that it seems shocking when I say that I think that the majority of people in the united states have no clue about not only geography but politics and pretty much everything else going on in the world. Unless the average american happens across something in their local newspaper or they hear it from a co-worker, chances are you can bet that the average american never knew that event X happened in country Y. Where X is pretty much anything except a major catastrophe and Y is any country other than the US. There are a couple of issues at hand here.

On basic geography:
This one is pretty simple. Teach it. I never learned world geography. I never had to take a quiz on what countries were where. What I know is from what I have read or happened across as a perfect example of an american mentioned earlier. I know it is sad but at least I know a decent amount of geography compared to these people in the survey linked above. Not knowing where louisiana is? That just seems wrong somehow. The thing is, I doubt a lot of americans even leave their state. If you are on the cnn site, take the quiz that goes along with the article. Its only 6 questions. I took it to the younger people at work to see how they did. I only got one wrong but I was curious if the survey would live up to the overall results from the article. Everyone knew where lousiana was, duh. Most people did miss two of the six though. From what I saw, most people didn't know where turkey or iran were. I did see some people not know where new york was. Pretty shocking since everyone here has at least a bachelor's from some college.

The bigger issue.

The hardest issue to fight is getting people to care. Just giving this quiz to people at work, I got responses like "why do I care where places are in europe" and a generally uninterested in the world attitude. Basically, this is the attitude problem with the United States. Lots of people don't have the desire to travel and out of those with the desire its hard to accomplish reaching those destinations. So what does it take? I mean we have troops placed in iraq and a large number of people still don't know where any of the countries associated with the middle east are. Take this principle and add it to countries where we aren't currently at war. Not so hard to understand why there is so little support for those war torn african countries. Hard to want to give support to a place that you can't even picture.

And thats it isn't it. If you don't learn about something, gain knowledge about something, or figure it out. Anything else might as well be just a fictitious story because you don't have a real place to attach it to. Its looking out side of your state, your city, your country, your entire "world" and begin realizing there is just more out there, to enjoy and to worry about I guess.

Nimble Fingers Don't Necessarily Mean Better or Quicker Programming

2006-04-28T11:50:00.000-04:00

If you ever wanted to train someone and you don't necessarily have the software just go to www.nimblefingers.com. Its pretty straight forward. Multiple exercises on typing, how to type, speed and accuracy. We have been letting our data entry people train with this software the last couple of days. They enjoy it. What gets interesting, is when we(the people who have been typing on a computer all of our lives) gave the exercise a try. It became a competition and a learning lesson. Our best programmers didn't necessarily have the top speeds. Most came in around 35 words per minute with a ton of errors. I came in at around 50 words per minute with about 2 errors, which was a far stretch from a couple of the programmers that could reach up in the 80's and 90's with only a few errors. Ultimately, speed doesn't help in my field. Accuracy seems to be more important but with all of different level of reviews including the software we use, errors don't usually happen in large numbers. Data entry, on the other hand, is a different story. Speed means money and the lower the number of errors the less time correcting them and again, time is also money. So go to the site and give it a shot. Its a fun way to take a break without feeling like your slacking from your job.

Having a lunch with my "other" family

2006-04-27T17:11:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure what happened today. It's a thursday, it's raining, no big projects have been completed, and people haven't been working unusually too hard. I guess it is "just because" but our bosses decided to take the entire work "family" out to lunch. Not only out to lunch but to one of the two 5 star restaurants in chapel hill. My work group has never been a good match for nice restaurants. Heck I feel uncomfortable going to a macaroni grill type of place with some of my co-workers. Mostly because it's such a mixed bag. We have people that throw tantrum's when a dish is more complex then just noodles and chicken plain, this mostly comes from a fear to try new foods. My biggest pet peeve is not understanding proper etiquette. I'm not even talking about the correct placement of dinnerware(which personally is important to me). What I am talking about is to freely order anything and everything your heart desires simply because it is on your bosses tab. I have a coworker that starts off every meal with wine, expects an appetizer, moves to an entree, then always gets dessert. That may or may not be a bad thing. The job of an employee is to play follow the leader. If the boss is getting water or generally doesn't specify something alcoholic is okay, stick with water or a soda. If the boss doesn't suggest an appetizer or a dessert then don't get one. These rules are universal and it shocks me that people don't get that. Well maybe nobody ever taught them and they don't feel an ounce of guilt but how does someone else talk to them and say in politer words "hey, you aren't very well mannered" or "hey, you do know that the reason we only eat out together once in a blue moon is because of your habits".

Well let's get back to the main picture. Our work is sort of unique. We made up a group of about 12 people since a few people couldn't make it. The guys always wear button ups or better attire so I wasn't so much worried about them, but our ladies. We certainly could heighten the dress code a little. I'll just say we had some unusual stares at such a nice place coming and going. Still, who cares. Even our more unruly people aren't running around screaming or anything. We are customers and it usually comes down to that. Our seating arrangement is always fascinating. Adults to younger people. Sort of like the adult table and a kiddie table but all on one table. I'm talking more maturity then actual age. Always happens everywhere we go. The conversation seems to move that way as well. Politics, the latest science, to the other end of the table, dating and body shots. This is actually some of the topics discussed at this restaurant today. I was somewhere in the latest science category with my arms situated in both politics and dating. It was an adventure, everyone seemed to play their normal roles. Those that order too much ordered too much again, those that complain about their meals regularly were disrespectful to the wait staff and complained and I enjoyed being both an active participant in the lunch as well as a fly on the wall at the same time. I do wonder sometimes if this is noticeable at other work places. I mean not everyone works for a massive corporation and in a smaller company, <30 people, its pretty obvious how everyone acts. I blogged this in a way to vent my frustration but also to sort of to get a chuckle out of anyone who works with people that follow the same pattern. No doubt this exact pattern exists to some extent in each group, no matter how large the company. I'm sure it applies to way more than just lunch, but thats another blog for another day.

Insane Genious

2006-04-27T08:30:00.000-04:00

I was thinking about all of the amazingly creative people in the world. Truthfully, why are they amazing? I'd wager it's mostly because we are told they are amazing. Honestly, I love art but how about some factual knowledge to go along with our art. Most people like Van Gogh, because they know his name. Maybe thought some of his artwork looked cool or strange but there is a reason for this. In fact, I bet there is a reason for many of these "brilliant" artists. They were a bit crazy. Mainly, I wanted to blog a couple of really interesting facts about Van Gogh that I didn't know and I bet you didn't either but I might as well just briefly touch base on the crazy aspect. It is just amazing to me how so many great artists, composers, writers made their masterpieces out of the absolute insanity and despair they called life. I mean what we are looking at is a visual version of the heartbreak or insanity that these people lived daily. Its curious that we would call them a masterpiece. In fact, one of my all time favorite books is the alchemist which is very much inspiring but read one of the next books in the series and you will find that the author spent years in an insane asylum because his parents thought he should belong there. Make you wonder if that spiritual inspiration is as genuine or coming from the same place you may have originally thought.

Well anyways, a discussion I will reserve for another day. Back to Vincent Van Gogh(truthfully pronounced Ven Gach(like Bach) bet you didn't know that). So how did he lose his ear? Well in 1888, he got into a fight and that evening went to his house("The Yellow House"), cut his ear off, wrapped it up and took it to his favourite brothel where he handed it over as a present to a prostitute. Now that is greatness....Yikes. As for his famous starry night poster. Like the author I mentioned earlier, Vincent was in an insane asylum, once his condition began to stabilize, he was allowed to paint and the famous painting was a result. Inner demons on canvas i'd say.

Something to think about anyway.

American Drop Outs

2006-04-09T18:25:00.000-04:00

I was doing my normal search of the news and I came across an interesting article on high school drop out rates.

Take a read for yourself.

Some interesting points that really stood out to me were as follows:

"Ten years ago," says Shelbyville principal Tom Zobel, "if we had a problem student, the plan was, 'OK, let's figure out how to get rid of this kid.' Now we have to get them help."

"In today's data-happy era of accountability, testing and No Child Left Behind, here is the most astonishing statistic in the whole field of education: an increasing number of researchers are saying that nearly one out of three public high school students won't graduate, not just in Shelbyville but around the nation."

I don't think that school systems ever really moved from the original mentality. I understand that with no child left behind, the teachers are hard pressed to get high numbers through. My guess is that in the extreme cases of poor performance, teachers probably opt to count those students as a failure and cut your loses thus the whole "Let's figure out how to get rid of this kid" statement. My gutt feeling is that there really hasn't been an educated stab at the "How do we give these specific cases help" question. I'd like to hear what a high school teacher does if anything to try and make sure that all of their students get through understanding(not just passing) their subject. Its curious to me what our education system is really trying to do. Is the goal to push students through, this suggests to me that this is the no child left behind approach. This approach, if applied correctly, would yield a large number of average students. Creating less brilliant students and less dropouts. The other approach is sort of a survival of the fittest method which means the most intelligent students would still continue to grow but the weaker students would be passed off as failures. I can say that when I was in high school, it was the survival of the fittest method. This article leads me to think that nothing really has changed. I'm guessing the government or some school adminstration is thinking that one day they will make a switch to the averaging out method.

Other quotes of interest from this article:

"If their grandparents' generation could find a blue-collar niche and prosper, the latest group is immediately relegated to the most punishing sector of the economy, where whatever low-wage jobs haven't yet moved overseas are increasingly filled by even lower-wage immigrants."

"Dropping out of high school today is to your societal health what smoking is to your physical health, an indicator of a host of poor outcomes to follow, from low lifetime earnings to high incarceration rates to a high likelihood that your children will drop out of high school and start the cycle anew."

Maybe we should be passing these facts on to the dropouts. If you were contemplating dropping out and someone presented you with the fact that odds are you were going to bring on the same fate to your children, you might reconsider. Of course as you are talking to the same people that are sucking on a cigarette, they may not fully understand the statements made.

Overall, i'm not sure where my personal stance is here. I imagine a mixture of the two that countries like china are using is probably as good as we can comprehend at the moment for education alone. It is sort of a survival of the fittest but at the same time equal treatment approach. Sort of a tough love. Of coursse that approach would most likely lead to our high schools resembling a disciplinary institution and would have serious ramifications for society in general. Ultimately, like everything else in life, there are too many factors to really understand a set formula for delivering the perfect distribution of graduates. One thing is for sure, no longer can the average high school student consider dropping out and getting a job in blue collar industry, and selling drugs won't support a family or a normal lifestyle. These facts alone should be able to persuade most students.

Some Scripts are better left to the Experts

2006-04-09T17:58:00.000-04:00

My favorite musical has to be In to the Woods. A twisted version of all of our favorite fairy tales. It has been introduced as a performance for anyone who has ever wondered what happens after the the happily ever after. Unfortunately, this performance is rarely shown and I have always wondered why. It is so intelligent and yet we can all relate to it. Why not show it regularly and make it everyones favorite. Well that answer came to me today. I went to see Into the Woods at Meredith College. I figured it may be local but as long as they have guys playing the roles of the princes and there is somewhat of a setting, it can't be that bad. I was wrong. What a difference between professional groups and college level groups. This musical demands very good acting as well as singing and these guys may have had their moments on one or the other but not both. It was so bad in comparison that it made this group look like high school students trying to act older than they are. I was sad to see my favorite go down in flames. What was worse was that I had two people with me that had never seen it before and they potentially came out thinking that the musical itself was bad. Its always hard to tell. All I think is that they had the same thought that I did when choosing this performance. It looks easy to do and seems like a lot of fun for both the actors and the audience. Unfortunately, the skill level was just too high. I'm sure this happens a lot in any type of performing arts. You may see something that looks easy and fun but in reality you are watching something that is difficult, performed by an experienced performer.

Chalk it up to a creative artist..............

2006-04-07T12:41:00.000-04:00

Not all forwards are bad. I enjoyed the work of this sidewalk chalker so much that I thought I would share.

And a "how its done shot"

Not bad for an english professor. The artists name is Julian Beever. Good Stuff.

My Shot at the new NC Lotto

2006-03-30T08:35:00.000-05:00

Well the lotto started in NC today. Some places like raleigh opened at 6:00 others like general RTP locations opened at 6:30. Ultimately it comes down to money in and money out.

I wake up to the radio every morning. Should the world have had some major event while I slept, I would know about it when I was waking up. This morning there was a general question. Have you won anything yet. For the foolish NC people that aren't used to the lottery and think they are going to make a ton of money on a scratch off. Well here is a reality check. It most likely isn't going to and will never happen. Still that won't stop people dropping a 1 - 5 dollars here and there for a chance at doubling their money or maybe beating the 1 in 2 million odds(the actual odds by the way.) of getting the big jackpot. That jackpot being 5,000 dollars generally and on the 5 dollar scratch off a jackpot of 100,000 dollars. There was only a handful of callers this morning to the radio station. The highest amount won(drum roll please...) 150 dollars. Hey that is a huge amount really. It goes against pretty high odds. Ultimately though. It really isn't that much money. If you plan on playing regularly. My advice is take this moment not to play and drop your money in a savings account. You will make more in a year then you will with the lottery. Actual the odds are better of losing all of your money in if you take the lottery approach.

Still, it is fun. Kind of like willy wonka and handing out the golden ticket. In this case, the golden ticket is worth generally about 10 to 15 bucks if your lucky but hey its just a dollar right. I thought I would honor this occasion by buying two tickets. I did my research, chose the two tickets with the best odds(that is the tic-tac-toe game and the 5$ ticket in case you were wondering.). I payed my six dollars, noticed the extremely high boost in the number of people visiting the local gas station and then I went on to work to proceed scratching. I took my time with it because I may have had to face the fact that I would be regretting my six dollar loss come lunch time. As I scratched, I sort of thought to myself. What a waste of money...... My fate was left up to a computer somewhere. Apparently a computer that didn't care if the ticket cost me 1 dollar or 5 dollars. One that wasn't going to allow me even a partial win. After all there were 15 chances to win on one ticket right.

The only people winning here is the government. Hopefully, as promised, the education system will reap the benefits of all of this money. If the highest amount a person is going to win this morning is 150 and literally thousands of people are pooring in 1 to 5 dollars a ticket. Well you do the math. It means tons of cash for someone that would have ordinarily went to the pizza place next to that gas station you just purchased the ticket from. I'm not saying that other businesses are losing out because of the lottery. I am just saying that maybe you should cut back and order one less slice on those lotto days or you just my be shocked to see an unusual dip in your checking account. To the winners out there. Congrats! You may want to stop now while you are ahead or at least until we see where the money ends up before any future donations are given.

Thoughts of the Moment

2006-03-27T08:30:00.000-05:00

To get back into the blog of things I thought I would just jot down some recent thoughts and then hopefully I can get back into posting some good quality posts here soon.

NCAA basketball:
1) I have to admit I was proved wrong. I agreed with the espn analyst that laid into the selection committee chairman on selection sunday. The analyst was upset that missouri valley teams and CAA teams got in but some ACC teams and Big Ten teams did not. I was leaning more towards, why so many big east teams but still I argue a similar point. We were both wrong. Afterall, just look at George Mason(CAA). In the final four and at the moment almost the entire country wants them to win. The ACC teams played decently but didn't really show up. The big east, in my opinion didn't play well at all. Maybe next year you will only see 1 or 2 teams from the "Power" Conferences. I know I won't argue.

2) The New York newspaper writer that posted incredible odds against the smaller teams should have and still should issue an apology. Afterall I bet George Mason had some pretty striking odds against them and if they win it all this guy would look like a chump. Even if mason doesn't win. Most people would see this final four as mostly underdogs(depending on how you view Florida and UCLA).

3) I've never been happier for the underdogs here. These teams deserve to be in the final four. They cared about winning. UCONN and DUKE didn't seem to care at all. I'd love to see LSU or Mason take the final game. Both would make incredible stories.

The Movie Scene:

I actually saw some movies that have been out on video that I wouldn't have seen in the movies. I have some general thoughts on these movies. I saw "The Weatherman". What a crappy movie. Completely Vulgar. It was like a screwed up roller coaster. I mean it was heavy, bad stuff happening to the main character. Actually, so much stuff was happening at a frightening pace that It was really uneasy to watch. Then the only thing you had to look forward to was everything turning towards the positive and well, that is where the rollercoaster derailed. No true positive ending. Just less vulgarity. What a waste of film. I also saw an independent film with Cameron Diaz in it. No idea what it was called. Just happened come across it on the IFC. It was pretty vulgar as well. At least the storyline was able to pull through. It was discussing the period of rebellion that people were going through in europe, before my time.

These movies led me to some basic thought. Cursing and general vulgar conversation is a waste of script in the movies. No doubt that in real life people have entire conversations with the f word used in every sentence. Unfortunately, on film there are two audiences. One audience is who the actor or actress is talking to. The other is the people watching the movie. The vulgarity may fit in with the conversation among characters, but to the audience watching, it looks fake and scripted. As if a regular conversation was spoken then dubbed over with curse words and heavy topics for "added effect". Truthfully, it just comes across as cheap. In the case of the weatherman, there was no acting that could recover and in the independent film, the non-vulgar parts pulled the movie into okay territory. No wonder kids movies are becoming such a big hit for all audiences.

Possibly the movies, are becoming too real. What I mean is the entire basis for which movies were made was to help people either escape everyday reality or to help inform them of events going on that they may be unaware of. Seems to me that movies forgot about the escaping reality part. Especially in these heavy times. If the only place I have to escape to is movies like "Over the Hedge" or a new shrek movie then that is where I will go. Just don't force me to watch brokeback mountain, or some other "Award Winning" classic containing content that I already get overdosed with on a regular basis.

Local Events and Other Stuff:

Lacrosse is winding down in the season and I have managed to watch a couple of classics. Duke vs. UNC. What a fun game to see. UNC came out quick but once things got physical, the team cracked under pressure and duke came from behind not only to win but to win big. Exposing a problem I have seen since moving to NC. That NC style lacrosse doesn't work against bigger teams. When I say NC style I mean a finesse game. Which is actually more of a southern lacrosse thing. Lacrosse is a contact sport. Finesse is required to setup plays and such but when it comes down to it, brute force gets you possessions. Like scrapping for loose balls in basketball. You aren't going to get the ball without a little bit of pushing and shoving. In the duke game, UNC broke down because they were trying to play a contact sport without any contact. Recently, I watched the UNC vs. Maryland game. It was a nasty rainy day and although it showcased one of the nations best teams(Maryland). It wasn't really all that amazing or anything. UNC just was outplayed and then didn't seem to care about trying to win. A lot of this rests on the coach I think. He needs to instill the ability to keep playing. It is what college sports are all about. The constant thought that anything could happen. I saw a beat up and tired team in UNC at the maryland game. They have a future game against a fast virginia team. That should be interesting to see.

UPDATE(3/28/06): I remove any potential praise I may have given the duke lacrosse team. After the recent possible rape and beating at a college party in which none of the players would cooperate with the police as to what happened. I have to say that not only do they deserve to forfeit a few games but at the very least cancel the entire next season for united ignorance.

In another more random topic, the toyota FJ is out today. Its a cool new SUV. Seems to be more practical but still a long ways away from where cars and trucks need to go. Still it may very well be a better buy if you have always wanted a jeep wrangler. Its cheaper in price, stronger, more powerful, and has a ton of room.

Don't hate on Redick

2006-02-07T13:18:00.000-05:00

I know there is an intense rivalry in North Carolina. So much so that people say only positives about their teams and only negatives about their rivals. Heck, you might want to watch what you say when you apply to certain jobs in NC because you may lose out for siding with the wrong team(I'm sure its happened). I can really get caught up in some of the articles written by some of the sports writers. Others are completely boring and their abilities to over analyze everything while not giving an un-biased opinion still amazes me.

Check out this article on J.J. Redick.

If you didn't click because you don't like him then do yourself a favor and read it. If at least for its ability to make you laugh, afterall is was written by a Tarheel fan.

The writer kills me with his constant jabs at duke but its nice to finally hear someone defend Redick a bit. Sure, he does look like the Sith apprentice to Coach K. (There are always two, no more no less). Come to think of it his hair is receding and he is getting paler but none of that earns Redick the constant bad mouthing from people. The article refers to some of the crude things maryland fans are chanting. I just don't get it. Take the blinders off for a moment and realize there is a player in the ACC that is breaking the records and enjoying his time playing the game. This happens very rarely. Redick is good. If carolina, maryland, or any of the other teams had this guy i'd still say the same thing. Hate duke all you want, but give this guy credit. I'll give Hansbrough credit if he has reached or surpassed the same level by his senior year.

No matter what the opinion of Redick is, the rivalry will only get stronger tonight. Should be a fantastic game. These teams are going to give it all they have and finally we are going to see two coaches manage a game similar to that of when Dean Smith was coaching.

Another Bowl Flushed

2006-02-06T12:01:00.000-05:00

I tried to watch the super bowl.......

It was the Steelers and the Seahawks. I figured the steelers were going to destroy the seahawks but what do I know really. I am basing it on the fact that they just seemed tougher and hungrier. Nothing more. What I saw was slop both on and off the field. Lets start it off with the National Anthem. Yikes. Bad. Sounded bad and was sort of like a remix. You just don't remix that. It was just bad. Then there was the first half. A bunch of bad plays influenced by how the refs cared to call the game. I was feeling bad for the seahawks. The refs seemed to want the Steelers to win. The crowd was biased towards the steelers. Basically the entire game was biased towards the steelers. It made the game boring and uneasy to watch. Hey at least there were some good commercials. I was surprised that I recognized most of the ads sponsors. Gotta love the streaking lamb. I was laughing about that for a while. Still the game was rough, that was until I saw the halftime show. Oh man. As an artist, I wonder at what point do you realize the fact that you are over the hill and unattractive to the audience. Could it be when you are performing at the super bowl in front of hundreds of payed off happy fans continuosly jumping in front of you while the thousands behind you sit in boredom with not so much as a smile on their face. Ouch. It seemed like the lead singer had a moment of clarity when he turned to see the entire stadium with a hand full of people showing that they even cared. Then came the second half. A repeat of the first. The refs lead the game and completely influenced its conclusion. Remember, I was assuming the steelers were going to win but there was clearly tons of bias that hurt the seahawks. Well its over now and I can go back to actually interesting games like the Duke v. UNC game tomorrow. Should be a good one.

Bring on the competition

2006-02-06T11:19:00.000-05:00

I have been thinking about the automotive industry lately. I'm not exactly sure why. Maybe its because I have an interest in vehicles in general lately, who knows. I've just been pondering the impact of foreign influence in the general automotive industry. It seems to be more and more obvious that asian automotive giants such as honda and toyota aren't slowing down but are actually gaining momentum. The united states gave up a long time ago on the car competition and tried to stay influenced on trucks alone. This has proved to be a disastrous decision and now there is a great deal of back pedaling by ford and chevy to try and make a good show in the car fields. What is happening is the united states is losing in the car market. They can't compete. The designs aren't appealing, there is no conscious effort to switch to hybrid technology and basically they are just left with stubbornness. This is all something that I had previously thought about.

What I care about now is how does this change or influence the united states job market and what will become of the automotive industry. My response is surprisingly very positive. At first, I was mixed. I thought that personally we all know that honda type vehicles are more reliable and retain their value better than any american cars and it is only a matter of time before the foreign markets make an attractive/functional truck. I already see it with the SUV's and expect it to happen with the massive truck market as well. It seems awfully grim for the US. UNLESS

I haven't been agreeing with the president much for a while but I do agree that the U.S. needs to get back to research. The U.S. can combat this car competition quite easily. It just means that here is our chance to change technologies in vehicles. Provide innovation to an industry that needs it. Big oil companies and car companies have been attached at the hip for the longest time but competition is forcing us to rethink our gameplan. Now seems to be the time come up with a powerful alternate fuel source. Keep up with the current competition but aim to release a vehicle that the rest of the world will need because it runs cheaper than the current vehicles. Ultimately, something like that will launch the competition to a new level and put the ball back in our court. I'm not saying that we should expect solar vehicles but research should be able to come up with something in the modern age.

Looking over the horizon

2006-01-19T17:30:00.000-05:00

The biggest story in the news for me isn't something that is being talked about around the watercooler. To me though, the New Horizons spacecraft and its mission is huge. It is a brilliant scientific achievement that will bring us tons of knowledge about our solar system and most likely will renew how we think about the outer planets. If you haven't heard much about this, take a look at this story.

Basically, you have a spacecraft that is carrying 24 pounds of radioactive plutonium to fuel its photo journey to pluto. This craft will have the ability to move at 47,000 miles per hour(after it has started slingshotting by jupiter with help of gravity). It will have the ability to fly by the moon in 9 hours(The apollo mission took 3 days). The plutonium brought protests along with it. Not surprising really, there was a 1 in 620 chance of an accident that could release plutonium into the environment. Pretty scary stuff. No accident occurred though, and now this speedy camera is on its 10 year journey.

Maybe its a little nerdy of me to get excited about this but I don't care. I'm so impressed by how far science has come. I can't wait to look at the pluto and beyond pictures 10 years from now. It's always nice to see science going to something other than military intentions.

One FLU over the cookoo's nest

2006-01-13T16:49:00.000-05:00

The flu. Arrggghhhh. Every year, I hear about people getting the flu. I usually think they are prolonging what is really a common cold. There is a lady at my work that seems to take a day off(maybe more) at least every week for a "headache" or "upset stomach". I bet if we noted on our calendar each and every time she was sick we would notice the trend to be on a monday or right around a stressful time at work. Previously causing me to believe that she was either having headache's from too much to drink or just smooth talking her way to a free day off. It used to anger me to no end to see someone abuse the system so easily with little to no retaliation. Well, recently she was hit by the real deal. You know, the week long knock out punch. Part of me still pondered the thought of exaggeration. That right there was my downfall. Jinxing myself. It started with a sore throat. I thought, okay o.d. on the vitamin C and take the necessary precautions and keep doing the work thing. Then came the fever. This was borderline. I didn't want to get people at work sick but my parents raised me to keep going to school(now work) no matter what condition. Then came my own knockout punch. Almost completely losing my voice, picking up a >100 degree temp. and still the sore throat. I knew deadlines at work were approaching so the last thing I needed before my upcoming review was a week out sick. I went to the doc and there it was. The ruling, T.K.O. by the flu bug. Of course now I will not give anyone else grief about the flu. After two ibuprofen my temp still stayed in the 100-102 range. There were convulsions from the cold and that nagging sore throat. It was probably the worst experience of my entire life and hey, its still not over. At least i'm on the downside of it now. Able to get the computer is a big deal and then stare at it for more than 2 minutes is nice. So let this be a lesson to you guys. Flu season is coming up. According to my doc, it should be here in the next month or two. So get those immune systems going with Vitamin C and whatever else you know of that works. Even with all of that, i'll throw in a good luck on the top of it all.

Automotive Work

2006-01-09T08:00:00.000-05:00

Well as I had mentioned in a previous blog, this was the weekend where my good friend karl and myself were going to sink or swim when it came to automotive repair. My experience was limited to the basics, oil changes, brake replacement, spark plugs, fan belts, etc. Previously, I had no clue how I would fare when it came to the heavy stuff. Our job was to replace the exhaust manifold on his 96 jeep wrangler. It is certainly intimidating, you pop the hood and you look at an entangled mess of metal piping and sensors and you realize it all had to come out. Not only that but more importantly, it had to go back correctly. It also doesn't help that people at the automotive shop don't know much about the process, which means they take it somewhere to be done.

Against the grain, we started at 8:00 on saturday morning. The job was supposed to take 3 hours for an expert. We assumed it would take all day and maybe even a little extra stuff the next day. I think we assumed correctly for the most part. Once you get looking at it, you realize it isn't so bad. The tricky part is slowly working your way down to the exhaust without doing damage to your sensors, fuel line, or power steering. I'll spare you guys the details but lets just say it wasn't being confused or overwhelmed that slowed down the process but the tedious removal of the impossible to reach bolts. All in all we pulled it all out by lunch and then put it back in before it was dark. Somewhere around 4:30 to 5:00. Considering we took a good hour for coffee and prep and another hour for lunch. I'd say it was about a 6 hour job. There were a few humorous moments with stubborn bolts, strange sounds on the test run but all turned out to be fine and the jeep sounds great. (Not to mention, it will pass inspection next time around).

The most important thing was, it wasn't so bad. For a couple of guys that work in the office on a regular basis and concern ourselves with more theoretical tasks, it was pretty easy. I used to always think of the average auto mechanic as a different type of thinker. Someone that can do stuff that I just don't want to know about, and even the the part was fairly cheap, it was worth the overpaying to have it done right. I still think that is probably true on some level(electrical or deep engine work) but now I see that there isn't much to it and we are only paying for the convenience of laziness. In this case, karl saved 300-400 bucks simply for doing it himself. Sort of like a 40% to 50% off discount. Makes me rethink taking it to the mechanic whenever I hear a rattle or a strange sound.

Everyone got theirs?? Were we watching the same game?

2006-01-05T10:18:00.000-05:00

I wasn't going to post anything about last nights game but after coming into work today and hearing my fellow workers interpretation of the game, I began to wonder if there was some other championship rose bowl game on television that I didn't see.

Here are a few comments I heard this morning about the game as I walked into the door.

"The game was one of the best games I have ever seen"
"It was like a showcase of all of the talent on both teams"
"It worked out perfectly"
and the real reason for me writing this blog

"Vince Young is the best Quarterback ever and Reggie Bush is the best running back ever"

Now come on guys, I have said by share of naive things but that last one is just plain wrong you have to see that.

Let me tell you what I saw last night. Probably two of the most overrated teams in college football play one of the worst performances in the first half of a bowl game in quite some time. Multiple fumbles, horrible team communication, repetitive play calling, and too many missed tackles to count. I'm not aiming at one team. Both played a bad first half. Equally as much I would say. The second half was more like it. Both teams were working hard but there wasn't a sense of hey, this is the championship game, let's give it our all.

Lets work our way through these quotes of the moment from my office and really discuss what happened last night.

"The game was one of the best games I have ever seen"

-Maybe true if you haven't seen too many games. It was dramatic, i'll give you that but I had more fun watching the FSU game or the ohio state game.

"It was like a showcase of all of the talent on both teams"

-This is completely off based in my opinion. The stars of the game were supposed to be Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart, and Vince Young. The press basicly pre-told the nation that USC would win and it would be a blow-out. Reggie Bush had one nice touchdown but hey thats about it. The other running back(Lendale White) was their real powerhouse and the only forward momentum in the running game that they possessed. Matt Leinart didn't do much for me but show that he didn't deserve a heisman and that he hasn't played enough real competition. Then there was Vince Young who not only lived up to the hype but made us wonder with all of his record breaking passing and running, why didn't he win the heisman trophy? I made the politically incorrect statement that maybe he wasn't a good speaker and didn't get the best of looks when I said it but when Vince took the microphone at the end of the game everyone was grinning along side of me as he proved my point by giving a subpar victory speech.

"It worked out perfectly"

-Well what can I say. If you were a USC fan, a close game probably wouldn't even suffice. A texas fan would be loving it all. Depends.

"Vince Young is the best Quarterback ever and Reggie Bush is the best running back ever"

-Clearly, this remains to be seen. Most likely, this is just plain out false. I wasn't impressed by bush and don't admire someone for racking up a lot of good stats against a weak schedule. Don't get me wrong, he is good and definitely pro material. The best however is a pretty far stretch. Vince is a great QB and like the announcer said after the game "I only have two words for you Vince, Go Pro". Well espn guy, I couldn't agree more. He may have said he was coming back but for what. I didn't get the impression the education was paying big benefits. Why not go pro, make the big bucks and become a great one. One last note about Leinart, if he goes pro I give him one hit before he is on the injury list and done.

Was the game what I expected? Not really. The media hype and the stats thrown at us would lead us to believe that USC was an unbeatable machine. They are certainly beatable as we saw last night. Of course maybe it was sloppy from the extra skill and thought that the coaches put into stopping their opponents star players but I think that is doubtful. I liked that texas showed the heart from having an awful first half to keep pushing until the end and pull off the win. It was what college football is all about. Good job mack and crew on getting the longhorns to number one.

My final thoughts about the game are what really got me to be a fan of Texas by the end of the night. I was neutral most of the game but had feelings of compassion for a texas team that got no media hype and was considered losers before the game was played. I couldn't believe the announcers, the press, the BIAS!!! Geez. I think the dialogue exchange between the two movie stars(Will and matthew) told the whole story. Ferrell joked about multiple heismans and a great record but said nothing about what it takes to win a game. That is where McConaughey was correct. I wasn't laughing when he spoke but he spoke about heart and spirit. He was right and that is what Texas had that USC didn't have. What gets under my skin is that the announcers at no point during half time or most of the game mentioned that texas was winning. It was always about USC. Oh, they are a second half team. Even after the game ended, where was the comments from an emotional texas coach or star player. Thats right, there weren't any. None. It was only what happened USC, what did you do wrong. Thats unfortunate because even in victory the USC team is on the front page. I would have much rather have seen the look on the coaches face and heard his thoughts when he knocked out the giant and took his team to the top.

Building and Hoping to Build

2005-12-27T17:17:00.000-05:00

Over Christmas break, I didn't do a ton of exciting stuff. My excitement level wasn't really up to par this year. One thing that I did do that certainly wasn't planned was help my good friend karl with some tune-ups under the hood of his jeep. We(I should really say mostly "HE") replaced the spark plugs and cables. Sure that doesn't seem like much but remember, I work for a living in a office using my hands and brain for statistical design and computer programming. I can do the basics of keeping my car running that my dad taught me but I certainly don't have a clue what most things under the hood of a vehicle do and why. I previously never had an interest but I have to say that the recent prjoect was a great deal of fun. There is just something about getting into something that you have no clue about and realizing that its really not all that bad. Of course those were just the spark plugs. Next week we are replacing the exhaust manifold. We discussed the idea(10 years from now) of buying those old jeep kits that the army used to get. Basically a box with all the parts needed and a do it yourself manual. An idea that I wouldn't even humor up until now and I have to admit it not only sounds doable but a ton of fun.

Delayed Shopping

2005-12-24T10:08:00.000-05:00

I was looking at the news this morning and I came across this article that pretty much reflects how I feel about this holiday shopping season.

I guess those research groups and their surveys do hit the nail on the head occasionally. This shopping season for me has been unlike any other I have had in the past. I know the malls were putting up holiday decorations and playing festive music since halloween ended but up to this point(christmas eve), I feel like christmas has either passed already or is months away. For a while there, I wondered if I was just getting too wrapped up in work, but I hear that from lots of people(including the above artice). It occurs to me now that many other people are like me this year. Its not that I haven't been to the malls about a hundred times already but there just isn't anything new. All the "new" gifts are attachments for the apple ipod. A device that I think one person I know owns. Otherwise it is the same "stuff" from two to three years ago. Doesn't surprise me that the people in the article are getting gift cards. Thats what I sent and have received. I noticed in the article that nobody mentioned their budgets being tighter than usual. Mine isn't either. Just nothing much to buy out there. The thing that makes me laugh sometimes is that it might seem silly that so many people are into video games and techno-geekish stuff like computers and dvd players but sometimes it seems that these are the items that keep the money moving around the holidays. I never hear someone say that The GAP really saved the holiday buying season or any individual store but you do hear that walmart did or best buy did. Maybe that is why I like to buy the techno gifts. They usually serve as a toy, useful accessory, and even the gift cards will be used quickly and fully.

And for those people that don't enjoy the techno gifts as much I am off. To buy gift cards and stare aimlessly at the stores I have already browsed while getting elbow dropped and clipped by kids and soccer moms with attack strollers. To really feel that festive feeling, you know what I mean.

There is always a catch

2005-12-14T16:31:00.000-05:00

I was foolish.....

I took a little too much pleasure in the fact that I wasn't receiving calls from sales people trying to scam my money away. Most people put their name on the "Do Not Call" list because they didn't want to be interrupted after a long day or they didn't wanted to be bothered at the dinner table. Not me, I didn't like the guilt. The guilt that came with actually listening to their how prepared speech only for me to say the classic "No Thanks, I'm not interested". I thought I was safe but then came "the catch". There is always a catch. For cell phone users, it is that people would call to sell something via cell phone(not regulated by the do not call list) and had to pay money for the incoming call. I was safe there, I don't usually have a working cell phone and when I do it is a pay as you go phone(not targeted by sales people). The catch for me was even worse than the sales people. It started with surveys which I happily answered the many questions. Then the real problems began. Tons and tons of charities. Every night I get a call from a different charity. Funny how it is always the same person with the same screaming children in the background but it is always a different charity. Now i'm back to the guilt stage but more grown up. I pick up the phone and if I hear a pause before someone says anything, I just hang up. I know, its sad but hey thats life. These people are loop hole finders they will come for your money using anything as a guise. I give plenty of money to plenty of people every chance I get. No need to have them come collecting.

While i'm at it though, I think i'll ponder the question of why is it that upon seeing beggars risk their lives at busy intersections(which I think should be against the law), local churches bring along buckets with pictures that we really can't see and stick them up to the window of your car for a little bit of extra cash. They aren't like the beggars, they actually get in the way of the cars. I even saw a guy put his hand up as if his personal hand (and bucket) was more influential than the green light above him. Maybe he had good intentions but if I were a cop, i'd drop a fine in his bucket and keep on moving.

I could be worse I suppose......

A Feasible Solution for a Not So Hidden Problem

2005-12-02T12:27:00.000-05:00

In collegiate athletics things have changed quite a bit. The public no longer is in denial about the fact that schools will recruit students solely based on athletic ability with little to no influence placed on that students academic abilities. We all see it. Basketball, Football, and Baseball athletes being given a free ride in exchange for their contribution to helping the school bring in fans and keeping their particular sport alive and well.

What I am curious about is why is it that the schools are still trying to hide this fact? If you think that they don't then answer me this. Why is it that all of these big name stars are majoring in communications. Why are athletes grouped into dumbed down classes where they are given passing grades? That aspect is no secret to the public either.

I present a possible solution that can only yield benefits and little to no conflicts that don't already exist. Why don't schools offer athletic oriented degrees. Bear with me now, i'm not joking. Instead of trying to pretend that your star QB is the master basket weaver. Why not offer him a real education in what he is interested in. If colleges would offer an entire degree around the history of, influence of, and future of sports, most of the athletes that don't care about school might learn something other than how to shoot a foul shot consistently. This would not just be interesting facts about sports but could offer alternative job options should their athletic careers not be as successful as others. How about classes in sports broadcasting, sports marketing, stats, coaching. All of these are jobs that most athletes that don't make the pros find themselves in at least now they would be prepared in advance. I think that this option might help athletes that are unsure about the draft stay in college and get a degree. Even athletes that are an instant in for the pros might find a deeper connection to their universities and stay or at the very least increase their odds of returning for a degree.

Ultimately, I think college is where a student should pursue their interests. If you are an athlete however, there are few athletic degrees that are respected and the students are generally forced into a program where they are uninterested. Heck if I went to school interested in math and statistics and I was only offered an abundance of classes on artistic talent, I might head for my own version of the pros early as well.

First impressions of the XBOX 360 vs. PS3 Comp.

2005-11-29T08:54:00.000-05:00

The Xbox 360 was released a few days ago. I gave it some time before going to best buy to check the game selection and the graphics out without feeling like the mega geeks that waited in line to buy an overly expensive system. A lot of what I found was that microsoft has learned little from their past mistakes but that might not matter this go around.

Basicly, to stay competitive in the video game market, leaders in industry must release an entirely new system to stay on top about once every four years. Of course Sony has been the leader of the console war thus far. The PS1 was far superior then any other system at the time. Then the PS2 was the same until the Xbox came out. Xbox almost went under, but games like Halo, Fable, and Xbox only games single handedly brought it back to life. The PS2 still reigns supreme up to this point with higher sales and more games but is starting to lose its grip as the new generation of players is more interested in online play.

So with this history of gaming consoles in mind what do I think about the new systems? Well honestly, as mentioned above, microsoft hasn't learned much. They did manage to change the design of the ugly Xbox up a little and the Xbox 360 looks a little better. The control is more form fitting but still a little clunky with buttons put in strange places across the controller. I think that as long as the PS3 keeps the same or similar controller they should still be superior in realm of comfort. As for the good stuff. Well this is where microsoft hasn't learned. They should have realized that Sony has been so successful because they release big names at the beginning to get people interested and to show off some of the potential of the new system. I think I saw one or two games out that were solely for the Xbox 360. This means that those two games are the only two that could have the ability to access the power of the new system. Unfortunately they don't and when playing any of the other games offered, the look is almost the exact same as the original Xbox or the PS2. So really, there is no incentive to buy an Xbox 360 around christmas. No new "good" games will be out until next year some time. Where the 360 excels is online. They are offering an online marketplace that interacts with Microsoft IM. That means you can talk to friends, buy new games, and play new games(even watch demos) all online without having to leave your living room. Although this means even more over weight children(and adults), this means mega sales for Microsoft once it gets going(Next year sometime). I fully expect Sony to attempt some sort of online marketplace of their own while they are waiting to release their console. A major weakness(only for long time gamers) is that the Xbox 360 is quasi backward compatible. If you want to play your old xbox games, you will first need to buy the more expensive console(400$) the 300$ version supports no older games. Then you need to check that your game is one of the 100-300 games that are on the list. This means don't go selling your old system for the new one just yet. The PS3 will be completely compatible with both the PS1 and PS2 so feel free to toss the old systems when the new one comes out.

So how does the release influence the competition among Microsoft and Sony. Well the answer is unclear but one thing is for sure, Sony will take a beating from this. Purely from a financial aspect, having no competition out during peak portions of the year will make a big impact financially. Will it sway all of those PS users to the Xbox. I doubt it. Microsoft won't have any decent games out for most of the next year so i'd say that as long as Sony gets their system out with a few decent games by next Summer and maybe even by next christmas, they will still regain supremacy. The reason is that sony just performs better. It is faster. It has a larger supply of games that are only for the PS(prime example is Final Fantasy). Heck if they could just come out with a Halo game, then they could easily put the XBOX 360 under.
The main question is when. Sony doesn't seem concerned about a release date. There are even rumors of a new system coming out in 2007. If sony waits that long, then they could easily not only lose their edge but their following and that would not only devastate the Playstation aspect but the entire corporation as they rely heavily on the video game industry. Sony is good but not that good. If Microsoft is smart, they would flood the market with a variety of games in an attempt to develop an Xbox only hit like halo. If they can pick up a few more title like that, their popularity would definitely increase. Afterall, no matter how much these consoles are directed at being the center of attention in the average living room, they are still gaming machines with the main influence being the games.

Basically, XBOX 360 is out. They have showed their hand and should be currently working on developing a large supply of games to flood the market. PS3 has the time to work out the kinks and with the 360 being out, they can better their system to hit any flaws the xbox may have. The important thing is without a system out there means no games. No one is going to believe that in the time frame of an entire year, the PS2 will stand up to the 360. That is ridiculous. Nintendo made that mistake already and look at them now. Barely holding on to the childrens game market.

Do You Ever Get the Feeling It Is You

2005-11-22T19:36:00.000-05:00

I have that feeling. What I mean is sometimes I can't help but get the feeling that the planets have aligned to unite be behind one type of good or bad luck. Currently it is bad for me. Oh and it is auto related. Not the normal car broke down and I need to get it fixed. No, the last two days I have found myself hoping just to make it home time and time again. Apparently it isn't just me but people around me. Caitrin was just hit by a car. Walking down the street and a papa johns driver just bumps her. The jerk. Of course she was fine. Then this evening i'm heading to check on the folks place and bang a deer jumps out in front of me and i'm two seconds away from flipping my jeep. Almost did too. Hit that deer square on and then just held on for my life as my jeep tried its best to roll. Calmed my senses then fought traffic on the way home. Had a near collision with someone who didn't want to wait in the turn lane anymore and thought it best to turn their already beaten up vehicle in front of me about 6 feet away. Unlike the deer, I dodged last second and once again prayed for the best. Thank god the idiot stopped. I may have had more than just a deers life to worry about. Then I think, this is a great blog as I pull into my apartment complex. I hear this horrible noise and look over to see my neighbor pulling up with their muffler dragging on the ground. I sort of just stood there in disbelief. All I can say is be safe everyone over thanksgiving. Seems like its the things we can't control that are out in full force.

Non-traditional Thoughts for Thanksgiving

2005-11-21T12:54:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving is almost upon us and although I will save the "What are you thankful for" questions for thanksgiving day. I was searching the web over the weekend and found some "other" interesting thoughts about and regarding thanksgiving.

First off, what is the point of basting? I never really thought about it but really, what is the point. The skin of the turkey is made to keep moisture out so why is basting supposed to make the meat more moist? In fact, most articles I read say basting is bad because not only does the juices not make a difference in how moist your meat is but it also messes with the cooking (both general and time to) because one must frequently open the door and lower the oven temperature.

More did you know:

"Thanksgiving was a centuries-old tradition held by most cultures around the world. After the autumn harvest, communities held 3-day-long feasts, sharing meat, bread and beer. Today, Thanksgiving is known best as an US public holiday."

Hmmmm 3 day long feasts with meat bread and beer. I think we celebrate the non-US thanksgiving today more than the traditional US thanksgiving.

On a more serious side of things:

Some final thoughts, come from a member of the Wampanoags. The "Indian" half of the first thanksgiving. We know of how the Pilgrims were starving and living in bad conditions and how the indians helped them to cultivate and live off of the land but we don't always like to take in the full picture.

"Today is a time of celebrating for you -- a time of looking back to the first days of white people in America. But it is not a time of celebrating for me. It is with a heavy heart that I look back upon what happened to my People. When the Pilgrims arrived, we, the Wampanoags, welcomed them with open arms, little knowing that it was the beginning of the end. That before 50 years were to pass, the Wampanoag would no longer be a tribe. That we and other Indians living near the settlers would be killed by their guns or dead from diseases that we caught from them. Let us always remember, the Indian is and was just as human as the white people. Although our way of life is almost gone, we, the Wampanoags, still walk the lands of Massachusetts. What has happened cannot be changed. But today we work toward a better America, a more Indian America where people and nature once again are important."