tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8333816883172604962024-03-07T07:35:14.859-04:00Advice on herding catsThe life and musings of a sometimes entertaining... personMobilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09515691945037984686noreply@blogger.comBlogger71125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833381688317260496.post-27951222694636578012010-10-10T22:36:00.010-04:002010-10-10T22:44:43.672-04:00Fall Break 2010: Utah Adventure - Day 4 #2 (I wear my sunglasses at night)I have more pics to share, these ones are of the Salt Lake Valley at night. My camera (and my camera phone) aren't great, but I hope it gets the idea across of how cool the lights look.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVnj7kji20-3JvDgr2l9852UW8KH_haN3E2cdthVwzaY8EQOEAI8gvs-HfUZCAYeQaeYPcQPCPS7WCh039dBDXsdPjWZuVsDfHTQ-0bTEsb713_rTqeUrzNdj3u_bon6Uo6TiNTafvpIs/s1600/Photo0108.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 669px; height: 162px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVnj7kji20-3JvDgr2l9852UW8KH_haN3E2cdthVwzaY8EQOEAI8gvs-HfUZCAYeQaeYPcQPCPS7WCh039dBDXsdPjWZuVsDfHTQ-0bTEsb713_rTqeUrzNdj3u_bon6Uo6TiNTafvpIs/s400/Photo0108.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5526612084476978146" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFvRwQECYWue8BaU01iU3FVY2Ce_22DMC6qxEXT_KaJNIuV5pPAD8cM5Py8CKwPPwgwP-G3UJnZ2nZCYbpRrJdWAeCUHwJ_niDtvdluMFYutP983vT8ij-7tfiVeFxxt5h1pWPUcVtZ9k/s1600/Photo0111.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 663px; height: 496px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFvRwQECYWue8BaU01iU3FVY2Ce_22DMC6qxEXT_KaJNIuV5pPAD8cM5Py8CKwPPwgwP-G3UJnZ2nZCYbpRrJdWAeCUHwJ_niDtvdluMFYutP983vT8ij-7tfiVeFxxt5h1pWPUcVtZ9k/s400/Photo0111.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5526612236543010210" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9ZYyHJAB4i6Qx5R0KCNtF-1cqM_Wd3ELlQesiTObZRcQE64KB1EorlS7PIDh3paUTBfpHHHZgZCVHCSoTB7eq2gEDTjABe4hRJCXtcV2kiRcLhDM-CKpyMaSMjfEz5BbEcmQmv74G5aQ/s1600/100_1179.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 660px; height: 494px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9ZYyHJAB4i6Qx5R0KCNtF-1cqM_Wd3ELlQesiTObZRcQE64KB1EorlS7PIDh3paUTBfpHHHZgZCVHCSoTB7eq2gEDTjABe4hRJCXtcV2kiRcLhDM-CKpyMaSMjfEz5BbEcmQmv74G5aQ/s400/100_1179.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5526612528549213746" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I really like how the clouds show up in these pictures<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1TOYOFDFu-JnDLDKubm6vP4NAaM3B25GNTDpWIOa8o4LveSlGvX9nQhUWLnJD1z27MhS3nnK8uMWTg53-JN7V14lVP81g2bZsYJtOztkJZAaaGg0yqeYtZU6sI6HSfjJr7fiDNjgF98s/s1600/100_1180.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 655px; height: 432px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1TOYOFDFu-JnDLDKubm6vP4NAaM3B25GNTDpWIOa8o4LveSlGvX9nQhUWLnJD1z27MhS3nnK8uMWTg53-JN7V14lVP81g2bZsYJtOztkJZAaaGg0yqeYtZU6sI6HSfjJr7fiDNjgF98s/s400/100_1180.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5526612847963381538" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgygASxetk1lzbT9VDBZaZBaR19INPLsrgFFB4ejni40ODc1JvlvoBG15u2O7SQKK1N8dthes4DPh63BFBUAmugDFL_-SnS8f675MlnUZtr78-6B4VoxKG0vMl-LC-RCPo-RJX5x0rhlRc/s1600/100_1184.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 654px; height: 489px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgygASxetk1lzbT9VDBZaZBaR19INPLsrgFFB4ejni40ODc1JvlvoBG15u2O7SQKK1N8dthes4DPh63BFBUAmugDFL_-SnS8f675MlnUZtr78-6B4VoxKG0vMl-LC-RCPo-RJX5x0rhlRc/s400/100_1184.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5526613303705383122" border="0" /></a><br /><br />If I do this again I definitely need to get a tripod. The shutter speed is so slow for these that it's impossible to hold the camera still long enough.Mobilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09515691945037984686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833381688317260496.post-15234731667705016692010-10-10T21:57:00.013-04:002010-10-10T22:23:33.105-04:00Fall Break 2010: Utah Adventure - Day 4So much for updating this business every day. Anyhow, I'm winding down my fourth day here, only a few more to go before I head back to Raleighwood. I don't have anything interesting to say, so instead I'll share some of the sweet pics of the Salt Lake Valley I've taken.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip5B440CqU0vhuhnykacHt2YdMlRHlCJmQEbpbbxNETwpk8mb9qWG3fvoRq-0PdqV_0hC4PJaZ741xVGKRcUyG7c1Iwe2AGqZv2-23mm7g-hQOgnciQM348AuPpvWc-BDLayezmY-k-gU/s1600/Photo0094.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 651px; height: 165px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip5B440CqU0vhuhnykacHt2YdMlRHlCJmQEbpbbxNETwpk8mb9qWG3fvoRq-0PdqV_0hC4PJaZ741xVGKRcUyG7c1Iwe2AGqZv2-23mm7g-hQOgnciQM348AuPpvWc-BDLayezmY-k-gU/s400/Photo0094.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5526602872456506162" border="0" /></a><br /><br />View of the Oquirrh Mountains (pronounced "ochre" for my non SL friends) from the east side.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLNw-dckFoSJbGD7KJOkbMiqAy0WFUHVG_W38EGIGqRfymsiTNRUQb2jj1kJAZ2868Aj-Jm6gSKdQ7qb5_zyV3_11uPPL9QscGQiUPrhnU3-1ZbQJGCTsvYbb6AsoW9rr-mjGp8nhbTq4/s1600/Photo0096.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 653px; height: 138px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLNw-dckFoSJbGD7KJOkbMiqAy0WFUHVG_W38EGIGqRfymsiTNRUQb2jj1kJAZ2868Aj-Jm6gSKdQ7qb5_zyV3_11uPPL9QscGQiUPrhnU3-1ZbQJGCTsvYbb6AsoW9rr-mjGp8nhbTq4/s400/Photo0096.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5526603549215198114" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Same view as before, this time using the panoramic picture feature on my phone<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIz0t7aKdNQg6aQOnsN2l45_exKqiF8ySS6c1vj7RrXl2qYl6O8epIEgi_WJeqNtfCgHJ6A1Qg9Kppc55O2t2SB-2WiCDwQCysRZzjSCPrOKLdxf5bZEZuVRuQ7SuDd49hf1YQQO8yVtU/s1600/Photo0097.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 651px; height: 118px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIz0t7aKdNQg6aQOnsN2l45_exKqiF8ySS6c1vj7RrXl2qYl6O8epIEgi_WJeqNtfCgHJ6A1Qg9Kppc55O2t2SB-2WiCDwQCysRZzjSCPrOKLdxf5bZEZuVRuQ7SuDd49hf1YQQO8yVtU/s400/Photo0097.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5526604508184955698" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Wasatch Mountains to the East, they don't look as big because I was already partway up the damn thing anyway.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaIZKvveA_nR0Jh_ezePi5rUMmmHLVQPCCR3haEH8OO_uPM6OkFNAHHr6b2iPddkl2eY3c7ulo-_Ra4phyQzbP1VIfT6vJh2_-qy4JgZdLK4XtFYxQtUKu0KqZ3kIEo83SesXtsNzO9_M/s1600/Photo0104.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 651px; height: 249px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaIZKvveA_nR0Jh_ezePi5rUMmmHLVQPCCR3haEH8OO_uPM6OkFNAHHr6b2iPddkl2eY3c7ulo-_Ra4phyQzbP1VIfT6vJh2_-qy4JgZdLK4XtFYxQtUKu0KqZ3kIEo83SesXtsNzO9_M/s400/Photo0104.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5526605070035365730" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I want to say the peak on the left is Mount Olympus, but I honestly have no idea.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSqrpaVqV0IIjKDCjVs3cwKrI6M0kbMf1_phBkpFW7y8GQJHhRpm58nFR1KMaGmJBEUvTy2T1IXU2rgODqNBnEuMmRptAfZUQPx7L_VJcbfs4M0ir7wE_IcBG0JlxSHvouPvGfSAxHPaI/s1600/Photo0105.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 648px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSqrpaVqV0IIjKDCjVs3cwKrI6M0kbMf1_phBkpFW7y8GQJHhRpm58nFR1KMaGmJBEUvTy2T1IXU2rgODqNBnEuMmRptAfZUQPx7L_VJcbfs4M0ir7wE_IcBG0JlxSHvouPvGfSAxHPaI/s400/Photo0105.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5526605358570412434" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The southern end of the Oquirrh's<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCwiL6NJaInvqhrtsnogHecbqAP7YB0XbwBvg1EniiLHiClrl5l6mJmj8NcK8yWd1-CB5tgzLA82fGZt5rlVhmIV7kd935riKnZ1HdB7KP_e95PMJqr8Ar4KizL9cKXV8k00pPsADQI3A/s1600/100_1171.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 646px; height: 340px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCwiL6NJaInvqhrtsnogHecbqAP7YB0XbwBvg1EniiLHiClrl5l6mJmj8NcK8yWd1-CB5tgzLA82fGZt5rlVhmIV7kd935riKnZ1HdB7KP_e95PMJqr8Ar4KizL9cKXV8k00pPsADQI3A/s400/100_1171.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5526605739779062178" border="0" /></a><br /><br />It's kind of tough to see, but that's a view of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bingham_Canyon_Mine">Bingham Canyon Mine</a>. Near where I grew up.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_xoaVdknLhp95K16BCv_HwhQZqS8QeAm2Nnm0M8kKwLSOwvOWIGKeOzbexzUfFD7G5oTs8f7mPpB1cTzN2VjT0VQdemN4kcH6BKY2bF1tWb74fwnj5BCKEPZtjwJa80-qurINBcAB6B8/s1600/100_1173.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 625px; height: 468px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_xoaVdknLhp95K16BCv_HwhQZqS8QeAm2Nnm0M8kKwLSOwvOWIGKeOzbexzUfFD7G5oTs8f7mPpB1cTzN2VjT0VQdemN4kcH6BKY2bF1tWb74fwnj5BCKEPZtjwJa80-qurINBcAB6B8/s400/100_1173.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5526606258546854738" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Downtown Salt Lake City, not a whole lot to it.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPCROBiYA29nqSCNeda5qUvhbUtPranm5Bvm93CJiYWXkK5PagVNaPeAJSH6PJpFCnEIBDtXRD6DLh0ou-ylrm_HZlxBCPaTr4LDjS9ghBcdf6UNDv6FcEvDc9f7y-R9X7d4wg-TkOV2E/s1600/100_1174.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 633px; height: 395px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPCROBiYA29nqSCNeda5qUvhbUtPranm5Bvm93CJiYWXkK5PagVNaPeAJSH6PJpFCnEIBDtXRD6DLh0ou-ylrm_HZlxBCPaTr4LDjS9ghBcdf6UNDv6FcEvDc9f7y-R9X7d4wg-TkOV2E/s400/100_1174.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5526606655807806722" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Mount Olympus (I think?) and rich people's houses.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4ef9TcoQcLaEi0Ij0BEzBPcBTZIMKWYrSlvTcxVuNQmrlt1ZI2v8iiCNyOPSsObNb3lUwXpuL6qw-_d22k20JjezJrGNV3eh2OBulUUaMtf-j5jwO3NIMaLjvuoYbKYno1A9DPGWL5Jo/s1600/100_1175.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 624px; height: 179px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4ef9TcoQcLaEi0Ij0BEzBPcBTZIMKWYrSlvTcxVuNQmrlt1ZI2v8iiCNyOPSsObNb3lUwXpuL6qw-_d22k20JjezJrGNV3eh2OBulUUaMtf-j5jwO3NIMaLjvuoYbKYno1A9DPGWL5Jo/s400/100_1175.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5526606938287700194" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Again, no idea which mountain this is... Loan Peak? Not sure.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj34ZGGD4VefG3XZdP-HAWrOn_Md8r8gSRbGawSWAdicLeyqQ7Y5sxVYqwamAouHc9XW8tql6thXg33fv0d-saZ_KxWLZqk00EMu7x8bm-UVbD8YPmG1j6Mh15_LAEOmcEi1ACJVqUjQPI/s1600/100_1177.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 649px; height: 486px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj34ZGGD4VefG3XZdP-HAWrOn_Md8r8gSRbGawSWAdicLeyqQ7Y5sxVYqwamAouHc9XW8tql6thXg33fv0d-saZ_KxWLZqk00EMu7x8bm-UVbD8YPmG1j6Mh15_LAEOmcEi1ACJVqUjQPI/s400/100_1177.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5526607252852309234" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Another view of the copper mine.<br /><br />As you can see I went kinda crazy with the mountain pictures. I'm always bragging about Utah's mountains to my NC friends, so I thought I'd show them what I'm talking about for once. My amateur photography skills don't quite do it justice, and they look completely different when the snow season starts, but I still think they're pretty awesome.Mobilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09515691945037984686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833381688317260496.post-46713728089036411852010-10-06T12:43:00.003-04:002010-10-06T12:54:06.755-04:00Fall Break 2010: Utah Adventure - ForewardSo I'll be leaving for the airport in about an hour. I spent last night at home doing laundry and packing, since then I've unpacked, and now I'm roughly half-packed for my trip. Just gotta stuff the rest of my crap on my carry-on and I'm good to go.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXh2QdwFwVHFiheOOa_BNy4wgUrvEETyXye-haHrqiawhjScQ1TvAEXllfHFcXjEUJlYqDT1_9a3wueOoDN13-3_UrBVCHqBwfssbxUgOIOLQsK5uY4FcVy3WNEHETNVIdD-kLLl9d28A/s1600/Photo0071.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXh2QdwFwVHFiheOOa_BNy4wgUrvEETyXye-haHrqiawhjScQ1TvAEXllfHFcXjEUJlYqDT1_9a3wueOoDN13-3_UrBVCHqBwfssbxUgOIOLQsK5uY4FcVy3WNEHETNVIdD-kLLl9d28A/s400/Photo0071.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524976020758352018" border="0" /></a><br /><br />After moving to Raleigh four years ago it's seemed like I'm in a completely different world that Salt Lake, and it warps my mind a little bit to think that in about twelve hours I'll go from strolling to class through the Court of Carolinas (pictured above) to spending time with some old friends in Utah. I know, that's the miracle of air travel, but I don't make the trip often so when I do it makes these two worlds feel awful close.Mobilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09515691945037984686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833381688317260496.post-49341185702874274482010-09-20T10:10:00.004-04:002010-09-20T10:46:26.403-04:00Obscure Band NamesToday in the shower I started thinking about obscure band names, yes, these are the things I think about while getting ready to attack my day with optimism. I started thinking up some good ones, good enough I thought I'd share. If you're an obscure, better-than-average band, and you end up using one of these, just put me in the "thanks" section of your cd-book-thing when you get famous, or name a song after me, that's all I ask.<br /><br />Anyhow, here goes:<br /><br />Not Quite Ikea<br />Optimistic Lemmings<br />Accidental Lepers<br />Redundant Repeaters<br />Diesel-Powered Welcome Wagon<br />Pessimistic Peon<br />Accidental Optimists<br />Affluent Marxists<br />Advantageous Salad<br />Viva la Ensalada!<br />Shallow Gravitas<br />Onomatopeons<br />Fourth-Line Goons<br />Malicious Linguists<br />Accidental Trendsetters<br />Reluctant Rainwater<br />Sunburnt Viking<br /><br />You're welcome, I'll probably come up with more of these as the day goes on. Can you think of any? Share them here!Mobilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09515691945037984686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833381688317260496.post-25032026656791506112010-05-26T08:04:00.000-04:002010-05-26T08:04:01.042-04:00Adopt-A-Team 2010, Part 0 (aka, The Ground Rules)I apologize to both of my readers for the delay in getting this Adopt-A-Team project rolling. The last few weeks have been full of packing, moving, unpacking, cleaning, throwing stuff away, laundry, napping, etc. But I did jot down a few ideas on how I'm going to do this thing, unfortunately the notepad I jotted on didn't survive the move, so I had to start over. Here's what I'm thinkin':<br /><br />First off, if I'm going to pick a new favorite team, I need to set aside my biases and consider all 30 clubs on a relatively even playing field. So yes, I'll devote a post to Mr. Steinbrenner's club, even though pinstripes make me queasy.<br /><br />Also, I'm going to try and make my analysis consistent by using a basic set of criteria to compare each team by. Of course I'll probably deviate wildly from time to time, but at least I'll have some sort of direction to start. I'm thinking I'll cover the aesthetics such as the team name, logo, mascot (if applicable), their uniforms and color scheme, and their ballpark. Then I'm thinking I'll look into the history of the club (aka the "Tradition"), the city they play in, the current team as it is now, their prospects for the future and then whatever else I feel like throwing in there.<br /><br />Yes, I know, I'm a dork.<br /><br />So that's how I plan on attacking this bad boy, I'll pick the teams randomly and start the fun before the end of the week (hopefully).Mobilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09515691945037984686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833381688317260496.post-38965080285110166402010-05-02T01:05:00.006-04:002010-05-03T18:27:53.735-04:00I have no dog in this fight (The beginning of my search for a new favorite team)I love me some baseball<br /><br />It was definitely my first love when it came to sports. It was the first game I learned to play, and more importantly it was the first -and really, only- game I was ever really good at. I set the Hunter Elementary 6th Grade Softball Tournament record with 15 home runs, in <span style="font-style: italic;">eight</span> games! At twelve years old I was the best player in the neighborhood. Unfortunately I hit my peak at fourteen, after which I decided it was more fun to be a shithead than a ballplayer and spent the next two years being grounded for one reason or another, and thus not being allowed to keep playing little league. By the time I stopped antagonizing my parents at 15 and tried out for my high school team the pitchers went from throwing 60 mph to the mid-70's, and the pitches moved in ways I'd never seen before. I went from hitting line drives in the gap to foul tips in the catchers mitt, and that spelled the end of my baseball career.<br /><br />So while I wasn't destined to play the game, I still love watching it and keeping up with the goings-on, but growing up in Utah meant I didn't have the luxury of a natural home-town team. Salt Lake City is 500+ miles from Denver, and slightly further from Phoenix and any of the California teams. My first favorite player was Mike Piazza, mostly because he was a bad ass and played my favorite position, catcher (because they get to wear all that cool gear) and he could hit the ball a freakin' mile, so at first I gravitated toward liking the Dodgers. It helped that the guy my mom married around that same time grew up in L.A., but that all came apart the first time I actually went to the "City of Angels" I cried for half the flight as the change in air pressure made my head feel like it was going to explode, and my experience got only slightly better once we finally landed. The first thing I remember seeing was all the smog, it was a concrete jungle, and the people were assholes and drove like it, too. Disney Land was crowded as hell and then there was <span style="font-style: italic;">all that smog</span>. I fell out of like with that city in less than a week, I've been back a handful of times since and my opinion of the place hasn't changed. Oh yeah, then the Dodgers shipped Piazza to the Marlins (who then slung him over to the Mets a week later). After that I've regarded the boys in blue with mere ambivalence.<br /><br />After that I kind of floated around, we had a AAA team in Salt Lake, the Buzz were an affiliate of the Twins at the time, who had an awesome farm system which allowed me to watch players such as LaTroy Hawkins, Todd Walker, A.J. Pierzinski and David Ortiz before they moved up to the bigs. Then later when the Angels became the affiliate I got to see the likes of David Eckstein, Chone Figgins and John Lackey suit 'em up. Still though, I never felt much for the Twins or Halos, they were too far away, and never showed up on TV.<br /><br />Speaking of TV, I watched more than my share of Cubs and Braves games on WGN and TBS, respectively. I developed something of an affinity for the Cubbies, Wrigley Field is an awesome venue, and they played games in the daytime, and Mark Grace was an awesome defensive first-baseman (which is what I was playing in little league at the time) but I never made the leap to claim them as my team. As for the Braves, their fate was sealed during my time as a Dodgers fan, when the two teams faced off (one of the few times I got to watch the Dodgers on tv since TBS was really good at covering almost every Braves game back then) the Braves always beat the crap out of the Dodgers, I appreciated the all-around talent of Chipper Jones, but their embarrassment of my favorite club left a sour taste that never really went away, even after the Dodgers fell out of favor.<br /><br />Finally around 1999 my team found me. The Red Sox grew on me. They had a goofy-looking ballpark, an ambiguous nickname, a knuckleball pitcher (Tim Wakefield, the Dodgers had Tom Candiotti back in the day) and eventually they had player that I'd actually seen play live (David Ortiz). I also really liked to watch Carl Everett play, it's kind of embarassing to admit, but this is before I understood how much of a douche he was/is.<br /><br />Anyhow, the Sox and I had a great run. In High School one of my best friends was also a Soxman, and in 2004 we went batshit crazy when they came back from three games down against the Stankees to win the series in seven then swept the Cardinals in the World Series, it was a great time.<br /><br />As the next few years passed by I stuck with the team, but I started to waver a bit. The Boston front office started trading away all of their prospects and handing out gargantuan contracts much the same way their nemeses in New York did, it's hard to call the team in the Bronx the "Evil Empire" for topping $200 million a year in player salaries when you're own club is close behind at around $175 millionish. The free-spending and lack of homegrown talent never sat very well with me, but it didn't push me off completely.<br /><br />My Red Sox fanhood has slowly unraveled since moving to the East Coast in 2006 for a few reasons in addition to what I've already mentioned. I came to realize more and more the meaning of the term "Masshole" the Sox fan base, instead of loathing in self pity was now filled with feelings of entitlement, and I honestly believe they'd eat their own young for another World Series win, and the routine booing of their own players never sat well. The tipping point came when news surfaced that David Ortiz, next to Kevin Youkilis my favorite player, and one of the main reasons I became a Sox fan to begin with, had been using performance enhancers in 2003. I'm not one to put athletes on a moral pedestal of any kind, but this caused me to lose all respect for him as a ballplayer, Big Papi was a cheater, and in hindsight that was when I decided I was finished with the Sox.<br /><br />Another thing happened in my personal life that completely removed me from the Red Sox nation. I spent the summers of 2008 and '09 working at a summer camp with little access to the outside world. This baseball sabbatical has wiped the slate clean in my mind, I didn't move away from the Sox, rather they moved away from me, so it's time to move on.<br /><br />So here I am, a baseball lover without a favorite team, I don't like living in this limbo, but I don't want to jump from bandwagon to bandwagon either. My plan is to use this blog to systematically explore the merits of every team in the league, and hopefully by the end I'll be able to adopt a new franchise as my favorite. At this point I only have a rough idea of what my criteria will be, but I'll figure it out in the next little while and try and get it in place before I go through the search team by team. It should be fun.Mobilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09515691945037984686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833381688317260496.post-68065828349861001392010-05-01T16:45:00.003-04:002010-05-01T17:03:16.333-04:00Free your mind and the rest will followIn case you didn't know, I have a symbiotic relationship with my MacBook, one of my favorite things about my Macky is all the sweet free applications people come up with.<br /><br />For instance, right now I'm trying to outline an essay for my Modern American History class, to help with my notes and outline I'm using <a href="http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page">freemind</a>, a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_map">mind mapping</a> software that's very similar to some other applications out there, only freemind is... you know... free (and also works with Windows and Linux). I remember learning about mind-mapping in the fifth grade or something, but I never gave it a second thought until about a year ago when I stumbled upon this app, it took some getting used to but now I'm a believer.<br /><br />It's probably not an app for everybody, really depends on how your mind works, but I definitely recommend giving it a try, it allows me to keep more organized notes and if I change my mind (which has been known to happen) I can easily drag and drop and shift nodes around until I come up with something more suitable, also it gives me a place to jot down anything I may be thinking (which I make sure to format using a little cloud-bubble thing so when I come back to it later I know not to take it too seriously)<br /><br />Anyway here's an example of some of the work I've been doing the last few days, enjoy (and obviously click on the thumbnail if you want to see a larger and somewhat legible version):<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMHlV-hudfV6mA0wdZApvP29bAtJPV4MduRZDdTz8eauIGhF35JKVyeo5dp8cfasXALDDWWSQP9Zt5H3WSPdEz25GNWT9WMRWdqGgtahDIK66u1xBqhJuqr3_jM_LDU4Em2YfXDdQsFu4/s1600/Define+The+Cold+War+HI252.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 136px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMHlV-hudfV6mA0wdZApvP29bAtJPV4MduRZDdTz8eauIGhF35JKVyeo5dp8cfasXALDDWWSQP9Zt5H3WSPdEz25GNWT9WMRWdqGgtahDIK66u1xBqhJuqr3_jM_LDU4Em2YfXDdQsFu4/s400/Define+The+Cold+War+HI252.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466409675974652546" border="0" /></a>Mobilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09515691945037984686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833381688317260496.post-25942470319485545422010-04-25T22:27:00.002-04:002010-04-25T22:58:00.429-04:00Everything sounds better in latinA while back I was trying to come up with a good latin proverb for a tattoo I've been wanting to get. Anyhoo tattoos cost money so I've yet to get it permanently affixed to my epidermis, but during my search I found some that were funny, clever, lame, or interesting. Here are some of them, also, please note that my latin knowledge, particularly in proper declension and conjugation, is not very good, so please check with somebody that knows what they're doing before you take one of these phrases and make it permanent, unless you're a Barffalo Sabres fan, in that case do what you please. Any comments of my own appear in <span style="font-style: italic;">Eyetallix</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">auribus teneo lupum </span> "I hold a wolf by the ears" <span style="font-style: italic;">To which I say: let go, I dare you</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">cave laborem</span> "beware of work" <span style="font-style: italic;">My parents would probably say this one fits me perfectly</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">circulus vitiosus </span> "vicious circle" <span style="font-style: italic;">This would be a sweet tattoo if it looped around onto itself</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">concordia cum veritate </span> "in harmony with truth"<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">disce quasi semper victurus vive quasi cras moriturus</span> "Learn as if always going to live; live as if tomorrow going to die." <span style="font-style: italic;">Sounds kind of like that James Dean quote, either way it's bad advice. If I lived today like it was my last I'd probably end up being indicted tomorrow.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">dulcius ex asperis </span> "through difficulty, sweetness" <span style="font-style: italic;">Reminds me of that kickass Jimmy Eat World song, I'm not so sure about the translation though, sweetness? rly?<br /></span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">esse est percipi</span> "to be is to be perceived"<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">esse quam videri </span> "to be, rather than to seem"<span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">festina lente </span> "hurry slowly"<span style="font-style: italic;"> <span style="font-style: italic;">thanks Ferris<span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br /></span></span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">historia vitae magistra </span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span></span></span> "history, the teacher of life"<span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"> Being a history major I naturally considered this little ditty, then I also considered the prospects of me ever being seen as cool or edgy ever again, and I changed mind.</span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">In omnibus requiem quaesivi, et nusquam inveni nisi in angulo cum libro</span> "Everywhere I have searched for peace and nowhere found it, except in a corner with a book"<span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"> for you reader-types :)<br /><br /></span></span></span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">in vino veritas</span> "in wine [there is] truth" <span style="font-style: italic;">Amen, brother</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">iter faciamus </span> "Road trip!" <span style="font-style: italic;">I wrote this one down because of its utter randomness, I'm skeptical of the translation.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">leges humanae nascuntur, vivunt, et moriuntur</span> "laws of man are born, live and die" <span style="font-style: italic;">never stop stickin' it to the man</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">liberate me ex infernis</span> "free me from hell" <span style="font-style: italic;">An ex of mine had this marked on her* I should have taken the hint... or learned latin sooner</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">luctor et emergo</span> "I struggle and emerge" <span style="font-style: italic;">...from the mosh pit</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">magna est vis consuetudinis</span> "great is the power of habit" <span style="font-style: italic;">Word<br /></span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">memento mori </span> "remember that [you will] die"<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">memento vivere </span> "a reminder of life"<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">memores acti prudentes futuri</span> "mindful of what has been done, aware of what will be" <span style="font-style: italic;">Yoda???</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">multum in parvo</span> "much in little"<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">ne cede malis</span> "do not give in to misfortune"<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">nemo nisi per amicitiam cognoscitur</span> "No one learns except by friendship"<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">nemo saltat sobrius</span> "Nobody dances sober" <span style="font-style: italic;">Correction: *I* never dance sober</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Nemo enim fere saltat sobrius, nisi forte insanit</span> "Nobody dances sober, unless he is completely insane."<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">non facias malum ut inde fiat bonum </span> "you should not make evil in order that good may be made from it"<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">non impediti ratione congitatonis</span> "unencumbered by the thought process" <span style="font-style: italic;">That's how I roll</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">nunc est bibendum</span> "now is the time to drink" <span style="font-style: italic;">I like the way this guy thinks<span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">ordo ab chao</span> "Out of chaos, comes order"<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">chao ab ordo</span> "Out of order, comes chaos" <span style="font-style: italic;">Didja see what I did thar?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Si hoc legere scis nimium eruditionis habes</span> "If you can read this, you have too much education."<span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"> Another one of my favorites<br /></span></span><span style="font-style: italic;"></span>Mobilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09515691945037984686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833381688317260496.post-2778968985838981362010-04-22T14:20:00.002-04:002010-04-22T14:28:30.622-04:00Tomato Sandwich (a sonnet)I promised myself years ago that I'd avoid contributing to the world of bad poetry, but if my sonnet gets chosen as one of the ten best in my Insects and People class I get 10 extra credit points added on to my final grade, so in that case I have no problems selling out for a higher grade.<br /><br />So without further interruption...<br /><br />Tomato Sandwich<br /><br />He clenched his fists, gritted his few remaining teeth<br />His lunch had been ruined by a greedy little bug<br />Disgusted, he tossed the plant to the compost heap<br />This wouldn’t be ignored nor accepted with a shrug<br /><br />He had sheltered the fruit from frost and too much sun<br />and stayed away from chemicals, using only soap and water<br />If this plant were instead a daughter or son<br />The neighbors would have thought him a loving father<br /><br />Face hardened, he rose to his feet and tightened his knee brace<br />then plodded to the garden, armed with only a steely glare<br />the boy followed, frantically trying to keep the pace<br />this was the longest he’d seen the old man out of his easy chair<br /><br />He spotted the vandal, as he dove in he felt a rush<br />Reminded him of threshing through the forest as as a soldier<br />But the pest disappeared into the oleander bush<br />His frustration melted with a tap on the shoulder<br /><br />“nice try grandpa, now let’s get inside and out of the sun<br />there’s a billion more where that came from”<br /><br />-Jason Kubota<br /><br />==========<br /><br />The requirement was that it be a sonnet, which was unfortunate because I hate rhyme, I'm not 100% satisfied with the poem, for various reasons, but I'll leave it at that.Mobilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09515691945037984686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833381688317260496.post-76591692909333294672010-04-11T07:08:00.001-04:002010-04-11T07:08:00.736-04:00The Downfall of the Democratic Party (written in 2005)Yet another blast from the past in the form of an old newspaper column I wrote for the Jan. 7, 2005 edition of the Snowdrift. In it I make a mention of Barack and Joe B as being a direction the Dems need to move toward, not avoid. I'm not saying I predicted the future, but I guess even a blind nut finds a squirrel every once in a while, also, it's interesting to see how much it still applies to the BS we're dealing with today.<br /><blockquote><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">The Downfall of the Democratic Party</span><br /><br />The political climate was primed for change. A faltering economy along with an extended (Which nowadays means unsuccessful) war effort overseas had left President George W. Bush vulnerable to a lot of criticism. He also isn’t the most eloquent public speaker and couldn’t debate his way out of a paper bag. John Kerry had the election within his grasp, then he managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.<br /><br />What’s been going on with those Democrats lately anyway? Of course they’ve lost the last two presidential elections with two less than inspiring candidates in Al Gore and “Ketchupman” Kerry, but what about all of the Congressional seats they’ve been losing –With November’s election the Republican Party picked up sixteen Congressional seats to increase their majority to forty— The liberal wing of our political system has been hemorrhaging for years, and there’s plenty of blame to go around.<br /><br />The biggest problem with the Democratic Party is shoddy organization. In other words they’re like your 16-month-old nephew, no control of when they make a mess of themselves. Would you ever see a member of the Republican Party get on stage at the Democratic National Convention and bash his party’s presidential candidate? Not unless he wanted to endure a few rounds of Chinese nipple torture he wouldn’t.<br /><br />Okay, so he’d really only lose all of his reelection campaign contributions along with any powers he may have had in the backroom committee meetings (a.k.a. “smoke-filled room shady dealings”) until he would ultimately be replaced come election time, but you get my point. But what happens when Senator Zell Miller (D-GA) jumps on stage at the GOP Convention and bashes Kerry? Nothing, unless you call punishment scratching “Zell Eats Poo” on his office desk with a penknife.<br /><br />Democrats also have a tendency to try to be too much like Republicans. When Republicans lose to Democrats, do they turn around and say, "Gee we need to be more like them in order to win"? Never. But that's what Democrats do when they lose to Republicans. What does that do? It softens support among the base, it seems phony to moderates, and conservatives are going to vote real-deal Republican, not Republican Lite.<br /><br />Since when was “liberal” a dirty word? There are great aspects of liberalism, just like there are great aspects of conservatism, yet John Kerry spent his entire campaign hiding from his liberal label and the party as a whole did their best to hide from their more liberal members in Howard Dean and Sen. Joe Biden (D-CT) instead of standing up for themselves and describing what the whole vision of liberalism is about a la Barack Obama (D-IL) ““If there are people in this country that are going to bed hungry and sick and sleeping in the streets, my duty as an American citizen has not been fulfilled.”<br /><br />If the liberals would wake up from their fantasyland they would see a great opportunity lying before them. There is currently no party that truly, completely and unapologetically represents the interests of working-class Americans who are finding their jobs vanishing, their benefits shrinking, their towns falling on hard times, and their economic interests being ignored. That’s the party of the Old Left, that party is now dead.<br /><br />Democrats need to return to their roots if they want to win. They have to find their spine. They have to rediscover their purpose and their vision. Because if liberalism is such a bad thing, why should anyone vote Democrat?</blockquote>Mobilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09515691945037984686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833381688317260496.post-21407495299508690532010-04-08T09:02:00.000-04:002010-04-08T09:02:00.141-04:00Losing as a character-building activityHere's another classic from my newswriting career. The following is a column I wrote for the sports section published in April of 2005. Enjoy.<br /><br /><blockquote>A long time ago somebody said “You can’t win until you first know how to lose.” Whoever came up with this saying was kidding himself and he ought to be kicked in the shin for his efforts.<br /><br />While I don’t consider myself an expert on losing I did attend a high school that boasted a .317 winning percentage (in all sports combined) so I have a feeling that I know what I’m talking about. We certainly knew how to lose, but winning never seemed to come as easily. This years Snow College football team won as many games this season (7) as my high school team won in four years.<br /><br />But you know what? I wouldn’t have it any other way.<br /><br />It’s easy to have a lot of school spirit when your team wins more games than it loses. It takes a much tougher fan to pull for the side that is losing seven out of every ten games. You need a thick skin and a big heart to endure an entire season in that sort of grueling atmosphere.<br /><br />When you are rooting for an unsuccessful program you learn to enjoy humble pie by the slice. The losses come in droves and before long losing becomes easier to bear because you no longer fear it, you have done it plenty of times before, and when that one big win comes around you thrive off of it for months.<br /><br />During my senior year our school’s football team finally managed to win our homecoming game for the first time in the history of the school against arguably our biggest rival that we had never beaten.<br /><br />And although we lost a lot more games than we won throughout the rest of the school year all anybody ever talked about until the day of graduation was how we miraculously beat Bingham that Friday night in September.<br /><br />Losing also brings the school community together. Everybody is fighting the good fight together. There is no “jock” clique because who wants to be in a clique that can’t win? Other, more successful school programs also get more attention, I still remember the first time I caught myself bragging to some kids from a rival school, “Your wrestlers may be good, but our Madrigals would rock your world any day of the week.”<br /><br />Now all 3,000 or so of us have come together in this salad bowl of experiences that is Snow College, all of us bringing our own special ingredients to the table where we get to cheer for a winning athletic program.<br /><br />Those of us that came from winning high schools will teach the rest of us how to win, and the rest of us from the less than successful programs will teach the winners how to live up the wins and live down the losses.</blockquote>Mobilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09515691945037984686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833381688317260496.post-73129085247351633762010-04-05T08:13:00.001-04:002010-04-05T08:13:00.071-04:00Mormon Missionary punches assailant... who knew!?!This here is a feature article I wrote about a roommate I had in college back in March of 2005. Lots of missionaries have interesting stories about their time in the field, but this is one of the more... unique tales I've ever heard. Matt is a great guy and allowed me to interview him for this article, hopefully he doesn't mind me reproducing this piece now that he's all growed up and has the whole 'wife-and-kids' thing going on, people may not want them knowing how bad-ass he was back in the day.<br /><blockquote></blockquote><blockquote>Matthew H. considered himself lucky. He had only a few weeks to go on his LDS Church mission in Midwestern Brazil and except for a few close calls he had never been robbed even though almost every single one of his companions had at least one story about being assaulted. His luck ran out in September 2004.<br /><br />He and his companion were leaving from an investigators* home at about 10 p.m. and were walking through a very dangerous neighborhood. “We were basically putting the importance of teaching somebody over our safety. We had actually been told that we shouldn’t walk around there at night but we really didn’t have a choice because we had an appointment to keep. And we figured that we were missionaries and the Lord would protect us”<br /><br />As they walked they decided to take the long way home because it was the better lit of the two paths. To pass the time they discussed a scripture from the Doctrine & Covenants and were reciting it when Matt looked to the end of the road at the only dark spot on the entire path that was between two buildings.<br /><br />“I could see two silhouettes of people in the darkness, but I couldn’t tell what they were doing because we were too far away for me to tell for sure. So I didn’t think anything of it and we kept walking.”<br /><br />As they got closer to the men they could see that one was on a bike and the two men appeared to be having a conversation on the side of the road. “It made me kind of nervous because normal people don’t just hang out in a dark alleyway,” said Matt, “but we continued anyway.”<br /><br />Then as the two missionaries got even closer one of the men approached him. “He asked for a little bit of money, I thought he was a beggar or something.” But the man wasn’t prepared to take no for an answer.<br /><br />“He reached out for me but I hit his hand and backed away before he could grab my tie. So he reached over and grabbed my companion by his tie and started yelling to the other man ‘Pega o alto!’ which is Portuguese for ‘Get the tall one,’ (Matt stands 6’4”) my companion wasn’t really sure what was going on. He grew up in a ritzy California neighborhood and had only been in the mission field for three weeks and didn’t speak Portuguese very well so when I was yelling ‘Sai dai! Solta ele! (Get away from there! Let go of him!) He didn’t understand what was going on and had no idea he was being mugged.<br /><br />“As a missionary we’re taught to not really react to people like that. You’re told you should just give them your money or whatever they want. So I tried to see if he had a knife and I couldn’t see anything in his hand.”<br /><br />And then Matt did something the robber was not expecting. He went after him.<br />“Strangely the first thing that came to my mind was ‘punch him.’ He was still yelling for his partner but the other man just sat on his bike like maybe he didn’t want to rob us or something, so I knew it would be two against one so I walked after him and raised my fist, when the robber saw what I was doing he looked at me like I was crazy and said ‘O que esta fazendo?’ (what are you doing?). Apparently he didn’t think missionaries could hit anybody.”<br /><br />As Matt went after the man, the robber, now scared and still holding on to his companion’s tie, started maneuvering around trying to get away and keep Matt’s companion in front of him so that the missionary couldn’t get a good shot at him, Matt swung anyway.<br /><br />“My knuckle caught the side of his face and it was just enough to make him stumble backward and let go of the tie and my companion and I took the opportunity and sprinted away.”<br /><br />The two muggers didn’t take chase and Matt and his companion made it home without further incident. “I didn’t tell anybody, especially my mom, until I got back.”<br />Despite the frightening ordeal Matt says he learned a valuable lesson from what he calls his own stupidity, “The experience taught me a lot, I learned that you don’t pray for protection and then go and put yourself in a dangerous situation.”<br /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><br />*an investigator is a prospective LDS convert for those of you not privy to the Mormon jargon :)</span></blockquote>Mobilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09515691945037984686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833381688317260496.post-20699643050961480492010-04-02T17:12:00.008-04:002010-04-02T17:36:44.126-04:00Shedding spotsSo over a year ago somebody at my old man's work found a baby corn snake stuck in a wad of duct tape in the shop. Pa brought him home and my mom decided to put him in an old aquarium and keep him, in the first week he got himself stuck in another piece of duct tape that was used to close up a hole in the wire mesh at the top of the aquarium. At this point I favored naming him 'Dopey' or <a href="http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail19.html">'Tape Leg'</a> but mom decided to go with 'Spots' so that's his name.<br /><br />For the record, I have a terrible record at getting my pet-name choices accepted. Recently my parents decided to take in a big, fat fluffy cat that was lost and whos owner couldn't be found. Inspired by her <a href="http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/rotundity">rotundity</a>, I decided her name should be Kirby, you know, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirby_%28character%29">the video game character</a>, and also <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirby_Puckett">my favorite baseball player of all time</a>, both of whom are known for being big boned. Instead they've decided to go with 'Holly'. I <span style="font-style: italic;">never</span> win.<br /><br />Anyhoo, Spots is real big now, he was a tiny little six-incher when we took him in, now when he's all stretched out he spans the length of his aquarium, it's pretty sweet. I strolled by his aquarium this morning and saw this.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQiyKgrmxXLRCVBXm7L098LMKt6CgjGrljeKLIX1CyzsYCJ5FeSwwKXRAkT8eqly9tImncY-qgzXXElzKYyJ60faa6UWmubliWcRkuQH3dGbVLP6i51NKIGBGBlI5beKIUACtwJxC4DHM/s1600/Photo0373.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQiyKgrmxXLRCVBXm7L098LMKt6CgjGrljeKLIX1CyzsYCJ5FeSwwKXRAkT8eqly9tImncY-qgzXXElzKYyJ60faa6UWmubliWcRkuQH3dGbVLP6i51NKIGBGBlI5beKIUACtwJxC4DHM/s400/Photo0373.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5455654218258538402" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Oooooh, spots has shed, and his skin is all over the place and wrapped all over his favorite haunts, including his log and under his water dish/rock thing. Wanting to retrieve the skin I lifted the log, only to wake the snake, who gave me a look I can only describe as "Dude! WTF!?!"<br /><br />I quickly replaced the log, after first apologizing (I think I may be Canadian, I apologize for <span style="font-style: italic;">everything</span>) Then I snapped a few pics of the snake under the log. (that sounds like it should be a metaphor or euphamism)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA5Enfoi4MyZM0PnBqVygzbWNQlnYLUpE8y5zZf68BtKZiNCgi74CGHM2bIrwYS6GCMuCjQrzJ7xceyiEYqAakICsBQiQY4QSVtxaqlSWqK5emWiI-kFn5utt4kflBhooUr2Z4hGcf11o/s1600/Photo0375.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA5Enfoi4MyZM0PnBqVygzbWNQlnYLUpE8y5zZf68BtKZiNCgi74CGHM2bIrwYS6GCMuCjQrzJ7xceyiEYqAakICsBQiQY4QSVtxaqlSWqK5emWiI-kFn5utt4kflBhooUr2Z4hGcf11o/s400/Photo0375.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5455655074496332514" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">smile for the camera!</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWBDZaHYUglXfgzPUv-OhOa7CWM-owRTNom6gWXMoJba2z9CP2pf4u8q0Znmfec0Aj2NceYEzC_2n948hdVZe0VIA5FmnrDsqyDjzqaxzlGY6PHNxFmMZ-R21EcyEIngaKSuXF8nhzuIo/s1600/Photo0376.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWBDZaHYUglXfgzPUv-OhOa7CWM-owRTNom6gWXMoJba2z9CP2pf4u8q0Znmfec0Aj2NceYEzC_2n948hdVZe0VIA5FmnrDsqyDjzqaxzlGY6PHNxFmMZ-R21EcyEIngaKSuXF8nhzuIo/s400/Photo0376.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5455655461093972594" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">kk, no more pics plz</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">most of you comfortable with exotic pets </span>may think this is no big deal, but as someone that's only ever experienced the standard cat/dog-pet-experience (and the occasional run-in with my sister's bat-shit crazy rabbit) I happen to think it's pretty damn cool.Mobilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09515691945037984686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833381688317260496.post-2407604982944020572010-04-02T13:36:00.001-04:002010-04-02T13:36:00.467-04:00Poem I wrote in high school, it doesn't suck too badI try and save everything I write, and I mean <span style="font-style: italic;">everything</span>. Up until I moved to North Carolina I still had notes I'd exchanged with friends in middle school. Tonight I was looking for something and turned up this old gem I wrote when I was 16.<br /><br /><blockquote>Egads (no idea why I used this for a title)<br /><br />We heard a shriek,<br />and dashed through the field<br />giggling inanely.<br />The grassed masks our nakedness,<br />you shout over your shoulder,<br />"You are a sea turtle,<br />now I will show you real power!"<br /><br />My grandma hearkens again<br />cat thrown over her shoulder<br />It's one of those weird-looking ones<br />with the nine tails in all.<br />You duck behind a tree stump<br />but I keep running.<br />Her cat wont bite me today<br />because I am the sea turtle,<br />and I know real power.<br /><br />I stumble and fall to the rocks.<br />One of those little bastards<br />imbedded itself in my heel.<br />I pry it from my foot<br />but the old woman has me.<br />She drags me home<br />by the scruff of my neck<br />and gives me a bath<br />The last one I'll take, I promise myself<br />Tomorrow I will escape again.<br /><br />jason Kubota<br />3/10/02<br /><br /></blockquote>I wrote this for my creative writing class, I think we were given some random sentence fragments and the assignment was to work it into a poem, that's my guess at least.Mobilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09515691945037984686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833381688317260496.post-67914989436592519692010-04-02T00:27:00.004-04:002010-04-02T00:58:29.170-04:00Kicking up some dustYeah, so... I've kind of neglected this here blog like an unwanted red-headed stepchild.<br /><br />My bad. I originally planned to update the blog all summer with all the fun stuff going on at camp, but things changed. The internet hardly worked, and overall I was just too damned busy. Plus at some point I wasn't too happy with the performance/actions of some of my employees at camp (anybody who's ever worked at a camp knows what drama can go on) and I didn't feel venting my frustrations online where it can be found by anyone was the best route to travel. Looking back, it was an experience that taught me lessons I never would have learned, and a lot of those lessons weren't enjoyable, but I'm much better off for it, and I reap the rewards of that experience every day. My self-critical nature makes my mistakes more memorable, but I try to remind myself that it's about the kids, and in that respect I think I did a damn good job, even though by the time the summer was over I wanted my exit interview to go something like <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkcoobYUu8g">this</a><br /><br />I kid of course, I met a lot of amazing people last summer, and I wouldn't trade any of it for the world.<br /><br />So like I was saying, it's been over a year since my last post, I don't feel like I have enough interesting things to say to keep this ship cruising every day, but I'm going to start off by sharing some of the stuff I wrote when I was much younger and idealistic, including news articles and even some <span style="font-style: italic;">(gasp)</span> poetry I wrote when I actually liked to write the stuff (i.e. before I realized how bad I was at it) it'll be an interesting little experiment, we'll see how it goes.Mobilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09515691945037984686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833381688317260496.post-27141380507856995072009-03-28T16:28:00.006-04:002009-03-28T17:34:58.179-04:00Improvements and changes at SertomaI made a trip up to Sertoma for the weekend to work on some summer planning, while I was there I drove around (it was raining, so I didn't walk) and took some shots of some of the new things going on.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJBHbo36E8zJYVo3LDU0O2lP4RShyphenhyphenvv7QoaSF_XvDgoOT_vZ3omEltw-bfRFgfhSkjV4-7UxBL8p1p0HvjcVaCIWQo8RfhNP22YkqlqMPKBdHfaCtEjXMYz0nVXaLP1sGnx9BP9-ZtnGc/s1600-h/102_0755.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJBHbo36E8zJYVo3LDU0O2lP4RShyphenhyphenvv7QoaSF_XvDgoOT_vZ3omEltw-bfRFgfhSkjV4-7UxBL8p1p0HvjcVaCIWQo8RfhNP22YkqlqMPKBdHfaCtEjXMYz0nVXaLP1sGnx9BP9-ZtnGc/s400/102_0755.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318351985904312834" border="0" /></a>The Flying Squirrel, ready for lift-off, and now has a mulched landing<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAtmhBUQCNlmzbc55EBqjxByn7Ro1k3lCJ7ISF-WsVZR7x3uDknMSyHi3oeKZ5XoNNMhhIt8RGZFeh_6JFSKWRl6E09w8vmIjhNHfGD0p3ejxHDA2rKbsB1ymrXq-5JOPBa0N52AXVIbM/s1600-h/102_0754.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAtmhBUQCNlmzbc55EBqjxByn7Ro1k3lCJ7ISF-WsVZR7x3uDknMSyHi3oeKZ5XoNNMhhIt8RGZFeh_6JFSKWRl6E09w8vmIjhNHfGD0p3ejxHDA2rKbsB1ymrXq-5JOPBa0N52AXVIbM/s400/102_0754.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318344964053901586" border="0" /></a>The Giant Swing, still giant, also mulched in<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgje4OeeQHde0SXxCMC0-XzgpOl4dYsRs7-ddfmMVb_TbzQa0du-OOuUk2oWjZ9Mvn-cvjcH8BuhrXhIei84e6GU2SBheRKheTsf2aLzSvqwlng47N_8WD3fQmTKwuha-rh9N3TTYrlTnI/s1600-h/102_0753.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgje4OeeQHde0SXxCMC0-XzgpOl4dYsRs7-ddfmMVb_TbzQa0du-OOuUk2oWjZ9Mvn-cvjcH8BuhrXhIei84e6GU2SBheRKheTsf2aLzSvqwlng47N_8WD3fQmTKwuha-rh9N3TTYrlTnI/s400/102_0753.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318344959472906034" border="0" /></a>A view of the new low-ropes area, currently in development and going to be ready for the summer<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKDG88TRrsrjBYOo2jIYSQt1P3SKy4naVVfB-GT_yK6H__SyI_f5Ei8Cqzm5BDH-HyC_mpcU72ZTYvN9_U_9sDgdPWXENgZ2eOeAI9sRsalsizqMEprCWqu-dNn2ZGzxV-c2RypQ6dhSI/s1600-h/102_0752.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKDG88TRrsrjBYOo2jIYSQt1P3SKy4naVVfB-GT_yK6H__SyI_f5Ei8Cqzm5BDH-HyC_mpcU72ZTYvN9_U_9sDgdPWXENgZ2eOeAI9sRsalsizqMEprCWqu-dNn2ZGzxV-c2RypQ6dhSI/s400/102_0752.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318344956994129554" border="0" /></a>Here's another view, that's a bridge across the stream right in front of you<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzV8NsmTeE5DB7dGySaYvdmfPjL5jscYFv_OumyloONIIi0phr66IauxM_WHKAIuQSBvnfslyQVXuiDqLP3_tQ3r5sbFUq5uEePtvNDN-E8nbrnUQFcdwdDF3eitM-ELBolq_kgH3ZZf4/s1600-h/102_0756.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzV8NsmTeE5DB7dGySaYvdmfPjL5jscYFv_OumyloONIIi0phr66IauxM_WHKAIuQSBvnfslyQVXuiDqLP3_tQ3r5sbFUq5uEePtvNDN-E8nbrnUQFcdwdDF3eitM-ELBolq_kgH3ZZf4/s400/102_0756.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318351992710886098" border="0" /></a>Where the old low-ropes course used to be, now has a maintenance shed!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJQnvkjEo9FRWKgYf8k8oB3KrNZ01e2iFgt8uuZBlV_MPBJ5d6uRGHO42XSD8BAOZ-JB_Tr0yJDnBsjCyzYrPm0dDAvoPQ_56c7jyF4xwu8f6phpSgtEA7cPxc1oLsaFyf8mrBIKv3uMU/s1600-h/102_0751.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJQnvkjEo9FRWKgYf8k8oB3KrNZ01e2iFgt8uuZBlV_MPBJ5d6uRGHO42XSD8BAOZ-JB_Tr0yJDnBsjCyzYrPm0dDAvoPQ_56c7jyF4xwu8f6phpSgtEA7cPxc1oLsaFyf8mrBIKv3uMU/s400/102_0751.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318344953048491714" border="0" /></a>High ropes course, still high, bordered in with 8x8's and ready to be mulched the same way the giant swing and flying squirrel are<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY7P8czbbhcD1AxNTUqavL8-9n-9tGIdQl0rXJer8MQvD4-actdMLMX2T_T1jLuYfxzklEspjaDv0dK11x_bp4FxdgEge_TJkHMsveWYGYwsGZgIivOVg_aZ6KczAbq2-PqBdsNeHQZwA/s1600-h/102_0749.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY7P8czbbhcD1AxNTUqavL8-9n-9tGIdQl0rXJer8MQvD4-actdMLMX2T_T1jLuYfxzklEspjaDv0dK11x_bp4FxdgEge_TJkHMsveWYGYwsGZgIivOVg_aZ6KczAbq2-PqBdsNeHQZwA/s400/102_0749.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318344945110158706" border="0" /></a>The road to the horse pasture, now graded and less treacherous-looking<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCNkNAQ8gk22gA9YEH8RB-kM4d5XbqatlGEU9em4S1zrtRz0tBR0A6LVVPmyjqyTPvbbRk3KRF7wZVHY1SiMttuSTymfi5FoNkSSM8VFLK5hgsddJp_grIS7IjcwDhamTy00bh78Xl2ic/s1600-h/102_0747.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCNkNAQ8gk22gA9YEH8RB-kM4d5XbqatlGEU9em4S1zrtRz0tBR0A6LVVPmyjqyTPvbbRk3KRF7wZVHY1SiMttuSTymfi5FoNkSSM8VFLK5hgsddJp_grIS7IjcwDhamTy00bh78Xl2ic/s400/102_0747.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318341012723067410" border="0" /></a>Path to chapel, looks much nicer now with the 8x8's and the rocks, the parking area in front of the classrooms has also been "rocked out," this should help keep mud from getting tracked in when it rains<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT8Sop0wroBn1D5UyVGsgdEOg1c3MJaJnNn5LAiO02Ix-Gu8rXTWtXTTBP6jvQhdZDsI904wKysIXF3cRsbWYyHg3x-tm2s-jKgCcZ4gCeJ_1Xd1V3jLyQo867hoC7rGDlR6xYrrLlCYg/s1600-h/102_0746.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT8Sop0wroBn1D5UyVGsgdEOg1c3MJaJnNn5LAiO02Ix-Gu8rXTWtXTTBP6jvQhdZDsI904wKysIXF3cRsbWYyHg3x-tm2s-jKgCcZ4gCeJ_1Xd1V3jLyQo867hoC7rGDlR6xYrrLlCYg/s400/102_0746.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318341009465615186" border="0" /></a>New windows in the rec hall! Soon they will be made soccer ball-proof<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjksfSh-0qAR4491NnJgFi4aJ-DcuxPha_1US46vBthdMS-58b6Dz_305GcK6TRD8qx1FeGEtqrCemtrsffCZNk-TDWOvoSxpu88UJpc-3lAySOX8CqkZsFNXKZIniC_S_JyALxktgLR1s/s1600-h/102_0745.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjksfSh-0qAR4491NnJgFi4aJ-DcuxPha_1US46vBthdMS-58b6Dz_305GcK6TRD8qx1FeGEtqrCemtrsffCZNk-TDWOvoSxpu88UJpc-3lAySOX8CqkZsFNXKZIniC_S_JyALxktgLR1s/s400/102_0745.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318341011348121074" border="0" /></a>Windows from the outside<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZItenLBP450ldo5o0vGPhZ0ShL-wXVsrd0jmX3kNr2hsvYl2u3MgEXkaYxidF_6ge8rXiW1cJQ4QHdZt7dO18S50XcFc2vpQcyMk7n8f5X_oW_oM_ObRceX4WVsdBksp_KFs6nAjj6rc/s1600-h/102_0744.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZItenLBP450ldo5o0vGPhZ0ShL-wXVsrd0jmX3kNr2hsvYl2u3MgEXkaYxidF_6ge8rXiW1cJQ4QHdZt7dO18S50XcFc2vpQcyMk7n8f5X_oW_oM_ObRceX4WVsdBksp_KFs6nAjj6rc/s400/102_0744.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318341004608226178" border="0" /></a>Improvements being made to the pool<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyrjWXlaOQMC8xs7nQpW0bRRlq5v8OI6VDICdJeMRFxqgf04WIGifz6oB2RRaYz1hC8jzKJOkSV0ml_u1vnIO_CllizYRhNHwC6osNjss0GrFa4qaRpMeSbsz7bInUre2WShN3iCRZoa4/s1600-h/102_0743.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyrjWXlaOQMC8xs7nQpW0bRRlq5v8OI6VDICdJeMRFxqgf04WIGifz6oB2RRaYz1hC8jzKJOkSV0ml_u1vnIO_CllizYRhNHwC6osNjss0GrFa4qaRpMeSbsz7bInUre2WShN3iCRZoa4/s400/102_0743.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318340996765152418" border="0" /></a>New chairs for the conference room! Well, not brand-new, but they're new to us, and definitely an upgrade to what we had before.Mobilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09515691945037984686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833381688317260496.post-69745805428229224482009-03-24T22:40:00.004-04:002009-03-24T23:51:23.918-04:00Why I dislike Alex Ovechkin's prancingA lot has been made of Alexander Ovechkin's <a href="http://www.fanhouse.com/news/main/ovechkin-scores-50th-goal/390805">50th-Goal-Celebration-And-General-Asshatery</a> over the last few days. For those of you not in the know, after beating Mike McKenna for his 50th goal of the season, Ovi dropped his stick on the ice and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wa9vIQzzg38">pretended it was too hot to pick up</a>. To date it was the most elaborate goal celebration of his career (that I think of) and added fuel to the <a href="http://nhl.fanhouse.com/2009/03/21/cherrys-lecture-to-ovechkin-continues/">Ovechkin-Cherry</a> dispute. Don Cherry, an old timey Pro-Canada Anti-European traditionalist, hasn't been afraid to rail against Ovi's shinanegans, #8 and his supporters have been saying that his antics are good for the NHL, that it attracts fans to the sport.<br /><br />Let's get a few things straight before I start in on this. I'm not a fan of Ovi8, he plays for one of my favorite team's (Carolina) rivals, but I do recognize that he is the best offensive player in the game, and I say "offensive" with good reason. Ovechkin is always looking to score, which often has a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uqYD5s2f7M">negative effect</a> on his defensive play. I don't agree with all of Don Cherry's talking points against Ovechkin, but I agree that Alex's tomfoolery makes him look like an ass, and I'm going to tell you why.<br /><br />His celebrations don't draw any fans to the game, period. Would you seriously tune in to an NFL game for the touchdown celebration? We watch the game (any game, really) because we want to see it played with skill (something Ovechkin definitely has). We're going to want to watch players of Alex's ilk no matter what because they're the best at what they do, his celebrations are unnecessary. Critics have lamented that the NHL doesn't have any one-name superstars a la Kobe, Lebron, A-Rod, Peyton, Eli, T.O., but this perceived (and as I believe, incorrectly perceived) lack of marketable stars isn't because they aren't prancing around like a band of idiots when they score, it's because the NHL has a piss-poor TV contract that keeps it's potentially marketable stars out of any markets that don't have NHL teams.<br /><br />I'm not about to say that he shouldn't celebrate as frantically as he does because it might hurt the opposing team's feelings (which is a point Cherry makes). The way I see it, if teams didn't want to see number 8 roll around on the ice like a dumb ass they would keep him from scoring, or they should put one of their goons out there to slap some sense into him. The thing his celebrations <span style="font-style: italic;">do</span> do (I'll pause while we all stop giggling at that list sentence), is draw all of the attention to him. This is what Ovechkin wants, of course, but he does this at the expense of his teammates. Hockey is a team sport (duh), and nine-times out of ten in an NHL game the player that scores the goal isn't the player that made the best play, for every goal there is usually some spirited fore or backchecking and at least one great pass, that's why hockey awards up to two assists per goal. Now, to his credit, Ovechkin celebrates enthusiasticly any time somebody on his line scores (even if his team is still down 4-1), but these choreographed celebrations take attention from the other five guys on the ice that put him in position to put the puck in the net. The first thing most hockey players do when they score is skate over and celebrate with their teammates, Ovechkin drops his stick and acts like an idiot instead.<br /><br />So that's my case against NHL players making a big production out of goal celebrations. We don't need NHLers taking a page out of the NFL celebration playbook. Unlike NFL players, NHL players come across as personable to their fans, which is one of the reasons why we love them so much. If I saw Ray Whitney or Joe Corvo at the grocery store, I would feel comfortable quickly letting him know they've had a great season so far. A big-time NFL player? I don't think they even go shopping for their own groceries.Mobilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09515691945037984686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833381688317260496.post-76927253981031454622009-03-07T19:26:00.000-04:002009-03-07T20:24:02.387-04:00How Wikipedia saved my lifeIt's Saturday afternoon, the second to last day of my spring break, and I'm bored. I've been needing to blog for over a month now, and since I don't really feel like thinking and writing, I thought I'd goof around with some Mac apps I've been neglecting (Photo Booth, Numbers) and answer a useless question I've been wondering about for a long time:<br /><br />If I drink a lot of water, how much weight will I gain? Also, how will my drinking a bunch of water affect my scale's calculations of body fat % and body water %?<br /><br />Yes, questions you never cared to ask, and I'm asking them.<br /><br />So here's the lowdown.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Aa_QPa-myi657npM9V4wpyp2eLy5Er3olGwXxxozEgz6OT-VLTFw_Nz4EO70e9r-nKPJcn8XaDGNjSWakx33rHITbbmAaRS7TG6dkls8wzyqnsorg9JERHvfzTpohouwlVoWN49G6gM/s1600-h/One.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Aa_QPa-myi657npM9V4wpyp2eLy5Er3olGwXxxozEgz6OT-VLTFw_Nz4EO70e9r-nKPJcn8XaDGNjSWakx33rHITbbmAaRS7TG6dkls8wzyqnsorg9JERHvfzTpohouwlVoWN49G6gM/s400/One.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5310604852614462882" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Me being bored<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBwHZVD7e_2MtOckebjxErOodUQNAuK6f8EkZ5Mxx6Ts1UvVk1qFK7MMi6GXDq5oaUYbkhEerJ1Om-SA9dH-geDen5A4pp_NI1hRuY_uDDrXhfBPT6-MsaBZPb-nUtEqOtVJCGy1zzMQQ/s1600-h/Two.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBwHZVD7e_2MtOckebjxErOodUQNAuK6f8EkZ5Mxx6Ts1UvVk1qFK7MMi6GXDq5oaUYbkhEerJ1Om-SA9dH-geDen5A4pp_NI1hRuY_uDDrXhfBPT6-MsaBZPb-nUtEqOtVJCGy1zzMQQ/s400/Two.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5310605080882989714" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The water bottle I'm going to be using, holds about 33.8 fluid ounces, I weight it using my scale and it showed 2.2 lbs, which is about right<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL__xzVugrfOP9EcGi0WUDMDh7WpF5F3465hj871rg4fTEU_I0LFrAmkEFkva78NljU64aQK5j04hhIkYvpZ0lvqtmeKsguYK9DhUOIP70z7yCOI0dmxD7G-C6xQBFwhe6gAQlqzHjL1s/s1600-h/Three.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL__xzVugrfOP9EcGi0WUDMDh7WpF5F3465hj871rg4fTEU_I0LFrAmkEFkva78NljU64aQK5j04hhIkYvpZ0lvqtmeKsguYK9DhUOIP70z7yCOI0dmxD7G-C6xQBFwhe6gAQlqzHjL1s/s400/Three.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5310605240540545266" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The scale in question, it uses those metal pads to send electricity into my feet and, using my age, gender, and height, calculates my body fat % and body water %<br /><br />Another FYI, as far as weight and body fat % I'm not going to tell you the initial number, just the amount it increases or decreases, because I'm like a woman when it comes to my weight.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-0zXe4ObEyTxcb5isrbbyB-4zmhfNdBGxURAcJneSO8ei0Uw66k8vX8rsbW76LtnAMvLEkjn5ChnOEvAxxv7l9MXQVSq2ePBQ9KGuReWfVVyPsjco46epvi6aGVioRnrzpeiWdBsvjy0/s1600-h/Four.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-0zXe4ObEyTxcb5isrbbyB-4zmhfNdBGxURAcJneSO8ei0Uw66k8vX8rsbW76LtnAMvLEkjn5ChnOEvAxxv7l9MXQVSq2ePBQ9KGuReWfVVyPsjco46epvi6aGVioRnrzpeiWdBsvjy0/s400/Four.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5310605592310467874" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">4:40 PM</span> Downing the first bottle of water. I'm wondering how much fluid the stomach can handle. I'd like to avoid puking.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_aTFJNkvds4iye50RlXPyJkVy9S2N_iM6DzDkcvyWBTedCSsz1HdvhYH-DgyAFCvLx605cT_a6qnQ8-lPDCuy9HJIQ1GiOX_bKdFkGfVVub3SazDShkFGiT8V_4mEchG8ztKvmnbdGKo/s1600-h/Five.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_aTFJNkvds4iye50RlXPyJkVy9S2N_iM6DzDkcvyWBTedCSsz1HdvhYH-DgyAFCvLx605cT_a6qnQ8-lPDCuy9HJIQ1GiOX_bKdFkGfVVub3SazDShkFGiT8V_4mEchG8ztKvmnbdGKo/s400/Five.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5310605679085862706" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">4:45 PM</span> Finished the first bottle of water. Results of the second weigh-in:<br /><br />I gained 2.5 lbs, my body fat% went up by 0.4% and my total body water % actually went <span style="font-style: italic;">down </span>from 53.3% to 53.1%. Odd.<br /><br />Wikipedia says that the stomach, on average, expands to contain about 1 liter of food. Not sure how it handles water, but I just downed a liter of it, so I'm going to slow down a lil bit. No use puking in the name of science.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">5:25 PM</span> Finished the second bottle. Gained 2.1 lbs from the last weigh-in, my body fat % jumped up by .6% and my total body water % continued to go down, this time by 0.3%<br /><br />At this point, nature is calling, but I'm going to hold off for now. In the name of science of course.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9TjcnDQaZbSrI_g4Ex3qySa7ET7Hf1dnIp4ZE9wnbg7xsgj26La1dIDZCtR0V34SEdfcos3OAIMSP1ckDvEpZfpPdfvYiGeR0bFbv1ThKNIfQ2EQzV3qEqGAJcazQlnJDn2nzaQjQHM0/s1600-h/Six.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9TjcnDQaZbSrI_g4Ex3qySa7ET7Hf1dnIp4ZE9wnbg7xsgj26La1dIDZCtR0V34SEdfcos3OAIMSP1ckDvEpZfpPdfvYiGeR0bFbv1ThKNIfQ2EQzV3qEqGAJcazQlnJDn2nzaQjQHM0/s400/Six.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5310605748454592210" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Such a trooper!<br /><br />As a precaution, I read up on wikipedia about <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_poisoning">water poisoning/intoxication</a>. I found this little tidbit: <span style="font-style: italic;">"In 2008, Jacqueline Henson, a 40-year-old British woman, died after drinking four litres of water in under two hours as part of her Lighter Life diet plan."<br /><br /></span>Holy Shitballs<span style="font-style: italic;">. </span>About one hour into this game I've downed 2.5 liters. Granted, this woman was probably clinically obese, I'm not sure what kind of complications that would put into the whole deal, but I'm going to take it easy on this water drinking deal. I'm not puking for science, and I'm certainly not going to die for this stupid lil deal.<br /><br />To balance out my electrolytes I'll see if I can find a banana or some pretzels or something. Yeah, I don't want to die.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">6:09 PM</span> finished my third liter of water. Gained 2.4 lbs from the last weigh-in (must be noted that I ate a few things to try and add nutrients to all the water I've been drinking in the interest of <span style="font-weight: bold;">not dying</span>) my body fat % went up .4% and my total body water continued to drop, this time by .3 percent.<br /><br />I'm done drinking water for now. Wikipedia scared me straight, I don't want to die by something as lame as water intoxication,<span style="font-style: italic;"> I'm actually starting to feel a little woosy</span>, so I'm gonna end the consumption (and idiocy) right now. However, before I end the experiment all together, I'm interested in seeing how answering nature's call will change the numbers.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">6:51 PM</span> Nature called... and called... and called. I just lost 2.4 lbs in about a minute. That's about a liters worth of urine. My body fat % dropped by 1.3% and my body water % went back up to 53.3%, which is what it was at when this whole thing started.<br /><br />Here's a graph of my exploits<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH3YG0uFDyaf043jGcgKhRkNCjsv-luNMt8z1v1tx8pSzgSVOZrSFE0TXRQK53QqTHKGhkHfOY1aVrTHUM6CRXQ1rugglzQmzCiDwt6r1BekV3OjJmGk7ueAdGUOBYhLNlSOYbapTrijM/s1600-h/Graph.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 325px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH3YG0uFDyaf043jGcgKhRkNCjsv-luNMt8z1v1tx8pSzgSVOZrSFE0TXRQK53QqTHKGhkHfOY1aVrTHUM6CRXQ1rugglzQmzCiDwt6r1BekV3OjJmGk7ueAdGUOBYhLNlSOYbapTrijM/s400/Graph.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5310601704974897602" border="0" /></a><br /></div>Mobilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09515691945037984686noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833381688317260496.post-90732134210115509722009-01-26T01:22:00.006-04:002009-01-26T02:13:22.097-04:00Thinking out loudI used to be that friend that everybody went to with their problems. That's how I used to make friends, I would seek out the broken souls (at least the female broken souls) and then get them to tell me their life stories. Then I would try to fix everything for them. One of my close friends growing up actually called me her "mentor" I was a 14-year-old with the mind of a wise old man.<br /><br />I don't do that very much anymore. I haven't for a long time. It wasn't that I didn't like it. I loved it, I loved making people happy and making them feel better about themselves. I'm not completely sure why I gave it up, probably because it was just too damned exhausting. In a few frustrating situations I found out that sometimes people don't want to be happy, they like being miserable, and you can't fix somebody that doesn't want to be fixed.<br /><br />I also learned that when it comes to advice most people don't want it. 99% of the time when people ask for advice they're asking for you to tell them what they want to hear. They've made up their minds, now they just want somebody else to say what they're thinking so that they will be more confident with the decision they're already decided upon. It's not exactly an optimistic way to look at it, but we all do it.<br /><br />I've never been very good at telling people what they want to hear, that drove some people away, and I also gave up on fixing people. I can't fix anybody, even if they want me to. When I gave up trying to be the "caretaker to the world" (as my school counselor would call it) my mental health improved dramatically. I started taking care of (and looking out for) myself. To this day that's something that sounds selfish for me to do, but I understand that it has a lot to do with why I'm as resilient a person as I am. <br /><br />I also stopped giving out so much advice. My close friends all know (or at least they <span style="font-style: italic;">should</span> know) that I would do anything for them, but a lot of times advice isn't what they want or need, which is something I didn't know why I was younger (and sometimes I forget, ask around, I tend to give out my fair share of unsolicited advice, my bad). Sometimes somebody just wants to talk about what's bugging them, to think out loud. Sometimes they just want a hug, and sometimes they don't want to talk about their problems at all, sometimes they need to get their mind off of their problems, if even just for an hour or two.<br /><br />That said, sometimes I find myself falling into bad habits. I'll see a friend heading down a path that everybody around them knows isn't good for them, and I'll pull my hair out wanting to get them to change their minds. Sometimes I just want to shake them senseless, or at least until they can realize how stupid they're acting. It drives me nuts when I see somebody I care about ignore the great opportunities they have in front of them in favor of some misguided pipe dream that is only going to lead to them getting hurt.<br /><br />But now, unlike before, I know that I need to stop myself. I don't know as much as I think I do sometimes, and besides, it's not my place to tell them what they should and shouldn't do. In the end the best thing is to let them go off and learn the lesson for themselves, and sometimes people need to chase their pipe dreams.<br /><br />So instead of rushing in and trying to rectify the situation I'll keep my mouth shut. That's what a good friend does. I think.Mobilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09515691945037984686noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833381688317260496.post-562818392552977492009-01-20T21:31:00.002-04:002009-01-20T21:37:46.551-04:00Tip of the Day for my North Carolinian friendsLast night, for the first time in the 2+ years I've lived in the Tar Heel State, we had a legitimate snowstorm. I woke up in the morning to three to five inches of snow on the ground and classes cancelled for the day.<br /><br />A fair share of students on campus spent the day frolicking and whatnot, I didn't have much interest in anything like that, I've seen plenty of snow in my time. It's cold and wet, and if given the choice between a snowball fight and an extra few hours of sleep I'll take the sleep.<br /><br />Anyhoo, for those of you who have to leave their cars outside and commute around the city here's a tip that can save you some time standing outside freezing your ass off and maybe even a few dollars if you want to avoid buying an ice scraper that you'll only use a few times.<br /><br />The night before a snowstorm (or any other time where you think you'll need to use your scraper later on) take a piece of fabric you don't particularly care for (I like to use an old towel) and place it on the outside of your windshield. Use the windshield wipers to help hold it up. This also works for other windows you don't feel like scraping in the morning, just figure out a way to get them to stay on the window and you're good to go. Then in the morning peel the fabric off and tada! You no longer have to spend ten minutes scraping that bitch off.Mobilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09515691945037984686noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833381688317260496.post-22851744389630975092009-01-16T05:32:00.005-04:002009-01-16T06:31:26.969-04:00Thoughts on God, Religion, Theology, and PancakesIt's been over a week since I posted anything on here. I was afraid this might happen. Things flowed so easily during the break. I always had something interesting to say (at least to me it was interesting). Now that the semester has started I haven't had time to focus on the outside world long enough to develop any writing ideas. I hate writing about myself and my own life, I'm a self-conscious blogger, and I hate to bore people.<br /><br />Unfortunately for you it's 4:45 AM on a Friday morning and I'm bored, so I'm going to talk about myself here for a lil bit.<br /><br />In particular I'm going to talk about my thoughts on religion. Yeah, that sounds like fun. Probably wont sound like a good idea a few hours from now, but why not go nuts?<br /><br />So here goes...<br /><br />I'm not religious, but organized religion fascinates me. I'm not spiritual, but I'm intrigued by spirituality. I'm not Christian, I'm not Jewish, I'm not really a Deist in the way it's commonly thought of, I'm not anything really. However I have nothing against those that are religious. My closest friends and some of the most important people in my life are devoutly religious, and that's just fine with me, it's part of who they are, they are intelligent, loving, and genuinely good people, if religion helped them get to where they are today then cool beans. At the same time I have a few (and I emphasize, a <span style="font-style: italic;">few</span>, as in two or three) friends that subscribe to the sort of belief that worries me. They are ardently zealous and unquestioning in their faith. It's the unquestioning part that worries me. Us humantypes are built for asking questions, and suspending rational thought and honest inquiry in favor of zombie-like obedience and mindless zealotry is headslap stupid and creates an environment that breeds extremism, which is never a good thing no matter what it involves. You shouldn't check your brain at the door when you enter a chapel or open a book, quite the opposite in my opinion. Question everything I say. You'll be better off for it. Some of my more devout friends are also some of the most brilliant people I know of, and they involve every ounce of their intellect when it comes to their religous studies, and they are that much better off for it.<br /><br />I'm now starting to realize that a non-religous person trying to give advice on how to best be religious is stupid. Mind-numbingly stupid.<br /><br />I'm not religous, but I'm ready and willing to admit that I don't know what the answer is. That doesn't mean I don't believe in anything though. I believe in truth, honesty, and generally not being a douchebag. I believe there is only one sin: stealing, and I believe that any other "sin" you can think of is derived from theft (yeah, I got that from Kite Runner, but you have to admit that was a sweet movie). When I do something nice for somebody else, it makes me feel good about myself, I don't think you have to subscribe to any particular theology to realize that, it just makes sense. I don't go to church, I don't pray, but I try to live my life day to day as a good person, if death is the end then I'm okay with that. Kindness is an end unto itself. It makes me happy now and if it earns me points in any potential afterlife then sweet deal.<br /><br />The further I get into this lil monologue the more I realize it's impossible for me to get my arms around this topic. It would take hours for me to explain my ideas on religion in a way that I feel would keep people from hating me, so for now I'm going to throw in the towell and go to sleep. Maybe I'll take it up again the next time I'm awake in the predawn hours and need to kill time.Mobilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09515691945037984686noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833381688317260496.post-9155320898411660962009-01-07T16:03:00.002-04:002009-01-07T16:09:56.213-04:00BraggingSo on New Years Day I went bowling with my family. It's sort of a tradition that we've been doing for the last little while. I figured it'd be a good opportunity to spend time with the fam and roll a few games. I had no idea I was going to bowl the best game of my life.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFqXH329Spq8ZNQmXnVP6g625N7TfUI7bNg1QldbvwKGWixalQv56L-VyRqGU4Fs8nh8wnBruQXpZPbLZRZkXbwz7qWPCZNWjyyCL7zGTHUVofx_8bsmkBA0ZQw2fJ5Kv8Z-hSwSYp_zU/s1600-h/sc00056a53.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 475px; height: 57px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFqXH329Spq8ZNQmXnVP6g625N7TfUI7bNg1QldbvwKGWixalQv56L-VyRqGU4Fs8nh8wnBruQXpZPbLZRZkXbwz7qWPCZNWjyyCL7zGTHUVofx_8bsmkBA0ZQw2fJ5Kv8Z-hSwSYp_zU/s400/sc00056a53.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288645295818132722" border="0" /></a><br />Yes, I had the girl behind the desk print out the scoresheet. You have to have proof of things like this or nobody will ever believe you. Along with being my highest score ever it's also my first clean game ever. For the 98% of you out there that don't know the term, a clean game is when you have a strike or spare in each frame, so basically no open frames.<br /><br />Anyway, I'm done patting myself on the back now.Mobilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09515691945037984686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833381688317260496.post-18590624001343073872009-01-02T05:23:00.008-04:002009-01-02T06:04:13.568-04:00Murder suspect poses with possible murder weapon on myspaceIn another example of stupid criminals <a href="http://jkubota.blogspot.com/2008/12/remind-me-to-not-advertise-my-underage.html">metaphorically shooting themselves in the foot</a> with social networking sites, Deamonte Tavaris Brooks, 18, charged with one count of murder and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury stemming from a November 8 shooting, is helping investigators to build a case against him by having previously posed with the potential murder weapon in pictures featured on his myspace page, according to <a href="http://www.newsobserver.com/front/story/1352313.html">Michael Blesecker of the Raleigh <span style="font-style: italic;">News & Observer</span></a>.<br /><br />According to Blesecker, "The page is titled "Crip Swag" and makes numerous mentions of Brooks' affiliation with the Crips street gang."<br /><br />Sounds like an upstanding member of the community to me.<br /><br />Police covered their bases and obtained a search warrant to document any potential evidence found on the myspace page. The warrant was executed December 18th and Investigator M. Soucie noted that "Upon further investigation it was discovered the suspect had a MySpace account and had photos of the possible murder weapon along with comments and messages that may be related to this crime, the MySpace account was viewed and did in fact contain photos of the suspect holding several weapons."<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">I decided to check Mr. Brooks' Myspace page for myself to see if it is as self-incriminating as Blesecker makes it sound. He wasn't exagerrating:<br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhekk46eczGSCi1MzSC_Z8FsT_93nzOEqWFCMBcBM6wKc37MGQqpVOMRkTkQTL2xn0yHqx_yYKw_pGD3hfO3D5-NKNDPoLpvZ8qUXGSlg7xgJ-fIhyIAolDXnQCi7b-N9XF-bqeuHMVxg4/s1600-h/l_2793984d40dc41429dbce453f59eeccf.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhekk46eczGSCi1MzSC_Z8FsT_93nzOEqWFCMBcBM6wKc37MGQqpVOMRkTkQTL2xn0yHqx_yYKw_pGD3hfO3D5-NKNDPoLpvZ8qUXGSlg7xgJ-fIhyIAolDXnQCi7b-N9XF-bqeuHMVxg4/s320/l_2793984d40dc41429dbce453f59eeccf.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286630653971345490" border="0" /></a> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYqBrz8hAlfzDpBCMIJ47YIybcpJtfpEkcp9NS0t0aC5FPXbRnXRCjf_EnMPHTw44FOSv6yZAyu-bPmhDCArDVaJDq9InvN_qXGuVnRgFo61N4TWhaMrONTlwENXZxyo_nPoAC4C4SDSs/s1600-h/l_370b61563181028c141d50b104313c44.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYqBrz8hAlfzDpBCMIJ47YIybcpJtfpEkcp9NS0t0aC5FPXbRnXRCjf_EnMPHTw44FOSv6yZAyu-bPmhDCArDVaJDq9InvN_qXGuVnRgFo61N4TWhaMrONTlwENXZxyo_nPoAC4C4SDSs/s320/l_370b61563181028c141d50b104313c44.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286630875876846578" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAdmhPDcnqD2CcZHQBKsFHVjf9dVHLG9DTvavUDOMKlARLPPlk378so-4ip2luBDslKSW8I-1y9dZxScsVdBcLVFr9cxI_7vlEjsG39O1AMtjtVwxFP9j4RvuoIfFrpZqXKWO8vbuYKsM/s1600-h/l_b1d5da075c089ae231173aa7cb2ac4a6.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAdmhPDcnqD2CcZHQBKsFHVjf9dVHLG9DTvavUDOMKlARLPPlk378so-4ip2luBDslKSW8I-1y9dZxScsVdBcLVFr9cxI_7vlEjsG39O1AMtjtVwxFP9j4RvuoIfFrpZqXKWO8vbuYKsM/s320/l_b1d5da075c089ae231173aa7cb2ac4a6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286631280788769522" border="0" /> </a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEHvkaJjPq11ynElR4nyMa__i37WGupcAvVmYZBDDZax5U3bDBMv0NeAWdy_gpJjqX8zIE6ZkXWQSkdTkkvtdp7v3p7-Jq8_duM26J55r-c84AgLJ9aVu4PLmBDKlF8cnkasOzJNE_G9E/s1600-h/l_2c23f0c3b6c902d8e40890751cb64332.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEHvkaJjPq11ynElR4nyMa__i37WGupcAvVmYZBDDZax5U3bDBMv0NeAWdy_gpJjqX8zIE6ZkXWQSkdTkkvtdp7v3p7-Jq8_duM26J55r-c84AgLJ9aVu4PLmBDKlF8cnkasOzJNE_G9E/s320/l_2c23f0c3b6c902d8e40890751cb64332.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286631446021496530" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The first two pictures are of what police believe to be the murder weapon. The other two are of an automatic rifle and a sawed-off shotgun.<br /><br />It continues to amaze me with how stupid some people can be when it comes to Myspace and Facebook. Do you think these photos and "cryp swag" layout are going to shave any years off when it comes to his sentence? What amazes me even more is that it keeps on happening. You'd think that if you've dedicated yourself to a life of crime, or at least decided to dabble in the "thug lifestyle" that you would think twice about advertising your misdeeds and/or weapons arsenal on a website accessible to anybody with two thumbs and the IQ of a speed bump, let alone the COPS. Deamonte may not be the sharpest gangstrrr on the block, but at least he went down in style.<br /><br />Social networking sites have turned into a real asset for investigators trying to put away criminals that are more concerned with looking good than not getting caught, it makes it easier for them to get these boys off the streets and make life safer for the rest of us, plus it gives me something to write about. It's unfortunate that this kid had to go and kill somebody to make a name for himself.Mobilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09515691945037984686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833381688317260496.post-63161524061568717592008-12-31T23:49:00.000-04:002009-01-01T01:03:08.111-04:00Hockey Night in RaleighI went to the Carolina Hurricanes game against the Atlanta Thrashers tonight. My mom scored some sweet tickets so I went along with my family. It's the first time I've been to a game so far this season (I'm poor and tickets aren't cheap). But the cool thing about going out with your parents is that you don't have to pay to get in.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDWCX-GxOjy9tOE0birm-gg62Z8ABmN0x9URhGyI_1oC_MOnVAPKSrwPiri77WqR4Ksjanv8Eu3s6F9koqON0XaBlreT9rA1g5AbKj-1qLs_zIEKG7LuvMU50H_DaeEhJWA27q1E3JtUg/s1600-h/sweetseats.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 350px; height: 466px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDWCX-GxOjy9tOE0birm-gg62Z8ABmN0x9URhGyI_1oC_MOnVAPKSrwPiri77WqR4Ksjanv8Eu3s6F9koqON0XaBlreT9rA1g5AbKj-1qLs_zIEKG7LuvMU50H_DaeEhJWA27q1E3JtUg/s400/sweetseats.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286180474125342098" border="0" /></a><br />I know, I'm cheap, but it's okay for me to be cheap right now because I'm in school. I'll remember my parents kindness thirty years from now when I put them in a real nice old folks home.<br /><br />Anyway, I'd forgotten how much more fun hockey games are when you are actually there as opposed to watching on TV. You see so much more when you're in the arena. My favorite part was when during a brief altercation after a whistle, while the refs were paying attention to a different group of players pushing and shoving, Tim Gleason shoved a Thrashers player's head into the glass. <a href="http://www.mikehelms.org/blog/">Canadians</a> showed good taste in choosing a national pastime.<br /><br />My least favorite part of the game was before the game started. I dropped my beer and spilled it all over myself and the seats of the people sitting in front of me. I felt terrible, but the guy was cool about it. The girl he was with wouldn't look at me.<br /><br />Anyhoo, back to the game<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2LBIYCFIJbViAacaikpvEFUz-n3OQQJYg8XugqBq1vWtjdaqa6Yyq1wi1qItNmJtTOrsPXTQjBtAXeJpsv5UMYcEvm21CgmOHd-8MzDNlbSRTDuNKq7pJ17okzxgfMkrP-ANdQQR5z4o/s1600-h/sweetaction.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 371px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2LBIYCFIJbViAacaikpvEFUz-n3OQQJYg8XugqBq1vWtjdaqa6Yyq1wi1qItNmJtTOrsPXTQjBtAXeJpsv5UMYcEvm21CgmOHd-8MzDNlbSRTDuNKq7pJ17okzxgfMkrP-ANdQQR5z4o/s400/sweetaction.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286182795567241282" border="0" /></a><br />The Hurricanes looked well-rested and their <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forecheck">forecheck</a> was outstanding. The 'Canes responded to Ilya Kovalchuck's wrister that went by Cam Ward in the first period with three unanswered goals. Sergei Samsonov was a <a href="http://209.85.55.5/test_server/tac/ftpupload/image/TheSculptingChallenge/TSC_002_Manimal%281%29.jpg">manimal</a>, picking up two goals and an assist in the 3-1 win.<br /><br />My inner sportswriter is starting to take over... I'll try to pace myself from here on out.<br /><br />One last note about the game. The three stars were 1) Sergei Samsonov 2) Tuomo Ruutu and 3) Joe Corvo. All players acquired last season by GM Jim Rutherford (Samsonov was picked up off waivers from the Blackhawks while Ruutu and Corvo were acquired via trades with the Blackhawks and Senators, respectively) so cudos to Mister Jim on picking up players that have been solid contributors to the team.Mobilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09515691945037984686noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833381688317260496.post-8430240669395713292008-12-24T18:04:00.003-04:002009-01-02T05:22:56.827-04:00Remind me to NOT advertise my underage drinking party on FacebookGaston County Police used a Facebook posting to help them find a party Saturday night where they found <a href="http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1344693.html">at least 31 underage drinkers.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.wcnc.com/news/topstories/stories/wcnc-122208-mw-underage_drinking.707dcc7.html">WCNC of Charlotte</a> is reporting that 47-year-old Steven Haney and his girlfriend, 39-year-old Melissa Wilson, were charged with aiding and abetting underage possession/consumption of alcohol.<br /><br />Here's the kicker though, turns out the police were tipped off by somebody that was spying information from the popular social networking site. WCNC says it was a "diligent adult who was monitoring the internet and found a note about the party."<br /><br />I like to think it was somebody that didn't get an invite, hell hath no fury like somebody that gets left out int he cold while everybody else gets to have fun. Payback is a bitch.<br /><br />Anyhoo, this is yet another example of people getting burned for <a href="http://www.wcnc.com/news/local/stories/wcnc-112508-mrn-facebookteachers.1408517.html">what they think is anonymous</a> on the internet. While facebook is slightly more secure than myspace, a lot of people leave their profiles, pictures, or events open to the public. Beleive it or not, people are searching for information about you, "google" is not just a noun, so avoid having anything public out there that you wouldn't want your boss taking a look at.Mobilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09515691945037984686noreply@blogger.com0