The Story. (The Serious Stuff)

The Story. A professor once told me that "The Story is everything. Everything in life stems from a story of some kind." It's something that I agree with. Stories have always had a profound influence on us. Whether they be from the Bible, Koran, Torah, etc. Even to the personal stories from people we know. We can always learn something from a story. Every day we think that our stories may not matter, that they have no point, or that they are only for us and extremely private, or that no one wants to hear it. I'm here to tell everyone that they do matter, and I always pay attention.
I've had a few weeks now without several of my vices in life, and I've been reading and reflecting, only to come to a conclusion. With an uncertain future, the stories are all that I have. I have lost the right to basic human emotion long ago, and it is only through stories that I can feel. It's the same for most human beings. Stories move us and make us passionate. They enable us to do all kinds of things. Be it the story of a parent-less child in Africa, to the story of the abused in the US, to a story of the over-privileged, stories like these have gotten people to act or do things not within their pattern of behavior. It's human kinds ability to adjust and to do things that gives us hope for the future.
Every story I see is beautiful. Whether it's the story of a young LDS Artist struggling to make her way in the world, or an opinionated redhead who has to experience everything the world has to offer, or a man who ultimately desires to do many things for other people but yet has no one who does it for him. All of these stories have different emotions associated with them, some are sad stories, some happy, some are told for amusement. Many of my family and friends have wonderful stories, but are either too embarrassed or too concerned about others passing judgment to share them with the world. Which is a grave injustice to human kind.
A good, but over used saying is "The truth shall set you free". I find this is the case with many of own personal stories. I joke about it to make light of it, but I do have many unpleasant memories of my 2nd step-father. My mother married a man named Bob. Bob was alleged, but unproven child molester. Now, I can't really speak for the truth of these statements and I was only about 6 years old, but I can speak of a meetings with my mother.
Bob had a second story house. After many years, it seems the relationship because estranged, and Bob had the downstairs of the house, while my mother had the upstairs. My mother in a fit of frustration and rage, made me promise that I would NEVER go downstairs. Some of you may, or may not know this story. However, I can tell you how my curiosity got the better of me, and my young self ventured downstairs one day. The only thing I can remember is the darkness and the cold, and the brooding sense of evil in the air that it was nearly palpable. It was a short lived trip. To this day, I don't really remember what occurred after going downstairs.
It took me quite some time before I was comfortable even sharing that story. However, now I can joke about it, and it doesn't mean anything. So, if you have some time today. Share a story with someone. If it's one that you haven't told, all the better. To quote one of my favorite monologues and endings of all time, and one of my favorite movies The Prestige. Applies quite a bit to sharing these life stories of ours. In the climax of the movie the central characters are having their showdown, and the magicians speak to one another about their trade:

(While talking to Borden) "You never understood why we did it! It was the look on their faces. The audience knows the truth. The world is hollow, shallow through and through. But, if you get them to believe, even for a second, then you've done something wonderful."

Say it ain't so, Dwayne Johnson, say it ain't so!

While perusing through FirstShowing.net, I found a movie titled Disney's Race to Witch Mountain. I am conflicted about this on so many levels. First of all, it's a movie that is a remake of one that I actually liked from childhood, Escape to Witch Mountain, which I loved as a kid.

Enter 2008, and then they wanted to do a remake. It is directed by Andy Fickman, with such credits She's The Man and The Game Plan. Which explains Dwayne Johnson's appearance. You might be asking, why would I care. The answer is this. I now have to add The Rock to my list of actors that I'll never pay money to see again. All these actors are Disney movie alums who are just looking for a paycheck. I gave him a pass for The Game Plan, but now...It just will not work out between us. So, sorry Dwayne you're going on the list with the likes of:
- Eddie Murphy
- Vin Diesel
- Adam Sandler
- Robin Williams
- Martin Lawrence
- Paul Walker
- Brendan Fraser
- Rick Moranis
- Michelle Trachtenburg
- John Travolta
- Anne Hathaway
- Tim Allen
- Cuba Gooding Jr.
Also, inevitably it's going to be one of those crappy Disney remakes that disappoints on so many levels. Which will inevitably get me into a fight with some soccer mom, at the video counter. For Example (This has happened in the past):

One day, while at a local Blockbuster, I decided that I would buy a recent zombie flick. While checking at the counter, after I asked the blue-shirted Blockbuster rep about the movie, a woman in her 40's brazenly told me "Why would you watch that!? Those movies are crap. The church even says that someone shouldn't watch them. The prophet says you shouldn't watch them."
She then proceeds to ask, "Do you guys have a copy of 'She's the Man'?"
Of course, I had to lay into her, "So, I'm not supposed to watch a zombie movie, but you'll rent a move about a 19 year old who cross dresses and tries to hook up with with pre-marital intercourse with another teen and early 20 year old. That's okay to you? Remind me, how does the church feel about cross-dressing!?"

Personally, I don't want to get into these kinds of exchanges. I want soccer mom's to live in their little diluted world, and I'll live in mine. This is why with humble shame, that I have to throw Dwayne Johnson into the "do not support" category! It was good knowing you Dwayne through "The Rundown", "Walking Tall", and various crappy action movies but those days are gone.

Here's the difference between a good movie and bad one...

Today, I want to make some contrasts. There have been 2 vampire movies released recently in the Salt Lake Valley. The first, Twilight. Based on a series of books.


The second, Let the Right One In. Both are about Vampires, and love and all that stuff. However, one is done the right way, and one is done the wrong way.


Both movies are centered on a sort of love story, which fits based on the psychological and literal history of vampirism. However, Twilight is all about teeny bopper high school kids. It's just another teenager about beautiful kids who just "aren't understood". It's so full on teenager angst, that I almost had to call in a trip to mall, just to calm the kids down. If you don't want to pay the full price for a movie ticket, you can also see the horrible movie, The Covenant and get the same thing.
Let the Right One In, however, is about a young man being bullied and made fun of. It's the perfect story about early adolescence and about gender confusion. It's a simple love and admiration story. There's nothing sexual about it, but there definitely is some sexual tension between characters. The movie itself captures the feelings of trying to figure out early sexuality. The story has some brilliant camera work. Sometimes covering a gruesome scene, and other times giving it an all too real feeling. Overall, it's a great piece of film. Much better than a Hollywood style dribble that's created for every novel written. Anyone who wants to see a good vampire flick. Ditch this Twilight crap, and see Let the Right One In.

What brings light to the imagination?

Most of the people I know, indicate that they just can't get into the show Fringe. The story is really simple, but in typical JJ Abrams fashion, is a series that poses questions that the answers to those questions are answered several episodes later, while new ones are posed. The thing I like about this series is the researching behind it. There are some very deep pseudo-science theories in life, the show implements in it's plot.
These concepts get my mind spinning in many different ways. The one I've been focusing on recently is the concept of group mind, and group unconsciousness. These concepts are that human beings, in their individuality, are composed as and have group thoughts. This is something that has been on the for-front of many people, but not something science can really prove beyond a shadow of doubt.
Most people belong to two different camps when discussing unexplained events, either scientific or religious camps. Most unexplained things are written off as religious, or if science can't explain it, it simply didn't happen. This is a human condition that I don't fully understand, i.e. Group Mind and Group Consciousness. Take, for example, cases of anthropology. We have uncovered evidence of early man using cutting tools in Africa and in Malaysia. The fossil record indicates that Homo Habilis evolved in Africa, but in Malaysia Homo Floresiensis evolved half the world away, but came up with the same concepts of tools. How can two different forms of early man, come up with the same tool concepts? This has given rise and caused scientists to re-formulate how we view early man and how humans came to being. This is where Group Mind and Group Consciousness come into play.
This is all more evident when you talk about the early origins of Algebra. Indian, Greek, and Chinese all came up with primitive origins of the math. All these cultures didn't have any scientific sharing or any way to share these revolutionary concepts, but they all seemed to evolve at the same time.
This is where Group Mind and Group Think come into play. There are some evaluational concepts that are just present in the human mind. Many people can explain this phenomenon by resorting to religion or other alternative lifestyle concepts. There is nothing that can truly explain it though. This is just one of the mysteries of life that always fascinate me and cause me to wonder, what will be the next step for us as humans. What overall thoughts and concepts will we come up with next? What will God or whatever you believe in, want us to overcome next? These are the things that cause my mind to keep me awake for hours on end.

The Research Project.

Quite a while ago, I asked several women about their fears or concerns. I was originally going to use this info if I needed to give a talk. Seeing as to how I'm a wandering church member, I don't know when that should be. Mostly I wanted to center on a couple of simple questions.
1) What do you Fear or worry about?
2) Do you think this is more a Biological concern or need, or Spiritual?
3) If you could change any 1 thing, what would it be?
Now, I was given quite a bit of flak on the questions. Overall, I wanted to see how many of these fears concerns, would be completely selfish, and how many are focused on others. The same is especially true about the 3rd question. It took me a while to get a sampling of 100 people, but this is what I came down with.
Out of 100 people, 35 were LDS. The others were unaffiliated with the major religion in the valley. Out of those polled, 70 were Women. Thirty of those were LDS. Out of the 30 men that were polled, 10 were LDS.
When asked about the first question, 15 of those (all women) expressed concerns about being alone or not being loved. 5 of the responses had to deal with Death or a fear of getting old. 5 of those responded with answers of being a bad parent. 27 of those responses dealt with failure or feelings of inadequacy. 18 had phobia fears of animals (spiders, snakes, sharks, etc). 17 of those polled (one a male), feared instances of rape. 8 of those polled were concerned with losing their job or lifestyle. 3 of those polled were concerned about incarcerated either in a mental intuition or jail. The other 2 responses were thrown out because they were pretty much incoherent babble.
The responses to the 2nd question surprised me, almost all of them (2/3rds) were admittedly Biological concerns. Even to the fear of dying, or being alone 1/2 of the people admitted that it was their biology and not spirituality that was driving it.
The responses to the 3rd question were as follows:
- 6 x Would change/want a worth while relationships
- 6 x Helping Children (ie Social Work, Big brothers/big sisters, etc)
- 9 x Loss of loved ones or the closeness of their family
- 6 x Would like to change Human Nature or Humanity.
- 5 x change their level of Intelligence or Mental Capacity
- 7 x would change their life span or the time they have on this earth.
- 7 x would like to change their families relationship with religious organizations.
- 7 x would like to change their self image.
- 10 x would not change anything or couldn't decide.
- 5 x would like to change Communication within Society.
- 5 x would change the perception of how others see them.
- 7 x would like to change their profession.
- 5 x would like to change their outlook on things.
- 5 x would change their health concerns or alleviate health problems.
- 9 x would like to be more social.

Now, out of all of those motives, I could only find 19 people who in effect are choosing something that they would change that would benefit others. The rest are those that choose something that only affects themselves. Yes, the questions are simplistic. That's the way it's supposed to be designed. I was also surprised how many people said they "couldn't decide anything". This is all just food for thought. We should be more concerned about how, what, and why we do the things to others that we do, and much less about our own needs and wants. The other piece of the puzzle is acceptance. Many of these concerns or fears have to deal with problems that they have no control over. Whether it be your health, your family members, or your own future. Many of those things you can't even control, so why worry about them? To tell the truth, most of them are pretty trivial by nature.
I was amazed at how many LDS people worried about their families relationship to their own religion. That's an aspect of humanity that I just do not understand. Most religions of the world preach that there is an afterlife. As long as someone is a good person, we'll typically be a good situation, so why does it matter. To automatically think that every family member has to think or do the same things that we do, makes for some pretty boring lives. The only thing I can think of relates to my father. My father is always proclaiming how much that I am "like him". When the truth of the matter, is that we are nothing alike. When something occurs that isn't remotely the same thing he would do, he gets upset, judgmental, and has an irrational anger that occurs in him. The only thing that occurs to me is this incessant human need to leave a little replica of ourselves for the world to continue on with. When, all it takes is to realize that this world is a big and complex place. There is no reason that we should be compelled to have copies of ourselves left for the next generation. Those kind of compulsions are just genetic throw backs. There are almost close to 6 billion human beings. The survivability of our species is almost assured in many cases. Many people just need to get out of their own human programming and just deal with the facts of life.

Surprise, surprise from the BCS.

I am admittedly a BCS hater, but there's something that I have to give them props on. The Mountain West is getting their props. For those of you who don't know, the high money games to be in the BCS, you have to be in the top 8 at the end of the season. Currently Utah is ranked #8 in the BCS poll. Which means, that if they do go undefeated and provided they get some losses from those ahead of them, they could get in the championship. It's a real remote chance, but it's possible (Penn State has had many seasons where they've been undefeated and still get snubbed for a championship game).
Right now, the Mountain West conference has the same number of teams (3) in the top 15, than the beloved and over rated SEC. This indicates that their computer formulas are some what working. The mountain west has creamed the Pac 10 this year, and the Mountain West has been elevated in the standings because of it. This should go to prove to athletic directors 1 thing. You need to schedule some more decent non-conference games to even crack the current ratings. There is absolutely NO REASON to schedule crappy teams that are in state! I am looking at you Weber St and Utah St. There is no reason to play these other teams. The nature of sports now days is turning to a "who you beat" and not solely on how many wins you have. This is the case with Basketball, Football, or pretty much any NCAA sport.
Admittedly, it will change because Utah or TCS will get knocked out of the top 15 tomorrow when they play against one another. However, most of this season, the conference as a whole, has been earning their stripes.
So, I will admit, as much as it pains me too... The BCS has been getting it better. I mean, it's still a shame that a team on it's own is penalized for the performance of the conference, but it's going to work to benefit of some other teams this season. The Utes, for example, play teams both ranked in the top 15 the last 2 weeks. The same statistic that media darling Texas Tech, done as well.
I'll hold out my final statement to see how it all shakes out. However, if the Utes were going to make a run for national championship, It had better be this year.

Math, solving life's issues!

I have a simple way to view the world. The world of mathematics you get one simple equation.

X + Y = Z

You have the first variable (x) + 2nd variable or action (y) and it equals a result, (z). This is a basic formula for determining several statistics. It's also a pattern for the scientific process. However, most statistics and things people claim as science, aren't directly cause and effect. The example I attempted to use last night, when referring to drunk driving, and the causality with it, doesn't work when applying this model. So, statistics that MADD and everything they state an argument for prevention laws are flawed. Take this science fact.
When you apply this science fact Potassium when combined with water explodes. That's science fact. You have X, the potassium. Plus Y, adding to water. Equals chemical reaction.
Or you can look at it this way. Plugging a fork in a light socket. You have X, the fork and or tool. You have the action of jamming it in a light socket, Y. Equals, Z, you get electrocuted. It is reproducible the same way, every time. So, equate it to a statistic about electrocution you have to know how many people stick forks in light sockets and how many get electrocuted.
This same model doesn't apply to drinking and driving, so it cannot be treated as fact. You have the number of people while drinking, X. Plus the action of driving a car, Y. Equals Z, mortality. Does drinking and driving cause the death of someone every time, no. So, you cannot say that it is reproducible result every time. Now, according to many of my friends, even the fact that mortality (Z), occurs that it needs to be as close to 0 as it can get. Now, 0 will never happen in regards to drinking and driving fatalities, that's a fact. So, you can express the equations like this:

Z cannot = 0
So, the only way Z can approach 0 is eliminate or delimit x or y.

Which, according this model, you have eliminate people drinking (x) or driving (y). However, our whole society states that everyone has the right to drink (x) or drive (y). As it's stated though, just because one drinks, doesn't cause mortality. Just because one drives, doesn't cause mortality. Basically:

X doesn't = Z
Y doesn't = Z
Z can = X
Z can = Y

Why people have actively enabled prevention laws, because they say that x + y = z, but that's not the case. It's a flawed argument mathematically. If you apply that kind of logic to drinking and driving, then the same should be applied across the board. So, structural integrity failures kill several people a year. Do we then have to have inspectors check a house for exactly a certain amount of nails, at random times? Why don't we hold to or apply that method prevention to other things? You've created a false causality. Even if you believe that we should eliminate and get Z (mortality) as close to zero as humanly possible. We should apply that to everything, but we don't. The reason why, is one thing $. We find it far easier to prosecute a person saying "you did this thing wrong" and leaving it to police officers. The problem is two fold. A, you have have complete faith in the Law Enforcement, which I do not. B, You have to believe that those powers will never be abused, and it removes your personal responsibility.
So, Mathematical formulas can be applied to many things in life. Most of the things that explain us can be broken down into simple equations. It's a little different way to look at the world, but it is still a very effective way of thinking, and cuts through all the linguistical pitfalls that politicians and sales people will try and get you hung up on.

This is the case where IMDB can betray a movie...

So, I was going through one of my favorite sites, the http://www.metacritic.com/film, and what did I see but reviews for Changeling. Now, I've usually enjoyed the last couple of Clint Eastwood flicks. Letters from Iwo Jima is on my top 10. Now, a good film is a combination of writing and directing. Eastwood alone made me kind of want to see this movie, that was until I looked at the writer and got rather scared. This is where IMDB can fail you. This is what I saw on his IMDB writing credits:

1. World War Z (2010) (announced) (screenplay)
2. Silver Surfer (2009) (announced) (writer)
3. They Marched Into Sunlight (2008) (announced) (writer)
4. Ninja Assassin (2009) (post-production) (screenplay)
   
   
5. Changeling (2008) (written by)
6. Babylon 5: The Lost Tales - Voices in the Dark (2007) (V) (creator) (written by)
   ... aka Babylon 5: The Lost Tales (USA: short title)
7. "Jeremiah" (34 episodes, 2002-2004)
   - Interregnum: Part 2 (2004) TV episode (creator) (written by)
   - Interregnum: Part 1 (2004) TV episode (creator) (written by)
   - The State of the Union (2004) TV episode (creator)
   - The Face in the Mirror (2003) TV episode (creator) (story) (teleplay)
   - The Past Is Prologue (2003) TV episode (creator) (written by)
   (29 more)
8. Babylon 5: The Legend of the Rangers: To Live and Die in Starlight (2002) (TV) (writer)
   ... aka Legend of the Rangers: Babylon 5 (USA: promotional title)
9. Murder, She Wrote: A Story to Die For (2000) (TV) (written by)
   
   
10. "Crusade" (10 episodes, 1999)
    - Each Night I Dream of Home (1999) TV episode (writer)
    - The Visitors from Down the Street (1999) TV episode (writer)
    - The Needs of Earth (1999) TV episode (writer)
    - The Memory of War (1999) TV episode (writer)
    - Racing the Night (1999) TV episode (writer)
    (5 more)
11. Babylon 5: A Call to Arms (1999) (TV) (creator) (written by)
    ... aka A Call to Arms
12. "Babylon 5" (104 episodes, 1994-1998)
    ... aka B5 (USA: promotional abbreviation)
    - Sleeping in Light (1998) TV episode (creator) (writer)
    - Objects at Rest (1998) TV episode (creator) (writer)
    - Objects in Motion (1998) TV episode (creator) (story) (teleplay)
    - The Wheel of Fire (1998) TV episode (creator) (writer)
    - The Fall of Centauri Prime (1998) TV episode (creator) (writer)
    (99 more)
13. Babylon 5: The River of Souls (1998) (TV) (creator) (written by)
    ... aka The River of Souls
14. Babylon 5: Thirdspace (1998) (TV) (creator) (written by)
    ... aka Thirdspace (USA)
    ... aka Thirdspace: A Babylon 5 Adventure (USA: promotional title)
15. Babylon 5: In the Beginning (1998) (TV) (creator) (written by)
    ... aka In the Beginning
16. "Walker, Texas Ranger" (1 episode, 1993)
    ... aka Walker (Australia)
    - A Shadow in the Night (1993) TV episode (writer)
17. Babylon 5: The Gathering (1993) (TV) (creator) (written by)
    ... aka B5 (USA: promotional abbreviation)
    ... aka Babylon 5 (USA)
18. "Murder, She Wrote" (7 episodes, 1991-1993)
    - Final Curtain (1993) TV episode (writer)
    - The Wind Around the Tower (1992) TV episode (writer)
    - To the Last Will I Grapple with Thee (1992) TV episode (written by)
    - Incident in Lot #7 (1992) TV episode (written by)
    - The Committee (1991) TV episode (written by)
    (2 more)
19. "Jake and the Fatman" (5 episodes, 1990)
    - Goodbye: Part 1 (1990) TV episode (writer)
    - Goodbye: Part 2 (1990) TV episode (writer)
    - Danny Boy (1990) TV episode (writer)
    - I Ain't Got No Body (1990) TV episode (writer)
    - Who's Sorry Now? (1990) TV episode (writer)
20. "The Real Ghost Busters" (21 episodes, 1986-1990)
    - Russian About (1990) TV episode (writer)
    - The Haunting of Heck House (1990) TV episode (writer)
    - Janine, You've Changed (1990) TV episode (writer)
    - The Halloween Door (1989) TV episode (writer)
    - The Ghostbusters Live! From Al Capone's Tomb! (1989) TV episode (writer)
    (16 more)
    
    
21. "The Twilight Zone" (12 episodes, 1986-1989)
    ... aka The New Twilight Zone (Australia)
    - Special Service (1989) TV episode (writer)
    - Rendezvous in a Dark Place (1989) TV episode (writer)
    - The Wall (1989) TV episode (writer)
    - The Mind of Simon Foster (1989) TV episode (writer)
    - Something in the Walls (1989) TV episode (writer)
    (7 more)
22. "Nightmare Classics" (1 episode, 1989)
    - The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1989) TV episode (story "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde")
23. Captain Power: The Beginning (1989) (TV) (writer)
    ... aka Captain Power: Against the New Order (USA)
24. "Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future" (14 episodes, 1987-1988)
    - Retribution: Part 2 (1988) TV episode (writer)
    - Retribution: Part 1 (1988) TV episode (writer)
    - Freedom One (1988) TV episode (story)
    - The Eden Road (1988) TV episode (writer)
    - A Summoning of Thunder: Part 2 (1988) TV episode (writer)
    (9 more)
25. "Spiral Zone" (1 episode, 1987)
    - Mission Into Evil (1987) TV episode (writer) (as Fettes Grey)
26. "She-Ra: Princess of Power" (9 episodes, 1985)
    - Magicats (1985) TV episode (writer)
    - Darksmoke and Fire (1985) TV episode (writer)
    - The Price of Power (1985) TV episode (writer)
    - Enemy with My Face (1985) TV episode (writer)
    - Into the Dark Dimension (1985) TV episode (writer)
    (4 more)
27. "Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors" (13 episodes, 1985)
    ... aka Jayce et les conquérants de la lumière (France)
    - Dark Singer (1985) TV episode (writer)
    - Appointment at Forever (1985) TV episode (writer)
    - A Question of Conscience (????) TV episode (writer)
    - Do Not Disturb (????) TV episode (writer)
    - Dreamworld (????) TV episode (writer)
    (8 more)
28. "CBS Storybreak" (1 episode)
    - The Shy Stegosaurus of Cricket Creek (????) TV episode (screenplay)
29. "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" (15 episodes, 1984)
    ... aka He-Man (USA: short title)
    - Battle of the Dragons (1984) TV episode (writer)
    - Double Trouble (1984) TV episode (writer)
    - Journey to Stone City (1984) TV episode (writer)
    - Mistaken Identity (1984) TV episode (writer)
    - Origin of the Sorceress (1984) TV episode (writer)
    (10 more)

Now, any man with writing credits to He-man and She-ra episodes might be good in my book, but I have to say that I'm really sceptical. This guy has written a ton of TV. The last movie I saw with a writer who had done mostly TV, was the dreadful Mummy IV (Tomb of the Dragon Emperor). Everything from episodes of Jake and the Fatman, to Murder She Wrote (Angela Lansbury, what the hell!?). Then, I checked out one of his movies in post. That link to an already classic, Ninja Assassin. Here's the plot synopsis of that movie!

"Ninja Assassin follows Raizo (Rain), one of the deadliest assassins in the world. Taken from the streets as a child, he was transformed into a trained killer by the Ozunu Clan, a secret society whose very existence is considered a myth. But haunted by the merciless execution of his friend by the Clan, Raizo breaks free from them and vanishes. Now he waits, preparing to exact his revenge.

In Berlin, Europol agent Mika Coretti (Naomie Harris) has stumbled upon a money trail linking several political murders to an underground network of untraceable assassins from the Far East. Defying the orders of her superior, Ryan Maslow (Ben Miles), Mika digs into top secret agency files to learn the truth behind the murders. Her investigation makes her a target, and the Ozunu Clan sends a team of killers, led by the lethal Takeshi (Rick Yune), to silence her forever. Raizo saves Mika from her attackers, but he knows that the Clan will not rest until they are both eliminated. Now, entangled in a deadly game of cat and mouse through the streets of Europe, Raizo and Mika must trust one another if they hope to survive and finally bring down the elusive Ozunu Clan."

Now, I know full well what most people are thinking. "Terence, just because he did umpteen episodes of Babylon 5, doesn't mean that his writing sucks", and for the most part you're correct. He could be very capable. However, if he's real good, he's been in the game since '84, and he hasn't written a feature length movie until now? Just food for thought. I might end up going to this movie because of a few friends might want to see it, and it might be decent because of how Eastwood does his films. However, it's more of a shot in the dark than one would think.

UPDATE: On a side note, I started looking at Eastwood's filmography and saw a movie trailer and movie that I want to see. Gran Torino is another one of his movies that will probably be released in January. It's about a Korean War vet who has some Hmong neighbors move in, and has to combat some local gangs as well as befriend the Hmong kid that tries to steal his 1972 Gran Torino. The film, from the trailer, looks pretty good. Eastwood plays the quintessential old bigoted vet.

A blast from....the future!?

Okay, there are many things about my childhood that I've forgotten. I've recently re-discovered a memory. This was all sparked when I noticed that T-shirt hell, had new t-shirts. This brought back the memory of one thing I actually loved in my childhood, but now I can't fathom why... The California Raisins.


Now, when I was young. I tried to collect all the California Raisins figurines. To this day, I no longer understand why. I don't know if my young mind just couldn't comprehend the advertising bull crap, or what. However, this campaign is by and large one of the most successful advertising things to this date.

Enter 2008. Then, I saw this from T-shirt hell.


Now, I suddenly remember how much money I spent on a useless advertising gimmick when I was young, and pretty much made currently feel like I'm the raisin being currently raped by the sunglasses clad raisin pictured.

This should go to show, that everything from your childhood isn't necessarily good.

For those of you who know, or don't know Brice...

For those of you who know, or don't know Brice. I'm gonna plagiarize a bit. This was an e-mail he sent to me, that was a damn good rant, and I even echo some of the sentiments to many extent. Here you go:

"I heard something on CNN that just kind of made me mad. No, it wasn't
a liberal talking head in a suit... it was a regular schmoe they found
in an airport terminal or something. Some lady in her 40's probably.
She said "I want to know what happened to my life! Who's responsible?
I want my life back before the crash of the economy, and the 'Iraqi'
war!" I liked the little bit about calling it the 'Iraqi war" but I
mean. I'll tell you who's to blame... and I hate to say it because it
sounds deceptively like I'm one of those 'blame America' and 'America
haters' but... it's 'progressive' American culture, that's who's to
blame. That's what ruined her perfect little life. Not the culture of true blue
real life hard working Americans, but all this new shit people are saying about
'need' and 'opportunity' and 'change' and this and that. It's people
who think that their 'need' comes before their duty to work and
deserve. People who think that their 'need' entitles them to take now, and pay
later-but probably never. People who think that a good 'change' would
be to give a poor dude a house that he can never afford because he
seems to need it. It's good for everyone, right? Why hasn't anyone
brought up that a lot of the blame for this financial mess in housing comes from that practice? Bleeding hearts want to give everyone a house they can't afford because they
'need' it... maybe they knew it would happen, and benefit them financially... maybe they did it
out of naivete, but it's a certain ideology that's bankrupted so much
of the country.

Is the war in Iraq
really that stressing on people? As far as I can tell it's the war
that's affected the American citizens the least of any in our history.
Or since I deployed has something changed like they're rationing
food, rubber, and ore? Are women working in garages riveting fighter
planes together? Are people being forced to purchase war bonds? Are
Islamic radicals blowing things up in America? So far it seems like
their resources are sapped and they're forced to operate in lower Asia
and Europe at the farthest.

That lady pissed me off. "Who's to blame!" she asks the cameraman, while
she's sitting in the food court sipping her $10 latte. She talks about it
like some mysterious spooky ghosts are behind the troubles of the nation.
I'll tell you what... Jay-zee and I.T. and Home-Dawg sure don't look
like they're poor and suffering. They're getting new diamond teeth
every weekend, and they have three of those a week, so our economy
can't be that bad. I suspect our society is just misguided. People need
to stop bitching, and start moving. If we all worked half as hard as
we threw blame, we'd be good to go. The end."

This is all pearls of wisdom from our good friend Brice. I agree with him in many ways. An America that can actually care what Paris Hilton and other celebs do with their time, and don't have to work all day just to buy a loaf of bread, have no right to complain. The world is pretty good for them. Unfortunately Americans are quick to judge and easily forget.

Severe Office Space Days!

Has anyone had a severe Office Space days? You know, those days where you get almost the same opinion as Ron Livingstons' character, to where you "just won't go". That's kind of where I'm at right now. I'm sitting here listening to conversations and pointless things about people communicating their life experiences, and praying to God that someone will care.
In my immediate vicinity, it is filled with people who doubt themselves and can be the utter dregs of humanity. From conversations talking about the latest viral video from the web, to problems with the their families, all these things drive me up the damn wall.
We go down the row from me, we've got the disenfranchised goth/touchy feely kid. This young gentleman just calls into work and says "I'm emotionally not well enough to work today". He's constantly late, and comes into work whenever he wants. I am still amazed why they haven't canned him other than they just can't find anyone else for this job.
From there, We've got one of the most dim witted human beings that I have had the unfortunate chance to meet. This guy is constantly telling people about his failed marriage and relationships problems with fat girls. He is entirely nerdcore.
Then, the girl that is my nemesis. Think of Nina (again from Office Space), "Corporate accounts payable, Nina speaking. Just a moment...". Imagine you hear that the entire day. Her shrill voice is like that a wailing banshee. Not just those hot kind of banshee's, but imagine some overweight girl who says "I was good looking, but my medication caused me to gain weight". Yeah, right. Every time she has a problem that she cannot fix (which is quite often), she in a boisterous voice that only fat girls have, she yells for a lead. At night, when I sometimes can sleep, I have a nightmare where she's yelling out people's names, in some demonic mouseketeer role call. Also, she also seems to have befriended many who are many of the disenfranchised employees. These people seem to need to always need to talk to her, about the most pointless conversations.
All in all, my job is one of the most demoralizing things out there. On the phone, I talk to people who think that their time is more important than anyone elses. The employees are a cornucopia of high school computer nerds, and people with such low self esteem that they make strippers look like career orientated go-getters. It's getting to the point where I think that I'm going to lose it, just like Ron Livingston in good ol' Office Space....

The Road Less Traveled...

If I were inspirational and junk, I'd post a quote on my cubicle and room that says this:

"I'll give the Rays respect when they actually win something..." - Choda (Andrew Stauffer)

It's simple. I love a good underdog story. It might stem from my love College Basketball, and watching the NCAA tournament every year. Now, I've posted things about the Rays in the past, so I won't rehash it. However, this is something I just need to restate. Because of the Rays, baseball has converted me. It is now become my third bonafide followed sport.
You see, the Tampa Bay Rays have now gotten to the World Series and are 4 games away from being the best team in Baseball. There is nothing better than this story. In the span of one short year, they have gone from worst to possibly being world champs.
This relates to something that I have long since expected. I always can pick a team that is going to be an up and coming one. In 2007, before the start of the NFL season, I stated to many people "Watch out for the Browns, they're gonna beat up on some people", and they did. This year in baseball, after the Rays dusted it up with the Yankees I told people "The Rays are gonna be good, watch it." Also, at the start of this year's NFL season my words are, "Don't sleep on Buffalo, they're better than most people believe."
With yesterdays win over the San Diego Chargers, validates the Bills existence. The Bills have a stud of a RB, Marshawn Lynch. They've got a good quarterback in Trent Edwards, and they just seem to have that determination, much like The Rays. Also, the similarities don't end there. They are both smaller market teams, that everyone always states that they are gonna start losing or just aren't a team that can compete with the larger market teams. As we speak, Buffalo is 5 and 1, their only loss in a close game.
This complete media bias, bugs me to no end. Now, I realize the bias. The movement of population and playing to the more popular team. However, no one in the media seems to judge heart. The intangible "it" or just the perception the team can win, is never actually spoken of too much. All these teams at the time seem to have that intangible sports ability to win. Just watch out for a few of these teams, oh and Go Rays!

Whilist I was away...

While I was visiting my father in Idaho, my stepmother received a call from their Stake Presidency. It seems that they had an "emergency meeting" about a referendum in California about amending the constitution stating that marriage is between a man and a woman. The Stake wanted people (in Idaho) to man a call center calling people in California. I am incredibly torn on this in many ways.
While, I agree in calling something "marriage" that is between male and female, by definition. I do NOT agree with limiting people in financial benefits based on their sexual orientation. Having someone get denied on medical benefits just because they are a homosexual, is wrong.
Second, they wanted them to make out calls, which made it seem like they were cold calling people. I also have a problem with that. That kind of move is more aligned with political groups trying to turn public opinion, which I have a fundamental problem with combining that and religion.
Now, there are some gay people who are fighting to have it by "right" in the definition of the word, Marriage. Those people are crusaders who will stop nothing short of their lifestyle being accepted by every man, woman, and child on the planet. Thus, I look at homosexual relations, much in the way that many Asian cultures do. They acknowledge them and understand that many people have homosexual tendencies, but they do not go as far as to not make fun of a bearded flaming homosexual. Their TV and movies have many jokes and puns about transvestites and the hilarity that it can ensue.
Truth be told, I don't know why I feel the need to do anything to try and affect California law. California has always been a little different. You've got a huge gay community there, and state laws should be a reflection of the people in that state. So, basically... If your state is overrun by fags, and you don't like what they do, move. It's that simple.

Windigo!

One thing that has always facinated me is the legend/lore of the Wendigo. The legend is based on the Alogonquin people's personal beliefs. It comes from the belief that if a human resorts to cannibalism, that they will become a monster. It is believed that humans can become Wendigo or posessed by Wendigo.
The Wendigo is described by Basil Johnston an Oijbwa teacher as the following (pulled from Wikipedia):

"The Wendigo was gaunt to the point of emaciation, its desiccated skin pulled tautly over its bones. With its bones pushing out against its skin, its complexion the ash gray of death, and its eyes pushed back deep into their sockets, the Wendigo looked like a gaunt skeleton recently disinterred from the grave. What lips it had were tattered and bloody [....] Unclean and suffering from suppurations of the flesh, the Wendigo gave off a strange and eerie odor of decay and decomposition, of death and corruption."

Wendigo are typically stories about indians, pioneers, or western folk that have to resort to cannibalism to survive. It's popularized by many horror stories. There has been an episode of Supernatural dedicated to them, as well a few movies recently. Namely, a movie called Wendigo and Ravenous to name a few. It always has to deal with the mythos of gaining a persons strength by consuming their flesh.

I always love the stories about Man changing into something else because of his own deeds. You never run out of material for the imagination. They are kind of like a mystical Frankenstein. A creature created with your own deeds, and your own need to survive...

Spirited Away...

Disappearance cases are quite common. However, there's a distinctly Asian concept that I love, and it's called being "Spirited Away". It was popularized by a Miyazaki film of the same name. Which kind of relates to the concept.
Basically, a person disappears and then quite sometime later, ends up appearing (usually in the same spot they disappeared), sometimes months and years later, with no memory of what transpired.
One famous story, is of a Japanese boy, who in the late 1940's who, while playing in a nearby forest, disappeared and his family could not discover what happened to him. It was around the same time as a bombing that occurred. Naturally they determined that the boy must have been killed in the bombing, but then in the mid 50's a child resembling that same boy emerged and was completely unharmed.
These kinds of cases sometimes get cross-referenced as abductions, but I believe just trying to simplify everything as someone being crazy, or that little green men got them, is a little irresponsible. The phenomenon itself is recorded all throughout the world. In India, a house wife of 5 was cooking and cleaning in the kitchen. The kids and husband went to the local market street, not more that 3 blocks away, and were not gone more than 5 minutes. They came home to woman missing, the door had been blocked from the inside and there we no physical way into the house. They had to get in through a hole in the roof, and the woman was entirely missing. There was a timer that indicated it had only been set not 1 minute before they had gotten back to the house.
The family moved on and moved out of the house, not more than 3 years later, a young man came into the house and noticed a frightened and disorientated woman inside his house, not knowing how or why she was there. Turned out that the neighbors recognized her as the same woman that had gone missing years earlier. No one in the neighborhood saw the woman enter the house, and do not know how she got there.
In some cases, the subjects have memories, that they can't believe are theirs. One women, in Ohio, who had some of the same things happen to her said she remembered being in the house and her spouse looking for her, but no matter what she did she could not get his attention. She described the experience as "being invisible".
What would you do if you suddenly could not interact with those you cared about? What would you wish you would have said or done? Then, imagine the miracle of coming back and having a 2nd chance. To me, it just seems like something very interesting...

Life and Death...

With Halloween coming, there are several things that I will love to see and talk about. The most important is that, I hate the show Mythbusters. The whole purpose of the show is to "debunk" several popular with their "experiments". Why do I hate it you ask? The whole purpose of the show is to prove something usually unprovable. They'll take a myth about, let's say spontaneous combustion, and try and change the scale (most of the time) and see if they can produce the same result. Can you imagine what happens? They usually come up and say the mysteries of life are all false. The do come up with credence to some, but most they say cannot happen. Enter one of things that I love talking about. Spirit Photography.
Spirit Photography has it's roots in the late 1800's and came about because of the ever popular spiritualist movement. The very same spiritualist movement that brought rise to the LDS faith. Joseph Smith's family was spiritualists before he founded the faith. Spirit Photography's origins are simultaneous with the advent of photography and goes way back to when they started developing the first film. What I love about it is the mysterious nature of it. It still kind of makes my skin tingle looking at talking about it. Capturing a spirit on film excites in a way. Now, I hate the cheesy "Ghost chaser" shows that they have on TV. If it was as simple as making devices widely accepted to detect ghosts, it would be a more widely accepted opinion. However, here are some of the most popular spirit photographs of our time.

This photo was taken in 1966 at a place called Queen's House in Greenwich, London. Most experts, at the time, cannot explain why this photograph occurred. The photograph has been examined by people at Kodak and state that it wasn't a double exposure or that there wasn't any trickery that they know of to get this image. Clearly you can see the image of a person ascending the stairs.
Next we have the famous Brown Lady photograph. This occurred in Raynham Hall in Norfolk, England. The man who took the photograph saw nothing at the time, but his assistant stated that they saw an apparition walking down the stairs and got him to take a picture. The man who took the photo was a respected photographer who's work appeared in several magazines and doesn't fit the profile of your typical hoaxster.

This is the Lord Combermere photograph. This picture was taken by a woman who was staying with her sister at Combermere Abby. She was taking a photograph of a library and wanted one that was super clear. She put the exposure on about an hour. While the specifics are hard to see, you can clearly see an image of a man sitting in the chair.

This is the Mable Chimney photograph. The story goes that Mable Chimney was photographing her mother's grave site when after the photograph was developed, the image of her mother can be seen in the back seat of the car.

This is the Reverend KF Lord photograph. It was taken at England's Newby Church in the 1960's. At the time of the photograph Lord, did not see anything.

This only seems to happen with film cameras. It even goes back to how many cultures believed that cameras steal your soul. With the advent of many digital cameras, many of these photo's are not seen any longer. There are a few cases of pictures with digital cameras, but almost all were revealed as a trick with light or a photoshopped picture.

However, cases like these still cause the imagination to wander. It shows us that what we perceive just might not be the truth. How many things occur without our understanding? I personally believe that there are spirits that most of us are rarely attuned to. There have been others throughout history that seem to be more keyed into the spirit world. There are several things that occur that I believe we just can't explain without sounding entirely crazy. This is just one of a couple. Throughout the month, I'll by highlighting a few that I believe in. So, have fun with it people. Also, let me know what you believe, it's a great conversation topic!

More UB fun!

Alright, while I was bored...I HAD to get on the the urban dictionary and starting hitting that good old random button. What I saw shocked and amazed even me...

Pooch Butter	17 up, 5 down
	When peanut butter is used to lure a pet into licking ones gential area. Dana gave her dog some fancy pink boots and treated herself to some pooch butter. (what a sick bitch)

I relate this one to an interesting story Choda told me about Pearl Harper. You should ask him about it sometime!

pearl harbour	36 up, 7 down
	Cold (weather). An example of it would be - "It's a bit Pearl Harbour out here!" Meaning - there's a nasty 'nip' in the air.

This is one that I surprisingly haven't heard:

Stick	165 up, 43 down
	1 gram of weed, 15-20AUD worth Comes in a little plastic bag, packed if you're lucky Bro, I got us a stick today.

Use this one in one your meetings that you adult people have:

half stepping	29 thumbs up
	1. starting something with no intention of finishing. 2. talking like you are going toget violent with someone and not follow through. being half assed. quit half stepping, get the project done.

Okay, I somehow picturing Easy-E singing about this in an NWA song:

bitties

242 up, 46 down

A word that originally came from the phrase "tig ol' bitties", meaning big ol' titties, which then got shortened to bitties therefore referring to women's breasts. The word has evolved and recently can be defined as any type of women one finds attractive or wants to "get with". Definition 1: Hey look at that chick's huge bitties. Definition 2: -Let's do something tonight. How about we call up some bitties. -Damn, Look at that group of bitties over there, we better fuck that shit.

This one just brought tons of mental pictures to my mind:

spork

569 up, 105 down

spork:a combination of a spoon and a fork sporked: to be jabbed or prodded with one or more sporks sporker: one who uses a spork for pleasure alone or for humourous reasons within a group. sporking: a game involving a group of people with sporks who chase after fat kids, saying they will eat them. sporkage: someone who has just been sporked by a group of rowdy sporkers. sporkness: to resemble a spork sporkification, sporkified: process and product of morphing into a spork sporkage: that fatass just had some extreme hardcore sporkage back there by those rowdy sporkers.

This is totally the ghetto equivalent of Brethren!

breadrin	45 up, 10 down
	A comrad, or friend Wut up my breadrin!?

This one is just for the Smurf reference:

Smurf Crease	4 up, 3 down
	Smurf Crease, basically a euphamism for vagina. As smurfs have camel toes, all ironically except smurfette. Leisha Hailey can lick my smurf crease

Uh Oh! A little trouble with purchases...

A quick post. While doing my work day web surfing, I came up with something that I might want to purchase and wear. I found a place that does custom made contact lenses. Here is a picture of the ones that I want...I would rock these things on days other than Halloween. I was going to work it into a Halloween costume, but it would cost me about $200 to complete. With Halloween coming though, this does bring up a good point. What would you do if you could put together any costume you could?
Personally, I'd go full on Wookie costume from Star Wars. Because, everyone loves a Wookie! Or, some wicked looking demon costume...
So, let's hear from ya. What costume would you wear?

Dissention in the ranks!

Here's a conversation topic I like to hit on every once and while. Yesterday, I referred to Josh Howard and called him the dreaded "N word". This actually got some attention from some friends, some of whom commented on the post. I've been called everything from ignorant, to racist, and so on. Which I am not. Being a racist, is someone who hates everything about a particular race or creed. I have no such distinction.
Here's what most people don't understand. When people hear the word stereotype, they automatically equate it with the word racist. This is not the case. In fact, if you take an intro to psychology course. They will spend two whole weeks explaining that stereotypes are human nature and do not have "intent" bred into them. Now, most terms have been used to express racist ideas, which isn't the case. However, stereotypes are how we define people. Our brains, which are organizing machines, to a certain extent always pick something out and tag it. If you have a friend who's got a bum leg, what do you call him? Probably "gimp" or something like that. If you've got a friend with a big nose, it's "Pinocchio".
So, if there are any group traits, let's say. Live in the hood, wear your pants to your ankles, the only thing you think about is getting laid, and all you can talk about is how much gold chains and being rich you'll be, while smoking weed and just playing Madden '09, while complaining about being black. Then, that's a nigger. A gang banging thug who does nothing with his life. Just as a guy who is always a penny pincher, thinks that he belongs to the one true people of god and looks down on others, and is exclusive with whom he is with, and he's Jewish. That's a kike.
People over use terms like racist and prejudiced, just as much as racists over use derogatory terms. Stereotypes are just a way to paraphrase behavior characteristics. Nothing more. We need to get over all the guilt that the media and the left have been giving about simple words. People will argue that they hurt peoples feelings and get offended. My answer is this, do you get offended at the word "asshole" or "bastard"? If I say "asshole" or "bastard" to someone other than you, do take offense? Using the N word or any other term is just the same way. You are referring to traits or tendencies that you do not like. If we're in the business of purging all these words from the English lexicon, then let's just cut off our sex organs and become robots...because that's the way society will be going, the way of non-descriptive words...

Josh Howard is rapidly becoming the player in the NBA, that I hate the most.

Here's a memo to Josh Howard. You are f#$king trash. There are a cadre of players that I absolutely hate in the NBA. Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson, and now Josh Howard. Recently, he screwed up while being taped during an event by, guess who...Allen Iverson, as the singing the national anthem was going on. He is quoted as saying:

"'The Star Spangled Banner' is going on. I don't celebrate this {expletive}. I'm black"

Check out the ESPN article here. This coupled with him dropping off the US Olympic Team, by saying that it conflicted with his Summer Training Camps. Means that Howard absolutely cares nothing about America. He's just a paid merc, playing basketball. Being black has nothing to do with being patriotic. If he doesn't like this country, I can think of several hard working people who actually live in Africa that we would trade his sorry ass for.
This is no surprise as a player coming from Wake Forrest, one of the most liberal schools in the nation. I don't think that they probably teach American History without talking about what a crappy country this is.
Allen Iverson can think that he's the best player on the floor and think he should be excluded from things, but I haven't ever heard him say something so discouraging against America. I know several people who see no point in singing the national anthem before sporting events. These people usually just state their opinion to get it off their chest, but respect or leave the event while it's going on. I would like to know what else Josh Howard thinks he's excluded from just by being black? Obviously he thinks that he can smoke weed whenever he wants, because "he's black" right? There is a word for Josh Howard, it was popularized by Chris Rock. Josh Howard, is a nigger in every sense of the way Rock explains it. Because, just remember....He's black.

The high cost of patriarchal religions...

The High Cost of Patriarchal Religions...

Today, I read an article talking about Iraq and militants. You can check out the article here. Reuters is one of the few news sources that I broadly trust. They are usually staffed with good writers who know their stuff. This article talks about how women in Iraq, are relegated and forgotten so they are targeted by militants to blow themselves up, basically.
This emphasises one of points that I don't think is talked about enough. Now, granted I grew up far more liberally in the LDS faith than most. I came from divorced parents, from a single mother home. My mother liked learning and went to school. My mother never was the sub-servient type. This brings up an important point, one that I will struggle with always. Lack of education and bending to the will of the man, will always be a big problem.
The main issue is with education though. Early on, LDS women have this perception of being taken care of. Even to the point that they don't have to think. The only thing that they have to concentrate on is pumping out children. A perception that I find particularly annoying, which probably has contributed to the fact that I am not married.
It's not a far stretch to think that provided some external circumstances (like a spouse or family dying), that it would drive them to blow up building, provided enough stimulus. I can think of several house wives that losing their family could easily be pushed that way by some in a religious community.
So, what does one need to do to avoid this? I think educating is the best tool to use. The church has informed young women to get an education, but how much is this actually practiced? Granted, I haven't really been dating a whole lot recently, but women still have this perception of being "taken care of". I was recently talking to a friend on why she wouldn't give us shorter guys in the world a chance, and she gave the notion that "I just need to feel protected, and that he's in charge". When did we get to the point that it was required? Even if you believe in things like biological social theory. The women in the animal kingdom always exercise control. They sometimes are the ones that hunt. They usually have nothing to do with the father after child birth. The man is only in control or involved in sexual reproduction. When did human society error on this?
I chalk it all up to laziness. It's far easier to make someone make a choice for you, than to make it yourself, and struggle with the consequences and making concessions with decisions available. So, in short, a sad story that is easily remedied.

Practical joke for the month...

Now, I'm not a fan of recognition. Me personally, I think it's worthless and as pointless and a small dog wearing a sweater. However, corporations love recognition and awards. Here's my practical joke at work. I have a pretty good working relationship with the management above me, so when the annual hall of fame (called "Wall of Shame", by yours truly) e-mail came around. I thought of doing something to mess with the process.
Everyone has that guy at work, who thinks they know everything, is socially retarded, and is generally a pain to be around. I decided to rig the vote. Here's the deal. Whomever gets the Wall of Fame vote must then go to lunch with management and talk about stuff. Of course, this forces them to go to lunch and listen to him run his mouth. The mental image of my immediate superiors having to go to lunch with him is hilarious, in and of itself. There's a bonus though. His nemesis is having to go on this trip with them.
I started sending out several instant messages trying to rig the election, and so far I think I've got all my co-workers on board. Only a handful know the true motives behind it all... Now, I know what you're thinking. It's a damn shame that someone who deserves to be recognized won't because of my little gag. The simple fact, is that I don't care! This will keep me going for the rest of the month. I can't keep some asshole out of the white house, so this is my way of fighting the man. So, call it what you will, but I love a good joke...

Student Auctions Virginity

I've actually read an article while going through Reuters about a girl auctioning her virginity on-line. You can find the article here. To paraphrase it, the girl is selling it to pay for schooling. Apparently, it's sparked some debate from people on line.
I had to think about it some. Would I really have a problem with someone pimping themselves out to pay for education? Mostly, I'd say no. Because, people have been pimping themselves out in some way or another for all of human civilization. I am torn though that there is some lower 20 something girl that feels that she has to do this.
What mostly made me mad was that all the comments of people trying to say how horrible this was, were from people who were actually in the high education (professors, aids, etc)!? What the hell people? Are people in higher education so out of touch that they realize that they are selling a service that over priced, and over valued? Now, granted I do have some biases. Namely, I'm SO dissillusioned with higher education, that it's not funny. It's my own personal opinion, that it's a racket. We're sold this idea, as early as elementary, that we must have a college degree and about how good college is. I can honestly say that college is worthless. You retain only about 30% of what you learn. You do have enough time to delve into skills that can help you out in a job role, but overall it's not worth the price one pays.
Then, I started to get into it. According to the article:

"The woman, who has earned a bachelor degree in women's studies and now wants to start a master's degree in marriage and family therapy, is hoping the bidding will hit $1 million."

Now, I don't know about you guys, but I've known some of the girls who went into Women's studies, and they were either A) Lesbians, B) Had more meat on them than an NFL linebacker, or C) One who hasn't had any hair product for 10 years. So, why would anyone want to buy this? The answer is simple, there are a bunch of wierdos out there. This makes me wonder, how much would I sell my virginity for? (Quiet from the peanut gallery, I know you people are snickering.) The only answer I could come up with is, at a minimum $250.

My newest facination...

I have the following fascination going on...
...I'm fascinated by Roller Derby.

While talking with a co-worker, he said that he went to a Roller Derby match. Now, my only experience with Roller Derby is that, it was on after American Gladiators on Saturday mornings when I was a kid. It always kind of reminded me of a bad action movie, and we all know how I love bad movies.
I checked out their web site at http://www.saltcityderbygirls.com/. What I found there, was a ton of pictures of people whom I just don't know if I want to meet in real life. These are my highlights overall... First, there's the awesomest name ever...


This is "Chase'n Tail". Now, first of all, this name alone gives +50 gay points. This moderate looking Minnesota house wife, is probably a dyed in the wool lesbian. I'm imagining that, as the name suggests, she comes from behind and pounds her opponent again, and again.

Now, this is "Romper Stomper". Besides sounding like a grade A cock block, this lady definitely looks like she brings The Law and breaks up anything, including the other team!

Here we have some one I just added for my friend, Annie. This is "Red Bare N' Ass". I have no idea where to begin on this one. I can't fathom the attitude that this lady has. It conjures of images of her being at IHOP, and not getting enough butter for her pancakes. She then goes into a seething rage, and drops elbows on everyone of the patrons, stealing their butter.


This is "Iron Rack". Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't having hard boobs a bad thing!? I know that I probably wouldn't be intimidated by someone having breast cancer. Unless I was using that handicapped stall in the bathroom, and got busted (because it's the only stall the damn nerds don't go into and whiz all over the seat, because they cannot pee in a urinal).


This is "Dirty Pirate Hooker". I can't help but think that these nicknames were either came up by some trashy girl, or some dirty old man overseeing the league. I picture this man wearing overalls, sitting in a box seat and drinking moonshine. I'm certain this lady is one of those girls that always tries to show up her girlfriends by belittling them in front of any man. I'm also picturing that she has rooms painted in a power red color.

I've decided that I HAVE to go to a game. I almost even want to pick a player, get poster board, and make a cheesy sign. It would even want me to break out and have a beer, and really slum it up. This is the next thing I have to go and see. The next, is midget wrestling, which has always been on my list, but I haven't been able to go. It's events like these that are life growing experiences, and I'm wanting to live life a little...

It's finally official...

It's now official...
...The BCS sucks ass.

The BCS sucks more ass than a gay guy at a leather bondage festival. This case in point, I watched several games this week. Much of the teams in the top 10. Here's the newest breakdown.

1) USC
2) Georgia
3) Oklahoma
4) Florida
5) Ohio State
6) Missouri
7) LSU
8) Texas
9) Auburn
10) Wisconsin

Ohio State was #3 previously. The only reason that they slipped is because they struggled in a game against Ohio. Ohio State did end up winning the game handedly. On the other hand, Oklahoma and Florida beat the pants off their opponents. This makes the BCS entirely even more subjective than in years past. The pollsters are injecting injury projections into the rankings. If Beanie Wells (RB, Ohio State) hadn't gone down in the season opener, they probably wouldn't have dropped.
For all you out there, and non-college football fans. This represents a problem for BYU. BYU slipped from #15 to #18 based on their performance against a Washington team that will probably be at the bottom of the PAC-10. At the same time, Utah (which struggled in the first half, but came out in the second, didn't move spots). This just goes to show how crappy and suggestive rankings are. Especially from sports writers. I used to think that Network Administrators were the most arrogant people in the world, but now I think it's sports writers. Soon, the Spacecat will be launching a e-bomb campaign for the BCS, which is the most corrupt system on the planet.... Stay tuned!