The Mad Scientist

Well, this is it. The last one...

2010-06-10T01:53:00.003-06:00

...for this blog that is. I needed a change of pace to get back to the online blogosphere. I need to get back though.

Please visit the new blog, A|P OFF SUBJECT here:

http://apoffsubject.blogspot.com/

The Past Few Months

2009-12-08T14:40:00.001-07:00

Well folks,

Here I am. Back online for the first time in, I don’t know, months.

Updates:

Single now.
School is almost done.
Still employed.
Been taking more pictures.
Got a new car.

My brother and Cheesecake recently got their own place. That’s good fro them. I think they like it.

At the risk of coming off like a whiny little shit, all I really have to say is: “I hate the snow”. I know, I live in Utah, and have gone through this bitter hell-hole everyone calls ‘winter’ every year of my life. But that does not mean I have to like it. Every time my fingers get numb and my shoes covered in that sticky white crap, I think moving to Arizona is a damn fine Idea.

It looks like I am going to be spending New Years in Las Vegas. I will keep every one posted on how that goes. I am pretty excited for it too. It has been years since I had time to have fun in Vegas. The last time was, to say the least, ‘rushed’… and this time I don’t have to sit through Carrot Top, everyone’s favorite failed comedy abortion.

As for the first of the “Updates”; yes, after 5 years it is now officially over with she who now shall be called “Nuttier Than Squirrel Shit”. It is not exactly a recent development. It’s been about 5-ish weeks I think. And before you have to ask, yes, I am doing fine. My daily routine has not changed all that much. I think that has made it a bit easier. Work and school or both, every day for 8 to 15 hours… I am so glad to finally be getting done with that.

Now, do you see why I haven’t been blogging much lately? There’s just not a lot to say.

Maybe that is a sign I need to start doing something more interesting with my life…

Unexpected Adventure in Tampa

2009-09-08T14:35:00.002-06:00

Well,

It obviously has been quite a while since I have been online. To tell you the truth, nothing much has happened this summer. I worked, went to school and that’s about it. Wash rinse repeat.

I finally got out of town last week. Went to Disney World!

I will have pictures soon (maybe). They are a bit of a pain in the ass to upload to blogger.

And yesterday, on the flight home I had to ride the inflatable slide out the plane door!!! Need proof? Click here or here.

Pretty much right after takeoff, the flight was quite painfully normal. The stewardess got our drink orders and such, and I was happily reading. Then there was a high pitched whistle coming from the back of the plane. Turns out that it was a fire alarm. I did not know it yet.

The stewardess said that they were going to hold off on bringing us our drinks, and they sat down, along with everyone, with the seat belts fastened. Then From Russia with Love notices that the sun was coming through the windows on the wrong side of the plane.

After she brought that to my attention, I also thought that it was a bit odd. We had, in fact, turned around.

Then the pilot came on the speaker, and said “We have had some technical problems, and are going to be landing in Tampa in about 10 minutes”.

Then a few people started to freak out and what-not. I kept my cool, because I am awesome like that.

When we landed in Tampa, the plane stopped in the runway, and about 3 or more fire trucks and police cars drove up to the plane. We had to stay seated while they did whatever it is they had to do. You know, inspecting this and that. Then the intercom came on again “Attention passengers. We are going to be evacuating the plane. Please leave all belongings, and head to the nearest exit.”

I filed down the isle of confused people, and when I got to the door, the stewardess told me to fold my arms and jump. I did, right down the inflatable slide. It was kind of fun actually. Best de-boarding ever. We were taken in large groups away from the plane. We waited for the buses to come and take us to the terminal, and watched firemen and police look at the plane.

The worst part was actually watching the other passengers. There was the fat guy with no hair and a shiny red face who got scraped on the way don the slide, talking with his wife and hysterical daughter about a potential lawsuit, and an older nerdy guy with square glasses bitching about not having any food, and cutting in every line we had to get into. Those are the kind of people that always die in the first few minutes of a disaster movie, and need a swift kick in the balls in real life.

All in all, it was about a two hour delay, and finally something to blog about. I will update with details on Disney World later when I have more time.

It’s good to be back in the blogiverse!!!

T

Get THIS....

2009-06-01T00:54:00.003-06:00

Ok folks… where do I begin? Last week overall really REALLY sucked. However, Monday was a fantastic holiday spent with the family and From Russia with Love, and Tuesday I spent a total of 12 hours working between the hours of 7:30 am and midnight, nothing out of the ordinary or too exciting. The real fun begins with Wednesday. Let's start there:

Wednesday.

When I went to the gas station to get my coffee, like I do every morning on my way to school. When I went to make my purchase, it turns out my credit card was declined. Assuming banks are human and can make a mistake here and there, I thought “I will just go to class and deal with it after. It’s probably something stupid”.

After class, I got on the computer at the Physics Library, and looked at the online banking information. To my surprise, there were 2 different charges of $100 each from a store in El Paso , Texas . I thought that quite odd, considering I have never been to Texas . How could this be?

Some asshole has my credit card number.

My first call was to the bank to report the fraud, and to cancel my card numbers, both debit and credit. After a lengthy conversation, my numbers were canceled, and I needed to file a fraud report with the police department. Being downtown already, I thought I would go into the nearest police station to get the information for the bank. I left the Physics building and began the walk to my car, pondering how the hell someone could get that number, considering the card was in my possession the whole time.

Once I got to my car, a realization hit me like a ton of bricks. No, it was not that I figured out who has my card information, but the fact that I have no cash… And no credit or debit cards.

And I am in a pay lot.

I drove up to the parking attendant and explained my situation, and just asked for a ticket that I could pay later, which is usually what happens. But in this case, no. the girl asked for my driver’s license, and copied down some information, which took a while. Then this lovely conversation took place:

Parking Attendant: “I need to take pictures of your car”

Me, a little puzzled: “ok…”

Parking attendant: “I need pictures of your license plates and VIN number.”

Me: “Uh… ok. Would you like me to pose in front?”

She commenced taking the pictures, and my eyes wondered into the rear view mirror. There were two cars behind me, and I saw the drivers in each rolling their eyes, and making obviously frustrated faces. The kind of frustrated gestures one only makes in hopes someone (me) is looking.

Embarrassed, I finally drove off with the ticket. For 3 dollars. That I now have to drive all the way back up and pay later.

Downtown, I walk into the police department, and I find the general “icky” ambiance, and a large window in front made of 4-inch thick glass and no one there. To the left was another window, also with the same glass, and someone talking behind it. I made my way to the window, and said I need to fill out a fraud report. Pointing to the other window, he said “see the officer there”

I looked over my shoulder to the empty booth with the thick glass, and thought “ok, fine.”

The officer finally showed himself, and I explained my situation. His first question was “do you live here in the city?”

My reply was “no, I was just on my way down from school, and thought I would stop and try to take care of this.”

Officer, annoyed: “no, you need to go through [city of my residence] police department.”

Again, I thought, ok, fine. I have to go home anyway, I know where it’s at, and I will take care of it then. But first, I need to have my laptop swept for viruses. I got home, grabbed my laptop and charger, and made my way over to the computer store. I dropped it off without any problems, and was told that it might be a couple of days. I told them I was fine with that. Now, it was off to the police department. I arrived at the police department, and when I went in, there was an officer standing by a metal detector and an x-ray machine, like the ones at the airport. Behind him, there was another room, filled with booths and windows of that same 4-inch thick glass, and a phone in the corner. The officer had watched me come in, and asked how he might be able to help me. I told him about the events of the day, and that I needed to fill out a fraud report as instructed by the bank. The officer then told me that I had to go through the El Paso police department, and that there was nothing they could do about it. He told me to call dispatch on the phone in the other room, and get the number for the El Paso police department. I got to the phone, dialed the number he gave me, and a young girl answered the phone. She did not sound like she could have been any more than 16 years old, and had the mentality of a 12 year old. this was the conversation that ensued, after she answered the phone:

Girl: "[city of my residence] police and fire dispatch, this is Girl, how may I help you?"
Me: "Yeah, this is going to sound kinda strange, but I need the phone number to the El Paso , Texas police department."
Girl, a little off guard: "Umm... I don't have that... and I can't look it up. Umm... we had our internet... um... taken away. I don't have umm... like Google or anything to get that. You can't do that yourself?"
Me; confused, annoyed and loosing all faith in humanity: "I suppose I will have to then. Thank you."
*click*

I got out of the police department, and made my way over to the nearest branch of my bank to get new card numbers, and cards that work. That went off without a hitch fortunately. That is, without a hitch until I asked the bank teller I was working with to find the number for the El Paso police department. I explained my day, and got the phone number at the bank. I also got the numbers to the three credit bureaus to put the fraud alert on my social number just to be safe.

Back at home, I called one of the credit bureaus to place the alert. The automated machine that placed the alert said that the other two have been informed as well. I wanted to be sure. So I still requested to speak with a representative. She assured me that the alert would be forwarded to the other two bureaus, and not to worry about that. Then, she tried to sell me some $14.95 per month program for credit monitoring and safety crap... all things you can do yourself for free if you know how. She was very persistent, and from the sound of it, she was quite used to talking to scared and panicked people who are willing to throw more money at the problem to feel safe again... blood-suckers. I hung up, and went to the next order of business: Texas .

I made a call to El Paso . This is how that conversation went:

EPPD: " El Paso Police Department, how may I direct your call?"
Me: "Yes, I actually live in [city of my residence], and I need to fill out a fraud report because I have had some charges come through from your city."
EPPD: "Please call this number, xxx-xxx-xxxx"
Me: "thank you."

I called that number she gave me, my second long distance call, and I was told this: "You need to go through your police department there. We can't do anything about that."

Thoroughly annoyed, I drove back to the police department. I was greeted by a different officer by the x-ray machine and metal detector. I had to explain the whole situation to him, and he came back and told me the same thing the other one did: you have to go through El Paso . I said I wanted to talk to dispatch again anyway, and he pointed the way back to the phone:

Girl: "[city of my residence] police and fire dispatch, this is Girl, how may I help you?"
Me: "I need to talk to an officer about some fraudulent charges on my account, and file a report."
Girl: "Where were the fraudulent charges made?"
Me: " El Paso , Texas ."
Girl: "You need to go through the police department there."
Me: "No. I need to talk to an officer here."
Girl: "Ok... can I get a contact number?"
Me: "Sure, xxx-xxx-xxxx. When can I expect a call? I have to go to work soon..."

I am not going to type the rest of that conversation, but rest assured -- it was the same brainless runaround they had been giving me all day. I told them I would deal with it tomorrow, and made my way off to work for the night.

Thursday.

I had 4 things on my ‘to-do’ list.

1. Call police department, get case number for bank.

2. Pick up laptop, because there were no viruses or anything of the like.

3. Go to school, and pay my parking ticket. For 3 dollars.

4. Talk to the bank; get more details on what the next steps were as far as the fraud report and getting reimbursed the $200.

I called the dispatch for the police department. Again, this time with a guy, I went around in circles about which city’s department I had to go through. I told him I did not care-- and to have an officer call me anyway.

Made my way over to the bank, and had a pleasant conversation, and got all the information that I needed. Apparently, the fraud report of the bank that I had to fill out was going to be mailed to me. I also picked up my laptop without any problems. I drove up to school (in horrendous traffic) and paid my parking ticket. For 3 dollars. And went back home.

The officer called me after I got home, and was surprisingly helpful. She gave me her name and a case number, which is what I needed for the bank, and all I cared to get. After getting things settled, I went to work for the evening. When I got home, Mom told me that there was a letter from my bank on my bed. "Great, that got here quick" I thought "that's the fraud report... that I finally have the information for. I can get that done and sent back tomorrow."

And went to bed thinking all was right with the world. That relaxed feeling that one gets when a day's work is done, and all is done well. That feeling would be short lived. That fantastic feeling of accomplishment and "being out of the woods" so to speak is soon to be shattered the next morning when I opened the letter from the bank.

Friday.

When I woke up, I got some other stuff together to take to the bank; my tuition payment, deposits, etc. and proceeded to open the letter that I thought was the fraud report. As I have hinted, it was not a fraud report.

It was a Missed Payment letter, informing me of an outstanding loan balance... and the resulting late fee.

To make things worse, this was a late notice for a loan I paid off in November. November! Imagine my surprise.

Apparently, the loan did not go away when I made the lump sum payoff online all those months ago, and interest on $0 over the last few months came to one cent. That's right folks; ONE CENT! This is how the missed payment/past due notice/you're a deadbeat/ pay us now asshole letter read:

Normal Scheduled payment: $135.00
Outstanding Balance: $0.01
Late Fee: $15.00
Total Amount Due: $15.01

Frustrated, confused and tired-of-it-all, I made my way to the bank. Again.

When I got to the bank, I went to the teller, and told them I needed to speak to someone about some fraud I have had on my account, and a loan problem I have. They told me to have a seat, and someone will be with me shortly.

Who was I greeted with? Her name was L, and thankfully, she was the nicest I-know-what’s-going-on person. She took care of the loan, and waived the fee, and got me the penny back. We had a good laugh over that. I then proceeded to tell her about the events of the week, and she took a look at my account summary. I told her that I had the $200 charged in El Paso , Texas . The conversation went like this:

Me: “Yeah. It was pretty bad. There were two $100 charges at some hick-ville food mart."
L: “Yes. I see those... but these others are yours then?"
Me, confused: "What others?"
L: "The other three charges. All at 7-11's for $75 each."
Me: "... um... well, shit."

The damn things took a few days to post. The total now is at $425 that sum' bitch has run up on me. Fortunately, L made a fraud report right then and there that I filled out and signed. I did not have the case number, so I had to call her back with that. I went home, and called the dispatch again. This time with a case number and an officer's name to avoid the run around they had been giving me. The officer returned my call, and I reported the additional charges, and got the case number to the bank.

Now, here’s hoping that everything is settled, and life can return to the usual. Felling good again, From Russia with Love took me to the B.A.Sh. just in time to see The Offspring play. Good times.

But the real kick in the pants still remains: I have no Idea how in the hell that rat bastard got my credit card number...

T

Back... Kind-Of.

2009-05-18T01:18:00.003-06:00

I don't have much to say. School just ended, I worked (a lot) and now I'm going back for summer semester. I may start the checklist thing again, because I really don't have much else to post.

Oh, and my reviews for Wolverine and Star Trek are up on The Cinema Project if you would like to take a gander (link on the left, labeled accordingly).

Have a great night all!

More frequent posts to come! I promise!

T

New Nerdy Stuff

2009-04-20T13:47:00.002-06:00

Good afternoon everyone,

I think I have finally found a good way to display math equations on this blog. Please let me know if you can see this as an equation, or just ML crap:

`int_(0)^(1)(x^2+2x)dx`

`sqrt(2pitheta)`

*update-

so it appears that I can't see this equation stuff on my home computer either, and that's because IE requires a special plug in to read the java crap that makes it into an equation. I have been looking for some quick and easy way to do math equations in HTML, but there does not appear to be one. Damn. Time to keep looking, for a better way... and not just have only certain browsers be able to see it.

Four Fifteen and Counting...

2009-04-15T14:32:00.002-06:00

Good afternoon everyone,

It’s another spring day here in Salt Lake City. That means it’s snowing, and two days ago it was almost 70. Not to mention that, but the drive to school was a little choked up by protestors. That is going to launch the huge rant I have below. But first, a couple of cool movie tid-bits:

Gostbusters 3 is now in full swing to start shooting, with the original cast.
Sin City 2 is gaining momentum, with more actors in talks to take on the roles. But there still looks to be a 2010 release date.
The second Halloween from Rob Zombie is in full production, and there have been some stills released, and the look awesome.

And, well here we go; my Political Pissings, as promised:

Like I said before, I do not want to turn this blog into a huge political rant, but these people just piss me off. They are protesting large government spending, and unsustainable deficits in the government budget, and “tax hikes”. Sounds like a reasonable thing to protest right?

Well, no. the truth of the matter is, yes, no one wants higher taxes, every one wants a financially stable government and yada yada yada… but the problem here is that these protests are being organized and fueled by people with no solutions to the problem. All they are doing is whining and complaining. And to add to the absurdity, most of the protestors are middle class working Americans who are actually going to benefit from the new President’s tax plans and tax reform, much of it already rolling in the stimulus package… that they are also protesting.

And when I say they do not have a solution, I mean a practical solution. The Republicans shit bricks when they saw the new budget. Well, what would a rational person do when something like that comes along? Come up with an alternative!

Did they? Short answer: Yes, Long answer: No. yes they did propose a new budget, but it was not that much different than the current budget. In fact, it was almost the same thing but with the deficit stretched out into 5 years or more, instead of just 4. And the biggest difference was the “alternative budget” called for re-instating Bush’s tax plan and undoing the stimulus package. The only point it served was to politically “butt heads”.

Now ask yourself, what did all that rant above have to do with the protestors? The answer to that is simple: things have to change. And they do not like the changes. They are being rallied by people who want to use this to gain political momentum, no matter what the issue is.

My justification for this is simple. It all comes down to taxes, and their increase. First, lets have a little history lesson. Did anyone protest Regan when he doubled the national debt? Was there a protest of this magnitude when Bush sr. had to raise taxes (breaking a campaign promise) to pay for all of Regan’s crap? Did any one protest on this scale when Bush jr. repeatedly raised the ceiling on government spending, and doubled our national debt again? Did any one protest on this magnitude when Bush signed a tax code into law that 450 economists (10 of those Nobel Prize recipients) told him not to? No.

Do any of them give credit to Clinton, who at the end of his term, had a surplus of cash, made the largest ever payments on the national debt, and had us on track to pay it off by this year? No. You will never hear about that on any “conservative”* radio show.

This is nothing but a bunch of Republicans, sore about loosing the election, and not willing to face the tough choices that are ahead, and doing nothing about resolving the problem. So go ahead folks, stamp you feet and cry. Or deal with the problems that face our nation like a big kid; and if you don’t like it, offer a different path. Don’t make a mockery of one of the most famous acts of rebellion in America’s history. And when asked about what we should do instead, don’t give the standard Reganomics crap we have been hearing from you for 20+ years. Sure it sounds good in principle, but the fact of the matter is, it does not work. Those tax practices have forced the consumer recession we are in, and those business practices have caused the corporate irresponsibility that have necessitated the bailouts. So, if you have something better, put it out there. Trust me, people will follow. And be sure to use your inside voice.

*I felt that a little explanation was due here. When one hears “conservative” values, the things that come up are: Free market, stable economy, low taxes and smaller government. That set of goals is not just true to the Right, but the Left as well. If you ask any rational liberal what they want the country to be, they will give you that very same list. It’s not the Ends they argue over; it’s the Means. Those radio shows (you know what ones I am talking about) steryotype the other side to the point where it’s just flat not true. The Left is no more socialist, hippie, controlling environmental lunatics than the Right is bible thumping homophobic racist corporate scammers. It goes both ways.

Thank you for reading through my rant. It felt good to vent. I will update when the semester lets out, and hopefully about a more light hearted subject.

Good night all.

Four Six

2009-04-06T13:17:00.000-06:00

Good afternoon everyone.

I’m sitting here writing this between classes.

I know I haven’t published almost anything in the past weeks, but nothing interesting has happened. Except for Denver. And I’m still working on the second installment of that, so expect more soon. Just not today.

Nothing much on my mind either. The only thing that I have been doing other than work and school is following a lot of politics. I’m not going to turn this thing into any sort of political rant or anything, just wanted to let you know what’s been occupying a lot of my attention lately.

I think I should stop following politics as much. It’s terribly addicting. I’m going to be cooking news articles in a spoon in a public men’s room soon at this rate.

The weather is pretty nice.

Maybe it’s time I got outside a little and beefed up the photo page.

T

4 Days In The Mile High City, Part I

2009-03-19T21:08:00.012-06:00

Good evening everyone.

Yeah, I’m just sitting and relaxing here at home after a day of travel. So, yeah, From Russia with Love and I just got back from Denver. It was a really nice place. Granted, there is not a lot to attract tourists to Denver, but it’s a fun city. We arrived on Monday, and went right to the hotel to shrug off some jet lag. Then we met up with Dr. MookieLove and went to The Rock Bottom Brewery for a bite to eat. Great food. After that; we went for a walk downtown. Here are some of the sights:

Dr. MookieLove practices his art

This MilkShake brings every one to the yard.

Interesting. Anyway, the next day it was off to the Denver Aquarium. We took a walk from the hotel (about 3 miles each way) and saw some more of the city. Here are sights from the walk:

And the aquarium:

The Wild Yellow Pages, in their natural habitat.

And a piranha with a bite taken out. I thought it was too funny.

After that it was back to downtown to party it up. Great night life in the Lower Downtown area. Every corner had some kind of brewery and restaurant, and in between were bars and clubs, with the occasional dentists office, or some such thing. No pictures from that night though. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera...

Stay tuned folks! Part II is coming soon!

Um... Uh... Yeah!

2009-03-09T14:50:00.002-06:00

I have nothing new to say as of yet.

Life takes its course, and unfortunately, most of the time, it's not he scenic route.

I will have more later. Unless you want to hear about endless homework and work?

No?

Ok. I'll be back soon!

T

Back Again- And Returning With Updates.

2009-02-24T00:38:00.004-07:00

Good evening every one,

Once again- it’s been a while since I’ve been online long enough to do anything but check the ol’ email. And it’s not because of a lack of interest or anything. That would be the last thing that would keep me off the blog. Trust me, it’s one of my saving graces. I just have not had much time for anything.

If all keeps on track like it has been thus far this semester, I will be (if not already) down to my “weekly posts”. Just simply because life’s little complications have their way of inhibiting fun…

So, then, now that I have some time to blog, what’s new? You ask.

Not much. School has not been that “fun” since the Cloud Chamber thing. Now, it’s just the math behind it. Yup, I gots’ homework out the eyeballs again… I hope they make some sort of pill for that… kinda gross.

Work is just work. And that’s that. Nothing for better or for worse; and no news is good news.

From Russia with Love and her friends took a road trip to L.A., so I have some “extra” free time the next couple of days. What will I do with it? Probably nothing. I would have liked to have gone to L.A. too, but I could not get the school and work schedules to cooperate.

Well, that was about three and change paragraphs about nothing. Here is something of substance: another Book Rant!

Watchmen I knew nothing of this comic when I picked up a copy. I am not one who is terribly interested in comics, as they usually bore the hell out of me. But I heard some people talking in the physics library about it, the new movie of it coming out, and I was in the bookstore and saw a book called Philosophy and the Watchmen. So I thought “Uncle! I give up! I have to find out what this is all about!”

And I’m happy I did. The book was amazing. Even for a comic book (graphic novel to be exact), and the story was exciting, the characters deep (once again, for a comic book I was surprised), and it was just a great read all around. It even had a twisted sense of humor. Just fantastic. Pick up a copy. Read it, look at every pane of animation, and notice all the clues, pretty good drawing and, well, it’s just a hell of a ride. Really.

And now a cartoon update (come on folks, you know me, what kind of pod person would you think I became if I did not mention this):

Futurama! New DVD today! It’s called Into The Wild Green Yonder. It might be the last outing of our future friends, so enjoy folks!

(yes, at this time I also realized I had become somewhat of a pod person for not mentioning Frisky Dingo season 2, but it’s annother story, and an acquired taste. Ask Dr. MookieLove)

That should do it for me tonight folks. I hope I was atl least somewhat entertaining. I will keep this up as much as time permits, but no promises. Like I said- I’m probably going to go on that weekly stretch that I have a tendency to do.

T

Sight and Quote

2009-02-13T13:21:00.002-07:00

Today I saw a homeless man standing on the steps of the Cathedral of the Madeleine.

He was surrounded by pigeons, and they were perching on his hands and shoulders.

There was traffic, pedestrians and business as usual. But for that moment; he was their center.

"When you come to the end of all the light you know, and it's time to step into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing that one of two things shall happen:
Either you will be given something solid to stand on or you will be taught to fly. "
~ Edward Teller

Cloudy Daze

2009-02-09T23:42:00.001-07:00

Good evening everyone.

My goodness it has been a long time since I have been online…

Anyway, being this blog is called ‘The Mad Scientist’, one would expect more science stuff right?

Well here you go:

This is what I have been up to the past couple of weeks. Not just this project, but this one is the most interesting thing that has come out of it. The rest is the usual pen & paper math, spreadsheet programming and reading, reading… reading.

So here is the cool stuff. I made a Cloud Chamber.

What it does, and how it works:

You will need an airtight glass chamber, a sponge to attach on the upper end of the container, and soak it in alcohol (I used Everclear- it’s cheap and really concentrated). You will also need a tin filled with dry ice, a flashlight, a small piece of paper towel, and last but not least: a radio active “source”. We used a needle dipped in a chemical that had a bit of radioactive stuff in it, I think it was Uranium, but I’m not sure. At the time, I did not care either. I just needed some Advil.

Anyways, you put the source in the chamber bottom, and the alcohol soaked sponge side on the top, and set it on top of the dry ice. The small piece of paper towel goes between them for traction.

Once the alcohol evaporates from the spounge, it condenses at the cold bottom, and it is thick enough, that when the source decays (here we had alpha particles (a helium nucleus)), it leaves little trails in the gas! When you shine the flashlight on it, it looks like little hairs standing straight up! Observe:

Do you see them? The little straight lines shooting out from the tip if the needle like fireworks?

Awesome.

T

Reprezentin' The Nerd-Life

2009-02-01T02:01:00.003-07:00

[The following is real grafitti in the mens room in the North Physics building]

What's uppitie yall',

I thought today I would give a shout-out to all my homies livin' the Nerd Life.
Tis' tha hard life yo:

Forget da East Side- West Side; we gotz the Normal-Vector, sin(a), cos(a), and a shiz-load of other dimentions bee-atch!:

Tangent si-eeed!

Oh, what's dis?:

Momentum! Holla!

Don't be hatin' on the kinematics thug, they's here too:

For realz thug- BOOSH!. Keepin' it real with the Story Problem!

Yea- And dis homie too:

True homie. So true.

Livin' the life aint eazy:

Keep up the fight dawg!

M to the S out~

(I think the only thing more hilarious that nerds actually having math equations for grafitti is me trying to fake like I know the slang kids are using these days. I am not a big fan of rap music (in fact, I have yet to hear any I like), and I think it shows. When I first noticed this I was chuckling for hours... and I hope I made you do the same. Good night all.)

T

25 Random things

2009-01-28T14:13:00.002-07:00

Good afternoon everyone,

I have another post coming. It will be significantly more light hearted than my last one. However it is still in the draft phase. As well as my review of the new Underworld movie. that will be on The Cinema Project soon.

Well, in the meantime, here is another one of "those" things. This quiz thing came to me on facebook, but since I do not have anything interesting to post as of yet; here we go- 25 random things about me:

1. I believe all art is subjective.

2. I have an unfounded phobia of dry-mouth.

3. I can’t stand it when people call themselves professional photographers, buy thousands of dollars worth of camera gear, and know NOTHING about the equipment they are using. This is mostly geared toward 90% of you “wedding photographers” here in Utah. Not only that; but people who do “wedding photography” and know nothing of photojournalism.

4. I think fortune tellers, palm readers and horoscopes are full of crap. I don’t think anything can tell the future. However, I am fascinated with Tarot Cards.

5. Physics was not my first choice for a major. My first choice was a writing/journalism field. Those of you who knew me in high school can testify that I was editor in chief of the school newspaper; and liked it. Then film caught my eye. I wanted to make movies for a while. When I started college, I never thought I would do physics.

6. I change my goatee a little bit every couple of moths or so, because having the same one all the time bores me. But I have not changed my hair style in more than 6 years.

7. Even though I love photography, I have not taken a photo class since high school.

8. I will eat tomatoes if they are in sandwiches, burgers or sauces. But I hate them by themselves. The same goes for mushrooms.

9. I am one of ‘those’ people. The ones that always talk about exercising and getting into shape but never do.

10. I find most all religions interesting. The creed, origins and ritual enthrall me.

11. I do not like the Pope.

12. I hate TV, but I love animation.

13. I listen to hard, heavy fast and violent metal music; but I am a very docile and patient person.

14. Video games bore me to tears.

15. I would love to sail the horizons of this world, to seek and discover new things. But my daily routine anchors me, and sucks the wind from my sails. I also like to talk in metaphors.

16. One of my personal mottos is “Never say never.”

17. I have a love/hate relationship with my job.

18. I have never known what I want to do with my life. I have never had a dream, goal or any such thing that was more than a fleeting thought.

19. I do not want kids.

20. It is a huge pet peeve of mine when people ask “when are you getting married?” and I say “never”; and they automatically assume I have commitment issues. It’s a personal choice that I have my own founding for- trust me.

21. It takes me weeks and weeks to read a book. I like to go slow and digest every sentence. Sometimes read it twice.

22. I think James T. Krik was the better captain. That’s right; I am that big of a nerd.

23. I like whiskey, but I have never tried scotch.

24. I love being in the city at night. I will go out of my way when driving home to go down main or state. I don’t know why. Maybe I like street lights.

25. I love big empty spaces, or small tight ones with lots of hallways and doors.

T

What Muse-

2009-01-23T02:10:00.003-07:00

Good evening everyone,

I was driving in the canyon the other day (why is another story), and I forgot my iPod, and of course I could not get a decent signal for any radio stations. So I spent the way down the canyon with the sound of my tires on the road and the thoughts in my head.

I got to thinking about my hobbies. Not so much about what I do (or could do) with my hobbies, but why I do them. Not only that, but why I chose physics for a major. And to me they are not just hobbies, but passions. And the trail of thoughts lead to this post.

When I chose physics for a major, people just gave me a funny look like they bit into a sour piece of candy, and just asked 'why'? The answer is that I find the natural world fascinating. I love to find out how things work, and what they could do. I love to find out the strange behavior of things, because often times the old saying holds true: sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. And I not only like to know, but doing the work for it often times gives me a high. The way the math equations flow, predict and cement excites me, and the possibilities of 'what could be' do so even more.

I love cameras. My affection for the tools of the trade goes beyond just the use. I love the aesthetics, function and complexity. But as much as I geek out over the cameras, I love what they produce more. There is a picture of Tuesday Weld in the current issue of B+W Magazine that I can't stop staring at.

Any picture is worth a thousand words. But have you ever seen a picture you could not think of any words for? Have you ever seen a picture that just takes your breath away? A picture that with one glance, the world's weight is shot clear of your mind and your soul is electrified?

Any book can entertain. It can thrill, excite and make you laugh. But have you ever read a book that inspired you? Made you want to change? Do something else, something new and important?

That is what I think people need more of in their lives. You may not be able to pay the bills with it, but you can chase your dreams all you want. And I am tempted to use the phrase "to your hearts content" here, but that is a dangerous statement. I think that through contentment comes atrophy, something terrible for any mind, body and soul.

Instead challenge yourself with these things that spark your interest. Do not merely try to duplicate, but create. Confront yourself with opposing ideas. You may ground yourself in what you already have. You may find something new.

That's why I do what I do, and as much of it as I can.

Thank you for reading through my cliché tripe. I know it sounds like something out of a bad movie. But you should try. At least try. You may not become a giant, or stand on the shoulders of any. You may sink into anonymity as another bastard child of creativity and fate. But at least the journey is worth taking.

So, then, what is your muse? What excites you? What makes you curious?

T

My Newest Toy!!!

2009-01-14T14:51:00.001-07:00

Good afternoon everyone,

Let me introduce you to my newest toy:

It’s an infrared filter. A Hoya R72 to be exact. Needless to say, there will be a few updates (finally) to the Photography blog.

That’s if I can find the time to use it… sigh.

Begin-Again and Another Book Rant

2009-01-12T13:22:00.003-07:00

Good afternoon everyone,

Well, holy crap. Another semester has started, and another break gone by way too fast. I know, a lot of you out there are a little pissed, because I said we would hang and then I bailed. But really? You have all known me long enough that on the occasion that happens it should come as no surprise. It’s nothing personal, I’m just really really lazy. And aside from working more than I should have for the sake of my sanity, and From Russia with Love’s trip to California, nothing went on. At all. Lame right? Well, that’s exactly what I was looking for. Summer is for partying, winter is for hibernating.

I am not going to be doing any sort of class checklist here or on the R&D Pages this semester, because I hardly kept up on it last time. I will just post the cool learnings as they happen.

Any way, as promised, here is the Book Rant:

Stranger than Fiction by Chuck Palahniuk

Very good. It’s his non-fiction stuff, so don’t expect too much craziness. But the journalistic writing and interviews are fascinating. He talks about wrestlers, demolition derbies, and interviews people who hand build their own castles. He interviews a woman who took her dog to Honduras after a hurricane, and searched for survivors. He interviews Marilyn Manson and Juliette Lewis. He talks about his own personal experiences, from working as a hospice volunteer to his fathers murder to his trips to Hollywood and the set of the Fight Club movie. Fascinating from beginning to end. By far one of my favorite books. Ever.

T

Memories That Could Have Been

2009-01-09T01:34:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon everyone,

I am currently writing this here at work, however they have blocked the blog sites now, so I am posting this at home. Not that most of you would really know- I just needed something to write. So, for tonights entertainment, I have a list of Childrens Books that never were:

You Are Different and That's Bad
Dad's New Wife Robert
Hammers, Screwdrivers and Scissors: An I-Can-Do-It Myself Book!
Curious George and the High-Voltage Fence
Some Kittens Can Fly
Grandpa Gets a Casket
The Magic World Inside the Abandoned Refrigerator
Garfield Gets Feline Leukemia
The Pop-Up Book of Human Anatomy
Strangers Have the Best Candy
Whining, Kicking, Crying and Getting What You Want
Pop! Goes The Hamster...And Other Great Microwave Games!
Places Where Mommy and Daddy Hide Neat Things
Daddy Drinks Because You Cry

That will do it for me tonight folks. I plan on spending the rest of the night watching cartoons. I know that doesn't sound like news to anyone who knows me, but tonight is special: I am the proud owner of Frisky Dingo season 2! Go ahead- buy it and laugh!

T

Out With The Bad

2009-01-07T02:44:00.004-07:00

Once again, here I am blogging about why I’m glad it’s a new year. Here is the next reason; getting rid of this guy:

Aaahhh, good times. In fact, I think we should take some time to reflect on some past golden moments this doofus has provided us. Here are my favorite Bush quotes:

"I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully." — September 2000, explaining his energy policies at an event in Michigan.
"Rarely is the question asked, is our children learning?" — January 2000, during a campaign event in South Carolina.
"They misunderestimated the compassion of our country. I think they misunderestimated the will and determination of the commander in chief, too." — Sept. 26, 2001, in Langley, Va. Bush was referring to the terrorists who carried out the Sept. 11 attacks.
"There's no doubt in my mind, not one doubt in my mind, that we will fail." — Oct. 4, 2001, in Washington. Bush was remarking on a back-to-work plan after the terrorist attacks.
"It would be a mistake for the United States Senate to allow any kind of human cloning to come out of that chamber." — April 10, 2002, at the White House, as Bush urged Senate passage of a broad ban on cloning.
"There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again." — Sept. 17, 2002, in Nashville, Tenn.
"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." — Aug. 5, 2004, at the signing ceremony for a defense spending bill.
"Too many good docs are getting out of business. Too many OB/GYNs aren't able to practice their love with women all across this country." — Sept. 6, 2004, at a rally in Poplar Bluff, Mo.
"It was not always a given that the United States and America would have a close relationship. After all, 60 years we were at war 60 years ago we were at war." — June 29, 2006, at the White House, where Bush met with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
"Mr. Prime Minister, thank you for your introduction. Thank you for being such a fine host for the OPEC summit." — September 2007, in Sydney, Australia, where Bush was attending an APEC summit.
"The fact that they purchased the machine meant somebody had to make the machine. And when somebody makes a machine, it means there's jobs at the machine-making place." — May 27, 2008, in Mesa, Ariz.
"And they have no disregard for human life." — July 15, 2008, at the White House. Bush was referring to enemy fighters in Afghanistan.
"I remember meeting a mother of a child who was abducted by the North Koreans right here in the Oval Office." — June 26, 2008, during a Rose Garden news briefing.
"This thaw — took a while to thaw, it's going to take a while to unthaw." — Oct. 20, 2008, in Alexandria, La., as he discussed the economy and frozen credit markets.

Mom has a theory that he was actually drunk during most of these speeches. I am going with retarded.
T

So Long 08’

2009-01-01T21:00:00.001-07:00

Well, to be honest, 2008 sucked. In fact, it sucked bad. I am not going to miss one damn bit of it.

From Russia with Love gave me a tarot card reading today. When I was shuffling the deck, I was thinking and wondering what the next year will be like. How (if any) of my accomplishments will turn out. What will happen with school. I did not think about work that much. But when she drew the cards, read the past and present, and overturned the third (future), it was:

Triumph.

Victory.

Accomplishment.

Hell yeah.

T

I Have This One Somewhere... Maybe In the Basement?

2008-12-24T01:21:00.001-07:00

For some reason it just speaks to me....

Crispy!

2008-12-19T01:37:00.006-07:00

Good evening (morning actually),

Well, finals are done and I am just waiting for the grades to roll in at this point. So what else have I been doing? Well, aside from work, not much. Except last night was an interesting sight.

I was fast asleep with From Russia with Love, and it was about 4:30 in the morning, and my mom knocked on my door:

“M.S.! Look out your window!”

And of course the adrenaline was going at this point, and I sat up and looked out my window. The view was normal, houses, trees and snow, all in the nights quiet. Then I looked just above the tree line of the houses across the street. There was billowing clouds of smoke and huge flames coming from someone’s roof!

(I forgot to grab the camera in the midst of the excitement, but thanks to today’s computer technology, I have managed to re-create the scene with a huge amount of accuracy):

Don’t worry, it was the fire engines that woke everyone, so we did not have to make any calls. We just watched the show, and hoped everyone got out ok.

The next morning, I found out the house was vacant and had been for sale for quite some time. So, fortunately, no one was hurt and there was no significant loss… except for the house of course. But being the fact that it was vacant, doesn’t that raise any eyebrows!?! Just thinking out loud of course… any way; here was the sight this morning:

Ha ha ha ha... Oh, Mercy!

2008-12-14T22:32:00.002-07:00

Mid-Last Stretch

2008-12-09T18:55:00.002-07:00

Ok everyone, here's what's left:

1 Test in Quantum Mechanics
4 Make up assignments in Computational Physics (3 of them are pretty much done)
1 Final Project in Computational Physics
1 Electronics lab (maybe another for extra credit)

Almost there...

T

Last Stretch

2008-12-05T22:52:00.004-07:00

Good evening everyone,

Here are the contents of my last week of school this semester:

2 Homework assignments in Quantum Mechanics
1 Test in Quantum Mechanics
4 Make up assignments in Computational Physics (3 of them are pretty much done)
1 Final Project in Computational Physics
2 or 3 Labs in Computational Physics
1 Electronics lab (maybe another for extra credit)
1 Test in Electronics
Maybe an assignment in P.D.E.’s (he hasn’t told us yet).

And then we move to finals week. Holy crap, I can’t wait to be done with this semester.

An Explanation

2008-11-28T21:17:00.008-07:00

My goodness, I have been getting lazy here. And to go a little further with that thought: I will be getting lazier. Remember: there are only a couple of weeks left in the semester (crunch time), then a week of finals. So sorry to say, but there will not be a lot of posts for a while. In fact, crunch time has already begun, and as all the people I work with know, I have been on a bit of a marathon for a while with school.

You know, the 8 to 15 hours a day nonstop for weeks at a time. My buddy Steve-O called me the other day, and I’m sorry to say that I did not even notice until about an hour ago (his missed call was stacked up with all the other ones I miss on a regular basis- sorry buddy).

As a matter of fact, he left a comment on my last post. Here it is (to save you from scrolling down):

I can't believe that you've abandoned the ranks of film users. I'm disgusted really!

Naturally he is talking about the recent purchase of another digital camera. And I do feel that I have to explain my actions here, being as pro film as I am.
Yes, I do prefer film to digital. Here is why:

There is no playing in the darkroom with digital. I love the dark room.
With black and white photography, there are real problems with digital. First, if you want to use external filters, you have to mess with the white balance to get them to work. That is a pain in the ass. The contrast is hard as hell to control, unless you photoshop them after. And I don’t get to use the darkroom. Again.
Film looks better when printed well. By me. In the darkroom.

There are a couple more reasons to put down, but I am going to just mention those here, so I can now justify why I have digital:

Film is expensive. Both to purchase and more so to process. And I can’t justify the cost when I want to take pictures just for the hell of it (i.e. when I’m bored). And digital allows the ‘clicking away’ free of charge.

That is the only reason right? Well, no. I have others, but for the sake of the explanation here that will be sufficient to support my digital purchase. Now as for the SLR, mentioned in my last post. I have a very ‘pro’ type of point and shoot (as pro as you can get without going to an interchangeable lens system). But point and shoot has its issues too. I will not go into specifics in great detail now, just the biggest: lag time, battery life and lens limitations.

Those are the primary reasons I purchased the DSLR. I also wanted a back-up digital in case one bit the dust. And for the price I got it for, it was not a big investment for me by any means. So, sorry for the nausea Steve-O, but my digital acquisitions are merely a financial measure, and not a personal preference (like I would give up film! WTF! How long have you known me?!- hahaha!).

And if it makes you feel any better, here is my next purchase (if I can get the funds together, because this one is by no means cost effective (you know more than anyone)):

The Goings On Recently

2008-11-15T16:59:00.002-07:00

Good afternoon everyone,

To be quite honest, not much exciting has happened. Except that on my way to work today I was listening to the BBC. They were playing some international music, and doing some stories on the regions they were from and such. And what did I learn you might ask? Well, the only thing that makes rap music worse is rap music in a foreign language.

It was awful. Really. You can not be a 'thug' and have a Russian or French accent. It's not hip or tough, it's just silly.

Oh, but I did get a new toy! And here it is (que 2001 Space Odyssey music):

Oooh yeah. Now if I just had time to use it…

On Prop 8

2008-11-08T15:33:00.004-07:00

Good afternoon everyone,

Well, I think it is official: I have failed at NaBloPoMo. I will do it as much as I can, but alas, not every day. Anyway, this is something that I have found interesting in the news since the election. It has gotten about as much attention as the new president. And this is, of course, the passing of Proposition 8. Not just the passing of Prop. 8, but the protests that have followed. There was a massive protest outside of the LDS Temple yesterday, for their role in the passing of this. I found a story online here, but I did not put it up on this blog due to copyright requests. However, I do have a copy of the LDS church's statement regarding the protests:

It is disturbing that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is being singled out for speaking up as part of its democratic right in a free election.

Members of the Church in California and millions of others from every faith, ethnicity and political affiliation who voted for Proposition 8 exercised the most sacrosanct and individual rights in the United States – that of free expression and voting.

While those who disagree with our position on Proposition 8 have the right to make their feelings known, it is wrong to target the Church and its sacred places of worship for being part of the democratic process.

Once again, we call on those involved in the debate over same sex marriage to act in a spirit of mutual respect and civility towards each other. No one on either side of the question should be vilified, harassed or subject to erroneous information.

Yes, I am for gay marriage. No, I am not gay. The reason I am for this is because I believe it is a rights issue (and they are being denied unfairly), and I have yet to hear a convincing argument otherwise. The only arguments I have heard that are logical at all are religious ones, and last I checked we do not enforce religion by law here in America. It's just part who we are; you know- the whole "Separation of Church and State" thing? Remember that? And the fact that we have an ideal here that people can live free without religious persecution. Just the silly little fine print that makes us the great nation that we are. So if the only "logical" arguments that I have heard against gay marriage are religious, then why is it illegal? Granted, there are other reasons that are not religious in nature, but those problems can be solved without denying rights to others.

As far as the statements above in the article go, I disagree. It is absolutely appropriate to go to your "sacred places of worship" and protest, because your involvement in this issue invades the homes and lives of private citizens and their private and personal lifestyle choices, and if that is not sacred to you, then why should your "sacred places of worship" be off limits to us? And, yes, whatever rights you have in a democratic free election I respect, and the right to express your views I respect, your freedom of speech I respect, but that does not mean you do not have to answer for them- especially as an organization.

Some are calling for a complete boycott of the state of Utah. That is a little over the top, because as you can see there are plenty of other people here that are on the other side of the argument, and 'punishing' them is not sane at all, even though about half of the financial support for ProtectMarrage.com came from Utah.

I do also agree that it is unfair to single out the LDS church on their involvement on this, as any protests should include everyone involved. Here is a short list of them (just to be fair): The Roman Catholic Church, Knights of Columbus, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, the LDS Church, and various other evangelical Christians. Other organizations include, but not limited to: American Family Association and Focus on Family. That is of course, if you want to protest or boycott or do anything else of the like (peaceful please. Make your voice heard, not felt).

Sadly, I do not think that protests are not going to do any good, no matter how many of them are picketed and chanted at. The fact of the matter is, that most churches believe that homosexuality is a sin, and not a lot, if nothing, will change their mind. I am not against their preaching of that. They can say to their followers what ever they choose, and the followers can believe whatever they choose, and I will not hold that against them for believing that certain "activities" are wrong, unhealthy or immoral. But pushing that on others who do not follow that creed by any sort of law is absurd to me. I look at it like this: if you love someone and want to spend the rest of your life with them I have no problem with that. If they want to enjoy the legal benefits that come with marriage, I have no problem with that. I just don't like to see a couple who love each other very much denied rights and other privileges because of what is between their legs.

So protest, shout, picket (or in my case blog) if you must. Because the only thing that is going to change this is time. People will not stand for injustice long. That is another thing that makes our nation great, and I have full confidence that we will go the other direction in time. But if there is one message I would like to get across here, it that we need to be tolerant of other people. And remember: it's tolerance, not approval. Let others be as they will, as long as it is not causing you any harm.

T

Outcome

2008-11-05T01:50:00.016-07:00

Well everyone, the results are in, and history has been made:

… and my favorite Waste-Of-Carbon person was also popped up in the news here.
The headline was:

Diddy votes: 'It was a joyous moment'

Voted? I did not know he could read?!?!? How is that news anyway?!?!

No one interviewed me after I voted. Then again, for him the fact that he can talk and walk at the same time is an achievement.

… or the fear of death. That has to be it. That is what was news worthy there. He has been saying so much about that for so long…

Nov. 4

2008-11-04T11:22:00.001-07:00

“The stretch of North and South araou’d- sea board and inland- Texas to Maine- the Prairie States- Vermont, Virginia, California,

One final ballot-shower from East to West- the paradox and conflict, The countless snow flakes falling- the peaceful choice of all,

Or good or ill humanity- welcoming the Darker odds, the dross: -Foams and ferments the wine? It serves to purify- while the heart pants, life grows:

These stormy gusts and winds waft precious ships, Swell’d Washingston’s, Jefferson’s, Lincoln’s sails.”

~Walt Whitman

Lotto and NaBloPoMo

2008-11-02T17:10:00.000-07:00

Good evening everyone,

Well, it is time for something called NaBloPoMo. What is that? It’s a phrase meaning ‘National Blog Post Month’. And apparently that phrase is constructed for people who don’t like entire words, or are just too lazy to finish them. The goal of this month is to do a post every day. That might be a challenge for me, but I have been making good so far (2 down, lots to go).

And what am I doing today?

...Working -till’ midnight. And unfortunately, I have to work for a living still, as I did not win the lottery. I had my parents pick me up a lotto ticket on their last trip to Idaho. Being a science minded person (and a sore loser), I thought maybe I will take a look at the last 45 results, sort them, and make a histogram of occurrences for the lottery. I will let you know the results (even though I already know them too: random.. I’m just curious).

I am going to spend the evening mostly waiting for From Russia with Love to return from her trip to Boulder, CO. that she took with some co-workers to party for Halloween, and hear the crazy stories of her travels.

Music today: "N.W.O". by Ministry

That will do it for me tonight folks.

T

A Saturday Night With Mom

2008-11-02T01:18:00.004-06:00

The night started out slow. I went to GrayWhale C.D. Exchange and purchased a DVD collection of the three Die Hard movies (I know there are four, but I now own the three good ones). Observe:

Then Mom and I went to my cousin Len's place for a Halloween party. I know, it is technically the day after, but that's just how it worked out. First off, I am going to go over some events that will not be covered in this post:

a) Family controversy about adoption

b) A shouting match over Cheetos

c) The 'prick in the poncho'

First, I had about 20 minutes to come up with a costume (as my cousins party was a costume party), so I quickly went through my closet to find something. I eventually settled on a bad “Che” costume. We arrived at the party and when we realized they had only hard booze and no beer, Mom suggested that we went for a beer run.

After getting past all the odd stares that were noticeably the “Halloween was yesterday” kind, we purchased about $70 worth of beer from Smith's and headed back to the party. By the time we had got back more people had shown up, and all of them were friends of my cousin and not family, so I did not know any of them. So I hung with Mom and my cousin Jer, who dressed as a construction worker, and regretted it due to the frequent requests to sing “YMCA”. Observe:

Yes, Jer- “YMCA” indeed (he was obviously a bit camera shy). And here is Mom with cousin Len, both rather drunk at this point:

Notice cousin Len has a nurse costume. Part of her costume was some test tubes filled with shots (mostly vodka I think). Cousin Jer and another douche at the party had taken a few and said that they were quite good... until anther person arrived at the party and asked if cousin Len had washed tham out before she used them. Of course the answer was no, then the follow up question of why. Apperantly, the type of test tubes she had are factory coated with a chemical to keep them sterile, and that chemical can cause vomiting and diarrhea.

Naturally we started taking bets on how long it would take for those two poor souls to start oozing at both ends. But before we could observe the comical inevitability, my other cousin Chaz called Len and said he had been in a car wreck. Not bad though, in fact he had hit a parked car. Unfortunately, it was a rather nice Mustang. He said that his brakes had problems, he could not see it, it came out of nowhere etc. but really, he was probably playing with his iPod or texting or something. Here is the truck that he was driving (owned by cousin Len):

And here is the poor Mustang:

Sad to see, I know. The funniest part was her trying to be serious talking to the cops in a skimpy black nurses outfit; stethoscope, fishnets and all.

Then Mom wanted to see my recent widower Uncle K. On the way there, Mom wanted to go shake the shipping doors at her place of employment to set off the alarm, and thereby shaking her bosses nerves, because he is apparently quite paranoid of getting robbed. Fortunately, we drove on.

So I drove my intoxicated mother and about $70 worth of beer to uncle K's place. We then arrived at my uncle's place, more beer was consumed and I returned home, to type this post. And the best thing? Spending my entire night dressed like 'Che':

Awesome.

On this Eve,

2008-10-31T20:39:00.005-06:00

The skies are grey, and the leaves are yellow and brown. There is morbid gore abound; and the celebrated ghouls and eerie undead stalk our imaginations. Yes my friends, this is All Hallows Eve - my favorite time of the year.

Enjoy everyone.

In Borders and Shiny Nails

2008-10-26T18:37:00.002-06:00

Good evening everyone,

Being that I could not think of anything to post for a while, no witty observations, no 'happy moments' of scientific discovery, and no other real things that would make an interesting post; I thought I would give a rundown of today's events.

After attending the Friends of the Library Book Sale, I am in need of some book-ends. And not just those metal wedges- real big gaudy pretentious things. So, I went to Borders. Of course you would think a bookstore would have such a device, but alas, they did not. In fact, they have become quite a challenge to find. Since they did not have what I was looking for, I decided to wander around a bit. I looked at C++ books, books on electricity and electric circuits, books on math and anything else that caught my nerdy eye. Nothing that is going to assist me with school however, indeed I fear that my browsing those particular types of books was to remove some kind of guilt that I may have had in not doing some amount of homework.

I then made my way down to the fiction section where I overheard this conversation between a mother, daughter and son; all in another isle and invisible to me:

Son:" what was her name mom?"

Mom:" who?"

Son: " his girlfriend.. "

Mom: "you are talking to loud; keep your voice down."

Daughter: "ugghhh…"

Son: "what was her name?"

Mom: "you are talking too loud. You are embarrassing me."

Daughter: "yeah, everyone!"

Mom: "Keep your voices down!"

Son: "but what was her name?"

And it went on in that circular manner until I could handle no more, and left to go to the Mall. I always liked wandering the Mall when I was a kid. I was a bit of a Mall Rat. My friends parents would always ask why we were going there, what point there was in it, and how it was just a waste of our time. I would counter that by saying that it was not a waste of time, but when one wanders the Mall, we are out of the house, we are keeping in touch with culture and current events, expanding our social horizons, and getting some much needed exercise. Especially us heathens there shopping on Sunday- a small sanctuary of superficiality and decadence. Except this time I went with a purpose. Here was my shopping list (and budget):

~Sunglasses: $20

~Boots: $100 (good boots are expensive)

On my way to procure these items, I noticed there has been one thing that has popped up more and more since I used to frequent Malls, and that is the kiosk. Not just a kiosk, bit populated with high pressure sales people. I passed one, and the girl slightly approached me and said:

"excuse me, could I talk to you for a moment?"

To which I replied:

"No."

And went on my merry way. When I looked back at her, I noticed she had a little disappointed sigh, and I felt a little bad. So I decided to myself that I would not be as rude to the next sales associate who approached me… aaaand that was a bad decision.

I was approached by a girl with an accent who looked younger from farther away. She started showing me some fingernail care products that she was selling. She took my hand and began sanding away on my finger while she was talking about how this 'cube' uses silk available from only Israel, and until now we could not use it to unlock the hidden oils in our finger nails, and she went on and on like that for quite some time. then she showed me my finger nail- I looked down with surprise; it was indeed quite shiny!

Then she tried to sell that crap to me, it was about $60, and I was forced to be even ruder than before to get out of there. Nothing eventful happened in getting the items I was originally after. So here is what I ended up with (and what it cost):

~Sunglasses: $10.

~ Boots: $40 (sale… I blame/thank the economy)

~Sad look from sales girl: $A small piece of my soul.

~Shiny finger nail: $A small piece of my self respect.

And there you have it. A long dragging post essentially about nothing, and what I actually spent my time doing: getting an absurdly shiny fingernail.

T

Election Coverage 08’

2008-10-20T15:49:00.001-06:00

Good afternoon everyone,

I will not even bother with this crap. I had a witty, cleaver and funny post outlined, specifically regarding alternative party choices. But like I said- now I am not going to even bother. And why is that you might ask?

The election has now centered around a proverbial doofus who can’t keep his ass in his pants.

… well, shit.

Yes, America- that is what they think of you. Also, the fact that they need to put this out into the open to try and relate to us? Insulting if you ask me.

Not to mention that there is a candidate who screws up on an interview so bad, she gave Saturday Night Live enough material to get record ratings (repeatedly)… and thinking that being near Russia gives her foreign policy experience (trust me- I am around a Russian all the time, and I still do not understand her). And abusing her authority to have an ex-brother in law fired (just for being an ‘ex’). And last but not least, there is the candidate who thought she would be a good running mate (thus putting her an ‘old-mans-heartbeat’ away from being president).

I am laughing too hard to actually make my own jokes. To recycle the old saying: “Truth is stranger than fiction”.

To turn this on a serious note, there is a dark and horrible fact that is right in front of everyone’s faces. And that is the fact that this is actually a close race.

Sends chills down my spine… every time.

T

An Accomplishment Electric

2008-10-10T17:08:00.010-06:00

Good afternoon everyone,

For those of you who I see on a regular basis, you all know about my irritations with my electronics class, especially the lab section. Here is a glimpse of what I have been doing in there:

This mess took me 2+ hours to wire de-bug. Guess what is does?

Drum-roll please......

Tah-Duh! It counts from 0 to 9! That's right! Not 8, or that whimpy 7- but 9!

Truely a Miracle of Modern Technology (basically, I have built myself an obnoxious 2 year old. But at least I can take it apart without going to jail)... I just fear it will become self aware-

... aaand might end up being something like a mix between this:

and this:

(If you are a fan of ATHF, that was very funny)

Or maybe thinking about this stuff is the only thing that gets me through that time in that miserable hole they call the electronics lab. But so I don't end on a bad note, the view from the physics buildings is quite spectacular:

... Ahhh- Fall Break has begun. Time to relax.

Fair Follies and Fall Break

2008-10-09T09:37:00.006-06:00

Good afternoon everyone,

How do you spell relief?- F-A-L-L B-R-E-A-K. That is coming up right after my Electronics Lab and Lecture tonight. I will update the R&D Pages with more of my school work over the break, because I do plan on spending the entire thing studying. I know, for as excited as I seemed in sentences before, it will give me a nice opportunity to do some much needed catching up. Not only that, but I may have time to read other things than text books... finally...

In other news; I went to the campus Science and Technology Career Fair. Being a Physics Major, I thought that would be an excellent place to seek out future employment and opportunities. To my dismay, this was not exactly the case. There were a few places that seemed promising, but I did not appreciate the eye-rolling and laughter because you are looking for a "(insert type here) Engineer", and not anyone who has any type of physics degree... Oh, and get this- I was told by a nuclear power plant company that, and I quote: " we are not really looking for physicists. There might be a job you can do here or there, but we generally don't look for physics majors."- Really? Are you kidding? You dunces deserve all of your hippie protestors.

And the two old biddies who actually laughed at me, and I quote again: "Applied Physics! Ha-ha, oh... what on earth were you thinking you could do with that? Good luck! Hah-ha" Well, hag, here is my answer: a lot more than you, because remember; you are working at a career fair! That is the high point of your professional life!

I would like to thank those who were patient, even though I was not their ideal employee, and a special thanks to everyone who actually helped out with career options (3 total, including the F.B.I., N.S.A., and the nice fellow from Dougway). To everyone else, I am sorry that I could not bring more to your company. If you should change your mind, I have prepared a special Cover Letter and Resume for you:

Dear Giggling Biddies and Eye-Rolling Recruiters:

Sincerely,
M.S.

The Departing

2008-09-27T15:28:00.001-06:00

Good afternoon everyone,

Well, nothing much has been happening since my last post. For the record, my 26th year has just been busy so far. Just like number 23, 24 and 25.

I am not going to go into any details of my classes, because it is mostly just boring. If you ever have the morbid urge to do something tedious and frustrating, nothing will fill that need like circuit analysis… or C++ programming… or whatever else fills my time nowadays.

The primary reason for this post, other than letting everyone know I have not totally forgotten about this thing, is that I would like to congratulate my buddy, Dr. MookieLove on his new position in Denver. He will be moving quickly, and will be missed… sorely.

But I am happy for him (he has been wanting something like this for a while), and now I have a connection in Denver. Hoora!

Anyways, back to the books.

T

Induction Into The Latter 20’s

2008-09-17T14:37:00.004-06:00

Good afternoon everyone,

Well, it’s official. I am embarking on the latter half of my 20’s. That’s right- I am the big Two- Six. How does it feel you might ask? Well, the same as 25 really. But yesterday was a freakin’ good day. From Russia with Love got me a very interesting gift. She got the idea from someone else, and that is the idea of giving an ‘experience’ to someone. The day started out with me getting up at about 7:30 (yes, I was up before 10am voluntarily) and heading out to the point of the mountain. What was the experience you might ask?- Paragliding! It was actually more fun than I thought it would be, and was a fantastic way to start off a day. I looked something like this:

Good times… definately worth it. Love you honey! The rest of the day was spent with From Russia with Love hanging out, getting lunch, shopping at the mall, and Barnes & Noble. Then of course it was to class, then back home to take part in my family’s festivities.

And a big thank you to everyone who showed me love on my B-day, making it so great. Whether it be a text message, a phone call (if I got it or not- sorry Steve-O) or spending time with me, it was a great day knowing I had so many people who cared about me:

Mom and Dad

Bro and CheeseCake

From Russia with Love

Dr. MookieLove

Lillie

Double-A

Mr. And Mrs. B-Dawg

Steve-O

Aunt L. and Cousin B

Mr. Fink

That list was quick, so if I forgot you, don’t take it personal. Love you all!

T

Math Applied To Life

2008-09-15T18:45:00.001-06:00

Good evening everyone,

In some time I have between classes here, I thought I would share an interesting mathematical deduction that I stumbled across:

Suppose time is equal to money:

And work is proportional to time and money:

That leads to:

But if money is the root of all evil, then:

And substituting that into the equation for work, leads to:

No wonder my job gets on my nerves so much…

T

Unicorn Found (Kind Of)

2008-09-11T12:43:00.003-06:00

Good afternoon everyone,

I am coming to you with a little bit of weird news. I mentioned before that I am not one to follow Cryptozoology, but I have some interesting advancements in that pseudo-science. They have found a unicorn! I am not kidding- this is not like the other news story I found with the Chubacabra where it is a 'may or may not be' kind of thing. They have photographed this unicorn in Africa, and the locals call it an "Okapi". Now, without further delay, here is the photo captured by scientists:

Just kidding. here is the real one:

Looks more like a deer than a horse to me. But whatever... a horn on the forehead is a horn on the forehead. if you don't believe your eyes, here is the story I found on Yahoo! News:

British team capture first pictures of Africa's 'unicorn'

Wed Sep 10, 7:24 PM ET

LONDON (AFP) - The okapi, an African animal so elusive that it was once believed to be a mythical unicorn, has been photographed in the wild for the first time, the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) said Thursday.

Camera traps set by the ZSL and the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation (ICCN) captured pictures of the okapi in Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The pictures have dispelled fears that the species had died out in more than a decade of civil war.
Dr Noelle Kumpel, ZSL's Bushmeat and Forests Conservation Programme Manager, said: "To have captured the first-ever photographs of such a charismatic creature is amazing, and particularly special for ZSL given that the species was originally described here over a century ago.

"Okapi are very shy and rare animals, which is why conventional surveys only tend to record droppings and other signs of their presence."

The okapi, which have a black, giraffe-like tongue and zebra-like stripes on their behind, were last spotted in the Virunga National Park nearly 50 years ago on the west bank of the Semliki River.

The new ZSL survey revealed a previously unknown okapi population on the east side of the river.

Thierry Lusenge, a member of ZSL's Democratic Republic of Congo survey team, said: "The photographs clearly show the stripes on their rear, which act like unique fingerprints.

"We have already identified three individuals, and further survey work will enable us to estimate population numbers and distribution in and around the park, which is a critical first step in targeting conservation efforts."

The exact status of the okapi is unknown as civil conflict and poor infrastructure makes access to the forests of DRC difficult.

But ZSL warned that even the newly-discovered okapi population was under threat from poachers.

Okapi meat, reportedly from the Virunga park, is now on sale in the nearby town of Beni and ZSL warned that if hunting continues at the current rate, okapi could become extinct in the park within a few years.

Like I have said before, sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction. Other, and most, of the time not.

What Am I Looking At?

2008-09-05T16:48:00.001-06:00

Good afternoon everyone,

I know it's been a few days since I have posted. School has been pretty busy. I am not going bore you with the details (yet). So I just have some updates on other things. Mostly just one thing that I have acquired recently:

Drawn Together Season 3!!!

Hilarious! That is all that I have been doing other than school and work. And I just bought the DVD last night. Oh so busy.

T

Crude Oil News

2008-08-31T01:22:00.008-06:00

Good afternoon everyone,

Here is some more crap I found in the news:

Hack Rapper, Hollywood Retard and all around Useless Human Sean “Diddy” Combs has had to stop taking private jets for his travel. And the reason?- Gas prices. Not only has he had to stop taking the private jets, but he is complaining that he has to fly first class when he travels commercially. Poor guy… apparently he has said in a video that is floating around the internet that we need to “tell whoever the next president is we need to bring gas prices down.” And not only that, he is pleading for free oil from his “Saudi Arabia brothers and sisters”.

Come on Diddy, really? Is flying first class that bad? At least you can afford to fly, unlike oh so many others. And do you really think they are going to give you free oil? I doubt that they will give you a discount. In fact, you are now the laughing stock of the Middle East, and most of America (except that one fan you still have).

If you do not believe me, you can read the story here, but for your conveinience, I have included it in it’s entirety here as well:

Diddy halts private jet flights over fuel prices

LOS ANGELES - Fuel prices have grounded an unexpected frequent-flyer: Diddy.
Sean "Diddy" Combs complained about the "... too high" price of gas and pleaded for free oil from his "Saudi Arabia brothers and sisters" in a YouTube video posted Wednesday. The hip-hop mogul said he is now flying on commercial airlines instead of in private jets, which Combs said had previously cost him $200,000 and up for a roundtrip between New York and Los Angeles.
"I'm actually flying commercial," Diddy said before walking onto an airplane, sitting in a first-class seat and flashing his boarding pass to the camera. "That's how high gas prices are. I'm at the gate right now. This is really happening, proof gas prices are too high. Tell whoever the next president is we need to bring gas prices down."

Didn’t I tell you? What a retard. Maybe he could work his magic and tell Saudi Arabia: “Diddy says oil is free.” -and then pigs will be able to afford to fly too. Diddy; do it for the pigs! We need more that one of you flying our friendly skies! Or maybe try: “Fly free or die!” that would be just as nice. It would give everybody another laugh… at his expense… again.

I was half tempted to put this as another ‘sign humanity is doomed’, but this guy is just such a numb nuts, I think everyone is used to him making an ass of himself.

At least BK is open late…

When will he just go away?

Signs Humanity Is Doomed

2008-08-29T14:56:00.005-06:00

Good afternoon everyone,

I ran across an interesting bit of news that I thought I would share. My brother said he verified this on Snopes, so as far as I know- it is true. One does not even need to read the entire story- the picture is plenty. It leads to an important conclusion: Humanity is Doomed. If these types of people are breeding, we are all doomed.

I think this needs no further introduction. Behold (please click to enlarge if needed):

Yes, she is pregnant.
Yes, she is concerned that the jackhammers of all things are causing damage to her unborn child.

...and, yes, she is smoking a cigarette.

Illogical Deduction

2008-08-28T12:11:00.003-06:00

Good morning everyone,

Being that I am working for the better part of this fine Thursday, I don't have much to say. So I am going to spend some time going over some business terms that I have encountered here to draw an important conclusion. This conclusion is a startling revelation coming from in the torrid depths of my psyche.

The most important phrase concerning the above mentioned terms is Efficiency. This concept is governed by one of the most fundamental laws in physics: the energy going into a system must be equal to the energy going out, or better known as the Law of Conservation of Energy. Here, for example, this translates into me needing more energy. One can also apply this law to other business terms to achieve an appropriate definition or, better yet; a situation appropriate interpretation of their meaning. Observe:

Quality Control: I need more coffee.

Consistency: I need more coffee.

Efficiency: I need more coffee.

Productivity: I need more coffee.

Conclusion: all of my higher order brain functions are absent prior to 10 am.

T

In Full Swing (Already)

2008-08-27T18:35:00.001-06:00

Good evening everyone,

Well, school has started, and is getting into full swing. Not only that, I have two classes that are going to be project heavy. That means less time on the computer blogging, and more time on the computer working. I think for now I will do a start of the semester checklist. I know, I said the checklist was going to be on The Research and Development Pages from now on, and it will be. Consider this a plug of sorts for the other page (not that I get any money for it or anything). Just check it out if these particular subjects will interest you:

Partial Differential Equations- This is one of the last math classes that I have to take. It will be of little interest to many, so I may not post any of the nitty gritty details. However, there will be some. The professor is good (so far), and the material is not bad actually (so far).

Computational Physics- This one a may post quite a bit about, not because it is heavily interesting, just because it will already be on the computer and will make for an easy post if I am tired and feeling exceptionally lazy.

Electronics- This is actually a basic electronics course, or electronics 1. For the same reasons above, there will be a lot of posting on this one.

Analytical and Quantum Mechanics- There will probably not be a lot of posting on this one, because it will require a lot of typing. If you have seen my other course notes that I have posted before, they are actually a rather significant pain in the posterior to type up in that fashion. But if there is anything wildly interesting, I will let you know.

Other things have been great, other than school starting. And that is not a bad thing really. It just means burning the candle at both ends, but it will keep me busy. That is what matters. I really don’t know what to do with myself otherwise. It gets kinda scary…

I had coffee with my buddy Steve-O the other day at Salt Lake Roasting Co. coffee shop. Great little place if you ask me. It just reminds me how bad I really am at things in a social atmosphere. When taken into account how in-frequently I actually see my friends (the ones outside of work of course), it is surprising that most of them actually still talk to me. I’m not rude or neglectful or avoiding anyone, really! Just busy. I promise. Sorry about that rant- just felt a little guilty I guess. Speaking of guilty- I gave my buddy Dr. MookieLove a hard time about not giving my blog an award nomination that they are passing around. Honestly- it was in jest. I wouldn’t give this thing an award either…

Seeing as how I have not done much of anything else lately, I will leave you with that. Before I start to complain more…

Oh, I do have one grievance- To the lazy douche who was working the drive through at Sconecutter today: I don’t care how many tattoos you have, or how sideways you wear your hat, or how “cool” you can be at work- you suck at your job. Really. When someone orders a combo, and you fail to give them a drink, don’t look at them with your mouth open and wonder what the hell they are waiting for. And don’t act all put-out when I actually have you get one for me. Jerk…

T

What have I been up to?

2008-08-19T16:56:00.001-06:00

You are probably wondering. The answer is:

Enjoying myself.

That’s right, schools out and I’m having a bit too much fun to be sitting in front of a computer. But don’t fret! I will be back soon, when school is in again, because this will be pretty much the only recreation that I get for a while…

T

The Great Ta-Hoe-Down

2008-08-12T19:06:00.019-06:00

The story of the great Ta-hoe-down began as a journey to South Lake Tahoe for Cousin B’s wedding. We left at about 5 am or so, which is not a sane hour to be departing from anywhere for me. But we did none the less. It was myself, From Russia with Love, Bro and his girlfriend Cheese-Cake and my parents.

And after leaving at such an unholy hour in the morning, most of us slept all the way to Elko. I somehow managed to wake up at the break of dawn going across the Salt Flats. I have blogged about the dessert many times before, so all of you know how much I love it. And especially at these times of the day, where the weak sunlight makes you feel so detached from your environment, you might as well be in a dream. I managed to get out my camera and snap a few shots of this magnificent land:

This also gave me the idea of a photo project I could do on the way back. I decided to do a little study on the Salt Flats as viewed from the back seat of a car. I have called it the Salt Flats Project (subject to change). I will have those pictures up on the photo blog soon. Now back to the story.

After that, I went back to sleep, and woke up at our first stop: Elko, Nevada. I did not take any pictures of this place because, well, there is simply nothing there. And for those of you wondering what Elko is like, I will save you the trouble: the entire town smells like sage brush and port-o-potty.

That is all.

After switching drivers there, it was my turn at the wheel. Nothing much to say about the rest of the drive, other than the periodic construction slowing. It’s not really all that scenic. It was just a quiet drive, until we got to the next pit stop.

I don’t recall the name of this town, because it was not planned, just a potty break. We stopped at a combination convenience store and bar to stretch and what have you. This was the place:

We went in and made use of the bathrooms and looked at the mostly bare shelves, when this dog we noticed on the way in started whining at the front door. And not just whining, but almost a full on yelp as if someone had beaten him with a bat and he needed to go to the vet. It was a black and white and matted pitiful thing, and naturally we all felt bad. We asked the clerk of the store (also the bar tender next door) who this dog belonged to, and if it was ok. He said the dog is fine, in fact his owner is a regular at the bar, and the dog just cones up to customers and begs for food.

“That dog lives better than you or me” he said.

But we still felt bad and decided to buy the dog some beef jerky, just because the thing was so sad looking.

“These ones are his favorite” said the clerk.

And we should have taken that as our warning. As soon as we gave the dog the jerky, he went off to lay down in his spot in front of the bar. No tail wag, no hanging around, no petting or anything. When we left, it even turned it’s head with a look that said ‘ha-ha… suckers!’. We had just met the greatest con-artist dog I have ever seen, and he had the best of us. Don’t just ‘beware of dog’, beware of this dog:

I drove for a longer while, and then we switched again and I went back to sleep. I awoke when we parked in Virginia City, an old mining town turned campy tourist attraction. This place was kind of cool, and they even had a Mark Twain museum. Apparently, he had worked there as a reporter for a while. We did not go into the museum, but the town had plenty of other cool things to do. Our fist stop was in this old church:

Inside was pretty cool. Very old looking, and some interesting (I thought) stained glass windows:

And there was this baptismal thingy:

And I thought I would go into the confessional while I was here to loosen some of the baggage from my soul. But there was this sign outside:

Did they just give up on the people here? Or is Hell just full? Or does this Priest just not care? Or has it been moved to a near by casino? One can only wonder…

The rest of the town was pretty cool. In fact, I decided to take the pictures ‘old timey’ style to fit the ambiance of this place. So here’s the town of Virginia City, in sepia tone:

And we found one of ‘those things’, and naturally From Russia with Love and I hopped behind:

We also found this thing called the Suicide Table. It was an old card game table, and every owner had apparently killed himself after loosing everything he owned in one night. Interesting. Here is the infamous table:

And in glorious Technicolor:

Fun times. Then it was off to South Lake Tahoe, to check into the hotels and meet up with the family. We arrived at our hotel, rested up a bit and all of us decided to go to dinner. We chose a restaurant in one of the casinos there, and it was particularly hard to find. My Uncle D asked one of the employees there where we could find this eatery, and the douche in the suit said:

“No such restaurant exists sir.”

And after a bit more wandering we stumbled upon it. The great non existent phantom restaurant that was actually quite tasty; and good times were had by all.

The next day we walked about in South Lake Tahoe, looking for things to do and planning activities for the next day. We decided on doing a few things. They have a zip line thing at the top of the gondola ride there, and at the lake they also have para sailing. Both sounded great to me. We picked up our information, and after walking around town we stopped into a nice Indian restaurant for lunch. As many of you know, I have a passion for curry, and could sustain myself for the rest of my life on it. And this place did not disappoint. I stuffed myself stupid.

The next day it was time to take part in the previous day’s planned activities, and the first thing on the list was the zip line. And it was closed due to the wind. As it turns out, everything was closed due to the wind. Even the para sailing. The only thing that we could really do was rent a jet ski and ride the gondola. The gondola was pretty, it took you up high, and you could see a lot.

Naturally, with all of the planned activities I did not bring my camera, so alas: no pictures from the gondola. At the top of the ride, they have a nice bar and grill, and a few hikes that you can take if you were wondering what point there is in riding to the top of a ski resort in summertime.

Then it was back down to the beach to see if we could do anything fun there. And of course, due to the wind, the only thing that we could do is rent a jet ski, so we did just that. I did not get on the thing, because I am not a fan of jet skis in choppy water. Yes, waves are fun, but when that is all there is, it just beats the hell out of you. Bro and cheese-Cake went out first, then Bro took From Russia with Love out. I spent a nice hour relaxing in a canoe in the shade, listening to the water with the leaves right over my head. Really, I felt like I was in a Corona Beer commercial, except without the beer. Any way, here are some quick shots of around town in Lake Tahoe that I took the day before:

R.I.P. Fredo:

There was also lot to see as far as pretentious art goes. For example:

Then it was back to the hotel so we could change for Cousin B’s wedding. We changed, and she and some others got into a limo, and we all followed them up to a place called Emerald Bay. Apparently a hot spot for weddings, and not without good reason. The view was really good:

And Cousin B's Wedding Dress:

Just kidding. it was more like this:

The ceremony was sweet. I will not go into too much detail, because it really is just a family thing, and everyone who needs be concerned with the details was there. Aunt L also had organized an excellent meal afterward through our hotel, and once again, good times were had by all:

Cheese-Cake sneaks Lil' J's food...

Uncle D and Lil' J:

The next day we spent a little more time in Tahoe, then departed for Reno. It was about an hours’ worth of a drive to our next hotel. We checked in there, and rested up a bit, then it was off to downtown Reno.

Our first stop was the Circus Casino. I was hoping for the entire circus, but alas it was just the freak show. Weirdos and loosers were abound, and the whole place was one of the largest parades of the worst of humanity that I have seen in a long time. I really think that if that entire city came to a catastrophe, no one would care.

However, we did find a very nice steak house in that casino, and had one of the best steaks I have had in a long time. It was prime rib. I love prime rib. That was the same thing that I had eaten in the non-existent restaurant in Tahoe as well. Mostly I love the flavor of beef on horseradish, and when paired with a dark wine, you are in a culinary heaven…

After dinner we decided to check out a car show that was in town, the Hot August Nights celebration. Lots of old cool cars, some rather new, and all very souped up. Now, for those of you who know me well, car culture has not been something that I am usually a fan of. Yes, they are pretty, yes they are fast, yes they are expensive. But after the ‘shiny’ wears off, aren’t they just a car? If you bought one of those, and as time went on, the allure will fade, and after that, isn’t it just a car? People put way too much time into these, and I guess they must get some kind of return out of it. I don’t think I would get out the same rewarding experience. Car work just irritates me like no other. Here are a couple of pictures of the casino where the car show was:

But the point of going there was not to see the cars, even that’s what we all did, we mostly just spent some quality family time, free of our daily grinds. And as life goes on, that becomes a rarity and an eventual cherished memory.

The next day we departed Reno and went back home. I wish that I had something more to say about the drive across Nevada, but I don’t. that state is terribly boring, even just looking at it. I’m serious, you can not even play an ‘Eye Spy’ game in the car. There is nothing out there. Just dirt. Oh, we did stop in Wendover, and I lost about $4 in the video black jack machines.

That is just about the whole trip folks. Please keep your eye on The Cinema Project. I should have a review up of Pineapple Express soon. And please see the Photography page for my pictures of the Salt Flats, and other parts of Nevada (the ones worth looking at).

Ciao!

The Best Of Begging

2008-08-03T12:50:00.004-06:00

Good morning everyone,

Today I am coming to you live from my place of employment. I know, that is not much of a surprise, I just wanted to let you know.

On the subject of my place of employment, I frequently encounter homeless people on the street corner driving here. The major intersection right before I get here is usually occupied by at least two of them, and there is sometimes one on the freeway off ramp.

They have not been around as much lately, and that might be a little to do with the heat, or maybe the economy slowings have been driving them to greener pastures.

I have never really thought that pan-handling could be an occupation, but apparently it can be. Maybe the ones around here have been driven out by the ‘pros’ so to speak. Yes, there are some homeless that are great professionals at what they do. Fortunately, a co-worker sent me some pictures to prove that this indeed can be a career, and that there are some very talented individuals in this particular field. Allow me to share:

Oh, and in case you were wondering, my finals went very well. Good night all!

T

Before I Get Too Busy

2008-07-27T13:43:00.004-06:00

Good afternoon everyone,

I am pretty busy today with homework and work, so there won’t be much to post about myself today. I know that makes some of you jump with joy…

By the way, you should check out The Cinema Project for my review of The X Files: I Want To Believe. I thought it was pretty good. In fact, it made me nostalgic for things from my childhood. Here are some of my favorite book titles from my younger years:

That will be all for me today folks- back to the grind. Ciao!

T

As Luck Would Have It

2008-07-25T22:10:00.003-06:00

Good evening everyone,

Today had its ups and downs. Lady Luck was in a fickle mood today, trying to decide whether I should be the most unlucky guy in the world, or the one in a million lottery winner. Turns out I was close to the lottery winner… Although I usually always loose at gambling.

Let’s start with the tally:

-woke up to find my car had been egged… Again! (bad)

-got to math class only to find it had been cancelled, and I now have two more days to work on a huge project. (good)

-found a nice parking spot right outside the physics building where they would not tow my car. (good)

-went to pick up photos that I had printed for relatives from the water skiing trip, to find that the photo place had changed their prices, and it was twice as much as I had expected. (bad)

-went to GrayWhale CD Exchange to pick up an album that I couldn’t decide if I wanted or not, and they still had it. (good)

So as you can see, over all it was a good day to be me. The good luck odds greatly outweighed the bad, and it was a good day to be me. Not that it ever isn’t… ;)

So, ending the afternoon in the physics lab for about 4-ish hours, and going on about 4-ish hours of sleep, I spent the afternoon with Condi. If you do not know who Condi is, please look a couple of posts down for ‘the wonderful world of…’ post. This time around, I had to cool the semi-conductor instead of heating it. So I’m tired, drinking a warm Coke, and thinking about how I am going to do this, then the professor comes in with a tub of liquid nitrogen for me to pour under the thingy (yes, that is its technical term… probably) to cool it. He helped me set up the apparatus, and left the giant opened container of liquid nitrogen to be attended only by me and the hum of electrical equipment. So, I thought, why am I drinking a ‘warm’ Coke, when this situation has presented itself? So I decided that I should cool my beverage…

That was a bad idea... a really bad idea.

-Apparently, when a warm soda is submersed in liquid nitrogen, it explodes. I did not know this- until now. And it’s the last thing I would have thought too. So after getting paper towels, and dabbing up the mess, I thought this was fine and no one would ever know. Until I heard a clanking inside the liquid nitrogen tank… (bad)

I peeked inside to find two giant Coke ice cubes floating in there, dancing in the bubbles. Panicking, I searched for something to fish them out with. In the middle of my quest for a Coke-Cube removal tool, the professor came in to collect the liquid nitrogen, and promptly noticed the clanking noise. He inquired as to what it was.

Quickly thinking, I came up with an elaborate lie about how the soda had just exploded while I was over there, and some had gotten inside. And to my knowledge, he bought it… (good)

And that is the story my day out with Lady Luck. Call me honey, we should do this again some time. It was fun.

T

All The New Things

2008-07-23T19:24:00.001-06:00

Good afternoon everyone,

Just a couple of quick thoughts this evening. I am here at work doing this between some rarther tedious tasks, so it will be a short one today. The first order of business is the changes here. The links on the left are for my other pages. The Cinema Project is where I am posting my movie reviews. I decided to have a separate page for that because, well, it's more fun for me. The R&D Pages are where I am going to post the details of my classes and other things I find interesting. That is a lot better than lumping them all in here. The Photography Page is pretty self explanitory. I wanted to have a page just for pictures.

That is all the blog updates that I have done so far. This page will be just for my daily adventures and amusing thoughts.

So, that is enopugh about this. Stay tuned everyone. And if you are interested, my review of Penelope is up on The Cinema Project.

Good night everyone! Hope you enjoy the new stuff!

T

The Wonderful World Of S&M And S.W.A.G.s

2008-07-21T00:45:00.007-06:00

Good afternoon everyone.

For those of you who were wondering what I have been up to all this time, a have an answer for you. I have met some one new. From Russia with Love has finally accepted this fact, after much frustration. I call my new squeeze Condi. Condi fills needs for me that no one else can. She has opened my eyes to new horizons in the world of S&M (Science and Mathematics... What were you thinking? Crazy people...).

And let me tell you; these horizons are stormy ones. I call her Condi because she measures the conductance of various materials. In my case, a Geranium n-type semiconductor. Allow me to introduce you to the new bane of my existence:

And just look at that curvy backside:

Oh yeah…

Her Turn-Ons Include:

-2 SR 510 Lock-in Amplifier Power Switches
-1 EG&G Lock-in Amplifier Power Switch
-1 Keithley 169 Volt Meter Power Switch
-1 Tektronix 2225 Oscilloscope Power Switch
-1 Krohn- Hite 2200 Frequency Generator Power Switch

She enjoys:

-10 and 100 Ohm Resistors
-Frequencys of 13 Hz
-Volts on the 10 mV scale
-Doped Germanium n-type semiconductors
-Magnetic Fields

In a dark dimly lit room in the back of the South Physics building she waits for me, to humiliate me by challenging my knowledge of ‘what I am doing’. This is when I feel I am making what is known as a S.W.A.G. (Scientific Wild Ass Guess). She is a harsh Mistress...

T

Bits Of This And That, But None Of Them Mine

2008-07-20T19:29:00.005-06:00

Good afternoon everyone,

I don’t have much to go over today, and as I have promised to stop whining, I don’t have much to post about my life, just the pre- finals project/homework crunch. So let’s take a look at other people’s lives. Here’s the news that has interested me from Yahoo News:

Kids give pope Mickey Mouse cap but he prefers white

Fri Jul 18, 10:44 AM ET
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict, who generally wears a white skull cap known as "Zuchetto," was given a Mickey Mouse cap with ears Friday.
But, to the disappointment of photographers who would have had a field day with such a shot, he did not try it on.

A group of young people from Orange County, California -- where Disneyland is located -- gave the pope the black cap while they were lunching with him during World Youth Day festivities.
They also gave him a California Angels baseball and a stress ball.

According to the young people who briefed reporters about the private lunch, the pope smiled and squeezed the stress ball but passed the Mickey Mouse cap to his aides.

I personally think that it would be a much better fit. I know he only means well, but he trounces on a lot of scientific possibilities ( I have blogged about this before when he was talking about fertility research and artificial insemination). He is supposed to lead us, and morally advise us, not boldly lead us back into the 14th century…

Mississippi remains most obese state, CDC reports

By MIKE STOBBE, AP Medical Writer Fri Jul 18, 4:23 AM ET
ATLANTA - The South tips the scales again as the nation's fattest region, according to a new government survey.

More than 30 percent of adults in Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee are considered obese. In part, experts blame Southern eating habits, poverty and demographic groups that have higher obesity rates.

Colorado was the least obese, with about 19 percent fitting that category in a random telephone survey done last year by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The 2007 findings are similar to results from the same survey the three previous years. Mississippi has had the highest obesity rate every year since 2004. But Alabama, Tennessee, West Virginia and Louisiana have also clustered near the top of the list, often so close that the difference between their rates and Mississippi's may not be statistically significant.
The South has had high death rates from heart disease and stroke, health risks that have been linked to obesity, some experts noted.

The CDC study only surveyed adults, but results for kids are similar, said Dr. Miriam Vos, assistant professor of pediatrics at Atlanta's Emory School of Medicine.

"Most of the studies of obesity and children show the South has the highest rates as well," Vos said.

Why is the South so heavy? The traditional Southern diet — high in fat and fried food — may be part of the answer, said Dr. William Dietz, who heads CDC's nutrition, physical activity and obesity division.

The South also has a large concentration of rural residents and black women — two groups that tend to have higher obesity rates, he said.

The study found that about 36 percent of black survey participants were obese, while 28.5 percent of Hispanics and 24.5 percent of whites were.

High poverty rates in the South probably are another factor, said Naa Oyo Kwate, assistant professor of sociomedical sciences at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health.
In today's America, poor people tend to be obese: The cheapest foods tend to be calorie-heavy, and stores offering healthier, and more expensive, food choices are not often found in poor neighborhoods, she said.

And why is Colorado so thin? It's a state with a reputation for exercise. It has plentiful biking and hiking trails, and an elevation that causes the body to labor a bit more, Dietz said.

Obesity is based on the body mass index, a calculation using height and weight. A 5-foot, 9-inch adult who weighs 203 pounds would have a BMI of 30, which is considered the threshold for obesity.

CDC officials believe the telephone survey of 350,000 adults offers conservative estimates of obesity rates, because it's based on what respondents said about their height and weight. Men commonly overstate their height and women often lowball their weight, health experts say.
"The heavier you are, the more you underestimate your weight, probably because you don't weigh yourself as often," Dietz said.

Overall, about 26 percent of the respondents were obese, according to the study, published this week in CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

A different CDC survey — a gold-standard project in which researchers actually weigh and measure survey respondents — put the adult obesity rate at 34 percent in 2005 and 2006.

Is anyone really surprised by this? Really? Every one knows the South’s waist fat is rivaled only by the ‘head fat’…

That will do it for me tonight folks. Adios!

Saturday Morning Adventures On The Water

2008-07-20T14:00:00.011-06:00

Good afternoon everyone.

I figured that I would give my co-workers a break from my groaning today and type a blog post. But why am I groaning all day? You might ask. Well, yesterday was another exciting day on the lake water skiing. I have pulled the muscles in my forearms, and making a fist is quite the painful task today. In fact, moving my arms at all is a challenge. That’s right folks, my co-workers get a break from my moaning and groaning so you can hear my whining. Any way, before I go overboard with that (bad pun intended!), here are some pictures:

The scenery (backside of Timpanogos, and the lake):

The people about to have their fishing ruined:

The 'Heber Creeper':

Me on the ski:

From Russia with Love on the knee board and water skis:

My uncle on the knee board:

From Russia with Love relaxes in the boat, and takes in the scenery:

J tries to get up on the knee board:

Can he make it??? - Nope:

Keep trying buddy. You will get it. It’s like riding a bike… This was also the first time I had met J. He is the son of my uncle’s new girlfriend. She tried the skis too:

All in all, it was another fantastic trip. And no sunburns this time! Just good times on the boat:

That will do it for me today folks. Please check out The Cinema Project for my review of Wanted, and the Photography page for better shots of the skiing adventures. Ciao!

T

Miss ‘Why?’, And The Nerd (That I Am).

2008-07-12T23:43:00.004-06:00

Good evening everyone.

What is it about certain nights that no matter what you do, things just get crazier and crazier? I have had sick co workers, angry people threatening to sue, and a wide array of other problems to deal with (I don’t want to go into much more detail than that, as I have promised to stop whining here). I have not had much time to get through any homework, so that should occupy most of my time here tomorrow (this is my vein hope that tomorrow will be better)…

On a completely different note, we have a new Miss Utah. Apparently they have a new one every year, through a pageant of some sort. I did not even know that they were looking for a new one. Here she is, our new Miss Utah:

Can someone explain to me exactly what Miss Utah does? What does holding this particular crown mean? She is majoring in psychology, and wants to have a career working at a home for teenage girls (I am going to take the high road here and not make the dirty jokes that are gushing through my head now). Do we even need a ‘prettiest girl in the state’ contest? (this really is about that, let’s face it: the “talent” portion means nothing)

Why don’t they have a Mr. Utah? Do they have a Mr. Utah? If they have a Mr. Utah, does he have to marry Miss Utah? Can I hide under that lip of hers if it rains? So many questions…

That’s enough of that crap. Any way, I have been so pre occupied looking forward to The Dark Knight that I am getting stupid with nerdy delight. It's a level of 'geeking-out' beyond any other I have had in years- seriously, this might be a problem. It’s sad when I am more attracted to these pictures:

Than this picture:

In fact, that will do it for me tonight. Now it’s back to all the craziness that this evening at work has to offer….

T

Now You Got My Number…

2008-07-11T23:30:00.006-06:00

Good evening everyone.

Just a quick thing this evening, and just for fun (but kinda creepy). I found a thing on some other blogs that assigns you a number, and gives the personality you have based on the results of a basic quiz. This is me:

You Are 5: The Investigator

You're independent - and a logical analytical thinker.
You love learning and ideas... and know things no one else does.
Bored by small talk, you refuse to participate in boring conversations.
You are open minded. A visionary. You understand the world and may change it.
At Your Best: You are sharp, inventive, and creative. You have the skills to lead the world.
At Your Worst: You are reclusive, weird, and a bit paranoid.
Your Fixation: Greed
Your Primary Fear: Being useless or incompetent
Your Primary Desire: Being competent and needed
Other Number 5's: Bill Gates, John Lennon, Kurt Cobain, Bjork, and Stephen Hawking.

Note the other Number 5’s. Cool…

T

Movie Mania Season (A.K.A. Bad News For Me)

2008-07-10T14:29:00.002-06:00

Good afternoon everyone,

I thought that I would just check in today with a quick thought. Actually, a quick thought and some news on The Cinema Project (possibly disappointing).

I started The Cinema Project to do a little bit of a different kind of movie review. I wanted a review that judged movies on an ‘It is what it is’ basis. I wanted to create a critique for the Joe Moviegoer. Moreover, I hate the normal movie critic, because they almost always judge good movies to standards that usually do not apply. They look for the high minded and deep types of things that simply do not belong in some movies. I know that makes me come off as a champion for the uneducated, but allow me to explain: if you go see an action movie, or a gross out fart joke movie, there is obviously not going to be a lot of depth to them. The basis for The Cinema Project is to not look for those types of things where they simply are not, and not to try and read any deeper than the movie was meant to be read.

There are a few critics that do take this into account, and judge the movies on that basis. The thing that you should do is find a critic with similar tastes as you, and listen to what they have to say. Always take it with a grain of salt however. Because every ones tastes are different, and beuaty is in the eye of the beholder.

I bring this up because I was reading a local newspaper, and reading the movie review section. The critic pretty much pissed all over Hellboy II, and I had given it a good rating. The reason he gave it such a poor grade was because he said it was too commercialized, and he thought it was tame compared to the first ome. Granted, I also thought the first one was better, but I like to judge each individual movie in its own merit, even sequels. He did not ask: does it deliver what it promises?

I hope that you all find some use in my page, that is if you have taste as bad as mine (kidding).

There was also a bit of developing (bad) news on this front as well: I may not be able to attend a lot of pre screenings for a while. As most of you know (now everyone I guess) I have to rely on some one else to get me into these. Unfortunately, because it is summer blockbuster season, they want more and more seats for promotional tickets, and are cutting down on the number of guests that the press can have. So, basically, I will have to try and ‘win’ tickets through whatever contests that are going on (fat chance I am going to play those), or see it on opening night. So if you are relying on The Cinema Project as a bit of a ‘heads-up’, it will come a little late. It will not be every time however, just now and then until this season is over. I am still hoping for The Dark Knight this Wednesday, but due to the news yesterday, it appears to be a coin toss at this point… *sigh*

T

All in a Days Work

2008-07-07T20:58:00.003-06:00

Good afternoon everyone,

I am on a very tedious shift at work today. It's busy and slow at the same time. Allow me to explain: it is steady enough that I can't do anything else that is productive, but I have lots of time to do little things. So what did I manage to accomplish during this time? Well, here you go:

*sigh*... If only I had the time to actually do homework today. That would have been useful...

Sabbath Day-Break

2008-07-06T14:48:00.002-06:00

Good afternoon everyone,

Well, today I do not have a lot to do with the exception of homework. And in my seemingly endless amounts of free time here at work, I am sure to get that done. Also, I have recently opened this blog up to comments, buy popular demand. Well, not really, I originally did not have them because I was, and still am, too lazy to moderate them. So if you leave one, there is a strong chance that I may never get around to reading it. No hard feelings though. Like I said before, I’m just too lazy. Or busy… yeah, that sounds better. But for the most part, I really enjoy doing this (actually it’s just the typing) blog, and most of the people that I started it for do not read on a regular basis any more, so I have decided to have a little more fun with it- just doing what I want to really. Things like the ‘Checklist’ will become less and less frequent, because that was for the “People who I don’t see on a daily basis”, and I don’t think they are reading on a ‘daily basis’. So actually, you might think this blog has gotten less interesting- because, well, I am a person who thinks math is fun…

Any way, I really am going to post more of what I am doing in school, as opposed too just bitching about the classes, professors, homework, etc… so be prepared, or curious, whatever suits your fancy.

Also, with today being the Sabbath, I think that it is about due time for a reading from the Book of St. Anthony:

I got-eth nothing.

I am not-eth feeling the flow of the Divine Muse.

Meaning-eth, I shall not have much of interest to present-eth unto you.

In fact, I think-eth that is it-eth.

Amen.

That will do it for me today folks. Please be sure to keep track on The Cinema Project, I will have a review of Hellboy II: The Golden Army up either Tuesday night, or Wednesday afternoon. Ciao!

T

Born (Again) on the Fourth of July

2008-07-05T13:14:00.009-06:00

Good afternoon everyone.

Happy 5th of July, National Hangover Day. Granted, this is usually reserved for the 1st of January, or everyday at 4 PM if you are Bubbles. But today is unique, it is the only day where waking up hung-over in a strange bath tub with your shirt on backwards and confetti in your underwear is considered Patriotic. But seriously folks, I was making my usual rounds and errands this morning before work (coffee, grocery store etc.), and every one who I encountered on my pre-work odyssey seemed to be hung over and tired, even at 10 AM. That is why I have dubbed today National Hangover Day, in the Land of the Free and Home of the Headachy and Nauseous Brave.

Now to the details of the 4th. Earlier in the day, From Russia with Love stopped by, and had a very lazy morning doing almost nothing. That is exactly what I have been needing by the way, living the busy life that I do. We spent most of the morning watching this show on MSNBC, with Chris Matthews that was a sting operation where they caught old guys who tried to meet young girls in online chat-rooms for disgusting reasons. It’s quite sad really, how many people they get, but hilarious at the same time. More entertaining than COPS if you ask me.

At about 3:30, From Russia with Love hat to go to work, so I packed up my camera and went picture taking. I headed over to see what Sandy City had planned, and took pictures of the celebrations. Those pictures are up on the PHOTOGRAPHY blog (link on the right) if you would like to check them out (I know, I know. They are not my best, and for waiting as long as most of you have for new updates there, that has to be a little disappointing).

After that, my brother had got back from his cruise and was doing a little barbequing, so I had him fry me up some Bratwurst. Then not a lot happened until I met up with From Russia with Love again after work to watch the fireworks outside The Mayan (a decent view from the parking garage, considering we really didn’t have enough time to go anywhere better). Here are some pictures of the fireworks and setting (not great, that’s why I didn’t put these on the photo blog):

Then we went and stopped by a party that was going on. These people were not really my friends or her friends, but friends of friends. That made it really lame, so we did not stay long.

Then it was back to my place. We busted out my dad’s telescope, and looked at a really bright star that she was curious about. Turned out it was Jupiter. Really cool actually, because my dad’s telescope has enough resolution to where we could actually see the cloud rings (not red spot though), and a couple of the moons. W tried to take pictures (I knew it wouldn’t turn out that great because we didn’t have any kind of mount or any means of steadying the camera, but it’s still awesome). Any way, here are our shots of Jupiter (if you believe me):

Having the day off was just what the doctor had ordered. Not that doctor, who gave me the skin cream. But my rash is a little better! So, All in all, I feel like a million bucks today (just a little tired, and a tad off the top of my game). But good none the less! (see, I can do an entire post without whining!)

T

Independence Day

2008-07-04T14:14:00.003-06:00

Good afternoon everyone.

Today is the 4th of July. Not one of my favorite holidays (but still a day off of work and school). Don’t get me wrong, I’m not being ‘Anti-America’ or anything, but it’s just the normal celebrations of fireworks and such I find a little boring. Sure fireworks are pretty, but I don’t think that they should be the center of the day. After all, it is Independence Day, the day that the Rebels and visionaries of the New World declared independence from The Crown. That is a lesson to take to heart on this day. To remember what we stand for as a nation, which is Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. Important thoughts in these times, given the current political climate and economy woes.

Also on this subject, one of the most recognizable symbols of our country is the Statue of Liberty. Every one knows where it came from (France), but not everyone knows the story of the words on it (you know the “tired, hungry huddled masses” thing). Basically, after we got the thing, there was a fund raising effort for the Statue of Liberty for who knows what, and a woman named Emma Lazarus was asked to contribute a poem to help the effort, and part of the poem was inscribed there. So, all, I will leave you to your celebrations (with or without fireworks) with the poem in its entirety. So, here you are, The New Colossus, by Emma Lazarus:

The New Colossus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

“Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she

With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

~ Emma Lazarus [1883]

That’s all folks! Happy Independence Day!

T

Post No. 100

2008-06-29T14:16:00.004-06:00

Good afternoon everyone,

As if you couldn’t tell by the title of this post, it is number 100. Hoora! I have been typing this thing for all of you for less than a year, and already I have reached a hundred plus pages of my grumblings, whining, complaining, boring, nerdy and at times hilarious thoughts. All in the format of my daily routine. And most have been done right here, where I sit at work, doing whatever it is that they pay me to do (I really think that most of the time it is to update this blog, and do home work, with a little of my job duties here and there).

You have all been here with me through all of the changes and additions to this blog. The most recent being The Cinema Project, my movie review page, and my photo page that I have only updated once (sadly). There will be more to come on that page, I just need to find the time to do so, being that I primarily use film, and I have to scan every picture.

I went through the checklist yesterday, so I will save you all the pain of that on my 100th post. I think that I will just summarize the checklist in one word: BUSY.

I really wish that I had something more to say, something spectacular and celebratory for this momentous occasion, but I do not. I think I will say “Thank you for reading everybody!”

In other news, George Carlin passed away recently.

A hilarious man, and he will be missed.

With this being such a momentous occasion, (my 100th post here on this blog), there are a few resolutions on this post that I would like to make as well. They are as follows:

1. This blog is called “The Mad Scientist”. With a title like that, you would expect there to be more ‘science’ type stuff, and I know that I have made a similar resolution like this in the past, but I will be posting more stuff that I am actually doing in class, rather than just complaining about how time consuming that it is.

2. I will try to not complain as much, and make more of an effort to have this thing be actually ‘interesting’*

*results may vary. What I consider to be interesting may greatly differ from what you are entertained by.

3. I am going to get in shape, and will keep you all posted in the form of News Bulletins. In fact, here is the first:

Professor T. Announces Crackdown On Love Handles!

In a recent press conference, Professor T. announced that there will be a city wide crackdown on the growing problem of love handles. He is optimistic about the progress of this particular program, despite the failures of similar programs in the past. He plans on tackling this spreading issue with a better diet, and more exercise. More on this story as it develops.

4. Also, I plan on posting more on the other pages, The Cinema Project and the PHOTOGRAHY blog, so just in case you don’t get enough of me from this page, you will have more opportunities to enjoy all of my witty banter and beautiful pictures.

That’s the show today folks. Please check out The Cinema Project for my review of Futurama- Beast with a Billon Backs!

Good night everyone!

T

Some Lazy Afternoon Thoughts

2008-06-28T17:32:00.002-06:00

Good afternoon everyone,

Well, I have now taken to updating this thing just about once a week. This has resulted from:

A: I do not have enough time to update this every day.

B: Most of the people who I keep this for do not read it on a regular basis.

C: I do not have enough time to update this every day.

So, I will update as often as I can, but right now it looks like it will just be on the weekends. Part B from above does not concern me as much, because I enjoy the writing anyway, and since I do not have a “comments” feature (on purpose), I do not know how many secret fans that I have. Or secret critics… but those people can remain secret.

Now let’s get down to the nitty gritty blogging. Thing of note the first: A correction. In my last post I said that nothing has been happening at work of note. What a liar I am! And where are my manners!? We had a group outing at the Hollywood Connection. Good times were had by all. After that, we went to the manager’s house, and partied until the wee hours of the morning. Good times. Now for the checklist:

Under Grad Lab- We had a "Laboratory Practical Examination" on Friday. That consist of an experiment that we have to complete in one lab section, and it is all on our own. Other than being a little slow at first, I basically sailed through the thing, except that I had done one thing wrong that I had to go back and fix. The Professor pushed back a lot of due dates for some of our other experiments, so that helps a little with the time planning.

O.D.E.’s and Linear Algebra- I know I mentioned the Maple project before, and what a pain it is becoming. Well, I thought that it was due yesterday, and spent about 5 hours Thursday evening working on it. I went to hand it in yesterday morning, and was informed that I have another couple of weeks time on this thing. I almost asked the Teacher (I say teacher because he is a grad student, and not an actual doctor of any sort, but then again, neither am I… yet) to repeat himself, because my brain had temporarily blanked with rage. At least I have more time though. For what I don’t know exactly.

Other things have not really been going at all. I have not done anything interesting in the form of recreation in quite some time, since the afternoon skiing. And it may stay that way most of the way through summer. Other things of note: From Russia with Love’s foot is doing better, still a little bruised, but ok. I also have a bit of a rash that looks like the Chicken Pox, but it is not I swear. The Dermatologist told me it was some kind of a reaction I had to a flu virus, and that it will go away soon. So if you see me and are wondering what is wrong with my arms, I hope that you will read this first, because I am tired of wearing long sleeve shirts in the middle of June.

Also: notice to the right of this page, I have new links. One is for the Photography page (I will update soon I promise!) and the other is a new page that I have made just for movie reviews. Yes, that means that I will no longer be posting them here, and some of the reviews may be up before the movie is out! So visit away, and become privy to information that few people have!

That will do it for me today folks, because I have to get back to… well… whatever it is that I do here at work.

T

Taking Back A Saturday

2008-06-21T21:21:00.002-06:00

Good afternoon everyone,

Yeah, it’s been a while. But my life has been keeping me sufficiently busy. I will run down the checklist in a moment. First, let me finish this intro. Ok, maybe I am done. But I did finish…

Under Grad Lab- This class is taking up more and more of my time. The experiments are getting harder, and more tedious. For those of you who have not already heard my grumblings from this class, they are great in number. The experiment that we have been working on for the last couple of weeks is still not done, and I am going to have to put in some extra hours this Tuesday at the lab to make up for the ‘falling behind’. That and the Lab reports are getting longer and longer, and more and more complicated. I do dislike ‘proving equations’, moreover: I hate derivations. Yes, I know they are critical in any scientific paper, but they are also a critical pain in my ass.

O.D.E.s and Linear Algebra- I have not said much about this class as of yet, but there really isn’t much to say. It’s math. It’s complicated. It’s requiring Maple computation projects. Makes me really glad I got a lap top (with Maple software), so now I don’t have to spend every waking hour of my life in the Physics computer lab doing this crap and the other stuff (other stuff: se above in the paragraph called “Under Grad Lab”).

That is about it for the school updates. Work is just work. Nothing new has changed. Nothing else has been going on out of the ordinary worthy of mentioning.

I decided that I needed a little getaway, so From Russia with Love and I went water skiing today. We met up with my parents who were already up at the camp site, and spent the night there last night. We woke this morning, ate breakfast, and headed straight for the boat.

I did one run. There, I said it. I got on the ski once (notice I said ‘ski’, not plural, because I love solemn skiing). I am so out of shape that is all I could muster for the day. But From Russia with Love was a bit feistier, and she kept it up until she sustained quite an injury. Apperantly, she rolled sideways and one of the skis got tangled in the rope. She was drug under water for a little bit until her foot finally popped out of the binding. It looks worse that it feels was what she kept telling us, but there was no way that thing was not hurting something wicked.

So we both were done in at about 1pm this afternoon, but we still rode around in the boat and had a fantastic time. now, I sit here at work, and she is at Insta-Care having her foot X-rayed (I’m sorry honey, I love you!).

I also went to see The Happening with From Russia with Love. Now, I know I usually do movie reviews once I have seen them. I am not going to do so this time. All I am going to say is that for a movie called “The Happening”, you would naturally expect more to, well, "Happen”. It wasn’t bad really, just wait for the dollar theaters.

T

What, Me Blog?!?

2008-06-14T21:32:00.000-06:00

Good evening everyone.

Has it really been a week? Have I really been neglecting every one for seven entire days? You know, that could be one day for every Deadly Sin, but my life is not that interesting.

My week has consisted of school, work and other activities of the fantastic and magical such as home work. If you are not familiar with the concept of home work, it is work that you should normally do at school, but you can take it home with you! You can do it in your free time! Because everyone knows I have way too much of that…

School- School has been going sufficiently fine, even now that I my math class has started up. Under Grad Lab is eating up more and more of my time, and the math class is requiring more time than I had previously estimated, because the Professor is having us do Maple projects in addition to the normal grind of class work and studying.

Work- Work is getting more and more irritating, because I am having to do more phone time. That would not be a bad thing if people were competent, patient and somewhat intelligent. Sadly, this is not the case. The average person in the world has none of the previously mentioned qualities. That makes my shift an exercise in futility, trying to explain simple concepts like: “we are sold out” and such to the severely mentally retarded. Few things can frustrate me to the degree that my phone hours do. All in all, it just makes me loose all my faith in the human race, that we are an astonishing and exceptional species, and we deserve to have our mark left on the universe, so that some one, at some point far away from now may find a trace of our civilization, and think: “what an amazing place in time this place must have been”. As far as I am concerned, I could not give a rat’s ass about the far future. Really. If you want to see the darkest and dumbest side of people, be a policeman or work in any type of retail. It will suck out and destroy any faith in humanity that you may have.

On a lighter side, now that I am done ‘venting’, From Russia with Love and I went ad saw the new Hulk movie. So, here is my review:

The Incredible Hulk- This movie was much better than any others about this particular guy that I have seen. Just like Iron Man, I never really read the comic books, because they were boring. But they made for a damn good movie. It was not as good as other superhero movies, but definitely worth the price of admission. “Hulk smash! Me type!”

T

Weekend Update

2008-06-07T21:08:00.000-06:00

Good afternoon everyone,

Well, it’s time for the weekend update. Yes, I know I have not posted much recently, but there simply isn’t a lot going on in my life to post. There is only one class that I currently have, and it is going well I think. So here is the one class checklist:

Undergrad Lab- We have been playing with radioactive materials these past couple of weeks. It has been somewhat cool, using the Geiger Counter and all. However, this has been the most time consuming and tedious lab to date. The Post-report is due on Tuesday, and my lab partner and I have not finished with all of our data plots yet. That is going to be an interesting push, but I think that we should do well.

Other things have been going great. From Russia with Love’s birthday was this week, and for this momentous occasion I got her a PSP. She loves it, and I feel that I have some competition for her attention now. Usually it is the other way around, but that means I have more time to play with my laptop.

Oh, by the way, I bought a laptop.

I don’t know if I have mentioned this in other posts (I don’t have them to read over right now) but it has me giddy with delight. I just need to procure a couple of programs for it, and it will be the best tool I can think of in aiding my education. After all, I am a Physics major, which makes me a nerd of high order, and we nerds love our gizmos and electronic what-nots.

T

Sunday Slacking

2008-06-01T14:38:00.000-06:00

Good afternoon everyone,

Well, I updated yesterday with all of the new things, and the ‘what’s-goings-on’ in my last week. So do not expect much of that today. Except for last night…

Last night- After work I gave one of my co-workers a ride home, and then I went to a bar and met up with some old friends, Double-A and B Dawg. We hung out and played pool until the wee hours of the morning. It was nice to see them again, especially since I have no life to speak of outside of school and work.

Robot names- I found a fun thing on the web the other day. What you do is enter a name, and it turns it into an acronym for a robot. Sounds nerdy and pointless right? And, yes, it is both of those. So being the fan of nerdy and pointless that I am; here are two names that I entered into the Robot Name Gizmometer Thingy:

T.echnician
O.ptimized for
N.octurnal
Y.elling

And-

Y.tterbium
E.lectronic
L.ife-form
E.ngineered for
N.octurnal
A.ssassination

Cool right?

Oh, and last night at work (in the seemingly endless amount of free time we seem to have) I wrote a ‘rules and code of conduct’ for time travel at the work place. Here they are, the Guidelines for Time Travel in the Workplace:

Then the rules and code of conduct are as follows:

1. Any time travel must be done off work property. Driving 88 miles per hour in the parking lot is prohibited.

2. If you go back in time, and wake up me before 8 am, your time travel privileges are null and void.

3. If you travel back in time to the night before, you must take me with you so I may have a beer with myself.

4. Any rips, tears, fluctuations or wrinkles in the Space-Time Continuum are the sole responsibility of the traveler, and not the persons in any past or future time frames.

5. If you go forward in time and wish to procure future delicious ingredients for a pie, you must share this pie with your fellow co-workers.

6. You must also share the recipe for the above said Time Pie.

Lastly but not least, I noticed something on the freeway today that made my ‘ways to publicly announce that you are lame’ list.

-I saw two bikers that actually had ‘Wild Hogs’ embroidered on their jackets. Yes, from the lame ass movie with Jon Travolta. It’s bad enough that they have to have the embroidered jackets, but the lack of creativity and taste? Come on people…

That’s about all the blogging I can muster for the day everyone, so good night and good luck on the Monday. Oh, and one more thing before I go:

Welcome Back Hank and Dean!

I Don’t Mean To Be Getting Lazy With This Thing…

2008-05-31T22:15:00.000-06:00

Good evening everyone,

Well, you are all probably wondering how my week has been. So here is the update on the lot of it:

School- This is going well I suppose. I am still waiting on the results of the last lab project that I did, and I don’t think that the outcome will be bad, if not fantastic. The homework part has been a pain in the ass however. For every assignment there is a minimum of 2 to 3 hours of work outside of class. That has eaten a lot of time as well. That is also the story of how I spent my Memorial Day holiday. Doing homework…

Work- What there has been of it, it has been pretty good. Things are going smoothly, and I have the entire week off from Monday to Friday. I was supposed to work today, but blessed be downtime that saved me just in the knick of time.

Other things- This has been probably the most eventful part of my time. Aunt L. had come in from California, and she spent a quiet couple of days here. It was nice to see her again, especially since I that missed the opportunity of her company the last time I was in California. Bubbles had come into town as well from Las Vegas, and Dr. MookieLove and I had lunch with her on Friday.

So, in between work, there has not been a lot going on aside from that.
Speaking of which, I did not get enough time to spend with either of them. I only had lunch with Bubbles, and did not get to hang out with her and party like I wanted to. Also, I did not get any real time with Aunt L. until I took her to the airport. But it was nice to catch up with the both of them while I had the chance.

I also purchased all four of the Lethal Weapon movies. If you have not seen these, they are tongue-in-cheek kind of action movies that are all kinds of fun. From Russia with Love will soon agree, as she has not seen any of them (and fell asleep during the first one).

Last but not least: 1 day left until the premiere of The Venture Bros. season 3!

What Now and Then…

2008-05-24T22:16:00.001-06:00

Good evening everyone,

Well, so far lately I have been handling this blog like a Dead-Beat Dad. I visit only on weekends, and even at that, I pay limited attention. I know I promise more updates and such throughout the week, but just like the Dead-Beat Dad, those promises are hollow and broken eventually.

School and work are going pretty much at the same pace and consistency, so I will not bother with updates on those.

Oh, and in case you were wondering (I highly doubt it) the diet plans have officially failed. I really am trying to avoid Fast Food, and I do a relatively good job usually, but nothing healthier than that has diffused into the daily routine.

Speaking of being in good health, my brother’s girlfriend Cheese-Cake got herself into a pretty nasty car accident the other day. From the news that I have heard, she should make a good recovery. I have also heard no other news, and as they say, “no news is good news”.

So for the remainder of this post, I will do a couple of movie reviews. I have had a little time to watch some, so here we go:

Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of The Crystal Skull- When going to see this movie, you have to remember what the original three consisted of. That would be over the top and crazy plots, cheesy and impossible action, one liners and fast paced adventure. If you rate this movie just on those criteria, it succeeds. But in comparison to the quality of the others, it ranks up there with Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom. And even that, is still a compliment. It could have easily been up there with the other two, but the last 20 minutes or so basically killed that hope. When they were starting filming on this, they said that they were going to film it like the original three, with no CGI, and using only blue screens and props. That did not happen at the end though, with most of that being CGI. That leads me to believe that it was a last minute change, and not what was originally planned. And even keeping the plot ending the way they did, if they had just changed a couple of shots it still could have saved the movie. But over all, I did enjoy it and remember: for what Indiana Jones movies are supposed to be, it is pretty darn good.

Chaplin- From Russia with Love wanted to see this one, and I am glad she did. I really liked it as well. It tells of the life and times of Charlie Chaplin. It covers his rise to fame, the consequences of, and his various jail-bait love interests. All of this was excellently done by an all-star cast. Check it out. If nothing else, its an entertaining movie. But if you are looking for something more than simple entertainment, it goes there too.

That will do it for me tonight folks. I will be back with more tomorrow. If you can bring yourself to believe that…

T

About A Sunday…

2008-05-18T21:10:00.000-06:00

Well, good evening everyone.

It was supposed to be a hot one today. I don’t remember what exactly the temperature was supposed to be, or what it was for that matter. But it was hot. This excites me, because as you all know, I love summer. From Russia with Love calls me a lizard. I can just sit and bask in the hot desert air for hours.

Summer time also means (here in Utah at least) that it is time for the seasonal festivities. Aside from the standard national holidays and such, we have our own special summer fun, and it runs almost completely to the verge of winter. I am talking about, of course, road construction. Where, at the right time of day, you can see people in their cars, sweltering and sweating in their little metal hot boxes, all stacked at ends in a sea of orange cones and orange signs, all crashing on the bluffs of heavy machinery.

Road Work Ahead: Use Caution

Work is going well, despite a few hang-ups. The first, being that one of my co-workers slipped in our break room and tore a bunch of Latin Words in her knee. And when I say that they are objects with no English name, that means two things:

1. That they are small and had to be ‘discovered’ so to speak, by someone who is a doctor and also slightly pretentious.

2. That any damage to these things is going to be excruciatingly painful. In fact, I would not be surprised if these things have salt and lemon juice, and those automatically rub into the torn area.

So, I am here for a grand total of 12 hours today, and 8 yesterday. Thankfully it was on a weekend, and a weekend when From Russia with Love is out of town. The only other thing to complain about here is the fact that we may have to do away with one of the shifts on the desk that I work. That means even more phone time… sigh.

Annoyances Ahead: Use Patience

The upside of this is the fact that I am going to be off for most of this week, and I will have more time to spend with my girl (I love you honey!). And not only that, but my friend Bubbles will be coming in to town this weekend, so I will be spending at least one night partying hard. And not only that again, but my Aunt L. will be coming in this weekend too! And I don’t have to work much at all!! Hoorah!

Reunions Ahead: Use Excitement

School is going well actually. Not having a class start until June is nice. That gave me some more free time to get some things in order that I needed to do. Most of them have been completed, like Artie’s new cage, and I only have a few more things to go before all is right with the world. Or at least my ‘room world’ anyways. But as soon as the second week of June hits and my other class starts, things are going to go back to the old ‘busy school days’ again. The class I have now is supposed to get drastically tougher, and the math class that will start soon is a little ‘compacted’ for the summer schedule. This is going to make things quite hectic.

Long Nights Ahead: Use Coffee

That will pretty much do it for me today. I know that most of this can be seen in yesterday’s post, but I just don’t have a lot to tell. Unless you really want to know the dirty details of my lab class error homework, or the staffing grind at my work… yeah, I thought not.

Pointless Post Above: Use Disappointment

T

Mental Junk Food

2008-05-17T19:48:00.000-06:00

Good afternoon everyone,

Well, here I sit at work on another slow Saturday afternoon. Everything is going well, and I am going to be covering for a co-worker tomorrow who had fallen in the break room and injured her knee. Needless to say on this subject, I am going to spend the weekend here, in this chair, and not much of anywhere else.

I am taking two classes this summer, and one of them is in full swing. The other does not start until the second week of June. So here is my one class check list for the day:

Under-Grad Laboratory- This class (if you could not guess by the title) is nothing but lab work. I always get messed up in labs, missing a little of this or that here and there, but this should be fine. Word around the camp fire on this class though, says that it is a tough one. We will see how the out come is. I was in the first session of the lab yesterday, and it was not bad at all. The professor and the TA are much more helpful than in past experiences, so I have high hopes for this one.

Everything else is going fine. Work is just work, the same nuisances, free time, friends, problems and stress. Not much to say about it for the time being.

From Russia with Love is at an Indian Dance Getaway Thing for the weekend, so I have a lot of time to spend on nothing late at night. That means it is usually time to watch terrible tongue-in-cheek horror movies. So, last night, that is just what I did. I was sorely disappointed. I watched The Nun, and it was an hour and a half of painful bad acting, plot holes, bad special effects and illogical twists. I was hoping for some kind of humor, any kind really, and emerged angry for missing any sort of television that might have been on during that time. Even an infomercial would have been better…

And lastly but not leastly, I thought that I would do another quiz thingy from another blog. Yes, another one. I’m sorry if you get bored with these things, but I do enjoy them from time to time. I do promise you that this blog will not turn into just these however. So, here we go,

1. You have $5 and need to buy snacks at a gas station. What do buy?
Coffee, Diet Coke and Corn Nuts.

2. If you were reincarnated as a sea creature, what would you want to be?
Octopus. That would be awesome.

3. Who's your favorite redhead?
Guy or girl? My answer depends on that a lot…

4. What do you order when you're at IHOP?
Depends on what time of the day I am there…

5. Last book you read?
Text books… sigh.

6. Describe your favorite pair of underwear.
Black.

7. Describe the last time you were injured.
I was working on a new cage for my snake and got a few cuts from the plexi-glass.

8. Of all your friends, who would you want to be stuck in a well with?
From Russia with Love.

9. Steelers or Cowboys?
What is a ‘Steeler’? I thought that it was supposed to be Indians…

10. What is the wallpaper of your mobile phone?
The Eye of Ra.

11. Fizzy drink?
Diet Coke.

12. What type of top/teeshirt are you wearing?
Corona beer shirt.

13. If you could only use one form of transportation for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Real: Mustang I guess. I’m not much of a ‘car guy’.
Fictional: Any thing that floats, levitates or hovers. That is always cool.

14. Most recent movie you've watched at the cinema:
Ironman.

15. How do you feel about your love life right now?
Quite happy.

16. What's your favorite kind of cake?
Angel Food.

17. What did you have for dinner last night?
Spaghetti and French fries. I guess I’m quite international.

18. Favorite Weird Al song?
Johnny Dangerously.

19. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off?
Not my flip flops. That might get difficult.

20. Favorite toy as a child?
All kinds. I love toys.

21. Do you buy your own food?
Depends on the day.

22. Han Solo or Malcolm Reynolds?
Han.

23. When's the last time you had a double tall caffeinated thingy with extra foam?
I hate foam.

24. What's your favorite fruit?
I don’t have a favorite. I likes them all.

25. Do you have a picture of yourself doing a cartwheel?
Nope. I do not function upside down.

26. Do you have a boyfriend/girlfriend?
Yup.

27. Have you ever eaten snow?
Who has not?

28. What color are your bedsheets?
Black… to match the underwear.

29. What's your mom's favorite flower?
I have no idea. She picks them out. I know she hates Petunias though.

30. Is there anything weirder than the site GoofyAuctions. com?
Of course. There is always a bigger fish.

31. Do you listen to classical music?
Yes.

32. Do you have a "wacky noodle"?
He he he he he he….

33. Do you watch Spongebob?
Used to.

34. Last food you ate?
Tuna sandwich.

35. Do people consider you intelligent?
Yes. I am smarter than the average bear…

36. Rachel or Monica?
I have no idea who these women are. There goes the intelligent thing…

37. Page or Clapton?
Can’t we all just get along?

38. Have you ever tried gluing your fingers together?
Yes, yes I have. I also met with the expected results.

39. What curse word do you use the most?
I don’t play favorites. Which ever suits the situation…

40. Would you ever get the top AND bottom of you navel pierced?
How much would you pay me?

41. What time is your damn alarm clock set for?
Depends on the day. I think 9am right now.

42. What CD is currently in your CD player?
Ghosts I-IV, by Nine Inch Nails.

43. What movie do you know every line to?
I can not list them all here.

44. What is your favorite salad dressing?
Bleu Cheese or Ranch.

45. Would you ever date someone covered in tattoos?
Yes. In fact I have before.

46. How old will you be turning on your next birthday?
26.

47. Do you enjoy giving hugs?
Yup.

48. Last time you had butterflies in your stomach?
I do not eat butterflies.

49. What's the way people most often mispronounce your name?
They don’t. Unless you happen to be from Russia, with some imported Love, then from time to time it’s ‘Tommy’. (Just kidding honey! I love you!)

50. If you were to become famous, would you drop your last name?
Why would I need to do that? In fact, a lot of famous people are known by last name only…

51. What is your name?
What’s it to you, and who wants to know?

52. What is your quest?
What’s it to you, and who wants to know?

53. What is the average airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?
I’ll get back to you.

54. Hot dogs or Hamburgers?
Depends what we are topping them with.

T

2008-05-12T09:36:00.000-06:00

St. Nicholas

???- 5/11/08, Mother’s Day

Nichol-Bear, our Holiday Dog; you lumbered into my Grandfather’s yard one Christmas Eve after being hit by a car, and you could not have picked a better place to wander into that snowy and cold night. The family you chose was the best one a dog could ask for. An Eden of spoils awaited the remainder of your years, and you lived every one of them to the fullest a dog could, never wanting, and always loved. We gave you all we could, and we never gave up on you; ever.

We gave you every fighting chance and then some, but alas, dear Nick, some things are left to the judgment and will of God alone.

Those blue eyes wandering, thinking, cleaver and curious will forever charm us, and the way you rolled in the snow and liked you chin scratched will always remain a tribute to life’s simple pleasures, none of which you took for granted, and brought those moments to share in the happiest times we had.

You gave us many years of mischief, laughter, adventures and love. You will always hunt and gather with this pack, and your paw print will never fade from our hearts, a print of vitality, luck and fortune.

We love you always Nick, and you will be missed.

A Post Sans School

2008-05-10T12:59:00.000-06:00

Well, good afternoon everyone.

Once again, it has been a while since I have posted. I could give you all a long list of reasons why, and act apologetic, but I am not going to. It comes down to this: it’s my vacation, and if I don’t wanna post, I don’t havta.

That sounded kind of mean up there. But I have just been taking it easy the past few days, and sitting in front of the computer just wasn’t part of the plan. But I ended up here anyway, so let’s chat.

As you all know, I have the week off from school, and I am proud to say; I have accomplished pretty much nothing. Yes, that’s right, nothing. Well, nothing drastically important anyways. I have spent the better part of two days just cleaning my room, and re organizing things, and throwing lots of crap away. I usually don’t have time to clean during school, and the room had gotten pretty bad last semester.

Most of you know, I had plans and designs to build Artie a new cage. I had measurements, drawn up plans, and priced out materials and everything. Then, in procuring the materials, and the extra work needed for just the wood (I was going to have to sand to make sure he didn’t get a sliver, and I was going to have to buy wood stain because the wood stuff that I found and thought matched didn’t) and other things, it turned out to be just a large pain in the ass, so I abandoned the project in favor of a more practical solution to my shelving shortage.

From Russia with Love laughed when I told her that I was not going to build the cage after all. She said that the only reason that I started the thing was to have something occupy my mind. Right she was…

It’s funny how us physics majors cant rest the brain when we are off of school. a co worker of mine who just graduated in the Physics department spent an entire day organizing her pots and pans. We are all a little crazy I think.

Well, the CD’s that I am putting on my iPod are done burning, so that means I am away from the computer for the rest of the day. I will have more tomorrow, because I have to work.

Ciao!

T

Back In Black And White

2008-05-03T18:46:00.000-06:00

Good evening everyone,

I know it’s been a while since my last post. School and work have kept me sufficiently busy, and the days that I have had off, I have taken the opportunity to do absolutely nothing. And let me tell you, it was fantastic. So now that I know that you are all dying to know where the checklist is at, here we go: Checklist: Finals Edition

Quantum Mechanics and Relativity- Well, the dust has settled and the bad news: I think that I am going to have to take this one again. There. I said it…

Thermodynamics- The final here was either incredibly easy, or I have 0 understanding of the material. And here is an example of how easy the final was: one of the problems was completely solved in the lecture notes. And here’s the kicker- it was open note and open book. Go figure.

Theoretical Electromagnetism- We had a take home final in this class. We had 4 questions, and 5 days to do them. To say the least, this test was a monster. I thought I had them all solved on Sunday night. The test was not due until 7pm on Monday. Being that I had Monday off, I thought “I think that I will just take an hour and organize my work to hand in (I had about 5 to 8 pages of scratch paper for each question).” Upon re writing my solutions, I realized that I had done 3 out of the 4 wrong. So what I thought was going to be an hour or so worth of work turned out to be 7+ hours of a ‘panic session’. Good times.

Other things have been well. From Russia with Love is working on the 48 Hour film Competition, so she has the weekend cut out for her. Me, well, I just plan on working for the time being. We will see what else happens.

Work is good. The morale around the place has been much improved since we finally moved into our new space, with flat screens and all. It’s a nice looking area, and free time runs rampant. The only problem is that my headset seems to be picking up a radio station. I can hear mumbling and noise when all is quiet. It makes me wonder sometimes whether I really am going crazy or not.

Many nights this week I have had those times when I wished I could just go to sleep, but my brain won’t stop working. I had studied to the point that my brain would not stop working. “What could I possibly be thinking?” you might ask. Well here is an example:

"If you were able to run a zebra through a checkout at a super market, how much would it be?"

I kid you not, that was the question I was pondering in the wee hours of the morning one day. I even went as far to try and figure out how to determine this. The first thing you would need is a clear picture of the side of the zebra. The next thing you would have to do is go through Photoshop or another such program to try and ‘straighten’ the stripes. Once you have that, you have the UPC code.

The next problem lies in the fact that each product has a unique UPC code. You would need to figure out which product the ‘zebra UPC code’ corresponds to. Then walla! You know how much a zebra would be if you were to run it through a scanner. There are a few challenges in this method, the first and foremost being that the stripes may not add up to a UPC code at all, and just be gibberish to the scanner. Also, the stripes that you use will vary on different parts of the zebra, so that I a bit of a variable.

I think that will do it for me this evening folks. Have a good night everyone. I know I will. With no studying to do, I have brought a book of poetry and prose by Walt Whitman. That always makes for a fantastic evening.

T

Play Times and Beyond April

2008-04-20T17:34:00.000-06:00

Good morning everyone.

Well, most of the work transitions are in place, and despite a few bumps in the road (gigantic potholes are a more accurate metaphor) things are going pretty good. School is almost over. In fact, I only have 3 more days of classes, then finals. That makes me giddier than, well, I don’t know. But giddy none the less…

And being the weekend and all, I don’t know that I want to do a school update, even though there is some to write about. Right now I just want finals to be over.

Believe it or not, I actually had a day off yesterday! No school and no work! So what did I do with my time? Let’s take a look:

10:30- wake up, chat with family.

11:00ish- take change to the CoinStar machine, collect $40.

11:15ish- go to GrayWhale, buy Disturbed’s album “Believe”. That is an excellent album, probably the only one of theirs that I like. I highly recommend it, if you are into that kind of music. And by ‘that kind of music’, I mean the kind that will put hair on your chest.

1:00pm- go home, chat with family. Wait for From Russia with Love to be done with school.

1:30pm- From Russia with Love arrives, eat hot dogs for lunch.

2:00pm- nap time.

4:00pm- wake up, go clothes shopping for From Russia with Love. And get Orange Julius… Mmm.

6:30pm- get home (after spending 2 and a half hours to acquire one shirt), and hang out for a bit before the play starts.

7:30pm- watched Fuddy Meers play at the Black Box Theatre in the Salt Lake Community College.

9:30pm- get out of play, feed Crazy Old Lady’s miscellaneous animals.

10:30pm- eat dinner at Wingers.

11:15pm-ish- get home; relax for the remainder of the evening.

Pretty good day if you ask me. And it was just what the doctor ordered. I feel relaxed and energized today (sort of, just waiting for the coffee to kick in). The play was somewhat good, however I don’t think it was the best they could have done. The acting was terrible; the comedy was badly timed and poorly delivered. There was so much promise and it could have been so much better. There were a few scene stealing actors, all of whom were supporting cast though. Also, there were a few actors that I just thought were plain bad for the parts that they were cast in. I may just blame it on the fact that they all seemed tired, and probably were. It was still nice to be out and about however.

And with April being almost over, I am already planning for May. “Why am I looking forward to May so much?” you may be asking. Well, here we are, Why I am Looking Forward to May:

- 11 days off of school!!!
- Iron Man out May 2nd.
- Drawn Together season 3 DVD comes out May 13th.
- Chuck Palahniuk’s new book “Snuff” comes out May 20th.
- Indiana Jones 4 comes out May 22nd.

And what about after May? What am I going to do then? Well…

- Venture Bros. season 3 starts June 1st!
- Futurama: “Beast with a Billion Backs” DVD out June 24th.
- Plus much more!

One more thing: an addition to the “ways to announce you are lame” list:

When I was getting out my class Wednesday and getting into my car (parked at the top of the campus), a guy asked me: “Are you going down the hill?”

To which I replied: “um… yes.”

Guy: “can you give me a ride down there?”

Me, slightly confused: “…no.”

How needs a ride downhill? Really!?!

That will do it for me today folks. Be prepared for whining due to finals!

T

Three Days Of No Deals.

2008-04-15T19:01:00.000-06:00

Good evening everyone,

Let’s start off things with Saturday. That morning the RC Willey across the street from my work hosted auditions for the game show Deal Or No Deal. Needless to say, things were a little hectic upon my arrival for work on that morning. Cars were lined up both sides of the street, people darting across the road in all directions, and our building maintenance guy was sitting outside asking to see IDs just so we could park in our own parking lot. So leaving any where for any reason was a joke. The ‘people watching’ was good though. One guy actually painted himself green. Yes, that’s right; he airbrushed his entire body lime green. You have to do something drastic I suppose to stand out in a crowd of 4,000 and an 8 hour wait just for a 10 second audition.

So in light of the above situation, I have decided to do a couple of updates in a deal or no deal format:

One of my favorite co-workers goes on maternity leave, and she will be back at the end of the month…Deal?

No Deal- she had problems with coming back part time, and was going to be ‘demoted’ in a way. So she decided to come in today to resign…

One of the biggest pains of my job was supposed to be going away on Friday. It was supposed to be transferred to our Omaha Center effective Saturday morning, and it is going to be out of my hair from now on…Deal?

No Deal- the Omaha Center ‘dropped the ball’ on this so to speak. The transition went poorly, and I had the weekend filled not only with the normal nuisances of this task, but also getting the rest of the transition in order for them.

I was planning on doing my laundry the other day so I might un-crowd my room. Not to mention I am in short supply of clean ‘shorts’. So- do my laundry yesterday…Deal?

No Deal- we had a back-up in our water pipes and had to have the plumbers out to our hose twice to clear the lines. My laundry pile now intimidates the best of the best mountain climbers, and today marks the wearing of my last official clean pair of underwear.

I replaced the coolant reservoir in my car a few months back so it would run smoothly and not hemorrhage bright green fluid…Deal?

No Deal- the cap on this replaced reservoir seems to be dysfunctional, and now when I park my car on a non level surface, or turn it off when it is hot it spews the green crap like a sprinkler.

To get rid of my ‘call center employee physique’ I need to exercise and not eat fast and greasy food...Deal?

No Deal- the avoidance of this particular type of food is surprisingly harder than it would seem, and I am way too tired to exercise in the mornings. I just end up hitting the Snooze button more now since it goes off earlier.

Since Bubbles left for Vegas, I told her we would be in touch, and stay good friends…Deal?

No Deal- I am terrible at this sort of thing (didn’t mention that to her before she left) and now she probably thinks that I am a really bad friend/person.

Since I have only about a week left in classes, I am going to assume that professors can plan lectures and home work so they do not pile up on the last week…Deal?

No Deal- All of my classes are playing catch-up in one form or another, and it is getting crazy.

Since the announcement of the layoffs here at work, we are supposed to move into our new center area as soon as possible, and we can continue business as usual…Deal?

No Deal- there has been one delay after another, and my place of work is feeling more and more like a chop-shop with all of the ‘de-construction’.

The new hires here on my desk are going to be trained in an efficient and professional manner…Deal?

No Deal- there was actually no training schedule made, and they all show up at the same time for their training. When they do that, all of the work is done in like 15 minutes, and they end up not getting very much training at all.

When other employees see us doing the best we can when there is not much training to be done and we all seem to be sitting around with nothing to do, they will be professional and mind their own business…Deal?

No Deal- we get an angry email telling us there is too much socializing and not enough training going on, and we are being un-professional…

In other news From Russia with Love’s father finally came over from… well… Russia. I have yet to meet him, and from what she says he might not like me that much. So we will see how that turns out. She may just end up moving out with her sisters. She also says that from the way he is, our current ‘time together’ schedule may cause some problems (she has to be out late, and him being a more ‘traditional’ type of guy, he may not approve).

Well, as if you haven’t guessed the last few days have not been the most desirable. But it could have been a lot worse, and the majority of the circumstances are out of my hands. I have been in a surprisingly good mood, and despite conflicting schedules with the girlfriend, all is well with the world. So I suppose I can just stop and smell the roses and roll with the punches…Deal?

Deal.

T

A Burger By Any Other Name..

2008-04-11T23:20:00.000-06:00

Good evening everyone.

I am not going to be doing a school update tonight, because there has been only one class and it was uneventful. Next week is going to be a bit challenging, but I will get through it. Just watch me…

Oh, and I just lied above. I am going to talk about school a little bit more. I signed up for my summer and fall classes, and if everything goes to plan, I will be done in fall! That’s assuming no re-takes though. And the way this semester has been going, that’s a possibility unfortunately.

Now for more from the Personal Life Press:

Problems Enforcing Diet Plan Continue To Surge!

Professor T. ate a burger called a ‘Baconator’ from Wendy’s this afternoon. The slip was reportedly due to a co-worker departing from his place of employment, and Wendy’s was her request for lunch on her final day. The problems in this Diet Plan seem to be shrinking however, and overall progress has been good.

The only other thing that I can think of to do now is update everyone on the ‘ways to announce to the world that you are lame’ observations. Here are today’s findings:

*wearing a sweater over a collared shirt. We need nothing else to say ‘dorky’ without words.

*naming a hamburger a ‘Baconator’.

*being interested in the above mentioned hamburger, because of the name. It’s just a bacon cheeseburger people...

*being a physics major, seeing and doing math equations that would make most people cry, dealing with all kinds of complex concepts, then getting so confused by your own taxes you need to have your girlfriend take them to H&R Block for me this morning…

T

Keep Looking…

2008-04-10T15:07:00.000-06:00

Good evening everyone.

Well, I know it’s been a few days since I have last posted. And let me tell you, they have been a busy couple of days. And busy with what you might ask? School and work. What else. Work has been a little crazy training the new hires, but a lot of fun at the same time. It has definitely made the work day go by a lot faster. When they are done training here in the next week or so, there will be a lot more phone time for me. That’s the only drawback. As for school, let’s do the checklist:

Thermodynamics- this class is just as boring as ever. I had two assignments due this week, and they were surprisingly easy. That either means that the class is getting easier or I have absolutely no understanding of the material.

Theoretical Electromagnetism- We are now covering electromagnetic waves. They are easy to start with, but it is a slippery slope to horrible complication. And we are on that slope now. The last couple of classes have been covering dielectrics and wave guides. The practical applications are pretty common; they are used in DVD players for example. I now have a new appreciation for DVD players, because the math involved in them is so terribly complicated.

Quantum Mechanics and Relativity- I had a midterm in this one today. As far as how I did, we will see. I feel a great deal better about this test than the last one, and am hoping for a substantially better grade. The most recent material covered is the Schrödinger equation, and the applications of. The concepts behind it are very cool, however the act of actually calculating it numbs the brain to an incredible extent.

Other things have been going well I suppose. There has not been too much going on to speak of outside of the above mentioned activities. The other day I went to my buddy Steve-O’s place to catch up. That was nice because I have not seen him in a while. There are way too many friends that I have kept minimal contact with over the past many months. I need to get back in contact with them here and there to let them know that I am still on the face of the earth, and have not dropped off.

Today I saw a custom license plate on a car that simply said: “PG-13”. If there is a better way to announce to the world that you are lame, I would like too see it. In fact, I am going to keep a list of things that I find that announce the lameness of a person to the world. I will publish my findings here periodically. Now for more on the news story that I have been following from the Personal Life Press:

Diet Plans Going, Despite Hang-Ups!

Since the implementation of the diet Plan a few days ago, the progress has been shaky. There has still been consumption of burgers, which are illegal under the new Prohibition. The consumption of them has been drastically reduced however. There is little to no consumption of fast food, which is the primary goal of this plan. The exercise has been missing in action since the start date, and we are waiting for it to come any day now.

This is causing the poll numbers to fall to unfavorable levels for the Department of Will Power. Exercise cannot take place in the morning if this department does not move Professor T. out of bed in the morning when his alarm goes off. Once the Department of Will Power fails, Professor T. is forced to utilize the “Snooze” feature on his alarm, which is the primary delay for exercise.

This Press will keep you posted in the event of any change.

Well, that is about it for me today. Oh, one more thing… I had a co-worker ask me an unusual question yesterday. It was: “What was the most beautiful thing you saw today?”

Sadly, I could not come up with an answer. And why did I use the word ‘sadly’ just now? Well, beauty seen is not beauty wasted. That means she actually asked me what beauty have I not wasted today. That is maybe something we should all ask ourselves every day. It may not be a sunset or a flower, because beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

We all need to stop and smell the roses every now and then, and sometimes the roses can be a little hard to see. But that question will keep you looking…

T

Culinary Observations + Other

2008-04-06T20:56:00.000-06:00

Good evening everyone,

I don’t have much to blog about today, as my weekend has been pretty much work and work only. I did watch Casino Royale last night in lieu of doing my taxes. That was exciting I guess. Maybe I will leave all of you with a few minor observations that I have made about food in the recent days of my diet:

*Golden Delicious Apples are neither golden nor delicious. They are yellow and moderately tasty.

*Who thought of the name ‘asparagus’ anyway? Not very appetizing if you ask me. In fact, when I hear similar words, my first thought is not “I wonder if I can eat that?”

*Who was the first person to eat a lobster or an oyster? They must have been very very hungry. Or a mushroom for that matter.

*Cream Cheese should never be made in ‘Salmon’ flavor.

*I am not ‘appetized’ by Caviar.

*Frogs and snails are not a food. Being green and slimy is nature’s way of saying “Do Not Eat”.

*Why is an orange the only fruit to have a color named after it? Or be named after a color? We do not call a lemon a ‘yellow’…

*Coffee belongs in the Food Pyramid.

*Whoever designed the Food Pyramid needs to be called Pharaoh Your-Too-Fat.

*‘Buffet’ is French for ‘Trough’.

*Quiche is not a food that you can admit to eating, and have your friends think you are masculine.

That’s all for me tonight folks.

T

A Really Lame Post

2008-04-04T21:01:00.000-06:00

Good evening.

Nick is at home. He is doing fine. Although, due to the blood tests they had to do, they shaved parts of his arms down to the paws and his belly, so he looks mangier than ever. But he is a good dog, we love you Nick!

There is not much to post about school today, so I am going to skip the checklist for now. The only thing I have to do with school is study. And that is no where out of the ordinary, thus not worth blogging about.

Let’s just do another random quiz that I found on another blog. So, here we go, One Word:

One Word

1. Where is your cell phone? Pocket

2. Your significant other? From Russia with Love

3. Your hair? Coolest

4. Your mother? Awesome

5. Your father? Awesome

6. Your favorite thing? Cameras/math

7. Your dream last night? Unknown

8. Your favorite drink? Coffee

9. Your dream/goal? Depends

10. The room you're in? Office

11. Your Ex? Many

12. Your fear? Few

13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Everywhere

14. Where were you last night? Home

15. What you're not? Dumb

16. Muffins? No.

17. One of your wish list items? Lap-top

18. Where you grew up? Home

19. The last thing you did? Talk

20. What are you wearing? Jeans

21. Your TV? Off

22. Your pet? Snake

23. Your computer? Uhh… (see #17)

24. Your life? Challenging

25. Your mood? Medicated

26. Missing someone? From Russia with Love

27. Your car? Minutes-from-death

28. Something you're not wearing? High-heels

29 Favorite Store? Many

30. Your summer? Hot

31. Like someone? Yup

32. Your favorite color? Black

33. When is the last time you laughed? Often

34. Last time you cried? Don’t

35. Who will/would re-post this? Cam

That’s about all the entertainment I can come up with this evening. Hope you all enjoyed it! If not I really don’t blame you. I think this quiz was kind of lame too. And there is a fact that I need to come to terms with: my life is uninteresting more often than not.

T

Three Days in One Post

2008-04-03T22:35:00.000-06:00

Good evening everyone.

The last couple of days have been kind of busy. I guess you could say busy anyway. Mostly just school and homework. Not too much work though. Today is my first day back to work since Sunday. With that being said, I am now rather bored and thus blogging. How about we get into the checklist:

Thermodynamics- Not too much has been happening here. I need to do some brush up studying for next week, because we have two assignments due, plus a quiz.

Theoretical Electromagnetism- We are now on electromagnetic waves instead of electrostatics. Believe it or not, I feel more comfortable with this material, and the rest of the semester should be ok.

Quantum Mechanics and Relativity- this class is going well, and when not being shoved down my throat I actually enjoy it. Other than the fact that I slept through my alarm this morning and almost missed turning in my assignment on time.

Other things are going well. Nick has been at the Vet’s office for the past couple of days. Apparently there was a low amount of platelets in his blood. So that means that the waiterlets had dropped a big stack of platelets on the floorlet. The new shipment of platelets has arrived, so the blood cells of red and white are dining happily.

I went to dinner at From Russia with Love’s grandmother’s house again. That is always a nice time, although I never am able to follow the conversation, being in Russian and all. She sends me home with all sorts of tasty goodies every time. The loot this time around was: Apple Pie, another Apple Thingy (Fritter?), and some Strawberry and Misc. Other Berry Jam. Very tasty.

And last but not least, a Movie Review. I know it has been a while, but I haven’t had a chance to watch movies lately. Any way, here is my rundown of Eastern Promises:

Eastern Promises- This movie I had high hopes for. The reason for that was simply a word-of-mouth kind of thing. It was a good movie, just not as much action and killing and violence that I had hoped for. The basic plot: a midwife delivers a child from a prostitute, who dies during the birth. The midwife investigates where this prostitute was from via her diary. This sends her neck deep in the Russian Mafia and all sorts of trouble. The movie I thought was very well acted, especially by Viggo Mortensen. The only cons to this movie were, like I said before, a serious lack of action and Viggo Mortensen’s junk. Yes, you heard me… his junk. There is an attack scene in a shower, and more than knives are swinging in your face. But over all, I would say, two and a half stars. Good, but not great.

T

A Glimpse of Late Saturday Night Brain Functions

2008-03-29T21:02:00.000-06:00

Good evening everyone.

Where to start today I wonder? I woke up at about noon, went to a store and got some new shirts (a lot of my favorite ones are getting holes in them), and then I went home, spent time with my parents, and then came here. To work. Were I now sit with nothing to do, except just be here in case something should happen. Trust me on that, I am on pins and needles. Ughh…

And with it being the weekend and all, I have no new school updates. The studying is going ok, and as soon as I finish this post, I am going to dive right to the wonderful world of Thermodynamics. Ughh… again. So dull, yet so time consuming. I really don’t have anything to complain about today. That should come as a relief to a lot of you, my dear readers, because sometimes I think that subconsciously that is all I do here. Now for a news bulletin on the story I have been following, released from my own Personal Life Newspaper:

Professor T. Delays Plans For Diet!

Plans have changed regarding the start date of the Diet Plan, a new government program enacted to reduce the appearance of Love Handles. The problem with the Love Handles began with the acceptance of employment in a call center, authorities said today. The problem is caused by Professor T. sitting on his ass all day long, not getting any exercise, and a diet consisting primarily of Carl’s Jr. and various other fast food items.

Although sugar and sweets consumption is low, he still eats far too much greasy food, and as a result, his pants are getting tighter. This has driven waist line real-estate to an all time high, forcing the locals (occupants of the pockets) to be re-located to sub par housing in ghetto areas such as the back pockets and the backpack.

There are also serious safety concerns around the waist line, especially with the levees near the belt. Authorities are concerned how long they will hold before they break and we see a disaster of gut spillage. There are numerous other options, such as a girdle, to try and prevent this travesty of aesthetics, but state agencies are implementing the Diet Plan to avoid such awful last resort alternatives like the girdle.

The news of the delay in this Diet Plan came earlier today when Professor T. was spotted at Carl’s Jr. procuring a Six-Dollar Jalapeño Burger and Chili Cheese Fries for lunch this afternoon. When confronted with this gross violation of state law, he had this to say:

“Uh, um… I was planning on starting Monday. That’s right, Monday.”

So the new official start date for the Diet Plan will begin Monday, and hopefully reduce the appearance of the Love Handles before he has to squeeze his fat ass into a bathing suit to go waterskiing in the coming months.

That is interesting news if I don’t say so myself, but I do. I also failed on working out this morning, as I had planned to do.

What else can I share with all of you before retreating into the nerd-dom of my textbooks? Oh yes! A new radio program that I like. Well, I am using the word ‘like’ a little liberally here, but I have listened to it a couple of times, and it is actually kind of cool. I ran across this in my late night meanderings across the AM dial. It’s called: Coast to Coast AM.

They deal with subjects like aliens, out of body experiences, science fiction to science fact, Bigfoot and many other oddities. Believing is one thing, but entertainment is another, and when it is in this form it’s pretty neat.

That will do it for me tonight folks. Time to learn more about effusion!

T

Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

2008-03-28T23:01:00.000-06:00

Good afternoon everyone. Or evening… whatever.

Today has been slow. Slower than cold tar in fact. Not including school of course, because I have my studying cut out for me. That is especially true for Thermodynamics. That course I dislike more and more. Oh, and the effusion topic did turn out to be something that was relevant to what we have been doing thus far. Oh, and get this too; my professor from that class is from Kazakhstan! Just like Borat (this movie-film is of course, based on a true story)! That has opened an entire can of worms for me. I am going to make fun of him to no end here on my blog. And my justification for such an act?- teaching such a boring class that I am paying so much money for. He-a teacha me da Entropy!-HA!

Today one of my co-workers sent me an invite to an online book forum. It’s kinda like this, except that you just list your favorite books, and opinions of, and get recommendations from others. If I decide to take part in this on line nerdery, I will let all of you know.

Today I thought that I would talk about the news, as I have not done that recently. And I have to say, the world sure is boring… so no news items. Except that I was listening to the BBC World News today on my way to class, and they were having a large discussion on whether Democracy could work in Africa. More specifically, they were discussing a country there that was afraid that its current election might be rigged. I came to the following conclusion after hearing multiple opinions on the matter: I just simply do not care. I find myself struck with almost painful amounts of apathy for such things.

So in lieu of World News, I bring you some from, well, me.

Professor T. Announces Formal Plans to Get Into Shape!

I now have formal plans to get into shape. First off, I am going to start by actually getting up when the alarm goes off in the morning, and setting it to a half hour earlier than normal. So I can work out for thirty minutes before I start my day. All of this mind you is to try and get more energy for the day, and not have to rely on coffee. Also, I am going to go to Albertson’s and get some carrots and celery and such to munch on throughout the day, so I do not go for fast food at lunch time. Because after all, I do have the magnificent physique of a Call Center Employee. For those of you who are not familiar with this particular physical stature, it resembles that of a Greek God. The Greek God being of course, Gluttonousus. He is the omnipotent master of the Saggy Abs.

I am hoping that it will take me from this:

To this:

Maybe... Or Not.

T

Brain Candy, Made of 3 Kinds of Things!

2008-03-27T21:39:00.000-06:00

Good afternoon everyone.

Well, the last three days I was not here at work, and school has kept me plenty busy. That is not always a good thing, because pretty busy means not at a good pace. And by good pace, I mean that it is either way too slow, or way too fast, all subject independent. The bad thing about that is that neither is at my pace. Especially when the material is quite complicated. No matter how complicated it gets though, there are times when I love it. That is why I do what I do. When people ask me: “Why did you choose Physics for a major?” with a grimace on their face, I say: “Because I enjoy it.”

That is not a lie, I do.

However, for as much complaining about school that I do, I can understand you thinking that I don’t. There are a few classes that I could do without though. Ones that fail to spark my interest so badly that I am tempted to put ‘because I don’t give a rats ass’ as an answer to any given quiz question. I have one of those this semester.

There are also classes that enthrall me, make my mind want to work far beyond what was covered in class and long after class is over, classes that fill me with a drive to know more, and that ‘more’ will never be enough. There are classes that fill me with a drive, a drive that burns so hot and wild it captures my complete and undivided attention and imagination. I have one of these classes this semester too.

“So what is the point to all this rambling?” you are probably (well, most certainly) asking yourself. The answer is simple- No matter how much I like or dislike the course, the professor, time of day I have to be up, the homework and studying involved, the pace at which the material is covered is crucial. No matter if the course is disliked or liked, if it is shoved down your throat it will leave a bad taste. No matter what…

So now that the above groaning is out of my system, let’s take a look at the checklist:

Thermodynamics- The material we have covered since spring break seems to be pretty trivial and irrelevant to anything that we cave covered up until now. That means new stuff is on the horizon, or the professor is just lazy. Neither option would surprise me. Oh, by the way, the material we have started to cover is effusion.

Quantum Mechanics and Relativity- We are covering the Schrödinger equation and probability equations for atomic particles. Believe it or not, it is actually quite fun. Except when I am having to do homework all hours of the day and night. That just tests my patience, not knowledge.

Theoretical Electromagnetism- This class is now moving to electromagnetic waves, as opposed to electrostatics and magnetostatics and applications of. This might be kind of easy from here on out…

Other things are fantastic. In fact, you know what I haven’t blogged about in a while that has had a major advancement this week? Cartoons! And the advancement: Frisky Dingo season 1 came out on DVD!!! Granted, not many people know about this cartoon, but is, well, absolutely hilarious to say the least. If you don’t believe me, then just look at the post card:

Didn’t I tell ya! Funny… and if you want to know more about this cartoon, I will be happy to tell you. Whether you like it or not… for the next month… it’s that good.

I also haven’t done one of these in a while, so here is another ‘quiz’ I found on my buddy Dr. MookieLove’s blog:

Tired of all of those surveys made up by high school kids?

'Have you ever kissed someone?'

'Missed someone?'

'Told someone you loved them?'

'Drank alcohol?'...

So here are50 questions for the people who are a little older and out of high school....

1. What bill do you hate paying the most?

Any of them. Granted I do not have many… This is starting out pretty dull.

2. Where was the last place you had a romantic dinner?

Hard to say… define ‘Romantic’.

3. Do you regret losing your virginity to who you lost it to?

Nope. Regret is a useless emotion. I learn from my mistakes and move on. I am going to plead the fifth on everything else.

4. If you could go back and change one thing what would it be?

What did I just say about ‘regret’?

5. Name of your first grade teacher?

Mrs. Dead-and-gone-for-all-I-care…

6. What do you really want to be doing right now?

Taking pictures. Or reading. Either is better than work today.

7. What did you wanna be when you grew up?

Many things. My imagination was, and is, quite vivid. Just need to apply it to practical things….

8. How many colleges did you attend?

Just one. Almost two. (phew!)

9. Why did you choose the shirt that you have on right now?

I can comfortably wear a thermal undershirt with this one and not look ridiculous. And it was snowing this morning.

10. What are your thoughts on gas prices?

Seriously?!? This is what mature people wonder about?!? I want the Teenager Quiz back.

11. If you could move anywhere and take someone with you where would it be?

As long as I get to pick who I take, ‘where’ doesn’t matter.

12. First thought when the alarm goes off in the morning?

That’s tough, because I usually don’t hear it for the first 45 minutes or so…

13. Last thought before going to sleep at night?

I hope I have good dreams.

14. Do you miss being a child?

Miss??? I Still am. And always will be.

16. What errand/chore do you despise?
So many to choose from… depends on the season I suppose, because they are all outdoor.

17. If you didn't have to work, would you volunteer?

I like to think I would, depending on what I am volunteering for.

18. Get up early or sleep in?

Sleep in.

19. What is your favorite cartoon character?

That is a ridiculous question to ask me. Way too many to count!

20. Favorite thing to do at night with a girl/guy?

The answer to both: just hang out and enjoy the company.

21. Have you found real love yet?

As opposed to ‘fake’ love? Love is just love, and it’s an emotion. The question is in the magnitude of this emotion. ‘Fake’ love would be you lying to yourself. Love can be for someone near or afar, or From Russia (xoxoxo). The biggest problem with this is the magnitude of the ‘love returned’.

22. When did you start feeling old?

When I realized that I thought that I would have done much more with my life at this age 10 years ago… *sigh*

24. Your favorite lunch meat?

Beef, salami, pastrami, and other ‘amis’.

25. What do you get every time you go into Wal-Mart?

The feeling like I need a shower. And maybe a small case of The Plague.

26. Beach or lake?

Either one is good for me.

27. Do you think marriage is an outdated ritual?

I have already voiced my opinion on this matter to those who would care to hear it.

28. Do you own property?

Like land? No. But I do have several things that I could put “property of…” stickers on.

29. Favorite Guilty pleasure?

I can’t even count them with my shoes on, and you want me to go over all of them now?!?

30. Favorite movie you wouldn't want anyone to find out about?

If I don’t want anyone to find out, why would I put it here?

31. What's your drink?

Coffee.

32. Cowboys or Indians?

Um… Batman.

33. Cops or Robbers?

Robbers… they have the most fun.

34. Who from high school would you like to run in to?

No one. Everyone that I would care to talk to I have contact information for.

35. What radio station is your car radio tuned to right now?

This is embarrassing… 1010 AM. BBC world news! Rock-on!

36. Norm or Cliff?

Norm I guess. Never was a big fan of that show.

37. Grey's or 'The Office?

The Office hands down. I hate television dramas since the disappearance of the X-Files (no pun intended).

38. Worst relationship mistake that you wish you could take back?

None of then. Yup, not a single one. Because, again, I learn from my mistakes. Not having them would make me a terrible boyfriend.

39. Do you like the person that sits directly across from you at work?

Sure. Why not… It makes the day better.

40. What famous person would you like to have dinner with?

That’s a tough one. I will file this with the ‘cartoon characters’ question.

41. Whats your favorite thing to do in the woods?

Explore. Take pictures. Build a fire…

42. Have you ever crashed your vehicle?

…yes... I have…

43. Have you every used a fire extinguisher for its intended purpose?

No. And I am an Eagle Scout too. Go figure on that one!

44. Last book you read?

Not including textbooks: Beowulf.
Including textbooks: Modern Physics, chapters 2, 5 &6.

45. Do you have a teddy bear?

No. I have a Batman doll though.

46. Strangest place you have ever brushed your teeth?

The ‘where’ is not the answer you seek… it’s with ‘what’ that is stranger still…

47. Somewhere in California you've never been and would like to go?

Why just California?

48. Do you go to church?

No. Once again, that is not the answer that I think you are looking for. Ask instead ‘why’.

49. At this point in your life would you rather start a new career or a new relationship?

At this point? I would say no to both. Ask me the ‘career’ one after college.

50. How old are you?

Is this question really better than the ‘Teen’ questions? But if you must know, 25.

And that's the show!

Easter Post (Caution- Not A Lot To Do With Easter)

2008-03-23T17:39:00.000-06:00

Happy Easter everyone!

Well, today started with a fantastic breakfast with the family, then I was off to work (again). The good news is that I have Tuesday off, so I can join in the festivities of my brother/mom’s birthday parties. And I am also off tonight at about 8pm, so I have one more evening left to enjoy spring break before school starts up again.. *sigh*

So last night when I got home I was watching some cartoons, and there was an advertisement for the Utah Symphony. They where advertising a show that they are going to be doing, and it is a laser light show while they are playing video game music. Does this sound equally retarded to any one else? Is this what we have to do to get people to go to the symphony? Laser lights and video game music? Sadly, apperantly so. That is what our society is coming to. When the average person thinks: ”I aint goin me to no symphony unlesses they gots some lasers and plays music from the x-box.”, that is when you know culture is going down the crapper. So, as long as we are ruining classical music, I have composed a list of things that actually would be better with laser lights and video game music. So, without further adieu, here is The List of Things That Actually Would Be Improved with Laser Lights and Video Game Music:

1-My job.

2-Your job.

3-Weddings.

4-Hanna Montana.

5-Amber Alerts.

6-Hanna Montana’s Amber Alert (you know it’s coming).

7-The Maverick and/or the 7-11.

8-Wal*Mart (well, there really is no helping that hell hole).

9-Oprah.

10-Dr. Phil.

11-Country music shows, and the CMT channel in general.

12-Jackson Hole, WY (I’m serious, the entire city).

13-NASCAR

14-The Tabernacle Choir

15-My car.

16-Mini-vans (no, I don’t drive one).

17-Golf.

18-Line-dancing (usually only performed by the mentally retarded).

19-Anything Larry the Cable Guy.

20-Tomatoes (wait, there is no helping those).

So, after making the above list, I decided to take a quiz to see how emotionally mature I am. I found the link to the quiz on another blog, and here are the results:

74% Grown-up, 26% Kid- Congratulations, you are definitely quite emotionally mature. Although you have your moments of moodiness, you're usually stable and level headed.

Does that mean that I am old beyond my days? Well, maybe. But the questions were more ‘relationship oriented’. That is good, because I like to think of myself as a little ‘kid at heart’ in other matters, and From Russia with Love and I have had very few problems.

The same page that I took the quiz also had some other interesting ones. For example, the city that I belong in is Paris; my brain color is purple, and the super power that I should have is Mind Reading. That combination spells all kinds of trouble if you ask me.

That’s it for today folks. I’m outie.

P.S.- Do you ever eat so much that your back hurts?... Damn you Carls Jr.!

T

Today’s Grumblings

2008-03-22T21:10:00.000-06:00

Good evening everyone.

Sometimes staring at this blank page makes me think that I have nothing to say, and then the words come out, filling the page with my wit and banter, some times drivel and dismay. Other times on rare occasions it will be just plain weird and un-funny. The words come out from my head and I end up typing pages on Microsoft word, ready for you, dear readers, on my electronic web updates for a rather uninteresting life.

Today is not one of those days I guess. Or it may turn out to be so, just depending on how much I feel like typing. Let’s start with a quick rundown of my day:

Noon: I finally woke, and got dressed.

Noon-fifteen-ish: ate a tuna fish sandwich that Mom made for me (thank you Mom)!

The repair man for the dryer came, and now I do not have to wear wet clothes.

Parents went shopping, and I went back to bed until approximately 3pm, then I awoke again to come here to work.

And today I think that I am going to have a little venting. Let’s see, things that pissed me off or just plain bothered me today:

1- Upon arriving at work, I knew I had a few problems to deal with. But when I am trying to deal with them, contact the appropriate people to have the problems fixed, and all I get is guff. One person I had to contact, was just plain irritated that I had called, never mind that I was trying to help him out with the situation, or save him trouble in the future, he was just plain rude and irritated that he had to do his job at work. Go figure.

2- I had a large craving for Taco Time today for lunch. So that is where I went. There are actually two things about this adventure that irritated me. Thing the first: when I am less hungry than I think, and I end up ordering way too much food. I have an entire plate of Nachos Grande that I could not give away.

3- Thing the second: this conversation between two guys in separate rock bands:

Guy1: Do you guys still play that song, the one that goes duh-duh-neewew-nah-new-neh-nah-duh-tah-denuhhh?

Guy2: Yeah, but we changed it to go da-neah-neah-neu-nanna-duh-newwwew-the-nanah-ne-dahhh

Guy1: Woah! That totally rocks! We’ve got one that goes nah-nenah-tedenah-neweewenahdah-nannah-nahen-dah-tendha.

Guy2: That’s freakin’ sweet! We are working on one that goes dah-nehnahneh-dah-neewe-han-nahten-dah-denuh-tanhah (start’s tapping his fingers on the table) dah-nenah-tedah-nennah-tewenah-DAH-NAHTEHAH-DAH-DUH!

Guy1: Woah! You guys rock hardcore!

The conversation continued in this manner for the entire duration of my standing in line waiting for my food. It was near impossible to choke back the laughter.

One day, if they try hard enough, they just might make it to the big time. And if by big time you mean: drunk at their dad’s house when they are 55, they have success written all over them.

4- Rubik’s Cubes: they are forged by Lucifer himself. Those things are irritating to no end, and yet no one can put one down until it is solved. They are meant to enslave humanity, and have driven lesser men to insanity. They need to be destroyed and sent back to the Fiery Hell from where they came!

That will do it for me tonight folks, because frankly I’m tired and can’t muster any more.

T

More From Moab

2008-03-21T21:10:00.000-06:00

Good evening everyone.

Well, I have decided not to continue the ‘favorite movies’ thing. Honestly, I just got a little bored with it. Don’t get me wrong, I love talking about movies, but I just don’t see a point in doing a ‘grand-all-favorites’ kind of thing. There is just too much, it takes too much time and energy, plus you could just say that I wasn’t that interested in it to start with. Just a thought for a project, but quickly dissipated into something that was more of a nuisance than fun.

Now, back to the trip to Moab. The next day we awoke and went into Arches National Park. The first thing we did was Delicate Arch. The hike up as grueling, but worth it. We snapped some nice pictures and hung about for a while catching our breath and taking in the scenery. This arch I find rather interesting because unlike the others it is a stand alone arch, and has high cliffs all around. The cliffs on the sides were cool too, because they had little coves in them where water pools when it rains, and plants were growing in there, but no where else. I know it sounds boring, but they were interesting to look at. In fact, here’s one now:

And Delicate Arch:

These were there too (and cool. (about 300ish years old)):

Further up the park was the Firy Furnace. This I wanted to do, however due to time constraints, we could not. The Furnace consists of large chunks of rock that shoot straight up into the air, and you can walk around between them. To do this you either need to take a ranger guided hike or have a hiking permit. We had time for neither choice. But this is what it looks like from the outside:

Then it was off to The Devil’s Garden. This is at the very top of the park. There are numerous arches there, beautiful scenery and at the very end of this trail is the Dark Angel (more on that to come). The hike in Devil’s Garden started out easy, but then quickly went rough. There was one point where we were walking on a ‘rock fin’, with cliffs on either side. That was amazing, and the views were grand. There were sandstone rocks of deep red that came right out of the ground and seemed to stretch for miles. The pictures do not do it justice, but here are a couple:

The ‘rock fin’ we had to hike on:

This is where we had to get on the ‘rock fin’ to get to some of the arches on there (this one being Double-O Arch), and as you can see, the sign is quite hilarious because, well, the only thing we thought was: “what trail?”

Double-O Arch

I Don't Remember Arch

Wall Arch

Wooden Arch

Then it was to Dark Angel. This was the ‘end of the line’ of the park so to speak, with a mystical and magical name. That was very deceiving, because it was just I giant pillar of rock. The rock was not worth the hike, but the view and the silence was. Truly amazing (once again, the pictures do not do it justice):

Then we called it a day. I had pulled a muscle in my leg and we both had plenty of blisters and sunburns to show off, so then it was back to the hotel. After 8 hours of solid hiking, we rested well. I am also not going to bore you with the details of the drive home, unless you find I-15 fascinating. There were a couple of cool towns that I liked, and will return to for pictures, but that will be another story.

I know I have blogged about the desert before (see the New Year's Eve post), but I find myself needing to return there regularly. Once you go into the desert you can leave, but it does not leave you. It stays with you. It’s in my blood. The dry air, silence, solitude and beautiful surroundings are rivaled by few places on earth. Go there. Check it out. You will know what I mean.

T

The Return (From Vacation)

2008-03-19T21:04:00.000-06:00

Good evening everyone.

Moab was awesome (to say the least)! It was a very relaxing and restful and adventurous two days. And I say two days because it was one full day of hiking and two half days of driving. We departed my house at about 9:30 or 10 am, and went straight down I-15 to Scipio. That was a weird little town, I guess. We were there for all of about 15 minuets or so. There was a cool old gas station there, next to an old saloon looking red building. So we took some pictures:

After that we went down US 50 to Salina, which was a little more of a disappointing town. When I say disappointing, I mean that it being an old small town and such you would think that it would be more ‘picturesque’. Alas, it was not. So here are photos from our drive on US 50:

Then we took I-70 over to 191. Here are pictures from our drive across I-70:

this is the view from a cool rest area:

Then we arrived in Moab. That town I like. It has a nice hippie relaxed vibe to the place. It seems like a place where you can go to just feel the rest of the world melt away. And that’s just what happened. We got there and checked into our hotel. It wasn’t the dump I thought it would be:

this was our view:

Then I needed a nap, so I made use of the bed. Then it was time for dinner, and wanting something ‘local’, we went to the Moab Brewery. They had amazing food (sorry, no pictures of food):

We also went to what I affectionately call ‘the hippie rock shop’. This is a vary cool little place where they have stones and fossils galore plus more inside, all in a cooky atmosphere. Here are pictures from that place (taken with permission):

Yup. Hippies.

wonder what's in here then?

Yup...Trash.

Then it was back to the hotel to rest up for the next day’s adventures of hiking.

Granted these pictures aren’t my par. The ‘nice’ ones, or the B&W’s will be up on the photo blog soon. That is going to do it for me tonight folks. Because, honestly, I’m just not in the mood to blog.

T

The Vengeance of Dionysus and Movies Galore!

2008-03-16T17:39:00.000-06:00

Good afternoon everyone.

If you have survived yesterday’s long winded pissing and moaning, then I guess you really like me. After all, I think that every one should whine about this or that from time to time. Because when you do so, especially to some one who just listens, the situations at had seem to become all that much more possible, and it helps you to put things into perspective. Sometimes all you need is a good friend or family member who will just listen. I am blessed with many of you.

Now back to the updates in my life. I spent the better part of yesterday doing nothing finally, because I had a lot of that stacking up. Last night From Russia with Love and I went to a going away party for my friend Bubbles. She has accepted a position in our place of employment that is going to require her to move out of state, and she will be missed.

Before we went to the party, From Russia with Love had to tend to some animals that she is watching while a friend of the family is out of town. We went to her place so she could feed the dogs. And birds, and cats, and whatever miscellaneous creatures lurk inside that house and its badly papered and gaudy walls. And yes, there were cats there. So upon our departure, my eyes were itching something terrible.

When we got to the party, there were quite a few people that I did not know. In fact, other that myself and From Russia with Love, Dr. MookieLove and Bubbles, I did not know anyone there. Granted, there were a few people that I had met before, but not said more that two words to.

I spent most of the time with Dr. MookieLove and Bubbles when I could. From Russia with Love spent most of the evening socializing with the other girls that were there, and disappointing other gentlemen with the phrase: “Sorry, I have a boyfriend” (that’s just because you are too cute. I love you honey!). Between the two of us, we snapped about 100 pictures of the party. Bubbles even designated me the official ‘paparazzi’ for the evening.

Beverages and good times were had by all. And contrary to the title of this post, I am not hung over. I just thought that it would make for a good laugh. If only he was the God of being out too late as well. That would be more fitting for my situation (I’m just tired). That about sums up the party though. Nothing extremely exciting happened. Just socializing and goodbyes. Not ‘big’ goodbyes however, because I do plan on visiting as soon as my schedule and wallet permits. After all, there’s nothing like having the ‘hook-up’ in Vegas!

Also, during spring break and on, I have decided to do a multiple part project on my blog. As all of you know, I love movies (like, more than a friend). So I am going to be posting my favorite movies of all time by genre. Let me get some clarifications out of the way first before we dive into them:

Firstly; this is not an entire list of my favorite movies. That would be a list too hectic to count. These are just ones that have come to mind. However; in searching for a point to start, I thought from my childhood to present; and from that it got a little crazy. I have decided to group them into genres, and post them by genre periodically because the list became quite extensive.

Secondly; they are in no particular order. I just wanted to list some of them. There is not a limit I set on the list, i.e. ‘top 10’ and such, because that seems a little dishonest in categorizing, and they are in there for different reasons. So there is not a method to this madness. I am going to give you the ‘why’ they are on there though, so hopefully you may reconsider or reaffirm your stance on these gems of cinematic greatness.

Thirdly; let’s be more specific on ‘favorite’. There are a lot of kinds of movies, and favorites can vary greatly from genre to genre, and not only that, but why they are your favorite is important. These movies are the ones that have affected me, or moved me, or opened my mind to new things, or just plain enjoyed for dumb fun.

So, here we go the first genre. My favorite horror movies:

Alien- this movie was incredible. It’s the paradigm of ‘Art Horror’ in my opinion. You have the chief science officer that you find out it actually a traitorous robot, many classic scenes (including the thing jumping through the guy’s chest) and a scary and intimidating monster. The best part is the monster, because for the first part of the movie you do not actually see the thing, and you are scared only by your imagination. That can be a powerful tool of fear. Going back to the ‘Art Horror’ topic, the monster is a classic. It is cold, reptilian, unfeeling, brutally violent and holds no element of human decency sacred (for example: the willingness to eat women and children indiscriminately, and the scene where it is in the room with Sigourney Weaver’s character while she undressing. If that doesn’t scream vulnerability and ‘predator-prey’ relationships, I don’t know what does). That and the whole tone of the movie is just creepy. Brilliant!

Fire in the Sky- this movie scared the piss out of me when I was little. And it still does. I remember after having watched this movie, I did not sleep for days. It was the foundation for many nightmares when I was a child. And after it is all said and done, isn’t that what horror movies are supposed to do? Scare you? This one did its job and more on my little brain. In fact, I still recommend it for those who are in the mood to be freaked out. Because it is indeed; quite freaky.

Night of the Living Dead- This one also warped my little brain. I was deathly afraid of this one. Both the original and the remake. I have the poster for the remake on here, because it was the first one I saw, or the first one I remember seeing. Why do I like zombies, and why did they freak me out? Well, what I find scary is that they are marching death, and they do not stop. No matter how fast you run, kick and scream, they are still coming. And there is nothing you can do about it. They are hideous, cannibals and emotionally confusing because they are in the form of you’re friends and family. They are just cool marching death. Even in real life, you think of these fictional characters and they still stay with you. They stayed with me at least, reminding you that you can keep running, but your own mortality will catch up to you.

Ghostbusters1&2- To put things in a lighter note, these movies were great when I was a kid. I loved them because they were so amazing, funny and made me want to be a scientist (well, one of the many reasons). I did want to put them in the sci-fi list, but I ended up putting it in here. Just check them out for fun. Copious amounts of fun. Over and over again. That’s what I do! And so many funny and quotable lines!

Poltergeist- This is yet another movie that scared and enthralled me as a child. There was something that seemed a little close to reality in the presentation of the ghosts and haunting, and a lot of curiosity in the, well.. lets just call it for what it is: just plain goofy scenarios. I always wondered what it was like to be in the other world, were I could jump through a portal and communicate through the TV. And it was also a lot of fun to watch.

Pet Cemetery- This movie was a little taboo when I was a kid. To be more specific, Mom hated it and I was not allowed to watch it. So when I finally saw it, I was amazed. The character of the dead jogger, the creepy old neighbor, the cat Church (cats are just creepy animals anyway), and of course the cemetery. This leaves so much to the imagination and at the same time not. The cinematography was also cool and scary for what is was back in the day. I also read the book, which isn’t half bad. Check it out if you have the chance.

Hellraiser- The reason I love this movie is because of its originality. The movie took me by surprise, because it was not just a ‘monster! Kill! Kill!’ type, but the movie is about a guy who escapes from hell, and the deamons (lead by the infamous Pinhead) are released to bring him back, but the demons are taking everyone they can as well. Granted that may not be the most accurate plot description, but it has been a while since I have seen it. That and the cinematography I thought was cool, and just the ambiance of the movie gives me the willies.

Nightmare on Elm Street 1- This is mostly for the same reasons as the above movie. It took me a little by surprise, but the originality was lacking here. However, this movie had launched the infamous character of Freddy into the nightmares of American pop culture. Not to mention the character of Freddy is a little unorthodox and even funny at times. The noticeably low budget this movie was shot on I think forced the hands of the crew to be more creative with the special effects. That has given us one of the most infamous death scenes is all of horror (in my opinion) when Jonny Depp (yes, he was in it) gets sucked into the bed and the blood shoots up and pools on the ceiling. That is just plain eerie.

Freddy vs. Jason- this one goes in the dumb fun category. It takes itself a little too seriously for knowing the type of movie that it is, but still a treat to watch. Complete with all of the tacky clichés from both horror movie franchises. If you want a movie that will simply entertain, and make you chuckle at how ridiculous it is, this is for you.

Jason X- This one is on here because of the differences in the above movie. This one seems to be taking itself too seriously for what it is at first, but as the movie progresses, the inherent flaws are made light of. That is a little harder to notice if you don’t watch these types of movies often. But worth a gander and a chuckle if you have a couple of hours to kill (no pun intended!)

The Shining- One of my favorite scary movies of all time, and probably my favorite of Stephen King’s stories. This movie has given so much to pop culture, such as famous scenes, quoteable lines, and a very classic performance by Jack Nicholson. There are points in the movie when you know what is going to happen, but you are still on the edge of your seat anyway. Even when you first watch it, there are moments when you know the formula, how it should end etc., but you still question how it will end. That just brings so much more to the story.

Evil Dead 2&3- The Evil Dead movies are classics. I don’t care what you say. Poking fun at horror movies themselves, these movies are actually comedies for those of you who are not familiar with them. Brainless action, great one liners, bad/hilarious effects, ridiculous story lines and fight scenes that are only outshined by The Tree Stooges. Many tributes to this have been made to in several other movies and cartoons. They have inspired a generation of filmmakers and showed the flexibility of their director. Excellent watching. Very well done and badly done at the same time.

Interview with the Vampire- This movie I praise because of the different light that it puts vampires in, showing the world in which they live in gruesome detail. The actors brought the characters right out of the pages of Anne Rice’s classic horror novel. This is a heavily stylized and cynical film, with an odd sense of humor and emotionally heavy in the most crucial plot points. The cinematography was superior, especially right at the climax of the film, when Brad Pitt’s character goes out for vengeance. That is one of the most memorable scenes in all of horror as well (in my opinion, yet again).

Bram Stoker's Dracula- This movie was not as spectacular as the one above, but it was almost a direct adaptation of the novel. Granted, there were a few creative liberties taken, but still excellent. The book I loved, and the character of Dracula is a very cool one, surrounded in myths, and once again, contributed much to pop culture. Last but not least, there is the fantastic performance of one of my favorite actors: Gary Oldman.

The Granny- this one made the list because it is just flat terrible. The story centers around a grieving family fighting over the inheritance left to them by “Granny”. Then she returns from the dead to have her vengeance on the greedy family, and gore ensues. The best part of the film was near the end. The Granny resurrects her dead husband, who is nothing more that a skeleton covered in rotting flesh, to join her wave of violence/hilarity. Then, she kisses the corpse. I laughed at that for hours. The rest of the film had cleches abound, but still so much fun.

That will do it for me today folks. My fingers are tired. I'm off to Moab tomorrow! Yay!!!

And one last thing, back to the above: we will miss you Bubbles!!!

T