Ian's Exodus

The Fantastic Four

2007-06-20T13:09:00.000-07:00

I'm going to make this short like my tolerance for this movie.
Well i was fortunate enough to sneak in to see this....interesting piece of work. I'm not going to try to set it up, i just want to get into it.
This movie was built on one liners and retarded pun's that nobody over the age of 4 would laugh at. Seriously, the people who write those mentos commercials would be embarrassed to put their name on this, mediocre product. I said to myself walking into the theatre: "There is no way it can be worse than the first one." I couldn't have been more wrong. The acting was amateur at best. The special effects were boring and it made me cringe to think that somebody thought this looked like a good piece of work. The plot made no sense whatsoever and the bad part is it left it wide open for a third movie. Let me see if i got this straight: They are trying to stop the world from being destroyed by galacticus (more on him later) but first they have to get the silver surfer on their side, so that the big G-man won't eat their planet, or absorb it or whatever he does to it. All while trying to make you feel like you are watching some romantic comedy among the four of them. Oh and somehow the bad guy from the last movie comes back and tries to kill them all.
So first lets look at some things i didn't like about it.
The bad guy from the last movie is back and....pretty much the same. You know, shoots lightning from his hands.....yea thats it. He does however look like Darth Sidious's gay black-sheep cousin. Are all supervillians going to go for the dark cloak look? Don't you know you have to be pretty old to pull that off? Anways, he comes alive, gets a mechanic to take off his man in the iron mask thing, promptly kills him, gets some huge computer laboratory going, gets a chopper to fly him to the north pole only to be punched in the face by silver man (and somehow gets it all on tape) and returns to share his story and pretend to be working for the Fantastic 4. Its just gay thats all. I think Nip/Tuck should stick with the cutting people open, he's much better at that.
Now Galacticus. There is really nothing more to this cosmic hurricane Katrina then it eats planets and is big. Didn't galacticus have at least a face in the comics? Whatever, even if he did it wouldn't make this horrible attempt of a movie any better.
Its almost sad to see how little talent Jessica Alba has now. Her acting consisted mainly of holding her hands in the air at something while getting a bloody nose. I don't even want to think about it. It was abysmal though.

I don't know what else to say, this movie was slightly worse then terrible. Jonny Depp's hairstyle had more personality than this movie. These have got to be the most boring super-heroes on the planet. You want a good sequel to the first one? Just watch the incredibles twice, they have pretty much the same powers only they are far more interesting.
Did anyone else notice that they made a trip to Latrevia? Last time i checked the globe on Google Earth, thats not a country, or even a place. Thats just one of many examples of what great lengths they will go to make this movie as crappy as possible. It doesn't explain where silver surfer comes from, where he goes, all we know is that he kills billions of people on thousands different planets because he wants to save his girlfriend, who he never gets to see because Katrina (galacticus) has him working 24/7. He decides to kill galacticus in some sort of self sacrificing cosmic human bomb all because Jessica alba looks kind of like his girlfriend back home on Zenn-la, or wherever he is from.
In the comics his punishment for betraying that cosmic dirt cloud was to be banished to earth. He has to live on earth as punishment. He could have been banished anywhere else, but they chose earth as ultimate punishment. What does that tell you? Bet earth doesn't look so great now does it?

The only good thing i can see coming out of this, is if they make like a Fantastic Four vs. Transformers or maybe Fantastic Four vs. Superman, or even Fantastic Four vs. anything, as long as they don't have to talk and they all get the crap beaten out of them. I would pay money to go see that. Otherwise, don't waste the 1.5 hours it took to watch this attempt to stimulate your brain. It probably only took that long to make this movie also. If you really want to waste your time, see if you can tie yourself up to the point you cant escape. I always wondered if that was possible.....

Oh and the silver surfer was really more of a chrome than silver. Just thought i should point that out.

My New Girlfriend

2007-05-23T02:13:00.000-07:00

Ok, it has been way too long since my last post. Sorry about that. Lets get this out of the way now shall we?

So the other day, i was working with some other marines and one of them asked me "So doc, you have a girlfriend?" I replied with "No, I'm all alone" Partly joking, partly dying inside. Of course his next response was "Why not?" I wasn't really in the mood for talking about my dating habits so i tried to kill it with the classic: "I don't have time for a relationship" then i said something somewhat shocking even to myself. Without hesitating i said "The military is my girlfriend" I thought that was an odd choice of words, but it seemed to satisfy him as an appropriate response. I didn't really think much of it at the time, but later that night it was all i could think about.

Married to the military. It's stupid to think about, so i did it anyways. After lots of not sleeping, i thought "Hmmmm.... the military is like a relationship" Sometimes you love it, other times you want to strangle it with its own rope. You invest a lot of time into it to make it happy so it will get off your back, and sometimes it really lets you down. You spend money on it all just to keep it happy and hassle free. You hang out with it, you play with it (sometimes) and waste lots of energy on it. You put up with it when it's in a bad mood and you tolerate it, and sometimes feel like it takes you for granted. It's really like a girlfriend who you hate but don't want to break up with yet until she lets you drive her overly protective dad's car when he is not around.

Then I got to thinking how every job is like a relationship. It has needs of you, it wants you and you want it (but for totally opposite reasons) and it demands at least 40 hours a week from you to keep it happy. A job is like a rich girlfriend who pays you to hang out with it, and we all know that if your getting paid to hang out with your girlfriend, she must be pretty ugly, which most company's are on the inside. You give it time and energy and it gives you money. It's a very nice give and take relationship. Actually, it's more like prostituting your body, mind and soul 5 times a week and some holidays. It's not just a relationship but it's a family too. It has parents you have to meet and get along with (Bosses, parent corporations, ect), Grandparents (Founders and CEO's) and brothers and sisters (branches and divisions). It wants you to look good for it so it looks like its being good to you. A lot like a battered wife i guess. And you have to present yourself professionally otherwise you will have big problems. And everyone else who works there isn't dating the same girl (job), but rather dating its best friend who is just like it in every way only slightly different. This "Job/girlfriend" is very clingy too. It always wants more from you, more time, more activities more little meetings and get-togethers of all sorts so you can enjoy work more than you want to. It wants to keep your morale up so you don't get bored with it or cheat on it with a newer, younger company who does things this company doesn't do, or something to that effect.

It was coming to be about 2:10 in the morning, and it was about this time when I realized that life is a relationship. A relationship in which there is no escape except when God decides to grace you with the sweet, sweet release of death. Life treats you both good and bad but either way, you're stuck with it no matter what. Life takes a lot of hard work and costs a lot of money and somehow has the nerve to act like you owe it something in the end. It has a tendency to treat you poorly (just like a bad girlfriend or boyfriend) and then turn around and act like everything's cool between you two. It gets happy and sad, it has emotions just like a person. And that's when I realized that I am somehow stuck in a relationship with myself. I sometimes don't like myself, I get mad at myself and I always find me talking to myself. I sing to myself (when no one is around of course) I get bothered with myself and I like to spend money on myself. I don't like when myself flirts with other peoples selves, I want to make sure myself is safe and I like to make sure myself feels good about itself (myself). This creates quite a problem you see, because whenever I (me, not it(myself)) do something that myself (it not I (me)) doesn't approve of, there are consequences that must be dealt with because I am not the only one my actions are affecting anymore. So now when I (me) want to do something, I have to make sure we (us) agree on it so our issues are resolved in a timely manner. What a horrible thing to stumble upon. Everyone is in a gay relationship with themselves! And there is nothing we can do about it! Do you ever not like youself sometimes? Thats the other you not liking the....well....other you. We are all stuck dating ourselves and now we have to live with it. This is our permanent spouse: Us.
What a breakthrough. I should really invest more time into this, but i have to be at work in like, 4 hours so, Later.
~ian

Chuck Almighty

2006-11-13T18:22:00.000-08:00

Dear Everyone.
Sorry for the absence, things have been busy here. I want to catch you all up on things.
Well I will be flying out for TQ sometime in December, not sure when yet though. Still waiting for the response.
Here’s some good news, Chuck Norris came by to visit us. I saw him but didn’t actually get to talk to him. He was signing autographs at the chow hall. In honor of his visit, I have decided to post my favorite Chuck Norris Facts here for you all to enjoy. These are facts which may or may not have been proven yet, but are probably true.
There is no chin behind Chuck Norris’ beard. There is only another fist.

Chuck Norris is so fast, he can run around the world and punch himself in the back of the head.

Contrary to popular belief, America is not a democracy, it is a Chucktatorship.

Chuck Norris once roundhouse kicked someone so hard that his foot broke the speed of light, went back in time, and killed Amelia Earhart while she was flying over the Pacific Ocean.

If you ask Chuck Norris what time it is, he always says, "Two seconds 'til." After you ask, "Two seconds 'til what?" he roundhouse kicks you in the face.

Chuck Norris once shot down a German fighter plane with his finger, by yelling, "Bang!"

Chuck Norris has two speeds: Walk and Kill.

Chuck Norris can hit you so hard that he can actually alter your DNA. Decades from now your descendants will occasionally clutch their heads and yell "What The Hell was That?"

Most people have 23 pairs of chromosomes. Chuck Norris has 72... and they're all poisonous.

When Chuck Norris falls in water, Chuck Norris doesn't get wet. Water gets Chuck Norris.

Wilt Chamberlain claims to have slept with more than 20,000 women in his lifetime. Chuck Norris calls this "a slow Tuesday."

Chuck Norris has the greatest Poker-Face of all time. He won the 1983 World Series of Poker, despite holding only a Joker, a Get out of Jail Free Monopoloy card, a 2 of clubs, 7 of spades and a green #4 card from the game UNO.

Chuck Norris roundhouse kicks don't really kill people. They wipe out their entire existence from the space-time continuum.

Once you go Norris, you are physically unable to go back.

On the set of Walker Texas Ranger Chuck Norris brought a dying lamb back to life by nuzzling it with his beard. As the onlookers gathered, the lamb sprang to life. Chuck Norris then roundhouse kicked it, killing it instantly. This was just to prove that the good Chuck giveth, and the good Chuck, he taketh away.

Since 1940, the year Chuck Norris was born, roundhouse-kick related deaths have increased 13,000 percent.

Chuck Norris built a time machine and went back in time to stop the JFK assassination. As Oswald shot, Chuck met all three bullets with his beard, deflecting them. JFK's head exploded out of sheer amazement.

The original title for Alien vs. Predator was Alien and Predator vs Chuck Norris. The film was cancelled shortly after going into preproduction. No one would pay nine dollars to see a movie fourteen seconds long.

And one of my personal favorites:

Chuck Norris and Mr. T walked into a bar. The bar was instantly destroyed, as that level of awesome cannot be contained in one building.
I hope you all take this to heart. I’ll talk to you all later.
~ian

Krazy Mr. Jong, when will he learn...

2006-10-22T20:25:00.000-07:00

Dear Everyone
What is wrong with Kim Jong ill? And I don’t mean why is he so freaking ugly, I mean what is the problem with everything about him? Why is he so stupid? He’s such a baby all the time. Now he has nuclear weapons or whatever. Does he think we’re just going to sit back and say “Well… that’s that.” He’s so retarded! I hope he knows how much we hate him altogether. I think the collective hate of all us Americans is what keeps him stuck in N Korea. Where are the world police when you need them? I hope he knows how stupid he looks 99.98% of the time. Lets look into a few known facts about this “Beloved Leader” From the 3rd world country of NK:

1. He is known to love cinema and ordered the 1978 kidnapping of a South Korean actress and her director husband to run North Korea's film studio. Now that’s just crazy in itself. Why would you kidnap someone to run a film studio? Just enjoy the flicks from across the DMZ like the rest of us.

2. He has spoken in public only once (because he’s a psychopath) and he has a taste for fine wines and Hennessy cognac, a weakness that costs him up to $800,000 a year. $800,000 a year! A YEAR people!!! Good lord, he drinks himself stupid on a lifelong binge of cognac, (and the American equivalent of paint thinner) and his own people are dying on the street. I can’t see why we all hate him so much. What else….

3. Every grain of rice he eats is inspected for visual flaws. And it is cooked only in the traditional manner, over a wood fire, the fuel felled from the forests of North Korea's highest mountain. This guy seriously lives in a fantasy land of fairies and wizards. It makes me want to strangle him with his few hairs.

4. About 2 million people are believed to have starved to death in North Korea in the 1990s amid bad harvests and decades of economic bungling. As Kim tucked into gourmet meals, his people survived by eating tree bark, weeds and roots. How disgusting is that? Does that not make you want to do horrible things to him? How can this dude get away with this? It’s not because he is taller than anyone around him that’s for sure, and it certainly isn’t because he has a great haircut all the time. So what is it? I don’t get it; couldn’t all his people join forces and just step on him or something?
Either way I don’t think he’s going away anytime soon. Hopefully we don’t get deployed over there either. Do you know how miserable it would be in Korea? Well, that wouldn’t be for quite some time anyways.
I’m done talking about Mr. Mentally ill for now. Right now he’s #2 on my list. Cant wait to get to three.
~ian

Whats the problem this time?

2006-09-27T06:51:00.000-07:00

Dear Everyone.
Well I just have to say, we’ve been watching the news over here and let me tell you, this whole news about the Muslims getting pissed off about something the Pope said really aggravates me. I know lots of people aren’t going to like this but what is wrong with Muslims? I’m not talking about all Muslims, just the radical “crazy” ones who go nuts over any little thing. They’re always mad about something and if they aren’t burning effigies at something or someone, they’re just ticked off at the U.S. in general. The Pope mentions something about their prophet teaching hate and how do they react? They burn churches and kill nuns. Well I’m convinced. Don’t they realize what they’re doing? All this is achieving is perpetuating the classic Muslim “Kill the infidels!” stereotype. Who cares what the pope says, does anyone listen to him anyways? So why would they react in such a violent way to something the pope, somebody they don’t even respect, had to say about Muhammad or whatever. Why cant they just act like civilized people for once in their lives? Heck, once in their ENTIRE EXISTANCE! All they are known for is praying a ridiculous amount, starting wars and terrorizing people. So far they’ve accomplished 2 out of 3 just in this paragraph alone.

Now I’m not here to judge, but it seems they aren’t getting their butt’s kicked hard enough by the U.S. as it is, so I suggest we take it up a notch. Why don’t we have every terrorist come out of his cave, put on a fresh pair of underwear (soon to be soiled) and meet us face to face. Of course that would never happen because that’s what makes them terrorists in the first place. They are too weak to influence people the normal way, so they resort to terrorizing people into getting what they want. Why did the pope have to say anything in the first place? Does he even know what he’s talking about? This is a classic example of; “If you don’t have anything nice to say about Muslims, don’t say anything at all.” Unfortunately for them that’s not the case. We already learned that cartoons send them right over the edge so of course anything that isn’t praise is probably going to be received as sheer hatred. The Pope could have kept his big Holy mouth shut and saved me from spewing a whole bunch of verbal diarrhea in the general Muslim direction.

Now that I’ve calmed down, I have to go work. The Mexican president better not do anything else imprudent. He’s next on my list of Ridiculous things that irritate me.

~ian

To all (some) of you

2006-01-09T05:58:00.000-08:00

Ok. Sadie has inspired me to write something that has been on my mind for a long time. As you know I live down here in San Diego. It’s a wonderful city full of interesting people and great sites. The food is good and the weather is almost always perfect. This is the perfect city for all kinds of people; however, I don’t want to be here anymore. I was looking at Sadie’s blog titled “Christmas in a nutshell” and after looking at the picture of Dan with his beanie on, something clicked inside my head and I realized all the great times I had and will never get to have again with all the people I love. I miss my church, I miss staying up late at the Nunninks house, I miss getting invited over to other peoples houses for dinner, I miss Grass Valley, Nevada City, my moms house, my dads house and everything in between. I hope you all realize how wonderful a town grass valley is. It has everything you could ask for and it’s almost impossible to get lost (once you’ve lived there long enough). Did you know that I still can’t give directions from point A to point B anywhere in Grass Valley because I don’t know 90% of the street names? I really don’t. I have to use locations and physical objects to describe to people how to get anywhere. And I’ve lived there 17 years of my life! Isn’t that awful? But I love that town so much and you have all been my family at one point or another.
I guess I am homesick right now because I have been gone for so long. That and its 6 am and I have been up all night. I just want this blog to be about some of the people I care about.

First I want to thank the Bauman’s for being so helpful to me. Sue you have been like a mother to me and for that I am so very thankful. I love you so much and I love seeing you whenever I come up.
Thank you Nunninks for all the times you let me come over to use your kitchen and hang out with your girls. I love you Claire Roz and Madeline!
I’m not going to forget about Levi and Susanne though. Thank you for always being kind and sweet to me and letting me play with Jack.
Thank you Kings for all the things I have learned and experienced while hanging out with all of you. You all have blessed my life and for that I am so grateful. And thank you Mariah for being the most wonderful girlfriend any guy could ask for. Even though I am far away, you are faithful and loving in every way. You touch my heart and for that I love you even more.
Dan and Sadie. You have been so kind to me and I always see a smile on your face. You remind me of how much fun there is to be had in northern California.
Also I want to thank the Glenn's for being so wonderful and a great shoulder to lean on when I needed it most.

I know this isn't everyone, but I just want you all to know how much I love and miss all of you. I hope I get to see you soon, I am not sure when, but soon.
Thank you for everything all my friends at NCCF.
~Ian

Sorry For the Absence

2006-01-08T08:03:00.000-08:00

Dear Everyone.
I am sorry for not writing in this as much as i used to. I guess I am just running out of Ideas. I think I just need some inspiration or something. If any of you have anything you want to hear about or talk about, feel free to E-mail me or comment on this or something. I honestly dont have much to say right now. I will write one soon though I promise. Thanks for everything and I hope you all had a good Christmas.

My Narnia Review!

2005-12-09T22:07:00.000-08:00

Warning! This will spoil some of the movie if you havent seen it yet.

Wow, this movie was awesome. It had everything I could ask for in a movie about adventures in a wardrobe. I had some comments about it, mostly positive of course, but overall I think the director, Andrew Adamson (also directed Shrek) did an excellent job of interpreting the beloved children’s story into a movie.
Now I know most of you will dive right into your comparisons such as Aslan and Jesus. Good vs. Evil, Dreadlocks vs. Manes, and the like. There is one comparison that I don’t think anybody will go into details about though. That of course is beautiful vs. ugly. This difference is so clear it was the first thing I noticed. All the bad guys are ugly, dirty, hairy and don’t speak proper English. While on the other hand, all the good guys are beautiful and graceful, charming and have British accents for some reason. That’s a pretty clear cut way to figure out what team you’re on. If your ugly and have questionable hygiene problems, your evil. If you an Abercrombie model and you resemble Jonathan Taylor Thomas in any way, you’re a good guy. That’s probably why there were so many more bad guys than good guys. The good team was just too picky when it came to taking sides. Just an observation though.
Now here are some things I liked about the movie:
1. No matter how small and worthless you are, you can still fight in a world war. Take Susan for example, the most useless appendage in the whole movie. The only thing she did that was even somewhat productive was shoot one single arrow into a bad guy, and now she’s a war hero. Think about it, Lucy starts the adventure, Edmund introduces pandemonium and screws it up for everybody, and Peter resolves it. What does Susan do except complain about going home? She is totally worthless and yet she still gets equal treatment along with Peter. For shame….

2. These kids are only assumed to be the right people that everyone is looking for. I guess the prophecy said “any 4 kids will do” because that’s exactly what Narnia got. Just four ordinary British kids who like to eat scones and play croquet, just like all the other normal children. It reminds me of a Simpson’s Halloween episode where Ned Flanders is the unquestioned lord of the universe. Its like, the kids are seen, assumed to be the right ones and forced to fight in a battle they have nothing to do with. These kids don't even want to do all this stuff, it is thrust upon them by a talking Lion. It’s too bad they didn’t get anybody else because I’m telling you, any other kid would have at least tried not to hold that sword like a girl, sorta the way Peter did. It’s like “C-mon peter it’s a dog. Just take a swing at it or something” Instead he comes up with his brilliant plan to stab…..THE ICE!!! I don’t know what made him think this was the best plan of action but whatever……

3. I like the way Lucy has the amazing ability to cry without shedding any tears. Now that’s talent. How come they didn’t get Dakota Fanning on this one? Oh that’s right. She’s not British. Too bad.

4. The part where Aslan tackles the queen and eats her face. Just awesome.

Now some things I didn’t like about the movie.

1. No blood. If you’re in a swordfight or battle for at least a half hour like Peter was, chances are your sword might have some blood on it. His did not, which leads me to the conclusion that he really didn’t help at all during the final battle. He just rode around hitting air and metal until he was told to retreat. Que Lastima…..

2. No decapitations. Now I don’t expect total Braveheart stuff here, but logic leads me to believe that if your running at something at 25 miles per hour on a horse, and you swing your sword at something (or someone) running at you at 20-25 miles per hour, I don’t care what you say, something is coming off.

3. Santa Claus. Ummmmmmm…….. what?

4. The fact that the River has “been frozen solid for a hundred years.” And yet the kids don’t so much as quiver when they are swept downstream. Those coats must be super-duper insulated.

Well That’s my review on the movie for now. I might add some more later. Yea I know, its not much, but the only reason I’m not writing more is because I’m really tired and most of the movie is starting to fade with my consciousness. I hope to hear good stuff.
~Ian

The Best Names Ever

2005-10-31T10:32:00.000-08:00

I’ve been thinking recently about the best names and so I decided to share them with all of you. I hope this doesn’t backfire and have all you insanely jealous people steal my names because you Cant have them! With that, I will give you my list:
1. Jack. I have always liked the name Jack ever since I saw “The Nightmare Before Christmas” It is such an awesome name and it just touches me somehow. I was going to be the first person I knew to have a son named jack, until those Nunninks swooped down and stole it from me! I’ll have my revenge! No, actually I love Jack. Sure he doesn’t know me, or like me, and doesn’t wave when I smile and wave at him, but he is a awesome kid (or so I hear). Jack has also been the number 1 most popular name in England for the last 7 years! And number 2 in Scotland for the last 8 years. Therefore, Jack is definitely up there on the list of awesome names.
2. Sam. This one is a given. Who could not love the name Sam? Have you ever met a Sam you did not like? Well I haven’t. Sam is very popular in Australia. Short for either Samson or Samuel. It could also be short for Samantha. Sam is always the good guy and will always be there for you when you need him. Gotta love it.
3. Marcus. I don’t know why I like this name, but it just has something about it that I like. Marcus sounds like a superhero or something. I only know of two great Marcus’s: Marcus Tullius Cicero (known simply as Cicero), a statesman and orator, and Marcus Aurelius, a notable emperor of the 2nd century. This was also the name of a pope of the 4th century. It’s a famous name! Plus Marcus is the original form of the name Mark. Betcha didn’t know that! Well maybe you did.
4. Aaron. I love this name a lot. Partly because the first Aaron I knew was Aaron Sidebottom, and I love Aaron Sidebottom. He was like my first mentor and so I gladly accept this name into my favorite archives. Aaron was the 12th most popular name in Ireland in 2002, and in 2004 it is the 10th most popular. In the U.S. it’s the 53rd most popular. Aaron was, of course, the older brother of Moses and the first high priest of the Israelites.
5. Audrey. This is a pretty name. It means noble, strength. Also popularized by Oscar-winning actress Audrey Hepburn, who starred in 'Breakfast At Tiffany's' and 'My Fair Lady'. It’s a very beautiful name and for some reason, between 1900 and 1939 Audrey was a male name as well. Sure it ranked 917th out of 1000, but it still counts! That means there were 83 worse names for males back then. It is also the name of a character in Shakespeare's comedy 'As You Like It'.
6. Morgan. Morgan is a great name for a male or a female. It is welsh and means “Circle of the Sea”. Not entirely sure what that means, but I like it a lot. It can be a first name, last name, male or female. It’s the perfect name! It was a male name before it was a female name though, and the name has always been in the top 50th most popular names ever since 1991. Morgan Freeman is a famous icon bearing this name. I love the way it sounds and I think I am going to keep it.
Well there you go. This is my list of favorite names. Add your own if you want because I would love to hear your thoughts. Now here is some information on some of your names:

Ian: Scottish form of John. Also cannot be shortened into some annoying nickname.

Rosalyn: Medieval form of ROSALIND

Michelle: French feminine form of MICHAEL

Mariah: Variant of MARIA. Also very popular in 1998.

Mimi: Italian pet form of MARIA. Also not very popular in the United staes.

Zach: Shortened from the Hebrew name Zekaryah which meant "YAHWEH remembers".
Nattalie: From the Late Latin name Natalia, which meant "Christmas Day" from Latin natale domini.

Michelle: French feminine form of Michael. Also translated “One who rules over the blogs with an iron fist of snap judgments.” I think I read that somewhere.

Levi: Means "attached" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament Levi was the third son of Jacob and Leah, and the ancestor of one of the twelve tribes of the Israelites (the tribe that eventually became the priests of the Israelites). In the New Testament this is another name for the apostle Matthew. Quite the popular one!

Melanie: Derived from Greek μελαινα (melaina) meaning "black, dark". This was the name of a Roman saint who gave all her wealth to charity in the 5th century. Also very popular in France. Sorry Mel.

Sadie: Pet form of Sarah, which means "lady" or "princess" in Hebrew.

Rachel: Means "ewe" in Hebrew. She was the favorite wife of Jacob and the mother of Joseph and Benjamin in the Old Testament. Also insanely popular in Ireland and Scotland.
That’s all!
~Ian

NASCAR

2005-09-30T16:07:00.000-07:00

I’m sorry but I just have to know, what is so special about NASCAR? I mean, who thought of this? Where else in America can you watch cars drive? Oh yea, Everywhere! Now its not that I HATE the sport, but I don’t think it’s a very interesting sport to be honest. I would go to a nascar race if I wanted to see how to execute a left hand turn at 200 mph, but that’s pretty much it. Other than that, there is no reason that I would go to a NASCAR race. But just to be fair, lets weigh the pro’s and con’s about it:
Pro:
1. Cars driving fast,
2. All the left turns you could want,
3. Maybe a cool crash if your lucky.

Con’s:
1. A huge waste of time, (but then again if you think about it, most sports are).
2. You have to pay money.
3. Its boring.
4. Everything is expensive.
5. Think about it people, you drive to a stadium and pay money to watch other cars drive, and then you drive home and feel somewhat satisfied about how you spent your last 5 hours. And I just KNOW that everyone who drives home from any nascar event is pretending he/she is racing the other cars on the freeway.

Now I know that somebody out there who loves nascar is going to bash me on something and tell me how much they hate me or how ignorant I am, but I just have to tell you how I feel about sports. What kind of friend would I be if I let you all think that I actually liked nascar? And why is it mostly a southern sport? I don’t get that. How did they adopt this as the “Official sport of the south”? For all I care they can have it. To me the top best sports to watch (in no particular order) are: Football and Basketball. The most boring to watch is NASCAR, bowling and golf. There is just no way to make bowling and golf interesting to watch. NASCAR can be interesting if something explodes or catches fire or something, but if nothing goes wrong then its really not all that great. I think we should stick with our physically demanding sports and not rely on a machine to get us a trophy or a flag or whatever they get for winning. A new seatbelt or something sounds appropriate.
Anyways, hope to hear your thoughts.
~Ian

Star Trek

2005-09-22T16:14:00.000-07:00

Hello friends. I am back in beautiful San Diego California working at Balboa hospital. I cant stress just how much I love this place compared to any other place on the globe (save for wonderful Grass Valley of course). They tell me that I will be working in the ward with 12 hour days. It should be hard but I will learn a lot.
This somehow brings me to my next point: Star Trek. A friend of mine (Back at my old camp) made me watch a couple episodes of star trek. Its not that I didn’t like it, but I could find millions of things wrong with it. I am only going to mention 7 of them, but I think they all could be fixed. These are just 7 things I don’t like about star trek:

1. Technobabble.- I don’t even know half the stuff they are saying on the show. Its like: “Engine 4 was blown so I solved the problem by reversing the polarity of the battery cell, and routing the power through my satellite dish. The resulting subspace plasma caused a rift in the space-time continuum, which created a quantum tunneling effect that charged the protons in the engine core….” Seriously, what the heck? Is the captain sitting there like “Oh so the problem was the tunneling effect through the polarity sensors. I gotcha. I thought it might have something to do with that. I knew I heard some sort of scratching noise coming from there.” Yea-ok all cleared up.

2. Chain of Command- What kind of hierarchy is this? The captain says something like “Fire the torpedoes!” and like a million people give their opinion on what they think they should do. C-mon people he’s the captian! Do what he says. I think he knows what he is talking about.

3. The Doors- You can't walk three feet in a starship without some door whooshing or screeching at you. So many people would have gone on a killer rampage by now just by that annoying noise alone. Haven’t these people heard of WD-40?

4. The Federation- If I understand correctly, this is a planet-wide government that runs everything, and that has abolished money. How creepy is this? I can point out about one million things wrong with this alone. How would this even work? Can you say dictatorship?

5. The Holodeck- I’ll admit, this is cool and all, but I don’t think people would use it for Sherlock holmes mysteries and western saloons. Lets be honest, all of us would spend 23.5 hours a day in there acting like we were super-rich or famous or amazingly beautiful or something. I’m sure it would be used for *ahem* less than noble purposes as well.

6. Seatbelts- Watching people cripple themselves by flying over the captains head each time a colored blob of energy hit them would make one of them think “Gee, I wonder if there is some sort of restraining device we could use to keep these people from flying all over the place.” Then instead of inventing seatbelts, they invented a hard plastic thing that's locked over your thighs. Oh, I'll bet THAT felt good around corners. Each time they make a U-turn somebody comes out with Scoliosis or something. Good thinking!

7. The word Polarity- I don’t think they know what this means. They need to just stop reversing the polarity of everything! It might work once in a while, but usually it just screws things up. Its like: “What happened to the toilet in Stateroom 3?" "Well, the plumbing backed up, and Giordi thought he could fix it by reversing the polarity." Yea that’s what I try to do to. I would just stick with the Dran-O instead.

P.S. Notice how I didnt even mention the fact that everyone wears the same thing. The tight spandex with the V-neck and the boots. How can you even tell what rank everybody else is? This is an Honorable Mention.

Good and Bad Parenting

2005-07-26T15:23:00.000-07:00

What is a good parent?

Why is parenting so hard for some people and so easy for others? I was thinking about this when I was at the mall doing some people watching, and some small kid was arguing with his mom about something. He told her that she was a bad mother and she said no she wasn’t. It made me think; “What is a bad mother? Or bad parent for that matter? Who gets to decide when parenting is tough love or just plain bad?” I sat there staring into space for about 3 ½ minutes thinking about it and then shrugged it off, only to have it come back and haunt me later that day and well into the night.

We both know I don’t have any experience in the parenting field, but I want, or rather, need to know what it takes to be a good parent. When you see moms yelling and hitting their kids, and kids kicking and screaming back at them, you think, “That’s a bad parent”. If that’s bad, then how do you know when you’re being a good parent? Of course every parent thinks they are pretty good at being parents, but how do you know you are? Do you have to take a test? Does somebody tell you? Have you asked your kids? Do they tell you the truth? I tell my parents they do a fine job at parenting, even though I am sometimes dissatisfied with the job they did. I would never tell them that unless they pulled it out of me (or read this blog I suppose…) or we were mad at each other.

Every person in the world who has been upset at their parents has said; “When I am a parent, I’m going to let my kids do this or that”. Now if these kids were really doing what they said they were going to do, I think parenting would be perfected by now. Here are some examples and rules that I have said before in the past, and that I plan to uphold in the future for my kids;

1. Let them stay out late with their friends once in a while. This is the single easiest thing parents can do for their kids and really not have done anything at all. I hated it when my parents wouldn’t let me go to a movie or something just because they didn’t feel like it. YOU’RE NOT DOING ANYTHING!!!! How can a parent say no just because they would rather have you at home? Usually when I ended up staying home, we didn’t even hang out. I would go to my room and play videogames all night. Like that was so much better for me than some movie or something.

2. Parents; don’t make younger siblings hang out with older siblings (or visa versa). This is just stupid. The kids have to live together, and now your making them play together? Don't the younger siblings have friends of their own? I’m sorry, but that’s just retarded. Example: Older sibling; “Can I spend the night at (friend’s house) tonight mom?”
Mom; “Of course!”
Older sibling; “Yeah thanks mom! You’re the best!”
Mom; “As long as you let (younger sibling’s name) go with you.”
(Excitement drains from older siblings face as it is replaced with anger and hatred for both mom and younger sibling)
You see this just makes everyone angry and upset. I don’t think this is anywhere near fair, but apparently some adults think so.

3 Do NOT criticize your kids too much. I can’t even talk about this it pisses me off so much. I hate to say this but I wanted to yell at my parents (or myself) so hard sometimes for the criticism they (she) would give us. It lowers your self-esteem, it makes you feel like crap, and it makes kids hate their parents in the future. This truly is bad parenting at its finest.

4 If you’re going to have “Family time” then spend the time hanging out with your kids as a FAMILY. My parents had family time and everyone spent the entire night in their rooms doing something totally anti social. This made me miserable and ironically made me not like my family even more. And if your going to force your kids to stay home, at least make family time fun. Talking about problems and worries is neither fun nor entertaining. It’s lame and embarrassing.

5 Giving your kids a million things to do and then complaining when some of them don’t get done. Kids should share responsibilities and not be burdened with adult life. We’re not robots ya know. This also falls under the category of letting younger siblings get away with anything and not having any responsibilities, while the older siblings get a crapload of things they need to get done before dinnertime or else a punishment occurs.

These are just 5 major things that I told myself I was never going to do to my kids when I am a parent. I am sure there are plenty more out there and I might add some later on, but for now, I promise never to subject my kids to any of these rules. I am sorry in advanced if you are offended by these things but these are MY opinion. Its not intended to insult in any way whatsoever. You dont have to take it seriously. What do you think parents of the world? Are these too extreme? I’m expecting some good answers.
~Ian

Best and Worst Inventions

2005-07-22T11:20:00.000-07:00

In a poll taken in 2002 by the BBC, the bicycle (Invented by Pierre Lallement, 1866) was voted the best invention ever with more than 60% of the votes. I thought that was kind of interesting that the bicycle, out of everything that has ever been invented, was voted the best invention of all time. This poll was taken in England though, and even though America and England are similar in a lot of aspects; I wouldn’t think Americans would vote the bicycle as the “Best” invention of all time. We would probably say something stupid like fast food or cell phones or something.
However, on the opposite end of the spectrum, nuclear bombs were voted the worst invention of all time. I would have to agree with that. Nuclear bombs and algebra are the worst things to come out of mortal man’s sick mind. Ok maybe not algebra but I personally hate math more than anything else in this world (that includes MTV, abortion and the metric system. But I don’t want to get off on a rant about things I hate or can’t stand, because I will make a web log about that later). Also on the list of worst inventions ever (according to the BBC) were Landmines, Plastic bags, Speed cameras, Mobile phones and Car alarms. I don’t know where they got these but I think plastic bags and mobile phones are both great inventions. Car alarms are stupid because nobody listens to them anyways and speed cameras are only over in England so we don’t really have to care about stuff like that (a speed camera is the equivalent of a radar detector over here). The top inventions were: Bicycle, Radio, Computer, Penicillin, Internal Combustion Engine, Worldwide Web, Light Bulb, Telephone and Television. According to them, these things were the best thing man has come up with. To be honest with you, I think plastic and phones are the greatest inventions ever. Plastic is everywhere and it can be used in so many ways. Phones are amazing things and personally, talking to my friends and family from far away is far more important to me than light or television.
I must say that the 2 dumbest inventions I have come across was 1: the CALOY Flood detector. The main principle behind this invention: It starts to beep the moment water touches it. Isn’t that amazing. And 2: The Anti-Eating Mouth Cage. This is not a joke, it’s actually a cage you put over your mouth to stop yourself from eating too much (See picture below) like Hannibal Lector or something. If you don’t have enough self-control, and you need this to stop yourself from eating too much, you have a serious problem. I hope it comes in extra large.
Seriously, some people have the dumbest ideas in the world.
What are your thoughts about the worst invention? And also what do you think the greatest invention of all time is? I guess you could say “What is the greatest thing since sliced bread?”

~Ian

Campout and a trip home

2005-07-18T08:32:00.000-07:00

From my point of view, this campout weekend with the youth group was a lot of fun. Besides the fact that my back and shoulders got burnt beyond recognition, I had an overall good time. I think that was the general impression for everyone who went, although there were some emotional moments and near breakdowns, everybody seemed to enjoy themselves. I can’t stress this enough though: Being forced to play games makes them NO FUN! When we are getting yelled at and scolded for not being excited about playing a really dumb game, it really just makes me hate it even more. I know the adults have out best interests in mind and such, but when we compete in games like the wet t-shirt contest and it isn’t fun, (shocking!) we get scolded for saying so. We don’t even win prizes for our half-hearted effort! What’s the deal?
I guess I am just irritable right now due to my 4 hours of sleep last night because my 8:15 flight didn’t leave until 11:55! Then instead of getting a free ride from my friend, I had to pay for a taxi to drive me to the base because it was too late. I didn’t get to bed until 2 because my sunburn was killing me to no end and I tossed and turned all night. I was so deranged last night; I wanted to punch someone in the face. At least punch a wall out, or even punch myself in the face to vent all my sunburnt anger. For the record, I was flying Southwest just so you all know. This is not the first time this has happened either. Just thinking about it makes little lines come up off the top of my head (See picture above). It’s ok though because I kept listening to my iPod when they told us to turn off all portable electronics for take-off. HAHAHA Sweet devious revenge! That will give them something to think about for quite some time. I hope they loose sleep over it like I did. Ok I think I need a nap.

~Ian

The Greatest Movie Ever

2005-07-11T10:23:00.000-07:00

I’ve been wondering, what’s the best movie ever? If you were to tell someone what the best movie you ever saw was, what would it be? I’m sure most of you would say something like the “Godfather” or “Star Wars” or “It’s a wonderful life” or something like that. But what about right now? What would you say is the greatest movie of all time? This post is going to be short, but I expect lots of feedback from y’all. So what do you think? I would have to say the best movie ever was either “The Wizard of Oz”, “Edward Scissorhands” or “Spirited Away”. You see, even I can’t narrow it down to just 1 movie. I don’t think that there is just one movie to rule all the other movies. A movie so grand that as soon as you mention it everyone says; “Oh yea your right, that really is the greatest movie ever conceived by man.” I don’t think there is one, but a lot of movies come close though. Tell me your thoughts.
~Ian

P.S. I fell asleep during Godfather. I just couldn’t get into it even though I hear it’s a masterpiece. Don’t let your personal thoughts get in the way of movie greatness. Example: I love A.I. but Rosalyn hates it. I think it’s a great movie but others might think otherwise.

books

2005-07-06T12:22:00.000-07:00

I guess I’ve been “Tagged” by Levi or something. I have to answer the book question for everyone to see.
QUESTION NUMBER ONE:
Total # of books owned:
I have way too many books to say for sure. Probably around 100 million. (just a guesstimate though.)

The Last Book I Bought:
That would have to be this book I bought in the Airport called: “The Merciful God of Prophecy and his Loving Plan for your Life in the End Times.” It’s by Tim LaHaye and I still haven’t finished it. Its really good and I learned a ton of cool stuff about bible prophecy. I recommend it to anybody.

The last book I read.
That would have to be Mere Christianity. I recently finished reading it for the first time and it is a very well written book. I only wish I had read it earlier than now.

5 books with Special Meaning to me.
That’s a tough question. Well first there is the Bible. I would hate to go anywhere without my Bible. It has all the answers to survive in a world like ours. Of course if every day was a huge struggle to survive then I guess the Worst Case Scenario handbook would come in extremely helpful. It also comes in handy if your Indiana Jones.

Number Two would probably be When Christ comes by Max Lucado. This is a beautifully written book and I have read it over 10 times. I love Max Lucado and I love almost anything he writes. He has a way of telling stories so you can completely understand everything he is saying and the point he is trying to get across.

Number Three is the Redwall series. I started reading this series when I was in 5th grade and I couldn’t get enough of it. Brian Jacques is such a talented author and he brings the story to life so well. As of right now there are 17 books out and they keep on coming every 2 years or so. I have only read 6 of these books but each time I finish one I fall back and smile at what a wonderful series this is.

Coming in at number 4 would have to be anything about the End Times. I guess the Left Behind series falls under this category. I enjoy anything that talks about the end times from a theological point of view. The Great Divorce by CS Lewis is something I enjoy reading not for the theological reasons, but just because it portrays heaven as such a stretch of the imagination. I love the way he describes everything in such vivid detail you think it is an actual place that he has been to.

The Fifth book in my list is Enders Game. This book is so well written, and keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole time. Anybody who has read Enders Game knows that this book is like, a reward for reading books. It is a one of a kind book that has to be read at least once in a lifetime.

Hate, and the children who live through it.

2005-07-04T01:00:00.000-07:00

In light of all the violent news going around I decided to address an issue that has been on my mind for quite some time: The Evil Society We Live in. Granted I am talking about kids mostly and seeing as how I am only 20 I cant promise that I can see "Outside the Box" any better than a grown adult, but I think I can do a decent job at it. Lets go back to the begining where this all started shall we?
I think it started when Madeline Murray O'Hare complained she didn't want any prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school.... the Bible that says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said, OK. Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem. And we figured, an expert should know what he's talking about so we said OK, we won't spank them anymore. Then someone said teachers and principals better not discipline our children when they misbehave. And the school administrators said no faculty member in this school better touch a student when they misbehave because we don't want any bad publicity, and we surely don't want to be sued, and then we accepted their reasoning. Then someone said, let's let our daughters have abortions if they want, and they won't even have to tell their parents. And we said, that's a grand idea. Then some wise school board member said, since boys will be boys and they're going to do it anyway, let's give our sons all the condoms they want, so they can have all the fun they desire, and we won't have to tell their parents they got them at school. And we said, that's another great idea. Then some of our top elected officials said it doesn't matter what we do in private as long as we do our jobs. And agreeing with them, we said it doesn't matter to me what anyone, including the President, does in private as long as I have a job and the economy is good. And the entertainment industry said, let's make TV shows and movies that promote profanity, violence, and illicit sex. And let's record music that encourages rape, drugs, murder, suicide, and satanic themes. And we said it's just entertainment, it has no adverse effect, and nobody takes it seriously anyway, so go right ahead. Now here we are and we're asking ourselves why the kids today have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves. Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with "WE REAP WHAT WE SOW." You've all heard the backpack thing: You get out of it what you put into it.
Now I know that I am only 20 and shouldnt talk about kids like they are so much younger than me but it does affect me. I just want some parents opinions on this issue so if your out there (I know who you parents are) then i expect some decent feedback. Just tell me what you think and what you think should be done. Notice though that this all started with taking the bible out of kids lives......

Ian's 4th of July Facts:
1. Independence Day commemorates the formal adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. However, it was not declared a legal holiday until 1941.

2. The American national anthem, the "Star-Spangled Banner," is set to the tune of an English drinking song ("To Anacreon in Heaven").

3. The first two versions of the Liberty Bell were defective and had to be melted down and recast. The third version rang every Fourth of July from 1778 to 1835, when, according to tradition, it cracked as it was being tolled for the death of Chief Justice John Marshall.

4. Work on the Erie Canal in New York state began on July 4, 1817. Construction of the first railroad in the United States, the Baltimore and Ohio, was started on July 4, 1828. July 4 was the date selected in 1848 for laying the cornerstone of the Washington Monument in the U.S. capital.

What IS a nerd?

2005-06-30T07:41:00.000-07:00

What is a nerd really? I was listening to some people talk, and they said that anybody who went to go see the new Star Wars movie was a nerd. I think that’s kind of unfair. Just because somebody wants to go see a movie that is associated with nerds (people who take sick days off work and ignore their family for 3 weeks to be the first ones to see it) doesn’t mean that everybody who goes and sees it is a nerd. Going back to my original question, what classifies a nerd in the first place? Somebody with glasses who is smart and has an aptitude for science yet lacks public social behavior? I don’t think that it’s fair to call all these people nerds because I know some people like this, and they aren’t nerds at all. Now of course everybody is a nerd to somebody else but they don’t necessary have to fit this description. I think nerds are cooler then the “cool” kids at school because all the football players think that they are the best and that they can get any girl in the world and the nerds will never get anything. Little do they know that while they are out partying and drinking, the nerds are playing chess or dungeons and dragons or studying for the SAT’s and someday the nerds will be the bosses of these “jocks” and then the tables will have turned.
But lets look at another scenario; would you rather have your daughter or sister dating a jock or a nerd? On one hand, you have the jock who thinks he can get whatever he wants from her and if she ever does anything to make him mad, he can dump her because he know about 5 other girls who like him. On the other hand you have the nerd who will probably respect your daughter or sister because he knows he doesn’t have a lot of girls who like him, he doesn’t get many opportunities to go out with girls, or even people for that matter. (Except for his little nerd crew and their calculators) In this situation, I’d pick the nerd. Its like who would you rather date: The Fonz or Bill Gates? I think the choice is obvious. These are some definitions to go by when looking for nerds: One whose IQ exceeds his weight. A stereotypical label used to describe a person that is socially inadequate. A four letter word, but a six figure income. the group of people who will most likely make a life changing invention that will radically change the world. An individual persecuted for his superior skills or intellect, most often by people who fear and envy him.
Now nerds are not to be confused by Geeks. Geeks are Someone who spends a lot of time on the computer, watching sci-fi, reading fanasty but DOES have an actual life. A NERD is someone who also does these things but does NOT have a life. Nor to be confused with a DORK, whom both the geeks & the nerds beat up.

I hope we all learned something here.
~Ian

P.S. Please notice that I did not mention Napoleon Dynamite anywhere in this article. I have two reasons: I don’t know enough about it to make a honest, truthful, well thought out comment. And the other reason is because I know everybody who even reads this post would stop talking to me, threaten me or simply kill me if I down talked good ole ND in any way, because everybody in Grass Valley practically worships him, and I hate it.
~ian

A great wonder or blunder?

2005-06-29T15:24:00.000-07:00

Well here we Americans go again. Redevelopment officials unveiled the new design for the Freedom Tower, the signature building to be built at Ground Zero. Its look is similar to that of one of the old World Trade Center towers. The new building is narrower and more square, It's base the same size as the old twin towers and set back 90 feet from the street. The building is structured around three very tall triangles that will rise to 1360 feet, the same height as the old twin towers. Atop that, a spire will rise from the center of the building, bringing the total height to 1776 feet. (Also symbolic of when independence was declared) Isn’t this a great idea? After terrorists blow up our two trade center towers, we build an even bigger tower to show how great we are. Does ANYBODY else, think that maybe this might not be the best idea? I know I’m not the only one out there who thinks we’re only setting ourselves up for failure. The enormous pedestal, with a budget estimated at $1.5 billion, would overlook the Sept. 11 memorial. "Construction will climax the greatest comeback in the history of our city," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. Yea, not to mention the arrival of the 2nd greatest attack on American soil.
Maybe instead of building something bigger and better, we should just remember the two towers for what they were. I don’t know, tell me what you all think.

~Ian

Ian's factor of the day:
More than 1.2 million cubic yards of earth and rock were excavated to make way for the World Trade Center. The excavated material was placed in the Hudson River to create 23.5 acres of new land deeded to the City of New York. This landfill area is now Battery Park City.

Waking up early

2005-06-28T07:19:00.000-07:00

You know what I realized? I like to wake up early. Well, I mean I don’t like waking up at the crack of dawn and feeling all drowsy and such, but I do like all the extra free time that you get. Don’t you like the feeling of getting things done early so you have more free time to do what you enjoy? Unless of course that thing you enjoy is sleeping. Then I guess sleeping in is your best option. I just like feeling like I have more time to do things, even if it means giving up some sleep. Just my early morning opinion. What do you think?

~Ian

Ian's Factor of the Day:
PNEUMONOULTRAMICROSCOPICSILICOVOLCANOKONIOSIS = a lung disease caused by breathing in particles of siliceous volcanic dust.

Stupidity: Not a prerequisite for living.

2005-06-27T10:59:00.000-07:00

Dear: The Universe.
I just recently came to realize that lots of people are stupid. This article is me making fun of quotes by people who obviously couldn't think outside the box. The realization that not everyone can be the sharpest knife in the drawer came to me when I was at work and watched my co-worker bang her head on a wall for 6 minutes over a ruined over a mac and cheese bowl that exploded in the microwave because she put it in for 20 minutes instead of 2. "Wow" I thought. "some people are just stupid" Not only have I learned to pay closer attention to detail, but also to keep my cool no matter what the situation. Also I thought I would exploit some innocent people in the learning process. Enjoy.

"Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons."
Popular Mechanics, forecasting the relentless march of science, 1949

~Well this guy certainly doesn’t have much confidence in modern technology. 1.5 tons?!? What kind of computer was he talking about? I don’t know why he thought they could get any lighter than 1.5 tons, but look how small our computers are nowadays. They weigh less than 2 lbs! Now that’s one giant leap for mankind if you ask me.

"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home."
Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977

~Now this genius was onto something. Of course back then all computers did was make noise and it took about 30 minutes to do a single calculation. These days the fastest computer (IBM Blue Gene) can calculate up to 130 Tflops (Tera flops. Each tera flop is equal to 1 trillion calculations per second). I would want that in my room even if it didn’t do anything else but calculate stuff. Think outside the box Ken.

"We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out."
Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962.

~Boy I bet that CEO is hanging himself now. Reject the beatles? Sounds like a good idea. They’ll never be popular or rich. Yea right! Paul McCartney alone has come out top in a list of Britain's richest rock stars. Business Age magazine compiled a list of Rock music's Top 40 rich list, and Paul came out clear top with an estimated fortune of £500 million. This was over three times greater than the second placed richest rock star, Sir Elton John who was estimated at £156 million. Not only that, but they are known almost worldwide as one of the best bands ever. Way to go Decca recording. We hate you!

"Drill for oil? You mean drill into the ground to try and find oil? You're crazy."
Drillers who Edwin L. Drake tried to enlist to his project to drill for oil in 1859

~No don’t drill in the ground, drill right into the air stupid! OF COURSE DRILL INTO THE GROUND! Where else are you going to drill? Into animals? Into heaven? Even if the ground had no oil under it, it has to have something people could use. They call him crazy too. Crazy! Look who’s crazy now. That’s what you get when you don’t graduate high school. THAT’S WHY YOU’RE A DIGGER AND NOT A SCIENTIST!!!! “What? Put someone on the moon? Your crazy! What? Machines that can carry hundreds of people thousands of miles in a matter of hours? You’re a crazy lunatic! What? Let Hayden Christensen play Darth Vader even though a chair does a better job of acting then he does? Now that’s crazy!” I guess "crazy" was a vague term back then.
~Ian

This is completely random and has nothing to do with my life.

2005-06-25T13:24:00.000-07:00

Just some information we all should know: How does a Lightsaber work? Well I will see if I can help answer this for you. Chances are that you have seen a lightsaber at one time or another, whether on the evening news or down at the local cantina. Therefore you know that a lightsaber is an amazing and versatile device that is able to cut through nearly anything in a matter of milliseconds. Have you ever wondered how these remarkable weapons work? Where does the energy come from, and how are they able to contain that energy in a rod-like column of glowing power? A lightsaber is a unique device, created by hand -- the controls will be slightly different on each individual lightsaber that you buy. But all lightsabers share the same general characteristics. If you were ever to pick up and examine a typical lightsaber, here are several things that you would immediately notice:
A lightsaber is normally about 30 centimeters long, about the size of a large flashlight.
At one end is the hand grip, belt ring and on/off switch (a.k.a., the Activation Matrix).
At the other end there is the blade arc tip and stabilizing ring.
Somewhere on the case (generally near the blade end of the lightsaber) you find one or two adjusting knobs for blade power and blade length.
When you turn on the lightsaber you will notice the blade rapidly extending to its set length. You can adjust the length using the blade length-adjusting knob. The lightsaber blade will make a distinctive sound that is typical of an arc wave energy field. You will also feel a gyroscopic effect in the handle, which again is a distinctive characteristic of the arc wave blade. This gyroscopic effect can take some getting used to, so be sure to handle any active lightsaber with extreme care until you are completely familiar with its feel and handling.
Once active, the blade of a lightsaber can be used in many different ways.
The most common use, of course, is slicing. A lightsaber is like a sword on steroids. Cutting through any human limb -- even an entire torso -- is trivial. It's like cutting through a banana with a machete. Another common use is melting. For example, if you come upon a three-foot-thick blast door, you cannot "slice" your way through it like you can with a normal steel or concrete partition. But you can plunge the blade of your lightsaber straight into the door and then melt your way through it to cut out an opening. This normally takes several minutes, but the results are most impressive to anyone on the other side of the blast door.
Another important use of a lightsaber is deflection, in two different ways:
A lightsaber blade can deflect another lightsaber blade and block its path.
A lightsaber blade can deflect blaster bolts. In most cases you will want to deflect the bolts back at the person who shot them at you in the first place, but it is also possible to deflect them toward other objects and people in the room.
A lightsaber user with a strong affinity for the Force has a distinct advantage in the latter situation. By using the Force, the wielder can anticipate the path of the blaster bolt and align the blade with that path prior to the bolt's arrival. Using normal visual tracking to accomplish the same effect can be far more difficult.
The four major components inside any lightsaber include:
The power cell and associated components
The crystal energy chamber
The energy channel and blade arc tip
The controls
Obviously a lightsaber contains a tremendous amount of energy -- far more than a blaster, for example. Any device that can melt its way through a three-foot-thick reinforced blast door in a matter of minutes obviously has access to tremendous energy reserves. Estimates range as high as several megawatt-hours of stored energy.
The source of this energy is a diatium power cell -- a device no larger than a roll of LifeSavers®. Diatium power cells are available from a variety of military and some civilian sources.
Surrounding the power cell is a power field conductor and the power vortex ring. These two devices work in concert with one another to move the available energy toward the energy gate. The energy gate controls the flow of energy into the crystal energy chamber.
The Crystal Energy ChamberReally the heart of any lightsaber, the crystal energy chamber is responsible for primary energy conversion. At least two crystals (typically of the Adegan variety) are used in the energy chamber.
The first crystal is known as the primary crystal. It converts the energy channeling from the power assembly and then transfers its output to one or more focusing crystals. The focusing crystals are held in place by the focusing crystal activator.
The crystal energy chamber is the reason why all lightsabers are built by hand, and then only in the latter stages of Jedi training. The builder must align the crystals perfectly or risk detonation of the lightsaber upon activation. Only through the use of the Force can the proper alignment be guaranteed.
With several megawatt-hours of energy on tap, detonation is of course a catastrophic event. For this reason, initial activation is normally done remotely with an inexpensive droid.
The Energy Channel and ControlsThe energy channel is where the actual lightsaber blade is generated. Energy flowing from the crystal energy chamber is converted to the arc wave that will become the blade. The arc wave flows up through the blade energy channel and past the cycling field energizers. These energizers are responsible for the gyroscopic effect discussed earlier in the article.
The refined arc wave makes its way to the blade arc tip and from there becomes visible as the glowing blade of the lightsaber that is so familiar. The on/off switch, also known as the activation matrix, as well as the blade length and power adjustment controls are typically located near the cycling field energizers. Using these controls, the lightsaber's owner can tune the blade for specific applications. Well that’s how one would work if they existed. But I’m not going to step on your dreams. Imagine away!
http://homepage.mac.com/dtrull/pix/tpm/saberbattle.jpg

Work sucks sometimes.

2005-06-06T19:18:00.000-07:00

Well Here I am in wonderful san Diego and trying to enjoy myself. I am working in a hospital and I thought everything would be awesome and such but of course, not the case. Instead they have me working records and boring hallway type jobs. Sad, yes. Unfortunate, yes. Temporary, Heck yes! I will only have to endure 2 more months of this. Although I must say, I shouldn't complain. My job is mostly me working on folders and files and in my free time (all 5 hours of it) is mostly me on the internet pretending to work. Actually I keep my co-workers entertained with my vast knowledge of news stories from all over the world. Its tough but somebody has to do it. (evil grumble).....

San Diego

2005-05-31T16:51:00.000-07:00

Here I am at My first duty station in San Diego and it rules. If only I had some wheels....

Why Are you reading this?

2005-05-26T10:32:00.000-07:00

I probably should have made this clear in the begening but this little section of the "Blog" Is dedicated to me and my life. Nothing interesting will happen here (most likely) and so that is why i have created the other two blogs for your enjoyment. You can find them in the links collumn to your right. Just wanted to clear that up. Thanks.
~Ian

My Big Day

2005-05-25T14:48:00.000-07:00

Today is May 25 2005 and I am getting ready to leave to go to beautiful San Diego California. Why am I putting something so strange like this up on my blog site you might ask. Well To be honest with you I am only doing it because I am excited. Do you care? Probably not, but if I cared that you cared then this site would be called "things I say to impress _________ (insert name on line)" Thats not the name of this though so if this is borring to you just stop reading and wish me luck on this endeavor.
However, I do have to go back to work in the Navy and who knows what I will be doing. I can only imagine something so terrible and so inhumane that everyone shudders when when they hear what the job is. Of couse nothing is as bad as i make it out to be, but in my case it probably will be. It will be something like cleaning the mold and buildup off of some 104 year olds rolls of fat because he/she will be to obese to move. (Shudders at the mere thought of it) well...... I guess somebody has to do it right? Now I kinda want to take a shower. I better go before I start dry heaving all over the place.

~Ian

Not really exciting at all

2005-05-24T15:11:00.000-07:00

This "exodus" Is really turning out to be pretty lame if you ask me. My life so far has consisted of nothing but talking about people with no lives. I must not be in my prime state for making this sort of thing. I will add better blogs, or whatever you want to call them, in the future. For now, enjoy your slow death. Hahaha!!!

Love
~Ian

This is wierd

2005-05-24T14:57:00.000-07:00

Ok so now this is the second day I have written on this blog thing and also the longest period of time i have ever kept up on something like this. I dont think anybody else will be looking at this so I have decided to write about things that probably nobody will ever care to read or know about. To begin, I just want to say that the only reason I have started this is so that I will have something to look back on when I am old and wasting away into dust. From what I take on all of this, this is a big website for people who have no lives and want to share their borring lives with everybody else who has no life so that at the end of time we can all look back on this and determine who has the worst life out of all of us. Then that person will get a $5.00 gift certificate to baskin robins and then the cycle starts over. Of course this is nonsense because if your life truely was terrible then you probably wouldnt have a computer to begin with. You would have to post blogs on paper and put them up all around town for everybody to see. But dont worry, i will find you person-with-no-computer and i will help you someday. Not today, and probably not tomorrow, but someday. Well I am going to go now, not because i have nothing else to say but because this is very borring. I hope to talk to you later, whoever you are.
~Ian

The Begining of a long borring journey

2005-05-24T00:29:00.000-07:00

As My first entry i just want to say I am really tired and I will captivate your minds with something else some other day. For now, goodnight.