9/30/05
I can not beleive that i had never seen such a great movie like Gladiator. why didnt someone tell me how good it was. It brings new meaning the phrase "stick it to the man." i thought the ending was awesome. im glad caesar got what was coming to him even though he tried to cheat to win. the fight scenes were amazingly choreographed. all and all a great movie. if you havent seen it go see it now.
9/27/05
I really want to know whats going on in the NFL this year. Teams who were horrible last year are rising above the superbowl contenders of the last few years. Take Cincinnati for example. They're winning their division, a division with Pittsburgh in it. they haven't been good for a long time and now they're rising out of nowhere. another team is Tampa bay. they're winning the division over Atlanta and Carolina. and what has happened to the packers and the vikings. well we know what happened to the vikes but what about green bay. Chicago might win that division. and in the AFC the pats aren't first and neither are the chargers. the colts are faltering, going from being the highest scoring team and Peyton setting the touchdown record to having only 3 tds through the first 3 games. this isn't hockey where the teams got all shuffled. someone please explain this to me.
HOW-TO MAKE A CREDIT CARD PURCHASE
- Go out into any random store and start shopping.
- Take the things you wish to purchase to the check-out counter.
- Watch the cashier ring up the enormous expense of what you wish to buy with little regard to how much it will cost.
- When the cashier asks you to pay whip out your trusty piece of plastic.
- Swipe the card through the slot and follow the on screen instructions.
- If the cashier asks for ID, be nice and provide it.
- Sign receipt and return pen and receipt to cashier.
- Go on your merry way and forget about how much you just spent. You won't have to pay for it until later. And maybe you won't even have to. Maybe you'll have someone else pay it for you. But just forget about it for now and enjoy your purchase.
- As someone who just bought 40 dollars worth of vinyl this afternoon and then discovered he had a $120 phone bill, I definitely appreciate this how-to. - EschaTon
9/26/05 One Whole Month
Well its been exactly one month since we got here and now this seems like home. I went back home this weekend and it felt really weird. it felt like i was checking into a hotel for the weekend then coming back here to my home. i always refer to my dorm as "home". i went home and actually missed the showers because my dad put on one of those dumb massaging shower heads that only hits a small part of your body at once. the only thing i didn't miss was wearing sandals in the shower or the cold air when you turn off the water. i am curious if anyone else has experienced this. it felt really weird.
9/25/05
I chose the owl for my icon for many reasons. first of all they are highly intelligent birds. I admire all birds because they are free souls able to go anywhere at a whim. I love traveling and I would love to be able to fly. freedom is and amazing thing. birds also get to be in nature all the time. I am an avid outdoors-man and i would love to be able to spend all day outside in the woods without a care.
Wednesday September 21, 2005
Who knew weird things could happen at Penn State. Today coming back from the SALA building one such thing happened. as i was walking back to east halls i heard a noise above me. it sounded like a bird (and i love to bird watch) and i looked up to see what was it was. here it was a small group of crows attacking a bat. just as i looked up one of the crows hurled the bat into the side of the parking garage (beside east halls). the bat fell and landed on the ledge just above the first level. being intrigued i climbed up to take a look. it was still alive but barely. i went to pick it up but it opened its mouth as big as it could and bared its razor-sharp teeth. i decided against picking it up and went back down to get my camera which i happened to have had along for a project. i took a few pics then decided to go for dinner. what a great story for dinner.
I think this is the kind of bat it was. Its name is the Big Brown Bat. No lie, thats what its called.
Get More Info on Big Brown Bats∞
- Yeah, when I moved into my office, there was a sign on the door that said: "Attention! There has been a recent problem with bats in Burrowes. Please close the windows late at night." Apparently, they were sleeping under peoples' desks and stuff. Crazy. - EschaTon
Tuesday September 20, 2005
I would like to ask everyones opinion about rebuilding New Orleans. Personally I am only in favor of it if they can design a system that will ensure the protection of the city's inhabitants. Obviously the current one failed for more than one reason. the new system would have to be a drastic improvement. one of the main problems was that NO is on average 9 feet below sea and river level. its like a big bowl. bowls fill and need to be emptied. if an efficient pumping plan were implemented then water removal could be ensured. only if they can make NO safe should it be rebuilt. disasters like this should never happen in a modern world such as ours.
SetAbominae: They shouldn't waste the time and money to fix New Orleans. It is in a really bad location. I've heard that about half the people that lived there don't even want to go back.
One of the things that I've been interested in is the way a lot of people agitating to not rebuild are skating around the most logical point they could be making: that, around 2019, based on current models, New Orleans will sink anyway, as a result of polar icecap melt. Of course, the same people who don't want to rebuild the city can't use this argument because that would involve acknowledging global warming. These people have made a cottage industry out of not talking about global warming and seeking to actively discredit the people who do say it exists, so it is interesting to watch them fall into a rhetorical bind. - EschaTon
Monday September 19, 2005
This blog is to tell all you lazy people to flush the f#@$ing toilets. I'm so sick of walking into a bathroom to find unflushed toilets. how much effort does it really take. its a simple downward motion. JUST DO IT. if everything were as simple as flushing the toilet we wouldn't need to go to college. a two year old can do for god's sake. to all of you who don't flush (you know who you are) i hope you learn before you leave the comfort of college and go out into the real world.
Friday September 16, 2005
The death penalty is a very good thing and needs to be executed more often. too often death row inmates get off on appeals and even more often they get off even before they go to jail on some technicality. it pisses me off. boondock saints had the right idea as some of you have mentioned. killers, drug dealers, rapists don't belong on our streets and our justice system is inadequate in keeping these people off the streets. I would feel much safer with those types of people dead.
Final Project AIM Discussion
Thursday September 15, 2005
The worst sport to watch or even play is baseball. When you watch baseball you get a bit of action every five minutes if you're lucky. Nothing ever happens. And by the time something does happen you're asleep or bored out of your mind. there is just no constant action to keep someone interested for very long. America's pastime my ass. Playing baseball isn't much better. you still only get the chance to hit ever 20 minutes and unless you're the pitcher you rarely get the chance to do anything on the field. its a boring sport plain and simple. I'd rather watch tennis or play golf.
-yes baseball sucks, it's so boring, makes me want to sleep when i watch it. -mike jones
Wednesday September 14, 2005
#1
One of my biggest gripes about current politics is the debate over the future of social security. This is one of the few things I agree with Bush on. I want to see the privatization of retirement accounts because i don't want to pay into a program all my working life and then not get anything in return when i retire. By privatizing retirement, funds for retirement are more manageable by the individual than by the government. I do not think we should completely wipe out the current system but it needs to be reformed slowly so that the people who depend on SS now don't get screwed. They are the baby boomers and the source of the problem. when the system started their were about 16 workers to support every one retiree. now that number has shrunk to about 3. there is an obvious problem. if privatization does not prove to be the answer i would love to see what else can be done.
#2 From Serious to funny all in one day
In my opinion socks are the greatest invention since the invention of clothing. they are so versatile. not only do they protect your feet from dirt and from blisters but you can use them for other things like sock puppets. who doesn't like playing with sock puppets? but serious socks saved my feet when i went to Philmont. backpacking for 10 days in the heat, they really saved my feet from painful blisters. they also kept my feet warm at night and kept the bugs from biting them. as you can see socks have a multitude of functions from their intended use to having a little fun. Hooray for socks!
Tuesday September 13, 2005
I figured I'd bring an intelligent topic to the floor for discussion. One of the big topics in politics is stem cell research. There are convincing arguments on both sides and many misconceptions. I believe that stem cell research should continue but only in a certain capacity. Not all stem cell research uses embryotic stem cells. Stem cells can be taken from any healthy adult. Research using these stem cells may provide amazing break throughs in the scientific world. It is our responsibility to do all we can within ethical parameters for the betterment of the world.
Again I welcome comments and thoughts on this topic:
Thats exactly true, one of the many misconceptions, other that what you've said is that stem cell research would increase the abortion rate, because you can theoretically use the aborted fetuses for stem cell research, but we are currently not permitted to do so. This is one of the main topics that is in the middle of our Supreme Court, and it's also why there was a big fuss over Bush's nomination of Justice Roberts. -HimEros
I think, also, that we should understand that just because we feel morally opposed (and, by "we", I mean the government) to stem cells does not mean that research into them will stop. The Koreans, especially, are doing some amazing stuff with stem cells and are basically destroying any advantage we might have had in the biotech industry.
I think, also, that we should understand that just because we feel morally opposed (and, by "we", I mean the government) to stem cells does not mean that research into them will stop. The Koreans, especially, are doing some amazing stuff with stem cells and are basically destroying any advantage we might have had in the biotech industry.
Further, have any of you guys read the President's address where he outlawed stem cells? It's pretty appalling (especially coming from someone more than willing to sacrifice young lives in Iraq). Also, the justification that there are viable stem cell lines available for research now, is complete bunk. A large number of the stem cell lines "available" for research do not actually exist and never did and were merely used to pad the figure so that Bush's policy on stem cells would appear less of what it actually is: a ban on the most important medical breakthrough so far this century. - EschaTon
Narrative Remix: SheElff
So there I was jogging down the back country trail in Philmont, New Mexico watching my crew hike away down the trail leaving me stranded in the middle of nowhere. Let’s take a step back and see how my adventurous self got there in the first place. I decided to go to Philmont with my Boy Scout troop shortly after I had heard about it from so many other people including my dad. So I decided to take two weeks of my life and backpack in the wilderness of New Mexico. I loved it, had a great time and was thrilled that everything was so crazy all the time.
I had decided that I would try and see everything that I could while I was there. One thing on my list was to see as many birds as I could. I am an avid bird watcher and I wanted to add as many new birds to my life list as possible. So one day while we were in camp I decided to go off in the woods by myself and just sit and look for birds. Most of my group thought I was crazy and wanted no part in my expeditions into the wilderness. After being out in the woods for nearly an hour I decided I had been out there long enough and headed back. I got back to camp to find it deserted. I hurried down the trail just in time to see my group go over the horizon off in the distance. I yelled for them to wait but to know avail. Other groups looked at me like I was crazy but I continued with limited hope.
Well that proved to be a useless idea and my first thought was that I should probably panic. However, the calm, rational side of me said, “Nothing you can do, they’ll be back.” So instead I went back up to camp, snacked on what little food I had and went back to watching the birds as I waited for my groups return.
Well it turned out that after waiting a while my group came back and as I found out the my crew leader had needed everyone’s help to go pick up more food and they just could not find me. As it turns out I did add a few new birds to my list and now everyone just laughs when we look back on it.
Friday September 9, 2005
Americans in general are a bunch of lazy, obese pigs who only care about themselves. Yet most don't care enough about their own bodies to get out and do some exercise. They just sit on the couch and watch reality tv. They gorge themselves on fast food multiple nights a week just because its convenient. Americans need to take a time out and look at what they have become. The rest of the world frowns at Americans and their chronic obesity. If everyone got out for just 30 minutes every other day maybe the number of people with heart disease and diabetes would go down and reduce the number of obese people. I know there are some people that simple can not lose wait no matter what they do. It heredity but most of America can and should become more fit and hence more healthy.
Thursday September 8, 2005
Everyone is entitled to their own body. Some people though have a need for outside help from others in the form of blood donations. Donating one pint of blood is enough to give blood to three people in need after having surgery or after a terrible accident. Think of all the good you can do by giving one pint. Your own body is able to regenerate that much blood within a week. I problem is people do not know enough about the donation process and are scared to go alone. I say to those people take a buddy and donate together. It will only take at most 30 minutes of your time. That 30 minutes could save 3 people. Think about it.
Information on Donating Blood∞
Find a Blood Drive Near You∞
I gave blood last year at my high school...it took like 20-25 min and you get juice and cookies when you are done...I was and still am really scared of needles so if I could do it, so can anyone! -MonicaKras
Wednesday September 7, 2005
Every time I've turned on the news this week all they seem to be talking about is the disaster in the southern US from Hurricane Katrina. I am not saying that i do not feel for the victims of this horrendous tragedy but it is being over covered. I have not heard one once of news not related to Katrina and the relief effort. The American public does not need a minute by minute update of the events happening in New Orleans or in other southern towns. Aid does need to be given but 24 hour news coverage does not. People do care about the sad events caused by Katrina but they also care what else is happening in the nation, their own local towns and the world.
Show your support for hurricane victims. Red Cross Hurricane Relief∞
Tuesday September 6, 2005
I'm going to continue my ramblings on things I hate. Another one of my pet peeves is quote on quote "reality" television shows. They have come out with so many of them that the networks have saturated their programming with them. They aren't even close to reality. The directors and producers push characters to o certain things to instigate conflict. They tell the people on Real World to go out and get in drunken fights. They cast war veterans with antiwar members who have lost family members in the war. They breed conflict in a completely non-reality type setting. Hence it's NOT even close to REALITY. If they want to get reality they should tape real people doing real thing. Tommy Lee goes to college. Need I say more. Let me have your opinion on this either way.
Comments:
I think the actual phrase is "quote un-quote". It indicates, verbally, that you quoting something (which you are indicating with quotation marks, but that's beside the point).
The thing i really, really like about reality teevee is how much the producers of these shows are laughing all the way to the bank. Not only, as you point out, are they creating a sham reality, but, when you get right down to it, these shows cost absolutely nothing to produce (especially when compared with something like Battlestar Galactica (which is the best show on teevee)) and yet people sit around and watch them religiously. As a business model, reality television is brilliant. -EschaTon
Responses To Narratives
- TO: Squad514Blog - I really liked how you opened your story. It really had me curious as to what was going on and compelled me to read farther.
- TO: PeterGrahamBlog - Your last thought is deep and really made me think about what the world is coming to.
- TO: Sprint5P - Kind of a downer if you ask me but as to the cup coming to Philly I'm all for it.
My Narrative
A week before I move in day at Penn State for my first year the fury of packing everything I’d need to live for the next nine months of my life started in mass confusion. Boxes started to get filled and piled up by the door. My room became an empty void in the house ready to be taken over by whichever family member got to it first. As the week progressed more and more stress over packing came into play. Do I really need this? Did I get enough of that? Multiple trips to department stores for odds and ends were made in the days before I left. By Thursday night I was finally ready to go. I had said my farewells to my friends and I went to sleep in my bed one last time.
Next morning I awoke around eight and got my last shower and breakfast at home. We loaded up the van to the point of cramming things in every little nook and started off. Five minutes into the trip my mom asked me, “Are you sure you have everything you need?” I gave it some thought and replied with a simple yes and a nod.
Two and a half-hours later we arrived in Happy Valley. Tensions were high as I neared the point of being completely responsible for myself. We navigated the traffic and parked in the garage. It took only moments to unpack my life from the van and move it over in front of my new home in East Halls.
At that point it was time to check in. I left my parents and my sister and started over to the commons to the registration tables. As I walked over I reached for my back pocket to get my ID out of my wallet. That is when panic stuck. My wallet was not in my pocket. I instantly checked my other pockets to no avail. I walked back to my parents horror stricken of their reaction to the fact that they would have to drive back home and get it then drive back up to give it to me.
I returned bearing the bad news and all I got was looks of disbelief. My mom was especially upset since she asked if I had everything. My dad remained calm and we both went to the registration table to work things out.
After an hour we got everything worked out and I was issued a temporary ID card. Relieved that I would not have to sleep out on a bench and my parents would not have to make a return trip that night I went and moved my stuff into my new home. The rest of the night went on without another glitch as I got to know my roommate and the campus.
Three days later I received a small package from my parents containing my wallet. The manager at the post office asked for my ID when I went to get it. My response, “It’s in the box.”
Monday September 5, 2005
I feel it is my duty to speak out against Eagles fans and their arrogance. Everywhere I go all I hear is E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES!!! It doesn’t matter what the sporting event is or even what sport is being played; the chant still goes up. I’ve been at hockey and soccer games where the “famous” chant has been yelled. My question is why? Why do people have so much pride in cheering for a sub par team that will not be winning a Super bowl in the near future. With all the off fields problems the Eagles are looked down upon in the league, mostly due to the incompetent ass Terrel Owens, but that’s another story. So next time you here the Eagles chant give a definitive response of “Eagles Suck!!”
Go Panthers
Thursday September 1, 2005
So I guess we are supposed to introduce ourselves. I'm from Lititz, PA which is a little north of Lancaster. I went to Warwick High School. I was part of the chess club, and the JETS and Science Olympiad teams. I also played intramural soccer and was a member of the Boy Scouts. I am an Eagle Scout and a member of the Order of the Arrow. Some of my hobbies include reading, birdwatching, photography and listening to music. My favorite bands include Disturbed, Slipknot, Breaking Benjamin and Crossfade as well as local music. I love to travel and have traveled to many interesting places such as France and Belize. I plan on majoring in Architecture and going into residential design. If there's anything I left out oh well.
I chose to have a Sampling Plus license because it allows the use of my work but not for advertising purposes. I also chose to only share my work with people who are sharing their work in the same way I am sharing mine. I want my writings to be available for other people to use for the benefit them and others connected to them. If I am able to share my work with others and they can benefit I am all for it.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Sampling Plus 1.0 License.