Thrift Store

I stopped in at the Salvation Army on my way home from the library today. The librarians decided since New Year's Day is a Sunday and thus they would have gotten it off anyway, they ought to take New Year's Eve off too, in order to get a head start on causing their New Year's Day hangovers. Watching the Rose Parade with a pounding headache must not be very fun.

Anyway, I stopped in at the Salvation Army to browse their book selection. As a connoisseur of cheap used books, I have determined that any thrift store worth its salt (on sale for $1.50, donated by The Salt Emporium in an uncharacteristic act of philanthropy) must have a copy of a book written by Rush Limbaugh along with the obligatory Tom Clancy and P. D. James paperbacks. I'm not sure why this is, but based on a small number of particulars I am abstracting a hasty universal. So if you go to a thrift store to buy used books (you can usually find some notable titles for $1), make sure they have El Rushbo on the shelf. And if you see any notable titles, buy them and then sell them at a slightly higher price at your local used bookstore.

Happy New Year! And Merry Christmas (because it still is Christmas, even though your neighbors tossed their tree out for curbside pick up right after they finished opening presents on the 25th.)

Vacation summary

I haven't blogged at all this vacation. This lack of words can be attributed to two things: no internet connection and a complete apathy towards letting anyone and everyone who cares about me (and knows about this blog) know how and what I am doing.

Well, here I am. I will try to fix this as quickly as possible.

I am currently sitting in the new "computer lab" in the Hanford Public Library. The man to my right is searching eBay for radio accessories. The kid to my right has a lot of ads in his browser with titles like "Which one is hotter?" I have four browser windows open because the enlightened folks here at the library don't know about Firefox.

I am doing well. Christmas was one of the best in years. I didn't get very much stuff but I had a great time, due in no small part to the fact that I must have played 20-30 games of pool with my youngest cousin Adam. The pool table is part of a 13-in-1 game tables. We got it either one or two Christmas (what is the plural of Christmas anyway?) ago.

I have been to the dentist for the first time in two years and my teeth are wonderful, according to Dr. Peterson, my new dentist. He told me multiple times I would be a great canidate for an expensive bleaching proceedure not covered by my insurance. He also called me "Bruce," my father's name, at least five times.

I had quite an eventful day yesterday. I woke up at the crack of ten, went to the gym, went to the dentist, did some errands around town, went to Visalia, sold the remainder of my rock cds for $129.50, closed the car door on a cat's paw after having locked the door and not having the key on me, and I also spent twenty minutes figuring out what to do about a stray dog which was wandering around on our lawn, trying to discern the best place to piddle. I finally decided that the dog would go away, taking my responsiblitities towards stray dogs with him.

I have to pick up my brother from an all-night computer/video game orgy that he and his friends call a sleepover. I will possibly write some funny and/or touching accounts of my vacation later. Oh, and Tasik, Caged Bird's Shaddow (aka Mok-san) gave me the heads up about that unknown personage.

P.S. I hate the Blogger spell checker.

Finals

In today's installment of "Something Completely Different," we join our protagonist sitting in the computer room of the library, pre-occupied with finals.

Finals are officially a mere three days away. It's not sinking in yet, but I will have to spend approximately ten to eleven hours this coming week writing in blue books, possibly less than eleven hours sleeping, and who knows how many hours studying. It doesn't help that only one of my tutors has handed out a study guide. For music, we have been told to know everything. Math is going to be philosophical. Whoopee. Oh, I've already contained my excitement to a small box, lest it get out and cause an accident.

Philosophy is also bad. The reason isn't the subject matter, but the uncertainty and confusion about what exactly is up with the philosophy final. Miss Zedlick had to go to Germany because her father is dying of leukemia. No one is sure who is going to write up our philosophy final, what will be on it, or even who is going to grade it. Lab on the other hand is dead certainty. Berquest will write it up, grade it, tell us what to know. And word on the street about last year's lab final is that no one finished in under two hours. Word is the test was murder.

So, like I said, I'm rather pre-occupied. But in exchange for hearing me complain, here is a funny comic strip mocking the UN.

Thanksgiving

Well, I didn't do any turkey day posting. On the other hand, every time I tried to get the computer to connect to the internet, it refused.

I had a good weekend. It all started with a nice drive up on Wednesday: Evan and I left at 2:00, arrived around 5:00. I needed to sell some books and CD's and computer games. I was able to sell only some of the books (the used bookstore I frequent didn't need any more copies of Hannibal or Treason, that one Ann Coulter book), all the CD's I had on me, and none of the video games. Apparently, both EB Games and GameStop no longer buy used computer games. Well fie on them. I did sell my copy of UT2004 DVD Editors' Edition to my cousin, so it wasn't a total loss.

Then Evan and I had a Harry Potter movie marathon: 4 movies three days. I think he enjoyed them well enough. I enjoyed the newest one myself, although I am still undecided as to whether the 3rd or 4th is better. I recommend seeing the 4th if you enjoyed the others. Watching the first Harry Potter again reminded me of how poorly it was made and how well Peter Jackson adapted Fellowship of the Ring. Harry Potter 1 had brief sparkling moments and a plot which felt tacked on. There was too much information crammed into too few scenes. But who wants to read a review of a five year old movie? I don't.

I also went to the state High School Cross Country Meet. It was a good time. Maybe tomorrow I will post pictures of the meet and also ones I took while hanging around Fresno with Evan and my dad. By the by, check out the latest Homestar Runner cartoon.

Now, It is my intention to sit down and play video games for several hours. I mean read the Summa for about an hour.

Still alive

It has been far too long since my last post (judging by the number of comments I have received at meals from friends). Well, now my paper is done, so I have more free time. I can't wait for Thanksgiving. I will probably do some blogging over the break, so if you care enough to read this blog, you won't be disappointed.

Al Franken

If you don't check Drudge, you might not have heard about Al Franken's latest escapades. Yes, the smirking humorist of the left is making waves. He has a video out for his new book in which a conservative is kicked in the groin, has a stool smashed on him, culminating with a beer bottle being broken over his head. The video is kinda funny, since Franken makes fun of people who leave negative reviews on Amazon.com for books that they haven't read nor will ever read. On the other hand, it's in bad taste, to say the least.

The second blip on the radar are his jokes about the executions of Karl Rove and Scooter Libby, both part of the entire CIA leak circus. Check out what he said on Letterman and on the Today show.

I've never read Franken. I don't intend to. But the titles of his books, the smug look on his face, and these actions are enough for me to wish he would just go away. I bet he's funny. Michael Moore's book Downsize This was funny, even though I was quite offended at a truck load of what he said. Not to mention that his rant about Corporate Welfare Moms was boring.

Can we just go back to politics as usual after Bush leaves office? Please?

Monday morning

It's still grey outside. The rains departed and left us with a continual grey haze which isn't thick enough to be fog yet isn't thin enough to be mist. It does add some character to the sky, alleviating the tyranny of blue skies without any clouds. However, as we know from Roman history, usually a tyrant will merely be replaced with another tyrant. If these clouds of mist/fog (I guess you could call it "mog" or "fist", but both of those sound and look really stupid) don't give us a bit of variation soon, then we will have another tyrant over us.

I wish Captoe was showing in a local theater. It looks good. Good enough that I bought In Cold Blood the other day. Unfortunately, now must think I'm either into books about actual grizzly murders (they recommended the book Helter Skelter to me; it's about the Manson killings) or that I am homosexual (or at least metrosexual) since they recommended Breakfast at Tiffany's.

I am neither homosexual, meterosexual, asexual, nor late for theology. But if I type any longer I will be late for theology. St. Thomas: "Deus esse." I couldn't agree more.

Little White Hate?

If you've seen American History X (which was decent, although a bit on the melodramatic side), you might think you have a slight knowledge about white supremacists.

Check this out: "Young Singers Spread Racist Hate: Duo Considered the Olsen Twins of the White Nationalist Movement."

That's kinda disturbing. On the other hand, what is the actual threat of white supremacists? Aren't they a rather small part of the population. Of course, one would say that even if they are small, they still can be dangerous. Still, it reminds me of a brief from The Onion: "Communism no longer considered a threat." In the piece, the reader is informed that communists are now less dangerous than Linkin Park.

How do you spell that phrase anyway: Seig hiel or Sieg heil?
I bet those twins would know.

Dons Ragged

Don Rags, a wonderful three days of restricted freedom--dress code still enforced, 11 PM curfew--and ten to fifteen minutes of out of body experience--having tutors talk about you, behind your back, to your face. This semester's don rags are over. With the exception of a few stragglers who haven't yet had theirs (last ones are on Tuesday), we have finished our mid-terms. Mid-terms. I don't even have any clue what those must be like.

My own don rags went very very well. Extremely little ragging. Instead of having to take slaps in the face with a straight face, I had to take complements without looking smug. A refreshing change of pace from last year. Last year, I had my worst don rags ever; probably one of the worst don rags ever. If you have ever been warned that unless you shape up, you may potentially be asked to leave the college, you should get the picture, because my don rags last year went something like this:

"Mr. Boyer is bright, buuuuuuuut..."

"Mr. Boyer does seem to understand the material, however..."

"One ought to listen to one's classmates when they are speaking. Mr. Boyer, on the other hand doesn't."

"If Mr. Boyer doesn't shape up, I feel I will be forced to talk to the dean about hiring a firing squad. Or an impromptu lynch mob."

"What do you mean hire an impromptu lynch mob"

"Well, even if we do study gravity junior year, it doesn't mean liberally educated students could actually form a proper lynch mob. I mean, what with the random pitchforks and fire brands and mindless oafs yelling 'Can we burn him! Can we burn him!' even though
1) this is an interrogative statement, so a question mark should be used, and 2) this is a lynch mob and not a burn him at the stakemob. I mean, these are dynamics which the average student of Aristotle just can't grasp on the practical level. They would be too busy asking each other, 'What is the specific difference of a lynch mob as opposed to a burn him at the stake mob?' and 'Well, what is the entomology of lynch?' or 'To properly understand the effect of gravity on the lynched once the lynchers have removed any support from under the lynchee (what is the Latin for that anyway?), do we have to postulate that a line is made out of points? Because if we do, then that is clearly absurd, and we wouldn't actually be able to lynch anybody.'"

(Pause)

"Mr. Boyer, do you have any comments?"

So this year was much better.

Raids

Last night was the latest installment in the most interesting dorm wars season in some time. We had some uninvited guests. Not a huge number, compared to the night of the Serriad, but at least a whole wing worth of dudes from Peter and/or Paul. I wasn't in the commons when they arrived. In fact, I wasn't aware of their arrival until they made themselves comfortable. Yelling, grunting, banging into doors--allllllllllllwaaaaaaaaaaaays bang bang bang bang as freshman roll around on the floor, locked in sweaty amateur wrestling--usually my door--grunting, freeing themselves only to be grabbed again, repeat process--all while they tried to force their way into the study room.

They wanted Paul Alarcon.

I can see why one would want to capture Paul, since he usually is involved with dorm wars, has a well-known face, sometimes gets on nerves (only joking though, he's only joking), and being assumed to be an easier target than Coughlin, well, it adds up to a reasonable plan. All plans ought be successful in some sense to be worth one's while. The crowd of freshman--was it only freshman? Do only freshman really still care while the juniors (we have maybe four sophomores in the dorm) stand back and laugh? At least mostly freshman tried to get into the study room while mostly Serra freshman pulled them off. A huge mass of sweaty, young faces all yelling, disrespectful quiet hours. Prefects, try to quiet them down. They didn't even make much of an effort. The noise prompted Peter Doran to place a mattress over Dan "Big Angry" Lendman's (how do you spell that name? I for one don't know) door. As this crush of humaninty leaned against the door, Max Summe jumped around like a monkey while making simian noises. I have no clue why this happened.

The basic rule of dorm wars: Superior numbers. Here superior numbers with regard to the study room door held, though the door didn't. Paul, fortunately, had presence of mind. He claimed sanctuary in the oratory. Sanctuary, what a novel concept! Protection by religion! A man can still have safety while praying, even if it is only because his enemies, like Hamlet, wish to strike at a more opportune moment, procuring the victim's damnation, or at least not damaging one's own PR.

Defeat for Peter and/or Paul. No abduction, no victorious extraction, no virtus to laud and celebrate. Then a quick thinker yells "Get the Dorm Tyrant!" And we had to rescue Doran from this mob of fresh men, they certainly smelled it, who were dragging him out toward the gate. Still, mostly freshman pulling and pushing. I did help out. Peter was freed, by crashing through the hedge, breaking it. Our shrubbery! We demand a shrubbery!

The night seemed over. Both Doran and Alarcon had slipped through their fingers. Then, to chase out the guests, Peter brought out the hose. How many people would love to use a hose to chase out guests who have overstayed their welcome? Surely many. Surely most. If one never thought of it, then having the idea suggested, there must be some appeal in it. Unfortunately, this attempt merely devolved into tug of war. Superior numbers only work when the superiority is used. The broken, disinterested freshmen (and some others) didn't all rally round the hose. The night ends with Jack spraying the wretches as they run away. Victory. Victory. Victory.

It does do a number on your homework, though.

Relativism

If you have any clue as to what moral relativism is, leave a comment.

I have almost certainly decided the topic for my philosophy paper is how Aristotle's statement that there is a true, objective, necessary good, which is determined by the morally just man, based on his argument about man having a proper end to relate to his rational function. Basically, there is a true, universal good for all men flowing from man's nature. Wikipedia is no help at all. They give descriptions of ethics, meta-ethics, value ethics, relativistic Meta-value dollar menu ethics. But not a clear concise declaration of what moral relativism is.

The pope harps on the culture of relativism. What does that mean? Relativism is the plight on society which causes people to ignore what the church teaches and do their own thing. That's the sense I get. If only everyone would listen to the church, then I wouldn't have to complain about relativism! Are you listening to me, all you relativists? says the pope. I'm going to write an encyclical or something and that's show them. I think I might have time this afternoon between my meeting with the Interfaith Understanding Coalition and the Ecumenical Ice Cream Social.

Normally, one is labeled "relativist" for saying that there is no objective standard of morality: I think it's ok to shoot babies.
Or is it something more subtle: I think it's ok to shoot babies. Who are you to tell me what to do? I am my own little God, and therefore I can make up the rules. And I declare that it is the perfection of man to watch Sex and the City reruns in my pajamas. And shooting babies.

The outline is due on the 17th and I still don't have a clue how I will pull this thing off. It seems more like a senior thesis: Aristotle's Function Argument and the Kantian view of the Good in Light of Developments in Airplane Manufacturing during the Summer of 1978.

Santa Paula Airport

Here are some pictures from my trip to the Santa Paula Airport on Sunday. I went with Evan, who apparently, is quite knowledgeable about airplanes (I think he called almost every plane a Cessna), and Joe, who is interested. I just came along for a good time.

Here is a nice one that Evan took.

What a stud. Do you think he looks like Brad Pitt with a long face?

An attempt to use editing software to accentuate the plane taking off. I don't think it works very well.

Joe and Evan.



Brad Pitt? No really, does he or does he not? (We spent at least five minutes discussing this).

And on the interior of the homemade plane....

How do these things get off the ground anyway?

Where's the fire, smokey?

The fire alarm went off this morning while I was getting dressed. I threw on a t-shirt since there wasn't time to button up an oxford. It was about 8:50, so the only guys who didn't have morning classes were juniors. They all staggered out into the courtyard in their pajama pants, yawning and blinking at the light. Some of them had not even been woken up by the alarm. No one, myself included, existed through the fire doors, because no one, myself included, thought there actually was a fire. One of these days the fire alarm might cry wolf for real. I don't think anyone will take it seriously.

I still exist

I appologize to any of you who wanted to read my thoughts and came over to this blog only to find that there was nothing new.

I've been busy. And sick.

Well, only kinda sick. I felt bad yesterday: Stomach pains, nausea, felt like I had a fever. I thought I had caught what Evan has. I haven't. Yet. Although I think I did puke some blood.

Vince with belt (swirl blur remix)

I spent several hours editing up this bit of goodness last night using the my trial version of Coral Paint Shop Pro X. Hope you like.

Ritchie Bombs

Too bad for you Lock, Stock, and 2 Smoking Barrels and Snatch fans. Guy Ritchie's latest film, Revolver, a return to the ganster genera after the really awful Swept Away, got savaged at the Toronto Film Festival.

Just remeber L4yer Cake was good.

"The reason you're not in there is because I like you."

New blog

Here's a blog shout out: Sir LinksAlot. This one is being done by ex-TACer Tom Von Cleff. I can't really rate it since it only has one post.
Check it out for youself here: http://sirlinksalot.blogspot.com/

And be sure to check out my hilarious summary of Act 1 of Richard II over at I am Maurice Chavez. Since it was rather funny, I put it on Maurice Chavez, since that blog was looking rather sparse.

Junior Philosophy

This class will not end.
I wish I could leave.
Virtue is its own reward.
Patience is a virtue.
I lack patience.
Therefore: No dice. Q.E.D.

"Senor Posture!" says Mister Slouch.
"Senor Posture, go stick your head in a goat."

News Link

Here are links to additional information from the brief in the TAC newspaper.
--John Boyer

Hurricane Katrina
Death Toll Lower Than Feared
Concerns Grow About Toxic Floodwaters
New Orleans Satellite Images
Wikipedia Information on Katrina
WWLTV.com -- A New Orleans TV Station. Frequent Updates
Yahoo! News Coverage

Supreme Court Hearings

Washington Post Coverage
Wikipedia -- About Bush's Candidate(s)
Podcast of Nomination Hearings
Information about Podcasting

Other News
Kofi Annan cleared of corruption
Oil-for-Food Scandal Information
Schwarzenegger Vetos Gay Marriage Bill
200 Insurgents Arrested in Iraq

Greetings

What is the rational behind common greetings?

"Hey Joe, how you doing?"

As I pass by Joe, will he really have the time to tell me how he is in fact doing? Will he want to tell me how he is doing? Actually, I'm not doing to well seeing as my mother died two months ago and I still haven't gotten over a disastrous love affair. I did just eat a good lunch. It was chicken noodle soup. My favorite. And that has me feeling better, although I have a doctor's appointment later today which I don't think I'll be able to make, since my car has been acting up lately. Additionally, I still can't for the life of me understand Galileo.

No, Joe won't say that. Instead he'll say, "Good" or "I'm doing well."

And then he'll ask me how I am.

The infamous sign. 

Wrong-Aid

I had to go into town today for several errands.

I hate going into town on weekdays. It always involves picking up a prescription at the doctor’s office and then heading over to Rite-Aid. I hate Rite-Aid.

Rite-Aid’s slogan is “It’s not a store, it’s a solution.” This is not true. It is not a solution, for a solution implies a problem already exists before the solution is found. Rite-Aid is the problem. They never have the medication I need in stock, or there’s not enough of it to fill the prescription, or they do have enough in stock but they misplaced the prescription, or they do have the medication in stock, there is enough, and they do have the prescription but their brains only function one day a week.

Once, after having to wait two hours and forty-five minutes to be informed that not only had they forgotten about my prescription but that they couldn’t fill it, I discovered the cause. They didn’t have a “technitician.” There was a sign by the counter. Upon seeing this, I knew not only the fact, but the reasoned fact for why they were so inept. It read “Accepting applications for a technitician.”

Here's a picture of St. Jospeh 

Mother Russia no more

In Russia there are now more abortions performed every year than births. It seems like the combined forces of communism, which ruined Russia's economy and morality, Secularism, and Poverty have conquered the former superpower. Even after the fall of the Soviet Union, we see that all of Europe has become more and more the same. Russia, just like the rest of Eastern Europe, is plagued by low birth rates, sluggish economies, Muslim terrorists. Russia still has a stranglehold on bad weather and former leaders with little goatees.

See if you can pass yourself off as Lenin or Joey from Friends.

Gas news

Looks like Drudge is up to his old tricks. And that's a good thing. The AP is claiming that Bush may be the biggest gas consumer. But then Drudge places these two little headlines:

FLASHBACK: Clinton Shatters Presidential Foreign Travel Record: 154 Days...

DRUDGE '97: GORE BURNS 439,500 LBS OF FUEL TO ATTEND 'GLOBAL WARMING' SUMMIT...

Nice.

Philosophy class

I never thought I would have enjoyed a Zedlick philosophy class as much as I did. Huh. The section seems pretty good although Zedlick did catch Shema and myself "having a silent conversation" which happened to be about how I couldn't understand why we were talking about bombing China.

New Blogs

There are two new blogs which I have become aware of. The first is one of mine, so I was aware of it ever since I created it. It is called "I am Maurice Chavez" and is a tag-team/co-op blog done with my former roommate Vince. Posts from here will be appearing along with the Drudge Report Unplugged, which I will restart as soon as possible. The address is mauricechavez.blogspot.com

The second is Michelle Johnson's blog. It is called SoCal Sun. I haven't read all the posts, but since they might be good. Since I know Michelle, I'm giving her the shout-out. Check her out at http://sandandsurf50.blogspot.com/

Seminar prep

I’m currently trying to mirror mangaviewer.com on my computer and it’s taking forever. This site is huge.

Vastly huge.

Vastly bigly huge.

Vastly bigly gigantically huge.

Vastly,
bigly,
gigantically,
enormously,
too-large-to-be-comprehended-in-your-mind-that-it-could-serve-as-an-
example-of-what-infinity-might-be-like huge.

And thus it is taking forever. If you want to start reading manga, check it out. I recommend Bleach, Naruto, Full Metal Alchemist, and Monster (although I’ve only seen the anime).

The upshot of all this is I can’t surf the web. It seems my computer cannot connect to any sites when I have 250+ active connections to mangaviewer.com. So I’m typing this post in Word, which Blogger now supports. Sweet.

Seminar in T-minus 30 minutes.
Engines? Check.
Booster rockets? Check.
Book? Check.
Review for seminar? Chec—oh crap, I’m blogging instead of review for class. Got to go. Hope no foam hits the shuttle when we take off at 7.

Seminar

I sit on pins and needles, not moving but waiting to be pricked. Anxiety wells up in the pit of my stomach. I am not sweating but check my brow nonetheless.My first seminar is tonight.I have Mr. Coughlin—I remember how to spell it by braking it up into Cough-lin. His appearance is far less imposing than his presence. The bald spot and friendly face are more likely to be found on a greengrocer than the man who penned the preferred translations of Aristotle. I’m not scared, only worried that I will screw up in class and place a invisible dunce cap on my head. Don Rags will be terrible. His shiny head will mock me.

I know very few names from my seminar. Knowing them wouldn’t help much anyway. I have no idea at all what I think of Don Quixote or what I should be thinking about the major themes. Part one of the novel has fled my memory. It neglected to leave a phone number or even a forwarding address.

I need a cup of coffee.

World Youth Day

The Pope announced that Sydney, Australia will play host to the next World Youth Day. I wonder if that has anything to do with the Archbishop of Sydney courting Mel Gibson…

Flame war

If any of you read Vince's Awful Blog then you know he clearly feels that my blog is something he must measure up to. I throw down the gauntlet and challenge him to actually accept my invite to a co-blogging experience! One where we can directly snipe at each other from the same page and do other wonderful things. Vince, if you are reading this, then do as I say:

1. Accept the e-mail inviting you to join this co-blog
2. Reject the works of darkness
3. And you shall be saved

Three. You have three last chances. I will send you another e-mail within 24 hours. Accept of suffer the consequences of not having our joint blog posts be part of Drudge Report Unplugged, which will deliver gobs of enjoyment to the readers of the dorm.

This new blog is called I am Maurice Chavez. It can be found at mauricechavez.blogspot.com

Freshmen

The freshmen are now all here. They arrived in a large swarm, families in tow, complete with mothers who wandered through the men's dorms and little children who destroyed the plant life. Admissions threw a barbecue for the freshmen followed by an ice cream social.

While at the ice cream social, I noticed something odd. There was a boy dressed in nineteenth century regalia--he had a long blue coat, red vest, breeches that went down just to the top of the calves, long socks, long hair halfway down his neck, and a cane--he was walking around, as if he had mistaken TAC for the local Charles Dickens Fashion Society. To top it off, his attitude was very much that of a high born Dickens character. Nose in air, slight strut, excellent posture. I was on holiday at my manor, but was dragged away to this little event here. He swings the cane a little. I was rather enjoying myself--survey the surroundings with mild interest--Oh, well, might as well make the best of it, even though all the rabble around here are so very lower class. I say, might that be some ice cream? I guess that might help me pass the time.

What I want to know is why do his parents allow him to dress this way? It's slightly anti-social, don't you think?

Regarding Baseball

The Western Division of the National League completely stinks right now, as evidenced by the first place team, the mighty Padres of San Diego, fluctuating around the .500 mark. This is not a sport but a bore and any sort of pennant race here could be comparable to a 300 meter dash where the contestants are sleepwalking.

The Dodgers, my team, have become a disappointment. After the wonderful 18-2 start to the season--this made me rethink, if only for a few days, my opinion of the trades the front office had made last season--the Dodgers have plummeted down into the depths of mediocrity. I cope with it by pretending the Dodgers don't exist, and so the boys in blue are now the red-headed stepchild in my life.

As a result, I have no interest in any of the pennant races currently and when the World Series rolls around, I will most likely greet it with a yawn. The fall classic currently excites me as much as a public radio pledge drive, which my local NPR station finally finished.

This post was originally slated for my other blog, but it was so original compared to my recent posts that my thought was "Forget that."

Weird comments

I just got three comments on my last post which had nothing at all to do with the actual post. What the hell is going on here? Have spammers found a way to intrude on post comments. I don't know whether to take these things seriously, as if someone actually posted this stuff, or if this was just automatic. The posts have links to a site called Hiphophavoc.com, some Christian newsletter that looks very suspicious based entirely on the design of the site, an a free software site. Totally random.

In other news, Vince, of Vince's Awful Blog, and I are going to be doing a joint blog which will definitely take on more consistantly humorous tone. You can check out a page full of absolutely nothing of interest so far right here.

Vince's blog

Just checked out Vince's blog--alias Skypilot, which isn't even necessary since he gives you his friggin name at the top of the page--and I heartily recommend it if you actually enjoy this blog. If you do enjoy this blog it is most likely because you know me and thus would know Vince. A bit much with the "mine will be more lively than Mr. Boyyyyyerrrrr's." Vince, if you want to tell me what you ate, fine. I'll read it. It's too bad Blogger won't let me comment on his posts. Oh well. Maybe we should do a tag-team blog or something....

Crazy news

Just reading Drudge and here are some interesting stories you might enjoy.

• People trampled in bid to get cheap laptops
• Authorities said the sale, which attracted 5,500 people, "had adequate planning." Apparently being run over was part of the planning--who really would have expected 5,500 people, I mean really--and it was all nicely planned out except for the 5,500 man bumrush. Seems being run over is just a consequence of trying to score some cheap iBooks.
• Nuns protest DaVinci
• Some nuns were protesting The DaVinci Code being filmed at Lincoln Cathedral. The notable part here is that although the "the dean of Lincoln Cathedral branding the book 'a load of old tosh' he has agreed to let the movie be filmed there. He and the church authorities said yes after the producers donated £100,000 to the coffers." Yeah, the book is "a load of old tosh" but that donation is a load of nice hard currency. I hope this movie bombs.
• Bush administration uneasy over .xxx domains
• Bush thinks that .xxx domains are bad? That this would be an endangerment to families and children? Wouldn't it just make porn easier to block if all, or most, porn sites--we're talking about a special industry here--had a specific domain ending? Instead of having porn sites with misspelled addresses like yhaoo.com (there's a reason I didn't link that), now we can corral porno all into one nice domain which school districts can easily block.

And that's all the news I care to type about.

Moving in

We have been given the green light to move into our rooms. Last night was spent arranging and rearranging furniture until it was just right--cool, hip--my pad will soon be completely good to go. Evan has a diagonal theme whilst I have eschewed the previous tunnel vision of freshman and sophomore years and employed a more spacious feel. The bed blocks off most of the entry, creating a barrier between those entering and those enjoying the comforts offered in my lounge. I'll be all set to move in by Monday or Tuesday.

Bad air day

The air here is horrible. There are some fires burning over the hill, veiling the mountains in smoke and casting the landscape in an orange-red haze. Prognosis: Controlled burn. The smoke gives the air an odd tint, making whites orange. It feels very dreamlike, as if I was walking around in a world of sepia. One o'clock in the afternoon looks like four in the afternoon, slowly edging up towards five o'clock--stuck in the sepia spell.

But Malaysia has it worse.

Babysitting is uncomfortable

Babysitting last night. Four children, all boys, between the ages of two and almost eleven if not actually eleven, home-schooled, culturally unaware, and worst of all, from Minnesota. The Minnesotan aspect is the worst. The kids have lived here in California for about two years and you would think they would have heard plenty of Californian accents--non-accents to be more accurate. Not the case. Instead, they all talk with a slight whine in their voices and stretch out the syllables--Mr. Boyyyerrrrr, you tallk funnnieeee. This comes naturally to them and anyone, no everyone who doesn't whine and stretch talks funnnieeee. Silly, funny, goofy are the only words the boys seem to know.

"Mr. Boyer, you look silly." Sillie. The second oldest, Matthew, is a complete nut. My comrade in arms, tag-team partner in this endeavor, Evan, who has seven years of experience with younger siblings who are home schooled, culturally unaware, and from Minnesota, calls him a goof ball. Evan can handle Matthew. I can't. I'm sillie. Matthew runs around the room making exaggerated noises, jumping around, pulling faces. He is a momma's boy on top of his nutty behavior.

"I'm going to tell Mom that you were being silly, Mr. Boyer." Boyyyerrrrr. And he probably will. Mom does everything differently and therefore correctly. "Mom doesn't cook veggies with so much water." "Mom lets us stay up till nine." "Mom said Michael shouldn't play with the crane."

Mom was told how Matthew was misbehaving. C'est la vie, Matthew. I definitely will never go into daycare.

Stumble!

If you have the Firefox browser, by all means get the "StumbleUpon" extension. If you don't have the Firefox browser, get it now and start using it. This feature is wonderful. It allows you to channel surf the web and discover sites you probably would never have found--occationally ones you wouldn't have wanted to find. Your bookmarks will fill up very fast.

Today's cool stumble is Neave Lab > Planetarium.

Yes, this is another filler post. Maybe later you can read about my experience babysitting. After babysitting for an entire day, I concluded that chairs are more comfortable.

Crucifixion to bag World Youth Day?

Here is a story slightly out of the norm. The Archbishop of Sydney wants Mel Gibson to stage the Stations of the Cross in Sydney in order to help Sydney's chances of getting a World Youth Day. Has this turned into the Catholic equivalent of the Olympics? I'm guessing Gibson will say no, since I can't see him supporting WYD events, but who knows.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050807/D8BR61DO2.html

Sorry for the filler posts, but I'll get around to what's happening to me first chance I get.

Movie quote hoax

Apparently, Sony Pictures, the powerhous behind such blockbusters as The Animal and Hollow Man--it is a good sign if you haven't heard of these movies or have forgotten they existed--has been taken to court by angry moviegoers. The masses have rebelled! Two film buffs fooled...now they're suing, claiming that they were duped into going to see some waste of time and now want $5 refunds.

I must question the decernment of these platiffs. Whoever thought Big Daddy was a winner probably enjoyed The Animal. This is bizare. But shame on Sony for making bad films.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050803/D8BODF401.html

Don't strangle the children

In the computer room of the library right now. I am the only summer worker. The only one here. The rest of the computers are being used by High School boys. Boys with know-it-all attitudes. Boys with I-am-so-technologically-hip-that-you-are-embarrassing-yourself-just-
by-using-a-computer-in-the-same-room-as-I-am attitudes. Click click click. Type type. Dude here's the best song in the world. No, that's actually not the best song in the world. I'll play you the best song in the world.

Then one of them plays the best song in the world. Oh, this song is rocking. Rock-ing. Yeah this is sooooooo coooooool. Another high schooler steps in. "Are gonna be using this very much longer?" No no nonononono. Not at all. You can use this computer now and listen to the best song in the world. Yeah go ahead.

No that's not the best song in the world. I'll play you the best song in the world. It's sooooooo much better.

I have been reading Tom Wolfe. Hence the style. Now back to work.

State Street

I have now seen enough of State Street in Santa Barbara to last me a lifetime. In the past forty-two hours, I have walked up and down this avenue of restaurants, bars, expensive furniture stores, and chic clothing boutiques at least ten times. There are at least five homeless street performers per block providing unsolicited music, a Starbucks on every third corner, and eastern themed shops with statues of the Buddha sprinkled throughout.

I picked up a copy of The Pump House Gang by Tom Wolfe at the Borders. This was quite a cool Borders: three stories of paperbacks and a healthy selection of mystery novels. Then it was off to the thrift store to browse the donated paperbacks. This thrift store held true to the rule of thrift store book selection. It was heavy on worn copies of bestselling murder mysteries and Tom Clancy novels. Picked up Elmore Leonard's Pagan Babies. I hope to get further in Don Quixote this week, so I'll sign off.

Mission success

Visited the Santa Barbara Mission today. The tour costs four dollars per person. A man stopped my father in the book store and asked him if the church was worth four dollars to look at. Upon further thought, I don't think four dollars is a lot of money to begin with, especially when it's not your four dollars.

The interior of the church was dark and colorful. Dark since there wasn't a lot of lighting. Colorful since the church had been restored to its "original appearance" using bright colors. See for yourself.

The sanctuary here and below the colorful paint.



Unfortunately the zeal for historical accuracy doesn't extend to placing the alter against the wall or having holy water fonts. Instead there was the cliched baptismal font being inappropriately used as a holy water dispenser.

Outside the SciFi Channel was filming a movie. There was a guy dressed like a priest and a man and a woman wearing stupid clothes and pretending to shoot guns at something just beyond the camera.

Going to watch Friday Night Lights tonight. Good movie. Highly recommend it.

Quiet consumption

Golata, CA.

The sun shines down on the mountains behind this extension of Santa Barbara. The mountains stand brown and dry, dulled by a hazy veil of "marine layer". The locals keep insisting any sort of smog or hazy layer is actually from the sea. It must enhance the real estate values.

The hotel is a Best Western. There is a continental breakfast served every morning. The patrons sit in reserved, awkward silence, not wishing to disturb anyone else. Personal space has a three foot radius. Each person sits quietly with a Danish or bowl of cereal. The selection is quite nice: Golden Grahams, Cheerios, Danishes, donuts, toast, etc. The only noticeable noise, from the air conditioning, in enhanced when two older women begin talking about grandmothers with belly rings. They do not appreciate the six foot diameter of privacy each patron has.

I eat my oatmeal. No one else is eating oatmeal. A large man with a stomach that is two sizes two large for his own good loads up on glucose encrusted donuts. A skater chews Lucky Charms. All the food here seems to be sugar in different shapes. I finish my oatmeal and have a donut. I am on vacation after all. Accompany that with some cranberry juice, and top it all off with another bowl of oatmeal. Ah, whoever said Wheaties was the breakfast of champions didn't work for the Quaker Oats company.

New graphic

For fans of Naruto, go find out what character you are.


Which Naruto Character Are You?
Test by naruto - kun.com

Chelsea Clinton worth 40 goats

http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-13394619,00.html

Santa Barbara

Hello from wonderful Santa Barbara!

I'm on a week long holiday here with my family and it turns out the hotel we're staying at has internet access in the rooms. So now I can blog while vacationing.

I've started a short crime story which I will be posting later in the week. Ok, well night all.

Detailed prose

Tasik has finally started his blog. It's about time.

His style is good. I recommend the second post "slow motion". Some of the descriptions are excellent, especially the last lines.

You can look for me trying to give this sort of slow lazy Garrison Keillor style description since this blog is nothing if not something completely different and Tasik has inspired me to rip off his style (imitation is the highest form of flattery, no?). I'll probably get board and go back to random off-the-wall posts, but look for something more artistic now and again.

Abandon Ship! We've been overrun!

It seems that this blog is going to be taking a more personal, this-is-what-is-happening-to-me tone.

Now to get down to business. Several unfortunate things have happened (and by several I mean two).

1. The college campus has been overrun with high school students, or, as I have decided to call them, cancer with legs.
   
2. Novusordowatch.com has been blocked by the school's web-site blocking software.

It's not that I dislike high school students. I was a high school student at one point and was quite fond of myself and my peers, with the exception of half of my high school class--I was rather bitter towards others in high school. I dislike these high school students because they are a large plague on the land, ravaging the food supplies, leaving messes in the commons, and generally acting like they own the place just because their parents paid $800 or so so they could spend a fortnight here pretending to be college students. Check out that link. See how many teenagers there are? Now imagine them all congregating fifteen minutes early for lunch and talking very loudly. While we summer workers eat. Maybe that doesn't seem as bad as I made it sound. Maybe you don't get annoyed easily. I will try to be nice and charitable towards them for the next two weeks. The first week will be very easy since I am going on vacation.


The second item is the more serious of the two. If this site was manually blocked, then this heralds a new reign of censorship here at the college. Just let that sink in. I'm probably overreacting to this. I have visited Novus Ordo Watch before using school computers. I am shocked to find out that this site which was previously "acceptable" is now

Website Blocked: Inappropriate Content

and cannot be viewed. Does this mean that any site which is vocally critical of the current papacy and the entire modernist movement within the Catholic Church is now rated at the same level as playboy.com? I'm guessing not, but if I find anymore blocked sites, don't worry, I'll let all three of you readers know (Am I flattering myself by assuming I have at least three readers? Yes.).

Junor year already

Does anyone who reads the TAC2007 board feel like we've already started Junior year, what with all of the political debate and none of us really knowing what we are typing.

Also check out Angry Alien Productions for 30 re-enactments of movies using bunnies. They're funny, but will spoil movies you haven't seen.

Justice Roberts, Come On Down!

So Bush picked Roberts. Now we can all sit back as the Democrats and Republicans try to be as partisan as possible while trying to appear as bi-partisan as possible. Remember kiddos, this is all for the sake of a divided nation which doesn't want a nasty confirmation battle.

Ann Coulter doesn't seem to be happy. The Left doesn't seem to be happy. Roberts appears happy in the photographs. At least someone has a smile on his face.

Coulter Complains

The first post is always rather pointless

It's pointless because no one is going to read it except the owner of the blog, not having told anyone that he has a blog yet. This post is where the promises of random thoughts, odd jokes, and potentially disturbing musings are made along with a promise as to how often the posts will come. This culminates in the first attempt at issuing some content and maybe telling the entire world wide web about oneself.

I will not promise anything. I will give no expectations so I will not feel obliged to meet any. I will give whatever I feel like. If you enjoy this then I am happy for you. If you don't then click on one of the links and go spend your time on the web more productively.