On Downloading

I think it’s a good idea because it’s people trading music. It has nothing to do with industry or finance, it’s just people that want music and there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s the same as someone turning on the fucking radio, it’s the same as someone putting a cassette in a cassette deck when the BBC plays a special radio session. I don’t think it’s a crime, it’s been going on for years. It’s the same as people making tapes for each other. The industry is more threatened by it because it’s the worldwide web and it’s a broader scope of trading, but I don’t think it’s such a fucking horrible thing. The first thing we should do is get all the fucking millionaires to shut their mouths, and stop bitching about the 25 cents a time they’re losing. – Dave Grohl

Betta Max

For Valentines Day this year my wife got me a beautiful blue and purple male Betta fish that we have named Betta Max. (Hey I’m a geek. Can you tell?) I have been talking about getting a Betta for months now, but I never went through with it because I just could not decide on a tank for one. That did not stop me from doing research for one online to learn more about care and feeding for a Betta. The one Hannah picked out for me is a Delta Tail Male Betta fish. I had to look up what kind of Betta that was.

Betta Delta Tail- Male Also known as Siamese Fighting Fish, Combattant (Canada), Trey kroem phloek (Cambodia), or C lia thia (Vietnam). The Male Betta is well known for its jewel-bright colors and spectacular finnage. Unlike most fish, they breathe from the water’s surface with their labyrinth organ instead of through their gills. Delta Tails have a distinctly triangular-shaped tail with crisp edges and sharp angles. The tail of a Delta is symmetrical, and although the angle is generally wide they are generally 130ø or less in tail span. Anything more than 130ø but less than 170ø is considered a Super Delta Tail Betta. Bettas will “flare” their fins when disturbed or threatened. The male Betta will attack another Betta and have been known to attack similar-looking fish. It is recommended that only one male Betta is housed in an aquarium with plants and very little current.

Hannah really could not have picked out a better gift.

Together the two of us went to the local pet store where I picked out a tank and Hannah picked out some red Gravel, a plant, and an Easter Island looking statue.

Today I added a d20 to the tank. Hannah says I am projecting on Betta Max. I just feel like he wants to be able to play games from his tank. Who am I to stop him?

Wearable Art

Juneau Arts and HumanitiesMy wife is quite the creative soul. I find myself impressed and amazed almost daily by the ways she expresses herself creativity. One of the ways I have seen her harness her creativity is with a program called ‘Wearable Art’. The Juneau Arts and Humanities Council puts on an annual event called, ‘Wearable Art‘ where people create artistic clothing and for one weekend a year they show it off on a runway in down town Juneau.

For months my wife has been working on her second entry into the Wearable Art event. Inspired by her nursing career, she started sketching out designs for a dress made entirely from materials found in a hospital operating room. I watch as she slowly brought the dress to life. It really is amazing how her mind works and how she is able to put things like this together.

This past weekend was the annual Wearable Art show and My wife, along with her model showed off all the hard work that had gone into her dress. Below I would like to share with you some photos from the event.

The Current State Of Childhood

The current state of children’s toys and cartoons really bothers me. Maybe its because of my age and the fact that, I myself have started thinking about having kids. But whatever the reason is that has brought on this train of though, the idea of exposing my own offspring or any children to the current state of toys and cartoons that are at the store and on TV right now makes me sick to my stomach. I have talked about this in the past.

Being a child of the eighties, I grew up and felt privileged to be exposed to what I think are some pretty awesome toys and cartoons. Some of them just off the top of my head are…

I have some really good childhood memories of watching these cartoons and playing with these toys. Toys and cartoons that, to this day, I still enjoy and collect. I am really looking forward to the day that my children and I can enjoy them together.

When I turn on the TV nowadays, I am embarrassed by the cartoons (which all seem to be computer animated now and not hand drawn) that networks broadcast to children. What the hell is Sponge Bob Square Pants anyway? I don’t even recognize the Transformers anymore and their toys just look scary to me.

I am going to go on a Transformers side rant here. So bare with me.

Anyone who has been following my blog knows that I am a die hard, old school, Transformers fan. (TILL ALL ARE ONE!) Something about that cartoon and the toys just clicked with me on an emotional level when I was growing up and I think that is why I am such a fan of them to this day. It might be because it was one of the first toys my older brother ever got me. It might be because when you see an old school Transformer cartoon or toy transforming it makes sense. Just by looking at the thing you can get an idea of which pieces need to move where and when to transform it. I never needed an instruction booklet to transform a Transformer. Because of that the toys made me feel smart. Like I was teaching myself and learning something at the same time. But nowadays you open up one of these “newer” Transformers toys or watch one of the movies or cartoons your head just hurts. Nothing about it makes sense.

Whenever I go to the store, I always check out the toy sections (because I am a kid at heart) and I am applied by what I see. Isles of action figures that don’t look fun or easy to play with. I have also noticed that they have not moved from their shelf from one week to the next. No one is buying this crap. I find myself spending the most time looking at Hot Wheels toys because they are about the only thing in the toy section of stores that I used to play with when I was a kid.

One of the few stores that still carries old school Transformers products is Hot Topic. Whenever I travel down south from Alaska, I make time to go into a Hot Topic and I ask the clerk every time “Do you sell more old school Transformers Products or the newer Transformers Products. Each time for years the answer has been the same “Oh we sell way more old school Transformers. It’s hard for us to keep them in stock.”

Now if that is not telling about the current state of Cartoons and Toys I don’t know what is. I have also noticed this with Transformer cartoon DVDs. The local stores can’t keep the old school stuff on the shelves, but every week, I still see the same new school DVDs on the self right where they where last time. I said it before and I will say it again. No one is buying this crap.

Even Legos have changed over the years. How the hell do you screw up interlocking plastic bricks? Well somehow they did to the point where they are not recognizable anymore. It used to be that kids had buckets of legos from which they could build anything they could imagine.

  • Cities
  • Planes
  • Spaceships
  • Cars
  • Trucks
  • Boats
Now you buy sets to build Hogwarts, or some Star Wars space ship and that is it. You want to build anything else? Well, you’ll have to buy a different Lego kit. WTF?
My mom is currently visiting my wife and I and I was talking to her about the current state of cartoons. She had a brilliant insight which was that cartoons these days are one of the reasons why kids are failing in school (besides the fact that the current educational system sucks). She said it is because cartoons are killing children’s attention span. Eight minutes into a show and BAM, commercial. Kids can’t focus in class because there attention span only lasts eight minutes. I can’t help but think there must be some truth in that statement.
One of the reasons why I collect TV shows and Cartoons on DVDs is so I don’t have to watch commercials. The idea that my doing this might be improving my future child’s attention span made me happy.
What do you think of cartoons now a days? For that matter; What do you think of toys now a days? What is or was your favorite cartoon and toy growing up?

The Power Of Salt

Two things I hate are being sick and Canker sores. Sometimes, my body likes to hold contests to learn which one I loath more. While my immune system unsympathetically allows this to happen to me, I continue to try and find remedies to make these physical inconveniences as short as possible.

Last week I felt myself getting sick. Both my wife and mom where sick the week before and it all but knocked them out. I took care of them as best as I could while they suffered through sore throats, stuffy noses and fevers. During this time, I knew there was no way I would not get sick myself. So, in preparation, I started taking vitamin C. During this time I also manage to bit my cheek in my sleep which of corse turned into a Canker soar.

By the start of last week, I had a full-blown Canker soar in my mouth and felt a scratch on the back of my throat. I knew that if I did not start doing something to try and combat this soon, I would be laid up in bed and calling in sick to work before the end of the week.

I immediately started drinking a lot of water. I’m talking over 64 ounces a day. It sounds like a lot of water, but if you keep at it through out the day it really is not a big deal.

I also did some reading online and on that same day started washing my mouth out with salt water. This was amazing. It stung in my mouth because of my Canker soars, but shortly after my mouth stopped hurting.

So, in doing the salt water mouth wash a few times a day and drinking a lot of water resulted in not feeling all that sick this last week. I never ended up with a sore throat and even through I am only slightly congested it is nowhere near my normal level of congestion I have had in the past.

The salt water as also sped up the Canker sore healing process as well as made it tolerable to eat when the soar was at its worst.

Do you know of any remedies to reduce how long you might be sick or to make canker soars feel better and heal faster? I would love to hear them. Leave a comment below.