I understand but I also don't

On my way back from teh Christmas holiday in DC. I was on a plane and the young black guy sitting next to me was having terrible stomach problems. He was going to tough it out but at the last minute he had the stewardess ask the captain to return to the gate. I completely understand, the kid was a marine and he needed to report the next morning to a base out here in SD. But the other passengers around us who didn't see him doubling over said he was faking it and asking him to tough it out, basically actiing like complete and total jackasses. Part of me really wanted to tell them all off and then start breaking heads. Show a little sympathy folks, if you were doubling over in stomach pain and couldn't keep any food or water down I'd imagine that the last place you'd want to be is on a 5 hour plane ride.

So we pulled back into the gate and he got off the plane, no big deal right? Wrong. Wayy wrong. The first thing that happens is people start talking about him being a terrorist, and wondering if he took all his things with him, two passengers were particualrly adamant about it. So the Captain and the stewardesses come back and talk to me about if he was carrying anything with him and that kind of stuff. I talked to the guy for a minute, and if he was a terrorist it wsa seriously the best diguise I've ever seen, he was a nice kid who was black and kept looking at his cellphone that had a picture of a corvette on it. He was wearing big black sweatpants that didn't fit, and he was completely polite to everyone the whole time.

So he gets off the plane, and people are freaking out, making sure his luggage from under the plane is pulled. At least two of the passengers are freaking out talking about terrorism saying that, "They want to wake up tomorrow" and giving the stewardess and gate control folks a hell of a time. This one woman gets in my face and starts quizzing me and I calmly told her that indeed he took everything with him and nothing was wrong. Well that wasn't good enough, her and her husband had to make a big scene and storm off the plane rather then quietly asking to be rebooked. I understand that this is days after a botched terrorist attack, but at least treat people trying to help with dignity and respect.

Another guy starts insisting that he needs to get off the plane to get food and that they just passed new laws that should allow it. Christ buddy, those laws say an hour and a half first off, and second off you've been on the plane for 35 minutes tops, including all the time out on the runway and the turnaround. I highly doubt you are starving after a 35 minute delay on a 5+ hour flight.

I can't stand people who make already confusing or stressful situations more problematic. I have absolutely no regard for people spazzing out and being inconsiderate, flying is stressful enough folks. If you want to get off the plane because you fear for your life then fine, just don't freak out and start accusing and questioning. If you are hungry after 35 minutes then maybe you should have planned a little better in the terminal when you were sitting there reading that copy of "Swank" for an hour and a half before the flight boarded (I might be a little more sympathetic if I hadn't seen you there for so long and you like had to rush to the plane). Lastly, stop being a jackass, sorry your flight was delayed because this guy was doubled over in pain. But that doesn't give you the right to be a d-bag.

Oh and the final result of the whole thing? I little more then an hour and fifteen minute delay, and we landed at 8:45PM, 30 minutes after our scheduled arrival time.

I don't know which I like less!

I don't like New Years Eve, I also don't particualrly like Valentine's day. It's hard to say which I dislike more frankly. I hate the falseness of Valentine's day, but that could also be because I've had bad experiences. I hate the pagentry of New Year's but that could also be because it ends up being a really busy time of year in my job. I'm actively looking forward to staying home tonight and maybe going to bed early so I can get up and go to work tomorrow. Laaaaaame.

This week's quiz!

I got 7/10! Answers hidden at the bottom:

1. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the government would be sending five alleged 9/11 plotters to trial in New York City, just a few blocks from where the World Trade Center twin towers fell in 2001. Which of the following suspects is NOT among the five?
Mustafa Ahmad al-Hawsawi
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed
Abdul Qadeer Khan
Waleed bin Attash

2. President Obama traveled to China for a three-day visit in which he discussed climate change and a variety of economic and strategic issues with the nation's leaders in Beijing. The trip, however, kicked off in another Chinese city, where the president held a town hall-style meeting attended by university students. Which city?
Nanjing
Shanghai
Shenzhen
Guangzhou

3. A government health panel caused quite a stir when it issued a report recommending new
guidelines on when women should get mammograms, a long-standing test for breast cancer. What switch did the committee make in recommending the optimum age for women (except for those in high-risk groups) to begin biannual mammograms?
From 40 to 50
From 50 to 40
From 50 to 60
From 60 to 50

4. Much of the air travel in the United States, especially on the East Coast, was plunged into chaos. What was the cause of the problem?
Baggage handlers went on strike
Snow hit airports in the Northeast, causing a knock-on effect across the system
Part of the air traffic control system broke down, meaning that computers could not communicate
A flaw was discovered in airplane tires, leading to the grounding of all Boeing 737s, the most common plane used in North America

5. NASA announced that it had found water on the moon, in the form of ice hidden under the surface. How did it make the discovery?
By using the orbiting International Space Station to analyze plumes of debris thrown up by a meteor that hit the moon
By dropping a large object from the space shuttle Atlantis and analyzing the plume of debris thrown up
By reactivating one of the lunar rovers left on the moon's surface and having it dig under the surface
By crashing a rocket on the moon and analyzing the plume of debris thrown up

6. Former U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, who famously hid $90,000 in his freezer, was sentenced Friday to 13 years in prison for taking bribes, the longest term ever imposed on a congressman for bribery charges. Jefferson, who represented part of New Orleans for nearly 20 years, was convicted of taking about $500,000; what for?
Protecting sex-industry operators in New Orleans
Using his influence to broker business deals in Africa
Greasing the wheels of development projects in New Orleans
Steering Hurricane Katrina recovery funds to businesses that paid him money

7. With heaping helpings of publicity, Sarah Palin launched her memoir, for which she was paid a reported seven-figure sum. What is the name of the book?
"Sarah Palin: My Life"
"Shootin' From the Lip"
"Going Rogue: An American Life"
"Way Up North: The Sarah Palin Story"

8. Famed New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick was left red-faced after a final-minutes gamble in a game against Indianapolis went badly wrong, thus handing the game to the Colts. What did he do?
Ordered a fourth-down pass play, which was intercepted and run into the Patriots' end zone
Tried a risky reverse play on fourth down, which was easily detected by the Colts
Tried a fourth-down throw by the punter, who messed up the play
Ordered a short passing play on fourth down that failed to get the necessary yardage

9. Hey, it's not even Thanksgiving, but the Oxford English Dictionary decided to come out with its Word of the Year. What is it?
Sweet: An affirmation that something has gone right or is particularly good
Unfriend: To remove someone as a "friend" on a social networking site such as Facebook
Kanye: To make a fool of oneself, as rapper Kanye West did in interrupting an acceptance speech at an award show
Rogue: To disregard the instructions of a party leader, such as the actions of GOP vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin

10. A group asked that they be put near the head of the line for swine flu shots because of their close contact with children. Which group?
Boy Scout and Girl Scout leaders
Mall and store Santas
Pediatricians
Teachers

Answers (Scroll over to see):

1. Abdul Qadeer Khan
2. Shanghai
3. From 40 to 50
4. Part of the air traffic control system broke down, meaning that computers could not communicate
5. By crashing a rocket on the moon and analyzing the plume of debris thrown up
6. Using his influence to broker business deals in Africa
7. "Going Rogue: An American Life"
8. Ordered a short passing play on fourth down that failed to get the necessary yardage
9. Unfriend: To remove someone as a "friend" on a social networking site such as Facebook
10. Mall and store Santas

It's good again!

I haven't watched a new Simpsons episode in probably 7 years or so. They had gotten so dry and boring. But my roomate was watching them last night when I walked in the living room. I'd heard that the show had improved and was actually funny to watch again so I went ahead and sat down for a minute or two and watched. It was fantastic, funny and engaging, like an old episode! I was actually laughing out loud at the jokes, which probably hasn't happened in the last decade. People are probably too preoccupied with how the show has fallen on hard times but I implore people to go see this reawakening.

It is amazing that writer's managed to take something so long running and stale and make it new and funny again. Maybe someday I'll recapture that magic with my writing? Unlikely but possible according to the Simpsons!

50 years...

In the last 48 hours it feels like my knees have aged 50 years. I worked out hard twice on Wed. in anticipation of taking a day off Thursday, but I didn't count on my knees feeling like someone took a bat to them all yesterday and today. They were so sore that yoga was quite difficult this morning for more reasons then just my inflexibility...

Oh sidebar! I snuck out of work for a couple hours this morning and went to a yoga class and it was fantastic. I mean, I'm terrible at yoga, but I felt so much better afterwards. And unlike some of the other places I've done yoga the instructor was nice enough to fix some of the things I was doing wrong. I feel so amped about it and I'm kinda trying to find ways to fit it into my schedule, which is unfortuantly cramped as is. Hopefully I'll continue to do it some more since it's so good for me, I just have to figure out if I can take time away from wrestling/ju-jitsu or if I can sacrifice crossfit/weight-lifting time. We'll see.

But back to my knees, I mean I work them hard as heck, but I don't understand why on some random thursday they decide to start acting up. It was like painful walking around cooking yesterday and hopping down the stairs to my neighbors place. I believe my next recourse is to work on them really hard this afternoon and tomorrow evening so that they feel better!

Thanksgiving is a little different out here

So yesterday was Thanksgiving and I did it San Diego style, which is a tad different. First of all I went jogging outside in the morning in shorts and a t-shirt. Then I made pretzels for myself, my roomate, and my next door neighbors to eat all day while we prepared Thanksgiving dinner.

After making pretzels and sometime in the second half of the terrible game between Green Bay and the Lions I went out and tried to surf but failed. What I really ended up doing was sitting in the sun, warming myself like an aquatic lizard aboard a floating rock. The waves were pretty brutal and lot os other people were surfing but I didn't do so well.

Then I got home and we put the turkey in the oven, and sat outside in a t-shirt and jeans. It was a little warm but I got through it. Then at 4 we ate and everythign was really good thanks to my next door neighbor's amazing cooking ability.

Afterwards we sat and drank and watched football. So I guess it's not that different.

Paparazzi

I think I might title all my blog posts after Lady Gaga songs for the rest of the month. Anyway, during ju-jitsu practice yesterday the instructor who was overseeing us going live was whistling "Paparazzi" while the group was all beating up on on one another. It's only slightly distracting to be in the middle of trying to deprive a man of air so he can breathe when you hear someone whistling a pop song. It's not even a manly pop song, and I know I shouldn't be talking since yes I have the Lady Gaga album, and yes I listen to it, I just don't do it when I'm trying to break someone's arm off.

Needless to say I called him out and tried to get everyone singing a different song (YMCA), which sorta worked. But it was really just a case of the song being stuck in his head and him being unable to stop whistling it. So in honor of him, the next time I go spar I'm going to play disney's greatest hits while I try to pummel someone's face. or even better, the next time I lift weights I'll start playing Ace of Base or the best of Britney Spears.

Sometimes you've got to find your own humor

Having a text discussion with a friend, and I amde a reference she didn't get (and I knew she wouldn't...sigh it was funny to me:
Her: "Good to know, which only proves my point further..."
Me: "Germans love David hasselhoff?"

Sometimes I wish my head was filled with less nonsense.

Just Dance

I love dancing, I didn't always, but I do now, deal with it. I'm not a terribly good dancer but I try very hard and I have no shame (shocker) so it all works out. I like dancing because many times it's somewhat mindless, and you don't have to worry about work, or stress, or anything like that. Infrequently you will have a night like I had Sunday night. Just a great night of dancing with girls and one very attractive woman. It's just a real rush to have people come up and dance with you, and it was bundles of fun.

I left early so there wasn't any drama and I didn't see any drunken hijinks or antics. I did what I came to do and went home smiling because of several fun surprises. The problem is, just like most things in life, when you have fun doing something you want to do it again as soon as possible. The problem with going out and dancing is that it rarely goes down that way. More often then not drama or drunkeness or stupidity gets in the way and ruins your fun. I'm not sure I've ever had two episodes of going out and dancing be super successful and fun.

So now I've got this feeling of dread and excitement for this weekend. The dread part is terrible because I should never go into an event dreading the outcome. That's defeatist and bullshit, but it's also a pattern I've noticed in the almost 27 years of being me. This weekend I'll be going out twice guarenteed, which is a ton for me. At most I usually make it out once every third week. So I'm excited for all the fun I had last time I went dancing, and I really do hope to have fun, but the odds aren't on my side.

Oh and also, if you are engaged to a guy, and you come up to a guy in a club and basically rape/dance with me, that's messed up. You shouldn't be dancing that naughty with some random dude in the club and then slip your ring on later. That's broke and I feel bad for your husband to be. Also the way you dance was scandelous but goddamn hot.

Don't Judge me Based on my ipod

The following is a list of the only songs on my ipod for the last 3 weeks:
American Boy - Estelle featuring Kayne West
Help I'm Alive - Metric
The entire album "The Fame" - Lady Gaga


That's it! I should have my man card removed but to be fair I'm really lazy when it comes to loading songs from cds on there.

The Perfect Storm

Thusfar today I would like something to work like it is supposed to. So far the following have failed to work:
- My work e-mail account and roaming profile, both have failed to work today and need to be remapped.
- My e-mail profile, I now have like 4 inboxes and 100000000 other folders, some archives hold some mail, some hold the rest of it, it's a little unclear where everything is and search takes 1000 years.
- My profile on the new financial system at work...doesn't have all the roles or abilities I need and it keeps bugging out when I try to map to things.
- The time keeping system at work is not working for me, apparently I cannot entire time and get paid, cool.
- My penis, hasn't worked in years.
- The IT budget system is apparently not working.

All in all it could only be worse if my car broke down and then my computer/iphone caught fire and then my tv blew up. All of which I expect to have happened when I go home this evening.

Someone is going to get it

I don't know who and I don't know why, but I'm at this point where the next person who sets me off is going to be in trouble. It won't happen at work, but someone not at work is going to pay for others sins. They can't help it, they probably don't deserve it, they probably are innocent as far as it is concerned. But the next person who accidentally elbows me in ju-jitsu, or the next person who says something smart is going to not have a great day.

Don't ask why, don't think that deserves has anything to do with it. It's pure pent up aggression on my part based on all kinds of things. It's pent up, and there's only so many months before I have to take it out. It's nothing personal man, just wrong place wrong time.

This weeks quiz (I got 5/10)

Once again I'm bad at the details in the following quiz:

1. Good news for the Golden Arches as McDonald's profit climbed 6 percent in the third quarter and the company credited which product for the boost?
Angus burgers
Specialty coffees
Value menu items
All of the above

2. What company has announced that Douglas Oberhelman, a 34-year veteran of the firm, will become the its new CEO, replacing Jim Owens, on July 1?
Caterpillar
Pfizer
RCA
Walgreens

3. While the third-quarter drop in landline customers was expected, analysts anticipated AT&T would add about 1.5 million wireless subscribers. How many did the company actually add?
500,000
1 million
2 million
2.5 million

4. Hoping it might be the perfect 10, Boston Beer Co., maker of Samuel Adams, will team up with brewery from what country to jointly produce a new craft beer to be marketed next spring with an alcohol content of 10 percent?
Australia
Canada
Germany
Ireland

5. As unemployment rates rose last month in 23 states and fell in 19 as the economy struggled to create jobs in the early stages of recovery, which state had the highest unemployment rate at 15.3 percent?
California
Michigan
Nevada
Rhode Island

6. If you are in the market for a sports utility vehicle, Motor Trend Magazine would like to steer you in the direction of which SUV that it has picked as No. 1?
Edge
Forester
Outback
Pilot

7. It was a soft soft drink market for Coca Cola but sales outside of the company's home turf of North America helped profit inch higher in the third quarter, although overall sales fell as the stronger dollar continued to take a toll on revenue. What percentage of Coca Cola's sales come from North America?
One fifth
One quarter
One third
One half

8. Sun Microsystems says it plans eliminate up to how many jobs over the next year as it awaits a takeover by Oracle Corp.?
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000

9. Despite the fact that air traffic picked up in September, which airline announced a third quarter loss of $18 million?
American
Continental
Delta
United

10. Volkswagen has its eye on the prize, which would be No. 1 in world auto sales, as Toyota sputters. To this end, VW is planning to open a new plant in which U.S. state in 2011?
Alabama
North Carolina
Oklahoma
Tennessee

Answers (Scroll over to see):

1. All of the above
2. Caterpillar
3. 2M
4. Germany
5. Michigan
6. Outback
7. 1/4
8. 3,000
9. Continental
10. Tennessee

No Costume Yet

Boy I am really waiting till the last minute once again to figure out what I'm going to be. At this point I'm seriously considering staying home and playing video games. At this point I may go with zombie, since it's easy and I have to mangle a pair of jeans and a dress shirt. Not too hard, easy to figure out, not cumbersome. Yup sounds great!

Hush Now Sweet Prince

So there was a death in my family this last week and I'm a little broken up about it. I knew this day would come and honestly I'm a little surprised it didn't happen sooner. But it still leaves a void of emptiness in my heart.

On Sunday afternoon October 18th my Bacardi glass died.

It's hard to be too sad, he led a good life, being the glass that I used for mixing all my drinks since my junior year in college. He'd been with me in the best of times, like when we would party with friends for whatever occasion, or have a few drinks before going out. He was also there in the worst of times, like when I was so depressed that I would start drinking on a saturday night and instead of going out I would black out by myself. But he was a good drink glass, and I'm going to miss him.

He was received as a promotional glass when I bought a bottle of bacardi during my junior year of college, during the height of the Bacardi and Cola marketing campaign, which coincided with a heavy rum drinking phase at the time. He managed to survive my entire senior year of college, in which I used and abused him alot. After college when I was still drinking pretty regularly on the weekends he was always there, surviving every spill, drop, dishwashing.

In the last couple years as my alcohol consumption has dropped way down, but Bacardi was still there, acting as a water glass by my bedside, always keeping a vigilant watch over my not sleeping form. Like a security blanket I knew he was always there to quench my thirst in the middle of the night. And now he's gone and it's not the same.

In the end it was something minor that ended his life, he got tipped over on the counter while I was washing dishes. And he shattered, laying there in several pieces like a prince of men who was just hit by a car, or a talking egg who fell from a wall. I'll miss you buddy, but there will always be the memories.

Current Events

So someone in our office sends out a weekly quiz almost every thursday, it's ten questions, usually multiple choice and originally she was borrowing questions from "Are you smarter then a fifth grader?" Well I won the quiz about 7 weeks in a row so I'm now banned from winning which is comical because the quiz has changed from Fifth grade questions, to more current events stuff. Which I have very little eye for extreme details. Take this weeks quiz:

1. President Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize for what the awarding committee said were "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples." He becomes the fourth American president to be honored with the award; which of the following is NOT among them?
Theodore Roosevelt
Woodrow Wilson
John F. Kennedy
Jimmy Carter

2. The kidnapping at knifepoint of a four-day-old baby from its Nashville, Tenn., home ended happily when the infant was found three days later in neighboring Alabama. The mother of the child said the kidnapper had posed as a uniformed government official before pulling a knife and snatching the baby. What division of government?
The Tennessee State Police
The Inland Revenue Service
The Nashville Police Department
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service

3. A member of the French government, Frederic Mitterand, found himself in hot water when opponents surfaced a segment from a four-year-old autobiography in which he admitted he had paid for sex with young male prostitutes in Thailand. What position does he hold in the cabinet of President Nicolas Sarkozy?
Justice minister
Culture minister
Education minister
Minister of defense

4. Major League Baseball entered its postseason phase, but not before an extra game was played to decide the American League Central Division, which was tied between the Minnesota Twins and the Detroit Tigers after the regular season. The game was a back-and-forth, extra-innings thriller that ended in a 6-5 win for the Twins. In which inning did it end?
10th
11th
12th
13th

5. After a five-month trial, the 85-year-old son of New York philanthropist and socialite Brooke Astor was found guilty of looting his Alzheimer's-ridden mother's estate, a verdict that could send him to jail for as many as 25 years. What is the son's name?
Anthony Astor
Vincent Astor, Jr.
Anthony Marshall
Philip Marshall

6. NASA is known for its soft landings of men and spacecraft onto the moon. Not this time. The space agency deliberately smashed a rocket and satellite into the moon's south pole. For what reason?
As part of a test to see if the same could be done on Mars
To disturb the moon's surface and determine if there is any ice underneath
To get rid of space junk that had been floating around the earth and threatening the International Space Station
To destroy a Russian probe landed in the area in the Sixties that NASA feared was being used as a signaling device for nuclear missiles by Iran

7. Disgraced football player Michael Vick, just back in the National Football League after serving a prison sentence for running a dogfighting ring, landed a TV show that will highlight his life and his comeback with the Philadelphia Eagles. On what channel will it be shown?
Fox
Bravo
TLC (The Learning Channel)
BET (Black Entertainment Television)

8. A museum in Lima, Peru, offered a no-questions-asked $2,000 reward after a body part was stolen from its version of the controversial "Bodies" exhibition, a collection of Chinese cadavers preserved through a process that replaces water in tissues with polymers. What part went missing?
A lung
A head
A forearm
A sexual organ

9. American pianist and singer Harry Connick Jr. became red-faced with anger as he judged a talent show in which four white men in afro wigs and blackface sang and danced behind a Michael Jackson impersonator in whiteface as they did a Jackson 5 skit. In which country did the incident happen?
Australia
England
Canada
Ireland

10. A Mideast man who bragged about his sex life -- including losing his virginity at 14 -- was sentenced to five years in jail and 1,000 lashes after being found guilty of transgressing morals laws. In what country was the sentence handed down?
Iran
Oman
Yemen
Saudi Arabia

What's funny is I knew every single one of these stories, what I didn't know was the exact details. So I did poorly on this quiz (4/10) but I don't feel terrible because I at least know about the news. But then I got to thinking...Marty...what happened to your attention to detail. You used to be able to quote off the who/what/where/when/why of a story easily, and right now you can get the what and the why...2/5 is riding the Mendoza line, and that's never good. I guess I need to sharpen up on my current events.

Answers: (Scroll over them to see them)

1. John F. Kennedy
2. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service
3. Culture minister
4. 12th
5. Anthony Marshall
6. To disturb the moon's surface and determine if there is any ice underneath
7. BET (Black Entertainment Television)
8. A lung
9. Australia
10. Saudi Arabia

Phew

Rotten Tomatoes came out with it's 100 worst movies of the decade.

I look over that list and see a minefield of movies I have never seen. Yes that's correct, the number of movies on that list that I've seen is zero. As in none, not one. I'd like to thank my brain for being smart enough to guide me away from these terrible movies. Which is a remarkable feat considering how many bad movies I like from the 90's. I'd like to thank myself for having much better judgement this decade then last, when I watch movies like Bio-Dome, and anything with Pauly Shore. I just feel so relieved that I haven't paid or spent any time to watch any of these 100 movies. Let's hope the next decade is just as successful.

There goes my Halloween idea

A couple weeks ago and friend and I were watching TV when that SNL skit about Chippendale's dancer's came on. You know the one where it's Chris Farley and Patrick Swayze and they dance to "Working for the Weekend". Then they decide to hire Swayze because he's got a "much much better body". A light in my head went on and my friend and I talked about one of us being Patrick Swayze and one of us being Chris Farley and going around dressed like Chippendale's (I would be Farley by the way). Unfortuantly due to the passing of Patrick Swayze we won't be able to do that costume. I for one don't like to make jokes on the recently deceased, and also I refuse to do a costume that now everyone is going to try. You'll probably see 50 Swayze's out there this year...or Michael Jackson's, or whatever.

Oh well back to the drawing board. Also I'm sorry Swayze died, "To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar" is my favorite Swayze movie although I like "The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" better. Odd that the two best drag queen movies came out in back to back years.

I literally fell out of bed this morning

So in an effort to start my week off correctly this morning (monday) I stepped out of bed and fell flat on my face, which made a loud noise at about 5:15 this morning. I laid there for a few seconds after my crash to revel in the joy that was my life. The reason I fell was that my calf cramped up while doing ju-jitsu on saturday after I spent the morning running stairs at the convention center downtown. Muscle cramps leave your muscles destroyed for usually a couple of days afterward. So Sunday I had problems walking around because of my calf. If you don't use a muscle that has had a cramp you can't just go back into using it right away, and when I tried to use my calf to walk this morning I didn't do so very successfully. Luckily nobody will know of my folly since I was by myself and I don't have to tell anyone.

"We're going to teach you to be rebels. Not with guns and daggers, but with science and technology."

Dr. Norman Borlaug Died

My favorite scientist of all time is Louis Pasteur, who's innovation and studies on immunization and the spread of germs have probably saved millions if not billions since his discoveries. But my second favorite scientist of all time is Norman Borlaug. A man who is directly responsible for saving somewhere between 250 million and 1 billion lives on this planet. Not too shabby. Dr. Borlaug developed semi-dwarf high-yield, disease-resistant wheat varieties notably in Mexico, India, and then Asia and Africa. He was responsible from turning Mexico into a nation that imported wheat in vast quantities, to a nation that was able to be self sufficient and even export wheat to other countries. In the mid-1960s, the Indian subcontinent was experiencing widespread famine and starvation despite the U.S. making emergency shipments of millions of tons of grain, including over one fifth of its total wheat, to the region. Due to Dr. Borlaug's work India and Pakistan went from dire famine, to being wheat self sufficient by 1974...

He also wrote a hypothesis that was supposed to aid in the fight against deforestation, "increasing the productivity of agriculture on the best farmland can help control deforestation by reducing the demand for new farmland." There's some debate as to whether that holds true or not but it is a pretty powerful thought.

Dr. Borlaug was not without his critics, many dislike his cross-breeding of wheat for one thing, many also dislike that he brought large crop farming industry to countries that had previously relied on smaller subsistence farmers. Also that he helped huge US agribusiness companies make unseemly profits off the need of other nations and that his new farming techniques have led to greater irrigation problems and deforestations. I see both sides of the argument, but let me put it this way, the goal for him was to solve a problem, and for the time being he solved the shit out of that problem. That problem was to stem starvation and increase wheat yields in places in the world where people were quite literally starving to death. His cross-breeding and research have led to some of the largest countries in the world being able to have enough food to feed everyone in their country. The man best says it himself:

"Some of the environmental lobbyists of the Western nations are the salt of the earth, but many of them are elitists. They've never experienced the physical sensation of hunger. They do their lobbying from comfortable office suites in Washington or Brussels. If they lived just one month amid the misery of the developing world, as I have for fifty years, they'd be crying out for tractors and fertilizer and irrigation canals and be outraged that fashionable elitists back home were trying to deny them these things".

He also had further concerns for the future, which are well justified: "Most people still fail to comprehend the magnitude and menace of the 'Population Monster' ... If it continues to increase at the estimated present rate of two percent a year, the world population will reach 6.5 billion by the year 2000. Currently, with each second, or tick of the clock, about 2.2 additional people are added to the world population. The rhythm of increase will accelerate to 2.7, 3.3, and 4.0 for each tick of the clock by 1980, 1990, and 2000, respectively, unless man becomes more realistic and preoccupied about this impending doom. The tick-tock of the clock will continually grow louder and more menacing each decade. Where will it all end?"

How many people can honestly say they left the world a much better place? It's not too often you can stop and say, "Look at what he did, without him the world would be an exponentially worse place." He certainly won't get all the press and accords of a Michael Jackson, but he should.

My Other Ride is Unmanned

As I was driving out of the parking lot at lunch time to go do ju-jitsu today I saw maybe my favorite bumper sticker of all time. It said "My other ride is unmanned" which for the majority of the population means jack. But for the psuedo-science Navy inclined folks like myself, it's a cool bumper sticker. I've spent no small amount of my career dealing with unmanned vehicles, whether they be air, water, or even land. From the developmental research stages to depolyment some of the programs I've really been the financial analyst since inception till deployment. So I was tickled pink when I saw the bumper sticker and I kinda want one now and there's like 100 people in the country who would laugh at it.

Sometimes my Navy finance jokes don't go over so well...

I used to be good

I wonder if other people who write feel this way, but I read some of my old stuff from 2007/2008 and think it's much better/funnier then the crap I'm writing now. I keep thinking I've grown as a person since then but how can that be true if my writing hasn't gotten any better and in fact has gotten significantly worse in my opinion. Stupid salad days.

Labour Day Weekend

You know how sometimes you get a long weekend and it's really productive? Yeah I didn't manage to do that this weekend. It wasn't totally worthless, I didn't rage the entire weekend, I just didn't accomplish anything other then generally trying to be a gentleman and going to the gym. So while I had my lofty goals set to try and cure cancer, it is more likely that insread of shooting the moon down I just kinda managed o not infect the world with rabies. So I didn't do anything good, just nothing too bad. I danced alot, but didn't catch up on my reading. I went to the store and my living room looks really nice now, but I didn't hang all the paintings I have in the house, I also didn't clean the whole place. I didn't go out and eat junk food all weekend, but I didn't really eat healthy either although I cooked what I thought was a pretty good skirt steak for a BBQ on Saturday.

So all in all I'll give this weekend a C for accomplishments. Also there's a joke in the title of this post, sometimes I think I'm so damn witty.

Back at it

For the 4th year I'll be writing a weekly college football column. It sucks and you'll actually get dumber reading it. But it can be found here:http://www.fatkidmusings.blogspot.com/

Ahhh real football.

If I had a genie who would give me three wishes

1) 32 Hours of uninterrupted blissful sleep

2) Maybe a sandwich of some kind

3) The still beating heart of Jeff Gordan

Been Awhile

I think my heart has more or less shrivelled up and died. It's been so damn long since I've been anything but alone it's kinda scary and depressing. But I don't have the desire to be near someone and I completely balk at the chance to ask anyone out or do something social with a girl. It sounds fucking dumb but I'm not sure I would have any idea what to do in a relationship anymore, I've been dating myself for so long. I used to miss all the things you could do when you are in a relationship but now I don't even remember what those things were. Most of all I certainly don't feel like having my heart trampled on again. It's been years....

Also I haven't watched the Muppets in awhile, I'm not sure I'm ready to start doing that again either.

Flash Gordon

So I watched Flash Gordon this weekend late at night. It's a fantastic movie (if you are in to campy sci-fi, although it's representing the comic book so it's not really campy, whatever) and when I was bored last night I looked at imdb to figure out what all the actors who were in it were doing now. That's when I chanced upon this brilliant review, which rated the movie 10 stars:

"Dino DeLaurentiis' Flash Gordon is one of those rare movies that captures the imagination of the viewer, and doesn't let go until the final moments. It truly has everything you could ever want in a movie: compelling plot (the QB of the New York Jets has approximately 24 hours to save the Earth from total annihilation), violence, gore, great acting (Timothy Dalton, Brian Blessed, Max Von Sydow), action (the "Football Fight" in Ming's palace), drama, sexual situations (Princess Aura seducing Flash in her rocket, Dale Arden in Ming's bedroom), and babes (Ornella Muti as Princess Aura, and Melody Anderson as Dale Arden.) What more can you ask for in a movie? Nothing, I tell you, NOTHING!!! Actually, having read other comments elsewhere, I am extremely disappointed in the almost universal panning of the 2 leads, Sam J. Jones and Melody Anderson. These two fine actors put forth a masterful performance, and made you really believe the situations their characters found themselves in. I can't speak highly enough of their abilities, as they were never as good in anything else than they were here. Flash Gordon is the greatest movie of all-time- it has to be the greatest ever, because I wouldn't watch a movie over 300 timess if it wasn't. You think I'm kidding, but I'm deadly serious. The first time I saw it in the theater- 18 years ago- I was hooked for life. Please, whatever you do, watch this movie over and over- you'll be glad you did. "

That's fucking great. He'll save every one of us!

Quits? No way!

Sometimes I get caught up in the routine of life pretty hard. For the last two months or so I've been in a steady stream of work/gym/work/gym. I realized at some point last week that I hadn't taken a rest day at all since I went back to DC for my friend's wedding (althought I did drive up to LA one afternoon after the gym). The reason I was forced to realize this is that my body had ultimately told me in some not so subtle ways that it was a little worn out.

What I hate though is when I get into a schedule like that and I miss out on other aspects of life. It's frustrating when you don't take advantage of things around you and your life wholely revolves around 1 or 2 things. In my case I forget about things like family, friends, dating, going out, hobbies, etc. Well to be fair I always miss out on dating, but the rest of it holds pretty true. It is so frustrating some times that it makes me re-evaluate where I'm at and what I'm doing. When your mind is focused it can be a wonderful thing, when it's focused too closely on things you definitely run the risk of becoming too insular.

Sadly in terms of hobbies I need less of those, because I already have too much stuff. So I'm getting rid of at least three things! I'm thinking gunnery, party liquor, and masterbation but we'll see about that. Or maybe just the opposite, maybe I need to pick up more hobbies! Maybe I should take up model trains or some kind of death sport. Mmm death sports sound fun.

Where does the time go?

I feel like all I ever do now is work or work out at the gym. I moved to a completely new place and it's awesome and I've spent like 10 hours there in this month of August. I even got new furniture and still haven't had time to clean up the rest of my house or find a roomate. I wish I seriously had more hours in the day, it would be so helpful and life would be less frustrating.

Traffic is confusing

I was driving home late last night from my friend's house after spending the afternoon with him and his family. It was darn near 9 when I actually got on the road. The drive from LA to San Diego is actually pretty nice proivided there is no traffic, sadly there was tons of traffic which doesn't make any sense to me. Even more perplexing was the solid wall of cars coming the other way, barely any gaps in the army of headlights, I wish I could have taken a picture there was so much traffic. I don't understand why on a sunday night at 9+PM there is so much traffic going between the two cities, it was bad enough that I didn't once even consider using the cruise control. What are you people doing?

A standard Saturday

I really had a fantastic time this last saturday, and I was sooooo tired after just the first part of the day, what follows is a timeline:

8:00 AM - Arrive at the gym, start running on the treadmill, do 2.5 miles
8:30 AM - Begin helping teach the UCSD wrestling team practice, we focused on catch wrestling stuff and then went live.
9:30 AM - Help Cosmoe (fighter getting ready for a fight in a couple weeks) work through some wrestling technique, wrestled live (the most fun).
10:05 AM- Try not to stare at girl I think is really attractive who's waiting in the lobby area (I don't do well at this)
10:15 AM - Went up to the sauna to try and get some blood into Cosmoe's aching elbows
10:45 AM - Did a crossfit workout with Cosmoe that focused solely on legs since we wanted to rest aching elbow joints, this consisted of:
5 rounds
25 Box jumps/Lunges with weight while the other person completes the box jumps
15 hamstring extensions each leg with weight (unquestionably the worst part and the reason I'm most sore today)
25 Squat jumps
11:30 AM - Cool down with shoulder stretches.
12:00 PM - Return home and shower
12:30 PM - Ride bike to Pacific Beach boardwalk with roomate, set-up and play beach volleyball in the sun. I need to practice more.
4:00 PM - Legs completely shot from playing volleyball after workouts, bike ride home and shower
4:30 PM - Throw in a load of laundry and do some work at home.
5:45 PM - realize that one of the neighbors kids opened the door to the dryer I was using, I have to wait to finish this load before I go anywhere as I don't have any clean underwear.
6:05 PM - Drive over to Cory's house, pick-up Cory and drive to Balboa Park for MMA fights, Total Combat 34.
6:35 PM - Arrive at Balboa, Park next to the zoo parking lot, get told that our hook-up can't get us in for free like previously discussed.
6:45 PM - Cory, Dave and I take our seats in the outdoor arena, the fights aren't supposed to start for 45 minutes. As time goes by more folks from Throwdown take seats around us.
8:15 PM - Fights start, 45 minutes late, I just now realize I've had literally no solid food all day.
9:45 PM - Cory, Dave, Lou, and I all leave after watching Mark win his fight, we head downtown to Basic for pizza, after waiting for a table we get seated and I devour the salad and pizza, it tastes amazing but considering it was the first thing I ate all day that's not too much of a surprise.
11:00 PM - Head over to Hard Rock on the way we see a guy in a full Superman outfit, Lou knows the bouncer so we skip the line and get right in. I try to start dancing but my body is too tired to really do much.
11-2AM - Shenanagins, eventually my legs loosen up after I keep stretching. Girls is crazy, I don't drink because I'm so tired and driving. Some asian guy threatens Cory because his "girlfriend" tries to molest Cory.
2:40 AM - Arrive home after driving Cory home, I watch the Shaq comedy special, it's hilarious. After about an hour I try and fall asleep.

So all in all it was a pretty uneventful saturday.

Moving

This may seem incredibly stupid to most people, but I live too far from the beach. I live a whole 8 or so blocks from the beach, and I want to live closer, so I'm moving 1 block from the beach so I don't have to deal with the hassle of a 5 minute bike ride. Life is very difficult out here.

This is a shot from the outside, inside the complex.

This is a picture of the place from the sidewalk. Here's a picture from inside the living room (the place is being repainted and the floors are being redone.

And finally this is a look from the sidewalk to the beach. 1 block.

BBQ

Let it be known by all that when I throw a cookout I grill more food then can be eaten by those in attendance. At no time will I let you stop eating to rest, you will consume all meat or meat like products until completely full. Then leftrovers will be consumed for days. Also if I feel you are sandbagging it on the amount of food eaten I'll get on your case. Everyone has thus been forwarned.

I managed to hit most animals in the meat selection yesterday. Burgers, pork tenderloin (which were great), chicken and apple sausages, hotdogs, and turkey breasts. Also the mango curry marinade was great on the turkey breasts.

Oh also I domnated that database

I couple of weeks ago I was having fits with the database. I tried 170000000 different ways to make it work. When it was all said and done and I'd done all theis reprogramming, and calculating, and scheming, it turns out that it wasn't working because of a data entry error. A simple run through the front end of the data showed me that people had input data incorrectly and I couldn't see it from the background information. I should have checked that first, but other people are supposed to check that, but I should have done it as well. Ironically after spending 5 days trying to find a programming solution to the error, 5 minutes looking at the front end of the database netted me both the problem and the solution.

I'm sure I'll look back on this years from now and laugh...or cry...As penance for my stupidity I later went and got beat up at the gym.

Take that America

So for the past couple of weeks I've been pretty confident that I was going to have to work some or all of the holiday weekend. Budget season is in full swing and I've spent the last 4 weekends at work for some amount of time. Pretty lame huh? But today it looks like I'll be able to finish all the things that need to be submitted on monday today! Which means I may have the weekend off!

The problem being that I have no plans for the weekend. I assumed for a month that I would be working this weekend and I'm shocked to figure out that I won't be. Now what the heck do I do with myself? I guess I'll need to figure out some kind of barbeque or get together, but I'll still be pretty fried from work. People will say I look tired or I won't be talking to folks because I'll be thinking about work. So basically what I'm saying is I wish I were working this weekend instead of looking like the total social reject I am.

Lost!

As a general rule I'm lost in so many more ways then one. But today in particular I'm lost in dealing with the Access database I maintain at work. You see I've been trying to fix all these forms and such to match the new years of the budget were trying to do, which is all pretty droll, and I thought I had it all down. But there is one particular section which I didn't fix or change and now it doesn't work. At first I assumed the reports associated with that particular form were broken and needed to be updated, but I learned that the reports are now fixed.

What I didn't know was that the root of the problem was really the searh function in that form. The search function is allowing the reports to correctly populate some data, but not others. For example, the search will work for "4A1M" which is one of our line items, but not for "4A6M"...I can't imagine what possible trick there is that one character difference is causing problems. So the search function is kindof working, but I'm not sure what the problem is.

The reason I'm lost is that I thought I had the solution to the problem locked down, and now realized that not only did I not, but that I didn't even know the problem to begin with. And now that I've found the problem I have to go back and find what's causing it, so really I'm not only back to step one, I'm back to step zero, and my shoes have caught on fire. It's like if you were trying to bake a cake, and you thought you knew what was preventing your cake from working, but now you figured out that the ingrediants were wrong and you don't have the ones you need. Not only do you not have the correct ingrediants but you can't buy them and you have to start growing the grain to make the flour and you have no idea how to farm. That's where I'm at right now, looking up books on what kind of chickens I need on my farm.

My conscience also hurts

On the way out of the gym last night I got into a situation where instead of waiting to exit the gym after talking to some people at the front desk, I darted in front of this woman trying to leave. It bothered me quite a bit because it was rude, and there was no reason for it, I wasn't in a hurry or anything like that. I did it because I thought I was in her way but really I got more in her way by jumping in front of her. She did say, "get out of my way!" in a playful manner and we joked about it very quickly. However, it really made me feel the need to apologize and bothered me to the point of distraction on the drive home. I was seriously so upset at myself that I almost caused an accident or two on the way home.

The next time I see her I'll apologize, and she's at the gym pretty regularly because she teaches yoga and some of the fitness classes. I'm sure she'll probably think I'm weird and most likely won't even remember it, but it bothers me that I acted in a manner I consider rude. Sometimes I stress over the smallest moments for an inordinate amount of time. Cest la vie I guess.

My Shoulders Hurt

When I was doing ju-jitsu last night I realized that both my shoulders felt like they had daggers sticking into them. Not too much fun. I know when I hurt the left shoulder, that was on monday when I was wrestling, and then it was reaggrevated on Wednsday when I was doing a cross-fit workout. But I don't remember hurting my right shoulder. Which brings me to my point, I suffer alot of injuries that I don't really remember happening. They aren't really injuries so much as bumps and or bruises, and they don't really slow me down too much, they just tend to be annoying. For example, my shoulders were very much in pain yesterday, but I still did ju-jitsu, I ddi balk at wrestling because they hurt so much but it didn't stop me from training. Sometimes it's funny because I'll come up limping or something similar on every day of the week, and I can't explain it when co-workers ask about it.

When one of your past times (pretty much my only past time as of late) is training to fight by throwing other large men around or hitting other large men, or beating up children (my favorite), it's probably to be expected that there will be soime wear and tear. It just seems like your mind should be more accountable to your body so that you remember how and when you hurt yourself. Practicing chokes is the best, becuase the next morning you wake up and it seems like you have a sore throat from a cold but really it's your neck and throat reacting to the large men who tried to deprive the brain of oxygen and blood the night before....good times.

Antagonist MMA

So one of the reason my posting has declined (other then my being lazy and smelling bad). Is that I've been busy at work. Not my normal work, but my other work.

http://www.antagonistmma.com/

My friend and I launched a new MMA apparel company and I'm in charge of running our news site ( http://www.blog.antagonistmma.com/). I've got a coupel of fantastic writers working for me and if you have any interest in MMA you should read their stuff, it's really fantastic. Also feel free to buy a t-shirt.

What do they do with the pennies?

On my second time through the Detroit airport a couple weeks ago I saw that they had drained one of the beautiful fountains in the middle of the airport. The fountain was covered in spare change that people had thrown in there for good luck. I mean every square inch was hidden by an overlapping pile of coins. One of the unlucky janitors was busy shopvacc'ing all of the change inch by inch. There must have been a couple hundred dollars worth of change all told and I wondered three things. First, how many shop vac containers worth of change was there. And second who gets to keep the money? Third, how often do they have to clean out that fountain for money?

Ideally it would go one of two places. Either to the janitorial staff, as kind of an unannounced bonus, or to some kind of charity. I would be very very upset if that money somehow got eaten up by the corporat emachine to pay executive salaries. I'm almost sure there's some plan for the coins, I just hope it's a good one because the karma behind taking what people used to wish for luck, and spending it in a terrible way is pretty darn reprehensible. It's like stealing money from the church collection funds, or selling flowers outside of SPAWAR under the pretense of raising money for leukemia research and pocketing it. And then having Marty take those flowers he bought and giving them to the girls at the front desk of the gym because he had nothing else to do with them....

Brutal workouts

I don't often link too many other sites or blogs, but today I'm going to point out one that is damn cool:
Here is where one of the Cross-fit trainers from the gym I belong to posts that day's workout. I don't ever attend the class, mostly because it's hard to fit into my schedule. But I do try and do at least three of the workouts a week and they are just stellar. So if you're willing to put yourself through some pretty damn intense workouts, that's a good place to look for some unconventional ones. Have fun!

The link is this if you can't get it out of the text:

http://www.frankickedmyass.blogspot.com/

Plane Karma

I'm not sure why but on my recent trip to DC I was seated directly adjacent to small children on each of the four legs of my trip. Either directly behind me or right in front of me. Whatever the case I was forced to listen to a great deal of crying and plenty of temper tantrums. I even had to endure two 4+ hour flights with a child kicking the back of my chair for prety much the whole way. So I'm not sure exactly what I did to deserve that, but apparently the deity that runs plane karma decided that it was my turn to pay for some variety of discretion I must have earned. I must have pissed off a stewardess or caused someone sitting next to me to brush up against my knee. So I'm infinitely sorry for whatever I did, hopefully I've paid my penance by now.

I never once was mad at the kids or mad at the parents for their inability to control said children. I figure that number one, at some point I was a small child on a plane and therefore must have done some of the same things (except kicking seats). Number two I can't imagine a more boring place for a young child than being stuck on a plane for more then an hour. Although it was annoying and uncomfortable getting kicked in the lower back by someone who is 1/10th my size, I felt bad for the small kids, and marvelled at the fact that somehow I managed to have to sit very near to them for every single flight.

Next time I better get to sit next to someone really interesting, or a really attractive girl (which is interesting...to me).

Dell you're pissing me off

So my laptop's video card died on sunday. Which is a shame because apparently once those go they are very hard to replace. Most of the video cards on laptops (specifically dell) are built into the mother board and therefore if they don't work (like mine doesn't) you are effectively boned. I really like my laptop and if it can't be repaired, which appears to be the case, then I need a new computer. So I decided to buy a new desktop, which would be easy except for a few things.

1) The really awesome computer I want to buy which will run me about $2500 doesn't come with a wireless card pre-installed...Which is fucking bullshit since running a wire upstairs is not a possibility. But I can buy a less nice and less expensive but less cool computer for $1800 with a wireless card installed...what the shit. If I'm buying the top of the line computer I want I shouldn't have to break open the case to install a wireless router right off the go.

2) Dell's website freezes up randomly, so going through the whole building process can be wasted randomly and you have to start over. Dell wants my money because they hard wired the melty video cards into the mother board, but they don't want my money because they refuse to allow me to buy a computer.

3) Upgrade options are inconsistant and damned frustrating when it comes to comparing them.

I'm so pissed but I need a computer and I like Dell's, I just don't like all the fucked up hoops I have to go through to get a new computer and I really don't like having to replace my laptop because I loved that computer and wanted to be with it forever even though it's 4 years old.

Time to get serious

So in talking with a bunch of the coaches at the gym they seem to think that I would be a better fit fighting at 205 rather then heavyweight. Which sucks because I've really trimmed up lately, and yet I haven't lost any weight even though I've been told I'm noticibly smaller...So what that means, is that I have to go on an all out weight blitz. I weigh 260 right now and I would need to get to 220 so that I could cut 15 lbs of water weight for 205. Seems tough but it will probably be good for me. Also the coaches are absolutely correct, I don't have the body type to fight at heavyweight, I don't have the reach etc. So we'll see if I can make this cut and learn to punch and we'll find out what happens.

Boxing is an Art

Boxing, the sweet science, the sport of Kings etc etc. Over the past few months I've been learning how to box and kickbox little by little and it is the most technical sport I've ever participated in. Throwing punches in boxing is more difficult and precise than any golf swing, in fact that's exactly what it reminds me of, is golf. With both you have to pay attention to so many parts of your body it seems almost impossible. A casual observer might just think that boxing is two people going in to clobber one another, but lace up the gloves one time and you'll know that's not the case. Anyone who just throws haymakers at people in a boxing ring is going to get knocked out by someone who boxes. I have spent probably close to 70 hours boxing in the last 5 months, and I'm still such a novice. I spent saturday morning with a coach who continues to break down and redesign all of my punches, not to mention my kicks. It is entirely frustrating and yet it can be such a great feeling when you actually do something well (which just like in golf, is rare).

Power and speed are important in boxing, but both power and speed benifit greatly from form and technical style, in fact they are wasted without proper form. It is difficult to explain but in every punch thrown, and especially with every punch defended there is an art and grace. When you throw a punch, it isn't just about pushing your fist out there, your legs, feet, back, head, shoulders, it all gets involved. I swear as I was learning on Saturday morning, and Tony was yelling at me telling me I was bad and all the things I needed to do, it made me feel like I was back taking lessons with a golf instructor. Sure I was a little bit sweaty, and Tony was much more R rated in his insults, but the thought and process of it all was the same, except I'm trying to hit some guy in the face rather then hit a ball.

Boxing is seriously an art, and when I box it is like a child's finger painting.

Who you gonna call?

mmmm sacrilicious

Watching Movies

It's a hot time of the year for movies, and I've gone to see two movies that opened in the last two weekends for the first time maybe ever. I've limited my movie-going experience to once or twice a year in the last 4 or 5 years, so the idea of actually attending two movies on consecutive opening weekends is alien (haha). I saw Wolverine and Star Trek and enjoyed both immensely, although my wallet wasn't as thrilled. In addition to actually seeing these movies I actually did something I rarely have done in the past, tracked and looked forward to the release of both movies. I did this for the Watchmen earlier but prior to that almost never. I waited for the release of Wolverine because I knew that if I didn't see it right away then I wouldn't see it in theatres, because Star Trek would come out. I knew that if I procrastinated on Star Trek then I would miss Terminator when it comes out. It was a slippery slope and thusfar I've stayed on top of things.

The movie schedule was so strange this year, at least 6 movies that I want to see, starting earlier with Watchmen, and then Wolverine, Star Trek, Terminator, then G.I. Joe and finally Transformers 2. I also kinda want to see 'The Hangover' but I probably won't. I will likely miss at least two out of these other 3 movies as well, probably Transformers and G.I. Joe. So unlike me to plan to see movies though. I wonder if this is all the excitement I have in old age, is planning what I'm going to see this weekend.

Time Travel is a Lame Plot Device

So I saw the new Star Trek Movie on Friday, and it was fantastic. Yes I didn't like that they basically wiped out all of the history of Star Trek, and yes I think that Star Trek relies on Time travel way too much to fix plots. But overall I liked the movie, it was colorful and fun and worth the time sitting in the theatre...Although the couple who brought their infant and 3 year old and sat next to me can die in a fire. Something is f'd up when your infant starts crying during the most dramatic moment of the movie (the crying was as predictable as my love of ruit smoothies). Also when your 3 year old child, who keeps complaining and jumping around and kicking the godamn seats, won't stop being distracting it's time to hire a babysitter and realize what is and isn't appropriate for kids to watch. But that aside I liked the movie.

What did annoy me a little bit is that the director opted for the much too common "spin the camera around during action sequences" method of filming. This is nausea inducing since sometimes it makes what I'm sure are wonderfully choreographed but you would never know since the camera moves too fast. One scene actually did make me feel a little dizzy when they refused to keep a steady camera. It's annoying and I'm sure all these directors are doing it for a reason but honestly it makes me want to punch you in the face when you take all the time to set up these dazzling backgrounds and then you attach a camera to the back of a squirrel who is being chased by a fox and that's how you shoot action scenes.

But yes I liked Star Trek, and I would recommend it to anyone who can handle the fact that Star Trek seems so devoid of new ideas that they have to have time travel in every movie to make the plot work. Hey they rebooted James Bond without having to bring time travel into it, how about you take a clue Star Trek. Also the guy playing Dr. McCoy was a little much, it's a reboot not an impersonation...

So Full

So my co-worker and I rolled up to Hodad's which is in the shops area of Ocean Beach within sight of the ocean. We got there at maybe 10 after 11 and were one of the first few people in the door. The wait staff was really on the ball, and the place filled up roughly 10 minutes after we got there. We sat right by the open window at the front of the place so that we could see the street and have a breeze when we ate lunch. There were license plates all over the interior as well as several surfboards hanging all over the place.

We got a basket of Frings, which is fries and onion rings, and were unable to finish the basket (that came with 2 sides of ranch). Our burgers came out and when I lifted up the tiny package of this burger it felt like it weighed 5 lbs. I looked at the burger and was concerned that my jaw might not be big enough at first. This was a single cheeseburger, I can't imagine how large a double would be, quite likely jawbreaking proportions. The burger was very good, I don't know about top 5 in the country, but it was very good. But what was better then the burger was the vegetables on said burger. The two slices of tomato were huge (as large as the hamburger patty) and fresh, I would be very challenged to find tomato that fresh. The onion was equally as large and fresh as the tomato and so the entire burger was like it had 3 patties, just not all meat.

After finishing my burger, which I did very quickly since 1) I was very hungry and 2) I didn't want to make a mess so I ate it fast so as not to make a mess, I was as full as I've ever been. But I didn't have that overwhelmingly disgusting feeling you normally have after eating something so big. I actually felt pretty content because of the freshness of it all and the lack of grease.

The overall experience of the place was well worth it, and we got there just in time before the real lunch rush. I am going to take a nap at my desk now since I'm so full from that delicious burger.

Hell yes Lunch

Rarely do I get super excited about lunch plans. But today I'm going to Hodad's which was recently on CNN as one of the 5 best burger places in the country. I've been excited to go go ever since last week when my co-worker and I planned the trip. The funny thing is that I'm not even a huge burger guy, I don't really eat too much red meat, maybe once a month or less. I think I'm more excited by the prospects of actually havign a plan to go somewhere on purpose with prior planny. Hell yeah planning out my lunch ahead of time, this rocks! I'll report if it was fully as awesome as expected since afterall it is supposed to be one of the best places in the country to get a burger.

Rich Patch of Sugar

I've been more and more faithful to eating oatmeal that I bring from home at work. It's quick easy and usually fills me up in the morning. But every once in awhile I don't stir the oatmeal enough and then when I'm eating it some random spoonfull will contain all the cinnamon flavoring that I didn't spread around.

I've got to tell you that it is th emost disgusting thing in the world when you are eating warm mushy oatmeal, and then you get one bite that is full of rich cinnamon sugar and it's all sandy and full of too much flavor...yuck. I'm just saying, it can ruin your morning.

Work work and more work

I haven't written much lately, and that could be because I'm lazy. or because I've been at work for the last three weeks almost non-stop. My boss called me into her office the other day and told me that there might be an issue with the 40 hours of OT I worked from Tuesday to today.

I love when work is busy, but I'm so worn out and mentally exhausted it is just a chore to be here. On top of that I had my Vegas trip for my other job cancelled today when they claimed that I needed to be here on Friday for full coverage. Even though I begged them for a day off. Seriously what the hell.

The worst part about work being this busy is that you miss out on working out. When you are in the office from 6am to 10pm or later you kinda miss your window to go workout. You also eat like shit because you are too drained to make your own food and you don't have time to go out and get anything good.

If you're looking for someone to blame for this blame 2 things. The first would be the Federal Budget schedule, which makes me super busy anytime a budget is due. The second thing would be the Obama administration, who put off this budget submit from the end of december till no and now we have an exceptionally condensed schedule. 3 days to do an IT budget? 5 days to do other exhibits? 1 fucking day to do a godamn exhibit that requires every fucking dollar we have to be shown where it's being spent? Everyone here at the office is burnt out, we're all tired, and I can't help think that this is going to be problematic when we jump right into the new budget.

I'm actually typing this as I'm waiting for someone to send me some data...someone who I know for a fact fell asleep on her couch late last night trying to finish it. Unreal.

My new Friend!

So I walked into the men's room this morning to wash my hands (which I do like 4000000 times a day) there was a new friend in there. It was a huge cockroach. So naturally I struck up a conversation, turns out his name is Pete, the cockroach, which is what I called him because I have other friends named Pete and I wouldn't want to get them confused. He mostly scuttles around for a living, infesting this old building I work in. He called me Marty, the human, presumably so he could tell me apart from some other friend of his named Marty (another cockroach). We chatted for awhile and decided to go out to lunch sometime, and now in retrospect I feel kinda silly because I have no ideas what cockroaches eat...I mean generally I'm down for anything but what if he wants to go get greasy fried food. I hate eating greasy fried food when I'm at work...

Seriously though, that's one big cockroach.

Eat at Roy's!

Whenever my dad is In town for business I usually end up going to much fancier dining establishments then I'm used to frequenting. Luckily he is usually only here for 1-2 days otherwise I would balloon up 50 lbs every time he came to visit since we eat so much. And it's never like, "Hey On Monday night I got to join him at Roy's Hawaiian Fusion, which has two locations here in San Diego and more across the country. I've got to tell you it was one of the best meals I've ever had. For starters they have Adamame which I'm not a huge fan of but in this case it was really good. Then I had a Fried Chicken Katsu Salad with Asian Ranch dressing which was just short of divine. Then the main course was Blackened Shrimp with Creamy Polenta, Garlic Spinach, Lemon, in a Herb Caper Sauce. It was motherpunching amazing, the polenta itself was a work of art and I could eat that spinach all day every day, the shrimp was equally amazing. Lastly I had some of Roy's Melting Hot Chocolate Soufflé which I shared with the entire table. I think all of us found a little bit of heaven in tasting that.

Simply put I am not sure I've had a better meal in San Diego at a restaurant then I did at Roy's. The food was just so good it made me want to join the priesthood...Jesuit even.

A movie I wanted to see!

So a rarity happened to me on my flight back from NYC last sunday. There was a movie shown that I actually wanted to see. "The Express" was abotu running back ernie davis who went to Syracuse and then died of Luekemia shortly thereafter. Interesting story but more importantly, that's the first time in my life I've ever watched or actually listened to the inflight movie. I even had to buy headphones from the stewardess, and they broke lickity split! Actually all in all that flight was kinda a night mare, turbulent the whole time, lasted another hour and a half in the air to make for a 7+ hour flight. But that's neither here more there. I guess you have to pay your pennance for having the benefit of wanting to watch the in flight movie.

I'm going to watch the shit out of the 'Watchmen'

Next week the movie version of the graphic novel 'Watchmen' is coming out and of course all the clever media reporters are asking "Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?" Or "Who will watch the watchmen". My hope is that anyone who has the gall to actually title something this has actually read the graphic novel, I'm guessing that very few of them actually have. I've had a number of people ask me about 'Watchmen' and if I've read the graphic novel, because I'm a nerd and a loser and such. I have read it, maybe a dozen times, and it is one of the most compelling and complex works I've ever read. I could read it every week for the rest of my life and still not be able to "get" everything that is being said. It's just too well done and too filled with themes to get them all. Lots of people dismiss the graphic novel as some kind of kids medium but I'm here to tell you that they've never glanced at this.

The graphic novel is the pinnacle of writing, combining a fascinating look at history, politics, economics, racism, sexism, sexualism, feminism, science, geo-political influences, media, art, and vigilantism. There's so much there it's hard to get all the references and subtleties the first time you read it, and the second time you read it, and the 14th time you read it. I can't begin to explain all the symbolism and all the small details that are in the story. But I'll try to set a background.

The story takes place in an alternate 1985. In this timeline Richard Nixon is a 5th term president, being rewarded for his success in Vietnam and perfect reputation. In this timeline the threat of Mutually Assured Destruction has been somewhat derailed by the "birth" of the first real superhero, Dr. Manhattan, who was a scientist blown up in a particle accelerator in New mexico. Dr. Manhattan after being blown up was able to reconstruct himself and became a super genius able to manipulate matter and all other sorts of fun things, including the ability to stop a number of russian missiles from landing in the event of nuclear war. Notice I said the first real superhero, as all the other "superheroes" are actually masked vigilantes, with no real powers other than wearing costumes. At some point in the United States all vigilantes were outlawed with the exception of Dr. Manhattan and one called the Comedian. The story begins as the alter ego of the Comedian is found dead. The same Comedian who secretly disposed of the watergate scandal, the same person who did unthinkable things in Vietnam alongside Dr. Manhattan. And when another vigilante finds out who the dead man is, he thinks someone if going around killing the retired vigilantes.

I'm going to stop there because I just can't possibly write enough to do the story justice. It's too complicated, I find myself not even knowing how to describe plots and subplots, you just have to read it folks, or see it, or preferably see it then read it, or even better read it then see it. I rarely get excited for a movie, but this is one I've wanted to see for a long time.

Oscar!

I half watched the Oscars sunday because I was really really bored. But even I couldn't watch it the whole time, it gets boring and stupid, and anytime someone like Bill Maher is on the screen I had to turn away. The one part of the Oscars I routinely watch is the part where they remember all the actors/directors/producers etc who have passed away in the last year. Usually there's always a surprise in there for me, "Oh shit I didn't know he was dead!" But this year for some reason I knew that all the actors that had died were dead. So there wasn't any sudden sadness that I couldn't see an actor again because I had already felt that. At the same time I wish the broadcast had done two things differently.

1) Cut out the singing, I want the hear the applause and it should all be very solemn. I don't care to hear singing when I'm trying to hear people's applause.

2) How about just showing me the main screen with the faces and names, I don't need to see Queen Latifa singing or the orchestra. In my opinion it takes away from all the accomplishments of the people you are trying to honor.

The other thing I noticed is how Charlton Heston didn't get much applause, and all I could think was what the heck. This was one of the most entertaining actors of all time and all I can think is that people got too mixed up in his political message to separate that from what he'd done on screen. I mean I get it that George Clooney said some nasty things about Heston including mocking him about Alzheimer's. I also get that Heston's pro-gun, pro-life viewpoints and other political views bothers the typical Hollywood type. But this is a guy who paved the way for all the actors around today, honor him for what he meant to the business and not what he said outside the screen. He was a Giant in Hollywood, and the least people can do is respect his work, but apparently the politics outweigh his life accomplishments. That bothers me, although I guess it shouldn't. Paul Newman who supported what would typically be called liberal causes gets a curtain call, Heston who supports gun control and white pride gets nothing.

The 5 person talks about how good each person was were also unnecessary and in my opinion a waste of time. Also Mickey Rourke got jobbed, I'm only saying that because The Wrestler was the only movie I saw, I kinda wanted him to win based solely on how weird his acceptance speech would have been.

Single's Awareness Day 2009

So once again Valentine's day is upon us, and once agian I find myself without a Valentine. No big deal because this year I'm not going to have a boring night by myself. No it just so happens that this year I'll be spending single's awareness day in Las Vegas. I'll be going up for business, but since the business part of the trip really isn't until Sunday night, I guess I'll just have to have fun Saturday night! Maybe I'll find a Valentine (not likely)! But more likely I'll get drunk and cry until the room next to me starts banging on the wall yelling at me. Happy Valentines Day!

Toilet Humor

So this may be a little gross, but these are some general observations about the men's room at work.

A couple of weeks ago I walked into a stall and sitting on top of the toilet paper dispenser was today's newspaper which was turned to the page with the sudoku puzzle on it. The puzzle had been completely filled out and it was rated as Hard or Difficult or something like that. The numbers were all in the same handwriting and it was about 930 in the morning. What this means if you think about it (and I did) is that someone came into the stall, sat down, a proceeded to stay on the can for as long as it takes to finish a difficult sudoku puzzle. You can reason it like this, it was early enough in the morning that someone didn't do it over the course of the day, and it's unlikely that someone got up early enough ot have time to it before they came to work since everyone gets in really early here. So we're talking about 35-45 minutes on the toilet in the men's room that morning alone...I'm willing to bet whoever did it left it there to prove how awesome he was, getting paid to hang out in the men's room. For me it's about how fast I can get in and out of there but for some people I guess it's a point of pride how long you can wait and not do work. Well kudos to you buddy because you've taken it to a new level. To one up him I've decided to get one of those paint by numbers kits, the complicated ones, and finish it in one sitting in the men's room. When I'm done I'm going to tape the finished art to the back of the stall door so that whenever people go in and close the door and sit down, they see how awesome I am.

There's an unwritten rule that concerns talking in the men's room. It isn't done, it shouldn't be done. Anyone who does it should be scorned. There are several guys in this office who do it, and if I see them walking into the restroom when I'm headed there I'll continue to walk by like I wasn't ever going in the first place. Hey I don't care about the score of the Lakers game, I'm holding my penis here, and what I'm thinking is my own business and nobody else's. I don't care about your kids, the weather, that heart attack you are having, I just don't care. I'm in there to do what I came to do, and I'm leaving as fast as hygenically possible.

The toilet paper in the men's room at work is better then the brand I have at home. This is because the paper in our house was bought by my roomate, who got the cheapest he could find. The next time it's his turn to buy toilet paper I'll just get it for him, because at this point in my life I feel like I've done well enough to afford the real thing. Soft yet strong. I don't need to subject myself to some one ply public toilet nonsense, I don't care how much he saved buying it. I should bring that up to the next girl I'm trying to chat up, "Well, I don't mean to brag but I have excellent toilet paper back at my place, no big deal." But what's shocking is the high quality toilet paper in the restroom at work. Completely unexpected but pleasant at the same time. I guess there is some advantage to controlling all the budgets around here. We get to pour a couple extra dollars to the Comptroller's toilet paper budget.

It doesn't apply now but the men's rooms at the Pentagon were the worst ever. It seems like all manners went out the door and they were constantly abused and used like the restrooms at a major sporting event. Actually I've been to baseball games where the men's room was less abused than the urinals in the Pentagon. Apparently working in a five-sided building makes you unable to aim or hit the trash can with a paper towl.

When you spell my name wrong, it makes me want to stab you

I understand that my real first name is Martin, and I guess if I wanted to look super stupid I would spell my name Marti instead of the more masculine Marty. But given the fact that you've spoken to me 1000000 times on the phone, exchanged 100's of e-mails where I signed it as Marty, and yet you still write back e-mails calling me Marti, sometimes you even copy other people which makes them write e-mails to me saying Marti, until I respond to them with the correct spelling and then they get it right.

You however seem to be unable to grasp how I would prefer to have my name spelled. You are apparently unable to spell my name like my e-mail says in the global address book. What all this tells me is that you are also apparently unable to live any longer in this world. Just think about how you say the words Marti and Marty. One comes with a giggle or a lisp and some kind of colorful shirts or mini umbrellas in it's drink. The other one is just a normal name and harkens back to such greats as when there was a movie with Ernest Borgnine, or a professional hockey player, or the lead guitar player of Megadeth, or at the very least the greatest character in time travel history (McFly!!!!!!!!!!! Also argueably the greatest Marty, definitely the most well known). I know there is nothing I can do to get you to stop other then being passive aggressive, but I'm very passive aggressive about it!

Dancing shoes

I keep a pair of dress shoes at work so that whenever I'm travelling to work I can wear whatever I want, be it bike shoes or tennis shoes, and be comfortable. My normal morning routine involves changing into my dress shoes right away and nobody is the wiser. However sometimes I get distracted by something or someone and I forget to change shoes. Then sometime later in the morning I realize I never changed and then have to hurry up and do it while nobody is looking. Every once in awhile I get caught, this usually manifests itself when I'm standing in the door of someone's office talking, I look down, realize I forgot to change shoes, and then they notice because I sell myself out looking at my shoes. It's not a huge deal, it's just kinda semi-unprofessional and silly. One time the comptroller saw them and commented on my shoes, I felt pretty embarrassed about that. It wouldn't be such a problem if I could be all sneaky about it instead of staring at my feet whenever I notice.

It would be hilarious if that showed up in my performance review though...Marty Jenkins, good work initiative, hard worker, quick to pick things up, always a team player, wears the wrong shoes at work, promotion denied. I'd try and fight it by saying that I had the correct shoes on most of the time! But as you know it's like a three strikes law, and after the third time they caught me wearing the wrong shoes I had to be written up. My supervisor didn't want to report me, but I'd been warned about it enough times to know that simply wearing a tie and shirt or suit isn't enough...you can't wear tennis shoes at the office. Then the fifth time they catch me they give me a final warning, one more time and they'll have to terminate my employment! So for like 5 months I get it right but then one random Wednesday (also I had no idea how to spell Wednesday...) I come in all tired and I've got a bunch of work right away in the morning and I'm getting through it, but then some person who hates me sees my shoes while I'm giving a report and he/she tells my boss...then they get security to escort me from the building because the reports from before are on file for 6 months. And that is exactly how I see myself in 5 years, being escorted from the building because I forgot to change into my dress shoes.

Should I fight?

I promised myself when I started training MMA that I wouldn't actually fight. But everyone at my gym keeps pushing me to train to fight and actually do it. I'm not sure exactly why but they think I have the skills to do well. I'm not as confident, and I keep reiterating that I'm just training for fun. But I admit the prospect isn't unappealing to me, it seems like it would be fun. First I need to get my nose cauterized, then we'll talk. I promised myself I wouldn't, but who knows, I don't have much esle going on at the moment. So we'll see.

All sports weekend

I feel like I spent nearly 100% of my weekend doing, talking about, or watching sports. When I wasn't doing those things I was usually en route to do those things. Now I feel like I'm tired of sports for a little while. I need to get back to the things that are important, like not watching sports as much as I did this weekend. It's a good time of year for that given that football is done. To explain further these were my activities this weekend:

Friday night - Helped someone move, spent most of the time talking about MMA or trying to manuver his couch into the new apartment. The couch didn't fit, all 2000 ways we tried it, and in the end we had to drop it off at his parents house. It's funny because the rest of the move was fine, just that damnable couch which wouldn't go in.

Saturday - Worked out in the morning, spent time watching wrestling while trying to take a nap on the couch. Went to the bar with some friends and watched UFC fights, food at the bar was tremendous. I had Hawaian Chicken tenders and some pizza and then part of a quesadilla.

Sunday - Work up and went and wrestled for like 2 hours. Went home and showered and then rode my bike to friends house, we then proceeded to all ride bikes (6 of us) E.T. gang style to a bar to watch the Super Bowl. Spent all yesterday afternoon watchig the game and eating pizza and wings and such. Functionally wasted all hard work I'd done exercising this weekend.

I honestly don't even want to see another thing about sports for like 48 hours. I bet I'll make it about 2 hours.

Whoa angry!

Last post was hella angry, I don't want that to be on the top of my blog. Especially after I've had such a fun day so far. This morning I went and wrestled for like 2 hours and hurt my other elbow after my right elbow was hurt rolling with the ju-jitsu folks earlier this week. Wowza. Now for more happiness today with a bikeride and the super bowl! And hugs for everyone!

Sad really

I try to only put down mostly positive thoughts in public. I don't always do so well at that but I try, although Yoda would scold me. But the truth of it is that a great deal of my writing and thoughts are negative. Lots and lots of unpublished writings deal with heartbreak and hurt and frustrations about how I feel. Lots of time I do free writings and then go back and edit them and tuck away all these negative things I don't really want other people to necessarily read. I mean, I do want people to read them, but I also don't. I guess I shouldn't be so self absorbed.

The honest truth is I don't have alot to be upset or angry about. I don't have any drama in my life and not much hardship is coming my way. I am not in danger of losing my job and I'm not worried about where my next meal is coming from. I don't have to worry about raising my kids or worry about my own safety. All in all I live a charmed life at this point frankly, so I shouldn't have so much to hate myself for or so much angst about what goes on in my life. It's silly and childish to feel the way I do. But with all that being said I still do spend a tremendous amount of time being critical of myself and everything I do, and it shows up in my writing. It also shows up in my thoughts every night from the time I lay down to bed to the time I fall asleep, which is normally 5 or 6 hours. That's alot of self loathing to go around.

Ther are so many things I wish I'd done. I used to think I don't bear many regrets, I used to believe that you shouldn't have regrets and that you shouldn't worry about what is past, you should look forward. But every day I have hours and hours to reflect on what I've done, where I've failed, and where I could have done things differently. I can't help it, I try to sleep and my mind starts spinning about anything and everything, and with regular certainty those thoughts turn sour and I eat away at myself.

I remember having confidence and charm and interesting things to say to people. I remember thinking that there was nothing that I couldn't beat, or nothing that could stop me. I look back at old things I wrote and things were much more positive, sure there were bumps and bruises here and there but nothing that could stagger or even sway my confidence. I remember having dreams of love, and goals and thoughts of the things I want and having a clear understanding of what it took to go to those places. But now I find myself having accomplished some of the things I thought I needed to do and I find my dreams and goals unfufilled, and now I'm not sure I'll ever see those things I wanted. It drives me to work harder, it drives me to want those things I wanted more, and yet the more I do that the farther away those things seem, always out of my grasp, always elusive. I find my confidence to be non-existant, in it's place is an acting job. Where once there was an undeniable inner power and cockiness, now there is bullheaded self righteousness and impecible morality. Cold hard morality that covers for for my confidence, it is such a bullshit way to deal with things but morality lets you do things like back out of situations or problems you want to deal with because the potential consequences aren't within the moral code or structure you now rely on as you inner core. Where there used to be a call to arms to conquer or challenge life, now exists a shell of compromise and morals that provide an escape route to back down from things and rhetoric to justify it. What happened to my confidence? I know to some extent to where it disappeared, but why do I have none now? Why can't I muster any? Why must I rely on other things to bolster myself into action?

Ha, this probably reads like nonsense, with no rhyme or real justification. I shouldn't even post it. I've run out of steam in terms of trying to explain it or even try to defend the way I feel on this particular subject (me being the subject). Whatever, quit whining Marty.