Skystrideria

Blog Introductions: What's Wrong With the World

2011-12-14T20:14:00.000-08:00

From time to time I post links to articles I have read to my various social networking platforms. These articles often come from three blogs that I really like. So, I thought that I would give you all a proper introduction to these blogs and their authors.

What's Wrong With The World

This motley crew claims to write in the defense of "Christendom, the civilization made by the men of the Cross of Christ." The authors are all very conservative in the proper sense of the word, they want to conserve something. But they rarely agree on what they want to conserve, and how to conserve it. So you have Lydia McGrew who keeps us up to date on hate laws and abortion laws and Progressive progress. The tone of her articles would be familiar to anyone who reads World Magazine. Then there is Jeff Culbreath, who doesn't think that Capitalism is worth conserving (more on that later). Another author is so conservative that he thinks we should have a king. The discussions over there are raucous and serve as proof that Conservatism is far more diverse than one might imagine.

Up next: A blog introduction to The Distributist Review

The Herd of Cattle

2010-08-12T23:17:00.001-07:00

The Herd of Cattle

Well perhaps you’ve heard me prattle,
Of when I got mixed up with some cattle,
Just a herd of eighty two,
That us kids were driving through,
A bunch of steers they sold for beef,
Never dreamed we’d meet a thief,
Would have sent along the men,
But they all were busy then,
You can bet us kids were proud of ourselves,
For the six of us were only twelve,
And to make us think that we were men,
They handed us our first guns then,
They were thirty twos I think,
With home made bullets made of zinc,
But they’d have to do they said.
As we had run out of lead,
We had about two hundred miles to go,
And were told to take it slow,
And as near as I can say,
We made twenty miles a day,
Our cook was a kid we all called fat,
But he was pretty good at that,
And he fed us good alright,
Kept our belt buckles good and tight,
But we had orders for to stay,
At a place we should reach on the ninth day,
They said it was a small frog pond,
With the water mostly gone,
But the grass that round it grew,
Would last the steers a day or two,
Well the steers had reached the bank,
And were filling up their tanks,
When five men were standing there,
They appeared out of thin air,
They told us kids to just skidoo,
That our cattle drive was through,
But we knew our men would come,
Then we knew there’d be some fun,
We hid up among the brush,
Hoped our men would make a rush,
We sent one kid back down the trail,
To meet our men he couldn’t fail,
And it proved to be the ticket,
They left their horses in a thicket,
So they approached the camp a walking,
And you bet they wasn’t talking,
The camp fire was burning down low,
Gosh I thought our guys are slow,
Then I heard our foreman cry,
Stick your paws up to the sky,
Then the guns began to bellow,
And I saw they had hit one fellow,
Three pair of paws went in the air,
But the fifth man wasn’t there,
He had made his bed alone,
Somewhere up among the stones,
But when he saw they’d lost they day,
He was coming right my way,
And when I yeld for him to freeze,
He couldn’t see me in the trees,
And his gun just started blazing,
And the under brush he was hazing,
And before I could even think,
I handed him a piece of zink,
Then our men came on the fly,
Threw a rope around the guy,
Told us kids we better run,
Not stick around to see the fun,
But it wasn’t too much fun I hope,
For the next day we were short of ropes,
Must have droped them on the ground,
Didn’t stop to look around,
Said we’d understand when we were grown,
But told us to skidoo for home.

A.D. Brown,
Aug, 9th, 1977

The Armistice Dance

2010-08-11T01:08:00.000-07:00

One day I walked out on the street,
Where an old friend I chanced to meet,
Hadn’t seen the man for years,
Would have passed him by I fear,
But he stopped and turned around,
And asked me if my name was Brown,
He looked familiar in a way,
But who he was I couldn’t say,
His face was hid behind a beard,
So he had the advantage of me I feared,
Then he mentioned iSt, Marillion France,
And the night of the Armistice Dance,
Then his name to my mind came,
For I knew it was Hank Lane,
They held it in a vacant store,
And charged you two franks at the door,
So we thought we’d try our luck.
They let us in for half a buck.
The music was a harp and a fiddle,
But it could tease your feet to diddle,
There was chairs along the wall,
And a table in the center of the hall,
Upon which the fiddler stood,
So every one could hear him good,
Those french girls could cut it neat,
Though some were dancing in bare feet,
We had to mind our Ps and Qs,
For we were wearing army shoes,
Well every thing was going fine,
Until they opened a keg of wine,
And they said the wine was free,
So every one had a drink but me,
For I never touch the stuff,
When I’m sober I’m fool enough.
They all danced till three A,M.
Things were getting hectic then,
Though the harp was doing fine,
The fiddler couldn’t keep the time.
I felt sorry for the jerk,
But the wine had done it’s dirty work.
They didn’t know what to do,
And was afraid the dance was through,
But it seems I saved the day,
When I started in to play,
The harpest didn’t know my tunes.
But she cut in pretty soon,
And we got along quite fine,
And forgot about the time.
Untill we heard the town clock strike,
And we saw that it was getting light,
Then they started gathering round,
As I put the fiddle down,
Then the dance was at an end,
But I’d made a lot of friends,
They said they would pass the hat
But I told them none of that.
I told them I’d had fun,
And I thanked them every one,
It was then a little miss,
Came and gave me a big kiss,
But the harpest stepd between,
She was jelous so it seems.
And she said that we should go.
Well she lived in a Chateau,
So you see that she would be. To stuck up for one like me.
Then I thought of my friend Hank,
And I found that he got tanked,
And left the dance with a red head,
Well I guess enough is said,
I never ask him where he went,
Or just how the night was spent.
But as for me it was no riddle,
For I spent my time with a fiddle.

A.D.Brown
Sept. 30, 1979

2010-07-14T00:21:00.001-07:00

Back in 2008, we often complained about the lack of candidates who were willing to take any kind of principled stand. This year, we have the incredible fortune of having two men running for national offices who actually are taking a stand. David Hedricks and Clint Didier are running for the House and Senate respectively. This quote from Didier's platform page should sound familiar.

I am pro-life – from conception until natural death. Our Declaration of Independence states our inalienable rights are “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness: and “That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men…” Therefore, it is the express job of government to protect all innocent human life. Taking a public policy position otherwise leaves all lives in jeopardy.

Hedrick's site lists a similar stand for life, as well as this in regards to the Second Amendment:

When the Second Amendment states “the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed”, it means, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. Period.

When in Congress, I will never vote for any piece of legislation that infringes an American’s right to keep and bear arms and I will actively advance legislation that supports this right.

In addition to these, you can find many more statements were both men take obvious joy in the hallowed American tradition of government-bashing. With men like these to support, we would be fools to miss the Washington primary on August 17th.

2010-07-02T13:13:00.000-07:00

A number of years ago, my Great Grandpa Brown put a lot of his experiences and observations into a series of poems. Last Thanksgiving, I scanned over one hundred pages which were held in a single binder. Grandpa Brown has two more binders, as well as some loose pages. Over the next several days, I plan to type up several of the more remarkable poems. I have already posted the first, titled, "The Rattle Snaker." You can also expect posts titled, "The Armistice Dance" and "The Herd of Steers." The latter might sound rather boring, but I can assure you that Great Grandpa was a master in the art of understatement.

The Rattle Snaker

2010-07-02T13:09:00.001-07:00

When walking in the woods one day,

Off the path I chanced to stray,

And as I went a step to take,

I saw a coiled up rattle snake,

But the snake was playing fair,

He rattled to warn me he was there,

So I quickly regained the path,

And decided for to leave there fast,

For where a rattle snake is found,

Other ones may be around,

I told the farmer where I’d been,

And he said lets take care of him,

So he went out to his pig yard,

And got a sow that was fat as lard,

She seemed to know just what was up,

For she followed him just like a pup,

And when we got into the brush,

Ahead of us she made a rush,

And in less time than the telling takes,

She came back with mister snake,

And it was fun to see that beast,

As she finished up her feast,

Then back in the brush she run,

And came back with another one,

Well the farmer said she done quite fair,

For you can see she got the pair,

He had refused for to the market take her,

For she was a perfect rattle snaker,

He said he wouldn’t sell that sow,

For she had got two dozen now,

And she knew she’d have a snake dinner then,

Each time he took her from the pen,

For if there were any snakes about,

She would always smell them out,

It didn’t matter what kind of snake,

She’d take any breed or make,

Before he taught the sow to follow,

The place was known as rattle snake hollow,

But he had turned the old sow loose,

And of the snakes she made good use,

But one would show up now and then,

Then he would take her from the pen,

And she seemed to have it in her mind,

He expected her a snake to find,

And she would show it to him atleast,

Before she was set to have her feast,

Well you say she’s just a hog,

But pigs are just as smart as any dog,

You can take any pig you pick,

You can easely teach him tricks,

And he will follow you like a dog,

And you will tip your topper to that hog.

A.D. Brown, Sept, 7, 1977

2010-07-01T00:02:00.000-07:00

In the past several years, the arrival of fireworks season in Clark County has been accompanied by new restrictions. Several years ago, it became illegal to sell or use fireworks during New Years. This year, it is illegal to sell or use fireworks on July 5th, the day when retailers usually mark down their prices by fifty percent or more. But there is something unique about this latest infringement on our freedoms. On April 21st 2009, when the changes to the laws were passed, Tom Mielke was on the Board of Commissioners. This was the Tom Mielke who campaigned on a platform of small government. And yet, he sat in the hearing room and joined Marc Boldt and Steve Stuart in passing this measure unanimously. The minutes from that meeting only record a few short lines from Mielke, in which he implies that we are fortunate that they did not decide to abolish the entire season. This is how tyranny happens. When even the good guys take the side of big government on issues that seem too small to matter.

Now, you may be wondering why I am getting so upset by the elimination of one day in the fireworks season. I am disturbed precisely because this issue appears so trivial. It is true that there are many bigger problems in the world, with abortion and euthanasia claiming innocent lives daily. But this is a problem because it is a slow removal of one of the little joys that makes life worth living. When you read the accounts of people who lived in Nazi slave camps or Soviet countries, you read about many evils. You can discover a life lived behind barbed wire, with barely enough food to survive. But the victims of these barbarities did not long for freedom of movement as much as they longed for that swing under the big oak at home. The food doled out to a Russian child might have been sufficient, but it could never match the pink cake with white frosting which Momma made before the shortages began. When you remove silly little pleasures from someone's life, you actively destroy their joy.

Dog-stealer, horse-stealer, man-stealer--can you think of anything so base as a toy-stealer? -- GK Chesterton

2010-06-29T12:35:00.000-07:00

I don't think this picture needs much explanation. How are everyone else's peas doing?

Peas

2010-05-08T21:54:00.000-07:00

This year we started our garden on time. These pea plants have been growing quickly ever since they were planted in February. Faced with a lot of peas which were obviously looking for something to grow on, we decided to try a very stiff kind of fencing normally used for cows. Our neighborhood feed store had the fencing, and soon we were able to assemble some very sturdy trellis'.

The fencing came in 16'x52" panels. We used bolt-cutters to cut them into sections that are roughly 5' long, with three sections that are quite a bit longer. We used one of the longer sections to span this diagonal row of peas.

Here you can see last year's solution, which was shorter and far less robust. Further back, you can see one of our new 12" boxes, where Hannah planted some carrots today.

Letter to My Senators

2009-12-23T20:39:00.000-08:00

This is a short letter I sent to my senators regarding the current health care bill. It is written in the Social Contract style, with repeated references to the beginning of the Declaration of Independence and the three rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Thus it lacks any moral force beyond what is inherent the Declaration. Still, it should cause my representatives to realize that they may not be re-elected if they continue to be so devoted to alienating our rights.

According to the Declaration of Independence, I have a God-given right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Unfortunately, the Health Care Bill currently being debated in the Senate is an assault on all of these rights. Firstly, it has no protections for the right of unborn babies to live. By actively encouraging and supporting the termination of one group of American's lives, this bill also threatens my own right to life. If it is acceptable for the government to fund the murder of thousands of American babies, why should it not fund the murder of Americans twenty-one year olds like myself? In comparison to the violation of the rights of Americans to live, the violation of the other two God given rights seem less important. However, your voting record leads me to conclude that you may not be concerned with the lives of your constituents. Therefore, I will discuss the topic of liberty, especially as it has to do with money. By forcing Americans to buy health care, whether they buy it from private or public entities, you actually force Americans. Do you comprehend this? You would actually force Americans to take an action. We could argue about the need for health care in this nation. However, it is not the duty of Congress to make this kind of choice for American citizens. It is a brazen affront to the rights of American citizens to make their own decisions. Which leads me to the final right discussed by the Declaration. This bill would tell me how I should pursue happiness. It would tell me that I can only be happy if I spend my money in a certain manner, unless I happen to enjoy tax prison. It completely ignores the fact that I may think that I could be happy by spending my money in some other pursuit than health care. Therefore, it infringes on my right to pursue happiness in the way I see fit. All in all, this bill is a sore offense against my rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. As my elected representative before the government of the United States, I ask you to defend my rights by voting against this tyrannical bill. There may still be time to act before America's freedoms return to the state they were in when King George III ruled our land.

Thank you,
Jeremy VanGelder

2009-06-02T23:15:00.000-07:00

Well, last night I took what ought to be my last trip down to Clackamas Community College before I obtain my AA in GIS. These past two years of instruction outside of my home have been quite interesting. I haven't had any raging arguments about politics or religion with my instructors, but that can be chalked up to my deferential manner with teachers. While being useful, the education itself has rarely challenged me. If anything, the quantity of the work assigned outweighed the quality of it. However, the job that I ended up with leaves me no right to complain. Now, as I pass this phase of my schooling, I look forward to a life of investigating God's world for signs of His glory and the order that He has built into Creation.

2008-08-25T19:46:00.001-07:00

This grainy picture may not mean much to most of you, but it would not take long for anyone in my family to identify it. It is a picture of our car turning into our driveway, as recorded by the Google Street View car. But that is not the most of it. The context of the images reveal a large number of pine-needles and leaves beside a dry road. This means that the picture was taken sometime in the fall. The lighting suggests that it was taken during the late evening. Moreover, since the Google car has not been operating for very long, this event probably did not occur while our grandparents were living at this house and driving this car. In other words, it could only have happened last fall, during an evening. I have to conclude that I was driving the car home after school one day, only to be caught unawares by a very distinctive vehicle. No, I do not have any recollection of seeing anything that could have been it. Sure, I was only using the car in the evening during two or three days of the week last fall, but I am the most probable culprit. I can only conclude that I am not as observant as I thought myself to be.

2008-06-11T20:34:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been awhile. I just wanted to tell everyone about a blog I found. While reading something by Dr. Grant, I saw that he likes "Architectural New Urbanism." This piqued my curiosity, so I searched for the phrase on Google. This brought me too a website named "Architecture + Morality." This is a website created by an architect from Dallas and a pastor. Both of these guys seem to be working towards excellence in their callings, and they have some really fascinating ideas about the convergence of their professions. I do not agree with every facet of their thoughts, but they are completely right on a surprising number of issues. Some interesting articles I would recommend are titled "Beauty and Waste: More Thoughts on Space and Worship" or "Modern vs. Contemporary: Language in the Church." In their study of architecture, it is possible that they might study the arts of the enemy too closely, just as Saruman did. However, I think that they possess both a balanced and Biblical view of the issues.

A Little Project

2007-12-18T17:02:00.000-08:00

2007-08-05T16:35:00.000-07:00

Jeremiah 17:5-8

Thus says the LORD,
"Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind
And makes flesh his strength,
And whose heart turns away from the LORD.
"For he will be like a bush in the desert
And will not see when prosperity comes,
But will live in stony wastes in the wilderness,
A land of salt without inhabitant.
"Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD
And whose trust is the LORD.
"For he will be like a tree planted by the water,
That extends its roots by a stream
And will not fear when the heat comes;
But its leaves will be green,
And it will not be anxious in a year of drought
Nor cease to yield fruit.

Jonathan and Chelsea were married yesterday in a ceremony that proved beyond all doubt that the Lord blesses those who trust in Him. The parents of both bride and groom were blessed after trusting God through the years of raising these two people. Jonathan and Chelsea were blessed with each other after trusting their love lives to God. Their family tree is clearly being planted by the water and extending its roots by a stream. Even I, the grounds-manager for the reception, was blessed through the weather. I prayed for a week of rain followed by a week of sun to green up and grow the grass before the wedding. Instead, God saw fit to grant three weeks of rain and one week of perfect grass-growing weather, resulting in grass that was completely perfect for the occasion. God has indeed blessed those who have trusted in Him, and I can see no reason that He might stop following through on this promise.

2007-02-09T22:18:00.000-08:00

I recently discovered a series of geologic maps of my county created by Russell C. Evarts. I have long suspected that the lowlands of Clark County were at one time or another covered by the Columbia River, and these maps prove it. Indeed, according to the current theory, several enormous floods were released from an equally enormous lake east of Idaho. The waters ripped through Eastern Washington, crushing bedrock into gravel and creating the Scablands. The mix of water and rocks then swept down the Columbia until it reached a narrow section at Kalama, Wa. The mile-wide gap was too small to let the water pass, so it pooled up behind the Coast Range in the Willamette Valley. As the water slowly spread across the area, it deposited gravel beds 300 feet deep in some areas. Because this is an obviously captivating topic, I have changed my Gileskirk research paper to discuss the geologic origins of Clark county.

2007-02-06T23:17:00.000-08:00

Time for a late-night rant. I think it is time for the, "Traditional Marriage," movement to drop the whole, "Tradition" argument. Tradition is not a solid foundation for building a society. The Aztecs had a great "tradition" of human sacrifice. If Hitler's Germany had been allowed to continue, it would have a genocide tradition. In Soviet Russia, that tradition came into existence. In addition to this, traditions change. In 50 years, "non-traditional" families could easily be traditional families. The only unchanging "tradition" is the Law of God. A politician espousing his support for "Traditional Marriage" is not saying anything more than a political buzzword. If we intend our arguments to be more than smoke and mirrors, a position our opponents can accept or reject (as opposed to arguments that could easily include the opponents' position) we must base our arguments on the opinion of the Creator of the Universe.

2007-02-05T22:44:00.000-08:00

Moderation note: I have (hopefully temporarily) set word-verification on comments, because of runaway spam on old posts.

Interesting Correlations

2006-12-06T20:31:00.000-08:00

After Dr. Grant's lecture on the Judges, I did some research to figure out which judges came from which tribes, and which judges shared a "tribal mother" with the other tribes that fought the same enemies. But this description is rather difficult to understand, so you should probably just look at the charts. This one shows the Patriarchs according to age, along with their mothers and the Judges that came from their lines This other one sorts the Judges according to the enemies they fought. Interestingly, all of the tribes who fought the Canaanites were descended of either Leah or her handmaiden, Zilpah, except for Ephraim.

2006-12-06T15:23:00.000-08:00

Well, I am back to live-blog the final stages of my studies for the Gileskirk mid-term. I am hoping that by going through the process of writing dis-jointed ideas and facts, I will be able to improve the presentation of those ideas on Friday. I meant to start this a week or two ago so that it could be a resource for the younger students, but that obviously didn't happen.

2006-11-06T21:56:00.000-08:00

Oddly enough, this post is going to be about weather, also. It just so happens that there has been rain all weekend long, and now there are quite a few puddles around. All the ditches are running and the creek is up to about 4 feet. November flooding happens every few years, but it's usually closer to Thanksgiving.

It Looks Like Winter, It Feels like Winter, Is it Winter?

2006-09-14T19:41:00.000-07:00

The pile in the corner is about two feet tall.

2006-09-14T19:40:00.000-07:00

The dog had an interesting time.

2006-09-14T19:35:00.000-07:00

2006-09-14T17:32:00.000-07:00

We just survived an amazing hailstorm. Usually the ones around here last for a minute or so. This one lasted half an hour. By the end, the ground was covered to a depth of half an inch. At home, huge piles gathered at the corners of the house, where they had bounced down the valleys of the roof. At the office, ice plugged up the drain in front of the garage, backing up water into the utility room. Another half hour of sweeping was required to clean that up. Now, the temperature has dropped twenty degrees from 60 to 42, and there is still a significant amount of hail. After calling around, it appears that this did not occur anywhere else in the county.

2006-08-01T21:44:00.000-07:00

I usually don't try to make excuses for low posting rates, but the excuses I am going to make also happen to be good subjects for a post. So, here are the reasons I haven't put out any significant posts recently.

1. We moved at the beginning of July. All 200 feet from one side of the creek to the other. There's only a few things I can say about that. For one, I am now quite good at tearing down and setting up bunkbeds. Another factoid is that enormous waterbeds are a real pain to move, you could move four or five bunkbeds in the time it takes to do that job. Oh yeah, we still need to move some computers.

2. Since then, Dad has had me do quite a few other jobs. The first was a repair to the irrigation pump. The filtering cage broke off awhile ago, letting rocks into the impeller. Dad pushed the rocks out with a piece of wire, while I built a sleeve out of chicken wire and window screen material to replace the old cage. Now it is keeping the lawn nicely green.

3. The second major project, which I completed sometime in July, was extending a flower bed along the driveway. There used to be one flower bed along part of the driveway, with an island further down. The space inbetween had a strange shape, making it difficult to water and mow. Dad decided that we could use a gentle curve in the edge of the lawn to fix this problem. (Since even I can't understand that sentence, I will get a picture soon) So, I laid out some sticks in a proper looking line, and started to remove turf. That same turf seems to be doing pretty well on a bare spot under some trees. After the grass was removed, we ran into problems. Most of the area had been a gravel driveway before the current concrete was put in place. Dad decided to roto-till it, so that we could sift the rocks out. When that was finished, I built a sorting box out of an old speaker box and chicken wire. A little experimentation revealed that the wide Kitty Litter sifter worked better, though. After a day or two of casual sifting, the dirt was ready. A quick planting of some perennial flowers and several bags of bark dust finished the job.

4. On the last week of July, we heard that one of our business superiors was visiting the area and wanted to do some training at our office (the house we moved out of) We had about three weeks to get the property up from summer project mode to presentation mode. But, we were able to pull it off well, and even did a hike two days before zero hour. Everything worked smoothly during the meetings, and we got along well with the manager.

Since then (the 20's of August) we have basically been coasting when it comes to outdoor projects. Just keeping things ready to entertain people on weekends, and then restoring the yard afterwards. However, greenhouse construction is on Dad's mind.

Absolute Sweet |337ness

2006-07-11T19:51:00.000-07:00

Microsoft Office 2007 is absolutely incredible. But only screenshots and demo’s can do it justice. Check out the preview site, where you can download the beta, use Office from a Remote Desktop and watch some videos. I tried all of them, and this post is being written and published from Word 2007, it’s very, very sweet. In fact, there is a special mode just for writing blog posts. Sorry I am being so scatter-brained, but I want to play with this some more.

2006-05-12T18:24:00.000-07:00

Well, yesterday I took the road test. For the record, I wanted to include a lot of parenthetical information here to build a sense of suspense, but I didn't (excluding the last sentence, and this bit of self-evident information). Anyways, I got 98%, the only problem was that I hit the curb while backing around a corner. The one fact that amuses me is that the instant I was licensed to drive in the State of Washington was the instant it became illegal for me to drive in the fifty states and the District of Columbia. I'm uninsured. Still, that barrier will be removed come Monday. Another driver on the road.

Another amusing incident happened while we were there. Dad's van was due for an emissions test. We knew that there was no way it could pass without some adjustments, but Dad wanted us to test it. The thing is, the Catalytic Converter had fallen apart several months before. Pieces of the catalyst were getting stuck in the exhaust pipe, seriously degrading performance, especially when climbing hills. As in, almost zero forward movement at extremely high RPM's. So, Dad and I removed said pieces of catalyst last week. For those of you who don't know, the catalytic converter converts most of the poisons in exhaust gases into more benign materials. Regulators figure that C02, which might fry our grandkids, is better than C0, which would kill us, thereby preventing us from having grandkids. Well, through some fluke, the beater that is our 1980 Toyota minivan with the only corrective device missing, managed to pass the emissions test. It's flabbergasting, especially considering that many cars with converters fail the same test.

2006-05-05T19:30:00.000-07:00

Today I made the next step towards getting a drivers license, the first step in about a year. Namely, I took the knowledge test, passed, and made an appointment for a road test. It should be interesting. Much more interesting than this post.

2006-04-19T22:36:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to Jonathan! And, no, I didn't get the date right.

2006-04-19T21:13:00.000-07:00

While looking for a small map of Middle Earth, I found a political map that took itself literally. I found it rather amusing. Link

2006-03-25T17:31:00.000-08:00

Well, the kmz file is available for download. The images are all stored client side, so it might be manageable on dial-up, after you get past the 892 kb download.

2006-03-12T13:36:00.000-08:00

It's a work in progress.

2006-03-01T22:20:00.000-08:00

The other day as I sat down at my desk, I realized that there were small pieces of candle wax on the top. I started rubbing the wax with my fingers, and then I got a rag. About an hour later, I had a nicely waxed desktop. I don't exactly understand why I did it, but I think the Winter Olympics might have had something to do with it. Specifically, I remember that some of the athletes in Salt Lake City were having wax troubles. Yeah, snowboarders who couldn't move fast enough influenced my decision to spend an hour making little circles on my desk. Although I find this rather embarassing, the end product is pretty cool. Nothing beats doing math on a shiny surface.

2006-02-15T20:28:00.000-08:00

Well, it looks like we will head up to Bellingham for a week, starting tomorrow. Hopefully it won't snow while we are driving, but I wouldn't mind any once we arrive. I suppose that is all I have to say, profound, eh?

An Interesting Quote from The Silver Chair

2006-02-06T22:13:00.000-08:00

"Now the Witch said nothing at all, but moved gently across the room, always keeping her face and eyes very steadily towards the Prince. When she had come to a little ark set in the wall not far from the fireplace, she opened it, and took out first a handful of green powder. This she threw on the fire. It did not blaze much, but a very sweet and drowsy smell came from it. And all through the conversation which followed, that smell grew stronger, and filled the room, and made it harder to think. Secondly, she took out a musical instrument rather like a mandolin, and began to play it...the less you noticed it, the more it got into your brain and your blood. This also made it hard to think."

2006-01-28T19:59:00.000-08:00

High School Science Bowl. It is a good opportunity to reassure myself that I still can spout off random science facts when neccesary. In fact, I seem to have actually advanced in knowledge since middle school. Pretty good, since I haven't studied for the event in two years. But then, no one else was getting the really easy geology questions. How could people not know about the ground they walk on? Anyways, my team went 3-1 in the round robins, made it to the outrounds. Once at that level, we won another round, lost the next, went into the loser's bracket, and finally lost one more round.

2006-01-27T18:24:00.000-08:00

Pjake has tagged me, so here is my (pathetically small) list of school subjects.

1. Math. Not much to say here.

2. Arabic.

3. "Business Studies." In other words, working for the family business. Right now, I am trying to find any automotive programs in New York City. For the 100 some schools I have looked at, a grand total of six came back positive. I hope to make a sale before summer, a rather significant achievement when your products go at two thousand dollars each.

As you can see, I am not very busy. In otherwords, there are good reasons to start at Clark College very soon.

2006-01-06T19:33:00.000-08:00

As you can see, we made a fort yesterday.

2005-12-27T21:48:00.000-08:00

Well, it has been awhile, mostly because I have had a lot of things I have wanted to say, and not enough time to say them. (don't bother reminding me, I know the last was a run on sentence, in fact, I think this is a great day for run on sentences, but I will try to hold back) For now, I will just tell the world about the objects I got for Christmas. I think I am doing it just for remembrance' sake, but any accusation of bragging would probably be justified.

Airsoft Gun.
2000 Airsoft BB's.
"There are no Electrons, Electronics for Earthlings," I am now a hopeless convert to the Little Greenies theory.
"Hydrogen, Hot Stuff, Cool Science" It looks interesting, but I haven't really started yet.
"The Geocaching Handbook"
"The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam"
"The Arabic Alphabet" Nice little book on Arabic letters, handwriting, vowel marks and other things I have been wanting to know for awhile.

The first two are keeping me active. But with the first, second and last books I expect to learn about as much in the last few days of this year as I did in the entire last semester. So, my bragging ends somewhere around the period.

2005-12-21T21:27:00.000-08:00

I have thought that there are a lot of toy trucks in our house for awhile, but I haven't really known the actual number. So, when Mom asked me to help organize the playroom, I decided to find the answer. I began by moving any trucks I could find into my bedroom. It wasn't long before Caleb came in and seated himself in front of this assortment. But, being the calm kid that he is, he didn't move at all when I brought in even more trucks. So, we ended up with a Caleb surrounded by trucks, a situation that didn't concern him in the least. When the task was nearing completion, Dad glanced in, saw the pile, and asked Mom if she thought we had enough. She replied in the negative, and therefore was asked to take a peak. She was quite surprised, and I don't think any new toy trucks will find their way into our house for quite awhile.

2005-12-04T13:32:00.000-08:00

America's Current International Strategy makes for some interesting reading. I never knew that we actually have one.

2005-11-27T21:44:00.000-08:00

Well, maybe I was a bit too hasty in that last post. It appears that journalists have a certain amount of credibility. Maybe even more credibility then becoming a member of the Union of Concerned Scientists for twenty dollars. Of course, I have promised to not take advantage of this "status" on this blog. Besides, the ruling specifically applied to a certain group of blogs. So now the FEC may have to figure out how to deal with that bizarre feature of the internet, the alter-ego.

I am a Journalist -- Not

2005-11-20T15:52:00.000-08:00

It seems that the Federal Elections Commision has given the title of, "Journalist" to all bloggers. This will supposedly give us the right to mention a politician's name in the thirty (sixty?) day period before an election when all "political advertising" is banned. This privilege is made available to us by including all bloggers in the "Media Loophole." According to the McCain-Feingold Act, it is legal for someone to hype or smear a politician if they are part of a recognized news organization, but they cannot buy advertising time to say what they want. Apparently to lower the heat, bloggers have been included as "Journalists." Well, I am a blogger, but I refuse this title of "Journalist." I am a private citizen speaking my mind by using a service I bought from Google for $0.00. I can say whatever I want, short of libel, and no Elections Committee has the right to stop me. From now on, I will not mention any politician on this blog until the time of restriction begins. And then I will say a lot, and not as a journalist.

2005-11-17T21:57:00.000-08:00

'Nuf said.

Well, except that you can't get it without first downloading the beta.

Randomness

2005-11-16T21:45:00.000-08:00

1. Arabic is fun.

2. When playing AOE III multiplayer, you must be able to get into the second age by five minutes at the very most. If you don't, bad things will happen. More specifically, rushes are very easy, and can be completely devestating. Especially when I have a level four, and the other guy has a level twenty plus.

3. There isn't a camera handy, so I won't be posting any lawnmower pictures.

4. I need to research for my research paper

5. I need to research for debate.

6. I need to write a speech before Friday.

7. I need to write another speech in two weeks.

8. I do want to do well on the Gileskirk Final.

9. I am failing completely and absolutely at making you guys feel sorry for me.

2005-11-14T21:40:00.000-08:00

Sister number one almost cut her head off today. She pulled on something hanging from the loft in our shed. Down came the hanging thing, as well as the flourescent light fixture it was hanging from. It hit the back of her head and resulted in two rather nasty gashes. While at the clinic, both Sister and Mom almost fainted. But, twelve staples later, she is home and happy.

2005-11-13T22:36:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I mowed the lawn. Exciting, eh? It wasn't, until the last five minutes when it started to rain. Not wanting to get wet, I shifted into fifth gear. This sped up the mowing, but the rain increased proportionally. Now, I have only mowed at full throttle in fifth gear several times, and I can tell you that it is quite fast. But, not fast enough for the circumstances. So I moved it up to sixth gear, one I have never mowed in before. As I let off the clutch, my entire body shifted backwards disturbingly. When turning, I had to lean into the curve. But the rain kept coming, and the lawn wasn't getting mowed quite enough, so I finally shifted it into a gear that I have only used a handful of times. 7th gear, the highest on our mower, provides enough whiplash to almost take you off the seat if you aren't prepared. On the few occasions I have used it, it was only on the driveway, without any significant turning involved. Well, by moving at the speed of a sprinter I managed to finish the job without getting too wet, and with some excitement.

Words of Wisdom for the Day

2005-11-10T16:13:00.000-08:00

Before you start writing about something, make sure that you possess a substantial amount of knowledge on it.

In case anyone was wondering, I happen to know quite a bit about the above saying. Hard knocks is the most effective school ever. That research paper thing needs to die.

2005-11-08T22:11:00.000-08:00

How were Jedi knighted? Think about it for awhile.

2005-11-07T21:53:00.000-08:00

The New Earth will definitely be an interesting place. Anywhere with a lack of sin and communion with God simply must be a very good place. But the real point of this post is some speculation. I have been wondering how the new earth will mirror the current earth, or, to put it in probably more accurate words, how the current earth mirrors the new earth. Will there be a Washington? Will there be a Mt. St. Helens? Will there be a Clark County? And even more than geographical similarities, how will the histories parallel? Will the cultures and empires of the world rise and fall? Will there be a harmless but awful Flood? Where will the technology of the past and future fit into it all? So many questions.

2005-11-02T15:11:00.000-08:00

Do you have a desire to know how good I am at AOE III multiplayer? The statistics for every game are saved. Click the image above to see how I (and my brothers) have been doing.

2005-11-01T22:11:00.000-08:00

"I believe in objective truth, but I will not allow it to infringe on my duty to the American people if they give me the office of President."

Isn't it odd that you never here this kind of speaking from candidates?

2005-10-31T19:19:00.000-08:00

I know that they are it isn't the best thing to do to my back, but every now and then I get an urge to do an insane amount of sit-ups. However, this urge hadn't shown itself for several years, until last night. To my great surprise, cranking out one hundred sit-ups was actually almost difficult. This could be excused by the fact that I have gained twenty pounds (in a very good way) over the past few years, but the results were still shocking. Why? Because the last time I got the urge I was able to do five hundred situps. Looks like my to-do list just got longer (again).

2005-10-28T19:49:00.000-07:00

You sit down at your computer, open up your favorite FPS, and begin fragging away. Well, not if you have this game. Yes, a company is finally developing a non-violence simulator. Walk in the footsteps of Ghandi to victory. Will it be on your Christmas list?

For An Alternative

2005-10-25T21:54:00.000-07:00

If you haven't read Living Stone's post, Against Conservatism, do so before reading what I have to say. He has made a strong case against conservatism and liberalism, but I want to present different arguments that arrive at the same conclusion. So, my thesis: Modern American politics is based off of Enlightenment ideologies that place man before God and therefore must be replaced by a Biblical alternative.

According to Francis Schaeffer, modern man has split truth into two different categories; truth that can be discovered rationally, and truth that is only discovered by blind faith. This split has affected our entire worldview, causing us to expect two, and only two, opposing viewpoints on every issue in life. But, because truth is split, both stances are equally correct. Is there a computer monitor in front of my face? I can choose either yes or no, but both of those answers are equally legitimate and true. Which are right, liberals or Conservatives? Once I decide that one side is right, that side becomes right, and I must defend it with all the effort I can give. The important thing here is that I am the ultimate judge over every issue in life. I become like God. Becoming like God is what Satan promised Eve, and what has caused men so much grief over the years. The dichotomizing of truth is just another episode in the same series.

As you probably know, the title of this post is, "For an Alternative." I set out to post an alternative, but bashing the current system is so much easier than finding a way to fix it. Additionally, I suspect that actually putting the alternative into place will be much harder than talking about it, which means we probably have some Hard Things in store. At any rate, I would urge you to not dump the status quo just because it has problems, jumping into a political vacuum will probably just bring on more issues. In the meantime, I will try to find a real alternative, and not just a reason for one.

2005-10-23T20:22:00.000-07:00

IF function = "NewTemplate" THEN PRINT "Captain Obvious Post"

2005-10-19T15:13:00.000-07:00

Well, pictures can never do it justice, but here are some more views of the GWB at night.

2005-10-19T14:04:00.000-07:00

The following is an e-mail exchange that I thought was with one of my teachers. For some reason, it didn't end up that way.

2005-10-19T14:02:00.000-07:00

From: Skystryder
> Sent: Tuesday, October 04, 2005 9:20 AM
> To: Jim Bordwine
> Subject: Jeremy's Discussion Questions.
>
> 1. Why didn't the world recognize Hitler's demands?
>
> 2. Why was Hitler so Succesful?
>
> 3. Where do you see hubris?

2005-10-19T14:01:00.000-07:00

On 10/4/05, Jim Bordwine wrote:
> I need some clarification:
>
> Which Jeremy is this (we have a few at church)?
>
> In regard to the first question, what "demands" are you referring to?
>
> In your second question, are you asking why God would have allowed a
> man like Hitler to achieve that level of destruction?
>
> For the third question, in what context are you using "hubris"? Are
> you speaking generally, or as the term is used in the context of plays
> and poetry? Are you asking if God punishes arrogance or why doesn't He
> always punish arrogance?
>
> What is the context of your questions? Are you studying some
> particular topic in school?
>
> Sorry for the delay, but I need more information.
>
> Pastor Bordwine
>
>
>Outgoing mail scanned by Norton Anti-Virus

2005-10-19T14:00:00.000-07:00

From: Skystryder
Sent: Tuesday, October 04, 2005 11:56 AM
To: Jim Bordwine
Subject: Re: Jeremy's Discussion Questions.

Sorry. This is Jeremy ***********, I thought I sent this to Mrs. Holt.
These questions are for a Gileskirk assignment she gave me. Sorry for the
confusion.

2005-10-19T13:56:00.000-07:00

Ok, that explains it. This qualifies as one of the strangest emails I've
ever received. You win a prize.

And I was looking forward to discussing the questions. Too bad.

Pastor Bordwine

2005-10-18T20:49:00.000-07:00

Well, you guys have probably figured this out by now, but I am home. Now I have to recalibrate myself to lawn mowing, typing on a real keyboard, using a real mouse, not driving for at least three hours a day, sleeping in the same bed for more than two days, and all that great stuff.

Wal-Mart needs to get AOE III. Soon.

2005-10-16T08:31:00.000-07:00

Well, it looks like I am not at home. In fact, it looks like I am in Raleigh, NC. The plan changed. But to get to the real reason I am posting, we visited the Higgins Armory yesterday in Worcester. It has an over-whelming amount of chain mail and plate armor, along with many arms. As you can imagine, it was extremely cool. But what was even more interesting were the fighting demonstrations. It began with some knife fighting, then went to Halberds. As was explained to us, a Halberd is basically a Swiss Army knife on a stick. The ways you can use the spear, axe, and hook are quite amazing. But the most eye-opening of all was the sword and buckler demonstration. Before yesterday, I thought that sword and buckler fighting primarily involved whacking the other guy's shield until it fell apart, but it is actually more complex than any other type of sword fighting I have ever seen. The shield is moved as often, and as importantly, as the sword. Most of the stances basically have the right and left hands locked together, allowing blocks that would never be possible with "normal" techniques. The blade of the swords were actually pointed away for large amounts of time. I think I might make a buckler when I get home.

2005-10-13T18:51:00.000-07:00

Interesting. Earlier today Dad got news that there is a conference in North Carolina that looks quite valuable on Tuesday. Because of the way the system works, few, if any, of the probable sales from the conference will put money in our hands, but Dad is going, anyways. The key word is, "Dad." I get to fly home by myself on Saturday. This should be quite interesting.

2005-10-13T18:16:00.000-07:00

It was a dark and stormy night. This will be a typical, boring Skystrideria post. Never mind. But it was a dark and stormy night. The clouds were thick and hovered only one hundred feet or so in the air. We were driving through the maze that is known to the world as New York City. Luckily, we didn't have to drive through Manhattan, but we did manage to get semi-lost. However, our GPS did give a lot of assistance in bringing us through exits that gave you six choices. (that very same GPS got us in our problem in the first place, but it eventuall got us out) We pulled onto I-95, which is quite similar to I-5 in Seattle. The highway is recessed twenty feet, and many sky-scrapers were built across it. But then we noticed something quite strange. We came out from under the last building, and saw blue lights making a stair into the clouds. It followed a bizarre, concave curve. Then, beyond the blue lights, we saw a grey tower shrouded in the mist. We continued to the tower, and then went under it. When we looked to the side, we noticed that the walls of the recessed highway had given way to empty space. We looked forward again, and saw the blue lights curve down, and then back up. We came to a second tower, and finally to solid ground. The George Washington Bridge is quite cool in the day, but on the night we crossed it, it was more freaky than any movie or computer game could ever be.

2005-10-13T17:58:00.000-07:00

I have been extremely busy on this trip. I was going to do various school things while here, but haven't had any time. I did read some of Plethora (even though "Your Horoscope" plays constantly in my mind, I refuse to write out the full title for that book) so that I can get a feel for how to right the 8 page research paper that is due in a month. The outline for it is due on Tuesday, but for some bizarre reason it doesn't seem like I will have it done by then. Mrs. T. won't be happy, and I won't be happy when I get my grade. Dern.

So, to summarize what has happened in the last few days, I will, umm, summarize them. I didn't get to bed until one A.M. on Saturday, and then got up at four to get to the airport. Great start, right? We got on the plane, no terrorists presented themselves, and a brain-dead but sleepless flight ensued. We arrived at Hartford Connecticut, got the rental car, and decided to drive to New Jersey. However, the remains of a tropical storm was lashing the area, and made the ride quite interesting. Somewhere in New York or New Jersey, we ran into a "puddle" that was at least sixteen inches deep. Because we were driving at freeway speeds, it almost through us off the road. Someone needs to improve the drainage over here. Another interesting factoid is that when a utilities company wants to work at the side of a road, it must be accompanied by a police car. After seeing about 8 such arrangements, we asked some teachers about, and found out that it is state law. Supposedly, drivers over here are so insane that if there isn't a police car, with lights flashing, they will probably cause some kind of damage. However, it was also revealed that policemen taking this duty of sitting around all day get paid at a significantly higher level. The politics behind that must make an interesting story, just like the politics behind mandatory car insurance.

Other than driving, we have basically worked or slept. We simply take our products to various schools and show them to the teachers, occasionally a class, also. I suppose you guys will probably be bored by the details, so I won't go into them. Still, I haven't been very bored, and go to bed quite tired. Well, that is all I have to say for now.

2005-10-13T17:53:00.000-07:00

What are my top five favorite songs? Well, I will list the top five that have been circulating around my head since Friday, the last time I actually really listened to music.

1. Your Horoscope. Weird Al.
2. Ebay. Weird Al.
3. It's all About the Pentiums. Weird Al. (yeah, I listened to Weird Al on Friday, probably not the smartest thing to do)
4. Fade Away. Day of Fire.
5. Remember. Big Dismal.

So, that is that. I hereby tag the next four people who spam on this blog. We will see if they are really just friendly bloggers.

2005-10-07T22:40:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow at 6 A.M. I head off for Connecticut. Hopefully I will get a little surprise ready for this thing while I am back there.

2005-10-05T22:27:00.000-07:00

00000010

Well, some of you have heard this story, but I have a need to tell it again. Yesterday morning I decided to send the discussion questions for a history class I go to to one of the moms. These questions are really only understandable if you take the class, things like, "Where do you see Hubris?" So, I sat down at the computer sent in the questions. I then proceeded to do math and various homework. When I checked my e-mail several minutes before it was time to go, I saw a strange message from my pastor. "Re: Discussion Questions" I opened the message, and saw that he had attempted to answer the questions, but requested further clarification. After some major embarressment on my part, I ended up getting a prize for sending him the most bizarre e-mail he had ever received. I suppose some of you could try to displace me, but I wouldn't reccomend it0011101000101001

Oh yeah, I have become obsessed with binary.
00000011
00000100

2005-09-30T18:55:00.000-07:00

In my last post I said that I would be driving up to Puyallup on Tuesday. I did, and I don't have too much to say about it. The trip was the first test of our new GPS, which worked pretty well. It's route-finder prefers highways, so it messes up near our house, but other than that it is nice. On another tangent, we started typically late, meaning that I taxed Washington's ten mph speed margin. Anyways, three hours of driving was an interesting experience, one that I am not eager to do again soon.

2005-09-26T22:13:00.000-07:00

Today I did several remarkable things. The first was eating a slice of Jalapeno cheese. I have never eaten any jalapeno products before, so this was interesting. However, I didn't find the spicyness very disturbing, but the taste really stinks. So, one more mini-milestone in my life has been passed.

I also just finished "that game made up by the B's that you play at night." (Memo to the B's, we need a much better name if we want this to spread) It takes after FPS scenarios and flashlight tag. The basic idea is too have a team of people that try to accomplish four objectives. There are either one or two guards with flashlights who guard the objectives. Pictures are worth a thousand words, so here is a map of our scenario.

The troops unload off of their transport at point A. The landing area is protected from guards by a battleship. However, once the troops move beyond point B, a house, they are open to enemy fire. Objective one is in the shed (point C). The rolling door must be opened to allow alied forces access to the area in future raids. However, this door is a large sliding one, so any attempt at moving it makes a sound quite similar to thunder. Point D is a ditch that runs along the side of the map. Objective two is blowing up a small outpost. There is a vulnerable point on the wall opposite the door that must be hit by a special laser weapon. Point G is a large, open area that is partially illuminated. The third objective involves hiding weapons in a chicken coop for later operatives to use. Everyone would like to know what those later operatives will do, but we do not really want to know. Point F is a large pile of brush that is useful for concealment. Point E is a stand of trees, as. The two lines down the middle of the map is a driveway. Across from point E are more trees and objective four. Actually, objective four is in flux, as playing the game has revealed problems with the prior arrangement.

Overall, the game is insanely fun, yeah, umm, you will probably like it, also. Moving on:

Tomorrow I am going with Dad to some conference up north. This duty has usually been assigned to, "Number Two," but I have been tasked with it this time. I expect it too be, interesting.

2005-09-25T20:20:00.000-07:00

Does anyone know how to make multiple user profiles in Firefox without reinstalling it?

2005-09-16T19:14:00.000-07:00

School has finally, really started for us. We began doing school a few weeks ago, but real crunch is only starting now. Well, that is all I have to say. I saw that many people have gone on a blog-posting rampage today, so I decided to join them.

2005-09-08T21:12:00.000-07:00

Well, I have played the demo. It is as fun and as cool-looking as the screenshots suggest. The buildings fall apart, the soldiers load there rifles accurately, the flocks of geese fly across the screen. It is beautiful. But you barely notice that when playing because it is so incredibly fun. Performance wise, it seems to work great on our year-old Dell. The processor and Ram work with it well, though the video card doesn't give anything close to optimum detail. The minimum requirements are 1.5 Ghz with 256 RAM, though any spyware would probably send that kind of system to the floor. AOD--the best AOE yet.

2005-09-08T15:48:00.000-07:00

Guess what happened yesterday? The Age of Empires III demo has been released. The download is rather large, 374.6 MB, to be exact. I know it doesn't seem like I am too excited, but I am :)

Parties and the Boringness or Unboringness thereof

2005-09-06T21:37:00.000-07:00

Over this summer I have gone to various parties. Some of them were fun, some of them weren't so much fun. Actually, I was bored at quite a few of them. So, having observed that I have more fun when I am doing something at least semi-productive, I have come up with a plan for the perfect party, according to me, at least, hey, I can overuse commas, quite nice, I should think, I don't think you have noticed that this is a run on sentence yet, oh boy.

The Perfect Party (According to He Who Moveth Across the Sky)

2:00 PM The party begins. This is the time when I rave at everyone for being late while cleaning up the house because I began that job late. See, something productive already.

2:30 PM Someone arrives. Luckily it is one of my best friends and he helps me finish cleaning the house. Productivity doubled.

2:45 PM A steady stream of people flows in. I hand out tools and send someone to buy more because everybody forgot to bring their own.

3:00 PM Oh! Did I forget to tell you what the main event of this party would be? Well, I will tell you now. Concrete Busting! Skillet is turned up and we mosh with the pavement. (okay, musical compromise could be arranged, as long as "hard" bluegrass exists)

6:00 PM Work ends, eating begins. Nuff said.

7:00 PM We have an Ultimate-Volleyball-Basketball-Football-Soccer-AndFreezeTagWithABall-Tournament. You score by whatever way is most convenient at the moment. Is the tall guy blocking your way to the hoop? Do a somersault on the end-zone! Don't think you can make the spike? Toss it to your teammate so he can swoosh it into the net! Oh, and if the guy on the other team with that other ball gets you, you are frozen. Boo-yah!

8:00 PM We send the injured people to the hospital and proceed to play various games in the dark..................................In our woods.................................while getting stalked by coyotes.

12:00 PM This is the part where it gets really crazy. At the stroke of midnight, we grab various items of sugar and caffeine, chomp them down, and start a:

Gileskirk Lecture! Yes, what could be more fun than taking notes for a Gileskirk lecture while being really tired (remember the concrete busting) and guzzling pop? Few things would compare.

Mid-Summer Report

2005-08-18T19:25:00.000-07:00

Well, I first thought of writing this post several days ago. You know, August had just begun, we had gone to the Fair. The middle of the Summer was a great time to put up a medium term report on my life. But then I got thinking. It seems that for some reason the beginning of August is not the middle of summer, in fact, it is rather close to the end of summer. Additionally, I had the thought not at the beginning of August, but in the middle of it. The next day I heard something suspicious about school starting soon. I confered with my Mom about it, and discovered that school would start in two weeks. So, Summer is over just as I got a handle on the whole idea. Anyways, to the report.

Several things have been started this summer. We started on the process of getting a house. We also started on the process of getting our grandparents a house. Of course, starting is a long way from finishing. So, it is a very safe bet that we won't move until this time next year. I also started on the last half of the beginning of the procuring of a drivers license process. One thing that is conspiciously abscent from the list of things I have began is the Gileskirk research paper. One thing I have completed is getting our fir trees out of blackberry reach. So, I haven't made too much progress over the summer, but if things aren't started they will never be finished.

2005-08-14T20:33:00.000-07:00

I am deep in an apologetics discussion here. We have agreed that Christianity can be examined by reason, and now I have been challenged with doing just that. But, doing such a thing is a tremendously large job. I would be grateful if anyone could take a look at the discussion and give me some advice on how best to proceed.

Today (Except that it happened Yesterday)

2005-08-10T22:07:00.000-07:00

Today I went to a friend's birthday party. The proper descriptive word for it would probably be, "insane." We played most sports known to (American) man. Basketball, volleyball, football, capture the flag, etc. We didn't do baseball, though, probably because there were too many windows in the area. Along with these entertainments came lots of junk food. But by far the most insane thing was the waterfight, which was interspersed with everything else throughout the day.

It began after lunch. Many people were playing basketball, but many others were not. The "others" happened to be filling water balloons and pumping squirt guns. At a very inoportune moment, the "others" started lobbing the said water balloons at the people playing basketball. As you can imagine, mass confusion resulted. Unfortunately, there happened to be a hose very near to the basketball court. The battle raged on for awhile, until someone got the brilliant idea of dumping people in the swimming pool. Well, that wouldn't be too much of a problem, everyone was really soaked anyways. But there was an added level of complexity. You see, the pool was quite dirty, filled with about as much algae as water. Oh well, pretty soon people started getting tossed in left and right. Stephen, the birthday boy, managed to get dumped four times. For some reason he kept changing into dry clothes, and for some reason those clothes kept getting soaked. Another guy got dunked somewhere around 20 times, though he never changed. (that was also the guy who went bobbing for apples in this rather green pool) But the most insane thing about the water fight was how it would erupt again after you thought everything was safe. For example, one game required that people sit on the ground with their eyes closed. Yeah, you can probably guess what happened.

Suicide, a rather nasty thing, but nastier when it is survived. Well, putting all the beverages available into one cup and drinking it may not be suicide, but it can be pretty close. Well, I made the, "Evil Suicide Drink of DOOM!" It was just a combination of the various pops and lemonades available. Not too bad, in fact, I dared drink it myself. But then I made the, "Evil Suicide Drink of DOOM v. 1.12985" This consisted of various normal beverages, plus ketchup, mayonaisse, mustard, raisins and an M&M. A bidding process resulted and someone offered seventy-five cents to anyone willing to drink it. The person drank it all and was promptly disgusted. I will not mention what was put on the suicide hot dog, but suffice it to say that no one ate it.

Another thing I discovered there was that I am a really good bluffer at capture the flag. So good, in fact, that I weasled my way to become the jail guard for the other team. It was the second round, so there was much confusion. During that annoying time when no one can decide whether the game has started or not, I stepped over the line and pretended to face off against my team. After discussing placing of defenders I assigned myself as the jail guard and things got interesting. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to create a jail-break. The game was quite short and doing such things in a convincing way takes time. Still, it was quite amusing.

Well, that bizarre rambling is the most I can remember now.

Matter and Nothingness

2005-08-09T16:13:00.000-07:00

Smack your hand against something hard. The thing you smacked probably feels quite real and solid. But is it? Well, let us take a visit to the atoms that make up this object.

Atoms; a collection of miniscule particles. Electrons orbit around a nucleus made of protons and neutrons. Between the electrons and the nucleus sits what? Yep, a whole lot of nothing. In fact, the actual matter in an atom is almost equal to zero. And, because you and I are made of atoms, the actual matter in us is almost equal to zero. Let us look at that again:

Humans are made of atoms
Atoms are made of virtually no matter
So, humans are made of virtually no matter.

So, why did that object feel so hard? Because it's atoms, and the atoms in your hand, possess very stronge forces. In the interaction the involved atoms never touched, but the negative charges of their electrons repelled each other. The very powerful electromagnetic force is what allows us to think that objects are solid, when they are actually not.

Well, I hope this little science lesson doesn't ruin your sleep, as it did to mine last night.

2005-07-30T19:45:00.000-07:00

For the last two days I have not managed my internet domain very well. All the people expecting my usual smart-aleck replies and twisted jokes have been disapointed (well, maybe) What is my excuse? Just two words:

Google Earth

Yes, it's the greatest aerial/sattelite imaging program to date. High-resolution photos inexplicably plastered onto three dimensional terrain. I could spend hours lauding this program, and many hours more using it. Google Earth, simply amazing.

2005-07-30T19:37:00.000-07:00

The Dark Reservoir--at a depth of two feet

2005-07-25T22:19:00.000-07:00

We have officially started on the Boy's Dorm Project, converting the garage at our future house into a (see title of project) This involves removing the concrete floor that currently exists. After about two and a half hours of hard work today, we have about ten percent finished. Not to imply that banging large truck axles and sledge hammers into cement is easy, but we are making progress. If anyone is getting tired of doing nothing, or just clicking away at the computer all day, we will welcome you here.

2005-07-22T21:24:00.000-07:00

Well, enough insanity for today. In other breaking news, I renewed my permit at 11:30 this morning.

A Plan To Solve for WD-40 Inavailability

2005-07-19T22:05:00.000-07:00

Virtually all Americans use WD-40 to lubricate, clean and preserve any piece of metal that is liable to wear. Modern cowboys reach for their trusty can many more times than they reach for their trusty six-shooter. Unfortunately, the, "Trusty Can" is often very untrustworthy. How many times have you gone to lube a bike chain only to find your dispenser disturbingly light? Too many times to count, I can guarantee. This can result in tragically rusty parts. The manufacturers have tried to combat this plague by giving us larger bottles, but that has hardly aliviated the trend. The iron in America seems to be suffering a terrible fate, but hope may yet be on the horizon.

At this point, I will deviate slightly. Imagine the olden days, when people had to draw water from wells that could be a significant distance from where they needed the water. Bringing in water was a back-breaking chore. However, in recent years this has been eliminated by the wonder of running water. Innovators didn't just make larger buckets, they piped water from the source directly into houses. The difficulty in acquiring sufficient amounts of WD-40 could be allieviated in the same way. Simply run a pipe from the local WD-40 factory to people's houses. The results? Fatter WD-40 execs, happier handymen and well preserved metal. There is nothing to lose, and much to gain.

Dancing

2005-07-16T19:50:00.000-07:00

Well, you might not have guessed, but I danced yesterday. No, I didn't go to the Deckers, but I did dance at home. The type of dancing I did was simple, but still exciting. The first step I usually did was a lowering of my left big finger. I would then move my right hand around until I found a partner. Upon this event I usually lowered both of my index fingers and slid my right hand to one side or the other. Occasionally I would tap my right index finger instead of holding it down. If things were really extraordinary I might push my left thumb down. After a display of this kind, repeated by my partner with several variations, one of us would fall to the floor. The person left standing would then lower it's index finger and wiggle his right arm in search of another partner. The whole thing is rather bizarre, but quite energetic and fun. I am pretty sure I would prefer it too more traditional forms of dancing.

2005-07-15T19:35:00.000-07:00

I know of the 3rd Coolest Guy On The Planet! That has to count for something.

2005-07-08T22:45:00.000-07:00

Well, I put up some new 'wall paper' 7.5' quad maps are teh bomb

Robot Guitarist

2005-07-07T21:59:00.000-07:00

here

My Yesterday

2005-07-05T22:34:00.000-07:00

Life was good, yesterday. We started the holiday by picking blueberries for some neighbors. They run a commercial farm and had made a commitment to several stores. Unfortunately, many of the people that were going to pick went on vacation. So, several of us pitched in. (Look for Meadow Glen blueberries at local stores, they are quite nice) We then ate lunch at home and began packing the van.

When we arrived at the T’s house there didn’t seem to be much excitement. Several people were making water balloons and many others were sitting around. I headed out the front door and saw Jeff sitting around. However, he was sitting around and doing something rather exciting, namely, dismembering Piccolo Petes with channel-lock pliers. He would then pour the resulting powder into small prescription medicine bottles. These would be wrapped in copious amounts of tape with a fuse in one end. A big, black bomb was sitting in a box, made with an amount of powder I will specify later. The one he was working on when we showed up contained the powder from 5 Piccolo Petes, enough to make an impressive bang when exploded several minutes later. If you want to hear about more illegal firework exploits, do not leave this page.

Next was a balloon toss, which my parents won handily. They ended up more than 50 feet apart. I offered to play, “Toss the H-bomb” with someone, but was refused. A ‘Funilator’ contest followed. Mr. T. had made a three man slingshot out of surgical tubing and a large funnel. The idea was to shoot targets placed in an unused field. Hitting a cow would earn you double prizes. However, the solid funnel popped the water balloons many more times than it launched them. After several hundred balloons were sent to their doom, and several hits were gained, several people decided to just toss at the cows. Hitting a bovine with a water balloon at 200 feet is no small feat, but several people did it. When one of the cows were hit they usually didn’t care, but they did once. The last balloon was cast: someone claimed that it would hit a nose, lo and behold, Peanut was pegged in exactly that location. The result was one mad cow and many laughing people.

Time for an interlude, something that happened during the time I am recounting anyway. Has anyone seen a bee firework dropped in water? The ‘dihdydrogen monoxide’ bubbles intensely and a green light illuminates the container. Anyways, you may now return to your scheduled programming.

After dinner Jeff suggested Ultimate Frisbee. This was executed in the front yard (which was too small, but we weren’t going in the cow pasture) with teams of boys against girls. We were outnumbered, but won at 10-3. The girls weren’t very happy about that, and jumped to a deal for a rematch when Jeff offered to play with three boys versus five girls. This proved more climactic, but the guys played much better and settled the matter with 5-3 points.

Well, around 8:45 Mr. T. decided to shoot off some parachute fireworks while there was still light out. He had about 20 of those and proceeded to fire them. Jeff and several other people had blown things up sporadically throughout the day, but started earnestly at this time. Now comes the story you have (probably) been waiting for. Remember the big, black bomb? Yes, Jeff and Josh H. had filled it with the powder of 12 or 13 Piccolo Petes and covered it with electrical and duct tape. It ended up the size of a large fist with a convenient fuse on the top. (I hope there is a picture of it somewhere, hint, hint, Chelsea) It was brought to the chicken yard and subsequently blown up. Suffice it to say that it was very loud, and even from 150 feet away I felt a major shockwave. An inch deep crater was formed and an area 10 feet in diameter was cleaned of dust. Additionally, the bottom of the container was blasted into the ground. When we looked ten minutes later we could still see the smoke a half-mile down the valley. Very illegal, very impressive.

From that point on (about 9:00) we started lighting the sky in a serious manner. A vast profusion of fountains, bottle rockets, roman candles and mortars went up in flames. 6 tanks had a battle, more parachutes were launched, fun was in the air. At one point, my brother had a roman candle ball burn through his shirt. There is a reason for the warning stickers, oh well. Some 20 strobes were lit throughout the night, making everyone rather annoyed. Of course, I couldn’t get away without explaining another exploit masterminded by Jeff. Four mortar tubes were lined up and launched simultaneously. During the two hours we were launching, about 8 other houses in the valley had their own show going. From our vantage point we observed that most of Chelatchie Prairie was filled with smoke. Sometime around 10:20, we noticed flashes on the horizon, accompanied by low rumbles. We deduced it to be the Fort Vancouver show. Additionally, around 10:30 we saw a procession of mortar shells coming from a hill that looked suspiciously like the one the B’s live on. Is my suspicion valid?

There is one last thing I have to mention. I have heard rumors of something rather bizarre happening the next (this) morning, but I will need a T. to explain it. However, rumors could be just that.

Fourth of July Thoughts

2005-07-03T21:17:00.000-07:00

In case all of the advertising and hype hasn't gotten into your thick skulls yet, tomorrow is Independence Day. In states where the right to use real fireworks is still supported (as it is in Washington) fireworks will be popping and roaring across the countryside. For a short time every year the sounds of war rages across the U.S. It is a testimony to the blessing of God, and the abilities of our military, that these explosions are meant for celebration and not destruction.

The Magic Number

2005-06-27T13:19:00.000-07:00

1860

That would be my SAT score. Unfortunately, I forget how the new scoring system works. Anyone care to enlighten me?

2005-06-23T19:44:00.000-07:00

Will Solar Power be Enough?

2005-06-22T10:59:00.000-07:00

"The U.S. must reduce its dependence on foreign solar power," Schraeder said. "The sun was created billions of years ago, with the formation of our galaxy. When its unused energy output is gone, it's gone. We must look for alternative energy sources throughout the universe now."

linky

2005-06-19T22:11:00.000-07:00

It didn't turn out the way it was suppsode too. In reality the yellow sky made the trees look really green. However, it is still cool

2005-06-18T20:42:00.000-07:00

I have discovered a website which has virtually all the icons for AOK posted here. It's in korean or Japanese, but the links are not. If that guy deconstructed screenshots to get those pictures, he has problems. Still, it is a nice resource.

2005-06-18T20:33:00.000-07:00

Free hosting! (I think)

Update from the Union of Evil Blackberries' Anti-Douglas Fir Sappling Task Force

2005-06-15T22:38:00.000-07:00

Several years ago the Union of Evil Blackberries sent a task force of some of it's most militant specimens to a small property where trees were being planted. The area had just been logged, making it a prime area for seeds to take root. The blackberries quickly dominated the area in about one year, well on their way to choking out the newly planted trees. However, humans fought the invaders and periodically rescued the Douglas Firs. Unfortunately, little succor came last year, and now the blackberries are advancing at a rate which appears to create havoc soon. Will they conquer? That is a question recently posed to the head of the task force.

Q: So, how is your evil plan to dominate this property going?

A: Well, two winters ago there was a nasty snow storm which flattened most of the brush, including blackberries. The humans were happy about this and let themselves forget about the area for the summer. During that time we completely recovered and put ourselves in a strong offensive position.

Q: That's nice, but have you been able to exploit that?

A: Well, we were in the process of killing quite a few trees this spring when one of the humans began a blistering campaign. He chopped many of our main vines before they were well-grown. Morover, he used a machete, something completely new in this arena. At first it didn't cause much harm, but then it was significantly sharpened, causing much damage.

Q: Does this human use any sort of strategy, or does he just whack at leaves?
A: Oh, he uses one of the worst strategies I have ever seen. He starts chopping on the outside of a cluster, and then works in until he gets almost to the roots. Most humans just whack a bit at us, but he kills us!

Q: That sounds bad, what is the death toll?

A: Well, he has all of the main trails cleared, many clusters killed, and the majority of the trees free. Our penetration levels are exceedingly low for this time in the season. Most of our normal expansion during the summer has been checked pre-emptively. It is terrible!

Q: That does sound bad, by the way, is he using any new technology other than the machete?

A: Well, several years ago the humans used this nasty weed-wacker like device. It did much damage to our ranks. Fortunately, it was taken out of service for awhile. However, our spies say that it may be used again. Supposedly it doesn't have the usual plastic cutting implement and uses something much more effective against our vines. Our highest commanders seem very concerned about this issue.

Q: Well, nice talking to you, I hope you find some way to win.

A: Oh, we are trying, trying our hardest.