oil, black gold that is.....

We’ll there is only one more week left in the semester. It was the hardest one so far in my college career. Now summer is here and I can start to blog again with alllllll my free time.

As everyone knows the news the past few weeks as has been filled with talk of outrageous gas prices. Every year around this time the price goes up, but this year it seems that it is going to be higher than ever before. Now this doesn’t really affect me and my manual transmission jetta but it does affect just about everything else in this country. The prices are fast approaching three dollars and people are getting mad – or at least the news says so haha. How could people not get mad about it when every time they turn on their television all they hear is how bad they are getting ripped off with oil companies at record high profits and all the price gouging? So the American public is getting ripped off and they aren’t gonna take it anymore! What do they do to try and solve the problem? One suggestion was give everyone $100 as a gasoline rebate. That sounds like the dumbest idea I have ever heard. There is no quick fix to this problem. A change of lifestyle and the way our country operates is the only real solution. So today I took matters into my own hands and decided that I would ride my bike to school rather than drive. It’s about a 13 minute drive so I allowed myself an hour on bike. Well everything was going great and I was making good time until about half way through the trip I got a flat tire. Didn’t see that coming. So I walked the rest of the way and it took me about an hour and I was pretty winded when I got to work at the admissions office. Now I have to finish work then go to class and then walk home. How many people do you think are willing to do this everyday rather than drive their car? I don’t think that there is too many judging on the reaction I got from my co workers at the admissions office about my trip. They just kept asking me why I would do something like that. I guess they are all waiting for the $100 dollar rebate from uncle sam to fix their fuel problems. People can bitch and bitch about the price of gas as much as they want to but it is not going to change a thing but it will annoy me. I am all for the raise in price. Yes that is correct, all for the raise in price. Maybe if the price is $5.00 a gallon people will actually think about all the gas that they waste and stop driving cars bigger than a small house. I heard the other day that the state of California uses more gasoline than any other country in the world. I don’t know if that is true but I’m sure that they do use a whole lot of petrol. It’s not that people need to stop driving all together, it’s just that they need to think about when they use their car and limit it to only necessary trips. Look at all the other cars on the road when you drive somewhere. How many have more than one person in them besides family cars. So carpool and cut back on the trips to the grocery store from 4 times a week to 1. No one is going to do that. No one wants to. Why would you walk or stay home when you could drive? Why take the stairs when there is an elevator? How does the posi trac on a Plymouth work? Why are boobs good? Why is the sky blue? The only way that they will change is by hitting them where it hurts Americans the most – in their wallets. People can’t act like there is an endless supply of oil anymore. It is a real problem and something has got to give….maybe we can just combine the “oil problem” with the “immigrant problem” and let the immigrants that no one seems to care about just carry all the rich people around on their backs.

Spring Break 06' Follow up

Overall the trip to Orlando changed my life. It was so much stuff to think about in so little time. Even though I stayed there for four months last year it was still like culture shock all over again. The amount of money people have there is crazy, but still for every bench in the city there is at least two homeless people. The amount of homeless people is amazing. I guess they all move there because it’s warm or something. I spent some time one night talking to two different homeless people. The first one talked about just getting out of jail and how bad his jaw hurt. He didn’t really have much to say just tell me about his problems. I felt like he was just trying to scam me into giving him money so I did. I gave him three dollars. Who cares if he saves it up and buys alcohol or drugs, he obviously doesn’t know how to handle is problems anyway so I’ll help him out and let him forget about them for a bit. The next guy was from North Carolina and the first thing he asked me was for jumper cables. I said I didn’t have any then he asked me for money, then if I was religious. At least this guy had more of an approach. I told him I was religious and asked him what his faith was. He was a Baptist and I told him I was Roman Catholic and then we talked about how we both thought what religion a person is doesn’t matter but many people think that it does. It’s just important to have something to believe in, makes you feel good. Then we talked about the pressure you feel from people when you walk around the city. I told him I felt like it was a giant popularity contest with people you didn’t know and he agreed. He seemed like he had his head on straight because we talked about some pretty deep stuff in our short time walking around together. It just makes me wonder where I would be today if I wasn’t born with the opportunities I had. Being a white male, having presentable clothes, and a loving family gives me a much better chance to make it in society than my homeless friend but we are still essentially the same person. Just two animals in a jungle of skyscrapers and more lexus’ than you can count.
After the homeless experience came the experience of spending around 40 hours in a ford escort with my Grandma Ethel. I learned and forgot the story of every person in my family and every person in surrounding towns. I really enjoy talking to my Grandma because she always wants to hear what I have to say. Also because I get to hear what people think about after they retire. I asked her about the new prescription drug plans and how the affect her, if she ever saw any money from the lottery, and various questions I always wanted to ask a senior citizen. We talked about racial issues and homosexual issues and all kinds of issues and it’s great to hear her opinion because it is so different from the same crap I hear from everyone else. She is always willing to help people and I just don’t see much of that from other people. Overall it was good conversation and a bad drive.
The event that took the cake for the life changing spring break trip was witnessing a fatal car accident at the beginning of the return trip. It was pretty gruesome and I was the first to the scene. I had never even seen a small car crash before let alone something like this so the whole thing was new to me. It was so crazy that it was really happening. There was someone lying on the road dead and it wasn’t a movie. I sat and thought about the incident the entire ride home so it was pretty frustrating. If I would have not been paying attention, I would have been lying next to the kid. I thought about all the little grudges I hold against people and how meaningless they are. About all the stress I make about stupid things that mean absolutely nothing. How much of my focus everyday is given to negative things and things that really don’t matter no matter how much people try to tell me they do. I listen to people talk about all their problems and how they don’t know what to do everyday. The just get so wrapped up in their problems their lives just become their problems and the problems escalate. After watching that I just couldn’t understand how people have grudges with other family members or get mad when someone cuts them off in traffic. Why does that really matter? It will all be over in an instant for each and everyone of us. The way you stand with everyone at that moment will be the legacy you leave in the present realm. Was it a worthwhile time for you?
There were a few other factors that made spring break Orlando a time for a revolution in my being. All in all it really opened up my eyes to see the distortion of the American peoples’ reality. It’s like everyone has got it all backwards but they don’t understand and they never will. I guess all that matters is that I understand. Do you?
Peace in the east!

"In the Morning when you rise
Do you think of me and how you left me crying
Are you thinking of telephones and managers
And where you got to be at noon
You are living a reality I left years ago
It quite nearly killed me
In the long run it will make you cry
Make you crazy and old before your time
And the difference between me and you
I won't argue right or wrong
But I have time to cry my baby
You don't have to cry"

- CSN

Spring Break 06'

Everything is going good so far. The car made it down alright, just had it cleaned getting ready to take a ride. Have alot to talk about more to come when I have more time. Going on a TRIP tomorrow so I'll have much much more to talk about. Peace from the south....

The Women's Movement...

Well it’s that time of year again. Mardi gras just ended and it’s the beginning of lent. Mardi gras is a time where people everywhere party and have a good time for a week before they start their Lenten routine. Somewhere along the line, plastic beads became part of the mix. My personal interpretation of the system is you find a girl, you offer her some beads, and she lifts up her shirt as a payment for the plastic beads. I have no problem at all with looking at women’s breasts; let me just state that first. I do have a problem however with young women running around drunk and half naked (I’m just giving my thoughts on the topic which in no way are related to my actions in any particular situation). Many girls are half naked all the time already in their everyday attire, just because “it’s the style”. But what do you really expect to happen when you are around thousands of drunk men and you are drunk as well and taking your clothes off? Or is that just part of the fun? What type of image are you trying to send out about yourself? Taking clothes off is usually the first part in the stages of becoming intimate with a partner. So when these guys see a girl taking their shirt off that must be what she wants to do right? I mean it is bad enough that everyone there is getting wasted, but why do people need to start taking their clothes off? Can someone just answer that for me?

I listen to girls bitch and cry about not being treated equal everyday. When I see stuff like this is just shows me that these girls don’t want to be treated equal. I mean it’s stated and proven fact that men think about sex a lot. A whole lot. So these girls are trying to get the guys attention by using the thing that they can’t refuse. Why would they ever try to get a partner by actually talking and trying to impress them by using something else? They don’t know how to attract a guy any other way then advertising themselves as sex objects, by the way they dress and act when they get drunk. Do they really actually think that the guys are even looking at the women as human beings? They just see a pair of boobs and a body of a female. There is no actual person or personality with them. It might as well be a blow up doll.

This whole thing obviously isn’t directed to all women. I have a great respect for women, I just don’t have respect for women who don’t have respect for women. Women have worked so hard to gain the rights that they have today. They gained freedoms for the future generations and they use their freedom to run around drinking and taking their clothes off for random men. The images we see of these events stick with people, create a lasting impression of our generation.

Women are in no way treated as equal in society. Because they aren’t. They can be treated as equal in the workplace. They have come so far in such a short time, and will continue to progress into the future. Think about what your grandma did for a living and think about what your going to do/does or your girlfriend is going to do/does. But this is about more than the work place, this is about the real world. If men and women were equal, there wouldn’t be men and women we would just be a unisex animal. I wouldn’t have a purpose if it wasn’t for women, basically they are what I live for, I don’t know how much more respect I can give than that. Each sex has distinct characteristics and a certain role that needs to be carried out. Hence the term PARTNERS. Work together as a team. I don’t want some girl on my team that is running around taking her clothes off is all I’m tryin to say…can you dig it? I would really like to hear from some women, maybe even a flashing veteran and get an explanation for these shenanigans…..


P.S. That’s Susan B. Anthony in those pictures hiding that girls womanly tools….Wonder if she ever went to burbon st.?




P.S.S. My writing skills are still improving and I know it is easy for messages to get lost in my ramblings. I want to make clear that this is no way a generalization of all females or intended to hurt anyone s feelings. Sorry to the girl in the picture if it's you, but face it your already all over the internet anyways, you come up for first for "mardi gras flasher" image search on google. You should be proud....

My Superband....

In my personal opinion, Led Zeppelin is the greatest band of all time. They arn't my favorite, or the best musically, but all of the members' styles fit together better than anyone else. If I was able to pick musicians out of any time and put them together to make a new band, I think I would be able to top Zeppelin. I would create the greatest supergroup of all time (even better than Traffic)...

Robert Plant - Lead Vocals

I would put Plant as the frontman. He put's everything he has to give when he sings a song, you would never get the feeling that he is thinking about something else when he sings a song. He also add's so much to the group being able to master the skill of using the voice as an instrument....

Flea - Bass Guitar

Is there really even a question about who to put a bass? Some of the way early RHCP stuff like "If you want me to stay", then all the way to the hit "Aeroplane", and "Walkabout" off the same album are some of my favorites. It's just fun to hear and so unique...

Ray Manzarek - Organ/Keys

By far the most influential rock organ player ever. I understand that he plays bass parts as well as organ parts in the doors songs, but I still think he would be able to adapt into something even better focusing on just one instrument. His style is so dark yet funky and upbeat....

Jeff Beck - Lead Guitar

What a great guitar player? I am not that fond of the direction his newer material took, but all the way back to the Wired album is where it's at. He would be able to complement flea nicely and play some rock and even more of that funky stuff...

Bud Gaugh - Drummer

I was originally going to put Steve Miller Band drummer, Tim Davis in my band to keep the beat but I think that Bud is the way to go. He keeps his unique style and when he plays a funky R and B sounding beat I think that Flea would be able to go to work.

So that's my supergroup. I know that each of these members are tied to a distinct sound and in reality I think that there would be too many creative differences. But I can just imagine what it would be like, Just imagine some funky reggae sounding beat, then just this ridiculious bass line falls in. Dark feeling rock organ keeping the rhythm, and Beck doing his own thing. Then Plant comes in. As creator of the group I would make sure that Plant wouldn't take the group on a depressing path with the lyrics. I would keep everything happy, no talk of women, money, or time. Each is so creative in what they do, it would just be a trip (literally) to hear. What a band....

"In the Morning when you rise. Do you think of me and how you left me crying. Are you thinking of telephones and managers, and where you got to be at noon? You are living a reality I left years ago. It quite nearly killed me. In the long run it will make you cry. Make you crazy and old before your time. And the difference between me and you, I won't argue right or wrong, But I have time to cry my baby"

- CSN

The University of PHILosophy

I’m back from my hiatus. I just felt like I should take a break for a while. Apologies to my everyday readers….I mean reader :) ….

First of all I must state that I do not support the education system in anyway and this is a biased opinion.

I hate school, I have my whole life. Everyone does, I know. But anytime school is in session I get an awful feeling in my stomach until I am on break again. If I think about it to much it makes me want to vomit. I starting finding ways to get out of school in kindergarten.

I think that my entire education could have been condensed from the 15 years it consumed of my life to a good 5 to 8 years of actual instruction. Teachers have hard jobs and they can only do so much, only so fast, with the number of kids they have to teach. I just think the whole concept of it is flawed. But let me move beyond the public school system to higher education where the real problems start.

You have to go to college if you want to get a specific job. Everyone wants to go to college so they can buy their house in a suburb and drive a nice car and so forthnot taking into concideration that they might not be smart enough so they should think about a different option. Basically, go to college to get where you need to go with your life. So I am in college. I see the way the college system works first hand, and I fell that there is too much money to be made for a proper education. Many students I know have limited interest in their field of study beyond the classroom. How can this ever create an effective work force? While attending a college class, listening to things of no relevance to the class, I came up with the idea of an alternative system to prepare students for their career.

So my institution will be set up like this. I would have all different types of majors and programs, as a normal college or university would have. I will have 4 consecutive semesters of in class work and basic information on the subject. Only core classes related to the job. At the end of the fourth semester a test will be given to make sure the student is ready. If the test is passed, the students will then proceed to the next phase. They will be placed in a job situation, internship if you will. The interns will not be paid, and there are no grades anymore. The students go because they want to learn about the job they will do. So they have 2 semesters at the same job followed by 2 more semesters at another job. They then graduate.

People learn how to do their jobs when they get their job. They don’t learn that in college. I have learned so much in college, but ¾ of it is unrelated to my field. It is all things that I was forced to learn about. I understand the idea of a well rounded education, but I think it defeats the purpose of going to college in the first place.

There will only be a limited number of students accepted to my college. Maybe 1,000. This will make everyone want to go to it because it is so hard to get into. Then I will get all of the smart kids. Then successful businesses will see how smart the kids are, and want them for their business. Kind of like a draft for professional sports. The students will be better prepared then students from normal colleges, and the students will have it made in the shade because they have such a good business on their resume. This will all provide for better workers at specific jobs creating a better work place.

MONEY IN THE BANK! ----- but wait, the college is free! No student loans, no computer lab fees, nothing. Just a good time of learning not being educated…

Now 3 LOCATIONS!

PICK YOUR SEASON!

I’m accepting applications now…..



SONGS

Small Faces - Itchycoo Park (what a great song!)
Peter Gabriel - Sledgehammer
The Police - Message In A Bottle
Cream - Badge
ELP - Karn Evil 9: First Impression

What can you do?

So I’m sure that everyone has seen Osama’s new release at the top of the Media’s charts. I don’t like to talk about stuff like this on my blog because most of the time my idea’s get lost my ramblings, and people who don’t know me don’t know that I have some crazy ideas from time to time that involve no logical thinking. But I have been thinking about this so much that I have too.

Okay so Osama proposed his version of a truce -

"In response to the substance of the polls in the U.S., which indicate that Americans do not want to fight Muslims on Muslim land, nor do they want Muslims to fight them on their land, we do not mind offering a long-term truce based on just conditions that we will stick to.
"We are a nation that God banned from lying and stabbing others in the back. Hence, both parties of the truce will enjoy stability and security to rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan, which were destroyed by war.
"There is no problem in this solution, but it will prevent hundreds of billions from going to influential people and warlords in America -- those who supported Bush's electoral campaign. And from this, we can understand Bush and his gang's insistence on continuing the war,"

And America responded to this truce –

Spokesman Scott McClellan – “We do not negotiate with terrorists. We put them out of business.”

Rock on America. “…Put them out of business.”

Steps To Put them out of Business:

So okay we are going to put them out of business, we need to be able to have all means necessary to stop them so we have the Patriot Act to stop these evil men. So everyone starts freaking out about the Patriot Act, giving up the freedoms granted by being a citizen of our country. So we need an explanation of why the government is able to do anything they want to us – They released detailed justification for the spying they are doing.

Apparently, the Justice Department said that the president has the legal authority to approve the program because of the power given to him in the Constitution to protect the country as well as in the post-9/11 authorization to use military force passed by Congress. Sounds good. So with their legal authority they decided they should be able to eavesdrop without a court warrant on people in the United States, including American citizens, suspected of communicating with al Qaeda members overseas.

So okay that sounds alright, they will just check out the people who are “terrorists”. THIS IS THE BEST PART: last year the administration subpoenaed google to and requested 1 million random Web addresses and records of all Google searches from any one-week period. I’m not going to lie I have checked out some weird stuff on google (don’t be perverted, I mean organizations web sties that the government would look down upon). It’s not that I’m a terrorist in anyway. I just like to see what everyone has to say, but through the wonders of the internet I don’t think that when the government looks at what I searched I would differ very much from one of these “terrorists”. Weird….. Now I understand that the reason google was subpoenaed in the first place was because the government needs the data to determine how often pornography shows up in online searches as part of an effort to revive an Internet child protection law, but since they are putting terrorists out of business I think that they might be checking for some other stuff too.

I understand that there is so much more going on that just this, people are fighting and risking their lives. I am not ever trying to disrespect our soldiers. I am not an expert on any of this stuff either. This is just my interpretation of how all of this could in some way affect me personally. …..

“Paranoia strikes deepInto your life it will creep. It starts when you're always afraid. You step out of line, the man come and take you away. We better stop, hey, what's that soundEverybody look what's going down”
- Buffalo Springfield