Exhausted/Frustrated

It has been a long week. As the Student Body President I have been fighting for our right as students to screen a film entitled Obsession. The film, released this year, uses images from Arab world TV stations in conjunction with interviews of a former PLO terrorist, the daughter of a former Egyptian Fedayeen unit commander, a Palestinian journalist as well as many other leading scholars in the field to investigate radical Islam and how it threatens our modern world. The original screening of the film was put together by the college Republicans on our campus in conjunction with the group Hasbara Fellowships who facilitates these kinds of campus screenings at colleges all over the country. Word got to the administration that the film was unbalanced and biased toward Islam itself at which point they deemed it necessary to postpone the screening until such a time that a "fair and balanced" event can be planned. This event will feature not only the film but a panel of speakers who will help interpret the film.
Frankly, as a student I am very upset by the final decision that was made by an administration which has allowed the movies "American Blackout" and "Farenheit 9/11" (controversial movies in their own right) to be shown on campus with relatively no questions asked.
Hypocrisy, by my estimation, has here overridden natural logic. The initial concern raised was that the film portrayed mainstream Islam in a negative light. It has been my experience (having now watched the entirity of an hour long Fox News Broadcast of the film) that it makes VAST efforts to ensure that the viewer understands that radical Islam is a "violent strain" of Islam which is in itself not only a threat to the "west" but also to mainstream Islam itself!
I fear that by blogging about this I am making it more public than it possibly should be, but I needed an outlet and this was handy...

Should NFL Referees be Able To Decide Games?

The answer, obviously, is NO!!! Some of you who read this blog may know that I am an avid Green Bay Packers fan. Now, I did not enter this season expecting the Packers to be the NFC North champions, but frankly I was pleasantly surprised when, for a while, they actually started winning games. Frankly, I am very disturbed by what I just watched on Monday Night Football. The Packers played a decent game; Brett Favre through 3 interceptions, but the last two were out of desperation. In my opinion the reason the Packers lost this game can be boiled down to one thing, the officiating. Case in point, during the fourth quarter Cullen Jenkins was called for "Roughing the Passer" for hitting Matt Hasselbeck on the back of the head on a play in which he was not only already in the air by the time Hasselbeck passed the ball but in which Hasselbeck turned away from him effectively causing Jenkins to hit him on the "head." This play, which was on a third down, gave the Seahawks a first down and eventually led to a touchdown which put the game out of reach for the Packers.
It seems to me that in recent history the officiating in NFL games has been sporadic, at best, and that many games involve some sort of a call which has basically decided the game and that is just sad. Let them play.
In other news, modern quarterbacks are babies and need to remember that they are playing a relatively violent sport.

AAAAAAAAAAH!

Congress needs to draft a bill denying celebrities the right to marry eachother.
Link to Yahoo News.

You've Got to be Kidding!

According to an article on Yahoo, PETA recently sent an e-mail to an Alaskan pastor urging him not to use live animals in his churches nativity scene.

"We've never had live animals, so I just figured this was some spam thing," Armstrong said. "It's rough enough on us people standing out there in the cold. So we're definitely not using animals."
Jackie Vergerio, PETA's captive animals in entertainment specialist, said her organization tracks churches nationwide that use real animals in "living nativity scenes."
Seems the confusion started with the church's choice of phrase. PETA flagged Free Methodist's display as a "living nativity," and indeed, that's how the church describes it on its Web site.
To PETA, that means animals.
"Those animals are subject to all sorts of terrible fates in some cases," Vergerio said. "Animals have been stolen and slaughtered, they've been raped, they've escaped from the nativity scenes and have been struck by cars and killed. Just really unfathomable things have happened to them."

I am so tired of PETA. Honestly, we might as well just kill every animal on the planet because there is no way that a group like PETA is ever going to be satisfied with the way they are treated. Also, as reported earlier on this blog, PETA has taken nearly the same stand. You might as well just euthanize the animal than let it bring joy to some child who could either keep it as a pet, watch it perform in a circus or observe it in a zoo.

Oh, and by the way, I am back, obviously. My Thanksgiving was marvelous, minus the almost 28 total hours of drive time, back and forth.

Take a Break!

Thanksgiving Break officially starts for me at noon on Tuesday. I will be driving, with my sister, her husband and their four kids, to my other sister's house in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Unfortunately, I will not have the same kind of uninterrupted internet access that I do at school so I will be taking a short hiatus from blogging.
There is a chance that I might make a post tomorrow sometime before I leave, but that is a very slim chance.

Kramer Goes Crazy

I recieved an email today from a good friend of mine. The subject line read something like this "Kramer went nuts!" In the email was a link to a video at the TMZ.com. The video showed actor and comedian Michael Richards (who played Kramer on Seinfeld) performing on stage at the laugh factory. During his routine he was heckled by two African American audience members, and this is where the video starts. Having dealt with the heckling for some time Richards flies of the handle and begins throwing racial epithets around. All while still on stage. At one point in the video the two men can be heard saying, 'That was completely un-****ing called for!' To which Richards replies something to the effect of 'So was interrupting me.' The video, which is of very poor quality and is hard to understand at some points can be found here.*
In the past few years I have become an avid Seinfeld fan, so I was very surprised and disturbed by this video. Obviously any racist/bigotted thought is wrong and should not be tolerated. I do not want anyone to get the idea that I am condoning what Michael Richards did. However, in my opinion, having read a couple of articles about this and watched the video Richards was provoked to this action, in some ways. The men in the audience were not allowing him to do the comedic set that he had prepared and it would appear that it flustered and frustrated him to a point of extreme anger, something we are all prone to. Racism is never the answer, and what Richards did during this performance was unthinkable. However, I still think he deserves some forgiveness.
Article from the Star Tribune
*This video contains graphic language.

11:05 PM - Addendum - Jerry Seinfeld was on David Letterman tonight and invited Michael Richards to come onto the show via satellite to discuss, from his point of view, what happened. During the interview Richards apologized profusely for his actions and was on the verge of tears the entire time. It was the most serious thing that I have ever seen as he apologized and stated again and again that no one deserves to endure "that crap," meaning the racial remarks which he made on stage. According to Richards, he let his anger get the best of him and he was deeply sorry for it.

Incredibly Unproductive and Lacking Creativity

I'm feeling lazy, unproductive, uncreative...not in the mood for blogging, and yet here I am writing a new post.
Now that I'm here I guess I might as well try and come up with something, but what?
Aha! I've got it...
My top five Board games:
5. Clue
4. Risk
3. Monopoly
2.Trivial Pursuit
1. Balderdash

Food For Thought:
What if real life was like the Game of Life?

Subway

What was the most annoying thing to happen to me today?
I had to sit and wait in line while the person in front of me at Subway ordered 4 sandwiches...
I know, this is to be expected at a fast food establishment, but for some reason whenever I go to Subway this happens. The strangest thing about this occurence is that had the three other people whom she was ordering for been there with her I would have had no problem with it...

Roots.

I've decided, after much deliberation, that "Don't Forget Your Sunscreen: The Sequel" was just too wordy...This blog has taken on a life of it's own and, in many ways, has seperated itself from it's predecessor (which can be found here: http://virtualdig.org/blogs/cameronheiliger/).
Anyhow, to make a long story short, I have decided to simply call this blog "Don't Forget Your Sunscreen." The literal tone which I adopted in the first blog (which chronicles my month* long adventure as an archaeological volunteer in Israel where sunscreen was supposed to be a necessity**) has now turned into a more metaphorical tone for life in general.

Don't Forget Your Sunscreen - You might get burned.

*The month long trip was shortened to two weeks because of fighting in the north and the explosion of a Katyusha rocket in Tiberias, only a few miles from where we were.
**I confess that I only used Sunscreen the first couple of days.

In Some Ways This Was to Be Expected

Man Shot While Waiting in Line for Playstation 3.

This is an awful story. However, I would say that it is to be expected in our society. Consider this, from the "thugs" point of view. There are 20 people standing outside at 3 AM waiting to buy a game console that costs nearly $600. I'm no math major but that equals a lot of money and not too many people who are gonna put up much of a fight since they've been sleeping and eating in the line for probably 2 or 3 days...easy pickens? Of course. Two problems occur to me. One; our society finds video games SOOO important that people have taken this entire week off of work just to stand in line for a video game console. Two; that people in this society would think in the way that I state above.

Neglect

I've been neglecting the blog lately, I apologize.
Here's what's been happening...

O.J. Simpson has apparently finished taping an interview, in conjunction with the release of a new book, in which he says how "he would have done it" if he had killed his ex-wife and her friend. Story.
Ridiculous!

Lawsuits have been filed against the makers of the film 'Borat' by a group of 'frat boys' who claim they were led to believe the movie would not be seen in the United States and that they signed the contracts to appear on screen under impaired circumstances. Story.
Cohen defends Borat.
How unfortunate that under the "false pretenses" of the contract these poor fellows exuded their true personalities.

Hopefully I will be able to post something more fun a little later on in the day.

Will it Blend?

Blendtec, a home appliance company which specializes in blenders has recently released a video series entitled "Will it Blend." I discovered the videos while visiting Say No to Crack, one of the blogs I read on a daily basis. According to the BlendTec website, the Total Blender "is the all-in-one appliance that makes smoothies, fresh juice, ice cream, milkshakes, cappuccinos, margaritas, soups, sauces, breads, dressings, salsas and more! It replaces up to 9 other appliances with one fast easy-to-use machine, at a fraction of the cost." And it only costs $400!! On the higher end of things, Blendtec also has an $825 model called the Connoisseur.
For the videos - willitblend.com
Blendtec official website

I wish I had money...and a real fridge

One of the things I regret from my childhood is that I only played the game of Mousetrap a couple of times. I remember seeing commercials for it constantly, and always thinking how much fun it looked. As an avid Looney Tunes watcher, it reminded me of the crazy contraptions that Wile E. Coyote developed to catch the Roadrunner.
For all of you who feel the same as me and wish you had more time to play Mousetrap have no fear. A new toy has been released which essentially turns your fridge into a giant Mousetrap board.
Essentially, Frigits Deluxe consists of several marbles and a series of colorful magnetic funnels, tunnels, catapults, spinners and sheer drops that stick to the side of your fridge.
Link via mental_floss and OhGizmo!

Amateur

This is a lot of fun - link via neatorama.

Chutzpah is Right!

Some people will go any length to avoid the consequences of their actions. This guy is using the consequences of his actions to avoid the consequences of his actions (I hope that made sense).
According to the article, on Yahoo, this Canadian was divorced from his wife and decided that he'd rather see her dead than pay the child support he owed.
Unbeknownst to him the would be hitman that he hired to break his ex-wife's neck was an undercover officer.
Having pleaded guilty to the charge of plotting to commit murder he is claiming that his incarceration will prevent him from paying his child support.
This guy should have never been a father. Yes his marriage failed, but as a parent he has a responsibility to support his children.

Full Story

OK Go

Tonight Andrea and I are going to see OK Go.
Both of these videos were shot in one take.

big burger

I don't even know what to say about this...it's a 105 pound hamburger in New Jersey...

Heroes in a Halfshell

The first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic book premiered in 1984. Originally intended by the creators, Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, as a parody of the two most popular comics of the time; The New Mutants and Daredevil. Little did they know the phenomena they were about to create. In the past 22 years the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have emerged as true American icons, since then they have been the subject of three TV series, four movies (one due out in 2007) as well as multiple video games.
For me, neither of the other TV series will ever live up to the first. The Next Mutation, 1997-98, was a live action spin-off of the movie series which never lived up to the hype and never really seemed to be 'the Turtles,' and I have never been a fan of the new look of the recent Turtles series.
As for the new movie due out next year, I could not be more excited! Here's what you can expect; "the PG-rated movie will derive its tone from the original comic-book series and will be slightly grittier than the previous live-action pictures. The animation will be created in Imagi’s state-of-the-art facility in Hong Kong."
Take a look at the trailer:


Just another note, I have passed on a love of the Turtles to a new generation. My nephew, who is 6, used to spend a lot of time at our house including spending the night at least a couple of nights a week. I remember on multiple occasions being asked to sing "Ninja Turtles Song" before he would finally settle down and go to sleep.

Fortune Favors the Bold!

This morning I awoke and checked my email to find FOUR emails which read thusly, (the more interesting parts are in bold).

What's the first rule of investing? Buy low sell high!
Yesterday, market forces caused our top pick (EGLY) to close down on the day. This gives our members the perfect opportunity to pick some up on the cheap before the big news!

Ever-Glory International (EGLY)
Current: 0.63
Projected: 1.30
Rating: 5/5
Here's the latest news:

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA-(MARKET WIRE)-Nov 6, 2006 - 9:45am- The Relationship between Ever-Glory and Disney's Agent is going well, with Orders Recorded in Excess of $100,000 for First Half of 2006.
We believe that having such a relationship with Disney is a huge window of opportunity which could lead to extremely large contracts. Go EGLY!


Other news:
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA-(MARKET WIRE)-Nov 1, 2006 10:16pm- Ever-Glory International Group, a multinational enterprise specializing in garment manufacturing and exports, has expanded the scope of its business in 2006, wherein the first half of the year, completed orders from a single customer, C&A, totaled a staggering US$5.6 Million.
This is just ONE customer! Many others have placed large orders this quarter.

August 8th - $2mil order from Matalan
July 25th - $500k order from Debenhams
July 10th - $1mil order from OTTO


Please check all these figures with your favorite source.
EGLY is the great deal! We are expecting third quarter numbers to be out soon and are telling all of our members to take a position in before the data hits the street. These fortuitous figures are going to shock the market and send this one way up!
Give yourself the chance to come out WAY ahead here.
Fortune favors the bold!Also news are
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The morning after the closely fought midterm elections, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear its first major abortion case in six years.
ORLANDO, Florida (AP) -- A fire early Monday destroyed a section of the venerable Gatorland tourist attraction, likely killing four animals. Among the charred areas was its main entrance, a huge concrete alligator mouth.
JACKSON, Michigan (AP) -- The party game asked people to name the stupidest thing they had ever done. Police say Jerry Rose answered, "Shot a guy in the head."
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Republicans and Democrats pushed their get-out-the-vote efforts to full throttle and political luminaries hopscotched the nation on behalf of candidates as some polls showed Tuesday's midterm elections tightening.
CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- New national data show school bus-related accidents send 17,000 U.S. children to emergency rooms each year, more than double the number in previous estimates that only included crashes.

Thanks for brightening my day ever so slightly Shelton, Osvaldo, Shane and Thad.

Electioneering

Tired of this election season? Check out this post at Neatorama.
Man am I glad I'm not in Montana for all of this...





I couldn't find the one I was looking for. For anyone who is in Montana right now, you might remember it...apparently Jon Tester thinks Americans are just "gravy trains with biscuit wheels."

Go-Go Gadget Slammer

After a weekend’s long hiatus I’m back and blogging again. Today’s topic, a schoolyard fad that came and went faster than you can say antidisestablishmentarianism. That’s right, I’m talking about Pogs!

The game emerged in Hawaii during the 1920s and 30s. Players would use either milk caps of the cardboard caps of a particular kind of juice made from passion fruit, orange and guava; hence, POG.

The game started with each player stacking an even amount of Pogs facedown between them. They would then take turns hitting the stack with their ‘slammer.’ Any pogs which landed face-up were collected by the player. This process continued until all the pogs in the stack were gone. The player with the most pogs won the game and kept the pogs which they had collected.

Much like the Pokemon and other anime card games which emerged more recently, this game took over the lives of those school children who took part in it. Most recesses were devoted to playing the game, so much so that some schools even banned pogs from the premises. Some teachers saw the fact that the winner took the spoils of the game as a form of gambling.

Luckily the fad dwindled just as quickly as it began.

Charts and Graphs

I found this on mental_floss, they found it on boingboing.
Enjoy.

Hypocrisy.

Iran's best-selling newspaper, Hamshahri, launched a competition in February to find the best cartoon about the Holocaust, in which 6 million Jews were killed by the Nazis.

The contest was a retaliation for last year's publication of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad in Danish and other European newspapers that angered Muslims worldwide.

Full story.

I am deeply disturbed by what I have just read, supplemented above. I find it ironic that in the past year Islam has dramatically retaliated, twice with violence, for comments made about their religion. Yet, as a Christian, if my religion is lampooned or mocked, which it is every day, I am told to bite the bullet and get over it.
Last year when the cartoon mentioned above was released, if I remember right, it also contained caricatures of other major religions. The only one we heard about was the depiction of Mohammad, and the only reason we heard about it was because many Muslims retaliated with violence.
Again, many Muslims retaliated with violence when the Pope made a comment about Islam's history of violence. This was the most ironic to me. It was as if Islam was saying, "You say we're violent? You deserve to die for saying that!"
Now, an Iranian newspaper has given rewards to the cartoonists who best lampooned one of the most horrific events in human history; the Holocaust.
I am not going to say that, from a worldview, Christianity or Judaism are better than Islam. Many awful things have been done in the name of God; the Crusades come to mind. It was unfortunate that the original cartoon was published, however, to respond in such a way that only proliferates the idea which was put forth in said cartoon is not going to help Islam any.
That's enough world politics, next time I'll just leave it to Griep.

BALDERDASH!

I assume that most people have heard of or played the game Balderdash. For those who may not know, this is one of my favorite board games. Here's what happens, the "dasher" gives all of the players a specific clue; this could be a word, person, movie name or even a date. After all of the players make up their own definition the dasher reads them along with the right answer. Then, everyone chooses what they think is the most feasible answer. Finally, points are given accordingly.
With all of that said, I have decided to post a word from Balderdash in the hopes of getting some funny answers.
The only rule is that you are not allowed to look up the word or topic.

The word is: pogonotomy.

The Trappings of My Youth

It's the start of a new month, and as such I have decided to spend this month reminiscing about my youth.
I will still do my best to bring you the random, odd or just plain weird from the daily news, but along with that I will be making every effort to bring you a daily dose of what I remember from my younger days.
Things you can look forward to; Pogs, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, GI-Joe, Transformers, Hot-Wheels, 'How I broke my arm,' 'the squeegee story' and so much more!

Bob Barker's Farewell Tour

Bob Barker yesterday announced his imminent retirement from the hit day-time game show The Price is Right. The 82 year old, who turns 83 in December, will film his last show next June after being at the helm for 35 years; the entire span of the show's existence.

"I probably made up my mind four or five days ago," he says. "I got up in the morning, and I was rushing around to the fax machine, to the telephone, to get the mail, trying to get to the studio, and I thought, 'Now's the time.' "

Full Story.