The downfall of American tradition

It has become all to evident that our society is willing to pervert our traditions for the sake of avoiding a problem. So instead of fighting against the fear bringers, and putting them in their place, we design "creative" ways of side-stepping the issue. Unfortunately, these creations have done nothing more than destroy our traditions, and this saddens me.

What am I referring to, you ask?



That's right!! Trunk or Treat.... What?!?

So let me get this straight... I'm 10 years old, and dressed up in a totally awesome superhero costume, so excited to run from door to door, having knots twisting in my stomach from the fear of some ghoulish wart-ridden witch answering the door to dish out the loot.... but knowing that I will be walking away with all kinds of precious sugar-coated treasures. But wait, "Mom... why are we at church?" "whats with all the people standing by their cars?" "What the hell is Trunk or Treat?!?" A sudden feeling of being short changed settles in and the excitement is reduced to the equivalent of the Easter egg basket but no Easter egg hunt. Thanks for the candy, but where is the challenge?



Every Halloween when I was young was a test of courage, and strength. We had to overcome our fears of monsters, ghosts and witches. All the while keep pushing on to the next house cause we had to be the ones that stayed out the longest and got the biggest stash. Now what we worked hard for and got scared half to death doing, has been reduced to a half hour trip around a parking lot, where the only fear is that of Carbon-Monoxide poisoning. Oh sure, people try to dress up, and decorate their trunk... but it is still a trunk...

Now I know all you parents are like... "it's safer for the children", and "this way we know who is giving them candy", and "I don't want my kid getting apples with razor blades or bags of drugs". Well guess what, neither did our parents, but we still stuck to tradition. And when I got home, the first thing that happened is my mom dumped all my candy on the floor and sorted through it, looking for the bad stuff. And for those of you scared of kidnappers... this is why you go with your kid, or send them in a group that is supervised by an adult. Don't destroy all the fun of one of the greatest holidays for kids, because "Trunk or Treat is so easy". Fight the problem, go with your kids, filter their loot before they can eat it, send the message that we are not afraid of the unwanted fear-bringers, and bad-doers of society that are winning this war and bringing about the downfall of a great American tradition.


Now I'm not one to solicit comments and such, but I want to hear your thoughts on this. Whether you are for or against it, and why?

Introducing "A Day in the Life"

We've all had those moments... the conversations or moments that are funnier than the movies or the comics. Well, these are all to common amongst our group of friends. So I give you my self created comic strip, "A Day in the Life". This, plus many more to follow, is a graphical representation of real life conversations, nothing edited, nothing exaggerated... This really happened.

*Click the last frame to progress the strip*



*Click the last frame to progress the strip

Biblical Revision

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.


These are some of the beatitudes found in the book of Matthew. However I believe that if Matthew were alive today there would be some definitive revisions to a few of these. Particularly if he had joined Zammy and I at BlizzCon '08 this last weekend.


...and the GEEK shall inherit the land.


That's right! The Geek.

The stereotyped definition of the label 'Geek', has undergone quite the metamorphosis within the last decade. They were that small socially inept group that watched to much Star Trek, played Dungeons and Dragons on Friday nights instead of dating, and were picked last for kickball. In fact the only thing most saw them good for is help with math homework. They were the brunt of the jokes, and the hazing by the jocks, but deep inside they knew that their day would come.

And so it has...

Think of where you would be if it were not for the Geeks. Geeks are who save you from the devastating computer crashes, and train you on how to use all the gadgets you are tethered to, like smart phones, gps, computers, and mp3 players. For all you flip-phone fans out there... you have those Star Trek watching Geeks to thank for that... Don't believe me? Just imagine William Shatner saying, "Beam me up Scotty"... what in his hand?

So now this small group has grown, drastically, and even occasionally can be seen in broad daylight. And the demographic of this community has evolved as well. Just take the Blizzard Massive Multi-player Online Role Playing Game, World of Warcraft. The current player population of this game alone sits close to 12 million and growing, so if WoW was a country, it would be the 75th largest country in the world, AND the most diverse and accepting. Consisting of every race, religion, creed, age and gender, and never discriminating of any of these. While at Blizzcon, which was a 16,000 person representation of this community, we saw the entire spectrum of this diversity, I mean just the age range alone was from about 10 to 70, and these are actual players.


So now lets talk world domination.

Napoleon, Hitler, and Stalin, all stopped. The world saw a threatening dictator trying to take over the world and rose up against them. But this small group of Vitamin D deficient, pocket protector wearing, social outcasts would never be seen as a dominating force, right? Well let me throw some names at you that are controlled by the Geeks, and you tell me if world domination by these is not already in process...

Google (they have my vote)
Apple (hello? iPhone)
Microsoft (enough said)

Also did you know that the military uses XBox controllers to control unmanned aircraft? And this is just the first step. Which means not only will you rely on the Geeks to protect your pictures and files on your computer, but thanks to the many hours of playing First-Person Shooters, Real-Time strategies, and Flight Simulators, you will also rely on us to protect your freedoms, look out Jar Heads!

So the Geek shall inherit the land, and it won't be by force or domination... but by simple assimilation. Resistance is Futile!

I chose a Lizard over my Family!

...And saved a ton of money on my car insurance!

I have been with American Family Insurance for over 3 years, and in my infinite ignorance, assumed that the reason my premium would feed a small country for a day was because Utah law believes that my driving without my license on me, or without the newest little sticker on my license plate, means I drive like Jason Stathom from Death Race, and therefore requires me to pay a lot more for insurance.

This fallacy has helped a certain insurance agent keep Fillet Mignon on his plate. Turns out I could be one of those people on the Geico commercials that saved over $600 on their car insurance.

THATS RIGHT!!! THE LIZARD DOESN'T LIE!!!

$660 saved on my premium.

Believe it or not I was paying over $1400 every six months for my car insurance, but as of this afternoon I am at $803. So as a public service announcement, I am encouraging everyone to verify they are not suffering the same level of sodomy that I have had to endure from my "Family" agent.

Fortuitous Fortune

I have been a long time patron (15 years) of a local Ballroom night club called the MAC (Murray Arts Center). Great little place here in Salt Lake where you can go and do Social Ballroom to a live band. Every night they do drawings for 2 free admission and 2 free drinks, and once a month they do a drawing for $100. In my 15 years of going with any number of dates, friends and even relatives, I have played the lucky charm. I can count numerous times I would take people there for the first time ever and they would win, even had a couple times that they won the $100, which consists of all the tickets from the month, and this was the first time they had EVER been there. Needless to say, I never won, in 15 years of attendance, NEVER.

Well luck finally felt sympathy for me and about a month ago, I won the free passes, Finally, at least something... However last night was the first Saturday of the month, and after so long fate finally got sick of hearing me whine as my partners kept winning, and my name was drawn for the $100. Victory is Mine!



P.S. I changed the settings for comments to everyone, so if you were wanting to comment on any of my previous posts you should be able to now.

Pain's Elation, and some RR for a VP

Lovin' it!

I am the happiest I have been in a long time. As my first post references, I am a member of a formation ballroom team again. And while we have only had two practices, I am loving every minute of it and would feel absolutely fantastic.... if it were not for the level of pain surging through my body. I have not pushed myself this hard in years. But it is the best kind of pain, and I know you all know this feeling. That pain from working out really hard, but when it's over, you feel fantastic.

We have been doing Jive, and for those not educated in the ways of ballroom lore, pop in any movie you own with up tempo dancing in it and watch it while holding down fast forward, and you are almost up to speed with the jive. Now imagine doing this for a couple hours, and loving every moment, even though you feel yourself approaching the brink of death. Greatest feeling in the world.



Redemptive Reassurance at a Presidential level

Ok, those that know me, can attest to the fact that I feign away from political discussions. I tend to find them pointless, because what is the chance you are actually going to convince the other side of the conversation to "see the light"? Mostly it ends in heated malcontent. However, since I was quick to post the Ms Teen VP video, I thought it only fair to extend some brief thoughts on the VP debate.

I was only able to listen to it in the car and unfortunately not in its entirety. However, I was surprisingly impressed with Gov. Sarah Palin. Given previous interviews and public appearances, I was honestly expecting a catastrophic failure of epic proportion. Instead, she managed to actually impress me and pull some redemption from the non-sequacious dribble we have come to expect. So while I do not agree with many of the stances she took, my respect level for her has been inflated.