Article: Iran wants Israel moved to Europe

Oh...this is just funny. The sad thing is that it's true!! Wow! :)

Read here.

Article: Is the Xbox 360 Cooler Than Jesus?

All of you unsaved heathens out there should consider reading this article before you continue to partake in your idolatrous relationships with your game consoles.

Read here.

Entry: Two complaints and counting!!

Ok....it's official. I now have 2 complaints against the December color scheme for this blog. If you guys can get it up to 5 complaints, then I'll change it.

Here's the latest complaint from an anonymous whiner...

"Jason, I can't see the text. The new colors and ugly banner are getting in the
way. You have descended into the realm of first time Frontpage users.
I'm very sorry."

Just 3 more to go people. Bring it on! :)

Entry: My Wednesday

Wednesday would have been a day like any other with the exception of the fact that I attended my first college basketball game. I saw the CofC girls basketball game take on Stetson University (whoever that is). The lady cougars lost, but only by 3 points. It was one of those neck-n'-neck games all the way up until the final minute of the game. I thoroughly enjoyed the evening. Good times!

Article: Should pharmacists have the right to choose?

I try to refrain from putting stuff on here that's too politically or religiously charged. I want all people to enjoy reading my stuff without having to choose a side. I find this particular issue interesting, however.

By now, I'm sure that everyone has heard about pharmacists who are refusing to fill "certain prescriptions" because they find it morally objectionable.

A story can be found here.

Imagine the following...
1. The gas station attendent who refuses to allow you gas because it supports questionable oil companies
2. The sales clerk who refuses to allow people to buy their cigarettes because it's "unhealthy"
3. A sales clerk who refuses to sell a pregnant woman Ibuprofen because they feel it's bad for the baby

I'm wondering where that list would end if we had such a precident.

An interesting quote from the story....

"The Walgreen policy, according to a spokesperson, is that pharmacists can refuse to prescribe agents that violate their moral beliefs, except where state law prohibits, provided that they take steps to have the prescription filled elsewhere."

Interesting. I would hardly agree with that policy, but interesting nonetheless.

Article: Rats that fly fighter jets

This is an interesting article. They've trained parts of a rat brain to fly a fighter jet. Isn't that just the bomb! (no pun intended) :)

Linkage

Entry: Happy Birthday Mom!!!

Ya know....in the history of bad sons, I am most likely the worst. My mom's birthday was yesterday and I thought it was today. That darned Pearl Harbor anniversary thing is quite a distraction this time of year. Bah!

Anyway, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!

42 AND STILL COUNTING!! :)

Entry: Trip to the mall

So, I took my first trip to Northwoods mall in a long time yesterday. I honestly probably only go there once a year now (if even that). I'm walking down the hallway looking for Spencer's Gifts (which, by the way, has changed their look, which caused me to pass by it four times before realizing it was there) and this ran girl walks up to me while I'm passing by and grabs my hand. She was working at one of the booths in the middle of the hall that was selling massage tools. She wanted to demo all of her products to me (and on me). I really think that this girl was husband-hunting or something. She kept telling me how much she liked me and asking me all kinds of questions. Of course, she was Israeli and barely spoke English. Have you ever had an Israeli call you a "yankee" before? I guess I had "green card" tatoo'd to my forehead or something. She kept telling me to come back and visit her at the mall and all this stuff. Very strange.

Sorry...had to share that one with the world! If you're a single American male, avoid the hallway in front of Spencer's in Northwoods mall. You'll be glad you did. :)

Picture: Saddam Hussein

I have no idea why, but I think that this picture is funny for some reason. Just look straight into Saddam's face and you'll know what I mean. I also like how he's doing that thing with his finger in the air. Quite dramatic. It's almost as if I'd expect him to be yelling "Sufferin' succotash!" or something like that.

Entry: Yet another weekend

Another weekend has come and gone.

Friday night was fun. I went out to the Oak Steakhouse downtown on Broad street and did some salsa dancing. I really think that my dance partner is going to get tired of me sooner or later since I really don't like to hang around and dance for hours on end like many folks do. It's one of those things where I'm like "OK....we did it, I'm content. Let's go.". I know it's not something that women find particularly endearing and I'll definately have to work on it. :)

Saturday was pretty good as well. Went out dancing again. This time it was to Toucan Reef (the restaurant right there on the harbor next to the SC aquarium). That place gets crowded VERY QUICKLY. I really don't understand how people can stand dancing in such tight quarters like that. I mean...every time I was getting jiggy with it and some dude lunged into my back or I tripped over someone else's foot, I just wanted to turn around and shove a fork through their eye. Grrrrrrr. I know...that's something else that I should probably work on too! ;)

Sunday, I went out with some friends to eat some dinner and play some games. The dinner was superb. We had some kind of green bean caserol (sp?) that really kicked cheeks. The deserts were to die for as well. Mmmmmm. We played some game (that took 2.5 hours) that I've never played before. It was really fun. And the great news is that I didn't come in last! Not a bad goal for a first time player! ;)

Side note:
Has anyone out there noticed how significant a smile can be when it's on the right woman? Just an observation. Something I'm thinking about on this warm Sunday evening.

Movie: Aeon Flux

OK....just saw this little gem. Then again, I don't know if the word "gem" is hardly appropriate to describe this one.

I give it 6 out of 10 stars. The actors were pretty good. The plot was decent. But, for whatever reason, I couldn't help but sleep through 1/3 of the film.

That chick with the feet was pretty cool. Other than that, the only thing that I can say about this film is that I'm glad that it is a lot more coherent than the animated series was!

Picture: Don't be late for THIS date

One word for you: WOW!

Entry: One month birthday

It's official! Today marks the one month mark for my pet Betta. I figure that since he has survived for a total of four weeks, then I think that he deserves to finally be named.
I have this thing about new fish. I give them a temporary name ("fishy") until they give me some kind of impression that they want to stick around for a while. My first fish ("fishy") only graced this earth for three days. He was a gorgeous fish. I was heart-broken. My second fish ("fishy 2") has made it an entire month. I think he has earned a name. After great deliberation, I have decided that his name will, from this day forward, be "Rex". Why you ask? Beats me! I had no idea what else to call him! :)

Entry: Brad and Angelina

Hey...did everybody hear that Brad is adopting all of Angelina's kids? Interesting. I have just one thing to say to this....

Who cares!!!!

You know what's really interesting? I remember, sometime early last year, there was a very extraordinary day. I recall that that was the day that the rovers landed on Mars. By the way...those two little rovers turned out to be a couple of feisty little buggers! Also, there was some very bad bombing activities in Turkey which A) killed a ton o' Turks and B) was significant because terrorist activity isn't all that bad in Turkey.

Does anyone recall what was splashed over the covers of all of the major newspapers and news sites on that very day?

BRITNEY SPEARS HAS 4-HOUR PRANK WEDDING TO SOME DUDE

The only reason that I knew about the Mars rovers and the bombings is because I watched CNN long enough. I wonder what else is going on in the world that is truly profound but yet is delegated to page 9 of the newspaper (between the movie listings and the wanted ads). Sorry....jes' complaining. :)

Article: The science behind butterflies in the stomach (and a new love drug!!)

Well....this is a real downer. Apparently, some scientists have isolated a molecule in the blood which they believe can be associated with the sensation(s) experienced when someone "falls in love". People who recently have fallen in love have high levels of this molecule and those levels subside over the course of a year.

Man...what a bummer. That's almost as dream-shattering as when George Lucas tried to scientifically explain the dynamics of "the force" in 'The Phantom Menage'! (Yeah...I know. I'm a geek.)

Read about it here.

ALSO, some folks have come up with a new drug that they believe will be a type of viagra for women (those are my words...not the scientists'). My favorite excerpt from this article is...

"Data from lab animals was pretty convincing. In female rats, PT-141 “stimulated solicitational behaviors,” which is lab speak for “made horny girl rats.”

Now tell me that that's not funny!! :)

Read about that one here.

Website: Cute comics

I just stumbled on this site with some pretty cool comics. Just thought I'd pass this one on.

They can be found here.

Book: Andromeda Strain

I really enjoyed this book. 8.5 out of 10 stars. Also, the movie had the benefit of being very similar to the book (unlike most other movies inspired by his works).

I'm actually at a loss for words for this book. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing. There wasn't really one part that really stood out and grabbed me as being good. The technical details seemed pretty sound (at least the ones that I am qualified to debunk are). It has everything from jet aircraft to killer viruses to satellites. The only thing that it's missing is women!! (just kidding) :)

After reading this and 'Congo' (both of which were written in the 60's and 70's), I appreciate that Crichton has a very keen understanding of the technologies and methods required to achieve certain goals and I really do wonder if such things were available back in the 60's and 70's.

Anyway...good read! I read the whole thing in 1.5 days.

Article: Kiss of death

A girl in Canada literally died after kissing her boyfriend.

I am sooooo glad that I don't have that peanut allergy that everyone else seems to have these days. :)

Linkage

Article: Man dumps mother's ashes on football field

OK...now this guy could fit into either one of the following categories...

1. He really loved his mother and wanted to do it for her
2. He really loves the Eagles and used his mother as an excuse

Either way, he's got his 15 minutes of fame. :)

Here's the link.

Entry: My trip to CA

The trip to CA was pretty cool. I enjoyed it (minus, of course, the trip back).

Dad and I had a blast taking out his ATVs a couple times. It was really cool zooming through the woods/mountains on those things. Plenty of obstacles to play with and get hurt on. ;)

We also went out and did some shooting while I was there. Granted, I'm not really a big firearms person, but it was nice going out and squeezing off a few with the ol' man. In the past, I've preferred to not shoot anything larger than a .22. His glock was a different story, but still, it wasn't too bad. I discovered that my future in armed law enforcement is hardly ensured. I couldn't hit the broad side of a barn if it were attacking my mother!!

We also went Xmas tree hunting. Why do I call it "hunting" you ask? Well....this is mainly because my father has this thing about driving miles out of town and up the most remote snow-covered moutain to find the "perfect tree". By the way...his trees hardly qualify as perfect. Honestly, the last two that I've helped him collect could easily have qualified as Charley Brown specials. Yeah...they were that bad. Then again, I'm also biased. My idea of the perfect tree has always been the typically conical and unblemished fir tree. Dad has this thing for trees that are healthy on one side and lacking on the other so that it can be easily placed up against a wall.

One thing that I really enjoy about being out there in NoCal (particularly in the Mt. Shasta area) is the complete lack of light pollution. Walking out at night and looking up, one can see a view of the sky that can easily rival those that I've seen on perfect nights out on Folly beach here in Charleston.

We also enjoyed some awesome weather while I was there! Now, granted, I hate cold weather (and it was still cold there), but it was nothing like the last Thanksgiving that I spent with them. It was in the 60s the first day that I arrived. Now that was a blessing! And, of course, the day after I leave, the weather breaks and the snow starts plummeting down. How's that for timing! ;)

There's so much more that I could write about my truly excellent trip, but I'm tired this morning and going to cut this short. I'll try to add on to it later.