Kite Flying Society President

Drilled

Well its all over. My teeth are on the mend, and in the mean time, my lip is drooping like I suffered a stroke. My jaw feels kinda stretched and thats most likely due to the dentist trying to fit Disney's Epcot Center into my mouth. I know i have a big mouth sometimes, but com'on doc! Anyway, Im regretting the decision not to have lunch, now that i am not supposed to eat for a few hours so I will likely read myself to sleep for a brief afternoon nap.

Dentist part 2: the Reckoning

the Reckoning? What would that even mean? Is that even proper grammer? No no no... I call this whole post into question.

Today I will sadly be going to the dentist to have teeth drilled. "Sadly" because I have no dental insurance, so this will cost me an arm and a tooth, and because Im not into having my face drilled upon. I was told that I might be able to reduce the cost of the proceedure by asking for no novacain... Im gonna ask about that just to see if its true. I don't believe that I would ever try to save money by letting someone drill into my un-numbed face. Tuesday I flew a kite. I will try to post some pictures as my frined Larry was out there with me and Vincent and was photographing the whole thing just so we would have an alibi.... i mean proof... um... for posterity? Anyway, If you haven't already, Check out the trailer from a few posts back. I have also updated the Song for your trouble (see sidebar) . Same band different song. And please people... how about some feedback? Am i gonna have to beg? Is that what I am doing right now? But you know, if I ask questions or something, you could answer them...

Pocket Change!

Well, I must say, I am excited. Tim has put together all of pocket change's footage from years past. He has gone and made a trailer for this compliation of footage, and I humbly submit it for your enjoyment. Tim has gone all out here, so I'm not afraid to say "get ready to be impressed."

Click here to be impressed.

New Post on Ask a Physicist.

See title.

Easter

Well, tomorrow is Easter, and I am glad that it is here. It was my sin that put Jesus to death... more so than the Jews or the Romans. As I get closer to 25 years of age, I understand more and more how really believing that Jesus died to save me, and was resurrected so that I might be resurrected will and should change how I live my life. Jesus' life was certainly important. But his life alone is just an unattainable example by my own means. It was his suffering and death ... and most importantly, his resurrection that set Him apart from mere teachers or prophets. I am forever grateful and indebted to Jesus for the healing He has brought to my life.

Isaiah 53:5 - But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

One small step for UNC, one giant embarassing failure for Dook.

Well, I didn't watch the Dook game last night, but I did notice while watching the UNC game that duke had lost by 10 points to Michigan St. Me sooooo sorry. NOT! PSCYCH! ooo dag. I got you good. Man, what is this the early 90's? It’s nice to be a grad student in situations like these. When your team is up, you can go crazy and burn the whole place down, and when you team looses, you can say "whatevs".

Here's some fair and balanced reporting... in your EYE!

New Song!

I think I'l try to always advertise when I put up a new song. But especially today... The new song available is "Tough Girl" by Open Hand. My friend Jesse calls this "stoner rock". I guess I can see that. I think of it kinda like Switchfooty with some Nirvana and Radiohead. "Cosmic" even... an adjective i never thought would describe music that i like. Anyway, I urge you to check it out. I originally put the songs up there because I thought it would be a neat way to let people in on what I'm listening to. Turns out that no one uses it... That I know of anyway. If you listen to the song, let me know what you think.

Theres no such thing....

Today I going with prospective students to get myself a free lunch. I wanted to draw everyone's attention to the device below.

You can't tell because I zoomed in to get the name of the machine but this is a handblower like you find in some bathrooms. Now, typically, I think most people see the handblower machine as a device which suggests that you just go ahead and wipe your hands on your pants. Not this guy. Im prettysure that Tim Allen (home improvement etc) had this thing designed. Not only did this thing dry my hands with great speed and ease, but the mens' bathroom at lowes slowly began to lift off of the ground. This things was cool. I hope to see more like it installed in bathrooms everywhere. It makes cleaning your hands worthwile.

feeding tubes

Here is some legit looking information that I have found about feeding tubes, vegitative states, definition of life support etc. I encourage you to decide for yourself what you think about this.

Feeding tube info

A pro-death POV in a similar earlier case

def of vegitative state

Character attack of Michael Schiavo

A lengthy blog discussion about it

more later...

the fool in the photograph

So I am going to change the song to one with the above title. I like this song a lot. It has Indian elements in it... like wampum. No, i mean the other kind of Indian. And elements like quarter tones. At least I think it does. I may be WAY off base. Below is my afore mentioned friend luke and myself. Luke, i hope this doesn't get you killed or anything. Anyway, enjoy the song... if you have good taste that is.

A euphemism for euphemism

grandiloquence. Well, today is St. Patrick's Day. I'm 1/64th Irish on my parents side. I got to see my band bro Tim on tuesday. We and his lovely wife watched American Idol. It was my first time. Its not a bad show, but I'm just too busy, and couldn't care much less about it.
Big congrats to Chuck and Andie on their news. I'll let you read it yourself. I'm too distracted. I'll post another time.

thanks for the free parking...

So recently JMU has been harrassing my family and sending letters threatening to send a collections agency after us. Why, you ask? Because of a parking ticket that I may or may not have gotten in 2000. According to a guy on the the phone, the ticket was issued to a car with a different license plate that was similar to mine. Their high tech-erey only took 5 years to match the unpaid ticket to me. Now, the guy was nice enough to not make a big deal about it, and just void it when I called since I haven't been a student there since 2002, but there was never anything very convincing told or shown to me to prove that this was even a ticket issued to me. Now I have the special case of having worked for parking services at JMU durring the year in question. Im pretty sure I would have known about getting a ticket. Anyway, I did not in this case get either Grovered, or Melissa'd.

Wedding Photos.

So here is my beautiful niece Jessica, and me at her wedding reception.

It was one of the best weddings from a guys point of view that I have ever been to. The wedding itself consisted of the vows, lighting a candle, and a scripture reading. This took all of 10 minutes. Then everything was over, and everyone went to the reception where we ate great food, and the wedding party danced and had a good time. The picture above is at the reception. Here are other pictures from the wedding.

Here is Jess, and her father, my brother, Bill.

Here is me and my two grandmothers, Mable (right) and Susan (left)


After the wedding, I got up with my friend Luke. It was really good to see him, and its a shame that I didn't get a photo. Oh well.

Home

At home. In Suffolk that is. Where I started this whole blog back up again in December. As posted below, I am here for my niece's wedding. Its at 2pm today. I had a nice ride home last night. Some time to reflect and pray. more later.
More now. Im about to go to this wedding. I look all snazzed up, and I will be sure to put up some pics later. Seriously, more later.

Getting Married this weekend...

My NIECE that is. How about that to make a 24 year old feel more like a quarter of a century old. That's right folks, my lovely niece, age 19 (?), will be joined to some guy in holy matrimony this weekend. I've never met the guy, so I will have to give him the benefit of the doubt. Its hard to bless or dissuade kids in love. Im perhaps better off not having married my college sweetheart (I say perhaps at the risk that she'll see this...); on the other hand, it could have worked because with God all things are possible. I might have bet on the camel and the needle in this case.
Well, my neck still hurts from the concert wednesday night. (boo hoo.) But, it is getting better. I am going to download the rest of the concert footage from Jesse's site, and host it myself. Jesse, if you would like you can link to it on your site. I find that it makes for easier, faster downloads.
This sunday I will be seeing a grammy award (winning/nominated?) African childrens choir and the newsboys. I've never seen either, but they will be performing for free at a friend's church in durham. it looks like it will be good.

P.S. Check the last post for more videos of the concert.

Zao Rocked me so hard, I almost threw up.

Thats correct. Super Rockers Zao nearly cause this fellow to vomit due to excessive rocking... On their first song. Im not even kidding. Now, I must disclose that I was dehydrated, and had just eaten before the show. Durring the middle of their first song, I thought that I was having a heart attack. By the third song, I had to go to the back and get me some water... and potentially throw up. I didn't barf thankfully, and the water help me rock out till the end of the show. It was really awesome. Not only is Zao super tight, but they played all their best songs. This morning, I am almost fully recovered from the show. My neck is a little stiff, but that will heal. I took the liberty of downloading some of the show footage from a PAINFULLY slow host in order to make them available on a painfully faster host. Thanks to Jesse K (see sidebar) for the footage. Man, I gotta get me a freakin camera. Anyway, All the bands really rocked. I got to see Open Hand (kinda Queens of the stone age-ish im told) Siani Beach (Metal Hardcore), Zao (rock your face off metal), and Juliana Theory (Wussy emo, but I like it). I missed Takeover UK who were proclaimed by the other bands to be the most metal band ever. All the band I saw were really good. I got to talk to Daniel from Zao after the show, and I mentioned that I was once in a band who played with Zao shortly after the realease of 'Blood and Fire...' He said he remembered that show, and thought that he had is on tape somewhere. It was kinda cool to talk to him, and I wish that I could have stayed around afterward, and talked some more, but my friend that came with me had to take a test this morning, so i wanted to get him home.
Anyway, going to this show further comfirmed that I love to rock out, and need to be in a band again before I die.
Here are some of the clips that Jesse took.

Zao Clip 1

Zao Clip 2

Zao Clip 3

Zao & Juliana

Juliana 1

Zao! Oh yeah, and Juliana Theory...

Zao tonight. It had better rock. Or I'll ask their new drummer for my money back. Click here for a video of Zao. Its a good song, decent video. I'll see Jesse there... Not the drummer, my friend and guitarist. That will rock. I'll let you know how it was.

Throwing out the Baby; Keeping the bathwater

Liberalism, conservatism, progressivism, traditionalism, republicanism, democratism...
Why must we feel like we have to defend one at all costs? Its politics, not religion, so let’s just set up a buffet. It seems to me, that when a Christian picks a side, it’s because they relate to the good on that side. But there's no need to defend the bad. For example, a liberal Christian probably sees a lot of social injustice, and wants to see that change. A conservative Christian sees rampant infanticide and wants to see that change. The funny thing is that the conservative Christian also wants social justice. The liberal Christian also wants to see abortion end. It’s HOW these things happen that Christians tend to disagree on.
You want to be a progressive liberal? Come up with a way to help the poor without robbing the rich.
You want to be a companionate conservative? Come up with a way to end abortion that gives women some choices.
I mean, really... lets take social justice for a second. A Christian might decide that welfare enables social injustice by making some dependent on it. Here is a real example. One summer I worked through the temp agency for a month or so. During that time, I met and befriended a guy who was doing the same job as I, and who needed a ride to work. On payday, he looked disappointedly at his check and all the deductions for child support and whatnot and lamented that when he wasn't working, and was on welfare, he was making more money.
A Christian might just as well see that there are so many people out there who are trying their hardest to make it, and can't get a break. Their lower income fosters an environment where it is harder to get a good education perhaps. A good widowed woman struggles and can't make ends meet. It seems obvious that some financial assistance would help these people climb out of the rut, and have a chance to lead a better life.
So here's the catch... Both things happen! tada! Not everyone on welfare is robbing the system blind; and yet not everyone is really in need. It seems to me that all Christians would be behind a program that works with people; that helps people with money for a time, while helping the person find a way to take on that responsibility themselves. A program which rewards responsible behavior.
It seems more and more to me that personal responsibility is the main issue in many of these debates. More and more in America, we are running away from responsibility. People sue people/entities/etc not necessarily because they were wronged, but because they have an opportunity to sue. Responsibility is a hard sell though. There are not a lot benefits on the surface or in the short term.
A scientist said that "life" doesn't begin until a few weeks after conception? Oh! Well then, I can support abortion for those few weeks with a clear conscience. Whew.
Did (insert politician/pundit/religious person/someone) say "(insert questionable statement)"? Oh well then, I can (support/denounce) that position without further thought because they are an (expert/idiot). I'm not saying that you have to investigate everything yourself; I am saying that sometimes arrogant people have the best answer; sometimes good intentions don't come with the best implementations; and often times scientist speak in the realm of philosophy with false authority.

Heel Yes.

Yes yes, I know. How cliche. But It was really nice to see the Tar Heels come out on top in today's big showdown.

Especially after the loss to them earlier this season. Eat it Duke fans... Im lookin at you Jesse. In other news, I had a pretty nice weekend, dancing and such; I missed the Bhangra because it was sold out, but I'll know for next time. Right now I am watching the news and how UNC students are setting all sorts of crap on fire.

I think that I might start yet ANOTHER blog called Ask a Physicist . Just because I can.

Pocket Change

So I haven't until yet formally plugged my own band... not that it would do me anygood anymore, but the song for your trouble is currently "Once a week" by my old band. This was my favorite song from our first album, i think. Let me know if you hate it.

swung danced.

So last night I went to a swing dance as I am wont to do. Like usual it was pretty awesome. This happend to be a dance that was on UNC's campus. I am used to going to Dances in Durham, where the people there usually have a little more experience. It didn't take long to find some ladies who knew what they were doing, however, and a good night was had by all.
All this recent blogging exchanges between carbauja, Matt, Chuck, and me have left me exhausted. Our exchanges have been mostly civil which is good. Getting a little excited durring a debate isn't bad. Anyway, Im going to cut back a little on the blogging. I hope I am anyway. Its consuming me too much, and especially now that I need to be getting some work done. Im trying to finish up this masters by may! If I don't, its not a big deal, but its my goal right now.
Tonight, i may be going to see some indian dancing at an event called Bhangra Sutra.

It looks like it may be pretty cool. Some of my former students are in it. Look at me, all cultured and stuff.

McTooth Says-- Take Care of Your Teeth

The tooth pictured here is holding a sign that says the title of this post. So here I am at the dentist office...

Not the most pleasent experience. Lets just say that I am now looking into getting dental insurance before going back. Just this visit cost me almost $2oo. and that was after a $50 bucks off deal. Well, the 2 hour appointment started at 1:00... I didn't have lunch before hand, so I am starving now, but have plans for dinner at like 6:00... so I'll probably starve till then. I guess I didn't expect him to say "Hey Charles, for not seeing a dentist in 5 years, your teeth are great", but I didn't expect him to shudder with fear while examining my X-rays and bury his face into his hands before looking up at the sky, tears in his eyes, pleading with God to "spare such a young one" as myself. Oh well, whats done is done.

dentist

This is me having to go to the denstist today.
So I thought the appointment was at 11:00, but it is actually at 1:00. HILARIOUS. I'm not really a dentist-o-phobe or anything, but I don't have dental insurace, I haven't been to the dentist in... lets just say too long, and Im pretty sure that an old filling partially fell out. When I walk into the dentists office, giant Dollar signs will apear in his eyes as a loud cash register noise wil become audible.
So I gave it some thought and I decided to Change the name of my blog from "the Irony is Killing me" to "Dark Matter" The whole Irony thing was that I thought it was ironic that I even had a blog, thinking they were so dumb, back when my posts were " Blogging is dumb". Blogging isn't any smarter, but its entertaining to me. Dark Matter seemed to fulfill an obligatory nerd quota. I am a quasi dark individual, or at least have dark tastes... Dark Matter is a phenonmenon discovered by astrophysicist and makes up a substantial portion of our known universe... a much higher percent than ordinary matter. So I'll give it a shot. Now if only I could rename the url...

Abortion and other trival issues

First and foremost, I would like to make a plug for two things. The links on the sidebar, and the "song for your trouble". I know that nobody has listened to my song and it makes me sad. Its good music people. Good music. A link I will especially plug is the "politcally correct" blog. It is my friend's blog, and while we don't always share the same views, (though we often do) it is a good place to rant your political head off. He loves to hear from all sides, though he strongly advocates his. Anyway, He recently brought up the topic of abortion and its political contents. I and others have posted some responses to his posts. It is worth your time to look at so I will make an extra link just for you.
Having recently heard someone from south africa speak about apartheid, I feel no need to remain politically "neutral" on this(abortion) or other issues. He, fighting against apartheid as a white christian, was often critisized for being "political". As if tacitly supporting apartheid and calling your position "neutral" was not a political stance. Incidentally his largest opponents were comfortable white "christians". I will never understand "complex" stances on an issue like this (like not supporting abortion/apartheid, but saying it should remain) however, Christians need to think about the implications of there being no abortion. About the responsibilities it would create. Responsibility must increase if abortions decrease and babies are concieved at the same rate. Responsibility for someone; if not the parents then who? The church? the Government?
Things to ponder.

Funny....

This is me feeling pretty awesome after having sucessfully ran with the bulls... and totally imasculating them.
This is me today. Just happy to be alive.
Its funny, I've never been tested for being OCD or anything like that. I imagine everybody is a little OC. One way I have found myself to be so is this blog. I put a counter on it a while back and it got up to like 400 or so. However, it was counting everytime that I came to the page right? So I got this new better counter that seems to be really neat and give me all these stats and tell me from where you came to this page... and so on. The real feature, is that it never counts when I come to the page now. So this new counter is up to like 8. Which isn't so strange or anything because I have only had it on there for like a day. But it really makes me wonder how inflated the 400 number was. Probably like 200 of it was me. Which is HILARIOUS. to me and to the 3 people that will ever see this... and to them its actually not Hillarious.