Happy Halloween!

So, this weekend was quite enjoyable. Fencing went well. I did well in the foil pool (+4 indicator, seeded 18 out of 43) and in the epee direct elimination (beat the #7 seed out of 12 and went 8-15 with the #2 fencer). Of course I got trounced in the foil direct elimination (first round) and epee pool (-11 indicator, ouch). The highlight, though, was Soap getting his E ranking, placing 8th in foil.

After the tourny we had lasagna (mmmmm...), picked up a plethora of Jones in the can, and briefly saw the Midland folks (Autumn, Alexa, Cory, Matt, Ryan, Christina...). Then we saw Doom. Good movie if you don't mind not thinking at all. Kinda funny that they can miss key points of a video game plot, when the plot is as simple as "kill all the demons that came out of a portal on Mars".

On the way back up here we watched the whole season of Undergrads in the car, and STILL had time to kill afterward. Also last night we decided to make an IM indoor soccer team and our first game is tomorrow. We'll see how that goes.

Update on Jack Thompson: as much as I want to support the guy (a christian who wants to keep violent media out of the hands of minors), he's just completely loco. This guy sent a well thought-out letter to him and appealed (as a christian himself) for him to act more christ-like and gave some suggestions as to how to better accomplish his goals. Jack's response:
"Go to Hell. Thanks"

Currently Jack Thompson is prosecuting the civil lawsuit against Sony et al, saying that they are at least partially responsible for when Devin Moore shot three police officers saying "life is just a video game, we all have to die sometime". Jack claims GTA3 is responsible for the murder. Two problems: Jack Thompson may lose his Bar licence (in light of many unethical decisions over the years), and Devin Moore was not allowed to use GTA3 as a defense in his criminal trial.

Please pray for Jack. Not because he's God's footsoldier or because you agree that violent media is bad, but because he's borderline insane and quite violent.

Yay, Midland!

Well, I leave for Midland in less than an hour. Fencing and good times will be had by all.

Let it ride.

Not again...

It's Monday. Great.

Jill was here this weekend. To celebrate we went to Perkins and the hockey game.

I finally went to the sauna last night in this dorm, and it was nice. Even better is that Adam, Ryan, and Nathan are all habitual sauna-goers as well, so I'm looking forward to geing regularly now.

This weekend will be fencing. Hooray! Again, anyone planning on being in Midland this weekend, let me know. I'm hoping to get out to coffee, and I'd like to see everyone.

Nothing else that important to say. Signing off.

Wann eine Rose nur eine Rose sind...

The first star I see may not be a star.
We can't do a thing but wait.
So let's wait for one more.
The time such clumsy time in deciding if it's time.
I'm careful but not sure how it goes.
You can loose yourself in your courage.
The mindless comfort grows when I'm alone with my 'great' plans.
This is what she says gets her through it:
"If I don't let myself by happy now then when?"
If not now when?
When the time we have now ends.
When the big hand goes round again.
Can you still feel the butterflies?
Can you still hear the last goodnight?
Close my eyes and believe wherever you are, an angel for me.

I need a haircut...

I'm starting to look like a Beatle again, and I've decided that's a bad thing (for me especially).

Any suggestions on a new doo?

When second best is the best you can get...

I'm kinda tired. It's kinda hard to focus on all my class work, recent competitions have been slightly disappointing, and I've spent a lot of time getting angry at stupid people.

Ever heard of Jack Thompson? He's a lawyer crusading for the end of ALL "violent" videogames, both to minors and adults. He also classifies all gamers as stupid, morally bankrupt degenerates, and frequently lashes out at those who disagree with him ("or you'll be sorry" seems to be one of his favorite phrases). He also claims to be delivering divine judgement (which last time I checked is reserved for God):

Jesus said, "If any of you should cause one of these little ones to stumble, it would be better for you if a millstone were tied around your neck and that you be cast into the uttermost depths of the sea." Jack Thompson is trying to tie that millstone around the violent video game industry's neck, and he needs your help. These people intend to do evil, but evil can be turned away by persistence and prayer. [emphasis added, and if he's trying to carry out the punishment, doesn't that mean he's encouraging the behavior in order to bing about the punishment?]

Last week Jack made an announcement that he would give a mere $10,000 to charity if a game company made a game where they were the target of violence. Turns out, the game idea was satire, and so was the money. Penny Arcade, a web comic, called him out on having such a small sum of money for charity. They pointed out that their charity has raised $500,000 in the last two years for children's hospitals, and that if a company made this game he'd have to sue himself for creating it. Jack responded with threats. Then, when Jack refused to donate the promised $10k, Penny Arcade did it for him.

As much as I want to agree with some of Jack's points (violent and sexual media should not be sold to minors), his confrontational attitude and lack of cohesive arguments forces me to hate him.

"Dave, it is laughable, it is absurd, that you have copied your email to Bill Gates, of all people. This is a guy whose Halo trained Malvo to kill in D.C. This is a guy who now has put all the Grand Theft Auto games on his XBox. This is a man who is going to release Bully when the coast is clear in the spring." -Jack Thompson
Last time I checked, Malvo learned to snipe from his partner who is an army sharpshooter. Also, I'm not sure how moving your thumbs in a fast-paced video game develops the breath control, body posture, and patience to snipe. Not only this, but Bungie began development for Halo BEFORE they were even associated with Microsoft, let alone that Bill Gates simply gives a cursory look to all the game division's decisions, so he can hardly be held responsible.

Ok, enough about the crazy guy who thinks that I'm a godless, imbesilic degenerate. Anyways, if you ever come accross this guy, run away. Most christian family groups even hate this guy. Besides, he thinks that calling Hitler a Nazi is an insult (which is just as much of an insult as calling Jack a lawyer). Pray that this guy realizes just how misguided he is and stops threatening people. Maybe he'll realize that arguments need to be supported by facts, and then he can start to bring about meaningful change in the way the US handles violent media and minors.

And would it hurt people to comment every once-in-a-while?

Rant over.

New Orleans sucks!

New Orleans is not worth saving. Seriously.

FEMA and the local government conducted an exercise for a simulated catagory 5 hurricane hitting New Orleans. They claimed to have made strides to improve evacuation preparedness. They also determined that the city would be flooded by the storm surge of a strong category 3 hurricane.

And what happened when a category 4 hurricane headed for the city and President Bush declared the city a disastor area (2 days before landfall)? The national and regional heads of FEMA, Louisiana governor, and New Orleans' mayor were completely unprepared. No busses for hospital patients and retirees, no mandatory evacuation, no communication of the dangers faced by the city.

Over 1000 dead.

Now what do they want to do?

Spend billions of dollars to rebuild the city so the next hurricane can destroy it again.

Try this:
Rebuild the French Quarter and downtown, move everything else outside the city limits to above sea level. Add raised mass transit of high-speed trains to ferry people to and from the city. It will cost about the same ammount, and the cleanup will be far less.

Seriously, anyone who thinks New Orleans should be rebuilt is just asking to get smote by another hurricane. If you really think it's a good idea to rebuild, on the day the city gets flooded by another hurricane (probably in 20-30 years) I will come to your house, say 'I told you so', and laugh all the way to the bank.

Sorry about the political post, but I can only put up with immense stupidity like this for so long before I just need to bitch about it.

Happy is a yuppie word...

We won our football game, but not as handily as we would have thought. They were down a player all game, but still managed to get more than half our points. Still a win, but not the blowout we had hoped for.

I fence in Midland in just over two weeks, and I'm not looking forward to anything more than that at the moment. After that we'll be fencing all day at NMU for a grudge tournament, and that's what I'm looking forward to the second most.

In the immortal words of Bob Dylan: "Happy is a yuppie word"

In the words of Switchfoot:

Everyone dies
Everyone loves a fight
Nothing is sound
Nothing is right side right
Evening comes, when the sun goes down in red
Nothing is cool
When will all the fighting end
When will all the fighting end

Happy is a yuppie word
Nothing in the world could fail me now
It's empty as an argument
I'm running down a life that won't cash out (cash out)

Everything fails
Everything runs it's course
A time and a place, for all of this loving war
Everyone buys, everyone's gotta price, and nothing is new
When will all the failures rise
When will all the failures rise, rise!

Happy is a yuppie word
Nothing in the world could fail me now
It's empty as an argument
I'm running down a life that won't cash out

Happy is a yuppie word
Blessed is the man who's lost it all
Happy is a yuppie word (word)

Looking for an orphanage
I'm looking for a bridge I can't burn down
I don't believe the emptiness
I'm looking for the kingdom coming down
Everything is meaningless
I want more than simple cash can buy
Happy is a yuppie word

Endurance...

Today I fenced for 40 minutes straight. It made me quite happy, in a way only an athelete can understand. I won the first bout with Sean 15-14 and the second (extended) with Fig 18-9. Not only did I win with my shorter blade, I also held out for the full ammount of time. Of course, I had some troubles, so I'm not completely content with my abilities, but I still have time to get better.

And tomorrow, our last flag football game before the playoffs.

Finally, my week...

First was our flag football game wednesday. It was cold and rainy, far worse weather than the game that got canceled on us. I don't remember the score, but we won handily.

The rest of the week was simple, no work, and lots of Double Dash. General enjoyment, but nothing to stand out.

On Friday my mom and Meg came up. Friday consisted of watching season 3 of Red vs Blue, followed by Halo 2 and more Double Dash.

Saturday was our flag football game against the campus radio station team. This time I had cleats and we won 46-6, which is unacceptable because it wasn't a shutout. Went to Perkins as a group (my mom was nice enough to pay), then to Shop-Co where we picked up Super Mario Sunshine. Then it was to our largest leture hall for a $2 showing of Batman Begins.

Sunday consisted of fencing, a little studying, and plenty of Mario Sunshine.

Today was class, Sunshine, and I finally got back into the weight room after about a month's absence.

Pending...

In lieu of a full explanation of my week, I give you photos.

Full explanation will come when I have time to write it down.

This week... later

This second half of the week was the fun half. I'll tell you about it later.

Casino Royale

I just watched the movie Casino Royale, and I think it's one of the most ridiculous movies I've seen in a while, and that's a good thing. It has minimal plot (James Bond is being hunted by attractive female assasins), make absolutely no sense, and has Woody Allen as James Bond's cousin. Funy, and pointelss, I laughed.

I think I kept my head above water on the german exam, but who knows how it turned out. My hand hurt afterward, so I'm not looking forward to writing my paper about the play.

It's hot up here, well into the 80s.

That's just stupid hot.

Physiker...

Ever read a novel or play for a class and not been able to follow all the crazy things the characters do and their hidden meanings to what they say? I'm reading a play like that right now, but I have an added problem: the novel is in German. It's hard enough reading a play about an insane asylum where the inmates all think they're physicists, it becomes harder when the play is in a foreign language you've mostly forgotten. It could be worse, since this is the only truly difficult class I have, but I still wish we had a more comprehensible play.

This weekend was pretty laxidaisical. We destroyed Gannon in football. We lost the haal cup in our Ultimate frisbee game, because the other team decided that if they didn't mean to commit a foul it wasn't a foul. I fenced both days and enjoyed it as always. I'm starting to prepare for the tournament in Midland this month. If any of you are in town the last weekend of the month I'd like to see you. Last night we played Halo for several hours, until we got shut down. Aparrently it's a tripping hazard to have a cable running ALONG THE WALL in the hall. This wasn't even accross the hall, this was off all the way to the side. You could only trip on it if you first fell over against the wall first.

Today was playing in church, more fencing, the picking up Kuhko from the airport. I just finished studying, and am planning on going to bed after Family Guy and American Dad.

The world lives for the weekend...

Well, another weekend, but I actually have work this time. First, I need to do some hardcore studying for German. My vocabulary has atrophied and I need to get it back. Monday I have an exam and wednesday I have to turn in a 2-3 page paper, all in german. I also have exams in Digital Logic and Digital Signal Processing next week.

Of course, that didn't stop me from having a little fun. Last night we just played around the dorms, went to eat at the Library (big mistake, it took 2 hours), got some late-night food, then watched the first season of Futurama. Now it's tailgating (they force us there by not serving food in the dorms), football, fencing, and all the other things I need to do.

I think I've found the reason MTU seems like such a hostile dating environment. More like an explanation than anything else.

The ratio of men to woman is only the beginning of the problem. The real problem is with the ratio within the guys here. The guys can be divided into three groups: The guys who already have girlfriends, the guys who are assholes, and the average single guy. I'm in the last group, of course. This second ratio only compounds the last problem. Not only do the single guys have to compete with each other for a girl's attention, we have to compete with all the assholes and guys with girlfriends who have nothing to lose. And it's not even like it's 1:1 competition. Especially with the assholes, they hang out with lots of girls all the time, completely monopolizing them.

Sorry for the woe-is-me attitude, but I think that's pretty much the deal here.