One of my friends sent me this link to some humorous islamic related t-shirts which bring up a little social commentary on national policy. As you can see from the picture, it is trying to dispense of stereotypes our lovely liberal (CNN) and conservative (Fox News) media channels love to slam down our throats. Hopefully it has a positive effect.

-Trevor

Back in January of this year, my aunt was in an unfortunate accident in which a Minnesota teacher was killed. While driving, she was blinded by fog lights of an oncoming truck and did not see a stop sign. She hit the car which led to a clot being formed which later killed the driver, Tom Keating. However, a judge recently charged her for careless driving and sentenced her originally to 30 days in jail, revoked her license, and 240 hours of community service. I am absolutely shocked that it was not made clear that this was an accident and should be no fault (or maybe the driver of the truck). This will not soothe the pains of a tragic death and it is not a fitting judgement as there was no intent or carelessness in my aunt's actions. After the accident, my aunt was outwardly more injured than Keating, who was able to walk around. Only after going to the hospital in an ambulance for a routine check that he started going into cardiac arrest due to a blood clot. My aunt was transported to the hospital via another ambulance and was absolutely devastated when she found out that he had passed away. Furthermore, I read the community forums on the St. Cloud Times and the comments of people who were not involved were absolutely callous. Here is my recommendation for everyone when reading news of a tragedies, do not be so quick to judge the merits of a person based off a quick blot in a newspaper, life is not so simple as that.

-Trevor

I heard about this on Leno last night and found an article on this as well. Apparently, a thief or thieves stole some food from a school in a village in India. After not being able to find the culprit, village leaders told villagers that in order to clear themselves from guilt, they would have to dip their hands in boiling oil. 50 villagers refused and were then accused of theft! Crazy stuff.

-Trevor

Artist: The Brian Jonestown Massacre
Album: Thank God for Mental Illness
Genre: Indie Rock
Year Released: 1996

Read more!

After watching this trailer for "Jesus Camp", I was absolutely stunned. Watch it and click "more" below, I'll have more to say after the jump.

Read more!

A busdriver in St. Paul was driving up a hill when due to the lack of gas, the engine cut off along with the power brakes, leading the bus to begin rolling backwards and hitting a guardrail just before rolling onto I-94. While luckily no one was hurt, Louis Mariucci, a principal for the school the bus was contracted enlightened us by mentioning there are procedures to make sure that busses do not run out of fuel. What he didn't mention was that this procedure is called, looking at the fuel gauge and filling up when almost out of gas.

-Trevor

Last night I went to the Brian Jonestown Massacre concert at Plush. It was a pretty cool concert and lasted a hell of a long time. My friends and I got there right around 11 and by 1:30 they were still going strong, which is cool that they played so long, but unfortantely I needed to get up for class, but I definitely got my money's worth. They played some stuff I didn't recognize as I haven't had a chance to totally check out their band, but they played some of my favorites from what I have heard, which was very nice.

Like going to all concerts, there are always people who go to these things which cannot be labelled as anything other than strange. There was a guy who looked to be no taller than 5'3 who was trying to grind with different women throughout the show. Rather than being completely disgusting, I really felt sorry for the guy because he was looking pretty desperate and didn't seem to realize he was the object of ridicule. It didn't help that one woman, who spent part of the show trying to show her "seductive" side (or the lack thereof) to other guys, was essentially egging the guy on all night. It seemed like some perverted mating ritual that one would see on a PBS nature show.

Besides the "side show", I was very glad I had a chance to get out and see the band play live. If any of my readers see that they are playing in a local club, I would highly recommend it. I will leave you with a joke by Anton, but I warn you that it is not recommended for children:

What is the difference between Michael Jackson and Pimples?

- Pimples don't "come" on your face until you are at least 13.

-Trevor

Here's a tip to all the poor graduate and medical students if you are a couple bucks short for that lap dance, don't pay for it with stolen body parts, or you may be sitting in jail for a while. Police discovered after a call that an exotic dancer had a preserved hand along with three human skulls in her apartment. After an investigation, it was discovered that a medical student stole a hand from a cadaver and gave it to the dancer. The dancer enjoyed it so much, her and her friends began to call it "Teddy". Now the graduated medical student could face up to 10 years in prison.

While I will admit that this is a very disturbing article, it probably doesn't deserve a sentence of 10 years, public humiliation would be more appropriate.

-Trevor

So what do you do when you can't sleep at 1 am in the morning? Well you see what celebrity you look like. As you can see in this wonderful image, I look an awful lot like Adam Brody. For those who don't know who he is, and I was definitely one of them, he has starred on such great shows such as, American Pie 2 as "High School Guy", The Sausage Factory, Gilmore Girls, and most recently, the OC. On the plus side of looking like a no talent actor, he was voted by People to be one of the hottest bachelors, thus I guess I know that I must be really really good looking . Furthermore, I see that I sort of look like John Candy and Demi Moore and a member of 'N Sync and the Backstreet Boys. I don't know if that bodes well for me. At least I have Di Caprio and Ford helping what otherwise would be a doomed life full of hate and misery.

-Trevor

Genre: Documentary
Rating: R
Starring: Anton Newcombe, Courtney Taylor-Taylor
Released: 2004

Read more!

Bert has recently been suspended another three games for his unfortunate use of the word, "fuck" twice during a pregame show he did not know was live. You can watch the clip below. The Star Tribune article mentions that he will not be fired, however, I think that the additional three games is too high. For a slip up that was an accident, there should be no penalty. There was no intentional harm done and besides, I would rather have my kids watch a man swear than see someone being shot, but I guess a kid who swears is worse than a kid who kills. As a side note, here are some other "off-color" commentary from Blyleven that I thought you may enjoy:

* In April 2002, Minneapolis City Council member Joe Biernat was indicted for accepting free plumbing work on his house in exchange for lucrative city contracts. The day after the indictment was made public, City Council President Paul Ostrow was a guest in the Twins' broadcast booth, explaining a plan for a new Twins stadium. At the end of the interview, Blyleven asked Ostrow "So do you know any good plumbers?" After an uncomfortable pause, Ostrow replied "I'm not going there."

* During a 2006 broadcast, a conversation with a guest morphed from George Brett to singing in the shower. Blyleven mentioned that he had showered with Brett, and the guest expressed surprise. Blyleven exclaimed "Well, there were other guys there! ... Although they did say not to bend over."

* During the same broadcast, Blyleven asked guest Ace Young (of American Idol fame) if he "got lucky" with show host Paula Abdul

* Later in the season, Blyleven and Bremer were discussing Pee Wee Herman when Blyleven remarked "I wouldn't want to be in a movie theater with him!"

* On August 15, 2006, the Twins were facing the Cleveland Indians. Shin-Soo Choo pinch hit in the ninth inning. When Bremer said Choo's full name, Blyleven responded by saying "Bless you."

* During the pregame show on September 3, 2006, Blyleven twice used the "f word" while he was live on air. Under the impression he was being taped, Blyleven wanted to retape a segment when he swore and quickly realized he was live. In the first inning of the game, he apologized. Blyleven was suspended by the network for five telecasts.

* Later in the same broadcast, the Twins were facing New York Yankees reliever Mike Myers. Blyleven introduced Myers and commented on his unorthodox submarine delivery by saying: "Myers at six-foot-three, but he throws like a midget."

Source: Wikipedia

-Trevor

Sorry about not posting the photos earlier, but I got them on my gallery now click the title or the link here. I got back on Monday night pretty late and needed to finish up some work. We hung around my friend's place on Monday for the most part, which was good because I really don't get to lounge around much on my vacations. Of course I paid for it by the lack of sleep on Monday night, but that's the fun of vacations. Overall, this was a fantastic trip, I highly recommend Los Angeles to anyone who has a chance to go, it is a unique experience.

-Trevor

Does this photo look good? Not so much, however, does this photo suggest that the US congress needs to ban killing horses for human consumption? Not so much either. Ask most Americans and they will tell you that eating horse is so pass?, however, others in the rest of the world think of horse as a delicacy. The question is why is it that horses need to be saved any more than any other animal? Are they endangered? No. Is there evidence of intelligence greater than other edible animals? No. What is it that sets horses apart from Buffalo, Ostriches, and Turtles? Cultural perceptions. When will the United States learn about the dangers of stuffing all of our cultural beliefs down others and worry about real issues? Probably never.

I think this is a case where it isn't worth the legislation. Sure horses are dying, but can't we just make sure they die humanely? Besides, the legislators really need to worry about other things than this. What about trying to worry about our international policy, becoming fiscally responsible? Oh, I guess that can be put on the back burner while we save all of the little ponies who just want to run in circles for all of the gambling addicts amongst us .

-Trevor

The vacation is coming to a close and with that what's sure to be an all-nighter with some game theory homework, but instead of worrying too much, my friend and I headed out to Venice Beach today and walked around taking in the sights and sounds. There was definitely plenty of that to be had. The weather was absolutely awesome, very mild with plenty of sun.

We found an awesome hat shop off of the strip of shops that line the beach and I picked up a new cap as shown below on a not so great picture of me. Some interesting people around, but not too many people who were too strange. One of the good quotes came from a drunk, "Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Help me get drunk...". After the beach, we grabbed some pizza and then headed back and watched Digg (a documentary on the band, The Brian Jamestown Massacre). I'll post a review later this week. My flight leaves in about 17 hours from this post. I think I'll definitely miss Los Angeles, it has a very unique character that you can't get anywhere else. Before I reminiscence too early, I still have a whole new day before I need to take off.

-Trevor

Took another easy day today, just sort of bummed around, but isn't that what LA's for? We stopped in for lunch at the In-N-Out Burger after hanging out in the morning listening to some baseball games online and bullshitting a bit. That place was so crowded it took 10 minutes just to get a parking spot. It wasn't bad, but it seemed way too busy considering the quality and the price ($3.50 for a cheesburger and shake). However, the atmosphere definitely had that intangible California feel that I haven't gotten anywhere else. We also went down Hollywod Bouelevard and checked out Graumann's Chinese Theater amongst other touristy things on the block. There were so many people out, it was pretty crazy. A guy stopped my friend and was amazed at his red hair. The guy was black and exclaimed to us how his son had red hair and that he is always amazed about how people get red hair (Normally it doesn't matter about race, but this is a special circumstance). He then asked what we were up to and suggested that he show us around town. The man was drunk and since mother always said we shouldn't talk to strangers, politely declined. We finished the night over in a bar off of Sunset Strip, it had some fairly authentic Mexican food and good, but at about twice the Tucson price, but it's LA and what can you do?

One of the things that I noticed is that the homeless situation is a lot different in LA than in Tucson. There was a homeless couple sleeping right on the sidewalk. While the relative amounts of homeless seem similar, homeless in LA seem to be in a worse state, or maybe I just haven't been around enough in Tucson, but I don't know. It seems weird considering how progressive Californians often promote themselves as, or at least how the media portrays them as. That last sentence was overly harsh and judgemental about the people who live in LA, so I will work on meeting more people here before I become too prejudiced . Overall, the different types of people and styles in LA is absolutely amazing. You will see people in the cutting edge of fashion to those who are clearly stuck in some point in time to everything in between. While driving to the In-N-Out burger we saw a "macho" looking guy strutting around in stilts. Crazily enough, I think I was the only person gawking at him like he was fucking crazy. I am probably the one who sticks out like a sore thumb.

Another thing that I noticed is how quiet it is. I imagined LA as a loud place where no one ever slept, but it seems that in the day people are definitely out, but it is actually very quiet at my friend's place at night. Unlike Tucson, I don't have to worry about fighter jets or med helicopters waking me up in the middle of the night.

Tomorrow (later today), we are headed off to Venice Beach. My friend tells me that I will see stuff there that will stick with me for a while. We will see if I will suffer some culture shock

-Trevor

P.S. My friend's internet connection is slow, so I'll post the pictures on my site probably on Tuesday after classes.

For those who aren't in the know, I flew to LA this weekend to visit an old friend. We took it easy the first day we grabbed some breakfast at the House of Pies, a variation of a Perkins/Denny's, but I hear their pies are good. Afterwards we bummed around in the afternoon and stopped in a record shop, Amoeba. Finally we checked out the Dodgers Game versus Colorado. The Dodgers won 5-3 which was pretty cool. 49,000 people made it to the game. Here are a couple pictures I took today. You can see the Hollywood sign from my friend's apartment, pretty cool.

-Trevor