2012: Before 2013, After 2011… aka: The Year the World Didn’t End.

There are many people who believe that the world will end on December 21, 2012.  Those who have not yet heard of this particular doomsday prophecy may ask, “Will the world end on 12/21/2012?” Now, as we all know from being alive, it is literally impossible to answer a question like that with a “yes” or “no.”  It’s not even a question worth asking unless you’re asking God or someone with a time-machine.  Try to ask God, you probably won’t get an answer.  If you do somehow manage to get an answer, you’re probably crazy and even if you’re not crazy (which you really probably are), you would never be taken seriously in this day and age.  Sure, maybe thousands of years ago someone could have a talkative/conversational relationship with God and be taken seriously.  However, in those times, having that kind of a relationship with God that’s actually taken seriously would significantly, if not exponentially increase your chances of being tortured and nailed to a cross.  So, talking to God is not a good way to answer this question.  Similarly, asking, “Will the world end on 12/21/2012?” to someone with a time machine won’t get you any closer to the answer, although it might get you closer to living out the rest of your carefree days in a Lithium and Thioridazine haze.

A slightly smarter question to ask would be, “Why do people think the world will end on 12/21/2012?” Those of you familiar with this doomsday prophecy know that it is based from a certain Mayan calendar of sorts.  Finally, we have a question that can easily be answered through something that college professors like to call “research.”  Lucky for you, I’m a lazy shit so therefore, everything you’re about to read isn’t the product of research.  Take it from me, I’m generally lazy and unmotivated, therefore I’m not the biggest fan of researching things.  If I can stay interested in this topic long enough to read through several different Wikipedia articles to get all the specific info needed to understand this shit while also adding a generous helping of general history and mathematical knowledge… then everyone on the planet with an attention span longer than 3 seconds should be able to continue to the end.  Please!  Don’t give up on me now!

The Mesoamerican Long Count calendar was used by many mesoamerican cultures, the most famous of which being the pre-Columbian Maya civilization.  Sometimes it is referred to as the Maya Long Count Calendar.  This calendar is non-repeating and based on units that describe periods of time much like our calendar.  The Long Count calendar uses these units of time measurement:  k’in= 1 day.  1 winal= 20 k’ins.  1 tun= 18 winals (360 days).  1 katun= 20 tuns (7,200 days).  1 baktun= 20 katuns (144,000 days).

The specific dates are expressed in this format:

# of baktuns (.) # of katuns (.) # of tuns (.) # of winals (.) # of k’in.

The highest possible value in any column is 20 with the exception of the second column (winals) who’s highest possible value is 18.  Whenever a number in any column reaches it’s highest possible value, it is rolled back to zero and the value of the number in the preceding column is raised by one.  For instance:

June 24, 1989 = 12.18.16.2.19 —   June 25, 1989 = 12.18.16.3.0

So, to put it simply, dates in the Long Count calendar are determined in much the same way that a car’s odometer determines how many miles on a car.  However, instead of counting the number of miles traveled starting at zero, the calendar calculates dates by counting the number of days passed since the Mayan creation date which occurred on August 11, 3114 BCE in the Gregorian calendar system.  The Long Count number for this date is 13.0.0.0.0. It is of common belief that the full cycle of the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar is complete when 13 baktuns have passed since the Mayan creation date (8/11/3114 BCE).  December 20, 2012 is expressed as 12.19.19.17.19 and because the second digit rolls back to zero once it reaches 18, the next day’s date- December 21, 2012- becomes 13.0.0.0.0 and December 22, 2012 would be 0.0.0.0.1.  Whoa now!  Holy shit look at that!  That’s one hell of a coincidence isn’t it? I mean, how could it be possible that a cyclical calendar system would eventually complete a full cycle and end up right back at it’s original starting point?  That’s some real voodoo shit right there.  Everybody panic!  Shit is resetting to zero!  Hopefully you can sense my sarcasm.  This is where the prophecy comes from.

Those who believe in the prophecy obviously must be unaware that the Maya used four additional units for time measurement that are much larger than the baktun.  1 Piktun= 20 baktuns.  1 Kalabtun= 20 piktuns.  1 kinichiltun= 20 kalabtuns. 1 alautun= 20 kinichiltuns. This calls some things into question, such as… If the Long Count calendar really completes it’s cycle and resets back to zero after 13 baktuns, why then would these higher order time units need to be created.  The truth died out along with the Maya centuries ago, but these additional units are common in many inscriptions and hieroglyphs they left behind.  For instance, one inscription found in the ancient Maya city of Coba shows the date 13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.0.0.0.0.  Since- as we now know- each column is twenty times larger than it’s predecessor, this particular date falls somewhere in the neighborhood of 41,341,049,999,999,999,999,999,994,879 years from now (2009) into the future.  It’s also interesting to note that the number of years encompassed by that date is 3 quintillion times longer than the scientifically agreed upon age of the universe. Now, an interesting question for the prophecy believers would be… “If you truly believe that the Maya were intellectually advanced enough to predict the exact date of the apocalypse, why then, would they waste their time calculating a date that would end up being: forty-one septillion, three hundred forty-one sextillion, forty-nine quintillion, nine hundred ninety-nine quadrillion, nine hundred ninety-nine trillion, nine hundred ninety-nine billion, nine hundred ninety-nine million, nine hundred ninety-four thousand, eight hundred seventy-six years into the future, beyond December 21, 2012?

The most important thing that people gotta realize is that this calendar has been slowly counting each and every passing day, endlessly, for just about 5,122 years.  Baktun after Baktun has gone by and the world keeps on turning.  It’s a known fact that the Earth is much older than 5,122 years and humans were around long before the Mayan creation date.  The more ya think about it, the more you’ll realize that there is no factual basis for this “prophecy” to hold any solid ground what-so-ever.  It’s nothing but the product of certain people making un-educated (incorrect) inferences based on a 21st century worldview about the intentions of an intellectually advanced, ancient civilization that obviously operated on a much higher plane of existence than our current civilization does today.  To me, this whole 2012 fiasco is no different than the Y2K scare (actually somewhat similar basis), or any other doomsday prophecy that’s ever been thunk up.  They may not all be the same, but there is one unifying trait that ties all of them together in the end… none of them came true.  Ultimately, it’s not a “prophecy” unless it comes true.  I believe that not only is there nothing to worry about, there never was anything to worry about.  You’ve seen one baktun you’ve seen ‘em all.

PS: I like to think of myself as a pretty humble, level-headed guy which is why I would never say that I am 100% right about this topic and everyone else is wrong.  All I know is, why should I care about something that “might” happen three years down the road any more than I should worry about something that “might not” happen.  There is no sense in wasting your time worrying about something, even IF it happens, it’s completely out of your control.  It’s  pointless to spend your life swimming against the current when it’s so much easier to enjoy and cope with life when you just go with the flow.  So, when 12/21/2012 comes and goes and nothing happens, the believers will fade out with their tails between their legs.  One can only imagine how embarrassed they will be when they realize that they actually allowed their lives to be so heavily impacted, not by wars, tyranny, poverty, or genocide… but literally, by a fuckin’ five thousand year old calendar.

Phelps-head

So apparently a picture has surfaced of Michael Phelps in the midst of taking a bong hit.  Holy Shit!  This is the worst news anyone could have heard in the history of bad news.  I was reading a lot of reader reaction to this article which showed the picture.  I heard people literally demonizing the guy saying he is supposed to be a role model for their kids and how will he never recover from this.  They also say he should lose all his endorsements and that the Olympics board should take away all 14 Olympic gold medals he’s won.  All that is a bunch of bullshit

Michael Phelps started going to the Olympics because he loves swimming, not because he wanted to be a role model for your spoiled ass kids.  People always put athletes and public figures on these ridiculous pedestals and it’s just retarded to do that.  This should be a lesson for all you worthless piece of shit parents out there to NOT RELY ON CELEBRITIES TO RAISE YOUR CHILDREN.  They are too lazy to teach their children about morals.  They don’t feel like taking the time out of their busy work schedules and marriage counseling sessions to talk to their children about these kinds of things.  It’s ridiculous to expect any human being to act in a perfect way all the time.  Most of these people are Conservative religious types but even those people believe that “only he who is without sin can cast the first stone,” so those jack-offs are being just a little hypocritical… very surprising for the kind of people they are.

This guy didn’t get to experience his late teenage/early 20’s like every other college kid in America.  The one or two times he lets lose and tries to relax people crucify him.  I say, “Shut the Fuck up.”  There are people who are saying that he can kiss his career goodbye because of this.  Marijuana is NOT a performance enhancing drug.  I will go so far as to say that if Michael Phelps can toke up once in a while and continue to win gold medal after gold medal, he should win another gold medal for that because if nothing else, pot makes the act of swimming nearly impossible.  (Allegedly) Michael Phelps smokes pot BUT HE’S THE BEST SWIMMER IN THE W O R L D.   If anything that proves everything they want you to think about marijuana is an absolute lie.  They say marijuana will ruin your life, well this guy smoked marijuana and won 14 fuckin Olympic gold medals.  Doesn’t sound like his life has been ruined to me.  He even got to have his cake and fucking eat it too.  The thing that really annoyed me about every post that trashed Michael Phelps and weed was that they referred to marijuana as “dope.”  Who the fuck calls it dope anymore?  This isn’t the fucking 80s.

Some people said he’s never going to recover from this.  Dude, he got a DUI when he was 19 years old, his career never fucking slowed down.  I’d rather my children’s role models toking up in the privacy of his own home then driving around drunk.

I will throw a stat out there that is maybe a little biased but reasonably accurate none the less.  I wouldn’t be surprised if 40% or more college students smoke marijuana or have smoked marijuana.  The other 60% is comprised of: a) People who actually consider it a drug, b) Close minded right winged religious whack jobs who have some sort of moral superiority complex about themselves, and c) People who want to try it but are too afraid to ask.  It’s just something that people do.  It doesn’t kill brain cells.  It doesn’t make them stupid.  Some people just need a little something to take the edge off of this shitty ass world.  I don’t want to hear how we could do something acceptable like alcohol especially considering alcohol’s track record.

Personally, I think that if alcohol is legal, then marijuana should be legal as well.  There are hundreds of alcohol poisoning and overdose deaths each year, there has never been a marijuana overdose death in the entire history of human use.  Not to mention the toxicity of alcohol compared to marijuana.  We don’t need to talk about the fact that alcohol can cause people to become violent/beligerant and perhaps even kill someone or themselves by driving or fighting.  Where alcohol contributes to aggressive behavior, marijuana reduces the likelihood of aggression in the user.

Really the whole thing is a crap chute.  The only reason marijuana is illegal is because of a shitty Conservative/religious propaganda movie called “Reefer Madness,” which anyone who’s ever smoked weed would know is completely and utterly untrue.  That plus the whole Textile vs. Hemp war.  Hemp was demonized by the textile industry and something that should never have been illegal in the first place became associated with a stigma that it shouldn’t be associated with.

Cautiously Optimistic

I haven’t posted in a while and I have a perfectly good reason for that.

I was busy.

Anyway, since I last posted we were all witnesses to history.  It doesn’t matter whether you agree with Obama or not (God knows there are plenty of areas where I disagree with him).  The mere fact that we elected a black man into the presidency is a testament to our country (or at least the VAST MAJORITY OF IT)  having moved on from racism and bigotry.  However, there is a very big problem in our country.  There are people in America, the land of the free, who still hearken back to a period in our history where a couple of back country redneck farmers had slaves.  After all, the white man had slaves and is the scum of the Earth (I should be saying white Americans, because obviously we’re the only country who ever owned slaves… waiting for the sarcasm to sink in).

Well to that, I say, with all due respect… Shut the fuck up.  Just because I have the same skin color as a group of people who once had slaves doesn’t mean I, in any way, condone the practice or the people who took part in it.  Similarly, just because you have the same skin color as a people who were once held as slaves doesn’t mean you have the right to say anything to me about your “terrible past.”  Nothing makes me more mad then to see people all around me decide that that’s a good enough reason to not achieve everything that’s in their power to achieve.  I’ve seen people sit around and complain about the evil deeds of the white man, how the white man keeps them down.  Only you are keeping yourself down.

I will not try to say that racism doesn’t exist.  Of course there will be a couple quacks who think it’s the right worldview to have.  All I am saying is that ‘racism’ is no longer a legitimate reason to not do anything that you want to do.  It’s simply no longer acceptable to hide behind your skin color and claim ‘racism’ when something doesn’t go your way.  We’ve seen it already people.  We have a black president now.  You know what that means?  THE OVERWHELMING MAJORITY OF AMERICA DID NOT JUDGE HIM BASED ON THE COLOR OF HIS SKIN.

I am sick of people like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton who travel the country looking for something they can claim to be a racial injustice (sometimes they’re right… most of the time they’re full of shit), so they can pull their pulpits out and start preaching about the racist white people.  I am sick of constantly getting the feeling that the only good white person is a white person who feels guilty for being white.  It’s not going to happen.  I’m proud of my heritage (as slave-free as it is), just as much as I am proud that our country stepped up to the plate and took a huge leap forward into what will hopefully be a bigotry free future.  While I don’t necessarily agree with President Obama on a number of issues the fact remains that he’s our president, and as such I will proudly stand behind him and support him while he is president.  Hopefully he doesn’t choke on a pretzel.

Going into this, he had an approval rating in the 80%’s, but no presidential nominee or candidate has ever sustained such a high approval rating.  He is human and it is inevitable that he will fuck up probably more than one time.  As soon as he does people will start turning on him.  In all likelihood, the mainstream media will be among the first.  I go toward the next 4 or 8 years with a sense of cautious optimism.  I don’t want to hold him on as high of a pedestal as most of the country is seeming to do because in the end, he will never live up to peoples expectations.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my life it’s to keep expectations low, that way you’re never disappointed.  The obvious exception to that being Bush.  I gave him all the chances I could but the lower I dropped the bar, he always managed to dip right under it.

P.S.  I want people to understand that I referred to “African Americans” as “Black” in this post for two reasons.

1. It’s a lot easier to write “Black” than “African American” especially for a lazy college student who could probably use some sleep.
2. I don’t in any way find the term “Black” to be racially charged or offensive… it’s the thought that counts.
   

Size 10’s

“No one should read anything more into it than what it was, which was an individual throwing a shoe.”

This is what Eric Zahren, a Secret Service spokesman said about a recent incident in which an Iraqui journalist threw both of his shoes at President Bush during a press conference.  There’s a video of it up online.  I have to admit, it’s pretty awesome to see Bush totally dodging both shoes like a cat.  I could imagine Bush thinking, “Alright, when the hell are they gonna stop this guy?”

The President made light of the situation with a joke about the size of the shoes thrown- size 10’s.  They are leaving this guys punishment in the hands of the Iraqi’s.  He’s probably just going to get a fine.  Small price to pay, especially when he’s being heralded as a national hero.

Now, imagine if an American had thrown their shoes at the President.  There would be no fines, no jail time, no paper trail.  In all probability, that person would cease to exist and no one would ever see or hear from them again.

Imagine if an American went over to any middle eastern country and threw their shoes at their leader.  What would happen?

All I’m saying is, you don’t do anything hostile toward another country’s leader, and if you do do it you should get more then a fine.  I don’t know how anyone could think that’s a good idea.  If you’re gonna throw a shoe at Bush you might as well shit in a bag and light it on fire on the White House steps.  What we have here is a culture problem.  In their country, it’s an insult to have shoes thrown at you.  In our country, if you throw your shoes at someone they just think you’re crazy.  In the end, this guy didn’t have any impact on anything what-so-ever except to show that the Secret Service obviously wasn’t paying attention and as far as I know, that’s not something that should happen.  If someone is throwing their shoes at the President during a press conference, at least stop him before he gets to the second shoe.

In the wake of this really screwed up story we are only left to wonder what would have happened if that man had a gun.  Judging by how promptly the Secret Service reacted, Dick Cheney would be the President of the United States.

Person vs. People

A person is smart. A person can be reasoned with and talked to in a civilized and mature manner.  You can tell a person the way things are and how they are to act.  A person follows rules (the important ones anyway).  A person has common sense and a set of morals (whether they’re bad morals or otherwise).  More importantly, a person is able to act as an individual.  This means that a person has the ability to employ the use of critical thinking and deductive reasoning to solve a problem and achieve the best possible outcome.  The mere fact that we can do that places us at the top of the chain of life on this planet and it separates us from every other animal in the world.

However, if you were to grab a handful of persons and put them within close proximity of one another, you would find that an alarming change occurs.  Instead, you are left with something else entirely.  What you have is a single organism that is dangerous in it’s complete impulsiveness and ignorance; an organism who’s parts compete ferociously with each other.  You don’t have what rightfully should be a group of persons who live, breathe, and think as individuals… you have people.

People are ruthless, hateful, greedy, and (don’t ever forget this one) stupid.  You can’t tell people how things are and how to act.  People don’t follow rules.  People don’t have common sense.  Above everything else… people are not only incapable of being individuals, but they always abandon those traits that separate the human race from every other creation.  (When in a group) People have no intelligence, reason, civility, or compassion.  There is no such thing as non-conformity.  Among all the other flaws we possess as a race, the most unfortunate would be that our very survival is dependent upon social interaction.

There are other species that live in groups and require varying degrees of social contact in much the same way humans do.  These animals travel and hunt in groups.  Everything they do is rooted in doing what is best for the survival of their unit.  This is different from what happens to humans.  They may come together to form groups but each person brings something to the table that complicates everything.  Greed is an emotion that is more destructive then any other.  All the persons that make up a group of people will do whatever it takes to achieve their own personal gains, no matter the cost.  People will stab each other in the back and will even stoop as low as destroying one of it’s own if it will bring them one step closer to getting what they want.  This is why a person can solve problems, but people can not.  In all actuality, a person will achieve more on his own then people will.  A person solves problems… people create problems.

I never thought I would ever have to think about that as much as I did but I was forced to last week when a mob of people trampled a Wal-Mart worker to death so they could get a fucking flat screened TV.  It’s outrageous that this story isn’t a lie.  It only proves that everything I have said is absolutely true and I hate to say it, but it is gonna cause our downfall.

Everyone always talk about how we should work together to solve problems but as time goes by it only becomes more obvious that we will never be able to pull that off successfully.  It’s crazy that a person would kill another person just to get a TV.  Oh wait… it wasn’t a person that killed the worker, it was PEOPLE.

The saddest part about this whole thing is that this shit happened… and no one got to keep the TV.

Fuck Censorship

I know I’m not alone in saying that.  Censorship never used to be a problem in this country.  In fact, put any show from the early to mid nineties against any show that’s on TV today.  If you do that you will realize not only that the TV shows from the nineties are one of the most defining characteristics of that decade, you will also realize that the TV shows of today are undoubtedly the low point.

I will start with an example.  The show Rocko’s Modern Life was on Nickelodeon in the mid nineties.  There was a character on that show named Really Really Big Man.  One of Really Really Big Man’s powers was he had the ability to shoot his nipples off of his body, they would then attach themselves to his target’s eyes to show them the future.  I don’t care who you are, you can’t tell me that someone saying, “Gaze into my nipples of the future” then shooting his nipples at your eyes isn’t the most fucked up hilarious thing ever.  That would never be allowed to play on any childrens cartoon channel.  The kids cartoons of my generation were the best ever.  They were so integral in our lives that we look back to them as one of the best parts of our childhoods.  Simply mention the shows, “Ren & Stimpy, Ahhh! Real Monsters, Doug, Salute Your Shorts, The Angry Beavers, CatDog” you will defiantly hear about them.  The only thing we can say about the cartoons of today is how much we can’t stand how stupidly dull and not funny they are (except for Spongebob haha).

All the fun, however, ended abruptly when at the Superbowl, everyone thought they saw a mostly obscured tit during the halftime performance by Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake.  I got news for you… ONE GUY SAW THE TIT AND NO ONE ELSE SAW IT UNTIL HE POINTED IT OUT AND FORCED EVERYONE ELSE TO SEE IT BY DRAWING A SHIT LOAD OF ATTENTION TO IT.  Then our country pulled down it’s pants and attempted to rape itself.  “But it’s for the children,” they all said.  I got news for you, there is not a kid in the world who is disturbed by the sight of a tit.    Any and every pre-pubescent male child in the world would do anything to see a tit (mothers, keep your JC Penny’s catalogs out of reach).  In fact, the kids were probably more upset by the fact that everyone else saw a tit and they didn’t.  You know why they didn’t see the tit?  BECAUSE NO ONE SAW THE TIT!

This is where this ridiculous double standard comes from.  There are countless shows on TV where autopsies are bein performed on beaten up, dead bodies.  People are getting stabbed, shot, drowned, burned, beaten with bats, eaten alive by bugs and wild animals and that’s perfectly acceptable.  Violence and death is acceptable by today’s standards but sex is such a taboo.  Where did the point get lost that sex is a necessity of the human race to NOT GO EXTINCT.  They act like sex is such a bad thing and no child should ever bear witness to it because it might disturb them, it might turn them into sexual deviants, yet, let’s show them what happens to a dead, rotting corpse when it’s left in the trunk of a locked car that’s been abandoned on the side of the road in Miami for a month… that couldn’t possibly disturb them.

That just sounds really wrong to me… why is it absolutly true?

Politicians: Exactly how much shit are they full of?

Politician: a leader engaged in civil administration.

That’s a pretty accurate definition of what a politician is.  They’re leaders who are engaged in civil administration.  Leaders, however, are not required to be good at leading.  The next time you’re with a group of friends, tell them to follow you somewhere, anywhere… make up any reason you want.  If they listen to you and follow you that makes you a leader.  However, the people who are following you will probably think you’re an asshole when they find out that you weren’t going anywhere and you had no reason to go there.  You have just done something that politicians are really good at… convincing people to follow them.  Also, just like a politician, you’ve succeeded in making no progress what-so-ever and wasting everyone’s time, which not only makes you a bad leader… it also makes you an asshole (and that’s not the only correct judgement of you you’re “friends” make when talking about you behind your back either).

All politicians are assholes.  Now, just because that sounds like an “unfair generalization” doesn’t mean that it is one.  The vast majority of Americans belong to either the lower class, working class, or the lower to upper middle class.  The politicians that represent them don’t belong to any of those classes.  The upper class is reserved for the mere 1% of Americans who act as the “grand conceptulizers,” those who have great influence over the nations institutions.  Politicians would fall in that category.  It doesn’t matter how much money they make or how much they’re worth.  The mere fact that they are politicians puts them in the upper class.

The upper class is the one that likes to be viewed as not only above everyone else, but separated from everyone else.  We’re like the psychologically disturbed family member who makes everyone feel uncomfortable at Thanksgiving dinner but they keep shoveling turkey on our plate praying that the Tryptophan in the turkey meat will put us in a coma.  At least then we could still be in the family and no one would have to deal with our tediously repetitive yet lawfully acceptable outbursts where we tell them how much we don’t approve of them.  The only difference between that situation and this situation is that we’re not in a coma and we’re forced to suffer through the endless supply of bull shit while our vocal displays of disapproval fall on deaf ears.

The most annoying thing about politicians is that they pretend to care about our problems when they really don’t give a shit.  It’s easy to pretend to give a shit when you’re so full of shit.  It’s gotten out of control.  This is the only country on Earth where a candidate can run for president and win their parties nomination based solely on the platform of change…..

………

……. still waiting…..

Oh, that’s it?  See, cuz I kinda thought I would be told not just what needs to be changed, but how exactly it’s going to be changed.  The idea of “change” is abstract, therefore, not a single fucking person knows what it means.  I don’t care how much you think you know what it means, you don’t.  The idea of change is no more or less abstract then the idea of love, luck, hate, etc.  No candidate would ever be taken seriously if they ran for president under the idea of bringing love to everyone.  What kind of love is it?  You don’t know either, that could be because the word love has no concrete meaning.  Maybe he’s bringing the love of shaking babies, or autoerotic asphyxiation to Americas’ Executive branch.  God knows the Legislative branch has the largest concentration of people who jerk off with belts around their necks… maybe it takes the edge off… sitting around saying “yea” and “nay” all day must be exhausting.

The supporters of that candidate are completely incapable of understanding this but I will tell you what’s going to change if that person gets elected.  Absolutly fucking nothing.  Terrorists are still going to hate us and try to kill us, the KKK will continue to be ignorant racists, gas prices will continue to go up along with the prices of back-alley blow jobs, crime and drugs will continue to rule the inner cities, and the population of fat people in America will continue to have greater numbers then the total population of America itself (special thanks to Little Britain USA).  I should add that his opposition won’t fix any of those problems either, but keep in mind, he never really promised his supporters that things would “change” should he be elected.

The only thing they want is power.  Power is a very valuable thing… it’s even more valuable then money and respect (which politicians certainly don’t deserve).  The most powerful man in America is the president.  The most powerful nation on Earth is America.  Therefore, the President of the United States is the most powerful man in the world, but, that doesn’t mean anyone likes him.

I feel more comfortable supporting the guy from the Dos Equis commercials.  He may not be the most powerful man in the world, but he’s definately the most interesting man in the world.

Fun Job: It’s not an oxy-moron

Allow me to be a psychic for a second and predict what you’re thinking… “That’s not possible, the word ‘fun’ and the word ‘job’ are antonyms (opposites of each other) they can’t exist in the same sentence… your job isn’t supposed to be fun, that’s why its called a job.”  Well, allow me to burst your bubble of pre-conceived notions about how the world works and let you in on a little secret… Everyone on this planet has something that they love to do, and the odds are extremely favorable that (supposing you try to find it) you can get paid doing it.

I learned this lesson myself.  As recently as last year I had no goals or aspirations.  I hated my job; I hated going to school.  I had absolutly no idea what I wanted to do with my life and I was getting nervous about what my future would be.  I decided that I didn’t want to be nervous about my future anymore, so I sat down and contemplated.  I thought about the things that I love to do most in this world and directly at the top of the list… watch movies.  I made the decision… I am going to be a filmmaker.  It doesn’t matter whether I make it big and get rich, or whether I have to live in a car.  I will make movies, period.

Fast forward to this past June and my first film crew job.  I was a Grip/Production Assistant on an ultra low budget film called “Where the Cypress Grows.”  I learned a lot and realized that it’s really fuckin fun to make movies.  That job ended and I already had another one lined up.

My last day on this job is tomorrow (Oct. 13, 2008).  I am a Production Assistant on an independent film called “Respire.”  A production assistant is basically the film crew’s bitch.  We have to be available to assist any department (whether it be: makeup, wardrobe, grip, electrical, lighting, or camera departments) whenever they need help.  The coolest thing about it is the networking I was able to do.  I’m working with the grip crew that worked on Eagle Eye, Body of Lies, Night at the Museum II and The Wire, the Director of Photography who filmed a season or two of The Wire and was camera operator on Live Free or Die Hard, and the Prop Master who did props for: Major Payne, Mars Attacks!, Red Dragon, Wedding Crashers, and Transformers 2 (among others).  The point I’m trying to make is that I was lucky enough to land this gig where the crew possesses a wealth of knowledge that is easy to tap into by simply working with them. I can say with conviction that I have learned more about making movies by working with all these guys over the past month then I’ve learned in my whole life.

I guess the biggest revelation for me is that this is without a doubt the most fun and exciting job I’ve ever had.  It boggles my mind that people actually do this for a living and are able to live a very healthy lifestyle doing it.  I would never have imagined that a job of any kind would be as fun, challenging, and interesting as this was.  Watching movies has been my number one favorite activity for as long as I can remember, but making movies is quite an amazing experience.  I was struck when I realized my primary goal in life… to one day be able to entertain a movie going audience with my movies as much as other peoples movies entertain me.

Anyway, if you don’t know what you want to do with your career, just figure out something that brings you complete joy and chase that.  I don’t know about you but I’d much rather do what I love and be poor then be rich and miserable. So, 40 years from now, when you’re working the drive thru at McDonalds (or God forbid, Taco Bell) you’ll have no one to blame but yourself.

Everyone has dreams, but not everyone chases them.

There’s no “me” in team

Wow, first post on WordPress.  I’m used to LiveJournal but I decided not to be a bitch anymore and get this. I never noticed this before but it’s pretty interesting how both WordPress and LiveJournal are comprised of two words that have no spaces in between them but the first letter of each word is capitalized.  Coincidence?  Very curious…

It’s pretty cool I guess.  If you want to read my old blog CLICK HERE.  Doesn’t really matter I guess since no one will read this anyway.  I mean I’ll try to have people read it but, I mean honestly, I don’t think many people will.

But anyway, for those of you who ARE reading it….

I’m going to assume that we’ve all heard the tired cliche, “There’s no “me” in team.”  Let’s de-construct that phrase, shall we?

I suppose that technically there is “me” in team, in the literal sense.  There is an “m” and an “e.”  They’re not in an order that spells “me” but they’re in there so I guess one could say that there is me in team.  You know what I say to them… FUCK YOU YOU’RE WRONG.

Others say, “There’s no “I” in team.”

That’s indisputable.  Spell “team,” T.E.A.M.  I don’t see a fucking “I.”

In conclusion:

There’s no “me” in team.  Nor is there an “I” in team.  That’s why it’s a team.  A TEAM: a number of persons associated in one joint action.  Some people in teams like to act like they’re not in a team.  But they’re wrong, you’re in a fucking team asshole.  The only way those phrases could be changed would be to either say, “‘I’ am not in a Team,” or “The Team does not have ‘me’ in it.”  If either of those two phrases applies to you, you’re a loser.  If you’re one of those people who are in a team but don’t act like it, you’re an asshole.