What's your mantra?

Web surfing last night I found a site all about television tropes. It's like wikipedia only with devices that writers use on tv, movies, and in other media.

I found a real funny one that you can check out here. It reminded me a lot of Nate and Rich's place with all those weird home made posters they put up.

If you wanted to create your own room full of crazy what would you write over and over on the walls?

I would write, "Oh god, help me with the ketchup."

Creepy stalkers are creepy, not romantic

Last night mom took Martina for the night. Shawn and I had everyone over and Kate decided she wanted a movie. Nate was late and we figured he was home sitting in front of his laptop or talking to Snowy so Kate left him a message to come over and pick up a movie. We didn't feel like watching anything in particular so she told him to just grab something.

He came over with Twilight. (For our play by play thoughts on the movie click on our Myspace page link below to the right and then go to the blog named, "Never send a masochist to do a hedonist's job.")

The main character, Bella, is a complete moron. It becomes fairly obvious fairly quickly that Edward, the teen vampire super hunk, is not quite right. Even when she realizes he's a vampire she should still think that some of the things he does are creepy, but she doesn't.

When people are arriving to school he'll stand by his car and just stare at her. He says things like, "I feel like I have to protect you." She goes out shopping with friends and when guys start harassing her he'll suddenly show up out of nowhere and save her and then as they're driving off say, "talk to me. It'll distract me from wanting to go back and rip their heads off!" She'll wake up in the night and see him standing in her room watching her sleep. And the real sketchy one. He says, "I don't think I have the strength to stay away from you." She replies, "then don't."

This is all before it's been made clear he's a vampire. Things only get weirder after the big reveal.

I haven't read the books, maybe me, Alice, or Kate can take a page from Nate's playbook and hate ourselves enough to do that. I can only imagine how weird the books are. It's a fantasy I know, but I can't imagine what kind of damage it does to teen girls minds. Having a stalker vampire, or any boy for that matter, telling you he doesn't have the strength to stay away from you is creepy. Not romantic.

It's April. Do we want to starve again?

Tomorrow is going to be April 1. As we've done for the last two years it's time once again to go without the internet all month. It may be much harder this though. Where we're more scattered this year and trying to avoid long distance calling, the internet provides us with a safer, cheaper way to stay in touch.

I'm willing to try it this year, but I think we don't have anything to prove. My vote is no. What about you guys?

I like the world today...

So everybody it's once again time to explain song lyrics to Boykind and why the song is popular. I have a feeling I already know the answer, but I'd like someone to say it anyway.

Now that I have a daughter I'm probably going to be giving myself many a more headache over these types of songs that don't yield anything constructive to minors.

Anyway, explain this

Lady Gaga, Just Dance

I've had a little bit too much, much
All of the people start to rush, start to rush by
A dizzy twisted dance, can't find my drink, oh man
Where are my keys? I lost my phone, phone

What's going on on the floor?
I love this record baby but I can't see straight anymore
Keep it cool, what's the name of this club?
I can't remember but it's alright, a-alright

Just dance, gonna be okay, da da doo-doo-mmm
Just dance, spin that record babe, da da doo-doo-mmm
Just dance, gonna be okay, d-d-d-dance
Dance, dance, just, j-j-just dance

Wish I could shut my playboy mouth, oh oh oh-oh
How'd I turn my shirt inside out? Inside outright
Control your poison babe, roses have thorns they say
And we're all getting hosed tonight, oh oh oh-oh

What's going on on the floor?
I love this record baby but I can't see straight anymore
Keep it cool, what's the name of this club?
I can't remember but it's alright, a-alright

Just dance, gonna be okay, da da doo-doo-mmm
Just dance, spin that record babe, da da doo-doo-mmm
Just dance, gonna be okay, d-d-d-dance
Dance, dance, just, j-j-just

When I come through on the dance floor checkin' out that catalog
Can't believe my eyes, so many women without a flaw
And I ain't gon' give it up, steady tryin' to pick it up like a car
I'ma hit it, I'ma hit it and flex and do it until tomorr' yeah

Shawty I can see that you got so much energy
The way you're twirlin' up them hips 'round and 'round
And now there's no reason at all why you can't leave here with me
In the meantime stay and let me watch you break it down

And dance, gonna be okay, da da doo-doo-mmm
Just dance, spin that record babe, da da doo-doo-mmm

Just dance, gonna be okay, da da doo-doo-mmm
Just dance, spin that record babe, da da doo-doo-mmm
Just dance, gonna be okay, d-d-d-dance
Dance, dance, just, j-j-just dance

Woo! Let's go!

Half psychotic, sick, hypnotic
Got my blueprint, it's symphonic
Half psychotic, sick, hypnotic
Got my blueprint electronic

Half psychotic, sick, hypnotic
Got my blueprint, it's symphonic
Half psychotic, sick, hypnotic
Got my blueprint electronic

Go! Use your muscle, carve it out, work it, hustle
I got it, just stay close enough to get it
Don't slow! Drive it, clean it, Lysol, bleed it
Spend the last dough
(I got it)
In your pocko
(I got it)

Just dance, gonna be okay, da da doo-doo-mmm
Just dance, spin that record babe, da da doo-doo-mmm

Just dance, gonna be okay, da da doo-doo-mmm
Just dance, spin that record babe, da da doo-doo-mmm
Just dance, gonna be okay, d-d-d-dance
Dance, dance, just, j-j-just dance

What's your story?

When I was little my mother would tell me bedtime stories. I was tucking Martina in recently when it dawned on me that it'll be time for me to carry on the bedtime story tradition sooner than I think.
I've started thinking up plots and characters and trying to maybe come up with ways to sneak morals and life lessons in.

My story would be set in Setara, a land of many kingdoms, where the peace is threatened by an evil warlock from the frozen north. The main hero would be Princess Jesara, who would travel the land on her runner dragon with her cousin Jermos as they struggled to unite the land against the common enemy. They would fight zombies, trolls, and all manners of things while meeting people that would wind up traveling with them. These people they meet and befriend may closely resemble you guys.

So what's your story?

Byzantium

James and I were discussing how he and I have become "Caravan West." James has as little problem with this as he does with anything, but I, however, take some issue with it.

On our very Myspace page James is listed as the founding member and often I heard Rich refer to him as the "Spirit of the Caravan." Why then are he, Sue, and I not the Caravan of Insanity and the rest "Caravan East?"

As the founding member shouldn't the name be carried with him?

I'm sorry but this guy bugs me

I tried. I did. You all know I did.

I can't find it in me to like Obama. All that talk of hope just doesn't reach me. I've never been one to believe in people, perhaps that's why I can't believe in him. I just find myself wanting to laugh when he talks about his plans and ideas.

They sound like they'd all work on paper, but in the real world things fall apart. In the real world ideas don't move mountains. Ideas don't fix things. I don't think he's going to realize that before it goes wrong. I don't think he's going to see the truth.

And the truth is that ideas don't work because people don't want them to work. People will stand and cheer and applaud you, yes, but secretly they don't want to see you succeed. Deep down people want to rip you down and tear you apart because they want to show you that you're just like them. They want to show you that despite all your talk and bravado you're just as weak and sad as they are.

The Training, The Prayers, The Fight Club?

Out here we're starting the training of the next generation of Caravaners. I've got Ben and his friend Max, Nine Tails and Maximum respectively, slowly learning how to develop and perform bits, how to be Caravan cool, and of course to up hold the standards and practices of all the is Caravan.

However, I hit a road block. I was explaining something and I said, "But that's like talking about Fight Club, it's just not done." They then asked what Fight Club was and why it was bad to talk about it. It hit me that they haven't seen Fight Club and that as ten year olds perhaps they shouldn't see Fight Club.

But I want to sit down and watch Fight Club with them! That movie is beyond awesome and we all saw what it did for Nate. It gives us so much and asks for so little in return. It would be wrong to withhold such a film from them simply because they're too young.

My question, should I rent Fight Club and watch it with them or should I try to explain the concepts in the movie without the violent visual aides? It's not that bad is it? We watched far worse when we were younger than them didn't we? I can't think of anything right now, but I must have. Well?

Our first serious thing probably ever

This sums it all up for me/us.



I mean, Jesse McCartney playing Zuko?! No way can he pull off the emotional depth needed for the role. On this, certainly we all can agree. Also, I agree with everything this video says and I plan on sending in a letter as soon as I can.
Power to the people!

How do we make this guy delicious?

Okay guys, with Jared and I now out here and settling in a question arises in our minds. Not how do we make this guy delicious, though there are a few cannibal junctions out here, but how do we stay Caravan despite not being able to uphold the rules?

As you can see from our lovely sidebar, the Caravan by laws state that a majority of members must meet at least once a week and further more, if a member misses more than three such meetings in a row they are removed from the roster. As Jared and I are no longer able to fulfill this requirement unless we intend to rack up large amounts of frequent flier miles it seems we have a problem.

Do we simply let ourselves part ways, least officially, or do we come up with a more Caravan style solution? We could reinvent our chats from the Dark Ages and say that it counts as a gathering, but that feels like a cop out. What say we all?

Oh, and Nine Tails and Raven say hi.

Who would you marry?

The other night on Boston Legal Denny and Alan got married. To each other. They're both heterosexual, but that didn't bother them.

So in recognition of Adam and Kate's nuptials, my question, who would you marry if you were going to marry someone of the same sex given there was no sexual aspect to it at all? If it was strict platonic and always would be, who'd you tie the knot with?

The Old Boss

I was wrong about Obama taking three weeks to turn into the old boss. It appears to have taken him six. I feel much better about things now. A president who wants to change things could just get messy. Better someone who'll only promise to do things. It's the American way I hear.

Also, for those of you who haven't spoken to either Kate or myself in the last two days, we got married the other night. Hipster and Jared were going to be leaving for the great unknown of Seattle the next morning, perhaps only to return for sporadic holiday visits so on a whim we decided to go get married so he could serve as a best man of sorts. We had a deal in that regard.
I had mom there too. It was nice to see her so happy.

So, yeah. That happened. Cas, commence the screaming and flailing.

Kids Today?

Well everyone, by the power invested in me by the Gallant Fraternity, I'm proclaiming us all official adults. Cas and I have a three month old, Rich and Alice are unexpectedly expecting, Jared and Hipster are moving to Seattle in but a week or so, and Nate's....well, Nate. We've all grown up considerably in the last three years. We're adults.

And now that we're here, I find myself asking a question. What was the big deal?

This isn't as bad as we're lead to believe when we're teens and under. All those ads and tv shows about how growing up and older is some scary terrible experience don't seem to be panning out for me. I'm okay with this. Why is there so much emphasis on staying young and hip? If I don't know all the latest bands what does it really matter? My Metallica cds sound just as good to me as they did when I first bought them over ten years ago. If some sixteen year old kid who doesn't have to shave yet thinks I'm old and boring because of this should I care?

I think not. I think we're adults and I think it's totally cool. I'm not as young as I used to be, but that's fine by me. If my knees aren't as durable as they were, why should that bother me? What's my rush anyway?

I'm married, I have a daughter, and I wouldn't trade them for anything. I'm okay with growing old. How about you?

They want to do what?!

So it seems there is talk of now trying to bailout the auto industry. I can't believe this. Since when does the government think about doing this sort of thing? It was bad enough with the banks, and I can perhaps see the reasoning behind that, but the car makers!? Their cars aren't any good, how is that a tax payer problem? If they all go under will the people not be able to find new jobs? They might have some issues, yes, but again how is that a tax payer problem?

My dad and I have people work for us, if we hit hard times can we ask for government assistance because it will upset the income of our workers? How many people have to work for us before we can get help? This is ridiculous. What's even more disappointing is that it's probably going to go through.

I shoulda voted for Foamy. He wouldn't have put up with this crap.

Well?

President Obama.

Lines are open. Tell me what you think.

Hipster rambles about people, god, and....LIl' Wayne

Nate showed me this song this morning. In typical rapper fashion Lil' Wayne is talking about something completely different from the rest of the song, but that's as inevitable as the sun rise. It's sad that rappers barely talk about anything other than themselves anymore.

What's even more interesting is that if you really look at the lyrics and think about them you realize this is a pseudo christian rock song that is trying to tell us to remove ourselves from our worldly possessions and remember what's it like to live without the unnecessary constraints we put on ourselves and thus "Let It Rock". Then of course Lil' Wayne goes on about how much he enjoys the constraints he puts on himself and chasing needless dollars is cool with him.



Verse 1 : Kevin Rudolph)
I see your dirty face
High behind your collar
What is done in vain
Truth is hard to swallow
So you pray to God
To justify the way you live a lie, live a lie, live a lie
And you take your time
And you do your crime
Well you made your bed
I'm in mine

(Chorus)
Because when I arrive
I, I bring the fire
Make you come alive
I can take you higher
What is this, forgot?
I must now remind you
Let It Rock
Let It Rock
Let It Rock

(Verse 2: Kevin Rudolph)
Now the son's disgraced
He, who knew his father
When he cursed his name
Turned, and chased the dollar
But it broke his heart
So he stuck his middle finger
To the world
To the world
To the world
And you take your time
And you stand in line
Well you'll get what's yours
I got mine

(Chorus)
Because when I arrive
I, I bring the fire
Make you come alive
I can take you higher
What is this, forgot?
I must now remind you
Let It Rock
Let It Rock
Let It Rock

(Chorus)
(x2)
Because when I arrive
I, I bring the fire
Make you come alive
I can take you higher
What is this, forgot?
I must now remind you
Just Let It Rock
Let It Rock
Let It Rock
Let It Rock
Let It Rock

(Kevin Rudolph)
I wish I could be
As cool as you
And I wish I could say
The things you do
But I can't and I won't live a lie
No not this time

---
The world needs more of these type of songs. The other really good examples of this type of thing is the Mute Math album. Songs that are inspired by some sort of connection with a god, but not over done enough that listeners just brush them off as preaching. The world needs more subtlety. Everyone's got it into their heads the last few decades that shouting can save the world and accomplish something. As if if you deafen your opponent they'll agree with you.

The world has slipped into Us vs. Them with the lines of of who Us and who Them is being constantly redrawn with everyone being forcibly shoved onto a side before they get to stop and consider where they want to be or why they should even be there.

No one can be at ease being themselves anymore. Everyone's lost with no sense of connection, to each other, or god, or anything. Everyone feels like they're living a lie. No one really feels they can let it rock anymore.

Me...Ow!

Scene-9:00am at House of Burning Lightning. Rich is eating breakfast on couch, Nate is waking up, and Snowy is in comfy chair sleeping. Nate comes out of bedroom and Snowy sees him and gets up to say hi.

Rich-Morning. (munch, munch)
Nate-Mmmmmhhmmm. (Nate's not a morning person, surprise, surprise)
Rich-You've got today off right?
Nate-Mmmmm. (Snowy meows and jumps off chair)....Rich?
Rich-Yeah?
Nate-Why is the total tomcat limping?
Rich-Dunno....(They watch as Snowy limps across livingroom to say hi to Nate)
Nate-Today is going to be expensive isn't it?
Rich-sigh...yeah.

After a quick preliminary exam, where one of us rubs his chin and the other looks over his paw we realized that his paw he's not walking on is a bit swollen and there's a small spot of blood on it. We noticed the spot last night, but didn't think much of it. We thought he just gave it to some unfortunate mousie and the blood got on him too, but now it looks like he's got some small cut that is probably infected.
I have a doctor's appointment myself this morning to say to my primary and ask why the room is spinning more and more each day. We have money saved in case of emergencies, but we were hoping it wouldn't be needed so early into the season. Also, while Snowy is the coolest cat ever, part of us is wondering if he'll get better all by himself. I mean, cats lived for millions of years without vet check-ups right? They must be doing something right on their own right?
Snowy went out briefly for about forty minutes then we brought him back in to sleep and rest in his chair. Hopefully, during that time he took care of all his needs that we don't want to clean up. Rich is on today so later I'll probably take him to the vet later.
On the good side, this means he officially part of our house as he's acquired our luck. Welcome to the team Snowy!

Meow

First off happy birthday Shawn. It's about time you got to twenty six like the rest of us.

Now, as you all may be aware Nate and I have semi-adopted the local stray cat. He's all white and sounds off like he's got a pair. What should we call him? I want to name him Xehanort, after the leader of the Organization 13 from Kingdom Hearts 2. Nate wants to call him Snowy and Alice wants to call him Whitestar, leader of GreenClan.

Well? What should it be?

Productive day

We finally today at our weekly gathering at Nate and Rich's place did some minor updating to our profiles and the site. As you can see aside from Nate and Kate we all have brand new profile pics! As we don't make any income off anything here and aside from some of our parents no one ever comes here we should be fine in terms of copyright laws. There's plenty of other people everywhich where to get first who do this sort of thing.
We also are going to start putting our pictures at the top of our posts like I've done with mine on this post. Before you had to scroll to the bottom I think. Now you can know right away who's posting. This just looks better and we seem more mature and professional. Or we will until you notice our avatars come from Nickelodeon cartoons or video games.

Nate and Rich can't clean worth anything. I guess all those lessons I gave went in one ear and out the other. Tragic, but expected. bye-bye!

What would Sylar do?

Sylar is easily the new mascot and hero of team Burning Lightning. After the events of Monday's episode we're glad to see that he'll be getting more screen time and it's quickly becoming clear that he's more of an interesting character than anyone else. By comparison everyone else is just sorta boring. Both Peters aren't all that intelligent, Hiro and Ando, while funny, don't seem to have the same spark anymore, and Nathan and Claire are getting repetitive. Sylar is continually stealing the show.
Seeing him and Noah working together was funny as Noah is used to being the smart thinking one of any group and Sylar quickly out thought him in every scene.
My bet, as far as theories go, is that Mrs. Patrelli does the same thing that Sylar does, but she never went as he has. She said she can do the dream the future, but she always does a suggestion hypno type thing to people. In the episode last year when she was talking to Nathan's wife she kept tugging and adjusting her clothes and hair and she did the same thing to Sylar when was trying to convince him to go along with her. My guess is that this will come out half way through the season and that at some point Sylar is going to kill and brain drain her.

Enjoy the Silence

Well everyone in accordance with our Caravan heritage we will be performing-or rather not performing-another Caravan rite. We will not be speaking out loud as much as possible. This idea mostly came from Nate. He got tried of talking the other day so he went around nodding and pointing as much as he could. He later explained it was nice and we should all give it a try. So we're going to. Kate and Cassandra doubt anyone will be able to tell the difference with Adam.
Shawn and Cassandra will be talking as much as ever though as little Martina needs all the stimuli her nerve bundles can handle. We can respect that.
We don't know how long we will be doing this. Nate's been getting angry recently because his words are getting a bit more garbled than usual so he might do it longer than the rest of us. Also, he's down in the Caravan Rite count. It's nearly October and he hasn't done any this year. I've done my fill, but I won't be talking either.
We're hoping that not talking will push us to write and blog more, which as you may have noticed is really falling behind.
We start tomorrow! Nod at ya soon!

We promise

We'll post something soon. We promise.

Rich and I have bought our first ever piece of non-inherited furniture. Should we ever move apart we don't know who'll keep it. This new couch and the cat are probably going to be the closest things to children I ever have. If Rich ever leaves it's going to be a messy divorce.

Hello

Hello everyone, Headmaster here. Despite what you may be starting to think or believe we are all still alive, even Nate. We're hoping to begin posting at our regular rate soon, but it might be a couple weeks before we can pick up the pace again. Shawn and Cassandra are awaiting their first born, which should be along nearly any day now, Hipster is out in Seattle for another week visiting his family, and Rich and Nate are preparing to move into their new place, the House of Burning Lightning.
Nate and Rich also have started their separate journal, named Burning Lightning of course. With these things all going on none of us have had the time or urge to commit seriously to this site. Currently Rich is living in a tent pitched in Shawn and Cas's back yard and spends his time either working or with Alice.
Kate and I haven't felt the urge to blog take as us as of late. We'll be back and running at full capacity by early or mid September. Scouts' honor.

Anxious much?

Two nights ago I had a dream where I was walking around the debris area of an alien crash landing. There were people searching and helicopters beaming down searchlights and one hits me and I realize I'm completely naked. I run into the trees then soon wake up.
Last night I dream I'm in the shower and my entire freshmen German class is in the bathroom with me and we each have to introduce ourselves and the shower curtain gets pulled back and everyone is staring at me being naked.
I wake up this morning and remember that being naked in a dream is a metaphor for feeling under prepared. I try to think up what I'm feeling anxious about then the misses walks into the room with her basketball sized stomach and I realize the answer.
This whole thing seemed so less scarier seven months ago.

A repeat question?

Rich asked this last March, but I'll ask it a simpler way. Do you think people can ever really change? If a person is set in a way of living are they always going to be like that no matter how hard they try to change or can they turn themselves into something else?

On average about every ten years

Well everyone Avatar:the Last Airbender ended it's run Saturday night with a spectacular two hour finale. It was really cool. I'm going to miss new episodes of that show. I think we'll all miss seeing our favorite character saying new funny lines or kicking new asses. I myself was a Sokka fan and would have liked to see more of the Sokka and Zuko "bromance". Both characters had spent most of the series surrounded by girls or guys outside of their age group that when they got to hang out they seemed to enjoy each other's company. It would have been fun to see more.

But it's over. The last time I felt like this was when Babylon 5 ended ten years ago. I guess something this good can only exist in the world every ten years. You think if it came more often it wouldn't be as appreciated?

They'll make great uncles

This afternoon I had to run up town to do a couple work chores. Nate is over and I ask if he and Hipster want to tag along. We head up into North Conway and I stop at the first place I need to go. I tell the two of them I'll be about ten or twenty minutes. Hipster spots the park and the kids' playground and says he'll be over there. Nate says it's been a good while since he's had some good swinging so he says he'll be there too.
I'm in talking to the guy for maybe fifteen minutes and when I come out I head to the playground to get them. Nate is on the swings being watched by a group of kids that don't come up to my waist and explaining that to get really high on the swing you have to keep your legs straight and put your stomach muscles into it. Then he starts explaining which ones he means by patting his stomach between kicks.
Hipster is over at the other end up the playground completely drenched and soaked from the water hoses coming up from the ground and seems to be organizing half the playground into a game of freeze tag.
I call for them and they both slump their shoulders and after waving goodbye to everyone follow me back to the truck. The rest of the time in the truck they spend complaining about how they don't make playgrounds like they used to. Back in their day that place had a "totally bitchin' merry-go-round".

Watch it!

Monday night the final episodes of Avatar start. There will be a episode on every night. The big two hour finale is Saturday on Nick. You will watch it. You will like it. later.

Have you forgotten our quest?

You know guys, these last few months haven't really been our best. Or rather they have been and that's part of the trouble. I don't know about you, but I work better when I'm slightly angry about something. Being mildly annoyed or pissed about being pissed gives you a certain focus and purpose that being happy and content doesn't.

And this is where we're falling down! In the last six months Nate has had a girlfriend, broken up with her, and gone on Vicodin. Shawn and Cassandra are having the kid they've always wanted. Kate and Adam have moved in together and are having a stable, long term relationship. Hipster is looking forward to going out to Seattle in a few weeks so he can hang out with his sister and brother. I have matured out of video games!!!!

We're all happy.

And it sucks....

We don't get anything done when we're happy. We don't get so pissed about something we have to run to the nearest computer and blog about it. We don't get fired up to write short stories where our characters die at the end. We don't feel the burning need to share our rage with the world.

We're just happy to be happy....

We need to be angry again! We need to feel our world is crumbling around us and we're the only ones that can fight back. Or we at least need to feel. Currently, boys and girls...we suck.

Things Rich would like to declare

1.Moving when you have no place to move into can be a real hassle.

2.Age of Empires 2 isn't all that great.

3.In fact it almost sucks.

4.Dragonrane, while we love her, is even more grumpy when six months pregnant.

5.Things fall apart.

6.Things really fall apart when you plan them with Nate Knox.

7.Camping isn't as much fun as you may think.

Freedom

Freedom
by George Michael

I won't let you down
I will not give you up
Gotta have some faith in the sound
It's the one good thing that I've got
I won't let you down
So please don't give me up
Because I would really, really love to stick around

Heaven knows I was just a young boy
Didn't know what I wanted to be
I was every little hungry schoolgirl's pride and joy
And I guess it was enough for me
To win the race? A prettier face!
Brand new clothes and a big fat place
On your rock and roll TV
But today the way I play the game is not the same
No way
Think I'm gonna get me some happy

I think there's something you should know
I think it's time I told you so
There's something deep inside of me
There's someone else I've got to be
Take back your picture in a frame
Take back your singing in the rain
I just hope you understand
Sometimes the clothes do not make the man

All we have to do now
Is take these lies and make them true somehow
All we have to see
Is that I don't belong to you
And you don't belong to me
Freedom
You've gotta give for what you take
Freedom
You've gotta give for what you take

Heaven knows we sure had some fun boy
What a kick just a buddy and me
We had every big shot good-time band on the run boy
We were living in a fantasy
We won the race
Got out of the place
I went back home got a brand new face
For the boys on MTV
But today the way I play the game has got to change
Oh yeah
Now I'm gonna get myself happy

I think there's something you should know
I think it's time I stopped the show
There's something deep inside of me
There's someone I forgot to be
Take back your picture in a frame
Don't think that I'll be back again
I just hope you understand
Sometimes the clothes do not make the man

All we have to do now
Is take these lies and make them true somehow
All we have to see
Is that I don't belong to you
And you don't belong to me
Freedom
You've gotta give for what you take
Freedom
You've gotta give for what you take

Well it looks like the road to heaven
But it feels like the road to hell
When I knew which side my bread was buttered
I took the knife as well
Posing for another picture
Everybody's got to sell
But when you shake your ass
They notice fast
And some mistakes were built to last

That's what you get

I say that's what you get

That's what you get for changing your mind

And after all this time
I just hope you understand
Sometimes the clothes
Do not make the man

I'll hold on to my freedom
May not be what you want from me
Just the way it's got to be
Lose the face now
I've got to live

--
You know when you really read and look at these lyrics you realize how it was his way of telling people he was gay and he would rather have been free to be himself than to be rich, famous, and faking someone else. You think people fake being someone else for others a lot? If so, why? Why would they be someone they're not? As my fan base knows I have been the best me I can be since day one. Being not me on purpose is completely foreign to me. Please explain.

Girls Rule

Congratulations to our very own Alisha, aka Ivory Girl, for making the front page of our local paper! She is a senior at Kennett this year and is graduating next week. She is this year's Salutatorian! Way to go Alisha! We're all proud. Granted aside from Nate none of us have ever met you in person and I don't think I've ever emailed you at all, but you're still an official Caravan member so good work! You should be proud!

Good luck with college in the fall and congratulations on getting out of Kennett.

This is good

I heard a clip of Ryan Secrest on the radio talking to Madonna where Madonna was saying how Ryan reminds her of this song. I checked it out on Youtube. I want to share. This girl is cool.

Good news everyone!

The other day I was looking through things and going over some files. We have been doing official Caravan related activities (or lack there of) for over ten years. We may have mentioned this from time to time. Anyway, my point that I'm trying to make is that we're getting older. Or have gotten older as much as some of us may hate to admit it. In fact one of us is even on Medicare. Seriously.

We're not kids anymore. We've gotten organs, and gotten married, and been to weddings, and met younger brothers and new fathers, and matured, and even gotten pregnant on purpose! So as of this moment I am proclaiming us all full fledged adults! No way around it I'm afraid. I'm as shocked and disappointed as you, but there it is. We're adults. I guess we should start acting like it.

Or are we already? Damn it! I thought I had some good childish years left in me! Where's my Ps2?!

Inevitable

Everyone's either moving or helping someone else move this week so we'll have an easy question that doesn't take much thought. It's the question you should have all been expecting long, long ago, but I held off.

We don't want to know until it's born so give us your boy name top three and your girl name top three. Thanks!

And just remember if your picks don't get selected there's always other children. You could even have one if you wanted.

The Pearl's Core

Alright so I was sitting here rereading some of our posts-as is my want-and I came to last week's question and comments. Nate said that growing up is like being a pearl with new experiences being constantly laid down and wrapped around around mind and personality. As you grow and mature the surface of you changes and you yourself notice changes in the way you behave. The way you used to behave is still there, but it slowly gets buried as you gain new experiences.

Makes a certain amount of sense huh? Clever guy Nate, you should read his book some time. It's rather good.

Anyway, what I got thinking about is what about the core of the pearl of your mind? I've conducted many hours of informal study on personality in general and the ways people tend to follow certain patterns and fall into categories. One could easily say, and I believe rightly so, that this is because of the social conditioning that one under goes from birth and that what we see and interact with is merely the outer most layers of the person.

But what about the pearl's core? When you strip away all the layers that have been laid down over the years what's there? Are people born a certain way? Is that antisocial misfit you work with at the office that way because they were born that way or because they were layered that way? Does that bubbly and helpful girl act that way because she has an innate born instinct to be helpful and kind or did her parents simply teach her since birth?

Can a person overcome and completely bury what's in their core or will it always shine through no matter how hard they try to cover it up? Are we slaves to our cores or are we the masters?

This sucks don't you think?

Starcraft 2 is going to be coming out some time this year. As long time Caravan fans may recall Starcraft came out ten years ago when we were all sixteen. We are now all twenty six, give or take a couple of us. Before I was obsessed about this game, but now not so much. I've grown and matured and I hate it. I want to be sitting outside stores waiting for this game, but I have better things to do. I need to go to work and pay bills and help people move things and have them help me move things. I miss the days when I could be free to be an immature, self-centered teenager. Does anyone else?

So my question for the week is this, does growing up mean you have to give up on things you once enjoyed or does it mean you don't feel the same need to do those things the way you did before?

I want to want my Starcraft damn it!

Are you happy now?

Recently while I was updating our myspace page I was describing Adam and how he hardly ever smiles and when he speaks it's usually some truthful fact that no one wants to hear. It got me thinking about the Truth in general. In our modern times it seems with media spin doctors, talking heads, and politicians constantly talking at us the Truth is hard to find.

But does Truth even exist? What is Truth? We each may have Truths. Are mine the same as yours? Could Truth be something the human mind invented to make it feel safe? Is there such a thing as Truth in the world or is everything we think of as Truth merely a lie we all agreed to?

We're back

Hi everybody, we're back. Nate had to come back after a week and a half to break up with his girlfriend, but the rest of us made the distance. Rich is frothing over the new Avatar preview. He'll probably be posting something tomorrow.

On baby news, what about the name Tyler? It's a boy and girl name. We like the sound. How about you?

In the words of Marvel Comics

See you in thirty! We once again are going to be going without the internet for an entire month! I don't know how we did this last time, but we've decided to do it yet again. The big question is how are we going to keep ourselves occupied. Hipster got himself a book from the Redwall series to read. Nate and I plan on writing and working on our strength training. Adam is going to be doing whatever the hell it is he does all day. The others are going to be working and wondering why we're freaking out. They don't use the internet much anyway.

So, I guess we'll see you all in thirty days. Ta-ta!

No, thank you Alanis

Searching through youtube I found this one. I wanted to share.



Alanis was always one of my favorite artists. I love her stuff. I thought this was hilarious when I saw it. I think she's crying for the defunct women's movement.

If Ignorance is Bliss

If ignorance is bliss does that mean that intelligence is misery? Think about it. Ignorance can be blissful because you don't know or can't necessarily imagine things that could go wrong. You're happy because as far as you can foresee everything is golden. However, if you're smart enough to see what can go wrong then you're not going to be happy about it or anything in general.

Thoughts?

I've always liked Gwen

Hi Everybody! How ya all been? It's been a while since I posted. Baby production takes it out of ya. It doesn't look like we've had many good talks since I went on unofficial hiatus. Boys are so silly aren't they? Without someone who knows what they're doing they just sit around playing and talking about video games. Anyway, on with the post!

My two favorite silent headaches, Nate and Adam last summer had a informal contest on who was the most like Prince Zuko from the Nickelodeon show Avatar. For those who don't watch the show, Prince Zuko is the shows bad boy anti-hero who had a seriously messed up childhood and is less than emotionally stable. Nate managed to win the contest of sorts after a few weeks of well...stepping up his "Nate" game. I'm at this exact moment being told by my husband that Nate clinched it by walking up a mountain during a thunderstorm. Now at this exact moment I am typing with one head as the other is massaging my head.

Anyway, it seems that the two of them think of Zuko as a role model of sorts. The other boys like Zuko enough, but don't have the same fervor and zeal that Nate and Adam do. Nate dressed up and dyed his hair to be Zuko for Halloween and as you may know his avatar here is a still clip of Zuko. They love Zuko and want to be Zuko. One of the more three dimensionally messed up characters I've seen over the years and they want to be just like him.

Now while it may be obvious that they love him so much because they feel they can identify with him so much what I'd like to know and discuss is why they would want to have him as a role model. Surely, if they feel as angry and sad as Zuko does on the show they would want to have a role model that's happy and content as emulating that person could perhaps give them themselves some degree of the same.

Do we choose to be like someone who is just like us? Or do we choose our role models because they remind us of ourselves? And if we choose them because they remind us of ourselves then why bother at all if they don't inspire us to change?

We are so clever it's scary

Ten years ago Nate and I would rent games at Home Vision video. Although once we forgot to return a game for a full week and racked up quite the late fees. So we never went back. Last week we finally did and they didn't know us! We got to rent this cool Avatar game without having to pay our old late fees! All we had to do was wait ten years! We are so smart sometimes it's scary.

We'll be back to the weekly questions soon. We're still recovering from Seattle. Well, that and playing Avatar games.

Does this make us wrong?

We all just watched Crank. Ever seen it? We highly recommend it. We couldn't stop laughing. We're fairly sure it was supposed to be a comedy. Of sorts. This is post 101 by the way. Having come along around post seventy something I probably shouldn't take the credit, but I still feel proud. The others tell me I should be too. Go me.

Imperfection for Girls

Lindsay Lohan has recently posed nude recreating a Marilyn Monroe photo shoot. If you'd like to see feel free. It's okay, you can look.

Upon looking at these pictures my first guy reaction was that she looked kinda chubby and rounder than I would have expected. Although as I looked at other pictures I realized that I thought she looked that way because I, like pretty much the rest of the world's population, have been trained to think girls are supposed to be perfectly flawless thin stick figures with large chests. When I see someone that looks like a real girl my training kicks in and I think she's supposed to be thinner.

While Lindsay is quite good looking in those pictures she doesn't have that artificial look to her. Her stomach isn't ripped with muscles, her skin has freckles and marks, and while her breasts are large they don't have that gravity defying perk to them. Also her hips, god forbid, have flesh over them.

I say good for Lindsay. Being trained too, most likely more so as a Hollywood girl, she must feel the constant pressure to be thinner, perkier, and all around more boringly "perfect". Letting these pictures of her body go out is a step in the right direction for the world being untrained. As I find myself saying a lot imperfection is so much more interesting. If I want a Barbie I'll go visit Nate at KB and buy one.

Hi folks!

A full update after a good night's sleep. Nate seems very happy to see us.

God, I'm bored

They've taken off for the week, but I stayed behind. With the weather Hipster, Kate, and Rich went out Sunday morning before the next storm hit so they could be sure they didn't stuck here all week. Dragonrane, Adam, and Shawn left this morning.

So here I am, alone, sitting in my basement by the lackluster fire in Albany NH for the next week. Mandy's car is broken again and she has doctors appointments anyway so I probably won't even get to see her. God, this is going to be boring. I was at Shaws today and a Backstreet Boys came on and I instinctively turned thinking I was going to see Hipster starting to dance, but no. I went to Music for Less and found the next season of Full Metal Alchemist and was all excited that me and Rich would have something to watch, but then I remembered. I still bought the Full Metal of course, but I'll have to watch it alone now. I don't even have to go to work at all.

This sucks.

Give us a week

We're heading out Monday to my mother's wedding. While we can do this from anywhere, we'll be taking a break from it for the Seattle fun. We'll be back next week. See ya's then!

Still

For the record, Final Fantasy 6 is still the best game ever. I've played a few more games since I said this statement a couple years ago, but FF6 is still the top. Just wanted to mention.

Oh you didn't know? You better call somebody!

I want to share this. I felt the need.

cuz this is thriller!

On Jan 19, 2008 8:24 AM, James Quinn <hipsterjq@gmail.com> wrote:

Alright guys! My mom's wedding is Feb 14th and I say we learn how to dance thriller! Who's with me? Adam, your dance skills will be greatly needed! We need to show those west coast people how we roll up in north conway. Who's with me?!

-Golden Sun

so, let me get this straight, not only am i going to spend the next three weeks learning how to dance like michael jackson, but then i'm going to have to fly to seattle and dance in front of a large group of people i've never met.

whatever, where do i sign?

-K

------------

I don't plan on flying to Seattle, but I'll dance during rehearsals for fun. I'm sure you'd pull me in even if I said I wouldn't so I might as well go with the flow on this.

-Darkened Prism

---

The west coast won't know what hit them. Can I get the back though? I suck at dancing.

-Rain of Lightning

-------------

I think the Mrs. and I are going to sit this one out. She's not in the mood for dance numbers and I'm working these days a lot. sorry man. But if you need any help with anything I'd have expertise on you just say the word.

-Shawn

---

Rich and Nate have two left feet and Thriller isn't the shortest number we could learn in three weeks. We better start practicing...yeah.

-Truthful Shadow

What's your theme for the year?

Now that we're a week into 2008 and we've had time to get over 2007, what do you plan on doing this year? Or perhaps, we plan on doing nothing. It will be the special kind of nothing though that we excell at so much won't it? So whatever we plan or don't plan what will the song that sets the tone for the year for the each of us? Mine



I'm setting my sights on a calm relaxed tone this year. Getting all angry at life is getting tiresome for me. While I'm sure I'll still get pissed now and then I'm going to try to just chill.
I'm in no big rush. I just want to relax.

A surprise phone call

I was woken up this morning at Caravan House by the phone ringing. It was 11 and everyone else was gone doing chores or at work so I had to wake myself up and get it. Of all people it was my semi long lost sister. Seems my mother's boyfriend proposed to her new years. She said yes, so my sister and I are going to have a step father. Susanna (sister) also informed me that the guy was married before and has a nine year old son named Ben. We get a new brother too.

Once I had woken up more and it sunk in that I'm going to have the little brother I've always wanted I got thinking about what makes family family. I think of my fellow Caravan-ers as brothers and sisters. Are family whoever you feel close to or is it only who the state has papers saying you're family? Should we tell Ben that you guys are his brothers and sisters too or should it just be me and Sue? If I consider you guys my brothers and we have no blood relation why shouldn't he consider you brothers too?

I mean what only child ten year old in his right mind wouldn't want to wake up one morning and suddenly have eight super cool older brothers and sisters?

Lord Defalco

Nate won the lord contest. It was by a good margin too. I can't help but think that by getting a girlfriend the exact day it started was somehow part of his plan. It was also the six month wedding anniversity of Dragonrane and Boykind, Adam and Kate's six month anniversity, and his year and half anniversity. If he did somehow plan all this he deserved to win.

So as of when I log off and let him take the computer Nate will be changing his name here from Mike to Lord Defalco. 2007 has been a good year for us. The best part of which was the addition of Kate, Alisha, and hopefully soon Mandy. The latter of the three we just haven't gotten around to sending the invite too, but we will be doing so soon.

We look forward to another great one in 2008! See you all soon!

Happy Birthday Honey

Happy Birthday Dragonrane! She's finally joined the quarter century club. Happy birthday!

Lord?

After we tried out rocking each other last week my good buddy and caravan brother Mr.222 decided we should have a contest amongst ourselves. A competition to end all competitions! We are calling it a King's Moot. I am told in a fantasy book series Mr.222 reads this is what one of the more badass kingdoms does to decide their next ruler. Kate and Dragonrane are calling it "Dorkout '07". I like our name better.

How it will work is whenever one of us achieves a victory of any type we assign it a point value on a scale of one to ten. One being you delivered a clever one liner while food shopping and ten being you saved the cheerleader from Sylar and thus saved the world. We have a chart all ready to chronicle and keep score. The contest started yesterday and will end midnight the 31st.

Whichever one of us wins shall earned the title of Lord. This would apply to all names be they real names, nicknames, nobody name, or Gallant Fraternity name. I would be Lord Hipster or Lord Quinn. Even Lord Jimbo if I so wished it...and I would.

Currently, Nate is in the lead. He got a five yesterday. One of us will try to leave a comment everyday to give you updates. Ta-ta everyone!

Locking Them Away Wouldn't Help

Kate and I were hanging out together the other day. We left the boys at the 'Caravan House', as they're now calling it, and went to do a little Christmas shopping and grab some coffee. When we came home no one was around and we heard music blaring from the upstairs. We went to investigate and found all five of them in Hipster's room dancing around like idiots to the music playlist Hipster had cooked up on his computer. I regret to say my husband was shirtless, had a tie around his head, and was using two wooden spoons like drumsticks. In some cultures I understand I could use this as grounds for a divorce.

Even Adam and Nate were playing along. Adam had a broom like a guitar in a powerslide and Nate was using a snapple bottle like a microphone. Hipster had started it of course then my hubby and Rich joined in and I guess Nate and Adam thought it looked like fun.

As Kate and I have yet to get a good explanation of what exactly what was going on or why it was going on, I felt if I asked here I may get a better answer. So, what exactly were you guys doing? Since when do you guys dance? Or whatever you thought you were doing?

Remember Yesterday? Spongebob Doesn't....

Well folks, we here at the Caravan caved and gave in to those dark urges telling us to go on Youtube and watch the Avatar episodes that won't air for another two weeks. Does that make us weak? Maybe a little, but we're okay with that. Because they were the coolest episodes ever! My mind is still blown from the events I witnessed through the wondrous media of internet television.

Now, Avatar:The Last Airbender is a show on Nickelodeon. It's supposed to be a kids show, but we, the Caravan, all of us in our mid twenties watch and love the show. What we love about it is that the characters will act and talk as though they remember what happened to them in the last episode. It gives a sense of realism that you don't find in many if any cartoons these days. There are some shows where characters are stagnant, unevolving cardboard cutouts that don't act like they remember what happened to them five minutes ago.

Avatar however, does know what happened five minutes ago. The characters evolve and grow as they experience their various adventures and trails. This not only entertains, but teaches. Say, if a character betrays his loving uncle simply try to win the love of his soulless father and then later regrets it and does the right thing, it teaches the youngins' that making mistakes isn't the end of everything and that one should take responsibility for your actions even if there's going to be negative consequences.

One can not teach these lessons if characters are amnesiacs. Without memory there can be no learning, no teaching. Children's shows need to stop treating children like little babies. Last time I checked the rest of the world wasn't. If children are going to be getting their life lessons from television we should at least be trying to teach them good ones.

Elect This Guy President

I'd like to be voting for someone who has some intelligence and isn't so afraid of public opinion that he has to lie all the time and tell us what he thinks we want to hear. I respect can respect that kind of person.

Theme Music

What should the official Caravan of Insanity theme song be? It would have to be something cool, catchy, and mildly bad ass to give people the sense of who we are and what we do and represent. Something that you can see as used as the music to a music video of carefully chosen stock footage of our years and victories. Or perhaps if you can't find good clips, a simple slide show treatment. Either way, what should our theme song be?

I vote the Mute Math song Typical.
In fact I think our artists should create a caravan slide show using that song. I'd help direct.

Edit-The song is question. If you have a different choice post in comments.

Men and Ad Executives are Pigs...and Dumb

Watching Adult Swim the other night I caught an ad for Trojan condoms. They show a bar full of giant pigs at tables and one or two women looking around acting afraid. One of the pigs goes into the bathroom and buys a pack of Trojans from the vending machine and transforms into a man. A man who, by the way, looked better as a pig. Where do they get these guys?

Anyway, the now man looking man walks back into the bar and starts chatting with one of the women, who he shouldn't a chance with as a man or a pig. The tag line comes on saying how guys can evolve from pigs by using condoms.

This is the stupidest ad I may have ever seen. I can only assume that no women were present when this ad campaign was being thought up. I've got a news flash for all you guys out there. We women don't call you pigs and dogs because you don't use condoms. We call you that because all you want is one thing from us. Like a pig only wanting the next meal or a dog only wanting the next piece of meat. You ignore everything about the rest of who we are and just go after our bodies. You think of us as conquests and things to be claimed and won. Once you've got what you want from us you move on to the next conquest. Just like a pig or a dog that goes after the next meal once it's done.

If you boys really want to evolve try talking to us while looking at our eyes instead of our chests.

Deathnote

Hi everyone, this is my first post that's not a comment. Let's stop and appreciate that.
Thank you.

I've taken up reading the manga "Deathnote." The idea is that there's a notebook dropped on Earth by death gods that when you write someone's name in it they die. There's conditions and details to it, but that's the basic concept. In the manga a young, bored kid finds it and decides to make a perfect world by killing criminals.

If you found a notebook like that would you use it? Obviously, no one would ever really know except you. No one would ever come after you and punish you. Or if this idea gets you too squeamish, what if you had a notebook that whatever you wrote would happen? It didn't have to be about killing. It could be whatever you wrote. Would you use that kind of power or would you push it away?

Does happy equal boring?

The last couple months, ever since our post on scars, Nate and Adam have been hinting at this idea. As you long time readers and friends of ours may know Nate and Adam are not the happiest, go-luckiest duo you'll ever meet, but they insist (and they may have a point) that this is what makes them interesting and unique.

So if we assume for the sake of discussion that being miserable and having scars makes you interesting then does this mean that being happy makes you boring? Can someone who has never had anything bad happen to them be interesting? Or are happy, pleasant people doomed to live a bland bored existense?

Happy 10th Us!

It was roughly ten years ago that Shawn, Adam, Rich, and I started the first incarnation of this shindig we call The Caravan of Insanity. Being fifteen year olds it was weird and didn't make a whole lot of sense, but it was fun. We don't remember the exact date, but we're fairly confident it was in late September early October. We took about three years off from 01-04, but just because we weren't on the internets doesn't mean we weren't around. So we have been doing our Caravan thing for ten years! I hold the honor of being one of the original four. Good times, good times.

So my Caravan brothers and defacto sisters inlaw, what has been your favorite Caravan moment from the last ten years?

Nightmares and Dreamscapes

When checking my email this morning (no one ever writes to me...I hate you all) my eye was caught by a blurb on Yahoo saying it explained what nightmares were caused by. As I have all sorts of nightmares I gave the blurb a look see and it turns out that nightmares are our minds way of dealing with mental and/or emotional trauma. Some might say for me that makes perfect sense, but what about others? What kind of nightmares, if any, do you have and what do you think causes them?

I LOVE FALL

Each year I forget how much I love the fall. It's maybe better that way as it makes it extra special when I remember. Tuesday the Earth season of Avatar comes out on DVD. All our favorite shows are coming back for more fun filled fun. Avatar's third and final season begins September 25th, House comes back soon, ER, Heroes, it's just getting better and better! Fall is by far the best time of year.

And what of games? Surly Mr.222, he who is known as the Rain of Lightning, the Carrier of the holy Mind Lightning, servant of the great Lightning God, and Ravager of Squaresoft must be playing a game. I'm playing the greatest game ever. The game that makes me feel alive.

I'm playing Jak 2.

Jak 3 was good too, but not quite as good as Jak 2.

In fall we can start picking out christmas presents for each other. My birthday is about a month after christmas. Kingdom Hearts 2 Final mix+ should be out by then along with Avatar season 3 Fire. How can anyone hate fall when there is so much beauty in the world?

Happy 26th Kate

Today is our Kate's 26th birthday. Everyone wish her a happy birthday. Do it! My soul is a lion. I can make you do these things.

My cats know something I don't

The Golden Compass is coming out this December. I checked out the trailer and it looks pretty cool. The web site also had a game/test to discover what animal your daemon (soul) would be.
Mine came out as Athenestia the mouse.

I'm a mouse?! How did I end up a mouse? My cats are always calling me a thumb mousie. Their reasoning be I'm just a mouse with thumbs to them. Did they know something I didn't?

Try it yourself. Movie does look fairly good. They've got actors who can act too. Should be nice.

Nate-isms

Our good buddy and proud blogging member Nate spent four days in the hospital last week on a morphine drip. He had a rather simple procedure done Friday that resulted in a blocked pancreas.
He said it was a 8 to 9 on the pain scale.

Anywho, when it was all over we had a welcome back (again) get together at the house and I got to see the post hospitalization discussion/arguement between Nate and Dragonrane. These are always enjoyable as Nate drops all the best Nate-isms.

This time his best was, "What's the point?! What difference does it make in the long run?! I'm not the most important person in the world!"

So if it's not Nate, is it possible there is a most important person in the world? A person that the world needs, but maybe doesn't realize it? Or perhaps are we all equally important? But if we're all important doesn't that mean that none of us are? What do you think?

Stand up and say hi

Well everybody in our ending quest for equality, or our never ending quest to get Dragonrane to stop nagging us, we have yet another new member. Once again a girl. Hooray for equality! Her interests include writing, journalism, and reading. She's going to be a senior in Kennett this year and her favorite subject is German. One of her favorite teachers is our old buddy Herr Weitz. Her hobbies are listening to country music, surfing the web, and feeling guilty over her bad handwriting on Christmas ornaments. I think she'll fit in fine. Everyone say hi now.

Can We and I be safe?

China plans to or perhaps already has set up a population tracking system using national ID cards that contain chips that must be with a person at all times. These chips also contain all sorts of lovely personal information such as religion, work history, where the person lives. That sort of thing.

The Government of course says it's trying to make it easier for police to clean up of crime as they can ask the satelite system where Criminal X is at that exact moment. Or perhaps where Guy Who Wants Ciivl Rights X is at that exact moment. The idea that they may be the same thing to some people isn't important. Besides that's their way of life. Who are we to impose our beliefs on others am I right?

Think how safe the Chinese people will be! Crime will nearly vanish if they pull this off. A person will never be really safe again, but what's a person to people? A person can be easily replaced, but people can't be. We need people to work the factories and keep the fires of industry burning. We need people to keep the wheels of society turning. We can't let anything happen to people.

We don't need persons anymore. We have people for that sort of thing.

Is there any place for persons in the world? Or have persons been shoved out of the way to make room for people? Can persons and people coexist or do they naturally cancel each other out?

-edit-
Here's a better way of putting my question as I posted it after a hard day at work around one in the morning. Even I don't quite know what I was talking about now. If there's a sudden plague that no one can find a cure for and people are dying everywhere from then suddenly doctors discover one single person that's naturally immune and the only way to get the cure out of the person is to kill and dissect them do we do it or do we let the person live?

Did China just ban Buddha?

The government of China has passed laws saying that living Buddhas (Dali Lamas) must get premission and approval before they reincarnate.

I...what....how....

Okay, do they expect this to actually stop the reincarnation cycle? Do they expect this to really achieve any sort of end? I realize they're trying to clamp down on Tibet and the ruling party has never liked religion, but aren't there better ways of doing it? What's the government planning on doing next week? Outlawing death and giving life sentences for it? Does this make any sense to anyone?

testing

Here's my ten cents. My two cents is free.

Tis a shame people are weak

I was checking news on drudge and found this little gem.
If people around you are fat you're more likely to be fat. Yet Another excuse for people to get overweight. Their friend puts on weight so they put on weight, which makes their friend put on weight, which makes...you get the idea.

You know guys, I love America, but I have to say I'm really starting to hate Americans. We think everything should be free and/or cheap because we're us, we're getting fatter each year and don't seem to have a big problem with it, and our reaction to the war on terror is near sickening.

Where did it all go so wrong huh? Was it the sixites? Was it the eighties? Is it too late to turn back? Can America be saved? Or better yet, should America be saved?

Happy birthday Jimbo!

Happy 25th Hipster! See ya tonight! Me and the Mr. got the cake all set.

The Truth?

Which is more fun, telling people the truth they don't want to hear right when they don't want to hear it or telling elaborate lies that they believe?

Sing it from the mountain tops!

The first DVD of the THIRD (YES! AS IN AFTER THE SECOND) season of Avatar comes out October 30! And they can't have the DVD out without showing the shows first so the third season may start sometime in mid-late September!! And take a look at this ....

YESS!!! I have to start wearing dark red and take up training with the great Fire god!
Not to say I will ignore or foresake the holy Lightning god, but being well rounded never hurt anybody.

Am I the only one who suddenly feels alive again?

A strange thought

The other night we were watching the Colbert Report (as everyone should) and he interviewed someone who had done research into physical characteristics that homosexual people had. The ones they showed during the interview were the hair will swirl a different direction and the ring finger and index finger will have certain length ratios. I'll give you all a moment to look this up and check yourselves.

Done? Good, I hope you came out the way you were hoping. Anyway, during the Colbert interview Stephen asked if this meant that homosexuality was genetic or maybe decided while the baby was still growing prebirth could that mean it could be identified and treated to be switched into a straight baby. The man reluctantly said that it was a ways away, but he didn't see why not.

But, if you could make a gay baby straight then why couldn't you turn a straight baby gay I asked myself. Then I remembered this from a month or so ago.

If we combine the two ideas what do we get? A self propagating colony of lesbians! Two women could have a baby on their own and make sure it's gay. The girls would grow up never seeing a man, but they wouldn't care because they're all gay. Their offspring would always be girls due to that neither of them would have the Y chromosome that is needed to make a boy baby, but I doubt they'd mind.

So, Kate and Natalie, if this marriage thing falls through for me which one of you wants to have my baby?

Welcome to the club!

Happy birthday Nate! Welcome to the quarter century club!

Manly men and the fathers who raised them

After reading through last week's question on scars it got me thinking about what's become of true manliness. Over the last decade or so what it means to be a man has stopped being what it should be (integrity, honor, standing up for others, etc..) and has transformed into something horribly wrong (Viagra, Rogaine, sexual conquests, etc...) . After I had given this some thought I came to the conclusion the fault may lay with the fathers of today's generation. They were and still are our primary role models and teachers on how to properly behave and bare the brunt of molding us into the men we eventually become.

So, as yesterday was father's day, let's talk about our dads. How cool were they huh? And more importantly were they the man?

Chicks dig scars don't they?

I was enjoying my daily double dose of ER this morning when I saw an ad for children's scar remover. The six year old boy had a scar from stitches above his right eye and he was all proud to tell me mommy that there was a cream he could use to take away the scar.
When did scars become not cool? What happened to small children showing off their scars to each other because it made them look all aged and mature? Do parents not want their kids to have character anymore? Are we all supposed to be small perfect, flawless clones of each that no one can tell apart?
I don't know about you guys, but I'm proud of all my scars. Scars are signs that you've achieved something. I wouldn't give up my mine for anything. From the one on my face that stops the hair from growing out all the way to my pulsating noisy wrist and of course my foot long slash across my stomach I love 'em all. Who in their right mind wouldn't want badass scars?

Girl Power!

I am ever so pleased to announce that my name is Cassandra Ward Edwards and that our newest member's name is Kate! Or KSpyder as I believe she will be calling herself. This site is finally after all these years getting the feminine touch. Girl power! If we could get two more we'll have total equalization between the sexes.

I just looked at the word sexes and started wondering who's nobody that would be....I hate you Rich.

Site upgrading

If all goes well this weekend I'm planning on upgrading some aspects of the site. Over on Optimates they have a recent comments sidebar. If we could get that it would make things easier as we would not have to memorize the number of comments on each post to know if there's been a new comment. There's a few things I need to do first, but as I said I hope to have it up soon.
That is all.

I never liked blondes

Paris Hilton has been released from jail after five days and will spend the next 40 under house arrest with an electronic monitoring device. I'm not usually one to get upset about these type of things, but what the hell? Five days and she gets out? It's just disgusting.

ahk

Best week ever!

No question this week as we got loads of partying to do for people. Wednesday is the big day for Dragonrane and Boykind and Nate gets to celebrate not being stuck in the lovely Renal Wing of Maine Medical. I just wanted to post that video I found on youtube the other night. Who can't love that song?

Rise up and Leave

The decision on my job has been all but made for me. Boss man gave me a week off this week. I thought it was to give the others some hours, but no. It was because my performance hasn't been all that good. He said if I wanted to stay on as a part timer I could.

So there you have it everybody. It seems that my dislike of my job wasn't a big enough sign to move along. The great lightning god worked his powers through my boss. So Rich, what now huh?
I bet we could come up with some pretty good plans, but as we know life often gets in the way.
Perhaps it's time we became Chunin?

Who are you?

I was looking over the last post and this came to me. Rich said that no video games or internet robbed him of his identity, but that he feels good about it and doesn't seem to mind. So if he's not him then who is he? Who are any of us? Are we the we we think we are?

Is our identity a rough collection of what circumstances have shaped us into or is there a part of us deep down buried underneath everything that never changes and can never change? Are we always going to be us no matter what or could we be changed?

I do feel like dancing

Okay so in the last six months I have gone without video games for over a month and without internet for a month so why aren't I upset about it? I feel pretty good actually. I feel really good.
I feel great. What's up with that?

I'm the resident overly dorky guy. No video games and no internet robs me of my whole identity. So why don't I feel bad about it?

YaTa!

We did it! We all went an entire 30 days without going online at all! We rule! Give us a couple hours to come up with a question. We're sure to have one stirring in our heads.

Break

Mr.222 and I have decided to take a month off from the internet. The others have decided not to go on either. This site will not be updated till 5/20, unless our new member posts something.
He and I are falling behind on our schedules of things to do and thought this might help us catch up.

He also enjoyed how nice it felt to do something he hadn't done in a while after his video game diet last November and December so he thought he'd give another go. We'll see you in May!

New Member!

We have a new member! A girl even. I know somewhere Dragonrane is jumping for joy. I think I speak for all of us when I say we look forward to discussions here with you In. Gadget. Welcome!

Crossroads

Security and safety or the unknown, adventure, and potential glory? Keep in mind that glory and adventure can be rewarding, but they don't keep the lights on.

Happy Birthday Adam!

Happy birthday Adam! A full quarter century. Scary thought ain't it?

Evil Revisited

Okay everyone, Nate found this site while surfing that talks about how we each have an inner nemesis that's the embodiment of all our hidden wants, desires, and dark impulses that we are scared to reveal because they might be not in line with who we want to be as people. What's more is that this person/thing is our complete equal and opposite. It's also the opposite sex.

So according to this there could be a girl version of me that's sole purpose is to do and say all the things I'm afraid to do and say and presumably attempt to seduce me to be like her.

First off, where do I sign up? Secondly, what do I name her and what does she look like? If these things are manifestations of our dark sides that want to seduce us then they have to look like our sexual ideal so to speak. I'm not saying they're our soulmate, or what we look for in a long term partner I'm saying these things are like super insightful super models that know exactly what makes us tick and take that special dark delight in toying with us.

So, question time. What's your nemesis name, what does she/he look like, what is it they try to do, and how do you stop your sexy dark half? Or do you even want to?

Art?

AMV's or Anime Music Video's number by the thousand on youtube and other sites. Most of them are complete crap. Some of them are quite good.



Do they qualify as art? At what point does something become art? Does it matter that neither the visuals or the song were made by the creator of the video?

I chose this one because Nate likes it so much. He calls this song his dialysis theme. If you listen to the words you can guess why. I have to say I dig it too.

I just want to dance!

The solution to the tango problem was this. Boykind and Dragonrane have different schedules and the only real time they spend together they like spending relaxing and hanging out with the rest of us. There is little time for tango lessons. So how do they learn to tango?

They get me to teach them. Rich volunteered, but a little too loudly for Boykind's tastes so I was tapped for the mission. I have more experience with the type of precision movement that it takes so on Dragonrane's days off I dance with her and then I dance with Boykind on his days off.

The other three are undecided if I do his or her part better. That's why we haven't been posting this last couple weeks. We just want to dance.

Nice simple picture

Hey guys, if you gave both of them in the picture hair cuts and who does this remind you of?

Wedding Question

I want to wear a dark red nearly black dress and at somepoint during the dancing do a tango to Freak on a Leash by Korn. Other parties want something shall we say...more traditional. How completely cool would my idea be? And isn't my day too?

The song in question.

As far as what would people think for god's sake we call ourselves the Caravan of Insanity! I may be the little heard voice of reason around here, but that's just because of what I'm up against. I swear there are times when the Unabomber could be the voice of reason with these guys.

I'm not saying I want a complete insane overly goth wedding. I'd just like some touches that show our personality. I'm all on board for the Filter songs. Really.

There's no time

Daylight savings time (a useless thing to begin with) is being pushed ahead because people think
it will do something. What the fuck?! Thoughts...