Scary Similarities

Two different Pro-Shops in two different states, and that's about the only thing that's changed. It is just scary how similar environments, and even more people are to other people. Here is my case study: FH will be course #1 and PR will be course #2)

Case #1: Greenskeeper
This isn't a big shocker that I find the two course superintendents very similar....until you see how specifically similar they are. Both have exact same height (a touch shorter than avg.) Both have same build, both wear sunglasses in the pro shop. Both wear flip flops while watering greens. Both enjoy hunting. Both have same rough looking unshaven appearance. Past appearances you get to demeanor. Both portray tough boss role. Both like to joke around and pretend to leave the pro shop because they are busy, but would rather stay and talk a bit longer. Both are hard on their employees (good thing). As a matter of fact, I can't find one difference between them. Oh...and both are named Brian.

Case #2: Father who has talented golfing daughter
Both present nice smile, approaching appearance when you first meet them. Both call the GD pro shop when something goes wrong to complain. Both say "I'm not one of those father's that likes to brag, but (insert daughter's name here) played 4-16 in just 3 over par. And she had a double bogey on 8!" Between the two father's, I've heard they don't like to brag a collective 7-8 times. Both are tall. Both have no hair. You never see the wives. I could go on.

Case #3: The Assistant Pro who hates the job
Both like country music. Both like fishing. Both negative in a good way. Both are passive aggressive. Both are same tall height...well, 6'4" to 6'3" anyways. Both loooooove drinking beer. Both love their city's baseball team. Both hate members with a passion. Both could care less about hating members. Both quit their jobs to pursue other ventures. Oh...and both are named Matt.

Case #4: The beyooooootch of the club
Both are short, dark headed, short haired, complainers. Nothing is ever done good enough, both are involved on a personal basis in way too many things......time is up...but you get the idea. More case studies I could present. The enthusiastic golf pro....this use to be me. The accountant. The teaching pro that thinks they own the gdf golf course. Naturally, any of the jokers on the food side of golf operations.

Blah Blah Blah....seen one golf course, seen them all. I look forward to the day where I answer to nobody.

The Brothers Solomon

I don't think the Brothers Solomon movie will be big. Here's why:
Since when did Saturday Night Live actors get to do movies without first being successful on SNL. I'm not saying the two actors (Will Forte and Will Arnett) aren't talented, but look at history of SNL performers going to movies and it just doesn't fit.

You could argue that SNL has been on a downward slide for a while now, or maybe it's just my generation of mid 20 year old's have grown out of the pop loop. But seriously think how many recurring characters these actors had, then look at the Will's:
Will Ferrell, Dan Akroyd, Adam Sandler, Martin Short, Eddie Murphy, John Belushi, Dana Carvey, Chris Farley, Jon Lovitz (hasn't starred in a movie), Tim Meadows, Mike Myers, Kevin Nealon (hasn't even starred in a movie), David Spade and a few more I haven't mentioned. Basically, I feel these actors have earned their big screen success, and the Will's have not.

They won't be the first to go from SNL to DVD in 4 hours, remember "It's Pat" - Julia Sweeney didn't make it, she was even more deserving I felt. After that Al Franken played in "Stuart Saves His Family." ....unsuccessful. In fact just about everything with the exception of Office Space (which wasn't directly from SNL) has been box office crap. This isn't going to be much different. I say no more SNL...I still watch hoping it's good, only to be disappointed time after time.

Top Movie Characters

My List of Top Movie Characters...I was trying to stay away from the main characters and just focus on the moments in movies that I look forward to. (space limits not allowing me to put up any more pics.

Leon in The Professional - "Mathilda"
V in V for Vendetta - "Violence can be used for good"
Bill in Kill Bill Volume 2 - "Baby, You ain't kiddin"
Laurence in Office Space - "Hey Peter man, check out these tits on channel nine"
Javier Rodriguez Rodriguez in Traffic - "You like Baseball? Everbody like baseball"
Abe Petrovsky in Rounders - "What we are finds us"
Billy McBride in Good Will Hunting - "I got a fucking job right now don't I"
Jerome in Gattaca - "I wasn't suppose to be second best"
Grandpa in Little Miss Sunshine - "If the hottest woman in the world wanted me to....I'm too fuckin tired"
Trinity in the Matrix - "It's the question that drives us"
Thorny in Super Troopers - "Enhance...Enhance...Enhance"
Nick Naylor in Thank You for Smoking - "That's a negotiation, not an argument"
David in The 40 Year Old Virgin - "I don't want your giant box of porn"

Wolf in Pulp Fiction - "So Pretty Please...with cherries on top...clean the fucking car"

Luca Brasi in The Godfather - "May their first child be a masculine child"
Han Solo in Star Wars - "I don't know kid I can imagine an awful lot"
Ruby Rod in The Fifth Element - "Every Five Minutes there's a bomb goin' off or somethin."
Judge Smails in Caddyshack - "How would you like to mow my lawn?"
Thomas Crown in the Thomas Crown Affair - "You'd think they'd show a little more grit"
Lucas - "Empire Records" - Fav. Quote: "In this world there are nothing but possibilities"

Signs...Bad...Bad Signs

I apologize for not updating since last month. Business has been increasing in the design world, which is a good thing, except that I've been spending too much time on projects not related to izunotravel.com.

It's sad, and I hope you laugh at me....the other day I was writing a script font onto a piece of cardboard...I wanted it to look nice so I was taking my time with it, well I screwed up and my left hand went immediately to where the "apple" + "Z" is on my keyboard....except the only problem was I wasn't anywhere near my keyboard. When your mind tells you to hit the undo button in real life, you know that is a sign you're spending to much time on the computer.

Hopefully, I'll get to update the travel site this weekend.

Cell Phone Minutes vs Earth Minutes

Cell Phone Minutes vs Earth Minutes
Did you know it is possible to use up all your 450 daytime minutes within a 50 minute window? This whole idea of rounding up is just way off. Say you dial a number and let the clock get to :01 seconds, you get charged for a full minute. You hang up and dial again during that same earthly minute, you have used up 2 minutes in a matter of seconds. Continuing this process 9 times per earth minute for 1 earth hour you have most likely exceeded your cell phone time for the month.

The process of going to school and learning how to round was a needless activity for future cell phone company executives. Perhaps I'm naive and the cost of operating a huge wireless network requires anal lube and no morals. But if I'm right, don't worry, I've got a suggestion. Short of creating a website, getting every U.S. cell phone user to go to that website and change their minds on the issue of why we need cell phones, I say we pay somebody to spend a day of their life turning his or her earth minutes into cell phone minutes....enter that person in to the Guiness book of world records for "most minutes lived during a day" (this would be
merely for fun), and sue a phone company for charging us extra minutes. How sweet would that be? I'll paint you the picture....Court Room....Judge....Cell Phone Attorney....Guy who got charged for using 12,960 minutes (psss, there are only 1,440 earth minutes/day) in one day by a cell phone company. If you don't find humor in that, go back to texting American Idol contestants and have a good day.

Izuno Update - Check the projects section for a new music playlist (finally) and I'm going to add a new travel encounter on the 31st.

Shopping Checkout System

Self Checkout vs Cashier Checkout

I hadn't realized until now how much I hate those new Self-Checkout lanes. Here's my list of reasons why Self Checkout systems should be beaten down and recycled.

1. Talk about taking jobs from people. I know it takes one person or so to run the lanes and fix the numerous problems people have, but that job has to suck. Usually one operator works about 4 checkouts. That's 3 jobs we just gave to the automated machine. But you may make the argument that we can't stop technological advancement, well this one, I say we should.

2. The process of scanning, bagging, and paying suck. If you have a grocery card you must scan first, but don't get it out in time..."HEY ATTENDANT!" If you pressed a wrong button...."HEY ATTENDANT!" If the weight measure doesn't register your ramen noodles...."HEY ATTENDANT!" If you have a coupon...."HEY ATTENDANT!" And so on and so on.

3. It doesn't save you anytime, unless there happens to be enough people in the regular lines and nobody is in the self checkout line, you can get the attendant to hold your hand.

4. Finally, it just pisses me off some jackass in management was crunching numbers and found out if he could get people to scan items and pay for items and bag items, he could cut around 80 hours of labor per week. If I ever run in to that guy, I'm going to give him a good hard kick in the nuts for humanity.

So the next time you think about going through the self-checkout...
Attendant - "Sir the self-checkout lane is empty."
Me - "No thank you, my ass is still sore from the last time."

Izuno Update
I need to work on getting some more music playlists. I've been making sure the site is consistent lately in the font and graphic's side. So you probably haven't noticed much difference.

Harry Potter? I'm missing something

My new posse, I've been hanging around with is going to see Harry Potter tonight, and me, having no interest, needs to figure out why? I've seen about 4 painful minutes of the first movie during a broomstick game scene.

Can anyone help me, the mid 20's heterosexual male, figure out what I'm missing? I need to figure out the popularity of this movie and book with the older adult generation. Because apparently I'm wrong in thinking this is a kids book. Although it is in the kids section of the bookstore.

IzunoUpdate: 2 new 4 to 14 list encounters with Mike Keeling out of New Zealand, and the Lighthouse Reef in Belize. I've actually been surprised how many people are viewing this. Maybe I should be scared and more politically correct, but there is just no fun in that.

Bush vs Gore

George Bush vs Al Gore

Quick apology to Republicans, but I had to start with this one, the one that actually means something. Here goes, one guy sent many American kids to their death to kill enemies in an effort to protect us from enemies (it's hard to even type that it makes so little sense), and one guy, after winning the popular vote in a democratic election only to lose because of a few incompetent Florida judges, has jetted the globe explaining why and how to save our planet for future generations.

"I don't care what you say, I care what you do."

Izuno Update - A new 4 to 14 list travel encounter from Thailand. Also, the in the Projects section, I've added a few new pictures. Hopefully, soon I will be able to show what they look like framed.

New Format

I'm thinking about changing the format up for the blog. About the only reason I have this anyways is to improve my travel site search engine ranking. Plus, it's semi-time consuming coming up with a good argumentative topic anymore. I've given up on humanity, and don't want to be a grumpy old man yet (I'm 26 btw). Combine all that and I'm going to give the new format a shot. Hopefully I can update more often, and not bore you.

Part I (Good vs Evil)
In each post there will be a Person, Place, or something that has pissed me off, and I will list a positive counterpart. A sort of dark side vs Jedi thing, along with a short explanation. (I can't get over Patricia Heaton still, so I may start with her....fucking bitch).

Part II(Izuno Update)
Next in the post will be an Izuno Update. Izunotravel.com gets more of my attention than this blog, and many times since the site is so large it's hard for people to see what's new without wasting their time.

Part III(Attempted Reason*)
And *occasionally I'm going to list a topic that will be just a starting ground for debate. And any comments will be answered. This will allow me to keep the name of the blog. Get it?....ya.....we got it.

Grad School - A delay to figure it out.

Recently, I've met a few grad school students. Of all the things they have in common, the most interesting is that none of them know what they want. Some even admit it, that grad school is just a two year delay to figure out what they want to do. It's as if they looked at a list of jobs on a sheet of paper and think to themselves, they need to pick one.

Don't get me wrong, everyone of them is probably more intelligent than I, but at least I know what I want to do. And once you know what you truly want, life is so much easier. Decisions you make are more accurate, and you are generally happier. But it seems like grad students can't figure that out yet. It's amazing how similar they are. No offense to grad students here....I appreciate the fact they are educated...I love education. But maybe in the future they will take some classes to help them with the big problem instead of technical ones.

More updates have been made on izunotravel.com

Western Dreaming

Somebody once told me, that all Western Men are dreamers. And the more I think about it and observe it, the more I find that statement to be somewhat true (I wouldn't say all). Why is it that so many US men have such big dreams. Not that this is a bad thing, in fact most dreams are usually to help people, or start something big that will in turn help people on a large scale. Sooooooo...why is this? There are a million foundations and causes to support, most likely your favorite celebrity or multi-millionaire has their name on one already. But donating a few bucks to these places isn't good enough for some people. And don't even think about giving a few hours of your time. We have this desire to start our own thing. Maybe someone isn't doing it the right way, but most likely it's just the desire for recognition. A desire to be called a humanitarian, or win the Nobel Peace Prize, possibly knowing that when you die, your name will live on.

Me personally....I'm a dreamer, no denying....but I'd like to think I don't want the fame. It would be nice to see an organization that helps put out the fires rather than just trying to contain them, and I do hate the "Oprah" foundations. But I'm sure I can find something that fits those guidelines. I'm just not sure if this world is worth fighting over sometimes...it's so depressing one moment, then I turn around and see something great the next.

Little Things I Enjoy and their Counterpart

This is basically a list of what works and how judgement morphed it into something fake.

• Flat little wooden ice cream scoop vs Fancy silverware
• Public Television vs Daytime Talk Shows
• Cherries with seeds and stems vs canned and de-pited cherries
• Butter vs I can't believe it's not butter
• Muts vs $500 pure-breeds for sale
• Glass coca-cola bottles vs plastic litre bottles
• Handwritten greeting cards vs greeting cards that play music
• I was going to add more...but you get my point.
  

UFC vs Boxing

Is it safe to say the Ultimate Fighting Championship is bigger than Boxing yet? I'm trying to remember the last time I watched a good boxing match. I think it was along the time when Oscar De La Hoya was on top then leading into everyone believing Roy Jones Jr. was invincible (which I think he was). But now, I see no Don King, I see no heavyweights, where is the future? I did see a semi-pop reality boxing show with Sylvester Stallone and Sugar Ray, but that's all in the past.

I have a hunch the UFC is bigger than ever, and hats off to them. Hand to hand fighting has been through it's rough times and the UFC isn't the first organization to try to sell mixed martial arts fighting. But now, I could name off a handful of fighters without even calling myself a fan...I doubt I can do that with boxers. Another plus for the UFC is that it appears to be more controlled out of the ring. I was sick of seeing boxers start the fight at the weigh in...it got old. But UFC fighters seem to be able to wait for the octagon. I think once they lose the pay-per-view and verbal "get it on" to start the fights...I might start watching.

Back to the Grind

I've returned from my 5 week stint through Europe, and am feeling about everything one can feel at the same time.

Desire (to get caught up with work), Happiness (to see friends/family again), Sadness (to leave friends/beautiful locals), Greed (to rebuild the bank account), Jealousy (of friends who are working in Positano and have real jobs), and also a thing I like to call "Aweness."

Aweness hits me at various times for about 4 days after I return from a trip. Actually it's more like a "light slap" rather than a "hit." Aweness is picking up my car keys and thinking "wow....I'm lucky I have a car and also...wow...I lived 5 weeks happily, never thinking about needing a car." Aweness was seeing the natural plants I've lived around forever and thinking "wow...I've seen more variety of plants the last 5 weeks than I have my entire life." "wow...I always enjoyed eggs, bacon and toast for breakfast...but I miss croissants, baguettes, and crepes already."

All this "Aweness" is painful and educational. The more I seem to learn, the more I see how much I have yet to learn.

But enough about that....GREECE PICTURES!


Mykonos Beach...not too many swimmers due to water being frickin freezing.



HI MATT AND TRACE! - This wasn't graffiti...it was chalk that will come off of the santorini black lava. BTW...I was going to email it, but never had internet connection.



Toy sailboat being held by Ms. Peggy


Grilled fish...and you can kind of see the grilled octopus above it.


Theatre of Epidauros - famous for it's terrific accoustics. The guide said Celine Dion performed here and nobody seemed to give a shit.


Me and Peggy in 1st Olympic Stadium.


Athens Guard. I've never been so afraid of someone in a skirt and tights.



Corinth Canal.

Trip Update

I just wanted to put some pictures up from the paris-ww2history-rhineriver-italian trip i've been on. Also, I have been told to "get people pics" from a buddy of mine as well, and while I have been working on it, it is surprisingly hard. #1 because most the places we travel are touristy in nature and create a "fake" atmosphere (for instance, those bavarian bartenders who wear the beer skirts and clogs, when in their real life, I'm sure they prefer a tank top and heels), and #2 because taking pictures of people require the camera to be aimed at people (this can be interpreted as rude and I don't want to be rude), however I think I have figured out a way to take pictures of real people in a real enviornment. I will find an outdoor cafe sit down aim my camera down the street and put it on a 5 second time delay. This will allow me to be engaged in a conversation or looking elsewhere while the camera "secretly" takes a picture of whoever happens to be walking down the street. I plan on doing this in Italy. So 'til then Aufwiedersehen.


Tree Line made famous by "The Sound of Music" (I wanted to climb up one like in the movie, but the tour guide was too much in a hurry)


My view as I am typing this (Alps).


Rhine River Cruise


D-Day memorial. I must say this is the finest memorial I have ever been too, well kept, well presented, and very meaningful.


Those are bomb holes on Point du Hoc, where the German long range guns were located close to Normandy.


Mont St. Michel (taken from bus as we were leaving).


Parisian window foods.


I hope that wasn't a proposal, because they were both looking very sad. I couldn't figure it out.


"You said a mailman I know...and YOU'RE A MAILMAN I KNOW!"
(emmy lookalike)

Curiosity and Pellets

I opened it. Destroying my hope. It turned out to be rusty pellets, used in air rifles. That's that. Thanks for the comments.

On curiosity. I meant to pose this as a question of hope vs discovery. I think curiosity is more of an instinct that develops before hope and discovery. Hope and discovery are units of learned behavior that follow.

I haven't given that much thought til now...so you could probably prove me wrong.

Hope

I found this really old tin today against a fence post. It was obviously weathering outside for at least a few years. There is something inside of it. It sounds like a lot of something. It rattles, and weighs quite a bit. ...Getting to the point...should I open it or not open it?

Most likely it is just a bunch of screws, nails or some rusty junk. But what if it is full of diamonds, or invaluable information or treasure from a sunken ship...I know very unlikely since it was found in the Midwest. But I can hope.
And hope is good thing, anyone who has seen Shawshank Redemption knows that. However, that is not the question here. The question is should I hold on to this hope (keep it closed) or give up my hope (open it). Realistically, there is over a 99% chance it's junk, so if I believe this, then why would I open it? I would open it for that .000000000000000001% chance the contents are valuable.

Which brings me to the underlying question of morality. Is hope a greater good than discovery. Undeniably, they are both great things. Hope might be the greatest motivator in the entire world, and generally leads us to discovery. But without discovery, perhaps our hopes are misplaced or even completely wrong, and misplaced hopes can lead to anguish.

So let me know what I should do...Leave a Comment.

Imus, Rutgers Situation

Dedicated to the TWN known as Matt.

I'm a little behind the current date of this whole ordeal, but that's good, because this isn't a news blog it's an "attempted reason" blog, which means we are trying to find out the reason behind the mistakes and assign the blame to each party. (I call this the Mione Degrees of Responsibility scale...more on that later)

Parties involved:
Don Imus
Rutgers (team and admin)
All the Media conglomerates involved (MSNBC, Radio, Imus's Supervisor)
and I'm going to add special guest Barack Obama

Mistakes:
Don Imus - Not knowing the consequences of name calling college athletes. (yes, that's his only mistake)

Rutgers - 1. Giving a shit about what Don Imus says. 2. Making soooooo many public statements that they actually care (because this just creates publicity for Imus). 3. Having a team vote on whether or not to accept an apology? What the fuck is that....you can't vote on something like that. Each person needs to make their own decision and move on. (go figure...more people not thinking for yourself) And what if they voted not to accept the apology...what bit of difference is that going to make honestly...he already lost his job, and you already gave him publicity.

Media - 1. To all the "advertisers" that pulled out from the show I say....YOU ARE COWARDS. I don't believe for one second you pulled your money because you honestly cared he said "nappy-headed ho's." You pulled your money because you were afraid of public outlash at your company, and if you stayed in, and another company pulled out, you would get criticized.....and that's cowardness. 2. To the supervisor of Don Imus I say....this is primarily your fault....you hired him, you were aware of his capability to say these kinds of things (and I would guess at one time, that's why you gave him the job in the first place to some degree) and you could have pulled the plug (there is a 7 second delay many times on live feeds where you can pull the plug if something like that is said....it's usually used for accidental swear words, but it can be used for anything you don't want said). 3. To the general media I say....nothing new, you try to make stories out of everything....nobody should be surprised, but stop it...stop making stories out of crap like this...it just makes someone else do something just as stupid.

Barack - I still like you....but you dropped a notch on my belt...there is no reason to get involved in this...you are one senator...not a president yet. Keep your mouth shut unless it directly involves you. You're not on the board of directors at Rutgers, and you're not Imus's or the radio's spokesman. I'm afraid you are pushing for press to fast at this point...we'll see.

Finally, my disclaimer...I don't condone calling anyone names, but also, I don't think that comment should have been taken as racist. He called the "team" nappy headed ho's...there are blacks and whites on that team, and the words "nappy", "headed", or "ho's" do not single out any race. Look up the definitions if you don't beleive me.

An Honest Death - Kurt Vonnegut 4.11.07

I just heard myslef, Kurt Vonnegut died Wednesday, April 11th, 2007. What can I do? What can I say?

I'm on my 2nd glass of wine tonight already...#1 was for Kurt, #2 is for all those who passed away before that shared Kurt's views, #3 will be for my very few friends that know of Kurt. If I make it to #4, it will be for all those living who share Kurt's views I'll never get to know.

I can already tell you, his passing will mean more to me than any fucking anna nicole story, it will mean more to me than any joe out there. And how ironic is it that the bottle i've been drinking was given to me as an easter present. HA! I think Kurt would appreciate that. (my family doesn't know of my distaste for religion at present) hence why they still feel the need to commercialize yet another pointless holiday.

KuVo my friend....I don't need to read your every word, I've read enough to know that you are one of the lucky ones who understood. I feel your depression now...and it feel's true.

Thank You.

The List 11 - 20

Continuing my list of 100 things to do before I die. Which reminds me of this guy I know. I'll never forget how he said he wanted to go. And personally, I can't think of a much better way. Backstory: This guy is from a small town in England, travels with a catering company as of now, and has probably been to at least 70 countries. But, he's never been to Rome. Since Rome is a pretty pop destination, and he seems to have been everywhere (Italian cities included) I asked him why he hasn't been to Rome. He looks at me with an intense stare like he is about to tell me the password to a nuclear missile silo, and says "Because all roads lead to Rome. And I'm going to die there." This was said without a hint of sarcasm or joke, but he actually wants Rome to be the last city he travels to. From there, it lightened up and he mentioned how he wants to be riding into Rome with a bottle of wine on the back of a vespa, and if he kiels over right there, that'd be great.

Anyways, here is my continued list for "before" death.

11. Play at least one more game of competitive soccer.
12. Take a Yacht cruise in the Mediterranean.
13. Own an Art Gallery.
14. Get a photograph published.
15. Read Sun Tzu's "The Art of War."
16. Smoke a 97+ Rated Cigar.
17. Go 1 Year without Fast Food.
18. Compete in a Full Triathlon. (Yes, this kind of conflicts with 16)
19. Attend LaTomatina Festival.
20. Develop killer woodworking skills.

The Art of the Fast Food Window

In order to not go insane when ordering your calorie loaded lunch from a speaking box and a window, here are some tips:

1. Be lucky - Getting the French Fries right out of the fryer is important.....I recommend eating them as an appetizer as you are traveling to your destination....otherwise, the heat produced and contained in the bag will deminish their crispiness.

2. Don't get tricky with cash - If your total comes to $7.00....don't pay with a 10 spot and 2 ones making it "easier" for the cashier to pay you back a 5 dollar bill.....it will confuse them...and that will lead to them getting thrown out of their routine, which will lead to your getting screwed.

3. Accept the mistake - If your order was lacking napkins, or had no ketchup included, or even got shorted a fry....accept it. This is the risk of the drive through....there is a kid at the window for a reason. Understand what I mean by this?

4. Check your order - I was thinking about not even including this as it should be common sense by now. If you don't check....I say that takes away all accountability for the correct food order....ie. read #3 again.

5. (Mini-Vans only) Don't Use the DAMN DRIVE THROUGH - Just because you felt the need to have kids doesn't mean everyone else should suffer. Go in to get your food....surely you can find a fast food place with a jungle gym.....after all....climbing around for a half hour might burn off some of the "oh so healthy" food you just ingested in them. Mini-Van's - you destroy the "Fast" in the Fast Food Lane.

6. No special orders - Pick the Fuckin Onion's off later.

7. Special Tip for all the times you've been screwed in the drive through - call up the joint just before you drive through...tell them you just got home and found out your order was missing a 'sandwich or fries.' Most likely they will tell you to mention someone's name next time you go through....Take that name and get your complimentary item.

8. Don't abuse #7. - I can justify an attempt at Fairness, but if you are scamming every time....just save yourself some time and go in and ask for a job.

The Move to Blogspot

I really enjoyed the old blog design. It was original, where blogspot ....is ....not. However, the advantages of the trad blogger here outweighs the negatives. I'll tell you that it is just a marketing ploy. The old blog is not search engine optimized, it has no potential to reach a crowd, and was harder to maintain. So that's the reason for the switch....hope you don't mind.

I've also been working on the design site lately, so the travel site has not been getting my attention for a bit.

izunodesign.com
izunotravel.com

Ask Yourself Questions

If anyone has the ability to ask themselves "why?" and to follow that response up with another "why?" and continue that cycle....they've got a much better chance to make the right decision in the end. People never seem to do that.....when faced with a big decision, they make it quickly based on either their "experience" or what "5 senses" that decision most appeals to. Naturally, some correct decisions will be made using these 2 techniques.....but when you're wrong...when you're challenged, those decisions can always fail. I'm going to make a pact with myself to never say "well.....I've been in the business for x amount of years....so" that is the worst thing you can say. It means jack shit. Because what if you've been doing it wrong for x amount of years.....you'll never be right.

Podcast Trial

After numerous attempts by a friend to get me "excited" about podcasting, I finally gave it a shot. So here we go.....I opened up the itunes.....went to the podcasting section....searched in a couple different categories....and was pleasantly surprised by the selection of topics. I chose a couple different design podcasts and a travel podcast, and even subscribed to a german language learning podcast. (most of these are free to subscribe) So here I have my content, and excited about listening to what they have to say.....and overall, they weren't bad. They weren't great either, but maybe that is what's keeping it free. A couple of times during the "design" podcast, the host had an idea and asked a friend...."we should be taking notes for episodes to do in the future." It kind of made me laugh, but you see my point, most of them are not planned, or carefully thought out...it's just random people on there with an interest in what they are speaking about. But, I will continue to give them a try......so I will leave you by using my new pod-knowledge........Auf Wiedersehen.

Site Update

Time for a quick site update. We have started taking the best of the travel encounters and putting them on a list called the "4-14 List." For an explanation of what that means, check it out here. Also, we have put up another Packing Tech article titled "Water Bottle Awareness," which can be found in the Projects section of the site. Other than that...it's back to business in continuing what we've started. Time for the guts to be put on the skeleton.

War Reporters

My beef for the day spawned from the ABC co-anchor Bob Woodruff story. ABC News is going to run a story tonight on TV retelling this story about Bob Woodruff. 3...2....1.....YOU CAN'T FUCKING HAVE IT BOTH WAYS ABC!!! When a television station sends a reporter to a war, they are wanting the public's interest and wow factor for being in a "dangerous situation." Fine...I can deal with that. But when you try to pass off a sob story about one of your anchors and cameraman getting injured from an attack, I have no interest and ecspecially no sympathy. Why no sympathy?...because you already said it was dangerous by sending them there in the first place. I didn't tell you to send a civilian into a war zone....do you even know what a war zone is? Let that sink in next time before you go after a story. A reporter get's attacked covering a peace parade...he has my condolences...but not going after a report in a fucking war. In summation, they are trying to score points (aka money) by sending poor Bob into a war, and then reaping the benefits of when he gets injured in that war. Come on ABC...stop taking advantage of the public's weak hearts.

Unexpected Gifts

Not recognizing Valentine's Day comes naturally for me. Here's my reason, for those couples who routinely celebrate Valentine's Day, there is nothing original about it. The woman knows she is going to get a gift, and that gift usually depends on the size of the man's wallet. Card - Chocolates - Flowers - Jewelry. (In that order....End of story.) So the woman either tries to act surprised by her new gift year after year, which is being fake, which I hate, or she just says a polite thank you, and small display of affection towards the guy. So on the guys end, this is a classic example of a no-win situation. If he doesn't get her a gift, she will wonder why, or if he does, he's just breaking even. If he goes above the classic four gifts (mentioned earlier) she will probable expect it next year. Do you see where I am going with this. My sentiment rests on the wise words spoken by someone who probably hated V-Day as much as me... "A key to a woman's heart is an unexpected gift, at an unexpected time." Wow...go figure another positive point for ORIGINALITY!

The List 1 - 10

Mild Inspiration struck me today as I stumbled upon the BuriedLife.com. These four Canadian Guys created a unique list of 100 things to do before they die. The idea of a list is not that original, but the list itself is. My favorite....#26 - Tell a judge: "You want the truth? You can't handle the truth!" This whole idea made me want to start my own list. So I give you the first 10 (no particular order).
1. Conduct an independent study of why the majority of American girls are bitches.
2. See all the Major League Ballparks.
3. Ride my bike across a small country.
4. See my buddy win a "real" golf tournament.
5. Take a stupid award someone gives me for my independent study (#1) and throw it in the Pacific.
6. Meet Ann Coulter at a book signing and 20 mins. later get put in the back of a police car.
7. Recycle EVERYTHING for 1 straight year.
8. Visit Northern/Eastern Europe.
9. Start the Soapbox Rant in America.
10. Help Barack Obama claim Presidency.

Miss America

Ringing in late on this issue, but there is a reason. The whole Miss America Story (Donald Trump giving Tara Conner another chance) could not be more mis-accurately discussed by EVERYONE. People, let me tell you that the real story is not the "giving a second chance" story, but it is purely marketing. Take any average citizen and ask them to name former Miss America winners. I would venture a guess that they could name any....except those that got in trouble and had their crown removed (and now...threatened to be removed). Let's face it, it's the only way the Miss America Pageant can obtain publicity after the 15 minute swimsuit competition. The winner needs to get nude, drink, or use drugs. All of which in my opinion are perfectly fine.....but that's another story. Yes Miss America is suppose to be a role model, but do you honestly think that Trump gives a fuck. He would rather sell the name. That's why I don't care if he gives her another chance or not, I don't care that Rosie and Trump are taking shots at each other. IT'S ALL PUBLICITY, and Trump, the Master, has his hands on the strings. And by the way, Rosie's mistake is just feeding fuel to the whole thing.

I'm done proving my point, I'm going to go look for nude pictures of Tara (I heard they've hit the internet from Entertainment Tonight!).

Ignorance Is Bliss

There is a downside to traveling. Actually, there are LOTS of downsides to travelling. The one currently on my mind relates to the feeling you have when you experience something new and realize that the old way you use to know is no longer the "best" way or your "favorite" way. It takes something you are perfectly fine with and then ruins it. If we don't know any better, then we are content. I think The Matrix touched on this. "Ignorance is bliss." And as I agree with this statement, I feel it should not be used defensively, but rather as a conscious guide. Know it exists, but don't use it solely and collectively to make decisions.

Dominican Republic

The more I see and the more I experience the more I come to realize how little I've actually done. There are so many unique places and uniqe cultures on earth, it's impossible to even get an overview of what is out there. However, the truths that exist, exist everywhere. One more guide on determing what is fake and what is real.

Anyways, personally I think being in the Dominican Republic is a little like being in Mexico with a hint of Barcelona. Take the shitty-ness of Mexico and cross it with the intelligence of Barcelona, and that's Dominican Republic. They even have a little "Las Ramblas" (the "tourist" street) here, not as wide and not as long, but very similar. I've got some good photographs I took this morning I will be sharing sometime....it is more difficult to get wi-fi than I expected.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year. Launch date has come, and the site is not quite ready. Oh well, close enough, i'm not after perfection. Oh wait, yes I AM! If you're interested, about the only thing left is to add the pictures of the shirts we will be introducing, and to add the pictures of the shirts, I need a manequin to put the shirts on. My less than reputable good friend Trace is on that.