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.