This is Important

I woke up this morning to find the news that Israel has launched air attacks against Hamas compounds in Gaza. There seems to be a group of people who have a general dislike for Israel in the world so when stuff like this happens I get nervous. Iran has been threatening to destroy Israel for years. With this attack being the largest they have ever launched against Hamas, there is a possibility this could get rather ugly. The attacks were a response to continual rocket attacks by Hamas into Israeli boarder towns. Knowing how unsteady the world always is, I'm always a little timid when stuff like this happens. So let's pray that this ends soon. I understand the plight of the Palestinians. But Israel is there. It is unreasonable to just expect them to get up and move. We need to work towards long range peace agreements, and sending suicide bombers into markets and continually boming boarder towns is not a step in the right direction. I know that it seems that I am coming down heavily on the side of Israel. I am not trying to. This small planet needs to house all of us. Violence is something that will only lead to more violence. So let all of us try and refrain from it's use.

It doesn't require any particular bravery to stand on the floor of the Senate and urge our boys in Vietnam to fight harder, and if this war mushrooms into a major conflict and a hundred thousand young Americans are killed, it won't be U.S. Senators who die. It will be American soldiers who are too young to qualify for the Senate. ~George McGovern


(image taken from www.cnn.com)

Merry Christmas...or something like that.

Well Christmas has come and gone and it was a good one. This was my first married Christmas so I spent the night at the in-laws new house on Christmas Eve. We awoke before the sun around 5:30 and headed down stairs to open the presents. Everything was wonderful. I got a lot of great stuff that I'm pretty excited about. Some clothes, some music, but wait...what is this...one more huge present behind the tree...what could it be? Well I was told to open it. I was thinking that there is no way this present could be for me due to it's large size. But I was wrong. It was the pedal board that I had asked for. Here's a pic.

I got the board not the pedals. But it's wonderful to be able to have everything together and just pull it out and plug it in.

After that we went to my father's aunt's house. This year her husband Wesley wasn't there because he was in the hospital for intestinal problems. But we've been told that he is doing well. After we left her house we then went to my parents house. For Christmas they gave themselves a Wii. So a large portion of the evening was spent bowling, tennis-ing, and boxing...oh...and Mario Cart-ing.



Then we ate dinner. After dinner it was time for more presents. I got more awesome stuff. Clothes, music, books...great stuff. However, my father made a comment that made me laugh. For Christmas he got a Dean Koontz graphic novel. For Christmas I got "The Law" by Frederic Bastiat and "The Federalist Papers" by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay. So here is what my dad said, "It's funny that I [dad] got a comic book and my son gets political philosophy." Yup...pretty funny.

Why I love my Telecaster?!?!

For those who don't know I've played guitar since I was 13. I've owned a lot of gear throughout the years but it is within the past year that my playing and gear acquisition has hit an all time high. If you are a person who thinks that price = quality then you would say that my Gibson SG is my best guitar. Well, a few months ago I bought a Fender Highway 1 Telecaster. It draws music from me. Sometimes I wonder if the guitar starts to play me. Here is my Telecaster story...

After borrowing my friends MIJ [that's Made In Japan] Strat for a few months, I thought that I wanted a Strat. Well, when I went to Guitar Center I ended getting a Jazzmaster that went back two days later because it wasn't speaking to me at all. When I took it back I spent three hours playing guitars. Nothing was really doing it for me. Well about 10 minutes before the store closed I plugged a High Way 1 Tele in and it was the exact tone that I was hearing in my head. The P/U's [pick ups] were hot and it played really well. Now that I've had it for a few months, I must say that I've not gotten a bad tone out of it. It's only been for the last two weeks that I've even gotten my SG out of its case. I love my tele. It draws music from me. It's a combination of the sound and the way it plays. Also, I love the hotter p/u's in it. The only thing I'm going to replace are the saddles for brass ones. That's really only because I think the brass one's look hot.

...and D. Boone from the Minutemen played one.

Here are some pics:

The guitar on the left is my Gibson SG and on the right is my Tele.

CNN more fair and balanced than Fox?

I was watching CNN and Campbell Brown just came down on Obama for his refusal to talk about the Blagojevich situation. Campbell Brown has a show on CNN... yes CNN, one of those terrible "left-wing media" outlets. But she stated that the media is suppose to hold the politicians feet to the fire. Then she came down on him for "resembling the current administration" in his choosing the questions to answer in a press conference. To which I say...OH SNAP!!! Take that Foxnews. I've thought, for the most part, that CNN is more "fair and balanced" than you. Not that they don't have their opinion shows. But for the most part they beat you in your own game....at least in my opinion.

VS.

Some Videos to Consider

I've been a big supporter of Ron Paul throughout the past year. I think what he's saying about the constitution, the federal reserve, and individual freedom/responsibility is good stuff. So here are two videos to watch. They are of him talking about the recent bailout. Just something to consider.
Dec 08

Oct 08

It's Over Finally

As of tonight my semester is over. No more late nights. No more crazy studying schedules. I haven't been home during a week night in over a month. I don't know what my grades are, but right now it doesn't matter. I took off work today to study for my Calculus final tonight. I left the apartment around 8:45 am. I started studying around 9:30. I finished studying around 6:10pm. Then I took the exam at 7pm. Now that it's all over I strangely feel aggressive. I'm not certain why. But I feel like I want someone to be mean to me so I can snap at them. I think I need to go to bed. I'm glad that I'm on break now. I need it.

I think that I'm a Monarch now.

It would appear that I was accepted to attend ODU in Fall of 2009. Given the past that I've had with school, I have to admit that when this finally set in I broke down and cried in my office. I know, it's not manly or professional. But I'm not so certain that I am either of those anyways. I haven't gotten an official acceptance letter. So I guess it's not "official". However the reason that I think I was accepted is because under my Application Summary on their system, for such things, my "Application Status" says "Made" and my "Decision" field says "Admit". Of course if this is some system fluke you'll find me in the nearest clinic, in some sort of comatose state muttering something absurd...and possibly offensive.