Hunger

I guess I’m not meant to eat breakfast this morning. First, I head to a donut shop close by my home, on my way to work. They are out of milk. I really can’t eat a donut without milk, so I’m like thanks but sorry. Then I stop at a quicky-mart up the road. No donuts or milk. Alright, so I’ll just get pop tarts from the vending machine at work. Well, I get to work, go to the lunch room. The dang vendor it busy loading the vending machine, and he’s taking forever! Arg. ::hungry::

Intelligent Design

“When are people going wake up and realize that [evolution] is trash science,” said Pat Robertson today, 3/7/05.

It’s funny that fundamentalist put so much effort into trashing the Theory of Evolution. In the past, the only alternative that has been offered is the first two chapters of Genesis. Of course, the first two chapters of Genesis have two completely separate and contradictory creation myths. Fundamentalist try to pretend it’s one story, but is a sticky point that is often used to catch them in their lies (that is, taking only parts of the bible completely literally and ignoring or explaining away sections that contradict their beliefs).

So, Intelligent Design is invited. Intelligent Design attempts to prove that a creator must be the explanation for life on Earth, and its diversity, without making direct reference to the bible or a god. Intelligent Design promoters have come up with all kinds of trick formulae, mental exercises, and baseless assumptions in the effort to build up a body of support for their ideas. However, the biggest point that makes Intelligent Design nearly useless is that its promoters don’t use the scientific method to falsify hypotheses. It is not enough to say that one has evidence for a hypothesis. One must also try to find evidence that contradicts their hypothesis. Absolutely no one that is out promoting Intelligent Design has done that.

In my opinion, the people promoting Intelligent Design don’t care whether or not they are speaking truth. They are spurred on by money, taking advantage of the ignorant masses seeking a remedy to the contradiction between the bible and reality. Basically, Intelligent Design promoters are snake-oil-salesmen, pushing a do-nothing product on unsuspecting people.

In science, it is usually healthy to have opposing views battling out the facts until the truth is discovered. The 20th Century’s great example of this battle was between Big Bang Theory and Steady State Theory. Of course, the Big Bang Theory evidential won the day, but not before Steady State Theory studies had an impact on our understanding of the Universe. Steady State supporters made several important discoveries. Ultimately these discoveries ended up providing further proof for the Big Bang Theory, but without opposing views driving research, it may have taken much longer to understand our visible Universe.

Here’s my challenge to Intelligent Design promoters. Stop selling snail-oil and start taking science seriously. Only then is it possible that their contributions will play and important role in our understanding of the origin of species. Until that unlikely day, there is no practical use for Intelligent Design. Using the scientific method to study nature as it is (and not just how we want it to be) provides endless insights and benefits to everyone. The Theory of Evolution is practical science that is playing a role in making new discoveries. Intelligent Design provides no insights or benefits into anything because it ends the search for further discovery.

**Update 9/23/2013: I stand justified of my opinion according to this recent article: Discovery Institute is a con-profit scam.**

G/F outta town

Well, my g/f is out of town for a week.
___
Sent with SnapperMail
www.snappermail.com

Movies this Year I wanna see (as of right now)

Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith [May]
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy [April]
Batman Begins [June]
Million Dollar Baby
Kingdom of Heaven [May]
War of the Worlds [June]
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory [July]
Sin City [April]
Pink Panther [Sept]
The Aviator
A Scanner Darkly [Sept]
Fantastic Four [July]

I've recently seen Hitch. It's counts as a chick-flick, but it's actually pretty damn entertaining for us guys too. If anything, I've learned a few dance moves from the movie ::doin the q-tip:: lol

I'm finally well

Sheeze, I'm finally well. The flu and its damage is gone. Dang this thang took a toll on me. Yeah, I feel normal again. Now I have to shave off this dang beard I've grown while sick. That will be annoying.

It hits me

My hearts doing a little aching right now. Sometimes it hits me, I miss Bevie. Of course, looking through old artifacts tends to be a catalyst for memories. I miss her love. I miss being able to give her my love. I miss her.

Knarly Flu

Man, I had one knarly flu. I haven't been this sick since 1998. Word has it that Santa Cruz is the source of a new flu. I think I had it. Oh yeah, I'm one of the first. This year's flu shoot will cover it...too late for any California's, I'm betting, not that I'd get a flu shoot anyway. I normally only get the flu once every couple of years, and usually not so terrible that I need more than a day off. This time, I was sick for a week, and prolly worked less than 16 hours for that week.

V-DAy weekEND and nOw

V-Day weekend turned about to be nearly perfect, even in timing. My g/f and I meet up with her parents for breakfast on Saturday morning. Afterwards, my g/f and I started our romantic weekend by going to both our places, gathering our suit cases and driving up to a nice Hotel along the coast on the Pennisula. We got there just the right time for check-in. Then we headed to SF for some browsing in downtown. Like clockwork, we instinctively knew when to take off and head for dinner and a movie (Hitch) in Japan Town. We got back to the Hotel and had a wonderfully romantic night, enjoying the Jacuzzi. The next morning, we got up kinda late. We found this little donut shop for breakfast, then headed down for a nice afternoon at the SF Museum of Modern Art. We finished up with that and just headed home, just in time for me to start feeling sick from the flu. I don't get the flu very often at all (like once every two years). Thank god for my g/f who treated me right the rest of the night and Monday night too. I'm still sick, but I have my energy back.
Anyways, the whole weekend, it just felt like we were in the right place at the right time the whole time. :)

Pacifica Trip

 

February 12-13, 2005 with Alice Leung, visited Pacifica CA, San Francisco, CA and San Francisco Zoo. (Original post/backup link)

Cobb County, Georgia umm, theory = fact

In Cobb County, GA, schools were ordered to add an advisory label to text books which detail evolution, awhile back. It reads, "This textbook contains material on evolution. Evolution is a theory, not a fact, regarding the origin of living things. This material should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully, and critically considered."
Every neutral observation of that label is true, save one: "Evolution is a theory, not a fact..." I'm not sure what ignorant idiot thought this was a smart statement, but whoever it was doesn't know the scientific definition of the word theory. This statement is a contradiction.

Theory - the general or abstract principles of a body of fact, a science, or an art (Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary)

Basically, when a scientist uses the word theory, that person is discussing fact or truth as proven repeatably and predictably by the scientific method (i.e., theory = fact). Technically, any high school graduate should know this. Certainly, the teachers and schools themselves do know this. Any member of any school district board is supposed to know this, especially if they making decisions regarding curriculum.

There's a reason why 70% of all Fundamentalist Christians that go to college leave their fundamentalism behind by the time they graduate! Education makes them smarter. lol My hypothesis is that the 30% that hold on to their beliefs may tend to be business grads. hehe Either way, there is no way to reconcile fundamentalism (of any religion) with reality.

251 guys kissing

Its been awhile since Miriam and I have instigated strangers in to scandalous behavior. After we had dinner and drinks at Zuccas in downtown Mountain View, we walked down to 251. The place has changed a lot since the last time we've been there. It was all decked out in a new, mysterious yet swanky layout. Kinda cool, especially from its old image as a pool hall that was trying to be hip.

We found an old aquaintance, Darr, there with is friends at the bar. After some more drinking, I noticed two of Darr's guy buddies being a bit too close for a bit too long. Nothing sexual, just strange for two guys. So I'm all, "I get each of you guys two drinks each if you two kiss, like full on." I punctuated "two drinks" with the peace hand gesture and stressed tone for dramatic effect.

I have this strange ability to read situations without thinking about them that lead to pretty entertaining results. Last night was no exception.

Ok, so everyone starts up with the peer pressure. Miriam was like the ring leader and became the unofficial judge of what constituted a qualifying kiss.

Finally, Darr's two friends embrace each other, then break away. More peer pressure. The one guy grabs his buddy and moves in, then they crack up and break away again. So, again more "encouragement". Finally he grabs his buddy, moves in and pulls him into his arms and dips and moves him around, simulating a kiss. Miriam was not fooled.

After calling them on their fake kiss and some more encouragement, they move in on each other, pressing lip to lip in an impressive display of homosexuality that got as far as supple lip biting. I'm afraid the image of those two guys kissing and lip biting will forever be burned into my memory as pushishment for bringing up the idea. Oh the horror of it allll. LOL Anyways, the bartender was so impressed, she covered their drinks instead.

"Darr, you can never let these two live this down," I demand. He's all, "Don't worry, I'm not going to let them forget."

Ahh, fun times.

P.S., on a side note, Darr's date (the only female in his group) was giving date-like attention to another guy in the group. The odd thang was that she was kinda cute and the other guy was a bit of a hobbit. Very strange, especially since she didn't seem very interested in any of them. (As in, she was shooting looks to other guys.)

———
Sent with SnapperMail
www.snappermail.com

Lack of Pagan Profanity

Here's a good prose on pagan profanity (more to the point, the absence of pagan profanity) 

Pagan Profanity (backup link)

His view is that pagans have no reason to profane because profanity deals with religion, sex and shit in ways that are irrelevant to his beliefs. For example, he can't damn someone to hell because there is no hell and no devil to send them to.

My take on it is a bit different. Right, there is not hell or devil, so who the hell cares if I call on a god to damn something. LOL Anyways, check it out.

Church Orgie Sign

To the people looking up the church orgie sign photograph, you can find it by clicking on the "Blog-Entries-By-Topic" section in the left column, and look for "Photo-Blog". It's entry "Church-sponsered-orgies". Or you can click this link:
http://fcsuper.blogspot.com/2004/09/woohoo.html

Aux personnes recherchant la photographie d'orgie de signe d'église, vous pouvez la trouver en cliquant sur la section de "Blog-Entries-By-Topic" (Blog-Entrée-Par-Matière) dans la colonne gauche, et recherchez la "Photo-Blog". C'est entrée "Church-sponsered-orgies". Ou vous pouvez cliquer ce lien :
http://fcsuper.blogspot.com/2004/09/woohoo.html

The reason I'm posting this is that I've noticed a steady stream of hits from people looking for that photo but not finding it because of the way that Yahoo! image search works. Have fun! (In both French and English ::curious look::)

La raison que je signale ceci est que j'ai noté un jet régulier des coups des personnes recherchant cette photo mais ne la trouvant pas en raison de la manière dont Yahoo ! travaux de recherche d'image. Ayez l'amusement ! (dans le regard français et anglais de ::curious::)

Rocky

My best friend Miriam and I have had a rocky period over the past couple of weeks. Thangs are starting getting back to normal, but not before a serious heart to heart that left both of us rather drained the other day. Feels good to get to try to normalize thangs, even though it's going to take some time before we are back 100% I think. She had hard feelings about thangs in the past, and I misread her drastically recently. Wasn't pretty.

Winchester Mystery House

Funny thang is that I've never visited the Winchester Mystery House. It's only a few miles from where I live. It's even across the street from my favorite theaters for watching big flicks like LOTR and SW. The only reason I know a little about it is cuz it is a local thang. Maybe I should go check it out some day.

Learning to Ski

This last weekend, I learned to ski. I went from never skiing before to conquering the mighty bunny hill plus a mild green slop. I even got pretty good at walking around the main building in my ski boats. :) I’m not too sure what the big thrill is yet. I did have a fun time. My g/f, Dave, his Miriam and myself shared a condo that had a floor layout that kinda reminded me of the Winchester Mystery House. Dave hit up is Black Diamond runs. Miriam stuck the green runs. My g/f and myself spent the two days learning the basics of skiing. She’s skied a couple times a long time ago. We still have another day of schoolin on our ski packages, so we will likely be heading back up in March.

Tahoe ski trip

 
January 28-30, 2005 with Alice Leung, Miriam Erlichman and David Erlichman, visiting Northstar at South Lake Tahoe, CA.  This was my first and prolly last time skiing for me.  (Original post/backup link)

U.S. Press is so Politically Comprised

The American Press is so politically comprised that even some small, meaningless stories are politically skewed to put the President in as good of light as possible. At the inauguration, Bush Jr. and his family openly flashed the "Hook 'em horns" gesture several times. Well, that gesture just to happens to be exactly the same as the "Satanic Salute". So, basically, the President of the U.S.A looks like he's saluting the devil.

Simple enough, right? Well, apparently not. The AP put out a story reporting on a supposed Norwegian reaction to the President's gesture. First of all, I did some research and found out that this "Norwegian reaction" is based on an article from a Norwegian tabloid, not a creditable newspaper. Since when is it proper to use a tabloid to gauge an entire country's response?  Suspicious.

So, the AP article says about the "Satanic Salute" interpretation, "That's what it means in the Nordics when you throw up the right hand with the index and pinky fingers raised, a gesture popular among heavy metal groups and their fans in the region." No, that's what it means everywhere in all of modern Western Civilization!

For some reason, the AP felt it is necessary to make the "Satanic Salute" interpretation of Bush's gesture seem like it was unusual and foreign, while trying to make the "Hook 'em horns" interpretation seem normal and common. In fact, the "Hook 'em horns" interpretation is actually the oddball. It's just screwy for the President to be making that gesture at all.

The AP article tries to cover over the fact that the "Satanic Salute" is the most likely interpretation of Bush's gesture, when seen out of context, by coming up with this ridiculous Norwegian angle to the story

If the AP was truly making an unbiased report, they would've simply stated that the gesture was meant to be the “Hook ‘em horns” and not the "Satanic Salute," without all this nonsense about Norway.

Missed Concert and Skiing soon

My g/f and I showed up for my friend Nate’s group 12 Steps To Nothing concert in downtown Campbell last night. Unfortunately, we missed their set. So, we are going to try to catch another show in Feb. We did get to catch the last set with some other another group. I forget their name right now. They had skill and a couple of great songs, but over all they sounded a bit too much like Blink 182. As we all know, Blink 182 sounds a bit too much like Blink 182 to allow room for any imitators. Hehe (ok, if you do know, most of Blink’s songs sound the same.)
My best friend Dave is planning another trip to the mountains for some skiing next weekend. I think my g/f and I will make this next trip. Dave and company had a cabin this last weekend, but with the Chicago play and Nate’s Concert and a few other personal chores and errands, it didn’t work out for us to join them.

Traffic is really starting to pick up hard in Silicon Valley. Is this a sign that thangs are starting to pick up here? That brings mixed feelings. It’s great that the economy is likely to rebound, but it sucks that San Jose still hasn’t figured out that it needs to provide affordable, non-ghetto housing. Letting the housing prices go up like this is just insane. Market forces be damned. This is no way to run a city.
Granted, housing prices did need to come up over the past decade to come in line with higher building costs. Now the housing prices have covered that many times over. There are townhouses now going for 700K. At this rate, they will be a million in a few years. Of course, I could just buy up a bunch older homes in an ok area of town, tear them down and build several million dollar townhomes on their lots for millions of dollars profit. Hmm. Then I keep thinking, what goes up must come down (excluding normal inflation, of course).

I guess I'm not sick...

...but I'm low on energy. I can tell there is an army of virus critters trying to populate in my body, but my body is doing a damn good job at keeping them from gaining ground. However, I do feel less energetic. I'm glad I'm not getting all burdened with symptoms like headaches, running noise and such, but it would be nice to avoid any affects whatsoever.

Dream: Queen Reborn

I woke up from a dream this morning that played out like a movie, with close ups, panning, and other camera placement and movements. There was this happy King and his talented, beloved Queen. The Queen died. At a small, private funeral in a dark wooden room at the end of east wing of the royal mansion, the King was knelt before the casket of his dead wife. The casket was to the left of a large window that was letting in a soft light of the noonish sun. Some attendees were dressed in modern clothes of various styles, while others were dressed in 17th, 18th or 19th century clothing. A few people were standing along the back wall, but most everyone was seated in several rows of folding chairs. Suddenly, a headless body, dressed in a beautiful, large golden lace and white dress appears amongst the attendees. She walked toward the grieving King. Close ups of different people showed their amazement in silent disbelief and horror. When the King looked up to see the headless body, he recognized his Queen. In a quick wispy blur, she rushed through the mansion. When she appeared in the Pool Room, she was restored to her living form, but naked. Her dress was splayed across a large dual throne at the far end. She dove into the pool and swam gracefully under water, but without getting wet. She had long golden blonde curly hair and resembled a cross between Rebecca Stamos and Rachel Hunter. The King ran after her to find her in the pool room just as she got out of the pool along the left side. She started to walk toward the throne, then looked back to notice her King. A close up showed her brief smile. She then told him, “Before, I didn’t understand why I needed to come back. Now I do. You are here for everyone else,” subtly gesturing with her eyes to suggest the entire kingdom, “and I…for you.” As she spoke her last word, she quivered knowingly, determinedly and lovingly, holding back a tear. There was a dramatic pause, and I awoke.

And then there is big brother

Recent Pizza Order where the pizza company knows a bit too much about the caller. The funnyscary part is that we aren't all that far away from this scenario from being reality.

Chicago Live!

Next weekend, I'm taking jenny, Miriam and my G/F to see the play Chicago in San Jose. I'm not much for plays, but jenny asked that we take her as her b/d gift, so, we take her to a night full of singing and dancing and such. The last live performance I've gone to was a ballet of Nutcracker a few years ago. I'm not the hugest performing arts fan. Well, actually, I'm neither huge nor a fan. hehe

When I became a Christian

One of the most ridiculous phrases that Christian Fundelmentalists use is "When I became a Christian..." which is usually followed by some overly restated nonsense of something they've supposedly discovered since "becoming a Christian". To start off with, 99% of the people who use that phrase were born Christian. Most of them were prolly had a Christian baptism before they turned 18. In fact, I'd be willing to bet a large portion of them never even once changed from one Christian religion to another. These people use the phrase "When I became a Christian..." to intentionally mislead their audience into thinking they have had a pre-Christian life, so they can seem to have some legitimacy when they try to encourage others to convert to their own particular brand of Christianity. Additionally, as mentioned, "When I became a Christian..." is usually followed by some nonsense. It is nonsense because what they usually state is something universal to all Christian religions. Given the fact that most of these people are born into Christianity, it is unlikely they made any amazing (and by amazing, I mean to say extremely redundant) discoveries about their faith, having been taught the faith from birth. Trust me, when you grow up a Christian, nothing regarding faith is an amazing revelation cuz the faith is learnt at a very early age. In that scenerio, being amazed at some new discovery about one's faith is a bit like being amazed that one can spell a word one uses every day. (Of course, if someone has psychological problems, all bets are off. lol)
That is why for almost all Christian Fundamentalists, using this phrase is an intentional twofold lie.