Convictions

And the title is not in the deep kind of way. I just thought these were two interesting, long-standing cases that deserved your attention today. After all, if you're reading my blog today, you've got nothing better to do anyway. So check out the Sisters in Mississippi, or the Auschwitz theft convictions. You'll also find another interesting news link in these articles as well, but I won't include it here for semi-obvious reasons. Enjoy!

Puppies

So Amanda and I were looking at puppies again, mostly using the Ebay classifieds (which are a great way to find cheap dogs). And we stumbled upon a few that just say how stupid people can be.

Link 1. Link 2.

Frankly, if you're this stupid do you deserve to own a dog?

Busy Holidays

I hope everyone is having a Merry Christmas and/or whatever other holidays you are enjoying right now. Wishing you all the best, and I will catch up on here soon but with the holidays and start of school I have been relatively too busy to blog. For now, check out this creative approach to the skydiving experience. Courtesy once again of our ever faithful Google.

Steakhouses, Part III

And now for the finale, the reason that I even conceived this blog in the first place. Last night we went out to dinner with another couple who are pretty good friends with us. Amanda and I were trying to figure out a good Christmas gift idea for them and dinner seemed to be the most logical. It's fun to dress up a bit and go out as couples, enjoying the fact that we're young and occasionally enthusiastic about life.

We tried out a new Japanese steakhouse last night called Ichiban Steakhouse. I couldn't really confirm that name for you, but I know it was just South of Worthington, set in a quieter part of town. It was really nice being able to go in there with people who also enjoyed the food and to sit down for a couple of hours, enjoying the show and glorying in the food. It's not something I want to do all the time like the addicting taste of Olive Garden, but it's a really fun sit-down date and the location was perfect. They also did gift certificates with a discounted price so that we were able to save a little that way as well.

We planned ahead for a reservation and it never hurts, but once we got there the place was nearly empty. That meant that the waiters and chefs were also much more casual and jovial, as well as the noise level being down and at a good conversational level. Top that off with a good glass of scotch, and I thought we found finally the steakhouse I want to return too. Of course, the company was pretty good too. ;) That's all for today, folks, I've gotta work on some finer details in my lit reviews.

Steakhouses, Part II

It was 3 years before my next adventure into a Japanese steakhouse. Long cast from those high stress situations which used to literally ruin my days, and into a healthy relationship with the woman who became my wife, it might've been the concussion or the newfound social comfort that led me to be comfortable to once again set foot into a place that always swallows your cash no matter how much you bring. This became increasingly true after I turned 21 and could enjoy adult beverages as well.

Accompanying Michelle on her team formal was one of the most casual and easy-going stand-ins I ever did. Since she was single without a date, she was looking for a friend to go with that would get along easily with her and not be awkwardified by lack of previous interactions with anyone else at dinner. I can't remember what I did the night before, but I do remember her visiting that day to finalize details and freaking out because I was wearing marker all over. "Nothing a scratchpad couldn't remove", I assured her. Since I also hadn't recently shaved and she wanted it reduced to stubble, we can confidently say that between scraping off marking and clipping off 2 weeks of facial growth, I was sufficiently raw in the face by the end of it.

We carpooled to Ukai Japanese Steakhouse on the West side of Lansing and met up with a huge group. Alcohol always eases people into large groups and this was no exception. After a bottle of red wine, the food was on its way through the tradition of onion volcanoes and egg tricks that leave you convinced the chicken ate so much calcium it must've had kidney stones. And this is where I learned my second lesson. Red wine is not a Japanese steakhouse friendly drink. It's not that it makes you sick, but rather it masks some of the wonderful tastes present at the table. They serve their own cultural wines for a reason; take them up on it rather than imposing your own drink upon a foreign food.

All told, Ukai was a great, busy, happy and loud place where I had the opportunity to watch other people struggle through their utensils and food while enjoying every second of the evening. The noise and atmosphere really made the trip feel like a party and since we alone brought about 30 people there, that was exactly the atmosphere we wanted. Nothing I would consider date material, but it really set the tone for the night. What a great time.

Steakhouses, Part I

More an art form and source of dinner entertainment than the old tradition of the man/grill team, Japanese steakhouses have become an elite in the casual foodservice industry. In light of my third visit to one of these, I just wanted to elaborate on things that I have learned and experienced in each of these tastey visits.

My first visit to a Japanese steakhouse was pretty nerve-racking. I'll grant this might also be because I had already had a hectic weekend, with an all-nighter at a conference in a Holiday Inn, a heart-to-heart with Ohio's head clover at the time, and a Spring OSU football game spiced with a traffic rush to change into my tux for a prom with someone who planned on breaking up with me every other week. Needless to say that as I almost totaled my car on the way there from not seeing a pick-up truck in my blind-spot, fighting all the way there and then going through the frustration of finding a down-town parking spot, I was a bit off my game when we got into Japanese Steakhouse in Columbus.

The place was hopping and I imagine that downtown, it almost always is. With a crowded lobby and flames shooting off randomly across the restaurant, I was overwhelmed from the start. Compounding this with my limited ingestion of Asian food at the time, I conceded that the best plan would be letting my date pick the food and save me the confusion of staring at a menu which might as well have been in Japanese. Beef is good, and so it began. I think once you have steak in a steakhouse (which you should, since it obviously makes or breaks the place by title), you will never go back. The combination of spices, tender beef and soy on a ginormous hotplate is a winning combination that I have never regretted.

I stumbled through not knocking over every single bowl whenever I reached for something because there was so much stuff on our table and it was so crowded and loud that my hands struggled to focus on what they needed to grasp. I literally felt like a bull in a China shop and didn't truly enjoy anything just in an effort to eat and get it out of the way before I was bombarded with the next item I didn't realize I'd ordered.

Leaving the place stuffed and contented, I got to the parking lot to have my brakes broken, but that is another story. It would take me a few years to realize that high-stress situations can scar your enjoyment of good food. Thus, never go to a great place to eat when you're not going to enjoy. A mistake I wouldn't make twice with steakhouse food. Keep posted for Part II.

Wasps in Christmas Trees!

Definitely not what I expected to read when I opened my latest ARS e-newsletter. In fact, it had never occurred to me before that Hawaiians (<-- crazy spelling) even wanted Christmas trees. Isn't it pretty contradictory to the warm weather culture there?

But regardless, I don't think I could get very excited about queen yellow jackets spending the holidays with me in the house. Probably more interesting is the claim at the bottom that even after they have found tree shaking to be ineffective, and yet it's still the industry regulation.

One final thought on this over-analyzed 1-pager: wasps are a threat to the local bird population? You mean those little things that I chased around with a bat are threatening the birds that I couldn't even get close to as a kid? Ecological balance is astonishingly fragile sometimes.

I'm still a skeptic... (duplicate post)

... but this is the best anyone's been able to make him sound yet. Maybe now that Kasich is governor he's just finally able to hire good PR staff.

All I really want to know is how he thinks that removing regulation will decrease the incidence of the "few bad apples". If they can't be stopped with regulation, then how do you expect to put them out of business and stop them from ruining it for the rest of us? And the better question (usually posed by the opposition) is if the good farmers are really the "good apples", then why is the regulation a problem in the first place? Maybe the "common sense" that Kasich intends to add back to Ohio government should include simple common sense in the administration of already existing good legislature.

Pink and other Music Videos

I thought when I saw Rosie the Riveter, that that was the oddest thing to put into a music video... but it goes haywire from there. So here you are with a classic Pink video (they all are pretty crazy), and then this one from her new song that just weirds me out too much. Frankly, she's crazy, but I think that's the only reason I like her music. If you make it through those, I've included Kesha's for a grand finale of what on earth is going on in these? Almost like we're chilling with Miley Cyrus on pot.

Pelotonia update

For those of you who remember, I did the unthinkable and raced in the Pelotonia 2010 cancer research fundraiser. This ride really tested my dedication and persistence as it was was easily one of the most difficult things I've done. It also resulted in the tragic death of one of the riders in a traffic accident.

Well, the hard work of so many people finally came to a tangible fruition a couple of weeks ago when the Pelotonia check was presented at the OSU/Michigan game. The total of nearly 8 million dollars just goes to show how important this issue is to the community and how deeply the cause has touched so many people.


It's never too late to start fundraising for next year, so stay tuned for updates on our plan to ride next year in our own Peleton. We're currently looking at about 5-6 riders and will be looking for both corporate and small dollar quantity donors. Please think about how important the cause of cancer research is, and look up how much the James has done for the cause of cancer research. Until then, I'll be losing weight, trying to sell my old bike and planning out my ride for next year.

Equality

Is it just an idea; can people really be considered equally? And I'm not talking about money or possessions here, I'm talking about how we treat people.

For example, if you were in prison, would you think that maybe you're in prison because you deserved to be there? And if you deserved to be in prison for breaking the law, do you really have the right to sue over whether or not your food preferences were honored? I think it's ridiculous that there's a lawsuit over what kind of food a prisoner received, despite how gross that food looks in the picture. And even more ridiculous that there were settlements payed over the same lawsuit.

Or ridiculous that people think they are above the rules just because they are a foreign minister? I'm not fond of Obama bowing to foreign powers, but at least I know that he is careful to follow foreign customs and rules. And if you're here visiting America, you can probably expect that we're going to check you like anyone else for contraband before boarding a flight. That's just life, or at least it is here. No ordinary person would've got off complaining about the search - look at how it worked out for them recently. And no ordinary person would've gotten a VIP lounge while waiting to be searched. That doesn't mean we like being searched, and I definitely know I hate being profiled, but that's how it works. How can you expect to represent the people if you want to be treated better than them?

On a happier note, this was a fun video about the wire walker that traveled the world and walked famous places. A fun 5 minutes.

Finals Week Fun (duplicate post)

There's nothing quite like the life you get when you've been freed of the books and studying chaining you all quarter. Even getting up EARLY this week hasn't been able to put a damper on my mood although a severe cold is doing its best. So let me tell you about a couple of my days back in the research loop so you can understand what I do, and maybe also give you an idea of the efforts we put in to protect the food chain.

Yesterday I was up before dawn thought about the day. We met on campus and left in the truck around 5.30 to head North to a pig farm where we would be collecting samples starting at 7.00. This research is specifically for finding ways to better handle and treat pigs so that they are less stressed on a daily basis. Not only is stress reduction important to the consumer, but it is important to the farmers because they want to keep their animals as healthy as possible.

After sample collection, helping to save a pig from the abuse of its pen-mates and saying goodbye to the farmer, we were headed back to campus. I grabbed a quick shower and then hung out until I had a meeting in the afternoon. After the meeting I went downstairs to learn how to make the plug-ins for the thermometer we use in some experiments. This was frustrating work, but thankfully all I was doing was learning so in the time I made 1 successfully, Katie had made 5. At the end of a 12 hour day, I went home to Amanda and finally got to relax for the rest of the evening before an early bedtime in preparation for this morning.

This morning was pig slaughter/harvest. Because it's the end of the quarter, there were less students on the floor, but their vacancy was taken up by some researchers and their visiting colleagues from my alma mater who were collecting liver, jejunum and duodenum samples for a variety of research purposes. This just goes to further emphasize the critical value of animal by-products in the world around us.

My job this morning was to singe the hair and scrape any remaining hair from the skin of the pig. Hair can harbor bacteria which can later infect people, and even though we don't eat the skin, the skin comes into the meat lab where food products will be fabricated, so it's crucial to make sure we keep the area as sterile as possible. The removal of hair is so important and time-consuming that half of the crew today was dedicated solely to this purpose, with me at the end of the line, singing what hadn't already been spun off the skin or shaved by 4 people with knives. Following the end of harvest, we then proceeded to scrub down every inch of the facility, sterilizing and sanitizing the living daylights out of it to prevent any bacterial growth before the next time we use it.

For the rest of today, I'll be reading journal articles on subjects that potentially could be in my field of research next summer. All just a couple of days in my life... And yet, somewhere in the mix I also found time to find all of the gifts I needed for Christmas for Amanda, too. She's been so good about not spying or prying to find out what she's getting, I just hope she's pleasantly surprised in the end.

Nonsuch

For starters today, I'm totally jealous of this girl, I think. After all, sleeping for over a week on a regular basis could have its downfalls, I suppose. It's definitely intriguing.

And then there was the video on self-weighing luggage and glow in the dark toilet paper. I'm not sure I want to know...

And finally there is the case of NASA selling computers with their data still on there... oops?

Cry...

... because you're human ... because you've felt this kind of pain ... because you can't imagine feeling this kind of pain ... because you are powerless to fix this broken life ... because there are so many more of them. They call out for help, broken, lost in this world of pain and suffering. I think one thing that made the 9/11 tragedy so terrible for so many people is because it bridged the gaps.

Every day bad things happen - all around the world. But this attack was on a symbol of hope, this was an emblem of international cooperation. And it was a symbol of the wealthy as well as representative of the land of promise for those less fortunate. This bridged the gap between politics, religion, ethnicity, country of origin, age, sex, race - and it dumped us all into a feeling of vulnerability.

Tomorrow will be 69 years from the date of the last attack on American soil before 9/11. 69 years to ease the pain and yet there are still people scarred forever by the impact of this attack. It's been over 9 years since 9/11, and these scars still scream fresh pain in many families. And many similar incidents occur all of the time around the world.

That is why those serving our country overseas are such heroes to me - both those on forgotten bases and training camps, and those on the front lines. The supply managers and those with the responsibility to rebuild following devastating events. These heroes risk their lives every day because they don't want anyone to have to suffer in the way in which so many people have. It makes me so angry inside every time I hear this song that I can't even cry, despite the fact that to not cry when exposed to that much sorrow in the form of another human is unreasonable and against human nature. Angry that there is no way to fix the fact that this and other tragedies have happened. Angry that there is no compassion for fellow man to prevent these atrocities in the first place. Angry that there are Americans more concerned about whether their dog can sue someone in court than they are about the suffering of their own; they are unwilling to even recognize the cry of desperation every day.

Hockey Fights

There's nothing quite like getting your butt kicked on the news or TV. I got started with a Florida trailer park fight they mentioned on WNCI this morning. And then it just carried on from there. I don't think I've seen many hockey players get clobbered that badly, especially if they instigated the altercation. Oh wait, yes I have...



And just in case you haven't gathered from football and basketball that my alma mater really hates Michigan, here's just a taste of the most important sport rivalry of all...

Finals

Hmm... where to begin? Let me just say that we had a pretty busy weekend this past weekend. Saturday alone included helping Amanda's parents host a Christmas party and then attending 2 other holiday parties that evening as well. Combined with a long Friday night, a long week prior and then a hurried hodge-podge Sunday with Christmas tree shopping just west of Zanesville and the Columbus Holiday pops concert, we've been everywhere and done near everything. And somehow I managed to fit some serious studying in there as well.

I credit Amanda with driving most of the time, thus allowing me to do my studying, and then God for somehow helping me remember stuff that I've been forgetting all quarter. The exam this morning went great and I didn't expect it to. I have been so worried about it ever since a month ago when I took my last midterm and I feel enormously relieved to get it off my chest now.

So before I delve into the next bout of studying with my statistics notes (non-existent) and my 2 pages of permitted cheat sheets, I wanted to get some ideas out of my head and onto the screen for your perusal.

Starting with some outstanding BBC news from last night, there was a fun little article about some people stranded in England enjoying the cold weather in style. We've had our own bit of snow starting last night, but nothing compared to this.

Russia probably would've been better off just sharing our GPS system, because crashing the launched satellites into the ocean doesn't quite seem productive to me. I love how they casually announce that it probably landed somewhere near Hawaii. No biggie, right?

No laughing matter, considering some tourists were injured in the attacks and a German died, but "alternative food"? That's putting it pretty plain, eh?

Catchy Titles

In an effort to capture a larger readership, I have been trying to work on my ability to attract attention with just the blog title. Mind you, that still means I need to retain attention within the blog, but that will come next. First, I just want to trick you into reading my ramblings. So I've been roaming the web looking for catchy titles so that I will learn how to better attract attention to my own blog.

None does a better job of this than the video I embed below. The title got me interested immediately and then the picture (people dressed as polar bears) made me click and listen to the movie. In the end, I actually want to make some notes about this movie and my thoughts that surround it. I think this is characteristic of many activist groups - they are much better at capturing the attention of the public and blinding their reasoning with wittiness and emotions. This all starts with a title.



First off, congratulations to the group for capturing my attention and getting your point across. While your point lacks originality, the costumes are definitely a nice change from the nude protesters that frequent my own industry. But then I have to ask you, what exactly makes this a peaceful protest? You have trespassed private property, stormed control of the companies machinery and then locked yourself to the equipment. Does this really mean the protest was peaceful, just because you didn't assault the workers?

And then the locks. Nothing quite like a New York City bike lock to imply you mean to stay hitched for a while. I don't think there is a cause in the world for which I would lock my nice in a grip like that to anything. It's not that there aren't causes that I firmly believe in, it's that there is no way you'll catch me willingly placing myself into a position of such weakness. And as a final thought, I offer this video as a counter-point to why Polar Bears are going extinct. Thanks Gail!

Safety Dance

I had to, I hope you can understand. I just don't think my blog would be complete without the "Safety Dance". Personally, I would pass on the first one and watch the LSD version which comes second. It makes so much more sense, but it also would not be the PG version of the two, be fairly warned.





And as a final thought, please enjoy the daily mail song. You can't always believe what you read. ;)

Snow

Just in time for the 1st of December, the first real snow came down this morning on my way to class. Surprisingly the roads weren't nearly as hazardous as I anticipated and I still made it to my class on time. But man is it cold out there! I wore a long sleeved t-shirt this morning and it was definitely the difference maker for my walk to class. Now if I can just get out to the folks and grab the gloves, I'd be doing well. It's really pretty to get some snow in the air if I don't have to worry about it tormenting my commute.

Of interest in my randoms wanderings today...

Lee Harvey Oswald's coffin is up for sale. Yep, I said coffin. Good news is it's been vacant for about 29 years now.

Mercury makes Ibises stop mating... which apparently means they're gay. Who knew you had to reproduce to prove you were straight?

Finally, I saw this car on Top Gear last night and so it's on here today for being pretty crazy awesome. Not that I'll ever drive one or be good enough to appreciate it, but it was fun to watch.

Symposium Reflections (duplicate post)

Since I just got home not too long ago from the 2nd Annual Animal Welfare Symposium at the wonderful State 4-H Center on Ohio State's campus, I thought I'd take a few minutes to share my reflections on the afternoon in a semi-sequential format.

1) The people and the atmosphere were much less hostile than last year, given the passage of Issue 2 and the HSUS deal struck over the summer to allow for the Livestock Care Standards Board to operate as it was intended. I felt like the questions were much less heated and much more focused on actual learning. It was a nice change, even from the meeting this summer. It was also really nice to work a short standards board update into the afterlunch. Interesting to note is the discussion about how Ohio will probably not make it by the December deadline for a referendum on some current housing systems. However, we were also told that HSUS has been doing a lot of meeting with other involved organizations relative to the summer deal and that there was a good understanding of how much work had been put forth to get where we are currently.

2) The people running the symposium are great. It was well organized, in a great facility, and attended by over 300 people this year. As anticipated, the food was almost the best part of the day and Mike did a great job keeping the technology up and running so the day went off without an obvious hitch. Awesome.

3) The first speaker had some good information about opinions of Ohioans related to Animal Welfare. She just struggled severely with expressing anything clearly or in any consideration of time. She mentioned early that as an Easterner she spoke very fast. Frankly, I thought she might've spoken a bit fast, sure, but she didn't say a whole lot more than if she'd spoken more slowly and deliberately. The Q and A also helped clarify a lot more of her work, but some questions which I thought were fairly important to the research and the presentation were not answered at all and the audience was left questioning the value of the first presentation, of which I am sure there was some but it was difficult to sort through some poor representation of her hard work. It's always tough to elaborate thoughts to the satisfaction of your audience in such a short time period.

4) All the rest of the speakers did a fine job and spoke about relevant information, doing a good job of holding the audience's attention. If my chair hadn't been so uncomfortable, I could've sat there all day. There was little that wasn't worth hearing, even the information that I've already heard a few times. Hearing discussions does a good job of keeping issues current in my mind.

As the week rolls on, I'll be taking study breaks to give short synopsi of different speakers on my agriculture specific blog, the topics they discussed and my related opinions. However, in the near future the presentations will be posted. I encourage you to follow the link and watch the powerpoints yourself. It's always better to do your own thinking.

Professional Faux Pas

Although termed as going against the socially accepted norms, my personal favorite definition is more literal, "missteps, or false steps". Since I was at the Animal Welfare Symposium all day, I decided to keep some notes on behaviors and attitudes that are just unacceptable in a professional setting, and all of which I guarantee you happened today.

1) Spilling food on yourself. Everyone does it, but that doesn't mean you ever want to be the one. Spilling food on yourself can be embarrassing, even before you also consider the occasional super embarrassing spots you can drop food or drink. The only thing worse than spilling food on yourself is spilling it on someone else. But if you are spilled on, consider it a favor. That person severely owes you in the future and you would be wise not to let them forget it.

2) Cutting your colleagues off in the parking lot or even a few miles down the road. Just because you are out of the meeting, that doesn't mean your peers and colleagues might not be just behind you or beside you as you make your way down the road. It goes without saying that you should be courteous on the road, but ever more so when you are leaving a meeting where you are hoping that some people will favorably remember you.

3) Striking up conversation in the bathroom. Men, you better really know a guy well if you think you're going to start a conversation at the urinal. Talk about ultimate awkward... it's best just to avoid any conversation in the bathroom and save it for where normal conversations take place.

4) Taking this one step further, I would like to specifically degrade the man who caught a presenter in the bathroom to tell him how much he liked the guy's talk. Well, despite whether or not this bit of praise mattered to said presenter, any brownie points gained were lost before they had been tallied. To make matters worse, he proceeded to correct the presenter's grammar on a particular slide, criticizing him for his use of "disinterested" instead of "uninterested". Speaking of, he probably also wrote this link.

5) Pretending to care about people you don't give a hoot about is nearly as rude as blowing them off. There is a way to be both formal and unfriendly while professionally communicative to people you don't like, unless of course you are good enough at pretending to take interest in those you dislike in a convincing, falsely genuine manner.

6) Finally, never make the mistake of assuming you know something about people only to find out your error after the fact. Most people like talking about themselves, so ask questions and let them remind you of what you most likely forgot.

I leave you with the following picture, courtesy of floatingfoam.com.

Continuing stories

As Colbert's interview with the Medal of Honor awardee was just loaded online, I thought I would put it here on my blog. The soldier's interview is really impressive to me. He is right, we works with heroes every day. Unfortunately they weren't fond of embedding today on "Colbert Nation".

Speaking of the great Colbert, the episode I linked to is worth the watch, the whole way through. And did you realize he used to be the guy on the GM Goodwrench advertisements? I had no idea...

The Many Faces of Robin Williams

What a great weekend, including some great upsets in the BCS standings. Amanda and I had a chance over the last 5 days to see nearly all of our local and some non-local extended family, and I got a chance to shoot a couple hundred shotgun shells with Amanda's dad. She and I were talking tonight about Robin Williams, and so I thought I'd include some videos to show his many sides. Be warned, I would not consider these appropriate for kids or other delicate minds.



Robin Williams, as I first knew him...



Then there were his roles in Flubber, August Rush and Jakob the Liar. Such a variety to enjoy.

Boise State on the brink

I'm typing this during the commercial break between regulation and overtime as Boise State and Nevada continue to duke it out in Reno. Nobody believed me when I said that Nevada had a chance for the miracle (mostly because the whole WAC conference is so weak), but here they are and this rivals all of top football games I can conjur in my memory for excitement, passion in the stands, and will to win on the field. OSU vs. Miami (FL), MSU vs. Notre Dame, many scUM and OSU games - this falls right up there.

I almost went to bed, almost convinced that another Boise State blowout was close at hand, but something in Nevada snapped in the second half and they have come alive with a desire to win and the energy to dominate the play. Combined with mistakes on BSU's end, this has been a thrill to watch. Regardless of the outcome, well played, Wolf Pack. Great game.

With goal-line defense standing up the Broncos, it looks like Nevada will have the chance to end this, and I can finally go to bed for the scUM game tomorrow. Go Bucks!

Blood and Running

I gave blood yesterday afternoon for the first time in my life. Thanks to Amanda for sticking with during the process and being supportive in helping me conquer my huge fear of needles. Props also to the nurse for making the process smooth and nearly painless. The needle sticking was easy going and it flowed fast and easy. It really means a lot to me to be able to give blood to help out people in need. I feel like I've really done something to make a difference, kinda like when I volunteered for mission building projects; it's a great feeling.

However, let me just say that running 5 miles today with the blood donation yesterday is much more difficult than it was last year when I was 2 days hungover. I figured the run would be a piece of cake after my 180 mile Pelotonia this summer and then the non-hungover system, but I was wrong. I felt completely out of energy by the time I'd even gotten done with the first mile and a half, and by 2 miles, I was nearly dead. I love to push my body to extremes, but today I couldn't do a thing. My body was shot, but after a solid breakfast, I'm already quick on the recovery for some family football and turkey this afternoon.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Jane Goodall

I just wanted to take a minute to say that I was watching a recorded talk by Jane Goodall, including a question and answer session afterwards as I relaxed this afternoon after a 5-mile Turkey Trot this morning.

I continue to be impressed with Jane, both because of her amazing work with conservation and chimpanzee behavior, but also in her practicality, her devotion to nature conservation and the well-being of the underprivileged, and her honesty.

Interesting things I learned about Jane from her Oct. 11th talk included: her favorite drink is whiskey, when asked about her plans in the next 50 years she said "me dying", and she brews her coffee with a boiling coil and stocking hose.

I will never forget growing up watching her National Geographic specials and she has done so many great things to benefit understanding of animals and the behavioral sciences. Good luck in your future endeavors, Jane Goodall.

Picture worth a thousand words...

... and then some. Here's the picture, coming from this blog. The blog is running a joke competition leading up to the big game this weekend. Feel free to peruse for your own entertainment.


What do you get if you see a Michigan fan buried up to his neck in sand?
More sand.

What do you call 20 Michigan fans laying on the lawn?
Fertilizer.

How do you keep a Michigan football player out of your yard?
Put up a goalpost.


A Michigan football player was almost killed yesterday in a tragic horse back riding accident. He fell from the horse and was nearly trampled to death. Luckily, the manager of the Wal-Mart came out and unplugged the horse.

Street View

For those of you who aren't yet familiar with Google's "Street View", get familiar. It strikes again with new vandalism in Germany at those people who opted out of being shown on street view. Not much for anonymity if you can't actually keep private who opted out, can you?

Signs of the times

Odd news yesterday, worth recording even if I don't get to today's stuff. Since I spent most of yesterday in the library arguing with a bad internet connection and working on all sorts of irritating statistical problems, I had to wait until today. Stats really isn't that bad of a subject, if you can keep rules straight, and more importantly if your professor and your book agree on formulas. Neither condition was present yesterday, so it was rough.

On the flip side, OSU's library is gorgeous. And it's so quiet and academic like. I loved it.





On to news, if you remember my comment about the N. Korean new guy on the block having no military experience, well, he apparently wanted to get some. My thoughts immediately turned to those friends of mine in the military there. My best wishes for you during this tense time.

There was also another Nigerian package stopped in Massachusetts, and a lawsuit over a paintbrush poking a guy in the eye. Frankly, do you really deserve money just because you were a clumsy oaf and drove a paintbrush up your eye?

And finally fish shrink during the winter, well, at least some do. It's been observed in other species too, as noted by the article. It makes sense, but it's still fantastic science. I love this stuff.

Go Bucks!

In light of "Beat Michigan Week", I will be donating blood today in support of the Buckeyes during the "blood battle". This being my first time donating blood, I'm pretty nervous. I'm scared to death of needles, so this ought to be a terrific experience for me. Topping it all off is my plan to run a race tomorrow, so hopefully my body makes a quick recovery because today I don't feel so good already.

I've included this link so that you can look up some Michigan jokes for yourself. I like this list and encourage you to read through them, but in case you don't, here's a teaser for you:

Q: How do you make U of M cookies?

A: Put them in a bowl and beat them for a few hours.

Go Bucks!

Compassion

People use the word compassion in so many different ways, or organization titles, all hoping in their own way that they are the beacon of the true meaning of the word to those around them.

In face, compassion is not in my opinion something that separates us from other animals (at least based on what we can observe in animal interactions), and yet I think it is a critical part of the human as well. If you think about nearly all the "bad guys" in books, plays or movies, compassion is one of the critical character traits that they are often missing.

Well, today I just wanted to praise a local kid for his compassionate work for those children less fortunate than himself. He has cared, and through the encouragement of his parents, he has truly blessed the lives of many other kids in a permanent kind of way. If you read his blog, you'll probably be as touched as I was by his actions and attitude.

Beat Michigan Week

In light of this week being "Beat Michigan Week", I will be posting pictures, videos, jokes and stories as they come along to me throughout the week. Please enjoy this photo as a great start to the week. Oh, how I love getting to hate on Michigan on behalf of 2 schools now. :)

How my bank kept me today

Props to PNC's customer service and the employee I chatted with today. She did a good job of helping me sort out my frustrations and end on a positive note. Of course, it also helps that I knew ahead of time exactly what was wrong and how she could solve it. And so that's today's life lessons. Amanda and I are both good at getting deals and negotiations from companies when things go awry but this is because we are good at expressing the two keys in a good customer negotiation: 1) how have you been wronged, 2) how you want them to fix it for you. It also helps if you can tangibly show them how they will lose if they do not help solve your frustrations.

After explaining my frustrations and double-checking to make sure there was no confusion on what made me angry and that there was no way to fix it (National City had better deals for small checking account owners and PNC started charging me a fee), I told her that I was withdrawing my money immediately if I would not be refunded the unjust charges I had received. She presented me with options for a free checking account (whereas I was before earning about 10c interest a year) and everything else was able to stay the same. Further, I was given a courtesy refund of the charges which they had technically legally taken from my account even though they had worded it deeply within their take-over contract and I had never known about it.

All in all, I'm still not sold on the bank, their customer service or their handling of accounts, but they have now at least kept me until the end of the year.

Starcraft II

My thanks to Jeremy and Jacob for giving me Starcraft II for my birthday. For those of you unfamiliar with the game, it is similar to an advanced Age of Empires or Command & Conquer. For those of you unfamiliar with those, this game is probably not for you, but it is like a high speed Risk/Monopoly/Chess game with cooperative options for both online and local network play.

Basically, I just wanted to say why I like the game in case anyone is questioning my judgment or considering purchase. Starcraft II is a fast-paced and challenging game that also has a cooperative piece to it that makes it fun to play. I enjoy playing with family or friends in these type of games, so I really like playing this one. Additionally, it is similar to other games I like but doesn't drag on for hours. Thus I am able to play a little without wasting away my whole day online. The traits of different characters in the game allow for many challenges to the game that are fun to solve and so the challenge excites me as well. If you haven't tried it, I suggest trying the game out because it's the best of its kind.

Blogger Buzz

Courtesy of my Blogger Buzz (which I've never looked at before) I bring you this remix with a little kid rapping Kesha.

Parking Vultures

I think many of my readers know what I'm talking about when I talk about parking vultures, but let me just vent for a minute about how much I hate them.

It seems like whenever I get out of class and walk to my car there's always at least 4-5 cars circling the parking lot, waiting for the next person to pull out. They're desperate to get a parking spot close to their classes or work, even though waiting will make them late. This desperation translates into a cutthroat attitude about securing said parking spot. Worst case scenario is that 2 people see your spot at the same time and try to duel out for it as you're trying to pull out. Almost as bad is the case which seems to happen to me quite often.

In their over-exuberance to achieve their goal of a parking spot, these vultures will often overgun the spot and then brake hard. Then, as I'm trying to back out, instead of backing up (even though nobody else is in the aisle at all), they sit right up on my bumper and then get all impatient at you as your try and make a 9 point turn to get out of the mess that they've stuck you in. It's all I can do not to walk back and chew someone's head off for how stupid they seem when they do that. What stops them from backing up politely out of your way, grateful for the fact that you are giving them a spot? Nothing stops them except their greedy ingratitude.


Even when I'm just walking out to my car to put away my lunchbox and computer before I walk to a recitation or something, there will be people waiting, lurking almost, in the parking lot. They watch everything I do, hoping I'll get in the car and leave and then get all huffy when I shut the trunk and just walk back.

So if you're one of these... remember to be polite. People giving up their spot for you is a favor, whether you realize it or not, so respect them as they try to get out of your way.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part I

Let this serve not only as a movie review from a converted skeptic, but also as a review for the experience at Polaris's Rave Theater. Skip to the end for the movie comments.

If you haven't been to Rave at Polaris, you should. It's a great place to watch movies with amphitheater seating, comfy seats, mostly clean floors and bathrooms and the armrests go up and out of the way if you're sitting with someone you like. Essentially you get a social setting similar to your living room couch but you also are immersed into a big screen and great sound for the total experience. It's about as intense as I can get since IMAX makes me sick. Nice place, especially for big movies.

The crowd. Well, I think I accurately described to Chris earlier today that a majority of them were either creeps, or jerks, or prepubescents and their helicopter parents. Besides obnoxious jeers and "spells" shouted out at each other throughout the nearly 2 hours that we sat waiting for the movie to start, the crowd was generally ok. They weren't too rowdy, besides some acting going on down front and center. This was the ultimate people-watching experience.

In retrospect, I would've like to get out and walk just before the movie started. I got really sore and tired of sitting just about 3/4 of the way through the movie. The movie was about 2 hrs and change, plus ads, we got started on time and were out and home by 3.00 am. Now, mind you, this also included some crafty manipulation of the parking exodus after the movie ended. Our car was blocked in, so we also needed Amanda to finally get out and hold up traffic because nobody bothered to care that we had been there waiting for a chance to get out. Nor did they care that they had gotten into a line blindly without considering traffic laws and how they might apply to getting out ASAP. We did, however, get out fast and apart from really ticking off a lady in a bug who thought she could cut in front of me when I had the right-of-way just because someone else had done it (nothing a simple honk and words couldn't solve), it wasn't bad at all.


The movie. Realize that I was a severe skeptic of the series before and during my time reading it early this summer. But as the books developed and a solid plot line stopped evaporating (somewhere around book 5), the books got exciting, remaining easy to read, and I tore through them. Everything falls together in the end, and I feel like watching the movie satisfies the need for people to see it fall together on film just like they read in the books. My take, the books are better, the movie is changed and if you had to choose between the two, read the books. Definitely read the books before the movie.

Complaints about the movie include the quantity of flashy scenes where they try to portray flashbacks but also the present and the flickering doesn't really allow you to focus on either without ticking off your eyes.

The makers of the movie in my opinion did a good job in this movie (much better than in some previous) of selecting what was unimportant in a movie plot line and cutting it from the original book. The movie flowed, had light, entertaining sections, dark scenes precursive of the next movie, and drama/horror types of scenes that frankly pushed me a little. I don't go to movies to get scared and things like a dark room battle scene with a monster snake don't really get me going. But it was a well-balanced movie, accurately incorporating the book into an exciting on-screen adventure. Well worth the trip and the wait.

Stoning Satan

I was looking through the world in pictures on BBC's website and this image of the Muslim's casting stones at this pillar was pretty striking to me. Even more interesting was the further knowledge from the caption that: "Muslim pilgrims cast stones at a pillar, symbolizing the stoning of Satan, in a ritual called "Jamarat", the last rite of the annual Hajj in Saudi Arabia." Well, you learn new things every day; I'd throw a stone at Satan any day if I could even if it were symbolically.

Prison alternative

I saw this in the BBC news today and it got my wheels turning. A woman was arrested for "tweeting", which is apparently illegal in China. I can't get that excited about Twitter myself, but my comment today really has nothing to do with the illegality of Twitter in China. Rather, I was intrigued by the sentence for the woman of "re-education through labor". Why don't we do that? Why is it expected in the US that if you end up in jail for some crime you committed, you get to sit on your butt and serve your time happily compensated with food, if you so choose? I'm a strong proponent of people in prison having to work to pay for their keep. This would especially make a difference if we banned capital punishment and replaced it with more life sentences. Just some food for thought.

Medal of Honor

And no, I'm not talking about the Xbox game. Seriously, things like this get me really excited and I'm proud of this guy who I don't even know for both his bravery, and his public humility. It's rare to see both at the same time.

Coming shortly after Veteran's Day, this man's humble actions of bravery should be applauded by veterans all over. It's not so much that this one man was unique, but more impressive that he isn't unique among our armed forces. With so many of our older veterans leaving this world so rapidly now, it's a nice reminder that there is still a new generation of men and women willing to sacrifice their lives, whether it be just their time of service, their permanent functionality in society or their existence in order for us to live the life we have. As I always said to the kids I led around the DC monuments, let this serve as continuous inspiration to work hard, be honest, respect others and serve our communities in the same selfless manner, in the hope that our efforts will leave a better world for our children and the children of others.

Bad directions

Without Google Maps, I'd probably be short of entertainment today. Thanks to Gail for posting this, and hopefully now that Google has started a border dispute, they'll also be helpful in the resolution, especially if they don't wanna get sued by the losing country. Woops...

Regardless, I've got strong doubts they can help the Great Whites that took a "wrong turn". Geez, 450,000 years and still lost? That's gotta be a record or something. Maybe the people there taste better.

Speaking of lost, apparently that's how people in London feel about the new French music station playing in London. And I don't blame them.

And then there were the Romans. What an incredible discovery west of London. I think it would really awesome to be an archaeologist at times like this. Then I remember how much I don't like digging into the ground for no apparent reason and I'm glad I didn't choose that career.

As a closer to this randomization, I introduce another health-improving/restoring "breakthrough". Kidney zapping is kinda catchy, but the longer I think about it, they probably need to find a more convincing term because I've only got one spare.

Here's to your health

In all seriousness, as people are turning on the heat and using natural gas in this part of the world, be careful and use your nose. If it smells like gas is leaking, call your provider before you end up like this hotel (whose inhabitants are in my thoughts and prayers). It doesn't take much to spark any time of gas explosion as I can well testify from a few previous lives.

Speaking of your nose, it seems that they have linked a good sense of smell for food to the incidence of obesity. I wouldn't jump to any conclusions yet though, this seems pretty far-fetched. Maybe they need to find a way to quantify self-control first, because I'm pretty sure that every time I smell food I'm hungry, but that doesn't mean I go and eat at every Burger King I drive past. In fact, I don't eat at any of them, because I know that they small far more tempting than they taste.

Fish and their oily grossness yet again provide hope for our medical well-being in the future. Read more for yourself.


Finally, "How to get on and off a train". Next week's special, how to drive a car in town. Just because you put these things together, it doesn't mean that people will read them, or care about them, or remember to follow them. I can speak from personal experience riding the subway in Rome and with the train not even stopping at the same boarding location every time, it was madness to get on board. Faced with a brutal environment which included a man putting his hand around my neck to yank me off the train, I, despite my knowledge of ideal traffic flow, resorted to the same method of taking care of myself. I turned, stiff-armed him in the throat and waved goodbye as the doors closed and we rushed away. Just because you know what should happen, this doesn't mean that you have the power to sit there and let other people abuse you because they don't care.

Why I don't want to be famous

Would you like for your body to be repeatedly exhumed? It's rare we actually pay enough attention to getting historic details right, and then there's this poor guy who nobody can leave alone. He's almost as much of a headliner now that he's dead and rotten as he was when he was alive...

And then there's the looming chocolate shortage. Chris just told me about this the other day, but apparently Halloween, Christmas and Easter are all being threatened by the fact that nobody can make enough money on cacao beans anymore. Think about that the next time you complain about a candy bar not still costing a dollar.

You'll have to watch the video on this one, which proves to be nearly as short as the article. Not many people in BBC headquarters cared much about the startling news that Sarah Palin has once again made her move... to a reality tv show? Yep, I don't care either, unless she decides to go bear hunting or fence peeking on her Russian neighbors.

Good Weekend

As with any busy weekend, I stayed off the internet for the most part and concentrated on enjoying the time I'd been given, with the full knowledge that come Monday I'd have time to blog again during Stats class. As such, I've got a collection of topics and such so there will be a blog overflow today.

For starters, Louisville and the North American was a great opportunity to lean back and relax just a bit (literally during the accident induced traffic jam on the way back) and a chance for Amanda and I to sleep in and do some fun shopping and roaming together. It wasn't all play, as Katherine and Jacob used our help to get the lambs ready and I did more to get a lamb ready for show than I have ever done in my life before (which was obvious by my lack of experience). The family placed decently with the sheep and showed that we are making progress in our improvements to the flock.

It's really amazing to me that despite the "horrible" economy and all the financial troubles that Americans are experiencing this year, there was little reminder of that down in Kentucky at the show. Things went on just as always with both old and brand new vendors selling lots of great things to many genuinely interested customers. If there was any change from last year, it was the increase in store security to prevent the loss of merchandise and a slight decrease in the number of entries that made the trip. Otherwise, all boded well and a good time was had.

On that note, I include 3 links for big money items that came up in my BBC news today. Megamind
is bringing in the big bucks for the second week in a row, and yet I have minimal interest in seeing it. It would be impossible to top How to Train Your Dragon in my mind, so I'm gearing up to go see a couple of other movies with Amanda in the future instead, including Harry Potter 7.


Secondly on my list is an article discussing people getting bamboozled in an investment scam for treasure recovery. Honestly folks?!? When did you begin to believe that a deep sea recovery was going to pay itself off for you? It's good I don't write for BBC because I wouldn't have taken so much pity on you.

And rumors surround Facebook as they prepare for the unveiling of a new unknown product. No fears Google; I won't leave you.

Fixi Bikes

Last night we went to see Sarah McLachlan, which by the way was a great concert. I can say that I was surprised with how much booze I saw flowing at the Palace Theater, and I swear I saw Kurt from Glee last night too, but still, the crowd was excited and Sarah and her companions put on a great show. I really enjoyed it.

On the way down there we drove High Street south through the Short North. What continues to surprised me is the increasing number of "fixi" bikes appearing in the Columbus area. These bikes are truly fun to ride, but with the price of them rising, they're now so much more of a fashion statement than they were where I got my first one in the Netherlands.


It's probably inconceivable to me to buy a new "fixi" just because of how I got started riding my own in the NL. Jess, one of my flatmates, was a biker from UC Davis and thoroughly excited about bikes in general. After hitting it off well with our bike shop friend, Ivo, she decided to build a single-gear bike. Now, the difference between these and the previous single-gear bikes that I have experience with is that these are locked single-gears instead of a free wheel. This means that you virtually don't need brakes (assuming you locked the gear down well) to stop, because you can just back pedal hard and skid your tire to stop the bike.

For those of you who didn't have the same childhood, let me just say that skid-stopping was one of the reasons I never wanted to switch to a big kid's bike, and so I was pretty excited about the riding opportunity that this type of bike presented. Plus, with the minimal number of parts, this is also easier to keep up and in operating condition. It's simple.

Are there drawbacks to a fixed gear? Oh, yeah. I've been riding down a street before and back-pedaled only to find my gear not tightened down and suddenly I'm out of control with no hands on the brakes and no immediate way to stop. The look on my face was definitely similar to a deer when I slid out in front of the car in the street.

And then there was the day that I was beat after a long day at Borney's and couldn't get my feet out of the pedals in time to bail after a failed attempt to navigate the people gates on my way to Alex's trailer. I ran straight into the people gate, smashing my finger under it, and thus holding myself upright. The only way to dismount the bike was by virtually breaking my finger through wrenching it out, but the pain of sitting there seemed to justify this extreme action. To this day I still have a bump on my right ring finger from where the bone recalcified. No big deal.

Or there was the day that we took a countryside ride and ended up headed downhill. To capitalize on the momentum we were gaining, I put my feet out of the pedals (my only brake system) and let the pedals spin increasingly fast around as I went down hill. (Because the gear is locked, you can't coast with your feet in the pedals. On a hill this steep you would just be slowing yourself down.) Bracing for disaster, I pulled a ballcap over my face and just steered conservatively, hoping to make it down the hill since I now had pulled my feet out of my only braking system.

End story goes like this. I came home to a less bike-friendly America, and Dad insisted I replace with a free-wheel that he offered to buy. I now have both options on my back hub, along with a set of functional brakes. (The reason I didn't have any emergency brakes overseas was due to the fact that I traded parts just for the back wheel, including collectible components. I didn't want to pay for emergency brakes.) I still love my bike, and am glad to see people that get so into this fun type of bike-riding, but you'll never experience it in my way, where the scarred bike is symbolic of the money you didn't have rather than the trendy frame you ordered.

Next bike for me... either one to ride in the Pelotonia next year, or a Bamboo. :)

Election details

For results that are statistically interesting and very thought-provoking, check out this.

Couldn't Pass This Up

A giraffe got hit by lightning. I know it's not funny, but it does make for an interesting observation about what sometimes happens when you stand out in the crowd. I bet his neighbors were happy he was the tall one.

And a cruise ship caught on fire, stranding 4500 people. Not funny at all, this is one of my big fears, that some Titanic-type disaster would happen out in the ocean beyond the reach of help. Fortunately it all worked out well for them so far.

Another person is missing in the search for Noah's Ark. At some point in time, you're going to have to figure that God doesn't want his boat found. Anyhow, I hope they find him and he turns out to be ok, and the sooner the better.


Lastly, and the source of the feature picture today, they finally collided lead ions in the search for what exactly happened during the supposed "big bang". I bet if you found the Ark, you could get that answered for you too. Don't you wonder what they might plan to explain the random acceleration or creation of these elements which then created the world? Long shot.

No exams, just puppies

I don't blog daily, but when I catch a lucky break, I can throw a few blogs together to summarize what I've been thinking about and doing for the last few days. Since I knocked out my biochem exam yesterday morning, there has been a feeling of tremendous relief in me. I am not happy with my performance on the exam at all, but I am glad to be done with it after 2 weeks of studying.

Puppies seem to just control people's minds, more girls than guys. I don't think there's a day I don't hear someone cooing over a little dog (even if it isn't a puppy) and talking about how cute it is. This now goes for my wife as well. I finally agreed that we need a dog around the place. I would like one that barks at strangers, and gives me more motivation to take fun walks outside beyond the daily trek across campus every day. I can't speak for Amanda's plans with the dog, but I think that having one would be good for both of us and we're ready to add more difficult pet than our fish Jensen to the relationship.

Finding dogs, easy. There's millions out there for adoption. Picking a dog can be just a little harder. As I previously stated, girls typically seem to go crazy over puppies. As she scrolled through adoption sites, there was barely a dog she didn't think was cute, and trust me, if she didn't think it was cute then it was butt-ugly. I was worried we'd never be able to settle on a dog the way she got excited about all of them, but it turns out that finding one is more important than exactly which one it is to her. So now we're starting to sort through dogs and narrow out ones we really like. It seems we have good taste, because so far we've been luckless in actually being the first to even visit a dog we liked.

In honor of our efforts to find a dog, I will be adding the "daily puppy" to my blog sidebar. This, and searches of your local animal shelters are a good way to start looking into what kind of a dog is good for you as well as then finding dogs to look at for possible adoption. Good luck!

Freedom

I think this is one of those things that all of us like to imagine we have. Everyone has different definitions of freedom. Some are people who want the freedom to be left alone, others are desiring freedom in a more highly defined set of "rights" such as we have in the US where it is our government's responsibility to monitor and regulate our free interactions with other people. But freedom can have lots of different impacts on our lives every day; I'm going to try and tie freedom into every news article I post here.

Starting with the Paraguayan indigenous population. Human protection groups claim that this people have never had contact with the outside world, even though we have photos of them. Ironic, right? They're not stupid. If they've had their photo taken (in the article), it's not like they haven't had contact or not understood that there is an outside world. So then now we have the debate. Are they supposed to be free to continue their existence in this part of the country? And what about our desire to conserve the habitat in this part of the world. This directly interferes with their free lifestyle, but in the end it's supposed to help them. Should we be intruding on their life at all? But isn't the reason the conservation project exists the fault of us, and we've already intruded on their freedom to choose their own lifestyles through this negative environmental impact?

Then we have the latest news on the gulf oil spill and who's being blamed for it. It's strange in a world so big, we've been able to come up with controls and responsibility for what happens offshore in the water. And in my personal opinion, they should lose their freedom to operate oil rigs if they can't just shape up, take responsibility, clean up their mess and not do this again.

New art is being displayed in Germany, after being discovered during new construction projects. It was hidden by the NAZI regime, a perfect example of super-conservative and misguided restriction of freedom. I can't honestly say that I think any of the art was really worth saving if not for posterity's sake, but still, it's something new to look at and talk about in Germany.

In a country often criticized for lack of freedom, new talks are scheduled to take place to attempt to fix the economic problem. Cuba has never been known for holding party meetings and discussing issues, but more for blindly following its leadership. It would seem that there is hope for what we here would call "progress" towards a less strict communist state. Sometimes though it seems like that is more idealistic than practical towards improving the welfare of a people.

All of these articles target the discussion of freedom in a different way; all of them are from the news today. Freedom is such a catch-phrase, and yet a critical desire in everyone. It's just that we all imagine varying degrees and extents of freedom. Sometime I'll tell you what freedom means to me specifically, but today I just wanted to provoke some thought.

My experience with horses last week

The original reason that I started this blog was to capture the stories in my life as they happen. So often, I remember things from the past that are mildly entertaining or otherwise interesting and I wish that they were written down. Here's the story of what happened Sunday.

We keep a few cattle around the place (the Bale compound). The purpose of these animals at some point was to raise show calves to sell to 4-H'ers and other kids who show at fairs. But as I moved off to college and the sheep became a bigger and now more successful part of our farm we've moved most of our efforts to raising sheep. Let's just say the cows haven't gotten a lot of interaction the past year or so.

We've got 3 cows out in the field; Joy is definitely the mother figure in the bunch which is lucky for us because she is a greedy pig when it comes to food and she is also tame around people. She wouldn't hurt you intentionally, or at least not without warning. Kiko and Bubbles are a bit more tricky, but following Joy, it didn't take long to trick all three of them into the pasture behind the barn where my cousin keeps her horse. This is where it gets complicated. We just needed to get some heat detection patches on them.

Horses and cattle inherently just don't get along. It's like Dems and Republicans. It's bred into them and they haven't a care in the world for each other, unless they can both get fat at the same party. But horses being bigger like to pick on cattle and push them around. This is a problem when we're moving cattle around, especially through a horse pen. Let's not be fooled, Joy is easily near a ton in weight, but since the horse is taller, she's still programmed to flee because she doesn't like being picked on. With the gate open for the cattle, who were scared of the horse but hungry for the feed I had my hand on the horse's head pushing her away when broke into just a few steps of trot with my hand still against her.

I can't say whether she meant to kick me before she broke into the trot or she decided to after I still didn't move, but my general policy is not to run away from animals. It has worked out positively more often than not and I settled into this attitude once I became too big to cross a fence in under 2 seconds anymore. Most of what an animal does is for show purposes to frighten you, but this time she wasn't joking.

I saw the kick coming before it happened. She hit that right front leg hard and the muscles rippled down her back so I had enough time to bring my right arm around to block what I expected to be a kick in the face. I would really hate to lose my teeth. Because I was planning to block with my forearm, I got kicked in the elbow as I realized she was going after my rib cage instead. Even with the kick deflected by my elbow, I absorbed the blunt impact in the rib cage and I can't really remember if I fell, was knocked over or just slowly collapsed to the ground. All I can remember at that point was knowing that the horse had run off and I had cows loose that needed in, and that I couldn't breathe at all.

I've done stupid things like riding a sled face first downhill on a ramp, and knocked the wind clean out of me. This wasn't the same. For half a minute there, I couldn't get breaths in, but I could see Amanda freeze in her place, and Mom moving the horse. Every heartbeat was wild pain while my chest ripped with every breath. Stretching out on the ground helped ease the pain and breathing. I think the adrenaline from something like that always acts as my first level pain reducer because I just wanted the job done at that point and didn't think again about how much I hurt until afterward.

Am I sore now, 5 days later? Sure, I'm sore, but I think that laying there on the ground a minute and taking it easy the whole next couple of days helped speed my recovery. I can't quite unbend my elbow and basketball will be a bit challenging for a while, but I'm still able to think about playing again next week, so at this point I'm obviously not in that bad of shape. I had just finally started healing up the bruised bone I had in my rib area from some foolhardiness in the past, so it's going to be sore for a while, but sparing some sparring competition with Tony, I should be just fine. Nothing broken and limited bone bruising on my elbow and lower ribs/sternum seems like a small price to pay for getting out of that one.

It all goes to show how unpredictable animals can be and why people who have little or no experience around animals should be extra careful in their mannerisms near animals. Animals can often mistake what you're trying to do, it even happens to me and I've been working with them since we moved back to Ohio. Talk about misunderstandings, I have definitely come a long way since those days, but there is no behavior problem with animals (or humans) that couldn't stand a little patience in the solution. Accidents happen; this is just one more to chalk off to God having some better plan for my future. I can honestly say that I have only been kicked by a horse once before, in the head, but the difference was that kick was unintentional or it would've done serious damage, whereas this was grumpy and malicious.

Coconuts...

...apparently pose a huge threat to Obama on his trip to India, or so the people there thought. This is too good for my words, and I'm out for the night. While you're at it, read about how much money they're spending for this little trip to India.