Current River Trip

I'm not a big fan of the "family blogs." You know. The ones that are named something like "Jane and John," or "the Smiths." Then they just tell you about trivial, insignificant, BORING events in their lives.

"Little Joey got his first tooth today! Yeah."

"Sam went in the big boy toilet today. We are so proud."

"I spent all day painting the guest room. It's going to be a beautiful shade of egg shell white."

"I had Cheerios for breakfast today. Jim doesn't like Cheerios very much so he had Frosted Mini Wheats. Todd must be taking after my side because he prefers Cheerios."

Who cares? Your mom and sisters? BFF? If so, you can tell them that stuff on the PHONE!

That said, I'm going to post some pictures and videos of our canoe trip. My excuse: When I tell people that I might move to Missouri they look at me with a disgusted, confused look on their face. Missouri?!? Yeah, Missouri! Check it out.

Here's a good overall view of what the river looked like. It blows my mind how green everything is in Missouri.


We explored this little cave spring.

This picture was taken from outside the water. It was so clear you could see all the way to the bottom except where it got really deep. There were fish and turtles everywhere. We saw a water snake, too.

In the morning there was a mist coming off the water. After living in Utah and Idaho for so long, it was refreshing to jump into water that was cold enough to cool you down without freezing the blood in your veins.

Occasionally, we took a break to swim, jump off a cliff, or swing on a rope swing.

Not bad for a guy who's deathly afraid of heights, eh?

Birds were everywhere. This heron flew right over the top of Rebekah and Mary.

Prom Date

This is what every young man ought to be confronted with when he goes to pick up his date. I'm doing my best hillbilly... What do you think?

A Nation of Spectators

We have become a nation of spectators. Rather than participating in a wide variety of activities, Americans seem to prefer to watch others participate in activities. Why is it that we pay billions of dollars every year to watch other people do things that were originally done for the enjoyment of the participants?


Sports: I am in the minority when I say that I would rather play sports than watch them. If you were to give me a choice between playing backyard football or watching the Superbowl (supposedly the most important football game of the year), I would pick backyard football every time. Why are so many people so obsessed with watching sports and so disinterested in playing them? I get invited to multiple Superbowl parties every year, but getting a few friends to go to the park and play touch football, soccer, or basketball is like pulling teeth.


Creative Arts: When Friday night rolls around and everyone is asking each other what they should do, the first suggestion is always: "We could go see a movie." Now, I love a good movie as much as the next person, but why can't we ever find something to do instead of something to watch? We enjoy stories that "professionals" tell in their movies, books, and other art, but we never tell our own stories anymore. We pay billions of dollars to see movies with famous actors (who really aren't that much better looking or more talented...they just got their big break) but we never try acting because we think we aren't good at it. We watch American Idol, Dancing With the Stars, and So You Think You Can Dance? faithfully, but we don't ever sing or dance because we think we aren't good at it. We read books until our eyesight fails us, but we never write anything because we think we aren't good at it. We flock to art museums and spend billions collecting art, but we never paint anything because we think we aren't good at it. WHO CARES IF WE AREN'T THE BEST AT IT? IT'S STILL FUN!


Relationships: This is sad. Are our own relationships so boring that we have to watch other people's relationships on TV? Why else would we be so obsessed with soap operas and ridiculous dramas like Grey's Anatomy and Gossip Girl? Why else would we watch people argue and fight and cry and (supposedly) fall in love on reality TV? Do you know why our relationships are so boring? Because all we do is sit around watching TV!


There are many more examples out there, but I think I've made my point. If we would spend more time participating and less time spectating, we would be healthier, smarter, happier, and have a lot more fun.

Raised Stakes

I enjoy competition. Nearly every type of recreation with which I occupy my free time involves competition. Sometimes it's just casual competition--everyone jokes and laughs and has a good time. The birds are singing, the sun is shining, and everyone's eye is twinkling. But every once in a while, I enjoy some REAL competition. The kind of competition where everyone is out for blood. Do-or-die, balls-to-the-walls, no-holds-barred competition. The birds stop singing, the sun trembles behind the clouds, and everyone's eyes are saying, "I'm going rip your guts out." Competition like that only happens when the stakes are high--either you've got a lot to gain or you've got a lot to lose. Here are some examples of times I've experienced REAL competition.

Event: 7-on-7 portion of football practice
The cornerbacks, safeties, and linebackers wanted nothing more than to break up a pass with a crushing hit. We, the receivers, wanted nothing more that to make a catch and break loose for a big gain. The DB coach must have been on meth, because he was always going crazy. Starting positions were on the line, but it was pride that raised the stakes. And trash-talking. On offense, we didn't get to make big hits very often, but when the play called for a crack block...we made them count.

Event: Axis and Allies
When you have invested five hours per day for a week into a board game, the stakes are high. There is nothing worse than putting that much time into a game only to watch your brother march his army into your capitol. Just thinking about it makes me want to throw a game board across the room.

Event: pick-up basketball
Street basketball is territorial. When you show up at a new court you can tell who the regulars are. They have already established who the best players are and they want to beat you so bad that you'll never come back. And if you outplay the competition, well...they might not be gracious losers. So have a big friend with you.

Skill Points

Sports video games often have "Create a Player" options that allow users to design a character to play with in the game. Part of creating the player is granting "skill points." Sometimes they are called something different, but the concept is the same--the more points granted to a player in a certain area, the more skilled that player is in that area. For example, if the most points possible is 100, and I give my player 100 skill points in the "Sprinting Speed" category, no one will be able to outrun my player. Some games have a cap on the number of total skill points. (If they don't, then the 5'10" white guy named Miles is always unparalleled in every category.) When there is a cap on the total amount of skill points that can be awarded to one player, it is important to distribute the points strategically between the different categories. It wouldn't do to have a striker (soccer) that is faster than anyone else but can't shoot worth beans. But it might be okay to sacrifice some points in more defensive categories to make him faster and a more accurate shooter.

I believe that we truly are granted skill points in life. There is only so much the human brain and the human body can do. While some people may have more total skill points, I think that everyone chooses, to some degree, how to distribute them. We can choose to put all our points in one category, or we can divvy them out to different categories. Those who decide to put all of their points in one category will become great at that skill, but they will be one-sided people with narrow interests. Those who decide to evenly distribute their points will be well-rounded, but they will never be the best at anything.

How we decide to allot our points is no mystery. When we dedicate time and effort to a certain skill we get better and better at that skill. We usually put time and effort into things that we enjoy or that we think are important. And so we get good at those things. Some people are just wired with more skill points in certain areas. Idiot savants are the extreme example. Their "Social Skills" bars read 0, while something else, maybe the "Math" bar, reads 100.

My personal preference is to evenly distribute my skill points among several different areas. I will never be a world-renowned surgeon, a professional athlete, or an award-winning novelist. But I might competently assist with surgeries, win rec league championships in basketball and soccer, and one day get a book published. Most people want to be the best at one thing. The minority, myself included, believe that being good at many things is more rewarding.

Here are some examples of how people have distributed their skill points. (50 points is average.)

Jessica Simpson: Music--60, Appearance--70, Intellectualism--5

Shaquille O'Neal: Athletics--80, Appearance--5, Rapping--49

Paris Hilton: Skankiness--90, Athletics--5, Intellectualism--6

Conan O'Brian: Comedy--80, Intellectualism--65, Dignity--15

Michael Jackson: Music--95, (oops, already used up all his skill points)

Maria Sharipova: Athletics--80, Appearance--80, Social Skills--30

There Can Only Be One

Congratulations to the mighty Celtics.

Team chemistry, hard work, and tough defense have triumphed over...

...arrogance.

Boston 131

Los Angeles 92

Series 4-2

Band Names

There are some stupid band names out there. Really stupid. Some of them are funny and some of them are just lame. Examples?

The The--supposed to be ironic and cool but lame.
Butthole Surfers--supposed to be funny but lame.
Insane Clown Posse--so ridiculous it's funny.
Barenaked Ladies--supposed to be funny but lame.
Deathcab for Cutie--supposed to be cool? Supposed to be funny? It's lame.
Nickelback--I think they're trying to be cool by not caring that their name is lame--like their music.
Goo Goo Dolls--beyond lame.
The Mr. T Experience--funny.
The Beatles--why?

So I thought I'd come up with my own ridiculous band names. If they're stupid, they can't be worse than Nickelback. If they're funny, well, I struck gold. If they're cool...they won't be cool. And, for the record, I have no aspirations of ever naming a band so feel free to take my names.

Up-Down-Left-Right-A-B-B-A-Select-Start
Last of the Oaxacans
Shakespearean Ninjas In Love
Chronic the Hemp Hog
I'm Sorry, I Don't Speak Klingon
Encephalomegaly
Five Finger Discount
Jack Bauer's Apprentice
Vitamin H

Leave your own ideas.