30 Apr 2010
I live in a gated apartment complex in Athens, GA and since the complex is downtown we need security officers to man the gate so that non-residents don’t piggy-back in the gate. This is especially important on days when UGA has games, namely football. There was one time when I left on a Saturday to get groceries only to come back and not find a parking spot because there were so many non-residents in the parking deck taking up spaces that belong to residents. I had to wait like half an hour for someone to leave.
Anyways, I was walking home tonight from the bars and there’s this security guard who always mans the gate late at night – real nice fellow. He had this bored, almost sad look on his face and his hair was disheveled. I’ve talked to the guy before and it seems that all he wants in his night is someone to talk to. Despite all the drunken people – men stumbling home with ladies who’s tops are half way off their shoulders – I’m sure it’s lonely and bored checking for parking deck stickers all night long.
It kind of reminded me of the homeless man who sits patiently on Clayton Street who doesn’t beg, but waits – waits for a dollar, some change, or even some recognition. I walked home tonight and big him a good night, as I always do, and his silence was broken as if I’d paid him in diamonds. As with the security guard, I’ve taken a few minutes to talk to him, see what’s going, ask him if he’s heard or seen anything interesting… and it seems to perk him right up.
Sometimes a conversation, a “hello” or even just a smile can go a long way.
Note: This post was going to be about the couple who piggy-backed into my apartment complex after paying the security officer with a smile and a flirt, but I decided to make it more inspirational. I realize this might cancel out the optimism you had previously and I apologise.
08 Apr 2010
“According to the general theory of relativity, a black hole is a region of space from which nothing, including light, can escape. It is the result of the deformation of spacetime caused by a very compact mass. Around a black hole there is an undetectable surface which marks the point of no return, called an event horizon. It is called “black” because it absorbs all the light that hits it, reflecting nothing, just like a perfect black body in thermodynamics. Under the theory of quantum mechanics black holes possess a temperature and emit Hawking radiation.” (Wikipedia)
All that being said, my theory is that the island and its enormous amount of magnetic energy, is bending spacetime, thus creating the two timelines. It also might explain why the island is undetectable except during bursts of released magnetic energy.
As we saw in this episode, Eloise’s last name was Whidmore, instead of the previous timelines’ Hawking. And Daniel’s last name wasn’t Faraday in this alternate timeline, rather Whidmore. So, clearly lives are being mixed together.
On top of that, Desmond’s ability to shift (and survive) between the two time lines – and him being a (now) central figure – the “secret weapon” – just helps this theory.
Finally, Charles Whidmore said that if Desmond didn’t agree to help him, everything he knew would be “lost”. Does this mean lost as in dead, or lost as in stuck between two parallel time lines? I guess we’ll find out. But there are a few people who understand exactly what is going on, such as Faraday, Whidmore, and Desmond on a scientific level, but it’s only Desmond – as we’ve seen – who understands the personal magnitude.
This is, of course, the scientific theory. I feel there are deeper, more social, philosophical, and ethical theories too. We’ve already seen conflicting opposites – black/white, evil/good, free will/destiny – which I think play large roles in the show. Charlie, for example, returned to show Desmond that nothing else matters but finding “the girl of his dreams”. Which, Desmond already has in the other timeline.
We’ve also seen little things here and there like when Kate saw Claire at the airport in their alternate timeline, they somehow felt like they had met before. And they weren’t the only ones, there was also Desmond and Penny and Locke and Whidmore. Definitely some overlapping going on on a more subconscious level.
Then, what about the Dharma initiative? “Dharma” is an Indian religious term meaning “one’s righteous duty, or any virtuous path”. Coincidence? I think not. If you look at the beliefs of the Dharma initiative, you’ll see they have this overarching goal of protecting the island. Desmond spent years pressing a button for unknown reasons because he was told if he didn’t, something bad would happen. In a sense, the almost religious nature of the Dharma initiative (including the word ‘dharma’ itself) kinda resembles religion today. Some people follow orders based on faith rather than proof. Desmond blindly pressed the button, not really knowing what would happen. It wasn’t until Locke came in and asked “why” that Desmond stopped to think. And stopped pressing the button, which in turn caused the island to release enormous amounts of magnetic energy, thus causing a ripple in spacetime.
So, how do I think it will end? Logically and probably technically I don’t know how you’d “fix” the rippled spacetime. You can’t stop a ripple, only wait for it to die out, right? So, once the two time lines have been created, the only way to make things normal is to cut off one of them. That’s where the free will part comes in, or destiny according to some. Locke was trying to bring people back to the island because it was their destiny, but in the end, it’ll be up to each individual to choose which timeline they want.
If Jack wants Kate and so chooses a certain timeline, but Kate chooses another, what happens then? And what was Jacob saying about the island being essentially a “cork that holds in the evil”? It seems that Jacob is very pro free will and Locke is very pro destiny (free will versus faith, perhaps) so maybe what Jacob meant by “evil” was removing people’s idea of free will. So his battle was not only ethical, but in a sense spiritual.
What do you think?
12 Feb 2010
By my fifth day in Hawaii I had still not beaten the weird hours. I was still waking up super early. But, since my parents woke up super early too, it was more beneficial as it allowed me more quality time with them. However, as the time I woke up each morning stayed the same, my addiction for Nick’s new Playstation 3 was growing. So instead of actually getting out of bed when I woke up, I’d play a little Call of Duty. Then I’d come to a level that required a second player and decide to return later. Coffee was calling.
My dad was downstairs doing his normal P90X routine and mom had just gotten back from her morning run. I really wanted to run with her, but I was on my last week of recuperation from previous running injuries and as good as I felt, I didn’t want to push it and risk another month of no running. Since my grandparents were still getting up and ready for their day, my folks and I decided to drive up to the (in)famous Kolekole pass.
The Kolekole pass is a fairly narrow passage between two hills of the mountain range where the Japanese fighter plans flew undetected before bombing Pearl Harbor. The Kolekole pass is also the only road that shortcuts the Waianae mountain range on the Leeward side of the island. If it weren’t for the Kolekole pass you’d have to drive all the way down and around. However, the road is only open at certain times of the day: in the mornings you can only drive East and in the afternoons you can only drive West.
Kolekole pass in the morning
Dad, Nick and Mom looking at the incredible views. It's also pretty windy.
The pass is pretty incredible and it’s neat to be standing where such an important part of history took place. The movie “Pearl Harbor” was filmed on the other side of the island (which you’ll read about on Day 6) but the part where the boys were playing baseball and the planes flew overhead… that was representing this area.
After spending a little time admiring the views we hiked back down to the car and drove back to the house to get ready for our adventures to Waikiki. My brothers wanted to go to Sports Authority and spend their money on golf and football equipment and I just wanted to look around. I had decided that, in order to not have additional luggage I’d save my shopping for when I got back. I brought an extra bag in my suitcase knowing I’d have more stuff to bring back such as clothes and my new GPS, but it wasn’t large enough to carry much more. There were a few things I needed though so I hoped to find them while we were out.
My mom, Dad, my grandparents and Jennifer all went to the beach while my two brothers and I did some shopping. Waikiki is pretty big, despite being on a relatively small island. We ended up walking close to 5 miles round trip, but we did manage to hit up the Ala Moana Center – a gigantic shopping mall. Jeremy got a new golf putter and Nick got some football stuff. The Rainbow sandals I had for close to five years were wearing thin and I picked up some Reef’s for a good price. I also picked up some sunglasses for while I was there.
The mall was pretty interesting in that it didn’t feel like any mall I’d been to before. Part of it was open-air and it had several floors. The lower level also had a parking garage and the food court. There were hoardes of people, most of them Japanese, and even some stores were in all Japanese. It felt like another country altogether. But it was also very exciting.
After we were done shopping, we made the 2.5 mile trek back through downtown Waikiki back to the beach. We had been gone almost four hours though and by the time we got back my grandparents were ready to get home so we didn’t have any time to enjoy the beach. We loaded up the Nissan Armada and headed home to relax for the remainder of the evening.
Addendum:
How genius is this? It's a bike rack.
08 Feb 2010
As always, the Super Bowl is host to many great and memorable commercials. This year was the first to feature a Google commercial (not that Google really needs a commercial) and I was pleased to see how simply perfect it was. It got me to thinking about the philosophies between the two companies who are battling for the ‘best search engine’ – Google and Microsoft.
Microsoft has always been – at least to me – a company who forcefully crams its way into lives. Whether it’s preinstalling Internet Explorer during Windows installations or shoving numerous bing commercials down our throats, Microsoft is just over the top with everything. Bloated operating systems and bloated commercials.
You ever heard the saying, “Jack of all trades, Master of none”? Well, this is Microsoft. They try to be everything to everyone – operating systems, gaming consoles, mp3 players, computer hardware, search engines, and who knows what else. How many of these flop? Nearly all of them. I think maybe the Xbox was their biggest success (at least in my book). And I’ll admit, Windows 7 ain’t bad. It sure took them long enough though.
Google is the best search engine because it’s simply that – a search engine. Now, granted Google does other projects too, but at least they all rally among a common theme – search. Google doesn’t need a “pretty” homepage to extend quality to the user. Google does just fine using the bare minimum (which I admire). Microsoft is the opposite… gradients, shininess, superfluous crap… I don’t need my OS to look pretty, nor do I need my search engine to look pretty. What I do need is for my OS and my search engine to work well and work efficiently.
Take a look at these commercials:
Microsoft Bing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSkaTcjDIMk
Google
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jH5RRLgqzmI
Google and Bing are both search engines, yet it feels to me that Bing tries too hard. Google’s search engine is to the point. It’s simple. You can only do one thing and that one thing is search. And, you can search for the same stuff that you could search for on Bing (Google is even a calculator) – all from a well-dressed, simple, usable homepage. And how is Bing gonna go on about “search overload” when the entire point of search engines is to search? Lame.
Contrary to popular belief, people don’t really “surf” the web anymore. The web is a tool. We use it to accomplish tasks and goals. If we go to Google (or Bing if you prefer) we’re there to search for something, not sit and stare at (and get distracted by) pretty background images.
And as The Washington Post mentions, “Amid dozens of ads focused on cars, beer, and busty women, the Google spot definitely took a different approach: it tells a love story through a series of search queries.” Beautiful. Perfect. Simple.
Whatever search engine you choose I hope you find what you’re searching for efficiently and quickly. In the end that’s what it’s all about. I, however, will be searching with Google. Because it looks pretty.
Search on.
21 Jan 2010
As you probably know (because I’ve been going on incessantly about it on this blog), I got to spend a few days with my family in Hawaii last month. If you haven’t ready about shots on the porch with my dad, my adventures with 15-foot waves, or how I learned the hard way that my legs can get sunburned, then you’ll have to check them out. Today I will tell you about Christmas with my family, and how traditions bring us together even 4,000 miles away from our hometown.
When my brother and I were younger we used to wake up really early on Christmas morning, and like any other children, we were excited to see all the cool stuff Santa brought. Our parents didn’t mind that we woke up early, and they offered this as a compromise for their sleep: we couldn’t open up anything under the tree, but we could open our stockings. So, at 3:30a we’d be downstairs playing with whatever Santa put in our stockings. We were allowed to wake our parents up at 6:00a but no sooner. So, we’d be loud hoping they’d just wake up. We were sneaky like that.
Fastforward 20 years, and this is to be my first Christmas with my immediate family all together in five years (due to deployments of my dad and brother and the expense associated with traveling long distances.) Of course, we had to keep the tradition alive. Jeremy arrived at my parents’ house at 3:30a. He woke up me and our younger brother Nick, and we headed downstairs to see what Santa left in our stockings.
We put on some coffee, poured mom some of her homemade tea, and fixed dad a goblet of eggnog spiked with rum (always a welcome surprise), for when they awoke, then sat down to reminisce about old times.
Sadly the giddiness that we used to have wasn’t there, at least not to the extent as it was when we were younger. It was replaced by a warmer feeling, one of happiness that we were all together. Considering I probably won’t get to hang with them for another few years, I was extremely grateful.
Later that day, after opening gifts, Mom cooked an early dinner, just like she used to. A big early dinner, with ham, turkey, potatoes, beans, macaroni and cheese, you name it. All of us gathered around my parents’ dining room table and enjoyed each others’ company as we ate. Dinner with my family is always very informal. We all tell jokes, pick on each other (all in good fun) and have a good time all around.
After dinner we went our separate ways for a bit. I went upstairs to play Call of Duty 2: Modern Warfare 2 with my little brother. This time it was on his new Playstation 3 instead of the Xbox 360. For the record, graphics between the two look the same, especially when both are connected using an HDMI cable. I happen to like the Playstation controller better – it feels more natural and intuitive. But having played the 360 for so long it had gotten to the point where it was comfortable as well.
Between all the beer and lethargy that followed dinner, the rest of the day is a blissful blur of happiness with family and enjoying the feeling of home, for the first time in a long time.
Next up: I’ll tell you how I spent my money in Waikiki. Stay tuned…