Captain's Log: Final Log

Hello my fellow space pupils. It is with a heavy heart that I write this final captain's log in hopes to inspire you to keep moving forward with your lives although the captain will not be with you physically. He will however be with you in spirit! There is much to learn still in your young lives and the captain wishes you the best in gaining knowledge and learning from you follies. The knowledge that he has passed on to you will aid you in your survival in this universe and has been passed down to you in hopes that you will pass it on to others. The captain has one final word of advice for internet choices; he recommends you use someone other than time warner cable due to their constant lag spikes and useless service via phone. He would like to suggest AT&T as it is apparently a gamers’ best friend providing low pings all across the universe. Good luck to those of you venturing out to take your final tests on the topics and subjects of this universe and that you pass them using the knowledge you have gained from the captain and from class. He hopes that your remaining journey through The Ohio State University will be both smooth and enjoyable. You will find times of trial, frustration, reward, celebration and happiness. Now continue on in your journeys and never forget that the captain is always a "Pokerface" dance away in the galaxy. Where there is trouble, he will be there, where there is a need for knowledge he will be there, and wherever there is someone in need of assistance, the captain will dance in the face of danger to save them. This is the captain signing out.

Captain's Log 74: One to go

We are very close to our final blogs ad the end of the quarter. This time tomorrow I will be excited as I will be done with the quarter and able to relax and give a much needed cleaning to my apartment. There are many things that I plan on doing over the break form videogames, sports, family and friends time, some card games, and much more. Then I will have to prepare to be a teaching assistant next quarter as well as a student. I look forward to being able to help others through a class I already took and help them avoid the pitfalls that I encountered. It is funny that I just realized that if I simply studied a little each week for my classes I really could avoid the cramming process that I have done every year before finals and midterms. It would be a lot less frustrating and stressful. I hope everyone else's quarter is going well and that they finish strong this will be almos the captain's final transmission and he hopes you all will enjoy the break nad have a great next quarter. I am now going to continue cramming for my exam that is at 7am and I hope that all of you have exams that are later in the morning to avoid creaming so close to the final exam and not having any motivation for it.  Well that is all for  now so the captain is going to log off and study.

Captain's Log 73: The END is NEAR

Finally the year is coming to a close and only one song is standing out at the moment. "The Final Countdown" by Europe. Here are the lyrics to the song so that you too can be singing them in your mind as the end nears! Lyrics are as follows:

We're leaving together
But still it's farewell
And maybe we'll come back
To earth, who can tell?
I guess there is no one to blame
We're leaving ground
Will things ever be the same again?

It's the final countdown
The final countdown

Ohh
We're heading for Venus and still we stand tall
'Cause maybe they've seen us and welcome us all, yea
With so many light years to go and things to be found
(To be found)
I'm sure that we'll all miss her so
[ From: http://www.elyrics.net/read/e/europe-lyrics/the-final-countdown-lyrics.html ]

It's the final countdown
The final countdown
The final countdown
(The final countdown)
Ohh ho ohh

The final countdown, oh ho
It's the final countdown
The final countdown
The final countdown
(The final countdown)

Ohh
It's the final countdown
We're leaving together
The final countdown
We'll all miss her so
It's the final countdown
(The final countdown)
Ohh, it's the final countdown
Yea

So let this song be stuck in your head and look it up if you have not heard it before. It would be hard to believe that you had never heard it before. There are many other songs that are fitting but we will leave those out as this song stands above all else! It is THE FINAL COUNTDOWN!!!

Captain's Log 72: Info on My Favorite Game

Players are formed into 2 even teams with 1-5 champions on each team. Each team starts at opposing sides of a map, near what is called a "Nexus". A match is won when either the opposing team's Nexus is destroyed or the other team surrenders. To destroy a Nexus, each team must work through a series of towers called "Turrets". Turrets are often placed along a path to each base referred to as a "Lane". Along the way, each player must gain levels from killing the opposing team's "Champions" and "Minions" (small NPCs that constantly spawn and attack the other team) and defeating neutral monsters (some of which grant buffs known as Crests upon death). Also, champions purchase "Items" with in-match gold to improve their champion. In League of Legends, each player starts at level 1 at the beginning of the match and can obtain the maximum of level 18 with their champion, leveling 4 different champion-specific abilities.
The idea of a spiritual successor to Defense of the Ancients that would be its own stand-alone game with its own engine, rather than another Mod of Warcraft III began to materialize at the end of 2005.^[9] League of Legends was born "when a couple of very active DotA community members believed that the gameplay was so much fun and so innovative that it represented the spawning of a new genre and deserved to be its own professional game with significantly enhanced features and around-game services."^[9]
Riot Games was co-founded by Brandon Beck and Marc Merrill.^[8] They partnered with some of the key creative minds behind the creation of DotA-Allstars, Steve "Guinsoo" Feak and Steve "Pendragon" Mescon.^[9] Riot Games officially opened its office in September 2006, and currently has about 40 people working on League of Legends, "including their robust technology platform to service and operate the game as well as a team dedicated to community relations."^[9]

Captains Log 71: Caprica

I wasn't particularly fond of the episode we wathed today. It did not appear to be going anywhere in the long run and in the end it was just sort of decent. The characters nor the story line were all that interesting and it didn't hold my attention very well. The episode lacked action and the frontal nudity of the girls did not help it keep my attention. It might have been their desperation move to keep male viewers. More action or scenes with a deeper plot would have been appreciated to at least keep me interested in this perspective.  I am unsure of what else to say about it as most of the episode just did not keep my interest and the storyline appeared to sit still. A few people died and there was a virtual girl who was a copy of the real girl that died. Honestly that is about all that I got out of it and I am not surprised that it lacked in the story line department. Most prequels are not that great because the show has already advanced beyond the spec of the prequel. Who cares how it got to where it was in BSG? We do not need the pre-story after the actual story was made. It is along the same lines of how I feel about the star wars pre-stories coming out many many years after the star wars trilogy had been out. They were my least favorite movies and I disliked all of them. I guess I am just not an overall fan of prequels. The just seem pointless after making the story that came after them. Why not just start with them?

Captain's Log 70: Blog About Physical Chemistry

Here is an excerpt from my lab report that I have gotten to write every week of this quarter:

This experiment was utilized to determine the vapor pressures and enthalpies of sublimation for vanillin and o-vanillin. The experiment used a diffusion pump with a liquid nitrogen trap to expose pellets of vanillin and o-vanillin to low pressures at specified temperatures.  Geometry optimizations were performed on the monomers and π-stack, mirror and rotated mirror dimer structures of vanillin and o-vanillin using the semi-empirical AM1 level of theory. The computational results gave energies of -91.64 kcal/mol and -89.73 kcal/mol for vanillin and o-vanillin respectively. The results from the dimer structures of vanillin gave values of -183.42 kcal/mol for the π-stack, -183.12 kcal/mol for the mirror and -187.69 kcal/mol for the rotated mirror structures. . The results from the dimer structures of o-vanillin gave values of -181.42 kcal/mol for the π-stack, -182.24 kcal/mol for the mirror and -182.06 kcal/mol for the rotated mirror structures. The results suggest that the rotated mirror structure was the most stable structure for the vanillin and the mirror structure was the most stable structure for the o-vanillin.  

The vapor pressures for vanillin for trials 1 and 2 were found to be 0.24 Pa (75 °C) and 0.064 Pa (60 °C) respectively, and 0.034 Pa (38 °C) and 5.36E-3 Pa (31 °C) for trials 1 and 2 for o-vanillin. The experimental enthalpies of sublimation for vanillin and o-vanillin were found to be 82.6 kJ/mol and 180.7 kJ/mol respectively. The literature values were found to be 88.7 kJ/mol for vanillin and 54.1 kJ/mol for o-vanillin. The experimental and literature values for vanillin are fairly close while the values for o-vanillin differ by a larger magnitude. The experimental results suggest that o-vanillin is more stable than vanillin, but this is not true. An error must have arisen in the experiment that skewed the data for the o-vanillin data such as water trapped in the crevices of the Knudsen cell. It is suggested that the experiment be performed with improved equipment and a more water tight cell be used.

How exciting does this sound?

Captain's Log 69: Study Hard

The quarter is finally coming to a close and things are wrapping up. It is just a matter of time before the students are free to roam the plains of OSU in mass chaos. There will be parties and some who will just sleep or veg out on their couch for a while. I will be playing videogames for a very long time and then sleep and eat to my heart's content. This blog is already feeling like I wont have enough to write about so maybe I can just buy time by writing word or finding a topic to rant about. Then again I am have a hard time finding a topic to write about like for Christmas I have absolutely no idea what I want or the fact that I am not going to have enough money to buy gifts for everyone this year. It is really sad when you can not afford to give to others and you are actually in need of the money you want to spend. But for the most part the other people will understand. I will graduate at the end of this year so maybe my gifts next year can be awesome in sacrifice of this year’s gifts. Seems like a viable idea to me. I just have to make sure that I seal a job before I get out this year which I plan to do in the winter quarter. I am also a TA for one of my favorite teachers, so I guess I will have a little cash flow from there. I am looking forward to being a TA for Experimental Design. I know it does not sound all that exciting but the teacher makes it much more fun.

Captain's Log 68: Mission Accomplished

The captain has accomplished reaching his 100 comments during the break and is now tackling a physical chemistry lab report. It is full of jargon and fancy terms for simple things that most people would never in their right state of mind care to think about. He hopes to finish it tonight in order to have time to study for his final exam this thursday and hopefully do well on it. There is a lot of ground to cover and he is unsure if he will get there. It is a long and treacherous journey that must be made and afterwards, there is yet more studying for the remaining finals as well as a meeting at the writing center on wednesday. The captain is typing this in order to try and remember, so that he does not miss the meeting because there were so few slots left for this week. Anyways, I hope to finish the lab report by 1 am and then go to bed and get up tomorrow to study all day and then turn this report in on wednesday. Then do the physical chemistry final on thursday and start studying for my final on monday at 7:30 am. I just have to stay focused and finish strong then I can relax just like the rest of you. I think I am planning a trip to Florida just to get away f or a week or so. It has been a very long quarter with all the lab reports, tests and other stuff that has been going on. I am sure we could all use one by now,

Captain's Log 67: End of a Break

The break is finally coming to a close tonight. There was food, laughter and quality time spent with friends and family. It was a great break and now we begin two final weeks of classes. After the last week I am thinking that a drive to Florida with some friends is definitely in order since all the hard work we all put into the quarter. A nice week on the beach relaxing when most other people will not be going to avoid the crowds and getting lower prices on a lot of things. It is most likely going to be a driving trip because it is far cheaper, avoids the car rental expenses and can be done in a day or two. We will most likely attempt a one day drive which means rotating shifts of driving all the way down to Florida to keep everyone fresh and alert. The trip will be a good chance for everyone to bond an relax at the same time. You don't really know someone until you have spent a really long time with them in a car. Even if we do not get to go at least the thought made the last two weeks seem worthy of finishing strongly rather than dreading them. I hope to be able to finish the quarter strongly and then just forget about everything until a week before the next quarter. I will play video games to my heart’s content and then sleep as much as possible to feel charged rather than sleepy.

Captain's Log 66

The Captain is feeling increased pressure from all the approaching deadlines. It feels as if time itself is running faster and less can be done within the allotted time. There is so much to do that the idea of sacrificing certain tasks is looking increasingly more necessary. It is in times like these that stress can over take and things seem like they will never get better. A break is probably necessary in order to relax slightly and be able to perform better overall. Judging by what you all have posted, it has been decided that “Bad Romance” by Lady Ga Ga shall be the captain’s battle cry and signature line.  It will surely quake fear into all the hearts of his enemies and make him a remembered presence on the battlefield. There are many who already tremble in fear from battle where this new battle cry was used. They are so frightful that a smile overtakes their face and they turn away and run onto the depths of space. The captain and crew are no longer taken lightly as the enemies run at light speed while having a strange sound that must be a side effect from all of the fear they are feeling that sounds very much like a laugh. But since they are running it surely must be a side effect of the fear. There will be updates of future battle and possibly by the end of the quarter a collage of the captain and his battle cry, stance, and line being said. Keep your eyes ready, we are on the horizon and will send fear quaking through your very being with our new battle cry! No one will be left on the battle field as they will be stifled and confused as they wont know whether the captain is romancing them or launching an all out attack!

Captain's Log 65: Relaxing Day

The captain got a late start on his black friday shopping and ended up buying only a printer cartridge. The day progressed and the captain did a little work but mainly just relaxed since the upcoming week is going to be long and not fun as well as the next week. There is much to be done but the captain is having a hard time to find the drive to do it all. As he is sure everyone is. Try to finish strong because afterwards you get a nice almost month long break. Then celebrations can commence and relaxation begins for a majority of us. The ending is the best part of the quarter because then you truely have nothing to do for school and can sleep in and relax. Overall not a bad day, now the captain will try to get some comments in so an appolgy will be made now on the captain's behalf for the spamming of your inboxes. The captain must get back to work and must finish all his work to try an allevoate some of the stress of this week.  He hopes all of your breaks are going well and that the food will continue to be tasty and plentiful. Get ready for the Michigan game! The Bucks will take on the Wolverines and take them down! Have fun but not too much as that can  lead to the loss of memory and possibly a stranger you do not know being beside you when you wake up.

Captain's Log 64: Turkey Day and Balck Friday Shopping

The turkey day turned out to be full of food and a family football game. The epic game came down to a tie this year. All players left the field muddy and drenched in rain. The food was the best part of course with Turkey, mashed and sweet potatoes, bread, pastas, and of course the deserts. The pumpkin pie was the best part of the meal as it should be. After eating and getting home I ventured home to prepare for Black Friday shopping. I decided to take a nap and then to wake up and go shopping but that failed because as soon as I woke up, I thought to myself "What deal is good enough to crawl out of bed at 3:00 am and then go stand in a large crowd of people?". There just were not enough reasons to crawl out of bed to go shopping for stuff. I do not plan on buying much this year anyways, so it is nicer to just go back to bed after typing this blog. The captain wishes everyone a seasons greetings and that everyone is enjoying the time with their families, friends, and the food. If you did venture out to go Black Friday shopping the captain wishes you a safe return home in one piece without any shoe prints on your back because the deals may be good but not good enough to die for.  The rest of us will go shopping later today after getting a good amount of sleep and being completely refreshed.

Captain's Log 63: Dance Blog

The captain has demanded that the entire crew join his fitness club. It consists of doing yoga, Pilates, and various other awkward exercises. He believes one of the key things to being a good crew is that everyone be in tip top shape. Unfortunately the captain only watches as we all attempt to do this routine and laughs as some of us fail while other succeed.  These exercises are supposed to help make our mind and body function as one and become a lethal killing machine while looking elegant and graceful. While I appreciate the Captain’s interest, I can not help but speculate that there is some other reason he has for making us do the routines while he watches. He will smile and wave at some of us with a wink which quite frankly creeps the living daylights out of most of us. But he is our captain so we must abide by his commands regardless of how much we question his motifs. The current state of the crew is that there are all shapes and sizes and we each have our own unique ways of making it to the end of the routines. Some of us fake an injury and others just pretend to pass out, either way we are able to get out of this duty and return to our rooms where we are able to forget the looming looks that linger in our minds of the captain’s glances. This unique and creepy bond we all share is what keeps us together and functioning as a group. The video will probably be posted during finals week since the crew members will need to releive stress and exercise is a good source for this relief. There are many steps to be learned and little time. The captain will be learning and teaching as the next few weeks go on until the performance. What do you guys think?

Captain's Log 62: BSG 2

The ending to Battlestar Galatica's first part of the series was pretty typical and decent. The humans escape so the series can continue and have to run to regroup and fight another day. It follows the usual humans live to fight another day followed by a series of episodes that will introduce drama and the humans will gain an edge at some point against the cylons and end up winning. I am sure the overall series will be interesting and hopefully have a few surprises along the way to keep viewers attention. There may be enough interest to watch the next episode in the season out of pure curiosity and to see what happens to the crazy guy that sees the cylon chick. I am not sure what else to write about the series other than an analysis of the graphics and effects used in the first episode. The graphics were still pretty good for its time and the sounds that were chosen for the ships and everything were not to reminiscent of star wars which was a refresher. The ships were of a nice design and unique to the show and the cylons still are a mystery at least what they look like in person. The rest of the cylons are still robot like but we dont know how refined they are now in comparison to their more human like models. I really can’t make an  in depth analysis because I do not know enough about the series yet.

Captain's Log 61: Minecraft

The captain has discovered a game from his friends call minecraft! The sole purpose of the game is to mine material and build structures using blocks in order to avoid the zombie, spiders and various other creatures of the night. The game is extremely simplistic, but the addicting part is seeing the finished structure after you have spent the time building it. Certain tool mine certain things and different material are needed for each tool. As you progress through your digging there is lava and water that you could potentially dig into and get yourself into quite the situation. I thought the game sounded pretty ridiculous at first but after playing it I can see why it is so addicting. There is much more to the game and this is merely the alpha testing meaning the game has barely taken off. There is much more to come in the future and it will be free to those people who bought the earlier testing version. There are lots to do and many other things that allow for comradery and some good laughs. I would recommend the game to anyone willing to give it a try because I think it would entertain many different kinds of people. It is fairly simplistic once you get the handle on a few things. I will see you guys today technically, I am having trouble sleeping if you could not tell already. I hope everyone sleeps well and sooner than I got too, sweet dreams and good night.

Captain's Log 60: Pirates of the Caribbean

The captain has noticed that the channel USA is very fond of playing Pirates of the Caribbean every weekend on sunday. There is the first, second, third and evetually the fourth. I feel like it is turning into The Land Before Time which is on movie 11 or 14 now and seems to have no end in sight. I love the series, but its hard to love it as much as I usually did because it is on so often... The appreciation for the story line begins to stop when you have seen it 35 times or so and you watch it hoping that it will be just as good as the first time. Alas, this is not what has happened. Instead I am just getting bored and losing interest. Does anyone else feel that they are playing them on television way too much? There are some others series that are over played as well. Some of the underplayed ones are Lord of the Rings, the original Star Wars and several other trilogies like The Mummy. Granted the last Mummy was pretty bad because they recasted Eve! My first thought when I heard that was "How DARE they!" and now I refuse to watch that particular Mummy sequel. Along with the rest of these movies are shows where they continuously play only the most popular episodes like certain Law and Orders or CSI’s and you want to see different ones even if they were not the most popular jus tot see something new! This has turned into a rant and will now end to save you the reader’s time and the captain and just get over his raging. The captain wishes you a pleasant day!

Captain's Log 59: Harry Potter and the Disfunctional Publish Button

So it appears the captain did not hit the publish button yesterday when he put his blog up. As a result he will be putting up this late one with a perplexed look on his face and a bit of rage on his mind. The new Harry Potter was a pretty good movie as it has many battle scenes and spells that any Dungeons and Dragons fan would love to see. I am not a DND person but I thought it was pretty good overall. Solid story line and the graphics were pretty darn good. I have had a hard time sleeping as of lately so I have been watching all of the Harry Potter puppet pal videos on youtube to lighten the mood and get a few laughs. Yes, the humor in these videos is very simplistic and it provides endless laughs to anyone who might be slap happy. The weekend has one day left and then the Mirror Lake night will be here on tuesday and there will be many people running around in the cold drenched in the very clean Mirror lake water. It is the purest water on campus with a 0.001% chance of catching syphilis! Those odds arent good but I can only image being the one person to get it and trying to explain it to your parents! I can gaurentee they wont be buying the line, "The lake did it!". That is it for this blog now onto the next one so I can be caught up overall and then to the commenting!!!

Blog 58: Captain's Log

Today was the last day for the captain's horseback riding class. It was a sad day for the captain and he spent an extra hour just going around and petting all of the horses. They each have their own unique personalities and are very nice in general. The captain walked in with clean clothes and a jacket, but walked out covered in hay, dust, horse hair and dirt. The captain is definitely considering doing horseback riding in the winter. Sure it is going to be extremely cold some days, but he is a space cowboy and can take on the elements! Not to mention it is extremely relaxing to just be able to ride around for about an hour and just forget about the rest of the world.The captain wishes he would have grown up on a farm and had horses when he was younger because he always liked the out doors. There is a lot of stuff to do on a farm and it might be work for some, but the captain enjoys these small tasks. The captain thought the horse named Peaches was the nicest and most awesome horse on the farm. She was extremely kind and loved attention. There  are many things the captain wishes to type about horseback riding although there is way too much to talk about and his words are almost up. Well you all have a great day and the captain will catch you later. Remember to feed your intergalactical pets and smile on occasion.

Blog 57: Captain's Log BSG

Battlestar Galactica is like most of the traditional shows that air on scyfy where there is some sort of aliens or robots that are trying to take over the earth and the humans must fight them in order to survive. The show overall isn't that bad so far. It has an interesting story line that keeps the viewers attentions while providing some cool fight scenes and graphics. The fact that the cylons look more human like and can even fool the humans is pretty interesting. The rest fo the series should be very attention catching and able to make some real interesting plot twists towards the end. There are many reasons to continue watching BSG in order to find out if the human race will survive the attack and/or war as well as if the cylon that saved the one guy will help the humans because she likes him. Or is she is only protecting him because he is of further use to the cylons. The nukes hitting the planet were very smooth looking graphically which is pretty interesting since BSG is from a few years ago. The sequel Caprica may be worth a view if BSG continues to be interesting. I think BSG was actually cancelled if I am not mistaken which makes me think the writers began to run out fo ideas or the story got dry/repetitive.  Anyways, after seeing how the rest of the episode goes I will decide whether or not to continue watching the series and then the sequel.

Blog 56: Captain's Log "Finish Out the Week Strong"

The captain is finding a lack of motivation this week as it starts to reach its end. He has many tasks before him, but doesn’t feel the need to take them seriously. The tasks are a report, a paper, a memo and studying for a quiz that he needs to do well on. He has potentially finished the paper, is half way through the report and has yet to start the other two tasks. Once he finishes the report and knows that the paper is at least half way decent, he will be able to move on and finish off the other two tasks hopefully all by the end of tonight. The captain's goal is to have almost nothing to do tomorrow so that he can finish studying for the quiz and post lots of comments on unsuspecting peoples' walls. Some of your inboxes will be flooded and the captain is deciding to apologize ahead of time. The comments will range from useful to useless commentary depending on what blogs lay in the path of his destruction. He should reach 100 easily by Sunday night and then begin to claim his extra credit as he will agree to nothing less than an A in this English class. He just needs the drive to complete all of these tasks and he will be able to move on with the rest of the final tasks of the quarter. The captain will have approximately 2 finals, but only 1 is actually during finals week. It has been a long journey this quarter and it is finally coming to a close all too soon.

Blog 55: Captain's Log "What a Day...."

The captain ventured into his first class this morning to spend five minutes in the room and then go outside for a "fire drill" which turned into a bomb threat. The captain was separated from his utility bag that contained all of his belongings that were crucial for his missions today. Instead of completing any of these missions, he was forced to sit around and wait until his utility bag could be retrieved from the evil clutches of the goggle bomber. The captain charged in past the tape with an official federal escort to obtain his bag and return to head quarters as soon as possible. After the retrieval of his bag, the captain ordered a interplanetary pizza from Papa Johns and sit down to ponder about the troubles of his persuasive paper. He was semi-distracted by a videogame and then returned to his though process. Now he will tackle the mission of writing the paper and saving the galaxy through persuasion and relationship advice! It sounds much more glorious than it actually is but, the captain fears and knows that it is a job he must do. He strikes the keys with every word running through his mind at light speed, each stroke ringing out in a beautiful and harmonious frenzy of typing. The speed picks up as the captain reaches the part of the paper where the reader will realize that which he has called on them to do! He provides examples through relevant and current shows that people can relate to and begins to write his final paragraph. The suspense is momentous as he slows down to ponder on his final words in the paper. The tension builds as his thoughts swirl in his mind and then he makes his final strikes. A masterpiece is born!

Blog 54: Captain's Log "The Captain's Decision"

The captain has to make the decision on what to type his Common Place paper on. He has it narrowed down to how the ideal relationships created by Hollywood tend to leave out the major flaws or challenges that come with them. The compelling part of the article was poorly outlines in that people need to be aware that when looking at their own relationship they cannot base their ideals on these dreams created by movies. Granted that the movies provide adventures and danger for the couples, but the simple everyday challenges are overlooked. These minor imperfections that are left out are usually what tear them apart and sometimes it is because one or both of the people in the relationship have unrealistic standards for the other. The captain is going to make a better attempt at making this more obvious in his paper. He is happy to see that 1 out of 11 people from class caught the humor/annoying fact that the relationship between Penny and Leonard did not actually occur until season 2 and ended in season 3. Also, the fact that Leonard and Penny from The Big Bang Theory are a couple that you are not likely to see, but their relationship does portray many of the complications that arise in real relationships. So the captain has decided to ask you what you the "readers" want to read about in this aspect. Have you found yourself or someone else holding unrealistic standards on someone? Have you experienced these imperfections in real relationships that tend to be let out in movies?

Blog 53: Captain's Log

Cooking with the captain has allowed the entire crew to bond over the making and eating of a meal. Food is a universal language that can be applied across all cultures and brings different ones together. By having the crew cook together they could each bring a unique ingredient to the overall dish and in the end the combination of these overall individual ingredients provides one delicious and amazing end result that the entire crew can enjoy together. If you don't think it is as powerful as this suggestion says, give it a try. Invite over your friends for a dinner night and cook something from scratch. Buy all of the individual ingredients and have someone work on each one and add it when it is needed. There are many different dishes that can be made and attempted by you and your fellow comrades in effort to make a fabulous dish for all to enjoy. This simple and trivial task will bring about conversations and bonding time that may often be overlooked and under appreciated these days. These moments can be more valuable between two people than simply buying a lunch together and just eating because it forces people to communicated and work together using team work. Even dare to choose dishes from other cultures where no one has any idea how the actual dish should turn out and enjoy the surprise flavor at the end. Sometimes things that look questionable are actually some of the most delicious dishes to ever be made. Many dishes that you see today were created on accident by someone who was just messing around with different ingredients.

Blog 52: Capain's Log "Pokemon"

The captain is going to enlighten you with both knowledge and a source of entertainment. He has discovered that Pokemon is a very entertaining game despite your age and that regardless of how cute and fluffy an electric rat is it is not meant to be hugged. The result of hugging said rat is shocking! Banzinga! I know that the captain's humor is both intellectual yet easy to understand which makes it funny, timely, compelling and relevant. The games and different versions of Pokemon have provided hours of wasted life and gameplay that is so addicting that you will not give up until said fluffy creature is captured! You will reset the game and keep hunting in the grass until you find your one desired and over obsessed creature that you so desire to have within your arsenal of other fluffy creatures that it will both allow you to feel better and laugh as you kill other creatures with your favorite one. Doing this for hours and hours and then stomping the elite 4 with this one creature causes you hours of laughter and enjoyment as their pokemon fall one by one to your massively leveled fluffy critter. This game is highly recommended to any age bracket and actually contains a decent story line. Pikachu makes a very nice choice for a ringtone since it will make others laugh and be very distinct. It may also cause people with a skewed vision of reallity and the game to pull out a pokemon and bludgeon people with it by tossing it across the room in hopes of catching a pikachu. So be careful if you so choose to do so and hope not to be the bludgeoned person. JigglyPuff!!!!! Jiggly jiggly jiggly PUFF!!! *A wild Charizard has appeared* (not possible in earlier versions without a game shark)

Blog 51: Captain's Log Late

This is probably the captain's second legitamately late blog that wasn't caused by technical difficulties. Instead the captain was helping his grandparents around their house and then falling alseep at 9:30 pm before he awoke this morning at 8:30 am this morning. He helped his grandfather install galatical windows that would protect them from both all the space elements and inter planetary bandits. Then he ate a meal and fell asleep from all of the work and had to do more this morning. However, as along as the captain is getting food to fuel him, he is more than happy to do the tasks bestowed upon him from the elder and wise grandparents so that he might pass the knowledge onto you. There are two inter planetary dogs that live at the house as well that were both joyful to have someone to play and tell that need to go out. When the captain got tuckered out and caught up in his day, he forgot about the blog and fell asleep causing him to thereby miss the blog and have to write it today and then write his next one back to back. This system will work as he will be able to write it immediately after on a more interesting and relevant. The end of this blog is near and it will soon end, thereby leading to the next blog which is to be written directly after this one, meaning it will both be on time and not forgotten like this blog from the prior days events enabling the grade to be put as completed and not incomplete.

ant topic.

Blog 50: Captain's Log "I Feel Smart"

First off, it should be noted that the captain plays a video game called League of Legends, where he is a tank for the team. Taking the attention and abuse from his enemies so that his allies do not have too. He puts himself in harms way in order to save his allies from pain and allow then to trample over their foes as he stands there and takes the abuse. Let alone he is usually the leader of the team that leads them to victory. On another note, the captain enjoys feeling smarter as he watches the show "The World's Dumbest Criminals", which shows people who are just as the titles describes, to dumb to commit the worlds simplest crimes successfully. These people provide laughs, entertainment and keep the police busy in their crazy and brainless antics all over the world. If you have not seen this show the captain highly recommends it and you will see exactly why he enjoys it. The later at night it is when you watch it the better. You will laugh so hard you will pass out and get a good nights rest. There are indeed people too dumb to commit crimes and for that reason they go to jail and provide entertainment as you watch them fail time and time again. The entertainment is so good that the laughter that ensues is both unending and echoes throughout the entire apartment. This show has got to be one of the most creative and best ideas that ever arose from a 5 minute brainstorm or a funny personal experience.

Blog 49: Captain's Log

Does anyone else remember the creepy little things call "Ferbie". I may have spelled it incorrectly, but that is mainly because I never owned one and despised them. I heard stories of them randomly waking up and just talking non-stop while a person was sleeping or at some of the worst possible times. They looked really creepy with their huge eyes and fuzzy little bodies. This was one of the worlds toys that I felt never needed to exist. I understand the need to have something fuzzy for people to love, hold and care for but there were better options such as Tickle Me Elmo, which I would have rather seen than these creepy litte fur balls. They had no educational value and they required no care at all minus putting in new batteries when your little fuzzy chatter box died midsentence. They did not need to be fed which may have given some source of responsibility and I ended up hearing more stories later on about people destroying furbies in various ways then loving them. However, the funny part about them is that they are a million dollar idea much like Snuggy in my eyes. Ideas that are just a “What the hell?” moment every time you see them yet enough people are buying them to stimulate more commercials and the production of more of them. What other ideas do you guys remember that were not impressive but ended up making a lot of money? At least “Skip it” made kids exercise and I could see then fun in it as a child.

Blog 48: Captain's Log

It appears that the setting the clocks back an hour is affecting my ability to stay awake. There is almost no longer any time between me feeling tired and actually falling asleep. I slowly start to lose control of my eyelids which continually are in a closing motion regardless of how much I fight it and my body becomes increasingly heavy and comfy. I tend to doze off on my couch and wake up some amount of time later then walk into my room and return to sleep. This has only happened a few times but all spaced out. I love sleeping in the cold so winter may be the bane of my existence each year as I go from hyper to more of a moderate calm. The difference becomes increasingly noticeable the farther in winter it becomes. The smell of hot turkey, pumpkin pie, apple cider and pumpkin pie will slowly begin to fill all of our houses in the near future. And then there is the one day a year we can stuff our faces and be with our families while one unfortunate turkey meets its demise. However it is an absolutely tasty demise that many turkeys just happen to meet around the same time every year. But the truer and scarier thing is that a huge number of pumpkins are hunted down and turned into pies. This yearly ritual is both messy and infinitely more delicious than the turkey. I could quite literally eat it all day and every day.

Blog 47: Captain's Log A Day As The Real Captain

Today was a very intense day, I started off by waking up at 5:00 am to finish studying for a Biochemistry exam and then finally took the exam at 8:00 am. After a very long and difficult exam, I had a physical chemistry lab report due at 5 which I still had to type and it took me from 9:30am to 4:30 pm to complete it. I finally got to go home and eat my first meal of the day and then relax the rest of the evening. I was really hoping that NCIS would be on so I could watch special agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs in action taking down all those who dared to stand in his path, but alas it was not on. So I played Fable III and found an existing glitch in the game where your file becomes stuck on a particular quest and all you can do is start over again. Overall they day could have gone far better, but I am glad that all of the work I had to do was done on time and that I can relax a little more tomorrow. I am definitely thinking that a nap sounds great as well as some ice cream to be sure I am ready to take on the rest of the week. This week I am hoping to work on my homework and everything sooner than later and be able to take it easier until the end of the quarter. Cutting it so close to the deadlines causes a lot of unneeded stress.

Blog 46: Captain's Log Tea Cup Pig Theory

The Captain has decided to address a question that is surely lingering in the back of your minds, "How is it that Teacup Pigs remain so small while all other pigs are so large?". The Captain has come up with a few theories and illustrations to aid in his explanation to you. The first theory is that the genes of the pig and the teacup have created a cross breed of a pig that is no larger than the size of the teacup which required very specific gene splicing. The second theory is the obvious misuse of a shrink ray on full sized pigs that reduces them to the size of a teacup. This abuse of such a technology on pigs is both sad and pretty darn funny. This one is the one the captain believes to be most correct.The third theory is that the pig are raised inside of a teacup that way their body must adapt to the size of its environment causing the pig to be so small. This theory is also a good one.

There are more theories that can be gathered I am sure, but the captain has decided to leave some of that detective work to you! You have been honored with a mission to create your own theories and post them. Together you and the captain can unravel the mystery that is the Teacup Pig.  Be sure to think of a theory, nothing is too out there….I mean look what the captain is suggesting…surely you have a better explanation that can  “help” his theory along. Sorry the pictures failed :-(

Blog 45: Captain's Log

The Captain will celebrate tonight at midnight because he believes that he gathers all his strength on this very day and suddenly has the ability to grant an extra hour to all his crew. He prepares himself with nice meal all day to ensure he is full of energy and does his stretches before performing the back-in-time dance. He says the stars align in such a way that he is able to perform this miraculous feet only once per year and that we should enjoy the extra hour he grants us every year. There is a party set up for this year where the crew will learn the choreography to "Poker Face" in order to strike yet more fear into our enemies’ hearts. Those who do not participate must have a one on one lesson with the Captain later for two hours of repetitive dance. As if the one free hour he gives us isn't scary enough since we must be subject to his "gift" and now we have to learn a dance...I fear most of the crew will fail in this endeavor since most of us have poor coordination from being at the controls all day. Although, some of the crew members are gifted in that area, most of us suffer from having slower reflexes and stiff movements. Once this is over the entire crew must perform the dance during the playing of the battle theme, complete with dress and hand gestures. I am sure it will be quite a sight and scare our enemies away every time. There is definitely no doubt that all other crews in the fleet will take us completely seriously...

Blog 44: Revised Title

The Shattering of an Ideal Romantic World

Imagine a romantic setting on the beach, just a table set for two, a special someone has cooked you dinner to eat by candle light as the sunsets in the horizon just over the ocean and the sky turns that soft pink color as the sun disappears. After dinner, the two lovers embrace each other and the scene closes with a passionate kiss.  This is one of the many various romantic pictures painted by Hollywood, romantic novels, and hopeless romantics that dare to dream up a flawless and perfectly executed gesture of love. One of the most recent romance stories to be made is Twilight, written by Stephenie Meyer, tells the story of a girl named Bella Swan attending high school in Forks, Washington and falls in deeply in love with a vampire named Edward Cullen.  Their love is a dangerous love that puts Bella and Edward through many trials, but they endure them all. As the story progresses Bella becomes a vampire because she wants to spend eternity with Edwards and marries him. This beautiful and artistic love story sets up an ideal sense of love and how relationships should be for the people of the 21^st century. However, this particular love story leaves out the natural flaws in people and the pitfalls of relationships in modern times.

The original introduction that I wrote used was one of my suggested intro lines that was marked as good and to use. Let me know what you guys think and I will make alterations to this intro if its not sappy enough yet. Hopefully it is clear and gets my point across.

Blog 43: Captains Log

The Captain is having trouble these days managing small tasks via forgetting them. He will need to employ a task list in which these things must be completed in a faster and more orderly way. Once these tasks are completed the captain may be able to enjoy his days a little more knowing they are all done rather than finding out later that he has forgotten them. They nibble away at his conscience like many rabbi infested galatical gerbils feasting on a piece of cabbage in the mid summer’s heat.  The captain believes in organizational skills and wishes to learn more about them, but he is not great at taking his own advice. There are many ways in which these tasks could be written down such as a sticky note, galactical planner, she ships computer, a hologram of himself , or a voice recording. The captain enjoys watching himself talk and has decided to employ the hologram since he likes to hear himself speak and move in a methodical way. He has begun subjecting us to multiples recordings of his new battle cry and I have to say, since the captain decided to adopt the Lady Ga Ga attire during battle, I can now see why people run. It is perhaps the most terrifying thing I have ever seen in all of my life.  The captain’s sanity may need to be addressed in the near future and once he is declared insane, we will see how the captain will react. I fear things will continue to get more eccentric as time goes on, but we shall find out.

Blog 42: Captain's New Battle Cry

The Captain is feeling increased pressure from all the approaching deadlines. It feels as if time itself is running faster and less can be done within the allotted time. There is so much to do that the idea of sacrificing certain tasks is looking increasingly more necessary. It is in times like these that stress can over take and things seem like they will never get better. A break is probably necessary in order to relax slightly and be able to perform better overall. Judging by what you all have posted, it has been decided that “Poker Face” by Lady Ga Ga shall be the captain’s battle cry and signature line.  It will surely quake fear into all the hearts of his enemies and make him a remembered presence on the battlefield. There are many who already tremble in fear from battle where this new battle cry was used. They are so frightful that a smile overtakes their face and they turn away and run onto the depths of space. The captain and crew are no longer taken lightly as the enemies run at light speed while having a strange sound that must be a side effect from all of the fear they are feeling that sounds very much like a laugh. But since they are running it surely must be a side effect of the fear. There will be updates of future battle and possibly by the end of the quarter a collage of the captain and his battle cry, stance, and line being said. Keep your eyes ready, we are on the horizon and will send fear quaking through your very being with our new battle cry!

Blog 41: Captain's Sleepy Time

It appears that I continue to fall in and out of sleep more and more these days. A crew member will start to talk to me and if I find the subject rather uninteresting I will fall asleep on the spot. The last few battles have been so repetitive that I fell asleep in the middle of them, but luckily my co-captain knows the drill. I am debating wearing sunglasses to do two things, enhance my coolness during the heat of battle and make it look like I am awake. However, I feel that this will also require that I have a catch phrase that I would have to say during key moments of battle. I was thinking along the lines of: “Back into the heat of battle!”, “You can’t read my poker face!” or “Leaping leptons, I am too cool to die by the likes of you!”. I was thinking for the “You can’t read my poker face!”, I would blare the Lady Ga Ga song during the battle, but then I realized most of that song would be pretty irrelevant to our battle. I do want the enemy to take me seriously and fear my ever cool galatical shades.  Another note to address is why isn’t “galactical” a word? I mean it describes everything from a galaxy, so it should clearly be a word. I guess Webster thinks his galaxy is the best and insists on only describing things in his universe without comparison to any other. I bet Webster also has a pair of shades and a catch phrase. What catch phrase do you think he has? It must be galacticly epic.

Blog 40: Captain's Work Outs

The captain has demanded that the entire crew join his fitness club. It consists of doing yoga, Pilates, and various other awkward exercises. He believes one of the key things to being a good crew is that everyone be in tip top shape. Unfortunately the captain only watches as we all attempt to do this routine and laughs as some of us fail while other succeed.  These exercises are supposed to help make our mind and body function as one and become a lethal killing machine while looking elegant and graceful. While I appreciate the Captain’s interest, I can not help but speculate that there is some other reason he has for making us do the routines while he watches. He will smile and wave at some of us with a wink which quite frankly creeps the living daylights out of most of us. But he is our captain so we must abide by his commands regardless of how much we question his motifs. The current state of the crew is that there are all shapes and sizes and we each have our own unique ways of making it to the end of the routines. Some of us fake an injury and others just pretend to pass out, either way we are able to get out of this duty and return to our rooms where we are able to forget the looming looks that linger in our minds of the captain’s glances. This unique and creepy bond we all share is what keeps us together and functioning as a group.

Blog 39 Captain's Pet Space Gerbil

There are many types of intergalactic pets that run rampant throughout the ships In all the galaxies. One stands out above all of the others as the most mischievous and troublesome pet. The space gerbil it the most intimidating and hard to take care of pet in all of the galaxies. Once these creatures are placed in their ball of doom, they are able to travel across the ship into any room and and cause a type of destruction unknown to any creature that stands at 6 inches tall on its hind legs. They can gnaw through a ships wiring without being detected can cause a catastrophic failure that sends the entire ship into a state of chaos. The crew would then being rationing the food and garble pellets would be the last bit of food to be divided among and consumed by the crew. These creatures can single handedly bring the best of crews down to their knees and crying due to the level of destruction they bring when left unattended. The reason for buying such a dangerous creature is that they are so adorable that captains and crew alike fall for that false sense of innocence and charm. Little to their knowledge that they themselves have signed their own death certificate and brought about their own immanent demise. These space gerbils can only be defeated and subdued by offering them a sacrifice of a baby space carrot and the subtleness only lasts until all of the carrots are gone.

Blog 38 Ken adn Barbie Captain's Thoughts

There is a lingering question in the world of dolls and figurines, one that has remained unanswered for decades or perhaps even longer. Why is it that Barbie and Ken never hooked up? Barbie and Ken were made for each other, as it says so straight from the manufacturer’s notes; however there never appears to be a wedding themed Barbie and Ken that are sold together as a set in the stores. This brings this question to mind and so we dig deeper for an answer. Ken a guy much unlike any other guy has a well sculpted figure that gleams in the sun and possibly melts if a magnifying glass were used on his plastic body. With a smile that captured the heart of all other dolls and every version of Barbie in existence. This fine fellow never managed to get hitched with Barbie, who herself is a fine plastic figured female, and we now examine the possible complex reasons why this union never came to be. Is it that Barbie was just far to career driven from a doctor to a maid or could it be that ken found comfort in the arms of one of Barbie’s many friends such as Stacey? Maybe Ken was such a player that he was dating Barbie and all of her friends without her knowledge? But if that were true then a woman with such brains that she can and has been in every profession in existence not know such an obvious behavior? These complex explanations only get the deeper as we continue down this dark path of reasoning. The real reason though it much simpler, the reason hat Ken and Barbie were never united is because plastic people are unable to get married by law and must resort to reenactments of 6 and 8 year olds that will simulate the ceremony for them.

Blog 37 Return of The Captain's Logs

The Captain has decided to continue making his logs as to pass on his wisdom. However with the remaining number of captains logs dwindling and so much knowledge to still be known. He has decided to allow you, the people, to decide upon what knowledge will be given to you. So choose wisely so that this knowledge may be passed from generation to generation and preserved. Such a large responsibility is being bestowed upon you and all at once. The Captain would like to apologize  for this inconvenience and understands if some of you can not handle the burden. So let the questions begin on your conquest for knowledge and when you find the answers you so desperately seek, grasp that knowledge and never let go! The captain is now willing to accept topics that you have decided upon and will choose them at random if one is not able to be decided upon clearly. So dig deep within your minds and hearts and think of the knowledge you wish to possess for the better of humanity or the simple drive of just satisfying your curiosity. Within the next few days you will learn more information than your brain has ever wanted to know and you will be so filled with knowledge that you will seek out others just to let them know you know what you know and that they need to know what you know so that they too can pass what they would now know to another who does not know what they know but once didn’t know.

Blog 36: Personal Story and Hypothetical Situation

Personal:

In the past I have found myself in various situations where I do not understand the different cultural activities orinteractions that are going on around me. For the past few years, I have had one of my best friends as my roommate, we get along on many different levels, but we differ heavily in our cultural values and childhood influences due to our different cultures. He is Chinese and I am a mix of various cultures, mainly Italian, and when we have conversations sometimes I will have to ask him to repeat a word due to his heavy accent on some words.  One of the large diffences between us is in how we speak, we both put stress on different parts of a word and our pronunciation of words is vastly different. Fortunately we are both able to find humor in our differences in speak and have had some amazing stories to tell from simple conversations. One night I decided I would like to pronounce his name correctly and asked him to aid me in saying it correctly. After a few initial failed atemtps we kept at it for four hours straight. His name is spelled Qi and after he would say his name with the correct vowel sounds that were correct for him, I would atempt to day it and he would just smile and say try again. Since I refused to give up and he was laughing at my hopeless situation he said to simply prounce it “Tea” and that would be fine. So to this very day whenever I mention his name to anyone or say it, everyone thinks I am talking about the drink and not my roommate.

Hypotheical:

Imagine that you are sitting in a rom surrounded by people form all sorts of various cultures. They are all having conversations in their native languages and obviously none of them make sense to you. How could you approach any of them and strike up a conversation? There seems to be an innate fear about approaching people of different cultures because we are afraid to look dumb or be embarassed infront of them due to a lack of knowledge about their culture. Both parties are most likely thinking the same thing, that they are unsure of how to approach each other because they are not sure what the other culture deems as an acceptable greeting or conversation starter. Neither wishes to be disrepectful to the other and this creates a situation in which both parties are bound by that fear. This slight cultural boundary fo a simple hello freezes up and prevents all other possible interactions that could take place. There is a simplicity in saying hello and appologizing if you have done anything disrespectful or wrong and ask them to simply tell you more about themselves and their culture. This moment of education can lead to great conversations and good friends, all that needs to be broken is that cultural barrier that stands betweenthe two parties. Once this barrier is broken an exchange of stories and various other conversation topics can take place.

Blog 35: CP Article

After reading two articles on common place, I chose to write about one that had to do with hip hop and how women are degraded to being sex icons in order to sell the music. It made a relevant stance on the subject that the music should not degrade women even though sex sells in our society. Some artists are putting out positive images about women and their disapproval about how it has changed to focusing on the degradation fo women. The music is suppose to be about the inspiration of events in an artist’s life and leave a way for listeners to relate, but with all the songs that are about sex it is difficult for people to connect to the music anymore. Just because a song has a catchy beat doesn't mean that people are relating to the song but more or less simply enjoy the rhythm instead of the message. Music in general has been losing its true purpose to be meaningful and focused almost exclusively on the fact that sex sells in order to increase their album sales. The artists that are putting out the positive messages are the ones that should be encourage keeping writing and improving the image of hip hop and women so that the music can be returned back to its original purpose of communicating and relating to its audience. Hopefully one day hip hop will be able to return back to its meaningful and original roots of allowing its listeners to relate to the feelings and situations that the artists are singing about.

Blog 34: CP Topic

The topic for my Common Place paper is cultural boundaries and how they affection people and communications. The subtle differences in cultures can provide moments of learning or embarrassment depending on the situation. Learning about other cultures allows us to be knowledgeable of acceptable and unacceptable actions between the two different worlds as well as show us how these actions can be perceived so differently. Many things are different between cultures such as holidays that are celebrated or the meaning of certain words; even words can have different meanings across cultural boundaries. I look forward to writing this paper because most people have at least one experience where they can relate to this topic. One example is if you are sitting in a room and two people are speaking to each other using a different language. You have no idea what they are saying and their language sounds like a bunch of strangely arranged syllables that only they can understand. Sometimes a person will assume that they are talking about them because he or she will look at the people holding the conversation strangely and they will look back then continuing talking. This can lead to feeling uncomfortable because the person assumes they are talking about him or herself. Truth is they are probably just puzzled why the person is staring and simply returning to their conversation. Next time you find yourself in a situation like this, just think about how interesting it is that a different language sounds like gibberish to you but the speakers clearly understand it.

Blog 33: Captains Log

This appears to be one of the final logs made by the captain as these times are nearing an end. There are many journeys that await in the future. If the captain is enabled to make more logs, it will ensure that his knowledge and methods of exploration are passed on to future generations. These logs will act as a tome in which all knowledge is stored within and will continuously be handled down. There are so many things that the captain wishes to pass on to questions that many people ponder. Why do birds walk with a strut or hop about instead of just walking? What makes lizards so skitz when all you want to do it capture them? What do crabs walk sideways? Are they directionally challenged?  How do dogs chasing their tails provide entertainment to humans? Why are puppies or teacup pigs considered cute? How many dominos does it take to build a structurally sound tower? Will there ever be a second season of Firefly? Is there no hope for the Cleveland Browns to win a Super Bowl? There are many more questions that can be answered but alas the captain is growing tired and running out of words to use to drag this out into a paper long enough that will be considered an entire blog so that he can rest and work on the rest of his homework. Also, why is it that his blog from yesterday didn't post when he clearly hit the publish button? This and more will be unraveled in the next CAPTAIN'S LOG! * Queue Epic Music*

Blog 32: Captain's Log

The captain has traveled to the nearest grocery store which happens to be several thousand light years away. This perilous journey had only one purpose and a single object to attain to settle the captain's sick obsession with a crazy food. This single yellow cake filled with the sweet foamy whipped nectar of the gods. On the journey we were forced to take shelter under some rubble of a fallen battle cruiser. The terrain we ran through has droplet like missiles falling from the sky that rang out in fury as they hit the solid debris scattered about. We continued on for day relentlessly, never giving up hope on the beloved idea that one day we would reach our goal. Giants that roamed this land step past us without a single glance or care about our existence below. The crew is tense, we have not eaten in days and we are all getting stir crazy. A few of us have perished from all the dangers that lurk around out here and it seems as if we will never reach our goal. As the day carries on there was a bit of good fortune for us as we happen to stumble upon some edible food.  Finally a gift from the heavens, it appears that our goal has found us as it has fallen from the skies right in front of us. A smaller giant must have been roaming about with it. We can now return home until we receive further orders.

Blog 31: Captain's Log

There is this creature next door that has an incessant yelping noise. I can not tell whether it is a mating call, in pain, or simply trying to be annoying. The creature likes to chase round objects and tends to beg when a larger creature walks by with its meal. This pitiful creature seems dependent on the larger one for food and a majority of its needs. When confused by something it will tend to prop its head sideways and stare until the source of confusion disappears or another event distracts it. It finds chasing its own tail to be amusing although once it bites it, there is a certain uneasiness about the situation. The animal looks shocked that by biting its own tail that some mysterious pain has struck it. Another observation shows that the creature is directionally challenged and indecisive as it runs frantically about unable to choose a direction for minutes at a time. The short attention span of the creature on further exacerbates its situation constantly changing its attention to different events and sounds. It's almost as if the creature has ADD or some type of lack of focus on its main goals. As the days go by the creature repeats these daily routines and actions, while seeming unaware that it experiences déjà vu for its entire existence. Further research will need to be done in order to make any further conclusions on this creature. It is a wonder that it has survived this long. I will work to keep the species alive and keep reporting my findings.

Blog 30: Captain's Log

There appears to be an evergrowing tree outside of my window. Each day I peer out at it and it appears that it is growing taller. The leaves change colors with the seasons and are gone when the cold season arrives. Now that I think about it, there are these tiny creatures that live on the tree and feast on the offspring of my green friend. They are viscous with their taunting squeaks and twitchy behavior. First they knock the young from the branches to what seems to be a almost certain death below on the ground. Then while the offspring are dazed or injured from the fall, they climb down and start digging thier teeth into the offspring repeatedly until their skull has been cracked. These creatures then feast on the inner workings of the offspring if they are hungry in the moment of the hunt or perhaps the more cruel fate is that they will burry their prey alive in the ground for later meals. These poor and unfortunate offspring can not be helped by their mother as the sits and watches in horror, petrified by this cruel act of violence. I ask you all where is the humanity in all of this? These creatures must be stopped as they appear to be on a rampage everyerwhere. Their acts are so cruel that the passerbys often pretend not to notice these savage acts and feastings. Will no one step in to save these poor defenseless offspring? What has the world come to?

Blog 29: Help is Needed

The portion of my paper that I need assistance on is relating my topic to the real world in a non-listing format. My thesis is: The writers of the series Firefly redefine the conventional meaning of family by introducing a group of people that are united for a common cause and functoin as a family, but are not related by blood. I am trying to show that the crew of Serenity functions much like a family does. There are roles that alternate between characters and there is the deep level of connection between the characters, which are two traits of a family. The last point of my paper would be to validate these two traits  between the real world and Firefly in order to convince the reader that these groups could also be considered a “family”. The harder part is that I am finding it hard to think of a reason of why people should care about this message. Should I continue with this thesis or aim for something like “Home is where the heart is” type of thing? Maybe the importance that these groups are considered family is so that people who are away from their families realize that there are actually more “families” they are in just where they are at. Like a college student who is from out of state or another country; there is a sense of home and a group of people that care right where they are much like a family was for their younger years. Well if anyone has any ideas please feel free to post them to help me out. Thanks in advance.

Blog 28: Anything

The beauty of simplicity is often overlooked or taken for granted in life. There are many things that are made up of complex ideas, science and math formulas, and abstract ideas. When all of these are set aside and just the object or idea itself is looked at, a beautiful simplistic idea stands before you. It is nice to just ignore everything around you for a brief moment and appreciate the fluidity of your surroundings and how it functions. At least I find it nice to just go outside on occasion and forget about my life and my day and just stare into the night sky. It can be nice to see the bigger picture in life where the world is part of a single galaxy and you are a person on a planet that exists in one of many different worlds that could be out there. On another note, some of the best places there are to relax, at least for me, are outdoors by a lake, the beach and a wide open field with a full moon and stars. Hopefully, everyone is able to step away every once in a while and just enjoy some time relaxing because it does a world of good when one is feeling overwhelmed. So, be sure to take breaks in order to relax, laugh a little and find ways to have fun. If you can keep refreshed and relaxed it is easier to perform better overall and continually get tasks done without burning yourself out.

Blog 27: Anything

Teamwork is an essential part to succeeding in life. It enables many more things to be accomplished than anything that could be done alone. Many marvels that are built and created are done by a collection of people with unique skills that they use to take the task at hand and achieve their goals. Everything from the medical field to the simplest theoretical ideas are made by a team of people in a factory, research lab or even a classroom. These ideas and collective skills assist each other in managing a problem or an abstract view of something and morphing it into something usable. The people that a team is composed of may or may not get along. The groups with the members that get along tend to have more efficient and high quality work than groups that quarrel or simply don’t get along whatsoever.  There are many times that people find themselves in groups where they do not know the members and before even working together will ask several questions just to learn more about each person. Most people like to build some sort of ground with their group members to feel some sort of connection or simply know more about them.  This curiosity is a common trait that most people have when working with others because there is a need for knowledge for feel some sort of commonality or comfort at some level. Meeting new people really broadens a person’s views since there are so many different people in the world.  So next time you find yourself in a group with people you don’t know, be sure to ask them some questions to learn a little about them. One person who does it encourages others, and a few simple questions can be quite revealing.

Blog 26: Any topic

I guess I will choose a random quote and just write about it. "Live in the moment because the good moments are fleeting." This quote can ring true throughout all of someone’s life, as we often find ourselves not enjoying what is occurring in that moment and are actually worrying about something that will happen in the not near future. If people are unable to live in those moments they become less memorable and eventually fade into the back of the mind. Keep an eye out for opportunities that might arise and offer a memorable moment. Sometimes we overlook the possibilities that can stem from a given situation and possibly regret it later. These memorable moments are the ones that help to define the lives of people because they are the memories that are committed to memory and stored. So next time you are on a vacation, adventure or just an everyday task, possibly look for the fun in the situation or an interesting opportunity. It could give you a great memory and maybe even a funny story. Anyways, good luck to everyone on their English papers and their meetings this week. Halloween is right around the corner as well. Anyone going to be dressing up as anything interesting this year? The best part about Halloween is the fact that horror movies are on all the time, which just happens to be my favorite genre. I am definitely looking for some good werewolf movies this year or at least some decent zombie movies, but we shall see if there is anything good this year as it gets closer to Halloween.

Blog 25: Anything

Captain's log: Day 8 without videogames and day 5 without any gas in my quarters. The two worlds that I mentioned before have merged and I can no longer tell the difference. An atempt to fly this morning ended abruptly as I landed face first on the floor. It appears my powers have been sapped using my only weakness, Anglefood Cake, and I can not locate the source of this toxin. My laser vision has ceased working and I know how to heat my food using a microwave. My glory days of flying around shooting lazers out of my eyes is nothing more than a feint memory. Batman and his boy wonder, Robin, continue to taunt me as I now have to walk to everywhere I want to go. I have been reduced to my only super power left being my super credit card swipe which is a very expensive power. It appears to be the only ability that I have left to set me apart from the other ordinary humans. The pineapples in the grocery store stared at me strangely today, I am unaware of their intentions. I believe wish to invade my captains quarters and use it for their now home base in order to atempt world invasion. They are starting with the smaller grocery stores and then spreading out to the larger name brand stores. I have heard rumors of at least one of them invading the ocean and eating some poor unfortunate sponge adn starfish. Last reports of its whereabouts report a missing snail named Gary. I pray that he instead found safe refuge rather than being eaten. I will keep you all posted. Captain's log out.

Writers side note: No drugs or alcohol of any kind were consumed in the making of these Captain's Logs. Just some fun and a lack of sleep and food. :-P

Blog 24: Anything

Captain's log: This is day 7 without any videogames. It has been a long and treacherous journey this week without any visual animated violence. I am finding myself to lack all sanity that I once had due to this outlet and am finding it increasingly hard to distinguish reality from the virtual world. Food has become less of a necessity since my virtual characters do not require food, but I am unable to tell the two worlds still. The gas from apartment has been shut off for 4 days now and hot water seems like nothing more than a pipe dream. My inability to cook food due to a lack of skill is only further amplified due to having no way to heat the food in my apartment. Cold showers are causing shocking mornings that seem to drag on for more than 24 hours themselves. My mouse has turned on me and taken on a life of its own. As I try to get close to the icon I desire to click it, it will taunt me by jumping to a corner of the screen. Negotiations are currently in the process, but I appear to have no leverage in this agreement. The computer has decided to keep trying to restart to update its anti virus software, although I keep denying it, it continues to be persistent. I am unsure of how much longer this battle will last because I am growing increasingly tired. The machines show no signs of fatigue, I fear that the battle will come to an end soon with my defeat being inevitable. I will keep you posted on my status in the next blog. Captain's log out.

Blog 23: Anything

I am deciding to write about my interesting night. It all started with a stressful day and then a series of events that broad sided me right afterwards. I actually think I will write from a more philosophical stand point about how life will always surprise you. It seems that some people enjoy trying to plan every detail of their day and life based on their schedule. In their mind life must run by this schedule without interruption or it will derail their entire day. Once this said person's day begins, they are already in the position to be offset by any catastrophe that interrupts a single minute of that plan. Life never lets anything go according to plan. You can plan every aspect of something such as a wedding and when all seems perfect and the day comes, something still goes wrong or no according to plan. Trying to plan every detail of your life is impossible, it is simple something a person can not control due to the simple fact that not every detail can go perfectly. A single second can decide whether a person is in an accident or narrowly avoids one on the road. If a frame of time as small as a second can alter a situation that could possibly end up a life or death situation, how could one expect to be able to plan anything flawlessly. So there are two options, makes plans and allow room for error or just live in the moment and enjoy riding the wave of life.

Blog 22 Abstract

The writers of the series Firefly redefine the conventional meaning of family by introducing a group of people that are united for a common cause and functoin as a family, but are not related by blood. The definition of a family is a basic social unit consisting of parent and their children, but in current times the meaning of family has shifted to being more loosely defined. There are many groups of people that function like a family like close roommates, support groups, sports fans and GBLT families. The support groups such as the ones for cancer patients provide aid to those people in getting medical treatment and providing long term support for them, so they can continue living happy lives. Each of these different groups is united through a commonality among its members and share a unique bond with each other much like family members. The roar of sports fans in a stadium cheering on their team against a common enemy creates a common cause and unrivaled comradery among the fans. If their team wins they will all celebrate together, if they lose they will mourn together and in the rough times they root their team on to victory. Many people will argue that these groups are not families, however this paper will provide evidence that will prove they are. These groups are united through a unique bond, provide support for each other and help each other function.  The crew of Serenity in the series Firefly support each other and need each other to function much like groups today and function dynamically like a family.

Blog 21: Quote Integration

All too often, people can find themselves stressed out and in a bitter disposition with life, parents and family encourage the individual to keep going, but frineds can offer a unique perspective. Writer Chris Fitinolpoulos explains that many young adults escape the pressure fo parental and social authority by turning to their friends. One day Chris found a saying scrawled across a desk from a bored student that read "All I want is a different view." This simple quote explains one of the unique roles that friends can play in life which is being able to offer a new perspecitve on life when. When a child has no where left to turn, they turn to family and friends for something that help them keep going. Friends act as a support to get through the rough times when family may not be around. For instance, when attending college and family is not nearby, friends are there to act as the individual's support and comrade. In the television series Firefly, Mal and his crew find themselves in grim situations and that appear to have no good way out. However, the crew members help keep each other positive and stick together to fight through these tough situations.  Friends will be there for their fellow comrades through the thick and thin while helping to keep each other a float in times of despair.

I still need to find a better way to tie these quotes in with my paper’s thesis. I can find a message that I like, but I am finding it increasingly difficult to tie it back to my main idea. Does anyone have any suggestions?

My thesis is:

The writers of the series Firefly redefine the conventional meaning of family by introducing a group of people that are united for a common cause and function as a family, but are not actually all related by blood.

Blog 20: Integrated Quotes

There are a vast number of reasons why friends become part of a person's unconventional family. One reason can be clearly understood from a quote by Albert Cammus, "Don't walk behind me, I may not lead. Don't walk infront of me, I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.", which means that individuals are not often looking to lead or follow, but want someone who will stand next to them to talk and listen. Family members such as parents often try to lead without stopping to listen and talk to their children. The fact that a friend can stand on the same level as another person and listen gives them a unique role that can forge a bond as strong as blood. Friends fill in the roles where authority and societal expectations are left behind and people can speak on a level as equals without the fear of being criticized or judged.  Much like in the episode “Serenity” from Firefly season 1, Mal the captain speaks to the bickering Kaylee and Jayne as a friend rather than an authority figure due to his gentle tone and relaxed body language. Although, Mal is acting in the manner of a friend,  distinct family like traits can be seen in this particular scene. The bickering siblings, Kaylee and Jayne, and Mal breaking up the argument as a father would, then the victorious daughter kissing her father and saying she loves him. These obvious family like traits were present in an interaction among close friends and aids in displaying how friends can become part of a person’s family.

This still needs some work, but it’s a start.

Blog 19: Source 4 A Search Complete?

After hours and hours of digging through useless and irrelevant articles that in no way, shape or form related to my topic. I believe I may have blindly stumbled upon something that can be used as my primary source. In an article titled "Lifelong friends at first sight", the author describes the value of friendship that can be placed above family bonds. This at first to most people would seem to be a very bold statement since sayings like “blood is thicker than water” suggests that family is always priority, but the author delivers some very good points. First he speaks of how his father always discouraged friendship over family bonds because of a war he was in as well as some bad friends from his lifetime. The author goes on to talk about one of his teachers encouraging that everyone get along and be open minded and that she kept her classroom like that all the time. By keeping the classroom this way there were few confrontations and everyone listened to each other. The author of the article is now a teacher and mentions a few good points raised by his own students. One of his students once said to him that friends "allow them to breathe", meaning that the young adults can escape the pressures of parental and social authority by turning to their friends. This allows the freedom to speak their mind and helps the friendship flourish.  The author then mentions a phrase that a student scrawled on a desk that read "All I want is a different view." Friends have a way of offering new point of views on life and situations as well as many wonderful perspectives on life. I look forward to interpreting this article further and applying it to my thesis.

Blog 18: Source 3

This source talks about the pseudo-relationship between humans and family pets, in this case dogs. The dogs are obviously a different species and yet are treated as equal members of the family. Despite the large differences between humans and dogs, many of the dogs are treated as human-like family members. When the owners of the dogs were asked what their dogs meant to them, almost all of the owners called their dogs their child and as a family member. Then most of then answered that the dogs were childlike and even fewer viewed dogs as siblings.  Almost all of the dog owners said that the dogs were pack animals as well. The dogs in these families often joined in on family activities and showed the same traits and respect to their owners as a child would to their parents. Dogs will wait to eat until their owner feeds them and they wait intently while watching their owners to provide the food for them. This is almost a mirror image of how children wait for dinner from a parent each night after school.  The dogs are allowed to roam freely about the house much like a child would, but have some boundaries in the house where they are not allowed to go. Parents will often set boundaries as to where kids can go in the house of their safety or just as a boundary that the parents wish to establish.  Encounters between dogs and humans usually exceed the rules of pack behavior allowing owners to share a family like bond with their pets. This simple example can be used to help explain my thesis because even groups that contain different species are able to forge bonds that are similar to the bonds shared between family members of a family.

Blog 17: Second Source

I just read an article titled, "Life in the Pack: Of Dogfights ans Social Moralities" by Bryan Zepp Jamieson, which is about how both humans and animals act civally towards one another. He makes the arguement that a common saying such as humans are "above the beast of the fields" is incorrect and gives the example that when one of his dogs was sick, his two cats and the other dog in his household kept the dog comay and groomed him to comfort him. He then says that humans do the same thing and that when another person is sick even those who are not as civil when addressing this person are suddenly respectful and semi-concerned due to our morals. These small but utterly selfless acts suggest kindness and compassoin- behavior that in humans would be considered moral. Then he mentions the case that two wolves that fight for a mate must still hunt together for food if they are to eat, they cannot live without each other. The writer then makes the interesting point that any mamal can form a bond with any other animal such as a Gorilla taking care of a kitten or a pride of lions adopting a goat. This behavior would be seen as moral especially due to the kindness that could be seen behind the action. These actions of reaching out from animals shows that animals are capable of kindness as well and helps to disprove Social Darwinism. This article could possibly be used to show that animals also show family like traits within their packs or herds based on actions such as these.

Blog 16: First Source Article

An article titles "Herding in Humans", by Ramsey M. Raafat, Nick Chater and Chris Frith which talks about the mechanisms and theories behind why humans tend to act as a herd from the Bandwagon to angry mobs. There are two focuses that are specifically mentioned in the article which are (i.) the mechanism of the transmission that propagates a particular thought of behavior from one agent to another and (ii.) the pattern of interactions between agents. The paper continues to talk about models of herding and shows a timeline with all of the progress that has been made on the topic in the field of psychology. Then portions of the article are dedicated to explaining these two main points in great detail. The paper discusses that there is a distinct difference between one on one interactions and any other type of way to receive information as having different influences on a person or group. Then it talks about how social networking can be used to spread this information faster and reach member more people than a one on one interaction. There is a type of herding called rational herding in which earlier models assumed that agents chooses in sequence and are influenced by rational consideration of the observed choices of earlier agents.  This takes on the meaning that people’s thinking is influenced by the events they experienced prior to the given situation which makes sense. The rest of the articles continue to talk about the models and the ways in which herds are formed among humans through these mechanisms.  I found it to be of little use overall although the ideas that were presented were very interesting.