Bad Luck, Good Luck

Seeing as how today is Friday the 13th, i was curious as to some bad/good luck superstitions were started. It's always interesting to me that a lot of the things we practice today started from just a little rumor or bedtime story, and also just as interesting is that not all of them started the way we might think they did.

Friday the 13th. Apparently the number 12 is good, it represents completion, it's 'perfect'. But you add one more, you ruin the perfection. It's 'bad'. Then add in a little Norse Mythology. You have a Norse goddess who was banished by the newly converted christians, so of course she is going to be a little mad. So every Friday it was rumored that she met with 11 witches and Satan himself, a meeting of 13, and they planned evil revenge for those that banished her. Hence, we see Friday the 13th as a very unlucky day!

Walking under a ladder. I never ever got this one. Yes, it is common sense that walking under a ladder can be dangerous. Someone on the ladder could fall off or other things could fall and hit you. But that's not why it is considered unlucky. Back in 'the day', a ladder rested up against a wall, creating a triangle; ladder, wall, floor. It was believed that a triangle represented the Trinity. Also, anything with three points was seen as somehow connected to the Trinity. Someone who walked under a ladder like this was seen as someone who rejected the Trinity, and bad luck was assumed on them. Ladders and bad luck are still around today.

Black Cats. This one is easy. These actually started as good luck! Egypt saw cats as gods. It soon became associated with witchcraft, so seeing a black cat around was said to bring witches. Black cat=bad luck.

Broken Mirror, 7 Years Bad Luck. Now back before mirrors, people looked into a pool of water to see their reflection. It was said that if that image distorted or rippled, the person had impending doom. Then the mirror came along. This made the superstition worse because unlike a pool of water, a broken mirror will not smooth out and return to normal. A broken mirror was seen as a permanent distortion, uber bad luck! The 7 years part comes from the belief that man renews every 7 years, so bad luck can only last a maximum of that long.



Stepping On Cracks. Now we've all heard that if you step on a crack you will break your mom's back! But this is not how the rhyme used to go. It was actually a racial rhyme back in the time of slavery. "Step on a crack and your mother will turn black" was how it originally went. Because of the racism towards blacks, stepping on cracks was avoided! But down the road the rhyme changed and is how we know it today.



I don't know about you, but except for the cat, i didn't know any of the history behind these things. It makes you wonder how other ordinances, practices, and everyday commonalities we use today were started. Go look some up!

Your New Favorite Game

We all have those days where we are utterly bored. Our minds are seemingly turned off. Our bodies don't want to move. There is no energy to do anything. Boredom. A state of being bored. Boring boring boring. You get the idea.

Well this seems to happen to my coworkers and I quite often. Hence the creation of giant yahtzee, multiple scavenger hunts, and a pulley system. Recently we discovered something else just as fun that also cured our boredom. Not only is it entertaining, but it makes you....oh no!.....THINK!!!! Take a look.

http://www.ingenuitywelcome.com/game/

Now the game is pretty simple. Build a contraption that can get all 15 coconuts from start to finish in as quick a time as possible. It's all about efficiency! There are seemingly endless possibilities in the 'carts' you can make. Now don't give up if you fail! That's what this is all about, trial and error, and it IS possible to get 100% =)

Good job to Johnson Controls for making a simple game that is both entertaining and mind exercising. This could be your new favorite game.

Most Wanted Fugitives

I found a way to make so much money i could literally swim in it. Are you ready for this? OK, here it is. All i have to do......is find.....Usama Bin Laden!!! The reward is $25 million, so yes, literally, i could swim in that.

OK, so I'm not serious. I could never find the guy. The government with all of their secret agents, spies, Jason Bournes, and Heat Seeking Missiles can't find them. Plus, he isn't even in America, and seeing as how I've never been out of the country, finding him could be quite difficult.

Anyway, i know you are wondering what spurned this terrorist talk. Well I'm a sucker for random facts and news that no one really cares about. Yahoo! has the perfect home page for someone like me, so full of news on a wide variety of topics. But tonight my home page just wasn't sparking my interest enough. Therefore i had to find my own news. I started searching Top Ten topics like video games, restaurants, and movies. My mind was entertained for a little bit, but nay, i was not satisfied. Then i had an epiphany. I knew exactly what would saturate my need for randomness.

I went back to my Cops days and searched for another Top Ten. You see, there's this governmet agency that keeps a Top Ten. They call themselves the FBI and their Top Ten list is full of wanted indivuals. Why would this interest me? Well think about it. How many of us know any of the people who are the nations most wanted criminals?? Yes,of course Bin Laden is on there and yes, the $25 million is a real reward for him, but other than that i don't know anyone else on the list. Wouldn't it be helpful if i knew some about these people in case i see them!? I think so. Take a look.

http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/topten/fugitives/fugitives.htm

Now seriously, i read all ten profiles, their personal information, why they are wanted, the reward. After reading them i understand why some of these guys were on the list for the MOST WANTED. I'm not saying that anything they did was right or justified, but some of them don't seem to warrant a most wanted status. One guy stole lots of money. Another assaulted a police officer. There is even a guy who is probably going to die soon, he's so old, yet he has most wanted status.

Well according to the FBI, the only criteria for getting this status, is you have to be seen as a threat to society. That's it. In that case, i have my picks for the Top Ten Most Wanted.

1. Peanut Butter. It's getting everybody sick all of a sudden. Sickness=Bad=Threat=Most Wanted Status
2. Rip Tides. These things kill yet no one says boo hoo about them.
3. Fictional TV Women. In almost any show that has a deranged bad guy that kills, it usually turns out that he became that way because a woman in his life shunned him in some way. Stop the women, stop the killing.
4. Global Warming. All this crazy weather that people say can lead to another ice age! Sounds like a credible threat to me.
5. World of Warcraft. People who play this game are neglecting proper hygiene practices, some don't eat, some could die. Threat.
6. Snakes. This is my #1 fear in the world! These things are demons. One was just discovered that was so big it could eat crocodiles for lunch. Catch these threats FBI!
7. Cracks. "Step on a crack, break your mom's back" This should have been stopped by now. Shame.
8. Dumb People. Doesn't everyone hate these people anyway? Please take them away FBI.
9. Doctors. They don't know what they are doing.
10. Usama Bin Laden. DUH!

Ok, in case you didn't know already, my list is a joke. Well, except for #3 and #6. Still, i think you all should read up on our Most Wanted criminals. 94% of the people put on the list since 1950 have been caught, all due to people like you and I who saw them on the list and helped out. Happy Hunting. =)

Are You Serious??

I was thinking about something recently that i find very interesting and wanted to share really quick. As we all know, the economy is not doing so hot and hasn't been doing so well for quite awhile now. Stores are closing down forever, people are being let go from their jobs, and businesses are getting bail outs from the government. Needless to say, things are looking so good. Right now the national debt is clocked at $10,728,853,502,376.82!!! Are you serious?? I heard that if you paid one million dollars every day, starting from the time that Jesus was born, until today, you still would not have paid off that debt. It's pretty stinkin' ridiculous.

So i see this and i think to myself, 'well, we better buckle down as a country, stop spending so much, save a little, help each other out.' Yet i don't see that happening anytime soon. Why? Entertainment.

It seems that we as a country are willing to pay way over the top for our entertainment, even when our counrty is trillions of dollars in debt. Will Smith was paid $80 million this year, Johnny Depp $72 million, and Angelina Jolie makes over $15 million PER MOVIE. Tiger Woods made $87 million in a year, David Beckham made $33 million, while Shaq brought home $32 million. We'll pay $530,540,885 to see The Dark Knight, $318, 412,101 to watch Iron Man, and $167,535,553 for Quantum of Solace. We pay $6.3 billion to go see Football games, $6 billion for Baseball, and $4 billion for Basketball. Do i need to give anymore examples??

Now don't get me wrong, i contributed to all of these venues. These are my favorite actors, favorite movies, and favorite sports. But why do we spend so much for these things? Is it because they make us happy? Do they give us a sense of security, because we know that no matter the fluxuation of the economy, our favorite actors, movies, and sports will still be there like they always have? Whatever the reason, maybe we as a country can figure out a way to pay less for this entertainment so that our economy can have a little help getting back on it's feet. I don't know. Just a thought.

Quite An Experience

Today i was invited to accompany my good friend on a 'homework assignment'. I'm not too sure what exactly the assignment requires her to do, but i think it entails some form of community service to those in need. She decided on a homeless shelter as her area of service.

Neither of us had ever helped out at a shelter before, so naturally the idea of helping there was intriguing. What were the people like? How did the shelter operate? Why were the other helpers there? I decided to tag along and see what it was like there.

I already had a picture in my head, maybe somewhat prejudice, of what it would be like there. I fully expected all the people there to be old, smelly beings. I just knew i was going to see knotted hair, missing teeth, dirty fingernails, tattered clothing, smelly breath, stinky odors. There was going to be people who make hundreds of dollars by on ramps but are too lazy to go get their own meal, so they are at the shelter for free food. There were going to be those who lost jobs yet refuse to look for another one, so they take advantage of a free shelter. I knew the people helping there were just there because they are paid to, it's their job, they don't care.

Now I'll be honest, homeless people scare me. I have what you might call a 'homeless-phobia' and according to the above paragraph, i can be a bit prejudice. These are the things that i expected to see tonight, but when i arrived at the shelter, my thoughts about the place were completely altered.

The first thing i saw were the people living at the shelter. Old? No, half of them were children below the age of nine. Smelly, knotted hair, and missing teeth? Not one person i saw looked like this. Tattered clothing or unbelievable stench? Not at all. I was amazed. These people were normal, ha, not what i expected at all.

I was able to serve these people food, nothing much, just chili dogs, chips, celery and some dessert, but they were grateful nonetheless. The whole night was extremely humbling and made me rethink about all the things that i take for granted. It's sad really that it takes a trip like this to make me see how blessed i really am.

There were three things that stood out like crazy to me. One, the people volunteering. With the exception of two or three that ran the shelter full-time, everyone else was a volunteer. And not just a one time helper. No, these people had been helping for months, some years. They truly cared for these less fortunate people, they loved them. They paid for the food out of their own pockets, they cooked all the food themselves hours before dinner time. These helpers were all amazing people.

Two, the children. These kids were darling! They were the biggest eye openers for me. Why? Because they were HAPPY. Children can be a perplexing wonder. These kids literally had nothing. Yet here they were, laughing, running around and playing, jump roping, kicking a soccer ball around. Here are human beings that, without really knowing it, are loving life simply because they are ALIVE! Nothing else seemed to matter, not toys, cool clothes, TV, just life.

Three, the homeless adults, two men to be exact. One man prayed for the food before we ate, and all he did during his prayer was Thank God for what he had. Like the children, he was happy, he didn't need possessions to make him 'alive'. The other man shattered my 'lazy' expectation. All he did the entire night were chores around the shelter. I saw him stop working only once, and that was to ask me if i could save some food for him so that he could eat when he was done! What a man, he even refused to eat until he had finished his work. He wasn't taking what he was being given for granted.

I know i will always be thankful to my dear friend who asked me to tag along. I hope to be able to go back soon and help out more. Tonight i learned to love, laugh, and be thankful.

I would encourage everyone to help out some where like this. It's rather easy, only an hour of your day to bless someone else and possibly learn some life lessons.

It was quite an experience.

A Chick Flick? Really?

For awhile now, my roommate and I have been in 'heated discussions' with a woman who shall remain anonymous for the time being. =) What have we been discussing you ask? Chick flicks.

Now I'm a little fuzzy on exactly how this conversation started, but it undoubtedly started after the three of us watched a so called 'guy movie'. We were told that the next movie we watched would have to be a chick flick and of course, being guys, this threw us into a maniacal rage...not really, but it began what i have dubbed, 'THE ARGUMENT'.

On one side of this argument we have the nameless woman, who claims that these 'guy movies' we watch are senseless, full of only violence and gore and stuff that could never happen, while a chick flick has sense and a meaningful story and could be real. Whaaaaaaaaat???? Now Miss No Name is one of my best friends, i would do anything for her, so i must show her the error of her ways. =)

As guys, we can't let our movies be talked about like that! Here's our argument. the story lines of our 'guys movies' are great and without a doubt could and probably has/will happen in real life. The Patriot...yes it's bloody, violent, action packed, but it happened! Pride and Glory...Crooked Chicago cops and twisted investigation, violent yes, but it happens! The story lines are great, the movies are riveting, what's not to like?

Then take a look at chick flicks. The story line is THE SAME for every movie! Girl finds the perfect guy and they live happily ever after. Really? Please tell me the last time you saw that happen in real life. I don't understand how a girl can watch 20 different movies that all have the same story. It's pretty ridiculous. I blame Cinderella. Now i know that i have a biased view since I'm a guy, but girls, you have to agree that chick flicks are all the same!

During 'THE ARGUMENT', we even got all psychological. Why do women love their chick flicks? It's the guy in the film. He's perfect, he's what every girl dreams of, he's 'got it going on' right? They fawn over these guys, talk about them like they were real, wish they WERE real. Hence, another reason why us guys don't like chick flick...we aren't THOSE guys. Ha, it sounds pathetic, but it's true.

Then i looked at the other hand, why do we like our 'guy movies'? As men, we like violence, we like action, we like intense, it's part of our being, it's how we are wired, we can't help it. So are women wired too? Wired to be attracted to perfection, real or not? Made to be drawn towards emotion rather than action?

I've decided to leave the issue alone for now because it makes me more confused as to why women are the way they are. =) I'll leave them be to watch their emotional date movies as long as they let me watch my violent ones.

What are my plans for tonight? Ha, i think the three of us are watching a chick flick. Remember we HAVE to?

The Beginning

About three weeks ago i read that Kobe Bryant will be paid to write a blog for a Chinese website (http://www.danwei.org/sports/kobe_bryant_starts_bilingual_b.php). I thought to myself, if Kobe can write a blog, so can i. Now, i understand i am not an NBA star with millions of fans who will read my blog, but hopefully down the road I'll have a few 'followers'. So here goes nothing.

Now what could i possibly want to talk about today? There is only one thing...Super Bowl. I'll start off saying congrats to the Steelers, six rings is a huge accomplishment, well done. However, i do need to gripe. I don't think they deserved this win as much as the Cards did. Think back on the NFL season. Unless you are a Pittsburgh fan, no one heard anything special about the Steelers. Yes, they had the #1 defense, good job, but all in all they had an uneventful season.

Then take a look at Arizona. You have an 'old-timer' beat out the new guy for starting QB, who then goes on to be the #2 QB in the league in pass yards and TD's! You have 3 receivers with over 1,000 yards in the season! After a devastating loss to the Patriots in week 16, everyone counts your playoff dreams dead.

But then Arizona gets wildcard, beats Atlanta even though they were told they wouldn't. They beat Carolina, even though they were told they wouldn't. They beat Philadelphia, even though they were told they wouldn't. Next thing they know, they're in the Super Bowl. Now you tell me, who deserves a ring here?

Game time. Again it looked like Arizona was outmatched, beaten down, defeated. Yet they came back, like so many times before, and made this Super Bowl worth watching. Yet it seemed like there were some who wanted to dash the dreams of those in red and white. The refs. These refs were Steeler fans for sure. What's one way to stop a team from advancing in a game? Kill them with penalties. 11 penalties all together, one for roughing the passer that was more of a pat on the shoulder. But hold on a second, there was no penalty called on Holmes after his touchdown celebration!?? A celebration using the ball as a prop is a 15 yard penalty, which would have given Arizona good field position, but nay, the refs 'didn't see that'. But in the end it was Arizona who bit themselves in the butt and for some strange reason did not review the 'fumble' of Warner in the final seconds.

All in all, i'm losing faith in the refs. I don't know, maybe i'm still upset over the Philidelphia-Arizona game where a missed passing interference call ended the Eagle's season.

I hope to get some heated discussion in here. =) Comment please.

Now that i'm done with my football blog, i hope you look forward to more diverse topics in the future. I think i'm getting the hang of this blog thing.

VIDEO OF THE DAY
http://www.wwlp.com/dpp/video/vid_other_1/wwlp_caughtontape_spinnershark200901292000

It's maybe the coolest shark i've seen. Enjoy.

Until next time, bye bye.