PYROTECHNICS

"4th of July"

On the 4th of July, my family hosted our annual picnic, complete with the fireworks that I had purchased just a few days ago. The fireworks proved to be very good, as expected from Phantom. The final one that was shot was a tube called the "Blue Wave," which flew up about 100 feet and then produced a huge floral burst.

• • • • •

 
PYROTECHNICS

"Fireworks Roadtrip"

On Monday and Tuesday, I took a roadtrip with some friends to buy some fireworks. We went to Ohio to purchase from one of the nation's largest supplier of consumer fireworks, Phantom Fireworks. A huge stockpile now awaits the 4th.

• • • • •

 
ATHLETICS

"World Cup Championship"

Early Sunday morning I got up to watch the championship match of the World Cup between soccer giants Germany and Brasil. Though the game ended in a 2 to 0 shutout with Brasil taking the win, it was quite an exciting game throughout. Brasil played very well, with two goals scored by Ronaldo to return victory to the team. On the German side, goalkeeper Oliver Kahn played well for much of the match, but could only keep out the Brasilians for two-thirds of the match. Nevertheless, for his multitude of triumphant saves Kahn was given the Golden Ball Award, which is "arguably the most prestigious individual award in the world of football." Before the final match, he had only let one goal be scored on Germany in the entire cup.

• • • • •

 
MOVIES

"Mr. Deeds"

Over the past weekend I saw the new Adam Sandler flick, "Mr. Deeds." The movie was not nearly as funny as I expected from this comedian, and it seemed to be a romantic comedy. I gave it a 5 out of 10 on my rating scale, and I certainly do not reccomend watching it.

• • • • •

 
BOOKS

"The Minority Report"

This weekend I had a chance to read the short story "The Minority Report" by Phillip K. Dick. The story was very good, and I recommend it highly. I have yet to see the film adaptation of the story, but it is getting generally very good reviews.

• • • • •

 
ATHLETICS

"World Cup Soccer"

For anyone interested, there are two World Cup soccer games early this Friday morning. First is Brasil vs. England at 2:30 AM. As I have stated earlier, I am routing for Brasil, and the game should prove to be a good one, and likely a close one too. However, I will probably miss this game, because I am going to wake up to watch the 7:30 AM game between USA and Germany. We are of course the underdogs, but there has been quite a bit of buzz about USA's wins over two of the world's top teams, Portugal and Mexico. Germany may be next, and I will be watching to find out.

• • • • •

 
MOVIES

"Rat Race"

Just finished watching the movie "Rat Race." On my scale, it recieved a 6, for it was somewhat funny, but came up with more lame jokes than funny ones. I had heard good things about this movie previously, but I cannot recommend it to others. It certainly has its funny parts, but there was far too much filler.

• • • • •

 
MOVIES

"Blow"

Tonight I watched the Johnny Depp movie "Blow." I gave it a 7 of 10 on the movie ratings scale. The movie follows the life of the origional drug lord in the US, George Jung. This was an interesting premise for the movie, but proved slow in some points, as life sometimes goes. Overall, worth watching, but not if you're in the mood for some fast paced action.

• • • • •

 
ATHLETICS

"World Cup"

Last night I watched the World Cup soccer game between USA and Mexico. I was really tired at the time, so I only stayed up for the first half, but it was a good game. I saw the first goal scored by USA, and the game ended with us winning 2 to 0. This win was an extremely important one for the sport in the United States. The team has now made it to the final eight, which is the best they have done since making it to the quarterfinals in 1930. I'm quite excited about this win, and perhaps it will allow the United States to be seen as somewhat of a competitor on the global scene of soccer, rather than just an outsider. Also, in soccer news, Brasil (the other team I am routing for) beat Belgium to advance to the semifinals, no suprise here.

• • • • •

 
ATHLETICS

"Pick-up Soccer Game"

Today, after watching the World Cup Soccer game between England and Denmark, some friends and I played a game of soccer at the park. I played a little Intra-mural Co-ed soccer at my college this past year, but I have not played too much soccer over my life, just two years when I was in Junior High. The game made me realize how out of shape I am, which is especially noticible in my case because I like to run, and often do distance road races. This next week in fact I am planning on participating in a 5-mile run, but I haven't ran in about a month. I really enjoyed the pick-up game of soccer though, and afterwards we played a little basket ball as well.

• • • • •

 
ATHLETICS

"World Cup Soccer Match, England Vs. Denmark"

This morning, I got up with some friends at 7:30 AM to watch the World Cup Soccer match between England and Denmark. This was the live time at which the game was played, however, ESPN did not televise the game then. Rather, it was not shown until 3:30 PM on ABC. By this time, the winner of the game was already known, but we watched it anyway. The game was an interesting one, though it ended in a shutout by England, 3 to 0. I was satisfied watching my first (full) World Cup game this year. I plan on watching the USA vs. Mexico game early Monday morning, at 2:30 AM. The winner of this game will advance to the quarterfinals, which would be a tie for the best USA has ever done in the world cup.

• • • • •

 
MOVIES

"Donnie Darko"

Recently I had a chance to rewatch parts of the cult movie "Donnie Darko," which I have seen a few months ago. I gave this movie a 9 out of 10, for it is an extremely intriguing movie that draws upon the anguish of teenage years. On the Internet Movie Database, one person simply and accurately described it as "Dark and Beautiful, A great film....See this film if you can, It is a wonderful dark ride."

• • • • •

 
MOVIES

"Insomnia"

A few days ago, I saw the new Christopher Nolan movie,"Insomnia." The movie was quite entertaining, and I gave the movie a 9 out of 10 on the movie rating scale (there is a link to explain this scale in the upper left of the page). The movie was a great serial killer mystery gone wrong plot, as well as a convincing portrayal of the condition of insomnia. This is reminicent of Nolan's previous movie, "Memento," in that it takes a condition experienced by the lead character and attempts to create that feeling in the viewer. This is one of the greatest things that I like about these two films, and both are quite successful in achieving this. Definately check out both of these films if you haven't already, I gave Memento a 10 of 10 on the scale.

• • • • •

 
ACADEMICS

"World Future Society Conference 2002"

The World Future Society's annual conference this year is to be held in Philadelphia. This is coincidentally where my college is located, so they are sending a number of students to the conference (and paying the several hundered dollar fee). I am in the process of signing up for this now, along with one of my roommates. I do not really know what to expect from the conference, but it should be an interesting look into current issues. The conference is taking place in late July, and I will post information on how it went then.

• • • • •

 
MOVIES

"A Clockwork Orange"

Just tonight I watched the Stanley Kubrick clasic, "A Clockwork Orange." I wasn't as shocked at the movie as people had led me to believe I would be. I came away with the feeling that it was just a very very strange movie, and a bit disturbing. I am still a little confused as to the purpose to the movie, but I can see that it comments on the idea that someone without choice and freedom is not really a person. I gave the movie a 7 out of 10 on my movie rating scale. This movie rating scale (which was developed by myself and P, and later adopted by T) can always be found by following the link in the upper left of the page. Special thanks to T for putting the scale onto a webpage.

• • • • •

 
COMICS

"Johnny the Homicidal Maniac"

I'm not one to read comic books, but recently I have looked over one of the "Johnny the Homicidal Maniac" issues briefly. This comic by Jhonan Vasques is quite a funny comic, though I'm sure many would find it distasteful for the great amount of violence and vulgarity used. However, those that read it will realize that these are exactly where the humor and greatness of the comic comes from. Definately check it out if you're in for some devilish humor.

• • • • •

 
NOTE

"Sickness"

Just after finals had ended, I suffered a terrible bout with an unknown sickness, possibly a bad fever or the flu. I had a flu shot earlier in the season, however, so if that is what I had, I am terribly disappointed with the health system. I am almost fully recovered now, thanks to several days of sleep, but unfortunately this has been a poor start to my summer.

• • • • •