A game

Here is the game. In a comment on this post, or in a post on your own blog, complete the following:

Name one thing that you were, that you aren't any more.
Name one thing that you are right now that you won't be later.
Name one thing that you haven't been yet, but you will be in the future.

If you put it in your own blog, comment here with a link to your answers.

My answers:

I was all wet in the shower, then I toweled off.
I am single right now, but later I will be married.
I have not yet been Teacher of the Year, but I will be some day.

Reality check

When I first saw the commercials for Wife Swap or Trading Spouses or whatever, I was horrified because I thought "How could any married couple agree to live as man and wife with another woman or man for a week?!" but then I realized two things: 1) the way the temporary new couples get along, there is no adultery happening, I guarantee, and 2) the people that I see on these shows look like the people who are quite used to going a week (or more) without marital intimacy with their own spouse anyway.

But more importantly, why do we call these shows reality shows? True they are not scripted like previous brands of TV, but television cannot show us reality. I watched the original Survivor, the prototype for all reality shows, and I can guarantee you that if what was shown on screen was an accurate representation of everything that happened on that island, there is no way that naked gay Rich would've won it all. There were clearly things happening that we did not see. And so it is with all of these shows. Television must condense time, exaggerate emotion, exacerbate tension, caricature personality, and cater to culture by its very nature. The things inside that box are not real. We have always known that, but when we start calling it "reality" some people might get confused. The things inside that box are not real. Do not ever forget that.

Do we wonder why those "other people" always forward e-mail hoaxes? And fall for them? It is because, ever since the invention of the television, or the radio, or even the newspaper (!) we have trained mankind to believe whatever we tell them. Did you see the Challenger shuttle explode? With your own eyes? Or on a screen in a box? Have you ever seen ANY space shuttle take off? How about the war in Iraq? Do you have any idea what the Iraqi people think? Have you ever asked one? Every event in your life right now is brought to you virtually. INCLUDING THIS BLOG! It is time for a revolution. If you can get past the fact that an even more virtual source, the internet, told you to do it, then go turn off and sell your television and only believe things you see with your own eyes.

Excepting of course everything you read in the Bible. My point being not to sound like a hypocrite but to bring us back to a realistic level of faith. Because it is right and reasonable to believe some things we are told. But in conclusion: because I only saw it on TV and not with my own eyes, I refuse to believe that the San Antonio Spurs won the NBA Finals this year.

GO PISTONS!
I'm out.

Various small things.

Welcome to our viewers from Grove City who are here by way of the e-mail I sent out earlier - also some other non-Grove-City types who got the same e-mail.

No major topics to write about today, but apparently LaBosseuse doesn't feel my previous posts were worthy of her comments, so I must write another one for her to comment on.

I went to a wedding this past weekend that was absolutely beautiful. All my congratulations go to Ben and Jen, aka Bennifer, aka Mr. and Mrs. Robert Benjamin Allums. I wish I had some pictures to show you, because several very beautiful things happened at the wedding.

First, actually, I got invited to the rehearsal dinner - they opened it up to a lot more family and friends, rather than just the wedding party. You see, Ben's family is from Louisiana, and then Texas and then Chicago. So they threw us a big New Orleans style party, complete with beads and masks and cajun food and all sorts of fun stuff. I got to see some wonderful grover types who I hadn't seen in months (at least). Sharon and Brian, Susan and Faith, Amy(!) Paul(!!!) and of course Ben and Jen. Dinner was great, then we had toasts and it was awesome fun - Amy and Paul both made excellent speeches as did members of the bride and groom's family - I got to see Ben's relationship with his family for the first time, and it was really touching - he's such a standup guy and he proves it again and again every time I see him. And Jen couldn't have looked more the blushing bride - usually she is quiet, but not shy - Friday night she seemed shy and nervous a bit, but it fit perfectly with her wedding weekend. Then we went out for the bachelor party, but you Grovers will be glad to know that we 'creeked' Ben first - carried him on our shoulders out to the driveway and then Paul poured a cup of water on his head!

Bachelor party was to be at Molly's - a bar downtown - which was a cool place but with the band playing there it was too loud to just talk, which is what we wanted to do. So we had one drink each and hit the road to the house of a family from Jen's church (I think). I ordered a Colorado Bulldog but she mixed it differently than I'm used to - it was still really good though so I didn't complain. One of the guys actually had a glass of Merlot. What a champ. At the house we retired to, not much happened before the party broke up for the evening (it was after midnight at that point) but in the driveway of the house was a car that I absolutely drooled over.

I will take a break here to talk about Initial D (see earlier posts or google search the name) - of the main characters in the anime, two of them are brothers, one who is older and more cerebral, the other younger and passionate. They both drive Mazda RX-7s, which are great cars. The older brother has an older model RX-7, and the younger brother drives the newer model. These cars are the predecessor to the RX-8 that you may have seen all over the roads these days. Anyhow, in 1992 the RX-7 changed to a new body style and a new chassis. The chassis code up til 1991 was FC3S and after 1992 it was FD3S. In Initial D (and apparently in drift racing at all) the drivers refer to their cars by the chassis code. No other car besides a Mazda RX-7 would have a chassis code of FC3S, so if you say that then everyone knows what you're talking about. And it's easier to say "FC" or "FD" than "1991 Mazda RX-7" or "1992 Mazda RX-7". So anyhow these brothers and their cars - the famous FC and FD - are legends in the story of Initial D.

Back to the wedding story - as I left the house Friday night to drive to the other house where I would sleep, I took a closer look at the car in the driveway, and it was an FC! Bright red paint with silver decals - a bee or wasp with a big ol' stinger, and silver stickers from the manufacturers of the various parts the guy had put in it. A nice big silver spoiler. It had a sticker on it that said "Drifted Daily" I was so happy to see that car you have no idea.

Got to the Hutchinson's house at 1 am and crashed in their basement - woke up and met their three beautiful girls: Ciara, Brieanna, and Rosalee (Rosie). They were the most excellent hosts I could've asked for, despite the fact that the three girls had to get ready to be flower girls, they still managed to make me feel right at home in their wonderful house. Drove to the wedding, watched an absolutely beautiful ceremony that I can barely describe. The key parts were that Jen and Ben both have pastors for fathers, so they chose a third-party (the associate pastor from jen's church) to do the officiating, but their own fathers did part of the service as well. The reception was nice with lots of food, a little dancing, a slide show of pictures of Jen and Ben growing up.

Then I drove Carolynn back down here and we met up with Beth her college roommate and they spent the night and then went off to church the next morning.

And at that point I guess life returned to "normal" for me. Normal = dote on my nephew. Cute little monkey-frog. He's awesome.

So look at that, I guess I did have something to write about after all. Now LaBosseuse will really be happy.

A movie review and some other things.

Umm Warriors of Heaven and Earth. Not bad. Nothing suprising, really, but for some cool camera work at points. Very well-told story, if a mite pedestrian. I mean as pedestrian as you can be with chinese swordsmen. Most everyone stays on the ground which avoids me worrying over the public's acceptance of wire-work. I don't mind it, but it may have been overdone recently. Not that this movie just came out, only I just rented it. Wanted to see it for awhile. Fair flick. But all in all I'm not ashamed that I didn't pay my own money for it. It's not epic or anything. A few camera angles that I'd love to copy, and the whole thing was remarkable for its restraint from most outlandish things. There are one or two scenes, but they are supposed to involve supernatural occurences, so they aren't minded. The rest of the movie is totally believable for normal humans who have practiced swordplay for 10-odd years. And are in a movie. They don't overdo the female lead's femininity, nor her surprising ability to fight even though (gasp) she's a gIRL! There is no forced romance, no awkward love triangle (despite the opportunities). I think my favorite scene is the one that goes like this (remembering that this movie is set in ancient China):

"I can't place your accent - I'm trying to figure out what part of China you're from"
"I'm not from China - I'm Japanese"
"Japan? Where's that?"

All in all, relatively down to earth, except for the divine intervention type sequences. So um I guess that Warriors of Heaven and Earth is actually the perfect title. Good job guys.

The summer beard has begun. Luke is still the cutest thing on the planet. Ever until. As in he's the cutest thing ever, and I will believe that until I have kids of my own.

Go Pistons. Except they lost so that's really too bad but I was rooting for them. Robert Horry deserved the MVP for the Spurs but Tim Duncan will always be their 'superstar'.

Follow-up

People who try to tell you why video games are good by saying all the things that they are useful for - improving hand-eye coordination so that people can fly remote missiles and do laser robot surgery - don't actually like video games and have no clue why they are important. That's like someone telling you Shakespeare is important and useful because you can use it to teach kids how to read. Shakespear is not about being useful and practical - Shakespeare has incredible value in and of itself. And a good video game has that value as well. They can improve hand-eye coordination. And decision making skills. And diligence. And critical thinking skills. And pattern recognition. And technological understanding. And cultural awareness. And musical ability. And a million other things that most people will never realize. But every video game is unique. Or at least all the good ones are. And lumping them all together as a tool for teaching hand-eye coordination, or holding that up weakly as their only virtue is the same as saying that all books are useful for teaching reading. Yeah they are but so many of them have so much greater value that you are ignoring. If you think that the best excuse for letting kids play video games is that they will have better hand-eye coordination, and there are a few careers where that will serve them well - you need to go play some video games. Tetris, Mega Man 2, anything made before 1995 with the word Mario in it, Half-Life, Age of Empires II: Age of Kings, Initial D, Police Trainer, Time Crisis 2, Galaga. And for the love of your mind, THINK while you are playing them.

Some worm writer has just earned a punch in the teeth

News Story

I finally blogged about a real life news story! Now I feel all political like LaBosseuse over there. But I'm not cause this news story actually involves me personally.

Last night I ate at Champps which is a nice sports bar - food is overpriced but you are paying for the big screen TVs which is fantastic. I ended up waiting inside for a half hour for some guys who were waiting outside for a half hour for me. I ended up eating 5 dollars worth of nachos and drinking 3 dollars worth of root beer before they showed up. Then I had a cheese steak and a beer. Our waiter was new, but not wholly incompetent. Just obviously new. When he brought us the check we asked him to split it up, and he did but came back with the news that my Visa had come back "Denied". A little embarassing, for those who have not had it happen to them. Made even more embarassing when the waiter said "oh that's happened to me on several occasions! I mean one time I missed a payment and..."

Right, bucko - sorry, DEREK - this is a debit card, not a credit card, and unlike your scrawny un-salaried scruffy-necked self, I do not "miss payments". Mainly because there are none but also because I am financially responsible and stable. Pause for God-with-a-sense-of-humor fiscal catastrophe to strike Ryan. anyhow I had to borrow ten bucks from a friend (thanks alex - no fair charging interest!).

So this morning I called my bank in an effort to straighten things out and I was told about the information contained in the preceding story. I hung up the phone and yelled some unfortunate things about the writer of said worm. Mainly that I wanted to punch him. In the teeth. that gosh darned sonofagun little...GUY! But one day I will meet him and punch him in the teeth. Probably by accident.

Photos as promised!

Luke Anthony Sutherland! 

Uncle Ryan and Baby Luke - as promised! 

Twenty four more

He's here! Luke arrived at 7:25 pm EST, June 21st 2005! I have only seen him through the nursery window, but I got to spend lots of time with my sister, his mother. She is doing well. There is some small risk of infection, so after making us wait an hour for him to have a course of antibiotics, and then fifteen minutes for a bath, and then half an hour in the warmer (an hour and forty-five minutes that began just before midnight) - at 1:30 they told us that they are going to put him in some other nursery for closer monitoring and we can't see him yet. So I have been awake for 19 hours, and for the last 6 hours Luke has been in the world and I have not yet held him. I am dissatisfied but understanding. I have done everything in my power to achieve this goal and it has not happened. I even made dinner runs on several occasions for everyone, taking massive orders, driving to taco bell to find that they closed at 10 for just this one night, rather than 1am like usual (it was 10:13) - driving to wendy's and taking orders via cell phone en route, trying to memorize it all, barely having enough money - taxing a late night drive through worker who nonetheless got our order PERFECT - these are the stories that you don't hear about fast food workers but this guy was a champ. Anyhow after exerting all of my faculties and capabilities in the direction of waiting faithfully for Luke, finally I was forced to give up. I failed to hold my nephew today.

Tomorrow I WILL post a picture of me and Luke together. Even if I have to Photoshop it. But I don't own Photoshop, so the real thing will be much easier to accomplish. I hope. If it gets to the point of Photoshopping, that will indicate inhuman trials and tribulations at the hands of the medical profession.

Twenty-four hours later

So Luke Anthony Sutherland has already proven his ability to take his good sweet time. Even after my sister's water broke, there have been no contractions. They spent yesterday just hangin' out at home. They went to IHOP for breakfast, shopping at wal-mart, ate out and had a big dinner, and generally just kept the rest of the family waiting by the phone for no good reason. So this morning they are finally heading in to the hospital where my sister's labor will be induced. So I guess we'll go in after her in a bit. Look how apathetic I've become about the whole thing...that's no good. Anyhow, please see yesterday's post for how I really feel about the whole thing.

Biased statistics

According to statcounter.com, someone from San Francisco California who uses Mac OSX and the Safari Browser set at 1024x768 resolution is accounting for an absurd percentage of my traffic. I Wonder WHO THAT COULD BE

Recent test results show...

Poor LaBosseuse is only nerdier than 31% of all people. I, however:


But I get two extra nerd points because it wouldn't copy and paste the code for the above image, so I had to type it myself, and then debug to find the errors caused by: a) my mis-typing and b) the extra spaces inserted by line breaks in the tiny space they crammed the code into on their site. So w00t for me.

What I did instead of having a nephew:

In the meantime I discovered that Thai food is really good but too spicy for my wimpy taste buds. I've never enjoyed spicy food, but I can tell you that I appreciate the taste totally apart from the vicious assault the curry made on my comfort level. Also Tsingtao beer, which I had never seen on the menu of any restaurant but had been wanting to try ever since a college prof. recommended it, is quite good. More mellow, less bitter - which I appreciated. It's apparently a combination of Chinese rice and German know-how that arose from a time when German soldiers were stationed in China for some reason. I think. Apparently I didn't pay as much attention to the history as I did to the beer. Sorry Dr. Tilford.

Happy Birthday Luke Anthony Sutherland!

My sister is going to have a baby today. Brothers will become uncles, parents will become grandparents, grandparents will become great-grandparents. Husband and wife become father and mother. And a "fetus" (that word comes with a fist-shake at everyone who would dare call my nephew that) becomes the absolute center of everyone's world. It's been four days since I blogged, but I think this is a decent occasion.

MY SISTER IS HAVING A BABY TODAY!!!

My sister, who in high school dated boys just like anyone else - some of them real jerks, too - and rebelled against my parents' wishes a few times, just like anyone else. Then she went to college, and during college, something amazing happened. Dennis Bullock, one of my best friends and closest Christian brothers, witnessed to a friend of his at work named Matt Sutherland. Matthew Eugene Sutherland. Son of Anthony Eugene "Gene" Sutherland and Sue "sorry I forgot your middle name" Sutherland. Matt came to Christ through Dennis' ministry and came to church as well. At All Saints Reformed Presbyterian Church. 3000 Grove Ave, Richmond, VA. There he met my sister, and the Lord brought them together in holy matrimony on December 18, 1999. I had to fly home in the middle of my freshman year final exams at Grove City College in order to be in the wedding, then fly back to finish exams before driving home. IT was the happiest day of my life. Fast forward five years. Lynna (oh yeah that's my sister - Lynna-Brooke Westcott Sutherland. Daughter of Douglas Anthony "Doug" Westcot and Donna Hildreth Westcott) graduated college and has taught school at Beaverdam Elementary School. As she begins her fourth year of teaching, she and Matt come to us with some wonderfully happy news. She is pregnant! She is going to have a baby! 9 month gestation period, 9 months in the school year - coincidence? Doubtful. Her due date is set as June 15th, one day before I will finish teaching my first year of school. We spend the whole school year watching Lynna and the baby grow, helping them prepare their house for the new kid. Last week, as you are all aware, June 15th came and went. All that day I could barely focus on school - thank the Lord that all I had to do was administer an exam. But nothing happened that day. Nothing happened yesterday on Father's Day. I mean we celebrated Father's Day, but the kid was unsympathetic and refused to make a poetic and memorable arrival. He is clearly interested in doing things his own way and does not stand on ceremony. Good traits, as far as I'm concerned. This morning at 8:26 (four minutes before my alarm, thank you very much) the phone rang. No one reached the phone in time, so now we have recorded for all time on the answering machine my sister's voice saying "Hello! It's Lynna! This is THE CALL!" Her water broke at 6:15 this morning! We are all anticipating the trip to the hospital and the wonderful day that this will be for all of us!

Now THIS is the happiest day of my life.
Happy Birthday Luke Anthony Sutherland.

Video Games

I am biased, I'll admit, but this is still an opinion that needs to be heard.

Video Games are important!

In literature, it is possible to tell the difference between a well-written book and a poorly written one. A classic can be distinguished from a weak effort. A novel truly written from the heart should be distinguished from one written purely as a commercial venture. Certain works of literature have stood the test of time and become an accepted part of our culture, history, and education.

Visual arts, cinema, music, architecture...any of the creative pursuits of the human mind can be examined for excellence (or lack thereof) in the same way. Video games are no exception to this, but they are often overlooked as mind-numbing wastes of time, petty entertainment for the generation with the shortest attention span in human history.

These criticisms may be valid, and they may explain the uniqueness of video games as compared to other creative efforts, but I forbid you to overlook them as valuable creative works. If time, energy, and mental effort is put into making an excellent video game, not as a simple commercial venture, but in an attempt to create a unique experience, then excellence can be derived from playing said video game, and it is as worthwhile a pursuit as reading a great novel, viewing a classic painting, or watching a time-honored work of cinematic genius. Alright not quite as worthwhile, I'll admit. But way more worthwhile than public opinion will allow.

And I don't think one should play video games who sole purpose is senseless violence anymore than one would read a book entirely about serial killing or watch a movie devoted to the same subject. There can be some value in these works, but one must also draw a line as far as what is acceptable to take in - this is a personal choice so if you would like to watch Son of Sam and play Grand Theft Auto I will not fault you. Grand Theft Auto is an incredibly well-made video game and deserves respect for that, but like the music of Metallica, that excellence carries with it some serious baggage that may be unacceptable to many. But just like you would be foolish to judge all music (or even all heavy metal) by the measure of Metallica, you would be blind deaf and stupid to assume that all video games are anything like GTA3.

Mega Man 2. That's what I'm talking about. Go find an old NES 8-bit system (not the Gamecube you 12 year old n00b, not the Super Nintendo even - the old gray and black rectangle, with an equally boxy controller, only two buttons). And find Mega Man 2. This is the greatest video game ever created. Yes the entire purpose of the game is shooting and destroying enemies. But they are bad guys. They are not cops or innocent pedestrians or prostitutes. They are menacing robotic enemies sent to threaten humanity's future by the evil Dr. Wily. And only Mega Man, half-robot half-human creation of the inherently good Dr. Light, can save the world. Mega Man's right arm consists of a GUN from the elbow forward. This gun shoots relatively simple energy blasts until you complete one of the 8 levels. Not only can you select to complete the levels in any order you choose, but when you get to the end of a level, having passed all its unique hazards and relentless enemies, you are locked into a room for some one-on-one, toe-to-toe, mano-a-roboto combat with the Robot Master of the level. Air Man, Metal Man, Crash Man, Wood Man, Bubble Man, Heat Man, Flash Man, and Quick Man (yes that was from memory). Each with a unique weapon that you earn upon defeating them. Then you can switch the capability of your Arm Cannon from one weapon to the other. And each Robot Master has a weakness to one other Robot Master's weapon. Heat Man is easily defeated by the weapon you win from Bubble Man. Quick Man's health slowly drains if you stop time using the Flash Stopper from Flas Man. So you have to know the right order to take on the levels, to collect each weapon in the order you need to use it to beat the next boss, so on and so forth.

I could literally go on all day about this game, but you need to go play it for yourself. The controls are not hard, there are only two buttons and a four-way cross directional pad to deal with.

Let me also say that if you like racing games, you should be playing Initial D. Based off a japanese manga (comic book) and anime (animated tv show) by the same name, the game revolves around japanese teens who race their souped-up cars up and down twisting mountain roads. This game is far more technical than most race games out there. You will actually use the brake pedal, and downshift several times during the course of a given race. Or you will lose pathetically and get frustrated and look like an idiot. I will say this game has a steep learning curve but it's totally worth it - and if you like it at all, you can purchase (for the price of an extra game) a memory card that keeps track of your progress and any modifications you make to your car. I own four of these memory cards.

Annnnyhow, take a second look at video games as worthwihle mental and cultural pursuits. If you need help getting started in this venture, I'd be more than happy to discuss it with you. My e-mail address is fizxwestcott@gmail.com

The Future.

Retirement luncheon at work today - it was touching to me, in a way that I didn't expect it to be, but I sat there listening to everyone talking about the achievements of basically several lifetimes of education and it made me wonder - what will people say about me when I retire? What would I say about some of my fellow teachers when they retired? It was quite a heart-wrenching moment. Some of these people have poured so much of their soul, their existence, into helping children that no one else would help - some of whom deserved it, some of whom did not. Do me a favor and take a second out of your day to think about the time in the future when you will step back and let others look at your life work - what will it be? Where will your energy have gone? How will your time have been spent? Tell me that isn't a complete head rush.

Then I realized that I am never going to retire as a teacher. Because Saturday I articulated for myself a new goal in life - I want to own an Oscar and a Grammy. Grammy first, Oscar second. I want the Oscar to be for Best Director, or for one of my films to win Best Picture - I know that's stretching. But best cinematography or best original screenplay would be alright, too. I already know the two films that would have a chance of being nominated, in back to back years I hope, it's just a matter of shooting them.

I suppose I should make clear my life plan. After somewhere between 10 and 30 years of teaching (leaving me somewhere between 33 and 53 years old) I intend to quit and become a Rock Star. For Jesus. I want to play bass in a unique, novel, and influential Christian rock band. This is a tricky proposition because it appears all too easy for Christian music to be totally lame - to think that the "Christian" justifies the "music", in other words to think that you don't have to be talented as long as you talk about Jesus. My thing is, I intend to make the music glorifying to God by using the talents He has given me, by refining them along with my fellow musicians, and making it something that the world will sit up and take notice. And on top of that vehicle we will carry a powerful, unapologetic gospel message. And dare the record stores of the world to relegate us to the "Christian" rack. P.O.D., Chevelle, and Switchfoot have all done this. Some would claim that Creed and U2 are Christian bands, and they're close but not exactly what I'm thinking of. Either way, this is the kind of rock star I want to be. I pray that God will bless my efforts to improve my bass playing, and improve my humility - it will be so easy for me to do this for my own glory, that I'm not even sure it will be a successful venture, or whether I will have the boldness to actually go through with it down the road. But it's a dream, and I am not afraid to have dreams.

After I get to be an old rocker, I intend to put that aside and start my filmmaking career somewhere on the far side of 60. I want to be an old and respected filmmaker, although I'm sure to actually do that I would have to start out as a young and disrespected filmmaker first...perhaps we can circumvent that. Perhaps I will have to choose either filmmaking or music making, either an Oscar or a Grammy. I don't set those goals because I want to be famous, but because I want to hold myself to a standard of excellence so that whether I am bringing a Christian message through music or film, it will have a great impact and be glorifying to God.

Maybe these are just pipe dreams. A year ago I believed that I could make a lifetime career out of serving God as a teacher, and I still believe that is possible. If these dreams don't work out, I am still working a fantastic job that I will never really want to leave. This is my dream job right now. I need no advancement, I need no additional benefits, I only need nurturing, recognition, and correction. Support, guidance, and compliments. I trust God that my salary will bring me the things I need to have, the things He wants me to have, so I won't say that I don't need money, but I don't need any more money than this job brings. And maybe I will retire 40 years from now and people can dab tissues at their blurry eyes and say all kinds of touching things about me.

But rock stars get all the chicks.

GO PISTONS!
I'm out.

Random Chance

Here's something cool. It has been said before by many that nothing really happens at random, or by chance - that all is controlled by God and everything happens for a reason - this gets said in various forms by various people. But let me put some teeth to it with one of my favorite tools - the laws of physics!

Take one of the most standard examples of a "random event": the flip of a coin. It is commonly accepted that the flip of a coin is a textbook example of an event with exactly 50/50 probability - that is there is a 50% chance it will land on one side, and a 50% chance it will land on the other side. Or there is a 1:2 chance of it landing on heads, and a 1:2 chance of it landing on tails. However you want to say it - the idea is that it is purely up to the laws of probability, and you cannot predict which way it will turn out, only make general statements about how it is likely to turn out. It is unpredictable - this is the real thrust of talking about random events - they are not predictable. And yet, I put forth to you that I can predict which side a coin will land on. Assuming of course that you give me detailed information about the size, shape, and mass of the coin, the amount of force applied to it by the thumb of the flipper, and the exact location on the coin where the thumb makes contact. Oh and of course which side of the coin was facing up to begin with. And whether you are going to catch it in your hand or let it fall to the ground, and whether you are planning to flip it onto your wrist after you catch it. Then it's a simple matter of some pretty basic physics equations to determine the amount of time the coin will be in the air, its rate of rotation, and from that, how many times it will rotate during the time it is in the air.

Of course you see that the information asked for is actually quite complex to acquire - especially the data about the force from a thumb. That would be tough to measure. But it could be done. Perhaps I could build a robotic machine that would exert the exact same amount of force each time, on a precisely located coin of uniform shape (no heads or eagles or other deformities to complicate the equations). Then I could tell you exactly which side would come up, every time.

So perhaps we need to refine our thinking about random events - they are actually simply events that are controlled by factors too complicated to measure. The weather is a similar one. We know that in winter it will be cold, in summer it will be warm, and even these are not set in stone. The factors that go into the weather patterns are incredibly complex. I'm sure you can think of many other "random" events and realize that they are actually controlled by physical laws or patterns just like everything else, but that some of them are too complex to study easily, and therefore appear "random" to the untrained eye.

Now, here's the point. If things don't actually happen at random, but are rather controlled by certain factors (complex as the factors may be), then it would be possible to control all of these factors and therefore control the "random" events. Take my example of building a coin-flipping machine, wherein I propose to control all the factors that go into deciding a coin flip, and expand that. Imagine understanding all the complex factors that control all the processes and events in the entire universe. Now imagine controlling all of them to produce exactly your desired output. And now that you think you've imagined that, realize that there are factors and events that you haven't even thought of yet. Who has a mind complex and expansive enough to subdue apparently random events under His will? Well now we're back to the original statement - God controls everything - but now hopefully you understand what that really means and how perfectly reasonable that assertion is.

Blog poll: leave a comment and rate what you think of today's post, on a scale from 1 to 5, 5 being "I totally and wholeheartedly concur with Ryan Westcott" and 1 being "I am a drooling baboon"

See comments for excellent additional discussion provided by a young lady who is way more knowledgeable about physics than I am.

Today's peeve

As the rain pours down over sunny Central Virginia and the thunder rumbles in the quiet distance, I have come to today's complaint: people who re-write the law for their own benefit.

Two specific types: speed de-limiters and electronic thieves.

First - "Cops don't pull you over up to five or ten miles an hour over the speed limit, no one goes the speed limit anymore, you have to keep up with the flow of traffic just to be safe".

Since when do we re-interpret the law based on whether or not we will get caught? I wish someone would do something nasty to you and get away with it and see if you justify them with the same logic. Secondly, I have never EVER heard of someone causing an accident by going the speed limit. Going 40 down the center lane without your hazard lights on, yes that interrupts the flow of traffic. Forcing the arrogant trucker behind me to do 65 instead of 75 for a half mile before he stops tailgating me and passes? No accident, just my daily public service. The law is the law, it is clearly marked, it is very simple, it needs no interpretations, the things you are saying are not logic, they are justifications for your lawless behavior. STOP IT.

Secondly - people who download free music and movies from the internet without paying for it. I love this - these guys try to pull even more legal logic on you - there is no precedent for the law, and the record companies are too rich anyway, they brought it on themselves by charging too much for CDs. GUESS WHAT YOUR THEFT DOES - DRIVES PRICES UP FOR ME! You stupid self-serving uncultured PHILLISTINE! (wink, Suzanne). First of all - the free market economy will take care of prices that are truly too high. Just shop somewhere that they are lower in price. But if a store isn't selling the CDs they have bought, they must increase the prices on the ones that they do manage to sell in order to make back the money they spent. Likewise the record companies - if they can't get stores to buy their discs, because too many fat thirty year olds and skinny fifteen year olds (not to mention the well-built tall dark and handsome single Christian 23-year-olds) are downloading them instead of buying them, the record companies will jack up the prices. And what about this? The artists whose music you claim to love, you elitist hypocrites, whose music you prefer because they are not just in it for the money - well if you don't buy their discs, how are theysupposed to get compensated? If you really like the band, rather than just liking your own aural entertainment, you would pay something back.

On another side of the die, however, is this - since when does musical talent and athletic prowess deserve money? Respect, awe, emulation certainly, but I don't think we should make the argument that artists need our money in order to make a living - I honestly don't think that you should make your living playing music - you are not providing a service, you are providing entertainment. I guess that moves on into athletes and movie stars - I think I'm still kind of shaky on this, because I don't deny that talents deserve recognition and probably compensation, but it just doesn't quite feel right that America financially supports its entertainment in such a massive fashion.

Either way, though, the law is the law, and all of your socialist ramblings and noble thievery doesn't change the fact that YOU ARE BREAKING THE LAW. And lack of precedents aside, confusion about intellectual property aside, inadequacy of current copyright law aside, one thing is very simple and very clear: You own music without paying for it? THAT'S STEALING. STOP IT.

How the mighty have fallen

Cracker Barrell. Barrel? Barell? Why can't I spell tonight. Cracker Barrel - last bastion of down-home country cookin', has ceased to please my palette. I'm not sure if this is their fault or mine. I should investigate. I ordered a country-fried steak, mac 'n' cheese, mashed potatoes, and fried apples. The apples were delicious. That meal was carefully calculated to provide a near-gluttonous comfort food experience, and yet the flavors were not right. I was mentally sated with the idea that I was eating these wonderful foods, and so the comfort effect was acheived, but they just didn't taste good to me. Ah well.

Three more days of classes, and then a week of nothing but exams, and then the school year is over! Year one firmly under my belt. Thank you thank you thank you thank you GOD!

Short post today in the name of not neglecting the new baby blog. LaBosseuse deserves your attention - a link to her blog exists permanently at the right of this page. Clicken Sie da jetzt, bitte schoen!

Earlier tonight I poemed

Continuing in the vein of Americans who have begun to turn nouns into verbs (task -> tasked), earlier tonight, I poemed. For the first time in awhile. LaBosseuse (she-who-made-me-get-a-blog) told me I had to put this up here. I feel it is wayyyy too trendy and high-schooler of me to be posting my own poetry on my own blog...also Suzanne did not make me get a blog. She says she did, but she didn't. I got a blog solely for the reason articulated in the first post. But she likes to think that she helps me out with my life. She keeps saying things like "I wish we could find a nice girl out here for you" (out here = California, as opposed to the lovely East Coast where I live). Like God isn't doing a good enough job finding me one yet. But I love her for it, because she almost was a nice girl out there for me, so it's nice that she's participating. She left me for a Mac user.

Tonight we were talking about girls that may or may not be available to me and I mentioned that one who might have been available had become unavailable, and she said "Oh that leaves us with just *name edited for my protection*" I balked at this, unwilling to perceive my dating possibilities as an ever-dwindling list, and wrote back the following which I have reformatted to make it look like the poem that it already was:

The horizon is clear
All other ships have passed out of view
Leaving behind only their wakes
Which gently rock our own small vessel
Up and down, up and down

In other words I'm not looking back at what might have been, I'm looking forward to a limitless horizon, and at some God-determined point, more ships will sail into view and out again, and one will stay around, having been appointed the same course as mine.

What blogs are for

"I need a blog," I said to my friend, "because I have something to complain about and I don't want to have to tell everyone over and over again. That's what blogs are for, right? Complaining to large groups of people all at once?"

Not just complaining, but telling the stories, the news of one's life, and yes the little pet peeves that we all share - all without having to repeat yourself (well except for the constant nagging of your nearest and dearest to go check out the URL...that might get old)

So what have I got to complain about? Oh nothing much, just the rampant everyday failures of my fellow man to think logically. I teach Physics to high schoolers to help them learn how to think for themselves, because they and their classmates have forgotten how to. Their other classes have prepared them for nothing more than rote memorization and regurgitation. How do I know? I am a product of exactly that system - I scored highly on almost everything high school simply because I have a fascinatingly sharp memory for small pieces of information - numbers, odd facts, etc. I need a PDA to remind me of appointments and responsibilities, I need parents and friends to remind me of my moral convictions, but the truly trivial things I can remember forever and recall with photographic clarity. Thus high school was simple.

Since then I have come to appreciate the value of actually thinking. I can't imagine where I learned to do this for myself, since high school rarely required it of me. It must have been in the Presbyterian church, which is a singularly cerebral group of theologians - the "Frozen Chosen" we have been called, for our devotion to logic at the expense of emotion. However it happened, I have developed an absolute fascination with my own ability to think logically as well as a complete abhorrence of my countrymen's disability in this area. Clearly I am blinded and biased, but that is just something I will have to mature out of. I'm betting the maturing process takes longer than the lifespan of this blog.

Why do Americans choose to listen to poor quality music, watch worthless movies, and veg out on waste-of-time television without examining its meaning, message, value, or excellence? Why have we progressed to a view of art that assumes "All modern art is meaningless, inaccessible, and looks like finger-painting my two-year-old could do, so we will judge art based solely on taste - I don't know art, but I know what I like, if you will." Why do we accept in math class that 2+2 = 4 all the time every time no matter whether or not you believe that, in history class that the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776 no matter whether or not you believe it, and in Physics class that gravity always pulls objects towards the center of the Earth no matter how strongly you believe otherwise - but then we turn away from that, examine religion, and conclude "What you believe is right for you, and what I believe is okay for me, let's just agree to disagree".

Why is it that our culture has descended fully into postmodernism and relativism in general? A loss of the ability to think logically. This blog is even a bit anathema to me - the whole concept is an offshoot of our mass flight to the internet, preferring virtual experiences over real ones, moving ourselves farther and farther from truly interacting with other human beings, and thereby really and truly drawing farther and farther within ourselves even as we pretend to reach the world.

Why then do I have this blog? Because I have something to complain about, and I hate having to repeat myself...

So you might be wondering

What it was exactly that I had to complain about in the first place?

Relay for Life.

The American Cancer Society is an excellent institution, and the Relay for Life is actually a really great idea - if you don't know, the concept is that you get a team together and you walk for basically a day straight around a track (relay fashion of course) and you receive donations for said walking that you then pass on to the ACS to fund Cancer research, and education about early detection, and all sorts of wonderful things. And then you turn it into a huge event - dozens of teams, all with at least one person walking at all times, all doing their own little fundraising from under each little tent all the way around the track, cheering each other on, all through the night and into the next morning - 22 straight hours of walking to raise money for cancer research.

Right up until I arrived, this was a really cool idea. But then consider - I am counting on high schoolers here. We had around...40 kids signed up? And they weren't all there at once, but throughout the day. Well early on we had no problem getting people to walk, and help out with our fundraiser (giving out coffee in return for donations - GENIUS!), and etc. But it soon became apparent that they were just treating it like any other sleepover party, and as soon as they got bored, they started leaving. By the time 7 am the next morning rolled around, we were down to three people. Three people who had to break camp and pack everything up. Three out of forty. Two of which were the sponsors - myself and another teacher - and one of which was the student team leader who was in charge of the whole thing. And who had definitely developed a 'poor me' complex over the whole thing. Although she partially deserved to feel victimized, she mostly brought it on herself.

That was the issue I had with the students we had involved. But I also actually have an issue with the event itself. Or at least with the people who ran it. Farbeit from me to criticize an organization so heavily involved in solving one of this planets most serious problems, so I am going to assume it was an individual case, and that other iterations of this event are not so creepy, lame, and poorly organized.

The whole thing just got to be very ritualized and almost cult-like as we watched slide shows with pictures of the faces of people who had died from cancer, and lit luminaries all around the track containing names of loved ones who had "passed", along with those who were still battling. The whole slide show was projected on the wall of a tent, and they took the first half of the time trying to adjust the projector, meaning that some of the faces were distorted or out of sight - I'm glad none of my loved ones were "remembered" with this farcical ceremony. It echoed in my mind with overtones of scenes from "The Interpreter" (which I had watched the night before) where Nicole Kidman's character talks about not naming the dead so that we can move on from them, and then by the end of the movie reads a list of dead in a somewhat touching voice-over.

They had bands play all throughout the time, some of which were quite good, some of which were high schoolers who need to turn down their guitars. Now I am not railing against loud heavy metal here - I love loud heavy metal. Our school yearbook will feature pictures of yours truly, "chaperoning" a student concert by headbanging and throwing up the horns while practically face to face with the lead screamer. And honestly the band that I am talking about at Relay for Life was pretty good - it's just that the guitar was too loud as compared to the rest of their instruments, and really made it impossible to hear the balance of the song. Immature. I'm glad you are covering Black Sabbath, but Black Sabbath knew what they were doing, and what they were doing was not playing guitar as loudly as possible. But they will grow up. One band had a lead singer whose voice was going and she asked for "a thermos of something hot" - so I provided her with coffee, becoming an unintended super-groupie for a band I've never heard of. They covered Rush's "Spirit of Radio" for their last song - I almost offered to sing it for her! And they did an impressively good job with it, too.

The other issue was that the next morning, they took entirely too long dragging out the wrap-up of the whole thing. We really could've ended at 2 - the ceremonial stuff had taken place, the games had been played, the prizes had been awarded, the money had been donated, everything between 2 and 7 was an excercise in self-torturing commitment to the idea that we had to keep walking all night and really be loyal to 'the cause'. Well when 7 came around and they kept pushing off the start of the "closing ceremonies" we quit waiting around and took off. Next year the club that I sponsor will participate by showing up and donating money to some other group, not by committing to stick around all night. High schoolers won't do that, and neither will I.

Perspective on how loyalty-inspiring this Relay for Life wasn't:
We had a student lose his mother to cancer this school year. He couldn't be bothered to stay at the event for more than an hour and a half.

Good Day.