A Weekend at Savage's

  Hey guys, even though its Thursday,  I want to talk about my weekend. It was, in a few words, mindblowingly awesome. Started off on Friday... I won Homecoming King. I WON HOMECOMING KING!!!! Now, I know that this is tooting my own horn, but here's the thing- I fully did not expect to get it. I convinced myself that others were better suited for it, and I had no chance of doing it. I was shocked by it, and ( long time readers may know) I struggled with the idea of acceptance by others. This was a major coup for me. I still am happy. And the OTHER thing that happened was that Saturday night I went up to my home ( WTCSR,people, c'mon!) and took part in a deep and meaningful ceremony. I obtained the rank of Vigil in the Order of the Arrow.This is equivilant to the Eagle award in normal Boy Scouts. For those of you who know the ceremony, you can attest to it. For those of you who don't know, I'm not telling you. Incidentally, that would be most of you. That experience changed me as a person, I feel like. I can attest that I am a different person. Its interseting how little we take time to appreciate the little things in life. I am going to try and fill this blog up more later. For now, signing off.

What I remember.

                            I don't remember much. I remember waking up and heading to school like any other day. I had a good day, I was still adjusting to second grade. I remember being really happy as I got on the bus. I had a great day. Everyone was yelling and talking. In retrospect, the teachers did a superb job of keeping us in the dark. We didn't get any inkling of what went wrong. The first thing that was up was my mom was home. In those days, she had one day off, a Thursday. This was Tuesday or Wendsday. I remember looking out the bus window and seeing her with my brother by  my side, holding his hand. She looked so scared- again, in retrospect. I got off the bus, laughing and joking. I remember I said to her,
"Why are you here? It isn't Thursday." She had tears down her face.  She said " Oh, honey, there was this awful plane crash. They flew a plane into a tower" My mind automatically associated that with her tower. Woudl she be let off of work and be able to play with me?  Of the next few days, I remember dawning horror. Hugs. Lots of hugs, and I think I was hudled in a ball the next day when they brougth counselors into the school to talk with us. We were in the talk circle and they just sat down and tried to talk to us.  I had a vauge concept of 'bad men' doing this and we were going to get the bad men. 

                          I don't think it hit me with the visceral power that it did others. I was still too young to comprehend this. My brother was too young to even rember that much. It still is horrbile for me, but unfortunatly, in the semi- detached way of many natural disasters.  But what struck me, watching the broadcast of the 10th anniversary, is how many multi-national names there were on this list. Not just Americans, but people all over. It is an American Tragedy, but it was also a World Tragedy.

Never Forget, Always Remember.

Looking forward to the Future

  Okay, welcome back y'all, hope you had a great summer. I know I did. This is defiently going to be a rant of the grade-A level.  I was scanning the headlines today, and all I could see was things relating to fear, anger, money. Mostly fear. Now, I know that people have made a lot of fuss about fear in the media. Maybe that's just how our society is shaped now, due to the realities of our world. And I ALSO know that a lot has been made how the current generation of 12-25 year old ( Of which I am a part) will get it in the shorts when they become of age. I also know that parents since time immemorial have said that their children were worst than they are, and children have said that they will do better than their parents. But I am reminded of a proverb.-
"We do not inhabit the earth, we merely inherit it from our grandchildren." Now that seems oxymoronic, but there is a truth at the heart of it. We don't 'own' earth. We are stewards of a land that will belong, and continue to belong, the people coming AFTER us. Kurt Vonnegut ( I think) said " if we continue to live like there is no tommorrow, then there will be no tommorrow." So on behalf of my cerebellum speaking for the entire populace who will not hear this: What happened? Where did we go wrong and why do we keep living as if we can get away scotch free? Each succedding generation will continue to get it in the shorts, until we are really screwed.  When did long term planning fall by the wayside? Planning for the future often is hard and requires difficult concessions to the present. When the King in 1215 Britain signed the Magna Carta, he probably thought it was the end of his rule and of the rule of Kings forever. But that document laid the way for democracy and democratic monarchies. Concessions need to be made today for tommorrow. They are hard choices to make. I have no answers, only indignity. But  at least I am not making the mistake of labeling indignity as progressive thought. All I know is that I THINK current ideas should be changed, not how. If you have any ideas, please enlighten me.

So Many Plot Holes~ But the Robots Make Up for It.

                         Okay, so I'm gonna try to make this quick becasue I have to wake up early tommorrow. I just saw Transformers Three, and while it was not an award winning movie by any means, I enjoyed the escapism it presented. The transformers films are all pretty obvious- opening set up of Sam, Autobots,update, all hell breaks loose,  crisis resolved. This film plot line is no different. Surprisingly, some of the government officials seem helpful- and then they are their usual  jerk selves. The film starts with Sam trying to get a job, aided by his Victoria Secret's model girlfriend, Rosie Huntington-Barre, replacing Megan Fox. The villian isn't very obvious first, as we ar econcerned with the arrival of pieces of the moon which were actually an Autobot spacecraft carrying both a vital technology, and Sentenial Prime, voiced by Lenord Nimoy almost to perfection. Then (SPOILER ALERT) Sentenial turns out to be a major jerk and double crosser. Robotic hell of all sorts breaks loose, and builds Micheal Bay pace to the epic conclusion. Now for the parts I don't like.
                                   In the opening scene, the NEST team headed by Josh Dumanel and Optimus Prime have to go to Chernobyl to recover a part of said moon spacecraft. Forgive me, but isn't Chernobyl the most cliched piece of disaster around? I keep waiting for the Ukranians to stand up and say " Hey, America! Piss off! This was a national tradgedy, not some amusment gimick!" Also, the villian that they fought looked like the Kraken from Pirates of the Caribbean with entierly too much blades. And then every Decepticon thing had this weird tentacle motif, like they were extras in the Predator movies. The colors of the robots were bad, some were just awful, and overall the government types were inconsitent- bitchy/ not bitchy, helpful/not helpful, etc al. I also hated the woman next to me who gasped at literally every plot development/ battle- which meant I heard a gasp at least every five minutes.
                         Now for the types of things I did like. Against what my best friend said, I liked the dialouge. Some of it hit home, like one of the characters  yelling out " Man, why do all the Decepticons get all the good stuff!" I liked the voice- and - character acting, with my favorite being the apperance of Alan Tudyk as a NSA spook/bodyguard. He is one of my favorite actors from my favorite TV show, Firefly and I was glad to see he got to keep his trademark sense of humor intact. Note to Alan: PLEASE DO MORE MOVIES!!!! Also, the appearance of Sam's parents was thankfully kept to a minimum. It added to the story with out making me want to put an ax through their head. Sam's struggle to matter in a job really hit home for me. All in all, a solid B, B- as a movie. Its a typical summer movie- great for escaping reality for a few hours.
Decent. Now I desperatly need to get sleep for camp.

No Shadows, but No Stars Either

                          Hey semi- faithful readers. I'm currently on vacation with mi familia in the wonderful state of Nevada, specifically the Las Vegas area. You may be asking yourself, "But Ben, why are you not partaking of the many amenities Vegas has to offer, especially with your family?" I'll tell you why- cause I am going to my summer job in a few short days, and I am an obnoxious selfish blogger who just wants to add more material for the internet stalkers and/or federal government to obtain about myself. So, this is day three... I think ... of Vegas Vacation. I'm gonna try to recap it for you and muse about things.
                So I finished just recently a Work Weekend for Wah- Tut- Ca Scout Reservation. That ended Sunday. That same Sunday I changed three time zones and pulled my first 24 hours! ( Staying up that is) Okay, it was kinda wonky because I went off of Eastern Time, not Pacific, so when my clock said Three, my body told me I was staying up until 6 in the morning. Anyway, in the past. After staying in the Stratosphere hotel, where insane people actually jump off the top, ( I'm serious. World's Tallest Free-Fall Bungee Jump. Look it up). we proceded to drive over five hours to get to California. Five hours. After being in a plane for six hours. My knee developed a cramp that has yet to go away. That's not even mentioning the freaky canker/? going on in my mouth giving constant pain. It stopped, but that Monday it was so bad I nearly couldn't chew. Oh yeah, Monday. We stopped in a tiny little town called Kelso in the middle of the Mojave Desert. Used to be a boom town, but now its soley the headquaters of the park there. So anyway, we had some lunch and I was all set to travel and then my mom said " Let's go to some dunes. " I was annoyed because previously she made a big show of how much time was necessary. But I quickly accepted it and moved on- after all, it was a FAMILY vacation. We get to the hotel- nothing to write home about. Comfortable sheets though. Then we went to Legoland the next day, practically the sole reason for this trip. I had a semi panic attack- was I too old for this theme park? How old was too old? Would I crush any small children with my gargantuan size? But I was plesantly suprised. I found things to enjoy, and even my kid brother insisting to go on rides he was too old and big for by about 10 years couldn't dampen my spirits. I had fun. Then I managed to walk in the Pacific Ocean. Still kinda cold, but nice to do that with my family.The real lesson came that night, at a fabulous Italian resturant named Gregorio's. Take note. If I ever plan a road trip, I am going out of my way to include this place. This guy donated 100% of his profits to the Boys and Girls Club last year, and is on track to do it again this year! The meal was superb- fresh made pasta ( Not by him, but from an Italian pasta maker) and tender meat sauce, heavenly homemade potato chips ( served still warm from the fryer with Parmasean cheese) delicious homemade lemonade with free refills, and wonderful bread- even put LuiLui's to shame, and if you know me, thats saying something. OMFG!!!!!!! I can't say enough about this place! Our waitress was a great person, humoring my brother with his schemes to get more Caffinated root beer and making suggestions and afferming our choices. We found time to talk with her and when she found out that we were from Massachusetts, she stated that she loved Massachusetts. When pressed, she said that "Everyone out there places so much more connectedness on family and friends. Out here ( West Coast) everyone's driven, but it's all personal. Not much of the interconnectedness you get out there on the East Coast. I love the entire East Coast because of that." I think that perfectly sums us up- but it was humbling. Above all, it was humbling to learn of the differences and how apparent they were. Then, today...Back in the car! Back to Vegas! Wait, we're gonna stop off at a blatant tourist trap ghost town! I was not happy, I have to admit, because I didn't think it was a REAL ghost town. It was restored for the tourists. If it was real, you know, waiver, and barely any maps, I would be satisfied. The lunch before the town made up for it. It was a fifty's themed diner, done really well. Meal was okay. The cool thing was it was located right across from the Marine Corps Logistics Base. I saw tanks on flatbed train cars- having typed that, I will now be persecuted by the government. Then we came back to Vegas, and we saw David Copperfield. I read a book with skeptism of magic playing a big part, so I went in with low expectations. However, I was pleasantly suprised. He is undoubtably a great showman, and also hampered by the confines of the space. He did some nifty bits with making a motorcycle, car and various other sundrys appear and disapear. I liked it. Then we came here. I don't know what the future will hold so I hope it is good things.  Keep in touch, stay alive, and have a good summer guys. I know I will.

Graduation, Loss, and Eagles, Oh My

Hey all,
I was sitting here wondering " hmmm, how can I procrastinate more"
 and this popped into my head. Since I have this idea floating around, I figured why not give it a shot. I first have a question for you. Which, since no one is reading, will remain a convienent ( and rhetorical) question to jump-start a conversation.
Do you think humanity as individuals attaches unnecessary need to inanimate objects? I ask this becasue this has been on my mind a fair amount. I recently went on a college tour. While there, I lost my favourite green bandana. I had picked this up at a fair down in New Jersey. I bled in it, wiped sweat with it, and generally sat on it all day. But when I lost that, I mourned as if I had lost a friend. It was however a simple piece of cloth. It couldn't comfort me, it couldn't help me, but I still mourned it.
The other instance I had was Tyngsborough High's 2011 Graduation. I saw many of my friends graduate, and I saw many people leave. Throughout the weekend, I had a sense of loss- so great it felt like there were holes in me. As Harry Dresden said " Sometimes there are those moments of sadness that come with intense joy- knowing that you never will feel this happy again, and that time is fleeting for spending with loved ones" That's what happened with me. On one hand, I wanted them to stay, so I could legitimantly point to those people and say I have friends. I enjoyed their company, and I wasn't sure how to deal with them leaving. On the other hand, I didn't want to be selfish and hold back their progress.  It was a fine line, and I was straddling the middle of it.
I think, though, that that capacity for love and loss is what makes us human. Even the most sociopathic person, deep in his heart of hearts, cares about something. Parroting social scientists since the beginning of time, love and the ability  to form bonds is what makes us, well, us. I think its reall cool that somehow, the default setting of humans emotion is to form bonds with others. Maybe that is just Western thought. I need to get out into the world more to see how it happens. Thanks for listening once again, sports fans.

Yo Ho Yo Ho, A Highly Commericialized and Lucrative Rouge of the Caribbean's Life For Me. Part Dos

Sorry,  I didn't get to finsih my rant to due to an indifferent driver. So yes, where I left off- plausability. This film lacks it. For all of the many flaws, though, this movie is decent. I would give it a B, B- at the most. The dialouge crackles and the premise is sound. There's not a whole lot of soul searching, just honest good fashioned fighitin and rolickin' and general piraty behavior. Is it a cash cow? Undoubtably. Is it a nice diversion of a cash cow? Most certainly .I would wholeheartedly recomend this movie to others.