Dirty Jobs

I think we all have heard of Mike Rowe and Discovery channel show Dirty Jobs by now but if you haven't then you just have now. Mike explores the jobs that need to be done but that the majority of us don't like to think about. Things like leather tanning and steal mill working. This show is by no means new; it's been around since 2005 but we just never seem to get tired of seeing Mike get a little grungy. The show defiantly wouldn't be the same without his sarcastic comments and his occasional screw ups. I give him credit though, he tries everything he's given.

What I wanted to talk about though is how the show shows us the parts of living in a society that we don't want to think about (waste management for example) but have to be done non the less. This show does a really good job of bringing these things to light (I've certainly learned about a lot of jobs I never even knew existed). I think we need to see more of this type of thing; the dirty side of society that we all conveniently forget about. We like to forget because we don't consider it glamorous, at least that's my opinion of why. Getting muddy and such isn't honestly my idea of a job anyways but for many it is, as Dirty Jobs have shown us. In some ways it might even be better to have a job like the ones on Dirty Jobs since many actually directly keep society functioning and help people.

Mini Cows!

Well this cute little guy would be one of what's being called miniature panda cattle. It's just one breed of a growing trend of miniature cattle. We owe credit to the mini panda cow (along with many other miniature breeds) to Richard Gradwohl, of the International Miniature Cattle Breeds Society and Registry, in Covington, Washington. For many years he has been breeding down cattle to miniature size for milking, beef, and the pet industry (Actually don't think I'd mind having a panda cow as a pet but they cost way too much). These cattle run about half the size of they're bigger counterparts and are said to be more environmentally friendly as they require less food, less land and produce less methane, well at least in theory.

Though the methane thing isn't totally proved yet, I do have to say some things about requiring less food and less land things. I commend these people for trying to help the environment as cows are said to be the cause for a lot of extra greenhouse gases but I'm not sure what they're doing will help all that much. While it is true that one mini cow will need less land and food then its bigger version, I don't think they are thinking in terms of how beef and dairy farmers who are trying to make as much money as they can, would. For beef and dairy farmers wouldn't it just make sense to have double the amount of cows since they require less? Since they would be able to produce with double the mini cows on the same amount of land why not? Or why not make the same amount with the bigger cows? I could be totally wrong about this but I'm not sure the mini cow idea is actually better for the environment. I guess time will tell though.

The World's Smallest City?

This is Stan Munro,




and this is his city...

Well at least one of them. The image above is of Toothpick City. As the name implies it's a city made out of toothpicks, a lot of toothpicks. This is the first of Stan's toothpick city creations as he is currently working on Toothpick city II which he hopes will become the largest city made of toothpicks in the world. Now some of the buildings in the picture above may look familiar and they should as all of his creations are scale models of real famous buildings around the world.

Now to me making buildings out of toothpicks, to scale and still looking there real life counterparts is already saying a lot but Stan Munro is also purposing an interesting idea (whether he realizes or not). By putting these recognizable things together from all around the world together in one "city" it could be giving off the message of world corporations or at least tolerance of each other. In addition to that, like in my last post, he's getting recognized for something he loves to do and really it'd be very hard not to like that.

The World's Smallest Car

The first reaction people had when they saw my car was complete disbelief. A spilt second later they howled with laughter. It’s so tiny - Perry Watkins

Perry Watkins is the builder of the world's most recent smallest car. It is 39 inches high and 26 inches wide and is also fully functional. Now Perry is 6 foot tall making it difficult for him to even get into this car, let alone drive it. To do this he must contort his body to get in. Lucky he designed it so that the whole top of the car will flip up.
Holding the record for world's smallest car is already pretty cool but this is not Perry's first record. He also currently holds the record for world's flattest car.

When I saw this on tv I thought it was pretty interesting, I mean you NEVER see cars this small. It got me wondering though, why do these people do these things? For some people I think it's just because they want to hold the record, maybe even be remembered. But most records are broken over time as people are always trying to outdo each other. I don't believe this is why Perry does what he does though. For some people I believe they just like what they are doing and maybe don't even wish to break any records. I think this holds true for Perry too, despite holding two world records (they're both for cars though which leads me to believe he likes what he's doing). His family as even called is a hobby, further leading me to believe Perry is just doing what he loves to do. And hey if your going to get recognized for something you love, why not?

Work In Progress

This would be my current idea for the existentialism assignment (had two others that I really liked but I just couldn't find a way to show them). First off the man in the picture is NOT Rick Hansen, never was, never will be. It's still pretty rough(there's some stuff in the right bottom corner that wasn't showing up before but is now that I have to fix as well as lighting and parts of the wheelchair) but basically what I'm planning is to show something to the effect of a story. My concept is that this man has recently become disabled is now struggling to figure out who he is. Most people, I feel, would be radically changed by loosing the ability to use they're legs and would have some resulting life questions about themselves. For example, "Why did this happen to me!?" To show his inner struggle I have him looking out on a city but the city is projecting his inner thoughts and feelings (I guess it'd sorta be like his "inner world". I really didn`t want to make the whole finding himself thing too obvious. For example him looking at himself in a mirror seemed way to obvious to me. Plus its been done before). One side will lighter, the other side will be darker (hasn't been added yet but it'll be the left side) and look almost destroyed as he tries to find himself. I like to think of it as sort of like who he once thought he was was destroyed in his accident and he now has to rebuild who he is (that might change later but for now it's what I'm thinking). I've also considered "blending" the two sides together in some way in the middle but I'm still not sure if I'll go through with that. Anyways that's about it for now I think.

Why Is Life So Unfair?

(The following blog is not meant to offend anyone or attack anyone's beliefs. It's merely to question why life is the way it is)

We've all heard it before, life's not fair. But really, is it? We've heard other people say it or we may have said it ourselves but can we really say that if you believe in certain other human beliefs? Fate for example, though it you believe in fate it would be destined to happen anyways and could still be deemed unfair. Other believes though, such as karma. With karma every action has a consequence depending on whether your action was good or bad. Good actions equal good things happening to you, bad action equal bad results. Does this always apply though?
Many times it seems that bad things happen to people that don't deserve it; that are seemingly nice people. Did they maybe do something to cause this? In this life or maybe in a past one? Or is life merely random and we have created these beliefs in attempt to explain things to ourselves.
Honestly I myself believe that life is a combination of both fated events and possibly random or ones based a bit on karma, but that's just my opinion, that in no way makes it right. What I'm trying to say with this, I think, is that we might never know for sure what makes life the way it is and so people should be allowed to always believe in what they wish to.

Aftermath

Aftermath is show that originally showed what the world would be like if all humans were to all disappear at the same time. They never explain why this happens, it's just all at once poof we're gone (I think it adds to the show honestly. Maybe it adds an air of mystery or something along those lines that intrigues people). From this originally program they have created other, "what if" situations such as what if the sun was to become a red dwarf star or what if the world were to slowly stop spinning and even what if the world were to run out of oil overnight. Most of the time these events don't end well for humans, though there is the odd occasion when after a really devastating loss in the human population things, after years, finally start to get better.

These what if question, I feel, help to give us an idea of just how fragile our way of life, and even our lives themselves really are. Maybe shows like this will make people more grateful to be alive. I think Aftermath also appeals to that morbid fascination I've spoken of in previous posts too. In the back of our mind we all know that one day we'll die and that one day our world will too be gone. Still though very few people would want to die before their time. It can also help to show us just how everything we've worked so hard to build up and create will one day be gone and also that no matter how hard we try we can't control everything. I guess this just means we should take better care of were we live and what's around us. Maybe even enjoy life a little more. Even though what's shown on Aftermath can be scary we shouldn't spend too much time worrying over it. Just don't forget to live I guess it's what it means.

1000 Awesome Things

1000 Awesome Things is more or less a blog (I told myself when I started this blog I wouldn't blog about a blog but once again I'm breaking my own rules). Anyways I'm sure a lot of people have already heard about this since Neil Pasricha has a book coming out now but 1000 Awesome Things is basically a blog about all the little things in life that Pasricha happy or thankful for.
I think this blog was a great idea on his part since so often these days people look over all the small things in life that really, when we think about it, make us happy or do more for us then we think. So often we only realize how much something is important to us when it is too late and it has been taken away. These little things, in my opinion, begin to be huge parts of our life when added together and in the end become most of what we remember. Ever thing back to when you were very little? At least with me most of what I remember at a young age is all little things, like sitting in the kitchen in the summer with the dishwasher running. A really small, simple thing right? There were some bigger events that happened to me when I was little. Once my dad was carrying me and he tripped. I fell and ended up spraining my ankle. Funny thing is I had to be told about all that even though I was at the age when kids start to remember things. I guess what my point is that small things can end up meaning a lot and that its mostly the small things that make us happy when it really comes down to it. Both The Book of Awesome and 1000 Awesome Things are helping to make us more aware of that so we don't forget just how much the small things mean. At the risk of sounding cheesy, I find that really awesome.

More Then Just The Mindless Laughs?

South Park, The Simpsons and Family Guy, all could be seen as mindless shows meant only as mindless entertainment and to a point that is true. Every once in a while though certain shows will actually be out to make a point about an issue in society such as South Park and The Simpsons (probably not so much Family Guy but to an extent maybe). Though the way they show these messages may be seen as both rude and offensive to some, they aim to point out what is "stupid" in society or what seems to make no sense.

Now some, perhaps most people, that watch these shows don't think about these messages and just think its a funny show they're watching. Really, expressing these messages in this way makes it easy for some people not to think about them because "its just a cartoon." But they should think about what they're watching instead of just blindly watching. I agree that young children shouldn't learn about these messages through these shows as they can be crude and violent but these shows do tend to make valid points if people would just think about them.

Zeusaphone

The Zeusaphone is Tesla coil. What is really interesting about this Tesla coil is that it is able to play music through the sparks it creates. This is done through a master control. Along with the music created the Zeusaphone is also able to create different effects of its sparks by using different frequencies and pulse width.
Science coming together in an art form. The Zeusaphone is a great representation that both science and art don't always have to be what we think they should or would normally think they are. They can work well together or on their own. It also shows that people are able to express themselves in a variety of ways and are always looking for new ways to do so. Even something as dangerous as electrical sparks can to used and turned into interesting forms of expression (It's also really cool that music can be created through electricity).

When Entertainment Meets Nature- Parahawking

Parahawking is basically paragliding but with a unique twist, birds of prey actually fly along with the glider. Developed in Nepal in 2001 by Scott Mason, Adam Hill and Graham Sunders-Griffiths, paragliding has slowly grown into a commercial industry. They take rescue birds, the ones that can't be returned to the wild for one reason or another (most likely because they have become imprinted on humans) and train them to fly with the glider using food as a lure. The birds actually land on the arm of the person gliding to get the food. This makes it so the people basically get to interact with the birds in their own environment, something they could not otherwise do.

There are quite a few benefit to this type of program, which is why I have chosen to blog about this (that and it's just a cool idea to be able to "fly" along with birds in the sky). Humans gain an interesting way to be entertained and experience nature. But it too benefit the birds. By helping them to return to the wild or have healthily lives even if they can't it could help to bring awareness to people about these birds in the future so they may help to protect them. I think that not all people may think about this when going to paraglide but its at least a start that might get them to think about nature in our now very technology based world.

Something else I found interesting about paragliding is the fact that, with the birds help in flight, paragliders are able to glide longer and go farther then without them. These birds are so adapted to gliding over long distances while saving energy that they have developed ways to see thermals (rising warm air) so they don't waste energy flapping their wings to stay aloft (what they are seeing might actually be rising dust or small particles but the point is that in this way they know where the thermals are and therefore where to fly).

If we could find more ways to get along with nature like this then it might just help to improve the state our world is in.

Whole life with Half a Body

Kenny Easterday is a man that was born with a condition called sacral agenesis. Because of this his spine never fully formed and doctors had to amputate both his legs. He was offered prosthetic legs though he turned them down. As of now Kenny is 35, 14 years older then doctors predicted him to live (as most people with sacral agenesis die at a young age) and does many things one would not think possible without legs such as playing bowling and getting around without the use of a wheelchair or other device (as shown in the photo above Kenny walks using his hands).

The reason I chose to blog about this, I think, is both because this is not the type of thing that one normally sees people with "disabilities" doing and that it also becomes very inspiring to hearing about and/or see him going about daily life (without any assistance) with this "disability" when most other people would give up on being independent. It makes you think, "If he can do that, maybe things are not as bad as they seem in my life." Or something to that effect. In a way it's sad that that we can feel better about ourselves because we're "normal" and someone else is not but that's not quite it in some cases such as this one (at least in my opinion). In the case of Kenny I believe we draw inspiration from that fact he CAN do these thing and he DOES even though it may be harder for him to do so then someone with legs. It may be sad to us that he doesn't have legs, but in his view he's perfectly fine and capable of doing all these things that he was most likely told he could never do. I think this story gives us belief, a greater belief in ourselves that we can do more then we think we can if we just try.

Legend of Mana

The Legend of Mana is quite an old game now (well old considering the speed of which games are improving and being made and all that) but it remains one of my favorites. There have been numerous other Mana games (including many that are newer then this one) though I find I still like this one the most, even out of the newer games with updated graphics and game play.

There are a number of reasons I find this one better, the first being the artistic graphics. The Legend of Mana's environment makes me feel as if I'm walking around within a painting (graphics are all 2D). Though these areas are not fully explorable, it really doesn't detract much from the game in my opinion as there are multiple paths to take within one area. The newer games are fairly different in this aspect. They have multiple paths but they lost some of this artistic quality going for a more clean cut style.
Another point I love about this game is the multiple story lines which the newer games don't have. In Legend of Mana players can, for the most part, go to any area in any order. Newer games have a set story line that must be followed to advance. There are also main parts to the story line that must be completed in Legend of Mana though there are 3 paths you can choose to get to the end. Players can complete just one or if they want all of them in one game. In addition to this there are many side line stories that can be completed if the player chooses. See, The Legend of Mana is set up as if it were a book, and these quests complete it. Essentially the player writes they're own story.
One finally thing I'd like to speak briefly (there's so much more I could say about this game) about is the beginning of the game. Players choose there character and what weapon they start with (like many other games) but from there they choose an area of a map of which they're story will center. From there different areas are obtained through quests but whats really interesting about this game is you get to place these areas anywhere you want to on your area of the map, creating your own world in a sense.
Player creativity is what is amazing about this game. It pulls the player in and makes them feel like they are a part of the story. It's anything they want it to be, which is something I hope newer games like this one start to do more of.

Red Ice

The photo above is called Red ice and was taken and posted by dowdall of DeviantArt. There doesn't really seem to be much to this picture at first glance, it's just pretty and well done. Thinking more deeply about it though I have come to think that there was a lot of thought put into the taking of this picture. Lighting, weather, positioning, and possibly something else. This something else, I think, is a message of sorts. I may be totally wrong since the artist doesn't state that it has a meaning, but I think it does. This meaning may be different to other people as the meaning is interpreted differently by everyone but I think it's trying to show that the simple things, the ones we tend to forget, are the things that can be most important. It could also be showing that fragile things, such as leaves, have some resistance to things, such as frost and that we should try persevere challenges in life too. As well as taking a beautiful photo dowdall has done a great job of trying to make viewers think, whether they realized it or not.

MindFreak

Criss Angel is the star of a show called Criss Angel Mindfreak. The whole idea behind this show is trickery basically. Tricking the mind that is. Criss Angel is a magician or sorts, somewhat like Houdini, but he usually takes some of his tricks to an even higher level. For example he does do the classical card tricks and things like that but other tricks he do include walking up walk, going through walls to get into vaults, levitating, and being burred alive (he's done a lot of escape tricks).
He never calls it magic, he says straight out that everything he does is a trick, even going as far as to show how to do some of the smaller tricks. Every day people, such as myself, can only guess at how he does some of these seemingly impossible stunts. To some level we might believe some of it to be magic even though we know it's not only because we can't seem to explain it any other way.

This quality might have something to do with why people watch this show and attend shows in Vegas. In my experience it seems people like what they can't explain and as I've said before in other posts, things they can't do themselves. Criss Angel is very good at what he does, creating the a blur between reality and the unexplained with his illusions. This blur, I think, will continue to interest people. It's just human nature to be curious.

Truth Behind the Myths

MythBusters is a show that most of us will recognize by now even if they don't watch it. Basically, the mythbusters take myths heard in everyday society (such as are elephants afraid of mice and would cockroaches survive a nuclear bomb) and test whether there is any truth behind them. Most of the times they "bust" (untrue) the myths they test, but at times they stumble across something that's "possible" (could happen) or "confirmed" (true).

I like this show, I find it entertaining. Some of this is clearly the personalities of the shows hosts but I think discovering the unknown is also a part of this. I general believe society is at least a bit curious about what they hear or are told and they may want to know it what they are hearing is true (hence why mythbusters get so much viewer mail giving them new myths and asking them to retest old ones). Most of us wouldn't be able to test whether certain things are true because we don't have the means to but this is where mythbusters has an opportunity. They have access (or find some way to get access) to ways of which to test these myths (things like getting cars to drop from cranes). It's possible this is another reason this show is a success. People like to see things that don't normally happen or that they themselves can't do and therefore find it interesting to watch. Mythbuster, even when a myth is busted, try to take it to the next level, taking it to an extreme that would never happen. I believe this is yet another reason why mythbusters is a show that will continue to run as long as they are given new myths.