Vote for Melissa!

So, Country Music Television (CMT) is running a contest to determine who will be a CMT host for the summer. In order to enter, the contestants had to submit a video showing why they're the ultimate superfan. Then, 16 semi-finalists were chosen from the bunch. I don't know how many people submitted videos (though I hear it was a lot) but my little sis Melissa made it through to the next round. Now, it's up to the fans to decide. So, if you get a chance, go vote for her... and keep voting until your fingers are cramped. She deserves it, she'll be perfect for the job.

What are you waiting for... VOTE!

Sprechen Sie Englisch?

As anyone who reads this is probably aware, I haven't been updating often. I'd like to say that trend will not continue, however, I'm not so sure about that. Actually, I probably wouldn't even be writing this at all, except I want inform you that MB and I have started a blog about our short-term move to Germany. So, please check it out. I imagine there'll be a good few posts in the coming week or two. So, keep an eye out. It's called Sprechen Sie Englisch? Hope you enjoy!

Michael Crichton (1942 - 2008)

Michael Crichton died yesterday. He was my first favourite author (unless you count Dr. Seuss and R.L. Stine) and I think he'll continue to be so for a while since I've still got a handful more of his books to read. Everyone knows him for Jurassic Park and ER, however, most, if not all of his books, from Andromeda Strain to Next, are worth reading. Of course if you're not into sci-fi then you'd probably disagree. But for me, he always managed to get my brain juices flowing with the infamous, "what if?". His stories always seemed to have a feeling of realism to them as if they were actually possible. Even the most extraordinary events in his novels really made the reader ponder the likelihood of such a thing occurring.

Not only did he have the ability to make the impossible seem possible, a number of his books really changed my way of thinking. I've actually just finished reading one of his older books, Rising Sun. Very interesting read about the Japanese influence in American business, particularly the education and technology sectors. Now the technology is a little dated but it still really managed to change my perspective on how I viewed other cultures. It made me really notice how much people from the west expect other cultures to conform to western ideologies.

However, his book that really impacted me the most was State of Fear. If anyone has any opinion whatsoever on "global warming" this is a book to read. It is super controversial in that "environmentalists" believe Crichton was misinterpreting information and that the novel was hurting efforts to change government policy on carbon emissions. And, although that may be slightly true, I think the main purpose of the book is to simply force the reader to look at the other side of the argument. My opinion on global warming has significantly changed since I've read the novel (and I'll save my rant about that for another time), but more importantly, I've learned to look at both sides of any claim or argument. Just because you learn something from one source doesn't really make it true. There are always multiple sides to every story and until they are all considered, it is almost ignorant to form an opinion. Like I said, the novel is a great read, and will really cause you to look at things, particularly scientific claims, in a whole new light.

Random fact: Crichton was 6'9" tall. I didn't know that. And, I've also got to give thanks to a teacher at my high school, Mr. Grejtek, who introduced me to Crichton. I've been hooked ever since.

In other news, Obama is the new president. I was kind of hoping for McCain, but I guess the underdog wasn't able to pull through this time. Oh well, I guess we'll all find out what Obama is made of come January.

My New Old House

So, I bought a house. Well, actually a friend and I bought a house. I've been wanting to buy one for quite some time now, and I've put a lot of time and effort into researching the whole process of real estate investing. However, once the ball started rolling it really didn't take much time in between looking at houses and owning one of them (pending certain things such as an inspection and whatnot).

It's an old, attached house and it wasn't very expensive, though it is surprisingly nice for the money. Of course a little TLC won't hurt it, particularly in the case of the lovely, little design someone kindly spray painted under the front window. But, other than that and a few more odds and ends, it's pretty much ready to go. Of course now we've just got to find someone to rent the place.

Mothballs and Moths' Balls

Last night, which happened to be the evening of my 23rd birthday, a group of us gathered around my parents' fire pit thing. The group consisted of family, friends, and neighbours. And, as it turns out, such a group tends to create fairly interesting and unique conversation, to say the least. Last night was no different, and as usual Melissa was in the middle of the entire thing.

You see, somehow, the conversation turned to mothballs. As you can imagine, once Melissa got going, no one was talking about mothballs in the traditional sense. Instead, it was the actual testicles of moths that was of interest. Anyway, to make a long story short, Melissa eventually started wondering if a moth does in fact have "balls". So, I figured I might as well look it up. If anyone knows, it would be Google. I typed in everything I could think of that had to do with a moth's reproductive system. Apparently, Google doesn't really know much about the topic either. Then I tried butterflies. There was a little more information on this subject, however, I never did get a definitive answer. A couple of the more useful sites were the MSN Encarta page on moths and butterflies and some site by a Butterfly Farmer. From what I understand, moths (assuming they're as similar to butterflies as they seem) have sperm producing organs and a penis. However, as to whether they actually have "balls" is still unknown to me.

"Guten Tag?" My First German Words

And, I don't think they'll be my last. You see, I've just been accepted into a scholarship program to study in Germany for five months next year. And, I'm pumped. Except, I know very little about Germany or the German language. Which I wouldn't really worry about except that my classes are going to be taught in German.

Anyway, I'm going to have to work through that because I don't know that I'll get this opportunity again anytime soon. As for where I'm going, well it's a city called Mannheim. I guess you'd say that's kind of in the southwest somewhat. Either way, I hear it's a cool place. It's got a population of about 350,000 which isn't tiny, and it's pretty darn close to France, Luxembourg, Belgium and Switzerland. Actually, everything in Europe seems to be pretty close to everything else which will make traveling convenient.

Though it's not going to be all play and no work. I will have to go to school sometimes at Hochschule Mannheim. But I'm ok with that. What better way to meet people than go to class with them? Well, that's my good news of the week.

Oh, and that news is "unofficial" as of now, so I guess nothing is set in stone... but lets just say I'm very confident in it.


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