Rivals

 My old high school sucked in football.
But that never mattered as long as we beat the team from the 'rich school' across town.
But recently my old high school has become the standard for success.
That is until this year.
This year my old school has only won two games - but one of those wins was against our crosstown rival so the season was not a total bust.

 And even though Utah sucks more than normal this year - but at least they beat BYU in the Mormon Bowl.

If I were to be paying attention to college football this year (or maybe next) I would still care that USC lost to those potato eaters from Notre Dame.
But the thing is - I'm too distracted by having hot women on the sidelines...

Instead of watching some dudes jumping and screaming with some stubby and ugly girls.
Damn....
The only thing worse than being a USC Trojan fan this year is being a fan of choke-prone Alabama.

Ugly Cookies

 I think they were supposed to look like this...

Or maybe this.
Every year I get a lot of plates of food made for me by grateful people.
But this year there seemed to be a new theme.
The theme of having the kids make a batch of cookies.
I'm sure they did their best - but of the dozens of cookies I received, maybe ten were edible.
Of course I choked each 'delicious' morsel down with the help of a cold glass of milk while the kids looked on - but it was rough.
(The cookies were often burned or had too much sugar or too many sprinkles and I'm lactose intolerant. Those cookies were a pain both coming and going.)
Man... the things one does to keep thankful kids happy.

Indy

People think that I hate fat people - I don't think that I do but being in the South for so long, I'm just sick of them.
Back in Cali a friend once commented that we only had two friends who possessed excessive girth.
But it wasn't as though we chose our fiends by their weight - it was only that many of those with excessive weight did not fit into our lifestyle.
In fact, I didn't even notice most fat people.
Here in this small town... almost everybody is fat.

I think someone can be in the same place for too long.
Cops experience this after many years of doing the same thing with many of the same people committing many of the same crimes.
Social workers experience this when they've dealt with too many needy people for too long while being able to do too little.
After a while only negative reactions are produced whenever anyone resembling a similar demographic is encountered.

I'm sick of the ghetto as well.
After deciding to turn the vacant land left after crackheads burned down a few houses into a community farm - those from the area stole the materials intended to build a greenhouse.
Others (or maybe it was the same people) stole fruit trees panted early to enable the trees to take root and last through the Winter.
When I asked around it was said to me that people stole these things because I wouldn't miss them, that I could afford to replace them, that these people thought of themselves as Robin Hood.
If this is the thinking of many of those in the hood, I'm through with the hood.
In fact, I don't even care (right now) if I can make a lot of money dealing with those in the hood.

But what causes one to think that he can find the proverbial "Holy Grail"?
What causes one to think that he can find the answer to an eternal problem?
Is a man who attempts to find a hidden treasure or an answer to an unanswerable problem just being arrogant?
And is such arrogance necessary to even undertake such a task?

But this type of arrogance sometimes leads one to be in situations where he is overwhelmed.
This type of thinking more often leads one to be in situations where he is in just a little bit over his head.
This mindset seems to be required for one who is capable of playing from behind.
But Indiana Jones went home sometimes.
Indy understood that, from time to time, he needed to get away from those situations which offered both the most satisfaction and the most disappointment.

60 Dimensions ?

 If we are only able to measure five percent of our universe - what of the remaining 95%?
Maybe our 5% is all that we are currently able to comprehend (or 'see').
While the universe may in fact be infinite - our 5% may be all that we need to see in order to comprehend the universe as a whole.
Maybe our current three dimensions act in the same way as a two-dimensional holographic image contains all the information needed to project a three-dimensional image.

 But how can only 5% be infinite?
Imagine an infinite number of fish.
Now count the scales on these fish.
Which is a greater number?
Are there more fish or more scales?
Since each is still infinite - are they not still the same number?

 Even when we measure the known universe there seems to be areas of greater mass or density.
Maybe these can be explained as areas where our known (or perceived) part of the universe overlaps another unknown part of the universe.

 If our three dimensions only enables us to see 5% of the universe - would 20x3 give us the whole universe?
If we are just the mean of all dimensions of the universe - maybe there are as many (or more than) sixty dimensions.

Maybe these inconsistencies in our universe are the points where more (or less) dimensions overlap.

If the spiral is the model used for our known Universe - is there another fractal which we cannot see that is the model for another dimension of the universe?

Relevant Rap ?

 As long as Rap was considered to be an outside source, rap had the power to motivate change.
But those who run the music industry know this, which is why once a performer sells his soul for points he becomes part of the establishment.
He cedes his power to those who would rule him one way or another.
As long as Punk and Rap were seen by the industry as worthless pretenders - there was no need for music execs to worry about these upstarts.

But then Punk groups like The Clash started to attack the establishment (Which sought to quell such an uprising by bringing them into their fold by making them bona fide Rock Stars).
But The Clash were still outsiders who recorded songs critical of Margret Thatcher, American policies and the treatment of Blacks in Brixton (Or Watts).
These groups recorded songs that criticized the treatment of Nelson Mandela and others in the Apartheid system in South Africa (Simple Minds' Mandela Day, The Specials' Free Nelson Mandela or a bunch of songs by U2.)

 But Pop groups never had such a luxury.
When the Human League recorded a song critical of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank - their musical career was cut short.

 Even media darling Boy George and the Culture Club suffered from recording The War Song.

 But outsider artists could still get away with protesting against South Africa - the establishment did not own them.

Even M.I.A. had a hit which could have been set in Brixton, or Watts or Newark (To bring the thinking of The Clash full circle.)
Which is why the only relevant Rap is outsider Rap.
Check out Kay Dub
http://konwomyn.blogspot.com/
No commercial Weezy there - just the occasional mention of relevant Hip Hop from the perspective of an empowered outsider.

Popularity

Imagine yourself as being represented by the highlighted triangle above.
What is considered base, or lowly, by you may be seen as highly desired by someone else.
The inverse is also true; what you value could be that which is dismissed by many others.
"One man's trash...", the Biblical "The stone which the builders rejected..." or stories of the Prodigal Son - our culture is filled with tales of an an eternal Rochambeau-like hierarchy.

It's a Popularity Contest

 Not a talent show.

So Brandy was a better dancer than Bristol Palin....
But Mario was better than Emmit, Mel B was better than Helio and Mya should have beaten Marie Osmond.
But like all fan-based voting shows - this is a popularity contest not a talent show.

Obsolete Luxury - Memorex

 Back in the day - listening to one of these this was a top of the line personal music experience.
But now the Walkman has gone the way of... well. the cassette.

Even though most people would not be seated in a Bauhaus chair while their butler put in a Wagner cassette - the image worked to sell Maxell (not TDK or Memorex)  tapes to millions.

But the best marketing came from the guys at Alpine.
Apparently the guys bought one Lamborghini and placed an Alpine cassette stereo in it so they could say that this Lambo did in fact have an Alpine stereo.
But Lambo's did not come with an Alpine until the poster became even more popular than that of Farrah Fawsett adorned in her ubiquitous red swim suit.

Indy

Most days are not perfect - most days are just... days.
But what of he who seeks danger and excitement?
What of he who walks away from the rest of the pack and strikes out on his own to discover his own personal treasures?
Life, sports, business, hobbies, whatever... .
What drives some to walk away from a life of comfort to find that which is his true motivation?
Why do some accept what is given while others are so arrogant that they imagine that they can control their own destinies?

Most days are just days.
But what causes some to look for the good where others find flaws?
What causes some to look beyond the curtain?
What causes some to choose the red pill?
What causes some to dump down the rabbit hole?
Why do some challenge themselves, their surroundings or their culture in an effort to live more fully?

Is there some type of Indiana Jones gene?
Are some hardwired to go where others fear or do what others say cannot be done?
Someone once said that Alice saved herself because she came back from the rabbit hole - while all the truly crazy characters remained there.