The Great American. . . Conundrum

Ugh!...I’ve been chewing on some serious writer’s block recently. Last week I sat down and wrote down a blog entry that was nearly a thousand words only to delete it all because it was barely coherent and jumped around aimlessly. Hopefully I’ll be able to lay out my thoughts a little better this go and maybe even say something that'll make you stop and think.

Today’s topic: The United States of America. I read a post from a friend’s blog a while back which got me thinking on my own views of the country I live in. When I was little I saw America as the greatest country in the world, as a teenager I saw it as the most corrupt, hypocritical nation in existence. Nowadays, I know that the truth lies somewhere down the middle.

Anyone who grew up in the States has learned in school of the great good that the U.S. has done since its declaration of independence in 1776. We won our freedom from the subjugation of Britain, fought against slavery in the civil war, tamed the west, were victorious in not one but two world wars, and now leading the fight on terror worldwide.

However, there is a dark side to all of these glorious conquests that have, on the most part, been ignored by history. For instance, the guerilla warfare the fledgling nation used against the British in the Revolutionary War is similar to what terrorist groups now use in the Middle-East today. When I was in the American South, I heard a completely different take on the Civil War. In this version, the South had been hammered by multiple laws that restricted rights and trade for years and that slavery was just the straw that broke the camel’s back. Supposedly, Robert E. Lee, later to become the most noted generals in the confederacy, followed the law and released his slaves when the law was passed but Ulysses S. Grant, later general in the Union army and president of the United States, kept his slaves until authorities demanded the he released them or face charges. Horrible atrocities were committed against the First Nations as they were pushed from their ancestral lands and forced into reservations where treaties were constantly made up and broken by the U.S. The First World War was pointless for all countries involved, while during the Second World War, our allies called for our full support over and over but it wasn’t until we were attacked that we decided to get our hands dirty. And during the cold war, Korea and Vietnam were proxy battles with the Soviet Union.

Now before you go all out on how horrible and wrong this country is, let’s try taking a step back and look at it from a worldwide view. In comparison to other countries such as Great Britain, Russia and China we’re pretty average on the good/evil meter. The British held the second largest empire in history (that’s not counting the oceans and seas they claimed) and subjugated everyone they came in contact with. During the Soviet era of Russia, Stalin created work camps called gulags where around fourteen million people were sent to and somewhere between seven hundred thousand to millions died. And finally, Mao’s regime in China took over Tibet and ravaged Nepal when the government was coming into its own.

Once again these are just a few examples. Every country around the world has both good and bad, it’s just human nature. The most we can do is take an active part in the happenings of our countries. Vote, let your voice be heard, do what you think will help your homeland progress and become a better nation. As for me, even though it is far from perfect and there are many things in my country’s laws and history that I do not agree with or support, I can honestly say I am proud to be a citizen of the United States of America. It is the place where I was born and where the many of my ancestors immigrated to find opportunity they couldn’t elsewhere. 

Dragon Rising

The year of the Dragon is almost upon us. Even though we celebrated the Julian New Year six days ago, the Chinese New Year doesn’t begin until the 23^rd of this month, so it is still the year of the Rabbit until then. For me, the year of the dragon holds a special significance whereas it was the year in which I was born. This’ll be my second cycle through the Zodiac and in another year I’ll be at the quarter century mark. Not that big of a deal really, but it does represent a good point in time to look back and evaluate one’s life so far.

            When I was still in Jr. High School, I already knew what I wanted to be and what I was going to become. Fast forward ten years and, sadly, I haven’t accomplished anything I dreamed of when I was a kid. I had fully expected that by now I would be a published author. Yet the only thing I’ve ever published outside of cyberspace has been a poem I wrote back in High School. I wanted to see distant lands and learn languages from every corner of the world; but the only place I’ve visited outside the States has been Vancouver, Canada and the only language I’ve been able to pick up has been Spanish; and I’m not even fluent, barely conversant even. 

This was taken a small ways from Vancouver, Canada when
I was walking to the UBC museum of anthropology.

   

Now, I’ve this horrible tendency to blame all of my failures on external factors. But when I really open my eyes, I see that the root of the problem is entirely internal. When I fall, I have a hard time picking myself up and I end up reverting into my own world, cutting off myself from everything else; and I’ve fallen quite a lot since finishing high school. Whether it be school, work, friends, girls, I can’t seem to succeed with any of it. And though I’ve given into despair numerous times, I have to keep trying. As the great Chinese philosopher and religious leader, K’ung Ch’iu- later known as Confucius- said: Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in getting up every time we do.

            This year, it is about high time I pick myself up again, dust off the failures of the past and give it another go. So here is a list of goals I want to achieve before the year of the serpent comes in twelve months time:

      1. Get my EMT.

      2. Begin learning to play the Violin.

      3. Publish two short stories and or a book.

      4. Read through the Standard works.

      5. Overcome social anxiety/ make some friends.

      6. Become at least conversant in Japanese.  

      7. Go to Japan. 

      8. Get back to school in the fall. 

      9. Read fifty books

     10. Have a full journal written

             

           These are just my year round goals. I've also made daily ones and other short term goals to help me reach the above plan. So why publish my list on the web? Mainly because I heard that if you write your goals down and put them up somewhere people can see them that you have a better chance of doing it. So here’s my test on the theory and, throughout the year, I’ll post what I am working on or accomplished.

The Krampus Before Christmas

Twas the night before Christmas and I had been bad,

How was I to know that Santa might get mad?

The house was locked tight every door and every sill,

The fireplace closed shut to ward away the chill.

The night was all dark and I slept peacefully at ease,

Until my window blew open by some strange breeze.

I awoke with a start and went to close the panes tight,

Imagine my surprise as to what caught my sight.

From on high came a jingle and the crack of a whip,

I glanced up for a moment and nearly bit my lip.

Aloft rode jolly St. Nick on his reindeer drawn sled,

And below clung a creature with eyes that burned red.

The elf landed on my roof but stirred not from his seat,

Instead he drew his pipe and stomped with his feet.

“Krampus, oh Krampus, go forth you little blight,

And remind this young fellow to do what is right!”

Amazed I watched by the light of the moon on the lawn,

As the fiend crawled away with fangs that were drawn.

Like a shadow of shadows he edged to the smokestack,

And head first stole down the shaft, ready for the attack.

My first instinct was to hide and bar the door shut,

But I had to do something though I knew not what.

Between my door and the wall leaned my old baseball bat,

And thus an idea shaped to deal with this sneaky rat.

Quick as a flash, I took up my weapon of war,

And, clothed in my blue silk robe, I made for the door.

I flew down the stairs and alit upon the inglenook,

Waiting and watching for the beast to take the hook.

A moment passed with shaking knees and head that spun,

Yet neither claw nor soot fell from the hearth, not a one.

Then I saw it, charcoal footprints of the strangest sort,

Dread filled my soul then behind me came a snort.

I whirled about, brandishing my bat in the air,

Instead I was knocked off my feet, caught in the snare.

And then the thing pounced with animal ferocity,

Though I fought back with all my might and audacity.

As we grappled and clashed upon the fireplace rise,

I could not help but see those glowing ember eyes.

He was covered in oily black hair from head to toe,

And with large curving horns he delivered a blow.

I swayed where I stood but returned again to the brawl,

Lashing out like a madman I threw him at the wall.

The creature’s strength was that of three full grown men,

But I held my own as we sparred throughout the den.

Battered and bruised I strove to my very last breathe,

And fell to the floor awaiting my coming death.

For a moment I lay then opened my eyes to see,

A tattered and beat demon sprawled beside me!

“Good show my young friend, we’ve come to a stalemate,

I’ve never been beaten until this very date.

So I’ll give you a warning, one you should heed,

If you are naughty again the Krampus will succeed!”

Like a smoldering flame, he then vanished without a trace,

And I vowed that next year I’ll bring some aerosol mace!

To all you bad children, I have but one thing to say,

Beware the Christmas Krampus on this festive holiday!

- T. A. Nicholas

Apples and Oranges Occupying the Tea Shop

 I have a real bone to pick with today's politics. In the United States, all you have are apples and oranges: one side of the political spectrum fighting against the other. Why can't there be any pears or peaches that get into office? It's always Democrat this or Republican that. Did you know that many of the founding fathers were against a two party system? It was said that if the country were to become a two party system that the nation will divide itself. Isn't that what is happening?

       Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States, by Howard Chandler Christy

            In 1780, John Adams wrote a letter that says: “There is nothing which I dread so much as a division of the republic into two great parties, each arranged under its leader, and concerting measures in opposition to each other. This, in my humble apprehension, is to be dreaded as the greatest political evil under our Constitution.”  

George Washington actually takes it a step further condemns parties of any kind in his farewell address as the president in 1796, “It (parties) serves always to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animosity of one part against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which finds a facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of party passions.”

This may sound a little off topic but if anyone knows anything about Protestantism you'd know this one fact. Typically, when someone doesn't like what their preacher is saying, they'll either find another Protestant church out of the thousands; or they'll start up their own church. Now I do not believe in that philosophy when it comes to religion, but it makes perfect sense when that theory is applied to politics. If you don't agree with everything your party says, go join one that does, or if you have the time and money, start your own.
               By fractioning politics up like this, I believe people would become more united because then we are not all on one side or the other. Very rarely in history do you find wars with three or four factions all fighting against each other. Usually, they will fall in with either one of the main factions. Is that what we're doing; falling in with crowd? Despite having views and opinions that differ from the larger parties, we join them simply because we might agree with one or two sentiments and then hate the opposing faction because they aren’t supporting your ‘colors’.

               As our representatives continue to fight this "bloods and crips" styled war in our capitol buildings over whose ideas are better than the others, how much is actually getting done? Now I know that the phrase ‘nothing ever gets done in Washington’ is a laughable stereotype of our government, but in regards to the near government shut down that took place last spring and again during the summer, I really have to wonder if people’s views are getting in the way of doing what needs to be done.

From what I’ve read, the major obstacle that congress had was with a group of people who were so stubborn and unmovable in their views that a compromise between the two factions could not be realized until their demands were met. The group I am talking about is the Tea Party; an extremist right wing political movement that now dominates the Republican Party. In the end, the Government came close to a screeching halt all thanks to obdurate mind-sets.

More recently, the Liberals are getting their very own extremist group, known nowadays as the Occupy Movement. Though not nearly as well organized as the Tea Party was, it has gained followings throughout the world and continues to grow in both popularity and leadership/organization.

In truth, both causes, the Tea Party and the Occupy Movement have good intentions; however, it is the unyielding attitudes of both of these extreme groups that could plunge our country into stagnant waters. Imagine if the debt crisis in Washington, concerning the government shut down, were to have happened now with the Occupy mind-frame that the Democrats are adopting. I’m no soothsayer or prophet, but I’m willing to bet that no compromise would’ve been struck and we would find ourselves in a very difficult situation.

Extremism in any form, whether it is ethnic, religious or political, ought to be shunned and yet we welcome the political aspect with open arms. The way events are unfolding, I worry that things are slowly spinning out of control. We’ve been warned by our founders and now we’re seeing the result of the ‘greatest political evil under our Constitution,’ and the only way I see to halting this, as I’ve stated before, is to break down the political structure into smaller parties, bringing in some pears, peaches and grapefruits to the collection of apples and oranges, so that fringe politics cannot conquer so easily as it has today.

War of the Pandas

Here’s a little something that’s been on my mind ever since I heard about it and I want to regurgitate this so my brain can move on to other things. This past weekend was Blizzcon. A gathering of the nerdiest of the nerds to see what Blizzard Entertainment (i.e. the Starcraft, Diablo and Warcraft computer game series) has in store. The most anticipated revelation was what the next World of Warcraft expansion was going to be. One thing you need to know about me is that I used to be a huge WoW nut and still am to a degree. I don’t play it anymore mainly because the storyline or lore has grown stale and that, more so than the attraction of better virtual gear or constant reruns of the same dungeons, is what interests me most about the franchise. However, this fourth expansion into the gaming universe may temporarily reignite my interests. The name of said expansion is called The Mists of Pandaria, which will feature the anthropomorphic pandas called the Pandaren as the new playable race along with the all new monk class that other races will be able to play as well.

                Okay, I know what you’re thinking. A heavily Chinese inspired race of Kung Fu fighting panda bears sounds really familiar. But here’s something you might not know. In 2003, Blizzard released Warcraft 3: Frozen Throne, which was the last installmentof the Warcraft strategy games that preceded the MMORPG. In that game, you eventually run into Chen Stormstout, the first time a Pandaren is introduced in the game. Interestingly enough, DreamWork’s Kung Fu Panda launched production one year after said computer game was out and another four years afterwards until the movie hit theatres. I haven’t found any quotes of Dream Work’s executives saying that the movie was inspired from ol’ Chen, but it is a definite curiosity that the one springs up after the other. Now, I'm not trying to dis against DreamWork's movie. I loved the show and am really looking forward to the third one when it comes out. 

                In conclusion, the only point I am trying to make is that, despite what people may say about the new WoW expansion being a rip off of Kung Fu Panda, it was Blizzard who came up with the earliest published idea in the first place. It would be comparable to Seth McFarlane of Family guy claiming that Matt Groening of The Simpsons stole his idea. All I'm trying to do with this post is to show that the Chicken came before the egg, but that doesn't make the egg any less as appetizing than the chicken. So pass the KFC, pour me some of that egg drop soup, sit back and enjoy both renditions of an endangered species kicking back. 

Games in the Desert

Oy vey. . .what a week. My family and I headed down to St. George last Wednesday to visit my grandparents who own a home there. As it goes, I had this huge plan to ride my bike all the way to Zion National Park and take some awesome pics of the red rock scenery and write this giant sized essay on my travels. Unfortunately, I have this little known problem called chronic laziness disorder that shuts my limbs down and turns my brain to mush at the most inopportune times.  

                Instead of a long ranged, grit and spit bike ride, I sat around at the house using my brother’s new 3DS system playing The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time when he wasn’t using it. It is such an addictive game; you would have no idea unless you’ve played it before. It consumed me when I was ten years old on the Nintendo 64 and it has once again plunged me into the world of Hyrule with all of its crafty dungeons, memorable characters and foot-tapping music. The thing that reinvented the classic game for me was the clearer graphics (completely remade character models that look amazing!) and usage of the 3DS motion targeting system. Everything is pretty much the same with those exceptions but that’s all I needed!

                I did, however, get about five or so miles ridden while I was in the St. George area. The trails are fun, if not a little confusing at points, while the scenery evoked memories of Edger Rice Burroughs’ John Carter of Mars. On Friday, we took a cruise up to Grafton. A little known ghost town just a small ways from Zion N.P. where they filmed a portion of the old Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid movie. The real fun came when we visited the cemetery and I was able to hike up the path a ways and get some pretty nice pictures of the countryside. Those and a few I nabbed while on the road are displayed below.

                Well, that’s about it for my trip. Sorry it wasn’t as exciting and interesting as I aspired for it to be in my last post. One thing I can promise is an account this coming week as I ride my bike to Salt Lake City via Antelope Island and back. My brother, Christopher may decide to come along with me so it might have to wait until Saturday, but it will be happening this week guaranteed. 

O Brigham, Where Art Thou?

Ben Lomond covered in clouds outside my house in Plain City.

Today I took my bike out for a spin to see how it would handle on a quick journey. At first I was only going to ride to Willard Bay which would have been only a little less than seven miles, but when I came up on the turn that led to the bay park area, I just couldn’t call it quits yet and so rode on with my new goal being Brigham City.

With the exception of a saddle sore rear end, the trip was flawless. The hills of the fruit road, which runs at the base of the mountains, was arduous for someone from Plain City where the largest hill is more like a bump. I stopped twice on the way there and on the way back for no more than two or three minutes; just enough time to stretch out and drink some water.

The main stop I made in Brigham City was to see the newly erected LDS (Mormon) temple and took a couple of pictures there. Brigham City isn’t exactly ‘exotic’ for me so I didn’t take too many pictures while I was there. 

Here's my proof that I made it to Brigham.

On the return journey however, I had to snag a few of the road and scenery that I passed. I really need to get a more professional camera, I've been using my iphone’s camera for all these pics and want to upgrade to something with better focusing capabilities. If anyone knows about photography, I could really use a recommendation on an amateur camera.

This pic is my favorite. It was taken a small
ways from the I-15 overpass.  

My family’s taking a trip to St. George in southern Utah this   coming Wednesday to visit my grandparents, so I’ll try figuring out a good route somewhere around there with some awesome scenery of the Martianesque landscape!  So if not tomorrow or the next day, expect an account from me again by Thursday at the least.

This was the path I took from Plain City to
Brigham City. 

Country road.