The ONE.

In the Matrix Trilogy Keanu Reeves' “Neo” character has an impromptu, rather off-the-wall meeting with “the Architect.” The Architect is the designer of the world Neo lives in. After a Double Jeopardy round full of verbiage that is difficult to follow, some unanswerable questions and the like, it wasn’t until the movie was released that you realized that your satellite internet provider could watch your every move by installing digital code in your every breath.

Nah, that’s just the movies playing games with our heads. Still, it’d be super trippy to walk in on some guy who had a room full of screens, a remote control, a squeaky chair, and some private footage of your every day life.

"Whoa!"

Pi-derman

I intentionally left the “S” off of Spiderman in homage to a little friend of mine, who once decided that the “S” was totally unnecessary and therefore could be shortened down to just “Piderman.” He was 6-years old, and I was his “big brother” as part of my volunteer work.

Imagine the look on a 6-year olds face when you take him to a Spiderman comic signing featuring the two of the stars from the movie. The exhibits were top notch and had full banners, pluls the one-of-a-kind chance to get up close to the folks in charge. It got me to wondering, do they (Marvel Comics) have a custom exhibit company that sets up their displays this way? Some of the stuff was mind-bogglingly good. Even I was impressed.

If you find yourself in a neighborhood where a comic book signing is going on, take some of the little ones down there for it. Even if you don't have kids, get your neighbors or nieces or nephews. It’ll be something they remember forever.

Wearable Art

I used to hear my uncle complain about how bulky his wedding band was. He'd always use that as an excuse when my aunt asked him why he never wore his ring. Turns out, he was right. Rings used to be so massive that is was like winning the SuperBowl and tying the knot at the same time.

The 21st century has brought us Titanium Wedding Rings, and along with it the antidote for any and all excuses when it comes to men wearing rings. Some of the Titanium Wedding Rings for sale out there truly are wearable art. Makes me wanna get hitched just to have the excuse.

Ok, maybe not. But do you hear that? That's the sound of ooohs and ahhhs headed your way.

The definition of Industrial

Industrial exhibits come in all shapes and sizes. My boys NIN (Nine Inch Nails) are preparing for another tour this summer to promote the new albums "Ghosts" and "The Slip." I know Trent Reznor is often credited with bringing Industrial Music to the mainstream, and although he may never admit it, his performances and music helped to change the entire industrial scene. Kudos, sir.

My kind of golf shirt

Some golf shirts are actually pretty funny. I bought this one for myself because I've been known to dunk a ball or two near any water source located within 80 yards of the green. Water for me is magnetic, I just hit the ball and before you know it......KERPLUNK! Another one bites the dust, er....I mean water!

Cutting back on carbon

Carbon emission is destroying our environment. Between factories and automobiles, the burning of fossil fuels, and deforestation, we are adding more carbon to the atmosphere than the amount of removal that can occur naturally. Trust me, I got an "A" in my Meteorology elective. : )

Carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere are increasing with time (all the time). Anyone notice any climate changes recently? Hmm. Summer starting early? Hurricanes that form and come in such constant bombardment that they run out of names for them and have to switch to Greek symbols? Anyone noticed the activity in Tornado Alley this season? Not only that, but tornadoes are suddenly popping up in places no one would have expected them to. What....have....we....done.

In order to help combat this, I'm doing my part. I've started recycling more, driving less, and as soon as my lease is up in July I'm going to invest in a couple grow light systems so that way I can get my own hydroponics going, creating a jungle-like atmosphere right here (there) in the comfort of my own home. Day or night, cloudy or rainy, wherever I am, they'll get some light. With any luck, that habit will spill over to my backyard where I can plant a tree or two. In case you forgot, trees and plants help to remove CO2 from the atmosphere, it's a part of photosynthesis. Didn't you get that memo? So, if you aren't big on working outside, start inside and see where it goes. Do it for your great-great-great-grandchildren. They'll thank you for it later.

Little. Yellow. Different.

You thought I was going to mention something about ibuprofen medication, like Nuprin, right? Wrong. I'm just stopping off to give something I enjoy a little plug. Satellite internet providers. Why? Because without them, I'd have no idea what "Little, yellow, different" meant.

; )

How funny!

I was browsing around looking at pictures of Tiger Woods, his supermodel wife Elin Nordegren, and their daughter, when I stumbled upon this:

I hope little Sam Alexis has medical, because with all the accuracy her daddy has displayed recently, any golf equipment to the head could put a serious dent in her supermodel/golfing career. (Though I have the feeling this has been photoshopped. Shhhh!)

Metal

Did you know that spotlights, like the one shining out of the top of the Luxor Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, are operated by a metal halide lamp? Yup. These lamps shine so brightly they can be seen from space. Not your ordinary retro lamp...

Three Little Words

Eldrick. Tiger. Woods. It is hard to imagine that an athlete could come off knee surgery so soon and not only compete, but win another major. There is no other dominate figure in any sport quite like there is in golf. What Michael Jordan was to basketball, and Lance Armstrong was to cycling, Tiger is to golf.

Have you ever looked at Tiger's endorsements and earnings money? He averages over 1 million dollars every 3 days he's alive. Golf magazine says that by 2010 he should be the first player to ever clear the 1 billion dollar mark for total earnings. Unbelievable. No wonder he has the best golf apparel and equipment on the planet. Nike custom fits and then mass produces anything he approves of, and then they sell like hot cakes.

I need to work on my game.

Beam me up, Scotty.

Not often do we realize that www.this and www.that wasn't available until just 15 or so years ago, in 1992. Although it was created in 1989, Sir Tim Berners-Lee didn't unveil www until 1992, in Geneva, Switzerland. After that, hyperlinks, html and the internet raced to becoming as famous as television and telephones. Dot coms blew up, and dot coms fell apart. AOL used to be an empire, but now it's the land of the Google.

In our generation, we've been introduced to so many new terms. There was dial-up, then there was broadband, then cable, then satellite internet services, then GPS in the dashboards of our cars. Now phones that used to weigh 8-pounds and resemble a shoebox with an antenna sticking our are smart, sleek, and capable of grabbing the internet out of thin air. I hope I live to see 2020, I figure by then we'll be able to fax ourselves to any number, sorta like The Matrix. Keep your fingers crossed.

Convention this and convention that

My friend went to a convention this weekend in L.A.. I don't want to mention which convention it was, but let's just say that there was plenty o'entertainment abound.

I just got done checking out his photobucket account, which I'd list for the world to see though I'm pretty sure someone would not wanna see (for various reasons.) I still can't believe all the booths that the various exhibit builders put up. The entire place was packed wall to wall with exhibits, large banners, and lifesize posters.

I only regret not getting a chance to go. It was like Toys 'R Us for Adults. Enough said!

I'm torn

Which one of my official nfl jerseys should I wear on "Jersey Fridays" coming up soon? Should I go with my Pacman Jones jersey now that he has been reinstated? Or, stick with my trusty Brett Favre jersey. I don't know about you, but when you're nickname is Pacman you've got a certain nostalgic something that makes me want to "waku waku waku waku waku waku..."

Celtics come back from 24 down!?

Since it looks like the boys in green are about to close the series out up 3 games to 1, you better hurry up and check out some Celtics gear at an online nba shop. Get your lucky jersey on and wish them luck, it's not that being Irish with a 3-leaf clover and a Leprechaun as a mascot doesn't help enough.

I don't wanna be like Mike

Gatorade, Hot Dogs, Underwear, Oh My!

Some of the Jordan clothing line includes shirts, shorts, polos, and his oh-so-special shoes. I am curious about just one thing though. If Michael has his own clothing line, why is he teamed up with Cuba Gooding Jr. and Kevin Bacon in the Hanes commericals hocking men's underwear? Have you seen these commericals? Who comes up with Kevin Bacon to sell Hanes underwear? And what kind of paycheck do they have to throw at the most famous athlete on the planet to get him to walk out in a studio and film something this awful? Ugh! A guy with the last name "Bacon" shouldn't be selling anything except the Moons Over My Hammy down at the local Denny's.

BB for my Valentine

I haven't been shot with an air rifle since I was a kid. I don't remember much about it, except that little red mark and the feeling of having a bee sting for a good hour. My friend claimed he had reallllly good aim. So much for that.

I just bought a Crosman air rifle for the lady. It's fancy. It's Pink. It matches mine, only it's Pink. She doesn't like the birds that tear up the backyard, and I can't say I blame her much, so she aims to scare them off by rustling the branches and ground that they land on. "I don't want to kill them, just scare them." I don't have the heart to tell her that she may accidentally injure one, she's convinced that her aim is so bad that she has a better chance of winning the lottery than having that happen.

I've got her tickets right here, I hope for her sake she's right. I wouldn't mind winning the lotto...

Paper Street Soap Company

Have you ever seen the movie Fight Club? Brad Pitt and Edward Norton share a character named "Tyler Durden" but you never realize it until the very end. Do you follow? Good.

One of the BEST scenes in the movie is when the narrator says, "at night, Tyler and I were alone for half a mile in every direction," while the two characters knocked golf balls off of neighboring factories. If they had some better golf equipment, perhaps they could have taken out just a few more windows...

On the prowl...

My friends all wear a ring or two, regardless of whether or not they are married. I've done a bit of shopping for something nice for myself. I'm really liking the Titanium and Tungsten Rings they're making for men these days. I like the way this site is set up. You get to zoom down to the finest detail on the rings, and navigation is a snap. The prices at titanium-jewelry.com are also some of the best I've found on the net, so financially it's easy on the wallet. The only problem is that there is so many to choose from! I'll post again once I figure it all out. Stay tuned.

Operation Green Thumb

One more thing before I head off:

During the month of May I began to go a bit green around the cupboards in the kitchen. There was all this space being unused, so I went out and bought myself a nice gross of pots, seeds, and juvenile plants. There is one window in the kitchen, though I was worried it wouldn't provide enough direct light to help get the project off the ground. I checked out some grow lights and figured that in order to maintain growth, I should pick up a couple 2 foot long flourescent fixtures with 2 lights and put them on the backsides of the plants against the wall.

After I ran a small extension cord to get the power going, I hooked up a timer and all I need to do now is rotate my pots once a day and give my plants a little water and time. The grow lights seem to be doing wonderfully. One of the coolest things about the lighting setup is that they came in various lengths, bulb quantities, and of course, different wattage for the bulbs themselves. I never realized all the options you could choose from.

More soon!

Take Aim and Fire!

Have you ever noticed the rush you get when you squeeze off a few rounds at the firing range? I have. The only problem is getting down to the range, and all the money I spend on ammo. Bullets are pretty costly this day for some reason.

I decided to buy an air rifle to use in my backyard. I can get BB's and Pellets by the box and at a really good cost. The best part is because there aren't neighbors anywhere near my back wall, just a large wash, so I can scope out aluminum cans and an old box of plastic dominoes from 50 feet like I'm in a movie or something. Aiming for a single spot on a domino is a real challenge - for a few bucks you should give it a try. An Air rifle is easy to use, less lethal than your other household firearms, and they provide simple entertainment at a very inexpensive cost. Check it out.

The Back 9

I don't consider myself a good golfer at all, but I figured while I'm wiffing at the ball I should look my best. I picked up some Golf Shirts at www.blind9golf.com. I thought as long as I looked respectable, it would make up for my terrible back swing! Some of these Golf Shirts are extremely comfortable and keep me from feeling awful in this Arizona sun.

Lighting 101

I was changing out some of the bay lights in my shop this weekend and went ahead and installed some new motion lights. I decided to order online rather than buy at the hardware store this time. I was a little reticent because I normally don't buy commercial lighting for my shop without actually seeing the product first, but I got a great deal and was really excited when these showed up.