What a difference a week makes

Last week, I left town and it was 95 degrees. When I got back yesterday it was 65 degrees. What a difference a week makes. Julie and I went to Clear Lake for vacation last week. For those of you who are stupid, here's some info on Clear lake. Anyway, I had some pics from the trip that I wanted to post, so I decided to start a new Flickr account. I will still be posting pics on the blog, but if you want to see the stuff that doesn't make the cut or is too random to explain, check us out on flickr. i will also be adding a link on my sidebar. I hope some of you click through and check out the pics from our vacation.

New Car, Just not for me...

Went to Fresno this weekend to see my brother's new car. He got an '06 Mazda Rx 8 Shinka. According to my research, this car was the Car and Driver best pick for the sport coup class. I have to admit that initially I wasn't to sure about him getting this new car, but having seen it, I am very impressed. It handles like I imagine an open-wheel racecar must handle. Perhaps the most distinctive thing about the car is that it has a rotary engine. Thats right no pistons driving this baby! This amazing little 1.3 liter rotary engine puts out the horses of a big V-8 with much less weight and bulk. I am amazed!

Heres some more info on the rotary engine in this car:
Renesis Rotary Engine

Forty years of rotary-engine racing success went into the design of the RX-8’s advanced RENESIS (Rotary Engine genesis – or rebirth of the rotary engine) engine. Incorporating many elements that made the RX-7 the most successful model in International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) history and brought Mazda the 1991 24-Hours of Le Mans overall win, the RENESIS engine is exceptionally well-built and capable. This racing pedigree is evident through the various motorsports series employing the RX-8, including Pro Formula Mazda and the Grand Am Cup.

By turning a triangular rotor in a cocoon-shaped combustion chamber, the RX-8’s rotary engine efficiently performs the four processes of intake, compression, combustion and exhaust. The RENESIS engine is remarkably smooth and high revving — all the way to 9000 rpm — and offers a smaller engine footprint than traditional internal combustion engines (some 60 percent smaller than a comparably powered V-6, and 40 percent smaller than a four-cylinder).

Improving upon 40 years of rotary designs, the RENESIS engine boasts side intake and exhaust ports with nearly 30 percent more intake area and twice as much exhaust area than previous rotary engines. The efficiencies gained through larger intake and exhaust ports exclude the need for forced induction, a feature found on the last rotary-powered sports car from Mazda, the vaunted third generation RX-7.

The RX-8’s normally aspirated 1.3-liter engine might appear diminutive to the untrained eye when compared to large-displacement V-8s or heavyweight V-10s or V-12s. However, through the incredible efficiencies of a rotary powerplant, an advanced three-stage intake system and an electronic throttle, the RENESIS engine delivers smooth, linear power on a grand scale.

The RX-8 benefits from placing the powerplant low and far back in the engine bay in what Mazda calls an advanced front-midship layout, which lowers the center of gravity and improves vehicle balance. In addition, the fuel tank is placed ahead of the rear axle, and all seating is within the wheelbase and track of the car. Combined, these factors contribute to a perfect 50/50 vehicle weight distribution, low yaw-inertia movement and superb handling characteristics. With such excellent balance, it is little wonder the RX-8 feels right at home on even the most challenging race tracks or negotiating a tight freeway onramp.

(From rssportscars.com)

I am deeply concerned...

a very sad story

This is what our country is doing, and I'm not trying to say it is right or wrong, but it is happening right now.

Just thought some of you might want to know, since the mainstream media doesn't seem to want to report it. I know most americans are more concerned about the controversy over the recent Oregon-Oklahoma football game, but this story haunts my thoughts. I understand that there are complicated issues involved and I'm not trying to be preachy (I don't really even have a side on the issue), but the thought that my country would do this to an innocent person deeply troubles me.

Sometimes the problems of the world seem so great that they are insurmountable. But if we really are the greatest nation in the world, surely we can win the war against terror without doing things like this.

"You become a monster so the monster will not break you."

Holding on

Julie holding a nice fish she caught this weekend (left)

Julie holding her new nephew, Ryan (bottom)

Here's a clip of the Sports Guy on my wife's favorite show.

College Football

College football couldn't have come soon enough this year. Seriously, my sanity was hanging by a thread. I guess I never realized the place football has in our society until this year when so many things in my life are upended. Now don't get me wrong, I am insanely passionate about the game of football(see this post), but this year I was impacted not so much by the game itself, but by the place it has in our society.
Somehow, football has become America's new passtime. Just like baseball used to be associated in everyones mind with school getting out, summer days by the pool, 4th of july parties, and sneaking in a few more playoff games before the weather turns cold, so now, it seems, we associate football with the weather turning cooler, the leaves turning color, great fall comfort foods, staying warm indoors with family, thanksgiving, and an overall sense of home and family. Even my wife who doesn't really know much about the game of football commented to me the other day that "when you have the game on it just feels homey in here."
Now, I don't think that football has done something right, and baseball has done something wrong-- Errrr... Well, lets say football hasn't totally screwed itself the way baseball has. That said, I feel much of this shift in national attitude comes from national shifts in population. As our population shifts dramatically from northern to southern latitudes, our national attitude about the seasons changes. No longer do the majority of us celebrate summer as the time when it finally is warm enough to go outside with a tshirt on. Instead, many of us now dread the terrible heat of the summer and look forward to celebrating the end of our misery, fall. And football is lucky enough to be the game that begins just as the miserable heat's grip begins to weaken.
But whatever the reason, football, especially college football, came just in time to save my sanity this year.

Updates

I have updated some of my links and will be trying to update more as time permits in the coming weeks. Heather started off right with a nice pic of JLH! She clearly knows how to get my attention.

How to...

Since I know that I am the happiest, most successful person you know, I thought I should share with you some of the secrets to my success. You see, the key to being happy and getting everything you want in life is in the things you value. If you value the same things as me, you are on your way...
Things I value:

1. Investing Wisely

Just bought this yesterday










2. Celebrating Diversity

These may all be bottled in the US, but they represent international flavor.
Mexico...
United States...
Brazil...
Czech Republic



3. Creativity and Invention

Julie has invented a cake made out of brownies

Well... I guesss thats all I've got. I thought there might be more, but I was wrong. Oh, well. Now you can get started on the road to being just as happy and successful as I am. And no more so!

Got Gas?

I got gas yesterday for $2.99 / gallon. I couldn't remember the last time I paid less than $3. It has to have been at least 6 months. What is everyone else paying for gas these days?

Are two heads better than one?

"If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell"
-Matthew 5:29-30

An Indian man born with two penises wants to get one of them removed so that he can marry, a report said Saturday. Why would he have to get one removed so that he could marry? Did one of them want a different girl or something? If God gives you a gift like that, you shouldn't have to remove one. Instead, you should be allowed 2 wives. If I ruled a country, polygamy would be banned, with one exception. A man ought to only have one wife for every fully operational phallus.

Of course I am totally joking. Two penises would be a terrible curse. Imagine how hard adolescence was for him. Oops, poor choice of words. One the plus side, he could probably put out two separate small fires at the same time, so he had that going for him. But seriously, you know you really love someone when you are going to have a penis removed for them. Although, your perspective might be different if you had a spare.

I'm actually trying to set the new world record for number of times the word "penis" appears on a posting that begins with a bible verse.

Feeling Animalistic

Two animal pictures that seem to capture how I feel today

Earlier today:
"Don't disturb me today... I don't feel good and I just got comfortable. Haven't I put up with enough of your crap this week?"



Now:
"That cake Julie is making sure smells tasty."

money, money, money, money... money

If you are like me, you are short, blue-eyed, typing on your computer, and you have a headache right now. You also may find it interesting to think about the complex interconnectedness of money and politics in this country. On that front, I have recently run across a treasure-trove of fascinating data.

For example: did you know that there was one lonely person in the bakersfield area who donated $200 dollars to Al Sharpton for the last presidential primary (I am assuming it was one person since he only recieved 200 and that is both the maximum single donation, and the most common ammount donated).

Or go to the person look-up type section and find out who MLB commissioner Bud (Allan) Selig gave money to.

Quick Update

So, Julie and I are going to the beach this weekend. Too tired and in too much of a hurry to write something about myself, so here is another video.

Butter Off Dead

Well, I had a busy first half of the week in Fresno and now I am having a busy second half at home in bakersfield.

On a side note, it has come to my attention that my blog doesn't have nearly enough of two key elements. Element one: Amish. Element two: violence. I will try to remedy both right now. Please watch the following video:



Hilarious!

An Open Letter

This is an open letter to whoever reads this about my life and my thoughts right now. I promise I will try to go back to being "not funny" very soon:

It looks like I will be spending some time in Fresno this week. My family is going through some stuff right now, and I need to be there for them. I should be there for at least a few days starting on monday. This is the first time since we have been married that I have gone somewhere and left Julie at home for any more than an overnight fishing trip. She wanted to come with me, but I really feel like she needs to stay here to work and hold down the fort. She has already taken one day off for my family last week, and I feel like taking any more might be pushing it with her work situation. Its not like we haven't been apart. She has been gone on business trips for a week or more at least 3 times, but this time feels different since I am the one who is leaving.

I guess I feel a little guilty. I am leaving my wife home alone, and am leaving her family when things are pretty busy on the farm. But I know this is the right thing to do. My family really needs me right now and that is the most important thing. This is just a microcosm of the major issues in my larger life. If I had to reduce it down to its simplest form it would be this: I try really hard. I try to be the best husband, friend, son, brother, citizen I can be. I try love and honor my wife's family every single day, which includes trying to be the best worker I can be. I try to be fair, just and compassionate in everything I do. I try to live in a way that doesn't cause harm to others. I try to make the world a better place. You might laugh and call me an ideologue, but those are really the things I think about trying to do every day.

The thing is, I'm pretty sure that I totally fail at most of those things about 99% of the time. And I'm ok with that. I know that none of us can be perfect, or even close to perfect. You see, my personal "goodness" isn't important to me out of some sense of ego, perfection, self-righteousness, or other self-focused attitude. Ghandi said that one ought to be the change he/she wants to see in the world. Thats why I try. I guess a different way of putting it would be to say that "I try hard to do right by the people around me." It would be nice if I felt like I was successful once in a while.

Well, all of that to explain how today I got the best compliment of my life. I tell you this next part, not to toot my own horn, but to share with you something that deeply touched me. Today I took my wife to get coffee at 6 am before going to the hospital to see how my brother weathered the night. I was totally stressed and worried about him, my mom, work, life, world peace, aids in africa... you get the picture. I was driving in silence thinking about all these things with a furrowed brow, when Julie looked over at me with a smile and said with total sincerity and no agenda, "You are a good man."

Wow! I care what she thinks more than any person in the whole world. And I can't think of something that she could say to me that would mean as much. She's never said it to me before, and I don't know why she said it, but it made me feel as proud as I ever have and as humbled as I ever have at the same time. I don't know how that happens, but it did. That may be the high point of my life. I hope that you all someday have someone who means everything to you say something like that.
--Dana

More Pics

This weekend we went to the wedding of our friends Mike & Anna. It was fun.

When I saw this bottle, I knew a good time would be had by all. I told them they should hire bodybuilders to poor drinks for everybody, but now I think it would have been funnier to have a small crane lift and poor the bottle.


Look at the pipes on that one.


Henna for Anna


I know this has nothing to do with the wedding, but come on people... My wife is wearing boots and standing out in a corn field. What? Did my friends suddenly stop being mean? I know that can't be true. No one has even made one insulting comment about our hickish, redneck lifestyle.

Well, well, well... so much for my resolution to be a better blogger. Life has really been kicking me in the ass the last couple of weeks, and it doesn't look like it will get much better any time soon. Some random things that have been happening in my life:

-Tomorrow we start picking table grapes. It can be a stressful time. Hopefully, everything goes well.

-I hurt my back a few weeks back, and it was getting progressively worse. I am feeling a little better, though, and I hope that a weekend off the tractor/heavy lifting has done me some good.

-Julie is still great!
This is Julie shucking corn on the 4th of July... Let the jokes begin!

-We were glad to get a chance to see the next great left-handed knuckleballer. Its sad, but he already has more hair and a better tan than his dad. He also already has a bigger ....er.... my wife is hitting me in the back of my head right now! Go shuck some corn or something and let me write what I want.

-Julie and I are tentatively planning to take a little midweek trip to fresno on tues night/wednesday. The intent is to spend some time with my family, but we would love to have coffee or a drink with any fresno people who still care about us.

I thought i would leave you with this really cool picture of a flower that Julie took the other day.


The song I just happen to be listening to right now: Church Clothes by Matt Nathanson

Pictures worth a thousand words?

Sorry I haven't been blogging much lately. Its hot, I'm tired... typical midsummer depression. Julie and I spent some time out on the farm on saturday. Here are some pictures she took.
Here are some grapes that I spend a lot of time with

A nice pic of some blooming Hyacinth and other water plants growing in one of the farm ponds.

Here I am looking totally lame by trying not to get sunburnt
while fishing on the farm ponds.

I will try to take some pictures of our 4th of July party and post them later this week.

Internet Video That Isn't a Sin

Thank goodness someone is as totally obsessed with youtube/ifilm/googlevideo etc. as I am. Check out the Sports Guys YouTube Hall of Fame.

Here is a different link to the video from my last post. I guess some people were having some trouble with that one.