Check the sweet video!
Here's a few still shots of the "hono" which I think is hawaiian for sea turtle.
Mar 28, 2008
Mar 23, 2008
i heart japanese pranks
I have come to love japanese people more and more as I see the ridiculous things they get away with for the sake of comedy. If you haven't seen any of these clips on YouTube... brace yourself, they are HILARIOUS.
I'm of the opinion that were you to try these in the USA... you'd get yourself shot.
The newest one I've found... scare the crap out of someone using large groups of people:
The classic Japanese Spa Trick (my personal favorite):
and the somewhat sadistic Japanese tongue-twister prank:
and the ever classic HUMAN TETRIS!
I'm of the opinion that were you to try these in the USA... you'd get yourself shot.
The newest one I've found... scare the crap out of someone using large groups of people:
The classic Japanese Spa Trick (my personal favorite):
and the somewhat sadistic Japanese tongue-twister prank:
and the ever classic HUMAN TETRIS!
Mar 21, 2008
easter eggs and...
i don't know what it is about a Cyclops beast with blood dripping out of it's mouth or a creepy jack- o -lantern that makes me think of Easter ... but you get what you get with the Sparks family. And without further adieu, here are the beauties.
Cyclops beast.
But wait, from behind he's even funnier because he's mostly bald on top with a sweet scientist comb-over.
Here's the jack-o-lantern beast.
Jodi made a very chic spotted egg.
and this weird thing.
*ALSO*
for those who didn't believe Andy's somewhat graphic story about National Camp School in South Dakota... here are a few of the pictures which serve as evidence of that fateful day.
Chemical burn.
Note the crude harness he fashioned for himself.
"Swirling Vortex", Michelle, that one's just for you.
We of course went swimming when we weren't supposed to while we were there as well.
Cyclops beast.
But wait, from behind he's even funnier because he's mostly bald on top with a sweet scientist comb-over.
Here's the jack-o-lantern beast.
Jodi made a very chic spotted egg.
and this weird thing.
*ALSO*
for those who didn't believe Andy's somewhat graphic story about National Camp School in South Dakota... here are a few of the pictures which serve as evidence of that fateful day.
Chemical burn.
Note the crude harness he fashioned for himself.
"Swirling Vortex", Michelle, that one's just for you.
We of course went swimming when we weren't supposed to while we were there as well.
Mar 18, 2008
mustache march
just follow this link to Mustache March. You won't regret it.
My favorite is the March 31 Judgement Day picture gallery complete with before and after pictures and possible new careers for the mustachioed contestant. the leftist activist (slide #17),
the radio morning show personality (slide #19),
and the wooden decoy carver (slide #3) are my favorites.
props to my awesome brother-in-law who participated in the University of Pacific Mustache March. see pictures here.
My favorite is the March 31 Judgement Day picture gallery complete with before and after pictures and possible new careers for the mustachioed contestant. the leftist activist (slide #17),
the radio morning show personality (slide #19),
and the wooden decoy carver (slide #3) are my favorites.
props to my awesome brother-in-law who participated in the University of Pacific Mustache March. see pictures here.
Mar 16, 2008
Santa Barbara Hippies
In case you didn't know, sleepy Isla Vista has a long history of anti-war sentiment. Back during the Vietnam war the hatred grew so violent that I.V. literally became a tinderbox of anger and vitriol against everything about "The Establishment." If you don't believe me then refer to this old Time's article from when they burnt the Bank of America because they thought the bank was responsible for raising rent prices. A few weeks ago another big anti-war rally was held at UCSB in which several arrests had to be made because the "Peaceful Anti War" crowd got violent in order to get their point across. Not to mention the four thousand+ of dollars of damage they caused to University property in vandalism and graffiti.
Just this Saturday, Jodi and I went downtown to visit the farmer's market. We enjoyed some delicious foccacia bread and mandarines and then went to check out surfboards downtown on state street. To our surprise we saw police cars all over, the street filled with some sort of crazy parade, screaming people, banging drums and general pandemonium. Soon after we parked we found the protest marchers with their predictable signs of "Impeach Bush!" or "Bush lied, people died!" Here's a video we took.
I can't help but think how easy it is to Monday morning quarterback this whole thing. I mean, at the time when we went to war almost everybody agreed it was the thing to do, even Clinton and 85 other nutcase Democrats, and voted for it. My intention isn't to point out exact evidences, we know Iraq had WMD's, even if they only found ones of the biological variety. My point is that it's so easy to sit back and complain. It's easy to protest and follow what is popular. It's easy to say it's not our problem. It's easy to pretend things weren't that bad, that they would've taken care of themselves. It's hard to take a stand and call evil for what it is and then stand up to it. This isn't the first time America has had to do something unpopular by stepping in to do what's right. Lest we forget, the second World War was not exactly popular. People didn't really believe that Hitler would go and do the things he claimed he would in his book. Europe was Europe's problem. It took something as tragic as Pearl Harbor to motivate our country to get involved. This selfish, apathetic attitude of letting bad things happen so long as it stays away from home is repugnant.
Thank goodness for leaders who are willing to sacrifice popularity and perhaps even their careers to do what they really believe is right. Thank God for the heroic soldiers who go and fight for the mission which they were sent on regardless of how they are treated back at home and abroad. My dad was in the military and ultimately died due to injuries sustained during his service and now I have three brothers-in-law who are actively serving their country. Justin Hansen in the Marine Corps, Jeremy Zaugg in the Marine Corps and Army, and Chaplain Brandon Harding in the National Guard and Navy. Our count may be a little off, but between the 3 of them we think they've been deployed overseas at least 7 or 8 times that me and Jodi can recall. As Jeremy gets ready to leave again for Afghanistan for a whole year this time right as he finds out that his wife is pregnant I'm so grateful I don't know how to express it. That he would sacrifice being there for the birth of his child to offer his service for a country which doesn't appreciate it is hard to believe.
Jodi's brother-in-law Brandon, a Chaplain with the Marine Corps, related a particularly ugly incident about deplorable treatment in Oakland by our own country upon returning from active duty. The story has become widely circulated and can be found on many sites, you can read the actual account by going here.
I'm thankful for heroes whose sacrifice makes it possible for the ungrateful hippies to have the free speech and rights they rely on when they get to go bang on a drum and hold up a sign saying "Get OUT of Iraq," I'm thankful for people who are willing to go and do what's right even when it's not popular.
Just this Saturday, Jodi and I went downtown to visit the farmer's market. We enjoyed some delicious foccacia bread and mandarines and then went to check out surfboards downtown on state street. To our surprise we saw police cars all over, the street filled with some sort of crazy parade, screaming people, banging drums and general pandemonium. Soon after we parked we found the protest marchers with their predictable signs of "Impeach Bush!" or "Bush lied, people died!" Here's a video we took.
I can't help but think how easy it is to Monday morning quarterback this whole thing. I mean, at the time when we went to war almost everybody agreed it was the thing to do, even Clinton and 85 other nutcase Democrats, and voted for it. My intention isn't to point out exact evidences, we know Iraq had WMD's, even if they only found ones of the biological variety. My point is that it's so easy to sit back and complain. It's easy to protest and follow what is popular. It's easy to say it's not our problem. It's easy to pretend things weren't that bad, that they would've taken care of themselves. It's hard to take a stand and call evil for what it is and then stand up to it. This isn't the first time America has had to do something unpopular by stepping in to do what's right. Lest we forget, the second World War was not exactly popular. People didn't really believe that Hitler would go and do the things he claimed he would in his book. Europe was Europe's problem. It took something as tragic as Pearl Harbor to motivate our country to get involved. This selfish, apathetic attitude of letting bad things happen so long as it stays away from home is repugnant.
Thank goodness for leaders who are willing to sacrifice popularity and perhaps even their careers to do what they really believe is right. Thank God for the heroic soldiers who go and fight for the mission which they were sent on regardless of how they are treated back at home and abroad. My dad was in the military and ultimately died due to injuries sustained during his service and now I have three brothers-in-law who are actively serving their country. Justin Hansen in the Marine Corps, Jeremy Zaugg in the Marine Corps and Army, and Chaplain Brandon Harding in the National Guard and Navy. Our count may be a little off, but between the 3 of them we think they've been deployed overseas at least 7 or 8 times that me and Jodi can recall. As Jeremy gets ready to leave again for Afghanistan for a whole year this time right as he finds out that his wife is pregnant I'm so grateful I don't know how to express it. That he would sacrifice being there for the birth of his child to offer his service for a country which doesn't appreciate it is hard to believe.
Jodi's brother-in-law Brandon, a Chaplain with the Marine Corps, related a particularly ugly incident about deplorable treatment in Oakland by our own country upon returning from active duty. The story has become widely circulated and can be found on many sites, you can read the actual account by going here.
I'm thankful for heroes whose sacrifice makes it possible for the ungrateful hippies to have the free speech and rights they rely on when they get to go bang on a drum and hold up a sign saying "Get OUT of Iraq," I'm thankful for people who are willing to go and do what's right even when it's not popular.
Mar 15, 2008
mega swells
For those who didn't hear a couple weekends ago (Feb 24th) all of Southern California got absolutely nailed with huge swells. Particularly Santa Barbara got it bad. The buoy registered swells of 16-24 feet with a few up to 28 feet!
That's monsterous! The swell came so suddenly and so high that it actually swept people off the pier downtown at the Santa Barbara wharf and into the ocean! Surfers and bystanders alike had to be rescued by the Coast Guard! A few brave surfers actually surfed the humongous waves but most just stood on watching in terror.
Photos are from Tom Poss, whose website is here and Jon Shafer, whose website is here.
Mar 13, 2008
Santa Barbara surfing, the mission, and night time longboarding
I'm sad to say goodbye to Andy, JD and Dan. They're continuing up to stay with Michelle in San Francisco.
I am happy to announce we did everything under the sun (and stars) practically. We started out going to the Catholic Mission. This thing was originally built in 1786. That's right, you read correctly, this baby is only 10 years younger than our country! It was really cool.
It had cool fountains, towers, courtyards, mausoleums and graveyards...
Can anybody explain those skulls? I find dark, old Catholic churches just a little bit creepy.
that afternoon we went surfing.
The waves were pretty small but we had a great time. The sun was really hot and the water was just barely cold enough that you needed a wet suit. We had a blast surfing. Even though the board was a behemoth 8 or 9 foot foam "Wavestorm."
I'd say the best part was the looks I got in my hot pink and yellow wetsuit.
Since the boys all brought their longboards I grabbed my somewhat neglected skateboard decided to take them on a skating tour of Isla Vista and UCSB on a saturday night.
(more bikes than you've ever seen)
It was a blast. Even though we're only a week before Finals there were of course beer-pong games going on, loud music and wild wild parties all along Del Playa. On the way back we saw countless guys wearing grass skirts made out of cardboard strips from beer boxes and every girl we saw was only wearing police "Caution Tape." Why? Because it's I.V.
anyways, the night before they left we decided to take one last trip to the beach on our boards. When we got there and it was so dark we didn't see anyone around and so we decided to experience the ocean the way man was intended. wink wink. So we did so and screamed like girls every time a wave pushed the water higher as we walked out. After we got out we ran screaming down the beach and on the way back I walked a little further in on the dry sand. I walked past what I had thought was a tree stump right by where we had abandoned our swim trunks and saw that the tree stump was playing guitar... hmmm.. odd.... Boy were we all embarrassed. Andy went over to him and apologized in his best Ulysses Everett Mcgill voice and the guy just laughed. Good times.
I am happy to announce we did everything under the sun (and stars) practically. We started out going to the Catholic Mission. This thing was originally built in 1786. That's right, you read correctly, this baby is only 10 years younger than our country! It was really cool.
It had cool fountains, towers, courtyards, mausoleums and graveyards...
Can anybody explain those skulls? I find dark, old Catholic churches just a little bit creepy.
that afternoon we went surfing.
The waves were pretty small but we had a great time. The sun was really hot and the water was just barely cold enough that you needed a wet suit. We had a blast surfing. Even though the board was a behemoth 8 or 9 foot foam "Wavestorm."
I'd say the best part was the looks I got in my hot pink and yellow wetsuit.
Since the boys all brought their longboards I grabbed my somewhat neglected skateboard decided to take them on a skating tour of Isla Vista and UCSB on a saturday night.
(more bikes than you've ever seen)
It was a blast. Even though we're only a week before Finals there were of course beer-pong games going on, loud music and wild wild parties all along Del Playa. On the way back we saw countless guys wearing grass skirts made out of cardboard strips from beer boxes and every girl we saw was only wearing police "Caution Tape." Why? Because it's I.V.
anyways, the night before they left we decided to take one last trip to the beach on our boards. When we got there and it was so dark we didn't see anyone around and so we decided to experience the ocean the way man was intended. wink wink. So we did so and screamed like girls every time a wave pushed the water higher as we walked out. After we got out we ran screaming down the beach and on the way back I walked a little further in on the dry sand. I walked past what I had thought was a tree stump right by where we had abandoned our swim trunks and saw that the tree stump was playing guitar... hmmm.. odd.... Boy were we all embarrassed. Andy went over to him and apologized in his best Ulysses Everett Mcgill voice and the guy just laughed. Good times.
Mar 11, 2008
the ropeswing finally gets swimmers
And here are the winners!
Lusty Dan was the first to brave the cold water. 10 points for bravery, -5 points for the ridiculous way he entered the water.
Then JD went in... after some serious coaxing and practice runs. 5 points for getting in before andy or myself... but -5 for taking so long.
Andy followed with a not so impressive one armed swing. Andy didn't realize we were rolling yet, but if you listen close you'll hear him make some impressive anatomical claims. So... 10 points for the abnormal anatomy, but -5 for the sloppy old man, one arm drag into the water.
And then me with my waterproof camera. Note the chair underwater. +5 points for hanging onto the camera....
but -5 for flopping on my back to do so. Although it's embarrassing... here it is.
Now. I know we all look like sissies there... so here's JD doing something cool to make up for it. +20 points. An old man on the bridge stopped and started taking pictures. "waaaahaaa! waaaahaa! Oh it's so cold every time!!!"
Lusty Dan was the first to brave the cold water. 10 points for bravery, -5 points for the ridiculous way he entered the water.
Then JD went in... after some serious coaxing and practice runs. 5 points for getting in before andy or myself... but -5 for taking so long.
Andy followed with a not so impressive one armed swing. Andy didn't realize we were rolling yet, but if you listen close you'll hear him make some impressive anatomical claims. So... 10 points for the abnormal anatomy, but -5 for the sloppy old man, one arm drag into the water.
And then me with my waterproof camera. Note the chair underwater. +5 points for hanging onto the camera....
but -5 for flopping on my back to do so. Although it's embarrassing... here it is.
Now. I know we all look like sissies there... so here's JD doing something cool to make up for it. +20 points. An old man on the bridge stopped and started taking pictures. "waaaahaaa! waaaahaa! Oh it's so cold every time!!!"
Mar 9, 2008
Gaviota Hot Springs
Don't be grossed out that it smells like a sulfur beast that ate a rotten egg and passed gas or that it looks and feels like warm milk... Gaviota Hot Springs is a cool little place.
We arrived and found two pools. One which was bubbling sulfury goodness into little foul smelling bubbles and the other which was mysteriously white.
I think I can safely say that we made the right choice in picking the bubbly one. Nobody really got in but me though (Taylor) Although Jodi did get in up to her stomach before complaining how the little bubbles formed on her otherwise invisible leg hairs much to her embarrassment. The Jeppppezen's and a mighty mugnis-son joined us. It was a good time.
There was a giant jungle tree that was growing sideways.
Plus afterward we checked out Refugio Beach, Ellwood Beach and the infamous Butterfly grove, the butterflies are gone by now but it was still a really beautful Eucaliptus forest.
Mar 5, 2008
Why did I do this again?
I try and remind myself what I was thinking when I decided to leave my great job, friends, and neighborhood in Utah and come all the way out to expensive Santa Barbara only to endure horrific pain and suffering in the process of getting my PhD.... here's some funny jokes that keep my going from the PhD comic strip site.
And my personal favorite is this one. Mostly because last night as I graded way too many problem sets where I ended up writing 16/100 on it. All the ME's and ChemE's have to take this Materials 101B course that I TA for along with 5 other poor souls. As I pondered the terrible homeworks and total lack of understanding I said "Wow, you know what's terrifying? These people are going to go on to build things like bridges, buildings, cars, missiles, elevators... you know... things that could, if they fail, end up killing me." The Taco Bell application doesn't sound like a bad suggestion after all.
And my personal favorite is this one. Mostly because last night as I graded way too many problem sets where I ended up writing 16/100 on it. All the ME's and ChemE's have to take this Materials 101B course that I TA for along with 5 other poor souls. As I pondered the terrible homeworks and total lack of understanding I said "Wow, you know what's terrifying? These people are going to go on to build things like bridges, buildings, cars, missiles, elevators... you know... things that could, if they fail, end up killing me." The Taco Bell application doesn't sound like a bad suggestion after all.
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