Contest!

That's right folks. Big Tex is putting together a contest for you. All you have to do is answer the trivia quotes that I put up correctly. Each trivia quote you get correct is one point. At the end of the game(Dec) the person with the most points wins an extra special prize courtesy of Big Tex!
So, when does the game start? Its already started. I am gonna make the contest retroactive to Sept 1. There are plenty of trivia quotes to go, so it is still anybody's game! Play early and Play often!

Big Tex Goes to Visit Tykes

So one of the things I need to do for one of my classes is to visit a class of kids from 2-5 and observe how they get along and interact with each other. I was there for about 1hr and 45 minutes and learned a lot. I am not going to tell you the information that I will write my paper on becuase you can easily read that at a later time. Instead I would rather share some interesting observations that I made.

I thought it was very interesting that certain behaviors that the children acted out were very similar to that which I might have seen on a weekend in college. For example at snack time, three boys got together and challenged each other to drink a cup of juice as fast as they could. In fact while one of the boys were drinking the juice the other two boys sat next to him and cheered him on. Such phrases as "drink, drink drink" were clearly audible from my vantage point. I think so. There were also three girls doing the very same activity at the next table. The only difference was that they were racing to see who could drink the juice the fastest. When one girl was unable to drink her juice, the girl who finshed first refered to her as a "loser." However all was forgiven a few minutes later as another round of juice was poured. Now doesn't that remind you of activities that might take place on a weekend on a college campus?

I guess activities we do as an adult can be traced back to childhood afterall...

Wednesday Trivia Quotes!

You people are so lucky I tell you what. Not only do you get a post from Big Tex, but you get trivia quotes as well! How can things get better you ask? You will get 3 trivia quotes from 2 different shows! You will get a simpsons quote and then a quote from another wonderful show. I will not tell you the show but it is one that I enjoy. Ready for the trivia quotes?! Of course you are!

1. "Hey, Homer, I'm worried about the beer supply. After this case, and the other case, there's only one case left. "

2. "Scientists say they're also less attractive physically and while we speak in a well-educated manner, they tend to use low-brow expressions like 'oh yeah?' and 'com'ere a minute.'"

3. speaker 1:"Hey, dad, look! I covered my back with honey and now the ants are taking me home."
speaker 2: "He does the same thing at home with Velveeta and cockroaches. If you turn the light on really fast they slam him right into the fridge."

As always, identify the tv show, speakers, and episode. Allright have at it and enjoy!

The Power of 70

70. It took me 70 minutes to ride the number 70 bus with 70 other people 7 miles to get to my apartment this evening. Ok, well I didnt take the number 70 bus, but you get the point. 70 minutes to go 7 miles. That means that I traveled 1 mile every 10 minutes. At that speed I could have WALKED the distance faster!

Anyway, so as I rode the bus this evening, it came to me that people use their cell phone for ridiculous purposes. For example, there was a girl on the bus in her mid 20's, shoulder length brown hair, wearing jeans and a powder blue tshirt. Anyway, so she was sitting on the seat across from me when she suddenly smiled and pulled out her cell phone. She started calling someone. I didn't think of it at the time as many people use their cell phones on the bus. She starts speaking into the phone, but I cannot really hear what she is saying, so I let my mind wander. About 5 minutes later, I hear her on the phone. Apprently, she had seen a friend of hers walking down the street near the bus. She then called the friend to inform them that she was on the bus. She did not actually get off the bus, she just wanted her friend to know that she had seen them. Yeah, now that sounds like a useful thing to me.

If someone called me to say that they had seen me somewhere, what am I supposed to say to that? Congratulations, you have seen me out in public. I guess that proves to you that I actually don't sit in my aprtment all day. I have no problem if someone calls me and asks if i want to meet up somewhere, but just to call to say I saw you somewhere seems silly to me. It is almost like calling for the sake of calling. But that is just the opinion of Big Tex.

Gloria Revisited

So in one of my classes today we saw a few minutes worth of the famous "Gloria" series. For those of you that are not familair, The "Gloria" series is a documentary of three different pscyhotherapists(Rogers, Perls, and Ellis) spending one session with a woman named Gloria. Gloria was a real person and she agreed to allow her therpay sessions to be taped. Each of the three psychotherapists have their own style and in some ways their styles are drasticlaly different from the other. The interesting thing is that this was made in the 60's, so certain things are outdated.

What is not outdated though, is that this is a wonderful teaching tool. It enables a student to see the type of psychohtherapy in action as done by its creator. Viewing of verbal as well as non verbal expressions is worth doing. What is especially fun to do is to watch the differences between Rogers and Perls as they are very different in their theoretical and orientation styles.
For those of you wh0 have seen it, you can reflect your own thoughts on the documentarty. I think some people who havent seen this documentary would love to hear your opinions, so please comment.
Thanks.

Links, Links, and more Links

One thing that has been missing from this blog has been a links section. I have been wanting to put one up for a while, but Blogger does not make it easy to do at all. In fact in order to put up a links section I had to actually delve into the coding and write aLinks section for the blog! Now, I do have some expierence in writing code, so it only took me a few minutes to read, understand, and implement new coding to manipulate the blog in the way that I want. However most people, I would think, would not know how to do this.

After you read a person's posts, you want to know more about the person. How do you do that? You look at their links. The links a person puts up can tell a lot about a person. Links are a secondary way that you can use to get to know the individual. If you find links that you like, send them to me and if I think they are worth sharing, I will add them to the list. Remember, we're all in this together.

If you are trying to lose weight, why are you eating abig ol bag of chips?

See I really have very little sympathy in certain cases. People say that I am too demanding of people, but I am really not. I do not demand more from anyone that I do of myself.

Now, I was sitting on the bus today, and this big fat woman sits next to me, practically squashing me next to the window. She pulls out her cell phone and yaps to her friend that her new diet is not working. Shde then pulls out a big grab bag of chips and starts eating them. Mind you that eating on the bus is not allowed, but she does this anyway. How does she expect to lose weight eating potato chips?!

See I have actually lost a fair amount of weight myself recently. In boxing terms, I went from a pure Heavyweight to SuperMiddleweight. This is actually a lot of weight, so look it up or ask. This change took place over about 2 years. I did it in a healthy manner and in a controlled way. That's why when I see people complaining that they can't lose weight, i scoff. It can be done if you put your mind to it. If Big Tex did, so can you.

This is the "evil monkey in Chris' closet" that Michele and I have been referring to.  

Overindulgent Parents

I was on the bus yesterday evening when I saw a woman talking on her cell phone. now this wouldn't seem out of the ordinary, but what she did next was. She took her cell phone and gave it to her small child to use. This was a real cell phone and the small child was now talking on it. I would estimate the child's age to be about 2, as she was still sitting in a stroller.

Not only did the child start talking very loudly on the phone, but the child started howling once the phone was taken away from her. The only way the mother was able to make the child behave was to give the cell phone back to the baby. In my opinion there is nothing wrong with iundulging a child, but there is something wrong with overindulgence.

A baby talking on a cell phone?! Wow. now I have seen everything. A baby talking on a cell phone? What is the world coming to? Will I be riding the bus tomorrow and see a baby using a laptop? Perhaps I will see a baby using their PDA?

Here is the thing though. All the parents are doing is making their kids spolied. As the child grows up, they will expect the world to revolve around them, and when that doesn't happen, they will be in for a severe reality check. Buying a child a toy for their birthday or Christmas is fine, but buying a child a toy becuase they want one, is probably not the way to go. But thats just my opinion, and what do I know about kids...

Quick Quotes Revisited

Thanks for playing Simpsons trivia! I would like to congratulate Michele for correctly identfying 2 of the quotes and Carter for correctly identifying one quote. A quarter point is awarded to X-Man for referncing the soup joke. Now for the answers!

"I would like a single plum, floating in perfume, served in a mans hat."
This was correctly identifed by Michele. This is the epsiode when Homer, Barney(replacing Wiggum), Skinner, and Apu form a barbershop quartet. Barney becomes the "John Lennon" character and starts dating a "Yoko Ono" character. It is this character that says the quote.

"I don't have to be careful, I've got a gun"
Carter correctly identfied this quote. This is from the episode where Homer joins the NRA and gets a gun. This is the scene where Homer shows Marge the gun. SHe gets scared and tells Homer to be careful. Homer respons as only Homer can.

"Things aren't as happy as they used to be down here at the unemployment office. Joblessness is no longer just for philosophy majors. Useful people are starting to feel the pinch."
Ok this is a tough one. First of all, the episode is where mr. Burns builds a casino. This is used to revitalize the town's economy that has fallen on hard times. Kent Brockman is the one that utters this quote.


"Mankind has always dreamed of destroying the sun"
Michele also got this one. This is when Monty Burns tried to block out the sun and cause everyone to have to use his electricity at all hours of the day. This is also the infamous Who Shot Mr. Burns I Episode.

I hope you emjoyed the quotes and look for more quotes soon!

Uberexageration/Big Tex sounds off on Politics

I love to see when people get uberexcited to the point of hysterical when it comes to politcs. As a moderate it is fun to see people on both sides of the politcal spectram scream, yell, and make ridiculous promises if their candiates lose.

I have run across plenty of people who proclaimed in 2000, "If Bush wins the Presedency I am moving to canada!" Guess what. None of them moved. Not one. I am not surprised though, becuase usually people do not think through these statements. Typically these are made in the heat of the moment, and bear little to no reselblance of reality. In fact these people get so irritated when theoir candiate lose they are unable to discuss rationally the outcome. And here we are in 2004 claiming the very same thing. But you know what, they wont act on their threat, because they have not actually thought through what it means.

Let me give you an example. I had a friend in 2000 (lets call her F) that claimed if Bush won the election she would move to Canada. Well, Bush won the election, and I of course mentioned it casually to her. She got so irritated with me that she threatened to move to Canada. I mentioned that it was her choice whether or not she wanted to move to Canada, but I could not understand why she was being hysterical. Her candidate lost. Big deal. Maybe her candidate will win in the next election. To say that she got angry with me over this would be a massive understatement. Suffice to say that we have not talked since. I found out years later(as in earlier this year) that she never moved to Canada(big surprise there) and had no plan to do so. I have even been told that she reads this blog.

Politics is an intereting thing. Here in the year 2004 (an election year), I am always amused when 18-24 year olds claim that they are disenfranchised with politics becuase no candidate speaks to them. Well, obviously they wont speak to you BECAUSE you don't vote. If you bothered to vote, the politicans would have to speak to you. It is a simply vicious l cycle that you need to fix. The candidate has no reason to talk to you unless you give them a reason to listen. That reason is your vote. Use it, or shut up.

Your attempt to nominate Howard Dean was admirable but clearly unrealistic. Nobody that far left can win an election these days. You need to be able to appeal to moderate voters and Dean clealry cannot do that. While I am not sure how Kerry will do in November(I believe he has a sizable deficit now), I do know he made the wrong choice for Running Mate.

As much as the Democrats would like to think that Edwards will make headway in the south and cause Bush to lose ground there, that is simply untrue. Edwards is not strong enough in North Carolina to deliver it or any other souther state in the election. Kerry screwed up in his choice, from where I sit. If I was Kerry, I would have gone after someone in a swing state. Perhaps Bob Graham, the very popular former Florida senator. Florida, as a swing state, may decide the election, and with Graham on the ticket, he could tilt that state into the Kerry column. That is just one example of a person Kerry should have gone after.

I, however, will not be making any extreme promises if my candiate does not win. Why? Becuase it is silly to do so. I know that I will not move to Canada if my candiate loses, so why would I say that? I have no interest in moving to canada, I am very happy living here. Whoever wins the presidency will be my president whether I like him or not. If my candidate loses, it is better to simply accecpt it, and move on. In 4 years there will be another chance for my candiate to win. People need to learn that politics while interesting is not the end all or beall of anything. If you want to move to England, Canada, or even (shudder) France, go for it, I honestly do not care. But if you dont vote and then you choose to tell me your opinion, shut up. If you dont have the time to vote, I dont have the time for your opinion.

I am calling you out on this F. I challenge you to respond to my criticism. If anything, you will get a chance to defend yourself in front of Big Tex's loyal readers. I do not expect you to respond(or even vote) so try to surprise me. If you want to be a radical go ahead. If you want to be a leftist, card carrying communist fine. If you think that Kerry is your savior, I dont care. All that I say is try to put these ideas into a cogent argument that is not littered with phrases like "Bush will lead us to the end of civilization" or "Bush is too stupid to be president." He might not be brilliant, but he is a lot smarter then you are. He has done something with his life. What have YOU done?

Grab Bag

I dont really have one main thing I want to say today, so I will just have a few scattered thoughts.

1. I never realized that Grad School has so much reading. While I figured there would be a healthy amount of reading, I guess I wasnt complelty prepared for what was thrown at me. With classes only meeting once per week, you have a lot of time to get the reading done, but sometimes it seems as if the professors just pile it on you. Example: one class had me reading about 400 pages this past week. Yeah. Looks like I need to work on my skimming skills.

2. I hate cleaning. That is one thing which I have had to adjust to which has been somewhat hard. After 4 years of living like a slob in college, I have made a big effort to keep my aprtment clean. I am having to vacum, clean the sinks, the top of the stove, clean the bathroom, and the shower. Oh, and I am not even talking about scrubbing the pot I use to cook dinner or the plates i use to eat the dinner. I really wish I had a dishwasher, but oh well, I must manage.

3. The second week of class is now over at this point and I have learned so much. It is hard to believe that I have only been in school two weeks, but I have learned so much new material. If I have learned this much in just two weeks, I cannot wait to see how much I will know in a month... a semester... a year.

4. I am slowly getting to know Chicago. As I talk to people, I am mentally creating maps of where I am and where the object we are referring to is located. There is a lot to do in the evenings in Chicago, and at some point I will go explore it. Until I get the reading and studying down there will be no late night exploring for me.

Thats it. Kind of rambling? Maybe? Kind of entertaing? of course. But what else would you expect from Big Tex...

Where did you go Pablo Picasso?

Ok Art lovers. I need help. I need to write a paper on a piece of art showing a type of pscyhopathology and another showing wellness/strength/resiliance. Both paintings need to be by the same artist. What do you think of these two:

http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/munch/munch.scream2.jpg

http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/munch/munch.dance-life.jpg

If you can think of a better example, please advise. Thanks.

Lies, Liars, and the Liars That Tell them

As you may have noticed, I tend to stay away from politics on this site. While I have no problem posting a political opinio0n or two, I do not make this a purly poltical blog. That is becuase there are plenty of people who do that already. You come here to see things that are going on in my life and things that I wish to share about my expierences. There is no other place in the world where you can hear the opinions of Big Tex!

Now I am sure you have seen some of the blogs out there that spew leftist communistic overtones. I question why the person would have started a blog like that in the first place. Are you trying to convice me of your political views? If so, you are not doing a good job. And the extreme rightist websites do much of the same thing, except from the opposite point of view. If you are trying to get me to vote democratic by referring to Bush as an idiot, you are not helping your cause. I don't respond to personal attacks on a person's character (or lack thereof). Whatever happened to good old fashioned intelligent conversation?

Example: Using the idea that Bush has been strongly of in favor of going to Iraq since the idea first emerged is a fact. Saying that Kerry has changed his mind on the issue numerous times is also a fact. Whether you agree with going to war or not is a seperate issue, but it is a fact that Bush has been consistent in his desire to be in Iraq.

Example: John Kerry served with distinction in Vietnam while Bush was stateside. Now whetehr or not you agree with the Swift Boat accusations, it is a fact that Kerry served in Vietnam, while Bush served stateside.

So there you have it. SHUT UP ALREADY EXTREMEISTS! You are the Liars and the lies that you fabricate pollute the internet. I don't care about your opinion and neither do most sane people. So sit in your little chair waving your communist flag, proclaiming the fall of the proletariate. Guess what Karl and Vlad, the cold war is over and YOU lost. Get over it.

Quick Quotes Revisited

Ok Simpson fans place the follwong quotes. Please tell me who said it, the context, and in what episode they said it. Enjoy!

"I would like a single plum, floating in perfume, served in a mans hat."

"I don't have to be careful, I've got a gun"

"Things aren't as happy as they used to be down here at the unemployment office. Joblessness is no longer just for philosophy majors. Useful people are starting to feel the pinch."

"Mankind has always dreamed of destroying the sun"

Ok folks go crazy and remember to answer in the comments section.

Should You Buy a Hybrid Car?

I was reading the newspaper, and it mentioned that there is a 6 month waiting period to purchase most hybrid vehicles. I thought this was interesting, so I thought about why a person would purchase a hybrid vehicle. The obvious answer of fuel economy comes to mind, but how much money is actually saved?

One example of a hybrid is the Toyota Prius. This car does not have a sole gasoline version, so for the purpose of comparison, I will use the Toyota Corolla.

The price difference is about $2500 more for the Prius than the Corolla As far as miles per gallon are concerned, the Prius has been tested at 40 miles per gallon and the corolla at 34 miles per gallon. The average American drives approximatly 6000 miles per year. That transaltes to about 150 gallons of gas per year for the Prius and 171 gallons of gas per year for the Corolla. If gas costs approximatly $1.85 per gallon, then if a person had a Prius, they would save $38.70 for the year. If you consisentally saved $38.70 per year it would take 64.5 years to recover the extra $2500 you paid initally. In fact if you dont pay for the car outright(as most people are not able) you will pay a lot more in interest rates. SInce the base value of the Prius is higher than the base of the Corolla, clealry the amount of money paid in interest will also be higher.

Therefore in my opinion, a person should not purchase a hybrid car in order to save money, becuase you won't. Clearly you do not save enough money on gas to eliminate the higher inital price tag of the hybrid.

So, should you buy a hybrid? I cannot make that decision for you. You might have other reasons for buying a hybrid that have nothing to do with fuel economy. However, from the stand point of fuel economy the answer would seem to be no.

One week

It has now been a week since I began moving into my aprtment. Last saturday, I started carrying boxes into the studio and even slept on its hard wood floors. It has been a very fast paced week and I am amazed it went by so fast. It really does not feel that a week has gone by and I am surprised that it has.

I have been on the LakeShore bus several times and have the route down cold. I am also a semi expert on my walk from my bus stop to the school. I am getting to know the shops and stores near the school and have found a very convient Kinkos where I can photocopy all the articles I will need to read. And trust me, there are ALOT of articles that I will need to read!

I have also started exploring my area as well. I have been to the grocery store, been to my local hardware store, and passed by a gym. I have walked by restauraunts, cafes, and small mom & pop type stores. I have had a chance to visit Wrigley Field as well, so it has been a good week. As the weeks go by, I am sure I will go to more games and get a better sense for this area that which I live.

In short, I have started to get to know my area in the first week that I have been here and I am sure more adventures await...

Lets Get Started

Ok folks, as promised I will now talk to you for a few minutes today. Where shall I start? How about with my apartment? It is a simple studio(living room,bedroom, and dining room in one room with seperate kitchen and bathroom.) You can think of it in many ways as a dorm room with a kitchen and a bathroom. The kitchen is sectioned off, so it is not part of the main room, and the bathroom is in a seperate room.

I am living in an interesting section of town. I live in the "Lake View" Area which is loctaed next to Lake Michigan. I do not have a view of Lake Michigan from my apartment, but i can get to Lake michigan view a short 3-4 minute walk down my street. On the other side of my street is a large major street which has a lot of activity. Coffee Shops, pubs, restauruants, grocery stores, and the like populate this area. There tend to be a lot of people my age around here and that is always nice.

I take the Lake Shore Bus route to school. It is a beautiful view with the Lake Michigan on one side, Lincoln Park on the other, and downtown in front. However, if I was to walk about 15 minutes from my apartment, I would get to a red line train which runs 24/7. Also conviently located at the Red line train is Wrigley Field! I can actually walk to the ball park if I wanted to see a cubs game! In fact I already have! Wrigley is a classicly designed park which doesnt have the amenities of the newer park, but has the history and style of days gone by. I have been to the classic Triad (Fenway,Yankees Stadium, and Wrigley) and think Wrigley is easily the best.

Thats all for now. Tune in tomorrow for more stuff from me: BT

I am here

Alright folks, internet is now up in the apartment. As much as I want to do a big post today, I am feeling kinda of tired, so I wont.
See you tomorrow.

I am here...Kinda

Well I am here on Chicago, but internet is still not up in my apartment, so I am doing this one from school. This will be a fairly short post as I cannot spend a ton of time here, as I am supposed to be using this computer to research journal articles and not write in my blog!

I want to publically congratualte St. Kellen for correctlly identfying one of the two quotes. To remind everyone of the quotes:

I cant drive 55 becuase it only goes 38!(This is Comic Book Guy in reference to his car. He is referring to the song, I can't drive 55)

I dance, I dance, I dance, around a Mexican hat, I dance, I dance, I dance, and that is the end of that. Or is it? I guess I'll keep singing, my cell phone appears to be ringing...(Kellen correctly identified that this is Homer singing and dancing when his cell phone starts ringing. )

Both quotes are from the episode, "Brake my Wife, Please" and is one of the better episodes they have had in the past few years.