Today is my 30th birthday.

30 years.

I’d like to make this post about a few things that make up who I am. People, places, music, movies, games, and everything else that I’ve encountered has in some way, small or big, touched my life. I won’t get into everything, but I do wish to share a few things I think made the biggest impact on me from each category.

Music

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Huey Lewis and the News

My first music CD given to me by my mom. I really don’t know why she picked it out, but because it was my first I can definitely say that it had a lasting impact on me and the choice of music I would then prefer for a good portion of my life. A few of the songs that still stick around with me still are, “Workin’ For A Living”, “Back In Time”, and “The Power Of Love”.

Ozma 

Introduced to me by my best friend back in college. I seem to never get enough of them, and all their songs will remain “classics” to me for the remainder of my life due to the emotional connection I attached to the songs I attached to them when I was listening to them. Some of the tracks I love listening to are, “Restart”, “In Search Of 1988″, and “Maybe In An Alternate Dimension”.

Michael Franti & Spearhead

There are plenty of artists out there that make great music that have a political and social punch to them. But in my opinion, none do it better than Michael Franti. All of his albums are worth listening to but his songs from “Light Up Ya Lighter”, “Hey World”, and “Everybody Ona Move” are my favorite.

Books

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How It Ends: From You to the Universe

Although we may try to keep it tucked at the back of our minds, most of us are aware of our own mortality. But few among us know what science, with the help of insights yielded from groundbreaking new research, has to say about death on a larger scale. Enter astronomer Chris Impey, who chronicles the death of the whole shebang: individual, species, biosphere, earth, sun, Milky Way, and, finally, the entire universe.

With a healthy dose of humor, How It Ends illuminates everything from the technologies of human life extension and the evolutionary arms race between microbes and men to the inescapable dimming of the sun and the ultimate “big rip,” giving us a rare glimpse into a universe without us.

The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes – And Why

It lurks in the corner of our imagination, almost beyond our ability to see it: the possibility that a tear in the fabric of life could open up without warning, upending a house, a skyscraper, or a civilization.

Today, nine out of ten Americans live in places at significant risk of earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, terrorism, or other disasters. Tomorrow, some of us will have to make split-second choices to save ourselves and our families. How will we react? What will it feel like? Will we be heroes or victims? Will our upbringing, our gender, our personality–anything we’ve ever learned, thought, or dreamed of–ultimately matter?

The Unthinkable escorts us into the bleakest regions of our nightmares, flicks on a flashlight, and takes a steady look around. Then it leads us home, smarter and stronger than we were before

1984

Written in 1948, 1984 was George Orwell’s chilling prophecy about the future. And while 1984 has come and gone, Orwell’s narrative is timelier than ever. 1984 presents a startling and haunting vision of the world, so powerful that it is completely convincing from start to finish. No one can deny the power of this novel, its hold on the imaginations of multiple generations of readers, or the resiliency of its admonitions a legacy that seems only to grow with the passage of time.

Places

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Glendale, CA

Home. My hometown. I’ve grown up here and it’s, perhaps my biased opinion, that it is the best city in all of southern California. It has a little of everything, restaurants, small businesses, malls, department stores, parks, recreational areas, and people of all walks of life. Populated by approximately 200,000 people the city boasts a great police department, its own public transportation line, its own educational district, and a stable economy that has stood the test of time. Our sister cities are Hiroshima, Japan; Rosarito Beach, Mexico; and Kapan, Armenia to name a few.

Santa Monica, CA

Living here for a few years and being so close to the ocean it really made a deep impact on me. I remember the cool breeze of the ocean, the fun arcade at the pier, the easy transportation of its bus system that got me to and from college to the apartment I lived in. This was the first time I tasted what real freedom was, being on my own and trying to make it on my own. For that, it will always remain as my home away from home.

New York City, NY

Visting on more than a few occasions, the sheer idea of being able to “get lost” anytime within a city this large has always attracted me to it. Having visited it a few times, I realized something about it. I’ve always wondered what it would be like to live there, and to try to “make it there”, but there is one thing it does to me even more than lure me in with its bright lights, bustling people, and do-anything anytime freedom, and that is it forces me to appreciate the above two places so much more. This is why NYC is on my list of favorite places.

Quotes

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 ”There is no god, and that’s the simple truth. If every trace of any single religion were wiped out and nothing were passed on, it would never be created exactly that way again. There might be some other nonsense in its place, but not that exact nonsense. If all of science were wiped out, it would still be true and someone would find a way to figure it all out again.” ~ Penn Jillette

“It is the first responsibility of every citizen to question authority.” ~Benjamin Franklin

 ”When we landed on the moon, that was the point where god should have come up and said hello. Because if you invent some creatures, put them on the blue one and they make it to the grey one, you fuckin’ turn up and say well done.” ~Eddie Izzard

Games

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Super Mario Bros. – (wiki)

Who can forget the original? The game that started it all for my love of video games. If you have never played this game, do not talk to me.

While googling earlier I also stumbled across this website that has tons of remakes of the original Super Mario Bros in flash form. Check it out.

Made in 198 5 and developed by Nintendo, published for the Nintendo Entertainment System as a sequel to the 1983 game Mario Bros. In Super Mario Bros., the player controls Mario (and in a two-player game, a second player controls Mario’s brother Luigi) as he travels through the Mushroom Kingdom in order to rescue Princess Toadstool from the antagonist Bowser.

The success of Super Mario Bros. has caused it to be ported to almost every one of Nintendo’s major gaming consoles. In late 2010, as part of the 25th anniversary of the game’s release, Nintendo released special red variants of the Wii and Nintendo DSi XL consoles in differently re-packaged, Mario-themed, and limited edition bundles in all regions.

Earthbound – (wiki)

The story begins when Ness is awakened by a meteorite that has plummeted near his home, whereupon he proceeds to investigate the crash site. After going there, he encounters a roadblock and Pokey, who states that Ness should simply go home. After he goes to bed, he is then woken up by Pokey knocking at his door. He states that his little brother is missing, and he needs Ness’ help to find him. Ness, along with his pet dog, King, accompany Pokey and set out for his younger brother. After searching, they go to where the meteorite landed. After arriving, Ness encounters an alien named Buzz Buzz, who informs Ness that he is from the future where a hostile alien, Giygas, dominates the universe. Buzz Buzz instructs Ness to embark on a journey to defeat Giygas in the present, because he is too powerful in the future. Ness then proceeds to seek out eight “sanctuaries,” to unite his own powers with the Earth’s and gain the strength required to confront Giygas. Buzz Buzz is later killed by Pokey’s mom, who mistakes Buzz Buzz for a dung beetle. Dying, Buzz Buzz gives Ness the Sound Stone, an item that is vital to the completion of his quest.

Ness proceeds on his quest through a variety of locales, including the towns of Onett, Twoson, Threed, andFourside, an icy country called Winters, a beach resort called Summers, an Eastern Asian-esque land called Dalaam, a place called Scaraba (which is based on modern Egypt and includes mulukhiyah and pyramids), and a dream world called Magicant. As he goes on his journey, he encounters a variety of characters, including the other three chosen ones, Paula, a blond girl from Twoson, Jeff, a book-smart boy from Winters, and Poo, a young prince from Dalaam. There are several enemies that Ness encounters in EarthBound, including Giygas’ army of Starmen. The group often runs into a blues band called the Runaway Five, helping them out and being helped out in return. Throughout the game, Ness runs into Pokey, who had joined with Giygas to take over the world. Ness eventually activates all of the “Your Sanctuary” locations, discovered Magicant within himself, and defeats his “Nightmare”, which represented all of the evil hidden away in Ness’ heart, unlocking his true power. Jeff’s father, Doctor Andonuts, creates a device that will allow them to travel to the past to battle against Giygas – however, they are forced to transfer their souls from their bodies into robot bodies, as organic material cannot withstand the warp through time. In the past, they encounter Giygas and Pokey in a giant spider mech, who informs Ness and the others that Giygas has consumed so much evil power, that his mind was completely destroyed. After defeating Pokey, the machine turns off, unleashing Giygas’ power which destroys the machine and creates a chaotic, bizarre dimension, trapping himself and the four children in darkness. Giygas uses psychic attacks that Ness and the others can’t defend against, and speaks in a confused babble. Paula then prays reaching out to a variety of people on Earth, such as their family and friends, who all pray for their safety, and eventually, she reaches out to the player, whose prayers defeat Giygas, due to his weakness to human emotions. Pokey escapes into a time warp, and Ness and his friends manage to have their spirits returned to their bodies, and they all return to their homes (with the exception of Paula, who stays with Ness). After the credits, Picky gives Ness a message from Pokey, daring him to come looking for him.

Chrono Trigger – (wiki)

In AD 1000, Crono and Marle watch Lucca and her father demonstrate her new teleporter at the Millennial Fair. When Marle volunteers to be teleported, her pendant interferes with the device and creates a time portal into which she is drawn. After Crono and Lucca separately recreate the portal and find themselves in AD 600, they find Marle only to see her vanish before their eyes. Lucca realizes that this time period’s kingdom has mistaken Marle for an ancestor of hers who had been kidnapped, thus putting off the recovery effort for her ancestor and creating a grandfather paradox. Crono and Lucca, with the help of Frog, restore history to normal by recovering the kidnapped queen. After returning to the present, Crono is arrested on charges of kidnapping the princess and sentenced to death by the current chancellor of Guardia. Lucca and Marle help Crono to flee, haphazardly using another time portal to escape their pursuers. This portal lands them in AD 2300, where they learn that an advanced civilization has been wiped out by a giant creature known as Lavos that appeared in 1999. The three vow to find a way to prevent the future destruction of their world. After meeting and repairing Robo, Crono and his friends find Gaspar, an old sage at the End of Time, who helps them acquire magical powers and travel through time by way of several pillars of light.

Their party expands to include Ayla and Frog after they visit the prehistoric era to repair Frog’s sword. They return to AD 600 to challenge Magus, believing him to be the source of Lavos; after the battle, a summoning spell causes a time gate that throws Crono and his friends to the past. In prehistory, the group battle the Reptites and witness the origin of Lavos. They learn that Lavos was an alien being that arrived on the planet millions of years in the past, and began to absorb DNA and energy from every living creature before arising and razing the planet’s surface in 1999 so that it could spawn a new generation. In 12,000 BC, Crono and friends find that the Kingdom of Zeal recently discovered Lavos and seeks to drain its power to achieve immortality through the Mammon Machine. However Zeal’s leader, Queen Zeal, banishes them from the realm and seals the time gate they used to travel to the Dark Ages. They return next to AD 2300 to find a time machine called the Wings of Time (or Epoch), which can access any time period without using a time gate. They travel back to Zeal for the Mammon Machine’s activation at the Ocean Palace. Lavos awakens, disturbed by the Mammon Machine, and the prophet reveals himself to be Magus and tries to kill the creature. Crono stands up to Lavos but is vaporized by a powerful blast, after which Lavos destroys Zeal.

Crono’s friends awake in a village and find Magus, who confesses that he used to be prince Janus of Zeal. In his memories, the disaster at the Ocean Palace scattered the Gurus of Zeal across time and sent him to the Middle Ages. Janus took the alias of Magus and gained a cult of followers while plotting to summon and kill Lavos in revenge for the death of his sister, Schala. As Crono’s friends depart, the Ocean Palace rises into the air as the Black Omen. The group turns to Gaspar for help, and he gives them a “Chrono Trigger,” an egg-shaped device that allows the group to replace Crono just before the moment of death with a Dopple Doll. Crono and his friends then gather power by helping people across time with Gaspar’s instructions. Their journeys involve defeating the remnants of the Mystics, stopping Robo’s maniacal AI creator, addressing Frog’s feelings towards Cyrus, locating and charging up the mythical Sun Stone, retrieving the Rainbow Shell, and helping restore a forest destroyed by a desert monster. The group enters the Black Omen and defeats Queen Zeal, then successfully battles Lavos, saving the future of their world.

If Magus joined the party, he departs to search for Schala. Crono’s mother accidentally enters the time gate at the fair before it closes, prompting Crono, Marle, and Lucca to set out in the Epoch to find her while fireworks light up the night sky. Alternatively, if the party used the Epoch to break Lavos’s outer shell, Marle will help her father hang Nadia’s bell at the festival and accidentally get carried away by several balloons. Crono jumps on to help her, but cannot bring them down to earth. Hanging on in each others arms, the pair travel through the cloudy, moonlit sky.

 

Final Fantasy VII – (wiki)

Final Fantasy VII begins with Cloud joining AVALANCHE in a series of raids against the Mako reactors surrounding the city of Midgar. Although the first mission is successful, AVALANCHE is trapped at another reactor during a subsequent raid. The reactor explodes, launching Cloud from the upper levels of Midgar into the slums below. He lands on a flower bed, where he is formally introduced to Aerith. Prompted by the arrival of Shinra’s Turks operatives sent to capture Aerith, Cloud agrees to be Aerith’s bodyguard and defends her from the Turks. After the Shinra discover the location of AVALANCHE’s hideout, they destroy it by demolishing the entirety of Sector 7, killing its population and three members of AVALANCHE. The Turks also capture Aerith, who is revealed to be the last surviving “Cetra”, a race closely attuned with the planet and previously thought to be extinct. President Shinra believes Aerith can lead him to the “Promised Land”, a mythical land of fertility, where he expects to find Mako energy.

The remaining members of AVALANCHE infiltrate Shinra corporate headquarters to rescue Aerith. After freeing her and Red XIII, they escape because most of the personnel in the building, including the president, are killed by Sephiroth, a man presumed to be dead, who stated that he would never allow Shinra to claim the Promised Land. The party also learns that during Sephiroth’s attack on Shinra, the headless body of a creature named “Jenova” disappeared from the building’s research facility. While the president’s son, Rufus Shinra, assumes control of the company, AVALANCHE pursues Sephiroth across the planet, fearing his intentions for the Promised Land may be more destructive than Shinra’s. The party is joined by Cait Sith and Cid, and optionally by Vincent and Yuffie. The full scope of Sephiroth’s plan is eventually revealed: if the world is significantly damaged, the Lifestream will gather in an attempt to heal the wound. Sephiroth intends to use a powerful spell called “Meteor” to cause this injury, and then merge with the planet’s energy, allowing him to be reborn as a god and rule over the planet. Aerith sets off to stop Sephiroth on her own. AVALANCHE follow her to the northern continent, where they enter an ancient Cetra city. After finding Aerith praying to the planet for aid, Sephiroth fatally impales Aerith with his sword.

Influenced by Sephiroth, Cloud becomes suspicious of his memories and insists he is not a real human, but instead a specimen created from Jenova’s genetic material by Professor Hojo. Jenova was an interstellar creature who crash-landed on the planet roughly 2,000 years prior to the game’s events. Jenova had intended to infect all living organisms on the planet with a virus inducing insanity and monstrous transformations; among its victims were most of the Cetra. Attempting to defend itself, the planet created giant monsters called “WEAPON”s. The majority of humans fled rather than fight Jenova; however, a small group of Cetra survivors managed to defeat and confine Jenova. Eventually, the remains of Jenova were unearthed by Professor Gast, a researcher for the Shinra Company. Mistaking the creature for a Cetra, Gast was given authorization to conduct an experiment to artificially produce a Cetra by combining cells from Jenova with the fetus of an unborn child. Sephiroth learned that he was the product of this experiment while on a Shinra mission in Cloud and Tifa’s hometown, Nibelheim. He concluded that he was a Cetra who had been produced solely from Jenova’s genetic material. He burned down Nibelheim, intending to kill all descendants of those he believed had abandoned his ancestors in the defense of the planet. Cloud confronted Sephiroth during this massacre, after which Sephiroth vanished under unknown circumstances and was presumed dead until his reappearance in the Shinra building. When AVALANCHE travels to the Northern Crater to confront Sephiroth, he tells Cloud that he was not in Nibelheim, showing him images of a SOLDIER with dark hair who occupies Cloud’s place in his memories. Tifa is unable to refute Sephiroth’s claims, and Sephiroth casts the Meteor spell, causing the planet to awaken the WEAPONs in response. During the earthquake that follows, Cloud is separated from his companions and falls into the Lifestream.

As the Meteor summoned by Sephiroth slowly approaches the planet, the Shinra Company focuses its efforts on protecting humanity from the WEAPONs, as well as defeating Sephiroth, in the hopes that this will dismiss Meteor itself. Meanwhile, the members of AVALANCHE find Cloud in a catatonic state on a tropical resort where he washed up following the casting of Meteor. The WEAPONs’ destructive activity causes the island to split open, and Cloud and Tifa fall into the Lifestream, where she reconstructs Cloud’s memories and learns the truth about his past. It is revealed that Cloud never succeeded in joining SOLDIER, and that the dark-haired SOLDIER from his memories was actually Aerith’s first love and Cloud’s best friend, Zack Fair. Zack, Tifa, and Cloud had fought Sephiroth during the burning of Nibelheim. Although Tifa and Zack were defeated, Cloud and Sephiroth severely wounded one another. After decapitating Jenova, Sephiroth was thrown into the Lifestream by Cloud, taking the creature’s head with him. Rather than dying, his body and consciousness were crystallized in Mako inside Jenova’s crater.

Cloud and Zack were among the wounded survivors who were apprehended by Shinra as part of a cover-up of Sephiroth’s massacre. Professor Hojo subjected these survivors to an experiment, performing the same enhancements given to SOLDIER members—a procedure which included Mako showers and the injection of Jenova cells. All but Zack entered a comatose state, and nearly five years later, Zack broke free from his confinement and took Cloud with him. However, the alien Jenova cells in Cloud’s body still allowed Sephiroth to modulate his behavior. Moreover, the cells’ ability to duplicate information allowed Cloud’s mind to construct a false persona built around Zack’s behavior. This was prompted by Zack himself, who was killed outside Midgar by Shinra soldiers during the escape; he urged Cloud to live both their lives before passing on. Afterward, Tifa discovered Cloud, who was wearing a SOLDIER 1st Class uniform, and offered him a job with AVALANCHE.

After Cloud awakens, it is revealed that Aerith, in her final moments, was casting the spell “Holy” with the White Materia, the only means of opposing Meteor. Although she succeeded, Sephiroth had since prevented the spell from taking effect. Deciding to protect humanity from the WEAPONs before approaching Sephiroth, Shinra and AVALANCHE destroy the WEAPONs, although nearly all of Shinra’s executives are killed in the process. Among the few survivors are Reeve Tuesti, who is revealed to be the repentant controller of Cait Sith, and Professor Hojo, who is revealed to be Sephiroth’s biological father. He explains that he and his wife were assistants to Professor Gast, and offered up their unborn child as a test subject to research involving Jenova. After finding out that Hojo is trying to help Sephiroth gain mastery over the Lifestream, AVALANCHE kills him. In their final assault against Sephiroth, the group travels through the Northern Crater to the planet’s core. They defeat Sephiroth and free Holy, but the spell is unable to destroy Meteor alone. Selected as Meteor’s target, Midgar is almost completely destroyed. However, the Lifestream rises from the planet to aid Holy in destroying the Meteor. During the epilogue, taking place 500 years after the game’s events, Red XIII runs through a canyon with two cubs at his side. He proceeds up a cliff-face, which reveals a lush land of greenery where Midgar had once been.

 

Back to the Future the Game – (wiki)

The game is set seven months after the film trilogy, May 14, 1986. Marty McFly has not seen his friend Dr.Emmett “Doc” Brown since he left with his family, and as such, the bank has started to sell away his laboratory and possessions. After rescuing Doc’s notebook describing time travel technology from Biff Tannen, Marty is surprised by the appearance of the DeLorean time machine, once thought destroyed, outside the laboratory. A recording left by Doc in the car explains that the machine would return to Marty’s present should the Doc be in trouble. Following clues, Marty locates the Doc stuck in time in 1931, where, if not rescued, he would be killed by Kid Tannen (Biff’s father) for committing arson of Kid’s illegal speakeasy.

Marty uses the DeLorean to travel to Hill Valley of 1931. There he finds Doc in jail, and meets his younger version Emmett, a lanky teenager that wants to follow his dreams of science but forced to work for his father at the courthouse. He not only has a run-in with Kid Tannen, but also encounters his grandfather Artie McFly working as Kid Tannen’s accountant, Trixie, Kid’s moll that Artie has a crush on, and the young Edna Strickland, the sister of Marty’s future school principal and currently a reporter with a strong moral fiber.

Marty’s first attempt to free Doc, requiring Artie to rat on Kid’s gang, seems to go well until Marty finds himself disappearing from time, as Artie would be killed shortly by Kid for turning on him. Doc and Marty travel back a day to amend Marty’s instructions to Artie to have him leave town, assuring Marty’s future. Believing all is well, Doc and Marty return to the present, unaware that Marty’s actions have led to a romance between Emmett and Edna, diverting the young man from his future in science. On arriving in the present, Doc suddenly disappears and the DeLorean crashes outside of the now-walled, totalitarianism-like Hill Valley run under “Citizen Brown”. Marty finds that Edna’s influence directed Emmett’s genius into technology designed to uphold strong moral values. Marty convinces Brown that he had a different calling, and after affecting repairs to the DeLorean using Doc’s notes, return to 1931.

They end up arriving some months after Marty’s previous departure, and Marty is forced to take more significant measures to disrupt the budding relationship, assuring that Emmett will display his flying car technology at the Hill Valley Science Expo. Despite his success, Brown criticizes Marty for not taking any of Edna’s or Brown’s feelings into account, and storms off. Brown and Edna later meet, and together attempt to disrupt Emmett’s demonstration at the Expo but Marty is able to foil it. This also inadvertently leads to Emmett and his father coming to a heartwarming understanding with Emmett’s father fully supporting Emmett’s science career. Brown comes to see the light on Marty’s version of the future, and rejects Edna’s further plotting; she steals the DeLorean and tries to run over Marty, but Doc pushes Marty out of the way, so Doc then dies. Because that Doc Brown was an alternate version, Emmett Brown from the year 1931 is still alive and not wiped from existence. Thanks to a message given to Emmett by Marty to be read in the far future, Doc, restored to his normal self, shortly appears in another DeLorean. However, as they greet each other, the town of Hill Valley disappears around them.

On meeting Marty’s great-grandfather William, they learn Hill Valley was burned down shortly after its founding in 1876. Nearby they discover a crazed elderly Edna, and realize she was responsible for not only the town fire, but the speakeasy arson. Marty and Doc travel to 1876 to prevent her from burning down the town, and then return her to 1931, where she is arrested and placed in jail alongside Kid Tannen; the time-unstable first DeLorean soon disappears. As Marty and Doc prepare to leave in the second DeLorean, Marty discovers that Artie and Trixie have now gotten engaged, and fears his life will change again when they arrive in the present.

Back in 1986, everything seems to be as Marty left it, but subtle changes have occurred due to their interference. Since Doc has reconciled with his father, he has assured that his home will not be sold by the bank out of respect for his father. Edna and Kid Tannen married after meeting in jail, making her Biff’s step-mother. Finally, Doc reveals why he had disappeared for so long: he was assembling a history of the McFly family in Hill Valley as a graduation present for Marty, and shows that Artie had always married Trixie – “Trixie” was just a stage name for Marty’s real grandmother. Suddenly, three separate DeLoreans appear, each with a future version of Marty driving them. They approach Marty and Doc and insist they come to help assure their respective futures occur as they are supposed to. The pair leave the Martys arguing with each other as, their curiosities piqued, they take off in their DeLorean to investigate themselves.

Public Figures

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Here are a few public figures I admire for their work and enhancement of many people’s lives. I took most of this stuff from their Wikipedia pages.

William Sanford ”Bill“ Nye (born November 27, 1955),^[2] popularly known as Bill Nye the Science Guy, is an American science educator, comedian, television host, actor, mechanical engineer, and scientist. He is best known as the host of the Disney/PBS children’s science show Bill Nye the Science Guy (1993–1998) and for his many subsequent appearances in popular media as a science educator.

Michio Kaku (Kaku Michio, born January 24, 1947) is an American theoretical physicist, the Henry Semat Professor of Theoretical Physics in the City College of New York of City University of New York, a co-founder of string field theory,^[1] a futurist, and a “communicator” and “popularizer” of science. He has written several books about physics and related topics; he has made frequent appearances on radio, television, and film; and he writes extensive online blogs and articles. He has written two New York Times best sellers, Physics of the Impossible (2008) and Physics of the Future (2011). He has hosted several TV specials for BBC-TV, the Discovery Channel, and the Science Channel.

Shigeru Miyamoto (Miyamoto Shigeru)(born November 16, 1952) is a Japanese video game designer and producer. Miyamoto was born and raised in Kyoto Prefecture; the natural surroundings of Kyoto inspired much of Miyamoto’s later work.

He is mainly known for his work at the video game production company Nintendo, where he created some of the most successful video game franchises of all time, including Mario, Donkey Kong, The Legend of Zelda,Star Fox, F-Zero, Pikmin, and the Wii series.

He currently manages the Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development branch, which handles many of Nintendo’s top-selling titles. Miyamoto’s games have been seen on every Nintendo video game console, with his earliest work appearing on arcade machines. His games have received critical praise from many reviewers, and he has been the recipient of various awards. He has a wife, Yasuko, and two children.

Stand-Up Comedians

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George Carlin

Rodney Dangerfield

Louis CK

YouTube Videos

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 Neil deGrasse Tyson – “We Stopped Dreaming”

Tim Minchin – “White Wine In The Sun”

 Kathleen Kit Connell – “100 year old keeps sharp playing Nintendo DS”

Cigo Man Band – “Amazing One-Man-Band Street Performer in Croatia”

Websites

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www.reddit.com 

Reddit is a social news website where the registered users submit content, in the form of either a link or a text “self” post. Other users then vote the submission “up” or “down”, which is used to rank the post and determine its position on the site’s pages and front page.

Reddit was originally founded by Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian. It was acquired by Conde Nast in October 2006. In September 2011, Reddit was split from Conde Nast, and now operates as a subsidiary of Conde Nast’s parent company, Advance Publications.

www.23andMe.com

23andMe is a privately held personal genomics and biotechnology company based in Mountain View, CA that provides rapid genetic testing. The company is named for the 23 pairs of chromosomes in a normal human cell. Their personal genome test kit was named “Invention of the Year” by Time magazine in 2008.

www.Google.com

Google has been a tremendous force is helping people use the Internet for what it was intended for. I think this website is pretty self explanatory, and the reasons why I would have it here. The mere fact that Google itself is the word used to “search” for something now speaks volumes. So a tip of the hat to them here, because if not now, when?

Art

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Oleg Shuplyak – “Portrait Shevchenko II” – 2009

 Michael C. McMillen - The Central Meridian (aka “The Garage”), 1981 (link to bio)

Alexandre Orion – Reverse Graffiti – 2007 (YouTube Video here)

François Abenalet – 3D Garden World (link to article in french)

Movies

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Back to the Future series

The Blues Brothers

God Bless America

That should do it for all the categories I wanted to cover and post today. I figure if I die tomorrow at least whoever reads this would be able to piece together some of the stuff that influenced me in my life outside of my family and friends. Also, something I found online while doing this post. I think it was a comment on reddit somewhere, so credit goes to the original author but:

Nobody likes their 30th.

You won’t for about another year or so, its okay, it’s you mourning the stupid sheer exuberance that was your twenties. It’s getting harder to pull in hotties, though nowhere near impossible if you got the skills in that department.

Round about now, even if you hate it, your life -means something-. You’ve lived long enough to have things to lose, a list of failures, accomplishments, even if it only has one entry- that your still alive. You have things to look back on with regret, or pride.

The good news?

You’re entering one of the most powerful stages of your life. For the next ten years you have the most perfect balance of youth and health and wisdom and intelligence you’ll ever have.

You have enough brains to get things done, and enough body to do them. Mourn the old you, celebrate the you that’s made it here, you deserve it.

Now go and do something with the power of maturity that the naivete of youth couldn’t do.

It will sadden you to see college students looking more and more like 10th graders, and it will still wreck your heart the first time some good looking girl calls you “sir”.

When you look in the mirror, you may find you actually -know- the person staring back at you. You don’t have to find yourself anymore. The angst of the teens and the twenties seem trivial, you have real problems now.

Good luck.

 

I love these kinds of conversations with people.