"Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."

A quote by Benjamin Franklin. My idol! A Founding Father,a leading author and printer, satirist, political theorist, politician, scientist, inventor, civic activist, statesman and diplomat. Talk about Jack of All Trades. The man did it all and did it all well. But he also enjoyed himself a beer or 12 every now and again. Franklin tried to live by these 13 virtues.

1. "TEMPERANCE. Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation."
2. "SILENCE. Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation."
3. "ORDER. Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time."
4. "RESOLUTION. Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve."
5. "FRUGALITY. Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing."
6. "INDUSTRY. Lose no time; be always employ'd in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions."
7. "SINCERITY. Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly."
8. "JUSTICE. Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty."
9. "MODERATION. Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve."
10. "CLEANLINESS. Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloaths, or habitation."
11. "TRANQUILLITY. Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable."
12. "CHASTITY. Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation."
13. "HUMILITY. Imitate Jesus and Socrates."

Imitate Jesus and Socrates. The kindness of Jesus, the wisdom of Socrates. However that statement brings another connotation along with it. That your philosophy and beliefs in life should not just be based on one individual, for instance the belief of Abrahamic religions that there is one prophet and you should follow in their footsteps in life. There are billions of people on this planet, you should learn from every single one of them. Your life style will always be shaped by those who influence you the most, but we should make a honest effort to find great influences. Look in to all historical figures, not just Jesus or Muhammad or Buddha. Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Mother Theresa, Galileo, and not surprisingly, Benajmin Franklin has become someone who we should model our lives after, as he claimed Jesus and Socrates to be such individuals. Modern day individuals may be good for inspiration as well, but not quite as much because of the fact that their life as a whole hasn't passed judgment yet. Whatever the case may be, attempt to find many influences with differing and proven methods of approaching life, and imitate some of their traits until they become your traits.

"... as we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours; and this we should do freely and generously."

Franklin never patented any of his inventions, he didn't believe in it. He was a innovator of open source before it was even contemplated. Open source hardware and software are becoming increasingly popular today. Copy written material is becoming less respected by general audiences. The ability for one persons idea to be shared with millions of people instantly is upon us. Intellectual property, inventions, media, are all becoming part of the public domain to the extant that it seems as if no one owns them. While many people are working hard against this happening it is only matter of time. When all of human creation is open source and shared with the masses than there will be no need for money anymore. Everyone will have something to offer to their community and in return their community will take care of them. Open Source Society.

Benjamin Franklin didn't quite put his ideas in the manner and context that I have just presented some of mine. But his words are what inspired me to come to these conclusions. Learn about all you can and participate in many diverse activities, base your code of conduct on many individuals who have proven over the course of time to have lived a moral and just life filled with great successes and achievements, and lastly and most distant from current reality, the best way for society and communities to survive IMO is to create an Open Source Society where everything that is created or offered is available to all. Everyone puts their fare share in to communal living and in return the community cares for them.

"A penny saved is a penny earned."

10 Steps to Simplify Your Life
1) Relationships: Sort through all the relationships you are part of, and weed out the good from the bad. Only in this is there the possibility to gain fresh new outlooks on the world and on other people.

2)Possessions: You are not your possessions, you are not your friends and family, you are not your awards and degrees. You are matter made conscious. You are a physical object with the ability to think!

3) Money
It is an undeniable fact in life that we need some sort of currency in order to survive. Whether that form of currency is money, services, barter, we all need something to offer to others in exchange for something we think we need. Benjamin Franklin said "If you know how to spend less than you get, you have the Philosophers-Stone." which has been interpreted as "If you spend less than you make you will gain wealth." This is an absolute truth, there are very few in the world but one of them is if you give less than you take you will have surplus.
This is why it is so important to limit your spending in life, to evaluate what is really worth your hard earned money or what is just extravagant and what is useless. Many people have bills that take up much of their income. So after that they have very little to put in to recreational activities or objects. So they put themselves in to debt with credit companies, adding yet another bill on to their already overwhelming monthly payments.
Living in a constant state of debt and with many bills will only assure never accumulating any wealth and living to work just to pay back the price of living! We as a society have become so used to this method of life that we don't even question it. First things first eliminate as many bills as possible, reevaluate eating habits and vices such as smoking and drinking. The bills you can't get rid of, attempt to lower as much as possible. Use less electricity and water, or invest in renewable energy. Get VOIP to use at home instead of wasting your cell phone minutes. There are so many ways to lower your monthly bills, and in turn increase your monthly wealth.
With less expenses you have the ability to relax and work less, or work the same amount but have extra money at the end of the week to save or spend on a luxury. Money is important, we need to earn it, we need to spend it, but it should not be the all encompassing reason for our lives. We should not spend our entire life in the constant pursuit of it thinking that it will solve our problems. Lastly we should not waste the money we do have!

VCR Guts

About an hour ago I attempted to hook up a VCR but for some reason only the audio was playing out of it with no video, so I grabbed another one but this one wasn't taking the tapes in, it would spit them back out every time I tried to put one in. Sooo, being the mechanical tinkerer that I am I decided to check out the insides and see what I could do. I've built my own PC, opened up laptops, and even VCR's in the past, normally just to look around never to do any work, so I figured it was worth a shot.
The first one I tried to work on was the one that wouldn't take tapes in. I took it apart piece by piece, I wish I had taken pictures of the process but I was so engulfed in it I didn't even think to do so. After messing around with it for a while I got it to take tapes in but when I tried to play them they were all static-y. So I decided after almost an hour that this one was garbage and tossed it out. I opened up the next one and started fiddling around, and what do you know all I had to do was push in a little piece of metal attached to the RCA out jacks and the video started to work! Eureka! I felt like a VCR mechanic, if those even exist. So good times over all, got to play with the insides of two VCR's and finally got one working, check out the video to see how they work inside if you have never seen it.

Countdown!

Jason Voorhees

Friday the 13th, one of the greatest horror films ever created, and one of the first I ever watched as a kid. Jason quickly became my favorite horror icon. Michael Meyers, Freddy Krueger, Chucky, they're all cool but none of them hold a matchstick to Jason.
On February 13th 2009 a new Friday the 13th film will be released. it will be in the vein of the new Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Halloween. Not exactly a remake, but a re imaging of the entire franchise. It will take ideas from the first three or four Friday films and incorporate them all in to one new movie!
News has finally been coming out on the regular about the production, last week it was revealed that Jared Padalecki from Supernatural will headline as the main character, but this week the real news came out, Derek Mears from the Hills Have Eyes will be playing Jason! While Kane Hodder is the all time best Jason, he looks like he could do a pretty good job taking on the role of the iconic horror legend.

United Artist Rubble

Jericho

What happens when 23 US cities are wiped off the map in a strategic nuclear attack on the United States of America? Well if you'd like to know the answer to that Jericho Seasons 1 and 2 would be a compelling and realistic way of finding out. From the very beginning I knew this show was going to be something special. The first season began with a mushroom cloud and ended with a war between neighboring towns. Everything in between was just as exciting plot wise, which was only the back drop for the emotional character development. After the first season CBS canceled the fledgling series, but after mass fan campaigning they decided to bring it back for another chance. The second season just ended this week, revealing that the US has split up, the Mississippi being the border for the Allied States of America and the good old US, not to mention the wild card The Independent Republic of Texas. The 7 episodes revealed much about who attached the US and why and ended with the declaration of a second American Civil War.
Can you believe it?! Can you? This show was incredible, but once again has been canceled. There is a very very slight possibility of it being picked up on Sci Fi, but I wouldn't hold my breath. This show captivated me and about 7 million other people weekly with a version of reality that isn't quite Science Fiction and isn't quite Real Life but something in between. Just like Invasion which was canceled in the 2006 season by ABC, this show will hold a place in my heart for years to come. I will be able to go back and watch it in it's entirety and still feel the same way I felt the first time viewing it. I just wish that I had the chance to see new episode come next Fall, see what happens with the US and the Allied States going to war, but unless another miracle happens I doubt I will be able to see that. R.I.P. Jericho.

Beer!

I aquired myself a variety 12 pack from Troegs Brewery today and so far I am very impressed. The four different styles are Hop Back Amber Ale, Rugged Trail Nut Brown Ale, Dreamweaver Wheat, and a Pale Ale. I've tried all but the Dreamweaver so far (which I am very much so looking forward to) and have loved them all. The Nut Brown Ale was delicious, the Pale Ale went down smoothly and the Hop Back is just hoppy enough to be a dark beer but not hoppy enough to be too dark for my tastes. Very glad I gave Troegs a chance, the diversity and flavor each of the brews have are unique enough to force me to reconsider my top ten beer's of all time. Check them out if you can find them in your local beer distributor.

Telefunken & Greenhouses

Mind Control!

Last night I'm driving home and on the left side of the road I see a biker, it's dark out and they are just barely visible because of the pedal reflectors. I am keeping an eye on this biker and the road at the same time to be safe, make sure that they don't try and cross or something and I swear to you the first thing that pops in my head is "I better watch out for this biker, they might be a SUICIDE BOMBER!" Not it might be a kid, or a deaf person! It was like suicide bomber was implanted in to my head. It sort of sounded like it in my thought's; like it was an audio clip that was recorded over with suicide bomber covering up what was really supposed to be there. Now I can come up with only two conclusions, the media has saturated this country with so much fear of terrorism that my mind subconsciously took this direction on it's own *or* the government is using Camp Hero as a base of operations for subliminal messages being sent throughout the entire population of LI, maybe NY, hell maybe the US! They took what I was going to think and just inserted "suicide bomber" over a word here to instill fear in me! So next time you think something out of character, remember, the government can hear what you think and is most likely controlling what you think as well!

P.S. Obviously this is a joke, but seriously, that was the first thing I thought when I saw the biker! Weird shit.

Bored of Life?

10 Steps to Simplify Your Life
1) Relationships: Sort through all the relationships you are part of, and weed out the good from the bad. Only in this is there the possibility to gain fresh new outlooks on the world and on other people.

2)Possessions
Boredom is one of man's greatest challenges to overcome. Siddhartha Gautama said desire is the cause of all suffering, I say boredom is the cause of all desire. So wouldn't that mean that boredom is the cause of all life’s problems? If we are happy in a given relationship we rarely desire someone new. If we are happy with our car we would never consider desiring a different one. It is when we become bored with our significant others, or bored with our car or home or clothes or whatever, that we start to desire something new.
So if we can relegate boredom to the back of our minds and never get tired of the things we have, than we will never desire more than we need. This is easier said than done, just like all great things in life. We must look at what we have in life, the people we surround ourselves with, the possessions we think we own, the status and prestige we have found ourselves earning. We must detach from all of it. Sure you can own something, or have an award for something, but that is not who you are. Without it, it doesn't make you any less than who you are!
Once we realize that our life’s meaning isn't in what we've accumulated than we can start to live a life less concerned with the desire to gain more. Without that desire and with the knowledge that life is only the present moment and nothing else, than boredom will be no more. That's right boredom creates desire, but desire also created boredom, it is quite a paradox. A vicious circle.
You are not your possessions, you are not your friends and family, you are not your awards and degrees. You are matter made conscious. You are a physical object with the ability to think!! How great is that? No longer are we physical objects bound to be blown by the wind and burned by the sun, we have the ability to make our own decisions! We can move our mass wherever we care to. Yet instead of taking this life as the glorious reward that it is in itself, we get bored with it. We desire change, recognition, power, and money. Stop letting boredom and desire be your motivating factors in life, and you will live much more peacefully in the present moment.

Cement Tree!

Just goes to show how well trees can adapt to their surroundings

The Grange

Urban Explorers: Telefunken

Rainy Day Pics

Yes We Can

This primary season has been an exciting, but depressing one at the same time. Barack Obama promising the change so many Americans desperately need. Hillary Clinton posing the possibility of being the first woman president in the history of our nation. John McCain offering us a glimpse in to how a real American Hero would attempt to lead our country. Not to mention Mike Huckabees unforgettable bass solo and Chuck Norris sponsorship, and Bill Richardsons unlikely but compelling search to be our first Hispanic president.
Man politics are looking like the next great American pastime, who would have guessed it?! People are showing interest, they're paying attention, showing support, and sharing their ideas about candidates. This is before a Democratic candidate has been chosen! That however is our main problem at the moment. The Democratic Party is slowly but surely splitting apart at the seems. Baracks supporters are so passionate about him while Hillary’s feel the same way about her that it will be hard for them to make amends when one of them eventually gets the candidacy.
At least that is what mainstream media likes to make us think. I truly believe that when all is said and done whoever the candidate is will rally the troops (not literally of course) and show the real reason Democrats are in this race. To take the White House back, not bicker! To take our country back, not condemn. To lead us in to a future that is filled with hope and possibility, not fear and war. While I am supporting Barack Obama for President, if by some outlandish chance Hillary takes the candidacy I am not going to let that skew my view on the realities facing us.
A Democrat needs to take office come January 2009. While I like alot of what John McCain has to say and who he is, I also disagree with him on alot. However that is not why I think a Democrat should take office, the reason why is plain and simple, we need dramatic change in Washington, and it is obvious Barack represents that. At the same time though while alot of Hillary nay sayers point out her ties to Washington and old politics as negatives, I do truly believe she has our best interest as a nation in mind more so than any Republican whose mind is always on the special interests and war.
A Democrat must be elected president this year, if not there is a very good chance this country will be unrecognizable in 8 years. With the dramatic decline in civil liberties and Constitutional Rights the Bush Administration has implemented it is only a matter of time before a future President truly becomes a Dictator. So instead of letting the Democratic party split itself in two, let's remember who the real enemy is, The Republicans!

Update: April 9th 9:03 AM
I just got over a very passionate debate over who should be president and have decided it is Obama or nothing. I am not voting for Clinton if she is the Democratic candidate, mostly because of her exaggerative, lying practices over the past two weeks and her politics of fear and negativity. She may be able to enact change and positive circumstances in the country, but that means nothing if she gets the presidency based on lies and deceitfulness. Obama or nothing!

Abandon Your Friends

10 Steps to Simplify Your Life

1)Relationships
No matter what you do there is almost no way to rid yourself from the society in which you claim to be no part of, yet actively progress, and disagree with wholeheartedly, yet couldn't live without. We all at one point or another start to think to ourselves "Wow am I really part of this American Idol worshiping, Britney Spears following, over worked under paid, mis-educated, down trotten Society we like to call America?" Especially in teen years when rebellion from society just creates sub societies, or niches and cliques or whatever else they can be termed. So instead of dying your hair purple or getting a tattoo to feel like you're being a rebel outcast to society why don't you try understanding that you will never be outside of society, no matter how hard you try.
Instead why don't we learn how to live peacefully in the society we inhabit. My first peace of advice on how to do so is to take a good hard look around your friends, family, co workers, people at the bank, store clerks, everyone near and dear to you. Take some real deep consideration in to the idea that many of these people, *you do not like*. Even in many cases some of your best friends! Sure you like being with them because there is no one else to be with at times, but when it comes down to it some of the people in your life really just bug you to no end. Why is this? If you ask me it is because we depend to readily on proximity relationships. We like these certain people not because they are best suited towards our interests and likes, but because they are the closest in physical proximity to us.
Now when we realize that we realize that we have friends *everywhere*, you just haven't met them yet. When I moved to PA for 6 months I knew no one but my family. So what did I do, I made friends. After a few months these friends have grown to mean almost as much to me as my friends back home had. Oh and the mail man here was a decent replacement for the one back home too. Everywhere we go there are replacements for the people who make us feel comfortable. The reason most of us stay in one place our entire life or close to it, is because we feel comfortable with the people we have around us and would feel desolate and lonely just getting up and heading to a new town.
That's where finding your true feelings towards your current friends and associates comes in handy. Once you can truly express how you feel towards those who annoy you, you can feel comfortable with your ability to rid your life of non essential people in order to free the space to gain brand new ones that might be much more suitable to your needs and wants. You will realize that maybe this city is not right for you and you need to move to a more conservative town, or that this school isn't right and you should have gone to a trade school. You will not only learn how to supplement individuals with replacements, but entire institutions can be replaced as well.
Once we feel comfortable in our ability to transcend our fears of being alone and our inhibitions in meeting new people, we will feel alot more comfortable with the society around us, because we will know where we stand inside of it, and who we care to share that space with. Sort through all the relationships you are part of, and weed out the good from the bad. Only in this is there the possibility to gain fresh new outlooks on the world and on other people.

Prologue: Preperation

For many years now I have dreamed of owning a 70's Volkswagen Bus. A Westfalia to be exact with a sink, stove, fridge, pop top, and *two* beds! Year after year whatever car I was driving would break down on me (or become the unfortunate victim of an accident) and each time I went to get a "new" vehicle my parents talked me out of getting the Bus I had wanted for so long. Telling me to wait till I had the time, cash and ability to take care of it to the extant they knew I would need to. I took their advice, but eventually when it was time for me to finally get a new, or near new car, I had an embedded love for Volkswagens, having never driven one!
I had hoped for my first foray in to the brand to be a 2006 Rabbit, the first year they brought back that name to the US. However after careful deliberation I went with a 2002 Passat. Oh man was I not disappointed! This car came with luxuries and amenities that newer cars from Toyota and other similar priced cars just didn't offer. Power lock and window, DC jacks in the front back, *and* trunk, and mpg gauge just to name a few, not to mention the awesome flip key.


I drove around in this glorious peace of machinery for about 6 months, fixing computers, making $25 an hour, toting around a $400 touch screen Cell phone (before the iPhone was even announced), I was living the good life. But there was just something nagging at me. I knew I couldn't be happy, with the normal goals people set out for themselves. Money, a nice car, a prestigious job, aren't what bring me happiness in life. Adventure, freedom, and the simple life are what do so in my case. I could sit around trying to make enough money to pay for my life style at the time, while day dreaming about one day having enough extra cash to go out on the road, or I could do something!
First thing first, lose the job. Lose the job and everything else will come toppling down as well whether you want it to or not, I wanted it to though. The moment I wasn't racking in as much cash as I had become accustomed to it made it harder to pay $282 a month for car, $200 for insurance, and $80 for a phone. So next thing to go was my phone, I called Sprint and told them I was moving to Thailand and couldn't use their services anymore, they let me out of my contract without a termination fee. Next up came the car, my brother had a last leg vehicle at the time so I figured he might want to take over the payments. Surely he did, he loved my car just as much as me and everyone else who had ever been in it. So this freed me up from any monthly bills. No phone, no car, no rent (I was still living at home at the time).
So with very little in the way of expenses I went about making the bare minimum, worked for about 2 months for slave labor wages, but enjoying myself doing it. Come July I was ready to start fulfilling the dream. I have used sites such as TheSamba and eBay to look f0r VW's for nearly 7 years at this point so I went about my relentless search for the perfect vehicle for me. I spoke with some local VW experts in the area, one of which owns hundreds of old buses, but they are all rotting out on his property from having been there for so long.


Nothing viable there, so my best bet was going to have to be the internet. After tirelessly searching for hours I found the perfect match. However it was in Maryland about 5 hours away and not running, so I needed someone to tow it for me. I got in touch with a car shipping company who treated me like shit, lying about when it would be picked up on multiple occasions. Finally when I thought I had figured it all out, almost a month after having paid for the Bus, it ended up that the trucker who was going to pick it up had been given the wrong information about what state it was in and couldn't get it anymore. Fed up with the bullshit of trying to get it shipped by a company me and my dad decided to go get it ourselves.
One Saturday night in late July we left Pennsylvania at about 10 PM and drove straight down to Maryland reaching our destination at around 3 in the morning. Every second was worth it though because when I pulled up and saw my bus for the first time I was in love. I opened it up, it stunk of oil, and god only knows what else, but that didn't stop me from popping the top and sleeping in it that first night. For what can almost not even be called sleep because me and my dad were awake 4 hours after we had gotten there. Now the real mission starts.
The Bus wouldn't start so we couldn't drive it on to the trailer we had hitched to my dad's truck. After trying to push it we decided the best bet would be to unhook my dad's truck and push the bus with it up the ramp. I blame it on the lack of sleep, but neither of us foresaw the trailer's front end being up heaved into the air when the weight of the bus started to push down. We put some cinder blocks on the trailer (which did nothing) and with me in the front seat steering the Bus and my dad behind me in his truck, went about getting her up on to the trailer.
Great Success!

After a slow start we finally got back on to the road to bring her home with us. It was a pretty uneventful ride except for at the first gas station we pulled in to. Literally moments before I had just said to my dad "Man I really want to get a VW Thing next, I've never even seen one in person they're so rare" and what happens to pull in right behind us, a Thing! the driver gave us a peace sign as he drove in and came over to talk to us for a while. He showed us his Thing, which had been restored twice over it's life time and owned by this same guy since the 70's. It showed me instantaneously that buying this Bus had just brought me in to a member's only club, one of antique VW owner's.
While being in this club is nice, it would be even nicer if I could turn owning a antique VW in to driving one! From what I had been told the only work she really needed was a new muffler, gaskets, and a carb adjustment. The reason she wouldn't start in Maryland was because the battery was dead, nothing major. Before getting any of the mechanical work done though I wanted to gut the inside and make it my own, and oh boy did I. With my dad's help we pimped my ride, no coffee machine's or chandeliers but I'm not complaining.


Next up was the hard stuff, but even that wasn't hard. I had a muffler put on at my Uncle's shop, I had another guy adjust the carb and I got my hands dirty myself and put in the new gaskets for the carburetor, which was the first time I had really worked on a car engine before. Did pretty well too. I then learned how to change the oil myself, which feels great to do finally, after all these years of paying for oil changes. And with that little work put in it, she ran great! So after having worked and lived with my dad for the past 3 months I headed back to LI. The bus made it perfectly giving me great confidence in my next step. Which was of course a road trip!
Where to though, California is a little too far for a first trip, so I decided to go with Florida. Now all I needed to do was save up some money. After a little over a month back on LI I decided it was time to get back to PA and make some money, while having fun. I went and got myself a job at Shawnee Mountain as a chef. I got to eat for free, drink for free, and best of all snow board for free.
With two months of working and snow boarding under my belt, I had saved up enough for my trip. I headed back to LI for one last hurrah, which so far has been very unhurrahfull, but not to worry, the next few weeks will definitely be eventful enough to make up for that tenfold. Within the next week I am going to be departing on my road trip down the East Coast. From Staten Island to Washington DC, The Smoky Mountains to Miami Beach. I'll be sharing pictures and videos of our Nations greatest national parks, amusement parks, historical landmarks, military installation, haunted houses, roadside attraction, sports stadiums and much much more. Keep coming back for updates on the progression of my trip and my daily tips and pics.