Capitalist Brain Blast

Just briefly, I am back at college. I moved into my new dorm with my best friend, Spencer Gilbert, last Friday and so far I haven't been disappointed. Well okay, maybe just a little in one isolated area. My new dorm is really ghetto compared to my last dorm. Everything is half the size. We have one bathroom with showers half the size. As I said on Facebook, they get up to about my nipples so I spend a lot of time hunched over in the shower. Good morning, right?

Other than that though, it really has been a blast.

Spencer is a fantastic roommate. He even comes to the gym with me when he doesn't want to and stays up doing random stuff with me into the night.

It is kind of weird to see my high school friends walking around my college campus. Partially because of summer semester, those parts of my life seem totally separate now. I imagine it is much the same feeling as one would get if they ran into an ex at their anniversary. Not that it's a bad thing though, I love getting to party with them and knowing select people around campus is loads of fun and has helped me meet even more new friends.

My classes are a bit...different from summer semester as well. I'm taking the book of mormon in a class hundreds of students big and Economics in a class that is significantly bigger than my entire graduating class at dear old AF high. I've also got Biology, which is a required, but hated area of learning, as well as two history classes. Combined with Economics, my US History class fills the American heritage requirement, and puts me a step closer to my history major for which I am taking the Historian's craft.

I'm also considering switching majors. a week after I signed on.

Why?

Because I finally had my first capitalist brain blast.

Since I was a kid, I've been trying to figure out that one niche I can fit into to become enormously successful. One need I can fill, one new idea I can have, something I can do better than everyone else.

No joy until a week ago when I found my new dream.

I was actually talking to Spencer about how he could be successful in engineering. I suddenly had the realization that space is the future so an aero-space engineer could do extremely well if he worked hard enough. Then I realized I wasn't thinking big enough and neither was anyone else.

My new dream is to open up space for the world. Not just the occasional shuttle launch into the earth's orbit. I mean other planets, other solar systems. Other places people could find a home.

Sounds pretty crazy huh? Not to mention nerdy...

But if someone could do that, if someone could make it cost effective to go into space, that would be a start. Cars weren't a big deal until people could actually afford them. The same thing goes in this situation. There is barely any benefit at all for the majority of people for NASA to be able to launch satellites that cost hundreds of millions of dollars. You need to drive costs way down to establish a real foothold.

The fact is that if you give people three things, the galaxy opens up. MTC: Motivation, Transportation, and Communication. If you give people a reason to need space, whether it be for corporate access to resources or a second home for the refugees of the world, they will look for ways to achieve their goals. If you find a way to travel at something approaching the speed of light, or even faster, then the motivation becomes real and the industry will skyrocket. From there, we just need a method of instantaneous communication and the galaxy is open.

I actually have ideas on how to achieve all three, but that would be telling wouldn't it?

Because of this goal, I'm considering switching not to science, but to an economic major. It is going to take more than just one man to achieve this dream. Someone needs to lay the ground work for an entire industry dedicated to reaching the stars. Corporations have to be built with a larger perspective than Space X. I can only do those things if I understand business and economics.

Well, I've clearly unleashed my dork side, but at the same time, the idea is too exciting for me to abandon just yet. We'll see what happens this semester before I ditch my history track.

Not really any new art I've encountered. The Walking Dead and the Office just keep getting better, but other than that, we'll have to see what happens this week.

Stay hot.

My Place

The way I see it, there has to be a certain place out there that is perfect for me. A place where I don't have to run around trying to find life, it just comes to me. A place where my chances are high for success and it is difficult to not be happy.

Why can't I find it? I've been all over the world, and I've been to places that ranged from gorgeous to incredible.

But I don't know if any of them are really my home.

Don't get me wrong people, I'm by no stretch of the imagination complaining about where I am now. Unlike most people, I actually like Utah quite a bit. People say the culture is judge mental but so am I. And why care what other people think? If I'm in the Muslim quarter of Jerusalem people don't agree with a lot of what I believe, but I still got on with them just fine. I also love the mountains. To some degree I don't even need access to them, I just like knowing they're there. The are solid, sure, reliable, and they totally make the skyline rock. Cooler even than a New York skyline in my personal opinion. There is something powerful about a mountain that sky scrapers can't match.

But it still isn't my place.

Part of the problem is that I don't know what my place would be like. I'm sure it would involve beautiful architecture, a vibrant culture, and access to a large body of water. I'm sure the people there are helpful and interested. I'm sure that at sunset you can just breathe in pure contentment and at night the city comes alive.

But beyond that...

I've always dreamed of far away places. In the case of Florence, literally. Maybe that is part of the problem.

See, the ideal is always just around the corner, just on the other side of the hill, just out of reach. Same with the places I imagine as my home. They are always perfect utopias, meeting all my needs and satisfying all my desires. And they are never where I am.

I'm starting to think that that is the most important part of my place. What makes it a dream worth having is that I will never really have it. Anything you have, no matter how wonderful, becomes a prison with time. After a while, even Eden wasn't good enough.

The only exceptions to this rule are memories. A sunset on a great day may make you grin, but years later the memory of that sunset and the people you were with will bring a smile to your face and peace to your heart.

So to some degree, life becomes a medium for creating new dreams. In the future, things are muddy. In the present, nothing is perfect. In the past, there are memories, and when a memory becomes a dream, the ideal becomes reality.

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Nothing major to report in the critical artistic area of my life. This week I've re-watched both Bourne and V for Vendetta. I didn't much care for Bourne the second time to be honest, although the action is still great. V is still one of my heroes.

I apologize if my last couple posts have been a bit philosophical for your tastes. Upon reflection, I realized just how dull it would be to read my lists of stuff I had done. If you weren't there it wouldn't mean anything to you, and even though I can unleash some pent up sarcasm in those sort of posts I'm planning on scaling them back to avoid stifling the microscopic audience that I have, an audience that features one real person, a person who thinks that she follows me, but doesn't really, and a website critiques movies, probably jacking some of my input to do so.

In the words of a hero of mine, "Stay thirsty my friends."

Government Conspiracies and Whatnot

I'm currently trying to figure out how this whole mess is going to play out.

Last year I predicted that the defining war of my generation would be between Iran and Israel.

Well its coming. Israel has been playing smart, using car bombs and computer viruses to cripple the Iranian nuclear program. However a couple of factors are pushing the Israelis into a full attack on their larger, scarier neighbor. The Iranians have started to back attacks on Israeli citizens including the bombing of a tour bus full of tourists a month or so ago. They are also getting to a threshold which, if crossed, would make it devilishly tricky for Israel to actually do anything about Iran's nuclear potential. If they are to act, they'll have to do so soon.

What makes this an even messier situation is that to truly eliminate Iran's nuclear potential, Israel doesn't have enough firepower. America does. There is a fair chance of our county becoming actively involved in the conflict if war gets hot and we have a conservative president, aka Mitt Romney.

The problem with America getting involved is that things could quickly get out of hand and escalate what should be a regional conflict into a major war. Why? Because both Russia and China have been standing resolutely behind Iran for years.

And if that wasn't bad enough, they're killing all the Treadstone agents. Great timing Mr. Bourne.

I actually enjoyed the Bourne Legacy. It wasn't one of my favorites, but it wasn't a bad summer movie.

A lot of people I've talked to are upset that Matt Damon isn't bringing Jason Bourne back for this installment. That shouldn't be a spoiler alert, even though this movie has his name on it, it does not star Jason Bourne. He exists as a cause of the movie, and some of his actions have repercussions for the characters; thats it. Don't get to upset though, his name is still used more than anyone else's in the whole movie.

Besides, Aaron Cross actually brings a lot to the table. He has a much less interesting backstory than Bourne did, but he also brings more personality and much more kick-@$$ness. The action in this movie is more visceral, intense, and impressive, especially during the occasional parkour sequences. Cross also has managed to nab the first attractive girl of the series. Overall, I preferred the acting of Jeremy Renner to Matt Damon.

I found myself trying to decide who was cooler of the two. If they fought each other, I think Cross would win. Bourne is a better driver and he's better at working the system, but Cross is at least as good at lying, probably a hair better. Cross is also in top physical condition so he's better at running chases and acrobatics. Overall, they're pretty evenly matched so I can't wait for the two to meet up and rage on the CIA together in films to come.

People will look back on the original Bourne trilogy as superior film, but that hardly means you shouldn't go see it. Go on, grab a popcorn and go.

By the way, I'm liking being home for the break, but I'm not 100% enthusiastic about the yard work that comes with. I really need a job.

The Finals Countdown

Well folks, today marks the middle of the end. The beginning of the end was probably last thursday when I got out of my last summer semester class. Today was the first day of finals.

So far I knocked out two of them. Thank the gods, cause if I hadn't I would be stressing big time right now.

I got an 87% on my New Testament class and a 94% on my Current Social Problems.

Fairly satisfied with those scores. Now I just have Classical Traditions to go.

Also, I'm coming home this weekend. Be excited.

In other news, I'm watching Lord of the Rings with my roommates. Basically the best thing ever. A few notable quotes so far:

"One does not simply walk into Mordor."

"One does not simply plug in a USB the first time."

"One does not simply pause an online game."

"One does not simply hie to Kolob."

"One does not simply be productive on Sunday."

"One does not simply destabilize a Ugandan warlord by liking facebook statuses."

"One does not simply leave the friend zone."

"One does not simply read these quotes in a voice that doesn't belong to Boromir."

"One does not simply watch Lord of the Rings without laughing at the gay parts."

The last one, was of course me. And my roommates disagree. But if you realize that Ian McKellan is an active homosexual, you start to notice it spilling through in his acting. So many good quotes. Also, Frodo and Sam make a better couple than most Hollywood romances. Just saying.

I respect the epicness of it all, but really, those movies are also freaking funny.

Might as well review the movies while I'm at it.

Lord of the Rings is my favorite trilogy of all time. There are better films out there, like Warrior, but this trilogy takes the cake. Actually, it takes the bacon wrapped steak. The christian symbolism is super deep, especially once you go full nerd and study it like me. For example, there was a war in heaven in which Melkor, a son of god, led some of god's other children to rebel and reshape the world. He and the fallen angels were cast out and started a war against the true god. Eventually, Gandalf, also a son of god, is sent to save the world. He falls through fire and water, casts down his enemy and is resurrected in a purified state. Everywhere the christian symbolism and parallelism are incredible.

Some of my favorite characters of any story anywhere are in these stories. Aragorn is an example of what men can be if they live up to their potential. Sam is the most reliable friend anyone could ask, brave not because he has trust in his skills, but because he is willing to do whatever it takes for his friends. And Boromir is one of the most human heroes I've ever heard of. He has the charisma and the skill, but he has a weakness that criples him and nearly causes the destruction of everything he loves. All it takes is one bad move.

Almost everything is perfect. I've seen hours of videos chronicling the filming process and if I could work on any movie it would be this one.

But I have to ask, why doesn't Gandalf do any magic? He's a wizard, right? Thats his thing? So why on earth does he fight by smacking orcs with a painted stick? The most magic he does is to shine a light at the fell beasts. Impressive work, chap. Harry Potter could do that year one, but if thats what floats your boat.

Til next week.

Josh Whitlock