Halloween

Halloween is kind of a big deal at work. I've been with the company for over 8 years and each year it gets bigger and bigger and this year was no exception. It started with everyone dressing up as usual. Then people would decorate their desk to go along with their costume. To each department coming up with a theme and decorating the department and the people of the department dressing accordingly to the theme. Usually they try to keep the theme a secret for as long as they can. It's been like that for at least the last 3-4 years. This years the Art Department's theme was Alice in Wonderland. For maximum effect we decided to us the Walt Disney version and not the original version by Lewis Carroll's. Kind of a bummer, because the book version was way more creepy and fitting for Halloween. But our goal was to win the Best Decorated Department Award and we wanted to make sure everyone was blown away by our theme. Since everyone has probably seen Alice in Wonderland at some point in their life, we decided to use that as our outline. The idea was as you walked through the department, we would tell the story of Alice in Wonderland. Starting with the Rabbit hole. One of things I wanted to do with the telling of the story was incorporating all the senses. Taste, Touch, Sight, Smell, Hearing.
Sight is easy, The decorations will do that. All of the graphics we printed. All of the stuff we made. The dry ice in tea pots to make it look like steam.
Hearing was the next thing. I took sound clips from the movie and had them playing. As you walked into the rabbit hole you would hear the strange sounds Alice heard as she fell. Next room was the Flower Forest with the Flowers singing Golden Afternoon. And finally the Tea party with Unbirthday music.
Taste was next. Since Alice eats and drinks stuff in the movie and she either grows or shrinks depending on what she is eating or drinking. We had like cruppets made and little cups of Kool-Aid for people to eat and drink. I would have like to had tea to drink at the Tea party but that would probably had not been safe with the dry ice. I would have hated to see someone get burned on the ice.
Touch was a little harder. But I guess all the props could be touched.
Smell all I could come up with was brewing tea and coffee.

Since we were on a limited budget and limited space some of the story had to be cut. So we focused on the high points. Entering the Rabbit Hole. Alice's journey in what I called the Flower forest. Of course the Mad Hatter's Tea Party. The hedge maze ending at the Queen of Heart's Castle.

Here are the photo's, finally, of the Art Department's Alice in Wonderland.
(Keep in mind I had to use the flash, otherwise you would not see much.)

So with out further ado...














With Flash


Without Flash
































































































































...and the fruits of our labor pays off. This year we finally won the Prize of Best Decorated Department.

Clouds

Since it's a rainy day today, I thought I'd post some pictures of Clouds I took.

Enjoy,







The next 3 where taken on November 9th when I was helping the Phoenix Orienteering Club run their event out at Lake Pleasant. It rained later that day, only a little bit, but this was the development of that storm.

Road Trip: Colorado and Nebraska

Thursday Sept. 25th
After sleeping in the Saturn Vue at a rest stop, I got up early Thursday morning and hit the road. Made it into Colorado just at Sunrise.












Here's an old Church at Colorado Springs. It reminds me of the old church I remember from the Mid-West. After some searching I found out it is St. Mary Catholic Cathedral on W. Kiowa St.











A hill I thought was interesting.
















Cool windmill.

















Into Nebraska

















Pretty Watertower at the Town of York. See the corn filed? There will be more of these.















Here's a couple of photo's of Windmill blades. I can only assume they are headed to Iowa. There is a Large Wind Mill Farm near Pomeroy Iowa. Maybe it's headed there.

The photo's doesn't really illustrate just how long they are. They are longer then a normal truck container. At least 1.5x larger, maybe twice as long.





















Up next Iowa

HotB: The Senate (Session Recap)(Part 1)

During the Party
As the party continues on at Baron Vaydalon Yvarai’s Castle Sambol. Lady Trisnoira enters with Baroness Sabina Mwrr’s husband. Lady Trisnoira strides up to Lady Sabina and shows her husband. “Do you want this back?” Lady Trisnoira asks.

“Are you done with him already?”

“I am, but there are others who might want him, others that will not treat him as well as I have. As a courtesy to you, I am giving you the option to reclaim him first.”

“Very well, you may leave him.”

“As you wish,” Lady Trisnoira says as she lets go of (the Husband). “Remember this favor I did for you.” She finishes before leaving.

Somewhere in Castle Greytower
Lady Lura Steele, loyal wife to Chayan Mwrr, moves through the castle without making a sound. She slides into the private chamber of her husband unseen. She moves closure to her husband until he notices her. She sends him a warming smile, “Love, do you trust me?”

The question catches Chayan off guard, but he answers without hesitation. “I do.”

“If I were to ask something of you, would you give it to me without question?”

“Of course.”

Lura smiles grows as she asks, “I need one poison.”

There’s a moment of hesitation, but Chayan gives in to his wife’s request. “It is yours.”

“Thank you my lord.” She says with a slight bow before departing the room.

Meanwhile at Shay-Gaul Castle
Shay-Gaul castle is the residence to Baroness Namantha Steel and Garith Adrente. The sounds of heavy footfalls echo of the walls of the castle as a servant frantically search through the castle’s halls in search of his mistress. Upon finding her, he stops, composes himself before speaking.

“My Lady, The Count is here.”

“He is? Well send him in.”

“Ahhh… yes my lady… he has already let himself in. He’s here to see Lord Garith. My Lady.”

“Well go fetch him.”

“Yes, my lady.” The servant then rushes off in search of Lord Garith.

Garith walks through the halls of Shay-Gaul as he is towel off the sweat he earned from exercising in the yard. The Count is waiting him in the armory as Garith enters.

“Your Excellency good to see you again. What brings you to your estate?”

“Cousin! Good to see you too. Hunting, I was hoping we could go hunting this fine day.”

“Very Well, I will have the staff prepare the horses.”

Elsewhere in the castle
“You wanted to see me my lady?”

“Yes Matrim I do. The Count is visiting us this day.”

“Yes, my lady, I am aware of that.”

“Do you know what he wants?”

Yes, my lady. He is here to go hunting with your Husband.”

“Thank you Matrim.”

“Shall I keep an eye on them, to make sure nothing untoward happens to them?”

“Yes, that would be great.”

“Excellent idea my lady, I shall be off at once.” Matrim Steele, cousin and spymaster to Namantha, departs without making sound.

Later that day
“My lady, the Count and your Husband have returned safely.”

“Oh good. Was there anything else Matrim?”

“Yes my lady. It appears that the Count suspects his wife is plotting against him.”

Back at Castle Sambol
A servant of Castle Sambol nervously seeks out his master, Baron Vaydalon Yvarai. “Sir, there is a visitor at our door.”

“Well send him in.”

“Aye sir, it is just, he is here to see your wife sir.”

“Who is it?”

“It is Baron Barde Steiner, sir.”

“If she is willing to see visitors then send him in.”

“Aye sir.” The servant says before exiting the room.

In Calio Mwrr’s, wife to Vaydalon Yvarai, private chambers
“Oh Lord Barde, so good to see you.” Lady Calio manages to weakly whispers out.

“Yes, my lady. I only wish it was under better circumstances.” There’s a pause as Lady Calio quietly nods in agreement. “Here, I have an ointment I had my apothecary make for you. It will help with your healing.” Barde says as he sets down a jar of a white creamy substance.

“I’m sure it will, thank you, you are too kind.”

“You are welcome. I should leave you to your rest.” Barde says as he shots her a smile before departing.

To the City
Men dressed in black, trimmed in silver, carrying spears shows up at the doors of characters. They carry a letter from the senate that states they are to appear before the senate and the men in black are to assure their safe arrival. The journey to Davfanna Aldrena, the center of Shanri, home of the senate, is easy going. There was little trouble on the way. There are many topics up for debate and discussion this summer. One of them is the case of Count Maurevel Thorne vs. Baron Barde Steiner over the matter of the burnt down Opera House. Lilyth Thorne, aunt to the Count presents her evidence that Barde was working with a fellow bear to burn down the Opera House. Baron Vaydalon Yvarai presents testimony that Baron Barde doesn’t use sorcery. Baron Chayan Mwrr testified earlier that sorcery was used.

Then Lady No stands up. “I know who did it, and I have proof.”

There’s a murmuring of speculative chatter that spreads around the senate. Once order is re-established, Lady No continues. “Baron Throsh has secret chamber in his castle. In that chamber is a cloak. With a prick of the finger, anyone wearing the cloak can be made to look like anyone else. When you see the cloak and the wounds to Throsh, you will know the truth that Baron Throsh and Baron Barde were working together.”

The senate rules to place the case on hold until the evidence is presented and sends out the Vashna, the guards and investigators of the senate to Baron Throsh’s castle to retrieve the cloak and Baron Throsh.

When the Vashna returns, they present the cloak and evidence that Baron Throsh was not present at his castle. The staff was also present as evidence. They testified that their lord was angry about some news he received and departed in a hurry. He did say where he was going or when he would be back. (Lady No actually has Throsh chained up in her castle.) After all the evidence and testimony was presented and the debate concluded, the senate voted and found Barde and Throsh guilty of using sorcery in the destruction of someone else property. The jury gives them the punishment of having to wear the black for a year and a day and forfeiture of their lands.

Things true about Throsh’s lands.

• They are on a peninsula
• They are blocked in by Vaydalon’s lands

Things true about Barde’s Lands

• Way up north
• Poorly defended
• Loyalty of one
• Rank 1 personal guard

Narrator’s Notes: We lost Baron Throsh this week. The player decided that the game did not fit his style of role-playing and bowed out of the game. It was a shame really, I liked his character and had fun things planned for him. Since Throsh is not longer a PC and now a NPC, he got thrown under the bus in this session. Sorry Throsh. But starting a romance with Lady No is probably the last thing anyone does, and you were no exception.

This is where it ends. With blood and pain and revenge.
But it began with love.
This is how everything begins and this is how everything ends.
~The Great and Terrible Life of Shara Yvarai

Summer Glau (1 of 3)

I've been wanting to get back into illustrating.
I've also been watching the new Terminator series on Fox, The Sarah Connor Chronicles.
I found this image and used it for my practice.


Here's the pencils I did.

I have two more in various stages of completion.

When I get more time I my explain the steps I took to go from Photo to Illustration.





This is the Finished product.

Fantasy Football: Week 10 & 11 Reflections

Week 10 & Week 11
I can't catch a break. Jones-Drew scored 3 TD's and usually when that happens you have a good week. I had an alright week scoring 46 points. But the team I played in week 10 scored 61. The previous week they scored 33 and this week scored 39. So I caught them on a good week. Just my luck. Maybe week 11 will be better. It was, sort of. My two RB scored 2 TD's each, and I ended up with 53 points. Except the team I played scored 71, DUHHHH!!!!! Looking back at their week 9 and week 10 scores. 40 and 39. Again the team I played has a big week. I've looked at the last 7 years our league has been done on-line. Out of those 7 years, One year, I was 13th (out of 16) most scored against. Twice, most scored against. Twice 3rd most scored against. Twice, somewhere in the middle (8th and 9th). So how did I do in those 7 years. Twice I was at the bottom (14th and 15th). Deserve to lose in those years. Once in the middle, 9th in points scored. Once, Highest point score. (That year I was 8th most scored against.) Last 3, 5th, 6th and 7th. So usually I have alright years, but because of bad scheduling I get screwed. This year is no different. In those 7 years, I made the playoff 4 times, and should have made the playoff one more time. There is good chance that I will not make the playoffs this year again, but I'm hopeful. If I win out and the chips fall the way I need them too, I can get in based on record. I also have a chance to get in on points scored, provided I continue to have good weeks and Cats gets in on record.

47.438 Average points scored for the Week.
47.091 Average points scored for the Season.
45.636 Average points I've scored for the season.
9th Highest Scorer over-all, and I've reclaimed the titled of Highest Scored against.

New found respect for President-Elect Obama

One hand I was glad to see Obama elected. Not that I felt he was the best man for the job, because I don't. (Not that I felt McCain was any better.) But because it was another example that in America you can do whatever it is you want too. Not because you are entitled to it, but because you worked hard at it. Over the years I become disillusioned with both Republicans and Democrats. There are some views I agree with Republicans on. Just as there are some views I agree with Democratic on. Both parties have infringed upon our God given rights. And neither try to undo what the other have done.
Mostly I've become cynical to our democratic process. I hear all the politicians promising great things and then once they get elected they do whatever it is they want to do and forget all the promises they made to get there. I'm sure Barack Obama will be no different, but before I bag on him, I have to to give credit were credit is due. He's a geek. Read the article below and see why.
5 Lessons We Hope Obama Learned from Spider-Man

... and the pursuit of happiness

(Noticed this on John Wick's Live Journal, had to re-post.)


Wow, I don't think I could have said it better myself.

Third Parties

Could Third-Party Candidates Be Spoilers This Time?

... Given the current political environment, third parties really should have had a better year. After all, many of the things Americans find most objectionable about the past eight years, from the first authorization to go to war in Iraq to the $700 billion Wall Street bailout, are by-products of the two-party system. To third parties, bipartisanship looks a lot like collusion. And certainly on at least a few key issues, from immigration reform to support for Israel, the two candidates' positions are not that dissimilar. ...

I won't tell you who I voted for, but I will say I voted for a third party candidate. That paragraph pretty much sums up my feelings.

Q. How do you know if a politician has a bad idea?
A. Both Republicans and Democrats support it.

HotB: Demo at Game Depot

Last Saturday I ran a Houses of the Blooded demo at Game Depot in Tempe. It went really well. I had 4 players that all seemed interested in the game after the demo. Some had read about it and were unsure about spending the money on it. I think they will be more likely to purchase after having played the game and seeing the book.

I got to touch on Sorcery, how wagers work, the Senate, vassals, and general ven culture. To sum up the adventure, I had the players all play barons under Duchess Mira Yvarai, a character from our playtesting. One of the players was wronged by an enemy of Mira. I had the player roll wisdom risks to establish facts about who was wronged and how and what to do about it. The adventure then wrote itself. In the end, Revenge was settled. But all the players owe Count Kether a favor. One player owes Kether his votes in the senate. It wasn't said, but had we had more time the other players would have owed him the same thing.

All in all, I was very pleased with how things ran. I plan on running another one in the future.

Ambition and morality never sleep in the same bed.

Fantasy Football: Week 8 & 9 Reflections

Week 8
Another bad week. Only scored 28 points. None of my Running Backs or Wide Receivers scored a TD. There was no high point other then I then I missed an opportunity to pick up a win. My opponent only scored 34 points. I was a TD and a couple extra yards from winning my game.

46.688 Average points scored for the Week.
47.008 Average points scored for the Season.
43.25 Average points I've scored for the season.

Week 9
After a couple of bad weeks I finally had a good week. I scored 57 points and gained some ground in the points race. With 5 games left, I am 1 game behind in making it on record. The team ahead of me is in my division so I can easily make up that ground. him. I am 59 points behind the team that would get in on points if the playoffs started next week. I still have a chance to get in on points but I can't have weeks like I did in weeks 7 & 8. As always I'm frustrated with my quarterback. He only played half the game, but he managed to run a TD in. But had he stayed in the whole game I could have gotten more points out of him. You can't score on the bench. And for a player I drafted in the 3rd round I need to get more points out of him then what I'm getting.

44.438 Average points scored for the Week.
46.972 Average points scored for the Season.
44.778 Average points I've scored for the season.
11th Highest Scorer over-all, 2nd Highest Scored against.

Lil O'Reilly

WE"LL DO IT LIVE!!!

Reality Jumps the Shark

Tuesday night I was channel surfing, "Weeeeeee", and as I was flipping through the channels I stop on MTV. "Oh Shit, Wave!" CRRRAASSSSHH! And what do my eyes behold, but Paris Hilton and her Reality TV show Paris Hilton's My New BFF. Now I'm not a big fan of "Reality TV" I though Survivor was a cool idea until I watched the first episode and thought, "Well that sucked." Here I thought it was about people, oh I don't know, having to survive in the wilderness. It's not about surviving in the traditional sense. It's about being a lying, sneaky, bastard and being able to get away with it. You don't have to have some silly gimmick like throwing people into the middle of some jungle to play that game. Hell, they could have locked them all in a gymnasium and called it High School for Grown Ups and would have pretty much achieved the same thing. Or just get 7 people to play the game Diplomacy.

Anyway I got off on a rant, sorry. Back to Paris. So her new show is about her search for a new Best Friend and I can't for the life me understand why anyone would want to be her friend. But then I can't stand; Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Hannah Montana or is it Miley Cyrus?, just to name a few. When ever their names pop up in some news story (as if you can call that news) I usually have to ask myself, "and why do I care?" What's with the media thinking I give two flips about these train wrecks of pop culture. I understand why they pop up on Entertainment Tonight or Access Hollywood. But they've even polluted what I thought was respectable media outlets like CNN, ABC, Fox News. Now I have to turn to BBCA World News if I want real news. Normally I'd change the channel when I see something like this. I was so flabbergasted, I was like a deer caught in headlights. I was stunned, paralyzed and forced to watch what flashed before me. Paris Hilton has her own reality show? "You have got to be freakin' kidding me?" Well she does, and it just shows how shallow she really is. She has people who are kissing her ass, while trying to sabotage the other contestants (if you can even call them that), all for the chance to be her friend. I think I'd rather be the BFF to a leper or a rabid ferret with a cocaine addiction. Now I'd like to tell you all I changed the channel and never looked back. But I didn't. I ended up watching Scrubs on WGN but had to switch back now and then to make sure what I saw was real. Ironically the theme for the episode was about who was real and who was fake. After some kind of contest, Paris brought in someone to question all the contests, and then rated them on who was the most real and who was the most fake. Then at the end someone went home. I don't know who I could only stomach a few seconds of it at a time. I think if I had top secret information, someone could get me to talk by just forcing me to watch this show. Just when I think "Reality TV" has jumped the shark, they surprise me with something so stupid, so outrages, I just have to hang my head shame and weep that I'm part of the human species. Can I de-evolve back into an ape or something?

Fantasy Football: Week 7 Reflections

Week 7
Well I had a bad week this week. Bad in team performance, bad in luck. A couple bright spots. My QB throw 2 TD may had through 3 had the Steelers didn't take him out because they were so far ahead. Hines Ward Scored for me, other then that none of my running backs or receivers found the end zone. Defense got me 3 turn overs and 2 sacks. Kicker got me one freakin' point. That's the bad performance. Now the bad luck I played the highest scoring team this week. Go figure, sounds about right since I am the highest scored against team. It could be worse, I could have scored 64 points and lost by 3 like what happened to Greek Gods.

Next week I play the 5-2 Slobberknockers.

46.625 Average points scored for the Week.
47.375 Average points scored for the Season.
45.429 Average points I've scored for the season.
11th Highest Scorer over-all, Highest Scored against.

Rule 1 of Gaming

I'm currently reading the Runaways trade paperback comic. I'm up to Volume 3: The Good Die Young. Towards the end, when the kids discover who was the traitor in their midst, this panel comes up. I laughed so hard I nearly fell off the bed.

Perhaps you have to be a gamer to find the humor in it. I thought is was perfect and completely true. That I had to share.

If you haven't read the series, I highly recommend it. The writing is excellent. It's written by Brian K. Vaughan. If you know anything about comics that should tell you something.

It's about 6 kids who discover that their parents are part of a secret society of villains. They runaway after witnessing a murder of girl as part of an annual ritualistic sacrifice that their parents must make. They also learn that as they reach puberty that they have superhuman powers. They form a rag-tag superhero group that vows to go after their parents and bring them to justice.

Even if your not a comic fan but want a good coming of age story, you'll like it.

A+

Ecstasy of Gold (what I'm listening to right now)

I loved this tune the first time I heard Metallica use it for the opening to one of their concerts. I didn't know what it was at the time, but still I loved it. Years later when Metallica released their S & M album, there it was. Ecstasy of Gold. I was in love again.

Sunday I was watching football, if you can call the Dallas/Arizona game football, but thats for another time. Cut to a commercial break. I leave the room to check on my fantasy team. I come back and what do I hear but the intro of a piano followed by a melancholy violin that leads into a haunting female vocals accompanying by a myriad of other instruments. I'm intrigued at what I'm hearing. I sit and watch the commercial as if I'm watching a movie. The music builds and adds to the suspense to the story the commercial is telling. A story of two kids as they grow up playing football. Ending with a bone crushing tackle. The two kids, now adults, meet on the football field in the NFL. A wonderfully done commercial, dare I say moving. But ever since I heard and then saw the commercial I can't get the song out of my head. I've listen to it repetitively like a morphine addict continually pressing the button to get his next dose. I've listen to the original motion picture score version from the movie The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. I've listen to Metallica's version. I've listen to Philharmonic Orchestra versions. I listen to Yo-Yo Ma's version on the cello. I watched people on Youtube play their versions of it. I can't get enough of this tune and the more I listen to it, the more I crave it.

Damn you Nike.

Or should I be thanking you for reintroducing me to this wonderful piece.

Edit: Here's the commercial.

Fantasy Football: Week 6 Reflections

Week 6
Despite having 4 of normal starters on Bye weeks and starting 2 zeros, I managed to have good week. In fact I won my game 49 to 45. I'll start with the zeros. I started Matt Leinart at Quarterback and D.J. Hackett at Wide Receiver. Leinart is the Arizona Cardinals backup quarterback and didn't get to play. I started him because the Quarterback I had picked up to start for Roethlisberger during his bye week was injured last week and didn't practice this week and was scratch for Sunday's game. So I was hoping that Kurt Warner would get hurt and I might get some points out of Leinart. That didn't happen so, a big Goose egg. Hackett was also hurt last week and didn't play this week. All my other Wide Receivers were on Bye weeks too. Another goose egg. I used my waiver move to pick up a defense. I figured I'd get the most points out of them. They got me 3 points. So who came through for me. My running backs. Maurice Jones-Drew. 2 TD's and almost 150 yards. Frank Gore had another good week. Over 100 yards and a TD. My kicker David Akers had a good week. 4 field goals and 4 extra points. Although it was against my Niners, which was painful to watch. My other 2 receivers, Camarillo and Driver got me a few points for yards.

So I am now 3 and 3 with 8 more games to go. I've scored 285 points for the season.
Next Week I'm up against S & S Express. They are 2 and 4 and have scored 236 points for the season.

45.125 Average points scored for the Week.
47.5 Average points scored for the Season.
47.5 Average points I've scored for the season.
7th Highest Scorer over-all, 2nd Highest Scored against.
39.333 Average points S & S Express scored for the season.

Arizona Ballot Intitive: Proposition 100

This post is in response to a friends post. You can read her post here. As I said in her comments sections of her blog, but I think it bears repeating. I know her to be a Intelligent and well educated person and I respect her opinions. I just happen to disagree with her on this one. That doesn't mean I think she is wrong and I am right. It just means I have a different opinion.

So onto the rebuttal.
Prop. 100 - Protect Our Homes (As pulled from AZ Republic)

Would amend the state Constitution to prohibit the creation of a real-estate transfer tax.

A yes vote would constitutionally bar the state, or any county, city or government entity from collecting a new tax or fee on the sale, purchase or transfer of a home or other property.

A no vote would leave open the possibility of such as tax or fee.

Excerpts from my friends Blog Post. I will be making references to it and don't what it to look like I'm quote mining or taking things out of context.

I am voting no on this amendment - I don't believe this is grounds for a constitutional amendment, and I am agreement with the Arizona Education Association, which states: "It is clear that Arizona is too reliant on taxes that do not produce consistent revenue in tough economic times. The current down turn in the economy has caused the state a $2.2 billion deficit, and Arizona does not have a viable solution. PROP 100 will change the constitution of Arizona to protect real estate corporations and developers. Changing our constitution to protect wealthy special interests will cripple our state's ability to support the needs of a growing state. The Arizona Education Association opposes this initiative because it will have long-term damaging effects on public education. A vote in opposition is a step toward a stronger economy and high-quality services, including great public schools and universities, quality transportation, and health care needed in the 21st century knowledge-based economy, and funded by a sound and equitable system of taxation."

The $2.2 billion deficit is a non issue in this matter. I'm not aware of any tax like this in the works, so if the prop fails to pass that doesn't mean our deficit problem would be fixed. Even if there was title transfer tax, that doesn't make it right. If I make bad financial decisions, I can't go to my boss and force them to pay me more money. That's what the politicians would be trying to do. The deficit problem was caused by the legislators not being able to budget properly. They saw all the revenue coming in with resent real estate boom and budgeted like it was going to continue indefinitely, despite advise that the real estate bubble was going to burst. Instead of preparing for the downward trend they ignored it and got us in our current mess. So instead of being responsible and budget like you or I would have to do, they would want us to fork over more money to bail them out. You and I have to live within our budget, Arizona should have to as well.

Prop. 100 may protect developers and real estate corps. but they are in the minority. Mostly it protects the home owners of Arizona. I don't know the statistics and if anyone can find them, I'd be willing to revise my position, but I'm sure the number of families that owns a single home out numbers all the homes real estate corps and developers own. By taxing the sale or transfer of titles, this hurts families more then the real estate corps. and developers. Also it could drive the value of houses down. Here's how. Say you're looking to buy a $200K house, you find one you like within your price range. You manage to come up with the down payment and financing you need. But there is this transfer tax. Lets say it's only 1% (maybe low, maybe high, I don't know, but it makes working with numbers easy), so now you need to come up with an additional $2,000 for your $200K house. Either you pony up the extra money or you try to get the seller to drop the price of the house by $2,000. $2,000 my not seem like a lot of money when it comes to a house, but it could be a deal breaker and that benefits no one. So either you are forced to pay more then the value of your house. Or the seller has to drop the price of his house. When people look at houses they look at the prices of houses recently sold in the area as a guild before making any offers. If most of the house in the area sold under there value to cover the tax, property values drops.

It's not just a tax on the sale but on the transfer of title. So if you leave a house to your children, your children are taxed. And if they can't pay the tax and are forced to sell it to cover the tax. Then the same tax gets reassessed to the new purchaser. Also any time a family looks to upgrade or downgrade their house, they are taxed on the purchase of the new home and the sell of their old home. The corps. aren't affected much because they will just adjust their prices to cover the taxes.

The Arizona Education Assoc. statement about "long-term damaging effect on public education" is just fallacious. It is just scare tactic, an appeal to your emotions, a tactic that politicians love to use. No where does it say that any title change tax would go towards education, health care, transportation, or other states services that we think to be beneficial. A title change tax could be a blank check for the legislators to spend as they see fit. To be used on special projects that benefit them. Since they mismanaged the budget already, I don't see them managing it any better with more money. I have a friend who retired this year after 35+ years as a juvenile probation officer. She has a nice pension now but while she worked there, she did not get a raise in years, aside from the occasional cost of living adjustment. (Which didn't really adjust to the raise in cost of living.) The department also had more and more budget cuts, and hiring freezes. Even during the real estate boom when Arizona saw an increase in revenue from property taxes. You would think that some of that money would go towards helping troubled kids. Help that might prevent them from becoming career criminals and hopefully transform them into honest, respectable citizens. But getting funding, even federal grants, for these children was difficult to say the least. I don't doubt that Education in Arizona is underfunded, but I don't believe that is why we are ranked last when it comes to education. Funding helps, but money is not the solution. Letting schools do what is they do by getting out of their way would go along way to improving our schools system. How can people you've never met, probably didn't even vote for, know what's best for your children's education then you and your school?

True Blood: A TV Review

True Blood
Sundays
8:30pm
HBO

So I heard about this show from a friend that was all excited about except for the fact that she does not have HBO. Being a fan horror stories, films, thrillers etc. (not necessarily Vampires) I figured I'd give it a try. True Blood stars Anna Paquin, which is the only name I recognize. For those that my not know who she is, she played Rogue in the X-Men Movies. In True Blood she plays Sookie Stackhouse, a waitress at a bar in a small Louisiana town. She also has telepathic abilities, which the show never explains how or why she has them. She can hear peoples thoughts, although she tries to turn it off when around people she's close to. She falls for a vampire that enters the bar she works at one night. She's all excited because it's the towns first vampire. Because she can hear peoples thoughts she over hears some bar patrons planning to steal the vampires blood. Ok, I should probably explain somethings about vampires in True Blood. Vampires openly walk the streets ever since they "came out of the coffin". Scientist have created synthetic blood so vampires don't have to feed off of humans any more. They still like to from time to time, they just don't need to. So there's the whole discrimination, fear element with the humans that don't understand the vampires. Vampire blood also has special drug like effects. So there's a black market has sprung up. They changed the lore around vampires a bit. Things that have killed vampires in other shows or movies don't necessarily work. And other wards that work on other mystical creatures like werewolves also work on vampires. So now that your caught up, these patrons attack the vampire and pin him down with a silver chain. Sookie comes to the aid of the vampire and saves him before they can drain him of his blood. This is were she starts to fall for him. I guess it's the whole forbidden fruit thing because did I mention that Sookie is a pretty reglious person. This sets up an interesting dynamic between the two. Sort of attracted yet repulsed all at the same time.

Acting is ok. Some of the characters aren't very believable, like Sookie's, sleeps with anything that has boobs and a pulse, brother. And the gay fry cook at the bar Sookie works at. After watching three episodes it didn't pull me in enough to keep me watching. It definitely has potential, but the story seemed to be progressing too slowly. It's kind of like the writers aren't sure where they want to go next. In the end Anna Paquin would be the only reason I'd continue to watch.

C-

Road Trip: Arizona and New Mexico

Wednesday Sept. 24th
I pick up my rental car from Budget. It was a new red Saturn Vue and had only 750 miles on it. It had many more after I was finished. Around 1pm I left my house for Iowa. Over 1700 miles. On the first day I traveled over 700 miles, making it to the Colorado New Mexico border before bedding down for a few hours of sleep.

On the Road 5
Originally uploaded by Skald_Saga

About 20 minutes outside of Flagstaff I ran into a bit of traffic. Apparently there was an accident on the freeway and caused traffic to stop. We sat for about 10 minutes before traffic started moving again. This gave me a chance to play around with my camera.

AZ NM Border 2
Originally uploaded by Skald_Saga

Near the New Mexico border I pulled over to take a few more photos. You can see all of my photos at my Flickr page including the photo merge I did from 5 separate photos. Some of the photos were taken while I was driving. They actually came out better then I had expected. Look for the reflection of the camera in some of the photos.

AZ NM Border 1
Originally uploaded by Skald_Saga

AZ NM Border 3
Originally uploaded by Skald_Saga

Photo take of the sign welcoming me to New Mexico.

AZ NM Border 9
Originally uploaded by Skald_Saga