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Perpetual Thursday (PT) is a log of Patrick J. Simmons' thoughts, ideas, opinions, commentary, doings, and so so forth. In short, rambling, ranting, nonsense, and bunk.

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Perpetual Thursday Ramblings, Rantings, Nonsense, and Bunk

"Energy" Drinks
Thursday, March 20, 2008 This can filled with drink
Which I have not yet tasted
Is still so sexy

Recently, whilst out shopping, I came across a couple of energy drinks. Now, generally, I'm not much for energy drinks, for two reasons: a) they don't seem to have any effect on me, and b) they all seem to taste like urine. Albeit, they sometimes taste like flavoured urine, but that's still urine. Regardless of those two reasons, however, these two cans stood out. Why? It wasn't because they sounded particularly tasty. Nor was it because they had eye-catching cans. No, it was because of their names: Aphrodite Love Drink, and Peep One Erotic Drink. I could make a witty comment, like "What do you get when you combine Red Bull with Viagra?" (done); I could talk about how perverted it is to see that stuff next to the root beer where any kid could read it's e-mail spam-like label (done); or I could even write a haiku about it (done). But I won't (because I just did) - instead, I'll take the high road, and post pictures I took of the cans, so you can think for yourself. Read the full post to see them.




I took a few others as well - among them shots of the backs of the cans (ingredients and company information) - and uploaded them to Facebook, so you can check them out at:http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=18360&l=ef3a7&id=658484513

As a closing note, let me answer the real question all this raises: how did they taste? The Aphrodite Love Drink was great. Essentially, it's Black Currant juice - yummy. The Peep One Erotic Drink was, sadly, a typical energy drink - urine flavoured.

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Branch Water
Friday, March 14, 2008 On Monday, Quezon, Mike (who was visiting), and I went to youth group together. Whilst there, a terrible thing happened - I told a story. Now, granted, everyone who knows me long enough hears at least one of my stories at least one time, but up until then, the wonderful folks at Youth Group had been spared. No longer - thanks to Mike saying just the right thing at just the wrong time, I began telling a story that I like to tell everyone I can - to pass it on to others, as it was passed to me. It went over pretty well, and some people wanted me to put the tale into writing so they could memorize it. Now, while technically this is against the rules of oral storytelling, I decided that this one time, I could make an exception. So, without further ado, allow me to present Branch Water - Unabridged. Read the full post for the story, ya' dig?

Branch Water
As Told by Patrick J. Simmons
Once upon a time, a young boy was given an school assignment to write an essay on a topic of his choice. He chose to write his essay on Branch Water. He worked very hard on his essay: researched every detail, wrote in his best handwriting, made no mistakes. So, when the time came to submit his essay to his teacher, he was confident that he would receive high marks on it. He handed his essay to his teacher, who got no further than the title when she snatched a pen, marked the essay with a bright red "F," thrust the essay back at the boy and sent him off to the principals office.

As the boy sat down in the office, the principal asked him, "so, why are you here today?"
"Honestly," responded the boy, "I'm not sure. I turned in an essay, and thought bit was pretty good, but the teacher gave me an F and sent me here."
"Well, that's terrible," said the principal, "what was your essay topic?"
"Branch water."
"Ack! Out! Out! You are hear by expelled! Get out of my office, and out of my school!"

So, the boy went home - expelled and confused. When he got home, his mother was in the kitchen.
"Well, you're home early. Is everything okay?"
"I got expelled, mom."
"What? Why?"
"I don't know. I just turned in my essay and my teacher failed me and sent me to the principal, and then he expelled me as soon as he heard what my topic was."
"Well, that's terrible," said his mother, "what was your topic?"
"Branch water."
"Get out of my house," yelled his mother, "get out now! You are no longer my son! OUT!"

So the boy, disowned, expelled, and confused, went to the home of his Aunt Ruth. He knocked on the door, and she opened:
"Well if it isn't my favourite nephew! What are you doing here?"
"Well Aunt Ruth," said the boy, "I turned in an essay I wrote for school, and when my teacher read it, she failed me and sent me to the principals office, and when I told him my essay topic, he expelled me, so I went home, but when I told my mother my topic, she kicked me out, so I came here."
"Well, that's terrible," said Aunt Ruth, "what was your topic?"
"Branch water."
"GADS! Go! Go away! Now! Begone," yelled Aunt Ruth, slamming the door in his face.

So the boy, shunned, disowned, expelled, and confused, went out to a local park to sleep on a bench. As he began to drift asleep, a hobo came up to him:
"Hey kid, this is my bench. What's a little boy like you doing sleeping on a park bench anyway?"
"Well hobo," said the boy, "I turned in an essay I wrote for school, and when my teacher read it, she failed me and sent me to the principals office, and when I told him my essay topic, he expelled me, so I went home, but when I told my mother my topic, she kicked me out, so I went to my Aunt Ruth, but when I told her my topic, she slammed the door in my face, so I came here."
"Well, that's terrible," said the hobo, "what was your topic?"
"Branch water."
"ARRRGGH," screamed the hobo, running away and getting hit by a car and killed as he ran across the street.

So the boy, partially responsible for the death of a hobo, shunned, disowned, expelled, and confused, went to sleep on the bench. In the morning, he awoke to find a police officer standing over him.
"Well hello there my lad," said the police officer, "what are you doing out here sleeping on this park bench?"
"Well officer," said the boy, "I turned in an essay I wrote for school, and when my teacher read it, she failed me and sent me to the principals office, and when I told him my essay topic, he expelled me, so I went home, but when I told my mother my topic, she kicked me out, so I went to my Aunt Ruth, but when I told her my topic, she slammed the door in my face, then I met a hobo, and when I told him my topic, he ran away and was hit by a car, so I went to sleep here."
"Well, that's terrible," said the police officer, "what was your topic?"
"Branch water."
The police officer gasped and snapped a pair of handcuffs on the boy. "You're under arrest."

The next day, the boy, with an arrest record, partially responsible for the death of a hobo, shunned, disowned, expelled, and confused, went to his court hearing.
"All rise for The Most Honourable High Lord Over-Seer The Long-Shanks," said the bailiff.
Everyone rose.
The Most Honourable High Lord Over-Seer The Long-Shanks entered and was seated.
Everyone sat.
"So my boy," said The Most Honourable High Lord Over-Seer The Long-Shanks, "what brings you to my courtroom?"
"Well your honor," said the boy, "I turned in an essay I wrote for school, and when my teacher read it, she failed me and sent me to the principals office, and when I told him my essay topic, he expelled me, so I went home, but when I told my mother my topic, she kicked me out, so I went to my Aunt Ruth, but when I told her my topic, she slammed the door in my face, then I met a hobo, and when I told him my topic, he ran away and was hit by a car, so I went to sleep on a park bench, and when I woke up, there was a police officer, but when I told him my topic, he arrested me, so here I am."
"Well, that's terrible," said The Most Honourable High Lord Over-Seer The Long-Shanks, "what was your topic?"
"Branch water."
"Thirty years!"
The gavel smashed down, and the boy was taken away to server his thirty year prison sentence.

On his third day in prison, the boy, a convicted felon, with an arrest record, partially responsible for the death of a hobo, shunned, disowned, expelled, and confused, was talking with a fellow inmate.
"So," said the fellow inmate, whose name was Bubba, "what's a kid like you doing prison?"
"Well Bubba," said the boy, "I turned in an essay I wrote for school, and when my teacher read it, she failed me and sent me to the principals office, and when I told him my essay topic, he expelled me, so I went home, but when I told my mother my topic, she kicked me out, so I went to my Aunt Ruth, but when I told her my topic, she slammed the door in my face, then I met a hobo, and when I told him my topic, he ran away and was hit by a car, so I went to sleep on a park bench, and when I woke up, there was a police officer, but when I told him my topic, he arrested me, so I went to a hearing, but when I told the judge my topic, he gave me a thirty year prison sentence, so here I am."
"Well, that's terrible," said Bubba, "what was your topic?"
"Branch water."
Bubba screamed like a little girl, ran over to the nearest guard, grabbed a home-made machete the guard had confiscated, and shanked himself.

Thirty years later, the boy (well, actually, he's a man now, but to keep things simple, we'll keep calling him the boy) was released from prison. Since he was now old enough, had no where else to go, and had seen one to many "Cheers" re-runs, he went out to a bar. As he sat at the bar, the bartender looked at him:
"Wow," he said, "you look awful. What's your story?"
"Well," said the boy "I turned in an essay I wrote for school, and when my teacher read it, she failed me and sent me to the principals office, and when I told him my essay topic, he expelled me, so I went home, but when I told my mother my topic, she kicked me out, so I went to my Aunt Ruth, but when I told her my topic, she slammed the door in my face, then I met a hobo, and when I told him my topic, he ran away and was hit by a car, so I went to sleep on a park bench, and when I woke up, there was a police officer, but when I told him my topic, he arrested me, so I went to a hearing, but when I told the judge my topic, he gave me a thirty year prison sentence, then, in prison, I told an inmate named Bubba about it, and he shanked himself, then I got released, and here I am."
"Well, that's terrible," said the bartender, polishing a glass that didn't really need it, "what was your topic?"
"Branch water."
The bartender dropped the glass. "Oh," he stammered, "oh wow... Listen, here's what you need to do - go to the old lady who lives across the street, tell her I sent you. She'll help you out."

So the boy went across the street to the home of the old woman, and knocked on the door.
"Who are you," asked the old woman, opening the door.
"The bartender sent me."
"Oh, well then it most be important. What's your story?"
Well," said the boy, "I turned in an essay I wrote for school, and when my teacher read it, she failed me and sent me to the principals office, and when I told him my essay topic, he expelled me, so I went home, but when I told my mother my topic, she kicked me out, so I went to my Aunt Ruth, but when I told her my topic, she slammed the door in my face, then I met a hobo, and when I told him my topic, he ran away and was hit by a car, so I went to sleep on a park bench, and when I woke up, there was a police officer, but when I told him my topic, he arrested me, so I went to a hearing, but when I told the judge my topic, he gave me a thirty year prison sentence, then, in prison, I told an inmate named Bubba about it, and he shanked himself, then I got released and went to the bar, and when I told the bartender my story, he sent me here."
Well, that's terrible," said the old woman, "what was your topic?"
"Branch water."
"Sweet honeyed yams," exclaimed the old woman. "Here, take this jar of cookies to the lumberjack who lives out in the woods, and he will help you."

So out into the woods the boy went, cookies in tow. Unfortunately, he didn't have directions, so it took him four days of walking to find the lumberjack's cabin, and he get rather hungry and ate most of the cookies.

In fact, he ate all of the cookies.

But he did arrive at the lumberjack's cabin, and was greeted by the jumberjack.
"Well now, who are you?"
"The old woman sent me. Errr... here," said the boy, handing the lumberjack the empty jar.
"Ate the cookies, huh?"
"Yeah. Sorry..."
That's okay. Everybody does. So," said the jumberjack, "what's your story?"
"Well," said the boy, "I turned in an essay I wrote for school, and when my teacher read it, she failed me and sent me to the principals office, and when I told him my essay topic, he expelled me, so I went home, but when I told my mother my topic, she kicked me out, so I went to my Aunt Ruth, but when I told her my topic, she slammed the door in my face, then I met a hobo, and when I told him my topic, he ran away and was hit by a car, so I went to sleep on a park bench, and when I woke up, there was a police officer, but when I told him my topic, he arrested me, so I went to a hearing, but when I told the judge my topic, he gave me a thirty year prison sentence, then, in prison, I told an inmate named Bubba about it, and he shanked himself, then I got released and went to the bar, and when I told the bartender my story, he sent me to the old woman, who sent me here."
"Well, that's terrible," said the lumberjack, "what was your topic?"
"Branch water."
"By the power of Greyskull," exclaimed the lumberjack, "you need to leave, now!"
"But, where do I go?"
"Here, take this axe to the Old Indian Fort at the other end of the forest, and they will help you. Now, go!"

So the boy went, and, after a week and a half of wandering through the forest, reached the Fort, where he was greeted by Chief Falling Rocks.
"What brings you here, stranger," asked Chief Falling Rocks.
"The lumberjack sent me," said the boy, handing Chief Falling Rocks the axe.
"Ah, I see," said the Chief, accepting the axe, "so then, what's your story?"
"Well," said the boy, "I turned in an essay I wrote for school, and when my teacher read it, she failed me and sent me to the principals office, and when I told him my essay topic, he expelled me, so I went home, but when I told my mother my topic, she kicked me out, so I went to my Aunt Ruth, but when I told her my topic, she slammed the door in my face, then I met a hobo, and when I told him my topic, he ran away and was hit by a car, so I went to sleep on a park bench, and when I woke up, there was a police officer, but when I told him my topic, he arrested me, so I went to a hearing, but when I told the judge my topic, he gave me a thirty year prison sentence, then, in prison, I told an inmate named Bubba about it, and he shanked himself, then I got released and went to the bar, and when I told the bartender my story, he sent me to the old woman, who sent me to the lumberjack, who sent me here."
"Well, that's terrible," said Chief Falling Rocks, "what was your topic?"
"Branch water."
"Bullocks," exclaimed the chief, "go away and never come back!"
"But where do I go?"
"Take this special carved arrowhead back to the old woman, and she'll tell you - now begone!"

So back to the old woman the boy went. Upon arriving at her home, he immediately gave her the arrowhead.
"Well I see they've sent you back to me. Oh dear."
"Well, what do I do," asked the boy.
"Take this quarter," replied the woman, producing a coin, "to my husband in the basement."

Down the stairs the boy went, and found the old woman's husband.
"Who in blue blazes are you?"
"Your wife sent me down here," the boy said, handing him the quarter.
"Oh, wow, this must be important - my wife hasn't given me a penny in over fifty years. So then, what's your story?"
The boy sighed, then began: "Well, I turned in an essay I wrote for school, and when my teacher read it, she failed me and sent me to the principals office, and when I told him my essay topic, he expelled me, so I went home, but when I told my mother my topic, she kicked me out, so I went to my Aunt Ruth, but when I told her my topic, she slammed the door in my face, then I met a hobo, and when I told him my topic, he ran away and was hit by a car, so I went to sleep on a park bench, and when I woke up, there was a police officer, but when I told him my topic, he arrested me, so I went to a hearing, but when I told the judge my topic, he gave me a thirty year prison sentence, then, in prison, I told an inmate named Bubba about it, and he shanked himself, then I got released and went to the bar, and when I told the bartender my story, he sent me to your wife, who sent me to the lumberjack, who sent me to Chief Falling Rocks, who sent me back to your wife, who sent me down here."
"Well, that's terrible," said the husband, "what was your topic?"
"Branch water."
"Oy vey! Get out! Out now! Out of my basement and my house! Never come back!"
"But, but, but," stammered the boy.
"But," replied the husband, "but, go across the street to the bartender, and he will explain everything to you at last. Your journey will be over."

Overjoyed, the boy ran up the stairs, out of the house, and - was hit by a truck.

The moral of this story is: look both ways before crossing the street.

The End

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What I've Been Up To
Monday, October 29, 2007 It's been a while since I've last blogged, and though I've meant to write something for a few weeks now, I just haven't been able to actually sit down and do it. Partly I've been busy, partly I've been lazy, partly I've just had no motivation... A whole lot of things can be blamed, I suppose, but it doesn't really make a difference. The point is, I haven't blogged much. But here I am, blogging again, and it's about time.

Last Thursday I flew back to Indiana to get my Eagle Scout Board of Review. Tons of paperwork, merit badges, rank advancement, and painting led up the that point, and at last it is all finished. The board passed me - I am, for all intensive purposes, and Eagle Scout.

Of course, I still have to have my Court of Honour ceremony to get the actually award, but the work part is finished. I plan to go back to Indiana for the CoH sometime around Easter 2008, if all goes well.

My first semester of courses at the community college is finally over - and I passed both of my classes. I'm not 100% sure what I'm going to take for the second semester yet - possibly a web design/programming course. Dunno' yet. Highschool courses are going alright - Calculus is Hell, and Physics is Purgatory, but I mostly expected that. I'm a little behind in my calc work, but I should be able to catch up by Thanksgiving.

This November - which seems to be creeping up on me rather fast - I'm participating in National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo. The point is to write 50,000 words between November 1st and 30th - which shouldn't be too bad. I think. Anyway, I wrote a little bit more about it in This Blog is Not Pornography, if you're curious.

Also, since I last posted in here, I've started on my webcomic, 58 Carson Street - and I'm currently up to 10 comics (I'm doing roughly two a week - Tuesdays and Fridays). It's worth checking out if you think I'm funny. Actually, it's not too bad even if you don't think I'm funny.

That's really all I've got for the moment - just thought I'd post about my personal life. I haven't blogged in a while, and I haven't blogged about me for even longer.

Until next time, when I will undoubtedly post some kind of commentary on some kind of news, may all your Thursdays be Perpetual.

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Where Have I Been?
Sunday, July 08, 2007 It has been a very long time since I last posted in here (and I have yet to post my "really good post"). There is a good reason though: I've been really, really, really busy. In addition to being gone at Boy Scout camp all last week, I've spent all my time either working on Alternative-Internet.com or getting ready to move.

The good news... Well, not exactly good, but the news is that we're moving this Wednesday, so soon the major headache will be at least partly over. Yay.

Once we're all settled, I'll be posting again.

I mean it this time.

After all, I've got a lost to say.

Until then, thanks for reading, just hang tight for a little longer.

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Prom Night
Monday, May 21, 2007

I've got a really nice post in the works, as well as a new BoN, both slated to appear later this week. For now, let's talk about me.

Last Saturday night I want to a homeschoolers prom. First, myself and five others had dinner at my house, prepared by my wonderful mother. Then, we went off the the prom. The prom started at 7:00 (we arrived at about 8:00) and lasted until 12:00 midnight (we, along with almost everyone else, left at about 1:00). Three of us (from the peeps who had dinner), along with some others, went out to Stake n' Shake afterwards, than left for home at around 2:00 - 2:30. I got home at around 3:00. I think I got food poisoning, though, because I couldn't get to sleep thanks to a painful stomach cramp and case of diarrhea. I got to sleep (at last) at 11:00 Sunday morning (I was too sick to go to church, or to do anything else for the rest of the day).

Other than being sick after, though, I had a blast! They played some pretty good music, and I danced on and off, and chatted with a bunch of people, and tried to burn down the building, and generally had a good time. Mike Little and I danced Blues Brothers style to Shout, and got a pretty good crown watching. Alex Kesckes came up with a crazy little dance the involved arm-rolls and playing paper-scissors rock with only draws. I myself managed to jump higher than I've ever jumped in a suit before. I even danced a couple of slow songs. Some people (not me) took pictures, and I'll post them if I can get my hands on any.

Now for some things not about me:

The internet seems to be an immense repository for junk and useless content. However, Kevan Davis, creator of the fantastic MMORPG Urban Dead, has created the single most useful thing on the internet: A Single Random Scrabble Tile. Just refresh the page and get a new tile. Wow.

Also, a quick hat tip is in order to Nine Inch Nails leader Trent Reznor who, in his on his "Updates from Trent" page of the NIN website, said the following:

"As the climate grows more and more desperate for record labels, their answer to their mostly self-inflicted wounds seems to be to screw the consumer over even more...

...Year Zero is selling for $34.99 Australian dollars ($29.10 US). No wonder people steal music...

...when I asked a label rep about this his response was: 'It's because we know you have a real core audience that will pay whatever it costs when you put something out - you know, true fans. It's the pop stuff we have to discount to get people to buy.'
So... I guess as a reward for being a "true fan" you get ripped off."

Ya' hit the nail right on the head.

Oh... That pun wasn't intended.

It was really bad too.

Anyway, thanks to AfterDawn.com for the NIN link, and I'll have two more posts this week, as noted at the start of this one. Until then, may all your Thursdays be Perpetual.

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And now your local forecast...
Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Depending on where you live, the you may or may not have warm, sunny summers and snowy winters. You could have warm winters or snowy summers, depending on your relative location to the equator, among other things. However, in the beautiful state Indiana, summers are generally warm and winters generally cold. By cold I mean, cold enough for snow. Snow is a good thing. Not only is it very pretty, but it allows for many winter activities, such as building snowmen, having snowball fights, sledding, skiing, and snow tubing.

This winter is my third working at Perfect North Slopes. I don't work in the skiing area (though I do ski); I work in the snow tubing area. (Snow tubing is like sledding, just in an inner tube - the tubes at Perfect's have hard, plastic bottoms and felt covers on top for added comfort and speed, as well as a smother ride.) Thing thing is, though, for skiing, or snow tubing, or even snow boarding, you generally need snow. Now Perfect's has a system to blow man-made snow onto the hills, but it still needs to be cold enough for the snow not to melt (in effect, blowing water onto the hills).

This winter, though, has been unseasonably warm. We've had afternoon's in the mid-50's (Fahrenheit, about 12 degrees Celsius). It is completely insane. Here is a current weather report for Lawrenceburg, Indiana, home of Perfect North:

Note: This is a constantly updating weather report, so it could be colder (and I hope it is) sooner. When I posted this, though, it was 43 degrees Fahrenheit (7 Celsius).

Fortunately, Perfect's seems to be holding on. Which means that I've worked 9-to-5 shifts three days last week, 9-to-4 shifts every day the week before and yesterday, and will hopefully work then tomorrow and Friday (today I was feeling sick), as well as a 4:30 to 1:00 night shift Saturday, provided the weather holds.

Now for the joke: at the Tubing Park there is a big clock that displays the current time and temperature. However, the attached thermometer has been getting some rather odd readings, as it is apparently not set up correctly. By 'odd' I mean 'slightly high'.  By 'slightly' I mean 'very'. True, it is rather warm for this time of year, but 530 degrees Fahrenheit?

And now, the punch line: Maybe there really is global warming!

Now is an appropriate time to laugh.

Well, I know it was long and kind of pointless, but there it is, the state of my working life and the weather round' here. Until my next post, in which I will probably have something much more interesting to say, may all your Thursdays be Perpetual.

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Russell Crowe - Shirtless!
Monday, September 18, 2006

Guess what? This post title is EXACTLY what it sounds like!

This is mostly an in-joke, but everyone who knows Emily should get a kick out of it, and others might get a laugh too. As it says in the image, I'm sorry for this Emily, but I couldn't help it.

Ok, I'm kind-of sorry.

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Camp Maumee
Monday, July 10, 2006 Saturday I got back from a week of scout camp, but not just any old week of scout camp - the best week of scout camp I've ever had. Last year I took SCUBA and COPE (Challenging Outdoor Physical Experience), and though both were unforgettable experiences I would do again in a heartbeat, and probably two of the best things I've ever done, this year was overall the best camp ever.

This year Troop 646 went to Maumee (last year was Friedlander, we alternative Maumee/other campe/Maumee/other camp/ect.). We go there often enough, but this time was diffrent. This year we did things. Some of the troop still lounged in hamocks at times, and we had a few rough spots, but looking past them, it was the greatest camping trip I've been on.

I took five badges, and got all of them: Small Boat Sailing, Wilderness Survival, Camping, Basketry, and Space Exploration. For ever badge I had my brother Chris, Kyle (from our troop), and at least two other members of our troop with me. As a troop we took over sevral classes. Small Boat Sailing was an absolute blast. You wouldn't belive how fast those little one/two person boats can get with just a little mind. Hunter, our counselor, Kirk (from the troop), and myself went sailing for a few hours one afternoon. Fantasic way to spend a day!

For Space Ex. and Basketry we had Brandon as our counselor. Now, Basketry itself isn't a very fun badge, but when you've got an instructor who takes us bugging him well and a few people to bug him with, you've got a recipie for disaster. A lot of jokes, a little basket making, and a badge our of it. Space Ex. was ever better. Part of the badge requires you to set off a rocket. My rocket was painted lime green with a purple stripe, which, in retrospect, was a bad choice on my part. On it's second flight (it got REALLY high), my rocket, the 'H.P. Lovecraft', landed in a weed-feild (which was once a cornfeild). It was never found. Gus had worse luck - his exploded. He managed to repair it enough for launch, but it was a lot shorter then it started out. Quezon's rocket, a mimic of the 'Deathmobile' from Animal House in name and colour, had a first sucessful launch, but on the second lauch the parachute deployed wrong and part of the rocket fell off and was not found.

For both Wilderness Survival and Camping our instructor was Zack. We annoyed Zack a little. Quezon decided to make Zack fodder for his jokes of the week - ever time he saw Zack he (and eventually most of his class from our troop) would jump up and yell "Hi, Zack," Quezon would even throw in, "I love you Zack!" Wilderness Survival was one of the best badges I've ever taken. Part of the badges requirements has you build a shelter out of leaves, logs, twigs, and so forth - and sleep in it for one night. Kyle, Kirk, and myself built a three person shelter - together we worked on it for two hours, and I came our with Dalton's help to work on it for an extra hour. It was beautiful. Spacious, not uncofortable, and dry (it didn't rain, but I would have trusted our shelter if it had). It was good enough that the staff left it up to use as their staff shelter. Quezon's shelter was also very good, and was said to be the best one built. The only thing was, only he or someone equally thin and under six feet tall could sleep in it.

Camping wasn't bad, but other than some odd experiences with Zack and a lot of refrences to the 'Crystal Meth' in my water bottle (long story) it didn't have much exictment.

The final campfire was the best I've ever been to. Our troop did two skits and Michael (little brother) and myself each had a song. Plus, I got to be a master of ceromonies (along with two other scouts)! I brought a huge bag of props, which turned out to be pretty helpful. I wore a set of cat ears and two tiger tails for almost the entire campfire, and beacuse we coudln't help it, we sang the meow mix song. Sevral other people also said it was the best campfire they've ever seen.

Overall, I've never had a better campout, and I hope we go back to Maumee next year. Sadly, next year will be my final camp, and I wouldn't want to spend it anywhere else.

To all the staff at Maumee, especially Hunter, Brandon, Zack, to the crew of the Enterprise (ever you, Little Ben, who was so reluctent to join), to Jim, for putting up with us for two troop shoots, to Nancy, for not stopping the Lumberjack Song, to my fellow M.C.s, to all the scouts who were at Maumee the week of the fourth, to Adam, sorry we never got to go sailing, and even to the kitchen staff - cheers!

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Alouette!
Wednesday, June 14, 2006 Last Saturday I had the pleasure of doing something I had not previously done. Wow, that was a lousy sentence, but no matter. I spent last Saturday morning help process chickens. My job was removing them from the scalder, tossing them into the plucker, and then pulling out any left other feathers, chopping off their feet, cutting their oil glands out, and slicing them open so the next person could gut them.

Before we began processing I was asked sevral times if I was going to be alright. I'm not squeamish, and I didn't think I gave off the impression that I was. I can't see how people have a problem with it, as they are just chickens, and it is just a little blood. Alright, Mr. Garvey (those of you who use the Alternative Internet Forums might know he is swordskilled's father) had more than a little blood at his station. He was the one who lopped off their heads. Mr. Trimble (his chickens, farm, ect.) had a set of inverted cones into which the chickens were placed, upside down, their heads came out the bottom, and with a quick knife swoop, off they came. The blood drained down the cones and into a bucket (all the blood, guts, and so on were composted).

Mr. Garvey had a very strange habit of talking to the chickens as he took them from their cages to the 'killing cones.'
"Come on ladies, calm down, I'm just gonna kill you."
"Alright ladies, time to party!"

In further news, my mother has started a blog written from the perspective of my little brother Michael, about the adventures of another brother Thomas (his nickname is Toby). The events are described just slightly diffrent from the way they actually took place, but they stories are still great and worth a read. Check out Toby's Travels.

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A Quiz-fession
Tuesday, May 16, 2006 Ok, actually, I have two confessions: 1) I am prone to making corny jokes (quiz-fession?), and hate myself when I do. 2) I actually enjoy taking stupid online quizzes... And whaddya know, I happen to have the results of one right here:

You fit in with: Judeo-Christian Your ideals mostly resemble those of the Judeo-Christian faith. You have the capacity for immense faith and spirituality. At your core, you believe in justice, goodness and redemption. 20% scientific. 80% faith-oriented.

Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

Now for a real shock, or at least, a shock to me: people actually read Perpetual Thursday. No joke. In fact, you are really reading it right now.
Ok, so I'm not so suprised that people read it. I'm suprised that someone linked to it though.
Pro Multis - Fidelity to the World, linked to PT as an one of the people supporting Bishop Finn in the blogsphere (see my last post).
His post is worth going over to read, as it includes:
"An (expired) article from the Kansas City Star provides background information, confirming the factual claims (as opposed to the spin) in the NCR piece.
Posted on Sat, Sep. 17, 2005"

Thank's for pulling that article up, Michael! And thanks for the link!

Anyway, that's all for the moment. I'm babysitting siblings, but I'll try to have more to say later.

As if I ever really shut up.

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Captian Happy
Thursday, April 20, 2006 Today it begins: the filming on The Captian Happy Show, soon to be the next big hit comedy. 4 minutes of film and 1 minute of bloopers out of a projected 1 hour, 15 minutes of film total, have been filmed. Captian Happy tells the tales of a bunch of people doing a bunch of stuff, all somehow connected to one of the trying to break into retired children's television show host Captian Happy's house to retrive a love letter he mailed there ,instead of to the girl he loves, be mistake.

Current cast members appearing on film are:
Michael Little as Fred
Christopher "Quezon" Simmons as Ted
Andrew Simmons as Tiny Tommy
Patrick Simmons as The Director
Janet Barton as Herself
Mrs. Wells as Herself

Its got laughs, its got plungers, its got moles, its got it all! Comming soon (Winter/Fall 2006, if all goes well) to a theater near you. As long as the distributers like it as much as we do so far.

It's gonna be good.

Plus, we made a new News of the Future. It may just be the best yet.

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Friday, March 31, 2006
Grey River 

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Lava River 

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Meadow 

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Their Paradise 

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Grey Sunrise 

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Frosty Ledges 

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Quezon's Toy
Friday, March 24, 2006 Those last two posts might seem strange, as I have no real explination for what the "toy" is. That's what this post is for. Quezon built the 'toy' out of Legos (3 sets including one with gears and motors and one with hydrolic pumps). But what is it? It's a grape juice maker.

No joke.

It has three small bins, one for sugar (if you want sugar in your grape juice), one for a grape (cut in half), and one for the mixing. You set a grape in the grape bin (once again, it must be cut in half), and run the motor. The motor powers the pumps which crush the grape. That all the really happens (yes, it works). In theroy, the process dumbs grape juice (from about 10 grapes) into the mixing bin, to which you add sugar. The motor also powers (in addition to the pump) and set of spinning blenders that mix the sugar and juice, which then runs out a hole in the side into your cup.

It all works perfectly, execpt that it can't real make enough juice for it to be practical.

But it's still neat, right?

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Thursday, March 23, 2006
Quezon's Toy 2# 

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Quezon's Toy 1# 

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Little Tiny Man
Saturday, March 18, 2006 One O'Clock
A Poem by Patrick J. Simmons

A little tiny man hid in a little tiny room,
waiting for the clock to strike one.
For he had an evil plan to bring gloom unto the land
And that was when the deed was too be done.

He took a little box, And he filled it up with rocks,
And set it in a windowsill to sun.
For hidden neath' the stones, was a creature who alone,
Could bring an end to everybody's fun.

It had two legs and had two arms,
Just like you and I,
But it could only cause us harms,
And make our joy all die.

But as the little man rubbed his greedy little hands,
A boy into the room silently crept.
And stepped upon the box, the creature crushed under his socks,
And the evil little man now sadly wept.

And running to the door the man tried win once more,
But was stopped by another little slip.
The boy took a step back, to se upon what he had smacked,
And over a little block he did trip.

He landed on the little man with a nice resounding "WHAM."
And though the story ends at last, at not one, but still half-past.

--

No, I'm not a poet. But it's fun to dabble now and then.

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Dreams
Wednesday, March 08, 2006 On Homeschool ALUMNI (which I am begining to like quite a bit) there is a tread about Dreams. I posted in reply to it, and though I might post my reply here as well, for those interested:

"I used to have two often recurring dreams.

In one I would be playing the old computer game 'Wolfenstein 3D' I wouldn't be playing it at the computer, though. I'd be in the game. I would BE the main charecter. I would, however, be constricted to the movment the game allowed, and was able to see how much health and ammo I had under my vision if I looked. I would go through the level (always the same one), and everything would be just like the game (graphic and sound wise). I would always do very well until I can to a certian corner. Stepping out from behind it I would meet a blue clad general with a shotgun who would shoot me. Then the dream would end. I wouldn't always wake up right away, I'd never scream. He would just shoot and it was over.

Later on this same dream changed and the general bacame a charector from another game, 'Body Count,' one who my friends and I called "Big Shamu." Otherwise, the dream would be the same.

In the other dream I would be running away from a dog in our neighborhood (a real life dog) named Chewy. He would be trying to bite me. (He was a german shepard and had a reputatuion for biting neighborhood kids, so this wasn't surprising in my dream). I would run away from him, down our street, never looking back but always knowing he was there. Eventually I would sort of leave my body and see myself from the side in third person, almost two dimensional. I would run up to a cliff (which did not exist in our neighborhood) and just as Chewy came up behind me, fall off. I would then be back in my body, but instead of falling through the sky, I'd be falling through a perfect cylinder-shaped tunnel whose walls were all made up of a portrait of George Washington in gold frames. Then, eventually, I would see my own bed at the end of the tunnel. It would be unmade, and I would not be in it. I would fall out of the tunnel and land on it. Then the dream would end, and I would wake up (often in the middle of the night) lying face down on my bed with it bouncing slightly, as if I had really landed on it.

I did some checking and found out from my bothers that I do indeed, sometimes sleepwalk.

I don't have these dreams anymore. They just seem to have wen't away."

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PNS First Day
Saturday, November 26, 2005 Yesterday was my first day of work (this year) at Perfect North Slopes, today will be my second. Not much has changed, when you get donw to it. Kind of funny, to stand at the top of a hill and see snow all around close by, but a little farther away there's none. Not many people there last night. It was nice to be back on the hills.

I got an interesting article e-mailed to me by the New Oxford News Link, about the LIFETEEN.com founder. The full article is located at: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/1122fushek22.html
Here I quote a small section:
--
Monsignor Dale Fushek, once one of the most popular and powerful priests in the Phoenix Diocese, was accused Monday of sexual misconduct with teenage boys and young men.

In announcing Fushek's arrest on 10 misdemeanor criminal counts, Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas said, "It's troubling any time a person in a position of public trust violates that."

Thomas said the investigation is continuing and that more serious charges are possible.

Fushek, 53, is accused of indecent exposure, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and assault involving five minors and two young adult men.
--
Interesting, no? If you read the full article, notice that LIFETEEN.com's reps hat nothing to say.

As promised, I'm going to tell you about my candy. WARP energy mints, Green-T + Lemon+ Lime flavor are GOOD. Weather or not they really give energy, I'm not sure. Marukawa (I think that's it) gum it AWSOME! Really great flavor. So far I've only tried Orange. HiChew, from Morinaga, is amazing. Period. I have strawberry flavor, and it tastes EXACTLY like strawberries. Exactly. No diffrence. It's fantastic.

Anywho, that's it for the moment. I've got to get ready for work...

In my next post expect something about the Chronicles of Narnia Video Game...

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Let it Snow
Wednesday, November 23, 2005 It's snowing here, first snow of the winter. Perfect North Slopes tubing park is opening this weekend I'm I'm going to get to work Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I may also get a chance to try our my new ski boots, which came today. They are in perfect condition, and I'm overjoyed. I'm still waiting for my package of candy from Japan, which SHOULD be here today... If I recive it I'll try to post about it's contents later.

I've found what may be the neatest computer gadget ever: Konfabulator
Konfabulator is a little gadget made by Yahoo! that does EVERYTHING. From telling time to showing pictures, to zipping files. Plus you can download extra user-made widgets for it to do more.

I also found this:
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/42799
It's funny, hear it.

My candy just came... More when I'm done viewing it.

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Emily (Hazel) and Her Blog
Friday, October 14, 2005 Emily (Hazel N. Filbert) is over today, and I'm helping her burn a CD (between working on the church bulletin, commenting on her blog, and of course, answering e-mails.)

I'd say more, but I don't have time, or more to say for that matter.

I will later though.

After... shrudder... work.

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Birthdays, Movies, and Slogans
Saturday, October 01, 2005 Hello people of the free (and/or not so free, as it may be) world!

Good flip, did I just type 'people of the free world?' Wow. That's not like me. Anywho...

My current place of work, The Chateau Pomije (http://www.cpwinery.com/) has gotten some new buisness cards, which I say in their just delivered box in the waitress station. Oh yes. Fun new busisness cards. Professional typeset and font, wonderful little backround illustration, and a nice little slogan. I'm going to focus on the slogan here. By going to the site, you can see that we are marketed as fine dining. Well... Our slogan doesn't really fit that. At all. In the slightest way. No, our slogan's message seems to say... Hooters. Now that I'm driving you crazy with anticipation, I'm going to give you the slogan... "P..." Wait. This calls for italics. "Pick me, squeeze me, make me wine." Thank you very much. Now, that could be called clever. But it could also be called obscene. Just a little bit. Ok, so a lot-le bit.

Alright, on the the next order of buisness... My birthday was last Saturday. September the 24th. I am now... Well, I really don't need to tell all of you, come to this of it. Anywho, I got stuff. Thanks to all of you who gave me gifts. I would blabber on about them, but that's what thank you cards are for, and gift cards, cash, and clothing are not things most of my readers will care about. Though the gift card, other card, and money are great. And so is the wool sweater. And the pants.
But you other readers, you didn't give me gifts (NO HAZEL, I'M NOT HINTING AT ANYTHING SO DON'T COMMENT SAYING THAT I AM!), might be interested in one of the gifts I recived. A DVD copy of "The Hitchikers Guide to the Galexy." Yay! I'll give you my personal review. The movie, as I already knew from seeing it in theaters, was fantanstic. Funny, unexpected, inconsistent, pointless, and loveable. Oh yes, and there's Marvin. We all love Marvin. As for the special features... All I've watched of yet are the Deleted Scenes (stupid), Really Deleted Scenes (stupid-er), and the Additional Guide Entry (taken from the book and thus, unorigonal and not a big suprise as it was labled to be). But the movie was good, and that's all that matters.
One of the previews has me rather excited as well. No, it's not FlightPlan, though that looks good. It's Narnia. Wow. WETA Workshop (the people who worked on Lord of the Rings) are at it again, with the help from Disney (who's been getting better with movies like Pirates of the Carribean. It looks good. Very good.

Anyway... I'll blab more later. For now, I'm done.

Signing off.

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Wednesday, September 14, 2005
Sibling army. 

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Siblings... 

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Cape Fear (Fort-top View) 

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Fort Fisher 

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Battery Buchanan 

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...and a target. 

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A cannon...