"People should not be afraid of their Governments, Governments should be afraid of their people."

Happy Guy Fawkes Day.

Join the Fight

Read the charges here.

Join the cause here.

We've gotta stop this. You can also read about the recent developments in the fight for net neutrality here, and the FCC's warning to Comcast here. The FCC is probably the government entity with its head most squarely set about its shoulders.

Yo ho.

I saw a giant flock of flying pigs the other day...

...so I thought "Better get a Facebook account." I think I'll go cook up some words I stated earlier and eat them for dinner.

Meeting People is Easy

People are at my house all the time. Sometimes I wonder if they really don't have anywhere to go. There is always noise, blowing speakers, hurricanes and I'm getting burned out.

Yo Ho

Last Friday the RIAA won $675,000 in a copyright infringement suit. You can read about it here. Rather than use the substantial sum to reimburse the artists that they represent, the RIAA has chosen to use the newly acquired funds for the noble cause of pursuing more lawsuits. They've filed some 30,000 already but only two have gone to trial, the other one coming just a few months ago. It has been reported that the RIAA uses bullying tactics to force other defendants to settle out of court.

Here's the thing: According to this Wikipedia article, which has multiple reliable sources, the actual amount that the artist loses from file sharing is negligible. If a substantial majority of proceeds from record sales actually went to the artist, I would be more inclined to buy their music. But that's not the case. Record sale profits go to the record label, not the artist. When the RIAA takes legal recourse under the pretext of representing the artists and then uses the money to fund more legal action (and probably their own pocket books) instead of reimbursing the artist I take big issue. There has to be a better way for artists to be able to record their music, without record labels or the RIAA making bank off of their efforts. Until that happens, it's a pirate's life for me.

Why "Going to the Gym" just doesn't cut it.

Now, feel free to take this with a grain of salt, as I have never had a gym membership, but I just don't think lifting weights really does much for you, except make you ripped (and if that's yer cup o' tea then have at it) and give you the ability to lift more weights. It also makes you top heavy. Here's why. This morning at about 2:00 some members of my ward and I set out to hike Mt. Timpanogos with the goal being to reach the summit in time to see the sun rise. We left the trail head at around 2:45ish and headed up the mountain. Within the first hour the one large group became two or three smaller groups traveling at various speeds according to the physical ability of the group. I was blessed to find myself in the lead group. We continued up the mountain in the dark, the sun just barely starting to make the eastern horizon glow a beautiful, deep orange and the color being scattered by the haze. It was after 4:oo by this time and most of the last group had already turned around. By the time we got to the eastern slope just below the saddle, the sky was bright enough that we no longer needed our headlamps. When at last we reached the saddle, roughly 700 vertical feet below the summit and solid mile and a half worth of hiking, our lead group had thinned out to just three individuals: myself and two girls from my ward. We rested at the saddle for no longer than two minutes and then continued on, being determined to reach the summit before the sun peeked its head over the mountains visible far to the east. We achieved the top not a minute before the sun began its ascent into the sky. We were tired, sore, bruised, and elated to have made it. We were the only ones that did. The point is that none of us who did make it have a gym membership (I have one to the climbing gym but according to my roommates, who didn't even go, that doesn't count). Most of the people that didn't make it however, do have such memberships to various gyms around the area. On the way back we ran, making it back to the trailhead a solid hour before the people who turned back, and at least three before those who pressed on to the top. It was one of the best experiences of my life.

I don't mean to rag on people who have and frequently use gym memberships. I mean to rag on the gyms. Somehow they've convinced a good number of people that the only way to get in shape is to have a membership to their facility and some even go so far as to hire a personal trainer. I run and/or climb and/or ride my bicycle regularly and from what I saw today am in better shape than most people who frequent the gym or health club.

I bet Lance doesn't have a gym membership either, and that guy is a hero. If you go to a gym, good on you for making an effort to take care of yourself, as it gets increasingly irritating to me to see people who make no attempt to do so. I think however, that you could do even better and save some money by doing a little research on the Internet (isn't that place just a wonderland?) and investing in a good pair of running shoes and fixing up your bike.

Do You Know What Really Grinds My Gears?

There's this classic episode of Family Guy where Peter gets his own segment on the nightly news entitled What Really Grinds My Gears where he rants and raves about things that irk him. He would start everything by saying "Do you know what really grinds my gears?" Hilarity ensued. In the spirit of that episode, here are a few things that really grind my gears, in no particular order.

1. Reality Television. The only thing worse than turning to the Internet in search of true love is going on a reality TV show. They all follow the same tired formula started by Survivor (which is still airing episodes and still isn't that great) and it is always so sad to see people making compete fools out of themselves on national TV. What is productive or good about shows like The Bachelorette? Why is some girl sleeping with a million different guys every week something you would want to watch, or would want your children to watch? Not all reality TV is bad, but none of it is good.

2. Girls who ask you questions, the answers to which are the current thing that's on their mind that is going to be really difficult to talk about, because for some reason boys and girls can't seem to effectively communicate their "feelings." Why can't they just say it? That's what boys want anyhow. Ugh.

3. News stories that aren't that big of a deal, but that you hear about for weeks and weeks and weeks... I got so, so sick of hearing about Anna Nichole Smith's death and the subsequent legal battle over her son...or daughter. I don't remember nor do I care what gender that child was. I really couldn't believe how much media attention she got. I mean, seriously, what did she ever do to bless the lives of Americans that they would care that she died for more than an hour?

4. People who rag on me because of my "counter-culture." My roommates (whom I love to death) and some friends of mine don't exactly see eye to eye with me when it comes to movies, music, Facebook, what sorts of girls are attractive, etc. I loathed the first Transformers movie (seriously people, it was awful), and as a result won't go see the second unless somebody pays for me to get in, and then pays me for my time. $8.50/hour should cover it. I hate country music. Hate it. I've heard my fair share, and nothing appeals to me. I like most music that led to the creation of country; folk, rock and roll, bluegrass, blues, jazz and the like, and that leads me to believe that there is something wrong with country. I got it! It's all the same! Anyhoo, I get a lot of flac from people because of my tastes and opinions, not because I rag on theirs, but because mine isn't the same as theirs.

5. Barack Obama. If you don't know why he grinds my gears, then there's no convincing you that he grinds the hell out of America's gears.

6. People who make absolutely no effort to take care of themselves, either physically, mentally, socially, or financially. There is a girl who hangs around my apartment all the time that fits the bill on all four. She belches, farts, laughs at inappropriate times, says the most grotesque, offensive things, eats our food without asking, steals people's phones and starts texting random people (she doesn't have one of her own). I have made it clear to her that if she ever touches my phone I will obliterate her. There will be nothing left. She is supremely overweight, doesn't have an ounce of muscle on her body, and volunteers at Deseret Industries full time for $1.50/hour and calls it a real job. I'm sure it's the only place that would "hire" her.

7. Blanket statements concerning rated-R movies. The rating board of the MPAA is a secret council with secret rating process that tailors movie lobbyists who need a certain rating for a film to target a certain audience in order to make the most money. I don't trust it and won't until the process is more transparent. "But Kyle," some may say, "the Prophet's have said rated-R movies are bad. Don't you trust them?" Yes I do, but nowhere in any publication officially endorsed by the church (thus making it official church doctrine or policy) do they warn against the "R-rated" movie nor does watching them bar me from holding a temple recommend. They do warn against innapropiate films, but I'm convinced that there are more inappropriate PG-13 movies out there than R ones. I guess that depends on what you find inappropriate, but don't heckle me if you find something inappropriate and I do not.

There's some other things that grind my gears, but I've been told that there isn't anything you can't make worse by complaining about it, so I'll stop complaining. That's another thing that grinds my gears. People who complain yet do nothing to make the situation better.

RIP Michael. Thank you for what you did for music.