Splateaux

Japan - Day 8 in Everything Else JoeUser Forums

Today started with a bullet train ride to Hiroshima. This was our second bullet train ride, and it's still pretty neat. Hiroshima though, as you can expect, was no laughing matter. I don't have words to describe how depressing it was. I'll just say that it was a really well done combination of museums and memorials. They combined the science and details behind what happened with the human stories. Near the end, there was a old man making paper cranes (Google pape

Japan - Day 7 in Everything Else JoeUser Forums

Today started with the Fushimi Inari-Taisha shrine. Like the many shrines before it, it was neato spegetto. I *think* that was first at least… I’m sitting here talking to my daughter about it now, and we can’t remember perfectly <span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI Emoji',sans-serif; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-fa

Japan - Day 6 in Everything Else JoeUser Forums

Today started with a tour of the Arashiyama Bamboo Forest in Kyoto. Before we even get started on the Bamboo forest though, Kyoto itself seems to be a really nice city. The guide was saying that it was originally the capital of Japan. I've got some of that story on video tape. Anyway, back to the bamboo forest. My movie training was WAY off... every instinct I had told me that ninjas were just about to start flying through the tops of the bamboo... but it didn'

Japan - Day 5 in Everything Else JoeUser Forums

Today's awesomeness started with driving to Mount Fuji. After we parked the bus, we had 45 minutes to hike as far up as we could. There were a couple kids on the trip that made it higher than me, but I made it higher than any of the adults. My goal was to make it to cloud level... to where I was surrounded by the clouds. I accomplished that goal! The thing that really drains you when you're climbing up is house thick the gravel can be. It's obviously steep,

Japan - Day 4 in Everything Else JoeUser Forums

Today we finally headed out from Tokyo. We hopped on a bus and headed towards the Fuji-Hokone-Izu region. On the way, we took a trip to see the Great Buddha of Kamakura. I have to say that it is a well named Buddha… it was huge! After exploring the shrine at this location, we walked around Kamakura a good bit.<span style="mso-spacer

Japan - Day 3 in Everything Else JoeUser Forums

So, yesterday was spiritual, but today was techy. We started the day at a place called Joypolis... which is basically an indoor theme part with lots of tech things. The best ride was definitely the "Tokyo Halfpipe", which was where you got on a giant "skateboard" with a partner, strap in, and it rocks back and forth. You have to time leaning the skateboard correctly to go higher and higher and eventually start it spinning. We did that twice, back-to-back, and had the o

Reply to Japan - Day 1 in Everything Else JoeUser Forums

It's somewhere I've always wanted to go, but it was just a good opportunity to do it in a guided fashion through my daughter's school, and she's big into things like anime and such.

Japan - Day 2 in Everything Else JoeUser Forums

Day 2 in Japan (still in Tokyo) started with a surprisingly awesome breakfast at our hotel. I was expecting a normal "Here's some pastries and fruit" kind of thing you get at other places in the world, but this is just a huge buffet of awesomeness. I would tell you what I had, but I know the names of none of it :) Our first destination was the Meiji Shinto Shrine where we prayed, and participated in a paper fortune tradition. I had a bad one though, so, as I was i

Japan - Day 1 in Everything Else JoeUser Forums

So, the flight went well... ~13 hours I think. I was lucky that I was able to upgrade to an exit row, which makes a big difference for taller folks. Like normal, I wasn't able to sleep much, and so I was going to write some code. As it turns out, that's hard to do without internet access. Other than the obvious Googlin' things, if I decide I need some random package, I'm SOL. I ended up paying for wifi access, but it only lasted for ~30 minutes before breaking.&n

Reply to Consequences in Philosophy JoeUser Forums

Oh... I should point out one thing that I neglected to actually say in my first reply: I actually do agree with the orginal article, as I thought you could have been able to tell from my reply. The only thing I really dissagree with was that we, as a society, are getting worse. I can't believe that even a cursory glance at our history wouldn't make this obvious. I just wanted to make it clear that I fully agree with our need to ta

Reply to Consequences in Philosophy JoeUser Forums

So, why even bother to do what is right? If we are simply animals where is the impetus to rise above our base, carnal natures and become better? There is none. The whole "people are animals" bit is just an excuse to revel in filth. An excuse I find repugnant. <

Reply to Is Sponge Bob gay and why should I care? in Religion JoeUser Forums

You falsely accuse an entire religion of being overly concerned with a cartoon character's sexuality, Had you taken exception with true feelings of Christians <br

Reply to Consequences in Philosophy JoeUser Forums

People have always been people. People have always complained that society is stuck in a downward spiral and that this and that is WAY worse than it was in the past. Society today is no worse than it has ever been. We are animals, and have always acted as such. We are living in the information age now though, so all of our evils are more easily seen. We can stand back and say, "Oh my, we're so much worse than we've ever be

Reply to Is Sponge Bob gay and why should I care? in Religion JoeUser Forums

Wrong. The whole "Spongebob is gay" thing started in the homosexual community, mostly online, and has nothing to do with what you are talking about. Nothing in your article has anything to do with what really happened. I guess you were paying more attention to your lunch than CNN. Wrong. If you'll actu

Reply to A Sock In An Umbrella in Humor JoeUser Forums

....but the real question is: Let's say the sock was already on a trouble ticket, and then was posted-down by a higher level umbrella outage. Does it take out all the port and aggregates? Or does it only do that if it's line/equipment? THAT is the real question!

Reply to Just Paula in Welcome JoeUser Forums

Get to work!

Reply to GOD? Fake? in Misc JoeUser Forums

Mmmmm, why does everyone need proof to believe in something? I've got some nice ocean-front property to sell you in Arizona. Interested?

Reply to Echo's blog in Welcome JoeUser Forums

That's ludicrous and ill-conceived!!

Reply to GOD? Fake? in Misc JoeUser Forums

However, it makes no sense to claim god doesn't exist for the simple fact that some people died. He said that he didn't believe because there was no proof: A book doesnt prove tha

Great one-liners in Humor JoeUser Forums

1. Two antennas meet on a roof, fall in love and get married. The ceremony wasn't much, but the reception was excellent. 2. Two hydrogen atoms walk into a bar. One says, "I've lost my electron." The other says, "Are you sure?" The first replies, "Yes, I'm positive..." 3. A jumper cable walks into a bar. The bartender says, "I'll serve you, but don't

Reply to 10 COMMANDMENTs in Life in Philosophy JoeUser Forums

HAHA... so true.

Reply to THIS is what's wrong with this country.... in Current Events JoeUser Forums

I think I'm going to sue the people who made the Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street, and Friday the 13th movies. They scared me

Reply to Atheist sues to ban hand on Bible in Politics JoeUser Forums

Dang, my last comment was based upon DrMiller's original reponse to my post (something about being a Rabbi couldn't be called a Rabbi at that point), but now it makes no sense

Reply to Atheist sues to ban hand on Bible in Politics JoeUser Forums

Yeah, I can understand how you would see it as being bad for a religious person to look beyond they're own personal beliefs in order to try and help out a military member who is seeking spiritual guidance. What a bastard he would be!

Reply to Atheist sues to ban hand on Bible in Politics JoeUser Forums

non·de·nom·i·na·tion·al ( P ) Pronunciation Key (nnd-nm-nsh-nl) adj. Not restricted to or associated with a religious denomination. In acting in their official capacity as military chaplains, they match the above definition. I like they way jeblackstar replied better though...