Seeing Red Through Diamond Eyes

This past weekend was a perfect storm of awesome. Chevelle and Deftones had shows on the same weekend and it was 2 weeks before my girlfriend's birthday which sounded like a perfect present for both of us!

It started Friday with a trip to Myrtle Beach to see Chevelle. I've seen the boys several times but it's always great in a smaller venue like the House of Blues. We got there a little late but just in time to see Pete, Sam, and Dean hit the stage. The boys fired off a medley of new tracks, old classics, and even some album cuts I've never heard them perform live like Forfeit. This was just the beginning of a long weekend so after the show we hit the hotel and crashed almost immediately.

Saturday morning we decided to venture into Myrtle Beach and check out one of the Ripley's exhibits. After getting good and lost and asking for directions we found our way and decided to try the Ripley's Haunted Museum which was effing TERRIFYING! I won't spoil the fun but remember the phrase "We're going to play a little game" if you ever give it a try yourself.

After that we decided to check out WonderWorks (or the Upside Down House as I have been calling it). That place is AWESOME! All kinds of cool exhibits, toys, games, puzzles, and interactive displays. There are a lot of kid themed as well as adult friendly things to do. We spent a little over an hour there but could have spent a whole day if we tried.

Then to wrap up the fun, it was back to the House of Blues to rock with the Deftones! The boys brought it with one of the best shows I've ever seen from them but the real show was beside the stage. We were over in the right corner near the sidebar and saw all kinds of craziness. I watched a drunk chick try to climb the railing instead of working back thru the crowd and fall about 8 feet flat on her face on the floor. I saw a guy being drug away by 6 bouncers kicking and screaming. I watched the cops cart off a girl who looked about 12 who was piss drunk and kept knocking over other people's drinks. Needless to say, it was quite a night.

A solid night's sleep at the hotel, an omelet to fill up the tummy, and we were homeward bound. 3 days later and I'm still recovering but I can proudly say... I give good birthday!

What Would You Do?

Even as a kid it bothered me how often I heard talk of frivolous lawsuits.

I'm not talking about legitimate things that need to be addressed like business disputes. No, I'm talking about things like when a man years ago tried to commit suicide by jumping out of a window and was tackled by a police officer before he could jump. The man was injured by the cop tackling him and sued... AND WON! This guy would be dead if the officer had not done what he did and now the douche turns around and SUES them.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago at an "independant living community" in California. An 87 year old woman collapsed in the dining room and a nurse called 911. The dispatcher told the nurse she needed to perform CPR on the woman or she would die. The nurse REFUSED to do it because it was against the nursing home's policy to perform CPR because, similar to the story above, people who have been SAVED by CPR have turned around and SUED the EMTs or whoever because while SAVING THEIR LIFE they cracked a rib or bruised something or whatever. The woman died and now the home is defending the nurse.

Here's the difficult part to think about: what was the right thing to do? By not performing CPR, the woman died and now the nurse has to carry that burden for the rest of her life. Had she performed CPR, there's no guarantee the woman would have lived BUT she would have definitely lost her job and could have faced a lawsuit from the home and/or the woman and her family.

I'm not saying letting others die is the right thing to do, but as a country I think a story like this should open a lot of eyes as to just how scared we are as a society of being SUED just for doing the right thing.

Facebook For Good

It's not often that Facebook is used to do something good, let alone for a stranger but it does happen and it can be an amazing thing.

James McConnell of Southsea, Hampshire, England passed away last month at age 70. James was a veteran of the British Royal Marines but at his time of passing had no known family. His graveside service was setup by Social Services but due to lack of family no formal service was scheduled.

Bob Mason was the reverend scheduled to conduct the burial and felt a calling to do the right thing so he posted this on Facebook:

DEATH OF FORMER ROYAL MARINE
I am a clergyman in Southsea and I have been asked to conduct the Burial on 21st February for Mr McConnell who was in care at Bluebell Nursing Home, Southsea.
Sadly, Mr McConnell appears to have no family, and the ceremony (graveside only, no formal Service) is being arranged by Social Services.
The Nursing home that he was with have informed me that he was a Royal Marine but he was not at the Nursing home very long so other details are scarce.
The graveside service will be held at 09.30 on the 21st Feb at Milton Cemetery, 197 Milton Road, Portsmouth. PO4 8RS.
Ladies and Gentlemen, In this day and age it is tragic enough that anyone has to leave this world with no one to mourn their passing, but this man was family and I am sure you will agree deserves a better send off. If you can make it to the graveside for that time to pay your respects to a former brother in arms then please try to be there.
Further information can be obtained by ringing the Revd Bob Mason at the address and number below.
(Revd) Bob Mason

The post netted almost 400 likes and over 100 comments and a mind-blowing TWO HUNDRED PLUS PEOPLE were in attendance to wish James McConnell, a man they had never met nor knew nothing about other than the fact that he was a veteran, farewell.

It's things like this that give me hope for humanity as a whole.

RIP James McConnell

Law & Order: IRL

For the non-gamers out there, IRL means "In Real Life". A very appropriate title considering a recent study out of Washington State University that shows that watching TV crime dramas makes people more likely to help others in criminal situations.

The study suggests that by watching shows like Law & Order and CSI that people are actually being educated about things like sexual assault. These shows average about 6 violent acts per hour, 10% of which are related to sexual assault. The shows also tend to feature bystanders helping the victims or the police as they investigate.

Researchers think the combination of seeing these violent acts portrayed and seeing civilians stepping up to help strangers inspires and empowers people to be more pro-active when they encounter similar situations. They went on to say that this can both dissuade attackers and support victims which is what is necessary to eliminate sexual assaults.

Click here to see the full text from the Journal of Health Communication.

The Robots Are Taking Our Jobs!

Now I'm not the type to blame technology for taking away jobs from "us humans". I understand that some jobs are easier, more consistently done, and safer when done by robots. However, this just doesn't make sense to me...



WHAT THE HELL? I may be missing the point but I was under the assumption that the reason stores had people spinning signs out front was to not only draw attention to the store but to put a HUMAN FACE OUT FRONT!

Now before I go any further, I don't see these as necessary jobs. They are a way of advertising, which is necessary for a successful business, but I don't think it's vital to have a person holding the signs. I think the signs could be just as effective if they were just on a pole or even a moving pole like in the video above. The part I don't get is the mannequin. Do they think people are so stupid they won't realize it's not a real person?

My guess would be the REAL reason we started seeing people holding signs instead of more signs is local ordinances. They limit the number and size of signs you can display but I would guess those rules go out the window if you have a person stand there and hold the sign. Now, that logic has been quickly forgotten and the cost cutting has begun which apparently started with the sign holders.

This is an isolated incident but I'm expecting this trend will spread quickly. Maybe Skynet will get it's start in fast food like everyone else...

Poster Child

Drinking and driving. It's been a heated topic almost since the invention of the automobile. Drinking and driving is not only illegal but it can lead to injury or worse. The strange part is, people still do it every single day and don't think they will be the one who pay the consequences. Some are right but sometimes you have to pay the piper.

Carla Atallah is learning that lesson right now as she gets ready to start a 5 YEAR prison term after driving drunk back in 2009 and flipping her SUV. That accident killed Ryan Worthington who was a passenger in the SUV and Carla has been charged with felony death by vehicle and driving while impaired.

Some may say she deserves more than 5 years for causing the death of another. Others may say she has suffered enough knowing she took a life. Personally, I think she deserves whatever she gets.

There is no excuse for driving drunk, especially in a place like Greenville where cabs are waiting outside of every bar and club or at worst are a phone call away. I've done a lot of stupid things in my life but driving drunk is not one of them. It's just a risk I'm not willing to take and this story is just one of the million examples of how big of a risk it can be.

Have the Bullies Won?

Bullying isn't a new idea. When I was a kid I had to start wearing glasses at 8 years old and was the ONLY kid in my class that had them. Needless to say, this led to plenty of being picked on. It sucked but it taught me how to deal with negative situations and in the end made me a stronger and more confident person by knowing they only picked on me to make themselves feel better. Even then it wasn't a new thing, people have been bullying others ever since cavemen would crack each other over the head to steal food from one another.

Although, living in today's society you'd think bullying was some crazy new idea that just popped up and that nobody knows how to handle it. This is not the case, the problem is that society doesn't like to deal with problems PERIOD and something like bullying can't be ignored until it goes away, quite the opposite actually. The only way to stop bullying is if those being bullied stand up to the bullies, and that only works if they know they are in the right and will be supported by authority figures like teachers, bosses, etc. Sadly, that's not always the case.

Take for example the 13 year old 6th grader in Missouri who was being sexually harassed because of her breast size. Did the teachers sit the girl down and tell her to be strong and ways to protect herself? No. Did they talk to those harassing her and punish them or threaten punishment? No. Their brilliant way to stop the harassment was to TELL THE GIRL'S MOTHER TO GET HER A BREAST REDUCTION! Are you fucking kidding me? I couldn't imagine how big someone's balls must be to have the audacity to tell mother her daughter should have unnecessary surgery that could cause her more problems in the end simply because they are too stupid, lazy, afraid, or otherwise uncaring enough to handle the actual problem.

We as a society can't keep on like this. We can't keep blaming the victims of crimes because we won't blame the perpetrators. We can't keep blaming the media and entertainment industries when they are merely giving us what we keep running back to. We need parents, teachers, and other people involved in a child's life to not only praise their accomplishments but punish their wrongdoings and point out their mistakes.

Otherwise, it's just going to get worse.