Let's Talk About Charity:Water

Charity:Water is a group I found out about fairly recently through the work of Totalbiscuit, a gamer and YouTube celebrity.  They are a charity that brings clean water sources to communities that don’t have them already.  Clean water of course is used for drinking, bathing, laundry, and many other things.  To give you an idea of how important this is, the average American uses 150 gallons of water each day.  People in communities that Charity:Water is helping generally live on less than 5 gallons a day.  

So far in their journey they have completed or begun 6611 projects, helping an estimated 2.5 million people access clean water.  Hopefully you recognize how small that number is, because there are still 800 million people in the world who don’t have access to clean water!  These projects are necessary because they reduce disease and increase food supplies.  Also, women and children do not have to go fetch water from distant rivers or ponds, allowing them time to work or go to school.  And oh yeah, clean water helps the economy.  

This month Charity:Water is working in Rwanda.  Here’s a pretty cool 4 minute video that explains what they are going to be doing there.  If you like what you see consider heading over to their site (if you watch the video you will already be there) to learn more.

Cathardic Reading

Then there is something like this that allows me to breathe again:

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/zombies-show-block-westboro-baptist-church-protestors-204613653.html

News Story

In the past couple of years (let's say 3) I have grown considerably more cynical and, as a result, more extreme in my views on society (if you want to politicize it you can say more conservative).  And it is all because of stories like this one:

http://shine.yahoo.com/work-money/flash-mob-robbers-steal-3-000-chicago-store-201300319.html


Now, I know I shouldn't read this kind of stuff because, frankly, it's unhealthy for me, it truly is.  I read the title,"Flash Mob Robbers Steal $3,000 from Chicago Store. What Happened to Happy Dancing?" innocently enough as I peruse yahoo to get my daily news fix. I find myself compelled to read it totally aware that the only outcome will be a higher blood pressure and a fire in the pit of my stomach.  I read the opening paragraphs and feel an anger starting to spark in my stomach. 

The spark kindles into a small fire as I read, "They just look like regular shoppers -- until you notice that several of them are slipping off their backpacks and stuffing clothing into them."  I can see the kids frantically grabbing at $200 dollar jeans, trying to steal as many as their backpacks can hold.  Not thinking, "this is wrong," not thinking "what will my parent think?" just thinking, "more, more, more." 

The fire erupts into a full on blaze when I see "They completely overwhelmed us. I went to lock the door and there were a dozen more waiting to come in," Cho told NBC 5. "They basically pushed us aside," he added. "We were standing by the door. My staff got cuts and bruises and banged around until [the thieves] unlocked the door and got out."  I want these kids dead, I think to myself.  I want them caught, lined up, and shot.  The way you see rebels lined up in movies about civil wars in far off countries.

The fire spreads through my body as I sit and think, the majority of these kids will never be caught.  They will never learn what they did was wrong, will never feel remorse.  This will become a joke, they are sitting in someones basement or in a park laughing and toasting to having successfully stolen from some poor bastard.  Now, I'm not totally without reason, had this been food, or people found squatting in an abandoned or condemned building fine.  Times are tough.  But the fact that these kids stole JEANS, and went THROUGH the store clerks to do it.  I want them beaten, grabbed by the neck, thrown against a wall and beaten. I don't care about justice, it's overrated, I don't even want them to see the error of their ways, most never will, I want them to remember the price you pay for thinking you are smarter and better and deserve more when you are not and you don't.  I want them too see that that price is far more than $200 per pair of jeans.  Like I said, unhealthy.

Politics

I am really into politics.  The Presidential race is especially interesting to me.  It's been said that this race is about "two fundamentally different visions for America."  I agree with that.

The thing that is so exciting about the Presidential race is that it's not important for the reasons most people think it is.  I mean, if you think the economy is bad now and our country is going to shit, well I have bad news for you.  The election of Mitt Romney by itself is not going to be an automatic fix.  The same way that the election of Barack Obama in 2008 was not an automatic fix.  There are too many other factors, mainly the House of Representatives and the Senate.  Just look at Obama's jobs bills being blocked by Congress.  The reason that the Presidential race is so important is to get a candidate into office that agrees with you on the issues facing American citizens today and in the future.  The trick to deciding how to vote is just to know which candidate you agree with more.

I already know which candidate I'll be supporting in November.  But if you aren't sure of which party you should support, I'll share a story with you from my youth.

When I was little I asked my dad what the difference is between democrats and republicans.  He told me that Democrat is the party for the Have-nots, and Republican is the party for the Haves.  It doesn't always break down neatly like my father said it would, but I'd say that's a pretty good place to start.

Inspiration

It's been a long time since I posted..anything, but  you can't rush inspiration and inspired I am. I want to blog about something that has been a part of my life for a while, in fact, not just a while, but most of my life...video games.

So, I'm not exactly sure how blogs work and what is expected of a blogger - what is too long, too short, do I use multiple paragraphs or just one long block.  I'll try to answer these questions as I go, but for now, lets get into it.

So (yes I'm going with the multiple paragraph approach), recently I started playing Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.  Now, I love the game.  After having jumped on the Elder Scrolls bandwagon last year with Oblivion I'm pretty hooked.  But, while playing Skyrim (I'm about 40 - 45 hours in), I got an urge to go back and play Oblivion.  It got me thinking, why?  I mean, think about it, Skyrim looks incredible, the game-play is smoother, the interface is more intuitive, it is just a more finished and streamlined game, and, in all honestly, better in more ways than it is worse, but I can't stop thinking about the game from 4 years ago.  Then I realized something that hit me when I first played GTA IV back in college, there is something missing from a lot of newer games these days, charm.

But, what, how does a game just create charm?  How does a game lost it?  I can't tell you exactly, but I can tell you what I think and as I mentioned it started back in college when I started playing GTA IV.  Think about, think back to how much you play GTA III.  Think about how you felt the first time you hit an unsuspecting civilian with a bat, or your first shoot out with the cops.  Now compare it to those same scenarios in IV.  Now, I think we can all agree that GTA IV in pretty much every way was the better game on paper.  Better graphics, better weapons, incredibly improved gameplay, mechanics, and animations, so what the hell.  I feel those very things are what can "kill" charm.  The drive for games to be super realistic and streamlined so that they appeal to everyone has in fact ended up robbing games of the reason why we fall in love with them in the first place.

Another example, we all know how Resident Evil 4 revolutionized gaming and you would be hard pressed to find someone who would say RE 2 is the better game, but again, ask yourself, which one is more memorable? Which one really stuck with you?  For me it's RE 2, a game so scary I couldn't bring myself to play it alone until I was about 16 and even then I kept the lights on.  Another example, plenty of great computer games have come out in the past 10 years, but who among us still doesn't turn away from them from time to time and fire up some Age of Empires II? 

So, I don't know, maybe I've become a bit of an old man grumbling about "games in my day..."  All I know is I will be playing Oblivion today instead of a slew of new games.  Not because it's graphics are better, their not.  Not because it's a smoother game, it isn't, but because there is something to it that keeps me wanting more.  Something to it that makes me run around one of the main cities just clicking on boxes to see if there is a hidden gem in one.  But what do you think, am I right or is this simply sentimental nostalgic nonsense?

P.S.  A final example I know my blog partner agrees with, one word, vanilla.

AFC Predictions Revisited

Predicting teams for the playoffs is not as easy as one might think.  As I sit here fresh out of the shower the only thing more refreshing than the feel of my industrial sized fan drying my body is that I have been and continue to be right about the NFL and sports (This second part I’ll save for another day).  For the past decade I have been saying that the AFC dwarfs the NFC.  Now, I know the Saints won the Superbowl last year (A moment that I will cherish forever. In fact the only thing I enjoy more than remembering Drew “The Hurricane” Brees defeating Manning and the Colts is this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2TZQlVPvjk) But, the depth of the AFC is just staggering compared to the NFC. 

I mean I’m sitting here looking at the NY Jets’ schedule.  The NY Jets, a team that went deep into the playoffs last year; a team that has had all the attention in the offseason; and a team that has been touted as the next big thing.  I’m looking at their schedule and I am having a hard time seeing them get a winning record!!  Not because they are bad, or not even because I hate them.  The AFC is just that good.

So, with that said.  I have to approve of:
AFC North: Ravens
AFC East: Patriots
AFC South: Colts
AFC Westh: Chargers
AFC Wild Card # 1: Texans (Got to Love these underdogs.  They get their playoff hopes dashed every year but seem to come back stronger the next.)
AFC Wild Card # 2:  And as they say here is where the buck stops.  Now I don’t really know what that means but I do know that the second wild card spot will be a heated race between the Titans and the Dolphins, but the Phins will be the ones riding the wave into the playoffs while the Titans will be cast back into Hades or as this metaphor goes… Tennessee.

That is that for the football predictions.  Stay tuned for posts on Favre and other sports related topics.  Meanwhile we will need some comments on how we decide who wins in the prediction battle and what the grand prize will be.

Dave's NFL predictions 2010 (part 2 AFC)

I hate my AFC playoff predictions.  Five of the Six teams picked have a schedule in the top-12 most difficult.  Four of the Six teams made the playoffs last year.  Three of the Six are in the same division.  Mathematically and historically these predictions make almost no sense.  Story of my life.

1.)  Indianapolis Colts - I spent the better parts of the 2000's hating Peyton Manning and the Colts.  Within the past 2-3 years, I've come to enjoy their game, especially the things they can do offensively.  Even though New Orleans won the Super Bowl last year, I think this is the best team in the league.

2.)  Baltimore Ravens - A lot of people may say this is way too high for the Ravens, but I obviously disagree.  Another year of maturation for both Flacco and Rice, as well as an infusion of talented wide receivers and the presence of their top 3 defense should make this team very tough to beat.

3.)  New England Patriots - The hometown team has the 6th toughest schedule this season, which definitely plays into this ranking.  I expect the offense to perform somewhere between '07 and '09 and the defense to start forcing turnovers.

4.)  San Diego Chargers - This is the team I feel is least likely to end up in the playoffs.  Luckily for them, the AFC West is a weak division.  I think they will struggle to win the division, and could sneak into the playoffs with as few as 9 wins.  If some as of yet unknown WR can step up and be the #1 guy they could prove my doubts wrong. 

5.)  Tennessee Titans - Their season rides on the legs of Chris Johnson and Vince Young (okay, maybe Young's arm as well).  If their defense plays well I think the offense will be good enough to win 10-12 games.

6.)  Houston Texans - After flirting with the playoffs last season, the Texans will finally make it.  They have a stable of running backs, a nice mix of established and up-and-coming receivers, and a solid defense.  If they don't lose too many division games I see them beating out the Jets, Dolphins and Bengals for the final playoff spot.