Well I’m done. I earned my letters. I officially finished my BS in History Education. It was a long road, but with the help of so many of you, I have finished. I’m sorry about the delay in posting. I had made a personal vow not to post until I was finished with this semester. At any rate, I am working for Autozone again. It feels so right to be working again! More to come…..

http://filmfreakcentral.net/screenreviews/supermanreturns.htm

Ya, what he said. Actually, I don't put much stock in critics, but he put it best.

I took my stinkers to Superman Returns yesterday. Bryan Singer knows comic books. This was a beautiful movie. I loved they many, many nods to the old movies and comic books that Singer threw in. He made Superman into a mythological God. I thought it was a great film, what do you think?

I've got a lot of hand written entries to this blog that need posting. I'll begin with this one.

The Easter Bunny brought my kids the new Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I wasn't sure how this flick would turn out with Tim Burton directing. Don't get me wrong. I absolutely love Burton's movies. In fact, I don't think he has made anything that I don't like. Most especially the magnificent Pee Wee's Big Adventure. But Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? I was not so sure about this one.

I laughed my can off!

I loved this flick and thanks be to the Easter Bunny for having faith in the good Tim. Most especially I loved Missi Pyle's performance as the super shallow and over competitive Scarlet Beauregarde. She would make a great Utah valley mother, most likely from the Alpine/Highland area. Burton captured her making some of the funniest facial expressions ever.
I had a great time watching it with my kids while we ate chocolate Easter eggs.

Tell me what you think. Did you like or dislike it?

I'm back. Sorry about the wait. Finals sort of sucked the life out of me.

First off, a huge atta' boy to my little bro' Whodoggy....excuse me, Master Whodoggy.
Good job little brother and sister-in-law! They don't give away Masters Degrees at BYU and yours was hard earned and well deserved.
Well done. Onwards and upwards.

Here is something to ponder. Since I am a guitarist, I need to ask the question; what is the greatest guitar on a song you have ever heard? Notice I did not say guitar solo, but if it is a solo that is perfectly alright. My ideas of a great song change all of the time, so don't be afraid of saying something you won't agree with later. Here are my favorites at this time.

Greatest guitar solo ever (and I mean forever and ever and ever): Cult of Personality-by Living Colour specifically Vernon Reid

Honorable Mention: Guitar solo on Comfortably Numb-by Pink Floyd specifically David Gilmour

Great songs:
"Subdivisions" Rush
"Aenema" Tool
"Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love" Van Halen
"5150" Van Halen
The entire Cream reunion DVD
The entire "Rush in Rio" DVD
"Pleiades" King's X
"Papa was a Rolling Stone" The Temptations
The Messiah in a live music setting (alright, I've never experienced the Messiah live, but I know it would be awesome!)

There is good news and bad news.

There are more people reading this than I thought and that is good news.

The bad news is that I have to moderate comments now. I guess I have a case of e-growing pains. Please, don't hesitate to leave comments. Just keep in mind that they won't be published until after I read them.

I once lost an election to a card draw (weird huh!) My opponent, who incidentally turned out to be as passionate about things as I was, pulled a queen and I drew a seven. Though I had never played cards in my life, I had a fairly good idea that a queen beats a seven, but I wasn't completely sure and I wasn't about to do a victory dance or give a losers handshake. So, I waited (about 5 seconds) until the proper authorities declared me the loser. After the hoopla a journalist asked me what I was thinking after drawing a seven and I told her that I wasn't sure who had won. She exaggerated the story in the paper and voila.... instant idiot. People I don't know made fun of me and said some rather nasty things. If you know my real name go ahead and google it, there might still be residue of my 15 minutes of fame and idiocy. It is an easy thing to talk smack, especially anonymously on the internet. Unfortunately, it is the mark of a coward and has infected my tiny little blog.

So, if you're the one talking smack on my blog kindly piss off.

Legitimate gripes will be addressed, heck maybe even debated.

Self-righteous (you know who you are) insulting smack will never see the light of day.

I have been working for some time on a History Education degree at Utah Valley State College. I am a senior now and hopefully I will finish the confounded thing by this Christmas. At any rate, throughout the years I’ve grown close to a few other students and professors.

Here are a few of my instructors:

http://www.uvsc.edu/profpages/view.cfm?user=10001329 Meet Professor Snedegar, or as he prefers Keith. This is my all time favorite professor. He teaches in what I call “English lecture.” When I am in his class I feel like I am at a prestigious university in a far off land. His knowledge is a mile wide and a mile deep.

http://www.uvsc.edu/profpages/view.cfm?user=10008272 This old guy is a walking legend on campus. He only speaks 15 or so languages and has forgotten more history than I’ll ever learn. If you have the opportunity to be confused in his classes for a semester, consider yourself blessed.

http://www.uvsc.edu/profpages/view.cfm?user=10001727 The ever controversial Professor Bennett. She will pull the rug out from under you and then make you remember why. Her class was an immense challenge and a grand learning experience.

http://www.uvsc.edu/profpages/view.cfm?user=10001426 If you think I’m a crappy writer now you should read the crap I wrote before Kat Brown’s grueling class. She IS the teacher who teaches history majors to write at UVSC. She has a biting, sarcastic wit that makes her classes fun and educational. Plus, and a big plus it is, she is a lot cuter than Alex Stecker.

I could not find a web page for the best adjunct professor in UVSC’s arsenal; Rick Fish. This guy is hardcore! He came from professional history so you know he knows his stuff. The fact that he is adjunct speaks volumes for the antiquated snobbery found at universities. Fools, asses, petty administrators, this man is the exception to your bourgeoisie zealousness (how is that for low-class professor speak). It is a downright travesty that he is still adjunct. For those of you responsible for this injustice….screw you! A pox on you and your stupid ways.

There is nothing like the idiocy of academia.

There are a lot of students who are doing history as a jump to law school. And most don’t really carry a passion for the discipline. There are also those that think that history is an easy route to a degree. Most are usually weeded out even before any sort of official matriculation. There are a few who are assuredly headed for scholarly greatness.

Of all the friends I’ve made (that includes you Darrin) and professors I’ve learned from, there is no one I admire more than David Ssejinja. David is a man living for something worthy. He has what I believe is a quality of life that most never even glimpse. In class David is mostly quiet, except when there is laughter. And his laughter is loud and infectious! His comments are intelligent and usually put a different spin on things (which is very important in the discipline of history). David hails from Uganda and is committed to helping the disadvantage people of his country through his foundation.

http://www.ssejinja.org/

I know David personally and he is trustworthy. His foundation gives in clear and practical ways. So, please give 'til it hurts.

I just found out more fantastic family news. In our family there are two accountants, one is Whodoggy who was mentioned in my last post, and the other is T-Dawg. After talking to the original Voodoo it seems that T-Dawg is now gainfully employed in the profession of his schooling! Well done Little brother!! You make me proud T-Dawg. You've had to be tenacious to get where you are and I admire and respect you for it. Take care of the little Dawg.

It seems that most of my family is beating me to a career field ;)

I would just like to say congrats to my brother Whodoggy. He was accepted into UNC's doctoral program. This was no easy accomplishment and taxed his family and him mightily. Well done. And........well done to Mrs. Whodoggy. One can't do the things one needs to do without the support of their sposa. I am proud of both of you and look to your future with a bright hope.

I'm back and some sort of treatise is in order.

So, I survived a grueling semester of Hell on Earth. The longer I stay in school the more I think that its purpose is to serve as society's weed wacker and to relegate the masses into packaged classes. Oh, and it is also to give jobs to the otherwise useless, mainly professors.

Most of you know that I am a History Education major at Utah Valley State College. All of the live long day I've been attending education courses and listening to my peers. They say cute little things like, "Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." That is the famous line by George Santayana, and those of us in the history profession like to chant it like cult members.

If you believe this you are naive.

For the common man this idea has no bearing on reality. Let's face it, we won' t grow up to be rock stars, el presidente, a CEO, a congressman, or anything like that. Even if you were one of these stellars folks, you would be surrounded by people whose job would be to know and advise you about history. As for you and I and all the good proletariats out there......well history can be entertaining. Like Pearl Harbor the movie.

The reason history is so very important is because it is all about critically thinking! It is about the ebbs and flows of cultures and especially migrations (versus conquerage). A great deal of history is about flooding yourself with different points of view. It is about studying details and making some sort of educated statement. It is most definitely not about the History Channel or Saving Private Ryan. Those things are entertainment based upon history. History is not facts and dates. It is about ideas and eras and how they connect.

So, I guess that one could say that history has a cycle and I would say that it does and it will never be broken....... Even by cute sayings.

If you disagree with me, that's OK. But, I invite you to check your premises.