As it turns out, modes of expression are the "in" thing to censor right now. That’s right, a bunch of stupid politicians want to ban the sale of violent video games. Silly politicians.

According to aforesaid article on 1up, those silly Lousisianians are still trying to ban video games. I thought they had more important things to worry about than a possible break-out of independent thought.

Apparently, a judge from the state ruled against a bill approved by the state’s governor, but the politicians are preparing for round 2, seeking a quick, merciless K.O. Mike Michot, a senator from Lousiana, which, like most other states, has two senators (okay, they all have two), was interviewd on radio about the situation. He had the following to say:

"They [the videogame industry] feel like we are trying to stop the sale of these videos and in fact we are. It’s the least we could do."¹

Unfortunately, Mr. Michot forgot about one other alternative requiring very little effort: he can find something better to do. For instance, where is the crusade against violence in movies? Or, how about violence on television? Better yet, books can be pretty violent.

Yeah, let’s burn some books.

In summary, Mr. Michot, wake up. Even news media are violent, but I don’t see you leading a crusade to censor them. Hearing about this terrible game called Grand Theft Auto that let’s one kill hookers doesn’t give you the duty to ban any video games. If you want to protect your kids, don’t let them buy the ESRB-rated (M for Mature or AO for Adults Only in some cases) Grand Theft Auto, but don’t start telling people what they can and cannot play.

¹Quotation from Louisiana Senator Defends Bill.

Well, it’s July 1, and you know that that means.

Okay, well, you don’t, so I will tell you what July 1 means. It is the first day on which high school students who took AP exams in the past year can receive their AP scores. This is, of course, for a fee of $8, but I felt the fee was acceptable this time around, as I took three AP exams this year.

I’m feeling so-so about my AP scores. I’m glad that I didn’t get anything below a three, but I thought I would have done better on the English Literature exam. As far as Physics, I did as good as or better than I thought I would have done. Regarding US Government, I am elated about that score.

Oh, the scores; you want to know what my actual scores where? Well, I got a five on the US Government exam, and threes on the Physics and English Literature exams. Also, I got a four on the US History exam, which I took Junior year.

So, as far as college goes, I should receive credit for three classes (everything but Physics). I don’t know what will happen with the Physics exam (if I will get anything for getting a three on it), since RIT requires a four of five to be exempt from classes in your major.

Those experienced with the AP system will also now there is an award system in place. Actually, the award system includes no material awards (only if you don’t count the certificate). Regardless, I am happy to say that I am an AP Scholar with Honor. I could have been one with distinction, but I did not take enough exams to qualify for that level.

In summary, go kids with parents who don’t hold college degrees!

If the code is showing in this post, please ignore it for now. I’m tring to fix the admin control panel. Sorry about any inconveniences.

This post is about how movie theatres work. At movie theatres, a "week" starts on Friday and ends on Thursday. This is because new movies generally come out on Fridays. And, usually, which movies are playing and when they are playing during the next week are not made available to employees until that week arrives. Understanding this, let’s look at the conversation I had with a pair of customers yesterday.

The couple was about in the age range of 55-65. They came in and the lady asked to if she could find out the showtimes for Cars for Friday and Saturday. Knowing that the sheet with showtimes for the next week the manager puts behind the concession stand had already been taken away (he only leaves it there for one day until the actual week comes), I told them since Friday and Saturday are part of a new week, I don’t know exactly when the showtimes will be. The looked at and responded to me like I was stupid. "A new week?" "Well, our week starts on Friday and ends on Thursday," [Laughs of disdain]. Then the couple remarked, "Ridiculous".

Next, I told them that the showtimes will probably be very similar to this week, with shows every hours and at least seven to eight shows per day. With that statement I practically told them when the showtimes were. Then the man remarked, "What about at night?" I told him during the night as well, but if you don’t consider the evening part of the day, then of what is it a part? The they asked a couple times if there was a number to call, which there’s not, because our message only tells the person calling the showtimes for the current week. Then they walked out pissed.

I didn’t know for sure when the showtimes would be, but I more or less told them when I said it would be similar to this week. If you’re going to be unagreeable, stay home. Oh, and take your wet napkins out of the cup-holders.

P.S. We also do not control what is in fandango (or other sites) and in the newspapers (well, we tell the newspapers the right stuff, but occasionally there are typos).

1. Too many guys (should be none),
2. People scare me.

And those are the two reasons why MySpace is stupid!

Regarding some actual news, information, or semi-intelligent thoughts, for those who do not already know, I am going to RIT. That’s about all I know. There is a dual degree program available for computer engineering, and as far as I know, I am not in it. I would like to be, but i do not know how to be in it. I hope I can still be in it.

I’ve been working a lot lately. Today I popped around 40-50 very large bags of popcorn (maybe more, probably not less). These bags are large (very large). For those who are popcorn cooking virgins, the act is not a calm one. At only two points in the entire 210 minute process did I have chances to rest. Those chances were short-lived (about 20 seconds each). It was insane. I was supposed to work tomorrow, but someone switched with me so I can play baseball. The game better not be cancelled. Since I am no longer working Friday, I work for a total of 30.5 hours this upcoming week. I want money: large amounts of money.

Here is a special piece of information to those who are lucky enough to live in Buffalo and read this site within the next nine hours: Jerry Seinfeld will be at the Dipson Theatres in the McKinley Mall for a private screening of Prairie Home Companion at 10:30 AM. Get out your cameras, ’cause Jerry’s coming to see a movie!

To reiterate, it will really suck if baseball is cancelled tomorrow. I need money, and I better not be passing up a chance to make money for no reason.

The other night I began reading The Automatic Millionaire by David Bach. I did so after being convinced by Vicki that I should read the book before I try to invest my millions (Whoops, paradox alert: if I truly had millions, why would I bother reading The Automatic Millionaire?). So I read the first chapter about the author David Bach’s meeting with the automatic millionaire, one of his students (who was thirty years older than Bach; the teacher has become the student, apparently). This is when I realized that the only concept the book relies on is a farce.

Before I continue any further, let’s discuss the point of Millionaire for those who are unfamiliar with the work. Bach’s "one-step plan" is actually a series of steps toward becoming a millionaire in the very distant future and retiring early (the millionaire Bach meets with retires in his early fifties). The first step of one total step is to take your money and start paying off debt early (mortgages, etc.). The second step out of one is to stop amassing debt. The third and final step of the one-step plan is to cut down on how much you spend on worthless, over-valued things and save more money (while not necessarily taking in more money). These steps are great and I really like how Bach emphasizes that people need to save more (instead of making 50% more but spending 100% more), but I have yet to find an irrefutable reason to follow Bach’s three-step one-step method. I also disagree with Bach’s mathematical system, in which any combination of numbers adds up to one.

Here is my problem with Bach’s plan. Becoming an automatic millionaire relies on being niggardly and cheap for the young, fun, vivacious part of one’s life in exchange for having all the time and money in the world when one is old! In addition, there’s no guarantee that one will even live long enough to ever become a millionaire. Hence, Bach’s plan has a very high chance of failure in that if one dies before retirement, he fails. His plan is rooted in living a "now" that, although possibly acceptable, is limited all for the sake of achieving a "then" that probably will not even be that great if it ever comes.

For those who don’t grasp what I am saying, most likely because I am horible at explaining things, I’ll use an analogy. Bach’s plan, applied to sports, would imply that one should spend the majority of his life training and building the skills necessary to be succesful and then only actually competing in the sport when one is around the age of 50. Sure, one will have a lot of talent, but at some point the body starts to age and becomes unreliable. All the talent and resources in the world mean nothing once one can’t move due to a broken hip! This is what Bach’s plan is: save money for the entirety of life before retirement. The problem here is clear: no one knows if they will even reach retirement and if that point is reached, what about all the times one was required to limit himself when he was still young and sprightly?

The root of the problem is simple and omnipresent: People die. It happens. And Bach says to forget about that inevitability and assume that "it won’t happen to you; you’re exempt from everything in the world that seeks to destroy life." My feeling is that people need to accept the inevitability of mortality and live in the present. Spend today, buy a latte; it won’t make you evil or poor. Plan for the future but don’t let the prospects of consequences ruin what you have or can have now.