A friend recently informed me of a Texas-sized garbage patch that is floating in the Pacific Ocean. I didn't believe him and had to research it for myself. Turns out that there is a garbage patch in the Pacific Ocean approximately 1000 miles West of California that is a result of global pollution and oceanic currents. The garbage pile is mostly made up of plastic and other items and is in fact estimated to be larger than the state of Texas.

While this garbage patch is tough to measure because much of it is below the surface and because the patch is constantly moving, it is known to be very large and deep.

For additional information, I found the following helpful articles. I think its safe to say Im going to reduce the amount of plastic I use.

References and Additional Information

http://www.mindfully.org/Plastic/Ocean/Pacific-Garbage-Patch30oct07.htm

http://axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/Article_55957.shtml

Well as everyone knows, everyone is freaking out about swine flu. No one in the US has died from it yet, but this is a huge problem. :-) Forget the thousands of people who die a year from the regular flu, yet we arent freaking out about that. Also, are there any symptoms of swine flu that arent symptoms of regular flu? If so I havent heard of any.

Anyway, as with anything, group think and panic are all dangerous things to participate in.

Ron Paul addresses a time in the past when Americans were scared of swine flu, and the measures to stop it ended up killing more people than the swine flu itself.

Also, for more information on whether or not you have been infected with swine flu, please visit the following informational Web site.


Do I Have Swine Flu???

Jacob "Emo" Moritz, or Emo's grave is located in the Salt Lake City Cemetery in Salt Lake City, Utah. Emo's grave is talked about as one of the creepiest places to visit in all of Salt Lake City. The grave joins the ranks with Sidewalks, Shilo Inn, Salt Lake's underground tunnels, Old Mill, Capitol Theatre, and The Webster School.

The memorial stands several feet tall and is located inside a small courtyard. The stone monument has a door on the front of it that has a window. Through the window, pieces of a broken vase or urn can be seen. The grave is located on the south side of the cemetery just east of P street in the Avenues.

The story going around my high school back in the day was that Jacob "Emo" Moritz was the first devil worshiper in Utah and that the local residents burned him at the stake. His ashes were then placed in an urn and stored inside the window on the front of the grave. (I know, the fire most likely could not have been hot enough to turn his bone to ashes, but who cares, its a good ghost story). Rumor was that if you walked around his grave three times while chanting "Emo, Emo, Emo" that the face of Jacob Moritz would appear inside the window on the front of the grave.

The true story is that Jacob Moritz was a Jewish beer brewer who founded the Salt Lake Brewing Company. While on a trip to Germany, he fell ill, died, and was buried in Germany. His family and friends erected the memorial in the Salt Lake City cemetery to honor his life and to remember him. The urn inside the memorial was likely not an urn for ashes, but instead, a vase used for flowers.

As for my past experiences with Emmo's grave, I would say there is definitely a creepy feeling when visiting the grave, but I get a creepy feeling visiting any graveyard after dark. I have never tried the chant.

Yesterday was Redbox free movie rental day, so I decided to pick up a movie on the way home. 21 seemed like it would be a good movie, so a few touch screens later, I had the movie.
Well I will save you the drawn out review of the show, no matter how hard I try, I will not be able to make an interesting review about such a boring movie.
Summary: Don't watch 21. It is 2 hours of your life that you will never get back.

Recently I was reading in a book that mentioned the Lascaux caves and I was intrigued.

The Lascaux caves are located near the village of Montignac near central France and contain some of the earliest known works of art. These cave paintings are estimated to be between 15,000 and 17,000 years old (the Paleolithic age).

Paintings depict animals that existed at the time (confirmed by fossil findings) and even show what appears to be the chasing and capture of a heard of bison.

Matchbox Twenty was in Salt Lake City, Utah on Thursday night March 6, 2008, and played at the E-Center. It was an incredible concert and Rob Thomas just did spectacular. Mute Math opened for them along with Alanis Morissette. The opening song for Matchbox Twenty was How Far We've Come. Other songs played include: Back to Good, Bent, Push (Encore), Downfall, Long Day, If You're Gone, Hang, Disease, Unwell, Hand Me Down. Various other songs were played, but I can't recall them all right now.

For all pictures, click here: Rob Thomas

"Look to the underlying cause, stripped of appearances; into the intention behind your actions; and at the true nature of pain, pleasure, death, and fame. See how you manufacture your own discontent; how no one hinders you but yourself; how everything depends on your view of it." -- Marcus Aurelius, The Emperor’s Handbook

So True!

My random thought/question of the day is....How do you water a carnivorous plant???

Its like trying to clean a store when the burglar alarm is on.

I could also apply many references and analogies regarding how to keep project managers at an advertising agency happy, but I wont. :)

The season is soon to be upon us. Tennis season, if you live in Australia, is here. If you dont live in Australia, you know that tennis season is soon to come. If you live where I live, this means the cold cold winter is on its way out, and that the days are getting progressively longer. It wont be long before Im in the park at 8pm playing tennis in 80 degree weather while the sun goes down. And for someone who just shoveled two feet of snow off of their driveway, this is a really nice thought!

I was perusing one of my friends blogs and came across this picture that made me laugh and laugh. Had to share! Thanks Casey Rae!

Well its that time again. Time to elect a new POTUS (President of the United States) and I cant wait. I love all of the hype surrounding the presidential elections and this time around it looks like things are going to get interesting.

Three months ago, the shoe-in nominees were HRC for the Dems and Rudy for the Republicans; how things have changed. The Republican race has turned into a total free-for-all and the Democratic race has completely morphed into something somewhat unexpected.

Having witnessed another Iowa caucus this evening, and the official kick-off of the presidential elections, I have to hand out some compliments:

1) to Iowa, for shaking it up and showing why they are the state to be reckoned with
2) to the religious right for showing that they still have some muscle to flex
3) to McCain for actually showing that he still has a pulse
4) again to Iowa for again showing that they can't be bought

I look forward to another election year full of back-stabbing, lies, and political rhetoric. May the best candidate win!

This is a picture of the tunnel remnants from the City and County Building. These used to be full size tunnels, but when the City and County Building was raised off the ground to provide for earthquake "bumpers", these tunnels came out of the basement and to the ground level and were filled in with cement. The actual tunnel entrances are still viewable from the newly created crawl space under the City and County Building. They however have been sealed. These are not the tunnels that used to go to the jail, but supposedly are the tunnels that go North towards Temple Square. There appeared to be as many as seven different tunnels. At least one was likely a steam tunnel. No one seems to know what the rest were for.

I was on a tunnel kick there for a while and went around exploring what tunnels I could find in the Salt Lake Valley. A pretty popular tunnel is the old (early 1900s) tunnel that runs from the City and County building across the street to the new County library. (Photo above) The library was built where the old county jail used to be. This tunnel was used to safely transport convicted criminals from the courts in the City and County building across the street to the jail. I believe they used it for utilities and such as well. They have replaced this tunnel with a new cement tunnel that still goes across the street, but is far less creepy.

Other tunnels include the tunnels connecting the Boston and Newhouse buildings as well as the Commercial Club and the Exchange. Most of these were steam tunnels but were supposedly used for various other things. The entire court between the Boston and the Newhouse buildings is essentially hollow below. There is a bank vault, tunnels, and storage rooms all under the sidewalk. Back before the tunnels were sealed or caved in, every building in the area was connected with tunnels and one could freely walk from building to building using the tunnels.

There used to be tunnels running up state street from the City and County building up towards temple square. One used to run under the Alpha graphics building before it was redone. Remnants of the tunnels from the city and county building that go south can still be seen, but they are sealed.

I haven’t done as much research as some and I still have to say, I could go on forever with all of the tunnels that are spread out across the Salt Lake Valley. This is not including all of the church tunnels or all of the tunnels underneath the capital.

For more pictures of various Salt Lake City tunnels, CLICK HERE

New meets old in this refurbished tunnel underneath the City and County Building. This tunnel is what accesses some of the old tunnels as well as the new tunnels connecting the C&C Building to the County Library.

This is what the entrance looks like into what I call the "Prisoner" tunnel. This tunnel was used to transport prisoners from the City and County Building (the old courts) to the old jail (now the public library) I suppose it had various other uses, but everyone I have asked about it mentions the prisoners.