The last days of a bad guy.

On the 28th of April, 1945, Hitler discovered that SS leader Heinrich Himmler was trying to discuss surrender terms with the Allies. Hitler ordered Himmler's arrest and had Himmler's representative in Berlin Hermann Fegelein shot.

During the night of 28 April, General Wenck reported that his Twelfth Army had been forced back along the entire front. Wenck noted that no further attacks towards Berlin were possible. General Alfred Jodl (Supreme Army Command) did not provide this information to Hans Krebs in Berlin until early in the morning of 30 April.

On 29 April, Hans Krebs, Wilhelm Burgdorf, Joseph Goebbels, and Martin Bormann witnessed and signed the last will and testament of Adolf Hitler. Hitler dictated the document to his private secretary, Traudl Junge. Hitler was also that day informed of the violent death of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini on 28 April, which is presumed to have increased his determination to avoid capture.

On 30 April 1945, after intense street-to-street combat, when Soviet troops were within a block or two of the Reich Chancellory, Hitler committed suicide, shooting himself while simultaneously biting into a cyanide capsule. Hitler's body and that of Eva Braun (his mistress whom he had married the day before) were put in a bomb crater, doused in gasoline by Otto Günsche and other Führerbunker aides, and set alight as the Red Army advanced and shelling continued. Hitler also poisoned his dog Blondi to test the poison he and Eva Braun were going to take.

Those were the last three days of Hitler's life.

I wonder, if at any time, did he think to himself, "Maybe this was not the way to go?"

I have to think that for however evil a man is, there's gotta be a moment of questioning, it's only human. But maybe I've answered my own question. He wasn't human. He walked, talked, and shat as a human, but his humanity left him a long time before the bite into a cyanide pill.

Here's what I find hilarious, though. Hitler's whole concept of racial hygiene was based on the ideas of Joseph Arthur Comte de Gobineau, who became famous for developing the racialist theory of the Aryan master race.

Now here begins the irony. His father was a government official and staunch royalist, his mother, Anne-Louise Magdeleine de Gercy, was the daughter of a royal tax official and a Creole woman from Santo Domingo. When he was fourteen his mother eloped with another man and brought Josef with her to Switzerland for a few years. It was in Switzerland that he began his interest in Orientalism.

Obviously this was the catalyst of his hatred towards other races. He came to believe that race created culture, arguing that distinctions between the three "black", "white", and "yellow" races were natural barriers, and that "race-mixing" breaks those barriers and leads to chaos.

Gobineau believed the white race was superior to the others. He thought it corresponded to the ancient Indo-European culture, also known as "Aryan"(Indo-Iranian race). Gobineau originally wrote that white race miscegenation was inevitable. He attributed much of the economic turmoils in France to pollution of races. Later on in his life, he altered his opinion to believe that the white race could be saved.

Here's the kicker. Gobineau saw Jews as intelligent people who were very much a part of the superior race and who, if anything, stimulated industry and culture.

Hitler and Nazism borrowed much of Gobineau's ideology, though Gobineau himself was not particularly anti-Semitic. When the Nazis adopted Gobineau's theories, they were forced to edit his work extensively to make it conform to their views, much as they did in the case of Nietzsche.

So a guy, who was part Jewish himself, decides to base his ideology of hatred and murder, on another guy who actually includes Jews in the superior race demographic.

Nothing about Hitler screams winner. Hell, even at the end of his life, he had to kill a woman and dog, he just couldn't be man enough to end it on his own.

The world is better off without him. 63 years ago today, the world got a little less evil. The only good thing he did.

5:30am...

It's such a transitionary time for me. On one hand, it's hours since I should have been asleep, and on the other, it's nearly hours before people have to get up.

If I'm awake it means that I've either been writing and didn't realize the time to stop. Or, I tried to go to sleep early, but I'm so used to waking up at this hour, my body's an idiot.

I love the smell of very early morning, merely an hour before the sun starts to warm things up. Of course I'm heading right to bed after this post. It's just such an interesting feeling to be up at this time.

Mind me not, I'm off to sleep.

Goodbye, Arthur.

Clarke's 3 laws of prediction are as follows...

1. When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.
2. The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.
3. Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

After writing the second and third laws, Arthur said, "As three laws were good enough for Newton, I have modestly decided to stop there."


It was Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World that introduced me to the man. True I watched 2001: A Space Odyssey when I was a kid (didn't understand it then, obviously), but it was Mysterious World that captivated me. I've always had a love for sci-fi, but it was Clarke's shows that cemented my love for the sci, not just the fi.

Arthur had a way of showing the optimistic side of science in the future, as opposed to the bleak, dismal downfall of humanity. The way Arthur talked about technology, space, and the human ability to explore wonders in themselves and beyond always gave me hope, even to this day, that humanity with all of its flaws, can overcome their ignorance on the precipice of their destruction and salvation.

I could go into his contributions to the world, but if you don't know, look it up. It's worth to know what the man has done. Instead, I'd like to take a moment here and recognize that the World has become some degree dumber and less creative, now that Arthur has passed away.

On his 90th Birthday video, Arthur quotes Rudyard Kipling for what he would most like to be remembered for.

If I have given you delight
By aught that I have done,
Let me lie quiet in that night
Which shall be yours anon:
And for that little, little span
The dead are borne in mind
Seek not to question other than
The books I leave behind.

From the man who said, "Life is just one big banana. Science fiction allows us all to peel open the reality and discover the yellow truth inside." Believe us Arthur, you will be remembered for the writer that you are.

In his 1999 revision of Profiles of the Future, published in London by Indigo, Clarke added his Fourth Law: "For every expert there is an equal and opposite expert."

That's one more than Newton, Arthur. Which conveniently fits into the second law. I promise you, Sir, the few of us who know, will continue to push forward, and we'll do our best to make each orbit around the Sun count.

Thank you, Sir Arthur C. Clarke, for 90 amazing orbits. You will be missed.

Pen Mightier Than The Sword... Fear The PenSword!

This new year has been abuzz with the doings going on. It's been great so far, and the new script is coming along very nicely.

I've been doing a whole lot of reading lately, and not just comic books and literary work of yesteryear, but I've ventured into contemporary writers of today.

Now I've never been a fan of contemporary writers, specifically books of fiction. I just never really felt they've been able to grasp what classical writers were so adept at doing. Masters of the English language, as opposed to the pow, bam, and kablammos that most of these new guys tend to heavily rely on.

A snobbish point of view? Possibly. But I've asked people to show me evidence to the contrary. And so they have.

Recently read Stardust. Thought it was incredibly well written and a very interesting take on the typical fairy tale that we're used to. Personally I think the fact that Neil Gaiman is a comic book writer put him in a unique category, but it does indeed instill some piece of mind for me to think that the art isn't lost.

Of course, it's no Lord of The Rings. But then again, will anything ever be?

Toy Story.

I remember watching Robin Williams' "Toys" with my little brother. I can guarantee you, years later no one would have figured that he'd open up his own toy store.

Grand Opening is this weekend. I wish him the best, and can't wait to check it out for myself.

It's the little things...

We've heard the saying so many times, but I really think we overlook this very powerful statement.

In life, it's the little things that get you through the day, that make you sit up and realize, "Good God, it's great to be alive."

I've got a girl (that in of itself is something to be excited about), she loves me, she's awesome, and she goes and gets a xbox 360 so that she can play with me.

Yeah, she's uber awesome.

I make no promise...

Before sunset on the eve of Yom Kippur the following words are repeated.

All personal vows we are likely to make, all personal oaths and pledges we are likely to take between this Yom Kippur and the next Yom Kippur, we publicly renounce. Let them all be relinquished and abandoned, null and void, neither firm nor established. Let our personal vows, pledges and oaths be considered neither vows nor pledges nor oaths.

The readiness into how people make promises and the ease that it has become to break them has truly tarnished the luster of what it is to promise something to someone.

So on this New Year's Eve, I make no promise or pledge. My words will stand as they are. No greater or worse. May I live up to them.

Have a good one folks.

Three Jews, A Priest, A Muslim, and a Latin Guy...

I got up today, and I went back to the past. I grabbed Jesus of Nazareth, Nicholas of Myra, Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allāh, Abraham, and Moses. I gave them all pills so that they could talk and understand each other, and they introduced themselves. After introductions were made, Nicholas begins to praise Jesus, while Jesus, Moses, and Muhammad began to praise Abraham, while Abraham stood their a bit confused.

After the novelties wore off, they asked who I was, I told them I was the one who brought them all there. When they asked why, I told them what each was responsible for.

They were taken aback, with Abraham being the only one to say, "I was just doing what God told me to."

As much as they were saddened by the fallout of their deeds, there begins talk of changing their methods, creating clear outlines that could not be misconstrued, that there be 'no factions' in the faiths.

I calmed them down, and said it wouldn't matter. Said that people are gonna believe and interpret it no matter what they said or did.

They asked again what the point was for me to bring them all their, and I told them how important the December month became to all the faiths, fictional or not. They all began to wish Jesus a Happy Birthday, but Jesus tried to tell them that it wasn't for several months, but a good chuckle was had by all.

I told them, that I brought them there to ask them one question, piousness aside, if they could. What is the one thing they'd like to convey to all of you, as one human being to another. It didn't take them long to respond.

Afterwards, we watched Tron, The Incredibles, while Muhammad read The Watchmen, and Nicholas and I played some Halo.

Subsequently, I accidentally made additions to History that I have to share with you. Because of Tron, Moses said he followed a column of fire in the desert, because of The Incredibles, Jesus walked on water, because Muhammad loved The Watchmen comic especially the Walter Kovacs character, he thought it'd be funny if he didn't show his face in any pics of himself. Because of Halo, Nicholas began to tell tales of his flying sled. And Abraham, well, he gave James Hetfield a run for his money when he belted out Enter Sandman on Rock Band.

All in all, they had a great time. And here unto you good people, I relay the message they unanimously came to terms to say.

"The world may seem a cynical, horrible, and at times ultimately miserable place. But it isn't. There's love in each one of you, all you have to do is look. We know that old voices from your past may sound like just regurgitated anecdotes, but please, believe us, we meant nothing but good for our fellow man. And seeing how much of an impact we have made, both bad and good, we ask that you do not forget the basest of messages that we have tried to convey.

You are loved. Take care of each other, for you are all that you have."

Happy Holidays, guys.

Here's a little Christmas spirit for Mars' Spirit.

Two rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, landed on Mars in January 2003, and have been operating more than 15 times longer than originally planned.

What we've learned from these little guys about Mars has been indispensable. Now, the rover Spirit is battling time to get itself in position to survive the Martian winter.

Spirit has about two weeks left to reach a sun-facing slope on the northern edge of a plateau known as Home Plate in Gusev Crater. So much dust blankets its solar panels however, that the rover needs to spend a day charging its batteries just to crawl for an hour, project manager John Callas said during a briefing at the American Geophysical Union conference in San Francisco this week.

Global dust storms swept over the planet for two months earlier this year, blotting out 99.5 percent of the direct sunlight. The rovers survived the storms, but Spirit is so coated with debris that its solar power panels are operating at 42 percent of their original capacity.

"It's almost camouflaged. There's so much dust on the arrays," Callas said.

Even if Spirit reaches its winter resting spot, surviving its third Martian winter will be tough, Callas said. Engineers estimate Spirit's power levels will be reduced to 30 percent -- about what is needed just to keep its equipment from freezing.

Spirit had 50 percent power during the last winter and 70 percent during its first winter on Mars.

No matter what Spirit's fate may be, there is no doubt, that when we finally get Man to Mars, the little guy will be dusted off, and will get its ride back home.

Hang tough bud.

There she grows!!!

I'd like to share something with the very few who read this.

This is an image that researchers used multibeam sonar to compile a topographic map of a portion of the East Pacific Rise where undersea volcanic eruptions were caught on camera. The black line shows the extent of the eruption. The new lava flow stretched more than 11 miles long and up to 2 miles wide. At the northern end of the eruption, lava poured from a fissure 2,000 feet away from the ridge crest, a process that has been thought to occur, but never observed.

What's it mean? Well, look at it. The red part is the lava that has come up to the surface and solidified through the spread. It's new land. Take notice on either side of the line. Looks like ridges no? That's where the lava has come up before and solidified every time the Earth spreads open.

But wait! Why isn't one part going up, and the other going down, as science has said to us for far too long now? Where's the evidence of bumping continents? Cause continents don't bump together!

Earth grows folks. What you see in that pic, is new skin. The world grows like you grow and I grow. This is proof.

Yet you won't hear any scientist tell you this. Why? Cause it would mean all science would have to change.

But take it in. They're telling you that they are now seeing it for the first time with their own eyes. And now, so can you.

This is what you shall do...

Go, right now. And tell someone, anyone, that you're thankful for them or something they did. The tougher it is, the harder it is for you to say it to that person, the better.

Why do this?

Why not? What does it cost you? Whatever you think it is, I can guarantee you that that small gesture is worth so much more than your silly little pride.

Time flies, it also crawls, but it doesn't lambada.

My nephew turned a year old last week. Can't believe it's been a year since I was at the hospital holding the little guy. The say a watched pot never boils. They neglect to say that while you're staring at that pot, the world doesn't bother to join you to watch, and whizzes right by you.

I spent the year learning, a lot. And year's end brings so much change to my life. Time's been kind. As harsh as life can get, Time does indeed heal.

Great things are happening. In time, I will share with you all.

Always Learning

One of the best things about being with someone, is that if you do it right. You'll never know them completely. You'll always learn something new about them for the rest of your life.

Good or bad. Happy or sad. Learning the truths about someone isn't always a sunshine moment, but it is an intimate one nonetheless. The fact that the person let's down their guard enough for you to come in. That you've earned their trust that much that they'll let you hurt them (not that you would).

That's a beautiful thing.

Learn, everyday from that beautiful person you're with. And take a moment to recognize it. You'll appreciate your station in life a whole lot more.

Take two Christmas' and call me at New Year's.

I guess we slowly saw it coming. Every year, since I was a kid. People started to prepare for Christmas just another day earlier. I used to think before December was too soon.

Now, I've been hearing talks about it for the last two weeks. It's fucking October! I love Halloween. Where the fuck do people get off. Hell, I love Thanksgiving (not the celebration of a bunch of natives getting killed, but the food part).

What exactly is the hurry? December 25th doesn't come in faster. People love Christmas, I myself do, as well. Maybe it's a sign of the times? People want to feel better. I guess they want to feel better sooner. Kinda sad really.


Slow it down folks. Here's something to celebrate. It's the Full Moon tonight. The skies have been clear as hell here in San Francisco. Go out tonight, and look up at that beautiful rock in the sky. Enjoy it, it's getting further and further away every year. It won't be the same for your kids. You can tell them how 'back in your day' the moon looked very differently (kinda, won't change much, but still).

And Now...

For your enjoyment...

Here's 50 words.

A look, a glance.
A deep breath, skin goes tingly.
Body goes tight, lips go wet.
An impact, a force.
A penetration, an explosion.
Tastes of sweetness, flesh like silk.
A sigh, a moan.
A grab, a swallow.
Eyes meet with one another, fluids exchange.
A collapse, A relax.
Ecstasy.

That which binds us all...

The human body produces electricity. This you know. But it's not one or any single organ that produces the electricity. The cells themselves produce electricity. Like the way electricity is produced in your house. However not in the same manner. What we know as electricity that runs through, well everything, flows through electrons. The electricity in our cells flow through Ions (Chemistry 101, ions are atoms or molecules that have an electric charge because they have either lost or gained electrons). The cells generate "potential energy" by separating electrical changes. That means the energy used to separate them will be released if they come back together. That released energy is called "voltage."

The difference between the outside charge and the inside charge of a cell (what's called the "resting potential") is about 50 millivolts. That's 50 x 1/1000 of a volt. Compare that to a little AAA flashlight battery, which has 1.5 volts. Not much, right? But, add up the electricity generated by all the trillions of cells in the body and what you get is enough to light a 40 watt light bulb.

Now, think Superman here. Just like Superman, are bodies are fed by the sun. Alter the amount of energy, or the frequency that we radiate in sync with...

What do you think happens? Cancer? Most likely, for that's all cancer really is, a continuous growth of white blood cells. But only because it's a shock to the cells, they don't have time to adapt.

And adaptation is what humans do best. We don't have claws, we can't fly, and we don't have sharp teeth. But, we do adapt. Our cells will do the same. But to what outcome? Imagine if our cells would adapt to contain more energy. The potential for human development is truly limitless.

It boggles the mind...

The steps that someone will take to sabotage themselves. To strip away their own happiness, because they're afraid of living life.

They'll push away the ones they love, they'll block them from reading anything personal about them, they'll say mean things. All because of fear.

Life's way too short. All I can say to them, is that we love you still. That's what loved ones do. We just hope you can come to terms with your fears.

Behind Green Eyes...

Pete Townshend did his version. This is mine.

Behind Green Eyes

It was the light that fooled them all, and you,
A reflection at the right angle, it wasn't true.
Or it was at that moment, so it may seem,
But rarely is it there; the joy in that gleam.
An ocean lies behind these eyes,
One that I'm afraid will never run dry.
The beauty of the world passes through these emerald lenses,
The images can distort and overwhelm my senses.
I try and strain to see the love of this life,
But the pain and sorrow create so much strife.
I close my eyes but the memory stays,
Linger no longer, let the hells be away.
And then, when the world I do not want to brave,
When I can no longer take the barrage of each wave.
The floodgates burst open and wide,
And the tears flow free behind green eyes.
To my relief, they wash away the prism,
That has kept me only seeing through the bars of this prison.
And when empty and clear I can finally see,
The love that I have searched, right before me.
Skewed was my vision, I was blind,
How did I miss this world sublime?
And from my eyes, something other than tears flow through,
The beautiful thing that has led me to you.
And I thank you for letting me see clear,
For behind these eyes, there are no more tears.
The joy has been there, though I thought it as lies,
And now I see love true, reflected in your eyes.

When life gives you lemons...

Take them.

Lemons are getting expensive today.

I was in the car today, I had my cousin in the passenger seat, and we were coming down the hill, and then up hers to get to her house. As we started up the very steep, San Francisco hill, there's a van pulling out, it's taking its very sweet time. If I go up and over this hill, this girl is dropped off, and then I can go on to do my own thing. I contemplate waiting. But seeing as I want to drop the kid off, I opt to back down and take another street. I go down that hill, and then up another. That hill is blocked by a bulldozer. I laugh, and one of the construction guys comes up to me, and says, it'll be a while.

I back down and go up and I pass by the original hill, the van is gone, but there's another car there, and it seems like it might be leaving.

I drive by, and take the long way around. I smile at my cousin and say to her, "You know, both times we tried to get there fast, and it seems life wasn't down for that. So I'll take the long way, which, if I would have done in the first place, we would already have been there by now."

So I leave you with this. If life gives you lemons, you can make lemonade. But before you do, take a moment with that lemon. It may not be the sweetest citric fruit in the family. But I bet there's a lot more you can do with it other than make lemonade. Just take a step back from the juicer.

Leaders of the New School.

Here it is, fresh off the presses. Enjoy.