{Funny Videos}

No worries, friends, I will post about my PSA experience soon...but I don't have time for that right now, I need to play catch-up on some homework so... it's coming.
BUT here are some funny videos to make you smile today.

enjoy.

This baby cracks me up...




And this saxophone guy is HILARIOUS.

The Princess Bride (yes, there's a book)

Yes, there is a book.

Yes, the book came before the movie.

Yes, the book is better than the movie (I say that even though the movie is one of my favorites), just like every other book-movie combo out there. I finished this one on March 10th.

The movie follows the book almost to the "T", so I'm not going to spend any time talking about the story line. If you haven't seen the movie or read the book, repent immediately. At least see the movie.

If you've already seen the movie and have always considered yourself a big fan, I say you're not a true fan till you've read the book. It'd be like someone saying that they're the world's biggest Harry Potter fan without having read the books. That's just sad. I've read this book twice now. Loved it even more the second time.

Why is it better than the movie? Well, it's simply even funnier. Authors have much more ability to speak directly with the reader (it's awkward to do that in movies), and Goldman spent A LOT of time in this book speaking directly to the reader, often making fun of the story. Hilarious.

The premise is slightly different from the movie. Instead of it being a grandpa reading to his grandson, the story goes as follows: William Goldman's (the author) dad reads the story to William when William is sick at home as a kid. William Goldman loves the story but never reads it himself, but then buys the book for his own son decades later. His son tries reading the book, but gives up, declaring that it's too boring. William Goldman (the author) flips out, because he remembers it as being a story full of war, romance, sword-fights, and all of the other things you and I love from the movie. He grabs the book and to his horror, realizes that the book is a historical satire that his dad had been paraphrasing/abridging the whole time. William Goldman then decides to write an abridgment of the book, "The Princess Bride." That's why there's so much commentary through the book - he's explaining why he's taking long, boring passages out, etc.

It's a great book. Seriously, if you like the movie, READ THE BOOK. My only complaint is the author evidently finds himself rather funny and occasionally sounds like a stand-up comedian who's trying too hard. But only occasionally.

Loved it.

Book Review: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

After reading Candide, I read another sad book: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. I don't remember consciously choosing to read another sad book, but I did... Not sure why. Finished this one on Feb 25th.

An important note: I also didn't realize that Robert Louis Stevenson, the author of this book, was the same man who wrote Treasure Island, which I read recently. I'm glad I didn't realize that before I picked the book up, because while I enjoyed Treasure Island, I didn't think it to be very well-written. Oh, what a contrast.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was a fascinating, gripping, well-written short novel (only 90 or so pages - hence why it's usually published with other short stories), that bore a tone entirely different from Stevenson's in Treasure Island. And, like Frankenstein, this book bore little resemblance to what I've heard of it in popular culture.

That said, I don't think I'd be confident in recommending this book to just anyone. In several ways, I wish I, myself, had not read it. Here's why:

The book takes place in Puritan England and focuses on Dr. Jekyll, a well-respected doctor. Dr. Jekyll, like anyone else, has his personal temptations that he fights. However, the Puritan society in which he lives influences him to believe that he's evil for having evil desires in his heart - so, being a doctor in metaphysical science, he tried to somehow remove the evil out of himself. His experiments, however, result in something quite different from his purpose. He developed a potion that turned himself into his purely evil self - the physical representation of all of his evil desires. This new form, dubbed Mr. Hyde, is shorter and younger (because, he reasons, that side had not been as well developed), and his, as you'd imagine, purely evil.

At first, Dr. Jekyll drinks the potion to turn himself into Mr. Hyde purely as experiment, but quickly those experiments became indulgences where Dr. Jekyll's darkest fantasies could be lived, without repercussions from society. Whenever Mr. Hyde was chased by police or needed to escape from whatever situation, he'd simply drink the potion and take shelter in the repute of of Dr. Jekyll, whom no one could imagine to do wrong.

So here's why the book disturbed me so much: Stevenson did a fantastic job at never describing what those indulgences were that Mr. Hyde was living. This created the effect that, in my mind as I was reading, my own dark desires found place in the text, and as I imagined what made Mr. Hyde so evil it was my own forbidden fantasies taking place.

I'm sure this was Stevenson's desire and point - to bring each readers' evil thoughts to the surface so that we might reconcile ourselves with them. It did prove positive in another way - to illustrate that all men have evil within them, but that as long as we do not let that evil rule our lives, we can, in fact, remain worthy and decent people. Had Dr. Jekyll been able to come to grips with the fact that yes, evil was inside of him, but that he was no slave to it and that he was not wicked himself for having such desires, he would have been fine. It was Dr. Jekyll's experimentation with his evil self that left him so sad and degraded.

So why do I wish I hadn't read it? It simply hit too close to home. I recognize my need to reconcile myself with my own "natural man" in order to be able to "bridle my passions" and such, but this book proved to be a little too provocative* for me.

*In the real sense of the word, not in the sexually-explicit form it usually takes now-a-days

{PSA this weekend}

Hello dear friends.

Remember when I talked about PSA way back in October? Well tomorrow I fly to Seattle for the presentation! This came up WAY faster than I had anticipated but with a lot of work and sweat the paper is nearly ready for the presentation on Sunday. My partner, and dear friend, for this paper is unable to make it to Seattle because his wife is having a baby in the near future, which is sad yet understandable. So it will be me and Bert, my professor, presenting our findings to the conference.
Look for an update in the next couple days about our presentation!! I'm nervous/scared/excited/tired/stoked about this whole thing.

Book Review: Candide, by Voltaire

After reading Treasure Island, the next book on my list was the timeless classic, Voltaire's Candide, first published in 1759.

This was another fairly short read - only 130 pages, but wow, what packed pages were they. I finished this one in February.

Candide is written as a philosophical tale, a story told to illustrate a philosophical point. I've read many purely-philosophical books in my early years at BYU, and I must say, I wish other philosophers had tried Voltaire's approach. This book was very approachable and bore none of the painfully dull verbose arguments on proofs I've waded through in times past.

Voltaire wrote this book with the sole purpose of debunking Leibniz' pervasive theory that "this is the best of all possible worlds." Leibniz argued, in short, that since God exists (I don't recall his proof of that point), then God must be a benevolent and kind God (otherwise he would not be God), and if he's a benevolent and kind God, then he would not/could not create any imperfection. That meant that this world, this earth, would have to be the "best of all possible worlds," otherwise God would not/could not have created it. Leibniz then reasons that because "this is the best of all possible worlds" then everything that happens is for the betterment of the world - that even individuals' sufferings, murders, earthquakes, rapes, you name it, sure may be dark and sad, but somehow lead to the betterment of the whole human race, to the betterment of this world.

This philosophy had many followers (and still does to this day, in my opinion), Voltaire himself included for a long time. However, after seeing many wrongs in his adult life, Voltaire's faith in this philosophy began to weaken. The horrific earthquake in Lisbon, Portugal in 1755 that left 30,000 citizens dead was the proverbial "straw that broke the camel's back" - Voltaire quickly began a crusade against such "optimism."

The tale of Candide is a 130 page-long example of why Leibniz' optimism is so horribly wrong, in Voltaire's opinion. Voltaire tells the story of a young man, Candide who is raised in a paradisaical castle and taught by a philosopher who completely convinces Candide of Leiniz' philosophy - that everything is for the best, because, after all, "this is the best of all possible worlds." Through a sad chain of events, Candide is kicked out of the sheltering and perfect castle and is suddenly thrust outside to the strange and sad world. His adventures take him across the world, yet as he witnesses slaughterings, rapes, disease, earthquakes, betrayal, and the like, Candide tries with all of his might to hold on to his philosopher's optimism, trying to somehow reason that despite the horrible things he is seeing around him, somehow "all is for the best."

It is a sad story, a very jerking introduction into the pain and suffering experienced by many in both times of old, and today. It was, admittedly, a hard book to read at times, but I am glad I read it. This was an excellent rebuttal to anyone who sees life "through rosy glasses" - an important thing in my opinion. There's no way that any of us can respond effectively to the pain and suffering in the world (and here in the US, too) if we 1) don't recognize its existence and 2) we try to reason away their maladies. If I think that someone's suffering is somehow for the better good, then what reason would I have to help?

Book Review: Treasure Island

One of my favorite pastimes is reading. For the longest time, I stuck with Sci-Fi and Fantasy, my favorite series being the Enders Game series (especially the Speaker for the Dead trilogy), Harry Potter, and the Golden Compass.

However, towards the end of last summer, I decided to branch out. I read Frankenstein, which I wrote about here. Absolutely loved that book. It's vastly different from any popular portrayal I've seen/heard of. Read that review!

My next book was decidedly lower-key: Treasure Island.

Yes, I know Treasure Island was written for children, but I'd never read it, nor had I really been exposed to its story line (I haven't even seen the Muppet's version of the tale... sad, I know), so I figured I should read the quintessential piece of pirate literature, even if I was a bit late.

The book was a quick but fun read. The pirate accents were hard for me to even read in my head (anyone who's ever heard me attempt an accent knows my skills [or lack there-of] are so nonexistent it's awkward), so I avoided sounding their speech out when I read.

I can't say the story was the best put-together I've ever read for a couple reasons: One, the characters were remarkably flat, even for a children's book. Secondly, many characters did things that truly were not logical or well thought-out - but hey, that's why the adventure happened in the first place.

For anyone looking for Pirates of the Caribbean-style pirates, this is not your book. These pirates were the ruthless, murderous, idiotic pirates that were far more likely to be those that horrified sea-travelers for centuries.

I finished this one in January. I'll post my next book review shortly.

{5 Places}

Here are the places I would like to go this weekend. If you want to join me, please feel free :)

1. Chicago, Illinois


Ever since we signed for the internship this summer in Chicago, I can't stop thinking about it. I'm excited out of my mind. I went to Chicago on a band trip my senior year and it was FABULOUS! I cannot wait to go back. :)

2. Portobello Road, London, England

Not quite like Bed-knobs and Broomsticks portrayed it, but you can believe that this song was stuck in my head the whole time we were there over the summer.

I would like to wander those streets again and go shopping for vintage and antique beauties. Over the summer I bought a dress and a necklace which are FABULOUS but I would love to go back. At the beginning of our study abroad, which is when we were in London, we were trying to be frugal with our money and were not buying as many things as we wanted to. By the end of the trip that changed a little bit :) I would like to go back.

3. NYC, NY

I would like to go NYC and go see me some Broadway shows. I would also buy hotdogs and pretzels off of the street [yes, I really would. I've done it before and they're delicious] and visit Chinatown and buy knockoff designer bags and sunglasses.

4. Disney World, Florida

Yes, the happiest place on earth. I love this place. I would go and ride the rides and visit all the characters and do all the cliche things that you're supposed to do at Disney World. I would see all the shows and all the parades and buy myself a pair of Mickey ears.

5. Tossa de Mar, Spain

Yup, this is also known as Paradise. Let's go and lay on the beach all freaking day. When we're hungry we will buy fresh fruit from the market and then maybe we'll go to sea kayaking. For dinner we'll eat a 3 course fresh sea food meal at a restaurant along the coast and top it off with chocolate con churros.


These are my top 5 choices for the weekend, please cast your vote. kthanksfriends.