Friday, April 30, 2010

Bloggaday 75 – The Third ACC Video

Bloggaday 75 – The Third ACC Video

It’s Friday, so that means it’s time for another Avatar Cosplay Cast youtube video. If you’ve been keeping tabs on these videos, you know I didn’t actually just post the video. This Friday post is more of an announcement for the video and a mini update on its status.
The last week has been pretty good for last week’s video, the second ACC. Pushing a 100 views in a week. ACC 3 is starting to catch up to ACC1, and I won’t comment on the status on the last video until next week. I guess you’ll just have to go to youtube to see for yourself.

Despite the early video posting, I’m still going to roll out these Friday Bloggaday’s for the one more week. They will just be more of a reminder/update than an announcement.
Without further ado, go check out ACC3 at
http://www.youtube.com/user/DavidDysart#p/a/u/1/KZBpBmH--_w

And if you missed the first one and second one, see them here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6BOMuetEXE&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVAB3nkrxPY


Of course, all of the pictures and information can be found here.
http://s1000.photobucket.com/albums/af128/daviddysart/Avatar%20Cosplay%20Cast/
It was actually rather fun putting the music together and everything.
Music was from the show and taken from here
http://www.soundtrack.net/features/article/?id=252
All cosplayers came from www.Cosplay.com and www.Deviantart.com


Enjoy, and stay tuned every Friday for the next 2 weeks for more.


Listening to
Return of the Kazekage by Naruto

Twitter Tag
The second ACC video is now up, only at Bloggaday, well youtube http://thebloggaday.blogspot.com/2010/04/bloggaday-68-second-acc-video.html

As Always, you can find my posts at these convenient interwebs
http://twitter.com/daviddysart Wit in 140 characters
http://daviddysart.tumblr.com/ The best all-in-one FEANBA feed
http://thebloggaday.blogspot.com/ Straight cut Bloggaday. Start tapping that vein
http://www.facebook.com/thedaviddysart?ref=sgm if you can find my notes or +friend

Youtube Awesomeness
http://www.youtube.com/user/DavidDysart

For the Piccaday
http://s1000.photobucket.com/albums/af128/daviddysart/Piccaday/ Mass me by the month
http://thepiccaday.blogspot.com/ Me paced out by the day.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/daviddysart/sets/72157623465996877/ Like witches at black masses

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Bloggaday 74 – Growing Up in 2010

Bloggaday 74 – Growing Up in 2010

Well, I think I might be growing up. That there is quite the interesting though to cross your mind. 2010 seems to be my grow-up year.
2010 is the year I turned 21. No, I can’t rent a car yet, but I think there is something else you can do when you turn 21. If I remember what it was, I’ll post it.
2010, I got myself a job. Granted, it’s only temporary since I’m an enumerator for the 2010 census, but hey, it still counts
2010 job getting, caused me to get a checking out, another new thing for me that points towards me being an ol’ somebich.
2010 is also the year when I finally finish getting my discount knowledge at the junior college (Thanks goes to Rodney Atkins). After spending three years at Crafton Hills Community College, I’m finally going to big-boy college. I just finished my first final for this semester.
2010 was the year I never heard from Sonoma, so even though I’m not jumping up to grown-upness by living on campus, I will be going to CSUSB for my Bachelor’s.
I may just get published… in a scholarly journal… Much more boring with the modifier, but it’d still be cool.
2010 also kicks off this here Bloggaday, so I suppose a year-long commitment from someone with my typical attention for these things is rather adult-like.

I know there are other things, but now all I need to do is *blow my life savings* and get a DUI, and I can cap out the year of firsts. That’s right, I can go to Vegas at 21… I knew I was forgetting something.

I’m off to 8-5 Census training, 5:30-7:00 Physics Midterm, 7-10 Physics lab… Psssh, and I don’t think of myself as an adult.

* Replacing my original thought. Also available at Vegas.


Listening to
Kokomo by The Beach Boys

Twitter Tag
Growing up in 2010, only at the Bloggaday

As Always, you can find my posts at these convenient interwebs
http://twitter.com/daviddysart Wit in 140 characters
http://daviddysart.tumblr.com/ The best all-in-one FEANBA feed
http://thebloggaday.blogspot.com/ Straight cut Bloggaday. Start tapping that vein
http://www.facebook.com/thedaviddysart?ref=sgm if you can find my notes or +friend

Youtube Awesomeness
http://www.youtube.com/user/DavidDysart

For the Piccaday
http://s1000.photobucket.com/albums/af128/daviddysart/Piccaday/ Mass me by the month
http://thepiccaday.blogspot.com/ Me paced out by the day.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/daviddysart/sets/72157623465996877/ Like witches at black masses

Bloggaday 73 – PWND with a Side of Bacon – The Law of Special Baconivity

Bloggaday 73 – PWND with a Side of Bacon – The Law of Special Baconivity

Unfortunately, I didn’t get more done on this, so I might repost it another day with more content.

I’m letting you guys here at the Bloggaday get a special sneak peek at something before the bidding war starts from all of the scholarly journals. It’s my Law of Special Baconivity.
The premise of special baconivity is the ability of bacon to be both a food and non-food at the same time. The chief properties of bacon in this law apply to each of the two realities. It is a food because of its miraculous flavor and life-giving nutrition. This is the easy part of baconivity. It follows the classical view of bacon and food in general.
Bacon also has a very special attribute that seems to go against traditional views of the things we eat. No matter how much bacon you consume, it doesn’t actually occupy physical space in your stomach. There always seems to be room for bacon. No other food seems to have this ability. It elevates bacon to new category of being a non-food, Supplere non Complere. It roughly translates “to make complete, but not to fill up.”
While further tests are required to gain the whole picture of the duality of bacon, these early results show a promising future for bacon.


Yay for the applied sciences

Listening to
Bacon Sizzling by a Frying Pan

Twitter Tag
The Law of Special Baconivity, finally and only at Bloggaday

As Always, you can find my posts at these convenient interwebs
http://twitter.com/daviddysart Wit in 140 characters
http://daviddysart.tumblr.com/ The best all-in-one FEANBA feed
http://thebloggaday.blogspot.com/ Straight cut Bloggaday. Start tapping that vein
http://www.facebook.com/thedaviddysart?ref=sgm if you can find my notes or +friend

Youtube Awesomeness
http://www.youtube.com/user/DavidDysart

For the Piccaday
http://s1000.photobucket.com/albums/af128/daviddysart/Piccaday/ Mass me by the month
http://thepiccaday.blogspot.com/ Me paced out by the day.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/daviddysart/sets/72157623465996877/ Like witches at black masses

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Bloggaday 72 – The Right Pro for a Job

Bloggaday 72 – The Right Pro for a Job

So today my training as a Census Bureau Enumerator starts today. From 8-5, I’ll be getting paid training, which is rather nice. With $16.50 an hour, $.50 a mile, at least 20 hours a week, and hopefully 10 weeks of work will be rather frivolously wasted however. Rather than doing something responsible with the money, I intend to buy one of these here.
http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/specs-17inch.html

The “these” being a 17-inch Macbooko pro. With 17 inches of viewing brilliance, supporting up a 1920 by 1200 pixels, 3 USB 2.0 ports, 1 Firewire800, a Mini DisplayPort, a badass sounding graphics car, and 500 gigs of hardrive, this is one awesome piece of Macness.
For that setup, it would cost me $2,300. If I wanted a solid state drive, 500 gigs would cost me another 1,300, for a grand total of $3,600, but I don’t foresee myself blowing that kind of money for a SSD. Maybe next time, when the prices go down a bit. Though it would be cool
Now I currently have a laptop. It’s what I’m writing this on. I know, I’m a cruel bastard for doing this. Rubbing it in the computer’s… display… nose? Anyways, it’s a 110 gigs of hardrive (I’m guessing 120, but it’s saying 107 used, 3 free). It’s a 13 inch macbook.
I know most guys would be happy with 13 inches to show off out in public, but what can I say? I’m guilty of avarice. I feel I have somewhat outgrown this laptop. It’s a few years old, and it’s not like it’s going to go to waste. My mom has been wanting a laptop for a while now, so I figure I can give it to her. It’s a good starter laptop, and should introduce her to the portable computer technology rather effectively.
Well, this is all rather contingent on me staying on with the fine folks at the Census Bureau for the next few weeks. I’m sure I’ll be sure to make a point of it when I write my first Bloggaday on the new laptop.

Listening to
News :-(

Twitter Tag
The Right Pro for a Job, only at the Bloggaday

As Always, you can find my posts at these convenient interwebs
http://twitter.com/daviddysart Wit in 140 characters
http://daviddysart.tumblr.com/ The best all-in-one FEANBA feed
http://thebloggaday.blogspot.com/ Straight cut Bloggaday. Start tapping that vein
http://www.facebook.com/thedaviddysart?ref=sgm if you can find my notes or +friend

Youtube Awesomeness
http://www.youtube.com/user/DavidDysart

For the Piccaday
http://s1000.photobucket.com/albums/af128/daviddysart/Piccaday/ Mass me by the month
http://thepiccaday.blogspot.com/ Me paced out by the day.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/daviddysart/sets/72157623465996877/ Like witches at black masses

Monday, April 26, 2010

Bloggaday 71 – A True, Spoon-fed Bloggaday 71

Bloggaday 71 – A True, Spoon-fed Bloggaday 71

So yesterday, I mentioned that I came up with an analogy for my music class. I suppose I will just do that today then. I’m going to start with the analogy, and then I will explain it.
A child gets spoon-fed every day. Morning, noon, night, the kid’s mom is feeding the em herself. The problem with this comes down the road. In 9 and then in 18 weeks, the mom will be gone, and there will be no one to feed the child directly. He must either pick the spoon up and feed himself, or he’ll go hungry for the day. Had the child been attentive during the feeding, he will be fine for these days, but if not, he will likely go hungry.
As for my class, it is a bit different from most of the classes I’ve taken. In class, she lectures from lecture notes that she projects on to the front of the class. She also puts these lecture notes online for her students to download. She also hands out study guides for each of the sections she goes over.
I’d say a majority of people go through and answer the study guide in class, but a lot people don’t so anything in class. They just veg out for an hour and a half. I imagine the train of thought being that they can just get the lecture notes online and be fine. Sadly, there appears to be a lot of people turning in study guides that are simply copied off of other people. It’s getting my teacher rather upset.
There is an illusion of ease to class, and really, its not a hard class, but you still get out what you put in. For the midterm, the average score was a 73%. I got an A, and I’m not the only person that did well. I’m guessing there was a large distribution well above and below the average rather than a bulk of people actually getting C’s. It was a rather easy test if you actually paid any attention in class, and probably a beach if you didn’t.
While I don’t fault my teacher for the class, after all, its easy to succeed in the class with only a little bit motivation, but I imagine a more normal class setup world force students into paying attention in class and learn.
All-in-all, I enjoy the class and structure, but it is depressing to see the results


Listening to


Twitter Tag


As Always, you can find my posts at these convenient interwebs
http://twitter.com/daviddysart Wit in 140 characters
http://daviddysart.tumblr.com/ The best all-in-one FEANBA feed
http://thebloggaday.blogspot.com/ Straight cut Bloggaday. Start tapping that vein
http://www.facebook.com/thedaviddysart?ref=sgm if you can find my notes or +friend

Youtube Awesomeness
http://www.youtube.com/user/DavidDysart

For the Piccaday
http://s1000.photobucket.com/albums/af128/daviddysart/Piccaday/ Mass me by the month
http://thepiccaday.blogspot.com/ Me paced out by the day.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/daviddysart/sets/72157623465996877/ Like witches at black masses



Listening to
A Sympathetic Crotch to Cry On by Two and a Half Men

Twitter Tag
Spoon-fed Analogies are only at the Bloggaday http://thebloggaday.blogspot.com/2010/04/bloggaday-71-true-spoon-fed-bloggaday.html


As Always, you can find my posts at these convenient interwebs
http://twitter.com/daviddysart Wit in 140 characters
http://daviddysart.tumblr.com/ The best all-in-one FEANBA feed
http://thebloggaday.blogspot.com/ Straight cut Bloggaday. Start tapping that vein
http://www.facebook.com/thedaviddysart?ref=sgm if you can find my notes or +friend

Youtube Awesomeness
http://www.youtube.com/user/DavidDysart

For the Piccaday
http://s1000.photobucket.com/albums/af128/daviddysart/Piccaday/ Mass me by the month
http://thepiccaday.blogspot.com/ Me paced out by the day.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/daviddysart/sets/72157623465996877/ Like witches at black masses



Sunday, April 25, 2010

Bloggaday 70 - One half-assed, but completely, kick-ass post

Bloggaday 70 - One half-assed, but completely, kick-ass post

Alright, late post and a last minute subject change. I was going to write about rather astute analogy about my music class, but I went and saw Kick-Ass before I had a chance to write and post it.
Now, I don’t usually feature too harsh of language on Bloggaday, but I also don’t shy away from it. Given the nature of the movie, I think I am somewhat compelled to spotlight some language that might otherwise be considered impolite and uncivilized.

Holy fucking shit, that was a brutal movie. I had heard a lot about how they went a bit overboard with the language and whatnot with Hit Girl, but I didn’t quite expect that.
I think the thing that threw me is the general setting of the “superhero movie.” They tend to be a bit whiney and complainy about the whole thing. Now I’m not saying superheroes should just be going around and offing bad guys (that would probably make for a high turnover rate for the supervillain position), afterall, there needs to be some ethics for the good guys.
In general, the no-kill motto for superheroes is a good thing, but it makes the exceptions to a nice change of pace because its not so central to the story line every single frikkin time. The punisher probably goes a bit overboard, but Iron Man 1 did a rather nice job at it. They didn’t focus on it, but the movie didn’t pull any punches with it. I’m interested in seeing if the second one takes the same approach.
I was going to continue writing on this and then swing it back around to Kick Ass, but I’m done with this Bloggaday. I’ve been trying to write this since like 1.

Question, will there be second movie with the Orange Bukkake as the villain?
Listening to
Stargate Universe

Twitter Tag
One half-assed, but completely, kick-ass post. Only at Bloggaday

As Always, you can find my posts at these convenient interwebs
http://twitter.com/daviddysart Wit in 140 characters
http://daviddysart.tumblr.com/ The best all-in-one FEANBA feed
http://thebloggaday.blogspot.com/ Straight cut Bloggaday. Start tapping that vein
http://www.facebook.com/thedaviddysart?ref=sgm if you can find my notes or +friend

Youtube Awesomeness
http://www.youtube.com/user/DavidDysart

For the Piccaday
http://s1000.photobucket.com/albums/af128/daviddysart/Piccaday/ Mass me by the month
http://thepiccaday.blogspot.com/ Me paced out by the day.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/daviddysart/sets/72157623465996877/ Like witches at black masses


Saturday, April 24, 2010

Bloggaday 69 – A Missed Commentary on Aang, Katara, and Sokka - ACC

Bloggaday 69 – A Missed Commentary on Aang, Katara, and Sokka - ACC

Due to Poster error, this didn’t posted for Bloggaday 53, so here’s a really late commentation on the 3 of the Gaang

With the two-post rundown of the Fire Nation, I start with more depth into the Gaang. In this post, I’ll go through Aang, Katara and Sokka. The next of this chain of Bloggadays will be Toph, Suki, Smeller Bee, and the Cabbage Merchant.



Aang
For my selections of Aang, I actually chose 3 white cosplayers. I wonder is anyone will protest my cast? I actually had some ethnic diversity, but I made a last minute switch. It’s a real shame; I liked the other person I had too. Meh, maybe next time.


Avatar,The Last Airbender,Cast,Cosplay


Avatar,The Last Airbender,Cast,Cosplay


Avatar,The Last Airbender,Cast,Cosplay

Kai
http://twinfools.deviantart.com/
http://www.cosplay.com/member/70183/

Honestly, I can see him playing Aang. Better than the others me thinks. Seems to have it down. If you’re a fan of Naruto, that’s like half of his gallery. Also seems to pull the crossplaying thing off rather well.

Avatar,The Last Airbender,Cast,Cosplay




Avatar,The Last Airbender,Cast,Cosplay




Avatar,The Last Airbender,Cast,Cosplay

Fireshark
http://www.cosplay.com/member/19173/

I’m not sure why, but he’s also one of my favorite Avatar Cosplays I’ve seen. Pulls off timid and warrior monk rather spectacularly

Avatar,The Last Airbender,Cast,Cosplay


Avatar,The Last Airbender,Cast,Cosplay


Avatar,The Last Airbender,Cast,Cosplay

Majorikku
http://www.cosplay.com/member/72302/
http://www.cosplay.com/member/63389/ (costume)

Reminds me of Fishbone’s Sokka. Very quirky and more than a little exuberant. I am currently thinking about creating three videos and breaking my cast into three sets. I imagine those two being in the same cast.

Katara
I think I found some very good cosplayers for Katara.

Avatar,The Last Airbender,Cast,Cosplay



Avatar,The Last Airbender,Cast,Cosplay



Avatar,The Last Airbender,Cast,Cosplay

Koria
http://koria.ontarioanimesociety.com/
http://www.cosplay.com/costumes/m74983/

“Sassy Katara?” I’m not really too sure to say about her. I think I got a full Katara snapshot with each of the cosplayers I chose


Avatar,The Last Airbender,Cast,Cosplay


Avatar,The Last Airbender,Cast,Cosplay


Avatar,The Last Airbender,Cast,Cosplay

MisatoNpenpen (Andrea)
http://ichigokitty.com/
http://www.cosplay.com/costumes/m5244/

My favorite Katara for *cough* Bloggaday 23 *cough* original reasons. But on a serious note, I think the production value in the outfits is some of the best I’ve seen. Some of the pictures do seem to be a bit touched up though, so that might be helping making them pop.
One last not, I am very sad I couldn’t find the Aang in this picture http://www.cosplay.com/photo/2187680/ . While I don’t think it was that Toph, I saw another picture with the pair of them with a Toph that I probably would have added.

Avatar,The Last Airbender,Cast,Cosplay



Avatar,The Last Airbender,Cast,Cosplay



Avatar,The Last Airbender,Cast,Cosplay

Pame_ran
http://www.cosplay.com/member/57628/
Strikes me as “Motherly Katara.” But again, I think any three of these Kataras are stand alones that encompass the character rather well. /\ was the third-string though, replacing someone else in the last minute.

Sokka
I went with a serious, wacky, and a funny Sokka.


Avatar,The Last Airbender,Cast,Cosplay

Avatar,The Last Airbender,Cast,Cosplay

Avatar,The Last Airbender,Cast,Cosplay

The Irvinator (Chris)
http://www.skywrighting.com/
http://www.cosplay.com/costume/266627/

This is the serious, or “Battle Sokka” as I am currently referring him as. I found a few Sokkas decked out in armor, but this was by quite a bit my favorite. Really good construction, great cosplayer, and an excellent shoot.

Avatar,The Last Airbender,Cast,Cosplay



Avatar,The Last Airbender,Cast,Cosplay


Avatar,The Last Airbender,Cast,Cosplay

Fishbone (Staccato)
http://staccato.deviantart.com/
http://www.cosplay.com/member/74044/

This is the Sokka I was referring to with the earlier Aang. Seems to be a rather wacky and off-the-wall character. I mean, look at the gallery that recreates the tent scene. That’s just good clean, well I don’t know about clean intentions, but fun. If I ever go to a convention, this is the Sokka I would want to meet.

Avatar,The Last Airbender,Cast,Cosplay



Avatar,The Last Airbender,Cast,Cosplay


Avatar,The Last Airbender,Cast,Cosplay

Bramarb
http://www.cosplay.com/member/49841/

With serious and wacky off the list, that leaves funny. The straighter comic relief Sokka.”



??? I know I’ve come across more stuff of this guy, but I don’t have it anywhere. He also did a Kyoshi Warrior Sokka. I don’t know who he is, so I didn’t contact him. Emoticon me is sad again. ;.-(
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhIhsLDNVkU&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CnWpEZJ314&feature=related

Friday, April 23, 2010

Bloggaday 68 – The Second ACC Video

Bloggaday 68 – The Second ACC Video

It’s Friday, so that means it’s time for another Avatar Cosplay Cast youtube video. I was going to try to actually post the videos along with these weekly Bloggadays, but I wanted to start getting the letters out fromt yesterday’s Bloggaday, so ACC 2 has been out for a few days now. It is actually much better than ACC 1 has been. It has 57 views compared to the first’s 37.
Despite the early video posting, I’m still going to roll out these Friday Bloggaday’s foro the next two weeks. They will just be more of a reminder/update than an announcement.
Without further ado, go check out ACC2 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVAB3nkrxPY

And if you missed the first one, see it here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6BOMuetEXE&feature=related

Of course, all of the pictures and information can be found here.
http://s1000.photobucket.com/albums/af128/daviddysart/Avatar%20Cosplay%20Cast/
It was actually rather fun putting the music together and everything.
Music was from the show and taken from here
http://www.soundtrack.net/features/article/?id=252
All cosplayers came from www.Cosplay.com and www.Deviantart.com


Enjoy, and stay tuned every Friday for the next 2 weeks for more.


Listening to
Return of the Kazekage by Naruto

Twitter Tag
The second ACC video is now up, only at Bloggaday, well youtube

As Always, you can find my posts at these convenient interwebs
http://twitter.com/daviddysart Wit in 140 characters
http://daviddysart.tumblr.com/ The best all-in-one FEANBA feed
http://thebloggaday.blogspot.com/ Straight cut Bloggaday. Start tapping that vein
http://www.facebook.com/thedaviddysart?ref=sgm if you can find my notes or +friend

Youtube Awesomeness
http://www.youtube.com/user/DavidDysart

For the Piccaday
http://s1000.photobucket.com/albums/af128/daviddysart/Piccaday/ Mass me by the month
http://thepiccaday.blogspot.com/ Me paced out by the day.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/daviddysart/sets/72157623465996877/ Like witches at black masses



Thursday, April 22, 2010

Bloggaday 67 – Contacting the ACC Folks

Bloggaday 67 – Contacting the ACC Folks

If you don’t know what the Avatar Cosplayer Cast is (ACC), you can go to this Bloggaday http://thebloggaday.blogspot.com/2010/04/bloggaday-57-avatar-cosplayer-cast.html , or just visit my youtube page at http://www.youtube.com/user/DavidDysart .
I’ve got all 4 ACC videos up, but one of them is set to private until I can get the annotations and descriptions up for it. For this endeavor, I contacted all of the cosplayers I used to ask for their permission. I’d say probably a little over half of the people got back to me and said yes. Now, most of the folks who said yes also said they wanted to see the final product. That means I get to burn another Bloggaday with a form letter. Woohoo

Hello XXXX,
Last month, I sent you a request to use your cosplay for an Avatar Cosplay Cast I was working on. Again, I would like to thank you for your approval. I have finished it, and your portions can be found at the following links:



If for some reason, you would like any portion altered, removed, or updated, please let me know an I will make the changes. Again, thank you and have a great day.

Listening to
Crazytalk by The 40 year old boy

Twitter Tag


As Always, you can find my posts at these convenient interwebs
http://twitter.com/daviddysart Wit in 140 characters
http://daviddysart.tumblr.com/ The best all-in-one FEANBA feed
http://thebloggaday.blogspot.com/ Straight cut Bloggaday. Start tapping that vein
http://www.facebook.com/thedaviddysart?ref=sgm if you can find my notes or +friend

Youtube Awesomeness
http://www.youtube.com/user/DavidDysart

For the Piccaday
http://s1000.photobucket.com/albums/af128/daviddysart/Piccaday/ Mass me by the month
http://thepiccaday.blogspot.com/ Me paced out by the day.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/daviddysart/sets/72157623465996877/ Like witches at black masses



Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Bloggaday 66 – PWND – Action Figure-Inspired Story Content

Bloggaday 66 – PWND – Action Figure-Inspired Story Content
A little bit of Bloggaday for you folks this Wed-nes-day

In 1997, a brutal storm in the Pacific decimated the mermaid population of the last known colony in existence. One mermaid, caught away from the castle suffered from a stroke when the storm hit and washed ashore in the violence brought by the storm.
As he laid there, sun beating down on him, he summoned the last of his strength and consciousness to transform himself into a human and keep the stroke from doing any more damage.
As the city of Santa Monica returned to normal, a fisherman by the name of Jebediah found the former mermaid nearly buried in the sands, an odd formation of rings radiating out from the man. He clawed the man out of the sand and rushed him home.
Slowly, the man regained most of his health and vitality, but never his memory, something he always thought would be lost to him. Jebediah and the man worked as fishermen for years, the young man’s brilliance improving every aspect of Jebediah’s fishing. The two continued to grow until the man had amassed enough wealth to open his own business.
The business was only a stepping stone in his life, by no means an end. The business transformed and was quickly contracted almost exclusively by the United State’s military. He quickly became one of the wealthiest men in America, then in the world. With this newfound wealth, he never lost his connection with the ocean. Nearly a quarter of his personal wealth went into aquatic research and causes. Most of the rest of it went into building a suit, a very special suit that would hopefully erase what lasting effects the stroke had caused.
Soon, the suit was complete, and the man returned to the sea. Deep down, he always knew he would find answers there. It was a secret that drove him for years, a secret that he never uttered to anyone, not even to Jebediah.
As he made his way into the ocean, a storm was brewing, brewing not in the air, where human society could see, but deep in the ocean where not even the mermaids could see. No mermaid except for one, the royal princess of the thousand mermaids that had survived the brutal and unforeseen storm that nearly wiped out them all out in 1997.
Over ten years ago, the princess barely made it to the castle to warn the other mermaids that the storm was coming. Over 5,000 mermaids were lost, and now the rest of the mermaids were facing the same extinction.
The two, on different paths of discover found themselves crossed near the same destination. The princess, having seen the brewing death that awaited the mermaids, began on her way back to the colony
The man saw her racing through a reef, and he released the last reserves of his suit to catch up with her. Cutting her from her path, she stopped, but something began to change inside of him.
“What’s happening!” he screamed, his voice trapped in his suit.
A reply reverberated in his skull, “You’re a mermaid, and now your body is reclaiming its form.
As the suit released its grasp of the man, the water embraced him. His body reformed itself as it has always been meant to be. His legs bound themselves together and he took in the water.

And that’s it for today, and for that story. Never again to see my attention or consciousness, it’s getting its day (alright, 2 days) here on Bloggaday. I wanted to cap it 500 words, and I rushed to a point of conclusion, which I managed to squeeze down to 555 words, but the ending suffered for the word limit.
I actually came up with this because my niece wanted to play. She had a Barbie that transformed into a mermaid, and I got my nephew’s iron man action figure. The whole stroke thing came from the fact that the iron man’s left arm and to some extent, left leg, was messed up and had limited mobility. My niece somehow pulled out that a storm happened in 1997 and another one was coming, so the mermaids were in danger. Also, that since iron man saw her, he became a mermaid. I suppose I just kind of ran with it after that.
Probably tomorrow, I’m going to post an annotated version of the story up. If not tomorrow, know that it is coming.


Listening to
She Wouldn’t Be Gone by Blake Shelton

Twitter Tag
I never would have thought of Barbie and Iron Man as my muse, only at Bloggaday

As Always, you can find my posts at these convenient interwebs
http://twitter.com/daviddysart Wit in 140 characters
http://daviddysart.tumblr.com/ The best all-in-one FEANBA feed
http://thebloggaday.blogspot.com/ Straight cut Bloggaday. Start tapping that vein
http://www.facebook.com/thedaviddysart?ref=sgm if you can find my notes or +friend

Youtube Awesomeness
http://www.youtube.com/user/DavidDysart

For the Piccaday
http://s1000.photobucket.com/albums/af128/daviddysart/Piccaday/ Mass me by the month
http://thepiccaday.blogspot.com/ Me paced out by the day.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/daviddysart/sets/72157623465996877/ Like witches at black masses

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Bloggaday 65 – A Psychologist’s Resume: Involved in One of the Largest Surveys Ever Administered

Bloggaday 65 – A Psychologist’s Resume: Involved in One of the Largest Surveys Ever Administered

Yesterdays Bloggaday was a little loopy and had to be posted the night before. That is because I had to get up at 5 to head out to Adelanto and go to a Census Bureau Enumerator… Orientation? I’m not entirely sure what you would call it. There were 200 of us and we filled out a packet of information, got fingerprinted, and took an oath. Oh, and got paid.
The Census Bureau pays a considerable amount of money. Over $16 an hour, and $.50 a mile. For me, it was an hour drive, 50 miles each way, and 7 hours at the orientation itself.
There was a considerable, and rather surprising, amount of older folks there. Most of the people there though, were from Yucaipa and Redlands, which I suppose explains all of the older people… bdapsh. Anyways, there were actually a couple of people from Crafton Hills also.
Well, it went well. I’m going to be an enumerator for Redlands, which will be a much nicer commute than driving out to Adelanto 4 or 5 times a week. My training starts next week, but I’m going to miss 4 classes and a research group meeting, which is kind of a beech tree. Two psychs and two music’s. The music classes won’t be too bad. I’ll probably miss a quiz or two, but I can get her lecture notes online, and her classes don’t tend to stray from those too much. For psych, I’ll just get notes from somebody in class, but it’s going to suck to miss the classes. It’s a shame missing the research group, but what do you do.
After training and everything, they’ll expect me to work at least 20 hours a week, so even though the job won’t last that long, it’ll still add up to a considerable amount of money.

Listening to
Fields of Strawberries being musical by some bugs

Twitter Tag
My Psych resume will now include being part of one of the largest surveys

As Always, you can find my posts at these convenient interwebs
http://twitter.com/daviddysart Wit in 140 characters
http://daviddysart.tumblr.com/ The best all-in-one FEANBA feed
http://thebloggaday.blogspot.com/ Straight cut Bloggaday. Start tapping that vein
http://www.facebook.com/thedaviddysart?ref=sgm if you can find my notes or +friend

Youtube Awesomeness
http://www.youtube.com/user/DavidDysart

For the Piccaday
http://s1000.photobucket.com/albums/af128/daviddysart/Piccaday/ Mass me by the month
http://thepiccaday.blogspot.com/ Me paced out by the day.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/daviddysart/sets/72157623465996877/ Like witches at black masses



Sunday, April 18, 2010

Bloggaday 64 – Ax Men and a Madhouse

Bloggaday 64 – Ax Men and a Madhouse

Oh, the cycle of television shows can be depressing. This past go around, I picked up on a couple of shows, two of which were Ax Men and Madhouse, both of which, are over now. Mad House had ended last week while I just caught the last episode of Ax Men last night.
I must admit, I got quite hooked on both shows. I was bit resistant to madhouse, but a few happen-stance watching’s later, it sucked me in just the same as Ax Men.
I’m rather amazed at the niches that each camp provided for Ax Men. Browning got lucky with their choking crew and the fact that they had the camera time with the owner.
I can’t recall the name of the guy with no teeth, but he was quite the character. Even with new set of choppers, he was easily one of the most entertaining people on the show. He reminded me of Woody Harrelson. Rhygaard’s greenhorn/owners combo was also very good for their company’s spot on TV. The dad’s constant hounding of the greenhorn was rather amusing. Pihl’s move to bring in the incompetent big guy was also fun to watch for a few episodes, but I’m glad they didn’t stretch that out too long. S&S Logging was another great section of the show. Son and Pop numbskulls who couldn’t find a tree in a forest were out looking for logs in the muddy waters in… Florida (?). I think it was Florida and the other guy was over in Louisiana or Georgia. Oh, I didn’t pay attention to where each of these places were. Now that other guy was a character. He definitely made the show worth watching.
Now this here is a spoiler paragraph. If you haven’t seen the season finale and want to, just skip this one. One feature of the show was the competition between Browning and Rhygaard for the load count. Before the two shut down for the end of the summer season, Rhygard actually pulled an allnighter. Brought in lights and logged through a foggy, downhill pull. When the load counts were tallied for the season, Browning came out ahead by only three loads. I tried making that last sentence as inconspicuous as possible for anybody skipping it. Now I’m just burying it in the middle. What can I say, I’m a polite guy like that.
Anyways, the other show that sucked me in was Madhouse, a redneck soap opera if I ever saw one. Again, spoilers: A rookie came out of nowhere to take one of the top spots. “the king” Junior actually sucked pretty hard. He doesn’t actually seem to be a good racer. His Garage mate was even ragging on him a bit, something along the line of –Oh, he has new suspensions, so now he doesn’t have any excuses.- The brothers (my favorites from the show) failed to take home the championship, and The Rocket (I don’t recall his name) took home his 8th (?) championship. And lastly, the Show Stopper seemed to be the same as Junior, just really not that good of a racer. I don’t know, I’ll give him props for coming back after the crash, but meh.
Now, the reason I actually did this for my Bloggaday was to mention that Bowman Gray is starting back up. While the television season is over, the racing season is just about to start up. From what I can tell, it starts April 24th. I believe it will be on 104.1 WTQR, so I’ll be on there website comes racetime to try to find it. I would like to tune into the guy from the show’s radiotime, but I need to find him. That is what I actually want to listen to. I’m not much of a racecar fan. My farmer tan ain’t that bad yet.
http://www.bowmangrayracing.com/schedule.html
http://www.wtqr.com/pages/Bowmangray.html?_show

Listening to
Flogging mary

Twitter Tag
Ax Men and a Madhouse =’s depression, only at the Bloggaday

As Always, you can find my posts at these convenient interwebs
http://twitter.com/daviddysart Wit in 140 characters
http://daviddysart.tumblr.com/ The best all-in-one FEANBA feed
http://thebloggaday.blogspot.com/ Straight cut Bloggaday. Start tapping that vein
http://www.facebook.com/thedaviddysart?ref=sgm if you can find my notes or +friend

Youtube Awesomeness
http://www.youtube.com/user/DavidDysart

For the Piccaday
http://s1000.photobucket.com/albums/af128/daviddysart/Piccaday/ Mass me by the month
http://thepiccaday.blogspot.com/ Me paced out by the day.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/daviddysart/sets/72157623465996877/ Like witches at black masses

Bloggaday 63 – An End to a .5 Era.

Bloggaday 63 – An End to a .5 Era.

On Bloggaday 48, at http://thebloggaday.blogspot.com/2010/04/bloggaday-48-5er-gang-signs-representin.html I gave a limited explanation of the .5 Piccadays that I did for a couple of weeks. Hmm, that is probably one of the most non-sensecal sentences I have ever written.
So, along with these Bloggadays that I post every day, I take 1 or 2 pictures of myself. Something I call the Piccaday. The first picture is actually posted on my Piccaday blog at http://thepiccaday.blogspot.com/. I usually take another picture of myself that is a little bit different though. Turns out, you get kind of bored taking the same picture every day for 2 months. So this second picture I refer to as a .5er because that is the label I give it my folder and at photobucket (here http://s1000.photobucket.com/albums/af128/daviddysart/Piccaday/).
A couple of weeks ago, out of boredom, I started a Kung-fu-ing it up a little bit

43 March 29.5

44 March 30.5

For the third day, I wanted to hold my hands like I had seen when I used to watch Naruto, so I looked it up. I found this video -> http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2627448780114788345# and decided to just do the 12 sign for the next few .5 Piccadays.
While the .5ers don’t actually make it to the Piccaday blog, they are usually the accompanying picture on the Bloggaday blogs at http://thebloggaday.blogspot.com/ and http://www.facebook.com/thedaviddysart?v=app_2347471856&ref=profile.
So now, I have to find something else for the .5ers. A few weeks ago, I did a whole It’s a Bird thing, which I plan on cartoonifying and using as .5s for a while, but That’ll take a while. I suppose I should get cracking then.

Listening to
4.75

Twitter Tag
An End to a .5 Era. Only at Bloggaday

As Always, you can find my posts at these convenient interwebs
http://twitter.com/daviddysart Wit in 140 characters
http://daviddysart.tumblr.com/ The best all-in-one FEANBA feed
http://thebloggaday.blogspot.com/ Straight cut Bloggaday. Start tapping that vein
http://www.facebook.com/thedaviddysart?ref=sgm if you can find my notes or +friend

Youtube Awesomeness
http://www.youtube.com/user/DavidDysart

For the Piccaday
http://s1000.photobucket.com/albums/af128/daviddysart/Piccaday/ Mass me by the month
http://thepiccaday.blogspot.com/ Me paced out by the day.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/daviddysart/sets/72157623465996877/

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Bloggaday 62 – Fundraiser Fail

Bloggaday 62 – Fundraiser Fail

I’m sure I’ve mentioned the Sand Canyon Review here before. It’s the annual literary magazine put out by Crafton Hills that takes the works from students, local talent and even some pretty big names.
You can find it over at http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Sand-Canyon-Review/238231044021?ref=ts

Anyways, I am part of the PR group, so I’m usually at the fundraisers. Well, tonight and tomorrow, I was going to be selling our soda, waters, chips, and MnM’s that we still had left at a music show that Crafton was putting on
Last week, other members of the PR group did the same thing at an opera U of R was doing at Crafton. They left the food at the theater, so I got there at about 7:00 to set up for the 8:00 show. I figured I would sell the stuff, see the show, leave a little early, and sell more stuff to the folks as they left.
I get there, but there was no food. I talk to a few different people, and apparently, during the last fundraiser, we “donated” the rest of our food. C’est la vie. At least we’ve already made enough to get the magazine published, so it’s not a big deal. I was just hoping to get a headstart on next year’s fundraising.
I thought about staying and watching the show, but I had a bag of ice and a 45-minute wait before the show even started, so I decided to just leave. A real shame too, because my music teacher is giving extra credit for people who went and saw it. I just had no interest in staying after all of that.
Well, /rant. Have a good Saturday.

Listening to
A Sympathetic Crotch to Cry On by Two and a Half Men

Twitter Tag
Yay, for a fundraiser Fail! Only at the Bloggaday

As Always, you can find my posts at these convenient interwebs
http://twitter.com/daviddysart Wit in 140 characters
http://daviddysart.tumblr.com/ The best all-in-one FEANBA feed
http://thebloggaday.blogspot.com/ Straight cut Bloggaday. Start tapping that vein
http://www.facebook.com/thedaviddysart?ref=sgm if you can find my notes or +friend

Youtube Awesomeness
http://www.youtube.com/user/DavidDysart

For the Piccaday
http://s1000.photobucket.com/albums/af128/daviddysart/Piccaday/ Mass me by the month
http://thepiccaday.blogspot.com/ Me paced out by the day.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/daviddysart/sets/72157623465996877/ Like witches at black masses

I Don't Know Jutsu!

Friday, April 16, 2010

Bloggaday 61 – The First ACC Video

Bloggaday 61 – The First ACC Video

Finally getting some pay off from my Avatar Cosplayer Cast. I’ve put together the first of for ACC videos. Two more videos like this, and then one more master video that will have all of the cosplayers from http://s1000.photobucket.com/albums/af128/daviddysart/Avatar%20Cosplay%20Cast/
It was actually rather fun putting the music together and everything.
Music was from the show and taken from here
http://www.soundtrack.net/features/article/?id=252
All cosplayers came from www.Cosplay.com and www.Deviantart.com

You can find the video here
http://www.youtube.com/user/DavidDysart#p/a/u/0/S6BOMuetEXE

Enjoy, and stay tuned every Friday for the next 3 weeks for more.


Listening to
Keith Moon… by Two and a Half Men

Twitter Tag
The first ACC video is now up, only at Bloggaday, well youtube

As Always, you can find my posts at these convenient interwebs
http://twitter.com/daviddysart Wit in 140 characters
http://daviddysart.tumblr.com/ The best all-in-one FEANBA feed
http://thebloggaday.blogspot.com/ Straight cut Bloggaday. Start tapping that vein
http://www.facebook.com/thedaviddysart?ref=sgm if you can find my notes or +friend

Youtube Awesomeness
http://www.youtube.com/user/DavidDysart

For the Piccaday
http://s1000.photobucket.com/albums/af128/daviddysart/Piccaday/ Mass me by the month
http://thepiccaday.blogspot.com/ Me paced out by the day.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/daviddysart/sets/72157623465996877/ Like witches at black masses




Thursday, April 15, 2010

Bloggaday 60 – XO, the $100 Laptop Pt 2

Bloggaday 60 – XO, the $100 Laptop Pt 2
Part 2 of a 2 part paper for my Sociology Class. This part is a bit north of 500, but it was the most logical place to break it up.
$100 Laptops
The article makes a very good point. It states that their goal is to “help make education for the world’s children a priority, not a privilege.” While I don’t know if it is seen so much as a privilege, it is definitely not a priority. The priority for the impoverished is immediate survival. Education offers prolonged survival at the expense of the immediate payout. Going to a class doesn’t put food on the table at home. In this sense, education is a privilege for those wealthy enough to provide for the immediate.
This short-term immediate survival method is showing its flaws. The article describes how these countries are trying to play a role on the global stage, but they are being crippled by “a vast and increasingly urban underclass that cannot support itself, much less contribute to the commonwealth.” This culture of the “now” is destroying these countries’ ability keep up with the rest of the world.
Without education for this underclass, the disparities between the nations have and will increase. And our habit of throwing money at the problems we see is not proving an effective method at bringing these nations up from their current position. If we can successfully educate this lower class to not only support themselves, but also contribute to the country’s overall wellbeing, we can start eliminating the gap between developing countries and the rest of the world.
The article continues to describe how this movement and laptop is “designed for ‘learning learning.’” It also offers “children in emerging nations will be opened to both illimitable knowledge and to their own creative and problem-solving potential.” This computer and way of thinking offers a culture where children are encouraged to think and learn. It is more than just sitting in class, a problem in theses countries all its own.
In America, despite recent budget cuts and decreased spending, money is simply thrown at education. While it is a problematic solution to our own problems, most countries don’t even get this far. The article reports that compared to our $7,500 spent per child here, many countries spend less the $20 per child. It continues to remark that little, if any, education reaches the some two billion children of these countries. Most startling, that “One in three does not complete the fifth grade.” The article calls the attempt to build more schools and get more teachers “laudable, but insufficient,” and that their movement could bring “true learning possibilities to the vast numbers of children in the developing world.”
The problem with these uneducated children is the fact that they grow up. They grow up poor and have children. This is another aspect that the article addresses. Children grow up in the same poverty and level of education as their parents. This is an example of the cyclical poverty so commonly known to sociologists. Now, we only have to get the decision makers to see it too.
The starter of the organization himself saw the effects that laptops had on a Cambodian village. The result gave the MIT professor, Nicholas Negroponte, the idea for the organization and the attempt to give every child a laptop.
So many social problems can be traced to a lack of education. Not only is this education deficiency a problem here in America, it is a debilitating disease plaguing the entire human race. There are traditional and some more alternative approaches at solving this problem. One of the more unique and creative solutions out there is what is being pushed by the organization, One Laptop Per Child. While it will take time to see the results of OLPC, it is an intriguing idea that could help solve the problem of education in the world.
Listening to
The Ultimate Fighter

Twitter Tag
More X’s and O’s for today’s Bloggaday (while Supplies last)

As Always, you can find my posts at these convenient interwebs
http://twitter.com/daviddysart Wit in 140 characters
http://daviddysart.tumblr.com/ The best all-in-one FEANBA feed
http://thebloggaday.blogspot.com/ Straight cut Bloggaday. Start tapping that vein
http://www.facebook.com/thedaviddysart?ref=sgm if you can find my notes or +friend

Youtube Awesomeness
http://www.youtube.com/user/DavidDysart

For the Piccaday
http://s1000.photobucket.com/albums/af128/daviddysart/Piccaday/ Mass me by the month
http://thepiccaday.blogspot.com/ Me paced out by the day.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/daviddysart/sets/72157623465996877/ Like witches at black masses


Tiger!

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Bloggaday 59 – XO, the $100 Laptop Pt 1

Bloggaday 59 – XO, the $100 Laptop Pt 1
Part 1 of a 2 part paper for my Sociology Class. This part is a bit shy of 500, but it was the most logical place to break it up. Enjoy! Wow, that really didn’t need that zest, did it? Honestly, I don’t know why I put that exclamation point there. Kind of disappointed myself there. Anyways, enjoy the paper.
$100 Laptops
While watching the podcasts of the TED Talks, one item seemed to keep popping up in talk after talk. Here and there, they would mention these little devices called “the hundred dollar laptop.” But the hundred dollar laptop isn’t just some new gadget about to flood the market. It is the central device of the non-profit organization One Laptop Per Child (OLPC). With the goal of every child having a laptop, OLPC hopes to raise the educational standards of the entire planet.
With so many social issues facing America, and even the world at large, it can be difficult trying to narrow one down from the many. Even then, there are hundreds of branches that spawn from any of those topics. There does seem to be a central issue that spreads across the globe and can be found at the root of many problems. This issue is education. It is such an underutilized resource and such an overlooked problem. Yet, when someone brings up an issue, education is always offered as a solution. Bigotry and hatred? They just need to understand and get educated. Can’t get a job? They should be in college. A life destroyed by drugs? Well, that wouldn’t have happened if they were just educated about the effects of drugs! But education runs deeper than just these issues. They are problems facing America more than any global aspect of education.
What needs could be met globally with education? Well, that’s what OLPC is trying to do. The product name of the hundred dollar laptop is the XO, and at the moment it is closer to $200 than $100. But as the article on their website, http://laptop.org/en/vision/mission/index.shtml, states, “It’s not a laptop project. It’s an education project.” Their goal is to get a laptop into the hands of every child in the world. Granted, this is by no means a feasible plan, at least not in the near future, but it is a step in the right direction. They hope that the affordability and durability of their OX computer will help achieve this goal.


Listening to
Charlie Brown by The Coasters

Twitter Tag
XOXO = 2 $100 laptops and spreading love, only at Bloggaday.

As Always, you can find my posts at these convenient interwebs
http://twitter.com/daviddysart Wit in 140 characters
http://daviddysart.tumblr.com/ The best all-in-one FEANBA feed
http://thebloggaday.blogspot.com/ Straight cut Bloggaday. Start tapping that vein
http://www.facebook.com/thedaviddysart?ref=sgm if you can find my notes or +friend

Youtube Awesomeness
http://www.youtube.com/user/DavidDysart

For the Piccaday
http://s1000.photobucket.com/albums/af128/daviddysart/Piccaday/ Mass me by the month
http://thepiccaday.blogspot.com/ Me paced out by the day.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/daviddysart/sets/72157623465996877/ Like witches at black masses

Serpent!

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Bloggaday 58 – Calories, Labs, and Physics. Oh My!

Bloggaday 58 – Calories, Labs, and Physics. Oh My!
Well, I finally broke down and I’m posting a Physics lab report. Emoticon me is sad :-(. And apparently drooling a little bit. This particular lab tested the specific heat capacities of several types of metal

Lab Report 7
In this lab, I delved into calorimetry. Along with my four lab partners, I performed experiments to find out the specific heat capacity of a few different metals and an unspecified rock sample.
By performing these experiments, I will learn how to use several new instruments as well as how much heat different metals are able to absorb.
By transferring the heat of the metals into water, a substance we are very knowledgeable of, we can find the specific heat capacity of the various metals.
In question 1, I asked to consider a tub of ice water and a red-hot nail. First, I must describe the difference between heat, temperature, and internal energy. Heat is the transfer of kinetic energy. Temperature is the measurement of the kinetic energy of a substance. Internal energy is the sum of the kinetic and potential energy of the substance. Of the two substances, the nail is hotter. The tub has more internal energy though. The water would absorb all of the heat the nail lost. Some of that may then be lost to the air and tub itself.
For question 2, using too much water would skew the results. It takes a considerable amount of energy to heat water because of its high heat capacity. If there were an excess of water, much of the metal’s heating would be wasted heating water not needed to carry out the experiment. This would imply the rock had a lower specific heat capacity.
The answer to question 3 is rather simple. Measure the cup with out the water. Then, measure the cup and water together. Subtract the cup’s weight from the latter measurement, and you would be left with the weight of the water.
Upon comparing my results with the standard answers for question 4, I was somewhat torn. I got good results for aluminum and tin, with decent results for the large copper sample. There must have been substantial errors when it came with the smaller copper sample and the piece of zinc since both were over 50 percent different from the standard. Some errors likely included the metal sample not being in the boiling water long enough, the sensor either touching the metal in the water or a trapped area of heated water (for the tin and zinc since they actually had a higher specific heat than reported by the standard), or the amount of water in the cups (there was some debate as to the proportion of water to sample {more internal energy in a larger sample}). While not likely, our computer had problems, and there is a chance that maybe some of the equipment was also affected. Addressed in the handout, the equipment such as Styrofoam cups and other items are not perfect for this experiment.
When examining the difference between the specific heat capacity of metals and water for question 5, it becomes clear why there is a climate difference between deserts and land near the ocean. Water is able absorb a considerable amount of energy during the day without becoming extremely hot (while rock does). It also hangs on to that heat for a considerable amount of time (again, something rock doesn’t do). This is because of the difference in specific heat capacity.
Table I
Sample Ms (g) Mw (g) Th (C) Tc (C) Tw (C)
Aluminum (al) 30.6 89.5 98.9 22.1 27.2
Copper, Large (cu) 55.7 92.9 98.9 22.0 25.3
Copper, small (cu) 28.9 56.4 98.9 22.0 23.5
Tin (sn) 28.9 55.6 98.9 22.2 24.3
Zinc (zn) 29.1 53.5 98.9 22.2 28.0
Rock 7.8 50.4 98.9 22.7 25.3

Table II
Sample Cs (cal/g C) C*s (cal/g C) % error
Aluminum (al) .21 .215 2.3%
Copper, Large (cu) .074 .0919 19%
Copper, small (cu) .038 .0919 59%
Tin (sn) .054 .0509 -6.0%
Zinc (zn) .15 .0927 -62%
Rock .23 Unknown Unknown

After testing the various materials and doing the math, I got a broad range of answers. Aluminum was so close to the standard, that I find it hard to believe that there was no error. The in-lab conditions likely would have caused an error to decrease the specific heat capacity (exposure to air and less-than-perfect Styrofoam), yet I got basically the same answer. Something likely caused an error in the opposite direction. I feel the large copper sample was also within an acceptable range from the standard, the error more due to the conditions than conductor error. The small copper sample had a considerable error, but I don not know if the conditions were the sole cause. Other factors such as the sample not being in the hot water long enough could have caused the error. My sample of tin actually did better than the standard, which as discussed before, doesn’t seem likely. Some other error including instrument placement may have caused this. Zinc had the same problem, just on a much greater magnitude. The rock had the greatest specific heat capacity, but it was still less than a quarter of water’s capacity.
More than anything, this experiment demonstrated how much greater the specific heat capacity of water is compared to metals and rock. It also showed that different metals and materials have different specific heat capacities. I gained experience and knowledge about the experiment and instruments, but five people on one station is too much for extensive individual learning.

Listening to
Two and a Half Men

Twitter Tag
Calories, Labs, and Physics. Oh my! We’re off to the Wonderful Wizard of Bloggaday

As Always, you can find my posts at these convenient interwebs
http://twitter.com/daviddysart Wit in 140 characters
http://daviddysart.tumblr.com/ The best all-in-one FEANBA feed
http://thebloggaday.blogspot.com/ Straight cut Bloggaday. Start tapping that vein
http://www.facebook.com/thedaviddysart?ref=sgm if you can find my notes or +friend

Youtube Awesomeness
http://www.youtube.com/user/DavidDysart

For the Piccaday
http://s1000.photobucket.com/albums/af128/daviddysart/Piccaday/ Mass me by the month
http://thepiccaday.blogspot.com/ Me paced out by the day.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/daviddysart/sets/72157623465996877/ Like witches at black masses

Monday, April 12, 2010

Bloggaday 57 – The Avatar Cosplayer Cast Catch-up

Bloggaday 57 – The Avatar Cosplayer Cast Catch-up

If you haven’t been following the ACC, the Avatar Cosplayer Cast, get caught up here. I should start rolling the final product out Friday, so I figured I could milk one last Bloggaday out of this. I will be glad when this is done. It has taken way too much time.
http://thebloggaday.blogspot.com/2010/03/bloggaday-32-avatar-cast-update.html
http://thebloggaday.blogspot.com/2010/03/bloggaday-40-fire-nation-cosplay-cast.html
http://thebloggaday.blogspot.com/2010/04/bloggaday-47-gaang-cosplayer-cast.html
http://thebloggaday.blogspot.com/2010/04/bloggaday-50-avatar-cosplay-cast-fire.html
http://thebloggaday.blogspot.com/2010/04/bloggaday-51-my-acc-mai-ty.html
http://thebloggaday.blogspot.com/2010/04/bloggaday-54-end-but-to-begin-videos.html

I said Friday I would give the last set of pictures a rundown, so here it is.


Toph,
Again, if you haven’t been up to date with these, you wouldn’t know that Toph is one of my 3 favorite characters… I suppose if you haven’t been reading this, then you probably don’t care. If you don’t care, why are you reading this? … Anyways, Aparently America can’t produce a top rated Toph because my top 3 are all outsourced.
Avatar,The Last Airbender,Cast,Cosplay

Avatar,The Last Airbender,Cast,Cosplay


Avatar,The Last Airbender,Cast,Cosplay
Cephira
http://www.cosplay.com/member/75933/
Hmm, she really looks like Toph. I imagine this is pretty close to what she would look like in real life. Her outfits also seem to be really well done. Huge hair also.

Avatar,The Last Airbender,Cast,Cosplay



Avatar,The Last Airbender,Cast,Cosplay



Avatar,The Last Airbender,Cast,Cosplay


Strawz
http://houkiboshi.deviantart.com/
http://www.cosplay.com/costumes/m38253/
Apparently a veteran cosplayer. Definitely has the feeling of Toph. I imagine the only thing that could make her stance picture better is if she was looking. That is one thing that most Toph cosplayers seem to forget when they try to get into her character. She’s blind! So when they try to act like her, they don’t act terribly blind. The picture of her on the rock is better at this.



Avatar,The Last Airbender,Cast,Cosplay



Avatar,The Last Airbender,Cast,Cosplay


Avatar,The Last Airbender,Cast,Cosplay

Chise*chan
http://www.cosplay.com/costumes/m53616/
This cosplayer is in the same group with one of the Katara’s that I chose. Honestly, out of the two, I like this one better. I’m not sure why though, just seems to fit the character better.

Suki,
I think I found some really good Sukis. One of the best trios out of the cast.
Avatar,The Last Airbender,Cast,Cosplay

Avatar,The Last Airbender,Cast,Cosplay

Avatar,The Last Airbender,Cast,Cosplay
xTwisTx (Kristen)
http://www.anetherealtwist.net/main.html
http://xtwistx.deviantart.com/
http://www.cosplay.com/costumes/m75824/
Seems to fit Suki extremely well. Her Kyoshi Warrior outfit isn’t fully decked in makeup, but it still looks good


Avatar,The Last Airbender,Cast,Cosplay



Avatar,The Last Airbender,Cast,Cosplay


Avatar,The Last Airbender,Cast,Cosplay

Shotzgoboom
http://www.cosplay.com/costumes/m183198/
When I first saw her, I thought it was my cousin. She is the best Kyoshi Warrior I’ve seen. The amount of detail work on the outfit and the liberties she took with it are amazing. I’m guessing she makes the little Avatar things, but I’m not sure.




Avatar,The Last Airbender,Cast,Cosplay


Avatar,The Last Airbender,Cast,Cosplay



Avatar,The Last Airbender,Cast,Cosplay

Kimba
http://www.cosplay.com/member/130544/
Very good Fire Nation Suki, but I’m not as big of a fan of her Kyoshi Warrior version.

Smeller Bee

Avatar,The Last Airbender,Cast,Cosplay

Avatar,The Last Airbender,Cast,Cosplay

Avatar,The Last Airbender,Cast,Cosplay
Eluai
http://www.cosplay.com/costumes/m144279/
Crazy looking Smeller Bee. Looks a lot like what I remember Smeller Bee looking like.
Cabbage Merchant.

Avatar,The Last Airbender,Cast,Cosplay

Avatar,The Last Airbender,Cast,Cosplay

Avatar,The Last Airbender,Cast,Cosplay

TheOtherVic
Contact me if you have links
One of my all-time favorite cosplayers. I’ve seen other Cabbage Merchants, but this guy is just a bit awesome as him.



Listening to
Southland! Season Finale :-(

Twitter Tag
The Avatar Cosplayer Cast Catch-up

As Always, you can find my posts at these convenient interwebs
http://twitter.com/daviddysart Wit in 140 characters
http://daviddysart.tumblr.com/ The best all-in-one FEANBA feed
http://thebloggaday.blogspot.com/ Straight cut Bloggaday. Start tapping that vein
http://www.facebook.com/thedaviddysart?ref=sgm if you can find my notes or +friend

Youtube Awesomeness
http://www.youtube.com/user/DavidDysart

For the Piccaday
http://s1000.photobucket.com/albums/af128/daviddysart/Piccaday/ Mass me by the month
http://thepiccaday.blogspot.com/ Me paced out by the day.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/daviddysart/sets/72157623465996877/ Like witches at black masses

Ram!