Upcoming Movies

There are some really great movies coming out in '07. If you haven't seen these trailers, do yourself a favor and watch them. Some are pretty new! Enjoy:

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (March 23rd)


Spiderman 3 (May 4th)


Shrek 3 (May 18th)


Pirates 3 (May 25th) No trailer available yet. :(

Ocean's 13 (June 8th)


Fantastic Four 2 (June 15th)


Transformers (July 4th)


The Simpsons (July 27th)

Is it Still a Merry Christmas?

As the years go on, the Christmas Spirit seems to be phasing out. More and more gifts are purchased each year during the holidays and Christmas lights are still illuminating neighborhood homes by droves, but the expression of merry wishes for the Christmas season has suddenly become taboo and many even find it offensive.

While preparing an informational letter to send home with my students, I found myself wanting to write “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas.” What if I offend someone? Am I maintaining a separation of church and state if I write “Merry Christmas”? Is it offensive for a non-Christian to read the words “Merry Christmas”?

I overheard someone saying to another: “I left you a gift in your box. It's just a non-denominational celebration gift for all the work you do for us.” Then, upon leaving work for the Christmas season, another person sent an email to fellow co-workers saying: “Happy Politically Correct day of non-specific Celebration.” Now this, of course, I found amusing and was obviously intended to be a joke. Nevertheless, I found it a little disheartening to ponder the thought that our society has come to embrace the social norm that it is not okay to come right out and say: “Merry Christmas.”

Political Correctness has overstepped its bounds if it means that you can no longer openly wish someone happy thoughts and glad tidings during a festive holiday season that your specific belief system calls “Christmas.”

If we’re not allowed to say “Merry Christmas” for fear of offending someone that does not specifically believe in Christmas, then perhaps we should not say “Happy Holidays” either because not everyone celebrates holidays during this time of year.

Now, I’ve lost track—is it still okay to say “Happy New Year”? I only ask because the Chinese and the Mayans, and many other cultures around the world celebrate the “New Year” at a different time other than our current calendar expiration.

What about “Happy Birthday”? There are some religions that do not celebrate birthdays. Perhaps we should refrain from telling anyone “Happy Birthday” as well. I mean, we don’t want to offend anyone now do we?

I can understand people becoming upset if we were to say things like “Have a terrible New Year,” or “Hope your Christmas is worse than labor pains,” but instead we are wishing happy thoughts, merry thoughts. So maybe the solution to the problem, then, is to never wish good things for people at all—someone might get offended!

The point of all this, of course, is that society is starting to forget what the “Christmas Spirit” is all about. It’s about a time for forgiveness, a time for joy, a time for peace, a time for love, a time for giving, a time for happiness, a time to let your inner child roam free, a time to forget about the stresses and sorrows of life and embrace all that is good in the world. The words “Merry Christmas” are not meant to offend, but are meant to share love and respect with a fellow member of mankind. If that person gets offended because you wished them well, there is nothing you can do about it.

Likewise, I would not take offense to someone wishing me Happy Chanukah or Happy Kwanza. On the contrary, I would take it as a kind gesture and be thankful to the person that mentioned it because that person just wished me happy and prosperous times during a season in which their specific beloved holiday happened to fall.

So I say, this year, be not afraid to express the words that mean so much more than the four syllables that make it. Political Correctness has no place telling you not to share your love for a wonderful time of year with others.

Don’t let the magic of Christmas be lost to fear of offending. People will always find something to be offended by. Instead, let the Christmas Spirit ride with you this season—no matter what your religion. The next time you see someone, regardless of their religious beliefs, tell them what you feel in your heart. Tell them: Merry Christmas.

If you feel so inclined, pass this on to your friends and loved ones. Help them remember what it means to say “Merry Christmas.”

Take These Polls!

Vote Away!

This blog should:
	contain mostly science fiction content
	have a wide variety of different content
	focus on sci-fi but occasionally have something different
	be utterly destroyed
	be everyone's homepage
pollcode.com free polls

Your Favorite Thing About Science Fiction Is:
	Time Travel
	Aliens
	Shadow Governments
	The possibilities of what could be
	Other (leave comment)
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My Favorite Short Story on JayBooks.com is (multiple answers accepted):
	What Seemed Like Hours
	Gems of Mind
	The Ledgend of FOY City
	Network Neighborhood
	Nails
	Rolling Thunder
	Frantic
	Other (leave comment)
pollcode.com free polls

Choose One:
	I have read Entities and it was a GREAT book!
	I have read Entities and it was just okay
	I have read Entities and I was bored to tears
	I have not read Entities but I've heard it's great
	I have not read Entities and I do not have much interest to do so
	I wouldn't read Entities if it was the last book on earth
	I have no idea what Entities is
pollcode.com free polls

Website Review: Psych-net.com

Well I've got an Information Superhighway URL that you should probably not only look at but bookmark and check regularly. Psych-net.com is a HUGE resource for any kind of psychological information that you could possibly want, and it's free to boot!



If you ever were curious about a psychological symptom or if you have a friend or loved one with a problem, there-is-easy to access information there that can help. Or if you're interested in how to diagnose your dreams, or in how to overcome stress, psych-net has it all!




And to top it all off, psych-net offers 5 differnet blogs--one for each day of the work week (you can find links for them on the psych-net homepage). Some of them deal with raising children, some deal with developing better relationships and some deal with enjoying your life. You ought to consider reading and subscribing to those blogs as well. They are not only a valuable source of information but a good daily dose of good advice as well. Even the ads on the site are tailored to help you find what you're looking for!

Check it out:
Psych-net.com

Ambiguous Honesty

Is it ever okay to lie? When I ask people if they are honest, most people say yes. Actually I once created an internet poll and literally 99% of responders said that they were either honest no matter what the cost or at least “mostly” honest. As much lying as I see in today’s world, I tend to wonder if people are being honest about being honest. Or perhaps they aren’t sure what being honest means?

Here are a few topics for discussion. Read through them and then post your response.

1. You are having a crummy day. You see a friend at the store. Your friend says “Hey, how are you?” and you reply “fine.” Isn’t that technically a lie? But on the other hand, you don’t really want to go into detail about why you’re not fine, and surely your friend doesn’t want to hear about it either.
2. Your spouse, parent, child or friend spends an hour or so cooking you dinner. It tastes terrible. “Do you like it?” they ask. What is your response? Should you lie?
3. Your spouse, parent, child or friend puts on an item of clothing and asks “Does this make me look fat?” Yes. Yes, it does. But what do you say?
4. Your co-worker introduces you to someone that you did not want to meet. You smile and politely say “nice to meet you.” But is it? Sure you’re saying the polite thing, but is that lying?
5. You receive a birthday or Christmas gift that you just hate. The gift-giver is looking at you, earnestly awaiting a reaction. “Thanks! That’s so cool,” you say. Uh-huh. Sure it is… LIAR!

Is there a line between being polite and being honest? Does being polite precede honesty? What do you think? When is it okay to lie and when is it not? What do the scriptures teach us and how does that tie into all of this?

Click here to post a comment!

The Buffer Budget

A device for your family budget that will help you live like the rich on a poor man’s income! – Created by Jay Dougherty

Steps to implementing the Buffer

• Total up all your regular bills (this includes bills that you do NOT pay every month such as oil change, car registration, etc)
• Do not include extra things that you want (candy, fast food, games, etc). Only include bills you need to pay (car insurance, mortgage payment, gas, electricity, car payment, cable bill, internet, cell phones, groceries, etc.)
• Total up your monthly net income. Subtract charitable donations (tithing). Subtract savings (you should come up with a set number: 10% is ideal, but 5% is minimum). Subtract your monthly bill total. (Note: you should divide your non-monthly bills into monthly payments. Example: Maddy has a doctor’s appoint for $10 every 2 months, so I factor $5 per month into the budget).
• The Buffer! Choose a set number for your buffer and count it like a bill. This will vary based on the needs of your family, size of your family, cost of living in your area, etc. Let’s use $100 as an example.
• Anything that you spend that has not been budgeted elsewhere comes out of the buffer money. Examples below:
• You need a tool from Home Depot ($4.27)
• There is NO time to make dinner tonight, go to Taco Bell ($7.83)
• You’re with some friends and you want to buy a dessert to share ($6.67)
• You went over on your grocery budget ($9.94)
• Baby needs a new sleeper ($22.00)
• Keep track of ALL money you spend on your buffer and don’t go over your amount.

The Key to Making the Buffer Budget Work:

Never spend a dime without knowing where it came from! NOT ONE DIME. If it wasn’t budgeted somewhere, then it either comes out of your personal money (allowance), your buffer or sometimes even from savings. But don’t ever spend a cent unless you know where it is budgeted!

There is LOTS more information about this concept. It works wonders and will help you to get all your bills paid as well as have money for dates, outings, and all the extra things that we just can’t foresee each month that we need.

This is the EXTREAMLY shortened version of how this budget idea works. If the idea intrigues you, or if you would simply like to know more about the details of how it works then please click here to download the full version and description of the Buffer Budget.

Baby = Human Pet

When Megan and I were just 8 months married, she brought home a cat. Now, I grew up with cats and I love animals of all kinds, but I had never been responsible for one of my own. I had never before been personally responsible for a living being other than myself. I had never had to take care of something that couldn’t survive without me (no offense, Eddy).

Then Eddy came along. All of a sudden I had to feed him, change his water because he would accidentally drop food into it, clean his cat box, love him, and keep constant vigil on him so that he wouldn’t get out of the house when we were coming and going.

Eventually I got used to it. At first I was very nervous but as time went on, I grew to be the cat owner that I am today.

Eddy was great practice for Maddy. People were constantly telling me how much my life would change when she was born. They said that nothing would ever be the same again and what a huge responsibility it was. Now, they weren’t necessarily wrong, but in the end I felt more prepared than I thought I would be.

Like Eddy, I had to care for a living being when Maddy was born. I had similar responsibilities: I had to feed her (well Megan did most of that, but there was an occasional bottle in the mix). I had to clean up her food when she would drop it (puke). I had to clean her cat box (change her diaper). I had to love her (GOT to love her), and I had to keep constant vigil on her at all times.

Granted there is a bit more to caring for a human baby than for a feline, but in retrospect, I really feel that Eddy came into our lives to, at least on some level, prepare us for parenthood.

Moral of the story: Pets are great parental helps.

Is Star Wars Science Fiction or Fantasy?

In light of the fact that in my mind science fiction and fantasy are complete opposite genres, I thought I’d take some time to explore this valid question. I had this discussion with a few people online a while back and I have included part of the debate below.

*A bit lengthy, but an interesting debate.

Person 1:

Star Wars is not Science Fiction, it is Space Fantasy, there is a difference.

Me:

Here is a little info I was able to come up with:

From http://www.kheper.net/topics/scifi/grading.html
"Star Wars is considered "Space Fantasy" by its creator, but sci fi by others."

"The original Star Wars might be considered Very Soft Sci Fi, although George Lucas specifically defines it as "Space Fantasy", rather than "Science Fiction.”

"SCIENCE FANTASY: claims to be Science Fiction but also includes one or more supernaturalist elements that remove it from the realm of pure Science Fiction. Star Wars can more properly be included with other Soft Sci Fi popular universes. The only "fantasy" element in SW is The Force, and even this is explained in technobabble terms (midichlorians") in the prequel trilogy."

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_fantasy
Science fantasy is a subclass of science fiction sometimes with some fantasy elements thrown in, resulting in a blending of the two popular genres of writing

Seems to me that "Space Fantasy" was a term that Lucas came up with himself. Most websites that I could come up with considered SW to be bascially a Sci-fi. Others went as far as to say it was a Science Fantasy which according to wikipedia is a "subclass of science fiction."

So I guess in the end I was right. Star Wars = Science Fiction... with a few fantasy elements thrown in.

Person 1:

Other way around, it is a fantasy story that uses science fiction elements to help tell its story.

Me:

Well the evidence I presented indicates to the contrary. And there is much more where that came from. Do a google search for "Science Fiction Star Wars" and read through a few pages.

Most people classify SW as sci-fi, other's classify it as Science Fantasy which by definition is a "subclass of science fiction." I didn't make this stuff up bro, it's right out of the encyclopedia.

Person 1:

Personally, I don't care where it comes from. The complete plot of Star Wars relies on Fantasy elements, not science.

Person 2:

I'm with Dom on this one. It's very much a fantasy story, just set in a technologically advanced world. It's more fantasy than sci-fi, it's just not in the traditional dragons/wizards world. . .yet it does contain the classic fantasy elements (if the Force isn't magic, then I don't know what is!)

Me:

Believe me I see your point. I agree in every whit that the Force is a magical element and therefore a fantasy element (though they did try to sci-fi it a little with an explanation of midichlorienes - sorry about spelling). All I was saying is what I was able to find on line.

So I started thinking, if you did the entire 6 movies over but omitted the element of the force (I know it'd be nearly a different movie), then it would be a bunch of guys (knights in a way) wielding light sabers and flying around on hover cars and intergalactic star ships in a galaxy far far away. Which technically makes them aliens with advanced technology. Sounds fairly sci-fi-ish to me. Sci-fi with fantasy elements if you add back the force. But to me, the force is merely an alien ability.

Person 1:

That's a moot point, you can't take away the force from Star Wars without completely changing the film, even if you did, it would still be space fantasy.

In the end, you can see that I presented a lot of information that basically proved that SW is a sci-fi, but these people had closed eyes. My conclusion: SW = sci-fi. Having read the above conversation, what say you?

Science Fiction Vs. Fantasy

They are always in the same section at a book store. When choosing a genre of book on the internet, catalogue, or other media engine, they two are listed as if they were one word: Sci-fi/Fantasy. Even the more broad category defines both Science Fiction and Fantasy as “Speculative Fiction.”

I am saddened by this oversight. In my mind, Science Fiction is the exact opposite of Fantasy. It is as different as Romance is to Horror—as different as Mainstream Fiction is to Children’s Literature.

Science Fiction is the epitome of everything that is possible. Fantasy is the epitome of everything that is not.

Fantasy thrives on the “fantasy” world. It is a world that does not literally exist in the midst of our own. A world where things are possible that are not possible in ours. This is the very reason people love the fantasy genre.

Science Fiction on the other hand, describes things that are plausible and possible, or at least unproven. Just as its parent genre titles it “speculative” fiction, sci-fi speculates on things that just may be possible in our real world.

What would happen if aliens really did come to earth? What would happen if someone discovered time travel? What if time travel had already been discovered but we didn’t know about it?

Case in point: Sci-fi takes place in our real world, Fantasy does not. It is for this reason that I am a science fiction fan, but not a fantasy fan. I want to believe that what I read could be possible. I want to understand how and why things happen. As I watch a sci-fi movie or read a sci-fi book, I like to imagine that it’s real—and that’s something I can’t do with fantasy.

Aliens Vs. Time Travel

I have another theory that ties time travel in with aliens. I think that many of the flying saucers that we see in our day my not be aliens, but time travelers from the future. The time travelers probably think of it as a perfect cover. They can observe the past from the sky and if anyone sees them we would just think that they were aliens. It's a perfect plan. I wouldn't be surprised if the old 1947 Roswell crash was actually time travelers, and that the government was so shocked about humans (possibly dead) having this technology that they were scared about national security (not realizing they were from the future). Maybe they thought it was the Russians and spread rumors of little green men so that the public didn't get a big scare about the Russians having super technology. I wouldn't be surprised if NO aliens have yet made it to earth and all the UFOs we encounter are actually time travelers.

Aliens

Do aliens exist? If so, why doesn’t the world know? Are they among us? How long have they been here? How far away is their home planet? What do they look like? How did they travel this far since it takes light thousands of years to reach Earth from most solar systems?

Personally I do believe in aliens. I don’t have any evidence that shows that they have actually made it to Earth, but they’re out there for sure.

I have often had a theory that aliens would look just like we do—or at least very similar. In the book of Moses, we read: “And worlds without number have I created…But only an account of this earth, and the inhabitants thereof, give I unto you. For behold, there are many worlds that have passed away by the word of my power. And there are many that now stand, and innumerable are they unto man; but all things are numbered unto me, for they are mine and I know them” (Moses 1:33-35).

We see here that God has created many worlds and that there are many now in existence. The interesting part here is that He says they are innumerable to man. Not only does this prove aliens exist, but it confirms that there are billions upon trillions of planets that are home to “aliens.”

Now who’s to say that ANY of these worlds are within plausible reach of Earth? For all we know the nearest alien planet is in an entirely different galaxy, universe, or even on a different plane of existence. In Genesis, we read that “God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also” (Genesis 1:16).

Now this may seem a little presumptuous, but I have often taken this verse to mean that when God created the Earth, he created all the stars visible to Earth to benefit this planet alone. He probably did likewise for all the other trillions of planets He’s made. Some of the stars we see in the sky are not solar systems, but entire galaxies and, by this theory, all made entirely for us. Imagine the vastness of the universe if you multiply that by all the other worlds that now stand.

We also know that God creates his children in his image. If aliens do exist, then my calculations put them as humanoids looking very similar to us and at a distance so far away that none of the stars they see could also be seen by us.

So of all those trillions and trillions of worlds and galaxies… is it possible that one of them has figured out how to bend space and time in order to contact Earth?

Time Travel

Time Travel

This is a subject that I have put a lot of thought into. Sometimes I believe time travel is possible and others I don’t. I love to come up with theories on the matter and then disprove them. I love to read about it, and I love to watch shows and movies depicting some aspect of the possibilities of time travel.

There are many theories on time travel to the past. Some will argue that there are multiple timelines and that you can change the future or present by traveling to the past and altering something and thus creating a new timeline from the moment that you change something, as seen in the movie Back to the future 2.

Others will say that there is only one timeline and traveling to the past would not affect anything because it happened the first time around also. This time travel theory is seen in movies such as 12 Monkeys. Let me explain: Ray lives in the year 2050. He wants to travel back in time to one of the highjacked planes that was going to crash into the World Trade Centers and stop it from happening. So he travels back in time to one of the planes originally destined for San Francisco. He struggles with the highjackers to try and gain control of the aircraft and in the struggle, the plane crashes far from its intended target… in Pennsylvania.

You see, in reality one plane really did crash prematurely in Pennsylvania, and therefore the time traveler changed nothing, but instead caused an event that happened the first time around. In the single-timeline theory (as I like to call it) you cannot change the past because no matter what you go back and try to change, actually happened the first time around anyway.


Now the question still remains if time travel to the past is possible or not. If it is possible, I believe that it either will never be achieved, you can only travel back as far as the day time travel was discovered. Either that or time travelers have very strict codes on how to behave when in the past. I say this because we have no real evidence that time travelers have come to our time. Have you ever seen or met one?

If time travel eventually becomes possible, you’d think we’d know about it. Since we don’t know about it, then there must be a reason. Maybe they can’t travel back in time farther than the date that time travel was discovered, and since that date hasn’t come yet, we’ve seen no effects of time travel yet. Or maybe time travelers operate on strict military laws such as the Temporal Prime Directive as seen on Star Trek. An example of this would be that time travelers only come in the form of homeless-looking bums so they are not cared about or noticed, but they can still observe the past. Or, they spend years studying the time period to which they will travel, so they can fit in, and they also bring fake credentials that would even fool the highest authorities, such as Driver’s License, credit cards, and birth certificates. Since it is their own past that they are traveling to, they would know how to break that kind of security. Our computers would be primitive to their knowledge.

Time travel to the future—if it is possible then it is bound to the same rules as time travel to the past. For example, if you could change the past and therefore create an alternate timeline (the multiple timeline theory), then anything you might see in the future is only one of many timelines that are possible.

If one were able to see the future and then change it, than the future that they saw must have been an alternate timeline. For example, if you saw that your murder was going to take place in two days in your own house while you were sleeping, you would probably pick up and fly out to Hawaii to make sure that you weren’t in your house to be murdered on that night, thereby changing the future and forcing the original future you saw over to a different timeline.

Now take the single-timeline theory and apply the same scenario. This would be the theory that states that you cannot change the future just as you cannot change the past. If you somehow looked into the future and saw that your murder was going to take place in two days in your own house while you were sleeping, you would probably pick up and fly out to Hawaii to make sure that you weren’t in your house to be murdered on that night as mentioned before. But you saw what is going to happen and there is only one timeline.

So what ends up happening is that you’re on your way out the door with all your luggage and you slip on the icy porch and hit your head. You arise with mild amnesia and can no longer remember where you were going or why, so you return to your house and go to sleep in your bed, where you are murdered.You see? Even though you saw the future, you were not able to change it. In this example it was only because you saw your future that you saw the future you saw.

So which makes the most sense to you? The single or multiple-timeline theory? Are there infinite alternate realities being created every millisecond with every decision that people make, or is the past and future set in stone without a way to change it?

Some Time Travel Movie Worth Checking Out:
12 Monkeys
Back to the Future
Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure
Frequency
Millennium
Minority Report
Planet of the Apes (both the 1968 and 2001 versions)
Somewhere in Time
Terminator
The Time Machine (both the 1960 and 2002 versions)

Jay's Fortress of Solitude

Okay so here I am. I've done a blog. This blog is different from the normal website that I run at megjay.com. Here, at my Fortress of Solitude, I will attempt to let you into my brain a little. Every now and then I come up with an idea about life, the future, the way things should be, etc. This is where I will write it down.