The Most Beautiful Place on Earth

For me, Yosemite National Park is the most beautiful place on Earth. I wouldn't be surprised to find out during the after-life that it was once home to the Garden of Eden.

Megan and I took a trip to Yosemite last August (2007). I've just finished uploading and organizing our photos from that trip. Take a look at the beauty, browse my Yosemite collection at Flickr.

Internet Bliss and Jumper

We've done it. We now have internet. For the past two years, Megan and I have been able to get wireless internet from our neighbor (with his permission of course), but a few months ago he discontinued his service. We've been without internet ever since and it's amazing how hard life can be without it. I wonder how the pioneers survived without it. I mean, how did they cross the plains without mapquest or Google Earth? I'll never know.

So now I get to start blogging again. I seem to think of blogs to post once a week or so but I haven't had internet to do it, so here goes.

Jumper... the novel.

I saw the previews for this movie early in January. It looked awesome but I never got the chance to see the movie. Actually, I STILL haven't seen the movie.

My Dad picked up the novel, Jumper, by Steven Gould, from an airport bookstore and read it. he enjoyed it and then gave it to me to read. I decided that I might as well read it before seeing the movie, even though my Dad warned that the book was NOTHING like the movie.

The result: dare I say it?... one of the best books I've ever read. It was amazing. It was fast paced, easy to read, great characters that you actually cared about, setting, story, plot arch (heaven forbid!), this book had it all. Now don't get me wrong, by no means was it a literary masterpiece, but it was extremely enjoyable to read. I read it inside a week (for me that's REALLY fast).

Though I haven't seen the movie, I can tell just from the previews alone that the book really is different. When asked what was similar about the two, my dad hesitated and then said, "the main character teleports." So, my recommendation is, even if you've seen the movie, go pick up the book. It was written in 1992, so it's NOT a book based on a movie, contrary to what you might have thought.

As soon as I finished Jumper, I went to the book store to see about other novels by this author. To my utter joy, I found Reflex, the SEQUEL to Jumper, written in 2004. I'm now already half way through that book. Steven Gould has also written Jumper: Griffin's Story, which is the novelized version of the movie--a completely different story from his original Jumper.

So there you have it. If you're looking for a great new book to read. Go pick up the original Jumper.

And, as if anyone is ever interested, I always list what books I'm currently reading, and maintain a list of books I have read, at my library on my JayBooks.com website.

Demolition. Vegas Style.

No one blows up a casino like Las Vegas. Yesterday the historic Frontier Hotel Casino went up in an explosion to make room for the bigger and better.

...but you've never seen a demolition like this. Watch the fireworks display on the outer walls during the countdown. WOO HOO! LOVE IT!



New Frontier Demolition! - video powered by Metacafe

Best. Guitar Solo. Ever.

Jimmy Page has long been my favorite guitar player. In my eyes, he is far more tallented than any other guitar player I have ever heard. He has a way of making it sound like 3 or 4 people are playing at once, when in fact it's all him on one guitar. The guy is a genius.

In the following video, you'll see what I deem to be about the best guitar solo ever written. It is beyond phenominal and I can't fathom how he plays like that. The video quality is VERY low but I'm sure you'll be glad you watched it.

Also, be sure to watch the whole thing as he doesn't really get into the awesomeness of it until about 3:40 (three minutes 40 seconds into the video). ENJOY!

Mt. Charleston - The Bad and the Not So Ugly

Today is Nevada Day. As far as I know that just means I get the day off work. Perhaps it's the day Nevada declared it's independance from the government, I'm not sure.

Anyway, my wife and I went up to Mt. Charleston today. We've lived here three years and had never made the drive. Everyone always said how wonderful and beautiful it was and google maps reported that it was only an hour drive. So we went.

We expected to find a nice mountain community with quaint shops and nice parks. Instead, we found about ten log cabins and one nice outdoor restaurant. I wouldn't dare call it a city... or even a township. The road up to Mt. Charleston literally came to a dead end about five minutes after the desert of Las Vegas turned into pine trees.

We had packed a lunch, thinking to have a nice family picnic, and so we went in search of a park, a campground, or anywhere with a table. We came up empty. There was nowhere to park for free. Every day-use recreational area was a minimum $7.00 fee to park. I was appalled. Mt. Charleston was supposed to be the amazing mountain getaway for Las Vegas residents but all we found was a dead end surrounded by somewhat pretty trees.

We spoke to a ranger and asked if there was anywhere on the mountain we could park for 30 minutes, have lunch, and leave. He said "no." And then he went on to suggest we drive down to the visitors where there was free parking... for 30 minutes. We went there but found no tables, no grass. We finally laid out our blanket on some rocks, weeds and twigs under a tree.

After spending a long 10 full minutes on Mt. Charleston we decided to drive back home.


In the end, it was nice to get out of the house and it was nice to see some trees for a change. Mt. Charleston also has a ski-resort which we stopped by on the way home. There were also a number of camp grounds that looked pretty fun to stay at. But truth be told, I don't see myself returning in the near future. It's small, and there's basically nothing to see; though they do seem quick and ready to take your money once you're there.

If you're in vegas and you want a nice free relaxing day, I suggest the library.