I really like this speech and I've been listening to it quite a bit lately.

Everyone is Free to wear sunscreen

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of ?9...Wear sunscreen


If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh nevermind; you will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded. But trust me, in 20 years youll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you cant grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked...Youre not as fat as you imagine.

Dont worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing everyday that scares you

Sing

Dont be reckless with other peoples hearts, dont put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss

Dont waste your time on jealousy; sometimes youre ahead, sometimes youre behind...the race is long, and in the end its only with yourself.

Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch

Dont feel guilty if you dont know what to do with your life...the most interesting people I know didnt know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still dont.

Get plenty of calcium

Be kind to your knees, youll miss them when theyre gone.

Maybe youll marry, maybe you wont, maybe youll have children, maybe you wont, maybe youll divorce at 40, maybe youll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary...what ever you do, dont congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either - your choices are half chance, so are everybody elses.

Enjoy your body, use it every way you can...dont be afraid of it, or what other people think of it, its the greatest instrument youll ever own.

Dance...even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.

Read the directions, even if you dont follow them.

Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.

49 second break in speech -- Quindon singing

Get to know your parents, youll never know when theyll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but for the precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography in lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths, price will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old, and when you do youll fantasize that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Dont expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out.

Dont mess too much with your hair, or by the time its 40, it will look 85.

Be careful who advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than its worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen...

By Baz Luhrman

It's Hot! I don't mean warm I mean Hot. Last night I got home from work at 6:30pm and it had cooled down to 101 degrees, but at least there was 80% humidity. However it is suppose to get better by the middle of the week. I know what you are thinking, but Russ you sit in an air conditioned office building all day, why do you care if it is hot? Well, that is true, I do, but I have some very good reasons for caring that it's hot out.

1. The Little Boy, do you remember when you were a kid, I do, and the desire, no, the need to play was so strong that it would completely override the, it's too hot to play part of my brain. He's the same way. Yesterday evening we took a quick bike ride around the neighborhood. It had cooled down to an cool 97 degrees, so we got our hydration packs and rode. We rode for about 20 minutes and that Boy had drank a litter of water. (Minus the pint or so we were spitting at each other. What, he looked hot, I wanted to cool him down, and he just wanted to return the favor.)

2. We don't actually have Air Conditioning at the house, we have an evaporative cooler (swap cooler) and some room air conditioners. Not enough to cool the entire house when it's 108 degrees outside and the humidity is at 80%. Evaporative coolers work by well, evaporation, and so if the humidity is 20% to 40% it works like a charm, if its higher than that, well, it just gets more humid.

3. My Brothers still work in construction. While Dad and I have left the trade. The Boys are still out there sweating their guys out. I was talking with them earlier this morning and they are going through about 4 gallons of gatorade a day trying to stay hydrated. They are framing in the hot sun all day.

Well, It's hot out there, remember to stay hydrated and don't forget the sunscreen.

This morning I came across this article in BusinessWeek about the 10 oddest iPod Acessories. I really have to agree with their list.

1. Stereo Dock for iPod with Bathroom Tissue Holder - For Those that need their iPod at all times...even in the bathroom
2. iPode Sholder Bag - It's a purse, it's a iPod boom box, it's both!
3. CE0 Card Wallet for iPod Nano - For those that believe their iPod is like their American Express card, they don't leave home without it.
4. Bullet Proof iPodCase - I assume this is for the secret agents iPod, whoelse would need a bullet proof aluminum case for their iPod.
5. iPod Nano Thong - Now this one is just wrong, it a thong for your iPod. I would guess that large quantities of alcohol where involved in the design process.
6. The iPod Nano Belt - Because everyone wants their iPod on their belt...don't they?
7. iPod Cases - This cases look more like a Muppet at your iPod.
8. Mobile Security Lock for iPod - I'm not really sure what this does, but I think I feel more secure...
9. iSticky Pad XL - Now it maybe just me, but I really don't think that sticky and iPod should be used in the same sentence.
10. Gloves with Playpoint Technology for iPod Click Wheel - Not only is that a lot to say, but I don't get it. I get batting gloves, I get driving gloves, I don't get iPod gloves. Are people getting blisters from over use of the iPod Click Wheel?

You have to give this a listen. As a guitar player this guy is just simply amazing to watch. He's developed his own style, and sounds like three people playing at once. I was impressed.

So this evening I was driving down the street, stereo cranking playing "The Raconteurs" at a very high volume, moon roof open feeling pretty cool. Then I realized I'm not cool. I'm driving a camry home from the pharmacy, where I've just picked up my colesterol/triglyceride medication, which is sitting next to me in a childs car booster seat. I am not cool.

Wednesday after work The Little Boy and I were in the backyard playing some "spaceball" (I've been trying to to teach him that the game is baseball, and he says it right most of the time, however I kind of like it when he calls it spaceball). I've been working with him on batting. I've been throwing him some soft under hand pitches and currently he's hitting about a quarter of them. Not a bad average for a 5 year old I must say. We use the soft T-Ball baseballs that have a rubber core. Last thing I want is for him or I to be hit in the face (or lower) with a regular baseball. Brother K can tell you how bad that is. (when he was a kid, he pitched a regular baseball in grade school to a kid during recess and it came back and hit him in the nose. It caused him a lot of sinus trouble over the years. His jerk of a teacher told him he was fine and that he should just walk it off. Years later same teacher gets hit in the face with a soccer ball which is so much softer than a baseball and the guy passes out and had to be taken away in an ambulance.)

Anyhow so I was pitching a few to him and for fun I throw a tennis ball for him to hit. It's about 50 to 60 feet from the area he was batting to the 6 foot high fence in the backyard, well he cracked the tennis balll perfectly and launched that thing high and right out of the yard. I yell, "Incoming" and "Sorry" and the tennis ball landed in the neighbor behind us' patio. The Little Boy look at me, like, "What do I do, I am happy that I hit the ball that well, but I hit the ball over the fence man!" I smiled at him and said. "Yeah, did you see how far you hit that thing, It cleared the fence!" So he ran the bases we have setup and made sure to come by and give me a high five as he was passing second base, and  just because he could he went for a second lap around the bases. Our neighbor was of course very nice and threw the ball back. I told the Little Boy, "I think we'll have batting practice at the school, you hit way too well to practice in the backyard". He smiled and gave me a hug.

Warning: Motorcycle Post.
Reverse Rotating Rotors, try saying that five times fast, go ahead try it, it's difficult isn't it. So what are Reverse Rotating Rotors? Well it is something that Mr. Rob Kasten has been working on that is very interesting and could be huge in the motorcycle racing arena. The basic idea is that you mechanically make the disc rotors on the front wheel of a motorcycle spin in the opposite direction. This counter acts what is know as gyroscopic presession. So you stabilze the motorcycle at almost any speed and make it as easy to turn at 180 mph as it is to turn at 20 mph. What I find complete fasintating about this project, is it all started because Mr. Kasten wanted to understand counter steer better.