Jetskeee!

Oh the joys of jet skiing. Possibly the single most thrilling sport I've done. Speeding across the waves, going airborne and feeling the impact coming back down, trying to see past the spraying seawater, and just yelling for the heck of it. It's the untamed ocean that does it best. The rolling waves never give you a second's rest, and the frigid water makes it ever more exhilarating. But it's not just the adrenaline rush I get from ride that makes so amazing, but the stories that come with it.
There was that one time I knocked my dad out cold. My dad had bought an inflatable tow-tube, we were setting it up, but the towline got tangled in the turbine. Well, being the genius that I was, I gave the ski a nice little rev and BAM! The line got sucked in and knocked my dad's feet from under him. He of course landed on his head and blacked out, but a few hours of amnesia later he was fine.

But this is my go-to-story: A was a dark and dreary day. A little windy and as chilly as ever. I was driving, with my father and cousin in the back. I don't know if it was the adrenaline or just plain stupidity but I choked that throttle, and when we hit an exceptionally large wave up we went. We landed at a peculiar angle and were all thrown off in a chaotic flash. Here's the kicker though: being the genius that I was (again) I incompletely fastened the carabiner that connected the key to my life vest. And away the jet ski rode at 60 m.p.h. There was a moment of silence and shock then panic as we frantically tried swimming to it, but it was gone. It seemed bleak. We were miles from land and our precious jet ski was probably going to either crash into some rocks and get wrecked or got stranded who knows how far away. There seemed to be absolutely no one around until finally through some miracle from God a group of guys passed by and retrieved the ski for us. After a lot of "thank you's" we head back home, thankful for the fortunate turn of events.

Ben

"Name him Brandon," I said.
"No, I'm his mother. I choose," said she.
And that was how my brother's name came to be.

My mother has a thing, or rather obsession with relations in her children's names. There's me, BENjamin, and then my little brother, BENny. And my little sister?


The process of naming her went like this: BenjaMIN + BenNY = Minn(ie)

It's cute (?) in a way I guess, and at least everyone that finds out for the first time gets a good laugh or two so no harm done there.

And that's them, minus the big, bearded man in the middle of course; that would be "The Lumberjack." Benny is a little bundle of energy. Unusual and goofy, but a really bright kid. He's easily frightened and is one of those kids that cries in Disneyland's Haunted Mansion. Then there Minnie. She's an even more peculiar case. She tries to be a delicate and shy princess-type girl, but she's a fearless diva or spoiled brat, depending on your viewpoint. But to be fair, she's the youngest and the only girl. It's only logical that she's "daddy's girl."

But back to the names. I've long come to accept our names. It didn't really bother me much to begin with. However, "Benjam-ny" has become a household hallmark with my parents. "Benjam-(stuttering)-ny!" they would call in a thick Asian accent, "Get down here and do your homework!" Of course the name of their favorite child comes first to mind, so it's an understandable mistake, but even worse is "Ben." Let's examine this: it could either mean "Benjamin and Benny," "Benjamin," or "Benny." They could be asking for a pen for goodness' sake, but under their accent who could know. Do you not see the predicament you have created, Mother?

ADVENTURE!

 

After eight long years, I decided to relive my sweet childhood memories. One emulator later and I'm playing Pokemon FireRed. Of course I went oldschool with the revamped version of one of the very first games of the Pokemon franchise. It's been a refreshing experience with frequent flashbacks of my days of old. I remember begging my dad at Fry's Electronics to buy me a "RumblePack" for my GameboyAdvance just for this game and tremoring with glee each time it shook as my level 52 Charizard "Blast Burned" my hated foes.

The only thing is, I've made the same progress in a week as I made after months in my younger years, and that bothers me. I don't feel the same excitement I did with each evolution, gym badge, hidden items, or legendary pokemon because I always knew what was coming. With internet walkthroughs and aids, I knew every nook and cranny in the game. There was no adventure.

In this instantaneous age where every bit of information is at our fingertips, we tend to take shortcuts in everything we everything we do. And I think that defeats the purpose. There's that one saying about the journey being better than the destination, and I completely agree with that. Discovering those new things in Pokemon was definitely one of the best part: finding out what was effective against what and going into every other house to figure out where to go, chuckling at the silly remarks from those 8-bit humanoids. So to everyone out there, slow down once in a while and just enjoy the ride.

Iphone 5 Review

With every new iPhone that makes its way to the market, comes the question"What's better about it?" time and time again. Although it doesn't matter considering the fact that it immediately sells millions, there are several significant perks to the i5.
Internally the iPhone 5 boasts an upgraded dual core processor and system memory, and has an increased screen resolution. The camera has been improved and LTE has been made available. Additionally the iOS 6 software update was released in conjunction with the i5, allowing for more features and apps. However, I'd like to focus on the physical functions of the i5.
I was among the skeptics who believed an upgrade would be rather useless, however, the moment I was able to test one out, my mind was changed. Right off the bat, you can notice a much more comfortable weight to the i5. The less chunky size also allows a much more pleasant one-hand grip. I could care less about the .5 inch extension, however, although it's still a perk.
Finally, I'd like to touch on the new "Lightning connector." It created a bit of a stir in making all previous Apple-compatible products obsolete. But honestly, these people need to calm down keeping in mind they were the ones complaining about the original 30-pin connector. It'll be a short matter of time for these obsolete products to be cycled out, and its functionality (easier, faster, and reversible connection), I find, is worth the trouble in the long run.
All things considered, I'd say the iPhone 5 is a buy (7.5/10 rating) if you have a hole burning in your pocket.