Chaos

I don't want to remember
About what happened
The pain experienced
Shall never be forgotten

Time stood still
The tears did not fall
The moment lasted forever
Even now

I stood there
Heartbroken
As she walked away
After this all ended

The rain
It fell slowly
Every drop hitting me
Hard as hail

The moonlight receded
Behind the blanket
Of dark thick storm clouds
Overhead

I stood there
My mind racing
Faster and faster
While time passed by slowly

And although my mind
Was moving at the speed of light
I stood there
Under the chaos

I stood there for minutes
After the chaos unfolded
Right before my eyes
And for the world to see

I got into my car
And slammed the door
Inserted the key
And fired up my engine

I tore out
Exceeding the speed limit
Not caring which direction I went
Where I ended up

I could of cared less
Just how fast I was going
Just how slick the soaked streets were
Just how this could end

And now here I am
Above it all
Watching the aftermath
Of the chaos that I created

Telling you all
The story of
The day...
The day that I died.

When will...

When will this end
This wretched misery
On this Earth
In which we live

When will the end come
It stalks us all
Like a vulture
Watching over it's prey

When will the used stand up
Stand up to those who oppress
Those who torment
Those who wreck

When will the cowardly
Come out to fight
Come out to defend
Come out to attack

When will those who say no
Finally say yes
Finally submit
Finally let go

When will the people unite
Unite as one
Unite to stay strong
Unite to stop this all

The answer to this
To all of this
Is the following stanza
Read it carefully

You thought
This would end up
As a happy ending?
Too bad.

7.08.10/SAVIOR_SELF |

As I have said, people in this world need to be saved. However, there are people who asked to be saved, to be helped, and I say to those select people, "Save Yourself." Now, as heartless as that may sound at first, believe me, it isnt, as I will soon explain.

There are the people who have legit problems, and then there are people who have problems who ask for help, who dont deserve it because their problems dont lie in other things, they lie inside of them. And their problems that they need "saving" from, all they must do is look in a mirror, and they will see what exactly is wrong with them.

The problem with these people are that they are too lazy, self-centered, or just dont care if they are complete annoyances, if they are rude, or simply if they are jacka**es. These people, they ask for help, they ask for guidance, they dont need it. They have the power to chance themselves, but instead they would rather waste someone elses time, just to humor themselves.


I'm going to play out one situation that I'm sure a lot of people can relate to. Take a guy who is having trouble with relationships, and even after advice after advice, nothing happens. He keeps coming back, wanting advice that never seems to be put to good use. The guy comes back for more advice, and starts going on the same song and dance about his relationship problems, how he cant get a girlfriend. Well, after giving countless advice, at this stage, there is only one alternative, and that is setting the guy straight, and making him face reality. He needs to be told that maybe it's not that he cant get a girlfriend, it's that he just has problems with his arrogance, and immaturity...

Lets move onto another situation. A boy at school has no friends. It is almost like no one at his school likes him, let alone cares to be around him. He comes home one day after school and starts complaing, like usual, telling his parents that everyone at school picks on him, and he has no friends at all. This story is so familiar to the parents, it seems as if they have this routine down to the word. Usualy, the parents will tell their son that "Kids can be cruel and mean, theyre just jealous of you." But today is different. So tired of hearing this story from the boy, the mother decides to be harsly truthful and cut the boy off in the middle of his sentence by saying "Have you ever wondered that the kids at school dont like you because you can be rude and hateful alot?" The boy did not speak a word. He felt hurt as he stood there, letting the truth sink in.


I could go on and on dreaming up various scenarios, but I believe that these two short stories will suffice. So the next time you are in a possition where you are approaced by someone who has problems that they can fix themselves, just say two words: "Save Yourself." And for those who have problems you know you have and can easily fix youself, remember two simple words: "Save Yourself," because thats what you need to do, Save Yourself.

SAVE_ME.10608

There are some people on this Earth who need to be saved, because they have problems that they can not solve. However, the people with these problems are too proud to go and get these problems fixed. Well, a lot of the time, if the problems are not fixed, you may not be able to be saved.


Lets take a simple problem, and work our way up. A man, who we will call "Steve" is having car problems, but he is too proud to take the car to the mechanics, so he attempts to work on it himself. Well, he works, and he works, and he works, spending money on the car himself to fix it. He goes to start the car, and nothing. After all the hard earned money spent on trying to fix his car, Steve got nothing. So he finally called to get the car towed to the mechanics. After getting the car fixed, Steve got the bill for total repairs made, and noticed that the price was less than what he spent money on trying to fix the car himself. He was stunned.


Lets go to another household and another person in need of help, we will call her "Carol." Carol needs help in fixing her pipes in her house, but instead of calling a plumber, she feels that she must do it herself. So, she works and works all day, trying to fix the problem, with no success. Carol, after working all day, comes across a pipe under the house that she thinks may be the cause of the problems. So, she untightends a bolt connecting the pipe to another pipe, and within seconds, hot steam comes straight out of the two pipes, hitting Carol's face. She winds up in a hospital with burns to her face. It will take weeks for the damage to heal. This of course, would not of happened if Carol had only called a plumber.


And onto our last story. We find who we will call "Bill," sick as a dog watching TV. Bill had been sick for about 2 weeks prior to this day. His wife, who we will call "Anne," comes into the living room and tells Bill that he needs to see a doctor so that he can find out what is wrong and get better. Bill replies "No, I will not see a doctor, I dont trust them... Besides, I can get better without seeing a doctor." Anne, unhappy with what her husband had said, sighed in dissapointment, hugged him, and went into the kitchen to prepare supper. That night, the two, as well as their two children ate a hearty and filling dinner. All night as the two slept, Bill kept coughing in his sleep, but finally, he stopped. Anne went back to sleep. The next morning, Anne woke up before Bill did. Surprised, she tried to wake him up, no response. She looked at his face, which was pale as a ghost. She felt his heart, no beat. She immediately called 911. As soon as she did that, she rushed her two kids out for school. As they walked to school, they saw police car zoom by in the opposite direction, followed by a fire engine and a paramedic. They thought nothing of it, and kept walking. When the paramedics got to the house, they tried to revive him, but it was long overdue. The paramedics determined that he died in his sleep, due to his sickness. "If only he had seen a doctor, this could had been avoided," said one responder.



Now, granted some of these were "out of the box," but I'm sure that you get the point. So next time you need help, or "saved," be proud to get help, dont be proud of youself. Who knows, you may just wind up like Steve, Carol or Bill...



-Brandon Anderson

SAVE_US.10508

Saving, it's something we all need. I believe that the first step we must take to save ourselves is to save the world. Now, I'm not talking about "superhero save the world," or "take out Al Quieda save the world" (although that would be nice). I'm talking about the enviroment. The air we breathe, the water we drink, the food in which we consume, it is all being poluted and while the word is getting out via Hybrid cars, recycling and the like, it is not happening fast enough, and it is not making a true international impact.But here is how you can make a impact. While it wont be a global impact, or even a national impact, it will be a impact good enough that you will feel good about making it.

There are many ways one can save the enviroment. These include but are not limited to recycling, reusing materials, using low energy lightbulbs, walking more/riding bike more, making eco friendly decisions while buying cars, as well as using water less, and not leaving lights on unnessesarly.

Solar energy is another great way to conserve energy while helping the enviroment. While solar panels and other solar equipment can cost a bit, in the long run, you will be saving much more energy than you could think possible.

Gas prices, it's something we all are having to deal with. Prices rising to nearly 4 dollars a gallon, it is insane and it is a crisis that is making everyone consider alternative transportation methods.
Fuel emissions, it's another automobile related crisis that is very important at this point in time. It has prompted people to take notice, and, just as the gas crisis, it is making everyone consider alternate transportation methods. Now, there are many simple ways you can help with saving money on gas prices, and cutting down on fuel emissions. You can ride your bike, you can walk, you can choose to buy a hybrid vehicle, you can carpool, and/or you can ride a bus, train, or the like.

I'm going to delve deeper into the enviroment a little bit more, as it does cover a wide range of topics and things. One thing that I have noticed, that is highly unnessesary is tree clearing in once and soon not to be forests. When I moved from Southern California to Northern Idaho, I notices so much widespread tree clearing, it was insane, and I thought that it was sad to see. And the reason for increased clearing is because of one thing, lack of recycling. Many people forget that paper CAN be recycled. Now, I do not have a problem with clearing so long as the company that clears the trees replants new trees. But when companies go out clearing happy and take down more trees than nessesary, it makes me think of one word and one image "greed" and the almighty dollar.

Glass is another resource that is not seen reused much. Glass, if reused and/or recycled can be taken a long way to helping the enviroment. Let me use an example. When Walt Disney Imagineering was in the planning stages of the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage at Disneyland Park, imagineers came up with a solution to the painting problem that they had with the old version of the famous attraction. They decided to use a somewhat new approach by painting not with pure liquids, but with glass instead. Thats right, the entire lagoon is painted with glass to give the same, if not better effect normal paint will give, but without having to repaint as often. Now, I'm not telling you to go paint your bedroom, your house, or the like with glass, what I am doing is giving an example of how glass can be used as a renewable resource that will be used for years to come.

-Brandon Anderson

Aftershock Ride Count - 2008 Season

Alright, you may be asking yourself, "Why are you counting how many times youve ridden Aftershock this season?" Well, here's a good reason. Many Six Flags Great America (the park Aftershock came from) fanboys and ride operators send me hate mail weekly that go along the lines of "fuck silverwood", "aftershock is gunna breakdown" and "it alwayz brokedown here". So, I want to prove to the haters how Aftershock will be more reliable in the hands of Silverwood. That and piss them off more than they already are . So this will (hopefully) be updated everytime I ride Aftershock for this season.
EDIT: The main reason now for this was to keep track of how many rides I had in comparison to Nate.
____________________________________
July 21, 2008 (Aftershock's Opening Day)
7 rides including first public train - 7 rides total

July 22, 2008
3 rides - 10 rides total

July 29, 2008
7 rides - 17 rides total

August 4, 2008
3 rides - 20 rides total

August 11, 2008
8 rides - 28 rides total

August 27, 2008
22 rides - 50 rides total

September 27, 2008
1 ride - 51 rides total

The Past

The Past
How can one escape it?
While one lives in the present
Moves toward the future
No matter how hard one tries
There is no way to escape
The Past


The things one does
The mistakes
The accidents
The regrets
Everything
While left behind
Are always by one's side


In the present
In the future
It travels with one's self
In one's head


A memory
A flame
That never dies
That keeps going
Just like the pink bunny
That never needs recharged.


It's haunting
Moreso than The Shining
It affects one's life
Day in
Day out


No matter how hard
One tries
One will always fail
For this is one fighter
That never falls.


So long as there is
The eternal hourglass
It will never go away
For the sands of time favor
The Past.