ADVISORY:

2005-09-08T23:06:00.000-07:00

Did you all know that Pope John Paul II performed three exorcisms himself during his pontificate?

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2005-09-05T08:43:00.000-07:00

I am the Crocodile Hunter! Well, Alligator Hunter...Well, sort of.

A month ago I spotted a 4 foot Alligator in my pond and once a day since I've gone down along the banks to feed him. (I am not aware if the alligator is male or female, but I'll just refer to it as "him") I'd of loved to have been able to let him stay in the pond until he decided to move on (if ever,) but the bigger he would get his presence would have eventually caused problems. I've got horses and a few dogs who use that pond to get their water and with an alligator in there they may have gotten injured but most likely killed.

So this afternoon me and my Dad went down to the pond and tied a piece of chicken gizzard on to some fishing line. Dad tossed it out into the water and almost immediately Boots (I nicked named him Boots hehe.) attacked it and took it into his mouth. Boots did the classic death roll a few times and Dad lead him up to the edge of the water and that's when I made my move and got him behind the head with my left hand and right in front of his back legs with my right.

I kept him real close to my body so he couldn't whip his tail too much. The adrenaline rush was great and I was abit surprised at how he felt. His belly was very soft, and of course the top part of him was hard and had a leathery feel. He was a very beautiful color and remained calm for the 2 mile ride to the lake where I released him.

I will have to take my digital camera with me the next time I am down at the lake. It is an amazing site and a scene right out of a horror film at the same time. It truly is a swamp for the first few hundred feet from the banks of the lake to open water. On the right side from where I released him there is a levee and on the other side of that is the "Clear Lake bottomlands", which is certified swamp land.

Any pictures you've ever seen of a Louisiana swamp on television or a magazine is exactly what it looks like. It's actually a beautiful mysterious place. Nothing like it in the world.

During the summer you can drive on top of the hill that is right before you reach waters edge and shine your head lights or a spot light out across the water and see 30 to 40 pairs of eyes consistently every night. It is full of Alligators and it is incredible to witness.

There are reports of some of them as long as 13-14 feet. I've seen some at least 8 foot and last year my Dad saw one that had died on the bank that was 10 foot long.

The largest size ever reported for an Alligator (anywhere) was slightly over 19 feet. The Alligator was from Louisiana and the person who measured it was E. A. McIlhenny, the same person who created Tabasco sauce oddly enough LOL. That is a giant mofo! 10 to 12 feet is the normal maximum size seen today.

I felt really good about what I did today... I think it was a very positive thing and I've always admired Alligators and Crocodiles. Such beautiful, powerful, magnificent animals who deserve our respect.

I think Alligators and Crocodiles get a bad rap most of the time because they have usually always been portrayed as menacing creatures that our out to kill people and that isn't how it actually is. Alligators and Crocodiles are natural born predators, it is their nature to kill things. They don't have any type of malice thoughts when they kill, no hatred toward that organism.

They are just doing what they were born to do. They live off instinct and those instincts have proven to be extremely reliable. Being that they have been around for over 80 million years! Just think, us Homo sapiens have only been around about 300,000 years.

Interesting huh?

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2005-09-04T16:12:00.000-07:00

I'm working on my own probroads.com forum. It's a little community for magicians or those just interested in magic. I'll be adding sleights (Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced) and explanations to all different sorts of tricks from some that I created myself to things David Blaine, Copperfield, Chriss Angel, Lance Burton and most all known magicians have done as well over the course of the next several days before I open it up to the public.

I'll have a general magicians discussion board as well so people can get together and exchange ideas and the like.

I will also have all the boards password protected (expect for the beginner board) and create a test for all registered members to take and I will grade them based on their knowledge of magic and give out the passwords accordingly.

All members have to be registered to access even the beginner one, I want to try and keep out those who just want to see how things are done so they can run and go tell their friends how "cool" they are because they know how a certain thing is done and not actually put what they learn into practice.

Magic is a gift that one can give to others. There's nothing better than creating a sense of wonder for someone. And us magicians receive a gift in return and that is the "reactions". When we see some ones eyes light up or someone just get totally beside themselves and are amazed and question their own eyes and logic about what they just saw, is a feeling that is 100% indescribable.

That's what we (the magicians) live for.

It's our air.

Magic for me started out as a way to get that approval from people that I craved (and still do) so very much as a kid. I remember the first card trick I did for the other kids in school.

I was in the 8th grade and did this little effect where someone would choose a card at random and they would stick the card back into the middle of the deck face down just like the rest of them. And with a pass of my hand over the cards I fanned through the entire deck and every card was still face down except the one they had picked.

It had "somehow" turned itself over in the deck.

That was the first time the kids laughed with me in astonishment rather than laughing at me in ridicule. The first time they paid attention to me because of who I was, not for what I looked like.

And to me, that was simply...Magic.

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2005-09-04T13:23:00.000-07:00

"Dear Governor Axtell. I've heard that you will give 200 dollars for my head. Perhaps we should meet and talk. I am at the Juarez village at the border. Send 3 men, and instruct them not to shoot, as I am unarmed. In short, Sir; I surrender. Your obedient servant William H. Bonney.

P.S.: I changed my mind. Kiss my ass."

- Billy The Kid (Young Guns)

That is one of the greatest lines in any film, ever!

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2005-09-03T23:14:00.000-07:00

I tired explaining to a group of individuals this evening about my religion. And most people are just too thick-headed or too intolerant and ignorant to even open their minds to other ideas and philosophies.

I don't even know why I try to explain sometimes. Yeah, actually I do know why.

For some reason I have this desire for people to understand what this religion is about. We are such a minority and to my current knowledge, we are the minority in all the world's religions.

Most people that I am aware of have never even heard of it.

Misconceptions are a very nasty thing to me and that's the last thing I want people to have about the religion that I practice.

I feel like I owe it to my fellow practitioners to represent our religion when I am asked to explain it.

Especially those who have painstakingly devoted a large portion of their lives writing about it and putting that information out there for the general public to read and hopefully understand or at least dispel some of the lies and misconceptions about it, so they will not look at us with such negativity and contempt.

Everyone in our group are some of the most loving, caring and nicest people that you could ever meet and it has been such an honor and a pleasure for me to have gotten to know them and to be invited into their homes and for me to be able to call them "friend."

Whether they know it or not, I love them all.

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