My Stint in Canada at 11:26 PM

OK, so I recently spent a week and a half staying with my Bro in Canada to help him with his business marketing  and stuff, and I thought I'd post the videos that I made!

Ryan's business is a music school called Resound, so I made him a custom Youtube channel and uploaded all the videos I made.

If you didn't quite catch it that the text above is a link, click here to go to the channel :)

Anyway, I thought they're pretty cool (especially the chalkboard one) so I just wanted to share.

Hope Y'all had a very merry Christmas!

-Graydon L

The rest of the San Antonio pics, and my new B-17 model at 9:46 PM

Here’s a slide show of the rest of the San A pics, scroll down to see my new model B-17 that I just finished!

 

I also finished making another of my wood airplanes. I chose the B-17G because the B-29 and B-52, although cool, don’t fully represent the idea of American air superiority like the B-17 does. I wanted to make a bomber just for the change and the B-17 has become the “representive” of all bombers throughout history.

 

 

This particular B-17G called the “Thunderbird” and actually still airworthy!

 

 

 

 

This is actually my first model that I’ve ever made that features the landing gear extended! Much harder than expected :-P

 

 

The two images above are the two pictures I did most of my research from. I got my color scheme mostly from the one on the top, and I used the one on the bottom just to put perspective to my three-view profile diagrams (below) that I used for the actually shaping of the plane.

 

 

 

Well, that’s all I’ve got right now. I’ve got to go and get some dinner now, so I guess I’m signing off!

 

-Graydon

San Antonio at 8:30 AM

Understandably, I haven't made many posts in the last week or so because I've been in sunny mid Texas for a business conference. But I've got a few free moments now so I've posted a slidshow of all our pictures so far. I'll put the rest up later after we visit the Alamo etc.

-Graydon L

My ‘Vacation’ at 11:25 AM

While my Mom and Dad went on a Carnival Cruise down the Baja Peninsula, Jonny and I got to stay at Matt B’s house. We did some work around their house with Matt; picking up branches, cleaning up the basement, and even some dry walling and mudding. Also on Thursday we went to the Naval Undersea Museum in Keyport. After the Museum we drove to Fort Flagler. It’s an old WWII base with several gun batteries. Now it’s a state park and a lot of fun to run around in!

 

Say hello to my first Picasa Web album. I’ve never been able to figure this out until now.

 

-Graydon

Time, Perception and Fish at 5:24 PM

The other day, we went to the Seattle Aquarium with the Allens, and I don't know if you've ever been there, but they have a gigantic tank in the entrance of the building that makes up the first exhibit. 

Well as it turns out, just after we paid to get in, there was a fish feeding show starting at this tank. Apparently, the Aquarium has a lot of extra money to burn because when they feed the fish, two divers in dry-suits with full face masks that even had microphones in them get in the tank to feed the various species of fish.

Basically, the divers get in the tank, and feed the fish while talking to the public about them. It was during this show when one of the divers said something interesting. 

She stated that the salmon at the top of the tank swim very quickly, eat very quickly, have very fast metabolisms, and have a life span of about only 3 years. 

She also said the the rockfish at the bottom of the tank swim very slowly, barely go anywhere, eat very slowly, have very slow metabolisms, and have a life span of over a hundred years.

These statements got me thinking, what if time affects these two species of fish differently? 

Let's say that time moves very quickly for the salmon. In his own perception, he is moving at a perfectly normal rate. But as the rockfish looks upward to the top of the tank in his own little world of time-perception, he just sees a blur of all the salmon zipping back and forth! To him, watching salmon is like watching a movie on fast-forward, while to the salmon, watching him is like watching a movie in slowmo.

Here, let's try an example: In our example a human has a time-perception (we'll call it TP from now on) of 1, and the salmon has a TP of 3 (meaning he sees time as 3 times the speed of that of a human) and the rockfish has a TP of .5 (meaning he sees time as one half the speed of a human). 

That would mean that salmon move quickly, humans move at a perfectly normal rate, and rockfish go really slowly, right?

Wrong... sort of. There is a problem with this example, it's from a human's perspective, I said that humans are 1, right? well the salmon doesn't say that, he thinks he has a TP of 1, the human has a TP of 1/3rd and the rockfish has a TP of 1/6th. But there's a flaw with that too, the rockfish doesn't see it that way, to him, he has a TP of 1, a human has a TP of 2, and the salmon has a TP of 6.

confused yet?

It's like this, each of the three types of entities (humans, salmon and rockfish) have their own standard of measuring the events in their lives and the lives of the other two entities, but each of his measurements is affected by how he perceives time!

This theory that I have brought up is supported by the fact that, in theory, forward time travel is possible and that time is relative to the speed of the object perceiving it.

But what do you think? I know most of you probably don't even like studying fish, or quantum physics, but even if you don't like either of those things, or you just think I spend way too much time sitting around thinking about random stuff, (like fish watching movies in fast-forward) give me a comment!

Keep in mind, I'm not saying that this time perception theory is true, but it's definitely very interesting to think about it.

-Graydon L

Google's Latest Cool Stuff at 7:35 PM

Here's a little project I put together about Google's new Earth program, Enjoy!

Thank you Google for writing this absolutely amazing program!

I've also just downloaded another new Google program for designing 3D objects, but I have yet to try it out. Maybe on Monday... ;-)

-Graydon L

What do YOU want changed? at 10:30 PM

OK, I know I haven't posted in a while, but I ask that you please forgive me, I was just recently at the Christian Heritage Father-Son retreat and naturally, I wasn't able to bring my desktop computer with me, nor any of my other accessories that go with it (yup, the speakers, sub woofer, ergonomic keyboard, laser mouse, printer, modem, router, Kleenex box, and all my many desk plants all had to stay)

Anyway, lets get back on track here. Basically, My blog feels boring... downright boring.

Maybe it's just me, but I'm getting more than a little annoyed looking at that dumb profile picture every time I log in.

Over the next little while, I want to hear EVERYTHING you have to say about my blog... no really!

I want to tell me what you ABSOLUTELY HATE about this little corner of the Internet!

You think the sidebar is cluttered... TELL ME! You think I'm a dork... TELL ME! (well, Melissa doesn't need to, she tells me that all the time anyway) You think I use bold, italics ,colors and sizing too much... TELL ME!

If you are thinking anything about this blog, I want to hear it!

You can email me, talk to me in person, or better yet, comment so that everyone can see your input! Go to it, lets hear some noise!!!!!

Also, on a side note, you may notice that there is a new sidebar element I just put up called My Followers. This is a simple yet fun little tracker that allows people to say which blogs they read. You don't have to run a blog to participate, all you need is a blogger account. Just log in to your dashboard and you can add blogs you read by URL. It's that easy! If the owners of the blogs you follow put up this element, your name and profile image appears there! Of course, you can choose to be anonymous in this, but I don't see why you would.

Thanks for your participation! LET'S HEAR IT!!!!!!

-Graydon L

Let the Church Campout Begin! at 1:37 PM

As most of you know, the Pilgrim Bible Church is having it's annual church campout... starting today. Anyway, I won't be anywhere near a computor this weekend so, if one of you emails me or something and I don't answer till tuesday... please don't think I hate you or something, because chances are I don't :-)

See y'all later!

Signing off till late Monday night - Graydon L

My Trip to Northwest Trek at 5:27 PM

Here's that post I promised!

Northwest Trek is like a zoo exept just for animals native to the northwest.

Thanks to Matt B for taking these pics and letting me use them!

I'm not sure when Matt took this picture, but it look awsome so I put it up anyway.

Here's some wild animals ;-)

This is a tree that was cut down back in the seventies. They cut a round out of it and put under a little awning thingy with little metal plates marking famous events, the tree's planting being one of them.

If you can't tell, that's an otter.

They've also got this "tour bus" that drives around in a 400+ acher free range area.

-Graydon L

An Update of my Crazy Summer at 8:42 PM

Well, since I haven't exactly been mister promt over here, this is going to be one monster post.

Here we go.

First off, rasberry picking:

I rained almost the entire time, but we still got almost 80 pounds of berries. Blah :-(

This is Jonny and I doing what we call "processing" the berries. Basically, Mom washes and juices the berries, Jonny puts the juice into small bags, and I label the small bags and put them in larger bags ready for the freezer.

just 3 boxes of the 8 we "havested"

Next up, Brigade:

It actually rained really hard at Brigade, I mean a LOT! here we are dancing just after the rain.

Melissa... being sassy no doubt ;-)

The stupid "whoooooo" dance.

Now let's see, on Sunday the 11th, Matt B came over to our house.

On Monday, we hung out with Matt and attempted to film SPY 2, but we didn't get anywhere close to finishing, so we're kinda letting it drop.

On Tuesday, Jonny and Matt went down to Montesano to help Stephen paint a house. only Matt was going to do that, but Stephen asked if Jonny could come too, and he said "sure".

Anyway, later on in the day, we got a call from the Youngs, and they asked Mom and I if we wanted to come camping with them, so we said "sure". In my book, we had lots of time to get ready to go and any normal family could have done it, but nooooo, we just had to be late, we are ALWAYS late!!!! and it drives me insane!!!!!! >:-(

Anyway, here's the pictures we took camping!:

Everyone piled in the back of the pickup truck.

I can't remember what mountain this is. I think it's Mt. Adams but don't quote me. From our vantage point on top of Burley mountain, we could see Mt. Ranier, Mt. Hood, Mt. st. Helens, and Mt. Adams.



Now I really don't remember what mountain this is, it's probably something I aughta' know too, like Mt. Ranier or something. :-P



Me popping off a couple .22 rounds. I know I'm leaning waaaay to far back, but hey, I was relaxed.






And finally, Mom doing the same thing. She actually shot a .38 and .367 as well as the .22!


Well, thanks for reading, sorry for not updating more often, I'll try and keep you updated more often!

See y'all later!

-Graydon L

Highlight #141 at 6:22 PM

Hey y'all, you're in for a long post so stay with me now. We went to Five Mile Lake yesterday, it's only a few miles away, almost walking distance. It was sunny, warm, and we had nothing else to do, so Jonny and I packed up some garden implements and are large collection of Army guys, and we set out to make the coolest diorama ever to be populated by little plastic guys with guns.

Despite the fact that most of our army guys have modern guns and equipment, we set up a diorama I call "a section from the beaches at Normandy". Maybe it isn't very historically accurate, but hey, we were just having fun. check out these pictures:

Here's your basic overview from the front.

A more in depth look at the defenders.

take a peek from the attackers point of view!

In the trenches at night... well not really at night, but I sort of looks like it.

Of course, every defencive base must have a motor pool. you can also see the back of the forward hill.

Our downed helicopter.

Enter at the Gate.

See what it's like from the back!

The forward Hill.

The rear hill. This hill is used for observation and targeting.

The authors of this amazing creation.

The forward hill, complete with bunkers.

A threesome of Snipers sneaking up and shuffling along in the sand.

Fire in the hole!!!!

Of course, you can't see the full glory of our amazing creation just through pictures, but still you get the idea. Hope ya' like my pictures!

And now, just as I promised, the Great, Overexaminary On-blog Survey/Exam (or GOOSE for short)

I'll take all the entries I can get my hands on!

~Note~ the survey has been deleted from this post as various glitches have been discovered in it. the errorless version can be found on Highlight #142.

-Graydon L

HIghlight #137 at 8:24 PM

Hey y'all, I had fun today, Dad came home from work early to pick me up so we could take some hydraulic equipment from the factory he works at, to another one down in Portland. One the way we had lunch at Famous Dave's BBQ restaurant (they serve amazing burgers!), and on the way back we stopped in the theater to see the new movie "Kung Fu Panda" (look for my review on Monday!) and to have dinner at, take a guess, Famous Dave's :-) We loved the food from lunch so much, we stopped by for dinner too... at the exact same restaurant... and the exact same waiter!!! LOL! Jonny didn't come because he was down in Monteseno working with Phillip Braderick doing some renovations for someone. I'm not exactly sure what they're doing, so you'll have to ask Jonny when he gets back.

I also just finished watching a movie on the history of the fighter plane, which was pretty good.

One more thing before I go, I'm going to be making another survey soon, It'll be done soon, but I'm going to wait for the Youngs to get back before I put it up, which will be quite soon.

So keep your eye open for the new survey, and for the Movie Review of "Kung Fu Panda"!

-Graydon L

HIghlight #136 at 9:01 PM

Hey y'all, I apologize for my recent sabbatical as it were, from the blogosphere, I took a trip up to Canada for my Nephew's birthday, to give my sisters some stuff they ordered off the Internet, and to say "hi" to my mom's cousin Ted.

Here's some pictures I took on Mom's camera, and also a video!

We also went to See the Lyn Valley Suspension Bridge with Ted, some of these pictures are jiggly because it's really only a "rope" bridge and they are notorious for they're swaying motion.

This is a picture of one of the many water falls we saw from the Lyn Valley Suspension Bridge.

I really have no excuse for this picture being of bad quality, I was standing on solid ground at the time. Cousin Ted is in the red Jacket, and that's Jonny behind him in the brown jacket.

Looking over the falls from the middle of the bridge, you have no Idea how hard it was for me to get a steady shot of those falls.

Here's a short clip of me (holding the camera) crossing the bridge, that roar in the background is the falls 150 feet below me. The clip is understandably shaky simply because the bridge is shaky.

I also got to witness my 10-month-old nephew, Gabriel taking his first steps without assistance. Kinda fun!

-Graydon L

Highlight #99 at 2:22 PM

Hey y'all, As you have probably guessed by my silence over the last several days, I have been either (a)very very busy, or (b)very very lazy. Actually, neither of these are true, I haven't been very very busy... I've been very-very-very-extreamly-on-the-computer-in-the-garden-all-over-the-place-up-till-12PM busy. literally, I've been up till 12PM for quite a few days. The work I've doing isn't hard, it's fun and interesting to do, and I like it. I just wish I could get more sleep :-)

Well, anyway, not much else has happened recently, so I'll let ya' go... I'm sure y'all have things to do on your own. See ya' later!

-Graydon L

Highlight #98 at 10:45 PM

Hey y'all, I'm typing on my brother Ryan's laptop, so I have to make this quick.

Basically, I rewrote a 4 page policies and procedures thing for my brother's business, came up with 3 deferent designs for one brochure and 2 for another, thought of a genius idea for a fictional short story I'm going to write, read 3 chapters in my silent reading book, helped clean up breakfast, lunch and dinner, and started on a short promo vid for Ryan. whew! (try saying all that in one breath, let alone doing it all in one day!)

Anyway, As I said, this isn't my computer so I really aught to go, I'll try to keep up with y'all tomorrow!

-Graydon L

Highlight #95 at 8:17 PM

Hey y'all, the Christian Heritage conference went off great, I was signed up as a staff member so I didn't get to see many of the sessions, but I had loads of fun anyway as a door monitor and general helper-outer guy.

I'm sorry for not posting recently, but with the conference going from 8AM to 8 and 6:30 PM, I really didn't have any time to post in any satisfactory manner.

Also, as you may have noticed, my family and I didn't show up for church this morning, but we were just so tired, and with my older brother and sister leaving and everything, we just didn't have the energy.

One more news flash, I won't be able to come to church for (I think) two Sundays because I'm staying with my brother Ryan in Canada for the already mentioned period of time.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the conference (if you came) and I hope you'll look for more posts in future!

-Graydon L

P.S. Many thanks Sam and Cassie for driving us home last night! I really appreciate it :-)

Highlight #54 at 6:48 PM

Hey y'all, Nothing to report today; I got up, did my stuff, started my schoolwork, finished my schoolwork, played with my Legos, threw the football with Jonny for a while, Pretty much an average day, ya' know.

One more thing before you go, here's the video I said I would publish, Enjoy!

That bleak snow-scape beneath the airplane would be a typical Pittsburgh winter. I think the airplane was a 767, but I don't remember, so don't quote me :-)

Well, I gotta go, I think I'll take a peek at Matt's blog before I eat dinner and hit the sack. I'll try to write again tomorow! sorry for not posting yesterday, I really have no excuse, so you'll just have to forgive me :-)

-Graydon L

I hope everyone has started working on their story for the 100th post contest. You still have time, but you'd better get some ideas flowin'!

Please email your story, as well as your name to: GLhighlights100@yahoo.com

Highlight #53 at 5:09 PM

Hey y'all, Here's the pics I promised!





A Detroit Sunrise from 30,000 feet.

The Pittsburgh skyline

Havin' fun at the hotel

The Washington Monument, and me with my ultra-stealthy jacket :-)

The Washington Monument - 5 feet from the base and 3 inches from the monument itself, very cool.

WWII memorial

Jonny and me at the Lincoln memorial, no the memorial isn't leaning, the camera is on an angle :-)




Just to give you an idea how big the pillars at the Lincoln memorial are





The Vietnam wall

Arlington National Cemetery

The white house. Very Cool :-)

The Capitol Building

Jonny with the Apollo 11 Capsule (encased in Plexiglass)

The REAL Write flier (with a fake Orville Write )

Mount Vernon (Jonny's Favorite stop)

Flying back over the Great Lakes (Lake Michigan...I think, but I'm not sure)

Just in case you haven't ever been on an airplane, I'll post some short footage I took taking off from Pittsburgh, I would upload it now, but It's going to take forever because of all the pictures I already have up. Sorry, you can see it next time :-) I'll Write again tomorrow

-Graydon L

I hope everyone has started working on their story for the 100th post contest. You still have time, but you'd better get some ideas flowin'!

Please email your story, as well as your name to: GLhighlights100@yahoo.com