Shark Fins Are Being Sold In NEW JERSEY

To anyone who reads this please take note. Shark Fin Soup, an Asian delicacy, is being sold right here in New Jersey. This is not a good thing. Shark Finning and Shark Fin Soup are the number one reason for decimated Shark populations worldwide. Tao's Wok & Restaurant located in East Rutherford NJ is currently selling Shark Fin Soup at $9.95 a bowl. I urge you to make your voice heard and call them at

(201) 460-8988

I have already called and managed to get few words in before I was rather rudely hung up on. I couldn't even get a response to what type of Shark Fin was in the soup. To make matters worse I don't think they understood what I was saying. Either way though I feel a little better knowing that I've said something. If I am ever in that area of NJ and am craving some Asian food, I will not be going to this Tao's and I hope that you all do the same. The less of the soup that they sell, the greater the chances of them pulling it off the menu are.

The sad truth of Shark Fin Soup in the United States is that New York alone has over 50 restaurants that sells Shark Fin Soup.

Time for sharks is running out some populations have been decimated by about 99% and many are now threatened with extinction. For the addresses and phone numbers of numerous places that sell Shark Fin Soup check out http://www.awionline.org/ht/d/ContentDetails/i/1475

Videogames That Died

Okay so this blog is a little different. I'm going to be addressing some series of videogames that I think has really just died and become a laughing stock of the gaming world. What does this have to do with my life? Not much really besides the facts that I play videogames and am very bitter towards most of the new games that have been released say oh I don't know.... The release of the Gamecube for Nintendo. I never was a fan of Microsoft's X-Box or 360 so I'm not going to get into that. Playstation has it's series faults in two big names and I'll hit those too.

The first series that I'm going to burn is one of my old time favorites, Donkey Kong. From humble beginnings as an arcade character DK was one of my favorites. Whether it was jumping over barrels, hammering barrels, or saving a princess from a monkey the game was great. Then came the greatest in DK history. The SNES Donkey Kong Country series. These games I still think are three of the best adventure side scrollers that were ever made. My favorite one and one of my first SNES games was Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest. I've played through that game at least 30 times and it still does not get old. Donkey Kong Country 1 and 3 are also excellent games. With the coming of Nintendo 64 sidescrolling console games began to die out as games such as Mario 64 and Zelda opened up a new style of gaming. So Donkey Kong changed as well, went 3d and released one fial decent game. DK 64 though had nowhere near the magic of DK Country. Then came the Gamecube and it was all over for the big ape. Games such as DK's Jungle Beat have turned DK into more of a kiddie rip off of Guitar Hero mixed with a little bit of adventure on the Wii. Since DK64 I have not seen a good DK game outside of the GBA remakes of the DK Country series and I really don't expect to see any. DK was great, but there was no reason for that ape to pick up a pair of bongos and go ape on them.


The next series that I'm going to pick apart a little is another one of my favs. That would be the Starfox series. Not much really to say other than the first two games were nothing short of amazing. Soon after the release of Nintendo 64 Starfox 64 hit the shelves and basically became an instant classic. The story, graphics, music, and just about everything else with the game is awesome. Then came the Gamecube again. Starfox Adventure was the death of the Starfox series. Fox should never have been taken out of his Arwing or Landmaster cause disaster struck when it happend. Adventure was basically a cheap Zelda game, but instead of wielding a sword... You wield a little blaster pistol and pal arund with a dinosaur named Tricky (Diddy Kong Racing anyone?) to save some plaent that has well..... Dinosaurs... The only positive thing that came out of Adventure was the addition of the character Krystal. Then came another Gamecube title Starfox Assault. Assault was an effort to bring back the classic Starfox feel, but add in the 3rd person shooting of Adventure. The game was allright, but the magic of the series had certainly gone to the wayside. Lots of glitches and a generally senseless story really hurt Assault. It's multiplayer also suffered due to various issues that I'm not going to mention here cause I'm lazy. Finally for the DS came a glimmer of hope in Starfox Command. Did I say hope? Well it was hope, but now it's dissapointment. The game has many storylines which is great, but who wants to fly an Arwing by using a plastic pen? Not me I'd rather stick with my happy litte Dpad.

Sonic has completley died and everybody knows it. I mean on Sega Sonic was the best. Better than a few of the Mario games even, but as soon as Sonic went 3-D the end had begun. I mean really Sonic is now a Hedgehog that can go Super Sayin, turn into a wearhog, and is King Arthur? That's more than enough to just end a series I think. Sonic's prime was his start and since then nothing but terrible things have happened.

Now for Sony's blunder...... What in the world happened to Crash Bandicoot? The first three games of that series were awesome, then I don't know what happened, but somehow he wound up with Nintendo's GBA switching worlds with Spyro the Dragon and then has seemingly faded out of existence. I don't understand how or why that happened as Crash 2 was my favortie PS1 game.

Oh well I guess we'll never know why certain series fall from grace and others that have fallen continue to sell. (cough Sonic) All I can do right now is keep my fingers crossed for Nintendo to realize that SNES side scrolling was the best thing they ever did and decide to turn the DS into something like that.... Oh wait that was the original intent for the GBA.... My bad.......

Children Children Children

So they say that working 9-5 is a great way to make a living. That may be true for some, but not for me. I'm not complaining about pay, hours, or anything like that, but I would like to further my argument that the people at the boardwalk are going downhill seemingly every day. When I have to watch a kid in a stroller who's mother left to go to the top floor, it's a little out of my job description. I have no problem talking to the public about well whatever, but I'm not there to babysit your infant. Nor am I there to support them in climbing on random objects. I'm there to make sure that people stay safe and answer questions. It's annoying when people just seem to not care about what they're children are doing. These kids are going to be the future of the world? I can say without a doubt that I am glad I'll be near death by the time they are in charge of the world. I mean there are kids running around like out of control monkeys and their parents are just wandering around as if the kids are right next to them quietly watching. I understand that kids are kids, but the issue with me is the parents. Parents that just watch their kids do things wrong and are happy with it. Parents that encourage their kids to be the best and even when they fail... They admire them and tell them their the best. Basically I can't stand parents who feel that their kids are the best and everything they do is perfect. Like really people? Get over yourselves.........

It's A Blog

So this is my first blog thing on here. I used to use myspace as those of you who are reading this may already know, but since the majority of people have gone to facebook I figured that even if nobody reads this that I can get some feelings out. So anyway... Life has been going pretty well for me as of late barring a couple of instances and thoughts. Lauren was on vacation last week so I was unable to really see her. That did get me kind of down, but fortuantly I was very busy with work so my brain was for the most part occupied. Now she's home though and I have been happy since. In general though I've thought of a few new reasons to do a blog..... 1.) My friends are limited.... More on that later... 2.) I like to look back on myself and by that I mean in a year's time or so if I'm still doing this I'd like to see how much I've changed. 3.) I want to try my best to spread the word on Shark Finning and other serious issues that are happening out in the world's oceans. Since I'm still in school and could not survive on a several month voyage to basically anywhere in the world due to homesickness and lack of money. I figured that I can try to do what I can on the net.

More on reason number 1....... At this point I'm pretty much uncaring for what people have to say to me about this as far as I'm overreacting and what not, but here it is. As far as real friends (Outside of co-workers whom for the most part have become like a second family) are concerned.... I feel that I currently have 3 and that's it. I have just 3 people I feel that I can talk to with no problem at all. I'm not going to go into names, but if my contact with you has suddenly stopped....... Assume your not one of the three. Only those three people seemed to care when I got in my accident. Some of my "friends" joked about it by saying stuff like I enjoyed the pain. If I was still 16 and wanted to kill myself, yah then I would have enjoyed it, but now Im 20. I'm a lot more mature, I have a great relationship, I have two awesome jobs, and overall I have a pretty decent life. Some of my other "friends" have also lied to my face just one too many times, and all of those people have been cut out of my life. Those of you who have told me that they're straightedge yet drink and smoke, those of you who claim to say one thing yet do another as far as handeling situations is concerned, please don't try to get in contact with me because I simply will not respond. I'm done wasting my life on people who just try to take advantage of me or claim to be friends and just trash me left and right. Also..... True friends wouldn't try to get me to smoke and drink they could see me messed up... So again... Those of you in these categories I will no longer be communicating with you.

Summer is almost over which is not a bad thing at all. I hate the cold weather with a passion, but I cannot wait for the "offseason" to start. I'll be happy to sit at a little desk with my textbooks and pen and just relax and learn a little. I can't stand tourists and it seems that the quality of people has really gone downhill. This summer I have seen some of the trashiest people on the boardwalk that I have ever seen. The general attitude of people up there is now that they are the best and drinking is the reason to be up there. The amount of trash that these people leave on the beach is just another disgusting fact. I'll hold my breath for the next two weeks till Labor Day and then it'll all be nearing an end. Once the Seafood Fest passes life in Point Pleasant will begin to return to normal.

I have now been with Lauren for well over 10 months now and things have gotten better and better as time goes by. I love her a lot and hope that we can stay together for a very long time! I still have to thank her family too for putting up with my craziness...


Now for a little bit about the above logo. That is the logo of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which is one of the most controversial environmental groups in the world. They are responsible for sinking several pirate ships and disabling many whaling ships. They have done some things that I do not really agree with, but they are basically the only organization that goes out and takes direct action against people going out and killing some real valuable animals in the world such as the whales and sharks. Any and all of the messages that I put out on this blog involving marine life will have to do with those animals. As well as what Sea Shepherd is doing to help these animals. Personally I am not a part of Sea Shepherd, but I support them is what they do and will be doing my part here to show that support towards them and the animals they are trying to protect.