Pasta Stravagante: A Review

   Yesterday, I found myself in the mood for some good Italian eats and, having had a certain restaurant recommended to me by a good friend, I decided to head downtown the the newly opened Pasta Stravagante. Pasta Stravagante, Italian for "extravagant pasta", is seated in the perfect neighborhood. Arriving at 17:30 on an early summer night set the mood very well. The setting sun cast an orange glow upon the bricks adorning the face of the pasta eatery, as well as a beautiful reflection on the river situated behind the restaurant. As soon as I walked through the door, I was assaulted with many first impressions and, as those are the most important, I took my time to soak it all in. For a downtown, just-opened restaurant, the decor wasn't bad. The obvious vegetable paintings were hung on the wall; tomato, celery, onion... all done in a classical oil-painting style. This, along with ceramic chef statuettes, gave the place a decidedly American feel, as no eatery in Italy would be caught dead with such decorations on display. But decoration isn't everything. People come here to eat, after all, not to sit and stare at a porcelain chef wielding whisk and mixing bowl.
  
   After being shown to my seat, (I chose an indoor table, although outside tables overlooking the river were available.) I proceeded to examine the menu. It was chiefly composed of pasta, but this came as no surprise, nor was it amiss. Raviolis, tortellinis, macaronis, fettuchinis, and of course spaghettis dominated the pages, in coordination with a monster amount of sauces and ingredients. White sauces, red sauces, light sauces, heavy sauces; all were present. Shrimp, chicken, beef, and pork each took their places among the dishes as well. A good amount of kid's meals were included in the restaurant's available fare, too. Drinks were served in good number, to include wine, soda, beer, and assorted umbrella beverages. A Coca-Cola sat on the table as I scoured the menu once more in an attempt to find which dish would give me the best feel as to how this eatery's food was to be rated. The waiter recommended to me the Italian Sausage Fettuchini with Cream Sauce, but I ended up choosing the simple, yet seemingly elegant, Spaghetti with Red Meat Sauce. One thing that was certainly in Pasta Stravagante's favor was the English menu. Instead following in the footsteps of Olive Garden and others with an Italian menu that makes you feel stupid and uncultured while ordering, Pasta Stravagante gave straightforward, English titles to their dishes. How many times, I lament, have a been at a restaurant, ordered and then have the waiter correct my pronunciation? Not a good way to go. Pasta Stravagante managed to keep things simple, and rightfully so.

   While waiting for my food, I sat back and looked around the room. While I was doing so, strains of Frank Sinatra reached my ears. I payed more attention and, sure enough, I was hearing "Luck Be A Lady" emanating from a speaker in the corner of the ceiling. As time passed, other similar favorites sweetened the airwaves, including the well-known "Lazy Mary" sung by the even better-known Lou Monte of said fame. This particular song got me smiling and reminiscing. But I wasn't left to myself for long, as a steaming plate of pasta was placed before me. A generous pile of spaghetti, combined with a staggering amount of red meat sauce, threatened to collapse the table. The waiter served me a helping of freshly-grated Parmesan before departing to the next table. Not wasting any time, I grabbed a fork and dug in. The pasta was well cooked, with an excellent texture that spoke of its quality. The sauce, however, was what lent the dish its perfection. A tomatoey flavor mixed with that of Chardonnay and meat and an unknown assortment of seasonings. Beyond this, the flavor became increasingly difficult to describe and much easier to wolf down.

   I soon became full, and was left with enough on my plate to warrant a leftovers container. Quite satisfied, I moved on to pay my not overly large bill, grab an after-dinner mint, and step outside, full and happy. Pasta Stravagante did not fail to deliver, food-wise. Over-all, they gave me a very good experience. I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a good pasta dinner. It's worth it.

Marvel's The Avengers: Movie Review

   

   Its time that I get around to reviewing the newest superhero action film. Marvel's The Avengers was released into theaters May 4, 2012. The film was directed by Joss Whedon and sported a cast of stars. Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth and Scarlett Johansson reprised their roles as Captain America, Iron Man, Thor and Black Widow respectively. Jeremy Renner (Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol) took on the bow and arrow of Hawkeye. In Thor, we got a small glimpse of Hawkeye, but he never actually did anything more than say a few lines. In the Avengers, he was incredible. Mark Ruffalo stepped into the shoes of Bruce Banner and the 10-ton body of the Hulk; very successfully, too, I might add. And, of course, Samuel L. Jackson is back as a determined Nick Fury.

   The movie opens circling around the Tesseract, the cosmic cube, jewel of Odin's treasury. We were introduced to the Tesseract in Captain America: The First Avenger. The Red Skull used the Tesseract's galactic power as a weapon to vaporize his enemies. It was lost in the Arctic when it "consumed" the Red Skull and transported him to who knows where. Howard Stark, however, finds the cube when searching for the lost Captain America, and the cube is entrusted to S.H.E.I.L.D, a top-secret government security force, for safe-keeping. At the end of Thor, after the credits, we see Nick Fury petition Dr. Selvig, friend of Thor, to find out how it works. As we find out later in the Avenger's movie, S.H.E.I.L.D has plans for the Tesseract's use. What they are is better found out by watching the movie.

 The plots of Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, and Iron Man 1 & 2 all come together to form Marvel's The Avengers. As far as I know, there is no connection with the plot of The Incredible Hulk with this story beyond the fact that Dr. Selvig used to work with Dr. Bruce Banner. The main story of The Avengers is this: Loki, demi-god brother of Thor, has teamed up with a mysterious alien force known as the Chitauri in order to become the sole ruler of Earth. The brains seem to be all Loki but the "leader", I'll call him, of the Chitauri is no dummy and, from a flashback of Loki's, it would seem that the demi-god fears this alien king. But this stops Loki's determination in no way. Loki goes around getting stuff he needs to utilize the Tesseract's power in such a way as to create a portal to the outer-space-like world of the Chitauri. Nick Fury feels threatened by Loki and, against the wishes of his directors, gets the Avengers together, hoping that as one they will be a strong enough force to beat Loki once and for all.

   When the portal begins to spew forth flying snake-ish monsters longer than skyscrapers are tall, the Avengers, who haven't exactly gotten along before now, band together to go into "destroy all aliens" mode. This last battle is, by far, the most exciting part of the film. Joss Whedon does a very good job of juggling six superheroes and their various superpowers as they rocket all around New York City on a Chitauri beat-down. The Hulk, predictably, smashes. Iron Man blasts aliens with his various weaponry; Thor electrocutes and hammers his way to victory, very impressively. Captain America teams up with Black Widow as the ground force; the Widow, by the way, sports a very interesting wrist-Taser. Hawkeye, though, is the most interesting, with his high-tech bow and arrow. He can toggle various attachments on his arrows and his quiver serves him the arrow so he can grab without looking. A very interesting take on the character of Hawkeye, and thoroughly enjoyable.

   Eventually, the Avengers prevail and save the day and everyone lives happily-ever-after. Or so we are led to believe. But a mid-credits snippet shows us that the battle is not over. An old face returns, ready to lead the Chitauri to victory, as well as successfully building up excitement for an undeniable sequel.

   Overall, the Avengers rocks. The plot took a backseat to the action, but this was not amiss. No one goes to see a superhero movie that makes them think; they'd rather see Iron Man taking down alien baddies with his repulsors. The CGI (computer-generated imagery) was incredible. The Hulk, the Chitauri, Iron Man, the pyrotechnics, it was all very well-animated. The action scenes were wicked awesome. Who doesn't want to see Thor and Iron Man going at each other? Marvel's The Avengers is a job-well done, and absolutely worth going to see this summer. Now, we wait for the sequel.

~Ian James~

Where Have I Taken My Faith?

   For today, I have a more serious theme than those in recent posts. I am asking the question, where have I taken my faith? This introspective topic was born from a train of thought induced by my youngest brother's recent First Communion. Last Sunday, my sibling walked up to the altar, before the congregation and before God, and received for the very first time, Jesus in the Eucharist. It was, as a First Communion always is, a very joyous occasion. He was most excited by the ability to become an altar server. But beyond all the aesthetics of his growing age and physical and mental maturity, there is a certain spiritual maturity which is also required in order to receive Jesus in the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity.

   Thinking of this started me down a path of thought back to the time when I was making my First Holy Communion, receiving the Eucharist for the first time. I felt incredibly responsible, mature and grown-up in every way. I knew that I loved the Lord more than anything. Granted, I was a child and I preferred reading and playing Legos over going to Mass, but God had a special place in my life. He still does. There is that particular youthful innocence, however, that makes one dedicated to following the commandments. As a young adult, I understand the consequences of sin and am therefore wary of it, but as a child, I refrained from sin simply to not hurt God or my parents.

   Many years after my First Communion came Confirmation. Now I was older in the Church's eyes; old enough to decide for myself whether or not I would remain a Catholic, a follower of Christ. I, of course, chose to remain; chose to continue to walk in the footsteps left behind by our Lord. And, while I was Confirmed with no less conviction than when I received Communion for the first time, it was different. A different feeling, a different sacrament. I had no more of that youthful innocence which I had all those years ago. I fully understood 'what I was getting myself into', per se.

   Now, less than two months away from turning eighteen, I'm asking myself the question, where have I taken my faith? I'll be honest with the answer: I'm not sure. Allow me to clarify here. I know who God is; I know His Law and His Word. But practicing the faith is a whole 'nother animal. Just at home, trying to be loving to my siblings even when they are driving me crazy, being respectful to my parents despite how angry I might be, and just plain following in Christ's footsteps. It's a daily challenge, and sometimes I feel as though I'm coming out ahead, but other times I can tell I've fallen behind. I find that such introspection as I have in this post can help you find where you need to change. So if you find yourself wondering "where have I taken my faith?", try reading the Bible to see what God expects of you as His child and compare these guidelines he shares with us against how you treat others as well as yourself. Only He can show you the way, and He does. However, He can't make you follow. You need to take that step yourself. I pray that you do.

~Ian James~

Why I Love Senior Year - Part 2

   Welcome, friend bloggers, to part 2 of Why I Love Senior Year. We previously discussed how high school is not all that the Disney Channel makes it out to be. It's hard work filled with stress and Algebra-test last-minute cramming. But we also discussed some of the pluses of high school. Or the high-school-years, anyway. Youthful recklessness, youthful ignorance, and the like are vital ingredients to the 4 years of high school. They serve to teach wisdom to the future generation. In my experience, they do their job well. I have made my own fair share of mistakes, and have learned from them.

   But all that is past me now. I currently look forward to my eighteenth birthday this summer, among other things; most prominent of them being my enlistment in the the U.S. Army. After a one or two years enlisted, I look to be accepted into West Point. But that's a bit farther into the future. For now, I focus on finishing up my senior year of high school. My final year of, shall we say, conventional schooling. It's been an adventure for sure. Homeschooling the past four years has been an experience all by itself. It hasn't been easy, and many a time have I just wished that it's over. Now, however, that it's so close to being that way, I almost wish I had a longer time of it. At the same time, I look forward with interest to my career in the military. It's a sort of bittersweet feeling. I'm getting ready to leave home, in order to make another. Preparing to abandon one way of life so I might discover another.

Deus custodiat animam meam in hac nocte, ut vitae suae vires Evangelia cras.

God watch over my soul tonight, that I might have the strength to live His gospels tomorrow.

~Ian James~

Why I Love Senior Year - Part 1

   While some middle schoolers out there might expect high school to be the way Troy and Gabriella had it, those of us who are actually in it know the truth: High school is not that fun. Sure, there are friends, assemblies, and school dances but they are never held in song with choreographed basketball movements. The individual years can also be broken down. Freshman year is a time of going from oldest and coolest in the school, to youngest and most looked down upon. Sophomore year is better; you know what you're doing and you know have students younger than you. Junior year could arguably be one of the best; driver's ed is a definite plus, not to mention that you are still enjoying youth, but are getting older and more mature.
  
   But to me, senior year trumps all, hands down. A shorter school year accompanies getting prepared to choose a career; searching for scholarships precedes the college experience. It signifies one of the largest turning points in life. For me, senior year has been the greatest time of my life. So far, anyway. I've had trigonometry, the first type of mathematics I have begrudgingly enjoyed. I've studied prose and poetry from the beginning of the English language to its present, gaining knowledge from such masters as St. Thomas More, William Shakespeare (of course), Robert Burns, Geoffrey Chaucer, Ben Jonson, John Donne, John Milton, Lord Byron, John Keats, Lord Alfred Tennyson, T.S. Eliot and many more besides. It has also been an adventure writing this very blog. Business Technology has enlightened and prepared me for my future career. I have studied American Government, learning about the inner-workings of our country's bureaucracy. The History of the Constitution has also been very enjoyable. Over all, it has been a very successful year, and it's not even over yet. I look expectantly to the future.

Surviving Adolescence = Mission: Impossible? - The Three-or-Four Steps to NOT Dying Before You're 20!

   All six of the teenage years are guaranteed to encompass copious amounts of anger, frustration, stress, and confusion. Arguments, with both parents and siblings, are sure to be a common activity in your life. High-school, and possibly the beginning of college, will take up much more of your time than you would ever want. Community service, scholarship applications, and planning for the future will also be prominent ingredients to the recipe of your adolescent life. It's a constant mess of confusion and disagreements and misunderstandings and hormones and disaster and drama and tragedy and pain and horror and destruction and distraction and many other things besides. Now, not EVERYTHING is gloom-and-doom; there are parts of being a teenager that are to be enjoyed, but the rest remains true, also. You may be wondering the point of me saying all this. Well, I'm here to tell you that it what has previously been referred to as Mission: Impossible

is now possible, due to my new process called: The Three-or-Four Steps to NOT Dying Before You're 20! Allow me to introduce...

Step 1) Think Positive When Regarding The Future...

   I know that this is a difficult thing to do, be positive, but its absolutely necessary to survival. It's a teenager's best tool for motivation to get out of bed in the morning. Use it.

Step 2) Be Cool, Stay in School...

   While school may be the root of a lot of your frustration now, it will be the source of most of your success in later years. Need I say more?

Step 3-) Stay Out of Trouble... Of All Kinds!

   Trouble with your parents, trouble with the principle, trouble with the law or whatever; stay out of it! Otherwise, your only causing more stress in your life. The avoidance of trouble is the avoidance of stress; the avoidance of stress is the act of advocating relaxation.

Step or-Four) Procrastination...
   Its harmful to survival. It often allows a huge-blind side of disaster to sneak up behind you and take you out. Some people have said things like...

But I disagree. We all know Boromir was all about personal gain, not teamwork, anyway. So, in order to survive, I recommend not procrastinating. Why put off until tomorrow what can be done today?

   Well, there you have my three-or-four steps to NOT dying before you're 20. Hopefully you can put them to good use. They work.

~Ian James~

The Time Paradox: The Guide to Headache City

   The idea of time travel has always fascinated me. The ability to experience the past, our history; and the chance to see the future, what will someday be present reality. Man has dreamt of this possibility for hundreds of years, and the various literary works of the 1800's to present day display this. Scientists have long theorized at the possibility of time travel and have unofficially decided that travel to the past would never be possible, but time travel to the future might be. Still, this doesn't stop filmmakers, authors, and artists from exploring various types of time-travel stories. To me, the most interesting part of time travelling is the time paradox theory. Let me describe what a time paradox is.

   A time paradox (temporal paradox) is a theoretical paradoxical situation that is created due to time travel. For example, the grandfather paradox:

    A man goes back in time in order to kill his grandfather before the grandfather has any biological descendant. If the traveler were to succeed, either his mother or father would exist. In consequence, he would not exist as well. Thus, he would not be able to travel back in time in the first place (because he no longer exists) and his grandfather would  live and have a child who would  become the currently non-existent traveler's parent. In this way, the time travel would now exist again, and be able to go back in time to kill his grandfather. This would restart the situation. If the time traveler were to fail to kill his grandfather, however, the grandfather would still exist, produce offspring and eventually the time traveler would be born and the whole scenario starts over.

   It's in this way that we come to a paradox. The situation just keeps restarting itself. It's an infinite loop to nowhere.



   The purpose of the time paradox is to argue the impossibility of time travel. There are many theorized solutions, however. Below, I will highlight a few. They all suggest ways in which time travel could still be possible because the timeline avoids looping into infinity.

•  The Multiple Universe Solution.

This theory suggests the possibility of multiple universes, infinitely created whenever someone travels back in time. The example here is as follows: Were you to travel back in time to kill your grandfather before he had any descendants, an alternate identical universe would be created. Therefore if you successfully eliminated your grandfather, he would be dead in Universe 2 as would you be. But once you returned to your own time, you would be back in Universe 1, thus you'd still be alive. So you're dead in U2, but alive in U1.

• The Timeline Protection Solution.

This theory states that the time line would protect itself, thus protecting the universe from a paradox. This means that, no matter what a time traveler does, he would not be able to do anything to change the timeline. Back to the grandfather paradox. If the traveler were to attempt to kill his grandfather, time would have him fail. His gun would jam, be in the wrong place at the wrong time, be caught and thrown in jail, etc.

• The Novikov Self-consistency Principle.

This particular principle details a timeline which does not allow for a paradox because it defines a hypothetical scenario where nothing can be done to change time, because whatever happens must already have been part of the past. For example, say I went back in time to before the atomic bomb had been developed and gave Oppenheimer the plans to build one. Nothing would change. Because this has been a part of history all along. And if I went to kill my grandfather, I would fail for some reason; gun jammed, wrong time/place, etc. This part of the principle is similar to the Timeline Protection Solution.

• The Butterfly Effect.

This solution protects the universe from a time paradox, but that's all it protects it from. The butterfly effect is described as a physical effect on math, weather, and even time where a small change in the root definition of the subject grows exponentially to be a huge change to the original subject. This is easier said with an example. A man travels back in time to the 1940's, simply lights a cigarette, smokes it, then leaves. When he returns to 2012, he finds that the United States is now known as the United Communist Republic, we have a dictator, and he is a fugitive on the run from the law. In this example we see how one tiny change to the fabric of time (smoking a cigarette) can hugely change the rest of the world. And the farther back in time you travel, the larger the changes are to the present time. For another entertaining example of the butterfly effect, read Ray Bradbury's A Sound of Thunder in which an actual butterfly causes the butterfly effect.


   These are just a few of the many solutions to the time paradox. As of right now, we don't actually even know if time travel is possible, but someday it might be. When that happens we will need to be prepared. We will need to know what we are doing. When time travel is possible, we'll need a Guide to Headache City. Hopefully the one you just read will do. But until we have a definite yes or no on the possibility of time travel, we will continue to dream. Of the past. Of the future.

Why I Love My Country-Part 4: In God We Trust

   God is important to me. If you've been reading this blog for more than a few posts back, you probably already have noticed this. God is important to me for many reasons, most prominent being that He is the reason I am here today. He is my Father, my Creator, and my King. I owe Him everything.

   Because God gives me all that I need, I have consequently come to trust in Him and His ways. As long as I work hard and worship and respect Him, He will reward me with what I need. This is what God does and will do for all of us. The Founding Fathers, and those who came after, realized this. That is why our government is set upon the Bible, which is God's word and teachings. In God We Trust.

   The Constitutional Convention saw that is was necessary to separate government from religion. But they also saw it was needed to found our country upon God's word. They literally set our country's foundation upon our Lord. This is the largest part of why I love my country. Respect for God is fundamental in making a success out of a country. God rewards those who deserve it.

   Some people might say that the U.S. isn't very religious. I do not hold this to be true. A 2003 joint poll by USA Today, CNN, and Gallup showed that 90% of Americans support the inscription "In God We Trust." This is but one example of the American people showing their belief in something beyond this Earth. I know that not everybody believes in God, but it is my opinion that with witness, we can spread God's word even further than it already has been. The United States of America has been so successful for so long ( 236 years...) because of its founding on God. He has rewarded us, and will continue to do so as long as we respect Him, love Him, and trust in Him.

   So, now you know how I feel about my country, as well as why. I said in the first post of this blog series that I take great pride in my country. These are the three main reasons. America may not be perfect, but its close. She's a land of opportunity, with a hard-working military, and in God she trusts. She's the land of the free, kept safe by the brave. God bless her evermore. Her stars and stripes watch over us, ever may they wave. She's the land of the free and the home of the brave. May God bless her forevermore.

~Ian James~

To read the previous posts of this blog series, click on the links below:

Why I Love My Country-Part 1: Introduction. http://julyburnsred.blogspot.com/2012/04/why-i-love-my-country-part-1.html

Why I Love My Country-Part 2: Land of Opportunity. http://julyburnsred.blogspot.com/2012/04/why-i-love-my-country-part-2-land-of.html

Why I Love My Country-Part 3: The Military.  http://julyburnsred.blogspot.com/2012/04/why-i-love-my-country-part-3-military.html





5 Surefire Ways to Win A Sibling Argument

   Every house has sibling arguments, no exceptions. I know this from experience. Its inevitable that you won't agree with everything your brother(s) or sister(s) say(s). Sometimes it'll be something legitimate, like whether or not your brother should be flipping knives around in the kitchen. But we all know that sometimes (okay, most of the times) it'll be something ridiculous like whether or not cats always land on their feet, or over who's fault it is that the house is a mess. Like I said before, I know how it is. Its foolish to think that siblings would get along perfectly. I'm sure that there are a select few that get along with almost no arguments, but most of us aren't that way. And, if you're like me, winning the argument is important. It could be a situation of life or death; whether or not you get taken apart when dad comes home from work. Thus, winning that argument might allow you to live to see another day. If you are interested in knowing how to come out on top in any argument with a sibling, read on to discover the 5 Surefire Ways to Win A Sibling Argument.

   1) Use Your Age To Your Advantage...
   This is an important first step to successfully convincing your brother or sister that they are wrong and you are right. If you are older than they are, use that to your advantage by saying stuff like "I didn't get to 12th grade by not knowing how to multiply!" or "I'm four years older than you! Do you honestly believe that I don't know what I'm talking about?" And if you are younger, there are still ways for you to pull weight that way. For example, try to act innocent, or play dumb/ignorant of the rules... Stuff like that.

   2) Remember Everything Your Mother Says Concerning The Rules...
   My younger siblings have an annoying knack for remembering my mother's exact words concerning various things and they are able to easily use this as leverage over me in order to convince me to share my personal stuff with them. I still haven't figured out to use this to my own advantage and have it backfire on them, but I'm working on it.

   3) Reference The Commandments...
   If possible, reference the commandments.
"The commandments say not to hit, and that's exactly what you just did!"
But be careful... Things can get thrown back in your face REAL fast.
"You hit me first..."
 See what I mean?

   4) Involve Another Sibling As A Witness...
   Get another sibling involved, if you have one, as a witness. They can often tip the argument scales in your favor. Just be careful that they don't switch sides, and help your opponent.

   5) When In Doubt, Blame Someone Else...

                                                             It works.

   With these five guidelines, you will be empowered with the ability to win any argument with any sibling. Use this ability wisely. By the way, results are guaranteed to work on a sibling, however, this guarantee is not valid when used on parents. Hmmm... Maybe I'll have to write guidelines on how to win an argument with parents. Nope. Forget it. A child never wins an argument with a parent.

~Ian James~