Vote!

I am an Officer in the US Army and I only am allowed to publicly have one political opinion of my own and it is one that I believe in from the bottom of my heart.  I am allowed to encourage anyone and everyone to vote and participate in our great democracy.  So thus, I believe that at some point tomorrow, you should vote and I encourage you to vote!  Vote!

I do believe that you have the right not to vote but I believe that you are wrong to do so and here are the reasons why.  Political pundits love to talk about the new game vs the old game of politics.  The old game was where the candidates would first get the support of their party and then try to win over the moderates or swing voters.  The new game is where candidates will attempt to rile up their supporters and political party enough to get more voter turnout in their favor.  This new game has caused BOTH political parties to move to extremism and even less agreement than ever seen before.  This is getting worse and worse as less people participate and vote.  If you do not vote you aren't just ignoring the issues, you are contributing to the problem.  You are the problem!

The more people that vote, and understand the issues, the less that our elected officials can get away with anything!  Also, the more news coverage that they will get among the major news networks.

Why your vote counts:

Go ahead and ask those few hundred people in Florida during the 2004 election if their vote counted.  Regardless of what you think of the electoral college, without it the NorthEast would have lost a lot of voting power this week due to Sandy.  It is also our system that we have to work with.  Think you live in a swing state and your vote doesn't count?  [Look at 1988 or 1992.](http://imgur.com/a/MlFxF)  The states that were swing states weren't what most think are swing states.  Also, how do you think you are ever going to change your state if you don't vote?  If you still aren't convinced, at least you can show how ineffective the electoral college is over time by scewing the statistics by voting!  We can vote twice every election in this country.  You missed the run off(Primary) where we get to vote among many candidates.  You haven't missed the final vote where we get to choose between the two best candidates. It isn't too late!

Don't like one party or the other because they are SOOO out of touch with the American people?  Vote! Think the other guy is the spawn of Satan and the definition of evil?  Vote!  Think one candidate is in the pockets of the corporations? Vote!  Think one has their head so up in the clouds that they cannot see what is actually going on?  Vote!  Think one is a flip flopper?  Vote!  Think one is too rigid and cannot make a decision based on different situations?  Vote!  Tired of the last four years?  Vote!  Don't want another war?  Vote!  Think a preemptive strike is completely needed right now?  Vote!  Cut spending?  Vote!  Raise taxes on the rich?  Vote!  Is one a religious fanatic?  Vote! Is one godless and immoral?

Think the two party system sucks and think we need a new faction?  You never are going to change it unless you vote!  Politicians listen to people who actually vote!

I love our great Democracy(Representative Republic) and I love people that vote.

It is your civic duty.

Vote! Vote! Vote! Vote! Vote! Vote! Vote! Vote! Vote! Vote! Vote!

Youtube DJ

Youtube DJ

So, I invented a music game utilizing YouTube for playing music.  Everyone knows that Youtube has a ton of music uploaded so there is plenty of material to pull from.  I noticed one day that there is normally music videos linked at the left of any music video you visit on the site and normally they are similar artists.  I then came up with my very own game.

Step One: Find one youtube video of a song to start.  It could be any song.  I picked  Animals - House Of The Rising Sun  from the website www.reddit.com/r/music  

Step Two: When the song ends your next song you are to listen to will be on the right in the suggested videos section. Choose the first video that is not an advertisement and is not the same artist as one song that you have already listened to.

Step Three: Listen to song and repeat.

One playlist I did ended up like this:

House of the Rising Sun - Animals
Lola - The Kinks
Lou Reed - Walk On The Wild Side
Stuck In The Middle With You - Stealers Wheel
Mungo Jerry - In the Summertime
Spirit In The Sky - Norman Greenbaum
Soggy Bottom Boys - I'm A Man Of Constant Sorrow (Oh shoot)
Kid Rock - All Summer Long
Nickelback - Rockstar
AC/DC- Thunderstruck
Kiss - Take It Off (Uncensored Version)
Black Sabbath - Iron Man
W.A.S.P. - Harder Faster
Iron Maiden - Aces High


Alternate Rules:

1. Pick any song on the suggested list that is your favorite and see where it goes.
2. Try to get to a genre or specific video using above rules. (Try to get to classical from metal)

Hey /r/SanFrancisco!

If you remember, I had a post a few weeks back asking to meetup with a bunch of you.  A few took me up on the offer and it was a blast!

I have been all over the country and world and your city was by far a different experience and one of the best I have ever had!





This is me! (Link has all the pictures of me that I took)


I came out for Army training in almost the center of California.  You are welcome to look at some of the pictures I took there that I can post on the internets.  Included are some nice C-130 shots and a few wildfires/control burns we could get close to.

Here are the pictures I took while there.  They are things that I noticed when on my trip.  They are also what one will expect to see visiting this great city.

I walked and biked the trip far more than I did take public transportation.  I walked 12.9 miles and biked 20.5 for a total of 33.4 miles under my own power up and down your hills in two days.







After meeting a huge number of different people from all over your city, these are my conclusions:

1. You have the cleanest streets I have ever been to!  I think this might be due to the fact that your city is on a series of hills and everything washes away leaving little to clean up for the residents but it is still quite a feat.  (This does not apply to Chinatown) Your back alleys are cleaner than most city's tourist destinations.
2. You are as friendly and open as the Southeastern states and just as hospitable.  I was able to walk up to anyone local and simply start a conversation.  One of you had me even crash in your apartment.
3. I'm pretty sure there are no two buildings in your city that are the same.  The architecture here is amazing and every building is original.  There is something to see in every back alley and I am extremely glad I walked everywhere.
4. You have the best pizza I have ever had! It is here.  I have been to NYC and other pizza mecca but I do not think I have ever tasted pizza like I did there.
5. AT&T park was an awesome ballpark but I do not think it deserves the title of the best.  That being said, it was pretty darn cool to be able to watch a game right on the bay.
6. Your airports were the first time I have ever actually been frisked by the TSA.  No wonder you guys hate them.  Most other airports don't do that.  It sounds like a local issue to me now.
7. I think you guys have the most record stores per capita than any other city. I was loving it!
8. Your city is expensive! I don't think I need to say anything more.
9. I smelled more weed out in the open than any city I have ever been in.
10. I do not think it is possible to take a bad picture of Coit Tower.

Some additional thoughts:

1. Seriously, who would build a city on hills like that?
2. Although it was challenging, I'm glad that I was able to do my usual walking tour of your city.  I got to meet so many more people and see what it is really like to live there.
3. Biking all the way to Sausalito and back was awesome and definitely worth it.

I updated my Google map for anybody thinking of traveling there.  I took off a couple things and added others. I would say that it is now an awesome two to three day guide for anyone wanting to visit this city.

I missed out on quite a bit so if I could come back someday I would definitely have the following on my itinerary:

1. Off the Grid (Check the schedule) 
2. Napa Valley
3. Lawrence Livermore National Observatory
4. Actually go in the California Academy of Sciences
5. Go to an Oakland A's game

Thank you everyone that I have interacted with on this trip, it was a blast!  Also a big thank you to all the redditors that helped me in the planning process and met up with me.

If anyone would like to contact me for any reason (Spelling/grammar errors, suggestions, or just to say hi) you can catch me at Twitter, Google+, or Foursquare.  Job opportunities are always welcome and I am willing to move.