So, I kept searching around on Google Earth and found even more interesting things to post. Hopefully this gives an idea of the power of nature, and the power of mankind that constantly conflict.
Taum Sauk Reservoir, MO
On December 14, 2005, the Taum Sauk Reservoir failed and released one billion gallons of water which tore a path down Proffit Mountain, exposing the bedrock.
Brownwood Subdivision, Baytown, TX
Brownwood was a neighborhood that became a victim of subsidence. Groundwater pumping in Houston has caused some places to sink almost ten feet in elevation in the past 100 years. The upscale neighborhood of Brownwood got the worst of it.
The ruins of the neighborhood were turned into a nature center.
Dubai, UAE
Dubai has quickly become a wealthy city featuring some of the most incredible architecture on planet Earth. Look closely at the before and after shots and you'll notice the world's tallest structure, and the world's largest shopping mall pop up right beside each other.
Aral Sea
The Aral Sea is one of the best examples of Human impact on the planet. Originally, the 4th largest lake in the world, eventually shrank to less than 10% of its original size due to irrigation.
Between these two images, the sea hit its driest point and was nearly gone in 2008. Efforts to begin restoring the sea helped raise the water level back up 24 meters but it is still in danger of disappearing.
9th Ward, New Orleans, LA
Hurricane Katrina is famous for proving that human made barriers can only hold back nature temporarily.
I'm thinking this Google Earth posting will be a three part series so check back in about a week for a third entry.
I was super stoked when I downloaded Google Earth 6 today to find out that you can go back in time and look at old satellite and aerial photographs. Here are some of the more interesting ones that I looked at.
Clear Lake Area, Houston, TX
For reference, use the Ellington Field Airport in the top left corner.
Note how back in 1944, there was no NASA Johnson Space Center (Right above the Nassau Bay marker). Once that showed up, so did the neighborhoods.
Greensburg, KS
A few years back, Greensburg, KS got almost entirely destroyed by an EF5 tornado. Here are the before and after pictures.
Tuscaloosa, AL
Tuscaloosa was a victim of this year's super tornado outbreak. Here is a before and after showing a chilling view of the path carved by the tornado.
Gilchrist, TX
The poor little town of Gilchrist, TX on Bolivar Peninsula had 99.5% of its homes destroyed by Hurricane Ike. Before and after images:
ONU, Bourbonnais, IL
And then God said, "Let There Be Weber Center!"
The lastest satellite view of ONU does not have the new chapel, only the construction site.
I would encourage you all to download this awesome program:
I started another blog project that I can update more often. It actually follows a format and is less random. Obviously I'm going to keep this one so continue to follow.
I can cook! Seriously, I'm actually a decent cook and tonight I made some crepes that were SO GOOD, that I will share the recipe.
The recipe is as follows:
Chocolate Crepes with Peanut Butter and Banana Filling
Ingredients:
1 cup of all purpose flour
1 and 1/4 cups of milk (I used 2% organic milk)
1 egg (I used a large egg)
1 pinch of salt
1 tsp of cocoa powder
and
a small amount of butter
peanut butter
a couple bananas
Process:
Mix flour, milk, egg, salt, and cocoa powder into a mixing bowl. Use a mixer or whisk to stir. Make sure batter is thoroughly mixed so that there are not too many globby things in there.
Take a medium to large sized pan (or large if you like huge crepes) and set it on a burner on medium heat. Once it has heated up, take a small amount (seriously, a tiny amount) of butter and place it in the pan. Spread the butter around the whole pan so that every part of the pan is buttered.
Take a 1/4 cup measuring cup and scoop it full of the batter we made.
Pour it in the pan.
IMMEDIATELY tilt the pan around to spread the batter as much as possible before it hardens.
After it sits for about a minute, check the bottom. Once it is browning, flip it.
Let the other side turn brown and then remove the crepe from the pan and place it onto a plate.
IMMEDIATELY spread peanut butter on the crepe so that it gets all melty.
Now cut up slices of banana and place them in the middle.
Fold the two sides over the banana slices so that you have a nice little burrito shape.
Yay, you made a crepe! Now eat it. Now make more and feed them to your friends and they will be so impressed.
It's almost summer, and although I'm still stuck at the university for another month to make up all the work I missed while out for surgery, I can't help thinking of how bad I want to play my favorite video games.
I would never consider myself a gamer. There are video games that I love to play and some that I've beaten multiple times over. I'm just not the kind that buys all the crap to hook my games up to the internet and puts on a headset to yell "Left! Left! Left! Left! FIRE FIRE FIRE! Nice kill Slayerfan85!". I play the nintendo stuff; the RPGs and Mario type games that have happy music and lots of colors. I guess there may be a few exceptions but you'll notice some trends when you read the list.
13. Mario Party (All Versions)
These games are so much fun. They spanned 4 different platforms as far as I'm aware (N64, GC, Wii, DS). It was a wonderful idea to put a board game on a gaming system and with like 9 versions, it's pretty obvious they've been successful. I haven't played every one but I liked all the ones I did play. I especially enjoyed the Mario Party DS wireless gameplay mode where 4 people with DS systems could play using one game cartridge. I got a game of 4 going on our geology field trip to Canada last year!
Not on'y did I beat it fo you dare shaboo, I got mahself a new record.
12. Goldeneye Wii (Wii)
This is my oddball of the list. I really did like the original N64 Goldeneye a lot, but to me this game is an improvement on the classic. The name my best friend and I use when we play wirelessly is "Sarah Palin". We wonder how many twenty-somethings across the country now think of the jerk that shot them from behind when they see her on TV.
Bond was killed by BootySweat.
11. Quest 64 (N64)
I doubt many people played or even remember this game. When I first played it, the idea seemed very appealing. You are a young character named Brian (go figure) and you travel across a land that resembles Ireland. You destroy monsters all over the place, and gain experience. You use this experience to continue leveling up one of the 4 elemental powers you possess. In this way your character was somewhat customizable. What I think appealed to me most was that you never really stop getting more powerful. If you just keep battling, you just keep getting ridiculously stronger; you get to a point where every enemy can be killed by a single blow. At that point, the game isn't really fun anymore but getting there is.
The boss of the game was a purple, body-building, bunny rabbit.
10. Mario Kart Wii (Wii)
Mario Kart! I seriously doubt that there is anyone who can say something bad about Mario Kart. This game is my favorite multiplayer game and my favorite racing game. With the wii version came the online mode where you could race up to 12 people all over the world. Winning is insanely gratifying and yet, getting struck by the unavoidable blue shell right near the end will send anyone into a shouting, table flipping, rampage.
Blue Shells: The number one cause of foul language on planet Earth.
9. Star Fox 64 (N64)
Star Fox 64 is my favorite short game. I say short because in the world of video games, beating the game in an hour or less is considered short. It was a very fun game to beat though because you could take different paths and different levels to get to the boss. Star Fox 64 was also known for having some of the most annoying in game characters ever: Slippy Toad who had a voice that was just high and annoying, and Falco, the bird that constantly criticizes you.
Also the origin of one of the most overused phrases and an awful piece of advice.
8. Super Mario Sunshine (Gamecube)
Mario, on a tropical island, full of fruit. It's like two trucks full of skittles crashed at the gay pride parade on the sunniest day of the year. Oh, and you have a jetpack. If that doesn't have you sold on playing this game, how about this:
That's right, you can make Mario look like a typical chubby tourist.
7. Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii)
I never played the first Mario Galaxy game but I heard a ton of good things about it so I decided to get the second one when it came out. What a worthwhile purchase it was. This game is without a doubt, the best game for the Wii. You never really know how gravity will work in each level, you just have to play around.
Dash Pepper!
6. Paper Mario (N64)
One thing I never understood about this game was why they made everything 2D in a 3D game. I do love it though, it makes the game unique but they don't really do much with the fact that Mario is 2D. This game is great for a number of reasons. For one thing, battles are fought in a format similar to Pokemon and would give you experience. Another awesome aspect of the game was it's fun dialogue and comic moments. This game wants you to thoroughly enjoy it.
This dude was balls hard to beat
5. Ocarina of Time (N64)
This game typically makes the top 5 on any best games of all time list. It is fantastic in every sense, from gameplay, to story, to music, to comedy. It was pretty challenging as kid but now after beating it countless times, I can breeze through it.
Stupid witches
4. Majora's Mask (N64)
Unlike most folks, I find Majora's Mask to be superior to Ocarina of Time. The game is a direct sequel and incorporates the factor of time into the game. It was definitely way more challenging than Ocarina was and I feel like the stories were more interesting. Unlike Ocarina, the game had a lot of side quests which were great when you weren't in the mood to do one of the challenging temples.
When the clock hits midnight on day three, the Moon falls into the Earth
3. Pokemon (Most Versions)
If I had to pick my favorite version, it would probably be Soul Silver followed closely by White. However, since I like almost all of them, my list would be twice as long if not for combining them all into one category. Pokemon is incredible. Each person who plays chooses their own unique Pokemon with their own unique move sets and battles uses different strategies. You could play through the game thousands of times and each time it would be different.
Seriously, you are choosing to use 6 Pokemon out of 646 different kinds. Choose wisely.
2. Paper Mario and the Thousand Year Door (Gamecube)
Remember back when I said the first Paper Mario was awesome because if the comic dialogue and Pokemon style battling system but unfortunately the game didn't really do much with the "paper" idea? Well in this game, we find Mario on an even bigger adventure with more moves, bigger battling systems, and a huge story full of hilarious dialogue that will keep you laughing constantly. Also, the makers finally decided that, "Mario is made of paper, lets give him the physics of paper." Now we have a mario that can form into a tube and roll, or fold into a plane and fly, or fold into a boat and float, or turn sidewise into a single one-dimensional line. I don't think I've ever enjoyed playing a game so much as this one.
I almost never see video game commercials in the USA. We should have more.
1. Wind Waker (Gamecube)
My favorite game of all time is in fact Wind Waker. From the day I first got this game, I knew this was my favorite game ever. Unlike previous Zelda games, this game was cartoony, comical, and colorful. At the same time, the story was very serious and more emotional than the others. The characters were all more deep than ever before, and many even had definable personalities. The cell-shading art of the game is really beautiful and well done making the game very easy on the eyes. Also, you have a freaking boat and you get to sail it around this massive sea discovering islands and solving mysteries while hunting treasure and fighting bad guys.
I LOVE POKEMON! Seriously, its one of the best things that's ever happened to my life. Thanks, Japan! I've played Pokemon Red, Blue, Yellow, Silver, Gold, Crystal, Pearl, Soul Silver, White, Pokemon Snap, Pokemon Pinball, and Pokemon Stadium.
Now to chose a favorite, I'm not one of those folks who chooses the most powerful legendaries, or the Pokemon that can have the right move set to wipe out everything in battle. I choose based off of who I liked using in the games, who I liked in the show, or who is just plain awesome or adorable.
Psyduck
In the show, Psyduck was one of Misty's Pokemon and happened to be a giant moron. The only way she could get him to even attack an opponent was by beating it on the head enough until it got a headache and used psychic. I guess I just learned to feel really sorry for poor Psyduck because life was such a challenge for him. In the games, he's actually a fairly decent Pokemon to use, especially when he evolves.
He doesn't even know how to swim... adorable!
Shuckle
Probably an octopus stuck in a turtle shell. He has wicked-crazy defenses and makes juice out of berries that he stores by squishing them in his shell with his noodley appendages. He's kind of annoying to use in the games because you really need to be dedicated to raise him enough to be useful (and by useful, i mean your enemies just quit battling against you because he takes so freaking long to kill). However, the more you look at it, the more you just want to love it.
This short clip of the episode cuts off right before death by Shuckle
Archeops
I love the idea of modeling a Pokemon after the Archaeopteryx. Fossil Pokemon are always awesome in my book and this one is especially so. It's ridiculously strong and probably my favorite Pokemon from the recently released 5th generation.
Dino-turkey?
Pikachu
The mascot of Pokemon! Probably the only Pokemon that even the Amish could recognize. Pikachu is tough, powerful, fast, intelligent, and very adorable. You just have to love it. Originally, the creators of Pokemon intended the mascot of Pokemon to be Jigglypuff. Now I do like Jigglypuff but nobody would have taken Pokemon seriously had they made the mascot of Pokemon the girly version of Kirby. Whoever decided to replace Jigglypuff with Pikachu saved Pokemon.
Pikachu imitating Wobbuffet =D
Wobbuffet
Wobbuffet was probably the best cast member of the show. He basically ends up in Team Rocket by accident and shows up at every possible awkward moment to remind you how awesome he is. He has a complete love for Jessie despite the fact that she constantly bashes him in the head for coming out of his pokeball. He also can't actually do any attacks but he can turn the opponents attacks back against them.
This kind of thing happens every episode for about 500 episodes
Wooper
Wooper. What's not to love? The only unfortunate thing about Wooper is that they eventually turn into Quagsire.
Lay all your love on them.
Skarmory
Skarmory the steel bird. I've used Skarmory in quite a number of my games since he first appeared in the 2nd generation. He's fairly powerful but I mostly owned him because I thought he looked cool. I also needed a Pokemon that could learn fly and when your other options are Pidgey and Hoothoot, there's obviously a clear winner here.
Hmmm... I commend your creativity but don't wear this in public
Mismagius
Well, I don't expect many people to recognize this Pokemon. It didn't come out until the 4th generation and even then, it was the evolution of Misdreavus, a relatively unknown 2nd generation Pokemon. Despite it not being popular, I used one in my Pearl version and it was one of my best Pokemon. It learned a variety of moves that made it very useful in battle. I will agree that it is kind of stupid looking though. Like if a jellyfish and a sombrero had a baby.
Soft and cuddly murderface
Absol
The Pokedex calls it the "Disaster Pokemon". I already like the sound of that. He's the only 3rd generation I'm including on this list because the rest of the 3rd generation was terrible. I've used him in almost every team I've had in my latest play throughs of the game. I could get really in depth on how great he is in battle with his move sets, high attack, and critical hit ratios, but it gets too complicated and I don't think many people actually care. He may be my all time favorite Pokemon being both a great battler and cool looking. If you've never used one, I definitely recommend having one on your team. He learns a lot of different moves so you can customize him rather well.
