Google found me!

This is a milestone in the history of the benjiblog. You see, when I first began this blog I felt like I was really out there on the internet for people to find, but was disappointed when my google searches came up empty. I would copy whole paragraphs from this blog, and paste them into the google search box expecting to be the number one result. When this didn't happen I set out to figure out how google worked. Here's a summary of how google works from this source.
They use a top-secret algorithm called page-rank, which incorporates 3 key factors:

• Frequency and location of the key words for which one is searching
• How long the web page has existed
• Number of other web pages that link to the web page in question.

There you have it. I was naively expecting to be found when I had only fulfilled the first requirement. Apparently four months is enough time for google to consider me legit, and there might possibly be a few links to this page floating around out there.

Bonus - when I google "Benji Somebody Else", the first three hits are really referring to me, then there's some unrelated hits, then it cites this blog's first post where I explained the meaning behind the address and happened to write Benji and Somebody Else in the same paragraph.
Note- In a couple weeks I'm expecting this post to be up there on the list because I keep typing Benji Somebody Else (frequency and location people, frequency and location).
Benji Somebody Else.

On a completely unrelated but nonetheless interesting note, I had ants crawling on my ears today. I have no idea how this happened. Around 9:00 this moring I'm sitting there doing dentistry and feel one crawling on my ear. I took off my glove and brushed it away, only to have the same thing happen 10 minutes later. Then around 3:00 this afternoon it happened again! I was in the middle of polishing up a filling I had just placed and really didn't want to take time out of the procedure to take off my gloves, brush the ant away, and re-glove; and I definitely didn't want to touch my own ear with slobbery gloves, (gross!) so I just kept working while the little bugger crawled around for two minutes and bit me three times. I don't think I've ever been so angry at a single ant in my entire life. Maybe someday when I'm working in my own office and have an assistant, I can simply call out "Ant" and she can brush it off of my ear. Someday.

Benji Somebody Else.

New Kid on the Blog

Clever, I know. The newest new kid on the blog is none other than my beautiful wife! Since blogs are basically journals for friends and strangers to read, we decided to both just keep blogging away and try not to be too redundant. Our newest threat to each other is, "oh yeah? I'm going to blog about what you just did!" So, if any embarrassing stories about me show up on her blog, it means I'm in trouble.

Without further ado, her awesome blog!

"It's better to lose a tooth than to lose your life."

That's the quote from the brave 11-year-old Brazilian boy who recently fended off a pit bull attack by sinking his teeth into the dog's neck! How's this for irony - he broke his canine when he sank his teeth into the neck of a canine! Ha! He needed 4 stitches in his arm, and the article says he was freed when bystanders pulled the dog off of him, but I think it was actually the dog who was freed from the vicious boy. Talk about fighting fire with fire!

Movie reviews, just in time for the weekend!

Here's what I've seen lately, and what I thought:

Fools Gold


I reluctantly rented this one because there's not a huge selection in the redbox these days, but it was better than I thought it would be. I worried that with Kate Hudson and Matthew McHandsome back together it would just be an extension of How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. Truth be told, there was a lot more adventure involved. It was more than a cheesy chick flick. I can't really give an accurate re-cap because it was late and I fell asleep somewhere in the middle and missed 10 or 20 minutes, but what I did see I liked.

Recommendation: Not bad, I would recommend it if there's nothing else you'd rather see.


The Great Debaters


The story of a debate team from an all-black college in Texas in the 1920's. I'm torn on this movie. It had an interesting storyline, great acting, and of course those moving dramatic moments that come with movies like this, so I normally would give this one a good recommendation. However, I have two issues with this movie. First, a problem with the plot - as a debate team, they were never asked to debate anything that goes against what they believed. It was always them arguing something they were very passionate about (desegregation, civil disobedience), and that's not what true debating is, although it made for a better story.
Second, and this is the kicker, this movie is available exclusively at blockbuster. Not cool.

Recommendation: If everyone rented this movie, what would we be telling the film industry? That it's ok to make movies available exclusively at certain stores. Picture for a second a world where you have to go to Blockbuster to get a certain movie, and Hollywood Video to get another. For this reason I recommend not renting this movie. But, if you know someone who has it, it's worth watching.


Last of the Mohicans (edited)


Yeah, I know, this is an old one but I'd never seen it. Normally I don't like historical epic movies like this because the people talk differently and sometimes it's hard to follow all the details of the story. I liked this movie though. The thing that tips the scales for a positive recommendation is the music.

Recommendation: I do recommend this movie. Edited. I highly recommend this soundtrack.


The 5th Element


This was available free at hulu.com so I thought I'd check it out. Guess what? It's not worth free. If I got paid for my time watching the movie, it'd maybe be ok. Some Sci-Fi movies are ok but this one was just too weird for me. The opera scene actually made me laugh out loud at how stupid it was.

Recommendation: Are you kidding me? It's a no.


You, Me, and Dupree


You know how some movies have one or two really crass parts, but the rest of the movie is so hilarious that you don't really mind? This wasn't that movie. I really like Owen Wilson, but this was probably the least funny Owen Wilson movie I've ever seen, and that's counting Behind Enemy Lines. (On a related note, for you single guys out there - a wise friend once told me that if you're ever in a situation where you don't know what to say or how to act around a pretty girl, just think to yourself, "What would Owen Wilson do?" and go with it. The characters he plays are always so smooth.)

Recommendation: Definitely no.


The Sentinel


Jack Bauer teams up with a Desperate Housewife to figure out who's trying to kill the President - what's not to like? This movie reminded me of Breach. If you like one, you'll like the other.

Recommendation: I liked it. I would especially recommend it to those of you who are going through withdrawals of the show 24.


and finally,
The Dark Knight



It sort of seems like this movie deserves it's own post, but I have a tribute to Batman in the works for this blog so I'll just go ahead and do my little review here.
I loved it. I've seen it twice now and would have to say I loved it more the second time. The first time through it was difficult to see where the story was going and therefore a little tougher pick up on all the little interweaving themes of the movie. Heath Ledger deserves all the praise he gets - he was amazing at convincing you he was both a genius and a psychopath at the same time. The only negative thing I've heard about this movie is that Batman's voice is annoying, but, (and I've said this over and over again) - Batman is a ninja who was trained by ninjas, and the art of ninjutsu is that of invisibility. If you were a famous billionaire, people would know your voice, so you have to do something to disguise it. I think the director had him do this in the most "Batman-way" possible.
Lastly, this is a disturbing movie. There are a lot of gruesome parts, but they are tastefully left to your imagination. If you don't like scary movies, this isn't for you.

Recommendation: I feel obligated to warn that it will scare you, and there are a number of scenes that could be better described as "twisted" than "enjoyable". That being said, this is one of the best made movies I've ever seen. I'll let you decide on the recommendation.

Making your lawn look like a professional baseball field

I just got back from an unofficial church outing with some buddies. We saw the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim lose to the Cleveland Indians 5-2. Booo.

Anyway, we get to talking and somebody wondered aloud how the elaborate pattern on the field is achieved. Go ahead, think about it. I'll even give you a quiz to see how smart you are.

Is the pattern achieved by

• A) Mowing the lawn in alternating directions
• B) Using some fancy equipment to make the blades point different directions
• C) Cutting the grass to two different levels

Scroll down for the answer, but not until you've thought about it.



After the game I spoke to the man standing on the dugout located on the right side of the above picture, and he claimed that it was all three. Congratulations, you all got it right.

However, if you guessed B, you get it more right that the other two because how stuff works gives most of the credit to what's called a lawn roller - basically a big steam roller for your lawn. If you had a lawn roller, perhaps you could make your lawn look like this:




or this:



or maybe even this:



Lowes.com has lawn rollers for around $150.

Busting a myth that's been bugging me.

Maybe you've heard this before, maybe not, but the myth I'm addressing is this: Dentists have the highest rate of suicide.



This has been brought to my attention a few times since becoming a dental student. It's usually somebody trying to make smalltalk, but many who've brought it up have done so in a way that led me to believe that they really think it's true.

So, I set out to do some investigating today. I had intentions of writing this post with well-referenced credible links but didn't actually find any official list. Upon typing dentists and suicide in the good old google, I found no references to support this claim, although I did learn quite a bit. Here's the summary of today's web surfing:

• The topic is somewhat unclear because suicides usually aren't classified by profession. There is a plethora of data regarding race, age, and gender because those things show up on death certificates and can easily be compiled. Occupation, not so much.
• Also, cause of death for a suicide usually isn't categorized as "suicide" but rather a gunshot wound or a drug overdose (even if they are intentionally self-inflicted).
  
• Consensus is that the rate for health care professionals as a whole is elevated. A possible explanation of this is that health care professionals generally live healthier lifestyles and are less likely to die from other causes. Think about it, if you are a health professional, you are most likely "healthy" and less likely to die of a heart attack or motorcycle accident, thus elevating the relative rate of suicide in your group. Another explanation could be the stress that comes with being a "professional".
  
• Medical Doctors (MD's) have a higher rate of suicide than their Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) counterparts. Most sources credit white male physicians as having the highest suicide rate, although the females in the profession aren't far behind - which is unusual. In most occupations females do themselves in at a much lower rate than the males.
  
• Psychiatrists also have a higher rate of suicide than dentists, although they have their own urban legend to deal with regarding their "highest suicide rate".
• One study had sheepherders and wool workers topping the list.
• Other sources believe that the highest rate is by far among military personal and law enforcement.
  

So there you have it. Don't believe this when you hear it unless they have a source more credible than Benji's Blog©. If they do, please send it my way.

Incidentally, performing dentistry has actually been much more enjoyable than I had anticipated. Before beginning school I had the same thoughts that most people have when they picture themselves putting their fingers in a stranger's mouth - something along the lines of "what about people who have really nasty teeth and bad breath - would I really want to spend all day looking in those mouths? Is that really what I want to do all day every day for the rest of my working life?"

Like I said, it's really not that bad and most days is somewhat enjoyable. (note- I'm referring to the "dentistry" part of dental school and not necessarily the "school" part). Earlier this week I was working and it occurred to me that what I was doing was very similar to pottery, except that people will pay me for it. And sometimes it hurts.

Rather than constantly thinking "Ew gross, I'm working in this old guy's mouth", once I start working my focus is (literally) on a single tooth and I can forget about the rest of the person. Individual teeth rarely have the capacity to gross someone out.

I guess this concludes my suicide note. Ha!

Sand Bass: Fact or Fiction

This Spring we had a visit from the Hinck family which prompted me to find out the truth about sand bass. Here's how it started (for those involved, correct me if I'm wrong). They were driving by a dry lake or pond and my nephew asked if anyone thought there might be fish in there. His wise dad and grandpa told him that there were lots of "Sand Bass" in there. Of course they were just pulling his leg but spent the next few days convincing him that sand bass were real.

A quick google/wiki search reveals that the joke was on them because Sand Bass are not only real, they're the official state fish of Oklahoma! How 'bout that! These fish are also known as white bass.

Sand Bass

BIg Night for the Nuts!

Last night I fulfilled one of my dreams and showed my family the Nuts. We had a ball! It was a pretty exciting first three innings as the Nuts came out swinging and rose to a 14-2 lead, then they just hung around the rest of the night not doing anything - in fact neither team did anything as 14 - 2 was the final score. Talk about lop-sided! Things are looking pretty hairy this season for the home team, the Inland Empire 66ers. Jordan supported the Nuts for about an inning and a half, then he lost interest and would go exploring. At the top of the seventh inning we were ready to leave because he was getting a little testy, then I heroically ran down a foul ball for him and, with his ball in his hands, he got his second wind.

Here are some Nut pictures:



Jordan enjoying the first inning stretch.



I was proud of these two pictures I took. On this one the ball is visible about 6 feet ahead of the batter. It ended up being a strike.



And in this one the ball is just below the Nut's knees. (Click to enlarge)



Wearing my Nuts hat.



My favorite pair.




The kid still gets his balls mixed up - he kept acting like it was a basketball.

Summer Vacation Slideshow!

We sure took a lot of pictures in Utah. Here are some of the good ones. Mostly they're of Jordan, but people usually like looking at him more than us boring grown ups anyway. Sorry it goes a little fast to read some of my detailed explanations but you can pause it and you can turn off the captions by clicking on the green caption bubble (lower left).

Enjoy!

My online Fiddle Duel

As I was 6 hours into the 8 hour drive home today, I was singing along with whatever came on the radio to keep myself alert. Melissa and Jordan were sleeping and they didn't seem to mind my singing. So there I was cruising and singing when this song came on:

Pretty good song to sing along to, right? Did you know that a fiddle and violin are the same instrument - just played differently? I think I picked up that fact a few years back. Anyway, I'm cruising along singing whatever and change the station and then I get to hear this:

So naturally I get to thinking about fiddles. I noticed a phrase that appeared in both songs. In the first we hear: "Johnny rosin up your bow and play your fiddle hard" and the second goes like this: "So rosin up that bow for "Faded Love" and let's all dance".

This led me to wonder what rosin is. So, to truly learn, I looked it up and am here passing along the info. Rosin is "the yellowish to amber, translucent, hard, brittle, fragmented resin left after distilling the oil of turpentine from the crude oleoresin of the pine: used chiefly in making varnishes, varnish and paint driers, printing inks, and for rubbing on the bows of such string instruments as the violin."

To "rosin up the bow" is to put the rosin on the bow in order to play.



Finally, since fiddles are associated with fiddle dueling, I've created a poll as to which of the two fiddle songs I heard today is the best fiddle song. Let me know what you think, you have a week!

Summer Break Movie Review Roundup!

Between the three weeks without school, the free and willing babysitters at home (Jordan's Grandparents) and the Clean Flick's Edited movies, it was quite the cinematic break for me and Melissa. Don't feel like you have to read about every movie, these reviews are probably more for me than for you, but here's my quick recommendations:

Iron Man
This was tied for my favorite movie we saw. It had all the enjoyable elements of a typical superhero movie (the ones that are most enjoyable in the theater with the big screen and the surround sound) plus some funny parts. I thought Robert Downey Jr. did a great job.
Recommendation: Best seen in the theater, but I'd still watch it on DVD.

The Bucket List
Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman are both dying so they set out to do all the things they missed out on. Along the way they get into fights and stuff and help each other learn new things. The very last line of the movie was pretty funny. Seriously though, would you want to ditch your wife to hang out with some guy you just met if you were a dying old man? Freeman did, but they made it look like it was OK because his wife was annoying him and he needed some freedom. They probably should have worked that out earlier in life and he should have taken her on his bucket list.
Me? There's just one thing I'd change if I knew my time was limited. Hang gliding. It looks so incredibly appealing to me but I don't think I could stand before my maker with a clear conscience if I risked my life like that for a few thrills. Unless, of course, the life I was risking was almost over anyway! Melissa still isn't keen on me hang-gliding even if I'm dying, but I think I could convince her.
Recommendation: Nah, go do something outside instead. Better yet, start working on your own bucket list.

Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull
We brushed up on two of the original three movies before we saw this one. That probably helped me to appreciate Stephen Spielberg staying true to form with this one. Had I not seen the old ones recently, I might have thought that some of the scenes were kind of dumb with how far-fetched they were.
Recommendation: If you enjoyed the originals, you should see this one.

Stuck on You
My brother picked this one up from the video store and I watched it for the second time. It was really funny for about 3/4 of it, but then I felt like the writers stopped being funny and began trying to wrap up the story.
Recommendation: Watch it late at night so you fall asleep after an hour.

Prince Caspian
In anticipation of this movie, I re-read the book. I hadn't read any of the chronicles since I was a child and was amazed at how much wisdom CS Lewis managed to put into these "children's" books. The movie was a great adaptation. The plot was changed a little bit, but the storyline wasn't any worse for it. Melissa and I agree this was a much better movie than the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.
Recommendation: Great family movie, definitely worth seeing.

The Kite Runner
Think Hotel Rwanda but in Afghanistan instead of Rwanda. It was a good story that drew me in and helped me better understand what that country has been through. It's not really a feel-good movie but you might be better for having seen it.
Recommendation: See this one by yourself.

The Kingdom (edited)
Before I looked this up on imdb.com, I would have bet money that this was the same director/producer as the movie and TV show Friday Night Lights. I would have won some money. The man's name is Peter Berg. He used many of the same actors and the movies have the same type of musical montages and they both end with the same sort of feeling (but I won't give it away).
Recommendation: I can only speak for the edited version, but it was pretty good.

We Own the Night (edited)
Not really an upper, but it had a good story. Joaquin Phoenix is running around with a bunch of baddies who go after the cops. Problem is, his dad and brother are cops but nobody knows that so he finds himself torn between two worlds.
Recommendation: Meh. I dunno. I enjoyed it so you might too.

Get Smart
This was the other one that tied for my favorite movie we saw. Steve Carell was funny as usual. You have to go in expecting some corny humor. We had an enjoyable time because there was a middle-aged lady behind us that would repeat the jokes to her friends. One example is when Carell's character makes a play on words by saying "thinsk" she said, for all to hear, "ha ha ha, thinsk" to make sure all her friends got it. This actually wasn't annoying but made it more enjoyable because we would laugh at the movie and then laugh at her. Double the Fun!
Recommendation: I'd see it again.

Untraceable (edited)
There was one original element to this movie: the idea of a bad guy setting up a website where the more traffic it generates, the faster the victim dies. Other than that this movie was totally predictable and I felt like I'd seen it 5 times before. Maybe the un-edited version has some surprises.
Recommendation: It's stupid.

Thank you for smoking (edited)
To the extent that untraceable was predictable, this one was equally as unpredictable. Maybe unconventional would be a better word. The story follows the charming and suave spokesperson for big tobacco as he goes about his work while at the same time trying to be a good example to his son and hive him some fatherly wisdom.
Recommendation: I thoroughly enjoyed the edited version of this movie.

Little Miss Sunshine (edited)
I picked this one up because I wanted my parents to see it. We all watched it together. I had actually seen the original version before and it was interesting to see what they took out. They managed to make Steve Carell's character not gay. He wasn't really straight, but any reference to a boyfriend was taken out of the movie. This resulted in them taking out a later seen which in and of itself was entirely clean, but wouldn't have made sense without some key events that were removed. Anyway, I'm glad they edited the language and the not-so-good grandfatherly advice because with those parts missing, this was a really enjoyable movie with a good message about how un-important the world's opinions of us really is.
Recommendation: One of my all-time favorite movies. I'll probably order the edited version for my home library when I grow up and get a job.

12 monkeys
We watched this in Melissa's Fairview cabin. We decided what to watch by reading the back covers and picked the most interesting one. This was it. It was an interesting and original storyline, but it was really weird. I'm still mixed on my feelings about this movie. After watching it, I dreamed that I was in a similar situation as Bruce Willis (either from the future or crazy, but not sure) . I should point out that Brad Pitt did an amazing performance as a crazy guy. In fact, this may be the best role I've ever seen him play.
Recommendation: It's ok to see if you're in a cabin with nothing else to watch. Otherwise, watch something else.

Con-air
Also viewed in the Fairview Cabin, the next day. Interesting story, strong and convincing performance by Nicholas Cage and the bad guy, but too much bad language.
Recommendation: See it edited if you can.

Definately Maybe
I'm watching that right now and decided to blog instead. Ryan Reynolds looks like the love child of Ben Affleck and Dane Cook. Anyway, the movie has way too many failed attempts at humor for my liking.
Recommendation: If you like movies that try to be funny but aren't, then knock yourself out.


So there you have it. Now I'm home and have to go back to school. I'll post some other stuff about our vacation soon. Also, I'm too lazy to put in links or pictures now so if you really want to, use google and imdb.com and you'll find stuff.