The Whole World Stinks

Wise men and philosophers throughout the ages have disagreed on many things, but many are in unanimous agreement on one point: "We become what we think about." Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "A man is what he thinks about all day long." The Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius put it this way: "A man's life is what his thoughts make of it." In the Bible we find: "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he."

One Sunday afternoon, a cranky grandfather was visiting his family. As he lay down to take a nap, his grandson decided to have a little fun by putting Limburger cheese on Grandfather's mustache. Soon, grandpa awoke with a snort and charged out of the bedroom saying, "This room stinks." Through the house he went, finding every room smelling the same. Desperately he made his way outside only to find that "the whole world stinks!"

So it is when we fill our minds with negativism. Everything we experience and everybody we encounter will carry the scent we hold in our mind.

Rodney Mullen

John Rodney Mullen (born August 17, 1966 in Gainesville, Florida), known simply as Rodney Mullen, is a professional skateboarder considered by many to be the most influential skater in the history of the sport. Mullen is credited with inventing at least 39 distinct skateboarding tricks, including the Flatland Ollie (originally called the "ollie-pop"), the Kickflip (originally called the "magic flip") in 1983, the Heelflip, the 360 Flip, and the Impossible. Mullen is credited in numerous skateboarding videos, and has authored an autobiography.

Early career

"I fell in love with skateboarding because it was fun. There were no teams, there were no captains ... it was completely opposite of what I saw in so many sports: It was creative. I could walk around with my skateboard at the skatepark. I love skateboarding" Rodney Mullen, 2003.

Rodney Mullen began skateboarding at the age of ten after he promised his worried father he would stop the first time he became seriously injured. Rodney began practicing in full pads, and hung out with his sister's surfer friends who skateboarded on the week days. In 1977, having owned a skateboard for less than a year, Rodney took third place in the Boy's Freestyle event at Kona in Jacksonville. Bruce Walker saw his performance and sponsored Mullen through Walker Skateboards.

When his family moved to a farm in a remote part of Florida, Rodney began perfecting his flatground techniques in the family garage. Mullen cites the isolation and lack of terrain naturally influenced him toward freestyle skateboarding. Rodney cites 1979 - 1980 as his "most creative time". Mullen claimed many competitive victories in the late 70s, mostly in his home state, Florida, culminating in a win at the Oceanside Nationals in June, 1979.

In 1980, 14-year-old Rodney Mullen entered the Oasis Pro competition, defeating world champion Steve Rocco. Mullen soon turned professional as a member of the Bones Brigade sponsored by Powell Peralta. Rodney competed voraciously throughout the 80s—often frustrating both competitors and judges with his consistency and progressive ability. By 1990 Rodney had won 34 out of 35 freestyle competitions that he entered, having been beaten only once by fellow Bones Brigade member Per Welinder. Rodney thus established the most successful competitive run in the history of the sport.

In early 1989, Mullen left the Bones Brigade to form World Industries as a principle investor with longtime friend and former rival Steve Rocco^.

990s to present day

As the popularity of freestyle skateboarding declined, Mullen was often urged to move his style toward street skating. This is hinted at in the World Industries video Rubbish Heap, where Mullen's sequence ends with team member Jeremy Klein 'focusing' (i.e. breaking) Rodney's freestyle skateboard, and handing him a note from Steve Rocco, symbolizing the end of freestyle.

In 1991 Rodney joined the high-profile skateboarding team Plan B. Mike Ternasky, the Plan B founder, influenced Rodney to transition from freestyle to street skating, and showcased the results in the 1992 Plan B video Questionable. Mullen's segment begins with traditional freestyle tricks done on flat ground, but quickly accelerates across public terrain to shift into standard street skating. In relation to obstacles, he sequences tricks, mixes flip tricks with grinds and board slides. Staples of freestyle are taken to new heights as Mullen performs a Triple Kickflip, and originates the Kickflip Underflip. The sequence ends with the surprising darkslide, another trick not seen before.

Mullen's Questionable performance may have marked the beginning of a new era in street skateboarding. His reluctant departure from freestyle to become a street skater was a symbol that legitimized the technical direction street skating had taken over the previous few years. Mullen specialized at this progression in subsequent Plan B videos; noteworthy is 1993's Virtual Reality where Mullen showcases the newly-mastered darkslide.

I can't wait to wake up in the morning... A lot of times I can't sleep because I can't wait to try something new. How many people never really experience that feeling? Rodney Mullen, 2003

Mullen's participation in Plan B dissolved after Mike Ternasky died unexpectedly in 1994. In 1997, Mullen started his own company, The A-Team, with the intent of forming a super team with the defection of Plan B from the World Industries empire. Rodney talked to friend and fellow pro Daewon Song to plan the video Rodney vs. Daewon, which featured each skater competing in segments from trick to trick.

A-Team folded in 2000 and Mullen went from company founder to company rider under former A-Team rider Marc Johnson, who started Enjoi Skateboards. Mullen left Enjoi to head Almost Skateboards with Daewon Song, the company which he still helms and skates for. Mullen's role at Almost includes research and development on new designs and technologies, including Tensor truck in 2000 and experimental and composite deck constructions for Dwindle brands.

In 2002 the World Industries companies, under the holding name Kubic Marketing, were bought out by Globe International for $46 million. Kubic's management remained intact and Mullen began working for Globe International under the Dwindle Distribution brand.

In 2003 Rodney wrote and released his autobiography, entitled The Mutt: How to skateboard and not kill yourself. In late 2003 Rodney Mullen was voted as the all-time greatest action sports athlete on the Extreme Sports Channel's Legends of the Extreme countdown.

2007 - 2009 signaled another transition in his skateboarding career as Mullen worked to erase his riding stance, allowing him to move from Regular stance to Goofy Stance.

Invented tricks

The following is a list of all the tricks invented by Rodney Mullen.

1. Flatground Ollie
2. 540 Shove-It
3. Helipop (Frontside 360 Nollie)
4. Kickflip (Originally known as the "Magic Flip")
5. Double Heelflip
6. Impossible
7. Casper/Anti-Casper
8. 360 Flip (Also known as the "Tre-Flip" or "360 Kickflip," the board does a kickflip and 360 shuv-it concurrently.)
9. Pressure Flip (Flipping with the same foot you popped the board with)
10. Half Cab Kickflip
11. No Comply (Ollie with one foot)
12. 180 Kickflip (Frontside/Backside)
13. Nosebone
14. Fingerflip
15. Ollie Airwalk
16. Varial Kickflip (A Kickflip and a Backside Pop Shove-It concurrently)
17. Varial Heelflip (A Heelflip and a Frontside Pop Shove-It concurrently)
18. Helipop Heelflip
19. Kickflip Underflip
20. Casperslide
21. Darkslide (Grinding using your griptape)

Complain! Complain! Complain!

It takes a disciplined spirit to endure the monastery on Mount Serat in Spain. One of the fundamental requirements of this religious order is that the young men must maintain silence. Opportunities to speak are scheduled once every two years, at which time they are allowed to speak only two words.

One young initiate in this religious order, who had completed his first two years of training, was invited by his superior to make his first two-word presentation. "Food terrible," he said. Two years later the invitation was once again extended. The young man used this forum to exclaim, "Bed lumpy." Arriving at his superior's office two years later he proclaimed, "I quit." The superior looked at this young monk and said, "You know, it doesn't surprise me a bit. All you've done since you arrived is complain, complain, complain.

Exaggerated? Maybe. What if you were asked to share two words that describe your Life? would your focus be the lumps, bumps, and unfairness, or are you committed to dwell on those things that are good, right, and lovely?

David Philippe Desrosiers

David Philippe Desrosiers (born August 29, 1980) is a French Canadian musician, who is best known as the bassist and backing vocalist for pop punk band Simple Plan. He grew up in Matane, Quebec, Canada.

Early life

At the age of 12 Desrosiers' parents separated, which deeply affected him. His mother (Charlotte) lives in Matane, Québec and his father (André) lives in Québec City. At the age of 16, Desrosiers learned how to speak English. Desrosiers joined the band Reset, after former lead singer, Pierre Bouvier, left the band (ultimately to form Simple Plan). He played bass, and sang the lead in Reset. Desrosiers was involved with Reset for 6 months, although he did not record any studio albums with them. He himself was subsequently recruited to join Simple Plan in 2000, which was originally a four-piece, with Bouvier playing bass thus relieving Bouvier so he could concentrate on singing. It is sometimes rumored that the original four members of Simple Plan almost 'stalked' Desrosiers until he agreed to join their band.

Music

He has been known to briefly play the drums or guitar during shows for Simple Plan as well as for many of his favorite bands such as The Used, Vendetta Red, Green Day (he has two bass guitars with the American Idiot heart grenade), Good Charlotte, and MxPx. David has developed into almost a co-frontman as dialogue between him and lead singer Pierre Bouvier enlivens the show. He guest-starred on Season 3 of The Naked Brothers Band, episode 7, Naked Idol, Part 2.

Desrosiers primarily plays Fender Precision Basses.

How to Create a Butterfly Garden

Add beauty and life to your garden with the inclusion of flowers and plants that attract butterflies. There is a range of specific plants that entice butterflies, are easy to care for and are attractive for the garden. It is important to include "Host Plants" to ensure that the butterfly larvae (caterpillars) have a home and "Nectar Plants" for the butterflies to feed upon.

1. Research first. Find out which butterflies are common in your area. Observation over a few days and the use of a butterfly field guide will help you in this pursuit.

2. Choose "Host Plants" for your garden. Note from your research what the caterpillar (larvae) of the local butterflies eat. Two excellent examples are:

• Milkweed - this attracts the Monarch caterpillar.
• Parsley - this attracts the Black Swallowtail caterpillar.

3. Choose "Nectar Plants" for your garden. Nectar plants serve as the food source for the butterfly. There is a variety of possible plants and some of them are shown here. Excellent choices include:

• A Butterfly Bush - this is suitable for a Swallowtail. Large plant: 4 feet (1.2m) tall, 6 feet (1.8m) wide, make sure it is hardy in your area. Some varieties are considered invasive, so make sure, if you purchase one of these, that you keep it dead-headed to prevent seed production.
• Swamp Milkweed - suitable for the Snowberry Clearwing. This plant grows 3 feet (.9m) tall and 18 inches (.5m) wide. It also serves as the host plant for Monarch caterpillars
• Joe Pye Weed - this is suitable for the Swallowtail. It grows to be a very large plant - 8 feet (2.4m) tall and 4 feet (1.2m) wide. It is a perennial.
• Aster - Asters grow to 3 feet (.9m) tall and 2 feet (.6m) wide. It is a perennial. Butterflies especially love native varieties.
• Bee Balm - this plant grows 2 feet (.6m) tall and 18 inches (.5m) wide. It is a perennial.
• Zinnia - this plant is attractive to a range of butterflies and they especially like the tall varieties. The plant generally grows 4 feet (1.2m) high and 1 foot (.3m) wide. It is an annual and is easy to start from seed.
• Pentas - suitable for Swallowtails. This plant grows 2 feet (.6m) hight and 3 feet (.9m) wide. It is an annual in cold climates.
• Heliotrope - this plant attracts a range of butterflies. It grows to a height of 2 feet (.6m) and a width of 1 foot (.3m), although it is possible to contain it in a pot. It will remain a perennial in temperate zones but is only an annual in cold climates.

4. Plan garden on paper. Draw up a plan, or decide where to add these suggestions to a current garden. Keep in mind the full grown size of plants during this planning stage. Also consider their needs for light and water.

5. Purchase plants or seeds from garden center. You can also get these plants and seeds online. Choose robust and healthy plants to give them a good start.

6. Plant your butterfly garden. Make sure to keep new plants and seeds watered until plants are well-established or seeds germinate. Keep the weeds at bay, to give the plants a good chance.

7. Observe and enjoy the butterfly activity in your garden. Watch for female butterflies laying eggs on host plants. Make notes in a record book of the butterflies that you observe and, if you can, take photographs to add to your record book. A digital record book can be a useful and simple way to do this and can be added to over the years. Observed changes in the types and numbers of butterflies coming into your garden can be information shared with biologists, ecologists and climate change specialists who use local variation information to ascertain species increase or decline, as well as temperature fluctuations and change.