New Blog

Hey Everybody, because of the new things that I hope to do with my blog, I needed more control than Blogger allowed. My New Blog can be found here

http://danielrbox.comlu.com/

A New post it waiting for you.

Deadbeat Revival

Last night I had the opportunity to attend a Deadbeat Revival concert. Having known the lead singer Eric Buzbee for most my life, I know which bands have influenced their style which influenced my expectations. When the Deadbeat's began playing, I was immediately impressed. Their music is completely unique. Most impressive the band maintained their style throughout the show, demonstrating that the band had made the distinction themselves. Deadbeat Revival offers familiar musical elements and provides them in fresh ways, making every song enjoyable. I believe that the clarity of Eric Buzbee's voice is what exemplified the bands style, in harmony with the bassist, Taylor Smith, the vocals can only be described as beautiful. The bands success would not have been possible without out the solid performance from the Drummer, Louis. His performance greatly improved Deadbeat Revivals overall strength, not once did Louis detract from the band. Perhaps the most unexpected example Deadbeat Revival's talent was a cover of the song Hot and Cold by Katie Perry, not only did the cover demonstrate their unique style by actually making the song enjoyable, it also showcased the unbelievable talent that Deadbeat Revival has. If Deadbeat Revival can improve their writing skills, and continue gaining experience through performances, they will learn which strengths to exemplify in the future. It's easy to predict a bright future for this band.

I would have liked to write a complete review of the other performance by Caught in Remorse but my time is short. Caught in Remorse's performance was somewhat distracted, Mike Buzbee's and Jory Reese preformed like professionals, but I wouldn't be doing a very good job as a critic if I didn't point out the blatantly unrehearsed and poor decisions of the drummer (whose name I don't care to know). As I mentioned before a good drummer showcases the bands ability by supporting the other musicians. In my opinion the only time that undivided attention should be focused on the drummer is during particularly impressive solos, unfortunately I found myself distracted too often by this drummer's performance. The guitarist and bassist are going to have to make some difficult decisions if they want to be as successful as their overwhelming talent deserves.

Deadbeat Revival has been awarded The Box Seal of Approval for excellent music.

College Life

    As everybody's school schedule is getting busier, I thought I'd share the secret of my "stress free" success. A couple months before school started I was searching for on Amazon for something that would put my total over $25 so I could get free shipping, and I stumbled across some books buy Cal Newport about college.

Both of these books have been incredibly helpful, I don't know what I would have done without them. College is such an important step in our lives we all have our own idea of what to expect. I think the biggest misconception about school is the Idea that you are not working hard unless you study all available hours of the day. To quote the red book:

"In the college environment, simple brute force study methods can end up requiring a lot time and causing a lot of pain. Nevertheless, most students still rely on them. And this is why they find themselves regularly pulling all-nighters and developing an antagonistic attitude toward their courses. The Taxing effects and spotty success of these methods also underlie the common belief that only geniuses and grinds can score top grades."

Even though most of you know what the point of this blog is some of you out there are thinking "yeah it sucks to study all the time but it's the only way" That isn't true!

The Authors red book lists several strategies used by real students at Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Dartmouth, Brown, Columbia, Duke, Amherst, and Skidmore. And for me if students studying under the Harvard curriculum can get A's using these strategies they're good enough for me. Here's a list of the how-to topics in the red book:

• Manage your time and deal with the urge to procrastinate
  
• Take targeted notes in class
  
• Handle reading assignment and problem sets with ease
  
• Prepare efficiently for exams
  
• Master the Art of exam-taking
  
• Write incisive critical analysis essays
  
• Conduct thorough research
  
• Write standout term papers
  

The yellow book is a little different but still really awesome, it's a list of 75 things that will help you "win" at college, It's a really good motivator, it never fails to get me pumped for college life. I know many of you are still skeptic but I promise that these books will make a positive impact on your college experience. Cal Newport, the author, has a weekly blog called Study Hacks on which he answers questions submitted by students, he will also personally answer question if you email him. www.calnewport.com/blog

You've got to believe me on this one, I'm the sort of kid that has major anxiety when I feel I am coming up short on something, and I haven't felt any anxiety this school year and I give full credit to these books. Also if you have ADD these books will help tremendously on creating study habits that work with your ADD.

Cant repeat

I was listening to some music the other day and a song came up that I've always liked, Can't Repeat by The Offspring. It is kind of related to a lot of things going on in my mind, I don't know what the song was originally supposed to mean but this is what it reminded me of, The first line of the song goes like this:

I woke the other day And saw my world has changed

I've been home for about 7 months this week, and... well I can't really describe It but I cant really describe to you the last little bit of my life, the last seven months kinda feel like a very lucid dream, and when I finally "woke up" (happened to be at the temple dedication on Sunday) I made a lot of connections that I hadn't been able to make. I miss my mission everyday and I think that's normal, I always knew I missed my mission but I had never been able to figure out what to do about it, going back really isn't an option for me, the next bit of song that stuck out to me is this:

Memories are bittersweet
The good times we can't repeat
Those days are gone and we can never get them back

The Memories of my mission really are bitter sweet and that's why the entire situation was so hard for me to figure out, more on that later. The next two lines describe how I feel sometimes, I've listened to this song many times the last 7 months and those where the ones I focused on. That's kind of a bleak outlook on my situation now that I think about it, that being said the truth is I'm never going to have that same kind of experience again.


Back to the memories are bitter sweet line, coming back was really hard for me to do and it was even harder for me not to feel like I failed, and if you look at it with thoughts of failure, what good can you say about the way you acted, the way that you went about daily things and most of all what can you say about what you learned. For the longest time I thought to myself that I needed to find a different way to go about life. It was logical for me to believe that if trying the way I did on my mission was flawed enough to bring me home it obviously wasn't very good at all, but what about those good memories I had?

I've realized that it wasn't the way that I handled or how much I changed that sent me home, it was the environment, missions are tough and you have to deal with a lot of stresses that normal people don't even think about, and ultimately what it was that sent me home (I believe) was thinking that I needed to change. I'm in a different environment now and while its not void of stress it is a lot easier, I know now that if I apply the things I learned on my mission and try my best to be the same Dan Box that I was out there I'll blow everything away, because quite frankly I was awesome! Anyway I'm sure some missionaries come home and already know this but it took awhile for me to figure it out.

My goal for the next couple of years is to strive to be what I became on my mission, I don't need to hide from it because it was good and the Lord accepted my service and now I accept that my service was good, I know I did the best I could and that's all that matters, I know that if I become as teachable as I was on my mission I will progress like I did, and that I can adapt to whatever comes my way.

the last part of the song that I want to talk about goes like this.

Now we must move ahead Despite our fear and dread

to be honest I don't know whats going to happen but I'm going to move forward.

Bear lake!

I just got back from bear lake with a bunch of friends, we had a lot of fun! The trip was great we had a great Beach house/Cabin thing right next to the beach



We had seven people total, the first day we decided to leave Springville at 6:00 AM (which of course meant we where on our way by 7:30)The way up was great (a little crowded, I had to be in a mini trunk with two other people for three hours)

When we arrived we decided to hit the beach as soon as possible, we went down to the beach and decided to swim out to a little floating dock about 500 yards out
(give or take) it was funny because most people would hesitate to swim that far in open water, but all of us swimmers didn't even think twice.

After a full day of fun we went back to the cabin and despite having a lot of sunscreen on I got way burnt.

we had burgers the first night




it looks pink on the picture for some reason but it was actually very well cooked and delicious, not to mention huge.

After the Burgers we played poker dressed up like the guys in the world series, after looking at some of the pictures of those guys online I realized the crazier the outfit the better it is.

Pretty ridiculous I know, check out that burn though!

Shane going for the simple look

If Anyone can pull off that look its Nugent.

Jeff and Jhonny looking Professional



My Complete lack of chips is proof that no matter how awesome your outfit is, if you don't know how to play poker your gonna lose all your money (your likely to lose it all even if you do know how to play)

That night we played poker well into the night, I went to bed early (1:30 AM) the rest turned in at about 3:00. (excluding the two youngsters who passed out on the floor at about 10:00)

The second day was great my sunburns had gotten worse and I had no desire to get anymore sun, we went to the north beach to play and I didn't even get into my swimsuit




no more burns for me, I just listened to my music and enjoyed the shade while watching Channing and Shane make some awesome sand sculptures!



That's a great Turtle and Shark



and I don't want any comments about the back fin going the wrong way! :)



I had a great time and would just like to say that Bear lake is probably the most beautiful lakes I've ever seen, its so blue! If you've never been I highly recommend it. Props to Channing for making it all possible






That's all for now you can expect something more philosophical soon! have a great weekend everybody

New Quote by me

So with the wisdom that comes from 20 years of life, and a wandering mind while cleaning an entire house I came up with a new quote:

"Life's not about pursuing your dreams, It's about choosing the right one."

I consulted professor Google to see if I had just heard that somewhere, but it turns out that the quote is completely original, and I'm quite fond of it actually.

I think that this quote would be great next to a picture of a wedding day, a picture of a first child, or a family reunion... I hope my thinking that doesn't effect my masculinity.

Anyway I think that it is important to chase our dreams in this life, but we have so many that it would be impossible to achieve everyone of them, I think we all need to decide whats really important in life. While I was thinking about all of the goals and personal aspirations I have, the most important is really family! Don't get me wrong I really want to become an author, but when it comes to family that dream is going to have to take the back seat.

What has been filling my time

My parents just bought a new entertainment center for the new TV and they had to get rid of the old computer desk. So I "offered" to Put it in my room, now many of you will see these pictures and realize that this is a dream come true for me. I have a lot of Electronic stuff and its really nice to be able to hide all of those wires, Rather than reminding me of my high school days it looks very professional.

In other news I found a old computer in the basement and decided to fix it up, it was a long and frustrating experience by all accounts, but I actually really enjoyed it, I think that kind of stuff is becoming my hobby. Next I want to build Linux based server, just to see if I can get it too work. (DI sells old computers for 25 bucks I bet I can find a suitable one there.)

I have made a breakthrough on the magic system for Kadence Effect. I had been trying to come up with a complex system of rules that the characters would have to follow, and I may come back to that
later. But for now the major limitation for the characters and there magic is that they know nothing about it or more importantly how to control it. Now there may be some complex system behind it all, but it's not important yet. that may seem like a small thing to most of you but it was an important decision for me.

Now I'm off to study the Xubuntu build of Linux and its viability as a server operating system.

Shameless advertisement and some news

This is a new book from the author I told you about last week, he asked everyone that goes to his web page to post it on their blog so there you go. it went on sale today but I tricked the local Borders to give it to me last friday!

Here's some Kadence Effect news, Today I worked extensively on the magic system, I'm having a hard time coming up with rules for it. I think that if you give somebody an all powerful ability the story ends, My characters are special but they have to follow the rules like everybody else.

Another thing that I've been working on is giving all of my character's quirks to seem more real, and I don't mean over the top quirks but things that make them unique, the entire process has been really fun and I am excited to see how these characters will work through the plot I've given them.

Great Books and other thoughts

I just finished the Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson, and have to say that I am completely blown away by how great it was!

After 1,000 years of oppression the memory of hope has all but faded in a mist-haunted, dust-ridden world where powerful Great Houses rule the serf-like Skaa with a cruel, bourgeois hand. In one of the Lord Ruler's hellish prisons, however, Kelsier discovers he is one of the Mistborn, a select group of individuals with impressive, metallurgic powers. Together with a band of elite, cutthroat criminals Kel wrenches his way upwards to stage a coup of unprecedented proportions, but are his powers alone enough to topple the immortal dictator known as the "Sliver of Infinity"

Anyway, that's the 'back of the book' movie trailer type explanation, but I don't think it really does the book justice. The Character development was so great in this story! I haven't really felt attached to character's in a book as much as I was in this Trilogy!

Brandon Sanderson is a local author who teaches a creative writing class at BYU, also he was chosen to finish the last book of The Wheel of Time.

I wish I could write in a way that would compel everyone to read these books, but I can only try a more direct approach, honesty has always been my forte: Read the Book you will love it, even if its not your genre of book or the specific age group that you like.

You may be intrested to know that I have started to write a book entitled Kadence Effect, I have been trying to gain enough courage to write something that will probably suck, but everybody has to write a first book, more updates on Kadence Effect soon

Nuclear arms

Have you noticed the recent push for disarming our nuclear weapons? I was thinking about this one day and have ultimately decided that that would be the stupidest think we could possibly do. The argument to disarm our nuclear weapons is a more complex version of this analogy. Lets say that there is a guy named Bob and another guy named Duke. Bob doesn't like Duke so he grabs a stick and starts attacking Duke, So Duke gets a bigger stick. Today people are saying that because we have nuclear weapons someone is going to create a “bigger stick” and that we need to stop this cycle. (I fully understand that this is only one of the arguments against nuclear arms, I will tackle some of the others later on)
The Logic behind that argument is pretty sound, but if you look at my first analogy a little different things can change. So Bob has a stick and decides to attack Duke. Duke could grab a bigger stick, but decides to grab a shield. That stops Bob for awhile but eventually he will get through the shield. We have seen this in modern history as well, lets say that Bob creates a bomb, so duke creates a bunker. Bob will eventually create a bunker busting bomb, and duke is out of luck. I've decided that Nuclear weapons could be seen as a shield.
Many people tell us that having enough bombs to destroy the world is too much, I don't think so, lets look back to the cold war, there was violence and a lot of fear but it was in fact a “cold war” in any other time in history that amount of fear would have led to another world war. Why didn't it? I think that the primary reason is nuclear weapons, The Russians weren't going attack the United states because of our nuclear weapons and vice versa. The Russians wouldn't even launch a preemptive nuclear strike, they understood that the repercussions, it would eventually lead to global destruction. The one rule that we can hold constant in human nature is that we are all about self preservation, there is no point in destroying an enemy if you will die too a lowly terrorist grunt may sacrifice himself, but you don't see the leaders strapping bombs to themselves. No one is stupid enough to preemptively use a nuclear weapon nowadays (even Iran and North Korea), it would be suicide. So nuclear weapons serve a different purpose now, one country can say “If you attack me I will use my nukes to defend myself” and “if you use your nukes first we will send all of our nukes before we die and blow the shiz out of you”
Personally I prefer the little wars we fight nowadays, if we disarm our nukes we lose our shield and I can safely predict global war.

I know that my line of thinking may not be new but I decided on my own and that is important, I think that sometimes we are persuaded to easily. I may be wrong but at least I put some thought into it and decided for myself.