Photo of the Week

Fisherman by the Sea

Huge Snapper Turtle

Hilarious Video of Huge Snapper Turtle

Top 5 Free IPhone Apps

IPhone Apps

#5- Shazam
This application is very handy. The technology has been on a few phones before the IPhone, but the idea of having it for free on your IPhone is awesome. Shazam allows you to figure out the name of songs by accessing the internet to get a the name of a song after listening to it for 10 seconds and downloading the basic beat to it. Convenient for people that love listening to new songs.

#4- Smug Shots
A must application for any aspiring photographers. Not only do you get 50% off if you sign up for Smug Shots through this application, (which saved me 75 bucks) but it does so much more. It allows you to tag, geo tag all your photographs and upload it no matter where you are the second you take them on your IPhone. You can even upload pictures from your library.

#3- Urban Spoon
Ever just want to try something new when you are hungry, but have gone completely blank. This is what you need. Simply pop in you local area, type of food desired, and amount willing to pay. They jump the slots and there ya go.


#2- Pandora
The glorious website for music mongrols taking to the Iphone, which means I can check out new songs and run various other application on my slow computer. It also means I can play all kinds of stuff on my IPhone while driving and running around town for free. Great for those who get tired of the same old stuff, yet still like their style music. Push in your favorite band and they will play numerous other bands and songs similiar to them. It even keeps track of the ones you like so you can go home and download them, ahem, legally.

#1- Brain Tuner
Yea, that's right, I'm going with a game on this one. I love the whole idea. It's simple, sweet, and to the point. Whenever I feel a little out of it or want to be an introvert in a crowded place I just pop this application on for a little tunning. You are giving 20 or 100 problems, which ever you chose, that are either plus, minus, or mutplication. Don't worry they are nothing to crazy. Usually the highest it goes is 10 x 10. Keep track of your high score and see if you can beat mine...somehow I manage to get 10.442508....It seems my best scores come at the weirdiest moments.

Picture of the Week

Walking along the beach in Wildwood I came across this interesting setting. A lifeguard chair filled with all the necessities.

Songs of the Summer of 2008

My Top 12 Songs for the Summer of 2008

1. M.I.A. - Paper Planes
2. O.A.R. - Shattered
3. Shinedown - Devour
4. Metro Station - Shake it
5. Nine Inch Nails - Discipline
6. MSI - Never Wanted to Dance
7. Crystal Method - Name of the Game
8. Scars on Broadway - Funny
9. Weezer - The Greatest Man That Ever Lived
10. Coldplay - Lovers in Japan/Reign of Love
11. Girl Talk- Hands in the Air
12. Royworld - Dust

A Journey up the Coast to Complete the NJ Lighthouse Conquest

Well I finally finished the Jersey Shore tour of capturing all the lighthouses that I could possibly get while onshore. The final three were quite impressive with a wonderful trip to go along with the quest. Starting at Wildwood, NJ from my shore house at 8 am, I worked my way up the coast, stopping at the Absecon Lighthouse first. This lighthouse was quite impressive with a height of 169 feet, coming in at 5th tallest in the nation. Sadly I had to jump the fence to get good pictures since I arrived too early and couldn't walk up to the top since it was closed. The surrounding area is on the outskirts of Atlantic City, but there seems to be some promise with a huge casino going up only a block away from the lighthouse. Hopefully this will improve the area at least within a few acres of the lighthouse. It is definitely worth a trip to the area for a scenic purposes and to see the most ridiculous mixes of two complete opposite ends of classes at each others doorsteps. Just about a quarter mile away is the inlet where you can see a dilapidated boardwalk begging for repairs, while people weave in and out of the areas where you can ride your bike. Underneath waves are crashing into rubble left behind from fallen buildings. The most fascinating thing had to be the huge hotel at the corner of the coast and inlet that was pretty much left abandon except for the first few floors. The other 40 stories or so were empty or home to things you don't want to think about. About a mile west, hugging the bay area is another nice set up. There are a bunch of cozy little shops set up in sheds with an aquarium accompanying them. Check it out but be careful to go only during the daylight hours, and I'm not kidding you.



The second stop on my tour was Smithville, which came out of complete surprise. It's a small historic town that is set around the idea of a quaint little village concept. You can walk around and check out numerous shops and feel like you are living in the colonial area. I found the best aspect of the places were its variety of shops they had set up. No shops were any bigger than 250 square feet inside. It is meant to cut you off from the rest of the world by surrounding you in the village when you walk in. Smithville gives you a glimpse at the not so distant past while being able to shop in present times. If you don't want any material goods at least grab a bite to eat with their various offerings of delicious foods.

About 25 or so minutes up the road is Tuckerton, home to Tucker's Island Lighthouse. This is the site of the first resort area used by people in the late 1700's for trips to the shore. This is were it all began when people from Philadelphia decided they needed a break from the heat. Tucker's Lighthouse is unique because it was rebuilt after it went crashing into the ocean. The lighthouse is far from prestigious but has quite an interesting history. Along with the lighthouse the people of Tuckerton have set up a neat little area for you to visit. Tuckerton Seaport is a small boardwalk around a bay area with little shops open for history fans. Each shop explains in detail about what its main topic is. For example they have a decoy duck shop, which seems to be the big deal in Tuckerton, where you can check out a guy hand carving fake ducks. Tucker's Lighthouse is the keystone to the whole attraction and is worth a visit.

Barnegat Lighthouse was the finally destination on the journey. After traveling at turtle speed on the huge Long Beach Island, there she blew. It was an amazing site, standing at 172 feet, 4th largest in the nation, it was begging to be conquered. The walk wasn't that bad at all especially for such a breath taking site of the marvelous LBI area. I couldn't believe my eyes after seeing how clear the water in the area was. The bay had a light greenish sparkle to it, something that I thought was only possible in the oceans further down south. Always swimming in Wildwood, I was caught off guard by the crystal clearness of the bay. You could see a a good amount of feet down in the water with out any murkiness or pollutants. The whole area is set up beautifully and is just amazing. There are tons of jetties and various paths to walk on and check out the inlet. The preservation down on the lighthouse is worth taking note of. What really made this town besides that clean water was the various wildlife that has been lost in other jersey shore beaches. Different types of coral could be seen and I saw a starfish pulled right from the bay. To go along perfectly with all this shore awesomeness was the mom and pop like stores everywhere. It provided a sweet uniqueness that has since been lost to fast food chains, and Wal-Mart-esque places in most parts of New Jersey.

The trip was fascinating and definitely worth taking. Check out my NJ collection of Lighthouses here.

Wanted: Review

Wanted=Best movie of the summer so far.

I was really impressed on many different levels with this movie. Right from the get go with Nine Inch Nails playing in the background, which made perfect sense, got me hooked in. Everyday is Exactly the Same gave you the feeling of the dismal lifestyle that the main character, played by James McAvoy, had to deal with. From the get go, the action starts and never stops. Angelina Jolie steals the show with her beauty and relentless style to take action to that whole other level only a few people can. People were giving this movie bad reviews based on the reality of the whole thing, but this is a damn movie, not reality. Things are allowed to be different and they were. The concept couldn't have been a better one. I am tired of these boring action flicks with big explosions and typical car chases that make you think that the human population is just so dumb they can easily be fooled with another one.

Wanted takes the cake and the buffet too in the creative aspect of this film. When Fox, played by Jolie, slides 720 into McAvoy with the door open in a Dodge Viper doing 35 mphs to pick him up, there I was ready to applaud and walk out happily at that point. Finally a creative way to start a car chase. The effects and storyline were truly something different and didn't look cheesy at all. When McAvoy breaks through to become the person he is, there was a little part of me wishing that I could some how do the same thing, that is if I had the same boring life he did.

With the beat downs coming along to build character and train McAvoy it stepped up to a whole other knoch. I don't want to give away too much more but the movie is something that I will definitely see again. I realized how good Wanted was soon after I saw it. I tried to go see Wall-E right away but had to wait about 20 minutes before it started. I snuck into the Hulk and sat down for about 5 minutes and was like wow this really is an awful movie with horrible effects and computer graphics that Pixar could've done in 1990. Before that I thought it was an ok movie meaning about 5 out of 10 only because I felt a little a sympathy for Edward Norton. That is beside the whole point though, Wanted was great. The storyline takes you all around the town and back up the block. Unstoppable action that I feel is groundbreaking except for the part were bullets collide in mid-air like 4 times in a row, no need for all that now. Jolie steals the stage but McAvoy puts on a damn good show for the ladies as well. With the moral of the story, trying to change the world, and the last line were McAvoy says, "What have you done lately?" That was probably as good as the Eye of the Tiger playing after Rocky first came out. That's how pumped you got after that line and the twisted ending. This movie is worth every penny. 9 out of 10, and I would love to see it again in that special quick fix wax bath. I give it a 9 only because to be perfect now days you gotta be perfect, and I believe I may have to save that 10 out of 10 for Batman.