SpawnPoint

An Eternal Journey

The night may come down,
As the darkness may engulf,
The Nightingales sweet voice.
The Larks may fall from the branch,
Their beauty fading into the brambles below,
Even as the distant sun sets.
Into the silent storm,
Through the eye of the hurricane,
Spirits of the many dead,
Souls lost to evil deeds,
Reaching for the warm terror,
Of life belonging to loved ones.
The grass in the field withers,
The long winds sorrowful cry,
The heartbreak of the young,
The tears of the forgotten mother,
The painful memories of the old widow.
Even through the hurt of this,
And the failings of a God,
Man continues to fight,
Not merely continuing to exist,
Nor shuffle his feet in the sand.
Through OUR long darkness,
Surviving terrors of the past,
A few good men have risen,
With a light in hand,
The vision in eyes,
To vanish the Evil of the Land.

Another one of those poems I wrote when I was 16.. a very very long summer for me.  These are a series of poems that I only found in digital format on WAYBACK. Near lost to me.

Living

The Darkness is eternal,
The Waters are deep,
Death arises from the Dark,
Life springs from the Water,
Pain exists throughout eternity,
Love lives for the briefest of moments,
Pain is born to our lives,
Love dying with death,
Even as Love is born to life,
So we are born to Love.

Good days.. bad days.. Every day is up and every day is down.  I will want to share more some time in the future, I am sure.  But for now.. today is a good/bad day!

ha

Tony, Lucas, Rupom are all hot and bothered - lots of new stuff being pushed out and updated for SpawnPoint!

We are finally about to see Clan Profiles!

Newsletter!

Subscription features are now live (getting more updates!)

And More!

I have never played WOW.. why is it so unloved? People who used to play it are full of hate.. but the people who play it love to love it..

I am going to try to update this over time to list my favorite downloads!

Ventrilo 3.0

Download Ventrilo 3.0 for MacOS X

Download Ventrilo 3.0 for Windows XP/Vista

I had the pleasure of being invited to NCSoft's US Headquarters located in Austin, TX for a PR event announcing the launch of the latest and greatest update for Lineage II.  While we were there, we had a great demo for Dungeon Runners.  More to follow, since I happen to be in an Airport in TX at 5:23 AM heading home this Saturday morning, but I can say this...

For fans of Lineage -- they have some cool stuff coming out.  I'll put up a report and new content for this by Monday.

For people who are not yet fans of Dungeon Runner but will be soon...  hold on to your hats.  This game is - perfect - for us twitch finger, short attention span, FPS players.  I am aching to play it right now before I get on the airplane! Funny.. original.. MMO.. Gauntlet style. Lots to love with this game!

Have a great day -

Shane - traveling and tired!

I love Dinosaurs. So do my kids.  And I love Turok.. so..

The dinosaur hunter is back in what hopefully is the game that restarts the series! If this already sounds familiar to you, it should be. The previous Turok game, Turok: Evolution, was meant to bring the series onto what was then the next-generation consoles (PS2, Xbox, and Gamecube). Well it failed miserably.

Disney now has the rights to the game so it will be interesting to see what the mouse house will be able to do with the game. Thankfully we won’t have to wait that long as the PC version of Turok will be released on February 5, 2008.

“First person shooters have a rich history on the Windows PC platform and are known for having enthusiastic, dedicated fans,” said Josh Holmes, vice president and general manager, Propaganda Games. “Turok will be an unforgettable experience ideal for the Windows PC platform when it becomes available in 2008.”

Street Fighter 4 has been announced. Capcom did so at a Gamer's Day event in London, and already (as one can see) everyone is buzzing about the news. Committed fighting game sites such as SDtekken.com have already carried the news, and the appropriately named Shoryuken.com has dedicated a subforum to speculation on and anticipation for the game.

It's been eight years since the last SF game, Street Fighter 3: Third Strike, came out and roughly six since Capcom's last original game, Capcom vs SNK 2, arrived which leaves me wondering who is going to be developing this one. Capcom of Japan supposedly disbanded their coin-op division a couple years ago, so unless they're looking to rebuild that empire I can't imagine this will be done in-house, and I don't think they'd farm this out to Capcom USA (although USA is responsible for Super Turbo HD). My guess is that this will be done like Devil Kings, with an outside designer, and then published by Capcom. However, I would love to be wrong.

The other option is to do a console-only release, which I hope they don't do. Street Fighter defined arcades in the 90s, and to do a console-only follow-up in a series arcade-goers have been waiting nine years to play again doesn't make a lot of sense.

World Population - Top 5 Countries
1. China     1,324,156,256
2. India     1,135,086,136
3. USA     301,914,413
4. Indonesia     235,512,950
5. Brazil     190,561,626
World     6,624,388,656

World Coal Reserves
 1. USA   246 Billion Tonnes
 2. Russia 157 Billion Tonnes
 3. China  115 Billion Tonnes
 4. India   92 Billion Tonnes
 5. Australia 78 Billion Tonnes
World   909 Billion Tonnes (USA has 25%)

Worlds Largest Corporations                                2004     2005

1.	ExxonMobil (USA)	263.99	328.21
2.	Wal-Mart Stores (USA)	285.22	312.43
3.	Royal Dutch/Shell Group (Netherlands/UK)	265.19	306.73
4.	BP (UK)	285.06	249.47
5.	General Motors (USA)	193.45	192.60
6.	Chevron (USA)	142.90	184.92
7.	Ford Motor (USA)	170.84	178.10
8.	DaimlerChrysler (Germany)	192.75	177.04
9.	Toyota Motor (Japan)	165.68	173.09
10.	ConocoPhillips (USA)	118.72	162.41
11.	General Electric (USA)	152.36	149.70
12.	Total S.A. (France)	131.64	144.94
13.	ING Group (Netherlands)	92.01	137.11
14.	Allianz Worldwide (Germany)	112.35	124.41
15.	Citigroup (USA)	108.28	120.32
16.	AXA Group (France)	97.92	115.20
17.	Volkswagen Group (Germany)	120.71	112.61
18.	American International Group (USA)	95.04	106.98
19.	Nippon Telegraph & Telephone (Japan)	106.30	100.82
20.	Carrefour Group (France)	88.66	98.60

Digg founders published a road map today detailing surprising plans to scan submitted titles from stories and to strip the word ‘awesome’ from them. The news comes after recent complaints that the word is being misused.

Jeff Makeshift, a Digg spokesperson commented:

“The decision was taken due to the amount of stories that reach the front page with the word ‘awesome’ in their title. Some stories do feature awesome content, but the majority of them are not really awesome, causing the meaning of the word to become diluted. At Digg, we do not want to be held responsible for the word …

The Orange Box is a video game compilation created by Valve, which contains Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode One, Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Portal, and Team Fortress 2. The Windows version was released on October 10, 2007 as both retail boxed copy, and as a download available through Valve's Steam service. The package retails for $49.95. The Xbox 360 version was also released on October 10, 2007 and retails for $59.95. A PlayStation 3 version is slated to be released in November or December 2007.

The Orange Box comes packed with the latest version of the company's smash-hit Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode One, Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Team Fortress 2 and Portal. Players who want a discount on the super compilation pack can pre-order the game directly through Steam or at retailers nationwide.

With news that the developer had banned playing BioShock until the game was completed, we had to ask if the company also banned Halo 3. "We might need to cut folks off of The Orange Box," was the only reply.

Team Fortress 2 Guide

Each game of TF2 pits two sides against one another. The two teams are identical aside from their colour schemes. Discerning the colour of your team, and thus deciding who to shoot can be confusing at first, but it’s actually very simple. Your HUD is painted in the colour of your team so keep that in mind and you can steer clear of embarrassing friendly fire incidents.


Team Fortress 2 Guide  - Character Classes

While TF2’s sides don’t differ from each other, each player can select from one of nine different types of character. These nine classes are designed to fulfil a basic purpose, either functioning as swift attackers, stalwart defenders, or as support units for the other players.

Each class excels in at least one area, at the expense of one major weakness. The most obvious examples of this are the Scout and Heavy. The Scout has incredible speed, but his weapons are tricky and he has a low amount of health. The Heavy is well armed and armoured, but inaccurate and slow moving. A successful team requires a good mix of classes and players who can work together to amplify their strengths and offset each other’s weaknesses. Countering an enemy rush takes a different mix of classes than it does to disable enemy defences and gain ground, for example.

When you select your class, the screen will tell you how many of each class are already playing on your team. Use this information to pick your class to work well with both the mix of other classes, and the role your team has on the map.


Team Fortress 2 Guide - Game Play and Game Style

There are two types of TF2 game: one in which the sides battle for control of the map, via control points, and a 'Capture the Flag' mode, where victory is grasped by taking the 'Intelligence Briefcase' from the enemy's base.


Team Fortress 2 Guide -  Control Points

Control points are designated areas on the maps which your team must capture or defend. As in other games such as Battlefield 2, the more members of your team standing on a control point, the faster you'll capture it. If an enemy player makes his way onto a control point, the capture will stall until the enemy is killed or retreats. Some maps lock control points from play, focusing both teams to concentrate on specific areas on the map.


Team Fortress 2 Guide - Intelligence Briefcase

The intelligence briefcase serves as a ‘flag’ in the game’s Capture The Flag (CTF) mode. At the moment, the only CTF map is ctf_2fort. In this level, both teams must fight their way through their enemy’s base, access the control room, grab the intelligence briefcase and return it to their own control room.

The player who carries the briefcase leaves a trail of paper, which remains visible for a few seconds after they pass. If the carrier is killed or enters his team’s resupply room, the briefcase is dropped to the floor. Although a team can’t recapture their own briefcase, it will return to their control room if it’s allowed to stay on the floor for 60 seconds.

If your team’s briefcase is dropped, it’s a good idea to take an assault team, supported by a medic, to guard it until the 60 seconds is up. To make the intelligence easy to find it has a large timer roundel, which will remain above it until it’s returned or picked up.

The position of the briefcase is always shown in your Heads Up Display (HUD). A compass shows the direction of the case, and an icon displays its current status: a house for when it’s safe, an exclamation mark when it’s being carried, and an inverted arrow when it’s lying on the floor.


Team Fortress 2 Guide - Resupply rooms

Each map in TF2 contains at least one resupply room per team. These rooms are inaccessible to the opposing team, and if no medics are available or you’ve run out of metal to upgrade a turret, then a trip to the nearest resupply room can save your life. Inside each of these safe havens is a cabinet, which instantly refills your health, ammo, and metal supplies. You can also use resupply rooms to change class without needing to commit suicide. These perks are restricted when the game enters the sudden death round...


Team Fortress 2 Guide - Sudden Death

At the end of an unsuccessful round - where no team has won outright - TF2 enters Sudden Death mode. As the name implies, there’s no respawning, no health pickups and the lockers in the resupply rooms will not resupply you.

At the start of the round you may change class, while you remain in the resupply room, so it makes sense to choose a robust class. A heavy, soldier, or medic are strong survivor classes for the task.

While your chance of getting kills, or capturing Control Points is higher as a fighting class, Engineers are extremely useful in Sudden Death. As long as the Engineer constructs structures away from the front line, preferably choosing to hold a rear Control Point, surviving isn’t too hard, and if you play the role of repairman, and stay wary of spies, you can create an invaluable safe haven for players. There’s only one important thing to remember as an engineer in Sudden Death – build a dispenser first. If you forget, finding metal to build structures, or to upgrade and repair your sentry can be highly problematic.

Team Fortress 2 Guide - Item Pickups

Ammo

Ammo Containers hold (wait for it...) ammunition, rather unsurprisingly, but they also have metal in them, which engineers need to build structures. They come in three different sizes. Small boxes contain a couple of clips and a little metal, the mid sized packs contain enough to replenish around half your ammo and half your metal, while large crates contain enough booty to fully restock you. Dropped weapons will also yield ammo and metal. It doesn’t matter what the weapon on the ground is. Run over it and refuel. Engineers can also collect metal by running over the debris from a destroyed structure.

First Aid

First Aid pickups are scattered around the map, and come in various sizes. How effective they are varies according to the class of character you’re playing, but the general rule of thumb is that the small box restores a quarter of your health bar, the mid-sized pack about half of it while the big hampers reward you with a full health bar. When there’s no medic, or they’re busy healing someone else, health kits can be the key to slowing an enemy rush or just staying alive a quarter of a second longer. If you’ve just come face-to-face with a Pyro and you’re heading towards a crispy death, a First Aid kit of any size will extinguish the flames allowing you time to find a medic or trudge to the nearest resupply room.

YOU ARE WELCOME!!

To all of you Canadians celebrating ThanksGiving.. Thanks for Giving you America.. today.. you have a heartfelt welcome.  We American's are happy to spend our hard earned dollars on the military that defends you, the science research that enlivens you, and providing the source for global warming that is warming up the planet and thawing out your little white butts!

A new Update for Team Fortress 2 Has been released. This update is all about bug fixes, and one little addition.

Team Fortress 2:

Bug Fixes:

    * Fixed certain crashes with paged pool memory
    * Fixed some prediction errors with player avoidance
    * Fixed columns and row bunching up in server browser
    * Fixed a rare bug where the wrong launcher.dll was being used to launch the game
    * Fixed teleporter/spawn doorway exploit

Changes/Additions:

    * Added a warning for when paged pool memory is low

The Orange Box is almost released, these must be some of the final Touches.

One of our beloved staffers Atrus just wrote a lengthy and well written piece on the Future of Gaming and the relationships to my.. or your wallet in regards to the cost of maintaining all this glittering new hardware!!

Check it out- 

http://atrus.spawnpoint.com/post/850/The_Future_of_Gaming

You don't have to be a computer, math, or biology geek to appreciate this simple little 'game'.  In reality, more of a learning tool and excercise - but vastly playable and addicting. 

Life - Cellular Automata - is a game I have been playing with since the early 1980's.  An early version I played with on my PET2c GreenScreen-Tape-Drive-only PC back in 1982.  Other variations I have played with include on for my Commodore Plus 4 and Commodore 64/128.  More versions became available for my Amiga.. my Trash 80.. My Tandy.. and eventually Windows 3.11!!   To this date, you will find versions of this game on all of my PC's.

Check out some of the versions we are hosting here

he earliest results in the Game of Life were obtained without the use of computers. The simplest still-lifes and oscillators were discovered while tracking the fates of various small starting configurations using graph paper, blackboards, physical game boards and the like. During this early research, Conway discovered that the F-Pentomino
failed to stabilize in a small number of generations.  

What are you talking about? Check it out - Try it out!!!
Check out some of the versions we are hosting here

Valve have a pretty unique development process and not relying on publishers means that they can pretty much do whatever they want. I don’t play many pc games, and I play even fewer online games - but Orange Box is looking better by the minute. I think I may have to pick this one up!

Check out this wacky little game - fun to play!

http://www.copy-and-paste-it.info/2007/09/game-reaction-time.html

September 11, 2015
Reporting by Vanessa Stevenson of MS-FOX News
Credit/Sources Reuters World Media

I am reporting from the Persian Gulf on the newest American Super-Carrier, the Gerald R. Ford. From my vantage point on top of the new dual band radar system that is monitoring the skies for hundreds of miles around, I am looking upon an unusually churned ocean as a flotilla of over 100 warships from the US Coalition prepare for military operations.  This US Coalition, comprised of American, British, Australian, Italian, German combat ships as well as a number of Japanese support vessels (with the rumors of a newly commission Japanese Naval destroyer squadron being positioned to provide  support from the Oman Sea), has been gathering for weeks in preparation of what is seen to be a major air-war with a follow-on my a coalition of Army and Marine units.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is said to have spoken briefly with Iranian President Ahmadinejad a couple of hours ago, in an attempt to forestall this invasion of Iraq and potentially the Iranian homeland.  The Alliance military buildup is in response to the growing genocide of Iraqi Sunni populations by Iranian Security Forces.  This buildup has quickened after last weeks reported chemical bombardment of the Sunni town of Talafar that killed an estimated 12,000 civilians. Iranian Ministry officials deny the use of WMD’s but did confirm attacks on insurgent forces in the town of Talafar.  They estimated only 18 died. 

Military sources believe that the Alliance is likely to begin targeting of Iranian “security” bases operating within Iraq to include the US Base outside of Kirkuk that was over-run by Iranian Security forces in 2008 shortly after the US Marine’s departure.  It is also rumored that Alliance covert operations are operating throughout Iraq and Iran establishing ties and providing relief to insurgent forces resisting the Iranian occupation of Iraq.

----

A summary of events leading to Operation Iraqi Freedom II

2007  -
The lack of significant progress in light of unrealistic goals of the troop Surge in Iraq led to the dismissal of another US General by Congressional action
US Senate & Congress demanding the roll-back of forces to begin by December of 2007

2008 -
Because of perceived American weakness, the Iranian backed insurgency pushed harder in early 2008 resulting in the reduction of US troop levels to less then 60,000 by the end of the year.  US Troops remained in the “Green Zone”, a few other military positions in Ambar Province and Baghdad.  A continued US troop presence would continue in Southern Iraq until the migration to a Kuwaiti based US Firebase.  An estimated 15,000 US Troops would remain in Kurdish territories.

With the pullout of US Military forces in 2008, Iranian security forces began to multiply.  With already an estimated 1000+ Iranian security forces and advisors operating in Iraq in 2007,  by the end of 2008 over 50,000 would be providing ‘security’ in predominantly Shia populated regions. 

Rumors of a campaign of violence against Sunni populations with the aim of forcing the hands of Sunni insurgents

2009 –
Iranian security forces numbering 200,000 now operate through-out Iraq except for the southern border with Kuwait and the Kurdish territories to the north. 

Iraq government capitulates to Iranian demands and agrees to recognize the protection of Iraq by the Iranian military and demands withdrawal of all US forces from the country. The US declines the opportunity for complete withdrawal and maintains a ring of firebases in the southern port city near Kuwait as well as in Northern Iraq.

Insurgent attacks, supported by a growing Hezbollah and Iranian supplied,  against US positions near the southern Iraq ports forces the US Marines to route across the border to Kuwait

Public Western outrage at the genocide of a small Sunni town outside of Bagdad rumored to be a Sunni ‘Insurgent Stronghold’. 

US funding of Sunni insurgent groups in Iraq increases 200%

2010 –
Iranian military provide security for all of Iraq (except northern Kurdish Regions)
Iraqi government assumes state control over all oil resources in Iraq, banishing all Western aligned Oil companies out Insurgency continues. Genocide of Sunni populations continues.
Destruction of US Destroy Nasworth by Iranian insurgents in the Gulf

2012 –
The price of oil begins to move from the stable $80 a barrel to over $100 a barrel due to restricted contracts to Chinese firms for Iraqi oil
Insurgency continues. Genocide of Sunni populations continues.

2014 –
Iran and Iraq, jointly controlling over 30% of the worlds oil supply,  declare an oil embargo over the US and any countries aligned with it. 
Insurgency continues. Genocide of Sunni populations continues.
Joint Iranian and Iraqi military buildup occurs on Saudi border.  Old arguments used to justify hostilities.

2015-
A continuation and expansion of the armed conflict of the middle east.


------

This article is a fictitious account of a world that may come.  Arguements for peace instead of war.. for the sake of peace and peace alone.. tend to lead to further conflict.  Two enemies that take a step back but one not defeated and disarmed leads to a continuation of conflict as soon as circumstances are convenient for one side or the other.  Neither should, from a political viewpoint, be deemed evil however everyone must take a side.  In Wester Society it behooves us to maintain and stabilize otherwise instable regions.  This rule is further encouraged when said regions provide critical resources to the economies of our societies. 

We should recognize the situation for what it is today, not how it might have been or how we would have liked it.  Like the current US Administration or not,  the situation is what it is.  To retreat and allow the situation to spiral further is to invite future failures at a larger cost.  No war is unwinnable for our wester societies if we choose to expend the appropriate capital, treasure, and blood.  We simply need to have the willpower and understanding of the need.

Two days ago.. Jack Thompson submits to public record actual lude and pornographic content in a legal document that is available online for public review.  Rather then simply providing a link and reference to it... he puts it in the digital version he was submitting to the court.

This means that my 8 year old daughter, researching a legal topic for a report... can comes across pornographic material while browsing cases with the Supreme Court.

Good job Jack!

Oh.. also.. In a press release issued late yesterday, Thompson claims that his 15-year-old son has once again purchased an M-rated (17 and older) game at a South Florida retailer.

Can we arrest his son?

Found this on The Onion...

Putting Pressure On Iran

The White House is looking at deterring the Iranian nuclear program with new sanctions. What measures have been proposed?

It always sucks to move from the work week and get sick over the weekend.  It is worse when you have an unsypathetic wife,3 kids and a very busy schedule of events that really DON'T care how you feel.

So, saturday morning starts with vertical upheaval of previously consumed foods. Fun.  This happens a few times.

Saturday night has a whole new flavor of issues.  Previously consumed foods decide to come out of other orifices in the same viscous format as before.. just more different ways.  While I am akin to not sleeping much, I hate TRYING to sleep.. and not doing so until 6am because of aforementioned problems.

Ok - So the spouse lets me sleep till 10am.  Thanks.

The rest of the day is much the same until the afternoon when I am feeling better and about 10lbs lighter.  I decide to do some of my normal weekend chores.  Cleaning the garage, cleaning the pool deck, etc. I have this box of.. well.. miscellaneous toy crap that my kids never use in an old cardboard box.  Time to sort and toss this stuff. 

Hand into box. Pull some toys out. Throw in trash or plastic bag for later examination.

Hand in box. Same thing.

Repeat.

Hand in box. OOh! Something different! Hand comes away with two drops of blood and a sharp pain.  Oh, there is the lovely low-pitch but fast cascade of wasps/bees that is sadly, distinctly not wasps or bees.  Out of the box shoots this Pygmy Rattler. WACK WACK WACK.. Goes for the toes (in flip flops. so this is a danger).

Lets stop here.

For those not accustomed to snakes in their lives, this sounds like a scary experience.

For those who ARE accustomed to snakes in their lives.. well.. this is still a scary experience! 

Back to the action.

In 4 seconds or less the situation has been assessed. I have been bitten (again) by a Pygmy Rattler. From previous experiences, I know that this is not fatal but I also know that in about 2 minutes my life is going to change as pain starts to setin from the poison that is necronious (eats away the flesh).  I have 2 little kids in the pool behind me obvlivious to the events.  I have not examined this box further to know if there are MORE snakes in there (when you find one... well.. you tend to find more then one).  

Hammer is on a table 20 feet away. Kids are 30 feet away.  Hammer is grabbed. Hammer pounds on snake head 3 times.  Snake smooshed.

Kids are wooshed out of the water, towels on body and shoved into the house.  Hand is held down to prevent spreading of poison. Drip drip... blood on patio. Wife summoned to take kids away.  Haven't told her what happened but she see's the blood and is concerned.  March back out  - kick the boxes. No snakes come flying out, I am pretty certain none are there.

Back in house.  Here is the dialogue. (Wife is drying kids).

Shane holding finger down, squeezing in a semi tourniquette. Says to wife: "Got bit by a Pygmy Rattler. No I won't die.  Need to rinse wound off and check."

Wife: "Again?"

Shane: "Shutup. "

Wife: "Want me to call 9-11?"
- Wife goes ahead and calls a friend to come to the house who lives down the street to watch the kids just in case.

Shane: "Not yet. No rush. "
- sink runs, revealing to small puncture holes. A little swelling. Nothing else.  Water still running (Warm water - cold water doesn't help.. in fact.. tends to make it worse).

5 minutes passes and I am not screaming for my mommy. Last time I got bit by a Pygmy Rattler I was screaming for Jesus, Jebus, God, Satan, the Earth Mother, and for morphine (I am a wuss).  I had anti-venom applied to the wound and my little toe survived the ordeal.  No pain this time.  I know that - some - percentage of bites are 'dry'. re: no venom.  

GOOGLE - is your friend.  An estimated 25-40% of Pygmy Rattle bites are dry.  I got lucky today and saved the $50 co-pay at the emergency room!

End result - I still feel crappy. Freaked the kids out.  Had to empty all my boxes and clean stuff up.  Oh. And I still feel crappy.
-
Shane

I was driving to work when the news first started to report a crashed airplane in one of the towers.  Most assumed it was a Cesna or other similiar small aircraft.

I was in the showers at work when the 2nd one hit.  My wife called.  And so began one of my personal worst days in my life.

To be honest, I am a lot dissapointed by my fellow American's willingness to forget about the day and forget about the anger they had.  Their willingness to forget the wrongs committed by others and being unwilling to take up arms in righteous anger. 

There is nothing more rewarding in life then being a father.. or if their is something, I have not found it and to be honest I don't think I am interested in finding it. 

Their is no feeling of closeness with God that can beat the feeling that can take over you as you look down on your children sleeping. 

Owning a company or reveling in the passion of your job is wonderful and can fulfill many lives... but only if those lives have not known the love of a 5 year old boy who's greatest obsession in life is to be a Pirate. 

Being a braniac know-it-all and knowing everyone around you knows just how smart you are is very gratifying.. but again, any man would trade this all in for a moments time with his children. 

Every once in a while, when looking at your children, you get a glimpse of the anguish that must tear at a parents heart when their children do something vile and evil.  As well, you get a glimpse as to how the parents may not be able to let go of their love for their children in the face of that evil.  I can see spending the rest of your life consoling the victims of your child and committing your life to helping your child see the wrongs he or she committed until they can come to terms with it.

When people tell of willingness to die for their children, do not doubt it.  I could knowingly walk in front of a train in trade for the life of any of my children.  Even if my trade meant just 10 more minutes of life for them, this is within my power.  Killing for, dying for, stealing for, anything for - whether this is God's divine spirit breathed into parents or this is simply mother nature having done a damn-good-job, its there.  It cannot be forgotten.

I love my little pirates.