It is hard to sleep on a submarine

        This is where I slept last Saturday night. Aboard the USS Cobia SS 245. 

Once a World War II warship, the Cobia now is part of the Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. Not only do you get to tour this amazing ship, you also get to sleep there! After the tour, they separate different families into different rooms of the sub to sleep. My family got the aft torpedo room which means the torpedo room in the back of ship. And yes, a submarine has two torpedo rooms. During the tour, we learned a lot about the history of the Cobia, and about life on a submarine. You also get to do a diving drill, fire a torpedo, and shoot a 40 mm deck gun. Cool right?! 

When you wake up, you get to look at the museum and you are the only people there because the museum hasn't officially opened yet. But, alas, all good things must come to an end. That morning, we set off to go camping in Door County. That was fun too. We got to see all the pretty scenery, go biking on the trails. And last but not least, see Despicable Me 2 in an old 50's style drive in movie theater with those speakers that hang in your window and everything.

  We also got to go to this really good diner called 

Wilson's. We went there for lunch and later for ice cream.

        Now lets get into detail. Sleeping on the submarine was fun, but I could not fall asleep (hence the title of this post.) I mean the ceiling was like this far from my face [                              ]. OK that was a little exaggerated but still it was really close. It was also creepy to think that you are sleeping in the same room as a torpedo! As far as sleeping goes, I prefer camping. But as far as awesomeness goes, give me the sub! Well, I think I have said all that I can  say; so now it is time for my photo compilation.

See what I mean, small sleeping space.

Our one-night bedroom

This, is what I live for

Dive! Dive! Dive!

"Star Trek, Into Darkness"

I'm pretty sure some of you have heard of the first of the new Star Trek series by J J. Abrams "Star Trek" (2009). Well the sequel just came out, "Star Trek, Into Darkness". I saw it last Friday and it was exceptional! The story was great,  as were the special effects. Basically all of it was awesome. After seeing that, nothing can compete. I could probably tell you the whole story from beginning to end. But if you have not seen it yet, I don't want to ruin it for you. So if you ask me, it is the best movie I have EVER seen. And to give you a taste of the awesomeness that is "Star Trek, Into Darkness", here is a trailer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5gdbUC9mWU
   

My new ride and argument against drones

Hey, it's been awhile since I last posted. But a lot has happened! The first and coolest thing is that I got a new bike. A black Next PX-4.0 mountain bike that is super cool. It had some problems at first, but we worked them out.
                          I also wrote a persuasive essay against drones in the Air Force. Here it is:
                         There are many thoughts about the plane of the future. Some say drones, unmanned aircraft. And others, like me, think the manned planes, fighters that have people in them are far better. The two planes we will be focusing on are the MQ-1B Predator, and the F-22 Raptor the "baddest bird in the world." The main reason people like drones more is that people don't die. I agree with that,but, where is the heart of a soldier, where is the bravery, the honor? Plus, stealth technology allows the F-22 to become practically invisible. And usually, whenever an enemy plane finds out that there is an American aircraft in the vicinity, they hightail it out of there!
               Which is the faster? the F-22 or the MQ-1B? Let's see if you can figure it out. The MQ-1B's top speed is 135 mph, The F-22's, mach 2 with supercruise. The answer, is obvious.

              Now let's see their missions. The F-22 Raptor is the Air Force's newest fighter aircraft. Its combination of stealth, supercruise, maneuverability, and integrated avionics, coupled with improved supportability, represents an exponential leap in war fighting capabilities. The Raptor performs both air-to-air and air-to-ground missions, allowing full realization of operational concepts vital to the 21st century Air Force.

          The MQ-1B is mostly a close air support, recon plane. Not as exciting as the F-22 making it less cool. And the Raptor also has a better payload. The  MQ-1B only carries two Hellfire missiles and no cannon. The F-22, on the other hand, has a 20 mm cannon,two AIM-9 missiles hidden inside internal side weapons bays. And internal main bays containing six AIM-120 missiles. Or two GBU-32 JDAMs and two AIM-120s. Better!!! And with thrust vectoring, it's better at dogfighting.
                So, in conclusion: The F-22 is way better than the MQ-1B in many ways. One is that it is invisible to radar. Unless you don't call being thought of as a flock of birds invisible, and it is faster by far. The F-22 Raptor is definitely the fighter of the future!

                                                                   

F-22 Raptor

MQ-1B Predator

Glasses and Guitars

            Hi, to whoever is reading this blog post right now. Things are going pretty slow around here. But I did get new glasses, awesome red Nikes. I really like them.
               I also learned a new guitar song. "With or Without You" by U2. Really pretty, really cool rock song. One of me and my dad's favorites. Here's the link to the video if you want to check it out: http://youtu.be/GkgvIPpdboA . Alright, that's about it. See you!

My New Dream Car

Probably the most exciting thing that happened today was that my favorite car company, Lamborghini, came out with the coolest car ever- the Veneno. They say that it is " a spaceship Lamborghini from the distant future." The coolest part is that there are only three, and all are sold. One is red, one is white, and one is green. Making each one unique and, when you line them up side by side with the white one in the middle and the green one on the left, they make the Italian flag. Each one costs around $3.9 million! Definitely a zillionare's car. It totally replaces the Lamborghini Aventador as my dream car!
             Another new thing is the fact that I am getting new glasses frames. Check back next week to see them!

Chicago Auto Show, World of Awesomeness

Recently me, my brother, my dad, and my cousin went to Chicago to see the largest auto show in North America.

We saw some of the most exotic cars in the world. Like Mclaren, Lamborghini, and Maserati.

                                                                                                        

                                

And some normal Volkswagens. Although that Fender Edition Beetle was pretty cool.

I also think the Audi R8 Quattro is totally awesome. I mean just, look at it!

And also, being me, I just had to see my first EVER Lamborghini. And I did. Behold the Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder Performente, Aventador LP-700-4, and Gallardo LP 560-4 the coolest cars in the history of the super car!!

                                                                                         

This thing looks like it will run you over.

See what I mean?
We also saw some unbelievable concept cars.                                                      

Weird huh? Look at the head lights. They remind me of laser guns.






We also saw some new cars. Like Chevrolet's new Corvette Stingray. Pretty cool!

So, as you can see, the Chicago Auto Show was a blast. Well, one more lesson. Ferraris are bad, Lamborghinis are great.

My latest writing assignment was pretty interesting. I had to write a cause and effect essay.So I just had to post it. Just so you know, I really really like airplanes, especially fighters.  

Did you know that airplanes can predict the weather? Contrails are white streams that come out of the end of jet engines.  When they are thin and short lived that indicates low humidity at high levels. That means fair weather. On the other hand, a thick contrail means stormy weather. Contrails affect the temp on earth.

                 Contrails affect the temperature by blotting out the sun. This lowers the temperature.  Contrails can last for many hours. They are hard to study because there are either too many crisscrossing or don’t last long enough. 9/11 was a good time to study contrails, with all the planes grounded. In fact, on a NASA satellite picture, the only contrails seen on September 12 were the ones from Air force 1 and some escort fighters.  

              So, in conclusion, contrails are a type of pollution, but are helpful in figuring out the weather! Contrails are bad but I think they look cool.

                

                              You see B-52s doing that all the time. See you!

                                                                                                .

Nothing really exciting EVER happens on Mondays

Hi, sorry about the long break between now and then. School was easier than normal because we did it on Friday. Trust me, Mondays are not my favorite day of the week, thanks to school. My favorite day is Sunday, because we go to church.

                   Guess what, my dad just sent in our check to go to the submarine I mentioned earlier; so it's official. I can't wait, it's going to be so fun! 

                Have you ever noticed that nothing really exciting ever happens on Mondays? I sure do! Well, maybe  next time I'll have more to tell. Bye!

Puzzle Feeders and Piano

Twelve comments on my first post! That is too cool!! Anyway, today was really easy school-wise. Mainly because we went to the zoo for something called " Zoo Explorers." I was an eleven year-old in a sea of six, seven, eight and nine year-olds. But it was pretty interesting. We learned how to make "puzzle feeders." Feeders the animals have to work on to get the food out.

                Some of you wanted to hear me play some of my instruments. Well, here you go. And the song I'm playing, "Beauty and the Beast," is my mom's favorite song.

First post ever.

OK, this is the first time I've ever done this; so at first it might be a little shaky. I'm Joshua, all my friends call me "Josh." I am eleven years old and destined to be either a world famous guitarist or naval officer, can't tell which. This blog will be about, well, everything,everything worth telling anyone who wants to listen.
                     The really exciting things that happened to me lately are that I got a Fender Mustang 1 guitar amp for Christmas.

I'm going to the Maritime Museum in Mantiwoc, Wisconsin, this summer, to spend the night on-board a real World War II submarine, the USS Cobia. (More info after the trip.)

And,I got baptized.