Now it’s time to focus on school for another year.  I think it’s important to follow one’s excitement rather than a path laid out by convenience, so I’m going to be discovering a lot this year in terms of what excites me.

First year at Stanford went well; let’s see how the second one goes.  My new school website: http://www.stanford.edu/~btmorgan

In other words, Happy New Years.  The year of decisions and new battles is here.  It’s time to be legendary as the course of time passes by…  I’ll figure out what I’m doing about graduate school, and possibly career opportunities.  College went by so fast…  But it’s not over until it’s over.  The last stretch is here, and it must be conquered.  Plans for this month: finish graduate school applications, fellowship applications, finish a few projects from last semester.  That should help jump start the semester with an iron fist.  I’ll be spending this semester reviewing the graduate school decisions on my applications, my last batch of classes for my degrees, and probably be preparing for graduation, including invitations and the whole deal.  I guess I’m not 100% sure I’ll graduate this year, but I think it’s the best route at this juncture of life.

New Year’s resolutions: a new website (done), no more getting behind on assignments (this requires more naps and more time with nature, like sitting in the grass on campus), and more time with family/friends.  The structure of balance must be maintained to an equilibrium of efficiency and happiness.  This is how the greatest peaks are obtained, from my experience at least…

I almost ended up in New York City for New Years but it would have been too much money at the time.  Hopefully next year I will cruise to NYC and see the ball drop and have a cool time on the NYC streets!

My personal website also has information pertaining to me and my interests.  Soon I will update the “Family & Friends” by updating a most recent family tree and more links to my friends’ websites, as well as speedsolving videos of me solving the Rubik’s Cube in the Rubik’s section.  I will be updating this website regularly so feel free to drop in and keep updated!  Also, I’ve added a twitter feed to the homepage so you can know what I’m doing throughout the days/weeks.

My name is Brent T. Morgan, the webmaster to BTMorgan.com.  The first version of my website came out in 2003 and have been updating my life online ever since.  I am currently attending Stanford University pursuing graduate studies.  I write this blog/webpage to show my family and friends from afar my life updates.  In the middle of my hobbies, education and career, my availability is limited so I decided to host a personal website expressing my progress in life’s journey.  To contact me, feel free to shoot me an email (see the Contact page).  I am also concerned with the sharing of knowledge I have obtained through the years of training and focus (for example, Rubik’s Cube solutions).

Education

Here is my current resume (as of August 13, 2010).

Stanford University (2009 - present)
Institute of Computational & Mathematical Engineering (iCME)

University of Arizona (2005 - 2009)
Bachelor of Science, Engineering Physics
Bachelor of Science, Mathematics
Cum Laude

University of High School (2003 - 2005)
Graduated: 2005 (with Honors)

Marana High School (2001 - 2003)
Transferred to UHS (ranked #1, GPA: 4.0)

Marana Middle School (2000 - 2001)
Wildcat “Student of the Year” award

Pistor Middle School (1998 - 2000)

Grijalva Elementary School

Photos

Click on the images below to enlarge them.

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Proust Questionnaire

What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Peace of mind, freedom of choice, achieving goals.

What is your greatest fear?
Ending up somewhere I’m not meant to be.

Which historical figure do you most identify with?
Combination of William Wallace and Jim Carrey (character), J. R. R. Tolkien (imagination), Leonardo da Vinci (curiosity).

Which living person do you most admire?
Sister, mother and father.

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Perfectionist habits .

What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Lack of respect, selfishness.

What is your greatest extravagance?
A big bowl of peanut butter cookies.

What is your favorite journey?
Challenging myself everyday.

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Patience.  We only live ~20,000 days.

On what occasion do you lie?
I don’t.

What do you dislike most about your appearance?
Nothing.

Which living person do you most despise?
I’m not judgmental.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
“Whuut,” “Dang,” “Goofy,” “Outrageous,” “Time to be legendary.”

What is your greatest regret?
Too late now to think about it.

What or who is the greatest love of your life?
Family.

Which talent would you most like to have?
The ability to add more hours to the day.

What is your current state of mind?
Relaxed and focused.

If you could change one thing about your family, what would it be?
Nothing.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Every day, fighting the resistance force from the universe.

If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what do you think it would be?
A warrior.

If you could choose what to come back as, what would it be?
A warrior.

What is your most treasured possession?
Old artifacts.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
No happiness or sense of identity.

Where would you like to live?
New York City for a couple years.

What is your favorite occupation?
Creating, thinking, and giving.

What is your most marked characteristic?
Fun, nonjudgmental, outgoing, mysterious.

What is the quality you most like in a man?
Able to survive dark situations, headstrong, respectful, and trust-worthy.

What is the quality you most like in a woman?
Intelligent, sociable, respectful, stress-free, fun, goal-oriented, witty, healthy.

What do you most value in your friends?
Trustworthiness, camaraderie.

Who are your favorite writers?
J. R. R. Tolkien just because of his imagination and ideas.

Who is your favorite hero of fiction?
Gandalf.

Who are your heroes in real life?
My Grandma.

What are your favorite names?
?

What is it that you most dislike?
War.

How would you like to die?
Facing death.

What is your motto?
“It’s time to be Legendary,” and all courage wolf quotes.

You can see my resume here.

Through my education, I have participated in several individual and team projects that have called for research and analytical skills, including innovative methods to deriving equations, analyzing data, utilizing ideas from collaborative members of a research group, and maintaining high quality performance while under deadline pressure. I have also created and presented the final documentation associated with my research experiences.  Outside of my studies, however, I have also found interest in the paranormal, the unexplained, conspiracy theories, and supernatural phenomena occurring throughout the world and universe.

One example of such phenomena includes Ufology.  I have a personal interest in researching this due to a personal encounter in late 2003.  While attending the University of Arizona (UofA), I’ve found that Dr. James E. McDonald (1920 - 1971) worked at the UofA in the 1950’s.  There are files of his UFO research at the UofA classified archives.  This recent investigation of his files revealed numerous breakthroughs in UFO evidence in unsolved mystery cases using today’s newer technology.  Though I can’t say much more here, feel free to contact me of these ideas.  Some fascinating links include Coast to Coast AM and Society for Scientific Exploration.

Research & Work Experience

Teaching Assistant, Stanford University, 2009 - present
Assisted students during office hours, taught review sessions for the class, and graded assignments and exams for CME 100, Vector Calculus for Engineers, CME 104, Partial Differential Equations & Linear Algebra, and CME 106, Probability & Statistics.

Independent Physics Study, The University of Arizona, 2008 - 2009
Derived relativistic Schrödinger equations (Dirac, Klein-Gordon), and interpreted radial solutions for the hydrogen atom. Worked with a physics group on relativistic quantum mechanics of micro-black holes, and sought for the rate of particle production from the Dirac
equation in a Schwarzschild background. Research culminated in a paper and presentation.

Ronald E. McNair Achievement Program, The University of Arizona, Summer 2008
Collaborated with Dr. Michael Brown’s Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) laboratory. Used MATLAB to analyze data and studied theoretical principles of NMR in group meetings: quantum mechanical formulation of spin Hamiltonian, treatment of relaxation processes, coupling of spin tensors. Work culminated in a paper and presentation. Funded by the University of Arizona Ronald E. McNair Achievement program.

Student grader for Physics department, January – May 2008
Graded for Introductory Physics I & II.

National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU), University of Minnesota, Summer 2007
Worked one-on-one with Dr. Vaughan Voller at St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, University of Minnesota. Created computer cellular automata simulations of agglomeration and coarsening models using MATLAB. Work culminated in paper and presentation. Funded by the NSF.

Study Abroad Physics Program, Clemson University in Trieste, Italy, Summer 2007
Conducted research at Elettra, a Synchrotron Light Laboratory in Trieste, Italy. Studied theoretical and experimental surface physics. Exposed to surface crystallography and diffraction, electron and tunneling microscopy, atomic and molecular beam scattering.

NASA Space Grant Consortium, The University of Arizona, 2006 – 2007
Worked one-on-one with Dr. Cho Lik Chan exploring linear instability in fluids and principles of magnetofluid dynamics. Used MATLAB, Fieldview, and Excel to analyze data of computer simulations. Work culminated in presentation. Funded by NASA Space Grant Consortium.

Presentations

“Solid-State Deuterium Nuclear Magnetic Resonance for Hexamethylbenzene,” PowerPoint presentation given to The University of Arizona Ronald E. McNair Achievement Program Colloquia, August 2008.

“Solid-State NMR Spectroscopy for the Undergraduate Laboratory,” poster presentation given to The University of Arizona Ronald E. McNair Achievement Program Colloquia poster fair, August 2008.

“Solid-State Deuterium Nuclear Magnetic Resonance for Hexamethylbenzene,” PowerPoint presentation given to The Sixteenth Annual California McNair Scholars Symposium at The University of California, Berkeley, August 2008.

“Investigating Rule Based Simulations for Coarsening and Agglomeration,” PowerPoint and poster presentation given to St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, University of Minnesota, 2007.

“Investigating Rule Based Simulations for Coarsening and Agglomeration,” poster presentation given to University of Minnesota summer research symposium poster fair, 2007.

“Double Diffusive Convective Stability,” PowerPoint presentation given to the NASA Space Grant Undergraduate Research Internship statewide symposium, Arizona State University, 2007.

Invited speaker for an introductory engineering course: Survey of Engineering Professions (Eng 196A).  The Rubik’s Cube and its algorithms were discussed, referring to breaking down complex systems to reproducible simpler steps.  One-day presentation for three consecutive semesters, invitation from Dr. Paul Blowers, 2006-2007.

Current Classes

• History of the Rubik’s Cube and Speedcubing
• My Place in Rubik’s History
• Solutions
• Cube Related Public Appearances
• Cube Related Media Coverage
• Other Cube Links, Friends, and Credits

History of the Rubik’s Cube and Speedcubing

A man named Ernö Rubik invented the Rubik’s Cube in 1974.  Ernö Rubik was a Hungarian professor of architecture, and he was concerned with the architectural design of the cubical puzzle which included his interests in geometry, 3D forms, and games.  This colorful mechanical puzzle, which he originally dubbed the “Magic Cube,” allowed for 43 quintillion possible arrangements.  Industrial production for the Rubik’s Cube began in 1977, and the puzzle became very popular in Hungary.  International recognition for the cube began in the early 1980’s, and shortly after competitions of solving the cube in the fastest time emerged throughout the world.  This began the age of “speedcubing” (i.e. speed-solving the Rubik’s Cube) which to this day is advancing to greater methods and techniques in solving the Rubik’s Cube in the fastest possible time by a human being.  Other Rubik’s products have also been popular, including the 4×4x4 “Rubik’s Revenge” and 5×5x5 “Professor Cube” but my interest lies in the original 3×3x3 Rubik’s Cube.  Below is a brief history of the legendary international speedcubing events and feats.

• 1982 Rubik’s Cube World Championship

1st place (world champion): Minh Thai (USA)
2nd place: Guus Razoux Schultz (Netherlands)
3rd place: Zoltán Lábas (Hungary)

The first world championship set place in Budapest, Hungary, on June 5, 1982.  It was here that nineteen participants from all over the world attempted to solve the Rubik’s Cube as fast as possible.  To watch a video of the actual tournament, you can download it here (Copyright: Swedish television, 1982).  The setup for this tournament was such that the competitors solved one cube for each round, for three rounds.  The world champion would be determined by the fastest single solve of the three rounds.  The official world record in 1982 was set by Minh Thai, also given the title of 1982 world champion. Thai represented the United States, with a solving time of 22.95 seconds.  The 22.95 second solving time will ultimately be the world record standard for the next twenty years.   International speedcubers would post their fastest times on a website, Speedcubing.com, as well as participate in yahoo forums to investigate numerous algorithms and methods to surpass the 22.95 second solving time barrier for the 3×3x3 Rubik’s Cube.  You can see the 1982 results for the world champion participants here. (For more information about the 1982 Rubik’s World Championship, visit Jessica Fridrich’s website, who participated in the 1982 tournament and is still today considered a legend.  Fridrich designed a system for solving the Rubik’s Cube that is the most commonly used by speedcubers, including myself).

• 2003 Rubik’s “Games” World Championships

1st place (world champion): Dan Knights (USA)
2nd place: Jessica Fridrich (USA)
3rd place: David Wesley (Sweden)

The second Rubik’s world championship took place on August 23-24, 2003, in Toronto, Canada.  Speedcubers all over the world gathered yet again to solve the Rubik’s Cube in the fastest possible time.  This was the first major tournament since the 1982 championships.  The rules for this 2003 tournament changed from that of the 1982 tournament. For the 2003 world championships, the fastest average (instead of single time) would determine the world champion.  This is due to the “luck” involved in lucky solves, which would not represent the speedcuber’s usual and true skill.  Instead, the first round was best of 3 solves; the second (semi-final) round was best of 3 solves; the final round (top eight from semi-final round) was an average of 5 solves.  Dan Knights took the title of 2003 world champion with the fastest average time of 20.00 seconds, and Jess Bonde took the 2003 world record for a single fastest solving time of 16.53 seconds. (To see full results, go here).

• 2005 Rubik’s World Championship

1st place (world champion): Jean Pons (France)
2nd place: Edouard Chambon (France)
3rd place: Shotaro “Macky” Makisumi (Japan)

The third Rubik’s world championship took place November 5-6, 2005, in Orlando, Florida at Disney World.  Since the 2003 world tournament, national and local tournaments began to take place across the world as the Rubik’s crave emerged among the young and talented.  One significant group of speedcubers from Caltech (organized by Tyson Mao) began to unfold a very talented speedcuber Shotaro Makisumi (”Macky”) who represented Japan, who was in high school at the time.  It was in 2003-2005 that the era of Macky’s skill proved to the world a newer level of speedcubing.  He revealed greater levels of speed and focus in the tournament setting, as the nerves of the competitor has a lot to do with performance.  The speedcubers of France, including Jean Pons and Edouard Chambon, began gaining recognition for their fast times as well.  By now most of the competitors for the 2005 world tournament had solving times below 20 seconds.  This led to another change in the structure of the tournament: the first round was best of 3; the second (semi-final) round was average of 5; the final round (top 12 from semi-final) was an average of 5.  The fastest average in the final round was performed by Jean Pons of France, crowned as 2005 world champion. The world record for a single fastest solve time was performed by Jean Pons earlier that year at a local tournament in California. (To see full results, go here).

• 2007 Rubik’s World Championship

1st place (world champion): Yu Nakajima (Japan)
2nd place: Andrew Kang (USA)
3rd place: Mitsuki Gunji (Japan)

The fourth Rubik’s world championship took place October 5-7, 2007, in Budapest, Hungary. This was the 25th anniversary of the first Rubik’s world championship. This would be the most intense world championship in history, as the world speedcubers were faster than ever before.  The solving times kept improving among the cubing community as more talent and interest entered the world tournaments.  Since so many competitors were sub-20 speedcubers, the rules again had changed for this tournament from the previos world tournament, as each round was an average of 5 solves.  The 2007 world champion was Yu Nakajima of Japan with an average solving time of 12.46 seconds. At the time the world record for a single solve was in the 10 second range. This would be the second world tournament Mr. Rubik would attend.  He announced this would be his last public appearance.  This tournament would begin a new era of the sub 13 second average standards for competitive times, and many cubers in the community got more and more interested in an extension to Fridrich’s layer-by-layer method: the Zborowski method.  The Zborowski method is a set of algorithms that is fundamentally based on Fridrich’s layer-by-layer approach but has many more algorithms (494 for last layer, and hundreds more for the first two layers).  Zbigniew Zborowski proposed the method back in 2003 and admitted himself that it is too much information to process during a speedcubing solve.  However, around this time many cubers were studying the Zborowski method to help decrease their solving itmes.  (To see full results of this tournament, go here).

My Place in Rubik’s History

Unofficial (at home)

My fastest single solve: 9.5 seconds (sometime in 2007)
My fastest average of 10: 12.4 seconds (February 2006, and early 2007)

A video of me solving a cube (~17 seconds at a diner during a midnight snack)

Official (at a tournament)

My fastest single solve: 14.18 seconds (2007 Rubik’s World Championships)
My fastest average of 10: 15.62 seconds (2007 Rubik’s World Championships)

I first became fascinated by the Rubik’s Cube during my sophomore year of high school in 2002.  I would cube in class, on the bus home, and even overnight.  After reading websites and watching cubing videos I had the motivation to become a speedcuber.  Since then I had the honor of traveling the world to meet the best speedcubers in history.  Throughout my training I have been ranked among the fastest speedcubers in the world.  I have been a finalist in a world championship tournament (2005), broke a world record (2006), and met the inventor of the cube himself, Ernö Rubik (2007).

• 2003 Rubik’s “Games” World Championships

1st round (single): 24.19 seconds (18th place)
Semi-final round (single): 23.96 seconds (23rd place)
Final round: Took the top 8 from semi-final round

I competed in the 2003 Rubik’s “Games” World Championships.  I was a junior in high school, and I went with my father.  The final round took the top 8 from the semi-final round. I brought a custom white cube t-shirt and had everyone sign the shirt, including the top 3 winners of the tournament.  I got 2 signed cubes from Dan Knights and a few other cubes signed by Jessica Fridrich and learned some new tricks from many others.  I learned a lot of cubing techniques from this tournament from the diverse schools of thought that all merged to this one venue.  It was here I met all the legendary cubers and it was a great time.  I was sponsored by a few companies which were advertised on the back of my custom made cube t-shirt.  See images below.

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• 2004 Rubik’s USA Championships

1st round (single): 21.17 seconds (8th place)
Semi-final round (average): 19.82 seconds (5th place)
Final round (average): 20.88 seconds (3rd place)

My step brother Tony, dad and I drove to the 2004 Rubik’s USA Championships.  I was an about-to-be-senior in the summer of 2004. The venue was Polytechnic High School (near Caltech) in Pasadena, California, USA. Jon Morris was announced USA champion for the 3×3x3 with an average time of 20.06 seconds. In the last round my average solving time was 20.88 seconds (2nd in USA, and 3rd overall).  It was here that I had the chance to go to Macky’s house and hang out with other speedcubers.  Macky’s mom was very nice, making us elaborate snacks.  See images below.

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• 2004 Caltech Fall Tournament

1st round (single): 17.85 seconds (2nd place)
Semi-final round (average): 19.72 seconds (2nd place)
Final round (average): 19.72 seconds (2nd place)

The venue was Polytechnic High School near Caltech in Pasadena, California, USA. I averaged 19.72 seconds (2nd place), as Macky took first.  It was here that Ryan Patricio approached me and asked me questions about speedcubing (he was a beginner at this time).  He was a cool kid, so I gave him some advice.  Little did I know he would win the 2006 USA Championships.  At this tournament I hung out with Macky and learned a bit from him.  See image below.

• 2005 Rubik’s World Championships

1st round (single): 18.64 seconds (26th place)
Semi-final round (average): 16.29 seconds (5th place)
Final round (average): 18.71 seconds (12th place)

The venue was the Disney Pop Century Resort, Disney World, Florida.  I went with my dad and grandpa.  I remember off stage I did a few 11’s and 12’s racing Ryan Patricio. The good thing about going to tournaments is to race people and improve. It was an honor just making it to the final round with the legends attending this tournament.  See images below.

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• 2006 Rubik’s Cube “24 Hour Marathon”

How many Rubik’s Cubes were solved: 3,141 (world record as of February 2006 - June 2006)
Time given to solve the Rubik’s Cubes: 24 hours

This took place at Caltech in February 2006, organized by Tyson Mao. I solved 3141 cubes in 24 hours and made the world record. I broke the legendary Jess Bonde’s record (of 2000) at the 12 hour mark. I believe solving 4000 cubes in 24 hours is possible. I held this record from February 2006 - June 2006. Zbigniew Zborowski was the first to break this record in June 2006. In the future I’m willing to make another attempt.  I thank Mark Polinkovsky, Mark Sullivan, Daniel Lo, Shelley Chang, Leyan Lo, Michael White, Michael Inadomi, Eileen Xie, Christopher Kreuger, Matthew Wallisa, Adam Zamora, and Tyson Mao for scrambling and helping out.  Additional thanks to Tyson Mao for organizing it, and thanks to Chris Hunt for the timer that was used for this event.  See image below.

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• 2007 Rubik’s Italian Open

1st round (average): 17.12 seconds (4th place)
Final round (average): 17.33 seconds (2nd place)

This was the first major tournament in Italy. I took 2nd place behind Dan Harris, the United Kingdom champion. He significantly improved and I was happy for him. This took place in Rome in early June. I was in Italy for a physics study abroad program at the time, so getting to Rome was possible, though still difficult. To even get to this tournament I had to illegally jump a train, and slept out in the hallway to a hostel for a while where my friend Manny (old college roommate) was staying (he too was in Italy at the time).  Then, getting back to my study abroad program, I almost got mugged at this train station…  But it ended up fine.  Whew, Europe is crazy.  See image below.

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• 2007 Rubik’s World Championships

1st round (average): 16.15 seconds (27th place)
Semi-final round (average): 15.62 seconds (20th place)
Final round (average): Took the top 16 from the semi-final round

I traveled to Budapest on my own on this one.  I was sponsored by the Department of Physics at the University of Arizona (thanks to professor Johann Rafelski).  I am glad to say I placed in the top twenty in the most intense tournament in Rubik’s history.  It was here that my right wrist hurt insanely bad and I was unable to move my hand in comfort.  But I forced myself and cubed the best I could.  At midnight I tried to get some kind of medicine for my wrist at the gas station, but they told me to go to the pharmacy.  I walked about a mile to a pharmacy and tried to explain what was going on with my wrist, but the lady only spoke Hungarian and didn’t help.  Despite the pain in my wrist, I ended up doing my best solving average in the semi-final round here.  I had lunch with Chris Hardwick in the mall with a few others, and we discussed the social dynamical changes of the speedcubing community.  It began a new generation of very talented young people.  Whenever you’re in Budapest, Hungary, notice how there are Rubik’s Cubes everywere (including McDonalds and tv commercials).  I did meet Ernö Rubik and shook his hand.  He seemed rude, however, in declining to sign my cube because I had my own initials on it (so whenever I lose my cube, people will know whose it is).  See below for images.

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Solutions

The solutions below are only for the 3×3x3.  If you are seeking a solution for the 2×2x2, then the solutions below will also work but just take heed of the corners and completely nevermind the middle edges and centers exist.  For larger cubes such as 4×4x4 and 5×5x5, I would recommend Frank Morris’ or Chris Hardwick’s site.  My specialty is in the 3×3x3 speedsolving.  The 3×3x3 Rubik’s Cube puzzle has 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 (little over 43 quintillion) different possible combinations, without repeating. At the rate of 1,000,000 configurations per second (without repeating), it would take well over a million years to run through them all.  So in order to solve this cube consistently, you must have a system to solve it every time. (However simple the system may be). If you haven’t ever solved the cube before, don’t stress, as there are solutions below.  Otherwise, trying to solve it randomly, you have a better probabilistic chance of winning the lottery than solving the cube.

Beginner Method
This method is intended for those who have no knowledge of solving the Rubik’s Cube whatsoever.

Intermediate Method
This method is intended for those who can already solve the cube (ideally in a minute or less).  This should definitely get you down to 30 seconds or less.

Expert Method
This method is intended for those trying to get sub-20 averages.  This alone has allowed me to achieve sub-13 averages.

Master Method
Under construction.

Cube Related Public Appearances

Since I have been well-known for solving the Rubik’s Cube fast, I have been invited to many “entertainment-related” events.  These include the following:

• International Conference on Thinking XI (2003): At the last minute I became a guest speaker and talked about the Rubik’s Cube to a room of 30+ people.

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• Diamondbacks baseball game (2003):  I got invited to cube in front of 30,000+ people at a baseball game at the old Bank One Ballpark (now Chase field)  in the 7th inning stretch.  At the time this held the unofficial world record for solving the cube in front of the most people.  I went with my dad, my sister, my friend Valerie, and a University of Arizona professor Bill Neumann.  See images below.

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• Phoenix Suns vs Los Angeles Lakers basketball game (2003 or 2004): I got invited to a basketball game in phoenix.  I went with a step-brother, Tony, and my dad.  I solved the cube during a commercial.  I even got to meet the L.A. Lakers cheerleaders…  See images below.

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• University High School Talent show (2004 and 2005): At my high school I solved the cube behind my back (memorized the cube first).  The room was dead silent as I memorized the cube.  My solve was successful, and I received the only standing ovation in 2004 and won the first money prize in 2005.  See images below.

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• University of Arizona “Physics Phun Night” (2007 and 2008): I solved the cube behind my back in front of an audience in 2007, and speedsolved a cube in 2008.  I was asked by the physics department at the University of Arizona.  Phyiscs Phun Night is an event which middle schoolers and high schoolers see physics in action.  The department does this to spread interest and awareness of how cool physics is…

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Cube Related Media Coverage

• Arizona Daily Star Newspaper: Interviewed twice for articles (2003 and 2007).

• Tucson Citizen: Interviewed once for article (2004).

• Arizona Wildcat: Interviewed twice by the University of Arizona’s newspaper (2005 and 2007).

• Channel 4 News: News coverage about me and the 2007 Rubik’s World Championships results (2007).

• Channel 13 News: Publicly seeking sponsors for the 2003 Rubik’s “Games” World Championships (2003).

Other Cube Links, Friends, and Credits

I’d like to thank Jessica Fridrich, Chris Hardwick, Ron van Bruchem, Dan Knights, Shotaro “Macky” Makisumi, Katsuyuki Konishi (”Master Katsu),” Jon Morris, Frank Morris, Dan Harris, Lars Vandenbergh, Mirek Goljan, Lars Petrus, Doug Li, Andy Camann, Jess Bonde, David Wesley, Zbigniew Zborowski, Richard Patterson, Doug Reed, Tyson Mao, Leyan Lo and MANY others who have motivated me in reaching my fast times with the cube and to learn what I have so far about everything about speedcubing and life of a speedcuber.  I recommend Speedcubing.com, the main speedcubing website of the world, for all links and further information.  Have fun exploring!  If you are a speedcuber, it is the next step to search around for algorithms that fit your hands nicely and to figure out different styles and techniques to implement in your speedsolving method.

The image of the Rubik’s Cube(r) is used by permission of Seven Towns Ltd.

Ranked among the best Super Nintendo games that was ever engineered, Super Metroid is by many the #1 Super Nintendo game.  I have seen many games myself, and this is one of the best by far. The graphics are excellent and the game is surprisingly long, compared to other Super Nintendo games. This game is an all-time classic and is personally one of my favorites for eternity.  Super Metroid is #3 (after Metroid on NES, and Metroid II on Game Boy) in the Metroid saga.  After Super Metroid, there is Metroid Fusion (Game Boy Advance), Metroid Prime I, II, and III.  I haven’t yet had the pleasure to play the original “Metroid” or “Metroid II”, but I am currently trying to master “Metroid Fusion” and “Metroid Prime I.”

At its time, Super Metroid was revolutionary.  It was the first game to be more than 16bits. At 24bits, the game was a powerhouse and was also the first super Nintendo game to feature audible speech. Many fans (especially old school ones) say that Super Metroid still maintains the rank as the best Metroid in the entire series and I have to agree (but my experience with the Prime series is limited).

My fastest time to beat Super Metroid with 100% items is 1 hour, 14 minutes.  It used to be slower, but thanks to Mitch Wilson in summer 2007 we got together and raced on who could beat the game faster.  We went to my place, put two TV’s and Super Ninteno’s together, and played at the same time.  We ended up beating the game with 100% of the items collected, with the same completion time of 1 hour, 21 minutes.  After a few days I got my time down to 1 hour, 14 minutes.  You can see my speedrun path here.  If you wish to see a map for Super Metroid, then click here.

Records for Super Metroid

Have you ever beaten Super Metroid? If so, email me your record and I’ll post it.

Bosses of the Game

Below are techniques and strategies to destroy the bosses of the game, as well as descriptions of the bosses of the Super Metroid game.

• Ridley

Location: Ceres Space Colony
Weakness: Blaster
Special Attacks: Fire projectiles, Tail lash

Ridley will come out of no where all of a sudden. He will start attacking you with his tail and fire blasts, but if you dodge all of his attacks and keep firing at him, he can be beaten.  When he is beaten, all he does is fly away, so no big deal.  Or you can just let him hurt you enough to where you are in the ‘Danger’ mode (when the siren starts) and Ridley will leave.  For a speedrun, it is advised to be hit by his tail (even by jumping into his tail) because that will take the most damage from Samus, and getting to the ‘Danger’ mode quickly will enable you to leave the room more quickly, and hence beat the game more quickly…

• Spore Spawn

Location: Brinstar
Weakness: Blaster, Missiles
Special Attacks: Swing attack, Mini spores

The Spore Spawn is not very difficult to beat. When he opens his mouth, just throw a missile or two into his mouth. When he moves around everywhere, and with all the little green things coming down on you, I stay as a ball and keep on top of one of the ledges to the left and right sides of the screen, then nothing can get to you.  If you are clever, it isn’t even necessary to fight this mini-boss.  The super missiles can be obtained earlier such that you don’t need to enter this room to get your first super missiles.  In the room where you first enter Brinstar (after the elevator), enter the room where you are supposedly need the “speed boots” where the collapsing platform is.  It is possible to cross that collapsing platform without the speed boots and you can get your first super missiles just when you enter Brinstar.  To enter the room, you need to enter by jumping in the air, and upon falling and landing on the collapsing platform you very quickly turn into a ball (then by holding down) and do a speed roll (by also holding forward) as you land.  This enables you to speed up while you are rolling and cross the collapsing platform correctly.  This is how your first super missile can be obtained.  To get the super missle that is supposed to be awarded to you after the death of Spore Spawn, you need to do a power bomb energy boost where you would normally exit if you battled the Spore Spawn.  This will bug/trick/strategy will enable you to ignore Spore Spawn completely.

• Kraid
  

Location: Brinstar
Weakness: Blaster, Missiles, Super Missiles
Special Attacks: Thorn projectiles, Fireball spheres

He will come up out of spikes and appear to be quite large. Shoot him in the mouth when it opens, and he will rise up even further revealing himself to extremely large. He throws spiked objects at you and shoots fire out of his mouth. Try to dodge the flying objects and continue shooting him in the mouth with rather a Super Missile or charge beam (4 Super Missiles should do it). The more you defeat him, he will become darker in color (like most enemies), which indicates their low energy.  Or, if you are clever…  The first time he opens his mouth upon arising from the spikes (just when you enter the room) you can very smoothly and swiftly fire 3 super missiles into his mouth, and he will automatically fall.  This technique is used in speedruns, as Kraid can spend a few minutes to kill once he stands up to his extremely large height and starts firing thorn projectiles at you.  By firing 3 super missiles into his mouth for the first time he opens his mouth will enable you to defeat Kraid very quickly.

• Crocomire
  

Location: Norfair
Weakness: Charged Beam, Missiles, Super Missile
Special Attacks: Charge, Plasma balls

If you don’t keep up your pace of shooting him into the mouth with missiles, super missiles, or your charged beam, then he will keep advancing on you and toss you in the spikes behind you. He won’t die from your weapons… Keep shooting him and he will eventually fall into lava behind him. The coolest part is, when he’s defeated, he STILL tries to kill you, even though is a walking skeleton, but he just falls to dust…  Or, a very efficient want in killing Crocomire is by shotting him with the plasma beam.  One shot of the charged plasma beam and he will back up all the way automatically into the lava and your effort required to destroy this mini-boss is minimized.  Depending on the path of your run or speedrun, you can use different weapons which has different effects.

• Phantoon
  

Location: Wrecked Ship
Weakness: Super Missile
Special Attacks: Blue plasma projectiles

When Phantoon appears, you cannot shoot at him. He will shoot out a bunch of ‘raindrop’ shaped energy balls (or blue plasma) at you. Only when Phantoon opens his eye and becomes solid, shoot him with a super missile in his eye. After a few shots (4 super missiles should do it) he will be destroyed.  However, when you successfully hit him with a super missile, he fires blue plasma in such a way it is hard to dodge.  I sometimes just shoot many missiles to avoid his blue plasma projectiles.

• Serpent
  

Location: Maridia
Weakness: Missiles, Super Missiles
Special Attacks: Charge, Green fireballs

Encountered in Maridia, this serpent is not hard to beat. It flies around the screen trying to hit you and shooting out small green projectiles. It hides in the four holes in the screen and emerges from them randomly.  Just shoot the head with missiles or super missiles and it will explode when destroyed.  I recommend super missiles, and fire them immediately after he first shows himself.  To defeat this mini-boss it only takes a minute or two.

• Draygon

Location: Norfair
Weakness: Charged Beam, Missiles, Super Missile
Special Attacks: Gun Turrets, Sting

This enemy seems to be very complicated to defeat, but not at all. When you first enter the room, destroy all of the shooters on the wall. Then, when Draygon comes, let him capture you, and when he is crushing you in the air, shoot your Grappling Beam in one of the destroyed shooters, and after about 4-8 seconds, he should be destroyed. (Shooting at the shooters hurts Samus only a little). I used to just shoot him every time he passed by, and dodged his grabs, but can be pretty difficult.  Or, a clever little trick, is to use a power bomb to blow up all the little white sticky things that latch onto you right before he grabs you, and then shoot them with the super missiles when he’s trying to grab you.  This is a much more efficient way to shoot him (if you are going to shoot him).

• Ridley
  

Location: Norfair
Weakness: Charged Beam, Missiles, Super Missile
Special Attacks: Fire projectiles, Tail lash, Grab attack

Ridley is much stronger than the previous encounter. He lashes at you with his tail, and does some crazy stuff that deal some serious damage. To defeat him, fire anything you got at him. He’s probably one of the hardest bosses in the game.  At this point you should have the plasma beam, so shooting super missiles and charging your beam should be enough.

• Mother Brain
  

Location: Tourian
Weakness: Charged Beam, Missiles, Super Missile

Special Attacks: Gun Turrets

This is the final boss, the Mother Brain. It does nothing to attack you, but there are many defense turrets around it which fire at you. To destroy this stage of Mother Brain, fire missiles or super missiles at the glass until it breaks, and then keep firing at the Mother Brain itself.  Cake.

• Mother Brain
  

Location: Tourian
Weakness: Charged beam, Missiles, Super Missiles
Special Attacks: Various laser projectiles, Bomb, energy-sapping beam

Once you defeat the Mother Brain in the glass case, it will become a huge dinosaur-type creature. This puppy can deal some serious damage to you, having numerous mega-attacks. Just shoot him in the head with the most damaging weapons you have, as fast as you possibly can. Keep firing until Mother Brain starts blowing his energy blasts at you.  A clever thing I consider, to decrease the amount of time spent on this boss, I run into his legs to decrease my energy as fast as possible.  Because when he shoots his first energy-sapping beam, and you survive with a enery tank left, then the metroid comes out and attacks Mother Brain.  So hurting yourself to the point where you deal enough damage to yourself allows for the game to go by quicker, since Mother Brain doesn’t have to deal that damage to you.

Hints and Tricks

There really isn’t any ‘codes’ for this game unless you have a Game Genie. There are, however, tricks to help you survive throughout the game.

Special Weapon trick:

1. Use charge beam and only one beam
2. Highlight power bombs
3. Charge your beam

Depending on the one beam you chose, your ’special’ weapon will be different.  Below are the possible combinations.
ICE: A rotating ice shield.
WAVE: Four small purple orbs that orbit around Samus and fly off in all directions, all over the screen.
SPAZER: Several small vertical Spazers encircle Samus then fly off virtically.
PLASMA: Four large green orbs rotate around Samus, and the circle gets larger, then smaller, then larger until they fly off screen.

Power Bomb Energy Boost:

1. Select your Super Bombs
2. HOLD down, L button, and R button all at once
3. Press and hold the X button to set off a Super Bomb

Result: Samus will be engulfed in a glowing orb and her missiles will be converted into energy units, HOWEVER, in order to do this little trick you need to have eleven (11) of: Missiles, Super Missiles, and Super Bombs.

Saving your “friends” trick:

After Mother Brain, on your way out (as the planet self-destructs), go into the room where you first received “Bombs” earlier in the game. In this room, there will be the bird that taught you to use the Super Charge Jump in Brinstar and the three Etecoons who taught you do do the Wall Jump in Brinstar. Just shoot the opposite wall, and they will escape. Then, when you get back to your ship, it shows Planet Zebes exploding. Keep your eye on the right side of the screen, and you will see a tiny Space Craft of the friends you saved escaping from the planet.

Variation in Endings

My fastest time of beating the game and obtaining 100% items is 1 hour, 14 minutes, without dying at all and covering 100% of the map. I heard that some have gotten 100% under 1 hour.  If you beat the game in a certain time, you get a different ending. Though this various ending may be around 30 seconds long, it’s still cool.

Beat the game in more than 10 hours: You see Samus, in her suite, while she gives you a thumbs up.

Beat the game between 3 and 10 hours: You see Samus without her helmet on, while she gives you a thumbs up.

Beat the game under 3 hours: You see Samus without her entire suit, while she gives you a thumbs up.

Fan Art

Click on the images below to see them full size.  Most images are from The Metroid Database.

[View with PicLens]

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (1892-1973) was a major scholar of the English language, specializing in Old and Middle English. Twice Professor of Anglo-Saxon (Old English) at the University of Oxford, he also wrote a number of stories, including most famously The Hobbit (1937) and The Lord of the Rings (1954-1955), which are set in a pre-historic era in an invented version of the world which he called by the Middle English name of Middle-earth. This was peopled by Men (and women), Elves, Dwarves, Trolls, Orcs (or Goblins) and of course Hobbits. He has regularly been condemned by the Eng. Lit. establishment, with honorable exceptions, but loved by literally millions of readers worldwide.

Lord of the Rings

The Lord of the Rings is a fantasy saga consisting of three books totaling over a thousand pages. The story takes place during the Third Age of Middle-earth, long ago when magic was still practiced and Elves still dwelt among mortal men. At the story’s beginning there is Bilbo the hobbit, in possession of a magic ring which he had found decades earlier, and which in truth was the One Ring forged thousands of years ago by the Dark Lord Sauron the Great. Much of Sauron’s powers of sorcery were locked within the otherwise ordinary looking ring of gold, and should the ring’s deathless maker ever recover it and place it upon his finger, all that was good and fair in Middle-earth surely would perish under a shadow of evil. Gandalf the Grey, a wizard most wise and of kind heart, learnt of the One Ring’s whereabouts and perilous aspect. Not trusting himself enough to take personal possession of the ring, he left it in the hands of Bilbo, whose innocence and humble nature he reckoned would protect the hobbit from the ring’s corrupting influences long enough until the time was right to move against the Dark Lord.

It was not too long, however, before Sauron began stirring once again in the land of Mordor a thousand miles away. The ring would not be safe in the shire of the hobbits for too many years more, Gandalf knew. In the meantime the ring passed from Bilbo to Frodo, a younger hobbit who established himself in Bilbo’s home at Bag End while the older hobbit went away on one final adventure. The time to act arrives sooner than expected. The One Ring must be taken away from the Shire by Frodo lest it fall into the hands of the Enemy. At Gandalf’s instigation Frodo leaves, accompanied by Sam, Merry, and Pippin. Sauron’s nine Black Riders, or Ringwraiths, pursue them as the four hobbits head eastward, and perilous adventure leads them to places beyond even the most dimly remembered legends of hobbit lore. New allies are found in Elves, Men, Ents, and Dwarves, and new enemies in Orcs, Trolls, a horrific spider, and a misbegotten wretch going by the name of Gollum.

The greatest of Gandalf’s Order of Istari, Saruman the White, reveals his true colors at the most crucial of moments. Wars ravage Middle-earth as the Enemy’s armies begin to assail all who refuse to swear fealty to the Land of Shadow. Final defeat of Gondor, the strongest opponent of Mordor, seems imminent. There is only one way to destroy the One Ring and so dispel the threat of Sauron and his wicked servants once and for all. Cast it into the Crack of Doom within the heart of the very volcano, known as Mount Doom, in whose fires Sauron himself had forged his One Ring so long ago. No heat is hotter, and none could long use the ring against Sauron without becoming a Dark Lord himself. Yet Mount Doom lies in the heart of Mordor, the Black Land in which Sauron even now dwelt. A fool’s hope, Gandalf called it. Yet it was the only hope in all Middle-earth. Who should bear the dreadful ring into the land of ultimate dread? None other than Frodo, a hobbit not four feet tall. A fool’s hope indeed…

The Beginning of Time: History of Lord of the Rings

Morgoth (aka Melkor)
In a time before time Eru, the One, known also as Ilúvatar, created the angelic race of the Ainur, and chief among these were Melkor and Manwë, who were brothers in the mind of Eru. Melkor was the most powerful of the Ainur and early on sought for the Flame Imperishable throughout the Void so that he might create beings of his own to rule over as a lord. The quest was in vain, for the Flame burned within Eru himself, and anger grew in Melkor as he begat wicked thoughts unlike any found among his bretheren who knew not what evil was. When Eru bade the Great Music to be sung Melkor contested it with strains of his own making. Some Ainur, rather than continue with the song that was theirs, chose instead to attune themselves to Melkor; others, gloomed by the dissonance that followed, ceased to sing at all. Thrice Eru began the Music, and thrice Melkor willed it to run awry. Then the music that had been sung was given form by the Flame Imperishable, and a universe of stars was brought forth with one behest: Eä! And within Eä the world called Arda was birthed.

Many of the Ainur then lowered into Arda as Valar with the wish to shape it further, and Melkor went with them as the master of darkness and cold. He lusted to take all of Arda by might, and rule it as a god unto himself. Long did the Valar labor in shaping a world of unmatched fairness, but without letup Melkor strove to sunder what they wrought until at last the First War came to pass, and with the aid of Tulkas the Strong the Valar caused Melkor to forsake Arda and brood awhile in the outer darkness. Though marred now, the shaping of the seas and lands resumed at the hands of the godlike Valar, and two lamps were crafted by them and set upon lofty pillars so that all the world would be bathed in light and warmth. By and by the Valar settled upon the Isle of Almaren in the Great Lake, in the very middle of the land of Middle-earth, and they spelled themselves as Arda lived out the springtime of its history in peace. Unbeknownst to them, however, the wiles of Melkor were at work beyond the scope of their ken, for now more than ever Melkor hated them and was jealous of the paradise they had made for themselves; and driven by his anger he had gathered to his side with webs of lies many Maiar from the halls of Eä. The light of the lamps washed out the shadow which grew in the north and would have told the Valar of the return of their old enemy, for Melkor had become as dark as the Void and his hatred was a blackness unbottomed.

So it was that Melkor dug out his deep stronghold named Utumno, and the blight of his evil spread outward from this far northern place to sicken, twist, and haunt all living things it touched. Ere much longer the Valar grew aware of the waxing wanion, but before they could find the Dark Lord’s hideaway or forearm themselves, Melkor made war upon them, threw down the lamps, brought about earthquakes and floods, and amidst fell wrack and waste put an end to all the symmetry of Arda’s waters and lands forever. As one outcome of this Second War is so happened that Melkor slipped the grasp of Tulkas and stole his way to the nethermost den of Utumno to weather the onslaught of the wrathful Valar whose strength was not enough to overcome its defenses. Giving up the fight, the Valar left the ruins of Almaren and crossed the Great Sea to begin life anew in the land of Aman, also known as Valinor.  Meanwhile darkness reigned in all Middle-earth and Melkor’s foul demons and beasts roamed free and answered only to the will of the Dark Lord who was their supreme master. Long did the Valar mourn the loss of their heaven on Earth, and they were loathe to wield their full strength to undo Melkor since they knew that the Children of Ilúvatar were to come soon and indeed may have already awakened somewhere in the East.

Another war now may cause the killing of these Firstborn, the Elves, who would be helpless against the rages of grappling gods. Yet they feared that by not acting, the Elves would swiftly fall into the clutches of cruel Melkor and be either destroyed or perverted. Melkor also knew about the coming of the Elves, and his servants searched for them tirelessly throughout Middle-earth in hopes of finding them before the Valar could, and make them subjects of the Dark Lord, add to his might, and do battle against his hated kin. Oftentimes Melkor himself would stride upon the land under the twilight of the faraway stars which the Vala named Varda had wrought in Eä ere the shaping of the world. Many of the Maiar whom he kept nearest to him in the pits of Utumno grew so hot with the undying hatred of their master they became spirits of fire wielding whips of flame, in later days to be called Balrogs by those who knew of them. Not far from the northwest shore of Middle-earth the foundation of Angband was laid, and Sauron, mightiest of all Maiar and first lieutenant of Melkor, was sent to command that stronghold.

Balrogs
Balrogs were Maiar spirits who were drawn in by the lies and hatred of Melkor, and did the bidding of the Dark Lord throughout the days of his greatness until his final downfall and banishment into the Void. The Elves called them Valaraukar, the “demons of might”, often to be found at the forefront of fell armies in times of war. Their most horrific weapon was the many-thronged whip of fire whose reach was far and striking power most deadly. Towering terrors, Balrogs had manes of flame, were shrouded in shadows, and might well have had wings (though this is a matter of much speculation). It was a swarm of Balrogs who answered the cry of Morgoth in the ice waste to the north of Middle-earth when he was beset by Ungoliant. So furious was their attack and so great their number, the Great Spider had no choice but to turn away and flee Middle-earth without the Silmarils she lusted to consume.

The worst of this race of demons was Gothmog, Lord of the Balrogs and High Captain of Angband. It was Gothmog who slew three High Elven-lords on the field with fiery whip or sword of flame. Fearsome was he, till at last he was slain during the sack of the Noldor kingdom of Gondolin by the high-captain Ecthelion, whom he nevertheless killed as his final deed as a thing of flesh. When the War of Wrath fell upon the realm of Morgoth, the Balrogs fought their last great battle, and some of the few who were not slain fled and hid themselves deep beneath the roots of Middle-earth’s highest mountains. Thousands of years then passed without any spoor of them to be found, until the Dwarves of Moria in the Misty Mountains, in their zeal to mine a rich vein of mithril, roused one from its slumber and caused catastrophe to befall them all. This Balrog, awakened and loose within the mines, gathered to itself hosts of Orcs and Trolls, and two hundred years later set upon the Fellowship of the Ring at the bridge of Khazad-dûm ere it could make its way to freedom unscathed. Then Gandalf the Grey, an Istari and himself a Maia spirit, bade the Balrog to return from whence it came. It did not, but rather leapt forth, and the bridge was broken by the power of the wizard and both plunged down into an abyss. Gandalf then pursued the Balrog to the summit of Zirak-zigil at the top of the Endless Stair, grappled with it, and cast it down the side of the mountain to its doom.

Dragons
Dragons were created during the First Age of the Sun by Morgoth in the pits of Angband through the use of fire and sorcery. The first kind of these Great Worms to be unleashed upon the luckless folk of Middle-earth were the slithering Cold-Drakes who fought with fangs and coiled grip, and their sheer size, numbers, and malevolent intelligence saw to it that much havoc was wrought throughout the land for centuries to come. Yet Morgoth sought ever to hone the edges of his evil works, and so it was that he later loosed Cold-drakes that could walk, run, and even fly upon great wings as the Eagles do. Then, at some time known by none the Dark Lord wrought in secrecy his most masterful terror, the mighty Fire-drake which could throw deadly flames from its own weasand. The eldest of these Urulóki was Glaurung the Golden, the Father of Dragons. Much sorrow and ruin did Glaurung cause in his days, and he was to be found at the Battle of the Sudden Flame as well as the Battle of Unnumbered Tears, and was the undoer of the armies of Nargothrond and dwelt long thereafter in the great hall of his smitten foes amidst a hoard of gold and other treasures. As with many other Dragons, Glaurung’s eyes could cast spells of forgetfulness upon those that beheld them, and even enthrall the wills of others and so bring them to commit ill deeds or suffer an evil end. Túrin, Nienor, and Finduilas were all gravely wronged by means of this bewitchment, but the march of events came at last full circle when sheer cunning gave Túrin the opening to drive the blade of his sword into the beast’s belly up to the hilt, and so put an end to his wicked earthly life.

The mightiest Dragon ever to rend the skies of the world was one Ancalagon the Black, the first of the winged Fire-drakes. Ancalagon came forth at the van of a host of other Dragons of like breed to muster the last defense of Angband during the War of Wrath. Yet the hosts of the West were mightier still, and after a bloody battle Ancalagon was slain as he flew, and his tremendous body fell upon Thangorodrim and laid it to waste. For long while was naught heard of Dragons after the Valar bound Melkor and cast him forevermore into the Void.  Then, during the Third Age of the Sun, Dragons were known to be lurking in the icy wasteland north of the Grey Mountains of Middle-earth. Strongest of these was Scatha the Worm, a Cold-drake who led is brood of lesser kin into the Dwarf kingdoms of the mountains, killed many of the inhabitants and scattered the rest, and took hold of their piles of gold, mithril, gems, and other glittering riches.

After time the Dwarves returned to wrest back what was theirs and slay Scatha and many of the others. Later in the Third Age there came from the North one Smaug the Golden, a Fire-drake most magnificent with wings of a bat and scales which could not be bored through by any weapon of Men at the time. He had only one soft spot, the underbelly, which was crusted with gemstones. Swooping down upon Erebor, he lit afire and sacked the town of Dale, then went on to the Dwarf kingdom which nestled at the foot of the Lonely Mountain and either smote or drove away all who dwelt there. For two hundred years what became known as the Desolation of Smaug reigned over a wide swath of Middle-earth ere a band of treasure-hunting Dwarves accompanied by one Hobbit named Bilbo Baggins roused him from his slumber. Wroth by the theft of a part of his hoard as well as his inability to deal a swift death to the thieves, Smaug took flight and brought the fight to the Lake Men of Esgaroth. A well-aimed arrow from Bard the Bowman struck him in the one place where his belly was not shielded by a gemstone, however, whereafter the Dragon plunged into the Long Lake and his life was forever quenched by its waters.

Trolls
Trolls are thought to have been created by Melkor in the nethermost pits of Angband, or perhaps earlier in Utumno, so that his fell legions could have within their ranks a kind of warrior whose size and strength were a match for the Ents. Indeed, Trolls may well have been made from Ents whom the Dark Lord had captured and twisted in body and mind, much like Orcs had derived from corrupted elvish stock. Ever hungering for meat and voracious man-eaters, Trolls can stand over ten feet tall and have hides nigh as hard as rock; their weakness, however, lay ever in their stupidity and fear of light. The spells which had brought Trolls forth into the world are said to have been uttered in uttermost darkness, so in darkness these beings had always to dwell, and keep themselves in caves during the daytime lest a single shaft of sunlight in their eyes literally turn their bodies into lifeless stone forever. How this happened may have had something to do with the natural armor of their outsides growing into their innards and crushing them to the core.

During the Ages of Starlight, Trolls openly roamed Middle-earth alongside Orcs, Wolves, Balrogs, and other wicked minions of the fallen Vala whom the Noldor named Morgoth. Lumbering brutes who lusted for raw flesh and the thrill of a kill, they took to no tongue save broken shards of the Black Speech and perhaps grunts and growls understood only between their own kind. To throw them down by dint of might was nearly an impossible feat to achieve; however, those with some wits about them could oftentimes take advantage of a Troll’s blunt intelligence and beat them through sheer guile and trickery. Only upon the advent of the First Age of the Sun did Trolls have to beware of when they were out and where the nearest shelter was, and they could no longer take part in conflicts which happened during the day.  During the Battle of Unnumbered Tears, Trolls in great numbers made up the bodyguard which begirded the dreaded Gothmog, Lord of the Balrogs. Having no weapons other than the use of their huge arms as clubs, Trolls fought with a savagery and recklessness which to a great degree made up for their lack of skill and cunning. Trolls lived on in Middle-earth after the War of Wrath and the overthrown of Melkor in Angband. As with all the other fell beasts and minions of the first Dark Lord, they hid themselves principally in the east of the land beyond Beleriand, keeping themselves in caves, mountains, the snowbound northern wastelands, and faraway hills.

Having no master, they fended for themselves either alone or in small bands, until in the Second Age the new Dark Lord Sauron came forth and summoned to himself all evil things which would bow to his will. Trolls were among the hordes which mustered in Mordor and marched against Elves and those among Men who were the friends of Elves. To make the hulking brutes more suited to the needs of an organized military campaign, the Lord of the Rings bestowed to them wits markedly better honed than in days of yore, so that they presented a greater peril than ever to those who were their foes. Their language skills improved, and as a rule they did not lend themselves quite so easily to being tricked. Yet still, even in the Third Age, it was possible for Gandalf the Grey to set three Trolls who dwelt in the Trollshaws of Eriador to quarreling amongst themselves until they were caught by the light of the rising sun and turned to stone.  These Trolls both understood and spoke the Westron tongue used commonly by men and hobbits. Still, shortly before the outbreak of the War of the Ring, Sauron further enhanced the old Troll formula until he wrought what he called the Olog-hai. Capable of amazing wiliness and deft in battle despite their great bulk, they spoke fluently the Black Speech and bore enormous shields and crushing hammers. Most revolutionary of all, this new race of Trolls was unafraid of sunlight and could face it openly without being harmed in any way. Forth into war these berserkers went, and no blade save those steeled with an Elvish magic could cut through their armor-like hides and visit death upon them. Once they slew a foe it was their wont to use fang and claw to drink the blood and eat the meat of the body. Their terrific mental acumen, however, was born of a spell uttered by the Dark Lord in the Barad-dûr, and once the One Ring was cast into the Cracks of Doom and melted to nothing, the spell was broken and all the Olog-hai were stripped of their senses. None are thought to have survived for long thereafter, though it is likely that some Trolls of the ordinary kind still lived well into the Fourth Age.

Orcs
After the Awakening of Elves at the beginning of the First Age of the Stars, it is said that Melkor’s dark servants stole many of them away to the Pits of Utumno so that their master could commit a deed that would prove to be his greatest sin against Eru. He took these newborn, pure-hearted Elves and over many years of torment and terror came to twist them into creatures foul in body and fell in spirit. Thus was the race of Orcs forged in the fiery smithy of the Dark Lord’s eternal hatred, deep beneath Middle-earth beyond the ken of the other Valar far away in the West. Having been wrought from the flesh and souls of the Children of Iluvatar, it is unclear whether Orcs were physically immortal as the Elves were. They could well be slain, however; and in light of the unmatched swiftness at which they bred it seems unlikely their hideously perverted frames were made so as to be able to stave off wear and death for more than a few decades. Indeed, it may well have been that the Orcs gained their stunning aptitude for multiplying from forced hybridizations with those among the mortal race of Men whom Melkor undoubtedly ensnared soon after their Awakening when the First Age of the Sun dawned. As for the spirits of Orcs, whether they go to the Halls of Mandos after death as Elves do when a fatal mischance befalls them is wholly a matter of speculation. Black-blooded, swarthy, and crooked in build as much as savage in behavior, Orcs were unstinting besteaders of evil so long as they lived, and their fierce hosts were the mainstays of the Great Enemy Morgoth’s armies thoughout the Elder Days.

They hated their master, but fear of him ruled their every deed and drove them time and again to slaughter by the thousands under the blades of their foes. Warriors they were through and through, destruction and killing being the only joys they knew during their usually brief and brutal lives. All Orcs hated Elves, and the speech of Elves could oft nigh cause their ears to bleed as fast as lembas could bring them to vomit. When an Elf met one of these irredeemable ghouls upon the field he never stayed the mortal blow. No one Orc was ever a match for an Elven warrior, though their vast strength in numbers proved on many occasions to be the deciding factor in a contest of arms. Orcs typically were afraid of the sun, for its bright light burnt their skin easily and struck pain into their nighttime eyes. Because of this they tended to dwell at first mainly in the underground fortresses of Utumno or Angband to the north; but later on they dug for themselves sprawling networks of tunnels and caverns in the hearts of mighty mountains off to the east and south of Middle-earth. Even before the birth of the sun, however, Orcs were already posing a grave threat to the land of Beleriand off to the west, where the kingdom of Thingol and Melian held sway. Then in the Fourth Age of the Stars, though Utumno had long since been undone by the Valar and Melkor chained and removed to the Undying Lands, the Orcs tirelessly championed his cause by waging a waxing war against the Elves. Armed with scimitars, pikes, arrows, and daggers, they came forth as an onrushing horde bearing shields of steel and sturdy helmets, and the Elves were hard-pressed to drive them away though drive them away they handily did once Dwarves bedighted them with the needed weaponry.

Spiders
Ungoliant was the first and most fearsome Spider that ever strode upon Arda. It is said that long ago she was among those whom Melkor had corrupted into his service, and so it may well be that she was a Maia spirit; but after awhile she spurned her master and went whithersoever she would in a quest to fill a great emptiness within her. Out of the darkness which ensphered Arda she descended unseen at a time marked by none, settling in a ravine in the waste land of Avathar far to the south of Aman where the cold sea met sheer cliffs lost in endless twilight. There she took on the shape of an eight-legged monster to be later called a Spider in the speech of Men. Long she abode in her crack in the earth, weaving webs of Dark out of Light and remaining beyond the ken of the Valar who watched ever toward the North for the evils of the world. Then Melkor came at a time when she had consumed all light around her and was drawing nigh starvation, and he promised to give her all she could ever want if she would bestead him in a terrible act of revenge against the Lords of the West. So once again Ungoliant went into the service of the Dark Lord, and she took part in the destruction of the Trees of the Valar called Telperion and Laurelin. Darkness and great fear then fell upon Valinor, and try as the Valar might the Shadow about their city threw them into despair and rendered useless all sight.

The Enemy escaped with his accomplice across the Ice Waste to the north and returned to Middle-earth. It was then that Ungoliant made it clear to Melkor that the lifeblood of the Trees had not been enough to sate her hunger, and she demanded that he feed her the jewels he had stolen from the house of Feanor. This Melkor did freely until he was asked finally to relinquish the three Silmarils as well, at which point he balked and the Spider whom he had given so much of his own power beset him. The Vala’s roar echoed throughout all the land, whereupon Balrogs swarmed about the vast black monster and drove her away southward. So it was that Ungoliant settled in a place called Nun Dungortheb (the Valley of Dreadful Death) and birthed many daughter Spiders lesser than herself in size and might, but dreadful still in the reckoning of Elves and Men. When the War of Wrath broke out and Melkor’s final undoing was worked by the Lords of the West, Beleriand was flooded by the sea and few Spiders survived to carry on the line. Nevertheless survive some of them did, the most terrific being one known as Shelob the Great.

Throughout the Second and Third Age Shelob lurked in a pitch-black den in Cirith Ungol, the pass through the Mountains of Shadow which led to the Land of Mordor. There she preyed on anyone—good or bad, mortal or no—who dared to try entering or leaving Sauron’s realm by that perilous passage. Many offspring did she have, all lesser than herself, and almost all to be found haunting either the forest of Mirkwood or the mountains begirding Mordor. Around the year 3000 of the Third Age she struck a deal with Gollum in which the latter was to lead unwary wayfarers to the lair of the former either in return for his own life or perhaps nothing at all. Why Gollum was spared the fate of so many others who had haplessly fallen into the Great Spider’s webs is not wholly known, and it may have been that he had sought her out or she had bewitched him with some evil spell.

Whatever may be the truth of the matter, Gollum stayed true to his word at least this one time and led the hobbits Frodo and Sam to Cirith Ungol where they nearly met their doom. Yet death did not visit the hardy hobbits when Shelob beset them in the darkness of her lair as a deed of blackest malevolence. Her poison paralyzed Frodo, but before she could feed upon his flesh Master Samwise came upon her in a rush of rage. He hewed at her several times with an elven blade until the terrible monster withdrew at last, and what happened to her afterward is largely a matter of speculation. In all likelihood, however, she died of her wounds in the selfsame lightless cavern in which she had dwelt for so many millennia. As for the spawn of Shelob, only those which infested a broad swath of Mirkwood enter into the tale of the hobbits who bore the One Ring in the years before and during the final war against Sauron. They were lesser Spiders in both girth and strength, and many of them, too, fell to a hobbit (this time Bilbo) running amock with a weapon of elven keenness. After the slaying of Smaug, the triumph of good during the Battle of Five Armies, the flight of the Necromancer out of Dol Guldur, and the rise of the Wood Elves of Mirkwood, it may well be that all these Spiders were put at last to an end.

Sauron
So it is written that of old there was Sauron the Maia, known also at other times by sundry races as the Enemy, the Dark Lord of Mordor, the Black Hand, the Lidless Eye, the Lord of the Rings, and the Nameless One. Sauron, meaning “the abhorred”, was a master deceiver and so was even called for a time Annatar, “the giver of gifts”. All these names are names of dread in the lore of the wise, for they belong to a dread spirit whose everlasting fall into the orbit of Melkor’s undying evil came to pass ere the world was first shaped by Eru. At first a Maia spirit of the Vala called Aulë, Sauron became Melkor’s foremost lieutenant during the Ages of Darkness, and had full command of the icy realm of Angband in the north of Middle-earth on into the Ages of Stars. Over thousands of years Sauron besteaded his forold master with a loyalty none could sway, and was to be seen at the van of many a fell thrust upon the field in time of warfare against the enemies of the Arda’s original Enemy. Yet open battle was not where Sauron worked his worst; rather, it was under cloak of shadow and lie, looking as one who is fair whilst wiles of wickedness wheeled within. Of all the Maiar Sauron was the most mighty, a shapeshifting sorceror who has taken on the most forms and shades, donning the body of wolf, serpent, and vampire as well as the aspects of Elf, friend, ally, and unseen specter.

When the War of Wrath was unleashed and Melkor (now known as Morgoth) was defeated and cast forever out into the Void by the Valar at the end of the First Age, Sauron at first seemed repentant and willing to make amends for his long history of misdeeds. When told, however, that he must betake himself to Valinor and face the judgement of Manwë, he grew afraid and slipped away to the far east of the mortal lands to hide in shadows until it became evident that the Valar had largely removed themselves from the affairs of Middle-earth. Perceiving a vacuum he yearned to fill, he emerged again in the fifth century of the Second Age in the shape of a mysterious Elf going by the name Annatar. After a thousand years of walking among the Noldor, he taught the Elven-smiths dwelling in Eregion the craft of ringmaking, and got them to forge waxingly cunning rings harboring magical abilities until at last the art was honed to uttermost keenness and the Rings of Power were wrought. Sauron then made himself lord of these Great Rings through the creation of the One Ring using the fires of Mount Doom in the land of Mordor. The Rings of Power were to be used, or so the Elves had hoped, to lift Middle-earth above barbarism and want, and shape it as a land whose richness and beauty would rival that of Valinor itself. Soon they sensed the treachery, however, and took off their rings lest they become thralls to the One Ring made to rule them all. Angered by the unyielding Elves of Eregion, Sauron made war upon them with an unwithstandable onslaught of beastly hosts, and recovered the Nine Great Rings as well as the Seven, but the Three which he had no hand in forging and so were still pure were hidden beyond his grasp and never used so long as the Dark Lord possessed the One. The Nine he gave to mortal Men doomed to die.

These Men became great sorcerors in their time, wielding powers which they could not resist so that after long centuries their spirits succumbed wholly to the will of the One, and they faded from the world of the living to walk as wraiths whose very breath was of pure terror. The Seven the Dark Lord gave to the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone, and though he reaped some behoof from the seeds of dissent his influence sowed between Dwarves and other folk, he nonetheless found them to be stubborn and hard to bend to his will. The Dwarf-lords used the powers of their rings to build hoards of treasure which the Dragons later plundered, and four of the Seven were consumed by their fire while the rest Sauron gathered back to himself. The One Sauron kept upon his own finger, and he used it to consolidate his power in Mordor and expand his dominion over the barbarians dwelling in the lands of Middle-earth which were far from the seashores.

At last the Númenóreans launched a massive invasion which forced his surrender and resulted in his capture and imprisonment. Foolishly these long-lived and mighty Men brought the sorcerous Maia back to the island of Westernesse, and their king often lent him his ear and so over time became seduced by Sauron’s webs of trickery. Though a prisoner, Sauron was nonetheless in a better position to undo his foes than he ever was as a sovereign tyrant in the heart of Middle-earth. He convinced the Númenóreans to set sail for the land of Aman which was forbidden to mortals, and so brought upon them the wrath of Iluvatar which sunk all the island of Númenor to the bottom of the sea. Sauron’s body was also destroyed during this cataclysm, and ever after he lost the ability to assume fair form, and so instead appeared in forms foul, burnt, and encased in armor. Taking up again the reins of terror in the Black Land, he strove to conquer all Middle-earth by attrition over the course of centuries, but the Last Alliance of Men and Elves broke him, and the One Ring was cut from his hand while his spirit was borne by a gale of thwarted lusting toward the south of Mirkwood where he became known as the Necromancer of Dol Guldur throughout much of the Third Age by those who did not recognize him for what he was. Two thousand years passed before Sauron arose once again and took its place within the bitter crown of the newly rebuilt Barad-dûr in Mordor. The War of the Ring was swift and bloody, and ended in the final defeat of Melkor’s most terrible commander.

Nazgul
To nine mortal men doomed to die the Dark Lord Sauron gave Rings of Power as gifts; however, these Rings were wrapped in a great lie which would cost the takers their bodies and souls. The story of the Ringwraiths is a long one, and is woven into the tale of the One Rings itself through and through. The Rings of Power were wrought under the eye and oftentimes helping hand of Sauron around the year 1500 of the Second Age of the Sun, and nine of these were given to Men by the wicked-hearted Maia nigh two hundred years later as he cast his great shadow toward the east and south of Middle-earth, upon the lands where benighted Easterling and Haradrim warrior tribes strove and throve amid barbarism and cruelty. Those unto whom the Nine were bestowed became great kings and sorcerors who lived many times the span of their kith, kin, and foes, and at first their wills could have their way with the craft harbored within each Ring, and they wielded them as tools to reap behoof for themselves and slake every thirsting, selfish want. Centuries crept by, and so slowly it slipped the ken of mortals the Rings bent the will of their wearers toward a new bearing that served only one master: the Lord of the Rings who bore the One Ring to rule them all, Sauron.

As the wills of the Nine faded under the power of the One, so too faded their bodies of flesh which had so long thwarted death. These Nine became wraiths unseen by the eyes of the living, themselves neither truly alive nor truly dead. Naught stirred in them save an unwavering zeal to bestead the Dark Lord in every war and misdeed he spun in his dark mind. Utterly evil and beyond redemption they became, with no hue of sorrow or taint of pity left in whatever shreds of manhood which the winds of hatred hadn’t fully stripped from the bones of their being. Having fallen under the shadow of the Dark Lord, they were no more than shadows themselves. In the Black Speech they were called the Nazgûl, or Ringwraiths in the common tongue.

By the twenty-third century of the Second Age the nine Nazgûl became known to the world and reached their way into the lore of fair folk of many lands. Those who beheld them were often stricken by fright, for neither helm nor cloak seemed held up by flesh and bone. Only emptiness was there to see where a head was looked for, save for the blood-red glow of two eyes that burned with a hatred that would not die. As wraiths the Nine could not be touched by living hand or slain by workaday weaponry, and indeed to be touched by a wraith was to catch the chill of death itself, and all arms of mortal make shattered when they smote upon them. The Black Breath of the Nazgûl could overwhelm their foes with horror and woe, and sap them of all will to either fight or take flight. None could withstand them, and their deadliness was worst when all of them were together. Only Elves, immortal and skilled in what Men called magic, stood any chance of undoing them; but the Ringwraiths were cunning and would not allow themselves to be drawn into any such match out in the open.

Saruman
Saruman the White was the head of the Istari, known to Men as the Order of Wizards. Of old a Maia spirit named Curumo in the service of Aulë the Smith, Saruman was one of five Maiar chosen by the Valar to jouney to the Mortal Lands around the year 1000 of the Third Age in order to influence events and help rally the folk who dwelt there to rise up against the sorceror Sauron, also once a Maia of Aulë, and his many dark minions. For centuries he wandered far and wide in robes white as fleece, and came to be known as wise and fair among Elves, Men, Dwarves, and even Ents. Ever he sought to find a means by which Middle-earth might overcome the Dark Lord who was known to still exist and was sure to take shape again and make war whether he possessed the One Ring or not. Of all the Wizards (of which there were five) Saruman studied most deeply the forgotten lore of the ancient Rings of Power. He became bewitched by the might and mastery which the One seemed to offer to its bearer, and thereafter grew waxingly obsessed with the idea of having it for himself should it ever be found again.

In time he gave up his wanderings and took to dwelling high up in the Tower of Orthanc at Isengard, weaving dreams of using the One against its maker in Mordor and setting himself up as the new Lord of the Rings. Though still lost to history, the One began already to gnaw on a Maia of high stature atop an impregnable tower even as it had gnawed for uncounted years upon a lowly wretch of hobbit stock named Gollum beneath the Misty Mountains. It was Saruman, indeed, who spoke out against moving in on the Necromancer in Dol Guldur once it was learnt by the Istari that this evil being lurking amonst the trees of southern Mirkwood was none other than Sauron the Ring Lord creating for himself a new though misbegotten body. Unbeknownst to Gandalf or anyone else at the time, Saruman wished for Sauron to be left alone only so that his spies might track the movements of the Dark Lord’s servants; for the Wizard was aware that the Ringwraiths, especially, were drawn by the One Ring, and it was his secret hope that if he waited and watched long enough, he may happen to uncover the Ring before its shadowy maker could.

However, as Sauron gathered strength with each year and the Ring’s whereabouts continued to elude all who undertook to seek it, it became clear even to him that to postpone action any further was to the advantage of none save the Enemy. So at last the Istari struck at Dol Guldur, and Sauron fled from there to his ancient stronghold in Mordor Giving himself to pride and ambition, Saruman strayed from his ordained mission in heart and mind, and, turning instead to evil, became in time the unwitting thrall of Sauron upon gazing once too often into the Seeing Stone of Orthanc and encountering the glare of the Lidless Eye. The true colors of Saruman the White were revealed shortly before the onset of the War of the Ring. He held captive Gandalf the Grey, who had come to warn him of the urgency of their once common cause against the Enemy. He raised armies of Orcs under the banner of the White Hand, and with them waged war against the Men of Rohan. However, Saruman had paid scant heed to Middle-earth’s natural forces and spirits, and so it was that an Eagle came and bore Gandalf away beyond his grasp.

Later the Huorns helped destroy Saruman’s faltering armies while the Ents issued out of Fangorn forest and threw down the defenses begirding the Orthanc, thereby making him a prisoner within his own walls. In the end, indeed, it was his own downtrodden lackey Grima Wormtongue, a mortal man, who slit his throat from behind and so finished his physical existence. Saruman only saw danger from high places before him, and ever and again underestimated or discounted altogether the capabilities of those upon whom he stepped. The voice of Saruman was known for having a special power which could cast a spell upon the unwary or weak-willed. In some ways Wormtongue could be regarded as the “Mouth of Saruman”, for he was a servant of the Wizard, and it was his weaseling words which had sapped King Theoden of his self-will and fighting strength for so long a time. Even after Saruman’s staff was broken by a victorious Gandalf the White, he continued to wield a potent force of persuasion which won him in short order control of all the Shire for a brief while after the destruction of the One Ring.

Tolkien Fan Art

A few famous artists, inspired by Tolkien’s works, made art collections on how they perceived Tolkien’s works.  The art below is before the movies, of course.  My favorites are Ted Nasmith’s, though a couple great classics are from John Howe and Hildebrandt.  See below.

• John Howe’s Art

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• Ted Nasmith’s Art

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• Hildebrandt’s Art

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Atlanta/New York City

When: Summer 2010

Road trip to New York City from California; we hit Las Vegas, Denver, Chicago, Cleveland, Washington D.C. along the way.  Later went to Atlanta to hit the biggest clubs in the country.  Then went to NYC again.  Slept on many couches, took many buses and trains to get around.  I met lots of really cool people.

Berkeley & San Francisco, California

When: August 2008

I traveled to Berkeley, California to present at the 16th Annual McNair Research Conference at University of California (UC), Berkeley.  I went with my cohort of fellow students (and University of Arizona McNair Assistant Director, Nura) to present our research we all did over summer 2008.  In San Francisco all the McNair Scholars from the country were invited on a cruise ship to cruise underneath the Golden Gate Bridge and around Alcatraz.

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Budapest, Hungary

When: October, 2007

I traveled to Budapest, Hungary on my own in 2007 to compete in the 2007 Rubik’s World Championships.  See pictures and details in the Rubik’s Cube section.

Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

When: June 2007 - August 2007

I spent a summer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA as an assistant researcher for a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program at the University of Minnesota.  I worked at the St. Anthony Falls Laboratory.

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Rome, Italy

When: May 2007 - June 2007

I spent four weeks in Italy for a study abroad physics program run by Clemson University; three in Paderno del Grappa, and over the weekends I traveled to Rome and other places.  One of the weekends I traveled to Rome to compete in the 2007 Rubik’s Italian Open, but details about this are in the Rubik’s section.  For the fourth week we all spent our time in Trieste, Italy to work at Elettra, a national Sychotron laboratory.

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Vienna, Austria

When: June 2007

While in Italy, over one of the weekends a few buddies and I took a train to Vienna, Austria for a weekend.  Below are images of Vienna when I was there for one weekend.

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San Diego, California, USA

When: December 2006

During winter break in 2006 I spontaneously decided to drive to San Diego for an adventure with a girl I recently met.  I drove there in my 1990, beat up Mustang convertible.

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Orlando, Florida

When: November 2005

I went with my dad and grandpa to Disney World to compete in the 2005 Rubik’s World Championships.  See the Rubik’s Cube section for more pictures and details.

Toronto, Canada

When: August 2003

I went with my dad to the 2003 Rubik’s “Games” World Championships.  See the Rubik’s Cube section for more pictures and details.

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International Conference on Thinking XI

When: Summer 2003

After my sophomore year at Marana High School I was invited to the International Conference on Thinking XI in Phoenix, Arizona.   It was here I got my book “Hyperspace” signed by Michio Kaku.

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Feel free to reach me at: brent [at] brentsuniverse [dot] com.  See below for other links.

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