Having just checked the schedule for the upcoming two weeks on the TiVo, let me just say:
You guys suck donkey for having another two weeks of Buffy repeats. Especially after that Giles-crappy "Lies My Parents Told Me" episode.
That is all.
March 31, 2003
March 28, 2003
Maybe tomorrow
My mind is like a complete blank. Not much on my mind lately. I just don't have anything to say recently. I've just been letting everything happen without me lately.
Current Mood: bored
Entry courtesy of The Brunching Shuttlecocks.
Current Mood: bored
Entry courtesy of The Brunching Shuttlecocks.
March 27, 2003
Favorites Countdown Meme
And yes, they are my current favorites despite their being out for several years...
- 10 current favorite songs
"Disconnected" - Face to Face
"Further" - VNV Nation
"Beloved" - VNV Nation
"The Sun Always Shines on TV" - a-ha
"Chesterfield King" - Jawbreaker
"Bleeder" - Hot Water Music covering Alkaline Trio
"Queen of Pain" - Alkaline Trio
"The Wedding Night" - Patrick Doyle from the Score to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
"Dancing in the Rain" - Patrick Doyle from the Score Great Expectations
"La Noyée" - Yann Tiersen from the Score to Amélie - 9 all-time favorite movies
The Usual Suspects, Swingers, The Legend of Fong Sai Yuk, When Harry Met Sally, Raising Arizona, The Empire Strikes Back, The Matrix, Great Expectations, and Rear Window. - 8 all-time favorite TV shows
Cupid, Buffy, Angel, Gargoyles, Reboot, Party of Five, My So-Called Life, and Futurama. - 7 current favorite CD's
No Division, by Hot Water Music
Amélie, by Yann Tiersen
Futureperfect, by VNV Nation
Big Choice, by Face to Face
Through Being Cool, by Saves the Day
The Honesty Room, by Dar Williams
Alkaline Trio/Hot Water Music Split - 6 favorite places to visit
Boston, Whistler, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, and Gainesville, FL. - 5 girls that rock your socks
Eliza Dushku, Lauren Graham, Paula Marshall, The Woman of My Dreams, and The Great Love of My Life. - 4 things you absolutely can't live without
TiVo, High Speed Internet (yes, I'm an addict),
Friends and Family, and some means of vision correction (glasses/contacts). - 3 favorite beverages
Coca-Cola, Water, and a Ketel One & Tonic - 2 all-time favorite books
The Cider House Rules, John Irving and Maison Ikkoku, Rumiko Takahashi - 1 item you never leave home without
My wallet
Less Talk, More Monkey
The Hsiaoshank Redemption is a Haggis-Eating Sumo Monkey with a Battle Rating of 8.8.
Unleash your own Food-Eating Battle Monkey.
Unleash your own Food-Eating Battle Monkey.
March 26, 2003
Having just watched the latest Buffy...
I've pretty much got nothing substantive to say about the episode, but I have to ask...
What the fuck was that?
Despite my role as the archivist, I've really gotten out of the habit of actually reading the things that the writers post on the Bronze--I mean, usually when I do, it's full of shout-outs and (self) congratulatory blurbs. So I'm not really up and up on the whole David Fury debacle that happened a while ago (last year?? two years ago??).
But it seems to me that a major point of this episode for Spike was not unlike Xander asking Vamp!Willow about his alter-ego in the Wishverse, and then saying "Oh yeah, I'm bad!" All the spells and lies and plotting is just Fury giving us edgy Spike.
Great. Spike's baaad. Whoop-de-do.
And who the hell was that talking to Wood in the basement and then Buffy in the cemetary? It certainly wasn't Giles...
What the fuck was that?
Despite my role as the archivist, I've really gotten out of the habit of actually reading the things that the writers post on the Bronze--I mean, usually when I do, it's full of shout-outs and (self) congratulatory blurbs. So I'm not really up and up on the whole David Fury debacle that happened a while ago (last year?? two years ago??).
But it seems to me that a major point of this episode for Spike was not unlike Xander asking Vamp!Willow about his alter-ego in the Wishverse, and then saying "Oh yeah, I'm bad!" All the spells and lies and plotting is just Fury giving us edgy Spike.
Great. Spike's baaad. Whoop-de-do.
And who the hell was that talking to Wood in the basement and then Buffy in the cemetary? It certainly wasn't Giles...
Seven Deadly Sins Meme
Found from a FOAF. Gwyneth Paltrow's Head not included.
Wrath
1. Who did you last get angry with?
2. What is your weapon of choice? Sarcasm
3. Would you hit a member of the opposite sex? Not again.
4. How about of the same sex? Sure.
5. Who was the last person who got really angry at you? My father.
6. What is your pet peeve? People who don't listen.
Sloth
1. What is one thing you're supposed to do daily that you haven't done in a long time? Wash the dishes.
2. What is the latest you've ever woken up? 5 or 6 pm.
3. Name a person you've been meaning to contact, but haven't? Zuaelie
4. What is the last lame excuse you made? I can do it tomorrow...
5. Have you ever watched an infomercial all the way through (one of the long ones...)? Yes.
6. When was the last time you got in a good workout? A good workout? I'm not sure. I got some cardio in on Monday.
7. How many times did you hit the snooze button on your alarm clock today? None. But I sat in bed on the computer and listening to the morning show for about an hour...
Gluttony
1. What is your overpriced yuppie beverage of choice? A Chai Latte.
2. Meat eaters: Three words: Fogo de Chao
3. What is the greatest amount of alcohol you've had in one sitting/outing/event? Probably about eight drinks which may have included Long Island Iced Teas.
4. Have you ever used a professional diet company? No.
5. Do you have an issue with your weight? I could lose some tubbiness.
6. Do you prefer sweets, salty foods, or spicy foods? Yes.
7. Have you ever looked at a small house pet or child and thought lunch? Uhhh.... no.
Lust
1. How many people have you seen naked (not counting movies/family)? Around ten or so. [Ed: in a private setting... Probably over 100 at strip clubs.]
2. How many people have seen YOU naked (not counting physicians/family?) Around seven or so.
3. Have you ever caught yourself staring at the chest/crotch of a member of your gender of choice during a normal conversation? Of course.
4. Have you "done it"? Yes.
5. What is your favorite body part on a person of your gender of choice? Either the clitoris or the G-spot, because I know how to find them both.
6. Have you ever been propositioned by a prostitute? Yes.
7. Have you ever had to get tested for an STD or pregnancy? Had to? No. Gotten tested? Yes.
Greed
1. How many credit cards do you own? Three.
2. What's your guilty pleasure store? Best Buy.
3. If you had £1 million, what would you do with it? Buy some better consumer electronics. Help out some unemployed buddies. Save the rest.
4. Would you rather be rich, or famous? Rich.
5. Would you accept a boring job if it meant you would make megabucks? Yes.
6. Have you ever stolen anything? Yes.
7. How many MP3s are on your hard drive? On this computer 386.
Pride
1. What's one thing you have done that you're most proud of? I wrote this.
2. What one thing have you done that your parents are most proud of? Either that I finished my Master's Degree, or that I keep my car in relative good shape for its 120 thousand miles.
3. What thing would you like to accomplish in your life? Sell a novel or a screenplay.
4. Do you get annoyed by coming in second place? Not particularly.
5. Have you ever entered a contest of skill, knowing you were of much higher skill than all the other competitors? Nope.
6. Have you ever cheated on something to get a higher score? Yes.
7. What did you do today that you're proud of? I redid my friends page style to something that I like.
Envy
1. What item (or person) of your friends would you most want to have for your own? The Woman of My Dreams.
2. Who would you want to go on 'Trading Spaces' with? ::shrugs::
3. If you could be anyone else in the world, who would you be?
4. Have you ever been cheated on? Yes.
5. Have you ever wished you had a physical feature different from your own? Yes.
6. What inborn trait do you see in others that you wish you had for yourself? Extroversion.
7. Do you wish you'd come up with this survey? Not particularly.
Finally, what is your favorite deadly sin? Lust.
Wrath
1. Who did you last get angry with?
2. What is your weapon of choice? Sarcasm
3. Would you hit a member of the opposite sex? Not again.
4. How about of the same sex? Sure.
5. Who was the last person who got really angry at you? My father.
6. What is your pet peeve? People who don't listen.
Sloth
1. What is one thing you're supposed to do daily that you haven't done in a long time? Wash the dishes.
2. What is the latest you've ever woken up? 5 or 6 pm.
3. Name a person you've been meaning to contact, but haven't? Zuaelie
4. What is the last lame excuse you made? I can do it tomorrow...
5. Have you ever watched an infomercial all the way through (one of the long ones...)? Yes.
6. When was the last time you got in a good workout? A good workout? I'm not sure. I got some cardio in on Monday.
7. How many times did you hit the snooze button on your alarm clock today? None. But I sat in bed on the computer and listening to the morning show for about an hour...
Gluttony
1. What is your overpriced yuppie beverage of choice? A Chai Latte.
2. Meat eaters: Three words: Fogo de Chao
3. What is the greatest amount of alcohol you've had in one sitting/outing/event? Probably about eight drinks which may have included Long Island Iced Teas.
4. Have you ever used a professional diet company? No.
5. Do you have an issue with your weight? I could lose some tubbiness.
6. Do you prefer sweets, salty foods, or spicy foods? Yes.
7. Have you ever looked at a small house pet or child and thought lunch? Uhhh.... no.
Lust
1. How many people have you seen naked (not counting movies/family)? Around ten or so. [Ed: in a private setting... Probably over 100 at strip clubs.]
2. How many people have seen YOU naked (not counting physicians/family?) Around seven or so.
3. Have you ever caught yourself staring at the chest/crotch of a member of your gender of choice during a normal conversation? Of course.
4. Have you "done it"? Yes.
5. What is your favorite body part on a person of your gender of choice? Either the clitoris or the G-spot, because I know how to find them both.
6. Have you ever been propositioned by a prostitute? Yes.
7. Have you ever had to get tested for an STD or pregnancy? Had to? No. Gotten tested? Yes.
Greed
1. How many credit cards do you own? Three.
2. What's your guilty pleasure store? Best Buy.
3. If you had £1 million, what would you do with it? Buy some better consumer electronics. Help out some unemployed buddies. Save the rest.
4. Would you rather be rich, or famous? Rich.
5. Would you accept a boring job if it meant you would make megabucks? Yes.
6. Have you ever stolen anything? Yes.
7. How many MP3s are on your hard drive? On this computer 386.
Pride
1. What's one thing you have done that you're most proud of? I wrote this.
2. What one thing have you done that your parents are most proud of? Either that I finished my Master's Degree, or that I keep my car in relative good shape for its 120 thousand miles.
3. What thing would you like to accomplish in your life? Sell a novel or a screenplay.
4. Do you get annoyed by coming in second place? Not particularly.
5. Have you ever entered a contest of skill, knowing you were of much higher skill than all the other competitors? Nope.
6. Have you ever cheated on something to get a higher score? Yes.
7. What did you do today that you're proud of? I redid my friends page style to something that I like.
Envy
1. What item (or person) of your friends would you most want to have for your own? The Woman of My Dreams.
2. Who would you want to go on 'Trading Spaces' with? ::shrugs::
3. If you could be anyone else in the world, who would you be?
4. Have you ever been cheated on? Yes.
5. Have you ever wished you had a physical feature different from your own? Yes.
6. What inborn trait do you see in others that you wish you had for yourself? Extroversion.
7. Do you wish you'd come up with this survey? Not particularly.
Finally, what is your favorite deadly sin? Lust.
Steve Ballmer is cordially invited to go throat himself, too.
Bill Gates and his pompous, sheepy minions need to stop spewing their crap all over the Internet.
Sigh. Drew Goddard's posts on the should be up within the hour...
Sigh. Drew Goddard's posts on the
A quick Photoshop...
Two days ago, Fark.com had a photoshop contest where one had to photoshop a lyric to a song. I've gotten out of the PS habit, but...
Can you guess the song?
Can you guess the song?
March 25, 2003
March 24, 2003
A Thought Train to Memory Lane
Not a few minutes ago, I was thinking about the phrase "Keeping up with the Joneses," when I happened upon a memory lost somewhere between college and grad school.
In high school, I used to go by James Hsiao Jones. Quite an unusual moniker for a Chinese-American teenager, huh?
See, in my junior year, the Miami Herald's Sunday Magazine, Tropic, held a Bad Poetry Contest. All of my fellow students in our various English classes got together and started brainstorming bad verse.
They would come up with such gems as:
and
I took a couple of sheets of notebook paper and threw together a good ten to fifteen poems, short in length (you know the Reader's Digest motto: "Brevity is Wit"), but long in worth. I took my inspiration from the quiet moments of my life--my classes, my peers, my family. Sadly, I can only remember one of them now. I wrote my name at the top-right-hand corner of the pages the way I signed all my assignments: "Hsiao, James." Someone else would compile them into a single shipment of entries to the Herald.
Weeks later, Tropic would present their choices for the best worst poetry submitted. I believe the winner was
(With special props to the other submitter who suggested, "Lather / Rinse / Repeat if necessary"). I would get an Abominable Mention for my work "Life (A Student's View)"--Tropic renamed this piece from my original title, "Calculus":
In their editorial fervor, however, someone apparently couldn't read my generally-readable handwriting and attributed the poem to "Hsaio Jones."
...
...
Uh-Huh. The name would stick.
Sometime in my senior year, my creative writing teacher would mark an assignment of mine.
"More bad poetry"
In high school, I used to go by James Hsiao Jones. Quite an unusual moniker for a Chinese-American teenager, huh?
See, in my junior year, the Miami Herald's Sunday Magazine, Tropic, held a Bad Poetry Contest. All of my fellow students in our various English classes got together and started brainstorming bad verse.
They would come up with such gems as:
"Oedipus"
Mommy! Mommy!
and
Whish.
Wash.
Whish.
Wash.
The clothes are done.
I took a couple of sheets of notebook paper and threw together a good ten to fifteen poems, short in length (you know the Reader's Digest motto: "Brevity is Wit"), but long in worth. I took my inspiration from the quiet moments of my life--my classes, my peers, my family. Sadly, I can only remember one of them now. I wrote my name at the top-right-hand corner of the pages the way I signed all my assignments: "Hsiao, James." Someone else would compile them into a single shipment of entries to the Herald.
Weeks later, Tropic would present their choices for the best worst poetry submitted. I believe the winner was
Lather.
Rinse.
Repeat.
(With special props to the other submitter who suggested, "Lather / Rinse / Repeat if necessary"). I would get an Abominable Mention for my work "Life (A Student's View)"--Tropic renamed this piece from my original title, "Calculus":
I'm dying.
I'm dying.
I'm dead.
In their editorial fervor, however, someone apparently couldn't read my generally-readable handwriting and attributed the poem to "Hsaio Jones."
...
...
Uh-Huh. The name would stick.
Sometime in my senior year, my creative writing teacher would mark an assignment of mine.
"More bad poetry"
Computer Hell
I picked up a 180GB harddrive friday night at CompUSA's six-hour anniversary sale for about $100 after rebate. Good deal, eh? Well, the rest of the weekend was spent trying to get it up and running.
The problem I discovered on Saturday was that the onboard floppy controller on my computer had decided to give out, so I was stuck all weekend trying to install an operating system on a machine which didn't know about the drive because it couldn't access the IDE controller card, because the controller drivers were on floppy only.
Ugh.
Amongst the various things I tried were:
From there, I installed my old drives into the other computer (which has been sitting defunct for about 8 months).
Now I have two working systems, and I've just got to wait for the KVM switch to come in to use both. I suppose I could use VNC to access the other one, but I'm not sure how well it runs headless. I'll eventually get all the stuff on the other computer on to the big drive, and try to install linux and get the going there and off of the University of Florida network.
Like I mentioned, I went to Newnan Saturday night, and watched Blue Crush and One Hour Photo. Actually, I didn't really watch Blue Crush; I was far too absorbed in a card game--Runa and I played Spades against Amy and. That game stresses me out. At some point whenever I sit down to play Spades, I start shaking. Happens every time. It's maddening.
But hanging out in Newnan is such the good time.
For those of you who care,10 things that turn me on (in no particular order):
If you don't care, don't click on the link.
The problem I discovered on Saturday was that the onboard floppy controller on my computer had decided to give out, so I was stuck all weekend trying to install an operating system on a machine which didn't know about the drive because it couldn't access the IDE controller card, because the controller drivers were on floppy only.
Ugh.
Amongst the various things I tried were:
- Installing the floppy from my other computer into the one the drive was to go into. This is how I discovered the floppy controller failure.
- Installing the drive on my other computer and trying to load the drive via that floppy. Unfortunately, that machine's BIOS doesn't allow bootable CD-ROMs, so I couldn't directly install Win2k from that computer.
- Installing a basic OS on the drive to get the installer to recognize it. No deal.
- Giving up and going to Newnan to play Spades, eat steak, and watch movies. Ahh... Newnan.
- Installing the drive on the onboard IDE controller and loading the OS from there. This worked.
From there, I installed my old drives into the other computer (which has been sitting defunct for about 8 months).
Now I have two working systems, and I've just got to wait for the KVM switch to come in to use both. I suppose I could use VNC to access the other one, but I'm not sure how well it runs headless. I'll eventually get all the stuff on the other computer on to the big drive, and try to install linux and get the
Like I mentioned, I went to Newnan Saturday night, and watched Blue Crush and One Hour Photo. Actually, I didn't really watch Blue Crush; I was far too absorbed in a card game--Runa and I played Spades against Amy and
But hanging out in Newnan is such the good time.
For those of you who care,
- Reading to someone special
- Intelligence
- Erotica
- The sounds of lovemaking
- Colonel Angus
- The vertical dip down a woman's back where her muscles slope toward her spine
- Cute toes (yes, I have a minor foot fetish)
- The ear thing
- On a woman of darker complexion, a very light down of fair, soft hair on her skin.
- Geek Pride
March 21, 2003
The Friday Five and The Thursday 13
Cut for those who don't care...
Friday Five
The Thursday 13
- If you had the chance to meet someone you've never met, from the past or present, who would it be?
Weird question...I don't have any particular yearning to meet anyone, except perhaps Emma Tucker, my ex-girlfriend's daughter. - If you had to live in a different century, past or future, which would it be?
Probably the 30th Century, so I could hang out with Bender.
"Well, thanks to the Internet, I'm now bored with sex." -- Fry, Futurama - If you had to move anywhere else on Earth, where would it be?
Lake Tahoe. - If you had to be a fictional character, who would it be?
Hrmm... When I was younger I might have said Wolverine...the healing factor, the heightened senses. Nowadays, I'm not sure. Should I go with Hiro Protagonist, hacker extraordinaire? Or the romantic simplicity of Yusaku Godai? - If you had to live with having someone else's face as your own for the rest of your life, whose would it be?
I rather like my face... Dean Cain or Russell Wong would be good upgrades without changing the essentials (East Asian-ness & complexion, etc.).
- Who is your favourite movie hero? Why?
I'm not sure I have a favorite. Trinity kicks ass, I rather liked Connor McCleod before the insipid sequels came out. One of my favorites is definitely Fong Sai Yuk, where Jet Li's comic charisma outshines anything he's done in an American production. Clooney's Danny Ocean and Jack Foley are both great as well. - Who is your favourite movie villain? Why?
Keyser Soze. Because he used to be in a Barbershop Quartet in Skokie, IL. - If you had to live the rest of your life as a movie hero or villain, who would you choose and why?
Probably Keyser Soze. Smart, diabolical, unaccountable. - What is your favourite movie? Why?
I don't have a particular favorite. I've seen far too many to choose just one. - What was the worst movie that you ever sat all the way through? Why did you watch the whole thing?
Either Batman and Robin--I went with Stacey, and she seemed to enjoy it--Cool World, where Rose Marie and I joined another couple, or Mission to Mars, where I went with another group.
I always try to give a bad movie a chance to redeem itself, though, so I've more than my share of bad movies. - What is your favourite day of the week?
Saturday - What is your favourite outdoor activity?
If I ever did it with any regularity, it would be rock climbing. As it stands, though, I've done far more skiing than outdoor rock climbing, and they're both up there. - What is your favourite indoor activity?
Either the obvious, or reading. - Do you prefer being hot or cold?
Cold. You can always put on more clothes... - Why is snow better than rain?
It's more picturesque, and if there's enough of it...ski-time! - If you could have your favourite books read to you by anyone in the world (celebrity or not) who would it be?
Depends on the book. Jon Krakauer read Into Thin Air quite well, where you could really hear the anguish in his voice. Kier Dullea reads a mean Philip K. Dick story.
Given that I've thought about auditioning for audiobook reading, I suppose I'd prefer to read them myself. - How tall are you? If you could, would you want to be taller or shorter? and the inevitable -- Why?
I'm just shy of 6'0". I wouldn't change my height. - Pink or Mint Green? Why?
From those choices, mint green, because it reminds me of mint chocolate chip ice cream.
March 20, 2003
Autobots! Transform and roll out...
Optimus Prime is heading out to the Middle East with his guard unit on Wednesday to provide fire protection for airfields under combat.
Ed: I kinda want to change my name to Me Grimlock, now...
Ed: I kinda want to change my name to Me Grimlock, now...
Propaganda at its best.
Incredible...
The folks on Fark and Something Awful have done some great Photoshops of old WWII propaganda. It looks like Wildstorm's Micah Ian Wright has taken some inspiration from those contests and made some Propaganda of his own.
He's got a Cafepress store with all of the posters. In his words:
The folks on Fark and Something Awful have done some great Photoshops of old WWII propaganda. It looks like Wildstorm's Micah Ian Wright has taken some inspiration from those contests and made some Propaganda of his own.
He's got a Cafepress store with all of the posters. In his words:
...copy the posters and post them everywhere. I mean everywhere. Bathroom stall doors, under windshield wipers, on the bumpers of SUVs... anywhere you can imagine pasting one up. I don't know... maybe America is too far gone, but if I can wake one single person up from their tv-induced stupor, then I've done my job.
March 19, 2003
Bronze Archives will be beta-syndicated on LJ
I'm still waiting for the syndication process to update, but you can find the archives here:
I'm still testing the whole thing, and how everything's getting pushed over, so bear with me for a bit while I get things running smoothly.
I'm still testing the whole thing, and how everything's getting pushed over, so bear with me for a bit while I get things running smoothly.
Damn my brother.
Damn Jerry. He sent me a link to dealnews.com a couple of days ago, and since then, I've been on a constant vigil on the site for good deals on things I need (and more annoyingly, don't need). So far, I've picked up a 2-computer KVM switch and a Wireless-ready print server (with a mail-in offer for a free 802.11b wireless card).
March 14, 2003
Bronze Archives will be down this weekend...
Apparently a break in a water line at the University of Florida Computer Science department means that they need to shut down every machine in the building. Since the Bronze VIP Posting Board Archives are located on the CISE web server, this means they'll be shut down, too (yes, I know I need to move the archives--I am a lazy, lazy bastard).
Because everything is handled through scheduled scripts, that means the archive program won't run until the machines are back up. I'll make sure to get everything from the Beta Temporary VIP Archive.
I'll let everyone know what's up when I get an update.
Because everything is handled through scheduled scripts, that means the archive program won't run until the machines are back up. I'll make sure to get everything from the Beta Temporary VIP Archive.
I'll let everyone know what's up when I get an update.
Las Vegas and other aromatic herbs
So we (Keely, , Flossie, and Team Boobie) booked our flights and rooms for April's Sin City Spectacular. It cost a pretty penny, but I think it'll be worth it. I sent Jerry e-mail to see if he wanted to go, as well, since it looks like I'll be partaking of a single room at the Luxor by my lonesome. Of course, I could hook up with some nymphet while trading chips at the Bellagio Poker Room, but since I'd expect the women at the poker tables (aside from those going on the trip) to be at least seven years my senior, as well as the abject terror which grips me when it comes to talking to new people, I'll probably be spending my room time alone.
and I went indoor rock climbing for the first time in almost a year. Heavens, it's fun, but it's rough. My knees are all red and abraded, while my back and arms have a heavy soreness to them. Whenever I take a long break from climbing (and this would be the longest), my arms tend to not work well at all following my first trip back to the gym. I had issues brushing my teeth last night!
At least I'm getting some exercise. Now I need to find some means of aerobic workout so I can further stave off my growing tubbyness.
I just found Iusedtobelieve.com from a FOAF. A particularly funny entry:
Some part of me still thinks this. suggested that we try it sometime--connect two nine-volts and leave them someplace. You'd think that someone would have already done this experiment and written it up on some website, but a cursory search of Google turns up nothing but a description of devices which use two nine-volts.
My parents are coming up this weekend. I need to clean the condo up and put away all the, umm, non-childish things.... I've already thrown a bunch of stuff into the closet, which is a veritable jungle of boxes and papers, but since my father is a bit of a stickler for "proper" bookkeeping, I need to get all my bills and statements in order.
I'm writing something. Nothing particularly concrete as of yet, but listening to some of Philip K. Dick's stories--"Second Variety," "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale," "Paycheck," and "The Minority Report"--on the way down and back up from Miami put me in a writing mood.
The story which I'm writing puts a different spin on Rekal from "Wholesale"--what if you could rent someone else's body to wear for an hour, a day, or a week? What kind of person would allow themselves to be rented out?
At least I'm getting some exercise. Now I need to find some means of aerobic workout so I can further stave off my growing tubbyness.
I just found Iusedtobelieve.com from a FOAF. A particularly funny entry:
For some reason, when I was a little kid I was convinced that if you hooked two nine volt batteries to each other, they'd explode violently and destroy anything within about 100 feet.
Some part of me still thinks this.
My parents are coming up this weekend. I need to clean the condo up and put away all the, umm, non-childish things.... I've already thrown a bunch of stuff into the closet, which is a veritable jungle of boxes and papers, but since my father is a bit of a stickler for "proper" bookkeeping, I need to get all my bills and statements in order.
I'm writing something. Nothing particularly concrete as of yet, but listening to some of Philip K. Dick's stories--"Second Variety," "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale," "Paycheck," and "The Minority Report"--on the way down and back up from Miami put me in a writing mood.
The story which I'm writing puts a different spin on Rekal from "Wholesale"--what if you could rent someone else's body to wear for an hour, a day, or a week? What kind of person would allow themselves to be rented out?
Neil Gaiman on the French....
Found from a friend2 post:
I have very mixed feelings about Americans disliking the French. I'm English, after all. We have a special relationship with the French: we are in awe of their sophistication, their cuisine and their wines, we think their women are beautiful, we like them as individuals, we badly want to go and live in their country when we retire, while at the same time we are deeply suspicious of them. It's like having people living next door to you who may be snappier dressers and better cooks, but who, after all, borrowed the lawn mower sometime in the thirteenth century and never gave it back. Anyway, the English dislike the French. We're really good at it. We've been doing it ever since we got up one day and realised that the Norman Conquerors were now, like it or not, Us, and weren't conquering French people any more. We feel, frankly, that if anyone's going to dislike the French, it's going to be us. On the whole we manifest our dislike for them by drinking their wines, buying up their cigarettes, and, despite the fact that all English people can naturally roll their Rs and speak perfect French, declining to do so, and when forced by circumstances to speak French the English do it with an English accent on purpose.
These are tactics we've worked out over the course of hundreds of years, and if carried on long enough, they will bring France to its knees. I'm English. I know these things.
Changing the name french fries to freedom fries, on the other hand, will just make them laugh at you.
March 12, 2003
I found out today that my friend, Robb, had his apartment burn down earlier today. Unfortunately, he didn't have renter's insurance--I'd actually be surprised if the majority of the people I know had it. From what I can tell, all that he has left are the clothes on his back, and a large can of tobacco. is trying to get something together to help him out.
I heard a story on the news about another resident of the apartments, who lost her dissertation in the fire. Ugh. All of this is urging me to catalog all of my things for my own insurance, and make sure I have everything in order.
A Book Meme lifted from
I heard a story on the news about another resident of the apartments, who lost her dissertation in the fire. Ugh. All of this is urging me to catalog all of my things for my own insurance, and make sure I have everything in order.
A Book Meme lifted from
- What book is in your bathroom?
Nothing--I like to take really hot showers, and the steam tends to warp the pages. I like my books pristine. - What book is in your purse/backpack?
No backpack--but the last book I carried around with me was Life of Pi by Yann Martel. - What book is on your bedside table?
Tao Te Ching by Lao Tsu, and The Pocket Muse by Monica Wood. - What was the last book you lent someone?
Botany of Desire, Michael Pollan - What was the last book you lent out that someone brought back to you?
Bringing Down the House by Ben Mezrich - What book do you have loaner copies of, solely for the purpose of foisting it on unsuspecting friends and relatives?
Amped: Notes from a Go-Nowhere Punk Band by Jon Resh. The Biggest Game in Town and Poker: Bets, Bluffs, and Bad Beats, both by A. Alvarez are great gifts, as well.
March 10, 2003
Hey Dude
The Star Dudes flash movies are some of the best Star Wars fan films I've seen (and this includes all of those pretentious pseudo-kung-fu lightsaber duel movies that proliferated the Internet after TPM).
March 6, 2003
Neon sign on the horizon rubbing elbows with the moon
It's road trip time.
I'm packing for my drive down to Miami, and I use the term to loosely cover the wandering about/watching television/snacking that I generally do before a trip. Since I'm only going down [Shit. forgot I did laundry before I went to the bar for a couple of hours...gotta fold... I'm back] for a couple of days, I don't have to pack too much.
Since I am going down for an old friend's wedding, I'm bringing the suit and shirt and the whole getup. It's way too hot in Miami. I think my father said it was like 88 degrees earlier today.
I rather wanted to do something creative this weekend, but the whole driving thing is getting in the way. Maybe I should stop at an office supply house on the way down and pick up a dictation machine and some tapes...
Oh well. Because the 'rents only have a filtered dialup through the school system, I may be offline for a couple of days (shocking, I know). At the latest, I'll be back on Sunday night.
I'm packing for my drive down to Miami, and I use the term to loosely cover the wandering about/watching television/snacking that I generally do before a trip. Since I'm only going down [Shit. forgot I did laundry before I went to the bar for a couple of hours...gotta fold... I'm back] for a couple of days, I don't have to pack too much.
Since I am going down for an old friend's wedding, I'm bringing the suit and shirt and the whole getup. It's way too hot in Miami. I think my father said it was like 88 degrees earlier today.
I rather wanted to do something creative this weekend, but the whole driving thing is getting in the way. Maybe I should stop at an office supply house on the way down and pick up a dictation machine and some tapes...
Oh well. Because the 'rents only have a filtered dialup through the school system, I may be offline for a couple of days (shocking, I know). At the latest, I'll be back on Sunday night.
Found on Fark.com: Apparently, Walmart.com is confused about the theme of The Hobbit.
Walmart's description as of 2003.03.06 01:19--
On the Battersea Reach of the Thames, a mixed bag of eccentrics live in houseboats. Belonging to neither land nor sea, they belong to one another. There is Maurice, a homosexual prostitute; Richard, a buttoned- up ex-navy man; but most of all there's Nenna, the struggling mother of two wild little girls. How each of their lives complicates the others is the stuff of this perfect little novel.The adventures of the well-to-do hobbit, Bilbo, Baggins, who lived happily in his comfortable home until a wandering wizard granted his wish.
Boxed hardcover bound in green leatherette with gold and red foil stamping, two-color typography, and five full-page color illustrations by the author
On the Battersea Reach of the Thames, a mixed bag of eccentrics live in houseboats. Belonging to neither land nor sea, they belong to one another. There is Maurice, a homosexual prostitute; Richard, a buttoned- up ex-navy man; but most of all there's Nenna, the struggling mother of two wild little girls. How each of their lives complicates the others is the stuff of this perfect little novel.The adventures of the well-to-do hobbit, Bilbo, Baggins, who lived happily in his comfortable home until a wandering wizard granted his wish.
Boxed hardcover bound in green leatherette with gold and red foil stamping, two-color typography, and five full-page color illustrations by the author
Angel Musings.
Was it just me or was the direction of this episode a bit lousy?
Aside from the few unnecessary slo-mo flips, of particular note was the small fight between Faith and Connor, where she dispatches him easily. The camera pretty much stayed at eye-level, showing us little-to-nothing of their scuffle. Granted, maybe the director was trying to keep the attention on their faces. Failure to either pan in for intensity or pan out for dynamics, however, just left us with the distraction of an extended shot of half of their hands duking it out. There's a similar prolem with Wes's fight with the two flunky-vamps.
An editing item: when Wes finally cuts off Lilah's head, why the need to flash to a shot of the axe coming down on her neck? The jump-cut cuts away maybe a frame or two later...just keep the camera on Wes and show his pained reaction.
I just need to avoid hampsters.
I'm risking zinc toxicity here.
I'll be driving my way down to Miami this weekend, for an old friend's wedding. Despite my travel schedule, however, the failings of my immune system have decided that I won't necessarily be breathing whilst I make the trip.
In an effort to stave off whatever infection I may have (and for all I know, it might just be allergies), I've been sucking down zinc lozenges of various kinds. I originally used to get Cold-Eeze lozenges, because they were the only ones I could find. Then, one week in West Palm, I grabbed a bottle of Naturalite Cherry-flavored ones. At another juncture, I picked up some Target brand lozenges.
Now for those of you that have used zinc lozenges before, you know that they taste like sun-dried shit. They rob your mouth of any sort of moist feeling, and somehow screw with your tastebuds so that normal foods taste bitter.
Today, one of my co-workers suggested I try the Elderberry-Zinc lozenges from Now Foods. Amazingly, these taste good--mildly fruit-flavored, and not so much of the aftertaste.
I wonder, however, if they make my breath fruity-fresh. I don't want to be thought of as a possible father of Lousy Eenglish Kinigits...
I'll be driving my way down to Miami this weekend, for an old friend's wedding. Despite my travel schedule, however, the failings of my immune system have decided that I won't necessarily be breathing whilst I make the trip.
In an effort to stave off whatever infection I may have (and for all I know, it might just be allergies), I've been sucking down zinc lozenges of various kinds. I originally used to get Cold-Eeze lozenges, because they were the only ones I could find. Then, one week in West Palm, I grabbed a bottle of Naturalite Cherry-flavored ones. At another juncture, I picked up some Target brand lozenges.
Now for those of you that have used zinc lozenges before, you know that they taste like sun-dried shit. They rob your mouth of any sort of moist feeling, and somehow screw with your tastebuds so that normal foods taste bitter.
Today, one of my co-workers suggested I try the Elderberry-Zinc lozenges from Now Foods. Amazingly, these taste good--mildly fruit-flavored, and not so much of the aftertaste.
I wonder, however, if they make my breath fruity-fresh. I don't want to be thought of as a possible father of Lousy Eenglish Kinigits...
March 3, 2003
Television...
Television gets a bad rap. Now, I'm the first to admit that I'm not exactly the most objective person when it comes to TV, but I'm amazed by the number of people who like to proselytize about TV rotting our society and how everyone should throw out their TVs and start reading books.
I doubt many of these people have actually read a Nicholas Sparks novel, otherwise they'd probably sooner spend their time watching twelve hours of Law & Order.
Let's face it. "Ninety percent of everything is crap." How exactly does a book suggest a higher percentage of better quality than a television show?
I doubt many of these people have actually read a Nicholas Sparks novel, otherwise they'd probably sooner spend their time watching twelve hours of Law & Order.
Let's face it. "Ninety percent of everything is crap." How exactly does a book suggest a higher percentage of better quality than a television show?
- Do you watch more TV or movies?
- Television. I used to watch a shit-ton of movies, but TiVo has made television so much easier to deal with. Sure I catch a movie now and again, but taking the time to watch an hour-long show in 45 minutes is far easier than an unedited 2 hour movie in 2 hours. Now I watch more-than-a-shit-ton of TV.
- What is your favourite television show?
- At this point, I'd say 24, although Buffy, Angel, and Smallville are not far behind.
- Funniest show on television?
- Either Futurama or That 70's Show.
- Favourite writer on TV?
- Joss Whedon or Tim Minear
- Who is your favourite television actress?
- Either Paula Marshall or Lauren Graham, both actresses who have a great timing when it comes to banterish dialogue. And they're very nice on the eyes.
- Who is your favourite television actor?
- He's not on anymore, but Jeremy Piven, from Cupid. Were I to pick a current tv actor, Anthony Stewart Head.
- Who are the most overrated actors on TV?
- While I'm not necessarily faulting her for it, the overly melodramatic (read: Felicity as a spy...) fluff that Jennifer Garner had to work with on the first season of Alias really kinda turned me off of the show, despite how groundbreaking everyone thought it was...
- What's the worst show on television?
- Barring any reality shows (Are You Hot? or Anna Nicole, for example...), I'd have to say Jenny Jones.
- What is your TV schedule?
- Somewhat daily: Futurama, Samurai Jack, Inu-Yasha.
Somewhat weekly (whenever it comes on...): Good Eats, South Park, Coming Attractions- Sunday: Invader Zim,Futurama (Fox), Six Feet Under
- Monday: Stargate SG-1, Miracles
- Tuesday: Buffy, Gilmore Girls, Smallville, 24
- Wednesday: That 70's Show, Angel
- Thursday: Catch up.
- Friday: Fastlane, John Doe, Stargate SG-1, Penn & Teller's Bullshit!, Family Business.
- Saturday: Catch up.
- Sunday: Invader Zim,Futurama (Fox), Six Feet Under
Bad Beat Weekend
a.k.a. Screwed on the River
Warning: much bitching and moaning here follows...
In most variants of Hold 'em poker, the players receive some number of cards, and the dealer sets apart five cards as "the board." These are the community cards--they are revealed after set rounds of betting. Usually, in games such as Texas or Omaha Hold 'em, the dealer shows the first three cards after the players have placed bets based on their own hands--this is known as the "flop." Here follows a round of betting--often accompanied by groans or folds. The fourth card to be revealed is known as the "turn." Following yet another round of betting, the dealer then flips over the final card--the "river."
On Friday night, following our birthday dinner for, , and Thomas, and Robb, we went to play poker at Casa Ghetto. I was looking forward to the night, having been bereft of poker for the past few weeks. Once I sat down to play, however, I realized that my anticipation would bring me only suffering.
On one of my first key hands of the night, we played Texas and I had an A7 suited (clubs). The flop came as AQ7. I bet it up, and most other people folded. Amy, however, stayed in. When the next card showed another seven, I bet the maximum, and she called. When the final card dropped, a 10, we both traded raises for a bit, and then flipped our cards over. Amy had pocket 10s, giving her a 10s full of 7s, beating my 7s full of Aces. I got really perturbed at myself for not seeing that, but since Amy tends to call a lot, and she wasn't really betting it until the end, I thought she may have had the straight to the Ace.
A few hands later, I tried to bluff an 86 low in Screwy Louie against Tony. While I later learned that he had a 76 low, he was hesitating in the bets, so I played it aggressively, raising the maximum bets to the maximum number of raises. On the final round, I suggested we just put eight in, and Gene called me on my tell. "He did say to put eight in awfully fast." I'm not quite sure I could hide the anger on my face, but Tony put his chips in, and I lost my entire stack. Gene would tell me later that he thought I actually had the winner, and that Tony had glanced at him for advice--he was trying to entice Tony into losing money.
At the time, though, I got extremely irate about the hand, to the point that I grabbed some of Gene's chips. I didn't intend to keep them, I just wanted to show how upset I was. I didn't intend to throw them back at Gene either. I was just really, really pissed off.
The night would pretty much continue this way, with my good hands getting beaten on the river by better hands, until the final hand I played of Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Lo. It was about 4:00 AM at the time, and I had worked my way back from being down around sixty dollars to a loss of just thirty. I glanced at my hand and I had A2 suited and 67 unsuited. The Flop showed a 579 of Spades, and the Turn had some random club (I recall it was the King of Clubs). The river was the eight of Spades. Once that card came out, started betting it up. I could only call, seeing as how I had little chance at the Hi, and a definite possibility of splitting the Low. Part of me thought to fold, but then I'd lose all of the money I'd put into the pot, and I still had an off chance that I could take the high with the straight.
Jason confirmed what I suspected when he flipped over an A2 to tie me for the low and the same A with a 4 of Spades to take the high.
Having lost near half of my money on that hand, I decided to call it quits. I dealt a few hands for a fifty cent-1 dollar rake (a dollar for every hand whose pot went over five dollars), and made about twenty dollars that way, but Ollie decided we'd play between the sheets and my rake profits fell to seven dollars playing that game...
With the night full of bad beats and lousy bluffs, I decided to devote Saturday to sulking. I spent a good portion (likely about 12 hours or so) watching TiVo, and another two or three hours reading comic books. I would get up only to eat a large bowl of raisin bran around noon when I awoke, and cook myself a can of beans and a Gardenburger Riblet around dinner time. It would be the only redeeming thing about the weekend.
On Sunday, we heldthe latest Eight Ball tournament at DuPree's. I bought parts of (about a quarter of $120), Natalie (about a quarter of $50), and Patty (half of $50), as well as half of myself (half of $31). Unfortunately, Jeech and Natalie would be eliminated in the first round, and Patty in the second.
I played against Ollie in my first round match. He would take the first game, and I would take the second. He won the next two, and I would win the fifth game. The next game, I broke, and sank four stripes on the break. I would sink little else as Ollie would leave me poor on all my shots, and I could only play defensive shots to prevent him from running out. He would take that game, and the next to win the match. Beat on the river, again...
All told, I lost about $150 dollars this weekend. Thinking the worst was behind me, I decided to drive to Costco to get my tires balanced/rotated. On the thirty-or-so-minute drive up, I called to see if he wanted to meet me there, since he needed new tires. He started driving up while I was about halfway there. Arriving around 4:30 PM or so, I spoke with the salesman, who informed me that the shop (which closes at 6:00 PM) wasn't taking any more work. They were short-staffed as it was, and couldn't fit my work in. After calling John and letting him know not to come up there, I spoke with a manager, who informed me that there was nothing he could do, despite their inability to take appointments. Sigh. Whatever.
Tired of getting dicked over at the last possible minute in everything I was doing that weekend, I went home and continued reading Life of Pi for Wednesday's meeting.
Hopefully, the pervasive shit of this weekend is now past...
Warning: much bitching and moaning here follows...
In most variants of Hold 'em poker, the players receive some number of cards, and the dealer sets apart five cards as "the board." These are the community cards--they are revealed after set rounds of betting. Usually, in games such as Texas or Omaha Hold 'em, the dealer shows the first three cards after the players have placed bets based on their own hands--this is known as the "flop." Here follows a round of betting--often accompanied by groans or folds. The fourth card to be revealed is known as the "turn." Following yet another round of betting, the dealer then flips over the final card--the "river."
On Friday night, following our birthday dinner for
On one of my first key hands of the night, we played Texas and I had an A7 suited (clubs). The flop came as AQ7. I bet it up, and most other people folded. Amy, however, stayed in. When the next card showed another seven, I bet the maximum, and she called. When the final card dropped, a 10, we both traded raises for a bit, and then flipped our cards over. Amy had pocket 10s, giving her a 10s full of 7s, beating my 7s full of Aces. I got really perturbed at myself for not seeing that, but since Amy tends to call a lot, and she wasn't really betting it until the end, I thought she may have had the straight to the Ace.
A few hands later, I tried to bluff an 86 low in Screwy Louie against Tony. While I later learned that he had a 76 low, he was hesitating in the bets, so I played it aggressively, raising the maximum bets to the maximum number of raises. On the final round, I suggested we just put eight in, and Gene called me on my tell. "He did say to put eight in awfully fast." I'm not quite sure I could hide the anger on my face, but Tony put his chips in, and I lost my entire stack. Gene would tell me later that he thought I actually had the winner, and that Tony had glanced at him for advice--he was trying to entice Tony into losing money.
At the time, though, I got extremely irate about the hand, to the point that I grabbed some of Gene's chips. I didn't intend to keep them, I just wanted to show how upset I was. I didn't intend to throw them back at Gene either. I was just really, really pissed off.
The night would pretty much continue this way, with my good hands getting beaten on the river by better hands, until the final hand I played of Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Lo. It was about 4:00 AM at the time, and I had worked my way back from being down around sixty dollars to a loss of just thirty. I glanced at my hand and I had A2 suited and 67 unsuited. The Flop showed a 579 of Spades, and the Turn had some random club (I recall it was the King of Clubs). The river was the eight of Spades. Once that card came out,
Jason confirmed what I suspected when he flipped over an A2 to tie me for the low and the same A with a 4 of Spades to take the high.
Having lost near half of my money on that hand, I decided to call it quits. I dealt a few hands for a fifty cent-1 dollar rake (a dollar for every hand whose pot went over five dollars), and made about twenty dollars that way, but Ollie decided we'd play between the sheets and my rake profits fell to seven dollars playing that game...
With the night full of bad beats and lousy bluffs, I decided to devote Saturday to sulking. I spent a good portion (likely about 12 hours or so) watching TiVo, and another two or three hours reading comic books. I would get up only to eat a large bowl of raisin bran around noon when I awoke, and cook myself a can of beans and a Gardenburger Riblet around dinner time. It would be the only redeeming thing about the weekend.
On Sunday, we held
I played against Ollie in my first round match. He would take the first game, and I would take the second. He won the next two, and I would win the fifth game. The next game, I broke, and sank four stripes on the break. I would sink little else as Ollie would leave me poor on all my shots, and I could only play defensive shots to prevent him from running out. He would take that game, and the next to win the match. Beat on the river, again...
All told, I lost about $150 dollars this weekend. Thinking the worst was behind me, I decided to drive to Costco to get my tires balanced/rotated. On the thirty-or-so-minute drive up, I called
Tired of getting dicked over at the last possible minute in everything I was doing that weekend, I went home and continued reading Life of Pi for Wednesday's meeting.
Hopefully, the pervasive shit of this weekend is now past...
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