Fun fact

Top 5 songs to cap off a night of kidney torture:

5.) Let Me Take You Home Tonight - Boston << A little too high tempo for me, but screams last song.
4.) Wanted Dead or Alive - Bon Jovi << Nothing like a little country/rock/badass to cap the night
3.) All My Life - KC & JoJo << I'm a product of my (junior high) generation, what can I say.
2.) The Dance - Garth Brooks << Always gets to ya, even if you can't even hear the lyrics through the ringing in your ears. Perfect.
1.) Comfortably Numb - Pink Floyd << Starts quiet enough, builds up to a great climax, then tucks you in for bed. As a bonus, my generation's parents probably even passed out to this song a couple times. Classic.

Honorable Mention: The Late Greats (Wilco), My Best Friend (Tim McGraw), Dear Mama (Tupac), I've Got Dreams to Remember (Buddy Guy w/ John Mayer),

PAYDAY!!!

Spring break sucks.

360/PS3 (I'm waffling again) fund: $168.##

So far away still....

In other news (to take you money grubbin fools' minds off my dough stacks)...

My FAVORITE cat on youtube. The thing is awesome.

You robots suck

Stop commenting on my comments. I don't like you guhn (thats not even a real name!) or salar.

Stay away. Word verification from here on out. The only reason I haven't had it since is because honestly I'm terrible at getting it right on the first try. I suck...

Boo spam. Yay real people!

College is...

When the weather is nice, having the window open and the fan blowing (because you don't have air conditioning, duh), only to have the sweet smell of ganja blowing in at all hours of the day.

Yep, there it is again. Nope, I'm not making this up.

HELPPPPP

Here is my problem. I don't have classes tomorrow. And, excluding a 20 page paper, I don't have shit to do.

Addictinggames has taken a turn for the worse lately. No, I don't like Guitar Hero ripoffs, thank you very little.

Gimmie some good time wasters, preferably of the online variety.

Holla atcha boi'


Oh, and for your viewing pleasure, a picture of two old men screwing:


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You pervs....

PS3 Fund meet the Xbox 360

The GREAT news is that this is currently the biggest question in my life

That's right, I've had a little change of heart. It is somewhat sobering really, to think that for the first generation of gaming since Sony entered the scene, I will be opting for another company. Most people probably wouldn't understant it, but that's because most people aren't nerds. This ia a good thing.

Think of World Of Warcraft all the sudden spewing over into WWIII. Talk about a black comedy waiting to happen.

But yes, after doing a little more research on the two systems (which, to be honest, I should have done last time too. After a good two years with the '2 I ended up going Xbox, which is what made it to the dorm.) What shocked me is that the graphics competition, something that the Sony marketing execs made sure nobody thought was even worth looking into, favors the 360.

Well, not necessarily. The graphics card is more powerful in the 360, but the PS3 processor is stronger than the 360. The speculation here is that eventually game developers are going to figure out how to tap the power of the processor, and shit will hit the fan.

But that is all tea-leaf reading as of now.

The fact is that in previous generations the Sony console was game developers "primary console" for the most part, with the same games on other systems simply being "ports" of the Playstation version. This generation the 360 has that honor, at least as of now.

That honor hasn't really ever switched in one game system's lifetime.

So, as much as it pains me to say it (actually, it doesn't hurt at all, I'm still gonna have a pretty kickass waste of time) Xbox 360 it is.


Fundage count: $123.31 (won 5 dollars playing poker a night ago)

Get That Noodle Cooking

Just two months late on this one, but it still deserves to be mentioned.

Black History Month angers me. No, not because there isn't a "White History Month," you tools. Here is my thinking. Why take a race that has felt surpressed and marginalized for decades, and set aside a specfic month to honor their accomplishments?! It just reeks of bad planning to me.

So, two years ago I did a little googling just on a whim to see if anyone else felt this way, and came across this absolutely great essay (article? idk its pretty long...) by John H. McWhorter, called Toward a Usable Black History.

If you've read this far, you are at least remotely interested. Spend the next ten or so minutes reading the article, and discuss. I'm curious to see what you guys have to say.

Thank you, Chad

This is EXACTLY why I am NOT a Bengals fan, I'm a Chad Johnson fan. The man tells it like it is, regardless of how it makes him look.

The fact is that the Bengals have actually regressed in the past two years. The fact is that Chad is both one of the best WR's in the NFL and 30 years old. Jerry Rice excluded, 30 is usually the beginning of the end for NFL athletes. I have no problem with Chad getting antsy about wanting to be on a team that can win. Now.




Finally, someone in the organization is showing a sense of urgency. Someone in the organization is pressuring others to exceed expectations. Someone in the organization is not getting on the news for assault....oh wait. Nevermind.

In regards to the last story, finally Marvin (or maybe not....maybe Brown made the first good decision of his ownership) has grown a sack and righted a wrong he made on draft day a couple years ago. Now, as much as it sucks, cut Pollack and Odell, and all will be right. People that cannot play on Sunday have no reason to be getting a paycheck. This is a business, treat it like one.

For the record, if Chad ends up anywhere else, I will be the first to buy his new jersey.

My "Bob" story Pt. 2

After I stopped running following freshman year, I was finally old enough to go to the rec by myself (still couldn't drive though) so I started messing around with the weights. Honestly, I didn't really know what I was doing, but it was nice to pick up a "sport" that, unlike cross country, actually improved how I looked. Always a plus. Not that I needed it though....

Once the random messing around evolved into actually doing a little research on things I gained about 10 pounds in three or so months. Keep in mind, this was coming straight out of cross country season. I also took my health class at that time, and apparently was hanging at a 4.5% body fat around then. I believe 5% is generally considered "essential fat," so anything less than that is on the not so healthy side of things.

The problem with lifting heavy things is that, like running, that's pretty much all there is to it. Sure you can switch up the exercises, but there is no ball, there are no top ten plays on ESPN, there are no multi-millionaire professionals, etc. Like running, motivation is key. One evening, while trying to find a little bit of a reason to get off my ass I came across the "bob story." What a great generic name, Fight Club-esque. No bitch tits though. Well, not directly. I've kept it bookmarked through multiple computers, web browsers, and presidents because its just over-the-top enough to get me going.

Bob is not just a character in a stupid story meatheads pass around to each other before they go break frat houses and shit. Bob is a state of mind. Where in cross country I may have had the psycho "cross-country dad" screaming failure, I now had Bob, an image of failure. In weight lifting (or as I like to call it, bodybuilding... it just seems to give it a meaning other than Me lift heavy weight. Me kill mammals for dinner. Gunga lunga) I think I found the last piece to staying in shape. I hate bobs; I didn't like bobs before I even knew their name. I'm sure most of you can think of times when I have been a Bob, all talk and no do. I hope it wasn't for long.

So for me, its not that hard to get my ass up and walk down the hill to the rec a couple times a week. I have the four golden rules:


1.) It isn't fun, but it doesn't have to be fun.
2.) See that guy across the room? He just bet his buddy in the zubaz that you can't do another set.
3.) Jiminy Cricket quits long before the muscles do. Play through it.
4.) Don't be Bob.


I don't think I ever worked out for my health. Sure it's a nice side effect, but if I were really worried about my health I should probably stop drinking pretty much every liquid I drink and replace it with milk and water. That would do loads more I'm sure. The best I can come up with is that I do it to prove to myself I can. That's probably why I still do sprints even though I'll probably never play in any organized sports league above the classification "intramural" again in my life. Just to prove that I'm still the fastest white guy I know (I still am). I'm sure it's also to release steam. I always have a better day going in pissed off about something. Maybe it's just so I make sure I'm never the fat guy drinking Nati talking about how I wish I had the time to work out.

Lil Jon says "YEAAA!!!" to culture

Check out this little nugget:

Listen to this, specifically the strings part.



Now listen to the background melody in this once the beat hits. NSFW, duh.

Yes, Lil Jon sampled Lux Aeterna for his gangsta reppin song.


Nice.

My "Bob" story Pt. 1

Preface: I started typing, and this got to be pretty lengthy. So I'm going to split it into two parts. This is part one.




For as long as I can remember I have been a bit of a sports junkie. In elementary school I prided myself on my pickle skills. Come junior high I took up cross country. I wasn't too enthused about it at first to be honest, the idea of running for running's sake seemed borderline insane. After the first few practices and seeing my time start to drop it became tolerable.

Somewhat surreal side story... to this day, the first memory I have of running cross country was in the summer of either 7th or 8th grade, it's kind of a blur now. I was walking up the steps from the junior high to our little hill where we set up "camp" before starting our runs and I see some barefooted (yes, barefoot, running long distance) maniac turning the corner and sprinting up the hill. It was Chris Dyer, probably trying to work up some callous or something for the marine boot runs he would soon be doing. Or just displaying that token Marine mentality, whatever you want to call it. Weird how one thing unfolds to another sometimes...

There were three important life lessons I learned from cross country. First, running is not fun. For me at least, I don't think I ever wanted it to be fun. In a twisted way, I think I ran for the pain more than the joy. Sometimes (and more often than not during junior high at least) I let the pain get the best of me. If I got tired, just walk! Duh!




Then came high school. Here I learned two other things. For one, there will always be doubters. Regardless of how much you may think you have busted your ass, there will always be someone out there screaming for your failure. I learned to not only accept this, but embrace it. Use it as fuel for the fire. Ask anyone who was at the Richmond Invitational (admittedly, the one and only race I ever ran in when we were by far the best team) when one of the more vocal parents (nicely put) decided to run in the race also. Yes, this was a high school race. But this man also knew everyone involved and it was a small event anyways, so coaches and parents were allowed to join in.

That our team whole of five average runners finished in the top ten out of about 100 runners. It was the only medal I ever won.




Lesson number three. My legs never were the limiting factor. Neither were my lungs. The mind is always the limiting factor. That damn ugly step brother of Jiminy Cricket just reinforcing what all the doubters are saying on the outside. Sometime's running is even more than an individual sport. Sometimes I had to nearly divide my own body into two parts. Screw you brain, show me what you got legs. It is because of this I started to learn to embrace the pain. It took a while to figure it out but I started to discover that the more I made my body hurt while training or at a race, the better I felt at the end. By the end of freshman year, the last year I ran, I understood those three lessons pretty well. Running isn't fun, but it doesn't have to be, there will always be doubters, and my mind is always the limiting factor.

Continued tomorrow...

90s Eric Clapton > 70s Clapton

The end of the school year sucks

What I havent been able to do

* Read my book
* Take it to the streetz.
* Keep up with my bracket (just checked: currently #1, but the projected score puts me in 3rd, which is usually pretty accurate this late in the game).
* play Minesweeper (sad times)

What I have been doing:

* Picking up and fixing bikes. Lots of bikes.
* In doing so, driving around this bad boy (no, sadly this is not mine):

Awwww yeaaaa

* Vector integrals, jacobians, shearing and moments along a beam, conservation of pretty much everything, and comparing a Hitchcock movie with one by Tim Burton! (find the one that doesn't fit..)
* Too tired to go out on Saturday night, so I watched The Usual Suspects. Definitely a good movie with a great "ohhhh fuuuuuck" moment at the end, as I like to call them. Kevin Spacey outdoes himself here. Oh, and sorry about the kinda random tense change for this asterisk....
* Keepin it gangsta'


PS3 fund: $118.75 - a solid start, but this is all of my paycheck. I'm sure this number will fluctuate as need to buy stuff arises, like, I dunno, pizza. Or ....Mountain Dew...


And go Reds. Even though I'm taking the terrible until proven otherwise approach.

Do it. Right now.

Go to youtube.

Search "Garth Brooks".

Pick a song. No, not the Ron White skit, you jokers.

Listen.

It's humanly not possible, and damn near un-american to not enjoy it at least a little.

Cribz

A little tour of the homestead, a few months settled in (an about 2 months from settling back out):

Yo yo yo dis where the food and drank be. We also gots the TV in, er... on top of the coola so we ain't neva miss a second of Yo! MTV Raps. I gots da surround sound hookzied up to keep it bumpin when dose T-rex be stompin in Jurrasic Park. YEAAAA BOIIIIIII!!!




All the flicks to keep it real hood..




A man gotta wake up for classes in da mornin, so I gots the hot-hot-HAWTEST hot bevs on the streetz. Don't even think about tryna copy dis, you can't afford it




It be dat time-a year again, so we gots da bracket to keep all my thugs updated (when I gets around to it, dis calculus don't sell isself CHYEA!)



And when dat weekend comes around


We gots the neons on the ceiling to get the party started! HOLLLA ATCHA BOIIIII!!!

I'll do a translated version of this sometime too....

Boo end of spring break

Back to school, freshly stocked with mass goodies and a little over a month to go, with enough work to keep me busy for a little over a year probably. Sweet. I'm going to try to post something on here every day from here until the end of the year (and yes, I'll try to get out of the "don't post at home" habit and keep it going through the summer). Sure, it isn't going to be groundbreaking theories on life or anything, but I'll try to keep it entertaining and/or informative.

With that, what I did over break (as best as I can remember):

Friday

In honor of St. Patrick's Weekend (a result of discrepancies in the exact day of celebration), I took Stinky out to the Claddagh Irish Pub in Mason. Good as always, and on the way out the manager gave me a free appetizer and desert coup' for if I return by April 30th. I'm a sucker, I'm sure I'll be there again. After that, back to the house to watch Donnie Darko. Too much buildup, not enough payoff. I'll probably criticker it about an 85.

Saturday
Yay, happy St. Patrick's Day! I did.... absolutely nothing. I think I started the Bengal's Madden '08 dynasty (TJ, J. Smith, Rudi, etc. all gone. I freed up ton's of cap space, traded for two first round picks, got a rookie WR and DE and built up the team from there. Note to those who care: Kenny Irons is not the answer at RB). The projector is doing wonderfully.

Sunday
Rain rain rain rain rain rain rain rain rain...

Monday
Rain rain rain rain rain. Oh, and I went out and bought a coffee grinder finally. The fact that I never had one before baffled me. While at Target I was looking through the video games and (*gasp*) nothing caught my eye. Instead I went with The Measure of a Man, the autobiography of Sidney Poitier. I've always liked reading about what famous people have to say for themselves, and the movie class I'm taking has exposed me a little bit more to Poitier, a pretty cool actor. So far he seems like a good guy, too. More on that later, I'm sure.

Tuesday-Thursday
The three most uneventful days of my life. I meant to visit the old school then, but apparently both Wednesday and Thursday were early releases, meaning I had to wake up earlier than 11:30 to really visit. Dangit. The good news is that school is over at the beginning of May. I'll definitely make it back after that.

Friday
Woke up feeling like I was about to have a heart attack. Mildly scary moment considering my intake of caffine. The whole shoulder pain, pukey feeling. As it turns out, sleeping on your stomach with both arms kinda, above your head? is a bad idea. Especially when my right shoulder is double-jointed (is this a real medical term? or is it just exessive flexibility?). My shoulder was in the "popped out" mode all night, gradually pinching on a nerve for about 8 hours. Not fun to wake up with.

After that little self-diagnosis I sat on the couch all day with an ice pack and watched the first couple episodes of Season 1 of Dexter on Netflix. Definitely a fun show, though I'm not sure how they are going to show it on network TV without making it become CSI Jr.

Saturday
Spent the day working on the sister-and-husband's future duplex. Long story short, some old lady lived there for 30 years and the guy just collected rent on it. Old ladies never complain (or redecorate) so he never had to put money into it. Now that she moved out, the thing looks like a timecapsule from 1973. Were talking one grounded plug in the whole place, no cable, no shower. It's like our own little Trading Spaces or something, because the renter pretty much told us he will pay all the expenses of recarpeting/painting/decorating-in-general, without charging rent while the place is being updated. I'm kinda disappointed I'm missing the fun.

One room after carpet removal and a little cleaning of the ceiling. I wish I had a before picture, because wow the carpet looked something like this, but worse.

Sunday
Easter at grandma's. Ham was eaten.


Today
Went to get some shopping done for the room. With the Easter money I got myself some Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee (not a blend or anything, the real stuff). I'm definitely about to use my new grinder and make some right after I post this bad boy!

That's about all I can think of right now. I hope all you teaching types (or student types, if any of you read this...) at P-town have a nice break this week. Just don't sleep wrong, it puts a damper on a day.

Bored.

Watching the Weather Channel is zero fun.

Calling businesses asking for their money over spring break is zero fun.

XBox isn't even fun any more!




Draft speculation is not fun, and Dana Jacobson looks like a horse.

Spring Break w00t!

I will be spending SB'08 in sunny southwest Ohio! Westsyyyyde


Bristol (daytime) is today, one of the best races all year, so that's fun. THEN in less than half an hour is the absolutely HUGGGGEEEEE Rockets/Lakers game. I mean, I'm not even that big of an NBA fan, but I like Kobe, and I like winning streaks. It's like the dynasty's little brother, or cousin, or something. I bet the streak breaks today, and Kobe has an MVP day. That fadeaway is just heavenly.

In keeping with the sports themes, this is how the selections I care about will go:

Dayton - not in, didn't beat Xavier once this year. No way they make it.
ND - 6 seed because of a bad showing in the Big East tourny, even with a first round bye
UK - In, but probably at an 8 or 9
OSU - I would say yes, but I haven't seen them play all year. So honestly I have no frickin clue.*



* That actually goes with all of these teams, except Dayton....they're definitely not in

A not-so-original idea

I want someone to make a website for me. The problem is, that this is a lot more than a website... let me explain.

I love criticker. The premise isn't too hard to grasp. Basically, you go in, they list a bunch of movies, and you rate them all on (at most) a 1-100 scale. I say at most because the algorithm they use is pretty ingenius. Basically, it then takes all your ratings and weights them based on their percentile in your entire collection of rated movies. So, if you felt like being a big doushebag, you could rate them all 1-10, the system would adjust accordingly over time (At least i think so...). But I digress.

Criticker then takes all of your comparisions, and puts it up against the rest of the user database. Through some intense comparision stuff (which I'm thinking is roughly the math equvilant to shining two scantrons up against a light to check for differences) you are then matched with both other users who have the same taste as you and movies that said users like, the theory being that you would in turn dig them.

It's also a fun to see how much your tastes differ with your girlfriend's taste. Seriously, I'm terrible to go to Blockbuster with. But again I digress.



I want a music site that does this same thing. Before you all start linking Pandora, I'm not talking the same thing. Pandora is great if I want to sit down and listen to music that eventually, with a lot of thumb up/down action, I may like.

I want a website that will:
1.) Not require me (but certainly have the capability) to listen to new bands. I'm thinking more text based.
2.) Show me artists, not songs, that match my taste (Pandora falls short here, darn copyright laws).
3.) Allow me to compare my artist ratings with other users. Enter the "my girlfriend has a terrible taste in music" argument :)
4.) Do these three things really well, like criticker.



I'm thinking this equation would be something like

[Allmusic.com + criticker.com + (.5*Pandora.com)]/3



It really isn't that hard. The grunt work has already been laid out, someone just needs to put it all together.

And let me know. :)

Waking up just sucks some days

This helps though:





and this:

Shoulda seen that one comin...

The snow is all but gone already

Global warming my ass.

//raises flame shield and runs for the hills

This snow sucks.

More later.

The view from the window

If this were taken on, say December 10th, things may be different between us, snow.

And yes, I realize this doesn't hold a candle to some places.

This is too perfect

Why yes, of course I lol'ed!

RIP Gary

Oh and p.s. there is no reason it should be snowing this hard in March.

Sitting in front of a TV

In the "chill" part of the library (the basement; no books). A resounding "oh shit," is starting to fill the air.

Lesson learned: the 18-21 demographic means squat in the big picture

An honest question

If anyone can tell me how news stations are able to declare one candidate or another the "winner" of a state with <10% of the votes in I would greatly appreciate it. Is it just a simple matter of meeting past trends (i.e. 95% of the time the leader after x% is the final winner) or is it a NASCAR type deal where the percentages only accounts for the "offical results" while the unofficial race results are available right after the checkered flag (or in this case, the voting is done)?

Sorry for the run-on. Maybe this will help:

Is it just a simple matter of meeting past trends
(i.e. 95% of the time the leader after x% is the final winner)

or

is it a NASCAR type deal where the percentages only accounts for the "offical results"
while the unofficial race results are available right after the checkered flag
(or in this case, the voting is done)?



Or are they just a bunch of stupids?

101 Posts!

This now offically ranks in the top 5 for "Minutia that I have stuck with," along with Starcraft, Photoshop (well, kinda...) and biting my fingernails (#1, and it's not even close).

I leave you with my latest musical choices:

Johnny Cash live at [Prision]

This one is from his San Quentin concert. Cute song too, before he got all doom and gloom, not that that is a bad thing of course.

Tool

Music is Math! Especially in this song. Interesting video that shows just how in depth some of tool's songs are. I'm sure some long-haired patchouli-stink guy probably named Ian (bonus points if you get the reference) has a theory on why this song solves life, but I'll just leave it at a simple "numbers are fun".

Speaking of which, off to math. Today it looks to be applications of double integrals.

Minesweeper: A Conceit

All I really need to know I learned in Minesweeper:

* It always starts with a blank slate.
* At first, nobody understands it. "It's too confusing" ... "What do all the numbers mean" ... "Eff you happy face" ... "I need help" etc.
* The first few steps decide the rest.
* Some games are given a lot from the start, other times I need to work my ass off to even get the slightest glimer of hope.
* The times I have to work my ass off are always the more satisfying.
* Any click could be my last.
* Risks must be taken to survive.
* Everyone takes too many risks.
* Time is my enemy.
* After every mistake, I learn a little more.
* I constantly forget what you learn.
* Things can, and will, get frustrating as hell.
* The last steps are usually the hardest.
* Victory is sweet.
* In the end, this combination of work, frustration, and risk fits together to create one seamless tapestry.

You have no idea how long it took me to get this screen capture. The time wasn't even good. Hurl.

Things Done While Procrastinating...

Last week I started a running list of things I actually do when I'm supposed to be doing something else. I kind of wish I started this in high school, I'm sure there would be some pretty odd stuff.

So far:

1. Shave
2. Minesweeper
3. Make Coffee
4. Drink Coffee
5. Family Guy
6. Watch the game
7. Music Graphs


Yes, I really do shave pretty much just when I want to waste some time.

Update

Sorry, it's just been a hectic week. 6.5 pages yesterday, physics test tomorrow.

In other news, I am now facebook friends with Pete Carroll. Totally JACKED AND PUMPED about this and the upcoming season. I win, forever. This is quite possibly the most creative recruiting ploy I have seen out of any coach in a while (example, his "status" today was that "Pete Carroll is loving this SoCal weather! And its only February..."). That Sampson guy should take notes.

Before I get the "it's not really him" comment, there are a few reasons to believe that he is at least in some way connected with the page. First, there is the LA Times article stating such. Also, his network is "USC Staff." For those not fimiliar with the way Facebook works, your network is decided by the email you register with. Obviously for the high school pages they will accept any old domain name. For university networks though you need a corresponding .edu address. There is also his note about him attending the premier of Semi-Pro, with a picture. As much as I hate the doushebag, this is quite a smart way to look hip and down following the recent text-messaging ban.

In other news, I love lol-animals.

hurl

Midterm-ish time. Actually that just means one "midterm" paper, but I haven't written anything > 1 page in about a year.

Bare with me....


We = I... there wasn't a singular picture of this, deepest apologies...

"...I've seen everything!"

Is this real?! Patrick Stewart may have reached a new level of amazing-ness. This is tough, considering he has already been a starship captain..

Fiddle is gone

Apparently our friend south of Miami is finally calling it quits. My guess is that magically within the next month we will all hear of his "untimely death."

Is it bad that my first two reactions to this were "Cuban cigars?!" and then "Dammit!" once I read more about how there is no change in U.S. policy

Acually, those are really my only two reactions, period.

BOOGITY BOOGITY BOOGITY!!! (sp?)

The smell of burning ozone is in the air, its that time of year! Daytona Day! NASCAR has come a long way since the down south bootlegging days; if you ask me, those died on turn three seven years ago.

Just one look at the new "cars of tomorrow" and its obvious that this is a-whole-nother beast.

So sit back, crack open your favorite cheapo white trash beverage, and turn the volume up to full blast for the first couple turns.


This ain't yo daddy's stock car

And if you really care, my fantasy drivers (seriously...) today are as follows:

1. Jeff Gordon - Most love to hate him, I just love him. The first of the "new age" (see: no southern accent) drivers.

2. Jimmie Johnson - don't really like him, but his crew chief is a beast and he always wins so... yea...

3. Dale Jr. - didn't really like the dad, love him

4. Juan Pablo Montoya - the real-life Jean Girard, made his fame in formula UN. second year in NASCAR, I expect big things.

5. Michael Waltrip - this guy has been around since like 1955



And for those of you who watch for the crashes (who doesn't?) Daytona is the best race to watch outside of maybe Talladega:

Dream Shadows --- NOT!

Can't say this is an original idea, but man... wouldn't that be neat?! Either way, check out the inspiration for these photoshop ventures... Cool concept

[EDIT: jk, those are freakin hard and i just realized my 'shop skillz are rusty and need serious work... for now enjoy these wonderful pieces of art]

...

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Note to self: astronaut shadow looks mysteriously like clown... actually... no it doesnt.... you are just a freak....









The wonders of google-image search: tangental photoshopping

You know what Dwight? You're acting like a dork.

Sorry guys, I did not give up blogging for Lent, I promise. I have however recently obtained a Netflix subscription to help make finding the movie for homework for my Music and Film class a little easier (not sure if I mentioned that already...). With that came free instant viewings of The Office, Seasons 1-3.

I have watched all three seasons, plus what is released so far of Season 4, in the past week.

Needless to say, this show is comedic genius. Oh, and Pam and Jim are pretty cute too.

I'm pissed I didn't start watching this like two years ago, it would have made Fridays (or is it Thursdays...) in a certain biology class a lot more interesting. I'm definitely stoked about the WGA strike ending and the show continuing just in time for me to be ready for more episodes.

Thanks for asking! Cash value, 1/100 cent

Quick, everyone who cares, tell me your favorite moment/character.

Mine: Dwight, far and away. I'm glad Karen is gone, she was kind of awkward (oh and fun fact, her Rashida Jones's real-life sister dated 2Pac). Best moment has to be anything Jim does to antagonize Dwight, including but not limited to posting his resume on every job-listing site on the internet, posing as a CIA agent sending cryptic faxes, posing as "future-Dwight," and posing as the company website on AIM. Specifically though, was Michael Scott's idea to jump off the building to demonstrate the danger's of working in an office (depression).

Now I have two TV shows I have to keep up with, shit.

HOORAY FAT TUESDA--- awww ash wednesday :(

The most drastic 24-hour mood swing in the Christian faith: Fat Tuesday/Ash Wednesday.

Ash Wednesday (that funny day when all the Christian kids have some smudges on they foe'head) also marks the beginning of every meat-loving American's favorite 40-year span, Lent! No meat on Fridays, andddddd other stuff.

Note to self... go to church more often...

ONE THING I DO KNOW THOUGH is that it is common practice to give something up. The "religous" twist of this (in the Christian faith) is that it is to recognize the sacrifice Jesus underwent in his 40 days in the desert. Not sure about this, but I think Jews have a Lent in some form or another (help me out here echt...) but it is for the 40 years in exile.

In the past (and I don't see this changing outside of someone telling me this is completely heretical and will result in excommunication) instead of giving up something, I do something to better myself. Usually this is like actually working out every other day (the first year I did 100 pushups and 100 situps a day, talk about a solid, easy workout), doing all my homework (for 40 days, about five or so weeks straight depending on how spring break falls, that is no small feat for me) or serious spring cleaning. I'm far from a priest, but I like this because I think it really gets to the point more. It's not like Jesus was some masochistic freak or anything, so why should I torture myself just for the sake of the sacrifice?


BEHOLD, THE POINT OF THE POST! (sorry about the caps-heaviness, it's kinda my thing tonight...)

What I Am Doing For Lent
1. Workout a minimum of 2.25 hours/week. No weenie shit, good, hard lifting. Gain five pounds of solid muscle by Easter.
2. Keep anything that the police don't approve of to once a week, and only on weekends. That doesn't mean YAYAYYA CRAM IT ALL IN TO ONE NIGHT OF DEBAUCHERY!one!.
3. Go. To. Church.
4. Make mama proud.


I think if I complete 1-3, 4 will be easy.

Life is rough

Gee college life is rough. Loads of homework (watch Mr. Smith Goes to Washington for MUS-327, Music in Film), need to wake up bright and early at 10:30 for my CAD class tomorrow, laundry in the washer (bed sheets so they smell nice and fresh), and its 60 degrees and rainy. No sun for me today.    :(

Play for me, maestro

Ok forrealsies, maybe it isn't a cakewalk, but holy crap the fact that I'm watching a movie for a 300 level class (and blogging about it on my top of the line laptop) makes me give the college life a big two thumbs up. It is somewhat hard at first adjusting to the whole school is life kind of mindset (i.e. classes at any time of the day on weekdays, not consecutively from too-early am until 2:10 in the afternoon), but I think I'm finally at that point where going back to the "old way" would seem more awkward than now.

Ok, gotta get back to the movie. It's hard to type and watch simultaneously.

Be jealous.


I leave you with your own video to watch. Behold, the only Super Bowl Ad (SBA, if you were curious) that made me chuckle:



Talk about a slow year for commercials..

I'm not even mad.

Great game, probably, no, easily the best since the Rams/Titans (oilers?) Super Bowl so many years ago.

I find it very cool that the person to catch the game-winning catch, David Tyree, had not caught a touchdown all season. The "underdog" player gave the underdog team what it needed to get over the top. It's hard not to like that.

Witness, the only good play New England made all game. A gift interception.

Generic Super Bowl Prediction Post

Patriots win, but it's a close game. Giants cover the 12 point spread.

Then again, the only Super Bowl blowout I can remember involved the G-men and a certain Ray Lewis and Co. I had more important things to do that night, like play Driver 2. Seriously. You could hijack every car in the game! Talk about endless possibilities!!

OT: I never want to hear that GTA 3 redefined gaming again. Talk about blast from the past...

To elaborate...

Watch this:


Now, in the interest of impartiality, watch this:



Why would I show videos of the Georgia Tech defense absolutely manhandling its opponents, you ask? Why, especially, is one of those opponents Notre Dame? Because the former Georgia Tech defensive coordinator, Jon Tenuta was announced as the Assistant Head Coach and/or Linebackers Coach for that 3-9 team in South Bend.

Yes wayz Lolrus, yes wayz

Now why am I so freakin JACKED AND PUMPED for the next couple years, you ask?

Let's start with the currently #1 ranked recruiting class for 2008.

Then let's proceed to the fact that next year's defense will have arguably no connection to the defenses of 2005 and 2006. Remember those teams? here's a refresher:





There is also the slim hope from this past year that it was a bunch of freshman and sophmores (with the occasional junior sprinkled in) getting their collective asses handed to them every week. Seeing that pissed me off a lot, I'm sure each of them feeling it pissed at least a few of them off too. I like anger. Anger is the key to the dark side. You ever seen Darth Vader? There's a reason no one ever plays a pickup game with him.

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Basically, it just feels good to have one guy that has been a thorn in Weis's side for the past two years actually join forces. The optimist in me says that Tenuta is going to go in on day one and say, "Here is why I teabagged you last year." Then he'll walk over to Evan Sharpley and say, "Sorry for teabagging you, frosh," and walk away with a little chuckle (see "pissed off" paragraph for reason why).

Get the laughs in now ladies. If Notre Dame still sucks in 2009, I'll wear USC clothes for a year and worship Bo Shembelcher (spelling intended), who by the way never won a national championship, or a big ten championship, or the rose bowl (fun fact) like a GOD.

That is all. I'm gonna go headbutt something hard.

No way.

Can't talk too much now, but just heard that Jon Tenuta will be joining the ND staff this year, with secondary coach Bill Lewis retiring. Two things:

1.) Tenuta is widely regarded as the best defensive coordinator in college right now.. This is a huge get.

2.) Hopefully this doesn't hurt recruiting.

Two is much more important than 1

It's Official

Within 30 days of the postmarked date of the stuff I just sent (gotta love snail mail) I will be a registered voter. Huzzah.

I'll be waiting for my t-shirt in the mail

On a lighter side

Something else has come to my attention that I can't pass up. According to some notoriously unreliable sources (so take it for what its worth...) the Princeton-Moeller game will restart after a short (see: three of my years in high school) break.

Nice. Reserve my ticket now.

Watch me continue to beat the horse

After a healthy amount of sluthing around the interwebz, I found a little nugget of information that states that school board membership starts and ends with a new year. It also just so happens that (if you haven't noticed lately) 2007 has become 2008, and one person in particular seems to have expired his/her time (I'll leave that bit of "where's Waldo" to those who care enough).

Having a vested interest in figuring out whether or not this was true, I have searched up and down to see who the new incumbents are, but have had absolutely no luck. The best I can find is a January 14th meeting PDF file stating that there was a reception for new board members (how quaint), but not who these people are. Now, I know that school board positions are usually about as highly contested as the Hamilton County Auditor, but it would still be nice to have somewhere to look and easily see that information.

So I ask the audience, any changes in the glorious five from the list linked above? And if not, I'm pretty sure a few of us know who to contact to give a slight nudge to update the expiration dates.

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P.S. - If you haven't already noticed, I'm pretty much in that frustrated stage of now being old enough to vote and be heard, while at the same time having no control over what has happened up to this point. Most refer to this as "youthful idealism." Don't worry, I'm sure this stage will pass like the rest, but until then, let me have my fun.

P.P.S. - The more I think about it, the more the whole situation down in P-town front office urks me. And trust me, it already urked me quite a bit. First off, according to the list linked, 4/5 of a school board representing a district of ~42,000 (I looked it up...) all live in the same city. Sure, thats nit-picky at best, but in a district that prides itsself on diversity, this is a bit hypocritical. I will admit though, at least its not Evendale or Lincoln Heights (in terms of polar ends of the spectrum).
Secondly, sure the numerous familial relationships between the former (and maybe still current?) President within the district are not illegal or anything (nor should it be), but it still doesn't quite sit right. I'll be honest, it hasn't since I was still a student but I felt too involved with the whole situation to bitch and moan about it (for lack of a better word). I'm just going to save myself the frustration of trying to concisely say what I'm trying and just make another post sometime covering it.

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Sorry for:

- the italics-heavy post... Just a lot of unorganized thoughts roaming through the head.
- focusing on one topic lately. Actually, no, I'm not really that sorry. There is a lot that needs to be said here. I'm trying to keep it as factually based as possible from here on out, with the stuff I want the lawyers to ignore in italics. Blogging is all about a perception of a public forum, right? That and I'm pretty sure the readers here care about my local public school district and its inner-workings than the gentlemen of my dorm. Hell, who knows, maybe someone will actually care enough to read what a kid fresh out has to say. Novel idea...


________
And my voter-registration papers are filled out and ready to mail tomorrow morning (dependent on buying stamps). Be proud, parents.

Now for the irrational side.

I see January is School Board recognition month, so I think it is only fitting for me to recongnize the school board of my alma mater. Words cannot express, so I am forced to use a picture:

Notice the steam. Majestic.

That is all.

The (fairly) rational side speaking

I'm bad at introductory paragraphs, I don't think I can state that enough. Maybe this is also a little case of random blogging, but I feel that at the very least I need to let my voice be heard.

I'm a big of a fan as any when it comes to my high school. I think that the total education a person receives there is the best. I feel that even the meaning of "total education" is misunderstood by those who did not attend.

My school taught me both that the hypotenuse of a right-angle triangle is equal to the square root of the sum length of the sides squared and that each person should be respected equally for who they are, not in spite of it.

My school taught me that sometimes you need to get out of the comfort zone a little bit to raise some money for a good cause (either through calling a couple companies or "selling a damn ad").

My school also taught me that success is not a right, but a privilege. I was actually taught that many times over, whether it be on the football field, or the basketball court against Trotwood-Madison in the playoffs, or just looking down the halls occasionally and playing the "who will still be here next year" game (no, I never played that game, at least consciously). Only you can truly make something of yourself.

However, I was also taught that success was within reach of any person who stretched hard enough. The person who taught me that was Aaron Mackey. He wasn't a teacher, or even one of our 17 school principles. He was the superintendent of the entire district. For the record (contrary to what some may believe), I was not the student council president, nor did I have rich parents (I wish) or any relationship with the school board.

I had contact with Dr. Mackey through Princeton Entertainment Group (PEG). PEG was a group of about five students who for some freakish reason or another had a vested interest in the music business. This ranged from audiophiles to tired-and-true-techies to people who saw (and still see, to keep things straight) the field as a career, or a combination of those and many other characteristics. What we lacked in numbers (and oh did we ever lack in numbers) we made up for in determination to create, in hindsight, some relatively awesome productions. This included bringing in professional artists, creating some truly professional looking stages, and going on a weeklong tour of the southwestern United States (tour busses and all) with the school's equally impressive jazz band.

I remember one meeting specifically with Dr. Mackey back in my sophomore year. At that time, PEG had visions of a lobster buffet but only had the money for catfish. All it took was one meeting at Big Boy for Mackey to meet "the kids" and it was a done deal. We were given full support of anything we deemed worthy, whether that be financially or in time spent in the school outside of school hours (see: weekend overnights). The only problem after that was all of the intermediaries up to Mackey, but that is another topic completely.

"Princeton City Schools is at a critical juncture requiring accelerated progress on the challenges and opportunities that face the district." - School Board Vice President Lillian Hawkins

I have always believed that Dr. Mackey had a vision to create Princeton High School into a statewide powerhouse. He did not have to say that he wanted to have every student succeed without boundaries, he showed it. There is no other way I can say it, he was the ONLY person within "Central Office" that showed any sort of passion for the future of my school. At a critical juncture for an organization I put a hell of a lot of effort (and one speeding ticket) into, Mackey was there so that we could accelerate forward. Shit, in two years, the man has already left a bigger mark on the district than any previous superintendent through the construction of all new elementary schools, some well before they needed it. On top of that, he is supporting a $141 million bond issue for the construction of a very necessary all new middle school and high school. In my opinion, having spent the past four years there, the construction of a new high school is proactive, to say the least.



So I ask this to the school board: What more do you want?

I feel that through not renewing his contract, you demonstrated yet again that education is sadly just another business now. As soon as I hear a reasoned, justifiable statement from the President of the School Board explaining the need for such a top-level change in a time of sweeping district-wide development there will be a very, very bitter taste in my mouth.

As the most recent alumnus the district can speak for and as a tax-paying voter (maybe that will get through to you) I find this to be a very disappointing, irrational decision. I am eager to hear from you. Who am I though, anyways? I'm just one person. Why would you care?

Dr. Mackey cared.

Old Teachers Rock

Aside from being probably 75% of my page hits, they also give me free stuff every now and then! And, when Stinky finally comes through and remembers to get said free stuff after class but before she sees me, all is well in the world.

I take what I'm given...

Heck, I could always be a CD cover designer. The rules I used to create this particular design are here. It was the perfect time-waster for my hour before my two hour calculus bonanza (w00t).

Bigger version inside

Apparently this Robichaud guy was a member of Canadian Parliament in the 50s and early 60s. So I guess that makes said "band" a more contemporary Franz Ferdinand of sorts. The particular album title though leads me to believe they would be uber-emo, with a slightly bluegrass twang (as indicated by the rolling landscape. This would probably add up to a solid 3-star allmusic rating.

I'm pretty so-so about how the dice fell on this one... maybe better luck next time. I'm sure I'll be doing this again.

If [Easy + fun]/[t] > 42, I'm always down.

Game Update

Obviously I haven't been posting a lot here lately. Honestly, these games are just more entertaining. Take a gander:

Blast-o-matic

This bad boy is much like kitten-cannon (which all my readers are surely aware of by this point), except there are 10 buttons you must hit in time instead of an arc/velocity ratio. It's a smart alternative for those anti-physicists out there. This high score is very, VERY beatable, I know.

Super Crazy Guitarman Maniac Deluxe 2

This one wins the longest title catagory. It's the poor man's Guitar Hero, actually a pretty good representation of the type of replayability of the real one (the i-cant-stand-this-terrible-song-anymore kind).

Butt Pics

It's not as vulgar as it sounds (I know... shucks...) but it's a cute idea for a game following those good ole holiday work parties. Basically, everyone (except the CEO-types... losers) is wasted and your character thinks its a great idea to scan booty pictures on the cooperate issued Xerox. Just stay away from previously mentioned CEO types, or else you'll get a big ZOMG WTFzors, followed by a prompt game over.

P.S. if anyone finds the secret game(?), let me know

And finally, I end with a game that is going to cost you some money, but is worth a serious, serious look.
Valve software is most famous for the Halflife series (for the gameing illterate, back in the 90s a little mod for Halflife called "Counterstrike" was created, which in turn became probably the most popular FPS of all time). Back then, which was 1998 to be exact, Valve was a relatively unknown company that blew up majorly with Halflife and its many modifications. This is largely because Valve takes great pride in its game engines (like artificial physics and stuff...). Well, with Half-life 2 (released in 2004... Valve is also known for taking FREAKING FOREVER to make a game) they created a totally knew engine, Source, along with a totally seperate physics engine, Havok. This one has some pretty good real-world physics in it. So, with Orange Box (a collection of games released this past year, containing a second episode of Half-life and some other equally fun games) they released Portal.
Portal is not like any first-person-shooter I have ever, ever experienced. It's actually only about 5% FPS, and 95% puzzle-game. In Portal you are a human lab-rat for a weapons research company. You have been given a gun that has the ability to basically transport you through the same dimension. It's hard to explain, because it's honestly kind of beyond basic human instincts. With this gun, you navigate a series of 19 mazes (because you are a lab rat, after all), with cake promised at the end. Just watch the videos. I'm obsessed. Oh, and GLaDOS (your robot overlord) is pretty freaking hilarious, too.

Trailer



Fun stuff to do


One of the levels

Why yes, I AM listening to Justin Timberlake right now...

I Don't Miss:

Waking up any earlier than 9AM. I knew having later classes would help a little, but it's like night and day (is that a pun?). I think every teacher I've ever had (see: you people reading this for the most part) would agree that, sans coffee, I am a zombie.

Other Updates:

I finally got a job, hurrah. Forreal though I'm pretty stoked. It's not so much that I love having money as much as I like not being broke constantly (there is a difference). For those curious, I have been reunited with a job in the public maintainence category. This time instead of sweeping up puke at an amusement park, I'll be sweeping up puke in my dorm. I bet not many people have puke as a common denominator in their various occupations.

First recorded spew in my dorm. That's the RA in the back there, about to judo-chop a fool.

Welcome back.

Ah dorm sweet dorm.

I walk in greeted by two indusrial-sized fans (blowers?), one huge ass dehumidifier, and a note. Something to the effect of "dear student, pipe burst on floor above you, water dropped, tough luck, well be here tomorrow to pick the shit up."

Oh joy. Hey, thanks for the letter, too. Especially the part where I'm stuck with the blowers and dehumidifier for the night.

For some topping on the cake, our two refrigerators got unplugged over break. Good news: the frost-cake buildup is all gone. Bad news: water/mold everywhere.

Dangggit.

Photo evidence attached:

At least the neon green accents the decor.

Sorry, I suck

Something about having all the time in the world and nothing to do has caused me to play a lot of Battlefield 1942, and cease to exist on the interwebs. Don't worry, it's not you, it's me. I haven't even dugg anything lately. Here is a little of what I have done.

I saw Charlie Wilson's War a few weeks ago. Yes, this has been an unprecedented movie-going binge for me. I can FINALLY say that I have found a movie that I like that doesn't necessarily end happily. I went to go see it with Stinky (my version of "the girl" because she is white like casper and well, the name fits) so she was able to help me out on who was playing what part. I knew Tom Hanks was Charlie but other than that I was oblivious. Let me just say that Philip Seymour Hoffman is in my opinion a vastly under-rated actor. He has an astonishing range of characters, from Truman Capote to his (very well played) role as the straight-shooting CIA agent Gust Avrakotos here. Overall this was a very enjoyable movie. Tom Hanks, as always, impresses.
Oh, and apparently Julia Roberts was in it too. I didn't notice. Stinky helped me out on that one. Woops.

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I also bought a CD that I already had acquired through other means. Three of them actually. With Ruckus there is very little motivation for me to buy a CD for the next three or so years. And, admittedly, through other perfectly innocent means that will not be talked about on the interwebz I haven't really bought a CD in years. I want to change that. This is half-guilt and half-having-extra-fundage probably (thanks Santa) but something can be said for having a permanent hard copy of my favorite artists, and (in a more cynical manner) speaking with the dollar. I figure, the more Jay-Z (American Gangster) and Nas (Greatest Hits) CDs I buy (I got both of these), the greater the sale of quality rap, hopefully keeping Soulja Boi away from my local house party. Hurl. I may be a minnow in the Atlantic, but if this minnow hears one more get rich quick single he will go postal. OK, not really, but it's annoying.
If you're curious, the other CD I got was Brand New's latest "The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me." I've loved this one since the leaks before release (im SOOO undergroundz lollz!!!) and was finally funded enough to buy a copy, open it once to rip it to the comp, then put it in a safe place for if I ever need it again. If nothing else, Brand New is a band that has repeatedly reinvented themselves. Every time (in my opinion), they have gotten better and better. Very excited for the future there.

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I've also delved even deeper into my sick, sad obession of college football. Recruiting year is heavily upon us, with the major high school all american games being played this coming Sunday (on NBC and ABC). Overall there are 14 Notre Dame verbal commits playing in either the Army All American Bowl (on NBC, and the older of the two) or Under-Armor Bowl (ABC, sponsored by ESPN). It's amazing that with as shitty of a year 2007 was for the Irish, they can still have arguably the #1 recruiting class in college football. If this holds to February, with top-10 classes the past two years, maybe not next year but at the very least 2009 is something to look forward to. Recruiting rankings are far from a sure-fire promise for success, but having depth of talent sure does help. Ask Southern Cal.

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Oh, and how bout them Flyers? Big win vs. Pitt the other night and it looks like they could be a legit team for the tourny. All that is left is a run of the A-10 with possibly a loss to Xavier and one other team and it would be impossible to keep them out. Very cool.

Brian Roberts: Dickie V's "Best Player You've Never Heard Of"

Sorry for the long delay. This is like that awkward call to the parents for money after three weeks of silence or something. Hopefully it won't happen again.