Well this just doesn't make sense...but then, that's the Irish for you.
St. Patrick's Day is this coming Monday, March 17th.
The 2008 Los Angeles Irish Fair & Music Festival...was last weekend, March 8th & 9th.
Wouldn't you think that with St. Patrick's Day falling on a Monday, the Irish Fair would be held the weekend immediately preceding it?
I guess we're not going to the Irish Fair this weekend, then.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Sunday, March 09, 2008
If you thought Karma was a bitch
you were right. But Life, Life is even worse. Life loves nothing more than to give you a swift, hard kick to the happy sacks when you're already down.
On top of everything else, my grandfather (my Mum's father) also passed away this weekend.
We saw this coming when he was moved into the nursing home not too long ago, but it was still a surprise to my mum and her family that he went out so fast. And for it to happen right now, it's just one more thing my mum has to deal with on top of everything else she's currently going through.
Then again, it could also be argued that this is something to help take mum's mind off her own problems.
On top of everything else, my grandfather (my Mum's father) also passed away this weekend.
We saw this coming when he was moved into the nursing home not too long ago, but it was still a surprise to my mum and her family that he went out so fast. And for it to happen right now, it's just one more thing my mum has to deal with on top of everything else she's currently going through.
Then again, it could also be argued that this is something to help take mum's mind off her own problems.
Crap
March 13th will be three years since my father passed away.
My Mum had a cancerous tumor removed last week. The tests done this week showed they got all the tumor, but the surrounding area contains precancerous cells so she needs to have another operation.
I sent my dog away on Friday and unlike other times when I tried to find a new home for him, this time he's not coming back. The house has been strangely quiet without him.
When you're feeling down like this, whatever you do, do not listen to Darryl Worley's song, "I Miss My Friend".
My Mum had a cancerous tumor removed last week. The tests done this week showed they got all the tumor, but the surrounding area contains precancerous cells so she needs to have another operation.
I sent my dog away on Friday and unlike other times when I tried to find a new home for him, this time he's not coming back. The house has been strangely quiet without him.
When you're feeling down like this, whatever you do, do not listen to Darryl Worley's song, "I Miss My Friend".
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
One fine day, on the way to work...
While crossing the road on my work today there was a small black object lying in the crosswalk, and my OCD said I just had to kick it, so I did. I gave it a good boot out into the middle of the crosswalk, leaving it in the perfect position to receive a second booting (and I have my Doc Marten's on today, so I was able to deliver a really good booting). But as I gave the object a second booting I realized it was a glasses case, and I also realized there was something inside.
After the second booting the glasses case wound up in the gutter and I scooped it up and attempted to open it. It was a little tricky because it had obviously been run over by at least one car (and probably more) so the dohickey (or is that doohickey?) on the zipper had broken off, but my OCD and persistence paid off and I got it open anyway. Inside was a purple BIC lighter which still worked, a white set of ear buds which had not survived their stay in the middle of the road (and would never work again), and a small silver squarish object, with the Apple logo on one side, and the words iPod written underneath.
The object claiming to be an iPod had a couple of scratches on it and it had obviously taken a direct hit from a car tire, but it was still intact and other than the dents it looks a lot like this...
I got to work and while booting up my PC I plugged my speakers into the 3.5mm jack on this so-called iPod and flicked the Off switch to the on position. A little green light came on next to the switch and the dulcet tones of some of the Inglewood and Compton's finest talent filled the air. "F**k you, Ni&&er! Mother f**king Ni&&er!"
Well, how about that? This little silver object that claims to be an iPod really is an iPod, and even though it's been run over by a car it still works. But...I better turn it off before other people get in to work and hear it. For some reason people get offended by words like "Mother f**king Ni&&er!"
Free iPod. Now those are much nicer words :)
After the second booting the glasses case wound up in the gutter and I scooped it up and attempted to open it. It was a little tricky because it had obviously been run over by at least one car (and probably more) so the dohickey (or is that doohickey?) on the zipper had broken off, but my OCD and persistence paid off and I got it open anyway. Inside was a purple BIC lighter which still worked, a white set of ear buds which had not survived their stay in the middle of the road (and would never work again), and a small silver squarish object, with the Apple logo on one side, and the words iPod written underneath.
The object claiming to be an iPod had a couple of scratches on it and it had obviously taken a direct hit from a car tire, but it was still intact and other than the dents it looks a lot like this...
I got to work and while booting up my PC I plugged my speakers into the 3.5mm jack on this so-called iPod and flicked the Off switch to the on position. A little green light came on next to the switch and the dulcet tones of some of the Inglewood and Compton's finest talent filled the air. "F**k you, Ni&&er! Mother f**king Ni&&er!"Well, how about that? This little silver object that claims to be an iPod really is an iPod, and even though it's been run over by a car it still works. But...I better turn it off before other people get in to work and hear it. For some reason people get offended by words like "Mother f**king Ni&&er!"
Free iPod. Now those are much nicer words :)
Friday, February 29, 2008
Today's the day
During lunch today we were discussing the situations that could occur from being born on February 29th, like when would you celebrate your birthday? On March 1st, because you were born the day after February 28th? Or on February 28th because you were born the day before March 1st?
We also discussed people having twins, with one born on Feb. 29th, and one on March 1st. The consolation prize there is that the Feb. 29th twin gets to say he or she is the oldest (apparently that's important to twins).
What would really suck would be being born on the 29th, and your older twin being born on the 28th. Not only do you only get to celebrate your true birthday once every four years, but you're also the younger twin! I bet your older twin wouldn't let you forget that one.
What about twins being born on the cusp of a star sign. Imagine one twin being born on June 21st, and thus being a Gemini (rather appropriate for a twin), with their younger sibling being born a few minute later...on June 22nd, and being a Leo.
Or one twin being born on December 31st of one year, and the second twin born on January 1st of the next year.
The plus for these twins is at least they get their own birthday, right?
Or how about twins being born on each side of the cut-off date for school enrollment. So one twin starts school a year earlier. How fucked up would that be? You're twins, but you're in different grades at school. You're in grade 1 and your brother is in grade 2...but...but...but...you're twins?
What other bizarre situations could there be with twins being born on different days?
We also discussed people having twins, with one born on Feb. 29th, and one on March 1st. The consolation prize there is that the Feb. 29th twin gets to say he or she is the oldest (apparently that's important to twins).
What would really suck would be being born on the 29th, and your older twin being born on the 28th. Not only do you only get to celebrate your true birthday once every four years, but you're also the younger twin! I bet your older twin wouldn't let you forget that one.
What about twins being born on the cusp of a star sign. Imagine one twin being born on June 21st, and thus being a Gemini (rather appropriate for a twin), with their younger sibling being born a few minute later...on June 22nd, and being a Leo.
Or one twin being born on December 31st of one year, and the second twin born on January 1st of the next year.
The plus for these twins is at least they get their own birthday, right?
Or how about twins being born on each side of the cut-off date for school enrollment. So one twin starts school a year earlier. How fucked up would that be? You're twins, but you're in different grades at school. You're in grade 1 and your brother is in grade 2...but...but...but...you're twins?
What other bizarre situations could there be with twins being born on different days?
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Sometimes I surprise (& scare) myself.
While driving home tonight (in separate cars), Liz and I entered the freeway and began merging with the traffic. There being a lot of traffic I figured I'd just get off at the next off-ramp so I pulled back out into what looked like the exit lane and drove down it for a bit. However the exit lane ended long before the off-ramp so I was forced to merged back into the lane I'd just left. I saw Liz's SUV a couple of cars in front of me, and right behind her was a Honda Accord, or some kind of low profile, Japanese wannabe-sports cars favored by street racing Ricers who think they know how to drive.
As I got set to once again merge with the traffic the guy in the Accord (or whatever it was) threw down the gauntlet, and in the way of arsehole drivers the world over (and I am definitely not excluding myself from this group) practically kissed my wife's rear bumper. I kid you not, the guy got his car so close to my wife's car that if they'd been parked, you'd have had a tough time walking between them. My wife would be the first person to tell you that normally I'm a fairly laid-back, easy going guy, and that too often I let people take advantage of me...but I also have a malicious streak and in the case of arsehole drivers, who are very much a weakness of mine, I sometime give in to my urges and just can't help pissing them off.
In the case of our Rice Burner friend I accepted his challenge, and I pulled up alongside his car in a manner that definitely said "Let me IN!!!" To his credit RB did not back down. Then again, why would he? I drive a Ford Focus, hardly an intimidating GET THE FUCK OUTTA MY WAY!!! kind of vehicle, and RB obviously fancied himself as a Topgun driver or he wouldn't have been an arsehole about not wanting to let me in in the first place.
Now if he hadn't been a prick and tried to shut the gate on me in such a glaringly obvious way I might have just pulled in behind him...I might not, but I might have too. It's a moot point now, anyway :D
For several seconds the traffic edged forward and stopped, forward and stopped, forward and stopped, and RB and I sat side-by-side, neither of us refusing to back down. But what RB didn't know was that we were right behind my wife...and she's even more evil than I am >:)
My wife braked and came to a complete stop for a couple of seconds, then she quickly accelerated, opening up a large gap between her and RB. My reactions were a lot quicker and despite having a pitiful 4-cylinder engine (no, it's not the Z-Tec) my Focus leaped forward and into the gap and despite his best (worst?) intentions and aggressive driving, RB found himself behind me, and BOY! Was he mad! His highbeams went on and he started tooting his horn. Not beep-beep-beep, but one, looooong continuous
toooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooot.
Now I've put a t on both the start and the finish of that toot, and that's not correct because RB never let off his horn. All the way down the freeway to the next exit lane he sat behind me with his high beams on and his horn blaring. It didn't bother me. I just flipped that tab on my rearview mirror, the one that changes the angle of your mirror and negates drivers behind you with really bright lights, then I turned my radio up. And I tapped my brakes a bit, even when it wasn't necessary, and I used my handbrake to come to an almost complete stop, which is really nasty because your handbrake doesn't engage your brake lights. I deliberately made RB's life hell. When a car in the lane next to me put on his indicator, I slowed down and let that guy in. Why wouldn't I? The guy was polite and used his indicator, and it's not like I needed to be behind my wife. I just wanted to get in front of RB because he didn't want me there.
Don't go getting on my case. RB deliberately tried to shut me out, then had a temper tantrum when I still got in. I agree, I deliberately escalated a case of Road Rage. You've got a problem with that? This is my Blog and the Internet's a big place; go find someone who cares.
Finally we got to the exit lane and I pulled into it and RB pulled out behind me. He probably thought I was going to do the same thing again, and he either wanted to get in behind me and flash me and tooooooooooooooot me some more, or he wanted to try and cut me off. But I just exited the Freeway like I'd planned to do all along and RB merged back into the traffic. While in the exit lane he passed the car that I'd let in before, which meant he cut in right behind my wife who'd been watching the whole thing in her rearview mirror.
My wife told me that as soon as RB got in behind her she promptly hit her brakes and RB, who'd been driving far too fast and aggressively, apparently almost ran up her arse.
Sometimes I surprise myself. I know I've got a mean streak but I didn't realize I could be such a complete bastard.
I've been in the other lane before. I've had people determined to muscle their way in front of me. Some people I let in, because I know they're coming in and there's no way I can stop them short of running them off the road. Other people think they're coming in but they're not aggressive enough and they back off and go behind. Other times people are very polite about wanting to come in. They make eye contact and use their indicators and I'm more than willing to let them in front of me.
It's like being a pedestrian in China. You make eye contact with the driver of the car and even though it's the norm in China for most pedestrians to yield to vehicles, yes, even in the crosswalk, many drivers would make eye contact with the big Kwai Lo and stop for me. But sometimes I'd make eye contact and it was me who stopped and let the car go through, because I could tell that this driver was quite willing to run me down if I crossed in front of him.
RB was a complete bastard. He saw my car coming down the merge lane and deliberately tried to shut me out. What he didn't realize was that this was one of those rare times where the other guy was not going to back down. RB threw down the gauntlet and I accepted the challenge, then he lost at his own game and had a temper tantrum. A classic case of Road Rage, yes, and a classic example of a sore loser, too.
As I got set to once again merge with the traffic the guy in the Accord (or whatever it was) threw down the gauntlet, and in the way of arsehole drivers the world over (and I am definitely not excluding myself from this group) practically kissed my wife's rear bumper. I kid you not, the guy got his car so close to my wife's car that if they'd been parked, you'd have had a tough time walking between them. My wife would be the first person to tell you that normally I'm a fairly laid-back, easy going guy, and that too often I let people take advantage of me...but I also have a malicious streak and in the case of arsehole drivers, who are very much a weakness of mine, I sometime give in to my urges and just can't help pissing them off.
In the case of our Rice Burner friend I accepted his challenge, and I pulled up alongside his car in a manner that definitely said "Let me IN!!!" To his credit RB did not back down. Then again, why would he? I drive a Ford Focus, hardly an intimidating GET THE FUCK OUTTA MY WAY!!! kind of vehicle, and RB obviously fancied himself as a Topgun driver or he wouldn't have been an arsehole about not wanting to let me in in the first place.
Now if he hadn't been a prick and tried to shut the gate on me in such a glaringly obvious way I might have just pulled in behind him...I might not, but I might have too. It's a moot point now, anyway :D
For several seconds the traffic edged forward and stopped, forward and stopped, forward and stopped, and RB and I sat side-by-side, neither of us refusing to back down. But what RB didn't know was that we were right behind my wife...and she's even more evil than I am >:)
My wife braked and came to a complete stop for a couple of seconds, then she quickly accelerated, opening up a large gap between her and RB. My reactions were a lot quicker and despite having a pitiful 4-cylinder engine (no, it's not the Z-Tec) my Focus leaped forward and into the gap and despite his best (worst?) intentions and aggressive driving, RB found himself behind me, and BOY! Was he mad! His highbeams went on and he started tooting his horn. Not beep-beep-beep, but one, looooong continuous
toooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooot.
Now I've put a t on both the start and the finish of that toot, and that's not correct because RB never let off his horn. All the way down the freeway to the next exit lane he sat behind me with his high beams on and his horn blaring. It didn't bother me. I just flipped that tab on my rearview mirror, the one that changes the angle of your mirror and negates drivers behind you with really bright lights, then I turned my radio up. And I tapped my brakes a bit, even when it wasn't necessary, and I used my handbrake to come to an almost complete stop, which is really nasty because your handbrake doesn't engage your brake lights. I deliberately made RB's life hell. When a car in the lane next to me put on his indicator, I slowed down and let that guy in. Why wouldn't I? The guy was polite and used his indicator, and it's not like I needed to be behind my wife. I just wanted to get in front of RB because he didn't want me there.
Don't go getting on my case. RB deliberately tried to shut me out, then had a temper tantrum when I still got in. I agree, I deliberately escalated a case of Road Rage. You've got a problem with that? This is my Blog and the Internet's a big place; go find someone who cares.
Finally we got to the exit lane and I pulled into it and RB pulled out behind me. He probably thought I was going to do the same thing again, and he either wanted to get in behind me and flash me and tooooooooooooooot me some more, or he wanted to try and cut me off. But I just exited the Freeway like I'd planned to do all along and RB merged back into the traffic. While in the exit lane he passed the car that I'd let in before, which meant he cut in right behind my wife who'd been watching the whole thing in her rearview mirror.
My wife told me that as soon as RB got in behind her she promptly hit her brakes and RB, who'd been driving far too fast and aggressively, apparently almost ran up her arse.
Sometimes I surprise myself. I know I've got a mean streak but I didn't realize I could be such a complete bastard.
I've been in the other lane before. I've had people determined to muscle their way in front of me. Some people I let in, because I know they're coming in and there's no way I can stop them short of running them off the road. Other people think they're coming in but they're not aggressive enough and they back off and go behind. Other times people are very polite about wanting to come in. They make eye contact and use their indicators and I'm more than willing to let them in front of me.
It's like being a pedestrian in China. You make eye contact with the driver of the car and even though it's the norm in China for most pedestrians to yield to vehicles, yes, even in the crosswalk, many drivers would make eye contact with the big Kwai Lo and stop for me. But sometimes I'd make eye contact and it was me who stopped and let the car go through, because I could tell that this driver was quite willing to run me down if I crossed in front of him.
RB was a complete bastard. He saw my car coming down the merge lane and deliberately tried to shut me out. What he didn't realize was that this was one of those rare times where the other guy was not going to back down. RB threw down the gauntlet and I accepted the challenge, then he lost at his own game and had a temper tantrum. A classic case of Road Rage, yes, and a classic example of a sore loser, too.
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Premades vs PUGs in the BGs
If you looked at that title and said "What???" you probably want to stop reading now :P
My Rogue is currently grinding Honor for two Gladiator swords and after two nights it's very obvious that by the time I have enough Honor to buy the Swords, I'm going to have Marks coming out of my ears. It seems to me it's a flaw in the system when I have enough Marks to make a purchase, but I'm still lacking in Honor. Part of the reason is the way Honor is awarded on the BGs, but it also comes down to the price of items being too high...or perhaps more correctly, the number of Marks needed is too low.
The Honor price of an item should be in proportion to the number of Marks required to buy it, which should be directly related to the Honor earned by the average losing player in a BG. Now before you fire up those Flamers, I am not advocating ZOMG! Welfare Epics! I'm prepared to work for my epic Blades, I just don't think I should have stacks of Marks by the time I have the Honor to buy my Epics, and I certainly shouldn't have stacks of them left over after buying my Epics, either.
Blizzard need to calculate the average amount of Honor earned by a player on the losing side of each battle, and use that to determine the Honor & Marks needed to purchase an item. So just for the sake of argument, let's say a player earns 100 Honor for losing one EOTS match, that means he has 100 Honor and 1 EOTS Mark. If he wants to buy a Sword that requires him to spend 10,000 Honor he should also be spending the equivalent in Marks, being 100, but that's never the case. In fact you rarely need more than 40 Marks to buy one item, and most can be bought for 20 Marks or less. Both of my desired swords cost 20 Marks each, but one requires 9,000 Honor and the other 18,000 Honor. I have 10 Marks but barely 2,000 Honor, so I have half the Marks but not even 1/4 of the Honor for the cheaper blade. A lot of that Honor came from doing several AVs in my 50s, so it's not like there's a slight discrepancy between Honor earned and Marks received; it's a huge difference.
As it currently stands it will probably take me close to a month of several BGs per night before I can buy one of my Blades, unless I get lucky and win a few BGs (and it happens, my PUG beat their PUG last night), or I join a Premade and increase my chances of winning. Considering how often our PUG loses to a Premade, I'm actually thinking of joining a Premade next time I see one being advertized. Then again, considering how geared up my Rogue is not, I might join a Premade only to get kicked out when someone better equipped comes along.
What I'll probably end up doing is running EOTS for the Marks and unless I get into a Premade, I'll then grind AV for both Honor and AV Marks, as I can turn AV Marks in for the quest and bonus Honor. And this is definitely a flaw in the system, when I have all the Marks I need but am forced to grind an unrelated BG to earn more Honor.
Part of the problem, as I said, is the price discrepancy between Honor & Marks, but part of the problem (despite my willingness to become part of the problem) is the Premades. Currently you enter a BG with several other people from various other servers and you inevitably face a Premade. Of course you don't know it's a Premade, at first, initially it's one or two players from the Premade who stick their heads in to determine if they're facing a PUG or another Premade. It's when they report back to their buddies and your opponents' roster suddenly fills up with players from the same realm that you know for sure it's a Premade...and there goes the neighborhood.
The simple solution to this, one which would be easy to implement and which would cause a lot of concern among the Premades, would be to change the way Premades enter the BG. If it's the Leader that Joins everyone as a Group, then when it's time for the Premade to enter the BG only the Leader should get the Enter prompt. Not one member of the Premade enters the BG until the Leader goes in, and then everyone enters all at once; no testing the waters before committing to the battle. This would not make a lot of people happy, because now they can't pick & choose their battles, but why should they be able to? This is PvP. This is WAR! You'll fight when you're told to, Soldier, and you'll fight whoever I tell you to! Now get out there and FIGHT!
Another solution, one that's already been implemented in the Arenas, is preventing players from seeing who their opponents are prior to the fight. If you bring up the Battle Chart it should show your own team mates and that's it. You should have no idea who's waiting for you on the other side of the battlefield...and doesn't everyone love surprises? This is supposed to be PvP! Why you should be able to pick and choose your battles?
The final solution would be to remove the Join as a Group option, but I don't hold with that. If a Guild wants to get together and do BGs as a team, they should be able to do that. What they shouldn't be able to do is handpick their opponents and the current BG system allows them to do just that, and that's a big problem.
My Rogue is currently grinding Honor for two Gladiator swords and after two nights it's very obvious that by the time I have enough Honor to buy the Swords, I'm going to have Marks coming out of my ears. It seems to me it's a flaw in the system when I have enough Marks to make a purchase, but I'm still lacking in Honor. Part of the reason is the way Honor is awarded on the BGs, but it also comes down to the price of items being too high...or perhaps more correctly, the number of Marks needed is too low.
The Honor price of an item should be in proportion to the number of Marks required to buy it, which should be directly related to the Honor earned by the average losing player in a BG. Now before you fire up those Flamers, I am not advocating ZOMG! Welfare Epics! I'm prepared to work for my epic Blades, I just don't think I should have stacks of Marks by the time I have the Honor to buy my Epics, and I certainly shouldn't have stacks of them left over after buying my Epics, either.
Blizzard need to calculate the average amount of Honor earned by a player on the losing side of each battle, and use that to determine the Honor & Marks needed to purchase an item. So just for the sake of argument, let's say a player earns 100 Honor for losing one EOTS match, that means he has 100 Honor and 1 EOTS Mark. If he wants to buy a Sword that requires him to spend 10,000 Honor he should also be spending the equivalent in Marks, being 100, but that's never the case. In fact you rarely need more than 40 Marks to buy one item, and most can be bought for 20 Marks or less. Both of my desired swords cost 20 Marks each, but one requires 9,000 Honor and the other 18,000 Honor. I have 10 Marks but barely 2,000 Honor, so I have half the Marks but not even 1/4 of the Honor for the cheaper blade. A lot of that Honor came from doing several AVs in my 50s, so it's not like there's a slight discrepancy between Honor earned and Marks received; it's a huge difference.
As it currently stands it will probably take me close to a month of several BGs per night before I can buy one of my Blades, unless I get lucky and win a few BGs (and it happens, my PUG beat their PUG last night), or I join a Premade and increase my chances of winning. Considering how often our PUG loses to a Premade, I'm actually thinking of joining a Premade next time I see one being advertized. Then again, considering how geared up my Rogue is not, I might join a Premade only to get kicked out when someone better equipped comes along.
What I'll probably end up doing is running EOTS for the Marks and unless I get into a Premade, I'll then grind AV for both Honor and AV Marks, as I can turn AV Marks in for the quest and bonus Honor. And this is definitely a flaw in the system, when I have all the Marks I need but am forced to grind an unrelated BG to earn more Honor.
Part of the problem, as I said, is the price discrepancy between Honor & Marks, but part of the problem (despite my willingness to become part of the problem) is the Premades. Currently you enter a BG with several other people from various other servers and you inevitably face a Premade. Of course you don't know it's a Premade, at first, initially it's one or two players from the Premade who stick their heads in to determine if they're facing a PUG or another Premade. It's when they report back to their buddies and your opponents' roster suddenly fills up with players from the same realm that you know for sure it's a Premade...and there goes the neighborhood.
The simple solution to this, one which would be easy to implement and which would cause a lot of concern among the Premades, would be to change the way Premades enter the BG. If it's the Leader that Joins everyone as a Group, then when it's time for the Premade to enter the BG only the Leader should get the Enter prompt. Not one member of the Premade enters the BG until the Leader goes in, and then everyone enters all at once; no testing the waters before committing to the battle. This would not make a lot of people happy, because now they can't pick & choose their battles, but why should they be able to? This is PvP. This is WAR! You'll fight when you're told to, Soldier, and you'll fight whoever I tell you to! Now get out there and FIGHT!
Another solution, one that's already been implemented in the Arenas, is preventing players from seeing who their opponents are prior to the fight. If you bring up the Battle Chart it should show your own team mates and that's it. You should have no idea who's waiting for you on the other side of the battlefield...and doesn't everyone love surprises? This is supposed to be PvP! Why you should be able to pick and choose your battles?
The final solution would be to remove the Join as a Group option, but I don't hold with that. If a Guild wants to get together and do BGs as a team, they should be able to do that. What they shouldn't be able to do is handpick their opponents and the current BG system allows them to do just that, and that's a big problem.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
A lunch date
According to Xinh's Rules of Dating, it was just lunch, coz there was no activity before or after the the meal :)
Normally lunchtimes find me in the lunchroom with my coworkers, but today almost everyone was out of the office. I had a coffee bill to pay so I seized the opportunity to go to the bank on my lunch break. I was amazed to discover the bank was practically empty, especially as it was high noon, and within minutes of walking in the door I was heading back outside, wondering where to go for lunch. I decided seeing as I was free, I'd give Natey a call and when he answered it sounded like I'd woken him up but he said he was in downtown and he was available for lunch. He also works a few block from my office so I recommended a South American place (actually El Salvadorean) on Olympic & Hill where I'd eaten a few times before. Natey said he knew of it but had never eaten there, but he was willing to give it a try.
For about $10 we each got a HUGE plate of food and two papusas, although after finishing our plates we were only just able to get down one papusa each, which we used to wipe clean our plates. Oh, $10 included Iced Tea as well.
I don't know the name of the place, but if you're ever in downtown Los Angeles and are looking for a feed that won't break the bank, and you're rather partial to semi-authentic El Salvadorean food (or Central/South American in general), look for the restaurant on the south-west corner of Olympic & Hill.
Normally lunchtimes find me in the lunchroom with my coworkers, but today almost everyone was out of the office. I had a coffee bill to pay so I seized the opportunity to go to the bank on my lunch break. I was amazed to discover the bank was practically empty, especially as it was high noon, and within minutes of walking in the door I was heading back outside, wondering where to go for lunch. I decided seeing as I was free, I'd give Natey a call and when he answered it sounded like I'd woken him up but he said he was in downtown and he was available for lunch. He also works a few block from my office so I recommended a South American place (actually El Salvadorean) on Olympic & Hill where I'd eaten a few times before. Natey said he knew of it but had never eaten there, but he was willing to give it a try.
For about $10 we each got a HUGE plate of food and two papusas, although after finishing our plates we were only just able to get down one papusa each, which we used to wipe clean our plates. Oh, $10 included Iced Tea as well.
I don't know the name of the place, but if you're ever in downtown Los Angeles and are looking for a feed that won't break the bank, and you're rather partial to semi-authentic El Salvadorean food (or Central/South American in general), look for the restaurant on the south-west corner of Olympic & Hill.
Not counting your chickens...
From Wolfgang's Blog I got a couple of ideas on how it might be possible to improve the electoral system in the U.S. and make it more fair for every voter.
As it currently exists the Primary Elections are a war of attrition. Candidates can be eliminated and resign when they lose crucial states, or stay in the game by winning the same. People in several states have already had their say, and regardless of how you look at it, their vote is more important than yours because their vote has caused some candidates to concede. Too bad for you if you liked Hunter, Thompson, Richardson, or Kucinich. For the Republicans the race is down to McCain and Romney, while the Democrats have no real choice other than Clinton and Obama. I like Ron Paul but he's pretty much out of the running (although he hasn't resigned, yet), and Romney, my second choice, needs to win a few big states if he's to challenge McCain, who leaped to the front after winning Florida.
You can argue until you're blue in the face, but letting some people cast their votes early, counting those votes, and making the results known, does not make for a fair election. So the first change I'd recommend is every Primary Election in every State be held on the same day, no exceptions.
The second change I'd make is not allowing the results to be released early. Count the ballots and tally them up, sure, but having a running tally as the day goes on only hurts one person...you, the voter.
Why?
Let's use the Democrats as an example, and let them choose between Clinton and Obama.
When the polls open all of Clinton's followers turn out and vote. The News people conduct exit polls and see that for every one person who voted for Obama, ten people have cast their vote for Clinton. By mid-afternoon close to 90% of Clinton's supporters (being your stereotypical Peggy Bundy, Bon Bon eating, stay-at-home Moms. Yes, I'm being facetious here.) have cast their vote. Around this time most of Obama's voters (all blue collar laborers or businessmen, yes, another facetious, tongue-in-cheek generalization) are getting off work and planning to vote for their hero, but turning on the radio in their car what do they hear? Clinton is beating Obama by a landslide! That's it, they think, my man has lost. And so they don't go to the polls but go straight home and sure enough, Clinton wins by a landslide, because all of Obama's voters heard the news and instead of voting they all went straight home.
So not only should everyone be voting on the same day, but nobody should have access to the results prior to the close of Polls. And this brings us to one final change.
When the polls close at 8pm along the east coast and the ballots are tallied and the results are known by 9pm, those results should not be released to the public, for the exact same reason as above. 9pm in Florida is only 6pm in California, so people in California still have 2 hours to get to the Polls. Many people in California are just coming home from work at 6pm, but they plan to stop and vote on their way. When they turn on their radio and hear the results of the east coast elections, how a certain candidate is winning by a landslide, that can have a demoralizing effect, of course it can also work both ways. "Oh, my guy's already won; I don't need to vote." Then the next morning they get up and find their guy lost.
I mention Florida specifically not just because of the Miami-Dade debacle of a few years ago, but because Florida didn't have to be the tight race that it became. Florida actually spans two time zones, so when the polls closed in eastern Florida, they were still open for another hour in western Florida. Allegedly many voters in Florida don't come out until the last hour or so because it's cooler in the evening, but throughout the afternoon the western Florida voters had been hearing the results of the east Florida elections, and apparently turn outs in western Florida were extremely low, unusually low. The people in western Florida figured their candidate was winning (or had already lost) so they didn't bother coming out to vote, which skewed the results.
Elections are important. Every person is supposed to be able to have their say, and every vote is supposed to carry equal weight, but when the people who vote first are able to affect the decision of later voters, the system becomes biased towards those first voters. Unfortunately the Me Generation is also the Now Generation, and that has affected the entire population. Why should I have to wait for tomorrow? I want the results NOW!
Imagine an election for Class President where 8 people like Joe and 9 like Ted, and it just so happens that Joe's people all sit on one side of the classroom. The teacher running the poll doesn't ask for a show of hands, but instead asks the first student who he's voting for, then the second, then the third, and so on. By the time she gets to the eighth student it seems support for Joe is unanimous so Ted, knowing Joe needs just one more vote to win, concedes...and Joe is elected Class President, even though Ted would have won if every vote had been counted.
This is the situation we have today, and it's not fair in the classroom or the real world. The electoral college system could remain, nothing would need to be changed about that, the only change would be everyone votes on the same day, and the results are not released until all the results, nationwide, have been officially tallied.
As it currently exists the Primary Elections are a war of attrition. Candidates can be eliminated and resign when they lose crucial states, or stay in the game by winning the same. People in several states have already had their say, and regardless of how you look at it, their vote is more important than yours because their vote has caused some candidates to concede. Too bad for you if you liked Hunter, Thompson, Richardson, or Kucinich. For the Republicans the race is down to McCain and Romney, while the Democrats have no real choice other than Clinton and Obama. I like Ron Paul but he's pretty much out of the running (although he hasn't resigned, yet), and Romney, my second choice, needs to win a few big states if he's to challenge McCain, who leaped to the front after winning Florida.
You can argue until you're blue in the face, but letting some people cast their votes early, counting those votes, and making the results known, does not make for a fair election. So the first change I'd recommend is every Primary Election in every State be held on the same day, no exceptions.
The second change I'd make is not allowing the results to be released early. Count the ballots and tally them up, sure, but having a running tally as the day goes on only hurts one person...you, the voter.
Why?
Let's use the Democrats as an example, and let them choose between Clinton and Obama.
When the polls open all of Clinton's followers turn out and vote. The News people conduct exit polls and see that for every one person who voted for Obama, ten people have cast their vote for Clinton. By mid-afternoon close to 90% of Clinton's supporters (being your stereotypical Peggy Bundy, Bon Bon eating, stay-at-home Moms. Yes, I'm being facetious here.) have cast their vote. Around this time most of Obama's voters (all blue collar laborers or businessmen, yes, another facetious, tongue-in-cheek generalization) are getting off work and planning to vote for their hero, but turning on the radio in their car what do they hear? Clinton is beating Obama by a landslide! That's it, they think, my man has lost. And so they don't go to the polls but go straight home and sure enough, Clinton wins by a landslide, because all of Obama's voters heard the news and instead of voting they all went straight home.
So not only should everyone be voting on the same day, but nobody should have access to the results prior to the close of Polls. And this brings us to one final change.
When the polls close at 8pm along the east coast and the ballots are tallied and the results are known by 9pm, those results should not be released to the public, for the exact same reason as above. 9pm in Florida is only 6pm in California, so people in California still have 2 hours to get to the Polls. Many people in California are just coming home from work at 6pm, but they plan to stop and vote on their way. When they turn on their radio and hear the results of the east coast elections, how a certain candidate is winning by a landslide, that can have a demoralizing effect, of course it can also work both ways. "Oh, my guy's already won; I don't need to vote." Then the next morning they get up and find their guy lost.
I mention Florida specifically not just because of the Miami-Dade debacle of a few years ago, but because Florida didn't have to be the tight race that it became. Florida actually spans two time zones, so when the polls closed in eastern Florida, they were still open for another hour in western Florida. Allegedly many voters in Florida don't come out until the last hour or so because it's cooler in the evening, but throughout the afternoon the western Florida voters had been hearing the results of the east Florida elections, and apparently turn outs in western Florida were extremely low, unusually low. The people in western Florida figured their candidate was winning (or had already lost) so they didn't bother coming out to vote, which skewed the results.
Elections are important. Every person is supposed to be able to have their say, and every vote is supposed to carry equal weight, but when the people who vote first are able to affect the decision of later voters, the system becomes biased towards those first voters. Unfortunately the Me Generation is also the Now Generation, and that has affected the entire population. Why should I have to wait for tomorrow? I want the results NOW!
Imagine an election for Class President where 8 people like Joe and 9 like Ted, and it just so happens that Joe's people all sit on one side of the classroom. The teacher running the poll doesn't ask for a show of hands, but instead asks the first student who he's voting for, then the second, then the third, and so on. By the time she gets to the eighth student it seems support for Joe is unanimous so Ted, knowing Joe needs just one more vote to win, concedes...and Joe is elected Class President, even though Ted would have won if every vote had been counted.
This is the situation we have today, and it's not fair in the classroom or the real world. The electoral college system could remain, nothing would need to be changed about that, the only change would be everyone votes on the same day, and the results are not released until all the results, nationwide, have been officially tallied.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
R.I.P. Heath
Just who the f**k discovered Heath was dead? News reports say his housekeeper was present at the time, but that it was Heath's Massage Therapist who realized he was going to need more than just a rub down.
TMZ.com (a self-proclaimed "Celebrity Gossip" site that my wife gives credence to, but which I've never heard of until two days ago) states that Heath was found by his maid, Theresa Solomon, and his masseuse, 'Diane Lee'.
Yahoo! News rehashing an Associated Press story (and when it comes to the news AP is a name I'm more familiar with) also states that Heath was found by his Massage Therapist HOWEVER!!! the AP story identifies the Massage Therapist as one Diana Wolozin.
In a further twist, AP reports that when Diane/Diana discovered Heath was unresponsive, she grabbed his cell phone and called 911. Wait! No she didn't! AP says Diane/Diana first called Mary Kate Olsen, whose number is programmed into Heath's phone and whom Lee/Wolozin knew was a friend of Heath's, and she asked Olsen what to do.
Allegedly it was Mary Kate, who was in California at the time, who sent over her bodyguard. Apparently Diane/Diana checked Heath again, realized things were really serious, as in deadly serious, and now she called 911. No. Wait. My bad. She called Mary Kate again. It was only after she'd made that second call to Olsen that Lee/Wolozin finally called 911.
So who is Diane Lee and who is Diana Wolozin? And why are both women credited as being Heath's masseuse/massage therapist? And when finding an unconscious client allegedly surrounded by bottles of pills, why would someone use their client's cell phone to call another celebrity, twice, before calling 911?
I think Ms. Diane Diana Lee-Wolozin, or whatever her name is, has a lot of explaining to do.
TMZ.com (a self-proclaimed "Celebrity Gossip" site that my wife gives credence to, but which I've never heard of until two days ago) states that Heath was found by his maid, Theresa Solomon, and his masseuse, 'Diane Lee'.
Yahoo! News rehashing an Associated Press story (and when it comes to the news AP is a name I'm more familiar with) also states that Heath was found by his Massage Therapist HOWEVER!!! the AP story identifies the Massage Therapist as one Diana Wolozin.
In a further twist, AP reports that when Diane/Diana discovered Heath was unresponsive, she grabbed his cell phone and called 911. Wait! No she didn't! AP says Diane/Diana first called Mary Kate Olsen, whose number is programmed into Heath's phone and whom Lee/Wolozin knew was a friend of Heath's, and she asked Olsen what to do.
Allegedly it was Mary Kate, who was in California at the time, who sent over her bodyguard. Apparently Diane/Diana checked Heath again, realized things were really serious, as in deadly serious, and now she called 911. No. Wait. My bad. She called Mary Kate again. It was only after she'd made that second call to Olsen that Lee/Wolozin finally called 911.
So who is Diane Lee and who is Diana Wolozin? And why are both women credited as being Heath's masseuse/massage therapist? And when finding an unconscious client allegedly surrounded by bottles of pills, why would someone use their client's cell phone to call another celebrity, twice, before calling 911?
I think Ms. Diane Diana Lee-Wolozin, or whatever her name is, has a lot of explaining to do.
Virtual friends
Wolfgang has a post up about playing WoW (insert MMO of choice here) and how the friends we make online can bring us back to a game, or breath new life into it.
When I first began playing WoW I played it as a single-player game in a world populated by characters controlled by real people. I rarely grouped, and often attempted to complete quests beyond my level, on my own, simply because I didn't know any better. Eventually I responded to a Guild Recruitment message just because I liked the Guild's name, joined, and found the Guild consisted pretty much of four real life friend, and a few other players. Eventually the four friends moved on and all but one of them stopped playing WoW, although he still quit our guild and joined another.
The guy who received leadership of the Guild from the original leader recruited a few of his RL friends and it was these players who formed the basis of a fairly successful casual Guild which completed content normally conquerable only by hardcore guilds. Most of those people are still in the Guild today, meaning I've known most of them now for almost two & a half years. In my downtime, when I'm not spending time with my RL family, I'm spending time with my virtual friends.
When we went back to Australia for mum's wedding last year I actually stopped playing a week or so before we left, and when I got back I found other things to do than log in. When I finally logged back in I just sat there staring at the character selection screen...wondering what I was going to do. Finally I selected my "main" character and entered the game, and as soon as the game loaded I saw Guild Chat light up with people virtually screaming my name.
It's hard to explain to people who don't play MMOs exactly what the attraction is. What makes you log into a game, only to sit on a dock somewhere and catch fish for several hours, just to level up your fishing skill. Why would you steer your avatar around an area, killing & skinning hundreds of Mobs over the space of several hours? Does all that gold really mean anything? Do you really need a faster Gryphon? Why would you spend several hours with four (or more) other people, in a coordinated assault on a dungeon, just for the chance (not a guarantee, mind you) to score some virtual loot that will make your avatar just a little bit stronger?
And why do you keep logging back in, time and time and time again, only to do the same old thing, time and time and time again?
It's the people. It's your virtual friends. In most cases, they make logging in all worth while. You may never meet them IRL. You may only ever communicate with them in-game, or via a headset, but over time you've gotten to know these people as intimately as any other close friend. You've journeyed with them, put your faith in them to heal you and keep you alive (in-game of course), or trusted them to hold the attention of a virtual dragon while you fired arrow after arrow into it.
MMOs are all about the people.
When I first began playing WoW I played it as a single-player game in a world populated by characters controlled by real people. I rarely grouped, and often attempted to complete quests beyond my level, on my own, simply because I didn't know any better. Eventually I responded to a Guild Recruitment message just because I liked the Guild's name, joined, and found the Guild consisted pretty much of four real life friend, and a few other players. Eventually the four friends moved on and all but one of them stopped playing WoW, although he still quit our guild and joined another.
The guy who received leadership of the Guild from the original leader recruited a few of his RL friends and it was these players who formed the basis of a fairly successful casual Guild which completed content normally conquerable only by hardcore guilds. Most of those people are still in the Guild today, meaning I've known most of them now for almost two & a half years. In my downtime, when I'm not spending time with my RL family, I'm spending time with my virtual friends.
When we went back to Australia for mum's wedding last year I actually stopped playing a week or so before we left, and when I got back I found other things to do than log in. When I finally logged back in I just sat there staring at the character selection screen...wondering what I was going to do. Finally I selected my "main" character and entered the game, and as soon as the game loaded I saw Guild Chat light up with people virtually screaming my name.
It's hard to explain to people who don't play MMOs exactly what the attraction is. What makes you log into a game, only to sit on a dock somewhere and catch fish for several hours, just to level up your fishing skill. Why would you steer your avatar around an area, killing & skinning hundreds of Mobs over the space of several hours? Does all that gold really mean anything? Do you really need a faster Gryphon? Why would you spend several hours with four (or more) other people, in a coordinated assault on a dungeon, just for the chance (not a guarantee, mind you) to score some virtual loot that will make your avatar just a little bit stronger?
And why do you keep logging back in, time and time and time again, only to do the same old thing, time and time and time again?
It's the people. It's your virtual friends. In most cases, they make logging in all worth while. You may never meet them IRL. You may only ever communicate with them in-game, or via a headset, but over time you've gotten to know these people as intimately as any other close friend. You've journeyed with them, put your faith in them to heal you and keep you alive (in-game of course), or trusted them to hold the attention of a virtual dragon while you fired arrow after arrow into it.
MMOs are all about the people.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Lightning
In 1942, a Park Ranger in a fire lookout tower is struck in the leg by a lightning bolt. He loses a nail on his big toe.
In 1969, a man driving his truck along a mountain road is struck by lightning and knocked unconscious. The lightning burns off his eyebrows.
1970: A man in his front yard is struck by lightning and suffers burns to his left shoulder.
1972: A man in a Ranger Station is struck by lightning and is forced to douse his head after his hair catches on fire.
1973: A man struck by lightning is thrown from his car with his hair ablaze.
1974: A camper is struck by lightning, suffering injuries to his ankle.
1977: A fisherman is hospitalized with burns on his chest and stomach after being struck by lightning.
How are these incidents related?
In 1969, a man driving his truck along a mountain road is struck by lightning and knocked unconscious. The lightning burns off his eyebrows.
1970: A man in his front yard is struck by lightning and suffers burns to his left shoulder.
1972: A man in a Ranger Station is struck by lightning and is forced to douse his head after his hair catches on fire.
1973: A man struck by lightning is thrown from his car with his hair ablaze.
1974: A camper is struck by lightning, suffering injuries to his ankle.
1977: A fisherman is hospitalized with burns on his chest and stomach after being struck by lightning.
How are these incidents related?
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
And...Survey says?
Out of curiousity I ran a Facebook Groups search on the major candidates for the 2008 U.S. Primary Elections, and discovered the following...
The top four Groups for Hillary Clinton are actually anti-Hillary:
Stop Hillary Clinton: (One Million Strong AGAINST Hillary), with 681,000 members;
ANTI Hillary Clinton for president '08 with 64,600;
Hillary Clinton: Stop Running for President and Make Me a Sandwich with 28,600; and
Life's a bitch, why vote for one? Anti-Hillary '08 with 13,600.
The first pro-Hillary Clinton Group is the fifth most populated, being Hillary Clinton for President - One Million STRONG with 12,425 members.
By contrast, the most populated Facebook groups for the other candidates are all for those candidates, but don't let their numbers fool you. Many people opposed to a candidate will join that candidate's group in order to challenge, debate with, and just generally piss off that candidate's supporters.
Barack Obama's group Barack Obama (One Million Strong for Barack) is the clear front runner with 418,797 members.
Ron Paul's group Congressman Ron Paul for President 2008 at number two with 62,885 members still has a clear lead over the rest of the pack.
Mike Huckabee's group Mike Huckabee for President 2008! has 28,237 members.
Mitt Romney's group Mitt Romney (One Million Strong for Mitt) has 19,954 members.
Hillary's group would be here, with its 12,500 members.
Fred Thompson's group Fred Thompson '08 has 6,179 members.
Dennis Kucinich's group Dennis Kucinich for President in 2008 is close behind with 6,007 members.
John Edwards' group Edwards 2008 has 5,771 members
Mike Gravel 2008 has 3,578 members.
John McCain for President has 2,660 members.
Bill Richardson's group makes the hard-to-believe claim America for Bill Richardson, considering it has just 2,477 members.
Duncan Hunter for President in 2008 has 943 members.
Despite the real man's popularity Rudy Guiliani for President in 2008 has a pathetic Facebook representation with just 872 members.
And bringing up the rear (because someone has to) is Alan Keyes For President In 2008! with 311 members.
What does this tell us? Not a lot, really. It's not a real poll. People join Facebook groups for various reasons, not always because they believe in the group, but because, as I said, they want to troll the boards and piss off the real members. And although we're well and truly embracing the Internet age where someone like my Mum could marry a guy she met online, there's a large percentage of the population who are willing & able voters, but who will only show their support at the Polls, nowhere else. Not to a Telephone Pollster, or a Petitioner outside a market, and certainly not online.
Still, looking at Barack Obama's and Ron Paul's Facebook numbers, I would expect both of them to gather a lot of real support (not just online) as more people have their say in the coming months and upcoming Primaries.
The top four Groups for Hillary Clinton are actually anti-Hillary:
Stop Hillary Clinton: (One Million Strong AGAINST Hillary), with 681,000 members;
ANTI Hillary Clinton for president '08 with 64,600;
Hillary Clinton: Stop Running for President and Make Me a Sandwich with 28,600; and
Life's a bitch, why vote for one? Anti-Hillary '08 with 13,600.
The first pro-Hillary Clinton Group is the fifth most populated, being Hillary Clinton for President - One Million STRONG with 12,425 members.
By contrast, the most populated Facebook groups for the other candidates are all for those candidates, but don't let their numbers fool you. Many people opposed to a candidate will join that candidate's group in order to challenge, debate with, and just generally piss off that candidate's supporters.
Barack Obama's group Barack Obama (One Million Strong for Barack) is the clear front runner with 418,797 members.
Ron Paul's group Congressman Ron Paul for President 2008 at number two with 62,885 members still has a clear lead over the rest of the pack.
Mike Huckabee's group Mike Huckabee for President 2008! has 28,237 members.
Mitt Romney's group Mitt Romney (One Million Strong for Mitt) has 19,954 members.
Hillary's group would be here, with its 12,500 members.
Fred Thompson's group Fred Thompson '08 has 6,179 members.
Dennis Kucinich's group Dennis Kucinich for President in 2008 is close behind with 6,007 members.
John Edwards' group Edwards 2008 has 5,771 members
Mike Gravel 2008 has 3,578 members.
John McCain for President has 2,660 members.
Bill Richardson's group makes the hard-to-believe claim America for Bill Richardson, considering it has just 2,477 members.
Duncan Hunter for President in 2008 has 943 members.
Despite the real man's popularity Rudy Guiliani for President in 2008 has a pathetic Facebook representation with just 872 members.
And bringing up the rear (because someone has to) is Alan Keyes For President In 2008! with 311 members.
What does this tell us? Not a lot, really. It's not a real poll. People join Facebook groups for various reasons, not always because they believe in the group, but because, as I said, they want to troll the boards and piss off the real members. And although we're well and truly embracing the Internet age where someone like my Mum could marry a guy she met online, there's a large percentage of the population who are willing & able voters, but who will only show their support at the Polls, nowhere else. Not to a Telephone Pollster, or a Petitioner outside a market, and certainly not online.
Still, looking at Barack Obama's and Ron Paul's Facebook numbers, I would expect both of them to gather a lot of real support (not just online) as more people have their say in the coming months and upcoming Primaries.
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
What happens in Vegas...
is pretty darn good :)
Angela was asking how the shows were that we saw in Vegas, being Zumanity and La Reve, and they were pretty darn good. Liz ordered our tickets quite some time in advance, so we had pretty good seats, although the theaters are reasonably small so there's really no bad seats.
We entered the theatre for Zumanity about 20 minutes prior to the show starting, only to discover the pre-show well under way. Two rather large ladies in very very skimpy 'French Maid' outfits were serving strawberries to various members of the audience, and they always leaned over in such a way that one audience member or another had a face full of the ladies' more-than-ample bosom or maximized gluteus maximus. Meanwhile a casanova-type fellow & his girlfriend provided more comic relief by flirting with the audience. Singling one attractive young lady out, Casanova's GF asked her where she bought her tits, only to be told they were natural.
"You're a lucky mother fucker," Casanova's GF told her, only to have Casanova point to the girl's boyfriend and say "No, he's the lucky mother fucker."
As Casanova's GF walked away she said "I wish I had tits like that." Casanova sighed and responded, "I wish you did, too."
Very crass humor, but delivered with such aplomb that only the most prudish Utah-resident could hope to be offended.
Of the two shows, La Reve was the more confusing, but I preferred it over Zumanity which was more a series of raunchy skits interspersed with dance routines. Yes, there was a lot more naked female flesh on display in Zumanity (and by a lot I don't mean large amounts) than in La Reve but Zumanity lacked the story and sheer acrobatics of La Reve, which at times had you in awe of what you were witnessing. While Zumanity had a very witty host who styled herself...himself(?) after Rocky Horror's Dr. Frankenfurter, La Reve had its share of comedy relief in four angel-type characters, who at times behaved in very un-angel like fashion, flirting with female members of the cast, and so on.
See Zumanity if you're in the mood for some light-hearted, semi-nude debauchery with a bit of singing and dancing, and a lot of joking around. And go early. Take your seat at least half an hour before the show, and if you can try to get front row seats, not for the view, but for a chance to interact with the cast.
See La Reve if you want to leave the theatre going "Wow! That was amazing!" and be left discussing with your partner exactly what happened, or what you thought was happening. Was she dreaming? Did he die? Did she die? I know I enjoyed it, but exactly what was it? And yes, I'm aware that La Reve is French for The Dream, or something like that, but that still leaves a few questions unanswered :)
Also don't take your seat for La Reve until you have to, because the music they play at the start is very repetitive and quickly begins to bore a hole through your skull. There is no pre-show for La Reve, and our show did not start right on time due to last minute safety checks.
Despite that, both shows were very enjoyable, in very different ways.
Angela was asking how the shows were that we saw in Vegas, being Zumanity and La Reve, and they were pretty darn good. Liz ordered our tickets quite some time in advance, so we had pretty good seats, although the theaters are reasonably small so there's really no bad seats.
We entered the theatre for Zumanity about 20 minutes prior to the show starting, only to discover the pre-show well under way. Two rather large ladies in very very skimpy 'French Maid' outfits were serving strawberries to various members of the audience, and they always leaned over in such a way that one audience member or another had a face full of the ladies' more-than-ample bosom or maximized gluteus maximus. Meanwhile a casanova-type fellow & his girlfriend provided more comic relief by flirting with the audience. Singling one attractive young lady out, Casanova's GF asked her where she bought her tits, only to be told they were natural.
"You're a lucky mother fucker," Casanova's GF told her, only to have Casanova point to the girl's boyfriend and say "No, he's the lucky mother fucker."
As Casanova's GF walked away she said "I wish I had tits like that." Casanova sighed and responded, "I wish you did, too."
Very crass humor, but delivered with such aplomb that only the most prudish Utah-resident could hope to be offended.
Of the two shows, La Reve was the more confusing, but I preferred it over Zumanity which was more a series of raunchy skits interspersed with dance routines. Yes, there was a lot more naked female flesh on display in Zumanity (and by a lot I don't mean large amounts) than in La Reve but Zumanity lacked the story and sheer acrobatics of La Reve, which at times had you in awe of what you were witnessing. While Zumanity had a very witty host who styled herself...himself(?) after Rocky Horror's Dr. Frankenfurter, La Reve had its share of comedy relief in four angel-type characters, who at times behaved in very un-angel like fashion, flirting with female members of the cast, and so on.
See Zumanity if you're in the mood for some light-hearted, semi-nude debauchery with a bit of singing and dancing, and a lot of joking around. And go early. Take your seat at least half an hour before the show, and if you can try to get front row seats, not for the view, but for a chance to interact with the cast.
See La Reve if you want to leave the theatre going "Wow! That was amazing!" and be left discussing with your partner exactly what happened, or what you thought was happening. Was she dreaming? Did he die? Did she die? I know I enjoyed it, but exactly what was it? And yes, I'm aware that La Reve is French for The Dream, or something like that, but that still leaves a few questions unanswered :)
Also don't take your seat for La Reve until you have to, because the music they play at the start is very repetitive and quickly begins to bore a hole through your skull. There is no pre-show for La Reve, and our show did not start right on time due to last minute safety checks.
Despite that, both shows were very enjoyable, in very different ways.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
All I want for Christmas...
It was obvious by our gifts that we're a 21st Century family.
Amber got the Happy Feet DVD (and some other gifts, including one pink and one purple "My Little Pwny".)
JE got Mario Kart, Mario Party, and Yoshi's Island for the DS, and Mario Party 8 for the Wii.
Liz got Puzzle Quest for the Wii, and My Sims for the DS (which I think she's forgotten about ;)
I got Ghost Squad for the Wii (I got it myself because I knew nobody else would, and no, I didn't buy everyone else's presents. I bought a few, but not all of them ;)
Liz and I also got each other some perfume/cologne.
I had to go in to work on Christmas Eve (the day, not the evening), I didn't have to go in (I could have used a Vacation Day), but I'd already said I'd be in and a few others had already requested the time off, so I went in knowing that I was missing the annual Christmas breakfast with Liz & the kids and the rest of her family. It used to be Christmas dinner (on Christmas Eve) but this year it was changed to breakfast. So I went in to work, thinking my wife and kids would be joining me for lunch. Instead, just before noon, Liz called to say the kids and their cousins were having a great time playing together, so they were staying at Uncle's for lunch as well.
One of my supervisors took off at noon. Before she left she told us our other supervisor was leaving at 2pm, so the three of us (in my section) would pretty much be on our own after that. Meanwhile our Bureau Chief was waiting for a call from the Commissioners' offices to see if we could go home early. I told our only Senior to call one of the girls in the Commissioners' offices (who used to work in our Bureau), rather than wait for 'them' to call us. So he called and discovered all of the Commissioners are on vacation this entire week. Hooray for them. Technically this meant our Chief could make his own decision as to whether or not to let us leave early, rather than wait for permission.
At 2pm my other supervisor left, telling us we could leave an hour early, "but do so quietly," she said, and so at 2:30 I was out the door and on my way to the bus stop to join my family, who were still playing happily at Uncle's house.
Back at work today I discovered our Chief pulled the same stunt as last year, going around at 3:30pm and telling everyone they could go home early. 3:30pm is the time I and a few others would normally leave anyway, so it's not exactly leaving early.
When they did this to us last year on Christmas Eve, a week later on New Year's Eve I deliberately kept asking our Program Manager if we were going to be let go an hour early. I even reminded her that I and several others come in at 6am and leave at 3:30, so it would be nice to know before that time if we could go home early. What happened? 3:30 arrived and our smiling Program Manager came around and told us we could all go home an hour early. Yeah, thanks for nothing. Then they go and do it again this year, and I expect they'll do the same again this New Year's Eve. Lovely. Just lovely. There are days where you don't feel appreciated and you wonder why you came in to work at all. Christmas Eve should not be one of those days.
Thank Orion for things like Ghost Squad where I can let off steam by blasting terrorists in the privacy of my own home :)
Amber got the Happy Feet DVD (and some other gifts, including one pink and one purple "My Little Pwny".)
JE got Mario Kart, Mario Party, and Yoshi's Island for the DS, and Mario Party 8 for the Wii.
Liz got Puzzle Quest for the Wii, and My Sims for the DS (which I think she's forgotten about ;)
I got Ghost Squad for the Wii (I got it myself because I knew nobody else would, and no, I didn't buy everyone else's presents. I bought a few, but not all of them ;)
Liz and I also got each other some perfume/cologne.
I had to go in to work on Christmas Eve (the day, not the evening), I didn't have to go in (I could have used a Vacation Day), but I'd already said I'd be in and a few others had already requested the time off, so I went in knowing that I was missing the annual Christmas breakfast with Liz & the kids and the rest of her family. It used to be Christmas dinner (on Christmas Eve) but this year it was changed to breakfast. So I went in to work, thinking my wife and kids would be joining me for lunch. Instead, just before noon, Liz called to say the kids and their cousins were having a great time playing together, so they were staying at Uncle's for lunch as well.
One of my supervisors took off at noon. Before she left she told us our other supervisor was leaving at 2pm, so the three of us (in my section) would pretty much be on our own after that. Meanwhile our Bureau Chief was waiting for a call from the Commissioners' offices to see if we could go home early. I told our only Senior to call one of the girls in the Commissioners' offices (who used to work in our Bureau), rather than wait for 'them' to call us. So he called and discovered all of the Commissioners are on vacation this entire week. Hooray for them. Technically this meant our Chief could make his own decision as to whether or not to let us leave early, rather than wait for permission.
At 2pm my other supervisor left, telling us we could leave an hour early, "but do so quietly," she said, and so at 2:30 I was out the door and on my way to the bus stop to join my family, who were still playing happily at Uncle's house.
Back at work today I discovered our Chief pulled the same stunt as last year, going around at 3:30pm and telling everyone they could go home early. 3:30pm is the time I and a few others would normally leave anyway, so it's not exactly leaving early.
When they did this to us last year on Christmas Eve, a week later on New Year's Eve I deliberately kept asking our Program Manager if we were going to be let go an hour early. I even reminded her that I and several others come in at 6am and leave at 3:30, so it would be nice to know before that time if we could go home early. What happened? 3:30 arrived and our smiling Program Manager came around and told us we could all go home an hour early. Yeah, thanks for nothing. Then they go and do it again this year, and I expect they'll do the same again this New Year's Eve. Lovely. Just lovely. There are days where you don't feel appreciated and you wonder why you came in to work at all. Christmas Eve should not be one of those days.
Thank Orion for things like Ghost Squad where I can let off steam by blasting terrorists in the privacy of my own home :)
Sunday, December 23, 2007
A weekend in Vegas
Friday, after watching (& video taping for the school) my son's Christmas program, Liz and I headed off to Vegas. This time the kids stayed behind so it was just the two of us in Sin City, and so this time around we were able to see a couple of shows: La Rêve, and Zumanity.
We also visited The Gun Store and fired an M-16 and an MP5, both full auto. I was seriously impressed at the almost complete lack of recoil on the MP5. No wonder SWAT and CTUs love them.
We also did a bit of gambling, but limited ourselves to the 1¢ machines. I ended up winning $30, but I think Liz spent that much herself, so we probably just about broke even :P
Hotelwise, the Monte Carlo is far superior to Circus Circus.
Do not go to The Wynn for their buffet dinner on a Saturday night. The food might be worth the $40 price tag, but it wasn't worth the 2-hour wait to get a table.
We also visited The Gun Store and fired an M-16 and an MP5, both full auto. I was seriously impressed at the almost complete lack of recoil on the MP5. No wonder SWAT and CTUs love them.
We also did a bit of gambling, but limited ourselves to the 1¢ machines. I ended up winning $30, but I think Liz spent that much herself, so we probably just about broke even :P
Hotelwise, the Monte Carlo is far superior to Circus Circus.
Do not go to The Wynn for their buffet dinner on a Saturday night. The food might be worth the $40 price tag, but it wasn't worth the 2-hour wait to get a table.
Friday, December 07, 2007
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Not going to be a good weekend
Liz's uncle passed away this morning. When I saw the text message from Liz my first reaction was to snap my phone closed. I don't know why. I'm not extremely close to her uncle, and the signs were very clear that he was fading and fast, but it was still shocking somehow. I snapped my phone closed as if that would delete the text message, but having already seen it deletion is irrelevant. Liz's uncle was in his 90s and until the last week or so was still living with his wife and their son in his son's condo. He was admitted to hospital, briefly moved into an assisted living center for a few days, and then was transferred back to the hospital where he spent his last few days.
By comparison my father spent a few days in hospital then was sent home where he died about five days later, in his own bed, with my mother and my sister by his side. I'd rather go out like that. I'd hate to be lying in a hospital bed, knowing I was dying, seeing my family for a few hours each day and when I said goodbye to them each night have no idea if that would be the last time we'd see each other.
Here, it was probably better for Uncle to pass away in the hospital. Likewise in Australia, except in Dad's case a palliative care nurse had just visited less than 30 minutes prior to him passing away, and because of that the police didn't need to be involved, there was no need for an autopsy, etc.
I suspect that sometime this weekend we'll be attending Uncle's funeral. It's sad because another aunty and a cousin are flying in from Chicago and New Jersey tonight. Like me with Dad, they also never got to say goodbye to Uncle.
The blessings we can count are that Uncle lasted this long, so even though his presence was missed at Thanksgiving dinner we were still able to celebrate. On a personal, somewhat selfish level, I'm glad that this year's family Christmas get-together (traditionally held on Christmas Eve) was changed from dinner to breakfast. With Christmas Eve being a Monday I have to work, so I won't be attending this year's get-together, meaning while the rest of the family has to contend with the hole left behind by Uncle, I can sit at my desk, bury myself in my work, and pretend that all is still right with the world. It's not that Uncle's death affects me so much, it's that I'd rather not have to witness the effect it's having on everyone else, especially Aunty. Ignorance is bliss, and this is one weekend I'll be glad to get behind me.
By comparison my father spent a few days in hospital then was sent home where he died about five days later, in his own bed, with my mother and my sister by his side. I'd rather go out like that. I'd hate to be lying in a hospital bed, knowing I was dying, seeing my family for a few hours each day and when I said goodbye to them each night have no idea if that would be the last time we'd see each other.
Here, it was probably better for Uncle to pass away in the hospital. Likewise in Australia, except in Dad's case a palliative care nurse had just visited less than 30 minutes prior to him passing away, and because of that the police didn't need to be involved, there was no need for an autopsy, etc.
I suspect that sometime this weekend we'll be attending Uncle's funeral. It's sad because another aunty and a cousin are flying in from Chicago and New Jersey tonight. Like me with Dad, they also never got to say goodbye to Uncle.
The blessings we can count are that Uncle lasted this long, so even though his presence was missed at Thanksgiving dinner we were still able to celebrate. On a personal, somewhat selfish level, I'm glad that this year's family Christmas get-together (traditionally held on Christmas Eve) was changed from dinner to breakfast. With Christmas Eve being a Monday I have to work, so I won't be attending this year's get-together, meaning while the rest of the family has to contend with the hole left behind by Uncle, I can sit at my desk, bury myself in my work, and pretend that all is still right with the world. It's not that Uncle's death affects me so much, it's that I'd rather not have to witness the effect it's having on everyone else, especially Aunty. Ignorance is bliss, and this is one weekend I'll be glad to get behind me.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
PSA: Facebook, Beacon, & Invasion of Privacy
If you and your loved one are on Facebook, and you shopped online for Christmas this year, chances are your loved one (& all of your Facebook Friends) may know what you bought for them, thanks to Facebook's Newsfeed & a tracking utility called Beacon.
But the good news is if you use Firefox, there's a workaround, as found at this site and reproduced here...
1. Download and Install the BlockSite plugin for Firefox (if you don't already have it).
3. Restart Firefox then select ‘Add-ons’ from the Tools menu.
4. Click the ‘Options’ button on the BlockSite extension
5. Click the ‘Add’ button
6. Enter http://*facebook.com/beacon/* into the input box
7. Click ‘OK’, then ‘OK’ again, and you're good to go.
If you already use Adblock or Adblock Plus you don't need to install the BlockSite plugin, just add the filter *.facebook.com/beacon/* to your block list.
But the good news is if you use Firefox, there's a workaround, as found at this site and reproduced here...
1. Download and Install the BlockSite plugin for Firefox (if you don't already have it).
3. Restart Firefox then select ‘Add-ons’ from the Tools menu.
4. Click the ‘Options’ button on the BlockSite extension
5. Click the ‘Add’ button
6. Enter http://*facebook.com/beacon/* into the input box
7. Click ‘OK’, then ‘OK’ again, and you're good to go.
If you already use Adblock or Adblock Plus you don't need to install the BlockSite plugin, just add the filter *.facebook.com/beacon/* to your block list.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Tap's Fish House & Brewery
Today Liz and I made our way to Brea for brunch at Tap's Fish House & Brewery. I was surprised when I got there to discover they offer not just the traditional Champagne Brunch, but a Beer Brunch as well. You all know what a Champagne Brunch is, well, a Beer Brunch is pretty much the same, just you get to sample two 16oz glasses of one (or two) of Tap's fine microbrews. Per our server's suggestion I ordered the Cream Ale, a light-bodied beer which was very easy on the palate, and disappeared very quickly when I made myself a cheese plate from the various cheeses available. The surprising taste was the bleu cheese which had a very strong, distinct flavor; it practically exploded in my mouth, and exploded out of Liz's when I gave her a small taste. No sir, she didn't like it. She also didn't like the Pumpkin Ale, my second beer of choice. I don't know how to describe the flavor of the Pumpkin Beer, which Tap's describes as "a medium-bodied ale made with 100 pounds of fresh pumpkins and spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice." They don't get the 100 pounds of pumpkin into each glass, but each glass sure does pack a lot of flavor. I ended up stuffing myself so much (the beer didn't help) that I told Liz we weren't going to the Brea Mall straight away, so we took a stroll around the shopping center across from Tap's instead, and that helped settle everything :)
Then we went to the Brea Mall, and that's pretty much the last time I set foot in a mall until at least the second week in January. Having worked in two malls for two Christmases, they're the last place I want to be between Thanksgiving and New Years. Not enough parking spots, too many people, not enough tables in the food court...so I'm doing my part to reduce the crush by staying out of them. The problem is Liz saw a Toys-R-Us catalog with a "Buy 2, get 1 Free" special on Wii games, so I think we're heading to our local Toys-R-Us tomorrow night. Monday night at a very small open-air mall, it shouldn't be too bad.
The problem will be buying three Wii games and not letting JE play them until the weekend, or Thanksgiving at least. Actually the problem will be buying three Wii games, period. We already have Mario Galaxy, Zelda:Twilight Princess, and Guitar Hero3. There's not too much else out there (that I know of) that's worth spending $50 to $60 on.
*edit* except I just found out that Link's Crossbow Training AND Ghost Squad both come out tomorrow, and both games can be picked up for around $50+tax. Bargain! One more game and Link's Crossbow Training (cheapest game at $20) is free!
Then we went to the Brea Mall, and that's pretty much the last time I set foot in a mall until at least the second week in January. Having worked in two malls for two Christmases, they're the last place I want to be between Thanksgiving and New Years. Not enough parking spots, too many people, not enough tables in the food court...so I'm doing my part to reduce the crush by staying out of them. The problem is Liz saw a Toys-R-Us catalog with a "Buy 2, get 1 Free" special on Wii games, so I think we're heading to our local Toys-R-Us tomorrow night. Monday night at a very small open-air mall, it shouldn't be too bad.
The problem will be buying three Wii games and not letting JE play them until the weekend, or Thanksgiving at least. Actually the problem will be buying three Wii games, period. We already have Mario Galaxy, Zelda:Twilight Princess, and Guitar Hero3. There's not too much else out there (that I know of) that's worth spending $50 to $60 on.
*edit* except I just found out that Link's Crossbow Training AND Ghost Squad both come out tomorrow, and both games can be picked up for around $50+tax. Bargain! One more game and Link's Crossbow Training (cheapest game at $20) is free!
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