Cessation : I have started a new project. And not because you guys were nagging me either. But because I wanted to. So ha.

The new blog is Limone
3:14 AM ::Comment::

 
Egress : Saturday Aug. 28, 2004.

So the chapter ends, not with a bang, but with a whimper. I wrote that back in '25, in my poem "The Hollow Men".

Okay, here's the skinny. I'm leaving, I'm moving away. Far away. I don't mean Okanagan far, I mean Kentucky far. I'm sure most of you know why, and those of you who don't know, too bad.

I find it a bit amusing that I of all people am the one moving away for this particular reason.

I don't intend to say anything insightful, or even memorable. My hook is my lack of final act, no plethora of romanticized comments, no special goodbyes for each, or even any, of you.

Just a simple" see ya".


As a sidenote, I'm coming back for Christmas, and Spring Break, for sure. I'll move back in ten...ish... months. So I guess I'll see you around, or maybe not.

Whatever works.

8:34 PM ::Comment::

 
Dissipate : I'm gonna move, it's boring here. Not yet though, but asap.
2:07 AM ::Comment::

 
Politics : The Bush Party is quite possibly the silliest political machine in existence, except maybe the North Koreans, or the Africans. His campaign "blog" is at least 2/3rds Kerry bashing, and all of his ads state that "this is not a time for rage, and pessimism." Then they cite the fact that Kerry shows passion during his speeches as proof of his pessimism. Kerry openly gives reasons for Bush to not be re-elected, and Bush can only latch onto the fact that there are reasons for Kerry to give, and call Kerry a malcontent for stating truths.

Who the hell is running Bush's campaign? He's obviously running a mud-slinging campaign, but doesn't seem to have the resources to get any half-convincing mud.

"God told me to strike at Al Qaida, and I struck them!" -Hitler
"...and then He instructed me to strike at Saddam, which I did!" -Bush

And on a final note, a message from me and the American GDP for the current administration;



Please, nobody argue politics with me. You won't win, trust me. This is NOT a challenge, if it were I'd be expected to argue with a bunch of snot-nosed invalids. That's just no fun. Damn invalids.

--On another note--

I like this Ouimette fellow, he treats Oliver just how he ought to be treated.
''Why is it so heavy?'' Oliver asked.

Ouimette said, ''Because it's a rock.''

I also LOVE the reporting on this. "Tests involved dripping stuff on it, and you know, scraping... and stuff, I don't really get how it works myself, and I'm not a very good writer."

I'm not really a good writer either, I write in one go, and there are always things that don't make sense. But I AM good enough to be able to recognize poor writing.






GEORGE W. BUSH
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20520

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:
Law Enforcement: I was arrested in Kennebunkport, Maine, in 1976 for driving under the influence of alcohol. I pled guilty, paid a fine, and had my driver's license suspended for 30 days. My Texas driving record has been "lost" and is not available.

MILITARY: I joined the Texas Air National Guard and went AWOL. I refused to take a drug test or answer any questions about my drug use. By joining the Texas Air National Guard, I was able to avoid combat duty in Vietnam.

COLLEGE: I graduated from Yale University with a low C average. I was a cheerleader.

PAST WORK EXPERIENCE:
I ran for U.S. Congress and lost.
I began my career in the oil business in Midland,Texas, in 1975. I bought an oil company, but couldn't find any oil in Texas. The company went bankrupt shortly after I sold all my stock.
I bought the Texas Rangers baseball team in a sweetheart deal that took land using taxpayer money.
With the help of my father and our friends in the oil industry (including Enron CEO Ken Lay), I was elected governor of Texas.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS GOVERNOR OF TEXAS:
I changed Texas pollution laws to favor power and oil companies, making Texas the most polluted state in the
Union. During my tenure, Houston replaced Los Angeles as the most smog-ridden city in America.
I cut taxes and bankrupted the Texas treasury to the tune of billions in borrowed money.
I set the record for the most executions by any governor in American history.
With the help of my brother, the governor of Florida, and my father's appointments to the Supreme Court, I became President after losing by over 500,000 votes.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS PRESIDENT:
I am the first President in U.S. history to enter office with a criminal record.
I invaded and occupied two countries at a continuing cost of over one billion dollars per week.
I spent the U.S. surplus and effectively bankrupted the U.S. Treasury.
I shattered the record for the largest annual deficit in U.S. history.
I set an economic record for most private bankruptcies filed in any 12-month period.
I set the all-time record for most foreclosures in a 12-month period.
Set the all-time record for the biggest drop in the history of the U.S. stock market.
In my first year in office, over 2 million Americans lost their jobs and that trend continues every month.
I'm proud that the members of my cabinet are the richest of any administration in U.S. history.
My "poorest millionaire," Condoleeza Rice, has a Chevron oil tanker named after her.
I set the record for most campaign fund-raising trips by a U.S. President.
I am the all-time U.S. and world record-holder for receiving the most corporate campaign donations.
My largest lifetime campaign contributor, and one of my best friends, Kenneth Lay, presided over the largest corporate bankruptcy fraud in U.S. History, Enron.
My political party used Enron private jets and corporate attorneys to assure my success with the U.S. Supreme Court during my election decision.
I have protected my friends at Enron and Halliburton against investigation or prosecution.
More time and money was spent investigating the Monica Lewinsky affair than has been spent investigating one of the biggest corporate rip- offs in history.
I presided over the biggest energy crisis in U.S. history and refused to intervene when corruption involving the oil industry was revealed.
I presided over the highest gasoline prices in U.S. history.
I changed the U.S. policy to allow convicted criminals to be awarded government contracts.
I appointed more convicted criminals to administration than any President in U.S. history.
I created the Ministry of Homeland Security, the largest bureaucracy in the history of the United States government.
I've broken more international treaties than any President in U.S. history.
I am the first President in U.S. history to have the United Nations remove the U.S. from the Human Rights Commission.
I withdrew the U.S. from the World Court of Law.
I refused to allow inspector's access to U.S. "prisoners of war" detainees and thereby have refused to abide by the Geneva Convention.
I am the first President in history to refuse United Nations election inspectors (during the 2002 U.S. election).
I set the record for fewest numbers of press conferences of any President since the advent of television.
I set the all-time record for most days on vacation in any one-year period.
After taking off the entire month of August, I presided over the worst security failure in U.S. history.
I garnered the most sympathy for the U.S. after the World Trade Center attacks and less than a year later made the U.S. the most hated country in the world, the largest failure of diplomacy in world history.
I have set the all-time record for most people worldwide to simultaneously protest me in public venues (15 million people), shattering the record for protests against any person in the history of mankind.
I am the first President in U.S. history to order an unprovoked, pre-emptive attack and the military occupation of a sovereign nation. I did so against the will of the United Nations, the majority of U.S. citizens, and the world community.
I have cut health care benefits for war veterans and support a cut in duty benefits for active duty troops and their families -- in wartime.
In my State of the Union Address, I lied about our reasons for attacking Iraq and then blamed the lies on our British friends.
I am the first President in history to have a majority of Europeans (71%) view my presidency as the biggest threat to world peace and security.
I am supporting development of a nuclear "Tactical Bunker Buster," a Weapon of Mass Destruction.
I have so far failed to fulfill my pledge to bring Osama Bin Laden to justice.

RECORDS AND REFERENCES:
All records of my tenure as governor of Texas are now in my father's library, sealed and unavailable for public view.
All records of SEC investigations into my insider trading and my bankrupt companies are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view.
All records or minutes from meetings that I, or my Vice-President, attended regarding public energy policy are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public review.
2:38 AM ::Comment::

 
Advent : For a long time I've wanted to find somewhere where I could be taught floor gymnastics, or just really high level martial arts. I've always kind of wanted to do this sort of thing.


I've also decided this blog will likely end up less about me, and more about cool stuff I've come across.


But I might as well tell you of a recent exploitation of mine. Electronics Boutique practices a strict no-return policy. The policy only seems to really apply to other people, I've always been able to more than return things. I bought a copy of the game "Savage" two days ago, it's an online game that requires a cd-key. I bought a used copy, because it was cheaper, and I got myself an extra 10% off by pointing out it's used, I saved $20 off a closed box.

I got home, installed the game, no cd-key, so I call them, they say they might have one. I go on into EB and ask for my cd-key, they don't have one for me. Now it's settled, now they get punished. I argue, and am angry till they give me a closed box. I take the box home, remove the cd-key, and the next day I return to their store, and return their game.

I got $20, because my refund was for more than I had payed, and a copy of "Savage". They get nothing, but lose the cd-key in the "closed" box. So now when they sell it, it'll get returned. They'll never earn a cent off it.

I get what I want damnit.
8:57 PM ::Comment::

 
Excellent : I very strongly enjoy how wonderfully tasteless the following headline is;

Here's the skinny: Olsen twin in rehab for anorexia

The media is great.
10:39 PM ::Comment::

 
Appropriate : The internet told me something today, this is what it told me. "Drevs Driessen van der Lieck is caused by Satan."

It was a short update, but that was definitely cool enough to deserve it.
11:26 PM ::Comment::

 
Audiophilia : It's official, and irrevocable. I'm an audiophile. Why, you ask? Simple, my recent purchase, and the circumstances surrounding it. The first bit of evidence, which many would cite as proof is this.

I am the proud owner of the one, the only, well, not only...

RP-HS5S (Not to be confused with the RP-HS5R!)

So what? What the hell is it even supposed to be? Well I'll tell you. They're earbuds. Now most people would go "Audiophile with earbuds? That's nonsense. They've GOT to have the large element for the sound quality!" But no, definitely not. I'm smarter than your average run of the mill audiophile. I compared everything, nearly half an hour I did look. And these glorious thingums I did find. Why glorious, that's easy.

10Hz - 25kHz Frequency Response
150db Approx max volume
And, it IS me after all, so, extra bass response.

What the hell does all that crap mean? I'll tell you, and the fact that I've known for a few years now is another sign that I'm an audiophile. The sales guy came over and told me some dumbed down nonsense, and I replied with the technical terms and he got confused. I shooed him. Anyway, explaining.

Frequency response is the piece of equipments ability to reproduce sound. Lows are bass, highs are, duh, highs.
So what does 10Hz - 25kHz mean? That's a little tougher to explain. So I'll give you some examples.

$500 Surround sound system
20Hz - 20kHz
$200 Professional DJ/Studio headphones
8Hz - 28kHz
$40 Headphones
24Hz - 18kHz (though you can usually find higher quality ones cheaper if you just look)

So I've got earbuds that are just barely shy of pro studio headphones. Not too shabby.


What about that db crap? All the above sound setups max out at about 100-110db. That's about as loud as a power saw, and about four times (percieved as four times as much anyway) the volume at which you can cause hearing loss.

150db is about as loud as a jet engine. When you're standing about a foot away from it. It's approximately four times as loud as the volume at which your ears start to hurt from noise. It's about the loudest noise you'd hear at a rock concert.


I'm using them instead of my speakers right now. And winamp is at an astonishing 10% max volume. It's drowning out everything else.





The final proof that I'm an audiophile? Since that's what all this was about anyway. Look how long a post about my new ear buds is.

If you're looking to buy some headphones, stick to Panasonic, they're the highest quality for the price. Don't buy mine though, then you're just some lame copycat, if you want to be an audiophile, be your own damn audiophile.

There was no coherency in that post. I've played with the bass settings, and the pulse of the bass makes me wince each time because it's like a throbbing pulse in the center of my forehead.
4:27 PM ::Comment::

 
Perplex : What's going on with this new layout? Odd indeed.

So, FMT is dead. That's pretty well official. In other news, I saw the strangest thing I've EVER seen while driving today.

There's a truck pulling a trailer, on the trailer? A large, wingless, tailless aeroplane. Slightly beat up, slightly charred.

It was just strange, not strange like a giant squid was attacking it or anything, but a piece of crashed plane just being driven through downtown Richmond.


I think it's about time we started documenting our adventures and stories. Comment with as many as you can remember. I'm too busy to remember right now. I have a term paper to write today, and I was smart and didn't do any of it yet.
5:48 PM ::Comment::

 
Apathy : I sure missed the boat on that one. I apologize for the pun. Anyway, I didn't go. You probably noticed.

Here's an unofficial, incomplete list of awesome movies in no specific order. Suggest some if you know some good ones. Rule! No really mainstream stuff. No X-men, no Star Wars, stuff that at least some people haven't seen.

No anime. I know everything there is to know about anime out of my head. Someone buy me anime hair goggles.

Pirates of Penzance
Fifth Element
The Saint
Army of Darkness
Gattaca
High Strung
Tron
Interview with a Vampire
Boondock Saints
Shawshank Redemption
Princess Bride
The Three Musketeers
Contact
Equilibrium
Seven
Mystery Men
Zorro
Nightmare Before Christmas
Fight Club
Dr. Strangelove
Clockwork Orange
SLC Punk
The Net

THE END
11:21 PM ::Comment::

 
Antagonization : If enough people comment, I'll start posting again. That is all.
11:46 PM ::Comment::

 
Acute : I declare myself a puzzle master. I was shown a puzzle, a puzzle that many seem to find hard. It took me only a few tries to figure out how to do it.

The game is called Petals Around the Rose. The name is very important. The way it is played is simple. Roll five six sided dice. There is a single solution for each roll. I can tell you that solution. The answer is always even.

The name is VERY important.
5:47 PM ::Comment::

 
Excellent : It's a sad day when you realize that Bill and Ted isn't nearly as funny as you remembered it being. I watched it with my parents, and it wasn't nearly as amusing as memories of it led me to believe. I'm sure it was funnier than Matrix Revolutions (the other choice) but that's hardly the point.

What is the point you ask? Keanu looked silly in 1991. Kinda like Laurie Shong, someone none of you know. Some Fencer/Model guy. He gets sort of chubby in the off-season.


The recent Penny-Arcade comic featuring Twisp and Catsby is an exercise in brilliance. It's one of the best pieces of minimalist humour I've ever read. Made all the more amusing by people not understanding the comic. Whether the elements that make it so humourous were assembled by accident, or through masterful manipulation is irrelevant. This is a, nay, the penny-arcade masterpiece. Chances are you won't laugh out loud. Chances are I didn't either. But the irrevocable appeal and draw of the comic is undeniable.

The colour, the style, the waiter flying away, the blank looks of the characters eyes, the layers upon layers of inter-relations within the comic. Glorious.


Barbers are not to be trusted near hair. They need to realize that my head is not their canvas, and my hair is not just one of their tools. I say "Exactly what I have now, but short." and they have to realize that I mean what I say, not "whatever YOU feel like doing, so long as it sort of has one or two things in common with what I had."

My hair used to be long at the front, short at the back, with normal length sideburns. You'd think that's a simple ratio. Somehow, they think that keeping the same proportions includes making the middle long, the front short, the back short, and the sideburns all but non-existant. The way they cut it also makes me have a streak down the middle that's a different length than everything else, which means if I try to do what I want to do with my hair it looks silly, and stupid.

Bastards. I hate this haircut. I'm going to have to try rather hard to make it not look as stupid as it does. Bastards bastards bastards.
12:32 AM ::Comment::

 
Frustration : This isn't what I had it save. I edited my template how I wanted it, and it worked, everything was fine. Boom! All of a sudden it turns into this ugly catastophre, what the hell happened?

Where does it get off thinking it can just delete what I was up to, without asking, and get away with it?

Mainly I'm only mad about this because I didn't save.


-edit : Bastard, I guess I'm using a default for a bit then.
7:07 PM ::Comment::

 
Vacillate : Change is on the wind. I'm redesigning the layout and the site. Maybe the goal of the blog shall change too. I've lost interest in the telling of tales, so perhaps this will be more of a place for writing. Strangely enough if I went ahead and wrote the results would likely be more amusing than the stories I re-iterate right now.

Speaking of stories, I have eaten at least one large animal in its entirety in the past two or three days. Mind you, it's a rather freakish animal with cow parts, pig parts, a duck part, and all sorts of other meats. I ate three large steaks in one sitting. Two were honey garlic steaks, and one was a pepper steak. The next day for dinner I had seven shish kabobs, each a full skewer in length and at least as much girth as three of my thumbs, and two bratwurst.

I even had soup with meat in it. And asparagus. Just now I polished off a sausage about as long as my arm, not a thick one, similar to pepperoni in width, but nonetheless.

Look at your leg, the left one; from the knee down, I've had that much meat in the last two days. I don't remember three days ago.


I play strange games. They help keep me amused because if I didn’t everything would be redundant. You do it too, but mine are probably a little more absurd, or more pronounced to say the least. My most recent one was "figure out who exactly Katy Z is without asking." I'm proud to say that I won. I double checked with Ian, and confirmed it. The new will require some help, it's "Who were those people who flanked me at the zone during that fateful bowling night. The ones who were there when we stole sugar, and I a straw."

Does anyone else say Katy Zee instead of Katy Zed?
6:07 PM ::Comment::