Tenth Rock from the Sun

Recommended Reading: “Astronomers detect ‘10th planet’.” BBC News. 30 Jul. 2005.

Astronomers in the United States have announced the discovery of the 10th planet to orbit our Sun.

The largest object found in our Solar System since Neptune was discovered in 1846, it was first seen in 2003 but has only now been confirmed as a planet.

Designated 2003 UB313, it is about 3,000km across, a world of rock and ice and somewhat larger than Pluto.

Wow, it’s kind of mind-blowing to read stuff like this when you’ve been taught since grade school in science classes that there were only nine planets orbiting our sun. I guess it's time to update some textbooks, huh?

”…UNIVERSE MUCH TOO BIG TO SEE…”

Song of the Moment: “Through the Never” by Metallica

International Testosterone Check

Recommended Reading: “Azeri opposition politician defends own heterosexuality.” Yahoo News. 25 Jul. 2005.

BAKU (AFP) - A top opposition leader in former Soviet Azerbaijan has defended his track record as a heterosexual after accusing the oil-rich state's authorities of launching a gay smear campaign against him.

"If anyone has doubts about my manliness, let them send me their wives and they will become convinced of my prowess for themselves," the leader of the Popular Front of Azerbaijan party, Ali Kerimli, told journalists.

Take that, you gay-smearing bastards! Bring your wives to me so that they can tell you who the real man is! **beats chest** **snicker** Calm down, captain caveman, and keep your cock in your pants.

”No! Hulk not sissy-boy… Hulk straight!”

Comic of the Moment: The Ultimates vol. 2: Homeland Security by Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch

Death to Spammers.

Recommended Reading: "Russia's Biggest Spammer Brutally Murdered in Apartment." Mosnews.com. 25 Jul. 2005.

Vardan Kushnir, notorious for sending spam to each and every citizen of Russia who appeared to have an e-mail, was found dead in his Moscow apartment on Sunday, Interfax reported Monday. He died after suffering repeated blows to the head.

I got this link from Warren Ellis's (Planetary writer) website/blog and think it's pretty good news. This is progress. We need more examples to be set for people involved in the spread of internet spam. It'd be even better if he was beat to death with cans of Spam. Sometimes I believe that I'll sooner see peace on Earth before I stop seeing "increase your breast size" e-mails in my school e-mail account.

"...THE JOY OF VIOLENT MOVEMENT, PULLS YOU UNDER..."

Song of the Moment: "2x4" by Metallica

Innovation or Imitation?

I recall one day when Matt, the annoying roommate, brought his brother by. We struck up a conversation about Metallica, where he fell into "I like the older stuff better" group. Not being an ass that totally has to have everyone like what I like, I quickly steered the conversation towards music at large. The guy admits to be a progressive rock (think Dream Theater) fan, having a hard-on for a band called Opeth in particular. He froths at the mouth when talking about them, insinuating that there's nothing quite like them. I let him pop his live Opeth DVD in the player and watch a couple songs. It was your average death metal band growl-wise, but you could actually discern rhythms and some interesting harmonies. He starts a praising the singer when he begins playing a solo, which I listen to for about thirty seconds before saying, "Sounds like from Santana." The praise stops and he suddenly changes to another track. Hmmm, maybe they're not as unique as he thought?

"...IT'S NOT WHO YOU YOU ARE, IT'S WHO YOU KNOW..."

Song of the Moment: "Holier Than Though" by Metallica

A Fantasy Destroyed and Other Randomness

Wow. I’ve just finished reading this trade paperback entitled Alias, which was written by Marvel’s super-scribe Brian Michael Bendis for the company’s more mature MAX line, today. It was on the back burner for over a week because Ian, one of the current roommates, kept on shoving Sandman trades in my face. Alias turned out to be a witty, dialogue-heavy, modern noir read with a touch of innovation (at least for comics) here and there. One of those pages that really opened my eyes was this one page splash of the main character, Jessica Jones, using the bathroom (see accompanying picture to the right). Thank you, Bendis. Thank you for taking my fantasy where girls are pretty things that smelled good, who didn’t need to do such foul and smelly things like take craps, and flushing it down the toilet (pardon the pun). I remember a simpler time where it was easier to believe the t-shirt that said, “Girls don’t poop.” Hell, I even remember (Big) Chad telling the roommates one semester that his Dad didn’t know women took craps until after he got married. Damn you, Bendis, damn you! For the record, I understand fully that it is necessary for women to use the bathroom like everyone else. I’ve understood this for a number of years. I just didn’t want to believe it.

Matt, the annoying roommate, said Metallica was tame on one of my concert DVDs. I hope he’s not comparing them to Rush or Opeth, because if he is, he doesn’t know what he’s talking about, but then again, he rarely does.

♫ It’s payday, it’s payday. ♪ **sings and dances like a half-cracker**

Freeloaders suck. I say down with mooching roommates and welfare. Get jobs and buy your own damn food, you bastards.

Summer’s almost done, thank God. It was a huge let down after all the fun had in senior seminar last semester, well, at least the after-seminar bar drinking. Summers are lose-lose situations, whether I go back to Korea or stay in Atlanta it sucks.

I’m finding that I have to bite my tongue a bit more than usual nowadays. This a problem when you’re dependent on people for plans to work. They say or do something stupid you have to hesitate before correcting them. Yes, I use people as a means to an end. Saying that people are “means” in themselves is idealist bullshit said when trying to justify using people for their own purposes.

”I return Winter’s smile and fight the urge to pummel the man.”

Comic of the Moment: Batman: War on Crime by Paul Dini and Alex Ross

Maturity

I remember an acquaintance making a post some time asking her friends to define maturity for her. Curious, I looked to see what they said and saw most opted for an overly-long and drawn out definition containing many points. I piped in and let them know the fact that most dictionaries don’t even try define maturity psychologically. My definition entailed that psychological maturity is the state in which a person consciously acknowledges that every action will have a consequence, no matter how small that action. This usually happens whenever we emerge from adolescence, with an understanding that we aren’t as “invincible” as we thought we were. One of the definitions on her comment thread was similar, but I do not believe “responsibility” a necessary condition for psychological maturity. If that were true, would we label all successful risk takers, which include several entrepreneurs and leaders, as immature? Maybe I’m also wrong? It is definitely a strong possibility.

“…MUCH TOO YOUNG TO FOCUS
BUT TO OLD TO SEE…”

Song of the Moment: “Prince Charming” by Metallica

Curious

Charito threw a hissy fit with me yesterday over the way I sort magazines out to put into mailboxes. Sure, I could’ve explained to her that this eliminates having to walk around to different shelves, but my shift was over and I didn’t want to have to deal with her lack of English vocabulary. Well, she took it up with the boss yesterday after I left, so he asked me what was up today. I explained it to him and he agreed with me. Her best friend at the office called her a damned drama queen today, which serves her right. This girl is starting to get on my nerves. I could’ve taken advantage of the fact that my coworkers trust me like a saint since I work hard and lied to my boss to make her look even than she did, but I didn’t. I must be getting old.

Jack’s got an away message that’s piqued my curiosity. I’m wondering what happened, though likely it won’t be as bad as the scenarios that my imagination tends to think up. I probably think negatively enough to a pessimist. Regardless, I hope it isn’t bad enough to warrant the “when I find you, you bastard, I’m going to kill you,” line, despite my predisposition to violence.

Daniel’s friends at his Random Donkey (probably Hiro, who was admin last time I looked there) group on Yahoo seem to have made the group private now. Kind of odd since they were protesting my attempts stop Daniel from relaying his rumors, claiming it impeded on his right to free speech. I mean I really could’ve set administrative settings on this blog a little tighter and disallowed anonymous comments and deleted all the entries I didn’t like, but I’m not that much of an ass. I set up this as a semi-open forum with the blurb stating that “nothing is safe.” Though don’t get me wrong, I can understand the need for privacy, as that they didn’t mean for the group to be open to everyone’s eyes. After all, we all have something to hide.

I’ve instituted a “no beer unless I’m drinking” policy on my imports. The roommates have been too wasteful with my Negra Modelo in the past, so I felt this was necessary. I don’t care if they drink any of my Miller Lite or High Life if I’m not there, but that’s because those beers are cheap. I feel kind of bad, but hey, I want to be able to enjoy a good portion of whatever I buy. The beer does not flow freely here.

Last note: looks like we have an actual trailer for Alan Moore’s V for Vendetta movie up on Quicktime. I wonder if they’re going to screw it up like the last couple movies that have been based off of Alan Moore’s comics (The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, From Hell). It’s starring Natalie Portman (I can't believe she went bald) as the main chick and Hugo Weaving (Agent Smith) as the masked guy, the directors being those guys that did The Matrix series (which I still detest). The trailer looked interesting at least. Perhaps the Wachowski brothers, both failed comic writers, can do justice to this film. I was pleasantly surprised by Constantine, which was based around a Moore-created character, so perhaps there’s hope for this one. Daniel will probably like the tagline from the poster, being “People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.”

”They don't have the slightest idea of who you really are, do they?”

“I'd like to think that Jean knew. Knew and understood.”

Comic of the Moment: Astonishing X-Men #11 by Joss Whedon and John Cassady

∞ Rambling

Why is Gwen Stefani singing "bananas" as a bridge verse (can you really call it a verse?) in her "Hollaback Girl" song? Since the coworkers at the mail room have V103 on all day long, I have the "pleasure" of being able to hear it two or three times a day. One odd fact is that Gwen Stefani is probably the only white artist on that station (Mariah Carey doesn't count). I have to admit, I have half a mind to go and record that "bananas" as a ringtone, but my boss is begging me not to. Also, those damned four R. Kelly songs out as singles right now are rather annoying, being devoid of any real song structure. The problem is that they're probably one of the top singles on the station right now.

Speaking of work, it kind of bugs me that the employees at the gym don't make it a point to talk to the patrons, if only to say hello. This is a customer service job, after all. Despite being a proponent for discipline, I still try and greet patrons whenever I'm working behind a desk here. Are people really this anti-social at this school (the gym hires students)? They really shouldn't complain about their failings in the social arena if they can't do things as simple as greeting a stranger.

Last Friday I took leave of two of my shifts to go help Jack move his girlfriend into her new apartment. Despite my horror seeing the amount of stuff there was in the back of the U-Haul truck, it actually didn't take too long or require too much effort. What surprised me was getting a $50 check for what I thought would just be something I was doing as a favor. To add to that, Jack picked up the tab at Rocky Mountain Pizza. Well, here's to Jack and Melody for allowing me to make $20 more than I usually do for less work. **raises Dasani bottle**

The comic shelf reading has become rather jumbled as of recently. DC decided the obvious and put together Frank Miller (The Dark Knight Returns, Batman: Year One) and Jim Lee (Batman: Hush) together for All-Star Batman and Robin to craft their definitive vision of the Dynamic Duo outside of continuity. It was odd how they changed Robin's origin, even if slightly, since the origin hasn't been deviated from in decades. Still was neat seeing Batman in his prime despite being unseen until the last page, where he hoists the boy (who's just lost his parents mind you) into the air by his shirt, saying, "On your feet, soldier. You've just been drafted. Into a war." Mark Millar's The Ultimates continues to be my favorite Marvel book, depicting "Persons of Mass Destruction" in allegorical fashion with hints of political satire here and there (mostly dealing with Bush policy in regards to Iraq). Astonishing X-Men somehow made a fight between a room and a bald cripple cool with the latest issue. Ian, one of the current roommates, loaned me the first Sandman trade and it's proving interesting, if not as groundbreaking as people like to tout the series as being. Despite its sporadic release schedule, Planetary still reigns as my favorite comic, being sci-fi on crack mixed with a satirical look at pulp fiction genres, making you remember why you fell in love with it all in the first place.

I thought I was the paranoid one, at least until last night's conversation with Daniel. Provided a good laugh though. You liberals and idealists need to stop watching all of those conspiracy theory TV shows and movies. It's not like I'm going to use my frequent flyer miles to track down each one of the flamers on the post a couple days ago. It takes like three flights to Korea, which are about 10,000 miles one way, to get me a free trip.

I've watched Constantine twice this past week. Didn't intend to watch it more than once, but friends who haven't seen it wanted to see it, so you know the drill. It shouldn't reach Batman Begin proportions though. That was just obscene. It was still nice to spend some time with Mike.

"I guess God has a plan for us all."

"God's a kid with an ant-farm, he doesn't have a plan for anything."

Movie of the Moment: Constantine starring Keanu Reaves

Examples

Working at the gym has become rather boring after we had passed the midpoint of the summer. People aren’t as dumb as they used to be, at least in my weight room. They’ve realized that though they do pay membership dues, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they own the equipment and can use it in whatever fashion they please. My coworkers think I’m a bit too hard on some of the patrons, but in truth, I’ve only had to kick people on two occasions. I give everyone one chance. People drop weights, I let them know the first time I hear it. People do exercises wrong, I come around and instruct them on how to do it right. Most people comply, but hell, why shouldn’t they? The first group I had to kick out was a bunch of northeastern Asians wearing khakis. Every time they come in they see a sign letting them know what clothes not to wear. They left without putting up a fight. The second group was some Indians, and we know how that turned out. Now there’s rarely any trouble in the gym. People recognize me, say hi, ask what’s up, ask for spots, etc. Things still aren’t perfect, I still can’t get lifters to recognize the neat patterns in which I re-rack plates, but it’s hard to breed neatness in people this late in life. Now I have to drink multiple beers before going on my fitness shifts to keep from getting too bored.

”I go out and make the world sane.”

Comic of the Moment: The Punisher vol. 1: “In the Beginning” by Garth Ennis and Lewis Larosa

Eye of the Beholder

Let me start with housing. I found out the new apartment I’m moving into won’t be finished and ready to move into until the 15^th of August rather than the 1^st like originally stated by the leasing office. This put me in a small bind, since GT Housing kicks you out by the 5^th, but a couple contingencies came to mind. Ian, one of the current roommates is going home for two weeks, but moving into another school apartment just down the street. He was hesitant to leave me with his keys, which was reasonable, all things considered. So I offered him $100 in cash to be allowed to use his pad for storage and a place to sleep until I move into 100 Midtown, which would be well before he comes back. Another alternative was Jack’s house, but I really don’t want to take advantage of his family’s hospitality (they’ve treated me very well over the small time I’ve known them) and his house is about a 45 minute drive one way. Yet another contingency was to take advantage of 100 Midtown’s offer to house me for free in the Hyatt downtown, but the hotel staff would hate me for bringing all my crap into a hotel room, I’m sure.

Yesterday Meg told me the story of her meeting Neil Gaiman during one of our conversations. She said she almost passed out, though that was probably due to her being extremely sick at the time of the book signing. I likened it to when I met Metallica, where I had the luxury of going through three band members before being able say something coherent (to Lars Ulrich). Meg thought it was rather unfair since I got some practice in that regard, while in her case there is only one of Neil Gaiman.

I knew Daniel “Danger” Vall-llobera was clever at least in one respect! I invited him to the blog for that reason, after all, along with being a counter to Jack. Meg asked me if he was clever enough to understand the meaning of a comment that she posted and I made a small bet in his favor saying that he was pretty sharp and the meaning of her comment wasn’t that hard to get. She won the bet, and I hate losing to her. I began wondering if my opinion of him higher than it should’ve been. After all, even one of his favorite professors, Dr. Maier, had a look of slight disappointment on her face when I answered her question about his current situation. But he impressed me rather recently. I was beginning to suspect that all the anonymous posts on hate thread a couple posts below this one were by him. It was slightly reasonable, when you mooch WiFi you pick up whatever IP address the providing router gives you, plus there are many software packages out there that allow you to mask your IP address. I wasn’t about to lob accusations though, no need to do that until I was sure. Well it turns out he posted a cry for help from his fellows on a Yahoo Group that he belonged to. I never thought of making that sort of “plug,” sticking just to linking this blog on my AIM profile is enough for me. I was wondering about that small spike in pageloads. Looks like you’ve earned a little bit of respect back, Daniel. Perhaps I won’t photoshop a flag in the place of the Tech shaft.

I’ve been reading J. Michael Straczynski’s run on Amazing Spider-Man, and I have to admit, he’s got the character down pat. What the movies failed to realize was that Spider-Man’s got a great sense of humor. After all, it’s sometimes the only thing that keeps him from just completely giving up.

I haven’t touched my guitars in over a month. There’s something about the hated roommate, Matt, that makes me hesitant to pick them up. It’s not that he’s a good player, quite the opposite. It’s amazing how someone else’s incompetence can instill feelings of hesitation within other people. Is my playing as annoying to other people as his is to me? Jason Deas was bad enough to live by, but he wasn’t as bad of a player as Matt, well, mostly because he didn’t brag and carry his guitar from room to room.

"...DOESN'T MATTER WHAT YOU SEE
OR INTO IT WHAT YOU READ
YOU CAN DO IT YOUR OWN WAY
IF IT'S DONE JUST HOW I SAY

INDEPENDENCE LIMITED
FREEDOM OF CHOICE
CHOICE IS MADE FOR YOU, MY FRIEND
FREEDOM OF SPEECH
SPEECH IS WORDS THAT THEY WILL BEND
FREEDOM WITH THEIR EXCEPTION..."

Song of the Day: "Eye of the Beholder" by Metallica

Can't Please Them

The setup: the mailroom. The players: myself and my fellow student coworker, Charito.

Charito: So why are you not talking to me?
Scott: You throw hissy fits. I don’t like your hissy fits. I find you throw more hissy fits when I talk to you, so I’ve stopped.
Charito: What?
Scott: Plus you’re not really cute enough to put up with.
Charito: I cannot hear you.
Scott: Nevermind, get back to work.

Please note that Charito’s command of the English poor is rather poor and she speaks with a heavy Venezuelan accent. A week ago she told me to stop bothering her because I have a tendency to tease her with the aid of the other people working there. Fair enough, so I stopped talking to her except for if necessary. She got her wish, and now she’s wondering why I’m not talking. Sure, I can talk with her without teasing her, but she rarely understands otherwise, so it's a lose-lose scenario. God, there’s no pleasing a woman, is there? Don't answer that, Jack.

”…HEADSTONG
WHAT’S WRONG?
I’VE ALREADY HEARD THIS SONG BEFORE…”

Song of the Moment: “Ain’t My Bitch” by Metallica

(Late) Weekend Update

Woke up too late to workout before opening Saturday morning and realized again how boring it was to work fitness shifts at the CRC while sober. Got back and we hooked the Cube up to the living room TV and devoted a good chunk of the day to X-Men Legends. Ian seemed to do pretty well for a newbie, only occasionally jumping off cliffs chasing after enemies with Wolverine. A miracle happened at about 2030 when I received a phone call from Mike. Evidentially he got bored from working all day in lab and wanted to go do something fun for once. The kid normally spends like an average of 10 hours a day in lab or studying, even on Friday nights and weekends, which is insane, but then again, he still has Hope. We went to see Wedding Crashers, which was pretty damned funny.

Woke up on time on Sunday and spent about two and a half hours in the gym. Felix, one of the supervisors, thought I was fucking insane for working out when no one else was there, but I rationalized it with the fact that I avoid all the annoying people who drop fucking weights and gab on cell phones by coming early. Came back home and Ian wanted to play more X-Men Legends, which took another couple of hours. Around 2200 I finally get around to reformatting my computer, which was supposed to be done weeks ago. I wish I had started earlier. The reformatting took about an hour. Putting all of my shit back on the computer took me until 0400 the next morning. Sure, I got about an hour of sleep, but I did free up 20 GB. I recall a year or two ago being able to go about three days without sleep, but I think I'm getting too old for all-nighters now.

”Hello, God...this is Peter Parker. Can I ask a favor I know I've been your personal cat toy for the last few years...but can we not do that to me again for a while? Say...fifty or sixty years? I mean, that's not long in your terms, right? Just kidding, God...just kidding. But I'll bet you knew that, didn't you?”

Comic of the Moment: Amazing Spider-Man issue 437 by J. Michael Straczynski and John Romita Jr.

The Great Phone Dilemma

This seemed all to start when ordered a cheap plastic holster for my Sony Ericsson flip phone. It was designed only to hold one of the two primary pieces of the phone, allowing it to flip up while in the holster if need be. The problem with this was that the holster wasn’t the best at holding the phone in the case of the smallest bumps or whenever it brushed up against things. I notices sometimes it would fall out after I get out from driving, safely falling to the seat in the car, thankfully. However, my luck changed last Wednesday when I had to attend a skills check meeting for my job at the CRC around 1930. I get home and lounge around for a little while and realize the phone’s nowhere to be found around 2130. Realizing I couldn’t do anything about it at the moment since the gym was closed, I went to bed, hoping I could find my phone the following morning.

Well, when I woke up the next day, I also realized that there was a good chance the phone was lost, so I did some cell phone research for about 20 minutes that morning in the case that I couldn’t find it. Walked to the gym and lo and behold, one of the more annoying supervisors had found it the night before. I thanked him and headed out, thanking God for not having to make me buy a new cell phone. I get ready for my other job and hopped on the Stinger (GT’s shuttle bus system) to get to work. I get there and work for about an hour and realize at about 1130 that the phone was gone again. I concluded that it was on the Stinger. After losing my phone twice in a 12 hour period, I resolved that the phone was lost and that I needed a new one, along with a better holster. After work was finished I hopped in the car and hit up Buckhead’s Cingular shop and bought a Sony Ericsson s710a, a $400 phone. I could’ve bought a Motorola Razr instead for around $310, but syncing software and cables for my computer would’ve cost another $50, and I already had the cables and software for Sony Ericsson phones because of my old phone. Plus it’s got a 1.3 mega pixel camera and removable Memory Stick Pro Duo card which made it a better all-in-one gadget. Before you go criticizing about the price, realize I’m probably better at saving money than you and I can occasionally drop cash on big purchases like this every once in a while and not be in a tight spot.

Well, anyways, when I get back from the store, I see an IM from Joanna saying that she got a call from my old phone saying that a guy name Marty had my phone and that he wanted me to call it to figure out how he’d get it back to me. Unfortunately, the SIM card in the old phone was now deactivated by Cingular ever since I got a new one, so calling was out of the question. He didn’t leave a last name or a number, so tracking down information on him was going to be difficult since the school directory only lets you search for people if you have the last name. The next day he actually gets smarter and calls people on my address book (oddly enough he only seems to be calling the girls **chuckles**) leaving a number to call and a last name. The girl wrote down the number incorrectly, but fortunately I had a last name now. **sigh** Well, I called him and we’re in the process of figuring out a time for me to get the phone from him. Long and confusing post, no?

"…CAN YOU GET ME TO A TELEPHONE?..."

Song of the Moment: "Loving the Alien" by Velvet Revolver

VHX or Beta?

Hit up the Black Cat last night with Leslie. It was fun. The band was VHX or Beta, and they didn't suck in the slightest. The singer sounded exactly like Robert Smith of the Cure, and they definitely had a certain 80's sound going on. However, if that was all, they wouldn't have been nearly as cool. Instead, the best description I can think of is crossing The Cure and The Crystal Method.

I've been listening to a few songs from American Idiot, the Green Day album. Are they sucking less? I mean, I never thought they were bad, but I never really thought they were spectacular, either. This latest incarnation of their music seems to have gotten a lot better. Either that or the rampant anti-Bush'ism littered throughout the thing resonates with my soul.

The Stone Roses rock!

I find it endlessly amusing at the things people get angry about. My boss flips out when people don't sign certain documents that come into our possession. Or when the spreadsheets we use to track our work fall into alphabetical order. My friend Robert gets livid when his soldier in a videogame doesn't reload their gun fast enough. And don't get me started on how intensely pissed you can make a person when you point out facts regarding our (or any) government. And they say I'm not grounded in reality...

Of course, I'm guilty of losing my temper at ultimately inconsequential things. I once beat a Tekken machine after losing a match to Yusef. I mean, I took a flying jumpkick at it, rocked it onto its side, and permanently fucked up the right joystick. I once tried killing a guy (no joke) for pointing out I had a heavy bounce to my walk (I like to think of it as a happy spring).

Recently, I like to think I've gotten a lot better about this whole anger thing. Essentially, after figuring out Yoda was right about the fear leading to anger leading to hate leading to suffering, I've managed to axe half my problems at the bud. I haven't had a violent fit, haven't had the need to intoxicate myself into oblivion, and I haven't wanted to kill myself in over a year now. w00+!

Ironically, I also nearly poisoned myself with my own cooking. Go figure.

I Knew It!

I've always suspected this, and Jack probably started to after the whole "I eat too much meat" post. Now witness the truth behind Daniel Vaginal-Lobsterll - llobera!

Dantes Entreri: Oh yeah
Dantes Entreri: you didn't think Shania Twain was attractive
LatinLeprachaun: She isn't
Dantes Entreri: congratulations
Dantes Entreri: you're officially my first gay friend
Dantes Entreri: lol
LatinLeprachaun: She really isn't that hot
Dantes Entreri: Daniel, it's ok if you favor men, just keep your cock away from me
LatinLeprachaun: *rolls eyes and googles*
LatinLeprachaun: *quirks eyebrow*
LatinLeprachaun: if this is Shania Twain
LatinLeprachaun: whose the not-so-hot chick I've always thought is Shania Twain?
Dantes Entreri: huh?
LatinLeprachaun: *rolls eyes* The label "Shania Twain" was attached to someone else
LatinLeprachaun: Having seen what Shania Twain looks like, I have to take the label off the previous one
LatinLeprachaun: and slap it onto this hottie
Dantes Entreri: Who did you think it was?
LatinLeprachaun: I don't know, because if her name isn't Shania Twain, how am I going to tell you?
Dantes Entreri: lol
Dantes Entreri: wow
Dantes Entreri: you're still officially gay
LatinLeprachaun: *rolls eyes*
LatinLeprachaun: I wish
LatinLeprachaun: I might have gotten some tail by now

How can any sane, heterosexual male not be remotely attracted to Shania Twain? Granted, I may have not chose the best picture to accompany this post, but still! Is going from "asexual" to "homosexual" an up or downgrade?

"For one more record, he loves the cock."

Movie of the Moment: Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back

Massively Multiplayer Divorce Proceeding

Recommended Reading: “Game Accounts Take Center Stage in Divorce.” Pacific Epoch. 1 Jul. 04.

This obsession over MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Roleplaying Games) has gone far enough! The husband here is willing to give up a roof to live under if he can keep the accounts the couple have been jointly using throughout their marriage. I’m surprised this hasn’t happened yet in the states, but then again World of Warcraft is still relatively new.

“What in God’s name have you been doing here all day? Is that pornography?”

“No, Mom, it’s an M.M.O.R.PG.”

“What the hell is that?”

“A massively multi-player… **sigh** It’s a game, Dad. Like Scrabble, but for the computer, you know?”

“Does it cost me money?”

Comic of the Moment: Runaways vol 1: Pride and Joy by Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona

Inspiration

I rarely meet people that really inspire me to try harder in life anymore. In fact, more often than not I become rather disappointed with others. While working at the gym I’ve noticed a guy coming to work out multiple times a day. Yeah? So what? A lot of people do that right? What makes this guy something different is the fact that he’s missing his right hand and about half his forearm. I remember helping him out on the declined bench press one day and asked him why he’s training so hard. What I found out is that he’s training for a triathlon later in this year. For people who don’t know how tough triathlons are, here are some statistics:

• The swim is a distance of 1.5 km or .9 of a mile
• The bike is a distance of 40 km or about 24 miles
• The run is a distance of 10 km or 6.2 miles

Your average person can’t do either of these three events on their own without stopping, and you’ve got a one-armed guy who’s doing the whole shebang. No, he’s not doing the sprint triathlon, which is about half of all of the distances above. Puts us all to shame, doesn’t it? It’s inspired me to start working out twice a day rather than the usual once a day routine.

“A LONG TIME AGO I NEVER KNEW MYSELF
THEN THE MEMORY OF SHAME BIRTHED ITS GIFT
NO MORE THE SMALL ONE, THE WEAK ONE, THE FRIGHTENED ONE
RUNNING FROM BEATINGS, DEFLATING
I’M BECOMING MORE THAN A MAN
MORE THAN YOU EVER WERE
DRIVEN AND BURNING
TO RISE BEYOND JESUS
I’M BORN AGAIN WITH SNAKE EYES
BECOMING GODSIZE…”

Song of the Moment: “Becoming” by Pantera

Beyond Reason

What’s wrong with people? Why are some individuals so unreasonable to the point where direct confrontation is needed to get the point through that person’s skull? Is it that hard to get a point through to someone? I’d love to believe in everlasting peace and all that good shit stuff, but there’s still a reason we still have war.

One example was last month’s confrontation between myself and Matt, the skinny bastard of a roommate over the setting of the thermostat. Having the temperature set at higher than 70° F is too warm for a summer in the state of Georgia, but the idiot couldn’t get it through his skull. He adamantly claimed that most people prefer the temperature within a home to be above 70° F, even when the other roommates tried to explain the fact that he was wrong by calculating an average temperature from our ideas of good temperatures for home environments. It took a rather aggressive slamming by the throat for him to see reason.

Another example occurred today at the gym. I warned a group of four or five Indian students that they had about two minutes until closing, and they said they were on their “last” set. The official announcement came loud and clear over the intercom and I saw them changing weights on the bench press for another set. I told them the gym was closed and that they needed to leave, only to be told again that this was their “last” set. I grabbed the bar when the guy hefted it off the rack and put it back down. He glares at me and tells me something to the effect that my actions could’ve killed him. I told them to get out. He repeated his claim. I revoked all of their gym memberships and privileges. Assholes, don’t fuck mess with the authority figure. Now I know how baseball umpires feel.

See why I don’t subscribe to idealist thought? It’s these few idiots that ruin it for the rest of the world. I was told yesterday that I had a keen sense of what was right and what was wrong, but my means for exacting “justice” were a bit harsh for her standards. Sure, there are probably other ways of resolving things, but time is a luxury I don’t have.

”…YOU’VE WAGED A WAR OF NERVES
BUT YOU CAN’T CRUSH THE KINGDOM…”

Song of the Moment: "5 Minutes Alone" by Pantera

Take That, WIFI Moochers!

Recommended Reading: "Wi-Fi cloaks a new breed of intruder." St. Petersburg Times State. 4 Jul. 2005.

Wow. I wonder when they'll catch Jack and Daniel? Why don't people encrypt their networks? It's not that hard.

"...SO MANY THINGS YOU DON'T WANT TO DO
WHAT IS IT? WHAT HAVE YOU GOT TO LOSE?..."

Song of the Moment: "The Struggle Within" by Metallica

Ketchup

I hope everyone had a pleasant Fourth of July. I myself spent that morning in Florida, the afternoon in flight to D.C., and the evening at the Mall, watching the fireworks display. If any of you see newscasts or pictures of the Boston Pops stage surrounded by people, know this: its a filthy fucking lie. They weren't allowing anyone within 1,000+ feet of that fucker. I guess I'll have to get elected into something to be able to approach it (and even then, I think they might still shoot while shouting "Pinko!").

If you didn't take a moment to read the preamble to the Declaration of Independance a couple days ago, you ought to do so now. Good stuff.

On a completely different note, I was exposed to a horror that brought forth from the dark recesses of my mind a memory of a thing that should not be. Long ago, in some sort of evil chamber of darkness or something, I think George Lucas was possessed by the devil. Nay, to be possessed by the devil would have yielded something infinitely less disturbing. Perhaps his evil is more than that of the grandmaster of Hell itself. Satan couldn't have thought of Jar-Jar...

Star Wars had a made-for-TV movie. Think about that for a bit...

Not a cartoon. Not some sort of series. Not even a straight-to-video release. We're talking about a movie made to be broadcast. I think all fans of Star Wars would rather much forget this abomination of filmmaking. All non-fans would rather forget it. The United Nations ought to pass a resolution ordering all copies destroyed and that memory-destroying drugs be cast into the air supply to help us get past this terrible...thing.

Oh, finished Life of Pi. It was pretty cool, but not the life-changing book some folk claim it to be.

Thats all for now. Take care folk,

The "Know-It-All" Personality

I'm sure you know the type. In fact, you might even possess this personality trait. No these people don't know it all, but they sure to talk as if they're the world's foremost expert on the matter. And why? Because they "read" fucking Cosmpolitan or Maxim, or watch the fucking Discovery Channel. And even when you do know more than Mr. or Mrs. "Know-it-All," they'll try to debate you on the subject. Sometimes you'll just sigh and decide it's not worth explaining the matter in detail to the bufoon, and other times you'll go off on the idiot, verbally humilating jackass to the point where he or she thinks your rebuttal was completely uncalled for. Why can't these people just admit the fact that perhaps they could've made a mistake? **sigh** You can never win with these people, can you?

"...YOU PRETEND IT DOESN'T BOTHER YOU, BUT YOU JUST WANT TO EXPLODE..."

Song of the Moment: "Turn the Page" covered by Metallica

Play$tation 3

Recommended Reading: "Report: PS3 to sell for $399, cost $494 to make." Gamespot. 30 Jun. 2005.

Wow, and I thought video gaming systems above $200 was way too over priced (at least for my budget). I don't know what's more ridiculous, the price of the system, or the expected losses that Sony will incur during the first year? Regardless, I've had a relatively low opinion of Sony's game systems over the years, and I hope it gets it's face kicked in by Microsoft's X-Box 360.

It is normal for game companies to take a loss on hardware whenever a new console launches, since they typically focus on acquiring market share rather than generating a profit during the first year. During the second year and afterward, they can recover the losses with the savings that come from mass production and with licensing fees from publishers.

However, Merrill Lynch Japan warns that the normal console business cycle may be disrupted if Microsoft cuts the Xbox 360's price when the PlayStation 3 launches. The report goes on to say that such a move could hurt Sony's plans, bringing an additional loss of 80 billion yen ($730 million) in its second year and 50 billion yen ($457 million) in its third year.

Movie of the Moment: Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines

MIA, cop the album.

Wow, I love her, she's such as good artist. Well the production is good at least. The hottest artist out of Sri Lanka right now. All of her videos are somewhat interesting too, moreso the fashion though. She's cute, so whatever she wears doesnt really detract from her overall look.

I just ordered a scrolling LED belt buckle from bustedtees.com, I dont know why I did, but man, I just want one so it can read "Certified Gangster..... Bitch..." or maybe "It's Duck Bitch!" (got that from Fat Joe), I dunno, there's a lot of funny things I can make it say. I do need to get some new Tees though.

My friend was here tonite, I should have kissed her, because i'm not slipping into friend zone, hell no. She's really cute, drives a nice car, really smart, Looks great rather, I dunno, she's got a lot of good qualities.

Oh yeah, get the Kanye West, "Freshman Adjustment." It's something of a demo tape or unreleased stuff. Some of it should have came out in my opinion though. I need to find the MIA/Diplo mixtape... bad.