(Random, Long, Possible Rant) Highlights, if you could call them that, of the past 2 weeks.

Well, it's not been quite 2 weeks since my last post, but really, that one hardly counted anyways. Contrary to the piles of evidence against me (which none of you have access to) I haven't really had the time to blog, especially since Cindy was nice enough to give me World of Warcraft for Christmas.

I realize that when I blog from work not only do my posts tend to be more fragmented, grammatically deficient, and flawed in spelling, but also that I tend not to cover all the points I wanted. However, even with this warning in mind, I really don't find the time at home so where's harm.

Nothing like stating the obvious to bum yourself out, ala this conversation I had today:
Kyle - "Hey, we've been out of school for 19 days now."
Me - "Yeah, and I worked all but 3 of them."
I said that immediately and without mental computation, but it turns out I was right. I didn't work one Sunday, and the past Saturday Sunday (aka: Christmas). More heavy hitting is the realization that of all the days I have worked, I have worked a full day (9-6) every single time with the exception of shortened days (Saturdays, Christmas Eve) and 2 hours which were owed to a Haircut and having 3 cavities filled, and I've worked until 7 twice, so it all nicely balances out.

So the 2005 Honda CRV has come out, and it basically addresses everything I had to go out of my way to try and get in my vehicle (without going to EX and being unable to fit in it). With Standard ABS (yeah, that whole rant again) and Side Airbags (cost me extra, see same rant as above) plus a new seat material that's alledgedly more comfortable, I've not had any problems. Gee, Hindsight really is 20/20. Honda bastards.

My Co-workers are alot of fun. It gets dangerous to strike up a conversation with David and I after we've been customerless for almost an hour, but that's not really suprising is it? Gary's gone, which is a sad thing, you can read David's work profile to see the style of humor this place is now lacking.

Space for Vent.











Cute pun, no?

(Music/Politics) REM Concert with a side of Kerry...

Alright, I'd originally delayed this blog in hopes of making all the song titles into direct links to their respective lyrics, but with the recentness of Around the Sun and the general ad-ridden quality of most Lyric sites, that idea has been scrapped.

That aside, the concert was fabulous. There's something really nice about knowing a band well (in terms of characteristics "We are REM and we approve of this concert", "That's Paul, he's Mike, and I'm Michael. We are REM and this is what we do.") and liking all their songs, just an over all good concert.

After a very nice opening by a Michael Stipe favored group, Now It's Overhead, the concert got underway.

Song List
Get Up: David and my father had a gentlemen's bet riding on what song would open the concert, one would've thought that the second song would be a good strating point but REM rarely does it that way.
Begin the Begin:
These Days:
Animal: Really easy to sing along with song, good contributor to the loss of my voice this concert.
Boy in the Well: New song off of Around the Sun

Songs about Trains
Driver 8: Another sing along for me, I really love this one.
Hi Speed Train: Another new song, really different feel to it, but I like it.


South Central Rain: This is one of those songs that I never can remember the title to.

The Political Set- They opened this set of 4 off by pointing out their support against Bush including their part in the Rock the Vote tour. This was met by a wave of Yay's followed by a wave of Boo's (That's Georgia Republicans for you). On the record I was among the Yay's, cause REM's good and I had a inkling of what songs were going to be played.
The Outsiders: Another one off of Around the Sun, very fun song even if you don't want to look at the political ramifications of it.
Bad Day: The Song. I sang along here as well. This song is among the creme de la creme of REM songs in my opinion. If you do happen to check the lyrics. In place of "...not one more time." they sang "...not four more years!" just for the record.
Wanted to be Wrong: New song. For the entire concert they had incandescent tubes of light hung vertically behind them | | | which were usually a color (or pair of colors) either alternated or just left static. For this song, each tube was Red, White, and Blue.
Drive

That was all of the political quartet of songs, they got back to some regular REMing after that.
Imitation of Life: #1 Hit REM song in Japan
The One I Love: A very nice song as well.

Though it wasn't hailed as such, I do think this qualifies as another Polical Song in REM's songbook.
Final Straw: A new song, fantastically well done.

This was the quinessential ending trio of songs, for every concert thus far on the concert tour.
Losing my Religion: You see the mandolin, there's no question what song it's going to be.
Walk Unafraid: Personal Anthem, this is the source of my, and David's, Senior quotes. Also a sing along.
Life and How to Live It: A older, but still greatly fun song.

The Encore-Note that this was accompanied by Michael Stipe wearing a pro-Kerry T-shirt and some more political commentary (this time focused on voting, regardless of "which side you butter your bread on").

Nightswimming: This was a special hometown treat. At all the other concerts before Atlanta the Encore was 5 songs, specifically the 5 that followed this one. This is a wonderful song, done in a small group, namely Mike and Micheal along with a celloist and a obeoist they pulled out of somewhere.
What's the Frequency Kenneth: A very classic REM song, ranks alongside Radio Free Europe, Losing my Religion, and Nightswimming. Speaking of Radio Free Europe, after the political set, someone in the audience reportedly yelled at Michael Stipe to "Sing Radio Free Europe and save your ass" to which Mr. Stipe coridially replied that he would play what songs he wanted.
Leaving New York: Leading song off of Around the Sun, very very nice.
Something old and something new...- The Oldest and Newest REM songs paired back to back.
Permanent Vacation: Ancient song, incredibly fun.
I'm gonna DJ: First song to be heard off the upcoming album, sounds like it's going to be a good disc to buy as well.
Man on the Moon: An interesting song to choose for the finale in my opinion, but a good one anyways.

REM knowledgable people will immediately note the conspicuous absence of End of the World, but I'm gonna DJ has the world ending reference to satisfy me, and I got enough vocal cord damage from Bad Day to not need End of the World to finish me off.

(Employment) Well, what can brown do for me?

I returned home from college this Friday in anticipation of working at The UPS Store on Saturday to find that UPS Corporate had sent me a little postcard in the mail informing me of their job opening for Seasonal Driver Helpers. Little details other than the promise of $8.50/hr were included. So, out of benign curiosity, I decided to google said position. Namely a search for UPS Seasonal Driver Helpers and oddly enough I can't seem to find the exact position I was offered in the first place on job listings. One offers $8.00/hr for Seasonal Delivery Driver Helpers, another (in Louisville, Kentucky) offers $11.75/hr for a job with the exact same name and description as well as $8.50/hr for a job with UPS Worldwide sorting package from ~11:30 PM to 3:00 or 4:00 AM. All of this news notwithstanding, since I'm certain it's mostly price fluctuations based on locality and need therein I begin to wonder what prompted UPS to send me such a note (and how they found me in the first place) because with all the facts considered, they're practically offering me a job in lieu of a job with a subsidiary of themselves, and that doesn't really seem like the most brillant of plans. Either way, riding around in a truck for 12 hours a day with a man who's most likely a smoker (and has all the more reason now that he's got someone else to do the walking) is not my idea of a Seasonal Job, especially because I don't think I'd even get a chair.

(/)

I just wanted to congratulate Adventure Quest for having its second birthday (and yes, this is also belated...noting a trend yet?) and say thanks for such a wonderful free game that I'm certain will group to be something very impressive. I am seriously considering the one time cash donation to be a Guardian so I can still play even when the public server is stuffed, but we'll see about that.

(Random News) Calendar notes and Disturbing news

For all those who asked when I was coming back to Tech, if you haven't yet broken the code; the more vagueness I use in my reply, the more uncertain I am about my schedule for the weekend and possible changes or events that I may or may not remember. So, what does mean? I have an REM concert this weekend. I'll be back Sunday.

As far as disturbing news goes. The radio of awkening tells me that Hooters just opened its first location in Shanghai, they didn't comment on the nationality of the well-endowed waitresses that would be staffing the store but I really doubt that there is a "Willing to travel for work" question on the Hooters application.

(...)...

Yeah, a happy belated birthday to myself as well. And no, I'm not dead, and yes, I do plan to add links to this thing so it actually goes places, and yes, there will be much discussion of the end of last season and the start of this seasons anime.

...


...


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Just not right now.

(Misc Humorous) My day is made

Okay, there's alot to the compound humor contained herein, but that's alright, it's how I gain the most enjoyment out of life; jokes within riddles within analogies within...well, you get the idea. Anyways, the latest Applegeeks comic is the cause this time. Besides being
A) An amusing comic in its own right.
B) A continuation of both a quality crossover and a funny Mac vs. PC rivalry.
there is a link in the rants at the bottom that really brings it all together. Not only does the information of the link and the rant bring forth a smile, but the hosting site for the link clinches it all, and in the end, I smile.

Edit: Since the link itself has moved into the blog archives, I reproduce it here.

(AWA) Freaks coming out of the woodwork

So, Friday I went to AWA with Nathan, Kyle, and Jiaz. Did not manage to run into Piro, not that that suprises me, but did have a throughly enjoyable time anways. As was expected, Naruto character were everywhere, though not many were Naruto himself. As far as Cosplay goes, there were several disturbing images, mostly invoked by either eating-disorder or chubby girls wearing far less than I'd fell they should, though I think the record should show that I feel these types should wear no less than 2 layers and an overcoat. On the top of the list however was the Rose Ball attendee who decided to go as a Pikachu in a Prom dress/Wedding Reception gown. I cannot convey this in words, so I won't try; just don't injure yourselves trying to imagine it. There were also the typical cop-outs of creativity, Sound Test blocks, Tetris blocks, creative but not very elaborate. Several Vashs, Squalls, White Mages (of FFXI), an Irvine, a few Wolfwoods, a Kingdom Hearts Cloud, a few Yunas, and assorted other miscellaneous characters, Oh and a fair number of assorted Catgirls (ugh) and Sailor Scouts (actually, primarily Sailor Moon). If I had to chose my 4 favorite Cosplayer groups I'd go with:
4) Yugi from Yugioh simply because of the look when Jiaz realized that I was right when I told him who the girl with the really really funky hair was supposed to be.
3) The Keybladed Riku and Sora from Kingdom Hearts weilding the Kingdom Key (Sora) and the blade that Jiaz and I can't remember the name for (Riku).
2) Lily and Futch, complete with a tiny white dragon doll, from Suikoden III, Lily's costume was better done than Futch's, but I say that mostly because I happen to like Lily's hat more than Futch's headband, Bright was cute though.
1) The better pair of Riku and Sora complete not with Keyblades but with a Goofy doll (Sora) and a Heartless doll in her purse (Riku). In retrospect, I should've asked if she made the Heartless, it was pretty damn cute.

As far as merchandise goes, the shirts and posters and wallscrolls aren't my style, so while I looked at them, there was nothing really all that impressive. References to Hentai, Glomping, Kawaii, Geekdom, Tentacles, etc, nothing too outstanding or impressive. The Japanese Manga place that Jiaz and I favored in the dealer's room had quite an outstanding selection, including Hot Gimmick in Japanese, art books for Phantom Brave, Disgaea, and Valkerie Profile (bonus points to anyone who's even heard of that), a Star Ocean 3 figure of Cliff, Japanese Disgaea manga, and a little Yuzuyu (of Aishiteruze [Cannot spell this for the life of me, I'll fix it when I get to Tech] Baby ) keychain. It was cute and not to costly, but I'm broke and a disembodied Yuzuyu head is kinda creepy. There was an abundance of weapons, mostly swords, sais, and throwing items (cards, knives, and shurukens) as well as a few maces, axes, and hammers. Plenty of Gundam Models and some action figures. There was an asian gentleman with an extensive selection of Jpop, Video Game, and Anime Soundtracks, but at massively inflated prices. I did stumble upon both sizes of Johnathan plushies from Kaleido Star but I'm not certain if the larger one was a display or for sale, ADV didn't have their own booth. Wizzywig had a adorable selection of Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronices Moogles in all 4 of the major colors (white, red, green, and blue for those who have never played the game). I saw a little girl with a moogle earlier at AWA which looked more like a Kingdom Hearts moogle but might have been from Crystal Chronicles, I didn't have a good look, but I didn't see them at any of the displays. None of the other plushies at any of the booths struck me as being kawaii enough with the exception of that Fox thing from Inuyasha.

(Gatech) "Let's get retarded..."

Okay, no insensitivity intended by the title, just a complete Mac Hall reference and as well as a self-referential degridation. I apparently botched my latest Chemistry Lab, being off by a factor of 10 on a Lab where accuracy is 60% of the grade, so my generous TA handed it back to do again by Monday; guess what I'll be spending my Sunday doing. I'd reference my complete idiocy as to Mastering Physics, but fortunately I don't know the jpeg addresses, suffice to say, I apparently cannot read numbers and find which cancel out, really really terrible. I did discover however, much to the suprise of Mastering Physics' Tech support, that 20 incorrect guesses on a single question locks out the rest of the question, which can be really damaging to a GPA, fortunately most of my homework grades for Mastering Physics are still in the low A to high B range. As for the Diff Eq. test that I tore through faster than anyone else, I ended up with a 40.5/65 which is the C range for the Test but not too terrible for not having any clue what his tests were like. Apparently I guessed the contents rather well, but was flawed in my execution of everything. Draw my axes backwards on the graph and generally had serious issues with the "plus or minus" concept that occurs with square roots and realizing that that creates 2 seperate equations. That said, I apparently made an unmodified 17/20 on my Chemistry test and a 89/84 on Java so I ought to be fine in all my classes despite my own best efforts at sabotage.

(Gatech) Another one bites the dust...

Another week is finally concluded, despite the best efforts of our unfriendly regional weather. Got through my two tests today in what I hope was good order, I was the first finished with Diff Eq's. We were allowed one side of a 8.5"x11" piece of paper for all the notes we wanted, I had alot less then the people around me, fortunately I anticipated most of what was going to be on the test. Unfortunately the Euler was worth alot less than I'd hoped (and was really damn easy on top of that). The phase and bifurcation diagramming I'd hoped wouldn't have made it on, but I still think I managed to convey the general idea though I concede that I suck when it comes to diagramming diff eqs. I don't know about the roots stuff, I think I had the right idea, but somehow I feel the fact that I claimed the second half of the problem was impossible doesn't seem like the greatest thing. I guess perhaps the two constant sets could have been different, but I wasn't totally sure about the process as a whole. I cribbed the formula for the Bernelli equation and the eventual simplification, but I ended up trying to solve 1/((C - 2x)^(1/4)) = -1, which doesn't occur, so I guess something went astray somewhere. Unfortunately that Bernelli accounted for the substition question as well, but the remained was just a basic diff eq that was simple enough.

Chemistry was pretty easy, no real curve balls, and for once I actually had a grip on what we were doing, not the first done this time, but among them (and for the worriers out there, yes, I checked over my work on both tests). No partial pressure question which suprised me. Pity I failed Bloch's class, I can't even get partial credit on my multiple choice this time but I should still be fine. Lab is going pretty well as well, I think my partner is very accurate, which is great. I've now got my TA's lab report preferences figured out, so the 83 Average on Lab reports should be moving up into the 95 range shortly (especially as the labs get more and more Excel intensive, I've got all sorts of Excel talents).

I went on Webwork to take a look at my CS grade so far, apparently I botched the applet badly enough to not get credit, so that was a sliver off my Homework grade, but nothing I can't balance out easily enough given the way things are headed. I apparently made a 89/84 on the test, getting everything correct and the extra credit, though I'll have to pick up my test at Recit next Tuesday to believe with my own eyes.

And once again...

Just two more quick notes, again with the belated birthdays.

One to the artist/writer of Hana Kimi, just cause it seems like the obligatory admission of my pursuance of manga.

And of course, one to Kyle for being the first of all of us to break out of the teenage years. Yay for Kyle.

A quick side note:

Happy belated sixth birthday to Google.
Happy belated fifth birthday to Blogger.
Happy belated first birthday to Kawaii Radio.

Oh, and, I think I start trying out Ad-sense, but I have no clue how they'd managed to associte ads with my posts. Given the frightening things that Gmail's tried to show me, I'm not certain that it'd work well at all.

Blog Conglomorate:

Is it conglomerate? *Shrug*, Whatever, not looking it up.

Anyways, the radio was actually playing The Smithereens, I didn't know that that ever happened these days, I guess they're a bit more mainstream that I thought.

So, I've decided that watching Mexicans distribute sour cream through a large, transparent housing, caulking gun is perhaps one of the most disturbing images that I can readily recall. I guess that's one of the key signs that I'm at a college campus when it's practically industrial sized food dispensers. Having a mental image of giant food pellet dispensers like in all the cartoons that they use to feed the smart hampsters.

Anyways, as Jiaz was keen to point out, college has kinda killed both our blogs to a practical halt, and Kyle's as well, though he's freaking prolific compared to the two of us these days. Props to Kyle (yes, I did just want to use that phrase).

I have, as of now, completed all 5 Harry Potter books that Mrs. Rowling has released. Very good reads and I look forward to the books. I'm quite interested to see who they cast as Viktor, Cho, and Fleur (which still sounds like a name straight out of Disgaea though that's another matter altogether). All around there's a bit more violence than I'd expected given the intended audience of the first book, but it's all very well done (My favorite bit being, and shameful this is to say, the use of Latin roots for all the spells). I'm quite satisfied that the 5th book did not end at all as I expected, many things that I expected did not occur and many things I did expected didn't, all of which is a very good thing in my opinion.

Despite the amount of time I seem to be able to dedicate to reading (evidenced by the fact that I've finished 5 books in 4 weeks, plus all the side literature: 4 volumes of Hot Gimmick and Ha Jin's Ocean of Works) I'm doing quite well in all my classes as things stand (and I believe I'll do fine on the Tests of the coming week) mostly because instead of sacraficing schoolwork for reading, I've exchanged one vice for another, shelving anime in interest for the coming new season and patience at the reduced rate of fansubs given the start of school.

I'm thinking I ought to start flagging my titles to posts with a parenthetical note to warn my readers as to what type of post to expect. Ie: (Rant), (Comics), (Anime), (Gaming), (Gatech), (Misc), etc. So, sound like a good idea, bad idea?

In the end of the beginning...

So, first week of Tech is finished, my schedule is now cemented as stands unless the will of a Registrar be enacted (though I don't see why that would occur, but I guess it's a possiliblity that I have to concede from the standpoint of truth). It's not exactly everything that I ever hoped for, but I should be able to survive it, assuming the book stores managed to meet my academic needs sometime before I start hurting for wont of what they lack. I do wish they'd coordinate these things though, I can't get Chem Lab Book at B&N, I can't get PRS's at Engineer's, I'm just moving back and forth between these two challenging the integrity of my impoverished savings account. So, without further ado, the present Fall 2004 lineup of courses contains:

Introduction to Chemistry - Yeah, I have to take this again, and lab as well because I managed to fail that as well, I swear that something went horribly wrong with the grading of my Lab Practicum but I really don't have a way, or the will after all this time, to try and prove that, so I guess I'll just have to suffer through both components of the class. The professor this year, whose name I don't know, is you, carefree, yet to be broken by Tech. That ought to change, should be fun to watch it happen. Either way, he's a worse teacher than Block in the sense that he teaches the book, but that's really what I need, Block just reinforced, and that didn't do me much good, since the book didn't explain it too well, and she was the one who wrote the brink. So, the up side is that I didn't have to buy a book, the downside is that this is one course I should've only had to take once.

CS 1322, Java - Oh boy, more Java. After a whole summer of the crap you'd think I'd hate to do this, but guess what, it's a requirement for the rest of my years as EE. What great fun this'll be. Even better, I have the same professor. Glad to know that my TBA materialzed as Waters again, this time I won't use Emacs though, so I won't have such a lopsided homework grade, that's a blessing I guess. This one should be rather easy, since I've seen it all before, but that doesn't mean that I'm going to enjoy it in any way, shape, form, or whatnot.

Differential Equations - Hmmm...Mark Demers is also one of those younger men to be teaching such a course. The other day he was just solving Diff Eqs to demonstrate a Theorem that is the basis for the course. So he'd throw up something and then the answer, no work, nothing. Scared the whole class cause we were all desperately trying to figure out how he was doing it. Someone actually asked, and he admitted that we'd be learning how to solve basic equations starting next week. But still, that was such an odd approach, cause he was just throwing equations on the board, commenting on how most of it was math that we'd never see, but that he for some reason felt had some usable implications despite all that. Either way, he's really damn softspoken and recovering from a cough, so despite lecturing in a Skiles classroom, it's a strain to hear what he says. Fortunately, he writes what he says verbatim, so that's not really a major issue. Class ought not to be that bad, but we'll see how hard Diff Eq's can be, since I've not done but the most basic of related rates in quite awhile.

Physics I - I don't know precisely why I put this off from last Semester, but I did, and I don't think I totally regret it. It isn't cool that I couldn't just borrow a book cause they changed it, and that they're no longer using Webwork but this vicious other online system that they use to ask all kinds of stupid questions. Either way, I don't like the book's approach of using 4 different models and diagrams for every problem (mostly because that means I have to draw them all to get credit for some of the most basic problems), but even worse, we don't even get like equations and math until the next semester. It's quite unfortunate that Tech wouldn't take AP Physics B, cause I've already learned everything that this class has to offer, but I just have to prove it, so I guess I will.


Other sundry blogging will be forthcoming, but now that academics are aside, my hands are aching.

Yeah, it's official

I have to retake Java this semster in order to qualify for ECE 2025, I asked my advisor about the conflicting details and got the worse of the two possible responses. I didn't ask if the information on Oscar was outdated or merely inaccurate of EE majors (I shudder to think of a situation where I could change majors to take ECE 2025 and then change back, but this might be the case, I mean, I really hate to think that a class should be harder to get into if it's your major, but who am I to question it, eh?). Oh well. Then to add biting insult to the injury, my advisor fired off an afterthought email reminding me that I have to retake Chem as a pre-req for another class later on (getting later all the time with having to retake Java). The bad part is that with my schedule out of wack, I don't know when I can schedule that Orchestra audition, hopefully I can pull off some last minute practicing though, hopefully I don't have to be too impressive to get in as a Bass cause I certainly haven't practiced at all over the summer. Once again it didn't occur to me that there'd be auditions for a thing like this, guess I've got to stop trying to skate through life and start putting out real effort, what a shame.

Well Jiaz, guess I spoke to soon.

Yeah, it exists:
[Spork] Pugyuru 11.avi

Worse yet, it's short for SailorSpork, this world scares me sometimes.

It figures...

...Mac Hall is down the moment that I want to show Kyle Ian's latest rant.

...Laura is out today, so I'm called in to replace her and of course the day is so completely dead.

...The ECE class that I don't meet the Pre-reqs for, I do. It specifically says that I need a C or better either in either 1322 (Java, I got a D) or 1321 (Scheme, I made an A). So I need to talk to Tech about resolving this in a manner that keeps me with enough credit hours to be a full time student still.

...That I can't figure out what Etudes I can actually play for the Orchestra audition. I hate auditions. Why can't we have sight reading? I do so much better when I'm not expected to have practiced. Oh well, that's life for you.

"Holding the panic button for longer than a second"...

So, I finally got my after-market Keyless entry for my CRV, looks remarkably like the one David has with his Civic except that I have a button specific to my Trunk as well, unlike him.

Damn, this Gatech situation isn't going to sit well with my Parents, but I'm not going to think about that right now, it's time to perform a ritualistic pagan sacrifice in some vain attempt to get some customers into this store. That and get someone to release some anime that I care about, I mean, a full blooming week and a whole 1 episode of Champloo (which I'd already seen the week before in French curtesy of Nerae) is all I have to show for the time passed. That's just not a good omen at all. Anyways, back to sacrificing.

Good Grief

Rats. So according to the map of my future, I'm in trouble, but fortunately it's all kinda canceling itself out in the not-so-uncertain terms of an extra semester at Tech. Namely, according to the map if I take ECE 2025 this semester, I won't be able to take next semester's ECE class until after I've finished with Physics 2. However, that's kind of a moot issue seeing as not getting a C or higher in Java means I don't meet the prereqs for the class, so I'll take it and Physics II this Spring. So, currently I have 9 credit hours (Physics 1 - 4, Diff Eq - 4, Orchestra - 1) meaning I ought to add back in Java and Chemistry and go insane this semester but come out better for it. I mean, all I have to do is read the Chem book to pass that class (though maybe I'll delay that idea a bit later) and I can practically sleep through Java class now, not that I didn't before, especially once I install Eclipse and use that instead of Emacs, meaning I'll actually be able to do multipart applications without going crazy (which seems to be the major theme of my life at Tech). And there's still the blasted issue of getting into my LCC that I'm supposed to take this semester that's full up, what a pain. And speaking of pain, the keyboards are really in an awkward place over here, at least this one doesn't have nearly enough space.