Last 5 CD's listened to in my car:
Eve 6 - Horrorscope (You have to admit, it's a great album title)
Appleseed OST
Widespread Panic - Ain't Life Grand
Ima Robot's self titled album
They Might be Giants - Apollo 18

Last 3 games bought:
Phantom Brave
La Pucelle Tactics
Disgaea
(Noticing the trend?)

Last 3 games gifted to me:
Unreal Tournament 2k4 (Like I have 5.8 gigs to spare. I don't even have 200 megs at the moment)
Ratchet and Clack: Up Your Arsenal (100% completion to boot)
World of Warcraft (A whole set of stories in itself)

Latest dark indulgence:
Darth Mix M&Ms (Dark Chocolate Peanut M&Ms for those who aren't aware, Star Wars Episode 3 themed/inspired, if the name doesn't give that way.)

Yeah, there'll be substance later, after I can get equations of laminar flow in non-circular tubes cleared from my mind.

Hopefully my immune system can hold.

So David caught a very nasty stomache bug, suffice to say my awakening today wasn't very present. Hopefully I won't be getting sick, but until it clears up, I guess I'll have to postpone a showing of Shaolin Soccer and/or The Incredibles. The former for knowing the roots of the Evil Team, the latter cause it's just cool.

Speaking of wanting intelligence, I could use some myself.

Okay, I really don't feel so bright. I've really got to start looking at the big picture before doing things these days. Seriously.

So, Kyle, Jiaz, and I laid down a deposit to secure a very nice 1500+ sq foot apartment 10 minutes from tech. A bit above $500 a month, which comes in at a fair bit less than what Jiaz and Kyle calculated Gatech's housing costs at some $620. So everything so be grand, right? Not quite, on several levels. Here's how it pans out.

First off the bat, that $500 covers, well, space, space and more space and some kitchen appliances. Nothing more. Tech furnishes sofas, a bed, a desk, a cabinet, a closet, as well as the kitchen stuff (for an apartment at least, though in the dorms the stuff's just communal). Sink's alot nicer, so's the fridge I guess, and the showers, so all pluses, but nothing that's super critical or anything. However, Tech also covers utilities. Okay, perhaps $130 total a month, so not enough to bring it up to the level of Tech still, we're still ahead, even factoring the gas of a 10 minute drive to campus rather than already being there (though if prices keep rising under the current administration this could definately change). I can get the furniture for the most part (probably minus a bed, I don't really want to move my desk either, or a table, but that's most of it I guess) and the community offers alot. Again technically not anything that Tech doesn't provide (pool, weight room, raquetball court). Parking's free, unlike at Tech however I'll likely need parking there as well so that my driving to campus amounts to something other than the boot getting attached to my CRV.

At this point I'd like to apologize in advance for spelling mistakes before I continue, I've had a major headache ever since traffic coming home and nothing's fixed it for me yet.

Alright, so so far things sound pretty good right? Saving a bit, pretty posh community, beer and skittles lifestyle right? Well, not quite. I don't know what to say about meals. Honestly at the 10-14 plans it's cheaper to eat at Woodruff than to furnish my own food, especially if I want to attempt the same level of variety and beverages. Well, alright, I can manage, just have to get a bit creative, force myself to cook with something besides the microwave perhaps, it'll be a learning experience, I guess. Learning that I suck at cooking perhaps, but I doubt that'll be the end sum of my attempts, I figure I can do well enough, if I push myself. Ah for the good old days of lovely enchilladas.

Alright, food's not really a big deal, I can just cut the savings from the inflated plans into buzz funds and dine on campus for lunch, decent variety and a passable value. What's the big kicker then? Simple. The per month cost of living at Tech is greater than the per month cost of living here, however, I wasn't planning to live at Tech this summer, when the lease starts. So, simple mathematics (and I've had way more than simple) will tell you that any number is greater than zero, alot greater. I've said this several times, innumerable times perhaps, but the way things work is often quite different in theory versus application for me, no matter what I try. Oh well, hopefully I'll have 3 jobs to juggle around which should account for it if it doesn't break me completely. *Cross fingers*

When I started the post 2 and a half hours ago I'd kinda planned another bash against my own intelligence for voting for Bush (and yes, I did, I admit it, and I regret it) but I'm not feeling up to it this evening, perhaps at another time.

However, Karma's not complete without a bit of balance, so: Anyone remember the Geogia High School Graduation Test? David had to take it. Included on the test was the following.

Anne held her stethoscope in her hands to warm it up for her patient. Anne is most likely a:

A) Secretary
B) Doctor
C) Farmer
D) Engineer

When David informed me of the question, I rationally pointed out that maybe 20% of Georgia High School students would be too stupid to know what a stethoscope was (I admit I'm too stupid to spell it on my first try, wanted to add extra letters), however he tactfully countered that you don't need to. The inclusion of the context clues "her patient" is more than enough to answer the question. Nothing but a Doctor has patients. So much for my line of thinking (and George W. Bush's purpoited No Child Left Behind program, but that's a story for another time).

Well, Happy World Water Day everyone. Hopefully the link works for someone, keeps timing out for me, but my net isn't as infailable as it is at Tech.

All I want is some intelligence...

Alright, so David borrowed Tales of Symphonia from a friend so I booted it up for about 2 hours today. Interesting game, I wish the damn skits had voices too them. Works like Tales of Destiny II from the Playstation if anyone remembers that one. The game is quaint, nice in its allowance of multiplayer, but not exactly bright. You start off with a 3 character party, quickly advanced to 4. So of course we jumped in David and Ian. Then it dropped back to two pretty swiftly, but Ian had bedtime anyways so we just unplugged the controller and moved on. Then it fell to one for awhile and David went to bed, so again I just dropped the controller and moved on. Turns out, that although there wasn't even a viable controller attached, the game left them in Manual mode and doesn't give me the option to swap modes mid-combat. In short because of the games own shortsightedness, I fought a rather nasty boss fight sans half my party who were merely standing in place doing nothing. My other major gripe is the Z axis. Like most games, there's a 3-d element to battles. Unlike Tales of Destiny where you had merely a forwards/backwards and an up/down, this game also has a z-axis, or relative depth. Unfortunately for you as the player, your selected target designates your z-axis, the direct line between you and them. What this means is that you cannot deal with the surronding enemies without changing targets repeatly. Logically you'd divide targets to avoid this in a full group, but even still, easier said than done, as such acts quickly bog down the pace of combat. I imagine that higher levels will eventually grant me more sweeping abilities to strike across the Z-axis rather than merely the X-axis, but that remains to be seen.

In other news, ingrown toenails are a major pain, good lord I didn't realize that they hurt quite so much.

The low res trailer released by Gonzo for Speed Grapher seems interesting, if way too low res. I can somewhat make out what's going on, but i've got to say, that was a damn tiny (size, not length, though that wasn't too great either) video.

Oh well, I ought to be sleeping, apartments to look at tomorrow, and they tell me I'm driving, so I'll have a report on that when I get back. Fortunately we have neither a pet nor an AnthroPC to worry about, so there shouldn't be any special complications with our search.

Wow...this is new.

Okay, so I usually come home on weekends to escape the drudges of weekends at Woodruff and usually the meal with grandparents and is pizza or hot dogs and hamburgers or occasionally london broil. Last night was indeed pizza with grandparents: 1 sausage, 1 pepperoni, 1 anchovy and black olives (definately not for me). Tonight however was completely different, in a very good way. Caeser Salad and shrimp with dip plus london broil with grilled mushrooms and onions and deep fried french fries. Quite good. Yay for home cooked meals. I guess I should thaw out some icecream for dessert, that sounds good.

Let's get retarded, part 2.

So, I'm convinced that work makes me stupid on the basis that I actually managed to mangle the pronunciation of the word pronunciation while in traffic on the ride over to work. As a sidenote, before you go looking at me like I'm crazy for talking to myself aloud, I'd like to remind everyone that I was taking David with me, so quit thinking I'm crazy like that.

(Misc) Don't look directly at the light.

Yes folks, I have slight astigmatism, yes, I will be getting glasses, get used to the idea.

(Apology) Well crap... it's been awhile hasn't it?

My forthright apologies for my failure to maintain this blog. I'll see about doing something about that. But in my defense, my Dwarven Paladin is borderline to getting him war horse, priorities and all you know.

(Misc) Uhh...yeah....riiiiight, sure.

So, my one source of knowledge of the outside world, Google News (and no, I'm not conspiratorizing something by posting about Google on a Google owned Internet Shoutbox linked to a Google email address) tells me that Apple is doing very well curtesy of the I Pod and considering the number of said device that I've seen around campus, I can see why.

However, on another note, Google also has a newspot about J-Lo and Ben breaking up, the featured picture for this of course being Lara Croft from the Tomb Raider movie, a media production I have so little faith in I still can't recall the actress's name.

I realize that (Misc) has been the tag of most of my recent posts, but that's pretty much what I'm about when it comes to blogging. I've buried my Rants for now, I'd rather landslide the past than keeping it topside and angry, it is all stuff that I'm past anyways. School topics will be the next to surface with the revivication of Tech. Those and WoW stuff at least.

(Misc) Hey look, I'm blogging!

Yes, that's right. As the New Year Begins (or has began, I think I've already missed the boat on that one) no one really wants to be Shipping anything at the UPS Store, so I think I might manage to actually finish this damn post like I've been meaning too. I once again don't have my notes with me (which I figure is tantamount to a sign from on high that I should just blog my stuff when it first comes to me, but oh well).

So, before I delve back into my previous intentions I wish my brother a happy 18th Birthday and everyone a Wonderful New Year.

I think the singlehanded highlight of the Christmas season, besides procratinating customer's expression when we told them how much it would cost to guarantee their 67 pound packages delivery to California in time for Christmas would have to be Jessica's: "My husband brought me coffee, foolish mortal." Nothing like a statement like that to liven up a day, or coffee to liven up a day for that matter, not that I drink the stuff...yet.

So over the Christmas break I went and saw The Incredibles with my family. The theatre (look, I'm getting all proper and European on you) wasn't exceedingly crowded, however it was stratified enough so that I ended up sitting only with David while Ian and my parents took another row a bit further back. Now, I must say, I was dissapointed by the direction that Pixar had taken with the pre-movie animation that they have, as it was no where near the typical level or humor, though still quite well done. The movie itself was fabulous and I was throughly amused. Now, as no one but myself knows, I like what I call movie corollaries. These are, simply put, other things that, if you have seen them, make watching a movie more amusing. In general these things bear similarities to certain parts in a movie, and thus can invoke a sort of nostalgia or subliminal echo of previous enjoyment. Now usually there is a whole slew of corollaries that occur, and almost always you can find some way to work Final Fantasy in there in one manner or another, but there are the big ones from The Incredibles, in my opinion:
Marvel and DC Comics specifically Mutant Apocalypse and the Fantastic Four - Duh.
Bakaretsu Tenshi (Burst Angel) - Anytime Sei's driving the Megavan on the highway.
Star Wars - Speeder bike scene on the forest moon of Endor.
Farcry - The general island scenery of the game.

The Incredibles is also responsable for what David and I hold to be the single greatest evil mastermind's henchman's drinking game ever. Simply put, everytime they run away in fear, take a shot.

For those of us without superweapons capable of inducing mass hysteria in the general populace or alliegance to people thusly endowed, I suggest this simplier alternative drinking game borrowed from Queen of Wands.

(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.

...


...


...


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.