Fractured Fractals

Fever Ray

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 21:26:47 GMT

Woohoo! Fever Ray at the Henry Fonda tonight!
Who's going?

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 14:51:50 GMT

Project Pitchfork @ Knitting Factory = Rad.
Psyclon Nine = lol.

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 14:58:32 GMT

GO SEE DISTRICT 9.

I'd put it on par with oh, say... Aliens. Aka my fave scifi movie of all time.

It's a bit of a slow starter, laying out the history, various characters, and illustrating the moods and tensions. But things soon become interesting, then they become damn exciting.

In a lot of scifi movies, they focus really hard on the "toys", making sure the cool tech is clearly shown for maximum geekwank. In this movie the tech is almost incidental, but believe me, it is HIGHLY geekwankable material. Oh yes.

Main character does a good job emoting, going from a bumbler trying to do his job well and be positive, to a panic-stricken guy on the verge of having a breakdown from all the crap being heaped on him.

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 15:48:12 GMT

So yeah... Depeche Mode on monday night, section N1, a happy Fabs bouncing next to me... pretty damn awesome.

Listening to my mom play DM when I was 8 years old, I liked them, but had no idea what the songs were about. Flies On The Windscreen? I thought it was literally singing about flies on a car's windshield. I didn't really get it.

Hopefully someday I'll get to take my mom to a DM concert.

Sun, 05 Apr 2009 22:43:42 GMT

God damn.
Who does a guy have to kill to find 100% cotton socks around here?
polyester nylon spandex blend bullshit!

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 07:15:30 GMT

Does anybody know of a good aromatherapy shop here in the SFV?

Tshirt Hell is going out of business

Mon, 09 Feb 2009 15:26:32 GMT

My favorite tshirt maker, Tshirt Hell, is going out of business, and taking Torsopants with it.
They close their online doors tomorrow, 2/10, so now is your last chance to buy:
,
,
, and

and many other great shirts.

TSHIRT HELL
TORSOPANTS

Gung-gung

Sun, 01 Feb 2009 05:53:23 GMT

Jan 31, 11:15 am.
Daniel Chu, 94 years old.
Goodbye, my dear Gung-gung. Goodbye, my dear grandfather. I've always been so proud to be your grandson. I'll miss you, you stubborn, contentious old hakka mountain goat. I love you more than I can say.

Spaghetti Squash = YUM!

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 02:46:28 GMT

Ingredients:
1 spaghetti squash

Preparation:
stick in an oven preheated to 375 degrees
wait 1 (one) hour

remove squash from oven
cut length-wise
remove seeds from center
lightly scrape out ALLLLL the remaining innards using the tines of a fork
if you scrape lengthwise, the squashy flesh will look like fine pasta

What do you do then? Why, you EAT IT. And you will ENJOY IT IMMENSELY.
What do you put on it? Anything. Nothing. You choose. From as simple as a pat of butter and a shake of salt, to a full-blown spaghetti sauce with meatballs, any topping can only add to the spaghetti squash DELICIOSITY!

You people fucking owe it to yourselves to eat this. Go get a spaghetti squash IMMEDIATELY. They're like $2 at TJ's.
1 squash feeds 2 (TWO) people. Perhaps even 4 people, if they're dainty.

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 18:45:08 GMT

Reason #5 to visit Vegas- $2.89 gas.

$2.87 at the generic no-name stations.

ATTN TEACHERS- advice needed

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 18:37:22 GMT

One of my coworkers who's moving to CA, his wife is looking to go to college to become an elementary school teacher. She's finishing her AA and needs to start on the major, but isn't having much luck getting info from the various CA colleges.

So the question is-
Where should she go? What should she do?
What colleges have good programs?

Thanks in advance!

You might be a redneck hick if...

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 18:28:50 GMT

You might be a goddamn redneck, trailer-trash, ignorant hick if you've ever thought of Sarah Palin in positive association with the acronym MILF.

She's nowhere near MILF, you detestable, low-standards-having bastards.

Cholesterol

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 18:26:04 GMT

Went and got my blood checked recently. Just got my cholesterol levels, for the first time in my life.
Here's the results, along with translation from americanheart.org

triglycerides: 72
<150 = :)

LDL (bad): 88
<100 = :)

HDL (good): 25
<40 = :(

Total: 128
<200 = :)

My bad cholesterol is way down. Unfortunately, so is my good cholesterol. I think that means I need to get more exercise. Yeah yeah, I know. And maybe eat more uh... unsaturated fats?

more clever tshirts

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 16:13:41 GMT

I'm sure you're all aware (those of you who matter, at least) of the site with all those wonderful shirts, T-shirt Hell.com

However, you may not have been aware of their sister site, TORSOPANTS.COM!

Go there. Now.

OMG!

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 15:56:33 GMT

Hehehe.

Where do you live, and what's it like?

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 22:28:04 GMT

I've got a coworker wanting to move to Los Angeles. He's asking me my opinion on various sub-cities... Is it safe? What's the traffic like? Is it a nice area?

How the hell should I know? I've only lived here for 1 year! I never get out of the house! I have bad memory! IDGAF! Leave me alone!

So, dear Readership, if you live in the Los Angeles area, could you tell me your opinions on where you live? Possibly other areas, too. For example, I think I've heard that Long Beach has the shittiest people on the planet, or something. True/false?

I think he's leaning towards Santa Clarita...

slight nerves

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 19:41:00 GMT

Starting school again today, after 12 years of normal life.
5:40pm-9:55pm, Multimedia 210, a class about video editing.
Then on Thursday, same time slot, I take a Drawing 1 class.

OMG, should I have books already? I don't even know if these classes require books! Do I have paper? I'll need to take notes! Take binder. Yes. And a backpack. Don't forget pens and pencils.
Damnit, if there are books I hope they aren't too expensive.
Hope the same thing with the drawing class... maybe I'll get lucky, and all the art supplies they'll require I'll already own!

Gotta work! Big deadline coming up!
Gotta pay bills! Shit's overdue!
Gotta... stuff! No time!

Chicken head: goodbye.
Running around like chicken with head cut off: hello.

2008 Olympics

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 23:00:48 GMT

Who saw the Opening and Closing Ceremonies for the Olympics?

Pretty crazy/cool shit, huh?

A lot of the imagery reminded me of Dr. Seuss... ON CRACK! The ideas were implemented flawlessly, but seriously, what the hell was that guy smoking when he came up with those ideas?

"Dude... *toke* we'll have, like, a huge array of paper blocks, like, rising up and down forming different characters! *toke* And it'll like, form the Great Wall and shit... And wouldn't it be cool if we made it ripple like water? And not just waves, dude... like, circular concentric ripples, with waves overlapping and shit... We'll have hundreds of dancers dancing all around... And DUDE... *toke toke toke* instead of doing it with computers and hydraulics... we'll do it with PEOPLE!! It'd be a fucking TRIP!"

Fabs and I watched the whole thing, amazed. When those guys covered in lights formed the gigantic Dove, and I saw the guys in the wings start running, I turned to her and said incredulously, "Oh my god, are they making the wings flap?"

"... Why not." she responded in a tone of utter resignation.

We laughed so hard we cried. That phrase truly embodied the 2008 Olympics Opening Ceremony- "Why not?"

I've never been so into the Olympics like I have this year. Fab & I watched them pretty much every night.

THOUGHTS-

I know that vigorous gymnastic training can stunt the growth of gymnasts. I've heard it can slow down sexual development, to the point of preventing menstruation. But that Chinese womens gymnast team seriously stretched credulity. Supposedly all the records match up, proving they're all 16+... but... Come on! How hard would it be for the Chinese Gubmint to doctor the records? But WHY would it do such a thing?
It was a running joke over here, "I like the 8-year-old one better than the 10-year-old one."

I never imagined volleyball could be so exciting.

I've never seen Fabiola get so worked up over a sport as she did over the basketball games we watched. For the record, we rooted against the ~~LA Lakers~~ USA team.

Sure, it's impressive that Michael Phelps won 8 golds, good for him!
But jesus christ, do they have to use that "shirtless bellowing phelps after team relay" video clip EVERYWHERE? Seriously, it's EVERYWHERE! It was over-done to begin with, and seeing it in every montage is making me seriously sick of it. And does anybody else think that he bears a striking resemblance to omnipotentmight?

Wish I had seen more boxing/fencing/tae kwon do. They must have been on different channels, at different times of the day, and shit... I only saw a couple rounds of boxing, China Vs uh... one of them Latinos. Good form. But so many fighters broadcast when they're going to attack in the following way- They circle, their feet loose. Then their footwork and body stance gradually become more and more tense, their movements becoming smaller and more rapid until they're basically vibrating in place... then they attack.
Might as well start shouting a count-down, dude. I see a lot of this in UFC, too.

I'll add more later if I feel like it.

Haiku

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 17:29:38 GMT

You cannot deny
That The Knack's "My Sharona"
sounds like "My Scrotum"

[end haiku portion]
Seriously, give it a listen. The chorus sounds like "my sca-rotum!"

Credit to my old friend Ben Lawless for pointing this out years ago. Just heard it a couple days ago and yeah... he was right.

holy crap, 5.8

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 18:52:47 GMT

5.8 earthquake here in L.A.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsus/Quakes/ci14383980.php

Damn, that was a shaker. I was getting worried!

Damn, some of you people are on the ball, posting info. I suppose I would be too, but when the shaking started to worsen I turned off the computer and spent my time trying to call Fabs at work. Damn cellphone calls are taking a long time to connect... must be a lot of calls going through to emergency personnel, taking up all the wireless bandwidth.

5.8! That's pretty good! Haven't felt one like that in some time.

back from vacation

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 16:01:47 GMT

Hey kids.
I'm back from my adventures in Singapore and Thailand.
7 days in Singapore, 5 days in Thailand, and 2 days traveling.

I've posted replies to those of you who commented in my last entry.

I kept a bit of a written journal while I was there, documenting the major activities and impressions from each day. My photos consist of a couple disposable cameras, which I have yet to get developed. A lot of other company employees took pictures, and there's a plan for a great Trip Photo Consolidation... Once that happens I'll be posting trip details, with pictures.

Back to work!

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 14:35:29 GMT

Clothes? Check.
Travel-sized toiletries? Check.
Passport? Check.

Going on a 2-week trip... Company is taking all employees on vacation.
To Singapore. And Bangkok.

Wish me a safe trip!

found a new martial arts school

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 17:47:07 GMT

I recently went and checked out the Cass Magda Institute, a local Jeet Kune Do/mixed martial arts school over in Reseda. They've got a "2 beginner classes for $10" thingy, so I figured why not?

Went to the first class yesterday. While the techniques are basically the same, the teaching style is different from my old school, OC Kickboxing.

The teaching at OCKB seems more structured. There was a heavy focus on the fundamentals of body mechanics- foot and body positioning, different types of moving, covering, pivoting on the balls of your feet. The first few minutes of class would involve active stretching, then the basics of offensive and defensive moving. Then we'd practice the basic attack forms- punching, elbows, knees, and kicks. Then a couple minutes of shadow-boxing, and then we'd partner up and get into the combat drills.
And that wasn't even the Beginner's class, that was Phase 1 JKD. The beginner's class focused entirely on teaching the proper forms. There weren't any partner drills, it was just a bunch of kicking bags and the instructor walking around teaching the absolute basics of stance, punching, and kicking.

At the Cass Magda Institute they have a few minutes of warm-ups and stretching, then they jump right into the partner drills. Beginners are just sort of tossed in with the rest and expected to catch up on their own.
The only problem I had was being a bit rusty after not training for over a year. There's another guy, though, who's a true beginner. He doesn't understand how to incorporate his entire body into each move, his form is just atrocious, he's not keeping his guard up, he's not moving his feet... and the instructor doesn't really make an attempt to correct any of it. I felt bad for the guy. I teamed up with him, and I was feeling uncomfortable giving him points on how to improve his form, since I'm new at that school, too.

Another difference I liked about OCKB was how we'd do the partner drills. The instructor would give us a series of 4-6 related drills to practice, starting with the basics, followed by variations of escalating complexity. The beginners would spend their time practicing the basic drills, while the more advanced students could quickly move through the basics and spend their time working on the more complex drills. So even if a class had a mix of beginner and advanced students, everybody got some learning out of it.
At CMI, the instructor just assigns a single drill. That's it. Work on that form until it's time for the next one.

I suppose I shouldn't judge a school by its' beginner's class. I caught a peep at an advanced class, and they were grappling on the ground with knives, which looked like intense shit! I imagine they'd move me to a more advanced class pretty quickly, since it's obvious I've done this before... I should hope it's obvious, after doing it for 2 1/2 years.

A/C woes pwnt

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 21:35:08 GMT

Today the AC repairman was scheduled to pay a visit.
Lots of people seemed to think that "cleaning the filter" would solve the problem.
Only problem is, the part of the unit that's inside doesn't seem to have an attached filter.

If I could locate a cleanable filter on the roof unit, it would be worth a try...
Channeling the spirits of my ancestors, I ninja up onto the roof of the complex with great dexterity and stealth. "Easy access" ladder, my ass.

I locate our A/C unit... it's the one that's not active. In the manner of my much more distant simian ancestors, I circle the unit, peering intently, occasionally prodding.

One of my prods happens to hit a little button labeled "press to reset". Hmmm. Nothing happens.

Thanks to my super-geniosity I brought my cellphone. I call Fab. "Try turning on the A/C," I say.

She complies, and I see the fan in the unit come to life.

Holy crap, THE AIR CONDITIONING WORKS!

I would have felt quite stupid paying somebody $65+ just to come press a button.

I'm aware that needing to be reset could indicate a problem... I'll keep an eye on it, if it needs frequent resetting it'll probably need a more complex solution.

I'm looking forward to sleeping in sub-90 temperatures tonight.

fucking suck

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 16:50:52 GMT

Broken AC + heat wave + work at home = suck
Waking up at 3am and it's still 90 degrees inside = suck
Temperatures predicted to reach 108 today = total fucking suck

Everyone I call either flakes or is out of town or charges an arm and a leg.
Anybody happen to know a good AC repair-person out here in the SFV? I'm fucking dying here.