The new blog trips me out, so Im posting this here (In the sea)

Grains of sand slip through
my fingers, memories of lives
I can not return to. Those days
are gone forever, like Atlantis,
they were swallowed by the sea.
All that’s left is me.

Here I stand with empty hands,
waiting for the tide to come,
praying that the waves can take
this life away so I can start anew.
The lessons learned, the laughter
lost, I know I’ve paid my dues.
I’ve given life all of my love,
So where’s the love for me?
It’s waiting in the sea.

In the Cup 2.0

In the Cup has migrated. Don't worry, we're bringing the marmots with us.

International Marmot Day!

I officially declare today the first annual International Marmot Day, a celebration of all things marmot. So get out there and hug a marmot, or let a marmot steal your soul, or do an interpretive dance about marmots (if you choose this option, please film and put on youtube). Celebrate the marmot way of life; bask in the sun, eat grasses and berries, go back in your hole for another two weeks if you see your shadow, scratch your mites and fleas, bite oldschool, use your cute fluffiness to detract from your workings as a minion of the Dark Lord (Sauron, Satan, Voldemort, any other relevant dark lord).
They're swarming like things that swarm!

In The Wordpress? Muti-Post

Alright, so to start off I know a lot of us wanted to switch the blog over to wordpress after our KILN usage. I thought we should wait until Crow was done with school and has the time to learn a couple new tricks and I think that time is upon us. So if Lorigga has the time/knowledge to pull this feat off I think we should make the change. Thoughts on this?

Just read today on Kotaku that Fantasy IV: The After Years is now available on WiiWare as of today for 800pts. It was previously a Japan only cell phone game. I have my points ready and I'm awaiting a review or two until I jump into the download.

E3 has started and already there's been some pretty crazy stuff ranging from 360's new motion control technology to the Left 4 Dead: 2 announcement. I have a feeling this is going to be a nutty expo with a buttload of new games coming out. Can't wait until the other major conferences from Sony and Nintendo!

And last, but not least, here's Bill Maher and his Real Time New Rules for May 29, 2009. Of course he throws in a joke about the pope. When doesn't he?

Painting happy trees with Cyrusse

Something like that anyway. This has been my project over the last day and a half or so. I've been kind of draw-y lately. Yay for new colored pencils!

Alucard

With bewbs! hehe

Stars in the Sky

Stars in the sky were born to shine!
I’ll be yours if you’ll be mine.
The son never gave up, so why
should I? Whether dying in the
gutter, or flying in the sky,
I’ve always managed to shine.

I had to light the way for you,
like the Bible (accept this is true)
I am the word of God before it
was written and after it’s read.
I am the past, present,
future that lives in your head.

Everything that’s ever been,
or will be, is a part of me. Like
the Universe I am the construct
in which you exist, cause in me
lies the code to help life persist,
like gifts on Christmas day to
say I love you Christ,
I love that you sacrificed yours so I could have mine.

RunPee!

Ron found this earlier on Lifehacker, and I thought it was quality enough for blog type sharing. First of all, these guys get points for the term "runpee" for what you do during lulls in a three hour movie after drinking a $5 large soda. Second, it actually looks useful.

Runpee.com is an online database of pee break intervals in movies that are currently playing. They also give you summaries (initially scrambled up as nonsense to avoid unwanted spoilers) of what you'll miss if you choose that moment to pee. I know for a fact that I would not have survived Return of the King if it hadn't gliched right in the middle and created an unintended intermission, so this seems like a good alternative to just not drinking anything before or during a movie.

airconditioned dark
nothing is happening now
time for a runpee

(I searched for images of "fountain drink" and this came up. Awesome. hehe)

Mishearing of the day

"Liar! Killer! Beaver! Back to the river..."
- System of a Down (Holy Mountains, Hypnotize)

So "beaver" was actually "demon," but yeah, I think I like it better with lying murderous beavers swimming around in rivers surrounding the holy mountains. I can "feel their haunting presence." Hehe wow this song just got so much better.

Mr. Beaver swears he didn't do it; he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Reflections on Vegas and Beyond

First let me apologize for not resizing my image. I am hot, I am tired, I am hungry, but I still wanted to post a pic. hehe.

Second, Vegas was insanely fun! I spent way too much money but I had a blast. Drinking, smoking cigars, gambling, living it up! I thought the cuppers who are going to go see Nails in less than a week might like to know how amazing the set list will be! I wont ruin anything but I hope you wont be offended by telling you that he did not play a single song off of The Slip! As much as that offended me (what can I say I love it all...lol) I appreciated it even more because it gave him time to play tons of shit off Downward Spiral that I had never heard live, and lots of stuff off of Broken that I had never live, and lots of stuff off of the B-Side singles (Further down the spiral, Things Fall Apart) that I had never heard live. He is going out with bang folks! He announced it was the last tour as NIN so please enjoy. I thought he was brilliant, I was barely drunk at all for a change, and thus I can remember the entire set list in order. Im happy this time I was able to just let go and absorb every second. I owed it to myself, and to Trent.

Third, about my poetry. Too anyone who read any thank you so much for your time. I just wanted to say that I am not satisfied with these poems in one sense, each one sprang out of an assignment that had to be turned in, and not out of my heart. Now I inserted my heart into them, thats why I was so proud and willing to share, but I dont think it accurately reflects my level of skill when it comes to writing. Ive been working on new pieces, and a fiction short story, Id like to share that with everyone even more so than the pieces for my portfolio, now its fun again, ya know? Thanks for the consideration, I will still be looking at these funky little exercise poems in the future so if you get the chance to comment thats cool, but if not thats cool too, Im ready to move on to the next thing. Im glad to be able to share the experience through the blog. Thanks Lorigga for having the good sense to create this blog and thanks to all the rest of you guys for sticking with it. I have more news and exciting goodies for you all but I'll let those surface at the proper time. Until than Im reading all the posts regularly now that Im not in school. Keep em comin'!

Stabbity doom!

I'm sure some of you have already found this by now. By the way, I actually have an account for this game now (yay for uber discounts!) so you all will have to help me suck at it sometime. I'm halfway decent with engineer and have no clue what to do with the rest.

Special CA Election May 19

Tomorrow I'll be working at the polls again for the California Special Election. Since Lorenzo had wanted to talk with me about it, and we hadn't gotten a chance yet, I figured I'd just make a post here. So this is my limited understanding of what's going on. Our state legislators were fighting for quite some time about the budget. Despite having a decent majority in the state congress, Democrats were unable to get a decent budget passed because of the 2/3's super majority required to pass a new budget. So essentially the Republican minority were able to water down and shit all over the budget until it became a budget that no one really liked on any side. That budget partially passed, but it was necessary that parts of it needed to be approved by an election, because some of the sources of funding are coming from things that CA residents have voted on for other causes. So if these propositions are rejected, state legislators have to go back and rework the budget into something hopefully less crappy and more helpful. Here's Courage Campaign's progressive voter guide:

The MOST EPIC PICTURE today

I promise, this will be the most EPIC picture you see today:




FTW!!!!

----------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE



In the comments for the pic above, someone found a picture that's even better.

I'm trying so hard not to laugh....

My final portfolio for CSUN

Well Ive posted all of the poems that I included for my final portfolio. Im baring it all for you guys. I just wanted to show you what Ive been working on for CSUN. Ive been trying to write very differently from my old style, and hope you guys can tell that. Still, the "voice" in the poems, and certain style choices that I used to utilize are still present. Im getting a sense of who I am as a writer. I can recognize my own trade marks like using parenthesis, or the tone, and the images (crows, death, life, Christ, redemption, star light/sun light/moon light) have also remained, even though each one of these poems was written in direct response to a poetry exercise, I am glad that I was able to put some of myself, and my stamp, on each of the poems. Please feel free to leave feedback as I will be editing these still, at this point just for myself as CSUN creative writing has a honor system regarding turning in work that has already been graded. I cant ever submit these for credit in any class, now I get the satisfaction of fixing them purely for the love of the game. I am pleased with the progress the poems have made in just 3 months, and frankly if I never touch them again Im ok with that, but I know that at least a few will be given a second glance. I have my personal favorites but Im eager to hear what yall think, if none of them appeal to you at all I respect that, Ive switched over to a whole new line of poetry and even I feel a little shaky in this new water, but I like the feel of this new ground, as if I were experiencing the sensation of swimming in the ocean for the first time. I will continue to develop and work out my poetry, and I even have plans of returning to more end rhyme oriented sonnets again, but I dont think my work will ever be the same after this class and Im glad to be able to share the end result with you all here on the blog. I hate to take up so much space and time with these posts when perhaps bloggers dont care that much for poetry, or my poetry in specific, but its been a very big part of my life for the last 5 months or so and I thought you all might be curious to see where my head has been at. This life truly is a blessing, love each other, these poems may be about death and despair but honestly they are more about life and hope. Enjoy good friends and smile one time, dont take it so seriously, its all in good fun baby.

Angels (final portfolio draft)

A lightning bolt will cry and sulk
before it leaves the sky behind to
join us here on Earth. Why
do you think it hurts?

Angels weep when witnessing
another baby born. They mourn
because they know (half the time)
we forget our promises to return home.

Awake from sleep and listening
to silence, we hear them whispering
the history of every soul, you know
they say you know.

Their love for us will
never stop, and every drop of rain
forms just one ocean;
they need us to be whole.

Old Joe and Death (Sydny edit/final portfolio draft)

Old Joe and Death (20 little poetry projects)

My pen woke me up today just to tell me I was dying.

Death is a baby that smokes a pack a day before it leaves the womb.
I am his mother.
I hear his insatiable cries to feed the habit.
I feel fresh ulcers growing in his stomach as I inhale more smoke.
When he is born his skin smells like tar
and his face is deep sea blue.

He grows up to be a writer and his fans taste Marlboro every time they read his words. Old Joe up on Skid Row is his biggest fan.
Joe doesn’t know how to read.

Death never buys me birthday cards.
He is straight trippin’ to forget his mother.
The lonely face of Death.

Without me where would he be?
Big Steve-o remembers watching Joe go
round and round like planets in orbit around the sun.
Spit in one hand and want in the other and see which gets filled first.
Even the cold sun robs darkness of its kingdom every day.
Ugly children understand.
La vida no es justo.

Old Joe tells his story to his granddaughter but stops for a moment
to cough blood into a handkerchief.
Old Joe can fly like a crow but he rarely goes very far.

I'm from (final portfolio draft)

I’m from
After Origins by Jeffrey McDaniel

I’m from electric lights that rob the sky of stars
I’m from Bloody Mary in the mirror and ghosts in the garage
I’m from don’t make me knock your teeth in on Thursday
and who wants to go to Disneyland? on Friday
I’m from denim blue Osh Kosh overalls matched with alligator labeled collared shirts
I’m from the kitchen table where my mother called Columbus that rapist son of a bitch
I’m from real Mexicans speak Spanish puto
and my fists in love with crimson lips because English was always cooler
I’m from shouting as porcelain figures of baby angels smash against the floor
I’m from a Dr. Seuss bedtime story lulling me into a sea of dreams
I’m from late Saturday night booze cruising
and early (light hurts) Sunday morning mass
I’m from John Wayne wannabe’s shooting pistols at each other in the streets
I’m from a murder of crows cawing in the park as my father and I fly kites
I’m from Looney Tunes comes on after He-Man
and Super Street Fighter until dawn
I’m from fast cash on the corner with a box cutter in my back pocket (just incase)
I’m from three schools in two years
I’m from soft promises whispered under the Santa Monica Pier to a green-eyed girl
who never believed I had come back to life, even after I showed her my wounds
I’m from familiar handcuffs around my delicate eleven year old wrists
I’m from watch them try and stop me now that I have nothing to lose

I see my reflection

I see my reflection (Corpse I)

As if it weren’t enough that yesterday ended,
(its quick to decompose) water turns to dust,
and my disappointment tastes like lead. My heart felt like
death must feel when it strikes with no guilt.

I love that you still think that I am me.
Peel the scab off of your eyes, let the reality bleed in.
I am a hollow coconut shell. Your hope lingers on like a fine gray thread
wrapped around my finger to remind me not to forget something important.
Being with you is like the life cycle of the grandest red delicious once bitten
and exposed its quick to decompose.

I see my reflection fractured in the ice of a shattered pond, gazing at the moonlight as time ticks away, I can see how the whirly bird of wealth doesn’t always fly. My tongue
pronounces words as if I were brain damaged. I’m in prison and I see my cell melting into a cloud, which continues to float up, like a kite floating in the prison yard to remind the inmates what freedom looks like. My wife comes to visit and her accordion tattoo across her chest has drooped down to her pink painted toes, its tune has grown flat and low. Many men seek for that which they have yet to discover while crimson cheeked cherubs flutter in their heart’s; a symphony of crazy parrots
screaming what has already been said.

Saturday morning

While others swim within
a sea of dreams I sneak
barefoot past the
sleeping giants to
find forbidden treasure.

Its hidden in the
kitchen where my mother
keeps the dishes that
we only use on
Christmas and Thanksgiving.

Delight pours through
me as I pour myself
a colossal bowl of
the Captain Crunch. Sweet
freedom in serving oneself.

I (inhale) tip toe towards
The living room floor to sit and
watch my favorite X-men.
Mutants fly through the sky
shooting lasers from their eyes until

You better not be eating in front of the TV!
I dash back into the kitchen leaving
a trail of milk and tiny pieces of
candy coated cavities behind
me as I go (exhale).

Morning mom. I was hungry
so I… (never was a good liar).
Seeing her sleepy smile,
my body tenses up with guilt as if
I was entering a confession booth.

The new me is becomming (final portfolio draft)

The new me is becoming



old fast.
Like a cherry car that depreciates
in value (is fucked)
the minute it’s driven off the lot.

I’m a collector
of karmaflies and
every time (I feel)
I have enough
I see in the distance two more fluttering desires.
I must have them!

So I enter the night with a dream
catcher in hand,
searching and seeking for
something(someone?) that I know
is waiting
for me,

like white diamond stars in
the black sky whose glow can be seen
throughout eternity.
They are lighthouses guiding blind ships
towards the rocky shore
of knowledge (home).

I’m a collector.
but every time I think I have enough
I see in the distance two more fluttering
about elusively as if to tantalize
(haven’t I been here before?)
This is becoming

old fast.
Must keep moving forward or you’ll
stand still for too long and they will ask for your name.
Than you cant be you anymore. In an instant
you’re a statue, fixed solid in one frame of time.
Remember(what was I talking about again?)

Before this dream began (I was seeking for….)
I’m a collector.

The wind never caught me

“No, no a thousand times no”
I said, my hands like Jesus’ when
he kissed Judas, knowingly
embracing my death.

“But I must leave” you said;
Sitting on the edge of
the bed. You checked
your compact mirror
one last time.

That’s all I ever wanted.
Up is like down
in this dream where
I’ve smoked you’re love
and everyone can tell that
I’m high (except me).

Our relationship reminds me
of the bum
on the corner of Fifth
and Broadway who you
would give change to
after we got our fix.

Do you remember?
The wino took to coma
like a dog greeting his master
when he finally
comes home.

In those days
you held my life
in your hands as if it were
grains of sand slipping
through your fingers.

Even as a man I
was a child in
school. A baby bird
learning to fly but
the wind never caught me.

Defeating Insurgent Wars with Math

So I know that at the very least Lorenzo is going to love this, but this may trip out the rest of you as well. These guys have taken data about conflicts around the world and come up with a constant that represents the organizational structure of terrorist forces in an ongoing campaign. The magic number is 2.5 apparently. If that number can be pushed up, the forces get fragmented and can potentially be left alone to fall apart. If that number can be pushed down, then their organization becomes more robust, but small enough that they can potentially be negotiated with to end fighting. Watch the vid, the main speaker will clarify this stuff far better than I.

Zombie Ants!

(Not really, but it makes a good title)

A couple days ago, I stumbled across an article calling itself "Ants may be the undead." It turned out that wasn't exactly what it was about, but it did get my attention and the real subject was still interesting. The theory is, to aid in the disposal of dead comrades, ants always have chemicals signaling "dead ant, take to the garbage heap" on them. While they're alive, they also produce other chemicals signaling "just kidding, not dead yet, still a live worker ant." Researchers tested this by putting the "dead" and "not dead yet" compounds on ant pupae (which would usually be carried to some safe nursery location) and leaving the pupae around the worker ants, who either left them alone as if the pupae were also live worker ants or hauled them off to the garbage pile as if they were dead worker ants.

Well, it was more interesting than my work at the time anyway. At least it should prevent things like this:

The grand tour of Cyrusse's cube

This is what we call filler content or I'm too lazy to write a real post. Anyway, welcome to the grand tour of my cubicle, yay....
This is the view from the deck on the roof of the third floor where I go to try to nap in the sun when I don't want to work. Unfortunately, my boss has figured this out and come out to find me and make me work.This is my lovely desk. Half of the time there's a big mound of fruit on the green book. I must have run out. Note the random animal pictures (including a marmot card from Crow) and not terribly visible shoddy drawings on post-it notes from Lisa in the cube over the wall.
And here is the highlight of my cube: the squeeking lobster hanging from my desk lamp and other assorted weirdness. I'm not sure it's visible, but the purple origami frog has a nose ring made out of a piece of wire I found in my drawer. I'm not entirely sure what the thing behind the green frog's butt is, but I got it from the janitor who teaches Filipino stick fighting. I think it's an alien making photo copies of itself, but I could be wrong.

So that's my work space. Yay!

And for good measure, a picture of the turkey leg stretching. She says "magaow" to everyone. I think that means "hi." It could mean "fuck off," I'm not really sure. Let's pretend it means "hi."

I'm from (my first entry into my portfolio)

I’m from
After Origins by Jeffrey McDaniel



I’m from electric lights that rob the sky of stars

I’m from Bloody Mary in the mirror and ghosts in the garage

I’m from don’t make me knock your teeth in on Thursday

and who wants to go to Disneyland? on Friday

I’m from denim blue Osh Kosh overalls matched with collared shirts with alligator logos

I’m from the kitchen table where my mother called Columbus that rapist son of a bitch

I’m from real Mexicans speak Spanish puto

and my fists in love with crimson lips because English was always cooler

I’m from shouting as porcelain figures of baby angels smash against the floor

I’m from a Dr. Seuss bedtime story lulling me into a sea of dreams

I’m from late Saturday night booze cruising

and early (light hurts) Sunday morning church

I’m from John Wayne wannabe’s shooting pistols at each other in the streets

I’m from a murder of crows cawing in the park as my father and I fly kites

I’m from Looney Tunes comes on after He-Man

and Super Street Fighter until dawn

I’m from fast cash on the corner with a box cutter in my back pocket (just incase)

I’m from three schools in two years

I’m from soft promises whispered under the Santa Monica Pier to a green-eyed girl

who never believed I had come back to life, even after I showed her my wounds

I’m from familiar handcuffs around my delicate eleven year old wrists

I’m from watch them try and stop me now that I have nothing to lose

Happy Mother's Day!

Yeah, yeah, I know none of you have ovaries or boobs or uteri, and thus will never exactly be mothers (barring sex change and adoption, hmmm.. hehe), but I thought I'd share my little gizmos I made for my mom and grandma for Mother's Day with you all. I always have a horrible time finding cards that I like and I'm not good at buying gifts for people, so I try to make stuff when I can. These are meant to be place mats (you know, so people like me don't get their meal all over the nice clean table). I'm not entirely sure they're functional. The sun and flower appliqué may make plates sit weirdly. But they were fun to make and I didn't even break any needles on my sewing machine (this is actually a bigger accomplishment than it should be). So... let me know if anyone wants a custom order place mat dealy, since apparently I can make them.

Let me ask you

Let me ask you,
When you die do you want
To hear hip-hop or rock
As you enter the pearly gates?

It has to be hip-hop right?!
I mean I love my Led Zep, Fab Four, Doors,
Tool, and Nails as much as the next obsessed fan
With the tattoos to prove it yo.

I still know that when I enter the gates
I’d like to do so with a bounce in my step.
I want KRS booming bass so I can bob my head to the beat
Thinking about how this (after) party just got started.

I don’t need heart crushing Harrison ballads that will
Only serve to remind me of the one
That got away, NO! I want Nas telling me
Beware Illuminati and the New World Order

So I can laugh about the petty shit we tripped on
While on Earth. Hip-Hop makes life/death easier
Like custard cream filled donuts after a long Sunday
Sermon telling me I’m doomed to go to hell for playing

Mortal Kombat. I’m not saying that there wouldn’t be a
Metalica bar or a Depeche Mode cafeteria, Heaven could
Not be holy without some rock. But the lounge is Hip-hop. We enter in our finest
Club gear, DC’s white as my wings, Dickie’s creased, L.A. tilted brim (with the stickers).

Another cupper enters graduate school....

I got in.

The program starts late August. I haven't heard back from SFSU yet, but I have a feeling USF is the place for me. Regardless, this means I'm definitely going to a program and now have to inform work that I'll be parting ways at the end of July. If only I could keep my mouth shut and disappear...

And a little info about the program, it's web science which was known as Internet Engineering. I'll learn how to develop awesome web applications, finally...

Multi-Post Thursday

So this is one of my first couple attempts at stitching together photos into a panorama using a program called Hugin. I posted this instead of the others because Syd's last Yosemite post shows the exact same place and looks totally different. Well that and I wanted to have some bargaining chips. I have in my possession one of the sickest panoramas of Sylmar, CA known to man as well as a panorama from a certain cave/nook in Vasquez Rocks. I will accept all pictures taken by the Southern California branch of the Cup and their affiliates from the Yosemite trip in exchange for the remaining panoramas and the photos we took. How should we make this happen? Also, just wanted to remind everyone that Syd received a grand total of 0 gil from those who went on the trip, though Dan did pitch in for gas on our way out of Berkeley.

In other news, from this post on C&L:

United States interrogators killed nearly four dozen detainees during or after their interrogations, according a report published by a human rights researcher based on a Human Rights First report and followup investigations.
In all, 98 detainees have died while in US hands. Thirty-four homicides have been identified, with at least eight detainees — and as many as 12 — having been tortured to death, according to a 2006 Human Rights First report that underwrites the researcher’s posting. The causes of 48 more deaths remain uncertain.

In a related article on C&L we find that:

The Justice Department continues to insist on total control over the investigation of its own attorneys and department in a clear conflict of interest.

To finish it all off lets move on to some happy news! Maine has become the 5th state in the country to allow gay marriage after Maine Governor John Baldacci signed a bill yesterday afternoon. Now if only CA could get the ever disgusting Prop 8 overturned. And from our gay friends at GayGamer we have this awesome gaming news of the day:

Blizzard has quietly announced they have opened up applications for the beta of Starcraft II.

Head over to the post and follow the links to make sure that everyone in the cup is Beta capable.

Yosemite in the rain, still pretty fucking cool!

Yo. Hey all. Ive been meaning to post a little something about last weekend but Ive been real busy with school and than yesterday I got food poisoning. It was easily the most viscous time that I have been sick in my life. Im assuming it was food poisoning because this morning I feel better and I never really had a fever. Anyways, not sure how this post is going to turn out because I still havent ate in over 24 hours and Im very light headed.

Just wanted to say that this last trip I had was still one of the funnest Ive ever had in spite of the rain. I think if I had to choose I would prefer to go when its dry and warm, but with you guys taking charge and putting up tarps in very strategic places it really wasnt that bad at all! I laughed a lot and ate some great food so even if I was wet I was happy. Plus we made two great fires so for the most part I was warmer at night than in the day, at least I was able to go to sleep dry. Sorry I split ways with you guys on Saturday but Gary was really eager to chill on the Valley floor because he had so much about it from me. Next time we roll I can afford to kick it with yall the entire time. I may or may not bring Gary, he had a blast!, but its always a risk for that guy to leave the county line. Basically Im saying that I look forward to going camping with you guys again and this time Ill join you all on whatever trail you guys want to explore. Ive been thinking about trying to get sites at Sequoia. Id prefer to go to Yellowstone, but I have no doubt that Sequoia would be much closer, and cheaper to pull off. Well see how it all pans out. Right now Im so sore from being sick the idea of going anywhere other than the bathroom just seems ludicrous.

I also would like to thank Syd for making all the food, especially when Gary and I showed up well after you guys had ate. That meant a lot to me and Gary. He pretty much thinks you guys are awesome and told me so on the way back. Syd your awesome and Im really glad I got to spent your birthday with you. That day was a great day for me. I needed to go to Nevada and get some things off of my chest. It meant more to me because I knew at the end of the day Id be meeting back up with you guys. It was just an amazing time, wet, but still pretty fucking cool. Thanks again for the invite.

Quote of yesterday

"So the question is: is the mean of the standard deviations a valid statistic to use with... Is that a marmot?"

- Greg (my supervisor) getting distracted by my cubicle decorations
(and yes it was a marmot, on a card Steve made me)

Yosemite

So I think we've got four cuppers going on this trip. Maybe. I hope. Someone better tell me by the time I get off work so I get enough supplies. Unless there are huge objections, I will just get the usual burgers, hot dogs, burrito/taco things, sandwich supplies, eggs, potatoes, cereal/oatmeal, produce/healthy snacks for food. I'll probably try to snag some chips and drinks too (either soda or gatorade powder). Feel free to bring along any snacky things you think you might want (goldfish, cookies, booze, etc). Dan, don't forget the paper towels or you will personally be used to absorb messes. Well, probably not, you aren't terribly absorbant, but I will be sad. Steve, if you can manage to come, could you pick up a box of firewood on your way in? We're in Hodgdon Meadows, not Upper Pines, so don't go into Pines trying to find us because we won't be there. And from the looks of the weather forecast, waterproof stuff seems like a good idea.

Swine Flu

So seems like some of you haven't been keeping up with the news so I thought I'd post this vid I found today about the state of the Swine Flu craziness. The shit has already spread around the world and if it reaches pandemic status it could seriously hamper economic recovery. Let's cross our fingers that it doesn't get that bad.

I'm On A Boat!

The clip is about 30 secs and the audio is NSFW. Points to whomever can tell me who the hell made this audio track.

Calling All Lorenzo's!

So this saturday is the Buck-o-Nine concert in SF at the Bottom of the Hill. Dan as usual forgot so he can't make it, though randomly he is going to Yosemite now. The question is: does Lorenzo want to go? I may just end up going by myself since I don't think they'll be around the bay again anytime in the near future and the tix are cheap as hell. Besides that, when are we doing lunch? Pencil me in and make the magic happen.

Fuck Fuck Fuck

Well Ive officially been notified that I will receive no financial aid this year. The fucking bastards have the nerve to send it an email with a subject that reads "Congratulations your awards have been approved!" its just a uniform subject title, when you read the email it sends you to the link, the link informs me that I qualify for loans...apparently thats my great award from the state, theyl loan me money with interest. fucking assholes

Resident Evil and old Diablo tricks

I just beat Resident Evil 5. It was very fun. The final boss was worthy of all the build up it took to reach him. Although for me it was easy because of a little trick Lorenzo and I came up with for Diablo I for the Playstation. Ya see, we would load up one character with lots of goodies, and one character would be naked, than wed give all the goodies to the naked guy, and he would save it, but the guy who gave up all the goodies, he would not, when you exit and enter the game both characters have all the stuff, and no one loses anything, so if you repeat the process many many times you can double up on all the cool items. Its cheap, but its not our fault game programmers couldnt figure out a way around the little secret. Well it turns out the trick works exactly the same for RE5. I ended up with well over 100 magnum rounds for the last boss, hehe. I still had fun, and although it curbed the difficulty, I had completed well over half the game without using the trick, and was about ready for some ammo reprieve. The best part is that now I have unlocked the Mercenaries Mode! Hours and hours of RE5 gameplay still await, once this semester is over.

In other news I beat GTA 4 about a month ago but never posted about it. It was so much fun! That game also did not dissapoint, the final mission was ridiculous with dozens and dozens of gangsters to kill, and a final chase involving a helicopter and a high speed boat. I died 3 times trying to fly the helicopter close enough to the boat so that I could shoot it, but far enough from it so that I wouldnt crash. It was very challenging, and the ending was extremely slick. The entire storyline for that game was very engrossing, Niko even gets email from his mom periodically. It reminded me of that game Shenmue I used to have for Dreamcast. In that game you had a job, could play video games, darts, and even go on dates, but you didnt have to do anything in particular. GTA 4 was the same exact way plus stealing cars and killing random people with assorted weapons. I have to say, I prefer GTA4. hehe. The game was so much fun that after the final credits roll, when the game jumps you back into the world (as opposed to a title screen) I didnt turn it off, like I would have for games Ive played in the past. Instead I went and take the speed boat I had just been pursuing for a joy ride around the the island of whats supposed to be Manhattan, and I went and stole another helicopter to fly around the city as the sunset one last time. Over the radio they were talking about the final boss I had just killed! It was awesome, there was additional storyline regarding who might take his place, and how the dynamic of power for Liberty City may shift. It was completely random and very fitting for a game that ran deeper than most rpgs these days.

All in all I give RE5 a 10 and GTA4 a 10. Xbox 360 is pretty slick. Now if only I could figure out how to hack it...hehe

Gifts on Christmas Day

Angry fists fall from the sky
like rain drops in a thunder storm.

The thud, thud, thud against
my skull reforms the map of

my face like a California earthquake
changing the landscape from within.

I’m choking on blood (as
the world goes numb) and

I’m reminded of that night
We fucked. I told you it was love and

you laughed because you knew
it was violence we were after.


You are the purest synthetic high.
I am the junkie three days

dry and my skin wants to crawl
off the muscle it clings to.

I still taste your tears on my pillow
when I dream about our fights.

The words evade me (knowing that
I’m not ready) yet the rage persists

like gifts on Christmas Day
to say I love you

Christ, I love that
you left me here alone.

Gizmodo Findings of the day

As always a bunch of good things on the gadget site. Thought I'd share a handful of them starting with....

Space Power
Go straight to the msnbc link as it has much more information and a nice little step by step. Looks like after the first year this thing could be providing 1/20 of the power for the PG&E grid. There's still a lot of people on gas, but 20 orbiting solar farms providing all of our power, with no downtime or weather issues? Not too shabby.

Every Parents Dream
Do I really need to say any more?

Best TV that Never Happened
Some day it might happen. So many good things are being combined and remade, it's possible, right?


Dancing DSI gets naked OMG!?!?
Well shot, looks so simple. I know I'd have at least 3 parts left over

Why is Europe so damn cool, This...
Come on air bars are so 90's, now gin-air bars... I could get behind that

Defmoose Returns To The Bay

Just got back home safe and sound last night. My love and thanks go out to all who housed and fed me! One of them is in this cup, the rest get just my good vibes and the thanks i already gave in person. Here's a Big Daddy doll someone made and sent pics of to Kotaku. Hope everyone is doing well.

Like Gifts On Christmas Day

Angry fists fall from the sky
Like rain drops in a thunder storm.
The thud, thud, thud,
On my head reminds me of
That time we fucked.
I told you it was love
And you laughed because
You knew
It was just violence we were after.

I still taste your tears in the mornings
When I dream about our songs.
The words are all lost
But the melody persists
Like gifts on Christmas
Day to say I love you
Christ, I love that you
Left me here alone.

Rockets, a car, and mythbusters.

Just, wow...

Rabbits and eggs

Easter is right around the corner =)

Hope everyone is well. I'm finally taking a moment to post something...hope you guys like the art style.

Reminders!

Hey all! So just wanted to make a quick post of randomness. Buck-O-Nine is going to be playing in SF at the Bottom of the Hill on April 25th. So far, at the very least, me and Dan are going. The Yosemite trip is coming up pretty soon (the weekend of Syd's b-day, may 2nd). We got a total of six people for the site with space reserved for me, Syd, Steve, Lorenzo, Evelyn, and Adam (if he ever doesn't zone out when being asked about it, hehe). I'm sure Syd will make a post with more specific info pretty soon. I'm leaving for L.A. tomorrow morning and will be back on the 14th. And on the super random, does anyone remember the song at the end of the playlist below?

I am the wrist

You are the razor blade
I am the wrist
You are the kiss from the lips of Judas
I am the prayer that God must ignore
You are forever but
I still need more

Wooo, math! Kinda.

More random equationness at New Math.

How To Make Mr. Watanabe Come Out Of Hiding

So I'll make a long story short. I tried out a fast loading linux build on my old laptop. I liked it it a lot. Yadda, yadda, yadda I installed Ubuntu on my old laptop. It works pretty good, except for the fact that I can't get an internet connection going. I have some promising leads, but I think I may need the help of a man gone missing a week ago. He was supposed to set up a code page on kiln and call Dan, but those things didnt happen and no one has heard from him since. I hope he's happily working at his new job this week and arises from the depths sometime soon to give aid. Time will tell.

Magic Anyone?

So me and Dan have still been playing a little magic here and there on OCTGN2 and there's now a bunch (probably all) of the sets available. Might anyone else be down to play sometime? If you are, you can get the program from it's official site octgn.net. And the development blog has a link to the .Net framework that you need installed to run the program. The pic above is from the Duel Decks: Divine vs. Demonic set, two 60-card pre-constructed decks thats supposed to be coming out April 10th. Click on it to check out the detail it's a sick picture.

Quick post... no explanation needed I think Enjoy...

Mini-Post Tuesday - The Ocarina of Rhyme

Found this at Kotaku. It's a Hip-hop/Ocarina mash-up and most of the tracks are actually pretty decent(Jay-Z - No Hook - Meeting the Owl). A couple suck though so you be warned (Dre and Snoop Dog - Getting Treasure). Give it a listen over at 8tracks.

Shaving and skin

This is a post for the men. What razors do you all use? Lately I have been getting really bad facial acne, mostly ingrown hairs. I have yet to determine if its for physical abuse of my face (not using the correct facial cleansers/ineffective razors), or if its an outward manifestation of how I feel about my self (like absolute shit) or both. Ive been trying to drink more water, using sensitive shaving creams, and I even use some deep cleansing facial scrub by St. Ives, but nothing works! Im thinking about fucking proactive at this point. Its all the dating and meeting girls at CSUN and what not. I know I shouldnt be shallow, but all of us wants to look good when making a first impression, if I knew these women better I honestly wouldnt care that I look so horrible as of late, but considering that these women never knew my face before this semester, its a shame for myself to be misrepresented in this way, I normally have fair skin! WTF! Any advice? Im currently using a Mach 3 Turbo razor with Gillete sensitive skin shaving cream. I have no real reason to blame the razor, Ive been using the brand for years and I normally dont get so many ingrown hairs, not sure what it is, and Im willing to try anything at this point. Any advice is much appreciated. If women somehow know more about this than men please feel free to insert advice if applicable, just thought the guys might have more fammiliarity with shaving face/ingrown hair issues. Wish me luck.

Another excercise:sound (Angels)

Ok so I had another lame excercise were I was forced to use rhyming words within a poem that I had generated at random, before I knew I was going to use the words for a poem. We were given a list of words and told to come up with another word for the association, not a bad idea for a short excercise but to have us be forced into using the sounds within a serious piece I think is ridiculous, I get the sense this lady feels we have no basis to begin with so she gives us these excercise to get us started, but binding us to them, especially those of us who do have experience using sound within a poem, anyways, I decided to stay faithful to the assignment, Im big on school integrity these days. My sounds were , never stop/every drop, whispering/history, lightning bolt/try and sulk, hurt/Earth. The rest of the play on sound was generated by myself. Its very difficult to create a coherent theme within a piece when forced to use random words just because they rhyme, but fuck it, here is what I came up with.

Angels



A lightning bolt will cry and sulk
before it leaves the sky behind to
join us on Earth. Why
do you think it hurts?

And angels weep when witnessing
another baby born. They mourn
because they know that (half the time)
we forget our promises to return home.

Awake from sleep and listening
to silence, hear them whispering
the history of the soul, “you know”
they say “you know”.

Their love for us will
never stop like every drop of
rain forms just one ocean;
they need us to be whole.

Dora the Pundit?

This was part of a larger segment discussing a pseudo feud between John Stewart and NBC pundits, particularly Jim Cramer. There's been some back and forth across multiple different shows, but I think Dora the Explorer's analysis is the best thing to come out of this. Also, hearing Dora teach children "pendejo" is priceless. The full clip can be seen at Crooks and Liars.

Good and Bad news

I have some good and bad news.

First, the good news.

I now have a J-O-B. As a Web Developer with MPR Associates, Inc. I'll wear a lot of hats. Updating websites, verifying data, some python coding, content management system stuff, etc...



Where is MPR? You guys know the Shattuck BART station? Right by Washington Mutual? You know that big corporate looking grid like black building? Well, the 8th floor of that bad boy. Kind of odd, I've passed by that thing sooo many times. Hell, it's right around the corner from the YMCA! Right in Downtown Berkeley...which trips me out. I always thought I would steadily move farther and farther away from Downtown Berkeley, but now I'll be working there!

The bad but not so bad:

What does this mean for Project Kiln? Obviously, I won't be able to dedicate as much time to it. But at the same time I would have had to divide my attention both to looking for work while developing the game. I plan on making this project my hobby. I'll post more on this at the Project Kiln blog.

Phew! I can now breath a sigh of relief! Evelyn and I can stay in the Bay and she can continue making progress on thesis. That was my biggest worry.

More to come...

it is at moments after I have dreamed by ee cummings

it is at moments after i have dreamed
of the rare entertainment of your eyes,
when(being fool to fancy)i have deemed
with your peculiar mouth my heart made wise;
at moments when the glassy darkness holds
the genuine apparition of your smile
(it was through tears always)and silence moulds
such strangeness as was mine a little while;
moments when my once more illustrious arms
are filled with fascination,when my breast
wears the intolerant brightness of your charms:
one pierced moment whiter than the rest
-turning from the tremendous lie of sleep
i watch the roses of the day grow deep.

Multi-Post Tuesday

Now it's time for another multi-post! Cool things have been going down lately. Here's a couple of the more prominent ones:

Yesterday, President Obama lifted the limits on federal funding for stem-cell research. More info and a video at C&L.

TF2 has a big new update as of 2 weeks ago. Some new maps and the Scout weapons and achievements are now available. Get updating if you haven't yet. More info at the Scout Update page.

A new season of Full Metal Alchemist is in the works and should begin airing in Japan in April. More info at Anime News Network.

Updates for the cup

Ok, this must be brief, yet I need to post something for all cuppers to know whats going down.

1. I am still very busy with mid-terms
2. I am very much behind on my spiritual studies
3. I will as a result be invisible for a couple of more weeks.

Still I had a few things to share.

Nine Inch Nails is going to Vegas on May 18th!!! I plan on attending for sure, itd be nice if others joined in. Considering that everyone is in a couple these days Id be assuming that significant others will be joining as well. That would be awesome! The more the merrier as far as IM concerned, they are playing at the Palms but I doubt very much that I will stay there, too much money to be too far away from the strip, Ill have to check the rates because if its cheap maybe I will just stay there, who knows. For me its all about the best rate and the closest proximity to the strip. It would be much more if you guys went, I think my L.A. crew will be mostly absent on this trip considering that those of us who really cared just went to Vegas in December to see Nails, of course for me, there is never enough Nails in any given year.


In other news. XBOX 360 rocks, here is a short review list. I grant my scores on what each game is trying to achieve in their individual genre, and what they bring to the current video gaming experience in general.

1. Mirror's Edge 9.0

A fantastic and innovative game that will challenge you to rethink what you consider a game is. Along the lines of portal but even more challenging, and of course, its much longer to complete to from start to finish. I believe it took me a little over 12 hours to complete the game on normal.
Great graphics and great sound help to round out this game and bring it into the arena of such classics as Halo 3 or Gears of War II, but the constant trial and error with jumping off of difficult jumps hurts the game a bit because at times it got to be so tedious the average gamer would likely give up rather than continue. I of course continued to try again and again and again until I figured out each grab, jump, hold, dive, jump, pattern necessary to complete each chapter. Overall its a great game maybe they could have thought a little more extensively about making certain aspects of the game a bit more conducive, than again thats the whole point, its a strategy game.

2. Gears of War II 8.9
Flawless in many ways but the game play is linear, just cant justify giving this game 9.0 or above when it didnt bring much more to the system than its predecessor offered years ago. Of course many gaming magazines gave the game near 10.0 for its amazing graphics and sound/movie like gameplay that puts you in the center of some of the most amazing scenarios ever thought of by any shooter, or any game period, but I just cant get over how straightforward these games are, point and shoot. As far as these types of games are concerned its one of the best.

3. Bioshock 9.5

I love this game! It helps to reinvent first person shooters by creating a more dynamic experience with tons of upgradable abilities (freeze, fire, electricity, telekinesis, etc, etc) upgradable weapons (more ammo capacity, stronger fire power, faster reload), and this really fun hacking challenge that allows you to hack any machine in the game so that the machine will become friendly to the player with the risk that if they fail in their hacking attempt they will loose massive amounts of health or set off alarms that bring unwanted foes. Its just straight up fun. The graphics and sound are superb. The soundtrack is the best Ive heard on the xbox as of yet. Its set in the 1950s so lots of golden oldies come pouring through loud speakers connected to old record players, it has this vintage tone that can not be funnier as I slashed my way through hordes of freaky ass mutants. The only reason this game does not get a 10 is because IT HAS TOO MANY OPTIONS! After a while all the upgrades can become combersome as the player asks him/her-self, which way is best? There is no real best way, any option was viable, meaning I could run around killing people with the wrench they gave me in the first level, or splatting them with grenade launcher, and the result was the same, there was no advantage as long as I was skilled enough to get by without the stronger fire power. I wish the game would have had more oppurtunties to use specific weapons for specific enemies, there is a way to conduct research so that you know which enemy is weak to which attack, but if every method is more less as effective as any other, who cares to do the research? Still a wonderful game!

Street Fighter 4 9.0
Graphics, flawless, sound, superb, game play, intuitive and innovative, but this game looses mass amounts of points for fucking up Chun Li. hehe, they changed her super combo so its much more difficult to pull off, I have no idea why, she WAS my favorite character, but everyone else seems more less intact, why Zangief was sooo pumped up is beyond me, perhaps he just always sucked in the old versions, but now he can kill anyone in 3 moves, I suppose his slow speed makes this ok.....I just dont like playing against anyone who uses him. Aside for a few character imbalances
this game offers everything a street fighter fan could hope for.

GTA 4 10.0
Perfectly perfect in every way. I have still yet to beat it, Ive been all the other titles mentioned, but this game is sooo looong I have yet to be able to conquer it considering how little time I can spend on games per week (a few hours here and there). Still, I wont let that detract from its score considering how much fun Ive been having while trying to beat it. This game will get re-scored after I beat the game.

Well thats it for me and all my random updates, I hope everyone is having a great day or morning or night or whatever it is when you read this. Back to the belly of the beast, or some would say, studying. Peace

Is no (a break from midterms)

is no beginning or end.
We are from nowhere.
Nothing is
nonsense (in our minds).

Zeros and ones
fly through the sky
in a never ending
cascade of patterns
that human eyes translate
into blue. It is true

that one day the
code will be rewritten.
But there is no
beginning or

News from marmot central

I got in to grad school! I'm not entirely sure what to make of this yet. I think I'm excited, but I'm also kind of flustered because now I actually have to do this. Before it was always a hypothetical thing that was only hypothetically scary. I's gonna be edumacated hehe. So... if I disappear for 2 years starting this fall, it's not my fault and you've been forewarned.

Tonight In English 474

I saw her
Tonight in English 474
With her arms
Draped around Dunbar.
She was speaking in
Miss’ippi dialect to Twain
In Crane’s open boat
But everyone else
Just heard the ocean.

I had forgotten - until
Zora Neal Hurston
Reminded me - of
How I used to lick
Her throat like it was
One of those
Frozen purple popsicles
That I would buy
For fifty cents from
The ice cream trucks
In Pacoima . It was so hot
That the ice would melt
In moments and I would
Finish the treat by
Swallowing the sweet
Sugar water as if
I knew
It would be the last time

I would taste it. For an instant I
Could still taste
The purple of her throat
On my tongue and I
Nearly forgot where I was
Until the professor,
Peering at me strangely,
Repeated a question
About a passage in Story of
An Hour and I
(Angrily) spouted out,
“Chopin must have been
Referring to the fickle
Nature of American women”

Half the class gasps,
The other half laughs, but
I just smirk.
The lesson learned
Tonight is all about love.

So, you remember Seaman?

It would seem this "Human Faced Fish" have lived in in some South Korean pond since 1986. I guess people trip out because the features are quite human. I find it fascinating because they remind me of Seaman...

Here's a video...

weather, whether, wether

From here:
The climate is made up of “weather”; whether it is nice out depends on whether it is raining or not. A wether is just a castrated sheep.



So make sure you get your weather, whether, and wether right! you never know if you're talking about a castrated sheep...dun dun dun!

Life Changing events where were you this Sunday?

It's true the world has changed for Ashley and I as we are now the (proud?) owners of two baby turtles. What this really means is that I finally cleaned out the tank, including the dead goldfish carcass which was the last occupant... for about a year. As I'm currently still poor the turtles just have a few logs to play with, though they may be getting a ping pong ball soon. Oh and just so you know their names are Giblet and Feta. Giblet is the larger of the two and is supposed to be a pastel something. Feta is a razorback... something and is much more active. Lets see if you can geuss which turtle takes after who?

Feta trying to look annoyed that I'm taking pictures again

Giblet chilling on the log

Feta looking all dramatic

Giblets favorite thing to do... Yoga! No seriously he sleeps like that.

Poetry excercise, feel in the blanks

So I had to do another lame poetry exercise were I was forced to use at least 5 sentences from a list of 20 that had the starting item that the metaphor/simile would be targeting and than we had to fill in the blank as to what the item would be compared to. Here are the 5 I choose, it was slim pickings yall trust me, whoever came up with this exercise sucks at poetry! hehe

1.Up is like down when
2.She held her life in her hand as if it were
3.The wino took to coma like
4. A child (blank) in (blank) is like a (blank) in (blank)
5."No, no, a thousand times no" He said, his hand

Strange huh? I was pissed that I had to work with this shit. So I made modifications to make it more personal, I changed pronouns around, but other than that I was stuck with this shit. Believe me if you saw some of the other examples, well heres one: a spider on an old mans beard is like.....damn who the fuck choose that line to include in their poem? Anyways here is what I came up with. Its due today, but if I get feedback before I leave for class I may alter this piece, its just the best I could do for now. haha. Enjoy!

“No, no, a thousand times no”
I said, my hands like Jesus when
He kissed Judas;
Knowingly embracing
My death.

“But I must leave” you
Replied, sitting on the edge of
The bed you checked
Your compact mirror
One last time.

That’s all I ever wanted.
As if in a dream
Up is like down
When I smoked
Your love. But
Everyone knows
That one is never
Enough.

Our relationship reminds me
Of the bum
On the corner of Fifth
And Broadway who you
Would give change to
After we got our fix.

In the end
The wino took to coma
Like a dog greeting his master
When he finally
Comes home.

In those days
You held my life
In your hands as if it were
Grains of sand
Slipping through your fingers.

Even as a man
I was still
A child in school, like a
Baby bird learning to fly;
I needed your discipline.

G.O.P. Real American Assholes

I haven't been on the blog much lately, so I though I should break the silence. Just found this today and was sad I hadn't seen it sooner. It's in the same vein as the joke g.i. joe psa's. Pretty damn funny. I'll be commenting up a storm in the next day or so. Adios.