Dan, thanks for buying the camera, it really does rock.

Several things.... please don't think I'm being mad at you, but I need some clarification.

A) Did it come with a manual and software? (i.e. booklet and CD/floppy disk). I can't d/l pictures to Win98 w/o the proper "massive storage" device driver.

B) It should have come with a docking station, as stated on Buydig.com. Right now, it did not. I was under the impression you checked all the hardware, and you said it was all present and accounted for. Obviously if there wasn't a docking station, I got ripped off. :-)

Please reply ASAP. You might have to mail me the remainding stuff.... I'll pay for it of course. But I need the drivers b4 I can d/l pix. No big deal.

PS: the bag that it came in, was it orig, or did you buy it for me, or did you buy it and expect it back? :) If it's the 3rd option. No worry mate, I can mail it back, or reimberse your for the $ and you can buy another.


Thanks again. We had a good time, Justin and I. I'm sorely upset that you and Larry couldn't come up. Please attempt to hook up for the Winter break, it would SO rock.
posted by asiliat at 2:37 AM

well, if all went well then i guess Eric and Justin are in windsor right now. i just got back from another wedding today. well, actually im not at home, im at a friend's house. anyway, gonna watch Zoolander tonight, then maybe go geocaching again. ok, gonna go play some guitar now.
posted by yodaslap at 4:45 PM

just went geocaching earlier tonight. i gotta say it was one of the coolest experiences ive had in recent times. in a nutshell, its basically a GPS treasure hunt, but of course its not really "treasure" per se. jschou and i basically ventured into a forest with just one flashlight around 11pm, so it was basically pitch dark besides one lonely beam of light. at one point we had to cross a little creek, and although it probably wouldnt be such a huge challenge in itself, the darkness sure made it a lot more intimidating. we ended up having to throw in rocks to create stepping stones across (we werent exactly in the mood to get soaked). i wont bore anyone any further with more details, but overall i must say it was quite an adventure (at least compared to what i normally do), and if anyone (or someone you know) has a GPS unit, i strongly recommend it. if things go well, we are going again tomorrow, and this time bringing more flashlights so i dont keep tripping over things. cant wait!
posted by yodaslap at 2:47 AM

yes, of course its certainly possible to be 117 cm tall, but i think it would be pretty noticeable if one of our classmates was half a meter shorter than the rest, dontcha think?

anyway, some blog entries get duped onto my other blog, so in a sense its killing two blogs with one post, er i mean, two birds with one stone.

Lawrence, what are you saying? i DO work hard!

anyway, i just met Shane Barnard earlier tonight at his mini-concert. yeah yeah, im sure you guys will all forget about him after reading this post (except for Justin, because he knows who he is too), but let me just say he's a freaking amazing guitarist. if youre on a fast connection and have a few minutes, give "Glory" a listen (from Rocks Won't Cry).

heh, yeah right... ill just let you guys listen to my CD sometime, whenever i see yous. hows that?

posted by yodaslap at 12:36 AM

Slowly, I'm getting into The Doors. I just downloaded 3 mp3s, and they're really good songs. I heard most of them on the radio/TV before (VH1 plays the Doors movie starring Val Kilmer a lot), and just had to get the songs. You should all check them out if you haven't. Lighy My Fire, Love Me Two Times, Peace Frog, and Break On Through. Sort of runs well with my whole Led Zeppelin/Jimi Hendrix thing.

Well don't blog too much in class Dan, or else people will start thinking you're working too hard.
posted by Larry at 10:30 PM

Wow, dan, you love this blog eh? Always updating.

That's a wicked story you told of the buy. 117CM? heh. That's kinda possible ain't it?

I'd rather have common sense than smarts. Hell, one day you come with the cancer killer formula, but b4 you can write it down, you get run over by some dude running a hard yellow.

:)


posted by asiliat at 6:57 PM

i suppose you can say that there is a "brain" of sorts in my bio lab. this kid seems to be pretty smart. well, at least he is ridiculously familiar with the metric system, which is fairly rare here in the US (yeah yeah, bring on the boo's). anyway, ill spare the details, but he can basically do metric to US conversions in the snap of a finger, he knew exactly how heavy a nickel is, and overall looks like a guy who would grow up to become a scientist (i try to mean that in the best way possible). as it turned out, our first "lab" included measuring the heights (in centimeters) of all the students in the class, and writing it up on the chalkboard so everyone can copy them down and eventually graph the results (yes, i do go to college, contrary to the nature of my lab). One guy wrote his height of "177" kind of lightly, so it looked like a "117". as it turns out, the brainchild pipes up "is that a 177 or a 117?" now i dont know about him, but someone has to be pretty darn short to be only 117 cm tall, and i highly doubt that it even began to cross his mind. tragically, another case of all-brains-but-no-common-sense. oh well, better just one than having neither. booooooooo
posted by yodaslap at 5:41 PM

our stats teacher was a little late in arriving to class today, so everyone was just sitting or standing out in the hallway. now, there is always a certin dilemma when it comes to a situation like this. do you hope that [in this case, the teacher is a mr.] he wont show up, so you dont have to go to class, or would you get mad if he didnt, because that wouldve destroyed the whole purpose of you waking up as early as you did (well for me it was my first class of the day). well i am sitting in stats class right now, so i guess its not too difficult to figure out what happened. of course, there are other factors involved too, other than what was mentioned above. i still had to go to bio afterwards, so if the teacher didnt show up, sure, thats still one less class to sit through but then its not like i wouldve been able to just up and go home. what would i do then, just sit in the library for an extra hour? boooooring! well i guess overall im glad things turned out the way they did, even tho i have no idea whats going on in the class (and im sure blogging isnt helping). oh well.

boy am i lazy! ugh!
posted by yodaslap at 10:47 AM

so Lawrence, what happened? in stats class right now.
posted by yodaslap at 10:07 AM

Lawrence, ok, because it happened pretty quickly so it didnt occur to me that you were actually on blogger at the same time i was. dug.

well, ive done it again... its 2:30am and im still up. i have a relatively long day tomorrow, but at least i got the first wedding video project done with earlier tonight. thats one load off my back, i guess.

anyway, going to bed as soon as i finish IMing Justin.


posted by yodaslap at 2:29 AM

I have to talk to my parents first. Yeah Dan read my lower post...
posted by Larry at 7:41 PM

uh, what just happened? i just posted something, logged out, then logged back in cuz i had to change something and just found that my post disappeared. Lawrence, did you do that? im confused. anyway, i wont repost what i wrote until i get some kind of answer.

BTW, different question for Lawrence: will you be available for a visit to TO during the winter, say, the week or so before Christmas?
posted by yodaslap at 7:09 PM

My new homepage is at

http://www.sit.wisc.edu/~lnkwong

Please change your links if you have any, duh!
posted by Larry at 5:59 PM

Well, I just got my hair cut, and they used an old-fashioned straight razor (the kind that flips open). It hurts so bad! I had to go across to the Pizza Hut and put some ice on it.

Had to change what I wrote here Dan, some things came up and negated what I wrote about myself, so please forget about it.
posted by Larry at 4:09 PM

Eric it is ok. i am poor, but i think i can do without $8 for a while. if not, i can always cash in my little stash of coins. i think i have about $3 in there.


posted by yodaslap at 2:35 PM

Dan, I just sent a check to you in American funds. However, I short changed you about $8. I put $652US on the check. Whoops. I'll pay you the difference when I see you next. Sorry bud.

But the check was mailed yesterday.
posted by asiliat at 10:58 AM

*sigh* how do you go through a long and meaningful relationship and just abruptly throw it all away? i mean, sure, i guess you could say it was sort of going bad towards the end, but it wouldnt be fair to say that it was all for nothing. there had to be something there, otherwise it wouldnt have lasted that long, right?? it still makes me sad to think back on those first few days... ah, i remember it like it was yesterday. things were certainly different back then, and needless to say, the idea of the relationship ending was the LAST thing on my mind. in hindsight, i know i took a lot of things for granted, and hopefully i wont make that same mistake in the future. when it comes down to it, i guess ive managed to accept that its over and things will never be the same again. ive moved on, but i know there will always be a small part of me that will never let go.

the downfalls of getting attached to your toothbrush... tragic.
posted by yodaslap at 2:21 AM

uh, no. i got a D last time i took it so im taking an easier one right now. and yes, i did try, so it wasnt a D out of laziness ;)


posted by yodaslap at 5:20 PM

Huh Dan, I thought you already took stat. Is this like, Stat 2 or something?
posted by Larry at 4:55 PM

blanking out in stats class... i see the teacher, i see him moving his mouth, and occasionally i hear stuff coming out of it but man, my attention span cant handle it. this is gonna be a looooooooooooong quarter.

Lawrence, the movie you speak of is Mercury Rising.

Eric, staying up late, sure, but on the computer?? somehow i didnt imagine that you did that too :)

well, i should probably close down blogger and continue to [attempt] to pay attention so i dont lag behind anymore than i am already.
posted by yodaslap at 10:27 AM

I'm blogging from work again, waiting for other people to get in. As Scott Adams (Dilbert creator) says, the trick is to get in before the boss.

Anyways, I haven't seen any movies lately in the theatre, and certainly not MR duh. Haha. But I did want to see the remastered Apocalypse Now (my favorite movie of all time). We have a movie channel in our apartment, and I started watching a movie with Bruce Willis and a little kid. I though "Great! I've always meant to watch the Sixth Sense." All the plot elements seemed to be there, but the kid was a really bad actor. He didn't really look like HJO, but I thought maybe I just didn't know him that well.

They ran around getting chased by bad guys, an the kid was autistic, to which a nurse said "everything gets through to him." So it definately sounded like a sixth sense. It took me half an hour before I realised that this was a code-cracking movie that I'd seen the previews for months and months ago. It was pretty bad, but it seems strange to think that they put out two Bruce Willis/Extrasensory Kid movies close to each other. I stopped watching needless to say.
posted by Larry at 9:28 AM

December?? Gawd dang it. Ship it up here, how much can it costs?? I'm gonna find out. I'll just say that I went for a trip in the states, and I forgot, so you're mailing it up. Yeah, errr that's it. ;-) I wonder if Justin will ahve time to mail it up.

I have to get the money order 2moro, I'll try not to forget.

Ben Stiller isn't exactly the most talented actor around, but oh well.

Leaving Los Vegas is about fierce love. The hooker loved him so much she didn't force to change him, and instead accepted him for who he was and cherished what little time she left with him. That to me is true love. True love means total acceptance, including their faults. That's what I got out of the movie, which is why I like it so much.

yeah, blogged late, I like staying up on weekends. :)

posted by asiliat at 10:50 PM

kinda late to be blogging, eh Eric? anyway, i just switched back to cousin check for who-knows-why because i checked just an hour earlier and discovered no new posts and i wasnt expecting anything now, but i guess there is. now i am typing blindly without even having read Eric's post first, so i will stop typing and read. perhaps i will continue below if there is anything to reply to, instead of starting a new post. i just videotaped a wedding today that lasted pretty much most of the day so i am a bit tired so please excuse my incoherent state right now. incidentally, the couple who got married were both 29. say, Eric, arent you around that age too?

---

ok just read it. ummm... movies. i guess i end up watching movies in theatres because there is simply nothing else to do. plus, what better way to kill time than to watch a movie? well ok, there are plenty of other things, but yeah, like i said, im tired. i like Shawshank Redemption. i like Braveheart. i was too young to fully understand Leaving Las Vegas apparently, but either way it didnt stand out as an overly great movie to me. Ben Stiller is arguably my favorite actor as of now, and ok, i admit, probably not for the best reasons (i like him because i think he is funny). i like Phantom Menace for the lightsaber duels, and simply because its Star Wars. i couldnt really care less how "bad" it was (according to a lot of ppl, it seems). as for the TO trip, my winter break starts on the 15th of december. Justin has to work on Christmas eve and day (last he told me), and i havent talked to Lawrence lately (hes on IM but never responding). i guess i prefer a visit during warmer weather, but i guess i cant complain. ok i am tired so i will go to sleep right now.
posted by yodaslap at 2:17 AM

First, that's great. I sure hope you can come up here before X-mas, so I can get my camera. :)

Justin the introvert hasn't emailed me yet, nor told me about it. But we have very different working hours, so we're just like ships passing in the night. Accomodations isn't a problem. The place I'm staying still has a spare room, and it should fit 3 people (one lucky guy on bed, rest on floors. It won't be spacious, but it'll do.

As for MR, I dunno. Musicals do nothing for me (Evita). Ewan McGregor wasn't special in Episode 1, simply b/c it sucked rotten eggs. If it wasn't riding on the curtails of Star Wars, it would have been a major flop. The only movie I seem to agree is Shawshank Redemption. Now, that's easily one of the best movies in recent times. I didn't see it until it reached DVD, but man, what a movie.

Nocole Kidman being fabulous? I don't see how. She hasn't done much of note, except maybe ditch Tom. What do I know?

I'm a very jaded movie goer, and as such, I haven't watched movies for a long time. There hasn't been anything that made me go: I HAVE to watch it in the theatres!

Denzel Washington/Ethan Hawk's new movie Training Day sounds really good. Simply b/c Denzel is in it. The only movie which I've seen of his that sucked was the Bone Collector. Not much acting when you're a bed bound quadraplegic. I first noticed him in that submarine movie (man, I just brainfarted and drew a blank.). He also shined brightly in The Hurricane, (he definitely carried the movie) and Day of the Titan. He's a powerful actor who seems to portray controlled anger very well. That sub movie with Gene Hackman is one of the most enjoyable to this day. 2 of my fav actors. Wild. If you haven't seen The Hurricane, it's definitely worth a rental. Just watch the first 5 minutes of it, and you should be hooked. He's absolutely amazing in that film.

Of course, my all time fav. is still Braveheart. I still get choked up during certain scenes. Leaving Los Vegas has got to be the most delightfully meloncholoy movie I've seen, bar none. Funny because a lot of girls I've talked to don't understand it much, and they only see it as "sad" on a superficial level. Well, I don't wanna sound like I've gleaned some hidden truths in that flick, but it's still one of the most emotionally gut wrenching movies I've ever seen.


posted by asiliat at 1:28 AM

Roberta, no i havent seen MR yet, although ive also heard that it was good. the only thing i have going against it is that i am not a big fan of musicals, but im sure that wouldnt necessarily have a direct effect on my opinion of the movie once i see it. one of my friends managed to get a bootleg VCD of it, so maybe ill go over and watch sometime. my movie-watching habit has been on the conservative side lately, which is a good thing because it can really add up after a while. i guess i am not as compelled to watch movies as much as i was before.

Eric, we are discussing about an alternate time to visit TO, if it is ok with you. not sure if Justin has mentioned anything to you yet. Lawrence, let us know how your schedule is. hopefully we can find a place to stay up there, so we dont overload Eric's place.

well, i need to be up somewhat early tomorrow to prepare for the wedding that im co-videotaping. time to climb into that darn suit again. ugh.
posted by yodaslap at 2:49 AM

Bad day to sell stocks...

Lost my entry yesterday, before I could cut-and-paste it. Will remain calm. Will try to reconstruct it from memory...

Daniel, hope you're feeling better.

Getting a glimpse of Marilyn Manson on MTV makes me think that next to []male and []female on the form, there should be one that says []undecided. Uh-oh, are there any Manson fans here?

Current movie recommendation ("recommendation" being the polite word when what one wants to *really* do is seize passers-by by the lapels and shout, "Have you seen it yet?!"): "Moulin Rouge." It's not for everybody; judging from reviews by critics and ordinary Joes, it's truly one of those films you either love or hate. I personally think it's fantastic. The primary criticism lobbed at MR is that it's a meaningless exercise in style. Now, I *hate* meaningless exercises in style, and I love this movie, so I suspect it's got more substance than the naysayers can see. It may not be philosophically deep (go see "Shawshank Redemption"), but it's charmingly sincere (think "The Princess Bride"). But it's true that director Baz Luhrmann has a very specific sense of style, and the movie takes place in a kind of alternate reality, so either you buy into the whole thing or you don't.

You'll notice I haven't said anything specific so far about MR, and that's because I believe it's really one of those movies (like "The Matrix") that has to be seen without preconceived notions, which is how I saw it. In fact, the few bits of news I'd heard about MR before bored me so much that I waited until the dollar theaters to see it, despite the fact that I became something of an Ewan McGregor fan after "Episode One" (which, coincidentally, I also waited until the dollar theaters to see). I regret not seeing MR in a real theater with a real sound system, but at least I got to see it on the big screen. I *can* say that Nicole Kidman is fabulous. Anybody here seen it?

posted by Roberta at 2:38 PM

Eric do i even want to know how old your landlady is???

not much going on lately, other than i started classes yesterday. yay fun. not.

kinda quiet in here... guess everyone's busy.
posted by yodaslap at 11:58 AM

Wow Dow down 370+ points. That's gotta hurt! All those poor poor stocks that went down today... Ahhhh...
posted by Larry at 9:32 PM

BTW Eric, your link to the satellite thing is messed up. you forgot the "http://" when you a href-ed the URL.
posted by yodaslap at 11:37 AM

ive been playing this little twisted korean flash game for the past 10 minutes. its pretty hard, and the object of the game is, ummm... weird. dont say i didnt warn you.
posted by yodaslap at 2:29 AM

well, i am up for going to TO sometime winter break, if it works out for the rest of yous. not sure if everyone's winter schedule is compatible, but it beats waiting until next year sometime, or later :(

ERIC i already told you the price. it is in a not-so-hidden spot in the following post: 9/18/2001 2:18:06 PM

well the camera is now in Justin's hands, so it is up to him to send the pics off. i wouldnt mind getting a copy too. however, i have this unsettling feeling that he hasnt looked at this cousin check page since its first week, so we are better off emailing or yahooing him about it. i will tell him over IM the next time i see him on.

Eric, if you end up coming down in october, stay a few days, even if just a weekend. might as well, better than coming down JUST for the camera (which im sure makes the trip more than worthwhile in itself). of course, we can still arrange for a full-scale visit during winter break either way.

well, as some of you know, ive been sick since monday morning. spent the entire day in bed today, practically. no fun. oh well, classes start for me tomorrow, so its good that i got rested up, i think.

posted by yodaslap at 9:15 PM

oh yeah? The camera was cool, no? I know I'm asking a lot, but could someone like edit those pix and send them over? I wouldn't mind seeing them. Yes, I know each image at max res is 3megs big. But you can trim them, yes? And put in a more aggressive compression, oui? Pleeeease?

DAN You still need to send me a FINAL price for the cam&memory card. I dunno how much it is. I want to send you down a money order so you can pay off your visa.

Okay, I'm desperate. Either I frigging drive down to the States myself sometime in Oct, to pick up the camera, or umm, you guys fly up sometime in the near future.

Sigh, so much for saving $ If I drove down, it'll cost me more than if I bought the cam myself here, :) BLAH! You can't win 'em all.


posted by asiliat at 10:56 AM

i was just starting to fill out a form for a free pair of tweezers, and came across this:

[ ] = check box

----

[ ] Mr. [ ] Mrs. [ ] Miss [ ] Ms. [ ] Dr.

First, are you...? [ ] Male [ ] female

----

aaaaaaaahhhhh!!!!! am i the only who finds that scary??

posted by yodaslap at 8:59 PM

i just got a call on my cell phone not too long ago from a number i didnt recognize. i picked up and the person on the other line kept silent for a bit, and then hung up. i know my phone can be pretty buggy sometimes, so i called the number back just in case it was someone/something important. the following conversation resulted:

the guy: (picks up) hello
me: hi did someone call this number?
the guy: no, no one did
me: well ok, i got a call from this number just now
the guy: maybe someone dialed the number and just hunged up
me: ok then, bye
the guy: bye

now my question is, how did the guy (who, incidentally, sounded like a drug dealer) know that whoever called just "hunged up" as opposed to reaching my voicemail greeting, since either scenario would result in me missing the call? secondly, if it was him who called (which im willing to bet all my yoyos that it was), why was he trying to play dumb? i mean, whats the big deal? wrong numbers get dialed all the time, and it's not like he'll go to jail if someone finds out what he did. oh well, i guess its people like him who keeps life interesting, somewhat.
posted by yodaslap at 8:09 PM

Haha, I'm not smart either. Just the rule I live by is if it sounds like sci-fi, it's probably either impossible or so far off in the future it doesn't matter. The media likes to hype science things that sound like Star Trek.

Have fun with the camera Eric, I know me Dan and Justin did. It's a really nice choice. And Dan try typing in paragraphs so my eyes don't cross when I read your blogs! Dug!
posted by Larry at 4:57 PM

Eric, what is this---> :O-)

a smiley with a big round drippy nose?

well, thats me, kinda. ive been sick these past couple days. sucks.
656.95

posted by yodaslap at 2:18 PM

tricked!

i now know why my dad wanted me to be home by last night (sunday). my car (or rather, the car that i drive) was scheduled for a tune-up today at the chinese-owned auto shop we usually take our cars to (he mustve called in sometime during the weekend?). so anyway, without warning, he wakes me up at 8:30 this morning, cheerfully asks me how my trip was, and told me to get up to drop the car off at the shop. i dont remember how i responded, as i was barely half-awake, but i remember him saying something along the lines of "oh, it wont take long, just drop off the car, and i'll take you back home so you can go back to sleep. i estimated in my head, ok, its about a 15-minute drive there, "dropping off" should take about 5 minutes max, 15-minute drive back. my slumber will have been fatally interrupted by then, but i can live with being back in bed by 9:20ish. ok. how naive i was, to really believe that! the first sign that it wouldnt turn out "as planned" was when my dad asked me to go inside with him (i was planning on staying in the car), so the ppl at the shop would recognize me as "his son" in case i ever have car trouble of my own, i can walk in there recognized or something like that (even tho i've already gone there several times on my own and they've always known who i was). once inside, my dad fires up a chummy conversation with the [chinese] owner while i take my usual spot on the seat and begin reading magazines. the process of telling the guy that the car needed a tune-up mustve taken at least 10 minutes in itself, but wait, theres more! he decided that "while we were at it", he would get his mini van's oil changed, so he asks how long it would take. the owner replies, oh, only about 10-15 minutes, and of course my dad agrees. at this point i was thinking why did i fall for it? argh! my dad continues to chat with the guy, and finally the van is finished. as the owner swipes his card, they start talking about the economy and the WTC incident, etc... which i guess is not all too far-fetched, but that must've lasted another 10 full minutes or so (note: their conversations are considerably more long-winded than i'm making it sound). when they are finally finished, my dad looks at his watch and goes "i'm already running late. do you think you can drop me off at the office?" well, of course, it's not like i was about to say no, so we drive to his office, which is another 15 minutes of driving to the other point of the triangle (home - shop - office --> picture a triangle, each side approx 15 minutes long). after dropping him off, i stop by a gas station to clean up his windshield, which was beyond too dirty for me to tolerate driving with. i finally pull into the garage at about 10:30, early enough to still be tired, but too late to go back to bed. ugh!

well, i guess its time to start my day. maybe a short nap later on.
posted by yodaslap at 11:24 AM

Well, I never professed to be smart. :P Boo on you.

Yeah Larry, I think it would rock if the 3 of yous came up for what Christmas. :O-)

Dan, I think I'm gonna send you a money order for the price of all my purchases. Can you give me a final price? I already have your addy info. It's not fair to expect you to pay for it, altho it's on your VISA.

I dunno where I get my ideas. Sometimes I just walk around thinking stupid stuff, and now that I have a blog, I have an outlet. Sometimes an idea floats for several days before I bother to put anything down. Lately, I haven't had much to rant about, and as reflected in my blog, it's just like a regular (boring) journal. :)

Oh well. G'night.
posted by asiliat at 12:30 AM

Duh! Of course there are brain cells, but there aren't "memory" cells. Remembering stuff isn't all the brain has to do. I just mean you can't draw a brain, draw lines, and say, "here's the chunk that remembers everything." Most if not all the brain cells are involved in memory, not just some of them. You deserve a slap on the knee. Booooooooo. Or the gizzard.

Also, I think normalness will be back in under a decade. Not that that's necessarily a good thing, it's just that routine tends to push humans back to normality. Just depends on how long the war lasts (which they say could take years). As devestating as Pearl Harbor was, it's just a distant memory to most of our generation, and probably to the one before us as well. They'd have been what, five at most?

Anyways, to less serious stuff, me Dan and Justin had a good time up here at UW. I met a bunch of both of their friends, and finally went to a church here. Good timing for that. The speaker was really good, and had some keen insights into the impact of terrorism on Christianity. Basically, he said it's too premature to prophesize doom. Hm, I said less serious stuff... Well we hung out a lot and had some good Chinese food for once in Madison. I'm already starting to think about which vacation to take off for a trip to Toronto.
posted by Larry at 9:53 PM

well, im about to leave UW and head home in a few minutes, but just wanted to ask Eric a question. how did you come about to talking about your, er, latest topic on your blog entry (9/16)? did some specific event trigger it, or was it just the next random thought in line? well, i guess i will find out later. time to go home :(
posted by yodaslap at 9:16 PM

Click on the "Powered By Blogger" button, it will start up in a new page. This will allow you to login properly, as opposed to the "Post...." link. Since the URL doesn't change, it messes up Blogger, so this is a quick workaround.

As for my other comments. I'm not a scientific guy, so I have no idea how the human body works. I've always thought there were brain 'cells'. If there aren't, great, then drinking excess amount of brain won't damage any of them. PHEW!

The "end times" is not a specific length of period. I guess that after Christ died, we were technically already in the end times.... it's just a matter of millenium before we all perish anyway.

But just how many more generations we have left I cannot fathom. That's why I said, this plane crashing business won't be forgotten ever, and "normalness" won't be achieved for at least 2-3 generations, if we have that long to live.


posted by asiliat at 8:38 PM

what did you mean, Larry?

well, im sure everyone knows already (duh) but i ended up coming up to UW so we've all been hanging out this weekend. duh, this post is completely useless.
posted by yodaslap at 2:03 AM

All the archives have been republished monthly.
posted by Larry at 1:47 AM

Well, actually, to allay a couple fears maybe...

There's not really any such thing as memory cells. Scientists think they know what part of the brain does it, but most likely is not a discrete bunch of cells. If you want to transplant memory it probably has to be most if not all of the brain, which is, as far as we know, entirely impossible. (The story of the chimpanzee brain transplant was pretty bogus. All it did was let the blood flow, and no consciousness/memory was retained.)

And could you clarify what you mean by things being normal in a couple generations, and also being the end times? Seems kind of mutually exclusive, haha. But I think a lot of people thought the way you do when Vietnam, the Cuban missle crisis, and even the Persian Gulf War came about. We have the world on our side, and that makes all the difference to me.
posted by Larry at 12:13 PM

Everyone has some really great points.

Glad to see this page sorta active again.

This whole thing has been one great mess. I too am totally upset that the terrorists' acts have kept me from my brother/cousin. Roberta, I heard the report of this "system test". It just goes to show that no matter how seemingly secure they attempt to make the process, human hacking is still possible. This unfortunately will always be a fact of life.

Everyone's so anal now, and the losers are bubbling out of the woodwork. I mean, what's with all these freaking bomb threats? Get a life.

Normal will eventually prevail. People will eventually move on from this tragedy. If not this generation, then several down the road. Unfortunately, I truely believe it's the start of the end times. I don't wanna sound fatalistic, but this can only esculate. I don't know how much this world can last. I say this because human cloning will be possible soon, which could make us fairly immortal. Do you really believe God will let us achieve that goal? I don't think so. But this is my personal belief, and not based in Christianity. But I mean, if we can clone, we can theoretically not die. What if we cloned and transplanted memory cells to our cloned newborns, thereby retaining our memories? Scary.


posted by asiliat at 12:49 AM

Hi Larry, Eric, Dan, Justin, and Ivan,

Just wanted to check in with you all and say hello and that I'm so grateful all of our family is safe. No one I personally know has lost family in this tragedy, although my friend's brother (whom I've never met) is working on one of the cleanup crews in Manhattan, and another friend (who works for Akamai) lost his company's CTO. My thoughts are with them.

We were let out early on Tuesday, just as a precaution; not much work was being done anyway, as every conference room equipped with a TV had viewers in it, and those who had radios in their offices had them on, and many others were waiting in line to give blood. It's been back to business by Wednesday. We just had two minutes of silence at the start of the hour, and I'm about to go drop off my check for the Red Cross (Lucent will match all employee donations).

It was very strange in the last few days to be able to look up and see no aircraft, day or night. This morning, while driving to work, the sight of the contrail of a too-high-to-be-seen jet was almost a shock.

Did you see the news item where NW flights were put on hold last night because three airline employees deliberately tested the new security measures--and got past them with a penknife, a corkscrew, and improper ID? The CNN website reported that they weren't trying to cause trouble; as soon as they got through the checkpoint, they immediately turned themselves in to point out what had happened, but some disciplinary action may be taken against them. I have mixed feelings about the possible disciplinary action: On one hand, I feel they did a great service (and it took guts) by pointing out the holes in the newly-approved system; you can talk about how you've tightened up your security measures until you're blue in the face, but if someone quietly testing your system finds significant flaws in it, you'd better own up and quickly. OTOH, it sets up a bad precedent; any person trying to smuggle weapons onboard for real can now say, if caught, "I was only trying to test the system." My greatest concern, from the tone of the report (CNN has moved the link; I can't find it right now), is that the airline and airport will be more concerned with disciplining these three than in learning from the lesson. But I have no evidence. The report only talked about disciplinary action; it made no mention of reviewing security. Then again, it probably goes without saying. I hope so.

Justin, if you're flying this week, take care and I wish you a safe trip.
posted by Roberta at 2:01 PM

For all that I said, I couldn't agree with you more. I wish circumstances didn't lead me to have to say those things, but mabye there's another perspective to this. The repercussions down to this level perhaps show the interconnectedness of America, of the concern for safety of our fellow citizens. I want to see Eric and also the relatives in Hong Kong as much as anyone, but we've just got to hold on and hold out. At least I can hope to see Dan and Justin (if he can't make it to Canada) this weekend.
posted by Larry at 12:52 PM

call me an insensitive jerk, but i am thoroughly annoyed that my flight has been cancelled once again. no, i am not surprised but it doesnt make it any less annoying. i never thought that a bunch of suicidal freaks could have such an impact on everything, even down to "little" things like this.

Eric, well, i guess i wont be going to Canada tomorrow, or anytime soon for that matter. from what i understand, theres a good chance Justin will end up going sometime this week, so i will give him the camera to bring to you. perhaps there can be another time i can visit in the not-too-distant future? let me know

if my parents allow, i will be spending the time at UW instead. its not Canada, but its not too bad of an alternative. Lawrence, lets hang out this weekend, if youre not busy.

ok, i am done being mad. i should try to look at things from a larger perspective... i shouldnt take it for granted that my problem is relatively insignificant compared to some other people right now.

posted by yodaslap at 3:16 AM

This is from CNN:

"Meanwhile, with security at its highest level, vehicles entering the United States from Canada faced reported delays of up to 15 hours at some border crossings Thursday. Delays are not as long at the U.S./Mexican border. "
posted by Larry at 1:28 AM

http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/weekly/aa091101b.htm for the link to the original guy who wrote that false quatrain. Just thought you'd like to know where it came from, Eric.
posted by Larry at 2:46 PM

Well, Eric, I suppose we're both optimists, but at different levels. I'm optimistic about the farther future, about there being no more massive attacks, about us winning the war and returning America to some sense of normality, about us being able to see each other in greater peace several months from now... and about you not dying in the office or anytime soon. You all are optimistic about the near future, that this airplane ride will be fine. I know the inevitable hours(days?)-long delay is definitely worth its price, but I don't know what else may be included in that price. I'm an optimist, but also a cynic, and though I may trust the country and the airport, I may not trust individuals. It may be the best time to fly, but may not be the best time to get on and off a plane.

Of course, I hope these few small fears will never come to fruition, but in light of optimism about the future, I think we shouldn't take the chance.

Again, since it seems Dan and Justin are going, God bless.
posted by Larry at 2:39 PM

Larry, the hysteria is understandable, but not exactly warranted. You're right, anyone flying will now face a tightly controlled military-like operation. Hence, this is the best time to fly.

Yeah, there are better times to visit, but hasn't this tragedy awoken a sense of urgency in you yet? For me it says: Don't depend on tomorrow, for today may be all that you have left. I want to die doing something I enjoy, not sitting in an office before 9am, still bleary eyed and a little sleepy, then WAM! You're no more.

I guess if it's your time, then it's your time. I am desperate to see as much of my family now as possible. Holding onto every precious moment, taking it in I would a great movie. This only strengthen my resolve to make the trip back to HK, no matter the financial or career cost. I had reserverations about leaving work for 2 weeks come next spring, I felt guilty for having to leave a fairly newly acquired position. But work doesn't seem as important anymore.

I think it should be okay. Certainly, it'll be a big hassle, with everything and everyone being scrutinized. At least their last names aren't in Arabic.


posted by asiliat at 2:25 PM

whoa, ohare just opened
posted by yodaslap at 1:16 PM

Haha, I'm blogging from work! Well, you know, now that NATO is backing us, I feel all this sense of relief. To know most of the developed world will give us military support, and things are really breaking through in the investigation... I just feel a lot better now. Whew.
posted by Larry at 12:52 PM

Eric, both Justin and i tried calling you but our calls are being forwarded to your office. as of now our flights are on schedule, but its ultimately up to the FAA if we can take off or not. i dont know about the airport in Milwaukee, but Ohare is still closed as of now, which isnt a good sign but of course that is subject to change at anytime. ok, we'll keep trying to call you in case you dont check this today.
posted by yodaslap at 10:46 PM

The restrictions are going to be pretty stringent. I don't know if you guys want to venture into a military-like environment, with every possibility that you could be taken aside for even the smallest thing. I wouldn't risk it if I were you. There are other, better times to do this. Please, I beg you to set your priorities straight. Maybe we can all go up together to see Eric next year, but now is just not the time. I know you'll think I'm overreacting, and I know the risks may be small, but at the very least, I want you to know what I think.

If you do go, by plane or by car, God bless.
posted by Larry at 4:09 PM

You can call me on my cell. Check your yahoo email. ;)
posted by asiliat at 3:53 PM

Eric, my # is xxx (cell). sometimes i get a bad signal, so if you were to try to call me but you get taken straight to the greeting, just call again. my phone is not off. BTW my voicemail greeting is yoda, so dont be alarmed... i dont sound like him in real life.

as i am typing, Justin is on the phone with UA right now to check if his flight is still on or not. i dont know when the canadian border is open yet (mayne it already has?) from what i hear on the news, international flights are "suspended indefinitely", but of course that could mean like tonight. anyhow, i am at work right now and i dont have my flight info, but hopefully ill be able to come to some kind of concrete conclusion sometime tonight. Eric, how do i contact you at night?

ok, i will check this periodically for responses/updates.
posted by yodaslap at 3:14 PM

Justin, how come your phone has been disconnected??

Dan, you never gave me your home phone #. That or I can't find it.

I need to know what is your situation!! Like now.

[email protected] and email me a phone # I can reach you at, ASAP.

If the planes are allowed to take off by tomorrow, I'm sure you're all smart enough to get to the airport by 10am, even though your flight's at 2 right? Remember, the long delays and extreme security, etc. I expect it to be hell....

See you when I see you.
posted by asiliat at 11:12 AM

speechless.

well, im sure the airports will be back up by thursday, but it probably comes down to how willing my parents are about letting me take off on a plane. if not, i plan on asking them if i could drive up. ill lose a few hours (ok, many hours) but thats better than canceling the whole trip.
posted by yodaslap at 2:00 PM

Dan/Justin, can you still come up? They grounded all planes.....
posted by asiliat at 9:59 AM

uh, i kinda updated my homepage. emphasis on "kinda".
posted by yodaslap at 3:56 AM

my friend bchang was yelling at me today after watching The Musketeer. sylin and bchang didn't like it, but i did. of course, when 2 out of a group of 3 people agree on something, that means theyre right, and the loner is wrong. i watched it for the action and fight sequences... im not sure what they watched it for. anyway, bchang proceeded to tell me that a lot of money must have been wasted on the "good movies", since my liking of The Musketeer implies that i probably don't fully appreciate the movies that are actually "good". now, i didnt mention all this to talk bad about bchang or anything. in fact, i love bchang. it is only with him that conversations such as these take place. anyway, in response to what he said, i told him that quite the contrary was true... i AM able to enjoy those "not-so-good" movies along with the "good movies", thus making the money that i spent more worthwhile since i got more out of each dollar i spent on a movie. apparently my $5.25 yielded a better return for me than it did for sylin or bchang, so who's wasting money here? anyway, so that kinda got me thinking a bit deeper. do i really not appreciate the "good movies" as much as more critical viewers? i guess i am pretty easy to ammuse, so it doesnt take an oscar-nomination for me to appreciate a movie, but at the same time, i dont see how that should have an effect on anything. take for example, my taste in foods. i am not afraid to admit that i like McDonald's. i think their fries are great, and i definitely have no complaints about their burgers and other sandwiches. yes, i like McDonald's, and i ALSO like Cheesecake Factory. so does this mean i cant appreciate Cheesecake Factory as much, just because i also like McDonald's? of course not! i am not about to say that Cheesecake Factory is the same as McDonald's, because frankly, heck, its not. i will be the first to admit that Cheesecake Factory is inifinitely better than McDonald's (EXCEPT for the fries), but i like each restaurant in its own way, with no appreciation lost at either end. i guess i realize that its not a completely valid analogy because, well, McDonald's costs considerably less, but i think overall its still valid. oh well, im tired. i think this is enough for now anyway.
posted by yodaslap at 2:08 AM

Well, I had a good night afer all. People were much cooler than I expected. I didn't get drunk, but I do feel good right now. I suppose making friends is its own kind of high; a palpable sense of coalesence in a new environment. For a note, my roommate came, but left early without talking much. I suppose the people weren't his kind. In any case, I enjoyed the night, and look forward to getting to know my floormates even bettter.
posted by Larry at 2:21 AM

done. it works.

BTW, i revived my old blog in case anyone cares.
posted by yodaslap at 5:12 PM

dude, did you try it w/ the 128 meg card though? Call me paranoid.

Just do 1 snap and view w/ 128 meg card. :P

...PUBLISH, DANG YOU!
posted by asiliat at 9:35 AM

oh yeah, i took some pictures the day i opened the camera, so yes, it works. as for a final price, ill send you an email later.

man, if anticipation can kill, then i must've died a month ago.
posted by yodaslap at 10:50 PM

Dude, how about at least taking 1 or 2 pix for me. You don't have to send it, just make sure the freaking camera takes pix.... okay??

Oh, I need to know the final price. The loonie is going to tank soon, so I HAVE to know the exact price of everything you've paid for, so I can get a money order .... errrr in order. :)

Fanx.
posted by asiliat at 8:18 PM

Duh. Eric, the 128mb smcard came in, and i still havent gotten a chance to install the finepix software. ill be kinda busy with video stuff between now and then, so i guess might as well wait til you get the camera, if you don't mind. sorry for the delay.

at work right now, and falling asleep. it's been kinda busy these past couple days. oh well. nothing interesting to write about. *yawn*


posted by yodaslap at 5:16 PM

Duh. Dan, still waiting for some pix on my cam. At this point, it's no big deal, as I'll see you in a week. :)

Otherwise, still smarting over not getting the PDA for $100. What a schweet deal that woulda been.

burp.
posted by asiliat at 12:56 PM

Duh, well I had dinner with Justin and his roommate Dan tonight at an Italian place. It was really good and filling. Then we stopped by Justin's and then they stopped by my apartment. Just talked and listened to some Rachmaninoff. Duh.
posted by Larry at 10:28 PM

Dan, send me your flight schedule arrival date in email. (The one at work).

Cheers,
posted by asiliat at 10:08 AM

not much going on... im at a friend's house right now, just hanging out after a BBQ earlier. its not too late but i think im gonna head back soon, since he lives kinda far away and im getting tired. plus, there's a hockey tournament tomorrow that i have to rest up for. my friend sylin and i will be videotaping (mostly him, since ill be playing and doubling as a ref during the games i sit out), so hopefully we can have an edited video completed before i go up to TO in case Justin and/or Eric are interested.

anyway, going back downstairs now... possibly going home. later all.
posted by yodaslap at 11:08 PM

hmmm, too bad on the Clie thing being sold out, it _was_ a wicked deal.

I think I can get a Palm V colour for $300 CDN, know someone. :-)

I'll have to keep thinking about it.
posted by asiliat at 10:09 AM

Eric, sorry to disappoint but the CLIE deal is over (sold out). can i interest you in a handspring visor instead? :)
posted by yodaslap at 8:16 PM