Post-Job Fair Thoughts
When I was watching TV last week in Champaign, I saw a commercial: "Is not having your high school diploma preventing you from getting the job you want?" Hmmm..... Well, something is preventing me from getting a job, but it's definitely not the lack of a high school diploma. I even got a college degree, for what it's worth. If you wanna see the diploma, it is probably somewhere underneath that giant pile of papers on my desk.
Anyways, as anybody who reads my blog regularly and carefully should know, I was down in Champaign this past week for the Engineering Career Expo (or whatever it's called), looking for some sort of engineering-related job. By the way, much thanks to BrotherD and his roommates for letting me crash at his apt. That was extra generous and I will hit you back for that Jack's Deluxe Frozen Pizza when I get the chance.
The expo was a little bit better than last year, as far as company attendance goes, but overall it was just about as pointless. There were fewer empty tables, but this is probably because this time around, companies already know they suck, and they were able to plan ahead with their suckiness in mind. Last year, the companies just kind of made plans to go to the fair, weeks or months before their financial situation took yet another unexpected dive. Then 9/11/01 came and threw more confusion into the mix. The result was many empty tables at the 2001 Expo and a extreme dearth of hiring.
This year, I was already somewhat mentally prepared for more of the same, with the economy still sputtering like it has been the past few years. I talked to some companies, handed out my share of resumes, and even got a little bit of free stuff too, just for kicks and giggles. But the overwhelming feeling that I got was that companies were still not serious about hiring. They were probably more just attending the fair for their company name, maybe taking a couple interns here and there, and keeping an eye out for that guy with a 4.0 GPA, president of the Engineering Council and College Republicans, interned with the CIA and the U.S. Navy, that studied abroad for two years while volunteering to help poverty-stricken sheep-shearers in Lithuania or something. By the way, that's not me. My GPA is more in the 3.3-3.4 range, I'm not president of anything important (unless you count the United States haha), and I absolutely despise those sheep-shearer lowlifes.
A couple companies seemed a little interested, but I'm not really holding my breath because you never really know what those company representatives are really thinking. I really wonder sometimes. Maybe someday I will be in the position as a hiring manager or something, that might be fun. First I would give all my friends jobs, then I would look for that 4.0 GPA sheep-lover student and tell him that we were looking for someone with more leadership qualities. I'd go to these fairs just for the free food, then be stingy with giving out the free flashing balls and hog them for myself. The most efficient idea would be to sit there at the table with a sign that says "visit InterviewTrak and look us up on www.google.com for more information," then point to it every time someone approaches your company booth.
Oh well, if I get any interviews soon, you will all know how it goes. Other than the fair, the week went ok. I was pretty sick for the first few days, so that wasn't too cool. I think I might have lost about 10 pounds again, sweet eh. But people might get a laugh out of the fact that I actually took some medicine this time. First, I tried a little bit of Triaminic. That didn't really do much as far as I could tell, but it tasted nice. Then I tried some Sudafed-type stuff to clear up sinus congestion, which I think might have been helpful. There were also some pretty cool lemony cough drops I had too. I kind of wish somebody had some 'tussin though. But yeah, before everyone starts judging me as some sort of hypocrite, just know that this was a special situation. I went down specifically to the job fair, so I couldn't really be lying in bed every day of the week until I got better. If you go back and read my PMS blog carefully, then you would see that I specifically said "... I do understand that in today's world, there are times when you can't afford to lose a couple days to illness and taking a Tylenol is worth it." Anyways, I only had a couple doses, not every 4 to 6 hours or whatever it was. And I recovered pretty quick too.
Also, I definitely stick to what I said about Kleenex and how it should not be so soft and pampering your nose when you are sick. I must have blown my nose about 900,000 times in the past week, with everything from toilet paper and napkins to paper towels (emphasis on "paper"). But I took it all like a man, and my skin didn't even peel one bit. I think I have conditioned that skin around my nose to be tough as sandpaper by now. Yeah, even the strongest paper towels tremble in fear to be blown by my nose, the king of them all.
As I write, my little stopwatch/alarm I got from Honda at the fair keeps going off periodically, and I threw away the instructions so I don't know how to turn it off. Stupid Honda, I never liked them anyways. They will not be receiving my customership nor employment anytime soon unless this silliness is rectified.
I still miss college life on campus, but it was cool just to experience it again for a few days. Any longer, and I would find myself living in the past like that guy in Can't Hardly Wait (what's his name again?). It's nice to finish your biznass in the early afternoon and be able to do whatever afterwards. I played some catch, chilled on the Quad and Union, even stopped by this special name-brand clothing discount thing at the Chancellor Hotel with Chras one day. Too bad it was mostly girls clothes and I don't like Structure/Express anymore. If I remember to, one of these days I might tell the story of why I stopped getting stuff from Structure way back in senior year of high school. Anyways, in no time I found myself back to the unhealthy eating and irregular sleep schedule of years past, as well as watching music videos all day and all 2,136 daily showings of SportCenter.
Green Street looks good, but it does not justify all the annoying construction we had to go through last year. Let me get this straight - they close off the busiest street on campus for a few months, make life miserable for drivers, pedestrians, and Green Street businesses, and spend a few million tax dollars for what? Sidewalks that are a little wider, but who cares? Walk/Don't Walk signs that count down the seconds left? A street that is more difficult than ever to drive through, that's for sure. I know what they could've done with the money, give some to me.
I can still login to the Union and EWS computers, which is nice. But I dread the day when I try to check my jychen UIUC email and it says "Account Invalid" or something, that will be a slap in the face. I never really used access to those labs like the school meant me to, though. All the free printing was either wasted entirely each semester, or used to print up fantasy baseball information. And most of the time I logged into EWS was to check my email or sports scores, not to do work in UNIX or use any of the programs like PSPICE or MATLAB. I'm such an awesome student.
I didn't get to visit Grainger like I wanted to, but I'll get my chance eventually. I haven't quite reached the point in my life yet when me and P can go back, haul some huge speakers into the big room on the 2nd floor, and blast Rage Against The Machine's "Bulls on Parade" at maximum volume. Someday, though, someday.
By the end of last semester, I was pretty tan from being outside all the time. But one summer's worth of being indoors all the time has pretty much all but negated that. I am once again just a pale skinny kid.
Ah, good old University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. We had our good times and bad. I'll be back, don't worry.
Saturday, September 14, 2002
Thursday, September 12, 2002
And the DBA goes to...
I am sure everyone is dying with anticipation to find out who the winners of this edition of DBAs are. Well, wait no longer. The red carpet has been rolled out and the awards are about to be given. Read on.
(For the nominees, read my 9/05/02 blog).
*Best New Artist*
[-|-] And the DBA goes to ... Ashanti [-|-]
The field this year was sparse in the "Best New Artist" area, as only three artists were nominated for this category. In the end, the sweet-sounding voice of R&B newcomer Ashanti won over the DBA voters, despite her affiliation with the God-awful Murder Inc.and Ja Rule songs. She would also be much better off collaborating with Skinny Joe (that's me) instead of Fat Joe, but too bad I can't rap. Avril Lavigne, while extremely popular with the younger audience after "Complicated," has failed to captivate the respect of the serious music listener crowd as of yet. Meanwhile, John Mayer, when asked about losing the award to Ashanti, was quoted as saying "I don't give a crap, those DBAs are for losers." Bad attitude, John, bad attitude. That's probably why he didn't win.
*Best New Blog*
[-|-] And the DBA goes to ... mcpheenys [-|-]
In choosing a winner for this category, two main factors were considered: quantity and quality of blogs. Many new bloggers had put up some excellent entries, but were eliminated early on from voting by failing to update for weeks at a time. In general, the quality of all blogs read by DBA exectives were good; however, the eventual nominees demonstrated outstanding creativity/humor/insight that set them apart from others. The trivia question format pioneered by stork0262, combined with regular gems of his dry wit is a prime example of good original bloggage. Cindychen has also produced some very insightful and well thought out blogs, though critics have complained that her family ties to DBA big cheese Joe Chen were the real reason for her nomination over other deserving blogs, such as parnstar, swkisaragi, or WillCheng Xanga, rather than achieving the nomination of her own merit. Meanwhile, ontic08 broke into the blog world with a flash and has demonstrated potential for greatness but perhaps lost out to more established, longstanding bloggers. As for the winner, few readers of mcpheenys log in the past few months have failed to come away from each entry feeling either utterly confused or thinking, "this kid is one strange character." And yet, the voters at DBA offices could not help but become addicted to reading this blog, featuring perhaps the dryest humor of them all. With the Best New Blog DBA, we salute mcpheenys and beg him to keep them coming.
*Gayest Song*
[-|-] And the DBA goes to ... Enrique Iglesias for "Escape" [-|-]
Four songs were nominated, but one thing was almost certain - Enfreakay was going to win this category one way or another. With an unusual two nominations in the same category given to Iglesias, there was little reason for either Justin Timberlake or Dashboard Confessional to even show up to the awards ceremony, held at the Walgreens by 75th and Lemont. Ultimately, it was "Escape" that got the award over "Hero," by proving to listeners worldwide that they could run, they could hide, but they can't escape that song. A side controversy involved the nomination of Timberlake's "Like I Love You," as many felt it did not actually qualify as an actual song and thus could not be considered "Gayest Song." Yet, the fact that it still got nominated despite this and that that it was released only a couple weeks ago shows that the ongoing rivalry between Timberlake and DBA head Chen is still alive and kicking, with much animosity running between the two.
*Most Overplayed*
[-|-] And the DBA goes to ... Chad Kroeger f. Josey Scott - Hero [-|-]
Competition was stiff in this category, as all nominees successfully flooded the airwaves to the point of causing listeners to want to punch through a wall the next time they heard each song. Nelly's "Hot in Herre" was everywhere, although "Dilemma" could have just as easily been nominated. The eventual winner, "Hero," was picked over the others because it absolutely dominated every single station for a couple months as well as being the title theme to the movie "Spiderman," the WB show "Smallville," and the Houston Rockets Yao Ming Promo. Many still shudder to hear echoes of that song "... and they say that a hero could save us, I'm not gonna stand here and waaiiiiiiiiiiiiit...."
*Best Song*
[-|-] And the DBA goes to ... Linkin Park - Papercut [-|-]
As hotly contested as the "Most Overplayed" category was, there were no clear cut favorite for the "Best Song" award. Hip-hop and R&B failed to make the list of nominees entirely, which was instead dominated by Alternative music. Sadly, Avril Lavigne's "Complicated" was never a real threat to win the award mainly because of radio overdose. Lavigne would eventually come away from the DBAs emptyhanded after receiving three nominations, with an angry but nevertheless cute look on her face. "Papercut" was highly underrated and did not suffer from being overplayed as much as the other songs. Mike Shinoda, accepting for the winners Linkin Park had the following words to say: "Much thanks for this awesome award, I've waited my whole life to get a DBA. I feel sorry for poor little Avril though. She tried so hard, and got so far ... but in the end, it didn't even matter."
*Ugliest Celebrity*
[-|-] And the DBA goes to ... That large skater-looking kid [-|-]
Many more nominations could have been handed out for this category, but ultimately it was decided that having six uglies show up at the ceremony was about all the people would be able to stomach. A somewhat surprising nominee was Christina Aguilera, but apparently "skankiest" and "ugliest" were treated synonymously by DBA executives. That large skater-looking kid won the award over Aguilera as well as tall awkard-looking athletes Yao Ming and Randy Johnson, mean Ebeneezer Scrooge-type Bud Selig, and she-man Venus Williams, even though teenage rocker girls flooded the DBA online voting to argue that he was "cute." Insiders also report that Venus originally was to receive the award, but fears that her nazi father Richard Williams would storm the after-party with a machine gun and fire wildly in retaliation eventually pushed the award into the hands of MTV punk/rock/skater kid.
*Favorite Fantasy Baseball Player*
[-|-] And the DBA goes to ... Alex Rodriguez [-|-]
Mussina had the loyalty factor, Soriano had the hotshot young Dominican edge, Bonds had the chasing history attention, and Johan Santana the unexpected success advantage. But none could compare to A-Rod, who is flat out awesome. As a shortstop, he leads the entire league in HR and RBI, that's including Bonds or Sosa. He hits well above .300 as a legitimate power hitter but bats close to .400 with runners in scoring position. Just imagine if he was on a good team, and with actual table setters ahead of him in the lineup. All this, with a solid glove and at age 27. Although Santana was a sleeper favorite early on, he could not overcome the awesomeness of A-Rod in the end. There was simply no contest when it came to handing out this award. He is also the MVP in my book, forget the Tejada business.
*Fantasy Football 2002 Sleeper*
[-|-] And the DBA goes to ... Clinton Portis [-|-]
The definition of sleeper is a bit gray, but all of these nominees share the characteristic that none of them are Marshall Faulk, Kurt Warner, Terrell Owens, or Tony Gonzalez. While any owner would be foolish to draft these guys in the early rounds, taking a couple later on could prove to make or break their season. Ismail, Pittman, and Gardner all face new situations and opportunities, in the form of new teams and/or coaches, while Barlow is poised to take over the helms of aging Garrison Hearst, but Portis barely has a starting job at this point. Do the folks awarding the DBA know something the public doesn't? Maybe, maybe not, but if Portis can continue the line of success of Terrell Davis, Mike Anderson, and Olandis Gary in Mike Shanahan's system, he could put a fantasy team over the top and this is the reasoning behind giving him this year's award.
*Favorite Movie*
[-|-] And the DBA goes to ... Austin Powers 3 [-|-]
The nominations for "Favorite Movie" were not surprisingly dominated by summer releases. The only nomination that was not from the summer, Crossroads, failed to garner the award because even Britney Spears's star power and quality acting could not overcome silly dialogue and a severely weak supporting cast. Sad, because we were all rooting for Britney to get a DBA and this was her only nomination this year. Don't worry Britney, there's always next year. Also, she may be able to take certain comfort in knowing that her cameo in Austin Powers 3 did help boost the movie over the serious movies it was competing against. AP3 also benefited from the late summer release date of Blue Crush and the recent business of DBA head honcho Joe Chen's schedule. Everyone knows Chen is a big sucker for these movies aimed at teenagers with cheesy acting and a dumb plot. Had he seen Blue Crush, it may have had a chance to be nominated and win this category over Austin Powers. By the way, if anyone wants to go see it with him, he would be very appreciative because Olivia doesn't seem too thrilled about watching the movie and he doesn't want to sit in the theater by himself looking like some shady lonely freak. Maybe he should just wait a few more weeks when it will surely be out of the theaters and on DVD.
*Best Recent Album*
[-|-] And the DBA goes to ... Incubus - Morning View [-|-]
All four nominees in this category were deserving of the award, but since only one could win, Morning View was given the nod for its exceptional quality of work. The smooth sounds of Aaliyah, the addicting sound of Weezer, and the upbeat, hilariously entertaining, and hit-loaded Ludacris album were all great and the fact that they did not win shouldn't take anything away
from them.
*Best Meal*
[-|-] And the DBA goes to ... Jack's Frozen Sausage Pizza [-|-]
This category was loaded with great memories throughout this past summer, and of course their receiving nominations alone says plenty. Bob Chinn's, Spirit of Chicago, and the TM BBQ were all mentioned in past blogs which is an additional honor. Dennis's Mom's Restaurant was also great, with quality food, but the best part was being able to chill with some of my favorite people in the world. But I must say that when I am really hungry, there are very, very few things that can top a good old Jack's Frozen Sausage Pizza (original, not that rising crust garbage). I could write an entire long blog on that, but you are all spared for now. Suffice it to say that Jack's is more than deserving of a DBA.
*Best TV Show I Watch(ed)*
[-|-] And the DBA goes to ... Reruns of The Simpsons [-|-]
When you get right down to it, Simpsons in its heyday was the TV show of our generation. Even though now I only catch the reruns in syndication, it still beats any other show above. Friends might have challenged Simpsons as the best show of our time but Ross is such a homo. Baseball Tonight is great and has gotten better in the past couple years, but it wasn't better than the Simpsons by any stretch of the imagination. 106&Park is pretty good too, especially when they had Jin in the freestyle battles, but it's too bad that AJ is so annoying. PTI is a quality show, no doubt, but I can't watch too much of it or else it gets kind of repetitive. And Real World Chicago was only fun to watch so I could make fun of how dumb all of the people were. Kyle always wanted to "talk about it," Aneesa was nasty, Tonya was a hoe, and everyone else was a drama queen in one way or another. It seemed that ironically, the only person who didn't act that gay was Chris, the gay guy. But all this made for a very entertaining show to watch, I must admit.
*Best Website*
[-|-] And the DBA goes to ... ESPN Page 2 [-|-]
The best and most consistent source of entertainment on the web these days is ESPN Page 2, without question the most deserving of a DBA of the nominees. Yahoo! Euchre was once king of killing my time, but I no longer have the flexibility to play it during the day without interruption. CBS Baseball has been a great improvement and a better alternative to ESPN's scoreboard and GameCast, but there are other sites like it and it crashes occasionally. The Onion, while hilarious, is only updated once a week or so, unlike Page 2, which is updated every day. During this summer, I followed Page 2's Jim Caple's trek on I-90 across the country, read almost every one of The Sports Guy's commentary, and participated in the celebrity look-a-like game "Here's Looking At You" by submitting some good ones like Ernie Els/Conan O'Brien. Definitely a well done site and worthy of this prestigious award.
Well, that concludes this edition of the Dudo509 Blogspot Awards, otherwise known as "more proof that I have too much time on my hands." Thanks for tuning in. I haven't decided whether this will be a yearly thing, seasonal, or once in a blue moon deal. But doing this one took a lot of work so I am leaning towards less often over more often. Enjoy while you can.
I am sure everyone is dying with anticipation to find out who the winners of this edition of DBAs are. Well, wait no longer. The red carpet has been rolled out and the awards are about to be given. Read on.
(For the nominees, read my 9/05/02 blog).
*Best New Artist*
[-|-] And the DBA goes to ... Ashanti [-|-]
The field this year was sparse in the "Best New Artist" area, as only three artists were nominated for this category. In the end, the sweet-sounding voice of R&B newcomer Ashanti won over the DBA voters, despite her affiliation with the God-awful Murder Inc.and Ja Rule songs. She would also be much better off collaborating with Skinny Joe (that's me) instead of Fat Joe, but too bad I can't rap. Avril Lavigne, while extremely popular with the younger audience after "Complicated," has failed to captivate the respect of the serious music listener crowd as of yet. Meanwhile, John Mayer, when asked about losing the award to Ashanti, was quoted as saying "I don't give a crap, those DBAs are for losers." Bad attitude, John, bad attitude. That's probably why he didn't win.
*Best New Blog*
[-|-] And the DBA goes to ... mcpheenys [-|-]
In choosing a winner for this category, two main factors were considered: quantity and quality of blogs. Many new bloggers had put up some excellent entries, but were eliminated early on from voting by failing to update for weeks at a time. In general, the quality of all blogs read by DBA exectives were good; however, the eventual nominees demonstrated outstanding creativity/humor/insight that set them apart from others. The trivia question format pioneered by stork0262, combined with regular gems of his dry wit is a prime example of good original bloggage. Cindychen has also produced some very insightful and well thought out blogs, though critics have complained that her family ties to DBA big cheese Joe Chen were the real reason for her nomination over other deserving blogs, such as parnstar, swkisaragi, or WillCheng Xanga, rather than achieving the nomination of her own merit. Meanwhile, ontic08 broke into the blog world with a flash and has demonstrated potential for greatness but perhaps lost out to more established, longstanding bloggers. As for the winner, few readers of mcpheenys log in the past few months have failed to come away from each entry feeling either utterly confused or thinking, "this kid is one strange character." And yet, the voters at DBA offices could not help but become addicted to reading this blog, featuring perhaps the dryest humor of them all. With the Best New Blog DBA, we salute mcpheenys and beg him to keep them coming.
*Gayest Song*
[-|-] And the DBA goes to ... Enrique Iglesias for "Escape" [-|-]
Four songs were nominated, but one thing was almost certain - Enfreakay was going to win this category one way or another. With an unusual two nominations in the same category given to Iglesias, there was little reason for either Justin Timberlake or Dashboard Confessional to even show up to the awards ceremony, held at the Walgreens by 75th and Lemont. Ultimately, it was "Escape" that got the award over "Hero," by proving to listeners worldwide that they could run, they could hide, but they can't escape that song. A side controversy involved the nomination of Timberlake's "Like I Love You," as many felt it did not actually qualify as an actual song and thus could not be considered "Gayest Song." Yet, the fact that it still got nominated despite this and that that it was released only a couple weeks ago shows that the ongoing rivalry between Timberlake and DBA head Chen is still alive and kicking, with much animosity running between the two.
*Most Overplayed*
[-|-] And the DBA goes to ... Chad Kroeger f. Josey Scott - Hero [-|-]
Competition was stiff in this category, as all nominees successfully flooded the airwaves to the point of causing listeners to want to punch through a wall the next time they heard each song. Nelly's "Hot in Herre" was everywhere, although "Dilemma" could have just as easily been nominated. The eventual winner, "Hero," was picked over the others because it absolutely dominated every single station for a couple months as well as being the title theme to the movie "Spiderman," the WB show "Smallville," and the Houston Rockets Yao Ming Promo. Many still shudder to hear echoes of that song "... and they say that a hero could save us, I'm not gonna stand here and waaiiiiiiiiiiiiit...."
*Best Song*
[-|-] And the DBA goes to ... Linkin Park - Papercut [-|-]
As hotly contested as the "Most Overplayed" category was, there were no clear cut favorite for the "Best Song" award. Hip-hop and R&B failed to make the list of nominees entirely, which was instead dominated by Alternative music. Sadly, Avril Lavigne's "Complicated" was never a real threat to win the award mainly because of radio overdose. Lavigne would eventually come away from the DBAs emptyhanded after receiving three nominations, with an angry but nevertheless cute look on her face. "Papercut" was highly underrated and did not suffer from being overplayed as much as the other songs. Mike Shinoda, accepting for the winners Linkin Park had the following words to say: "Much thanks for this awesome award, I've waited my whole life to get a DBA. I feel sorry for poor little Avril though. She tried so hard, and got so far ... but in the end, it didn't even matter."
*Ugliest Celebrity*
[-|-] And the DBA goes to ... That large skater-looking kid [-|-]
Many more nominations could have been handed out for this category, but ultimately it was decided that having six uglies show up at the ceremony was about all the people would be able to stomach. A somewhat surprising nominee was Christina Aguilera, but apparently "skankiest" and "ugliest" were treated synonymously by DBA executives. That large skater-looking kid won the award over Aguilera as well as tall awkard-looking athletes Yao Ming and Randy Johnson, mean Ebeneezer Scrooge-type Bud Selig, and she-man Venus Williams, even though teenage rocker girls flooded the DBA online voting to argue that he was "cute." Insiders also report that Venus originally was to receive the award, but fears that her nazi father Richard Williams would storm the after-party with a machine gun and fire wildly in retaliation eventually pushed the award into the hands of MTV punk/rock/skater kid.
*Favorite Fantasy Baseball Player*
[-|-] And the DBA goes to ... Alex Rodriguez [-|-]
Mussina had the loyalty factor, Soriano had the hotshot young Dominican edge, Bonds had the chasing history attention, and Johan Santana the unexpected success advantage. But none could compare to A-Rod, who is flat out awesome. As a shortstop, he leads the entire league in HR and RBI, that's including Bonds or Sosa. He hits well above .300 as a legitimate power hitter but bats close to .400 with runners in scoring position. Just imagine if he was on a good team, and with actual table setters ahead of him in the lineup. All this, with a solid glove and at age 27. Although Santana was a sleeper favorite early on, he could not overcome the awesomeness of A-Rod in the end. There was simply no contest when it came to handing out this award. He is also the MVP in my book, forget the Tejada business.
*Fantasy Football 2002 Sleeper*
[-|-] And the DBA goes to ... Clinton Portis [-|-]
The definition of sleeper is a bit gray, but all of these nominees share the characteristic that none of them are Marshall Faulk, Kurt Warner, Terrell Owens, or Tony Gonzalez. While any owner would be foolish to draft these guys in the early rounds, taking a couple later on could prove to make or break their season. Ismail, Pittman, and Gardner all face new situations and opportunities, in the form of new teams and/or coaches, while Barlow is poised to take over the helms of aging Garrison Hearst, but Portis barely has a starting job at this point. Do the folks awarding the DBA know something the public doesn't? Maybe, maybe not, but if Portis can continue the line of success of Terrell Davis, Mike Anderson, and Olandis Gary in Mike Shanahan's system, he could put a fantasy team over the top and this is the reasoning behind giving him this year's award.
*Favorite Movie*
[-|-] And the DBA goes to ... Austin Powers 3 [-|-]
The nominations for "Favorite Movie" were not surprisingly dominated by summer releases. The only nomination that was not from the summer, Crossroads, failed to garner the award because even Britney Spears's star power and quality acting could not overcome silly dialogue and a severely weak supporting cast. Sad, because we were all rooting for Britney to get a DBA and this was her only nomination this year. Don't worry Britney, there's always next year. Also, she may be able to take certain comfort in knowing that her cameo in Austin Powers 3 did help boost the movie over the serious movies it was competing against. AP3 also benefited from the late summer release date of Blue Crush and the recent business of DBA head honcho Joe Chen's schedule. Everyone knows Chen is a big sucker for these movies aimed at teenagers with cheesy acting and a dumb plot. Had he seen Blue Crush, it may have had a chance to be nominated and win this category over Austin Powers. By the way, if anyone wants to go see it with him, he would be very appreciative because Olivia doesn't seem too thrilled about watching the movie and he doesn't want to sit in the theater by himself looking like some shady lonely freak. Maybe he should just wait a few more weeks when it will surely be out of the theaters and on DVD.
*Best Recent Album*
[-|-] And the DBA goes to ... Incubus - Morning View [-|-]
All four nominees in this category were deserving of the award, but since only one could win, Morning View was given the nod for its exceptional quality of work. The smooth sounds of Aaliyah, the addicting sound of Weezer, and the upbeat, hilariously entertaining, and hit-loaded Ludacris album were all great and the fact that they did not win shouldn't take anything away
from them.
*Best Meal*
[-|-] And the DBA goes to ... Jack's Frozen Sausage Pizza [-|-]
This category was loaded with great memories throughout this past summer, and of course their receiving nominations alone says plenty. Bob Chinn's, Spirit of Chicago, and the TM BBQ were all mentioned in past blogs which is an additional honor. Dennis's Mom's Restaurant was also great, with quality food, but the best part was being able to chill with some of my favorite people in the world. But I must say that when I am really hungry, there are very, very few things that can top a good old Jack's Frozen Sausage Pizza (original, not that rising crust garbage). I could write an entire long blog on that, but you are all spared for now. Suffice it to say that Jack's is more than deserving of a DBA.
*Best TV Show I Watch(ed)*
[-|-] And the DBA goes to ... Reruns of The Simpsons [-|-]
When you get right down to it, Simpsons in its heyday was the TV show of our generation. Even though now I only catch the reruns in syndication, it still beats any other show above. Friends might have challenged Simpsons as the best show of our time but Ross is such a homo. Baseball Tonight is great and has gotten better in the past couple years, but it wasn't better than the Simpsons by any stretch of the imagination. 106&Park is pretty good too, especially when they had Jin in the freestyle battles, but it's too bad that AJ is so annoying. PTI is a quality show, no doubt, but I can't watch too much of it or else it gets kind of repetitive. And Real World Chicago was only fun to watch so I could make fun of how dumb all of the people were. Kyle always wanted to "talk about it," Aneesa was nasty, Tonya was a hoe, and everyone else was a drama queen in one way or another. It seemed that ironically, the only person who didn't act that gay was Chris, the gay guy. But all this made for a very entertaining show to watch, I must admit.
*Best Website*
[-|-] And the DBA goes to ... ESPN Page 2 [-|-]
The best and most consistent source of entertainment on the web these days is ESPN Page 2, without question the most deserving of a DBA of the nominees. Yahoo! Euchre was once king of killing my time, but I no longer have the flexibility to play it during the day without interruption. CBS Baseball has been a great improvement and a better alternative to ESPN's scoreboard and GameCast, but there are other sites like it and it crashes occasionally. The Onion, while hilarious, is only updated once a week or so, unlike Page 2, which is updated every day. During this summer, I followed Page 2's Jim Caple's trek on I-90 across the country, read almost every one of The Sports Guy's commentary, and participated in the celebrity look-a-like game "Here's Looking At You" by submitting some good ones like Ernie Els/Conan O'Brien. Definitely a well done site and worthy of this prestigious award.
Well, that concludes this edition of the Dudo509 Blogspot Awards, otherwise known as "more proof that I have too much time on my hands." Thanks for tuning in. I haven't decided whether this will be a yearly thing, seasonal, or once in a blue moon deal. But doing this one took a lot of work so I am leaning towards less often over more often. Enjoy while you can.
Saturday, September 07, 2002
Job Fairs
With the Engineering Expo coming up next Monday to Thursday down at Champaign, I will be hitching a ride down with my sister to check it out. My experience with these things has not been all that positive, but I figure that I might as well go and talk to some employers and see how the market is these days. Maybe I will even find a suitable job, but who knows.
In my first two years of school, I never really went to any job fair type thing, mostly because I didn't know about them or really care to attend. I didn't have a resume, and I usually wasn't seeking an internship because I had to count on spending every break with my Dad in Taiwan or whatever vacation spot they happened to choose. Plus the expo was usually in like the third week of school, when lazy me had barely unpacked the boxes in my dorm room and most likely had not even bought my books yet.
Junior year was a little bit different. By then, most of my friends were engineers, and people were starting to impress on me the idea that going to these fairs was very important. So I decided to put on a shirt and tie, show up with a folder of resumes, and start shoving them at whoever cared to take them. At this time, the economy had already begun its downturn and many companies were hiring a very limited number of students. Anyways, I didn't really happen to care much, I was just there to visit some booths, talk to some representatives, but most of all, get some free stuff. Free stuff was probably the best part about going to those fairs back then. I'd always just throw aside the company brochures and multimedia CD presentations they'd give me once I got back to my apartment, but those balls that flash when you bounce them were fun throughout all of my two years at 312. Even now, I am still using a Crest toothbrush with massaging tips that I got from a Proctor & Gamble company presentation. I got this big bottle of Febreze that I never opened but is sitting on my shelf too. Whenever I need a rag or something to wear while I change my oil, there is a pile old Compaq Moray Menace T-Shirts somewhere in my dresser. And if there is ever a pen shortage in this country, fear not because I've got a big bag full of pens from every company you can name, lying around in my closet or something.
Even so, once I got to be a senior, things had turned much more serious. The economy had not bounced back as expected, instead it got worse. At the expo, nearly half of the booths were empty because companies were forced to cancel their hiring. A lot of the companies that were there flat out told you that they were experiencing severe financial troubles and were most likely freezing any personnel additions. Others gave me some canned spiel about checking their website online and signing up for InterviewTrak. Good thing I attended, and your company sent you with a booth to tell me that looking online was better than talking to them in person. Needless to say, I was less worried about getting free mousepads that year, and more concerned about getting an actual interview or job offer.
As if matters could not be worse, in the middle of the expo, two planes crashed into the World Trade Center buildings and another into the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, what I hope is the darkest day of history that I will ever have to experience during my lifetime. The last thing anybody wanted to talk about was job placement at that time, and rightly so. With all that was going on in the world, my personal concerns suddenly all seemed light and inconsequential.
Here I am now, a summer gone by since graduation, and once again it's expo time. Am I wiser? More experienced? Ready to impress some companies with my new qualifications? Not as far as I can tell. The only advantage I have now over past years is that I can start working right away. Yay for me. Honestly, though, I don't feel all that desperate to beg people for a job. I know in my heart that I am qualified and that I am smart enough to do a good job at anything they would give me a chance at. There is no sense in taking a dead-end, worthless job where I won't learn anything or improve myself, all the while being unappreciated and unrecognized for my work. I'm better off pursuing a graduate degree, continuing to learn from working with my dad, or maybe even starting my own thing.
Nevertheless, this is a big week for me. Even if I don't get a job, I will have a better idea of what my next step in life should be. If something does happen to open up for me, then who knows where I'm headed and what I'll be doing? I'll let you all know how it went when I get back.
With the Engineering Expo coming up next Monday to Thursday down at Champaign, I will be hitching a ride down with my sister to check it out. My experience with these things has not been all that positive, but I figure that I might as well go and talk to some employers and see how the market is these days. Maybe I will even find a suitable job, but who knows.
In my first two years of school, I never really went to any job fair type thing, mostly because I didn't know about them or really care to attend. I didn't have a resume, and I usually wasn't seeking an internship because I had to count on spending every break with my Dad in Taiwan or whatever vacation spot they happened to choose. Plus the expo was usually in like the third week of school, when lazy me had barely unpacked the boxes in my dorm room and most likely had not even bought my books yet.
Junior year was a little bit different. By then, most of my friends were engineers, and people were starting to impress on me the idea that going to these fairs was very important. So I decided to put on a shirt and tie, show up with a folder of resumes, and start shoving them at whoever cared to take them. At this time, the economy had already begun its downturn and many companies were hiring a very limited number of students. Anyways, I didn't really happen to care much, I was just there to visit some booths, talk to some representatives, but most of all, get some free stuff. Free stuff was probably the best part about going to those fairs back then. I'd always just throw aside the company brochures and multimedia CD presentations they'd give me once I got back to my apartment, but those balls that flash when you bounce them were fun throughout all of my two years at 312. Even now, I am still using a Crest toothbrush with massaging tips that I got from a Proctor & Gamble company presentation. I got this big bottle of Febreze that I never opened but is sitting on my shelf too. Whenever I need a rag or something to wear while I change my oil, there is a pile old Compaq Moray Menace T-Shirts somewhere in my dresser. And if there is ever a pen shortage in this country, fear not because I've got a big bag full of pens from every company you can name, lying around in my closet or something.
Even so, once I got to be a senior, things had turned much more serious. The economy had not bounced back as expected, instead it got worse. At the expo, nearly half of the booths were empty because companies were forced to cancel their hiring. A lot of the companies that were there flat out told you that they were experiencing severe financial troubles and were most likely freezing any personnel additions. Others gave me some canned spiel about checking their website online and signing up for InterviewTrak. Good thing I attended, and your company sent you with a booth to tell me that looking online was better than talking to them in person. Needless to say, I was less worried about getting free mousepads that year, and more concerned about getting an actual interview or job offer.
As if matters could not be worse, in the middle of the expo, two planes crashed into the World Trade Center buildings and another into the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, what I hope is the darkest day of history that I will ever have to experience during my lifetime. The last thing anybody wanted to talk about was job placement at that time, and rightly so. With all that was going on in the world, my personal concerns suddenly all seemed light and inconsequential.
Here I am now, a summer gone by since graduation, and once again it's expo time. Am I wiser? More experienced? Ready to impress some companies with my new qualifications? Not as far as I can tell. The only advantage I have now over past years is that I can start working right away. Yay for me. Honestly, though, I don't feel all that desperate to beg people for a job. I know in my heart that I am qualified and that I am smart enough to do a good job at anything they would give me a chance at. There is no sense in taking a dead-end, worthless job where I won't learn anything or improve myself, all the while being unappreciated and unrecognized for my work. I'm better off pursuing a graduate degree, continuing to learn from working with my dad, or maybe even starting my own thing.
Nevertheless, this is a big week for me. Even if I don't get a job, I will have a better idea of what my next step in life should be. If something does happen to open up for me, then who knows where I'm headed and what I'll be doing? I'll let you all know how it went when I get back.
Friday, September 06, 2002
Anime
I never watched too many Japanese cartoons. Played a lot of video games, watched Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as a kid, but never got into the anime thing. But I've seen a few episodes from random series because know a bunch of big anime fans and it comes my way once in a while for whatever reason. Even though I'm not addicted or anything, I gotta say that some of what I watched was pretty entertaining and funny.
One thing I noticed is that it seems like the main character is always the same guy. Like this quiet, mysterious guy with a checkered past, acts real hard all the time but has plenty of dorky moments, especially awkward when it comes to the one girl he secretly likes. For some reason it seems like the main character always has the same deep voice too, as if there is just this one Japanese guy in all of Japan that they get to do the voice for every cartoon series. I wouldn't be surprised.
Then there is the girl he likes, usually some hot chick who wears short skirts but is very innocent and sweet. She also has to secretly like him back, but they don't find out each others' feelings until the second season. At that point, they are happy together for an episode or two before something tears them apart and the struggle continues. Also, the main character has to have a number of rivals, usually with one main enemy who isn't just a plain old bad guy, but he is conflicted with his own history that we are supposed to somewhat identify with, yet still hate. I always like that guy the best in these series, he's usually the most complex and well developed character, I've found. A couple examples I can think of are Piccolo and Vegeta in Dragonball Z, or Sephiroth in Final Fantasy VII.
Another thing is that there seem to be a lot of people with blonde, brown, or red hair in these stories. Is this because that is how people look in Japan? I thought all Japanese people were born with black hair. Or maybe they just think black hair looks too lame. But something about blonde hair with chinky face and slanty eyes just doesn't seem right. It's just the guys that have slanty eyes though, the girls always have big round eyes, unlike real life Oriental girls. The other thing about hair is that spiky hair is very common too. Not spiky like Bart Simpson spiky, but I'm sure everyone has seen what I'm talking about.
So basically those are a few of the main guidelines to make a successful anime series, spoken from an observer's point of view. You get your main character (along with that guy with the deep voice to do his part), the hot but innocent chick, and a complex, mysterious, and twisted bad guy. Then incorporate the love story and scattered battles between main character and bad guy in which nobody ever wins. Be sure to also draw more Caucasian looking characters because black hair and slanty eyes aren't cool, and don't forget to add a hip Japanese dance/pop theme song to the beginning title sequence and credits. Shoot, if I could draw and had enough money to produce a Japanese cartoon, I'd make millions...
I never watched too many Japanese cartoons. Played a lot of video games, watched Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as a kid, but never got into the anime thing. But I've seen a few episodes from random series because know a bunch of big anime fans and it comes my way once in a while for whatever reason. Even though I'm not addicted or anything, I gotta say that some of what I watched was pretty entertaining and funny.
One thing I noticed is that it seems like the main character is always the same guy. Like this quiet, mysterious guy with a checkered past, acts real hard all the time but has plenty of dorky moments, especially awkward when it comes to the one girl he secretly likes. For some reason it seems like the main character always has the same deep voice too, as if there is just this one Japanese guy in all of Japan that they get to do the voice for every cartoon series. I wouldn't be surprised.
Then there is the girl he likes, usually some hot chick who wears short skirts but is very innocent and sweet. She also has to secretly like him back, but they don't find out each others' feelings until the second season. At that point, they are happy together for an episode or two before something tears them apart and the struggle continues. Also, the main character has to have a number of rivals, usually with one main enemy who isn't just a plain old bad guy, but he is conflicted with his own history that we are supposed to somewhat identify with, yet still hate. I always like that guy the best in these series, he's usually the most complex and well developed character, I've found. A couple examples I can think of are Piccolo and Vegeta in Dragonball Z, or Sephiroth in Final Fantasy VII.
Another thing is that there seem to be a lot of people with blonde, brown, or red hair in these stories. Is this because that is how people look in Japan? I thought all Japanese people were born with black hair. Or maybe they just think black hair looks too lame. But something about blonde hair with chinky face and slanty eyes just doesn't seem right. It's just the guys that have slanty eyes though, the girls always have big round eyes, unlike real life Oriental girls. The other thing about hair is that spiky hair is very common too. Not spiky like Bart Simpson spiky, but I'm sure everyone has seen what I'm talking about.
So basically those are a few of the main guidelines to make a successful anime series, spoken from an observer's point of view. You get your main character (along with that guy with the deep voice to do his part), the hot but innocent chick, and a complex, mysterious, and twisted bad guy. Then incorporate the love story and scattered battles between main character and bad guy in which nobody ever wins. Be sure to also draw more Caucasian looking characters because black hair and slanty eyes aren't cool, and don't forget to add a hip Japanese dance/pop theme song to the beginning title sequence and credits. Shoot, if I could draw and had enough money to produce a Japanese cartoon, I'd make millions...
Thursday, September 05, 2002
The Dudo509 Blogspot Awards
In light of the recent MTV Video Music Awards (which I caught pieces of, and from what I saw, really sucked), I have decided to hand out some awards of my own for various categories. No, there is no physical trophy or monetary value to winning a DBA, but the prestige alone should be way more than enough incentive. That is, everyone wants to win one so they can tell people that they got a DBA. With DBA status, it is not uncommon for one to find himself/herself getting into clubs for free, for police officers to not issue you tickets in minor infraction, and to get personal phone calls from the President and Britney Spears.
The following are the categories and nominees. I will announce the winners at a later date.
Disclaimer: Do NOT email me to complain if someone/something you like was not nominated or does not win. Make your own awards.
*Best New Artist*
Ashanti
Avril Lavigne
John Mayer
*Best New Blog*
stork0262
mcpheenys
cindychen
ontic08
*Gayest Song*
Dashboard Confessional - Screaming Infidelities
Enrique Iglesias - Hero
Enrique Iglesias - Escape
Justin Timberlake - Like I Love You
*Most Overplayed*
DJ Sammy - Heaven
Eminem - Without Me
Nelly - Hot in Herre
Avril Lavigne - Complicated
Chad Kroeger f. Josey Scott - Hero
*Best Song*
White Stripes - Fell In Love With A Girl
Linkin Park - Papercut
Avril Lavigne - Complicated
John Mayer - No Such Thing
Incubus - Warning
Red Hot Chili Peppers - By The Way
*Ugliest Celebrity*
Yao Ming
Bud Selig
Randy Johnson
Christina Aguilera
Venus Williams
That large skater-looking kid that does MTV News
*Favorite Fantasy Baseball Player*
Barry Bonds
Mike Mussina
Alfonso Soriano
Alex Rodriguez
Johan Santana
*Fantasy Football 2002 Sleeper*
Clinton Portis
Kevan Barlow
Qadry Ismail
Michael Pittman
Rod Gardner
*Favorite Movie*
Crossroads
Austin Powers 3
Minority Report
Signs
Road to Perdition
*Best Recent Album*
Incubus - Morning View
Aaliyah - Aaliyah
Weezer - Maladroit
Ludacris - Word of Mouf
*Best Meal I Had Over The Summer*
Bob Chinn's for Mom's B-day w/ Mom and Dad
Dinner Aboard Spirit of Chicago w/ Olivia
Dinner at Dennis's Mom's Restaurant w/ DWu, Cindylee, Smythe
Jack's Frozen Sausage Pizza by myself
BBQ with Thai Mafia
*Best TV Show I Watch(ed)*
Friends reruns (WGN, TBS)
Baseball Tonight (ESPN)
106&Park (BET)
Pardon The Interruption (ESPN)
Simpsons reruns (FOX)
Real World Chicago (MTV)
*Best Websites*
ESPN Page 2
The Onion
CBS MLB Scorebard
Yahoo! Euchre
In light of the recent MTV Video Music Awards (which I caught pieces of, and from what I saw, really sucked), I have decided to hand out some awards of my own for various categories. No, there is no physical trophy or monetary value to winning a DBA, but the prestige alone should be way more than enough incentive. That is, everyone wants to win one so they can tell people that they got a DBA. With DBA status, it is not uncommon for one to find himself/herself getting into clubs for free, for police officers to not issue you tickets in minor infraction, and to get personal phone calls from the President and Britney Spears.
The following are the categories and nominees. I will announce the winners at a later date.
Disclaimer: Do NOT email me to complain if someone/something you like was not nominated or does not win. Make your own awards.
*Best New Artist*
Ashanti
Avril Lavigne
John Mayer
*Best New Blog*
stork0262
mcpheenys
cindychen
ontic08
*Gayest Song*
Dashboard Confessional - Screaming Infidelities
Enrique Iglesias - Hero
Enrique Iglesias - Escape
Justin Timberlake - Like I Love You
*Most Overplayed*
DJ Sammy - Heaven
Eminem - Without Me
Nelly - Hot in Herre
Avril Lavigne - Complicated
Chad Kroeger f. Josey Scott - Hero
*Best Song*
White Stripes - Fell In Love With A Girl
Linkin Park - Papercut
Avril Lavigne - Complicated
John Mayer - No Such Thing
Incubus - Warning
Red Hot Chili Peppers - By The Way
*Ugliest Celebrity*
Yao Ming
Bud Selig
Randy Johnson
Christina Aguilera
Venus Williams
That large skater-looking kid that does MTV News
*Favorite Fantasy Baseball Player*
Barry Bonds
Mike Mussina
Alfonso Soriano
Alex Rodriguez
Johan Santana
*Fantasy Football 2002 Sleeper*
Clinton Portis
Kevan Barlow
Qadry Ismail
Michael Pittman
Rod Gardner
*Favorite Movie*
Crossroads
Austin Powers 3
Minority Report
Signs
Road to Perdition
*Best Recent Album*
Incubus - Morning View
Aaliyah - Aaliyah
Weezer - Maladroit
Ludacris - Word of Mouf
*Best Meal I Had Over The Summer*
Bob Chinn's for Mom's B-day w/ Mom and Dad
Dinner Aboard Spirit of Chicago w/ Olivia
Dinner at Dennis's Mom's Restaurant w/ DWu, Cindylee, Smythe
Jack's Frozen Sausage Pizza by myself
BBQ with Thai Mafia
*Best TV Show I Watch(ed)*
Friends reruns (WGN, TBS)
Baseball Tonight (ESPN)
106&Park (BET)
Pardon The Interruption (ESPN)
Simpsons reruns (FOX)
Real World Chicago (MTV)
*Best Websites*
ESPN Page 2
The Onion
CBS MLB Scorebard
Yahoo! Euchre
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