DST and the Celebrity Next Door
I haven't gotten around to figuring out what's wrong with my blogger code, so I can't link to the archive here, but one year ago I wrote an entry about how awesome Daylight Savings Time was. Basically, I was saying that we should just do the "fall-back" thing every 2 weeks so that we could all gain that extra hour of sleep 26 times a year, and the only price to pay was losing about 1 day out of the calendar year. I also remember someone commenting about how stupid I was, in neglecting the fact that with my idea, we would all be living in darkness for much of the year, and choosing an extra hour of sleep every other week over seeing sunlight was borderline retarded.
Well, I am now 1 year older and 1 year wiser, and I now fully see how retarded I really was. I got to enjoy that 1 hour of sleep for all of one day, before my body quickly adjusted and that extra time got pissed away among my list of daily activities. In return, I get deprived of 1 hour of post-work daylight every day for at least a few weeks earlier than I would have without DST. I guess that goes to show that my blog readers are much smarter than me and way ahead of their time. Thank you for pointing out the error of my ways.
*****
Between all the reality shows involving celebrities on TV these days, it's gotten to the point where these pop stars, football players, or actors are like just another one of our friends or acquaintances. Kind of weird, but some conversations I have had in the past few weeks include the following:
(someone burps)
Me: Dang, that was a loud burp... you should see my sister burp though, she shakes the ground.
Other: haha... actually, you know who burps really loud too?
Me: Who? (expecting it to be one of our friends)
Other: Jessica Simpson
Other: Awww.... that dog is so cute!
Me: It's aight
Other: But actually, Kelly has the cutest dog I've ever seen
Me: Who the fock is Kelly?
Other: Kelly Rowland... you know, from Destiny's Child?
Other: I see you picked up Santana Moss in our McNown League
Me: Yeah, I saw him in this thing on BET the other day and he seemed like a cool guy, so why not?
Other: Nice... he scored another TD today. Maybe I should watch more BET.
Then, there are the people who became celebrities after people saw them in a reality show. Survivor cast members, Joe Millionaire, the Bachelorette have become household names for many Americans. For me, I never really watched any of those shows, but I do have my personal favorite people from reality TV, none other than the guys from Jackass. I was watching the new show with Bam Margera a couple days ago and I almost died laughing. Ironing hamburger designs on all of his dad's clothes, setting off remote control hydraulics on his dad's van, that stuff seriously made me choke on my food. I didn't see as much of Steve-O's show, but every time I see that guy, something in my stomach tightens up because I know something crazy/disgusting is about to happen. And yet, I can never change the channel. This time, it was him sticking his exposed butt onto a porcupine. I don't know if I'm more repulsed or amused by that kind of stuff. A lot of both, I guess. My reaction is usually something like "OHMYGOD... AWWW MAN... .WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT??!", all while laughing uncontrollably.
Tuesday, October 28, 2003
Thursday, October 23, 2003
Santa Mail and More
Today was the first time I clicked on a banner ad in a long time. That's not counting all the times I accidentally hit one of the pop up windows or annoying flash animations that have a close button but moves around so you can't catch it. I hate those.
Anyways, I was checking my Yahoo Mail when I noticed in big red letters at the top: "Get a letter from Santa!" linked to www.santamail.org. So of course, how can I resist that? I clicked the banner and found one of the more entertaining websites I've seen in recent days. Basically, it's a company that sends a fake letter to your kids from Santa, incorporating information that you give them like your hometown or the name of his/her best friend. They use Christmas-y looking paper, envelopes, and it's postmarked "North Pole, Alaska". All for a low price of $9.95.
Now, I can understand the concept of giving your kid a personalized message from Santa might be kind of a nice thing to do. I mean, even though my mom and dad are fobs, I remember my dad doing something like that one Christmas. He typed up a short little note, taped it to my gift, and told me it was from Santa. Being about 5 years old at the time, I easily believed every word of it and I thought it was awesome.
The thing is, do you really need/want to pay someone else 10 bucks to do that for you? If you are browsing the internet to a site called www.santamail.org, chances are that you have access to a computer with the capability to write and print a letter. Why wouldn't you just do it yourself, if you wanted it to include personalized information to begin with? What's your kid gonna do, examine the letter and be like "this stationery looks so inauthentic, you really expect me to believe this is from Santa?" No 5-year old is gonna care that the envelope doesn't have Christmas decorations on it, and even if he was smart enough to pick at that kind of detail, what's with the postmarked "North Pole, Alaska" BS? I know that's not fooling anybody.
But oh well, if anyone is bored, go ahead and check out that site. It was worth a good laugh for me.
*****
I think the movie I was thinking about in the last blog, with the Mexicans trying to cross the border, was called "El Norte".
*****
Some questions I have:
1. Does "not being unhappy" count as "being happy"? If you're not sad, angry, bitter, or any of those negative emotions, does that make you happy by default? Why or why not?
2. What is the point of "thanks"? When someone says "thanks", what exactly does that word mean? When I let someone merge in front of me on the highway and I don't get the "thanks"-wave, why do I get pissed as if he robbed me or something? I mean, if you do something nice for someone, shouldn't you do it out of genuine kindness, and not for the satisfaction of being thanked? So do we have a right to be pissed about not receiving thanks?
3. Why is it ok for rappers to talk about "chinky eyes"? I used to like that Holidae In song until I noticed the part near the end when Ludacris goes "my eyes are chinky", now it annoys me. I'm not someone who believes in censorship, but considering some of the other stuff they edit out for the radio, it's a matter of respect that they should do the same for something like that.
4. Why did they keep bleeping out Uma Thurman's character's name in Kill Bill? When is Part II coming out?
5. Yesterday at Target I overheard a kid telling his friend that he got a 19 on his ACT. What do you do when you get a 19 on your ACT? It doesn't necessarily mean you're stupid, but you're definitely not "top quartile" either. Do you go to community college, get a minimum wage job, and work your way up? Is your life pretty much a waste from then on, just trying not to become a homeless bum? Or do you end up in a happier state than all the so-called successful students who go on to their middle-class jobs, stress out about saving every penny, and struggle for the next 40 years to climb the corporate ladder?
6. Are there people who buy just part two of a DVD/VHS trilogy but not the rest? I think it would look so weird if my shelf had only Empire Strikes Back, Matrix Reloaded, The Two Towers, Austin Powers 2, etc., and nothing else.
*****
I saw the video for Linkin Park's "Numb" for the first time yesterday. I've really liked the song a lot since I got the CD when it came out, and I'm glad they made a video for it. The video is pretty good, not groundbreaking or anything, but it goes well with the song and I'd say it's one of the better music videos I've seen lately.
Also, I watched some of the Britney Spears Making the Video the other day. Don't really like that song or video much at all. And since when did she start acting like a stoner? Overall, I was unimpressed and disappointed with this showing. She seems to look a little older/not as hot, and her personality is more annoying. I noticed one of her backup dancers is an Asian girl though, and I think she looked pretty good. Better keep an eye out.
Today was the first time I clicked on a banner ad in a long time. That's not counting all the times I accidentally hit one of the pop up windows or annoying flash animations that have a close button but moves around so you can't catch it. I hate those.
Anyways, I was checking my Yahoo Mail when I noticed in big red letters at the top: "Get a letter from Santa!" linked to www.santamail.org. So of course, how can I resist that? I clicked the banner and found one of the more entertaining websites I've seen in recent days. Basically, it's a company that sends a fake letter to your kids from Santa, incorporating information that you give them like your hometown or the name of his/her best friend. They use Christmas-y looking paper, envelopes, and it's postmarked "North Pole, Alaska". All for a low price of $9.95.
Now, I can understand the concept of giving your kid a personalized message from Santa might be kind of a nice thing to do. I mean, even though my mom and dad are fobs, I remember my dad doing something like that one Christmas. He typed up a short little note, taped it to my gift, and told me it was from Santa. Being about 5 years old at the time, I easily believed every word of it and I thought it was awesome.
The thing is, do you really need/want to pay someone else 10 bucks to do that for you? If you are browsing the internet to a site called www.santamail.org, chances are that you have access to a computer with the capability to write and print a letter. Why wouldn't you just do it yourself, if you wanted it to include personalized information to begin with? What's your kid gonna do, examine the letter and be like "this stationery looks so inauthentic, you really expect me to believe this is from Santa?" No 5-year old is gonna care that the envelope doesn't have Christmas decorations on it, and even if he was smart enough to pick at that kind of detail, what's with the postmarked "North Pole, Alaska" BS? I know that's not fooling anybody.
But oh well, if anyone is bored, go ahead and check out that site. It was worth a good laugh for me.
*****
I think the movie I was thinking about in the last blog, with the Mexicans trying to cross the border, was called "El Norte".
*****
Some questions I have:
1. Does "not being unhappy" count as "being happy"? If you're not sad, angry, bitter, or any of those negative emotions, does that make you happy by default? Why or why not?
2. What is the point of "thanks"? When someone says "thanks", what exactly does that word mean? When I let someone merge in front of me on the highway and I don't get the "thanks"-wave, why do I get pissed as if he robbed me or something? I mean, if you do something nice for someone, shouldn't you do it out of genuine kindness, and not for the satisfaction of being thanked? So do we have a right to be pissed about not receiving thanks?
3. Why is it ok for rappers to talk about "chinky eyes"? I used to like that Holidae In song until I noticed the part near the end when Ludacris goes "my eyes are chinky", now it annoys me. I'm not someone who believes in censorship, but considering some of the other stuff they edit out for the radio, it's a matter of respect that they should do the same for something like that.
4. Why did they keep bleeping out Uma Thurman's character's name in Kill Bill? When is Part II coming out?
5. Yesterday at Target I overheard a kid telling his friend that he got a 19 on his ACT. What do you do when you get a 19 on your ACT? It doesn't necessarily mean you're stupid, but you're definitely not "top quartile" either. Do you go to community college, get a minimum wage job, and work your way up? Is your life pretty much a waste from then on, just trying not to become a homeless bum? Or do you end up in a happier state than all the so-called successful students who go on to their middle-class jobs, stress out about saving every penny, and struggle for the next 40 years to climb the corporate ladder?
6. Are there people who buy just part two of a DVD/VHS trilogy but not the rest? I think it would look so weird if my shelf had only Empire Strikes Back, Matrix Reloaded, The Two Towers, Austin Powers 2, etc., and nothing else.
*****
I saw the video for Linkin Park's "Numb" for the first time yesterday. I've really liked the song a lot since I got the CD when it came out, and I'm glad they made a video for it. The video is pretty good, not groundbreaking or anything, but it goes well with the song and I'd say it's one of the better music videos I've seen lately.
Also, I watched some of the Britney Spears Making the Video the other day. Don't really like that song or video much at all. And since when did she start acting like a stoner? Overall, I was unimpressed and disappointed with this showing. She seems to look a little older/not as hot, and her personality is more annoying. I noticed one of her backup dancers is an Asian girl though, and I think she looked pretty good. Better keep an eye out.
Wednesday, October 22, 2003
Today on ESPN.com/High School Videos
Today I read an article about Bill Self on ESPN.com, basically talking about how awesome he is and how good he's gonna be at Kansas. Well, I myself was a pretty big fan of "Coach Self", that is until he ditched the Illini. Reading that article pissed me off further, and now I hope he falls on his face at Kansas. Those Jayhawk fans might be welcoming him with open arms now, but after a few seasons of not making it past the Sweet Sixteen with talented players, they will be quick to turn on him. He will soon wish he was back in the lovefest that was Illinois, with his son being coached in basketball by Dan and Ray.
On ESPN.com Page 2, the look alike item was Josh Beckett and Lou Diamond Phillips. Add this to the list of matches that I have called in the past. I think the only movie I have seen Lou Diamond Phillips in was "Stand and Deliver", which I happened to watch twice because I took Calculus twice in high school. For a movie that they show in math class, I must admit that it was pretty entertaining. "Kimo I can count too: one.... two........... three"
Now I'm trying to think of other stuff they showed us in high school. I remember there was one short animated thing about the Mean Value Theorem where this guy gets caught speeding by a cop because they timed how long it took for him to go from one tollbooth to the next, and since his calculated average speed was over the limit, they screwed him by using the MVT. Yes, that was one of the more flaming videos I remember from high school. Other movies I remember include Breakfast Club, Roger and Me, and some Spanish movie about these Mexicans trying to cross the border. I'm sure there were a lot of other awesome ones I'm forgetting.
It seems like we watched the most videos in social studies classes, like US History, Political Science, Economics, etc. Probably because those teachers tend to be the laziest, in general. Looking back, I realize that they were pretty much all overweight, and extremely liberal minded to boot. Anyways, the one video I remember watching the most was this series called Economics USA. I think it was made in the early 80's and I don't think it could have been any cheesier. Then one day at home, I was randomly flipping channels and discovered that they were showing Economics USA on PBS. I was like, "wow, this is awesome". Then, a couple years later me and Chras took a self-paced COD class for Microeconomics during one summer. Basically, we just had to read through a text book, take a few exams, and watch a bunch of videos that we were supposed to rent from the COD branch in Westmont. It turned out that the videos were Economics USA. I swear, I just can't seem to escape "your host David Schumacher and economist Richard Gill".
One bad thing about my experience is, since I went to school in Taiwan for my freshman year, then came back to DGS for my last three, the two systems screwed me out of taking Health class at either school. I never got to officially learn about avoiding drugs and sexually transmitted diseases. I guess that explains why I turned into such a major crackhead/male slut. See, at least there's an excuse.
Today I read an article about Bill Self on ESPN.com, basically talking about how awesome he is and how good he's gonna be at Kansas. Well, I myself was a pretty big fan of "Coach Self", that is until he ditched the Illini. Reading that article pissed me off further, and now I hope he falls on his face at Kansas. Those Jayhawk fans might be welcoming him with open arms now, but after a few seasons of not making it past the Sweet Sixteen with talented players, they will be quick to turn on him. He will soon wish he was back in the lovefest that was Illinois, with his son being coached in basketball by Dan and Ray.
On ESPN.com Page 2, the look alike item was Josh Beckett and Lou Diamond Phillips. Add this to the list of matches that I have called in the past. I think the only movie I have seen Lou Diamond Phillips in was "Stand and Deliver", which I happened to watch twice because I took Calculus twice in high school. For a movie that they show in math class, I must admit that it was pretty entertaining. "Kimo I can count too: one.... two........... three"
Now I'm trying to think of other stuff they showed us in high school. I remember there was one short animated thing about the Mean Value Theorem where this guy gets caught speeding by a cop because they timed how long it took for him to go from one tollbooth to the next, and since his calculated average speed was over the limit, they screwed him by using the MVT. Yes, that was one of the more flaming videos I remember from high school. Other movies I remember include Breakfast Club, Roger and Me, and some Spanish movie about these Mexicans trying to cross the border. I'm sure there were a lot of other awesome ones I'm forgetting.
It seems like we watched the most videos in social studies classes, like US History, Political Science, Economics, etc. Probably because those teachers tend to be the laziest, in general. Looking back, I realize that they were pretty much all overweight, and extremely liberal minded to boot. Anyways, the one video I remember watching the most was this series called Economics USA. I think it was made in the early 80's and I don't think it could have been any cheesier. Then one day at home, I was randomly flipping channels and discovered that they were showing Economics USA on PBS. I was like, "wow, this is awesome". Then, a couple years later me and Chras took a self-paced COD class for Microeconomics during one summer. Basically, we just had to read through a text book, take a few exams, and watch a bunch of videos that we were supposed to rent from the COD branch in Westmont. It turned out that the videos were Economics USA. I swear, I just can't seem to escape "your host David Schumacher and economist Richard Gill".
One bad thing about my experience is, since I went to school in Taiwan for my freshman year, then came back to DGS for my last three, the two systems screwed me out of taking Health class at either school. I never got to officially learn about avoiding drugs and sexually transmitted diseases. I guess that explains why I turned into such a major crackhead/male slut. See, at least there's an excuse.
Monday, October 20, 2003
- Saw two movies over the weekend, Kill Bill and School of Rock. Both were pretty much what I expected from what people told me. Kill Bill was a good movie, as long as you don't mind a seeing lot of blood and limbs being chopped off. School of Rock was pretty good too, except Sarah Silverman didn't really have much of a part in it. I'd recommend either movie, but I don't know how much my recommendation is worth. It probably seems like I recommend a lot of movies, basically as long as it doesn't suck like The Medallion. Also, I have dragged people to go see Kung Pow with me in the past, so that might say something about my judgement.
- Something that really bothers me: Guys who wear shoes that sound like high heels when they walk. There seem to be a lot of these fruitcakes where I work and it drives me nuts.
- I discovered this fact a while back, but apparently the Blockbuster card I've been using is under my mom's name, and the credit card it's registered under expired 4 years ago. Hmmm, I think it might be time for me to get my own Blockbuster account.
- Since I always get hungry late in the afternoon at work, I've decided to spice up the situation by bringing a peanut butter & jelly sandwich every day. Yes, come today at 4pm, it's PEANUT BUTTER JELLY TIME!!
- I wasn't planning on dressing up for Halloween, seeing as I'm 23 and I haven't had a costume in over 10 years, but a friend mentioned a potentially awesome idea. How cool would it be if a whole bunch of people in Chicago dressed up as Steve Bartman? Ok, maybe not "cool", but you have to admit that would look hilarious if you saw everyone walking around with old worn Cubs hats on, headphones, glasses, green turtleneck, etc. on Halloween. I'm not saying I'm gonna do it, but someone should. Come on people, "do the Bartman"!
- Observation: When you play cards, it's very, very important to know the people you are playing with. Not so much to read each other's hands and betting, since I don't think any of us are good enough for that kind of stuff. More because with certain people, you have to be prepared to be sucked in to a bunch of crazy side games that keep you there later and put in more money than you should be. Among them, a friendly round of "Screw Your Neighbor" with a $40 pot. Ah yes... gotta love those.
- Something that really bothers me: Guys who wear shoes that sound like high heels when they walk. There seem to be a lot of these fruitcakes where I work and it drives me nuts.
- I discovered this fact a while back, but apparently the Blockbuster card I've been using is under my mom's name, and the credit card it's registered under expired 4 years ago. Hmmm, I think it might be time for me to get my own Blockbuster account.
- Since I always get hungry late in the afternoon at work, I've decided to spice up the situation by bringing a peanut butter & jelly sandwich every day. Yes, come today at 4pm, it's PEANUT BUTTER JELLY TIME!!
- I wasn't planning on dressing up for Halloween, seeing as I'm 23 and I haven't had a costume in over 10 years, but a friend mentioned a potentially awesome idea. How cool would it be if a whole bunch of people in Chicago dressed up as Steve Bartman? Ok, maybe not "cool", but you have to admit that would look hilarious if you saw everyone walking around with old worn Cubs hats on, headphones, glasses, green turtleneck, etc. on Halloween. I'm not saying I'm gonna do it, but someone should. Come on people, "do the Bartman"!
- Observation: When you play cards, it's very, very important to know the people you are playing with. Not so much to read each other's hands and betting, since I don't think any of us are good enough for that kind of stuff. More because with certain people, you have to be prepared to be sucked in to a bunch of crazy side games that keep you there later and put in more money than you should be. Among them, a friendly round of "Screw Your Neighbor" with a $40 pot. Ah yes... gotta love those.
Friday, October 17, 2003
It makes me feel old when I browse to random people's Xanga sites and their birthday was in 1988 or something. Then their blogs are talking about Homecoming and stuff, or how their mom and dad are mean.
*****
Most of the people I know miss college, including myself. I wonder how many people miss high school though. I was talking to Olivia about it last night and she definitely doesn't miss her high school years. Me, I'm kind of indifferent. Other than my last year there, I basically had no life outside of school anyways. Oh, except maybe for math team.
Anyways, my theory is that if you were one of the select few people that had the time of your life in high school, then you probably ended up fizzling out early in college. It's like you are already in a comfort zone in high school, and college forces you to leave that security behind. (Think of Mike Dexter in "Can't Hardly Wait"). So you get to college, and expect everything to be exactly the same way, smooth sailing and all, while the fact is that you still have a lot of growing to do as a person before all is said and done.
But for the majority of us, high school was an awkward stage, and college turned out to be the time of our lives. It's like the 4 years when we kind of "settled into our own skin" and started to actually figure out our own identity, and feel comfortable with it. Meanwhile, you're also figuring out who your real friends are and building relationships that last a lot longer than the ones you had in high school.
Then, I guess there's the people who don't enjoy high school or college, I don't know what becomes of them. Maybe they are the ones who end up being super successful like Bill Gates, some Hollywood director, or Nobel-prize winning cancer researcher.
*****
I haven't seen a movie in the theater lately. There's been a bunch that I kind of want to see. Since Piya doesn't recommend movies a lot, I'm gonna expect an awesome movie out of Kill Bill. Also, I heard Mystic River was good, and I want to check out School of Rock. Jack Black is pretty funny, but the clincher is that I heard Sara Silverman is in it too, and I think she is one of the most hilarious people in the world. Right up there with Chris Rock, Mike Myers, Adam Sandler, and Conan O'Brien.
*****
When Aaron Boone jacked that walkoff home run last night, I laughed so hard. Cubs fans, I kind of feel sorry for, but I've got no sympathy for Boston fans at all. I wish they showed the "Boston bar" camera during yesterday's game like they did for the Jokeland series, so I could see all of their shattered faces. First with the "stomach punch" when the Yankees tied it up in the 8th, and then the inevitable "kick in the nuts" to officially lose Game 7 in the 12th inning.
*****
Most of the people I know miss college, including myself. I wonder how many people miss high school though. I was talking to Olivia about it last night and she definitely doesn't miss her high school years. Me, I'm kind of indifferent. Other than my last year there, I basically had no life outside of school anyways. Oh, except maybe for math team.
Anyways, my theory is that if you were one of the select few people that had the time of your life in high school, then you probably ended up fizzling out early in college. It's like you are already in a comfort zone in high school, and college forces you to leave that security behind. (Think of Mike Dexter in "Can't Hardly Wait"). So you get to college, and expect everything to be exactly the same way, smooth sailing and all, while the fact is that you still have a lot of growing to do as a person before all is said and done.
But for the majority of us, high school was an awkward stage, and college turned out to be the time of our lives. It's like the 4 years when we kind of "settled into our own skin" and started to actually figure out our own identity, and feel comfortable with it. Meanwhile, you're also figuring out who your real friends are and building relationships that last a lot longer than the ones you had in high school.
Then, I guess there's the people who don't enjoy high school or college, I don't know what becomes of them. Maybe they are the ones who end up being super successful like Bill Gates, some Hollywood director, or Nobel-prize winning cancer researcher.
*****
I haven't seen a movie in the theater lately. There's been a bunch that I kind of want to see. Since Piya doesn't recommend movies a lot, I'm gonna expect an awesome movie out of Kill Bill. Also, I heard Mystic River was good, and I want to check out School of Rock. Jack Black is pretty funny, but the clincher is that I heard Sara Silverman is in it too, and I think she is one of the most hilarious people in the world. Right up there with Chris Rock, Mike Myers, Adam Sandler, and Conan O'Brien.
*****
When Aaron Boone jacked that walkoff home run last night, I laughed so hard. Cubs fans, I kind of feel sorry for, but I've got no sympathy for Boston fans at all. I wish they showed the "Boston bar" camera during yesterday's game like they did for the Jokeland series, so I could see all of their shattered faces. First with the "stomach punch" when the Yankees tied it up in the 8th, and then the inevitable "kick in the nuts" to officially lose Game 7 in the 12th inning.
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