WARNING : Controversial Subject Ahead

Fair warning has been given. I wasn't planning to post anything originally but I came across this quote from Stephen Roberts that I found really interesting. Most people who know me well enough probably know that I am non-religious and generally don't like evangelism or any insistence that I must believe in a certain God to save myself from eternal damnation. So I found this following quote simulating. Without further ado here it is.

"I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours."

Please discuss. It's a new concept that I've never thought about before.

Sick Plus Moving

Equals a distinct lack of updates. But I must take some time off from my relentless gulping of fluids to acknowledge all the wishes for my birthday.

Thanks to everyone who remembered (sooner or later) and cared. =) You guys are great. My Fubar Friends (alliteration!), the Champions of Excellence, the friends of the the Champions and especially to my gracious hosts, JX and Mini. Thank you all so much.

I will be posting what pics I had soon. Er when I get better and have internet access up at my new place in IL.

Till then, take care folks. And keep on coming back. I'm not dead! Yet! I Hope. (Unless EBOF makes good her threat...)

Pass My Time

So here I am, on the 2nd day of school, typing out my blog entry. The whole campus sizzles with a mixture of freshmen-enthusiasm and people-getting-lost-frenzies. Yet for me, all of those things are in the past. It's relatively idyllic just settling my housing and getting ready to move up (and on) with life. Now I know why all those people said to treasure your college days and I guess I coulda spent them better if I had a chance, but I don't have any real regrets. I've made good friends throughout my life, tried hard in education, maybe slacked a bit in other aspects and had a generally fun filled existence. But I guess all that is in my past already.

I'm moving tomorrow and it's such a hassle. But at least it's better now that I know the route there much better. Last week, when I went up to confirm the apartment, I got sooo lost. The first time I got lost was when I chose to exit 80/94 on exit 2 which is highway 41 South. I was supposed to go highway 41 North (exit 1) but because of traffic on 80/94 I thought I would save time by going south a bit and turning around. Well, it turned out that the next exit on 41 South was 20 minutes south. So I had to travel 20 minutes south, another 5 minutes west and then 20 minutes north to reach exit 1 on 80/94. Boom 1 hour gone just like that... Oh well, maybe it's time i switched to American Express and have as much success as Andy Roddick.

ViDz

Here are just a couple of vids to while your time away. The first one is about cosplaying, some of these guys (and gals) really take this thing very seriously. Listen to what they say about their characters.



The second is a Coke ad that parodies the walking controversy that is Grand Theft Auto. I think it's pretty cool that someone could take such a "bad" thing and make it into a really nift commercial. Enjoy.

PS3 vs Nintendo Wii. NO CONTEST!!

And here's some people cosplaying as tentacles (from Day of the Tentacles) cosplaying as Zelda. As seen on bits & bytes & pixels & sprites.

An Intro to the Rest Of Your Life...

Well, that's a wrap then. 3 years of college have come and gone and I have a pretty little piece of paper to show for it. And with that piece of paper, I have managed to secure my exit from Unemploymentsville (population: Not Me). That journey started sometime the past Monday, when I made the 100 mile trip to my new work place for an interview. Having arrived 40 minutes early, I parked in the open air car park and reviewed my notes in the car. It was like 32 degrees outside and I was sweating as I put on my tie and suit.

Having spent 20 minutes getting ready, I proceeded into the air-conditioned building to freshen up and announce my arrival. The company was located on the 3rd story and as I exited the elevator, I noticed that the reception was kinda spartan and they had a book about germanic art. My interview would be with the company president, VP and the sales manager. They were all very friendly people and the interview went very smoothly. At the end of the whole process, the president made me an offer and asked if I wanted to wait for about 20 minutes for him to type it up. Right there and then, I wanted to burst out in song and dance, but of course, I calmly said I would wait. So back I went to the reception. The problem was, I had that walking on air kind of feeling that makes your toes feel very light, and I was struggling to control my facial expressions as I wasthiscloseto bursting out in laughter at the reception. I managed to control my impulses and I started flipping through that book about art. The whole book was written in German so I didn't have to spend much time reading the words, but as the cliche goes "A picture is a worth a thousand words", some of the oil works looked very very realistic and it was a good way to while the time away. However, the interview ended around 4:10 pm and when 4:30 came and left, I started to get anxious. That jump for joy feeling became mixed with a "OMG, they changed their minds" sensation that made my stomach knot up. After 4:40, I became acutely aware of each passing moment, alternately trying to keep myself from laughing out for joy and telling myself not to worry. FINALLY, at 4:50pm, the president comes out with this HUGE stack of paper and said that they had printer problems. I got my offer letter, thanked him and walked straight to my car. There, I locked the door and started screaming and yelling for 5 minutes straight. And then I started calling everyone.

So there you have it, my intro to the rest of my life involved an extremely excruciating 15 minute delay. But at least I have started moving on.

It's been awhile

Yeap, it's been awhile since my last post. I just finished a poster session today that involved staying in school till 11pm last night to get *someone's* poster printed and done... But thanks to another pair of people, I managed to get my poster printed out at the last minute without any hassle.

Anyways, something light today. Although the Middle-East situation looks grimmer and grimmer everyday, we can always fallback on a couple things. The first are anecdotes about lawyers and the conversations they have. Taken from the book "Disorder in the American Courts". Pay close attention o lawyer (to-be) friends of mine, and please don't follow in their footsteps.

ATTORNEY: Are you sexually active?
WITNESS: No, I just lie there.
________________________

ATTORNEY: What is your date of birth?
WITNESS: July 18th.
ATTORNEY: What year?
WITNESS: Every year.
_____________________________________

ATTORNEY: What gear were you in at the moment of the impact?
WITNESS: Gucci sweats and Reeboks.
______________________________________

ATTORNEY: This myasthenia gravis, does it affect your memory at all?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: And in what ways does it affect your memory?
WITNESS: I forget.
ATTORNEY: You forget? Can you give us an example of something you forgot?
____________________________________

ATTORNEY: How old is your son, the one living with you?
WITNESS: Thirty-eight or thirty-five, I can't remember which.
ATTORNEY: How long has he lived with you?
WITNESS: Forty-five years.
_____________________________________

ATTORNEY: What was the first thing your husband said to you that morning?
WITNESS: He said, "Where am I, Cathy?"
ATTORNEY: And why did that upset you?
WITNESS: My name is Susan.
______________________________________

ATTORNEY: Do you know if your daughter has ever been involved in voodoo?
WITNESS: We both do.
ATTORNEY: Voodoo?
WITNESS: We do.
ATTORNEY: You do?
WITNESS: Yes, voodoo.
______________________________________

ATTORNEY: Now doctor, isn't it true that when a person dies in his sleep, he doesn't know about it until the next morning?
WITNESS: Did you actually pass the bar exam?
___________________________________

ATTORNEY: The youngest son, the twenty-year-old, how old is he?
WITNESS: Uh, he's twenty.
________________________________________

ATTORNEY: Were you present when your picture was taken?
WITNESS: Would you repeat the question?
______________________________________

ATTORNEY: So the date of conception (of the baby) was August 8th?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: And what were you doing at that time?
WITNESS: Uh....
______________________________________

ATTORNEY: She had three children, right?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: How many were boys?
WITNESS: None.
ATTORNEY: Were there any girls?
______________________________________

ATTORNEY: How was your first marriage terminated?
WITNESS: By death.
ATTORNEY: And by whose death was it terminated?
______________________________________

ATTORNEY: Can you describe the individual?
WITNESS! : He was about medium height and had a beard.
ATTORNEY: Was this a male or a female?
______________________________________

ATTORNEY: Is your appearance here this morning pursuant to a deposition notice which I sent to your attorney?
WITNESS: No, this is how I dress when I go to work.
______________________________________

ATTORNEY: Doctor, how many of your autopsies have you performed on dead people?
WITNESS: All my autopsies are performed on dead people.
______________________________________

ATTORNEY: ALL your responses MUST be oral, OK? What school did you go to?
WITNESS: Oral.
______________________________________

ATTORNEY: Do you recall the time that you examined the body?
WITNESS: The autopsy started around 8:30 p.m.
ATTORNEY: And Mr. Denton was dead at the time?
WITNESS: No, he was sitting on the table wondering why I was doing an autopsy on him!
_____________________________________

ATTORNEY: Are you qualified to give a urine sample?
WITNESS: Huh?
______________________________________

ATTORNEY: Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: Did you check for blood pressure?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: Did you check for breathing?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began the autopsy?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: How can you be so sure, Doctor?
WITNESS: Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar.
ATTORNEY: But could the patient have still been alive, nevertheless?
WITNESS: Yes, it is possible that he could have been alive and practicing law.

Kudos to E.B.O.F. for unearthing that treasure.

Also, as many people know, websites like MySpace, Friendster and Facebook have been proliferating over the last few years. Many of these sites are mere excuses for people to post good looking pics of themselves and flirt or indugle in sometime even more. However, the sobering reality is that what people post online might not be what they are in real life. Here's a quick guide to interpreting MySpace account photos. Enjoy and learn. My apologies if it's too small. Kudos to drunkreport.com for that pic.