Bits of Nostalgia (Amongst other things)...

Well whaddya know, it turns out that one of the series that I want to actually follow up on (金田一 Kindaichi) was actually screened back home, like waaaaaay long ago. Back when the television station was still named Channel 8. That's a nice surprise.

Anyways, how much would you pay to go accompany this girl to the Superbowl (on your tickets)? She's a Chicago Bears fan and was trying to sell the chance to provide Superbowl tickets to her on Ebay.The going bid was 1.8K USD before the bids got ridiculous. And in the end, she got tickets from Axe (the deodorant company) and there's a now competition to see who gets to go WITH her (flight, accoms and food not provided). Shows you what kind of reversal of fortunes a cute face and a great body can get you... Now if only...

Edit: Re-sized the image to a (hopefully) more manageable size.

What Time is it?

In times past, the proper answer to the titular question would be "Tiger Time!" and the appropriate amount of hip wriggling and bad "ah-beng"-ish clothing. However, we shall not ponder on yesteryear's bad jingles that I bet are ringing in your head right now, but consider a new answer to the posed question.

I present : ADVENTURE TIME!! ALGEBRAIC!! And if you didn't understand that, just take a look at this video. Everything will be come clear (kinda).



Very mathematical right?

パっンク

The following clip is from the Japanese TV equivalent of Gotcha or something. The way the mob just overruns the poor saps is quite hilarious, especially the very first prank they attempt, where they completely missed the dude. In the last prank, the crowd yells "Danger!!" before squatting. Just so the non-Japanese inclined can get a little more understanding. =D

Laundry Power Rants...

Bears-Colts Superbowl!! I don't know who to root for, but I do suspect my neighbours might have been freaked out by the random cheering and hoots from a certain apartment in the estate when the Colts (FINALLY) made Bill Belichick suffer the "Disgusted & Stunned" syndrome when they rallied from 18 points down (21-3) to top the Patriots 34-38. Awesome game. But I can only confess to watching the 4th quarter only as I had semi-given up on Manning & Co when I saw the depressing 21-6 halftime score...

Now that I've gotten the good things out of the way, it's time to indulge in the title rant. The one really super thing about having a private washer/dryer in your apartment is that laundry NEVER goes missing. That sock that you thought got chewed up by the machines will turn up in the next load, you can probably afford a couple Mcdonald's Happy Meals with the loseloose change you can find during the once a month "check-the-washer/dryer" inspection. I had that luxury during my last year in college and I can honestly say that I really miss those good times...

On the flip side, now that I rent an apartment that has a common laundry facility, according to Murphy's Law, the rate of disappearing laundry is proportional to frequency of washing to the power of some yet to be determined constant... As a result, the MIA list of my laundry has been creeping at a more or less steady pace. However, today, when I did my laundry, those monsters consumed 2 socks (from 2 different matching pairs!). AT ONE SHOT!! I believe I will have to re-evaluate the constant in that equation. It seems to be a moving value, but I have insufficient data to make a concrete analysis.

What I do know is that I have to go and get more socks. Which really sucks on a day both teams you root for make the Superbowl... Argh...

もうすぐ怒りそう。。。

なんで返事しなかった？出来るか、出来ないかどっちでもぼくに返事してくれよ。もし出来なかったらぼくは怒らないよ。でも今長く返事しないことこれまで返事しないと、ぼくゼッタイ怒るよ。だからオネガイ、ぼくに返事してください。。。

Quick Puns

I really should be in bed by now, but I figured I'd finish these 3 jokes I've heard during my time in the office. The jokes may be embellished a little but are all true. I heard them all from friends and colleagues. They are all puns so you have been warned. Let the groaning commence.

1. Q: What did one Jap rocker say to the other?
A: Konnichiwassup

2. Q: How do you call an elevator in Portuguese?
A: Press the button

3. After an abysmal season, the Miami Dolphins have just hired a new coach from China.
What was his name? Win Wan Sun.

Okie with that, I bid you good night.

Rhythm is a Dancer

DDR, Donkey Konga, Guitar Hero. All these are games that aren't really in the Super Mario genre or the Doom first person shooter games but are nevertheless awesomely fun when you get down to it. Today, I present a few other ZOMG fast fingers in 2 other rhythm games.


Beatmania, which is a DJ kind of game with a faux disc that you can "spin".


Pop 'n Music, which is kinda like the Japanese version of Beatmania, but it looks like it was designed for people with really big or really fast hands.

Lastly, here's a link to travel tips from Yahoo. You can go check it out if you're interested. It might be of some help.

Birthday Alert!

Happy Birthday to ZhenZ. I hope that as you turn 24 25, that others can more easily understand the mysterious workings of your mind such that there will be less situations where I have to respond with a "Huh?". Other than that, I'm pretty sure turning 24 can only bring you much better stuff than what happened as 23 24 ended. Cheers mate!

Edit: Doh. Messed up the age. So 2006...

2006 in Review

Well I have to send my bro back home tomorrow so I'll try to make this brief.

For me, 2006 was a year of ups and downs. I'll try to recap the highs and lows here so we can laugh together at the good times and laugh at my bad times.

1. The Shanghai Girl thing didn't work out. I guess the 默契 just wasn't there. Next...
2. Realizing that having 9 credit hours in a semester meant a lot of slacking time. And time for a lot of video games.
3. Become a semi-pariah due to said semester workload.
4. Trying to cherish the last few months with friends that I might not ever see again in my life. Although I believe that in the end, 有缘相见, we will met again.
5. Rushed and jumbled through my final semester as a semi-lazy bum. Nearly died due to a lot of bad luck and misjudgment on my research. Which has taught me to always do your best. 做事要认真.
6. GRADUATION. Finally, after approximately 100K USD, 3 years, 20kg of caffeine, countless brain cells and about 2 solid months spent in the library lounge, I was pushed into the world. Kicking and screaming about how I didn't want to leave my friends and school. But if there's anything I learnt from previous graduations, it's that good friends tend to stick around. And I get the chance to get bragging rights to be the first to earn USD amongst the Fubar gang. Haha.
7. The frantic summer time search for gainful employment. I didn't have the foresight and doggedness of some of my classmates and I paid for it during summer. 20 applications a week for a total of around 100 netted me 4 interviews (phone & physical) which landed me 1 job offer. All in all, I consider myself lucky that I could land a nice job on such long odds. And now I had the bragging rights in the bag.
8. First job jitters. I went to work so nervous I forgot to remove the size sticker on my brand new khakis. (I'm sure Ebof will find that story familiar, haha). When I first started out, I was working from the conference table in the middle of the office. Now I have my own desk! And I have a monitor and keyboard to go with my laptop! Definitely moving up in the world... To top it off, I got my own phone! That means I don't have to hijack my colleagues' anymore.
9. First plant trip. The sights!! The smells!! And I think the smell is what will remain with you, even longer than the sights... The smells!!

And that was 2006 for me. I wonder what 2007 will bring but I'm pretty confident that I'll have more good than bad. How was 2006 for you guys?

I'll post my 07 resolutions another night. I need to hit the sack. Cheers!