My What We're Teaching Our Children These Days...
Installed Grand Theft Auto 3 today, the latest in a series of games seemingly designed to make car thiefs out of the youth of the world. Its quite wrong the way the game rewards you for working for the mob, which consists of "offing" certain individuals, blowing up certain vehicles, or doing the different mob bosses different favors. Even worse is the way you can go careening around the streets of the city, running over people left and right, spinning out cop cars, flipping off overpasses, and basically creating havoc wherever you go.
Sure as hell is fun though. ;)
Turned in basically my last assignment of the year today... Well I lie actually have a paper due Thursday as well as an econ assignment, and oh darn there's a quick paper for that due Tuesday too, but nothing that requries too much actual thinking. Then finals start for me on the 8th, then I have two more, on the 11th and 12th. Not sure what my whole strategy is for packing up and moving home, since my final is Wednesday night I'll probably spend all of Thursday getting everything together, and then pack up the car and leave either Thursday night or Friday morning. Who knows, might stick around until later on Friday if I feel the need, or more likely if I don't feel like debunking my bed and doing all those chore like activities yet. Man will I be glad when I have my own place, somewhere, and don't have to keep packing up my life and moving twice a year (technically four times, given how much I have to take home during Winter break for that month).
Been sending out various checks for things, and while I was at it decided to write a few letters to people, so far though its been like a week and no response from those people that they even got the letters, hmmmm... Maybe I screwed up the address or something. That would be lame. :/
Oh, and the Lakers rule. Well at least they forced a Game 7. So I hope you all are in front of your TVs rootin for them on Sunday night, since they're playing in loser Sacramento. GO LA!
Thursday, May 30, 2002
Moooooore Poooooooower
Hm, seem to be falling into an every other day pattern. Need to snap on out of that.
Today I finally received the hard drive space I've been so desperately needing in the form of a new Western Digital hundred gigger, and had the usual fun taking things apart and shifting things around in order to get it installed. My new IDE card allows up to 4 more drives to be installed on top of the original four, so after the hundred gig and a thirteen gig I installed just for the purpose of storing the backups of the other drive I still have two more available slots for future expansion. This brings the grand total of storage space up to 273 gigs. And about 120 of them are free space at the moment, even. Plenty of breathing room for a while, thank goodness. Burning gets old sooooooo fast.
Headed over to my friend's place tonight for some homemade sushi, wasn't exactly restaurant quality, but still very edible. :) This was followed by a lengthy DDR session (no white men can't dance but its funny watching us try...) in which much fun skidding around was had by all. This was followed by a headstand session, in which I discovered that believe it or not, I can actually do one if I try. I always thought it was impossible for me, but apparently my shape has changed such that I have a center of gravity now. Go figure. I then tried valiantly to elevate from a headstand into a handstand, but even with someone holding my feet to keep me steady, I could only get my head like two inches off the ground before collapsing. I'm convinced however that it was because I was tired from all the other stuff we were doing, like one handed pushups, clap pushups, all that fun stuff. They were quite convinced I would never be able to do it, so the gauntlet has been thrown down!
Snagged an extremely good quality dvdrip of Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring today, and the DVD doesn't even come out until August, probably the most advance I've ever snagged a movie. So anyone dying to watch it, lemme know... Three hours is an awful long time, I'll probably save a second watching until next year right before the second one comes out.
Ran across a livejournal (similar to a blog) by someone in Singapore tonight, tossed an e-mail out there, we'll see if a response appears. My attempts to randomly meet people from different parts of the world tend to only be successful 50% of the time or so. What can I say, I can't rely on my good looks over an e-mail. HAHA.
Hm, seem to be falling into an every other day pattern. Need to snap on out of that.
Today I finally received the hard drive space I've been so desperately needing in the form of a new Western Digital hundred gigger, and had the usual fun taking things apart and shifting things around in order to get it installed. My new IDE card allows up to 4 more drives to be installed on top of the original four, so after the hundred gig and a thirteen gig I installed just for the purpose of storing the backups of the other drive I still have two more available slots for future expansion. This brings the grand total of storage space up to 273 gigs. And about 120 of them are free space at the moment, even. Plenty of breathing room for a while, thank goodness. Burning gets old sooooooo fast.
Headed over to my friend's place tonight for some homemade sushi, wasn't exactly restaurant quality, but still very edible. :) This was followed by a lengthy DDR session (no white men can't dance but its funny watching us try...) in which much fun skidding around was had by all. This was followed by a headstand session, in which I discovered that believe it or not, I can actually do one if I try. I always thought it was impossible for me, but apparently my shape has changed such that I have a center of gravity now. Go figure. I then tried valiantly to elevate from a headstand into a handstand, but even with someone holding my feet to keep me steady, I could only get my head like two inches off the ground before collapsing. I'm convinced however that it was because I was tired from all the other stuff we were doing, like one handed pushups, clap pushups, all that fun stuff. They were quite convinced I would never be able to do it, so the gauntlet has been thrown down!
Snagged an extremely good quality dvdrip of Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring today, and the DVD doesn't even come out until August, probably the most advance I've ever snagged a movie. So anyone dying to watch it, lemme know... Three hours is an awful long time, I'll probably save a second watching until next year right before the second one comes out.
Ran across a livejournal (similar to a blog) by someone in Singapore tonight, tossed an e-mail out there, we'll see if a response appears. My attempts to randomly meet people from different parts of the world tend to only be successful 50% of the time or so. What can I say, I can't rely on my good looks over an e-mail. HAHA.
Tuesday, May 28, 2002
Who are You and What did you do With Matt?
Okay I did something wayyyy outside my usual way of doing things tonight... I actually ORDERED an audio cd.
That's right, paid for it, fair and square, out of my very own account.
Why the reason for this madness? Well, it suddenly occurred to me as I was thinking today, that since the Cirque Du Soleil shows I saw in Las Vegas have left such a lasting impression on me, that part of that was because of the music, and that I could easily snag a copy of that music for myself in order to relive the show whenever I please. Soundtracks are basically the only audio CDs I've ever bought, largely because they're the one type of CD with which I tend to enjoy ALL of the music. CDs put out by most artists or bands tend to have a couple good songs, and a lot of space fillers (in my opinion anyway). Rare is the CD where I like everything, but when it comes to musical soundtracks or instrumental pieces such as those found on the CDs I bought, that tends to be the case. Nothing like a good piece of instrumental music when you're studying, writing a paper, doing homework, or just basically sitting around thinking about things.
So yeah, instead of trying to download all the individual mp3s to both soundtracks, I just went ahead and ordered them, one for 15.97 after shipping at Amazon, another from a reseller on eBay for 13.99 after shipping. Not too bad, I doubt I would have been able to find them in stores, especially the Live version of the Mystere soundtrack, and this way I don't have to move! ;) The guy I bought from on eBay had like 4,000 positive feedback and only 6 negative, no idea how that can happen, usually like 1% at least have to be negative due to idiots who retract their bids because they don't want to buy it anymore and then leave a negative feedback for the seller as if it was their fault. They also had like 500 auctions in progress, quite impressive. So in a few days I should be chillin to both soundtracks quite happily.
Ah yes, and I did end up at Six Flags again yesterday... Had the usual blast, even though lines were probably the biggest I've seen, due to Memorial Day crowds. We got there a bit later than planned and into the park even later unfortunately. Post 9/11 security has been stepped up everywhere, including amusement parks. The parking toll booth, ticket window, metal detector, and finally the gate lines were all pretty long, and we had waited probably an hour in lines before actually getting into the park. By the time we got over to X the newest ride it was already a four hour wait. We discovered later it was because they were only running one train the entire day, meaning that the train would go through the ride, stop, be unloaded, move forward, be loaded, and go through the ride again. The whole process took about 5 minutes per cycle at least, and given the train only holds 28 people, when you have several hundred people in line, you're talking about a REALLY long wait. We heard from others throughout the day that they had waited SIX hours even though they'd gotten in line at about noon. Unbelievable, that's like half the day gone just for one ride. We decided to skip it and ended up using a pretty good strategy that allowed us to get on basically all of the big roller coasters. This was a good thing, since the person I was with hadn't been on any of them. She tried to talk me out of Freefall, but other than that was pretty good about not chickening out of things, other than being a bit reluctant at times. We had a blast, and even took home some stuffed animals from the carnival games. I tried to win a Gameboy Advance at the basketball one, which requires you to make three shots in a row from about a free throw distance. Nothing but net on the first one, but slightly off to the right on the second due to rushing it, and after getting flustered missed the third in about the same spot. Alas, I could have won a scooby doo flower covered basketball for making two. Darn.
Set a new personal record for amount of time waited in one line for one ride at an amusement park... We got in line for X right as the park closed, using the strategy where you wait on the park's time rather than your own since they only close off the end of the lines at closing time and guarantee everyone in the line will get on the ride eventually. It was at about the same spot it was the last time I came, so I was thinking about an hour and forty five minute wait. Then we found out they were still only running one train. So, three hours and thirty minutes later, we walked out of the ride in agreement that it's the most fun ride in the park. It was pretty friggin cold while we were waiting later on and especially going up the lift hill, and the adrenaline had me shaking pretty much uncontrollably. The lame part was I kept getting cramps in my thighs and the seating has you basically halfway spreadeagled so you can't really straighten your legs. This made it possible to un tighten them, and the fact I closed the butterfly harness down one too many clicks making it nearly impossible to breath didn't help things either. Hands were up the whole time though, and its still an experience I'd love to have on a regular basis.
Every time I think about awesome experiences though, my mind drifts back to Vegas, and the incredible amount I had there. I know its not my last trip, but man is it a wonderful place. I guess its sort of an old-people's Disneyland. Not that I've grown out of Disneyland, I'll see you there on New Years, as usual. ;)
Okay I did something wayyyy outside my usual way of doing things tonight... I actually ORDERED an audio cd.
That's right, paid for it, fair and square, out of my very own account.
Why the reason for this madness? Well, it suddenly occurred to me as I was thinking today, that since the Cirque Du Soleil shows I saw in Las Vegas have left such a lasting impression on me, that part of that was because of the music, and that I could easily snag a copy of that music for myself in order to relive the show whenever I please. Soundtracks are basically the only audio CDs I've ever bought, largely because they're the one type of CD with which I tend to enjoy ALL of the music. CDs put out by most artists or bands tend to have a couple good songs, and a lot of space fillers (in my opinion anyway). Rare is the CD where I like everything, but when it comes to musical soundtracks or instrumental pieces such as those found on the CDs I bought, that tends to be the case. Nothing like a good piece of instrumental music when you're studying, writing a paper, doing homework, or just basically sitting around thinking about things.
So yeah, instead of trying to download all the individual mp3s to both soundtracks, I just went ahead and ordered them, one for 15.97 after shipping at Amazon, another from a reseller on eBay for 13.99 after shipping. Not too bad, I doubt I would have been able to find them in stores, especially the Live version of the Mystere soundtrack, and this way I don't have to move! ;) The guy I bought from on eBay had like 4,000 positive feedback and only 6 negative, no idea how that can happen, usually like 1% at least have to be negative due to idiots who retract their bids because they don't want to buy it anymore and then leave a negative feedback for the seller as if it was their fault. They also had like 500 auctions in progress, quite impressive. So in a few days I should be chillin to both soundtracks quite happily.
Ah yes, and I did end up at Six Flags again yesterday... Had the usual blast, even though lines were probably the biggest I've seen, due to Memorial Day crowds. We got there a bit later than planned and into the park even later unfortunately. Post 9/11 security has been stepped up everywhere, including amusement parks. The parking toll booth, ticket window, metal detector, and finally the gate lines were all pretty long, and we had waited probably an hour in lines before actually getting into the park. By the time we got over to X the newest ride it was already a four hour wait. We discovered later it was because they were only running one train the entire day, meaning that the train would go through the ride, stop, be unloaded, move forward, be loaded, and go through the ride again. The whole process took about 5 minutes per cycle at least, and given the train only holds 28 people, when you have several hundred people in line, you're talking about a REALLY long wait. We heard from others throughout the day that they had waited SIX hours even though they'd gotten in line at about noon. Unbelievable, that's like half the day gone just for one ride. We decided to skip it and ended up using a pretty good strategy that allowed us to get on basically all of the big roller coasters. This was a good thing, since the person I was with hadn't been on any of them. She tried to talk me out of Freefall, but other than that was pretty good about not chickening out of things, other than being a bit reluctant at times. We had a blast, and even took home some stuffed animals from the carnival games. I tried to win a Gameboy Advance at the basketball one, which requires you to make three shots in a row from about a free throw distance. Nothing but net on the first one, but slightly off to the right on the second due to rushing it, and after getting flustered missed the third in about the same spot. Alas, I could have won a scooby doo flower covered basketball for making two. Darn.
Set a new personal record for amount of time waited in one line for one ride at an amusement park... We got in line for X right as the park closed, using the strategy where you wait on the park's time rather than your own since they only close off the end of the lines at closing time and guarantee everyone in the line will get on the ride eventually. It was at about the same spot it was the last time I came, so I was thinking about an hour and forty five minute wait. Then we found out they were still only running one train. So, three hours and thirty minutes later, we walked out of the ride in agreement that it's the most fun ride in the park. It was pretty friggin cold while we were waiting later on and especially going up the lift hill, and the adrenaline had me shaking pretty much uncontrollably. The lame part was I kept getting cramps in my thighs and the seating has you basically halfway spreadeagled so you can't really straighten your legs. This made it possible to un tighten them, and the fact I closed the butterfly harness down one too many clicks making it nearly impossible to breath didn't help things either. Hands were up the whole time though, and its still an experience I'd love to have on a regular basis.
Every time I think about awesome experiences though, my mind drifts back to Vegas, and the incredible amount I had there. I know its not my last trip, but man is it a wonderful place. I guess its sort of an old-people's Disneyland. Not that I've grown out of Disneyland, I'll see you there on New Years, as usual. ;)
Sunday, May 26, 2002
Putt Putt Putt...
No news is good news as they say... Blogging material has been lacking in general lately... :/
Headed down to Ventura yesterday to play some minigolf for my friend's birthday... I always did enjoy playing golf, from minigolf to a little pitch and putt course by my house, and there's nothing like a driving range to relieve stress. Never did play on a "real" course though, I'd probably suck. Last night though I was the self proclaimed winner, not that anyone else was keeping score. Afterwards we were hanging out in the arcade and I found some old school games I hadn't seen in FOREVER. Among these was Tempest, a computer game I used to devote HOURS to, as well as Missle Command, and this huge X-Men machine that allowed for SIX players to play at once. A lot of arcades these days are spending too much on huge dollar or five dollar machines instead of bringing back the popular ones from the past, but I guess its kind of pathetic if you get nostalgic about a video game. :)
For the computer its even worse, just mentioning the words Doom II brings a tear to my eye... Luckily the Electronics Entertainment Expo (E3) that is held yearly in LA debuted a new movie previewing Doom III, to be released next year I believe. Had me drooling, for sure.
Been taking advantage of the fact just about everyone is getting out of school, and therefore spending the last week or two abusing their .edu connection as much as possible, by turning off upload caps and basically letting anyone leech whatever they want. I set a new personal record for downloading by snagging all thirteen seasons of The Simpsons episodes (totalling 275+), a series I've mostly missed out on over the years. My, isn't this summer going to be busy.
Hate to blog and run, but alas it's time for yet another trip over to Six Flags, everyone's favorite place to scream. This time should be even more fun, going with someone from Hawaii who's never been on a "real" roller coaster. Muhahahah she's in for it...
No news is good news as they say... Blogging material has been lacking in general lately... :/
Headed down to Ventura yesterday to play some minigolf for my friend's birthday... I always did enjoy playing golf, from minigolf to a little pitch and putt course by my house, and there's nothing like a driving range to relieve stress. Never did play on a "real" course though, I'd probably suck. Last night though I was the self proclaimed winner, not that anyone else was keeping score. Afterwards we were hanging out in the arcade and I found some old school games I hadn't seen in FOREVER. Among these was Tempest, a computer game I used to devote HOURS to, as well as Missle Command, and this huge X-Men machine that allowed for SIX players to play at once. A lot of arcades these days are spending too much on huge dollar or five dollar machines instead of bringing back the popular ones from the past, but I guess its kind of pathetic if you get nostalgic about a video game. :)
For the computer its even worse, just mentioning the words Doom II brings a tear to my eye... Luckily the Electronics Entertainment Expo (E3) that is held yearly in LA debuted a new movie previewing Doom III, to be released next year I believe. Had me drooling, for sure.
Been taking advantage of the fact just about everyone is getting out of school, and therefore spending the last week or two abusing their .edu connection as much as possible, by turning off upload caps and basically letting anyone leech whatever they want. I set a new personal record for downloading by snagging all thirteen seasons of The Simpsons episodes (totalling 275+), a series I've mostly missed out on over the years. My, isn't this summer going to be busy.
Hate to blog and run, but alas it's time for yet another trip over to Six Flags, everyone's favorite place to scream. This time should be even more fun, going with someone from Hawaii who's never been on a "real" roller coaster. Muhahahah she's in for it...
