Tuesday, November 29, 2005

I May Be About to Die (Part 2)

posted by Dave @ 3:33 PM   1 comments

I am alive! And to make matters even better, I own an Xbox 360!
I just leveled up in nerd-dom.

So yeah, turns out the dude that I bought it from was a nerdy little guy who was more anxious than I was, and seemed pretty nervous about getting the money. Just two giant dorks worrying about the other giant dork - kind of sweet, when you think about it. I feel we were also matched in how big of a sucker we are - I paid too much, he charged too little.

So the games begin tonight. The package I bought came with Kameo, which I do not want, so I'll have to stop somewhere and Get Perfect Dark Zero or Project Gotham Racing (or both) on my way home. The other big question is how am I going to transport this thing? I can't just carry it on the subway, I clearly need a bag of some kind (plus its actually pretty heavy). I may actually go buy a bag if I need to.

*Pfeiffer just gave me a couple of good ideas of office products that may be of use in transport. His suggestion: a garbage bag or a cardboard box. Genius!

Anyways, I'm happy to be alive, and looking forward to ruining my eyes playing videogames tonight.

I May Be About to Die (Part 1)

posted by Dave @ 2:37 PM   0 comments

So I'm buying an Xbox. I don't mean I'm planning on buying one, but rather that I found a dude selling one on Craigslist, contacted him, offered him a very low price, and he accepted. The same package I'm buying from this dude is selling on ebay and other places for at least $300 more than I'm paying (I'm only paying a small margin over retail + tax). Also, he is dropping it off at my office downtown for me, but refused to come up to my office, instead wanting to meet in the lobby of my building. These factors combine into making me somewhat suspicious that I am about to die.

I can picture it now. He comes in with an Xbox box, but when I open it I find a coiled up boxing globe. Ka-Pow! It nails me in the nose, blood staining my favorite hooded sweatshirt. I hit the ground, and as I black out I see him scooping up his trap Xbox and taking my wallet. Oh, and then I die.

So while I certainly expect the transaction to be very professional and simple, I cannot help but wrap up a few important things before I potentially die. And, I figured, what better way than via blog? (I really hope these aren't my last words now, as I'd prefer if my last words were spoken, or at least printable.) Incase this is my last post, let me say that I have greatly enjoyed all of you over the years, and I look forward to jumping out of a heaven-closet and scaring you when you die yourselves. Pat and Dan, keep up the reviews of things. Chris and Qualls, you too. Joe, take pictures. Wipert, continue to not post things. Drax, you hate my friend (or not). Arun, be eloquent. And Harry, you tear down the governments of the world. To the blogolution, I say... I hope to see you again soon. And not as a zombie.

To Be Continued... (hopefully)

Monday, November 28, 2005

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

posted by Dan @ 10:23 PM   1 comments

Ok - I have been meaning to post this, but wanted to make sure everyone who wanted to see it got to first. Now that Dave has, let the review begin:



While there were some major problems with the movie overall they did pretty well with what they had to work with. It is a long book and and had a ton of special effects in it which I thought were done very well. Despite costing $127 trillion to make, most of the things that were cut out were done due for budget reasons (the Quidditch World Cup, the house elves and S.P.E.W, and the monsters in the third challenge) but they kept in most of the important things. Although I don't know why they kept Reta when they took out almost all of the important stuff about her getting black mailed was left out. You might as well not introduce her at all. However when it was all done I wasn't disappointed with what they took out but what they kept in.

This book is probably the main reason why I got hooked on this series. It was written so well that despite being the longest book so far it went by incredibly fast. So did the movie, but for very different reasons.

Dave said it best when he commented that there was no pacing through out the movie. It was one thing to the next and nothing ever sunk in. I never felt like Harry was screwed like I did when I read the book. Everything just moved too fast.


Well done dragon!


There were however things I loved. The first two tasks were great. The parts of the Quidditch World Cup that we did see looked really cool. Fred and George were great and all the teen romance plots were really well done. Although after seeing Harry talk to Cho in owlery I had to get up and check if this was GoF or OoP! Am I right or what?


I was also worried about Mad Eye Moody, because he was the first new charter that I read about before seeing in a movie. He did really well despite being nothing like I thought he might. And the grave yard scene was pretty creepy like it should be, but I was expecting a little more. Voldermort taunted Harry in the book about killing his father which made the whole fight a lot more emotional.

My favorite part of the movie has to be when Harry comes back from the Grave Yard. It was so creepy and great the way eveyone was cheering and the band playing and Harry clinging to Cedric's dead body. Very well done.

So why was I so disappointed in the end despite all that was done well in this? I think it is because I was expecting this book to translate into such a good movie. I figured the three tasks and the grave yard scene would carry it - but they couldn't. There was so much to go through that there was never time for anything to sink in.

I really believe that Order of the Phoenix will make a much better movie then Goblet of Fire despite being much longer. It is less linear then Goblet of Fire. There are three or more plot lines going on at the same time and I think it might feel less rushed because and all the plot lines can be going on at the same time. Plus the whole movie can build up to then end instead of trying to build up three separate times. I'm sure much of it will be cut out but what will be left in will be well worth watching.

Despite all it's problems I did like the Goblet of Fire more the second time. My expectations were altered and I could concentrate on what they did so well and look past the problems and enjoy the movie.

From the makers of "Prime Enough!" and "Words are for Pussies!"

posted by P. Arty @ 6:11 PM   1 comments

Good things happen when you take members of the Blogulution and put them together in new situations. For instance, put several of them in a bar with a deck of cards, and you'll get some great new card games (Prime Enough, Words Are for Pussies, etc.). Put them in Brookfield with nowhere to go on a Saturday night, and you get a world-class tour of the city and a zombie attack!

Put them in the apartment of someone they don't know with a game made for eight year olds, and the results are beautifully catalytic.

Last weekend, O-Negative, Parsley, and myself (along with the help of Chaney, and The Hero) created what has evolved into the greatest game since Thunkball. The game is called "Jerk of the Night," and it's guaranteed to entertain you for hours while irritating everyone around you. All you need to play is one "Brain-O-Matic" board game (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Brain-O-Matic.

What started as a boring trivia game for kids turned into a game that will test your brain in every way possible. In the original game, there is a green model of a brain that has six lights, each one symbolizing a different category. You roll the dice, move that many spaces, and answer a question based whichever category is lit up on the brain. The questions are insulting to anyone as intelligent as the members of the Blogulution, except the "No Brainers," which are just plain fun. Some "No Brainers" include: What color is a blackbird? When was the War of 1812? What kind of animal eats dog food?

Unfortunately, those No-Brainers were also No-Timers, and within seconds we were bored and looking for more. O-Negative got a pen and some paper, and we were ready to craft some rules that would make this game worthy of the "Brain-O-Matic" title. The result was a game we called "Jerk of the Night," and here is what you do for each of the brain's categories.

1. Sports and Games -> Hide the Brain

Unfortunately, this category literally came up at least eighty percent of the time. The brain was rigged. There was a string of at least fifteen rounds of Hide the Brain. The probability of that happening is approximately 2.12 x 10^-12. Regardless, we reluctantly played every round out.

In this game, the player must hide the brain somewhere around the room. The person to his or her left must keep her eyes closed until the rest of the players announce, "find the brain!" The finder must then find the brain. The best hiding spots we used included on top of the ceiling fan, in a dog's shirt, and in the purse of a girl we didn't know!


2. Arts -> Pictionary

After Harry drew such a great rabbit hole, we decided that in this category, the player must draw a picture of a rabbit hole in a unique way. While this game was never actually played due to the dominance of Hide the Brain, the most creative (and only) idea mentioned was drawing one half of a rabbit plus one half of a rabbit, resulting in a rabbit whole (ha!) (Figure 2).

Figure 2. A rabbit whole. (Ha!)


3. History -> Fictionary

In this game, the player must describe a historical event by telling it like a narrative. The only two instances of this game were The Monica Lewinski scandal and the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. While this game ultimately had the most replay value, it was hardly played at all.


4. Pop Culture -> Survivor

Obviously, one of P. Arty's contribution to "Jerk of the Night," Survivor required the players to vote one player out of the game for good. Luckily, this game only came up once, and we were able to vote two players who had already left the game (and the room) out. Sorry America, no drama.


5. Science & Nature -> Genre Blending

This game didn't originally have a name, so I made that one up. I like it because it looks like Gender Blending, and as you all know, the genders are indeed blending.

In Genre Blending, the player has to discuss the impact that science has had on romantic comedies. Topics discussed include "The Study of Meteorology and its Effect on Forces of Nature (Starring Ben Affleck and Sandra Bullock)" and "The Parallelism of the Search for Truth and the Search for True Love."


6. Geography -> Foreign Care

In this game, the player had to recite a poem about "caring" in a foreign language. The languages chosen were American Sign Language, Czech?, and Spanish. The only poem I understood was:

Cariendo es como el sol:
Brillante,
Calor,
Radiente.
Sin cariendo tienes nada.
Con cariendo,
Tienes el mundo.

Caring is like the sun:
Bright,
Warm,
Radiant.
Without the sun you have nothing.
With the sun,
You have the world.


7. Final Round -> Jerk of the Night

The Jerk of the Night award is given to a player randomly, and this player wins the game. Other players frown upon the Jerk of the Night, mostly because they're jealous.

In the first game of "Jerk of the Night," I was awarded the winning prize because I searched through the purse of a girl I didn't know. Keep in mind, the person who hid the purse there was given no such prize or title. With that prize, I won the game.

Polley won Jerk of the Night the following night because he wouldn't stay to see Just Friends after he, O-Neg, and I watched the glorious thriller known as Derailed. He ruined what could have possibly have been the best doubleheader since this trainwreck. What a jerk.


So that's how you play our new game. Unfortunately, we were forced to leave the brain behind, so we have no way of determining which category to choose, and we have nothing to hide in Find the Brain. I would recommend you all invest in a copy of Brain-O-Matic solely for the purpose of obtaining a brain. Then we can continue to play Jerk of the Night anytime we enter a new situation (i.e. anywhere other than Wipert's basement).

Friday, November 25, 2005

Walking with... The White Stripes?

posted by Dan @ 11:24 AM   2 comments

I was on my way home last night and my iPod was running low on batteries so I turn on the only radio station I could remember - 102.1.

I kinda tuned out after a minute, and then I heard something playing. I said to myself, "Hey, this kinda sounds like walking with a ghost. Well, if their guitar was dying that is." Sure enough Hot 102.1 was playing the White stiffs version of Walking With A Ghost.


The White Stripes getting their ass kicked by ninjas that I sent


This song was terrible. It sounded like like they took the first out of tune guitar they could find and then smashed it against the wall for an hour. I mean seriously how can you mess up a minor chord and two major chords? And the singing was even worse. You would think that at some point in the song they would accidentally harmonize, but no it was terrible the whole way through.

I personally think the White Stripes should formally apologize to Tegan and Sara and any poor person who may have heard this song.


Tegan and Sara not being attacked by Ninjas



Apologize!

Monday, November 21, 2005

"Five" "Interesting" Things From P Arty's "Life"

posted by P. Arty @ 4:28 PM   3 comments

4. Lost - Could this show get any better? I have officially placed this
show at 50% of Six Feet Under. It's got everything. Flawed yet relatable characters, retrospective plot and character development, Island Magic, and hotties (see future post entitled "The Hierarchy of Lost Hottness").

I am a little sad that the Lost Crew (Doofhouse, Megan, Marcus VH, and myself) are catching up with the show. I've really enjoyed being able to cram in two or three episodes a night because we couldn't wait another day, and consequently forcing Metzger to go to work the next day on little sleep. Just think, now we'll have to wait another week to wait for the plot to unfold! No matter, watching Lost is usually the highlight of my day, and I have 1.5 gigabytes of Tegan & Sara videos on my computer!


3. The Big Prize - I finally got a reply to the Sheep Finding Contest that I "entered." I was to pick my prize up at the Catacombs Coffeehouse on campus. I did this. When I went to pick up the prize, I wasn't sure if it would be a pound of gold or 1,000 pounds of chocolate.

Much to my surprise, it was neither. It was a cup of coffee.

I'd hate to see what the little prize was.

Also with the cup of coffee came a postcard addressed to the guy that set the contest up. The instructions read, "Write a question on the postcard, and mail it." The only question that popped into my head was, "Why am I so disappointed right now?"


2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - MAJOR Snooze Fest. I was so excited going into this movie because the third movie was so good. I was reluctant to watch it after seeing the first two movies, which were pretty trite and shallow. All of a sudden in the third movie there are actual characters and a plot that consisted of more than excuses to use magic. Oh, and the opening scene had the best use of the "shaky camera" since Nate and Brenda's split in season 2 of Six Feet Under ("Here. Barf.").

Regardless, going to Point with a big group of people is always fun, and the 36 ounces of Diet Mountain Dew (Fountain Diet Mountain Dew!) that I drank was delicious. Oh, and I got to witness Metzger furiously scribbling notes in his "Wizard's Diary." The only passage I caught was "Avadra Kedavra - Use this on Pat next time he calls me a squib!"


1. The Saturday morning Discovery Kids line up on NBC - I woke up on Saturday to the opening credits of Flight 29 Down. It featured multiple camera angles of a plane crashing into a deserted island. I was instantly reminded of the pilot to Lost, and I watched, excitedly.

Unfortunately, Flight 29 Down does not have any of the retrospective character development, Island Magic, or ironic foreshadowing of Lost. All it had was kids climbing trees to get food and fishing. It was really boring. Really.

After Flight 29 Down came some sort of MTV's Real World/Road Rules challenge for 13-15 year old kids. This was promising. Two teams, gray and blue, had to hike up a long mountain trail to the elimination challenge. I couldn't wait to see what it was! NBC must have realized this, as they cut to a commercial break. Nothing could have prepared me for what came after the break. The exciting challenge was...

Rock Paper Scissors?! Wah wah. It's no wonder children's television is being overrun by violence and probably sex. Rock Paper Scissors isn't even remotely fun to play. Why would anyone want to watch it?

Nonetheless, this was a perfect start to Saturday.

Friday, November 18, 2005

Hillarious

posted by Dave @ 12:53 PM   0 comments

Yahoo! News Headline:
"Surge in US sea lion numbers angers fishermen"

Don't think about it and it's hillarious.

Why I Cry

posted by Dave @ 12:18 PM   1 comments

Click Here. :(

We're Definately Going For Lunch This Saturday.

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

This is where I work

posted by Dan @ 2:56 PM   2 comments

So we have some message boards at work and I thought I would share one post that was on a Math board we have:

A fort, full of pirate-hating ninjas, has just received word that there is a pirate ship 50 km away. As luck would have it, the ninjas have a rail gun mounted at sea level that can fire a shot at mach 45 (14850 m/s). Because this problem isn’t absurd enough, the pirate ship has a hyperspace drive that is about to activate in 4 seconds and allow the pirates to escape. The pirate ship is not moving. Assuming that the world is round with a radius of 6300km and ninjas can change the gravitational force of the earth when fighting pirates, what level of gravity is necessary to hit the pirates at the water line of the ship if the ninjas fire the rail gun parallel with the ground.

Pirate ship
Ninja fort
50 km along surface of the sea
Not to scale
Ninja shot trajectory without gravity


and of course a solution was quickly posted

Solution:
I used 3.14 as an approximation for pi in the following calculations

We can consider the fort and ship to be on a single circle of radius 6300km, or a circumference of 39564km.
50/39564 * 360 = 0.45496 degrees for the angle of the arc between the two.

Since the Ninja’s are firing along the tangent to the circle, we have a right triangle with one leg of 6300km, adjacent to an angle of .45496.
6300/(cos (0.45496)) = 6300.1986 for the hypotenuse of the triangle, so with zero gravity, the projectile would be 198.6 meters above the pirate ship. (6300.1986 – 6300 = 0.1986 km)

At mach 45, it takes 3.367 seconds for the projectile to travel 50 km (50000/14850 = 3.367 seconds)

Then we can use the following formula to get the acceleration from gravity necessary for the projectile to strike the pirate ship.
½*at2 + v0t + x0 = 0, where a is the acceleration we are looking for, t is 3.367seconds, vo = 0, and x0 = 198.6 meters
Solving for a we get:
5.6683445a seconds2 = -198.6 m
a = -35.0366 m/s2

Edit: I just noticed I didn't compensate for the fact that while travelling the 50km arc, the projectile actually moves less than 50km in the tangental vector, and its final velocity at impact is actually faster than 14850 m/s, so the total time would be less than 3.367 seconds. However, the perpendicular vectors of the velocity and the slightly shorter distance are so small, that they shouldn't have any major effect on the final result. In any case, if my gravity number is just slightly high, the projectile going at mach 45 would probably just skip across the surface of the water and hit the boat anyway (and the shockwave of it hitting the water would cause some major waves.)


Awesome.

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Huge Gilmore Girls (SPOILERS)

posted by Dave @ 10:18 PM   0 comments

First and foremost, let me say how fantastic it is to see the girls back together again. I felt giddy all three times I watched the last ten minutes of this episode. The phone call and the hug were enough to make me happy, no matter what else happened in this episode. Which was good. Because what else happened was strange...

Two Words: TOO BLUNT.
Let's face it - this episode handled a huge event, an event that has been building for weeks, in a rather strange way. No slow, tense build towards some meeting. Rather, just a sudden phone call, and BAM, it's happening. Which worked in its own way - it really ramped from slow-burn to HOLY BALLS!! In no time. Had this moment not been ruined for me by all those damn Gilmroe Girls ads, I'm sure that moment would have been literally orgasmic. (I am suddenly very very very very mad at all those ads I saw. I'm guessing Pat and Dan will love this episode more than I did because that moment came as a suprise for them. DAMMIT!) Because I was expecting this reunion, I'm guessing it tainted that entire thing for me.

This blunt-ness problem also extended to the completely out of left field new plot of LUKE'S DAUGHTER??? Woah. Let me sit down for a second and just try to figure out where the f this came from. Talk about stealing the thunder. This entire, huge-ass, new plot line was introduced in a short scene which seemed to be some strange joke. Then Luke goes to a middle school science fair, and out of no where he has a daughter. For real. For keeps. What on earth? No where was this ever hinted at. No warm up, no preperation, no rationalization, really, just a sudden punch to the face. This pisses me off a little, because this is supposed to be our few weeks of perfection right here right now. We made it through the weeks of turmoil, and now I'm owed a few episodes where the biggest problem is Kirk's marble truck tipping over. I'm guessing that in a few episodes the new kid will be accepted, and become just another quirky character - someone Rory can mentor, probably. I guess they wanted something extra for Luke to bring to the table - this certianly heightens the stakes for the impending Gilmrore-Danes wededing. Rory's going to get a sister. Another Gilmore Girl? Crazy.

I Did Not Love
All in all I loved the episode, just for all the Rory stuff. The Luke stuff struck me as weird. Very weird. Hopefully it will smooth over soon. I am also nervous about the Luke - Christopher conflict. It makes sense that Luke doesn't like him, but he shouldn't be getting so freaking upset just because he calls. I hope, really hope, that Christoper and Luke will bury that hatchet soon, at least enough that they can be around each other, and that things start shaping up for the wedding. I'm down with extending the conflicts a little bit, but honestly, this is getting a bit close to the "too much" line for me. Once you start introducing mystery daughters, I get a little nervous.

I have every confidence in Ms. Sherman-Palidino, though. I very much look forward to next week (bravo, not skipping a week after the big event this time), and I hope the new kid has some chops. There's no room for a dumb kid in the world of the Gilmores.

I Still Loved
Rory's entire story line. Talk about hitting the ground running - she packs up, moves out, deflects attacks from Lane's boyfriend, fights her way into a job, succesfully lives through a several minute "talking on your cell phone while driving alone" scene without getting in a car crash (something I'm always nervous about in such situations), all in about one day! Fantastic. Great to have her back - Loreli said it best, "Rory's back! She's back at home, back at Yale, she got a job, and she did it all on her own." (Or something to that effect.) I love that she's back at Yale already, and there shall be no extra red tape to get her back on her feet now that she's returned. Anyone think Paris got that apartment anyways, and has a room waiting for Rory...?

Also, I can't wait to see what happens between Rory and Logan.

Here's to the Gilmore Girls! (toast)

Gilmore Girls is Everywhere (No Real Spoilers)

posted by Dave @ 9:23 AM   1 comments

In the past 12 hours I have been hit by a literal hurricane of Gilmore Girls ads. All of them ruining the suprise of tonight's episode. If you have not yet seen any, and don't want to, I recommend you close your eyes and plug your ears for the rest of the day.

The first one came last night as I laid half-asleep in bed. The WB was on, and Maria roused me as a Gilmore Girls ad came on (not knowing the content within, I'm sure). I opened my eyes to be blind-sided by an image and a voice-over that I did not want to see in advance.

I then was confronted by another suprise-spoiling ad on the local paper, and a third inside the paper next to my crossword puzzle.

Clearly the WB wants the word out. Which makes sense - they want people to tune in, but it sucks they are putting the suprise so out there. I probably would have seen this on last week's "next week on the Gilmore Girls" anyways, but we just happened to miss it.

It sucks that its ruined, but I'm psyched as hell for the episode.

VIVA LAS GILMORE GIRLS!!

Monday, November 14, 2005

Wah-wah

posted by Dave @ 4:22 PM   2 comments

Adsense killed my account this morning, as somewhat expected. Probably due to the fact that somewhere around 98% of the clicks came from 10 IPs. Oh, well. Looks like we'll have to go get real jobs now.

Friday, November 11, 2005

Blog Dream

posted by Dave @ 2:50 PM   1 comments

I had an oddly specific and clear dream last night about blogging.

Metzger, Pat and I were sitting around, when Dan revealed to us that he had uncovered a flaw in the bible. Basically he had calculated that, given the reported number of people on earth at one point (it was a couple hundred people at some point, and he knew all of their names, but had forgotten a couple) there was no way the population of earth could have reached the point where it is today. After telling us this, Metzger gets really serious and says, "Listen guys, you can not blog about this, okay? If there's one group you don't want to piss off it's the church."

Whoops.

Bill Ransik = GOB - 100000

posted by Dave @ 12:32 PM   1 comments

These are pictures from The Apprentice. Tell me they don't look straight out of Arrested Development.


Thursday, November 10, 2005

Harry Brammer Called Me!

posted by Dave @ 1:34 PM   1 comments

Oh my god! I'm so star-struck! Harry Brammer just called ME on the TELEPHONE! We talked for a while, then I had to go, so we hung up. I'm going to drive him to Madison tomorrow! Harry Brammer! In MY CAR! *SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEL!*

If you're out on your own...

posted by P. Arty @ 11:37 AM   5 comments

Gilmore Girls probably saved my life.

This episode featured the best out-of-episode moment since the scuffle in the kitchen between Mootzgerino and myself. Within seconds of pushing the play button on the TiVo remote, Metzger and I were in an intense shouting match. I don't think either of us were shouting at each other, or even responding to what the other person was saying.

When we saw Jess on the "Previously on Gilmore Girls," Mootz's reaction was to instantly shout, "No! Dear God no! NO!" Whereas, I proceded to shout, "Nothing will ever make me as happy as I am right now! Well done Amy Sherman-Palladino!" (Note: Daniel Palladino actually wrote this episode, but I didn't know that at the time.) This continued for at least two minutes.

Best episode I can remember. I might have to stop watching the "Previously on," as it totally ruined the surprise of Jess' arrival. I also saw Milo Ventimiglia's name on the opening credits, so the "Previously On" was not the only blame. Seeing his name reminded me of the good old days of Six Feet Under, when I would have to close my eyes during the opening credits so I wouldn't see "Richard Jenkins as Nathaniel Fischer." It was always so much sweeter when I didn't know it was coming, even though I always managed to peak at exactly the perfect moment to ruin my plan.

Anyway, Jess is officially my favorite character of the show. Seriously. Once again, Jess pops into Rory's life and gives her exactly what she needs. He's like the Oracle from the Matrix movies.

"I told you exactly what you need to hear, Rory."

I am literally in love with the scene between he and Rory outside the restaurant, after he called new Tristan "the blonde dick at Yale" (nice!). You take everything HDR, The ZZZ, and I would want to say to her, subtract "Good God, you're so hot," and you get Jess' half of the dialogue. It felt sooooo good.

I loved the theme of inadequate substitution that each of the three Gilmore Girls experienced in this episode. My favorite example of this was Lorelai's crying in Rory's bedroom over "the dog." This was nearly of Six Feet Under quality. It would have reached the limit of perfection (Six Feet Under quality) had they kept the subtlty, which was lost as Lorelai claims she's a "bad mother." Still, that scene was genius. Similarly, Rory can't substitute her grandmother for Lorelai or her new life with new Tristen and the DAR for what she really wants (read: Yale + Jess). Emily can't substitute Rory for Lorelai.

Also, the soccer plot was great. The only imperfection of this episode was the soccer game, in my opinion. I just didn't like how this was done. However, the conversation at the second of Luke's tables full of kids of this season definitely made up for it. "She went one way and her knee went the other!"

All in all, my favorite of the season. If Gilmore Girls would be this good everytime they took a week off, I would welcome the new bi-weekly schedule (or does that mean twice a week?).

Well done, Daniel Palladino.

The Thrill of Graduation... All Over Again

posted by Dave @ 9:24 AM   2 comments

So I realized last weekend I still had not recieved my diploma. Hmmm, I thought. November? This seems to be streching it. I had never thought that perhaps I had screwed something up, and maybe I didn't really graduate... But maybe my math was off or I missed something in my DARS report. Oh god, am I going to have to take another computer science class?? I think I would probably cry if that was the case. I emaied the Registrar's office, to see what was up. The only reponse I got was, "I'm forwarding your question to the Degree Audit Office." The degree audit office?? That doesn't sound good! Why would you need to audit anything? Just tell me I'm done and my diploma was just taking longer, as it needed to be coated in gold before sending it out.

I spent the last two days worrying. I was right back in the week between finals and grades. What if something went wrong? I had a hell of a lot more to lose at this point than I did then. I went over the numbers so many times, I had never once worried I figured it wrong, but now I was almost sure of it.

Finally I arrived at work this morning to find the single most reassuring email of all time. Turns out they accidentally sent my diploma to our old Bassett address. I did, in fact, graduate, and my diploma will be resent immediately. So here's to me, and my giant brain. And also to Dan, and his signifantly gianter brain, who got me through about 50% of my CS classes. It's so very good to be sure I'm a college grad again.

Signed,
David "HDR" Ryan, B.S.

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

To Help Joe In His Two Burrito Goal

posted by Dan @ 2:11 PM   1 comments

And for everyone else...
I figure we will need about six or seven of these.

Tuesday, November 08, 2005

Various Imporant Updates

posted by Dave @ 9:35 AM   2 comments

AdSense
Pat asked for an AdSense update. We're still doing well, though it seems to be slowing down. I did a lot of clicking from my parent's house, home, etc, but the flow of cash seems to be subsiding. I'm not sure if Google perhaps notices all the clicks come from a few IP addresses? I've also noticed we often have these Hurricane Katrina donation ads up now. I'm guessing these don't generate income.

We're still racking up some dough, though, crossing the $20 mark over the weekend. Keep it up, at this rate we'll have a little chunk of cash for use sometime soon.

Blogolution Awards?
The proposed use of said cash. I've just started planning for Christmas a little bit, and it's going to be a hectic time. Who is headding up the Blogolution Awards? When/where will they be? Personally, I could probably make something a couple of days after Christmas, but really we're talking about a one or two day window here. I miiight be able to take the entire week between Christmas and New Years off, in which case I could be a lot more flexible.

Gilmore Girls is the underlying bond of all friendship
I found out last night that all my new buddies down here love Gilmore Girls too. One of them even threw out a "G-Squared". Awesome.

Monday, November 07, 2005

Madison Mash-Em-Up Itinerary

posted by P. Arty @ 9:34 PM   3 comments

Friday:
6:00pm-10:00pm Arrival, Check-In
10:00pm Opening Ceremony with Hollywood Dave Ryan
11:00pm Possible trip to Genna's? Foosball? Bat hunting in Pat's apartment (bring your own umbrella; I have rubbermaid containers for everyone)?

Saturday:
1:00pm Lunch at Qdoba. Josef Pfeiffer will be eating two burritos.
3:00pm-ish Matinee showing of Saw II. Rory's parents may come!
5:00pm-ish Group blog about Saw II.
6:00pm-ish Dinner at some sort of eatery.
8:00pm Atlas, featuring Hollywood Dave Ryan
10:00pm Genna's? Foosball? Bat hunting in Metzger's apartment?

Sunday:
11:00am Breakfast at The Original Pancake House. Pfeiffer's treat.

Anything else anyone wants to do? For the record, Genna's is a bar. There are a variety of different bars we can go to, if people want to go to a bar. If not, I'm not sure what else to do, as neither Metzger nor I have spacious areas like 208 to entertain large groups of people. Any suggestions will be taken seriously. Especially those made by Chris Polley, since Saturday is your birthday and all.

Also! You are more than welcome to sleep on Metzger and my floors/couches. I hear Pfeiffer's bringing some air mattresses, and Dave's staying at his sister's place, so we might not have to make anyone sleep on the floor. I would recommend bringing other sleeping things, such as pillows and blankets. I live alone, and Metzger sleeps in the nude with no coverings. We have limited supplies. I would also recommend bringing a towel.

Here's the expected guest list. Let me know if you are coming and not on the list or on the list and not coming:

Chris + Jes
Joe + Bri
Dave + Maria
Qualler
Brams Stoker (Harry) !!!

See you all soon at the Madison Mash-Em-Up!

Small MMEU Report

posted by Dave @ 12:06 PM   3 comments

My sister (who lives in the Maddest of townes, that of Madison), has generously offered up her apartment for use during the Madison Mash-Em-Up, as she will not be there. So we'll be able to at least spread out a little more that Pat & Dan's floors.

In other MMEU news, if you're going, put a little comment here, so we know how many tickets to Saw II to buy. And how many Qdoba burritos to order. And how many chocolate chip pancakes the pancake house will need to prepare. And how many foosball goals I'll score. Etc.

Pfeiff-Crotch: You're Next on the CTA Chopping Block

posted by Dave @ 9:23 AM   6 comments

You may recall not too long ago when the CTA used me to communicate a horrendous, ear-splitting diss to the Twin Cities. I'm afraid the CTA's wrath has stuck again, this time hitting that "Freddie Prinze Junior +10" friend of ours, Joe Pfeiffer.

Upon departing from the train this morning, I looked up and read,

"US Cellular thinks small business owners should get more attention that the average Joe. Sorry, Joe."


I'll leave a moment to let that soak.

Not only do they put Joe in his "place" by placing him securly at least one peg below the backwater American small buisness owners (who regularly sell their chilren for office supplies and fail to pay taxes properly), they label him as "average".

Joe - I don't think you're average. I think you're Pfeiff-tastic.

Friday, November 04, 2005

Noooo! 1/3 of What I Drink!

posted by Dave @ 3:20 PM   3 comments

Read the terrible news.

The good news is it may come back. Why would they bring that black cherry junk out instead? Didn't eveyone hate that? Ah, well. At least Hendrax still owes Pat $1,000.

Did Someone Mention A Bat Problem?

posted by caps @ 2:08 PM   4 comments


Sorry if the image is hard to see, I had others that were cropped and had "BATS" crossed out on the "shield," but they wouldn't upload (check your e-mails).

That is an actual bullet-proof vest that I bought at a Goodwill down here. There is no kevlar armor, but it looks nice stuffed with foam.

Adsense... Profitable?

posted by Dave @ 11:31 AM   3 comments

Hey all, I'm as amazed as the next guy, but it appears that this Adsense thing is actually generating some income. In about a week of running ads I've actually seen $4.34 show up in my adsense account. There are rules to this, the biggest one being that you can only get a check mailed to you once you've earned $100, but the point is that this appears to be working a little bit. I've put the Adsense ads at the bottom of this blog now as well, please click on them, and also click on the ones on spanishturtle. I'm going to suggest we all put these ads on our blogs, perhaps this could actually turn out to be a little money-maker for us all. I'll be sure to check out anyone elses ads that are put up. I can't help but feel a little dirty doing this, but hey - free money. CLICK THEM MICE!

I'd propose that we take any money generated by Life After 208 here and put it towards making the Blogolution Awards Festivle kick-ass. We'd all have to click the ads an awful lot in the next few weeks to hit that $100 mark, but it may be possible.

(Members of Life After 208 - if this is at all not cool, say so and the ads come down in an instant.)

Thursday, November 03, 2005

James! COME BACK TO MADISON NOW!

posted by P. Arty @ 8:31 PM   4 comments

I'm typing this as I'm huddled by my computer, my eyes constantly darting behind me any time I hear any sort of noise. I live in a thin-walled, thin-cielinged, creaky old apartment, so this is often. Next to me I have an umbrella, and the plastic cover to a large Rubbermaid container. These are the best weapons I could find.

I feel like I'm literally in the city of Malton: scrounging for supplies, terrified of everything, just trying to survive. If I make it through the night, I will be amazed.

I remember the old days, when the only thing we had to worry about were mice. Oh sweet, sweet mice. Eating Metzger's Gargetos, occasionally popping out for a nice scare. They were kind of cute, weren't they? The only other problem we had then were the fictional bats in the attack.

Now, my friends, the bats are real. Well, the bat is, at least. That's right! A BAT! THE SCARIEST CREATURE OF THEM ALL:



I came back home tonight, got the mail, and spent about ten seconds reading it by my front door. Out of the corner of my eye I see something moving. I look at it, and realize it's FLYING towards me. MICE DON'T FLY!

In that moment the sinking feeling settled in. I realized I had a bat in my apartment. A BAT IN MY APARTMENT. Naturally, I ran out of my apartment, closing the door behind me. I ran outside, and looked in my apartment through the window. The bat was flying around in circles. There's not much else it could do, I guess.

I decided I need to do something. I braced myself for about twenty minutes, then I went back in my building. I was ready to make my move. I opened the door to my apartment and bolted out the door back outside to my observing post. All the bat had to do now was fly out my door and into the hall. Problem solved!

Unfortunately, bats are stupid. This bat continued to fly around in circles for another ten minutes or so. I got sick of watching this, so I stopped watching, thinking of what else I could do. All my great bat-fighting weapons were inside! I looked back in the window, and I didn't see any movement. Is it possible that my plan worked, and that the bat was no longer in my apartment? Good God, I hope so.

With my umbrella and Rubbermaid lid in hand, I searched through my apartment and found no bat. I made lots of noise, and found no bat. I found what I thought was a bat dropping on my bed, but it turned out it was just a piece of fuzz. Here we are, thirty minutes later, and I still have seen no bat. I wish more than anything that Caps was here to protect me from this awful devil of a creature.

DEAR LORD! I'M PRETTY SURE I JUST HAD A HEART ATTACK. As I was searching for a picture of a rubbermaid lid, I came across a page to help you make a "cricket enclosure." In the background of this awful, awful website is a soundclip of a cricket chirping. Fuck. For all I know, that's what bats sound like. I'm pretty sure in The Magic Schoolbus, when the bus turned into a bat to use echo location, the noise it made sounded a lot like a cricket.



About 45 minutes in, and still no sign of the bat. That's a good sign, right? I guess I'll just have to wait and see if it shows up. I think perhaps the scarier part, is that I had no doors or windows open. There are three possible explanations:

1. The bat got in here through some sort of hole or crack. It was a big bat, so I don't know where the f it would have gotten in, although I do have a pretty crappy apartment.

2. This bat has followed me from 208. He set up camp here and has been waiting until this opportune moment to strike.

3. Bats can travel through walls. This is the most likely option, and also the scariest.

Regardless of how it got in here, I just hope it got out. I will keep you posted on any news in the bat saga.

Wednesday, November 02, 2005

Capsasaurus strikes Orlando

posted by caps @ 6:18 PM   3 comments

I am sorry if the feeling of Halloween came late for some of you. The true spirit of the season can never fully come until Capsasaurus appears.


However, when he is in near you must proceed with caution. Though he may appear cuddly and friendly to most, one can never fully be sure.


Unless you were a friend to him during his developing years, there is always the threat that you may unintentionally say or do something to make him angry. For example:


Here the peaceful Capsasaurus is exploring new territory when he confronts an individual mocking his appearance. Seeing this as a threat Capsasaurus attacked. Needless to say the results were not pretty and could not be displayed here. So if you see Capsasaurus, say "Hi", give him a high five, or maybe even give a hearty "Hoo-Ra", just don't mock him. If you don't heed this warning, you may just have to face the consequences:


Be afraid, be very afraid.




In his stomach, no one can hear you scream.

Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Zombie City is Up

posted by Dave @ 11:22 AM   0 comments

It's there. On the left. I sent out a couple of member invites, if you want to join, just send me your email (my email is spanishturtle@hotmail.com), or put it in a comment here. Everyone should join.