our E3 press conference

I watched our E3 press conference this morning. It is mostly 2 hours of self congratulatory rhetoric accompanied by carefully manipulated sales data. But some of the previews for games are pretty cool. We also got to see our VPs doing some silly things on stage like acting in B movie in that new movies game so that is always fun. So here are some interesting notes:

1: The BIGGEST NEWS of ALL of course: Final Fantasy 13 is going to be released on Xbox360. This is a huge coup for Xbox since FF is basically PlayStation's bread and butter. This also means there is no need to buy a PS3 ever muhahah.

2: Resident Evil 5 is going to be online coop- I think it is only going to be 2 player. But killing of Zombies in teams is better than alone!

3: Fable 2 is also going to have online coop. Or rather it is more like MMO, where you can just randomly invite another friend in his/her own single player game in the same area and then quest together :)

4: The Last Remnant, Square Enix's FF clone (imho) is going to be released for PC. hmm maybe I should get it just test out my PC ;)

5: The battle for the ultimate Drum Kit set is starting to get ridiculous. $300 for the new Rockband 2 that has like 7 pads on it. I might as well buy a real drum set humph. Oh and it was also really funny and awkward to see Guitar Hero III guy and Rockband 2 guy taking the same stage one after the other and all very "excitingly" announcing their own proprietary artist release. This is gonna get ugly real soon folks.

6: for the portal fans, they are releasing Portal : Still Alive for the Xbox Arcade. They had GlaDos announce the news. Oh GlaDos, how I missed you.

some real Lightning

You have seen my sad attempt at capturing the lightning storm last week. Now for you to get the full effect, look at my friend's album. He took these pictures at about the same time.

computer woes: the conclusion!

I am now up and running again! It is good to be among the land of the living! As you probably have guessed, I finally assembled my uber machine after nights of anguish and tribulations. As Velius will attest since he listens to me whine all through it. Despite having everything already chosen for me, making this pc work proved to be surprisingly difficult! It is Murphy's Law at work. Basically everything that could go wrong went wrong and I am still shocked at all the crap I had to go through to make this uber machine load BF2142 in 2 seconds.

The actual physical assembly went relatively smoothly, especially after I figured out the front panel can be opened like a door so I can insert my harddrive in it. But then everything just fell apart from there.

Chapter 1: Hardware difficulties
So with much anticipation, I plugged in everything and pushed the power button. The light came on, there is power, the fans are on. Everything is going great. Then the Asus splash screen where it says "press Delete to enter Setup" came up and then nothing... It didn't accept input, it didn't go through hardware check. NOO! SO I had to call up Velius to whine. Fortunately, Velius is much calmer person and told me to check all the connection. That is when I realized that the CPU fan is not working. The 12volt Power plug goes directly next to it (bad design if you ask me) and it is obstructing the fan. After much assurance from Velius that my CPU did not just die from overheating. I was able to tie the power chord somewhere else. Then Power... Nothing.... noooo!!! This time, Velius suggested I remove one of the memory. Power... YES!! moved passed splash screen, did hardware check. Then I realized it is still not accepting keyboard input. Call up Velius again and ask him if I needed ps/2 keyboards. Velius informed me yes. NOOO!! I think I threw my last one away!! But after much searching, I realized i did have an extra one in the closet. So got passed that part. Next in line is XP install.

Chapter 2: XP madness
Now I have an authentic XP OS disk with an authentic key. You would think it would go super smoothly. But of course not. As soon as it got passed the partition part, it was completely stuck at Loading Windows screen pretty much frozen. You just see that annoying progress bar goes back and forth forever. NOOO!! This is right before I left for Vegas. So imagine my frustration knowing I won't be able to debug it until I come back. Velius was again the bearer of all my whining lol. So continuing after the weekend. After I perused a million online threads. I narrowed down the problem to missing SATA drivers. Since I am using the old XP disk it doesn't support SATA. Now ordinarily the solution would be to make a driver floppy and install it before Windows. Unfortunately, my PC didn't come with floppy drives!! So next solution in line is to slipstream it into my disk using Nlite. Since I am doing that anyway, I decided I might as well slipstream in Service Pack 2 as well. Nlite is actually remarkable easy to use. It is an awesome tool. So the sequence of events following is pretty much:

disk 1: burned using simple ISO burner, burn failed.. Trash!!
disk 2: success, would not boot in DVD drive, Trash!!
disk 3: burned using Nero with specific boot settings, STILL would not boot, Trash!!

Then, an epiphany occurred. I have an DVD drive and a CD drive in my PC with my DVD drive as master. I bet the DVD drive doesn't like CD-r boot disks!! ok. back into Bios, switch it all around, picks out disk #2 from trash and Voila boots!! Ok. continuing to install XP. Got passed the progress bar screen in no time. OMG so excited. Then.. failed during actual install. Error says non authenticated something or another. NOOO!! I wondered if maybe it doesn't like boot discs? But people online did it all the time. Then I think maybe I was messing too much with Nlite unattended settings and it somehow fails install.

disk 4: burned using ISO burner with no setting changes. SUCCESS!!
Finally was able to install XP SP2. Then I spent the next 2 hours installing drivers. Asus, graphics card. Oh and I put the second memory stick back in and it still worked!

Chapter 3: USB fail!
So now that Window is installed and nothing can ever ruin my day. I realized that my USB ports didn't work. Neither the ones in the front nor the back except for ONE. God, now I am thinking I have motherboard failure. I can't go on using the PC with only one usb ports! I am gonna have to use ps/2 keyboard forever! After much anguish, ( refrained from whining to Velius cause it was like 3 am in the morning). I found out that when the Asus CD says it has installed all drivers, it didn't mean the SMBus driver. I had to go to Nvidia website and install the latest driver pack for the motherboard that actually made USB work. Thanks ASUS!!

Chapter 4: Microphone setting is where!!??

Now that computer is actually working. The first thing to do is of course to install BF2142. See I got my priorities straight. After you install BF2142 for the first time, it pops up a settings dialog asking to test out the voice chat for the multiplayer. So I break out my Barracuda headphones that I won at WCG last year. It is so fancy, it can simulate 5.1 channel. The plug resembles a DVI plug it's ridiculous. Then to my horror, I realized that my microphone is not working. Now, I have done this enough with M to quickly realize it's probably driver issue. So I went to download the newest Realtek HD audio driver and installed it. It totally didn't help at all. So after another 50 pages of Internet research later, I found the answer. Apparently, even though the Realtek HD audio gives you two sets of volume controls: Playback and Recording (normal so far). Everything is actually in the Playback setting including Microphone volume! WHAT!!?? So even though there is two sets of volumes. The Recording is all grayed out and unusable. How is that even logical? So I searched out the microphone control in the playback section, and sure enough it is muted. Unmute and everything is fine again.


So in the process of creating this PC, all kinds of random problems happened but fortunately I was able to find answers somehow. Now I feel very close to it *pets PC* So I am thankful to the Internet and to Velius for listening to me whine patiently hehehe. I spelled checked this post just for you!

camera fail!

There was a humongous lightning storm tonight. This is super rare in Seattle since despite our rainy reputation, we almost never get anything bigger than a drizzle. When I was on my way home from work, I saw these giant lightning bolts flashing right on top of our Highlands mountain. It was so bright it lit up the entire sky even though it was so far away i couldn't even hear the thunder. I had this whim to try to capture it on my camera. Now a SD 700 IS is really not the right camera for this job I think. Tochicam would be much much better. I was not really sure what settings to use so I kinda fooled around with it. I think I set exposure to +2 so it will capture the maximum light. Then I set ISO to 80 because there is this street lamp right outside my house and I didn't want to be blinded. Although It took me a while to figure out if smaller number is better. Then I set it on continuous shot until I ran out of batteries. the first picture I took above was on ISO 800 so it didn't look that great :( The second is on ISO 80 but the timing wasn't perfect and I only got the end of the it. so really I only got this one pic that came out ok. But it really failed to capture the majesty of it all. Next time I will be ready!

Epic Biking Adventure

It all started with me buying a $60 bike from Target in high school. I always felt it is my obligation as a Chinese to be insanely awesome at biking. But needless to say, like my many other dreams, this one didn't really pan out. I kinda rode it around my neighborhood in NC, finding that even small gentle hills are beyond my weak wobbly grasp and I put it away for 5 years. The poor bike was moved across country and sat in my garage all this time until a month ago when suddenly I had this whim that I should fix it and ride it around when it's summer. (these whims never turn out well..hmm..). Anyway, so I spent 30 bucks and got my rear tire replaced. In the words of the technician, "this kind of bending only happens when a car hits your bike" I said "hmm.. I am pretty sure nothing like that happened to me..." I know this because i have never ridden it outside my neighborhood haha. Anyway, so I rode my old/new bike around the park for a couple of days until I can stop without panicking and toppling over. All is going well until last week when Kirason said "soo.. now you have a bike, I want to rollerblade from Redmond to Seattle, want to come?"
me:" .... how far is that?"
Kirason: "oh about 20 miles"
me:"...sure"

Ahh, the courage of the ignorant. kirason assured me that since she is on rollerblades, I wouldn't have to go very fast and can totally make it.

So the original plan is that we go one way, and drive back. However, the third person decided he really wanted to do the round trip. So I was like. sure whatever having absolutely no concept of what that is like.

So the much anticipated day comes, it is the hottest day of the year, 90 degrees outside. beautiful sky absolutely no cloud. We rode on the Burke-Gilman trail which is this really nice and long trail that goes around the entire Seattle area. You can bike on the entire paved trail. Kirason assured me that the entire route we picked is actually quite flat with only very small hills. The first third of our route runs along the Sammamish River, passing farmlands, trees and small neighborhood with parks. It is quite nice since we started at 11 am so there is still shade from the tall trees. I kept my pace nice and slow to conserve energy. So slow that even Kirason was ahead of me on roller blade -__-!! . We rested at a park about 6 miles in and drank some water. The day is getting really hot now but there is still a nice breeze going. The middle part of the trail goes into the city of Kenmore along some busy streets, and then winds around the edge of Lake Washington on top of the waterfront properties. We saw some really fancy houses along the water. Even though the trail was surrounded by greenery, the Noon sun didn't really give us any shade at all. We rested again at the 12 miles. It is a good thing that all the park has drinking fountains to fill our water bottle. Both of my companions had gatorades but I just had water. I think it was fine tho. The last third of the trail is this enormous gently climbing hill to Gas Works Park along the water edge, passing through the university district. That was quite trying for me as I don't have any strength for hill climbing. After climbing the hill for an hour I was quite sick of it and my legs are getting really tired and I can feel them starting to cramp. But they never really did. I was really running out of energy when we arrived after 25 miles at Gas Works, we rested for about half an hour for a lunch sandwich and then it's time to come back! As soon as I started the trip back, I noticed that my legs and knees are hurting really bad. I pushed on but it was kind of distracting. I complained to Kirason that I never got my seat adjusted so I can't extend my leg all the way and that is probably why it hurts.. She suggested that when we past that bike shop on the way I should see if I can get it adjusted. That turned out to be a brilliant idea. The very nice guy at the bike shop took one look at my bike and was like, this seat needs to be much higher. He had to raise it 4 inches to the properly position for me, all free of charge. Before I left, he also said "your tires are only 1/3 full, if you fill them up outside, it will make it much easier" OMG he is the nicest, most helpful guy ever!! So I biked 25 miles on a seat too low for me and on tires with no air. Now that I fixed everything, the next 25 should be a breeze!!

Turned out the adjustments worked wonders. My legs didn't hurt again in the next 25 miles. But now that the seat is 4 inches higher, I completely cannot get on and off the bike again. Everytime I have to get on, I end up falling over and the same when I try to get off. Now there is an incentive to just keep peddling lol. Now it is about 3 o'clock in the afternoon and the sun is in full fury and all the breeze died down. So it is 3 hours of burning hotness back home. We rested at the same places we did the first time. At this time, I am significanly slower now. Kirason and the other guy have far outstripped me by 15 minutes. They have stopped periodically to wait for me but I told them not to bother since I will just be slow again. The exhaustion, the heat and endless trail finally got to me around 1.5 miles from the end. I keep telling myself just 5 minutes more, but at mile marker 3, I completely lost concentration and my legs couldn't move like I told them to. Actually I think my legs still had strength left, it is just my mind is so exhausted and I couldn't focus. It is kind of sad as I am sooo close to the end. I had to stop and walk with my bike for 10 minutes until the heat is just too much and I have to keep biking to keep cool lol, and I finally made back to the parking lot at 6:45 with Kirason already sitting in the car. She was pretty exhausted at the end too. I am so in awe of her for roller blading the entire 50 miles. Not only that, she was faster than me biking!!!

So that was my adventure, biking 50 miles in a day after barely learning how to bike. This was the hardest sporting thing I have ever done. I am so glad I did it tho. Apparently I can really do some crazy stuff if I really tried lol.

ETA: I almost forgot to mention, my bike fell in a ditch while I was still on it. Fortunately, it was a grass lined ditch so I was not hurt except for bruised ego from all the passerbys laughing at me and a big splinter in my thumb that I had to pick out with a needle. Good times!

treasure off Youtube

so actually I have no idea how I got around to these videos. But suffice to say by some strange twist of fate (clicks?) I managed to find these really entertaining cover songs done by some really talented people. I am always amazed how much talented singers are out there on Youtube. I especially liked the Apologize cover, that just looked like so much fuN!

One Republic - Apologize w/AJ Rafael, Chris Cendana, and Der


Lucky - Jason Mraz and Colbie Callait cover



I am Yours - Jason Mraz cover (I really like this guy's voice)

new Computer on the way

I finally made the decision yesterday and ordered from newegg. Thanks to Velius for basically choosing everything for me and therefore spare me the effort of having to think :D BF2142 on All high settings, here I come!

Antec Three Hundred Black ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail - $69.95

1 Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor Model BX80562Q6600 - Retail
$209.99

1 G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ - Retail $84.99

1 ASUS P5N-D LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 750i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $149.99

2 EVGA 640-P2-N829-AR GeForce 8800GTS SSC 640MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail $399.98
($199.99 ea)

1 CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply - Retail $109.99

total $1,024.89

trivia!

I haven't updated trivia in a couple of weeks mostly because I have been missing it. So time for an update! Today it was the old guy doing the questions and immediately we know we were in trouble. Because he is known for "Jeopardy scoring" and obscure ancient trivia which he likes to taunt the young'uns with. But Velius would be happy to know that "Night of the Iguana" made an an appearance today. We had an category called "where am I " where we had to name fictional places that movies have taken place. The question was in which city was "Night of the Iguana" filmed. We randomly guessed Rio De Janeiro but it turned out to be Porta Vallarta which made sense I suppose. Pretty soon we would know everything there is to know about this movie without actually seen it haha. Other questions in the category were:

Which hotel was The Shining taken place in (the fictional name)
The hotel that housed Pretty Women (Darn, I almost got this one, and I really should since I have seen this movie 50 times at least)
The town of Jaws
The beach that can see HayStack Rock (this is in Oregon apparently)

We also did kinda bad in First Songs of Musicals (who has even heard of The Fantastics???), and the first bonus category: Dead Or Alive. I think we thought all the alive people were dead and all the dead people were alive. That was pretty sad hahah. We faired pretty well in an cateogry about Eddie Murphy (God he was in so many bad movies) and we did our usual best in the News category. But despite beating the last place team by 20 points, we still came in 2nd to last with 57 points. On an even sadder note, the one man team of super awesomeness won again....

funny video for you WoWers

World of Workcraft

computer woes!

I have had a string of bad luck in the home computer area the last couple of weeks. First, M's computer refused to boot, throwing a "corrupt config/system" error randomly after rebooting one day. Microsoft suggested that it is an registry error but I suspected HD error instead. Before I even gotten around to take a look, my own machine also threw the same error a few days later. This is after I came back from like a 4 day vacation and turning it on. On the surface, it seems like they are related but I really dont' see how. I dont' know any virus that would kill the HD like that. Anyway, in frustration, I decided to forego computer use for a couple of weeks. It was strangely liberating not to be tied to the Internet all day long. I actually got a large amount of GTA done. You never know how much time you are using up until you can't surf the web anymore!

Anyway, lack of computers has gotten M very antsy after a week or so. She even went so far to suggest that we buy a laptop so she can keep online!! I have created a monster! I told her that buying a laptop is NOT the solution to our problems and resigned to start to fix her problem. I used a seagate diagnostic tool to scan the HD which threw a few read errors but generally the file system seem to be intact although XP Recovery Console refused to recognize that there is a OS installed. I thought the best way to go is to boot from a linux disk (Knoppix) which runs an operating system from memory and get all her stuff off to her external drive which I just bought her a couple weeks ago and then format the HD. That went reasonably well. I copied all her docs and favorites and stuff to the external HD. Then I bought her a new bigger HD plus memory upgrades (you can never just buy one thing on Newegg!). So reinstalled windows etc etc. everything runs beautifully. XP boots up in 5 seconds. M started using it with happiness and then we realized something horrible, the linux OS apparently doesn't recognize file named in Chinese!! none of them got copied over. So we lost all her music, videos and favorites that she named in Chinese!!! Now that I put a new HD in, I can't go back to the HD because her stupid Dell machine only allows one SATA HD to be installed (they removed all the extra plugs). booo!! So I had to convince M that naming stuff in chinese is a bad idea. I think she was suspicious but she went with it. Incidentally, I am never buying a cheap Dell computer again! It is a piece of crap. After I bought it, I had to buy M a new HD, a new sound card, new memory, a switch to go with the new soundcard, new microphones to go with the new sound card and a external harddrive since she ran out of room in her original. for all that I could have built her a better one already humph!!!

Now having done all that relatively painlessly, I decided it is time to tackle my own computer since I found that I am fighting M over computer time now that we have one. (-_-!! its evil!!). now my HD is organized into three partitions, OS, data and data2 which is filled with Clay stuff (no laughing!!). I figure I could still get the data out of it and just wipe it clean. however, this is much much worse. Seagate diagnostic started throwing out read errors for basically huge chunks of file segments. chkdsk would fail at 10% without fail. basically i think the entire middle chunk of the drive is busted (why!!! why!!!). which means that I lost pretty much all of my data partition, filled with my pictures, my mp3s, basically everything I ever owned in cyberspace. however, all my Clay stuff is all still there ( great that really helps since I can redownload everything from the web anyway). So I plugged in my IDE HD into M's machine as a slave and started looking at data recovery tools online that can read a corrupted NTFS system and salvage whatever is left. I got GetDataBack which seems to be pretty good. I had to download from a Chinese website (cough cough) and for a while it seemed to going really well. It can read file segments and skip the bad ones and salvage whatever is left. So I started it up and told it to read through the data partitions which is about 200G. It said it will take 15 hours so I went to bed. When I woke up in the morning, the entire computer is frozen. no mouse, no keyboard, no display. What can I do, I had to reboot. As soon as it restarted, my HD started making the whirl and clicking noise really loudly when it was accessed. I knew righ then I am doomed. After the computer came back, it couldn't even recognize that I have a second HD installed. my HD just clicks like a old man on his death bed coughing his lungs out. So all that work is for nothing. this drive is just a pretty brick now. or as Velius puts it, a sophisticated brick.

Velius has now convinced me that I should just buy a new computer. He was nice enough to even list out all the components for me lol. So I guess I am upgrading!

midyear review

So, I have been neglecting this blog for a while now. Tochi, you are a BAD influence. well also facebook is a very bad influence. But anyway, I thought I should come back to it and try to keep it up and what better way to restart than to do a midyear review of my New Year "commitments".

Moonfleck's 2008 New Years Resolution Update:

1. Go to the gym at least once a week- I have been doing pretty well with this because my officemate is keeping me on my toes. I have been playing Badminton twice a week for the first couple months and then I lost my partner. So now I am doing cardio kickboxing once a week plus wallyball. I was reading my old ski posts and I think I need to strength my knee muscles before I can go ski again.

2. Read one book a month - well, I am a little behind here but I have read at least 4 books. I have read The KiteRunner, The Assault on Reason, Meisner's On Acting, and now I am reading A History of Iran. It is hard to choose what books to read since I want to read nonfiction but usually they are so boring I fall asleep after 3 pages. :(

3. Continue piano lessons - Total fail here. Haven't even tried.

4. Learn ONE song on guitar - Total fail here too. But I still have half a year I guess.


5. Do not lose touch with all the friends I am in touch with - Doing ok here. I saw the Veggies last months. Facebook is also making everything easier. :) Still working on this.


6. Redecorate my room - TOTAL SUCCESS!! I have sold all my old furniture, bought new ones fro Ikea, including all new sheets and pillows and mattress. I even threw in a new mattress for my mom. I was also able to donate tons of old stuff to good will. As GlaDos would say "HUGE SUCCESS!"

7. Learn to cook 3 new dishes - hmm.. haven't been able to yet although I might learn how to make cookies this week. I think that would count. My plan is to make the roasted duck that we saw on Yan Can Cook at Kungs haha.

The Ultimate Shopping Spree

Ever imagining what will you do if you won the lottery? What if the lottery is 3 trillion dollars? which is the projected final expenditure for the Iraq War. At http://3trillion.org/ you can do that. Go on a shopping spree and see what can you buy with 3 trillion dollars. Here is the opportunity to by that clone of Angelina Jolie you always wanted...

just like real life

So I was just taking a leisurely stroll through my 'hood the other night when I came upon this building that looked like a night club. ( I guess its the neon lights and the bouncers). So I thought I would go check this "petroshka" place out. Just as I walked passed the bouncer and was about to push open the double doors. I heard someone beside me say "Oh nooo you don't". I was a little confused. I mean here I was, a grown man with some money, why the hell can't I go check it out? But it is too early in the night for trouble so I decided to turn and walk away. What did I get for such an act of concession?? TWO bouncers started to come after me, trying to beat me up. I tried to fight them off a bit but there are two of them swinging their fist and I still can't get the "duck" timing right. so they cornered me and I couldn't run away. By this time I am getting annoyed, heck I didn't even set foot in their stupid club!! My health is in the red and I have no choice so I decided I really have to shoot them! See, this is how a decent man is forced into crime!! I was perfectly willing to just beat them up and leave but look what they did!! However, as soon as I pulled out my "piece" they screamed and ran away, leave me behind holding a pistol gaping like an idiot. AHA!! so that is how you get rid of people, I can see the advantages of this gun thing.... either that, or kungfu...

*omg, I am totally getting corrupted*

wow!

So I was browsing Rickey.org while waiting for AI results with Kungfucius. when I noticed they have this live blogging event post. So I clicked on it. and when you load the webpage, it is basically has a Twitter like interface but 100 times better. It's this software made by CoverItLive.com Rickey was blogging in real time, and all the guests can comment, and he can post pictures, and video and audio almost in real time and also throw out poll questions! This is amazing!! It even saves the entire event for a replay later if you like. I am constantly surprised by how far technology is progressing. just imaging, if this thing has a web interface for managing, and you have an iphone that can access internet anywhere. Basically you can be your own real time news show. You can see something happening, use your iphone to take pictures, video etc. then go on line, log into your CoverItLive, and do real time chats with audio/video. Now I know this is not groundbreaking technology or whatever, but it is still so freaking cool!!!

bring it on!

So I finally succumbed to the hype and bought GTA 4, much to the dismay of M. She keeps saying" why would I want to play a bad guy!!??". I really have no good response for her except assuring her that I will be the "good guy among bad guys". Kinda like Chow Yun Fat in mob movies you know? Actually that is my goal, to build East European immigrant Niko into the next Chow Yun Fat in Liberty City.

The game itself is actually incredibly well made. There is amazing amount of details in the city. The art, music and the atmosphere is all so well done. I am very impressed. They basically give you no manual to start the game except a city map. I assume they expect most people to already know what to do but it is all new to me since I haven't played the previous series. So I spent a long time just walking around, getting to know the layout and the movement. I thought the most annoying thing is the camera. It tends to zoom in and out really fast due to the angle you are at and it made me kind of dizzy. The most surreal thing that happened in the first 5 minutes is me sitting on sofa in my living room watching Niko sitting on a sofa in his living room watching a dingy tv with real tv programs ON MY tv!!. I spent about 10 minutes watching a documentary of the beginning of Liberty City although it was more like a mockumentary filled with sarcastic comments about the "morality" of the first settlers lol. Part of me want to just sit there and watch tv just to see how long of a program they actually included and when does it start recycling lol.

So anyway, in my attempt to stay good, I have been very careful not to become a indiscriminate killer. To the game's credit, every mission had a very good motivation and you don't feel like you are doing a bad thing while doing it. So after about 3 hours of play, here is the tally of my "accidental" bad deeds.

Broke umptee amount of lightpoles, garbage cans and various paper stands chasing loan sharks (mostly due to horrible driving skills)

Ran over a kid on a bicycle while I was on a date with this nice girl (she didn't say anything.. and that kid came out of NO WHERE!!! I actually felt kinda bad about that lol. )

Beat up some poor guy on the street corner just to test out the punching button.

Gotten chased by 50 police cars and a helicopter because I tried to "cross the bridge" on foot. How the hell am I suppose to know that I am not allowed to cross the bridge until I unlock certain missions.

Kinda trashed my cousin's taxi numerous times, basically after every mission. But really, he gets it back new at the next mission so that should be ok

oh yeah, I also refused to pay tolls over the bridge... I ran the gate thing :D That thing was $5!!! total ripoff!

See, that wasn't so bad right? I even refrained from robbing the laundry mat and the internet cafe even though a context menu popped up saying I could "press Y to open cash register..." -_-!!!

funny IM conversation with Snoopy

Here is a funny conversation Snoopy and I had earlier today (edited for clarity etc.)

Moonfleck: oh speaking of baby names
my coworkers is about to have a second child
his first child is a boy
and he is trying to think of a name for the second, but he doesn't know the sex
so he is going through this list for boy and girls
and he is Egyptian
so like his rules for names are :
1) it has to be Arabic name
2) it has to be pronounceable by Americans
3) it can't be any Christian themed
Snoopy:
lol
Moonfleck:
so I was like.. hmm so what is the name of your first boy
he was like :"Adam"
hahahahha
Snoopy:
wtf?
LOL
so these rules apparently didn't apply to the first son??
Moonfleck:
well apparently adam is arabic
Snoopy:
yeah but also Christian themed!!
Moonfleck:
yeah. I was like. um.. anybody that heard that name is gonna think Christian
Snoopy:
lol
Moonfleck:
and he was like. well it is Arabic name first
Snoopy:
.....
tell him if he has another son to name him osama
it's definitely Arabic, not Christian, and Americans DEFINITEly know how to pronounce it lol

where to buy?

So my cousin in China wants me to buy him Lenovo X61 notebook. I looked around, and the official site seems to have the lowest price. Any ideas where else would be cheaper?

a masterpiece

The other day, while I was at the soccer game. My friend got me a bottle of water from the foodstand. I finally finished drinking it today (yes I am a camel). So I was looking at the label out of boredom and it said, in very new age pretty blue font: "Jones Natural Artisan Water, not from the tap". What the hell does that mean? Is there such a thing as "unnatural water?" what would that be called? "irradiated mutated water"? I imagine the Jones company probably has a beautifully and lovingly crafted workshop in the back of their bottling factory filled with solemn elves carefully stacking hydrogen atoms onto oxygen atoms to create the most intricate patterns of water molecule designed to quench the thirst of even the most picky human. How else can it deserve the "artisan" description. and I certainly hope it wasn't directly from the tap since we probably paid 3 bucks for this fancy artisan water and I can get tap water for free!!

What is next? designer air?

Viva Mexico!

sorry about the picture quality, I took this using my phone.

I attended a soccer exhibition game at Qwest stadium on Wednesday. The games are part of the Mexico tour 2008. It is China vs. Mexico that day. Now I am not really a big soccer fan but my friend wanted to check it out so I went. Have to cheer on the national team! The traffic was absolutely horrible that day. We were stuck on the bridge for 2 and a half hours even though we left 2 hours before kickoff. So we ended up missing the first half. Stupid soccer game with no time stoppage lol.

While we were stuck on the bridge, I was amazed by how many Mexican soccer fans there were. We were surrounded by a sea of cars with green flags waving. They honked all the way from east end to west end. I saw plates from California and Oregon. It was pretty cool to see all these people coming up to support the Mexican team. Although it made traffic unbearable. The most funny thing I saw was a jeep with its roof down and a guy sitting in it wearing this humongous sombrero screaming at the top of his lungs. I swear I was the only Chinese person for miles around and I imagined they all looked at me with disdain as our car inched past hahaha (j/k).

So after we finally got to the stadium, I was completely flabbergasted at the amount of people. The entire football stadium was completely filled. The energy and excitement was so palpable. It is like one giant party. There were so many Mexican soccer fans there that they announced the entire game in Spanish, not even bother with English. I saw one tiny section of Chinese soccer fans waiting the red flag in vain,completely being overwhelmed by a sea of green haha. The seats we got was smack dab in the middle of nowhere so I kept my head down. Now I have never been to a real soccer game so everything was new to me. Apparently there is this habit of throwing paper airplanes down to the field. I don't really know how people was suppose to run around on there without tripping over 500 paper airplanes. What weird habits! lol.

In the end, Mexico won 1:0 against China. This is a good thing as I avoided getting beat up by 52,000 angry soccer fans hahaha. It was quite inspiring how everybody came together to support the home team. I swear the entire hispanic population of Seattle was there at the game.

Just a side note, apparently Seattle is applying for permission to start a professional soccer team, the Seattle Sounders. This ought to be fun if it happens. I can start at the beginning and actually get to know the teams. Also, this means Beckham may visit someday hahah!

AI top7 review

I am actually surprised that Idol didn't have a Mariah Carey night before. Her repertoire is choked full of bombastic ballads that are perfect for this show. I thought everyone did really great tonight (yes even Kristy sigh). The songs were able to showcase their vocals as well as their diversity. I can't put them into categories tonight because everyone did well. At this point, I am willing to go for a top 3 all male showdown though. I thought all three guys were really different and lovely in their own way. All three of them will be able to have a good career.

In order of performance:

David Archuleta: Really good choice of a song and sang it really well. I think he eats ballads like this for breakfast. Probably have been singing the same kind of songs since he was 5. He is totally going to be the next male Hannah Montana haha. The only thing is I don't think he is used to singing R&B runs. The runs were kinda forced and unnatural. He is definitely safe either way.

Carly Smithson- Btw, Clay sang it better. just FYI haha. Carly's vocals were as brilliant as always. I feel like the judges were way harsh. They are trying to influence the votes maybe. I think Carly was handicapped by a bad arrangement of the song. It climaxed too quickly, forcing her to scream through half of it. She should have done a quiet second verse before going for the second climax and go all out.

Syesha Mercado-I have no criticism for her. This is about as perfect as you can do on AI. She is just not as big of a personality as the rest of them. I am pretty sure she can't win regardless.

Brook Whites- OMG, who in the world did the arrangement for this song? First of all, it was WAY WAY too fast. Brook can barely get all the words out, and then the piano raced to the end, forcing her to play catch up thereby making it even worse. She was totally screwed by the song arrangement. Poor Brook

Kristy Lee Cook- I am guessing the hotness law still applies here. She definitely had the worst vocals of the night, but even that was tolerable. I am saddened to say we will probably sit through another week of her painful warble.

David Cook- Ok, I think he is being overhyped now. It was an original version of that song but he hardly sang it well. He was slightly offkey the entire song. He does have amazing stage presence though. That will really make an impression on the audience. He is untouchable at this point. The judges treats him like he already won anyway so I think he is a shoo in for #1 or #2. I also think he does the modern rock thing totally well but his voice is so nondescriptive. Would I be able to tell him apart from Daughtry, or 3 doors down or Nickleback when he is on the radio?

Jason Castro - Ok, I think Jason is going to be my pet favorite. I know Kung is not into him at all haha. But I just really like him for his confidence and his calmness on stage. He knows who he is and he is totally comfortable in his skin. He really sings well too despite of not having a really projecting voice. I loved all the songs he sang so far. If he puts out a CD right now I would go out and buy it haha.

so bottom 3: Carly, Brook and Syesha

Kick off: Brook ( I am just not sure people have abandoned Carly yet)

the greenhouse effect

No, I am not talking about the global climate crisis. The "Greenhouse Effect" refers to an amazing natural phenomenon that happens in our office during sunny days. Not many people have experienced it, and without our green bowl of goodness we might have never noticed. But it happened and I was left with the crazy result :(

So My officemate Kirason and I share a small corner office that has 8 window panes. We also have 4 monitors, 2 xbox and 7 PCs in the room. So on a good sunny day, it is regularly 80 degrees there. I am constantly surprised that no motherboard has melted yet. And having tropical plants is a constant topic of discussion. Now normally this is mitigated by the awesome AC system that keeps us sane. However, on a weekend, there is no such luxury. Now this brings me to the other part of this equation: We also have a candy bowl in our office filled with various chocolate goodies that people have dropped off to keep it full. This is terrible for me but I will talk about that later.

This past Saturday, a fluke happened and we had a beautiful sunny day where the temperature shot up to the 80s. This made for a really pleasant day at the lake but something horrible has happened in our office. Now you know where this is going:

80 degree weather + 8 windows + no AC + 7 PC + bowl of chocolate candy = something HORRIBLE!! DUN DUN DUN!!!

Of course, this all happened when we were out enjoying the weather, so coming in today, I opened up an left over Easter chocolate egg, and noticed it was a weird sandy color, which you must admit is weird for chocolate candy. I was very suspicious but ate it anyway. It tasted fine although really hard for chocolate candy. So this is what I inferred.
80 degree weather + 8 windows + no AC + 7 PC + bowl of chocolate candy = something HORRIBLE

something HORRIBLE + AC on Monday = melted and re-solidified chocolaty weirdness

QED.

Since Kirason has a strong aversion to anything chocolaty, I guess I have to eat these abominations of nature :D

AI review top 8

Wow, I didn't write anything all week lol. oh well, here is review again through Rickey, but this time he had judge reviews on so I figure I should be alright. First of all, American Idol people!! when I said last week that there are too many back up vocalists, it is NOT an excuse to bring in a choir!!!! this is getting ridiculous. I thought most people did ok this week. They all picked very nice songs so it is hard for me to hate any of them. I am going out on a limb right now and say the top 2 is gonna be between David Cook and David Archuleta. They are obviously the judge favorite and ahead in fans. It is going to be the battle of the Davids!! haha

Good
Jason Castro- ok, I am TOTALLY biased because I flove this song so he can do no wrong. I also think it is so funny how he can be so Hawaiian when he is from Texas. It is like some weird genetic mutation haha.

David Cook - Ok I think this song is way too difficult for him to sing in a competition. But he has so much charisma and so much stage presence cmobined with the ultimate confidence that he has million fans so he pulled it off anyway. While he was up there, it might as well be the David Cook concert instead of AI. I think his career is pretty much set.

David Archuleta: I am also biased because this is also one of my favorite songs by Robbie Williams. I thought he sang it very well but the piano playing really dampened his singing. If he dindn't have to play, he would have sounded so much more smooth and beautiful. I don't think it lost him votes though as piano players always get points for impressiveness.

Mediocre

Syesha - Ok I actually thought she sang this song very well. The anonymous choir really did a good job too. But you just DO NOT sing the victory song from a previous contestant because you would never be able to capture the emotional intensity of the song and will always pale by comparison. Like I would totally laugh if anybody tried to sing This Is The Night because it will just sound stupid. So bad song choice for Syesha.

Michael Johns - Rocker lbahblha.. Rocker... anything else? He is not doing his best to distinguish himself from David Cook, and David Cook is pulling far far ahead by being unique.

Brook White - very pretty pleasant song. I think she was a little nervous so alot of the happy and serene quality of the song was lost.

BAAAAD
Carly Smithson - Totally butchered one of the best Queen songs. She is not one of these rocker chicks (she got kicked off already). THis song is way too difficult for her to master in such a short time and it was just horrible. Carly's strong points are her beautiful voice and experience and this song takes advantage of neither.

Kristy Cook - I was just complainingto my friend how bad she was. Now my friend, who is a guy has never watched the show or Kristy so he has no idea what is going on. After hearing my whining, he asked the all important question:" is she hot?". And after perusing very closely, I hate to admit, yes, Kristy is indeed very very hot. and there you go. It explains everything.

Bottom 3: Carly, Michael Jones and Syesha (Since Kristy is never going to get kicked off haha)

kicking off: hmm this is a difficult one, I think Carly will stay and I am always wrong about Syesha, so lets go with Michael Jones haha.

AI review

Ok it is that time of the week again. I was playing badminton last night so I did not get to see the show, and watching the recording is just not the same. So this is again via Rickey.org. Learning from last week, it is pretty dangerous predicting public opinion without hearing the Judges' input so we will see how I do this week.

Here is a couple of thoughts first about Dolly Parton week. I don't really like Dolly Parton at all. She sings with this southern twang and she really is like the character she plays in Steel Magnolia, which is a creatures as foreign to me as aliens from Mars. Having said that, I never realized what great songs she has sung over the years. I liked almost all of the songs the contestants chose. It is to her credit that even most of the contestant didn't sing in a country style the song still sounded wonderful. The second thing is I thought all the contestants made really good choice in their song and presentation. I am sure that is also because of Dolly's coaching and advice. I think having her there really helped everybody with their craft.

I also think they are going overboard with the live musicians and the backup vocals. I know it makes for better performance on TV but you can make anyone sound better with the right backup vocals and acoustic guitars. It is masking the contestant's real voice.

The GOOD:
David Archuleta - This kid really has a very beautiful voice! He picked a good song that suits his personality as opposed to that crazy song last week. For sure on top!

Carly Smithson -I just want to mention this song is on Clay's album haha. I think this is the first song in 3 weeks that really showcased her superior vocals. Having said that, I just can't like her for some reason. I feel she doesn't project any warmth and empathy. But gotta give props when props are due (to quote Randy)

Michael Johns/David Cook- another great rocking performance, but they better be careful, at the rate they are going, I wouldn't be able to tell who is who pretty soon. They have similar sounds and they are starting to look more and more alike. and they will start to split votes from the rocker fans. I think David Cook will have the advantage though since he is a more exciting character than the mellow Michael (plus his falsetto is so lovely!). But personally I like Michael's more mature, calming style. There is just so much angst in the younger rockers.

Middle of the Pack
Syesha Mercado - This song has been done to death!! She gets negative points for taking the easy way out. It was a mediocre, unmemorable performance too. That is the problem with Syesha, she is so unmemorable even though she has a great voice. When the field narrows, she will easily be forgotten.

Jason Castro - Finally!! a song with some speed! I thought this is a perfect song for him. The mood, the lyrics and the arrangement really fit Jason's personality. I just wish he has a LITTLE bit more energy to get the crowd going.

Brooke White - I thought she sang this song pretty well, But she kinda lack the same thing Jason does: Energy! This is a song about protecting your guy, don't sing it like a lullaby!! :D

The Terrible
Kristy Lee Cook - She is in my default bottom list haha, I am going to keep putting her there until she gets elimnated

Ramiele Malubay - I thought she did the worst this week, she wasn't able to stay on pitch for so many parts of that song it was sad.

Bottom 3: Kristy, Ramiele, Syesha
Eliminated: Ramiele

pwned!

Coal Creek productions placed a very respectable THIRD today in Celtic Bayou Trivia with 57 points. This is a night worthy of remembrance and celebration! We were only 4 measly points away from First place! The night actually started on a low note as we weren't able to answer which Navy Captian signed the treaty with Japan in the 1800s (It was Perry). But then we were able to ride to victory, answering almost every single question on the list. Even Charlton Heston movie quotes category cannot stump us. Heck, one of us even knew lines from the movie "Soylent Green". Now that is surely a sign for our impending win! We answered every question in the assassination category except George Elser who apparently made an attempt on Hitler, but since he failed nobody remembered him haha. The bonus round was again #1 hits from today over the years. He always has this bonus round and we never remember to study for it but this time, our combined knowledge knew every single song! Did you know Before Sean Paul, there was Snow? a Canadian Raggae chart topper? crazy stuff you learn from Trivia hehe.

some thoughts of media and Chinese government

This morning I was listening to our public radio station doing a piece on the current Tibet situation. Now I don't really want to get into the whole thing about Tibet since it is way too complex than I can understand but I did notice one thing. In the segment, the host interviewed the Spokesperson for the San Francisco Chinese Consulate on his opinion about the current riot and crackdown situation. and I was completely shocked about how bad his English is. You would think being a "SPOKESPERSON" he should at least be fluent in English. He also spent a large part of the interview basically regurgitate parts of some press release that he obviously memorized for this interview. You can tell because suddenly he would stop mumbling and stuttering and speak fluent perfect English for 10 sentences and then go back to sounding like an idiot. I was totally appalled at the unprofessionalism. How can he not sound like a mindless puppet if he acts this way during an real interview where he has the opportunity to get his view across?

Now that has got me thinking about something. The Chinese government and press has been yelling, nay, screaming for the whole week that the Western media is biased in its reporting about the Tibet incident. This is however, completely their own fault for not allowing journalists to be in Tibet and to be open about what is happening (good and bad). What do they expect? When you stop the flow of information, what can western media do but listen to whoever will talk to appease their readership? Now today when finally given a small chance on radio for the Chinese official position to be heard, the spokesperson completely waste it by sounding like an idiot.

Now I am not so naive as to think that American free press is unbiased and objective in their reporting (see Manufacturing Consent, the book read by all journalists graduating in U.S.) But one thing that the American government and corporation has learned to do over the years is how to "control the message". They have perfected the art of manipulating the press for their agenda. I mean the current presidential candidates each have a team of people whose sole purpose is to figure out ways to utilize the 24 hour news cycle to get their message out and block the opponents message. It is a fact of life over here that public relations is of utmost importance. One rule is that you NEVER EVER send someone out to talk to the media who can't get the message across cleanly and persuasively. But, in China, they are way way behind in this concept. Perhaps it is due to the lack of free press that they never have to deal with this issue and therefore are completely unprepared for the modern world of the Internet and 24 hour news channels. But they have completely antiquated concept of message control and PR. They still think that public opinion can be controlled by selectively broadcasting news. But in the Internet age, they are not fooling anyone, not even their own citizens. It just makes them appear guilty and unreasonable.

For example, if the Chinese government were a little more competent and savvy, they could have given exclusive but free and open access to Tibet during the aftermath of the riot to certain newspapers that are carefully selected, no bribery or intimidation needed. If the newspaper knew that they have exclusive access, they will automatically paint a more pro-government picture because they know if they don't, their exclusivity (and readership) can be easily given to a rival newspaper. This is a super simple way of getting the media to report something you want them to report (since the Chinese government is so paranoid about it) and appear reasonable and open in the world's eye. Now that opportunity is lost, and what is the point of organizing journalist tours as if they are touring Disneyland?

They have never learned how to do this in all these years of China bashing by the world so they have no one to blame but themselves if the public opinion is not shaping up the way they hope. In order to change perception of the world about them, they must learn how to integrate with the rest of the world's press. So really, the current Chinese government is not evil, they are just supremely incompetent and too afraid to let people know.

idol thoughts

So I keep forgetting to watch the actual show, so this review is done through proxy by Rickey.org :) This week's theme is Song From the year they were born. Since there are so many choices available (as opposed to two weeks of Beatles!), decisions on song choices become very important and it can really show which contestants are versatile and know their limit. None of the girls should pick rock songs now since none of them are rockers, and they are just going to butcher it. The guys need to change it up a little, they can only rock out for so many weeks (unless you are Daughtry!!!)

Good:
David Cook: Obviously, brilliant song choice, brilliantly sung. He made a wise choice and stuck to what he is good at. He gets extra points for that glory note at the end there. He is so mainstream, so commercial I can't help think he will be another Daughtry. Nothing wrong with that though, Daughtry is pretty successful.

Michael Johns: He is like a more mature, hardcore version of David Cook. He really showed he could rock out tonight and his singing is as always impeccable. Also a great choice of song. It is very exciting, familiar to the audience and shows off his range.

Mediocre:
David Archuleta: Bad bad song choice!! He did the best he could with it as his voice still sounded great. But where is the melody? this sucked!! and he is too young to sing lyrics like that.

Jason Castro: I feel like he picked good song choices. He does good with this sort of loungy soft rock song that doesn't require any vocal acrobatics. But I don't know how long he can keep it up without people getting bored. Hopefully he is just coasting a bit and will start to wow people in a couple of weeks.

Syesha Mercado: Very safe song, she sang it well but nothing spectacular.

Carly Smithson: I feel like this song didn't really suit her. She couldn't quite reach the high parts and it didn't have the right feel. I don't think any of the girls left are rockers now.

Brooke White: Really good song choice, she knows what she is good at. Too bad she kinda messed it up in the beginning. I feel kinda bad for her because her mess up is now going to be on youtube and be played til eternity.

Chikezie: Well, he is no Luther Vandross, he is not even Ruben but it is a safe choice. I felt like it was adequate singing but really lacked emotions.

baaad!;

Kristy Lee Cook: OMG, is she still here??? when is America gonna realize she can't sing? she butchered that perfectly nice song. Lets hope she is gone tomorrow

Ramiele Malubay: She made a bold choice but the song didn't really suit her. She is more of a pop song singer and she couldn't quite pull off the song. I think she is nervous too as her voice sounded really shaky. The producers probably thought so too since she had to go on first, always a bad thing.

So my predictions for bottom 3: Kristy, Ramiele and Syesha :D

EEE!!!

ok thats all I got hahha , Yay for new CD!!

The Pillows Rock!!

My friend asked me if I liked Japanese rock band the other day. I replied I don't think I know anything about them. She said "me neither, so the Pillows are coming on Wednesday, wanna go??" I said "sure, what is The Pillows??"

So that is how I ended up at a Pillows concert last night. The Pillows, apparently, is this Japanese rock band. They are famous for doing the soundtrack for FLCL (I guess you anime people would know). The whole night started out wrong. First of all, one of my friend got lost to the carpool spot so we were late, and then there was really bad traffic across the lake (god I hate the bridges). Then the place we picked for dinner had really really slow service (and a Vietnamese old dude singing really badly on the keyboard) so we didn't end up at Club Motor until half an hour after the show was suppose to start. But we weren't actually late as they haven't even begin to let people in! so really, all that lateness meant nothing since we still had to wait half an hour just for the concert to start. Club Motor was kind of a dump too, it is just a big warehouse with some lights and stage using black sheets of paper as backdrop.

Then we found out there was 2, TWO!!! opening band. Stereo Future and Noodles. Stereo future is actually an American band, and they played some nice alternative music. I didn't like the singing though, I think they are more of a instrumental band. Noodles is this 3 girl Japanese band, very typical Japanese girl band I think. The songs were not bad but I hated the singing and it was really kind of boring. Their recording sounds much better than them live.

Ok, at this point, you must be thinking. gosh, you whine soo much! And you would be right, I was soo bored and my feet started to hurt. That is when The Pillows came out, and gave one of the most amazing concert I have ever been to. They were incredible! The lead singer was able to get the crowd of 500 going just by a look. With all their energy, they might as well be playing for a crowd of 10,000! we had some like 5 crowdsurfer going at the same time, which is not easy consider how small the crowd is. Everybody is jumping so much I was afraid the floor is gonna gave. (this is all from sober people too!, no alcohol allowed). They actually had to tell people to back up because the people in the front are moving the stage with their jumping lol. The lead singer was an awesome singer and a very good guitar player. They had such wonderful stage presence, as contrast to Noodles, to hear and see them live was 100 times better than can be conveyed on their recording. They just exuded energy and passion. They must played for an hour but I couldn't tell because it was over way too fast and totally worth the 3 hours I spent waiting on them lol . Now this is not usually the music I am into and I think the recordings on youtube are just ok. But live and in person, they are absolutely incredibly! I think I am a fan now :)

Here is some pictures taken by random people (found on Flickr)

IPO woes

So, I decided I will try to buy some Visa Stock since it is going through IPO this week. I have an etrade account from ESPP but I really have no experience actually buying and selling stocks, and really I know nothing about them. So really my decision is not made based on any sort of research haha. So it was quite an learning experience this morning buying Visa stock on Etrade. I made a lot of mistakes I think but it is all part of the learning curve I guess. Here are some lessons I learned

1. It takes a really really long time for money to transfer to your Etrade account, like more than a week! good thing I started early

2. Never believe them when they say the secondary market will open on the 20th, because they will so open on the 19th just to spite you. It was a good thing I checked before I went to bed last night otherwise I would have missed the opening.

3. Never believe them when they say you can buy as soon as stock market opens at 9:30 EST because it really depends on when the CEO finishes his interview and the traders actually finish pricing. I got up at 6:30 am for nothing since I couldn't actually buy til 7:30 am

4. It really helps if you are not looking at 20 minute delayed information since you won't know what is the current price for buying. Thank god for message boards

5. This "pullback" thing is for real! As soon as the secondary market openend, all the actually IPO buyers dumped their stock for a quick profit so the price actually dropped $5 in the first hour before rising again. if only I was more experienced and had real time quotes I could have gotten in at a lower price.

Anyway, I wasn't trying to get in for a quick profit so I guess I just have to sit on it and wait now :) It was kind of depressing though this morning to watch the price drop. and also since I got to work at 10 am just to find they cancelled our meeing :(

worth watching

The media was in a frenzy the last two days over Barack Obama's church minister that said some pretty controversial things in one of his sermons that talked about black anger. So today, Barack Obama delivered one of the best speech on race that an American politican has ever given in my opinion. It was brilliant and moving and I think it is worth reading if not watching (its kinda long)




Complete text of speech

I am in Print!

Ok, so not quite but it was still pretty cool. While I was doing my masters, I had a temp job working as research assistant to this Urologist professor who is retired and wanted to write a book on God and its influence on people. SO I transcribed his recorded notes and did research for him and read some books too. It was just a semester and I thought nothing too much of it except it paid my rent. Last night, somehow I got around to read my old resume and I remembered about Dr. Saul Boyarsky. I wondered how he was doing and whether he ever finished the book. And guess what? he did!! Realizing God for the Future . I am very happy for him! And to my surprise, while I was browsing through it, I saw my name in the acknowledgement!! Now that is pretty cool hehe.

AI Review

Yes, it is that time of the year again. I have managed to avoid the pre auditions this time but I figure I have to check out our final 12. I watched all the videos from Tuesday on Rickey.org and here is my review:

General impression: This year's crop is generally very photogenic, very main stream. We've got some boy pop, some rockers, some lady crooners. There is a serious lack of vocal talents though in general. However, in today's main stream radio, good vocal talents is not as important as beautiful looks or a shady personal life so I guess AI is doing ok there. This season also wins the award for having the most instrument playing contestants, Almost everyone plays guitar or piano or something. And I was talking with Snoopy earlier about this, if you think about it, this year's contestants are mostly teenagers when the show started so they practically grew up with the show and I am sure have been preparing for years for it.

GOOD:
only in my opinion which is biased towards singing skills.

Brooke White: I really liked her, she seemed warm and friendly and unpretentious. It was a good song choice also for her voice. Which is kind of husky and deep.

David Archuleta: yes, he messed up the words big time and this song really was kind of boring, but he gets auto points for being cute. and you know the teenage girls will vote like crazy for him. I think he is pretty young for all the pressure so we will have to see if he can withstand it. If he can, he will be the next super pop idol, if not, he will just be another one of those pretty boys that didn't make it.

Chikezie: Rickey didn't have a video of him so just judging from the vocals, I thought he was brilliant, what a fun song! and extremely well done. I doubt he will win though because he doesn't really have the right looks unfortunately. but go Chikezie!

Jason Castro: He totally doesn't sound like he is from Texas lol. and despite appearing to be high most of the time, I really liked his voice, and his laid back attitude. He sang that song really well and with feeling. I am going to have a soft spot for Jason.



Middle of the Pack:
Carly Smithson: I already don't remember what she sounds like so that is not good. And anyway, she already has a record released, I don't think she need this show.

David Cook: The resident rocker boy. I kinda hates his hairstyle but he did a pretty good job with the song.

Michael Johns: very sweet voice but I feel like he is way too low key, he is not going to get enough attention to beat all the other people with interesting stories. Probably will get eliminated middle of season

Ramiel Malubay: Very very beautiful voice, and very beautiful girl. I don't have a feeling she can win but probalby will stay for most of the season unless she make crazy mistake.

Syesha Mercado: kinda forgettable is pretty much all I can say.

Ugly:

Kristy Lee Cook: Just wasn't very good I have to say. I didn't see her video either

David Hernandez: Kinda of a cute boy but the singing skill is just kinda sucky. I guess there is room for improvement if he gets a big fanbase going.

Amanda Overmeyer: I think she is a really interesting personality, seems like a crazy fun girl, but she really doesn't have a voice, and singing that particular rock style will only get her so far I think. Probably will get eliminated middle of the season

ETA: I wrote this before I saw the elimination result, I guess David don't have a chance for that fanbase now hehe.

referrals?

So M has expressed an interest in touring Europe. I am trying to find a Chinese travel agency that does tours like that cause I figure she might be more comfortable with a Chinese tour guide. Do you guys have suggestsions of travel agency you may have heard of as good?

trivia report

So we were again the recipient of the coveted $1 pitcher prize as we were last place with 30 points. Although it was especially sad today because we actually thought we did pretty well considering the categories. There was the always feared "Authors" category. The "Cold War Movie Quotes" category (WTF!!), and the best of all, a Anagram category with no clue!! We completely failed that one :( Here it is for your solving pleasure:

DOLAMN
A TIP CHAOS
A MAMA CIDA
LEFT RIB

bonus: what is the theme of this group of anagrams.

Although we almost got every single question in the music category. I was happy as 3 songs played were songs Clay has sung haha.

THe most amazing thing of the night however, was that the first place winner, with 47 points after a tie breaker was a ONE MAN team. He won it all, all by himself. My hero!

LOL

I think the writers should strike more often if these are the results.

Some background: Jimmy Kimmel has been publically dating Sarah Silverman for like 5 years. And Sarah made this video for him in January



and here is Jimmy's star-studded angry retaliation



ROFL!!! See if you can spot all the celebrities! And I have to say, objectively, Matt Damon was much much sexier and cute in his video.. ^_^

I finally did it!!

So, I got the whim last night (My life is basically one whim after another without forethought sigh) to get rid of my Yahoo account and finally move over to the far superior Gmail where things don't work on a time delay. The operation kinda extended into today also since I have to basically dig up every single website account I can find and change my contact email. What a pain!! I guess the move will not be complete for at least a few more month as obscure websites I don't even remember pops up an email notification. But at least right now, I Feel happy. Yall can email me at the same address as this blog :D

exciting AI

So here is some new AI our team is developing right now, very exciting!!

whirlwind of a trip

New York Album
As you may have heard, I went on a whirlwind trip to New York City this weekend to see my most favorite idol Clay Aiken, who is playing Sir Robin in Mont Python's Spamalot on Broadway. This is a really fantastic moment for Clay fans everywhere since he is actually doing something cool after being completely shafted by his record company with the last album. My friend Regi and Sillygurl bought tickets as soon as the tour was announced so we got 2nd row center tickets. We had to pay an arm and teeth for them but it was all worth it for this once in a lifetime show.

I was actually overly ambitious in my plan as I didn't want to take any vacation so I thought I could do a red eye flight to NY from Seattle and arrive Saturday at 8am. Hang out with friends, go see the show and come back on a 4pm flight on Sunday. Now everything worked out perfectly but I was dead tired as I only got one hour of sleep on Friday night and I was having way too much fun to rest afterwards. So this is not highly recommended haha.

After I got to our hotel, the Westin Time Square, I found out that we got upgraded to an "exercise room", which means there is an exercise bike in the room, along with weights and a big rubber ball. Although i have no idea how you suppose to do anything with it since with the exercise bike there is barely any room to stand. I also have to comment on the amazing $200 shower head in the bathroom (everything in the room can be ordered by catalog). OMg, it was totally amazing, emitting just the most gentle yet totally satisfying stream of water that softly massages your body.... err i will stop now.

First Stop: Rockefeller Center

We made Rockefeller Center our first stop because Sillygurl really wanted to tour the NBC Studio which is located inside 30 Rock. I totally didn't know that so we were all looking forward to it. The NBC Studios offers an hour tour of the studio and some of the sound stages. We signed up for the 1:30 tour, since we still had about an hour to kill we decided to look around the conveniently located gift shop right outside the ticketing counter. Among Friends mugs and Heroes shirts I found this lovely cardboard of Matt Lauer.




Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures on the tour, but it was really interesting to see the inside of a TV station. The first thing we saw was literally hundreds and hundreds of coaxial cable wires running along the ceiling. I joked with Regi that if I sneaked up and cut one, it will take them days to figure out which one broke. Then I heard the people behind me say exactly the same thing -_-!! Then we saw the studio where Brian Williams does nightly news. Apparently he writes 90% of the news himself and he writes them down in order from last to first so that when he starts reporting, the first item will be fresh in his mind. We also saw people working in MSNBC studio, which of course has 24/7 news. The anchor desk actually rotates 270 degrees so people don't get bored watching the same background all the time. The news people working in there has two computer and a TV each, one computer to write their drafts, the other to keep constant watch on the Internet for any breaking news from the competitors, and they get TV feed from all the news channel running all the time just to make sure they don't miss a scoop. (come to think about it, 24 hour surfing sounds like a perfect job for me!!). We then went to the SNL studio and since it was Saturday, we were able to see the crew rehearse a skit. Tina Fey was there and it was very cool to see live TV in the making! Carrie Underwood was the music guest on Sat and they say she was actually in the building preparing! too bad we didn't get to see her. Lastly, we were taken to a green room (make up room) where they had a fake news desk and weather screen set up and they asked for volunteers. Regi and this kid volunteered first but then the kid was too scared and backed out and I seized the opportunity! So Regi got to report the news and I got to stand in front of the green screen and wave my arms. IT was so difficult because the monitor in front of me was not a mirror image but an real reflection so everything I did looked backwards. The guide walked me through pointing at New York, (I totally got it backwards the first time), then the west coast, and then pointing to various numbers on the screen like High, Low and Sunset time. After I got the direction down, he said "now, you gotta read the lines on the teleprompter AND do the pointing!" OH boy!! I was able to pull it through tho (thank god for multi tasking skills) and I only almost missed New York because I didn't realize when they say weather "here" it means NY hahah. It was loads of fun, too bad they didn't have videos for us, I would have totally paid for that!!

Second Stop: Ground Zero

The last time I was in New York was before 9/11 and I barely even remember seeing the WTC, so now that I am back, ground zero is a must trip. For some reason in my head, I had the idea that they had already built the memorial, but of course that is not the case, the area is still a hole lined with concrete and a small tent with a small display. It was still a very powerful experience, especially seeing the list of all those people that died. The lone guy sitting on the ground doing "Amazing Grace" on the flute really moved me.





Stop 3: Spamalot
Ok ok, I will spare everyone the details, Needless to say, Clay was amazing, the show was actually really awesome in itself. I highly recommended if you ever get a chance (it is on tour). Truly hilarious and silly stuff.




The only sad thing is that usually Clay goes out to sign autographs after the show. But this weekend he was sick so he didn't come out. and we will not get another chance sigh. But its ok, the show was totally enjoyable, as well as the Baked Alaska at Sardi's at our after show party.



A brief note about Sardi's, I have never been to a restaurant that is so fancy and old fashioned. When we sat down, they started handing out little plates and silverware, in anticipation for dinner. and then when we all sat down, we said we probably wanted desserts instead since it was late, then the waiter came and took all our plates and silverware away with perfect calmness. And then after we read the menu, Sillygurl decided to order an appetizer, then the waiter still perfectly calm, came back and laid the plates and silverware back out for her! Also you don't see the waiters running back and forth like in other restaurants, they almost have one waiter for every two tables. That is taking dinner procedure to the extreme!!

Stop 4: Canal Street
SillyGurl was determined not to leave NY without doing some shopping, so we headed out to the famed Canal Street, famed of course for its thousands of tiny stalls selling Chinese counterfeit everything. It was quite an amazing sight even though I am quite familiar with various flea market stalls in other parts of the world. I gathered from quick browsing that counterfeit Dolce and Gabbana bags are totally in!! I also saw counterfeit Burberry scarfs that were exactly the same as mine, this infused me with a brief feeling of superiority for having the real thing haha. Speaking of bags, it is probably one of the most fascinating things about Canal street. Because like I said before, all bags being displayed are D&G and you don't see anything else. But then you notice when you are walking, there are all these shady Chinese women sneaking up to you and whispering in your ear "do you want see hand bag?"., reminiscent of some other street peddlers of illegal product often shown on TV. if you say yes, they direct you to some back alley (soo sketchy) and take you into this little camouflaged door, go up these tiny narrow stairs into a windowless small room where you finally found out where all the "good" stuff is. IF you ask how come I know so much about this, that is because we did exactly this thing. We found ourselves in a tiny room that is filled with counterfeit Coach, DB, Fendi and Gucci bags all selling for $30 ish. They are pretty good counterfeit too. I was totally amazed at the secret operation that is going on. All the peddlers have walkie talkie and are in constant communication which I assume is to plan escapes in case the inspectors come. I didn't end up buying anything ( not really into designer bags) but that was certainly an experience.

After our brief encounter with the underbelly of the counterfeit handbag business, it was time to fly home. I had a really good time in NY, saw my favorite guy in one of his best roles in his career, hang out with wonderful friends and saw some truly amazing things. Not bad for one and a half days eh?

Juno

I went and saw "Juno" last night. It was a really sweet and funny movie, very irreverent. If you don't know the plotline, it is basically about how a highschool junior got pregnant and found this couple to adopt the baby. Juno is the main character, a slightly weird, very independent, totally reckless kind of a girl who decided to have sex on a whim and then when got pregnant by accident, picked her own adoption couple. Her whole family was a little off kilter and dysfunctional but they have lots of tolerance and love and affection for each other which is really all you can ask for in a family. I really respect Juno alot (well except for the sex education part she missed). She is quirky and cynical, and yet still full of optimism for love. She does what she wants and doesnt' care about anybody else's opinion. I wish I could be more like her in spirit. All in all, a great movie! Very deserving of the Oscar nomination.

P.S> my other sad thought is that I am so old i can no longer understand all the teenage speak anymore :( oh and American teenagers are totally scaaaryyyy...

Lunar Eclipse Tonight

http://shadowandsubstance.com/

There will be a total eclipse tonight around 7 pm PST (or your appropriate time zone). I am looking outisde and it has fogged up like Veliu's goggles on the slopes so I am giving up. You guys should check the weather!! :)

Obama Rally

My friend Om is a big Obama supporter who has convinced me that he will be a good choice for President. So I decided to go with him to the big Obama rally on Friday at noon at Key Arena. I have never seen him giving his speech in person and I wanted to check it out as I heard it is an incredibly inspiring experience. We heard on the radio that the doors will open at 11 am and Obama will probably start his speech an hour later. So we decided to leave from Campus at 11 am. This turned out to be a really bad idea. Because traffic was horrible when we got there at 11:30. We finally got parking, walked towards to arena. As we approached, we saw that there was a huge crowd outside. I wondered if they were the line waiting to get in. we grabbed a rally worker and asked him if this was the line to get in. He then looked at us with pity and said "no, the doors are already closed. The arena is full, these people are waiting outside because they are going to pipe out the speech on the loud speaker" !!??!! The arena was full? it seats 17000!!!. People are waiting outside? it is 40 degrees and raining!!. We were quite dismaybed but determined to stay til the end. After about half an hour of waiting and my hand has frozen over, Obama arrived amid thunderous applause and screaming. He was very nice enough to stop outside the arena and talked to us using a bullhorn. Thanking us for coming out and telling us that change is possible. He was able to whip the crowd into a frenzy with jsut a few words. People were chanting "Yes we can" and "Obama" over and over again. I have only seen this kind of united fervor at rock concerts. I have finally seen first hand the power he has to bring people together.





We stood in the cold and listened to his speech which had a theme of "Hope". He spoke about our nation's problems and the difficulty of solving them. But mostly he spoke of hope. Not false hope and optimism that everything will be ok. But hope that if we work together and towards a common goal we will be able to overcome the obstacles. One thing really made an impression on my mind. He mentioned that one of his goal is to work towards real "Peace in the World". I kinda snickered to Om and said "Peace In The World eh!!??". It was more like a joke. Om only laughed but this lady in front of me heard me, turned around and said "well if we all believed and worked towards it it can happen". I felt a little bit of shame for being so cynical but mostly I was impressed at the example of the kind of people he can bring together. People that believe in his vision, people who are practical but not cynical. In short, people that have conviction and hope. So I believe that if these are the type of people he can inspire to work for him. He can really accomplish things.

I found out that he won the WA caucus today, making him one step to the presidential nomination. I have nothing against Hillary actually. I think she is a very experienced and capable politician. Frankly, anyone would be better than some Republican in my mind. But I think there is something about Obama that are kind of intangible. If he gets elected in the general election, perhaps we will see some real difference in Washington. Time will tell!

need ideas!!

so I am charged with the task of creating a demo game for the Game Developer's Conference next week. It is suppose to showcase our ability to take a media library and choose songs and play songs and show the album (think like Windows Media Player) but in a game form. So far all we came up with is a guessing game, where we will play a clip of a song, and then show you a bunch of choices and you have to guess which song is it or which album it came from. I will probably implement this first since of the time crunch, but can you guys think of any better idea of a more fun music game I can do?

Jump! Jump!

M watches TV every day in the morning before work. Mostly "Good Morning America" so sometimes she tells me news and stuff although usually GMA is much behind than the webnews. But there is some news that I can't really get from my net browsing. One of them is local concert news. So the other day M came by quite innocently and said "did you know that Riverdance is here??" I answered "no really? thats nice" absentmindedly. Then M said "They are only here for one week! next week! at the paramount!!". I stared at her for a couple of seconds and then got the hint and went to buy tickets. This is quite unusual for M because she is pretty typical Chinese lady in that would never actually go out and say what she wants.

imagine our dinner out conversations..
M: What should we do Sunday ??
Cat: well we usually go out and eat. do you want to go out and eat on Sunday?
M: oh ok, if you want to...
Cat: .. sure.. where do you want to go.
M: wherever you want to go...
Cat: what do you feel like eating
M: whatever you feel like eating
Cat: -____-!!!

Anywayz, this is pretty strong hint for her so in my infinite effort to encourage her assertiveness (except in cases where she is yelling at me =P ), I immediately went and bought tickets and we end up going last night. The theatre was packed with enthusiastic Riverdance fans. The dance troupe was quite excellent. IT always amazes me how incredibly insync 20 pairs of legs can be. Even though they are mostly Irish dancers, they also had a flamenco dancer and some Russian cartwheelers that was quite excellent as well. THe highlight of the show was a Dance Battle between two guys doing American street tap dance and 3 guys doing Irish tapdance. It was so hilarious as they would mock the other team's dance by doing it really badly. So definitely had a good time. Although I am still waiting for the day when I will be coming home and M was there and tells me "hey, I heard Riverdance is playing, lets go see it, I bought tickets today" :D