Gangbusters to trickles

Ugh...I was about to write a long boring whiny post...then I realized, who f'n cares? Yeah, I'm not feeling it lately. Getting nothing done at work then coming home and being a lazy bitch or bastard (depends your POV). *sigh* So, here you are. A shorten down whiny post. Enjoy.

Paprika - Not your everyday spice

So, being more penniless since getting my car fixed, I had to resort to finding cool and interesting things to do on the Internet. One place that I had been to a while ago is a place for Japanese media, like anime! Check it here at Crunchy Roll. It has a bunch of "unlicensed" tv shows from Japan. Typically, once it becomes licensed (I'm not sure exactly to what that means) they will remove whatever media from the site. It's a good rule I guess. Anyway...

I was cruising the anime section trying to find something I haven't seen before and is still on the site. 86 pages...wasn't looking good till I hit the P section. What did my wander eye see but Paprika, a recently released movie in the States (been out since 2006 in Japan). It was just there...aching for me to watch it. I have seen trailers for it on our copy of Dragonball Z Season 1 (and Season 2 is out if anybody wants to get it for us :P) and thought it looked really cool. So my Saturday night was sealed, with Paprika and a little something-something from the liquor cabinet (the counter next to the freezer).

I hit play and watched. It was amazing! A certain must buy once it comes out DVD here in the States. I haven't seen a realistic anime for such a long time. It was certainly a breath of fresh air. The anime is by Satoshi Kon who also did "Millennium Actress" and "Tokyo Godfathers." I wanted to see "Actress" for a while now. I will certainly be more active in trying to find it.

One of the things I really liked about the movie was the movie score. It was created by Susumu Hirasawa. The theme really stuck with me and not like a horrible jingle you can't get out of your head (you feel like chicken tonight, chicken tonight, chicken tonight!). It was electronica with just the right amount of awesome. The composer wanted to give away his music for free and here's the link to download two songs from the movie. I don't know enough Japaneses to understand but you really don't need to. Download it and find out for yourself.

I really haven't been keeping up with the latest and greatest and clearly it shows. Paprika is actually playing in a theater in Seattle which I really want to go see and you all know me as wanting to go to Seattle all the time. Tis a good movie and you all should watch it. Then buy the DVD.

Timing Issue Resolved

I picked my car up from the shop yesterday. I had the borken timing belt, water pump replaced and a new seal which is in the same area of the engine. I also got a new belt for the accessories...very chic. All in all, I departed with about $800. I also got estimates on what else needs to be done. I'll be departing with more of my monies in the future if I want to keep the car. Anyway, the car came back feeling a little better and it looks a little better. They gave it a bath which it needed badly. Hopefully it will run for a little bit longer till I can gather up more funds to get the other recommended things done up.

Comedy - It's all about timing

So today was the first time I had to kick start the ol air conditioner in the car. I turned it on, hoping it still worked. I tried it our for a few minutes when I got home from work as I would be taking Dawn to the kidney center shortly thereafter. I thought it would be good to test it out somewhere safe and sound. I pushed the button, the green light came on, and after a minute or two cold air began to circulate. Awesome! I'll be chilled like a frappuccino at Starbucks.

Anyway, lets go back a little further back in time to a place where they change oil and do other service related jobs. The local Jiffy Lube down the street. Upon finishing up, one of the techs asked me if knew about the knocking noise coming from the right side of the engine. I said I was aware of it but didn't know what it was. Since then, I let it make the noise as I did not see any thing obvious that would fly off the engine.

Now, zip on up back to today. I have picked up Dawn from the kidney center and we're on our way to Rite Aid to pick up a few things. I'm cruising along and all of the sudden, the car dies. That's right...my Toyota Camry lost power and all the good stuff that comes from it. No big explosion, no knocking noise, no nothing. The steering become real tough and various idiot lights began to pop up. It was nice enough to do this a mere block from our apartment. Also the city of Bothell was also kind enough to have the foresight to build extra space along the road where it died. Kudos to city engineers!

I whip out my cell phone and start calling friends. I get a hold of a set and thank them from the bottom of my robot heart. They roll out. They don't transform though, but anyway. Ten minutes later, assistance arrives. Dawn is whisked away to finish her trip to Rite Aid. More assistance is called for. Over the course of a few hours, we...err...they narrowed possible suspect issues. Fuses and more fuses were ruled out. Fuel pump was running. Alternator was alternating. Starter was starting. Spark plugs a sparking.

Things began to look like a worse case scenario: an issue with the computer running the joint. I have been experiencing minor electrical issues over the years so it was in the realm of possibility. Just to be sure there were fuel (I had felt 100% confident that lack of fuel was not the issue) we went and got a gallon or so of gas. On our return, the additional assistance has another idea to try out. As it turns out, not all the spark plugs were a sparking.

Now, we can come back to the knocking noise that the guy at Jiffy Lube so kindly pointed out. It was deduced that the ... wait for it ... timing belt probably broke. We're also guessing it broke due to the new load of the AC running, as it was indeed running at the time the car died. We also surmised the knocking noise was the timing belt on it's last legs. After a lot of testing and some car know-how, the problem was diagnosed probably correctly.

So you see, it was all about the timing...belt. And now it will be all about the $$$ as the timing belt in my car is not so easily accessible. So tis it was a comedy of my errors. Remember, if you hear a knocking, don't wait till your car dies. You may not be so lucky to be a mere block away from your home and having knowledgeable friends.

A little vomit...(figuratively)

Yes, gross...I wished I didn't do it, but it just came out. Not tasty at all. Why did I do it? What would cause my stomach to turn, churn, and release the burrito goodness I had earlier tonight? While looking to see where the hell this place is at, I discovered a much more horrible event. The man that one of my esteemed readers duly noted looked like an ape from my previous post will be within five miles of my home late July. His ignorance is just a boat anchor for humanity. What's worse is that his presence here will draw more ignorance here to my home. This discovery has certainly soured my stomach. Ignorance is bliss (sometimes), but this discovery gives us an edge. Now, let us pray to our holy Ball of Spaghetti in the sky, let thy noodlly appendage bless us all. ARRRRR!!!!

Your weekend nightmare

Yeah, f-ing scary.

Meebo me!

Yeah, just do it. You know you want to. Just inhale...deeply. Yeah...you got it.

Errr, yeah...Meebo is a browser based Instant Message chat application. You can put in all major IM accounts into it as well. For instance, I have my Yahoo! Messenger and Google Talk accounts working in it. This is on top of the regular Meebo account. Anyway, I added a little widget to the side over there *points over there* for all my fine readers to use. I'll see if I can slip Meebo past my work firewall. Then I'll be set. lol Well, that's it for now. Chat me up if you see me online. :)

No Spring for the weary

ZOMG!! I haven't posted in about two freaking months! Yes, I've been neglecting my posting duties. I'll point out the obvious. I think it is my only natural gift.

The last months of winter were uneventful. The most notable point of interest was finally picking up a Nintendo Wii at the beginning of March. I know I have put in over 50 hours of game play (in just one game) since I got it. We initially picked up The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and Rayman: Raving Rabbids. A week or two ago, Wii Play graced our presence. There's a lot of games on the horizon for the Wii. It should be a promising year.

I've been sick twice since the latter half of February. I'm just now getting over the second whatever I had. This one wasn't nearly as annoying as the one in February, it just came on pretty fast. The worst part was the constant running nose.

Not much else to say here. Other than I'm using Google Docs to write this. I thought I would try it out as I can publish directly to my blog on blogspot. Since blogspot is blocked at work whereas Google is not, I could potentially post while at work. But being the diligent employee that I am, I wouldn't do that. ^_O We shall see...we shall see.

Good News!

I've pretty much lost 20 lbs since the middle of October! And I'm going to Radcon '07! That is all.

Shattered Goals

So, it has been done. I can wear size 36 pants for the first time that I can remember (for those of you wondering why it's soo damn cold in hell these days). I'm at about 188 with a bit of muscle. I'm still going for that elusive 180. I don't think I'll make mid February but that's ok. Probably early March. At that time, I'll probably switch to a different diet and continue with the exercise to maintain the weight. I'm pretty stoke. If you include this time last year, I have probably lost about 25 pounds so far. :)

Yeah, it's been hard. In fact, just today I had to decline a donut. I wanted it, it wanted me. It would have been the perfect union. But I bested temptation and my co-workers.

There shall be more goals to overtake this year. Learning Japanese is still on my list of things to do among others. It might just be a good year.

Goals in sight

Well, about a month ago, I posted up that I was doing the diet thing again. I had posted up my goals of being at 190 by the end of December. Well, it is 12.27.2006 and I am at about 192 lbs. The last two pounds may or may not come off in time, but no matter. Deadlines are good to work to but it won't break me if I don't make it. Since I got my new driver's license in the beginning of October where I stated my weight to be 204, I have lost 12 lbs. This is all by eating less and playing DDR religiously.

Our apartment complex recently got in some spanking brand new weight/fitness machines in their fitness room. I intend in the new year to start using them. My legs have some muscle tone to them. My everything else, not so much. I still have a belly, though it's easier to conceal these days. ^_^

So, there you go. An update from the west side. Yay...

A Legend of Zelda retrospective

I really liked this. If you haven't played any of these games, go out and do it now! You may get spoiled watching this if you had plans on playing. The last segment of this video is particular geeky, organizing a timeline of the games. That is above and beyond the most geeky thing I have ever seen. Ok, it's probably not and I myself have probably done something even more geeky in my past life. *shivers* heh Enjoy and go buy yourself a Wii!

Diet, Redux

So, you all mostly know of my plight of diets over the years. I'm on and off again kind of guy. Well, I'm on again right now, since the middle of October. I'm sitting at about 199 right now. I have a goal of 190 by the end of December. It would be grand to be at 180 by the middle of February. Of course, if I don't meet these goals by my desired time frame, oh well. I'll keep on pushing for those goal weights as I think it's about time for me to fall off the growing trend in America.

Like past diets, I've only eaten less and done DDR at least 3 times a week. It seems to be doing the trick. About two weeks ago, I went from doing the light mode to the standard mode on DDR. I wanted to burn off a few more calories at each session. I think the standard mode is certainly doing its job. For eating, I decided that I would be a bit less strict on what I ate. I throw in some decent food a couple of times a week. I don't over do it on the decent food which I think is helping. I think this the meal on Thursday was the lightest Thanksgiving meal I have ever had, that I can remember at least.

I've been feeling better health wise recently. My company has a softball team that plays during the spring which I hope to get on, schedule permitting. I've always been pretty good at hitting a ball with a bat. That should be up my alley, err diamond. o_^

So, that's it for right now. As always, more later.

The God Who Wasn't There

Here's another well written documentary about my favorite subject. It's an hour long so grab your popcorn.

The Government: Doer of good

Sometimes the US government does good. 'Dr. Dino' was found guilty of Tax Fraud. Him and Richard Hatch should get to know each other well.

Kent faces up to 288 years in prison. Being a man of God, God should oblige him to face the whole sentence, touching Kent with immortality till he can finish up. hehe His wife faces up to 225 years for aiding and abetting. Yup, you God-fearing peeps out there, you best be Government-fearing when it comes to taxes.

One book down, a gazillion left to go

Would you believe that I finally finished a book of fiction? The other night, I read the final words in George R.R. Martin's book, A Game of Thrones. Yes, me! Me, the reader of sooo many tech books, I've lost count. I can almost guarantee that this is the first book that I have finished since almost 2002, maybe 2003. It's been so long that I have forgotten.

So, anyway, it was a very good book. If you like to squirm while you read. There's soo much evil things that makes you want to keep on reading to see if the evil continues. Yup, evil. Like "Meats of Evil" evil!

In other news, I will be in the Tri-Cities for the coming weekend. Grand, eh? I was going somewhere with this then...nothing. *sigh* Well, say hi if you see me. ^_^

Feeling a little blue

Beta Blogger has made it incredibly easy now to change up your blog without loosing changes you had to put into your template. If you haven't noticed, I've gone blue from that tanish looking color. I wasn't thinking well when I put that up. It easier to read, I think at least.

I also cleaned up the ol links and what not. I've added Videosift.com which I'm a heavy user of. I gots me a silver star there! ^_^ It's a site where users submit videos they think are good from around the Intertubes such as YouTube.com and Google Video. If you don't want to sift through loads of tripe, go to Videosift.com. You'll like yourself more for it.

Well, that's that for this Sunday morning.

I'm soooo converted

Like wow! The template system has gotten on overhaul! This smacks of Ajax like crazy! I love it! Kudos goes out to Blogger for something that's really customizable! Though I know this new power will be used for evil. I don't go to MySpace.com because of that evil. It's teh evil.

Oh yaay!! The spell checker has gotten an overhaul too! Blogger threw in the same looking spell checker as found in Google's toolbar and gmail client. I'm loving it! Yeah, I'm talking to you, Blogger!

The Converted

So I went ahead and done it. I converted. I converted to beta blogger. I feel the same. Nothing has changed. Weird.

Wait, what's that? Labels for this post? Woooooooo! I think I've seen the light! Beta Blogger will rock my world! Ok, not really.

The Lucky Horseshoe

Via: VideoSift

...or how prayer is superstition.