All the News that's fit to Post:
4/29/2007 Hawaii Club Luau
Great food, wonderful dancing, good times. Check it out!
3/22/2007 Spring Break
My parents are currently visiting myself and Adam for this week due to Spring Break. As such, my apartment has been getting a renovation, we went hiking and seeing many of the sites here around Seattle, and this website has been revitalized. I'm having some free time to spend on projects and activities I normally don't allote time for.
Several old albums: War Wounds and A Canada Adventure were not previously online, but now are. In addition, I've uploaded the Stairway to Heaven hike which I thought was posted online, but I accidentally deleted.
3/21/2007 Vegas 2k6
I've just finished captioning a brief tour of Vegas 2k6. It's a tad shorter than photo albums from past Vegas's, but I am working on cropping and posting movie clips from our drunken escapades following our boozing at the Red Square.
3/20/2007 Vegas 2k5, Orian's Photos
A long long time ago (2005), in a land not too far away, the Legion had a grand excursion to Vegas. I had agreed to help my dear friend, Orian, the SCOS, in posting his captured photos and captioning all of them appropriately. The time has finally come, and the gallery has now been released. Enjoy.
For your fun link of the day: Crazy Japanese Taxi Cab Driver! It's by the same show which did the Ski Resort Prank. Skip til about 1 min 25 for the Taxi Cab clip, as it doesn't really get good til there.
3/11/2007 Nights out on the town
I've posted up photos from some fun nights out on the town with friends from my Anatomy study group.
Lots of stuff has happened since the last update. A trip to Vegas and a return trip to Hawaii for Winter break. More links will be posted as I get the galleries updated.
Cool link of the day: A fully robotic arm for amputees developed by Dean Kamen. This guy is a super genius. He's developed a portable insulin pump for diabetics, a robotic wheelchair which can climb stairs, the Segway, and also a straw that can make virtually any contaminated water drinkable for use in third world countries. Truly, he's the most famous engineer of modern times.
9/2/2006 Fun stuff
In the past month and a half, lots of stuff happened. I went back for a nice 10 day trip to Hawaii, had jury duty, had a Summer Chorale choir concert, and saw the Huskies play San Jose State for football. I'll try to address all these story lines and do them justice.
Went back to Hawaii, had a fantastic time cruising with Orian mostly.
Jury Duty was an eye-opening experience. I was surprised by how much waiting is involved. You wait in the jury pool room, wait while they give you a shpiel about what an honor it is to be selected as a juror, wait in the courtroom for the judge and everyone to get in. Lots of waiting.
The judge tells you that you should only decide your verdict on what the law says, regardless of your personal beliefs on the issue or whether the law is right or wrong. Then the lawyers start talking to you, and tell you to do the exact opposite. As an engineer and as a human being, I'm interested in the truth of what happened. In court, neither side is truly seeking the truth, and are each rather advocates for their particular side. While narrowing the jury pool, the lawyers ask you a standard set of questions such as name and occupation, and then they ask pointed questions regarding the case. The case was a criminal case regarding an alleged assault and I got asked questions like the following: Do you believe violence is ever justified? or People have a right to self defense, true or false?
The defense asked me, "If you were in jury deliberations, everyone felt one way and you felt the other way, would you change your mind? or hold out?" I responded, "Well, that depends on how good a lawyer you are." I didn't intend for it to come out spitefully, but the judge burst out laughing. No further questions followed.
One of the coolest courtroom scenes, from the Boondock Saints.
7/16/2006 Owwww, so sore
I had a judo clinic today. It was held by Mike Swain, former world champion and 2 time US Judo Olympic coach. His judo is amazing. Every movement, extremely quick with excellent timing; No wasted movement. I also learned several new techniques in groundwork that I can't wait to try out. The seminar was definately worth it.
On the downside, the temp here was hovering in the mid 90's, and that was the temp inside the air conditioned dojo. The practice was 4+ hours long, and I ache everywhere. Fingers and feet are rubbed raw, and I've got quite a bit of bruising on the legs. I took a long ice bath when I got home, and I'm still in pain. I found a brief movie clip that helped allieviate my misery, perhaps it will do the same for you!
Mike Swain and Myself
7/16/2006 A disorganized nightmare
The photo gallery has been updated so almost all albums I have are listed up there. It's much easier than wading through the muck of news posts to see the desired photos.
As most of you know, Adam plays quite a bit of World of Warcraft with his guild. At times, tempers can flare when bad stuff happens. I swear, the stupidity can make you want to destroy your computer.
7/12/2006 Memories from the Christmas Past
I just got finished captioning some photos from last christmas break. It really brought back some sweet memories. Speaking of sweet things, I stumbled upon a root beer rating site the other day. It's amazing, they have every rootbeer I've tried and far far more. I think Sprecher's is the best, followed by Steward's and then Bulldog. To be honest, some of the best root beer is the stuff they serve at Old Spaghetti Factory in Ward center. I know it's probably either Mug or Hires, but they have got the perfect ratio of syrup to water . Either that, or the unlimited refills make it taste better than it is. ;)
7/9/2006 World Cup
As I was talking to friends and family about the events that occurred in the World Cup, almost all of them detracted me for my soccer mini-rant. I would point out that most of them have not watched this Simpson's soccer episode that I linked to in the same post. See it, and then get back to me.
The World Cup was pretty exciting as far as soccer games go, and the quick goals in the first half were certainly entertaining. However, Italy seemed to spend the second half of the game coasting for the penalty kick era. France was on the offensive most of the game, even when they were down a man.
Speaking of France being down a man, did you see the French Captain Zidane's head-butt? Although the Italian player was goading him most of the game and illegally held him for a bit, there's no excuse for behavior like this, especially from a team captain. When you're a leader for your team, you need to set an example for the rest of your players. That flagrant foul was simply unacceptable. A sad ending to what was otherwise a great career.
7/4/2006 Happy Birthday USA
I plan to celebrate our country's independence day by indulging myself in all types of BBQ food until I'm immobile. Afterwards, its fireworks at Gasworks Park!
Orian honors the country (or dishonors, depending on your point of view) by releasing Escape from teh Rock , the latest yet in Legion music videos. It is a masterpiece of SADF. This is the first thing that came to mind while watching that video.
7/1/2006 Sun for everyone
I just saw Superman Returns yesterday. Despite all the hype, it was not the best movie out this year; that title is currently held by Cars, another animated masterpiece from Pixar. Superman Returns was not bad as far as comic book movies go, but it was far from the best. There were some fantastic iconic scenes that you could see were taken straight out from a comic book, but the weakest aspect by far were the screenwriters. There were so many wasted opportunities for great speeches in the film that were either ignored or simply hacked out with innate statements. Take for example, the scene where Lois Lane gets a ride with Superman. They rise up into the starry night, picturesque city lights below, and all she can say is "I forgot how hot you are". Lame. This movie was definitely above Daredevil and Fantastic Four, but doesn't hold a candle to Spiderman or Batman Begins.
A small taste of what nice weather in Seattle looks like.
6/23/2006 Stuff for the Archives
In case you were wondering, updates to the website as a general rule inversely reflect how busy I am in my life. If I'm swamped with work, you won't see updates for a good chuck of time (see this past school year). This lets you know a bit about my current situation.
I just finished captioning some really old photos from a San Fran vacation awhile back. My goal is to have this album completely done by the end of next week.
6/20/2006 A Different Perspective
Fascinating photos from North Korea from a Russian Web Designer who got to tour the country. Many of his photos are ones which he wasn't allowed to take. It's an extremely interesting view into how communism/fascism can really devastate a populace. Almost everything I know from North Korea comes from South Park or Daily Show bits, so its neat to actually learn about the culture.
6/17/2006 Summer Quarter Begins
World Cup madness is upon us and I don't understand what all the fuss is about. I guess the huge amount of nationalism helps, but soccer as a sport is not that exciting. There's a whole lot of boredom with teams barely able to points on the board. A high scoring game is when both teams have 3 points combined ! Perhaps my attention span is too short, which is why American football is so much more appealing to me.
Viva Las Vegas 2k5! I know its a little late, but better now than never, eh?
6/10/2006 Summer Quarter Begins
What would happen if God was a DJ?
I'll be spending most of this summer up in Seattle working at the Veteran's Hospital. Fortunately, my new job means I have a bit more disposable income than before. My first large purchase . . . a new car! I really have to say that having a car means freedom. Now I can go to Northgate and other places without having to plan my day around the bus schedule. A 3 hour round trip commute to work only takes about 40 min tops now.
I'll be headed back to Hawaii from July 28th through August 6th, only a week and a few days of rest and relaxation. Afterwards, I have jury duty and then I can return to work.
1/5/2006 Happy New Year!
A fantastic Winter break has come and gone, and now the new quarter begins.
Here's an amazing video my dad sent me: A commercial for Sony. They dropped over 250000 colorful rubber balls in order to create this video.
A hilarious list of why gay marriage can't be allowed in today's society.
10 reasons Gay Marriage is wrong:
1. Being gay is not natural. And as you know Americans have always rejected unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, and air conditioning.
2. Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall.
3. Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because, as you know, a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract.
4. Straight marriage has been around a long time and hasn't changed at all; women are still property, blacks still can't marry whites, and divorce is still illegal.
5. Straight marriage will be less meaningful if gay marriage were allowed. The sanctity of Britany Spears' 55-hour just-for-fun marriage would be destroyed.
6. Straight marriages are valid because they produce children. Gay couples, infertile couples, and old people shouldn't be allowed to marry because our orphanages aren't full yet, and the world needs more children.
7. Obviously gay parents will raise gay children, since straight parents only raise straight children.
8. Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire country. That's why we have only one religion in America.
9. Children can never succeed without a male and a female role model at home. That's why we as a society expressly forbid single parents to raise children.
10. Gay marriage will change the foundation of society; we could never adapt to new social norms. Just like we haven't adapted to cars, the service-sector economy, or longer life spans.
