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FoxNEWS is so childish.
Posted 2004-09-30 11:11:03 AM | Rants
Oh no Politics? 
I'm reading that last line and thinking. What kind of news channel makes an official statement like that? It sounds like something you would have done when you were little and you were mad at someone.
Also, when John Stewart went on the O'Reilly show, O'Reilly made some joke about how Stewart's viewers were "stoned slackers." So just as a joke, Comedy Central actually surveyed and found out that their viewers are smarter. Albeit the poll was very biased, Read how FoxNEWS responds...
Right, people at Comedy Central don't have a sense of humor, but the people at FoxNEWS do!
NEW YORK - Who's the kingpin, Al Franken or Bill O'Reilly? If Franken had his way, the answer would be decided with a bowling ball.
On his radio show Wednesday, the satirist-commentator challenged the Fox News commentator to a "friendly" bowling match.
The proposed face-off would be a part of The Great American Bowl-Off, a one-day event being organized by the Web site Meetup.com in bowling centers around the country. The Oct. 7 event is designed to give political partisans a breather from the fractious campaigning.
"There's been a lot of back and forth between the two of us and this is just a good way to clear the air," Franken said on "The Al Franken Show," which airs weekdays on liberal talk radio network Air America Radio.
"If Kerry and Bush supporters can put aside their differences for a day to compete, well then, so can Bill O'Reilly and I," Franken said.
O'Reilly and Franken have squabbled for years. On CBS' "60 Minutes" interview program Sunday, O'Reilly repeated his claim that Franken is a "character assassin."
Franken said the bowling match would be an opportunity for O'Reilly "to prove his working class bona fides," alluding to his frequent claim that O'Reilly exaggerates the impoverishment of his upbringing.
Will O'Reilly accept the invitation?
Rob Zimmerman, a spokesman for Fox News Channel, told The Associated Press: "Bill O'Reilly is not going to respond to anything Al Franken says."
I'm reading that last line and thinking. What kind of news channel makes an official statement like that? It sounds like something you would have done when you were little and you were mad at someone.
Also, when John Stewart went on the O'Reilly show, O'Reilly made some joke about how Stewart's viewers were "stoned slackers." So just as a joke, Comedy Central actually surveyed and found out that their viewers are smarter. Albeit the poll was very biased, Read how FoxNEWS responds...
"Comedy Central must have lost their sense of humor," Zimmerman said. "Without Jon Stewart, Comedy Central would turn into the Great American Country Channel."
Right, people at Comedy Central don't have a sense of humor, but the people at FoxNEWS do!
Jane came to visit today. Well actually not until the later half of the day. I was stuck in classes from 8:30 to 1 because I'm taking some University Study courses for fun. I'm not sure if I'm going to keep the classes though.
Anyways I was playing Madden today playing as the Packers and suffered my first real loss in 2004. In Madden 2004, if you don't know what play to choose, you can have Madden suggest a play instead. In the 2003 version this was done pretty well. Like if they had two wide recievers he would suggest plays that involve only two cornerbacks. But suddenly this year I guess they actually decided to model the real John Madden because the plays he suggests are really really dumb. For example, if the computer goes with three wide recievers he rarely ever tells you to go to the nickel defense (which has 3 cornerbacks). Instead he tells you to safety blitz with a 4-3 package. This means a linebacker gets to defend a wide reciever.
Another problem with it. Fumbles. I have never seen more opportune times for me to fumble then when the computer needed one the most. On drives where I'm about to close them out or come back to tie the score they ALWAYS cause me to fumble!
Yeah anyways so Jane had fun laughing at me because she said she made the Chargers beat me :(
Anyways I was playing Madden today playing as the Packers and suffered my first real loss in 2004. In Madden 2004, if you don't know what play to choose, you can have Madden suggest a play instead. In the 2003 version this was done pretty well. Like if they had two wide recievers he would suggest plays that involve only two cornerbacks. But suddenly this year I guess they actually decided to model the real John Madden because the plays he suggests are really really dumb. For example, if the computer goes with three wide recievers he rarely ever tells you to go to the nickel defense (which has 3 cornerbacks). Instead he tells you to safety blitz with a 4-3 package. This means a linebacker gets to defend a wide reciever.
Another problem with it. Fumbles. I have never seen more opportune times for me to fumble then when the computer needed one the most. On drives where I'm about to close them out or come back to tie the score they ALWAYS cause me to fumble!
Yeah anyways so Jane had fun laughing at me because she said she made the Chargers beat me :(
I'm sick and I've lost control
Posted 2003-11-02 03:25:19 AM | Rants
I was sick early Thursday morning and mainly did nothing all day. Like a big fat vegetable. I managed to get myself up to goto Chinese but didn't study for the dictation at all so I fucked that up. Later on I decided to skip the CA meeting. I think this was the first one I've missed since I joined last year. I was planning on going to watch the movie they were showing but 1) I didn't know where it was 2) I was sick.
Let me tell you something about your body rejecting food that it didn't like in its stomach: it hates it. It's like one of those girlfriends that won't let you forget when you did something wrong like not forgetting her birthday or when you were hitting on the waitress at the Cheesecake Factory. I mean goddamn THEY DO NOT LET YOU FORGET. Your body I mean.
Your body will make sure to point out at random intervals during the day that indeed you were wrong for eating that goddamn chimichanga and to prove that fact your body tells you that it's time for another bathroom stop. Oh and since when did you need your legs after you put this nasty ass shit into me? Bye bye legs.
Now here I am lying on the floor. I can't move at all, I gotta goto the bathroom, my body keeps telling me why I never buy it anything special and the whole time I regret eating that chimichanga.
Let me tell you something about your body rejecting food that it didn't like in its stomach: it hates it. It's like one of those girlfriends that won't let you forget when you did something wrong like not forgetting her birthday or when you were hitting on the waitress at the Cheesecake Factory. I mean goddamn THEY DO NOT LET YOU FORGET. Your body I mean.
Your body will make sure to point out at random intervals during the day that indeed you were wrong for eating that goddamn chimichanga and to prove that fact your body tells you that it's time for another bathroom stop. Oh and since when did you need your legs after you put this nasty ass shit into me? Bye bye legs.
Now here I am lying on the floor. I can't move at all, I gotta goto the bathroom, my body keeps telling me why I never buy it anything special and the whole time I regret eating that chimichanga.
As you may all know, The RIAA has recently begun serving lawsuits against people who allegedly have downloaded illegal music files on Kazaa. Obviously 12 year olds and 66 year old grandmas are obviously terrorists and a threat to the lifestyle of an American!
The 66 year old lady, who was using a Macintosh preventing her from even accessing Kazaa, could still be recharged with her heinous crimes of downloading nearly 2,000 songs! RIAA lawyers had this to say about it.
So now the MPAA is trying to prevent people from downloading movies online. Part of their current campaign is to show clips right at the beginning of a movie explaining the horrors of Internet "Piracy". Usually it is someone that works behind the scenes like a cameraman or stuntman who describes how they don't make millions and that movie pirating will hurt them immensely. Sometimes even an actor comes on to talk about how this affects them, that is if they can fit it into their busy schedules. Their motto? "Movies are worth it!"
Does anyone see the irony in this? They have Ben Affleck, who has millions of dollars, telling us that we shouldn't pirate movies when we're already in the movie theater with the tickets that we already paid for. How much sense does this make to tell people who actually did pay for the movie that they're terrible people for trying to steal Ernie the Boom Mic Holder hard earned cash.
It also makes no sense how Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez can get paid millions to do shit. Just look at Gigli. That is what is 'causing the movie companies to lose money, if anything. How exactly are we suppose to feel sad when Ben Affleck makes tons of money for playing shitty roles with his now ex-fiance? Those people who work behind the scenes? Well they are most likely part of a union so they get paid no matter what.
So I ask you this, who's more of a pirate? Someone who had to pay $10 to see a movie and then later decides they want to rewatch it or the movie exec. who made you pay $10 and decides thats not enough for him 'cause he now has to start lighting his cigars with $10 bills instead of $20s? You decide.
On a related note, the RIAA/MPAA is also trying to "educate" kids from 5th to 9th grade about the terrible terrible bad bad pirates (wouldn't they be better off learning about real pirates, like Sir Francis Drake?). How are they planning to teach them?
The 66 year old lady, who was using a Macintosh preventing her from even accessing Kazaa, could still be recharged with her heinous crimes of downloading nearly 2,000 songs! RIAA lawyers had this to say about it.
"Please note, however, that we will continue our review of the issues you raised and we reserve the right to refile the complaint against Mrs. Ward if and when circumstances warrant," wrote Colin Zick, attorney for the record labels, the Boston Globe reports.See, even if you didn't do anything, you're still not out of the reach of RIAA's nasty lawyers.
So now the MPAA is trying to prevent people from downloading movies online. Part of their current campaign is to show clips right at the beginning of a movie explaining the horrors of Internet "Piracy". Usually it is someone that works behind the scenes like a cameraman or stuntman who describes how they don't make millions and that movie pirating will hurt them immensely. Sometimes even an actor comes on to talk about how this affects them, that is if they can fit it into their busy schedules. Their motto? "Movies are worth it!"
Does anyone see the irony in this? They have Ben Affleck, who has millions of dollars, telling us that we shouldn't pirate movies when we're already in the movie theater with the tickets that we already paid for. How much sense does this make to tell people who actually did pay for the movie that they're terrible people for trying to steal Ernie the Boom Mic Holder hard earned cash.
It also makes no sense how Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez can get paid millions to do shit. Just look at Gigli. That is what is 'causing the movie companies to lose money, if anything. How exactly are we suppose to feel sad when Ben Affleck makes tons of money for playing shitty roles with his now ex-fiance? Those people who work behind the scenes? Well they are most likely part of a union so they get paid no matter what.
So I ask you this, who's more of a pirate? Someone who had to pay $10 to see a movie and then later decides they want to rewatch it or the movie exec. who made you pay $10 and decides thats not enough for him 'cause he now has to start lighting his cigars with $10 bills instead of $20s? You decide.
On a related note, the RIAA/MPAA is also trying to "educate" kids from 5th to 9th grade about the terrible terrible bad bad pirates (wouldn't they be better off learning about real pirates, like Sir Francis Drake?). How are they planning to teach them?
In the role-playing activity Starving Artist, for example, groups of students are encouraged to come up with an idea for a musical act, write lyrics and design a CD cover only to be told by a volunteer teacher their work can be downloaded free. According to the lesson, the volunteer would then "ask them how they felt when they realized that their work was stolen and that they would not get anything for their efforts."Wait, so how is this any different than it the current situation? Just replace "students" with "musicians" and "volunteer teacher" with "RIAA" and you have the same exact thing. So how does it feel Timmy?
So I'm suppose to write this essay about rituals. Here is points we have to make in the essay
Here's a ritual. The one where I constantly stay up late to finish ambiguous assignments.
- Describe the sculpture based on your observations/notes.
- Define the term “ritual” based on Suzanne Blier’s essay.
- Speculate on the ritual past of this sculpture in some temple in Japan, based on Roger Goepper’s essay.
- Consider ways in which the past rituals of this sculpture have been replaced by new rituals. Is this assignment a ritual too?
Here's a ritual. The one where I constantly stay up late to finish ambiguous assignments.
Background: I took Math 6A and the Calculus series at Troy.
It is the policy of UCI's ICS Deptartment here that you must tell them to "clear" you from ICS classes if you have taken a course that is in the prerequisite for that class outside of UCI. For example, a ICS class I have to take requires that you take the Calculus series in order to be accepted into the class. Now the problem is, you must do this for every single class that has a calculus requirement. People cannot just clear their calculus in one fell swoop. No, they make the students come back over and over again every quarter so they can get their classes cleared for the same GOD DAMN REQUIREMENT. Apparently even though our ICS class is ranked in the top 10 in nation among public school computer program, they maintain a 20+ year old database that has absolutely no flexibility. Because apparently we have to keep going through them to clear classes, yet if they attempt to use computers to automate this task, it would create 3 times the workload for them(???) So bottom line, there is no way to have my records show that, indeed I took calculus 3 years ago for every single ICS class. I must tell them to do it manually.
And how did we learn this lesson?
I knew already that the pre reqs were required to be cleared beforehand but I had wanted to know if I could do it in one sitting and keep myself from having to go there every quarter. So this morning I go over to the ICS Student Affairs office to ask them, "Hey is there anyway to clear my pre-requisites all at once?" Now I guess this is the moment is where if I had ignored the advice, I would have been better off. This part here is very important. The girl at the front desk, who I later found out that her first day on the job was... today, told me, "Oh, you're probably have to go talk with the Math Office and talk to them about clearing your 6A and calculus series." Okay no problem, just goto their offices, easy right?
Later on in the day, Erik, Pranav and I head over to the Math Office to get them cleared so at least we won't have to keep going back. We go into their offices and we explain the situation and they look as us kind of dumbfounded and said, "You need to go to the Physical Sciences office"
*SIGH*
Okay, so apparently the Math Office has absolutely no control nor access to any of our records at all. The Physical Sciences (albeit the Math Department is listed under them) are the ones who control the Math Department's records. Why the hell is there a Math Office if they can do nothing?
So off we go to the Physical Sciences Office to get it cleared. Now the lady here was really snotty or bitchy or whatever you want to call it because when we tell her that we're from ICS she gives us this look like, "ICS? Why are you here in the Physical Sciences Office?" (Imagine snotty cheerleader voice) And we explain the situation to her about how we've been going around in circles trying to figure out an answer to our question. She responds, "Well the ICS department sets the prerequisites for that class, Idon't see why you are coming here to the Physical Sciences Office to get them cleared." (Queue snotty voice again) "Thats the problem, we want our Math classes cleared," Us three say in vain, knowing that this isn't going to turn out very well. "Well let me call the ICS office and see what is going on." She says again in her condescending tone. "Uh hello yes, I have three ICS students here and obviously someone must have told them wrong because now they are in my office... yadda yadda yadda" She gets off the phone, tells us to go BACK to ICS and sign a pre-req clearance form.
At this point I'm about to break.
So we head back to the ICS office. I assumed that there really was this magical form that would clear us automatically from every single class, but alas, the clearance form she had told us about was the same goddamn sheet that I had signed earlier in the morning. Goddammit. All that fucking time for nothing.
At this point is when I learn how the girl at the front desk had screwed me over. Usually, when you work the front desk, you do not have to act as though you know everything. I won't think any lesser of you if you say, "I don't know, let me get someone who does." But apparently the girl thought she could answer it. Not only did she send me to the wrong office, she actually made me believe that it was possible to get those classes cleared. This is such fucking bullshit. I am so pissed off at that girl right now.
A great song for them to have been playing as Erik, Pranav and I left their offices would be We Will Rock You by Queen.
Fucking Bureaucracy.
It is the policy of UCI's ICS Deptartment here that you must tell them to "clear" you from ICS classes if you have taken a course that is in the prerequisite for that class outside of UCI. For example, a ICS class I have to take requires that you take the Calculus series in order to be accepted into the class. Now the problem is, you must do this for every single class that has a calculus requirement. People cannot just clear their calculus in one fell swoop. No, they make the students come back over and over again every quarter so they can get their classes cleared for the same GOD DAMN REQUIREMENT. Apparently even though our ICS class is ranked in the top 10 in nation among public school computer program, they maintain a 20+ year old database that has absolutely no flexibility. Because apparently we have to keep going through them to clear classes, yet if they attempt to use computers to automate this task, it would create 3 times the workload for them(???) So bottom line, there is no way to have my records show that, indeed I took calculus 3 years ago for every single ICS class. I must tell them to do it manually.
And how did we learn this lesson?
I knew already that the pre reqs were required to be cleared beforehand but I had wanted to know if I could do it in one sitting and keep myself from having to go there every quarter. So this morning I go over to the ICS Student Affairs office to ask them, "Hey is there anyway to clear my pre-requisites all at once?" Now I guess this is the moment is where if I had ignored the advice, I would have been better off. This part here is very important. The girl at the front desk, who I later found out that her first day on the job was... today, told me, "Oh, you're probably have to go talk with the Math Office and talk to them about clearing your 6A and calculus series." Okay no problem, just goto their offices, easy right?
Later on in the day, Erik, Pranav and I head over to the Math Office to get them cleared so at least we won't have to keep going back. We go into their offices and we explain the situation and they look as us kind of dumbfounded and said, "You need to go to the Physical Sciences office"
*SIGH*
Okay, so apparently the Math Office has absolutely no control nor access to any of our records at all. The Physical Sciences (albeit the Math Department is listed under them) are the ones who control the Math Department's records. Why the hell is there a Math Office if they can do nothing?
So off we go to the Physical Sciences Office to get it cleared. Now the lady here was really snotty or bitchy or whatever you want to call it because when we tell her that we're from ICS she gives us this look like, "ICS? Why are you here in the Physical Sciences Office?" (Imagine snotty cheerleader voice) And we explain the situation to her about how we've been going around in circles trying to figure out an answer to our question. She responds, "Well the ICS department sets the prerequisites for that class, Idon't see why you are coming here to the Physical Sciences Office to get them cleared." (Queue snotty voice again) "Thats the problem, we want our Math classes cleared," Us three say in vain, knowing that this isn't going to turn out very well. "Well let me call the ICS office and see what is going on." She says again in her condescending tone. "Uh hello yes, I have three ICS students here and obviously someone must have told them wrong because now they are in my office... yadda yadda yadda" She gets off the phone, tells us to go BACK to ICS and sign a pre-req clearance form.
At this point I'm about to break.
So we head back to the ICS office. I assumed that there really was this magical form that would clear us automatically from every single class, but alas, the clearance form she had told us about was the same goddamn sheet that I had signed earlier in the morning. Goddammit. All that fucking time for nothing.
At this point is when I learn how the girl at the front desk had screwed me over. Usually, when you work the front desk, you do not have to act as though you know everything. I won't think any lesser of you if you say, "I don't know, let me get someone who does." But apparently the girl thought she could answer it. Not only did she send me to the wrong office, she actually made me believe that it was possible to get those classes cleared. This is such fucking bullshit. I am so pissed off at that girl right now.
A great song for them to have been playing as Erik, Pranav and I left their offices would be We Will Rock You by Queen.
Fucking Bureaucracy.
Saturday I went to LACMA to do my description of a sculpture for my Art History class. We went to UCLA first to eat a quick lunch with E*, the parking meters there are brutal. The meter I had gave you 7.5 minutes per quarter. So I ended up putting in 6 or so quarters to have enough time to eat. After we finished eating I had to look up what statue I had to look at because I forgot to write it down. When I came back to the car though the meter had expired. Good thing I didn't get a ticket though.
After that I headed over to the LACMA museum that was purported to be close by. Turns out it's a good half hour drive away from UCLA when you take the local streets. When Erik and I got there we tried to find parking and it took us a while before we finally hit the jackpot. There was a meter spot right next to the museum that had about an hour and a half's worth of time on it.
So I get out and I go into the Japanese Gallery and spent a good half hour describing it and taking pictures of it. I took it from various angles and different lighting filter. I think I took a total of 40 or so pictures.
Afterwards we went to the Borders in Brea and Erik got the Third Eye Blind CD, Out of the Vein.
For some reason while I was driving into and back from LA. There were a whole bunch of limos. Well that part's not surprising since for a lot of high schools it was Prom Night.
But what pissed me off is those stupid limos cutting me off. They are a good two car lengths long yet they still accelerate and try to cut me off when there obviously is not enough space for them to be in there. Geez, that guy is responsible for the 10-20 people in there and he's risking their lives by trying to drive faster than me so he can what, pull ahead of me in the lane. Pfft... so lame.
Especially the last limo that cut me off (I think there were about 5 limos that did it during the day). We're coming down from the 91E onto the 57N over that huge interchange bridge. There are two lanes on that interchange and I was in the left lane, the limo on the right. The two cars in front of the limo entered the 57 in front of me and there was about half a cars length between the end car and me. And I'm driving normally and all of a sudden I see this huge limo trying to speed up past me. I'm thinking, "Oh this limo's going to HAVE TO slow down, there's no way he's going to fit that limo in half a cars length." But you know what? He does it anways. So here's this limo trying to cut into half a car's length of space. Obviously the smart choice was for me to slow all the way down so he had enough space to squeeze past.
And of course when I get into the lane on the limo's left and begin to pass him he has the nerve to look at me as though I did something wrong. Damn, it's not as though I was trying to cut him off from the merger lane. I mean if there are two lanes merging into one, the rule of thumb is to alternate the order of the cars so that the car in front and back of you are from the opposite lane of the one you were in. And I had let the two cars in the right lane go ahead of me. Why the hell was this limo driver thinking HE was right. I wonder what would have happened if we had crashed though. The people in the limo probably would have gotten mad at me instead of the limo driver for ruining their night. But I assume I'd be in the right seeing how the limo tried to cut into the lane when it wasn't his turn and when he didn't have enough room. Oh well, better to yield to assholes like that and then blow by them afterwards.
Yeah, so, later on in the night I went to see The Matrix Reloaded with Pranav and Don. I enjoyed the movie, I understand why people would not like some parts of it but I thought that it gave you a reasonable cliffhanger.
That's about it.
After that I headed over to the LACMA museum that was purported to be close by. Turns out it's a good half hour drive away from UCLA when you take the local streets. When Erik and I got there we tried to find parking and it took us a while before we finally hit the jackpot. There was a meter spot right next to the museum that had about an hour and a half's worth of time on it.
So I get out and I go into the Japanese Gallery and spent a good half hour describing it and taking pictures of it. I took it from various angles and different lighting filter. I think I took a total of 40 or so pictures.
Afterwards we went to the Borders in Brea and Erik got the Third Eye Blind CD, Out of the Vein.
For some reason while I was driving into and back from LA. There were a whole bunch of limos. Well that part's not surprising since for a lot of high schools it was Prom Night.
But what pissed me off is those stupid limos cutting me off. They are a good two car lengths long yet they still accelerate and try to cut me off when there obviously is not enough space for them to be in there. Geez, that guy is responsible for the 10-20 people in there and he's risking their lives by trying to drive faster than me so he can what, pull ahead of me in the lane. Pfft... so lame.
Especially the last limo that cut me off (I think there were about 5 limos that did it during the day). We're coming down from the 91E onto the 57N over that huge interchange bridge. There are two lanes on that interchange and I was in the left lane, the limo on the right. The two cars in front of the limo entered the 57 in front of me and there was about half a cars length between the end car and me. And I'm driving normally and all of a sudden I see this huge limo trying to speed up past me. I'm thinking, "Oh this limo's going to HAVE TO slow down, there's no way he's going to fit that limo in half a cars length." But you know what? He does it anways. So here's this limo trying to cut into half a car's length of space. Obviously the smart choice was for me to slow all the way down so he had enough space to squeeze past.
And of course when I get into the lane on the limo's left and begin to pass him he has the nerve to look at me as though I did something wrong. Damn, it's not as though I was trying to cut him off from the merger lane. I mean if there are two lanes merging into one, the rule of thumb is to alternate the order of the cars so that the car in front and back of you are from the opposite lane of the one you were in. And I had let the two cars in the right lane go ahead of me. Why the hell was this limo driver thinking HE was right. I wonder what would have happened if we had crashed though. The people in the limo probably would have gotten mad at me instead of the limo driver for ruining their night. But I assume I'd be in the right seeing how the limo tried to cut into the lane when it wasn't his turn and when he didn't have enough room. Oh well, better to yield to assholes like that and then blow by them afterwards.
Yeah, so, later on in the night I went to see The Matrix Reloaded with Pranav and Don. I enjoyed the movie, I understand why people would not like some parts of it but I thought that it gave you a reasonable cliffhanger.
That's about it.
Erik and Josh are doing hardcore nine one screams in the living room so I'm having a hard time concentrating or maybe that's just me not wanting to study for my Chinese test tomorrow. Or quiz as they like to call it. As though having 4 quizzes + a final throughout the quarter is less difficult than 4 tests + a final. Oh actually we have 6 of those quiz like tets. 4 tests throughout the quarter and for finals we have to do both a verbal and written test. Verbal is pretty easy, but a written test was 200 multiple choice questions. ARGH!
Okay this is going to be a longer post but you should read through all of it instead of scrolling down... really what else are you going to read?
We had our ICS 151 Midterm on Tuesday. For the Troy people, the class is basically a beefed up version of what we had for ICT. So a lot of concepts have been repeated in this class. Binary logic, K-Maps, yadda yadda. For the miderm, our Professor assured us that it was an easy test (uh-oh you know where this is going now right?) and even provided us with a sample midterm to show us a) how easy it was going to be b) how short it was going to be. Sure enough, the sample midterm was fairly simple and could have been finished easily in a hour and a half class. When we went to her office hours, she said that the sample midterm was pretty much what was going to be on the real midterm.
So going into the midterm I thought I knew what to expect on the test. And I'm taking this sample midterm and a tabulation problem to solve some Primary Implicants comes up. This kind of problem is very easy but takes a long time to do. There are two ways to solve for Primary Implicants. For humans the better way is to use K-Maps; for computers they are better off w/ the tabulation method because computer's can't really use K-Maps.
Anyyyways.... So this tabulation problem alone takes me 20 minutes or so because not only do we have to find Prime Implicants, we have to find the Minimal Coverage. This means basically doing a lot of multiplication of multi-variable factors ala (P1 + P2 + P3)(P1 + P3 + P4) etc, etc. And as I'm finishing this up I'm thinking, okay that took 20 minutes, you still have about an hour left. You're doing good, you're only a few problems away from finishing... and that's when I flipped the next 2 or three sheets of paper with problems that were AFTER that tabulation problem. WTF??
And during this whole time she's assuring us that we have plenty of time. Only at the very end did she realize that there was no way in hell we would finish all those problems in time. And by then all she could say was, "Try your best, there is partial credit"
Just to give you a general scope of what was _after_ that tabulation question. It was a lot of Adders/Subtractors and lots and lots of stuff where we expected that there would be one or two questions on. But instead we get about 5 of them and none of them we've ever seen or recognize how to do for certain.
And also, since I want this to be read in case you've started skipping... One of the problems was some weird question about a two-bit divisor. The gist of it was this. Draw out a truth table for a 4 input (16 rows of 0's and 1's) along with the 5 outputs. Oh yeah, by the way, DRAW OUT 5 K-MAPS FOR THE 5 OUTPUTS.
Okay this is going to be a longer post but you should read through all of it instead of scrolling down... really what else are you going to read?
We had our ICS 151 Midterm on Tuesday. For the Troy people, the class is basically a beefed up version of what we had for ICT. So a lot of concepts have been repeated in this class. Binary logic, K-Maps, yadda yadda. For the miderm, our Professor assured us that it was an easy test (uh-oh you know where this is going now right?) and even provided us with a sample midterm to show us a) how easy it was going to be b) how short it was going to be. Sure enough, the sample midterm was fairly simple and could have been finished easily in a hour and a half class. When we went to her office hours, she said that the sample midterm was pretty much what was going to be on the real midterm.
So going into the midterm I thought I knew what to expect on the test. And I'm taking this sample midterm and a tabulation problem to solve some Primary Implicants comes up. This kind of problem is very easy but takes a long time to do. There are two ways to solve for Primary Implicants. For humans the better way is to use K-Maps; for computers they are better off w/ the tabulation method because computer's can't really use K-Maps.
Anyyyways.... So this tabulation problem alone takes me 20 minutes or so because not only do we have to find Prime Implicants, we have to find the Minimal Coverage. This means basically doing a lot of multiplication of multi-variable factors ala (P1 + P2 + P3)(P1 + P3 + P4) etc, etc. And as I'm finishing this up I'm thinking, okay that took 20 minutes, you still have about an hour left. You're doing good, you're only a few problems away from finishing... and that's when I flipped the next 2 or three sheets of paper with problems that were AFTER that tabulation problem. WTF??
And during this whole time she's assuring us that we have plenty of time. Only at the very end did she realize that there was no way in hell we would finish all those problems in time. And by then all she could say was, "Try your best, there is partial credit"
Just to give you a general scope of what was _after_ that tabulation question. It was a lot of Adders/Subtractors and lots and lots of stuff where we expected that there would be one or two questions on. But instead we get about 5 of them and none of them we've ever seen or recognize how to do for certain.
And also, since I want this to be read in case you've started skipping... One of the problems was some weird question about a two-bit divisor. The gist of it was this. Draw out a truth table for a 4 input (16 rows of 0's and 1's) along with the 5 outputs. Oh yeah, by the way, DRAW OUT 5 K-MAPS FOR THE 5 OUTPUTS.
WTF?!
First off in case no one figured out, The Team won the CV Talent Show. Now that it was a big accomplishment or anything because there weren't that many participants in it. But still, The Team won. For winning, The Team received a $35 dollar gift certificate to the restaurant of our choice (Claim Jumper). Toni-Lynne was nice enough to tape it for us for... posterity?
Rather than just taping it for us and showing it off her copy of the show, Toni-Lynne went above and beyond what she needed to do. She actually edited the footage to make it look nice and gave us all copies of it! That is so cool (cue emoticon with sunglasses)!
I also took a midterm today for Asian Art History. I spent so long studying this (with lots of procrastination in between) only to have my stupid brain turn off on me and switch around the answers. Gah I am not enjoying the tests in that class too much. Its all pure memorization, which my brain has long since given out on.
Begin long winded rant about Lakers, skip if you want
But anyways, Happy Birthday to all the April people, last one being Victor. It seems that lots of people were either born in April or July. I guess it is just a big coincidence..
Rather than just taping it for us and showing it off her copy of the show, Toni-Lynne went above and beyond what she needed to do. She actually edited the footage to make it look nice and gave us all copies of it! That is so cool (cue emoticon with sunglasses)!
I also took a midterm today for Asian Art History. I spent so long studying this (with lots of procrastination in between) only to have my stupid brain turn off on me and switch around the answers. Gah I am not enjoying the tests in that class too much. Its all pure memorization, which my brain has long since given out on.
Begin long winded rant about Lakers, skip if you want
The Lakers won last night against the TWolves. <sarcasm>GOOD THING THE REFS WERE THERE TO MAKE SURE THEY WON BY 30!</sarcasm>.End long rant
By the way, I'm making fun of people who think that the NBA has a conspiracy where the Lakers are winning because they play in a big market and they're a big label. But when you look at it there are definitely better ways the NBA can bring in revenue rather than the Lakers. Hell if the NBA was specifically making sure teams in big cities or big stars got in, consider the following.
The Houston Rockets didn't get in even though Yao Ming in the playoffs would have been huge. That alone would have brought in more internation viewers from China and other asian countries.
The Washington Wizards are a no-brainer. I mean think about the ratings! Michael Jordan, in his last season in the NBA taking this ragtag team of players and leading them into the post season for one last final romp. Oh think about how many tickets they could have sold with that!
Last thursday's game had a controversial call. Now is that "proof" that the referees are trying to help the Lakers win? Maybe. Is that proof that the referees are humans and make mistakes too? Yes. I'm sorry but I've yet to see a post season where the referees have not made a single bad call. Hell there are at least 2 or 3 bad calls per game. Now while I'm not saying that the referees were justified in calling a foul on Szczerbiak against Kobe (although I could not watch the game so I can't tell whether or not this is true. I am just going by what the NBA.com article says), stuff like that happens.
And at least this was reported. There is one man who consistently does not get called fouls against, Michael Jordan. I'm a fan or Jordan just like anyone else but MJ gets away with lots and lots of calls. Not necessarily phantom calls but if there's anyone who gets away with more hand checks and gets saved when he's in trouble, it's him. The one that totally stands out (and replays show it) is Michael Jordan fouling Byron Russell during Game 6 of the 1998 Finals. In it Byron appears to slip but it is actually Jordan's hand that causes Byron to take a tumble. Further proof of his star treatment lies in the fact that while he was a tenacious defender, he's only fouled out of 10 games in his 13 year career.Source of the MJ info
But anyways, Happy Birthday to all the April people, last one being Victor. It seems that lots of people were either born in April or July. I guess it is just a big coincidence..
HTML Bombs
Posted 2003-04-25 04:34:52 AM | Rants
NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO !!!
Okay, now supposedly girls are the ones with the fashion sense which I assume requires some ability to match colors together that look appeasing to others in their society. So why the hell can these same "girls" not get down color coordination for a website. Do they not understand a blinding blue background on top of a brighter blue color is tacky and also illegal? (Well it SHOULD be illegal). Also I don't get, the purpose of the Xanga is to read it right? So why won't you go to such lengths just to prohibit other people from reading your website?
Other problems: (Note: none of these technically will destroy your computer, but they will destroy your mind)
1. HELLO I LIKE TO USE UP ALL YOUR RAM BY PUTTING IN 200 IMAGES OF RANDOM IMAGES I FOUND ON TEH INTERNAT AND ALSO I SAW HAMSTERDANCE A LONG TIME AGO AND WANTED TO EMULATE THAT
2. HI I AM A 10 YEAR OLD BOY WHO THINKS THAT MY RAP SKILLZ ARE PRETTY TIZIGHT, BUSTING OUT RHYMING GEMS SUCH AS YEAR AND TEAR! ALSO MISSPELL EVERY SINGLE WORD. POSSIBLE.
3. HELLO, NOT ONLY DO I LIKE TO SCROLL THE TITLE OF MY XANGA, I ALSO DO IT BY ALIGNING THE TEXT VERTICALLY, YOU KNOW HOW NORMAL PEOPLE USUALLY VIEW TEXT WHILE ITS SCROLLING BACK AND FORTH IN AN OBNOXIOUS MANNER. ALSO RATHER THAN USE THE WHOLE BROWSER. I FEEL THAT IT IS MUCH CUTER TO HAVE THIS TINY LITTLE BOX AND MAKE EVERYONE SCROLL AROUND IN IT! NO COMMENT ;)
4. LOL I JUST DISCOVERED HOW TO MAKE YOUR COMPUTER SHOW A DIALOG BOX, NOW WATCH AS I DO THIS TO YOU 20 TIMES TO SHOW YOU HOW INCREDIBLY COOL IT IS. DONT WORRY ABOUT MISSING OUT ON THE CONTENT OF MY SITE CAUSE YOUR TOO BUSY TRYING TO CLICK ON ALL THOSE JAVASCRIPT ALERTS! MY SITE JUST CONSISTS OF ME POSTING UP IMAGES THAT I LEECHED FROM OTHER PEOPLES SERVERS AND ALSO POSTING UP LYRICS OF SONGS THAT I HAVE NO REAL CLUE ABOUT! YAY GO ME AND MY AWESOME XANGA
5. AS IF MY LACK OF BEING ABLE TO TYPE COMPLETE SENTENCES WASNT ENOUGH I NEED TO PUT A PICTAR OF CALVIN AND HOBBES, IN BLACK AND WHITE NO LESS, UNDERNEATH MY TEXT WHICH IS ALSO... YES! BLACK! ALSO I LIKE TO MAKE YOUR TITLEBAR SCROLL BACK AND FORTH EVERY SECOND BECAUSE YOU KNOW THAT CATCHES PEOPLES ATTENTIONS!!!!!!!
Am I one to really judge? I don't know. But at least I know better than putting a very bright image in my background. (Note, please don't do this. Ever. Yes you. Ever)
Okay, now supposedly girls are the ones with the fashion sense which I assume requires some ability to match colors together that look appeasing to others in their society. So why the hell can these same "girls" not get down color coordination for a website. Do they not understand a blinding blue background on top of a brighter blue color is tacky and also illegal? (Well it SHOULD be illegal). Also I don't get, the purpose of the Xanga is to read it right? So why won't you go to such lengths just to prohibit other people from reading your website?
Other problems: (Note: none of these technically will destroy your computer, but they will destroy your mind)
1. HELLO I LIKE TO USE UP ALL YOUR RAM BY PUTTING IN 200 IMAGES OF RANDOM IMAGES I FOUND ON TEH INTERNAT AND ALSO I SAW HAMSTERDANCE A LONG TIME AGO AND WANTED TO EMULATE THAT
2. HI I AM A 10 YEAR OLD BOY WHO THINKS THAT MY RAP SKILLZ ARE PRETTY TIZIGHT, BUSTING OUT RHYMING GEMS SUCH AS YEAR AND TEAR! ALSO MISSPELL EVERY SINGLE WORD. POSSIBLE.
3. HELLO, NOT ONLY DO I LIKE TO SCROLL THE TITLE OF MY XANGA, I ALSO DO IT BY ALIGNING THE TEXT VERTICALLY, YOU KNOW HOW NORMAL PEOPLE USUALLY VIEW TEXT WHILE ITS SCROLLING BACK AND FORTH IN AN OBNOXIOUS MANNER. ALSO RATHER THAN USE THE WHOLE BROWSER. I FEEL THAT IT IS MUCH CUTER TO HAVE THIS TINY LITTLE BOX AND MAKE EVERYONE SCROLL AROUND IN IT! NO COMMENT ;)
4. LOL I JUST DISCOVERED HOW TO MAKE YOUR COMPUTER SHOW A DIALOG BOX, NOW WATCH AS I DO THIS TO YOU 20 TIMES TO SHOW YOU HOW INCREDIBLY COOL IT IS. DONT WORRY ABOUT MISSING OUT ON THE CONTENT OF MY SITE CAUSE YOUR TOO BUSY TRYING TO CLICK ON ALL THOSE JAVASCRIPT ALERTS! MY SITE JUST CONSISTS OF ME POSTING UP IMAGES THAT I LEECHED FROM OTHER PEOPLES SERVERS AND ALSO POSTING UP LYRICS OF SONGS THAT I HAVE NO REAL CLUE ABOUT! YAY GO ME AND MY AWESOME XANGA
5. AS IF MY LACK OF BEING ABLE TO TYPE COMPLETE SENTENCES WASNT ENOUGH I NEED TO PUT A PICTAR OF CALVIN AND HOBBES, IN BLACK AND WHITE NO LESS, UNDERNEATH MY TEXT WHICH IS ALSO... YES! BLACK! ALSO I LIKE TO MAKE YOUR TITLEBAR SCROLL BACK AND FORTH EVERY SECOND BECAUSE YOU KNOW THAT CATCHES PEOPLES ATTENTIONS!!!!!!!
Am I one to really judge? I don't know. But at least I know better than putting a very bright image in my background. (Note, please don't do this. Ever. Yes you. Ever)
War on Iraq
Posted 2003-03-23 02:46:38 PM | Rants
Okay so I really didn't want to talk about the war because mainly I didn't feel like I should. We all have our opinions on the war and they are all probably polar opposites.
It is scary to see how nonfunctional our military helicopters are. Every single time you hear about a fatal military accident is it with tanks? No. What about a patriot missile exploding? No. IT IS ALL FUCKING HELICOPTERS. I swear ever since Clinton was fighting the war in Kosovo against Milosevic there have had to been 10 or so helicopter crashes. I mean I understand a helicopter is a very tricky piece of machinery but for the life of me I haven't seen a tank explode for no reason or a jet fighter suddently decide to lose all its systems and its redundancies.
There is also a problem when the Iraqis (or should I just say Saddam, cause it's a war against Saddam and not the Iraqis...) can somehow capture an Apache helicopter. Hello? One of the most deadliest flying craft ever to exist is now in enemy hands nearly intact? Who knows what they will do with it. Perhaps sell it off to the highest bidder or something.
And don't even get me started about the casualties. I hope Bush is happy about that. Wasting American lives for oil.
It is scary to see how nonfunctional our military helicopters are. Every single time you hear about a fatal military accident is it with tanks? No. What about a patriot missile exploding? No. IT IS ALL FUCKING HELICOPTERS. I swear ever since Clinton was fighting the war in Kosovo against Milosevic there have had to been 10 or so helicopter crashes. I mean I understand a helicopter is a very tricky piece of machinery but for the life of me I haven't seen a tank explode for no reason or a jet fighter suddently decide to lose all its systems and its redundancies.
There is also a problem when the Iraqis (or should I just say Saddam, cause it's a war against Saddam and not the Iraqis...) can somehow capture an Apache helicopter. Hello? One of the most deadliest flying craft ever to exist is now in enemy hands nearly intact? Who knows what they will do with it. Perhaps sell it off to the highest bidder or something.
And don't even get me started about the casualties. I hope Bush is happy about that. Wasting American lives for oil.
I can't even pronounce the word very well but I dislike them greatly.
As though not being Christian is somehow bad and that they must convert everyone to Christianity. I'm not even sure if they're for Christianity or for cults. I mean Jews for Jesus sounds contradictory and uhh cultish.
Look, if someone wants to be Christian, they will be Christian. I don't think someone wakes up and goes, "Hmm, I would like to be a Christian but if only someone with a pamphlet showed me the way". Shoving stupid pamphlets down people's throats who don't want them shoved down their throat is not going to help your cause.
Anyways, Lynn had a journal entry where she talked about one so-called evangelist who was trying to convert or convince her to Christianity (we all get the irony here right? Lynn's a good Christian already...). Well it was my turn today to be hassled by one of them, although it was kind of disappointing.
Comparison with Lynn's confrontation: A female 'evangelist' comes up to her in a very upbeat tone and has Lynn read this pamplhet about the Four Spiritual Seasons.
Now compare that with mine: I'm walking back from my Chinese class, and nearing the outskirts of Campus Village (where I live) and in front of the Science Library (the one shaped like a va-gina).
I'm walking and I'm dead tired and I see these three Asian guys sitting down at a planter. I'm trying to pass them on their right to head into CV when all of a sudden I make eye contact with one of them (uh-oh) and they all give each other a funny look (which I believe turns out to be the 'who's going to approach this victim?' look) and the one on the left stands up.
Now this is where he makes his first mistake. He doesn't head towards me, instead he heads for an intercept course further ahead in the path that I'm walking. Human nature tends to try and avoid contact with objects in their way, so naturally when I see that he's trying to block my way I try to change course to move away from him.
But rather than collide with him (which seems now like a better idea than stopping or swerving around him), I stop. This could have been a critical mistake on my part as I would now be harrased by whatever he was trying to sell. But at that point I didn't know what he wanted from me.
Now this is where he makes his second mistake. He's a guy. A male. A dude. A member of the same sex. HELLO?! Doesn't the Christian religion know that (hetero) sex sells??? I mean if you're going to force me to stand there and listen to some random crap, at least give me something good to look at. teehee ^_^
His third mistake: he was a mumbler. I couldn't understand anything he said and obviously this wasn't a good job for him to be doing.
His fourth mistake: after I deciphered his incoherence, he apparently had said something along the lines of, "Would you like to read this? *holds out pamphlet that says, Four Spiritual Seasons*" Wait, what? He wanted ME to read? He wanted ME to READ? A pamphlet that he's handing out nonetheless. Who's suppose to be spreading the word of God, you or me buddy?
His fifth mistake: he allowed me to say "No" and escape. What kind of Evangelists let's their prey, err victim, err 'party of interest' get away so easily? A guy trying to make me donate blood was more convincing than this guy. I mean at least that guy told me I'd get a free T-Shirt and food if I donated blood. What was this guy offering? Oh yes, he offered to read a pamphlet to me... Wait. Hmm. NO! HE DIDN'T EVEN DO THAT!
Oh yeah, and HE WAS A GUY! (Asuka: no gay comments :), only about Don)
As though not being Christian is somehow bad and that they must convert everyone to Christianity. I'm not even sure if they're for Christianity or for cults. I mean Jews for Jesus sounds contradictory and uhh cultish.
Look, if someone wants to be Christian, they will be Christian. I don't think someone wakes up and goes, "Hmm, I would like to be a Christian but if only someone with a pamphlet showed me the way". Shoving stupid pamphlets down people's throats who don't want them shoved down their throat is not going to help your cause.
Anyways, Lynn had a journal entry where she talked about one so-called evangelist who was trying to convert or convince her to Christianity (we all get the irony here right? Lynn's a good Christian already...). Well it was my turn today to be hassled by one of them, although it was kind of disappointing.
Comparison with Lynn's confrontation: A female 'evangelist' comes up to her in a very upbeat tone and has Lynn read this pamplhet about the Four Spiritual Seasons.
Now compare that with mine: I'm walking back from my Chinese class, and nearing the outskirts of Campus Village (where I live) and in front of the Science Library (the one shaped like a va-gina).
I'm walking and I'm dead tired and I see these three Asian guys sitting down at a planter. I'm trying to pass them on their right to head into CV when all of a sudden I make eye contact with one of them (uh-oh) and they all give each other a funny look (which I believe turns out to be the 'who's going to approach this victim?' look) and the one on the left stands up.
Now this is where he makes his first mistake. He doesn't head towards me, instead he heads for an intercept course further ahead in the path that I'm walking. Human nature tends to try and avoid contact with objects in their way, so naturally when I see that he's trying to block my way I try to change course to move away from him.
But rather than collide with him (which seems now like a better idea than stopping or swerving around him), I stop. This could have been a critical mistake on my part as I would now be harrased by whatever he was trying to sell. But at that point I didn't know what he wanted from me.
Now this is where he makes his second mistake. He's a guy. A male. A dude. A member of the same sex. HELLO?! Doesn't the Christian religion know that (hetero) sex sells??? I mean if you're going to force me to stand there and listen to some random crap, at least give me something good to look at. teehee ^_^
His third mistake: he was a mumbler. I couldn't understand anything he said and obviously this wasn't a good job for him to be doing.
His fourth mistake: after I deciphered his incoherence, he apparently had said something along the lines of, "Would you like to read this? *holds out pamphlet that says, Four Spiritual Seasons*" Wait, what? He wanted ME to read? He wanted ME to READ? A pamphlet that he's handing out nonetheless. Who's suppose to be spreading the word of God, you or me buddy?
His fifth mistake: he allowed me to say "No" and escape. What kind of Evangelists let's their prey, err victim, err 'party of interest' get away so easily? A guy trying to make me donate blood was more convincing than this guy. I mean at least that guy told me I'd get a free T-Shirt and food if I donated blood. What was this guy offering? Oh yes, he offered to read a pamphlet to me... Wait. Hmm. NO! HE DIDN'T EVEN DO THAT!
Oh yeah, and HE WAS A GUY! (Asuka: no gay comments :), only about Don)
High Rain Alert
Posted 2003-02-12 05:42:39 AM | Rants
The Governor of California, Gray Davis, has issued a new "Rain Alert" for the state of California upgrading the status from Yellow to Orange in light of the recent rains that have been dropped on the State of California.
I dislike rain, especially when I don't have an umbrella. Everything stinks up, you accidently step on a dozen snails on the way to class, everything smells moist, everyone gets sick, no one wants to be outside, people inadvertenly step into 2 foot puddles and also the fire alarm will go off in the only food court on campus just as you're about to buy food from Rice Garden or Subway. Also did I mention that it's raining?
1. Must think of a catchy three-word-or-more name for your band. Maybe something like, "Simply Taking Back A Pizza I Found On Friday 13"
2. Lead singer should not play any instrument. Obnoxious whiny voice only requirement. Also, his voice needs to sound like it went through 30 some odd voice filters in the studio.
3. Guy who does backup vocals has to be able to scream like a goddamn screaming thing everytime they jump into the chorus. Okay if he can't really scream like it live.
4. Lead singer should swing his microphone as though none of his band members are near him. Most likely they won't be because they are too busy bending down and looking down at their guitars.
5. Songs must be how a girl broke his heart but he doesn't care anymore or a song about a girl broke his heart but he wants her back or a song about him breaking up with her but wanting her back or a song about him breaking up with her because he wants her hot roommate instead.
6. One member of the band must have a hair color that is not naturally occuring. Another member must have blonde hair.
It's not that I don't like these bands, it's just that they're so cookie cutter
2. Lead singer should not play any instrument. Obnoxious whiny voice only requirement. Also, his voice needs to sound like it went through 30 some odd voice filters in the studio.
3. Guy who does backup vocals has to be able to scream like a goddamn screaming thing everytime they jump into the chorus. Okay if he can't really scream like it live.
4. Lead singer should swing his microphone as though none of his band members are near him. Most likely they won't be because they are too busy bending down and looking down at their guitars.
5. Songs must be how a girl broke his heart but he doesn't care anymore or a song about a girl broke his heart but he wants her back or a song about him breaking up with her but wanting her back or a song about him breaking up with her because he wants her hot roommate instead.
6. One member of the band must have a hair color that is not naturally occuring. Another member must have blonde hair.
It's not that I don't like these bands, it's just that they're so cookie cutter
Chinese, Chinese and more Chinese
Posted 2003-01-22 04:29:01 AM | Rants
Chinese class is fun...
Except there is homework everyday
Except there is dictation everyday
Except there is a quiz every other week
Except there is an essay due on Friday
Except there are so many words that I have to learn because they put me in the 1B class. So now I have to figure out everything from my 1A class.
I feel like I'm taking four classes this quarter than three.
Except there is homework everyday
Except there is dictation everyday
Except there is a quiz every other week
Except there is an essay due on Friday
Except there are so many words that I have to learn because they put me in the 1B class. So now I have to figure out everything from my 1A class.
I feel like I'm taking four classes this quarter than three.
Even though the Lakers are doing terrible this year and are under .500, someone out there still believes that the Lakers indeed are "paying" referees off.
Is there bad refereeing in the NBA? Absolutely. In fact its a pretty well know that referees give the NBA superstars more leeway when it comes to calls (although not always and from ref-to-ref it varies). But let's see. Lakers have Kobe and Shaq, Dallas Mavericks have Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash. The Kings, have lots of good players (Peja, Webber, Bobby Jackson, Bibby).
Anyways this proves that the Lakers dont pay off referees *. Unless of course you're in denial.
It's one thing to hate the Lakers, it's another to think that they cheated to be where they were for the past three years or where they are now.
* speaking of which, anyone see the new Apple commercial with Yao Ming?
Is there bad refereeing in the NBA? Absolutely. In fact its a pretty well know that referees give the NBA superstars more leeway when it comes to calls (although not always and from ref-to-ref it varies). But let's see. Lakers have Kobe and Shaq, Dallas Mavericks have Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash. The Kings, have lots of good players (Peja, Webber, Bobby Jackson, Bibby).
Anyways this proves that the Lakers dont pay off referees *. Unless of course you're in denial.
It's one thing to hate the Lakers, it's another to think that they cheated to be where they were for the past three years or where they are now.
* speaking of which, anyone see the new Apple commercial with Yao Ming?
Don't read this if you don't want to know what happens in Equilibrium because I will spoil it for you with... spoilers.
-!RM-
So the story made no sense but the action scenes were great (although those didn't make too much sense either). I thought the acting was very well done, especially by Christian Bale. It's too bad that you can drive a goddamn cruise liner through those plot holes.
First off, no emotions? C'mon that makes no sense! Why would there be the concept of husband and wife? When you get married you are emotionally connected to that person (whether in the good way or bad way it is still emotion).
Second off, when they drag John Preston's partner, Brandt after John had set him up, why didn't Brandt use his gun kata to kill those two pathetic "sweepers" (aka the red shirts from Star Trek)? I mean if you're John and you just set up a fellow Cleric up for a crime, you would think said Cleric would use his abilities? Maybe since he didn't have any emotions he didn't feel like getting revenge or attempt to escape. What.
Then in the sequence after John figures out that he was setup and kills everyone in the room sans one unarmed assistance, WHY THE HELL DOES HE HAVE A LOOK OF FEAR IN HIS FACE? YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSE TO HAVE ANY GODDAMN EMOTIONS!!!!
And in the end sequence when John enters the Father's chambers, WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU SMILING BRANDT? Doesn't he know he's not suppose to have any emotion at all?
Then at the end after he's disarmed the Vice Councilor Dupont, he pleads with John to not shoot him. OMG IS THAT THE EMOTION OF FEAR AGAIN???!!!! ARGHHHH!!!
Okay now to the action scenes, the "gun kata" technique that they used was an awesome concept. But kinda iffy on what the actual technique is.
At the end of the movie with the lobby-like sequence similar to The Matrix, I thought was the weakest showing of the gun kata concept. It seems as though the soldiers lack any sense at all. "Oh look it's the highest ranking Cleric of all times, let's all stand in a line!!"
Then, after he wipes out all those Sweepers where John has to face multiple Clerics (actually they don't even say if they are, I suppose they would be). You think by now that you shouldn't be that close to someone who has a high proficiency in the gun kata. But of course they stand two feet away from him and get their asses handed to them on a platter. And you think "Clerics" with knowledge of gun kata would actually do something!
And finally, the last action sequence with Dupont and John using the guns along with some form of Chinese Sticky Hands was, what I thought, a better use of the gun kata idea. Prevented your opponent from getting a good position to killing you with his gun.
So to summarize:
Action Scenes GOOD! Story BAD!
-!RM-
So the story made no sense but the action scenes were great (although those didn't make too much sense either). I thought the acting was very well done, especially by Christian Bale. It's too bad that you can drive a goddamn cruise liner through those plot holes.
First off, no emotions? C'mon that makes no sense! Why would there be the concept of husband and wife? When you get married you are emotionally connected to that person (whether in the good way or bad way it is still emotion).
Second off, when they drag John Preston's partner, Brandt after John had set him up, why didn't Brandt use his gun kata to kill those two pathetic "sweepers" (aka the red shirts from Star Trek)? I mean if you're John and you just set up a fellow Cleric up for a crime, you would think said Cleric would use his abilities? Maybe since he didn't have any emotions he didn't feel like getting revenge or attempt to escape. What.
Then in the sequence after John figures out that he was setup and kills everyone in the room sans one unarmed assistance, WHY THE HELL DOES HE HAVE A LOOK OF FEAR IN HIS FACE? YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSE TO HAVE ANY GODDAMN EMOTIONS!!!!
And in the end sequence when John enters the Father's chambers, WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU SMILING BRANDT? Doesn't he know he's not suppose to have any emotion at all?
Then at the end after he's disarmed the Vice Councilor Dupont, he pleads with John to not shoot him. OMG IS THAT THE EMOTION OF FEAR AGAIN???!!!! ARGHHHH!!!
Okay now to the action scenes, the "gun kata" technique that they used was an awesome concept. But kinda iffy on what the actual technique is.
At the end of the movie with the lobby-like sequence similar to The Matrix, I thought was the weakest showing of the gun kata concept. It seems as though the soldiers lack any sense at all. "Oh look it's the highest ranking Cleric of all times, let's all stand in a line!!"
Then, after he wipes out all those Sweepers where John has to face multiple Clerics (actually they don't even say if they are, I suppose they would be). You think by now that you shouldn't be that close to someone who has a high proficiency in the gun kata. But of course they stand two feet away from him and get their asses handed to them on a platter. And you think "Clerics" with knowledge of gun kata would actually do something!
And finally, the last action sequence with Dupont and John using the guns along with some form of Chinese Sticky Hands was, what I thought, a better use of the gun kata idea. Prevented your opponent from getting a good position to killing you with his gun.
So to summarize:
Action Scenes GOOD! Story BAD!
Before you read the post below...
Posted 2003-01-15 05:57:40 AM | Rants
Or the post above this when it comes into existence.
Please read this because as they say, knowledge is power.
Please read this because as they say, knowledge is power.
Obviously, this was the work of the referees. They intentionally make the Lakers 15-20 so the Lakers can look good when the Refs help rig it for them in the playoffs.
And this show of skill wasn't really a show of skill at all. It was more like the referees had a remote-controlled basketball that automatically went into the basket no matter where Kobe shot! That must be it because I mean, there's no other explanation for it. The only way Kobe Bryant can make 12 three-pointers in a game is if the referees use a remote-controlled basketball to allow him to score. He definitely does not have the skills to be in the NBA.
And this show of skill wasn't really a show of skill at all. It was more like the referees had a remote-controlled basketball that automatically went into the basket no matter where Kobe shot! That must be it because I mean, there's no other explanation for it. The only way Kobe Bryant can make 12 three-pointers in a game is if the referees use a remote-controlled basketball to allow him to score. He definitely does not have the skills to be in the NBA.