11/08/2003
Some more pictures are up. Go to the pictures page to see them. Mmm...Angkor Wat.
// posted by Me @ 11/08/2003 06:45:00 PM
Lesson of the day:
In other news, cleaning is always good. Cleaning in all senses. Cleaning up the room, organizing the fridge, laundry, and even cleaning up the ol' pooter. The Inspiron 4000 is long overdue for a windows reinstall. Yeah, I'm going to install XP on it (since otherwise UCSB Resnet will try to have hissy fits). But other than that, not much else. The Inspiron is quickly turning into my media 'pooter. Downloading anime, software, and music on that machine, and it's used to run divx video files to my TV (well, it used to, before the TV-out broke...time to send it in again...). Still, in this age of net connections, it's useful to have an always-on machine doing the long-term tasks.
And since my car's kaput and it's raining outside, I have no incentive/energy to walk to school and work at the library. So cleaning the house it is. I better get the car jump started sometime soon though seeing as how I need to get to a UCSB Symphony concert.
// posted by Me @ 11/08/2003 03:39:00 PM
Wow....is the Matrix funny or WHAT. Almost as funny as LXG . Horrible script, predictable lines, making Keanu Reeves Jebus...all horrible crimes. While we do get one spectacular burst of bullet time (quickly upstaged by the hilarious deformation of Agent Smith's face), most of the action is so complex [read: messy] that one just can't take it all in, not that would actually want to. But still, the first Matrix made people think because it took an existing system and stretched it. You can dodge bullets. Great. That's not SO far-fetched. You fly around in mid-air and fight your enemy, all the while generating mini-nuclear blasts everytime you guys headbutt each other? No. That's just too far out there. And if you're going to go that far, fine, have some anti-matter explosions, but don't try to link it to "teh r34l w0rLd". With 80 hojillion sentinels flying about attacking 10 hojillion earth troops, the entire battle just looks like something any video game would do as an introduction. It's spectacular CG in some ways and lots of visual complexity but it's all done without purpose or motivation.
Oh GOD and the emotional moments, cutting in like the smell of a bathroom that's been left uncleaned for 8 weeks, is further dragged down by a predictably horrible script (so that's horrible AND predictable folks), and in the end, becomes farcical.
*we see Neo, blind, and Trinity, lying down on the floor, impaled by not 1 or 2 but 5+ poles*
Neo: "Trinity...are you OK?..."
Trinity: "Neo, I'm going to change the subject and generalize and express my love for you, therefore letting you know, very BLATANTLY that yes, I am dying, since we just crashed into a freaking mechanical pole going 200MPH all because you said 'we'll make it' but then couldn't hold off the 800 hojillion machine bombs that were coming at us."
Neo: "What's wrong?"
*feels around...gets to the 5 poles that's impaling Trinity to the floor of their ship"
Neo: "Oh...my bad."
Trinity: "Damn you oracle...why couldn't you have picked somebody else for me to fall in love with..."
Of course there are plot holes a plenty, though ironically, since there's really no plot in this movie, the holes exist as an unfulfillment of mysteries left by the previous movies of the series. The machines and humans are fighting why? There's a reason, supposedly. Now, as soon as Neo terminates Smith, the machines let up and don't hunt the humans anymore. Is there a reason? What exactly is the point of the movie really?
But aside from all that, it's a pretty darn hilarious movie. The Helix Loaded may prove to be more hilarious but for now, Matrix Revolutions is as good a parody of the The Matrix as anything.
Sleep time. Then more work.
// posted by Me @ 11/08/2003 01:10:00 AM
11/06/2003
Put some random picture galleries and some academic sh*te up. I have to really start organizing the loads of content on my computer. One of these days...it would be nice to get all my sketches/graphs into some sort of a digitally reproducible format too. I'm too lazy and don't have enough time to type all my sketches into finale though. Ah well. Tired. Lunch time. Then class. Ick.
// posted by Me @ 11/06/2003 12:10:00 PM
11/05/2003
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// posted by Me @ 11/05/2003 02:22:00 PM
11/04/2003
Oh, and did I mention Ghost in the freakin' Shell 2? [Read: Big Breasted Battle Babe Busts Bad Bums, but ever so philosophically] Translated version not projected until at least 2004 of course. Might have to resort to an electronic equestrian breed or maybe an m-less relative of Shaquille O'Neal.
And is Matrix coming out tomorrow? Why yes. Yes it is. Hopefully no aggrandized orgy-rave scenes in this one. As well as pesky Asian dudes who fight or withhold keys for no damn reason. Damn Asians...
// posted by Me @ 11/04/2003 11:46:00 AM
Interesting...so I didn't fail that Shostakovich exam. Sweet! Exact score will only be made known to privy parties due to oppression by RAPM. har har.
The T40 continues to be wonderful, especially when power settings are adjusted to your own needs. I've got the screen turning off after 1 min. of idle so that saves considerable amounts of battery power and allows me to be at a fairly decent brightness level even away from "Da Plug". It definitely holds for a couple of classes but of course, won't go all day without a charge (I'll have to bring in the charger to the library tonight...). Still, it's a wonderous change from my Dell Inspiron with 8 minutes (I kid you the proverbial knot).
I think I just like typing. It is like some sort of dexterous substitute for piano, which for me is a mild form of a narcotic. It has its ups and down and it definitely works itself into your system, forever altering your psyche to be dependent upon it to a certain degree. And by proxy the keyboard allows me to get my quick fix of moving the fingers. Nicotrol for the digits. Look at me mommy I can type quickly! wheeeeeeeeeee!
// posted by Me @ 11/04/2003 11:38:00 AM
Saw Orion tonight coming home from school (around 11:30PM). That's not particular exciting. Actually, that just isn't exciting at all. It's more sad, really. People don't look up enough. I find myself looking into the distance a lot more here in SB than in Providence. Part of that is because the weather is just nicer here and I can enjoy the stars at night, despite the light pollution, and enjoy the blue skies during the day. And perhaps another poetic part of it is I still am not sure what's going to be happening in my life in the future. I'm supposed to be studying for Ph.D. so I guess that's what I'm doing. But right now, it still seems not entirely purposeful enough. It sounds almost arrogant to say that I'm just doing a Ph.D. cause it's something I can and should do but that's how I feel sometimes. Why am I doing this? Is there a point in just burying myself in all this work? What's the point of studying music theory? And then I get back to the whole "I should just be a doctor" moral dilemma again, which I've resolved many times before but it always comes back...In terms of personal happiness, Music Theory isn't everything, but it's a step in the right direction...in terms of service to society, well, no contest there...
In other news, it's late and I need to go to sleep.
Good thing is I'll have the T40 in class tomorrow. Mmm...electronic notes from now on. Going to test Microsoft OneNote at some point and see how that works out for me. I've always wanted to have all my notes searchable/digital and OneNote might be a step in that direction (there I go with the stepping again) though initial reviews of it are not an orgy of ecstatic praise. We'll see...
// posted by Me @ 11/04/2003 01:15:00 AM
11/03/2003
See...Windows can be decently good if it wants to be...granted it always requires way more processing power than one has...but still, check it out:
So now I have 4 virtual windows wired to hotkeys, each of which has its own background and I can share or not share the desktops as I wish. No doubt this takes up a bit of proc power so when I'm away from A/C, I won't have that many programs running anyway so it's all good. But it's nice to be able to have a dedicated FTP desktop and another dedicated HTML editing desktop. Yummy.
Oh, by the way. The Jaguar visual styles (seen in windows 1&4) are from Iceman and windows 2&3 feature "Singularity" and "Tribal Darkness", stuff from Digital Blasphemy. Good stuff. The text editor in window is transparent now but usually when I code/write notes, I've got the window set on around 25% transparent. Reminds me of the good old programming days...
I really should be going to sleep...
One more thing: Lyrics page is up. Shameful thing from times past...go sing along...
// posted by Me @ 11/03/2003 01:45:00 AM
