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http://yosean.blogspot.com/
For my expanding line of rude people posts, we come to people who park rudely.
There's two forms of doing this - the unmindful or oblivious way, and the deliberate way.
The unmindful way is a person completely oblivious to the existence of other people, and parks in the way that requires the least amount of effort on their part. They will often be a few inches over the line, making it difficult for you to park in the spot next to them.
The unmindful parker isn’t doing this intentionally to keep you away from their car. In fact, this kind of parking actually increases your chance of someone door-dinging you on accident or on purpose. They are doing this because they can’t be bothered to think about how their performance of the job of parking their car is going to affect another person. You and I don’t exist in their eyes. Why should they bother to park carefully?
The deliberate way is the way Mr. Corvette does in the pictures here. He (I’m assuming it’s a he) wants you to know that ye doesn’t want you near his car. He’s taking two spaces, because he (and his car) are as important as two other people (and their cars), and you aren’t allowed to park close enough to his car to accidentally ding his doors.
I can respect that someone wants to keep their car in as perfect condition as possible, but I don’t think that parking directly between two spots (or even four, like I’ve seen elsewhere) is appropriate.
Now, in Mr. Corvette’s defense, the parking lot was not especially crowded, and he did not do this within the first 5 or 8 parking spots from the door. However, I don’t think that there’s a “right” time to park rudely and a “wrong” time to park rudely.
If you want to keep your car from suffering door dings and other calamity, I offer this advice:
In short, there are ways to park wisely and politely simultaneously. Please exercise them.
So I am watching season 3 of 24 which I bought on DVD.
** Mild spoiler incoming -- do not read if you want to be surprised in Season 3, and didn't buy the DVDs... **
I'm moving on to the 9th episode, which means I'm moving from disc 2 to disc 3. When I put in disc 3, the title screen on the menu has a picture of Sarah Clarke. Therefore I know Nina Myers is going to be in one of the episodes on the disc.
I am watching an episode where Jack and the Salazars are going to buy the virus from the Ukranians, and the broker tells Jack that there's another buyer, and they have to bid on the virus. I do some deductive reasoning and figure out that Nina Myers must be the other buyer. A truck drives up, and who should step out of the truck? It's Nina Myers! Am I surprised? No! But I should be!
I'm sorry that I saw the disc with her picture on it, because I would have preferred to be surprised when I saw her come on the screen.
So I am re-reading the Riftwar saga (and the following books) by Raymond E. Feist.
As I am reading each book, I am finding numerous errors in the books. I can't blame Raymond Feist - with 600ish pages per book, and 15 books in the series, he's really a creative force. He has at least one editor who goes over these things, and these books have been in print for over 22 years. Certainly by now someone has found these errors and can have done something about it. Yet books I have bought this year have these errors.
Examples:
Book "Prince of the Blood," ISBN 0-76783-0045
Pg 100, Last paragraph, starts with "The lady you road with..." And it should be, "The lady you rode with..."
Pg 189, first paragraph (continued from Pg. 188), referring to a sword someone is carrying. "...and across his back was a leather sheath, containing what appeared to be a half-and-a-half-, or bastard-sword."
I've read a lot of fantasy novels, and have studied military weaponry of earth's past. I know this to be a "hand-and-a-half-sword," not a "half-and-a-half..."
Pg 199, 2nd paragraph. "Borric and his companions put heels to their mounts and galloped to keep up with the chariots." Borric isn't involved in this scene. It's his brother Earland. At this point in time, Borric is lost in the desert, and Earland and James think he is dead. On Page 197, it is detailing Borric's attempted journey to reach Earland, and it will take him 4-6 weeks of traveling to do so - he is probably hundreds of miles away.
I have found four other errors in this book alone. I have found 4-6 errors in each of the other books in this series (there are 7 books I have read this year in this series).
I have written to the publisher and asked who to report the mistakes to. No response.
I have written to the printing company – they have a link that says that we can report errors, but have received no response from them either.
I am willing to bet that other people have reported these errors to Doubleday and Bantam Dell in the last 22 years, but they have been ignored, just like they are ignoring me.
When I finally publish books, I hope I have an editor who catches these little errors.
Yesterday near work in Simi Valley, CA, we found an interesting spider, quite large, too.
I pulled out my camera and snapped a few shots.
See the whole album.
Example image:
The fires in Ventura County continue very strong. The smoke blows in a direct line almost directly over our city many days. On our drive to work (Chatsworth to Simi Valley) we can often see ash falling. Several co workers show up with ash on their cars.
I saw this sun filtered through the clouds, casting everything a red glow that faded back and forth with an orange overcast. When viewed through my PDA camera, I got an awesome lens flare, and the sun appeared to have a black hole.
Almost two weeks ago, I got what I thought was an impressive score in Guitar Hero. (I'm warming up for Guitar Hero II).
http://cheeop.blogspot.com/2006/09/new-note-streak-in-guitar-hero.html
624 may not sound too impressive to you, but consider that the first 50 scored 100% accuracy.
Smoke On The Water 624th 150,498 (5.1) 96% 384 Sep. 15, 2006, 7:44PM N/A
A total of 813 scores have been submitted. I plan on scoring higher tonight!
Another type of rude people is the Anonymous Rude Shopping Cart People.
What makes them rude is the same quality that makes other people rude. They think they are the only people in this world, or that other people in this world are lesser beings than them and must clean up after them.
This describes people who litter, people who don't refill the (coffee machine / copy machine / paper towel dispenser, whatever), and today it describes people who are rude with shopping carts.
There are two kinds of rudeness that I see people perform with these very useful tools.
One breach of implied shopping cart etiquette is performed while actively using the cart. I refer to the time when you park the cart in preparation of piling sundry items into the cart.
People do not park their carts with other people in mind, and sometimes not even themselves. They are pushing the cart down the aisle, thinking whatever random thoughts pile into their minds, and they spot something they like. “Oh look, chocolate coated crunchy puffs!” Their cart stops immediately wherever it is, so the unaware shopper can inspect this box of death closer .
Usually their cart was in the direct middle of the aisle (where most people push their carts), and they are now standing to the side of it. There’s no way you can push your cart around them. You stand there, feebly trying to get their attention without being rude to them, and eventually give up and either nudge their cart with yours, or ask them to move for you.
Fifteen feet later, you have to ask someone else to move, and ten feet later, two other people are staring each other down, unwilling to move their carts.
I try to set a good example when I shop. I try to be aware of other shoppers around me, and to push my cart to one side as I pick out my goods – and give people enough room to move around me without having to ask me to move.
Other shoppers ask me to move perhaps once every visit to the store, and I have to ask people to move for me upwards of ten or fifteen times.
The second kind of rudeness is what people do with their carts when they are done. They do all manner of things with them to discard them for the least effort, even if it means making someone else have to move it in order to get in to their car, or move their car away.
Someone left their shopping cart directly behind our car. There’s no way we can get into our car and drive away without pushing their cart somewhere. Where, exactly? Behind someone else’s car, so they can move it? How about into the shopping cart return area? Sure! Since I’m probably going to push my own shopping cart there anyhow, why don’t I also push this arrogant jerk’s cart there also? That makes great sense.
I have to wonder what is going through that person’s mind as he’s putting his cart behind some unknown person’s car, and drives off. I bet his only thought is, “I hope the owner of this car doesn’t see me doing this.”
I'm finding that every time I encounter the "leavings" of anonymous rude people, I like them less and less. Actually, I think I've passed over the zero-point boundary, and instead of liking them less, I hate them more.
I'm going to talk about the rude trash-people we "didn't" encounter today, but who's refuse (literally and figuratively) negatively affect other people, who's faces they probably won't have to look in.
We have two trash bins at our apartment complex. Each trash bin has two flip-up covers on top of them. Someone flips the right side of one trash bin up, and people begin to fill that side. When it fills up, do you suspect that the next person who goes out there flips up the left side of that same trash bin, to begin filling the empty side of that bin?
Nope! They keep over filling the filled side, until they are putting things on top of the left lid! This is not the act of one inconsiderate person, but multiple people who continue to pile trash in this rude way.
Now when I go out to throw my trash away, it is not a simple matter for me to flip open the left lid - I would have to find some way to throw away all of the trash that other people have piled on top of the left lid. I would have to do the work that they were too lazy to do. And I would have to do it with two disadvantages:
I just finished Season 2 of 24 (and am partway through Season 3 on the same day, heh...)
I must say that watching a series on DVD at your own schedule is far more fulfilling than watching it on TV. I'd like to recommend Deep Discount DVD. These are not affiliate links, I make no money for these - I just respect their service and pricing enough to recommend them.
Season 1 $34.21
Season 2 $43.59
Season 3 $43.59
Season 4 $44.77
No shipping on any of them.
Note: If anyone finds a way to earn affiliate credit for DDD, please let me know. They rock!
Now that I'm done with that free plug for DDD and 24, back to my review of this show...
Season 2, much like Season 1, had many surprises in it. It's to be expected. You start to really like a character, and they are taken from the show.
** Mild spoilers incoming **
For instance, I had really liked Mike, the President's advisor, throughout Season 1, but somehow I suspected that he was going to turn out to be dirty somehow. What he did in Season 2 wasn't the worst conceivable thing - in a way, he was just trying to do the right thing. But he is now out of the show.
And Michelle Forbes' character, Lynne Kresge, I was hoping to see her character in Season 3, but I guess not.
I still can't get over Terri at the end of Season 1.
And the twist with putting the character played by Penny Johnson (Sisko's girlfriend in DS9) in the entire first season, and then only the half of the second season, and then only the half of the third season... That is interesting. For some reason, her character is the character I love to hate.
I find it funny that Michelle Forbes and Penny Johnson (who played Lieutenant Ro Laren and Captain Kasidy Yates in Star Trek) play opposite each other through the last half of Season 2 of 24. Their characters never met in Star Trek (at least in the TV show, they met in the books...)
Still like the show, will definitely see it through Season 4 and see when 5 comes out on DVD.
I'm still waiting for November when the final season of MASH comes out on DVD!
Anyone seen this? It's an x-ray of a prisoner in El Salvador. Apparently this is how prisoners there smuggle in their cell phones and keep them from guards finding them.
Brings to mind that scene in Pulp Fiction where Christopher Walken is talking about how the kid's father and he hid the watch from the guards.
Can you imagine talking on that thing though, after it's been there? Or needing to borrow someone's phone? You gotta really need to make a call if you're saying, "Hey buddy, can I borrow your phone?"
Link to Yahoo News Photo story from AP
So I've been hooked on 24 lately. I blame Howie and Justin.
Season 1 was pretty hot, but the last 45 seconds of the last episode really blew me away. Not as much as it did Terri Bauer, but it still rocked me. I couldn't fathom how season 2 was going to be!
I'm halfway through season 2 now, and like it lots. I hope Netflix gets here soon, the last half of it are on their way. I already bought Seasons 3 and 4 (mainly so I don't have to try to time Netflix correctly for my addiction to this show).
A lot of this show is filmed right down the street from here - at Lassen and Owensmouth. Before my company moved from Chatsworth to Simi Valley, I drove past the office every day.
I might have a 24 marathon this weekend.
Does anyone know what time Munch Box opens?
I meet up with friends there at about ten minutes to noon today, and it is closed up. We hang out for about 30 minutes, and many people drive up and ask us what's going on. All we can do is tell them - sorry, they don't appear to be open. We're waiting for them, too.
I started a new Guitar Hero Career game on Hard, and achieved this score on Smoke on the Water: 384 Note Streak, 150498 score, and 96% notes hit. I'm glad the game gave me 5 stars for that. On the next song, I only got a 173 note streak and 91% notes hit, so it only gave me 4 stars!
I'm trying to reach a 10-minute mile for two miles consecutively as my running goal. Tom thinks I can do it by the end of September. I was trying to do it by the end of August, and almost-but-not-quite made it.
20 minutes 3 seconds for 1.98 miles. Strangely, although I was not watching the calories and did not look at the number until the time ticked over 20 minutes, it was exactly 300 calories burned.
I'm not sure what happened here. The bike doesn't look damaged or anything. I'm sure he wouldn't park in a red zone, next to a fire hydrant, and then lay the bike down like that.
I'm willing to hear any other possible explanations, though.
Below Wholesale performed in the SMC Parking Lot on a hot August day (8/2/2006).
John, Heather, and I head to House of Blues in Anaheim (on Disney grounds) to see George Clinton and the P.Funk All-Stars.
Amazing(!) show with a lot of energy from the crowd. A lively bunch of girls put on a chorus line on one of the bars, while the act on stage ran a steady stream of funk for a solid 3 hours before the bassist changed his axe for the first time.
My grandparents and Kristin and I attended a presentation of In The Mood, a terrific swing concert. My cousins Doug and Cindy Elliot performed in it.
The Church at Rocky Peak gave me permission to take pictures of the San Fernando Valley from one of their locations!
Here's a link to the gallery.
How do I stop spoofed spam? Multiple e-mail addresses that I've never used for any submissions anywhere are receiving e-mail that is spoofed so I cannot see who truly sent it without sifting header data. Many of them even come *from* the e-mail address they are spamming. This is my inbox this morning, from my own e-mail address:
It’s not quite the same as him responding to a question I sent him, but it’s almost as good.
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/060217.html
That’s the link to Friday’s article in which he quoted me. I had responded to an article of his on his website, and he excerpted me.
Reel Big Fish, Goldfinger, and Zebrahead all played at the Avalon in Hollywood on January 20, 2006. Kristin and I attended.
Pictures taken with my ever-present cell phone:
Goldfinger pictures
Zebrahead pictures
Reel Big Fish pictures
Zebrahead
First time I've seen Zebrahead. I was very impressed! They have a shredder for their guitarist, and they let him go on solos like they're a heavy metal band. This sets them apart from normal punk guitar solos, which are normally buried as part of the rhythm of the song.
I would definitely like to see this band again.
Goldfinger
I've seen Goldfinger three times in concert now. I do believe, however, this is the first time I've seen the drummer pull his pants down and ... well, if you have seen them enough times, you probably know what I'm talking about. And if you haven't, then anything more I say here would just ... spoil it. Let's just say, my ever-present camera phone gets put away during this part.
Their musical performance was terrific! This band always rocks! At one point during the concert, they got about 150 people from the audience on the stage (see the pictures I took!) and played a couple songs.
Reel Big Fish
I saw this band in 1997, and now 9 years later. I'm sure in another 9 years I will enjoy seeing them again - they are a fund band to see. Their on-stage antics remind me of Madness sometimes.
All picdtures taken from 10/22/2005 and forward were taken with my new Canon Digital Rebel XT, and some with this amazing lens.
The pictures showing the water are completely, 100% unadulterated, unedited, un-color balanced, etc. The pictures with my hand and the white top are there to give you an idea of the color balance of the pictures. This is hot water from the tap after 30 minutes of running the hot water.
Pictures
So I'm working out on the treadmill in our gym. I did the first 1.2 miles between 4 and 4.5 miles per hour. I began increasing rapidly after that, and was running at 9 miles per hour when the treadmill suddenly decided to cease functioning. I unplugged and replugged it, but could not get it to turn back on, so my workout was cut short.
I just purchased this hp pavilion from compUSA It has the following stats:
P4 650 w/HT (3.4GHz, 800MHz 2MB L2, SpeedStep17" WXGA+ High-Definition BrightView Widescreen Display 100GB Hard Drive 1024 MB DDR2 533 MHz SDRAM Dual Channel ATI Mobility Radeon X600 w/128 DDR 54g 802.11b/g WLAN & Bluetooth LightScribe 8x DVD etc. Dual Layer 12-Cel Lithium-Ion battery HP Dual TV Tuner / Digital Video Recorder HP Media Center Remote Expansion Ports like mad So far, this thing is cooking. It was easy as pie to connect to the network - just browsed, found, put in my WPE, and boom it's on the internet. I've installed about 5 programs on it so far, and will begin installing games momentarily.
Bad Religion plays for a packed crowd at the House of Blues, Sunset Strip, in Hollywood, California, June 18th, 2005.
Street Dogs (a Boston punk band) opened for them. I enjoyed this band's performance a lot, even though I had never heard one of their songs before. The audience obviously has heard it - they had some friends in the audience they kept connecting with.
The singer kept jumping down and standing on the rail the bouncers use to keep the crowd a few feet from the stage. He would reach out into the crowd while singing and grab their hands.
Bad Religion is vital and poignant, and rocks like crazy. Their performance is excellent as always!I've seen the band in plenty of places larger than this, and must say - it's such a treat to watch them pour the same amount of energy into this small venue. The crowd really reflects their energy in a major way!
They are from the same places I live in (Chatsworth / San Fernando valley area) and rocking in Hollywood (20 minutes away) is a very local venue to them. The audience is massively loyal, and Greg plays up to that.
They DID play: Sorrow, 21st Century Digital Boy, Atomic Garden, Better Off Dead, Stranger than Fiction, Los Angeles is Burning, and a variety of others.
The only songs they did not play that I really wanted to hear were: A Walk, Struck A Nerve, and Punk Rock Song.
This performance gets 9 Smitty Points out of 10.
KROQ Third Annual Weenie Roast
Luke and I went with Jack and his wife - great seats!
With bands:Better Than Ezra, Bush, Elastica, Hole, Rage Against the Machine, The Ramones, Rancid, Soul Asylum, Sponge, Sublime, Matthew Sweet, Throwing Muses, and White Zombie.
Terrific sets from everyone - no complaints!
We especially enjoyed Rage, Better Than Ezra, Sublime, White Zombie, and Bush.
When Sublime played on the stage, during their last couple of songs, they brought a bunch of bandmembers from other bands performing that day on the stage with them. There must have been 25 additional people on the stage dancing and singing . They continued to play long past when they were allowed to play! And at this event, management can "force" you to stop. See, the stage is circular in shape with a dividing wall. While one band is playing, the other band is setting up on the other side. Then they rotate the stage, and a band can start playing 5 or 10 minutes after the last band stopped - as opposed to 30-60 minutes (or longer) like you always see at concerts. Well, they warned Sublime to stop after their 40 minute (or whatever) stretch of playing, and they kept playing anyhow, so they rotated their stage. Sublime kept playing, and people kept dancing, the whole while.
Better Than Ezra's performance was pretty darn good! The singer can sure sing, and he's got a huge Adam's Apple sticking out. He's very tall, and keeps his mic up even higher so he has to stretch up to it.
I think the bass player for White Zombie has always been one of their best aspects. No, not because she's a girl, you pervs. Nor because she spells her name the same way I do. But because she had such a driving bass presence in a song, and wasn't afraid to crank her bass up loud.
