vote

My old montreal roomate has offered to send me a pencil case (of awesomeness). Yeah, that's right, they are made entirely of zippers.

Which one should I choose?


ahh, the problems that make life so completely unbearable.

psuedo

I am pretty anti-psuedo science, but I remember being pretty excited by the idea that at one point humans were connected in some fantastical way. When I was younger, my mother swore that whenever she would start to get really worried about me I would contact her somehow.

Anyway, while I was reading about the Global Orgasm project (oh yeah!), I started to explore the way they plan on measuring whether there is a change in global consciousness.

I was surprised to find that the measurements were to be done by a group at Princeton and even more surprised when I looked at some of the data.

I have not explored the site extensively, but I believe the basic idea is that they have placed Random event generators around the world, which should, measured over an average of events, give the same value (like 200 coin tosses should really give 100 heads and 100 tails). Deviations from the norm are looked for an correlated with world events, the idea being that major world events would increase global consciousness and effect, somehow, randomness.

Okay. whatever. but then I saw the graph of data from the week around sept 11.

The y-axis shows the odds against the deviations from norm with each 0 being the start of a day (so from sept 6 - 13th).

That is pretty fucked up. A good question was brought up regarding increased electromagnetic (i.e. due to increased use of internet, cell phones, etc.) but they say that they have corrected for this.

Anyway, interesting to look into. Global consciousness potentially affecting randomness.

oh, global orgasm day is Dec 22nd. Y'all ready?

alive

and going to pender!!!

although Rob won't be there, so with whom will I fight. Tippi? Seems unlikely. He whines like a little girl.

Yeah, that's right Tippi ... like a little girl.

Went on the chemistry pub crawl (for cheap because the shirts were ones I helped design. Slogan: "Nothing's Forbidden in an Excited State.") Not unexpectedly, I spent most of the night not at the pub crawl, but rather talking to friends from exotic places ... like locked in Market Square and under the bridge.

While there, I drunkenly agreed with Vanessa to have a psuedo-pot luck. A bunch of people came, but hardly anyone brought food, but it didn't matter because I made samosas (sp?) and they were amazingly tasty. True, ashley guided me through it the first time, but, last night, I made dinner for a friend and I and made them all by myself!! and they were good. And I made a sweet chili dip, with brown sugar, which was also good. And Gomae (spinach and sesame seed sauce). And the other person made stir fry. And we finished the apple crumble (delicious apple crumble) that vanessa made. It was a 4 course meal. I had to put on my suit. We tried to go to the Fernwood Inn (which is the upscale replacement of the George and Dragon) but it was far too yuppy-ish so we just bought beer and listened patiently to crazy people.

Tippi found a salt-water public pool in Esquimalt which was awesome. I am glad that weekly pool sessions are back.

done

Well, at 11:56 pm (it was due by 11:59pm), I submitted my first (and only Canadian) law school application.

It feels ... hectic.

Anyway, now we wait and see how I fare. I should start to submit my US law school applications soon. This is going to be an expensive season. I am going to be very poor for a long time. I guess I will spend about $1000 on applications in total. That is actually not all that bad. Especially since, if I do decide definitely to go to law school, I can drop most of my classes next semester. I will practically be saving money.

But medical school. How you taunt me. Why must you look so appetizing?

Anyway, what have I done in the past few days? Well ...

This weekend I attempted to make it to Azim's halloween party. Went to kerria's house where her, John Bean, Pamela and I drank until far too late and then attempted to run to the bus. We made the last one (although Pam and John disappeared at some point), only to have angry teenage girls cause the bus to stop. Apparently transit and assault do not good bedfellows make.

So, unable to take transit to Azim's and unwilling to pay for a taxi, we tried to climb Science World. Well, I tried to climb Science World. I was unsuccessful. Kerria was able to climb a slide (I was again unsuccessful) so I guess she wins some sort of prize. But I was more ambitious! that has to count for something.

Back to Victoria on Saturday for a quiet night which was interrupted by Tippi and parties. 4 of them. I just wanted to sleep. I didn't even have a costume, but apparently I can put on a safari suit and an early 80's hat and go as ... something. We ended up at a party at the house of the front man for 54:40, where I met with his wife who may have been very friendly or extremely concerned about the sledge hammer that had become part of my costume. The funny part was that, while I was explaining that it was a joke, I only narrowly avoided knocking down a number of plates that were hanging on the wall. Luke from IM was there, and we got to chat, which was very nice. I like Luke. This is what I looked like:



Sunday, I did nothing ... I think. Yeah, nothing.

Monday we went to the haunted house. 2 hours of entertaining line up for 5 minutes of haunted house, haunted by undoubtedly tired ghouls, including a Volcom weaing zombie who, because she was finished for the evening (we were essentially the last group) followed us around the house. The best part: the spinning hallway. A vampire had to repeatedly ask me to leave. It was too much fun falling over when you knew there was no reason. Take that body ... think you are so smart.

Midterm this morning and then law school apps. Now, I am drinking wine, worrying about money and contemplating Cranium. I should probably continue working on apps. Once they are done, I never have to think about them again, and that would be a distinct pleasure.

back by [redacted] request

what is matthew cooper good for?

and, just for fun, what about Sam.

and Australia!

duck duck duck goose

So, media abounds here.

I hope you all checked out the cell thing, which was amazing. The walking dealies are dyenins walking along microtubules. It is actually how they work.

And you could see the "icebergs" floating in the membrane sea! history coming alive!

anyway, the brits are great, which I have tried to tell you again and again. Colin sent me this series. Educational and historical.

And nick sent these: Part 1 Part 2.

Yesterday, tippi, vanessa, kersten and I got drunk and then went and photocopied amazing ads and articles from the 1920s to the 1960s to be used as wall decoration. So great. I wish I had a scanner.

Sam: one of them is a picture of a medical school dissection lab (for women med students only) with a number of tables each with 4 students and a cadaver, the students deep in concentration. Unfortunately, the most prominant thing in the photo is a smiling skeleton, right in the forefront and dominating the entire right half of the photo, watching the women doctors. It is hilarious.

And, of course, numerous cigarette (spelled cigaret) ads explaining just how good they are for you.

My potential favorite: biochemistry explained via something that looks suspiciously like Lite-Brite.

cells rule, and other things

see this.

also, check out the wiki post on Howard Hughes, especially the part about Dummar at the end.

why?

as I rode home today I passed a mid-aged couple walking their dog wearing reflective vests and carrying a powerful flashlight, which was on. Issue: it was light out. Why?

Why do so many people have problems with the word "definitely?" It is not definately.

Chris and wife had their baby today. Congratulations. I want my cigar.

I wrote a story.

I think I lied ... I am totally sick of applications.

anyway, I wrote a story. What think you?

He surveyed the landscape below, a reconnaissance scout preceding his unit. His perch was unsteady, the path to it unsound, but he was capable and surefooted.

In the distance, light glinting off the flasks of his companions made obvious their position. Far in the other direction lay their destination, their home. In between, an assortment of perils, a mosaic of uncertainty.

He took it in, the totality of the landscape, committing it to memory, before gingerly descending the sheer cliff face.

Reuniting with his group, he conferred with the commander, who in turn readied the men. They were a proud group, but the brutality of their toils was obvious - clothing barely held together on scarred frames, breath coming raggedly through parched lips on drawn taut faces. Home signified this journey’s end and their arrival could not come quickly enough.

He had not always been the scout. The first scout vanished and, initially, no one was willing to take his place. Nor, really, should they have – the unit was efficient, each man utterly capable in his crucial job. It became obvious, though, as injuries increased and progress slowed, that the unit required a replacement.

After days of deep consideration, he volunteered. It was frightening to leave the unit, however briefly, but that fear had to be conquered. He would never admit to a certain pleasure felt atop a hard-found vantage point.

Readied, the group moved slowly forward, guided past peril, towards the embrace of the home they so greatly longed for.

difficile

i am hitting that last year rut, one and a half months in to the new year.

oh no!

I assume I will persevere, but wow, working for those 8 months was much more fun. right now, this is a tad tedious. maybe, just maybe, it is being chained to my computer that is annoying. I just can't put my finger on it.

news: i want to make a classical version of sexyback, so I can feel less bad singing it in the shower (note: I must stop listening to BBC dance). which leads me to the belief that I can probably classy anything up so that it is fit for consumption. I will be the richard gere of the everything world.

justice via justices

For a class, I have been reading some cases that have been sent to the U.S. Supreme Court. What is interesting to read are the dissenting opinions where the justices rip into the court's overall decision. Below is a part of Justice Scalia's dissenting opinion on the Supreme Court's decision to overturn the death sentence imposed on a (allegedly) retarded man convicted of murder.

But the Prize for the Court's Most Feeble Effort to fabricate "national consensus" must go to its appeal (deservedly relegated to a footnote) to the views of assorted professional and religious organizations, members of the so-called "world community," and respondents to opinion polls. Ante, at 11-12, n. 21. I agree with the Chief Jus-tice, ante, at 4-8 (dissenting opinion), that the views of professional and religious organizations and the results of opinion polls are irrelevant.6 Equally irrelevant are the practices of the "world community," whose notions of justice are (thankfully) not always those of our people. "We must never forget that it is a Constitution for the United States of America that we are expounding. ... [W]here there is not first a settled consensus among our own people, the views of other nations, however enlightened the Justices of this Court may think them to be, cannot be imposed upon Americans through the Constitution."

What an ass. Most of his dissent revolves around the development of the national consensus, which he admittedly tears down quite well, but this section and the complete lack of regard he holds for the world community is scary to be seen in a justice of the supreme court. Why throw in that "thankfully"?

oh, to be young again.

The trades are then a natural home for anyone who would live by his own powers, free not only of deadening abstraction, but also of the insidious hopes and rising insecurities that seem to be endemic in our current economic life. This is the stoic ideal.

So what advice should one give to a young person? By all means, go to college. In fact, approach college in the spirit of craftsmanship, going deep into liberal arts and sciences. In the summers, learn a manual trade. You’re likely to be less damaged, and quite possibly better paid, as an independent tradesman than as a cubicle-dwelling tender of information systems. To heed such advice would require a certain contrarian streak, as it entails rejecting a life course mapped out by others as obligatory and inevitable.

I wish I had seen this a few years ago, like before entering co-op.

ode to wikipedia

you, sir, are the single greatest invention to come from the internet. even better than skype.

what else is there? I guess the ability to hear music that you would not have the opportunity to hear otherwise is pretty good, but you have to surpress your morals to do so - or make arguments that seem to make sense.

anything else? commercial free television? arts and letters daily? youtube glimpses into the retarded lives of everyone from 12 - 35?

all lose to the amazing collective knowledge, the easily searchable brain, that is wikipedia.

i love you wikipedia.

invasion of the body snatchers

As I was riding today I caught the smell of something which was either rotting garbage or microwave popcorn and it scares me that I couldn't figure it out.

this week in sports

man, has it only been 15 days? Crazy.

Biology and biochemistry are fascinating. I love knowing how the body works. And I get to pull out my Merck Manual at every possible occasion. It is pretty exciting.

The house noah found feels right. It is confortable and cozy. There is a fireplace, which I love so much, and harmony called it "a grownup house." Yes, I suppose it is.

The first weekend here I went back to Vancouver. I have promised myself that I will take advantage of the outdoors. Everytime I head out east I miss the wilderness but take it for granted here. No more. Friday night I went dancing with andrea, who really should not move to Winnipeg, and Saturday went hiking with Azim and Nick. We drove up to Truax mountain, asked directions from a mountain man who warned us of his recent encounter with a charging mother grizzley, and psuedo-hiked. We had great expectations, but our trip coordinator was a tad ambitious - as we walked into the valley, we realised that the peak we wanted to reach was disappearing into the clouds. And that the clouds were high. Still, the hiking we did was amazingly gorgeous, culiminating in a camping spot in a meadow between two massive rocky crags. I would have loved to have stayed longer. I am going to use my tent frequently here. Juan de fuca trail in mid october is an almost definite hiking trip if anybody is interested.

Then I made my acting debut, which I may have mentioned earlier. Tippi, adeline and co. made a music video as part of a cinevic competition and needed us to act as silhouettes. They built a street entirely from photos and did a stop motion video of people dying in a variety of ways. I choked to death and, as the driver of the world, threw myself into the cogs. pretty melodramatic. Anyway, the screening was last night and they won all the awards. It was hot.

This weekend was my weekend to finally see people that I hadn't seen in a while, which I did with vigor and candor. Saw Jenna off to India. She says she is only going for 3 months. hmmm. It was also the weekend of applications. Who knew that explaining yourself in 2 pages could be so freaking difficult?

Got a coveted volunteer position as a T.A. for disadvantaged youths and adults in the University 101 program. It is a real university course load, taught by profs., but directed towards the above persons in an attempt to help them into the university system. It was what I wanted to do with Students for Literacy before I got called away to Montreal, so I am pretty excited to be involved. I am much more interested in helping older people than I am with helping children. I am not sure why. But it was a nerve wracking interview. I am still not completely sure I am up to it, but we will give it a go. Also volunteering in the E.R. which sounds cooler than it is.

have I mentioned skype. I just talked to shuana for almost an hour, for free, from Taiwan. I want to talk to all of you for almost an hour, for free, from wherever.

oh yeah ... sports.

skype

seriously, everybody needs to get onto skype and email me their names.

email to spamspamspamspam_2@hotmail.com or to my regular email address if you know it.

do it. I love it.

or you can just add me: ouchitburns

criminal system does not equal a game

The US, at least in some states, has a "three strikes and you're out" policy. Not only is it demeaning to everyone to have your legal system apply ridiculous baseball related punishments, it also is completely inflexible which leads to retardedly disproportionate punishments.

For example, Santos Reid, is likely going to jail for 26 year to life because he did the written part of the driver's licence test for someone else, stole a radio from his sister's friend (in 1981) and robbed a guy at knifepoint (in 1987 - which he says is untrue). 26 years!?

I understand the underlying philosophy. Clean up the little stuff and you clean up the big stuff. Similar things were done in New York (like consistenly cleaning up graffiti and coming down hard on fare avoidance) to good effect, but putting people in jail for 26 years for taking the written part of a driver's licence test for somebody else. It is grossly inefficient and completely unhelpful.

people doing things

adeline is doing good things. Support her if you are in Vancouver.

noah's band is good. Listen.

nika got her shoe store up in Montreal.

Pat's record label (the one he works with) is still doing good things.

Adam and Tyler play in this wicked band.

Elfred and Marissa are going for gold.

that is all for now. Support these people. endeavours rule. This all stemmed from Adeline, and the amazingness that is that, and then I remembered that all these other people are doing things.

I kinda wish I could list what everybody is doing, but these are some of ones that we can support. I guess we could help Azim with his thesis ... I am pretty sure I can contribute to graduate level psychology research.

yeah

told you so

life rules

Well after 9/11, Tom Junod a writer from Esquire magazine contacted the coroner's office in New York and asked for a count of how many people jumped. He was told that nobody jumped. The official word was that victims were blown out or they were forced out, but nobody jumped.

-CBC