i need to fight whole armies all alone;

i have ten hearts; i have a hundred arms; i feel

too strong to war with mortals – BRING ME GIANTS!

Anyhow, lifes a changin’ and this time I’m not standing still.  Recently started work, nearing two weeks now and it’s been a challenge just to stay awake and even half-focused for that long. I sure wasn’t built for these 8-hour stretches, that’s for sure.

Here’s where I wish I could be in time:

Perhaps I should have bought that time machine from urban ore. Or better yet, I’m going to blow INVEST my first paycheck on the same suit! (Maybe a little larger.) I miss my beautiful family! (Although I must say there’s a high standard deviation and my sister’s kind of on the disappointing side…)

Not sure where this will lead but expect to see some random finance and tech essays.

Thanks for everyone’s well wishes. Here’s some cool wall art from chinatown:

Makes me want some steamed buns...

4 days, 1 day on antibiotics

And here is my beautifully distorted mug in the emergency room

And me now, with slight improvements?

Real horrorshow right?  If you don’t already know, it’s from a lip infection that got out of control.  I recently got it drained and and the swelling has subsided somewhat, although plastic surgery is on my plate for Wednesday.

Was at chinatown today celebrating the lunar new year and I came across this gem.  I’ve passively been on the lookout for some time and I found it.  The box is a bit faded, as it’s from an outdated TV show, so I imagine the poor thing has been sitting on the shelf for 8 or 9 years.

And here it is in all its glory:

Some background:

Epyon is a fighting robot, aka “gundam”, piloted by Zechs Merquise in the popular anime Gundam Wing. I believe I was in high school when it was on Cartoon Network.  The anime is still popular today but in different variants with different characters and gundams. (Think power rangers before and after green ranger.)

Personal value = $100s, Market value = apparently $18 on Ebay

epylinkn = epyon + linkin park

dinosaur robot = rex + epyon

(I imagine some of this might be hard to follow…)

Stairs to nowhere

Why am I looking at Paris grafitti?

I’m considering painting a mural in my bedroom. My top choice as of now is Roy Lichenstein’s “Whaam!”, although I think it’s a little ambitious.

Whaam!

Or maybe a larger rendition of Rex than the one on my desk:

Ciclo Rex

Someone care to help me decide?

With the VP debate and now the second Presidential debate over, one thing has really bothered me.  I’m not usually one to get riled up over political banter, but this point really hit home when I think about war and Vietnam. Let me precede by saying that the war in vietnam has little to do with my rant, however, it is a good case in point that I know better than other wars.

McCain wants to bring our troops home with “Victory and Honor”.

He used a story about some-small-town-woman-in-some-swing-state who’s son died in the war. She had told McCain that he best make sure that he makes sure the war in Iraq ends with victory and honor so that her son’s death was not for nothing.

In addition, I’m sure you’ve heard Palin’s sound bite about Obama’s timeline for withdrawal being a “white flag of surrender.”

Correct me if I’m wrong, but since when were wars fought for the sake of being won? I don’t really know but I’m guessing some time before democracy.  Stop trying to appeal to American pride. Wars are supposed to be fought with objectives in mind. I’d hate to see American blood–that is a precious fundamental to our economy in form of alive workers, I might add and McCain would agree–spilt for prides sake. I haven’t mentioned Vietnam yet, but the U.S. withdrawal in Vietnam happened so quick and unexpectedly. It’s almost unfair to compare the two since the war in Vietnam never reached its objective, but at least the U.S. knew when to GTFO.  At least they stomached their pride, leaving behind thousands of South Vietnamese.

Obama, on the other hand, counters with his own some-small-town-woman-in-some-swing-state who’s son died in the war.  She had told Obama that he best make sure that the war in Iraq comes to an end so that other mothers don’t have to suffer the loss of a son. This makes sense to me.

My argument seems pretty one-sided thus far and I don’t want to be a naivete. I think Obama would make an awesome leader in an ideal world, inspiring hope and making real change.  However, it’s hard to neglect that his efforts would take a considerable amount of effort and cooperation from the international community which might not be so ready and willing as Obama is.  In fact, Ahdmenijad is probably much more like McCain or Bush and a diplomatic Obama might not fulfill some promises as advertised if Ahdmenijad keeps saying that Obama doesn’t seem to understand the issues at hand.

[edit] Alas! I’m ecstatic that Obama has the tenacity to shutdown Guantanamo. I keep hearing that America shouldn’t play by the rules if the enemies don’t, but I think it important to eliminate hypocrisy, especially if we are to continue barging into other countries waving banners of freedom and democracy.

We’re thinking about blowing it up and framing it. However, since our family is a bit vain, we’re rethinking that an elliptical machine would be better. Thoughts?

Oh happy days of yore before the days of long-term memory, where have you gone?

Spirit kicks off with my exclusive Frankengothic shirt from shirt.woot:

Then, started the partying off a week early in Berkeley. Went to Rebecca’s Halloween party and decided to be Lieutenant Dangle from RENO 911. Here’s a pic of the squad with Anita center and the real cop, Don, on the right.

Then of course, the infamous and impromptu short-shorts crew.

Still missing some good pics of other people’s costumes but I’ll get them some time. On actual Halloween day, Nancy and I gave some lil children a real scare as Evil Doctors. And afterwards, as Lieutenant Dangle again over at Hard Haunted Mansion to catch Boys Noize and Justice. (Although, Crystal Castles stole the show for me.)

Boyz Noize is up there somewhere...

Title: Take Off Your Sunglasses (Live?)
Artist: Ezra Furman and the Harpoons 

Btw, I don’t even wear sunglasses. (Except on halloween.)

Be glad it isn't a full-body...

MP3 D/L: Take Off Your Sunglasses

-Lt. Dangle

Beer in Burbank

Now to convince my nephews to go to Chuck E’Cheeses and be my drinking buddies.  My plan: tokens, lots and lots of tokens.

Memorial Stadium

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Recently visited Cal again and forgot to post about it. Here’s a recap in question-answer, list form. (Although I find lists to be the lowest form of writing, it really gets the job done when you haven’t blogged for ages and are trying to pretend like you have.)

What did I miss most? Cafe Raj. (Yes, I did miss the chicken shai korma more than my friends, sorry you have to hear it.) Great indian food is just too difficult to find around Burbank.  However, I should mention that I did stumble upon an indian place during taste of downtown Burbank where a lot of the local restaurants throw a festival to showcase their food.  Too bad it didn’t compare to the Raj.

What did I do that I couldn’t do before?  This is the real star of the weekend. I found some tickets to the Colorado State football game for $17.33 (3 for 50 if you must know) and I went with Danica and Milad.  We sat on the shady alumni side and I finally got to be on the “Bears!” side of the “Go! Bears!” alumni chant. I did that once and then we had to move because we weren’t in our assigned seats.

Other shining moments:

• I killed Louis in Fight Night. That n00b;
• Daniel throws up at Vivid.
• Washington beats Dallas.
• Tania saying she was going to kill someone and wants me to back her up this time. (As if I didn’t last time?)
• Playing soccer with Milad and Carlos and blocking one of Milad’s goal shots.

Black holes:

• Getting serious ankle pain because Milad’s goal shot was kicked really damn hard.           
• p90x with Nhan and Tommy while Terry laughed. The lesson here? Great abs aren’t worth the effort.
• Losing most of my football bets with Daniel and Camellia.
• Daniel.

It started in Singapore where I ran out of reading material.  Buying books wasn’t really an option: Singapore books run 2 to 3 times the price of books in the states.  Thus, I found the nearest Borders, grabbed a book, and just started reading in the corner.  Funny thing is that the first time I did this I actually had quite a lot of company.  Reading books without purchasing them seemed like the popular thing to do at night.   People were reading cookbooks right in the aisles and I saw a guy reading a web programming book for over an hour. (And he was standing up the whole time!)

If I had to rank what I read:

• A Long Way Down
• High Fidelity
• About a Boy
• How to be Good

“It’s not a case of the glass being half full or half empty; more that we tipped a whole half-pint into an empty pint pot.  I had to see how much was there, though, and now I know.” (134)

“It’s often the way that people who take their work seriously laugh at stupid jokes; it’s as if they are under-humored and, as a consequence, suffer from premature laugh-ejaculation.” (172)

“…try dividing people you walk past into one of life’s four categories–happily coupled, unhappily coupled, single, and desperate–and you’ll find you wont be able to do it.” (226)

It’s a pretty indie book.  What really stands out is the focus on mix tapes.  I know Dylan likes the movie, and it’s he that I can see making mix tapes.

I’ll add some more about A Long Way Down later.

Been back in the U S of A since Friday the 25th. Plan on writing but pretty much been too exhausted to do anything, except yearn for a routine life. Although, I’m starting to get bored of this home life already. Plus, being broke sucks more than I remember…

My current situation?

Excited, but very low on funds. Times low but I’ll update soon. I’ll have to wait for everyones pictures (I don’t have a camera) to do a europe recap, but it’s on its way!

So far, all I can think of is James Dean and his famous quote:
Dream as if you’ll live forever, live as if you’ll die today.

I love the quote and I’m always searching for more just like it. It’s funny because for someone who thinks about death fairly often I definitely don’t have the motivation and passion for life that I should.

If you don’t know, the song is “Someone Great” by LCD Soundsystem. It–and the other songs on the CD–are pretty slow, but its amazing if you give it a chance.

Anyway, here are the lyrics:

I wish that we could talk about it,
But there, that’s the problem.
With someone new I couldn’t start it,
Too late, for beginnings.
The little things that made me nervous,
Are gone, in a moment.
I miss the way we used to argue,
Locked, in your basement.

I wake up and the phone is ringing,
Surprised, as it’s early.
And that should be the perfect warning,
That something’s, a problem.
To tell the truth I saw it coming,
The way, you were breathing.
But nothing can prepare you for it,
The voice, on the other, end.

The worst is all the lovely weather,
I’m stunned, it’s not raining.
The coffee isn’t even bitter,
Because, what’s the difference?
There’s all the work that needs to be done,
It’s late, for revision.
There’s all the time and all the planning,
And songs, to be finished.

And it keeps coming,
And it keeps coming,
And it keeps coming,
Till the day it stops
(Repeat x3)
And it keeps coming,
(Repeat x7)
Till the day it stops.

I wish that we could talk about it,
But there, that’s the problem.
With someone new I could have started,
Too late, for beginnings.
You’re smaller than my wife imagined,
Surprised, you were human.
There shouldn’t be this ring of silence,
But what, are the options?

When someone great is gone.
(Repeat x8)

We’re safe, for the moment.
Saved,
For the moment.

I’m pretty sure it is about a loved one dying and the music video seems to agree. A lot of people think that the loved one is a mistress from an affair, but seeing how that detracts form its greatness I’m going to say that is wrong. =)

OK in the course of writing this I’ve changed my mind. I think it’s worth interpreting yourself, although feel free to ask me for my thoughts in person.