Expostulations of Unreason

College Survival Tips

2008-01-16T02:30:33Z

Tis the beginning of a new year, and a new semester. Therefore, my roommate and I have compiled this list of college survival tips to help those of you unfortunate enough to find yourselves with nothing better to do than read our blog. Lucky you.

1. Avoid Pembroke (do this, and the universe shall shine upon you).
2. Ramen is NOT your friend. Ramen is NOT edible. Ramen is NOT of this Earth.
3. Never room with your friends. There are some people that you are not meant to room with. Odds are its them.
4. If your roommate goes insane, that's okay. You're probably crazy, too.
5. Room with someone you don't know. You won't feel as guilty when you're hiding the body.
6. Don't mock the native population. They fight back. With guns.
7. Microsoft is the agent of evil. Buy Mac.
8. Unleash your inner creativity: change university policy.
9. Refuse to support price jacking. Boycott the university bookstore.
10. Know the ends and outs of the administration. Then exploit them.

Remember, graduation is just around the corner. That is, if you can make it through four years of cafeteria food and stay one step ahead of the campus police.

Good luck. You'll need it.

Hail Ralph, Emperor of Ink!

2007-11-06T12:26:54Z

Halloween 2007: Quail Man and the 1870s Flashback Duo!

2007-11-06T01:22:18Z

Me as ... Quail Man! The uber-cool superhero who defeats his nemeses through intelligence, speed, patience and the dreaded Quail Eye! None can resist its power to make them feel helpless and stupified. Now I must be off - my public needs me! BobWHITE!!! *ZOOM*

Matt and Rachel as a really old couple. Like from the 1870s. So they're older than Coke AND Pepsi (pause in wonderment). If this were a Quail Man episode, I'm sure it would involve either them trying to take over a small village in Iowa by making everyone wear old timey clothes ... or me saving them because Rachel tripped over her hem, taking Matt - gravity's nemesis - down with her in the mother of all nose-dives.

Of course, that would have to unleash an avalanche of destruction *somehow* - these actions films never get going without a mistake of mass stupidity (which is where Q-Man comes in).

And Grant - er, Beetleguese. Hmm. He'd be the supremely-intelligent, slightly crazed (and decaying) genius. Probably pushes Rachel to start the destruction. Or ties her shoelaces. You know, something really evil and despicable.

Eh, rambling again.

Happy belated Halloween, people!

Words to Live by

2007-10-03T12:13:53Z

Avoiding the phrase “I don’t have time...”, will soon help you to realize that you do have the time needed for just about anything you choose to accomplish in life.
Engrave this quote in Our Store!

-Bo Bennett, "Year to Success"

Whoever said that anyone has the right to give up? - Bathroom stall

I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live up to the light that I have. - Abraham Lincoln

Embrace the moment. In the end, that's all we have. Trouble will come in its own time, it always does. But that's tomorrow. Give me today, and I will be happy. - Babylon 5

You will tell them yes. - Nike ad

Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.

Do noble things.

Confidence come from not always being right but from not fearing to be wrong.

True friends are always there.

The great end of life is not knowledge but action.

To hope is to believe there is a way. - Frances Renelle-Short

What we do for others remains immortal.

Don't quote: tell me what you think. - Emerson

One more nerd insert

2007-10-03T01:46:23Z

Why Babylon 5 is better than Star Trek: Voyager

2007-10-03T01:25:33Z

1. Ivanova is God. vs. Janeway is lost.
2. A Bab5 episode isn’t neatly ended in the last 5 minutes
3. Kes is only a P1
4. Tell me we won’t have poverty in the future !
5. Reversable transporter accidents vs. Actual bodily harm (Just ask G’Kar)
6. PPGs don’t have a ‘STUN’ setting.
7. You don’t get paid in Star Trek.
8. Relationships on B5 last more than one convenient episode.
9. The characters and Voyager change so little, they might as well be in stasis.
10. Ivanova is always right. vs. Janeway is usually wrong.
11. Babylon 5 has romance. vs. Voyager is Puritans Lost in Space.
12. People stay dead on B5.
13. B5 has computer generated graphics vs. Voyager has a computer generated Plot
14. You will never see the head of a voyager character on a pike….Wave.
15. B5 characters evolve over time. vs. ST characters devolve, then recover, in a single episode.
16. Three letters: J-M-S.
17. Babylon 5’s name comes from an important historical reference. vs. Voyager is named after a mini-van.
18. Garibaldi… and Duck Dodgers and the 24th and 1/2 Century!
19. ST nicknames: “Bones” vs. B5 nicknames: “Star Killer.”
20. B5 has Bester vs. ST has Chekov.
21. One word: Revolution.
22. Holodeck vs. Down-below.
23. The characters on B5 are anatomicaly superior (just ask Londo)
24. the good guys and girls wear black.
25. Janeway will have a shoulder for Garibaldi to cry on vs. Ivanova will have him shot on sight.
26. On B5 Marcus is a virgin and it’s a big deal. vs. On -any- ST show, they never admit to having sex.
27. I couldn’t sleep the night “Zha’ha’dum” aired. vs. I sleep DURING ST:V
28. Straczynski freed Narn, and it was a WARM UP episode!
29. ST: Dragging it’s butt on putting in GLBT characters. vs. B5: Ivanova and Talia.
30. In B5 the dock workers actually go on strike.
31. Star furies do excellent 3D manouvers with realistic inertia. vs. Voager kinda sits there and fires.
32. Babylonian Productions actually likes the idea of fans vs. Paramount likes only the idea of more money. (see the Online Freedom Federation on Paramounts attempts to shut down Star Trek Websites run by fans)
33. B5:influenced by Tolkein vs. V’ger:influenced by money.
34. On B5 the Maquis wouldn’t be ‘re-educated’ but told you’re the type we want - go kick Shadow butt’
35. On Babylon 5 you have Heros. vs. In ST:Voy you have Zeros.
36. If Clark were running the Federation, Janeway probably wouldn’t break away to oppose him.
37. B5 characters are spurred to action by their principles vs. V’ger characters just hide behind them.
38. Ships that have (gasp) momentum!
39. B5 has a direction, Voyager dosn’t (Probably because they don’t know space has 3 dimentions.
40. ISN broadcasted Voyager episodes on Earth during Clark’s regime.
41. The Battle of the Line vs. Wolf 359.
42. Sheridan: Sees a less-developed planet under attack, starts a war with a vastly superior race. vs. Janeway: Sees a less-developed planet under attack, and uses the Prime Directive to cover her ass.
43. On voyager, everybody listens to Neelix. vs. On B5, nobody ever listens to Zathras !
44. Plot complexity : On b5: you miss one line and you are confused for the rest of the season. vs. On voyager: you catch last 5 minutes of the episode and you already understand the entire episode.
45. ST: Last minute solution saves the race. vs. B5: last minute solution too late, race dies.
46. Number of times B5 has been taken by hostile forces: 0 vs.
Number of times V’ger has been taken by hostile forces: 3 (4 if you count holographic Nazis)

the above from a Bab5 website.

demosthenes384 @ 2007-10-02T21:13:00

2007-10-03T01:07:39Z

More Nerdy stuff

2007-10-03T01:07:09Z

A load of Nerd Images

2007-10-03T01:06:08Z

I Love Babylon 5

2007-10-03T00:30:32Z

demosthenes384 @ 2007-09-16T22:59:00

2007-09-17T02:59:19Z

Who will possess the heart of a star?

2007-08-28T03:14:50Z

An absolutely amazing film. Everyone must see it - even if they haven't read the book (like me). As soon as this comes out on DVD, I'm buying it!

The Golden Compass (The Northern Lights)

2007-08-08T17:35:56Z

If You Laugh at this, You're a Nerd

2007-08-04T15:02:41Z

demosthenes384 @ 2007-07-23T10:29:00

2007-07-23T14:29:14Z

Severus Snape.
Teacher, Friend, Good guy till the End.
Rest in Peace.

In Memorandum

2007-07-23T14:23:14Z

To those who lost their lives in defense of the Light:

James Potter
Lily Potter
Cedric Diggory
Sirius Black
Albus Dumbledore
Hedwig
Mad-Eye Moody
Rufus Scrimgeour
Dobby
Peter Pettigrew
Colin Creevey
Fred Weasley
Remus Lupin
Nymphadora Tonks
Ted Tonks
Severus Snape

Your sacrifice will not be forgotten.

demosthenes384 @ 2007-07-19T09:27:00

2007-07-19T13:25:54Z

Powerpoint 101

2007-07-08T23:35:38Z

This video should be shown in every middle/high school or college class when the teacher or professor assigns powerpoint presentations.

One Year!

2007-07-08T14:46:43Z

366 days ago, I returned from the land Down Under! I was never so happy in my life to see the American Flag flying above the LA airport. After 6 months of life in Aussie, I was back in the USA.

Oh yeah, there were tears when I reunited with my family. 6 months is a long time to not see one another.

So it's been one year, and since then I have traveled to Canada and England. I am beginning to notice a trend in my travels - English-speaking and formerly owned by the British.

And I still keep in contact with Cindy, my roomie from Aussie. She is from France, and recently got a job in London.

So yay! Been back one year!

I totally took these pics! Further proof that I was in Sydney (New South Wales is a state in Australia. Sydney is a city in that state).

Star Wars: The Last Supper

2007-06-28T15:03:03Z

lil geek

2007-06-17T02:18:42Z

Look, it's a mini geek! Cutie, though. Makes you go, 'awwww'.

Triumphant Once More

2007-06-06T18:14:03Z

Over a year ago, when I was in Australia, I noticed that the Aussies (and Brits) spell 'jail' as 'gaol', but maintain the same pronunciation.

So I looked up the word's origin, hoping to find out why there is a different way of spelling the same word (with the same pronunciation). All I found was:

1) an insult-throwing online dictionary

and

2) that the word is French.

Today, as I was reading a book on the history of the English language (yeah, thrilling life that I lead) I found my answer.

In the late-16th to early-17th centuries, the letter 'j' was newly created. Previously, the letter 'i' had been used in place of 'j'. For example, words like 'joy' were spelled 'ioye'.

However, the letter 'i' was also used in place of the letter 'g'. 'Gentle' was spelled 'ientle' and so on. 'i' was pronounced as both 'j' and 'g'!

Soon after the letter 'j's creation, it began replacing the 'i' and 'g'. That is why in Australia and England, the American 'jail' is spelled 'gaol'.

The American spelling reflects the transition from the older version of the word, while the Australian and British word remained the same.

Cool, huh? The mystery is solved! And it only took me a year and some-odd months to do it! Yay for me.

I also found out that 'ye' was used by scripes in place of 'the', and that it was never pronounced as 'yee' - it was spoken as 'the'.

Also, 'doth' is pronounced 'duth'. And the oi sounds in words were silent ('coined' was pronounced as 'kind', and 'voice' like 'vice') because 'oi' was considered to be a vulgarity.

If we went back in time to the Elizabethan age, the people there would:

a) not understand us

b) think we were stupid

c) think we were vulgar

and

d) probably throw rotten vegetables at us

The book, if you are interested, is Bill Bryson's "Made in America: An Informal History of the English Language in the United States".

It is very interesting ... that is, if you like reading about the evolution of languages.

PS. I also found that Americans have a distinct way of telling time. Apparently Americans say that it is 'ten of three' to mean 2:50, while the British say 'ten to three'. I have always used the 'to' version - so I learned that my way of telling time is British in origin. I think that's neat.

Updating

2007-06-03T15:32:12Z

I read the updates :). I just don't have anything to say about them, well... mostly i just haven't been on the internet in a really really long time.

The reason being of course that i have once again started that time honored tradition of being dragged to Leah's library for weeks at a time to work as a slave. This year she has to weed out more than three thousand books and we have to inventory the library. Which means that i had to go through and find all the missing books all thousand of them....

ARGH!!

Anyways, just wanted to reassure that i am here and i do read, don't feel lonely.

~Rachel

The Last Starfighter

2007-05-31T23:51:17Z

The Last Starfighter (1984) was the first film to do all of its special effects on a computer. The Gunstar (the battleship used in the film) was designed on the Cray computer, which was large enough for a person to stand inside, as well as sleep on (it shot up and extended out, similar to a bench).

The starcar in the film was borrowed in the Back to the Future films (2 and 3) ... and this was the legendary Robert Preston's last film before he died.

It was a film ahead of its time. The computer graphic technology was the most advanced in the world (side note: the film's director and producer worked for ILM during the production of Return of the Jedi, and they approached the guys at ILM with the idea of doing the space battle scenes on computer instead of using models. ILM said no.) - no one had anything near the Starfighter tech team.

Just look at the pic of the Gunstars, taken from the film! That is amazing detail for 1984! Sure, now we think 'oh, that's cute', but 23 years ago that was cutting CG technology.

In fact, the technology was so advanced that the planned release of the video game shown in the film was axed because Atari could not replicate it.

Also, the film was set up to have a sequel, but it was never made due to two tragedies: Robert Preston, who played a fast-talking con man named Centauri, died; and the technology used to create the Gunstars, the planet Rylos and its base, as well as the space scenes was lost - there were no backup data files.

Beside that, The Last Starfighter is an excellent film! It was the first sci-fi film I remember seeing (I was 11 or 12), and I have been hooked since. May the obsession never die!

May the seven pillars of Gulu be with you! (Kinda like "May the Force be with you", except the line is from Starfighter).

So Lonely ...

2007-05-30T15:56:34Z

I feel lonely when my friends don't read my updates. Or update their pages. Sheesh, what is the point of this site if we don't actually use it? That is a wombat, btw. Isn't he cute?