Why when a mishap happens in public people stop and stare? Its as if time freezes for those few uncomfortable minutes when you realize OOPS I spilled the coke and everyone stops what they are doing, stares over in your direction for a few minutes that seems like forever.
Yesterday time frooze for me. Maria and I were at Crate and Barrel selecting items for our wedding registry. We were looking at different glassware. I picked one up and grabbed it too hard (I guess I don't know my own strength LOL) and BOOM, it exploded in my hands!
Instantly everyone in the store stopped what they were doing, turned to my direction and starred at me. Time stopped. Next time I'm going to yell out "ALRIGHT PEOPLE. MOVE ON, SHOW IS OVER!"
Socialite, home video porn queen, victim of Sidekick hackers, born with a silver spoon in her mouth and self-proclaimed superstar Paris Hilton is once again in the news, TV and internet. Carl's Jr., a small burger chain owned by CKE Restaurants that also owns Hardee's, is advertising its new Spicy BBQ Burger in a controversial commerical featuring a Bentley and a wet Paris Hilton, wearing next to nothing and high heels, washing it and taking a bite out of the burger.
From an advertising/marketing standpoint, this commercial is a home run. Carl's Jr. doesn't have the brand recognition that its competitors, like Wendy's, has so it needs an edge. Hilton is the perfect model for their target audience... young males in the midwest. The rest of us guys in big urban areas think shes a stupid bimbo but thats not the point here. The strategy is purchase a small media buy, run the ad on TV a few times, generate a huge controversy by the goodie goodies, get all forms of media to talk about it, let the internet do its thing and watch the money come in. Its genius. Bravo for Carl's Jr.!
Melissa Caldwell, research director for Parents Television Council said, "This commercial is basically soft-core porn. It's inappropriate for television." With these few words of wisdom, the PTC has generated a storm of controversy and mass attention. At least, Hilton is now doing soft core porn, a step down from her home made hard core porn videos. Self righteous groups, like the American Decency Association, are now calling for a ban of the commerical and nationwide boycott of Hardee's and Carl Jr's. and even Hilton hotels. The goodie goodies of the world are up in arms about this and they demand to be heard and they are being heard but is anyone listening to their message? Unbeknownst to the PTC and friends, the more they scream and yell foul, the more attention the ad and Carl's Jr. is getting. They are playing right into the hands of those they want to destroy. Blogger Adrants got it right by saying, "When will people learn. If you don't like something and you want it to go away, don't say anything."
Internet Tablets to become the next Internet Appliance?
Nokia announced their new Nokia 770 Internet Tablet to be available soon. Integrated with Wi-Fi, Opera web browser and small form factor, Nokia is positioning their new toy to "Move the Web".
Other manufacturers will surely follow suit with their versions but will this new gagdet fail like the Internet Appliance a few years ago? My guess is yes. Although the Nokia 770 will be cheap at $350, I whether pay five times for a PC tablet that can browse the internet on a nice big LCD screen and do much more.
Lionel Tate, now 18, was the youngest person ever sentence to life in prison in the US for the beating death of a 6 year old girl. Given a second chance at life, he was freed in January 2004. Several months later cops found him running around a park with knife and arrested him. Now Tate has been arrested again for supposely robbing a pizza delivery man and beating a 13 year old kid.
Do people like Tate ever learn? Maybe instead of sending him to prison at 12, they should have sent him to an intensive rehabilitation center. But now its too late. Tate was given a second chance and screwed up, then was given a third chance and threw it away. Three strikes and Tate is out. Send him back to prison for life before he kills someone else.
Maria told me about this new sofa set that was on sale at American Signature Furniture. We went Sunday afternoon to check it out and it was OK. I wasn't too fond with the light color since it would dirty easy and she didn't like the switching. As we were walking out we came across this mint green sofa set and loved it! Unique color, very comfy and the leather was nice and soft. The price was good but we decided to go shop around at different stores but making a final decision. After going to El Dorado and Ashley and finding nothing, we went back to American Signature to purchase it and added a bookcase to the order as well. An hour later, its a done deal. Our new furniture is being delivered Saturday to my house. We're very excited!
The Force is with Star Wars Episode 3 Revenge of the Sith
Heres my review of Star Wars Episode 3 Revenge of the Sith. It has spoilers, so if you don't want to know, stop reading now.
The storyline was excellent. It begins with a great space fight, then it drags a little bit with some corny dialogue between Anakin and Padme, but picks up speed after Order 66 is given. Geaorge Lucas takes us on a emotional trip witnessing Anakin Skywalker's transformation into Darth Vader. I do wish that they showed a little bit more of the process of how the injured, quad-limp armputee, burnt and severely disfigured Anakin Skywalker came to wear the black suit. A couple of other scenes I had hoped for but were not present in the final version were Yoda's exile to Dagobah and Qui-Gon. All in all, the storyline answered many questions and serves as a great prequal to A New Hope.
The acting was decent. Nothing deserving of an Oscar award but better than Phantom of the Menace and Attack of the Clones. Especially by Hayden Christensen, who in AOTC was very robotic and wooden. This time he put more emotion into his spoken words, instead of seemingly reading from a script. Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ian McDiarmid as Palpatine/Darth Sidious delivered strong performances. Natalie Portman as Padme had a smaller but important role. Minus a few corny lines, she was decent. R2D2 kicked ass and provided for some funny moments.
The CGI and special effects were magnificent. Lots to see and hear. The initial space fight is amazing!
Now that the Star Wars story is complete, I realized that this is a story about Anakin Skywalker and his entire life. We saw him as a little boy in Menace, as a whining teenager in Clones, his transformation into Darth Vader in Sith and as the galaxy's evil menace in the Original Trilogy, leading up to his eventual redemption and death in Return of the Jedi. While ROTS may not be the best of the six movies, it is definitely the most pivotal.
I can't help but to feel sorry in a sense for Anakin. He has enormous pressure from Obi-Wan, Yoda, Mace Windu and the Jedi Council to be the ultimate Jedi and fulfill the prophecy. Afterall, Anakin is supposely the Chosen One, a Jesus Christ like figure in the Star Wars world. At the same time he was secretly married to Padme, going against the Jedi code and living a lie. All this while Palpatine/Darth Sidious was feeding him lie after lie, manipulating him. Anakin is out of control, filled with anger from his mother's death and fear of losing Padme. Palpatine exploits all these private conflicts, coercing Anakin into becoming Darth Vader. Even when he became Vader, there was still some good in him. He knew what he was doing was wrong when he defended Palpatine and help to kill Windu, when he killed those young Jedi children and the Separatist leaders on Mustafar. Palpatine used and abused Anakin from the very beginning. The possibility even exists that Palpatine is Anakin's father, he did mention that he was so powerful in the dark side, that he could create life from metachlorians. In Menace, Qui-Gon discovered that Anakin had an extremely high metachlorian count. Possible, but it could be another lie.
The story of Anakin Skywalker's life is like that of a sad Greek tragedy. Filled with so much hope and promise, the young man had some enormous character flaws - ill tempered, anger, rage, fear, greed, impatience. He wants more power to save the one he loved but in the end kills her because of this power. He choose not to listen to Obi-Wan, Yoda and Mace but to Palpatine's lies. In the Original Trilogy, Darth Vader was a cold, killing machine. Now that the Prequel Trilogy is now complete, I see Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader in a new light... a sad human is behind that helmet being controlled like a slave by Palpatine.
I give Star Wars Episode 3 Revenge of the Sith a 8/10.
What the hell? Are they kidding me? Whats NASCAR Day? Is it a day that all the redneck hillbillies in America celebrate their great sport of who can make left turns the quickest? How does one celebrate NASCAR Day? Drink beer and play spin the bottle to the left?
As America continues to dumb itself down, the rest of the Forumla One watching world is laughing at us. Thank God, this weekend the Grand Prix of Monaco is on.
Simon Ng, a college student from Hong Kong, made his final entry to his blog talking about his sister ex-boyfriend being at his house, hoping that he will leave soon. Unknown to Simon Ng at the time, the ex-boyfriend will kill him and his sister. His blog entry helped police place the killer at the scene of time leading to his arrest and eventual conviction. Very sad, creppy and chilling.
This is more reason for the Middle East to hate us. Oh well, most of them hate us a lot anyways, so who cares? It will take several decades to turn around their negative attitude towards the US. In the meantime, lets see more funny pictures of the former tyrant in his prison cell!
Allstate just announced that it will stop writing new homeowner policies in Florida and will drop almost 100,000 current Floridian homeowner policies while raising rates on the others it has decided to keep in its "good hands". Lucky them.
After being with Allstate for all of my driving life and my Dad held the same policy for everything (house, car, etc) for 25 years, Allstate dropped me a few years ago after I was rear ended. Note: I was rear ended, meaning not my fault and Allstate didn't pay a penny to fix my car but I was still nevertheless deemed too much of a risk and dropped.
Ah yes the funny sounding word that we all learned once in Social Studies is at the core of a growing debate. What is it? A filibuster is an attempt to block or delay Senate action on a bill or other matter by debating it at length, offering numerous procedural motions, or even reading out the phone book.
This is what the Democrats are threatening to do filibuster to delay, even obstruct, voting on Bush's two right-wing conservative nominations to the federal bench. On the other side of the aisle, Republicans are trying to force a rule change to rid the Senate of the filibuster.
My take... the filibuster is a pathetic delay tactic, part of the entire bureaucratic red tape that so many of us despise. In where I believe less is more, the filibuster needs to go. Of course if Republicans win, and seeing as they hold the majority and should have the votes they will, it will clear a path for future Bush court nominations, including to the Supreme Court eventually. This may be the beginnings of some substantial changes, including the possible reversal of Roe versus Wade. Democrats know this and thats why they will fight to the bitter end to keep the tactic with a funny name alive and well in the US Senate.
Aesthetics. Both the Xbox 360 and PS3 look good. The main unit for the Xbox looks a little on the plain side while the PS3's boomerang controller looks downright scary. However SONY always had the upper hand in design and this time its no different. The PS3 will look good in my living room. Advantage: SONY PS3
Performance. On paper, the PS3 is a technical marvel. Cell processor, nVidia RSX Reality Synthesizer GPU, 256MB XDR RAM/256MB GDDR VRAM, 1080p resolution, 2.18 teraflops of total performance, Blu-Ray. These impressive specs make the Xbox 360 look obsolete even before its release. The Xbox 360 game previews have been disappointing, most are only marginally better than the current Xbox, except for Madden 06. The PS3 game previews have been nothing short of stunning... Vision Gran Turismo, Tekken, Formula 1, Metal Gear Solid, Madden 06, all must haves. Advantage: SONY PS3
Functionality. Blu-Ray, all CD and DVD formats, Memory Stick Duo, SD slot, compact flash slot, 6 USB ports, detachable 2.5 hard drive, support for up to 7 bluetooth wireless boomerangs, I mean controllers, WiFi 802.11 b/g, backwards compatible with PS1 and PS2 games, integration with PSP and iPod. The only thing the PS3 can't do is heat up food. Xbox Live has the advantage over the PS online system but I am confident that with the PS3, SONY will build an equal online system to Xbox Live and it will be totally free versus Live's subscription based model. Advantage: SONY PS3
Overall. The PS3 is the next generation complete home entertainment system, the machine that will do it all... gaming, music, record, play. While I may get the Xbox 360 eventually depending on the gaming content, I won't be rushing out on release day to buy one. For the PS3, as soon as EB or Gamestop starts to accept pre-orders, I'm putting down my deposit and I will be there one day in the Spring of 2006 to pick it up.
Don't you hate when people steal your bandwidth? Like this moron here. Stole a photo of my S2000 and claims to be his on his forum.
I mean what is wrong with people these days? Too cheap or lazy to host your own images so you gotta steal someone else's. Not cool.
If you going to lie about having xyz on the internet, at least have the decency to download the image and host it on your server not mine. Talk about adding insult to injury. Sheesh...
001 java.net.ConnectException: Connection timed out
This is the error that I get when trying to publish to my ISP (MediaTemple.net).
I'm publishing to an alternative web server, downloading the files to my local machine then re-uploading to my ISP's web server as a temporary solution and its a pain in the ass.
I've emailed both blogger and mt for help. Stay tuned...
- Will be named the SONY Playstation 3. No shit. Next...
- Blu-Ray Discs will be its main media format. It will also support CR-ROM, CDR+W, DVD, DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD+R formats.
- It will also have slots for Memory Stick Duo, a SD slot, a compact flash memory slot, six USB ports (4 front, 2 rear), detachable 2.5 hard drive.
- 3.2 GHz Cell processor with with 2.18 teraflops of performance.
- 255mb XDR RAM at 3.2ghz, 256mb GDDR VRAM at 700mhz.
- Graphics chip will be the RSX Reality Synthesizer based on Nvidia technology. The GPU will be capable of 128bit pixel precision, 1080p resolution and take 300 million transistors.
- Wireless bluetooth controllers, support for seven total.
As a sign that the upcoming Sony Playstation 3 will be announced today at pre-E3, these teaser posters can be seen all over Los Angeles. It states "WELCOME CHANG3".
Unlike the Xbox 360 unveiling, the PS3 version has not being a leaky ship.
Here's a recap of some of the latest rumors...
- Integration between the Apple iPod and Sony PS3 that will enable iPod users to play their MP3's from the PS3.
- Footage from Metal Gear Solid 4 on PS3 will be shown.
- The PS3 to be unveiled at E3 is the final prototype and very close in design to the production unit. Sony is maintaining so much secrecy that it has employed the LAPD to help guard the PS3 against scoopers.
- The PS3 is more technologically advanced than the Xbox 360, some say as much as twice the power. A sign of that is the PS3 will use Blu-Ray or HD DVD Discs while the Xbox 360 will not.
- Microsoft announced that they will release Halo 3 on the same day that Sony releases the PS3. Reply from Sony: Bring it, the Chief Master will be stepped on.
- Sony might release the PS3 at the end of 2005, stepping it up from its original 2006 release.
Anakin in SW 3 ROTS: "If you're not with me, you're my enemy." Bush on November 6, 2001: "You're either with us or against us in the fight against terror."
A fabricated Clone Wars to empower the evil Emperor. A fabricated Iraq War to empower Bush.
The squashing of democracy and freedom by the evil Emperor's rule. The squashing of democracy and freedom by Bush's Patriot Act.
The evil Empire. The Bush Administration.
These parallels between the soon to be released Star Wars Episode 3: The Revenge of the Sith and the Bush Administration are interesting if not funny. For liberals, this will give them something to cheer about. For conservatives, at least George Lucas is a likeable guy and they will like this movie. We can't say the same for Michael Moore and his "documentary", Fahrenheit 911.
The real question is whose Chewbacca in real life?
Authorities in the the Wendy's Chili finger case are now focusing their investigation on a Guadalajara ranch in Mexico. Apparently the ranch belongs to relatives of the Wendy's finger lady, Ayala. Anyone see a Mexican running around with nine digits instead of ten?
In other finger news, Stowers, the man who found a severed finger in his Kohl's frozen custard is now offering to return the body part to its rightful owner. Stowers had kept the finger in his freezer for "evidence" for the past two weeks in his pending lawsuit against Kohl's, only taking it out for television cameras. Good one idiot, what the hell can the doctors do with a frozen, decomposed finger!? If it were me, I would tell Stovers to stick that finger where the sun don't shine!
Finally in happier food for thought news, Wendy's is offering a free Frosty dessert giveaway today, Saturday and Sunday to bring back customers that were scared off from the finger in the Chili incident. Hey I've been eating Chili from Wendy's and I haven't found a finger yet!
In several hours, Microsoft will confirm the new Xbox 360, the first next generation gaming console to be unveiled on MTV at 9:30 EST tonight. But in the preceding weeks and days, its been leaks galore. Heres a synopsis of what we know...
Xbox 360 Logo
Console Front
Controller
Media Remote
Supposed spy shot from the MTV shooting captured by a cell phone cam
2 types of Xbox Live: Xbox Live Silver (no subscription required) Xbox Live Gold (subscription benefits)
Features for Gold service * Also for Silver # Also for Offline
- Seamless transition to Xbox Live account from Xbox to Xbox 360 - Access to MMOs (additional fees may apply) * - Free Xbox Live weekends * - Multiplayer online gameplay - Avatar for gamer profile * # - Motto for gamer profile * # - Personalized look for Xbox System Guide * # - Offline achievments * # - Online achievements * - Access to other players’ Gamer cards via Live * - Cumulative gamer score * # - Location/language profile * # - Reputation * - Enahnced matchmaking using above - Skill level matchmaking - Gameplay style profile (casual, competitive, etc.) - Recent players list * - Free and premium download game content * - Free and premium downloadable movies, music, tv * - Downloadable demos/trailers * - Microtransactions * - Custom playlist in every game * # - Play music from portable devices * # - View images from digital camera * # - Strem media from Windows XP * # - Interactive screen savers * # - Track info for CDs * # - Communication with voice, video or text *
360 Hardware Specs: 1. Support for DVD-video, DVD-Rom, DVD-R/RW, CD-DA, CD-Rom, CD-R, CD-RW, WMA CD, MP3 cd, JPEG photo CD 2. All games supported at 16:9, 720p and 1080i, anti-aliasing 3. Customizable face plates to change appearance 4. 3 USB 2.0 ports 5. Support for 4 wireless controllers 6. Detachable 20GB drive 7. Wi-Fi ready
Custom IBM PowerPC-based CPU - 3 symmetrical cores at 3.2 GHz each - 2 hardware threads per core - 1 VMX-128 vector unit per core - 1 MB L2 cache
CPU Game Math Performance - 9 billion dots per second
Impressive specs, but I'm still a diehard SONY Playstation fan and I hope SONY will shock the world at E3 with its announcement of PS3. Nevertheless I still want the new Xbox 360 when its released this coming November... It would make an awesome Christmas gift. (hint hint babe!)
When the Honda S2000 first came out in late 1999 as a 2000 model, I thought "Hmmmm nothing more than a supped up Miata on roids." Then the S2000 made the coverart for the JDM version of Gran Turismo 2 and my ignorance left me as my eyes opened...
WOW. In May 2001, I went for a test drive and I was sold. It stirred my soul, like no car ever has. 4 years and 2 S2000's later, I'm still sold and seeing the tach light up all the way to 9,000 RPM's is just special.
Now I'm looking for another toy, my next toy. At first I was convinced it would be the M3... power and luxury, the perfect GT car, what more can you ask for? However its been plaqued with problems and it lacks that special something, soul.
I briefly thought about the Nissan 350Z in 2003 but the interior, especially that cheap navigation/storage door, killed it. I kept looking... RX-8, the psuedo sports car/funny 4 door sedan, nope. E90 M3, but for $75K I rather drive a Porsche Boxster or Cayman. G35 Coupe, maybe.
Recently while visiting Powerhouse Amuse, I encountered this photo...
WOW. So last Saturday, while my friend and I were car shopping for his new ride, we saw a 350Z Track in Pikes Peak White and Carbon Black interior. Stunning! I asked for a test drive and a few minutes later I was sitting in this 300HP beauty adjusting the driver's seat and mirrors. The exhaust note is amazing, third only to Ferrari and Porsche. Power is plentiful at almost any RPM. Handling is very good, not S2000-like awesomeness but with a set of coilovers and braces, it will be tight. The salesgirl warned me about the "sensitive" clutch but after a few shifts I was used to it already. I felt comfortable, it fit me like a glove.
So I went for a test drive and I am sold. Yeah it still has the navigation/storage door that screams hi I'm made of cheap ass plastic but then again no car is 100% perfect. It has stirred my soul, like the S2000 has. The 350Z Track will be my next toy soon, very soon. Put on some 19" bronze Volks, Amuse body kit and exhaust, ah its another money pit in the making...
This past weekend, I was car shopping with a friend looking at different cars for him. Hes a huge Mustang fanatic so we went to a Ford dealer, the second one in the past few weeks, to look at an used 2003 Mustang Cobra. The first one we went to look at the new 05 Mustang GT, we were refused a test drive.
Minus a few rock chips, the exterior was in perfect condition. The interior suffers from shitty domestic car syndrome for which despite years of trying there has been no cure in sight. Cheap plastic that didn't fit right, just sitting down made the car rattle and the driver seat rocks, like a rocking chair, maybe its a special feature Ford added - rock while you drive. Then I find a service receipt, looks like the former owner had transmission problems and the clutch and flywheel were recently replaced. Good job stupid Ford dealer for leaving it on the passenger seat for all your potential buyers to see. But my friend didn't care, he wanted the car.
So the sleezeball, I mean salesman, comes out and introduces himself. My friend asks for a test drive and received this reply... "How old are you? Hows your credit? Sorry this is a high performance special super elite one-of-a-kind sports car and cannot be test driven without a credit check." What the fuck? Its used! If it was an used Ferrari I would understand completely, but not an used Mustang that was worth $20K. Give me a fucking break.
So I stepped in and argued with the sleezeball and the manager comes out. We started to argue with him too. He also refused, saying the Cobra is a high performance elite machine and no test drives are given. I had just come from test driving a Nissan 350Z Track across the street (more later), I've test driven new Acura's, Honda's, Nissan's, Infiniti's, BMW's, Audi's, etc all worth much more and some are better performers than this used Rustang. In the recent car shopping experiences with my friend, we've never had a problem getting a test drive, except at Ford.
"BAR could face further sanctions after Formula One's governing body announced on Monday that it was investigating claims the team had brought the sport into disrepute." - source
FIA'a bias towards Ferrari, its ambiguous rules and its harsh penalty towards BAR Honda for no confirmed wrongdoing last week has already brought the sport into disrepute.
Sounds to me like FIA is just looking for any excuse to enact its 6 month suspension penalty on BAR Honda.
This ladies and gentlemen is what happens when politics gets mixed with sports - it gets ugly and fast.
Friday night 10PM. Driving home on the expressway. Two identical stock Civic sedans race by me going at least 90MPH. Nearing the toll now. One Civic slows down, the other keeps going at a high rate of speed, then BOOM! All I see was wood exploding into hundreds of pieces then a flying mattress. Wait! A flying mattress, oh yes! The mattress with wings hits the Civic's windshield at a angle, bounces off and is coming straight at me. I swerve hard left, pretending that the mattress was a great big cone from autox. Two wood pieces were there to greet me, I swerve right, narrowing missing the chaos. I look back... the Civic crashed up against the side railing and theres Ford F150 with the hazards on at the emergency lane. I assume it was from where the flying mattress and exploding wood headboard originated from.
Saturday afternoon 4PM. What the hell is up with all this traffic on a Saturday afternoon? I'm stuck in traffic on the expressway for the past hour. Finally I see emergency vehicles up ahead in the horizon. I inch closer and closer. Blue VW Jetta, front end destroyed, roof damage, probably flipped. Ouch. A big wrecker lifting a smashed up boat from the ditch. Wait! A boat?!?! Yes apparently someone didn't secure their trailer correctly, ergo boat falls off trailer, hits a few random cars and ends up in the ditch. Ouch.
Theres never a dull day or night in Miami traffic...
Maria made my favorite appetizers last night - firecracker salmon rolls with this sauce and purple lettuce. Holy shitballs of spicy goodness, they were awesome! Then she made an excellent filet mignon for dinner and WOW.
Maria's cooking makes Emeril's look like a kiddie playground! My fiancee got some mad chef skills!
Student suspended for talking to Mom serving in Iraq
Another example why our public education system sucks.
A teenage student was using his cell phone to talk to his mom serving in the military in Iraq during his lunch break. School policy prohibits cell phone use during school. So a teacher interrupted the conversation, took away his cell phone and escorted the kid to the principle's office. Supposely then the kid became upset and defiant and start cursing at the teacher and school administrators. The school has suspended the poor kid for 10 days.
Stupid public schools... You think you're teaching our kids but you're not teaching them shit with your rigid rules and policies and useless testing. Sad.
I wish the government would provide tuition assistance programs to less fortunate families who wish to send their children to private schools instead of being forced to let their kids suffer in public schools due to a lack of choice.
Our tickets were just brought in advance, two more weeks until Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. I cannot wait to witness Anakin Skywalker slowly turn to the dark side, then the mother of all duels with Obi-Wan and finally his transformation to the ultimate bad boy of the universe - Darth Vader.
I am happy that this is being rated PG-13 and has a running time of a little over two and a half hours. Good.
Revenege of the Sith will simply rock! I hope I will not be disappointed.
On the last epidsode of House, the good doctor said something in the lines of "Wanna find out? Go Google it!"
Google is so enormously huge and cool now, it has become part of our culture in 2005. Google has become more than a search engine, its an advertising monster, its email, its photos, its a shopping portal, its news, its local, its maps, its blogging, its user groups, its desktop search, its an IE toolbar, its the ultimate rags to riches story for two university students and now its a verb.
With over 40% of the search market share it holds and quickly growing, how can Yahoo! and MSN even keep up? My prediction, Yahoo! and MSN will combine forces in 2023 to form MSYahoo! to fight Google.
Last weekend, Maria and I made a visit to the mental health hospital, aka the "funny farm". As I'm driving there, I briefly wondered why people nicknamed it the "funny farm"?
Theres nothing funny about it, in fact its quite sad.
Glancing out into the courtyard, looking at all the patients wearing their hospital bracelets that identifies them as "I'm crazy! Hear me roar!" is a stark contrast to the yuppie urban city life I'm so used to. We count one pregnant girl, a few young guys my age or even younger, about two dozen total. All locked in a virtual prison, linked in brotherhood and sisterhood by one common bond - they're all fucking nuts.
One dude was smoking, another was talking on what seemed to be his imaginary cell phone, a few were jogging around a circular walk path no more than 15 feet in circumference. Not only did I feel bad for their mental health problems but of their daily boredom.
If some of these poor people weren't crazy going in, they will certainly be crazy now.
The FIA just handed down the quilty verdict to BAR Honda - quilty of running underweight cars at Imola. The 10 points won at Imola will be stripped, BAR has been banned from the next two races in Spain and Monaco and BAR received a 6 month ban suspended for a year.
Certainly a light punishment, it could have been a lot worse if it were a total exclusion from the 2005 season. However the consequences of this will be felt for a long time... Button will probably be swapping his white/black/red racesuit for some white/blue ones soon. I wouldn't be surprised if his agent has already contacted BMW.WilliamsF1 and trying to get out of his current contract with BAR Honda leaving poor Sato to carry the team. What about BAR's sponsors? Will they stick it out with BAR and risk tainting themselves in the process or will they jump ship? And Honda? Now the once prestigious Honda will be associated with cheating for some time. Gil de Ferran, BAR's new Sporting Director is at the wrong place, at the wrong time. And David Richards is somewhere having his last laugh. Even old JV might have some self satisfaction at the news. Heads will roll and Nick Fry might get fried at the end of the season.
The 2005 season is effectively over for BAR and its fans.
Do you have an official statement, comments, questions, thoughts, feedback, or something you want to get off your chest? Want to tell me that I'm the biggest loser you've ever met or that I'm just a kind, nice and wonderful guy? Do it here... or you can always email me at tommy16 (at) gmail (dot) com.
Well this is my upteenth attempt at making a personal website. Dating as far back as 1995 when I published my first website on Tulane's student web servers, I called this space my home on the world wide web.
I love to design and write but haven't had the time to do much of either in the past few years. Recently, I have a sudden urge to design and write for myself, for ourselves - Maria and I. So here it is... tommychang.net version something, our home on the internet, where I will post my biased and often misguided thoughts and opinions and where Maria will share some of her awesome recipes, well maybe or maybe not.
email post
digg it!
