Monthly Archives: July 2003

Well, I went to Atlantic City for the second time ever today (technically yesterday) with Peter. This time I managed to only spend about $2, and I actually got carded 3 times (as opposed to the last time when I was asked just once, and not actually carded). I also got to play on the beach a bit, which was really cool because I haven’t done it in about 4 years. :)

Oh well, there’s probably more stuff to write about (like nifty animatronics designed to pester you into gambling more), but it’s not worth it right now because I’m too tired. G’night.

Well, I saw this in my daily fortune this morning, and found it really very interesting how certain words or ideas can be cannibalised- to go from being ‘the enemy’ to being ‘the goal’ that kids are taught about in elementary school. Of course, meanings are changed just enough to take out any hints of ‘crimethink’.

Democracy, n.:
                A government of the masses.  Authority derived through mass
meeting or any other form of direct expression.  Results in mobocracy.
Attitude toward property is communistic... negating property rights.
Attitude toward law is that the will of the majority shall regulate,
whether it is based upon deliberation or governed by passion,
prejudice, and impulse, without restraint or regard to consequences.
Result is demagogism, license, agitation, discontent, anarchy.
                -- U. S. Army Training Manual No. 2000-25 (1928-1932),
                   since withdrawn.

And with that, I’m off to go do NJ things with Peter.

The other night I stayed over at a friend‘s place so that we could get up early the next morning and go to the Museum of Natural History. Despite living my entire life living in areas less than an hour from the city, this is (unfortunately) only the second time I have ever been to the museum (both times were after I gradutated from college). Anyway, we spent the day there, and even though we didn’t get a chance to see everything it was still really fun. I will have at least one picture to post as a gift for Bobby at some point in the near future (gigantic prehistoric mammals are cool) :)

After returning to New Brunswick we hung out a bit more and watched Chasing Amy (my least favortie Jersey movie, but still good), and then called it a night. I returned home and was going to blog then…. only to find there was a pretty big power outage (adios uptime). The power was apparently out from about 1 AM to 11 AM, and I had a temporary power line hanging from a tree outside of my window until about 3 PM while the PSE&G guys worked on fixing the problem.

In even more annoying news, I got a summons today telling me I have Jury Duty…. again. I am especially disgruntled with this, because IMHO what is the point of being a citizen in a society which cannot even provide a decent job? Anyway, this is just one more thing that’s going to hang over my head and annoy me to no end for way too long. *sigh* My friend Mike suggested I wear a Linux shirt to Jury Duty because as soon as they find out that I am intelligent enough to know the difference between hex and Macbeth they won’t want me anymore. :)

Anyway, I have to go catch up on various things that I have been procrastinating about for too long so that later on Peter can work on forcing me to cosplay. I apparently have no choice in the matter as my costume has already been purchased for me :(

Ever wonder how both alcohol and caffeine can be diuretics, yet only alcohol gives you a hangover, which is evidentally caused by being dehydrated? Shouldn’t sufficient amounts of caffeine do the same thing? Has anyone ever gotten a caffeine hangover?

Anyway, tonight (last night for saner persons) I went to a LUG meeting in Princeton, among other things. The night was interesting to say the least…. but why is it that I seem to attract people significantly my junior? I mean, I’m flattered, but I think I have learned my lesson.

Mood: flattered
Music: Simon & Garfunkel – Mrs. Robinson

Here is a picture of the balloon penguin that Peter was making last night. He wanted me to share it with the world, and I agreed because I can think of at least a few people who may be interested :)

Well, I’m officially sick. Unfortunately I have to actually go to work today, as I wasn’t paid last week and I really need to get more than $26 into my bank account, not to mention work on paying off my debts a bit more. Oh well, I think it’s obvious that I’ll never be able to do that at this job…. I’m already working on getting an additional one.

Last night the hutch on my desk decided to spontaneously take a step to the right and slide off the desk. Nothing permanently damaged, which is impressive because I keep my lava lamp up there and stuff. Anyway, in my attempts to more securely and permanently reattach the hutch, I had to move the desk. The cable wire suffered. Oh well, another one bites the dust.

Well, here are some pictures from earlier today taken in a state park in Ithaca. Enjoy, if you enjoy that type of thing.

So, I’m home again…. and I seem to be coming down with a cold. Meh.

Oh well, I have to go now, Peters making me a penguin out of balloons.

Updating live from Chris‘ apartment! The trip has been fun so far, despite being bummed a bit for various reasons (some stupid, some not so much). So far I’ve gotten a chance to try new food (H8 Mexican food), and went to see Carl Sagan‘s house. I also got a uber-cool pocket leatherman, and watched Logan’s Run, which I am borrowing from a friend.

…. And yeah, none of this is really worth posting about, I guess. There’s just something entertaining about blogging from somewhere other than my house :)

Oh well, off to drink more coffee and watch a bad (but entertaining!) movie.

Well, I am leaving in a short while to go to Ithaca, so I figured I’d drop in and give a brief review of what I’ve done in the past few days. :)

FIrst off, I saw T3. The verdict? Definitely worth seeing in theaters, and much better than Matrix: Reloaded (No boring action scenes here, no sir!) Basically, everyone who saw this movie with me liked it except Peter, and the only bad thing he could say about it was that it wasn’t as good as the first two. Well, I don’t remember the first two very well, so I can’t comment on that…. but I can say the movie was highly enjoyable. The worst things about it were the hideous catch-phrases (bad on purpose as an unfunny joke, it seems) and the blatant product placement; neither of which was pronounced enough to detract from the movie. Plus, there was actually a coherant plot (ahem…) that didn’t suck!

Last night I went to Edison to see an outdoor showing of Mack & Mabel, which was really very good. Apparently everything was Equity except the actors, which definitely could be. The sets and music were great, in fact the only technical problem seemed to be that the mics would infrequently cut out…. but it was so rare as to not be a problem. As for the acting/singing, both were really impressive. The plot was good, but nothing really novel- it’s a love/loss/etc story with the background of the early American movie industry, taking place from 1911-38. Mack is a director of silent movies, Mabel is an actress. Hilarity and showtunes ensue. The last showing of this is tonight @ 8:30, so if anyone in the Rutgers area is looking for something new to do, this is worth checking out. It’s in Roosevelt Park (past Menlo park going South on Rt. 1) and only costs $3 to get in.

This is the funniest thing I have seen in at least 6 hours :)