Made it back

Well the trip to Hong Kong was a blast, a great time was had with my host and adjunct tour guide. Hong Kong is probably my favorite city on earth, there is just something about it. The lights and sounds, it feels like it is a living being. At night it is just amazing, looking across Kowloon harbor is a breathtaking sight. I still have to download my pictures and post them.

Who do I look like?

Floating in the Random zone

Here I sit, waiting to go to Hong Kong on Friday (YAY!!). Random thoughts once again start to cycle through my mind.

Who ever came up with Cinnamon Altoids is a genius.

Is there any sport that can not be made more watchable by adding the words "Female" and "Topless" to it? (may even make NASCAR watchable, but they would have to drive convertibles)

Is there anything the Main Steam Media will not try to make a crisis out of?

Could Kinder Eggs be the coolest candy ever?

Heard the new Linkin Park single, was not impressed. Seems to have lost their edge and fallen into the realm of popular rock.

Is there any movie that Uwe Boll can not make horrible?

Contentment.

Fame or integrity: which is more important?
Money or happiness: which is more valuable?
Success or failure: which is more destructive?

If you look to others for fulfillment,
you will never truly be fulfilled.
If your happiness depends on money,
you will never be happy with yourself.

Be content with what you have;
rejoice in the way things are.
When you realize there is nothing lacking,
the whole world belongs to you.

-From the Tao Te Ching

Blame...

The shootings at Virginia Tech, was a tragedy. A lot of students dead due to one kid's dementia. Turn on the television and you get bombarded by reporters and experts, all showing mock concern as they try to turn this horrific act into a political weapon. Once again I am sickened by how the media tries to cash in on sorrow and death.

Who is to blame? This seems to be the mantra nowadays. Is it the fault of the firearms, the state, the school, the parents, the rich kids, video games, rock and roll, the government, who? Why were actions not taken? In all the whys and who's one thing keeps bugging me, why is the shooter not the villain? In every news report and article the shooter, to me, seems to be made just as much of a victim as the people he killed. Why is he not held responsible for his actions? Many other people have hard lives, and manage not to go on a killing sprees.

Bwahahaahhhaaa

So here I am, munching on some fresh pineapple (after the discussion I had this weekend, I can't look at a pineapple with out having the urge to giggle), and surfing the net when I find this at VGCats.
I about sprayed pineapple all over my monitor.

Busy week

This week has been quite busy. Caught between work, and very busy social calender, this week has flown by. So far this week I have:

Helped my customers fix yet another one of the problems they cause themselves by not listening to people in the know (ie...ME).

Had dinner and coffee with a Scottish friend, and discussed all the high schoolish drama in our group.

Scheduled a trip to Hong Kong (YAY!!!)

Had dinner and drinks with the muse of my soul (I know you're going to eventually read this so have to poke fun at you)

Obtained all the stuff needed for Saturday's Toga Party , and only had one auto accident getting the stuff.

Paid for my Hong Kong trip (and received requests for various things from the wonderful city)

Had dinner with a Korean friend, who always manages to make me laugh.

Obtained information for some company bigwigs that decided to drop in unexpectedly.

Rolled up a Dungeons and Dragons character, a Kender thief (yep, still a geek at heart)

and still managed to make it to the gym every night.

And now it's the weekend, curious on what it will hold.

Hong Kong bound

Well made a snap decision yesterday, going to Hong Kong for a weekend. Been way too long since I've been there, and as an added bonus I get to finally meet a friend face to face.

Tired....

Last couple nights I have been plagued by insomnia. I was going to write about all the things that happened this weekend, revelations that were made, dances that were danced, and a surprise guest star all thrown in to the mix. Unfortunately just don't have it in me at the moment. The torpid state of sleeplessness is really kicking in. Oh well maybe tomorrow.

Vista Banished...

The ordeal is over, last night I reinstalled XP pro on my computer. It's like a great, red hot, spiky weight has been lifted (off very sensitive body parts). I can not begin to put into words, how I feel about Vista. The fact I spent money on this, for lack of a better word, program causes me much self loathing and shame. If you have not jumped from XP to Vista consider yourself blessed.

Some good vids

And a outstanding one sent to me by "M"

offensive material

Time for a bit of ranting. Let's look at some political correctness and the way we kowtow avoid offending people.

Police were called in because a 10 year old boy called a classmate "gay" in an email. I remember growing up, we called each other all sorts of names. Never needed the police. Over react much?

Schools quit teaching about the Holocaust . I really am stunned by this, 6 MILLION people murdered. 6 MILLION men, women, and children butchered by hatred. Certain people might find that fact offensive? It might cause strife because their holy men say it did not happen? Look in the eyes of the survivors, talk to the soldiers who found those camps, stare at the pictures, read the documents, and then tell me it did not happen.

School district supports "Ebonics" . So much for teaching proper English skills, and getting students prepared for the real world.

12 students suspended for praying in school.
"Congress make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."
Guess that doesn't include Christian students trying to have a prayer meeting. Still trying to figure out how a meeting at 7 am in the cafeteria would "disrupt education".

Maybe they should have claimed they were role-playing, instead of having a prayer meeting. It seems to have worked in San Francisco.

Just give it a rest. Stop with the double standards, and quit trying to subject everyone to your half-assed "Brady Bunch" view of the way the world is supposed to be. I don't give a damn about color, religious beliefs, sexual orientation or anything else. I try to live my life, pay my bills, and make it to the end of each day. I don't try to make you accept my views, quit trying to force me to submit to yours.

Non-being

We join spokes together in a wheel,
but it is the center hole
that makes the wagon move.

We shape clay into a pot,
but it is the emptiness inside
that holds whatever we want.

We hammer wood for a house,
but it is the inner space
that makes it livable.

We work with being,
but non-being is what we use.

-from the Tao Te Ching

Days of yellow dust.

I look out my window and see a sunny day smothered by dust. It settles like fog, blown in from the Gobi desert it filters the sunlight into a sickly yellowish green. Heavy metal contaminates are infused in the dust, making it not the sort of thing you want to be out in. A perfectly nice day ruined. Guess I'll clean some, Doh!

Down with the sickness

One of the downsides of working with Koreans, is their inability to take sick time. It's not that they don't get sick days, it is viewed as a sign of weakness to take them. This is an alien concept to me, if I have sick days they will be used. One very big reason is I don't want others catching the bug I have. Which brings us to the big cultural difference, and why myself and many of my coworkers are currently sick. Have also noticed here that when someone coughs or sneezes they do not put their hand in front of their face. Nothing like hearing a sneeze behind you and feeling the spray. Think I'm gonna get a big can of Lysol spray and start returning fire.

Irritating to say the least..

Certain things grind on me abit. These are not the grand problems of life, just the little irritants that cause grumbles. Here is a list of the ones that are vexing me at the moment.

Windows VISTA- 300 bucks for bug ridden piece of software. Let's see my Ipod software is flaky at best (hmmm....the Zune is crashing and burning and suddenly there are compatibility issues with the competition's mp3 player). Other software that I use quite abit is now useless, Photoshop CS, my photo printer, system mechanic, and quite a few others can't be installed. Now to try and find time to reinstall XP.

Political correctness- It is every person's right to be an asshole. If something offends you, tough deal with it. Get over yourself, drop the mock righteousness and just insult them back or ignore it. Making it illegal to say "certain" words just makes the underlying ignorance and resentment stronger.

Activist Actors- You played the president in a movie so that makes you an expert on international relations in what way? Wow, I wish I was rich and famous so that I could know how the whole world works. Two words for you "Bite me", you are an entertainer nothing more. With the bile that Hollywood is putting forth these days (with exception to Tarintino, Peter Jackson, Frank Miller, and a select few others), you should be expressing sorrow to the poor sods that watched your film.

Lack of common courtesy- I may be a brash person, but I am aware of the people around me and try not to be intentionally rude. I seem to be one of a dying few in this, it takes nothing to at least acknowledge another person's existence. It takes only a little more to just act civilized, try it sometime.

As I said, just somethings that irk me. There are plenty more, but those are for a later time.

Angels, Demons, and Addiction

"To know ones self is knowledge,
To know knowledge is enlightenment,
To know when you've had enough is enough,
You will have enough."

This is a mantra that I was taught over a decade ago, by one of my first martial arts teachers. It is a basic truth, You have to know yourself and your limitations. I've been noticing that the last couple months, I have not known who it was walking in my shoes and speaking with my voice or acting in my guise. I did not even notice the stranger until a friend (ironically enough, a sympathetic bartender) asked me what was going on and why the change.

In the few months there has been a rage in my eyes, that he had never seen before, and an aggressiveness to my body language and actions. This has caused me to take a step back and look at myself, I'm an addict. Not to any drug, but to certain people. When I am with them the world is great. If their attention is diverted to someone else then the aggression comes on strong. When they are not there, withdraw.

Remember in cartoons, the little angel and devil that would appear on people's shoulders? Well little bit of that adding things to the mix. Certain friends try to guide me one way or the other. Angels who see it coming and try to cheer me up, and Demons who try to bring it out.

Time to step back, and get back to being me.

Writing way more melodramatic than it really is. Gah, rereading this sounds like I'm turning into emo-boy (wonder if that comes with a cape). Must fight the urge to listen to the Cure and dress in black.

Fair winds and following seas

Saying goodbye to a fine old lady. The USS John F. Kennedy has been decommissioned after 40 years (All ships, no matter the name are referred to as female.). I spent 8 months aboard her supporting Iraqi Freedom, and am a bit melancholy about her retirement. On one hand she is at a well deserved rest, on the other she will never again stride the world. Goodbye old girl, you will be missed. Fair winds and following seas.

And now for something completely different...

Hooked On Ho-Speak - The best video clips are here

Why idiots should not see movies

Well, Iran is miffed about the movie 300. What happened to the days when you could go to the movies and enjoy one without some hyper-sensitive jackass claiming that it offends them? Not everything is a political/cultural/racist/sexist/whatever statement. IT'S A MOVIE!!! No hidden agendas (according to the creators), no political jab at anyone, no slight on any one's culture.

"The movie has fabricated the history," the IRNA news agency said. Maybe because it is a MOVIE based off a COMIC BOOK. I am pretty certain Spiderman, Superman, and X-men did a little bit of history fabrication as well (radioactive spider attacks, meteors with babies inside crashing into Kansas, and I'm almost positive the Golden Gate Bridge has not been ripped out of the ocean).

"The film has also been criticized in the United States as a thinly veiled attack on the Bush administration because it allegedly depicts Spartan King Leonidas as waging an illegal war." Again it is from A COMIC BOOK. The Iraqi war started in 2003 (trust me I was there for the kick off), the comic book was released in 1999, do the math. With the exception of couple scenes dealing with the queen trying to get help from the Parliament, the film was pretty much spot on from the comic. (So if anything the film is a thinly veiled attack on democrats for trying to halt support for the soldiers in Iraq)

Quit trying to ruin my fun at movies, get over yourselves and try to enjoy life. Some times a movie is just a movie, now let me enjoy my popcorn.