Angie and I went to see The Exorsism of Emily Rose this weekend and honestly can not tell you if it was good or not. People are so inconsiderate these days! First the theater was full to the brim and a bit rowdy and this was 30 minutes before the start. Once the movie started it did not get better. First people turn off your damn cell phones! This does not mean silence them, it means when I am sitting behind you in a darkend theater it's fucking annoying as hell to see you light up your cell phone and start surfing or checking the time or whatever you are doing? All during the movie there were several people in front of us holding their cell phones up in the air, presumably to get better reception. This was not for a minute or two, this was for the whole movie! Cell phones are bright now and it was very distracting. Second there was someone on the front row who insisted on standing up and walking to the side of the theater during the movie. Now he was just to cool to duck out of the way and get to the side quickly. He had to hold his dick and hold his pants and walk slow and "cool" in front of everyone...this happened at least 10 times throughout the movie. Now during a scary people nervously talk, it's defense mechansim I know this, but people were talking and talking and talking throughout! Annoying! and lastly... who brings a 5 year old to a movie like this? Furthermore the 5 year talks the entire movie and I mean loud enough for everyone to hear easily. The parents just ignored it. For 2 hours I had endure this kid chattering away!
Now 3 times during the flick someone went and complained, I would have if I'd have been anywhere near the end of an isle, but 3 times someone did. Three times a cop came in to settle everyone down. The phones went away people sat down and quit talking and it was a normal movie. As soon as the cops would leave... right back to the way it was. Now I understand that, while the cats away... The problem I have is, if you get called into a single movie 3 times you would think there's probably something going on in there and maybe you need to leave a cop or usher with a light or something?! I was the single worst movie experience I've ever been to and I will not go back to Gulf Pointe 30 for a very long time! On a side note the movie looked like it might be suspenseful and not at all bad but I couldn't tell you. I missed a good 40% due to distactions.
http://www.custom3dgraphics.com/flash/hiphurts.html This is a real product someone hacked together to keep telemarketers on the line for a long time. The theory is lower the productivity to the point that it is not profitable to telemarket. This is a sample of one conversation! Hilarious!
:: 9/11/2005 12:27:09 PM http://cg.scs.carleton.ca/~morin/misc/sortalg/ Might be a re-Blog, but who knew there were so many sorting alogrithms? and just how is this for seeing the way they work! Jsort! QSort! I never use them, but I will now!
:: 9/11/2005 12:49:37 PM http://users.skynet.be/J.Beever/pave.htm WE've all seen these weird 3d sidewalk chalk drawings. This has alternate views of them so you can see what it really looks like! Facinating!
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE ... for those who do not have Anti-virus software and those without a firewall, watch this.
Now I've been preaching for years! Get some AV software and a firewall! grisoft makes a free version for Pete's sake! If you are on broadband, i.e. DSL, Cable etc. get a hardware firewall/router. My sister got one for $5 after rebate the other day! People please if you do not do this you are contributing to the downfall of one of the greatest assets in the world!
:: 9/9/2005 9:43:11 AM http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floaters I have Floaters. I think many of you do too. I wish I did not, but there is no good treatment. SUCK!
A SAD STATE OF CORRUPT LOCAL GOVERNMENT LOOKING FOR A HAND OUT.
Politics over duty
This is a post from a fellow over in Merritt Is, FL, a reporter who's been researching what went on before the storm hit
I think all of Nagin's pomp and posturing is going to bite him hard in the near future as the lies and distortions of his interviews are coming to light.
On Friday night before the storm hit Max Mayfield of the National Hurricane Center took the unprecedented action of calling Nagin and Blanco personally to plead with them to begin MANDATORY evacuation of New Orleans and they said they'd take it under consideration. This was after the NOAA buoy 240 miles south had recorded 68' waves before it was destroyed.
President Bush spent Friday afternoon and evening in meetings with his advisors and administrators drafting all of the paperwork required for a state to request federal assistance (and not be in violation of the Posse Comitatus Act or having to enact the Insurgency Act).
Just before midnight Friday evening the President called Governor Blanco and pleaded with her to sign the request papers so the federal government and the military could legally begin mobilization and call up.
He was told that they didn't think it necessary for the federal government to be involved yet. After the President's final call to the governor she held meetings with her staff to discuss the political ramifications of bringing federal forces. It was decided that if they allowed federal assistance it would make it look as if they had failed so it was agreed upon that the feds would not be invited in.
Saturday before the storm hit the President again called Blanco and Nagin requesting they please sign the papers requesting federal assistance, that they declare the state an emergency area, and begin mandatory evacuation.
After a personal plea from the President, Mayor Nagin agreed to order an evacuation, but it would not be a full mandatory evacuation, and the governor still refused to sign the papers requesting and authorizing federal action.
In frustration the President declared the area a national disaster area before the state of Louisiana did so he could legally begin some advanced preparations. Rumor has it that the President's legal advisers were looking into the ramifications of using the insurgency act to bypass the Constitutional requirement that a state request federal aid before the federal government can move into state with troops - but that had not been done since 1906 and the Constitutionality of it was called into question to use before the disaster.
Throw in that over half the federal aid of the past decade to New Orleans for levee construction, maintenance, and repair was diverted to fund a marina and support the gambling ships.
Toss in the investigation that will look into why the emergency preparedness plan submitted to the federal government for funding and published on the city's website was never implemented and in fact may have been bogus for the purpose of gaining additional federal funding as we now learn that the organizations identified in the plan were never contacted or coordinating into any planning - though the document implies that they were.
The suffering people of New Orleans need to be asking some hard questions as do we all, but they better start with why Blanco refused to even sign the multi-state mutual aid pack activation documents until Wednesday which further delayed the legal deployment of National Guard from adjoining states.
Or maybe ask why Nagin keeps harping that the President should have commandeered 500 Greyhound busses to help him when according to his own emergency plan and documents he claimed to have over 500 busses at his disposal to use between the local school busses and the city transportation busses - but he never raised a finger to prepare them or activate them.
This is a sad time for all of us to see that a major city has all but been destroyed and thousands of people have died with hundreds of thousands more suffering, but it's certainly not a time for people to be pointing fingers and trying to find a bigger dog to blame for local corruption and incompetence. Pray to God for the survivors that they can start their lives anew as fast as possible and we learn from all the mistakes to avoid them in the future.
President Bush declared Louisiana a disaster area two days before the hurricane struck the New Orleans area.
President Bush urged New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin and Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco to order the mandatory evacuation that was issued on Sunday, August 28.
First responders to a disaster are always state and local emergency agencies. FEMA is there to supplement the state and local activities.
The hurricane threatened an area as large as 90,000 square miles covering three states. Immediate relief could not possibly have been delivered to all the places that required attention.
An AP photo showed a large fleet of New Orleans buses soaking in six feet of water. The mayor apparently had the means to evacuate many of the folks who ended up stranded at the Superdome and the convention center.
FEMA began its activities immediately, not expecting the magnitude of the flooding, the non-response at the city and state level, and the anarchy that resulted.
The local and state governments had rehearsed for a different scenario. Disaster drills in New Orleans had taken place, but with a false assumption that the levees would hold.
Both the law and protocol prohibit the president from ordering military troops into a state without a formal request to do so from the governor of the affected state.
What did you do this weekend? It's ok to be sorrowful for the refugees, it's ok to glue yourself to the TV and try to feel their pain as long as you have lessons learned. For those thinking about riding out a Cat 5 'cane look at Biloxi!
I had plans already, ATL on Saturday w/Dade, we saw some of the most amazing things! I saw Gene Simmons, The Master Chief and Sean of the Dead. We saw 10 foot tall Jack Skellington and more stormtroopers than you could shake a stick at. Where? Dragoncon! Some of you will go that seems so immature... then in the same breath you'll want to go the Ren Fest! Same thing only with Urak-Hai and Jedi! It was great! We saw so many inspiring costumes and more.
During our visit we took a small robotics course from a Battlebot builder, where we first learned the math and science behind levers and pneumatics (2 hours) and then we applied it and built pneumatic powered catapults! the room divided into 8 teams. Dade was fascinated by the math even so we decided to stay we joined up with Evil and Matt both fighting robot builders themselves and started building.
There were 8 teams total and the teacher built one too. The objective was to use pneumatics to catapult a ping pong ball as far as possible. We were issued "kits" that had the parts we were allowed to use. We started by thinking of throwing the ball with a lever we would counterweight the lever for added oomph! Our neighbors also decided this was the best idea as well. In no time they had a working model and we were barely on the base. We decided if we do the same thing we would expect similar results, so scrap it and start over. I tossed in the idea of a 4 bar linkage.(I'm no stranger either based on the Halloween props I've built) but decided without my PC for the calcs it would be to hard to do the math. We started to do a traditional lever throw when I had the idea of a striker. We suspended the ball in the air and used the lever to strike it thus propelling it further than a throw. By this time we were barely started with the pivot point and our neighbors were launching the ball all the way across the room. None of the other cats were doing that good. Another hour in we had it all in a ready to test state so we asked for air, they gave us a pump, we triggered the valve and poof... it went all of 6 inches. We were devastated. I was flabbergasted I was sure it should fire faster than this and so were the robot guys. It was almost contest time at this point. We asked the teacher for a consult since we were done and we were sure we had failed. He looked at our rig and realized that the valve was 90% closed and the check valve was installed backwards! Up to now everyone was sure the orange team, our neighbors were the winners no doubt, but after this little change in out air rig, we did one more test fire. Let me say that room went silent, we have no idea how far the ball was going to go because it hit the ceiling then a light fixture and bounced back to where it started! NOW THAT's MORE LIKE IT!
Next we all packed up and went down to a ballroom to have the competition. I had no idea this was going to happen but lo and behold there were 150+ people and a TV crew there to film it! After intros and all they started with the white team and there rig went about 2 feet and so one went the contest, most people there were disappointed until the orange team threw their ball a good 15-20 feet. We somehow ended up last. Our first throw went a good 25-30 sliced wide right and it went high! Twice as high as any other cat! This brought huge applause, Dade was beaming. The next throw just as far but into the audience and someone caught it! ug! The final throw... we bounced it off the chandelier in the ballroom! This brought the house down! We were the winners hands down, but the teacher still had his rig. He had done... a striker as well! with a 4 bar linkage! and some chain and gear thing we didn't even have in our kit?!?! Not Fair! His rig beat us... Barely! only by a couple of feet. It was close, and if we had time to adjust the kick angle I think we could have bested him.
All in all the trip was outstanding... I can not wait for the next one!
:: 9/6/2005 3:46:35 PM http://newsmax.com/archives/articles/2005/9/4/151327.shtml This is required reading folks... IN THIS DAY AND AGE THE MEDIA BLAMES EVERYTHING ON THE PRESIDENT THEY CAN AND THE N.O. DISASTER IS NO EXCEPTION! Someone with the balls to tell it like it is has spoken and you might be surprised to read it! I seriously encourage you to hear the other side of the story not being mentioned in the press and decide for yourself. I personaly hear these reports that race had something to do with a slow response, and think to myself how would that conversation go? "well.... they are all black so let's wait 24 more hours before we go..." B.S. there is no way that anything close to that happened! At any rate please read this and decide for yourself.
:: 9/11/2005 12:21:15 PM
