Young and lovely

A study in feasibility

How does Rob bend his wrists like that? It's part of his jutsu.

Trump

It's in the nose

So today on my way to and fro school, I saw two separate incidents of people picking their nose in their car. Hilarious.

Bat punch bowl

Well, the results of the Bat punch poll are up. 'Kapow!' has won. Take that (insert villain here)!! I know it was hard to pick, as really this is only a very select few. Check out some excellent screen captures.

Warm action

So today I got a new toy. And it was free. It's an ancient snow blower. I know it's bad for the environment but I like burning gas. I also have a feeling I'm going to have a lot of fun fixing this one. It looks almost exactly like the one above except rustier. I'm just not sure if it's ever going to snow this year. It was over 10 degrees today and this warm action shows no sign of stopping. Now I have even more reason for wanting it to snow. That is besides the usual reason of fall sucking.

ghost face road killah

I remember.. way way back in the 90s, I was in a mall in Pittsburgh when I bought a CD by a band called the Good Rats. Some of the music was ok, but it was very angry. I think I bought it because the CD was $1.99 or something.

Hand signs

Thanks everyone, here's some fanart for your enjoyment.

Lucky solid

Sorry, I'm not good enough at HTML to make this a video.

Not everyone likes surprises. Really?!! I guess I don't.. but what really got me thinking about this commercial was dumb luck. Is this guy lucky? Sort of? I mean sure his fiancee is making out with his Dad, but at least it was before he got married. Then again, I guess it's not so hard to get a divorce anymore.
Man I want a classic Mr. Sub sandwich right now.

No. Where man?

The results of the favourite Beatle poll are in. Though there was a tie for the lead, I'm astounded that John Lennon only got 0%. I was sure he was more popular than that.

Annuity Duel

Corporate Finance.. Corporate... Finance....

Tuesday fury

Well today was Tuesday, when I always have a ridiculous number of hours of classes and a couple of hours of tutoring thrown in for good measure. There's a lot of sick people at school. Flu season I guess. I hope I don't get anything. I don't know why people just don't put on a toque.

At the speed of late

Well, today I had class at 8am. I biked to school and was arriving in good time. It was cold but an exceptionally fast ride, the ground being dry and the street lights cooperating. The sunrise was also pretty nice. Personally I think sunrises are much more beautiful than sunsets, but they're so friggin hard to get up for. Something about crispiness.
Anyways. Pop quiz hotshot, you get to school and realized you left your bike lock at home. This happens occasionally. So I shot the hostage.

Self fulfilling prophesy

So speaking of foregone conclusions, I've been thinking quite a bit about the player interview. I once knew an economics student that had a little theory that if you want to know how you'll do in life, it will be how you can honestly picture yourself in the future. He would argue that if you really want to be a millionaire, just know it's gonna happen, and you'll get there. Most people develop some picture of themselves based on how their parents did, and they end up with some sort of sense of entitlement that meets or slightly exceeds the type of lifestyle they had growing up. I wonder if that target can be raised based on education and understanding. If it's all based on belief or faith that such and such a life can be achieved, does it not seem, at least in a material sense, that the increase of knowledge would help.
Then I start to wonder whether it's all just some desire in the human mind to want to feel there's some control over its own destiny. There's lots of stories of prophets and sages and such. Sages and such. It can be pretty depressing to think we are predestined to be a certain way, all laid out by God and have no control in our lives. It would be nice if I could think we might exercise some control. This is why the first season of Heroes is so excellent. It's like a big fat paradox where if they hadn't tried to stop the future, none of it would have remotely come about.
If there is an end point in these story lines, is that really control then? Are they driving the future by setting their minds to it or are they marionettes in a play? It's also kind of like when the oracle says to Neo to watch out for the vase, and only when he turns to look does he knock it. Rather it's like the whole Matrix thingamabob. Zion destroyed over and over, rebels playing their part in a grand AI scheme. Who is really in control, who is really free?
I suppose if i'm an impoverished college student at thirty, what did I have in my minds eye ten years ago.

Foregone conclusion

Well I just caught the end of the hockey game. Man the leafs got smoked.

Impairment

So today I had a test to do online. It wasn't too bad, except that halfway through I got the blue screen of death. Naturally I had a little panic attack. I suppose I am fortunate though, because after rebooting, the school's fabulous computer system allowed me to resume my test since there was still time left. Never mind what I normally say about the schools computer system. Today it rocks.

Mane attraction

Well, the results of the Lion King poll are in. I'm not surprised. Admittedly we don't really know how Simba's reign goes, unless someone actually watched those sequels. But Mufasa's reign seemed to be a good one. He had that magic touch, where it didn't really seem like he was doing anything at all, except maybe banishing the Hyenas to that gassy place.
Was that Scars error, collaborating with the hyenas. Or was he just a big douche. It's gotta be tough to rule a place when the weather has an opinion on how you're doing.
I imagine this all must be ripped off of some older story. A bit like Hamlet. Where'd Shakespeare rip that off from. Usurpers to the throne will always make good story I suppose.
I want to know when do the antelopes band together with the zebras to form a more representative system of government. Maybe that happened in the sequel. I didn't see it.

Damp Monday

An oldie but a goodie. It rained today. My umbrella is only so effective. So I sat through classes and tutoring with wet feet.

Lazy genius of hard work

So a couple of the polls here on the roblog have been to inquire as to what character in such and so a series that you think you are or that you most relate to. I noticed lately that I ask this with basically every show I watch. But usually I have a hard time picking just one character. Sometimes I can't pick anyone. Like CSI Miami. I am no one. Or I try to tell myself I'm a certain character just because I want to be. I just wish I was like Shikamaru, when really I'm Choji, or more probably Rock Lee. Only lazier. Oh well.

Newt Haiku

So I was looking for an old assignment in my computer and came across this .txt file:

muss hair poor poor child
he's clapped on the ear again
a salamander

movies anymore

Well, I just caught the end of Top Secret on TV. Man that movie was hilarious. They don't make movies like that anymore. Or maybe they do. I don't really see a lot of movies anymore.

Auto tune the Rob.. Ba da dap!

So I frequently have the "autotune the news" theme in my head, which is awesome (thanks sis) and today I was trying to make a conscious effort to talk/sing like that. Needless to say, I couldn't. Oh well.

"He's not coming back"

So Patrick Swayze died. Crazy, all those TPB episodes in-no-way-affiliated will now have a bittersweet irony that i'm just making up. I just saw Point Break for the first time ever this summer. Best movie I ever saw Swayze in. Oh how my life would be different if I'd seen it when I was younger. I mean it's about a gang of surfing bank robbers that gets infiltrated by an undercover cop named 'Johnny Utah'. I'm not making this up. Ok, my life probably wouldn't be any different. But there's lots of trial and tribulation as the lines between friend and foe are blurred in the world of undercover policing. Sure Bodhi is a bank robber and he forced Utah to participate in a botched bank holdup, and he held Utah's girlfriend hostage, but there was... wait... man that guy was a jerk.

Speed rebuff

Oh man. One summer of customer service type work and my non-eyecontact skills have gone down the drain. As I walk to and from school I often get strangers saying hi to me because I obviously didn't look antisocial enough. Then I'm all befuddled and stumble out some greeting. Luckily I've got my bike now so I'm going too fast to have a care in the world.

All fibreglass diet

Well, It's been a summer and I'm back to school now. I've not done much apart from work this summer but that's ok. Superfrugality comes naturally to me now. I'll let you all contemplate nature v. nurture without explanation. I suppose I was not completely an automaton, but did work a bit on an old boat from the cottage. It's still not done though and fall is fast approaching. Oh well. I suppose there comes a time in everyones life where they must learn some hard lessons about fibreglass.

El Gatto

Dogs: six, cats: zero. Based on this poll, I'm surprised anyone owns a cat. I suppose it's because they're free. I suppose you could get a dog at the humane society too. Nevermind.

Fleming Nights

The self evident advantages of variable costing

Can you believe they let us have a 'reference sheet' for our cost test.

The budget tables are on the back.

Macchiovellian

So I saw Karate Kid II on the weekend. I now know everything about Okinawa. There is something about those overcoming-adversity-through-martial-arts movies. Personally, I've never overcome anything with karate.

There's still time.

Off with their heads

You know.. I never seem to go to the gym anymore. I'm often home after classes in the afternoon and think, 'I should go get some exercise', and then I take a nap instead. I figure this is ok because everyone knows the saying 'A man's wisdom can be measured by the frequency of the naps he takes'. Or maybe I just made that up.

WKRP

Well the results of the car colour poll are in. I can't believe there were no reds. I like silver. My actual car is silver, but that's just luck, not really choice.

Spring roll

So spring is here. I'm not the most keen on spring, all dirty and such, still kinda cold and the plants are all still bare. But it does have its advantages. For instance, now I can resume biking routinely. The cold gave me troubles with my brakes, gears and lock making it relatively dangerous to bike. I mean, I'm happy to bike to school on the ice when I have brakes, or bike with no brakes if it's clean and dry, but with no brakes on the ice and snow (not to mention the hills) it's just suicide.
So now I can sit around and contemplate the best route to school. The blue one is obviously the most direct, but it requires some passages on grass and some serious ups and downs. Green is longer, but all smooth and nice, and I can go really fast. The red line is my winter walking route, and I like it because it has a striking vista, and it's pretty direct too.
School to route best the contemplate.

Disambiguation

Well the results of the Dada poll are in. Well, they've been in for a long time, but i'm super lazy. As it turns out, the word Dada doesn't actually come from the word disambiguation. Sorry if anyone was confused. But wouldn't it be nice to pretend that it did? It's almost believable. Almost....
But no surprises, everyone loves the toilet one. As I am prone to say at inopportune times.. 'a day without potty humour is a day where the sun don't shine.'

Luckily

Well. I went to the gym for the first time since the Y half marathon today. I seemed to have injured my right knee. Luckily it is feeling better now.
Ha. That second sentence is a little ambiguous, as though I may have run the marathon today as opposed to three weeks ago. Just thought I had better clarify.

A petit dejeuner

Holy guac. Ever since Sunday I have had such an apetite!

For the tee

Well the results of the 2009 Peterborough Vascular Health YMCA Half-Marathon are up. See them here. As you can see I did only very slightly better than last year. I managed to improve my pace by roughly one second. Just 94 more years of such an improvement and I'll win. My body doesn't seem as outraged as last time, and I did manage to beat Peter Bonk this time.

Hangman

Then again, wouldn't it be awesome if education came in fruit form?

Super slide

So today as I walked to school, there were many quite glossy surfaces of ice, seeing as yesterday and the day before were pretty warm, and all melty and such. Usually when encountered with such wonderful patches of ice, I run to gather up some speed and try to slide as far as possible. I saw a lady walking quite precariously on a snowbank just to avoid the ice, and thought: 'that's no fun'. Then I was thinking, generally, I don't see many people who run and slide on my walking commute to school. I suppose I can't blame them. Admittedly, when I fall down on occasion it's not so pleasant.

Goodwill

I've got nothing to say, but it doesn't matter. 2000 hits!

Low rider

The low rider is a little higher
The low rider drives a little slower

Walking home from the gym last week these lyrics ran through my mind. Whenever I finish working out I feel a little higher and move a little slower.
Also whenever I hear the song, this is exactly what I imagine. A Chevy S-10 with flashy chrome rims, a custom paint-job and riding about two inches off the ground... and ever since that CIBC commercial aired, Sue Thomas FBI.

Speed reader

Well the results of the Keanu Reeves movie poll are in. I'm really not surprised at the results. The Matrix movies are an excellent exercise in philosophical thought. I feel I must stress the virtues of Speed though. A classic tale of the struggle between good v. bad, personal sacrifice, a wealth of little catch-phrases, plus Sandra Bullock is a babe. Bill and Ted's is also a classic, and not merely because Napoleon is in it. I also now have an inability to say sok-ruh-teez, having burned sok-reyts into my vocabulary.

Lock de-icer

Well, finally on Friday afternoon past, I managed to get my bike unlocked. It was the first day in ages that the temperature was above 0C. It promptly went back down to -25 on Saturday. But I was so extraordinarily pleased to be riding home again. It turns out that it is when I am extraordinarily pleased that exciting things happen to me. So naturally my chain came of while I was testing out the gears causing me to lose my balance and bail most excellently. Did I mention it was above freezing so that it was especially slushy and dirty.

Absolute Graph Thursday

Well, It seemed about time for a graph.

Azure Tuesday

Yesterday was Blue Monday, or so they told me on Daily Planet this morning. I was sad, but I think it was because I was doing tax homework, and not the usual reasons.

Fuel

Well, this weekend with the help of my younger sibling I replaced the fuel filter in my car. Also the spark plugs. You see, of late, my car has been a real stinker, especially in the cold. And my engine light kept making an appearance. I find diagnosis is the hardest part when it comes to fixing problems with my car. Must be why doctors get paid so much. Anyways, the moral of the story is: Fixing things is fun, and the internet makes it way easier. Ahhh the internet. I have ironic mixed feelings. An exceptional resource and reference, yet as such an effective communication tool it runs contrary to my antisocial doctrines. Well doctrines isn't the right word, but you get it.

Brainiac

So I was watching Smallville again and got thinking about how we ought to destroy all computers now. It is a well proven fact that movies hail artificial intelligence as the potential end to mankind. Usually in movies though people manage to overcome these troublesome computers. Except maybe in the Terminator, where it's more of a resistance. I have less faith in real life mankind.
Anyways. Smallville got me thinking about Brainiac, and how he's such a formidable opponent and I wonder if all this computer angst is just a natural scarediness in people about a changing world, and especially a technologically changing world, where machines and technology seem to be driving forward so fast that it is overwhelming. And it really seems inevitable that computers will start thinking for themselves one of these days. Everyone knows how retarded purely rational thought can be.
Oh well. I guess it wouldn't really be too good for my blog though if I threw my computer in the lake. It's also frozen right now.

Existential Bike

Man. Today it was freakishly cold-like-the-north when I biked to school. Sadly my bike lock would not come apart and had to be warmed under a bathroom hand dryer before it would secure my property (yes I now like to say "secure my property" just for fun). Then when I was ready to go home it was frozen again, a problem I saw coming a mile away, or at least seven hours away.
So I had to walk home.

Squandered Existence

So I saw Rocky on TV the other day. May I say that it is one of the best movies ever. I guess I always love those overcoming-adversity-through-sport movies. Don't mess with a good formula I always say. Take the Pythagorean Theorem. Nobody messes with that bad boy. NOOOOO-body.