Interests:Jesus, Japan, UCSD, Densha Otoko, Kaiju eiga, Hiking, the beach, the mountains, Jazz, 80's New Wave, Visual Kei, rain storms. Expertise:Computers. Massage, Quake2, my job before I got promoted. Occupation:Supervisory Industry:Computers (Software)
"The Constitution is the guide which I never will abandon."
George Washington.
I hope everyone (in America) is having a safe Independence Day weekend.
Yesterday (July 4) I found myself with a tough decision to make, I was so confused. On one channel "The Empire Strikes Back" was showing, and on a different station "Jaws". Both films were showing at the same time...I mean how unfair is that?
In the end I watched "Jaws". After all these years, it is still one of my favorite films. Though this time I noticed that Quint gave the wrong date for the sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis. He said it was June 29, 1945. The ship actually sank July 30. Other than that the events as he described them are considered accurate.
I also found out about this music sharing site called "Groove Shark" (see how Jaws links in here), it allows you to link to music and share it with your friends. This is my current favorite song. If you click the link and the music sounds a little loud to you, the volume control is in the upper right corner of the screen. Your Love is Better Than Life
"Laughter is not at all a bad beginning for a friendship, and it is far the best ending for one." Oscar Wilde.
I don't know if any of you have followed Matt Harding's dancing videos. They have been popular on YouTube, and also on his personal site Where the Hell is Matt for a while.
Well a few days ago he released his newest video, and unlike the previous ones, he dances with groups of people in this one. What is really cool to me, is seeing kids around the world laughing and having fun, even if it is for just a few moments.
Two scenes from this video that stand out to me are the zero g dance, and the one in Korea's DMZ.
"What we've got here is a failure to communicate." Donn Pearce.
For the past few days it has been hot along the coastal areas of San Diego. Today, for example it was 91 (33c). Inland I guess it was much much hotter.
Sadly on campus apartments don't have air conditioners, however we do have 3 channels of HBO so I can watch "Order of the Phoenix" in english....finally.
One of the people I have met is from China, and he is working on his Phd in American Literature. I saw him the other day, and he said he would like to go to the beach if it was easy to get to from campus.
Well Blacks Beach is the easiest beach to get to from UCSD, you just walk down the cliffs and you are there. The thing is (and I warned him about this) Blacks is a nude beach. When I told him this he said it was ok, and would like to go anyway.
So off we went.
Upon arriving at the beach, he started freaking out, I asked, "What's wrong?" He said, "No one is wearing any clothes!" "I told you this was a nude beach." I replied. "But I though you meant no rocks and shells, not no clothes."
I guess the lesson here is never assume people understand your meaning.
"Our national security is at risk when we rely on foreign oil to keep our economy moving forward." Bill Shuster.
One of the things that fascinates me is history, and with history is current events. After all, events happening now will someday be history. If you have been following investor money (which you probably haven't) you begin to see some interesting occurrences.
In the 1990's during the so called "dot com" period, many were investing heavily in the American technology sector, to such a point that those stocks became seriously over valued. So much so that around 2000 the bubble burst, and those stocks prices collapsed.
At about the same time as the stock markets fell, housing prices began a steep rise. While home prices, generally rise, the rise that occurred beginning in 2000 was unprecedented. For example in San Diego between 2000-2005 prices rose 127%. That is more than the previous 30 years.
Investors and speculators moving from stocks to real estate were the primary reason for this increase.
A funny thing happened around 2007. Ordinary families were being priced out of the housing market, and so real estate prices began to crumble.
Q: As housing prices fell, what happened? A: Oil prices began to rise.
Why? Because oil is sold on the commodities/ futures market which like real estate is largely unregulated.
While the following news story does not mention the stock/ real estate/ oil links it does go a long way in explaining the lack of regulation in the market and today's high fuel prices.
"Let him that would move the world first move himself."Socrates.
Before I start, every time I see Socrates, I can't help think of "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure"...pathetic, I know.
Last week was finals for UC San Diego, and now all the under grads are moving out. Since my apartment is on campus, next to the dorms I have been sitting on the patio, today, watching the processions of students and their parents.
One of the things that has been amazing to me, is how much 'stuff' these kids (sorry...young adults) own, and especially how much stuff they are putting in the trash. It is astonishing. In one dumpster alone there were 3 television sets.
Since my life thus far has been pretty mobile, so I have not collected that much stuff. I don't watch a lot of TV, so I don't one a Television. I am able to use my laptop to view the clips and television shows I am interested in seeing.
I used to envy people how were able to afford tons of things, now I know that is just something that has to be toted around with you when you move someplace else.
On Friday I went to the eye doctor. While I am here in San Diego, I want to have Lasik done. I think I can have it done on June 26.
