Blog Eight

Dear Humanity ...

2009-07-16T00:16:00.004+12:00

This is very interesting. It's a long letter that randomly appeared several years ago on the internet in several languages with no apparent sender or return address. It makes for an extremely interesting and insightful bit of reading. Some people may close their minds and dismiss it as nonsense, but I encourage you to read right to the end anyway because it definitely makes you stop and consider and is worth a long slow read. The nature of the letter is frank and honest, although it makes claims that some may not accept as true. If it jolts your world view too much, then maybe imagine it as a letter from Santa. Here it is. Any text in brackets wasn't in the original message, but added later by other people to make the apparent meaning of the text clearer:

CHANGE THE WORLD. DECIDE WHETHER WE SHOULD SHOW UP

Whoever transmitted this translated message to you is irrelevant, and

should remain anonymous in your mind. It is what you will do with

this message which matters.

Each one of you wishes to exercise her/his free will and experience

happiness. These are attributes that were shown to us and to which we

now have access. Your free will depends upon the knowledge you

have of your own power. Your happiness depends upon the love that

you give and receive. Like all conscious races at this stage of progress,

you may feel isolated on your planet. This impression makes you sure

of your destiny. Yet you are at the brink of big upheavals that only a

minority is aware of. It is not our responsibility to modify your future

without your choosing it. Consider this message as a worldwide

referendum. And your answer as a ballot.

Who are we?

Neither your scientists nor your religious representatives speak

unanimously about the unexplained celestial events

that mankind has witnessed for thousands of years. To

know the truth, one must face it without the filter of one´s beliefs,

however respectable they may be.

A growing number of anonymous researchers of yours are exploring

new knowledge paths and are getting very close to reality. Today your

civilisation is flooded with an ocean of information of which only a

tiny part, the less upsetting one, is notably diffused.
What in your history seemed ridiculous or improbable has

often become possible, then realised, in particular in the last fifty years.

Be aware that the future will be even more surprising. You will

discover the worst as well as the best. Like billions of others in this

galaxy, we are conscious creatures that some name "extra-terrestrials",

even though reality is subtler.

There is no fundamental difference between you and us, save for the

experience of certain stages of evolution. As in any other organised

structure, hierarchy exists in our internal relationships. Ours is based

upon the wisdom of several races. It is with the approval of this

hierarchy that we turn to you. Like most of you, we are in the quest of

the Supreme Being. Therefore we are not gods or lesser

gods but virtually your equals in the Cosmic Brotherhood. Physically,

we are somewhat different from you but most of us are humanoid-

shaped.

Our existence is a reality but the majority of you does not perceive it

yet. We are not mere observations, we are consciences

just like you. You fail to apprehend us because we

remain invisible to your senses and measuring instruments most of

the time.

We wish to fill this void at this moment in your history. We made

this collective decision but this is not enough. We need yours.

Through this message, you become the decision-makers. You

personally. We have no human representative on Earth who could

guide your decision.

Why aren´t we visible?

At certain stages of evolution, cosmic "humanities" discover new

forms of science beyond the apparent control of matter. Structured

dematerialisation and materialisation are among them. This is what

your humanity has reached in a few laboratories, in close

collaboration with other "extra-terrestrial" creatures at the cost of

hazardous compromises that remain purposedly hidden from you by

some of your representatives. Apart from the aerial or space objects or

phenomena known about by your scientific community, that you call

UFOs, there are essentially multidimensional manufactured

spaceships that apply these capacities. Many human beings have been

in visual, auditory, tactile or psychic contact with such ships, some of

which are under occult powers that "govern" you.

The scarcity of your observations is due to the outstanding advantages

provided by the dematerialised state of these ships. By not witnessing

them by yourself, you cannot believe in their existence. We fully

understand this. The majority of these observations are made on an

individual basis so as to touch the soul and not to modify any

organised system. This is deliberate from the races that surround you

but for very different reasons and results.

For negative multidimensional beings that play a part in the exercise

of power in the shadow of human oligarchy, discretion is motivated

by their will to keep their existence and seizure

unknown. For us, discretion is motivated by the

respect of the human free will that people can exercise to manage their

own affairs so that they can reach technical and spiritual maturity on

their own.

Humankind´s entrance into the family of galactic civilisations is

greatly expected. We can appear in broad daylight and help you attain

this union. We haven´t done it so far, as too few of you have

genuinely desired it, because of ignorance, indifference or fear, and

because the degree of emergency of the situation did not justify it.

Many of those who study our appearances count the lights in the

night without lighting the way. Often they think in terms of objects

when it is all about conscious beings.

Who are you ?

You are the offspring of many traditions that throughout time have

been mutually enriched by each others´ contributions. The same

applies to the races at the surface of the Earth. Your goal is to unite in the respect of

these roots to accomplish a common project. The appearance of your

cultures seems to keep you separated because you substitute it for your

deeper being. Shape is now more important than the essence of

your subtle nature. For the powers in place, this prevalence

of shape constitutes the ramparts against any form of

jeopardy to their negative agenda. You are being called on to

overcome shape [the compelling nature of appearance] while still

respecting it for its richness and beauty. Understanding the conscience

of shape makes us love men in their diversity.

Peace does not mean not making war, it consists in becoming what

you are in reality: a Fraternity. To understand this, the number of

solutions within your reach are decreasing. One of them consists in contact

with another race that would reflect the image of what you are in

reality. [i.e. embodied consciousness.]

What is your situation?

Except for rare occasions, our interventions always had very little

incidence on your capacity to make collective and individual

decisions about your own future. This is motivated by our knowledge

of your deep psychological mechanisms. We reached the conclusion

that freedom is built every day as a being becomes aware of itself and

of its environment, getting progressively rid of constraints and

inertias, whatever they may be. Despite the numerous, brave and

willing human consciences, those inertias are artificially maintained

for the profit of a growing centralising

power. Until recently, mankind lived in satisfying control of its

decisions. But it is losing more and more control of its own fate

because of the growing use of advanced technologies, whose lethal

consequences on the earthly and human ecosystems become irreversible.

You are slowly but surely losing your extraordinary capacity to make

life desirable. Your resilience will artificially decrease, independently

of your own will. Technologies exist that affect your body as well as

your mind. Such plans are on their way. This can change as long as

you keep this creative power in you, even if it cohabits with the dark

intentions of your potential lords. This is the reason why we remain

invisible. This individual power is doomed to vanish should a

collective reaction of great magnitude not happen. The period to come

is that of rupture, whichever it may be.

But should you wait for the last moment to find solutions? Should

you anticipate or undergo pain? Your history has never ceased to be

marked by encounters between peoples who had to discover one

another in conditions that were often conflictual. Conquests almost

always happened to the detriment of others. Earth has now become a

village where everyone knows everyone else but still conflicts persist

and threats of all kinds get worse in duration and intensity. Although

a Human being as an individual has many potential capacities, he or

she cannot exercise them with dignity.

This is the case for the biggest majority of you for reasons that are

essentially geopolitical. There are several billion of you. The education

of your children and your living conditions, as well as the conditions

of numerous animals and much plant life are nevertheless under the

thumb of a small number of your political, financial, military and

religious representatives. Your thoughts and beliefs are modelled after

partisan interests to turn you into slaves while at the same time

giving you the feeling that you are in total control of your destiny,

which in essence is the reality.

But there is a long way between a wish and a fact when the true rules

of the game at hand are unknown. This time, you are not the

conqueror. Biasing [the] information [you receive] is a millenary

strategy for human beings. Inducting thoughts, emotions or

organisms that do not belong to you via ad hoc technologies is an

even older a strategy. Wonderful opportunities for progress stand

close to big subdual [i.e., the subduing of those opportunities] and

destruction threats.

These dangers and opportunities exist now. However, you can only

perceive what is being shown to you. The end of natural resources is

programmed [by their inherent natural limits], whereas no long-term

collective project [for developing alternative resources] has been

launched. Ecosystem exhaustion mechanisms have exceeded

irreversible limits. The scarcity of resources and their unfair

distribution - resources whose entry price will rise day after day - will

bring about fratricidal fights on a large scale, even at the very heart of

your cities and countrysides.

Hatred grows bigger but so does love. That is what keeps you confident

in your ability to find solutions. But the critical mass is insufficient

and sabotage work is cleverly being carried out. Human behaviours,

formed from past habits and trainings, have such an inertia that this

perspective leads you to a dead end. You entrust these problems to

representatives, whose conscience of common well-being slowly fades

away before corporatist interests. They are always debating on the form

but rarely on the content. Just at the moment of action, delays will

accumulate to the point when you have to submit rather than choose.

This is the reason why, more than ever in your history, your decisions

of today will directly and significantly impact your survival

tomorrow.

What event could radically modify this inertia that is typical of any

civilisation? Where will a collective and unifying awareness come

from, that will stop this blind rushing ahead? Tribes, populations and

human nations have always encountered and interacted with one

another. Faced with the threats weighing upon the human family, it is

perhaps time that a greater interaction occurred. A great roller wave is

on the verge of emerging. It mixes very positive but also very negative

aspects.

Who are the [negative, multidimensional] "third party"?

There are two ways to establish a cosmic contact with another

civilisation: via its standing representatives or directly with

individuals without distinction. The first way entails fights of

interests, the second way brings awareness. The first way was chosen

by a group of races motivated by keeping mankind in slavery, thereby

controlling Earth resources, the gene pool and human emotional

energy. The second way was chosen by a group of races allied with the

cause of the Spirit of Service. We have, at our end, subscribed to this

disinterested [service-oriented] cause and introduced ourselves a few

years ago to representatives of the human power who refused our

outstretched hand on the pretext of incompatible interests with their

strategic vision. That is why today individuals are to make this choice

by themselves without any representative interfering. What we

proposed in the past to those whom we believed were in a capacity to

contribute to your happiness, we propose now -- to you.

Most of you ignore that non-human creatures took part in the exercise

of those centralising powers without them being either suspected or

accessible to your senses. This is so true that they have almost very

subtly taken control. They do not necessarily stand on your material

plane, and that is precisely what could make them extremely efficient

and frightening in the near future.

However, be aware that a large number of your representatives are

fighting this danger. Be aware that not all abductions are made against

you.

It is difficult to recognize the truth. How could you, under such

conditions, exercise your free will when it is so much manipulated?

What are you really free of?

Peace and reunification of your peoples would be a first step toward

the harmony with civilisations other than yours. That is precisely

what those who manipulate you behind the scenes want to avoid at

all cost because, by dividing, they reign. They also reign over those

who govern you. Their strength comes from their capacity to instill

mistrust and fear into you. This considerably harms your very cosmic

nature.

This message would be of no interest if these manipulators´ tutorate

did not reach its peak and if their misleading and murderous plans

did not materialise in a few years from now. Their deadlines are close

and mankind will undergo unprecedented torments for the next ten

cycles. To defend yourselves against

this aggression that bears no face, you need at least to have enough

information that leads to the solution. As is also the case with

humans, resistance exists amongst those dominant races. Here again,

appearance will not be enough to tell the dominator from the ally. At

your current state of psychism, it is

extremely difficult for you to distinguish between them. In addition to

your intuition, training will be necessary when the time has come.

Being aware of the priceless value of free will, we are inviting you to

an alternative.

What can we offer ?

We can offer you a more holistic vision of the universe and of life,

constructive interactions, the experience of fair and fraternal

relationships, liberating technical knowledge, eradiction of suffering,

controlled exercise of individual powers, access to new forms of

energy and, finally, a better comprehension of consciousness.

We cannot help you to overcome your individual and collective fears,

to bring you laws that you would not have chosen, or to work on your

own selves and make the individual and collective effort to build the

world you desire, the spirit of quest to new skies.

What would we receive?

Should you decide that such a contact take place, we would rejoice

over the safeguarding of fraternal equilibrium in this region of the

universe, fruitful diplomatic exchanges, and the intense Joy of

knowing that you are united to accomplish what you are capable of.

The feeling of Joy is strongly sought in the universe for its energy is

divine.

What is the question we ask you?

"DO YOU WISH THAT WE SHOW UP?"

How can you answer this question?

The truth of soul can be read by telepathy. You only need to clearly ask
yourself this question and give your answer as clearly, on your own or
in a group, as you wish. Being in the heart of a city or in the middle
of a desert does not impact the efficiency of your answer, YES or NO,
IMMEDIATELY AFTER ASKING THE QUESTION! Just do it as if
you were speaking to yourself but thinking about the message.
This is a universal question and these mere few words, put in their
context, have a powerful meaning. You should not let hesitation get
in the way.

This is why you should calmly think about it, in all conscience. In

order to perfectly associate your answer with the question, it is

recommended that you answer right after another reading of this

message. Do not rush to answer. Breathe and let all the power of your

own free will penetrate you. Be proud of what you are! The problems

that you may have weaken you. Forget about them for a few minutes

to be yourselves. Feel the force that springs up in you. You are in

control of yourselves!

A single thought, a single answer can drastically change your near

future, in one way as in another. Your individual decision of asking

in your inner self that we show up on your material plane and in

broad daylight is precious and essential to us. Even though you can

choose the way that best suits you, rituals are essentially useless. A

sincere request made with your heart and your own will will always

be perceived by those of us whom it is sent to. In your own private

polling booth of your secret will, you will determine the future.

What is the lever effect ?

This decision should be made by the greatest number among you,

even though it might seem like a minority. It is recommended to

spread this message, in all envisageable fashions, in as many

languages as possible, to those around you, whether or not they seem

receptive to this new vision of the future.

Do it using in a humorous tone or derision

if that can help you. You can even openly and publicly make

fun of it if it makes you feel more comfortable but do not be

indifferent for at least you will have exercised your free will. Forget

about the false prophets and the beliefs that have been transmitted to

you about us. This request is one of the most intimate that can be

asked to you. Making a decision by yourself, as an individual, is your

right as well as your responsibility! Passivity only leads to the absence

of freedom. Similarly, indecision is never efficient. If you really want

to cling to your beliefs, which is something that we understand, then

say "no" [to our request]. If you do not know what to choose, do not

say "yes" because of mere curiosity.

This is not a show. This is real daily life, WE ARE ALIVE. And living.

Your history has plenty of episodes in which determined men and

women were able to influence the thread of events in spite of their

small number. Just as a small number is enough to take temporal

power on Earth and influence the future of the majority, a small

number of you can radically change your fate as an answer to the

impotence in face of so much inertia and hurdles! You can ease the

mankind´s birth to Brotherhood. One of your thinkers once said:

"Give me a hand-hold and I´ll raise the Earth". Spreading this

message will then be the hand-hold to strengthen, we will be the light-

years long lever, and you will be the craftsmen to raise the Earth as a

consequence of our appearance.

What would be the consequences of a positive decision?

For us, the immediate consequence of a collective favourable decision

would be the materialisation of many ships, in your sky and on Earth.

For you, the direct effect would be the rapid abandoning of many

certitudes and beliefs. A simple conclusive visual contact would have

huge repercussions on your future. Much knowledge would be

modified forever. The organisation of your societies would be deeply

upheaved for ever, in all fields of activity. Power would become

individual because you would see for yourself that we are living.

Concretely, you would change the scale of your values. The most

important thing for us is that humankind would form a single family

in front of this "unknown" we would represent! Danger would slowly

melt away from your homes because you would indirectly force the

undesirable ones, those we name the "third party", to show up and

vanish. You would all bear the same name and share the same roots:

Mankind!

Later on, peaceful and respectful exchanges would be thus possible if

such is your wish. For now, he who is hungry cannot smile, he who is

fearful cannot welcome us. We are sad to see men, women and

children suffering to such a degree in their flesh and in their hearts

when they bear such an inner light. This light can be your future. Our

relationships could be progressive. Several stages of several years or

decades would occur: demonstrative appearance of our ships, physical

appearance beside human beings, collaboration in your technical and

spiritual evolution, discovery of parts of the galaxy.

Every time, new choices would be offered to you. You would then

decide by yourself to cross new stages if you think it necessary to your

external and inner well-being. No interference would be decided upon

unilaterally. We would leave as soon as you would collectively wish

that we do. Depending upon the speed to spread the message across

the world, several weeks, or even several months will be necessary

before our "great appearance", if such is the decision made by the

majority of those who will have used their capacity to choose, and if

this message receives the necessary support. The main difference

between your daily prayers to entities of a strictly spiritual nature and

your current decision is extremely simple: we are technically equipped

to materialise.

Why such a historical dilemma?

We know that "foreigners" are considered as enemies as long as they

embody the "unknown". In a first stage, the emotion that our

appearance will generate will strengthen your relationships on a

worldwide scale.

How could you know whether our arrival is the consequence of your

collective choice? For the simple reason that we would have

otherwise been already there for a long time at your level of existence.

If we are not there yet [at the time you read this],
it is because you have not made such a decision

explicitly. Some among you might think that we would make you

believe in a deliberate choice of yours so as to legitimate our arrival,

though this would not be true. What interest would we have in

openly offering you what you haven't got access to yet, for the benefit

of the greatest number of you?

How could you be certain that this is not yet another subtle

manoeuvre of the "third party" to better enslave you? Because one

always more efficiently fights something that is identified than the

contrary. [i.e., if we reveal ourselves explicitly we are more vulnerable

to being fought.] Isn´t the terrorism that corrodes you a blatant

example? Whatever, you are the sole judge in your own

heart and soul! Whatever your choice, it would be respectable and

respected.

In the absence of human representatives who could potentially seduce

you into error, you ignore everything about us as well as about those

who manipulate you without your consent.

In your situation, the precationary principle that consists in not trying

to discover us, no longer prevails because you are already in the

Pandora´s box that the "third party" has created around you.

Whatever your decision may be you will have to get out of it [i.e., the

box]. In the face of such a dilemma, one ignorance against another,

you need to ask your intuition. Do you want to see us with your own

eyes , or simply believe what your thinkers say? That is the real

question. After thousands of years, one day this choice becomes

inevitable: choosing between two unknowns.

Why spread such a message among yourselves?

Translate and spread this message widely. This action will affect your

future in an irreversible and historical way at the scale of milleniums,

otherwise, it will postpone a new opportunity to choose by at least one

generation, if it can survive at all. Not to choose stands for

undergoing other people´s choice. Not informing others stands for

running the risk of obtaining a result that is contrary to one´s

expectations. Remaining indifferent means giving up one´s free will.

It is all about your future. It is all about your evolution.

It is possible that this invitation does not receive your collective assent

and that, because of a lack of information, it will be disregarded.

Nevertheless no individual desire goes unheeded in the universe.

Imagine our arrival tomorrow. Thousands of ships. A unique cultural

shock in today´s mankind´s history. It will then be too late to regret

about not making a choice and spreading the message because this

discovery will be irreversible. We do insist that you do not rush into

it, but do think about it. And decide. The big media will not be

necessarily interested in spreading this message. It is therefore your

task, as an anonymous yet an extraordinary thinking and loving

being, to transmit it.

You are still the architects of your own fate.

"DO YOU WISH THAT WE SHOW UP?"

MAY PEACE PREVAIL ON EARTH AND IN SPACE

June Post

2009-06-03T23:57:00.004+12:00

Helen also follows my blog, despite the fact that there hasn't been much to follow recently. So this post is for her to follow.

Although it took 3 attempts to get the "New Post" button to work. Sorry Helen, I think Blogger was hinting something.

I'm going to Ministry of Sound on Friday night! If the latest Sessions album is anything to go by (and the party's being DJed by the same guys who mixed the album), it's going to be meeeaaan!!

In not so good news, my favourite Bleach fansubber has just announced that they're going to stop fan-subbing indefinitely. That really sucks. I'm not sure what I'm going to do to fill the gap now. I guess someone else will step up to fill the gap, but how good will their quality be?

Exams start next week. I seriously, seriously gotta do some serious study. I also desperately need to find a job because in about a month I'm suddenly no longer going to be able to fund myself. My weekly loan runs out at the end of the semester because I'm only part time next semester. I also don't get the 40% off the bus pass, and I'm going to have to bus to uni and back every day, so expenses are going to be literally tripling. Fun times.

Knocked Sideways

2009-05-20T18:18:00.003+12:00

Mishelle said she's going to follow my blog, so I figured I'd better give her something to follow.

I'm really sick right now. Some kind of flu or something. I've got the whole works - aching joints, sore throat, coughing, shivering, fever, nausea ... you name it. The only thing that seems to be working properly is my nose, which is weird coz that's usually the worst part.

My mate Voda's got it too. He came down with it at pretty much the same time as I did (overnight on Monday night) which suggests that we got it from the same place, wherever that is. Which is weird because my sister had it last week too, and I thought I'd got it off her. Apparently not.

Meanwhile I've got a test tomorrow and a project due on Friday. Except the lecturer emailed today saying "feel free to hand it in on Monday" which is awesome.

Hmmm what else ...

I'd been hoping to go to Japan at the end of the year with a few mates but it looks like that's going to be on hold because it looks like none of us are going to have enough money :P

Ok bye.

Royksopp

2009-05-06T18:44:00.004+12:00

Waiting for a beam
To break through here
A jail-break vision
All bright and clear

And they talk
And they dance

I was expecting something pure
With golden hair
Arms full of bracelets
And smoke in the air

And they talk
And they dance

Here comes darkness
Just afternoon
Waiting for a sign
If I survive I’ll worship the moon
Or something
Anything

This must be it
Long for this
First it was so quiet
Now I know I’m not alone in here
And they talked
And they danced

Two omens collide in my open hand
Making me a viewer
I am what I have seen

And they talk
And they dance

Your hand on my hips
Speak friendly to me
I’d been certain for years
Patiently
If this as far, you can take me

This must be it
Long for this
First it was so quiet
Now I know I’m not alone in here
And they talked
And they danced

This must be it
Long for this
First it was so quiet
Now I know I’m not alone in here
And they talked
And they danced ...

Time For Phase 2

2009-03-01T23:46:00.003+13:00

I realised last night that in a few months I'll be a quarter of the way from 20 to 30! That was a disturbing thought.

The lazy summer days of doing almost nothing are over now. Uni starts tomorrow. To be more exact, it starts in a few hours. My timetable involves 8am starts followed by hours of doing absolutely nothing until my afternoon classes. It's pretty gay, but hey - what can you do.

This year I've really got to knuckle down and focus on doing well at Uni. I hate lectures, I'm completely over assignments, and I don't want to go back, but I have to do well anyway.

This is going to be an interesting year for so many reasons. I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes.

Good music seems to be released in stages. There was a whole lot of good music released around August and September last year in most of the styles that I like (trance, house, hip hop, rnb) followed by crap all summer. Now suddenly there's a whole bunch of good music coming out! Weird! I've gotta scramble and make another car music CD.

I've also gotta make a club mix out of it sometime :P I just recently downloaded some new DJ software that my mate recommended. It's SO much better than what I was using before! The only drawback is that the music keeps jumping and skipping. I'm not sure if that's coz my laptop's got barely any memory, or because of the sound card.

6 hours till my alarm goes off ....

Heroes

2009-02-18T01:25:00.002+13:00

Heroes Volume 4 started a few weeks ago, and .... WOW!!

As I was watching the first episode I was thinking "Wow! They've done it! They've brought back the magic that got me so addicted back in Volume 1!" And they have! In my opinion (and in a lot of other people's opinions, apparently) Vols 2 and 3 sort of strayed off the mark a bit - getting too complicated and involved and introducing too many characters.

Volume 4 takes it straight back to the style of Volume 1 - great characters and a darn good story that leaves you constantly guessing and wanting more. But they haven't just brought Heroes back to its roots - they've surpassed themselves, taking the benchmark much, much further. When I watched the first episode of Vol 4 I was constantly thinking "This is incredible!! It's SO good!"

When I watched episode 2 I was expecting the same - but it was even better!! I watched episode 3 a few hours ago, and WOW - they've done it again. Every episode is even better than the last. I can't wait to see the rest of the season! It's a pity it's only 12 episodes long ...

I been this completely blown away by a show since I saw Transformers back in 2007. That was the definition of amazing, and it looks like Transformers 2 is going to be every bit as good :)

Speaking of which, the second trailer for it is out now!

Uni starts in just under 2 weeks. I'm still sorting out my enrolment =/

I'm taking 6 papers this year. 4 this semester and 2 next semester. More on that later, probably.

Movie Hype!

2009-02-14T02:38:00.001+13:00

X-Men Origins: Wolverine!!

Transformers 2!!

GI Joe!!

I can't wait :D

The Fall of America - It Begins

2009-02-08T23:58:00.004+13:00

While "it begins" is debatable, it hasn't even been a month and the Obama Administration is already taking steps against freedom of speech and freedom of choice.

Just after Obama took office, his policy goals were uploaded to the White House website. These goals include:

- Forcing all 50 American states to recognise same sex marriages, regardless of the views of the population of that state

- Introducing "hate crime" laws that provide special rights to homosexuals and cross-dressers and discriminate against heterosexuals, by restricting and regulating what heterosexuals may say about homosexuals. This trend has already started, but the new laws would enforce it. For example the words "husband" and "wife" are already outlawed in some contexts and this can be expected to become more widespread under the new laws.

- Promoting "gay adoption" despite the massive pyschological evidence that children need both a mother and a father in their lives as they grow up.

- Promoting the widespread use of abortion, including passing the Freedom of Choice Act, which would legalise the barbaric "partial-birth" abortion procedure as well as use taxes to fund abortions.

- Promoting legislation currently known as the "Fairness Doctrine" that "review" the "obligations" that broadcasters supposedly have to the government. This would include severly restricting the freedoms of talk back radio. It's not hard to work out what that implies for the future of public debate and the flow of information in America.

Some members of Congress have introduced a bill that would repeal the 22nd ammendment to the US Constitution - the ammendment that states that a president may only have 2 terms in office - stating their hope that Obama could be "president for life."

Another Club Mix

2009-01-31T15:25:00.003+13:00

About 6 months ago I uploaded a couple of mixes that I'd made. I was fairly happy with them not just because they were pretty good considering my mixing skills back then, but also because they were a good indication of how far I'd come.

Now I've uploaded another mix. It's a house/electro club mix based on the Ministry of Sound style. If you want some good music to party to, then here it is:

http://rapidshare.com/files/191841240/Club_Mixx_4__02-01-09_v3_.mp3

Yup I created a rapidshare account. I've found it's a much easier way to upload and share stuff you've made. Be warned that the mix is almost 80 minutes long (which is standard length for a dance mix on CDs) and it's 72MB! So it might take a few minutes to download.

I'm pretty happy with it. It's way more developed than the last mixes I uploaded!

I should add a disclaimer that the songs used in the mix aren't mine, but the compilation itself is mine. If you want to listen to the songs themselves, then go buy them from the artist =)

What An Idiot

2009-01-18T03:22:00.002+13:00

Another article from the New Zealand Herald.

A Malaysian tourist failed to turn up in Napier District Court this week because he was having a "lovely time" seeing the country.

Instead he wrote the judge a letter asking to be pardoned and promising not to do it again.

But now he faces arrest.

"Being a tourist I am always travelling and moving all around the places in this country; which is of this particular reason that I may find it difficult to attend the summons and court hearing as scheduled," Choi Lok Siong wrote.

"Your goodwill and you co-operation is needed and very much appreciated in order to make my travelling in New Zealand memorable," the Dominion Post reported.

Siong, 38, was supposed to appear before Judge Geoff Rea on a charge of driving with excess breath alcohol.

He was caught driving in Napier on January 1 with a breath-alcohol level of 551micrograms per litre of breath. The legal limit is 400mcg.

Judge Rea said it sounded like Siong was having a "lovely time" and that he was "guilty as sin". A warrant for his arrest was issued.

--------

LMAO.

Anyone else see the spectacular lightning storm in the east a few nights ago? It was in the Herald as well. You can see pictures of it here. It was incredible to watch! There's also a bit about it here and here.

Forklift hits VTEC

2009-01-15T02:43:00.002+13:00

From the New Zealand Herald:

A case of mistaken identity has led to an Invercargill forklift being ticketed for speeding at 119km/h on the Kapiti Coast - despite having a top speed of 19km/h.

Police had identified the forklift belonging to Lindsay Carrying Co as the offending vehicle, despite it never having left Invercargill.

Assistant manager Shelley Kempton said she thought someone was "taking the piss" when she opened a letter from Paraparaumu police.

They had requested the company provide the identity of the driver of a Toyota vehicle travelling south at 119km/h on State Highway 1 at Waikanae at 4.51pm on January 7, she told the Southland Times.

Mrs Kempton scanned a file containing details of the company's fleet of two trucks, three vans and two forklifts in search of the offending numberplate.

"Then I realised...I nearly wet myself laughing."

The forklift was bought new by the company in 2006 and the furthest it had travelled was probably a block and a half, Mrs Kempton said.

Police were last night are still trying to find the driver of the offending vehicle.

The War in the Middle East

2009-01-12T23:07:00.002+13:00

A very interesting flash video about the war between the Arabs and the Jews here.

" . . . So what if a couple of rockets fly into southern Israel every once in a while from Hamas controlled Gaza, they hardly hit anything and, in the rare occasion they do, there's really not much damage and only a few people will get hurt and if they're lucky...get killed. This is what's been going on sporadically for eight years and nearly daily for the last three. Now remember, Israel pulled out and dismantled all settlements in the Gaza Strip area in 2005. Gaza is not "occupied" anymore. What is their problem? Israel has been turning its cheek for too long. How long would any normal country put up with this?

Three years ago the fanatical Islamic group Hamas took control over Gaza from the Palestinian Authority, has been backed by every radical Moslem regime in the world from Iran to Hezbollah and, since the Egyptians closed the border crossing from southern Gaza into Egypt, Hamas has dug a network of tunnels into Egypt and has been smuggling weapons, explosives and rockets into Gaza. Now that's another story altogether. Egypt is a sovereign nation, where in the world does Hamas get weapons from? The Egyptians are not selling them (or are they) Just where do they come from? Is there a "Guns R Us" in the Sinai?

Two weeks ago, the Israeli Government has been giving out numerous warnings not just to Hamas in Gaza but also to the European Community, the United States, and yes, the Arab world, that Israel was about to retaliate. Even a live interview was held by PM Olmert on an Arab network warning Hamas that there will be a lot of blood and destruction in Gaza if the rockets don't cease. Hamas basically said "Bring it on". So, that's what the Israelis did. I had a feeling something would happen soon when my daughter's leave was cut short by a phone call. She serves in the Air force as part of the ground crew for F16 fighter planes. What a job for a 19-year-old girl. The Israel Air Force went in swift and hard. With pinpoint accuracy, they hit many Hamas related targets trying to keep in mind and avoid civilian casualties. Unfortunately, Hamas knows that Israelis avoid civilian areas and intentionally place their weapons in densely populated areas or basements of schools, Mosques and even hospitals.

The air and ground attack is still going. Hundreds of armed Hamas terrorists have been killed and, at least 100 captured. Munitions storage areas have been destroyed, smuggling tunnels bombed but, of course, all the film footage coming out of Gaza is of woman and children casualties. The world is upside-down in demanding that Israel stop the "atrocities" and "genocide". They tend to forget that the purpose of Hamas rocket attacks into Israeli towns and cities is to intentionally kill as many innocent Jews as possible."

- Ronnie Cohen, taken from here.

Shenanigans

2009-01-09T01:42:00.006+13:00

A few of the photos from New Years . . . for the record.

FUN times =P

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T03:05:00.003+13:00

It's 3.05am. 3 hours into 2009. I've just got home. I just spent the night welcoming the New Year in style, and now I'm ever so slightly drunk. "Ever so slightly" meaning quite a bit. You wouldn't believe how many times I have to go back and edit what I'm typing so it makes sense.

Thankfully Firefox adds red lines under the words when it can't figure out what you're on about.

I started off this year happy and thankful. Thankful for the ability to start the new year with your mates, getting plastered and having a mean time together =D

I'm not entirely sure that what I'm writing makes sense.

Anyway, Happy New Year! I hope the next year goes well for all of you. Make the most of opportunities. Whenever you have a choice to say yes or no to something, say yes. Make a point of it. Unless it's illegal. In which case say no. Lol

Cya~

New Year's Eve

2008-12-31T02:02:00.002+13:00

I've fallen out of the habit of blogging =/

It's 2am on New Year's Eve. I'm sitting here bored and getting kinda sleepy now. I wonder what condition I'll be in this time tomorrow. Going to New Year's drinks at a mate's house, which means fun drunk times! And probably some sleeping. In fact probably a LOT of sleeping . . .

And maybe some photos of people sleeping =P

I've started looking for a job to get me through the next two months. I've been looking for manufacturing type jobs so I can get Engineering experience hours. There don't seem to be that many jobs out there though! The few that are out there all want people with previous experience, which doesn't really help those of us who want to start off in the area . . .

Anyway, now I'm getting really sleepy. End of the song I'm going bed ~

December

2008-12-15T23:58:00.003+13:00

I'm so bored.

There's nothing to do here. There's hardly anyone online. All the music on my playlist is getting old.

It's so boring.

My sister's getting her wisdom teeth taken out tomorrow. She'll be getting IV sedation. Laughing gas. So much fun at the time but such a bastard for the next few days . . .

I've decided what I'm doing next year. I'm going to bite the bullet, knuckle down, and drag myself through one final year of uni. If I take the year off I'm going to find it REALLY hard to go back, and not going back isn't an option, so even though I hate it, next year I'll still be a poor student at uni.

Oh well.

After that? Who knows.

Christmas is coming! And New Years! But even more exciting is this weekend! Party Saturday night, race day at Pukekohe Sunday, and party Sunday night! It's gonna be MEAN

And I need to go Christmas shopping some time as well.

Dilemma

2008-11-25T00:29:00.003+13:00

The weather is crap. I managed to get pretty sunburnt last week from being outside pretty much every day, but this week it looks like the sun's letting me take the week off. Driving along the motorway tonight was terrible. Visibility was pretty much zero some of the time, and on the way north along the southern motorway most the cars were sitting in the left hand lane doing 70 or 80!

I need a job. I seriously need money, and I need practical experience for Engineering. The problem is I really can't be bothered looking for one, coz in reality, I really don't want one.

I'm also thinking about taking a break from uni next year. It's just an idea at the moment, but it's one I quite like. What would I do instead? Well I could work on getting that practical experience for Engineering, or I could do a course in something else instead - something a bit more practical and less intense . . . something like welding, which I love.

Although going back to finish the degree might be a challenge after that, and I definitely want to finish my degree, although I don't know what I'm going to do with it. 90% of all engineering jobs involve offices and projects and meetings and clients - all of which I hate. Even though I really like engineering. So I could finish my degree, THEN do something else for a while, but then I really need a break from uni! I've failed quite a few papers this year simply because I don't like uni, and I expect it'll be just the same next year.

And the other thing is, do I really want to spend more money doing a secondary course besides engineering? But then if I don't, what am I going to do with engineering?

And no, "maybe you shouldn't have done a Bachelor of Engineering" is NOT an answer. The minute you start saying "if only" you've just started wasting your life. I really enjoy engineering as a subject - its the university and the career options I don't like. I can't wait to be able to call myself an Engineer - it's just I'm not sure it's what I want to do.

Actually I do know what I want to do. I want to become a world class DJ. Being paid to travel the world playing music you love to your fans in massive clubs and on great beaches would be awesome! Not to mention the fact that I REALLY like teaching myself how to DJ . . .

Crack Up

2008-11-20T15:49:00.003+13:00

The lower part of the picture above stumped me, until I realised that Georgia is also a state in the US.

So Much More

2008-11-09T23:53:00.003+13:00

So many times you've been
Helplessly blind, foolishly blind
So many times you've had the wings
But never tried using them to fly

Is this the way it's going to be?
Life for you in the end
Is this the way it's going to be -
Just you and your tunes

So many years you go
Hide all your tears, frozen by fears
So drop the act - where are you at?
But you never choose to know what's best for you

Is this the way it's going to be?
Life for you in the end
Is this the way it's going to be -
Just you and your tunes

So why the hell are you cheating yourself?
When you could give so much more
The love in you is truly amazing
And you could give so much more . . .

The Devil In Disguise

2008-11-06T14:52:00.008+13:00

Around this time last year (or maybe earlier this year) I said that Barack Obama would be elected president. This was back when he was not just competing against the Republicans but also against Hillary Clinton. I said that when once he was elected I'd explain how I knew.

So here's the explanation.

Please note - all underlined words are links to other websites, in case it isn't clear.

To start off, here is a (long) quote from Mark Levin, an American political commentator who hosts the 5th most listened to radio talk show in the US - the Mark Levin Show. It works as a good introduction to my explanation (in fact it's a good summary of it):

I've been thinking this for a while so I might as well air it here. I honestly never thought we'd see such a thing in our country - not yet anyway - but I sense what's occurring in this election is a recklessness and abandonment of rationality that has preceded the voluntary surrender of liberty and security in other places. I can't help but observe that even some conservatives are caught in the moment as their attempts at explaining their support for Barack Obama are unpersuasive and even illogical. And the pull appears to be rather strong. Ken Adelman, Doug Kmiec, and others, reach for the usual platitudes in explaining themselves but are utterly incoherent. Even non-conservatives with significant public policy and real world experiences, such as Colin Powell and Charles Fried, find Obama alluring but can't explain themselves in an intelligent way.

There is a cult-like atmosphere around Barack Obama, which his campaign has carefully and successfully fabricated, which concerns me. The messiah complex. Fainting audience members at rallies. Special Obama flags and an Obama presidential seal. A graphic with the portrayal of the globe and Obama's name on it, which adorns everything from Obama's plane to his street literature. Young school children singing songs praising Obama. Teenagers wearing camouflage outfits and marching in military order chanting Obama's name and the professions he is going to open to them. An Obama world tour, culminating in a speech in Berlin where Obama proclaims we are all citizens of the world. I dare say, this is ominous stuff.

Even the media are drawn to the allure that is Obama. Yes, the media are liberal. Even so, it is obvious that this election is different. The media are open and brazen in their attempts to influence the outcome of this election. I've never seen anything like it. Virtually all evidence of Obama's past influences and radicalism - from Jeremiah Wright to William Ayers - have been raised by non-traditional news sources. The media's role has been to ignore it as long as possible, then mention it if they must, and finally dismiss it and those who raise it in the first place. It's as if the media use the Obama campaign's talking points - its preposterous assertions that Obama didn't hear Wright from the pulpit railing about black liberation, whites, Jews, etc., that Obama had no idea Ayers was a domestic terrorist despite their close political, social, and working relationship, etc. - to protect Obama from legitimate and routine scrutiny. And because journalists have also become commentators, it is hard to miss their almost uniform admiration for Obama and excitement about an Obama presidency. So in the tank are the media for Obama that for months we've read news stories and opinion pieces insisting that if Obama is not elected president it will be due to white racism. And, of course, while experience is crucial in assessing Sarah Palin's qualifications for vice president, no such standard is applied to Obama's qualifications for president. (No longer is it acceptable to minimize the work of a community organizer.) Charles Gibson and Katie Couric sought to humiliate Palin. They would never and have never tried such an approach with Obama.

But beyond the elites and the media, my greatest concern is whether this election will show a majority of the voters susceptible to the appeal of a charismatic demagogue. This may seem a harsh term to some, and no doubt will to Obama supporters, but it is a perfectly appropriate characterization. Obama's entire campaign is built on class warfare and human envy. The "change" he peddles is not new. We've seen it before. It is change that diminishes individual liberty for the soft authoritarianism of socialism. It is a populist appeal that disguises government mandated wealth redistribution as tax cuts for the middle class, falsely blames capitalism for the social policies and government corruption (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) that led to the current turmoil in our financial markets, fuels contempt for commerce and trade by stigmatizing those who run successful small and large businesses, and exploits human imperfection as a justification for a massive expansion of centralized government. Obama's appeal to the middle class is an appeal to the "the proletariat," as an infamous philosopher once described it, about which a mythology has been created. . . .

Unlike past Democrat presidential candidates, Obama is a hardened ideologue. He's not interested in playing around the edges. He seeks "fundamental change," i.e., to remake society. And if the Democrats control Congress with super-majorities led by Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, he will get much of what he demands.

The question is whether enough Americans understand what's at stake in this election and, if they do, whether they care. Is the allure of a charismatic demagogue so strong that the usually sober American people are willing to risk an Obama presidency? After all, it ensnared Adelman, Kmiec, Powell, Fried, and numerous others. And while America will certainly survive, it will do so, in many respects, as a different place.

Regarding Obama's fundamental beliefs, here is a quote from Bill Wilson of Koenig's International News:

First off, Obama is not a Christian. Obama explained his Christianity in a March 27, 2004 interview with Cathleen Falsani, author of "The God Factor: Inside the Spiritual Lives of Public People." Obama told Falsani, "I am rooted in the Christian tradition. I believe that there are many paths to the same place, and that is a belief that there is a higher power, a belief that we are a connected people." Then he used a more traditional Muslim description of Jesus, saying he was a "historical figure," a "bridge between God and man," and "a wonderful teacher." Christians believe the words of Jesus when he says in John 14:6, "I am the way, the truth and the life: no man comes unto the Father, but by me."

So if Obama is not a Christian, what is he? He was once a Muslim and his campaign has declared that he is not a practicing Muslim. But more recently, it has been revealed that in 2001 Obama said that the US Constitution was flawed and that the Founding Fathers were wrong by not writing into it a means for wealth redistribution. This is consistent with his October 13th declaration to Joe the Plumber, "I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody." This is Marxism. Obama was mentored by Communist Party USA leader Frank Marshall Davis and was a member of the socialist New Party in Chicago dedicated to electing socialists as Democrats. Marxism is the replacement of God with government.

The Mark Levin quote mentioned teenagers marching and chanting Obama mantras. Here is a video of it.

It also mentioned school children singing praises to Obama. Here's a video of it.

Levin described the cult-like atmosphere that surrounds Obama. He called it the "messiah complex". There is a blog dedicated to covering the "messiah complex" that has surrounded Obama for over a year. Here are a handful of quotes taken from the blog:

"Many even see in Obama a messiah-like figure, a great soul, and some affectionately call him Mahatma Obama." -- Dinesh Sharma

"This was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal." -- Barack Obama

"He communicates God-like energy..." -- Steve Davis (Charleston, SC)

"I'll do whatever he says to do. I'll collect paper cups off the ground to make his pathway clear." -- Halle Berry

"A quantum leap in American consciousness" -- Deepak Chopra

"Barack Obama is our collective representation of our purest hopes, our highest visions and our deepest knowings . . . He's our product out of the all-knowing quantum field of intelligence." -- Eve Konstantine

"This is bigger than Kennedy. . . . This is the New Testament." | "I felt this thrill going up my leg. I mean, I don't have that too often. No, seriously. It's a dramatic event." -- Chris Matthews

"We're here to evolve to a higher plane . . . he is an evolved leader . . . [he] has an ear for eloquence and a Tongue dipped in the Unvarnished Truth." -- Oprah Winfrey

“I would characterize the Senate race as being a race where Obama was, let’s say, blessed and highly favored. That’s not routine. There’s something else going on. I think that Obama, his election to the Senate, was divinely ordered. . . . I know that that was God’s plan." -- Bill Rush

There is considerable controversy regarding Obama's birth, questioning whether he was actually born in the US, and therefore whether he is actually eligible to be president. It appears that the whole affair has been covered over, with Obama providing no public evidence of his birth place, and the mainstream media refusing to discuss it. Obama claims to be an African-American born in Hawaii.

Here's an interesting quote from the Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi which was aired on Al-Jazeera back in June:

"There are elections in America now. Along came a black citizen of Kenyan African origins, a Muslim, who had studied in an Islamic school in Indonesia. His name is Obama,"

"All the people in the Arab and Islamic world and in Africa applauded this man," continued Gadhafi.
"They welcomed him and prayed for him and for his success, and they may have even been involved in legitimate contribution campaigns to enable him to win the American presidency."

There was a video of this on Youtube but it has been removed.

There are a number of other statements made by the Muslim world that suggest that Obama is, in fact, an Arab-American who was born in Kenya. His full name, Barack Hussein Obama also suggests this. Barack is an anglicisation of the Arab word baraka meaning "blessed". Obama's father's family is 7/8 Arabic.

Regarding Obama's birth certificate, the governor of Hawaii, Linda Lingle, has placed it under seal with the orders that no one in the media may view it under any circumstances. Obama himself has never produced any documents proving where he was born. What's more, his grandmother has claimed to have witnessed his birth - at the Coast Provincial Hospital in Mombasa, Kenya. While there is a birth listing for Barack Obama's parents in the Honolulu Advertiser dated August 13, 1961, it does not include the hospital where he was born or the name of the doctor who delivered him. A campaign website has published an image that is allegedly a copy of his birth certificate, however electronic forensics experts have denounced it as being a "horrible fake".

The controversy over Obama's place of birth isn't the only dodgy part of his campaign:

Here's a list of 39 little lies that Obama has spread during his campaign.

Here's an article about Obama's support of Raila Odinga, a Kenyan leader who got into office largely on his promises of imposing Islamic Sharia law and providing protection for Muslim terrorists.

Here's a very good article from ABC columnist Michael Malone regarding bias in the media both in general and regarding the 2008 US presidential election.

Here's another article about the media's blatant support of Obama.

Regarding Obama's polcies, he is a liberal leftist democrat who seems to embrace Marxist ideas. Here are some predictions (taken from various sources) regarding what can be expected during his presidency:

- John Stevens, Ruth Ginsberg, Antonin Scalia and Anthony Kennedy all resign from their positions on the Supreme Court, being replaced with liberals.

- Homosexual marriage is ruled to be a constitutional right.

- Home schooling is abolished following a Supreme Court decision made on February 28 2008.

- It is made illegal for US citizens to own fire-arms.

- Schools start to have complusory safe sex training. Sexual scenes also start appearing in children's TV programs.

- Obama withdraws all American troops from Iraq, sparking a massive influx of Al-Queda terrorists and Iranian operatives into that country. Anyone and everyone who supported the Americans during their occupation is killed. Terrorist training camps are set up and Iraq becomes yet another country spawning international terrorists.

- There are further terrorist attacks in American cities, partly because of the massively successful propaganda that Al Queda spreads regarding "America's defeat" after they pull out of Iraq.

- A foreign country, probably either Russia or China uses the early months of Obama's presidency as an opportunity to expand their power. If it's Russia, then it will invade and occupy several Eastern European countries. When Obama gives nothing but rhetoric in response, it invades several more.

- Healthcare is nationalised and made free. This makes it much more accessible and many more people are using the national healthcare system. The waiting lists for the various cancer surgeries are now several years long.

- Because healthcare will now be being carefully administered and rationed by the government, the elderly have almost no access to the healthcare they need, leaving them little choice but to "die quietly" at home.

- Continuing on from George Bush's police-state style reforms, it becomes an option, then becomes compulsory, to have a microchip inserted into your arm. This chip contains all your medical history on it for easy access should you need medical attention. It can also be used to track you wherever you are. . .

- . . . which ties in nicely with further "anti-terrorist" legislation, allowing the government to keep absolute tabs on anyone they decide is a "security threat".

- Shortly after Obama takes office, he follows the Democratic pattern and asks Congress for a large tax increase. He explains that the deficit got so large under George Bush and the needs of the nation are so great that he can't possibly lower taxes yet.

- Obama introduces policies to "redistribute the wealth". These lead to increased inflation, lowered production, and increased unemployment. Petrol prices rise massively, however the goverment does nothing to stop them as it sees this as reducing oil consumption and thus carbon dioxide emissions. Because petrol prices continue to rise, food prices continue to rise as well.

- Conservative talk-back radio becomes a thing of the past, as radio stations become required to provide equal air time to all alternative political, religious, and social views. As a result most talk-back radio stations either go off air or switch to providing music. Obama opposes this move and states that he did not realise the liberal Supreme Court would go so far. However he states that since this is now law, it is his job to enforce it.

- Obama opens the door to "much needed American-Islamic dialogue and co-operation", eventually allowing the application of Sharia law to Muslim communities in the US. Sharia law and Muslim values are taught in an increasing number of US schools. CAIR is absolutely delighted, as this is what they have been campaigning for for years. Sharia law slowly spreads into the wider community, much the same way it already is in France and Britain.

- The "Obama-mania" continues to grow. The media openly and blatantly support any and every policy Obama introduces. There is very little political commentary that criticises, or even seriously examines, any of Obama's policies.

- Tying in with this, it become increasingly unacceptable for anyone to criticise the government. Protest rallies become frowned on by the media, and eventually are seen as a disruption of America's domestic security. As such, eventually anyone who openly opposes the government's actions are seen as "security threats" and either imprisoned, or severely penalised in other ways.

This is why I have strongly opposed Barack Obama's presidency for over a year. As time as gone on, the evidence has grown and my opposition has got much, much stronger. McCain was by far the lesser of two evils.

Hip Hop - Kiwi Style

2008-10-29T21:11:00.002+13:00

Two funny kiwi rip offs of songs - or are these the true originals?

--------

I’m not loving you
Way I wanted to
What I had to do
Had to run from you
I’m in love with you
But the vibe is wrong
And that haunted me all the way home

So you never know
Never, never know
Never know enough
Til it’s over love
Til we lose control
System overload
Screamin' no no no no no

I’m not lovin you
Way I wanted to
See I want to move
But can’t escape from you
So I keep it low
Keep a secret code
So everybody else don’t have to know

So keep your love locked down
Your love locked down
Keepin’ your love locked down
Your love locked down
Now keep your love locked down
Your love locked down
Now keep your love locked down
You lose

I’m not lovin’ you
Way I wanted to
I can’t keep my cool
So I keep it true
I got something to lose
So I gotta move
I can’t keep myself
And still keep you too

So I keep in mind
When I’m on my own
Somewhere far from home
In the danger zone
How many times did I take
‘fore it finally got through
You lose
You lose

I’m not lovin’ you
Way I wanted to
See I had to go
See I had to move
No more wastin’ time
You can’t wait for life
Were just racin’ time
Where’s the finish line

So keep your love locked down
Your love locked down
Keepin’ your love locked down
Your love locked down
Now keep your love locked down
Your love locked down
Now keep your love locked down
You lose

I’m not lovin’ you
Way I wanted to
I bet no one new
I got no one new
No I said I’m through
But got love for you
But I’m not lovin’ you
Way I wanted to

Gotta keep it going
Keep the lovin’ going
Keep it on a roll
Only God knows
If I’ll be with you
Baby I’m confused
You choose, you choose

I’m not lovin you
Way I wanted to
Where I want to go
I don’t need you
I’ve been down this road
Too many times before
I’m not lovin you
Way I wanted to

So keep your love locked down
Your love locked down
Keepin’ your love locked down
Your love locked down
Now keep your love locked down
Your love locked down
Now keep your love locked down
You lose

You lose
You lose
You lose
You lose

More or Less

2008-10-09T00:16:00.003+13:00

I've lost the habit of blogging regularly. I don't know why. It seems like I don't have much to say on here anymore.

Complete lack of inspiration.

And motivation.

O well. I've wagged uni every day this week so far. I won't be going in tomorrow either. I'll probably be working on my Control Systems assignment due next week. Either that or my Sustainability assignment. For the sustainability assignment we have to pick a town and write a fully researched essay about how sustainable the town is and come up with ways that it could be made more sustainable. Right now us Mechanical Engineers are right in the middle of our fourth year project presentations and functions. We also have exam study looming. Going to the council to find out how Howick (my chosen town) recycles its water is not high on my list of priorities.

It's funny how premonitions work. Last week (Thursday) I went to get my car certed. A mate organised it and me and another guy were going to get our certs. All morning I was glad it was that day that I was getting my car certed because I had a gut feeling that I was going to be pulled over by a cop later. As it turned out, the cert never happened (long story) but sure enough, later that afternoon I got pulled over by a cop for a random check. Fortunately she was nice, and even more fortunately she hadn't a clue about car suspension, and even admitted it when my mate started to try explaining why it wasn't certed. So she didn't do anything about it!

But yeah - I knew all day that I was going to be pulled up, and I was expecting it when it happened. It's weird the way that works.

Heroes season 3 is out!!!

For those of you late off the starting blocks, they're now up to episode 4 - out of 20-something. It's REALLY good too! (But then - what would you expect)

Anyway. That's all.

I just downloaded a new theme for Firefox. I'm not sure if I like it. Might take some getting used to.

Here Comes Summer

2008-09-22T17:19:00.002+12:00

This is my favourite time of year. There's a point somewhere in early or mid September where the Earth seems to cross a line, and suddenly winter is over and summer is starting to appear. It seems to be marked by the time where the sun starts shining into my bedroom in the evenings.

I love this time of year because the weather is getting warmer, the evenings are getting longer and sunnier, leaves are starting to appear on the trees, and that whole relaxed summer feeling is starting to creep into the atmosphere. The stars that mark the amazing summer evenings are starting to appear in the east late at night, and the summer tunes are starting to sound like they belong. For example.

Bring on summer!

In the meantime I've got my massive end of year report for my massive final year project due tomorrow.

In fact the rest of this semester is going to be really, really busy.

Oh well.

In other news, the USA has taken yet another step towards becoming a socialist police state recently. The ownership of a whole lot of mortgages and stuff has been transfered to the federal government.

Cloudy Day

2008-09-19T01:27:00.002+12:00

It's crunch time for the final year project. I got a report due in next tuesday (worth 50%), followed by a poster due at the end of next week, a 10 minute presentation due the week after that, and a conference presentation to have ready by the week after that. That's on top of several assignments from my other courses.

It's getting kinda busy.

In other news . . . . ummmm . . . . actually . . . there's nothing really going on at the moment.

Nothing except this great quote I found:

"When I walk past an automatic door, and it opens for me, I worry that if I don't go through I'll hurt its feelings."

Weirdness

2008-09-09T20:10:00.002+12:00

There have been some weird things happening to me on the net recently.

For some reason my blog hasn't displayed any posts I've posted after September 2nd (one proper post and a couple of test posts). I know they're there because other people can see them, and because they appear in the archives when I go to September 08, but for some reason they don't appear for me when I go to look at my blog.

There's a website I go to every few days that has daily cartoon strips. Every day they publish that day's cartoon strip. However since September 2nd they haven't been publishing my two favourite strips (F Minus and Dilbert). As far as I can tell they've still been publishing all the other strips (theres probably about 50 in total) - just not those two.

On Facebook a few days ago I got a notification saying someone had tagged me in a photo. When I went to have a look at the photo, not only was I not in it, but none of the tags down the bottom were me. When I clicked on the option that shows what photos you've been tagged in, it said I hadn't been tagged in any photos. Even weirder, someone's left a comment under the photo talking about me in the photo.

And then today I went to sign in to Facebook using Firefox (which I always use), but a message came up saying I was using an incompatible web browser and that Facebook only supported the browsers it gave in a list. Firefox was at the top of the list of supported browsers.

It's just weird. It doesn't help that a couple of other weird things have been going on in the last week or so, but they've got nothing to do with the internet and I'm not going to talk about them here.

Limited Edition

2008-09-06T21:54:00.006+12:00

She wants it
So badly
Knows what she wants to hear

Good song.

I said a while back that I've been playing around making mixes. I've uploaded a couple using Yousendit for anyone who's in the mood and wants a sample of beats to dance to. The first one is an old club mix I made back at the start of July, so it's pretty basic but I still like it. This is the link to download it:

https://rcpt.yousendit.com/603720590/bc355bf4a20fc0850d7b2a31f7d26e2d

The second one is a trance mix. It's a few of my favourite trance releases so far this year. Not most people's taste in music, but still good. Those song lyrics that I put up a few weeks ago and said would be in a mix - they're in it. So are the lyrics I put at the top of this post. Here's the link:

https://rcpt.yousendit.com/603758582/323629e892d196bec407ec19c4eafa8a

The links should be good for 7 days, or 100 downloads, whichever comes first. Because this is the internet I should point out that the mixes are my own work, but the songs in them aren't. If you want a tracklist or something, let me know.

Enjoy :)

Aftermath

2008-09-02T01:03:00.002+12:00

Ahhhh . . . . hahahahaha.

Haha that's all I'm saying about that.

My car's currently at a mate's place. We spent all day today servicing it - changing the oil, the coolant, the gearbox fluid, the belts, the oil filter, and the water pump. Bastard of a job. Unfortunately we tightened the belts too tight. So now tomorrow we have to go back and redo the longest, hardest part and loosen them slightly. Sucks.

O well. Sure beats taking it in and paying hundreds and hundreds of dollars for someone else to do it.

They Can Do This Apparently

2008-08-27T20:48:00.002+12:00

Apparently there are devices in the world that can send sounds directly into your head using electromagnetic waves. The sounds can send you hypnotic suggestions and you can't do anything to stop them. There was a website about it on the net but it's recently been removed.

You can read about it here: http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/05/army-removes-pa.html

Pretty scary stuff.

Why I Love Driving

2008-08-23T21:10:00.002+12:00

More song lyrics.

Elevate
It's your fate
Don't let go
Don't escape
Energy
Is the source
Of us all

Travel fast
Travel light
In the speed
Sound and sight
Don't let go
It's your moment
To shine

Give
All that you can be
All you leave behind
Feed
The state that's in your mind
I know you can define it
Take
Your figure and your speech
Wasted or united
Dreams
Manifest years
The places fake and final

The space we are
The space we were
The face we are
The face we were . . .

Getting Rid of Some of the Myths About Nuclear Power

2008-08-18T20:25:00.006+12:00

Many people (particularly in NZ) are firmly against nuclear power because of a lot of misconceptions (and some valid points) that most people seem to hold. I had to do an essay on whether or not nuclear power can be considered a "green" energy source for a stupid assignment for a stupid course, and I found a lot of interesting facts (thanks Wikipedia and your hundreds upon hundreds (literally) of sources at the bottom of each page). Here are some of them:

- A coal power plant releases approximately 100 times the radiation of a nuclear power plant of the same capacity. This is because uranium and thorium are natural byproducts of coal burning.

- In 1982, coal burning in the US released approximately 155 times as much radiation into the atmosphere as the Three Mile Islands meltdown incident.

- The amount of radiation a person living within 50 miles of a nuclear power station receives from the power station is about 0.04% of what they receive from cosmic background radiation.

- France has the cleanest air of any industrialised European nation. This is considered to be a direct result of the fact that most of its power comes from nuclear power plants, so it doesnt have the polluting coal and oil power plants that other countries have.

- Nuclear power is FAR more efficient than solar / wind / hydro power. A single nuclear reactor (and a typical power plant has several reactors) normally produces about 1500MW of power. A typical-sized solar power station produces 5 - 20MW of power, a typical single wind turbine produces less than 5MW of power, and a typical hydroelectric dam (at least in NZ) produces several hundred MW of power.

- Solar and wind power require vast amounts of barren land in order to function. Apparently, in order to meet the world's energy needs with solar power alone, we'd have to cover 10% of the planet in solar panels. Hydro power requires flooding (and destroying) half a river valley (upstream of the dam) and drying out (and destroying) the river below the dam. Nuclear power requires a power plant.

- Nuclear power does produce radioactive solid waste. However some of this waste can be reprocessed for reuse in the reactor, while the rest can be treated to reduce its period of dangerousness to several hundred years, and buried deep below ground. Whether or not this is a good idea is still not known, but new technologies have been, are being, and will be discovered that reduce the harmfulness of radioactive waste.

- The planet has enough uranium to last us another 100 years using today's technology. However most of the planet's uranium is inaccessible to us at the moment, because its too expensive to extract it. If ways were found to extract it, we would have a reliable source of fuel for a reliable source of power for a long time to come (probably thousands of years).

- The major downside of nuclear power is that it is hideously expensive to set up (though not to run). While a single nuclear power plant would instantly solve all of New Zealand's energy problems for a long time to come, the fact is we simply can't afford the cost of setting one up.

So ponder on that. Nuclear power is not necessarily the spawn of Satan. While the effects of a meltdown would completely obliterate New Zealand, the chances of that happening are next to zero - and we (at least us Aucklanders) are used to living in a danger zone that has next to zero chances of killing us all - after all, Auckland is built on 50 something volcanoes in an active volcanic field. Adding a nuclear power plant to that is hardly dicing with death.

Stupid Tire

2008-08-14T12:11:00.002+12:00

A few months back my front right tire randomly went completely flat. It was random because there was no sign of a puncture. At the start of July it randomly did it again, and then again. So I took it in to be fixed. For a few weeks it was all good, then last week it randomly went flat again. Now it goes flat roughly once a day.

So I'm about to take it in to some different people who apparently know what could be causing it. I hope they can fix it for good, without just replacing the tire. Unfortunately it means driving to East Tamaki on my space saver. I HATE driving on my space saver - not just because it looks ugly (I couldn't care less about what total strangers think), but because it's so unnatural. It's not supposed to be driven on, which is why you're supposed to only use it in tire emergencies.

I want to get new tires and new rims anyway. The offset on the rims I've got is too big for the car and the wheels stick out the sides, which means when I lower it they rub against the guards (despite the massive camber they get). That's gonna cost a lot though which sucks.

I need a job . . .

Cars and Love Songs

2008-08-11T23:25:00.002+12:00

I haven't been blogging much recently. Can't really say why - I guess it just hasn't really occurred to me as something to do. But there's no point advertising my blog address in my msn name if there's nothing here for people to read . . .

FINALLY got my WOF today!! It was due on the 3rd of July, and I've barely driven since then, which has sucked balls. I didn't get a wof before Liam and I lowered my car, and after lowering it I couldn't get a wof without getting it certified. Unfortunately certing costs about $550, unless you're in a group of 5 or more, in which case it only costs about $400 or something. So there's a group of us who're organising to get certed at the same time, but it doesn't look like it's gonna be happening for a while. Yesterday though, Liam offered to help me raise it again, so we did, and I've FINALLY got my wof!!! It made me SO happy to get it and finally be able to drive again!!

While I'm here, here's some lyrics from another love song. I pull love songs out occasionally, and post lyrics to them, just for the fun of it. It's only part of the lyrics.

Closer to my heart
All over but never apart
I lost you
Will I ever have you back
Will I ever have you back

I loved you
Will I ever love you again
Will I ever love you again
Will I ever love you again
I loved you
Will I ever love you again

For your love
I would do anything

Being as crazily into trance and house as I am, it's only logical that I should have started getting into producing my own. For the last few months I've been practicing basic DJing - mixing tracks and stuff. It's getting to the point where I'm working on making something that's close to being good enough to hand around to anyone who's interested and wants a good beat to party to. I'm not just working on mixing trance and stuff, but more mainstream club music as well - the sorta stuff you would hear in Degree or somewhere. That love song that I just posted about will definitely be in one of the mixes somewhere . . .

The next skill to start working on is remixing.

Other than that, uni's average, pretty much can't wait to get out anymore. My summary of uni goes like this:
First year - cool; second year - awesome; third year - ok; fourth year - meh. And I've still got at one more semester after this (provided I don't fail any papers this semester).

I lost you
Will I ever have you back
Will I ever have you back

Facebook Is Not Your Friend

2008-07-25T22:46:00.002+12:00

I did it. I gave in. I told myself I'd never do it, but I've done it. I've signed up to Facebook. I'm now on TWO internet social group things.

There're a lot more people on Facebook than I was expecting. It seems pretty much everyone's on there! Yay for the CIA keeping tabs on everyone.

First week, second semester. It was ok. The semester's looking to be ok. I'm looking forward to getting out of uni though.

Unfortunately that's going to be slightly harder than I thought. Instead of taking 2 papers next semester I'm going to be taking 4. That's because I failed 2 papers last semester! One of them was that paper I hate above anything else - Engineering Management. Having to study for that again is going to be torture.

I'm extremely bored and really sleepy for some reason. The boredom is pretty easy to explain, but I don't know why I'm so tired!

My family's finally upgrading from the worst possible plan available in New Zealand. A while ago, while I was trying to pursuade my mum that we needed to upgrade, I did a bit of working out, and showed her that the plan we're on (Telecom's 6GB/month for $50/month) is the worst value for money plan of all the plans available in New Zealand.

Now we're changing our phone provider to Vodafone, who'll charge us about $5 or $10 less a month for the phone, as well as give us 20GB a month internet for the same price as Telecom's 6GB!

Even better, Telecom rang up a few days ago to say they'd noticed we're conistently going way over our cap. They suggested we upgrade to their 10GB a month plan for an extra $10 a month more or something. When my dad told them we're changing to Vodafone the guy was pretty bummed out. Serves them right though if they're loosing customers to Vodafone. Serves them right for being at the bottom of the barrel. Maybe they'll upgrade their service and offers from rock bottom.

World Empire

2008-07-15T23:52:00.002+12:00

There are two items in the news at the moment that demonstrate the emerging global empire. The first is the creation of the Mediterranean Union, a larger and looser version of the European Union, consisting of the EU and all nations that border the Mediterranean. The second is the application in the International Criminal Court for a warrant for the arrest of the President of Sudan.

That's right. An international organisation is overriding the sovereignty of a nation in order to arrest its leader for genocide. It's obviousuly not unusual for leaders to be deposed or made to pay for committing genocide, but traditionally they're captured by an invader or deposed in a civil war, not arrested like an ordinary man off the street. The leaders of nations are no longer the people with the power.

The Mediterranean Union is just another in a long list of Unions forming in the world today. The European Union, African Union, and South American Union already exist. The North American Union is currently in the works, the Pacific Union has been suggested, and various Unions have been suggested in Asia.

It really makes you ask though - national leaders no longer really hold much power - no more than city councils, except on a larger scale - so who holds the real power then? Who is in charge of all the various unions and international organisations that are starting to make all the decisions? Who's going to be in charge of them once they've started uniting one by one into a massive single global government? Imagining a global democracy where political parties can form and everyone can vote for the party they want to lead the world seems pretty idealistic. Eventually the whole world is going to be run by one person or group of people, and I bet you it happens within the next 10 years.

Leave Tony Veitch Alone

2008-07-14T20:37:00.002+12:00

For the last 2 weeks or so, one of the biggest news stories has been about how a former sports presenter (or something), Tony Veitch, allegedly beat up his wife a few years ago.

I'm fed up with it. It's really pissing me off. Leave the man alone! Basically all it is, is a whole bunch of self-righteous people making the most of an opportunity to gossip about someone who's well known. Everyone is saying what an evil man he is to beat up his wife, talking about him as though he was some sort of sub-human, and as though these people actually thought they were better people than him!

Well here's a news headline for everyone - you're not. Tony Veitch is no better or worse a person than you are. So sit down, shut up, and give the man some privacy to deal with this.

Everyone is crying out about how bad it is that he beat up his wife. Yes it is bad, but wives are being beaten up all across Auckland every night of the week. Where are all the people up in arms over that?? If so many people are upset over a man beating up his wife, why isn't domestic abuse headlining the news every night of the week? Why aren't people, who feel so strongly about a celebrity beating up his wife, out in the street campaigning against domestic abuse?

Here's why. Because no one actually cares. No one wants to recognise a problem in society or to try and fix it. All they want is someone to gossip about, so they can feel good about themselves. Self-righteous hypocrites.

Record Speed

2008-07-13T13:11:00.002+12:00

I love Firefox. Not only does it perform so much better than Internet Explorer, but there are a whole bunch of add-ons that you can add to make it even more useful. For example:

Download Helper: Will scan any website you visit for downloadable material like flash videos and embedded music players, and lets you download it from the site onto your computer. For example, not only can you download Youtube videos onto your computer, but you can download music off places like Myspace and Bebo.

All In One Sidebar: Takes several features of Firefox and puts them into a sidebar for easy access. Things like history, download progress, source code, browser information, list of installed add-ons, favourites, and webpage information like where all the links on it go to, the type of encoding it uses, and so on.

Gmail Space: Allows you to use your gmail inbox as an online hard drive.

IE Tab: Opens the webpage as if it was being opened in IE. If a page doesn't open properly in Firefox, you can use this to make the page think its being opened in IE.

And the one that competes with Download Helper for being my favourite: Adblock Plus. It blocks every single ad on every single website you go to. It doesn't just stop them from being displayed, it stops the website from even downloading them in the first place. If you find an ad that it doesn't block, you can right click it and block it. It won't just block that ad, but every other ad that uses the same address.

Firefox is so handy.

-------

Last night I was at the scene of a car accident. I've never been at a car accident before. It was out on West Rd on the way to Clevedon. A car had spun out and slid off the road and over a bank and down the other side. At the top of the bank it had hit a small tree side on, which probably spun it 180 degrees in mid air before it hit the ground down the other side of the bank, amongst a whole lot of trees.

There were 3 people inside, and they were fine! They were able to walk away completely shaken, but not too hurt. They are SO lucky. When the car went over the bank, it was only about half a metre from a power pole. If it had hit the power pole it would have been goodbye to at least one of the people in the car. We spent about an hour and a half on the side of the road waiting for a tow truck. Certainly not how I thought I was going to be spending my night!

Noah's Ark Has Been Found

2008-06-17T23:40:00.004+12:00

Several decades ago, Noah's Ark was found. You can see photos of it here and here.

And here.

In 1959 a Turkish airline pilot took photos of a giant boat-shaped object in the Ararat mountains, 15 miles south of Mt Ararat. You can see the boat-shaped object in the photos I linked above. It lies 2100m above sea-level in the mountains. The boat is exactly the same size as the Biblical Ark, except that the sides have splayed outwards.

Ground penetrating radar has shown that the boat had 3 decks. The top 2 have collapsed, but the bottom one is still intact and has 144 rooms, ramps, a door near the front of the boat, and two large round tanks.

The material that the boat is made of was tested at Galbraith Laboratories in Knoxville, Tennessee, and has been proven to be laminated, petrified wood. Carbon testing has shown that the carbon content of the wood is about 3 times higher than the carbon content of the area around it, showing that it was once living wood. Iron, titanium and aluminium alloys have also been found in the structure. Deck joists and the ribs of the boat have also been found.

Using four kinds of metal detectors, thousands of metal rivets have been found around the site. Iron has been found criss-crossing the boat in a grid pattern, suggesting it was used to strengthen the bulkheads.

In 1991 a petrified antler was found. Since then, core drilling has revealed hair from extinct rodents, petrified animal droppings, and red human hair.

Even more interesting is that the place names of the surrounding area correspond to the story of the aftermath of the flood. A nearby valley is called "The Valley of the Eight" after the 8 people in the Ark. A village in the valley is called "The Village of the Eight." Nearby is another small village who's name translates to "The Crow Will Not Stand" - referencing how Noah sent a raven out from the Ark, but it couldn't find anywhere to land and came back. Another village is called "The Oars Were Reversed", suggesting a boat that suddenly wanted to slow down.

The Turkish government recognises the object as Noahs Ark and is also examining it. In the early 1990s they designated the area as a national park - called "Noah's Ark National Park."

In the valley leading to the Ark, and in "The Village of the Eight" can be found 13 stone ship's anchors. They are all lying in a line that points straight at the boat, suggesting they were cut loose and sank, one after the other as the boat approached the emerging ground. These giant stones all have crusader crosses carved into them, suggesting the crusaders who occupied the area in the Middle Ages recognised the Ark and the significance of the anchor stones. Two photos of the anchor stones can be seen here and here.

Bored on Youtube

2008-06-17T01:17:00.002+12:00

American Presidents

2008-06-06T22:13:00.002+12:00

Last time the Americans had their presidential elections it was George Bush vs John Kerry. From the time I first heard about Kerry, I predicted Bush would win, and he did.

This year, it looks like it's going to be between Barack Obama and John McCain. At the time I first heard of Obama, probably around this time last year, I predicted he would win. If I'm right, and he does win, I'll tell you my reasoning behind my predictions then.

Although someone might have to remind me.

The Life of a Movie Worker

2008-05-26T15:22:00.004+12:00

My last shift at Hoyts was yesterday. Now, after three and a half years, I no longer work at the movies. It's a really, really weird feeling. Life has just become somewhat emptier. Freer, but emptier. I've been thinking a bit recently about the experience I've picked up and some of the things I've learnt while I've been working at the movies, and decided I'd write about life in customer service. This is a long post.

Customer service is one of the hardest, least rewarding, worst paid jobs there are (almost as badly paid as cleaning and manual labour). It changes you as a person, giving you some very valuable skills in working with people, while taking away pretty much all of your faith in society. There is so much to learn about the world that you can only learn in customer service, that if you haven't worked in customer service for at least a couple of years (preferably in a big company) then there is an entire dimension of life that you know nothing about. It's better than university. Going to university teaches you a LOT about the world you live in, but working in customer service teaches you more.

There are four stages to the life of a customer service worker. When someone first starts out in their new job in customer service they start in the first stage. This is the innocent, excited stage. This is the stage where you are eager to help anyone and everyone you can, even if they don't need it. You go well out of your way to help the customer, and things like stocking up and cleaning your area are stimulating - because you want the customer to be impressed. Every customer is a different need - a new opportunity to make someone's day, and you love being able to help them meet that need. Make the most of this stage - it won't last, and you will give some of your best customer service for a long time to come while you're in this stage. Some managers are slightly deluded, and think that their workers stay in this stage forever. It isn't true, and the good managers are the ones who have been there, done that, and know that this is just the beginning.

The second stage is the intermediate one. It's the disillusioned stage. By this stage you've been at your job for the best part of a year, and naturally all the excitement of a new job has well and truly worn off. That's normal though, and it doesn't make the job any less enjoyable. But by now you've started noticing that some customers act quite weirdly, especially when they don't get their way. You generally find this quite funny, especially the couple of times you've seen a grown man behave like a two year old. But something's different - serving people isn't as exciting as it used to be. You start finding ways to get off the till and go do something else. Having crowds of people coming at you one at a time all asking for the same thing just isn't as great as it used to be, and its getting to the point where you think you're going to scream if you get yet another customer coming up with the exact same question that the twenty people before them had.

The third stage is the veteran stage. It's the cycnical stage. By now you've been in customer service for a couple of years. For most people, this is the last stage of their life in customer service, because this is the stage that pushes most people out of the job. This is the stage I'm in, and have been for a long, long time. By this stage you pretty much hate customers. With a few exceptions they're all the same - stupid. You know you're getting into this stage when you come to realise that it seems that there's some sort of rule that anyone (not counting workers) who enters your building has their IQ cut by half. At Berkeley we came up with that saying, and when I met people at Hoyts who'd come from other cinemas they had that exact same saying. Someone who has never worked in customer service, or is still in the first two stages can't understand this, and will look at you funny when you mention it. Give them time - they will soon be agreeing wholeheartedly with you. Customers are stupid. This is the stage that destroys your faith in humanity, because eventually you come to realise that people are like this everywhere. Once you come to recognise the signs of stupidity on people who walk in your doors, you begin to see it everywhere - driving, shopping, at uni (although not so much at uni). In fact it's at shopping centres where you really see it. There's something about shopping that drains most people's IQ. At work you're still able to give good customer service though - when you choose to, you can give better customer service than someone in the first stage. You know all the right things to say, all the ways to make a customer's problem better. You know how to upsell your product effectively, and you can be the model worker if you choose. You're very good at customer service and can easily deal with three or four separate issues simultaneously. The big difference is that you no longer do it for the customer - you do it because it's your job. You may still love your job, but you hate the customer you're smiling at, and all you want is for them to get out of your face so you can go do something else.

The fourth and final stage is the stage of full maturity as a customer service worker. I only know about this stage from working with people who are in it. By now you have been in customer service for years and years. It seems to me that you have to have been working in customer service for a good four or five years, or maybe even longer before you can reach this stage. This is the stage where you have literally seen everything there is to see. You know that people in general are truly stupid and quite a few behave like preschoolers when they don't get their way, but you've been working in customer service for so long that you've grown to accept it. It no longer bothers you that customers just don't get it, and seeing the tantrums people can throw when they're a few minutes late and there's a queue leaves you completely unmoved. You knew they were going to start screaming before they even began, and dealing with it just comes naturally. You have enough stories to tell an entire cinema of grandchildren - even the more outlandish ones - bomb threats, armed robberies, the ghost (pretty much every cinema is haunted in one way or another - although one doesn't seem to have appeared at Hoyts yet), fires, and deaths. There is no stage after this, and you are going to find it very, very hard to leave your job. In fact some people in this stage will never be able to leave their jobs.

--------

I want to write something about the various types of people anyone starting out in customer service, particularly anyone starting out at the movies, will come across. Despite what the PC police will let you believe, groups of people of different races, sexes and ages will behave very differently to each other when faced with identical situations, but everyone in that group will behave exactly the same way. Here are some of the groups you will come across:

Indians
Anyone reading this who has worked in the movies will know exactly what I'm about to say. Even Indians who work at the movies are afraid of Indian customers. There are two kinds of Indian people in the cinema business - the Family Group and the University Couple. The Family Group only ever comes to Bollywood movies. No-one else ever comes to a Bollywood movie. As a worker you know when a Bollywood movie is coming because the Family Group starts ringing up several weeks in advance to ask about it. They won't stop ringing until a few weeks after it's finished. Family Groups are named that because they come to the movies in large groups of extended family. Groups can be anywhere between 7 and 20 people in size. Indian movies always sell out, and yes, in case you were wondering, there is a distinct smell of musty curry in the cinema after the movie has finished. I'm not joking. The women in the Family Group are to be feared. You do not want anything to go wrong when they're around. They have the unique ability to reduce you to a cowering wreck when they're unhappy.

The University Couple is the other kind of Indian you will see. It consists of a young male Indian with his Indian girlfriend. They both go to either Auckland University or Unitec, they both have student ID, and they will both get student tickets. Unlike the Family Group they will go to any movie, not just the Bollywood ones. If they're unhappy, it's the male, not the female, who will generally complain, although he is pretty easy to deal with. University students are some of the most reasonable customers you will come across.

Islanders
Similar to Indians in that they come in large groups. However the makeup of the large groups are different. There are two main types of Islander you'll get - the Mother With Kids and the Boiz. The Mother With Kids is the company's best friend. As you would expect, this group is made up of a mum with anything between 3 and 7 kids. She will buy pretty much everything you have to sell, upsized. The mum is always friendly and can quite happily accommodate something going wrong without making a fuss. However there are a few mums that you will have to repeat things twice to before they understand it.

The Boiz group is simply a large group of friends. Despite the name, they can be guys or girls (usually a mix). The older the average age of the group, the less trouble they're likely to be. If they look under 20, keep an eye on them (and on your toilet walls). They will also buy everything you have to sell, upsized, and will sometimes come back for seconds. They are also friendly and can deal with things going wrong without making a scene.

Americans
A rare sight in an Auckland cinema, Americans are all the same - loud, fat, patronising, and middle-aged. Sometimes they come accompanied by Kiwi friends/hosts/guides, and sometimes on their own - the loud, fat, patronising middle-aged man and his loud, not-so-fat, patronising middle-aged wife. When they're with Kiwi friends they like to compare everything to their holiday in Canada. They may leave a tip.

Old People
Are all the same, no matter what nationality they are. They will only ever buy choc top icecreams, so don't even bother trying to sell them popcorn or soft drink. They only go to Old People movies. No one else goes to these movies, and they don't come that often, so if your cinema is showing an Old Person movie, don't put it in a big cinema. They're nice people and can generally cope with things going wrong, although sometimes you'll get an Old Bastard among them - the Old Bastard is a white man who's at least in his 60s and will raise hell when something goes wrong. He will treat anyone who has to deal with him like they're something he stood in, and if that person is a teenager he will do everything he can to make them feel like they shouldn't have been born. The best way to deal with him is to get him to say or do something abusive (which isn't hard) then kick him out.

You can sometimes get Bastards - younger versions of the Old Bastard. These people generally leave at least one staff member in tears and several others shaking with anger. They are abusive, domineering, threatening bastards. Give them no mercy - kick them straight out. Trespass them if need be. We had a Bastard in on Saturday night, and he and his wife ended up being trespassed from the mall for two years.

Others
There are several other kinds of people that you will get in the cinemas - the White Mother With Kids, the White University Couple, the Unaccompanied Kids and the Alpha Male Wannabe.

The White Mother With Kids is very different to the Islander Mother With Kids. The white version is always stressed, short-tempered, and trying to keep her kids under control. She will also buy everything you have, but will wait until her kids start demanding it before she starts buying it. If something goes wrong it can be difficult to shut her up - the best way is to refund her tickets, but even then she will sometimes write to the Complex Manager.

The White University Couple is identical to the Indian University Couple and slightly more common. It's quite funny when the guy is plainly whipped. If something goes wrong he will try to make a fuss, but it's very easy (and fun) to shut him down. Get some other staff involved and you have whipping fun for everyone. Sometimes even his girlfriend will join in.

The Unaccompanied Kids are just that. Be prepared to clean up a massive mess.

The Alpha-Male Wannabe is just annoying. You can see in his manner that he's trying to make you feel like he's in charge. He's usually in his thirties or forties and may be balding. He's also white and pasty. It can be funny to deal with him when something goes wrong. He will make a massive fuss and may sometimes even try and turn other customers against you. He's only doing this to make himself feel dominant. If you're on top of your game, you know what's going on on your shift, and you know how to deal with problems you will have fun wrapping him around your little finger. He may argue and tell you that your service is terrible, but you will soon see in his eyes that you are taking him out of his depth. Once he sees that you're quite capable of dealing with him, he will usually submit. Sometimes he'll keep fighting though, in which case he just gets annoying, because he substitutes circular reasoning for just making a stand.

--------

I'm going to miss the movies. I'm glad to be out, but I'm going to miss them.

Wow that was long.

Movies

2008-05-21T21:47:00.002+12:00

Now that I'm only a few days from leaving Hoyts, I'm not going to be able to see any movie I want for free, like I have been able to for the last 3 and a half years. So I've come up with a list of the movies coming out soon that I need to make sure I have enough money to see. Off the top of my head they are:

- Indiana Jones 4
- The Dark Knight
- Get Smart
- The Incredible Hulk
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars

I think there are one or two others but I can't remember them.

Bigfoot's Martian Vacation

2008-05-12T20:19:00.004+12:00

Back in January, a bunch of people analysing a panoramic photo taken on Mars by the Spirit Mars rover last year appeared to stumble across the clearest evidence yet for life on Mars. The segment of the photo that contains the evidence is this:

You can see the figure on the left of the photo. The first thing that comes into your head when you look at it is that it's another photo of the sasquatch (except that this photo was taken on Mars). A zoomed in photo of the figure clearly shows female humanoid features:

If you look carefully, it looks like the head and the extended hand are both a different colour to the rest of the body, and that the figure is sitting side-saddle on the rock. It also looks like a breast below the arm on the chest.

Just as intriguing is the rock at the bottom right of the top photo. There's a shadow on the ground to the left of the rock of something that is behind the rock.

The main problem though is that according to the scale of the original photo, the figure is probably about 5cm high. Is it just a rock? Or is it something else?

You can find the original panoramic photo taken by the Spirit rover here. It's 4MB though so it might take a while to download. The figure isn't visible in the zoomed out version, but if you zoom in and look around the bottom left part of the photo, you'll find it.

Moving On

2008-05-11T15:01:00.002+12:00

This weekend completely sucked. Because the roster person had made a stupid mistake and hadn't checked, I was rostered on at work to finish at 2am this morning, and then start again at 9am. On top of that I've been really sick all weekend. Fortunately another manager came in early today and I was able to leave at 10.30. I came home and spent the last 4 hours in bed.

Before I left work today though I wrote out and handed in my resignation. They'll see it tomorrow. After that I expect I will probably get a phone call or something asking to discuss it. They've been trying to get another manager to stay, so they'll probably try to get me to as well.

It feels SO good though knowing I'm leaving that place! I've been wanting to get out for so long, and now I finally am. I'm going to start looking for an engineering job, but until I get one I'm going to enjoy being an unemployed bum :D

Only 14 more days!

Time Out to Party

2008-05-05T13:21:00.004+12:00

How do you remove spray paint from a concrete floor? There are several ways, one of which is to pour thinners on it and then scrub as hard as you can. However when you get sick of that way, you can try another way, pioneered by Liam and I when we were cleaning up his garage for his party last week. This way simply involves pouring thinners on the paint, then setting it on fire. The heat hardens the paint, making it easier to scrap off. Here's a video from the first night. There's another video but I can't be bothered uploading it:

Then on Friday night was Liam's 18th party. It was a good night. No fights (unlike his 16th which was slightly bigger), good music, although everyone ran out of alcohol by about 1am which was quite funny.

Then Saturday night a bunch of us old friends from Berkeley took Liam clubbing. I might upload a photo or two if or when I get some. It was my first time clubbing too (I've been into town several times but never gone clubbing - how weird is that) and I have to say it was a very good night! For those of you who know that I don't get drunk when I drink - well you missed seeing me that night. I wouldn't say I was drunk so much as pushing the limits of tipsy. In fact I don't think any of us actually got drunk that night.

The funniest part was when this chick came up to us and started dancing with us. Most the girls had gone to visit the bathroom, so it was just us guys at that point. She came up to us and started grinding against Kerry. The expression of horror on his face when she grabbed his ass was priceless! She then moved around the circle to Liam, but when she came up behind him he ran off to the other side of the circle and hid behind Shaun. I was next in the circle but I was beside and slightly behind a massive fan, so she couldn't reach me. It was so funny. I think the alcohol made it even funnier :P

So it was a very good weekend. I don't think I'm going to be going clubbing all that often though - it gets pretty expensive. Sunday was a bit of a bummer - I had to finish an assignment that I've just come back from handing in at uni.

Paranormal

2008-04-24T18:35:00.002+12:00

Do ghosts exist? Do fairies exist? Some people say yes, some say no. It's really one of those things where most people don't believe in them until they encounter one. So what's the best way of finding out for yourself whether or not paranormal creatures exist?

Well one way is to set up a webcam in a place that is supposedly haunted, then set up a live feed to a site on the net, then to sit back and watch.

Here's a webcam set up inside an old, supposedly haunted mill in Ireland. You can read more about the mill and the ghost that supposedly haunts it using the menu on the left.

Here's a webcam set up near what is supposedly a fairy ring, also in Ireland. You can find out more about it using the links at the top of the page. You can also read reports on what other people say they've seen. It's certainly interesting to say the least.

In fact it's also highly addictive. I should be writing up a report due on monday, but instead I'm watching the webcams, trying to see a leprechaun or a ghost. You can have a look at the statistice for the ghost watch, and it seems that the ghost gets seen, on average, 10 - 20 times a day.

Censorship

2008-04-21T23:45:00.002+12:00

At work a memo has gone round that everyone has to sign to acknowledge. The memo states that we have one week to go through whatever internet profiles we have (like Bebo, Myspace, etc) and get rid of anything that might reflect badly on the company, or on customers or other staff.

That naturally got me thinking about free speech and censorship and human rights, and it occurred to me that a company is essentially like a miniature dictatorship. In a business, every employee is expected to toe the line, working for the "greater good" of the company. If that idea was put into action in a government, it would be classed as a dictatorship. It's funny that policies that we would strongly protest against in a government, we take as normal in our every day life at work. We campaign for freedom of speech, and then willingly give that freedom up in our everyday work.

So my Bebo page is free of any negative references about Hoyts, and it is also now free of any link to my blog. They'll be monitoring my Bebo (unless I make it private), but they have no links to my blog.

Although of course I wouldn't have anything bad to say about them anyway.

Yeah right.

Funny Videos

2008-04-19T01:38:00.002+12:00

I've got nothing to write, so here's a couple of funny pranks on video:

Enjoy

Electricity

2008-04-12T15:28:00.001+12:00

This picture is just cool:

Out Of The Stone Age And Into The Fire

2008-03-31T22:50:00.002+13:00

I hate my internet. Not only does it disconnect whenever I open utorrent, but we're with xtra. This means we have a 6GB monthly cap - for the same price that we could be getting 1GB a day from Worldnet.

Unfortunately the bureaucratic process at home means that it will probably be a long, long time before that changes. What makes it worse is that I'm the only one who places any importance on our internet, because I'm the one who uses most of it. It's not just a simple matter of "dude your internet sucks! Change it!" First all the options have to be investigated to find the best plans. Then start-up deals have to be looked at because our modem came with our xtra plan, so we'd need a modem and installation. Then we have to look at antiviruses, because the antivirus on our home computer is provided as part of our xtra plan. Again this will mean looking for the best one (and then choosing Norton instead).

I found the best plan (1GB a day from Worldnet), but mum has never heard of Worldnet, meaning that they must also be thoroughly investigated before we can switch to them. Then paying for everything must be arranged (some of which will most likely fall on me as I'm the one who uses it the most).

So if anyone out there has a positive review (or a negative one) about Worldnet, please share.

In other news, much to the horror of my parents, I'm planning on lowering my car when I can afford it. I'm not going to do it the budget way - cutting the springs, but do it properly - getting adjustable springs and a Certificate of Fitness. It means I'll get pulled over a whole lot more, but so long as I'm not going too fast that should be all good. Lowering it will improve performance (especially around corners) and stop it looking ridiculously high (the gap between the wheels and the body is wider than the wheels themselves) (the proper word for cars that look like mine is "tractor"). Unfortunately lowering it also carries the negative effect of looking like a retard trying to get over a speed bump (and becoming one of the people I laugh at), and possibly scraping my bumper every time I get into my driveway.

I think deep down my parents are afraid that if I lower my car I'll spontaneously morph into an irresponsible 15 year old and go to the drags and get arrested for going four times the speed limit. If anything I'll probably drive more carefully simply because I don't want to hit a bump and stop dead.

Surprise Party

2008-03-18T22:30:00.010+13:00

So last Friday night Liam asked me if I wanted to go to his and play pool. I said sure, and he said he'd come pick me up because he was nearby. Got to his, and it turned out he hadn't intended to play pool at all - instead he and Josh had organised a surprise 21st party for me! It really worked - I was completely taken by surprise. It took a couple of seconds to work out why everyone was leaping out from behind stuff yelling "surprise!"

It was a very good night. Thanks guys! And thanks Sandra for the alcohol. Here's some photos from it. They're all up on Bebo too. The party kinda doubled as an informal Berkeley reunion, so we had to get a group Berkeley photo too:

From left to right, top to bottom: Kerry, Lu Yuan, Josh, Liam, Barbara, Shaun; Sandra, me, Rachana.

Haha. Everyone has red-eye.

All the photos can be found on my Bebo.

Pictures

2008-03-11T22:24:00.003+13:00

Balloons

2008-03-08T16:52:00.002+13:00

Since my birthday, just over 2 weeks ago, I've had twenty one balloons floating around my room. My family put them up so that I discovered them when I got home on my birthday morning, and after a few days I cut them down so they could roam freely around my floor. Its quite surprising that after more than 2 weeks most of them are still almost completely inflated.

When they were blowing them up, my family gave out cat one to play with, which he absolutely loved. He batted it around and chased it and attacked it for ages - until it popped in his face. The next morning, my sister gave him another balloon and he ran and hid under a chair and didn't come out until well after it was gone. Now he treats them with suspicion. He doesn't seem to like the way they move around when my fan's going, but he's learnt to accept them.

The balloons do seem to have a life of their own though - if one somehow ends up outside my room - either because it was blown there or kicked there, it wafts straight back in again. What's more, if I leave them alone for most of the day, letting them blow around on their own, or get moved around by other things, but not deliberately moving them myself, they always end up in groups on the floor - grouped according to colour. The green and yellow ones usually end up together on one part of the floor, the pink and blue together on another part, and the purple and orange either forming their own group or mixing with the other two. It's really bizarre. Right now a group of pink and orange seems to be in the process of forming next to me, which could be difficult, because one of the orange balloons has been trapped behind my desk by my fan.

Whenever I see them grouping I always go through and mix them up, but later in the day, or the next morning, they're almost always back in colour-coordinated groups again!

-------------

The Engineering building has received another revamp. Now the lecture theatres at the back of the level four atrium have been refurbished. One of these lecture theatres, 3.404, is where most (at least half) of my second and third year lectures took place. It used to have no air conditioning (which made afternoon lectures a struggle), really uncomfortable fold-down wooden board things for seats (although there was the legendary seat in the middle with cushioning), and bench-table things with graffiti writing on them dating back to ancient history. Now it still has no air conditioning, but it has new comfortable seats and those tiny individual desks that plague the new Business School.

What's more, the design offices on the fifth floor have received a revamp. They are now outfitted as lecture/seminar rooms, with new seats, a lecturn, and I think even data projectors. Unfortunately one of the nice things about these rooms was their class, which has been completely lost. They had posters on the walls dating back to the 90's, along with random bits of wood in the back, and the most random, incomplete set of chairs I have ever seen - most of the chairs were broken - either they no longer spun, or they were missing a back, or they no longer raised up, so that when you sat on them the table was almost at eye-level. Now all that's been replaced by new paint, new chairs, and Arts students. Yes, every time an old, much used, area of Engineering gets made over, the Arts students move in.

Speaking of the Business School, it has an ASB bank inside it! From the main courtyard thing with the random grass square in the middle, you go through the doors into the random tabled area (these tables appear to serve no purpose - they can't be for eating because there's no cafeteria anywhere nearby - or even a microwave to heat your food, and they can't be for studying because they're circular and in the middle of one of the main accessways into the Business building), and then behind the pillar that says something about ASB, is the bank itself. Handy!

Now I'm off to work. Bye.

Seal - Amazing

2008-03-05T21:33:00.002+13:00

(I want you to always feel you're amazing)
(I want you to always feel you're amazing)
(I want you to always feel you're amazing)
(You're amazing)

You say you don't know
How to do it now
So you run
It's not that you're bleeding
But you're through it now
So you run
I know that you need it
You can't live alone
So you run
So you run

Everyone says "you're amazing"
Now that you're clean
Only you know who the real ones are
Cause you've seen
There's only one question I want to ask
Is it healing when you hear
Everyone say "you're amazing"?
Does anyone ask you?

Do you cry in your sleep
And do you feel okay
When you run?
Thinking its doomsday
You got to let it go
So you run
Pretend you don't see it
That way you can live the lie
When you run
So you run

Everyone says "you're amazing"
Now that you're clean
Only you know who the real ones are
Cause you've seen
There's only one question I want to ask
Is it healing when, when you hear
Everyone say "you're amazing"?
Does anyone ask you?

Cause I know that you're real amazing
Amazing
Amazing

Everyone says "you're amazing"
Now that you're clean
Only you know who the real ones are
Cause you've seen
There's only one question I want to ask
Is it healing when, when you hear
Everyone say "you're amazing"?
Does anyone ask you?

I want you to always feel you're amazing
I want you to always feel you're amazing
I want you to always feel you're amazing
Everyone says you're amazing
You're amazing

The Fountain Of Knowledge

2008-03-04T02:09:00.003+13:00

For those who don't know it, Uncyclopedia.org is a parody of Wikipedia. The articles are mostly nonsense, poking fun at the subjects of the articles. Here're some excerpts from articles on Uncyclopedia:

On Adolf Hitler:

Hitler once declared in "Mein Kampf" that his political views stemmed from the observations he had made while he was young. Some historians suggest Hitler may have felt cramped inside his mother's womb, giving way to his later resentment of foreigners invading his already cramped space in Europe. It has also been suggested that the insides of Hitler's mom were not diverse enough, contributing to his later xenophobia.

On World War One:

As some may know and other may not, World War I was a war when the French, British, starving Austrian artists, the Pope, the Germans and various others, picked up big guns and shot at each other. This went on for several years. Eventually, the Russians joined in, as the constant explosions were keeping them up all night. While their leader, the Czar was out getting shot at by Germans, some nasty men with beards took over his country, so he had to go home and be executed. Ironically, by being shot at. After long years of fighting, someone won, but no-one can quite decide who. Well, apart from the fact that it probably wasn't the Germans.

On Hitler again:

The caption: "Hitler exercises his absolute power over the German masses by counting the lightbulbs in the stadium for 20 minutes."

On Helen Clark:

here are various theories about the origin of Helen Clark. These include:

Anti-Evolutionary mutation. Divergent speciation resulting from voodoo breeding rituals between a boar and a man, leading to a genetic miracle: the rottweiler baby. Helen Clark was born. All hail.
Dental conspiracy. A man-made creation born from 1950 NZ Orthodontist's Association conference, under the call for a "walking advertisement for braces". Subsequently fearful parents have malnourished their families to pay for the correcting of non-existent crooked teeth in order to save the children from what is described as the "Blair Witch Smile" and the "Smile of Hell(en)".

.....Helen Clark was eligible to win the 2005 'who hates this bitch' award, but instead won the 'most hideous rug muncher award', of which she has been crowned the last 10 consecutive years.

On Americans:

Americans are a genus of human (scientific name Americanus) found predominantly in the United States of America. Americans are primarily detritovores, but they are not above eating their own young. Average body size ranges from anorexic to obese, depending on the species. Populations are densest in the areas described by scientists as "cultural black holes", such as Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Miami.

Scientists are at a loss as to describe the ecological niche of Americans (currently, they are classified as parasites). Indeed, one biologist described Americans as "the tumors of the animal world."

All Americans are considered nonnative invasive species. For details on eradication efforts, see Detection and Eradication.

Here We Go Again

2008-02-29T19:51:00.003+13:00

Only three days from the first day of Semester One. I'm all enrolled and sorted out, and starting to mentally gear up for the coming year. In terms of workload, this year promises to be the big one - simply because of the year long research project that every fourth year engineering student has to do.

So, like I normally do before a new semester starts, this is my timetable for semester one:

The room numbers aren't on it yet, I'll probably add them to it on Sunday, because the closer to semester start, the more likely they are to be right.

The classes are:

Mecheng 340: Mechanics of Materials 2
The sequel to Mechanics of Materials 1, which I took last year. This paper's supposed to be relatively easy, but it uses a completely different textbook to MoM1, which is annoying. Three of the four lectures for this class are at 8am, so guess which class I'll be rarely turning up to. You can say I should go to class, and that its bad if I don't, to which I will say that going to an 8am class requires me to get up, or at least be awake, by around 5.30am. It is physically impossible for me to be awake at 5.30am four days out of seven (at least while I'm doing Engineering at uni), and therefore I won't be going to many of these classes.

Enggen 303: Management for Engineers
The one paper that noone likes. The only people who would enjoy doing this paper are the engineers who are doing a Commerce conjoint. However, they're the only people who aren't required to do it. Engineers are here to design things, not learn management and business techniques. We hate this paper! Not to mention that it requires hours and hours of reading notes. Not surprising that it had a relatively high failure rate last year, and so I'll have a couple of friends doing it with me this year.

Mecheng 431: Mechanical Design 4
The final design paper of the course. This one promises to be just like all the others - full of projects requiring massive amounts of work, particularly the night before it's due. Still, some of my best memories of uni involve frantically trying to finish projects late in the evening. The fact that it has two tutorials is probably a sign that it will involve a lot of work.

Mecheng 461A: Research Project Part A
The big momma. The paper that basically defines your fourth year, and in fact most of your degree. This is the paper you spend second and third year looking towards. This paper, I'm told, completely obliterates all traces of free time, as well as all the holidays. Fortunately you complete the project in pairs. My partner and I still haven't confirmed what ours will be on, but at the moment we're hoping it will be on building aerodynamics. More on that as it happens. Should be fun.

This is the first semester that I haven't enrolled in an Arts paper. That's because I still plan on dropping the BA. I'll probably come back to it when I'm 40, or something.

There's been a couple of new blogs appearing on my blog links on the left over the last week or so.

Global Cooling

2008-02-27T21:54:00.007+13:00

From Daily Tech, February 26 2008:

Over the past year, anecdotal evidence for a cooling planet has exploded. China has its coldest winter in 100 years. Baghdad sees its first snow in all recorded history. North America has the most snowcover in 50 years, with places like Wisconsin the highest since record-keeping began. Record levels of Antarctic sea ice, record cold in Minnesota, Texas, Florida, Mexico, Australia, Iran, Greece, South Africa, Greenland, Argentina, Chile -- the list goes on and on.

No more than anecdotal evidence, to be sure. But now, that evidence has been supplanted by hard scientific fact. All four major global temperature tracking outlets (Hadley, NASA's GISS, UAH, RSS) have released updated data. All show that over the past year, global temperatures have dropped precipitously.

Meteorologist Anthony Watts compiled the results of all the sources. The total amount of cooling ranges from 0.65C up to 0.75C -- a value large enough to erase nearly all the global warming recorded over the past 100 years. All in one year time. For all sources, it's the single fastest temperature change every recorded, either up or down.
Scientists quoted in a past DailyTech article link the cooling to reduced solar activity which they claim is a much larger driver of climate change than man-made greenhouse gases. The dramatic cooling seen in just 12 months time seems to bear that out. While the data doesn't itself disprove that carbon dioxide is acting to warm the planet, it does demonstrate clearly that more powerful factors are now cooling it.

From the National Post, 25 February 2008:

According to Robert Toggweiler of the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory at Princeton University and Joellen Russell, assistant professor of biogeochemical dynamics at the University of Arizona - - two prominent climate modellers -- the computer models that show polar ice-melt cooling the oceans, stopping the circulation of warm equatorial water to northern latitudes and triggering another Ice Age (a la the movie The Day After Tomorrow) are all wrong.

"We missed what was right in front of our eyes," says Prof. Russell. It's not ice melt but rather wind circulation that drives ocean currents northward from the tropics. Climate models until now have not properly accounted for the wind's effects on ocean circulation, so researchers have compensated by over- emphasizing the role of manmade warming on polar ice melt.

But when Profs. Toggweiler and Russell rejigged their model to include the 40-year cycle of winds away from the equator (then back towards it again), the role of ocean currents bringing warm southern waters to the north was obvious in the current Arctic warming.

Last month, Oleg Sorokhtin, a fellow of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, shrugged off manmade climate change as "a drop in the bucket." Showing that solar activity has entered an inactive phase, Prof. Sorokhtin advised people to "stock up on fur coats."

He is not alone. Kenneth Tapping of our own National Research Council, who oversees a giant radio telescope focused on the sun, is convinced we are in for a long period of severely cold weather if sunspot activity does not pick up soon.

The last time the sun was this inactive, Earth suffered the Little Ice Age that lasted about five centuries and ended in 1850. Crops failed through killer frosts and drought. Famine, plague and war were widespread. Harbours froze, so did rivers, and trade ceased.

It's way too early to claim the same is about to happen again, but then it's way too early for the hysteria of the global warmers, too.

Things I Need

2008-02-24T22:11:00.002+13:00

I have only 1 day left on my Norton Antivirus subscription and I need to find a new antivirus. Preferably cheap (or even free), and preferably one that doesn't suck like Norton does. I was reading a review of ZoneAlarm's firewall and found it so funny that I've reposted it here:

"In addition, if we considered that every time more holes of security in our explorers are discovered, it is no wonder we begin to worry about the integrity of the contents that we received. With the intention to palliate the negative effects that entail the illegal accesses to the systems, the wished traffic of archives and post office and as opposed to not to offer protection Trojans and diverse attacks that we can suffer while we are online, the Firewall calls have been constituted like the tools of security par excellence essential to accede calmly to Internet, with a minimum of security.

Firewall acts like shield or protective obstacle locating itself between the local area network deprived (LAN) and the network to which we want to accede, is it the Intranet of the company or Internet, of the possible aggressions that come from the outside of these, and therefore it must count at least on two interfaces: one that gives to the private area and other than serves public section, for example Internet.

Firewall can be of two types. If it is of type hardware, it could be in some cases he himself of router that it is placed between the Ethernet connection to Internet and the rest of the network or a specific device of protection. If it is of software type will be able to be used not only to protect a deprived network, but to limit the access Internet of the equipment of this network, for example by schedules and users. Although in critical surroundings it will be necessary to invest a great amount of money in our security, good fire-resistant personnel by software will be sufficient for “armoring” our computer in most of the cases. In the following pages we are going away to center in the fire-resistant ones of individual use ZoneAlarm, based on software and focused the private user."

You can read the rest of it here.

I also need to buy an external hard drive and an intake pipe for my car. I need the hard drive because my digital storage needs are starting to exceed my storage capacity, and I need the intake pipe because my pod filter doesn't perfectly fit the current intake pipe, and is leaving a small gap, which could seriously damage the engine.

So much money :S

I'm also very hot and tired. It's too humid and I've been working in the humidity for too long.

I'm also old. I'm now 21.

Coming Soon

2008-02-19T22:44:00.002+13:00

Here's something interesting. New Zealand's TV service is getting a bit of a revamp. Not only is Freeview going to be available to three quarters of NZ pretty soon (Freeview is NZ's first free-to-air digital TV and radio provider), but we're getting more TV channels.

The biggest new thing at the moment is channel 6, which screens family shows and arts and drama shows. Coming in March is channel 7, which will be a 24 hour "news and information" channel. It won't be 24 hour news coverage like Sky News, but will mostly contain documentaries and current affairs shows.

Another channel coming soon is Maori TV's second channel, although there doesn't seem to be much information on it yet.

Another channel available is Parliament TV which airs unedited screenings of what goes on in the Parliament debating chamber.

Several other digital channels will be launched over the next few years, as there are still 11 spare channels available on the Freeview platform.

It's pretty cool.

Lots Of Sand

2008-02-17T23:25:00.005+13:00

Yesterday was a good day. It started with a staff meeting at 8am, which was probably one of the best staff meetings I've ever been to, simply because they supplied breakfast.

The real reason it was a good day though was because some of us went out to the Waiti dunes at Bethells/Te Henga. If you've never been to them before, the Waiti dunes are a MASSIVE pile of sand-dunes randomly next to a lake located in the middle of nowhere, about a kilometre from the coast. These sand dunes are absolutely massive, and I wish I had taken a photo of them - they stretch for probably about a kilometre, and when you first see them, the only thing you can say is some variation of "WOW!"

The best part about them isn't the scale though, or the sense of utter isolation, but the fact that a stream runs along the edge of them, and where the dunes border the stream they basically drop away in an almost vertical wall which is probably about 3 - 7 stories high, depending on what part of the dunes you are at. This is awesome for jumping off or tobogganing down! Unfortunately we discovered that cardboard boxes don't toboggan well.

Kat managed to snap this awesome photo though. The photo is of Gary, Liam and I, and as a photo it just works really well! It'd make a good painting:

Environmentalism

2008-02-16T17:21:00.001+13:00

Interesting Things

2008-02-14T00:08:00.004+13:00

Here's something interesting: Dinosaur Comics. Each day's comic is identical. The only thing that changes from day to day is the what the characters say. They say some wacky stuff. A lot of it is wacky, a lot is philisophical [I cannot for the life of me remember how to spell that word at the moment], and some of it is frankly inspiring.

Something else that's very interesting is Heroes. I am now hopelessly addicted to this show. Despite the fact that it's basically like X-Men ("despite"? X-Men is still very good . . . ), which makes the whole "there are hundreds of people all with a unique superpower" idea seem pretty tired, it is extremely good! I think its strongest point is the complete believability of it. The acting is brilliant and the characters are completely believable - so much so that I've been spending hours upon hours watching episode after hour-long episode, completely absorbed in the Heroes world and the lives of the characters that are in it. I've always said that it doesn't matter what a show is about - if the characters are utterly believable, then the show will be good. (Actually I've never said that, but I think I've believed it somewhere in the back of my mind.)

Another thing I've come across recently that's interesting is Daft Punk. Thanks to the recommendation of someone at work I started listening to them. Now I love them! They bring something completely new to techno/trance, and I really like it! The best way to talk about what they're like is to let them demonstrate for themselves. This is their track Around the World / Harder Better Faster Stronger from their Alive 2007 tour. The sound quality is terrible (it's quiet and has no base), but it gives you an idea of their sound:

But I have to say this - while these things are interesting, they are ultimately just interesting things. What really matters are your family and your friends. It's recently come home to me (yet again) just how important these groups of people are. It's the people around you that really matter. Thanks guys. I just wish that people wouldn't drift apart. I've lost touch with a lot of good people over the years, and I don't want to lose the friends I have now.

And with that, which I will probably reread tomorrow morning and wonder why I wrote it, I leave you to go and watch more Heroes. Here's another of those nice little motivational cards I was putting at the ends of my posts for a while:

Fun Times

2008-02-10T19:30:00.000+13:00

Went to the zoo on Friday. It was a good day.

There isn't really much that can be said about the zoo. Saw some animals, hung out with some mates, hung out with some animals (ducks, pukeko, and seagulls) learnt that we couldn't see the tigers because they were out the back having sex, and generally had a good time.

You can read more about it here.

Then after the zoo I had an interesting shift at work - interesting because I was supposed to finish at 10.30pm, but the other manager who was on that night couldn't be there, as she had been arrested. So I had to close and was there until 1.30am.

Yesterday was a mate's 21st, which meant an awesome drive out to Waitakere (and back).

Then today I opened at work, and had what was possibly the most insane shift I have ever worked in just over 3 years at the movies (definitely the most insane since I started at Hoyts).
Basically the schedule was completely wrong for one of the cinemas. What projection was going to play was different to what we were selling tickets for. Fortunately we managed to sort it out pretty quickly and the only customers who noticed were the two who bought tickets for a movie that no longer existed. But that was ok, they got to see another one for free. It certainly made my shift interesting. We've worked out that the only times things really go wrong are on Sunday day shifts, and generally only when me or Mark are on. It certainly gives you good practice at fixing serious problems on the fly without letting the customers realise that something's wrong!

So now tonight is a night of kicking back and doing absolutely nothing. At the moment it's great, but I think I'm going to get pretty bored soon.

I discovered Heroes tonight. I managed to acquire the pilot episode and I got hooked pretty quickly. Liam's bringing around the box set soon so I think tonight might be a "get hooked on Heroes" night.

And now, it's time for dinner :D

Starting to count down to uni starting again . . .

Recovery

2008-02-04T13:49:00.000+13:00

Saturday night was a good night. One of the duty managers at Hoyts has left, and Saturday night was his farewell party. It went off! I think it out-did the farewell party for our two assistant managers that was just over a month ago (although I wasn't at that one because I was too tired after work). I think Saturday night was definitely one of the best parties I've been to.

It's cool that Hoyts is finally starting to undergo the transition from "some cool people you work with" to "massive extended work family". That's what happened at Berkeley and is what made it such a great place to work. Apparently it's a pretty universal thing at cinemas. At Berkeley it took almost a year for it to start happening, which is about how long its taken at Hoyts.

Unfortunately I had work yesterday, which meant recovery had to wait until last night and today. I only got about 2 hours sleep on Sunday morning and most of that wasn't until the sun came up. It was depressing that my shift was four times longer than the amount of sleep I got! Didn't make for a good shift, but I survived, and so did the cinema, so all good.

I managed to do something on Saturday evening that I've wanted to do for years - put a coin under a train. The flat where we had the party is next to the railway tracks - the eastern line to be exact. I got onto them (which involves missioning it down a tall, near-vertical bank, stepping over a muddy creek, and missioning it up the other near-vertical side) and stuck a 50c coin onto the rail so a train would go over it and flatten it. I actually stuck two down, but the train took the first one with it, so I had to go back and put a second one down. I now have a coin that has been under the Overlander to Wellington! It's now about twice the size that it was originally. The picture of the Endeavour is still largely intact, but the queen's head has been almost completely flattened out. It's pretty cool!

I even took a picture of it to put up here. It's pretty blurry, because my 2 megapixel phone can't seem to focus on it, even though it could focus perfectly when i held it away from text at the same distance. The black spots are the remains of the tape that held it to the tracks.

Picture Gallery

2008-01-31T20:27:00.000+13:00

I can't think of anything to write, so I thought I would post some pictures instead. These are a fairly random selection of some of the pictures I have in my My Pictures folder. Some of them have been there for years, some are pretty new. You can click on them to get the full size if you want.

In other news, I got a letter from uni today to say that I'd been given a conceded pass in the paper I failed last year! I have no idea what the logic is behind them giving it to me, because I'm pretty sure I didn't meet the requirements, but SWEET!

Music

2008-01-25T15:33:00.000+13:00

One kind of music I've discovered I really like is a rock remix of a hip-hop song, or a hip-hop remix of a rock song. A perfect example of this is Travis Barker's remix of "Low" by Flo Rida. This is the video for it:

Sweeney Todd

2008-01-24T02:34:00.000+13:00

MRS. LOVETT:
Seems a downright shame...
SWEENEY TODD:
Shame?
LOVETT:
Seems an awful waste...
Such a nice, plump frame
Wot's 'is name has...
Had...
Has!
Nor it can't be traced...
Bus'ness needs a lift,
Debts to be erased...
Think of it as thrift,
As a gift,
If you get my drift!

No?

Seems an awful waste...
I mean, with the price of meat
What it is,
When you get it,
If you get it...

TODD:
HAH!
LOVETT:
Good, you got it!

Take, for instance, Mrs. Mooney and her pie shop!
Bus'ness never better using only pussycats and toast!
And a pussy's good for maybe six or seven at the most!
And I'm sure they can't compare as far as taste!

TODD:
Mrs. Lovett, what a charming notion
LOVETT:
Well, it does seem a waste...

TODD:
Eminently practical
And yet appropriate as always!
LOVETT:
It's an idea...

TODD:
Mrs. Lovett, how I've lived
Without you all these years, I'll never know!
How delectable!
Also undetectable!
LOVETT:
Think about it!
Lots of other gentlemen'll
Soon be comin' for a shave,
Won't they?
Think of
All them
Pies!

TODD:
How choice!
How
Rare!

TODD:
For what's the sound of the world out there?
LOVETT:
What, Mr. Todd?
What, Mr. Todd?
What is that sound?
TODD:
Those crunching noises pervading the air!
LOVETT:
Yes, Mr. Todd!
Yes, Mr. Todd!
Yes, all around!
TODD:
It's man devouring man, my dear!
BOTH:
And/Then who are we to deny it in here?

TODD: [spoke] These are desperate times,
Mrs. Lovett, and desperate measures are called for!

LOVETT:
Here we are, now! Hot out of the oven!
TODD:
What is that?
LOVETT:
It's priest. Have a little priest.
TODD:
Is it really good?
LOVETT:
Sir, it's too good, at least!
Then again, they don't commit sins of the flesh,
So it's pretty fresh.
TODD:
Awful lot of fat.
LOVETT:
Only where it sat.
TODD:
Haven't you got poet, or something like that?
LOVETT:
No, y'see, the trouble with poet is
'Ow do you know it's deceased?
Try the priest!

TODD: [spoken] Heavenly!
Not as hearty as bishop, perhaps,
but then again, not as bland as curate, either!

LOVETT:
And good for business, too -- always leaves you wantin' more!
Trouble is, we only get it on Sundays!

Lawyer's rather nice.
TODD:
If it's for a price.
LOVETT:
Order something else, though, to follow,
Since no one should swallow it twice!
TODD:
Anything that's lean.
LOVETT:
Well, then, if you're British and loyal,
You might enjoy Royal Marine!
Anyway, it's clean.
Though of course, it tastes of wherever it's been!
TODD:
Is that squire,
On the fire?
LOVETT:
Mercy no, sir, look closer,
You'll notice it's grocer!
TODD:
Looks thicker,
More like vicar!
LOVETT:
No, it has to be grocer --
It's green!

TODD:
The history of the world, my love...
LOVETT:
Save a lot of graves,
Do a lot of relatives favors!
TODD:
...Is those below serving those up above!
LOVETT:
Ev'rybody shaves,
So there should be plenty of flavors!
TODD:
How gratifying for once to know
BOTH:
That those above will serve those down below!

LOVETT: [spoken] Now let's see, here... We've got tinker.
TODD: Something... pinker.
LOVETT: Tailor?
TODD: Paler.
LOVETT: Butler?
TODD: Subtler.
LOVETT: Potter?
TODD: Hotter.
LOVETT: Locksmith?

Lovely bit of clerk.
TODD:
Maybe for a lark.
LOVETT:
Then again there's sweep
If you want it cheap
And you like it dark!
Try the financier,
Peak of his career!
TODD:
That looks pretty rank.
LOVETT:
Well, he drank,
It's a bank
Cashier.
Never really sold.
Maybe it was old.
TODD:
Have you any Beadle?
LOVETT:
Next week, so I'm told!
Beadle isn't bad till you smell it and
Notice 'ow well it's been greased...
Stick to priest!

(spoken) Now then, this might be a little bit stringy,
but then of course it's... fiddle player!
TODD: No, this isn't fiddle player -- it's piccolo player!
LOVETT: 'Ow can you tell?
TODD: It's piping hot!
LOVETT: Then blow on it first!

TODD:
The history of the world, my sweet --
LOVETT:
Oh, Mr. Todd,
Ooh, Mr. Todd,
What does it tell?
TODD:
Is who gets eaten, and who gets to eat!
LOVETT:
And, Mr. Todd,
Too, Mr. Todd,
Who gets to sell!
TODD:
But fortunately, it's also clear
BOTH:
That/But ev'rybody goes down well with beer!

LOVETT: (spoken) Since marine doesn't appeal to you, 'ow about... rear admiral?
TODD: Too salty. I prefer general.
LOVETT: With, or without his privates? "With" is extra.

TODD: What is that?
LOVETT:
It's fop.
Finest in the shop.
And we have some shepherd's pie peppered
With actual shepherd on top!
And I've just begun --
Here's the politician, so oily
It's served with a doily,
Have one!
TODD:
Put it on a bun.
Well, you never know if it's going to run!
LOVETT:
Try the friar,
Fried, it's drier!
TODD:
No, the clergy is really
Too coarse and too mealy!
LOVETT:
Then actor,
That's compacter!
TODD:
Yes, and always arrives overdone!
I'll come again when you have JUDGE on the menu!

LOVETT: (spoken) Wait! True, we don't have judge yet,
but we've got something you might fancy even better.
TODD: What's that?
LOVETT: Executioner!

TODD:
Have charity towards the world, my pet!
LOVETT:
Yes, yes, I know, my love!
TODD:
We'll take the customers that we can get!
LOVETT:
High-born and low, my love!
TODD:
We'll not discriminate great from small!
No, we'll serve anyone,
Meaning anyone,
BOTH:
And to anyone
At all!

Incredibleness

2008-01-18T00:27:00.000+13:00

Cloverfield

is

AWESOME!!

Even though The Dark Knight is coming out later this year, I think Cloverfield is going to be my top movie of 2008. It's absolutely insane. For those of you who don't know, it's not a movie about a monster attacking New York - it's about a group of friends trying to survive a monster attacking New York, all told from the point of view of a video camera that one of them manages to keep hold of throughout the horror and the carnage.

Even if you don't see any other movie this year, you need to see Cloverfield. The only reason you should think twice about seeing it is if you suffer from motion sickness. The camera moves around a lot, and the only major complaint people have about that movie is that they start feeling nauseous from all the movement. Other than that it's incredible!

Electricalism

2008-01-15T23:33:00.000+13:00

Required:

1x Toggle switch
2x Acrylic tubes
2x 5-packs of blue LEDs
1x 5m length of wire

I've found sources for the wire, the LEDs, and the switch, but no-one seems to sell acrylic tubing! I suppose it's not exactly a common thing to ask for, but you'd think Bunnings or someone would sell plastic tubing.

What I'm trying to do is add some lights to the inside of my car. The idea I have is to put loops of LEDs under each of the front seats that come on whenever the central interior light is on. Unfortunately the wiring would be a bastard, because the switch is in the middle of the car ceiling, and i'd have to run the wires from that to under the seats. That would probably involve taking the ceiling off, which is not something I'm prepared to do. So I'm probably going to have to find somewhere else to wire it, and use a switch to manually turn the lights on and off.

Other than that there really isn't much happening at the moment. Today is my first day off work since the 5th! I've worked every night since then. No wonder there isn't much happening.

I gotta start getting organised for uni again. I need to cancel my conjoint, see which ever course co-ordinator is in charge of split-part 3/4 students, and then enrol. I also want to see if I can find a part-time engineering weekend job, but unfortunately most engineering places are closed in the weekends. Ugh.

Bye

Month of Horror

2008-01-04T17:32:00.000+13:00

My legs are burnt, my feet are burnt, my hands are burnt, and my arms are slightly browner. This week was shaping up to be an awesome summer week, with all the essentials (sun, sand, surf, and a tent in a campground a long way from Auckland). We were going to be in Papamoa from the 29th until today, but unfortunately Josh got food poisoning on the first night (don't eat fish from Chinese takeaways in Papmoa), so we abandoned the holiday on the 31st, right before New Years. I spent my New Years on top of Mt Eden with a whole lot of other people, standing next to a slightly confused herd of cows, watching the fireworks on the Sky Tower.

I have to say, downtown at night is pretty beautiful. The fireworks weren't that great though. Happy New Year. The best part was probably driving there and back again.

That reminds me, I've ordered a couple of black lights to put in my car. I'm going to put black lights above the rearview mirror, and a blue light in the centre. It should look pretty cool. I also want to put white lights in the door. I'm going to need to carry a torch in the glovebox so I can actually see during the times when I actually need light in the car at night. My mum said something very surprising yesterday - she said I should get neons. I'm considering it - I've always thought neons look cool. If I do get them I'd probably try getting black lights for them as well.

But before I do anything else I need to get speakers and a sub. That means getting an amp, and either getting or making a sub box too. My aim is to have all that in and wired up by the end of January. That and to be enrolled for my classes this semester. I really need to get on to that.

I saw I Am Legend this morning. I have to say its one of the best horrors I've ever seen (not that I've seen many). It's certainly one of the best horrors to be released in the last few years. It seems to me that horror is a genre that is very hard to do. A lot of directors just cant seem to get it right. Many of the horrors I've seen rely on scenes that make you jump or that gross you out in order to scare you. I think this is possibly because most of the ideas people have for a horror movie have already been done - and once an idea's been done you can't repeat it without cheapening it. For example, zombie movies. They all have the same idea - part of the population gets turned into cannibalistic zombies that attack the heroes who have to fight to survive. Once you've seen one, the rest of them just aren't scary.

Until you see I Am Legend. This movie is scary. There were bits in this movie where I and everyone I've talked to about it all got completely freaked out! Sure this movie's a zombie movie, but it's a zombie movie with a difference. You will get scared in this movie.

The movie isn't just good because it's scary though - Will Smith is great in the role of the guy who has been on his own for three years with no-one but his dog for company, the musical score is brilliant - simply because there isn't one for a lot of the movie - which just makes the scary and the emotional scenes all the more powerful. What's more the ending isn't predictable. In fact it's very different to what I thought would happen.

Horrors seem to be the thing this month - AvP2 comes out next week. It looks much closer to the original horror of the original Alien and Predator movies than the first Alien vs Predator movie did. That movie was a joke.

Then the week after is Cloverfield. I think the main difference between this movie and something like Godzilla (which people are afraid it will be a copy of) is that this movie seems to be less about monsters attacking a city, and more about a group of people trying to survive the attack while being hunted by a mysterious foe. I think this movie is going to be a horror as well.

Then the week after that is 30 Days of Night. This looks a bit like your typical vampire/zombie horror (although I've only seen the trailer once I think). Might be good. I'm not a fan of vampire movies (or vampires in general) so it would have to pretty good for me to see it.

My New Band

2008-01-01T19:46:00.000+13:00

Shamelessly stolen from Kat.

The Rules:

1. Go to the Wikipedia home page and click Random article. That is your band's name.
2. Click Random article again; that is your album name.
3. Click Random article 15 more times; those are the tracks on your album.

So

My Band Name: Zacharias Dase
My Album Name: Buraiha

Tracklist:

1) Gooey Butter Cake
2) Frya
3) Henry VII Lady Chapel
4) Matej Krajcik
5) Alias Analysis
6) Studio Ironcat
7) East Grove Street District
8) Norodom Suramarit
9) USS McKee (AS-41)
10) Presley Spruance
11) Reginald Horace Blyth
12) Graciela Dixon
13) Alberta Senate Nominee Election, 1998
14) Sugar
15) Bread Breaker

Huh.

Need To Lose Weight? Give Yourself Food Poisoning!

2007-12-26T17:25:00.000+13:00

For Christmas yesterday we went down to Cambridge to visit relatives. Generally what happens at Christmas is my mum's side of the family all get together at either our house, my mum's sister's house, or my mum's parent's house. This year it was my mum's sister's house, and they're living in Cambridge at the moment, so off to Cambridge we all went.

I was going to be driving myself, but I was too sleepy after getting to sleep just after 3am, and so was in no condition to drive. Which sucked - I was really looking forward to it!

I learnt some interesting things yesterday - how to find north based purely on the sun, and how to navigate using just the stars. I'll probably never need to know how to do it, but it's useful to know.

One of my Christmas presents was a wireless mouse! After using a laptop mousepad for exactly a year (exactly one year ago I was setting up this laptop - I got it on Boxing Day last year), it takes a lot of getting used to using a mouse again.

Today was good - I finally installed a high brake light on my car! (Thanks for your help Liam). Unfortunately I installed it crooked . . . now it looks kinda retarded. We also took the tint off my back windscreen so that you can actually see the brake light from behind the car. Taking off tints is a mission! The actual tearing the tints off is easy, but then getting the adhesive residue off takes ages.

Going to Papamoa on Saturday for New Years. That means I need to get a WOF tomorrow or Friday, and go grocery shopping, and pack, and sort out a few other things. The next couple of days are going to be fairly busy. This may actually be my last post until I get back.

Hmmm ok then.

Bye

The Dark Knight Trailer

2007-12-23T17:42:00.001+13:00

For those of you who (like me) can't wait for The Dark Knight to come out next year, here is the new trailer for it:

http://www.atasteforthetheatrical.com/deathtrap/default.htm

It's awesome!!

The Tocsin

2007-12-21T02:17:00.000+13:00

Tonight at work, after over three years of working at the movies, I finally experienced my first fire alarm. I've been wanting to be there for one for a long time now, so it was quite a momentous occasion for me!

It was a lot easier than it could have been actually - it went off in the mall first, which meant we had 7 minutes warning before it went off in the cinema. So we had 7 minutes to get ready. What's more, there were three other managers there at the time, so they were able to take some of the load off me, meaning I didn't have to run around like quite so much of a headless chicken making sure the staff were in their right places and every cinema was evacuated.

Unfortunately, the fun wore off later in the night - everything was delayed by half an hour, meaning all my banking and reporting was delayed by half an hour, meaning I would get out half an hour late. As it turned out, I got out an hour and 40 minutes late, for various reasons - I had all of day staff's banking to do as well (which was more than I thought), and one of the key reports (which can be surprisingly temperamental for a sheet of numbers) decided to play games and defy all logic and put random numbers where all I wanted to see was zeros.

So I've spent the last few hours getting more and more annoyed and frustrated, and generally pissed off at the world in general. Now I'm at home online, listening to euphoric music (aka trance), and talking about my night in order to unwind.

Saw Mr Magorium's Wonder Emporium today. It's good. Dustin Hoffman is incredible.

Who knows what tomorrow holds. I guess I'll find out in a few hours. I need to get a rego for my car, and I've got work tomorrow night. That's about all I know.

Now Comes With Wheels

2007-12-14T22:40:00.000+13:00

Last night saw the final stage of an epic quest to find me a car. I've been searching for a car for the best part of the year, largely hampered by my total lack of anything to buy a car with. But I'd finally managed to scrape together enough money to (with a bit of a loan from my parents) buy a car! And not just any car, a good car. Or at least, a good car within my budget :D

For those of you who will want to know, here's a basic rundown of it:

It's a gun-metal gray 1997 Honda Accord VTS, with a 2.0L, 4 cylinder, in-line VTEC engine (F20B for the honda nuts). Unfortunately it isn't DOHC VTEC, which is far more powerful (like 30 - 40 more horsepower), but standard VTEC is good enough. The VTEC kicks in at about 5,000rpm.

The chassis is E-CF4. I'm not putting that there so much because any of you want to know, but more for reference.

It's a 5 speed manual (I don't drive automatics on principle), and has a max. power of 150 horsepower.

It's got power steering, ABS braking, and xenon lights. It also came with some nice rims, and tinted back windows. I don't like the tints, although everyone who's sat in the back seat (including my parents) think they're great. I might remove them, or I might just replace them with lighter ones.

So what still needs doing to it?

- Somehow it's managed to get a warrent without a high brake light. So that needs installing. I've bought a case, complete with bulb and bulb holder, so all that's left is to find a way to attach it (there's nothing there for it to screw into) and wire it up. Fortunately Liam and I are now brake-light installation professionals, so it shouldn't be much of a problem.

- It badly needs new speakers - the stock ones are pretty bad, and it needs a sub and amp, which will also need wiring up.

- A (green) pod filter in the bonnet - not only does it sound nicer, but it's apparently more fuel efficient too.

- Green interior and rear number plate lights.

- Maybe a new head-deck and gear stick knob

- Removing or replacing the tints

- Maybe, at some point in the distant future, a new paint job

- If some of my mates get their way, it might get lowered slightly. But not a lot - I'm not really into lowering - sure it looks good on some cars, and it improves your cornering, but you also look like a retard when you come up to a speed-bump, and too many try-hards get it done.

I don't have a picture of it, so one might appear sometime soon, when I can be bothered taking a photo, then bluetoothing it to my computer, then uploading it to blogger.

I'm so happy! I've been wanting a car for so long! And finally I have one!

XD

The Zoo on the Hill

2007-12-11T18:12:00.000+13:00

I have to say, the longer I've lived in Sydney, the more I love the city. There's just something about it! I think it's a mix of the liveliness, the culture, the history, and even just the attitudes of the people.

Went to the zoo today with Ben and Shannon. That's another reason I like Sydney - its zoo! While I can't say I've been to many zoos (three, in fact), Sydney's zoo is by far the best. You take a 10 minute ferry from downtown to the zoo quay, then you step off and ride a gondola to the top of the zoo (it's situated on a slope overlooking the harbour), and then you slowly wander back down the hill, through the zoo. If you just want to keep heading downhill then there are several paths you can take to the bottom. Then you can go back up to the top by the gondola, and take another path down. That's exactly what we did. Fortunately it didn't rain, although the weather forecast insisted there were going to be showers throughout the day, which meant there were spectacular views of the city.

I'm sitting on my bed in the apartment now, extremely bored, typing this. When I decided to post, I was going to go into a lot more detail about the zoo, but now I just can't be bothered. It's really hot at the moment, despite the fact that it's cloudy, and I just don't have the mental energy (or motivation) to go into detail about anything.

Haha, funny - as I was typing that I heard a loud crunch from outside followed by a car horn, and I went out to the balcony to have a look. Turns out some retard's gone and reversed into a car parked on the side of the road. It's people like that that make the roads dangerous places - not necessarily people who go fast, just people who can't control their cars, or can't make the connection between their eyes and their brain. Yes, you've got a bigger chance of losing control of the car, if you're speeding, but it's people like whoever it was who reversed into that car, who are truly dangerous.

I can just see the TV ad now - a whole lot of hot chicks standing on the side of the road waggling their little finger at people reversing into carparks.

It's weird how sound travels so much better upwards than it does outwards. I'm on the 13th floor of the building (and yes, the elevator DOES have a "13" button), and yet I heard that crunch as clearly as if I'd only been standing a few metres away. What's more, when I was standing on the balcony before, watching, I could hear the swearing and cursing perfectly easily.

Anyway, I need to go have a shower. We're going out to Parramatta tonight for dinner. Going to Amadeus Encore. It's supposed to be very nice, although I've never been.

Cyz

Movies

2007-12-08T18:52:00.000+13:00

I'm supposed to be at work right now. Or, failing that, I'm supposed to be at a barbecue at Julia's. But instead I'm at home, in bed, sick. Yesterday afternoon I woke up and realised I was coming down with what my sister had earlier in the week - sore head, sore throat, weak muscles, stuffed nose, and semi-fever.

Then while I was at work last night it came on. By the end of the shift (2.15am) I was completely out of it. Thinking back, I hate to think about the quality of my close last night. So I wrote myself down as sick today, and here I am in bed, having been here for most of the day, feeling like my head needs to explode.

For those of you who have hung out with me over the last week, I'm sorry. You'll probably get it too. Thankfully it only lasts a few days.

So I've seen quite a few movies recently. There are quite a few movies coming out over the next while, so we've had quite a few screen-tests recently, and I've been lucky enough to be able to go to some of them.

Going a few weeks back was Deathproof. That movie is WEIRD. It appears that Quentin Tarantino didn't feel the need for a plot in this movie, instead deciding to show, in detail, one sick freak's two attempts to get thrills by killing girls by driving into them with his car. That's all the movie is.

Last Sunday was Enchanted. It has some very funny moments, but most of them are in the trailer. I'd probably have loved it as a kid, but the main difference between this movie and other Disney animated movies is that this movie is a chick-flick. That and the humour of course. It's worth checking out, especially if you can see movies for free, but don't let your expectations get too high.

Then the following night was Hitman. I've been looking forward to this movie for a long time now, and it was almost everything I expected it to be. The only way it fell short of my expectations was that is wasn't as action packed as I expected. However it was still a good movie, and Thomas Gabriel (who plays the Hitman) is very good at bringing life to a character that apparently has absolutely no emotion or expression whatsoever. I think most actors in that role would have done Terminator impersonations, however Gabriel succeeded in making Hitman appear fully human while completely lacking in emotion. He's now on my list of actors-who's-movies-I-see-just-because-they're-in-them.

The night after that was Into The Wild. This movie is in the top 5 list of worst movies I have ever seen. It was two and a half hours of utter boredom. The main character is a retard, the lessons he learns are worse than the ones the characters in Crash learn, and the plot is completely uninteresting. Add to that the full-scale male nudity that occurs completely unexpectedly about halfway through, and you have a movie to make a point of not seeing. Even if you see it for free, it isn't worth the two and a half hours of your life that it takes up.

In other news, if you haven't seen it yet, the new trailer for Cloverfield is out!

(If you can't read what's written on the top of this photo, you need to click on the picture to get the full sized version):

Things To Do in an Elevator

2007-12-05T21:32:00.000+13:00

Here's a list of things to do should you ever get bored inside a lift:

1) Crack open your briefcase or handbag, peer Inside and ask "Got enough air in there?"
2) Stand silent and motionless in the corner facing the wall without getting off.
3) When arriving at your floor, grunt and strain to yank the doors open, then act as if you're embarrassed when they open themselves.
4) Greet everyone with a warm handshake and ask him or her to call you Admiral.
5) Meow occasionally.
6) Stare at another passenger for a while. Then announce in horror: "You're one of THEM" - and back away slowly
7) Say "DING" at each floor.
8) Say "I wonder what all these do?" And push all the buttons.
9) Make explosion noises when anyone presses a button.
10) Stare, grinning at another passenger for a while, then announce: "I have new socks on."
11) When the elevator is silent, look around and ask: "Is that your beeper?"
12) Try to make personal calls on the emergency phone.
13) Draw a little square on the floor with chalk and announce to the other passengers: "This is my personal space."
14) When there's only one other person in the elevator, tap them on the shoulder, then pretend it wasn't you.
15) Push the buttons and pretend they give you a shock. Smile, and go back for more.
16) Ask if you can push the button for other people but push the wrong ones.
17) Hold the doors open and say you're waiting for your friend. After a while, let the doors close and say "Hi Greg, How's your day been?"
18) Drop a pen and wail until someone reaches to help pick it up, then scream: "That's mine!"
19) Bring a camera and take pictures of everyone in the lift.
20) Pretend you're a flight attendant and review emergency procedures and exits with the other passengers.
21) Swat at flies that don't exist.
22) Call out "Group hug" and then enforce it.

Results, Or Something

2007-11-21T23:12:00.000+13:00

So I've got most of my results back.

And all I can basically say is "wow". Two big surprises!

Firstly, I DIDN'T fail Dynamics! I honestly don't know how that happened - there must have been some pretty significant scaling! The exam was worth 70% and I only did about half of it and I know I got stuff wrong!

The second big surprise was that I failed MM3 (Mathematical Modeling 3). That was really surprising. I was expecting a solid C+ or maybe B-. It's also possibly the best paper I could have failed - simply because it isn't a prerequisite for any courses next year, and it's a massive class, so there will be quite a few people repeating. Also, because it's maths, it's a lot easier the second time around! Unfortunately it means I have to endure being force-fed Statistics and Models for Optimisation again!

So these are my marks:

Machine and Structural Dynamics: C-
Thermal Engineering: C-
Manufacturing Systems: C
Mathematical Modeling 3: D+
French Language 1: Haven't got back yet.

So I pretty much scraped through this semester. Really doesn't surprise me. All of my friends from Engineering will instantly point out that had I gone to classes my marks would be a lot better. Not only will they point that out - they will repeat it several times each. They have a point - although I think that had I gone to classes then I'd have been far sleepier all semester - and I still wouldn't have learnt much. I don't learn in lectures. Especially ones at 8am.

What I needed, and what this semester was lacking (in fact what all semesters have been lacking) is study outside class throughout the semester. Maybe I should start doing that next semester. Maybe I've been saying that at the end of every semester.

Of all my papers - it had to be the one with Models for Optimisation in it!

Amazing

2007-11-11T20:43:00.001+13:00

http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_16498.aspx

Everything about this article is incredible.

One Tree Hill

2007-11-10T11:30:00.000+13:00

Pull up a seat, get yourself a drink, sit back and take a few minutes, because I'm going to tell you a story . . .

In the opinion of almost every Aucklander, One Tree Hill is a special part of Auckland. As a massive public park right in the middle of the city, when visiting One Tree Hill you're able to get completely away from the hustle and bustle of the city without ever leaving it. You can go for long walks, explore the craters and pa site, visit the observatory, or just sit back and watch the cows. Until a few years ago (the year 2000 in fact), the obelisk and the tree at the top of the hill served as twin landmarks, visible across the entire city, well known by every Aucklander of the last two generations. They were both timeless - as timeless as the name of the hill. It was almost part of the natural order of things that there was one massive tree at the top of One Tree Hill. No living person could remember a time when there was no tree at the top of the hill.

Interestingly enough, it has always been that way - as far back as memory can remember. One Tree Hill has always held a special place in the hearts of those who have lived in the Tamaki isthmus, and there has always been a tree at the top of the hill.

When the Maori first arrived in the Tamaki isthmus, the hill we know as One Tree Hill was probably covered in bush, just like all the lands around it. The Maori began clearing the bush on the lower slopes of the hill to make room for their garden farms, and, eventually, the bush on the upper slopes to make room for a pa. They named this hill Maungakiekie - "the hill of the kiekie vine". This pa eventually became the greatest, largest, strongest pa in the land, and possibly in New Zealand.

The Tamaki isthmus was a region that was greatly coveted by Maori tribes due to its rich volcanic soil, great fishing, and the sheer number of peninsulas and volcanic cones that made such good pa sites. In fact the name of the region, Tamaki-makau-rau - "the woman fought over by many lovers" is a result of this. By 1700 there were many tribes living in Tamaki, mostly living side-by-side in peace with each other. At some point in the 1600's this collection of tribes gave themselves a collective name - Waiohua - named after Hua, a famous leader and hero of one of the tribes.

Maori tradition records that near the end of the 1500's a group from the Northland tribe Ngati Awa, who were migrating from Northland to Taranaki, settled for a while near Maungakiekie, and while they were there, one of their chiefs had a son named Korokino. When someone was born in a Maori tribe, the cutting of the umbilical cord was an important ritual. Normally a stone knife was used, but for some reason, when Korokino's umbilical cord was cut, a sharpened totara stick was used. The umbilical cord was then buried on the summit of Maungakiekie (for some reason) and the totara stick that was used to cut it was planted beside it. This totara cutting took root, and began to grow into a tree, which, because of its origins, was very sacred. Its name was Te-totara-i-ahua "the totara tree that stands alone" and it became a famous landmark - a single tree at the top of the hill - a hill that was also home to the strongest pa in the region.

In the early 1700's the Waiohua tribes were being threatened by powerful neighbours - the Kaipara tribes of Ngati Whatua to the north, and the Hauraki tribes of Ngati Paoa to the east. There were many confrontations between these tribes and Waiohua, and the borders were constantly shifting. In the late 1740's a confrontation was started when a group of people from Tamaki, led by the main chief of Waohua, Kiwi Tamaki, who were guests at a funeral hosted by a Ngati Whatua tribe called Te Taou, turned on their hosts and attacked them and killed most of them. A famous reference to the tree on Maungakiekie was made here, when, while exchanging threats with two Te Taou chiefs, Kiwi Tamiki cried out that soon their bones would be hanging from the great totara that grew at the summit of One Tree Hill. As it turned out, it was wrong, and the Ngati Whatua tribes invaded Tamaki and completely routed the Waiohua tribes, and Kiwi Tamaki was killed in one of the first battles.

No-one knows how long the lone totara stood on Maungakiekie for. One of the chieftains of the conquerers, Tuperiri, took the Maungakiekie pa as his own, but by the 1780's One Tree Hill was abandoned. Whether the totara was still there or not is unkown, but by the time the Europeans arrived it was gone.

When the first British explorers arrived at Tamaki, the bush was beginning to grow back on Maungakiekie, as on many of the other volcanoes of Auckland. None of the explorers ever recorded that they had seen the totara, however they did record another tree at the summit.

When John Logan Campbell, one of the founding fathers of Auckland, first walked along the Maori track to Onehunga in April 1840, which passed by the base of Maungakiekie, he recorded the existence of "one solitary large tree on the crater summit". Later records state that this tree was a massive pohutukawa. In January 1846 it was recorded that the pohutukawa was hollow, meaning it was very old. It's quite possible that the pohutukawa had grown up next to the totara, and eventually replaced it. It was the existence of this pohutukawa that gave One Tree Hill its English name.

In the early 1840's Maungakiekie was bought from Ngati Whatua by a local Irish storekeeper, Thomas Henry. In 1852, the pohutukawa was chopped down. The reason for this, as one of Auckland's founding newspapers, the Daily Southern Cross, reported many years later was for firewood. As the Daily Southern Cross reported: "In the earliest days of Auckland a majestic pohutukawa crowned the very summit - the very crater top - until the fell hand of some Goth on Onehunga's shore levelled the grand landmark for firewood's sake."

In 1853 Thomas Henry fell into debt, and One Tree Hill was sold to the firm Brown & Campbell (partly owned by John Logan Campbell). By 1859 it was reported that all that was left of the pohutukawa - the "single lofty tree" was a stump "almost rotted down to the ground".

Campbell had been upset by the destruction of the pohutukawa, and 22 year later (he had been living in Europe for most of the time after his purchase of One Tree Hill) he had the opportunity to fix it. By now the hill was in the hands of the council, but he successfully applied for a 14 year lease of the reserve, and in 1875 he replanted the summit with some native saplings, with pines planted nearby to act as a shelter belt. Pines were often used as shelter belts in Auckland around this time, and many of them survive today. In east Auckland some well known examples are the row of pines at Cascades, and the pines on top of Pigeon Mountain.

Pines however tend to acidify the soil around them, and they have a very agressive root system, meaning that any plants near them aren't likely to survive for long. This is what happened to the trees that Campbell planted - they died, but the pines survived. By the 1890's a cluster of small pines had appeared at the top of One Tree Hill, and by 1900 these pines, which were growing very close together, when seen from fairly far away, gave the illusion of being one big tree. In the early twentieth century, the Cornwall Park Trust tried planting other trees on the summit, but none of them survived - either dying naturally or by being destroyed by vandals. The same thing happened to the pines, one by one they either died or were destroyed. The second-to-last one died in 1962, and since then there has once again been a single tree on One Tree Hill. This is the tree that the last two generations have grown up with - the one that was destroyed in the year 2000. It had been the strongest, hardiest, longest surviving tree of the original group that was planted by John Logan Campbell in 1875.

In 1940 the obelisk was built by trustees of the Sir John Logan Campbell Estate, as he had requested, to comemorate his admiration of the Maori people who had once lived on Maungakiekie. For sixty years it had stood as a twin landmark with the surviving pine trees, ad for 38 years it had stood beside the one remaining tree, as seen in the photo at the top of this post. Now it stands alone, as a memorial of the history of One Tree Hill. Fortunately, it shouldn't stand alone for many more years, as the Auckland City Council is (slowly) planning a planting program that will (eventually) see another tree crown the summit of One Tree Hill.

And that is the story of One Tree Hill.

Second Time Lucky

2007-10-31T17:32:00.000+13:00

Why does some of the warmest and most beautiful weather we've had since Febraury have to occur right in the middle of exams?? And why does it have to last DAYS at a time?? Beautiful weather almost never lasts more than a day or two in Auckland!

Oh yea, that's right, it's because university students have exams.

How could I forget.

My fifth and final exam is next Wednesday morning. I can't express just how much I'm looking forward to 12.30pm next Wednesday! As soon as that last exam's over I'm going to relax like I haven't relaxed in a long time. In fact I'm going to vegetate for a couple of days - doing absolutely nothing. Maybe I should plant myself in the garden. There's a good spot near the fence where I'd get plenty of sun.

My fourth exam is Friday morning. I'm also really looking forward to 12.30pm on Friday, because at that point all my major exams will be over and I'll have four days to study for a relatively easy exam. I won't be quite as relaxed as I will be next Wednesday afternoon, but I might get a bit of practice in. Fortunately this exam is open-book, so, while I am panicking over it, I'm not panicking as much as I have been for the past week and a half over the exams that I've now sat.

My third exam is tomorrow morning. This is my non-engineering course, French. I'm not looking forward to this exam, mostly because I'm not likely to do very well in it. I simply can't express myself in French well enough. I'll get the grammar fine, but the writing section I doubt I'll do well in, unless they give us a good topic, and the reading comprehension might as well be written in Greek. Fortunately it's only worth 30%!

My second exam was yesterday afternoon. I was pretty worried about it, but fortunately it wasn't too bad. It was maths, and there's only a certain number of questions they can ask in it - there aren't many ways you can say "solve this equation."

Unfortunately I wasn't very prepared for two of the four sections of the exam. One of the sections was Statistics, which I passionately and vocally hate! I don't know WHY they have to keep including it in our maths papers, when statistics has almost nothing to do with Engineering! Every year they manage to force-feed us with some more Statistics, just to ensure that at least part of our degree is entirely irrelevant.

The other section I wasn't prepared for was Modelling for Optimisation. Ever since college, I couldn't imagine a branch of "maths" that I could hate more than Statistics. Then I met Modelling for Optimisation. It is the stupidest, most pointless, time-wasting drivel I have ever had to study!! It should belong in a Business paper or a Management paper, not in Engineering!
While Statistics is about as fun as watching paint dry, Modelling for Optimisation is about as fun as throwing up the morning after an awesome party, but without the horrible taste. You could argue that because I never drink enough to throw up, I wouldn't know how bad it is to throw up after a party, but I do know - I know because I do Modelling for Optimisation.

So I didn't study for that section of the exam at all.

My first exam was last Friday morning. I had an entire week to focus on just that exam, but it wasn't enough. I know I failed it, and because it was worth 70%, that means I failed the entire course. The only way I could not fail is if they do some MASSIVE scaling. It would have to be pretty big because I reckon I'll be getting a solid D.

It's annoying that I'll have to repeat it next year. So far quite a few of my friends in Engineering have failed papers and had to repeat, but I've always managed to get through with nothing lower than a C (or higher than a B). Not this time. This time I'm the one that fell off the bandwagon. Fortunately I doubt I'll be alone. At least it's always easier the second time around.

So that's my exams in an acornshell. I can't wait until they're over.

Brain Teaser

2007-10-25T17:11:00.000+13:00

For those of you who need a break from study (or those of you who don't have exams), here's a little something different:

Five people live in a row of five houses; each house has a different coloured front door, each person drives a different make of car, listens to a different kind of music, and owns a different kind of pet:

- Mary lives in the house with the Red front door
- Susan keeps Dogs as pets
- Ryan listens to Rap
- The house with the Green front door is immediately to the left of the house with the White front door
- The owner of the house with the Green front door listens to Classical music
- The driver of the Toyota keeps Budgies
- The owner of the house with the Yellow front door drives a Ford
- The person living in the Center house listens to Jazz
- Bob lives in the First house (the one on the very left)
- The person who drives the Honda lives next to the person who owns Cats
- The person who keeps Guinea Pigs lives next to the driver of the Ford
- The person who drives a Mazda also listens to House music
- Peter drives a Nissan
- Bob lives next to the house with the Blue front door
- The driver of the Honda lives next to the person who listens to Rock.

- Who keeps the Goldfish?

War

2007-10-21T21:27:00.000+13:00

On September 6th, in an almost entirely secret operation, Israel attacked and destroyed a nuclear facility in Syria. Israeli spies had tracked a North Korean ship carrying nuclear material to a Syrian port, and continued to track the cargo as it made its way inland to the town of Dayr as Zawr to a facility that Israeli spy satellites had already been monitoring.

Within hours an Israeli commando team had crossed the border, and made its way to the facility, taking soil samples and returning. The soil samples indicated that there was indeed nuclear material at the site, and shortly afterwards, with American approval, an Israeli strike force attacked and destroyed the site.

Funnily enough it didn't lead to war, and both sides seem to be downplaying the event, although Syrian officials have visited North Korea, indicating that they may be co-ordinating a response.

Read about it here. Or here.

- - - - - - -

The Pentagon has drawn up plans for a blitz campaign to destroy Iran's military capabilities in three days. The US is also fitting its B2 bombers with massive bunker buster bombs, in a move that could indicate a coming strike against Iran.

Read about it here.

Britain has also indicated their support for airstrikes, and their willingness to help out in the event of any Iranian retaliation. British troops have also moved to the Iranian border.

As reported by the London Daily Telegraph on October 8.

- - - - - - -

France has also gone public in saying that for Iran to have nuclear weapons would be "unacceptable" and French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner has said that France is preparing for war as a worst case scenario. France has also indicated a willingness to get involved with the war in Iraq, proposing itself as a peace broker between the warring factions in Iraq.

As reported by the Agence France Presse on September 25.

- - - - - - -

Russia has also reached a deal with Syria in which it will supply Syria with yet more weapons in exchange for the ability to build a naval base on the Syrian coast. This will put the Russian fleet very close to both the Israeli fleet and the US 6th fleet, based in Turkey. In August Syria began receiving Russian deliveries of its SA-22 E defense system. Syria has also massed troops along its border with Israel.

Russia is also trying to build a naval base in the Gaza strip. If successful the Israeli navy would be sandwiched between two Russian fleets.

The US aircraft carrier Enterprise and it's associated fleet have also been playing wargames with the French in the Mediterranean recently. The US 5th fleet has been dispatched to Guam. In all, 30 American warships, 280 American fighters, and 22,000 soldiers and sailors have recently been dispatched, mostly to the Mediterranean.

It's apparently a fairly well known fact that Russia has maintained a line of nuclear submarines off both coasts of the US since the Cold War.

In August Russian aerial patrols began over the Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic Oceans for the first time since 1992. Sometime also in August, two RAF fighters intercepted and shadowed a Russian bomber flying over the Atlantic. Vladimir Putin has claimed that there are 20 Russian bombers regularly making long-range patrols.

Putin has also recently stepped up the anti-American propaganda: Only two days ago, on October 19, Putin claimed that the US had an "erotic" desire to invade Russia, and that the US and it's allies had organised his assassination to stop him meeting with Iranian leaders. He claimed that only Russia's military abilities stopped Russia from sharing the same fate as Iraq.

Putin also said that if the US goes ahead with its missile defence shield in Europe, then Russia would "act accordingly" and hinted that such action would involve an invasion of Eastern Europe.