Rage Against the Machine

Rage Against the Machine is getting back together and playing live tonight at Coachella. That would be something worth seeing. I went over to their website to see if they had any streaming video/audio, which would be really cool. They have streaming audio/video and after installing stuipid DRM Windows Media Player 11, I could get a stream. But it turns out they aren't streaming anything on RATM. Actually I just checked, they are on at 11PM PST, so no chance I'll catch them tonight. Oh well...I guess I should just be happy they are back together.

Something not worth seeing is the fucking Raptor's game. Down by over 30 in the 3rd quarter is just inexcusable. Bosh is really sucking in this series, like most of the other Raptors (except TJ). But I suppose that can be expected since the Raps have no playoff experience whatsoever. Bosh needs to get use to how physical the playoffs are, and hopefully he'll come back next year better prepared. Also, anyone notice how the crowd is affecting Vince? He can't play in Toronto because the booing is so loud. I think he's the type that wants other people to like him and he is obviously not liked in Toronto. The booing and chanting of "VC sucks" (as my coworker and cousins tell me from being there firsthand) definitely gets to him, even if he won't admit it. I thought Raps had a chance in the series, but looks like I'll have to look forward to next year.

Anyway, I'll end with a quote from Tom Morello, from RATM: Is it coincidence that in the seven years that RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE has been away that the country has slid into right-wing purgatory? I think not," he said. "It occurred to all of us that the times were right to see if we can knock the Bush administration out in one fell swoop, and we hope to do that job well. This administration has done enough damage that it may take generations to undo. This is an administration that believes it's beyond the laws of the land, which is fine for emperors, but not so great for presidents. One thing this president isn't above is the laws of physics, and there is no action without reaction. And we're part of that reaction."

I Blame Kevin

I got a hit from the US Customs department. I blame Kevin, because he posted about the VT shootings..

Boring Diary Post

Haven't updated in a while. Lot's of people clicked on my link for the "My Toronto is" voting, so hopefully many votes were submitted. I wonder how much Matt's one comment skewed the voting. I was hoping more people would comment, since so many of you clicked through!

Even though it's boring, what have I been up to lately?

My parents are off in China/Korea/Taiwan for work/vacation and my sister is back in Queens so no one is in the Toronto home and therefore, there's no one to cook my weekend and Monday/Tuesday meals. I bought a four pack of steaks for $18, so I've been happily eating that this week. So far one's gone in the oven, the other on the foreman grill and tonight's will be pan fried. Any suggestions for the last one? Unfortunately, Steaks don't make for great pictures for BiteMe, since it's just brown. Bacon looks so much more appetizing.

I've caught a little bug so I have a slight sore throat and cough, but nothing serious. I'm finding I need a lot of rest this week though. Yeah, that's my excuse for not posting. It's also my excuse for not working out this week.

My computer started working again spontaneously, and since ATI is all out of stock of discounted cards, I'll try to hold out on making a new purchase until they have some more in stock. I keep my computer turned on all the time now for fear of it not working again.

Been playing a lot of Civilization IV recently. I only started playing because I read an article in Wikipedia about the Mongols and then hours later, had proceeded to read several (dozen) more articles. Then I felt like taking over the world myself. Since that's not practical in real life, I'll do it virtually and hence the Civ IV playing. Civ IV supports multiplayer, so this could be an idea for our next LAN party. Although it could potentially suck for someone that died early or if someone got ganged up on. Still, any supporters?

Started to read Joy Luck Club, which should be required reading for all CBC/ABC, especially first generation emigrants. Perhaps not as relevant to HKers though.

I had no idea you could get season tickets for the Blue Jays for only $95! Sweet deal, and could be fun if you go with fun people (because the game itself isn't that exciting). Too bad I live in the wrong city.

Played some Charades with Taboo cards in Reety's really sweet condo. How do you do "Billy the Kid" in charades?

Played some Settlers of Catan, which was fun, but not the greatest in the world. I still want to try Carcassonne, the other classic tile game. Apparently they've made these games for Xbox Live so it could be fun online as well, but you'd miss out on the social interaction (read: arguing) with your friends.

Haven't heard from a lot you recently, so what have you been up to?

My Toronto is _______

A friend attending OCAD is a finalist in an art design competion with the "the goal of creating impactful and aspirational messages of an ideal city and community in which they live."

The winner will get their design displayed on billboards throughout the city.

Please take a minute and check out the designs and vote for your favourite! I'm not going to say which one is her's, but I (personally) believe it to be the best one by far. Email me if you really want to know.

Because of the nature of this selection process and from what I've heard, it seems like it might become a popularity contest. I don't know how widely this is advertised to the general public, so it has the potential for the friends of the participants to ultimately decide the winner, thereby making it a popularity contest and unfortunately not based upon quality. So I encourage you to vote and pass it on to others.

But then again, beauty is subjective, so even though I would like you vote for her's, it's really up to you to decide. :)

Mii's Galore

This site has posted a whole bunch of Mii's. They're fun to look at, the following are some of my favourites:

• Scorpion (from Mortal Kombat)
  
• Ugly Betty
  
• Cooking Mama
  
• Pikachu
  
• Ice Climbers
  
• Blanka (from Street Fighter)
  
• Magneto
  
• Hamburglar
  
• Yakko (from Animaniacs)
  
• Mr. Garrison from South Park
  
• Leonidas from 300
  
• Bob Ross
  
• Joker
  
• Sylar from Heroes
  
• Che Guevara
  

Look over the Mii Plaza site and leave comments on the ones you like!

I'm also thinking about weekly posting the questions that are on the Everybody Votes Wii channel. As a weekly feature, I can post the results the following week. But I haven't figured out how to easily type it up on my computer yet, since the computer is not at the TV. I guess having a laptop would help this.

A sample question from this week: Which type of movie do you prefer? Action or Comedy?

This poll closed already and apparently 58% preferred comedy to action. 71.9% of females preferred comedy while 53.7% of males also preferred comedy, but not as much.

If a great musician plays great music but no one hears . . . Was he really any good?

A violin virtuoso, with $3.5 million dollar violin plays in the subway. What happens next?

This article had been linked to frequently in the blogosphere, but I didn't pay much attention to it. It sounded like a gimmick or a stunt without much thought. But then I opened it and started to read.

As I read, I was surprised to discover tears well up in my eyes. It's not a particularly sad story and definitely not an intentional sob story. Only after I started to read the comments/chat and realized that others had also cried did I let a tear fall - as if it was ok because others had also done so (yeah, I'm weird like that...). I'm not sure why I had this reaction and still not sure even after reading comments from others who had also shed a tear.

The concept of the article sounds conceited, but if you read it through, the writer presents this experiment without conceit, or seems to at least. The rest of my entry is about this article, so read it now if you were thinking about doing so. I've also included the comments/chat link as well.

One of the most interesting points from the article is about the "framing" of art. After taking music history, the way I listened was completely transformed - it was properly "framed" for me. From a young age, I had listened to my father's classical music, but only really began to appreciate it after my days at the Conservatory. As Kant (from the article) puts it, "to properly appreciate beauty, the viewing conditions must be optimal."

On the other hand, it annoys me when people listen to classical music just because they think it makes them seem more sophisticated / complex / rich / 'cultured' - to like it only to impress onto others your sophistication and to not enjoy it for the music's intrinsic properties. The emotional impact of music is emphasized by the writer over and over again in the comments section. That is, it's not necessarily the type of music, but the performance and emotional impact that matter. The comments reminded me of a fitting quote from one of my favourite movies, Shawshank Redemption:

Red: "I have no idea to this day what those two Italian ladies were singing about. Truth is, I don't want to know. Some things are best left unsaid. I'd like to think they were singing about something so beautiful, it can't be expressed in words, and makes your heart ache because of it. I tell you, those voices soared higher and farther than anybody in a gray place dares to dream. It was like some beautiful bird flapped into our drab little cage and made those walls dissolve away, and for the briefest of moments, every last man in Shawshank felt free."

Even having said all that, would I have stopped and listened? When I'm travelling somewhere I always view it as a waste of time and try to minimize the time spent. On the other hand, I have a unique perspective because I use to (poorly) play the violin in grade school. After some reflection, I'm almost certain I would not have stopped and listened. And perhaps, that is my answer to why.

From the article:

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

-- from "Leisure," by W.H. Davies

My question to you: would you have stopped to listen?

Desktop Tower Defense

Wow, this little game is taking over my life. This is practically the only thing I can do with my "safe mode" computer. I'm still not very good at it, because I'm not close to reaching a top score. That scoreboard is CRAZY! Remember add your scores to the group, "hustheman".

When I open up my computer up, I can smell what I think is a leaking electrolytic capacitor. I've blown them up in the past and know what they smell like. Since I havne't disassembled it, I can't physically see which one is blown so I can replace it. Anyway, I think I'll be getting a new computer regardless.

The cards at ATI are out of stock! I hope ATI continues the employee discount program, because it's such a good deal. I don't have high hopes though, especially after ATI was bought out by AMD. They are also behind NVIDIA, as they aren't offering a DX10 card until May at the earliest.

I'm probably not going to get a Mac as I want to do some gaming on this computer, as I've never really had a decent gaming computer before. Running virtualization (XP and OS X) does sound promising though as I hear from Maggie and Mike that it's pretty slick. I probably won't get a laptop either, since I'm looking for a bit more power and it lasting a longer. I might pick up a laptop down the road at some point so I can bring something back and forth from Waterloo/Toronto.

I currently have 3 HDD (80, 250, 320), LCD/keyboard/mouse and can borrow a video card from Matt to wait until ATI/AMD has more cards in stock. I'm not considering a complete system (Dell), although I should research it. Is it cheaper to buy a complete system or build my own?

So I need:
1) Motherboard
2) CPU
3) RAM
4) Video Card
5) Case + power supply
6) OS

Also, I don't have a DVD burner, so I'll probably need to pick one of those up as well. Any advice?

Toronto FC

Any soccer fans out there? If you're a fan, then you probably already know that we're getting a soccer team, Toronto FC!

This brand new team, starting this year is part of the MLS league, which is based in North America. Well, North America now that Toronto has a team, otherwise it would just be the US. Also, the biggest news this year is the addition of David Beckham to the LA based team, but I suppose mostly girls would be interested in this fact.

Personally, I'm not much of a soccer fan, but I think it'd be fun to go to a game sometime this summer, especially since this is Toronto's inaugural season. Season tickets are already sold out, but single ticket games will go on sale soon. I already signed up to be an insider member to get earlier access to single game tickets. Tickets go on sale Monday, so either remind me or sign up for yourself!