Which Kenshin character are you?

Which Rurouni Kenshin character are you? Take the (lame) quiz to find out! I got the following:

You are Shishio Makoto also known as the pyromaniac. You are a megalomaniac without equal and have quite a thing for fire. You are a genius when it comes for evil plans. However, your cockiness tend to get in the way. Somewhat bitter, you tend to take it out on the world. The world owes you a favor and the world will pay... even if that means you have to envelope innocence into your evil plan.

That sounds like me.

Same thing we do every night, Pinky! Try to take over the world!

late but sure

I finally went to see Episode 3. I didn't see it before because I didn't want to be part of the hype this time. The first 2 episodes left me too despondent and I didn't want to suffer all that again. My plan of lowering my expectations enough so that they would forcefully be met worked as I expected. Sadly, after watching Episodes 1 through 3 I feel like I like a little less episodes 4 through 6. I used to be a good Star Wars, that's why I don't like Star Wars anymore. The movie was way too dense, maybe if they had distributed the action better among the first two movies I would be more pleased.
I wonder if Mr. Lucas' ego is completely satisfied now, else my childhood memories will have to wait until Star Wars 1-3 Special Edition to rest in peace.

This is no Cold War

This is no Cold War; this is a Hot one. Without the threat of a counter attack, Bush's government has decided to change its nuclear policy to one of first strike. That means, that if U.S. feels threatened by a country developing nuclear capabilities, such as North Korea or Iran, it will strike first with nuclear weapons. Remembering how the invasion of Iraq was based on those false claims, it troubles me how they could use this to strike anywhere without any reason. Even McNamara is against it now. Many people are arguing that Bush's administration is inventing excuses of threats for this purposes. Historically the rise of an empire and invasion, like The Third Reich, was always backed up with paranoid claims of threats from everywhere. In this hypocrisy, is not unexpected to see North Korea reaffirming that they will not talk to U.S. about nuclear policy.

God Bless America!

The Producers: The Musical

Springtime for Hitler and Germany
Deutschland is happy and gay!

The musical The Producers visited Austin and I went to see it with some friends. A producer and an accountant device a scam to become rich with a Broadway flop, and they decide to produce the worst play ever.
It was a bit different from the movie, and Gene Wilder was missed. But, the songs were brilliant, and in many ways made it much better. Some of the choreographies were particularly funny, but I don't want to give them away. Now I understand what the whole furor around this musical is about.

The Führer is causing a furor!
He's got those Russians on the run
You gotta love that wacky hun!

The Magic of Seedless Fruits

Hi! My name is Troy McClure! You might remember me from science-related blog posts such as: "Fainting Goats are our friends" and "Intelligent Design: Monkeys are too smart to believe in it!".

Have you always wondered how seedless fruits are developed? For example, this delicious green and red watermelon I'm eating right now has only white, soft seeds that can be chewed and swallowed. That sounded really gross. I have found more than one article explaining this mystery of the fruit-farming world.

In a nutshell, the explanation is the following. First, you need two parents with a different number of chromosomes. This is much like a horse and a donkey, or a normal person and a person with Down syndrome (I just learned that mongoloid is considered non-PC). In watermelons this genetic disorder is generated by introducing a chemical called colchicine. Colchicine is a FDA-approved poison that acts very much like arsenic, and has no antidote. In small quantities it inhibits mitosis, and can be used to create a tetraploid seed. These, after been combined with the normal diploid seeds, lead to infertile plants with weak triploid seeds, the seedless-mules of the fruit family!

How do they reproduce if they have subpar seeds? Cutting is the obvious alternative, but it wasn't clear to me how to use that. Recall that many plants are very fragile to cutting, and have trouble developing roots from it. Rooting hormones are used for this purpose, and these plants tend to develop in different, more strict, conditions than their normal-chromosomed ones.

All the DIY genetic monsters fans out there, be warned! This process of cutting and using rooting hormones for asexual reproduction only works for plants, and shouldn't be used with mules as it could lead to mule injury and, possibly, death!

So my friends, I hope you enjoyed our exploration of the mongoloids of the fruit-farming world!

Aniara

The sci fi epic poem Aniara: A Review of Man in Time and Space deserves the Nobel Prize its author got for it. Aniara is the spaceship that was going to save 8000 humans from the polluted, radioactive wasteland Earth became. But shortly after the trip, they lose control and end up headed towards the void that space is.

Gondonder Aniara
has carried on its journey
for twenty years today.
And many stood unspeaking.
But suddenly someone said
a light-year is a grave.

A very different book from what I'm used to read. A short but emotional read. Now space feels very lonely, cold and sad.

When someone you had loved has reached death's door
space stands harder and more brutal than before.

Expsychogirlfriend's voicemails

This site has a series of voicemails from some dude's ex-psycho-girlfriend. Really freaky stuff. Listen to them in order, they get crazier and crazier.

Slacker

Slacker is about weird people that I have met. For the movie, most of the actors didn't have any previous acting experience, they were just honestly weird people. Check out the cast interviews in the DVD, very interesting too. It is really cool to to recognize many of the places that they visit.
If you are slightly interested in the "Keep Austin Weird" movement, and want to know what it is all about (and how it was even crazier in the 90s), check this movie out. Slacker: a series of interconnected weird characters breathing Austin.

A Big Old Nerd

I just reread my last post. I was talking about how that was an awesome history book, and how I want to read more about history.

My mom says I'm cool.
-Milhouse

A lil bit of atlas, a lil bit of history, and BAM!

A Short History of the World by the Sci Fi author H.G. Wells (The Invisible Man, The Time Machine, War of the Worlds and many others) is an incredible piece of nonfiction. It paints with broad but interesting strokes the history of the world from 2 Billion years ago to the 1930s. His observations allowed me to see overall patterns in history, and to put all this fragmented concepts into a coherent frame. Super readable, super interesting, super informative, this 300 pages book should be required reading!

Why don't they include books like this into the high school curriculum? This one is much better than any history textbook I have ever seen! It focuses mostly on western history, and has a heavy focus on wars, which I loved, but has enough suggestions on other books to read if you are interested in a subject that you can easily keep reading more and more about anything.

If you consider yourself a human, or even if you live on the third planet away from a star called Sol and are literate, go read this very readable masterpiece.

Now! Seriously! It is a must read.

The maps in my edition of the books weren't very good or clear, so I complimented the book with Hammond Atlas of World History. The beautiful reference book has awesome maps and is very well written, but a bit on the pricey side (I bought it used).

It has been a lot of fun for the past days reading both books, putting all the little pieces of history that I knew together, and writing down a list of history books (so many!) that I would have to read. I've learned quite a bit.

The Revenge of the Sith

Star Wars Episode III The Revenge of the Sith did not suck.
Star Wars Episode III The Revenge of the Sith did not suck.
Star Wars Episode III The Revenge of the Sith did not suck.
The fights were pretty good, but some characters died way too easy. The plot was satisfying, giving a good sense of closure. The rise of the empire and the destruction of the Jedi were believable! The way Anakin turns to the dark side was also appropriate. Every question was answered. The dialogues sucked as expected, but there was enough action in between to prevent me from barfing.

I'm glad Star Wars is over, finally.

May the force be with you.

And here is how to make your own Jedi robe.

Clone Wars V2

I just finished watching the Cartoon Network's Clone Wars Volume 2 online. Yes, just like with Volume 1, every episode is online, for free. The whole microseries takes us from the end of the attack of the clones, as still unidentified phantom menace pushes its grips to take over the republic. It starts with a Padawan Anakin with a golden robotic hand, fighting as the republic strikes back. Not only Anakin grows in strength, but also faces his greatest challenge so far that leaves him as a Jedi Knight with a black robotic arm. Yoda and Mace Windu kick some serious ass. Force pushing a whole robot army is a feat to be seen. Griveous is a scary, deathly, light saber collecting, Jedi killing machine that begs to be seen. Finally, the Clone Wars sets the story to Episode 3 by closing as the audience sees the return of the Jedi Anakin skywalker to Coruscant. This experimental series is much better than Episode 1 or Episode 2. Awesome. Watch it if you haven't. It will give you a new hope.
Now I'm ready to go see The Revenge of the Sith.

Rum Tasting

10 dollars gave me access to a Rum Tasting event. I tried every rum I was slightly curious about (14) and the rest were just generic girly rums. They had some expensive rums, such as Pyrat Cask 23, that goes for 200$ a bottle and 50$ a shot. Nevertheless I can say that, although the didn't have it there, yes, my bottleDon Q Gran Añejo is the best rum in the world by far.

Metal Gear Solid 4 Promo Poster

Metal Gear Solid 4 will be directed by Hideo Kojima.

I think I can identify in the promo poster Vamp, Revolver, Solid, Otacon. Do you recognize anyone else? Is that Meryl?

Advent Children Trailer

The new trailer for Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is out. Here is the torrent for it. It hits the main plot, shows some old characters (Barret!), new characters and features the One Winged Angel score. I can't forget to mention the Bahamut summon.

Fainting Goats

There is a breed of goats called fainting goats. When startled or exited, their muscles stiffen and the goat just faints. It is weird to describe, just watch the video. There is something funny about a goat just fainting.

Best man

Who is the best man? I am.

My best friend is getting married.

Right Jab

Tito got his ass kicked. Wright showed an excellent technique, from his wall-like defense, to a constant right jab that frustrated Trinidad. The fight was sad and pathetic.

Anakin Dynamite

What happens if you cross Star Wars Episode 3 and Napoleon Dynamite? A quite funny video clip! (Warning, will not make sense if you aren't familiar with any of those movies)

Because good Jedis have good skills. Lightsabers skills, speeder bike skills, meditation skills...

The Bible Game

It was announced a GBA game called The Bible Game.

On the GBA, gamers will play as either Billy or Jenny as they attempt to protect the "Armor of God." The action adventure trivia game takes characters across seven levels as they answer questions about the Old and New Testaments.

What is funny is that on the same page, to the right, gamespot has a feature of "if you like this game, check this other one too." For this game it says:

Also Consider: GTA Advanced.

The meaning of life, the universe and everything else

My life has recovered its meaning: its soundtrack. I got my iPod back. No more battery problems. Life is good.

Sin City

Frank Miller's Sin City is the story of a city. A dark, sensual, dangerous, deadly city. Miller's minimalistic ink contrasts the heroes, or antiheroes, with the corrupt that make Basin City drop its first syllable. Sin City is a noir dame of revenge.

Volume 1 - The Hard Goodbye
My favorite volume, with some very interesting characters and story.

Volume 2 - A Dame to Kill For
A good story offering some backstory to the next volume.

Volume 3 - The Big Fat Kill
Really good art and action! Miho, the badass jap killer, rocks!

Volume 4 - That Yellow Bastard
Probably the best story of them all.

Volume 5 - Family Values
A weak story, but has some really kickass Miho action!

Volume 6 - Booze, Broads, & Bullets
Very short stories revisiting some of the characters from before. Probably the weakest volume.

Volume 7 - Hell and Back
An excellent way to say good bye to the city. His best art in the series and a good story.

The movie got the stories from volume 1, 3 and 4 perfect, and seem like a reasonable choice given than those are among the best ones. So, you have seen the movie, should you read the comics? Although the movie is identical, the full arc of the books lets you get to know the City much better, in a way the movie couldn't do. And the City is the most interesting character of them all.

Big Bro' in da house (and Senate)

Police State: -a totalitarian régime that uses the excuse of constant war to permit police to surveil the entire population.

The national RealID has been approved. Oh Shit.

Bill Summary & Status for the 109th Congress
Title: To establish and rapidly implement regulations for State driver's license and identification document security standards, to prevent terrorists from abusing the asylum laws of the United States, to unify terrorism-related grounds for inadmissibility and removal, and to ensure expeditious construction of the San Diego border fence.

The Senate just approved this. 100-0. Why is this bad? Schneier has a really good easy on the subject.
Is everything over now? Almost.
I better start practicing my Jedi mind tricks.

You don't need to see my identification.

Remember when the republicans used to stand for a government that stays out of the life of the individual?

Maybe I will start my own country after all.

crunch time is over

I don't like to post that much about my personal life, I don't think you care that much anyway. But in case someone is wondering why I haven't posted in some time, here's an explanation...
My colleagues and me finally finished our project. The last weeks have been really tough but it was worth it. Our presentation was at a hotel, so we had really good food and played some black jacks tables. We asked for some free playing cards and they gave each one of us 12 unsorted decks. I finally went through them and I have 11 complete decks.
The thing is that after all of those tough nights, I have one completely free day. It was some time until I figured out that I still have 1 week of classes left, then finals and then only one day to fly to my summer job.

Operation Iraqi Liberty (OIL) update

Iraq looks more and more like 'Nam now. There isn't any sign that it will calm down, and even Mr Evil Moronic Monkeyass says he doesn't have a timeline to pull out. A some people have been commenting on the memo. What is funny is that I haven't seen it on any news or media in the Land of the Born Again. What is the memo? Well, a leaked memo from Blair's office, that way before the Iraq war clearly indicates how U.S. knew that Iraq wasn't a threat, but wanted to invade nevertheless. A summary of the memo is given here.

The Smartest Guys in the Room

Remember Enron? What happened there? Do you really remember how it got all the way down to bankruptcy? The documentary Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room is a very through study on how Enron got to go from being 6 years in a row selected by Fortune as the most innovative company, to the biggest financial fraud, involving the biggest banks in the world and the most respected accounting firm. The movie stresses that this was not a story about complicated finances and numbers beyond mere mortal's comprehension, but a story of greed and human failure. There are checks and balances in the system, but everyone gave in, trusted Enron and their self proclaimed fame of being the smartest guys in Wallstreet. Very well documented information, like videos and audio tapes, also supported the connection between Enron and the California Blackouts, and how the Bush administration decided to not interfere. A well done documentary: informative, fast paced and scary.

The CEO, Skilling, claimed that his favorite book was Dawkins' The Selfish Gene. Well, he obvioulsy didn't read it carefully. A Darwinian system can only support so many parasites that do not produce anything.

All the President's Men

All the President's Men is a superb movie! How did two young journalists were able to topple President Nixon? With a superb cast, Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman, the good directing made this a gripping thriller. Which isn't a small feat, considering that we all know the ending. Wow, I must say.

"I'm not a crook."
-Nixon

Rilo Kiley

The Rilo Kiley concert last night was surprisingly good. They rocked more than I thought they could ever do, and had a very tight show overall. The most shocking part was that I thought that besides the lead singer, a girl that dressed like out of her 60 y/o mom's closet, they had another girl in the vocals. I was wrong, the backup vocals person was a guy, and I think his register was higher than most girl singers I've ever heard.
I also had seen Neva Dinova before, as the opening band for the very dissapointing Bright Eyes concert. I remembered them as being pretty lame, even their free music in their web page isn't that good. But last night it was like another band. They had interesting surreal videos on stage, sort of inspired on the Smashing Pumpkins, and in my book, that is a good thing. Also, their sound changed a lot, now they have a very strong Radiohead influence, and in my book, that is a good thing and very hard to pull off. Best wishes to them, they could mature into a pretty good band if they keep going in that direction.

The Old Man and the Sea

Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea is a very short novel; one of those classics that should be read by everyone. In high school I had to read it, but I didn't; instead I had someone tell me what happened, and took the respective test. Now, with genuine interest, I decide to retake the task of reading the novella, and, what a delight! What a treat the honorable battle between man, old man, and fish, marlin, it was! If you are slightly interested in the bohemian lifestyle of the sea, or just want a good story of man versus nature, check it out.

Texas Bans Sexy Cheerleaders

This ultra-conservative religious country is retarded. Assuming a uniform retarded-ness density, Texas, being so big, naturally is the most retarded state. A bill has been passed in the House to prohibit overly sexual cheerleading dances in schools. In case that you don't understand what I just said, let me say it again: a bill has been passes in the House to prohibit overly overtly sexual cheerleading in schools. No definition of what is considered too-sexual is given.

After the vote, Edwards, clutching one of the blue and white plastic pompoms handed out secretly to each representative, said his bill would strike a blow for standards in a society that, in general, is opposed to morality. Edwards said that he knew the vote would be close and that he expected a tough fight.
"Satan is not just going to let you walk over and get something," he said.

Rep. René Oliveira, D-Brownsville, despairing of Edwards' inability to say exactly what "overtly sexually suggestive" meant, said the Legislature had no business being "the moral thought police doing it in a Big Brother way from Austin."

Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, brought silence to the chamber when she shrieked, "It's stupid. It's a disgrace. This is a ridiculous bill."

Think of the children! Won't somebody think of the children!

Charles Bukowski

I just finished reading Ham on Rye, an almost-autobiographical novel of Charles Bukowski growing up during the Depression to become a very fucked up man at the beginning of WW2. The novel starts as his early years as a weird boy with a horrible dictator-father that didn't wanted him to play with other kids. This molds him into a very violent, full of hatred teenager, and later a sadist antisocial man.

The pages fly as you read them; everything is so horrible that you have to keep on reading. And those fights do pack some punch! A well written, disturbing and accesible peek into the mind of a sociopath.

Since he mentions over and over how ugly he is, I did a quick google search for his picture, and found this not-appropriate-for-work picture of the author. After comparing it with some other pictures, I can state that, yes, that is the author having a good time.

The Scrolling Buckle

You always had dreams of having an LED Ad Board for a belt buckled. Finally, your dreams have come true! Right? That was you dream, right? Wasn't it? No? Lame-o.
Can you come up with funny messages for it? The ones I have thought of are:

If you can read this, you are literate.

Want vacunao?

Below this message there is a penis.

Just suck it.

Got milk?

We Love Katamari

The sequel to one of the most original games in years, Katamari Damacy, is being made. This article has the inside scoop. Some of the new stuff is expected: bigger stages, expanded Battle Mode. One is very surprising: coop mode with one Katamari. That is, since the Katamari is controlled with two sticks, one for each side, each controller would control only one of them.

the legend of the special.

I was finishing a project last night that I knew would take me the whole night. I decided to have a really heavy dinner so that I wouldn't have to stop because I was hungry.

Enters the Ricomini Special, a beastly sandwich with 7 different kinds of meat and no salad. Just bread and a more meat than Noah's ark.

It was awesome; I fought that animal for 15 minutes devouring its succulent interiors bite by bite. I actually felt my arteries getting clogged and yet I am somehow disillusioned that I couldn't eat the whole thing.

I had a stomach ache for the following 16 hours that I know was not food poisoning. My stomach was actually having a difficult time digesting that behemoth so I decided to give it a break and eat some salad during the day.

I feel like I have shortened my life by several years which is something that will make me think the next time I decide to have one. But still, it was worth it.

Hotel Rwanda

The movie Hotel Rwanda is based on the story of Paul Rusesabagina, a hotel manager that protected more than 1,200 refugees during the '94 civil war that took the lives, mostly using machetes, of more than 1,000,0000 people and led to what is describes as the biggest exodus of modern history. The movie has a made-for-tv feel to it. The photography and script aren't memorable, but the plot is. A rather depressing story about how cruel we can be.

Testaclese has been confiscated!

As part of a parody to V-Day, some students started P-Day, with its Penis Monologues. But, the mascot, Testaclese, has been confiscated by the university!

Battery-less iPod

My iPod's battery is dead. Gone. My life is meaningless without its soundtrack. I'll send it today to get it fixed.