Terrebll advertisement makes me want to kick someone in the grOwens

Student elections will happen soon, so everyone running for a position has put up signs all over campus with no information other than their name and something unremarkable that rhymes with it. However, there is one advertisement on campus that caught my attention. There is someone with the last name of Owens running for a position and he has superimposed his picture over a picture of Terrell Owens, the greedy, contract-dismissing, star-disrespecting, antagonistic, self-absorbed, loudmouth of a wide receiver for the Philadelphia Eagles.

You see, one time, several years ago at Texas Stadium when Terrell Owens played for the San Francisco 49ers, he scored a touchdown and then ran out to the middle of the field and spiked the ball on the Dallas Cowboys' star. Then, he tried to do it again before Cowboys safety George Teague tackled him. Now Owens plays for one of the Cowboys' most-hated rivals, the Philadelphia Eagles.

So, I don't know how this student thinks that likening himself to Terrell Owens is going to win him any votes in Dallas. His advertisement not only makes me not want to vote for him, it also makes me want to kick him in the groin and put him inside Texas Stadium when it is imploded.

Whirly Ball

Tonight, I did something that is a combination of bumper cars, lacrosse, and basketball. Teams of players in bumper cars try to pick up the plastic ball with a lacrosse basket and throw the ball into a hole cut into the other team's backboard. The game was pretty expensive at $15 per person per hour, but it was pretty fun.

In addition to that, I also played laser tag for the first time ever.

The reason for all the fun was that my friend invited me to join his Christian fraternity for the evening. I don't think I'll pay the $200 or so to join the fraternity, but it was nice to go out and do something tonight.

Color scheme

Some of you have already commented about this color scheme. I did not come up with the colors, I found a neat British website devoted to colours and this is the "smooth criminals" color palette. I expect that I'll be using palettes from this website, since they seem to be more varied and unique than the color schemes that I normally come up with.

My brother is in the homecoming court

I got this message from my brother, who is a high school senior:

I am in the homecoming court. This is a lesson on why democracy does not work. So, I had to get on stage and stuff during the pep rally. Also, I am going to homecoming now for the heck of it.

Those of you who know him are probably just as stunned as I am

Falun Gong Orphan Benefit Concert

Today, I attended an Amnesty International meeting on campus and I was made aware of a local orphan rescue benefit concert. Here's some introductory information:

Falun Gong, also called Falun Dafa, is a mind-body practice based on truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance, and includes gentle exercises and meditation...

Throughout history, communist regimes have never allowed people to have independent thinking or to hold beliefs outside communist ideology. Along these lines Falun Gong was banned in China on July 20, 1999, by former Chinese president Jiang Zemin, who China watchers say was fearful that Falun Gong's popularity was overshadowing his own legacy.

Global Mission to Rescue Persecuted Falun Gong Practitioners, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, human rights organization with 18 international branches, is dedicated to rescuing the children under persecution of Falun Gong.

I'm assuming the concert will be basically the same as the one described in this review. Here's some information about the benefit concert:

In the wake of the savagery of persecution towards Falun Gong in Communist China over the past six years, infants and children are becoming the youngest and most vulnerable victims. Almost everything has been taken away from them -- parents, home, friends, schooling, safety, freedom, and even lives, just because their parents practice Falun Gong.

The concert will feature an outstanding blend of Western classical music and traditional Chinese dance...

The concert is Saturday, September 10, at 19:30 (7:30 PM) at the Eisemann Center, 2351 Performance Drive, Richardson, TX 75082. The price is $10 for adults and $5 for children (4-12) and students. The ticket hotline(s) are 214-682-7788 and 817-907-7563. Anyway, just thought I'd pass the word along.

I joined Toastmasters

Last semester I made myself promise to do something at the beginning of this school year and tonight I followed through with that promise by joining SMU Toastmasters. From the Toastmasters website:

Toastmasters is the best way to improve your communication skills. Lose your fears of public speaking and learn skills that will help you be more successful in whatever path you've chosen in life.

I've heard many very good things about Toastmasters, so, even though I'm an engineering major and I almost felt out of place being around all the business majors there, this will be a good opportunity for me to improve my communication skills, not only in speaking in front of an audience, but also in interviews, and in other settings as well. I was a little uncomfortable forcing myself to go to the first meeting tonight, but I'm optimistic that this will be a good experience.

Get on the Freeway at Freeway Speed

There are many common kinds of drivers whose presence on the road can be frustrating to other drivers, as well as dangerous, such as people who ignore yield signs and people who don't use their blinkers, but some of the most dangerous and tension-inducing motorists are the ones who get on the freeway at an unsafely low speed.

While some vehicles simply lack the accelerative ability to reach freeway speed in such a short time, especially if the on-ramp is short or uphill, usually, the driver is to blame. When driving on the on-ramp, these motorists just don't seem to realize that they're about to have to merge with traffic going at a much higher speed. Then, when its time for them to have to merge with the freeway traffic, any cars in their way have to drastically slow down or quickly change lanes.

This effect is multiplied when a car getting on the freeway has many cars behind it that want to go faster. Getting on the freeway can be a difficult automotive maneuver by itself, but it's made even more difficult when the car in front of you is going fifteen miles per hour slower than the traffic in the lane that you're trying to get into.

The more cars merging with freeway traffic at a slow speed means not only more cars on the freeway have to change lanes or slow down to accomodate these slower vehicles, but there are also new problems presented. For example, there is usually not much distance between each of the cars in the acceleration lane, so any cars on the freeway in the lane where the on-ramp drivers want to be have already slowed down for a car merging from the on-ramp, so other cars on the on-ramp have to apply their brakes, which affects all cars behind them, so that they can get behind the car next to them. Also, there are invariably some drivers who are frustrated at being prevented from accelerating to freeway speed and then try to change multiple lanes to pass the car in front of them to reach freeway speed.

Slowly accelerating drivers make getting onto the freeway even more difficult and present one of the greatest sources of frustration and danger to other motorists. Unfortunately, many of these slowly-accelerating drivers are oblivious to the problems they cause...if only there were some kind of warning sound that our cars could emit to notify other motorists of their shortcomings...

long receipts are annoying

What is the deal with long receipts? I went to Tom Thumb, bought one item, and got a receipt was 10" long. I went to Tom Thumb one other time and got 3 items and the receipt was 16" long and I've gotten ridiculously long receipts at Best Buy, too.

It's just annoying to handle such a lengthy receipt and it's also a waste of paper. Sure the store gets many rolls of receipt paper at a very low price, perhaps even free because of the advertisements on the back of the paper, but I don't want a long receipt, if I want any receipt. Long receipts are just an unnecessary burden on shoppers and the environment.

New Background: The Arch

This is the St. Louis Gateway Arch, with some editing to increase contrast.

(1024 x 768)

I bought a stereo receiver

I bought a receiver from eBay for less than $65. Did I make a good purchase? I think so; I got something that should work for me at the cheapest price that I've seen for a receiver.

Previous post here

Things I'm looking forward to

I just thought I'd post a list of things that I'm looking forward to, since it seems that I have a lot of things to look forward to:

• riding my bike to class
• cooler weather
• riding my bike on the Katy trail.
• TCU vs. SMU
• visiting David in Sherman
• David visiting me
• international tea room on Thursday
• doing things with the SMU environmental society this semester
• going to the Meadows Museum sometime this semester
• going to an FC Dallas soccer game at the new stadium sometime this season
• getting a receiver for my room so I can play music and watch movies with the acoustic assistance of my new speakers
• 3 day weekend
• going to Four Day Weekend comedy club
• walking sculpture tour in downtown Dallas

Since having things to look forward to is essential to being happy, feel free to post things that you're looking forward to.

New Poll: What weather are you afraid of?

Regardless of where you currently live, which natural disaster are you most afraid of?

tornado
hurricane
volcanic eruption
lightning
tsunami
earthquake
drought
wildfire
flood
I laugh in the face of danger. Oh, I just can't wait to be king.




Current Results

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Got two speakers, looking for receiver

I got two very nice speakers (JBL L26) that my dad had but did not use, so now I am in the market for a receiver. I'm just going to get a cheap receiver because my room is pretty small and there's not really any reason to spend a lot of money on a receiver. Right now I'm looking on eBay to get something in good condition that might have more power and be cheaper than a new receiver at the store.

Update: I bought a receiver from eBay.