Example: My existence is exciting.

I found my book called The Pocket Dictionary of Signing. Learning sign language seems fun, but probably less so if you're forced to learn it as a primary means of communication.

Do Not Pass Go

Today was a lesson taught the hard way.

Newmarket: 18
Richmond Hill: 8
Markham: 14
Scarborough: 11
Scarborough 2: 100 8

Basically, it's go at 9pm or go broke.

Tamago

Boxing Day! The day to post after a strangely long hiatus.

As well as a lack of posting, there is also a lack of snow. Not necessarily a bad thing, but a little odd nonetheless. It's like being stuck in November.

Had the annual Christmas ritual at my cousins' house. There was food, Wii, and off-tune karaoke. (D:) Sadly for me, there were also two dogs and two cats. By the time I left I was already starting to have partial laryngospasms. Currently, one of my nostrils is defunct, resulting in my not being able to sleep, and the reason I'm posting this early anyway.

Finally got a new cellphone. Not bad, but then again almost anything is better than my old one.

Hopefully you all had a fun break so far and good luck with any of your ambitious holiday shopping endeavours. o_.

Edit: Blue!!!

Dupe

Deceived by physical and chemical cues, the wasp Campsoscolia ciliata tries to mate with the orchid Ophrys speculum. The labellium, or lower lip, of the flower has roughly the size, shape, and fuzziness of a female wasp; male wasps apparently cannot distinguish between them. As a result the orchid is pollinated by wasps that visit one flower after another searching for a mate.

D'oh.

Only halfway through mid-terms. Darn...

Perap

<'ThePug> You can't get your music to play eh?
<'ThePug> That is a shame
<[Trin]quack> yea.. maybe you could help me
<'ThePug> Help eh?
<[Trin]quack> pweez?
<'ThePug> Have you tried like....playing the file?
<[new]gosha> yeah double clicking it would help
<[Trin]quack> yes. it come up on my itunes but now even my music i had on there before doenst play
<[Trin]quack> i'm a girl
<'ThePug> I would have never guessed
<'ThePug> Do you have your speakers turned on?
<'ThePug> Do you own speakers?
<[new]gosha> is the computer on?
<[New]HouseofLo> do you have a soundcard?
<[Trin]quack> yes i have considered all technical possibilities i know of
<[UTM]Count> what is the file type?
<'ThePug> Try using winamp....or even wmp if you must
<'ThePug> Just something that "doesn't suck" (i.e. itunes)
<'Minerva> TheSuperunknown loves baby turtles.

EERTST

We're doing a bio "lab" this Wednesday on Population Genetics. Each person will be assigned a genotype and then you will "mate" with your classmates and produce offspring, flipping a coin to simulate meiosis. For scientific purposes:

4. Choose any student in the class to mate with. Mates need not be of the opposite sex. You are completely promiscuous and cannot reject any suitor.

Metastasise

New College fell apart temperarily this week. First was the mysterious power outage on Friday. Then the replacement of regular plates and cutlery in the caf with plastic plates and cutlery. Then was the failure of two of the three washrooms on the floor, with the third one having 2/4 toilets working. Then the strange loss of cable and internet. Luckily, everything has been ameliorated now. (Except the T-Card system is still wonky)

Fix our window, you silly maintenance people.

Korean BBQ was delicious, and so is Baten Kaitos Origins.

Speaking Chinanese

Residence life is good so far. Being able to walk around downtown is really nice. No more "I can't go because I need a ride" sort of thing. Still getting used to communal showers. Need to continue to find the showers that don't periodically spray boiling water, spray water across 180 degrees, or make you feel as if someone was sprinkling you with water through a drinking straw. :( Also going to need to use the laundry room soon :O

So far I've attended at least one of each class. Only problems arise from Calculus. If we weren't just covering review material, I would have no idea what the professor is saying in his lessons. Textbook-learning time.

It's not busy yet, but eventually when practicals and tutorials begin I don't think there's going to be much time to do anything anymore. Sadness.

Objection!

VGL was pretty awesome and it exceeded my expectations. Mainly because I never expected the "Video Game Pianist" to be there. Yes, he is good enough to be *The* Video Game Pianist.

And so about now, many people are starting to move into university residence. I'll be joining the movement later today. I also ended up bringing a lot of things...but I usually end up doing that anyway for things like vacations. I guess it's how I approach change.

Oh noes no more home. I'll be at UofT St. George New College.

Stanley Bing Is a Pussy

Oops where teh updates?

Well now I am equipped with tablet PC and mini fridge. Random stationary to come.
Jason's party was full of delicious.
VGL on Friday = will be awesome.

I've basically been watching lots of anime borrowed from a prolific anime archivist :o

Note: Sun Tzu > All

Time is tissue...

SoaP was just so silly. It's like buying a bar of Mexican Goat Milk Loofah just because it sounds silly.

Also, you crazy scientists should leave Pluto alone. Pick on a planet your own size. >_>

Mr. BS Pilot

As I was reading The Science Book, I quickly realized that I've lost all memory of what we've learned the previous school year...again. Familiar names and terms kept flashing by...but I could never exactly remember what it was about. I guess it's good to be reminded of them so that the start of university will have less of a negative punch to it, with the new experience of lectures and whatnot. Orientation might help lessen the tension too.

"The Aristotelian name of the tomato, for instance, had expanded into Solanum caule inerme herbaceo, foliis pinnatis incisis, racemis simplicibus (Solanum with smooth herbaceous stem, incised pinnate leaves and simple inflorescence). This name is less convenient than the Linnaean name Solanum lycopersicum." - Naming life

"What's more, electrons, previously regarded as particles, sometimes behave like waves. We seem to need both models. As Sir William Bragg quipped in the 1920s, 'On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays light behaves like waves, on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays like particles, and like nothing at all on Sundays.'" - Wave nature of light

"There were three obvious clues. First of all, Uranus had until 1822 been accelerating, but had then become retarded." - Discovery of Neptune

The Dutchess

The comics here are just soooo good. My schedule for the next hour has just been booked full. (Click for actual comic.)





A few comics have mild nudity and other such content. They're not too distasteful or anything, but if you're worried, just a head's up. Ignore those and focus on the other comics >_>

As well, Improv Everywhere

Seriously, I'm just getting all of these stuff from JohnQ Blog*. That place is pretty much the closest thing to heaven you can get. It's updated often, and with so much intriguing content, all of which are paired with some intelligent and comprehensible commentary and opinions. It's becoming part of my daily routine.

* It's linked to the "Stuff From the Internet" category. You can find the other categories in the bar on the left.

Press any button to begin, n00b! LOL OMG

Here -> Fabulous -> Calgarian* -> Here

* - Actually from Banff.

I arrived back in Toronto on Friday morning. Seeing as I'm unable to properly put together and organize a brief yet coherent summary of the trip, I'll give you random tidbits of it.

- My chance of getting lung cancer has probably increased 60% thanks to the casinos.

- NEVER bring put anything fragile into the Fragile cargo of Air Canada. While I was "deplaning" into Toronto I watched from inside the plane as our "fragile" box was jerked from the conveyor belt and tossed unceremoniously into the cargo trailer, where it landed on its side, and remained on its side even when we went to pick it up. Luckily the only casualties were a few slightly smushed cakes and muffins.

- And speaking of food, Vegas had lots of it. (The first pic was from Bellagio's buffet.) I was quite happy.





-Got some awesome books, including (finally): Eats, Shoots and Leaves. I even visited the Calgary Public Library, which has an unnecessarily phallic logo.

- I also picked up this pretty bismuth sculpture from Banff. You can't really see its true colour due to the orange light from the camera, but it's pretty and metallic.



- "The weather in Toronto is currently about twenty-two degrees, with a flu - Excuse me, I meant a few clouds." - Flight Attendant

Finally, a clip from one of Bellagio's fountain shows. It was really amazing, but we only watched two of them before we dashed off for some air conditioning to brush off the forty degrees celcius sweat. Although I heard it was pretty hot in Toronto too.



That's all I care to post about right now.

And also:

Unnecessary Censorship

Baby Got Bible

Mr. Lobe

Here -> Fabulous -> Calgarian -> Here

See you in some time.

Electroplankton

Summer is the best time to go bug hunting and fishing in AC:WW. The range of varieties available is extensive. Fishing becomes most exciting because you can catch things like seahorses, blue marlins, clownfish, and even:



Sharks! :o It's cool because when you see their silhouette under the water you actually see their dorsal fins.

On an even cooler note, tonight I just saw another one of these dorsal fins sticking out and caught it expecting another shark, perhaps a hammerhead. But instead this thing came out:



The huge thing at the top left, bigger than the coelacanth beside it. It's an ocean sunfish, and according to Wiki, they do often get mistaken for sharks because they often swim close to the surface, so the game got it right to that aspect.

Apparently the sunfish also occationally breach from the water, and sometimes the float sideways near the surface so that birds can come down and pick food off it. The breaching is probably a method of expelling more parasites from its body. :S

Signet of Recapture

PotC2 = strangely cheesy plot elements carried out entertainingly well.
Pickle Barrel = wtf crumble top apple pie
University courses = chosen, unofficially. Because the actual registration hasn't happened yet. Which brings up another problem, which is that I'll be on vacation during the registration day, so I'll need to find a computer and hope that I haven't left any information behind.

I ordered from Dominoes on the Dough Raising Night (Jul 13) and I'm thinking it wasn't as profitable as would have been expected. I spent quite a bit of time reminding the cashier what the Dough Raising Night was about, and he kept doubting my assertion that I was ordering the $23.99 combo from the Dough Raising Night specials and NOT the $22.99 special they had going on normally. At first he thought I was making up a combo. :( Oooh well, I'm sure MDHS has more than enough money. X_x

Hello, Master Togo

Factions has the sweetest eye candy ever. In fact, I have so many pretty wallpaper shots from Guild Wars they got designated into their own folder. Guild Wars is the awesome-wallpaper-maker.







The first one is from the Monastery Outlook, which is the little tutorial area in the beginning, and the other two are from outside Cho's Estate, which is a mission I haven't done yet.

Actual size are of too large to upload and I'm too lazy to save it as a smaller size. :(

I'm attacking Cyrus the Unflattering!

Since I'm going to be receiving a copy of Guild Wars: Factions pretty soon, I had to sift through my huge screenshot folder in a feeble attempt to clear out some room. About half the pictures were of my character dancing with other random characters/guildies, in formation or scattered about. I guess I was really camera-happy. I think it'll be the same this time around >.>


The Bloodstone and its shiny magnificence. Because Hablion is cool.


A guild event: attempt a synchronised jump. Something Zaheer refused to do.


Because everyone likes sucking up to the Mad King.


runnign to granite citadel 1k u pay firts


The scourge of Northern Shiverpeaks missions.

Zaheer's partay on Sunday was full of Strikers and Tetris. That's a good thing.

Edit: Today's dictionary.com Word of the Day is Apotheosis :O

Reunion

> I beat Lv. 139 of Canada.
> The end guy is hard.

It's nice to be free from being totally governed by Britain, those silly Alaska-yielding fiends. I mean friends. The Americans didn't even appreciate getting Alaska. They just wanted it for the heck of it.

The news of the British North America Act, 1867, was nervously received in Washington, DC. It would create, on July 1, 1867, "one dominion under the name of Canada," and this led to expressions of "grave misgivings on the establishment of a monarchial state to the north" in what Canadians then called "the republic to the south." (See McNaughton's Short History of Canada.) U.S. Secretary of State William Seward thus urged, and the United States Senate thus approved, the treaty authorizing the purchase of Alaska from Imperial Russia for US$7,200,000 on April 9, 1867. The United States took possession and the American flag was raised over Alaska on October 18, which is commemorated as Alaska Day.

The purchase was unpopular in the United States, where it became known as "Seward's Folly" or "Seward's Icebox." Alaska celebrates the purchase each year on the last Monday of March, calling it Seward's Day.

$Sold$

Raymer's Wood

Went to get report cards today. Was a mass of non-air-conditioned fun. I was confused because the "A-F" line wasn't visible from the back of the line, so I kinda tagged onto the "G-L" line. Later I learned that if I went in from the other entrance there was an easier chance to cut a lot of the line. Oh well.

Player's Best Long

Monday's was Frankie's. It was very Italian-y, and it was generally agreed that the calamari was the best. As opposed to the singing Frankie on their website.

Yesterday was officially the last day of high school. Buuut nothing really special happened. Except maybe when Arthur showed up with a box of popsicles. Went to Zaheer's house afterwards.

Denouement

Finished.

Two month wait until university begins. Exciting.
My brain is too tired to think about anything to type right now.

For future reference...

Jun 2 - Algeo Summative
Jun 7 - Biology Exam
Jun 8 - Physics Presentation
Jun 13 - Calculus Summative
Jun 15 - English ISP Presentation
Jun 16 - Physics Exam
Jun 19 - Chemistry Exam
Jun 20 - Classical Civ Film Review
Jun 22 - Algeo Exam
Jun 23 - Calculus Exam

Mathematical Induction and Physical Conduction

School. Lots. Sucks. Busy.

How To Cage A Lion

According to the Schrodinger Method, I might not be in the actual school during my physics exam. Or something.

She Sells Seychelles by the Seashore

Summer was all, "Oops, it's my turn," and so now it's all hot and sunny. Yarr.

In the World Desk Reference (2004) I have, you get the hard facts on the state of some countries of the world. And it's usually depressing.
I mean, just economy-wise:

Afghanistan
Strengths: Very few, apart from illicit opium trade. Revalued currency issued in 2002. Overseas assets unfrozen from 2002.
Weaknesses: Decades of fighting: infrastructure, agriculture, and industry in ruins. Communication links damaged by earthquakes and devastated by bombing. Aid slow to materialize.

Somalia
Strengths: Very few. Export of livestock to Arabian peninsula resumed in the north. Inflow of money from Somalis abroad. Growing market in stolen food aid.
Weaknesses: Every commodity, except arms, in extremely short supply. Little economic potential in the south. Livestock destroyed by drought. Banditry, extortion, and kidnapping hamper aid agencies.

And the like. Meanwhile, back in Canada:

Weaknesses: Problems of competitiveness: higher taxes, more regulations, low productivity relative to NAFTA; other threats from globalization. Vulnerable to price fluctuations for raw material exports. Brain drain of professionals heading south.

Eeps, we are losing our brains to the U.S., and that's pretty sad. :(

On another note, from India's economic weaknesses:

The prestige of Bollywood has been damaged by allegations of underworld connections.

I had to look up the definition of "underworld". =\

I have pressure!

Lots and lots of crap coming up basically every day these next few weeks. I hate you so much, most of June.

In terms of the movies I saw the last week, I felt that The Emperor's Club had really good casting, and The DaVinci Code had not-so-good casting. The Emperor's Club also reflected the concept of karma consistently throughout the movie.

...yeah.

Glasses Glasses

I just watched all the clips of the Breakfast Club episode of X-Play. Sooooo good. ._O

I started playing Kingdom Hearts 2, borrowed from Arthur.

Prom was on Friday:

It was decent. Food wasn't.
Spiffy formalwear.
Slideshow was decent. Stupid chandelier.

I didn't know why early on the DJ kept interrupting songs instead of waiting in-between songs.

*music playing -
DJ: EXCUSE ME, COULD THE OWNER OF A RED TOYOTA PLEASE COME TO THE FRONT DOOR, YOUR CAR HAS JUST EXPLODED, THANK YOU.
- best part of song finishes*

"TV Ears saved our marraige!"

Projectors and Overheads + Lights off + Biology = Oblivion

Floral Ninja FTW

|omg||lol|sinΘ

Derived from the link from Celine's lj :o

The Trojans never had any Wiis.

The Classic and Shooter Styles are both insanely breathtaking.

In other news, an editor decides, in a fit of angst against the "Wii", to do a humourous article where he changes the word "revolution" with "Wii".

The editor needs a Wii amount of practice in his grammar skills.

Some exerpts:
Chinese Cultural Wii
Chairman Mao's massive Wii forever changed the face of China.

The Industrial Wii
It may sound like an uncomfortable Wii, with its assembly lines and interchangable parts, but all Wiis are a little painful, and the Industrial Wii flooded the whole world.

#6 says: "...even though it sounded like a bunch of guys revolutioning on sheet metal."

Eeps.

Also, it was Mayday today, which was awesome. I had some good fruity smoothie O_O

Wii Love Katamari

*awe and slow marvelled breaths ensue*

Cubyrop

And so, Conference '06 is done.

Here's the Mad-Lib P.10 made. You could tell which group chose which words. ._.

In the beginning, there was poop, which was a dog of dark and endless puffy buttocks. Then one day, miraculously, a flamboyant unibrow appeased from the vortex and broke into two sandwiches. When it broke, the light that radiated from it blew away the clouds, gyrating the Earth underneath and the Heavens above.

The golden unibrow was the Creator, Monica Lewinsky, and when she shattered into two parts they each became a deity: Zaheer, the god of the emptiness, and Sally the goddess of hairbrush. They coexisted peacefully. One went up to the Heavens and the other stayed on Earth. Eventually they began to thrust between where the Brokeback Mountain between the Earth and the Heavens lay. The god of the heavens said that he deserved to have a jucier kingdom because the dragonflies needed to fly freely across stretches of thong. The goddess of the land said that the land provides the potential for life and should be allowed room to defenestrate.

The two deities eventually began to party. Each one attempted to expand the cubic centimetres of their rugs. The great god scattered his naval across the wind, and each seed grew into a being of free-thought and lust. The benevolent goddess shed some of her blood and let it fall to the ravishing earth, and when each drop landed a being full of life and misery sprouted.

But throughout the squabbling of the gods, they did not expunge that some of the seeds mated into a puddle of the shed blood, and from that combination ostracized man. The gods finally took notice of this being, and decided to solve their dispute. The deities all decided to live in the heavens, and man and his fellow dogs could thrust on the fertile earth.

Hmm, "thrust" was used twice by two different groups.

"I can't, I'm busy all night talking with my girlfriend."

clas·sic (klăs'ĭk)
n.
classics The languages and literature of ancient Greece and Rome. Used with the.

con·fer·ence (knfr-ns, -frns)
n.
An assembly of clerical or of clerical and lay members from a particular district in various Protestant churches.

I'll be there.

Good Job Rats

:(

The Matrix Rectangular - Coming [200|7]

Done...until next week. The torture will be fended off until the Physicalculus test.
Then the rest of Classical Civ. And then Algeo.

Conference from Thursday to Sunday = Fun and food. And masses of people draped in bedsheets. Speaking of which, I need to find a bedsheet. And figure out how it works again.

Can't wait to see if the I EPLACE L UNGE has been fixed.

From May 2005:
"It's Conference time tomorrow...off to four days and three nights of fun. I feel less prepared for anything than I did last year. Darn."

Doesn't look like much has changed. Darn.

In mid debauch'

Yay, week is done, next week is Conference. Time to enjoy my HM addiction in peace.

In other news,

Nintendo Wii.

It's "we".

The internet is going to be swamped with the various preteens who are afraid they'll be considered nerds if they like the name "Nintendo Wii".

*waits a few months for them to get on with their lives*

!Xú

The Longest Word in...

Dutch - kindercarnavalsoptochtvoorbereidingswerkzaamheden (49) - meaning 'preparation activities for a children's carnival procession'

Danish - speciallægepraksisplanlægningsstabiliseringsperiode (51) - meaning 'the stabilization period of the planning of medical specialists' practices'

Finnish - lentokonesuihkuturbiinimoottoriapumekaanikkoaliupseerioppilas (61) - meaning 'apprentice corporal, working as assistant mechanic in charge of airplane turbine engines'

Swedish - nordöstersjökustartilleriflygspaningssimulatoranläggningsmateriel-underhållsuppföljningssystemdiskussionsinläggsförberedelse-arbeten (130) - meaning 'preparatory work on the contribution to the discussion on the maintaining system of support of the material of the aviation survey device within the northeast part of the coast artillery of the Baltic'

Way to go you crazy Scandinavian languages, for creating the most contrived and useless words ever. If it was only to get into the record books, you win. Based on their definitions, I don't know if these "words" should even deserve to be called "words". >_>

A Fistful of B'DaBalls

Traditional Chinese Nursery Rhymes

If You Steal a Needle

If you steal a needle
Or steal a thread,
A pimple will grow
Upon your head.
If you steal a dog
Or steal a cat,
A pimple will grow
Beneath your hat.

Little Cow

This little cow eats grass,
This little cow eats hay,
This little cow drinks water,
This little cow runs away,
This little cow does nothing,
Except lie down all day.
We'll whip her.

Funky

Thursday is Doomsday. Doooom.
At least now I only have a Chapter 10+11 Chemistry Unit test rather than a Chapter 9+10+11 Unit Test. Along with the Bio Unit test, which COULD have been today, but noooooo making a test later will obviously mean that the questions are gonna be THAT much easier. So instead it was opted to place the Bio Unit Test on the same day as the Bio Competition. Good job.

Squid Prince

Crap. Harvest Moon has stolen my soul. It's all I did during the weekend. Which is really really bad since this week is gonna be really annoying.

Exciting Ranch Offer!

-> You give Earth Golden Wool.
<- Earth's affection towards you raises by 1 heart.
-> You give Earth a Weed.
<- Earth moves out of the village!
-> You try to pick up an Onion
-> Your stamina meter is depleted!
-> You faint and take a day to recover.
-> The Egg Festival is cancelled due to a lack of donations.

Girl Currently On The Pill

Who choses the UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO?

sounded like a self-derogatory rhetorical question to me at first. But I guess it does need the "?!" at the end to seal the deal.

And Other Plays

"The Pseudolus, with its love-lorn young man and quick-talking slave who try desperately to wrest the captive heroine away from the scheming pimp, is a typical and masterly example of Plautus' genius."

Well...at least it sounds more interesting than The Women of Troy...

*reads*

[Update] It turns out that Pseudolus is a lot more entertaining than The Women of Troy. Which is an understatement. /TWoT bashing

Pseudolus: Blessed gods! This Charinus is a charitable institution! Now this slave of yours from Carystus - is he a foxy sort of fellow?
Charinus: Goaty, by the smell of his armpits.
Pseudolus: We'll have to give him a long-sleeved tunic. Sharp, is he?
Charinus: As an acid-drop.
Pseudolus: And suppose we wanted him to serve up the sweet stuff, can he produce that too?
Charinus: Easily. Spiced wine, raisin wine, fruit cordial, honey cup, sweet drinks of all kinds - they say he once set up as a one-man refreshment bar!

Shampoo + 336 hours = Splendid Hair

The next Baten Kaitos is even nicer looking than the first one, and that's saying something. The graphics are pretty crazy. From the screenshots I could see lots of familiar items as well as a lot more new ones. I saw some familiar settings as well. (Opu, Pherkad)

The new battle system is gonna have no defence cards, which actually makes me really happy. In BK1 I only used defence cards to get rid of them from my hand. They usually get in the way, and my tendency to "save" them in case of a brutal attack made my attacking combos really short and weak at times.



So...the guy on the far right is gonna be in the party... o_O I think he's a robot thingy. I think.

Appearently, the battle magnus system got simplified so it's only "magnus ranks" of sorts, where your combos are based simply on ascending magnus numbers rather than poker hands like in BK1.



I share Sagi's sentiments.

His eyes follow you everywhere. O_O

Images from Blue Laguna

Shut your singing mouths!

It's Whitmore the Toad Pirate! (Again!) And there was a new fourth episode of which I was oblivious to. :o

My personal favourite is still the third one.

Toad pirates don't smoke tobacco!

Walk the plank.

Beavers cannot play chess. Only checkers.

I am going to post this photo on your website.

DJ Chutfield

Oleaginous Delight

1 Bowl of Shaved Ice
Copious amounts of Condensed Milk
Generous amounts of Coconut Milk
Deliberate amounts of Liquid Sugar
Several cubes of Black Grass Jelly

Chill and serve with lemon peel twists.

Great for tea parties and for those who like to keep a healthy lifestyle.

A Kent Tantrum

As you can clearly see, King Lear is nothing without dinosaurs.

Thought for Food Ingestion

Serendipity Golden Opulence Sundae - Lots of real gold ingested.

Kopi Luwak Coffee - Coffee that tastes like crap. Good crap, I guess.

Zillion Dollar Lobster Frittata - Doesn't actually cost a zillion dollars.

A new scientific study shows that scientific studies may cause cancer

One thing I don't like: Debates.
Another thing I don't like: The Women of Troy
Together, they are pretty much a nightmare waiting to happen.

So, marks get sent away to post-secondary establishments by the end of this week. I don't think I'm able to let myself "slack-off" for the rest of the school year. Fully, anyways. By now, without stress, I feel random symptoms stemming from stress deficiency.

Bio Presentation, English Presentation, Classical Civ Presentation
The Real Axis of Evil

Pathetic Fallacy

HAPPY APRIL FOOL'S DAY!!!

Edit: April Fool's!!! April Fool's Day was yesterday!

Huh, wait a minute...

Music To My Ears

Cuddly farming simulation?

Sounds like a plan.



Ahh so round and fluffy! And the animals look like they're getting along perfectly!

Worth more than its weight in gold

Article and images from Discover magazine April '06 issue.


Nemo Goes To College
Dean Pomerleau's pet goldfish, Albert Einstein, knows how to play fetch, a feat the Pittsburgh-area engineer hopes will earn his calico fantail a listing in Guinness World Records as the world's smartest fish. Albert the goldfish has also learned to nudge a soccer ball into a goal and to do the limbo.

"I spend half my life telling people fish aren't stupid," says Culum Brown, a zoologist at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand who puts fish through mazes to study cognition. Brown says salmon can learn to feed themselves by pushing a lever, and some carp are trained to come when called so that workers using them to clean up algae can transport the fish from one lake to another. He has also observed that rainbow fish recall the location of an escape hole in a fishing net a year later.

Fish brains have a structure very different from those of other vertebrates: They develop inside out. Although these brains don't have the same parts, they seem to do the same things. "Unfortunately, there are only about three labs in the world that work on fish brains, so it's taking a long time to catch up," Brown says.

In nature, memory equals survival. Fish learn from one another which to mate with and which not to fight with, where to eat and how not to get eaten. Brown enjoys picking up a fishing rod and engaging in a battle of wits: "There's something to be said for outsmarting them!"

- Jessica Ruvinsky

When Satires Go Bad(der)

The word 'cunnilingus' also occurs in literary Latin, and is found once in Catullus and more frequently in Martial. Horace's Sermones I.2 and I.3 use the word:

Nam fuit ante Helenam cunnus taeterrima belli
causa. . .

which attributes the cause of the Trojan War to Helen of Troy's cunt.


Ehhh that's not what I learned in Classical Civ and World History! :o

It seems that when we were studying Catullus, Cicero, and Suetonius last year, Mr. McLaren stealthily tucked all of away from us. But now the truth is out!

*sprays some vulgar Latin graffiti*

Modified Lit. test schedule today was a waste of time, if it wasn't for the physics lesson and the fact that I had a quiz/test today >_O

Grumble Pen

April is always the month for me where all those deadlines set from a long time ago all suddenly pile up and smack you in the face. Especially English and Classics. Eeps.

Today my parents got back from China and now we have all these fun souvenirs. My favourite is this set of bells that you can hit with a miniature hammer. Also got these cool framed figurines of Zhang Fei and Ma Chao. And a marble stamp! And a baseball cap from the Olympic stadium! *plays with things*

Carbonade

The Camel Dances

The camel had her heart set on becoming a ballet dancer.
"To make every movement a thing of grace and beauty," said the Camel. "That is my one and only desire."

Again and again she practiced her pirouettes, her releves, and her arabesques. She repeated the five basic positions a hundred times each day. She worked for long months under the hot desert sun. Her feet were blistered, and her body ached with fatigue, but not once did she think of stopping.

At last the Camel said, "Now I am a dancer." She announced a recital and danced before an invited group of camel friends and critics. When her dance was over, she made a deep bow.

There was no applause.

"I must tell you frankly," said a member of the audience, "as a critic and a spokesman for this group, that you are lumpy and humpy. You are baggy and bumpy. You are, like the rest of us, simply a camel. You are not and never will be a ballet dancer!" Chuckling and laughing, the audience moved away across the sand.

"How very wrong they are!" said the Camel. "I have worked hard. There can be no doubt that I am a splendid dancer. I will dance and dance just for myself."

That is what she did. It gave her many years of pleasure.

__________________________________________

Satisfaction will come to those who please themselves

- Fables by Arnold Lobel

Sects and Schisms?

Party Quest Log #288

Location: Ludibrium

Alias: Party 1x
Attribute: Dysfunctional
Successful: Yes

Member 1: Cr4zy4zNDuDe
Profession: Assassin
Attribute: The Sloth
Description: Stood idle for the whole quest except to fight Alishar and to move a few blocks in Stage 8. Was the source of most party confusions, as his absence from a portal yielded the absence of dimension passes.
Famous Line: "I'm busy."

Member 2: Frivolous
Profession: Cleric
Attribute: The Obnoxious
Description: Criticized the actions of most of the other party members, and was the sole healer left during Alishar. Complained about his loss of MP potions.
Famous Line: "guys, we're not going to beat this"

Member 3: XAzNxR3aperX
Profession: Cleric
Attribute: The Idiot
Description: Died on Stage 5 by jumping into a mass of invincible golems. Spent the rest of the time asking whether the party was done yet.
Famous Line: "I DIED"

Member 4: Yarg2 (Party Leader)
Profession: Bandit
Attribute: The Deferential
Description: Acted as the party leader, but never gave instructions when the party had trouble and would disappear doing his own investigation.
Famous Line: "Do what he said."

Member 5: |xTHEFTx|
Profession: Assassin
Attribute: The Choleric
Description: Was extremely temperamental with the inactivity of Cr4zy4zNDuDe. Spent the whole of the Alishar battle shouting at him.
Famous Line: "CRAZY IS A FUAKING GREEDY ASS THAT ONLY HELPS ON BOSS @@@@@@@@@"

Member 6: strawb3rryy
Profession: Cleric
Attribute: The Oblivious
Description: Was able to carry out most of her duties but became very confused when the leader was missing passes, and would be lost until the party reorganised itself. Died during the fight with Alishar as she did not have MP Guard on, and was attacking rather than healing the party.
Famous Line: "whats happenign"

Sleep Deprivation: My Antidrug

Anti-Calendar!

Examining the professors of the Arts and Science courses of UofT's St. George Campus. Do they really speak into the blackboard? Do they hire 50 TA's to teach the course for them? Do they fail students to get high? You can check.





Edit: Stupid Blogger.
Edit 2: Must save quote because I need to change my screen name sometime -_-"

"...in their envious gabble would prognosticat' a year of sects and schisms." - The cursive message on the wall in Hart House

Salmon of Doubt

I was reading a few of my old chat logs from grade 11, and I seem to have become a lot more brain-dull since then. I think I was more content with things in grade 11, and less annoying and obnoxious. Oh well...

It's an air show!

Er, it's not exactly the non-brain-deadness I was referring to, and I think that was grade 10, but I can remember it pretty clearly. O_O

Vocals: Porno Graffiti

It is currently very warm. This is good.

From More Psychometric Testing:

Coping Under Pressure
25. How often have you felt the pressure of one thing and another is simply doing your head in?
a) occationally
b) more often than I would like
c) rarely or never

Optimist or Pessimist?
7. How would you complete the saying: If at first you don't succeed...
a) give up
b) try again
c) try, try and try again

Perception
8. Alice sent the following cryptic message to the Cheshire Cat. Can you decode it?

nia gareh tego tyt pmu htu pt'nd luocn ems'g nikeh tllad nases
rohs'g ni kehtl la

10. What is the connection between these pairs of words?

nomad ride

melon done

prom echo

chop arising

Verbal Ability
6. Only one set of five letters below can be arranged to spell out a 5-letter English word. Find the word.
BLEIT
TONTE
TIUNP
GNEUR
HEMUT



These quizzes are silly.

The Great Champions Fire of 2006

So today, I went to Mongolian Grill to have delicious bowls of meat and noodles drenched in various sauces. There was much fun and food to be had.

That would've happened, except that the nearby horse betting place had somehow managed to cause a power outage in the whole mall, and the restaurant was closed.

Instead, it was settled to go to Sake, where there was still much fun and food to be had. Except there was sushi instead. And angry Chinese waitresses :(

Er, how did you spell it again?

From dictionary.com:

No entry found for megacompany.

Did you mean car company?

Suggestions:
car company
moss campion
buckjumping
ski jumping
moo goo gai pan

Don't Be A Litterbug!

Just two more obstacles for this week until March Break. Then it's done.

Today was a day of Toronto Zoo-ing. There was much fun to be had in the wintry weather. There was an otter rolling in the snow, a hermit crab escaping certain doom, lots of tiny lizards fighting over a cricket, and a python ingesting a rabbit. It was dead, I think. The rabbit.

Otherwise it was pretty much the same zoo as before.

One day, I need to go to the Canadian Domain. That isolated corner of the zoo, way back there.

Etc: "A favourite superstition of Yorkshire people to bring good luck on themselves is to throw a hairy caterpillar over their left shoulder whenever they find one!" - A Dictionary of Omens and Superstitions

Etcetc:

"He picked up his head!?"

There was a mad crazy MADD presentation today.

Remember, don't drink and drive.

Many victims drown each year trying to retrieve their ball from water hazards while under the influence of alcohol. Don't be one of them.

What ho!

Yay, the snow melted! Everything is green and pretty now. I call my expression in the photo, "Struck in the Face by Spring".

*looks out own window*
*it's snowing*
*sighs*

Edit: Plus flowers.

Introversion

My Personal DNA Report

This can must be no larger than a tooth filling. What is its optimal colour?

Quote of the Moment:
You know what annoys me? When people tell you, "It's in the last place you'll look" Well duh! Who keeps looking after you find it? - ACpinkfan

"Was it 'Photography For Dummies'??!?"

^ Grad Photo Guy







OMG big icicles, hurtful if they make contact with back of head.

By sheer luck I caught a little droplet of water falling from that right icicle :O It's hidden in the puffy cumulus.

The texture of icicles looks like candy up close, albeit somewhat deformed.

Also, words of wisdom from Antigone:

"Is there anything more stupid than a stupid man who doesn't know his own stupidity?!" - Teiresias

When you put a 9-volt battery on your tongue - it hurts.

"It smells like pickles and beans...and sulfur."

Addressing Employee Complaints is like genius on a pita.

Corrupt a climatologist.

This is cool.

M

This must be saved for future amusement.

Markham District High School is a public high school in the town of Markham, Ontario, Canada. It is one of many high schools in the York Region District School Board.

With almost 2000 full-time students, MDHS is active in spirit and in the community. The school hosts many clubs, many of which are activist-based (for example, Amnesty International). The Classics Club is by far the most prominent club in the school and Markham District is the only high school in York Region to have a three-year Latin program. Sadly, this may not be the case next year as it seems Kelly McCleod (principal) would rather direct funds to better air conditioning in her office or comfier chairs for the auditorium than keep the program running.

The Markham Maurauders are the official sports team, most well known for Football and Rugby.


Markham District celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2004.

Wikipedia, information obtained Feb. 06, 2006; 8:40 PM EST

Seriously, kudos to whoever did that.

Markham District High School

Spiqua Hotcakes

Irrevelant Buddy chat segments removed.

She's probably one of those people who sidle up to you in a line-up and act weird to make you go away.

What in the...

Your walk is: The Result of a Ballet Accident Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

OK I didn't get this result but...how the heck does he...isn't his groin being torn over and over...

Really really creepy.

Sun Leen Fai Lok

System Restore

Good job exams, you went and got finished. Why didn't you do that earlier.

Vital readings during exams

Sprash-e!

School hall during examinations. Three girls are chatting near some lockers.

Enter Random Girl A, Random Girl B, and Random Girl C

Random Girl A: ...Exams start at 10:30 right? What time is it?
Random Girl B: It's 10:30. Let's go!
Random Girl A: Aw...but I don't want to go in yet! What if the teacher is really nerdy and tries to talk to us?
They laugh

Exeunt

Ep. 11: Enigmatic Enema: Exams Ensue

January 2006
19: English Exam 1:15-2:45 Rm 17
20: Physics Exam 8:15-10:15 Rm 56
23: Classical Civilizations Exam 12:45-2:45 Rm 10
24: Chemistry Exam 12:45-2:45 Rm 200
25: Calculus Exam 8:15-10:15 Rm 201
26: Geo and Discrete Math Exam 8:15-10:15 Rm 31
Biology Exam 12:45-2:45 Rm 53

There's a slight chance I'll look back at this during university exams and wish I still had high school exams.

Or maybe not.

Good luck with exams.

Family Matters

Thrust Kick of Malfeasance

Chinese IQ Game

This is fairly old, but I rediscovered it today. It is the most adorably cruel game ever. It's basically a flash version of the "family/guy carrying grain/etc. crossing the river in a small boat" riddles.

You have to get everybody across the river to the other side via a raft. The suspects in question are a mother, a father, two sons, two daughters, a police officer, and a serial arsonist (or an escaped convict, whatever).

The raft fits up to two people at once.

The raft can only be operated by one of the three adults (not incl. convict).

The father cannot ride the raft with any of the daughters or the convict, and cannot be left on the shore with any of the daughters without the mother being on the same shore. (You'll see the results)

The mother cannot ride the raft with any of the sons or the convict, and cannot be left on the shore with any of the sons without the father being on the same shore. (You'll see the results)

Nobody can be left on the shore with the convict unless the police officer is on the same shore. The police officer is the only person who can ride the raft with the convict and can stay on the shore with the convict safely.

Basically when you get there click the big blue circle to start. Click on the people to put them on or off the raft. Click the lever to move the raft (as long as someone who can operate it is onboard).

This game is educational not only because you're using your logic to solve the puzzle, but because it reflects Chinese family values. Flogging is part of a healthy, daily routine.


"WHY WERE YOU NOT BORN A BOY?!" *PUNISHMENT*

Practice in cryptology

I observantly noticed that there was a Blog Search feature and decided to play with it.

"haiz"
ni dun remember lotsa stuffs... y does addin NaOH gifs out ammonia gas?? as i recall, tts d onli alkaline gas... haiz...

HAIZ !! jk. and EEYEEER !! so suay suay suay suay SUAY .. SAW OLIVIA AT KFC .. ^^

Haiz. They discovered bigfoot's prints in Johor... I think it's quite stupid to have such a huge va~va~boom reaction.

haiz... so many decisions... so little time. what to do?! when I say I wanna go poly, people look at me as if trying to say... "what the hell is wrong with you?" then when I say I wanna do nursing...

Is this this mainly a southeast Asian thing?

I've managed to isolate some unobtainium.

It's raining outside but I don't believe that it is. Because I'm silly.

ummm OOOMGGOMG -unstuck -unstuck

The next time you say that you're going to Athens, you might want to be more specific.

Misleading Place Names

Would you look at that, there's a yard sale going on.

Interesting Place Names

And finally it's Wikipedia's HUGE LIST OF LISTS, including Allusions in DoTA, chaotic maps, famous stutterers, myrmecologists, and phases.

Umm yes I did just randomly scroll down and pull lists out. Hmmm maybe I'll review some chemistry. *palmsuppresslaugh*

Plus, Jason's dinner gathering was very yummyful.

No no no no drama

Mirthful Consequent 365-Day Period!

*Text says NEW YEAR! but scrolling text is appearantly a no-go.

Happy New Year, as we ring in another even numbered year. What new and tantalizing events and scandals will the next 12 months eventually bring forward?

I don't really partake in traditions such as "resolutions" or "reminiscence", but I like the fireworks!

Zaheer has been in the new year 9.5 hours before us. We have some catching up to do.

First thing eaten in 2006: Kinder Chocolate
First thing drunk in 2006: Spumante Bambino sparkling wine
First thing played with in 2006: Animal Crossing: Wild World
First thing resumed in 2006 after celebrations: Eating funky chocolate layered cake

I commented about the odd/evenness of the year last year too. I don't really change do I...