Robot Claw – Page 822 – “Life In The So-Called Space Age”

Semester Winding Down

April 24, 2007

It was just shy of 90 degrees yesterday (Fahrenheit). And yes, that means in under ten days the temperature had risen almost 60 degrees (remember it was snowing just over a week ago). It has gotten cooler now, which is a good thing because it was borderline oppressive yesterday.

The semester is winding down. There is less than two weeks left of classes, during which I have a quiz, an exam, and must give a presentation. So I’m busy preparing. I also have to prepare a poster for a department meeting this weekend, and do a second presentation for a group meeting. None of this is super detailed (or important) stuff, but time consuming nonetheless. I didn’t get a great deal done this past semester with respect to my doctoral work, mostly because for about two months my x-ray detector was broken (the repair company is scheduled to ship it back today), but I’ll be working over the summer to make some progress (hopefully).

Not much other news. Pokemon Diamond and Pearl came out for DS last weekend, and we’ve both started playing them. Only this morning I unlocked the GTS, which is a system, that lets players wirelessly trade Pokemon with players anywhere in the world (the first few trades I browsed were Japanese players). The game includes a nifty world map that will fill up as trades are completed, so you can see just where on Earth your Pokemon originated. Very very cool, especially for a DS game. (Note to Adam: buy this game so we can battle/trade Pokemon)

Here’s a shot of my DS library as of last week. Not as good as I’d hoped because I chose bad lighting. The idea for doing this was born online; it seems to be a good way to show off ones collection (DS boxes tile well together)

With 85 games in total (including Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, not in the above photo) I have more DS games than 18 of my 21 total systems. Only for PS2 (with 109) and Gameboy Advance (with 138) do I own more. However, I have been accumulating DS games at a far faster rate – an average of slightly over 3/month – than for any other game system I have ever owned…

I Still Send Postcards…

April 24, 2007

If you are reading this, and would like a postcard from Hawaii, and suspect I may not have your current address, then please email me soon.

Dark Servant Of The Dead

April 16, 2007

Yesterday it snowed, which is highly unusual since it was mid April. It was, altogether, a bleak and miserable day. Cold, wet, icy and dark. The seasons on which we depend for everything are at best an unlikely blessing. We’re destroying our planet, slowly but surely, and in time even days like yesterday will be a fond memory.

Yesterday

To distract yourself from the grim future, how about a trip to a grim present. In recent years there has been a strong wave of creepy Japanese horror films. Often they are remade (The Ring, The Grudge) but I assure you they are usually better in the original Japanese. Many of the have the same theme (even plot…), and the following example distills the genre down well into a bite-sized portion.

The film is called Black Hair Woman and is only about twelve minutes long. It is divided into two parts on youtube (in Japanese, with subtitles):

< Part One

< Part Two

I highly recommend this short film. Not only is it quite scary for how short it is (watch it in a dark room with the volume high), but it features the lovely Aya Matsuura (very famous Japanese idol singer) in a starring role.