I Hate Football

This is why I've done my best to completely not care about football in the past.

1.  Ohio State was playing #3 USC.  Their defense was absolutely spectacular, taking a 15-10 lead into the final minutes of the game.  After not being able to move the entire game, USC, starting at 2nd and 19 from its own 5 yard line, finishes it off with a touchdown to win it with 1:05 remaining.  Granted it's no shame losing to a #3 team (unless you're #1 or #2), but still, we had that game in the bag, and we needed revenge for the beating we took last year.

2.  The Cincinnati Bengals have been horrible for many, many years.  But, it's the first game of the season and they're undefeated.  They're playing the Denver Broncos, and their defense is unbelievable, holding Denver to only 6 points late into the 4th quarter.  Unforunately, their offense is playing like usual, and hasn't scored a point.  Against all odds, they finally manage to put together a scoring drive and take the lead, 7-6, with 0:38 left on the clock.  Denver's last chance goes: sack, near-interception, and then a perfectly-defended tipped pass that just happens to be tipped right to a second receiver who runs it 87 yards for a touchdown with 11 seconds left.

3.  The Philadelphia Eagles started the season off right, defeating the Carolina Panthers 38-10.  A great start to the season, rigth?  Wrong.  Their starting quarterback, Donovan McNabb, left the game with a broken rib, and the best of his backups, Michael Vick, is suspended until the 4th game of the season.  Having had a cracked rib in the past from soccer, I know how long it's going to take McNabb to heal.

My three teams, three games, three torturous disappointments.  I hate that.  I think I'm going to go back to completely ignoring football.  Life will be far less stressful.

Silicon is Beautiful

I just wanted to pass along a link to the following photos, posted to Flickr by Intel.

(Click image to see full size.)

Here is the link to the slideshow:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/intelphotos/sets/72157604260756146/show/

They are pictures of wafers and dice (plural of die, the individual chips) and various objects to help your mind wrap itself around the scale you're looking at. Can any of us really comprehend how many millions of switches (transistors) and wires we (Intel) have created on such a tiny surface? I sure can't, even though I draw these things every day. It's all magic to me.

Simply amazing...

Tron Legacy

I almost wet my pants when I saw the following video for the first time. The original Tron from 1982 is one of my favorite movies of all time, not because of the story, which was actually somewhat stupid, but because of the technology - the light cycles, the tanks, the Recognizers, and just the thought of an entire world inside a computer. For most of my high school and college years, I basically lived my life inside a computer, thanks to BBS' and the Internet. It pretty much killed my social life, but I loved it.

This concept video for the upcoming Tron Legacy movie looks like it will have the same flavor as the original, but with infinitely better graphics. I can't wait.





Do yourself a favor and click on the video and watch it on YouTube in high definition and full screen. You won't regret it.

When Will You Come?

This is the first poem I ever wrote outside of a school assignment. I actually didn't write it, but modified (improved?) an earlier version written by another user, Ice Angel, on a local BBS, so I'm not sure I can even take credit. Even so, it showed me that I could be creative, and turn out something interesting. Over the next 10 years, I wrote a number of poems, mostly crap, but a few that I'm really proud of. But this was the first. Thanks, Ice Angel, for getting me started.

When Will You Come?

With eyes that shine like the morning sun,
My heart leaping, like a rabbit's run,
When we touch, my sorrow ends.
My shattered emotions, you slowly mend.
To my cuts and wounds, former strife,
You bring back the meaning to my life.
Though your face, I know not yet,
I hope these feelings I never forget.
I stand here alone, waiting for you.
When will you come? I wish I knew.

- Ice Angel & Radagast

It took about 10 more years for the "you" in that poem to show up. Though I didn't know it at the time, this one was for you, My Love.

Car Jousting

Last December, I was rear-ended by some jerk while driving to work. (I'm ok, thanks.) The guy was around 20 and driving a black Lincoln Towncar, clearly not his own. The collision pushed my car into the car in front, so I got damage on both ends. He must have been stopping pretty fast, because my bumper isn't too bad, while his grill was destroyed, and the car had to be towed. That gives me some slight pleasure, but not quite enough to outweigh how angry I am.

My car is actually not in too bad a shape.. some cracks, lights out of place, and pieces that don't quite match up anymore. Definitely will need new front and rear bumpers, hood and trunk at least. My biggest concern is that the insurance company will just total the car (1996 Geo Prizm LSi, 113000 miles) and hand me $2000 to buy a new car.. gee, thanks... I go from having a perfectly good car that I love to being $20k in debt at least, thanks to some punk kid.

Anyway, while inspecting the damage, I noticed this rather concerning sight:

(Click image to enlarge.)

What the heck happened to my muffler? I guessed that he must have hit it and ripped it down out of the body of the car. But I didn't know there was a rectangular panel (some kind of firewall protection?) behind the muffler that the tailpipe went through.. strange.

Well, it's probably not good to drive that way, especially if I go over a speed bump, so maybe I can cram the whole contraption back up where it came from. So I get under the car and take a look.

First, I notice that the rectangular piece is just an old license plate. What the heck? I'm all for recycling, but I really don't want my car built out of old license plates! Then I notice it's a California plate, beginning with the number 6. When I bought the car, they were only up to 3, so this plate couldn't have been from back then. Then of course it dawns on me.

(Click image to enlarge.)

My car freakin' speared the other guy's license plate and kept it as a souvenir! Awesome! I love my car... :)


Geo Prizm: 1
Lincoln Towncar: 0