Tuesday, April 11, 2006

The hits just keep on coming

There's a Chinese idiom that says, "一波未平,一波又起" (one wave has not yet subsided, another wave has started), which can be used to describe my situation today.


I got my car back from AAMCO today. Transmission overhaul, and three of the four engine mounts were replaced (one was replaced shortly after my accident, so I assume that's the one that's still holding up). I'm supposed to bring it back in about 10 days for a final check, to make sure that everything is in proper working order.

After driving a Dodge Neon for a week, the difference is definitely noticeable--the ride is smoother, and quieter, the steering wheel is lighter, and it is more comfortable overall. Virtually all of the problems I've been noticing with the car before taking the car in are now gone.


However, in just going from AAMCO to my workplace, with a distance of only a mile, I noticed something very disturbing--the engine temperature, or at least, what's showing on the temperature gauge. As I approached my office, the temperature crept up to near the redline.

During my lunch break, I stopped by Autozone and picked up a bottle of Redline Water Wetter, but the coolant reservoir in my car was extremely full, so I was not able to use any of it. I guess AAMCO probably added some coolant, which changed the mix ratio, and resulted in what I'm currently seeing. At least, I hope that's what happened. The alternative is either that my thermostat is broken, or that my radiator is shot again, and I've got to replace more stuff.

Saturday, April 08, 2006

Eerie coincidence

As I was on my way to work this morning (technically, yesterday morning), driving down the 10 freeway in my rental car (my car's in the shop for a transmission overhaul, plus a few other part replacements, the sum of which will cost me 4G's), I switched to the "number one lane."

Numbering the lanes. This is what I learned from my accident on the freeway three years ago. If I still remember correctly, the innermost, high speed lane, is number one. As you extend out, you have number two, number three, etc. This particular stretch of the 10 that I was driving on had four lanes, plus an "utility lane" (carpool lane, officially known as "HOV"). So the slowest lane, the one you'd be at if you just merged onto the freeway, would be the number four lane.

Or was it the other way around? Maybe I had the numbers reversed...

I think I have it right. Anyway, as I was thinking about this after performing the lane change, I recalled the night of my accident--I was driving on the number two lane. Despite the time being around midnight, there was still quite a bit of traffic on the eastbound 10, but it wasn't bad. There were many cars, but it was still possible to drive at a brisk pace (average speed was around 70 mph). I noticed from my rear view mirror another car driving quite a bit faster than the flow of traffic, in the number three lane. As it passed me, I recognized it as a Mitsubishi 3000 GT. There was another car not too far ahead of him in the same lane (let's call this "Car C"), so he switched to the number four lane.

Watching him, you knew that he would have to switch back to the number three lane, since the number four lane was also occupied. He would either have to speed up to pass the car in the number three lane, or slow down to get back behind it. Obviously, at his speed, he would choose the former.

At the same time, another car ahead of me in the number two lane (let's call him "Car D") also decided to switch lanes, to lane three. Ahead of Car C. He completed his lane change just as the 3000 GT was beginning his back to lane three. As the 3000 GT enters the lane, its driver noticed that Car D had settled in, and if he moved his 3000 GT in, he would crash. He slammed on his brakes, and attempted to swerve back to lane four. Instead, he lost control of his car. It began to spin.

Hoping to bypass this out-of-control 3000 GT, I switched to the number one lane. But it was too late. It had made its way across the freeway, and hit me right on the front passenger side. My airbags deployed. The car spun counter-clockwise, the rear bumper taps the cement center guard of the freeway just beyond the utility lane, and stops facing west on the eastbound freeway, right between the utility lane and the number one lane. Just one unlucky sap who got sideswiped by an unsafe driver.

The incident is long to describe, but a few scant seconds to play out and recall.


Then, it happened. We come up to another congestion on the freeway right after we passed the 605. About five cars ahead of me, I see a black car desperately trying not to rear-end the car in front of him--he had swerved slightly to the right, smoke was coming out of his tires. I gently begin tapping on my brakes. He crosses over to the number two lane, the car now facing north on a westbound freeway. Then it looks as if it's stopped, facing north east, on the number three lane. Brake lights light up in front of me. One particular set of brake lights catches everyone's attention--the big-rig truck in the number three lane. My car has come to a complete stop. I only pray that the big-rig would be able to do the same.

No such luck. The extra weight pulls its momentum forward, and the big-rig crashes into the front of the black car. Pieces of broken metal fly up in the air, and the black car slides backwards across the freeway. Through lanes two and one, and into the utility lane. My eyes follow its movement, as if in a trance. It crashes into a minivan that was still moving forward. I'm not sure if it had crashed into other cars along the way, my view being obstructed by the cars ahead of me.

All the cars are stopped on the freeway. As a pathway clears, most drive on through to their destinations, thanking the stars that they were not the ones invovled in this accident.



What a way to start a birthday.

Thursday, April 06, 2006

Ah... new phone

My new Sony Ericsson Z520a arrived yesterday.

Nice, colored-external screen. It's kind of like a thumbnail of the screen inside, once you flip it open. The color screen fades away to display the time in monochrome after a few seconds. It will also show a picture of the person calling you (if you've got that person in your phone book, and associated a picutre with it), which, IMO, makes much more sense for a flip phone. As most flip phones are set to answer a call immediately after you flip it open, you're not going to see the picture of the person calling you...

Flipped open, sitting next to my Bluetooth headset. The Z520a is slight smaller and lighter than my previous phone, the Motorola V551.

And the best part? I can finally keep my Bluetooth headset "attached" and not be forced to have to hear the same, boring ringtone when I receive a call! Gee, what a novel idea. Stupid Motorola phones.

The Sony Ericsson phone has a better phone book management, too. No longer do I have to keep multiple entries with the same name simply because I have multiple numbers for the same person. The Samsung phone I had before I got the Motorola could do this, too. However, the Samsung was lacking in that I was not able to assign individual ringtones. Instead, I had to assign people to different groups, and assign ringtones to each group. So the Ericsson has the best of both worlds, in terms of phone book ability.

So far, the phone's been doing quite well. I don't expect that the battery will last very long, since it's got two color screens, plus I'm keeping my Bluetooth headset connected at all times. We'll see.

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

End Women's Suffrage!

While you're at it, get rid of that pesky dihydrogen monoxide thing.

Monday, March 27, 2006

Hotel California

Ben came over today to check on my brother. He had written something on his blog that had some cause for concern--I had been busy the last couple of days and did not check anyone's blog.

As it turns out, both my brother and Ben had been feeling down for a while, and today Ben said to me that he finally understood why some people drank to try and forget their problems. I knew there were people who drank because they're depressed, and I know that it's very unhealthy, but I can't deny that I do not personally understand what they've been through and what kind of relief they get. I just hope that I'll never have to drink for such a purpose.

The situation does remind me of part of the lyrics from "Hotel California," though...
Some dance to remember
Some dance to forget
It's may not be exactly what they were talking about when The Eagles wrote this song, but probably something similar, metaphorically. A more direct song on the subject would be Billy Joel's "Piano Man."

Friday, March 24, 2006

Pure genius

Last year, Trey Parker and Matt Stone made an episode of South Park that poked fun at Scientology called "Trapped in the Closet."


Then, last week, Isaac Hayes, who provided the voice for Chef supposedly issued a statement to the effect of Parker and Stone having crossed a line by making fun of people's religious beliefs. This seemed highly hypocritical to many, as South Park regularly made fun of various religions, and Hayes never seemed to have problems until Scientology became the target.

Chef was an important and memorable character on South Park, the kids would often go to him for advice. So, in response to the supposed statement and resignation from Hayes, the latest episode of South Park, "The Return of Chef," dealt with the issue, and quite brilliantly, I might add.

It should be noted, however, that two days before the new episode aired, an article was published by Roger Friedman, stating the unlikelihood of Hayes having actually issued a statement against South Park, as he had defended it after the airing of the Scientology episode, and at the time the statement was issued, Hayes was in the hospital.

...since YouTube has added a movie length limit to their uploads, the video had to be split up.

Edit: The person who originally uploaded these videos seems to have removed them, so I uploaded my own after splitting them.

Part I - "Recap" - Chef leaves town to join the "Super Adventure Club"

Part II - The boys attempt to "un-brainwash" Chef, and turn him back to normal.

Part III - The boys try to save Chef.

Saturday, March 11, 2006

Alchy

My brother bought some vodka and Kahlúa last night (which he keeps on pronouncing as "Kalhua"), and offered to make me a Black Russian after we got back from Esther's wedding. Then we got to talking about more mixed drinks, and decided to go to BevMo for other stuff, including some of the basic tools needed to make mixed drinks. $170 later, this is what we got.

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

The Brokeback Redemption

There's really nothing more to say.

"Choose Your Own Adventure" books

I read them when I was a kid, too. But not these, which "never quite made it."

A few select covers:
You know you want to...

I'm not sure why I found this one funny, but I did.

Here at Brokeback Ocean.

Why, indeed.

None of the kids will get this one.

Monday, March 06, 2006

Once again... Tom Cruise

As you can clearly see from the logo on the screen, this was originally shown on the TV show, Best Week Ever, a recap show of sorts on the cable channel, VH1. It's a cleverly edited clip of Oprah reprimanding book author James Frey, and the shenanigans as displayed by Tom Cruise when he was on her show last year, made to look like Oprah is reprimanding Tom Cruise.

Sunday, March 05, 2006

Just in time for the Oscars

Well... sort of. I picked up The Ice Harvest, Pride & Prejudice, and Walk the Line on DVD last Tuesday, and watched them over the course of the week, finally finishing up with Walk the Line tonight. By the time I was done, the awards show had also finished.

To be honest, I wasn't really interested in seeing Walk the Line originally, hence it was the last of the three movies I watched. The reason I did get the DVD was mainly because of Reese Witherspoon and the Oscar nominations--even though similar reasoning did not make me purchase The Constant Gardener with Rachel Weisz. At any rate, I ended up liking it much more than I thought I would... I might actually like it more than Ray.


As I look at the list of DVDs to be released this week, I see more that I want to pick up: Just Friends, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and Howl's Moving Castle.

The Simpsons

...in live-action.

Don't know who made this, but they did a damn good job of it. Of course, long-time Simpsons fans will notice several details missing or misplaced, but it's still very impressive.

Saturday, March 04, 2006

They're Taking the Hobbits to Isengard!

What... The... F***?!

"Stupid fat hobbit."

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

First Time

Another music video from Michael Wong. This is an older song called "First Time" (第一次). It's pretty funny. He tells the girl he likes her, which causes her to spit out her drink, laugh nervously, and reply, "I'll pretend I didn't hear that. You should try to forget about this soon."

第一次

當你看著我
我沒有開口 已被你猜透
還是沒把握
還是沒有符合你的要求
是我自己想得太多
還是你也在閃躲
如果真的選擇是我
我鼓起勇氣去接受
不知不覺讓視線開始閃爍


喔 第一次我 說愛你的時候
呼吸難過 心不停地顫抖
喔 第一次我 牽起你的雙手
失去方向 不知該往哪走
那是一起相愛的理由
那是一起廝守
喔 第一次吻 你深深的酒窩
想要清醒卻沖昏了頭
喔 第一次你 躺在我的胸口
二十四小時沒有分開過
那是第一次知道天長地久

是我自己想得太多
還是你也在閃躲
如果真的選擇是我
我鼓起勇氣去接受
不知不覺讓視線開始閃爍


喔 第一次我 說愛你的時候
呼吸難過 心不停地顫抖
喔 第一次我 牽起你的雙手
失去方向 不知該往哪走
那是一起相愛的理由 對我


今天你已屬於我
感覺你的眼眸
第一次就決定 決不會錯

喔 第一次我 說愛你的時候
呼吸難過 心不停地顫抖
喔 第一次我 牽起你的雙手
失去方向 不知該往哪走
那是一起相愛的理由
那是一起廝守
喔 第一次吻 你深深的酒窩
想要清醒卻沖昏了頭
喔 第一次你 躺在我的胸口
二十四小時沒有分開過
那是第一次知道天長地久
First Time

As you're looking at me
I said nothing, but you've got me figured out
Still uncertain
Still do not fit your requirements
Am I just thinking too much
Or are you also dodging
If I have truly been chosen
I'll work up the courage to accept
Unknowingly, let the sightline begin glittering

Oh, the first time that I said that I love you
Was hard to breathe, heart wouldn't stop trembling
Oh, the first time that I held your hands in mine
Lost sense of direction, don't know which way to go
That's the reason to fall in love together
That's staying together
Oh, the first time that I kissed your deep dimples
Tried to stay clear-headed but got intoxicated
Oh, the first time that you laid upon my chest
Did not separate for twenty-four hours
That was the first time I understood eternity

Am I just thinking too much
Or are you also dodging
If I have truly been chosen
I'll work up the courage to accept
Unknowingly, let the sightline begin glittering

Oh, the first time that I said that I love you
Was hard to breathe, heart wouldn't stop trembling
Oh, the first time that I held your hands in mine
Lost sense of direction, don't know which way to go
That's the reason to fall in love together, for me

Today you already belong to me
I can sense your eyes
Make a decision on the first time, never be wrong

Oh, the first time that I said that I love you
Was hard to breathe, heart wouldn't stop trembling
Oh, the first time that I held your hands in mine
Lost sense of direction, don't know which way to go
That's the reason to fall in love together
That's staying together
Oh, the first time that I kissed your deep dimples
Tried to stay clear-headed but got intoxicated
Oh, the first time that you laid upon my chest
Did not separate for twenty-four hours
That was the first time I understood eternity

Promise

This is Michael Wong's new music video for the song "Promise" (約定), made by the same director as his previous video for Fairy Tale (童話).

The two videos are very similar, especially in the beginning.

約定
作詞:光良 作曲:光良

說好的 三年不見面
用我們的愛把時間留住
你笑著說 這是我們的考驗
我們的約定
就這樣 三年又過了
我還是回到這個地方
閉上眼 等你的出現
空氣中吻你的臉

我還記得我們的約定
一輩子幸福的約定
為你寫的那首歌
它也偷偷的掉淚了
我還記得我們的約定
我比以前還更愛你了
連那風都笑我了
我想它會告訴你的
我更愛你了

就這樣 三年又過了
我還是回到這個地方
閉上眼 等你的出現
空氣中吻你的臉

我還記得我們的約定
一輩子幸福的約定
為你寫的那首歌
它也偷偷的掉淚了
我還記得我們的約定
我比以前還更愛你了
連那風都笑我了
我想它會告訴你的

你會記得我們的約定
一輩子幸福的約定
為你寫的那首歌
它也偷偷的掉淚了
你會記得我們的約定
我比以前還更愛你了
迎著風我也笑了
它一定會告訴你的
我更愛你了
Promise
Music/Lyrics: Michael Wong

We agreed, not to meet for three years
Use our love to make time stand still
You said with a smile, this is our trial
Our promise
Just like that, three years have passed
I still came back to this place
Close my eyes, waiting for you to appear
I kiss your cheeks in the air

I still remember our promise
The promise of a lifetime of happiness
The song that I wrote for you
Is shedding a tear in secret
I still remember our promise
I love you even more than I did before
Even the wind is laughing at me
I think it will attest to that
I love you even more

Just like that, three years have passed
I still came back to this place
Close my eyes, waiting for you to appear
I kiss your cheeks in the air

I still remember our promise
The promise of a lifetime of happiness
The song that I wrote for you
Is shedding a tear in secret
I still remember our promise
I love you even more than I did before
Even the wind is laughing at me
I think it will attest to that

You will remember our promise
The promise of a lifetime of happiness
The song that I wrote for your
Is shedding a tear in secret
You will remember our promise
Facing the wind, I also laugh
It will definitely let you know
I love you even more