Hello faithful readers, it’s been a while. A lot has happened over the last month and a half. Quite frankly, some of it is a bit hurtful and therefore private. Most of that pain has been related to or come directly from the process of writing my thesis. I won’t commit anymore of that to the web, if you know me personally and want to know more, give me a call or something.

Otherwise, there’s lots of news to shower you with. I’ve spent the last two months interviewing all over the place for a job. Amidst the job search I’ve been trying to lock down all my degree requirements with the aim to be done with my Master’s by the middle of IAP. Last Tuesday, after a lot of soul searching and losing quite a few hours of sleep, I made a decision. I’m going to be working as an Applications Engineer for Silicon Labs in Austin, Texas.

I’ll be starting in late January, just after I turn in my thesis. I’m pretty excited to be moving on and becoming one of these heralded “working professionals”. At the same time it is kind of sad to be leaving so many things that I’ve grown used to here in Cambridge. Until then, I’ll be busting my ass working on this thesis thing and keeping my head low. Look for the blogging to continue more frequently after that, and the site will definitely be continuing its existence once I move to Texas (you all will just have to give me some time to set things up once I move).

It looks like my old pie chart entry isn’t all that original. Look here, for more funny pie charts.

While browsing Wikipedia, I came across the featured article for today on 0.999… (that is, 0.9 with a repeating decimal). I initially thought the article was going to be eye-bleedingly boring, but found it pretty insightful.

Most notable is an elaborate discussion on how high school students (and often math students of all levels) tend to reject the notion that 0.999… is equal to 1. I think the funniest part is how Blizzard Entertainment had seven years worth of message board arguments about this on its popular Battle.net service. The debate was a such popular topic that the company president himself made a press release about it. Ridiculous.

I just recently discovered xkcd. I’ve been reading it for about two weeks now and am loving it. If you’ve never heard of it, and are even the least bit geeky, give it a shot you won’t be disappointed. Sometimes it’s so poignant, it’s scary. Whoever the author is, he is certainly a kindred spirit of some kind.

One of my favorites from xkcd.

What’s the deal with all of these exploding laptop batteries these days? Dell, and Apple apparently are having problems with these things, and now Lenovo too? This is really starting to get hilarious.

What’s more hilarious, Virgin Airlines and Qantas are now banning Dell and Apple laptops on their flights (according to TWiT at least, a decently reputable source) due to these exploding batteries. Sheesh.

Jim recently introduced me to Pandora the other day, which apparently has been around for a while. I had never heard of it before, but I think it’s going to become one of my primary ways of finding new music.

Pandora’s this web app. that asks you for a song or artist you like and uses some sort of algorithm developed by the Music Genome Project to find new artists and songs that have properties similar to the one you suggested.

Overall, it’s a pretty good idea. The interface could be loads better though (I don’t much like having a slow, clunky flash interface to work with). For the most part, I’ll probably only use it for casual listening. I usually discover new music that way, so it’s good for me at least.

Each song’s genetic fingerprint reminds me a lot of the Music Brainz interface to Amarok which uses libtunepimp to do the same thing. If you run Linux and have been desperately searching for an iTunes replacement (everything except the music store), Amarok is it.

Things have been pretty busy around here these days. Term started, ushering in the end of those sweet sweet summer days of working for a while and being able to play video games and hang out at night. Amidst the hullabaloo of term, my job hunt began in earnest this past week.

Monday started with a job interview with a local company, followed by two career fairs on Wednesday and Thursday and a recruitment dinner on Friday. I’m really trying to put in all the legwork possible at this point. I am dead set on leaving MIT at the end of the year. I do have the option of staying until the end of the Spring, but I really don’t want to have to use it. I’ve just about had it with taking classes, and above all I’ve had it with the ridiculous requests from my advisor (which have gotten worse now that he knows I’m going all out in looking for a job).

On the relationship front, that individual whom I expressed interest in previously up and changed her mind about me. I have mixed feelings about the whole thing. She and I need to talk about it, but with her traveling the last few weekends we haven’t spent much time together. Things have changed a lot for me in the past 8 months though, I can’t say I’m as excited about the whole thing as I used to be.

On a positive note, I went and bought Ōkami (Japanese for “wolf”) yesterday for the PS2. I had seen a little bit of the Japanese version over the summer, and have been waiting with bated breath for the US release. I’ve only managed to play it for a couple of hours so far, but man is it a gorgeous game. Playing it makes you feel like you’re in a moving Japanese woodblock print. With the all the other stuff going on, I really wish I had more time to play, but this way I at least relish the time when I do get to play a lot more.

The band is slowly coming together now! I think Hachi’s relationship with Shoji is going to start to fall apart too. Who would have believed it (except Ai Yazawa, the mangaka, of course) that a REAL Sachiko would show up to get Shoji’s attention? While Hachi is busy ignoring Shoji and being way too focused on her new life, Shoji happens to have a girl named Sachiko land squarely in front of him. This does not bode well.

Shoji meets Sachiko with patented anime awkward
moment motif in the background.

On the up side, it seems Nobu and Nana have found themselves a bass player named Shin. He’s apparently very young, but incredibly good. There was a pretty tense moment when he mentioned who his idol was, but I’ll leave you all to actually watch the episode to find out what happened.

Nana pulls a crazy move and kisses Hachi, which is making for confusing yet sentimental times for Hachi as well (this happens towards the end of the episode). It seems as if Nana and Hachi oscillate between being almost too close with each other and sometimes they treat each other as if they’re from different planets.

Either way, I’m still enjoying the show 10 episodes in, so I’m definitely going to stick with it. Somebody else should actually try watching and commenting as well!

Julian and I were playing around with Amazon’s new grocery shopping section. It’s pretty much another wholesale shopping getup, but with the Amazon feel. I’m amazed they hadn’t thought of it earlier (Wikipedia reports it started in July of this year).

The candy possibilities alone, coupled with the free super saver shipping that Amazon does make for some great deals. Gummy bears seem to be really popular, they’re pretty much already sold out of the ridiculous number of flavors they have available. We couldn’t find Fruit Roll-Ups though.

It’s the end of the summer, and I have to say I’m kind of unhappy about the way things have turned out. To be honest, I’m exhausted. More mentally than physically, but I’ve just about had it with the way things are going at work in particular. After work things are okay, but my unhappy feelings tend to linger.

When I tell people, the usual response is “well, you’ve got one more term left, just tough it out”. That’s great advice, something I’ve told myself about a million times before I mentioned my feelings to anyone. It’s not like I don’t appreciate support from friends, but that response is not really all that encouraging. It also doesn’t help that term is fast approaching and my plate is incredibly full as far as scheduling goes.

In other news I am actually caught up with NANA, I’m just really slow writing up my summaries. Look for those to show up probably one per day in the coming weeks. I’ve also been watching a couple of other series, Honey and Clover season 2 being probably my favorite at the moment. Each episode of that show (much like the first season) stays with me for the longest time.

Oh yeah, 2 cool points to whoever completes the song lyric from the title of this post. Enough whining from me for one night!

This episode, to me, finally ushered in the main theme that’s been running in the background of all the relationships: music. I mean, Nana’s band was always the focus of her story, but it always seemed like a backdrop to push the interpersonal stuff forward.

The impromptu concert goes on into the night,
on the kitchen table no less.

That’s not to say that’s not the case in this episode as well, but very little music was actually played by the characters or talked about in previous episodes. Now, music has become Nana’s essence and she bears it for Hachi. As a result, Hachi and Nana are starting to get a lot closer and their social circles start to blend a little more.

Nobu’s back too! His arrival is what kick starts all of this music business. He’s been mulling some ideas over and demos a tune he thinks would be great for the new band (actually the opening song to the show, “rose”). Nana improvises some lyrics and they put on an impromptu concert for Hachi (much to their neighbor’s chagrin).

With Nobu back, I think this episode really marks the start of things heating up for the main characters, they’ve finally got some traction.

I just read about this over at IGN. Apparently, it’s confirmed that the sequel to Batman Begins will be called The Dark Knight, will have Christopher Nolan back to direct, Christian Bale as Batman, and Heath Ledger officially cast as the Joker. That’s apparently the official word from the studio.

It’s hard for me to fathom Ledger as the psychotically comical Joker, but hey I was worried about Christian Bale for a while too. Here’s the link.

Girls are crazy, Hachi proves it, I mean what the hell is up with that whole Sachiko thing she keeps bringing up with Shoji?! Anyways, more hilarity ensues with Yasu as Hachi is convinced that Nana is in secretly in love with him. They both decide to go shopping together as neither has any household items to even make tea with.

Nana asleep, with her tattoo exposed.
The tattoo is of a lotus, pronounced “Ren no Hana” in Japanese
and thus a memento of the man Ren.

While shopping, Nana comes up with the nickname Hachiko (after a famous Japanese dog, Hachi for short) for the other Nana (who from this episode henceforth becomes officially named Hachi). Nana sees Hachi as a little puppy who can be cute to hang out with but mostly trouble. This comes into play especially in this episode as Hachi has another one of those “love at first sight” moments with her new boss (yes, she finally got a job).

Hachi is still sticking with Shoji though, who is perplexed as ever at Hachi’s friendly devotion to Nana.

The sevens rule in this episode. However, the first seven minutes are kind of wasted by recapping the last little bits that the last episode didn’t cover (primarily the whole apartment rental thing between Hachi, Nana, and their two respective real estate agents). Did I ever mention that the word “nana” (なな or numerically/in kanji as 七) in Japanese can mean the number 7? If I didn’t, then some of the puns throughout the series might be missed (particularly the whole room number thing).

Left to Right: Hachi, Junko, Shoji, Kyosuke, and Yasu
(Nana’s lawyer friend and fellow bandmate).

After the recap, we find out Hachi’s friends’ (namely Junko, Kyousuke, and of course Shoji) reaction to her decision to live with Nana. Both Junko and Shoji are perplexed that Hachi would choose to live with a —as far as they know— complete stranger. I was worried for a while, but Hachi showed enough guts to stick with her decision even after Shoji finally makes a standing offer to have her live permanently with him. Did I mention Shoji’s intentions to eventually marry Hachi? Watch the episode to find out more! You know you want to!

I’m not going to bother writing too much for this episode as it’s a recap of the first episode’s events. I guess the real value in this episode is that the viewer gets to revisit them after learning about our two heroines’ backgrounds and motivations for moving to Tokyo. While they couldn’t exactly start the show with episode 2, they probably could have planned things better so they wouldn’t have had to rehash an entire episode about a quarter of the way through the season.

I guess your mileage may vary depending on how much you remember from episode 1.

Sorry for the lack of posts lately on NANA, see the last entry for excuses. As far as episode 5 goes, it picks up right where episode 4 left off. Ren and Nana are in bed where Ren breaks the news that he’s moving to Tokyo to join a new band, effectively abandoning Nana and the rest of BLAST (short for Black Stones, their band). The majority of the episode is spent visiting the rest of the band members’ reaction to Ren’s decision (with Ren pretty much already off to Tokyo after the first 2 minutes of the show). The heart and soul of the band was Ren, and now he’s gone, what will they do?

Nana and fellow bandmate Nobu talk
about what to do now that Ren is gone.

Well, Hachi got two episodes and now Nana got her two, effectively bringing the audience up to speed with her motivations for moving to Tokyo and thus her fateful meeting up with Hachi on the train. This episode solidified my preference Nana’s character over Hachi’s. Nana seems more introspective, and I think we see her vulnerable side more often than we do Hachi’s. Hachi always seems to cover it up with prissy behavior.

Nana essentially replaces Ren as the soul of the band after all the turmoil over him leaving is more or less resolved (I guess resolved in an open-ended way is the best way to put it, it is only the fifth episode you know). While anyone watching the episode would expect this, the journey to that position is a lot more human and less contrived than I’ve seen in other shoujo anime. Now that we’re caught up with both the main characters’ lives, I guess it’s back to the “present day” to see where they go from there.

Sorry for the lack of updates everyone. I’ve been distracted by a large number of things these past couple of weeks. The most exciting of which was a trip out to the west coast with the family for six days ending on the fourth of July.

As far as the trip details go, we spent a couple of days in the San Francisco area. We caught a Giants game, took a tour of the city, rode the cable-car, and then headed out to Napa Valley for a day. We then spent a day in Yosemite National Park before flying out to Las Vegas. We really only spent one day in Vegas checking out the sites. The second day was spent almost entirely at the Grand Canyon (though we did wrap up the trip back at the Mirage to see the latest incarnation of Cirque du Soleil called “Love” based on the music of The Beatles). I only managed to take a few pictures this time around (as compared to last year’s trip to Japan) mostly due to time constraints. I have some panoramic photos that I have yet to post, but the rest are here.

Since then, I pretty much hit the ground running upon getting back. My thesis was starting to demand a huge amount of my time before I left, and that continued upon my return. Nevertheless I ended up buying a PS2 which takes up those remaining hours after Kung Fu class but before bed. All in all, I’m pretty busy these days.

When you think the key to your room will be able to open the door to the lab. Ugh.

Some random UROP in the lab gets the “Cringe-worthy Award” (yes, I made it up) for the day by clipping his fingernails in the middle of the hallway while waiting to meet with a researcher. What the hell man, that’s absolutely disgusting!

Some called me crazy for putting forth that the Heat would win it in six games after they had lost two in Dallas. My suite-mate probably thought I was crazy all week as I jumped up and down screaming like a madman alone in my room as I watched them win four in a row. I’m definitely crazy now though, about my team pulling off one of the greatest come-from-behind series victories in NBA history.

This last game was spectacular, and I have to give the Dallas Mavericks a lot of credit too. They, along with the Heat made the NBA Finals a joy to watch. None of the six games were boring to watch. As a Heat fan I’m ecstatic, and as a general basketball fan I couldn’t be more pleased with how entertaining the playoffs have been. Looking back, I don’t think I’ve ever had this much fun watching other teams play too (from the Suns, and Clippers to the Cavs in the East).

Despite all the trash talking from their side, I definitely have a lot of respect for the Mavericks and what they brought to the table. It’ll be fun to see if this whole Mavs-Heat thing turns into a rivalry one day. I think I’ll load up NBA Live ‘06 later on and play a couple of games as the Heat versus the Mavericks. This season was such a blast, I don’t’ want it to end!

This episode splits its time evenly between the two main characters. We first have to wrap up the previous story arc with Hachi and Shoji. Shoji eventually catches up to Hachi and plays his whole angry overture as if he was just kidding around and got out of control. Kind of retarded, although Hachi drags the real reason out of him later on in their hotel room (you’ll just have to watch the episode to see how).

Nana takes a smoke by the ocean before the concert
that would change her life forever.

We then shift to NANA (which I will be spelling as Nana from now on as it’s too much of a pain to keep spelling it with capital letters). Nana’s story seems much more interesting, mainly because she’s so much tougher than Hachi right from the get-go. Nana’s had a lot of tragedy in her life, and ends up without any living family by the time she’s 18. Luckily, she encounters Ren, a proud-to-be-an-orphan up and coming rock star in her little town (which I assume is in the North of Japan by all of the snow).

Nana’s love/admiration/jealousy of Ren consumes her entirely (as she describes much more poignantly in the episode). So far the ending song seems to always come in at the perfect time with each episode. The somber musical tone the song opens with fits the ending narrative tone of each episode incredibly well.

Tension is the name of the game this episode. All of Hachi’s friends decide to apply for college in Tokyo. Hachi does too, but doesn’t get accepted at any school. This hangs heavy on the core group of four from the last episode (Hachi, Junko, Shoji, and Junko’s soft-spoken new boyfriend Kyosuke). Everyone else is seemingly going to abandon Hachi as she desperately tries to come up with plans to find her way to Tokyo.

Shoji’s visage crumbling in the face
of his unrequited love

Shoji just can’t take the whole unrequited love thing anymore and blows up in front of Hachi in the middle of the street. Amidst all of this, Hachi has an encounter with her former lover (the mysterious man she had the affair with). Meanwhile, Shoji gets his wits back and goes running to find Hachi. What will he say to her when he finds her? Will it be cliche? I guess we’ll see next episode. For the record, Kyosuke is by far the most mature one of the group, his level-headed attitude contrasts so sharply with the other characters’ personalities it’s comedic.

This episode focuses entirely on Hachi and what appears to be the few years leading up to her meeting with NANA on that train ride. Hachi is one boy-crazy young lady. We’re given a brief tour of her previous relationships including an affair with a married man that left a lasting wound she isn’t even aware she’s carrying.

Hachi and her friend Junko
on their first day of Art college

The majority of the episode takes us into the beginnings of Hachi’s life after that affair (which she had in high school) as she starts studying for an Associate’s degree in Art with her best friend Junko. There she meets Shoji, whom she falls for immediately (along with what seems like a half a dozen other guys).

After realizing (in the middle of a hilarious drunken stupor) that the man she had an affair with may not have actually loved her, Hachi has a mental breakdown. She decides to call off relationships for a while and seeks out Shoji as her new “best guy friend”. Too bad Shoji’s been falling for her all along…

The Heat are in the NBA finals! The Heat are in the finals! My home team finally gets some respect, trouncing the Detroit Pistons tonight 95 to 78. Shaq was nigh on brilliant, as was Jason Williams, with a phenomenal game. Dwayne Wade continued to break the other teams resolve with heartbreaking shots despite being in the hospital earlier today with the flu. Now that’s heart! I’m so excited I can barely type!

I’m trying something new this summer with the latest anime that I’m watching. I’m going to blog about each episode that I watch. That way, maybe I can encourage some folks to watch some of the series with me and post comments. The first series I’ve managed to take a look at is called NANA (ナナin Japanese).

Nana (Hachi, left) and NANA

From the opening of the first episode, NANA seems very much like a “slice of life” type of show a la Honey and Clover. We’re introduced to a girl named Nana (nicknamed Hachi throughout the series, although that’s not mentioned in the first episode) who’s planning on moving to Tokyo. Her motivations for moving away from home are pretty much boy-centered and much to her chagrin the guy she intends to impress when she arrives isn’t all that happy to see her.

The interesting part is who Hachi encounters on the train into town. She manages to snag a seat next to a punk rocker girl with a cool demeanor whose name also happens to be NANA (spelled in capital letters due to the way her name is written in Japanese, with katakana). While they meet only briefly on the train and don’t even say goodbye to each other when they get off; they soon end up meeting again and living together in Tokyo.

In a nutshell, the show is about these two girls named Nana. Their personalities contrast greatly, but they bounce off of each other pretty well. It’ll only be a matter of time before all of the drama unfolds as their lives intertwine. It’s all a lot less banal than I make it sound, do yourself a favor and check it out!

I’m finally done with the Spring term. The weather is starting to get better, and all of my free time is slowly starting to come back to me. I don’t know why, but this past academic year has been one of the most trying I’ve ever had at MIT. Hopefully my last semester in the Fall won’t be as much of a pain as these past two were.

It looks like there are going to be a lot of people hanging out in the area this summer which should make for some good times. Plus, the family has a trip planned in late June to San Francisco/Vegas/Yosemite/Grand Canyon that should be a blast. I’m optimistic about the next few months, to say the least.

As for now, it’s finals week for all the undergrad folks (and some grad students I guess) but that doesn’t mean Julian, Gautham, Radio, Yoder, Muth, Bigtime, Smalltime, Ian, Teja (affectionately known as Tazer), and I haven’t been playing Halo 2 to all hours of the night. I think people are really taking that whole “studying is cheating” mantra to heart this year.

I’d been meaning to post about this for a while, but things have been pretty hectic (lots of late nights, with plenty of work). On the upside, I managed to catch the MIT Theater Guild’s performance of Chicago last Saturday with a sell-out crowd. The show as great, probably one of the most professional productions of any sort I’ve ever seen at MIT.

The entire cast did an incredible job bringing all the characters to life. Most notable were Michelle who had the crowd in the palm of her hand as Matron Mama and Greg Lohman playing Amos Hart, who just had the perfect mannerisms/way about him for that role.

Check it out if you’re in the neighborhood, they’ve got their last performance tonight starting at 8pm!

I finally got some free time over Spring Break (not much of a break this year, to tell the truth) to head on over to Brooks Brothers and pick out a couple of suits. My parents had gotten me a couple of gift cards to BB for my birthday a long way back in anticipation of my job hunt (to take place later this year).

Let me tell you, shopping for a suit there is a fantastic experience! The minute I walked through the door, the employees made me feel like an important customer. The selection is ridiculous, and all suits are tailored to your fit once you’ve picked the “line” of suit you want. As I stood there chatting it up with the old guy that was the tailor, I couldn’t help but think that I was in the same position as those rich crooners who stand there with the tailor, smoking-pipe-in-mouth, saying “yes, yes, that’s excellent”. After getting measured, I was told to expect my suits to be ready for pickup in two weeks.

Two weeks went by and this past Wednesday I went by again to pick up my stuff. While there, I was once again pleasantly surprised by the service. It’s not often that I give my name and the attendants (a different one, mind you, from the last time) know exactly who you are. My suits were immediately brought out, packed up once I was satisfied with the quality of the work (and having tried them on of course). I was even asked “how I was to be traveling home this afternoon sir?”, so as to package up my suits accordingly. Pretty freaking awesome!

I’ve always liked wearing a suit, the fit of a suit always felt right and I always felt like a million bucks on the inside. I didn’t expect to be treated like I was actually worth that amount when buying one tough. I mean, I understand BB is an eminent haberdashery and all, it’s not exactly K-Mart, but even so I’ve been disappointed by supposedly “high-class” stores before. Bottom line, do yourself a favor and buy a suit from them if you’re ever looking for one in the future. Ladies, don’t worry, Brooks Brothers is also making a run into the female line of dress clothes as well. Check them out when looking for your formal wear too.

I’d been meaning to mention this for a while, but with the trip to New York and all it had just slipped my mind. After hearing about it for months, I finally decided to bite the bullet and watch the wildly popular Japanese drama 電車男（Densha Otoko).

The story revolves around a 23 year old オタク (otaku, a derogatory term in Japan for a nerd or geek, similar to what we at Random Hall would call twinkies). Our hero scrounges up enough bravery to help a beautiful woman (the heroine of the story) on a train from a drunk passenger. As his relationship with the woman unfolds, it’s all told through his daily posts to an online message board he frequents that is full of fellow otaku (where his username is “Densha Otoko”, or “Train Man”).

The story gets more complicated from there, but in essence it’s a romantic comedy that deals with otaku culture and how it clashes with the normal Japanese working culture. The message board and its denizens play an important role in helping out Densha with his relationship. I know Jdramas aren’t exactly most of my readers’ cup of tea but if you were ever thinking of trying one out, this is the one.

Just wanted to give a shout out to the newest member to the world of online journals, my buddy Gautham. Happy blogging dude!

I took an impromptu family vacation to New York City this past weekend and had a blast. My Dad wanted to fly into the city with me, so I flew into La Gaurdia from Logan bright and early Friday morning.

After meeting up with my Mom, Brother, and Sister at the airport we headed off with our private tour guide for a walking tour of the city. The St. Patrick’s Day parade was causing all sorts of mayhem with traffic and crossing streets wasn’t as straightforward due to the police barricades, but we basically walked through two thirds of the city in about 4 hours.

On Friday evening we found ourselves in Greenwich Village having dinner at this place called “The Garage”. Fantastic food, and not very well known amongst tourists (so we were led to believe). We planned on heading out to a comedy club afterwards, but my Mom wasn’t feeling as spry as she used to, so we ended up heading back to the hotel for some much needed sleep (I myself had only slept for three hours prior to my 7am flight).

Saturday morning ended up being the most interesting adventure. We all went on a “shopping tour” with a different tour guide. Although mostly for the benefit of my Mom and Sister (the resident “shopaholics”) our guide found a way to make it interesting for all of us.

In particular, the trip to Chinatown was my favorite part. After being offered a Rolex straight up in the middle of the street (I swear I thought something that direct only happened in the movies), we ducked into a shop off the side of the street. In there, a couple of dudes we whispering to the female shoppers in the store about Chanel and Dolce & Gabbana stuff being in the back. Men weren’t allowed, so my Sister, Mom, and the tour guide (being female) headed towards the back to check it out. In the back was apparently a false wall that opened up to a small room with two Chinese women who were in charge of a huge display of fake/stolen purses with huge wads of cash in their hands from all the wheeling and dealing. Ridiculous.

We wrapped up with a trip to Katz’s Deli (humongous sandwhiches) and then a trip to Broadway to see Jersey Boys in the evening. “Jersey Boys” was incredible. If you ever get a chance to head out and see it I highly recommend it. I didn’t think much of it before going to see it (I’d never really cared for the Four Seasons) but it was a truly fantastic play/musical.

Sunday we went on a horse-drawn carriage ride (traditional New York tourist thing to do) around Central Park and ended with brunch at Tavern On The Green before heading to the airport. Tavern On The Green is an experience unto itself. The view of the park from the dining areas is spectacular. I highly recommend going next time you’re in the city, but make reservations well ahead of time if you want even a chance of getting in.

Overall a packed weekend, but it really was a lot of fun. I hadn’t been to New York in about 15 years so it was good to go back and enjoy things as more of an adult (if I could be considered one).

I caught up on some of the latest issue in the Ultimate Universe recently. Man oh man is The Ultimates a good book! The new “Grand Theft America” story line keeps getting better and better (of which issue #10, part 4, came out recently).

In particular, Hawkeye has forever been redeemed in my eyes by his Ultimate Universe counterpart. He’s like a super hero version of Bullseye, with twice the deadliness. He killed five guys with his fingernails! No, not by scratching, I mean by tearing them out and flinging them like darts while strapped to an interrogation chair. Whoa day.

There are so many great lines in the past issue alone, I feel bad quoting them all here due to the shear amount of spoilers. Suffice it to say, if you like comics and want to read some awesome stuff (just like I said a couple of weeks ago), do yourself a favor and pick up “The Ultimates”.

Ever get the feeling like you’re changing inside, but don’t know what that change is? I’ve been feeling a lot like that lately.

My new favorite video. According to Jim it’s a classic, but I was too much of an Internet n00b to know about this one until he showed it to me. Thanks again Jim!

“Monkey hate technology, robot hate the monkey…”

Recently I’d decided to take a look at (what I heard was) the popular marvel “Ultimate” line of comics. Basically, in 2001 Marvel decided to start all of their stories over from scratch in a new “parallel” universe. The Ultimate versions of the classic super heroes are all re-imagined with less baggage and slightly more realistic origins.

I figured I’d read an issue or two of my favorite super-hero’s “Ultimate” version, Spider-man, to get a taste of what lots of people in the comic book world were talking about. Boy did I get hooked! I managed to consume all of the Spider-man comics in a week and quickly moved on to other highly-acclaimed titles.

Here’s a rundown of my favorites, each of which I highly recommend reading if you’re into comics and the Marvel Universe in particular.

• Ultimate Spider-man (Spidey’s always been my favorite)
• The Ultimates (The Ultimate version of the Avengers, surprisingly gritty)
• Ultimate Fantastic Four (What the movie could have been)
• Ultimate X-Men (Lost it’s way a little bit half-way through the run of issues I read, but regained composure)
• Ultimate Iron Man (Really cool premise, but ended abruptly)

I haven’t started reading any of the Gah Lak Tus (Ultimate Galactus) arc, but I hear it’s also pretty awesome. Check these out, especially if you used to be into comics way back when.

A couple of people have asked me to provide some sort of RSS feed of my blog. It turns out that Blosxom has always provided that feature. I just didn’t realize it. Point your aggregators here. That should be an RSS 0.91 feed. Leave comments if you’re having any problems.

A few folks were interested in what has happened since I last posted a few weeks ago about my first date with that “certain someone”. She and I talked this weekend and decided to just stay friends. I was bummed for a while, but I know this is definitely for the best.

Back to being completely single. Snakes on a plane man.

The front page of Urban Dictionary had an interesting definition today:

fansplant: a person with a newly-developed appreciation for a sports team; generally acquired after said team has won a championship or become otherwise popular.

Jimmy’s newly uncurved Red Sox hat and Edgar Rentaria jersey showed that he was clearly a fansplant, in fact he was from upstate New York.

I’ve seen a lot of these since coming up to Boston, I guess I now have a word to go along with the idea.

Snakes on a plane man, snakes on a plane! Gautham had mentioned this movie to me a few months ago and we both had a chuckle. Little did I know it would become some sort of ridiculous internet sensation before it’s even out in theaters.

What I love is that they tried to change the name of the movie from “Snakes On A Plane” to “Pacific Flight 121” or something like that and Samuel L. Jackson threatened to quit if they didn’t keep the original title. A screenwriter who was going to be hired to rewrite the script blogged about his experience here.

The dude apparently started using the phrase “snakes on a plane” as a saying akin to “c’est la vie” and it’s just snowballed from there. You can even buy t-shirts. Hilarious.

Work is pretty boring today, can’t you tell?

I got back into town a couple of days ago and decided to lay low while I continued to recover from this ridiculous cold I had the entire last week. Apart from that, I had a pretty relaxing time back home. Some chores (including helping to build a wooden fence which renewed my fondness for power tools), some MTV (it seemed like I haven’t watched it in ages), and lots of good time hanging out with the family.

Another thing I did over the holiday was combat comment spam for days on end until I finally got off my lazy rear end and added a captcha function to the comments script. I’m not entirely sure all of the elements to it are taken care of, but so far so good.

Anyone up for anime this IAP (that is, for those of you at MIT)?