Media Slog

Tweet of the Day

2009-10-23T12:59:00.000+08:00

Dates should be formated as MM/DD/YY except for the years 1990 through 1992, which should be denoted in 'Hammer Time.'
From Fake AP Stylebook

Still Alive

2009-10-18T10:34:00.001+08:00

Hey Folks!
I'm still alive. I've been studying lots of Japanese lately.
I'm sure I'll post more things in the future.... sometime....
Stay tuned.

Twitter Tracker! Twitter Tracker! Twitter Tracker!

2009-09-13T19:56:00.002+08:00

I was one of the first hundred thousand people to use Twitter. At the time, I could only see a limited use for it. I liked how it distributed text messages via RSS; but unless you were a technical person, I didn't see why it was superior to other social networking tools such as Facebook or Plurk. I still don't. However, apparently lots of celebrities have jumped on the Twitter bandwagon. Conan's Tonight Show is to the rescue.

Check out the Twitter Tracker website!

A Malaysian Woman Won't Be Caned for Drinking Beer until after Ramadan

2009-08-24T17:24:00.002+08:00

Here's some news from Malaysia:

A Malaysian Muslim woman who had been sentenced to be caned for drinking beer in a hotel has been granted a reprieve until after Ramadan, religious official have said.

Read the full story.
Link

The Streets of Kansas #1: The Land of Ah's Motor Inn

2009-08-15T12:41:00.003+08:00

I was in Kansas when I took this picture of the marquee sign for the Land of Ah's Motor Inn in Erie Kansas.

Here's a link to the location.
Link

My Family in a Saloon

2009-08-03T03:01:00.004+08:00

My family doesn't usually hang out in a saloon, but we did for this picture.

Chia Obama

2009-07-31T09:47:00.002+08:00

The greatest new American innovation is the Chia Obama! This is a way to show your support for the President.

Link

Colorado is Beautiful!

2009-07-27T03:11:00.003+08:00

I took this picture while coming down Mt. Massive in Colorado.

HELP FEISTY PRINCESS CHARMAINE

2009-07-09T07:35:00.000+08:00

YO TEACH!

2009-06-27T12:47:00.002+08:00

I'm 99% certain that NBC is playing a big joke, and these web episodes are a tie in for the upcoming Funny People movie. Anyway, it still looks interesting. When you mix the banality of The Office with the wholesomeness of Welcome Back, Kotter you get Yo Teach!

Samuel L. Jackson cameos as the principal and Mark Taylor Jackson plays the wise cracking, yet subtly ironic teacher, Mr. Bradford.

Link
Yo Teach!

LIST OF SINGAPORE RESTAURANTS THAT DON'T SERVE FREE WATER

2009-06-23T08:39:00.002+08:00

Finally, someone has put together a list of Singapore restaurants that don't serve free water. Don't go to these places.

By the way, I find it almost inexcusable that spicy Thai restaurants are on the list. How can you torture your customers without offering at least a little relief?

Link
List of Restaurants that Don't Serve Free Water at Sparklette.net

Grandma Inez and Grandpa Cleo

2009-06-18T02:19:00.002+08:00

This picture was taken in 1948 after my Grandma and Grandpa finished building their new house on the farm.

SAY "NO" TO BLUERAY!

2009-06-02T22:41:00.000+08:00

I'm not getting a BlueRay disc player.

My Year as a P.E. Teacher

2009-06-01T16:25:00.003+08:00

From Media Slog

I just finished my first year of teaching P.E. If you knew me a few years ago, I'd be the last person that you would chose to teach P.E. However, my director had different ideas.

I explained to him, " I just don't have a 'love of the game' like most P.E. teachers." He responded, "You know the rules and can teach them. You might not be a coach, but you can be a P.E. teacher."

He was right. This last year, I've managed to get students to play baseball, rugby, basketball, floor hockey, American football, soccer, badminton, volleyball, kickball, handball, and dodgeball... lots of dodgeball. I've had a lot of fun too.

I have one student in both English and P.E.; I took a snapshot of his doodle a few months ago.

The picture is evidence that things didn't always go perfectly, but I feel like I've done a pretty good job; and if I had a chance to do it again, it would be even better.

Photo taken with a Treo 680.

The Most Impressive Line of Prose in a Movie Review

2009-05-27T20:15:00.002+08:00

Brandon Fibbs wrote the following lines in a movie review:

This is another of those movies in which one character says the inevitable line, “You’re the most interesting person I’ve ever met” despite the fact that there is nothing whatsoever in the script to support the claim. Just once, I want that line to be uttered in a movie about a mid-19th century Amazon explorer who lost one of his arms to ravenous piranha and the other to pigmy cannibals and still managed to climb Mount Kilimanjaro blindfolded and backwards while wearing a tutu. Instead, it’s nearly always applied to exceedingly drab, near 30-something-year-old men wallowing in life’s doldrums and dead end jobs with absolutely zero ambition.

Writing just doesn't get any better than that.

This appeared in a review for an R-rated movie that I haven't seen and don't particularly want to publicize. However, I reckon you can search for it on his site.

Brandon Fibbs.com

I MISS THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION

2009-05-23T09:18:00.002+08:00

Check out this NPR Planet Money interview with Elizabeth Warren, the democrat appointed during the Bush administration to oversee the correction of the banking crisis via TARP.

The NPR reporter Adam Davidson lays into her because of her belief that there is a crisis within American families as well as the banking system. Elizabeth Warren doesn't give in.

NPR: Elizabeth Warren Checks In (Start listening at 5:00)

Despite the controversy and supposed "failure," I liked the era of the Bush administration. People from all sides of the political spectrum presented their ideologies and fought to implement those visions. For me, I was thankful that usually the conservatives won.

The Obama administration is not framing the debate in this way. Obama and his cohorts pretend that no differences exist when they do, they use the language of conservative values and implement liberal policies, and they condemn institutions such as as the Guantanamo tribunals but keep them going.

Mulberry Mountain Harvest

2009-05-15T19:11:00.002+08:00

If I were living in the Midwest, you couldn't stop me from going to the Mulberry Mountain Harvest, a music festival with the likes of the Ozark Mountain Daredevils, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and Big Smith. It's a three day event and tickets start at $109.

Official Site
Mulberry Mountain Harvest

Blogging Can Make You a Celebrity in Singapore

2009-05-12T18:12:00.002+08:00

SoyJoy bars have just launched a campaign that features bloggers. They are apparently going to run them through a small gamut of trials and people will vote on who should win.

In my various blogging adventures, I've met three of six contestants and I think that they're all great folks. (From Left to Right)

Eunice, online alias Eunique Flair, is a fantastic photographer and has helped chronicle the consequences of the tsunami in Sri Lanka. She blogs about fashion and video games.

Nadia, online alias Nadnut, is a friendly gal who prolifically chronicles her glamorous day-to-day activities.

Pamela, called Honeymeow, is a hardworking mom here in Singapore. She appeared in the same page as me in the Blogger Calendar 2009.

Who will you vote for?
Check it out at the SoyJoy GI Challenge!

Two of these lucky contestants will get to win a trip to Japan! I'd be jealous that they didn't ask me to participate, but-

1) It seems there's just one guy involved!
2) I'm already going to Japan soon!

JAPANESE BULLET TRAIN CONDUCTOR

2009-04-28T22:41:00.003+08:00

This mysterious conductor was sticking his head outside the window of a Japanese bullet train. I'm not sure if he was sick or if he wanted to avoid eating insects.

STUPID TWITTER

2009-04-10T10:12:00.002+08:00

I started using Twitter because I wanted a sideblog for things that weren't quite important enough to write a blog post about. I think that I should reconsider.

Wanna Fight?

2009-04-08T22:29:00.004+08:00

Hey folks,
Fight me! Go to cneil.mybrute.com

Type a name, click validate, and you're off. It is the most passive video game that I've ever seen. Even a mom could do it. I find it more interesting than solitaire.

Wouldn't you like to get away to a search provider that knows your name?

2009-04-06T21:58:00.001+08:00

Cheers, everyone! Google knows my name. Should I be scared?

Japanese Pringles Ad

2009-04-05T23:45:00.000+08:00

Life Motto

2009-03-31T18:49:00.001+08:00

At the moment, this might be my life motto:

RIDICULOUS EUPHEMISM OF THE DAY: SYNERGY-RELATED HEADCOUNT RESTRUCTURING

2009-03-18T08:25:00.001+08:00

Nokia-Siemens actually used the ridiculous phrase "synergy-related headcount restructing" as a euphemism for "firing" in a company memo:

For example, here's a headline on a press release forwarded to me this week: "Nokia Siemens Networks enters final stage of synergy-related headcount restructuring."

"Hi, honey, I'm afraid I have bad news: I've been synergy-related headcount restructured."

Link