Who took my beer?!

Top 10, version 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Mich) — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 22:57:00 +0000

Lomo

noreply@blogger.com (Mich) — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 23:17:00 +0000

It's quite obvious that I don't have time (or will) to keep this thing updated... but recently I became a fan of lomography and I'm trying to keep a photolog for one year, let's see if I'm able to do it.

You can see it here:
http://lomoparty.tumblr.com/

チャットモンチー　シャングリラ　ROCK IN JAPAN FES.2008

noreply@blogger.com (Mich) — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 16:36:00 +0000

noreply@blogger.com (Mich) — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 17:17:00 +0000

Last week Serge was amazed by the new features in Photoshop CS5, in particular by one called "Content Aware Fill" which let you "remove" things from pictures.

As soon as I saw the demo I remembered this spoiled picture!

Then I was surprised to learn that a similar "feature" has been available in Gimp for a long time! So I tried it right away and the results were pretty good!

Thanks Gimp, after almost 4 years, this picture is as it should always be...

Find the differences!

noreply@blogger.com (Mich) — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 17:24:00 +0000

Sometimes I feel like if I live in China; for example, have you heard about those poor workers in the factories? That's how it looks:

And this is how my lab looks like:

Smart flatmates

noreply@blogger.com (Mich) — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 15:08:00 +0000

Best rule ever.

Tagxedo

noreply@blogger.com (Mich) — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 13:38:00 +0000

Yes, I'm still alive, although I don't feel the necessity to post as often as before.
Recently I found a new "service" to create word clouds and I tried with these posts. The result is here:

noooo!

noreply@blogger.com (Mich) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 22:37:00 +0000

Shite

too many Greeks

noreply@blogger.com (Mich) — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 21:07:00 +0000

in the iPhone!
(actually in FB but it wouldn't sound like FOTC)

Glen Eyre

noreply@blogger.com (Mich) — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 21:35:00 +0000

Glen Eyre
Originally uploaded by m thierry

Snow, snow, snow and more snow...

Recap 09

noreply@blogger.com (Mich) — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0000

As I wrote last year, I keep this blog because it's the easiest way remind me what happen in my life. Alas, the last two months I haven't been able to write as much as I would like...

This year that just finished had a lot of events and situations that made it different than previous years, maybe for good or for bad, but different at last. Concerts (not as many as in 2008), living in 3 different place, sold my precious car, etc.

January
Came back to States after spending Xmas and New Year in Mexico, I knew it was the last time so it was strange. My friends and I became addicted to the power hour and no party was complete until it was played.

February
The 2nd season of Flight of the Conchords gave us great songs and some memorable phrases. A lot of paperwork was filled in order to apply for a student loan. I read the 4th book in the Night Watch series (Last Watch), which by coincidence happened in Edinburgh.

March
Music! I went to Mexico just to see Radiohead for the 2nd time in my life. It was also the last time I visit my country this year. Back in the Bay Area, I saw the Submarines (for the 1st time), the Mumblers and the Morning Benders in a great concert.

April
I lost my roommate so I left the city and ended in the boring Alameda, at least it was only 1.5Km from the office; I still miss the flat at 683 Brannan St. LAN parties and K-On revived the inner geek that lives in me.
I also applied for the room I'm living at right now.

May
Thanks to Serge (and that I didn't want to give any more money to Comcast), I watched a lot of anime series. I bought my camera and I've been happier since then.
I survived a lay off and feel bad because they didn't know I'd leave in 4 months time.

June
Lots of work in the office, they didn't know that I was leaving yet. Watched Macross Frontier and visited Japantown almost every weekend.

July
More anime! This time was Eden of East (there's a movie out right now and I'm still trying to get it). I also watched 500 Days of Summer which is probably the best movie of 2009. Everything was almost ready for the big move on September.

August
Told in the office that I was leaving (and they were concern about how to get another guy that unlocks iPhones and hacks licenses). Bought my airplane ticket and applied for the student visa. Aqua and I learned how to prepare tiki drinks and our lives haven't been the same since that day. Saw the Submarines for the 2nd time.

September
Big month. A lot of farewell parties, struggling to sell my car and wondering if my visa would arrive on time. Despite of all these, I was still able to see my last concert in the Bay Area and bike the Golden Gate bridge a couple of times. I got rid off almost all my things and fitted all my "material possessions" in two bags. After being a homeless for 24 hours, I arrived to Southampton and started a new life.

October
Back to school, met a lot of people and made great friends. Quick introduction to Greek culture and language. Halloween parties and a random trip to London.

November
School really started this month, a lot of projects and assignments are keeping me busy almost all the time. Planned where to go for the Xmas break without knowing that there will be more assignments for January.

December
Tried to finish as much as I could before leaving for my trip around Europe. Those two weeks were a different experience, learned a lot and helped me to clear my mind. Last moments of the years in the streets of Madrid with some friends made the perfect closure of this year, which I've already said, was different, probably unique.

2010 starts, and its last 3 months are a total mystery for me, where will I live? will I get a job here? Should I go back to the States? to Mexico?

Reasons

noreply@blogger.com (Mich) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 20:19:00 +0000

Someone might ask why I haven't update this blog in a while.

The reason is quite simple:

And I'm going out for vacation from the 16th to January 1st!

Academic Transcript

noreply@blogger.com (Mich) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:40:00 +0000

This month was the first time that I needed to ask for an academic transcript in order to keep my loan. We've had lectures for less than 2 months and of course I don't have any grades yet. Instead I only got a letter saying that I'm still a student.

Also, last week there was an Autumn Beer Festival in the Uni's pub.

I got my card and attempted to try all of them, but alas it was not possible (they ran out of Erdinger). Anyway I tried a lot of them and after some thoughts, I was tempted to send my beer card so they can rest assured that I'm a good student.

Almost!

Unfortunately, I just got 6 projects before Christmas break so no more beer festivals for me in a while (that also explains why I'm going back to blogger).

Where am I?

noreply@blogger.com (Mich) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:58:00 +0000

Sometimes I feel I'm studying in the University of Shangai... maybe I
should try to learn Chinese instead of Greek.

Chicken land

noreply@blogger.com (Mich) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:24:00 +0000

I ended here last night.

Brilliant

noreply@blogger.com (Mich) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 19:26:00 +0000

The greatest idea ever...

E-cow-nomics

noreply@blogger.com (Mich) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:08:00 +0000

Simply amazing (because it's true), I think the mexican version would be about how they tax you for the cows, the milk and the grass they eat.
-------
SOCIALISM:
You have 2 cows, so you give one to your neighbor.
-------
COMMUNISM:
You have 2 cows. The State takes both and gives you some milk.
-------
FASCISM:
You have 2 cows. The State takes both and sells you some milk.
-------
NAZISM:
You have 2 cows. The State takes both and shoots you.
-------
TRADITIONAL CAPITALISM:
You have two cows.
You sell one and buy a bull.
Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows.
You sell them and retire on the income.
-------
ENRON CAPITALISM:
You have two cows.
You sell three of them to your publicly listed company, using letters of
credit opened by your brother-in-law at the bank, then execute a
debt/equity swap with an associated general offer so that you get all four
cows back, with a tax exemption for five cows.
The milk rights of the six cows are transferred via an intermediary to a
Cayman Island company secretly owned by the majority shareholder who sells
the rights to all seven cows back to your listed company.
The annual report says the company owns eight cows, with an option on one
more.
Sell one cow to buy a new president of the United States, leaving you
with
nine cows. No balance sheet provided with the release.
The public buys your bull.
-------
AN AMERICAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows.
You are surprised when the cow drops dead and get a contractor to find out why
-------
A FRENCH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You go on strike and burn cars because you want three cows.
-------
AN AUSTRALIAN CORPORATION:
You have 2 cows, News limited buys them for an inflated price.
They eat clover for months and produce nothing.
Rupert gets pissed at another one of his children.
-------
A JAPANESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and
produce twenty times the milk.
You then create clever cow cartoon images called Cowkimon and market them
World-Wide.
-------
A GERMAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You reengineer them so they live for 100 years, eat once a month, and
milk themselves.
-------
A BRITISH CORPORATION
You have two cows. Both are mad.
-------
AN ITALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows, but you don't know where they are.
You break for lunch.
-------
A RUSSIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You count them and learn you have five cows.
You count them again and learn you have 42 cows.
You count them again and learn you have 12 cows.
You stop counting cows and open another bottle of vodka.
-------
A SWISS CORPORATION
You have 5000 cows, none of which belong to you.
You charge others for storing them.
-------
A HINDU CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You worship them.
-------
A CHINESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You have 300 people milking them.
You claim full employment, high bovine productivity, and arrest the
newsman who reported the numbers.
-------
AN ISRAELI CORPORATION:
So, there are these two Jewish cows, right? They open a milk factory, an
ice cream store, and then sell the movie rights. They send their calves to
Harvard to become doctors. So, who needs people?
-------
A NEW ZEALAND CORPORATION
You have two cows. That one on the left is kinda cute.

After 4 weeks

noreply@blogger.com (Mich) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 22:54:00 +0000

I've been already for 4 weeks in the UK and I just realized I never wrote about the trip...

All started when Mundo was taking me to the SFO airport, at that moment I was homeless and had all my possessions in three bags + one backpack.

SFO airport, last time?

Nothing memorable to talk about the flight, only that watched 3 movies plus one Flight of the Conchords episode (kudos to British Airways for having such a good show in their in-flight entertainment library).

I arrived to Heathrow and made my self from terminal 5 to terminal 3, where I took the bus to Southampton. It sounds easier, but with three bags, two of them weighting more that 27 kg, it took me ~20 minutes.

Free bus!

After two hours (there were some road works), I arrived to my new home:

Glen Eyre

As an experience homeless, the first thing I did after I unpacked my things was a visit to Ikea. The place was just like any other Ikea in the states, I saw my old bed, table, futon, desk, silverware, glasses, cups, etc, etc, etc but here they charge for parking!

Atos?

Finally, I explored the town, the campus (the school's pub) and I'm glad that the coolest building is from my school.

I'll spend a lot of time here...

Warm water?

noreply@blogger.com (Mich) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 13:02:00 +0000

Looks like the term "warm water" doesn't exist in England. Yes, they have cold and hot water but it's never mixed!

For example in my kitchen, in this picture you can see that there are two streams of water, the left one is hot (really hot!) and next to it, really cold water.

In my bathroom is even crazier, the basin is placed really low and for reason I can't undestand, they put something just above it, so it's impossible to wash your face!

Who said that there's no problems in the 1st world? At least there's warm water in the shower...

Back to school

noreply@blogger.com (Mich) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 11:36:00 +0000

I started my courses last Monday so I'm officially a student again. The last time was almost 5 years ago (December 2004), that's why it feels a little bit odd.

That's what they say...

Something I've realized yesterday is that I've met a lot of people, I showed up at the school's pub (great place BTW) and found friends in two different tables.

I know I'm here to study, but actually what I really like is the social part of it (quite weird as I'm shy).

My motto right now is, enjoy and have as much parties as you can, later you'll have so many things to do at school that you won't have time.

That explains why I've been in a lot of parties, some places that I really like and some that I can't believe they exist. For example, yesterday I went to a club, a friend sold it to me as "the 2nd worse club in the UK", and I couldn't describe it in better words. I also had my first (and second) vodka shoots of my life. On Tuesday, I went to a house party, there were 50+ people in the kitchen!

Also, after 2 weeks of great weather, the rain showed up (and lasted for 3 days), it really helped to fix my mood in the school (not).

Random (& British) Update

noreply@blogger.com (Mich) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 16:54:00 +0000

I've been in the UK for 10 days and there's a lot of things that have happened.
These are the highlights;

Last weekend I went to Stonehenge and Salisbury, where I took some nice HDR pics.

Once we came back, I went to the University's Pub and watched the Arsenal game.

Premier League @ 5pm!!!

I also already tasted the most traditional British food, the Kebab;

And partied on Tuesday night with my greek neighbors

Later I'll write about my school and the best karaoke I've ever been (live rock band playing the songs and people singing The Strokes, Oasis, Blur, etc)

5 UK Differences

noreply@blogger.com (Mich) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 12:25:00 +0000

So, after almost a year of planning, now I'm living in the UK and going back to school.

Expect more posts really soon but so far, 5 things I noticed in the 2 days I've been living here:

1. Everything is so small! Malls, food stores, restaurants, etc. I can only conclude that I really got used to "super-size-me culture".

2. It's well know that everything is more expensive here; by how much? I see the same prices I just to find in the Bay Area, just that here's everything is in pounds, not dollars. I'd probably be more concerned about the prices if I had come straight from Mexico.

3. Weather definitions: "Clear" means cloudy, "Cloudy" means sporadic showers.

4. I haven't seen a lot of "luxury" cars. In the bay area everybody has BMWs, MB, Acura, Lexus and Infinity. Here I've seen mostly Ford, Citroen and Renault.

5. Stores are closed really early. For example, they advertise "new late closing hours" and this means "we close at 8pm on weekdays and 7pm on Sundays", WTF?

More fun facts and pictures to come soon.

Cheers

mira mi huevo

noreply@blogger.com (Mich) — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 05:00:00 +0000

tacos borritos lenguini perechini martini bikini!

I'm speechless, instant classic!

Homeless style

noreply@blogger.com (Mich) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 05:11:00 +0000

"Just do it"

It exists!

noreply@blogger.com (Mich) — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 23:01:00 +0000

and I already tried it õ–

Who took my beer?!

Top 10, version 2011

Lomo

チャットモンチー シャングリラ ROCK IN JAPAN FES.2008

Find the differences!

Smart flatmates

Tagxedo

noooo!

too many Greeks

Glen Eyre

Recap 09

Reasons

Academic Transcript

Where am I?

Chicken land

Brilliant

E-cow-nomics

After 4 weeks

Warm water?

Back to school

Random (& British) Update

5 UK Differences

mira mi huevo

Homeless style

It exists!

チャットモンチー　シャングリラ　ROCK IN JAPAN FES.2008