Philonoist.net

Previously, I wrote a short piece called Experiment. Here is Gizoogle’s version:

Late night. Jizzle n’ shit. Good jizzazz, tha kind wit tha sweet sounds of a muted trumpet play’n in front of a upright piano . Im a bad boy wit a lotta hos. The sounds of tha sett’n keep’n it real yo. Conditioned air falls across mah face, up mah nose, into mah insides, become one wit mah be’n. Motherfucka fliznick rizzy off tha windshield lazily, tha fleet’n marriage of drop n glass destroyed by tha steady rhythm of tha blade, cutt’n through tha darkness with my hoes on my side, and my strap on my back.

The road winds around tha bend cuz its a pimp thang. It’s cuz its a pimp thang. late . Real niggas recognize the realness.: too late fo` such a trip like this. Eyes droop, close, open to increase tha peace! Re-focus . Hollaz to the East Side. Jizzy cracka more air blast’n into mah face. Wizzle a difference a day makes .

The road straight from long beach nigga. A sea of oily bliznack. Wet wit condensizzle perspirizzle animation, but not enough ta remove tha slick mess of a hundred, a thousand, a million million ridez before me cuz its a pimp thang. My shiznip rolls wit tha hills, pitches in tizzy ta tha steady beat of Thelonious Mizzay of Jizzy Coltrane. Chill as I take you on a trip. We move ta tha measured score, mah shiznip n I, march’n forth while men in smoky rooms n jazz bars play they songs n bitchez wit husky voices sing sadly of bitch pizzy.

Destinizzle . Hollaz to the East Side. The 24-hour-supizzle a warehizouse of bright light n empty aisles. Anchor tha ship, chizneck fo` motherfucka realize that it’s too late fo` even mugga ta be out with the gangsta shit that keeps ya hangin. Step out. Lock n we out. Purposizzles wizzay cuz I’m fresh out the pen. Man wit K-I-Double-Tizzy litta leaves store, too embarrassed ta look at me. Who buys K-I-Double-Tizzy gangsta at 1 AM?

Aisle 1. Aisle 2 and my money on my mind. 3 fo’ real. 4 . Im a bad boy wit a lotta hos. A-ha in tha hood! Aisle 5. Remind S-to-tha-izzelf thizzay in future, oil is stored in Aisle 5. Wizzy kind? Unclear. Vegetable wit da big Bo$$ Dogg. Canola fo’ sheezy. Olive. Olive? No. Not olive . Keep the party crackin while I’m steady rappin’. And thiznen there were two. Vegetable. Canola but real niggaz don’t give a fuck. Canola fo gettin yo pimp on. Vegetable. Fizzle a coin in tha dogg pound. Pick a pusha. If a train leaves Vegetable at 45 miles per hour, n a train leaves Canola… What is tha difference between oil anyways? Bizzy label. Green label . You’se a flea and I’m the big dogg. Does oil go bad? Oil is oil cuz I’m fresh out the pen. Vegetable cheapa.
Think `bout purpose of said oil. Two bottles of vegetable like this and like that and like this and uh.

Checkout. Sciznan. Beep. Scizzay with the S-N-double-O-P. Beep. Five even with my forty-fo’ mag. Hizzalf a sawbuck fo all my homies in the pen. A Lincoln. The bill crizzisp. Immaculate. As I hand over tha money, I am too embarrased ta look at tha cahsia. Who buys vegetable oil at 1:05 AM?

Purposizzle walk. Life now gang bangin’ cuz this is how we do it. Be kiznind, pleaze rewind fo’ real. Every action has an equal n opposite . Keep the party crackin while I’m steady rappin’. Unlock so bow down to the bow wow. Step in. Raise tha anchor, Gangsta Coltrane yaba daba dizzle! We lurch forward, mackin’ up steam on our return voyage, bizzy from tha briny depths fizzle whiznich we came ridin’ in mah double R. We is alone on tha dark roads in tha vast nothingness of Suburbia in all flavas. As tha nizzay claims us, mah S-H-to-tha-izzip n I, we embrace Her, engirth Her, n we is Ha.

Relax, cus I’m bout to take my respect.

Filed by Adam College at 9:33 pm under Web
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There’s a great big world of pages related to Olin out there. Some of them are fun. Some of them are ugly. Some of them are just plain awful (*cough* BB *cough*). But I think the absolute saddest page is students.olin.edu. That’s right: the main student index.

Why is this so sad? Because free webspace is a pretty damn sweet luxury, and almost no one uses it. I’m “winning” the most recently updated game with a quick change to my site last weekend for Computer Architecture.

Were there only empty sites, just names waiting to mapped to index pages, that wouldn’t be so rough: that could be one of two things. 1) People don’t know how to make websites or 2) People don’t have time to make websites. But many of the sites have dates in the 2004 and even 2003 range.

I don’t know why, but when I see a website a student made here in 2003, I get a little misty. I flashback to what was important to me, who I hung out with, what I thought was cool. I want to reach out to that kid, because that’s all I was then. I want to reach out, and tell him the things I was once nervous about don’t matter. I want to tell him that life is a state of mind. I also want to tell him to study Maxwell’s Equations more.

I get nostalgic. I want to relive my past, my mistakes. I have few regrets, a few things said I want to take back. I wonder if things would have been different if I had turned left instead of right, said yes instead of no. But I like my mistakes, like how they’ve become part of me, how I’ve learned, how I’ve grown.

I have things left to do in life, questions left unanswered. I still can’t figure out how to ask a girl out on a date. I worry. I worry that I worry.

But I know I’m OK. And that’s all that matters.

Filed by Adam College at 3:10 am under Life
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This is a post in a series on movies that perform below expectations at the box office, causing them to quietly disappear to the bargain DVD section in a few years time.

It’s not that I have a problem with the lead protaganist, Aeon Flux, in the movie of the same name, being believable. It’s that I have a problem with the remainder of the word she lives in being believable. Even in a fractured society set amist the “perfect” last city of a virus-ravaged Earth, Aeon Flux is a flimsy film that tries too little to do too much.

It wasn’t surprising to me to see the writers of Aeon Flux also had a hand in writing The Tuxedo, a modest success for Jackie Chan. Both films share a decided emptiness when it comes to their most-publicized feature: the fight scenes. Charlize Theron trained for months, working with trampoline experts from Cirque du Soleil, but the film dices and slices its way through these scenes. The directors for Aeon Flux and The Tuxedo were new-comers to the chair, so I wonder how much they thought it was appropriate to deviate from the flimsy edit-filled script that was presented to them. It may not surprise you either that MTV, the long-standing champion of the quick-cut and edit-fest, helped release this film through the MTV Films name, a subsidary of Paramount.

Where mediocre fight scenes the only problem facing Aeon Flux, the movie wouldn’t be so bad. But Flux doesn’t -or can’t - translate its world from the cartoon or comic books well. Plot holes muck up the action, and there’s just a general state of confusion washing over viewers while the credits roll. The futuristic world inhabited in Aeon Flux may look pretty, but it’s not enough to make up for the ugliness - or just plain dreariness - of the people who live in it.

Filed by Adam College at 11:22 am under Movies
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Late night. Jazz. Good jazz, the kind with the sweet sounds of a muted trumpet playing in front of a upright piano. The sounds of the setting. Conditioned air falls across my face, up my nose, into my insides, become one with my being. Wipers flick rain off the windshield lazily, the fleeting marriage of drop and glass destroyed by the steady rhythm of the blade, cutting through the darkness. The road winds around the bend. It’s late: too late for such a trip like this. Eyes droop, close, open! Re-focus. Jazz louder, more air blasting into my face. What a difference a day makes.

The road. A sea of oily black. Wet with condensation, perspiration, animation, but not enough to remove the slick mess of a hundred, a thousand, a million million cars before me. My ship rolls with the hills, pitches in time to the steady beat of Thelonious Monk, of John Coltrane. We move to the measured score, my ship and I, marching forth while men in smoky rooms and jazz bars play their songs and women with husky voices sing sadly of lovers past.

Destination. The 24-hour-supermarket, a warehouse of bright light and empty aisles. Anchor the ship, check for muggers, realize that it’s too late for even muggers to be out. Step out. Lock. Purposeful walk. Man with kitty litter leaves store, too embarrassed to look at me. Who buys kitty litter at 1 AM?

Aisle 1. Aisle 2. 3. 4. A-ha! Aisle 5. Remind self that in future, oil is stored in Aisle 5. What kind? Unclear. Vegetable. Canola. Olive. Olive? No. Not olive. And then there were two. Vegetable. Canola. Canola. Vegetable. Flip a coin. Pick a number. If a train leaves Vegetable at 45 miles per hour, and a train leaves Canola….. What is the difference between oil anyways? Blue label. Green label. Does oil go bad? Oil is oil. Vegetable cheaper. Think about purpose of said oil. Two bottles of vegetable.

Checkout. Scan. Beep. Scan. Beep. Five even. Half a sawbuck. A Lincoln. The bill crisp. Immaculate. As I hand over the money, I am too embarrased to look at the cahsier. Who buys vegetable oil at 1:05 AM?

Purposeful walk. Life now rewinding. Be kind, please rewind. Every action has an equal and opposite. Unlock. Step in. Raise the anchor, Mister Coltrane! We lurch forward, picking up steam on our return voyage, back from the briny depths from which we came. We are alone on the dark roads in the vast nothingness of Suburbia. As the night claims us, my ship and I, we embrace Her, engirth Her, and we are Hers.

Filed by Adam College at 12:52 pm under Life
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It takes a lot to get me to write about politics, especially when there’s plenty of other stuff on my plate, but the National Strategy for Victory in Iraq(PDF Courtesy of the Beeb) is the most laughable document I’ve had the pleasure of reading in a while. It is little more than overt propaganda for the war and current administration, chock full of the best-of-the-best sound bites from National Security Council Members since 2003.

“There’s always a temptation, in the middle of a long struggle, to seek the quiet life, to escape the duties and problems of the world, and to hope the enemy grows weary of fanaticism and tired of murder. This would be a pleasant world, but it’s not the world we live in. The enemy is never tired, never sated, never content with yesterday’s brutality. This enemy considers every retreat of the civilized world as an invitation to greater violence. In Iraq, there is no peace without victory. We will keep our nerve, and we will win that victory.”

-President George W. Bush, October 6, 2005 (emphasis in original)

I suppose I wouldn’t have such a problem with this document if it were written as, say, a position paper, with thoughtful, well-researched opinions from someone not a bedfellow of the White House. But the format of this document is what pisses me off most: it’s a PowerPoint slide show in printed form.

There are no less than 4 levels of data: The title at the top of a section, a big arrow point, a bullet point, and a potentially misleading checkmark point. At first glance, it seems like we’ve already done the things checked off (especially after reading the introduction, which declares “The following document articulates the broad strategy the President set forth in 2003 and provides an update on our progress as well as the challenges remaining.” Emphasis mine, but there is no section labelled accomplishments anywhere in the document.)

I have to think the style of the document is intentional, since this is for mass public consumption. In a society where some 100 Billion PPT slides are manufactured yearly, how better to gloss over 2 years and 2,000 American Casualties than by watering down the war into a few bullet points?

I’m not asking for a timetable to end the war. We’ve tried that already, and the White House has balked. Fine. But I do expect the troops home soon. I expect that American problems should be treated with more importance than building a society centered around 8 pillars of varying Republican-Conservative ideals like non-regulated business and self-reliance. In a scary thought, as their own country turns against them slowly, the Bush White House is forcing more and more of itself onto Iraq.

“America will not impose our own style of government on the unwilling. Our goal instead is to
help others find their own voice, to attain their own freedom and to make their own way.”

Yeah, right.

Tagged with: News

Filed by Adam College at 12:10 pm under Everything Else
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In the pursuit of tweaking firefox constantly until I find the most productive and least annoying way to tab, I think I may have gotten one step closer to my goal: Tab Mix Plus

It’s definitely not for the weak of heart. This manly extension is for folks who take their tabbed browsing seriously. The default settings are ultra crappy, but fear not: this puppy’s got all you want and more. (You’ll definitely want to uninstall quite a few other extensions if you switch to this. While a stable install, I got a few “settings-don’t-catch”) quirks while setting it up. The big happy? A setting that allows you to set your return tab to last viewed, so that when you view a popup-link, you don’t spend 15 seconds looking for the tab you launched from. This extension would probably take a bullet in your ass if you were in a combat situation.

Another dude you want on your team? Session Saver Nothing pleases me more in my internet addiction than the ability to close the browser, realize I pulled a stoopid, open it back up, and have it exactly the same way I left it. Not only does it fix human error, but on those rare often occassions when I’m sucking down the blue screen like it was Sharkleberry Fin (NSFW potentially due to ads, but I’m inclined to try the Trojan “Vibrating Ring” sometime. I digress.), Session Saver comes back A-Ok. It may be looking over my shoulder, but that’s only because it’s got my back. (Thanks, Colbert.)

I would try CoBrowse, but I have no friends. It looks ultra-sweet, and I just sold the guy who wrote it a few steaks. Seriously.

Filed by Adam College at 12:27 am under Technology
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Over the next 36 hours, I think a grand total of zero of them are not scheduled (though I did pansy out and schedule a few hours of sleep tonight, but I think I got a meeting request during that time…)

In short, I am so busy, taking the time to write down that I am busy will probably set me back and make me late for the rest of the day.

Here’s what’s up:

Comparch Exam
SERV Live Auction
TechVentures
Discrete Math Meeting
ECE Advising
NU Hockey Game
Cabot’s
SLEEEEEEEEP
BU Trivia Tournament…… and on.

I’m not really complaining. I’m looking forward to everything on that list (even the CA midterm I’m taking in 30 minutes…). And this is the last full weekend before Thanksgiving, which is also nice. Hard to believe I’ll be on a plane home in 8 days. I haven’t celebrated a “traditional” Thanksgiving in a while (we’ve always gone out to Vegas to hang out with my uncle during Thanksgiving week, which is fun, but will be moreso post-21st birthday).

I need to write more, about my life and creatively. I’m thinking about taking a course at Wellesley in the spring in Short Narrative to fill in that last pesky AHS class.

And, finally, props to the “new” Shihblog.

Filed by Adam College at 9:34 am under Life
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While I was finishing the Big Conversations video (which went off without a hitch, even though I’m still covered in rice powder) my computer died. Thus, the long, laborious process to restoring my life begins. Nothing feels the same: I can’t find my favorite extensions for firefox, I have to reinstall everything, etc. etc. Sigh. Something about the phoenix rising from the ashes should go here.

I’m so thrilled BC day went off well. It’s a truly different experience being on the other side of the curtain, so to speak. Thanks to everyone who has commented on the video. I’m glad people had as much fun watching it as I did making it. (By the way, the old guy in the commercial is Matt Donahoe’s dad. Next time you see him, remind him about it.).

My afternoon session, “Let the Music Play”, was also good fun. If you don’t know, we picked the “best” 21 songs from the last four/five years (since Partner year.)…. It was ridiculous paring down from the 63 we picked.

The final list:

Lose Yourself - Eminem
Such Great Heights - Postal Service
Hey Ya! - Outkast
Clocks - Coldplay
Boulevard Of Broken Dreams - Green Day
Bring Me to Life - Evanesence
Don’t Know Why - Norah Jones
Jesus, Etc. - Wilco
Take Me Out - Franz Ferdinand
Dragostea din tei - O-Zone (Yes, that one.)
Toxic - Britney Spears
Island in the Sun - Weezer
Fell in Love With a Girl - White Stripes
Vertigo - U2
Yeah! (feat. Lil Jon & Ludacris) - Usher
Numb - Linkin Park
Let’s Get It Started - Black Eyed Peas
Courtesy Of The Red White & Blue (The Angry American) - Toby Keith
This Love - Maroon 5
Wish You Were Here - Incubus
Let Go - Frou Frou

I’m proud of the list. I think we got a pretty good mix of songs that were important to the Olin community, songs that were important to the time (Courtesy of the Red White & Blue). Feel free to rip the list apart.

Time to get some sleep.

Filed by Adam College at 8:44 pm under Life
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The drill: These are, of course, either opening or closing lines to movies. Comment here and give your answers.

Google is cheating. Asking for hints is not. I will provide you the director, actor, actress, or year of release if you ask.

1. “I believe in America.”
2. “Saigon. Shit! I’m still only in Saigon. Every time I think I’m gonna wake up back in the jungle…”
3. “Rosebud.”
4. “They’ve shut down the main reactor.”
5. “My name is Lester Burnham. This is my neighborhood; this is my street; this is my life. I am 42 years old; in less than a year I will be dead. Of course I don’t know that yet, and in a way, I am dead already.”
6. “There was me, that is Alex, and my three droogs, that is Pete, Georgie, and Dim, and we sat in the Korova Milkbar trying to make up our rassoodocks what to do with the evening. The Korova milkbar sold milk-plus, milk plus vellocet or synthemesc or drencrom, which is what we were drinking. This would sharpen you up and make you ready for a bit of the old ultra-violence.”
7. “Oh, no! It wasn’t the airplanes. It was Beauty killed the Beast.”
8. “The, uh, stuff that dreams are made of.”
9. “Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”
10. “Madness. Madness.”
11. “Well, nobody’s perfect.”
12. “Mein Fuehrer, I can walk!”
13. “…Eighteen months ago, the first evidence of intelligent life off the Earth was discovered. It was buried forty feet below the lunar surface, near the crater Tycho. Except for a single, very powerful radio emission aimed at Jupiter, the four million year old black monolith has remained completely inert, its origin and purpose still a total mystery.”
14. “But Charlie, don’t forget what happened to the man that suddenly got everything he always wanted.”
“What happened?”
“He lived happily ever after.”
15. “This was the story of Howard Beale, the first known instance of a man who was killed because he had lousy ratings.”
16. “I’ll be right here.”
17. “The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist. And like that, he’s gone.”
18. “You have no idea what I’m talking about, I’m sure. But don’t worry: you will someday.”
19. “They say they’re going to repeal Prohibition. What will you do then?”
“I think I’ll have a drink.”
20. “I’m too old for this.”

Good luck.

Filed by Adam College at 4:21 pm under Movies
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Long time, no post. Been busy. ‘Nuff said.

Here, let me do my 2.0 things for everyone:

1.0) I don’t feel comfortable sharing 20 random things about me. It’s not about time, or worrying that I don’t have interesting things to say. I don’t feel comfortable because I don’t want anything I say to come back later and because I would much rather you ask me about my life than me just tell you something.

2.0) I worry that my attitude above makes me sound haughty, callous, and cold.

What else? Hmm… Family was here this weekend, and now I feel like I barely got a chance to see them, even though I made myself a little crazy by spending every minute I could with them. Part of it is I didn’t really get a chance to have a real talk with them. Thanksgiving will be better. I can’t wait to go home.

Everything is good now. Everything is fantastic, even.

Filed by Adam College at 7:35 pm under Life
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