Friday, May 29, 2009

This is Cool

Friday Fun

Since I've been watching SYTYCD instead of blogging, I thought it only fair I post a highlight from the show.

Its awesomely bad.

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Morning?

I have been staying up way too late to watch SYTYCD, otherwise I'm sure this post would be much more witty. Hope everyone had a good holiday. Between that and overtime I haven't been around much. Enjoy pondering the following clip.

Monday, May 18, 2009

Busch Gardens

Saturday I went to Busch Gardens with some friends from work. They have a drop coaster there called the Griffon. It has three rows, 10 across, and they take you up to about 250 feet, dangle you over a 90 degree drop, and then just let you hang there for a bit. Its hard to describe what this feels like, but according to the girl next to me, it sounds like this:

ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshOHMYGOSH

And then you drop.

It was pure awesome. I went on it three times.

There are bootlegs of the ride on youtube, I liked this one best:


Monday AMV

Ergh. I've had a headache I just can't shake for two days now. I was going to go to Krav tonight, but with my luck it would be sparring practice and I would get hit in the head repeatedly.

So instead I'm at home watching X-files.

Hmm, what anime could possibly encompass this never ending head pain?

Evagelion.

Friday, May 15, 2009

VA Allergies

Two weeks of constant rain have increased mold, and when its not raining the tree pollen levels are off the charts creating a perfect storm of allergens. A lot of people are sick. Even Benedryl hasn't been powerful enough to stop my hay fever. Tuesday night I was so congested I couldn't take the pressure lying down, so I formed my pillows into a sort-of pillow chair and slept on an incline.

Which worked great until about 2:30. That's when one of the key load-bearing pillows gave out, sending the whole structure crashing down and my head bounced off the mattress with a soft "DONK." I spent the next half hour engineering another pillow chair with a less dramatic incline. Which gave me about two hours to doze until I had to get up.

Today however, I found an upside to my allergies. Someone in the lab was working on something particularly odoriferous. You could follow its progress through the lab by the choking, gagging scientists left in its wake.

Except me.

Didn't smell a blessed thing all day long.


Hee hee hee.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Star Trek

I went and saw the new Star Trek movie Friday night. BSA wanted to see it on IMAX, and the only show left was the 1245 am.

The movie was so good, I wasn't tired once. I never felt like it was 2 am. Or even 3 am. Its set in an alternate universe, so some of the stuff is different, but its still awesome. Especially McCoy and Scottie.

And it never bothered me that Spock was Sylar. I thought it would.

The special effects were amazing, and for the first time ever, they had the Enterprise, in space, upside down, vertical, all those fascinating ways that a ship can actually travel in space instead of riding like a Hyundai down some invisible galactic highway.

Monday, May 11, 2009

Neat

We went and toured a new Navy ship that was moored in Old Town. It made me nostalgic for the sea. Its the smell. You just get immersed in the distinct smell of sea, metal, oil, the smell of the ship and it takes you back.

This is beautiful. Its a time lapse video of a tanker making her way out of Houston at night.



Check it out, you'll see why I loved going out to sea. Its almost as awesome as coming back to home port after being out at sea. ;)

Found via Ace of Spades.

Monday Morning Music

Its the Technoviking! The really good stuff starts around the 1:00 mark.

Wednesday, May 06, 2009

Krav Story

Tonight, I managed to kick up to a guy's head with my right roundhouse.

Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Philly

I went to Philadelphia for my bday weekend, and had a great time. I planned my trip around a plan I found online called "Life,
Liberty and the Pursuit of Lunch." My friend Yoosh came with me, and went to eat and tour.




Friday we went to Morimoto for lunch. Morimoto is an Iron Chef, and is restaurant is really cool. The doors were bright green,
the ceiling was wavy, and the frosted glass partitions between tables changed colors.

I got the tasting menu, which was seven courses of awesomeness.

The first course was tuna tartare. They took meat from the belly of the tuna, mixed it with shallots and herbs, formed it into a
little tower, and served it in a bowl of some amazing soy sauce. The second course was really thin slices of Pacific Snapper,
served in hot oil with ginger and lemon. The oil was hot enough to cook the fish slighty and it was amazing. On top of the fish
was sea urchin roe, and it was sweet and soft. This was my favorite course. Third course was a micro-salad and striped tuna
sashimi. I'm not a fan of sashimi. No matter how pretty they make it, its still just a chunk of raw fish. Course 4 was tempura
rock shrimp with a spicy orange glaze. The rock shrimp meat was really rich, so they serve it with endive leaves to help cut the
richness. 5 was Chilean Sea Bass with a sweet black bean paste. By this time I was getting pretty full, so I only ate the bits
with bean paste. 6 was sushi, three California rolls and three spicy tuna rolls. Course 7 was desert, black forest cake. The cake
was rich chocolate square, with cherry whipped cream on the inside. There was a little sour cream and a sour cherry on top. It
was really good.

We saw Wolverine, and then spent the evening walking around center city exploring art galleries and even caught a string
quartet in Christ Church. Around 9 we were slightly less full so we went to Franklin Fountain, an old fashioned ice cream place
that offers historical blurbs on menu items.

I ordered a NY chocolate egg cream, which was the first slim fast. Billed as a cheap meal for the poor, and said to fill a man for
hours, it turned out to be a thick, carbonated, chocolate milk. It was strangely refreshing. Yoosh got a cherry bomb, which was scoops of chocolate ice cream in black cherry soda.

Saturday we went to Reading Terminal Market, where a nice Amish girl sold me the best cheese Danish I've ever eaten in my
life. We also hit a soft pretzel stand, where the Amish lady rolled out the dough, and then filled it with egg, cheese, and bacon.

Then we did the tourist thing. We saw Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, went on a ghost tour, and went to the Museum of
Art. The Philly Museum of Art is where Rocky makes his famous run, and when we came out the door, there was a group of
about 15 people making the run, and raising their arms in triumph. It was hilarious. Saturday was also our day of original
Philly cheesesteaks, which are made with cheez whiz and sweet peppers. It sounds gross, but its really good.

Sunday we walked around in the rain and explored, and then came home. It was a great weekend.

Independence Hall

Playing Chess in the Rain

Monday, May 04, 2009

Monday Morning Awesomeness

Guess what I got for my birthday? Pretty much the most awesome book, evah!

Here's a hint:



And here's another hint:



Yes, I am now reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. It begins with that famous opening statement, "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains."

I'm only to Chapter 4, but so far its been hilarious. It also enjoys the distinction of being the only book that I have ever actually read the list of illustrations.

Already I have seen the 5 Bennet sisters perform their zombie fighting technique "Pentagram of Death." Also, based on the aforementioned list of illustrations, I believe that Lady Catherine De Bergh employs ninjas. Awesome.