11/25/05

Goblet of Fire

Hey, sorry its been so long since I posted an entry, I really didn't know what to write about. The X-Box 30 was launched, but the price for the original has yet to be significantly slashed, I've been working with a few classmates on a group assignment, and I saw the latest Harry Potter movie: "Goblet of Fire".

The movie was great, a definite improvement over the previous installments. Lots more action, and slightly more mature themes. Funny, just before the previews started, in the little clips the theatre shows to fill the time, the actor who plays Potter says that for the first time he didn't have to "sit there and pretend to like the movie". Maybe being associated with this person is not such a bad thing . . . but I still refuse to shave on a regular basis. At least until the demand comes from someone who's opinion really matters, in which case it would likely be more of a request, come to think of it.

Comment

11/17/05

Umm . . . Sup?

Ok, not really much to write about tonight, but a friend sort of jokingly "ordered" me to write an entry, so here goes. What did I do today . . . I went to school, slacked off, came home, slacked off, went to the mall, bought tickets for Goblet of Fire on Tuesday, had some fries, walked to MUN to watch survivor, (I don't really like reality TV, but I enjoy spending the time with friends), slacked off some more, turned down the offer to be someone's "cuddle-buddy", (for all my fellow guys out there, NO, that was not what it sounded like), walked home.

So . . . that's just about everything that's happened to me in the 24 hours since I wrote my last entry. Oh, and the weather today was unbelievable, felt like almost 20 degrees outside, even after dark! (That's part of why I turned down the offer, spent hours walking around town wearing a thick sweatshirt and a heavy coat). Wish I had something interesting to write about. So how was your day?

11/16/05 - Need Content!

Well, this place is really coming together. I've finally gotten the navigation structure just the way I want it, I've managed to add a sort of "subscription" feature (see below), and I've at least started on the main content. The feedback page is still a little unpredictable, I've tested it a few times, it doesn't always seem to work - and I have yet to receive any actual feedback, so I don't know if it works for other people or not.

I do have a request though: other than the blog, I'm a little stumped as to what I should put on the site. I've started a few articles in the interests section, and written a short profile in the about me section, but I would REALLY appreciate any comments/suggestions/submissions for those areas. This may be my site, but I would gladly share my space with friends. Keep in mind though, right now this is a free Angelfire site, very limited space, so if you submit anything, keep it to text, but you can make suggestions for pics, if you like.

11/14/05 - A New Space

Whoa! A new place for my personal space! G'bye MSN, you got me started, but I've quickly outgrown your unreliable little service. But ya know what, there'll always be a place for you, I'll use my MSN Space to notify people of updates here! The messenger contact list is a great way to advertise, to the people most likely to read, anyway.

BTW, if you want to comment on my blog entries, for now you'll have to settle with either emails, (I'll post the comment here if you want me to), or commenting on the entry in the MSN space that includes the update notification. I'm trying to workout a way to setup a similar comment system here, but if you know anything about programming, web design, or database management, you know its more complicated than it sounds.

Nov 13 2005 - LOOOOONG Weekend

Well, I just got back in town from visiting my parents place for the long weekend, (Thurs - Sun), and what a long weekend its been. First thing I had to do was format a computer for one of my brothers, and once it was up and running and proper security was in place, I set up a password to keep my other brother from using it. Then I got a copy of MS Office and tried to do some schoolwork, but because I don't have a printer installed and my parent's network cannot be properly set up yet, there were several steps at the end of each case study that could not be completed. I spent all of Friday babysitting, and intermittently working on more case studies.

Saturday I had to help Mom bring up the last load of junk from the old house to the new house, and spent most of the day helping to rearrange things and pack away the junk that there was no longer a place for. Then today, I woke up arguing - I had overheard Mom say she was taking my brothers to St. Johns with us, which meant that there would be a total of 6 people in the car (her, an aunt, 2 brothers, Rupe and Myself, in a "luxury sedan" designed to hold 5) and four of us would be crammed together into the back seat. This is worse than most of would think, because my bros and I can't get along for 10 minutes in opposite corners of the house, let alone 45 wedged into four feet of car seat. (That measurement may be off, but that's beside the point).

In between these fun-filled days I did manage to get out for a drive with Rupe, his Sis and her friend, but, as much as I hate to admit it, these are becoming a little routine. The only unusual aspect was the few minutes spent after dropping off Heidi and Dawn, where the conversation between Rupe and I drifted to an unexpected topic. Even this, though, soon became a little creepy, so the topic was quickly changed, and to balance things a little, we creeped out a complete stranger by following their vehicle for about 20 minutes or so, pulling strange maneuvers to be sure they were aware of us, and following into an area with such a sparse population they had to know it was almost impossible for it to be a coincidence.

So I finally get back to my apartment today, and I start surfing the web, pretty much aimlessly, and after a while the connection drops, the whole house is suddenly without internet access. Turns out this was a good thing though, because I had planned to do a little more school work, and I then realized I'd wasted several hours. I did the next case study in the book, but being so frustrated by the inability to complete the last few steps, (see paragraph one), I gave up after just one page. By now the internet is back on, and I sign in to MSN to see what's going on. First thing that happens is that a person who I thought to be a gf of a friend talks to me, looking for said friend, and he's unable to talk. I barely manage to scrape out of being dragged into someone else's relationship issues. Next I take a look at my contact list and see that someone has added a blog entry. I read it, and MY GOD is it depressing. Ok, leave a supportive comment reminiscent of some second-rate guidance counselor, and get on with my own life. Hmm, my own life, its been days since I posted a blog entry . . .

Ugh, back to school tomorrow, the start of a new week. Here's hoping things start to look up.

Edit: forgot to mention, finished Ender's Game. There are just no words. Must read the other 3 in the series . . .

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Comments

1)
Hey Chris, How are you? Seem's like you always got lot's to write on your
blog. Thank's for leaving the message you did on my blog... appreciated it.
Well I just want to say have a good week now and if you have any exam's
"GOOD LUCK", ok. well I am off ttyl ... take care a friend
Published by: Quite_Cute_Cuddly
(http://spaces.msn.com/members/CuddlesRCute/)

November 09

Ender's Game

I had so much I wanted to talk about . . . but then I started reading "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card, and now that's all I can think about. In fact, this may be a short entry, because it was difficult to put it down, and even now it's calling to me. The main character starts off at 6 years old, but he's genetically predisposed to being a genius strategist, and because the Earth is believed to be in danger of interplanetary war, the military has been watching him closely, and selected him for an elite battle school. I really can't come up with a good explanation of the story. I'll go read a chapter or two, maybe I'll get back to you . . .


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Comments

1)

Sounds good ^_^

DUNE first though *sry*

Published By Rupe - November 09 4:35 PM


2)

Ender's Game is FANTASTIC :) (or so I've heard, I havent actually read it, but a friend of mine -- who's a science fiction geek -- highly recommends it)

Have you read "The Neuromancer" by William Gibson? Also a phenomenal book.

Sarah

Published By MagicalPrincess_Sarah (http://spaces.msn.com/members/pinksparklyprin...) - November 09 5:05 PM
 

November 08
Priorities

Just a quick entry for now, going to explain the test I gave yesterday. I may write another entry later today or early tomorrow though, 'cuz there was a topic or two I wanted to write about.

Ok, the test was intended to show a person's priorities, without actually giving away what they were. A sort of sub-conscious decision process. Here are what each answer translated to:

A. Family
B. Money
C. Career
D. Friends
E. Sex (I don't quite understand this one, the closest explanation I can come up with depends on several assumptions)

So, I hate to pick on the ONE person who was a good sport and actually participated (thanks again QueenoftheUniverse) but she's the only example I can give. Her priorities, as I can see them, were A. Family, B. Money, D. Friends, Then both E. and C. (sex and career, respectively) were left for later, so I guess they were about even.

Oh, and the ones I chose when we did it in class, before I knew what they meant were ADBCE.
 

November 07

Huge Update!

Hey folks! I just updated my personality page again, the biggest update since I created it. I've added 22 new short tests, (especially impressive considering the original page had only 20) bringing the total to 59, plus the four long ones. I've also changed the colors, added a background, and got rid of the marquee that people didn't like (for various reasons). I'm no psychologist, but at this point, having done hundreds of tests (only the best-of-the-best and the worst-of-the-worst make it to the page) I do consider myself a bit of an expert when it comes to online personality quizzes. So, while I myself have no intention of creating them, I do have some advice for anyone out there who does/will. Don't ask a person flat-out "Are you brave?" or "Do you consider yourself smart?", the results will invariably be more flattering than they need to be. Instead, use questions that force the user to make decisions, falling back on their morals and dispositions. For example:

"You encounter the following situations simultaneously, which do you react to first?

A. Your child is crying
B. Your tap water is running
C. Your Phone is ringing
D. Somebody is knocking at your door
E. It is suddenly raining, and you have clothes hanging in the backyard"

This would show much more about a person's personality than just asking them "Do you love your family?"

BTW, that was an actual test Xiao Su found for the class once, only instead of choosing one we had to list them in the order in which we'd react. Give your order in the comments, (or just write them down if your shy) and I'll explain what it means in my next entry.

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Comments
1)
I laugh at the last choice (e). WOW was I bad. I went to your house earlier
that day, and do you remember the rain? Well apparently I was suppose to
take the laundry in that day. Oh boy did I get it when I got home.
So I don' t know which one I would do first. I do not feel comfortable
answering the hypothetical situation, but I would probably go for life and
death situations first.

Water is my element.

I am hoping to study wizardary soon, I can' t wait to get my christmas gift
^_^

Published By Rupe - November 07 8:25 AM

2)
well I would react to my child first more then likely picking up the crying
child and then going and turning the water off Id probably let the machine
get the phone cause if its immportant they can leave a message or call back
..... if my child is only upset and not hurt or in need of medical attention
I would answer the door if the person standing there bothered to wait around
till this point...... and the laundry well a little rain never hurt anything
so Id leave it till either it stoped raining and the sun came out or till I
had a free moment to run out in the rain and gather up my laundry then stick
it in the dryer...... that was fun Amanda

Published By Queenoftheuniverse009
(http://spaces.msn.com/members/EmpressAmanda/) - November 07 11:22 AM
 

November 06

Movies < Video Games

I saw "Doom" last night. I went in with low expectations, and this turned out to be a very good idea. It jumped right into the action, the first scene showed a small team of scientists running for their lives through some sort of research complex, showing all the heroism of rats on a sinking ship. Next it introduced the main characters, the team from RRTS. If you didn't play the game, don't worry, you really DON'T need to know what that stands for, just that they're some kind of elite military unit. You've got the standard array of idiots and psychopaths lining up for their big guns. As usual, I'm not going into too much detail here, but the story had surprising potential. I say potential of course, because it could have been great, if it hadn't been tacked on as a sort of afterthought, just to hold things together in between the action and special effects. I like the way they handled "The Rock"'s character, but I saw it coming a mile away. Poor Kid. Finally, there was some major fan-service when Sarge finally finds the BFG, and with the almost cartoonish first-person POV scene near the end. There was actually a surprise here I DIDN'T see coming, but I also had forgotten the scene was going to be included, so I won't pass judgment either way.

Overall, if you like mindless violence and a good gore-fest now and then, I'd say you'll love this movie, just don't expect a thrilling story line. In other words, if you enjoyed the game, this movie is for you!

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Comments:

1)

I love the statement for I love math;

Movie < Video Games;
Movie < Comic;
Movie < Book;

Where do movies become good? Is it because you have read the book, expect movies to be a little weaker and you know that in two hours or even three they can not include every detail. So finally if the movie includes the main concepts and there are no corny alterations to your favorite character the movie becomes good. So what is it that makes humans want movies so bad?

A THEORY

Movie < Literature ^ Movie < Video Games;

 humans  ,  a  t, ( (a  T)  ( humans  movie ) ) , Where a = is a constrain of time

This reads something like; For all humans there exists a constraint of time, therefore the human usually takes the easy ways out to go and watch a movie instead of reading literature or taking the time to finish an entire video game. OR vice versa applies.

That is my rant for today. Don’t worry about correcting anything. I don’t make sense most of the time.

SRY Doesn't work as intended, figure Microsoft will not support normal math symbols in a blog.


Published By Rupe - November 06 3:32 PM
 

November 05

Heyo!!! Great News!!

Hi everyone! I just got back from my parents' new place, and it is a beautiful house. Its "Open Concept", (in case you're like me and don't have a clue about architecture or interior design, it basically means lots of open space). The kitchen/dining room is smaller than the old place, but laid out much more efficiently, and the appliances are all built-in to the cupboards; the living room is small but "cozy", with a big window and propane fireplace, there's not exactly a ceiling in the living room, cuz part of the "open concept" is that from the living you can see the upstairs hallway. Its only supposed to have 2 HUGE bedrooms, but there's a small "office" space that will become my room, while my little bros share the biggest room. The bathroom is one of the biggest I've seen, and includes a Jacuzzi bathtub. There's no cable or internet there yet, but that'll be set up on the 7th.

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Afterthought:
Oh, any of you who saw/remember the last place Kevin B. lived in in Bay Robert's, the kitchen is almost identical.
------------------------------

Of course, the physical house is not the only thing to talk about. There's animals all over the neighborhood, but all of them are friendly, and none make noise late at night. In fact, there's this one cat that's always hanging around our doors and windows, and playing what looks like peek-a-boo with our own cats through the glass. He's extremely clean and healthy looking, so we assume someone takes care of him, but certainly has no fear of strangers. If you stand on the patio, he'll snuggle up to your legs, let you pet him and even pick him up.

Then there's the weird part. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with this, it just strikes me as a little odd. There's a little old lady living in the basement. She's got a tiny little apartment down there, and its completely separate from the main house, but my parents were using the apartment as a storage space for boxes while they were unpacking. It gets weirder too - she's the landlord's MOM!! My Mom says "Grandma comes with the house".

I tried taking pictures of the place to put in my album, but it was morning and with so many windows facing roughly east the place was TOO BRIGHT for the camera. Mom's gonna try again in the nighttime, but it could be a week before I get the pics, and the angles won't be as dramatic as I had planned. I did find some old polaroids of the dogs I had a few years ago, so I may scan them in a little later. I desperately want to update, because I intentionally left my previous entry at the top a few extra days to make sure everyone saw it. I did update my personality page though, so in case you haven't seen it this week, go ahead and click the link to the left, under my profile section.

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Comments:

1)
Wow, Chris :) Your new house sounds amazing... any chance of it becoming the new 'Party Central'? ANNND, you're just 'up over the Birch Hills' from me :D

can't wait to see the new place :0

~Sarah

Published By MagicalPrincess_Sarah (http://spaces.msn.com/members/pinksparklyprin...) - November 05 2:44 PM
 

November 01

So long Su, Good Luck in Calgary!

Today was our last day of classes with one of my favorite teachers ever, Xiao Su, who will be leaving for a new job in Calgary in a few days, so we threw a Pizza Party for him (thanks to Robyn for organizing). He was so happy that he immediately went downstairs to invite the administration. (Principle was in a meeting, but VP was very happy to join us for a while). Xiao gave an impromptu and very touching speech about how much he truly enjoyed living and teaching in Newfoundland, and that even before he knew he would be leaving, his relationship with this class was one of the closest in his career. Then he dug into his briefcase and dug out a somewhat less impromptu speech he'd given at a convocation a couple of years earlier I think, that got quite a few laughs from the class. He even sang a few lines from O Canada, the Ode to Newfoundland, and . . . um, that famous love song from Ghost. There were several cameras in the room snapping away, (as cameras often do) and as soon as I can get a hold of them I'll put some of the pictures in my photo album.

Well Su, class has been great, I hope your students in Calgary are as good to you as you've been to us. I'm sure we'll see you around sometime, but until then, we'll certainly miss you.

Chris^2

Update: Got the pic already